Currently browsing the "Indie" category.

Cedar Rapids

There’s nothing really wrong with Cedar Rapids. It’s a fine little story with a fine little cast doing a fine little job with the material. But the film itself just doesn’t seem to have much reason for being. It’s sort of Up In the Air meets The Hangover meets The 40 Year Old Virgin. It’s occasionally funny, occasionally sweet, and occasionally quirky… but not enough of any of those things to make it particularly memorable.

Blue Valentine

Blue Valentine is hard to watch and riveting all at once. It’s real, it’s raw and it’s probably way more relatable to the masses than the equally hard to watch and riveting all at once Black Swan. That’s not to say that I personally loved the movie. It’s not exactly what you’d call entertaining. But it is a strong, honest and moving (albeit arty) flick.

Fair Game

Fair Game is billed as a political and/or spy thriller – but it’s really a horror movie, at least for democrats. It’s a cautionary tale about government operatives, back-channel dealings, vendettas, and the manipulation of facts to promote an agenda. And it’s based on a true story – which makes it even scarier!

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

Woody Allen’s latest is set in London and in early voiceover we are treated to a quote from Macbeth. “Life’s but a walking shadow …a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Woody might have been reviewing his own film. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger isn’t really full of sound and fury but ultimately isn’t about anything except life. It takes a family and follows their individual stories as they split up, marry, lust from afar and get on with it.

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go is another one of those interesting, well-acted and somewhat thought-provoking films that simply fails to float my mainstream boat but is likely to find an appreciative arthouse audience. It’s also really hard to review because to divulge too much of the plot would be unfair to the film and its potential viewers. One’s enjoyment – or investment- in the story hinges on not really knowing what to expect as the drama unfolds (though readers of the novel it’s based on, by Kazuo Ishiguro, will certainly be in the know). Never Let Me Go has all the hallmarks of a traditional indie, yet it’s tinged with a bit of the sci-fi, making it all the more difficult to define and categorize.

Get Low

Robert Duvall is without doubt one of the great American actors alive and the real reason to see the nice little movie Get Low. Set in 1930s Tennessee, it tells the true story of a hermit named Felix Bush who decided to throw himself a funeral party while he was still alive. Having spent 40 years living out in the woods in a cabin, he is a grown-old Boo Radley, the decent eccentric that the town has been making up dangerous stories about for all these years, that the children have feared for generations, but just have to go bother to prove they’re tough.

2010 Fall Movies

We’re moving out of the summer blockbuster kids’ movies and into the fall when traditionally a more serious adult roster hits the screens. This year? Well, there are a few that seem Oscar worthy, several with our favorite men headlining, a couple that look like real chick flicks and what just might be some nice comedies. See for yourself.

Winter’s Bone

Winter’s Bone is bleak realism at its best. You may leave the theater happy, but only because no matter what, you’ll realize your life is a billion times better than the poor girl’s at the center of this film. Jennifer Lawrence plays Ree Dolly, a 17-year-old whose meth-making father has left her with a chronically sick mother and two younger siblings to take care of. When Dad was arrested for drug dealing, he put the house and some timbered acreage up as collateral for his bond and then disappeared. Early on, Ree is informed that unless Dad shows up in court, the house and land will be taken and she and her family will be left homeless. And this is in the most impoverished part of southern Missouri and it is winter.

Summer Movies

Summer is upon us and where are the blockbusters? Here is a list of some of the flix that people will be watching and talking about. Not too much that is exciting, in my opinion, but I am hoping that some of them are surprising. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until September for a dose of Clooney.

Mother and Child

I’m not quite sure how I ended up watching Mother and Child instead of Shrek 4 this weekend, but I think it was the casting that ultimately roped me in. Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Jimmy Smits. Really – how can you go wrong? Performance-wise, you can’t. These pros can make anything watchable. But the movie does have some major flaws in character development, and I’d be hard-pressed to recommend it except to those particularly interested in the subject of adoption.