|
|
By Arty Chick, on February 21st, 2010
 This is a wonderful film! It should be on the expanded Academy Awards list for Best Picture, but sadly it isn’t. At least both Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy and Helen Mirren as his wife Sofya are nominated in their respective acting categories. The Last Station is the story of the last years of the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy’s life, his tempestuous relationship with this wife, his coterie of adoring sycophants who turned him into a cult figure, and a young man who became his personal secretary and family confidante.
Fear not though; this is not a [... Keep reading]
By Mainstream Chick, on February 17th, 2010
 Garry Marshall is brilliant. He made a mildly entertaining movie with an A-List cast and a name that virtually guarantees it a place in holiday rerun history. Valentine’s Day is like Crash-light. Really, really, really light. It follows a bunch of folks whose lives intersect in various ways as they break up, make up, find love or survive singledom on Valentine’s Day in Los Angeles.
The cast is a virtual who’s who of stars from the big and small screen – including McSteamy and McDreamy, Kathy Bates, Jamie Foxx, Topher Grace, Jessica Biel, Ashton Kutcher, Anne Hathaway, [... Keep reading]
By Mainstream Chick, on February 13th, 2010
 Dear John seemed to come out of nowhere Super Bowl weekend to rake in more than $30 million and overtake Avatar atop the Box Office charts. But those aliens of Pandora needn’t worry too much. Movie-goers will write off Dear John way before it gets anywhere near Avatar’s record-breaking totals. Not that it’s a bad movie. It just doesn’t resonate beyond the theater walls. And I didn’t cry once!
Dear John is the latest in a slew of Nicholas Sparks novels to be turned into a big screen romantic drama (The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Nights [... Keep reading]
By Mainstream Chick, on January 10th, 2010
 I finally had the chance (i.e. excuse) to see this movie when my 10-year-old niece decided she wanted to see it for a second time. After all, there’s just something intrinsically appealing about a good ol’ fashioned, hand-drawn Disney princess fairy tale and the promise of a “happily ever after.” The Princess and the Frog follows the standard formula of the princess classics, but with a few modern twists. Our heroine is a hard-working, African-American waitress named Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) who dreams of opening her own restaurant in the great city of [... Keep reading]
By Mainstream Chick, on January 6th, 2010
 It’s Complicated is a good, solid chick flick – a romantic comedy with two endearing leads in Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin. It’s also the tamest ‘R’ rated movie I think I’ve ever seen. I’m told the rating had something to do with the inclusion of a pot-smoking scene, which is ironic since unlike The Hangover or Pineapple Express, I highly doubt anyone younger than 40 will attempt to sneak into this one! It’s purely an adult movie with adult themes and humor. Streep plays Jane Adler, a successful, attractive middle-aged divorcee who hooks up with [... Keep reading]
By Mainstream Chick, on January 4th, 2010
 A Single Man is a good movie, but not an entertaining one. Colin Firth delivers a quietly stunning performance as George Falconer, a middle-aged college professor struggling to get through life after the accidental death of his longtime partner, Jim. The movie is set in 1962 Los Angeles against a backdrop of fear involving the Cuban Missile Crisis and an undercurrent of anti-gay sentiment. The story revolves around a single day in George’s life – a day in which he goes about his usual routine while also preparing to commit suicide. Brief, intermittent flashbacks provide [... Keep reading]
By Arty Chick, on January 4th, 2010
 I heard about Chéri when it was around, but being in small town USA, it was only here for an instant and I missed it. Fortunately, it is now on DVD and it is a great chick flick, especially for women over 35. 50+ and still ravishing, Michelle Pfeiffer is lovely playing Léa, a courtesan of a certain age in Belle Époque Paris. Rupert Friend (Albert in The Young Victoria) plays Chéri, the 19-year-old son of one of Léa’s old courtesan rivals (Kathy Bates). He has known and loved Léa since childhood, and [... Keep reading]
By Arty Chick, on December 30th, 2009
 To look at The Young Victoria for historical accuracy would be the wrong way to approach it. Screenwriter Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) admits to taking dramatic license in many places for effect. And it is effective as a coming of age love story set inside that gilded cage known as the British monarchy. The story begins with 17 year-old Victoria a heartbeat away from being crowned Queen, as her mother, the scheming Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson), along with her power hungry advisor (Mark Strong) attempt to set up a regency thereby taking power themselves until [... Keep reading]
By Mainstream Chick, on December 5th, 2009
 Simply put: If you liked Jerry Maguire or Antwone Fisher (both excellent films, by the way) then you’ll definitely like The Blind Side. It’s not so much a movie about football as it is a movie about human kindness, defining family, overcoming adversity, and beating the odds. In other words (if you’re a sap like me), bring Kleenex.
The Blind Side is based on the true story of NFL rookie Michael Oher before he joined the pros (go Ravens!). It chronicles Oher’s journey from a quiet, troubled, homeless teen to the adopted son of an affluent, compassionate, football-obsessed family in Memphis.
Newcomer [... Keep reading]
By Mainstream Chick, on November 26th, 2009
 The more I think about it, the more I like this movie. And it’s not JUST because of George Clooney, though he does carry most of the movie on his broad shoulders. His female co-stars, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick do an admirable job playing off Clooney in very different and interesting ways. Whenever the movie starts to border on cliché, it tends to take a surprising turn. Here’s the basic plot: Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a guy who lives out of a suitcase and likes it that way. His job is to jet into a city, tell people they’ve [... Keep reading]
|
What is Chickflix? In a nutshell, it’s a website/blog developed by three women on a mission to offer fun, informative, easy to digest movie reviews from a uniquely female perspective. (...more) |
Comments