Currently browsing the "So So DVDs" category.
The Conspirator
Posted by Arty Chick on October 24, 2011
Seems I am destined to watch period movies centered on wronged women. My second of the weekend is Robert Redford’s The Conspirator, which tells the true story of Mary Surratt who was accused of helping plot Lincoln’s assassination. Robin Wright (formerly Penn) plays Surratt, the only woman charged in the conspiracy along with 6 men and the first woman executed by the US government. James McAvoy plays Frederick Aiken the young lawyer who reluctantly took her case.
Limitless
Posted by Mainstream Chick on March 17, 2011
Limitless is okay, but The Adjustment Bureau is better. So if you’re wavering between the two, stick with TAB and Matt Damon. However, if you’ve already seen TAB and are looking for something in the same bailiwick and you like Bradley Cooper (and his sparkling blue eyes) then Limitless is a serviceable sci-fi drama.
The White Ribbon
Posted by Arty Chick on July 9, 2010
The White Ribbon won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and the 2010 Golden Globe for best foreign film and seemed to have a lock on winning the Academy Award as well, but was surprisingly bested by The Secret in their Eyes. And now, having seen both, I understand why. The Golden Globes are voted on by a small group of foreign journalists, while the Academy Awards are decided by mostly American viewers. The sensibilities could not be more different.
He’s Just Not That Into You
Posted by Adventurous Chick on June 16, 2009
Sorry but I just wasn’t that into this movie. I really wanted to be. I even bought it the day it came out on DVD to take with me on vacation. But it was like the good-looking guy on a first date who you really, really want to like because the package is so nice, then he starts talking about himself incessantly and picking his teeth and you realize you should probably get out as soon as you possibly can but you stick around to the end of the date because the cocktails are good.
Australia
Posted by Arty Chick on June 11, 2009
I kind of wanted to see it when it was in the theaters, but it didn’t stay around that long and I missed it. Glad I saved the 9 bucks. Australia is a mess. There are four writers credited and I suspect there were lots more. And Good God, it is long! And what is it really about? Who’s story is it? Is it the beautiful boy’s? He is the best part, but even there the story is a muddle. As for genres, it’s western/romance/war epic/political drama with a dash of the Wizard of Oz for good measure. And it is one layer of cliches on top of another. Oh, and about that romance – the chemistry between Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman is not even remotely there. The politically correct thread about the treatment of the Aborigines is just not that affecting. In fact, none of the epic qualities that they tried for really work. They have so many elements here to work with– the vast otherness of Australia, the archetypal evil rival cattlemen, the dark coming of the war, the upper crust English lady cum fish out of water meets outback Drover romance, the wickedly misguided white people stealing the Aborigine children — and yet there is no focus. They are trying to tell too many stories at once and end up seeming to say nothing.
