Hancock

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Plot Hancock is a story about a sleazy, super hero, who gets an image-makeover by an unemployed publicist. Hancock is drunk and rude and disagreeable -- or as the movie says repeatedly an "asshole." The worst part of the movie is the beginning where he is so disagreeable. There is a major surprise, plot-twist near the end. It surprised me, and it was funny -- however everything that happens after that has no motivation at all. Why are these characters doing what they do? I don't know. I don't think anyone knows. On the other hand, if you wanted realism, you should have seen a documentary.


Review: The best part about this movie is Will Smith, but even he cannot make Hancock a likeable character. The other basic problem is that the bad guys are just some nameless prison escapees. A hero needs a good supervillian as a foil. This is not a bad movie, but 2008 superhero movies have been so good, that it suffers in comparison. This is nothing compared to Iron Man, Spiderman 3, or Dark Knight.

Cast and crew:
Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Charlize Theron; directed by Peter Berg

Rating
2.0


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Probably would have been cooler on the big screen.

Valkyrie

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Plot Valkyrie is a war story about a coup against Hitler in 1944. It follows the conspirators making preparations, and shows the scheme unfolding and then collapsing. Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) leads the coup and there are many other generals involved in the political plot twists. Stauffenberg's wife (Carice van Houten) and kids are in the story, but not enough. The movie focuses on setting up the conspiracy, and not on war-movie action.

Review: Valkyrie is a serious and suspenseful movie, and it is about a serious subject -- that it takes on with grim determination. The film would have been better with a deeper understanding of von Stauffenberg's motivation. It is not enough for Singer to invoke 20-20 hindsight; why were these people ready to sacrifice all they held dear? It is the style of war movies to feature tough guys with wooden delivery, but this great story was ruined by the weak script and stylized acting.

Cast and crew:
Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh; directed by Bryan Singer

Rating
2.0

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Very suspenseful -- for a movie where you know the ending in advance.

Doubt

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Plot Doubt is the story of child abuse in a Catholic school told from the point of view of the school nuns. More than that it is a character study of Sister Aloysius, (Meryl Streep) who is the school principal in her battle to drive the abusing priest from her school. She has a steely manner, but is so limited by the subservient role of women in the 1960's era Church. The priest (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is abusing a black student, and the young teaching nun, Sister James (Amy Adams,) does not know what to do.

There is a subplot concerning the doubt of the innocence of the priest and it is paired with the doubt in the faith of the church. Sister James believes in God and maybe somewhat happier. Sister Aloysius doubts the faithfulness of Father Flynn and also God.

Review: The movie is about a straight-forward story of protecting boys from abuse, but it is so well done, and the women are so courageous, that the story is consistently gripping and outstanding. The nuns that run the school are feared by the students, but are nearly powerless to protect the students against the priests. There is a powerful scene with the boy's Mom, that you will talk about after the movie. Meryl Streep gives restrained and powerful performance. Phillip Seymour Hoffman gives a nuanced performance as the perpetrator, who is portrayed as a failed, but honorable man.

This is a simple, powerful movie. Clearly the best of the 2008.

Cast and crew:
Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams; written and directed by John Patrick Shanley

Rating
4.0


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As good as Juno; superior to Wall*E

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

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Plot form IMDB The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a fairy tale about a man (Brad Pitt) that is born old and grows younger as he ages. It is told as a love story with a girl (Cate Blanchett) who he meets as a child, loves as an adult, and then who cares for him in his infancy when she herself is old.

Review: Benjamin Button is a tear-inducing tragedy about the losses in life. I had been reading about Greek tragedies and how they helped the Greeks come to grips with the toughness of life, so I was mentally prepared for this film. I think that the sadness of the movie: the war, the loss of memory, the loss of beauty, the continuous loss of friends, is in keeping with the dour mood of our country. While this is not the finest movie of the year, and is a bit of melodrama, it is refreshing, serious and different.

The aging of the actors is gimmicky and distracting, but necessary since movie audiences expect images. The story has a grand epic sweep like Forest Gump wrapping in the history of the twentieth century. The movie's plot is substantially different from F. Scott Fitzgerald's original which concerned Benjamin, his father, and his son (not daughter) rather than a love story, however, the movie plot was satisfying and well-adapted to the cinema.

Cast and crew:
Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Julia Ormond; directed by David Flincher; screenplay by Eric Roth; loosely based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Rating
2.5
1/2

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See the movie next to a row of teary-eyed, teenage girls for the complete experience.