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.

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.

Changeling

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Plot
Changeling is a complicated story about a missing boy, police corruption, 1930's era mental care, and a mother's love for her kid. A boy goes missing, and the police eventually bring a boy from Illinois who claims to be the missing boy but isn't. A police captain (John Donovan) demands the woman (Angelina Jolie) take the boy home, and then sentence her to an insane asylum when she protests. The woman and her preacher (John Malkovich) get her released, and then there is a twist in the missing boy investigation involving another detective's (John Kelly) investigation of a notorious crime and trial.

Review
The movie is much better than its trailer, which seems like a new Erin Brokovich. Changeling is actually a character-based drama carried by Christine Collins, played by Angelina Jolie. The script and supporting cast are also solid especially, John Donovan, and Michael Kelly. The photography is painterly, and some scenes are like little still life paintings. The movie takes time to get started, but builds momentum. The end of the movie with simultaneous court cases is solid. I generally don't like true stories, because fiction is better than fact generally, but this story ends as well as a novel, so it was fine. The strength of the movie, is that it caused me to ask, what if this happened to me? How can one person struggle against such terrible pressure?

Angelina Jolie and Michael Kelly should get Oscar nominations.

Cast and crew:
Starring: Angelina Jolie, John Donovan; directed by Clint Eastwood

Rating
3.5
1/2

MoreA good satisfying cinematic experience. Not a feel-good flick.

Zack and Miri Make A Porno

Zack and Miri Make A Porno

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Plot
Producer: "No red-blooded guy wants to see a ChickFlick romantic-comedy."

Writer: "I know! Let's make a rom-com about pornography and fill it with locker-room talk."

Producer: "Great idea. Yeah, put in just enough skin for the horny kids -- so it'll still play on HBO. Then the guys will think it is cool, and the girls will get their love story. "

Writer: "And let's rake in the nerdy guys with perverted Star Wars characters."

Producer: "Great! Here is your check! Let's make this!"

Zack and Miri is a boy-friendly romantic comedy. Two platonic friends Zack and Miri decide to film a homemade porn movie in order to pay their utility bills. The enlist some friends and oddballs to film the movie. The actors talk about sex a lot and film sex a little. Being a romantic comedy, all this sex awakes Zack (Seth Rogan) and Miri's (Elizabeth Banks) true feelings and the story leads us to romantic-comedy utopia. The best scenes are the relationship scenes between Zack and Miri.

The buzz about this movie is that, despite its weak premise, it has some very funny parts. It has a few funny parts: probably not enough.

Cast and crew:
Starring: Seth Rogan, Elizabeth Banks; written and directed by Kevin Smith.

Rating
2.0
(Almost 1.5)

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Seth Rogan is a good bumbling, loveable loser, but not a good romantic lead.

Ratatouille

Watching a movie in the theater is much more fun than watching it at home. Perhaps at the theater I would have liked this more.
Pixar has a long track record of good movies, but this is the weakest. I thought the rats were unloveable, and never really got past that.

The story is about a rat, Remy, that wants to be a chef, and how he manipulates a helpless boy to take over a restaurant. Of course the movie's writers probably thought the rat was cute and likeable, but I thought he was pushy and selfish. For example, when the boy, Linguini, kind-heartedly takes in the rat, and carries him in the restaurant. The rat crawls around inside his shirt and bites him all over his body. Later that rat takes control of his body like a puppeteer. I don't see what is entertaining about this.

Cast
Written and directed by Brad Bird, Jan Pankava

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I liked was how they made visual images of how good food tasted. That was creative.

Rating
1.5
1/2

Body of Lies

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Plot
Body of Lies is the story of a CIA agent, Roger Ferris (Leonardo Di Caprio) working in Amman Jordan fighting a local Al Qaeda terrorist. Roger's boss in Washington, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) is a micromanaging cut-throat veteran, who puts Roger and his local associates in danger with his self-interested operations. There is a plot twist in the middle in which Roger sets up a fake terrorist cell that is clever and entertaining.

Review
Body of Lies is a spy movie with a post-911 terrorist as the enemy. I think the enemy is well-drawn, and the balance between American interests and the plight of the local people. The movie starts slowly, but is carried by the well-written and well-acted dialog between Di Caprio and Crowe. Di Caprio gives his best performance in recent movies, and Crowe is run to watch. Golshifteh Farahani, who plays the nurse Roger flirts with, is cute and likable.

There are some good action scenes, especially the helicopter battle at the beginning. Still the movie is not an adventure movie or 007-style movie, and those who expect that will be disappointed.


Cast and crew:
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe; directed by Ridley Scott based on a book by David Ignatius.

Rating
2.5
1/2

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DiCaprio's beard, while disgusting, is less disgusting that it is in most of his movies. Will he every play a clean-shaven character?

Ghost Town

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Plot
In Ghost Town, a grouchy Dr. Pinkus (Ricky Gervais) is suddenly able to see ghosts after he has a near-death experience. The ghosts chase him around New York City begging him to complete unfinished business for him. He reluctantly agrees to help a man break his widow (Te'a Leone) up with her new boyfriend. Dr. Pinkus falls for Gwen, the widow, in the process, and becomes a more better, less grouchy person.

Review
In the first half of the movie we are introduced to the characters, and the grouchy Dr. Pinkus is so rude that he is funny. There are also great hospital scenes with Kristen Wiig. In the second half of the story where Dr. Pinkus breaks up and then romances Gwen, the widow, the action is slower and not as interesting. The dialog is always snappy, but it turns into more of a romantic comedy at the end with cute scenes, but not as witty. The first half is the clever and fun --Ricky Gervais makes the character come alive. The second half is less creative and fun, although I liked the twist at the end.  

The movie is like Dicken's Christmas Carol and Groundhog Day in that supernatural forces cause our hero to become a better person.


Cast and crew:
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Te'a Leone; written and directed by David Koepp.

Rating
2.5
1/2

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Ricky Gervais at his grouchy best.