09.28.08

I Can’t Wait!: Australia, The Soloist, & Quantum of Solace

Posted in I Can't Wait! at 9:27 pm by Chick 1

Fall is here & that means - Oscar season!  Yes, a few inspirational films scattered throughout a bunch of movies to slit-your-wrists-by.  Guess which ones I prefer.

On the heels of Oscar season comes the holiday movie season.  Blockbuster tentpole releases, family films (some crappy, some fun), & a few Oscar stragglers.

Here are a few upcoming releases that I’m excited about.  Hmmm… they all come out within 5 days of each other.

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09.27.08

Review: Like Water For Chocolate

Posted in Reviews, The 1990s at 11:05 pm by Chick 1

 Chick 2 says:like_water3

Like Water for Chocolate is a subtitled film typical of fairy tale fantastical stories from Mexican directors.  It’s the story of Tita, forbidden to marry her true love so that she can care for her overbearing mother, she pours all her unfulfilled emotion into her cooking.  Her true love Pedro, in order to be near Tita, marries her older sister and drama ensues.  It is a clever and cute story, but not sophisticated.  The second act seems long as you wait for a final resolution to all the hardship, and that resolution may seem dissatisfying to some.  Released sixteen years earlier, its story has similar characteristics but does not quite attain the magic of Chocolat.  Lumi Cavozos is very endearing as Tita, and her sister Gertrudis provides for some brief entertaining comic relief. 

IF you’re looking for a fun, fantastical rental, THEN go (rent it).

09.21.08

Review: Blow Dry

Posted in Reviews, The 2000s at 9:16 pm by Chick 1

Rachel Griffiths & Alan Rickman strut their stuff

Rachel Griffiths & Alan Rickman strut their stuff

Chick 1 says:

I’d been wanting to see this quirky little British movie for several years.  It has an amazing cast & looked like the hairstyling version of Strictly Ballroom, a movie I love. 

Blow Dry stars Alan Rickman as Phil, a hairstylist in the small British town of Keighly, who was once an international hairstyling champion.  He now owns a dumpy barber shop where he works with his son, Brian, played by Josh Hartnett.  Phil, has not competed in 10 years since his wife, Shelley, ran away with his hair model, Sandra (Natasha Richardson & Rachel Griffiths).  Shelly and Sandra now own a salon in the same town.  The storytellers kick things off with an announcement that the international hairstyling competition is coming to Keighly and the revelation that a character has cancer, then sit back and let the madness ensue. 

Well, kind of.  Read the rest of this entry »

09.18.08

Review: The Women

Posted in Reviews, The 2000s at 12:06 am by Chick 1

Chick 2 says:
The Women is a movie that celebrates, well, women.  This story is all about women living their lives - with each other, with their family, with their careers, and with men, although the latter cannot be seen anywhere in the film, not even on the camera crew.  Walking though a door opened by Sex and the City, this movie makes a statement about finding out who we are (not some expected cliché of who we ought to be) and being true to that, even if things don’t always end tied up in a pretty little bow.  Just as important as being who we truly are is finding a family of friends who will love, support and accept us along the way.  Hopefully giving a comeback performance, Meg Ryan leaves behind some of her rom-com quirks and builds a character that is somewhat realistic.  Also believable is the conglomerate of the four friends (Annette Benning, Debra Messing, and Jada Pinkett Smith) as they handle their friend’s crisis in the midst of their own day to day.  It’s not a perfect family of friends, but such a support system is necessary, rewarding, and fun to watch. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IF you want to spend an afternoon or evening celebrating your female relationships, THEN go.

 

09.14.08

Review: Burn After Reading

Posted in Reviews, The 2000s at 11:32 pm by Chick 1

Things aren't going well for Brad

Things aren't going well for Brad

Chick 1 says:
While I certainly appreciate the talent of the Coen Brothers, I can’t exactly call myself an expert or even necessarily a fan.  My personal taste in movies doesn’t usually gravitate toward dark or graphic violence so that eliminates quite a few of the Coens’ major films, including last year’s No Country For Old Men, from my sphere of enjoyment.  However, I have enjoyed their comedies quite a bit.  O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Raising Arizona are among my favorite movies.  I even like Fargo, though I confess I’ve only seen an edited version on cable.  (Sacrilege for a film fan, I know.)  So I was both excited and a little leery about this dark comedy. 

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