The Dancer Upstairs

Augustin Rejas (Javier Bardem) attempts to find the mysterious Ezequiel -- the leader of a revolution being fermented by native people of a Latin American nation. But weighing equally heavy on Rejas's psyche is his attraction to the teacher (Laura Morante) of his daughter's ballet class. The affair provides solace to the emptiness of his marriage and his frustration in the search for Ezequiel, but it's not a cure-all. Directed by John Malkovich.

For anyone who thought they'd never watch Javier Bardem after seeing "No Country For Old Men" then you need to see this as the antidote. He plays an honest policeman and disillusioned lawyer finding a bad guy and trying to balance his life. It is a very nuanced performance and I though John Malkovich generated a subtle movie, regardless of there being some violence. I think if this had been made after NCFOM, Bardem would have been nominated for another Oscar, as well as Malkovich for best director. It's a compelling story, beautifully filmed, with some scenes so well done they'll stay with me for a long time. I suggest this for everyone.

Slumdog Millionaire

So this was the second in my movie marathon weekend and, I must say, was the one most-anticipated by me. This film was one I tried several times to see while it was in the theaters but n never quite made happen. It was also the movie that seemed to be THE movie to see this year, especially since everyone I seemed to talk to had seen it at least once, oftentimes twice, telling me that the second time was even better than the first.
I must admit that all of the hype both turned me off a bit and also promised to put more pressure on a film than it could ever live up to. But, I did want to see it and thought I'd stick with my Oscar nominated film choices for the weekend.
This was a good movie. Was it the movie of the year? Not in my opinion, but again, I had such high expectations for it that, had I seen it with the rest of the world several months back, I may have a more realistic take on it and perhaps may have been moved more than I was. (and if you do decide to rent this, I highly recommend also grabbing a cupcake from Crumbs Bakery and a glass of milk....helps any movie-watching experience!)
I liked this story and found the flashbacks interesting and intriguing, for the most part. The acting was solid, the story was interesting, and it did tug at my heartstrings a bit as well. I thought it was a tad long, but that may have just been because the giant Snowcap Cupcake was sitting in my stomach and making itself known.
Anyway, this is the story (for those of you who don't know) of a young man from the slums in India who has, by any standard, quite a shitty life. But the one glimmer of hope and joy in his life, from early on, was a little girl also from the slums, Latika. Throughout the course of their childhood and adolescent lives they meet and then lose touch several times, and on most encounters you see that neither of their lives are really getting much better. But finally, after an appearance on India's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," their lives intertwine once more and it really is a pretty touching love story.
Again, good movie and definitely worth my time, but not life-changing or, perhaps, movie-of-the-year-worthy...but hey, that's just my little old opinion. And apparently I'm alone in it given all of the awards it won this last season! So, take this review for what it's worth. Mom and Dad probably will pass, I think Amanda has seen it, and I'm 50/50 on how you would like it, Debbie. And, since I have no good way to wrap up this review, I'll just say: The End!

Tenacious FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) is assigned to pursue Samir Horn (Don Cheadle), an ex-Special Ops soldier who joined the Al Nathir terrorist organization. But as he closes in, Clayton begins to second-guess Horn's true intentions. An intelligent and exciting spy thriller that also examines the beliefs and motivations behind terrorism, the film co-stars Jeff Daniels and Neal McDonough.

I tend to watch and post about action/thrillers more than our other bloggers and am cutting back unless the film is really good. This film is really good. Don Cheadle is excellent as the person moving through a terrorist network with unclear motives. What sets this appart from most films of this sort is the reduced violence in telling such a tale (there has to be some to tell the story) and Cheadle's character's sincere adherence to the tenents of Islam. That faith propels and supports him throughout the story and sets this film apart from other hunt-for-the-bad-guy films. The cast is uniformly excellent and the script is first rate. If this were considered a drama and not an action film, Cheadle would get a mention for an Oscar. Other than Beckie, I don't know who else would like this, but it just might be all of you.

Frost Nixon

A few weeks ago I initiated a self-imposed exile. I shut off my phone, I went on lots of walks, runs, took lots of naps, read, and rented a ton of movies On Demand. This was the first one I watched and it started off my weekend right!
I had heard a lot about this during Oscar season and was intrigued by the idea that it was originally a stage play; and not only that, but the actors in the film are the same who portrayed Frost and Nixon on stage. I must say, they certainly knew these characters, both of whom I realized quickly I knew very little about. Obviously I knew the gist of the Nixon scandal, but knew very little about what came before and, more importantly (for the film), after Richard Nixon left office.
I thought the story was compelling, the acting was top notch, and the film moved along at a pretty good pace. The supporting cast, which consisted of (among others) Kevin Bacon and Oliver Plath were also, I would say, top notch. I found it funny, intriguing, mesmerizing....everything you want from a self-imposed exile movie weekend!
I highly recommend this to all of you - and that's saying something! I just talked to dad tonight as he and mom were about to pop it into the dvd player, so I'll be curious to hear their thoughts. But, for my money and time, this is certainly worth your while. Enjoy!

The Prestige

I had not heard of this movie and went with a Netflix recommendation. Am I glad I did! This came out in 2006 and is about 2 competing magicians at the turn of the 20th century. They continue working on more elaborate and dangerous tricks and sleights of hand and eye. The setting is Victorian London with a trip to see Tesla (of electricity discoveries) in Colorado Springs! It all fits together and when the finale came I was both smiling and horrified. I decided to watch it a second time the next night and think I enjoyed it even more, as things made much more sense. It has a creepiness that, well, creeps up on you as in the middle of the movie on viewing #1 I was engrossed, the cat wandered in and meowed/said hello, and I jumped! I really liked it.

Star Trek

I'll have to deviate from posting a logo and available synopsis since it just opened and all I seem to find are trailers.
The film involves a time prior to the beginning of the original Star Trek series. The director also used for the first time all new cast members to portray those characters, with one exception which is the complicated part of the movie. Picking this time frame allowed him to tell a story less tied to the shows portrayed in the other films, which were based on the original cast members of Star Trek or Star Trek-Next Generation. The result is more fun and less rigid than the other movies and allows for a back story somewhat different than the other films because of the complicated plot twist in the middle of the film mentioned earlier.
If you are a Star Trek fan, you'll probably like the film and accept some of the changes. It will allow for more movies in the future that are not chained to the original Star Trek series. If you are not a Star Trek fan but like action movies and can live with some suspension of reality like those present in the Bond and Bourne movies, you still should like the film. It moves quickly, the characters are likable, the casting choices were very good, and the plot skims the suspension of belief thing close enough that you'll probably like the movie depending on how you're feeling that day. If action adventure is not your thing, you won't like the movie.
I liked it. The opening 5-10 minutes were so good that it set me up to accept whatever came later. It's one of the best Star Trek movies and a good action film in its own right. It's a fun ride.

The Good German

U.S. Army correspondent Jake Geismar (George Clooney) gets caught in a web of intrigue involving ex-flame Lena (Cate Blanchett) in Steven Soderbergh's drama set in post-World War II Berlin. Lena's missing husband is hunted by U.S. and Russian military, and in desperation, she looks to Jake for a way out. Tension mounts as Jake discovers Lena's been keeping secrets and the black market dealings of his shady driver (Tobey Maguire) come into play.

Jackie and I both read the book and liked it. It's a good mystery, with the backdrop of Berlin a couple of months after VE day being ripe for intrigue, greed and murder. It's a tough story to tell in a movie, so they didn't.

The movie script decided to change the back story and character of Lena, her husband, Jake and the driver. At least the Allies still won WWII. To add a certain 40's era feel to the film, it's in black and white (looks great) and all the actors have the emotional attachment to each other and the story of paper dolls moving across the screen. Think high school stage play, not Casablanca. They lumped two different women from the book into one person in the film (Lena) and turned the husband from a believable rocket scientist who participated in starving Jews to a "Good German" who wanted to do the right thing by testifying against the other rocket scientists to cleanse the German soul. I hated this movie.

If you haven't read the book and still wonder if the movie stands on its own as a different film because it has a great cast, great look, and a famous director, don't bother. It still doesn't work. I had intended to only report on films I really liked, since I see lots of others that the rest of you might not care about one way or the other, but this one took me by surprise so much I wanted to post the warning. Did I mention, "don't see this movie?"

Blue Planet

This series has David Attenborough narrating multiple DVD's of vignettes on the ocean and its plant and animal life. The footage is like no other, astounding, time-consuming and costly to get, and they show it in sections - open ocean is one, coral seas is another, etc. Very informative and educational, and compelling. One downside is that if Phil and I try to watch it on a Friday night after a long work week, we usually doze off, because lots of the music is dreamy-like. However, we can watch it all the way through on Saturday and are amazed at the footage. We use Netflix, as I think at least some of you do, so we would have one of the Blue Planet series at home and watch over a few days of viewings, and would have another non-educational type movie here for our "veg out" nights. We are so taken with this series that our Netflix queue has similar DVD's every 3rd one or so (currently we are working on "In Cold Blood", the reptile series - I'll let you know when we're done).

Milk

As I said earlier, Phil and I got this movie about a week ago. It is the story (true) of Harvey Milk, a San Francisco gay man who grew tired of the poor treatment of homosexuals and minorities and ran for and eventually got elected to the S.F. city government. He was very charismatic and was able to align unlikely groups (like a labor or Teamsters union) to back him because he was able to channel the votes and money of the local homosexuals to support union gripes (Coors boycot, an example). However, this was in 1978, when Anita Bryant was gaining strength in her crusade against anyone unlike her (particularly homosexuals) and while Harvey Milk was able to make amazing gains in his brief time in office, he had enemies, in particular another city council person who eventually assassinated Milk and the SF mayor in 1978. This triggered a huge candlelight march on city hall, where the murders occurred (appeared to be pre-meditated) and subsequently instead of extinguishing the flame of excitement and cohesion that Harvey Milk was able to bring about, his death brought greater drive to his ideals. A true story. Sean Penn won a well-deserved Oscar for his portrayal of Milk. Be prepared for some tasteful love scenes (ala Cold Mountain), no real violence (the shooting scene is horrifying for what is represents but is not excessive), and I don't recall much if any profanity. Two thumbs up.

Vicky Christina Barcelona

So I just rented this On Demand last night and it was a film I'd wanted to see when it came out in the theaters. I wouldn't call myself a fan of Woody Allen's - I think he has an interesting (yet predictable) aesthetic, and sometimes it hits, and sometimes it misses. This one.....landed somewhere in the middle.
It centers around two friends, Vicky and Christina, twenty-somethings on a summer vacation in Barcelona. Personally, I loved the shots of various parts of the city and, if anything, it just made me want to go back and explore Barcelona more. So the backdrop for the film is certainly incredible. However, I found the characters of both Vicky and Christina a bit one-dimensional. I could almost predict what each one was going to do at any given moment. But that's not to say I didn't enjoy the film.....it's just that I was hoping for a bit more.
Vicky is a somewhat uptight, by-the-book, soon-to-be-married intellectual just interested in the architecture of the city and, apparently, being a tight ass killjoy. Christina is, seemingly, the antithesis of Vicky and I never quite figured out why on earth these two ever became friends, let alone traveled together. But whatever, friendship comes in all forms. Anyway, Christina (Scarlett Johansson) is a free-spirit, flightly, daring, lost soul looking for a little excitement and the exact opposite of monogamy and marriage.
Enter: Smokin' hot Javier Bardem. For those of you who saw "No Country for Old Men," this will be quite a change as far as Javier playing a sexy Latin artist rather than a homicidal killer. He quite wonderfully plays Juan Antonio, a passionate, shockingly honest, complicated painter with a crazy (super crazy) ex-wife (Penelope Cruz) who adds quite a pleasant flare to the movie. I can see why she was nominated for an Oscar (and won!).
Anyway, in case you see it I don't want to give away the plot....but I can say that when the movie was over I thought "Well...huh." It was well done, fairly well acted, entertaining, and not too long (under 1.5 hours). But I was left wondering what I was supposed to feel. But maybe I was just expecting something that it wasn't.
I started to think of who would like this film and I think maybe Amanda, but that's probably it. Again, I enjoyed it, but it's not the rousing film I had heard and expected it was.
So...there ya' go!

Gone Baby Gone

I love the idea of a movie blog, too! Thanks for putting this together!
Ok, so for my first official movie review, I'll do "Gone Baby Gone" since I just rented it On Demand. I'm pretty sure no one would be surprised by my choice to see a movie directed by my honey, Ben Affleck. But my completely unbiased opinion is that this is definitely worth your time. I really think most (if not all) of you would like this film. It's got a great cast of those you know, and some you don't. All give some great performances and the film really moves right along.
It centers around a couple (Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) who are private investigators. They end up being contacted by famiy members of a little girl who has been abducted and we watch the lives of both the investigators, the police involved, and the family of the little girl unravel. And it definitely took a few twists and turns I didn't expect, keeping me on the couch through the whole thing! (which is quite an accomplishment for me to sit still for a full 2 hours).
Definitely recommend this one for a Saturday movie night (though, obviously, not kid-appropriate). I give it two thumbs up!

The Lives Of Others

Set in 1980s East Berlin, director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's debut feature (which earned an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film) provides an exquisitely nuanced portrait of life under the watchful eye of the state police as a high-profile couple is bugged. When a successful playwright and his actress companion become subjects of the Stasi's secret surveillance program, their friends, family and even those doing the watching find their lives changed too.

This has subtitles. I like them and even switch on the subtitle option for films who's actors have strong British accents but know that it's an instant turn off for some people. This film has no objectionable language (unless you hate German), no killing (although some people die), a little sex. It starts off subdued as the Stasi agent follows every nuance of the target's life but takes some very interesting turns as the interplay between the agent, the target and the Stasi hierarchy progresses. A very moving story without being overblown. Amanda and Becky both should like it. Jackie's not a big subtitle fan so would pass. Debbie, I don't know your preferences yet but that will change as you make your posts.

Undocumented immigrants Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Senay (Audrey Tautou) work at a posh London hotel and live in constant fear of deportation. One night, Okwe stumbles across evidence of a bizarre murder, setting off a series of events that could lead to disaster -- or freedom. This gritty, complex thriller from director Stephen Frears received an Oscar nod for its screenplay. Sophie Okonedo and Sergi López co-star

Here's my first post and I'll try to follow this format hereafter. Use the Netflix picture and description and go from there.

This is a BBC film, and unlike a lot of those films, the language has almost no objectionable words (f...). That's not a big issue for me but sometimes it becomes the dominate word in the script of other films and overwhelms what would otherwise be an interesting story. This film deserved the nomination for best script. The film moved right along, the dialogue was always just right, and there was real tension and surprise from the story telling rather than relying on killings and car chases. The humor was understated but there enough to be noticeable and the interplay between the maid and the cab driver/desk clerk was very well done. The lead, Chiwetel Ejiofor, will be familiar if you've seen "Serenity" or "Children of Men." He has a great film presence. As a bonus, Sergi Lopez will be very familiar to Amanda as the Fascist captain in "Pan's Labyrinth." He's as much a bad guy in this film as that one.

Since movie preferences are at least as strong as book preferences, it's tough to tell who would like this, although I know Becky would and even Jackie.

Saint Ralph

I saw this movie a few years ago, but it is so memorable that I would watch it again anytime. It is a coming of age story of a young teen-aged boy/man whose mother is dying (or not?) of cancer. He is in a Catholic boys school, trying to fit in and reconcile his heartbreak and hope with his mother but also his hormonal surges. There is a particularly funny scene of him and a buddy at the public pool trying to peek into the girls locker room. I laughed til I cried. He ends up running and taking a go at the Boston marathon. It is a funny, touching movie, many laugh-out-loud parts coupled with tearful and touching ones. I would love to think it is true but I don't think it is. A funny, heartwarming story - a near must for the runners in the family.

The New Movie Blog

You asked for it......and here it is! The Amos Family Movie Review blog. I am lame and have recently watched Barbie Nutcracker and Max and Ruby's Halloween Adventures. Exciting, I know. But I'm sure the rest of you have some great recommendations. Please share!