'Eat, Pray, Love'

 julia and james franco for starters...and it all starts friday...

uk trailer



american trailer





more to come...

'Chloe' on DVD and Blu Ray: **1/2stars

'chloe' is not just another psycho-sexual drama. it's psycho-sexual drama with a twist. and it is twisted just enough for me to recommend it.

the casting of julianne moore and liam neeson was more surprising than genius. although they both handed in good performances it was somewhat disturbing to see them in these parts. really it was!

i can understand why amanda seyfried would sign on for the film. it's more dramatic fare than her previous turns and was an obvious image changer. she does succeed on both the dramatic stretch and the image change. she shows the talent she showed each season on 'big love' that most of her big screen roles didn't utilize. and i can now almost forgive her for 'dear john'.

it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea but if you are a regular to my blog you have to be somewhat twisted so go ahead and give it a shot and rent it.

'The Kid's Are All Right' **stars

'the kids are all right' and so are the adults. merely all right. the adults are a same sex couple and paul the biological dad who will soon be referred to by one of the moms as an interloper. this is really just a typical unconventional family trying to live conventionally. now let me say upfront i know unconventional families and enjoy them. just not this one all that much.

the couple nic and jules, portrayed by annette benning and julianne moore respectively, shared the sperm donor portrayed by mark ruffalo although 3 years apart. fast forward 15 years and one of the 'donations' wants to meet his biological dad. sister joni not so much. but they do and they like him. and then the moms meet him. jules likes him well enough but not nic whose entire world is threatened by him. however, in fact jules likes him a bit too much. so maybe nic is right. but nic is just too damn rigid. it is so terribly unsurprising when jules gets "that bit too close" i mentioned. between the rigidity and alcohol consumption by nic all hell breaks loose. jules and nic fight, lazer who set the whole thing in motion kinda crumbles like a whimp and joni goes to college.

poor paul the donor who was minding his own business, running a restaurant and growing vegetables to start off with gets kicked in the balls, the balls he so willingly donated from for a measly $60.00 a pop, so to speak. he's sucker punched by the lot of them. he should have run to the hills and far away from this group sooner. he probably wished by the end of this mess that his cell had gone dead and never answered phone call number one to begin with.

now somehow in this mess there are three really wonderful performances and one surprisingly good one. annette benning is the surprisingly good performance. i've never been a fan but she plays this rigid alcoholic lesbian pretty good. well the lesbian and alcoholic parts anyway. i've always found her pretty rigid on screen so that was no stretch.

julianne moore is truly delightful and convincing as the 'what the hell have i done' jules.

mark ruffalo is in his always brilliant mode in yet another understated role and thus far under-rated as usual performance. but not by me.

but the best of the lot is joni played by mia wasikowska <'alice in wonderland'> as the 'donation' that didn't want any part of this mess in the first place. she was right. by the film's end she is off to college. if she is really smart she will never go home again. or go live with the the sperm donor dad who seems the sanest of the lot.

there is oscar buzz surrounding this film. what can i say? i suspect they will not take the oscar away from 'the hurt locker' so anything is possible. walk don't run to see this movie. better still rent it. in cinematic history it is no more meaningful than spitting into a lake.








*who the hell names a kid lazer?

(and just for the record...as a gay man i really wanted to like this movie. i long for more good gay themed films. this just isn't one of them. and i find it patronizing that straight critic's are going all out and falling all over themselves trying to be cool in their praise. )

Happy Birthday Diane

diane's latest 'secretariat' will be releases this month on the 25th on blu ray and dvd

my favorite film of ms lane is 'unfaithful'


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'Inception': Is a ****star Masterpiece

FINALLY A FILM THAT LIVES UP TO IT'S PRE-OPENING HYPE

 the best film of the summer is here. director christopher nolan denied twice for best director nominee and his 'batman begins' and 'the dark night' both denied best picture noms may just get his just rewards this time around. he had better. i defy the academy to ignore this picture come oscar nomination time. this is the new epic. my rating system goes to four stars. 'inception' deserves more.

you heard it's about dreams and invading dreams and that's all you are getting from me. you have to see it for yourself. on the big screen both times. both times? i believe you will want to make a return visit. it is so epic that i don't believe anyone can absorb all it offers in one visit. i'm going imax on it real soon.

this the the greatest roller coaster ride ever. this is edge of the seat movie going. it gets you to the edge, then gets you totally edged and trippy and all you want is to ride it longer. it is truly a mind blowing experience.

the cast headed by leo dicaprio is amazing. joseph gordon-levitt, tom hardy and ken watanabe really shine. i had reservations about ellen page at first but her casting was truly inspired. i thought she might be out of her league. but then her character appeared out of her league with the rest of the 'dream team'. neither ellen nor her character are out of their league. and then there is the divine marion cotillard. she brightens any film always. i am mad about this woman...this actress. her role is smaller than the rest but pivotal which makes it larger than the rest.

and then there is leonardo dicaprio. he just gets better and better. he is the film's center. he winds up being it's soul. this leaves a question begging to be asked. 'best actor nominee for this or 'shutter island'? so we have the kate winslet dilemma as in 'the reader' or 'revolutionary road' i picked 'the reader' for kate and she won. leo go with 'shutter island' because you owned that film. here you generously shared with a brilliant ensemble cast. trust me leo.

the musical score by hans zimmer is oscar bait. actually i say this can and will receive as many oscar noms as categories it qualifies for.

so i love this movie. it is amazing, brilliant, adult, thoughtful and yes it is a masterpiece. run to a theater near you. don't think about it just go. it is air conditioned and the perfect antidote for the heat wave in your neighborhood.
this movie about dreams is a dream come true in a summer of filmgoing mediocrity.

i repeat the WARNING: see it before you speak about it!

'Remember Me' on Blu Ray and DVD ***1/2stars

what a pleasant surprise.truth is i rented 'remember me' after seeing 'twilight the eclipse' and falling for the vampire edward more than i had in the past. so i wondered what robert pattinson could do in a non vampiric role. well he does admirably if not extremely well. he plays brooding and distant best. but his distance is not off putting. you root for him in love and family and inner war. coping with loss, family dramas, a distant father and a needy sister whom he adores he captivates. meeting the would be love of his life ally causes confusion and a past event involving her dad almost destroys their probability and possibilities.

i have to say that half way through the film i was wondering where the film was going. i was half expecting the post teenage angst ending. damn was i wrong. the film takes unexpected turns. and then a truly unexpected turn that is neither forced nor contrived nor meant to shock. it just happens as life just happens. i offer no spoiler as it would be criminal.

emilie de ravin as ally grew on me as she began to grow on mr. pattinson's tyler hawkins. chris cooper gives his usual all to the role of ally's dad and ruby jerins as caroline hawkins the kid sister holds her own in a necessarily strangely written role.

and what can i say but having lena olin on screen even for a short time is always a wonderful joy.

but is pierce brosnan that is getting to me. negatively. earlier this year he walked through 'the ghost writer' only looking halfway decent because he was generally paired with the worst performance so far this year of kim cattrall. pierce get it together. you are really just phoning in your performances lately.

but back to...

i wondered how a non vampiric robert would do. well i still do not agree with the james dean comparisons except for maybe the shoulder thing. i still contend he moves more into the montgomery clift intensity zone. and like montgomery his eyes can say almost anything and everything. i'm glad he followed the first 'twilight' films with this sober independent outing which he also 'executive produced'. he certainly proves he has the chops post vampire.

yes i admit mr. pattinson is turning me into a dewey eyed dope. and i'm not complaining.

oh i almost forgot: rent it. damn i'm buying it.

'Inception': One More Week!

hopefully the first intelligent film of the summer may be just around the corner. july 16th is the date. just one week from today.

warning: do not discuss this film if you have not seen it with someone who has. it may kill the 'ride' for you. think 'the sixth sense'.

be wary of print reviews which could care less if they ruin it for you by saying too much.

'Inception' the Trailers

three smart trailers that leave everything up in the air.

good. too many trailers give away the good parts...mainly the only good parts which generally says a hell of a lot about the rest of it.

again the WARNING is: see it before you speak about it!

'Valentine's Day' **stars

a slight fluffy concoction that's sticky as cotton candy and like that candy will leave you basically unfulfilled. but it is a confection that you might enjoy if you happen to enjoy cotton candy.

vignettes is too broad a word to use here as it is all edited together but it does consist of mostly disjointed stories.

the best belongs to jennifer garner and ashton kutcher. i'm not a big fan of the mostly unphotogenic garner but i must say she has one really good scene with which she steals the whole candy box.

then there are the surprises that involve eric dane, bradley cooper and the always charming julia roberts. all are touching really. now get your mind out of the gutter as there is no 3way.

some talent is truly wasted like queen latifa, some have seen better days like shirley macclaine and some are just window dressing like patrick dempsey.

then there are the terrible. the awful jessica biel in a terrible role for instance.

but as in any movie she appears the absolutely worst yet again in this film is anne hathaway. anne should find another millionaire, hopefully not a criminal this time, and go off into the sunset with him. way off in the sunset. far from any and every movie set.

i say rent if you really have nothing else to do.

'Shutter Island' ***1/2stars Available on Blu Ray and DVD

the best film of 2010 so far. that really may not be saying very much due to all the crap that's come out but this is a damn good film. something different and if not completely unique it's the best of it's kind since 2005's 'the jacket'.

an excellent supporting cast is headed by leo dicaprio in a great performance the oscars will probably once again ignore. mark ruffalo as always is perfect and will be forever ignored by the academy.

max von sydow and ben kingsley support admirably. but it is the always good and always underestimated/underrated patricia clarkson that turns out the type of worthy of a nomination supporting role people remember.

personally i think this is martin scorsese's best directorial effort in years. truth be told he really lost me ages ago retreading the same old same old. here he tries something new with good results.

my verdict is rent it, make popcorn and get caught up in it's web.

'Letters to Juliet' *** Stars

'letters to juliet' is like gelato on a hot summer day. for some it may be too sticky sweet and for others the perfect antidote to escape, even for a short time, a world with iran, irag, rand paul, bp destroying our seas and sarah palin in it. i fall into the latter category. every now and then a romantic dramedy comes along that touches the heart. this is one of them.

the almost always bequiling amanda seyfried charms as sophie the heroine of the piece. she once again holds her own acting opposite greatness. in this case it's vanessa redgrave. a couple of years ago she also played another sophie opposite meryl streep. playing opposite greatness seems to make her better where lesser actresses would fall flat. it's also kind of interesting she played a character named sophie opposite both of them. keep this name in mind amand for future roles as it works for you.

vanessa is wonderful as claire the character in search of her long lost soulmate. miss redgrave, much as julie christie, proves that aging with grace is more beautiful than botox and collagen filled faces. take a lesson ladies before you go under the knife. actors need their faces to act but not your surgeons idea of your face.

the men in the film work well with these two ladies: franco nero as the long lost soulmate, gael garcia bernal as sophie's fiance but most especially christopher egan as charlie the almost, maybe, could be right guy.

i say go see 'letters from juliet'. if you miss it in the theater rent it when it is released. you won't be sorry. if your are sorry i am sorry to say that you have no soul.





















the trailer