...Freedom Writers (2007)

Hilary Swank and a solid group of young actors relive the true story of the Freedom Writers in this film that plays dangerously close to the 60s classic To Sir With Love. That's not a bad thing - it's just a thing. Like the first film, this is a feel-gooder about teaching and education; unlike the first film, the teacher is white and there is no #1 hit single.

...The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)

Although overlong, The Man Who Came to Dinner is a well-made adaptation of the Broadway hit with Monty Woolley repeating his stage success as the man and Bette Davis playing second lead to bring bodies into the movie theater. It worked; the play is still funny and both Woolley, Davis, and An Sheridan are excellent in their roles. It does have a Christmas theme so, for better or worse, this is the time to check it out.

...Tin Man (2007)

Tin Man is an impressive re-purposing of the characters and mythology in L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that, despite it's serious tone, can be quite humorous in how it interpolates the familiar plot points into a brand new story. The computer generated imagery is excellent (especially considering its gestation as a television mini-series) as is the acting by, among others, Zooey Deschanel and Kathleen Robertson. Don't expect songs (although the score is magnificent) or the red slippers - just an emotional roller coaster ride double-dipped in fantastical science fiction.

...Heights (2005)

And writing of Elizabeth Banks (which I did yesterday) I found a little comedy and a little drama about four people and the happenstances in a 24 hour period called Heights, a film of which I had never heard. The film stars Glenn Close as Margo Channing (almost), Banks as her daughter, James Marsden as Banks's gay fiance, and Jesse Bradford as a gay-bor of the couple and it, and they, are all charming. The film starts on a low keel but steadily builds to a really sweet denouement: a great risk from Banks and a great kiss between Marsden and Bradford.

...4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

I don't know why anyone would bother hiring Jessica Alba just to put her in a blonde wig - or for that matter, to act. That's what they did in 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, a really boring movie (with a pretentious name) in which the aforementioned acting-challenged Alba and her cinematic sweetheart (Ioan Gruffud) have zilch in the chemistry department. Hire Elizabeth Banks for Christ's sake and maybe the film would work.

...Dan In Real Life (2007)

Forced cute siutations do not a romantic comedy make and Dan in Real Life is pretty boring until Emily Blunt enters gving the last half of the film some much needed steam. Steve Carell is good and Juliet Binoche is suitably flighty but the story is a little cloying and the movie is marketed in North America as something it is most definitely not. Still, I cried at the end and what more can you ask of a rom-com with a little indie feel (even one that is surprisingly similar to Sandra Bullock's While You Were Sleeping.)

...Day of the Dead (2008)

Mena Suvari takes quite well to her role as a bad-ass solider in Day of the Dead, a remake of the 1985 George A. Romero original and faux-sequel to the 2006 remake of Dawn of the Dead. Suvari impresses with her handling of the weaponry and is reason enough to watch this. But if you're a zombie fan, double the pleasure - even carrying with it the status of straight-to-video it's pretty good despite the fact that the only thing that remains, remake-wise, are the characters' names.

...Blonde Ambition (2007)

It's not that Jessica Simpson is bad in Blonde Ambition, a dreadful mashup of Working Girl and Ugly Betty, it's that there are people willing to give her money to make films when there are other actresses so much more interesting. She is bland, not especially talented as an actor (but can pass), has weird lips, and through attempts to channel Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, and Reese Witherspoon shows no flair and not much spark. A cameo by Penny Marshall (the director's aunt) and a romance with Luke Wilson make the film mildly watchable.



Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down

...Pitch Black

Pitch Black is an old-fashioned yarn with some new-fangled creatures trying to get some B-rated actors (one with a character twist I saw from a mile away). It's not enthusiastically engrossing but the story keeps moving and it does have one A-lister in Radha Mitchell. No, not Vin Diesel.

...The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde (1968)

Warren Beatty's Bonnie and Clyde is vilified by some for its glorification of the criminal couple's exploits and The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde sets the record straight, according to the estate of their nemesis lawman (and movie villian) Frank Hamer. Actual video footage from the criminal couple's massacre, photographs, interviews, lame dramatizations, and a polygraph machine that sits silently between the interviewer and the ex-criminal he is interviewing (you gotta see it to believe it) form the story arc that is at once familiar yet most probably more in line with the truth than the classic film. If Bonnie and Clyde (the couple) are your obsession, you won't want to miss this; it gets a lot less necessary after that.

...The Sarah Silverman Program, Season One (2006)

Although Sarah Silverman in a stand-up comedy setting is brilliant, The Sarah Silverman Program (Season One anyway), her faux-reality show, is less so; maybe it's lacking in the truth that the foxy Jew usually skewers with abandon. I found her sister Laura, an actress I remembered from Lisa Kudrow's The Comeback, a lot more interesting as the six shows dragged on. It's strictly for fans of either of the Silverman gals, TAB drinkers and poop joke lovers.

...Mamma Mia (2008)

Mamma Mia is par excellence but due to the personal nature of the subject matter I couldn't limit this review to three lines. Click here for a doctoral thesis with history, pictures, clips, and yes a review. But see Mamma Mia first.

...I Am Legend (2007)

Every part that Will Smith tackles comes out looking and sounding like Will Smith and I Am Legend is no different. The mainstream apocalyptic zombie story (taken from the classic science fiction novel by Richard Matheson) gets some steam going in the second half when Smith's character gets to interact with others but it takes a bunch of time getting there. And here's a semi-spoiler for all you dog lovers so don't read further if not interested:

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there's a sad scene halfway through the movie that might make you turn away or turn it off.

...Batman Begins (2005)

I am not a fan of the comic book into film genre but I thought if I was going to be forced into seeing the most successful movie of all time, The Dark Knight, I should first see Batman Begins. All it made me realize is that I have no desire to see The Dark Knight. Next.

Bonnie and Clyde (1968)

Bonnie and Clyde has been, and still is, one of my top ten favorites of all time. It's got Faye, Warren, Arthur Penn on the megaphone and Theadora van Runkle on the needle and thread - am I missing something here? It is thrilling, stunning to look at, classic and worth multiple viewings because they rob banks.

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...In The Valley of Elah (2007)

In the Valley of Elah is an excellent film (from Paul Haggis of Crash) about the Iraq war that doesn't feel like a film about the Iraq war. The film is a slow boiler and engrossing in its story of a father's search for his missing son. Good stuff with a shocking final scene from a film that never lets you down.

...The Concorde...Airport '79 (1979)

The Concorde...Airport '79 is a snooze fest with a ridiculously convoluted script and a stream of top-notch actors ( John Davidson, Charo, Alain Delon, Sylvia Kristol of Emmanuelle fame and the ubiquitous George Kenndey) that delve deeply into their own psyches to develop these multi-dimensional characters - NOT. It seems that the producers were attempting a throw back to the original film with elaborate back stories and situations but nothing ever seems to happen even when you can see something happening on screen with your own eyes. Skip it unless you're a film series completist or want to see Jimmie "J.J." Walker getting stoned.

...Airport '77 (1977)

Airport '77 doesn't have the sincerity of the original film or the camp value of the first sequel. In fact, the horrible plane catastrophe that is conducive to every Airport film is not even that exciting: the plane remains intact at the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle - big whoop! Brenda Vaccaro, Jack Lemmon, George Kennedy (3x the charm?), and especially Lee Grant are game but someone put the board away - and left the bored in.

...Airport 1975 (1974)

A classic in the disaster film genre, Airport '75 is unwittingly funny and wickedly campy. The actors are trying so hard to make the script work but it is really Karen Black, Gloria Swanson and Myrna Loy who come out smelling like a bouqet of roses. Helen Reddy sings a ridiculous song she wrote to Linda Blair, Charlton Heston does his hero shtick, and George Kennedy returns for the second of four Airport films but no one (and nothing) makes this turkey unwatchable.

...Airport (1969)

Airport is one of the last glossy soap operas made for the big screen, a throwback to the multi-character, multi-story films of the 50s, before television (and the mini-series launched in the 70s) became the place for this type of entertainment. It's a populist film so don't expect intellect but expect some excellent performances: Maureen Stapleton is heart-breaking, Jacqueline Bisset is stunning, Helen Hayes is wicked, and Dean Martin is just Dean Martin in a pilot's uniform. Fun all-around entertainment that has aged well and deserved the nods it received from the Academy,

...The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald (1964)

The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald is a straight-ahead filming of a mock trial of the presidential assassin, performed in a courtroom setting, that stops dead (pun intended) two-thirds of the way through for five minutes as an interview about Cuba with the real Lee Harvey Oswald is played for evidence. Historically it might be nice to have this on record but cinematically we're not talking Citizen Kane. The film has no music or audio other than what the actors speak, and the judge literally looks at the camera when talking to the jury; Court TV it ain't but it was filmed in Dallas in 1963 in the weeks following the actual assassination so that's worth...um...something?

...The Idolmaker (1980)

The Idolmaker is an excellent picture about the music business in the 60s that contains music with a decidedly 80s sound. That said, I love the music and this film with its emotionally raw performances (including Ray Sharkey in a career-maker and Tovah Feldshuh), exciting musical segments, and a sharp script that says something without being preachy. Pull out a hanky and then live your life as The Idolmaker does!

...Babe: A Pig in the City (1998)

The now-infamous sheep pig and his master's wife head to the city to help save the economically ailing farm in Babe: A Pig in the City, the sequel to the surprise hit of 1995. Charming and whimsical, Babe ultimately wins out but not before encountering sundry animals jaded by a life in the urban jungle. The animal techtronics and human voiceovers are, if possible, better than those in BABE and help to add up to an engrossing fairy tale for children and their higher-ups.

...Being John Malkovich (1999)

Being John Malkovich is possibly the weirdest lesbian-themed, science fiction black comedy I have ever seen. Although a bit long, the premise (akin to using actor John Malkovich as a ride in Disneyland) is definitely intriguing and worth a look. The cast, including John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener and the titular actor, is great in roles they have undoubtedly not inhabited before and never will again.

...Hairspray (2007)

Hairspray is a near perfect filmization of a Broadway musicalization of a comedy film with era-specific dance music. John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Nikki Blonsky, Michelle Pfeiffer and too many other cast members to list are wonderful; the songs are melodic, catchy, and literate, and the screenplay flows beautifully to its emotional burst of of an ending. For a few more than three lines on this film, see Truth, Lies, and the Poop on Hairspray.