Movie Reviews

Why I Hate Weddings

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Margot at the Wedding
  • IMDb: link

You know I can handle a chick flick, but Margot at the Wedding is a chick flick on speed, (and not that good of one).

The film is centered on Margot (Nicole Kidman) an overbearing and smothering loudmouth who drags her child (Zane Pais) to her sister Pauline’s (Jennifer Jason Leigh) wedding, not to celebrate to to break it up and find some time cheat on her husband (John Turturro) to bone an old school chum (Ciarán Hinds).

Subplots of the film include the averageness of Pauline’s fiancé Malcolm (Jack Black), the cute and seductive neighborhood girl (Halley Feiffer), suggestions of child abuse and incest, and the increasingly odd and crazy argument with the neighbors over the fate of the family’s favorite tree.

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A ‘Wedding’ Worth Attending

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Margot at the Wedding
  • Rating: 4.5 Stars
  • IMDB: link

The best dramas are the ones that make you fall for the characters, and because of this Margot at the Wedding is one of the best dramas of the year.  Sweet and funny in even some of its darkest moments, it’s a movie that fully exploits character developments and relationships without ever hinting at becoming sappy.

The plot is simple enough – Margot (Nicole Kidman) ventures back home from the big city for the wedding of her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to the sporadically depressed but endearing Malcolm (Jack Black).  It might sound like a joyous occasion, but it’s anything but, thanks to the inability of Margot to just shut up and love her family.  Never content with herself or her surroundings, she constantly criticizing everyone within eyeshot, descending from her high throne of a New York socialite, a writer who spends more time analyzing the world than she ought to.  Blithely and sneeringly, she can put down her sister’s confidence, fiancé and pregnancy inside of a single breath.  She’s really a disgusting person, but it’s clear that she’s aware and haunted by her repulsive behavior.

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More Video Game Movie Mediocrity

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Hitman
  • IMDb: link

What’s Thanksgiving without a turkey?  Hitman is exactly is good as you would expect from a flick adapted off a series of video games.  It’s not the mind-numbing disaster Doom was (thank God! read that review), but it’s not exactly good either.

Timothy Olyphant stars as “Agent 47,” a bald hitman with a bar code stamped on the back of his head.  He works for a secret organization performing assassination and murder for hire, that is until (for no apparent reason) he’s sold out by the people who own him and he goes on the run with a whore (Olga Kurylenko) owned by the man he must kill and avoid capture by the Interpol agent on his tail (Dougray Scott).

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Enchanted

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Enchanted
  • IMDb: link

Enchanted is every little (big) girl’s dream; the fairytale comes to life in New York, for reals. Princess Giselle (Amy Adams) is thrown down a well by the evil Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) to keep her from marrying her son and stealing her crown, the well just so happens to end in Manhattan, New York. Here is where the real adventure begins for the princess.

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August Rush

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: August Rush
  • IMDb: link

“I believe in music the way some people believe in fairy tales.”

august-rush-posterThere are two stories here.  The first involves a young orphan (Freddie Highmore) with untapped musical talent who leaves the orphanage to “follow the music” and find his parents.  His journey leads to new friends (Leon G. Thomas III, Jamia Simone Nash), a stint as a street musician under the control of the Fagin-esque Wizard (Robin Williams, in a cowboy hat), and a trip to Juliard where his talent blossoms.

The second story (shown mostly in flashbacks) involves cellist Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) and rock band member Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).  Their chance meeting a decade before was dashed by Lyla’s father (William Sadler) separating them for years. 

Lyla’s unexpected pregnancy puts her career at risk and her father snatches up a chance accident to make her believe her son is dead.  Jumping back to the present Lyla learns the truth and with the help of a social worker (Terrence Howard) begins to search for the son she’s never met.  At the same time across the country Louis facing his own midlife crisis searches out the woman who he still loves.

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