Monday, November 29, 2010

365+ movies in 365 days: Day 212 - It's Complicated


It's Complicated starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin broke all the standard rules of the Hollywood romantic comedy. There is no "meet cute" featuring a misunderstanding that must be concealed. All the parties no each other or meet through a normal course of business. While there are complications, there are no contrived misunderstandings to keep the lovers apart. Also more than halfway into the film I still didn't know which couple would end up together. And finally, the biggest rule breaker of them all, all the actors are over 50. It's Complicated is a romantic comedy for adults.

Other than that it's a pretty standard comedy with strong performances by all three stars. Jane has been divorced from Jake for ten years. She has moved on with her life and become a successful businesswoman in Santa Barbara. Jake has married the much younger Agness (Lake Bell).

Jane and and Jake meet in NYC for their son's graduation, get drunk and sleep together. Jake becomes enamored with Jane and wants to have an affair. In the meantime Jane is having an addition built onto her house and has started a romantic relationship with Adam (Martin). Suddenly Jane finds herself having to juggle men and conceal the renewed relationship with Jake from their children; while Jake cheats on his new wife with his ex.

These romantic complications make for fine comedy without falling into slapstick. The witty banter of Jake and Jane is entertaining and Steve Martin is endearing as a man learning how to fall in love again. 

The kids have the thankless role of reacting to their parents shenanigans and the script does them a disservice at the end. 

Fun and entertaining if inconsequential.

At The movie house rating ** 1/2 stars


Sunday, November 28, 2010

Twelve Movies For Christmas

Christmas is just four weeks away so it's time to break out the holiday movies. For those of you not quite ready for Santa Claus and the ghost of Christmas past, I have made a list of twelve films that will get you thinking about Christmas without overwhelming you with holiday cheer.


Long before the ghouls and goblins of The Nightmare Before Christmas took over the holiday there was Gremlins. Cute but highly mischievous creatures that wrecked havoc on the Christmas holiday. Remember don't feed them after midnight! 
At The Movie House rating *** stars



Everyone is familiar with director Bob Clark's holiday film, A Christmas Story, but how many know he also produced and directed this 1974 Canadian slasher film. Four years before Halloween, this film featured a serial killer stalking a college campus and murdering sorority girls. The film has become a cult classic on home video. 
At The Movie House rating **1/2 stars



Clint Eastwood directed this adaptation of the bestselling book. The film starred Kevin Spacey and John Cusack.
At The Movie House rating **1/2 stars.



Bruce Willis took Hollywood by storm when he starred in the 1988 blockbuster Die Hard. Terrorist take over an office tower on Christmas Eve and it's up to NYPD officer John McClain to stop them.
At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars.


In 1992 John McClain was back. Another Christmas and more terrorists, this time taking over an entire airport.
At The Movie House rating *** stars.


Will Smith is forced to fight secret enemies within our own government when he becomes an Enemy Of The State. Gene Hackman starred in this crisp techno-thriller.
At the Movie House rating *** 1/2 stars


It's Christmas in 1183 AD and the King and Queen of England argue about which of their sons will ascend to the throne and become the next King of England. O'Toole and Hepburn are a marvel to watch.
Multiple Oscar winner.
At the Movie House rating **** stars.




Rene Zellweger stars as the wildly funny Bridget Jones and Hugh Grant and Colin Firth are the suitors fighting for her attention in this hilarious British romantic comedy.
At The Movie House rating *** 1/2 stars.


Hugh Grant is back in this adaptation of Nick Hornby's bestselling book About A Boy. I highly recommend you give up 4 units of time for this very smart, charming comedy.
At the Movie House rating **** stars.


Hugh Grant returns again, re-teaming with Colin Firth and an all star cast for the very funny and "ultimate" romantic comedy.
At The Movie House rating *** stars



The Ref is the complete opposite of those charming, sentimental British comedies. Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis are an eternally arguing married couple and Denis Leary is a kidnapper who comes between them, in this biting black comedy. Watch it for the over the top performances by Spacey and Davis.
At the Movie House rating ** stars


Raising Arizona is the second film by the Coen Bros. It stars Holly Hunter and Nicolas Cage as a pair of hapless baby nappers. It has all the trademarks of the Coen's great films and has become a cult classic on home video.
At The movie House rating *** 1/2 stars.

365+ movies in 365 days: Day 211 - Maid In Manhattan


The modern Hollywood romantic comedy or "RomCom" has a very basic formula:
1.) The "meet-cute" - The couple involved meet in a way that is accidental, funny, a misunderstanding or in circumstances that cause one person to hide something from the other.

2.) The contrivances - the script will call for multiple reasons for the couple not to get together even though it is obvious they are meant for each other. Sometimes the contrivance is a huge obstacle that must be surmounted, other times it is something that if one of the partners said a couple of words the road block to happiness would be removed. 

3.) A cast of secondary characters that are both comical and supportive.

4.) The happy ending - the couple overcome all obstacles to love and live happily ever after.

The success of the film will depend on the chemistry of the movie stars and the quality of the script. If the stars have really good chemistry than even a bad script might make a successful film. But even a really good script won't be saved if the movie stars can't sell it. Probably the most successful romantic comedy of all times is Pretty Woman. There you had a very good script and great star chemistry between Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. For one of the worst check out Gigli with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. Affleck and Lopez had plenty of chemistry off screen but they could not make it translate to film. In addition they had a terrible script so the movie crashed and burned.

Maid In Manhattan also stars Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes and they have good chemistry together. The script borrows heavily from the Cinderella fairy tale and is serviceable to get the stars through to the end. The cast of secondary characters include Bob Hoskins as the hotel butler, Frances Conroy as the best friend, Stanley Tucci as the campaign manager, Natasha Richardson as the hotel guest, Priscilla Lopez as the mother and Tyler Posey as the son. All perform their roles admirably. And of course the film has a happy ending you could see coming 10 minutes after the film started.

Maid In Manhattan is light-hearted and a fun date night movie. It will offend no one and bring a tear to the heavily romantic types. It's a charming "B" movie with the budget and marketing campaign of a blockbuster. 

At The Movie House rating ** 1/2 stars.




Saturday, November 27, 2010

365+ movies in 365 days: Day 210 - Milk


There was a small article in the paper about the murders of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. The event happened thirty two years ago today. The article made me think of the movie Milk and I decided to watch it again, this time focusing all my attention on Sean Penn's Oscar winning performance. 

Penn literally becomes Harvey Milk. All aspects of Sean Penn's personality vanish as he takes on the role of Harvey Milk. The majority of other actors can not do this. I am always aware I am watching Cruise, Hanks, DeNiro, Pacino, Hoffman and Nicholson. There celebrity status is always there underneath the performance.

With Penn all you get is Harvey Milk. It is one of the most brilliant acting jobs of the decade and the film should be watched just for Sean Penn alone.

The movie itself carries an emotional impact that can't be denied. Director Gus Van Zant perfectly captured the time and events that took place during the tumultuous 1970's

At The Movie House rating **** stars

Friday, November 26, 2010

365+ movies in 365 days: Day 209 - A Matter Of Life And Death

Micheal Powell and Emeric Pressburger are responsible for some of the best movies in British Cinema. Their accomplishments include The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, The Life And Death of Colonel Blimp, 49th Parallel, Peeping Tom and One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing. But their best film, and one of the best movies in all of British cinema, is A Matter Of Life And Death.


Americans will know the film as Stairway To Heaven because the U.S. distributor felt American audiences would not go see a movie with "death" in the title so soon after WWII.


The movie stars David Niven as  Squadron Leader Peter David Carter, an RAF pilot who's plane is shot down. He makes contact with a June (Kim Hunter),  an American WAC radio operator shortly before he bails out of his plane without a parachute, plummeting to certain death.


The next day he awakens washed up on a beach and discovers he somehow survived the fall. He searches out the radio operator and they fall in love.


Unfortunately Peter is missed in the other world, where the daily tally of lost souls does not add up. Peter's conductor (Marius Goring), a Frenchman who lost his head in one of their revolutions, reveals he lost Peter in the thick English fog. He is assigned to go collect Peter and conduct him to the other side. But Peter is in love and won't go. He demands an appeal, something that has never been done before in all of human history.


Peter reveals all this to June and her friend Doctor Frank Reeves (Roger Livesey) who believes Peter is suffering from a brain injury that must be operated on at once. The film also stars Raymond Massey as the prosecutor, an American killed at Concord and Lexington, who has an eternal grudge against the British. Abraham Sofaer is the heavenly judge and Richard Attenborough has a small part as an English pilot. 


The film never reveals whether Peter is hallucinating from his injury or does he actually experience other worldly events. The movie is shot in vivid technicolor except the parts in 'heaven" which are done in black and white, a reversal of films such as The Wizard of Oz.


The film itself is a reversal of the movie Here Comes Mr. Jordan. In that film a prizefighter is taken from a crashing plane too soon, and it was determined that he would have survived, and now a way must be found to restore him to human life. In A Matter Of Life And Death the pilot is taken too late and must fight for his right to keep on living. The filmmakers based the movie on a true story of a pilot who bailed out of his plane without a parachute and survived


The movie is an ode to everything British from it's history to it's language. Yet it was also an attempt to bridge the widening gap the English had with American soldiers in their country. The movie portrays an a British soldier falling in love with a Yank girl, instead of the other way around. The film also represents the struggle for power between America and Great Britain shortly after WWII.


The amazing production design and unique visual effects are impressive even for today's audiences. Powell and Pressburger had no fear in developing new techniques and special effects to tell their story. They capture the vastness of the cosmos and the intimacy of a tear drop on a rose petal, all in one film. Uniquely the duo were responsible for writing, directing and producing their own movies. They shared film credit for all three activities on one title card. They were not beholden to any studios and made the movies they wanted to make, without interference, which might explain why they are still popular today.


For a long time Americans saw an edited form of the movie. The tile was changed and a scene of a naked shepherd playing a flute amongst a herd of goats was removed for decency reasons. The boy is a pan figure and suggests to Peter that he might be in heaven. There is nothing indecent about the scene but Americans have always been prudes, even back in 1946.


Later the film would be chopped up even more for television broadcasts. It was only in the late 80's that Powell and Pressburger's films began to be truly appreciated and they were restored and screened at film festivals.


A Matter Of Life And Death finally made it's way onto DVD by Sony Classics in 2009. 


Total Film, a British movie magazine ranks A Matter Of Life And Death as the second greatest British film ever made, right after Get Carter.


It is a delightful, yet serious film that asks the question "Does love conqueror all?"


At The Movie House rating **** stars.

































Thursday, November 25, 2010

365+ movies in 365 days: Day 208 - Raging Bull & Ordinary People

Today, after thirty years, I finally watched Raging Bull. For a film buff this has been a serious oversight in my movie watching. Raging Bull is widely considered one of the best films ever made and it has been on my list of must-see films for a long time.

I missed Raging Bull when it was in theatres in 1980 and I have intentionally avoided watching it on home video. Scorsese's masterful use of black and white film was legendary and I wanted to be sure to see the movie in a theatre. For various reasons over the years I have missed opportunities to catch the film, until tonight. When I went to a screening at The Castro Theatre.


The film was breathtakingly beautiful. It was almost luminescent. The movie's reputation proceeds it, so I don't need to give a recap here. I was stunned by the brutality and versatility of Robert DeNiro's performance. In his performance DeNiro captures all the emotions that bedevil men. Jealousy, suspicion, inferiority, impotence, rage all come across, sometimes with just a look or a gesture. And Cathy Moriarty and Joe Pesci hold their own, acting against him in scene after scene. The brutality of the film was unrelenting, but you can't turn away. Yet it did not touch me emotionally, I felt more like a voyeur watching the self-destruction of a man.
At The Movie House rating **** stars.


In 1980 five films were nominated for Best Picture; Coal Miner's Daughter, Elephant Man, Ordinary People, Raging Bull and Tess. The other three were good pictures, but everyone knew the contest was between martin Scorsese's Raging Bull and Robert Redford's Ordinary People.


Ordinary People was the directorial debut for movie star Robert Redford, but the film appears to be the work of a filmmaker at the pinnacle of his talents. There is not a single wrong note in the film. Redford bravely cast the two main leads against type by hiring Mary Tyler Moore and Donald Sutherland to play Beth and Calvin Jarrett. Their work in this film is a triumph of acting. In addition he directed first time actor Timothy Hutton to an Oscar winning performance as Conrad Jarrett and directed Judd Hirsch to a nomination as well.

The film tells the story of a seemingly perfect mid-western family that is imploding from within. The tragic loss of one son has upset the careful balance these three people have maintained and they seem incapable of helping each other to set things right again. Redford uses the camera and quiet moments to communicate more than any ten pages of dialogue could. 

The film is heart-breakingly sad and touches you in a profound way.
At The Movie House rating**** stars.

The Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director went to Ordinary People and Robert Redford. Over the years the status of Raging Bull has grown and many feel that Raging Bull was more deserving, but watching both films back to back I would say they are equally deserving for very different reasons.
This Oscar rematch is a tie.





Wednesday, November 24, 2010

At The Movie House Celebrates Thanksgiving Movie Traditions

Some of my earliest and favorite movie memories are of watching King Kong and other films on Thanksgiving.

If you were a kid in New York City, circa 1960-1970 watching classic movies on WOR Channel 9 and WPIX channel 11 would probably be part of your Thanksgiving traditions too. The adults would either be in the kitchen or sitting in front of the main TV watching football, but some where in the house, the basement or the den, the other TV would be on and the kids would be sitting around watching King Kong and being inundated with ads from Playworld and later on, Toys "R" Us.



The viewing would start directly after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade ended.

First up would be Channel 11 WPIX where children's host Captain Jack McCarthy and Officer Joe Bolton would introduce the holiday favorite Laurel & Hardy in March of The Wooden Soldiers (aka Babes In Toyland).

This classic from 1934 had the comedic duo inserted into the Victor Herbert's operetta. Their bumbling slapstick causes all sorts of problems for Toyland including an attack by the bogey-men. This film has received a restoration on DVD and some of the parts that were cut to shorten it's length for broadcasting have been restored.




Watching March of the Wooden Soldiers meant skipping the channel 9 broadcast of Mighty Joe Young which was shown at the same time. In later years Captain Jack went off the air and channel 11 discontinued their Thanksgiving children's programming and Mighty Joe Young was the film to watch.



After March of the Wooden Soldiers ended it would be time to change the channel to WOR, channel 9 for the broadcast of King Kong. Kong was the Thanksgiving staple for many years. WOR-TV built a holiday film festival around him. Every year we would sit and watch as the intrepid explorers made their way to Skull Island only to discover it was inhabited by man-eating dinosaurs and Kong, the great ape. 



But man would defeat the beast and bring his conquest to New York City where Kong would bust loose and wreck havoc across the city.  Made in 1933, the film is a classic and is still as enjoyable today as it was when I was 10. When released to home video the film was restored and all of the more graphic parts removed by the TV networks were restored.

After Kong was over WOR would broadcast Son of Kong, the RKO Pictures sequel to King Kong.


We would never get to watch Son of Kong all the way through because dinner would be ready.

When dinner was over and the adults were napping, the kids returned to the TV sets where you could count on WPIX to broadcast Miracle On 34th Street. 


This film heralded the arrival of the Christmas season, just as the real Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade did earlier in the day.


By the late 70's WOR's showing of King Kong had become so popular they turned it into a weekend long film festival featuring Godzilla movies. 


You could count on any variation of Godzilla movies being shown including the original.


or the monster mash-up King Kong vs Godzilla.


By the 1980's Crazy Eddie electronics stores had taken over the role of primary sponsor and his commercials haunt people to this day. 

If you look at TV schedules today you will see that the majority of broadcasters, local and cable, have abandoned holiday programming in favor of talk shows, games shows and sitcom re-runs. But with the instant accessibility of most videos for home viewing you can create your own Thanksgiving Film Festival.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Movies

It's time to talk turkey about Thanksgiving movies. Unlike Christmas and Halloween, Thanksgiving movies are not as plentiful, and the majority of turkey day themed films feature dysfunctional families squabbling over more than the turkey. 

I have selected fourteen films that you might enjoy on this festive, truly American holiday. Happy Thanksgiving.


Plymouth Adventure 1952 all-star MGM technicolor epic featuring Spencer Tracy, Gene Tierney, Leo Genn and Van Johnson. This is the only major Hollywood film about the Mayflower voyage.  The film is shown every year on Turner Classics Movie (it aired last Saturday). Until recently it had never been released on VHS or DVD. This month Warner Bros. released it as part of their new made to order Warner Archives Collection : Warner Bros. Shop - Plymouth Adventure
Dated Hollywood hokum, but still fun.
At The Movie House rating *** stars


Planes, trains and Automobiles is one of the funniest comedies ever made. Released in 1987 by Paramount Pictures the film stars Steve Martin and John Candy as two misfit road warriors trying to get home for Thanksgiving. They are joined together by circumstance and each learns important lessons about themselves on their journey. The two actors take this comedy way beyond the level of slap stick and snappy one-liners.
At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars.


Miracle On 34th Street is one of the most traditional Thanksgiving day films. I would watch it every year. Released in 1947 by 20th Century Fox it features Maureen O'Hara as Mrs. Walker a driven executive for Macy's Department store who has the difficult task of wrangling the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. When she hires a replacement Santa Claus (Edmund Gwenn) she inadvertently sets off a legal challenge that will test the true meaning of Christmas. The film also stars John Payne and Natalie Wood in her first role. Gwenn won an Oscar for his portrayal of Santa Claus.
At the Movie House rating **** stars


The hit Broadway musical was adapted into a feature film in in 1978 by Universal Studios. The Wiz is an urban retelling of the Wizard of Oz with an African American cast led by Diana Ross as Dorothy. The film was a commercial and critical failure and is now a relic of another time. But it has some dazzling art direction, cinematography and Micheal Jackson in a rare film role.
At The Movie House rating ** stars


I already talked about Hannah and Her Sisters when I watched it last week. This delightful dramatic comedy from Woody Allen is one of his masterpieces and one of the best Thanksgiving movies about families around.
At The Movie House rating **** stars


Woody Allen offered up another Thanksgiving themed movie with Broadway Danny Rose. Allen plays Danny Rose an ineffective talent manager who gets mixed up with gangsters as he tries to arrange a gig for his biggest star. Includes a very funny scene in a warehouse holding balloons for the Macy's parade.
Classic Woody Allen. 
At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars


Home For the Holidays, directed by Jodie Foster and released by Paramount Pictures in 1995 is probably the most popular of the dysfunctional family films to come along. The film stars Holly Hunter, Robert Downey, Jr., Anne Bancroft and a large cast of notable actors who gather together for the annual ritual of eating and fighting. It's the performances that elevate this film above it's very uneven screenplay.
At The Movie House rating *** stars


Director Ang Lee perfectly captured the dysfunction of the American family circa 1973. The film stars Kevin Kline Joan Allen and Sigourney Weaver and tells the tale of two suburban Connecticut families whose life's are drawn together one Thanksgiving. One of the best films of 1997.
At The Movie House rating **** stars.


Pieces of April stars Katie Homes as an urban free spirit who is cooking Thanksgiving Dinner for her family. This 2003 dramatic comedy won multiple film festival awards for it's performances, especially Patricia Clarkson.
At The Movie House rating **1/2 stars.


Another dysfunctional family gathering for a New England Thanksgiving. This 1997 film from Sony Classics features Blythe Danner, Roy Scheider, Julianne Moore and Noah Wyle. It's this strong ensemble cast that makes this film above average.
At The Movie House rating ** 1/2 stars.




Nobody's Fool released by Paramount in 1994 stars Paul Newman as Sully a loner who has trouble maintaining meaningful relationships. This blue-collar dramatic comedy features superb performances by Newman, Bruce Willis, Jessica Tandy and Melanie Griffith. It's a family drama that is neither too sentimental or sappy.
At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars.


Avalon is a big budget epic about the American immigrant experience from Tri-Star pictures in 1990. This semi-autobiographical film by Barry Levinson follows a family of Polish-Jewish immigrants as they settle in Baltimore at the beginning of the 20th century. We watch the family grow and change and learn what it means to be American.
At The Movie House rating *** stars.


This blockbuster hit from 2009 starring Sandra Bullock tells the true story of Leigh Anne Tuohy and Micheal Oher. The movies message is that with love and support of people who believe in you, you can achieve anything. Bullock won an Oscar for her performance, but Quinton Aaron as "Big Mike" is the one to watch.
At The Movie House rating *** stars.


Scent of a Woman features an Oscar winning performance by Al Pacino as a blind veteran who hires a prep school boy to escort him to NYC one Thanksgiving weekend. Released by Universal in 1992 the film is a highlight of Pacino's career and features a young Chris O'Donnell as the student. The film is highly engaging, but goes on much too long.
At The Movie House rating *** stars

From laugh out loud comedies to serious family dramas Thanksgiving has a cornucopia of films to offer any movie buff.

Happy Thanksgiving.



365+ movies in 365 days: Day 207 - Hotel (1967)



Hotel is based on the best-selling novel by Arthur Hailey. In the 1960's, 70's and 80's Hailey was king of the potboiler melodrama. He would carefully research an industry and than write a fictional tale with intriguing characters and interweaving plots. His most famous work was Airport, which was made into the Oscar nominated picture. But before Airport, there was Hotel.

Hotel is the story of a grand, but aging hotel in New Orleans(based on The Roosevelt Hotel). The jet age has passed by the type of southern hospitality the St. Gregory has to offer. The young energetic general manager Peter McDermott (Rod Taylor) has been successful in turning business around, but his success comes too late. The note on the loan is due and the financial picture is bleak. The hotel owner Warren Trent (Melvyn Douglas) has been offered a lucrative real estate deal that will result in the building being torn down. Curtis O'Keefe (Kevin McCarthy), a hotel magnate is eager to purchase the hotel for himself and add it to his roster of modern hotels.

While the hotel management tries to resolve the financial issues, some of the hotel guest have issues of their own. Burglar "keycase" Milne (Karl Malden) is systematically robbing guest. And the hotel's royal guests, the Duke and Dutchess of Croydon (Micheal Rennie & Merle Oberon), have a secret of their own.

All these stories intertwine and eventually come crashing down in a sudden conclusion.

Movies like this are popcorn melodrama and are only as entertaining as the script and the cast make them. Here the cast works hard to capture the essence of running a big hotel. Rod Taylor manages to rise above the material and Karl Malden is especially fun to watch as he plans his nightly capers and attempts to elude the hotel detectives.

From the "B-girls" on Bourbon Street to the "escorts" in the lobby there is a lot that goes on under the roof of the St. Gregory. It's all highly entertaining, but also highly forgettable.

At The Movie House rating **1/2 stars.


*notes - The character Kevin McCarthy plays was named Curtis O'Keefe in the book and that is his name in the movie, but the opening titles list his character as Charles McCrea and for some reason Warner Bros. never fixed this error.

Hotel was released on VHS for a short time, but never released on DVD, until recently. The Warner Bros. Archive now offers the title as part of their made to order series.

Four of Hailey early novels Runway Zero-Eight, The Final Diagnosis, Hotel and Airport were made into major Hollywood films. The rest Wheels, The Moneychangers, Overload, Strong Medicine, The Evening News and Detective were made into popular miniseries. The novel Hotel was also the basis for the popular TV series starring James Brolin and Connie Sellica.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

365+ movies in 365 days: Day 206 - Up In The Air

Up In The Air is a 2009 dramatic comedy starring George Clooney and written and directed by Jason Reitman (Juno and Thank You For Not Smoking). The film also stars Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick. It is also one of the best movies I have seen in years.

The film follows Ryan Bingham (Clooney) a corporate down-sizer as he travels from city to city in a cocoon of business class perks. Ryan lives life without burdens. His philosophy is to empty your life of burdens. Possessions and relationships that lock you into place and keep you from living are things to be jettisoned from 'your backpack". But his point of view is really a shield to protect him from the emptiness of his life and his lack of emotional connections. Everything changes when he meets two women. Alex Goran (Farminga) a kindred soul and road warrior just like himself and Natalie (Kendrick) an ambitious new -hire that has a cost cutting plan that threatens Ryan's very existence.

The film has a timeliness and freshness that is amazing. It has wit and charm as well as grace and humility. It reminded me of Billy Wilder's The Apartment, another film that gave a searing look at the corporate world in the guise of a romantic comedy. The movie is tailor made for Clooney and his character seems infused with Clooney's own personality. The movie takes a searing look at modern day life, but does not offer up any easy answers.

At the Movie House rating **** stars.











365+ movies in 365 days: Day 205 - Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part I


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows is the complete opposite of the original film in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. There are mature themes of loss of innocence, death, and first love. The film is the cinematic equivalent of a modern thriller with quick edits, and stunning cinematography.

Watching the film I longed for the day when Hollywood turned out epic films such as Gone With The Wind, Lawrence Of Arabia and Ben-Hur. The studios were not afraid of producing a three hour plus picture that told a compelling story. Because no matter how you look at it this film is only half a movie. Instead of having an intermission of 20 minutes that sends us out to the lobby for more popcorn, it has an intermission that lasts almost 8 months. The movie does not have an ending; it just stops.

The Empire Strikes back showed Hollywood that a sequel can end on a cliff-hanger and the audience will return in droves. But Empire featured a climactic confrontation between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, that fans had been waiting for. In Deathly Hollows Harry and Lord Voldemort have a minor skirmish in the beginning and then do not cross paths for the rest of the film. This leaves an empty and unfulfilled feeling at the end of the movie. 

Warner Bros. claimed they split the book in order to do justice to the material and that may be true, but there is no denying that the primary factor is economics. Theatres will not show a film over three hours. It allows them only one screening per night and they won't make needed revenue. And by splitting the book Warner can expect two billion in ticket sales for this title instead of one billion. So Harry Potter fans are treated to a half a movie. But it's a good half.

By now the film is exclusively about the three heroes Harry, Ron and Hermione. Everyone else is reduced to small parts and cameos. Hogwarts does not appear at all. Harry, Ron and Hermione are on their own. Fugitives from the Ministry of Magic, searching for the secret means to destroy Voldemort.

Even with the book divided in half there is a lot of material to cover and the film offer long expositions about Horcruxes, deathly hollows and various magicians who are somehow linked to Dumbeldore and Voldemort. If you have not read the books and watched the other films you will be completely lost. Even having read the book it was still a challenge to follow everything they were talking about.

Even at half a movie the film packs an emotional wallop. It opens with some edge of your seat action and never really lets up for a good 45 minutes. When the characters on the screen finally share a moment to relax, an audible sigh and chuckle was heard by the audience. And the film ends with the death of a beloved character that had the audience in tears.

I can look forward to Christmas 2011 when both films will be out on DVD and I can watch them as one complete movie. If Warner Bros. is smart next July they will set up a double feature screening HP7:Part One & Two together.

At The Movie House rating *** 1/2 stars.

365+ movies in 365 days: Day 204 - Kate & Leopold


Kate & Leopold is a charming romantic comedy featuring a time traveling Lord who falls in love with a modern city girl. Hugh Jackman is the Leopold who through inexplicable time travel mumbo-jumbo follows scientist Liev Schreiber through a temporal rift leaving the 19th century and arriving in the 21st Century. Here he meets Kate McKay (Meg Ryan) a modern career woman who has no time for Leopold's courtly manners. The film has some interesting things to say about the speed of modern life and the lack of principles and priorities. Jackman and Ryan have good chemistry, but I am getting tired of seeing Meg Ryan in these kind of roles. Thank goodness they didn't ask Tom Hanks to play Leopold.
Enjoyable fluff that's good to watch on a cold, rainy night. Get a blanket, some hot chocolate and watch this sweet, romantic confection.

At The Movie House rating ***stars

[edit]

365+ movies in 365 days: Day 203 -Harry Potter Retrospective

Over the course of the week I have been watching the first five Harry Potter films, culminating with this evening's viewing of the sixth film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

It was in the year 2000 that Harry Potter broke into the zeitgeist and became a culture phenomenon. The fourth book in the series expanded beyond it's classification as a children's books and became a publishing juggernaut. The first three books were already repeatedly appearing on the NY Times Bestseller list. Warner Bros. had purchased the rights to the books and the Harry Potter Franchise was already under way in Hollywood. To date the six films have made $1.7 billion dollars in U.S. ticket sales and a worldwide gross of $5.4 billion. With the release of seventh and eighth film that total should increase to $7.5 billion by the end of 2011. The Harry Potter series is the highest grossing franchise in Hollywood history, beating out all 22 James Bond movies and the six Star Wars films (without adjusting for inflation).

In watching the films I could not decide if it's appropriate to use the books for comparison or judge them on their own merits, so it's a little of both.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) - The first visit to Harry's magical world. Very close to the book and full of charm. Also full of excess dialogue and exposition. Squarely aimed at children. 
At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars



Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) - Not as wondrous as the first and just as long. Seems episodic rather than smooth story telling. Nice performances by Kenneth Brannagh and Jason Isaacs.
At the Movie House rating *** stars

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) - The film series grew up with this installment. Director  Alfonso Cuaron jettisoned a lot of the material meant for children and made a much darker more serious fantasy film. Gary Oldman, Emma Thompson, David Thewlis, and Timothy Spall joined the cast and Micheal Gambon took over the role of Dumbeldore.
At the Movie House rating ***1/2 stars
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) - As the actors have matured, so have the films. Goblet of Fire is probably the best of the series so far. But as the Harry Potter mythology grows it gets harder and harder for the viewer to understand what is happening if they have not seen the other films, or read the books. Lord Voldemort finally appears and is played with delicious evilness by Ralph Fiennes.
At The Movie House rating *** 1/2 stars.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) - is the largest of the books and the film with the most left out. Many subplots and stories were jettisoned to keep the film under 2 hours and 30 minutes. This gave some challenges to new series director David Yates, but he managed them by staying true to the emotional core of the story, Harry's journey. Helena Bonham Carter and Imelda Staunton were added to the ever growing cast. The finale features a battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort, which is reminiscent of Darth Vader battling Obi-Wan-Kenobi.
At the Movie House rating ***1/2

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) - is the penultimate book in the series, but in the movies it is the third to last film. David Yates continues as director and he handles the emotional weight of the film very well. Many of the decisions made in how to tell the story were influenced by the upcoming film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. Jim Broadbent was the newest professor at Hogwarts. 
At The Movie House rating ***1/2