Movie Reviews
Titles starting with C
Clueless
This adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Emma, updated to a high school in Beverly Hills is a lot better than I had expected it to be. Which, I guess, would have been easy since I had no expectations of quality at all. Cher is rich and spoiled and superficial, but there is a heart down beneath all those expensive clothes. When she hears of the “Pismo Beach ... Read more »
Coach Carter
A fairly standard underdog sports movie. Samuel L. Jackson is always good to watch, and the young ball players are pretty good. The sports action is well done, you could actually see the plays being set up, for what that’s worth.
Coast to Coast
Not a bad film, but just sort of standard, despite starring two very great actors: Judy Davis and Richard Dreyfuss. A couple who has lost a child and intends to get divorced set off cross-country in a lovely old T-Bird, visiting friends and family. It kept us watching and had some touching moments, but was really nothing special.
Coco
I go into a Pixar film expecting a good film, maybe even a masterpiece, but I wasn’t prepared to start loving this one before the opening credits! No kidding, you know the traditional Disney intro where we pull back to reveal Sleeping Beauty’s castle, with fireworks exploding all around and Tinkerbell flying over it? The music behind the animation is always “When ... Read more »
Coco Before Chanel
Coco is right up there with Édith Piaf among the most famous French women. Hell, right up there with Joan of Arc. She had a fascinating life, and this movie tackles only the early years. Some have objected to this, because it ignores her most infamous period, during the occupation of France, when she was the mistress of a German officer and Nazi spy. I read just a little about this, and ... Read more »
Cocoon
Here is a feel-good movie sort of in the mold of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It asks the question, “If you were real old, soon to die, and found a magic pool that restored your youthful vigor, would you take off on an alien spaceship?” Well, duh. It’s all very well done by Ron Howard, and stars a galaxy of old pros like Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume ... Read more »
Code 46
My friend Paul sort of recommended this, said something like it was an interesting attempt at real science fiction. I agree; unfortunately, it failed. It’s like all the furniture was there, in terms of settings and atmosphere, the party was all ready, but nobody came. The characters were unsympathetic and the plot all but incomprehensible, some hugger-mugger about genetics. It used an ... Read more »
Coffee and Cigarettes
Just a series of 11 vignettes about people sitting around smoking and drinking coffee and talking. Naturally some work better than others, but the ones with Cate Blanchett playing two parts, the one with Alfred Molina, and the one with Tom Waits and Iggy Pop are little masterpieces. (All the stars are playing themselves.) Hell, I liked all the others, too. Try it some night when you aren’t ... Read more »
Coherence
I love little independent movies like this. It was made in five days in the director’s living and dining room, on a budget that added up to about a large bag of Cheetos and a case of Dr. Pepper. There were more actors (eight of them) than crew. And they made it up as they went along. That can be disastrous, but it worked very well here. And it tackles a subject as arcane as the real-world ... Read more »
Cold in July
I had a real pleasant surprise during the end credits. It turns out this was based on a 1989 novel by one of my favorite authors, fellow East Texas boy Joe R. Lansdale. He is one of those writers you can absolutely rely on to never go the easy, obvious route, a man who will constantly surprise you. He can write horror, period pieces, and he has a great series starring two guys named Hap ... Read more »