Movie Reviews
In Country
There are some great war movies that concentrate on combat. Saving Private Ryan, Paths of Glory (the first part), Full Metal Jacket (the second part), and Platoon come to mind. But the ones I prefer are those that concentrate on the home front, and/or the aftermath: Mrs. Miniver, Coming ... Read more »
In Bruges
First, let’s get something absolutely clear: though it says nothing about it on the box, this is a foreign language movie. Some intelligible English is spoken, here and there, mostly by Belgians, but all of Colin Farrell’s dialogue is in Irish. Not Gaelic, but in an Irish accent so thick, so impenetrable, that I’d wager there’s plenty ... Read more »
In America
One of the all-time greats. The acting of the children is wonderful. In fact, everything about it is wonderful. We just saw it again on DVD, and was even better the second time. Couldn’t recommend it more highly.
Imposter
Yet another big movie made from a Philip K. Dick short story. It’s 2079 and Earth has been at war with invaders from Alpha Centauri for a few decades. The Centaurians have a technology whereby they can kill someone and put all his memories into a cloned body indistinguishable from the real one without elaborate tests. So the replicant thinks he’s the original. Through some ... Read more »
The Impossible
That’s what I would have said if you told me this story, and I didn’t know it was true. A family of five, tourists in Thailand on December 26, 2004 when the biggest tsunami we had ever seen up to that time hit the resort hotel they were staying in … and they all survived. When you see what it was like to be thrown into that maelstrom and whirled about with tons and tons of lethal trash, ... Read more »
Imitation of Life
Lawsy mercy, honey chile! Ain’t it be some kinda miracle, de way colored folks has come a long way fum de way dey wuz always behavin’ in de movin’ pitchers back in de t’irties and how we sees ‘em now? Why, I do declare, it wuz dat way in de fo’ties, too, and even de fi’ties and sum into de sixties, I swan!
If I continue in that lame dialect any longer I’ll throw up. But nobody ... Read more »
Just Like Heaven
Romantic ghost comedies have been a Hollywood staple since at least the 1930s. I tend to like them, if there is good writing and acting, and there is both in this. Sure, they’re corny, but so what? This one doesn’t rise to the level of Ghost, it doesn’t take itself quite that seriously and doesn’t have Whoopi Goldberg to lighten things up when it threatens to bog ... Read more »
IMAX Space Station 3D
There’s a few of these out on DVD now. I remember seeing IMAX NASCAR 3D on the shelves. I didn’t see much point to it. Neither film is 3D on DVD, and even the biggest HDTV with the coolest home stereo isn’t going to give you 1/100 of the IMAX experience. On the other hand, this is the International Space Station, and I’d probably watch grain 8MM black ... Read more »
Juno
The buzz on this one going in was so strong that I was half expecting a bit of a letdown. And to tell the truth, it did not capture me from the very first moments. I’ve been reading some of the message boards at the IMDb and Metacritic, and the main objection I’m seeing is that the two teenage girls were way too sophisticated in their dialogue. I felt that, a little, at first. But once it ... Read more »
Imaginary Heroes
A beloved son commits suicide, and a family tries to deal with it, mostly pretty badly. We’ve seen this family before, and done better, in both The Ice Storm and Ordinary People. This movie is all over the place, can’t decide what it wants to be, and I’d have given up on it but for its emotional center: Sigourney Weaver. The lady is getting better and better. The right part in a movie ... Read more »