October 22, 2009

  • Movies I've Seen Recently...


    An Education  (2009)  B+

    It's been said that young girls mature a lot faster than boys, to the point that they want to be adults a lot sooner than later. Director Lone Scherfig and writer Nick Hornby's "An Education," is based off Lynn Barber's memoirs that demonstrates that saying. Carey Mulligan wonderfully plays the character of Jenny, who is a well educated, talented 16 year old school girl, who is being groomed by her parents to get into a prestigious university like Oxford. So what happens to her when she meets David, a man about twice her age who; played by Peter Sarsgaard, starts to give her the opportunity to travel outside her small town, and introduces Jenny to concerts, night clubs, and most importantly to her, Paris. Here is this life that an adult is able to live that is definitely more "fun" than the boring school life that she is currently living. Needless to say, she gets seduced by that lifestyle introduced to her by David, and as stories like this goes, she will learn a very valuable life lesson. While the subject matter isn't exactly original, and the movie "cheats" a bit with some of the plot points (like the ending), the strong performance by Carey Mulligan completely carries "An Education" all on her shoulder, making it very easy to get invested with her coming-of-age story.


    A Serious Man  (2009)  A

    Are you able to laugh at somebody else's misfortune? If you are, then Directors/Writers Ethan Coen & Joel Coen's "A Serious Man" is the movie for you. Michael Stuhlbarg does a remarkable job playing the Jewish physicist professor Larry Gopnik, who is simply having a string of bad luck in his life. He's got kids who don't respect him, he's got a wife who wants a divorce, his brother is getting into trouble with the law, he might be facing difficulties getting his tenure at his job, he was bribed (or was he) by a student who wants a better grade, and many more problems. In a way, Larry Gopnik is like a modern day Job from the Bible. Slowly but surely, all these problems tests his patience, and trying to get solid advice from his Rabbis aren't helping either. As it goes with Coen Brothers movies, things can be seen as more than what is shown on screen. The very first scene alone that depicts an old Jewish tale, doesn't even feel connected with the rest of the movie at all. Also true to form with their previous works, expect to leave the movie wondering what exactly happened at the end of the film going "what did it all mean?" Not to mention the regular use of Jewish jargon that might go over people's heads. Philosophy. Religion. Life lessons. Hilarity. Drama. "A Serious Man" has a lot going for it, and is simply a fascinatingly great movie.


    Lymelife  (2009)  B

    Add this movie to the list of films depicting dysfunctional families in small town suburbia. You've got the father; Alec Baldwin, who is too absorbed in his work to be a good husband to his wife; Jill Hennessy. You've got another family whose father; Timothy Hutton, is jobless and stricken with lyme disease, while his wife; Cynthia Nixon, is feeling frustrated for being the only bread winner of the household. Despite all of the plot points there, Director/co-writer Derick Martini's "Lymelife" focuses on the coming-of-age tale of Scott Bartlett, played excellently by Rory Culkin. We see this suburbia life through Scott's eyes, how he eventually realizes how screwed up his family is, how flawed adults can be, and how complicated young love is. A good chunk of the story is about how Scott has always secretly been in love with the girl next door best friend Adrianna Bragg; played really well by Emma Roberts. No matter where you live, life can feel so unfair, and not everybody is going to come out on top. That's the lesson this movie teaches, and while the drama found here isn't completely original, it is told well and has characters we can all relate. "Lymelife" isn't exactly a typical exciting movie, but I couldn't help but get involved with the story, and wanted to see where it was going.


    Princess  (2006)  C

    I thought the premise of Director/co-writer Anders Morgenthaler's "Princess," would have made a great revenge flick. The story after all is about a missionary named August, who seeks revenge against the porn industry, because his sister Christina ended up dying as a very popular porn star, and now has to take care of her five years old daughter Mia that she left behind. This is clearly a pretty heavy and interesting plot, but unfortunately the final result is quite a bit of a mixed bag. To my surprise, I even found the movie boring, as some scenes simply moved by too slowly. It was probably a bit of pretentiousness that's at fault here as well, because there are clearly some dramatic moments that were designed to resonate well with the audience. As an animated film, the animation itself isn't that great. There are some scenes that are live-action; mostly dealing with flashbacks, that I thought were poorly thought out as well. Yes, there are some graphic violence here, although the action sequences don't happen very often. The movie's biggest strength are the characters and the relationship between August and Mia, and that kinda worked for the most part. There were however simply too many implausible things happening in "Princess," that I'm honestly disappointed that this couldn't have been a better film.