iris

this film is a moving portrait of a woman who has spent her whole life as a writer crafting words and teaching about their importance as she begins to loose that very thing she loves so much. judi dench plays iris who is a famous author and professor known for her verbose vocabulary and love of the english language. she is now growing old and loosing her memory, most specifically she is forgetting words, the language of her soul. by her side is her long suffering husband, played to hapless perfection by jim broadbent, who must try to help her stave off the effects of dementia. through out the film we see flashbacks of the relationship between the two of them as they meet and fall in love. she was always the leader, the strong one, but as we see now she has to accept the role of follower and is struggling with that position. she knows she is loosing her memory but cant do anything about it. the film is a heartbreaking study of the love between these two people as they come to terms with what was and now what is to come.

parenthood

my wife and i have been enjoying the nbc show 'parenthood' and so were interested to go back and check out the source material! this movie follows the life of different members of one family: grandpa and grandma, the married couple with kids, the divorced sister with a teen, and the reckless wanderer brother who only shows up to ask for money. the stories of each of these family groups were funny at times and everyone is rather likable, but the movie hasnt aged very well. steve martin does his wholesome exasperated thing very well here, but its not quite enough to make this one work. the current tv show does a much better job (but then again it has 20 hours a season to really create the characters instead of two hours).

pandorum

the whole time i was watching this movie i just kept thinking 'im pretty sure i've seen this before'. turns out, i had, except last time i saw it it was called 'event horizon'. this movie seems to be a pretty bad rip off of the sci fi film from a dozen years ago that stared laurence fishburne and sam neil. this sci fi horror movie starts off with a man waking up too early from his deep space sleeper tank. when he gets out, he is on a huge space ship thats headed for some far off destination. as another guy wakes up as well, and they discover that they are still far away from their destination. it seems that the ship has malfunctioned and they are just now getting out of hibernation. they try to get to the bridge of the ship but find it locked off. as they make their way around the ship to find out what the problem is, they come across some creatures that are trying to kill them. are they going crazy? do they have 'pandorum', or is there something really really wrong? the pretty lame set up is made worse by the campy creatures and stupid characters they come across as they try to save the ship and themselves. the ending is pretty interesting and almost makes up for the pathetic middle section that reminded me of all those terrible post-apocalyptic movies where the characters wear car parts for armor. over all though, i felt like i had already seen it, and any of the new twists were not worth seeing in the first place.

i'll do anything

i had never heard of this sweet little movie before, but was rather charmed by it. the story follows nick nolte as a divorced father who is an out of work actor. never able to pull much of a career together, his wife has left him in hopes of greener pastures. unfortunately, she never found those greener pastures, and now must drop off their daughter for him to take care of by himself. as luck would have it, nolte comes across the right people with the right audition at just the right time. he doesnt end up getting the part, but he makes some friends at the casting office and finds a part time job to support himself and his daughter. he attempts to juggle a new relationship at the same time, which doesnt always work out the best for him. as these new changes happen, nolte's character must juggle everything around him in order to do whats best for his daughter. its a pretty good little movie that reminded me why nick nolte became a star in the first place- he's really good! in this movie, he elevates the film from a bland rom-com to something much better and sweeter.

gigli

honestly, its not as bad as everyone seems to think it is. sure, its pretty stupid, but most romantic comedies are. ben affleck plays a low level mob guy who is trying to make a name for himself. in order to make his boss happy he has to watch the little brother of someone they are trying to get money from. since the boss doesnt have much faith in him, jennifer lopez plays the extra help thats hired to make sure affleck does his job. so far so good. here's where it goes off the rails: the little brother is mentally retarded. yeah, that wasnt exactly necessary... if you can get past all the terribly offensive jokes, you have a traditional romantic comedy. he likes her, she doesnt like him, eventually he wins her over. of course there has to be a misunderstanding, but by the last reel they figure it out and all is well. lame, but not as 'worst car wreck of a movie ever!' as they kept telling us.

ladyhawke

i had no idea what to expect with this one, i just knew michele phiffer was in it, and usually thats enough for me... this medieval fantasy movie follows a young man, played by matthew broderick, as he escapes from the local guards and runs away. as he is trying to loose them he runs into a strange traveling swordsman, rutger hauer, who has a pet hawk. later that night he finds a beautiful woman wandering around in the forest and they are attacked by a ferocious wolf. as the story unfolds we begin to understand the strong connection these seemingly random people and animals really have. its a love story at its heart, and the unfolding of the romance is really fascinating. the fantasy elements are not too over the top and the quest to fix what has happened is worth the viewing. my one gripe with the film is that it felt like matthew broderick was kind of wedged in there. he doesnt really seem to fit. he is meant to be someone living in medieval times, but he just comes off as farris beuler in a robe, he even talks into the camera at times. his character doesnt fit at all, but the strangeness of his modern day quality gets played down as the movie progresses. not bad at all for an 80's flick!

the adventures of johnny tao

i was hoping to like this one. the description of it sounded like a cool asian meets rockabilly style fun, but in reality its just an expensive home movie that wouldnt even make the cut as a saturday night movie on syfy. the whole thing just reeks of amateurishness. the acting is high school play level, and the effects are something that can be bested by anyone with an editing program on their home computer. it actually looks like they spent more making this poster (which by the way, looks infinitely better than anything on the screen during the actual film) than they did on the entire film! the story (if you can call it that) follows a boy who's country singing father died in a crash a decade earlier. well, it just so happens that his guitar was fashioned out of a magical spear needed to kill an evil chinese spirit who has recently returned to arizona (really? why would the spear be found in arizona when the last battle that put the spirit away for 600 years took place in china?!?). poor acting, if you can even call it acting, poor writing, if you can call it writing, make this little movie, if you can even call it a movie, absolutely terrible.

valley girl

wow, this one is terrible! this isnt really even a movie at all, its more like a soundtrack commerical! we follow the boy from the city, who is totally punk rock, man, as he decided he wants to have a relationship with the cute girl from the valley who's like, totally 80's. poor acting, poor writing, poor music, and especially poor 80's fashion kill this one before the beginning credits are even done! this 80's flick is best forgotten...

relative values

another one of those period british movies set in the 50's about a british man who falls in love with an american and brings her home to meet the family. though this is a pretty big cast, the film feels very small and wafer thin. the story itself is poorly told and we have very little interest in the characters themselves, were it not for the likability of many on the cast. colin firth, stephen fry, and julie andrews bring as much as they can to the characters who still feel about as thick as cardboard. were it not for these three actors, the movie would be almost completely unwatchable.

the legend of 1900

i had never heard of this movie before, and was very impressed with it! it follows the life of an infant abandoned on a steamliner at the turn of the century. we see that boy grow up on the steamliner as he learns life lesson from his adopted father figure. he grows to be a musical piano playing virtuoso, considered the best in the world! the man named 1900, due to his being discovered by his father on new years day of the new century, is marvelously played by tim roth. we get a real sense of the joy he gets from playing for the guests, but also the melon collie at the fact that he has no real home other than the ship. he decides, because he doesnt have any birth certificate or anything, to stay on the boat all his life. we follow him through his musical triumphs, playing in competition against the man who invented jazz music, as well as his lows as he sees the girl of his dreams but is unable to talk with her or follow her off the boat when it docks in new york city. it is billed as a fable, and there is much to learn from this interesting tale of a man who travels his imagination through music, but is unable to travel off the boat he was born on. this is a moving and enjoyable tale that i am glad i got the chance to see. it is truly majestic.

being human

this movie, which is a series of short stories, is pretty bad. it jumps around from different time periods and tells different stories about a man who is in love, each man is played by robin williams, so its a bit strange. we start off with a simple man who's wife is taken by vikings, then we jump to the story of a slave who must die with his master in ancient rome. the next story is of a spanish conquistador who must save his crew from a shipwreck, and a story set in modern day. each setting is meant to draw us closer and closer in to the man who must try and become brave. in each story he is presented with a difficult situation that he must stand up against. in each progressive vignette shows the man getting more and more bold in his courage. this might have been a pretty interesting movie if it werent for the narrator! she totally ruins the feel of the film and her mindless meanderings ruined the entire movie for me. if they had ditched the terrible voice over, it probably would have gotten at least two more stars...

the great outdoors

diana and i have been watching way too many 80's movies lately! i had always heard good things about this one and how it was one of john candy's funniest movies. i dont know if candy's style of humor is something i dont get, or if it is just too much a product of its time because this movie isnt that great. the story follows candy's family as they make plans for their summer trip up to the cabin. soon after they arrive, their friends stop by unannounced to join them. not too pleased about it, candy's family makes the best of it and the two families try to have a good time anyway. along the way they have some racoon troubles (which seems like it was taken straight out of 'caddyshack' as the animals try to conspire against our campers), a couple run-ins with a big bear, a boating episode, and some interaction with the locals. candy is big and lovable, which must have been why he had a career at all, and dan aykroyd is obnoxious as the annoying guest. the two of them play well of each other, which is the only redeeming part of this campy movie.

dont you forget about me

this is a documentary about the filmmaker john hughes and his five film run that defined a generation and explained what it was to be a teen in the 80's. four filmmakers decided to interview many of the people from those films and to eventually try to track down john hughes himself, who left hollywood almost 20 years ago and has hardly been heard from since.
the interviews are interesting, catching up with some of the old cast members from films like 'breakfast club', 'weird science', 'sixteen candles', and others. all of the actors glow about how amazing john hughes was and how they all miss his voice in films today. all of this is well and good, but much of their praising films of the past come at the expense of talking about how terrible movie are today. granted, i might agree with them on much of what they say, but i'm sure adults felt the same about these hughes movies when they were coming out. its all a matter of perspective, really. everyone things that movies that came out when they were 12-18 are the best ever and everything else is a pale comparison. except that this generation will think that the last generations and future generations stuff sucks too. you cant win with this type of complaining. another thing that bugged me about the movie is that the film makers try to talk with john hughes himself by going to his house and trying to get an interview. hey guys, he left hollywood for a reason. he doesnt do interviews for a reason. i dont know what that reason is, but ambushing him at his private house is not going to change his mind, i'm sure of it! since the film was completed, john hughes passed away so i guess we will never get those answers from him, but this movie doesnt really do his memory justice either.

man of the century

there is a really great movie in here somewhere, but this isnt it. dont get me wrong, this movie is pretty fun, but the concept is what makes it good, not the movie itself. the concept is this: the main character, johnny twenties, acts like he lives in the nineteen twenties. but he lives in the 90's. an interesting concept, to say the least, but this independent film just cant quite reach the heights of what its trying to do. he goes about his life as a newspaper journalist talking like someone who just came out of a speak easy! he's got a grand dame who he's crackerjack over, he goes after the big stories looking to crack the big one, ace. the funny part is that he's the only one who actually talks like he's a from the twenties and everyone else is baffled by the whole thing. its a fantastic concept that only barely scratches the surface of what could be a great film. the movie, unfortunately, gets bogged down by spending too much time with his girlfriend, some bad guys, and a dinner party with johnny's family. if this movie were given the all-star treatment and made into a big hollywood production, it could be grand. here's hoping that it gets picked up and remade!

her alibi

this movie is pretty lame, even for an 80's movie. the set up is that tom selleck is a crime writer who has run out of ideas. he decides to get some inspiration by going to the court house and see whats shaking. he runs into a woman who is in a bit of a bind, legally. selleck offers to be her alibi so she can get off. she takes him up on the offer and goes back with him to his house. turns out she isnt quite as innocent as he thought, and the bad guys follow them back to the house and cause a bit of trouble. the whole thing is fairly lame, but doggonnit, i really liked it! why? two simple words: tom selleck! i dont know what it is about that guy, but i would enjoy him in just about anything! no matter what is going on, he makes it so much better. he's kind of like richard dean anderson (macguyver, if you didnt know) in that there is just something inherently magnetic about him. do i have a little bit of a man crush on him? why yes, i certainly do, but who can blame me? i would have to say that the movie itself gets one star, but tom selleck gets five stars. that leaves us with an average of 3 stars. take that for what its worth, i guess.