Entertainment Value: Movies I Saw This Week 8/5/13

(descriptions and information gathered from IMDB.  The opinions rendered below these, however, are mine. Using a 5 star rating system.)

Match Point ** 2005

At a turning point in his life, a former tennis pro falls for a femme-fatal type who happens to be dating his friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law.

Director/Writer

:

 Woody Allen, 

Stars:

 Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Matthew Goode, Emily Mortimer

This is an absolutely brilliantly written and executed pure bummer of a movie. The plot is basically a simplified Great Gatsby without nuance. I'm a lifelong fan of Woody Allen's, and I certainly can't fault his work here, but I also can't understand why he made this movie. 

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc

** 1999

A young girl receives a vision that drives her to rid France of its oppressors.

Director:

 Luc Besson, 

Writers:

 Andrew Birkin, Luc Besson, 

Stars:

 Rab Affleck, Stéphane Algoud, Milla Jovovich

This is certainly A story, but it's a strangely told one, with a rather cynical root. It presents Her as not a visionary, but just a mad girl. The strangeness is the odd humor amidst extreme and grotesque violence. At moments operatic and others hyper real. It's hard to know where to settle while watching. It's also hard and amazing to watch Milan Jovovich's screechy yet compelling performance. Finally, as you might imagine, the thing doesn't end well.  

Entertainment Value: Movies I Saw This Week 7/29/2013

(descriptions and information gathered from IMDB.  The opinions rendered below these, however, are mine. Using a 5 star rating system.)

Fireflies in the garden** 2008

The Taylor family is devastated by an accident that takes place on the day their matriarch is due to graduate from college -- decades after leaving to raise her children.

Director:

 Dennis Lee, 

Writers:

 Robert Frost (poem), Dennis Lee, 

Stars:

 Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson , Carrie Anne Moss, Julia Roberts, Hayden Panetitere

This was messy, perhaps because of poor editing, and maybe because of poor, unnuanced dialog and not as compelling as it should have been given the plot. Given, also, an amazing cast. Add in a bizarre idea, depicted more than once, that being cruel to animals is a great way for family members to bond and feel nostalgic, and you end up with a not very good movie. 

Tell Them Willie Boy is Here*** 1969

Based on true events, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, tells the story of one of the last Western manhunts, in 1909. Willie Boy, a Native American, kills his girlfriend's father in self defense, and the two go on the run, pursued by a search posse led by Sheriff Christopher Cooper.

Director:

 Abraham Polonsky, 

Writers:

 Harry Lawton (book), Abraham Polonsky, 

Stars:

 Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Robert Blake

I chose this movie because I'm assisting in the editing of a documentary that incorporates it and the story behind it into its canvas.  I wasn't as impressed as I should have been considering the accolades it received for its director and stars. I was instantly put off, of course, by the fact that non-natives with black wigs and dark pancake makeup were starring as natives. The supporting cast were real natives, of course. I also hated the depiction of Carlotta as an ineffectual whiner. Lots of fun ignorant stuff that you see in abundance in movies between 1950 and 1970.  Barring that, it's certainly an interesting film, and a fascinating historical perspective. Since then, however, as I know from the aforementioned documentary, much more has come to light about who Willie  was and how he died, so the story, as any point in history, stopped and depicted will show, only tells half truths. 

The Avengers****

Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. assembles a team of superhumans to save the planet from Loki and his army.

Director:

 Joss Whedon 

Writers:

 Joss Whedon (screenplay), Zak Penn (story), 

Stars:

 Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L Jackson. 

I must start by saying that I watched this movie on a small screen, so it just wasn't as spectacular visually as it could have been. Given that, however, it was certainly everything it promised to be. Stunning visuals, an intelligent and compelling plot, great and groovy super heroes. Nothing really stuck with me, though, so like a great roller coaster, it was over when it was over. Pure entertainment. Not to be dismissed, not be to reflected upon. 

Entertainment Value: movies I saw this week 7/22/13

(descriptions and information gathered from IMDB.  The opinions rendered below these, however, are mine. Using a 5 star rating system.)

A Wake in Providence*  1999

Going back home can be hard, particularly when you come from a traditional Italian family, and especially when the girlfriend you bring back is not Italian. But the roof caves in when she's African American. This is the problem that Anthony faces when he brings Alissa from Los Angeles to his boyhood home of Providence, Rhode Island to attend his grandfather's funeral.

Director: Rosario Roveto Jr., Writers: Billy Van Zandt, Jane Milmore, Stars: Vincent Pagano, Adrienne Barbeau 

This is very uneven, overwrought at the beginning then quiet and thoughtful at the center with more of the too-much in the third act.  The unoriginal sound track matches the overdone quality of this movie.  It's too silly with an absolutely preposterous script, utterly predictable, and has nothing smart to say.  

Elizabeth: The Golden Age*** 2007

A mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.

Director: Shekhar Kapur, Writers:  William Nicholson, Michael Hirst, Stars: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, 

A visual spectacle.  That's really all it is.  much of what happens is hard to follow, even if you know the history, but it doesn't matter.  The camera moves way in to the details, and you're looking at a red ring being placed on a finger, a white horse jumping from a ship, a blown off stump of a leg, a black filigreed neck liner.  The camera pulls out and up.  The Queen in her regalia entertaining her suitors, the queen in armor standing on a stormy cliff, the spanish armada, Mary Queen of Scots lays her head on the chopping block, the floor of the throne room tiled to show a map of the world.  Beautiful and stunning, but not emotionally compelling.