Maleficent

2014

USA / Disney Movies

Directed by: Robert Stromberg
Written by: Linda Woolverton
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Brenton Thwaites, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, Sam Riley

Synopsis (by Google):

As a beautiful young woman of pure heart, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) has an idyllic life in a forest kingdom. When an invading army threatens the land, Maleficent rises up to become its fiercest protector. However, a terrible betrayal hardens her heart and twists her into a creature bent on revenge. She engages in an epic battle with the invading king's successor, then curses his newborn daughter, Aurora -- realizing only later that the child holds the key to peace in the kingdom.

My Thoughts:

Disney does it again. Such a gorgeous fantasy film! Interesting take on the Sleeping Beauty tale, with Maleficent more victim than villain. Surprised I enjoyed it so much, since I generally find Angelina Jolie hard to watch. Not that she's not great to look at (duh!) -- she just never seems very believable. But she makes an excellent mythic being!

Don't think too much about this one, just let the magic kingdom envelop you.

My IMDb Rating: 6 stars out of a possible 10

Interstellar

2014

USA

Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Written by: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Mackenzie Foy, Michael Caine, Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon, John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn
Music by: Hans Zimmer
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for some intense perilous action and brief strong language.

Synopsis (by Google):

In Earth's future, a global crop blight and second Dust Bowl are slowly rendering the planet uninhabitable. Professor Brand (Michael Caine), a brilliant NASA physicist, is working on plans to save mankind by transporting Earth's population to a new home via a wormhole. But first, Brand must send former NASA pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and a team of researchers through the wormhole and across the galaxy to find out which of three planets could be mankind's new home. 

My Thoughts:

I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did. I'm not generally a huge Matthew McConaughey fan; but I do like sci-fi, and the rest of the cast sounded promising, so I took a chance. Glad I did -- it was so entertaining I didn't even mind that it was nearly three hours long. Of course, the "science" of time travel (if it might actually exist) is always going to be a little hard to nail down; everybody has a theory, and this spin was as good as any. And I even liked the idea of combining time travel and ghostly events -- something I thought would be annoying turned out to be very intriguing.

A few other stray thoughts:

• Loved the robots -- very original designs.
• Lots of visual references to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. I suppose that's to be expected, but when does "homage" become "rip-off"?
• Much more entertaining than that other recent sci-fi biggie, Gravity. 
• With her hair chopped off, doesn't Anne Hathaway remind you of the young Liza Minnelli? But not quite as irritating, thank goodness.

My IMDb Rating: 6 stars out of a possible 10

Transcendence

2014

USA

Directed by: Wally Pfister
Written by: Jack Paglen
Cast: Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Morgan Freeman, Paul Bettany
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA): Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, some bloody images, brief strong language and sensuality

What it's all about:

Johnny Depp plays Dr. Will Caster, the world's foremost authority on artificial intelligence. Dr. Caster is the leader of a team conducting highly controversial experiments, with the ultimate goal of creating a "sentient" machine -- a computer with a mind of its own. When extremists try to kill the doctor, they inadvertently give him just the chance he needed to turn his theories into reality. When Will is given just one month to live, his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) comes up with a plan to upload his consciousness into the advanced computer the team has developed. Will's best friend Max (Paul Bettany) questions the wisdom of this action and is eventually persuaded to join the terrorists responsible for Will's death.

Once Will achieves virtual life in the computer, Evelyn helps him to build a sort of technological eden in a remote desert town called Brightwood where he sets about remaking the world according to his own personal designs. Eventually Will's crazed thirst for knowledge and power cause all his loved ones to admit he must be stopped, but they also realize it may already be too late.

My thoughts:

Most of the critics trashed this film, so I wasn't expecting much. But I like Johnny Depp and I try to see every movie Morgan Freeman makes, so I gave it a try. Glad I did -- it's definitely watchable. Not great, but pretty good sci-fi with a thought-provoking theme, enough action to keep it from dragging, and no enormous alien slime worms blasting their way out of anyone's midsection. A lot of it doesn't really stand up to deep thought, but hey -- it's a movie.

My IMDb Rating: 6 stars out of a possible 10

Magic in the Moonlight

2014

USA

Written/Directed by: Woody Allen
Stars: Colin Firth, Emma Stone, Eileen Atkins, Simon McBurney, Marcia Gay Harden 
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA): Rated PG-13 for a brief suggestive comment, and smoking throughout

What it's all about:

In the 1920s, magician Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth) enjoys worldwide fame as Chinese conjurer Wei Ling Soo, his stage persona. One of the most arrogant performers in the business, Stanley despises claims by phony spiritualists that they can perform real magic. At the request of his friend and fellow magician Howard (played by Simon McBurney), Stanley agrees to expose a young medium named Sophie Baker (Emma Stone). The lovely Sophie and her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) are staying with the wealthy Catledge family in their mansion in the Côte d'Azur, where Sophie has managed to ensnare the affections of young Brice Catledge. However, after attending a seance and having a few surprising encounters with Sophie, Stanley begins to change his mind about her and is left thoroughly shaken by evidence that her clairvoyant abilities just might be real.

My thoughts:

This was a very pretty movie -- the light throughout was actually magical. Unfortunately, that amazing light was just about the best thing about the film. I think it's possible I've outgrown Woody Allen. Which makes me sad because he used to be one of my favorite filmmakers -- Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Manhattan, and Manhattan Murder Mystery are among my all-time favorite movies. But the only one of the later films I've really enjoyed was Midnight in Paris. I always have high hopes for each new release, but I keep getting disappointed. 

It's not a terrible movie -- definitely not as annoying as To Rome with Love or as mean-spirited as Blue Jasmine. And it had some really fine performances -- Eileen Atkins as Aunt Vanessa, and the enormously talented Simon McBurney as Stanley's friend Howard particularly stand out. On the other hand, Marcia Gay Harden was pretty much wasted in the role of Sophie's mother -- more mom and less Sophie would have made for a much more interesting experience.

But, of course, Sophie was the whole point of the film: the young girl who represents renewal and new life for the aging curmudgeonly male at the film's center. Love and youth as some sort of salvation. She's in nearly every one of Allen's films these days, and she seems to be getting younger and younger. In this one, she is quite literally young enough to be the curmudgeon's daughter. OK, I don't really know how old Emma Stone is, but in the movie she looks about twelve. And the film's boyish 1920s-era fashions only exaggerate that childlike appearance (indeed, at one point she's dressed in a sailor outfit, oddly reminiscent of the Von Trapp children in The Sound of Music). In a way it's interesting to see the same trope used over and over in each new film, but it's also becoming truly disturbing.

My IMDb Rating: 5 stars out of a possible 10

Cloud Atlas

2012

Multi-National Production

Directors: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Writers: David Mitchell (novel), Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski
Cast: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, James D'Arcy, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Keith David, Xun Zhou
MPAA Rating: Rated R for violence, language, sexuality/nudity and some drug use

Story: 

????? (see below)

My Thoughts:
The Internet Movie Database says this is "An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution."

Well, if you say so.

My husband had recently read the novel by David Mitchell and gave me a brief synopsis before we watched the movie. But if I hadn't had that bit of info, I would not have had a clue about what was going on in this one. If you're going to see it, it's probably a good idea to be familiar with the novel first. Otherwise, it's all just a picturesque jumble of fleeting images. A little too cartoon-y for my tastes. But it was fun watching all the actors playing different roles and having so much fun with the costumes and makeup. 

My IMDB rating: 3 stars out of a possible 10

Comedian

2002

USA

Director: Christian Charles
Producer: Jerry Seinfeld (executive producer), Amy R. Baird, Gary Streiner
Cast: Jerry Seinfeld, Greg Giraldo, Orny Adams, Robert Klein, and lots of other stand-up comics too numerous to mention
MPAA Rating: R (probably for language)

What it's about (from the Internet Movie Database website):

A look at the work of two stand-up comics, Jerry Seinfeld and a lesser-known newcomer (Orny Adams), detailing the effort and frustration behind putting together a successful act and career while living a life on the road.

My Thoughts:
OK, I should start by confessing that while I love comedy, I'm just not much of a fan of the modern (or should that be post-modern?) stand-up variety. And even though I LOVED the Seinfeld TV show (I still watch the reruns everyday), I've never really been too impressed with Jerry Seinfeld as a performer on his own. But my husband is a real fan (of Seinfeld, standup, and just comedy in general), so we rented this from Netflix and I prepared myself for a couple of hours of boredom.

Big surprise -- it's not a boring movie.  It's not all that funny either; which is strange, considering that the cast is made up almost entirely of comedians.  But it really isn't meant to inspire yucks -- it's basically a look at how funny men (and women) come up with their material, refine their acts, hone their skills, and go about the business of being funny. All of which turned out to be surprisingly intriguing to watch. Who knew professional comedians could be so insecure about their talents?

I had never heard of the young comic whose career is at the center of the action -- Orny Adams -- and I have to admit, nothing I saw in this film made me eager to find out more. For me, the best part of the movie was the brief clip of Richard Pryor in his prime, doing what he did best -- just being wonderfully, amazingly, incredibly, profoundly funny.

My IMDB rating: 6 stars out of a possible 10

1408

2007

USA

Director: Mikael Håfström
Writers: Matt Greenberg, Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski 
Based on a short story by Stephen King 
Cast: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Tony Shalhoub, Mary McCormack 
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic material including disturbing sequences of violence and terror, frightening images and language

Story:

Writer Mike Enslin (John Cusack) believes only in what he can see with his own two eyes. He's written a string of bestsellers discrediting paranormal events in the most infamous haunted houses and graveyards around the world, always hoping for some proof of "afterlife." The target of his latest literary project is suite 1408 of New York's notorious Dolphin Hotel.  The room is permanently "unavailable for guests"; but after he threatens to sue the hotel, Enslin is allowed to spend a night in the room.  And it's a night during which his cynical skepticism is going to change forever.  Because at the Dolphin, when you stay in room 1408, just like the song says: Some guests check in, but they can never leave.

My Thoughts:
Watched this a few weeks ago on (I think) TBS.  I'd been watching Winter Olympics coverage for several days straight, and needed some relief.  I had seen it before – I think we got it from Netflix back around the time it was first out. Or maybe it was on one of the movie channels. Anyway, I was very disappointed with it that first time, but after seeing it again, it seemed much more frightening than I remembered. I think the special effects are too over-the-top to be really scary; when a movie becomes a cartoon it loses much of its potential for true spookiness. But on second view, I was able to get past all the CGI junk and enjoy the really very creepy story a bit more. Still, the scariest thing about it was watching Cusack crawling around on that hotel carpet!  Yow!

My IMDb Rating: 5 stars out of a possible 10