Scarlett Johansen can also play a sexy skank who is mentally unhinged....I forgot she has some range.

Match Point.

Why Why Why do I continue to watch Woody Allen movies????? They always do nothing but annoy me and kind of gross me out a bit.

so since I recently returned from an extended stay in the UK I was oddly drawn to Match Point (being set in London) on the video rack. Plus Jonathan Rhys Meyers right??? Could work.

No.

No.

No.

Oh my. Where to start with this piece??? Oh yeah okay first I guess it is supposed to have all this passion and steaminess.......no Scarlett Johansen being a skank and Jonathan Rhys Meyers being her male mirror, or a man skank. No gross. They they are both so dull and droll that I thought I might scream about halfway through. When the big pregnancy/marriage/death/whatever "twist" came about well I couldn't give two shakes what happened to either one of them. Or the wifey and her family at that point either.....all her meddling was just obnoxious.

I have to admit the only thing intriguing in this piece was the whole murder plot. I mean the is he isn't he going to get caught for such a sloppy set up did make me wake up for the whole half hour that took. But well then I remembered I really didn't care what happened to him and snoozed on til the end credits.

Gosh Woody Allen....I mean your quirkiness can be honest but sometimes its just beyond lame. Like in Match Point. Sometimes if an idea pops in your head you should just say no. Especially because you keep reusing your muse Miss Scarlett. Maybe if you got back to someone with talent, a la a young Diane Keaton....you could salvage your career. Or maybe not.

Sometimes I can't get jiggy with Will Smith

7 Pounds.

I may have snored at some point in this movie. But well it was so boring that I couldn't even remember when. Was it when you could figure out the obvious foreshadowing? (Jellyfish - everyone needs an organ donation - Ben whats-his-face is OBVIOUSLY trying to prove something.....c'mon) Was it the casting of Rosario Dawson who I'm not completely convinced has no business being in the film industry, as an actress........I mean she isn't even like a Megan Fox who has no talent but is stereotypically porn star beautiful.....?

I did very much enjoy the scene where Smith's droll character helps out the elderly lady. That was poignant. But I faded fast somewhere after that, as did the suspense and intrigue of the film. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing exciting. Nothing NEEDED to be seen.

Leooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Revolutionary Road.

O-M-G. How brill was this film? It was genius.

Now I would highly recommend Richard Yate's novel first because the novel is more in-depth, quality and detailed, as is usually the case with an adaptation. People talk of works like Miller's Death of a Salesman etc. being the books that outline the disillusionment of the "American Dream" but I think Yate's does the best job. Not only does he tackle the horrible falsity of the quote-unquote American dream but he takes it one step further to look at how there is the falsity of everlasting love and adventure in relationships. Its haunting and hard to think about at points but its absolute perfection.

Fast forward to the film adaptation. Sam Mendes is a genius at filming a relationship in all of its honesty. The film is parred down from the book. Pieces like Frank's affair are whittled from a awkwardly entertaining look at "the other woman" to a blip just so you know he was unfaithful. That being said the acting is absolutely amazing. Kate Winslet NEVER gives a poor performance and she took a great turn as the depressed, dissatisfied and malicious housewife, April Wheeler. Usually she brings some charm to her roles but it was delicious to see her just balls out be the bad girl, pretending to be good. It was beautiful to watch her just break down and embody that character. And Leonardo Dicaprio. It is not a secret that I adore him but I sincerely believe he is the best actor of his generation as well. RR was his crowning dramatic glory to date. His Frank Wheeler was smooth, charismatic, devilishly handsome but unsure, faltering and worried underneath it all. Chill worthy performance.

The real power of this movie lies in Micheal Shannon's portrayal of John Givings. He is only in about two scenes but he steals the movie. Givings is a brilliant character in itself, showing that perhaps he is the only sane character in the piece (I'll leave you to watch/read to figure out why that is so dramatic) but Shannon just blew my mind. Where Winslet/DiCaprio's portrayals were exact and perfect embodiments of Shannon takes the his character and breaths this new life and perspective into it. I'm literally getting chills just thinking about it.

This is not a happy movie but it is an honest movie. Beautifully set and shot. Chilling acting and fantastic adaptation. A have-to-see.

<3

Coming to America

Movies I enjoyed on a flight from London to Atlanta:

17 Again.
Cutesy. But Fun. Not stereotypical remake of BIG or anything like that. Unique little twists and the humor was fun. Effron was surprisingly good at acting, not just goofing in the flick and the supporting cast was a nice support. I enjoyed it a nice flick for families with teenage/above kids or just to watch for giggles.

Gran Torino.
Could Clint Eastwood be anymore bad ass? One would think not but the man will be hitting 80 next year and he is still the greatest force in the American film industry. Gran Torino shows how he is quite seriously getting better with age. His snarling, his character arch, his choice in locations/cars. Brilliant. Not to mention he is not only an actor but a director and mentor to all young films everywhere. Young Hollywood needs to take notice. It is not a get rich and famous quick scheme it is about the art. Even if you are good at your art, as Eastwood has proven to be the masterpiece maker of American film, you would pray you would have 1/8th of the career Eastwood has had. This is an unmissable film as are almost all of Eastwood's other works. If you miss this film you are missing one of the best dramas put out in the past few years.

2 Lovers.
Okay I didn't really enjoy this one but I was out of options for ones I haven't seen before so I had no choice but to sit through it. And it is a challenge to sit through it. Pheonix is fading fast and with this being his last film before his "retirement" from film and maybe this is why. Because the movie is goofy. Unentertaining, the characters are unrelatable. It is listed as a drama but that is just because there is no category in the video store for horrible-crap-waste-of-film movies. There really should be.

<3

'Arry Potter conjures his hormones....

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

This is one of my favorite of the Potters. Granted there are major plot holes compared the the beloved book but if you figure that they have to get it in the 2 hour mark they did an excellent job. In addition I think it is ridiculous to assume that the film will just an acting out as if the book were a script. That is the problem with film adaptations and the modern audience. I mean personally I already took the time to read the 1000 page book so why would I pay 8-12 dollars to just watch a page by page reenactment.

I will agree that the big giant depressing event that takes place was underplayed in the film than in the book BUT if we give artistic license (as we should) to the script adaptor and the director then as a film itself alone it was a well played piece.

There was a brilliant mix of adolescent humor and hormones with the dark, magical world of HP. If you evaluate your ticket price for the film you saw then Half Blood Price was top notch. Forget Transformers this summer, this was your blockbuster for everyone. If you want to compare the text to the film then yes there are some issues. But I think you would have a hard time arguing that this is not the most entertaining, mature, fun, silly and visually stimulating.

In my opinion, best/my favorite Potter film yet. Brill.