Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, 2008 (Grade B+)

DIRECTOR LEE DANIELSAwards? nominated for lots of awards, Independent Spirit, BAFTA, Golden Globes Sundance and Academy Awards, Int Won many awards for best supporting actress (Mo'Nique).
CAST: Gabourey; Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, Sherry Shepherd, Nealla Gordon. Xosha Roquemore, Chyna Lane, ANgelic Zambrana, Stephanie Andujar, Amina Robinson, Nia Foster

sez says, this story provides a window on a world that most of us would like to never look into.  It is about a girl who is terribly abused by her family and the path she finds to get away from that life and hopefully to move into a new life.  It is horrific--and hopeful. The hope comes out of believing anyone can escape, even to a small degree, the imprint that is left on someone who has been so totally and absolutely beaten down and violated.  It does not end with Precious having solved all the problems she faces. Rather, it ends with her decision to take her life, and the lives of her children, out of the situation they have lived in. The strength that is required to do that is enormous. But we are shown that she has the strength to do that--and thus we can imagine and hope she will be able to continue to move forward. I loved that the public employees are depicted as caring and tireless in their efforts to open doors for abused kids.  And, equally important is the fact that they can not do anything to help these children unless the kids open the doors themselves.  Add to the powerful story outstanding acting and it is is clear why this won so many awards.


MJC Says:  hard to watch, which is a tribute to the actors who presented a potentially sentimental story with enough grit and reality to stop the maudlin and invoke the hope

Pirate Radio, 2009 (Grade B+)

Director: Richard Curtis

Awards? none that we know of but is worthy of consideration 

Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh. Tom Sturridge, Rhys Darby, Talulah Riley, January Jones, Emma Thomposn. Gemma Arterton, Tom Wisdom,  Jack Davenport

sez says: what a great cast....esp Bill Nighy is a stand-out, and that is a real accomplishment with so many great performances in this movie to compare it to.  This is a fun. If you like rock and roll you can't help but enjoy this movie.  It is not esp profound.. Its main message is that creativity is good and it can not be legislated away -- or suppressed.  Creativity and in this case music feeds our souls and it will always find a conduit to seep back into the world whenever and wherever it is threatened.  It will survive because people -- everyday people--need it, love it and support it.  There are good guys in the story (our wild disc jockies --and associates) and bad guys (Kenneth Branagh does a brilliant job as the bad bureaucrat--he disappears into his role) who want to outlaw rock and roll.  And you have a boy in search of his father..and costumes right out of the wilder part of the 1960s... It is a fun fun fun romp --  Grade B+

mjc says: pure fun, just what we needed as a transition from the British Isles to the USA.

Yes Man, 2008 (Grade D+)

Director: Peyton Reed

Cast:  Jim Carrey;  Zooey Deschanel; Sasha Alexander,  Terence Stamp,  Molly Sims, Danny Masterson, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Labyorteaux.  Fionnula Flanagan, Rhys Darby

SEZ: Jim Carrey relies on physical comedy and it's not so easy to find a story in which his physicality can be employed successfully especially as he gets older. In this story he is a depressed divorcee with low self esteem and a zero life.  He goes to a seminar learning about the power of "YES" and, of course, he learns to say yes to everything.  This, of course, takes him on a topsy-turvy ride of fun. And, Of Course, he finds the girl of his dreams and makes many people happy but things get complicated -- but never fear, of course, he works it all out. There are a few scenes which would probably make anyone smile but he is trying for hilarious and that's not happening. ANd there are too many "Of Courses"  in the story. Good luck to you Jim-Bo in finding some new ways to be funny that transcend the need to be twenty-something years old. You are not 20 any longer and you need to start acting your age.

MJC:  I am a sucker for feel good books & movies etc.  This made me feel good so I let go of all it's faults. There was one clarifying moment when the hero gets the girl and Jim Carrey really looks his age and the sweet young thing he is embracing at the Griffith Park Observatory looks like his daughter and that tells the tale of where he has ended up. Time to find a way to be his age and still use that fabulous plastic mug of his to give us the laughs we so desperately wish for and need. 

The Chorus, 2004 (Grade C+)

Director:  Christophe Barratier 

Cast:  Gerard Jugnot; Francois Berleand, Kad Merad, Jean-Paul Bonnaire, Marie Bunel, Jacques Perrin. Didier Flamand, Paul Charieras, Carole Weiss, Philippe Du Janerand, Erick Desmarestz, Jean-Baptiste Maunier, Maxence Perrin, Thomas Blumenthal, Cyril Bernicot

 SEZ SAYS: In the 1930s Bing Crosby taught the bad boys in his neighborhood to sing and everybody loved it. In this case we have a schoolteacher teaching dispossessed and orphan boys to sing after WW2. When our hero-teacher arrives at his new job he find  a lot of very bad boys but he teaches them to sing and meanwhile he fills our hearts with joy as we see the boys turn their lives around and become  little angels -- of nearly so. As hooky as this sounds it was actually acceptable fare when nothing better is around to watch. At least the music was better in this version then in the Bing Crosby version.  ANd who doesn like a little well done UP-LIFT from time to time.

MJC SAYS:  there was a Very cute kid in this singalong version of the old Bing Crosby singing priest movie. Here at least the hero teacher was bald which made for a slightly more realistic version of life.  Still we rooted for the kid we already knew was going to be a big time philharmonic conductor and sure enough he made it.

My Life In Ruins, 2009 (Grade D-)

Director: Donald Petrie
Cast: Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, Alex Georgoulis; Rachel Dratch; Harland Williams; Maria Adanez; Macarena Benites, SHelia Bernette, Heather Blair, Maria Botto, Jareb Dauplaise, SImon Gleeson, Caroline Goodall.

sez says: Tour guide is a failure because she is really an academic who would like to teach people about what they are seeing in their tour. She would like to have a university job but her she is leading tours and boring the be-jeeses out of the tourists. Richard Dreyfuss who plays the widowed tourist helps the hapless tour guide to find happiness with the Greek bus driver. Does this sound bad or what? Well it is bad.

MJC:  the Parthenon had more animated verve than this this whole film. However, it was better toward the end than I expected it to be--but still it is a dog. 

Angels and Demons, 2009 (grade D)

Director: Ron Howard

Awards?  None that I know of and would be shocked if it got any.

Cast: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard, Masasa Moyo, Victor Alfieri. Yan Cui, Shelby Zemanek, Jonas Fisch, Kristof Konrad, Curt Lowens

SEZ SAYS ... One part mystery, one part brutal thriller, and one part boring. The boring being the biggest part. Formulaic in the worst sort of way. Four cardinals must be saved and one time bomb must be stopped and the least likely person turns out to be the criminal. Have we seen this before?  Way too many times.  Tom Hanks did a Tom Hanks sort of job, which is always appreciated but you have to wonder why he got involved in such a worthless enterprise... Maybe it was because Ron Howard was directing. But then you also have to question Howard's decision making skills since he sees to have selected this loser. Come back to your senses Ron we miss you!  You should not waste your talent on the likes of this.

MJC:  Ron what were you thinking!  With all that could be dramatized about the catholic church and it's history this was a shot that missed the mark. Only plus I can come up with, after hearing PhDs disparaged so often, it is nice to see the hero is an academic in the humanities.