Australia Review

Australia: Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman star in Baz Luhrmann’s sweeping epic about the land down under. All of the elements were in place to make the classic Hollywood saga, but yet the story ultimately felt empty. This is not to say that the movie is a total bust. Putting this film on the “perspective scale” you see that it was trying to be a lot more than the standard tale. Australia may have come up short of its goal, but it still lands above much of the junk in theaters today. The movie opens up with Lady Ashley (Kidman) traveling from England to Australia to see her long absent husband at the cattle ranch he purchased. Just before she arrives, her husband is murdered leaving her sole proprietor of the cattle ranch. She can either take the easy way out and sell the cattle business to her evil competitor or keep the business going on her own. It is almost a 3 hour movie…..she picks the latter. In doing so, she must figure out a way to heard 1,500 cattle over treacherous land to the Australian port of Darwin. There she will be able to sell her cattle to the army who is preparing for World War II. Enter Drover (Jackman), the best damn cattle drover in all of the land. With him in the lead and a cast of 5 others including Kidman and an aboriginal boy, the adventure begins. That is only part one of the story. When they finally make it to Darwin there is controversy about who the little boy should stay with since he is of white and aboriginal descent and has no parents to care for him. Then there is the empire of Japan who comes in and bombs Darwin in hopes that it will cut off supplies to the Australian military. Through all of this, the characters finally realize who they truly love and care for…now the question is whether they can save each other from danger. The movie is filled with wide shots of the beautiful landscape and even has some moments of awe during both the cattle herding and war scenes. Luhrmann also finds a way to incorporate the song “Somewhere over the Rainbow”. I thought the acting was good – Kidman better than Jackman and the boy above them both. I think two things that could have helped strengthen the film would be tweaking the story so that we cared more about the fate of the characters and adding a little more of Luhrmann’s creative directing style to separate it from the norm. The story was grand, but the emotion was shallow. I liked it, but wanted more…

Ry's Rating: B-

If this movie had parents they would be: Out of Africa & Pearl Harbor

With a runtine of 165 minutes

This film is rated PG-13

X-Files: I want to Believe

The X-Files: I want to Believe: Being a huge X-Files fan, I was very pleased to see the series get another big screen installment. Another plus was hearing that this film would have nothing to do with the on-going alien conspiracy and would instead be a “stand-alone” thriller. In its prime, The X-Files' stand-alone episodes were basically mini sci-fi movies. The idea of expanding the budget and scope for the movie houses seemed like a slam dunk. However, it did not seem to me that this latest X-Files movie really expanded the budget, nor the scope of the story. It was basically like watching a TV episode in the theater. This is not the worst thing though as the chemistry between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully is still one of the best. I also enjoyed how easily they caught us up with the character’s lives and what they have been doing since we last saw them some 6 years ago. The plot was average for X-Files standards, focusing on psychic visions from a priest to help find a missing FBI agent. The villains who kidnapped the agent and the reason for it was perverse, but again I would have liked something a bit creepier. I also would have enjoyed a little more screen time with the villains to fill out their characters. A sub-plot involving Scully’s connection with her young patient at the hospital gave the film a deeper meaning as did her relationship with Mulder. In the end, I liked the movie and was happy to see the duo in action again, but I did feel the series had more potential than what we saw in I Want to Believe.
Ry’s Rating: C+

If this movie had Parents, they would be: The X-Files (1998) & Dirty Pretty Things

With a runtime of 104 minutes
This film is rated PG-13

Perfect Stranger Review

Perfect Stranger: Halle Berry, Bruce Willis, and Giovanni Ribisi team up for this mind numbing thriller. I left this movie with 1 BIG question…..how do scripts like this get green lit? Berry plays Rowena, a journalist always looking for the big story. When a childhood friend of hers is murdered she jumps onto the case – because in movies like this the star journalist is always better at solving crimes than actual cops. Rowena’s profound investigation finds that her friend was having an affair with the top advertising executive in NYC – Harrison Hill (played by Bruce Willis and a damn good “movie name” if I do say so myself). To get the inside scoop on Harrison Hill, she gets a temp job at his advertising firm. From there the plot thickens as we are given even more reason to think that Hill is our perpetrator. Of course, what would a thriller of this nature be without a twist or two……..or five. The movie does have a couple tense moments, but I would have liked a little more given that the movie is like so many we have already seen. The ending is creative, but it is almost laughable when you put it through the “believability test”. Every once in a while a movie of this nature is done right, with just enough thought put into it to allow us to believe in the irrationality of it all. Unfortunately, Perfect Stranger does not have the smarts to make it all work.

* * or a grade of a C -

If this movie had parents they would be: You’ve Got Mail & Basic Instinct

With a running time of 109 minutes
This film is rated R

The Lake House - (On DVD as of this review)

The Lake House: Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock team up for the first time since Speed…..the result = Who Cares? The premise for the movie is what made me give this a spin. Reeves’ plays Alex, an architect living in the year 2004. Bullock plays Kate, a doctor who is living in the year 2006. She just moved out of the lake house and left a letter for the next tenant (very common I’m sure), supernaturally the letter goes to Alex in the year 2004 who is currently living in the same lake house. Does he just throw the letter out and never think of it again like most guys would do…..of course not – he writes a very thoughtful letter back(very common I’m sure). Again supernaturally it goes to Kate in 2006. They become the best pen pals ever – falling in love in fact. Even though they are 2 years apart Kate can remember where she was on certain days in the year 2004 and so Alex actually comes into contact with the 2004 Kate, who is unaware of the 2006 Kate who is writing these letters (has not happened to her yet, but has for him). Whenever you have a time travel / supernatural premise you are opening a huge can of worms. I mean why wasn’t Kate in 2006 giving Alex in 2004 sports scores of games about to happen in 2004 - duh? Seriously – there are always flaws with the time travel premise and the Lake house has plenty of them. The other major flaw the movie has is Keanu Reeves; I mean who is the genius that says “Lets cast Keanu in a role where he is not wearing a black trench coat and does not say "whoa" – people will think he is a real actor”. Even though the movie was full of flaws I still give it credit on the creativity side – in the right hands this movie could have been outstanding.
* *
If this movie had parents they would be: Frequency & Back to the Future 2

With a run time of 105 minutes
This film is rated PG

Lady In the Water

Lady In the Water: Basic summary - A bedtime story by M. Night Shyamalan. Paul Giamatti stars as Cleveland, a superintendent at an apartment complex. One night he hears someone swimming in the pool after “pool hours”, but this someone is not human. After coming into contact and housing this mythical being -“a narf”, he begins to believe her myth about where she is from and why she is here. From there Cleveland talks to an elder Asian lady in the complex who knows of the story to hear more of this myth’s lore. What would a M. Night Shyamalan movie be without a suppose-to-be-scary-but-really-isn’t monster of some sort? The monster lurks in the grass around the complex waiting to strike the Narf….not very scary at all. Something different with this M. Night movie….no plot twist/surprise ending – it is a pretty straight forward story. The plot is told to the viewers by the characters during the movie and then we see it play out, with a couple bumps in the road of course. Saving the movie is the emotional scene near the end that sort of comes out on nowhere, but gives the story some much needed meaning. The Characters in the apartment complex were also well thought out and interesting. In the end I can’t really recommend as I felt the movie was flat, original yes, but lacking that spark that made M. Night Shyamalan a house hold name.

* *
If this movie had parents they would be: Splash & The Never ending Story

With a running time of 110 minutes
This film is rated PG-13

The 3 Burials of Melquiades Estrada: Tommy Lee Jones makes his directorial debut in this very weak drama. Jones actually pulls double duty as he stars in the film along side Barry Pepper. The Story takes place near the Texas/Mexico boarder. Jones plays Pete - a ranch hand who works with his friend Melquiades, a man who crossed over the Mexican boarder illegally. When Melquiades shows up dead, Pete keeps a promise to his friend and returns his body to Mexico to be buried near his family and in the land he loves. The who, what, and why Melquiades was killed is answered early in the second act and the film goes down hill from there. Talk about slow moving, the pace of the film is on course with the long horseback ride down to Mexico…….in real time. The film failed to create any drama or suspense; plus there was no reason to care about the characters. The only thing Jones did right was create such a mysterious world down around the boarder. I recommend you stay away from this rental.

* and ½ stars

If this movie had Parents they would be: The Missing & Open Range

With a running time of 121 minutes
This film is rated R

The New World

The New World: Going into this film I already did not like Colin Farrell and this movie did nothing to change that opinion. This is an epic dud. The story centers around John smith and his conflict with Native Americans including the famed Pocahontas. For starters I could not take Farrell serious in the role (Alexander anyone?)…. he just does not fit a 17th century solider. After that we have an extremely slooooow moving film that never draws the viewer in. Director Terrence Malick use a lot of voiceovers to bring drama to the story – Did not work! I would speak of the action, but there was none to speak of. The editing of the film should also be noted – feels like a rock skipping on water, does not flow well at all. The only positive the movie possesses is the marvelous score and the cinematography which was beautiful to look at. I would stay away from this movie unless you are looking to catch up on your sleep.

*
If this movie had parents they would be: Dances with Wolves & Pocahontas

With a running time of 125 minutes
This film is rated PG-13

Flight Plan

Flight Plan: Jodie Foster plays Kyle who gets on a plane she helped design and her 6 year old daughter vanishes during the flight. Nobody on board seems to have ever seen the child get on board and Kyle does not have a boarding pass for her daughter. Kyle had just lost her husband very traumatically and was coming back to the states with his casket for the funeral. The thought of the flight captain and the air marshal on board is that she is hallucinating that she even has a daughter. The plot then takes a turn, then a twist, then jumps over the line of believability before turning around so they can wave back at the viewers - thanking them for the cash they just blew on this movie. To top off the already BAD ending to the movie we are treated to one of the most laughable scenes in some time. As Foster gets out of the plane - dramatic smoke all around her, the people on the runway stunned at what they are seeing deliver a very corny line…….this was something out of a cheesy 80’s movie. I am shocked all involved let that scene make it to the final cut. Coming from a big Jodie Foster fan – boooooo

* and a ½

If this movie had Parents they would be: Panic Room and The Forgotten

With a running time of 98 minutes
This film is rated PG-13

Must Love Dogs

Must Love Dogs: If I ever run into John Cusack…….. I will punch him in the face for making this film. Diane Lane also stars in this crappy romantic comedy. She plays Sarah, who has recently been dumped and had her heart broken….boohoo. One day her sister has a bright idea to put a personal ad on the internet for Sarah. In the ad she mentions “Must Love Dogs” -> Title of film…..oooooo. They meet one day at a dog park even though neither character owns a dog…..the date lasts 3 minutes, but somehow Cusack’s character feels someone is taking his breath away. What a joke. The characters, the acting, and the story all rank as the worst I have seen all year. The climatic scene has Lane jumping into a river and swimming to Cusack who remains seated in his boat…..oh the laughter……problem is that it was not suppose to be funny.
0 stars - a true stinker

With a running time of 98 minutes
This movie is rated PG-13