Match Point

Match Point: Woody Allen turns to drama, suspense, and the city of London for his latest masterpiece. The plot involves love, lust and a little luck. Chris Wilton a former Tennis pro marries Chloe Hewett and with that marries into a very, very….very wealthy family. His life seems set……until he meets Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), she is dating his wife’s brother and is set to be his future sister-in-law. His feelings for her get him in an awful situation and the tension rises. The story is so captivating; it had me on the edge of my seat for the last 45 minutes. Just when you think it is bad….it gets worse. Woody Allen took a simple story line and turns it into one of the best films of the year! – And one of the more suspenseful movies to come along in some time. I walked out of the theater and my body was racing, nervous for what I just saw. The acting, story, and directing all are excellent. A fantastic film!!!

* * * *
With a running time of 124 minutes
This film is rated R

Grizzly Man

Grizzly Man: Not even sure how to review this film. I really think it is up to the viewer to decide how to take this movie……it is strange, but one thing is for sure – you will want to talk about it. It is a documentary about the life of Timothy Treadwell – who spent 13 years of his life living among wild grizzly bears in Alaska. He brings along video equipment and really does achieve some amazing visuals….walking up to the bears without fear. He did this for 13 years and then was eaten by one of the bears…..who also went on to devour Timothy’s girlfriend. It is a true story, no joke! Director Werner Herzog got a hold of all the footage Timothy shot and made this film for all to see. In between we have clips of people in Timothy’s life talking about him, some good – some bad. Timothy Treadwell is a very strange character….almost mentally disturbed. He actually wants to be a bear. His strange behavior will split your emotions on whether to laugh or to feel sorry for him. This is a must see.

* * and ½

With a running time of 104 minutes
This film is rated R

Munich

Munich: Another Steven Spielberg masterpiece. The story starts out with the 1972 Olympics that were held in Munich Germany. 11 Israeli athletes were taken hostage and killed by Palestinian terrorists. Israel then wanted to have their revenge and take out all the men responsible for the Munich horror. We follow along a hit squad as they make their way all over Europe hunting down their targets. Eric Bana plays Avner – who heads up the group, he is the key to the film getting its message across…..he does an excellent job. Things do not go perfect for the Israeli group, taking out their targets is much harder than expected. The message of the film is how getting revenge only leads to more revenge form the other side……when will it all end? - We are still waiting for it. The beauty is seeing Avner realize that no good is being done on either side. Spielberg then uses the last shot of the film to drive the message home -done to perfection. Only thing keeping this from a perfect score was I felt it ran a little too long.

* * * and ½

With a run time of 174 minutes
This film is rated R

Walk the Line

Walk The Line: Another biography of a famous singer/song writer…..this time it’s Johnny Cash. Cash is played excellently by Joaquin Phoenix, but even more impressive is the job Reese Witherspoon does playing June Carter (show stealing)! Not only do both give great acting performances, but they sing all the vocals in the movie – outstanding job!!!! The story is also a notch above most movies dealing with musicians in that the moral of it can relate to almost everyone. We start out with Johnny Cash as a young kid and some of the heartbreak he and his family went through. The story follows Cash through his time in the service and on to the beginning of his career. He soon meets June Carter and a special kind of relationship begins. Cash’s early career was not without trouble, but he was given a second chance - something he feels everyone should be entitled to. This is a great movie for all!

* * * and ½

With a running time of 132 minutes
This film is rated PG-13