Rachel Getting Married

Rachel Getting Married: Anne Hathaway stars in this intimate, unorthodox family drama. We are introduced to her character, Kim as she is leaving rehab to attend her sister Rachel’s wedding. The beginning of the film is set-up well as we can tell Kim is still not in a healthy state of mind to be around a large group of people and of course there is a herd of family and friends staying at her house for the wedding. This scenario leads to some humorous moments during the early scenes of the picture and all the while keeps unlocking portions of Kim’s troubled past. The drama unfolds more as we learn how the whole family is scarred because of Kim’s drug abuse and a fatal mistake she made while she was high. The story is not an easy one to tell and a lot of credit has to go to Anne Hathaway for her performance. She brought an understanding to the character. She did not overplay the role and she saved her best for the movie’s most crucial scenes concerning the guilt she has to live with every day of her life. Now it would not be the movies if the wedding was not turned into a multicultural event. This film does not even attempt to explain all of the affluent and diverse people that attend the wedding. The wedding celebration scenes with live music and dancing go on way too long and take away from the emotion I had vested in the story. When the lights went up we had a good drama with an excellent performance, but I felt if the story had a tighter grip…..we could have squeezed much more passion out of it.

Ry's Rating: B

If this movie had parents they would be: SherryBaby & Margot at the Wedding

With a runtime of 113 minutes

This film is rated R

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz, and Javier Bardem star in Woody Allen’s latest comedic take on love and lust. Two best friends – Vicky and Cristina (Johansson) plan to spend a summer in Barcelona studying the culture. Early into their stay they are approached by a Spanish painter - Juan Antonio (Bardem), who offers or I should say suggests that they go on a trip with him and partake in….um…cough “extracurricular activities” together. Cristina is immediately drawn to his passion and is more willing to accept the offer than her friend. However, in due time both girls separately fall prey to his enthusiasm for love. The situation then gets turned on its head when Juan Antonio’s crazy ex-lover (Cruz) shows up. In typical Allen fashion all of the characters are refined, sophisticated, and into the arts. Allen’s strong suit is his sharp writing and his ability to get his characters into outlandish situations and this film is full of those moments. The film is equipped with a narrator from start to finish. Although he has some funny lines, I felt Allen could have done much more with this element. The ending of the movie was also a little bit of a let down for me as I did not feel satisfied with any of the characters’ evolutions. This is probably the best comedy Allen has penned in 15 years, but it is still far short of his greater works.

Ry's Rating: B -

If this movie had parents they would be: Wild Things & Melinda and Melinda

With a runtime of 96 minutes

This film is rated PG-13

Bullets of Interest

• This is the 39th film directed by Woody Allen
• It is the 3rd time he has worked with Johansson
• 1st Woody Allen movie to take place in Spain

The Clone Wars Review

CK, an esteemed film director and a good friend of mine was lucky enough to catch an early screening of the new Star Wars animated film - his guest review is below. Thanks CK


Star Wars, The Clone Wars: There is a new Star Wars film, sort of. This Friday the newest entry into the most successful film franchise of all time will be released at your local multiplex. The Clone Wars is a 90 minute amped up Saturday morning cartoon for the big screen. The project was initially developed just for television, but supposedly once Executive Producer George Lucas saw the first three episodes he thought they looked so good that they would work as a feature. He was right for the most part. The plot centers around a kidnapping conspiracy involving the son of the infamous Jabba the Hutt (taking place sometime between Episode 2 and 3). It’s not an epic feature type story-line, it was never meant to be. Those looking for the 7th gigantic Star Wars film will most likely not find it here. What you will find is some great looking action, nice animation, a lot of wonderful nods to Episodes 4-6, and a good introduction to a promising family series. Lucasfilm has done a nice job of balancing the series between young kids and the adult crowd who grew up with the franchise.
CK Rating: C+ / but as far as launching a new TV series: B

If this movie had parents they would be: Star Wars & Atlantis: The Lost Empire

With a runtime of 98 minutes
This film is rated PG

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