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Director: Peter Hedges

Starring: Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, Dianne Weist, John Mahoney, Alison Pill, Brittany Robertson, Marlene Lawston

Writer/director Peter Hedges looks like he will have a hit on his hands with this, only his second feature film. This romantic comedy leans a little more towards drama, but is built on sweet characters and a decent story and still manages to pull out a few good laughs, too. There is a strong experienced cast, here and Carell excels at playing the nice Tom Hanks-type everyman. Juliette Binoche exudes appeal in every scene and veterans Mahoney and Weist are excellent in support.

Steve Carell is Dan Burns, an advice columnist who is also a struggling widower who keeps busy raising three daughters. Dan has not been ready to find new love, until he meets the charming and beautiful Marie in a tiny bookstore, while on a cabin weekend with his whole family. Dan is smitten, and the instant attraction seems mutual, but his elation soon turns to pain, when the intriguing woman shows up at the family gathering as his younger brother’s new girlfriend.

There are a few laughs and a lot of “awwwws” as this emotionally manipulative, but still entertaining, little feature weaves its magic. The film will feel warm and familiar and will not disappoint the rom-com crowd (romantic comedy).

Year Of The Dog (2007) **

Director: Mike White

Starring: Molly Shannon, Laura Dern, Regina King, Thomas McCarthy, Peter Sarsgaard, Josh Pais, John C. Reilly

Mike White, the writer of Nacho Libre and School of Rock, takes his first stab at directing with this PETA propaganda film that starts out as a light, romantic drama, but takes a hard right into…into what? Dark comedy? Maybe, but its not funny. Romance? No, the romance vanishes? I guess all we have left is a drama about obsession, that is frustrating to watch. Anyway, the characters here are interesting enough and the story starts out okay, before it veers off into the ditch. The ending is manipulative and unimpressive.

Molly Shannon, of Saturday Night Live fame, is Peggy, a lonely, but content, office worker whose life is cracked by the sudden death of her little dog (he is a very cute dog). These leads to romantic possibilities with a couple of men including her next door neighbour, Al (Reilly) and Newt (Sarsgaard). As these peter out, however, she slowly becomes more and more absorbed with animal rights and saving pound-incarcerated pooches. This leads her to make some very controversial decisions that threaten her stable, little life.

Now, I love animals – all kinds of animals, and, though I often do not agree with the views and actions of organizations like PETA, I am sympathetic to their feelings. Year of The Dog started out as an unusual, little animal lovers romantic comedy like Must Love Dogs crossed with Amelie, but as Peggy turned more and more extreme in her views and actions, I began to resent the opinionated tenor of what I had expected to be light entertainment. PETA supporters, here is a movie just for you.

Director: Scott Hicks

Starring: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin, Patricia Clarkson, Jenny Wade, Bob Balaban, Brian F. O’Byrne

Catherine Zeta-Jones is great in this remake of the 2001 German film, Mostly Martha. The tasty romantic drama/comedy is set in the kitchen of a posh restaurant and Aaron Eckhart exudes charisma and screen presence as he applies his own natural and unaffected talent and charm to the project. Young Abigial Breslin (of Little Miss Sunshine fame) continues to improve her acting skills here, as well. It’s very sad at times (I’m not giving anything away. See below), but is mostly upbeat, lively and fun.

Catherine Zeta-Jones is Kate, the stubborn head chef of a fancy French Manhattan eatery, who keeps her life, and her kitchen, firmly under control even if she has to lose her temper once in awhile to do it. Kate’s carefully planned life takes an unexpected turn, however, when her sister dies suddenly and has left wishes that Kate take care of her precocious young daughter, Zoe (Abigail Breslin in an impressive scene-stealing role). Added to this disruption is the hiring of a new sous-chef at the restaurant to cover the added time off that Kate needs. Enter the opera-singing, croc-wearing Nick (Aaron Eckhart), whose infectious personality is soon winning over everyone, but Kate. This movie uses more montages than any film in recent memory, but they fit in nicely.

The chemistry between the three lead performers is very good and the high-energy restaurant kitchen setting works well, too. The story is simple romantic formula fare and could have been punched up with a few more jokes, but this is still a light (mostly) and pleasant summer drama that will be popular with the girls and their guys won’t hate it either, except you may have to explain how come you don’t cook. I had to.

Director: Chris Rock

Starring: Chris Rock, Kerry Washington, Gina Torres, Steve Buscemi,

The multi-talented Chris Rock co-wrote directed, narrated and starred in this light, slice-of-life comedy. This is pretty lightweight fare for the usual edgy Rock and not as funny as his usual projects, but it’s a pleasant and amusing story and I am a sucker for Ferris Bueller style narration with characters telling their story to the camera as we watch it unfold, but this movie needed some funnier jokes to really work. The characters are not completely convincing and although it starts out with some promise, it gets worse, not better.

Chris Rock is Richard Cooper, a family man investment banker, who is struggling with his undersexed, flat marriage when a tempting old acquaintance, Nikki Tru (played by the smoking hot Kerry Washington) re-enters his life and causes him to challenge his values as he zigzags on what he wants from life. Steve Buscemi, like Rock is cast in an unfamiliar straight role and it feels like both of them are underutilized.

I Think I Love My Wife, which is a re-make of Chloe In The Afternoon, starts out like an updated version of Kevin Bacon’s She’s Having A Baby, but changes its tone several times and this inconsistency hurts the overall effect. There are worse movies, but I try not to see them either.

Director: Michael Moore

Starring: Michael Moore

Michael Moore is at it again. Thus far, on the big screen, Moore had tackled GM, gun laws and George Bush. This time out his opponent is the American medical system, which seems like a pretty, easy target. This feature follows the Moore formula by combining humour with stories and interviews that range from heartbreaking to outrageous. His pace is fast and entertaining, though some of the stories are truly heart wrenching, so be prepared.

Michael Moore is never afraid to tackle the most powerful institutions in America and this outing is no exception. This time the controversial filmmaker climbs into the ring with the American medical system and sends it down the canvas with a series of international comparison roundhouses and interview uppercuts with those who have suffered in the 37th best healthcare system in the world and the worst of any industrialized country if his facts are to be taken at face value. With Moore, that is always a big ‘if’. In my opinion, his heart is in the right place, even if his numbers aren’t.

Make no mistake. This is propaganda. Moore’s point may be valid and the issues he tackles are always deserving of a hard look, but he does not present a balanced view. Any case that his detractors may present is glossed over or not mentioned at all. This doesn’t make them right, but remember that his opinion is what gets airtime, here. Some question his facts and some even question his motives, but at least he makes people think about issues that politicians get paid to keep Americans from thinking about. This is an issue that the American people need to take a long hard look at, but don’t take Moore’s word for it, or even mine. Look at both sides and decide for yourself.

Starring: Sean Connery, Dustin Hoffman, Matthew Broderick

Director: Sidney Lumet

Quickly forgotten at the time of its release, this is a little gem of a movie that combines interesting, developed characters with a pretty good story to come up with a surprisingly, likable result.
Connery is at his best, as a charismatic, but unrepentant career criminal. Dustin Hoffman plays his disapproving son and Matthew Broderick is a discontented academic, and the third generation of MacMullen men. This family has a beer mug full of issues to sort out, and decide that nothing would better for this than a good old joint family caper. My family loves capers too; that and our monthly family gatherings at the penitentiary.
The story is clever, if not entirely convincing, and gets a little muddled near the end, but the this movie is worth checking out to see three talented actors playing three interesting characters against the Sidney Lumet NYC backdrop, which is always good. It is a tasty light mix of drama and comedy.

Starring: Aaron Eckhart, J.K. Simmons, Cameron Bright, Katie Holmes,
William H. Macy, Robert Duvall

Director: Jason Reitman

Aaron Eckhart is Nick Naylor, a slick, fast thinking and faster talking spokesperson for the tobacco industry, and he is very good at his job. This is a great, intelligent comedy that earned my highest rating. It’s been out for a year and I’ve already seen it four times. Yes, it’s that good.
It got the one of the coolest opening songs I’ve heard in awhile, and that is just the beginning of great, understated comedy that has you still giggling about scenes long after they are over. It starts with Nick on the Joan Lunden show going up against various representatives of non-smoking organizations and their visual aide; a bald teenager with lung cancer. It is this show that puts Naylor in the crosshairs of a Vermont Senator played to perfection by William H. Macy. He also becomes the target of a seductive reporter played by Katie Holmes and meets regularly with friends from the alcohol and gun industries. They cleverly refer to themselves as the M.o.d. Squad (merchants of death). There are too many priceless scenes to repeat here and I would just ruin them if I tried to relate them, anyway.
It was one of the best pictures of 2006. Got some attention from the Golden Globes but I guess the cheque that was supposed to accompany the screening copy to the Academy fell behind a desk somewhere, because this gem was nowhere to be seen on Oscar night. What a shame.

Director: Glenn Jordan

Starring: James Garner, Jonathan Pryce, Peter Riegert, Joanna Cassidy, Fred Dalton Thompson, Leilani Sarelle, Matt Clark

This Emmy-winning made-for-TV movie takes a humorous look at actual events in a big 1980s takeover war. It falls somewhere between a light drama and a comedy, but the seasoned professional acting (particularly lead James Garner) and experienced direction is far above usual TV standards. There is a pretty good story about excess and the battle for big bucks.

James Garner is F. Ross Johnson, who has gone from being a hardworking paperboy in Winnipeg, Canada to a jet setting, big spending CEO in NYC. When Johnson is faced with an expensive project that seems headed for failure, he chooses to deflect shareholder backlash by trying to raise the money to buy the company himself. It might have worked, but when a couple other green sharks get the whiff of possible profit, the bidding war is on. What follows is corporate juggling, scrambling, and general skulduggery in a world where all the numbers have nine zeroes.

Imagine a Wall Street where Gordon Gekko is a charming, nice guy (but greed is still good) and with a comedy slant, and you will have some idea of what to expect here. All in all, this is a pretty fun way to learn the difference between a corporate takeover and a hostile takeover. Admit it. You have always wanted to know.

Director: Tom Hanks

Starring: Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler, Johnathon Schaech, Steve Zahn, Ethan Embry, Tom Hanks, Charlize Theron, Obba Babatunde

That Thing You Do, written, directed and co-starring the versatile Tom Hanks, is one of those comedies that holds an inexplicable appeal for me. The simple story is clean and well-written with wonderfully, appealing characters performed by a talented, young cast, that included Liv Tyler on the verge of stardom. Add this to a snappy, 60s style Oscar-nominated song and all the elements are there for a feel-good movie that I can happily watch a couple times a year.

Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott) is spending 1964 selling appliances in his Dad’s store, and playing jazz music on his drums in the basement, until his friend Lenny (Steve Zahn) recruits him to join a band for a local talent show. Along with lead singer, Jimmy, (Johnathon Schaech), his stunning girlfriend, Faye (Liv Tyler) and a hopeless bass player, the Oneders are on the brink of a special time. They follow Guy’s input, and win the show. Things really take off when they are signed by Mr. White (Tom Hanks) for Playtone records and soon the whole group is on a crazy, rock n’ roll, roller coaster ride, but when things fly up so fast, can avoid a crash?

This is an excellent, light drama/comedy with natural characters and catchy tunes to go with a sixties musical fable. I consider this to be Tom Hank’s most under-rated project and it is a favorite film of mine.

Director: Spike Lee

Starring: Spike Lee, Ossie Davis, Danny Aeillo, John Torturro, Bill Nunn, Richard Edson, Samuel L. Jackson, Roger Guenveur Smith, Martin Lawrence, Giancarlo Esposito, Rosie Perez, Joie Lee, Ruby Dee

Do The Right Thing is Spike Lee’s wonderful 80’s light urban drama about race relations in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, that really launched his career. The story is good and the large ensemble cast is full of great well-developed and well-acted characters, led by writer/director Spike Lee in the lead role. Lee’s direction is loaded with style, that goes a little overboard at times, but is still impressive. Look for early roles, big and small for all kinds of big names, as an added point of interest.

Spike Lee is Mookie, a pizza delivery person working for Sal and his sons at Sal’s Famous Pizzeria, which is an institution in a predominantly black NYC neighborhood, filled with loads of quirky characters. Their conversations, relationships and lives are the story here, as well as growing racial tension exacerbated by a sweltering heat wave, that leads to an explosive ending.

This motion picture was a popular topic of conversation in 1989, and set Spike Lee off on a chain of successful films. It has stood up well over the last couple of decades and is still worth seeing.