Real Movie Review-Movie Reviews, Movie Quotes, Movie Trivia

Director: Julian Schnabel

Starring: Matthieu Amalric, Marie-Josee Coze, Marina Hands, Max Von Sydow, Emanuelle Seigner

This moving and absorbing feature tells the true story of Elle editor, Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered a stroke and found himself stricken with near complete paralysis. The story is relentlessly grim and effective at giving the viewer a glimpse at the horrific “locked-in syndrome”, forcing us forced to imagine ourselves in this unimaginable situation. The flawless performances enhance Schnabel’s inspired vision that brought this one-of-a-kind first-person novel to the screen.

Matthieu Amalric plays a successful and self-absorbed editor, who begins the film seeing his hospital room-sized world through only his left eye after awakening from a short coma. Viewers hear his internal thoughts and see his flashbacks as the horrible story of condition unfolds. Over time, Bauby, who can only blink his left eye, learns to communicate, deals with personal issues and writes a book, upon which the film is based upon.

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly is another film dealing with the true tale of a person dealing with incredible adversity. Like previous features such as My Left Foot, our ability to deal with challenges is the real story here. Wonderful cinema, I suppose, but pretty depressing for an evening’s entertainment.

Director: Luke Meyer, Andrew Neel

Starring: Skip Lipman, Daniel McArthur, Rebecca Thurmond, Kenyon Wells

One of the wonderful things about documentaries is their ability, when done well, to open our eyes to worlds within our own, of which we were completely unaware. Luke Meyer and Andrew Neel have given us just such a feature in Darkon, which tells the story of a group of passionate individuals whose love for fantasy and search for acceptance leads them into a real life version of fantasy role-playing games. The characters are interesting and often filled with an undercurrent of pathos, as are their stories.

Darkon is an unusual but compelling, documentary about adults who retreat on weekends into a world of medieval fantasy kingdoms and battles. The story is told in a straightforward manner, switching back and forth from the subjects’ lives in our modern society to their intricate fantasy game, complete with countries, rulers, alliances and battles, with armor and foam weapons. There is a strange melancholy to their choice to give so much time, effort and emotion to their make-believe world. I watched much of this film with an uncomprehending furrowed brow, as I tried to understand, and make sense of it all, but I was also completely absorbed by it.

Darkon is a wonderful documentary for those who, like me, have an insatiable curiosity about the world around us and how people find so many different ways to interact with it. Many will find this candid glimpse into the lives of rather immature, and socially awkward, gamers to be boring and disturbing. Those with an interest in fantasy role-playing, particularly in a live action setting will find it irresistible. If you have enjoyed previous features like Spellbound and King Of Kong, then this will be just your sort of motion picture.

Director: Steven Brill

Starring: Owen Wilson, Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile, Ian Roberts, David Dorman, Valerie Tien, Alex Frost, Josh Peck

Ahhh, the carefree, locker-slamming, change room-fearing days of high school. Really, for most of us, high school is the closest we will ever come to experiencing the violent, anything goes, prison environment. There is nothing more fun than seeing a bully take an ass whupping on film. True, they aren’t the bullies that I would like to see take an ass whupping, but still, it’s a start. Drillbit Taylor is the newest train car to be hooked up to the Judd Apatow comedy express. This guy puts out more video than You Tube. The uneven story that occasionally passes right by silly, on its way to stupid, is helped by some credible performances by the young cast, who actually look the age they’re playing, and by Owen Wilson’s usual entertaining work. Add this to some pretty funny scenes, including the best rap since 8 Mile, and you have a decent way to waste a Friday night.

Wade and Ryan (Nate Hartley and Troy Gentile) are a couple youngsters setting off to get a good start in high school, but a wardrobe malfunction and a poorly-timed hero impulse combine to quickly make them and Emmit (David Dorfman), the primary targets of a couple of begging-for-a-beating bullies played by Alex Frost and Josh Peck. The young victims hit on the solution of hiring a bodyguard and begin interviews, including one with the guy who played the bodyguard in My Bodyguard (Adam Baldwin). That was classic! They settle on the only one they can afford, a bs’ing homeless guy with plans for relocation to Canada, played by Owen Wilson.

There are some pretty funny scenes here, but the story could have used quite a bit more work. Maybe if this crew wasn’t shoving out comedies like fries at a drive through window, the quality could be picked up a little. Drillbit Taylor isn’t bad. It is a combination of Superbad and My Bodyguard, but isn’t as good as either of those. Good enough not to dissappoint, but not good enough to impress.

Director: Adam Brooks

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Abigail Breslin, Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz, Kevin Kline, Derek Luke

Writer/director, Adam Brooks has cleverly combined romantic comedy with a bit of light mystery to come up with a pretty good story, that holds the viewer’s interest, but could have been punched up with some more jokes. The acting is solid by the entire cast, including pretty boy, Ryan Reynolds who may just turn into a bankable lead, yet. Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) is excellent once again, though the light script didn’t give her much of a challenge.

Ryan Reynolds is Will Hayes, a divorced ad executive, who goes to pick up his eleven year old daughter, Maya from school, only to find that a sex education class has made her inordinately curious about her father’s dating past and his relationship with her mother. Will eventually agrees to tell her the story of his three great loves, but on the condition that he change their names and not tell Maya which one would actually become her mother. Thus, we are launched into flashbacks of Will’s romantic past which includes his college sweetheart, Emily (Elizabeth Banks), a quirky copy girl named April (Isla Fisher), and a free spirited writer named Summer (Rachel Weisz). The whole thing is light romance that builds to a contrived, but satisfying, finish.

Definitely Maybe is a pleasant, well-made chick flick that will serve as two hours of refreshing entertainment, but will likely not be remembered by the time you see another film. When making a film like this, I think the rule to go by is ‘make us laugh, or make us cry’. “Definitely Maybe” doesn’t do either.

Director: Ricki Stern, Anne Sundberg

Starring: Brian Steadle

The Devil Came On Horseback is a relentless hard-hitting documentary about the horrible conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, as seen through the eyes of an impartial military observer, former Marine Captain, Brian Steadle, who doesn’t feel impartial for long. The result is engaging, and is almost as hypnotic as it is powerful and disturbing and kinda made me feel guilty for not doing more to help. It was a darling of the film festival circuit, but has seen little commercial promotion.

In 2004, retired but young, Marine Captain Brian Steadle accepted a six month contract as an unarmed military observer supervising the ceasefire to a two decade long civil war in The Sudan. Soon after his arrival, he realizes that government backed thugs, known as the Janjaweed are executing a campaign of rape, murder and torture, against civilian villages in the Darfur region of the country. The film starts out with some background of the area, and its issues, and then watches and listens, as Steadle uses pictures, video, and narration to describe, and illustrate his experiences during the horrifying, and frustrating period. Next, Brian returns home and tries to tell America, and the world, what is happening in The Sudan.

The Devil Came On Horseback tells a troubling tale that is uncomfortably close to the Rwandan story from all too few years ago. It packs a punch, and I hesitate to speculate on who will ‘enjoy’ it. It is similar in tone and content to such films as The Killing Fields and Hotel Rwanda, and much like last year’s documentary feature, Shake Hands With The Devil, which focused on Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire’s experiences in Rwanda. This is a powerful project that should be seen.

Director: Frank Oz

Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Andy Nymen, Ewen Bramner, Alan Tudyk, Jane Asher, Kris Marshall, Rupert Graves, Peter Dinklage, Keeley Hawes

Director Frank Oz (Stepford Wives, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) is actually best known for his Muppet voice work, including Bert on Sesame Street, but in Death At A Funeral, he shows that he can still crank out a pretty good comedy when he wants to. The cast here is superb and get all they can from Dean Craig’s witty screenplay. Some of the scenes are silly, and many of the best lines are in the trailers, but this is still a smart, funny and enjoyable small-scale comedy.

Daniel’s (Matthew MacFadyen) father has passed away and all Daniel wants to do is give him a dignified send off by inviting family and friends to the family home for the funeral. This soon proves trickier than you would think, what with unintentional drug abuse, a crotchety wheelchair bound Uncle, family money disputes, romantic pressures and a small problem in the form of a mysterious, small-statured guest (Peter Dinklage)who would like a private word with Daniel about his father…

Death At A Funeral is a fine British comedy about a funeral that is rigorously, and hilariously, adhering to Murphy’s Law. This film is another in the genre of family get-together comedies that plays kind of like a darker, funnier version of Father of the Bride, or My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and is worth checking out on TV or video.

Director: Wes Anderson

Starring: Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, Amara Karan, Anjelica Huston

Writer/director Wes Anderson has a created niche for himself, after projects like “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou” and the quirky classic, “The Royal Tenenbaums”. He is known for his unconventional formula that involves peculiar characters interacting with their equally unusual friends and families. “The Darjeeling Limited” follows this path, as well, and presents fine actors playing off-the-wall characters, and a script that has some very funny bits. It gets stranger and less funny as it progresses, however, and this affected my enjoyment of it.

“The Darjeeling Limited” starts out with an optional, but connected, 10 minute short film about Jason Schwartzman’s character, Jack interacting with a former girlfriend played by Natalie Portman. Is it just me, or does Schwartzman look Tom Cruise’s non sex symbol brother? Nevertheless, I recommend watching this preceding short. But speaking of brothers, the real film opens with Jack meeting his two brothers, Francis and Peter (Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody) on a train in India, as the beginning of Francis’ plan for a family spiritual journey following a near-death experience. The brothers have some issues to sort out, and attempt to do this while working around pepper spray, poisonous snakes, romantic interludes and lots and lots of cigarettes, on their way to a big surprise that Francis has set up for them.

I am not much of a Wes Anderson fan. I find his work to be too offbeat, and that it has too little happening for my ADD movie watching tastes. I did, however find this feature to be interesting and funny enough (in some spots, damn funny) to entertain me until it got more eccentric and less funny towards the end. There are some good laughs, here, helped along by the talented cast. Anderson fans will love this and those who have not enjoyed his previous efforts would likely love to miss it. Opinions on this feature will diverge wildly according taste. Many will read this review and be saying out loud, “Maniac, you are an idiot.” I already know that.

Director: Fred Savage

Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Paul Rae, Lochlyn Munroe, Richard Grant, Josh McLerren, Telise Galanis,

Eddie Murphy, in an astute career move, ducked the explosion of this bomb by not participating in the sequel to his Daddy Day Care project. Original director, Steve Carr, has also jumped ship and is replaced at the helm by Fred Savage of Wonder Years fame. This film is tired formula throughout, and lacks a good enough story to make it compelling, and enough working jokes to make it funny. All that’s left is a broken-down family dramedy.

Daddy Day Care champ, Charlie Hinton (Cuba Gooding Jr. this time) is off for the summer and is dropping his son off at summer camp, when instead of heading back to town for a summer of relaxation, he ends up taking over the camp with his partner, Phil (Paul Rae), and running it in direct competition with the rich camp next door, run by an old enemy, Lance (Lochlyn Munro). Lance is determined to humiliate his neighbors, so that he can buy the bankrupt camp. Guess what happens next.

Daddy Day Camp is a stale re-hash of a hundred family comedies before it and there will be a thousand more like it down the road. It might entertain the little ones for 85 minutes or so, but any expectations beyond that will be better served by a hike to the video store to rent Meatballs.

Director: James Wan

Starring: Kevein Bacon, Garrett Hedlund, Kelly Preston, Jordan Garrett, Stuart Lafferty, Aisha Taylor, John Goodman, Edi Gathegi

James Wan, who is best known as part of the crew that brought us the Saw series, tries an revenge/action flick, this time out. Death Sentence is in the spirit of the Death Wish series from a couple decades ago. This makes sense, however, since Death Sentence is based on a novel by Brian Garfield, who also wrote Death Wish (got any new ideas, Brian?) and not much has changed since Charles Bronson set out to make the urban jungle safe for decent folk with a sock full of quarters in the original Death Wish. The story is emotionally manipulative and all of the characters are one dimensional. Credibility is badly strained here by the keystone cops who seem helpless to solve crimes that Homer Simpson could figure out. Okay, maybe not Homer, but Lisa could do it in a second! Suffice to say, that these are not CSI-proof crime scenes we are talking about, here. The acting is adequate, but the dialogue and story just don’t work. Luckily, there is plenty of action and enough righteous self-indignation opportunities to keep your mind off all of that boring plot and detail stuff.

Kevin Bacon is Nick Hume, a stable, loving (perfect and boring - haven’t I see this guy in about 3,000 movies before?) family man, whose oldest, and favorite son, Brendan (Lafferty) is senselessly murdered and the broken down justice system is unable to offer more than to put his worthless killer away for a few years. This isn’t good enough for Hume, who sets out for a little eye-for-an-eye justice, but in doing so, brings danger to himself and the rest of his little family. Hedlund plays the requisite stereotypical leader of a gang of non-thinking street toughs, while John Goodman’s acid tongued hard ass, ‘Bones’, is the only interesting character in the whole movie.

It’s not great, but then again neither were most of the Death Wish movies (though number one was better than this). Wan keeps the action up, but you will need to turn your brain down to enjoy this one, which has some kind of muddled message about violence not being the answer. If you are looking for a really enjoyable film for Friday night viewing, this one isn’t the answer either. Let’s hope that Jodie Foster and director Neil Jordan have a better answer when their revenge/action effort comes out in a couple weeks.

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).