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

Director: Jonas Pate

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Mark Webber, Robin Williams, Keke Palmer, Saffron Burrows, Jack Huston, Pell James, Robert Loggia, Dallas Roberts, Jesse Plemons

Jonas Pate steps out of TV land, where he has spent the last decade in various behind the camera positions to try his hand at the big screen and despite the help from a talented cast that includes the award-laden duo of Kevin Spacey and Robin Williams, as well as the promising young actress Keke Palmer (Akeelah and The Bee), Pate is unable to lift the film above the ponderous overfilled script. There are way too many characters here, and the result is a lack of real character interaction and depth that would allow the stars to work their magic.

Kevin Spacey is Henry Carter, a prominent psychiatrist to the stars with a best selling self help book. Life should be great, but the recent suicide of his wife has led him to a drug problem and serious self-doubt. This ties in with the stories of an aging star fighting philandering tendencies (Williams), a Hollywood power agent along with his pathological germ fear and his sweet pregnant assistant. There is also a teen struggling with loss (Keke Palmer), an aspiring screenwriter, a beautiful aging actress. Robert Loggia plays Carter’s father, and Jesse Plemons plays his drug dealer who also serves as a shoulder to lean on. I guess writer Thomas Moffett didn’t think he had quite enough characters yet. I would like to tell you more about the seemingly endless sub-plots here, but I have used all my space just giving most of the characters. I might have missed a couple, but you get the idea.

If you imagine taking Ordinary People and mashing it up with American Beauty and Crash you will have some idea of what to expect here. The offspring here though, is not a best picture winner but rather a muddled mass of wasted potential and missed opportunity. In the end, there is a mediocre drama that will suffice for Friday night viewing for genre fans, but no more than that.

Director: George Roy Hill

Starring: Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Harold Gould, Jack Kehoe

If ever there was a film where the key elements of great writing, innovative direction and charismatic performances came together in a flawless and enjoyable cinematic experience, then that film is The Sting. A seasoned cast of excellent performers is lead by Paul Newman and Robert Redford as they re-created the on-screen magic that they had first demonstrated in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid in 1969. The clever story is smart and cool as it features fun period dialog, and is smoothly laid out by director George Roy Hill, and is brought together and made even more memorable by Marvin Hamlisch’s well known score.

Robert Redford is Hooker, a charismatic, depression era street grifter whose partner, Luther, is murdered under the orders of a ruthless Chicago mob boss, Doyle Lonnegan, played by Robert Shaw in a masterful performance. Hooker wants the kind of revenge only a conman can get and goes to an old buddy of Luther’s, Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman). Together they set out to hurt the gangster with a big con, while not ending up murdered along the way to a great ending.

The Sting is a 70’s classic and is required viewing for all scam loving movie goers., as well those who enjoy finely crafted, but still light and entertaining period pieces. The end result is not comedy, but is pretty campy and manages to invoke a mood all its own. Worth seeing and worth seeing again, and again, and again….You get the idea.

Director: Michael Patrick King

Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, Chris Noth, Jennifer Hudson, David Eigenberg, Evan Handler, Jason Lewis

Well, as you might guess from my name, the Manhattan Movie Maniac, I’m not a TV guy. Sure I watch a game or reality show from time to time and know every Seinfeld like a fanatic, but generally speaking TV is not what I do. So, it should come as no surprise that I had never seen this show that seemed to enrapture female viewers for six seasons. The look is flashy and the dialog is crisp, but not particularly funny. The story is not real convincing and is packed with women going ape shit over clothes and accessories. I guess as an anti-materialistic, heterosexual male, this isn’t really supposed to make sense to me. The characters are fairly well-developed for a film of this kind, and my lack of familiarity with the TV show, didn’t leave me lost, but the male characters don’t get much attention from the busy script.

Sarah Jessica Parker, looking like she needs bucket therapy from KFC (Eat something! Have a doughnut for the love of God!) plays Carrie Bradshaw, a NYC writer with three perfect friends, who believes she has found the perfect man and the perfect apartment who now needs the perfect closet to house her collection of ridiculously overpriced clothes, justified by our media-driven corporate culture. Now she needs the perfect closet as a gift and wants the perfect wedding in this world where money means nothing. There are unconvincing complications along the way, of course, and lots of shots of the four girls having fun, and looking fabulous. The whole thing ends the way you think it will before you even sat through the montages.

Sex and The City is a flashy, but ultimately flat, tribute to people who think their lives should be self-indulgent fairy tales. There are few good lines, lots of shots of silly ‘fashion’ outfits and a neat reversal that has men as one dimensional accessories to the women’s lives. It wasn’t unpleasant to watch, but should be relegated to an add-on position on 2 for 1 video nights for those with an interest in the subject matter.

Director: Sam Raimi

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons

Sam Raimi is back behind the lens, as he carefully tries to re-create the recipe that made Spider-Man the box office champ of 2002. He succeeds at this for the most part, as he works his blend of humor, action, and touching drama and mixes it all up in a Big Apple bowl. The cast of #1 is back with a few additions, the most notable of which is Alfred Molina as premier Spidey villain, Doc Ock. This film is a little darker than its predecessor, and gets a little heavy at times for a light comic book action film.

Tobey Maguire is back as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and if you thought he his life was rough at times before, wait until you see the first half hour of this one, as poor Peter deals with money issues, problems with girls (still M.J. – Kirsten Dunst), friends, family, bosses, landlords, school and even laundry. If this guy got cancer, it would be a step up! Yup, his life is falling apart, and on top of that, he’s seems to be losing his super powers. There are more street musicians with Spider-Man tunes, more run ins with the fantastically amusing J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) and yet another awwww moment with his NYC neighbors. Alfred Molina is Otto Octavius, a scientist working on fusion with the help of four intelligent and ultra powerful artificial arms. But, uh oh, something goes wrong, he goes crazy and the Webslinger has another scrap on his hands. Yup, its just like the first one.

Spider-Man 2 set out to give its fans exactly what they liked in the first outing and they succeeded, too well actually. This almost feels like a scene for scene clone of the first film, though it has a new villain and some new ideas for action scenes, which really pick up in act 3 (last 30-45 mins). The end result will win over fans of the first Spider-Man. Thankfully there were plenty of those, because no new ones will be gained here.

Director: Sam Raimi

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Willem Dafoe, Cliff Robertson, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons

Spider-Man was the film that re-defined super hero films for the 21st century, living up to the promise of the X-Men series that began in 2000. Sam Raimi’s striking visuals takes David Koepp’s masterfully blended script and gives us a well paced mix of action, drama and humor. The characters are natural, likable and particularly well cast. The dialog gets understandably cheesy at times (it is still a comic book movie, after all), but this is still a fitting tribute to the most popular comic book series in the world.

Tobey Maguire is Peter Parker, a clever, but unpopular high school student, who finds his life is turned upside down when he gains the super powers of a spider. He learns of his new abilities, how to use them and the responsibilities that come along with power (Gee, I can think of a bunch of celebrities who seem to have missed that class). His life is a maelstrom, of money woes, family and friend issues and an unsuccessful love life with a beautiful classmate named Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), but become a lot more complicated when a super villain shows up.

Well developed characters, a compelling story and exciting original action scenes make this a first rate action flick that still manages to have both a heart and a pulse.

Director: David Ayer

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Chris Evans, Martha Higareda, Hugh Laurie, Cedric The Entertainer,

David Ayer, who wrote both Training Day and Dark Blue, is the director this time, for yet another film about police corruption. With an unconvincing script and Keanu Reeves and Chris Evans trying to carry roles like those handled by Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke, this film was bound to be weaker…and it is. The plot starts out as rushed and convoluted, without proper character development, and becomes unraveled by the silly climax. There are some pretty good action scenes to keep you from thinking too much about the plot holes, however. That’s something.

Keanu Reeves is Tom Ludlow, a walking cliche. He is a smart-mouthed cop with an attitude and a drinking problem, hiding some past pain. Ludlow goes around finding particularly vile criminals (all minorities, but he tells us he isn’t racist) and killing them in shootouts that are then re-staged to look like good shoots, all with the backing of his boss, Jack Wander, and no one else. Internal affairs is a little curious about this and have turned his former partner into a snitch. The story gets silly when he is killed in a blatantly staged robbery while Tom is beside him. Instead of being relieved, Tom sets out to find the killers despite his own involvement and teams up with the investigator, Paul Diskant (Chris Evans from the Fantastic Four franchise). The action keeps up, but the ending lets down and should tell David Ayer he needs a new subject.

Street Kings is a bland cop buddy film that tries to fill plot holes with bullets, just as was done with Training Day, but with worse dialog and less compelling performers, this one goes down despite the hail of gunfire, leaving a corpse that will only interest die hard fans of the ailing cop/buddy genre.

Director: Noam Murro

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ellen Page, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Hayden Church, Ashton Holmes

First time director Noam Murro does a commendable job in creating this amusing drama about socially malfunctioning people and those who love them. The story is a routine light romance about recovery from loss and family dynamics. The dialog is airy and enjoyable, and is helped by a talented cast, including the now acclaimed, Ellen Page. This film was made before Juno and was probably headed for a straight to video release before Page’s exploding fame made theatrical release a no-brainer. The characters are not always convincing, but the strengths of the film easily compensate.

Dennis Quaid is Lawrence Weatherhold, a struggling, self-absorbed widower, who is going through the motions with his two teenage children, including Vanessa (Ellen Page), an intellectually obsessed and socially challenged high school senior with a shield thick enough to defend the USS Enterprise. Lawrence finds possible romance with an emaciated physician named Janet (Sarah Jessica Parker), who should prescribe herself a couple buckets worth of KFC therapy. For some unfathomable reason, this former student finds herself attracted to the virtually unlovable Professor Weatherhold. Also stepping back into Weatherhold’s life, is his irresponsible and insolvent adopted brother, Chuck (Thomas Hayden Church), who seems like the only person capable of restoring this family to functionality. But can he do it?

Smart People is an entertaining but unremarkable film for fans of light romantic formula dramas. Page and Church are outstanding and have some good support, but the story is not wholly believable and this hurts its overall effect. The performances, refreshing characters and a few good jokes still make it a worthwhile cheap seat or video pick.

Smart People – movie quotes:

“Why would you have a baby with me?”
“Because you don’t know how to use a condom.” MMM – to paraphrase another film, “Chicks dig guys with skills (especially condom skills).

“These children haven’t been properly parented in many years. They’re practically feral. That’s why I was brought in.” MMM – this was the best line of the film, or would have been, if it wasn’t just in the trailer after being cut from the film in an editing boner.

Movie lines from Smart People

Director: Kimberly Peirce

Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rob Brown, Channing Tatum, Victor Rasuk, Timothy Olyphant

Director, Kimberly Pierce, who has been conspicuously absent from Hollywood movie credits since her auspicious debut with Boys Don’t Cry, returns with a motion picture that gives us yet another reason to hate the war in Iraq: the back-door drafting of soldiers who have finished their tour. This controversial practice is called ‘stop loss’ and little question remains as to what side of the argument this film falls onto. The tone gets preachy from time to time, and the story never quite manages to turn the heat up to the boiling level. The acting is strong, as is the direction, but neither manages to distinguish itself beyond that, leaving the film mired in mediocrity.

Stop Loss opens win some intense war scenes, but quickly shifts gears from a war film into a drama about a group of gung ho soldiers that include Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe- that guy you’ve heard of and know from something, but have no idea what), and his best friend Steve (Channing Tatum, who you don’t know from anything). Both of these guys have put in their time and are glad to have done their duty, but are even more glad to be done. Steve is all set to marry Michelle (Abbie Cornish), and Brandon, well I can’t remember what Brandon’s plans are, but it doesn’t matter because he is informed that due to a clause in his contract, the army is allowed to keep him and send him back to Iraq. This is called Stop Loss and is exactly what they intend to do. Brandon feels betrayed and angry over this and has to decide what to do, while all of his army buddies have struggles of their own, as well.

If you are not tired of films that show us yet another problem with the whole Iraq, post 9-11, Bush situation, yet, then here is another related issue. This subject area has already been saturated by the CNN, news magazine television shows, and several Hollywood releases. It’s point is valid, but perhaps using a true story might have managed to give it the interest and impact that it lacked. Stop Loss is a good film that will vanish into obscurity as quickly as a presidential address.

Director: Richard Kelly

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, Justin Timberlake, Nora Dunn, John Larroquette

Donnie Darko fans rejoice! For the master has returned with another strange (but not as strange), surreal feature that is as sure to collect cult fans as my copy of Donnie Darko is to collect dust. Just kidding. I don’t own a copy. Whatever, your opinion is of writer/director Richard Kelly, you have to agree that he has two things: his own sense of style, and legions of ready-to kill-for-him fans. This film is light-handed, but very surreal and packs a pretty obvious political message that guarantees you won’t find a copy at George Bush’s White House. There are more familiar faces here than at a high school reunion, so the acting is outstanding. There is so much going on in Southland Tales that maybe one viewing isn’t a fair evaluation of its quality. I’m going to evaluate it, anyway, as a waste of time for non-Darko fans. Darko fans, enjoy and feel free to dismiss the rest of us as unimaginative dullards who “just don’t get it”.

Southland tales starts out with a description of a very different America, locked up with rapidly deteriorating freedom by an overzealous, terrorism-fueled right, where the left is turning militant in its opposition. When action star, and right supporter, Boxer Santaros (The Rock, who continues to improve) goes mysteriously missing, it serves as a trigger for all kinds of action. He’s not missing for us though. We know he has partial amnesia and is living with a porn star named Krista Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar) while he plans a new movie, but his new friends have some plans of their own.

Southland Tales is a highly political satire about the dangers of letting fear stop us from defending our precious freedoms. I like the message, but the film is not my cup of cappuccino. I found it overly complicated and the metaphors make me tired.

Director: Rob Stewart

Starring: Rob Stewart, Paul Watson, Patrick Moore, Erich Ritter

First time filmmaker Rob Stewart, has made a breathtaking, unforgettable and important documentary. Not bad for his first feature. Take marvelous underwater photography, amazing passion and a thrilling story and you have a can’t miss feature that was a darling of the film festival circuit. It won’t be what you expect.

Rob Stewart is a shark-loving biologist and underwater photographer who starts out discussing sharks’ importance to the planet, our misconceptions about them and their history which pre-dates dinosaurs. Stewart’s passion for sharks, and their protection, brings him to join with Paul Watson (www.seashepherd.org) on an expedition to battle illegal shark fishing off the coast of Guatemala. What results is conflicts with poachers and organized crime on top of government corruption and double cross. This is one of the most amazing stories that a documentary has ever told and yet it is still intertwined with beauty and horror.

Rob Stewart and Paul Watson are my newest heroes. Their courage and commitment alone, makes Sharkwater worth viewing. Viewers with a social conscience and ecological concerns shouldn’t miss this one and viewers who enjoy tense real life adventures won’t want to miss it. Like the trailer says, “It’s part Jacques Cousteau and part Michael Moore”.