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Director: Judd Apatow

Starring: Seth Rogan, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Martin Starr.

Judd Aptow, the mind behind “The 40 year Old Virgin” brings us another story about a guy who has no luck with women, getting lucky with a woman, but when this luck turns into an unplanned pregnancy with a woman he barely knows, the story really starts. It has some laughs and some good dramatic scenes, but really pushes the taste boundaries with very crude language (beyond most movies of this genre) and some pretty graphic visuals. Still, a decent flick overall thanks to quality performances and a decent script.

Katherine Heigl is Alison Scott, an ETV producer out to celebrate her promotion when she meets Ben Stone (Seth Rogan), a funny, but rather unattractive, unemployed loser. Still, through the wonders of alcohol, Ben gets the night of his dreams, followed eight weeks later by the phone call of his nightmares. His one night stand is pregnant (Are we paying attention, kids? It can happen to you.). He is gallant and supportive and the two of them decide to get to know each other and see if a relationship could come out of this awkward situation. Watching all this are Ben’s buddies, who supply alot of the humor here, along with Alison’s sister (played by Leslie Mann, who is Judd Aptow’s wife), and her husband who provide the window into married family life.

An ordinary guy leaps for the clouds and tries to win the heart of a model-quality beauty. Its an old story, but one we never really get tired of. This is not as funny as some others, but still gives a few giggles and tells a pretty good tale. Its worth seeing, but be warned it falls somewhere between a teen sex comedy and a touching chick flick, and you will probably not remember the title two weeks after you see it.

Director: Tony Scott

Starring: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Michael Rapaport, Val Kilmer, Bronson Pinchot, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt,
Tom Sizemore, Christopher Penn, Samuel L. Jackson, Saul Rubinek, James Gandolfini

If you have read many of my reviews, you have probably seen me say that various films were among my favorites and a couple of you have asked which is my all-time favorite. This is the one. If I had to pick just one movie; I mean if my life depended on it; I’d pick this one. The imaginative and innovative direction, cool and memorable dialog, and well-developed characters, impressively handled by an all-star cast, most of whom accepted short, supporting roles, likely because of the quality of the dialog they were offered, makes this Scott/Tarantino effort my very favorite. It offers the kinds of scenes that actors love to perform. Those that let them showcase their craft and play off of each other. The movie has its flaws (Hey, I only gave it four and a half stars), but for me the trade off is worth it for some of my favorite moments in all of Movieland (such as the James Gandolfini’s jaded hit man and the Hopper/Walken encounter).

True Romance was Quentin Tarantino’s second writing attempt and it is Tarantino’s twisted idea of a romance; complete with pimps, murder, drugs and torture. Still, it is a love story. The film was released the year after his Reservoir Dogs breakthrough. Any later Tarantino would have likely directed it himself, leading to a far different movie than Tony Scott gave us. Christian Slater plays Clarence, a Detroit boy who finds true love in the arms of an unbelievably cute, rookie call girl named Alabama (Arquette). A memorable altercation between Clarence and Alabama’s pimp, played by Gary Oldman, is my very favorite scene and leads to the two new lovers hitting the road with a suitcase full of cocaine in a kind of good guy/girl version of Bonnie and Clyde. The project started out with a far-fetched and mediocre, formula story, but is lifted far above through its characters, almost all of whom is developed, interesting and well-performed, from the quirky young romantic leads to the L.A. cops (Sizemore and Penn) to Clarence’s best friend, Dick (Rapaport) and his stoner roommate, Floyd (Brad Pitt). Familiar faces are everywhere here and acting ability abounds.

In the last two paragraphs, I have gushed like a geek on a date about why this is my favorite movie, but it isn’t for everyone. There is a simple story that gets pretty hard-to-believe and even the acting lets down in a couple of spots. There is a high level of violence that will not fit everyone’s taste, but if gritty action and cool dialog, set against a soundtrack that varies from old rock n’ roll to Sinatra to steel drum instrumental, is your thing, then movies just don’t come any better than this.

Director: Nancy Meyers

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Eli Wallach

The Holiday is pretty much your standard fare, run-of-the-mill, chick flick. Every year, one romantic comedy stands out from the others and for 2006, this ain’t the one. Not a bad movie, but could have been punched up with better jokes, more interesting characters and a memorable scene or two. Jack Black is cast as a romantic lead and you would think that would be good for a few sarcastically effective zingers, but his character is a simpering pussy and simpering pussies rarely make good jokes. Eli Wallach can be a funny performer but is also under-utilized here.

Cameron Diaz is Amanda, rich movie trailer creator, which allowed for a neat movie trailer or two to show us. This, and her Hollywood lifestyle, also allowed for a couple cool cameos that I got a kick out of. But anyway, she starts the film by dumping her bf, played by Edward Burns and decides she needs a getaway. For whatever reason (it’s a movie, what the hell), she decides on a house swap deal in a quaint English village (its not a week on a private yacht,but like I said, its a movie) where Iris (Kate Winslet) is trying to get clear of her worm of a man, Jasper (Rufus Sewell). The two ladies swap addresses for a couple weeks and soon romantic sparks begin to fly between Amanda and Iris’ brother, Graham (Jude Law) and, more slowly between Iris and Amanda’s friend, Miles (Black). There is a lot going on, and telling two stories makes things seem rushed. That is undoubtably one of the reasons that the story goes flat.

There are better choices out there and this one should really be put back on the shelf unless you are a true heart-throbbing lover of romantic comedies or are being paid, coerced, intimidated, begged or cajoled into viewing. Just kidding, not bad, not good, forgotten already, moving on.

Director: Joe Wright

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, James McAvoy, Keira Knightley,

Reviewing movies like these is my greatest challenge as a critic. This is a quality product with a good story, good, but overrated acting, and some solid direction, but I still did not like it all that much. So, how do I rate it? As an excellent quality motion picture that will win more awards than Albert Einstein at a Jr. High science fair? Or shall I rate it, according to the entertainment value that it held for me? Being a simple, semi-educated selfless man, I think I will go with the latter; risking the respect of some to save the time, and money, of others. Hence, it gets three stars from me and will probably win best picture. Atonement is exasperatingly slow in several spots as director Joe Wright lingers over scenes, capturing great detail. This is nice, but can we get on with the story? The acting is good, but I disagree with some of the generous praise it has received. It will win plenty of awards since it is a British period piece and has many scenes at a country manor. These three conditions make it an automatic choice for critical acclaim and it will probably win one award for every ten people who see it. I liked Atonement, at times, wished it would end, already, at other times, and I am unlikely to ever watch it again, unless forced to do so, as part of some interrogation ritual.

About half of the film is set in an English country manor in 1935. The story centers around Briony and Cecilia Tallis (Saoirse Ronan and Keira Knightley), the 13 and 18 year old daughters of the house, and on the son of one of the housekeepers, Robert (James McAvoy), an aspiring doctor, for whom the family has taken the responsibility for educating. Briony is an aspiring writer, who has a crush on the older Robert, who is in turn interested in the older sister, Cecilia. Briony, misunderstanding circumstances, does something horrible, but I don’t want to say more than that, in case you manage to get to the theatre without seeing some overly informative review, or trailer, that blows the path of the story for you. I did like the endng.

Those of you who loved the Oscar sweeping English period pieces of the past, will probably find this one to be right up your alley. Those of you who thought that Fargo should have beat out The English Patient in 1997, and that Gosford Park should have gone straight to the bargain rental shelf in 2001 instead of being nominated for seven Oscars, this one is not for you. I found it overly self-indulgent and too slow moving through it’s beaufully shot scenes.