The Artist

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: It's a silent film about a silent film star (Jean Dujardin) struggling with the concept that audiences want actors to talk in movies now.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller, Missi Pyle, Beth Grant, Ed Lauter, Joel Murray, Malcolm McDowell, Ken Davitian, and Uggie the dog.

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A:  Go!  I'm pretty sure this is what a masterpiece looks like.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A:  The biggest laughs are at sounds.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A:  This happy little silent film actually gets about as depressing as depressing can be, at one point.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A:  It's the sleeper hit of the season, so it's already surprised Americans with several come-from-behind wins, and I suspect it will continue to do so, as it's about the most original film I've seen in my lifetime.  But I also hope that Award-givers won't forget to recognize the score, since it is one of the main communicators in this dialogue-less film.

Q: How is the Acting?

A:  The actors are as adorable as a kitten.  Especially the dog.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: All while paying homage to the black & white film era, director Michael Hazanavicius, keeps the camera moving in a modern way and finds places to exhibit his artistry as a film composition expert.

Q: How is the story/script?

A:  It functions on so many levels at once that it's hard to imagine that there is one.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A:  How is it possible that in 2011, I've just seen back to back movies where a silent film star, depressed about talkies, burns all of his work?

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: The Artist Trailer

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Water for Elephants

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A young man (Robert Pattinson) becomes a veterinarian for the circus during the Great Depression, and falls in love with the tyrannical circus owner's (Christoph Waltz) wife (Reese Witherspoon).

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz, Paul Schneider, Jim Norton, Hal Holbrook, Mark Povinelli, Stephen Monroe Taylor, and Tai, in the role of Rosie the elephant.

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! Though riddled with coincidences too good to be true, the setting is fairly original, the characters are complex and well developed, and the story of good love conquering evil love never gets old.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: There's a laughing hyena who actually laughs, and that made me laugh. Even more so when I tried to figure out what you would do with a hyena in a circus.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: You should be warned that for a love story, there's a lot of violence and gore, and some of it is against animals, so all you beast worshipers will probably never feel anything less than rage for Christoph Waltz again. Just try to remember that he's just an actor playing a part. And if you can't get yourself to relate to that, then console yourself with the fact that what he did to the Jews in Inglorious Basterds was much worse.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Will somebody please give that elephant an Academy Award?

Q: How is the Acting?

A: When I was at the Twilight premiere, some Hollywood big-wig tried to convince me that Robert Pattinson would never be able to break out of his Edward role. He was wrong.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Director, Francis Lawrence has once again proven that Rob Pattinson is an amazing kisser. Separately, I really enjoyed the shots of the smoke coming from the train, as it speeds off into the blue screen-- er, night sky.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: I haven't read the book this is based on, but I am still impressed at how well Richard LaGravenese transformed it into a properly structured movie. I wish, however, that there weren't so many pivotal plot points that revolved around convenient happenstances, which snap you out of the feeling that this might just be a true story-- which it isn't.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: Am I the only one who really wants to call this movie "Like Water for Elephants" behind its back?

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Water for Elephants

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The King's Speech

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: King George VI of England, né Prince Albert Duke of York (Colin Firth), had all the makings of a great King except for the fact that he stuttered. This is the story of the unconventional methods he learned from Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) to overcome his impediment.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Derek Jacobi, Timothy Spall, Michael Gambon, Jennifer Ehle, Eve Best

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! When you come out of this movie you realize that the filmmakers only had one thing in mind when they made it: The Academy Awards. It’s a deliberate attempt at prestige recognition, and likely to accomplish at least a small part of its goal.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: A high-falutin’ prince, a wife who stands on ceremony, and an upstart speech therapist who doesn’t take anybody’s—f*@k, bugger, balls—crap, what’s not to laugh at?

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: A litt-tt-tt-tt-tt…le bit. Don't get all PC on me, I'm crying, not stuttering.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: A Single Man proved that that Academy wants to give Colin Firth an Oscar, The King’s Speech proves that he can win one. From what I’ve seen, (and I've seen most of it), this is looking like his year.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Geoffrey Rush reminds me of my uncle, so that's warm and cozy. Guy Pearce shows a side of his character we haven’t seen before, which broadens his depth as an actor. And it’s nice to see Helena Bonham Carter going back to playing dignified rich people, rather than some freak in one of her husband’s wacky concoctions.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Gorgeous and inventive wide-angle shots are highlighted by beautiful lighting, elegant sets, and an emotional classical score.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The story of Prince Albert’s minor handicap is small and almost not worth telling, but the dialogue and characters draw you in, sometimes even enough to take your mind off wondering why the penis ring was named after him.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-kings-speech/10034251/trailers

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Australia

(Guest Review by Russ)

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A British aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) travels to Australia to deal with a cattle farm that her philandering husband bought, only to get swept up in adventure, romance, war and motherhood. (Not necessarily in that order, or as quickly as it took you to read that sentence).

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Brandon Walters, David Wenham, Bryan Brown

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. If you have three hours to kill and aren’t particularly demanding of the rules that epic romances are supposed to adhere to, then you may find parts of this movie entertaining. If that doesn't describe you, you will be bored and probably mad at me for giving this mess a rating as high as "caution." In other words, I hated it, although I recognize that some of you will like it. But at least now I can rest easy knowing that you’ve been warned.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Think back: have Nicole Kidman and/or Hugh Jackman ever made you laugh in any movies you’ve ever seen them in? If your answer is yes, then they’ll make you laugh here too.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: It will certainly try. Boy will it try. It will try, try, try, try, try... But, no.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Maybe in Australia... They're desperate over there to see this movie matter.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are both bona fide movie stars and even in roles as underwritten as these, they prove once again why they are. They even manage some chemistry, but not nearly as much as this fiasco of a story needs to work. Which brings us to young Brandon Walters who plays Nullah, the child narrator of this story. Apparently this total amateur was ‘discovered’ after an exhaustive search that forced practically every aboriginal child in Australia to audition for director Baz Luhrmann. He should’ve kept looking cause this kid is terrible and for a role so central to the plot, he pretty much brings the entire massive enterprise crashing down around him. And it’s not like he’s just uneven, he’s bad in every single scene (and he’s in a lot of them). Now maybe it’s unfair of me to be so hard on a 12 year-old, but hey, I didn’t cast him and like they say: if you can’t stand the heat… yeah, well in this case, get out of Australia.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Look, Strictly Ballroom is one of my all-time favorite movies and few would argue that Baz Luhrmann is a truly visionary director – not only visually but as a storyteller, too. But Australia is pretty much a train-wreck from start to finish, which is clearly unfortunate, but that’s not to say it has zero redeeming qualities. There are some breathtaking sequences here, specifically a sabotaged cattle-drive that sees hundreds of cattle about to stampede right off the edge of a cliff. But while the parts that are stunning are because of the direction, overall it’s a mess, and that's also because of the direction .

Q: How is the story/script?

A: It’s the biggest problem. I felt like I was watching a foreign film with no subtitles for the first 45 minutes and amazingly, I’m told everyone was speaking English (a language I usually understand). After giving up on figuring out the ‘plot setup’ (believe me, you will too after 10 minutes) the movie sort of settles into three distinct parts. Now that would be fine if this were say, a mini-series, or the entire second part wasn’t basically a montage with (bad) voice-over. But unfortunately it isn’t a mini-series, and the second part is a prolonged montage, and while you’re thinking it’s the end of the movie, you’ll soon discover there’s a whole third act to come that has little to do with anything that’s come before it. (Although if you leave at the end of act-two, you might wind up enjoying the movie more.) One could argue that this is simply an epic love-story that is bucking traditional story convention and we should just go along for the ride. Okay, fine, I would accept that argument if most of what I was watching were still compelling or entertaining, but it’s not. I’ve never been to Australia, but I’m convinced that the continent and its people are infinitely more interesting than what’s depicted here.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/australia/32859/trailers

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