The Help

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: An aspiring journalist (Emma Stone) in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi interviews the town's Negro maids (Viola Davis & Octavia Spencer) and publishes their crazy stories in a tell-all book.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Ahna O'Reilly, Allison Janney, Anna Camp, Eleanor & Emma Henry, Chris Lowell, Cicely Tyson, Mike Vogel, Sissy Spacek, Brian Kerwin, Wes Chatham, Aunjanue Ellis, Ted Welch, Mary Steenburgen

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! It's an inspirational tale of courage and standing up for what's right, but it's not the best one you'll ever see, and it's waaaaaaay tooooo lonnnng.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain make for an unlikely comedy team, but after you see them in this film, you will never want to see them do a scene in which they are not together.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: The fact that it doesn't really, is one of my major gripes with it. This kind of movie should not be allowed into theaters until it has guaranteed tears built in.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer will likely duke it out for a nomination as Best Supporting Actress, even though they are clearly the leads. Then Viola will take the nom, because she's been nominated before, and because Octavia is too funny to get an Academy Award.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: This is the first time ever that I have enjoyed a performance by Bryce Dallas Howard. She is magical in this. And Sissy Spacek (in the tiny role) as her mom is the very best thing this movie has going.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Who is Tate Taylor? From what I can tell, he's made a few movies (mostly shorts) that I've never heard of, and acted in a few movies and TV shows in the role of "Nameless Friend or Passerby," so how did he get this gig?... Well, he's best friends with the author of the novel, Kathryn Stockett, and after her 60th rejection by a publisher, he decided to option the rights to her book, not knowing that it would one day become a best seller. To which I say, "Have any of y'all written a book I should read?"

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Civil rights stories about injustice, oppression and racism will always have a special place in my heart. But somehow, despite a multitude of spectacular performances, this one plays a bit like a movie of the week-- with less crying. I think the sense of danger is not built up enough in the script or the visuals, to make you feel it on a visceral or in an always present kind of way. Often, you completely forget that there is any danger in what these people are doing, because it's never taken quite far enough-- i.e. no one that we care about is ever physically threatened before our eyes.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: The Help Trailer

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Made in Dagenham

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: In 1968, Ford Automotive's female factory workers in Dagenham, England went on strike to try to get equal pay for women, and in the process shut down the whole plant, putting their own husbands out of work, and pissing everybody off.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Geraldine James, Daniel Mays, Andrea Riseborough, Miranda Richardson, Jaime Winstone, Rosamund Pike, Kenneth Cranham, Richard Schiff, Rupert Graves, Marcus Hutton, Roger Lloyd-Pack

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! Anything worth having is worth fighting for. But in this day and age, we've all grown so entitled about what we think we deserve that we don't think we still have to fight to get it, and sometimes I wonder if any of us will ever have anything worth having again.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: I finally understand why I'm reading so much about Andrea Riseborough in all the Hollywood trade magazines. In this movie, she looks like Angelina Jolie with a potty-mouth and a low class British accent. So as you can imagine, she has all the good lines.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Most of the time... then again, women's lib has been my issue since elementary school, where I used to pick fist-fights with the boys just to prove that a girl could beat them up, so maybe it's just me.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: I can't imagine any of the British Awards will overlook this Norma Rae for Limeys.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: The British don't ever seem to put actors in their movies who can't act. Can you think of anyone in any British movie that was less than excellent?

Q: How is the Directing?

A: I'm trying to figure out what it is about Nigel Cole that attracts him to so many projects about the plight of women. In Calendar Girls he fought against ageism geared at women by telling the story of a group of women over 50 who put together a nude calendar, and here he follows that up with what can only be described as part two of a natural trilogy. I'm thinking the final installment should be about a group of women who figure out how to get their husbands to do housework.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: You know this script is British because nothing gets overly dramatic or in your face, and right when you think of the obvious comeback for a character, they say something much more subtle, and possibly more effective than the obvious.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/made-in-dagenham/51718/video/made-in-dagenham-trailer-no-1/648405641001

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Nine

(Guest Review by Russ)

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Set in 1965 Italy, a famous director (Daniel Day-Lewis) conjures up musical fantasies about the various women in his life to deal with the debilitating creative crisis preventing him from writing the script for his next epic film.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren, Stacy ‘Fergie’ Ferguson

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. I’m being generous with this rating (‘tis the season and all) because I’m aware there are a lot of people out there who love musicals and are big fans of the parade of Academy Award winning actresses who star in Nine. But unless high fashion and artful lighting can hold your interest for two hours, this movie is a total snoozer.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: There are some laughs – most provided by Judi Dench when giving Daniel Day-Lewis life-advice, or telling him how easy directing a film is. She shrewdly points out all he has to do is answer “yes” or “no” when asked a question and she’s pretty much right.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Maybe if you well up when watching daytime soaps because that’s the sort of melodrama this movie eventually devolves into.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Outside of costume and art direction? I hope not.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: There’s not much story here and the characters fare even worse when it comes to any kind of arc, so every actor must rely on their own star wattage, singing voice and the song they’ve been given to sing. (Each actress gets one number, except for Marion Cotillard who gets two because she’s the wife, I guess.) With these criteria in hand, I can safely say that the lone non-professional actress in the cast, Stacy Ferguson (better known as pop star “Fergie”) comes out on top. She gets the best song (‘Be Italian’), is the best singer and her screen presence can’t be denied. Here’s hoping we see her in better movies in the future. Kate Hudson has the best overall number thanks to the upbeat song and staging that both revels in and satirizes the 1960s high-fashion period. After that, each actress is very good, but to no discernible point when it comes to advancing a story. And as the lead, Daniel Day-Lewis is a man who hates women underneath the veneer of loving them. In other words, he’s not a guy you’re going to care about all that much.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Rob Marshall sure knows his way around a stage, choreography, lighting and costumes. But in comparison to his brilliant achievement with Chicago, Nine is a complete misfire. He’s saddled with film actors who can sing, but none who can dance so that completely restricts the choreography and edits. Next, he has no story to work with and lame songs, so I guess there’s only so much he could do. To his credit however, the movie looks stunning and if nothing else, it made me want to climb into a time machine and be transported back to 1965 Rome so I could drink wine and eat pasta with Sophia Loren, Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: So this is a movie about a famous director who can’t figure out the story for his next film but is preparing to shoot it anyway. How bad of a premise is that for a film? It’s horrible in case you’re not keeping up; unless you’re Federico Fellini, and you’re not. And the actual film we’re watching has no plot and is about as boring as reading a script with no words on the page. So maybe I’ve got it all wrong, maybe Nine is a brilliant meta-type exercise in reflecting back a creation of someone who can’t create and therefore leaves us watching something that is, like, non-existent as an actual movie. I think I’m working too hard now to justify this mess. The script is bad.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/search/nine/trailers

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A Single Man

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A man (Colin Firth) tries to cope with the sudden death of his lover, who-- it might interest some people to know-- was also a man (Matthew Goode).

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Colin Firth, Matthew Goode, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ryan Simpkins, Paulette Lamori, Lee Pace

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. This is what people call a "beautiful film", meaning that it has a dramatic score and meditatively seems to be addressing something grand and important. You know in your heart, simply from reading that last sentence, if that's the type of thing you respond to.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Apparently, some people in my theater think suicide is funny.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: If you have recently experienced a loss, you will find the emotions here unbearable, and shouldn't go. If you haven't recently experienced a loss, you probably won't cry. So, either way, it's a no.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It's got buzz. Having seen it, I'm not exactly sure around what...

Q: How is the Acting?

A: What I love about gay films by fashion designers is that the men are hot, tan, and dressed impeccably (when they're dressed). Over all, there's more eye candy than acting. And speaking of eyes, what exactly is the symbolism behind all those eye close-ups supposed to be?

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Tom Ford, Gucci's savior, debuts his visual style on the big screen, and while the lighting choices seemed a thoughtful way to differentiate the cold dead present from the warm lively past, I later read that this was supposed to all take place on the first day after Colin Firth finds out about the death of his lover (not counting the flashbacks to when his lover was alive). Well, it was specifically those lighting choices that confused me as to the time line, because they were not consistent, and sometimes the present shifted from a cold and grey, sepia color scheme to a happier looking warm yellow. Also, there are some scenes that drag on, while not advancing anything.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: To me this is one of those scripts that tries so hard to be subtle and meaningful without spoon feeding anything, that it ends up feeling self important. And in its efforts not to talk down to the audience, it ends up slapping them in the face with an uppity pretension.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eafJ4jvf-sY

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Doubt

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A nun (Meryl Streep) tries to take down a priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who she believes has seduced one of the children.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis, Joseph Foster

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. While they manage to avoid making any outrightly disparaging remarks about sex and the clergy, by keeping the battle between two of its committed members (a priest and a nun), the ultimate conclusion that the story comes to feels more intellectual than emotional, and for that, the movie ends up feeling less important than it should.  On the other hand, for those interested in an exercise in thinking, rather than feeling, you may have fodder, as many of the sermons are interesting, and the clergy makes for a perfect setting within which to explore themes of faith versus doubt.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: This movie is so totally devoid of humor that it's hard to believe it comes from the writer of Moonstruck and the producer of Clueless.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: It's too heady to incite those emotions, but when Viola Davis cries her nose runs and she licks it up. Eiw. Was there no one on set to give this woman a tissue?!

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: All Meryl Streep has to do to get an Academy Award nomination is be in a movie. But if she has to get one this year, it would be more original to see her get it for Mamma Mia!

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Watching such pros as Streep and Hoffman battle it out in scene after scene is a true pleasure to anyone who appreciates fine acting. Their performances, as well as Amy Adams'-- who's always delightful--, are the number one reason to see this film.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Shanley opens it up a little from the staged version, but it still feels like a play. That said, if you like theater, you will probably like this play. On the other hand, any good theater aficionado should have already seen it.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: When I was an acting student at UCLA, I remember always wanting to do scenes from such John Patrick Shanley plays as Danny and the Deep Blue Sea and Women of Manhattan. I also remember then sitting down to read the entirety of his plays and never finding them to be as  moving as the individual scenes within them. That is also true of this movie, where there is a plethora of highly intense, dramatic, and well thought-out scenes interwoven into a story that amounts to not very much.  

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

A: Before seeing this movie, I had never stopped to think about how severely sexism is woven into the church. In the hierarchy, Mother Superior is the highest ranking for a woman, which is below Priest-- the lowest ranking for a man. How can women ever gain equality in a world where the primary religion suppresses their rights to it completely? I'm just saying.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/doubt/29875/trailers

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The Express

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: The life story of Ernie Davis, the first Black person to win the Heisman Trophy. (And hence, paving the way for OJ.)

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Rob Brown, Dennis Quaid, Darrin Dewett henson, Omar Benson Miller, Nelsan Ellis, Charles S. Dutton, Justin Martin, Justin Jones, Nicole Beharie, Aunjanue Ellis, Saul Rubinek, Geoff Stults

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. It's so hard to make a biopic interesting. How do you build suspense when everyone already knows what's gonna happen? In this movie they try to build conflict around the racism that Ernie Davis and his Black teammates faced-- which much like movies about the Holocaust, always makes for interesting and accessible emotional intensity-- but the movie still suffers from the fact that it's a biopic.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: In honor of Sarah Palin, I'm going to ignore that question and answer a different one... You may have noticed that I'm on a roll with seeing race-themed movie about the mid-20th century. And here's something interesting that I've learned from the experience: A Black man won the Heisman Trophy before Black people had the right to vote. I suppose as a country, we never have quite gotten our priorities straight.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: I'm a sucker for these kinds of movies. It's like with romantic comedies, you know where it's going, but it still makes you teary and shivery inside.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: To give an award to a movie about a guy who gets an award is ridiculous. What would be next? A movie about the movie getting an award? And would we have to give that an award, too? No, we have to stop the self-eating cycle of ridiculousness before it begins.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Dennis Quaid is like a fine wine, he gets more textured and tasty as he ages.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Football is one of the trickiest things to film because there are tons of guys running around the field at once, they're all dressed the same, and they're all wearing helmets. Gary Fleder does a good job of keep your focus on #44, and shooting tight close-ups inside his helmet, so you can keep an eye on your main character at all times.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Even though it's a true story, it feels a little like it's been done before. And Remember the Titans did it better. If you like Football-Racism movies, you must rent Remember the Titans immediately.

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