Letters to Juliet

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: In Verona, Italy, there is a wall where broken-hearted lovers write letters to Juliet Capulet. While on a pre-wedding honeymoon with her semi-absent fiancé, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) discovers this tradition and writes back to a woman (Vanessa Redgrave) who left a letter there 50 years ago, changing the course of that woman's life as well as her own.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael Garcia Bernal, Franco Nero, Luisa Ranieri, Marina Massironi, Lidia Biondi, Milena Vukotic, Luisa De Santis, Marcia DeBonis

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. The problem with young love is that it's based on feelings, smells, and other animal instincts. That kind of love doesn't tell you anything about what your day to day life would be like with someone if you were to actually marry them. And since that's the only part of the love that is shown or expressed in either of the main couples, I am left with a feeling, smell and animal instinct that in real life, they're not gonna make it.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Some of the sincerely delivered declarations of true love are kind of laughable.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: The violins in the score sure do try hard to push you in that direction.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: The award here goes out to Missed Connections on craigslist.com and Facebook. Thanks to computers, these days, we can track down all our star-crossed past loves without the nasty expense of flying all the way to Italy... Wait, what I meant to say was, "Damn you, computers!!!"

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Amanda Seyfried is lucky I've seen Chloe, Mean Girls, and Mamma Mia, because if I had to rely on this film alone to judge her acting, I'd think she was very mediocre. And I don't know where they dug up this British* guy, Christopher Egan, but he walks funny, and unfortunately, it lowers his sex appeal by at least half. (*I've just been informed that they dug up the British guy in Australia. Which explains why they liked him, because with an Australian accent, this guy is practically a clone of Heath Ledger. And who wouldn't want to discover the next Heath Ledger?... But looks aside, I'm not convinced he's it.)

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Everyone in the film has noticeably beautiful eyes, and can someone please tell me why I've never been to Italy?! Oh, wow, I just figured out what you guys are buying me for my birthday.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: So the reason we're supposed to dislike the original fiancé is because he's too passionate about his work. Okay, first of all, he works as a restaurateur, and while in Italy he wants to go to all his vendors to taste their wine, cheese, olive oil, and salami. I'm sorry, but how does she manage to find fault in that? That's what people go to Italy to do! Second of all, I don't remember the last time I met a guy who was that passionate about his work, because if I did, I'd probably be in love with him as we speak. And lastly, what on Earth does she see in the pompous English a-hole that she's forced to travel with, and when exactly do they fall in love?The only "moment" I saw, was the one when he went from hating her to staring at her with googly eyes for no apparent reason.

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

A: There's too much looking for Lorenzo.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/letters-to-juliet/37890/trailers

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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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The Twilight Saga: New Moon

(Guest Review by Kacy)

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Vampires, Werewolves and teen angst. Oh my God-- can you believe Edward actually dumps Bella?! I mean his reasons are good, but still! And then her only choice is to fall into the loving arms of Jacob-- who's a werewolf-- which is totally, like, an enemy of a vampire!

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Anna Kendrick, Jackson Rathbone, Cam Gigandet, Michael Sheen, Peter Facinelli, Rachelle Lefevre, Elizabeth Reaser, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Dakota Fanning, Chaske Spencer, Billy Burke, Jamie Campbell-Bower, Graham Greene, Edi Gathegi, Cameron Bright, Christopher Heyerdahl, Charlie Bewley, Alex Meraz, Kiowa Gordon, Christian Serratos, Gil Birmingham, Tinsel Korey, Tyson Houseman

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. If you are a teenager, definitely. Or, of course, if you are a Cougar who likes looking at young men with their shirts off. And really, who isn't?

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: In true Twilight form, most of the laughs come from the cheesy special effects.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Only if you wanted to see more of Edward because he’s hardly in this film
(nor was he in the book much).

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It's got the Teen Choice awards in the bag... but we knew that before the film even came out.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Nothing spectacular, but no one is going to worry about what's coming out of those mens' mouths, because they're too busy staring at their shirtless werewolf bods.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Better than the first film. However, in the book, Bella just heard Edward's voice in her head, whereas in the film, the director made the bad choice of showing him as a floating vision.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Fairly true to the book. But I found it frustrating that this story
portrays a weak female who gives up on life when her boyfriend breaks up
with her. And she pines over the bad boy who left her, instead of giving
the nice boy a shot. Finally there are times when the story feels like a
classic case of domestic violence. The women (Bella and Sam’s wife) are
hurt by their “monster” men, but love and stay with them despite this. If I
had a daughter, I wouldn’t be thrilled that this kind of story and
characters is one that teenagers love and value. It’s a sad statement on
our society.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-twilight-saga-new-moon/36045/trailers

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Inglourious Basterds

(Guest Review by Russ)

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) leads a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as the ‘Basterds’ in killing Nazis during World War II and taking a central part in a plot to end the war in writer/director Quentin Tarantino’s re-imagining of history.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent, Diane Kruger, Til Schweiger, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Daniel Bruhl, B.J. Novak, Martin Wuttke, Sylvester Groth, Mike Meyers, Julie Dreyfus

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. If you like (or even love) Quentin Tarantino’s films, then just go ahead and pretend like the little traffic signal over there on the left is flashing green for you. Because Inglourious Basterds will be right up your alley; the movie is easily as good as some of his best. For everyone else not in the above category, I’m not really sure what to say to you, but my guess would be that you probably hate going on roller coasters. To which I say: life is short, so why not ride one once in a while.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Brad Pitt (+) absurd Tennessee accent (÷) by period mustache (x) eye-catching scar on neck (=) more laughs than you might expect. Other stuff will make you laugh too, if your sense of humor veers toward the dark side.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: No. Unless you generally find yourself crying while watching Saturday morning cartoons.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: If this film is nominated for Best Picture, it will say a lot about how the academy is feeling towards Quentin Tarantino these days. Beyond that, the acting is spectacular and will most likely be noticed once award season hits.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Christoph Waltz as ‘Jew Hunter’ Col. Hans Landa is getting a lot of attention for his work in this movie and it’s all deserved. He takes every cliché ever put on screen of the “scary Nazi” and deconstructs it so thoroughly that the almost cuddly teddy bear he creates has the odd (and purposeful) result of becoming one of the most unique and scariest Nazis ever put on film. But he is just the start of a cast that makes an indelible mark, including the femme-fatales, Diane Kruger and Melanie Laurent, who can connive and consort with the best of spies; male or female. And as is usually the case, the further Brad Pitt disappears into a real character, the better he is, and that is no less true here as his Lt. Aldo Raine borders on comic genius.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: As great of a screenwriter Tarantino has proven to be over the years, at this point in his career he’s probably a better director. Inglourious Basterds is another testament to that; you can just feel the energy coming off the screen from someone who truly loves what he does for a living. But I do wish he displayed more discipline as an editor because more than a few scenes go on way too long (yes I’m looking at you Scene-in-Cellar that should be cut by half). But back to directing: Tarantino’s camera never makes a false move, and it’s always fun to see how he uses the tools of cinema like a master painter in complete control of his medium. Tarantino knows how to tell a story through pictures like few directors, and this one is no exception.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Once again Tarantino uses an unconventional structure to tell the story here, although not in a time-shifting jumble like Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs. Unfolding in ‘chapters’ the story leaves central characters for long stretches to set up new characters in subsequent sections, only to have all the central players come together for an explosive climax. Like many of his past screenplays, the dialogue is sharp and the conflict within any given scene is oftentimes surprising and jarring. And I can’t heap praise on the actors without acknowledging the characters Tarantino created and the dialogue and actions he wrote for them to say and do. But due to the subject matter, Inglourious Basterds plays more like a cartoon than any of his other films, yet in many ways it’s also impossible to view it simply as that. It rides an extremely fine line between reality and fantasy and as the story unfolds it delves further into wish fulfillment that is ultimately as cathartic as its author intended.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/inglourious-basterds/36184/trailers

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Angels & Demons

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A Harvard symbologist, Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), is called upon to solve a mystery that will save Vatican City from exploding at midnight.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierfrancesco Favino, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Thure Lindhardt,

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. It's exactly like The Da Vinci Code, but with a different set of clues, leading to a different story about how the church has issues.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: I laughed once, but I was the only one. It was very lonely.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: There is one little, teeny-tiny tinge of emotion at the end. But as you know from the first one, this is more of an intellectual undertaking than an emotional one.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: I can't see any reason for it. Nothing particularly stands out as being remarkable.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: It's exactly like The Da Vinci Code but with a different set of dialogues, leading to a different book that Robert Langdon can write, Dan Brown can write about, we can read, and Hollywood can make a movie version of.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Lavish. I mean, not only does Ron Howard have two of every award, but this time, he got to film in the fake Sistine Chapel!

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Exactly like The Da Vinci Code, but with a different set of bad guys, leading to a different set of surprise twists.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/angelsdemons/

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