Ramona and Beezus

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Based on the Beverly Cleary novels, Ramona is just about the most independent, unorthodox, original 9-year-old there is. Unfortunately, when a girl can't fit in, even when she tries to, it can make for some pretty embarrassing elementary school moments.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Joey King, Selena Gomez, John Corbett, Bridget Moynahan, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Duhamel, Jason Spevack, Sierra McCormick, Sandra Oh, Hutch Dano

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. At first it's unclear what the story is about, but it maintains your interest because the main character is terrifical!

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: The comedy is soft but delishus.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: The last 15 minutes will have you welling up over and over again for one reason and then the next... Hell, no! I didn't allow no tears to actually drop!

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Most Ineptly Titled film of the year. Why is it called Ramona and Beezus when it should simply be called This Movie is About Ramona, and Only Ramona, So Help Me God?

Q: How is the Acting?

A: What a star! Joey King as Ramona is extraordinary. Spelled E-X-T-R-A-O-R-D-I-N-A-R-Y. See I can use Ms. Meacham's words in a sentence, too... Okay, I admit, I looked it up on dictionary.com.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: There are some partially animated imagination sequences that bring the directing to a slightly higher level than one might expect from a movie targeting 8-year-old girls.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: I know I read some Ramona books, though I'm pretty certain that I didn't read this one, and I'm even more certain that it's been almost 30 years since the last time I picked one up (yes, I learned to read 5 years before I was conceived), so I can't say if it's true to the book or not. What I can say is that the last 20 minutes are good enough to make up for the lack of direction in the first hour and a half.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/ramona-and-beezus/31195/trailers

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Last Chance Harvey

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A divorced man (Dustin Hoffman) goes to London to see his daughter get married, and while he's there he loses his job, and finds out that his daughter wants her step-dad (James Brolin) to give her away. That's when he meets a lonely woman (Emma Thompson), and spends a romantic day with her.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Eileen Atkins, Kathy Bates, James Brolin, Liane Balaban, Richard Schiff, Daniel Lapaine, Bronagh Gallagher, Michael Landes

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Stop! You know how some movies put all the funny parts in the trailer? Well, this one puts all the entertaining, romantic, and remotely interesting parts in the trailer. Watch the trailer, and skip the rest.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: This is one of those movies where most of the comedy is in the awkward pauses where people don't say something. That is often my favorite kind of comedy-- and it's certainly the most highbrow kind. But it didn't work on me here.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: As boring as the movie is, Hoffman's speech to his daughter at her wedding did bring tears to my eyes. So at least they got one thing right.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: The two lead actors are nominated for Golden Globes in the Musical or Comedy category, but this film doesn't even deserve that amount of recognition. Hoffman and Thompson are great, because they're always great, but these roles are nothing of a stretch for either of them, and they should lose points for picking a movie so full of nothingness.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Every bit of life this film contains comes from the predictably perfect performances of Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. That said, the background performers are for the most part pretty terrible. They look like wanna-be actors who can't beleive they were sharing the frame with the likes of Dustin Hoffman, and the thought playing in their eyes is, "Look! There he is!" I probably shouldn't have been noticing the extras in the first place, and we can blame the director for that... or maybe we can blame the writer for causing me to be so bored that I would pay attention to the people walking by. As a compromise, I'll just blame them both, since it's the same guy anyway.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Directors are often judged on their taste in material, and in this case, Joel Hopkins proves that he's not to be trusted. If he couldn't get his hands on a stronger project then he should've made the writer develop this script into something that feels like more than a first draft based on a personal experience. Unfortunately, since he is the writer, he thinks his story is already perfect and has no way of seeing that it is completely underdeveloped . Hopefully for him, Harvey's last chance won't also be his.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: There is no conflict between the main characters. He asks if she wants to go on a walk, and she says yes. He asks if he can wait for her outside her class, and she says yes. He asks if she wants to go to a wedding, and she says yes. Because everything is so easy for them, all the romantic-comedy tricks that are supposed to keep them apart and build the tension so we think they might not come together, feel like stupid character choices that no real person would make. Meanwhile, all the parts where they're supposed to be getting to know each other are shown as musical montages of two people walking and talking, where you can't hear what they're saying. In the end we have no idea what it is they admire about each other besides that she's desperately lonely, and he's got nothing else going for him.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/last-chance-harvey/30332/trailers

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Ballast

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: When a man (Michael J. Smith Sr.) loses his brother to suicide, the teenage boy who has been robbing him for drug money (JimMyron Ross) moves in next door, and their relationship grows in new and unexpected ways.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Michael J. Smith Sr., JimMyron Ross, Tarra Riggs, Johnny McPhail

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. To the sophisticated movie goer this methodical and subtle arthouse film will be seen as a rare gem. But it's not for the short of attention span or those who don't have the patience to chip all the carbon off a diamond in the rough.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Only if you're incredibly sick and twisted. And I mean in that serial killer way.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Maybe afterwards, when you go home and think about how messed up life is for poor people in this country... And, not to be a downer, but the way things are going, we'll probably all be living like these folks soon enough, so it might do you good to see this film so as to mentally prepare yourself for what's to come.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: At Sundance it won Directing and Cinematography, and was nominated for the Grand Jury Award.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: This group of non-professionals brings an authenticity that is often missing from professional actors' performance. There is no glitz, no glamor, just a few meaningless people saying so much, with so little.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Blatantly independent, but really interesting. Little, subtle, visual touches all throughout, make this teency-tiny little film a shining example of how to tell stories without using words.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Itttttt iiiiiiiis reallllllllllly sllllllllllowwwww pppppppaced. And don't expect a self-explanatory ending. You will need to think about what the ending means, or if it means anything at all.

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