J. Edgar

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: The history of J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) forming the FBI.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Judy Dench, Josh Lucas, Ed Westwick, Josh Hamilton, Jessica Hecht, Denis O'hare, Stephen Root, Damon Herriman

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A:  Stop!  Technically this movie is stunning, but it has no hook, no stakes, and nothing that pulls you through it besides your deep-seeded love of J. Edgar Hoover-- a man who pretty much nobody loved.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A:  The guy behind me laughed awkwardly when Leonardo said, "I love you."  You never want that. He was right.  It was funny.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A:  It's sad that my favorite part of the movie was when they said J. Edgar was dead, because I figured the movie would be over soon.  It's sadder that the movie still went on for another 10 minutes after that.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A:  I usually don't like for awful movies to get any awards, but in this case it really deserves several, in particular for Cinematography, Make-up, and Leo's performance.

Q: How is the Acting?

A:  From the first off-screen line, Leo blows your mind with his talent.  And because I like to say it first, I'm predicting him for the win, despite the terribleness of the movie and that false and hoaky moment when he says, "I love you." Armie Hammer will probably get nominated, too-- because he deserves it-- but he's not a sure thing for the win.

Q: How is the Directing?

A:  The visuals are superb across the board, but why this boring piece of... history had to be 2 hours and 17 minutes, I'll never know.  Then again, in history's defense, I'm sure this story was much more interesting than this movie makes it seem.

Q: How is the story/script?

A:  If you haven't figured it out by now, I thought the script gave me a lot of time to think about all things I need to get done for the shoot I have tomorrow.  So that was good.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: J. Edgar Trailer

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Machine Gun Preacher

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: The true story of Sam Childers (Gerard Butler), a heroine addict-ex-con who finds God, decides to build an orphanage in Sudan, and becomes a key player in the civil war going on over there.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Shannon, Ryan Campos, Madeline Carroll, Kathy Baker, Souleymane Sy Savane

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. Despite the action and the guns, this is a message movie about the unsolvable troubles in Africa.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: The title is the funniest part. Once you get past that it's pretty much all drugs, violence, killing, maiming, and Jesus.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: The situation is really sad.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Movies set in Africa only ever come out at one time of year, and that's Awards Season. As far as their chances at Oscar, they're the second most popular winners after movies about the Holocaust.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: I just have one question: do people in Pennsylvania have southern accents?

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Marc Forster, who is generally known for leaving all emotional moments on the cutting room floor, has his first emotional story with this one. Someone else might have made you cry-- especially considering all the children who lose their parents before their eyes-- but I'm proud of the guy for even showing a little bit of heart.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: It starts a little before the beginning and therefore goes on too long. And it's not the screenwriter's fault that the true story is still completely unresolved, but it doesn't make for a Hollywood ending.

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

A: The look of the film is hyper-grainy and sometimes out of focus, but I'm not sure if that's because of the cinematography or the theater I saw it projected in.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Machine Gun Preacher Trailer

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Casino Jack

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: The true story of what happened behind the scenes in the Jack Abramoff scandal, as well as an examination of what it was about his psyche that continually allowed him to think he was doing the right thing, while screwing people over and making himself rich.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, Kelly Preston, Rachel Lefevre, Jon Lovitz, Yannick Bisson, Eric Schweig, Christian Campbell, Spencer Garrett, Maury Chaykin, Ruth Marshall, Jeffrey R. Smith, Graham Greene, Jeff Pustil, Damir Andrei, John David Whelan

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! It’s totally hateable. But maybe this one will help you understand exactly how corrupt and wrong-minded American Democracy (i.e. capital imperialism) has become. I hope you get mad!

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Did you know that Kevin Spacey does impersonations? They’re surprisingly good. Unfortunately, that doesn’t prevent them from being totally annoying—and I’m not trying to single him out, I’m talking to all of you fools who think movie impersonations are cute. Maybe it’s just me.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Yes!!! But not in your eyes, in your heart.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Biggest wattle ever to be shown in a movie. Thank you Maury Chaykin! I will never be able to look at spaghetti the same.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Kevin Spacey is God. Barry Pepper is just the right kind of smarmy. And Jon Lovitz surprised me, in a role that shows that despite the fact that he has no range, there is a range that his one character can play.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: I saw this movie a few months ago, and wrote down some snide remarks about some of George Hickenlooper's shot choices. Since then, George Hickenlooper has died, so I no longer see the point in trying to help him improve his craft. It's a great movie, let's leave it at that.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: If you don’t know or remember much about the Jack Abramoff scandal (trust me, we’ve all tried to put the Bush years out of our minds), the beginning may be a little much to take in, and it may even make you feel stupid. But be patient, before long you will be able to follow the convoluted logic of these trickster super-lobbyists’ thinking and justifications.

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

A: When we do finally decide to rework our democracy, a good place to start might be getting rid of the laws that allow lobbyists to bribe and manipulate every politician we elect. Maybe then politicians will be forced, once again, to look into their hearts and decide what’s right for the people before making a decision that affects all of us.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Casino Jack Trailer

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Fair Game

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: The true story of how Ambassador Joe Wilson and his wife, CIA agent Valerie Plame, had inside information about how the reasons we waged war against Iraq in 2003 were a lie. They knew for a fact that we'd been lied to because they were the ones who had done the reconnaissance proving that Iraq had no Weapons of Mass Destruction. But when Wilson spoke up about his findings-- or lack thereof-- Vice President Cheney's office outed Valerie Plame's status as a covert agent, compromising all of the missions she had been working on for her country, and causing the deaths of hundreds of innocent people. And that's not counting all the soldiers and civilians who were killed in the war.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, David Andrews, Michael Kelly, Sam Shepard, Bruce McGill, Noah Emmerich, Liraz Charhi, Brooke Smith, Ty Burrell, David Denman, Tim Griffin, David Warshofsky, Kristoffer Ryan Winters, Anand Tiwari, Ashley Gerasimovich, Quinn Broggy, and George W. Bush as himself.

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! We were lied to. You should care.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: If any of Joe Wilson's dialogue is accurate, he's a funny guy!

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Excuse me? You've read this review this far and you're not crying already?

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Hopefully Best Picture, but I'm giving it the Patriot Award, because these people stood up for what's right, even though it was the President who was wrong. And you'd have to be a true red-blooded American to do that.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Having seen two Naomi Watts movies back to back, I can honestly say that she's always the same. By the same but different token, Sean Penn is always the same level of amazing.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: As Doug Liman himself said in the Q & A, his style is recognizable from one film to the next because he doesn't know how to do anything else. And in the long run, that's the kind of comment you come to regret having said.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: It starts out heady and hard to follow, but fear not, before long it all becomes clear, emotional, and engrossing, and you realize that you didn't really need to understand any of the things that were going over your head.

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

A: I'm sure some idiot out there will find a way to say that this movie is a lie. And that's why that person will be an idiot.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/fair-game/1428068/trailers

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W.

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Biopic about a man (Josh Brolin) who becomes president of the United States (George W. Bush) to prove to his father (George H.W. Bush) that he's not a disappointment.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Josh Brolin, James Cromwell, Elizabeth Banks, Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Burstyn, Thandie Newton, Jesse Bradford, Rob Corddry, Dennis Boutsikaris, Scott Glenn, Michael Gaston, Toby Jones, Stacy Keach, Bruce McGill, Jason Ritter, Marley Shelton, Jeffrey Wright

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. All the facts we already know. What's interesting is getting to see W's emotional state as these incidents unfold, his relationship with his father, and finding out who said and did what within his cabinet... Unfortunately, all those parts of the movie are based on pure speculation, and not to be trusted.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Not nearly as much as when you watch the real W. trying to speak English.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Again, not nearly as much as when you watch the real thing.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: The whole thing would be a lot more insightful if it came out 30 years from now.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: In many cases the cast of Saturday Night Live could have done these characters more justice. While they are all reminiscent of the actual people they play, either by their looks or by their speech cadence, there is at least one false thing in each of them which keeps you focused on the actor playing the real person, rather than the real person they're playing. For example Josh Brolin sounds right, but he's much too good looking. Thandie Newton looks like Condoleezza Rice, but her speech sounds as if someone has glued her lips together. And Richard Dreyfuss just smiles way too much to be Dick Cheney.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: As is to be expected, watching this film causes you to learn more about Oliver Stone, and his personal fantasies of what it might be like to be George W. Bush, than it teaches you about what it's actually like to be George W. Bush.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: It would have worked better as a Reality TV show... In fact, I think there was a similar show on TV once. Wasn't it called something like, "The News"? I don't know, who can remember such things.

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Lions for Lambs

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A Congressman (Tom Cruise) and a Journalist (Meryl Streep) debate the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the role of journalism in those wars, while a college professor (Robert Redford) and a student (Andrew Garfield) debate whether or not they are doing enough to help the world, while two injured American soldiers (Derek Luke and Michael Pena) fight for their lives atop a strategically placed cliff in Afghanistan, that both the Allies and the Enemy are trying to control.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Derek Luke, Michael Pena, Andrew Garfield, Peter Berg

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Stop! No matter which side of the political debate you are on, this movie will add nothing to your thoughts or emotions about the current wars. I thought it was based on a play, because it is literally a movie about three pairs of people talking to each other in a room or on a cliff. There is no action, no story, no plot, no inciting incident, no ticking clock, no suspense, and no real tension in this film. It could have just as easily been six people sitting around a dinner table spouting their opinions about politics. If it weren’t for the A-list actors and director, I would have thought I was watching a film school thesis. And since the actors weren’t doing it to help out a desperate film student, the only reasons I can speculate as to why they were attracted to this script are 1) the concepts discussed must be in line with their own political beliefs, or 2) their friends were doing it. To add insult to injury, it turns out the script is not based on a play. It’s just one writer’s internal debate about his own guilt for doing nothing to change our world.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: No.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: No.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: I sure hope not.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Meryl Streep is amazing. She is able to bring enormous depth and real moments to a character that is underwritten, generic and would be indistinguishable from any other poorly written journalist if not for her performance.

Tom Cruise on the other hand should not have taken this role. It is often hard to get past the fact that you’re watching “Tom Cruise” regardless of the movie. Unfortunately, this character (a smarmy and ambitious politician) is too close to his real life persona to ever make the separation between the character and the actor. Like Tom Cruise, Senator Irving incessantly flashes his charming smile to hide the fact that someone has pressed him up against a wall. Then, because the character and story go nowhere, you are never sucked into the film enough to forget that you’re watching the celebrity Tom Cruise.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: That depends, is this a movie by Robert Redford, the guy who directed Quiz Show, A River Runs Through It, and Ordinary People?… I’m just saying I’d be more impressed if he admitted that he farmed this one out to his assistant.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: What story?

Q: Is there anything else outstanding about the movie?

A: The lighting was pretty, and I appreciated that the actors wore their wrinkles for this film.

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