The Switch

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: An aging woman (Jennifer Aniston) decides she's not going to wait for love to have a baby, she's going to get a sperm donor. Then, in a drunken stupor, her best friend, who happens to be a guy, (Jason Bateman) switches the donors sperm for his own, and 7 years later starts to realize that her kid is his kid.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, Thomas Robinson, Juliette Lewis, Caroline Dhavernas, Jason Jones, Bryce Robinson

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. Despite the ridiculous premise, the moments that lead to each implausible beat make a lot of sense.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: I had a couple of good ones, because I like to laugh at children.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: A much less cool fact about me is I tend to cry at children, too.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: First movie about a woman who decides to get pregnant on her own, since The Back-up Plan. Hey, it's been 4 months, we were due for another one, right?

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Jeff Goldblum is the stand out, and also plays the perfect best-friend. He is just the right combination of caring and giving you the space to make your own mistakes. The little boy, Thomas Robinson, is pretty impressive, too.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: For some reason, the directing in this movie feels kind of self-conscious to me. It's like they're trying really hard to do something special, but no matter how hard they try, their work refuses to go beyond run of the mill.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The hardest thing to get past (besides the premise) is Jason Bateman's character, who you feel empathetic toward, but you never really like as a love interest. You almost don't want him to end up with the girl because you know that in the long run, he would be a major drain on her life. My favorite thing about the script, though, is how you see Jennifer Aniston fall for her son, as any mother would, and the more she grows to like all of Jason Bateman's unlikeable characteristics in her own son, the more you can buy that she might grow to appreciate them in the man who spawned him.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-switch/31199/trailers

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Where the Wild Things Are

( Guest Review by Russ)

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Based on Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s book, nine year-old Max flees home after getting into trouble, and takes a journey across the seas to a forest inhabited by wild creatures, where he becomes their self-appointed king.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Max Records, Catherine Keener, Pepita Emmerichs, Steve Mouzakis, Mark Ruffalo, James Gandolfini, Lauren Ambrose, Paul Dano, Catherine O’Hara, Forest Whitaker, Michael Berry Jr., Chris Cooper

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. Incredibly imaginative, strikingly visual and very true to the spirit of the book, this adaptation will most likely please a lot of fans. But it’s simply not for everyone and despite the fact that it does a good job in filling out a fifteen-page children’s book into a feature-length film, it still drags at times.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: The wild creatures Max stumbles upon have a lot of humor to them, both visually and in their dialogue.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: There is a lot of melancholy in Max’s journey, but only one moment might bring some tears, and even then, I’m not so sure it will for most.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It’s a gorgeous and imaginative-looking film, so it will probably be nominated for all the visual type awards.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Max Records, who plays Max, is excellent. Apparently, this is his acting debut, but he’s clearly a natural. There’s no mugging or over-acting and that goes a long way toward relating to Max’s journey and inner struggle. The Wild Things’ voices are all perfectly cast to inform their expressive faces and even though the physical actors in the creature suits will not get much mention, they also do a fantastic job.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: We’ve come to expect a lot from such a visual filmmaker as Spike Jonze and he’s definitely on his game once again. It’s easy to tell how much he loved this book and story because there are no compromises and it really feels like Sendak’s drawings have come to life right from the page. The movie also stays true to the internal plight and struggle of a nine-year-old boy and that comes though in every single detail Jonze puts on screen (including the fantastic opening shot which ends on a freeze-frame of the film’s title, so don’t be late). But it is maybe that central focus that makes the movie less mainstream. In other words, if you want a Pixar-movie-‘feeling,’ then go see a Pixar movie. At a Q & A after the screening, Spike Jonze spoke about some of the details of the six-year odyssey of making this movie which only made it that much more impressive. But it also made me wish he could figure out a way to make his movies a little faster because six or seven years is too long to wait for a new Spike Jonze film.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The script is really impressive especially when considering the source material it’s based on. In fact, it’s almost shocking that a major studio would greenlight this particular version of such a popular children’s book. In keeping with Sendak’s original intent, Jonze and co-writer Dave Eggers keep a laser-like focus on how Max’s adventure would play out in detail, and everything works. In the hands of a different director/writer, this story could have become a typical effects-laden Hollywood extravaganza, but not this version. Both emotion and imagination are given equal weight in the story and maybe the biggest compliment I could give the writers is that it plays out as if written by a nine-year-old boy. And trust me, that’s a major compliment in the context of what this film is trying to accomplish.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/where-the-wild-things-are/24823/trailers

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Personal Effects

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A young man (Ashton Kutcher) and an older woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) meet at grievers' support group, and form their own personal little support system outside of the meetings.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Ashton Kutcher, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates, Spencer Hudson, Aleks Paunovic, Mary Black

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. It's a drama, through and through, by which I mean, it doesn't even try to make you feel good. But it's not boring, it is intimate, and the two leads are serious eye-candy.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: This movie is so quiet, chewing popcorn sounds out of place-- so anything to do with actually using your vocal chords you're gonna wanna leave at the door.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: For people who've had someone close to them pass recently, I don't see how it could be avoided. But maybe it's worth it? It could be therapeutic.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: How is it that at the age of 50, Michelle Pfeiffer still gets my vote for Most Beautiful Woman in the World? If there are any youth and beauty potions that actually work, she's holding.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Ashton Kutcher is solid enough, and he even manages to shed a tear during a prolonged shot without cutaways... But then he spoils it a little, when we see him sort of smile with pride-- probably at his own ability to cry on cue. Kathy Bates, in a teeny-tiny role, is a genius. She doesn't have much screen time, but in one scene she laughs so hard that no sound comes out, and before you know it, you realize she's crying. Just seeing her name up on the screen makes you think, "Wow, what a great cast!" Who else is in it becomes almost irrelevant.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: The color and lighting make the film appear flat and cold, simulating the feeling of emptiness that follows a loved one's death. On the downside, there are stylistic choices sporadically sprinkled throughout that are inconsistent with the rest of the visuals in the film, and stand out as choices made in the editing room, in places that weren't working.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Rarely in real life have two people run into each other at random, as many times, and in as many places, as the leads in this film do at the beginning of this story. I tried to justify it in my mind by imagining that it was supposed to take place in a small town. But at the Q & A, the writer admitted that it was Pittsburgh. He should've lied.

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

A: The beginning is confusing, because Ashton Kutcher is clearly doing the voiceover for the deaf character.  I imagine there's a poetic reason for this-- like to show how much they have in common, making them like one being-- but it comes off confusing, and it definitely helps to know that even though it sounds like Ashton Kutcher, the sentiments are supposed to be those of the deaf teenager.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://video.google.com/videosearch?client=safari&rls=en&q=personal+effects+trailer&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=f8KwSdW5PJauNdvFjfEE&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#

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