Up

4 out of 5 Stars
Pixar films always end up being far more moving and visually arresting than the trailers make them out to be. I had no interest in seeing this film (or Wall-E for that matter) based on the previews. And in both cases I found myself pleasantly surprised. 'Up' is, overall, a beautiful, mature, and sentimental film about love, loyalty, adventure, fear and loss. I admit, I cried twice. The characters' facial expressions and how realistically each nuance is portrayed through animation never ceases to astound me. Of course, like all Disney films, there are several lengthy sequences involving talking dogs and chase sequences which I found dragged a bit. But by the time the credits rolled I found myself wiping away tears and wanting to applaud.

Phoebe in Wonderland

3.5 out of 5 Stars
The film critic in me had to rate this original film as 3.5 out of 5 stars. The sensitive teacher and former OCD/anxious child in me would give this 4 out of 5 stars. I loved the concept of the story enhanced by some really striking, honest and insightful lines in the screenplay. On paper, Phoebe is an extremely dynamic character. On camera, Elle Fanning portrayed the role with such subtlety and lack of melodrama that she managed to (without child actor pretentiousness) to outshine her very talented 'grown up' co stars. I did love Patricia Clarkson as the drama teacher (in 4th grade I had a teacher just like her). But her character loses steam in the final 20 minutes. Not at all Clarkson's fault, in fact the entire film crashes in on itself in those last 20 minutes. Felicity Huffman's caring and nurturing mom who wants what is best for her children falls flat, also due to the script. And Campbell Scott's talent is completely wasted in the role of the principal. In the final third of the film, the screen writer tied a beautiful and painful story together way too neatly. But days after seeing the film, I can't get the image of Elle Fanning as Phoebe counting steps, washing her hands, being unable to control her behavior and crying out for help in the world of fantasy out of my mind...

The Proposal

2.5 out of 5 Stars
Ryan Reynolds has some shirtless scenes, Betty White cracks me up and the clips during the end credits were hilarious! Not a great film but its worth it for the above 3 reasons.

The Brothers Bloom

3 out of 5 Stars
I was a fan of Rian Johnson's first film 'Brick' so I was intrigued to see what his second film would be like. I wasn't disappointed. In this day and age of remakes, sequels and retellings it was refreshing to watch a dark comedy that was well acted and original (though it should be noted that I was the only person in the theater who laughed during the film). Adrien Brody, as always, gives a great performance, Rachel Weisz is quirky and fun to watch, and best of all I adored Rinko Kikuchi as 'Bang Bang'. The film gets a bit repetitive in the third act but for the most part I solidly enjoyed the characters, the story, the setting and the originality.

Revolutionary Road

3.5 out of 5 Stars
This is a rare example of a film which I thought surpassed the novel. I found the book to be dated, slow moving, and thought the characters were cold and unlikable. But Mendes' film was so subtle, well acted, perfectly paced, and completely captured the trapped atmosphere of suburban life in the late 1950s -- I found myself intrigued by both April and Frank Wheeler and I also identified and sympathized with both of them (whereas in the book I was very much annoyed by April). Mendes' successfully capturing the suffocating setting, the hypocrisy, the sexism and the frustration that I was searching for in Yates's novel. It's not 'American Beauty' but it was a strong and very moving film.

Hounddog (2007)

3 out of 5 Stars
Dakota Fanning single handedly pulled this film off. The film critic in me veers toward criticizing a weak script which was an attempt at 'southern gothic'/Flannery O'Connor, underdeveloped characters with little to no back stories, bizarre plot twists, and an overall jumbled mess of a screenplay. But this film gets 3 stars from me because of how moved I was by Fanning's portrayal of Lewellen. Her eyes, her raw emotions, her dead eyed expressions, her concealed pain, her ability to steal scenes from David Morse (man, I felt bad for him, his part was so cringeful - no actor should have ever taken that one on), Robin Wright Penn (she did the best she could with a poor script) and Piper Laurie (reprising her role in Carrie -- heh!). Dakota Fanning made me cry and I never cry in movies. She is enigmatic, powerful and so fascinating to watch on screen. Her performance alone makes this film worth seeing. She truly is one of the best young actors I've seen on camera.

Adventureland

2.5 out of 5 Stars
I was interested in seeing this film mostly because I greatly enjoyed Greg Mottola's first screenplay 'The Daytrippers'. Unfortunately, Adventureland does not manage to reach the same mix of humor, drama and character development that his earlier film script did. Adventureland falls somewhere in between the sensitivity of Mottola's earlier work and the baudy humor of Judd Apatow's films (which I am not a fan of). Adventureland has a few touching and honest moments, but it still feels underdeveloped. Jesse Eisenberg gives a fantastic performance as James. He is subtle and likable and gives his character a sensitivity that more often than not gets lost in these types of scripts (ie. virgin who has a hard time with the ladies). Kristin Stewart (who I normally enjoy watching onscreen) was a disappointment. The supporting cast (particularly Margarita Levieva as Lisa P.) hold their own. But in the end, I thought Adventureland fell short of living up to it's potential.