Woody Allen has made some of my favorite films. Of course there are his classics (Annie Hall, Zelig, Manhattan, Sleeper, Love and Death) and following those the marvelous complications of Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeaners, Sweet and Lowdown. When he's good there's no director more imaginative, interesting, original. The last few years have become mediocre Allen, though Vicky Christina Barcelona had good moments...
Cheri is not Michelle Pfeiffer's character, though this film belongs to her..and the clothes, sets and beauty of France's opulant Belle Epoque. Set in 1908 within the wealthy world of elaborate meals, outrageously designed clothing and hats, Art Nouveau architecture, the movie takes us into a glamourous time and place. Based on novels by Colette, Pfeiffer plays an aging courtesan embarking on a love affair with her rival's son (Rupert...
When asking an audience to invest time and money into a romantic comedy, it helps when both the man and woman are likeable or at least fun to watch. Since many mainstream movies are now philosophically "girls are dumb, boys are cool"..it makes sense that Ryan Reynolds is the only one to watch in this trite, repetitive movie. Reynolds has a warm, reactive comedy style, bringing to mind an everyman type like the late,...
Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida are local, married..and have written this screenplay about two people in love (Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski) looking for a place to settle down and begin their family. In order for this movie to work, we have to connect and invest in their often bizarre and amusing journey. Easy to do since Rudolph and Krasinski give us characters rooted in reality but educated, witty and eccentric. How...
Nia Vardalos had a huge hit with the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. That comedy is so good that it still plays smart and funny. My Life in Ruins once again stars the likeable Vardalos, this time as a Greek-American tour guide living in Athens. She loves Greek history, but finds herself dumbing it down for the tourists more interested in beaches than antiquities and ruins. We meet every kind of national stereotype...