The Messenger

Starring:  Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster
Drama, Rated R (2009)

Will Montgomery (Foster) is a war vet recently returned from and injured in Iraq who has only three months remaining in his Army contract.  He is assigned the extremely difficult task of notifying soldier's families that they have died in combat.  He is put under the command of slightly off the wall, lonely, and recovering alcoholic Tony (Harrelson).  The two of them go about their duties and strike up an unexpected friendship in the process.

• This movie gives you an inside look at a job that you know someone has to have but maybe haven't given a whole lot of thought to.  It is certainly a job that I would NEVER want to have.
• The relationship between the two men goes through some ups and downs and they learn a lot more about each other as Will deals with a break up and Tony confronts his alcohol problem. 
• There are some slow moments.  The tone of the movie is very low key and mellow but overall it was good.

4 STARS

Middle Of Nowhere

Starring:  Susan Surandon, Eva Amurri, Anton Yelchin
Drama, Rated R (2010)

Amurri is Grace.  A teenager from a small town with a flaky undependable mom who is planning to go to College if only she can figure out a way to get the $12,000 it will cost to do that.  She spends her summer days working at the local water park but she knows that isn't going to earn her nearly enough.  She meets Dorian (Yelchin) a bad boy from a privileged family who has been sent to live with his disciplinarian uncle.  He approaches her with a business proposition that while illegal could earn her the money she needs.  Will she take the risk or spend the rest of her life in the middle of nowhere.

• This movie turned out better then I originally thought it would be.  The acting was good by all the lead roles.
• I really enjoyed watching the relationship develop between Grace and her sister Taylor.  It was also interesting to watch the relationship among all three grow which is something that I'm sure neither one of them expected.

4 STARS

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Starring:  Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton
Action/Adventure (2010)

Soon after invading a nearby city Dasdan (Gyllenhaal) is accused of murdering his father.  Forced to run, princess Tamina (Arterton) follows along as she discovers that Dasdan holds a dagger that holds incredible powers.  This dagger was taken during the invasion of her city and it's up to her to keep it out of the wrong hands or else risk destruction of the world as they know it.  Dasdan must now not only prove his innocence but keep the sands of time that give the dagger it's unique powers safe from the greedy man who covets it.

• Gyllenhaal obviously does not appear to be Persian by any stretch of the imagination but it's a movie so you just gotta roll with it.
• Arterton is every bit as beautiful as her character Tamina is supposed to be.  Excellent casting there. 
• There is plenty of action and adventure and a few laughs as well.  There were no slow moments and the story moved along nicely.

4 Stars

Paranormal Activity

Starring:  Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat
Horror, Mystery & Suspense, Rated R (2007)

A young couple moves in together and so does a ghost.  Katie has been plagued over the years by a supernatural presence and after she moves in with her boyfriend this paranormal activity starts up again.  Her boyfriend sets up a video camera to document what happens and tries to find a solution that will make it go away.

• This movie starts out pretty slow.  We see the happy joking couple waking up, going about their day to day activity and sleeping in their room.
• As it goes on and the paranormal activity becomes increasingly more pronounced and frightening the couple becomes extremely agitated and night after night it builds to a very shocking conclusion.
• The format of this film is documentary style and set up to appear as if it is based on a true story.
• This movie is worth watching just for the ending alone.  I can't wait to see the next one!

4 Stars

Letter's To Juliet

Amanda Seyfried is sweet Sophie who is A fact checker for The New Yorker with dreams of being a writer.  She jets off to Verona with her fiance Victor (Bernal) for a pre honeymoon and instead of romantic time of togetherness that she envisioned the two end up on different paths and hardly spend any time together at all.  Instead, Sophie ends up on a little adventure where she helps Claire (Redgrave)  who still feels the sting of love lost find her long lost love whom she fell in love with and never saw again after a teenage summer romance.  Her and Claire hit it off immediately but she can't exactly say the same for her grandson Charlie (Egan).  The unlikely trio set out on their search and turn up all kinds of surprises.

• Amanda Seyfried is so sweet and gentle.  The face of an angel indeed as she pushes her disappointment over her absent fiance aside and embraces Claire and her search for Lorenzo.
• Bernal is quite obnoxious as the passionate foodie who seems to love food more then anything else in life including his fiance.  I knew right away that their relationship was doomed when he was more interested in Pasta then her.
• Such a sweet story.  The tears were rolling towards the end of the movie as the sounds of Taylor Swift's "Love Song" began sweloling in the background.  I'm in love and so moved by the very notion of soul mates and true love so this was right up my alley.  If that isn't your cup of tea then this movie probably won't be for you but I LOVED it

5 Stars

Date Night

Starring:  Steve Carell and Tina Fey
Comedy (2010), PG 13

A self proclaimed boring married New Jersey couple find themselves having a nothing but boring night after they take the Triplehorn's dinner reservations at a swanky New York City restaurant.  This was date night and instead of going to their usual spot they wanted to enjoy this hip and happening place that a couple like them could never get into without a reservation.  Little did they know just how happening this night was going to be.  On the run from dirty cops and chasing down a mysterious flash drive is just the beginning!  Don't underestimate this old married couple.

• This was a fun and funny movie. 
• I love it that throughout the movie even though they are married with two kids and exhausted you can really tell that these two love each other despite life's demands.  They obviously make an effort to keep their marriage together and find out just how well they work together when they end up on this wild night of danger and more adventure then they ever wanted.
• Tina Fey and Steve Carell were quite a funny pair together.  Funny, but also very believable.

4 STARS

Chloe

Starring:  Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried, Liam Neeson
Drama, 2009 (Rated R)

Catherine (Moore ) suspects that her husband David (Neeson) is cheating on her hires Chloe (Seyfried) to play temptress to her husband to see what he will do.   The two women meet up to discuss these encounters with her husband and find that they are somehow drawn to each other.  When Catherine decides that she no longer wants Chloe to pursue her husband she finds out that Chloe had some ulterior motives of her own.

• This movie is very racy and sexual so be prepared.
• I love it how Amanda Seyfried takes on this role so well.  I have only ever seen her play little miss perfect good girl types and even though I have never seen her play the "bad girl" it was totally believable. 
• Great acting as usual by Julianne Moore.
• The storyline kept me wanting to know more and the ending had a twist I didn't anticipate.  It leaves a few unanswered questions without leaving you totally hanging.

5 STARS

She's Out Of My League

Starring:  Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve,
Comedy, 2010 (Rated R)

Kirk (Baruchel) is an out of shape, socially awkward, self proclaimed 5 who meets a hard 10 at the airport where he works security with 3 of his friends.  Molly (Eve) takes an interest in him and to the surprise of Kirk and well...everybody she asks him out and they start dating.  This turn of events is too good to be true for Kirk.  No one expects it to last and he can hardly believe his good fortune at managing to date such a beautiful perfect woman.  Will his own self doubt and low self esteem sabotage the entire relationship or is it possible for a 5 to cover the spread and live happily ever after with a 10?

• This movie was hilarious from start to finish.  Kirk and his 3 buddies particularly Stainer are absolutely spot on funny throughout.
• I think it was a really great concept to explore this whole idea of beauty being only skin deep and that if you like someone you like them whether or not society believes it makes sense.

5 STARS

Remember Me

Starring:  Robert Pattinson, Emilie De Raven, Pierce Brosnan
Drama, Rated PG 13 (2010)

A young man from a family (Pattinson) tormented by a suicide meets a young woman (De Raven) who herself deals daily with the loss of her mother. Tyler has a great relationship with his little sister but is extremely angry with his father's lack of participation in all of their lives.  Ally and Tyler click and are able to put their troubles aside when they are together.  Just when things seem to be taking  turn for the better something very unexpected and tragic occurs that can take it all away.

• I mainly watched this because I wanted to see Robert Pattinson play someone other then an angst ridden vampire.  In this he is an angsty mortal so perhaps it wasn't much of a stretch but at least in this his teeth are not pointy and his skin is not snow white.
• I was interested in the story as it unfolded but found that the pace was a little slow for me at times.
• Very well acted and a really great deep script overall.  I liked the way most of the main characters were very well developed.
• The ending was the best part.  I won't give it away but it starts with something so subtle that you don't quite get what is about to happen until it does.  As I sat there and watched my eyes widened, my jaw dropped open and I covered it with my hand. 

4 STARS

Hot Tub Time Machine

Starring:  John Cusak, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson and Clark Duke
2010, Comedy  (Rated R)

Three men in various stages of mid life crisis like experiences at home head out to their old favorite resort ski town after one of them has an apparent suicide attempt.  Adam (Cusak) takes along his younger brother Jacob who normally stays holed up in his basement playing video games and off they go to have some fun, relaxation and hopefully re kindle their spark.  After partying all night in a hot tub they emerge to find that they have gone back in time and anxiously try to figure out how to fix the situation so as not to do more damage to their present life while visiting their past.

• This movie was funny and had some stupid silly moments.
• My favorite part was actually the ending.  It was unexpected and I think it really made the move.

3 STARS

The Wolfman

Starring:  Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins
Sci Fi/Fantasy, 2010 (Rated R)

An actor (Del Toro) returns home after being told that his brother is missing.  He arrives home to find his brother has been found dead and the town is in an uproar and on the hunt for the vicious creature they believe is responsible for his and other murders.  He finds himself the target of the hunt after being bitten by a werewolf himself.  He finds out some terrible family secrets as he tries to avenge his brothers death as promised to his brother's wife Gwen (Blunt).

• The lighting in this movie is horribly dark.  I get it that it is supposed to be ominous and scary but I could hardly see what was happening on the screen.
• This movie is not as good as I expected it to be.  It was just OK and hardly even held my attention throughout. 

3 STARS

The Runaways

Starring:  Kristin Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon
Drama, Rated R

Kristin Stewart stars as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning stars as Cherie Currie in the story of the short lived hit teenage all girl band of the 70's called The Runaways.  The band came out of nowhere at a time when rock music was ruled by men.  Their rise to fame was unexpected and the film tells the story of the ups and downs that come along with that sudden popularity and living the rock star lifestyle.

• Loved it!!!  Kristin Steward and Dakota Fanning are a dynamic duo in this movie if I ever saw one.  They are both so captivating in their performances. 
• Fanning is so amazing I can't even put it into words.  Wasn't it just yesterday that she was a little girl on "I am Sam"?  Now she is all grown up and doing her first on screen kisses-one of them with a girl!  She has this amazing ability to really take on a character and make you believe it.  Fanning was gone and in her place I saw Cherie Currie-the rock star-and nothing else.
• Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) was obnoxious and ridiculous beyond belief.  Shannon did an excellent job playing this neurotic over the top character.
• I find it pretty amazing that this band was so young.  Currie was only 15 when the band got put together.  It seems like a more common trend now that superstars are barely teenagers but that wasn't the case so much back in the 70's.
• Another story about the pitfalls of super stardom but it was gritty, interesting and so well done that nothing about it felt like just another story.

5 STARS

The Road

Starring:  Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron
Sci Fi/Fantasy, 2009 (Rated R)

A man and his son travel on foot in a decimated post apocalyptic world hoping to find hope and some semblance of civilization 

• This movie was just sad.  As I watched this man and his son trudge onward in a world where people have committed suicide rather then live in it I find myself wondering what is the point.  What kind of life is that to live in fear, hunger, and constant survival mode?  This man is driven to keep going when it seems most logical to just give up.
• Great acting by Mortenson and the boy Smit-McPhee.  There were scenes where watching this little boy cry was almost heart breaking. 
• Great movie all around.

5 STARS

Leap Year

Starring:  Amy Adams, Matthew Goode, Adam Scott
Romantic Comedy, 2010 (Rated PG)

Amy Adams stars as Anna who is after the perfect apartment and the perfect life with her perfect boyfriend.  Since he hasn't proposed after all this time she decides to take matters into her own hands by following him to Ireland where he is attending a medical conference.  According to an Irish tradition a man can't refuse a proposal from a woman during leap year so she hops on a plane to get her man only to find out it's not nearly as easy or simple as she thought it was going to be. 

• I love Amy Adams and just about every movie she's done.  She is pert, lively, pretty, and a darn good actress.  As perfect as Anna is in this movie she somehow still manages to come off as down to earth and relatable.
• Just about everything that can go wrong does on this trip but Ana refuses to give up.
• Oh, the dilemma's that arise in matters of the heart!  Ana's boyfriend Jeremy (Scott) is as perfect as perfect can get.  It's clear that he loves her but the question remains...is it enough? 
• There are unwanted and surprising sparks between Anna and Irishmen Declan (Goode) who is quite an unpleasant character who begrudgingly helps her along her travels.  His heavy Irish accent is sometimes hard to understand so my habit of watching movies with subtitles on came in handy.

4 STARS

Extraordinary Measures

Starring:  Brendan Frasier, Kerri Russell, Harrison Ford
Drama, 2010 (Rated PG)

Brendan Frasier stars as John Crowley the father to two children with a rare and deadly disease called Pompei.  He feels helpless as he watches his two children become sicker and sicker until one day he decides to take matters in his hand.  He contacts a brilliant rough around the edges scientist (Ford) and teams up with him in a next to impossible attempt to get his research off the ground and into the labs so that a new drug can be developed that might save his children.  There are so many ups and downs along the way.  Is there time to save his children's lives?

• Ford is excellent as a hard nosed, rude, and quite impossible to get along with scientist.  As brilliant as he is he is hopeless at working with others and as the movie goes on I grow to sort of hate him and wish I could reach through the TV myself and give him a kick in the head.
• This is based on a true story and you can't do anything else but root hard for John Crowley as he seriously does everything that is humanly possible to save his children.
• Great story, great acting, great movie.

5 STARS

Legion

Starring:  Paul Bettany, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson, Adrianne Palicki
Mystery, Suspense, 2010 (Rated R)

A group of people at a remote desert diner find themselves in a fight for their lives as they battle those sent from up above intent on destroying human kind.

• This movie was just OK for me and not nearly as good as I was anticipating. 
• This whole thing about the fate of the world and human kind resting on an unborn child is so unoriginal which is fine, however I don't feel they brought enough of anything new to the table to make it fresh.
• Definitely entertaining but did not blow me away at all.

3 STARS

When In Rome

Starring:  Kristin Bell, Josh Duhamel
Romantic Comedy, 2010 (Rated PG 13)

Kristen Bell stars as Beth, an unlucky in love workaholic curator at a New York Museum.  Her younger sister meets an Italian man and plans a wedding in Italy all in two weeks causing this all about business gal to head to the romantic city of Rome where she promptly ignores the scenery and clutches her cell phone to try to call work.  She meets Nick at the wedding and starts to feel a little hopeful but when even he appears to be a disappointment she drunkenly stumbles into the fountain and cynically plucks out 5 coins.  If love really does exist it certainly doesn't come from a fountain.  Next thing she knows she is being pursued by 5 smitten suitors including Nick.  Will she finally get the man of her dreams and her happy ending or is he just under a spell?

• This movie was cute and entertaining.  It followed a lot of the typical cliches that many romantic comedies do but there is a reason for that.  We like it!
• There were very funny moments throughout and it really was a fun and funny story line.
• Who knew when we saw Kristen Bell in Veronica Mars so many years ago that she would turn out to be such a wonderful comedic actress.

3 STARS

The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee

Starring: Robin Wright Penn, Blake Lively, Maria Bello, Keanu Reaves, Alan Arkin
Drama, 2009 (Rated R)

Meet Pippa Lee (Wright Penn). She tells us the story of how she came to be starting with the effect that her mentally ill mother had on her while she was growing up. When home becomes too much to bear she moves from that chaos and into an artsy drug induced partying lifestyle. She finds comfort and stability with her much older husband and she quickly becomes the perfect wife. The couple moves to a retirement community after her husband Herb (Arkin) goes into semi retirement from a successful publishing business. Over the years she adapts well to her new comfortable and well to do life but is she really happy or just playing the part?

• There was a lot of flashing back between the past and the present throughout the movie but it was done in a way that was not confusing at all and actually kept things interesting.
• The story was very character driven. There was some sort of underlying back story behind everyone and as the story went along it was revealed.
• Great casting for the roles of Pippa, young Pippa (Lively), and Pippa's mother (Bello). The acting of all three was very real and captivating.
• It was a very real and sort of in the moment kind of movie that kept me interested.
• There are some bizarre unexpected things that happen throughout.
• If you crave a big plot and lots of action this movie isn't for you.

4 STARS

A Serious Man

Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg
Drama, 2009 (Rated R)

A College Professor named Larry (Stuhlbarg) in a small town suddenly finds his life crumbling around him. His wife wants a divorce, his socially awkward brother has camped out on his couch, his children are constantly fighting and his tenure status at the college is in question. To help him navigate this tough time in his life he seeks out the guidance of 3 rabbi's.

• This movie started out weird. When it starts out back in the 1800's and there are subtitles do not be alarmed. It is the right movie.
• The title is A Serious Man and I must say this was a serious movie. Almost too serious. To the point of being boring.
• I got really tired of seeing Larry being such a push over. I wanted to yell at him to just get a back bone already and maybe that alone would solve half of his problems.
• There were some interesting moments but overall this movie was just dry and serious and weird.

1 STAR

Tenure

Starring: Owen Wilson, Gretchen Mol
Comedy, Rated R

An off beat college professor names Larry is up for tenure and just can't seem to get it together. His students love him but he is not well liked by his colleagues, has a tendency towards bizarre behavior, and associates with the only other professor considered more of a black sheep then he is. A new pretty faculty member from a prestigious University who is said to be on "tenure track" makes him feel even more threatened. Can he get an article published and clean up his act well enough to receive this coveted tenure that eluded him at the previous college he worked for and make his retired professor father proud.

• This movie was funny and entertaining.
• The antics of his crazy colleague and his pursuit of big foot and the other various quirky faculty members and students throughout the film are hilarious.
• It has a cute little love story brewing under the surface as well and I really liked watching the relationship between Larry and his dad evolve.

3 STARS