All Good Things (2010, U.S.)

Mom and I were looking for something to watch on Netflix, and this popped up while we were scoping out Ryan Gosling movies. Neither of us had ever heard of it, but it sounded interesting and we liked the two main actors. I really enjoyed the first half or so. They explore the characters and their relationships quite well, and it had all the makings of a complex psychological movie. (In fact, something about it really reminded me of another movie, but I can't think of what it was to save my life. Maybe Fractured? Or maybe one of many psychological films featuring Eddie Redmayne—Like Minds, Savage Grace, Glorious 39? I just don't know!)

Gosling was his usual impressive self, particularly in scenes where he was supposed to be demonstrating signs of some sort of mental illness, possibly schizophrenia. Dunst was also very good, sweet and open and a perfect balance to Gosling. Their relationship was very believable. The disintegration of their relationship was very believable. It was executed simply and effectively, and I liked the subtle flashback method that they used as well.

There was just something about the ending that didn't ring true. It felt awkward and fake compared to the rest of the film, which felt honest and real. I think I would have really liked, or even loved, this movie, but I just didn't feel great about the end.

Rating: 3.5

Black Swan (2010, U.S.)

I really don't know how to rate this film. I'm giving it a 3.0 because I could appreciate all the technical aspects—acting, cinematography, score, costuming, writing. It really was phenomenal. On the other hand, I don't remember the last time I felt so psychologically damaged after watching a movie. I guess you could consider that to be some powerful filmmaking, but I was completely out of sorts for the rest of the day and just can't give it more.

The use of colors was quite well done. There was a very monochromatic scheme, mostly whites, blacks, and grays. Perhaps the colors were symbolic. Nina (Portman's character) wears a lot of gray, while the other dancers wear white and Lily (the slightly evil nemesis) wears black. There's an occasional splash of pink (inevitable in a ballet film), though most of it appears in her "innocent" bedroom.

I was very impressed with the score, which incorporated a lot of crashing ballet-type music, which gave voice to Nina's state of mind and gave the film a frantic feel. It also added to the terror.

Of course the acting was superb. I've always seen Vincent Cassel as a lively, playful, mischievous man, very French and sexy in a fun sort of way. This film gave him a whole new persona. Much more masculine, dangerous, powerful. He is very talented. Natalie Portman is another brilliant actor, with one of the most expressive faces I have ever seen. The way her eyebrows dip down when she cries make her look so childlike, and she seamlessly transitions from innocent to terrified to terrifyingly chilling. She really looked like she was having a mental breakdown. A truly powerful performance, and I knew she would win the Oscar for her role.

Lastly, what an ending. Obviously I won't give it away, but I will say that I didn't see that coming. On the other hand, I don't know how it could have ended otherwise. Pretty stunning.

Rating: 3.0

Morning Glory (2010, U.S.)

I had absolutely no idea what this movie was going to be about, but I saw it just because I adore Rachel McAdams. It was really a unique film. A young television producer gets a new position and must revive a struggling morning show program that consistently falls behind Good Morning America and its ilk. She fires the sleazy male cohost and lands a star news reporter (through a loop in his contract) who hates morning shows and constantly fights with the producer, his cohost, and everyone else.

Basically, this was a great ensemble drama with a slight twist of witty comedy. Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Patrick Wilson, and Jeff Goldblum wove their parts together in seamless harmony. It was very cleverly written and a lot of fun. On the other hand, the drama side really makes you root for the show and hope it gets better ratings, even if you (like me) aren't the kind of person that cares about morning shows at all.

I liked this one quite a bit, but I especially bumped it up from 3.5 to 4.0 just for Rachel McAdams. She's just so cute, savvy, sexy, and spunky. I love her. Did I mention that?

Rating: 4.0

Easy Living (1937, U.S.)

This is precisely what you'd expect of a mistaken identity comedy of the 1930s. In other words, very sweet and very enjoyable.

When J.P. Ball, a wealthy financier, gets sick of his wife's spending habits and throws her sable coat out the window, it lands on struggling single gal Mary Smith. This sets off a chain of events that causes her to get fired from her job, convinces hotel manager Louis Louis to think she's Ball's mistress, and leads her to meet Ball's son, who's also out looking for work to get out from under his father's control.

If this was one of those screwball comedies starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, it would be a lot different. I don't know if "sexier" is the word, considering we're talking about the 1930s. "Smarter" may be the word, both in the sense of "hipper" and "cleverer." One should avoid comparisons though, because as I said, this one was very sweet. I do love the sassy ones, but I liked this one too—it's nice to have a little variety.

Rating: 3.5

Prime (2005, U.S.)

Well, this movie had a great premise. A 37-year-old woman meets and falls in love with a 23-year-old man, which is bad enough. The man turns out to be the son of her therapist, who has unwittingly been encouraging the woman to pursue something with the man in order to work through her intimacy problems.

The execution was terrible. It took the comedy right out of romantic comedy. In fact, it took the romance right out of romantic comedy too. Not even the bloopers were funny, even though I'd had several glasses of wine first. Terrible.

Rating: 2.0

How To Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008, UK)

I'm not sure why I wanted to watch this movie. I think it's because every time I see a movie with Simon Pegg, I assume it will be the type of movie I hate, and yet I always like it. He is just someone who can pull off the kind of comedy that doesn't appeal to me and make it truly funny. And he can do the good, witty kind too. I like that.

Basically, this is about an irritating English journalist who crashes parties and irritates celebrities. When he crashes the big Sharp's magazine party, he thinks he's going to get it from Clayton Sharp. Instead, he gets a job there. Even though he irritates people, he has a remarkable sense of journalistic integrity. It's only when he gives up that integrity that he can succeed in his career, however.

I liked this movie. It was funny, it cast attention-seeking type celebrities in a negative light, it highlighted the things that really matter in life. Not what I was expecting, but a nice surprise. I'd definitely recommend it.

Oh, and Kirsten Dunst might finally be growing on me.

Rating: 3.5

Enchanted (2007, U.S.)

I wasn't expecting too much from this one, but I actually ended up liking it. A mixed live action and animated film is always risky, but I think it worked in this case. Amy Adams is a fairytale princess who is sent to New York City in the real world by an evil queen. Princess Giselle begins to change her views on life and love after meeting a handsome lawyer played by Patrick Dempsey.

Patrick Dempsey was just an unfortunate casting choice. The man is not a great actor, or even that attractive. Thankfully, Amy Adams is so vivacious she takes over the screen, and everyone else pales in comparison anyway. (Also, casting Idina Menzel in a minor, non-singing sort of role is really unfortunate.) Anyway, plus Susan Sarandon as the evil witch, and this was pretty engaging for a kids' flick.

As for music, wow. This was Disney at its best, especially Princess Giselle's house cleaning song. I was almost tempted to download the soundtrack!

Rating: 3.5

Adam & Steve (2005, U.S.)

This really could have been a great movie. But it wasn't. Two guys meet each other in the 1980s and have a very unfortunate one night stand. They meet again 20 years later without recognizing each other and fall in love. They have to deal with all kinds of gay-bashing in addition to their complicated feelings for each other. Realizing that they met all those years ago only makes things worse.

There are a lot of the kind of jokes I don't like—fat jokes, bathroom-type jokes, and even some gay jokes, which is especially odd considering that the movie is seemingly pro-gay. I did like that they tried to make movie that portrayed gay marriage in such a positive way, but they just made it too lowbrow.

The absolute best, most wonderful thing about it was an extended scene where a bunch of gay men dressed up in jeans, flannel, and cowboy boots and hats and did an extended country western dance. Priceless.

Rating: 1.5

Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009, U.S.)

I never would have watched this on my own, because I knew I was going to hate it. They were showing it on the airplane, however, so I decided to watch it to kill time. Kill is definitely the right word. I want my time back.

The premise is ridiculous. The characters are shallow, and the actors aren't even that great. The jokes are stupid. They all live happily ever after even though they most certainly do not deserve to.

Absolutely, positively awful. Don't watch it. And that's all I have to say.

Rating: 1.5

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008, U.S.)

I thought that this film was very sweet. The idea was original, the acting was touching, the writing was good.

Michael Cera, of course, is absolutely adorable, and his chemistry with Kat Demmings worked perfectly in a nerdy high schooler kind of way. All of the supporting actors, especially Aaron Yoo and Rafi Gavron, were fabulous. Between their acting and the script, they definitely captured the essence of young people looking for friendship, love and music.

The one thing that I thought was missing was that music. Although Nick and Norah spend the film looking for the band Where's Fluffy and make a visit to Hendrix's studio, the titular "infinite playlist" was essentially non-existant. It could have been highlighted a bit more.

Still, I did like this film. Not enough films pull off the one day's worth of action thing well, but Nick and Norah did.

Rating: 3.0

Kate & Leopold (2001, U.S.)

I have always hated Meg Ryan, but I was willing to overlook this for Hugh Jackman. Mistake!

This movie was terrible. Although the whole romance/comedy/fantasy combo could have worked, even with some scientifically sketchy time travel, it just didn't. I can't really explain it, but the time travel thing just didn't click. For instance, Jackman was very convincing about not understanding the 20th century at first, but by the end of the "day," it was as if he'd always been there. No sense.

Also, the chemistry between Ryan and Jackman was nonexistent. She seemed to have more with Schreiber, who was playing her ex. In fact, the interaction between Jackman and Schreiber created what little enjoyment I found in the flick.

Meg Ryan is an awful actress and the writing for this film was awful. That is a fatal combination. Sorry, Hugh.

Rating: 2.0

X-Men (2000, U.S.)

I can't lie, I was confused for most of this movie. Partially because I was talking to Jeff through most of it, and partially because I never read or watched X-Men as a kid. Mostly I wanted to watch the trilogy so that I could watch and understand Wolverine because a) I have become a Hugh Jackman fan (especially since he hosted the Oscars) and b) Aaron Jeffrey is in it!

Still, I thought it was pretty sweet. For starters, the aforementioned Mr. Jackman was awesome, and the rest of the cast was great too. The special effects were really believable, which is sometimes all one can ask of a movie like this. One thing that did really bother me was when the script obviously dropped the ball. For instance, Storm is letting herself (and everyone else) get beat up, and I assumed she just couldn't use her powers inside. Then five minutes later, she uses her powers to save the day. Why couldn't she do this earlier? I don't know.

So yeah. Good casting, good special effects. That pretty much sums it up.

Rating: 3.5

Pillow Talk (1959, U.S.)

This movie reminded me a lot of Down with Love, which I adore. And when I looked it up after I watched this, I found out that Down with Love was a giant nod to sex comedies of this era, but especially to Pillow Talk.

I liked this film quite a bit. It didn't blow me away or anything, but it was an enjoyable way to spend an evening at home. There were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments, and some sappy parts too.

This might be complete sacrilege or what have you, but I really wasn't too thrilled with Doris Day. I think this is the first film I've seen with her, and I just thought she was so-so. I think her character could have been just as easily played by countless other actresses. And her singing... yeah. I just don't see the allure. Rock Hudson, on the other hand, is dreamy, charismatic, and suave. Kind of Clark Gable meets Cary Grant, but mostly in a mold of his own. Very sexy.

If you like cases of mistaken identity, sex comedies, battles of the sexes, old movies, or a good laugh, you should definitely see this one.

Rating: 3.5

My Blueberry Nights (2007, ?)

I put a ? in place of the country because I'm not quite sure about the country. I thought this was a U.S. or UK indie film, but imdb says "Hong Kong / China / France." So who knows?

I wanted to see this one when it came out in theaters, but it was a limited release so I never did. It was definitely worth the wait!

Although I was hesitant about Norah Jones as the main character, she was actually a decent actress. And while one or two of her songs was used in the soundtrack, there was no "look at me singing karaoke" or "...to my boyfriend" or "...in the shower." So that was a relief. Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, and Natalie Portman all play people she meets on this journey to find herself and define herself without a man in her life. She teaches them and they teach her, but in a very subtle way. (To give you a point of comparison, it was not like Chocolat in its "look at us help our friends grow as people!")

The acting was great, of course. Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, and Natalie Portman (in order of appearance) are all amazing actors, and their performances were spot on and understated enough to not steal the show from Jones. Also, I've been seeing more and more of David Strathaim recently, and I've really enjoyed his stuff.

This was Kar Wai Wong's English-language debut, and it definitely makes me want to go see more of his Chinese films. He does some fascinating things with close-up angles, with what looks like hand-cameras, with general structure. (To give examples: extreme close up of blueberry pie with melting ice cream, using the cafe's security camera as a POV, interrupting with frames thay say "Day x, y miles from New York.") Very neat stuff with a somewhat nouvelle vogue feel, I thought.

So I really liked this a lot. It's hard not to compare this to other films I've watched recently and give it it's own rating independent of them... I couldn't rate it as high as Jeux d'enfants, for example, but I also liked it more than Gods and Monsters. Can I give it a 4.25?

Rating: 4.0