The Bad Mother's Handbook (2007, UK)

This was a really surprising and wonderful film, especially for a made-for-TV deal. It's about being a mother (as the title implies), but I think it was also about being a daughter too. Karen is a 33-year-old teacher's assistant who wants to go to Paris, and when she gets her birth certificate for her visa, she finds out she was adopted. Meanwhile her daughter Charlotte, who was born when Karen was 16, breaks up with her boyfriend when she finds out he's cheating, only to find out that she's pregnant.

That's what it's about, but it's not really about what it's about. It's more about the relationships, how they process their feelings, how their relationships with their mothers affected their own motherhood, why they made the choices they did. What they do becomes irrelevant, or perhaps inevitable. It's subtly and beautifully done. I especially loved the grandmother, who was obviously suffering from some sort of dementia and chattered to imaginary companions all day, mostly about her memories of Karen as a girl.

I think all mothers and daughters can appreciate this film, even if you weren't adopted, a teen mother, or a combination or product of these situations. Men play a very limited role in this film. Even Daniel (a lovable loser, portrayed in a perfectly understated performance by Robert Pattinson), who becomes Charlotte's friend, helper, and quiet but strong support, is a very unobtrusive presence for such a central figure.

In fact, the whole thing had an understated simplicity that you just can't help but appreciate. I teared up a few times, I'll admit. A moving, authentic work.

Rating: 4.0

Metropia (2009, Sweden)

I have to copy the plot summary from imdb to make this make sense: In the near future, oil reserves are nearly depleted and Europe is connected by a series of underground tunnels. While navigating these tunnels, Roger hears a voice in his head. Seeking a way to rid himself of the voice only leads Roger deeper into a bizarre conspiracy of control at the highest reaches of government.

This is rather oversimplifying, but it's difficult to explain. As you can see from the poster, this had the most interesting animation style I've ever seen. I couldn't quite decide whether it was 2-D or 3-D. The correlation between voice actors and characters was interesting as well. Roger looked vaguely like Vicent Gallo, while Stefan looked even more like Alexander Skarsgård. Yet these two characters also looked like each other a bit (which is a part of the story, not coincidence). So that was all pretty neat.

The world that they created in this dystopian future Europe was fascinating. The superior public transportation system, which is such a positive aspect of European life now, becomes the symbol of the worst parts of life in the future. Consumerism (and objectifying a specific woman in commercials for a specific product) gives the corrupted leaders a means of control over the populace. The colors are mostly black and gray, and only a few things stand out. Most noticeably Roger's dull red jacket, the model's brilliant blond hair, and the bright blue color of the shampoo she's advertising.

I can't fully do this film justice. The concept, the mood, the animation, the voice acting—all were superb. I highly recommend it, especially if you like something a little different every now and then.

Rating: 3.5

Babies (2010, France)

This was a very simple, sweet, engaging documentary. It's about four babies in the first year of their very different but very similar lives in San Francisco, Tokyo, Mongolia, and Namibia. The contrast between countries was interesting, to say the least. I do wonder how realistic it was, for two reasons. First, people may act differently in the presence of a camera in their lives. (Perhaps this isn't true of babies, but it would be true of their parents.) Second, editing can make footage a lot different than the reality. However, it seemed pretty real to me.

Inevitably for this type of documentary, the four lives were distilled into fairly one-dimensional portraits. The San Francisco baby's life alternates between having very hands on parenting and being left alone. Both of her parents were present in her life, with lots of reading, music, toys, activities, etc. The Tokyo baby was surprisingly similar to the San Francisco baby. For my taste, there were way too many bright colors in Tokyo, but otherwise it seems to be nice to be a baby in Japan. The Mongolian baby lives in an isolated area. You almost never see the father, and the mother appears only slightly more often. His brother constantly hits him until he cries, and cows, goats, cats, and roosters are running all over him all the time. It's a miracle nothing bad happened to him. The Namibian baby's mothers seems to sit around all day with another woman, mostly doing nothing but occasionally talking or grooming. (They must do more—perhaps new mothers are given "time off.") Of all the babies, the Namibian baby had the most unhygienic upbringing you could imagine, but of the four he almost seemed the happiest, rarely crying.

In all the footage they used, I felt like they could have included a bit on bedtime in addition to the rest of the day (mealtimes, bathtime, playtime, etc.). I did like how they showed the present day "babies" (around age five?) in the credits. Also, the music was a bit weird, oddly chipper, but it was somehow the perfect soundtrack to unify four lives in very different geographies.

This is oddly enthralling considering the lack of dialogue, plot, or even the "message" (or central theme) of most documentaries, but it's really worth watching, no matter your taste.

Rating: 3.5

Flickan som lekte med elden (2009, Sweden)

Inevitably, a film adaptation of a complex, multi-layered suspense/mystery novel of the outstanding caliber of Larsson's work just isn't going to have the same impact. True, a lot was too oversimplified (for instance, the sex trade angle, a huge part of the novel's plot, never made sense in the film). Also, the fight between Paolo, Miriam, and the German was way too *bang* *pow* super-choreographed.

Still, a lot of it carried over well. It was very dark and suspenseful. I still think the casting for Lisbeth was excellent, though Mikael was on and off. The music was eerie and dark, perfect to set the appropriate tone. Good stuff, especially if you haven't read the book but even if you have.

Chilling, powerful, engaging, and very Swedish. Good stuff.

Rating: 3.5

Letters to Juliet (2010, U.S.)

I thought that this movie looked really cute, and I like Amanda Seyfried quite a bit. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed.

The whole thing felt way too contrived, with stilted dialogue that almost bordered on wooden at times (and had a false ring a majority of the time). Overall, the writing was terrible. Aside from the dialogue problems, a lot of the plot was just too much of a stretch when it could have been much smoother. Parts were too easy, convenient, and basically unrealistic. I think "oversimplified" is the best word I can come up with.

The actors weren't bad. Seyfriend wasn't her best, but still cute. Her fiance was a Mexican actor playing a goofy maybe-Italian, which was a very strange choice. They do get extra points for casting Vanessa Redgrave, who is an absolute film goddess. I did like the male lead, who had very good comedic timing. He had a very strong (and to my untrained ear, accurate) British accent, but every now and then it went a little weird—turns out he's Australian. He also had something in his face (though not his acting) that reminded me of Heath Ledger, which was odd.

Anyway, this was a sweet concept that was terribly executed. Very unfortunate.

Rating: 2.0

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010, U.S.)

I heard a lot of people say this was a boring film because they spend so much time wandering around doing nothing. On the contrary, I found it to be way too fast-paced. They're galloping around the countryside, accomplishing their tasks with seeming ease. It completely negated the epic David and Goliath, hopeless battle for Good that they're fighting, practically belittling their efforts.

I know one shouldn't judge movies based on one's knowledge of the books, but in this case I just can't help it. Of all of the Harry Potter films, I thought this one was the weakest adaptation. Of course, I rather expected it to be. They've been dropping threads of the plot and relationships since the beginning (or perhaps since the fourth movie), so with the final installment, it was impossible to weave together the complete, complex tapestry.

Of course, I still maintain that this undertaking put together one of the greatest casts, and this installment brought almost every participant together. Though it was inevitable to miss Hogwarts, the various settings, from nature to Malfoy Manor to the Ministry to a London street to a snowy graveyard in Godric's Hollow were all beautifully rendered.

I'm glad Dobby had his day, even if it was very "Oh, remember Dobby? He has a very close relationship with Harry even though you don't know anything about it, so he's going to come save his friend now!" Ugh. Even worse, however, was the thing that came out of the locket horcrux. It was way over the top and super cheesy. And greenish—think "dead faces in the water" and the army of the dead and all the other cheesy parts of Lord of the Rings times about a trillion and plus gratuitous nudity. Shiny nudity at that. So even Catherine Hardwicke could be proud! As you can tell, it annoyed me quite a bit.

The music doesn't stick out in my head too much, but I can only assume that it was good, since Alexandre Desplat is one of my favorite composers.

I still look forward to the second part of this film, but I won't get my hopes up.

Rating: 2.5

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

Walk the Line (2005, U.S.)

Here's yet another biographical film that never really interested me, but suddenly when I was cataloging it at work, I just had to see it. It was an excellent choice.

Reese Witherspoon was phenomenal as June Carter. Joaquin Phoenix was okay, though he was rather on and off. Toward the end he was amazing, and he also was in his drugged haze. His early singing was rather weak and might have been better if it was lip synced. His voice was much stronger at the end, especially in Folsom Prison and in Ontario. However, he had a majorly crazy singing face that looked like he was constipated or in pain or two seconds away from passing out. Maybe Johnny Cash really looked like that while singing, I don't know, but it was a bit off-putting. In terms of the rest of the cast, Tyler Hilton as Elvis was the worst casting choice ever, but I absolutely loved Jerry Lee Lewis. The chemistry between the entire cast was absolutely palpable.

Watching this gave a very good sense of musicians' road life in the middle decades of the 20th century. The costumes, props, and sets were perfect vehicles to transport the viewer back 50, 60 years.

The film seemed to go on forever, but not in a bad way. It was like I was so lost in the story that I had to wake up and readjust to reality when it was over. I even watched the deleted scenes, which I don't often do with this kind of film. I thought that too much was left out of the story, though I recognize the need to edit and thought they picked events well. I'm amazed that I was so interested that I wanted more. In fact, I went straight back to the library and checked out Johnny Cash's greatest hits.

Magnificent.

Rating: 4.5

Cutthroat Island (1995, U.S.)

I didn't realize this when I watched it, but apparently this movie bankrupted the production company and is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest box office flop of all time.

I didn't think it was that bad, though it was very 1995. The score was no Pirates of the Caribbean, but it was pretty good pirate movie music nonetheless. The plot was decent plot, and the script was sprinkled with mildly amusing one-liners and good fight scenes.

Every now and then I would notice an anachronism, such as the cannons not rolling backwards when fired in an early fight scene, but in a later scene they were. Small compared to the whole female pirate, treasure maps on scalps, and other odd elements of the story.

Still, if you like campy pirate flicks, this one's for you.

Rating: 3.0

The Adventures of Milo and Otis (1986, Japan)

I remembered this movie very fondly from my childhood. I couldn't remember what it was about, other than the obvious cat/dog friendship. I decided to check it out from the library to "watch with my cats," two orange tabbies. This ended up being quite amusing, because one of them sat and watched almost the entire thing, and the other investigated for at least a few minutes.

You really have to appreciate the dedication of a crew that would spend four years filming live animals. I gather that there were some accusations of animal cruelty, but I don't know what came of that. It seemed to me that most of the action was realistic in terms of animals' real lives. I was surprised to see that the two had litters of kittens and puppies, which I don't recall from my childhood viewings. Still, it was done tastefully enough that a young child can watch it without figuring out what's going on (as I must have once).

I was shocked to find that I still loved this movie, which I have such fond memories of, as an adult. I think this is a wonderful, wonderful family movie. Very sweet. And two out of two cats agree!

Rating: 4.0