In
Did You Hear About the Morgans?, Paul and Meryl Morgan (Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker) are whisked to Wyoming into the witness protection program after witnessing a murder in Manhattan. If I were Grant, Parker or more specifically writer/director Marc Lawrence, I would have hid in Wyoming when this stinker was released. Lawrence's dialogue always seems awkward and disjointed (look up his other films if you don't believe me), not to mention only mildly amusing - not exactly what you want in a comedy. Thankfully this is Grant's third film with Lawrence, so he was at least able to breathe some life into it. Very little life.
A Single Man takes us on an exploration of grief after George (Colin Firth) suddenly loses his partner of 16 years in a car accident. I had mixed feelings on this picture. I thought the film moved way too slowly at some points. It was like the film was holding its breath. I also thought first time director Tom Ford tried to do too much within such a small picture. It was like he wanted to try every camera trick he's ever learned. It was distracting. However, there were one or two camera tricks that actually worked, specifically the color effects. What I really liked was the whole look of the film - a very smooth 60's style. Colin Firth was amazingly solemn and bleak, while Julianne Moore was jubilantly damaged.
Jeff Bridges is great and nearly unrecognizable as a past his prime, alcoholic Country & Western singer/songwriter in
Crazy Heart. After his romance with a local Santa Fe reporter, played nicely by Maggie Gyllenhaal, fizzles in dramatic fashion, Bad Blake finally realizes he's headed for an early grave if he doesn't change his life. I liked
Crazy Heart and thought it had a great soundtrack.
I rarely say this, but I wished
The Young Victoria was longer! Rather than telling her life story, this picture focuses solely on Queen Victoria (the glorious Emily Blunt) coming into power and selecting a husband. I wish we had gotten to see even more of her life and what happened further into her reign and marriage. The love story is incredibly sweet and the film is beautiful - costumes, sets, direction - all beautiful.
I'm not a fan of Nancy Meyers movies. They're always too long and they always seem too "grown up" and hoity toity for their own good. That's how the trailer for
It's Complicated looked to me too. And that's how part of the movie went as well. Obviously, I was not a fan of that part of the movie. However, about half way through the movie it got fun - thanks largely to the repoire between Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. That is worth watching. What's also worth watching is a great supporting performance by John Krasinski. He definitely stole a few scenes.
In Did You Hear About the Morgans?, Paul and Meryl Morgan (Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker) are whisked to Wyoming into the witness protection program after witnessing a murder in Manhattan. If I were Grant, Parker or more specifically writer/director Marc Lawrence, I would have hid in Wyoming when this stinker was released. Lawrence's dialogue always seems awkward and disjointed (look up his other films if you don't believe me), not to mention only mildly amusing - not exactly what you want in a comedy. Thankfully this is Grant's third film with Lawrence, so he was at least able to breathe some life into it. Very little life.
A Single Man takes us on an exploration of grief after George (Colin Firth) suddenly loses his partner of 16 years in a car accident. I had mixed feelings on this picture. I thought the film moved way too slowly at some points. It was like the film was holding its breath. I also thought first time director Tom Ford tried to do too much within such a small picture. It was like he wanted to try every camera trick he's ever learned. It was distracting. However, there were one or two camera tricks that actually worked, specifically the color effects. What I really liked was the whole look of the film - a very smooth 60's style. Colin Firth was amazingly solemn and bleak, while Julianne Moore was jubilantly damaged.
Jeff Bridges is great and nearly unrecognizable as a past his prime, alcoholic Country & Western singer/songwriter in Crazy Heart. After his romance with a local Santa Fe reporter, played nicely by Maggie Gyllenhaal, fizzles in dramatic fashion, Bad Blake finally realizes he's headed for an early grave if he doesn't change his life. I liked Crazy Heart and thought it had a great soundtrack.
I rarely say this, but I wished The Young Victoria was longer! Rather than telling her life story, this picture focuses solely on Queen Victoria (the glorious Emily Blunt) coming into power and selecting a husband. I wish we had gotten to see even more of her life and what happened further into her reign and marriage. The love story is incredibly sweet and the film is beautiful - costumes, sets, direction - all beautiful.
I'm not a fan of Nancy Meyers movies. They're always too long and they always seem too "grown up" and hoity toity for their own good. That's how the trailer for It's Complicated looked to me too. And that's how part of the movie went as well. Obviously, I was not a fan of that part of the movie. However, about half way through the movie it got fun - thanks largely to the repoire between Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. That is worth watching. What's also worth watching is a great supporting performance by John Krasinski. He definitely stole a few scenes.
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