Directed by Paul Feig (created and directed several episodes of Freaks and Geeks)

Starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Ellie Kemper (Erin from The Office), Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey (Reno 911), Rose Byrne

Just saw this yesterday, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Kristen Wiig, who also co-wrote the film, is hilarious, as usual. She carries the film, but that doesn’t stop Melissa McCarthy from stealing pretty much every scene she’s in. Despite all the trappings of being just another chick flick romantic-comedy, Bridesmaids definitely transcends the genre, and is equal parts funny, genuine, and touching. I also don’t know that I’ve ever seen the dynamics of female friendships depicted so honestly in a movie. Fair warning though… just because this is a film about women, starring women, written by women does not mean that it’s any less ribald or less filled with scatological humor than something like The Hangover.

Directed by Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride and Prejudice)

Starring Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, Tom Hollander

Saw this when Joe was in town a few weeks ago. Really good, fun action movie, and it even has a little bit of depth. The most interesting part of the story is Hanna’s introduction into society. She is a young girl of exceptional mental and physical abilities who has been raised in wilderness. And I suppose that I should note that she was raised by her ex-CIA operative father (Bana) with the expressed goal of one day finding and killing his former colleague and current CIA higher-up (Blanchett). Yes, she is essentially a child assassin. Perhaps not a ground-breaking story (The Professional, Kick-Ass, etc.), but very well executed (pun-intended?).

Highlights include:
-A friendship that Hanna forms with another girl her age who she meets on the road. While I was watching the film I felt that this sub-plot caused the middle section of the movie to drag a little bit, but I think that had more to do with my expectations coming into the film (looking for a full-on action thriller) than whether it made for a better film overall. Upon reflection this touching storyline really added a lot of heart and depth to the child-assassin archetype.  
-Tom Hollander’s creepy and eccentric performance as Isaacs, a goon hired by Blachett’s character to track Hanna down. You may not recognize his name, but he was great in his small part as the awkward/terrified King George III in HBO’s amazing John Adams miniseries. He also impressed as a dimwitted local politician in the smart and hilarious 2009 political satire, In The Loop.
-The action scenes are very cool and well shot (especially Eric Bana’s subway fight shown in one long tracking shot with no edits).
-The musical score which was composed by the Chemical Brothers might be what brings this movie from decent to awesome. Along with the editing, the music provides an energetic base through which the story propels forward and upon which the incredibly well staged action scenes are built.

Overall, very enjoyable. And cool to see Joe Wright, known for his historical-drama Oscar-bait fare, to tackle something more… well… fun.

Written and Directed by Paul Haggis (Crash, In The Valley of Elah)

Starring Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, RZA

I really enjoyed this movie. It starts as a straight-up thriller-drama, but quickly shifts into an action-thriller in the last third. The most compelling aspect of the story is the fact that Russell Crowe’s protagonist is not ex-Special Forces or former CIA or anything, he is just a regular guy pushed into extraordinary circumstances. Liam Neeson also great in his small part as an ex-con/escape-artist who, along with youtube, helps provide some guidance to Crowe’s elaborate plot to break his (maybe wrongfully accused, maybe not) wife out of prison.

Very enjoyable. Rent or OnDemand it.

Directed by Jacques Audiard

I watched this movie a few weeks ago, and have been thinking about how to describe it. The synopsis on IMDB doesn’t offer much as to what actually happens in the film. I think this excerpt from Roger Ebert’s four star review does a pretty good job setting the stage though:

“The movie, one of this year’s foreign film Oscar nominees, follows the life of Malik, a young Frenchman of Arab descent, who enters prison as a naive outsider and is shaped into an evil, adult criminal. He wasn’t born evil; he was born a shy, passive loser. Prison made him all that he can be. He seems an unlikely protagonist for a prison movie. Played by Tahar Rahim, he’s skinny, insecure, trying to raise a mustache. He’s behind bars for unclear reasons; he claims he’s innocent, although it doesn’t matter. Prison efficiently strips him of privacy and self-respect and serves him over to the Corsican gang that controls everything behind bars through violence and bribes.”

The film essentially chronicles this weak, timid prisoner’s journey within the prison, from fighting for survival to establishing himself as a force of prison society to be reckoned with, politically if not physically. The cultural divides of the prison really enrich the story as well, telling a story that I think works as well as its own as it does as an analogy for society at-large.

Absolutely worth watching.

Directed by Roman Polanski

Synopsis: “In a hotel room in Paris, a doctor comes out of the shower and finds that his wife has disappeared. He soon finds himself caught up in a world of intrigue, espionage, gangsters, drugs and murder.”

Very solid thriller. The story itself isn’t groundbreaking, but the execution here is pretty impressive. Though I have to say that I always appreciate the concept of the “every-man” protagonist being swept up into a plot of international espionage and intrigue, and this movie adds the dimension of trying to solve the mystery in foreign city where he doesn’t speak the language… not to mention that the “every-man” here is late-80s Harrison Ford. I mean… come on.

Directed by Herbert Ross (Footloose, Steel Magnolias)

Written by Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally, also wrote/directed You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, Julie and Julia)

Starring Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, Joan Cusack

Synopsis: “An all too uptight FBI agent (Moranis) must protect a larger than life mobster with a heart of gold (Martin), currently under witness protection in the suburbs.”

I watched this movie a few weeks ago, and it was pretty entertaining. Rick Moranis is great. I really wish he was still actively working in Hollywood. Otherwise, the movie was just okay. Steve Martin definitely had his moments, but the really interesting thing about this movie is the backstory, and how, though it came out the previous year, it is (kind of) a sequel to Goodfellas.

The story essentially picks up where Goodfellas leaves off, with a reputed gangster stuck in the middle of suburbia, missing the glamor and rush of his criminal lifestyle. There is a goofy subplot about a budding romance between Rick Moranis’ timid FBI agent and Joan Cusack’s uptight District Attorney, but primarily I would say it is a buddy film. The story focuses on Moranis trying to keep Martin’s character out of trouble long enough to testify against his former associates, and along the way they forge their own friendship. Now back to the Goodfellas connection. The film was written by Nora Ephron, mostly know for a slew of romantic comedy staples listed above, but she also happens to be the wife of Nicholas Pileggi, screenwriter of Goodfellas and Casino. On top of that, the film was apparently written using information from the same interview sessions with ex-mafioso Henry Hill that Goodfellas was based on (according to Wikipedia). So maybe not the best movie, but to see such a different take based on the same material… pretty interesting.

Directed by Alan Parker (Mississippi Burning, Fame, Evita, The Life of David Gale)

Written by Oliver Stone (his first big script, also won him an academy award for Best Adapted Screenplay)

Starring Brad Davis, John Hurt, Randy Quaid

Synopsis: “Story of a man who is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.”

INCREDIBLE. This movie is an intense, amazing, visceral experience. There were times when I was watching it that my heart was literally pounding. I’d heard that it was a good movie, but every time I considered watching it I felt like it was going to be a slow, sad story of a man unjustly held in a Turkish prison, like Brokedown Palace, which is a movie that I always found to be too frustrating and depressing to be that good (aside from the very intense Claire Danes-“I didn’t do it!” scene). This movie is NOT Brokedown Palace.

Amazing performances across the board. I watched this two days ago, and I can’t get it out of my head. That’s how good this was. I stopped rating on a number based scale a few months ago, but…

10

Directed by Jim Sheridan (In The Name of the Father, The Boxer, In America)

Written by David Benioff (The 25th Hour)

Starring Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhall, Sam Shepard

Synopsis: “A young man recently release from prison (Gyllenhall) comforts his older brother’s wife and children after he goes missing in Afghanistan.”

I have to say I enjoyed this movie. The trailer, which is what convinced me to watch the movie, starts out showing the movie like its any plain old, boring melodrama, but then shows a really surprising shift in tone towards the end. And though it made me want to see the movie, it also gave away a lot of story information, so I didn’t know exactly what to think going into it. It was good though. And knowing more of the plot points than I would’ve liked didn’t end up mattering that much, since the movie is a lot more about the performances than it is the story. Overall, the story in this movie seems to simply exist for the sole reason of pushing these actors to their various extremes, which, though doesn’t make for the best movie ever, was very entertaining to watch. Tobey Maguire was especially good, showing a lot more range than I’ve ever seen out of him.

Pretty solid.

Note: This is not a review for the smash hit Paranormal Activity, which I still have not seen. This is for a direct-to-DVD knock off, that has a similarly designed cover. I also have not seen this movie, and will not. But. The reason I am writing this is because I saw that this movie was directed by and stars, former Diagnosis Murder regular cast member, grandson of Dick and son of Barry… the one and only… Shane Van Dyke. My interest is piqued… as I’m sure is any other member of my family’s… and anyone else who used to watch Diagnosis Murder reruns every night on PAX for months at a time during their senior year of high school… Oh. Wait. What’s that? No one else ever did that?