Kim's Thoughts

I wasn’t sure I wanted to bother with this movie.  The trailers looked good, but they didn’t reach out and grab me.  It all looked a little too “cliché” and I just wasn’t sure I wanted to bother with it.  But it did look like it might be good, so I went ahead and took in a matinée on Saturday afternoon. 

The plot was all too familiar – yet another new twist on the whole “Rebel Without a Cause” theme.  Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson) is a troubled young man about to turn 22 – the same age his older brother, Michael, was when he committed suicide on his birthday.  His family is rich, but he lives in a pig pen apartment with an obnoxious room-mate (Tate Ellington) and goes around looking like a homeless bum wearing dirty, wrinkled, ill-fitting clothes.  He holds a lot of anger in his life and takes it out on the world.  His parents (Pierce Brosnan and Lena Olin) are divorced – the family broke apart after Michael’s suicide.   His 11-year-old sister lives with his mother and her husband.  Tyler’s anger with life gets him involved in a street fight and then gets mouthy and pushy with a detective (Chris Cooper) who busts his face up arresting him.  His room-mate dares him to connect with the cop’s daughter, Ally (Emilie De Ravin), and then do something embarrassing to her for revenge on her father.  Tyler starts a relationship with her and, instead of dumping her, they fall in love and he starts to turn his attitude around.   Ally comes with her own baggage – her mother was brutally murdered while waiting for a subway train and an 11-year-old Ally was there with her and witnesses the whole thing.

The movie started out slow and boring – I didn’t have much hope that it would turn the predictable story line into anything special.  But, soon the redeeming qualities started to be noticable. 

Brosnan and Cooper were very effective as the two fathers.  Brosnan as the rich, powerful executive who keeps everyone he loves at arm’s length because of the pain of losing his oldest son.  He participates in their lives to the extent that the shields he has constructed will allow, but it isn’t enough for them and they think he doesn’t care about them.  Cooper as the over protective father using his position on the police force to keep from losing the only family he has left to a rebellious thug. 

The relationships all come together beautifully.  The actors did a top-notch job of bringing the characters to life and giving them dimension.  There was a simple complexity that drew me in.  I believed the characters and felt deep emotion for them and the story line.

The last few scenes were very good and lead up to an extremely powerful ending.  Even if it didn’t get better earlier, the ending would have been well worth sitting through the entire two hours.  I just sat there holding my breath with tears pouring down my face!  When I left, I sat in my car for a few minutes without turning the key to try to get past the emotions I was feeling. 

I’m tempted to take off some points for the slow, predictable start, but it did develop into something very profound and overcame the clichés.  So, I rate this one an A-.  If you decide to go or wait for the DVD, don’t give up on it too soon – it is worth wading through the beginning to get to the treasure.

Tonight the coveted Academy Awards were presented to those who have excelled in their respective categories for film making.  The most glitzy and emotionally charged night of the year for Hollywood and those of us who love movies!  I love watching the Oscars being handed out — the clothes, the acceptance speeches, the embarrassing moments….I look forward to it every year!

Alas, I can not give an opinion on all of the winners because I didn’t actually see most of the movies that were nominated!  Seriously, right?  Me – the one who spends more time in the movie theater than anywhere else I go?  I missed most of the movies that were nominated?  To be honest, it has been that way for the past few years — I have not had a big interest in the ones that end up being nominated and the ones I thought were worth my praise just weren’t artsy enough to get a nod from the Academy or were snubbed for whatever reason! 

The movies I did see that were nominated did do well, though (click the links for each to read my reviews for each of the films):

• UP! won for Best Animated Feature Film — I loved UP!  It was an amazing film – by far the best animated film ever made, in my opinion!  I am thrilled that it won in not only this category, but also in the Best Original Score.
• Jeff Bridges won Best Actor for his role as Bad Blake in Crazy Heart!  I have always loved Jeff Bridges, but this role was his best yet – absolutely deserving of an Oscar!  I adored the film as a whole, as well, so was also happy to see that it also won for Best Original Song for “The Weary Kind” – a lovely song!
• Sandra Bullock won Best Actress for her role as Leigh Ann Tuohy in The Blind Side.  Sandra is the queen of the romantic comedy – great roles, fun movies, but generally not Oscar worthy!  She took on this role and played it to the hilt!  She did a phenomenal job and is now not only America’s Sweetheart, she is America’s Oscar Winning Sweetheart!  You go girl — the girl next door can make it to the big leagues, after all!

That’s all I can offer as far as opinions on the awards!  Other nominees from films I actually saw that didn’t win anything were:

• Stanley Tucci in his brilliant portrayal of the villain in The Lovely Bones (nominated for Best Supporting Actor)
• Meryl Streep in her portrayal of Julia Child in Julie and Julia (nominated for Best Actress) – loved her part, but wasn’t too crazy about the rest of the movie
• Sherlock Holmes – nominated for Best Original Score and Best Art Direction – hated the movie, but both these categories were appropriate nominations for it

So, on to what I thought of what everyone was wearing:

• What I DID NOT like:
  • Miley Cyrus — the bottom was OK, but she looked like she forgot to put on the top part!  Totally not age appropriate!
  • Sarah Jessica Parker — sorry, but I have never agreed that she is some kind of a fashion icon!  Tonight was no exception — she looked like she realized at the last-minute that she forgot to get a dress and just wrapped a sheet around herself and then attached one of those floral swag things you find over mirrors to the bodice!  And her hair was a MESS!
  • Charlize Theron — it was a lovely dress and molded her body beautifully — but they ruined it by putting two big flowers or circle things on each boob!
  • Vera Farniga — looked like she took a spool of ready-made ruffle trimming fabric and just wrapped herself in it!
  • Zoe Saldena — a mess of purple fluff and poof!
  • Barbara Streisand — a dowdy black dress with a lace table cloth wrapped around her neck!
  • Diane Kruger — looked like someone took a bunch of scraps and stuck them all together!
  • Tina Fey — looked like she just stepped out of a Tarzan movie!
  • Mariah Carey — typical Mariah Carey – too tight, too small, and not enough of it in any of the necessary places!
  • Sigourney Weaver — ill-fitting — looked like she grabbed it off the rack, but didn’t have time to go to a good tailor to have it taken in – she was drowning in it! 
• What I DID like: 
  • Jennifer Lopez took the top prize for best gown in my opinion!  It was absolutely beautiful and fit her body perfectly!
  • Helen Mirren looked elegant, as always!
  • Sandra Bullock’s dress was gorgeous, but I was not totally crazy about the top part!
  • Penelope Cruz was stunning, as usual!
  • Rachel McAdams – I really liked her colorful, flowing, cloud looking dress – very pretty!
  • Elizabeth Banks, Demi Moore, and Cameron Diaz all looked amazing, as well…..

So — it’s all over for another year!  See you at the movies!

Richard Gere…Don Cheadle…Ethan Hawke…Wesley Snipes – WOW – with a cast like that, it has to be one for the record books…right???  How can it not be great???  Put them all together in a good cop story and you’ve got a winner!  I hadn’t seen any of the previews for this film, but when I saw it listed this weekend, I was immediately drawn to it.  I like a good cop drama, but it was the cast that captured me and made me head out on a beautiful Sunday afternoon to take in a movie!

And the cast didn’t disappoint……all were true to form and perfectly cast in their roles.  Gere as the cop waiting out his last 7 days before retiring from a lackluster career;  Cheadle as an undercover detective infiltrating a drug gang;  Hawke as a narcotics detective struggling with ethics and needing more money to care for his growing family;  and Snipes as the head of the drug gang.  I was also very excited to see Vincent D’Onofrio in the opening scene – I didn’t realize he was in the film!  I love him on Law and Order, Criminal Intent and in other roles I have seen him in – such a quirky character!  But — he was in all of two minutes (if that) of the opening scene before his face was blown off!  It goes without saying that I didn’t see any more of him…..

So, the cast was great, the acting suburb…….that ends the things I can say were special about the movie!  Don’t get me wrong – it was good!!!  Action, drama, complex story line……a very good movie!  But, unfortunately, nothing really special!  It was a lot of “same ole, same ole”!  Just another dirty cop, good cop, indifferent cop, drug dealer, gang, shoot ’em up movie.  It was exciting at times, boring at times, and had an odd ending……all the main characters had their own story lines (except Cheadle and Snipes, who shared a story line), but they didn’t cross paths until the end when they all came together in an odd coincidental circumstance.  The ending was definitely the best part, but still a little de ja vu……

So — I did like it, I just would have been just as happy to wait and see it on NetFlix!  I rate it a B- …….good, but a little too ordinary.

Some adults analyze and look back on many of the classic children’s stories and begin to wonder what the writers were thinking…..did they really think it was appropriate to entice children with stories about child-devouring witches (and various other evil witches), wicked step mothers, hungry wolves, evil trolls, poison or hallucenogenically drugged foods, flying monkeys, and – in the case of the subject of this post – blood queens who order the beheading of everyone she dislikes!  Grace Slick wrote “White Rabbit”, a song that compared “Alice in Wonderland” to the use of psychedelic drugs in the ’60s.  Looking at it from that angle, who would want to encourage children to eat or drink unknown substances at the encouragement of unknown persons with the promise of making them smaller or larger than real life?  Children should be terrified of these stories!  But, instead are enchanted by them.  One would think that repeated reading of such stories would scar a child’s mental state, but they come through them not only unscathed, but with richer imaginations and sense of adventure because of them!  The critique of classic children’s stories are generally shrugged off with the thought that they are just stories – fantasies.  Children are not stupid – they can sort through them to find the moral of the story and learn from them and parents can utilize other means to protect their children from the evils of the world without denying them the exposure to ageless, classic stories.  There are far worse things they can read and watch than childhood fantasies.

With a few exceptions, that childhood enchantment with these stories  continues into adulthood.  I know it has with me – which is why I was so excited to see this movie as soon as it opened!  I loved this story as a child and wonder if it was the reason I had a love for hats in my early adulthood and still adore tea parties!  All the characters in Wonderland are so vivid and colorful – I think much more so than most other stories.  I just loved it and it was a particular thrill to know that Johnny Depp was cast to play the Mad Hatter!  What a treat!

I was concerned, though, that Tim Burton may have gone towards the dark side and make it more macabre than magical.  But, I was happy to discover that he didn’t go there – at least not totally.  He stayed true to the fantasy while adapting it to an older Alice.  I had heard that the film was shot in 2D and the 3D aspects were added later – that true 3D enthusiasts will be disappointed in the way it looks.  Luckily, the only 3D movie I’ve ever been to was a nature film at the Imax where I felt like I was right in the ocean with the fish we were watching.  So, I didn’t have much to compare it to.  I thought it was well done and flinched at things that were thrown at me!  haha  I was a little disappointed, though, that it was only certain scenes that were 3D – I would have liked to see more of it throughout!  But, what they did was effective!

I found the approach of telling the story a little differently very refreshing.  Alice is now 19 and, after years of what she thought was just a recurring dream, finds herself following a white rabbit into a rabbit hole, yet again.  She arrives and goes through similar experiences and meets all the same characters as she did when she was a little girl – but has no memory of ever being there before.  The characters debate whether they lured the “right” Alice back to help them save the day by slaying the Jabberwocky.  She continues to think she’s just having a dream and takes charge of the way it goes.

True to form, Johnny Depp was the perfect Mad Hatter.  In my opinion, Depp is one of the greatest character actors of our time.  He molds himself and becomes whatever role he takes on.  I continue to be amazed at his abilities and what he brings to each film he is a part of.  This is no exception.  His expressions and muttled way he talks brought life to the Mad Hatter like no one else could.

Helena Bonham Carter was incredible as the big-headed Red Queen.  She went from one moment of glancing alluringly to Stayne-Knave of Hearts (portrayed by Crispin Glover) to jolt into her constant demand of “off with their heads”!  All in a blink of an overly expressive eye!  Since all you see of her is her enormous head (her body is an animation), it is her eyes and the way she said her lines that bring life to her character — and she is brilliant at ensuring you know at all times exactly what she is thinking!

Other fun standouts for me were Tweedledee/Tweedledum, the Cheshire Cat, the Blue Caterpillar, and the Dormouse – all had delightful scenes and interacted beautifully with the other characters.  I was enchanted by them.

I also heard negative criticism about the action scene towards the end with the Jabberwocky.  The thoughts I read from some was that it was not necessary and a cheap shot at adding an action/adventure aspect.  Phooey!  I thought it was absolutely appropriate to the story and gave it a climax that pulled everything that lead up to it together.  I don’t understand the criticism.

The only thing that left me thinking it should have been different was the ending…….I won’t go into details and spoil it, but…….the ending was very good and fit the older Alice perfectly.  But, I just wish that Johnny Depp would have made an appearance in the very final scene implying a continued connection…….just the hopeless romantic in me speaking!

I was memorized by it and am so happy I went to see it on the big screen in 3D!  It was well worth the extra price for 3D and a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  I may go see it again!  I rate this one an A- and encourage anyone who is still intrigued by the children’s classics they grew up with to go see it and become enchanted all over again.