Saturday, April 24, 2010

OCEANS




Documentary

REVIEW
First the good parts:
• the stunning images of creatures who live in the five oceans of the earth

Now the not so good parts:
• there is no story line so we hop from one thing to another
• there is a dearth of meaningful information to explain what we are shown
• many species are not identified and the location where they live is not mentioned
• too frequent exposition of the same thing (if you’ve seen one dolphin flip in the air, you’ve seen them all)
• some of the comments are ridiculous such as “the ocean has always been able to fight back from man’s actions” which flies in the face of the destructive fishing practices that have wrought havoc on sea creatures and have brought the leatherneck turtle to near extermination to name but one species

CLASSIFICATION

THE BACK-UP PLAN




Romantic comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Robert Klein: gynecologist Dr. Harris
Jennifer Lopez: pet shop owner Zoe
Alex O'Loughlin: cheese-maker Stan
Michaela Watkins: Zoe’s best friend Mona
Linda Lavin: Zoe’s Nana
Tom Bosley: her beau Arthur
Anthony Anderson : the playground Dad

REVIEW
It’s been my experience that you are better off to lower your expectations when planning to take in a romantic comedy. Suspension of disbelief and a willingness to go along with a predictable plot are indispensable.

To be sure this one has some humorous moments but certainly not the three or four totally contrived situations: they look and feel out of place and serve to remind you how removed from reality this film is.

From what I could gather, women will like this movie more than men because there’s a lot of time devoted to different aspects of pregnancy including a rather protracted session of natural birth in the company of “loving companions”. The screeching and yelling is not for everyone.

CLASSIFICATION
for sexual content including references, some crude material and language.

P.S.
In keeping with the current trend to include out takes along with the closing credits several are mildly amusing but hardly worth hanging around for.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

DATE NIGHT




Romantic comdey

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Steve Carell: fortysomething Phil Foster, a tax lawyer
Tina Fey: his wife Claire, a real estate agent
Common: gun-toting Collins
Jimmi Simpson: his buddy Armstrong
Taraji Henson: NYPD Detective Arroyo
Mark Wahlberg: security expert Holbrooke Grant
James Franco: Chase "Taste" Tripplehorn
Mila Kunis: his girlfriend Whippit
Ray Liotta: mob boss Joe Miletto

REVIEW
Even nice people can get themselves in over their head. Such is the case with Phil and Claire (who come across as a real couple) and this leads to an action-packed evening. There are some clever lines and a lot of sight gags to keep things interesting.

With a fairly short running time (less than 90 minutes) thanks to some crisp editing it moves along at a good clip.

CLASSIFICATION
for sexual and crude content throughout, language, some violence and a drug reference.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID




Children's drama, comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Zachary Gordon: 11-year-old Greg Heffley
Steve Zahn: his father Frank
Rachael Harris: his mother Susan
Devon Bostick: his older brother Rodrick
Robert Capron: Greg’s best buddy Rowley
Grayson Russell: Fregley, the geeky class shrimp
Laine MacNeil: Greg’s longtime rival Patty
Chloe Moretz: Angie, editor of the school paper
Karan Brar: Chirag Gupta

REVIEW
The movie title says it all: an episodic tale about a pre-teen boy having to cope with life. As would be expected of any movie with a target audience of this age group there is the requisite potty humour along with some slapstick and stupid gags. Most of it is amusing and entertaining enough. The underlining message, be yourself, is there but in a subtle manner.

For the most part the acting is pretty good particularly Gordon who really nails it. We’ll see more of this young fellow in years to come. Remember, you read it here first.

CLASSIFICATION
for some rude humor and language.

Monday, April 12, 2010

COOKING WITH STELLA




Drama
Some dialogue in Hindi with English subtitles.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Seema Biswas: Stella Elizabeth Matthews, cook and housekeeper
Don McKellar: Michael Laffont, recent arrival to the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi
Lisa Ray: his wife Maya
Shriya Saran: Tannu, the family’s newly hired nanny
Vansh Bhardwaj: Anthony

REVIEW
This subtle social comedy with shades of Bollywood has some light moments but some serious overtones as well.

The performance by Biswas is far and away the best of the lot and that of Saran delightful. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the rest of the cast, some of whom are downright awful (see last entry above)

Some gorgeous misty (or is it just smoggy?) day-time scenes and some taken at night make New Deli look its best, lovely in fact.

There are times when things bog down a bit: I found it a tad too long.

CLASSIFICATION


P.S.
• 500 rupees is worth about $10
• In many parts of India when referring to anyone meriting respect they add the suffix “ji” as in "Please call a taxi for Gupta-ji"
• When someone asks “what is your good name?” they want to know the person’s formal or legal name as opposed to the pet name used by friends and family
• It is common practice to use the English words “uncle” and “auntie” when addressing people who are unrelated to you such as neighbours, acquaintances, even total strangers (like shopkeepers) who are significantly older than oneself.
• Diwali is a significant 5-day festival in the fall; it is also known as the Festival of Lights

Thursday, April 1, 2010

CHLOE




Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Amanda Seyfried: Chloe, a high-priced escort
Julianne Moore: Dr. Catherine Stewart, a gynecologist
Liam Neeson: her husband David, a university music professor
Max Thieriot: their 17-year-old son Michael

REVIEW
Sure there’s lots of talk about sex and plenty of nudity but what sets this one apart are the descriptions of the encounters that become increasingly more graphic. As a result it is best described as “soft-porn” albeit with an implausible silly premise. But that is probably of secondary consideration to most viewers.

In any event it got a little too much for me and I walked out.

CLASSIFICATION
for strong sexual content including graphic dialogue, nudity and language.