Sunday, June 19, 2011

THE FIRST GRADER




Drama
Based on a true story

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Oliver Litondo: 84-year-old farmer Kimani N'gan'ga Maruge
Naomie Harris: Teacher Jane
Alfred Munyua: her colleague
Vusi Kunene: her superior Mr. Kipruto

REVIEW
Standout performances by Litondo and Harris convey the determination of an illiterate man to overcome his shortcomings. Set in Kenya, some of the shots are spectacular and the school children a delight to watch.

CLASSIFICATION
for some disturbing violent content and brief nudity.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
These events took place in 2002 when the Kenyan government first introduced free public education for all yet two villagers are discussing whether the wife of the President of the United States, Michelle Obama, is from South African or not.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS



84th Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay

Romantic comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Owen Wilson: Hollywood screenwriter Gil Pender
Rachel McAdams: his fiancée Inez
Mimi Kennedy: her mother Wendy
Kurt Fuller: her father John
Michael Sheen: Inez’s ex Paul
Carla Bruni: Rodin museum guide
Alison Pill: party-girl Zelda
Tom Hiddleston: her husband Scott
Corey Stoll: Ernest
Léa Seydoux: Gabrielle, owner of a second-hand store
Kathy Bates: Gertrude
Adrien Brody: Salvador
Marion Cotillard: fashion designer Adriana

REVIEW
At the risk of spoiling the pleasure of having the events unfold at their own pace just let me say that this is a clever and entertaining movie with more than a few well considered bits of dialogue and some astute observations.

Good romantic comedies are hard to come by but this one is definitely for the discerning audience and not the usual “made for the masses” light-weight forgettable ones too often foisted on the public.

Owen Wilson is perfectly cast as the romantic with his laid back childlike outlook on life. Also turning in excellent performances are Marion Cotillard and Adrien Brody to name but a few.


CLASSIFICATION
for some sexual references and smoking.

THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD




Documentary

REVIEW
This is a movie about raising sufficient funds to make a movie, this one. Reportedly it costs $1.5 million for this 90 minute first-person documentary and we follow Morgan Spurlock as he sets about to get sponsors. It moves along briskly and some of the comments are clever observations but there is not a lot of new stuff which most of us are familiar with when it comes to product placement in movies and television.

CLASSIFICATION
for language and sexual material.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

FORKS OVER KNIVES




Documentary

REVIEW
The film presents evidence that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict mankind can be controlled or even reversed by not eating animal-based and processed foods. Instead our food intake should be a plant-based whole food diet.

By following the film’s director Lee Fulkerson’s personal journey to turn things around in his life we witness a transformation. In case the point is lost on some, there are three other sick people shown as evidence that a vegetarian diet is the best course of action to eliminate all manner of ills of mankind.

It is not subtle and makes no attempt to present differing points of view fairly. In fact those who disagree with the basic premise by promoting the beneficial contribution of meat to protein in diet, for example, get short shrift.

CLASSIFICATION
for some thematic elements and incidental smoking.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

POTICHE




In French with English subtitles

F.Y.I.
In French a "potiche" has several definitons: on one hand it is a decorative vase, but also figuratively it is someone in a honorary position without real power, someone such as a “trophy wife”.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Catherine Deneuve: Suzanne Pujol
Fabrice Luchini: her husband Robert, owner/manager of an umbrella factory
Judith Godrèche: their daughter Joëlle
Jérémie Rénier: their son Laurent
Karin Viard: Robert’s “secretary” Nadège
Gérard Depardieu: the town's mayor Maurice Babin

REVIEW
It comes across very much like a stage play with the actors going through the motions, almost in a silly tongue-in-cheek way as though it’s just a lark, despite its strong message for woman’s liberation.

The acting for the most part is fine but it’s just that: it’s acting, a pretence, a caricature of the real thing. The final scene is 100% stage acting and serves only as a reminder that it’s not to be taken too seriously.

CLASSIFICATION
for some sexual situations (but hardly deserving this harsh a rating compared to what is shown in most R-rated movies).

P.S.
A third definition for “postiche” is “false” and could well be the producer’s inside joke given that the film really does not ring true.

LAST NIGHT




Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Keira Knightley: Joanna Reed, a writer
Sam Worthington: her real estate husband Michael
Eva Mendes: Laura, one of Michael’s colleagues
Guillaume Canet: Alex, one of Joanna’s old loves

REVIEW
Any movie about married Manhattan yuppies has the potential to be entertaining but not this one: instead we have to slog through what is essentially a tedious marital morality play about the important role of trust and commitment.

It moves at a snail’s pace but once the scene is set the interlacing of the two couples serves only to titillate. After a while I realized I did not really care how it turned out, so I left.

CLASSIFICATION
some strong language and one scene in wet underwear.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
While preparing breakfast Michael does not touch the milk carton on the counter yet it changes position from one scene to another.