BECOMING JANE

Autobiography

BACKGROUND
Jane Austen (1775 – 1817) was an English novelist whose works include Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Nothanger Abbey and Persuasion. Her social commentary and masterful use of both free indirect speech and irony eventually made her one of the most influential and honoured novelists in English literature. Her novels were all written and set around the Regency Era (the years between 1795 and 1830, a time characterised by distinctive fashions, politics and culture.) Her work dealt with a limited social circle in society—that of the provincial gentry and the upper classes.

As England's first truly important female novelist, Jane Austen had difficulty in establishing a reputation for herself, despite the fact that she counted the Prince Regent among her admirers of the time. Adhering to a common contemporary practice for female authors, Austen published her novels anonymously; this kept her out of leading literary circles.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Anne Hathaway: 20-year old Jane Austen
Julie Walter: her mother Cassandra
James Cromwell: her father a country pastor
James McAvoy: Tom Lefroy a penniless student of law
Ian Richardson: Tom’s rich uncle Judge Langlois
Maggie Smith: wealthy noblewoman Lady Gresham
Laurence Fox: Mr. Wisley, Lady Gresham’s ward and heir

REVIEW
It seems to me that if you go to all the trouble of making a movie with big production values the least you can do is make sure the dialog can be heard. Such is not the case as often what is being said is masked by some noise or simply muttered rather than spoken out loud.

The story is one we’ve seen before so it lacks originality. What it has instead is a plethora of characters that serve only to muddle the situation: there’s Cassandra, Jane’s sister (not to be confused of course with Cassandra, Jane’s mother who has the same name) and her betrothed (whatever his name is) and some countess from France who keeps popping up for some reason and Tom’s friend who appears from time to time and on it goes.

Perhaps those taken with the author will find it worthwhile trying to sort this all out. For the rest of us it is simply too much of an effort.

CLASSIFICATION
for brief nudity and mild language.

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD

Action

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Mary Elizabeth Winstead: McClane’s college-age daughter Lucy
Bruce Willis: New York City Detective John McClane
Justin Long: computer geek Matt Farrell
Cliff Curtis: FBI Agent Bowman
Timothy Olyphant: Thomas Gabriel, disgruntled former employee of Homeland Security
Maggie Q: Mai Lihn, his right-hand girl
Kevin Smith: Warlock, another computer geek

REVIEW
There is not likely to be any movie that can top this one for non-stop over-the-top action. The explosions, car chases, gunfights, hand-to-hand combat just keep coming one after the other and even a military aircraft shows up at one point. There is hardly a moment to catch your breath. But that is the reason for going to see a movie like this and it delivers as promised. Even the plot is a little far-fetched but we're not here to quibble…anything is possible I guess.

For what it is worth, I find the Matt Farrel character less than endearing. Granted as a computer geek his sartorial style is appropriately scruffy but his stringy beard and unshaven face along with his mousy, whiny manner just puts me off.

While we’re at it: surely they could have found someone to play the role of Warlock with some sort of conviction. Smith’s acting is pretty lousy by most any standard. Even though it is a minor role, he is not on par with the others.

CLASSIFICATION
for intense sequences of violence and action, language and a brief sexual situation.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
Many of the stunts and escapades are simply impossible but that is the nature of the movie so there is no point listing them at all.

Little attempt has been made keeping cuts and blood consistent from one scene to the next. They come and go; move around; disappear; get shorter or longer; they seem to have a life of their own.

While being pursued McClane drives past the tollbooths leading to a tunnel. There are no toolbooths in any of the Washington D.C. tunnels.

NO RESERVATIONS

Romantic comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Catherine Zeta-Jones: Kate, the chef of an upscale Manhattan bistro
Bob Balaban: her therapist
Patricia Clarkson: restaurant-owner Paula
Abigail Breslin: Kate’s 8-year old neice Zoë
Aaron Eckhart: replacement sous-chef Nick

REVIEW
You would be hard pressed to find anything original in this movie but that doesn’t mean to say it’s not a pleasant diversion. Although somewhat predictable, there are moments when it takes a twist. The humour is of the amusing sort rather than “laugh-out-loud”.

The acting by Zeta-Jones is first rate but again the role does not call upon her to push herself to the limit. Eckhart on the other hand has the more challenging role and needs to work on some aspects a bit more (hint: the romantic part).

CLASSIFICATION
for some sensuality and language (very little of either I might add).

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
Taking a stroll with Kate, Zoë hops up on to the empty park benches and carefully steps over each armrest as she comes to it. She stops at the end of the benches when Kate says she has something to say to her. When they are finished talking Zoë jumps down from the bench having magically returned to the one where she began her walk.

RESCUE DAWN

Action\adventure
True story

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Zach Grenier: Squad leader aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger
Christian Bale: U.S. Navy pilot Lieutenant Dieter Dengler
Steve Zahn: U.S. Navy helicopter pilot Lt. Duane Martin
Jeremy Davies: a civilian Air America pilot, Eugene (Gene) DeBruin

REVIEW
Unlike most war stories this one is not loud and bombastic. Apart from the opening scenes, this fact-based story is all about how people deal with an unpleasant situation, the effect it has on them and their relationships with others.
The slow pace allows for ample character development and the performances of the three buddies are nothing short of amazing. Shooting mostly with existing light and right in the midst of it contributes to the feeling of watching a documentary.

With crisp editing (sometimes too crisp as we don’t get to see what comes next) and an unusual sound track that adds just the right tone to things, the two hours slip by if you are into this kind of thing.

CLASSIFICATION
for some sequences of intense war violence and torture (and I might add because of some really yucky stuff they get served).

P.S.
Dengler’ squadron commander refers to him as a "Flight Lieutenant". This is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and in many Commonwealth countries including Canada, Australia and New Zealand. There is no such rank in the American armed forces.

Dengler tells his buddies he is engaged to be married upon his return to the U.S.A. yet he is wearing a wedding band.

While being interviewed, Dengler takes a drink of water and puts down the glass, now half full. As he gets up to leave, the glass is now three-quarters full.

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

2008 Best Film Editing
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing



Action/adventure

BACKGROUND
Blackbriar rather than Treadstone is now the code name of the clandestine secret black-ops branch of the CIA that violates laws both in the United States and abroad. If exposed by a rogue agent (Jason Bourne) there would be nasty repercussions. Having lost his memory Bourne has only one objective initially: to find out who he really was and how he got to be the way he is.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Matt Damon: CIA trained assassin Jason Bourne
Scott Glenn: CIA Director Ezra Kramer
David Strathairn: CIA Station Chief Noah Vosen tasked with eliminating Bourne
Paddy Considine: Simon Ross, an investigative reporter for The Guardian
Joan Allen: CIA internal investigator Pamela Landy
Julia Stiles: CIA secretary in Madrid Nicky Parsons

REVIEW
Your senses of hearing and sight are absolutely assaulted with lots of sound (music, screeching tires, gun shots, yelling, car crashes, breaking glass etc) and out of focus, blurry images coupled with lighting-crisp editing that are characteristic of the Bourne series. So too have the sensational car chases the improbable leaps and realistic hand-to-hand fighting.

As usual Damon plays the major role in a quiet unassuming manner with Bourne making use of his intellect to outsmart anyone who is out to get him.

It’s riveting stuff.

CLASSIFICATION
for violence and intense sequences of action.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
Bourne says that Paris to Tangier, Morocco “is only about 300 miles.” In fact, these cities are more than a 1,000 miles apart.

P.S.
In CIA jargon “assets” are people on the agency payroll who act as spies and/ carry out nefarious assignments.

RATATOUILLE

2008 Best Animated Cartoon



BACKGROUND
The film was produced by Pixar Animation Studios which has won seven Academy Awards and is best known for its feature films Toy Story (1995) • A Bug’s Life (1998) • Toy Story 2 (1999) • Monsters Inc. (2001) • Finding Nemo (2003) • The Incredibles (2004) and Cars (2006)

In May 2006 the Walt Disney Company purchased Pixar for $7.4 billion making it a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney.

PRINCIPAL VOICES
Patton Oswalt: Rémy, a farm rat in rural France
Peter Sohn: his chubby brother Émile
Brian Dennehy: their father Django, the leader of the rat clan
Ian Holm: Skinner, the new boss of a prestigious five-star Parisian restaurant, Chez Gusteau
Lou Romano: Alfredo Linguini, newly hired “garbage boy”
Brad Garrett: deceased famous chef and author Auguste Gusteau
Janeane Garofolo: Colette, the kitchen's sole woman cook
Peter O'Toole: Anton Ego, the harshest food critic in Paris

REVIEW
Just when you think it can’t get any better, Pixar comes out with the best animated cartoon ever. Combining state of the art computer generated images with a well-developed story line it is most entertaining. The main theme is one of following your dreams. The romantic comedy aspect is somewhat unexpected.

The realism is incredible (in particular the trip down the Seine) and the detail simply amazing (especially some of the food preparations). And to top it all off, the musical score is exquisite, a real delight to the ears.

Although the movie runs almost two hours, it does not seem like it.

CLASSIFICATION


P.S.
Ratatouille (ra-ta-TOO-ee) is a traditional French Provencal stewed vegetable dish, regarded by some as "a peasant dish" and therefore quite unsuitable to be served in a five star restaurant.

SICKO

Documentary

BACKGROUND
Health insurance coverage of the non-elderly U.S. A. population according to the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute:
60 % through their employer-sponsored plan
15% from Medicare
5% from private insurance companies (including HMO’s)
20% are uninsured (approximately 45 million people)

Those who lose or don't have access to coverage through their jobs often find that buying insurance on their own is expensive, and many have trouble finding anyone willing to sell them a policy at all. They will be denied coverage if they have certain pre-existing conditions (cancer, diabetes, AIDS, multiple sclerosis or being pregnant). Also it is very difficult to get coverage if the individual is overweight, has high blood pressure or asthma. In fact some private health insurance companies will even go so far as to deny coverage to anyone with acne or hay fever.

As people lose coverage at work and find they are denied coverage or cannot afford to buy a policy on their own, they then have to resort to public health programs such as Medicaid which is jointly funded by the states and federal government. Among the groups of people served by Medicaid are eligible low-income parents, children, seniors, and people with disabilities. Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health-related services for people with limited income.

There is also a health care program called Medicare which is administered by the United States government covering people who are either age 65 and over (the elderly group) or who meet other special criteria.

REVIEW
As with the other films by Michael Moore the subject is one we’ve all heard about before but he adds his own twist to it. In this instance, the focus is on the health care system in the United States. True to form, Moore paints the worst picture possible for the U.S.A. and then the rosiest one he can find elsewhere. By making this sort of comparison between America (the only developed nation without universal health care) and countries like Canada and England he gets his point across in a most entertaining manner. Unlike his earlier movies, this one has a softer tone about it without the ranting and anger although at almost two hours it is a tad too long.

We’ve come to expect Moore playing a little loose with the facts but sometimes it borders on intellectual dishonesty. Case in point: his comment that Cubans live longer than Americans has the implication this is the result of their socialised health care system. In a small measure this could be true but Cuba is a country with a high emigration rate so the birth is recorded but the death does not because the person is no longer living there. This skews the longevity rate and anyone who has looked into these statistics (as Moore must have before making this observation) would understand this and not include it as a “favourable fact” the way he does.

CLASSIFICATION
for brief strong language.

P.S.
The end credits include a note that if you want to marry a Canadian to get good health insurance go to http://www.hook-a-canuck.com.