INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

War action/drama
Portions in German or French with English subtitles

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Christoph Waltz: Colonel Hans Landa of the Waffen-SS
Denis Menochet: French dairy farmer Perrier LaPadite
Brad Pitt: U.S. Army Lt. Aldo Raine, commanding officer First Special Service Force
Eli Roth: Sgt. Donny Donowitz, one of the squad
Mélanie Laurent: Emmanuelle Mimieux, owner of a Parisian cinema
Daniel Brühl: German sharpshooter Private Frederick Zoller
Michael Fassbender: British Army Lt. Archie Hicox
Diane Kruger: German movie star Bridget von Hammersmark
Alexander Fehling: German Cpl. Wilhelm Wicki
August Diehl: SS Major Deiter Hellstrom
Jacky Ido: Emmanuelle’s assistant Marcel

REVIEW
“Once upon a time ... in Nazi-occupied France,” the title card informs us so right away we know that what follows may not be consistent with fact. What we get instead is a fast paced, exciting, action adventure war movie. Told in five chapters at times often utilising the spaghetti-Western technique(especially the music) including some very clever dialogue.

The performances are uniformly good (although Waltz’s is the best), the costumes and cinematography top notch.

One word of caution: there are quite a few grisly scenes that may require you to avert your eyes. Generally these can be anticipated but some will catch even the wary off guard.

Although at two hours and 35 minutes it is longer than most films, the time passes so quickly I was surprised when the end credits began to roll. I was not surprised with the applause.

CLASSIFICATION
for strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality (very brief: about 3 seconds worth)

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
• Moving at a pretty good speed the two motorcycles and car approaching the farm house would travel much farther than they do during the cutaways to LaPadite and his daughters.
• Col. Hans Landa says the Bubonic Plague was caused by rats. This infection of the lymphatic system resulted from the bite of an infected flea, not from its host.
• Colonel Landa fills his pen from the small ink well which remains in place at first in bright light, then in shadow and back again to bright light.
• Although we hear the ticking throughout Col. Landa’s visit, the hands of the clock remain stuck at 11:40.
• The card Major Hellstrom sticks on his forehead changes positions even though he doesn’t touch it: sometimes it’s vertical or at a slant at eyebrow level and other times it’s part way down the bridge of his nose.

ADAM

Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Hugh Dancy: 29-year-old software designer Adam Raki
Frankie Faison: his friend Harlan
Rose Byrne: elementary school teacher Beth Buchwald
Mark Linn Baker: Adam’s boss Sam Klieber
Peter Gallagher: Beth’s father Marty, an investment consultant
Amy Irving: Beth’s mother Rebecca

REVIEW
Relationships are never easy and definitely far more complicated if one person is socially inept. Dealing with a sensitive subject can be tricky but this little film pulls it off beautifully, largely because it comes across as real.

Acting by both principals is uniformly good and the chemistry between them believable. Although the movie could get “mushy” it never does.

CLASSIFICATION
for thematic material, sexual content and language.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
• Beth comes out the front door of the apartment building but leaves it slightly ajar. She then sits down on the steps beside Adam and behind her the door is now closed. When she stands up to go back into the building the door once more is ajar.
• Beth’s father calls her Bethany but she tells Adam her full name is Elizabeth.

DISTRICT 9

Science fiction action/adventure

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Sharlto Copley: Wikus Van Der Merwe, employee of MNU a private security firm
David James: Colonel Koobus Venter, head of the military unit
Vanessa Haywood: Wikus’ wife Tania

REVIEW
Shot as a docudrama we learn from television news clips and the on-air interviews that extraterrestrials have travelled to our planet. Things evolve quickly enough what with crisp editing and rapid fire developments. There’s hardly a pause in the action until midway through.

The CGI effects are remarkable and the acting by Copley first-rate.

The squeamish like me will have to avert their eyes for some scenes. However coming in at almost two hours, it is a tad too long. For that it gets one star lopped off.

CLASSIFICATION
for bloody violence and pervasive language.

G-FORCE

Animated action/adventure

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Zach Galifianakis: Ben, the human handler of the G-Force team
Kellie Garner: his assistant Marcie
Sam Rockwell: voice of the squad leader Darwin
Penelope Cruz: voice of Juarez
Tracy Morgan: voice of weapons expert Blaster
Nicolas Cage: voice of Speckles, the team's computer expert
Bill Nighy: consumer-electronics magnate Leonard Saber
Jon Favreau: voice of Hurley, a pet shop guinea pig
Steve Buscemi: voice of Bucky, another pet shop rodent

REVIEW
With five people being given credit for the screenplay you would think it’s a dandy. It is anything but: the principal story line is confusing, the love interest part unfathomable, the plot structure is all jumbled and the dialogue dull and uninspired. An example: “get your face outta my butt”, “no, you get your butt outta my face”. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Obviously geared to kids but with no double entendre for parents to enjoy. In fact there is nothing even remotely funny despite the requisite rude bodily sounds. Truth be told, there is no fun at all having to sit though this mess.

CLASSIFICATION
for some mild action and rude humor.

JULIE & JULIA

Drama
Based on a true story

F.Y.I.
Cobb salad was invented in 1926 at The Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles. It is named for its creator, a Mr. Bob Cobb. This is a "composed" salad, meaning the ingredients are arranged on the plate as opposed to all being tossed together. Originally it was a way for the restaurant to simply use up leftovers, but it soon became the Brown Derby's most popular dish. The main ingredients are boiled eggs, crisp bacon and diced chicken.

Aspic is a savoury clear jelly prepared from a liquid stock made by simmering the bones of beef, veal, chicken, or fish. The aspic congeals when refrigerated by virtue of the natural gelatine that dissolves into the stock from the tendons. Commercial powdered gelatine is sometimes added to ensure a stiff set. Aspic is used to glaze foods such as cold meats and fish, eggs, poached or roasted poultry, and vegetables; plain aspic chopped or cut into shapes often garnishes cold dishes.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Meryl Streep: 36-year old Julia Child
Stanley Tucci: her husband Paul, a Foreign Service officer
Amy Adams: 29-year old government employee Julie Powell
Chris Messina: her husband Eric
Mary Lynn Rajskub: Julie's best buddy Sarah
Linda Emond: Julia’s coauthor Simone 'Simka' Beck
Helen Carey: the other book collaborator Louisette Bertholle
Jane Lynch: Julia’s sister Dorothy

REVIEW
Jumping from one to another, the parallel stories of two women very much removed from each other (both in time and class) but having two things in common, the love of cooking and writing about it, is entertaining and educational. There are frequent amusing bits and although the acting is uniformly good, Meryl Steep stands out above all the others (what else is new?).

Just over two hours long, it does not have to be: some scenes can be eliminated entirely while others could easily be pared back. For that “transgression” it loses a star.

A smattering of applause as the end credits rolled indicated that many in the audience enjoyed the film; I did too. And I don’t even cook.

CLASSIFICATION
for brief strong language and some sensuality.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
Julie says she has decided to cook all 524 recipes in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". In fact there are 536 recipes in the book.

P.S.
Fans of the long running television show Saturday Night Live will recognize Dan Akroyd doing his famous parody of Julia Child.

P.S.S.
Julie Powell's archived blog "The Julie/Julia Project" can be found at http://blogs.salon.com/0001399/2002/08/25.html

500 DAYS OF SUMMER

Romantic comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Tom Hansen, a greeting card company employee
Clark Gregg: Tom’s boss Vance
Zooey Deschanel: Summer Finn, Vance’s new assistant
Geoffrey Arend: McKenzie, one of Tom’s associates
Matthew Gray Gubler: Tom’s best friend Paul
Chloe Grace Moretz: Tom’s younger sister Rachel

REVIEW
Right from the opening scene we’re told this will not be your typical love story. But in many ways it really is because relationships do not always turn out the way one would want it to nor does this film.

For starters it does not follow the conventional timeline: it jumps around back and forth with title cards indicating which particular day it is. These short vignettes are presented at a fairly rapid pace so thing move along smartly.

And best of all, it does not subject us to dumb corny jokes for laughs relying instead on the situation and clever dialogue to elicit laughter. How refreshing.

CLASSIFICATION
for sexual material and language.

FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING

Action, thriller
Based on a true story

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Jim Sturgess: 22-year-old street hustler Martin “Marty” McGartland
Natalie Press: his girlfriend Lara
Kevin Zegers: Marty’s best friend Sean
Conor MacNeill: Frankie, another of Marty’s mates
Tom Collins: IRA Belfast Brigade leader Mickey Johnson
Ben Kingsley: British Special Branch interrogations officer code-named Fergus
Rose McGowan: senior member of the IRA

REVIEW
The situation in Northern Ireland is confusing at the best of times so it takes more than a dozen on-screen captions identifying some people and the occasional voice over to sort things out. Furthermore the thick Belfast accent often makes it impossible to comprehend what they are saying. I was fortunate in that the screening I saw had French subtitles which I used to “translate” the on screen dialogue. But one should not have to rely on a lucky happenstance to be able to understand what is being said.

A lot is going on and it’s not always clear what is happening nor why. So there are huge plot gaps. For example what was Marty’s motivation for his actions (revenge for what happened to his friend?). We should not have to guess at important things like that.

There are some fine performances by the main cast (well maybe not McGowan’s) and excellent work by the makeup department. The squeamish like me will have to avert their eyes about half way through when the IRA Internal Security Unit attempts to get a confession from a suspected “tout” or squealer.

CLASSIFICATION
for disturbing images, explicit portrayals of violence and language.