THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE

Documentary

FEATURING
Anna Wintour, Vogue magazine Editor-in-chief
Grace Coddington, Creative Director
Andre Leon Talley, Editor-at-large
Designers Oscar de la Renta, Jean Paul Gaultier, Thakoon Panichgul and Patrick Demarchelier

REVIEW
This perplexing documentary about putting together the September 2007 issue of Vogue magazine suffers greatly from two things: the absence of any voice-over to explain what is taking place and the haphazard way it evolves, jumping around from one thing to another.

What passes for a story line are snippets of conversations and asides. It is like being a fly on the wall trying to figure out what it’s all about.

CLASSIFICATION
for brief strong language.

SURROGATES

Science fiction

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Bruce Willis: FBI agent Tom Greer
Radha Mitchell: his partner Jennifer Peters
James Cromwell: inventor Dr. Lionel Canter
Ving Rhames: The Prophet
Rosamund Pike: Green’s wife Maggie

REVIEW
The target audience (teenage males) will love it because there’s lots of action, wild car chases, really cool weapons and gorgeous women. The rest of us will find it less enthralling.

Because the main premise is not really spelled out it takes some time before you catch on to what is happening. Fans of this sort of movie probably do not need this “background” information, but I certainly could have used it. Well maybe not.

CLASSIFICATION
for intense sequences of violence, disturbing images, language, sexuality and a drug-related scene.

AN EDUCATION

Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Olivia Williams: home room teacher Miss Stubbs
Carey Mulligan: 16-year-old Jenny Martin
Alfred Molina: her father Jack
Cara Seymour: her mother Marjorie
Matthew Beard: Jenny’s friend Graham
Peter Sarsgaard: businessman David Goldman
Dominic Cooper: his business partner Danny
Rosamund Pike: Danny’s girlfriend Helen
Emma Thompson: school Headmistress

REVIEW
This is one terrific movie particularly the acting which is uniformly superb in this film about growing up and getting an education. I do not want to expound on that for fear of giving away too much. In any event, it all rings true.

The dialogue and costuming are right on, the pacing excellent, the musical score fits in beautifully.

This movie will win awards, it’s that good.

CLASSIFICATION
for mature thematic material involving sexual content, and for smoking.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
• David puts the cello in the back seat with the small end towards the driver’s side. When he removes it from that side it comes out large end first.
• Having opened one present Jenny leaves the other one untouched with its wrapping still on. When she receives more presents she makes room on the table by pushing the first two aside, now both unwrapped.
• After returning from an evening out Jenny stops on the first step to speak with her father. Although she doesn’t move from there, at the end of their conversation she continues up the stairs but from the half-way point.

CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY

Documentary

REVIEW
Although the central point of the movie is indeed about capitalism, in typical Michael Moore fashion more than a few other subjects are presented. Much of the film content will be familiar to most people but he has come up with a few lesser known things such as the Second Bill of Rights, life insurance policies to name but a few.

As usual he pulls off a couple of stunts to make his point. Certainly if what he says is true, there is a lot of food for thought.

CLASSIFICATION
for some language.

P.S.
The title is never explained.

THE INFORMANT!

Crime drama

F.Y.I.
The food additive Lysine is an essential amino acid, which means that it is necessary for human health but cannot be made by the body. For this reason, lysine must be obtained from food. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Lysine is important for proper growth, and it plays an essential role in converting fatty acids into energy and helping to lower cholesterol. It plays a major role in calcium absorption, in building muscles, in recovering from surgery or injuries. It aids in the body's production of hormones, enzymes and antibodies.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Matt Damon: Mark Whitacre, Corporate VP with Archer Daniels Midland
Tom Papa: A.D.M. Chief Operating Officer Mick Andreas
Melanic Lynskey: Mark's wife Ginger
Scott Bakula: F.B.I. Special Agent Brian Shepard
Rick Overton: Mark’s boss Terry Wilson
Joel McHale: F.B.I. Agent Robert Herndon

REVIEW
Loosely based on a true story and promoted as a comedy (even including an explanation point in the title), I didn’t see it that way at all. There really is nothing funny about corporate malfeasance nor the difficulties one encounters as a whistleblower.

That’s not to say there are no comic moments because indeed there are quite a few. But not of the gut-busting variety, just the incongruity of the situation that evokes a smile or two.

Matt Damon gives one of his best performances ever.

CLASSIFICATION
for language (in my view, hardly justified)

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS

Animated story

WITH THE VOICES OF
Bill Hader: lifelong inventor Flint Lockwood
James Caan: his father Tim, owner of a bait and tackle shop
Neil Patrick Harris: Flint’s “assistant” Steve, a monkey
Bruce Campbell: Swallow Falls Mayor Shelbourne
Andy Samberg: “Baby” Brent, star of the sardine ad campaigns
Mr. T: Earl Devereaux, the town policeman
Anna Faris: Sam Sparks, the weather network intern
Benjamin Bratt: Manny, the cameraman

REVIEW
Definitely geared to children, anyone who is not should avoid being too harsh in judging its excesses. Adults will see it as a pleasant diversion with lots of clever lines providing more than a few comic moments (and some outright laughs) even when things get a little bit gross.

The technical aspect is beyond reproach: the CGI rendering is stunning, the detail quite amazing, the colours brilliant. The quality of the 3D version is the best I’ve seen so far.

CLASSIFICATION
for brief mild language.

OWL AND THE SPARROW

Drama
In Vietnamese with English subtitles

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Pham Thi Han: 10-year-old Thuy
Nguyen Hau: her Uncle Tran Le Minh
Cat Ly: 26-year-old Lan, a flight attendant
Le The Lu: Hai, elephant keeper at the Saigon zoo

REVIEW
A very pleasant oft-told story of struggling against the odds and dealing with chance encounters. Done in low key with no high drama to unsettle things, the endearing performance of Pham Thi Han really carries it off.

One minor criticism: possibly because of budget restraints, there is a lot of handheld cinematography that does not always serve the purpose well.

CLASSIFICATION
for thematic elements and some smoking.