CONVICTION

Crime drama
Based on a true story

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Sam Rockwell: Kenneth “Muddy” Waters
Hilary Swank: his younger sister Betty Anne
Loren Dean: Betty Ann’s husband Rick
Conner Donovan: their oldest son Richard
Owen Campbell: the younger brother Ben
Minnie Driver: law student Abra Rice
Melissa Leo: Ayer Police Officer Nancy Taylor
Juliette Lewis: Kenny’s ex-girlfriend Roseanna Perry
Peter Gallagher: Attorney Barry Scheck
Ari Graynor: Kenny’s daughter Mandy

REVIEW
Despite the flashbacks-within-flashbacks somehow it all makes sense as the story unfolds of a sister determined to prove her brother is innocent of the crime he is serving time for. The relatively slow pace allows for character development of the key players in this riveting account that spans more than 16 years.

All of the cast do remarkable work but three are outstanding and they alone are worth the price of admission: Swank, Rockwell (in a supporting role) and Lewis.

CLASSIFICATION
for language and some disturbing images.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
The producers great attention to detail resulted in my being unable to find even one real nitpick. The closest I came was when one of the boys says to his mother “Hurry up, it’s 8:15 and we have to go”. The wall clock behind her showed it to be 8:16. That hardly warrants being a nitpick. But at least I tried.

NEVER LET ME GO

Science fiction drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Carey Mulligan: 28-year-old Kathy
Andrew Garfield: her longtime school chum Tommy
Charlotte Rampling: Miss Emily, headmistress of Hailsham Academy
Isobel Meikle-Small: 12-year-old young Kathy
Charlie Rowe: young Tommy
Ella Purnell: young Ruth
Keira Knightley: older Ruth
Sally Hawkins: new teacher Miss Lucy

REVIEW
After the opening scene the rest of the movie relies upon flashbacks to an earlier time when we learn that the students of this British co-ed boarding school have a special purpose in life. At the same time some of them have to deal with the teenage problem of a love triangle.

Things move slowly enough that no one will get left behind and viewers of British persuasion can better understand the various accents and will get more of the one-liners while we less fortunate ones sit and wonder what’s so funny?

Although she doesn’t get as much screen time as some of the others, this is Knightley’s best performance in years.

CLASSIFICATION
for nudity, sexual encounter and language.

NOWHERE BOY

Biography

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Aaron Johnson: 15-year-old John Lennon
Kristin Scott Thomas: his aunt Mimi
David Threlfall: his uncle George
Anne-Marie Duff: his mother Julia, Mimi’s younger sister
David Morrissey: Julia’s boyfriend Bobby
Thomas Brodie Sangster: 15-year-old Paul McCartney

REVIEW
This is quite an insight about the teen-aged John Lennon. The film covers three short years but has a lot to say about the troubled life he led before he became famous as one of the Beatles.

There are excellent performances from the three principals and lots of rock ‘n’ roll. As with many British films, the f-word is used with abandon.

CLASSIFICATION
for language and one scene of sexuality.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
Seen from John’s perspective Julia offers her left cheek for a kiss but in the side view it is her right cheek being offered.

SCORE: A HOCKEY MUSICAL

Musical

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Noah Reid: 17-year-old Farley Gordon
Olivia Newton-John: his mother Hope
Marc Jordan: his father Edgar
Allie MacDonald: their 17-year-old neighbour Eve
Stephen McHattie: owner of the Brampton Blades hockey team
George Stroumboulopoulos: the rink announcer

REVIEW
Oxymoron –noun
• A figure of speech in which two words with opposing meanings are used together intentionally for effect
• a contradiction in terms.

That best describes this movie about hockey with most of the dialogue presented as a song. But is it any sillier a notion than a musical about two teenage street gangs (West Side Story) or one about a baseball team (Damn Yankees) or one about a cowboy falling in love with a farm girl (Oklahoma ! ) ?

The main difference between these Broadway musicals and SCORE is that they included memorable songs that have become part of our culture; no such luck here. Instead we get to see a corny musical with many songs sung in a droning manner but with very few upbeat numbers.

Between the songs there are the requisite dance numbers as a prelude to the rousing on-ice finale which is rather well done given the limitation the players have, dressed in full gear.

So how does it fit in with others? It’s not the best movie I’ve ever seen and certainly is not the worst. Just somewhere in the middle.

CLASSIFICATION
for crude locker-room humour and some hockey violence.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
• The coach tells Farley the game will start at 2 pm but during the pre-game interview the clock shows it to be 4 o’clock.
• While Eve is talking with Farley her sweater on her right shoulder changes location between shots although she never touches it.
• The team owner gets thrown off the tread mill and it stops by itself. In fact that only happens if you press the red stop button otherwise it continues going at the pace set.

LEGENDS OF THE GUARDIANS

Fantasy

PRINCIPAL VOICES
Jim Sturgess: Soren, a little barn owl
Ryan Kwanten: his older brother Kludd
Hugo Weaving: their father Noctus
Joel Edgerton: Metalbeak, leader of the “Pure Ones”
Helen Mirren: his mate Nyra
and others no doubt

REVIEW
I’m glad these books were not around when I was reading children’s literature: what a dreadful, awful experience that would have been. As far as the movie version goes if I had a young child I would not let him/her even look at the poster much less go see the movie.

Here’s the premise; you judge for yourself:
A cute little barn owl named Soren in learning to fly winds up on the ground along with his brother Kludd. After being attacked and scared to death by a Tasmanian devil they are then captured by menacing looking owls who swoop down and take them to an dark evil looking place brimming with smoke and fire. They are told they will now become soldiers whereupon they are pounced upon by a very realistic bat with big teeth who will be their guardian.

All this in the first half hour.

With that I got up and left.

CLASSIFICATION
for some sequences of scary action.

LIFE AS WE KNOW IT

Romantic comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Katherine Heigl: Holly Berenson, owner of Fraiche bakery/café
Josh Duhamel: Eric Messer, sports network technical director
Hayes MacArthur: his best friend Peter Novak
Christina Hendricks: and his wife Alison
Josh Lucas: pediatrician Dr. Sam
Sarah Burns: Child Protection Service representative Janine Groff
Britt Flatmo: preteen baby sitter Amy

REVIEW
As long as you don’t set the bar too high and don’t expect too much out of it, this is a pleasant outing. Given that the premise is not all that original (the godparents of a one-year-old are put in a position of having to take care of her) there’s a sense of déjà vu with predictable results. The sight gags and one-liners provide some amusing moments and the romantic element plays out as it should.

Certainly not the best movie ever but it’s not that difficult to sit through despite being a tad too long.

CLASSIFICATION
for sexual material, language and some drug content.

HEREAFTER

Drama
Some dialogue in French with English subtitles

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Cécile De France: vacationing French television host Marie LeLay
Thierry Neuvic: her producer/lover Didier
Frankie McLaren: 12-year-old Marcus
George McLaren: his twin brother Jason
Lyndsey Marshal: their mother Jackie
Matt Damon: factory worker George Lonegan
Jay Mohr: his older brother Billy
Richard Kind: Billy’s business associate Christos
Bryce Dallas Howard: George’s cooking class partner Melanie

REVIEW
After a spectacular opening sequence the stories of three people whose lives have been impacted by death begins to unfold but without any obvious connection with one another until the last twenty minutes or so. Telling three separate stories takes a lot of time, in this case over two hours. And frankly, none of the stories is that compelling so it seems to drag on far too long.

Some of the shoot locations are beautiful but it is the Swiss Alps that are particularly stunning. The acting by Matt Damon comes across as real , less so by the twins.

CLASSIFICATION
for mature thematic elements including disturbing disaster and accident images and for brief strong language.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
• Marie returns from vacation landing at Charles de Gaulle airport; this is not one of Virgin Atlantic Airways approved destinations, not even with code share flights.
• While talking with George in his kitchen Melanie’s locket changes position between shots although she never touches it.
• Marcus highlights his typed entry to a Google search, hits enter and gets the results. In reality when you press enter with text highlighted it disappears so you would not get any search results.