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peterjb1
Reviews
The Invention of Lying (2009)
Sooo disappointing!
Somebody said that Ricky Gervais makes for a likable lead character—not for me he doesn't. To me his characters are always depressing, two-dimensional, predictable and shallow. At least in the American version of The Office, Steve Carell gives his character multiple layers, some of which we find endearing or can empathize with. Ricky Gervais was never able to make David Brent seem more than a ridiculous figure. On that score, he doesn't disappoint in Invention of Lying. I felt the concept of the film was pretty lame, and the execution even more lame. And what a waste of a plethora of great actors; from Christopher Guest to Jeffrey Tambor to Tina Fey! It ends up as being a cheap shot at Faith, yet at the same time hinting at why it is so often needed; poorly put together; and most disappointing. I gave it 5 "naps"!
Australia (2008)
A Movie in Search of a Story?
What a hodge-podge of a movie this is! The first few scenes seem like a cartoon with caricatures of the main subjects and themes--the awfully,awfully English woman; the hard-nut Aussie drover; the so obvious underwear suitcase 'accident' and the 'unexpected' kangaroo shooting. We were then subjected to a complete remake of "The Overlanders", complete with poisoned waterholes and the staring-down of stampeding cattle. I was waiting for the wichetty-bug to turn up and became quite disappointed when it didn't--but that may have been "Bush Christmas" I'm thinking about! I didn't find Kidman's acting as bad as some others did. Although she comes over as a wooden personality I felt that reflected the prim, uptight, 1930s aristocratic character she was playing. Virtually nothing new was added to my general knowledge of the relatively young Australia. Anybody who is not aware of racism in any of the former British colonies has been asleep for the past century or two, and of course the specific topic of the "stolen generation" is far better covered in "Rabbit-Proof Fence". As for the undercurrent of objections to the treatment of the mixed-blood children, that seemed out of character for the 'English' wives--not to mention the army officer--who were probably all in favour of the programme, that again seemed most improbable. It's been said that Brandon Walters played his part well, but it seemed to me that he was far too pretty for the role of the small boy. The saving grace for me was the moving and spiritual performance given by David Gulpilil--as ever. The 'change of heart' of the dying Bryan Brown character was too 'Hollywood', as was the whole ending. In my opinion the movie should have ended at the end of the cattle drive anyway. I was ready to go home then.
Behaving Badly (1989)
I agree with Julian Kennedy
Let me first of all say that I typically love British series, and I particularly admire Judi Dench. But this... Everybody was so stereotyped; disgusting, coughing and spitting old grandfather; catty older mother-in-law; neurotic young woman--you name it. I, too, have no idea why the love-interest preacher was black, yet alone why he was American; and Giles' bi-sexuality seemed completely irrelevant to me. I suppose the latter two characters were written and cast that way to provide for the injection of certain token minorities. Francesca Folan, who played daughter Phyllida, seemed to be overacting to the nth degree, and in my opinion the plot had more holes than a colander. I'm not sure, but I don't believe this was ever released in a VHS format and was not released as a DVD until 2005, some sixteen years after the original series aired. This smacks of an attempt to capitalize on Ms Dench's recent increase in popularity. She has performed so well in so many films, I would not waste your time renting this.
Smart People (2008)
Ending
This should have been the movie that I believe the writers set out to make--something more along the lines of 'Educating Rita'. Instead, it fell a long way short of that, yet failed to succeed as a romantic comedy, too. The exception, perhaps was the interplay between Ellen Page and Thomas Hayden Church--one an uptight, serious bookworm, too mature for her age; the other a laid-back, 'let the chips fall where they may' type of guy, far too immature for his! For a successful professional woman, Sarah Jessica Parker's character was way too tolerant of Dennis Quaid's behavior. There was very little evidence that his declared willingness to change was likely to stick. But the biggest mistake by far in this movie was the 'Hollywood' ending. Why, oh why, was it thought necessary to do that!
Ten Canoes (2006)
Huh?
I know I'm going to be labelled as a Philistine for these comments, but I was rather underwhelmed by the whole experience. Not that I'm not interested in this genre of movie--indeed I am, whether it be about Australian aborigines, Celts, American Indians or Canucks. But this particular presentation left me wondering why I'd spent an hour-and-a-half watching it. The story or message could have been summarised in about three or four lines; the characters should have been rounded out more; the cinematography was little more than adequate and the narration by David Gulpilil--a long-time favourite of mine--lacked impact. It came over like an aboriginal version of The Gods Must Be Crazy--sans humour! I suspect the film received its positive reviews because of its subject matter and that critics praised it because it is filmed in Ganalbingu. Why is it that I get a sense of seeing an unclothed emperor?
Death at a Funeral (2007)
A Comedy that's Dead-on!
I could't agree with Kristen more--funny enough to give you a coronary laughing. The actors are all very good, but three stand out in particular; Alan Tyman, who plays Howard the neurotic germophobe; Peter Dinklage, who plays the part of Peter; and, most of all, Alan Tudyk as Simon--his was an Oscar or Bafta award-winning performance. The women actors were good, but the movie is most definitely about the men. There are elements of Four Weddings and a Funeral, but I think it owes most of its success to the classic British farces of the Fifties and Sixties. This is a must-see movie for farce-lovers, Anglophiles, and anybody in desperate need of a belly-laugh to get those endorphins coursing through your veins. It's way better than Vallium
Failure to Launch (2006)
Within its genre it is a very good movie.
Within its genre this is a very good movie. The premise, of course, is a familiar one to many of us parents whose childrenespecially sonshave been to college and are reluctant to leave the comfortable nest they've called home for most of their lives. This was my first exposure to Matthew McConaughey, although my Texan wife raves about himno bias there! I thought that the role of Trip that was played by McConaughey could have been played by any number of actors in that age bracket, and I believe the same could be said for Sarah Jessica Parker's role. However, it must be said that they each played their parts well, or at least more than adequately. What can I say about Terry Bradshaw? The interesting thing was that he was surprisingly good. So was Kathy Bates, but then I'm not sure I've seen a bad role from her. Zooey Deschanel was delightful--what a doll! Where did she come from? My home state of Maryland looked good. This makes a change from the scenes we're used to seeing in Homicide or The Corner. Maryland isn't all Baltimore, and Baltimore isn't all about drugs and murder. Very refreshing.
Babel (2006)
Do NOT read this if you have not yet seen the film...
A fascinating movie, beautiful cinematography, excellent acting, and incredibly thought-provoking. But is it just me or was there too much of a 'Hollywood ending'? Chieko is 'rescued' by her father from what appeared to be an inevitable suicide; Jussef survives (Admittedly after losing his brother); Susan lives; Susan and Richard 'find' each other again; Amelia survives her ordeal in the desert (OK, she was deported, but not dead!); Debbie and Mike survive, despite wandering away from the point Amelia left them; Santiago seemingly escapes the law. Wow! Any other 'happy endings' I missed? In addition, you can too easily see the sub-structure of the filmit's like looking at the Statue of Liberty in a see-through gown. All those steel girders!
On the bright side; is it true that many of the 'actors', especially those in the Morrocan scenes, were amateurs just signed up for this movie? If so, their performances were little short of outstanding. The major roles played by Pitt and Blanchett, Barracha, Kikuchi and Yakusho were performed with excellence.
I should probably need to see this several times before I could fully interpret it, but the two obvious points are the ripple effect of the gift of a gun, and the difficultyand easeof communicating between worlds of different languages.
The Path to 9/11 (2006)
Better than Siriana
No Clinton fan, I, but I sympathize with any of the top government officials who cannot just make knee-jerk decisions. There are so many corns to avoid treading on; State Department; Justice; PACs; Lobbyists; the voting public. I was most impressed by how much the film showed us what was done, and how well it was done, to bring certain persons to justice. You know, today it seems that the public is so immensely polarized and just have to shoutyes shoutnegative things at their adversaries. Where is the constructive criticism? Where is the respect for the government in power when something gets done well? Most know that during WWII Britain was led by Churchill; how many realized he headed a coalition government for five years? We are at war. Let's try to act like we care who wins.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Imagine the PR Department's reaction...
Imagine the PR Department's reaction when, on the week of this movie's release, the Jon-Benét Ramsey case is thrust back into the limelight after nearly ten years of fading into the background... It caused me some hesitation over going to see it, that's for sure. In the end, the way the pageant was portrayed relieved those fears. The movie is a gem. Like others, I found myself laughing out loud in placessomething I might do at home, but seldom do in the movie theater. OK, so this was the quintessential dysfunctional family, but nothing about them or the humor seemed really forced. As for Abigail BreslinWatch out, Dakota! Loved it!
Syriana (2005)
Not for me...
I saw this movie with the preconceived idea that it was going to be another anti-Bush, anti-Republican, anti-Big Business smear campaign. To some extent it was, but it was much more; anti-corruption, anti-everything! For me, the plot and character list was far too complex with too much going on to too many people. Who was manipulating whom? Who was on which 'side'? In my opinion, the best part of the movie was summed up by 'Danny Dalton', the oil man, when he implied that corruptionread bribery or backhanderswas what greased the oil bits. Too trueif we don't do it, somebody else will and there goes our oil supply. But as a piece of entertainmentnot for me!
The Break-Up (2006)
How can you possibly ENJOY this movie?
Right up-front I have to say that the two lead actors were extraordinarily good; the writing and directing were excellent; the credibility of the situation was high. The latter in particular is what spoiled the movie for me--it resembled too closely a couple of periods in my own life. This was not a romantic comedy--it was a movie filled with violence! "Violence?" I hear you say. Yes. The violence didn't involve gunshots or exploding cars--we've grown to accept them, in fact they now seem to be cartoonish--but it was vicious, verbal violence. I can obviously only speak for myself, but I came so close to walking out to the foyer halfway through the film--not because the movie was badly produced, but because I just couldn't take the up-close and in-your-face abuse any more. Yes, it's possible to make a good movie that I just have trouble watching.
The Family Stone (2005)
They didn't even reach the level of dysfunctional!
What an appalling family! I realize that doesn't mean an appalling movie, but it made me feel uncomfortable, angry and upset.
The mother (Diane Keaton) acted like a spoiled queen, and her husband (Craig T Nelson) a weak consort. Naturally an urban young woman coming into this established rural New England home was going to have a rough ride, but the family should have been the ones trying to smooth the way for her; not putting road bumps along her path. Of course the mother's later-disclosed illness might excuse some of her behavior, but I received the impression that we were seeing her true colorsher illness merely amplifying them a little.
As for her statementand other family members' understandingthat having been delivered of a gay son, she wished that all her children could have been born gay or lesbian; would she have felt the same is he'd been born blind, or with spina bifida, or with Down syndrome, or, or, or...
What a wicked or stupid woman she was.
Incidentally, I have never been a fan of Sarah Jessica Parker, but I thought she was superb in this movie.
Away from It All (1979)
Travelog turns hilarious
What started as a travelog accompanying "The Life Of Brian" turns out to be a hilarious spoof. Voice-over is by John Cleese. I've looked everywhere for a copy on tape or disc, but with no luck. If you know of the whereabouts of a copy please let me know.