The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Imagine Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, and Tom Wilkinson together...it's pure magic!  Dev Patel, the young star who rose to fame in Slumdog Millionaire, is also great.

The story?  Simple, really.

No spoiler, of course.  But it's about folks finding themselves in their twilight years.  A ragtag group of Brits and Americans face crises at home, either of a financial or personal nature, and all happen upon an ad for a cheap stay in India.  While there, the travelers interact and move forward with their lives.

The film centers on love themes and some very new and unusual friendships.  At the heart of it all, the characters must adjust to common living in a run-down hotel, as they seek answers to their various dilemmas.

As we viewers watch the protagonists move through the crowded streets of New Delhi, we get caught up in a struggle that we all share: the search for meaning in a sometimes confused world.

The dialog is delightful, and in this reviewer's opinion, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench steal the show, as you might expect.

Grade of A+.   A superb film for anyone who seeks a meaningful and memorable experience.

The Dictator

See Sasha Baron Cohen laughing above?  He's having FUN!  So did I when I saw his hilarious, wonderful parody called The Dictator.  I think this is the English comedian's best work yet.

Of course, you have to appreciate Sasha's wild and zany humor.  If you saw his last two films, he mocks virtually everything he can:  rednecks, anti-semites, gays, straights, and most of all, idiots!

In The Dictator, Cohen is in top form.

Never the spoiler, I'll refrain from giving away any of the plotline.  From the previews and publicity, readers know that  Cohen skewers power-mongers, particularly of the mid-eastern variety.  OK, I'll give away just one line, which has made most liberal-minded viewers laugh:  The dictator helps deliver a baby on a shop floor in Brooklyn, and when he sees that he's holding a girl, he asks, "Where's the garbage can?"  He makes a similar joke later in the movie about girls being unappreciated in certain segments of the world.

In The Dictator, expect to find tasteless jokes about blacks, gays, Jews, gentiles, Arabs, women, and more.

But Sasha's biggest satire is about our country.  He loves to point out all that is ridiculous about America.  He focuses his wit on our treatment of minorities, our choice of elected officials, taxes, the poor, and so much more!  Again, without being a spoiler, I can say that Cohen pushes the envelope right to the edge when he makes light of the 9/11 attacks.  This particular segment of the movie has raised the ire of many patriots.  But the scene was one you'll never forget!

All in all, the film is a wonder.  It exemplifies comedic genius.  Think Peter Sellers, Don Rickles, Charlie Chaplin, and other greats, all rolled into one.

The newspapers have panned the movie.  The Arizona Republic gave it one star.  The NY Times said it was not worth seeing.

I disagree.

This film is a marvel!  A Grade of A for top comedy/satire material!  One big caution:  You cannot be easily offended by sexual, racial, political, or social parody.  Some of it is a bit raunchy!

Enjoy!

The Big Lebowsky

Are you a Coen brothers fan? Have you seen this little number from 1998? If not, it's summer - what are you waiting for?? Synopsis reads: "Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it. As you can see it's reality-based. It lives up to every quirky, weird, head-scratching element of a Coen work, with many of their usual suspects, including John Turturro, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare. Throw in Julianne Moore, David Huddleston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Sam Elliott, and you've got enough. But it is in Jeff Bridges's hands, as the title's namesake, that holds this bizarre movie together. It's not really my bag, yet the darn thing is growing on me. Can't quite wash it out of my daytime thinking. See it, and then we'll talk more.

The Avengers

Nifty picture, eh?  I chose it to underscore the issue of special effects.  The Avengers is all about the amazing technology of computer graphics.

We took in the 3-D version of the flick.  Wow!  See those folks above?  They are all super-heroes, and super they are!  With the extraordinary use of computers, the heroes can do it all:  fly in space, destroy buildings, wield lightning, and fight for truth and justice The American Way!

It's all very tongue-in-cheek.  Just check out the banter between the heroes as they battle the villains.  Remember James Bond's occasional wisecracks?  These characters offer a quip-a-minute!

There are two standouts among the cast:  Robert Downey Jr is great as Ironman, a role he reprises repeatedly with great success.  He is obnoxious, egotistical, yet affable as the the billionaire businessman who dons metallic clothes.  Scarlett Johannson, ever pretty, is fun as the slinky orange-haired fighter who fears no evil!

The enemies?  Think of gigantic machines that look like the oversized snake in Anaconda....machines that have horrid teeth and fly with the ease of butterflies!  Behind the machines is a terribly infamous, devilish bad guy who seems to have no limits to the depths of his nastiness!

The film is very low-brow.  Little redeeming value.  Shallow plotline.  But what an enjoyable way to spend two hours!

Abduction

Taylor Lautner is the hunk who played in the Twilight series.  He's a handsome dude, and female viewers get to see his face a lot!  By his side is the pretty Lily Collins, an up-and-coming actress who adds even more eye candy to the film.

OK, is there more to this film than beautiful people?  Sort of.

Never a spoiler, I can say that the plot is explained by the title:  Taylor Lautner's character is abducted.  His adopted parents have raised him in a curious manner:  Dad teaches his kid to be a tough, fierce fighter, while Mom admires what Dad has done.

So the kid is well versed in martial arts.  Why?  Continue reading, friends!

Taylor's character does what most adopted kids do:  He seeks answers.  Who are his real parents?  Why is he living with adopted parents?  Why haven't they told him he was adopted?  Was he adopted or abducted?

So many questions!  Taylor's teen love interest, the beautiful Lily Collins, gets involved in the plot.  We cannot say how.  But the two of them end up on the run!  From whom?  Why?  How?  And just how is the government tied up in all this?

Will the kids outrun the bad guys who want to do them in?  For you to find out, dear readers!

A fun film.  A bit too teen-ish for adult viewers.  But once you get past the first fifteen minutes, the film really picks up.  A- grade.  A bit contrived...requiring not only suspension of disbelief but keen interest in teenage angst.