Blue Valentine

Never underestimate the power of ONE. Due to an underwhelming total number of votes (one!), I shall offer my views on Blue Valentine.

O.k., here it is. I do not shy away from sad love stories, and I sure don't shy away from films with Ryan Gosling (I adore him and think he is very talented). I start every film assuming I will value it. However, from first to last scene I was dragged down to not caring. This VERY blue-collar (generous label), very rural couple have lost their love-way in marriage. Much of story told in flashback to when they were happier. But I never bought it. They were young, had bleak futures, she was pregnant (she thinks by him!). Is this really the stuff of great romances in celluloid? Gosling is so sympathetic as we watch his devotion to his toddler daughter, while watching his drinking get in the way. Michelle Williams does non-glam very effectively.

You see, I just didn't see a "great love" go so badly. They were doomed from the start. Actually, I do not see this as a love story so much as a statement about an economic class and its fall-out. THAT is a socio-tragedy. And it touches me.

I expected to be moved. I expected to shed a tear. Instead, I just wanted it to be over. With a somewhat ambiguous conclusion, I was just glad it was over. These two people depressed the hell out of me. I know I sound very anti-sentimental. I am not. This just wasn't the film for me.

Now, Sara, please set me straight.

The Help

Every so often Hollywood gives us a "landmark" movie that is a must-see. Along side The Color Purple, Roots, and other major African-American historical films, we must place The Help.

The story takes place in Mississippi in the early 60s. Those were days when American citizens of color had to sit in the back of the bus, could not vote, had to cross the street when whites approached, and were treated as less-than-human. What a disgrace.

Those of us who are old enough to have lived during those times know how shameful they were. It took Lyndon Johnson's Civil Rights Act of 1964 to award African-Americans equality under the law and to abolish the old Jim Crow ways.

The Help takes us back to a time that every American, white or black, must re-visit. Painful as it is, we must return to a time when maids were treated like slaves. We must recall how complicit all of America was in the mistreatment of fellow Americans.

Without being a spoiler, I can report that the film tells the story of some very brave domestics, black women, who risk life and limb to tell what being a maid in a southern household is all about. Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer shine as the leaders of the revolt. Watch for their names when Oscar nominations are announced.

Emma Stone emerges from starlet status to real actress. She plays the young, idealistic journalist who strives to share with the world the misery of those "imprisoned" in the south. She could also get an Oscar nod.

Add to the stellar cast Bryce Dallas Howard, Cicely Tyson,and Sissy Spacek, and you can imagine what a treat awaits you! But it's a sad, dour view of America. A few laughs lighten the spirit a bit. Don't expect to feel good after viewing the film.

GRADE: A+ An amazing, important movie that all viewers should RUN to see.

Brick

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the bloodied young man above, has done some good film stuff, including roles in Ten Things I Hate about You, The Juror, Killshot, Inception, and more. But...OH, what a failure in Brick!

BRICK is a fitting name for the film where G-L gets his chance to be the lead...it lands like a brick on your head. In fact, it gives the word "indie" a bad name.

What's the film about? Hard to say. A bunch of kids involved in drugs, we think. A murder. A gang of thugs. Hey, don't go looking for A Clockwork Orange or another quality grunge film. This flick is a loser. The plot is convoluted, and worse, the dialog strives to be so cool you can't understand a word of it...that is, when the poor diction allows deciphering.

Any redeeming value? Hardly. The hero is constantly getting beaten up (see above), which is a bummer for the ladies who might enjoy seeing his handsome face. A brief look at Emilie de Ravin, when she was young and very attractive, appeals somewhat...until the plotline takes her out of the picture!

If you have the courage to sit through this bummer of a flick, see if you can spot Richard Roundtree in a minor role.

GRADE: F And that's coming from a teacher who was once very generous with grades!

You choose

A slight departure in format here: Yes, I've been seeing movies, but am bleary-eyed from a writing assignment, so I'm giving readers a vote. Which would you like to know more about - OR - discuss, if you have seen:

We start with Blue Valentine.
VOTE NOW!

Lincoln Lawyer

See Matthew M sitting on his old Lincoln? That's because he's the Lincoln Lawyer! See, he rides around in the old car using it as a mobile office. Why? Because he just happens to be the coolest defense attorney this side of the Mississippi! Think James Bond in a suit with lots of legal smarts.

Okay, that's sort of the premise. The first twenty minutes of the film make the point that the dashing M Mc is one tough dude: he likes to defend clients and he LOVES money! Yeah, not so likeable...until the real plot begins.

The real plot? Well, no spoiler, but suffice it to say that our hero finds that client-attorney privilege can sometimes be a bummer! Who's in control here? The attorney? His client?

With talent like Marisa Tomei (still reeling from her extraordinary work years ago in My Cousin Vinny), Ryan Philippe (who, oddly, plays sleeze which seems to mimic his real life), and William Macy (my, how he shined in Fargo), the plot is almost secondary to the acting.

So, legal beagles, get out and rent this one. After the first ten minutes, it gets to be really fun! And don't miss the most unusual friendship between some gritty rogue bikers and our attorney-idol!

Easy A

Now and then a teen flick comes along that really works. Easy A is entrancing, witty, and fun.

Valerie and I have worked in schools, so we know how easily rumors abound. Playing on this theme, Easy A tells the story of a cute teen who, frustrated with the idle chatter of peers, plays a massive hoax: she claims to be the school slut when, in reality, she awaits her first real date with a young man!

No more info than that, dear readers, lest I spoil the story. Emma Stone is as cute as a pistol, and, like other starlets including Alicia Silverstone, Zooey Deschanel, and Amy Adams, worms her way into your heart.

Remember Ellen Page in Juno? Emma Stone is quite similar in character: witty, smart, sassy, pert, and clever. And she has liberal parents who charm in their own retro way.

The "A" theme? Seems our young upstart has become entranced with the theme of rejection in The Scarlet Letter. Thus the outrageous A on the dress.

Get ready to re-live all the joy and misery of your adolescent years! Thumbs up!

Red Riding Hood

Care for a confession? This viewer loves vampire films! Yeah, I'm a sucker for the long-tooth genre. I enjoy True Blood, and I've had fun viewing the Twilight series. If the film is stupid yet tongue in cheek, I'm all in. Remember Jennifer's Body? Loved it! (see my review in this blog)

So, naturally, I'd jump at the chance to see my favorite Big Love star, Amanda Seyfried, starring in a blood-sucking thriller....

Oh, what a bummer! Oh, what a disappointment! Oh, how sorry can one film be!

The film rips off other stories. No originality at all. Here's the theft from Twilight: A girl likes two guys but can't tell if one of them is a vampire. Here's the theft from Little Red Riding Hood....oh, forget it!

A few good moments, maybe. But overall, such a loser. And here I thought I'd add to my admiration of the vampire genre!