My Movie Reviews

I'm very particular about movies. Usually I'm disappointed with ones I rent. Out here in Suburbia there are only megaplex-type places that only show the mega-movies. You rarely get any independent films or foreign films. Don't I sound snotty & elitist. Too bad. My favorite movie reviewer is Joe Morgenstern with The Wall Street Journal (although he loved The Notebook...I was skeptical because the writer of the book, Nicholas Sparks, wrote another book called Message In A Bottle that could possibly be the biggest piece of tripe I've ever read....so I did go see The Notebook on Morgenstern's recommendation and was sorely disappointed. It was like a Lifetime movie. But I digress.) Last night I watched a terrific movie on DVD called Pieces of April. Katie Holmes is a wonderful actress. I never watched Dawson's Creek (is that the show she was in?) but she also appeared in a little movie called "Go" that was GREAT. I'm hoping that she turns into one of those actresses that chooses her roles so well you won't need a review. If she's in it, just go. (In many cases Gwyneth Paltrow falls into this category. See her in Sylvia, Emma, Sliding Doors and Possession and you'll see what I mean. Even Shallow Hal was worth watching because of her. I believe she'll also star in Proof, the film version of the prize-winning Broadway play. I'm looking forward to that!) Pieces of April is about a girl who has made lots of bad choices in her life but she wants her family to come to Thanksgiving as a sort of last chance to make things right. That's the plot...it is a beautiful story. My all-time favorite movies are.....Doctor Zhivago, English Patient (I love historical fiction when it is done well), Raising Arizona, Peggy Sue Got Married (Nicolas Cage is a bizarre person but his acting is superb in these movies), Fargo (how can you go wrong with the Coen brothers? Their first film, Blood Simple, was chilling), Field of Dreams (don't ask me why...it's pure fantasy but somehow the characters seem real...James Earl Jones is wonderful in this movie). Also excellent are Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Indochine, Three Kings (George Clooney & Mark Wahlberg...who knew George Clooney could act?), American Splendor (can't even describe it...just watch it! The character of Harvey Pekar's autistic friend is memorable) and Out of Sight (what? another George Clooney? JLo is also in it and she is terrific. I've yet to see her match that performance.) Yeah, there are also classics that I always watch if they happen to be on TV...Casablanca, The Graduate, When Harry Met Sally, Princess Bride, This is Spinal Tap (strongly oppose Rob Reiner on his political views but his directing skills & choice of material are right up there with the best), The Way We Were (ditto on Barbra's politics), and of course, Gone With the Wind. Another favorite actress is Emma Thompson...has she ever been in a bad movie? She was great, as always, in Love Actually, but watch her in HBO's Wit (the Pulitzer-Prize winning play made into a film, directed by Mike Nichols. How can you go wrong with that??)