Away We Go

Directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty)

Co-written by Dave Eggers (author of "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius)

Starring Maya Rudolph (SNL alum) as Verona and John Krasinski (The Office) as Burt.

Released 2009. Now playing.

SYNOPSIS: A thirty-something couple, expecting their first child, take a cross-country journey to find a suitable home to start their family in.

Review by CINEMAGIRL:

Verona (Rudolph) and Burt (Krasinski) are a youngish, committed - yet unmarried - couple unexpectedly expecting a baby. When the two find out that Burt's parents (Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels) are moving out of the country just before the baby is due, the couple sets off on a cross-country tour to find a new home in a new town near friends or relatives that will provide a healthy support system for the new family.

And so the adventure begins. Burt and Verona first stop in Phoenix to visit her former boss (Allison Janney), who is married (to comedian Jim Gaffigan) with two kids, and thrilled to death that the young couple might decide to live near them. However, the old boss and her hubby are total alcoholics and apathetic parents and their meeting at the local dog track leaves them unsettled, and questioning their own abilities as future parents.

Later, Burt and Verona venture to Madison, Wisconsin, to visit a childhood friend of his - a very outspoken, liberal, hippie-mama portrayed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Burt and Verona meet her at the college campus where she works as a professor and enter her office to find her openly breastfeeding her two children - an infant and one that's more than a few years old - in the middle of the room. The evening with LN (that's her name) and her husband - who have a "family bed" and aversion to strollers - unfolds into hilarity. The hippie couple becomes more and more outrageous and patronizing until the mild-manner Burt explodes in the most ridiculous way. (I thought this was the funniest part of the film.)

The film looks at the many ways there are to raise kids along the way, including stereotypes, pointing out the ridiculous in nearly each scenario.

A recurring subplot to the story is that Verona's parents are no longer alive. This comes up throughout the film and creates an emotional, dramatic angle for Verona to reconcile and the couple to deal with. It is handled gently without becoming overbearing.

The film is shot in a standard sort-of way. There are no dramatic angles or inventive shots. It's simply a nice story delivered in a direct way. The real stand-out of the film is the dialogue, co-written by Dave Egggers, known for his memoir "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" and his recent journalistic novels.

Eggers writes for Gen-X, using a natural tone that speaks directly to the reader, or viewer, rather than pandering to you or trying to make you feel stupid. His words, and that of collaborator Vendela Vida, were delivered well by Rudolph and Krasinski, two comically trained actors who work(ed) on two of the funniest shows on TV.

Overall, Away We Go is funny, entertaining, fresh and very well cast. I recommend seeing it in the theatre now or renting it later.

STORY: 8.5

ACTING: 8.5

LOOK: 7

OVERALL: 8

Orthodox Stance

A 90 min. documentary film about an Orthodox Jewish boxer who balances his sport and his faith.

Released 2008

Shot, written and directed by Jason Hutt

Screened this year at South Side Film Festival, Bethlehem, PA.

This interesting documentary follows Dimitriy Salita, a Russian-born Orthodox Jewish boxer, during the rise of his professional career.

Review by CINEMAGIRL:

Because of the strict observance of his faith, Dimitriy Salita cannot box on the Sabbath, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. When he travels he must be careful to only eat kosher foods and to avoid using electricity or driving a car during the Sabbath. That means that even at a hotel where he is scheduled to fight a bout, he will turn off the lights, light candles, pray, and stay in for the night.

This documentary is shot in a verite style. You can tell that one camera operator followed Salita most of the time, shooting him with a small digital camera, capturing audio as the scenery would allow. The look of the film can be jarring at times, but the viewer can accept it because it is consistent throughout the film. Hutt, the director-cameraman, etc., followed Salita during his life's routine, to the Starrett City Boxing Gym in Brooklyn, the Chabad, training camp in the Poconos, to his home with his brother and even on trips to Vegas and Puerto Rico with his friend/religious advisor in tow.

Hutt was able to film the small moments that make characters real because he ingratiated himself into Salita's life. For instance, he was there to film Salita's brother Mischa helping him pick out a suit for a photo shoot, or capture a crushing rebuke fom his trainer when he discovers Salita is still two pounds overweight just two days before his biggest bout.

It is endearing watching Salita balance his personal life with his professional career. He is surrounded by a great cast of "characters" - from his trainer Jimmy that has known him and looked out for him since the age of 13, to Israel, the friend and advisor who travels with him and helps him follow Orthodox rules.

I would recommend renting this film or catching at future festivals.

LOOK: 7

STORY: 8.5

OVERALL: 8

'M' (1931)

As reviewed by Skinnyblacktie




Directed by Fritz Lang




Starring Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Otto Wernicke, Theodor Loos and Gustaf Grundgens.

'Wer ist der Moder?" (Who is the murderer?) Screenwriters Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou ask this question through concerned parents and paranoia struck police men after a ninth child (Inge Landgut) is murdered within the past year. The wake of this social dynamic quickly curls up and slams down hard upon the criminal element of the community and foams over in the form of civilian justice (injustice). And so and so it goes, the criminals of the city devote their time to catching the murderer, not for the greater good, but so the police will stop harassing them as if they were child murderers.

Lang's work is beautifully shot. Numerous chase scenes from brick-walled cobble-stoned city streets to singular light based shots in sewer systems and hide-and-go seek suspense elements in buildings provide a visual suspense witch matches the powerful story.

The acting is a bit overly dramatic at points, but overall the emotion is dealt very well. Peter Lorre does a fantastic job playing quite possibly the first serial killer in a motion picture (sorry for the spoiler... I doubt you can pick Peter Lorre out of I line up...I couldn't).

'M' is a film of cause and effect. For every problem there is a solution...for every solution a motive...and contained within every motive is the benefit of someone somehow. There are no heroes...there are no villains...there are simply the viewers' personal answers to social questions. Buy the end of the film you will ask yourself 'Wer ist der echte Morder?'

Story-----9
Look-----9
Acting-----8
Overall-----9

Star Trek (2009)

Review by Junior

Directed by J.J. Abrams

Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Zoe Saldana, Ben Cross, Winona Ryder, Bruce Greenwood and Eric Bana.

The classic movie and tv series has been given new life by director J.J. Abrams. For years, as the original Star Trek cast aged and fattened and their Next Gen replacements did not exactly light up the box office, Paramount has tinkered with the idea played out here: Kirk, Spock and McCoy as Starfleet cadets on their first mission, meeting for the first time and beginning their historic adventures. For years, Trek fans resisted the idea, saying you cannot recast those iconic roles and find that mysterious chemistry the original crew had. Now, after several Trekless years the studio has done it and have proven the fans wrong! This new, mostly unknown, cast is perfectly matched and by far the best thing about the new Star Trek.

The film begins with a bit of Trek history concerning Kirk's parents and his birth, then jumps to a scene of Kirk as a boy misbehaving in Iowa. Within 15 minutes, we are up to young, rebellious Kirk as he is recruited to join Starfleet by Captain Pike (well-played by Bruce Greenwood), then-captain of the newly christened USS Enterprise. Abrams parellels these scenes of Kirk's rebellious youth with Spock's troubles on Vulcan, not fitting in due to his dual human and Vulcan parentage, and his ultimate decision to join Starfleet as well.

Suffice it to say all the main characters are introduced along the way---McCoy, Sulu, Chekov, Uhura, and finally Scotty. They are all given a few moments to shine along the way. Together with Kirk and Spock, these characters have always been at the heart of the appeal of Star Trek, and the producers, if nothing else, have done a masterful job of assembling a group of very appealing, young actors to fill these roles. They also effectively balance adventure, humor and camaraderie to make this a very promising first outing, hopefully the first of many.

There are other pleasures to be had in the film, particularly for Trek fans. The inside references, the ill-fated red shirt, Bones' usual asides about "green blooded hobgoblins," Scotty and Chekov's accents, Pike's (revised) fate...well, the director and producers did something right for the film to be as enjoyable and promising as it is despite its story shortcomings.

That being said, the adventure plot itself is a mess. The villain, Nero, is unappealing and kind of stupid. The story doesn't hold together well and there are plot holes big enough to fly a Constitution class starship through. Although the creators of Trek have never (remotely) been slavishly devoted to science, they often based their ideas on scientific theories, or when they contradicted science they at least made some effort to give the audience some gobbledegook explanation why whatever they were doing was possible. The writers of this Star Trek, however, seem to not care or simply not understand basic science concepts, specifically the difference in a black hole and a wormhole.

OTOH, the creators did throw a bone to the diehard Trekkies who might kvetch at the contradictions in established Trek lore here. Any such inconsistencies can be explaned due to the time travel/changing history nature of this plot. Everything from this point forward is an alternate, "parellel universe" to the one established in the original Trek. Not really an issues for the new fans this movie hopes to attract, but they obviously want to appeal to their base as well.

Overall, a very enjoyable and promising beginning. Unfortunately, according to IMDB, the same writers are working on the sequel. Fortunately, I anticipate the same cast to return.

Story---5
Acting---8
Look---9
Overall---7

Black Sheep (2006/I)

'Black Sheep' is a film that really took me by surprise!

I had written several paragraphs about how unnecessary special affects are ruining cinema but I read it felt that it was really preachy...

Check out Black Sheep. This is the best B-Movie I have seen in quite some time. It was produced in the same vein as early Peter Jackson (Bad Taste, Dead Alive) and was coincidentally done in the same country (New Zealand). The film follows a young man (Henry) suffering from OVINAPHOBIA (an irrational fear of sheep) as he returns to his childhood home to take back ownership of the family sheep farm. There he reuintes with his brother (Angus) who has been conducting strange experiments on the resident sheep.

The flick was suprisingly entertaining and a refreshing change of pace from your average "horror stinker". It was well shot, well casted, and had a nice balance of horror affects and comedic undertones. This is no Shaun of the Dead but certainly worth the 87 minutes. Check out the Trailer below and feel free to contact me if you'd like to watch the full film!

One Missed Call (2008)

American remake of Japanese original Chakushin Ari (2003)
Directed by Eric Valette
Starring Shannyn Sossamon, Edward Burns, Ana Claudia Talancon, Azura Skye and Ray Wise.

Review by Junior.

Well, that's 87 minutes I'll never get back.



Story---1
Acting---1
Look---2
Overall---1

Vintage Foreign Flick: Fear of Fear

AKA "Angst vor der Angst," directed and co-written by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Released 1975.
Film is in German with English subtitles.

SYNOPSIS: On the eve of the birth of her second child, hausfrau Margot finds herself the victim of her own anxieties.

Review by CINEMAGIRL:

I'm a fan of retro foreign flicks. Starting with the French and Italian New Wave, these films began to explore human emotions, the impact of a human on his surroundings and the impact of surroundings on the state of human beings. Although made in the 1970s, "Fear of Fear" continues in that vein and explores the emotions and mental instability of Margot.

At the start of the film, Margot begins to feel strange emotions and paralyzing anxiety just before the birth of her second baby. She becomes gradually worse after the birth, feeling hopeless as a housewife. Her family doctor writes her prescription for Valium and tells her she is more sensitive than most people. Great diagnosis, doc.

Margot is alone all day with the baby. She considers pulling her 4 year-old daughter out of kindergarten to have her at home for company out of loneliness. At the same time, she must put up with a kind yet self-absorbed husband who is constantly busy studying for his degree, plus his bitchy sister and heavy-handed mother who live in separate apartments upstairs.

Margot has no one to talk to, except one unusual neighbor, the mentally ill Herr Bauer. This neighbor can see what Margot is going through and reaches out to her on the street, but she rebuffs him as being "a strange man."

Instead, Margot goes uncounseled and untreated, until she finds a connection for more sedatives. She later ends up having a near-suicidal experience which finally wakes up her husband to the fact that she needs real treatment.

The film is shot in a simple, straightforward way. However, there are times that Fassbinder creatively inserts a visual barrier between husband and wife, such as an ordinary table lamp, to illustrate their emotional barrier. The director uses dramatic string music to illustrate when Margot is experiencing an episode of anxiety or panic. He also uses a subtle ripple effect across the screen, most likely achieved by placing a piece of glass in front of the camera lens and turning it to make the room go just slightly wavy.

I liked that Fassbinder was respectful of Margot's character and showed real tenderness toward her mental illness. Even when Margot placed herself in compromising situations or went through difficult times, Fassbinder did not exploit the character or the actress by shooting graphic scenes. Sometimes less IS more.

Story: 8
Acting: 7
Shooting: 7

I recommend this as a rental during a foray into New Wave or other emotional European films. It makes for a nice psychological, character study.