Buy it!

Positive Experience/Entertaining? Written by William Goldman and based on his book? You bet it was a positive experience!

Technically any good? While the story is a little basic, it doesn’t overextend itself by complicating the plot too much. As a result it manages to do what it sets out to do really well. And of course the acting is perfect, but what do you expect from this cast? Anthony Hopkins, Burgess Meredith and Ann flippin’ Margret!!

OH yeah and it’s directed by Richard Attenborough.

Yep. THAT Richard Attenborough.

I have to admit being a little disappointed at not being completely blown away by this film, what with the cast, director and writer being known for their relative brilliance. However, this is film embodies the way movies should be made. It’s a good solid work that doesn’t rely on gimmicks or CG or even a lot of violence to creep you the hell out.

How did it leave me feeling? Definitely entertained. Hey, Ann Margret even gives us guys (and any lesbians out there) a little peak! I thought she’d never done nudity. ANYway, it left me very entertained and interested in reading the book it was based on.

Final Rating? SIYL – See If You Like–it’s a psychological thriller so if that’s not your cuppa, skip this. But if you are a person who likes solidly made films and don’t mind a little intense suspense and a bit of blood, Magic is your movie.

Maybe you liked it? Click above to buy it!

Positive Experience/Entertaining? Entertaining? Sure. Good? No. I know a lot of folks disagree with me, but I just kept shaking my head almost from the very beginning.

Technically any good? The CG was incredible, as you’d expect from a Pixar movie. The acting was great, too. The basic premise was solid, as well.

Sadly, those are the only good things I can say about this movie.

Everything else, and I mean EVERYthing else, was contrived and stupid. From the talking dogs to the insane ease at which the lead characters achieve their goals to the weak reasons for conflict that stop the movie from being about 20 minutes long.

I don’t have a problem with a house being carried off by balloons. I can accept anything in a movie if the universe is constructed in a way that makes me believe these things are possible. All Up does is make me believe that anything to save the characters and further the plot is possible, including rock-stupid choices made by uninteresting, predictable characters and acts of god so common, the Deus Ex Machina Corporation would be made a Fortune 500 company from the royalties it would collect from this movie.

How did it leave me feeling? Angry because this movie had the ingredients to live up to or even surpass the Pixar level of greatness set by films like Toy Story or Wall-E. However, this movie fails on every level Pixar films usually succeed on. It’s not clever, it doesn’t resonate, and all it does manage to do is make you glad you’re not staring at a blank wall.

Final Rating? NFI – NetFlix It if you’ve got really little kids and want to show them something stupid.

Put simply: there’s no reason a kids movie needs to be this dumb.

Buy it!

Would you recommend it? Definitely. In fact, I think most of us in the Western World are so in the dark about water, I think this documentary should be required watching.

Technically any good? While it does come across as very heavy-handed and preachy and doesn’t try too hard to present any opposing view points (though it does try), the facts it presents are undeniable and incredibly disturbing. It’s downright scary how much power big business has over the water in the ground. And just think about how important water is to commerce–as a result, water ends up being the number 3 commodity behind oil and electricity. Yeah. I didn’t know that either. Another fact it presents is that humans account for just 10% of the water use in the world. The rest is split unevenly between agriculture and business–the majority of which goes to business.

How did it leave me feeling? Angry, for two reasons. First, because no one seems to be aware of or have a problem with these giant companies using and controlling so much water. Second because the film pretends that a few isolated victories against these corporations means that we can stop them. Protests have stopped some companies from essentially stealing water, but Coca-Cola, for instance, is a huge company. They didn’t lose that battle in India, they just put their resources someplace else instead of wasting time with a bunch of protesters. So, I could have done without the corny, “speak truth to power” BS and stuck with the fear-mongering since that’s what is needed.

Would you sit through it again? YES! I want to go over the facts presented again and try to pick up on things I missed the first time through. This docu is jammed with interesting stuff and interesting people.

Seriously, watch this movie!!

Buy it!

Positive Experience/Entertaining? Definitely! It put a human face on these people we know only from the news.

Technically any good? Everything was very solid. The acting was incredible. The script was tight and the story was believable. The only “however” I have here is that the title suggests the movie is actually about the Queen of England. It really isn’t. It’s only about a part of her life. As such, I found it disappointing.

Maybe it was because I was alive and paying attention during the time period the movie takes place and as a result I didn’t need the review of events the film puts its viewers through. That’s not to say it wasn’t a nicely done review, I just wanted to know more about her life. I mean, of all of the incredible things Queen Elizabeth II has lived through, they picked how she dealt with (former) Princess Diana’s death. It was an interesting period, but surely, World War II, or the Falklands, or even the build-up to the Iraq War would have made for better cinema.

How did it leave me feeling? Definitely happy that I saw such wonderful performances from Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen, but ultimately disappointed that we didn’t get more of a history lesson. I won’t even go into how it was definitely a pro-British-Royalty propaganda movie. (Talk about white-entitlement issues! SHEESH!)

Final Rating? NFI – NetFlix It. Worth seeing for the good acting, but ultimately, I don’t think it’s really that worth seeing.

Buy it!

Positive Experience/Entertaining? YES. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a movie for adults that actually respected my intelligence and entertained me in a fun way at the same time.

Technically any good? Based on a play of the same name, this movie is pretty tight script and story-wise. There is almost nothing I would have done differently and there was no point in which I was bored. The movie tells its story, develops its characters and slides you to the edge of your seat with subtle skill. The acting from Michael Caine, Dyan Cannon and Christopher Reeve is is solid and very convincing.

The only flaw, I felt, was the music–while there was nothing wrong with it, in theory, I felt it was jarring in a movie that simply didn’t need any music. The performances and the editing are enough to pull you along and keep you enveloped. The perfectly reasonable, but fairly period, music knocked me clean out of the film.

How did it leave me feeling? Definitely entertained and definitely satisfied. It made me want to read the play and maybe even want to be in it. :)

Final Rating? SIYL – See If You Like intense but not terrifying moments. There are some definitely adult themes here, but for intelligent adults looking for a fun movie that won’t make you feel like you’re being spoken down to, this is a perfect pick.

If you haven’t seen this movie, don’t talk about the plot with anyone. Conversations about this film with even those who haven’t seen it are tantamount to spoiler mine fields that are very likely to destroy your first experience watching this film.