Frances Ha

     This film follows Frances, she lives in New York but she doesn’t have an apartment of her own.  She apprentices for a dance company but is not really a dancer.  She throws herself into her dreams for the future and often takes steps that keep her from realizing her dreams.  She flies to Paris for two days on a new credit card even though she can’t afford to go.  She goes back to her college to make some money and practice her dancing but she’s not allowed to practice.  She has a best friend Sophie but they aren’t really speaking anymore.  Will anything she wants come true?

     This is a different kind of film and shot in black and white.  Sometimes it makes you wonder if you are really in the world of Girls with Lena Dunham?  I wondered if I could continue to watch this and would it be worth it if I did?  Gerwig makes you think this is her life, she’s the director and this is her film but that is not the case.  The story is of the director Noah Baumbach.  3* (This movie is OK)

86 min, Comedy/Drama directed by Noah Baumbach with Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver, Michael Esper, Michael Zegen, Charlotte d’Amboise, Grace Gummer.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, 92% critic 79% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Barbara

     The setting of this film is East Germany of the 1980’s.  Barbara is a Berlin doctor banished to a remote rural hospital because she applied for an exit visa.  She is frustrated and only finds happiness in her secret meetings with her West German boyfriend, Jorg.  He is formulating an escape plan for Barbara to leave for West Germany.  The authorities are wary of her leaving and they come to her apartment to search for money multiple times.  Andre is another doctor at the clinic sent there from a large hospital because of a mistake with new equipment for premature babies.  Stella comes to the clinic with meningitis and she is pregnant.  Barbara and Andre work closely together to treat this patient and also a young man who tried to commit suicide. 

     Barbara and Andre go through a lot of difficulties because of the political situation in East Germany at this time.  Just across the border is freedom and professional advancement.  On the East side there is constant surveillance, informants everywhere and you cannot be yourself in public.  For quite a while you don’t know what Barbara is going to do about leaving and don’t expect anything in East Germany to be humorous.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

105 min, Drama directed by Christian Petzold with Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld, Rainer Bock, Christian Hecke, Jasna Fritzi Bauer, Mark Waschke.

Note:  Blockbuster 5%, imdb 7.2 out of 10, 93% critic 77% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Planes 2013

     This film is a spinoff of Cars.  Dusty is a humble crop duster dreaming of being a great air racer.  He has two problems connected with this dream, he’s afraid of heights and he has a small engine.  Skipper, a military veteran aviator helps him train for a race against the reigning circuit champ. 

     A lot of the story is related to Cars, the hopeful little guy against his betters.  Convincing his team that he can do this with a little help.  There has to be the good guys and the bad guys plus the side switchers.  I have it on good authority that the facts are accurate.  Entertaining if you set aside your skepticism!!  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

91 min, Animated directed by Klay Hall with the voices of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, John Cleese, Val Kilmer, Dane Cook, Anthony Edwards, Brad Garrett, Stacy Keach, Carlos Alazraqui, Cedric, Priyanka Chopra.

Note:  Blockbuster 2 ½*, imdb 5.6 out of 10, 26% critic 51% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Host 2013

     This film is based on a novel by Twilight author Stephenie Meyers.  Most of the human race has been taken over by something from outer space.  There are only small groups of regular humans left and the soul humans are searching them out to change them.  The invaders capture Melanie and she nearly kills herself trying to escape.  The invaders restore her to life and full health by taking over her body.  Melanie’s inner spirit is very strong and it is not letting the new spirit fully take over.  She returns to the hidden group of humans she was taken from and they don’t want to trust her because she has been changed.

     You can tell the humans from the souls by the difference in their eyes.  The souls have a bright pale blue circle.  This film is overlong and I wanted to stop watching many times.  The scenery is nice since most of the filming was in New Mexico.  Ronan does a good job but the other acting is bad and there are lots of very serious conversations that all sound like farewells.  2 ½* (This movie is so-so)

126 min SciFi/Fantasy directed by Andrew Niccol with Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, Chandler Canterbury, Max Irons, William Hurt, Frances Fisher.

Note:  Blockbuster 2 ½*, imdb 5.8 out of 10, 8% critic 50% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Love is All You Need 2012

     Ida is a hairdresser in Denmark, she comes home and discovers her husband with a woman co-worker.  Ida and her husband Leif are supposed to fly to Italy for their daughter’s wedding.  Ida decides to fly alone and she backs into Philip’s car in the parking garage.  He’s also heading to the same wedding and his son is getting married to Ida’s daughter.  Philip doesn’t care for living in Denmark but he’s a stern businessman fully involved in his job.  In the beginning, Ida and Philip seem to have nothing in common but the shared festivities for the wedding start to bring them together.

     This film is too predictable, following the formula, full of fluff and forgettable.  The only bright side is the scenery in Italy.  Most of the cast speaks Dutch and English but Brosnan speaks English and never Dutch?  He must be able to understand or he’s just following the script?  3* (This movie is OK)

116, Drama directed by Susanne Bier with Pierce Brosnan, Sebastian Jessen, Trine Dyrholm, Kim Bodnia, Molly Blixt Egelind, Paprika Steen.

Note:  Blockbuster 3*, imdb 6.5 out of 10, 74% critic 61% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Safe 2012

     Mei is 10 years old and she lives with her sick mother in Nanjing, China.  She is a numbers genius and her unusual memory has caused her to be kidnapped by Triad boss Han Jaio.  He sends her to America to keep track of his incoming payments and losses.  As his personal bookkeeper, she doesn’t leave a records like a computer or ledger book.  She follows her new “father” Chang on his many extortion collections.  Luke Wright is running from the Russian mafiz after botching a rigged fight.  When he sees Mei being followed on the train, he intervenes. 

     There is plenty of action in this film and the body count is very high.  The mafia and the mafiz are battling it out with each other and the NYPD.  A frantic pace but you can count on Statham to do a good job in his films.  3* (This movie is OK) 

  

95 min, Action directed by Boaz Yakin with Jason Statham, Catherine Chan, Robert John Burke, James Hong, Anson Mount, Chris Sarandon, Sandor Tecsy, Joseph Sikora, Igor Jijikine, Reggie Lee, James Colby.

Note:  Blockbuster 3 ½*, imdb 6.5 out of 10,  57% critic 60% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Epic 2013:

      Mary Katherine returns to her family’s home to see her father.  She’s really surprised to see the dog is still there and her room is exactly as she left it.  Her father is an eccentric scientist who believes tiny creatures live in the neighboring forest.  His quest to have others see this civilization has driven away his unbelieving colleagues and also pushes his daughter away.  Mary goes into the forest to find the dog, she is soon shrunken down to a tiny size and charged by the Queen to deliver a flower pod to safety.

     The backgrounds and the characters are very different and beautiful with vivid colors.  A forest fantasy that is magical, sweet and full of wonders.  The story is somewhat predictable and isn’t as compelling as the animation.  Slightly overlong on the battle scenes.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

102 min, Animated directed by Chris Wedge with the voices of Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Blake Anderson, Aziz Ansari, Allison Bills, Jim Conroy, Todd Cummings.

Note:  Blockbuster 3 ½*, imdb 6.7 out of 10, 64% critic 66% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.