Waitress and Knocked Up

Waitress - Waitress is the kind of movie that I can't imagine anyone NOT liking. It's a thouroughly likeable and refreshing story. It's cute and sweet and funny, really just a wonderful gem of a movie. Written, directed and co-starring the late Adrienne Shelly (who was murdered earlier this year), the film follows Jenna (Keri Russell), a waitress at a pie diner in a small Southern town who is in a very unhappy marriage to Earl (Jeremy Sisto). She's secretly saving money in hopes to leave him but then she learns she's pregnant (after one lone drunken night). Jenna is not exactly happy about having a baby but she forms a bond with her sexy yet dorky doctor (Nathan Fillion). Soon, they are having an all out affair despite the fact that both are married and she's with child. Meanwhile, back at the pie diner, her waitress friends Becky (Cheryl Hines) and Dawn (Shelly) are having romantic highs and lows as well. Becky starts an affair of her own with the cranky manager of the place and the unlucky in love Dawn meets a weird suitor who just may be her Mr. Right. Throw in the ever fiesty and adorable Andy Griffith and you've got a wonderful little movie. I'll admit it does drag a little in the middle and seems a bit contrived now and then but mostly it's a movie with a huge heart. It's as sweet as all those pies that Jenna makes during the movies (and if you like pie, this movie will probably make you hungry... lucky for me, i prefer cake). Russell is finally becoming the movie star I always knew she could be. I have loved her since her Felicity days when she was the poster girl for shy, dorky girls in love with boys who don't even know they are alive and Waitress is the perfect vehicle for her. The entire cast is wonderful and they take the already solid script to a really great place. Cheers to Griffith for being the perfect scene stealer. It's more like, scene blessing, if you think about it. All in all, Waitress is the kind of movie that you really can't help but fall in love with a little bit.

Grade: A-

Knocked Up - First of all, comedies should not be close to two and a half hours long. And the worst part? It felt like it was even longer at times. Sure, it was funny. Sometimes it was very, very funny. But for every laugh out loud funny moment, there were about five long, drawn out, overly cliched boring parts. Let me start this over... Knocked Up is a romantic comedy that is more comedy than romance about a hot journalist (Katherine Heigl) who has a drunken, unprotected one night stand with a dorky slacker (Seth Rogen). Eight weeks later, she finds out she's knocked up and contacts dorky slacker Ben in order to tell him the news and maybe get to know the father of her baby. In the course of the movie they fall in and out of love and have many a sometime funny adventure. Here's the thing about the romance angle though: I didn't buy it for a second. It's not that I don't think a hot girl like Alison could fall in love with a dorky guy like Ben because I totally, one hundred percent do. And Ben was actually adorable and funny and charming. It's just that, the script kept telling me they were really learning to like each other and falling in love but it never really showed me that. Maybe it's because I just don't like Katherine Heigl but I couldn't really connect with her character. The best part of the movie for me was Alison's sister Debbie (Leslie Mann) and her husband Pete (Paul Rudd). They are married with two kids and always fight, never want to sleep together, and just don't really get along all that well. Mann is hilarious as she accepts the fact that she's getting older (eventhough she doesn't want to) and Rudd all but steals the show when he goes to Vegas and takes mushrooms. All in all, the movie was good but by no means great. Perhaps it's just a matter of taste, though. I tend to prefer my comedy with a little more darkness instead of slacker/stoner/gross boy humor. Still, I felt the movie was very uneven and the big laughs really couldn't save it from the parts when it just seemed to drag on and on forever. As far as unexpected pregnancy romantic comedies go, Waitress is a million times funnier, more romantic and just plain better.
Grade: C+

Bug and Bobby (DVD)

Bug - Bug is the kind of movie that you are either going to love or hate. Personally, I absolutely loved it. It's not exactly what I was expecting going into it but in many ways that made it better than I was hoping for. It's a slow-burning, calculating, deliberate movie that sets a steady pace and includes wonderful dialogue for the lead actors. The story follows Agnes (Ashley Judd), a divorcee with a drinking and drug problem who lives by herself in a dingy, deserted hotel and who moonlights as a waitress at a lesbian bar. One night, her friend/part-time lesbian lover introduces her to the quiet and mysterious Peter (Michael Shannon), an ex-Army soldier who may or may not be a paranoid delusional. They form an unlikey and reluctant relationship built around a friendship that forms quickly because they like to talk to each other. Then there is Agnes' ex-husband Jerry (Harry Connick Jr.) who is abusive and abrasive and who storms in and out of their lives over a few day period. At first, the story is very slow moving but you really learn about the characters which is so important for what's to come in the end. The final act is weird and creepy and really makes you think. I don't want to give anything away so go see it for yourself and then we can talk about what you made of the ending. Ashley Judd gives a fine performance but Michael Shannon is amazing. His performance is absolutely fearless. I don't know that Bug is exactly going to be the kind of movie that the Oscars will love but Shannon deserves an Oscar for his performance in this movie. No contest. He's absolutely amazing to watch. He's been so underused and underappreciated for many years and hopefully this movie will help him get some well-deserved recognition. Overall, if you are willing to give the weirdness of Bug a try, then it just may become your favorite movie of 2007 so far (because it's definitely mine).
Grade: A

Bobby - While I quite like the ever popular movie trend of intertwining stories of strangers whose lives cross at critical moments, there is a major problem with it. If it's not done perfectly, it can seem messy. That's the problem with Bobby. There is way too much going on in this story and it's not done perfectly. It's one huge mess. There are way too many characters whose lives all intersect at Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel on the night presidential hopeful Bobby Kennedy was shot. There is an adulterous manager played by William H. Macy, his hair stylist wife played by Sharon Stone and his switchboard operator girlfriend played by Heather Graham. There's an alcoholic lounge singer played by Demi Moore and her silently suffering manager husband played by Emilio Estevez (who also wrote and directed). There's the head of the kitchen played by Christian Slater who oversees workers played by Freddy Rodriguez and Laurence Fishburn. Lindsey Lohan plays a girl trying to save a former classmate (Elijah Wood) from going to Vietnam by marrying him. There are various workers and supporters of Bobby's compaign (Shia LaBeouf, Joshua Jackson, Nick Cannon - who is a terrible actor). Anthony Hopkins is the former doorman at the hotel. Ashton Kutcher turns up as a drug dealer and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who I adore) is in a few scenes as a waitress/struggling actress. Martin Sheen and Helen Hunt are... some people who are there? I'm sure I've missed half the cast but that's just my point - way, way too much going on here. The script is not strong enough and it just becomes a huge mess of a movie. I'll admit that the last fifteen minutes or so are very well done and emotional but that doesn't make up for the rest of the movie. Sharon Stone, Demi Moore and Freddy Rodriguez do their best to save the fumbling mess and Shia LaBeouf in all of his bare assed, LSD tripping glory is easily the best thing about the movie. I was so looking forward to seeing this movie and it was such a huge disappointment.

Grade: D+

The Last King of Scotland and The Painted Veil (DVD)

The Last King of Scotland - If I had to pick one word to describe this movie, it would be 'engrossing.' This is a modern day masterpiece of a film and it absolutely holds your attention from beginning to end. The movie follows the life of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) a young Scottish man who graduates med school and decides, instead of following in Dad's footsteps and working in family medicine, to take off to Uganda to have an adventure and maybe do some good for the African people. At first, he does do some good, working at a small mission and helping sick children. Then he meets the new president of the country (who just overthrew the former president), Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker). The two form an unlikely friendship and Garrigan becomes Amin's personal doctor and, reluctantly, one of his closest advisors. The story of their complicated friendship is wonderful. Once Garrigan's conscience gets in his way (and after he has an affair with the Amin's wife played by Kerry Washington), Garrigan is more or less stuck in a very tough situation. The screenplay and directing are both great. The quick cutting editing is perfect and helps to make the film feel fast paced and helps to keep it from ever getting boring. But the performances are what's really worth talking about. Out of last year's Best Actor nominees, Whitaker definitely deserved the Oscar for his mecurial performance. I've always thought he came across as such a soft-spoken and sweet guy. It's amazing to his transformation into Amin. He's at times absolutely charming and likeable. His people admire and respect him. But then that admiration turns to fear. At the drop of a hat, he can become an angry, rageful and downright scary man. Then, he switches back to being so charming so quickly. His performance is really a pleasure to watch. However, not only does McAvoy hold his own against Whitaker, but also, in my opinion, he steals the entire movie from him. McAvoy is a revelation. I never heard of the guy until last year at Oscar time and he absolutely blew me away. Had he been nominated for an Oscar, I would be singing a different tune about who deserved to win. He's got this childlike innocence mixed with a sort of world-weariness that is a weird mixture but it works for him. Overall, this is a great movie that you absolutely need to see. Right now.

Grade: A

The Painted Veil - This movie is a glamorous sort of throw back to Old Hollywood romance movies. It boasts excellent cinematography, a solid script and great performances. It follows Walter (Edward Norton) and Kitty (Naomi Watts), a couple who meet in London and marry, eventhough Kitty goes into the marriage in order to get away from her mother. They soon move to China where Walter works and Kitty enters into an affair with the married Charlie (Liev Schrieber). When Walter finds out, he threatens to divorce Kitty and tarnish her name unless she goes with him to a small village with an outbreak of cholera. After Kitty realizes that Charlie never intended to leave his wife for her, she reluctantly goes with her husband. What initially starts out as punishment for her, soon turns into redemption as she learns how to love her husband eventhough it may be too late. This movie is a sprawling, beautifully filmed epic. There are so many wonderful shots of nature. Watts and Norton have amazing chemistry and play off each other very well. Norton inhabits his quiet yet firm and somewhat cocky doctor perfectly. No matter how popular he gets, he'll always be the epitome of a character actor. Watts is wonderful as well as the once spunky girl who is unwilling to stay shackled in a loveless, unhappy marriage. The emotional turmoil she portrays near the end of the film is really, really great and if last year wasn't such a strong year for female performances, she would have been a lock at Oscar time. Toby Jones and (the absolutely amazing) Diana Rigg lend some much needed support. The main problem I had with the movie was how it just drags on and on and on. It could have been about 3o minutes shorter. Plus, you could tell they cut some scenes a bit confusing at first (but if they hadn't cut scenes, it would have been painfully long). All in all, it's not a great movie but it does boast great performances and beautiful cinematography so it's well worth checking out.

Grade: B+

Little Children and Notes on a Scandal (DVD)

Little Children - Little Children is wonderful and intricate drama that focuses on suburban America and the lives of people who are completely unfulfilled. Unhappy marriages. Unsatisfied lives. There is nothing more depressing than living a boring life. Sarah (Kate Winslet) is a brilliant woman who somehow finds herself in a marriage with a dull man addicted to an internet fetish website. She busies herself with her daughter who she seems at times highly disinterested in. She spends her days psychoanalyzing the local Moms at the park and her nights walking with an older woman. That is until she meets Brad (Patrick Wilson) - or The Prom King, as the park Moms call him. He is equally unsatisfied with his life. While his wife is busy making documentary films, he spends his days with his son at parks and the pool. The two become friends first. They talk and chat while their children play at the park and the pool. Sarah becomes entranced with their innocent flirations. That is, until a stormy afternoon sends them indoors. Winslet and Wilson play their characters with an understated melancholy - unearthing their mutual attraction, not in a fit of passion but in the natural course of daily events. Simply stated, the fill each other's voids. As an underscore to all this sex and passion, there is Ronnie (a wonderful, terrific, amazing Jackie Earle Haley), a man recently released from prison after exposing himself to a child. His complex role, played with such a creepy sensitivity (if that makes sense) is the absolute best thing about the movie. There is a particularly memorable scene after a date with a woman he meets through a personal ad where he oh-so-quickly destroys a trust that had been building throughout the evening. Ronnie becomes the talk and the menace of the town. The Moms and Dads hate him and make it known that he is not welcome in their town. The only one on his side is his loving and sweet mom, May. As someone who read the book and loved it, I was expecting to hate the little changes I knew they would make... but I didn't. There was a lot of backstory, supporting characters and fleshing out of story lines that was missing but it's really impossible to include everything unless you want a seven hour movie. I found the narration was bothersome but I'll let it pass since I did enjoy the movie so much (but not quite as much as Todd Field's other masterpiece In the Bedroom). Haley is brilliant. Winslet and Wilson are wonderful. The script and the direction are top notch. This is not a brilliant or perfect film, but it does have moments of brilliance and perfection.

Grade: A-

Notes On A Scadal - The only thing that seperates Notes on a Scandal from a Lifetime movie is the fact that Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett star. That's not to say I didn't thoroughly enjoy it (I love Lifetime movies!). Dench plays Barbara, a "battle axe" high school teacher. She is fiercely intelligent and utterly unloved and alone. The new year brings Sheba (Blanchett), a beautiful young art teacher with a husband and two children. Barbara slowly works her way into Sheba's life only to learn that she is carrying on an affair with a 15 year old pupil. Instead of telling the powers that be at the school, Barbara uses this knowledge to become closer and closer to Sheba. Then, of course, the secret gets out (as most secrets do). On paper, it's a trite plot and is suitable only for Lifetime. But, when you add Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett and Patrick Marber's acidic script, the movie manages to become rather interesting and well done. Blanchett plays her teacher as a week character, caught up in her emotions and that is the perfect foil for Dench and her steely determination and ruthless pursuit for companionship. Another thing that keeps this from becoming a Lifetime movie is that it manages to steer clear of sensationalism to present present the sad inner lives of two women. The middle section of the film falls apart a bit at times - it's not nearly as gripping as the beginning and the conclusion (that wonderful dark humored ending), but Notes on a Scandal is still an engaging and emotionally intense film.

Grade: B+

Sidenote: I have begun watching the Horrorfest: 8 Movies To Die For (eventhough there are only 7... wtf?) films. I will save my reviews until I see all of them but I would just like to say that in the film Penny Dreadful, the keyword is Dreadful.