Kramer vs. Kramer: A Quick Review

"Kramer vs. Kramer," released in 1979, was written and directed by Robert Benton.  It stars Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep.  The film won 5 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman and Best Supporting Actress for Meryl Streep.  This film is fantastic.  Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep play Ted and Joanna Kramer.  Together they have a young son.  One day Joanna decides she is going to leave Ted and their son.  A year and a half later her life is more on track and she wants her son back.  The Kramers have to go to court for custody of their son, Billy.  Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep are two of the best actors to come out of this country and are two of my personal favorites.  They give fantastic performances here...of course a solid script always helps too.  Both performances are flawless and feel so real.  The movie is incredibly emotional and moving and likely would not have had such an impact without the great casting.  The supporting cast also is great, I just won't mention them by name.  The film visually looks beautiful, with several tracking shots throughout and overall very nice composition.  "Kramer vs. Kramer" is a great, classic film...very moving and brilliantly acted.  It's in my top 10 movies of all time.


-Joseph Sbrilli

Bad Boys II: A Quick Review

Despite the terribleness of the latest Transformers movies, I don't have a thing against Michael Bay. He is a solid director who knows how to entertain and how to make solid action sequences. "Bad Boys II" is a superb action film, unlike "Bad Boys" which just isn't very good. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence play two wise-cracking no-nonsense narcotics detectives, who would rather shoot first and then shoot second as well. They are following the trail of a cuban drug lord who is plaguing Miami with an influx of ecstasy. Obviously, Will Smith dominates this feature, being the more badass of the two main characters. Martin Lawrence isn't as much of a bad ass but the constant quips between the two and hilarious dialogue make this movie a must see. The movie has some pretty cheesy parts and plot holes begin to show up by the end, but the set pieces are huge, the actors know what they're doing and they're prepared to take you along for the ride.


-Christopher O'Connell




Bad Boys II (Widescreen Edition)

She's Out of my League

"She’s Out Of My League" may sound like a self-help seminar for unattractive, awkward males (that’s what the look from the girl at the ticket counter told me, very judgmentally, I might add), but the film is anything but that. It really is just the story of a guy who got really lucky.

          

 Kirk, played by Jay Baruchel, is a low-level, socially awkward TSA security agent, rated a 5 by his peers, who somehow lands a date with blonde bombshell Molly (Alice Eve). Molly is a 10, and if this were the real world, she wouldn’t give Kirk the time of day. But since Molly seems to like him, he has to try his hardest to not screw it up, which if you’ve seen any romantic comedy since the invention of film, you know that he is going to screw it up, and that it is going to be very funny.

           

Jay Baruchel may be the only problem I have with this movie. I enjoyed him when he made his debut in "Tropic Thunder" as a supporting actor but he isn’t a good leading man (Hollywood disagrees because he has three movies coming out this year alone). He isn’t believable as the lucky guy who gets the hot girl, mostly because he has the body of a ten-year-old child, and because he acts with his arms. If Baruchel needs to show some sort of emotion he does it by flailing his skinny little arms in the air, the way normal people do when they want to really exaggerate a “what in the world are you talking about?” moment. It's like he was trying to make himself look bigger in case any large predators were around. I half expected a hawk to swoop down and carry him off while he squeaked in protest.

            

Thankfully, he is surrounded by a whole host of supporting characters who spend their time rescuing the movie from Baruchel. His three friends take the brunt of the work and although they are all no-name actors, they do a pretty good job. Fans of "That 70’s Show" will be pleased to see Kitty pulling out her trademark grin and high-pitched laughter. Many of the characters are overplayed, much like "Stepbrothers" was, but it actually feels perfect in this film and makes it significantly funnier. Top all that off with a surprisingly charming leading lady and you’ve got a comedy that lifts itself above just mere mediocrity. That, and a scene depicting the “sprucing up” of a man’s “combat” zone for relations of an intimate nature, makes it worth a watch.

Predictability and Jay Baruchel aside, "She’s Out Of My League" isn’t a bad film and is at least worth a matinee.

2 and a half out of 4 stars

-Christopher O’Connell

Good Night and Good Luck: A Quick Review

Robert Downey Jr., George Clooney, Jeff Daniels, all directed by George Clooney. Look at that cast, how could you go wrong? "Good Night, and Good Luck" is the story of new reporter Edward R. Murrow and his campaign against Senator Joe McCarthy during the Cold War. McCarthy spent his senatorial days accusing members of our government of being card-carrying communists, creating a state of fear that paralyzed the nation for a time. Murrow and his news team set about debunking McCarthy's claims and bringing back calm to a troubled nation. The movie is pretty fantastic, filmed completely in black and white. Being a history buff I knew that eventually I would have to see this and I am glad that I did. There is a lot of dialogue in this movie and some scenes can feel a little extended, but the entire film is well acted, well scripted, and if you can appreciate a good true story told fairly well "Good Night and Good Luck" is a safe bet.


Good Night, and Good Luck (Widescreen Edition)


-Christopher O'Connell

Identity: A Quick Review

"Identity" is a psychological thriller that was released in 2003 and directed by James Mangold ("Girl, Interrupted," "Walk the Line," "3:10 to Yuma.")  James Mangold is one of my favorite directors as far as recent directors go.  Those three movies mentioned above would be reasons for that statement.  "Identity" is yet more proof that people should never go to motels...death always occurs.  Malcolm Rivers is about to be executed for the murders of several people at the aforementioned motel.  We'll leave it at that for now...  John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Ray Liotta, John C. McGinley, Alfred Molina, among others, make up the cast.  If you like "Shutter Island" you will most likely like this as well...and vice versa.  I really enjoyed "Identity."  The cast was good and it was entertaining throughout and short enough so my ADD didn't quite set in.


-Joseph Sbrilli

Taxi Driver: A Quick Review

Martin Scorsese + Robert DeNiro + Bernard Herrmann = classic American film.  "Taxi Driver" came out in 1976.  And it should have won Best Picture, but it didn't because "Rocky" stole it...though that's a great movie, too.  "Taxi Driver" was the second of eight collaborations between Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro, then Scorsese ditched DeNiro for Leonardo DiCaprio.  Robert DeNiro plays Travis Bickle.  He's a mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran, who, among doing other things, tries to help a 13 year old prostitute named Iris (Jodie Foster) get a better life.  The film looks great.  This is because Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest directors.  "Taxi Driver" also sounds great and this is because Bernard Herrmann is one of the best film score composers...if you don't believe me watch and listen to "Psycho."  "Taxi Driver" is regarded as a classic and for good reason...it's a phenomenal movie with a great performance by Robert DeNiro.  Be a good American and watch it and learn to love it.


-Joseph Sbrilli

The Ghost Writer

DISCLAIMER: I hate Roman Polanski (the man).  He is a rapist and should have been in jail for several years, but, being a coward, he skipped out of the country for three decades.  And that is why all his movies since then have been filmed outside of the United States.  However I can't deny that the man directs great movies.  I've actually only seen "The Ghost Writer" and "Chinatown," but I have heard great things about "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Pianist."


"The Ghost Writer," was indeed directed by Roman Polanski, as was previously stated and semi-ranted about.  It stars Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, and Olivia Williams.  The movie is based off the book "The Ghost" by Robert Harris.


Ewan McGregor plays "the Ghost."  He becomes the one to ghost-write the memoirs of former prime minister, Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan).  The first ghost writer died under mysterious circumstances.  It also appears that Lang is accused of being involved with war crimes (like members of the CIA torturing alleged terrorists.)  Kim Cattrall plays Amelia, Adam Lang's assistant and mistress and Olivia Williams plays his wife, Ruth.  There's much more to the plot.  That's just an overview.  I don't want to spoil anything for people...like Wikipedia is so exceptional at doing.


Ewan McGregor...I hadn't seen him in much before this.  I saw him in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy...where a certain CGI-obsessed man named George Lucas decided to destroy his classic franchise.  Then last year I saw him in "The Men Who Stare at Goats"...in case anyone was wondering.  "The Ghost Writer" completely relies on his performance.  He is in just about every scene in the movie and interacts with pretty much every other cast member.  And he's great. Every conversation that he has, especially with Pierce Brosnan and Olivia Williams, feels natural.  I'm not a fan of Pierce Brosnan...at all...I find him incredibly annoying...but he wasn't bad at all in "The Ghost Writer."  Of course only being in a handful of scenes probably helped. So yeah...don't not see this movie just because he's in it...although he is great reason to avoid "Mamma Mia!"  The rest of the cast is great, too, but Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan are the main actors so I figured I would single them out.


The score!  It's really great.  A thriller is pretty much nothing without a great score.  The score can add to a movie or make it horrendous...like "Carrie" - worst score ever. Well anyways, it adds to the intensity of the movie and it just seems to build as the audience (and Mr. McGregor and company) find out key information as the plot unfolds.  I'm also relatively certain that mostly stringed instruments were used...nice move on whoever's part.  Without out it the movie would definitely be missing something.


Visually the movie is pretty simple.  There's no crazy camera movements or quick edits or anything going on here...which is not a bad thing...since impressive cinematography and editing doesn't make a great movie...it merely helps.


The movie felt like it moved a little slow at times.  Especially at the beginning.  Towards the end things start happening really fast.  Either that or my 4 hours of sleep renders me completely incapable of keeping up with a political thriller...which is sad...and hopefully when I rent this on DVD I will understand everything...eh...I can hope.  Also, a scene toward the end (that I won't spoil) was a strange combination of really interesting and slightly forced and unlikely.


As an aside, it's nice watching a movie where there's actually an intelligible plot and dialogue and not just tons of horrible CGI or hundreds of really extended actions scenes...which generally speaking - unless you're "The Dark Knight " or something - means you are just too lazy to write a good movie.


I was impressed.  It's only March and already I have seen 2 great movies in theaters...and both of them thrillers, which just makes things a little bit better.  I personally peferred "Shutter Island" to this because it's psychological and Martin Scorsese...two legitmate reasons.  However, Roman Polanski cranked out an overall great movie.  Great performances by the actors and engaging just about the entire time.  I would recommend this to people...I personally think it would be worth your money...if you're going to go the movies you might as well have a great experience.  3 1/2 out of 4 stars.


-Joseph Sbrilli