The Sting

1973, Rated PG, 129 minutes Directed by George Roy Hill, Written by David Ward, Produced by Robert Crawford, Cinematography by Robert Surtees

With: Paul Newman (Henry Gondorff), Robert Redford (Johnny Hooker), Robert Shaw (Doyle Lonnegan), Charles Durning (Lt. Wm. Synder), Ray Walston (J.J. Singleton), Eileen Brennan (Billie), Harold Gould (Kid Twist), Dana Elcar (FBI Agent Polk)

Con movies have been done before, they have been done since, and we will continue to see con movies throughout the cinematic future. The Sting stands out as the best according to many critics and I tend to agree. It deserves the 7 Oscars it nabbed, including best picture, because it is an exquisite film that makes you continually evaluate and reassess who exactly is being conned and how is this all going to turn out. 

Couples Retreat

2009, Rated PG-13, 113 minutes Directed by Peter Billingsley, Written by Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn & Dana Fox, Produced by Scott Stuber & Vince Vaughn, Cinematography by Eric Edwards, Original Music by A. R. Rahman

With: Vince Vaughn (Dave), Jason Bateman (Jason), Faizon Love (Shane), Jon Favreau (Joey), Malin Akerman (Ronnie), Kristen Bell (Cynthia), Kristin Davis (Lucy), Kali Hawk (Trudy), Peter Serafinowicz (Sctanley), Jean Reno (Marcel)

  

      Life can hit you pretty hard sometimes. It is so easy to get caught in the moments, the issues, and the stresses of life that families suffer and marriages are neglected; some realize it and accept it, others run from it, and some do not even realize that it is happening to them. Couples need to take time out for themselves to get things back to the way they were, to better appreciate their spouse and realize the importance of family. Couples Retreat plops you right in the middle of four such couples from Buffalo Grove, IL. Three couples are in a relationship that seemingly works for them while the final couple is considering divorce. And so we enter the comedically dramatic world of these four couples as they travel to paradise for sun, fun and therapy;  while it presents some laughable moments, it falls short in character development and strong story giving us another average romantic comedy.

Kick-Ass

2010, Rated R, 117 minutes Directed by Matthew Vaughn, Written by Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., Produced by Adam Bohling, Matthew Vaughn and others, Cinematography by Ben Davis, Original Music by Marius De Vries, Ilan Eshkeri, Henry Jackman, & John Murphy

With: Aaron Johnson (Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass), Lyndsy Fonseca (Katie Deauxma), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Chris D’Amico/Red Mist), Mark Strong (Frrank D’Amico), Chloe Moretz (Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl), Nicolas Cage (Damon Macready/Big Daddy)

Superhero movies have been around for long time. In the past 10 years they have become assured box office success raking in hundreds of millions each. The majority of these films tackles a standard plot of a superhero taking the law into his own hands to clean up the city or exact revenge. Kick Ass, the latest movie adapted from a graphic novel, creates a new premise around the typical superhero plot. The protagonist is no longer a superhero but instead an average teenage boy, a neurotic father and his young daughter. Kick Ass is a new direction in the superhero drama that also represents the progressively more violent and shocking nature of today’s entertainment industry.

Tron

 

1982, Rated PG, 96 minutes, Directed by Steven Lisberger, Written by Steven Lisberger & Bonnie MacBird, Produced by Donald Kushner & Ron Miller, Cinematography by Bruce Logan, Original Music by Wendy Carlos

With: Jeff Bridges (Kevin Flynn), Bruce Boxleitner (Alan Bradley), David Warner (Ed Dillinger), Cindy Morgan (Lora)

Tron takes you into the world of computer programs and video games...literally. It takes place in 1982 when video games were getting their start and computers were beginning to tackle more functions and responsibility. Tron dazzles the eye with bright colors and captures the imagination in its immersive virtual reality.

In 1982, video games were just beginning to enter the mass market from the exclusive entertainment world where they started. Tron gives a bigger picture of that world from the inside out. Tron gives life to the virtual world behind the screen by creating people who do the fighting and obey the commands of their outer world users. The movie uses a simple and engaging plot to address issues of technology, corporations, greed and power.

$9.99

2008, Rated R, 78 minutes, Directed by Tatia Rosenthal, Written by Etgar Keret and Tatia Rosenthal based on short stories by Etgar Keret, produced by Amir Harel and Emile Sherman, Cinematography by Richard Bradshaw, James Lewis & Susan Stitt, Original Music by Christopher Bowen

With: Joel Edgergon (Ron), Leon Ford (Stanton), Claudia Karvan (Michelle), Anthony LaPaglia (Jim Peck), Ben Mendelsohn (Lenny Peck), and Geoffrey Rush (Angel)

$9.99 is a stop motion clay animated film about the residents of an apartment building in Sydney, Australia. Like a real life apartment building, the characters in the movie have their own lives and their own story. This of course makes perfect sense as the script is based on a series of short stories by Etgar Karat. The problem is that this makes the movie disjointed and jumpy.

Easy Rider

1969, Rated R, 95 minutes Directed by Dennis Hopper, written by Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and Terry Souther, produced by Peter Fonda, cinematography by Laszlo Kovacs

With: Peter Fonda (Wyatt), Dennis Hopper (Billy), Jack Nicholson (George Hanson)

Easy Rider is on many must see movies lists; #84 on the AFI Top 100 movies list. Even though the film is over 40 years old, it still garners praise as a must see movie. Many have seen pictures of the two main characters riding their motorcycles to Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild.” It has become an iconic image to numerous generations. After finally sitting down to watch the film myself, I say with certainty that the film lives up to its hype.
Easy Rider is a beautifully done minimalist movie with a sweeping social commentary on the cultures of the 60s. More than a countercultural film, it is a commentary on American society. It stands up against the test of time and continues to address relevant issues in today’s culture.

New Moon

2009, Rated PG-13, 130 minutes, Directed by Chris Weitz, written by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the book New Moon by Stephanie Meyer, Produced by Wyck Godfrey, Cinematography by Javier Aguirresarobe, Original Music by Alexandre Desplat

With: Kristen Stewart (Bella Swan), Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black), Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen), Billy Burke (Charlie Swan), Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen), Anna Kendrick (Jessica)

I am not a die hard Twilight series fan. I let the young teenagers handle that department. I avoided seeing the movie in the theaters in order to avoid the rabid screaming fans that would have hindered the viewing experience. So the time finally came to watch New Moon  this weekend and overall, the movie is a marked improvement from the first installment but lacks certain cinematic essentials that make it a slightly below par flick.

Mulholland Dr

2001, Rated R, 147 minutes,  Directed and Written by david Lynch, Produced by Pierre Edelman, Cinematography by Peter Deming, Original Music by Angelo Badalamenti

With: Naomi Watts (Betty Elms/Diane Selwyn), Laura Harring (Rita), Ann Miller (Catherine ‘Coco’ Lenoix, Justin Theroux (Adam Kesher)

A limousine traverses down the winding and scenic Mulholland Dr. A beautiful woman (Laura Harring) waits to reach their destination only to find the car stopped and a gun pointed at her. Her time has come to an end until a car smashes head on into the limousine leaving everyone dead but the woman who only has a scratch. Dazed and confused she heads through the woods towards LA. 

And so you enter into the Lynch’s world where you will be scratching your head asking yourself constantly what just happened, who is that, where is this going? Many of these questions will remain unanswered but will be in your mind days after the final credits roll. The multiple stories in the movie will converge and diverge sometimes at the same time. Mulholland Dr will capture your imagination but at the same time leave you with a furrowed brow and a brain tied up in so many knots that even a seasoned sailor would have trouble getting them out.

Knife in the Water

1962, NR, 94 minutes, Directed by Roman Polanski, Written (in Polish with English subtitles) by Jakub Goldberg, Roman Polanski & Jery Skolimowski, Produced by Stanislaw Zylewicz, Cinematorgraphy by Jerzy Lipman, Music by Krzystztof Komeda 

With: Leon Niemczyk (Andrzej), Jolanta Umecka (Krystyna), Zygmunt Malanowicz (Young Boy)

It all started innocently enough. A older professor and his much younger wife decide to spend a day sailing on the lake. But that all changes when the professor decides to pick up a brash young hitchhiker and bring him along. With the addition of one man a day on the lake becomes a day of tension and competition, a male one upmanship. So is the story in Roman Polanski’s A Knife in the Water.

Duchess

2008, Rated PG-13, 110 minutes, Directed by Saul Dibb, written by Jeffrey Hatcher, Anders Thomas Jensen, Saul Dibb, based on the book “Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire” by Amanda Foreman, Produced by Michael Kuhn and Garbrielle Tana, Cinematography by Gyula Pados, Original Music by Rachel Portman

With: Kiera Knightley (Georgiana), Ralph Fiennes (the Duke), Charlotte Rampling (Lady Spencer), Dominic Cooper (Charles Grey)

“It’s just our way of expressing ourselves...you [men] have so many ways of expressing yourselves whereas we must make doe with our hats and our dresses” said the Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana. And Georgiana expressed herself fully through the clothes she wore. Trapped in a loveless marriage, forced to tolerate and even cohabitate with the Duke’s mistresses, Georgiana seemingly accepted her fate and let herself be heard through style and even her politics.