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Review: Avatar

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$ (in 3D)

Rotten Tomatoes: 83%

For the first hour or so of Avatar, James Cameron's long-awaited science fiction film, I was enthralled. The visuals were stunning and the 3D complemented the storytelling (earning my 3 star rating). The movie unfolds as a visual tour de force. Then, about 65 minutes into the film, I came to my senses. The movie wasn't made for me; it was made for 12 year-old-boys. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The little dears will revel in the protracted battle scenes and the noise, and they'll be oblivious to the sad fact that Cameron writes some of the most stilted dialog ever filmed. (We are somewhat saved from groaning because most of lines delivered by the Na 'vi, the natives of Pandora, are in their language -- developed meticulously for the film.)

An even bigger problem, however, is that the storyline is as old as discussions of the "noble savage" -- a terminology wrongly attributed to Rousseau but nevertheless popularized in the 18th century as the concept that unspoiled "native" peoples are inherently more moral than those of "civilized" societies. As one critic pointed out, this film is basically a remake of Dances with Wolves. It's also a rehashing of too many off-world science fiction plots. It is one of the most predictable films I've ever seen.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: It's Complicated

Review: It's Complicated

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 50%

Disclosure: I was predisposed to love this movie. Like Jane, Meryl Streep's character in the movie, I was divorced in 1999. Also, my ex-husband soon married a woman younger than I. And, like Jane, my life has taken off in a completely different direction from where it was going in 1999. I don't, however, live in Santa Barbara and my wasbund and Steve Martin aren't hovering around my front door. But, I was still absolutely delighted with this movie -- as I expect many women of a certain age will be. A strong, charming woman, comfortable with her celibacy, is suddenly pursued by two strong, charming men. It's not Citizen Kane, but it's a well-acted, well-plotted afternoon's entertainment with a strong supporting performance by The Office's John Krasinski.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Sherlock Holmes

Review: Sherlock Holmes

Rating: **

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 69%

I really, really wanted to like this movie. And I was able to discard my preconceptions -- based on reading Arthur Conan Doyle's fiction and viewing dozens of old movies -- of how Sherlock Holmes should be portrayed. But I was terribly disappointed in what I had expected to be great fun.

The acting is fine. Robert Downey Jr. portrays a moody (dare I say manic depressive) Holmes with considerable flair and physical ability (although I wish he had mumbled less through his brooding English accent). Jude Law was a refreshingly intelligent Watson, and the supporting cast did everything they were supposed to do.

The problem was the story: Sherlock Holmes meets Dan Brown. Please, filmmakers, bury the plots about secret, dark societies bent on sacrificing virgins and taking over the world. Ho hum. All the flashy martial arts battles in the world can't make up for trite story lines.

And Guy Ritchie quickly deflected his tease of a Holmes/Watson homoerotic relationship through Watson's engagement to Mary Morstan (Kelly Reilly whom I hope will appear in a much better plotted sequel -- there's a great untold story there) and Holmes seemingly unconsummated passion for Irene Adler, the only woman he pays attention to in any of Doyle's fiction.

In short, my dear Watson, it was something of a mess.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Me and Orson Welles

Review: Me and Orson Welles

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 84%

Add Tim Robbin's vibrant The Cradle Will Rock to Richard Benjamin's delightful My Favorite Year and you will get something that approximates Me and Orson Welles -- only most of what makes those two contributing films so fine is lost in the mix. The film focuses (in a manner of speaking) on the relationship of a high school student (played by Zach Efron) and Orson Welles' assistant (Clare Danes). But Zach must have skipped Chemistry in high school because there's certainly none here. The relationship goes nowhere fast and just doesn't hold our attention. The problem is Efron. He's pretty enough, but seems insubstantial in this movie -- a lightweight compared with everyone else. If there is any reason to see this movie, it is the performance of Christian McKay, who embodies a fully-flavored Orson Welles, warts and all. He's flamboyant, bombastic, brilliant, and a womanizer. He's downright charismatic and infuriating -- and you can't help loving him.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Disney's A Christmas Carol

Review: Disney's A Christmas Carol

Rating: **

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 55%

I'm downright schizophrenic about this film. Let me list what I liked about it:

• The animation is stunning -- even better than Polar Express. Dicken's London of 1842 is beautifully realized.
• Robert Zemeikis captures Jim Carrey's expressive face perfectly. Carrey's voice is different enough from his own that we forget it's Jim Carrey almost immediately.
• The Ghost of Christmas Past is an animated spooky flaming candle with an unsettling Irish brogue -- and I couldn't take my eyes off it.
• The Ghost of Christmas Future was awesomely creepy too.
• It's the scariest Christmas Carol ever. Yes, this is definitely a life-changing experience for Scrooge.
• My grandson Max (12) loved it.

Now, what I didn't like about it:

• Yes, Carrey's face was beautifully realized, but too many of the other characters looked like wax figures.
• Stick to the story! There was a bizarre chase scene in which Scrooge was miniaturized and spoke in a helium voice. Totally distracting and totally superfluous.
• It was too scary for Eli (5). He spent the whole movie with his hands over his eyes, even though I kept telling him no one would be hurt and everyone would be happy at the end. Much too much for a 5-year old.

Rent the 1951 Alastair Sim version. Far superior.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Rating: ****

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 92%

Fantastic Mr. Fox, the much praised stop-motion film based on the Roald Dahl story for children, is a delight from beginning to end. I took my almost 12-year-old and definitely 5-year-old grandsons to see it and they both gave it thumbs up -- as do I. It's fast-paced and witty and features the voices of George Clooney and Meryl Streep (it made me want to see them play against each other in a "real" movie). More than anything else, the movie is full of whimsy -- and not many movies can make that wonderful claim. It simply delights with its burnished fall palette - oranges and dark reds and browns. The only green and blue I noticed were the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Fox. And Wes Anderson, the director, to his credit didn't shy away from the more bloody aspects of being a fox in a world of chickens and ducks. If you have children, purchase this film when it appears on DVD. They'll love it over and over.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Up In The Air

Review: Up In The Air

Rating: ****

Nonna's Rating: $$$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 90%

The ads for this film seem to intimate that it's a romantic comedy. Don't believe it. It's seriocomic; it's a dramedy -- maybe -- but it's most definitely not a romantic comedy. The three principal actors are stunning in their roles. George Clooney completely redeems himself from the biggest mistake of his career: The Men Who Stare At Goats. He reminded me of the mature Cary Grant, so adept at conveying subtle emotions in spite of his beautiful face. Vera Farmiga as Alex, Clooney's love interest, portrays a powerful woman who is always in control --except for one very difficult moment. And Anna Kendrick is a revelation, a tiny, eager bundle of confident energy spoiling for a fall.

In the film, Clooney plays a terminator, spending the majority of his time in airports and airplanes as he travels from corporation to corporation "laying off" and "firing" people to spare the companies the grief. And, as a side business, he delivers business lectures about keeping backpacks light -- not having emotional attachments or commitments or too much stuff. He has an epiphany by the end of the movie, but even that must be reevaluated in light of a couple of smacks upside his head that follow. The director, Juno's Jason Reitman, avoids tying up the end of the film with a nice Hollywood ending. Instead, after having Clooney's character make a couple of life-altering choices, we see him ready to step into the future -- but we have no idea what that future will be. We can only hope.

This is a remarkably adult film for a Hollywood picture with an A-list star. It's funny, entertaining, sad, and jolting. The subtext is the devastating effect the economic downturn has had on millions of workers: those that are fired and those who do the firing.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Invictus

Review: Invictus

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 77%

The other day on NPR, I heard someone, who knew Nelson Mandela well, say that Morgan Freeman's portrayal of his friend in this film was downright unsettling: Freeman was not like the man; he was the man. Freeman brings to this role, as he's brought to so many others, subtlety and grace -- insights into another human life telegraphed by understated, simple moments of speech and action.

Clint Eastwood's film chronicles Mandela's attempt to break the cycle of violence and hate in South Africa. After years of Apartheid oppression, South African blacks were expected to take out their frustrations on the white minority who were no longer in control of the country. Mandela wanted to head off that impulse, to rebuild the society into one where forgiveness and reconciliation would be possible. He decided to use the Rugby World Cup to bring the country together. It's not a simple solution. He recognizes it will take time and patience, but he believes his vision is achievable and continually communicates that belief to all around him.

At the end of the movie, Eastwood signals that South African life is moving toward Mandela's vision, not by South Africa's underdog victory in the World Cup, but by the metaphor of the evolving relationship of one poor black child and a couple of white police officers. It's not a sports movie; it's a movie about the tough job of nation building and the remarkable man who chose to forgive and reconcile rather than hate and seek revenge.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Precious

Review: Precious

Rating: ****

Nonna's Rating: $$$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 91%

Precious is a disturbing movie, unsettling because we know in some deep, hidden place within us that the story is too, too close to truth. The acting is raw and real. Nothing is prettified. When all is said and done, we are horrified that children can grow up in the complete absence of love, and amazed that they often do all they can to understand what love can be. The movie feeds our hope that there are idealistic souls who strive to help, but it is oh-so-obvious that there are too few of them and that they have neither time nor money nor power. Finally, we are left alone with our worst fears: in the end, the individual must save herself. A miracle must occur and only a few have the grace and power to do it. It's a very disturbing movie that ultimately asks how we can turn our faces away and pretend that the poor and uneducated aren't sinking deeper and deeper into the morass. I've been told that a common response to this movie is that such conditions just don't exist, that it's all outlandish exaggeration. Heaven help us.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Pirate Radio

Review: Pirate Radio

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 60%

If you grew up with the music of the 60s (Stones, Kinks, Turtles, Procul Harum THE BOX TOPS), you will probably love this movie. Yes, some of the music used hadn't been produced during the time frame of the movie, but who cares? It's all fun. Wild, crazy, out of control, 60s fun. And you'll laugh out loud. Phillip Seymour Hoffman (adept at anything he pursues) and Bill Nighy (who never disappoints) are the icing on the cake.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: An Education

Review: An Education

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 94%

Carey Mulligan makes this movie. She richly deserves her Golden Globe nomination. As a bright, curious English girl, assumed to be on her way to Oxford in the 60s, she has us all on her side. Not just hoping for her survival: we want her to triumph. And, oh yes, Peter Sarsgaard is no slouch either. Part of the magic of this film is that Sarsgaard seduces us in very much the same way he seduces Jenny and her clueless parents. We want (oh so much) to believe we have found the perfect, flawless, loving, genuine man that we know Jenny deserves. The fantasy ensues and then it unravels. And we're all a little older and a little wiser.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Michael Jackson's This Is It

Review: Michael Jackson's This Is It

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 80%

I was never a fan of Michael Jackson. I didn't even like the music of the Jackson Five. So, I went to this film under duress and as a favor (I'm so magnanimous) to my movie buddy, Linda. Well, I was mesmerized. Recognizing that hours and hours of Jackson's rehearsals were cut skillfully to produce this favorable portrait of the troubling, troubled star, I am still taken in by what I saw. The talent and the perfectionism are evident. He demands the best from himself and others, and demands it, not as a tyrant or martinet, but as a benevolent despot who repeatedly thanks all those around them for their hard work by saying, "God bless you." He doesn't say this in an affected or ingenuous way; he says it carefully, with sincerity -- as if he really means it. Ironically, he seems to be at the top of his game. If he is addled with drugs, he shows no signs of it. At the end, we still don't know who Michael Jackson really is, but we do know that a gifted, complex soul once moonwalked this earth.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Men Who Stare At Goats

Review: The Men Who Stare At Goats

Rating: NO STARS

Nonna's Rating: #

Rotten Tomatoes: 54%

George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey. It should have been a great movie. It was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Absolutely no point to it. A story that went nowhere. 'Nuff said.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Good Hair

Review: Good Hair

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 94%

I'm white and I have never understood the secret life of my black friends and their hair. This film has revealed a great deal to me -- and I'm appalled. I had no idea. Thanks to Chris Rock, I now understand that black people spend a lot more on their hair and spend a lot more time on their hair than I do. I was fascinated by this documentary, but, so far, none of my black friends have seen it. "I live it," each has said wearily. Chris Rock, a loud, brash comedian on stage, is very different as the narrator/interviewer of this film. He seems like, well, a regular guy. In one scene, he's in a barbershop listening to a group of African-American men talk about hair. He seems downright introverted as he listens attentively. And they aren't the least bit impressed by his celebrity. They treat him like one of the guys. I wholeheartedly recommend this film. It's full of humor and gentle satire.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: A Serious Man

Review: A Serious Man

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 87%

I've never met a Coen Brothers movie I didn't like. (Well, I could do without Intolerable Cruelty.) A Serious Man did not disappoint me. I watched it in downtown Highland Park with two priests, two almost priests, and a smattering of older Jewish men and women who, like us, had probably heard that the film was a retelling of the book of Job. It's sort of a retelling. But no God. No Satan. All manner of ill befall the main character, but the Job-ness of the story is not what's important. If anything, the movie is similar in theme to No Country For Old Men: "No one, absolutely no one, gets out alive" -- which is kind of Job-like as I think about it. In essence, what happens to all of us is strictly arbitrary. The film is replete with delightful performances by largely unfamiliar actors. A personal note: I found the last scene incredibly chilling because I have been in exactly the situation depicted -- which, of course, it would be criminal for me to reveal.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Whip It

Review: Whip It

Rating: *1/2

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 83%

I'm the naysayer on this one. Why did this movie get such great reviews? It does have a terrific cast, roller derbies are intrinsically fascinating, and Drew Barrymore, actress and director, has always been the darling of the critics. But it clunks along. The pacing is uneven and the directing unsure. I tried to forgive it its flaws, but there were too many annoying aspects to this movie. And am I the only person who finds Ellen Page's smart aleck delivery annoying? I'm feeling very uncharitable about this movie. I'm just warning you not to waste your time.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Bright Star

Review: Bright Star

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 84%

Okay, I loved this movie. One of my examination areas for my Ph.D. was 19th Century British and American Poetry. Keats is, well, the bomb. And I had to memorize Bright Star in high school. During the credits of this movie someone recites Ode to a Nightingale -- the most Romantic poem I have ever read. I swooned. I loved every painful moment of Keats' frustrating relationship with Fanny Brawne. At the same time, I realize this movie was made to appeal to those weird people among us who can read Wordsworth's Prelude without wincing. So, I warn you. This movie is not for everyone. It's not a Jennifer Anniston romantic comedy and it doesn't have the airy charm of a Jane Austen movie. So, view it with my warning label. I loved it, but you may not. The cinematography is the most stunning I've seen in a long time.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Informant

Review: The Informant

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 77%

Matt Damon again shows himself to be a superb actor, but the pudgy schlub in this film surely can't be the guy in Bourne Ultimatum! In this film, Damon is a high-level corporate whistle blower at Archer Daniels Midland who exposes global price fixing. But, what seems pretty straightforward at first does, indeed, get a lot more complicated than that -- and a lot more fascinating than we might imagine. There's something very endearing about this very mixed up man. His FBI runners are so fond of him they carry around pictures of his him and his family. Make sure you rent it.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it