Review: Get Low

Review: Get Low

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 86%

It's a simple, little story set in the Despression -- hardly enough to make a movie. Robert Duvall portrays a Tennessee recluse, a man who has stayed as far away from people as possible for 40 years. Nearing the end of his life, he decides that he will use his savings to throw himself a funeral -- which he plans to attend. He does this hoping that the people who have known him will tell stories about him; he wants them to tell the one story he can't bear to tell.

Bill Murray plays the funeral director who assists him in his plans. Again, Murray shows us his considerable acting talent. I found it impossible not to imagine his character's likely colorful backstory: a series of careers cut short by a series of indiscretions, I'm sure.

At the end of the film, Duvall makes a speech which reminds us why we have loved to watch his movies for the past 50 years. He makes a confession and, in turn, is given grace and redemption.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Girl Who Played With Fire

Review: The Girl Who Played With Fire

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 66%

The second installment of the Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy manages to distill a sprawling novel into its essential narrative. That said, I'm not sure if someone who has not read the book would be able to follow the story. There is that proliferation of characters which is confusing enough to those who have read the book: in the movie many central players are not even identified. We are left to deduce who they are and how they function in the film's narrative. In addition, the ending, a true cliffhanger, will likely dissatisfy those who have not read the second and final books.

So, why care about this movie? Easy. Noomi Rapace. She embodies the character of Lisbeth Salandar as convincingly as Vivien Leigh did Scarlett O'Hara. And that makes up for lots of cinematic sins. In this film, Salandar finds herself accused of a triple murder. She uses her preternatural computer and survival skills to escape the long arm of the Swedish police. While evading the law, she contends with the real murderers using her own brand of vigilante justice.

You may have trouble finding the film. It has not been released as widely in the Chicago area as the first movie. Its box office does seem to be on pace with the first film, however, in spite of its limited release. You just may have to wait for the rental market. This is unfortunate because the final film, sure to be an art film blockbuster, will be released in October.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Kids Are All Right

Review: The Kids Are All Right

Rating: **

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 94%

Here I go again. Not liking a film almost every notable critic likes. Let me say some positive things first. Annette Bening does a great job portraying a driven professional woman with control issues. And Julianne Moore also does a fine job as a bright woman who finds herself at loose ends as her oldest child goes off to college. Both these excellent performances, however, are undermined by the annoying subtext of the movie: "What every woman needs (even if she's a lesbian) is a good man." I just didn't buy it. That, combined with dialog in California-style babble-speak, made the movie much less than it could have been. (I do realize that there might have been gentle satire at work with the annoying script, but, if that's so, it didn't work for me.)

Bening and Moore portray a lesbian couple with a long-standing relationship. Each of them has had a child by the same anonymous sperm donor. The kids want to find and get to know their dad. Into their lives marches Mark Ruffalo, a funny, passionate free-spirit destined to wreak havoc in their lives. It's a great basis for a story, but, in the end, it only strains our credibility.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Eat Pray Love

Review: Eat Pray Love

Rating: **

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 39%

It's not horrible. It's not great.

And, it is most definitely a chick flick. Julia Roberts plays Liz Gilbert, a woman who walks away from her marriage and then walks away from a relationship with a younger man (James Franco -- who would walk away from that!) in order to find herself. I realize that by using those last two words in my previous sentence, I've trivialized Liz's experience, but, honestly, I have to. Liz is a woman who leads a privileged life -- and whines about it. She travels to Rome (to eat), to India (to pray), and to Bali (to love). In Bali (not giving away much here), she finally learns that she must move outside her solipsistic world and give of herself trusting fully, no strings attached. Not exactly a profound or unusual insight, but it works.

As always, Julia is endearing. And there are excellent performances by Javier Bardem, Billy Crudup, Viola Davis, James Franco, and the always surprising and compelling Richard Jenkins. It's just that when all is said and done, the story seems very superficial -- easy spirituality in a summer of mediocre movies.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: I Am Love

Review: I Am Love (Io sono l'amore)

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 81%

Suddenly this summer. a terrific film. Tilda Swinton has a lock on an Oscar nomination -- and she does it in Italian and Russian. In this film, she plays Emma, the Russian wife of a rich Milanese textile manufacturer. She has three grown children, but we're told little of her earlier life or her present state of mind. Through her nuanced and subtle performance, however, and scenes of a family gathering early in the movie, we learn all we need to know and fill in the blanks ourselves: Emma has given her life and her very identity to her husband and his family. She dissolves into the corners of her stunning, but cold, Milanese villa.

After she meets and begins an affair with her son's friend, Antonio, her life and her world open to color and sensuality. The rest of the story surprises, complemented by stunning cinematography and sophisticated editing. Not to be missed.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Review: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Rating: **

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 41%

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a prime example of what's wrong with this summer's movies. Clearly, a pack of studio executives (in this case, at Disney) got together and said, "Let's take the most beloved scene from Fantasia," (Mickey Mouse's silent celebration of Paul Dukas' symphonic poem, based, in turn, on Goethe's poem of the same name) "and turn it into a movie." Could the film be more derivative! (Yes, it turns out.) The iconic out-of-control mops and pails do make an appearance in the movie, but because that sequence lasts only a few minutes, much more has been added, all derived from yet more sources: Arthurian legend, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars (borrowing a moment so lifted from Episode IV: A New Hope that one of the characters feels the need to point out that the scene has been stolen from that movie).

My grandson Max also noticed how derivative the film was; in spite of that, however, he liked it (the special effects are rather good). So I'm going to recommend the movie to parents of older children.

Whenever I'm ready to pan a film aimed at kids, I say to myself: "Compared to Shortz," (which was pure agony to sit through), how bad is this film really? It's Citizen Kane next to Shortz.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Inception

Review: Inception

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 86%

Some movies beg to be viewed twice: Usual Suspects and The Sixth Sense come to mind. What we thought had unfolded as we watched these films, in the end, was very different from what had really happened. We watched again to notice the clues we missed the first time around. We watched again to make sense of the world contained in the space of a movie.

Inception seems to be such a movie. I indeed do want to see it again to try to make sense of it all, to notice the clues. My grandson Max and I had an intense discussion after we saw the film. We tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together and figure it out. We sorted out most of the plot, but there were still too many questions and loose ends. We consulted the myriad of Internet discussions of the film and discovered that our read of the plot was in line with the online explanations. Most of those loose ends, however, just weren't tied off.

Now, I have no problem living with ambiguity in a movie, but there's a fine line between creative ambiguity and sloppy storytelling -- and I'm afraid there's a bit of the latter in this film. I wouldn't lodge that complaint against Usual Suspects or The Sixth Sense. Second viewings of those films elucidated much tighter plots with no troubling loose ends.

Nevertheless, do see Inception. Movies have been so disappointing this summer. It's a relief to have one to recommend. Fine performances abound: Leonardo DiCaprio (Dom Cobb), Ellen Page (Ariadne), Joseph "I-hope-we-see-more-of-him" Gordon-Leavitt (Arthur), Tom Hardy (Eames), and the always reliable Michael Caine (Miles). DiCaprio plays a dream thief, skilled at stealing corporate secrets. His latest assignment is not to steal an idea, however, but to plant one in the brain of the rival of a corporate client: to complete a heretofore impossible inception.

The special effects in the movie dreams are not always as dream-like as one would expect. The most stunning scene actually appears over and over in the trailers: the streets of Paris fold over themselves in delightful fashion. My favorite dream movie, however, is still Peter Weir's The Last Wave.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Cyrus

Review: Cyrus

Rating: *

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 80%

Movies have, for the most part, been horrible this summer. Reviews of these same horrible movies, however, have often been extremely positive -- glowing, in fact. Have critics joined a vast cinema-graphic conspiracy to lure us into theaters showing dumbed-down movies made with A-list stars and no redeeming artistic value whatsoever?

That may sound paranoid, but allow me to pan Cyrus, a well-reviewed movie starring Marissa Tomei, John C. Reilly, Catherine Keener, and Jonah Hill -- all fine actors who do what they can to redeem this film.

Reilly plays John, a schlub of a man, divorced from his wife seven years before but still working with her and still far too emotionally attached. She (Jamie) is about to be remarried and is far too involved in John's life -- she desperately needs to read Co-Dependent No More.

Molly (Tomei) almost inexplicably falls hard for John when she meets him at a party. How could this happen? Well, Molly has an adult son, Cyrus (Hill), a manipulative young man who has managed to discourage his mother from forming relationships with men his whole life.

(Warning: if you plan to see this film, don't read any more. Plenty of spoilers)

The relationship of Cyrus and Molly is creepily Oedipal. The movie always pulls back from the brink, but the "ick" factor is always looming. John's relationship with Cyrus quickly degenerates; he's on to him almost from the beginning. And then, about 90 minutes into the movie, Cyrus has some sort of miraculous epiphany and realizes he needs to change. Cyrus, Molly, and John all embrace and we are asked to believe all will be well for this reconciled family.

Hold on! John does admit that he's had a role in the crazy dance they're doing, but he seems unaware that his relationship with his ex-wife is just as inappropriate as Cyrus's with his mother. And Cyrus and Molly definitely need some sort of therapy. The movie ended abruptly, but it needed another act. Granted, watching them all go through the hard work of coming to terms with their nuttiness would probably have been boring, but, at least, it would have been honest.

Nonna's Ratings:

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

Review: Despicable Me

Review: Despicable Me

Rating: *1/2

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 79%

Here I go again, not liking a movie generally praised by the critics. Despicable Me was such a disappointment. "Why?" you ask.

1. Bad plot: Will the three darling orphan girls find a home? Which villain will succeed: Gru, with his nefarious Eastern European accent, or Vector, a dweeby nerd who bears a striking resemblance to Bill Gates? Do we really care?
2. No real laughs and few memorable scenes: I kept stealing glances at Eli, my soon-to-be six-year-old grandson. He only laughed when Gru got blown up (he's a boy; he likes that sort of thing). Most of the time, he stared intently at the screen.
3. Wasted Minions: Minions are darling, little, yellow-bodied, blue-overall and goggle-wearing creatures who just beg to be marketed. They chatter unintelligibly throughout the film and I never understood what exactly they were trying to do at any given time. Could the animators not think of anything for them to say?

'Nuff said. I now use the rest of this review to apologize to Eli. Some time in the future, he may read this, and I want to let him know that I'm sorry I didn't take him to see Toy Story 3 as he originally requested. I'd already seen it, and, selfishly, I wanted to see something new, so we went to see Despicable Me. I wasted an hour and a half of his young life. So, I'm sorry Eli.

Do see Toy Story 3. See it twice.

Nonna's Ratings:

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

Review: Winter's Bone

Review: Winter's Bone

Rating: **

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 94%

I am really swimming upstream on this one, but I cannot recommend Winter's Bone. I know it won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. I know the acting and the recreation of life in the Ozarks is chillingly real. I know critics have loved it.

But I didn't.

It's the story of a teenage girl living well below the poverty line with her incapacitated mother and two younger siblings. Her father, a meth cooker, has jumped bail and they are in danger of losing their house and their land. The girl decides to search for her father and convince him to turn himself in.

Most of the critics have ended their reviews by saying that this unremittingly depressing movie ends on a hopeful, positive note. I did not hear that note. Instead, I saw a 17-year-old girl making choices that trapped her in a twisted world from which she would never escape. Yes, she was a survivor; she knew the code of the Ozarks: "Don't tell nobody 'bout nothin'." But can she survive for long? The meth cooking culture is too unpredictable, too randomly violent to navigate safely.

And, before you think I just can't handle depressing stories, let me recommend two other films far superior to this one: Precious and Frozen River, a movie that also depicts poor people in desperate situations -- but this one lets hope out of Pandora's Box.

Nonna's Ratings:

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

Review: Please Give

Review: Please Give

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

I saw Please Give yesterday. I was ready by the end of the movie to write a negative review. The main characters, Kate (Catherine Keener) and Alex (Oliver Platt) are naval-gnawing New Yorkers whose business is to buy "mid-century" furniture from the children of people who have recently died and then resell it at a substantial profit. They have a daughter, Abby (Sarah Steele), who is a typical zit-obsessed, rebellious, smart-mouthed teenager -- nothing unusual but well-played by Steele. They have an elderly neighbor, Andra (Ann Morgan Guilbert -- Millie from The Dick Van Dyke Show). Her granddaughters visit her and run errands for her. One is attentive; the other is not. Her death is anticipated by Kate and Alex because they will buy her apartment when she dies, break through, and double their living space.

Yesterday, I saw the film as a slice of life story with a plot that didn't go anywhere. My friends who accompanied me to the movie and I went out to dinner afterwards and argued about Please Give for an hour and a half. I went out today with one of them for lunch and we talked for another hour about the film. It has become something of a perseveration for me.

In the movie, Keener's character gives money to every homeless person she meets on her street. She decides to become a volunteer and visits a retirement home and a center for mentally-challenged teenagers. She finds she can not deal with either of these groups emotionally and dissolves into a puddle of tears. Clearly, she is attempting to assuage her conscience. Her occupation bothers her. She recognizes that she preys on the desire of the children of the dead to avoid the pain of having to dispose of their parents' possessions -- and their memories. And she makes money from it.

Her attempts to give -- to the homeless and those in need of love and support -- are abortive because they are attempts to put band-aids over the deep open personal wound she is choosing to ignore. That's where the movie leaves us. We see no resolution, but we understand she needs to examine her own life and her own choices. She must take steps to change the way in which she engages the world. Her charity numbs her; she needs to deal with the emptiness in her life. Excuse me for being a priest here, but she needs God in her life. I don't see any other way out. The movie leaves her pretty much where she began. Yesterday, I found that frustrating. Today, I think that's exactly where it needs to end in order for us to see ourselves reflected in Kate's dilemma.

Nonna's Ratings:

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

Review: Solitary Man

Review: Solitary Man

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 83%

I've now seen Solitary Man, A Serious Man, and A Single Man. Serious, the Coen Brothers' take on Job is, by far, the best. Single, with Colin Firth, is a solid second. Solitary, at third, opens promisingly with a great Johnny Cash cover of the Neil Diamond tune of the same name, but tells a story we've just seen too many times before.

Michael Douglas plays the role of a manipulative cad extremely well -- after all, he's done it in several films. His strong performance, however, makes the movie watchable, but, all too soon, we realize what an old story we're watching-- a man going through a post-mid-life crisis, deeply in denial, and hurting too many people along the way. Douglas' character has no idea what it takes to maintain a relationship. He rides roughshod over everyone -- casual lovers, patient ex-wives, shell-shocked children, and old friends. That some continue to love him is amazing and, at times, a bit unbelievable.

I'm looking forward to the Wall Street sequel. Gordon Gekko -- now that's a character.

Nonna's Ratings:

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

Review: Toy Story 3

Review: Toy Story 3

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 98%

Having just seen Shrek Forever After with Max and both of us being mildly please, we attended a 3-D showing of Toy Story 3 and agreed it was far superior to the Shrek offering. The reviews have been somewhat hyperbolic -- probably not surprising in one of the most dismal movie summers ever -- but the film really is that good.

Andy has grown up. He's on his way to college and must make some hard decisions about what he's going to do with his old toys. From those decisions and some unintended mishaps come the plot of the film. It's much darker than the two previous movies; Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang move from one dire situation to another. There is one scene toward the end of the film which all reviewers seem to have agreed not to discuss in detail. I will also refrain from being a spoiler, but will repeat what many of them have said -- that the scene is remarkably moving and downright profound for a cartoon.

Of course, there's plenty to laugh about in this movie. Ken and Barbie alone are worth the price of admission. And Buzz has a bit of a mishap which switches him into Spanish-mode with hysterical consequences.

We saw the film in 3-D -- and I'm glad we did. My biggest problem with 3-D is that it distracts me, pulls me away from a film. If knives are coming at me, I'm no longer immersed in the story and suspending disbelief. The 3-D in this movie enhances and supports the story -- and is not distracting at all. If you see the film, I hope you also see the delightful Pixar short that preceded our viewing, Night and Day. Pixar rarely disappoints, and, in this cartoon, they use 3-D to great advantage. It's just plain innovative.

Nonna's Ratings:

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

Review: Shrek Forever After

Review: Shrek Forever After

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 54%

There's a bit of tiredness about this latest, and reportedly final, installment of the Shrek series. Shrek himself is world-weary and seems to be experiencing a mid-life crisis -- although I have no idea how long an ogre might live. Fiona, however, is her stalwart, reliable, responsible self and, by the end of the film, a veritable Boadicea.

The filmmakers use the "It's A Wonderful Life," what-if-he'd-never-been-born device so that Shrek can learn the life lessons he needs to learn. When all is said and done, there are plenty of clever, witty jokes to delight adults and plenty of action and silly jokes to amuse children. I took my grandson Max to the movie and he liked it. We didn't watch the 3-D version, and I don't think we missed much.

Nonna's Ratings:

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

Review: Sex and the City 2

Review: Sex and the City 2

Rating: *

Nonna's Rating: #

Rotten Tomatoes: 17%

I had decided to heed the early reviews of Sex and the City 2. They were overwhelmingly awful. Then, I found myself in Alexandria, VA, with my sister who was recuperating from surgery. She wanted to see the movie. I indulged her. You do that kind of thing for little sisters. So, she and I and two other friends traipsed off to the Potomac Mall where we began to think we might be the only people in the theater. At least that might have been fun. We could have talked back to the screen, thrown popcorn, and generally behaved badly. Alas, other unfortunates made their way into the theater.

The film is just as bad as the critics said it was. Here are my gripes:

1. The plot reuses the old series and movie territory. Nothing new in the storyline -- except that it's set in Abu Dhabi.
2. And therein lies a big problem. The ladies vacation in an Arab country and don't seem to understand it might be a good idea to dress for the environment and the weather. Five inch heels in the sand? Don't think so.
3. The movie celebrates conspicuous consumption as if it's 2007. The girls may have the money to splurge, but most viewers no longer aspire to such luxuries. We're a bit lower on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs right now.
4. The fashions are underwhelming. The camera never lingers on anything that might be interesting. Where were the shoes?
5. At at least one point in the film, each of the girls looks quite (unintentionally) unattractive. Couldn't the camera and makeup people have done a better job?
6. The Liza Minnelli doing "Single Ladies" bit was funny for about 5 seconds; then I just wanted to look away.
7. Charlotte's meltdown over the trials, tribulations, and frustrations of motherhood would be more convincing if she didn't have a full-time nanny and a husband. Single moms must just walk away from this film angry.
8. The girls doing "I Am Woman" in the Karaoke bar? Could they have looked more uncomfortable? Were they thinking, "This is the end of my career. Right here. Right now. I am woman. Here me squeak."
9. At 2 1/2 hours -- too, too long

Nonna's Ratings:

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

Review: Letters to Juliet

Review: Letters to Juliet

Rating: *1/2

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 45%

There's nothing really horribly wrong with this movie, but there's nothing really wonderfully right either. The plot is entirely predictable; the scenes of Tuscany are predictably breathtaking. Amanda Seyfried and Christopher Egan as the young lovers are disappointingly bland; Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero as the old lovers are nostalgically charming. It's basically a Lifetime movie with a few inspired moments from Redgrave. Think of what she might have done with some pithy dialogue!

Nonna's Ratings:

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

Review: City Island

Review: City Island

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 84%

Not too many people have seen this film, but it's a gem. It's the kind of film you'll come across on a cable station a few years from now. You'll watch it and wonder how you managed to miss hearing about it when it was in theaters.

It's about family. It's about a very dysfunctional family. They live on City Island, a part of the Bronx that floats in Long Island Sound. I've passed by it dozens of times traveling from La Guardia into Manhattan, but I've never noticed it. Vince Rizzo (the oh-so-competent Andy Garcia) is a guard in a correctional facility who yearns for a different life. His wife Joyce (the always appealing Julianna Margulies) is less than happy with the state of their marriage. Their children have issues. For a reason I will not divulge, Vince brings Tony Nardella (Steven Straight), a prisoner, home where he will remain in his custody. Hilarity, confusion, and near tragedy ensue. By the end of the film, all have learned, all have changed, all is well. The plot is reminiscent of Down and Out in Beverly Hills from 1986: a stranger enters a family and transforms their lives. That film is, of course, a remake of Renoir's movie, Boudu sauvé des eaux (Boudu Saved From Drowning). Moliere would have liked this film.

Nonna's Ratings:

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

Review: Kick-Ass

Review: Kick-Ass

Rating: No Stars

Nonna's Rating: #

Rotten Tomatoes: 76%

Kick-Ass was simply one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Don't waste your time. Hyper-violent children just don't do it for me. We can't excuse this as cartoon fantasy violence. It's much too real and over the top. The movie is disturbing on so many levels. Please, don't see it.

Nonna's Ratings:

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

Review: Where the Wild Things Are

Review: Where the Wild Things Are

Rating: ****

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 73%

Every once in a while a movie appears that simply transcends the art form. I could pick this film apart. Analyze it. Talk about some excellent performances. Comment on the music so perfectly in tune with the story--but I don't want to. This is one of those films that asks you to just be in "the now." Don't think about it. Don't try to figure out what's going on. Just be.

Be a child who hasn't been behaving very well. Be a child with a wild imagination. Be a child who loses himself to fantasy. Be whimsical and marvel. Live in a time when reality was flexible and controllable -- to a point. We are, all of us, after all, not so far from being wild things.

Nonna's Ratings:

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

Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 85%

So, let me give you the warnings first. 1) The film is in Swedish and subtitled; 2) It's long --more than two and a half hours long; 3) There are scenes of sexual violence that are all too real -- some images may haunt you.

Now, if I haven't scared you away, go see this film. Noomi Repace, who plays Lisbeth, the female lead, owns the film. If you've read the novel on which the movie is based, it's difficult to imagine anyone else playing this complex, mercurial character. She's a powerful young woman, but early in the film, we watch as she is trapped in a web of sexual harassment by a man on whom she is totally dependent for her livelihood. The man's behavior is horribly mundane, but Lisbeth's ultimate response is not. She's a survivor who seizes her power and uses it to move her life relentlessly forward.

On top of all this, there's a mystery to solve. Lisabeth and Mikael, a journalist, delve into the question of what happened to a 16-year-old member of one of Sweden's biggest industrial families forty long years before. Tension builds and the mystery becomes a thriller. It's a stunner.

Nonna's Ratings:

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