Cast: Bill Pullman (John) & Julia Stiles (Carol)
Oleanna is definitely not my favorite of Mamet's plays, but it was still an interesting play. The cast of the production at the Mark Taper Theatre is wonderful. I've been a fan of Julia Stiles for years and enjoy Bill Pullman's work, too.
The play has fairly one-sided characters, but I guess that was what Mamet wanted for this story.
If you like the theatre, Oleanna is worth seeing - especially since discount tickets are very easy to find. The theatre is very intimate, so there's not a bad seat in the house.
Grade: B-
Labels: 2009, Bill Pullman, drama, Julia Stiles, play, theatre
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:00 PM show | 1 screams
Cast: Matt Damon (Jason Bourne), Julia Stiles (Nicky Parsons), David Strathairn (CIA Deputy Director Noah Vosen), Joan Allen (Pamela Landy)
For complete info, see IMDb's The Bourne Ultimatum page.
Another great Bourne movie. I love these movies and highly recommend catching this one in the theatre before it leaves. It was the one movie released last month that I knew I needed to see in a theatre because of all of the stunts and special effects. The Bourne Ultimatum did not disappoint me. I hope that they make the fourth book into a movie, too. They definitely left the movie open to the possibility of the sequel, but I know it's always up to who they can get to return, etc. I can't imagine why Matt Damon wouldn't do the next movie, though. They keep making high quality movies and they look like they'd be fun to shoot.
If you enjoyed the first two Bourne movies, you'll like this one, too. The action is still non-stop and the story line is good.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2007, action, adventure, drama, Julia Stiles, Matt Damon, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 10:50 AM show | 0 screams
Cast: Matt Damon (Jason Bourne), Franka Potente (Marie)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's The Bourne Supremacy page.
I'm a big fan of this series. One of these days, I really have to get the Robert Ludlum novels. I don't see where the series can go from the end of The Bourne Supremacy, but I know there is more, since there are four books and The Bournce Supremacy is only the second movie. I can't wait to see what happens next.
Robert Ludlum never ceases to surprise me with this series. I've never read any of his books, but I have a feeling once I do I'll be a fan.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2004, action, adventure, drama, Julia Stiles, Matt Damon, movie, mystery, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Julia Roberts (Katherine Ann Watson), Kirsten Dunst (Betty Warren), Julia Stiles (joan Brandwyn), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Giselle Levy), Ginnifer Goodwin (Connie Baker)
For complete info, see IMDb's Mona Lisa Smile page.
I know a lot of people hated this movie, but I thought it was very endearing. I liked that for a change everything isn't perfectly lined up at the end the way you think it will be at the beginning, since everything doesn't fall in line with the typical Hollywood ending. Besides, Tori Amos was in this, which I didn't even realize before seeing the movie. I guess I haven't been reading her sites much lately. That was a great surprise, since I love her music. She looks great in that era, too!
I thought the cast was amazing, the costumes were very well done, and that the story was a good period piece.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2003, comedy, drama, Julia Roberts, Julia Stiles, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, movie, romance
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:50 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Jason Lee (Paul Morse), Julia Stiles (Becky), Selma Blair (Karen), James Brolin (Ken)
For complete info, see IMDb's A Guy Thing page.
I know that A Guy Thing has gotten more than its share of bad reviews. However, I didn't think it was that bad. Was it the best romantic comedy ever written? Far from it. But it was amusing and had a great cast. It was exactly what it was billed to be - an amusing romantic comedy where a guy wakes up with a girl in his bed the night after his bachelor party, assumes he was unfaithful to his fiance, and all hell breaks loose.
It's not a sappy romantic comedy, so guys can enjoy this just as much. It's more on the comedy side than the romance side. Very enjoyable.
Definitely worth renting this one, in spite of the way critics trashed it.
Grade: B-
Labels: 2003, comedy, Julia Stiles, movie, romance, Selma Blair
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:50 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Matt Damon (Jason Bourne), Franka Potente (Marie Helena Kreutz), Chris Cooper (Alexander Conklin)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's The Bourne Identity page.
The Bourne Identity is a great action/thriller about a man (Jason Bourne) who is a trained assassin trying to recover from amnesia, while being the target of those he used to work for. The movie kept me interested the whole time and was very exciting.
The only issue I had with it was that they often had the driver on the wrong side of the car, which is really odd, since they say they filmed in Germany and other places overseas. I guess that the companies there rent American cars to the film-makers when they're there and they don't pay attention to the details sometimes. It was distracting sometimes to see drivers on the left-hand side of the car driving down streets that are clearly supposed to be in Europe, but the action kept me from thinking of that most of the time.
Non-stop action. I definitely recommend it.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2002, action, adventure, drama, Julia Stiles, Matt Damon, movie, mystery, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:45 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Mekhi Phifer (Odin James), Josh Hartnett (Hugo Goulding), Julia Stiles (Desi Brable)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's O page.
I'm so happy that there are constantly new versions of Shakespeare's work available to get teens interested in the classics. I think that O was wonderfully done, though it will probably not be very popular in theatres, since it is very dark, as is the original, Othello.
If you're in okay with a very dark story, this is a wonderfully done updated version of Othello and I highly recommend it.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2001, drama, Josh Hartnett, Julia Stiles, Mekhi Phifer, movie, romance, Shakespeare, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:15 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Julia Stiles (Sara Johnson), Sean Patrick Thomas (Derek Reynolds), Kerry Washington (Chenille Reynolds)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Save the Last Dance page.
As a dancer, I wanted to see this movie for the dancing, but didn't expect the story to be great. I was pleasantly surprised by a wonderful story about being true to yourself and reaching for your dreams.
The cast is wonderful and the dance scenes are amazing. You don't have to love dance to enjoy this movie, but I'm sure it didn't hurt.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2001, dancing, drama, Julia Stiles, movie, musical, romance, Sean Patrick Thomas
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:50 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Heath Ledger (Patrick Verona), Julia Stiles (Kat Stratford), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Cameron James), Larisa Oleynik (Bianca Stratford), David Krumholtz (Michael)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's 10 Things I Hate About You page.
This is a very well done adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew. I love that Shakespeare is used so much for modern movies. I think movies like this can really help connect a younger audience to classical literature.
With a cast that includes Heath Ledger & Julia Stiles, how can a young audience not be entertained?
Although this was definitely sold to the younger audience exclusively, I found it very entertaining and think it's worth seeing even if you're out of high school. The soundtrack and cast are great and it was very well adapted from the original.
Labels: 1999, comedy, Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, movie, romance, Shakespeare
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams