Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal (Tommy Cahill), Natalie Portman (Grace Cahill), Tobey Maguire (Capt. Sam Cahill)
For complete info, see IMDb's Brothers page.
The previews I'd seen of Brothers led me to expect quite a few things that didn't happen in the movie, which was good. Brothers is definitely a very realistic drama (too realistic at times - I couldn't watch the screen for the entire movie). I'm not generally a fan of war movies. I have no interest in seeing The Hurt Locker in spite of the fact that it won Best Picture and I was glad when Saving Private Ryan didn't win. However, I think Brothers is a very good movie and totally worth renting. I cried at parts and it was very moving, but it was well done and when you're renting a movie it's easier to look away (or even fast forward, if necessary) through the parts of the movie that are a bit too much to take for the violence or other issues you may have.
The cast is wonderful and the story of Brothers is very well done. I definitely recommend renting the movie if you haven't seen it yet.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2009, drama, Jake Gyllenhaal, movie, Natalie Portman, suspense, tear jerker, Tobey Maguire, war
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Jude Law (Jeremy), Norah Jones (Elizabeth), David Strathairn (Officer Arnie Copeland), Natalie Portman (Leslie), Rachel Weisz (Sue Lynne Copeland)
For complete info, see IMDb's My Blueberry Nights page.
I really enjoyed this movie and I'm glad I rented it. I do think that Elizabeth could have been played better by an actress instead of Norah Jones (who I think should stick to the singing - I agree with the reviews I've seen on that one). However, I think the rest of the cast was wonderful and though the story is definitely a bit slow at a couple points it's a sweet movie and well worth renting. If you haven't seen My Blueberry Nights it's worth adding to your rental list.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2007, drama, Jude Law, movie, Natalie Portman, Norah Jones, Rachel Weisz
Reviewed by Kat at the 11:30 AM show | 1 screams
Cast: Natalie Portman (Anne Boleyn), Scarlett Johansson (Mary Boleyn), Eric Bana (Henry Tudor)
For complete information, see IMDb's The Other Boleyn Girl page.
Since I LOVED the book The Other Boleyn Girl and was very excited by who they chose for the cast (the book my friend let me borrow actually had the cover with Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, & Eric Bana, which probably helped). The costumes and sets looked like they were very well done and I was hoping they'd done a good job with the story. I rushed out to see the movie, since I wanted to be sure to see it on the big screen and period pieces don't always do too well in theatres. As far as the costumes, sets, and cast were concerned, I have nothing but good things to say and I suppose seeing the beautiful costumes on a big screen was worth the effort, though I have a pretty big TV, so I'm not sure about that.
As for the story... Wow. The movie started a bit earlier (in the book, Mary Boleyn had been married for a couple years, I think - I'm trying to remember exactly how long after her wedding the book started) than the book, ended at the same point, and skipped a lot of important detail.
Since I'm accustomed to seeing books made into movies, I think I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to changes in plot though I can't handle the addition of a love story (Jurassic Park) or elimination of a love story (The Pelican Brief). I understand that movies are only a couple hours long and it's impossible to cram an entire novel into that time. That being said, there are certain things you really shouldn't skip and they seemed to pick many of these when they wrote the screenplay for The Other Boleyn Girl. The most egregious error made when they adapted the book for the screenplay was removing the death of one of the characters' husbands (I won't explain further, since I don't want to give anything away for those who haven't read the book and will see the movie). This wouldn't seem like a big plot point, but this character does still end up with her second husband, meaning that she's now married to two men (according to what you've seen on screen). When leaving the theatre, I actually asked my friend who went with me (who had not read the book) if I had missed this man's death, but I hadn't. They just skipped it. They also left out a lot of the births and other things that happen in the book, making the movie only worth watching for the scenic and costume design.
If you love period pieces and haven't read the book, The Other Boleyn Girl is probably a pretty good movie. If you have read the book and aren't really enthralled by costumes and sets, don't bother wasting your time with The Other Boleyn Girl. If you really love costume and scenic design, it's probably worth renting the movie to see those, but don't expect much from the story. The movie was very disappointing.
Grade: C
Labels: 2008, drama, Eric Bana, history, movie, Natalie Portman, romance, Scarlett Johansson
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Matt Dillon (Tommy 'Birdman' Rowland), Noah Emmerich (Michael 'Mo' Morris), Annabeth Gish (Tracy Stover), Lauren Holly (Darian Smalls), Timothy Hutton (Willie Conway), Rosie O'Donnell (Gina Barrisano), Natalie Portman (Marty)
For complete info on this amazing cast, see IMDb's Beautiful Girls page.
The longer I watched Beautiful Girls, the more I was amazed that with this fabulous cast it hadn't come onto my radar until recently. I came across it in Netflix or Tivo (can't remember which first) and ended up recording it on Tivo. The cast will blow you away. Every time you see a cast member, you'll recognize them and go "Wow - [he/she] is in this too??"
Beautiful Girls follows a groups of adults who gather for a high school reunion, when only one of the guys (Willie) has ever really left their home town. He encounters the young girl next door (a young Natalie Portman) and a friend's hot cousin (Uma Thurman) force him to evaluate his love life. Willie's friends are also dealing with problems in their love lives, of course.
The movie is very entertaining and well worth the time to rent it on Netflix or find it on Tivo! I can't believe that Beautiful Girls was released 10 years ago and I just saw it this year. If you've somehow managed to miss this, too, check it out now.
Grade: A-
Labels: 1996, comedy, drama, movie, Natalie Portman, romance, Uma Thurman
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Natalie Portman (Evey), Hugo Weaving (V/William Rookwood), Stephen Rea (Finch), Stephen Fry (Deitrich)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's V for Vendetta page.
I didn't know too much about V for Vendetta before seeing it, which is what I prefer to do with movies. It worked out perfectly for this film.
Unless you're very squeamish, I highly recommend V for Vendetta: The IMAX Experience. It is an amazing film!
V for Vendetta is about a freedom fighter (who goes by the name of "V") using terrorist acts to fight against this future totalitarian England. I didn't realize until watching the opening credits that V for Vendetta was based on a DC graphic novel. I didn't read the graphic novel (clearly, since I didn't know it existed), so I can't compare it to the original. However, as a stand-alone piece, this was a great movie.
Those who like Noam Chomsky and others who expose government conspiracies and hidden agendas will be particularly interested in V for Vendetta. I think that The Wachowski Brothers and the original authors did a great job of creating this alternate future England where the government imposes strict curfews, their secret police has run amuck, and reality is very grim for most people.
Seeing V for Vendetta: The IMAX Experience is definitely the way to go. The larger than life screen really helps this world seem real and allows it to take over your world for a while.
The cast is wonderful and the music really sets the scene. The editing and sound effects were also very well done.
Every time they showed this one table, I kept trying to figure out why I recognized Ben Miles. I kept seeing his face and knowing I'd seen it before. For those of you who watched the UK version of Coupling, he was Patrick.
As I walked out of V for Vendetta, I was thinking that it's a shame that it was released so early, since it will probably be completely ignored by the academy at the end of the year. So far, it's my favorite 2006 movie. I think V for Vendetta touches on some very important points for our lives even though it takes them to the extreme in a futuristic England.
Grade: A
Labels: 2006, action, drama, Hugo Weaving, IMAX, movie, Natalie Portman, sci-fi, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Natalie Portman (Padame), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith page.
This was, by far my favorite of the first three episodes of the Star Wars series. When I was younger, I was a huge Star Wars fan. I had the toys and preferred them to the dolls I was "supposed" to like playing with. As I grew up, I left most of my Star Wars love behind, much to the disappointment of many of my friends who think I have great taste with a couple strange exceptions. (Sorry, Tom!)
I really enjoyed Episode I, though I thought it could have had more. Episode II (and Jar Jar Binks) annoyed me more than I could possibly explain, so I was skeptical when we went to see Episode III, but went to see it on the giant screen anyway (too bad they didn't do IMAX, but the disclaimer before the movie was hilarious).
All my fears about how painful it would be to sit through Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith went away within the first few minutes of the movie. This movie is by far my favorite and I recommend it - even if you, like me, were afraid of what they would do next after they introduced Jar Jar to attract kids with Episode II. Fear not. Episode III is very well done!
Grade: A-
Labels: 2005, action, adventure, Ewan McGregor, fantasy, movie, Natalie Portman, sci-fi
Reviewed by Kat at the 6:45 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Natalie Portman (Alice), Jude Law (Dan), Julia Roberts (Anna), Clive Owen (Larry)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Closer page.
I never saw the play, but I was very impressed with the movie version of Closer. Although Clive Owen did a good job, I thought Jude Law did better and I don't think the fact that he's playing a different character than he played in the live play should be a factor, but I'm sure it will be. Many people on stage play different characters in one play or musical and no one thinks it's that amazing. All of a sudden, he does it for the movie version of a play and it's a great feat. I've played different parts in the same musical and I would think it would be much more difficult to do it in the same run of a play or musical than it is to do a different part in a totally new version of the same work.
Natalie Portman was particularly wonderful Closer and I think she deserves the buzz she's been receiving because of it. Julia Roberts was also great. I'll definitely see Closer as a live play if I ever get the chance, since the story is very interesting and it would be nice to see what was changed for the screen.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2004, Clive Owen, drama, Jude Law, Julia Roberts, movie, Natalie Portman, romance
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:40 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Natalie Portman (Senator Padme Amidala), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker), Christopher Lee (Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus)
For complete cast, see IMDb's Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones page.
Since I was pretty disappointed with Episode I, I really saw this movie to see it, since I've seen the other 4 movies and had to see the last two. Fortunately, Episode II is MUCH better than Episode I (the lack of Jar-Jar commentary definitely helps). It is being called the chick flick of the series by some, but that doesn't make it a bad movie. This is the love story behind the creation of Luke & Laura. This isn't just a love story, there is still a lot of action and intrigue in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. If you missed this one because the first one was too annoying, check it out. It's much better!
Grade: B+
Labels: 2002, action, adventure, Ewan McGregor, fantasy, movie, mystery, Natalie Portman, romance, sci-fi
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:20 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Natalie Portman (Novalee Nation), Ashley Judd (Lexie Coop), Stockard Channing (Thelma 'Sister' Husband), Joan Cusack (Ruth Meyers), James Frain (Forney Hull)
For complete info, see IMDb's Where the Heart Is page.
A pregnant 17-year-old who pulls her life together after being abandoned at a Wal-Mart by her boyfriend. Sounds like a Jerry Springer show, doesn't it? In spite of the sensational nature of Where the Heart Is, the story is touching. It's definitely a bit sappy in parts, but this bitter-sweet story is worth a look. The cast is amazing and the story is well presented.
Grade: B
Labels: 2000, comedy, drama, Joan Cusack, movie, Natalie Portman, romance, Stockard Channing
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:45 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Liam Neeson (Qui-Gon Jinn), Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Natalie Portman (Queen Padme Naberrie Amidala), Jake Lloyd (Anakin Skywalker)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace page.
I was a huge Star Wars fan when I was younger. I had a lot of the toys, in spite of it not being a "girl" movie. I never really cared about those labels. Over the years, I grew out of my Star Wars phase, but I was still intrigued by the first three episodes finally being made. I had always wondered about them.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace was a semi-interesting beginning, but I think it could have been better done. I'm hoping that the second and third episodes will be better. Jar Jar Binks was unbearable. Perhaps he will be killed off soon. I will keep hoping...
Grade: C+
Labels: 1999, action, adventure, Ewan McGregor, fantasy, Liam Neeson, movie, Natalie Portman, sci-fi
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams