Cast: Dakota Fanning (Lily Owens), Queen Latifah (August Boatwright), Jennifer Hudson (Rosaleen Daise), Alicia Keys (June Boatwright), Sophie Okonedo (May Boatwright), Paul Bettany (T. Ray Owens), Tristan Wilds (Zach Taylor)
For complete info see IMDb's The Secret Life of Bees page.
I really enjoyed the book The Secret Life of Bees and was happy when I heard the cast announcements, since they got an amazing cast. I figured that the cast wouldn't have signed on to do the movie if they hadn't done a good job.
I think they did a wonderful job making The Secret Life of Bees into a movie. If you liked the book, I think you'll enjoy the movie. If you didn't read the book, you may enjoy it a bit more, since you won't already have a certain picture in your mind that the movie might not match. Personally, I think they chose the cast very well and did a great job with making the book into a movie.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2008, adaptation, Alicia Keys, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, movie, Paul Bettany, Queen Latifah
Reviewed by Kat at the 3:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Tom Hanks (Robert Langdon), Audrey Tautou (Sophie Neveu), Ian McKellen (Sir Leigh Teabing), Jean Reno (Captain Fache), Paul Bettany (Silas)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's The Da Vinci Code page.
With the exception of the strange choice of Tom Hanks for Langdon, The Da Vinci Code was very well cast! No one I know who read the book agreed with the choice of Tom Hanks, but you can't deny his overall box office appeal, in spite of some recent flops. James and I think that Michael Vartan would have been perfect - he plays an American on Alias so the fact that he's actually French shouldn't have mattered. Of course, he's not nearly on the level of Tom Hanks in terms of box office guarantees go, so I can understand the choice they made.
If you haven't read the book, I'd say see this in theaters definitely - especially if you don't plan to read it. If you always choose to either read the book or see the movie and you read, what have you been waiting for? Get the book and read it.
Although the movie was good, it definitely lacked something. It wasn't as intense or interesting as the book. Perhaps it's just because I knew the story, but I've been re-reading the book and found it just as captivating, so I don't think that's the answer.
Ron Howard did a great job of following the book. Some things were changed, but most of them were pretty minor changes that allowed for skipping some of the story due to time constraints and didn't change the story much. There was really only one major thing they changed that I thought was critical to the plot (and wouldn't have taken up much time), but on the whole they followed the book I love very well.
The cast was (for the most part) amazing and the direction and special effects were well done. I even jumped at some of the crucial suspenseful points of the movie, in spite of the fact that I knew what was going to happen.
Spoiler alert for the 5 people who haven't read the book...
Seeing the tomb made me understand why it took them a bit to figure out that the rosy orb had to be an apple when we were talking about Newton. When I was reading the book, I felt like yelling at them, "It's an apple, you idiots!" When you see it in the context of the movie, one can understand why it might take a bit longer to figure out, since the apple was not on the tomb and there was definite pressure to come up with the answer quickly, which can make it more difficult to think.
...end of spoiler
The Da Vinci Code movie is definitely worth seeing and will be much better and more exciting on the big screen, so see it before it leaves theaters. I'm sure this gives you months, since it's the second-highest grossing film for the opening weekend internationally. It didn't do as well as I thought it would in the US, but I'm sure that it'll be around for quite a while.
Grade: B
Labels: 2006, drama, Ian McKellen, movie, mystery, Paul Bettany, thriller, Tom Hanks
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 1 screams
Cast: Harrison Ford (Jack Stanfield), Paul Bettany (Bill Cox), Virginia Madsen (Beth Stanfield), Carly Schroeder (Sarah Stanfield), Jimmy Bennett (Andrew Stanfield)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Firewall page.
Although we saw this on opening day, part of me worried that it might be another Ransom situation (where the whole movie was played out in the one short preview I watched and nothing surprising happened in the movie itself. Fortunately, Firewall is much more clever. Don't get me wrong - there are a lot of predictable moments, but it caught me off guard and made me jump a lot more than I expected.
It was a bit weird seeing Paul Bettany as a bad guy, but he definitely did a wonderful job with it. Harrison Ford, Virginia Madsen, and the rest of the cast were great, too. Firewall was very well done. The soundtrack helped create tension even in the predictable moments and the cast did a great job.
I'd definitely recommend trying to catch this in theatres for the special effects and added drama. I don't think it would be nearly as good at home unless you have a large projection screen in a well done theater room.
Grade: B
Labels: 2006, crime, drama, Harrison Ford, movie, Paul Bettany, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Kirsten Dunst (Lizzie Bradbury), Paul Bettany (Peter Colt)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Wimbledon page.
I'm not at all a fan of tennis or Wimbledon in real life, but I really like Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany, so I had to see Wimbledon. And, I loved it. From the moment the opening credits (which are brilliant) started, I loved the movie.
Richard Loncraine directed this movie by Richard Loncraine, Jennifer Flackett, & Mark Levin wonderfully and all the creators got me caring about tennis. The cinematography was amazing. The way everything was edited together really made an emotional impact.
This is definitely a movie we will own. It's a fun romantic comedy that made tennis look interesting. Not an easy thing to accomplish.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2004, comedy, drama, Kirsten Dunst, movie, Paul Bettany, romance, sports
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Russell Crowe (Capt. Jack Aubrey), Paul Bettany (Dr. Stephen Maturin, Surgeon)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World page.
Considering all the Oscar buzz about this movie, I expected a lot more. Perhaps that was the problem and if I went in expecting less I would have been more impressed, but the story never really grabbed me. This seemed like one of the longest movies I've ever seen, though it wasn't even close to the longest movie I've seen.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World dragged in so many places that I found myself looking at my watch trying to figure out if it would end soon. I'd recommend waiting till it comes out on DVD and renting it.
Grade: B-
Labels: 2003, action, adventure, drama, movie, Paul Bettany, Russell Crowe, war
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Russell Crowe (John Nash), Ed Harris (Parcher), Jennifer Connelly (Alicia Nash), Paul Bettany (Charles)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's A Beautiful Mind page.
This story of a brilliant man dealing with the mathematical problems he allows to take over his life and his secret work is my pick for best picture of 2001. It's wonderfully written and has the perfect cast. Everyone in A Beatiful Mind did an amazing job. It's one of those movies you can't say much about without giving anything important away, but go see it!
Grade: A-
Labels: 2001, Best Picture, drama, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, movie, mystery, Paul Bettany, Russell Crowe
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Heath Ledger (Sir William Thatcher/Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein of Gelderland), Rufus Sewell (Count Adhemar of Anjou), Shannyn Sossamon (Lady Jocelyn), Paul Bettany (Geoffrey Chaucer)
For complete cast, see IMDb's A Knight's Tale page.
I enjoyed this story about a guy who pretends to be a knight when his knight dies. Lies always bring all sorts of complications and this movie showed that. Sure, it's predictable and the plot is pretty thin, but it's still enjoyable and that's all I really wanted in this movie.
The funniest thing about this movie is that just before the climactic scene, the film burst into flames. Sure, the ending was very clear, but it was still too bad. Since then, I've seen it on HBO and I know that I didn't miss too much, but it was nice to finally see the ending months later.
I recommend renting A Knight's Tale or catching it on HBO. It's a decent movie.
Grade: B
Labels: 2001, action, adventure, comedy, Heath Ledger, movie, Paul Bettany
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:50 PM show | 0 screams