Cast: Tom Cruise (Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg), Kenneth Branagh (Major-General Henning von Tresckow), Bill Nighy (General Friedrich Olbricht), Tom Wilkinson (General Friedrich Fromm)
For complete info, see IMDb's Valkyrie page.
World War II dramas have always interested me and Valkyrie is very well done. I'm not a huge Tom Cruise fan, but he did a very good job in this movie. The rest of the cast is also wonderful. In spite of all the information available and the many documentaries, I didn't know much about this particular plot to stop Hitler, so I found Valkyrie very informative and entertaining. I definitely recommend renting this movie if you don't catch it in a theatre.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2008, Bill Nighy, drama, history, Kenneth Branagh, movie, thriller, Tom Cruise, Tom Wilkinson, war
Reviewed by Kat at the 11:25 AM show | 0 screams
Cast: Keira Knightley (Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire), Ralph Fiennes (Duke of Devonshire), Dominic Cooper (Charles Grey), Hayley Atwell (Bess Foster)
For complete info, see IMDb's The Duchess page.
I really like Keira Knightley & Ralph Fiennes and enjoy period pieces, so I was looking forward to The Duchess. The cast is amazing, the costumes and sets are wonderful, and the story is very interesting. If you like period films, I highly recommend The Duchess. If not, I doubt you'd even consider it, but you should probably stay away. It's really amazing when you think about what women had to go through back then. Movies based on true stories are always interesting to me and this one is very well done. If you missed it in a theatre, I highly recommend renting it.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2008, Dominic Cooper, drama, Hayley Atwell, history, Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Kirsten Dunst (Marie Antoinette), Jason Schwartzman (Louis XVI), Judy Davis (Comtesse de Noailles)
For complete info, see IMDb's Marie Antoinette page.
Marie Antoinette would have been very disappointing (from the ads I'd seen, the expectations of Kirsten Dunst, etc.) if I hadn't had so many people tell me it was horrible. I think one even described it as painful. Although the movie was definitely too long and dragged in many points, I didn't think it was horrible. Worth watching on a movie channel (which is what I did) or renting it. Not worth devoting all your time and attention to it (I was doing other things while watching the movie and that worked out well), but I did finish watching the movie. It was okay.
The cast is great, the costumes were very interesting, the scenic design is well done, ... Definitely a lot of positives about this movie. I'd say it's worth renting or watching now that it's on TV, but nothing you have to put at the top of your list.
Grade: C
Labels: 2006, biography, drama, history, Kirsten Dunst, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:30 PM show | 0 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: Angelina Jolie (Mariane Pearl), Dan Futterman (Daniel Pearl), Archie Panjabi (Asra Q. Nomani)
For complete information on this great cast, see IMDb’s A Mighty Heart page.
This is a very well done movie based on the true story of Mariane Pearl and her husband Danny, a Wall Street Journal reporter. Danny’s life and death is a very compelling story and they did a very good job with it in this movie. There were times when Angelina Jolie didn’t even look like herself. It was a complete transformation. I can’t imagine anyone seeing this movie and not being touched by the horrific story. The fact that it actually happened is so sad and really blows my mind. It’s amazing what goes on in the world during times of war (which seems to be almost all of human existence).
I highly recommend renting this movie if you missed it in theatres, though it’s definitely a movie you can only watch when you’re prepared for a very sad story.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2007, Angelina Jolie, biography, Dan Futterman, drama, history, movie, thriller, war
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Ken Watanabe (General Tadamichi Kuribayashi), Kazunari Ninomiya (Saigo), Tsuyoshi Ihara (Baron Nishi)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Letters from Iwo Jima page.
Letters from Iwo Jima is definitely an intense movie. Not for those who can't handle subtitles (though David chose the movie from the Netflix DVD's we have, he wasn't prepared to have to read it). I heard that this movie was better than Flags of Our Fathers. I don't agree with that, though it was very well done. I'm a big fan of Ken Watanabe and he and the rest of the cast are amazing, but for me it wasn't quite as good.
If you liked Flags of Our Fathers, I definitely recommend renting Letters from Iwo Jima if you haven't seen it yet. If you didn't like Flags of Our Fathers, you should probably skip the second movie in the set.
Grade: B
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Shia LaBeouf (Francis Ouimet), Stephen Dillane (Harry Vardon), Elias Koteas (Arthur Ouimet), Peyton List (Sarah Wallis), Josh Flitter (Eddie Lowery)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's The Greatest Game Ever Played page.
Still can't see any golf game as the greatest game ever played, but The Greatest Game Ever Played is still a very good movie. It's a movie about a working class boy who dares to dream and the friendship he finds while trying to achieve it. His father can't understand a boy who dreams, and as a man in the working class of the early 1900's in America?
The Greatest Game Ever Played is based on the true story of Francis Ouimet who dared to dream and defeated reigning champion Harry Vardon in the 1913 US Open. Whether you believe it's the greatest game or not, the movie is well worth renting. The acting is all very good, but Josh Flitter does stand out as the pint-sized caddy and ultimately best friend of Francis Ouimet. He impressed me in "Stephen's Life" (one of the two sit-coms worked on in the show "Situation Comedy" - which was surprisingly entertaining for a "reality" show) and he's wonderful in this movie.
I definitely recommend renting this movie.
Grade: B
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Eric Bana (Avner), Daniel Craig (Steve), Ciaran Hinds (Carl), Mathieu Kassovitz (Robert), Hanns Zischler (Hans)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Munich page.
Do I think Munich deserved to be nominated for best picture? Nope, but it was better than Good Night, and Good Luck., so I guess I can see why it was. Also, Steven Spielberg said he thought it was better than Schindler's List (which I strongly disagree with, but they are his movies...), so how could the academy not nominate Munich for best picture when a film Spielberg thought wasn't as good in his library of films won best picture? I can see how it happened. I'm very glad that the academy seems to agree with me that Schindler's List is the better picture, since Munich didn't win any Oscars.
Munich was a very good movie, but it definitely dragged in parts. We had it from Netflix for over a week before watching it, since neither of us ever seemed to be in the mood for a movie we knew was going to be very sad. This is the same reason I didn't get to see it before the awards this year. Of course, unlike many years, I was no where close to seeing all the nominiees this year, so it wasn't as big of a deal. Hopefully, I'm doing better with the 2006 nominees. Now that movies come out on DVD so quickly, it's getting easier and easier to be up to date in time for the Oscars.
I think Munich is worth renting, but I'm glad we didn't see it in a theatre.
Grade: B
Labels: 2005, Daniel Craig, drama, Eric Bana, history, movie, thriller, war
Reviewed by Kat at the 3:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: David Strathairn (Edward R. Murrow), Robert Downey Jr. (Joe Wershba), Patricia Clarkson (Shirley Wershba), Jeff Daniels (Sig Mickelson), George Clooney (Fred Friendly)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Good Night, and Good Luck. page.
Perhaps I expected more from Good Night, and Good Luck., since it was nominated for best picture. Maybe if I'd seen it before I knew that, I would have been more impressed. Since I didn't, I only have my perceptions from after the nomination and I wasn't really that impressed. It was a good movie, but not one of my favorite 5 that I've seen from 2005 and I haven't seen Capote or Munich yet. I think Match Point was a much better movie. But, they never ask me...
I'd say Good Night, and Good Luck. is worth renting, but I'm glad I didn't bother to see it in a movie theater.
Grade: B-
Labels: 2005, drama, George Clooney, history, movie, Patricia Clarkson, Robert Downey Jr.
Reviewed by Kat at the 9:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Angelina Jolie (Gia Marie Carangi), Elizabeth Mitchell (Linda), Eric Michael Cole (T. J.)
For complete cast, see IMDb's Gia page.
Gia was an HBO movie, but I never saw it when it was on (I didn't even have HBO then). DVD's make catching almost anything very easy now.
Definitely a very slow movie, but there were a lot of interesting things that happened to Gia in her life as a drug addicted model. I wouldn't recommend it for those who want an upbeat or fast-paced movie, but it's pretty interesting if you can handle the fact that it's about an hour and 20 minutes of story stretched into 2 hours.
Grade: C+
Labels: 1998, Angelina Jolie, drama, history, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Don Cheadle (Paul Rusesabagina)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Hotel Rwanda page.
Wow... This movie struck me to the core. I thought I understood quite a bit about the wars and struggles in Africa, but I definitely had rose-colored glasses on where it was concerned. Hotel Rwanda was so realistic that I often found myself trying to hide from the screen and I cried at many points.
Terry George did an amazing job directing this talented cast. Knowing that many of the actors in the movie lived through this actual experience, it blows me away that they were able to act in Hotel Rwanda after going through such horrible things in real life. I can't imagine living through something like that once, let alone re-creating it. What they did is really impressive. I'm sure they knew that this story had to be told and were willing to put themselves through the horror in order to spread the word. I can't imagine how difficult that must have been.
Hotel Rwanda is definitely the kind of movie you want to see when you are doing something totally fun and uplifting that night (in my case, playing with my fiance's nieces). I would not recommend seeing Hotel Rwanda at night, since leaving the theatre to a dark night might prolong the depression caused by the movie, but it is definitely a movie that needs to be seen to be believed. I'm glad I saw this before the award shows and hope that everyone in the film is rewarded for their amazing performances.
Grade: A
Labels: 2004, Don Cheadle, drama, history, movie, thriller, war
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:55 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: For complete cast info, see IMDb's Fahrenheit 9/11 page.
Such a great movie! Perhaps if more people had seen this Bush wouldn't have been re-elected. Then again, that's a moot point anyway, since enough people didn't see it and Bush is the president again. Only a few more years till 2008...
Until then, study up on what Bush did so that we think about whether anyone he endorses can be trusted with our country in times of crisis.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2004, documentary, history, movie, war
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Brad Pitt (Achilles), Diane Kruger (Helen), Eric Bana (Hector), Orlando Bloom (Paris)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Troy page.
Having read Homer's The Illiad in high school and enjoyed the story, I was looking forward to Troy and although it's a lot of epic to put into one movie, I think that they did a good job with Troy. The cast was wonderful and they seemed to concentrate on the parts of the story that made sense in a movie. The scenery and costumes were well designed and the shortening of the original novel was well done. I definitely recommend renting Troy if you missed it in theatres.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2004, action, Brad Pitt, drama, Eric Bana, history, movie, Orlando Bloom
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Kurt Russell (Herb Brooks), Patricia Clarkson (Patty Brooks), Noah Emmerich (Craig Patrick)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Miracle page.
I love the Olympics and hockey, so I was very excited about the making of Miracle. I remember the Olympics of 1980, though I wasn't a fan of hockey yet. I was already a big fan of the Olympics.
I've never met Herb Brooks, but from what I have seen on screen, Kurt Russell did an amazing job of portraying him. Noah Emmerich did a great job of portraying a young Craig Patrick, too. I didn't meet Craig Patrick till I became a big hockey fan in Pittsburgh, where I went to high school, but Noah Emmerich really had it down.
I was amazed by how many new faces they used to make this movie, using many hockey players who had never acted before. I think this helped the movie look more authentic. There was actually cheering going on in the movie theater for the different games the US played in on screen. I haven't been to many movies that move an audience to cheer for a game happening within a movie.
The beginning of the movie, where it set up the cold war feel of the late 70's and early 80's was great. The ending, telling us what happened to each of the players from the 1980 team was really well done, too.
I'm so happy that Miracle was well done. I can't wait to see all the extras they put on the DVD we'll definitely own.
Grade: A+
Labels: 2004, drama, family, history, movie, Patricia Clarkson, sports
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:15 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: David McCullough (Narrator), Jeff Bridges (Charles Howard), Chris Cooper (Tom Smith), Tobey Maguire (Red Pollard)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Seabiscuit page.
I love horses and this movie sounded like it was just my kind of flick. Instead, it seemed a lot longer than it was, since I was bored out of my mind.
Had I been prepared for a documentary instead of a major motion picture, perhaps I could have enjoyed it. If I'd been at home watching Discovery Channel or the History Channel, that'd be one thing. But I wasn't. I was at a movie theater, where we'd all paid plenty of money. I didn't want to be educated. I wanted to be entertained. The black and white clips and the narrating bothered me more than I could say.
I never got interested in Red or Seabiscuit or anyone else in the movie. I just wanted the boring movie to end, which it did... eventually.
Grade: C-
Labels: 2003, drama, history, Jeff Bridges, movie, sports, Tobey Maguire
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio (Amsterdam Vallon), Daniel Day-Lewis (Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting), Cameron Diaz (Jenny Everdeane), Jim Broadbent (Boss Tweed), John C. Reilly (Happy Jack), Liam Neeson ('Priest' Vallon)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Gangs of New York page.
With Liam Neeson and other great actors in the cast, I thought this would be a great movie about the early days of my home town and the gangs that ruled the city. Unfortunately, I just found it lacking. Not a fan of DiCaprio in generaly, but I thought it'd work out okay in such an ensemble piece. The movie just seemed to really drag on. Not the best pick for the first movie we see in the year, but I wanted to see it before the awards. It was nominated for 10 of them. Of course, at the time, I didn't know it wouldn't win any or that I'd be glad it didn't.
Grade: C-
Labels: 2003, Cameron Diaz, crime, drama, history, Leonardo DiCaprio, Liam Neeson, movie, New York
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:20 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Al Pacino (Lowell Bergman), Russell Crowe (Dr. Jeffrey Wigand), Christopher Plummer (Mike Wallace)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's The Insider page.
The Insider is based on the true story of a 60 Minutes episode about tobaco company malpractices that CBS wouldn't air due to the objections of their parent company (Westinghouse). It was very interesting to see what went on behind the scenes in the tobaco industry trials. The justifications of it by the tobaco companies blows my mind.
Russell Crowe shows a side we've never seen and clearly put on quite a bit of weight to play this roll. Very well done.
Grade: B+
Labels: 1999, Al Pacino, drama, history, movie, Russell Crowe, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:25 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Jodie Foster (Anna Leonowens), Yun-Fat Chow (King Mongkut), Ling Bai (Tuptim)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Anna and th King page.
I've always liked this story and Anna and the King is a very well done version of it. The cast is amazing, the sets and costumes are breath-taking.
Grade: A-
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:50 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Morgan Freeman (Theodore Joadson), Nigel Hawthorne (Martin Van Buren), Anthony Hopkins (John Quincy Adams), Djimon Hounsou (Cinque), Matthew McConaughey (Baldwin)
For complete info, see IMDb's Amistad page.
Amistad is an amazing historical drama about a mutiny aboard a slave ship traveling to America. A lot of Amistad takes place in the court room, following the trial of Cinque, the free-man who led the revolt (brilliantly portrayed by Djimon Hounsou. The cast, scenic design, lighting, and costumes are brilliant in Amistad. Steven Spielberg goes back to a more serious movie with this adventure and it's wonderfully done. I highly recommend Amistad! If you haven't seen it yet, you must rent it.
Grade: A-
Labels: 1997, Anthony Rapp, drama, history, Matthew McConaughey, Morgan Freeman, movie, mystery
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Madonna (Eva Peron), Antonio Banderas (Che), Jonathan Pryce (Juan Peron)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Evita page.
In my opinion, the movie Evita contains the best overall cast of Evita ever. Yes, Mandy Patinkin was a better Che, but the accent Antonio Banderas brought to the part really helped make Che seem more authentic and beneath Eva. They did take out my favorite lyric in the musical, but they didn't alter too much and did an amazing job putting this musical on film.
Although some are upset that the mistress's part was almost complete cut out (since Madonna asked to sing "Another Suitcase in Another Hall"), how can anyone who's heard the song blame Madonna? It's one of my favorites from Evita and she sings it beautifully.
The lowering of some of the notes in "Rainbow High" bothered me quite a bit (as a soprano who used that song in auditions), but it worked in the show and it's still a great song.
I decided to see the movie before deciding if I needed to buy another version of Evita on CD (I owned the American recording already) and I've decided that I need the movie soundtrack, since it's such a great cast.
Grade: B+
Labels: 1996, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Antonio Banderas, drama, history, Madonna, Mandy Patinkin, movie, musical
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:30 PM show | 0 screams