Depression and Disaster

Kirsten Dunst gave an award winning performance in the film Melancholia.  This 2011 psychological disaster movie about a planet called Melancholia was hiding behind the Earth's sun and is now on a collision course with Earth to destroy it.  Justine, played by Dunst has everything going for her in life however, she is going through depression.  Her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her husband John (Keifer Sutherland) start off by throwing a lavish reception for Justine and her new husband Michael (Alexander Skarsgard).  Director Lars von Trier demonstrates two sides of this movie through the eyes of Justine and Claire.  The comparison of how an extremely depressed woman and a woman that's in control of her life deal with the end of the world is ambiguous and fascinating. The still life photography and the cinematography is absolutely brilliant.  You will either love this story for its symbolism and psychology or dislike it because of it.  Either way, its a beautiful and mesmerizing story.

Women being Women

Bridesmaids was one of the funniest and satisfying "chick" flicks I have seen since "The First Wife's Club" with Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler from the 1990's.  The story centered around Lillian Donavan played by (Maya Rudolph) the bride who is getting married and her best friend Annie Walker played by Kristen Wiig when Lillian is asked to be her maid of honor.  Lillian is single, jealous of her friend, down on her luck because she lost her bakery and savings and she's in a meaningless relationship and one step away from living back home with her mother.  Enters Helen Harris III played by Rose Bryne, a rich friend of Lillian's to stir up trouble and Megan Price, Lillian's future sister-in-law who is the star of the movie played by Melissa McCarthy. With a great supporting cast and some wonderful writing, Bridesmaids is a movie not to be missed.  Bring out the tissues people, you will need them, not from tears of sadness but from tears from all the laughing.

Snow White with a Dark Side

Snow White and the Huntsman starring Twilight's Kristen Stewart as Snow White and Charlize Theron as Ravenna the Evil Queen in the dark version of the Brothers Grimm Snow White and the seven dwarfs. Though the story lacked some substance and clarity in parts and became a bit whiny with Kristin Stewart staring off into space at times with her big beautiful vacant eyes, there were some excellent acting done in the movie that should be credited. Of course you can't miss the eye candy of Chris Hemsworth. Charlize Theron did an excellent job as the evil Queen Ravenna and the special effects around her costume were brilliant. Sam Spruell who plays her evil brother and enforcer Finn is a coward and person to look out for and was a direct connection to his sister in more ways then one. The dwarves or little people headed by Bob Hoskins just like in the dark tale, liked their drink,  told tales and sang but got down to business when it came down to protecting their princess. The cinematography and CGI was fantastic and the story does pick up in parts here and there. It's worth seeing.

Star-Crossed Teenagers

Beautiful Creatures is a love story between two teenagers Ethan Wate (Aldren Ehrenreich) and Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) in Gatlin,SC.  Lena is a 15-year old witch who is destined to turn dark side on her 16th birthday and her family hopes to find a way for her not to.  Ethan falls in love with her and slowly finds out her secret and realizes that he has been dreaming about Lena for a long time.  There are some nice cinematography  throughout the movie, however the story is a bit slow at times and can put one to sleep.  The southern accent was so exaggerated at times that it was nerve wracking and I lived in South Carolina for a time.  This movie has been compared to the Twilight Saga and although I have read the books and have seen all the movies and agree that the writing in that series wasn't that great, it did give you more to keep you going with then this movie.  But that is this reviewers opinion.  The supporting casts, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis and Emma Thompson who are tremendous actors couldn't do anything to put fire to this story and you can see how they committed themselves to this movie.  This movie is worth seeing the costumes and some of the graphics but little else.

Oblivion: Earth's Non-Existence

 

In 2077, Earth has been through a war and has been vacated by its inhabitants   Two people have been left on Earth, Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) and Victoria Olsen (Andrea Riseborough).  Jack scouts the Earth repairing downed drones from alien beings who were scavenging what was left on Earth. Victoria keeps an eye on Jack and reports back to their leader Sally (Melissa Leo) of the colony based on one of the moons of Saturn where Victoria and Jack will be able to go in 2 weeks time.  However, this all changes when a capsule lands on Earth and Jack discovers one survivor named Julia Rusakova (Olga Kurylenko).  She is a face that Jack she's often in his dreams and wonders why.  The cinematography is great, the flying sequences reminds me of a cross between Star Wars and Top Gun.  The story has a bit of a twist to it to keep you interested. It's also nice to see Morgan Freeman and hear his dynamic voice from time to time.

Beauty and the Beast Wannabe!

Beastly is supposed to be an updated version of Beauty and the Beast.  Apparently, Daniel Barnz, the writer and the director of this film forgot the concept and the story.  I saw it is was showing on cable one day and thought, "why not...it can't be that bad!"  Well...

Alex Pettyfer who portrays Kyle/The Beast plays this character much like he acted in the movie "I Am Number Four" as "John Smith", brooding with an attitude and never really learning his lesson until the end.  At least in that movie you have a good soundtrack!  Kyle is a pretentious and mean young man and he humiliates the wrong person.  A young lady named Kendra that unknown to him is a witch played by Mary-Kate Olsen.  She retaliates and puts a hex on him and will not lift the curse until he learns a lesson.  His father who acts no better than he does, leaves him with his housekeeper and a blind tutor played by Neil Patrick Harris.  Lindy, the "beauty" that Kyle falls for brings a little brightness to the story but only a little.  The story becomes too trivial and you start to lose interest in Kyle and his immediate problem.  I can see why this film was forgettable in the theaters and it didn't last that long on the cable stations either.  That is not a good sign.

Rotten Tomatoes

The Spanish Flu and Murder

Murder by the Book An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd is the fourth book in the Bess Crawford series.  Here we find Bess in the Spring of 1918 in France in the middle of something deadlier than World War I, the Spanish Influenza Flu.  It is becoming more of an issue  by the minute.  However, Bess Crawford finds hidden among the countless dead waiting for burial the body of a friend and officer who also served in her father's regiment who was not killed by disease or by a German's bullet.  Bess wants to report this heinous crime but falls ill with the Spanish flu.  When she recovers, she finds out that the only other witness to the crime has hung himself.  Bess refuses to let either death go without investigating further putting her life and others close to her in danger.  This is another intriguing look into World War I with its heartache, compassion and dedication of all who have lived through this time period.
Murder by the Book