Catherine Jo Morgan: DVD & Video Reviews

DVD Review: "13 Going on 30" - 1 star

Thu, 02 Sep 2004 00:54:50 GMT

It's hard not to be sarcastic in describing this film. At the very best, it's sort of cute. The theme is so well worn that it's just plain trite. Basically, the idea is - hold your breath now - that true friendship is better than trying to fit in with the "in crowd" in high school and thereafter.

Boy, I'm glad that's finally settled!

See, I couldn't resist. The sarcasm just came right out. Sorry!

The main actor, Mark Ruffalo, is very engaging. I like looking at him. He has a sweet smile that reminds me of one of my best blacksmithing friends. That's about the best there is to say about the film, I think.

We've seen worse, but this is pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel for fun entertainment. It is a romantic comedy, so no horrors are lurking to ruin your sleep. Hence - it deserves at least 1 star.

DVD Review: "Girl Next Door" - 2 stars

Mon, 30 Aug 2004 02:38:19 GMT

I was a little reluctant to rent this film. Did I really want to see a story about a boy who falls in love with a girl, then finds out she's been a porn star? The first few minutes of the film show what high school seniors are supposed to be like towards the end of the year - "going nuts," it's called. A certain generation gap seemed to yawn very wide at that point.

We kept watching, though. Give the kids a chance. The story did get better. It's pretty shaky, but I guess it's about as believable as many movie plots - in other words, not very. The theme seems to be "moral fibre." Maybe it's more moral to do some bad things, if for a good cause, than to be a goody-goody? Is it even ethical to be "too good" if one is a graduating senior in the United States at this time in our history? When "going nuts" and "doing something crazy" might be actual moral requirements?

Well, this proved to be a definite distraction from any personal problems of my own. I had given no thought at all to whether or not I had a moral requirement to "go nuts" just before graduating from high school. This was a brand new dilemma.

Of course, the general question of "do the ends justify the means" is not new, and does apply to us all no matter when we graduated high school. Since the range of possible "unethical means" is very wide, there's plenty of scope for varied storytelling on this theme. "The Girl Next Door" isn't one of the worst.

It does rather trick the audience toward the end. This is risky business in storytelling. The audience may resent it. I did, a little bit.

Well, as I'm writing, my rating has somehow sunk from 3 stars to 2. I keep thinking "not too bad" and "ok." So - if you're kind of scraping the bottom of the movie rental barrel, this is not a bad choice. I'll give it 2 stars.

DVD Review: Laws of Attraction - 3 stars

Mon, 30 Aug 2004 02:28:30 GMT

This is a predictable but charming romantic comedy about two top divorce lawyers. Pierce Brosnan, who plays the male lawyer, has the look of a misunderstood rake, sure to turn out to have a heart of gold. Frank Sinatra had that same ability to look like a rake just waiting for a good woman to shape him up. Trained on similar films from the fifties, I found this film as easy to enjoy as an ice cream cone.

I don't think there's a single memorable line in the film - hence, it doesn't deserve 4 stars. There are a few surprising twists in the plot, enough to make it fun. And the acting is good. All in all, it's just fun. 3 stars.

DVD Review: "Monsieur Ibrahim." - 4 stars

Wed, 25 Aug 2004 02:18:21 GMT

This is the kind of film you know you'll want to see many times. I'd put it on the level of the Italian film, "Life is Beautiful." Both films have a poignancy and glow that makes life feel precious and wonderful.

It's unusual for my partner and me to like a French film. This story is set in Paris. Maybe it was written and/or directed by people not French? Anyway, we liked this one very much.

If I tell you that it's about the friendship between a teenage boy and an older man from Turkey, that really doesn't tell you much. It even sounds boring. Trust me, this film is not boring. It's about sex, love, life, and death. Not boring themes!

Take my word for it and see this film - 4 stars.

DVD Review: "Goodbye Lenin" - 2 stars

Wed, 25 Aug 2004 02:11:50 GMT

The main interest in this film is that it's set in East Berlin, right at the time the Wall came down and reunification began. To me, the film has some serious flaws. Toward the end, we're left hanging after a climactic scene. So what happened? Huh? We miss the scene itself - just see the start. Afterward, it's as if it never happened. Huh? In my judgment this is cowardly storymaking. Do the difficult scenes! Work it through!

Also the premise of the story is pretty far fetched. It's mildly amusing, just barely believable. I'm good at suspension of disbelief, so that means it's really, really, barely believable.

The film left us feeling sad. I decided it's really about the ambiguities in the fall of communism and the "triumph of capitalism." There's a certain idealism about communism - never achieved in reality - that seems to be the core of the film. So the film shows us - it's gone, and it's worth mourning.

Maybe that makes the film worth seeing. It's just not carried off well, though. I'd like to see a better story about that same theme. I'm giving this one just 2 stars.

DVD Review: "Connie and Carla" - 3 stars

Fri, 20 Aug 2004 23:21:21 GMT

"Connie and Carla" are a dinner theatre singing team who still haven't made it after all these years. After they witness a murder, they flee for their lives and hide out as - well, maybe I shouldn't tell you. This is a good comedy with some redeeming social value. The music isn't bad either. I'll give it 3 stars - certainly worth seeing.

DVD Review: "The Prince and Me" - 4 stars

Thu, 19 Aug 2004 01:41:02 GMT

Julia Stiles! Yes, I like her a lot. In "The Prince and Me" she comes through again as a serious young woman with life goals - and once again, deals with the conflict between career and love. What happens? How is it resolved? Watch the film and find out.

Yes, I love Cinderella stories. I admit it. "Maid in Manhattan" won my heart too. This is as good or better. It's happy entertainment that won't leave you with a sick "why did I watch that?" feeling afterward. I'll give this 4 stars - of course.

DVD Review: "Protection" - 3 stars

Tue, 17 Aug 2004 02:44:59 GMT

Ah! Finally a film worth seeing. This was not bad at all - pretty interesting, in fact. The suspense was great, the characters pretty well developed, and the plot good too. OK, I don't think it was exactly literature - but it was reasonably good entertainment. I'll give it three stars.

If you're in the mood for an interesting suspense film, this should do nicely.

DVD Review: "The Whole Ten Yards" - 1 star

Tue, 17 Aug 2004 02:42:54 GMT

We started watching this last night. Why we watched past the first two minutes is something of a mystery. Today we agreed to ditch it and not finish watching it.

If seeing one man hit another man in the face - repeatedly - "Don't contradict me" -is your idea of comedy, this might be a film you want to see. But I doubt it. I wouldn't bother with this one.

Al Pacino in "People I Know" - 2 stars

Sun, 15 Aug 2004 00:26:44 GMT

We chose this film because it stars Al Pacino. Indeed he does act well in it. However, the story lacks something. It's kind of sick-making without much moral direction. Usually we don't even finish watching such a movie, so it's still a tribute to Pacino.

Aside from the general moral idea of "don't do drugs" and "Big powerful politicians can be ruthless," and "becoming a publicist might not be the best career for peace of mind," it's hard to draw much from the film. John Gardner, in his book "On Becoming a Novelist," says that good fiction needs to revolve around a moral dilemma. That's what's missing in "People I Know." It's tragic. It's sad. It's horrible. But it seems unavoidable. There's no dilemma, just bad stuff playing itself out.

So - I'll give this just 2 stars. And one of those is just for Al.

DVD Review: Love Letters - 3 stars

Wed, 16 Jun 2004 01:44:00 GMT

You can tell that "Love Letters" was originally a stage play. A lot of the lines have that "zing" that you hear in a good play. So it's a bit different. It's a quiet film, but heart wrenching. We liked it a lot. Acting was superb. Characters pull you in. I recommend it.

DVD Review: Uncovered - 1 star

Mon, 14 Jun 2004 15:25:02 GMT

Another dud. I thought "Uncovered" was based on a novel I'd read about two years ago, but it wasn't the same book. "Uncovered" is mildly interesting because it's about restoring a painting, but the plot is contrived and the acting under par. If you have anything else to watch - or something else interesting to do - I'd give this one a pass. I'm just giving it one star.

I think I'm grading "harder" these days, since I used to reserve one star for films we didn't even finish. What will I do with those now? Give them a zero?

DVD Review: Shrink is In - 1 star

Sun, 13 Jun 2004 03:16:15 GMT

We may have seen worse - and there are plenty of films of which we didn't watch more than a few minutes. So maybe "Shrink is In" deserves 1.5 stars instead of just 1. But really, it's pretty asinine. At the end, we wondered why we had kept watching it.

It must be more difficult to make a good comedy than to make a good thriller or even a good drama. The outcome of this one is pretty obvious early on. It's just a question of working out the details. The acting isn't that great. No one's all that attractive. So - why not skip this one?

DVD Review: In America - 3 stars

Thu, 10 Jun 2004 16:14:43 GMT

This is just a first impression, the morning after watching "In America." I say that because this is the kind of film that stays in the mind and may grow there for a while. It's a story about death - how a family recovers from losing a child, how a man dies of AIDS. (At least I gathered it was form AIDS. This isn't made explicit in the film, but is very much implied.)

Maybe I should say it's a story about taking death in, embracing it, and finding hope and life thereby. Yes, that's a much better description of the film. I'm making the film sound very heavy and actually, it's not. It's mostly lively, active, and engaging. It's not light comedy but it's not at all depressing.

I think this is because so much of the film is about the children - the two daughters who have lost their brother - and about how the children really pull everyone back to life. They're vibrantly alive, active, and interesting. They keep the story from bogging down in tragedy.

Certainly I recommend this film. I'd like to see it again sometime. I'll give it 3 stars. Why not 4? Can't explain it. Maybe I'll come back later and change it to 4.

DVD Review: Love Actually - 2 stars

Wed, 09 Jun 2004 21:50:27 GMT

I'm not sorry I watched "Love Actually." There are some scenes I really enjoy remembering. And Hugh Grant was as endearing as ever, even in a story with very, very little plot.

Did have two problems with the film. It hangs together very, very loosely. It takes a long time to find out how all the people are related, why they're all in this film. The film has a theme really, rather than a plot.

One of the subplots, if you can call it that, involves two people meeting at what are apparently pornography shoots. (My innocence is showing, since I'm not positive about this.) Anyway, it's supposed to be funny because they're chatting about this and that while they're supposed to be doing various sex things. It's a little funny, but not THAT funny. And it's pretty disgusting too, which cancels out quite a lot of the amusement.

We've seen films much worse than this. It does have its good points. The actors and actresses are some of Britain's best. It's fairly fun. So I'll give it 2 stars.

DVD Review: Girl with a Pearl Earring - 4 stars

Mon, 07 Jun 2004 01:22:40 GMT

I had read the novel a year or two ago and liked it. Girl with a Peal Earring is a beautiful film. It builds amazing suspense with lighting, glances, and gestures. It's a subtle story.

It's set in 1669 or thereabouts - very close to the 1668 time the PBS show "Colonial House" tried to replicate. It was odd to watch "Colonial House" first, getting a close look at what a new colony was like in the New World - then watch "Girl with a Peal Earring" set in the Old World. In both films, we see the world partly through the eyes of servants.

"Girl with a Pearl Earring" is certainly a film no artist should miss. Anyone interested in history, western civilization, art, or sociology will enjoy it too. Oh - and if you like a good, subtle story - Henry James style - you'll love this film.

The documentary on making one of the scenes is also very interesting.

DVD Review: Calendar Girls - 4 stars

Sat, 05 Jun 2004 00:55:20 GMT

As a story, Calendar Girls probably only rates 3 stars. But it's so rare, sparkling, and uplifting that I've got to give it 4. Starring Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, and many more, this film is guaranteed to make any woman smile - and most men too.

Eleven rather proper Women's Institute ladies in Yorkshire make a nude calendar to raise money to fight leukemia - in memory of one of the husbands. Really, that's the gist of the story. The movie elaborates it and gives it various twists and subplots. But the fact is - the women are glorious. The calendar is glorious. Words can't describe it. So - if you haven't already, see the film.

DVD Review: House of Sand and Fog - 3 stars

Tue, 27 Apr 2004 02:32:23 GMT

This film is a good cure for being too attached to a house. The acting is superb. The tragedy seems inevitable, given the collision among these characters in this situation. Ben Bridges is as good as one might expect. I'll give it three stars.

DVD Review: Intolerable Cruelty - 2 stars

Sun, 11 Apr 2004 20:18:31 GMT

This was pleasant entertainment. It's a farce, not quite believable and a little too predictable. But we've seen much worse. It was fun.

DVD Review: Once Upon a Time in the Midlands - 1 star

Sun, 11 Apr 2004 20:16:44 GMT

This was a dud. After a few minutes of watching "Once Upon a Time in the Midlands," we abandoned it. The characters all seemed confused, miserable, and grouchy. Who needs it?

DVD Review: Something's Gotta Give - 4 stars

Sat, 03 Apr 2004 15:43:56 GMT

I've never been fond of Diane Keaton as an actress, but in "Something's Gotta Give" she is fabulous. Jack Nicholson is as great an actor here as ever.

This is a "must see" comedy. Want to roar with laughter many times? Feel pangs of woe? See a movie with a very satisfying resolution that fits? This is it. 4 stars.

DVD Review: Shattered Glass - 3 stars

Thu, 01 Apr 2004 01:07:27 GMT

This film is based on the true story of journalist Stephen Glass. You may remember when he was fired from The New Republic. It turned out that this "star" journalist had made up a lot of the articles he'd claimed were true.

Does this make a good movie? Actually, it does. It's shown quite well. There's a sense of suspense throughout. Even after the truth starts to come out, the story is fascinating.

The special features include an excerpt from the TV show, "60 Minutes:" an interview with the real Stephen Glass. Has he changed in the five years between the end of the film, and the interview at "60 Minutes?"

Now I'm curious about the novel he wrote after he was fired as a journalist. Clearly fiction was his forte. But he also completed law school after being fired. Law school? Maybe he'll become a world class defense attorney?

At any rate, the film is good.

DVD Review: Beyond Borders - 4 stars

Wed, 31 Mar 2004 01:05:04 GMT

I urge you to put "Beyond Borders" on my list of "must see" movies, if you haven't seen it already. It's a love story that takes place over a decade, set in London and in war torn areas around the world. A socialite woman meets a passionate relief worker....

The documentary about making the film is fascinating too. This is the kind of movie that's unforgettable. Maybe it's even life changing. It was for the actress who played the heroine.

Love, suspense, moral dilemmas, social concerns, and - more love. Need I say more? This rates 4 stars for sure.

DVD Review: The Pentagon Papers - 4 stars

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 17:27:11 GMT

Watching this film offered me some welcome nostalgia for rock n roll and earlier decades. This was mixed with some fascination and horror about the true story of the Pentagon papers. This would be a good film just for a segment of U.S. history. If you lived through that period, you'll enjoy being back there (especially, knowing you survived it.) If you're too young to remember it first hand, the film should offer some fascinating insights into history.

The film is well done, with good suspense throughout. 4 stars because it's not only entertaining, but has information everyone should know.

DVD Review: Quicksand - 3 stars

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 17:22:32 GMT

This is a good, basic thriller. It's funny that we watched it right after The Pentagon Papers, which uses quicksand as a metaphor for the country's Vietnam War involvement.

We watched Quicksand two evenings ago. To be honest, I can't remember a thing about it except that it was a good thriller. Usually films this forgettable go down fast in my ratings. But I do remember it was good entertainment. So I'll still give it 3 stars.