Movie Reviews on good movies that are compulsory viewing

This is another hilarious sequel with the same main star Steve Martin in regular fine form.

This time round there is a super thief in sight called “The Tornado” who has stolen amongst other things the Imperial sword of Japan, the Pope’s ring and has his sights set on the Pink Panther diamond.

It stars as usual the hilarious Steve Martin as the bumbling detective Inspector Jacques Clouseau, and the lovely Nicole played by Emily Mortimer(Match point, The 51st state she reminds me of a younger Caroline Ahern[The Mrs Merton show]), “drab and disgusting” she is not, with Jean Reno(Léon, Ronin) once again as Gendarme Gilbert Ponton.

It also has an assortment of stars from Aishwarya Rai(Bollywood superstar and wife of Abhishek Bashan, the son of the legendary Amitabh Bachan) as Sonia Solandres(always impressed by her upper class english accent). Andy Garcia as the latin romeo Vicenzo, John Cleese as Chief Inspector Dreyfus, Jeremy Irons as Avallaneda and the hilarious Lily Tomlin as Mrs Berenger.

The plot is as follows: Inorder to catch the Tornado or “Il Tornado” a dream team of super sleuths has been assembled, headed by non other than Inspector Clouseau much to the chagrin of Chief Dreyfus.

The antiques of Clouseau as usual are an embarassment to all around him, but this time round he manages to hurt the feelings of the lovely Nicole(by calling her “Drab and disgusting”) when fighting for her affections with Vicenzo.

It is a great-fun film, and there are some classic moments, especially the scenes with Clouseau and Mrs Berenger, these are going down as classics.

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This is a lovely romantic movie interspaced with intriguing dream like scenarios.
It tells the story of a young man Wes played by Joey Kern and his strange relationship/friendship with a vibrant and lovely girl Alison played by the superb Alexandra Holden(Friends, Friday Night Clubs) you literally can’t help but fall in love with her zest for life, she literally steals your heart in every scene and no doubt that of Wes,
who although he wants more from the relationship, she just wants to be friends.

We join the movie with Alison with her boyfriend in Tokyo, there is a look of possible sadness/regret as she lays in his arms. One thing is clear, you don’t see that look when she is with Wes.

Alison phones Wes and tells him she wants to pay him a visit even though it is 2 a.m. At first you don’t understand why Wes is reluctant or hesistant for her to come over and pay him a visit. It is all explained in the flash back sequences, which strangely begin with “Not today,” and their previous back packing trips across New Zealand and Australia.

Their conversations are always intriguing, and funny, even mundane things such as watermelons have a comic edge, many in the first steps of a new relationship are sure to identify. You can literally sense the spark between them, and you kind of wonder as the lead actress Alison wonders if she is truly satisfied simply being just friends.

At one of the rare serious moments in the film, she mentions she would like to have children, to which Wes mentions “With me”? She laughs it off and says she doesn’t want to spoil what they have, she is sorry she can’t offer anything more.

I must admit towards the end do some of the flashback sequences come full circle, and it is a rare romantic movie many will identify with and cherish.

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This is one excruciatingly painful movie to watch, what makes this shocking is the added voice overs, bringing it to stark contrast what happens to these people, people who you have just watched happy go lucky as any individual you are likely to come across from Latin America.

This is a real life documentary where an activist for the workers at the Mississipi Poultry farms spends a short amount of time with Gehemina and her daughter Rosario, you will love them immediately, the happy Rosario who doesn’t know what to do with her life but as any fourteen year old is happy to be playing about, there is a lovely scene where she is celebrating her fourteenth birthday and everybody in the trailer park where her and her mother stays, have come to sing her happy birthday, and at the end of it her face is embedded in the cake(seems this is a Mexican tradition for the birthday individual to have their face embedded in the cake).

You can’t watch this without feeling for the people, these are some of the warmest friendliest people you could come across, ready to open their doors to a stranger, and offering their hospitality yet having nothing, even the trailer park Gehemina lives in is delapidated, the floor boards are moist and easily broken off, and the whole trailer is filled with cockroaches, and as with many people who maybe know their rights but are too scared to cause trouble, or alert the authorities (perhaps there is an illegal immigrant in the vicinity and asking for help via the law could bring unnecessary trouble and unwanted attention to them), she doesn’t want anyone confronting the owner over it, as he has already told her “If you don’t like it leave.”!

This documentray shows the exploitation going on in contemporary Mississipi on the Poultry farms, from previously using blacks to now hiring Latin American workers, who hardly speak the language and who don’t know their rights, some of the stories are heart renching, from the group of guys who have done construction work and are owed $6,000 while the individual who owes them this large amount of money when confronted, comes with his advisor and says he has just come out of jail and will pay in two weeks, and two weeks passes then his wife phones that he has broken his arm and is on morphine(while the absolutely-superb-bunch of guys who have done the work and are owed their money says they will even accept one dollar as part payment if the fellow is telling the truth!), to Gehemina herself having worked for a stipulated $50 a day for two weeks only to be paid $200, while she found out later that the manageress kept the money for her and the other workers, to the corrupt cop who targets Mexican workers between the hours of 2 p.m. and 10 a.m. to extort them for made up traffic offences.

But it is not all doom and gloom, the hard work being done by the campaigner for the Poultry Farm workers goes beyond the call of duty, and her and the local Parish workers will no doubt gain the much needed publicity this area and line of work deserves.

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This is a well acted story based on the book of a collection of stories of modern life in China compared to the United States. It tells the story of the relationship between a father and a daughter, the father Mr. Shi is played by Henry O(Romeo must die) while the daughter Yilan is played by the lovely Feihong Yu(reminds me of a young Michelle Yeoh).

We join as Yilan collects her father from the airport, as he is visiting America for one of his tours, but as with any concerned parent, what he is really interested in, is if his daughter is happy in America. At first as with any cultural change Mr. Shi is a little perplexed at his new surroundings, from the unemployed girl getting a suntan, and having to avert his eyes while trying to hold a decent conversation with her will be cause for some amusement, showing the diversity between values from communist China and the contemporary United States.

The highlight of the movie are the conversations Mr. Shi has with an Iranian woman(played wonderfully by Vida Ghahremani) on the bench at a local park, both hardly speak any english and their atempts to communicate using all they can think of is sure to ring a bell with many individuals, or people we have tried to communicate to before, after a while you as well as Mr. Shi look forward to the conversations in the park, they act as a suitable distraction for the problems going on at home.

We find as Mr. Shi is reaching the end of his life he wants to make up for whatever pain he may have caused his daughter, although well meaning, we find that his daughter is a little distant and reluctant to accept his advice after what it seems as an absent father for so long, and like any american she certainly doesn’t feel he has the right to meddle in her affairs.

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This is a beautiful well acted, poignant and powerful drama that touches you on many levels.
It stars the superb Chazz Palminteri(The Usual suspects) as Yonkers Joe who along with his gambling pals and girlfriend Janice played by the warm and lovely Christine Lahti(Chicago Hope) regularly swindles other people and establishments on cards or other casino based games.
We meet Joe early on as he is told his disabled son Joe jnr. played superbly and convincingly by Tom Guiry(The Black Donnellys)(he reminds me a little of Sean Penn in appearance and manner especially in I am Sam) is about to turn 21, and the current establishment cannot hold him any longer, since he is getting too violent and abusive to staff.

We learn that Joe blames the disability of his son as punishment for the life of swindling that he has led so far, he is told either he has to send his son to a very expensive institution specific for his needs, or he stays with him for six months until he is reviewed again.
As Joe is constantly on the road as he says he is a saleman(what he ought to say he is a dice swindler with some really fast hands), this does not seem like much of a choice for Joe. He is presented with an opportunity to make a lot of money that could pay for his son’s stay at the expensive establishment, which he grabs with both hands, but as his swindling buddies start to think about their own futures, he is faced with a tough choice,
In the process of having his son stay with him thus far, the absent father, and abandoned son get to iron out their problems.

The acting is superb, and the tension in some of the scenes is tangible, ensuring that you watch with anticipation to see how it all unfolds. Some of the disturbing scenes were dealt with surprisingly well, never loosing perspective that nothing is simply black and white.

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This is a hilarious teen comedy that was surprisingly good amidst the very
unrealistic plot, it centers around a couple of lotharios on the
football team, are a little bored at having to go for yet another summer
training football camp with their foul mouthed coach, and prankish team mates.

When they hear of a cheerleading
camp with 300 girls and hardly any competition for their, they realise they
could be at a cheerleaders’ camp with all the young women to party with instead
of the rigmarole of football camp.

They concur up a story that they love cheerleading, and somehow convince the
captain of the cheerleading squad(against her better judgement) to Let
them join, and one of the hilarious dead pan actress says “we don’t have any
muscle” in reference to how much they could be of use.

What follows is a hilarious teen comedy, as the guys find out that they do enjoy
cheerleading, and their ulterior motives can be put side.

It stars Nicholas D’Agosto(“Flying boy” in Heroes) as Shawn Colfax, and the very
talented Eric Christian Olsen(Brothers and Sisters, Dumb and Dumberer: When
Harry Met Lloyd, Tru Calling) as Nick Brady, I was pleasantly surprised at his
comedy timing, which was spot on, didn’t get the impression his comedy timing
could be this good, from watching Brothers and Sisters, but then again he plays
a more serious character.

Somehow they convince Shawn Colfax’s sister Poppy played by the brilliant
Juliette Goglia(the brilliant child tutor in CSI Las Vegas)in exchange for
taking his room, to get them on the cheerleading squad.

Sarah Roemer(Disturbia) plays Carly the love interest of Shawn Colfax, while
Molly Sims(Las Vegas) plays Diora the love interest of Nick Brady however she is
already spoken for, as she is married to the hilarious and eccentric John
Michael Higgins(Evan Almighty, Ally McBeal, Bicentennial man) as Coach Keith,
the motivator the for cheerleading camp.

The movie will tickle the funnybone in all of us, and has hilarious comedy
moments, especially by Sylvia(Margo Harshman, Even Stevens), the scene where she
jumps into bed with another girl is hilarious.

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Another great series which originated in 2006 and promoted as “This year’s
Lost“, although the Writer’s Strike did hold it off for a while with only 11
episodes aired till the end of December of 2007, which led to some confusion as
to what happened to a few characters, it is still mesmerising to watch, not
quite as good as the first season, but in my opinion marginally better than the
second.

We join our protagonists Claire “Bear” Bennet played by the lovely Hayden
Panetierre(Malcolm in the middle) those lovely clear hazel eyes, and baby soft
cheeks can do no wrong, her foster father Noah Bennet aka “man with the horn
rimmed glasses” played by Jack Coleman(Spawn) who is trying to play it straight
this time with his wife Sandra Bennet played by Ashley Crow(American Dreamz),
Hiro Nakamura(Masi Oka, a local Japanese would be able to tell that he speaks
japanese with a slight accent) with his hilarious sidekick Ando Masahashi(James
Kyson Lee) there is a hilarious segment where Ando has to make a face to keep a
baby quiet, priceless, Mohinder Suresh played by Sendhil Ramamurthy(was in an
episode of Grey’s anatomy, and studied drama in England as part of the Ryal
Shakepeare Society hence the english accent) senator Nathan Petrelli played by
Adrian Pasdar(Carlito’s way, Top Gun), and his difficult relationship with his
younger sibling Peter Petrelli played by Milo Ventimiglia(Rocky Balboa, many may
have seen his father John ventimiglia the chef in the Sopranos) watched over my
their mother Angela Petrelli played by Cristine Rose(almost didn’t recognise her
in He’s just not that into you), the clarificaiton on exactly her powers are
elaborated a little in this series, there is a surprise for mind reader Matt
Parkman played by Greg Grunberg(Mission Impossible 3, Hollow man) in more ways
than one, we also get to meet Micah Sanders again played by Noah Gray-Gabey
whose in for quite a surprise, the Haitian played by Jimmy Jean-Louis(must be
seen in Diary of a tired blackman, he is fluent in five languages, and you can
tell he was a model) meets his nemesis.

This series starts off with a formula that can give powers to anybody, half of the formula was
guarded by Hiro’s father which is now in the charge of Hiro, but you just know
some villain may get their hands on it and it will be up to our protagonists and
their associates to save the world.
There is the usual mix of heroes and villains, and it is always fascinating to
find out what new characters may popup and more imporantly just what their
ability(as Sylar likes to put it) is, and if Sylar(playing the young Spock in
the new Star Trek movie, and I must admit he has an uncanny resemblance to a
young Leonard Nimoy) will finally get his comeuppance, we get to see Elle Bishop
played by Kristin Bell(pretty hilarious in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, particular
in one scene where she attacks the spiritual values of her boyfriend played by
Russell Brand).

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This is a fascinating series that is already much loved in it’s genre, and I
simply can’t wait for the next season. It has already won the matriach Sally
Fields(the endearing mother in Steven Spielberg’s Forrest Gump) a Golden Globe
as best actress, and you can see immediately why, she strikes a core as all her
immediate and extended family do, and that maternal nature of hers simply comes
across the screen as genuine as any other of her lovable characteristics. She
plays the matriach Nora Walker, she holds the family together through all the
pain, and you know whatever happens, whatever her children do they can always
rely on her, her warm smile is always ready to confront whatever the world has
for her and her family, while relying on the rock of her brother Saul played by Ron Rifkin.

Along with Sally Fields it has an all star cast: Dave Annable, Calista Flockhart(Ally McBeal, something
about her lovely huge hazel eyes that just keeps you transfixed akin to
something hypnotized by a snake), Balthazar Getty, Rachel Griffiths, Sarah Jane
Morris, Ron Rifkin, Patrica Wettig, Matthew Rhys, Emily Vancamp and Rob Lowe.

What makes this series so good is the diversity in characters and their A class
acting. Normally having so many characters does not go down so well, but not
here, you simply can’t get enough of the Walker clan and their extended friends.

The series begins with the revelations of the previous season still hanging as a
dark cloud which you are certain will start sending showers anytime soon.
Calista Flockhart plays Kitty walker, although billed as the star attraction
watching any episode and you get the impression they are truly no stars, and everybody comes
with an equal weighting in terms of performance and air time. Kitty has to
battle with her relationship woes while at the same time trying to maintain her
relationship with her mother Nora, while her elder sister Sarah thinks
everything just happens to fall in her lap.

Balthazar Getty plays Thomas(“Tommy”) Walker as quiet and more like the Patriach
than any of his other sons.
Matthew Rhys plays Kevin Walker, the charming, smart and in a way a cornerstone
for the family, one scene in particular when Nora was contemplating leaving had
Sarah gently slap him saying “Don’t make me slap you…be a man“.
Dave Annable plays the youngest Justin Walker who is trying to find his own
ground as a self sufficent man, amidst the dotting from his mother Nora, and the
lovely Emily Vancamp who simply can do no wrong(you get the feeling all she has
to do is flash a smile and she can literally get away with anything).
I have to admit Sarah Whedon played by Rachel Griffiths is one of my favorite of
the Walker clan, the memories of her playing pool while protected by her
brothers in a bar surrounded by army personnel was one of the highlights of the
first season, that captured her zest for life, as Nora Walker puts it “You are
my Trifecta“.

Holly played superbly by Patrica Wettig(The president in Prison Break season
one), she has lovely soft clear blue eyes, and the chemistry between her and
Sally Fields, is always one to watch.

Rob Lowe plays Senator Robert McAllister, the love interest of Kitty Walker, he
is getting more involved in the shenanigans of the Walker clan he has come to
love.

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This is a drama based on the book by Richard Yates, it tells the story of a young couple Frank and April Wheeler played by Leonardo DiCaprio and kate Winslet in the early part of the 20th century, both reunited for the first time onscreen since the blockbuster that was Titanic.
We initially meet the couple when they first met in a dance, we then move along several years into their marriage, with the house located on Revolutionary Road(hence the title), two children, this it seems will be it for the rest of their life.

However April has not accepted that this is all life has for them, and she convinces her husband to use all of their savings sell their home, and start a completely new life in France. There is a poigant scene where April tells the unassuming Frank that he is the most beautiful person in the world…a man.

I can see why Kate Winslet won the oscar for best actress, she is totally captivating from the very beginning, her American accent is spot on, and you get a taster of the explosive performances before the opening credits for the title have even begun.

She captures the emotions beautifully of the failed actress stuck in a comfortable suburban neighbourhood she resents with each passing moment, the dreams and aspirations she has for herself, and what she saw in her husband. You get the feeling something bad is about to happen but as with any great performance you want to know how it gets there.

The superb Kathy Bates(from Dolores Clairbone,was also in Titanic) plays the friendly neighbour who had initially introduced the young couple to the lovely home in Revolutionary Road, she cordially askes the young couple if they wouldn’t mind entertaining her son who is in a psychiatric hospital but with a four hour day pass, the brilliant eccentric John Givings is played superbly by Michael Shannon(8 Mile, Bad Boys 2), his sharp observations on the choices and strains on the couple are one to watch, infact I would say he steals every scene he is in.

Many from the theme, picture, and scenery will instantly recognise that this is a Sam Mendes movie, it has similar parallels with Road to Perdition, and for a second I could have sworn the theme song used in both of them were the same.

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This is a heart renching true story of many of the untold parts of the war and conflict in Iraq, Afghanistan and many parts of the world, that we do not get to see or hear about, that of the escort that makes sue the bodies of the fallen get home to their families, and any arefacts and belongings they may possess at the time of their death is preserved right upto its’ handling to their loved ones.
Kevin Bacon plays Lt Colonel Mike Strobl who although has a wife(played by Paige Turco,Gail Emory in American Gothic) and children, feels as a marine he should be active in Iraq, however he has been doing office work in a cubicle, and the main part of his job is to determine logistics of how many men are needed for a particular location, which has left him feeling less than a marine, so each night he views the casualty list from Iraq, until one casuality list in particular causes him to volunteer as an escort to bring the body back home, as the young victim is from his home town.

I must say the dignity from the initial scenes to the war dead is something we will all appreciate, there is one poignant scene where Mike Strobl is being scanned at the airport, as he is a very high ranking officer, it stands to reason he has quite a lot of metal on his person, as with all flights shoes have to be taken off, and jackets, or coats with any metal scanned, one of the key scenes in the movie is Strobl’s indignation
at being having to denigrate the uniform by taking his jacket off.

This is a heart renching tale, and one of immense dignity with redemption at the same time, we get to see from the side of many of the untold stories what goes on behind the scenes in bringing a fallen soldier back home, the respect paid to the dead does not falter for one minute, even though Private First Class Chance Phelps might have died at a very young age, we literally feel that the lives Private First Class Chance Phelps touches, even though he is not in the movie is all encompassing.

One of the refreshing aspects of this movie, is that it doesn’t focus on the war in Iraq, it’s justification or lack thereof, but the human dignity and sense of personal loss in bringing one fallen soldier hope, this is captured superbly from the onset.

Kevin Bacon plays Mike Strobl brilliantly, from the feeling of awkwardness and self examination that maybe he is not justified to be a marine as he is not in physically in a conflict, to literally not letting the body or Private First Class Chance Phelp’s artefacts not leave his sight for one minute would be a source of immense comfort to any relatives of a fallen soldier, that they will be treated with dignity and respect throughout the journey back home.

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