Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway go veiled head to veiled head in this bridal comedy. Childhood friends Liv (Hudson) and Anne (Hathaway) have dreamed of June weddings at the Plaza since they were kids, and now their fantasy is finally within reach. Both young women have gotten proposals, and they\’ve booked their dates at the famed Manhattan landmark. But a mistake in the office of their wedding planner, Marion St. Claire (Candice Bergen), causes their weddings to be scheduled on the same day, and neither woman will budge. Harsh words escalate into sabotage, and each woman craftily plots the demise of the other\’s wedding until events reach a screeching, squealing pitch on a sunny June day. <br><br>With roles in films such as HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS and MY BEST FRIEND\’S GIRL, Hudson has perfected starring in light comedies. In BRIDE WARS, she doesn\’t take her usual romantic route, and she displays good chemistry with the always fine Hathaway. The romances between the brides and their respective grooms (EVERWOOD\’s Chris Pratt and REBA\’s Steve Howey) aren\’t the point; instead, it\’s the creative one-upmanship that Liv and Emma engage in to the detriment of their lifelong friendship. For those who mark pages in bridal magazines, BRIDE WARS may provide escapist fare a la BRIDEZILLAS or the romantic comedy 27 DRESSES. They\’ll just have to cross their ringed fingers that their weddings go off better than the prank-filled events of Liv and Emma.
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This post was written on January 31, 2009
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The dramatic retelling of the life, improbable rise, and violent fall of rapper Christopher Wallace (a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G.), NOTORIOUS plays like A STAR IS BORN set to a rattling gangsta snare. With crisp direction by George Tillman, Jr., producer of the BARBERSHOP series, the film is briskly paced and strikes a worthy balance between sensationalized celebrity biopic and behind-the-scenes drama. Angela Bassett anchors the latter with a nuanced performance as Voletta, Wallaces long-suffering single mother who attempts to shelter him from the mean streets of Bed-Stuy.<br><br>With deep involvement by those who knew him best–the real Voletta Wallace and Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs (played dynamically by Derek Luke) co-produced–the film nonetheless unflinchingly portrays Biggies troubled history as a teenage crack dealer, his chronic infidelity and poor fathering skills, and his own role in stoking the ludicrous coastal rivalry that claimed both his and Tupac Shakurs lives. As it presents Biggie\’s side of the murders in boldface, one wonders if a more independent eye would cast Shakur and his cohorts in the villain role so starkly. Documentarian quibbles aside, NOTORIOUS delivers an impactful tribute to its subject\’s genius–revealing to fans and neophytes alike the microphone skills, narrative chops, and fresh vision that made Wallace one of hip-hops greatest all-time MCs. Largely, this is due to the ace performance by Jamal Woolard, an amateur rapper who packed on 50 pounds to play the hulking gangsta, and nails his mordant charisma and conflicted inner life with a star turn every bit as on point as Jamie Foxxs Ray Charles or Val Kilmers Jim Morrison.
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This post was written on January 31, 2009
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“I was born under unusual circumstances.” And so begins “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man\’s life can be.
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This post was written on January 31, 2009
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Troy (Colin Hanks) decides that his career as a lawyer has lost its appeal, so he drops out of school in favor of working for Buck Howard (John Malkovich). But the eponymous mentalist isn’t the celebrity he used to be, and Hollywood and Vegas just don’t call like they used to, making everyone question Troy’s decision. Tom Hanks produces and makes an appearance as Troy’s father.
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This post was written on January 28, 2009
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Narrated by Joan Allen, this documentary illuminates the story of Hannah Senesh, a Hungarian Jew who was living safely in Palestine in 1944 but made the brave–and fatal–choice to return to Europe. As a paratrooper and resistance fighter, the poet Senesh eventually gave her life in her goal of saving her fellow Jews from the Nazis. With help from the Senesh family and their archives, BLESSED IS THE MATCH recounts Senesh’s amazing life.
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This post was written on January 28, 2009
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Those who were waiting for the romantic reunion of TITANIC’s Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet may be surprised by what they find in REVOLUTIONARY ROAD. The movie begins with a sweet scene where Frank (DiCaprio) and April (Winslet) meet at a party, but the rest of this drama based on Richard Yates’s novel is devoted to watching the destruction of their marriage and their selves in 1950s suburbia. Frank works at a job he hates in New York City, then commutes home to two children and a wife who feels none of them belong in their cookie-cutter town. Their realtor (a fine Kathy Bates) recognizes their specialness and introduces them to her mentally unstable son (BUG’s Michael Shannon, in another good, unhinged performance) in an effort to establish some normalcy for the man. However, Frank and April’s marriage is not as perfect as it seems to the outside world, and the audience gets to witness their downfall. <br><br>With its commentary on conformity and finding identity, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD bears more than a passing resemblance in both theme and tone to the TV series MAD MEN and director Sam Mendes’s previous film AMERICAN BEAUTY. The characters here may live in a polite age where men wear ties and hats and women clean the house in skirts and heels, but the dialogue often enters brutal territory. Less capable actors wouldn’t have been able to capture the volatile chemistry between Frank and April, but DiCaprio and Winslet are as wonderful at uttering sweet nothings as they are at tearing each other apart with verbal barbs. Mendes, directing his wife, Winslet, for the first time, is a perfect match for the source novel’s lack of sentimentality and its wry commentary on life in the 1950s that still resonates half a century later.
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This post was written on January 27, 2009
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The filmmakers behind THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA take on another bestseller in the family film MARLEY AND ME. Based on the hit memoir by John Grogan, MARLEY AND ME chronicles the relationship of John (Owen Wilson) and Jen (Jennifer Aniston) as they face the challenges of marriage and work to start a family. By their side is their beloved dog, Marley, who can chew through drywall, got kicked out of obedience school, and never met a leg he didn\’t like. The cute pup\’s antics come to signify the unexpected challenges that everyone faces in adulthood, and the film is ultimately a paean to unconditional love; others may see Marley as the “world\’s worst dog,” but throughout it all, he proves to be the couple\’s most faithful friend.<br><br>MARLEY AND ME plays like a modern day Norman Rockwell portrait with a little more bite, courtesy of the snark-friendly screenwriters and the title\’s wild mutt. The sets are sumptuous, with every shot lovingly lit to look like a Hallmark card. The winning lead performances help elevate the picture above its feel-good counterparts; Aniston is radiant and Wilson shows off sharp dramatic chops, giving some maturity to his loveable comedic persona. Alan Arkin gives a scene-stealing performance as Wilson\’s boss, and Kathleen Turner proves to be a great sport with her physically demanding cameo as Marley\’s obedience instructor. But in the end the picture belongs to the dogs, and for once that\’s a good thing. A film that keeps the audience cooing, cracking up, and crying, MARLEY AND ME is sure to become a family favorite.
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This post was written on January 24, 2009
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Nineteen-year old Casey Bell is haunted by a dybbuk–the soul of a dead person barred from heaven–in the form of a young boy who perished in Auschwitz.
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This post was written on January 24, 2009
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DEFIANCE is a different kind of World War II movie, one that looks at the Holocaust from a unique angle–telling the true story of a group of Jews in Eastern Europe who fought back. On the run from the Germans and the local police, the three Russian Bielski brothers–Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber), and Asael (Jamie Bell)–hide out deep in the forest. Their numbers swell as more and more refugees join them, coming together to form a community while also patrolling with guns and shooting the enemy to stay alive. But Tuvia and Zus have a falling-out over what future direction to take: Tuvia thinks it best to remain in the forest despite the coming vicious winter, but Zus wants to join the Russian resistance, which is aggressively attacking the Nazis. Complicating the situation are the women in their lives, known as forest wives–Lilka (Alexa Davalos) shows interest in Tuvia, Bella (Iben Hjelje) grows close to Zus, and young Chaya (Mia Wasikowska) and Asael flirt with the tingles of first love. As food grows scarce, diseases increase, and the Nazis become determined to find and kill them, the Bielski Otriad struggles to survive, battling back when necessary, including taking up arms. <br><br>Directed by Edward Zwick (GLORY, BLOOD DIAMOND) and based on the nonfiction book by Dr. Nechama Tec, DEFIANCE is a powerful thriller filled with tense human emotion, a gripping story about brotherly love and the basic human instinct to survive against all odds. Craig (LAYER CAKE, CASINO ROYALE), Schreiber (EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED), and Bell (BILLY ELLIOTT) are terrific as the Bielski brothers, three very different individuals who simply refuse to just lie down and die.
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This post was written on January 24, 2009
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San Francisco is the setting for potential romance in this low-budget romance. Though Jo’ (Tracey Heggins) and Micah (Wyatt Cenac) wake up next to one another, they have no idea what brought them to that point. MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY follows the pair as they travel through the California city, exploring the streets as well as the possibility of a deeper connection with one another.
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This post was written on January 22, 2009
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