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Reviews
Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
BASICally should have followed my INSTINCTs.....
.....and stayed away. This movie was like a really, really, bad parody of itself. Where to begin? Sharon Stone. She looks "good" for her age.......the last three words are imperative to follow the first three. Never once did her highly BOTOX-ed brow move. She was angry? Nothing. She was smiling? Nada. And the sneer! Too much. Her constant monotone delivery did nothing to help the audience stay awake- and I noticed 3 movie goers dozing in my area within the first 45 minutes! David Morrissey wasn't much better. His weak, sniveling character was totally implausible for a shrink. (She WASN'T "all that"!!) Michael Douglas, he ain't! And speaking of Michael Douglas....they sure paid homage to the absent -but sorely needed actor: Shrink's name? Michael. Stone's name? Catherine. And the shrink was trying to earn the "Douglas" award. In a better script, with better actors, it could have allowed for some comic relief, but near the end of the movie when one character emits an overly-long anguished scream, I found myself, with the rest of the audience, wishing I could do the same aloud, instead of inwardly. Sharon, PLEASE, I beg of you, if they come around (which is doubtful) with BI-3, "Just say NO!" You're already too long in the tooth to play the original seductress. Everyone was laughing at you! Minus one star from me! This was an abominable waste of time and money. It's destined to be a 2 week (max) runner.....
PS It's now 4/22, and apparently I was right. It's not to be found anywhere around here!!
Closer (2004)
....Then Farther Apart
I have been waiting for this film since I first started seeing previews at least 3 months ago. Reason 1: The stellar cast- Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Natalie Portman, and the seemingly omnipresent Jude Law. Reason 2: Mike Nichols. I've been a fan since The Graduate. and 3. The haunting song teaser they played in the previews, and now on the televised previews. This raspy, thready, "I can't take my eyyyeesssss off you....." - It positively obsessed me to find out the name and singer, which alone has been my unrealized mission for 3 months. I am being sidetracked, but bear with me. It will all become evident why I talk of the song so much. Okay, so on Thursday our local newspaper reviewer, who gave it an "A-", by the way, mentioned the song as being sung by Damien Rice. This Irishman has SOUL. Now about the movie. The song made me doubly interested in the movie, though I already knew I wanted to see it. Truth be told, had they not played that song in the preview, I wouldn't have been at the first showing the day it opened.
The movie doesn't disappoint, and does. This is NOT "warm, fuzzy, holiday fare". If you want that, stay home and watch Jimmy Stewart movies. What it IS is a finely tuned foray into relationships, specifically what we do to each other in relationships in quest for the "perfect love".
Excellent performances all around. The luminous Natalie Portman has gone to the top of my list, even surpassing the engaging Julia Roberts, who, incidentally, is not the sweet innocent she usually plays. Jude Law is so good, and thankfully made me forget Alfie. Clive Owen has the most expressive eyes. He gave a wonderful performance. It may be a bit difficult to adjust initially to each scene. The passage of time in between quickly becomes evident, however, and you'll find yourself in rhythm. Clive Owen gave an interview on our local TV station yesterday and prepared me, however, for the ending. I was really glad he did, because, although he didn't give anything away, he forewarned that you won't leave feeling all warm and fuzzy. Great effort from all involved. But leaves you feeling .......just leaves you "feeling"......
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)
No "Reason" to see this one!
I have been waiting with great anticipation to see the sequel to the wonderful Bridget Jones's Diary, which I own on DVD. What a disappointment! It was as though they conducted interviews with the audiences of the former movie and then took each and every laugh generated and duplicated the scene in the most contrived and obvious way. Without ruining- further- the experience for those of you who insist on seeing it anyhow, all you need to do is remember the scenes that made you laugh the hardest (in the original) and imagine them repeated months later. Also missing in this movie was Hugh Grant's Daniel, who had little more than a couple of cameos. Honestly, as I think back to seeing it this past Sunday, I just feel annoyed and used.
Sideways (2004)
Side-splitting laughs
What a refreshing surprise of a film! Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church are perfect as friends more in spite of than because of their commonalities. I loved this film so much I saw it the day it opened here, and one week later in California, when I liked it even better. This is a film that holds your interest from beginning to end, with hysterical, alternating with heart-tugging scenes. Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen were wonderful, but this film is Paul Giamatti's, whose expressive face makes you feel the pain of his rejection as a writer, and the loss of his marriage two years earlier, which still haunts him. Thomas Haden Church, whom I hadn't seen since the television series, "Wings", was hilarious. Run, don't walk, to see this wonderful film before it disappears!
Alfie (2004)
What IS it all about...?
I cannot express how totally disappointed, yet not surprised, I was with this movie. Having seen the fabulous Michael Caine in the original many years ago, and alternately being intrigued and appalled that a remake was being done, I still felt unexplicably compelled to see it for myself. This is a perfect example of trusting ones first instinct, mine being to stay home. Talk about unsympathetic characters! I could not find one thing to like about Alfie, save looking at Jude Law's eyes. I even found the constant narrative annoying, but the worst of it was that I left still not knowing for sure whether or not Alfie had learned and experienced enough to make any real lasting change in his treatment of women and relationships. There's about three minutes of that "Awwww....." feeling, when he is feeling a bit of karma, but frankly, it wasn't enough to make me remotely like him. Marisa Tomei has been missed, and was wasted in too little screen time. Ditto for Susan Sarandon, who seems lately to have not much more than cameo roles (case in point: Shall We Dance?). This was a waste of a lot of money and way too much of my time. It seemed like it would never end, and when it did, I knew little more and cared a lot less about Alfie.