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Reviews
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
One of the All-Time Greats
This is one of the all-time great films. The story, the screenplay, the soundtrack, the acting, the directing, the stunts, the effects---all winners!
It's the story and its telling that give TDKR a specialness that the other Christopher Nolan Bat movies didn't have. The others had bombast and standout performances, but TDKR has more heart and soul. Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman is heroic, to be sure, but is presented here as more human and more vulnerable (in numerous ways). His transition from a limping, Howard Hughes type recluse back to Bat mode sets the film in motion.
Nolan and Nolan (director and co-writer Christopher and his co-writer brother Jonathan) give memorable lines to several of the key players. Michael Caine as Alfred is in tears as he advises Wayne not to go back into the Bat suit. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as police officer John Blake, a longtime Wayne admirer, tells Wayne his emotional story of life in an orphanage. Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon hesitates to tell the truth about Batman, lest he mar the legacy of Harvey Dent.
The ladies are better in this Bat movie. Anne Hathaway as Selina Kay/Catwoman is a beguiling mix of evil and good. Plus, she looks terrific in the leather jumpsuit. Marion Cotillard as Wayne Enterprises board member Miranda Tate shares a romantic interlude with Bruce Wayne and is a key character in significant plot points.
Tom Hardy is evil incarnate as Bane, the terrorist who brings fear and havoc to Gotham. His mask and haunting voice bring to mind classic bad guy Darth Vader. Bane's violent acts will prompt recollections of NYC's 9/11 terrorist attacks. His band of thugs commandeers certain defense assets to do harm to Gotham and its defenders.
If this is a movie you plan to see, get into your movie house sooner rather than later. TDKR has content you want to enjoy on the big screen (IMAX, preferably) instead of a small screen. This review contains no spoilers, but others will. Be careful monitoring online forums and social media feeds, so as not to be burned by those who tell too much.
"The Dark Knight Rises" has iconic scenes and dialogue that will endure in my personal movie memory scrapbook for a long time. Expect multiple awards nominations and wins at year's end. The movie adds another notch to Christopher Nolan's reputation as one of our great movie storytellers. Like his "Inception," TDKR is a movie to be enjoyed many times over. But don't wait for the DVD or Blu-Ray. Witness true greatness at a theater near you ASAP.
Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)
Funny and timely
"Confessions of a Shopaholic" is a chick flick romcom that you can take your daughter to see. You can take your mother to see it. Heck, you can take grandma. It's rated PG. No f-bombs. No naked people. No gun play.
Isla Fisher plays Rebecca Bloomfield, a journalist with an addiction to shopping. She gets into very deep debt. Kind of like our nation has done recently and is continuing to do. Not that this movie is intended to be any kind of political metaphor. It's just a cute and funny movie which any of us, male or female, can relate to---if we've ever accumulated too big a balance on our credit cards. (I know that I could've used a bailout a few times in my life!)
While the script provides some decent laughs, I loved Isla Fisher's physical comedy. She's good.
Hugh Dancy as the male lead was okay. But I'll leave the critique of his work to a female poster.
Always fun to see actors and actresses who you like but haven't seen on screen that much lately and "Shopaholic" has a few. Like Julie "Airplane" Hagerty and Wendy "Just Shoot Me/Dream On" Malick. Kristin Scott-Thomas, John Lithgow and, yes, Lynn Redgrave. Not to mention Joan Cusack and John Goodman as Rebecca's mom and dad.
For me, this is way more entertaining than last week's chick flick (the one which I'm just not that into). Even though that one had more star power, this one is the better movie, I think.
The Ice Harvest (2005)
Disappointing!
Maybe the most disappointing movie of the year! You have a highly regarded cast, including the usually dependable John Cusack, and a highly regarded director. But this movie is pretty mediocre.
It is set on Christmas eve in Wichita and is supposed to be funny. It is not.
I think we are supposed to be pulling for these small time hoods played by Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton to pull off their caper. But there is nothing at all endearing about them.
Oliver Platt plays an annoying drunk who is not funny. And Randy Quaid's part is so small that it hardly matters.
It also bothers me that one of the characters wants to take his kids to Six Flags on Christmas day. Maybe that's how you do it in L.A., but not in the Midwest!
Watch this one on basic cable some night in six or seven years when you're really bored.