Scent of a Woman

DVD review from Nick at Nite

Scent of a Woman

Al Pacino won an Oscar for his portrayal of an angry, injured warrior who is in serious need of a self-help book or twelve-step program. He joins up with Chris O’Donnell, a scholarship student from the local prep school, for a thanksgiving trip to New York City. There Lt. Col. Slade and Charlie drive a fast car, ride in a limo, dance with Gabrielle Anwar, and consider suicide. All in all a very nice time. This is actually a very good film. Has one of my favorite lines of all time. Lt. Col. Slade asks Charlie to hand him a glass of John Daniels. Charlie says don’t you mean Jack Daniels. Lt. Col. Slade says when you know him as well as I do, it is John Daniels. I give it an “A.”

Stardust

DVD review from Nick at Nite

Stardust

Give this movie a chance. You won’t regret it. It reminds me so much of The Princess Bride. Another fine film that was underappreciated at the box office. An interesting ensemble cast follow the adventures of a young man as he chases down a fallen star. The fallen star turns out to be a beautiful young woman. They have trouble as it seems they are in a fantastical land where at least two other groups are trying to chase down the same fallen star. Mayhem and madness ensue. I recommend you rent this and The Princess Bride on a nice, rainy weekend. Probably a little too scary for the smallest among us, but should be in the wheel house for most others. I give it an “A.”

Emma (Masterpiece Theater)

Review from The Movie Snob

Emma. When I tuned in to this PBS Masterpiece Theater presentation, I didn't realize it was going to be a rebroadcast of a 1996 version of the Austen novel. But I didn't mind when I found out it was going to star a 22- or 23-year-old Kate Beckinsale (The Last Days of Disco) in the title role. Samantha Morton (Minority Report) played Emma's friend and "project" Harriet Smith, and I didn't recognize anybody else. I could not help but enjoy it, but I must say that I liked the Hollywood version (also made in 1996) a little better. Beckinsale and Morton were fine, but Gwyneth Paltrow (Shallow Hal) and Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense) were just as good, and Jeremy Northam (The Invasion) played Knightley with much more charm than the guy in the PBS version. Look up the Paltrow version first.

John Adams (HBO)

Nick at Nite goes revolutionary

John Adams (Episodes 1 and 2)

The folks at HBO are impressive. I am certain they could do a mini-series on any two- or three-year period of my life and make it look interesting. So, when they get an actually interesting topic, e.g., the birth of our great nation, they can easily serve up a masterpiece. Paul Giamatti, the greatest actor of our generation, stars as John Adams, lawyer, statesman, and bald guy. I am two episodes in and I am hooked. It is a little hokey at times, but that is mostly because we used to do a ton of hokey things. Give this series a shot. You learn something and you will see a bunch of bald dudes with bad wigs. One warning. Do not get distracted by George Washington’s big nose. Seriously, avert your eyes when he is on screen. So far, I give it an “A.”

No Country for Old Men

Movie review from Nick at Nite

No Country for Old Men

For the very first time in my life, I have read a book that was made into a movie, seen the movie, and concluded that the movie was better than the book. I struggled through darn near every page of Cormac McCarthy’s story of violence meets Texana meets chance. I blame my struggle on Mr. McCarthy’s rejection of some of the basic tenets of writing, chiefly his refusal to include quote marks for any conversation between characters. It is a basic construct of writing. Apparently, one I need to accurately follow a written conversation. In any event, his story must be a good one because it translates well on the big screen. It may help that the acting is so good. The book and movie follows a Cowboy who comes across a big briefcase of money and the trouble that ensues as a crazed man with a bad haircut tries to chase the Cowboy and the big briefcase down. Perhaps I am just numb to it, but I did not find the violence in the movie to be too much to take. That said, a mess of people end up dead and there is gunplay and blood involved. I give the book a “C.” I give the movie an “A.”

Supreme Conflict (book review)

New book review from The Movie Snob

Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court, by Jan Crawford Greenburg (Penguin 2007). This book covers much the same ground as The Nine, which I reviewed a while back. I liked this one much better, as it is far more objective and impartial than that screed. You certainly don't get the feeling that Greenburg is rooting for the conservative ascendancy marked by the additions of John Roberts and Sam Alito to the Court, but she strives for and maintains a "just reporting the facts" tone that is most refreshing. (She has apparently covered the Court as a journalist since 1994, but that doesn't necessarily lead one to expect an objective book.) Personally, I am rooting for the conservative takeover, so I was outraged to read about the presidential ineptitude that led to the appointment of David Souter and enjoyed her descriptions of the insufferably grandiose Anthony Kennedy. Something else I must comment on--Greenburg barely discusses the Bush v. Gore decision on which Jeffrey Toobin spilled so much vitriol and ink. In Toobin's book, as I recall, he asserts that Gore would have won the election if the Florida recount had gone forward. My own vague recollection of the issue was that subsequent media-funded recounts still showed that Bush would have won, but I was too hazy on the subject to challenge Toobin on that point. Greenburg, however, asserts that the media recounts showed that Bush would have won. I'm not saying she's right, but that matches my fuzzy memories anyway.

Warmly recommended for folks interested in Supreme Court politics.

The Other Boleyn Girl

From the desk of The Movie Snob

The Other Boleyn Girl (B). I never read the novel, and I don't know the real historical details of the story, so I may have liked this film the better for it. The failure of King Henry VIII (Eric Bana, Troy) to produce a male heir is about to rock England, and when the upper-middle-class Boleyns get the inside scoop that Henry is ready to throw over Catherine of Aragon, weak-willed Sir Thomas Boleyn does not hesitate to throw his daughters at the monarch. Conniving Anne (Natalie Portman, Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace) tries first and fails to impress, but her sweet sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson, Eight Legged Freaks) succeeds -- for a time. Of course, history demands that Anne win out in the end, and once she elbows Mary aside events move so fast that there's not even time to mention poor St. Thomas More. Critical reaction has been mixed at best, but I enjoyed it as a good, sudsy Saturday afternoon flick.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

The Movie Snob sounds off

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (C). On the plus side, this is a perfectly nice adventure story with no strong violence or profanity that I can recall. It's like Indiana Jones-lite. I would guess that 11- and 12-year olds might really like it (if you can pry them away from their video games long enough). And the cast is remarkable, including Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy), Helen Mirren (The Queen), Ed Harris (Apollo 13), and Harvey Keitel (Pulp Fiction), in addition to star Nicolas Cage (Valley Girl). I cannot resist quoting Roger Ebert, "You could start with a cast like that and make one of the greatest movies of all time, which is not what happened here." I beg to differ as to N. Cage, whom I have never liked, and who looks increasingly bizarre as he ages. Diane Kruger (Troy) is pretty but insubstantial, and she and Cage generate about as much heat as two passing icebergs. The "couple's" final words are a striking commentary on what passes for romance three decades after the sexual revolution: having survived some hair-raising adventures (in which Cage's character willingly risks death to save Kruger's life) and having discovered a fabulous mythical artifact--she invites him to move (back) in with her. And you thought Gone With the Wind and Casablanca were romantic! I would feel guilty giving it worse than a C, because it was somewhat entertaining in its ridiculousness, and because there is something to be said for a movie that delivers exactly what you expect. Still, a little more would have been nice.

I liked her better as Helen of Troy.

Bambi

DVD review from The Movie Snob

Bambi (B+). I had never seen this movie before, but of course I had some idea what it was about. The scene in which Bambi's mother is shot by hunters is infamous for traumatizing generations of children. After hearing about this scene forever, I was surprised at how short and ungraphic it is. Anyway, the animation is beautiful, as you would expect, and the story is a nicely meandering little tale about a deer named Bambi through maybe his first two years of life. One thing that struck me as very odd is the opening sequence, in which the animals of the forest hear the news that a "new prince" has been born, and they all chatter excitedly about it as they rush through the forest to their destination--the sheltered spot where Bambi is curled up next to his mother. The father is nowhere to be seen, unless he is the great stag glimpsed on a nearby rocky outcropping at the very end of the scene. It's like the Nativity, only set in Eden. Finally, human beings come in for quite a drubbing for our bloodthirsty and destructive ways. Interesting film.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Competing opinions from Nick at Nite and The Movie Snob

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Nick at Nite:

On Saturday night, my wife and I enjoyed a British themed evening. We stopped at a pub for fish and chips, enjoyed a quick pint, and sauntered up the sidewalk to the picture house for the British comedy Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. A charming little film. A mix-up at an employment agency sends an unemployed, uptight, failed nanny (Frances McDormand) to be the social secretary for a flirty, carefree, wannabe actress (Amy Adams). Mishaps abound as different suitors vie for the affections of the actress. The film is set in the 1930s just before World War II. My wife says the costumes were worth the price of admission. It is not going to win any Oscars, but it is a very good diversion. I give it a “B.”

The Movie Snob:

I respectfully dissent from my esteemed colleague's opinion. Amy Adams (Junebug) is predictably cute and perky, but her character is a strange mixture of Gisele from Enchanted and Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's--heavy on the Golightly. McDormand (Fargo) is given little to do except stand around and look befuddled. The accents were so thick I missed half of what was said for the first half of the movie. That said, things came together fairly decently at the end. Still, I cannot go better than a C- on this one.

Dolphins and Whales: 3D

New from The Movie Snob

Dolphins and Whales: 3D (B+). I can't resist a good IMAX nature movie, and who would want to resist a movie about our lovable cousins of the deep? This is an enjoyable 45 minutes, with no disturbing scenes to upset the little ones (i.e., no killer whales attacking baby seals or anything like that). For many of the critters the 3D effects are not particular impressive because they stay too far from the camera to make any special impression. But there are a couple of exceptions. One particularly spectacular sequence brings you nose-to-nose with a humpback whale. You can see the individual fronds of algae waving on his white chin as he slowly cruises by. Maybe the second-best footage is not of a dolphin or whale at all, but of our beloved Florida manatees, the Pillsbury doughboys of the sea. Darryl Hannah's (Splash) monotonous narration adds little to the proceedings, but as a former mermaid she's probably bored with these magnificent animals.

30 Days of Night

DVD review from Nick at Nite

30 Days of Night

I am starting to think if I have seen one Vampire film, I must have seen a hundred. They are all starting to run together. This Vampire film is equal parts The Thing, Underworld, and Vampires. As, it is very cold, everyone dresses in black, and the Vampires are very messy. It has apparently taken centuries for Vampires to learn that if they were hungry all they needed to do was go to the northernmost city in Alaska, a city where once a year the sun goes down for thirty consecutive days and nights, to feast on the living for thirty consecutive days and nights. Like all Vampire films some people die, some people live, and there is lots of blood spilt along the way. It was okay, not great. I give it a “B-.“

Mr. Bean Goes on Vacation

DVD review from Nick at Nite

Mr. Bean Goes on Vacation

Love him or hate him. There seems to be little middle ground on Mr. Bean. I like Mr. Bean. So, I liked this little film. This film follows the misadventures of Mr. Bean as he navigates from Paris to Cannes for a beach vacation. His misadventures, caused chiefly by a language barrier and his own buffoonery, are largely funny. I recommend it for anyone who wants to get away from violence, nudity, explosions, gore, blood, etc … in film. In accord with its rating, I give it a “G.”

AVP: Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem

Movie review from Nick at Nite

AVP: Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem

I can’t remember which Alien movie had it as part of its marketing campaign, but we were once told “in space, no one can hear you scream.” Sadly, I now know that no one can hear you scream in the dollar movie theater when you are sitting through this trash. Incidentally, it could be that no one can hear the scream because they would have to hear the scream over the six teenagers talking behind you or the roving toddlers that a pair of stark, raving mad parents brought to this film. Seriously, little Aliens jump out of people chests. Should a three year old see such a thing? In any event this movie was terrible. I keep getting suckered into these Alien films because they first two films Alien and Aliens are among the best horror/science fiction films ever made. I probably just need to get over it and move on. Predator was not a good movie. Predator Two was a terrible movie. Combining the “losing it” Alien franchise with the “never had it” Predator franchise was just not a good idea. I felt so cheated out of a dollar. Oh, well. You ask what is the movie about? Look at the title. It is Alien fighting Predator for the second time. Let’s hope it is the last time. I give it an “F.”

The Nine (Book Review)

Book review from The Movie Snob

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, by Jeffrey Toobin (Doubleday 2007). This is a behind-the-scenes look at the high court from roughly 1991-2007, when Sandra Day O’Connor’s swing vote often controlled the outcome of high-profile, hotly contested cases. I have no idea who Jeffrey Toobin is; the dust jacket says virtually nothing about him, and amazon.com just says he is a legal writer for New Yorker magazine. But he does not conceal his personal opinions about the justices; the liberals are the heroes (especially Stephen Breyer) and the conservatives are the villains. For an admirer of Justice Scalia like me, that is hard to take. Some of his shots at the conservative bloc seem particularly petty, like his observations that Clarence Thomas presided over Rush Limbaugh’s third marriage and "(The couple soon divorced.)." He seems to like O’Connor, even while acknowledging that her decisions often seemed to be grounded in her sense of public opinion rather than any deep judicial philosophy. He spends many pages ranting against the decision in Bush v. Gore and speculates that O’Connor joined the conservative bloc because she "thought that the American people were fed up with the whole controversy and, like her, wanted it over." He seems to want to disagree with her in the next sentence, but he seems to confirm that a lot of people did actually feel that way: "In fact, polls showed only a slight majority in favor of ending all recounts and considerable support for a complete recount." Sorry, Jeff, but I think a majority, however slight, is pretty "considerable support," especially compared to the alternative. He also comments on O’Connor’s remarkable suggestion in one of the University of Michigan affirmative-action cases that in 25 years affirmative action might "no longer be necessary." He concedes that even non-conservatives might "have qualms" about such judicial arrogance, but he ultimately gives even this line the stamp of approval: "O’Connor understood that twenty-five more years of racial preferences seemed the right amount of time." How Toobin can vouch for the accuracy of O’Connor’s understanding is, not surprisingly, left unexplained.

Yet, despite all these aggravating aspects and more (e.g., Toobin’s lurches between chambers gossip and legal analysis suggest that he wasn’t entirely sure what kind of book he was writing, and he calls wild maverick Judge Richard Posner a "great conservative judge"), I thought it was an interesting book and managed to finish it without ever hurling it across the room in disgust. If you are interested in the Supreme Court (and some basic familiarity with the cases he discusses will help too), you will probably enjoy this book—just less so if you’re a Scalia fan. Big on the plus side is Toobin’s disdain for the self-aggrandizing, platitudinous Anthony Kennedy, who is likely to be even more insufferable as long as he is the new swing vote on the Court. This vacuous pseudo-philosopher king’s pretensions have been punctured in print before, but it cannot be done often enough for my liking.