Certified Copy

Movie: Certified Copy

Genre: Drama

Synopsis: James Miller (William Shimell) is an award winning author.  He is visiting Tuscany to promote his book and do a book signing.  Elle (Juliette Binoche) attends the signing and leaves a note for the author expressing her wish to meet him.  The next day, Elle and James go for a drive.   When they stop for coffee, the waitress mistakes them for a married couple.  Elle does not correct her.  For the rest of the movie, the two pretend to be married . . . but after a while you start to wonder if it really is an act, or if there is more to therse two than we have been allowed to see.

My two cents: This movie really had me scratching my head trying to figure out what was “pretend” and what was real between the couple.  I am still not sure.  Some of the discussions they have on art and what it means and the difference between original and copies pretty much bored me.  What kept me going is tgrying to figure out the relationship between the two.

Something I got a kick out of is the way the director used reflective surfaces.  In at least two scenes,  the camera is in the position of a mirror as one or the other stares into it.  I also got used to checking out what was going on in the reflections in mirrors and windows. 

Although I found this film to be interesting, I don’t know that I can say that I really enjoyed it.

[66]

Of God and Men

Movie: Of God and Men

Genre: historical drama

Synopsis: This movie is “loosely based” on actual events.  It takes place in the 1990’s in a Christian monastery located in the mountains of Algeria in North Africa.  It is staffed by eight French monks.  The monastery is a vital part of the local Muslim community.  They have all lived in harmony for decades.  When Islamic extremists become militant, the lives of the monks are in danger.  The government wants to evacuate them for their own safety.  The monks have to decide whether to flee to safety or to put their fate in the hands of God and remain in their monastery.  We get to watch as they struggle with making their decision through prayer and through discussions with each other.

My two cents: This was an interesting movie.  I had to admire the courage and faith of these eight monks.  My big gripe is that, at two hours, I found that the movie dragged on a bit.  I think 90 minutes would have been easier to handle.

[65]

The Lincoln Lawyer

Movie: The Lincoln Lawyer

Genre: mystery-thriller

Synopsis: Mick Haller (Matthew McConaughey) is a criminal defense attorney who works out of the back seat of his 1980’s Lincoln Town Car. His ex-wife (Marisa Tomei) is an attorney in the DA’s office.  His investigator is Frank (William H. Macy).  Mick has a bit of a sleazy reputation as an attorney.  His specialty is getting his clients to plead out without actually going to trial.  When Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe) is arrested on assault charges, he wants Mick to be his lawyer.  Mick is in his early 20’s and has a filthy-rich family to pay his legal bills.  He does not want a plea bargain - he insists he is innocent.  As Mick and his investigator start digging, some discrepancies come to light. Then things get really complicated.  By the end of the movie Mick’s life is threatened – as is the life of his ex-wife and daughter.

My two cents: A very good movie.  If is nice to see Matthew McConaughey not relying on going shirtless to keep the audience entertained.  William H. Macy and Marissa Tomei were both great in their rolls.  The plot was well done with some great legal twists.  You don’t fully know who did what to whom until the very end.  This movie is well worth seeing.  I really hope to see some sequels.

[64]

Limitless

Movie: Limitless

Genre: thriller/drama

Synopsis: Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is a bit of loser.  He has been working on writing a book for six months and has yet to write a single word.  Then his ex-brother-in-law gives him a pill.  This pill enables a person to go from using only 20% of his brain to using 100%.  It is as if he were blind before and now can see.  And he sees – and understands – everything.  After securing a supply of these pills, Eddie starts moving up in the world.  He ends up working for an industrialist played by Robert DeNiro.  Things start going south for Eddie when a Russian mobster comes after him.  There is also someone trying to kill Eddi and his girlfriend – but he does not know why.

My two cents: This was a great movie.  The scenes where the pill takes effect were really well done and did the job of conveying a sense of what it would seem like to have your IQ suddenly jump five-fold or more.  There are some great scenes between Robert DeNiro’s character and Eddie.  I was afraid that I was going to not like the ending, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had a great ending.

Bottom line: See this movie.

[63]

Jane Eyre

Movie: Jane Eyre

Genre: drama

Synopsis: When she is very young, Jane Eyre’s parents die.  She is taken in by Mrs.Reed (Sally Hawkins) who promised Jane’s mother she would take care of Jane.  Jane’s life with Mrs. Reed and her son is one of constant torment.  Finally, she is sent away to a boarding school where life really gets tough for Jane.  We skip forward to an older Jane (Mia Wasikowska) finally leaving (escaping?) the school when she is hired to be a governess by Mrs. Fairfax (Judi Dench).  Mrs. Fairfax is the manager of the country estate of Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender).  Jane is to be the governess of a girl who is the ward of Rochester. Jane proves to be extremely intelligent and perfectly willing to speak her mind when given the opportunity.

There is something not quite right about the estate. Things literally go bump in the night.  The movie follows the relationship between Rochester and Jane a mystery from Rochester’s past and Jane’s journey to come to grips with life.

My two cents:  A pretty good movie.  I loved how Mia Wasikowska played Jane – very prim and proper, but lurking close beneath the surface was a bright young lady with definite and erudite opinions on matters.  It was also interesting to see Sally Hawkins played a nasty vindictive old lady.

[62]

Paul

Movie: Paul

Genre: sci-fi comedy

Synopsis: Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost) are two die-hard sciencefiction/fantasy fans from England.  The movie opens with the two of them visiting San Diego to fulfill their dream of attending Comic-Con.  After the convention, they rent an RV to tour the west to see places like Roswell and Area 51.  Along the way, they happen upon a real alien (voiced by Seth Rogan) named Paul.  Paul is on the run from the government.  Naturally Graeme and Clive decide to help him.  The chase involves multiple run-ins with the agent chasing them (Jason Bateman) as well as a couple of red-neck good old boys who just want to kill them just because they don’t like them. 

My two cents: This was a really fun movie.  It was great two nerds fulfilling their fantasies as they visited places like Roswell.  Paul was really well done.  There were lots of tie-ins to classic alien movies.  For example, when they stop for snacks, Paul yells “Don’t forget the Reese’s Pieces”.  Thrown in also are some bits of wisdom from Paul that are worth thinking about.

Bottom line: Most definitely worth seeing

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