Every Day

Movie: Every Day

Genre: drama

Synopsis: Ned (Liev Schreiber) and Jeannie (Helen Hunt) are a moderately happily married New York couple with two sons: Jonah (Ezra Miller) and Ethan (Skyler Fortgang).  Jonah is 16-ish and announced six months ago that he is gay.  His mother has accepted this, his father is still struggling with it.  Jeannie’s father (Ernie – played by Brian Dennehy) is very sick and wheelchair-bound.  Jeannie has just managed the sale of Ernie’s home in the Midwest and moved him into Ethan’s room.  Ernie is severely depressed and takes it out on everyone. Jeannie seems to have to spend every waking minute taking her father from doctor to doctor and is not handling the stress well.  Liev is a screenwriter in a pressure-cooker of a job.  The stress of his job added to the stress at home leads him to become a bit too close to one of his fellow writers – Robin Carla Gugino).

The movie tracks how Jeannie and Ned manage the stress of Jeannie’s dying father, her struggle with her relationship to him, Ned’s struggles at work, Jonah’s struggle with being gay, Ned’s struggle to accept that his son is gay, and Ernie trying to come to terms with his life and his relationship with his daughter.

 My two cents: A real gem of a movie.  I had never heard of it until I came across it in the movie listings.  This is the kind of film that makes sitting through the not-so-good art-house movies worthwhile.  I am a fan of Liev Schreiber and Helen Hunt and a bigger fan of Carla Gugino.  I have been a fan of Brian Dennehy since I first saw him - in the series premiere of “Dallas” in 1978.  All four really delivered. I am used to seeing Brian Dennehy playing the big gruff larger-than-life big-hearted tough guy.  It was odd to see him playing a frail sickly dying man struggling with depression.  I thought two other performances stood out.  One was Skyler Fortgang (Ethan) trying to fit into the world as a gay teenager. The other was Helen Hunt absolutely nailing the guilt-ridden daughter trying to keep her family running while attempting to cope with a dying father who is a virtual invalid.  Her character just oozes her desperation as she realizes that she just cannot do it.  Not to neglect Carla Gugino – she is a beautiful as ever and was great as the vixen temptress who leads whatt seems to Ned to be the perfect life.

Bottom line: a great movie that covers a variety of story lines and does it extremely well with some commendable acting performances.

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Sanctum 3D

Movie: Sanctum 3D

Cast:    Richard Roxburgh      (Frank)

            Rhys Wakefield          (Josh)

            Ioan Gruffudd             (Carl)

            Alice Parkinson           (Victoria)

Genre: Suspense/thriller

Synopsis: Frank is a world-renowned cave explorer.  His latest project is the largest cave system known.  It is locate on a South Pacific Island.  The project is financed by a billionaire – Carl.  Carl is part of the exploration team.  Frank’s son – who seems to hate him – is also part of the team.  Frank and several members of the team are deep into the cave system in a part that can only be reached with scuba gear when While deep in the cave system, a monsoon hits.  The subsequent flood seals off the section of the cave with Frank and several members of the team.  Their only recourse is to try and find and find where the flooding waters are exiting the cavern system.

My two cents: After getting off to kind of a slow start, this movie really provided some great action and suspense.  Getting trapped in a cave has always been high on my list of things to avoid.  This movie sure validated that high ranking.  As if being trapped with only battery-fed lights is not bad enough – these people had to contend with repeated underwater swims with a limited supply of air in the tanks.  My only real beef was with a character, Victoria, who was supposed to be a seasoned mountain climber.  She had no wet suit.  When someone dies while wearing a wet suit, Victoria opts to deal with the cold water rather than wear something taken from a dead person.  Does a mountain climber not understand hypothermia?

The 3D effects were better than average.

Bottom line: A thriller that actually delivers the thrills with a good dose of suspense thrown in.

Definitely worth seeing.

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The Roommate

Movie: The Roommate

Cast:    Minka Kelly                (Sara Matthews)

Leighton Meester        (Rebecca)

            Alyson Michalka         (Tracy)

Genre: drama

Synopsis: Sara is just starting her freshman year in college.  Her roommate, Rebecca, seems at first to be very nice.  As time goes on, Rebecca becomes more and more possessive about Sara.  It soon becomes apparent that Rebecca is a full-on psycho who is not above killing for her roommate.

My two cents: Mostly a forgettable movie.  I found nothing to set this apart from other movies dealing with obsessive friends or roommates.  I did find Leighton Meester (Rebecca) to be interesting.  A couple of weeks ago I saw her playing the spunky up-and-coming singer in “Country Strong”.  I really liked her in both roles – and these roles are about as far apart as you can get.  I guess that’s why they call it acting.

Bottom line: wait for it to hit the small screen.

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The Rite

Movie: The Rite

Cast:    Colin O’Donoghue     (Michael Kovak)

            Anthony Hopkins       (Father Lucas Trevant)

            Alice Braga                 (Angeline)

            Rutgar Hauer              (Istvan Kovak)

            Toby Jones                  (Father Matthew)

            Ciarán Hinds               (Father Xavier)

Genre: drama

Synopsis: Michael Kovak and his father own a mortuary.  Michael decides to attend seminary school.  When he decides to drop out due to faith issues, Father Matthew makes a deal with him.  Michael will go to the Vatican to attend exorcism school.  If he still wants to drop out after that – he can.

While in Rome, one of Michael’s instructors, Father Xavier sees that Michael does not really believe in the idea of a person being possessed by demons.  Father Xavier sends Michael to Father Lucas.  Father Lucas takes Michael along for a couple of exorcisms, but Michael is still not convinced that what he is seeing is just some form of psychosis.  Then things start happening to Michael and he starts seeing and hearing things that cannot be.  By the end of the movie, Michael is a believer.

My two cents: Good but not great.  Some pretty decent possession scenes – but nothing as graphic as we saw in The Exorcist.

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Biutiful

Movie: Biutiful

Cast:    Javier Bardem             (Uxbal)

            Marciel Alvarez          (Marambra)

Genre: drama
Subtitles

Synopsis: Uxbal is a poor father of two in Spain.  He has custody of his children because his wife, Maramba has an alcohol and drug problem who also likes to party a bit too much.  Uxbal makes a living by acting as a go between between illegal immigrants and employees who want to hire them.  Uxbal is often appalled by the conditions these workers are forced to work and live in and does try to help them.  When he is diagnosed with cancer, Uxbal does some soul searching while he attempts to put his life in order.

My two cents: Javier Bardem turns is a remarkable performance in this movie.  He is under never-ending stress from problems with his children, a drug-addled wife, employers abusing the workers he supplies, police raids on the same workers.  Then he finds out he has only months to live.  Bardem was amazing to watch as his character gradually starts caving in to the chemotherapy and then to the cancer.

My only real beef with the movie is its length: 2hr 27 minutes.  I think it could have been cut to 2 hours without losing too much.  That said, if for nothing else, this movie is worth seeing for Javier Bardem’s performance.

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Bhutto

Movie: Bhutto

Genre: biographical documentary

Synopsis: This documentary is the story of Benazir Bhutto.  It starts with the formation of East and West Pakistan and the rise of her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to become the first democratically elected president of Pakistan.  Benazir was his oldest child.  He did the unthinkable and instead of grooming his oldest son to be his political heir, he chose Benazir.  From an early age, she broke from the Islamic mold for women.  When she came of age, she wore a Burqua once – at which point her father decided she would not have to wear the traditional garb. 

When Zulfikar was overthrown and subsequently executed, Benazir determined to pick up his political reins, ultimately getting elected Prime Minister as the first woman to lead a Muslim country.  She was removed from office following trumped up corruption charges.  She was ultimately elected again, and again removed from office on corruption charges.  Her husband spent a number of years in prison but was never convicted of anything.  During her two stints as Prime Minister, Bhutto accomplished some amazing reforms.  The day she was elected, she ordered all political prisoners freed, she lead the drive that eradicated polio in Pakistan, and she had thousands of schools built.

In 2007, Bhutto returned to Pakistan from a self-imposed exile.  She was the leading opposition candidate in the upcoming 2008 General Elections.  Two weeks before the elections, Bhutto was assassinated; dashing any near-term hopes for a democratic Pakistan.

My two cents: A fascinating look at one of the most powerful women of our time.  Bhutto’s accomplishments would be extraordinary for a man, but for a woman in an Islamic world they are truly extraordinary. I found interesting the parallels between the Bhutto family and the Kennedys – both in the number of family members who rose to political prominence and in the tragic deaths of so many.

The movie presents a great look at the history of Pakistan and at its continual conflict with India  . . . which directly led to both nations developing nuclear weapons.

The two things in the movie that hit me the most:

1. How incredibly sad and tragic Bhutto’s assassination was.  If the 2008 election had been fairly conducted, it seemed pretty clear she would once again have lead Pakistan.  The country was so close to becoming, again, a democracy.  That chance died along with Bhutto,

2. This movie made me realize how incredibly brilliant and farsighted our own forefathers were when they stipulated in the Constitution that our military ultimately falls under civilian control.  Just watch how the history of Pakistan has affected by their military leader and you will appreciate the wisdom of the authors of our constitution.

Perhaps the saddest part of the movie is the closing interviews with Bhutto’s death in which they describe their last time with their mother.

Bottom line: do not pass up a chance to see this documentary.

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From Prada to Nada

Movie: From Prada to Nada

Cast:    Camilla Belle              (Nora Dominguez)

            Alexa Vega                (Mary Dominguez)

            Adriana Barraza         (Aurelia Jimenez)

Genre: romantic comedy

Synopsis: This is billed as a re-write of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.  Camilla and Alexa are daughters of a wealthy Hispanic businessman.  Their mother died some years ago.  They live in a mansion in Los Angeles with servants, gardener’s, a cook, etc.  Camilla is the responsible one.  She is currently in law school.  Although Alexa is in college, her mission in life is to shop shop shop.  Neither of them have really acknowledged their heritage nor do they speak any Spanish.

Then their father dies unexpectedly.  The sisters are hit with two surprises.  The first is that they have a half-brother they never knew about.  The second is that their father was deeply in debt – and they are not destitute.  They end up having to move out of the mansion.  They end up living with their late mother’s aunt is East Los Angeles.  To say this is a culture shock is to put it mildly.  The movie follows the sisters adjust to life in East L.A. and learn that a Mexican heritage is actually pretty cool.  Naturally, both sisters go through romantic crises – but everything works out in the end.

My two cents: I had never heard of this movie before it opened locally.  I found it to be a real gem.  It was great fun to watch these two girls – who had considered themselves to be rich white girls – learn what it means to be poor and Hispanic in East L.A.  (Of course, this Blog is written from the perspective of a white male who really might not know what he is talking about here.)  While their romantic travails might not be overly realistic, they provided the movie with  a happy ending.

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