The Crazies @the Metro and Meridian: Normally I wouldn’t recommend anything with Timothy Olyphant, but since I’ve had a years-long crush on Radha Mitchell, I’m hoping she’ll balance it out. Also, I’m partial to a film called The Crazies – because it just puts it out there. No mystery. It just is. Let’s see: small town, sudden insanity, murder, and possible buckets of splatter? I say yes (Amazingly I have never seen the original 1973 Romero film – need to remedy that before I see this one!).

more...

Getting tired of formulaic rom-coms designed to tug at your heartstrings yet? Most of the film-going audience must not be, based on the amount of laughter & "aww"s I heard at the screening for Valentine’s Day. 

But this is directed by Gary Marshall! The guy who gave us such classics as Pretty Woman! And Beaches! And those Princess Diaries movies everyone loves! Of course, he’s also responsible for the train wreck that is Georgia Rule, but I digress. Gary Marshall should know how to make a romantic comedy, and yet all he’s done here is take a bunch of popular actors and fit them into an anthology of predictable scenarios designed to make audiences go all soft & gooey. Let me break it down for you:

Ashton Kutcher is the loveable boy-next-door type, who asks gorgeous, work-obsessed girlfriend Jessica Alba to marry him. Meanwhile, his best friend & girl-next-door/grade school teacher Jennifer Garner is sleeping with selfish a-hole Patrick Dempsey. WHAT WILL HAPPEN?

Bradley Cooper (mygod WHY is he in everything???) meets military Captain Julia Roberts on an INTL flight into LA, and marvels at her strength and courage! Also, she’s on leave for just 24 hours to "visit someone special". How endearing.

Mailroom boy Topher Grace has luckily stumbled into hot sex with office temp Anne Hathaway, who has a burning *secret* to conceal, and Queen Latifah plays Anne’s sassy temp boss (of course she does), who is also pro-ball player Eric Dane’s Agent (and he has a burning *secret* too! Ooooh). 

Jessica Biel gets stuck playing the unfortunately stereotypical lonely single girl who has an anti-valentine’s party every year and chokes down her unhappiness with boxes of chocolates followed by 4-hour treadmill sessions, and then ends up collapsing in tears into the arms of a total stranger: local sports news reporter Jamie Foxx. Oh yeah, he's a player who HATES Valentine's Day.

(take a deep breath, we’re not done yet)

more...

{The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus opened in Seattle on Friday, 1/8 at the Meridian 16 and the Metro}

The story breaks down to basic good vs. evil: Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer), a one-time meditating monk, makes a deal with Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) in order to gain true love and immortality—the payment being his daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole), on her 16th birthday. In the interest of more fun, Mr. Nick adds a new wrinkle: whoever can win 5 souls first, wins Valentina's soul too.

As Parnassus and his crew travel through cities by horse-drawn cottage/collapsible stage, Director Terry Gilliam throws in a few more wrinkles: The Doctor’s assistant, Anton (Andrew Garfield), is madly in love with Valentina, and they end up finding Tony (Heath Ledger) hanging from the underside of a bridge, half-dead, apparently with amnesia. While the game to get souls takes place inside the Doctor’s head, Valentina falls for Tony, Anton tries to keep his jealousy in check, and Tony starts remembering his true nature.

more...

{Sherlock Holmes opened in Seattle on Christmas Day, December 25th, and is playing at The Majestic Bay, The Metro, and The Meridian}

The stage is set for us at the beginning of Sherlock Holmes with a harried chase through the streets of London to the lair of principal villain Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), wherein his 6th virgin slaughtering is about to take place in the name of the dark arts. Luckily, Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) & Watson (Jude Law) save the day with deduction—and some kick-ass martial arts moves.

more...

{The Young Victoria opens in Seattle on Christmas Day, Friday, December 25th at The Meridian and The Metro}

Movie fans who love period costume dramas learn to expect certain things—tragedy, betrayal, depression and lots of death. They also learn to be wowed by sets and clothing, but sometimes, not much else. Fortunately, The Young Victoria stands out with exceptional casting, interesting camera work, and believe it or not, a relatively uplifting story.  

Under the influence of Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong), Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson), keeps her daughter under lock & key since birth, to the point where she’s not allowed to descend or ascend stairs without holding an adult’s hand. The master plan being that Victoria will become Queen while she’s a minor and sign over all ruling powers to her mother by "regency"—with Sir John taking the lead on the whole ruling thing.  Fate intervenes via loud-mouthed drunkard King William (Jim Broadbent, maybe hamming it up a little too much here), who hates the Duchess and Conroy so much, he pretty much refuses to die before Victoria turns 18.

more...

{The Box opened in Seattle today, Friday 11/6 and is playing at The Metro, Oak Tree Cinemas, and Pacific Place}

After seeing Director Richard Kelly’s long-anticipated thriller The Box, I imagined that his decision to make it originated like so; "Oh, you people didn’t like the futuristic-comic-booky-comedy-political-musical statement (Southland Tales) I created? You just want another Donnie Darko, is that it? WELL HERE YOU GO".

That’s not to say that The Box is anything close to Donnie Darko – of which I am a big fan - but you can definitely tell it's patterned after the 2001 cult classic: dark, brooding atmospheric shots, multi-dimensional sci-fi effects, similarities to Darko characters: a glaring old lady (think a more upscale Grandma Death), and a sullen, slightly-more-maniacal mini-Frank (sans bunny costume). There’s even a suspicious similarity between this film's "Human Exploitation Handbook" and "The Philosophy of Time Travel" from DD. Tie-in, much?

So goes the plot: Norma (Cameron Diaz) and Arthur Lewis (James Marsden) are a school teacher and NASA scientist who apparently live in a giant, perfect house in a giant, perfect neighborhood with really nice things, but are struggling with money. When Arthur loses his chance at becoming an astronaut and Norma is told she can’t get the faculty discount for her son’s private school tuition anymore, they start feeling a bigger crunch - or something. I couldn’t really tell because the script spent exactly 5 minutes examining their money issues.

more...

{Where the Wild Things Are opens in Seattle Friday, 10/16 and is playing at the Meridian, the Majestic Bay, and the Metro}

Almost as soon as I found out that 826 Seattle was holding a preview benefit screening of Where the Wild Things Are–probably my most highly anticipated film this year–I bought tickets. A wise move, as it quickly sold out (the screening raised an awesome $47,000!). 

The energy in line and inside the Cinerama was kind of amazing. Most people seemed to really get into the spirit of things, wearing the gold paper crowns passed out at the door and buzzing happily about being able to attend. Teri Hein, founder of 826 Seattle, introduced screenwriter Dave Eggers and star Max Records before the film for a quick Q&A. Eggers gracefully spun attention away from himself and focused on 826 and their young guest by asking witty questions about injuries sustained while filming and working with Director Spike Jonze (reportedly quite the prankster)—as well as encouraging the audience to "howl when appropriate" during the film. That might sound a little dry written down, so let me clarify: my brains were basically falling out of my head from excitement by the time the movie started.

Max Records (as…Max) uses his fresh-faced enthusiasm and soulful eyes to draw you into the story of a lost and lonely little boy almost as soon as the film starts to roll. Relationship problems with his now-distant teenage sis and busy single mom cause Max to retreat into a fantasy world ruled by monsters with complex personalities who take pleasure in destroying things, and have quite a few issues of their own. In other words: Wild Things aren’t all about fun & games, even if Max would like them to be. The plot is definitely simplified, but there’s a deeper seriousness implied. The dialog is exactly what you’d think a 9-year-old boy would imagine, conveying the struggle of a kid trying to make sense of situations that are just beyond his realm of understanding and process them in a way that makes sense.

more...

Whip It at Pacific Place and the Metro:  I’ve no doubt that this is going to be cheesy, sentimental, and packed full of emotional girly moments – but I’ll also admit: that’s exactly what I’m hoping for. I love Drew Barrymore & Ellen Page to death, and I also love me some tough girl skatin’! Can’t wait to see them as their roller girl alter egos (Drew's is Smashley Simpson, Ellen's is Babe Ruthless):

The Invention of Lying at the Meridian, the Metro and Oak Tree Cinemas: Ricky Gervais directs his first feature film about a world where EVERYONE is brutally honest, all the time – until he decides to start lying for his own personal gain. I didn’t get a chance to see the press screening, but I actually thought Gervais was a capable (and kind of sweet) leading man in Ghost Town, and I definitely know he’s a kick-ass writer, so I’m game for this one - plus, Tina Fey!:

more...

Fame opens in Seattle on Friday, September 25th at AMC Pacific Place & the Metro.

I admit it: the Fame 2009 previews tugged my girly heartstrings a bit, so I decided I better prep for the remake with a re-watch of the original 80s sensation! The movie that inspired dancers, actors and singers! Irene Cara’s rise to popularity!!!

An hour in, I realized why I didn’t really remember it from my childhood. It’s kind of…boring. It’s also disjointed, unfocused, and large pieces of the plot appear to be missing. Fame covers 4 years at a performance high school in New York, is 2 hours and 14 minutes long, yet somehow doesn’t flesh out ANYBODY in the cast. But all of this is forgiven, of course, due to the dancing and singing.

Fame 2009 seems conscious of these failings, tries to fix them, and almost succeeds. Director Kevin Tancharoen whittled the running time down to a respectable 1 hour, 47 minutes, and Screenwriter Allison Burnett lost some of the ridiculous comedy and rearranged focus – both while keeping the look & feel of the original. The only possible mistake: taking out the popular traffic stopping/street dancing scene to “Fame” and bumping the remix to the end credits – a surprising (and bold!) decision.

more...

Jennifer’s Body @ the Meridian 16 and the Metro: A hot chick becomes possessed and starts slaughtering and eating people? That sounds cheesy, stupid AND fun – as IF there was any question I would recommend this! My only sorrow is that I missed the press screening and I can’t see it this weekend due to visiting family. AUGGGH. But, I’m confident just from the preview that I’ll love it. “K…you can barely finish gym class”. Keep it up, Diablo.

The Informant @ Majestic Bay and Pacific Place: I almost feel like more has been made out of Damon gaining weight than anything else about this movie—but it looks pretty good. As good as a story of this type can be (hello, film based on a real life tale of someone working for the FBI to bring down a big, bad Corporation) – the differentiating factor being, this is Soderbergh, and he decided to turn it into a comedy.

more...