The Runaways

Starring: Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse), Dakota Fanning (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse), Oscar nominee Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road), Scout Taylor-Compton (Halloween II), Oscar winner Tatum O'Neal (Paper Moon), Brett Cullen ("Make It Or Break It"), Indie Spirit Award nominee Brendan Sexton III (Welcome to the Dollhouse).

Written & Directed by: Floria Sigismondi based on the book "Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story"

Plot: Biopic about the 70's all girl band that launched the career of Joan Jett.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHpEJ749TRM

Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVkTA0lodq0

Review: I love rock n roll, but I did not love this movie. Great music. Great concept. No grit. It was like the CW version of a rock story: some pretty, scantily clad rocker chicks with flashes of drug use and sexual content that didn't have the guts to delve deeper into what these girls went through as minors in a rock band and how it affected them. Admittedly, the studio said they edited out a lot of content, like their creepy manager's sex ed class and Currie's rape. They also failed to include the origins of the other band members, let alone give them any storyline whatsoever. Band member Jackie Fox was completely left out because she refused to sell her life rights to the studio. The actors tried their best. You can tell they put their hearts into this movie. I was slightly impressed with Stewart even though she wasn't given much. It was the Cherie Currie story. Sorry Fanning, I thought you sang well and tried your best, but you just weren’t dynamic enough. You came off as a sixteen year old pretending to be a rocker. The real Cherie might've been young, but she didn't act like it. Evan Rachel Wood (who they originally wanted) or Taylor Momsen would've been better. They did a disservice to a great band. Buy the soundtrack. Skip the movie. Watch The Doors instead.

Rating:

Writing-D

Acting-C

Directing-C

Music-A

Cinematography-A

Editing-D

Costumes-A

Art Direction-A

Hair-A

Makeup-A

*1/2 Star

Chloe

Starring: 4X Oscar nominee Julianne Moore (Far From Heaven & "30 Rock"), Oscar nominee Liam Neeson (Schindler's List & The A-Team), Amanda Seyfried ("Big Love"), Max Thierot (Jumper), Nina Dobrev ("The Vampire Diaries")

Written by: Indie Spirit Winning writer Erin Cressida Wilson (Secretary) based on the 2003 French film Nathalie

Directed by: Oscar nominated director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter)

Plot: Twisted romantic thriller about a married woman who suspects her husband of cheating so she hires a prostatute to test him.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZRM143l9CM

Review:
Beautifully shot, well-acted, stylish, twisted, and disturbing tale of jealousy and obsession. This film is a technical masterpiece with a vile plot. I was curious how Seyfried would be in a role like this. The answer is: compelling and layered. Almost everything else was dreck. It's difficult to go up from such a laughably dumb premise with unlikeable characters. The dishonesty and stupidity of a woman testing her husband like that is abhorrent. A business transaction like that will only lead to trouble. I will admit that I liked the turning point in the plot toward the end of the film. It seemed like it was going to improve or at least become like a European version of Fatal Attraction. It improved a bit, but it didn't deliver the punchy ending that movies like Fatal Attraction and Swimfan often deliver. The director instead went with a more subtle ending, so subtle in fact that I didn't understand the last shot and neither did the filmmakers. They didn't even have a definite answer for the last shot in the DVD commentary. I like characters' actions to have motivation behind it. The last shot seems to suggest a motivation that doesn't match with the turning point for Moore's character and marriage. I was left bewildered. If you want to watch a fun romantic thriller, go for The Crush or Fear. If you want to watch an artistic film along the same reign as Chloe but far superior, go for Wicker Park, one of my favorite films. Skip this movie.

Rating:

Writing-D- only reason it didn't get an F is b/c of the mid-movie plot change

Acting-A

Directing-A

Music-A

Cinematography-A

Editing-C- 2 very needed scenes were edited out and only available to watch in the special features. Bad call.

Costumes-A- I want to steal Chloe and Catherine's wardrobe

Art Direction-A

Hair-A

Makeup-B

* Star- That's only for Seyfried's performance & the prettiness of the film. Damn this movie.

Remember Me

Starring: Oscar Winner Chris Cooper (Adaptation & Syriana), Robert Pattinson (Twilight Eclipse), Oscar nominee Lena Olin (Enemies: A Love Story & The Reader), Pierce Brosnan (Mama Mia!), Emilie de Ravin ("Lost"), 2X Emmy Nominee Kate Burton ("Grey's Anatomy"), Emmy Nominee Martha Plimpton ("Law & Order:SVU")

Written by: Will Fetters

Directed by: 6X Emmy Nominated Director Allen Coulter ("The Sopranos" & Hollywoodland)

Plot: Romantic drama about two people whose lives have been affected by the death of a loved one.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMBfTdm9ALk

Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CvLZ1Oq6l4

Review: On the surface, this is a love story. It's a movie about family and grief. It's about another person helping you find yourself. It's beautifully acted with a few of the actors taking roles that are foreign to them, especially Pattinson and Brosnan. Pattinson actually steps out and shows some emotion and vulnerability with this role. This is some of Brosnan's finest work. He delivers a multi layered performance here, tapping into aggression I haven't seen in him, not even as Agent 007. It's also interesting to see three foreign actors play Americans. Pattinson is English, Brosnan is Irish, and de Ravin is Australian. The accents work and don't take away from the performances. The young Ruby Jerins is an absolute delight. Very few kid actors actually move me in any kind of intentional way. She held her own amongst these seasoned actors. This movie moves past obvious contemporary comparisons like Crazy Beautiful, for instance, with one major scene that I will not reveal because of spoilers. This one scene changes your perception of the movie and skyrockets it from a decent rental to one of the most surprising films I’ve seen in a while and honestly the only movie that's truly surprised me in the last three months. Highly recommended even if you're not someone who typically likes romance movies. You will not be disappointed.

Rating:

Writing-A

Acting-A

Directing-B

Music-B

Cinematography-A

Editing-A

Costumes-C- a very beautiful but ill-fitting red dress on de Ravin

Art Direction-A

Hair-A

Makeup-B

*** Stars

The Young Victoria

Starring: Emily Blunt (The Wolfman), Rupert Friend (The Last Legion), Paul Bettany (Iron Man 2), 2 X Oscar Nominee Miranda Richardson (Tom & Viv, Fred Claus), Oscar winner Jim Broadbent (Iris & Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince), Mark Strong (Robin Hood),

Written by: Oscar winner Julian Fellowes (best screenplay: Gosford Park)

Directed by: Jean-Marc Vallee

Plot: First years of Queen Victoria's rule including her enduring romance with Prince Albert

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFiI5moxmIQ

Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW3B-MK19_w-My favorite scene in the movie

Review:

What a beautiful love story. At its heart, it's about a love between a husband and wife. It's beautifully acted with great chemistry between the two leads. It's also a well-shot, gorgeous film with great costumes and lush sets. This was simply an enjoyable movie with an air and lightness about it not typically found in period pieces, let alone historical bio-pics. The characters almost feel modern. Even though the movie isn't modern, you can see someone you know, perhaps even yourself, in the characters. I highly recommend this movie.

Awards:

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2010	Won	Oscar	Best Achievement in Costume Design Sandy Powell
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Achievement in Art Direction Patrice Vermette (art director) Maggie Gray (set decorator)
			Best Achievement in Makeup John Henry Gordon Jenny Shircore

Rating:

Writing-A

Acting-A

Directing-A

Music-B

Cinematography-A

Editing-B

Costumes-A

Art Direction-A

Hair-A

Makeup-A

*** Stars

The Box

Starring: Saturn Award Nominee Cameron Diaz (Vanilla Sky), Saturn award nominee James Marsden (Superman Returns), Oscar nominee Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), James Rebhorn ("White Collar"), Holmes Osborne (Unthinkable), Gillian Jacobs ("Community"), Indie Spirit nominee Celia Weston (Dead Man Walking), Deborah Rush (Julie & Julia)

Written & Directed by: 2X Indie Spirit award nominee Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) based on the short story "Button, Button" by Richard Matheson (Woman & What Dreams May Come)

Plot: A married couple recieves a mysterious box and are told if they push the button in the box, they will receive 1 million dollars and someone they don't know will die.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFHa-ygkF_M

Review: This movie was mind-bending and provocative. Then came the ending. After going through this maze, when you get to the end it just pisses you off because you see how it could've ended differently but didn't. It just wasn't necessary. Everything else about the movie is great. In fact, that's the reason why the ending was so upsetting to me. It's because everything up to that point was brilliant. It is a morality play played out in a very complicated manner in a very visually interesting way. If the DVD had an alternate ending, I'd be singing a different tune, but I don't even get the option of watching an alternate ending and pretending as if it's the ending that was chosen. I still say to check out this movie because the ending might be brilliant to others. It is still very well-written up until the ending, visually brilliant, and well acted (except for Ms.Diaz's awful southern accent). It is simply my opinion that I can't divulge more of without spoilers. I've given you fair warning so maybe it will soften the blow a bit if you do not like the ending.

Rating:

Writing-C

Acting-B-simply for that God-awful southern accent Ms.Diaz

Directing-A

Music-A

Cinematography-A

Editing-A

Costumes-B

Art Direction-C-the sets seemed right out of a 70's commercial rather than an actual home.

Hair-A

Makeup-A- eww Frank Langella's face in this movie. very eerie.

Visual Effects-A-Richard Kelly continuously amazes me with his imagination

**1/2 Stars

Extraordinary Measures

Starring: Brendan Fraser (GI Joe Rise of the Cobra), Oscar Nominee Harrison Ford (Witness), Golden Globe winner Keri Russell ("Felicity"), Jared Harris ("Mad Men"), Dee Wallace (Soupernatural), Indie Spirit Nominee Courtney B. Vance (Blind Faith)

Directed by: Tom Vaughn (What Happens in Vegas & "Big Love")

Written by: Oscar nominated writer of Chocolat Robert Nelson Jacobs based on the book by Geeta Anand titled "The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million - And Bucked the Medical Establishment - in a Quest to Save His Children"

Plot: The title of the original book explains it all. The disease is a type of Muscular Dystrophy called Pompe.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgbUFkftJl0

Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1_K0WxnD9E

Review: This is not a movie about disease. This is a movie about science. I rented it hoping to see Lorenzo's Oil and got The Magic Bullet instead. I'm not bagging on the movie for being about science, I just prefer disease. I like the seeing the psychological and physical ramifications because the payoff is bigger whether or not the character dies. That's what was missing in this film. Twenty minutes could've been added at the beginning to the movie so we could see the diagnosis and how their lives change because of it. For a movie about science, it didn't have enough of it. Show the science part, not just the business part. Show the failed experiments. Show the struggle to turn a scientific theory into a therapy. Another thing that kind of pissed me off was the fact that the father was a rich man. We was no John Q. Money cures diseases after all. The movie relies heavily on the strength of its performances which were good for the most part, but not amazing. There will be no Oscar nominations for performance here. The best scenes were between Ford and Fraser. The dynamic really worked, and Ford seemed to really bring out the best in Fraser. It was Fraser's other scenes that were a bit lacking. Ford also had the best character arc and most three dimensional character. Russell did very well with what little screen time she was given, and I really like the relationship between her and John. Courtney B. Vance was very moving in his small role, and Megan surprisingly was the one who provided the comic relief, which is unusual because the patients in these movies are usually exploited for tears. I love Keri Russell. She’s really the only reason I wanted to see the movie in the first place. I appreciate the true story behind it, and I did get teary-eyed a few times, but it just wasn't a complete story for me. It couldn't decide whether it was a movie about disease or science and couldn't seem to meld the two together. Unless you're a huge Keri Russell fan like me, rent Lorenzo's Oil instead.

Rating:

Writing-C

Acting-B

Directing-B

Music-B

Cinematography-B

Editing-C

Costumes-B

Art Direction-B

Hair-C- Horrible mom haircut on Russell.

Makeup-B

** Stars

Hot Tub Time Machine

Starring: Indie Spirit Nominee John Cusack (Being John Malkovich), Clark Duke (Superbad), Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry (W.), Sebastian Stan, Lyndsy Fonseca ("Desperate Housewives"), 2 time Saturn award nominee Crispin Glover (Willard), 5X Emmy Winner Chevy Chase ("SNL"), Saturn Award nominee Lizzy Caplan("Cloverfield"),

Directed by: Steve Pink (Accepted)

Written by: Josh Heald (Mardi Gras), Sean Anders (She's Outta My League), John Morris (She's Outta My League)

Plot: Four friends spend a wild night drinking in a hot tub, only to wake up the next morning in 1986.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TXNEE6SaoI

Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTn7h00EKCg

Review: This movie is not as funny as The Hangover, but it's still hilarious. Don't bother figuring out or trying to dissect time travel rules and enjoy this fun time travel comedy for what it is. Most of the time these male bonding movies have at least one really unlikable character that pisses me off the entire movie. All the characters in this movie were all very likable with every actor doing a great job in each of their roles. It's nice to see John Cusack back in comedy where he belongs. Extra surprising is that even though this movie does contain nudity, it's not completely insulting to watch if you're a woman. It's a movie that you can rent for your hubby and enjoy watching it with him. A lot of fun with a great ending. By the way, that is Craig Robinson singing, rapping, and playing the piano in the movie.

Rating:

Writing-B

Acting-A

Directing-B

Music-A

Cinematography-B

Editing-A

Costumes-C- A little obvious. Being a child of the 80's, not everyone walked around in day glo all day. The costumes in this movie seemed more like 80's fashion from an 80's music video rather than actual everyday wear.

Art Direction-A

Hair-A

Makeup-A

**1/2 Stars