Movie #307 ........................."Love and Other Disasters"

Movie #307 "Love and Other Disasters" is enjoyable, but don't think Bloom and Paltrow are in it for any length of time --- they come on for a 5 minute scene that is pretty funny. I recommend this movie if you like stuff like Bridget Jones' diary or Notting Hill --- terribly British, rapid-fire dialogue with lots of Brit slang, quick on its feet, liberal in presenting sex..........I found it refreshing for a romantic comedy in that while it is doing its thing showing you the rise of one love story dealing with the main female (B. Murphy) with a male (whom she thinks is gay), it also shows her homosexual best friend trying to find love in all the wrong places, suggesting that love problems are universal for everyone! And that we tend to make wrong decisions based on looks. Not an earthshatteringly new idea, but I liked the ease of friendship between the always capable Brittany Murphy (so sad she left the earth so early) and Matthew Ryhs (the gay lawyer from t.v.'s brothers and sisters). I liked it and found it refreshing.





Average rating: 3.257
I would give it 3.5
Our best guess for DONNA: 3.2 stars
Average of 246,006 ratings: 3.3 stars
Love and Other Disasters
2006R90 minutes
Director Alek Keshishian unspools a charming tale that finds a young American (Brittany Murphy) attempting to play matchmaker for friends and co-workers -- with mixed results -- while interning at a major British fashion magazine. Problem is, she's so busy hooking up everyone else that she can't see her ideal match right under her nose. The supporting cast of characters includes Matthew Rhys, Santiago Cabrera and Catherine Tate.

Movie #306 ......................."The Back-Up Plan"

Movie #306 "The Back-Up Plan" is a romantic comedy. Donna normally likes romantic comedies, and this one offers a different, more modern retelling of the age-old genre. I liked that part, no doubt. I found it interesting that she was going through a pregnancy and changes in her body, while trying to look her best because she is just falling in love. And as far as romantic comedies go, as long as the two people are winning and the film doesn't cross the stupid line, a romantic comedy would usually rate higher than a 3 in my books. Here's the thing with this one. I like Jaylo, and the guy is pleasant, as well. But there were down and out just plain annoying scenes in the film that kept pulling it back from charming this viewer. I'll just give one example. The birht of a baby in a swimming pool that I think was supposed to be funny, but it was so down and out loud and annoying that it just wasn't funny. It made this person watching it quite happy I never had kids. and I don't think the scene was supposed to make you feel that way. I can't recommend it to many people at all. You skip this one.





Average rating: 3.494
I gave this 3 stars
The Back-Up Plan
(2010) PG-13
When Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) tires of looking for Mr. Right, she decides to have a baby on her own. But on the day she's artificially inseminated, she meets Stan (Alex O'Loughlin), who seems to be just who she's been searching for all her life. Now, Zoe has to figure out how to make her two life's dreams fit with each other. Alan Poul directs this hilarious, heartfelt tale of confusion, confession and romantic slapstick.

Movie #305 ........................."City Island"

Movie #305 "City Island" - quirky doesn't begin to describe this family. At times funny, at times just quite strange, this movie takes a lot of chances in presenting a very dysfunctional family who doesn't tell the truth to each other AT ALL! That makes most of these people unlikeable ---- if the lead actor, Andy Garcia, didn't have a big dream to be an actor, the film wouldn't go anywhere at all ---- That's the line that reeled me in somewhat, but I still didn't like this movie as much as I thought it would. It goes so crazy at the end, that it passes the stupid line for me. And I never warmed up to the Mortimer character, and I think we were supposed to. Not one I'd recommend to many people at all ---- But I try to see all Andy Garcia films --- he's THAT good! (the one I'd recommend is "When a Man loves a Woman")





Average rating: 3.643
I would give it 3.5
City Island
(2009) PG-13
When he recognizes his son, Tony (Steven Strait), whom he hasn't seen in more than 20 years, among a crop of new inmates in the jail where he works, Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia) decides to bring the troubled young man home with him, much to the surprise of his wife and kids. Writer-director Raymond De Felitta helms by this offbeat comedy that also stars Julianna Margulies, Emily Mortimer, Dominik Garcia-Lorido and Alan Arkin.

Movie #304 .........................."Kinamand"

Movie #304 "Kinamand" was an unusual film in that it took place in Denmark, but mostly in a Chinese restaurant ---- two very separate languages and cultures come together for an arranged marriage ---- a good love story, but the ending was very surprising to all of us watching it. What a nice, likable cast in a script we've seen before -- the only creative thing here is the meshing of the two cultures. Nice love story and I'm a sucker for those! Kinamand refers to the name he is called when he agrees to marry the chinese lady!




Average rating: 3.71
I would give it 3.9 stars
Kinamand
Chinaman
(2005) NR
In this poignant Danish tale, hapless plumber Keld (Bjarne Henriksen) finds his world crumbling when his wife of 25 years (Charlotte Fich) walks out on him. Dejected, Keld falls into a routine of eating at the local Chinese grill, whose owner offers Keld a sizable sum to wed the man's sister (Vivian Wu) in a marriage of convenience. Will love bloom despite the language barrier and clash of cultures?

Movie #303 ........................."Greenberg"

Movie #303 "Greenberg" is not near as funny as the trailer made it out to be........I usually like Noah Baumbach's stuff, but the two characters were so unlikable, that it was really, really difficult to like either of them. That's not to say that there aren't some raw, real moments in the film, and some actually work, but they were few and far between. No one in the room that i was watching this film with liked it, so I wouldn't recommend it to many people at all. There are so many other films that you could watch that were a lot like this one -------- a person with baggage finds himself at a crossroads in his life ---- does he love himself enough to be able to fall in love with someone else. If this had more laughs, and more likable characters, it would have succeeded with me, but this does not.





Average rating: 2.528
I gave it 3 stars
Greenberg
(2009) R
At a crossroads in his life in New York, Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) takes some time to figure things out and travels to Los Angeles, where he house-sits for his brother and forges an unlikely bond with his brother's assistant, Florence (Greta Gerwig). Acclaimed director Noah Baumbach's (The Squid and the Whale, Margot at the Wedding) finely observed relationship comedy also stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and Rhys Ifans.

Movie #302 ........................."Slaughter Rule"

Movie #302 "Slaughter Rule" was kind of a disappointment, since it was starring Ryan Gosling and David Morse, two of my very favorite actors. And I DID enjoy their performances, very honest and gritty, but anyone following my blog knows how I don't really get into sports movies, esp. ones with a lot depending on the sport itself. And this one did. The players were either playing football, drinking, fighting, or having sex with the young girls in the film (one of which was Amy Adams, whom you hardly see, but who gets top billing for all the other girls). I guess Gosling's actions are the consequences of the death of his father, and the lack of interest of his mother. But one can only wonder why Morse acts the way he does ---- the script is weak, but these two guys still make these characters so layered that they are compelling to watch. But that isn't enough for a movie to recommend. So unless you, like me, like these two, you don't need to see this movie. It's just ok.








DONNA's rating: 3.0 stars
Average of 20,743 ratings: 2.8 stars
The Slaughter Rule
2002R116 minutes
A dreary Montana winter teaches teenager Roy (Ryan Gosling) how to be a man. First, he loses his father, a possible suicide; then he's cut from his high school football team. So when Gid (David Morse), a pariah in his own hometown, suggests that Roy play for his six-man team, Roy has nothing to lose -- or so he thinks. But all too soon, Roy is overwhelmed by his love for an older woman (Clea Duvall) and pressure from the brusque-but-paternal Gid.

Movie #301 ........................."The Lady Vanishes"

Movie #301 "The Lady Vanishes" was actually a Hitchcock film I hadn't remember seeing, and I'm glad I got to see it. What fun! The only drawback is that they don't get to the train and the lady actually vanishing until about 30 minutes into it, so there's a bit of a set up, but after that, it's all lots of thrills, spills and fun! I especially love these two brits who just want to make it to some sporting event and they don't care if the lady is there or not, and one ends up facing several guns because he doesn't believe there's anyone really trying to kill them and............lo and behold he gets shot in the wrist, and in true British form, just says oh dear and walks back to the others and informs them that he was wrong. It was a funny scene, and typical Hitchcockian. My one regret is that I didn't see Hitchcock in the background and I know I missed him because he appears in all his films. My big delight here is to finally see Michael Redgrave at work --- I do believe he is the father of Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave, and he was very "dashing" --- I know, a terribly British word, but he was!





Average rating: 3.718
I give it 4 stars
The Lady Vanishes
(1938) NR
Traveling aboard a transcontinental train, young Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood) becomes alarmed when an acquaintance, elderly governess Miss Froy (Dame Mae Whitty), suddenly vanishes. Inexplicably, all the other passengers deny having seen the woman. So Iris turns to her lone ally -- handsome music scholar Gilbert Redman (Michael Redgrave) -- for help. As the two search for clues to Froy's disappearance, they uncloak a sinister plot.