February movie reviews

IN BRUGES. I loved this movie. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are hit men working for Ralph Fiennes. When a job goes terribly wrong, Ralph sends the two men to Bruges (in Belgium) to lay low for a while. Brendan loves the medieval city, while Colin thinks it's the pits because there isn't any nightlife. They have a sort of father-son relationship. I don't want to say any more about the plot, because that would ruin it, but this movie is full of very black humor amidst some nasty violence. The three characters are well-drawn with some real depth, not just caricatures. It's not a comedy, really, but I was laughing like crazy. It's a little like PULP FICTION, with the mix of comedy and drama.

DEFINITELY, MAYBE. Ryan Reynolds is getting a divorce as the movie opens. His young daughter wants to know the story of how he and her mother met. So he spends the movie telling his young daughter about the three great loves of his life (changing the names), and tells the daughter she will have to figure out who her mother is. Each of the women (played by Amy Adams, Elizabeth Banks, and Rachel Weisz) has real appeal, but also flaws. So the movie has a realistic take on relationships (other than every body being beautiful , of course). The movie is really well put together, so that the viewer also is guessing how the story will end up. I enjoyed it quite a bit. A excellent date movie, I would say.


THE BAND'S VISIT. Israeli movie. It involves a police ceremonial band from Egypt, who comes to Israeli to play at the opening of an Arab Cultural Center. But there is confusion about what town they are going to, and the band ends up in a small town in the middle of nowhere, with, as one local woman puts it, no Arab culture, no Israeli culture, no culture at all. They can't catch a bus until the next day, so the band ends up staying with local townsfolk. And getting to know each other a little. This is a very small film, not much going on, but OK enough.

FOUR MONTHS, THREE WEEKS, TWO DAYS. This Romanian movie involves two college roommates living in Communist Romania. One gets pregnant, and the other supports her in pursuing an illegal abortion. The friend has to borrow the money, get a hotel, contact the abortionist, etc. The pregnant girl seems to be paralyzed. And discovery could mean 10 years in jail. Although the movie does a fine job of showing what life must have been like during that era (getting goods from illegal black markets, living in cramped quarters, being required to carry ID documents at all times), I don't really need a movie to show me that getting an illegal abortion is a bleak experience that tests friendship. You think? Grim stuff.

CLOVERFIELD. This movie has been referred to as Godzilla meets The Blair Witch Project. And that is really a perfect description. It involves a group of friends who having a going-away party for a friend, and videotaping the party. When New York starts exploding with a gigantic monster destroying the city, the friends run around trying to get out of harm's way, all the while taping themselves (and occasionally the monster). Where the monster came from or what it's motivations are aren't explained; it is just pissed off for no apparent reason. Some reports have said people have complained that the shaky camera work made them sick. I am very susceptible to motion sickness, but although the shaky camera work here annoyed the hell out of me, it didn't make me ill. The movie... it's not bad, but I was never much into Godzilla or monster movies, so [shrug].