August movie reviews

TROPIC THUNDER. Ben Stiller does an outstanding job of satirizing Hollywood and Rambo-like movies (among a lot of other targets). In this one, he plays an action star coming off a critical and financial, so he needs a comeback. Also in the cast of the war movie is Robert Downey Jr., who is playing a character originally written for a black man, so in the interest of his art, undergoes a procedure that turns his skin black. There's Jack Black as an actor trying to do something other than his Eddie-Murphy like fart movies. Finally there are the rapper-actor (named Alpa Chino!) and the young novice playing grunts. Director Steve Coogan takes them out into the jungle to make the movie be more realistic, and the guys end up getting in the middle of a drug smugglers' war zone. But they don't know it; they think it's all part of the movie. This movie has so many elements, and they are all very funny, and smart, actually. A top-10 movie of the year contender.

MAN ON WIRE. Amazing documentary. It tells the story of Philippe Pettit, who is a French high wire artist (and street performer). He is obsessed with walking the wire. In 1974, he and a group of his friends conspired to string a wire between the two towers of the World Trade Center (over 1000 feet high). There are some recreations of his exploits (they’re not distracting) as well a video of some of his earlier work, all the while detailing all the planning (months, if not years, of preparation to break in to the WTC and do the set up) that went into the stunt. Even though you know he survived, it's still absolutely engrossing, edge-of-your-seat to watch the events unfold. An astonishing (if insane!) feat. Loved it.

EDGE OF HEAVEN. Terrific movie following the lives of several people whose paths cross, although often they are not aware of how their stories are related. There is an older Turkish immigrant in Germany, and his son, the university professor. There is the middle-aged Turkish woman who is working as a prostitute in Germany so her daughter can continue her studies in Turkey. And there is the German young woman and mother. I just loved the way the three stories intermingled. I don't want to describe any more, because it was such a pleasure watching the movie unfold, so I will leave it at that.

FROZEN RIVER. Melissa Leo plays the mother of two living in upstate New York. Her gambler husband has abandoned them and she only has a part time job at the Yankee Dollar Store. She is so poor that her big dream is moving from a single-wide trailer to a double-wide. She lives near Mohawk land, and some on the reservation take advantage of the tribal authorities to smuggle goods and human beings across the border with Canada. Melissa gets involved when she meets a young Mohawk woman who is also living on the edge. Although the acting is superior, the movie is a Lifetime-movie look at a woman doing desperate things to support her family. But because the movie provides a look at the Mohawk area and people, and the smuggling is an original topic for a movie, which definitely kept my interest. So I would recommend it.

ELEGY. Ben Kingsley plays a college professor, who appears to select a young student every semester to seduce. He appears unable and/or unwilling to make emotional commitments to anyone. This year's student target is Penelope Cruz. Ordinarily I would hate another one of those older man/hot young woman romances, but this movie is about far more than that. It's about emotions and commitments. The couple does develop a relationship, and fall in love, but in this case the young woman is perhaps wiser than the older man and more than his latest conquest. It will be his loss if he can’t grow and accept her love. Supporting performances by Dennis Hopper as his friend, Patricia Clarkson as his long-time mistress, and Peter Sarsgaard as his bitter son give even more depth to the story. I wasn't overly fond of the last quarter of the movie, but up until that point, I did really like it, so overall it’s a thumbs up.

AMERICAN TEEN. Documentary that is getting rave reviews from critics. It follows four Midwestern high school kids during their senior year of high school. As can be expected, one is a jock that needs a scholarship to go to college, one a homecoming queen, one a band geek, and one an arty outsider. But that is as diverse as you are going to get in Warsaw, Indiana. As you follow them for the year, each develops a more depth personality than their label would indicate, and you care more for some than others. They have relationships (or not), heartbreaks, college hopes, etc. But the movie isn't all that surprising, and certainly doesn't tell us anything about high school that we don't know already. I usually have a fondness for portraits of high school (in a thank god I don't have to go through that again kind of way), but maybe I am finally growing out of it. :-)

HELLBOY 2: GOLDEN ARMY. I thought the original HELLBOY was over-praised. But it and this sequel were directed by the same director (Guillermo del Toro) that did PAN'S LABYRINTH, my favorite movie of 2006. So I decided to give the sequel a chance. And I did like it better than the first one, mostly for the fantastical creatures (tooth fairies you don't want anywhere near your pillow!) that populate it. Hellboy isn't quite in the superhero mode, given that he has quite a temper and doesn't like rules. But that gives the movie more of a sense of humor than many in the genre. Not a great story, not recommended based on plot (trolls vs humans), but I really appreciate the imagination behind all the terrific special effects, so I wasn't disappointed.

SWING VOTE. Kevin Costner plays a likable loser alcoholic single dad, living in a small New Mexico town. His daughter is the caretaker in the family, and she is also precociously bright. She needs her dad to vote in the presidential election so she can do a school paper, but it's clear he doesn't even know or care who is running. When his vote doesn't get counted because of a glitch, it turns out his one vote will determine who gets the state's electoral votes and elects the next president. So the two presidential candidates (Kelsey Grammer-R and Dennis Hopper-D) and their campaign managers (Stanley Tucci and Nathan Lane) come into town to try to get his vote. And the media circus begins. Cute movie, but not great. I did laugh out loud at some of the commercials the candidates run to pander to the dad. And the girl playing the daughter is as good as anyone I've seen since the young girl from WHALE RIDER. Still, it's a pretty lightweight couple of hours.

BOTTLE SHOCK. In the 1970s, Napa Valley was beginning to make some terrific wines. But the public still thought that all good wines came from France. Based on a true story, this movie tells the tale of the British businessman (Alan Rickman) who puts together a blind taste testing between the French and California wines. (He has a wine shop in Paris, and is doing it for publicity). That should be enough for a fun movie, I would think. But they throw in a father-son conflict, and a love triangle, and the woes of two struggling businesses, and I don't think the movie was as good as it should have been. It seems like a made-for-television movie, and I don't mean that as a compliment. I love Alan Rickman, but he just wasn't able to carry the movie through all the extraneous stories.

SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2. The four girls are in college now, and are drifting apart. To Carmen's disappointment, they won't even be together fro the summer. One goes on an archeology dig, one takes art classes at college, and one works at a community playhouse. There are relationships, heartbreaks, pregnancy scares, fights, etc. The four separate stories work well. And, of course, their friendship will survive when they all band together to help out one in need. These women aren't as superficial as the SEX AND THE CITY gals (not once are shoes mentioned), and I think this is a fun movie for young women.