Movie Review: DREAMGIRLS (2006)
Dreamgirls (2006)–*** Dreamgirls is the best movie musical to hit the screen since Chicago, but going into the screening, there wasn’t any suggestion it wouldn’t be. Veteran filmmaker Bill Condon’s obsessive historical focus was a perfect fit for a musical inspired by the rise of Motown. He also has the musical in his blood after writing Rob Marshall’s Oscar-winning Chicago. The only doubt one could have had laid solely in the film’s ability to stand next to films like Moulin Rouge! andChicago. In that respect, Dreamgirls succeeds…barely. Deena Jones (Beyoncé Knowles), Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose) and Effie White (Jennifer Hudson) are the Dreams, a Detroit trio trying to make it big by doing amateur revues. They get their big break when a small-time manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx) books them behind Jimmy Early (Eddie Murphy) on his national tour. The tour isn’t in significant...
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Movie Review: THE HOLIDAY
The Holiday (2006)–** Every time I watch an old Hollywood film, I can’t help but think that we don’t have any auteurs of the romantic comedy anymore. It’s ironic in fact that a perfect example of this, director Nancy Meyers, makes so many references to the greats in her newest movie. While watching Meyers’ The Holiday, the short shot I got the most pleasure out of was of Kate Winslet’s character watching Howard Hawk’s His Girl Friday. I got so excited I actually turned to my fiancée and told her, twice, the name of the film Winslet was watching. Unfortunately, Meyers’ film is too dense, too plotted and too happy to make it worth comparing with any classic rom-com. Winselt plays Iris, a society columnist for an English paper who spends her life waiting for a coworker who won’t ever fall...
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Movie Review: TURISTAS (2006)
Turistas (2006)—No Stars I can see it now. The guys over at Fox Atomic, a new teen-targeted division of 20th Century Fox, are looking to cash in on the ultra-violent movie craze. Someone mentions Hostel. That gets them to thinking. What if we move that movie to a place where the women have to wear less clothing? What if the bad guy is an evil surgeon who harvests organs from tourists but also has a heart? Turistas is a film that features a bunch of ugly Americans (and Brits) getting what they deserve for being spoiled tourists in poverty stricken parts of Brazil. The surgeon’s whole reason for harvesting organs is to take back from the “gringos” what they took from Brazil through rape and general disregard for the country’s people. An evil surgeon who cares, eh? It really is hard...
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Movie Review: FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
Flags of Our Fathers (2006)–**1/2 I imagine it’s a hard time to sell a war film about heroism and duty. I imagine it’s even harder to sell a war film that isn’t as great as it could have been. Flags of Our Fathers is a touching movie, but I’m disinclined to call director Clint Eastwood’s last two directorial efforts “touching.” Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby were dramatic jackhammers. That makes it much harder to watch Eastwood flounder with a film like Flags of Our Fathers. Six men raised a flag on Iwo Jima. A picture was taken. Three of them survived to tell the tale after that battle was over. In the middle of a world war, heroism is in the eyes of the public relations people. With the nation on the verge of bankruptcy, the American government calls on the three heroes of...
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Quickie Review: THE PRESTIGE (2006)
The Prestige (2006)–***1/2 Quickie Review After the wife of an up-and-coming magician is killed in a stage accident, possibly caused by another novice illusionist, a long rivalry develops leading to a spellbinding final confrontation. Christopher Nolan’s break from the Batman franchise is a perplexing period drama and a deliciously entertaining film. Though the slight-of-hand is at times transparent, the cold-hearted revenge story is superbly acted through all the twists and turns. Only with a cast this great, a screenwriting team this polished (the Nolan brothers) and a director this intriguing can The Prestige even begin to be this good. Starring Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johannson and Michael...
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Quickie: MARIE ANTIONETTE (2006)
Marie Antoinette (2006)–**** Quickie Review A young Austrian archduchess is selected to marry the heir to the French throne, but is unable to stand up to the constant examination of her life. Defying every convention of the period drama (from music to casting), Sophia Coppola’s film proves to be as contemporary a film as Lost in Translation. Truly sumptuous and thoroughly engaging, this look at our modern celebrity culture will only get better with age. Kirsten Dunst is astonishing with her strikingly intimate portrayal of the queen. Also starring Rip Torn, Jason Schwartzman, Molly Shannon and Judy...
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