Weekend Movie Reviews

So, I watched probably way too many movies over the weekend…and you get the benefit of my opinions on the subject. I put the DVDs in my 5 disc-changer in no particular order and basically pressed play, so there was no rhyme or reason to the order of how I watched what except the last which I watched on the We channel last night.

• The Family Stone - Let’s face it, we’ve all been the one brought home to meet the parents for the first time and there’s been at least one time in our life where no matter what we did or said there was at least one boyfriend’s/girlfriend’s family that (we thought) hated us. This movie is for all of us. Despite being an only child the craziness of the large family reminded me of my dad’s crazy big family, though I must say that they were far closer than our family ever has been.And it has a wonderful cast — Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker, yummy Dermot Mulroney, Rachel McAdams, Claire Danes, delish Luke Wilson. I thought it was delightful to see Diane Keaton in such a strong matriachal role rather than the usual kind of flighty type she seems to play.

  I gave it 5 out of 5 stars and I’m stingy.

• A History of Violence — I rented this one because it’s the kind of character I’d like to play in an RPG/PBeM.The plot synopsis is that Tom Stall is this well-respected, gentle-type, family man living in a small town, but when two vicious criminals on a killing spree invade his diner, Tom stops them from raping the waitress, killing everyone, and robbing the place by going all “super fighter” on them and killing them, though he gets injured in the process. Suddenly he’s a hero and his face ends up on the national news and this leads to a bunch of mafia guys showing up in town claiming he’s someone else from back East who they have a beef with. Tom denies this.

  I’m not going to ruin it, that’s the mystery. It’s a thriller and if you like shoot-em-ups, this is a good one for you. Think “The Whole Nine Yards” maybe without the comedy and more gore. I suspect the book the movie’s based on is better. The acting is fairly good — Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris play well off of each other. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

• In Her Shoes — I was going to wait until it came on HBO or Cinemax, but someone in my writing group recommended it. It was a good movie, but I thought it dragged in the middle. Basically it’s about two sisters who are kind of polar opposites — ones you’re basic overachiever and one wants to skate through life on her looks. It’s one of those movies where the characters have to find themselves and I think it does a good job of that, but like I said, I thought it was a little slow in the middle.I’m not a big fan of Cameron Diaz, but I thought that Shirley McLaine was wonderful and I adored Mark Feuerstein as Simon.

  Again, I only gave it 3 out of 5 stars.

• The Audrey Hepburn Story — This was on my Netflix list but I’m glad I caught it last night. I’ve been wanting to watch it. I just think Audrey Hepburn was one of the most classiest women who lived in the 20th Century. She was so beautiful and she moved with such grace. I found it fascinating to learn that her father was a Nazi sympathizer and that he abandoned her and her mother. I also find it admirable and brave that she worked with the resistance in Holand during WWII after her mother took her there because she thought Germany would never invade a neutral country. I had no idea that her mother was a poor Barroness or that Audrey’s real dream had been to be a prima dona ballerina. So many interesting things in her life…and I love that she shot that last scene in Breakfast at Tiffany’s perfect in one take because they only had enough water for rain for one shot.But mostly what amazed me about Audrey Hepburn was how insecure she was. She always seemed to worry that no one would like her and that she didn’t know what she was doing, even when she was a star. This is a comfort for me as I worry about this all of the time and if Audrey Hepburn who was loved by millions all over the world wasn’t so sure of herself, then it’s o.k. for me to be a little unsure too.

  I’m not going to rank this movie but I will say that the choses of Emmy Rossum and Jennifer Love Hewitt were perfect for the role of Audrey Hepburn. Certainly they mastered her manerisms and manner of speech quiet well for the movie. There were times when I almost forgot it was Hewitt I was watching and not Hepburn.

tags: movies, Audrey Hepburn, Diane Keaton, Netflix

2 comments

1. on June 5, 2006 at 1:33 pm

   Tamara said:

   Ooh, thanks for the reviews. Even though I figured you wouldn’t spoil A History of Violence, I still read that segment with one eye closed. LOL

   The only one of those that I’ve seen is In Her Shoes. Had you read the book? Jennifer Weiner is a pretty good writer. I liked them both.

2. on October 27, 2006 at 11:00 am

   mr skin said:

   I didn’t know Jennifer had her own series called Ghost Whisperer. Sounds like a cool series.

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