Archive for November, 2007

Margot at the Wedding

November 21st, 2007 by Rolling Stone Movie Reviews
Syndicated Reviews
Paramount Vantage's 'Margot at the Wedding' Photo Starring:
Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black, John Turturro
Review:
Director Noah Baumbach, Oscar-nominated for writing the 2005 gem The Squid and the Whale, is the rarest kind of filmmaker in formula Hollywood: He makes every word count without cheating on his characters for an easy laugh. Margot at the Wedding, following Kicking and Screaming, Mr. Jealousy and Squid, is a moral tale in the tradition of France's Eric Rohmer. It's the people, not the plot, driving this comedy of appalling...

Read More »

Enchanted (Walt Disney)

November 21st, 2007 by Rolling Stone Movie Reviews
Syndicated Reviews
Photo Starring:
Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina M...
Review:
You might want to remember the name Amy Adams. It's star-is-born time for the Colorado Mormon, who won a supporting-actress Oscar nomination for 2005's Junebug, which few saw (dumb move). Enchanted has the makings of a supersize sugarcoated hit, and Adams is just the spicy princess you want to take home and PG-love. Not since Julie Andrews rode an umbrella to glory in Mary Poppins has Disney given us such a real-life doll. Actually, Adams' Giselle starts...

Read More »

Starting Out in the Evening

November 21st, 2007 by Rolling Stone Movie Reviews
Syndicated Reviews
Photo Starring:
Lauren Ambrose, Karl Bury, Anitha Gandhi, Sean T. Krishnan, Frank...
Review:
Frank Langella has won a slew of awards for his stage work, including a Tony this year for playing Tricky Dick in Frost/Nixon. But on film, most recently in Good Night, and Good Luck, Langella flies under the Academy radar. Wake up, voters. In Starting Out in the Evening, adapted from Brian Morton's novel by director Andrew Wagner, Langella delivers a master class in acting. He's playing Leonard Schiller, an aging author aching from the loss of...

Read More »

Review: Home for the holidays, with a few secrets in tow

November 21st, 2007 by G. Allen Johnson
Syndicated Reviews
RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE)This Christmas: Comedy-drama. Starring Delroy Lindo, Idris Elba, Loretta Devine, Regina King and Mekhi Phifer. Written and directed by Preston A. Whitmore II. (PG-13. 117 minutes. At Bay area theaters.) One family member pulls out a...

Read More »

Six Bob Dylan characters in search of an author

November 21st, 2007 by Mick LaSalle
Syndicated Reviews
RATING: (SNOOZING VIEWER)I'm Not There: Imaginative biopic. Starring Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Richard Gere. Directed by Todd Haynes. (R. 135 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.) Anyone can make a bad movie, but it takes a good...

Read More »