The Luck of the Irish (1948)

Plodding story about a journalist who sells out to a politician, but is saved by a grateful leprechaun. See, the journalist was in Ireland and could've taken the wee one's pot of gold but didn't so...whatever. For all the attempts at whimsy, it only succeeds in being dull as dirt.

Ann Baxter as the country lass the guy should (so, of course, DOES) wind up with is lovely despite an accent so thick I could scarcely understand her most of the time.

D+

For Your Consideration (2006)

In FYC, director Guest leaves the pseudo-documentary format behind and the film suffers for it. It's alright in the first act, but gets more shrill and annoying the longer it runs.

I think I'm going to just have to stop hoping that Christopher Guest's movies are going to be great and admit that I only see them out of loyalty to the genius that is "This Is Spinal Tap. " I don't really like any of them, but they're usually worth at least a few chuckles and I can admire the camaraderie the little group obviously enjoys.

C-

Volver (2006)

I saw this one at the Moxie (which, I think, was the perfect venue) with my sister (whom, I think, was the perfect partner). The Moxie tends to attract a more "serious" filmgoing crowd and I'm snobby enough to think that kind of matters sometimes.

That's why I was shocked for this to be the occasion of the most inappropriate reaction to a movie scene I've ever witnessed. On-screen there's a long-estranged mother finally giving voice to all the shocking hurt that her daughter suffered, mentally and physically, and cathartically taking responsibility for it. And there, in the middle of the theater, is a ponytailed bimbo laughing all the way through it. This wasn't just a weird sound that might have been a laugh, might have been an odd sneeze. This was no "oh, my boyfriend tickled me at the most awful time, I'm so embarrassed!" It was the unmistakable gale of someone who didn't understand that the scene wasn't meant to be funny. Laughter that says "I don't really get it, but I'll laugh loudly so no one knows I don't get it!" I wanted to smack her and whoever thought it was a good idea to bring her -- but I just wimpily settled for scowling at her on the way out. Go me!

Anyway, the movie's great. Emotional and funny and surprising.

A

Dreamgirls (2006)

It's big and glitzy and the musical numbers are outstanding, but for all of the drama, there's no emotional connection. Eddie Murphy as James Thunder Early comes the closest to being real -- his later scenes in particular work quite well. But just about everything else feels like connective tissue between musical numbers. Even Jennifer Hudson's big "I am Telling You" scene seemed to be delivered in a vacuum, and that song generally makes me tear up without any visual accompaniment. Yes, the girl has a big voice, but she's got no depth as an actress.

Bottom line is that it felt bloated and cheesy, like it still belonged on Broadway. Since, for me, the most memorable thing about the film was the closing credits, I have to call this a miss.

C+

Babel (2006)

This is four "connected" stories: 1) a Moroccan family, 2) American tourists in Morocco, 3) undocumented housekeeper & her charges in California/Mexico, and 4) deaf teen in Japan.

I hated #1 -- brothers trying out the range of their new family rifle (bought to shoot threats to their herd) accidentally hit an American woman aboard a tour bus. There was an unnecessary subplot of incestual desire that was completely annoying and the shootout at the end was seriously over-the-top.

I also though #2 was ridiculous -- privileged couple coping with loss of a child take a trip through....Morocco? Really? Whose weird idea was that? Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt are fine as the couple, but I didn't care. She's shot, they deal with it as best they can while their fellow tourists are concerned with their own safety (like most people would be, silly to pretend that's somehow selfish).

But the first two pale in comparison to the stupidity of #3. Housekeeper gets stuck with two whiter-than-snow children of the Moroccan tourists when she's supposed to be OFF for a couple of days to attend her son's wedding in Mexico -- so, she packs up the kids and takes 'em with her. On the way back in, they encounter trouble at the border so her drunken nephew (their driver) makes a run for it and dumps the three passengers in the desert. She later decides to leave the two kids behind to find help...and, well, ugh. What made me incredibly disgusted with this storyline was the unbelievability that both Brad Pitt and his children would treat this woman as disposable rather than the treasured part of the family she should be at this point.

And then there's #4. Angry teen makes overt sexual advances to every male she meets -- removing her panties in order to flash some hotties in a restaurant, licking the mouth of her dentist as he leans over her, stripping bare before approaching the detective in her living room -- you get the picture. Good acting in this segment and pretty believable character study, but it's just not a story in which I'm interested, nor is the "connection" of this and the other three strong enough to warrant inclusion.

I think this is a failure on almost every level. It's disjointed, generally unbelievable, and almost always offputting. Felt like an eternity, too.

D+

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Young Ofelia and has a new army officer stepfather and she and her very pregnant mother are joining him at his outpost so that he can be present at the child's birth. It's a humorless place and the Captain is a sadist who has little patience for Ofelia. Luckily, Ofelia's imagination -- rich with years of devouring fairy tales -- is enough to expose a world of fantastic, though dangerous, escape.

I'm not sure I can accurately convey just how much I loved this movie. To me, it was pure magic. I couldn't help sitting there in the flickering light with my mouth ajar at the wonder on the screen. I loved the merging of the two worlds and the way it made me squeak with fear and then smile with relief. It's a true fairy-tale for adults -- amazing and beautiful and very, very dark.

As soon as this is available, I'll be buying the DVD.

A+

With a Song in My Heart (1952)

Susan Hayward plays Jane Froman -- small-town singer who hits it big thanks to her savvy friend/manager/eventual husband. It shoots for a bit of "A Star is Born" as her less-talented husband gets jealous, drunk, and snippy as she rises to the top -- but there's not much bite to those scenes.

The "big story" is when Jane flies off to entertain the troops and winds up struggling to keep her leg after the plane crashes. Will the rugged fellow survivor give her the courage to fight? Will the charmingly brash nurse (Thelma Ritter) provide comic relief? Duh. Plus, it's based on a true story, so you know it's gotta turn out OK.

Not effective enough to squeeze any tears outta my eyes, but serviceable and the songs are pretty good.

C+

The Descent (2006)

I love to be scared. Lately, however, it's rare that horror movies deliver a true scare for me -- instead it seems that the vast majority of them are settling for making me jump and, maybe, lose my lunch. So, what a wonderfully creepy surprise this movie was!

Six women get together to have a nice little spelunking adventure. One has recently suffered the tragic loss of her husband and daughter and this is meant to be a "back to life" exercise for her. The wonderfully complex relationships between the women are naturally believable -- there's no need for lots of explanation, a terse comment here & a flare of temper there made things plenty clear to me and I so appreciated the understatement. It served the bare bones story, which is genuinely creepy, claustrophobic, desperate, and fair (no surprise that this didn't come out of the American studio system).

There's a lot of gore here, but none of it felt like violence-porn (a trend that increasingly disturbs me). When I clicked off this movie, I was far from my normal post-thriller attitudes, which are generally either: "gross" or "how dumb." Instead, I was quiet. And rather satisfied. And incredibly confused as to why more movies like this aren't being made.

B

I Vitelloni (1957)

I could rhapsodize about Fellini's mastery of the common folk -- going on and on about how the "regular" becomes extraordinary when he trains his powerful lens on it. Or, I could admit that this movie did nothing for me. Hmmm....which to choose...?

The story centers on a group of friends in their 20s who are just kinda going with the flow. They live with their parents, don't bother with jobs (and no one really seems to expect them to), and generally laze around. Go-nowhere lives translated into a go-nowhere film for me. I didn't like the guys and they're pretty much all that's on offer here.

C

Half Nelson (2006)

Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is a gifted teacher, one of those guys who really connects with his students because he likes them and believes in what he's teaching. He's also got a drug problem, and when one of his students catches him wielding his crack pipe they become entangled in each other's lives. Good deal.

Alright, that sounds a little ridiculous, I guess: "He's an inspiring educator...with a crack problem! Can he help his student and himself??" But it's really not. I mean, white teacher in urban school has been done to death -- but, thankfully, this one doesn't follow the formula. It's moving without feeling sappy.

Gosling is my pick for this year's Best Actor. He takes a quiet role and conveys so much with minimal movement.

A-

Notes on a Scandal (2006)

Gary and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day because 1) we're not goopy romantics who think we need to get presents for each other whenever the calendar says to and 2) Christmas, our anniversary, and Gary's birthday all take place in the two preceding months, so we're broke by then. I tell you this because I went to go see this movie all alone and I think I was the ONLY PERSON who risked being seen out in public on Valentine's night without being safely wrapped around another person. I got more than a few "awwww...." looks. I guess I should've played to the crowd -- probably could've scored a pity slurpee.

OK. I loved Zoë Heller's book, on which this is based. I couldn't stop talking about it the entire time I was reading: the subtlety, the incisiveness, the little ways in which we lie to ourselves so that we can cope with our lives... all thrown out the window. Instead of a brilliant character study of someone who feeds off women without even realizing how it might hurt them or that she is actually attracted to them, we get an obvious take on a woman who knows exactly what she's doing -- going so far as to make a plan to get what she wants. How I HATED what they did to the story. It was perfect on the page and it's just so regular on the screen.

Maybe this is a good movie, but because I can't mentally divorce it from its source, I can't tell. Chalk this up as an example of reading before watching ruining the movie experience, I guess.

C+

The Departed (2006)

Undercover cop in a mobster's inner circle vs. undercover mobster in elite police task force = awesome.

Acting is great across the board, story is tight, tension is high, and it's entertaining as hell. Deserves to win best picture -- and I'm not a Scorsese fan, so there's no "he's been robbed so many times! He should get it THIS time" crap going on here, this is strictly my opinion of this film that's talking. One complaint: the last shot of the movie is ridiculous. Without it, I would've had no problem giving it an "A+".

A

Fanny and Alexander (1983)

Core story in a nutshell: Dad dies, Mom marries a mean man, friend of the family helps them escape back home. Should that really take more than three hours to tell?

The story doesn't really pick up until after the new marriage, which doesn't occur until a couple of hours in. It's beautiful and kind of interesting, but almost always confusing and meandering.

C

SherryBaby (2006)

Maggie Gyllenhaal does great work as a just-out-of-prison junkie who's obsessed with getting her daughter back. She's hard when she needs to be, drops her panties or to her knees when it will serve her purposes, and is pretty heartbreaking.

Unfortunately, she's also pretty hard to take. Her naked neediness in scenes with her daughter Alexis, her wrongheaded but well-meaning efforts to be a favorite teacher in her new daycare job, her anger at the brother and sister-in-law who've given Alexis a stable and love-filled home -- it's all so sad and I pitied Sherry. I identified with everyone else in her life, though. I'm sure every single one of them kinda wished she hadn't been released because, let's face it, she's a pain in the ass who upsets their nice, normal lives.

So, it's a movie that feels real and is incredibly well done, but the reality didn't really seem to have a point and I've heard this one before. You know?

B-

Blood Diamond (2006)

Blood Diamond wants to be a political commentary, an action movie, and a very personal family story but succeeds only in delivering the first two.

The horrors of the diamond biz are laid right out and, fairly represented or not, it's powerful stuff. The movie does make clear that only a fraction of the diamonds on the market are ill-gotten, but it's the point that the blood diamond horrors only exist because of a false demand created by withholding available gems that really shocked me. The action scenes are exciting, terrifying, and are scattered perfectly throughout the narrative.

But the personal stuff, for me, just felt a little trite. Everything that could possibly go wrong for this family does go wrong and then everything that can go right does. Realism was thrown out the window for emotional whiplash. I hate being played like that.

Despite its flaws, the film really works. I've never been a diamond girl (plain gold band) and, after seeing this film, I'm glad. I would've probably been compelled to hide my wedding ring from my fellow moviegoers on the way out of the theater if it had a rock in it.

B+

Venus (2006)

This was the second movie I saw during our annual St. Louis pre-Oscar marathon and the one Gary chose to skip (wisely, it turns out). Because the window between Little Children and this film was just about an hour and our lunch ran late, I got into the theater just as the previews were beginning. I had the foresight to purchase my ticket before we ate, but was truly surprised to find the room packed. I wound up all the way on the right in the front row -- so that was already working against the film even before it began. Though, truthfully, I don't think even being in an empty theater smack dab in the center would've helped matters much.

Peter O'Toole plays Maurice, a theater veteran and bona fide "character" (we know this because he refers to himself as "old man" when he slaps himself out of bed in the morning and naughtily pools his pills with pals over coffee). I just looked it up and found that he's only 75 but he looks about 105 in the movie and about as ancient in real life -- unless he showed up to the Oscars in costume. One of his cronies is excited about the pending arrival of a young relative who he's expecting will cook and clean and make his life happier. What he gets instead is Jessie, a lazy taker, and he comes to his wits' end rather quickly. Maurice takes an immediate interest in the girl, though, and they form a sort of relationship.

There are some good things about the story, but they're all done in by the fact that we're constantly hit over the head with Maurice's pervy interests in the young girl. He's waking her up to the wider world, all the while wanting nothing more than to cop a feel or lick her hand. Some scenes are lovely but there's always the feeling that he's really just a horndog who'll do anything -- even show kindness and build self-esteem -- for a bone. It fully cheapened what could have been a sweet platonic love story. Taken altogether, the effect is just nasty.

D+

Little Children (2006)

Most movies based on novels simply can't touch the quality of the source material -- in fact, I can only think of a couple of films that improve upon it. What this means is that you can only really enjoy those movies you've not yet read. Weirdly, I find that seeing a movie before reading the book doesn't damage the my literary experience in the least. What usually happens is that my appreciation of the story expands as I discover, on pages, the extra stuff that wouldn't fit on screen.

From what I've heard, I get the feeling that I might have really hated this movie if I'd read the book first, so I'm glad I didn't. This suburb-bashing comedy/drama is wonderfully acted, desperately real, and often extremely funny. I was a big fan of the narration -- as though certain passages of the movie were being read aloud to me -- it just worked.

Still, there were a few scenes that didn't quite work and a few things I didn't quite get. All in all, though, a quality film that gave us plenty of discussion material for our post-movie meal.

B+

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Struggling medical supplies salesman -- here, kind of like an encyclopedia salesman with a smaller clientele -- is drowning in debt despite his wife's two jobs and his incredible work ethic. Life slams him around hard and fast. His wife leaves him, one of his units gets stolen twice, he's jailed for unpaid parking tickets, he's evicted twice, and he's towing around his five-year-old son in the evenings. A huge opportunity to intern as a stockbroker at Dean Witter comes up, but there's no paycheck involved and no guarantee that he'll be the lucky hire out of the group of interns.

This based on a true story movie is inspirational as can be, but it's also kind of hard to get into it when you know how it's gonna work out. Will Smith is flat-out fantastic here. Each emotion he displays -- and this script calls for the whole gamut -- feels real. There are a couple of scenes that particularly blew me away: when he's almost tossed out of the homeless shelter line for fighting and his final meeting with the Dean Witter bigwigs.

The film is hurt by its length and the fact that cute little Jaden Smith, Will's real-life son playing his on-screen son, is not yet a convincing actor.

B+

Jesus Camp (2006)

I grew up in a Christian household and I attended Christian summer camp. Because we were Baptist, our services were much more subdued than what's shown in this movie -- but it was pretty recognizable nonetheless. The "we have it right and everyone else is stupid" sentiment goes for most churches, unfortunately.

From my "believer's" perspective, American religion was given fair representation. There was no snarky voiceover poking fun at the proceedings, no graphics showing how many "Christian" kids wind up turning tricks in alleys, nothing about which the subjects could really complain other than the occasional cut to a radio host with opposing views doing his program. The filmmakers simply let the people talk and taped them doing their thing. Got kind of repetitive -- I mean, I didn't think the little boy "star" was nearly as interesting as the documentarians apparently did.

If you've seen this, it should be pretty clear why I'm not really into church any more. I'm just so glad that God's love is big enough to include them and me.

B