RED RIDING HOOD:  NOT A FAIRY TALE

Once upon a time, dark little village in the middle of the woods, there lived a young girl named Valerie (Amanda Seyfried)whose family, as well as the whole entire village was threatened by an elusive werewolf. Now, throw in lust, forbidden love, family secrets, and Gary Oldman and then you will have this film. It is a visual spectacle, very focused on cinematography. And then the focus shifts, and shifts again and then shifts again and pretty soon we are alone in the woods with a werewolf. This film was lovely to look at but almost totally void of emotion. You cannot force sensuality. In the end, the story is brought together much like the "ah ha" moment of a Law and Order episode where we see the connection between all of the characters and the purpose for the crime. However, this summary was less than thrilling. There is nothing to miss here.  

THE TOURIST: CAUGHT IN A BAD ROMANCE

Frank Taylor: You're ravenous. Elise: Do you mean 'ravishing'? Frank Taylor: I do.

For romantic movie where both lead actors have absolutely no chemistry together, this film surprisingly did have some entertaining moments to it. Angelina Jolie is Elise, a sophisticated worldly woman who begins our movie at the target under the police's is watchful eye. She is being given instructions to meet her lover who just happens to have stolen a large amount of money before disappearing into thin air. It has been some time, and he has had reconstructive surgery so she isn't sure what he looks like now, but follows his directions blindly. While doing so, she befriends Frank (Johnny Depp looking much like Eddie Vedder) an unsuspecting tourist. Because the police don't know what her lover looks like, she uses the tourist as a smokescreen. The question is, or does he use her? From the beginning, I had extreme doubts as to the pairing of Jolie and Depp for this project. And, I was right, they have absolutely no chemistry with each other whatsoever. However, each in their own right give palatable performances. Depp has a sense of humor, however mild, while Jolie plays the femme fatale pretty much per the usual. The scenery is lovely, her costumes are beautiful, but the awkwardness between the two stands out like a sore thumb. The worst scene, perhaps, toward the end of the movie tries to have them dance with each other which is almost more painful to watch then them just interacting with each other. It is reminiscent of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, except it falls flat if not just looks plain old stupid. The ending I liked and although this wasn't the best work for either actor it was an entertaining movie. Or, it was something I could watch without being sick to my stomach. Not a glowing endorsement, but not to most terrible film I've seen.

GHOST WRITER: SUPER FILM NOIR

The Ghost: Did you ever want to be a proper politician in your own right?
Ruth Lang: Of course, didn't you want to be a proper writer?

Roman Polanski is alive and well and still making excellent movies. This time we are brought into the world of a super politico, much like Tony Blair, who is being investigated for some unsavory crimes. Pierce Brosnan is Ex-Prime Minister Andrew Lang who is working on a book with a ghost writer that has come up dead on a beach. Cue Ewan McGregor as Ghost number two who enters softly and is brought up to speed much like a college hazing gone bad about the chaos he has surrounded himself with. What starts off as a slow and reasonable movie whips into a fury with an ending that spins out of control. McGregor is solid as the man whose normal boring life turns upside down. Brosnan is equally on par with McGregor. Who we don't see coming is Ruth Lang (Olivia Williams) the long suffering wife. Kim Cattrall makes an appearance as an actress despite her recent work on the SITC movie. The accent threw me a little, but otherwise she is poised. This was a really well done film and it's shame that Polanski's real life worries get in the way of how his work is viewed. Similarly it is interesting to note the similarities between the exiled ex-Prime Minister and Polanski's issues. Must see film.

THE LODGER

THE LODGER: WHAT A THRILLING MOVING DAY                  Nothing like a good old fashioned murder mystery. This one involves a Jack the Ripper copy cat in West Hollywood which is the same size area as where the Ripper murdered in London. Alfred Molina is Detective Manning who has made it his priority to solve a string of murders that were once attributed to a man who was sentenced to death on his watch. At the same time a mysterious lodger (Simon Baker) pays a generous amount of cash to rent out the cottage from a young couple, particularly exciting the odd woman (Hope Davis) who holds some sort of eccentric secret. The question is do these two events act independently from one another or is there some sort of connection between them?

THE NINES

THE NINES WAS GOOD... UNTIL IT REACHED THE TENS

Part One: Meet Gary (Ryan Reynolds) a typical hollywood actor out on a binge, stopping to ask a hooker, "excuse me, is this crack?" So well done and very realistic. It's fun to watch actors portray actors. So sentenced to house arrest, he finds romance with a mysterious neighbor, Sarah,(Hope Davis) and unexpectedly gets a new roomie, Margaret (Melissa McCarthy). Unexplainable things happen and there is the sense that something is off, but you can't put your finger on it. The acting was super, the plot intrigueing and the casting supurb. Part Two: Now we're on a reality tv program or documentary following Reynolds again, except this time he looks diffrent, acts different and his name is Galvin. He has just written and is now supervising the shoot of one of his scripts. He has written a part in for his gal-pal, Melissa (who is played by McCarthy) as the real writer/director wrote McCarthy's character just for her. Gavin gets between a rock and a hard place as the "suits" producing the project (enter Davis as Susan) don't agree with his choice of actress. At this point the movie is still strong and good and well acted etcetera. Part Three: The show that "Galvin" had written is now a "real-life" incident. He, this time as Gabriel, and his wife Mary (McCarthy) are out in the forest with their daughter (another adorable Fanning) and their car has trouble. He runs to get a cell signal or help and runs into Sierra (Davis) hippie naturalist. By now, the issue of same actor/different part works and is even fun. However, the ending leaves a lot of questions and then goes off on a wildly different tangent ending in a way that only leaves more questions. DVD extra: A short story showcasing McCarthy called God. That alone is worth the rental fee.

Pick: I recommend this film, fun ride until you get to the end, but it's easy to forgive.