Category: Chick Flicks

THE RESIDENT – The Review

In the thriller genre one subset popular with film makers ( and often audiences ) has been the psychological thriller. A theme seen in these films has been an infatuation that turns to  ( usually deadly ) obsession. It’s been explored in older films like Hitchcock’s REBECCA and VERTIGO through the sixties with THE COLLECTOR and had a big resurgence with FATAL ATTRACTION and SINGLE WHITE FEMALE. Many times the plot will involve a young woman striking out on her own in a new city. This is at the heart of the new film THE RESIDENT which bypassed American theatres and is premiering on home video.

Juliet ( Hilary Swank ) is an emergency room surgeon living at a hotel after a nasty break up with her boyfriend Jack ( Lee Pace ). She finally decides to get a place of her own. After several dissapointing  tours with real estate agents, she posts an apartment wanted notice on the bulletin board at the hospital. She responds to a call and arrives at the building managed by Max ( Jeffrey Dean Morgan ). He’s in the middle of rehabbing the place and informs her that cell phone reception is lousy and the subway trains rattle the foundation. But Juliet is smitten with the view ( you can see the bridge right outside the window ), the opulent space, and the very affordable price. Max rents her the place without a reference check and soon she’s hauling her stuff up the elevator. Max introduces her to his ailing eccentric grandfather August ( Christopher Lee ) who lives down the hall from her. It takes a bit for Juliet to grow accustomed to the creaks and groans of the building, but soon she’s settled in. Later Juliet is invited to a local gallery party by a hospital co-worker and there runs into Max. As they walk and talk she wonders if Max will help her get over Jack. At her door she leans in to kiss Max who backs away. Perhaps she’s crossed a line. The next day she finally takes a call from Jack after he’s left countless messages and texts. She also gets a call from Max. He wishes to make up for the awkward previous evening with dinner. At the end of the meal she invites him into her bedroom. Just as things are heating up, Juliet rebuffs Max by stating that her feelings for Jack are still too strong. He understands and then reluctantly leaves. A few days later Juliet re-connects with Jack. It looks as if they will repair their relationship. All seems to be going well except that she’s constantly sleeping through her alarm and is always exhausted. And it seems that Max is not so sweet and understanding  anymore. Is there something sinister going on here?

Well, of course there is. Director Antii Jokinen telegraphs the creeps during her first night alone at the new place. He also lingers on a very graphic emergency room heart repair, perhaps to show us Juliet’s proficiency with tools. The gore there seems more than a bit gratuitous. Swank doesn’t have much to do here besides looking tired, worried, and confused. Morgan has the more complex role. He shows some of what charmed the many fans of his work on the TV show ” Grey’s Anatomy “. He also goes to a much darker place like his role in WATCHMEN. Pace, also from TV ( “Pushing Daisies” ) has little to do as Swanks’s rekindled romance. The real wasted opportunity here is the small , inconsequential role given to the great Christopher Lee. He’s there as a plot red herring who leers at Juliet through his front door. I was intrigued when I’d heard of his casting in this film. THE RESIDENT is a co-production with th newly re-formed Hammer studios. From the late 50’s through the early 70’s  they were famous for there Gothic horror films especially the Frankenstein film series with Peter Cushing and the Dracula  film series starring Mr. Lee. This film was to be their first big new theatrical release along with the English language remake of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, LET ME IN. That film was critically lauded,but sank like a stone at the box office. Perhaps that had a factor in THE RESIDENT going right to video. More likely that despite the presence of the two time Oscar winning Swank ( who executive produced this along with Renny Harlin ) the film plays like a slightly sexed-up, gored-up, version of a story you’d see as a Lifetime-type TV movie. Certain character behaviors seem very implausible, and the cat and mouse chase through the building’s walls and crawlspaces at the film’s finale  ends flatly. I’m rooting for Hammer’s comeback. I hope they’ll bring us something more exciting and original next time. THE RESIDENT ( with only a trailer as an extra ) is available on DVD and Blu-ray from Image Entertainment.

Overall Rating: Two and a Half Out of Five Stars

SUCKER PUNCH – The Review

Scientists are constantly exploring the wonders of the human brain, particularly the subconscious. One of the discoveries is that in times of extreme trauma the brain can shut down responses to it’s surroundings and can either erase the experience or retreat into an alternate reality. This is one of the main themes of Zack Snyder’s new film SUCKER PUNCH. Unlike his previous movies, this is not a remake ( DAWN OF THE DEAD ) nor an adaptation of a graphic novel ( 300, WATCHMEN ) although much of the imagery here is inspired by other films, TV shows, animation, and comic books. In PUNCH, Synder’s main heroine enters another reality in her mind. And then another reality within that one( similar to the dream levels in INCEPTION ). Once again Snyder uses state of the art effects to create these different worlds.

The film begins after two theatrical curtains lift to reveal a simple bedroom backdrop. Atop the bed, crying, is a young blond woman of 17 or 18 named Baby Doll ( Emily Browning ). A doctor leaves her mother’s bedroom, shaking his head at Baby Doll’s step father. Baby Doll runs to console her kid sister as the sheet is pulled over their mother’s face. Later the step father seethes with anger as he reads the mother’s will. Everything will go to the daughters. Grabbing his bottle of booze, he storms into Baby Doll’s room. Rebuffing his advances, Baby Doll scratches his face, forces him out of her room, and locks the door. Gazing through the keyhole, she sees him lurching toward the locked closet where her kid sister hides. Baby Doll climbs out her bedroom window and scampers across the ledge to the window of the study. Inside she locates the pistol in a desk drawer. Racing down the hallway, she confronts her step father as he kicks in the closet door. She shakily points the gun at him and fires. The bullet whizzes past him and fatally strikes her sister. At the grave site, the stepfather signs the papers committing Baby Doll to a mental institution. After sedating her, they take her into the asylum where the director Blue Jones ( Oscar Isaac ) assures the step father that she will be lobotomized by the visiting doctor who will arrive in five days. Baby Doll is introduced to Dr. Gorski ( Carla Gugino )  who uses the auditorium stage for her therapy sessions. She encourages the inmates to act out their histories. Here Baby Doll’s mind transforms the stage into a nightclub/brothel. The other inmates, Rocket ( Jena Malone ), her sister Sweet Pea ( Abbie Cornish ), Blondie ( Vanessa Hudgins ), and Amber ( Jamie Chung ) are entertainers, Gorski is their choreographer/director/madame and Blue Jones is the club owner/pimp. Jones wants Baby Doll trained and ready for the arrival of the High Roller ( the lobotomist ) in five days. When Gorski instructs her to dance to some music, Baby Doll goes into a trance. Her mind enters a fantasy where she meets the mysterious Wise Man ( Scott Glenn ) . Before using a samurai sword to defeat three hulking shogun warriors, he explains that in order to gain her freedom she will need five things: a map, the key, fire, a knife, and something she will have to discover. She then awakes back on the dance floor. Everyone is astonished at her skills. Later in the dressing room, Baby Doll lays out her plan and tries to unite them as a team. Sweet Pea hesitates, but soon  reluctantly agrees to help. Working together can these ladies gather the items and bust out of the nightclub/bordello before the High Roller arrives? Or should I say- can they escape the hospital before lobotomy day?

The first scenes that set up Baby Doll’s entrance to the mental institution are played out almost as an old silent movie. Snyder uses a dark, greyed down color palette similar to 300. The hospital and the dance hall are both dreary places ( until the gals are entertaining ). The fantasy battle fields are gritty and grimy also. Each time an item is acquired the ladies go into another mission after getting orders from the Wise Man. After Baby Doll’s Asian themed first outing, they are all plunged into a steam punk version of World War I. Later they storm a medieval castle were Orc-like creatures serve a huge fire-breathing dragon and her offspring. Finally they must board a high speed train and stop a pack of faceless androids from detonating a bomb within a futuristic metropolis. These scenarios should be thrilling, but they become terribly repetitive after the first couple. It’s the ladies making impossible leaps while hacking, slashing, and gunning down endless hordes. In the backstage scenes between the mayhem, the woman are saddled with lots of ridiculous, forced dialogue as they alternately argue with and encourage each other.  The characters other than Baby Doll and Sweet Pea are almost interchangeable. Cornish does her best to be the cynical hard case, but her fights with Browning have very little spark. Gugino is saddled with a clunky Polish accent and has little to do besides tapping her cane. Isaac makes Jones a completely hiss-able , irredeemable thug who’s written like a mustache-twirling villain. You may have read that Jon Hamm is in the film. Be warned, Don Draper fans, that his role is almost a cameo. I’ve admired much of Snyder’s work in the past, but the slow motion suddenly becoming fast speed, the wire work, CGI creatures, and swirling, zooming camerawork quickly became tiresome. As the old saying goes, “full of sound and fury signifying nothing”. Still, I’m looking forward to Snyder’s take on the last son of Krypton. We’ll see if he can create characters that are as interesting as his visual imagination. The ending aspires to be a tribute to “girl power”. That deserves to be lauded and explored in something more substantial than this noisy, overdone video game of a movie.

Overall Rating: Three Out of Five Stars

Review: MADE IN DAGENHAM

When most folks think of Great Britain in the 1960’s they remember the Fab Four and Sean Connery keeping the world safe from S.P.E.C.T.R.E., and not the same social upheavals that were happening here in the states. One of the great 60’s movements, sexual equality, is the main focus of director Nigel Cole’s new docudrama MADE IN DAGENHAM. I must admit that I had never heard of this story, so I was ready for a dose of history during that swingin’ time.

The town of Dagenham was the home of one of several British based Ford automobile plants. After a few minutes of introductory newsreel footage and vintage commercials, we see the women bicycling into the factory to start their work day. The working conditions are not ideal as we see many of the women strip down to their undergarments (Caution! Possible eye injury! Bullet bras!) due to the lack of air conditioning. Not complaining, the ladies sit down to their sewing machines and produce interior upholstery for the new Fords. Their supervisor Albert (Bob Hoskins) enters, diverts his eyes, and reminds them that they must take action or they’ll be designated as unskilled laborers. At a party that evening, we get to know the women a bit more, particularly Rita (Sally Hawkins) who’s married to one of the Ford machinists, Eddie (Daniel Mays). The next morning, back at their meager apartment, Rita rushes to get their son and daughter off to school. She notices welts on the boy’s knuckles. Seems his teacher, Mr. Clark, took a cane to him for not having his protractor. When Rita confronts the teacher at school, he cruelly dismisses her.Later at work,Albert selects Rita to accompany him and elected employee rep Connie (Geraldine James) to a meeting with their Union rep and plant management. After being dismissed at the meeting, Rita throws several pieces of cloth on the table. “If you think we have no skill then turn these into a car seat!”, she states before heading back to the plant to tell her co-workers that the strike is on! Eventually their protest spreads to other factories and auto production ceases. They soon attract the attention of Ford in Detroit who send out Robert Tooley (Richard Schiff), and Employment Secretary for the Labour Government,Barbara Castle (Miranda Richardson). Will the women prevail in getting equal pay?

The filmmakers do an excellent of recreating 1968 through fashions, hairstyles, and settings. My main problem with the film was making out the thick cockney accents. At times I was almost reaching for an imaginary remote so I could click on the subtitles. Hawkins makes for a plucky “Norma Rae” type heroine to root for. She gets great support from Mays when the strike puts a lot of strain on their marriage. Eddie really struggles to keep the household functioning while Rita’s on the picket line. We also see the strain at Connie’s house as she deals with her husband who’s still affected by his war experiences. Jaimie Winstone is terrific as Saudra, who’s tempted to break the strike in order to fulfill her dreams of modeling stardom. It’s always a pleasure to see Roger Rabbit’s pal Hoskins on the big screen again. His Albert beams with delight as he sees his beloved gals standing up for their rights. Richardson brings a great deal of authority to her role as Castle. I must admit that when I first saw her in her red bouffant, I thought she was playing Margaret Thatcher (maybe she worked her way up to PM!). Her scenes with her clueless young male assistants are hilarious. Schiff (of TV’s West Wing) does a great job as a 60’s businessman who might prefer having a martini with Don Draper. Rosamund Pike is memorable as a factory exec’s wife who’s sympathetic to the working gals. I know it’s an important story, but very few surprises are in this telling. The pace really drags in it’s final act. I just wished that some of the scenes had the pizazz of the opening montage. This is a middling attempt to show how working class British women were treated in those “go-go” 60’s. Be sure and stick around for the end credits and see old news reports and recent interviews with the ladies from the old Ford plant. Their stories seem more compelling that some of the characters invented for this film.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Review: FOR COLORED GIRLS

Taking a successful  play from the stage to the movies can be  very tricky. For every AMADEUS and A FEW GOOD MEN there’s a AGNES OF GOD or NIGHT, MOTHER that just doesn’t connect. Tyler Perry has a good track record in putting his own stage productions on film. Now he tries to adapt another author’s work with FOR COLORED GIRLS based on the 1976 Tony Nominated “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” by Ntozake Shange. The results make for an uneven film.

The main setting for the film is a fifth floor walk up apartment building in NYC where most of the characters reside. Gilda(Physhia Rashad) is the tenant representative who watches over her neighbors and tries to keep the halls tidy. Crystal(Kimberly Elise) is a working mother of two toddlers living with her boyfriend Beau Willie(Michael Ealy)who has come back from combat disturbed and bitter. When  abuse is suspected they are visited by a child protective services worker Kelly(Kerry Washington) who is a married to a police detective Donald(Hill Harper).  Crystal works downtown for a demanding fashion magazine editor,Jo(Janet Jackson) who is dealing with an unfaithful husband, Carl(Omari Hardwick). Sixteen year old Nyla(Tessa Thompson) is taking dance lessons from Yasmine(Anika Noni Rose), who is just starting a relationship with Bill(Khalil Kain). Nyla shares an apartment in the walk up with her mother Alice(Whoopi Goldberg) who spends almost all her time zealously working for her church. Down the hall is Alice’s other daughter Tangie(Thandie Newton), a wildly promiscuous bartender. On another floor lives Juanita(Loretta Devine) a nurse who divides her free time between working for a woman’s support group and contending with her undependable boyfriend Frank(Richard Lawson). The worlds of these woman collide in unexpected ways during the course of the film.

Unfortunately the stage roots of this film come through and disrupt the flow of the story. The play’s poems become monologues that the different characters launch into at regular intervals during the course of the action.The other actors in the scene can only stare at the speaker  while the camera slowly zooms in as they tell their tale. Even a sleazy back alley abortionist(played by Macy Gray) gets her own soliloquy. At one point two characters deliver their speeches at the same time like “dueling monologues”.While this works with a single actor on a bare stage, on film it seems very artificial and theatrical. Also Perry’s decision to carry over the play’s decision to have most of the main characters clothed in one color (Alice is always in white, Jo in red, etc.) becomes very distracting as does his choice to go from foreground focus to background focus several times during scenes. I was very surprised at how all the main male characters save one were  miserable abusive wretches who make the the women endure more horror and tragedy than a a year’s worth of Lifetime TV movies. Many modern thrillers have earned the tag of “torture porn” for their excesses. This movie could be an example of “misery porn” as it showcases one heartbreaking incident after another. I will say that the ladies give their all in their performances. The ending is meant to be uplifting, as in the old song ” Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves”, but by that time the viewer is just drained and exhausted. At least we can be grateful that Perry decided not to insert his Madea caricature into the movie in order to lighten things up.

Overall Rating: Two and a Half Out of Five Stars

Bullock’s ‘Steve’ Gets Pushed to the Fall

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What comes out March 6th?   Quick!   Don’t think about it, just answer!   If you said ‘Watchmen’, give yourself a pat on the back.   However, that wasn’t the only film to come out on that day.   Up until today, that is.

‘All About Steve’, the new rom-com starring Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper, was all set to come out on March 6th.   However, 20th Century Fox decided ‘Watchmen’ wasn’t something to contend with regardless of how counter-programmable your film is.   ‘All About Steve’ has been pushed back from it’s March 6th spot all the way to a “to be announced” date in the Fall.

Fox also cites the over-saturation of female-driven films coming out around this time as their reasoning behind the move.

Source: Variety

Review: ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’

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Jennifer:

It is always interesting to see a book brought to life in a movie. Stories with which we are so familiar seen through the eyes of another. Some adaptations are a success, others, not so much.

Tonight we saw a sneak preview of ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ which is based not only on the best selling novel of the same name but also the second book in the series ‘The Shopaholic Takes Manhattan’. The movie stars Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers) as Rebecca Bloomwood, a twenty something journalist who believes that the road to happiness should be traveled in style.

After adjusting to the idea of the story taking place in New York instead of London and the changes in the specifics of Becky’s job (as a stepping stone to a job at another magazine in the same publishing house) I settled in to enjoy a surprisingly funny movie. While I had expected to enjoy the whole thing I did NOT expect my boyfriend – who attended under duress – to like it as much as he did.

The spirit of the story is faithful to the books while the sequence of events (and events themselves!) are not. Becky is a journalist who takes a job giving financial advice for ‘Successful Savings’ magazine. She is able to explain sometimes complicated aspects of personal finance into easily understandable terms by likening them to shopping. This approach really resonates with the audience of the magazine and Becky quickly finds herself catapulted to a seat on a morning TV show to dole out advice in person. All of this would be a dream come true were she not hiding from a number of increasingly persistent debt collectors – one of whom is tipped off about the appearance and attends the broadcast.

The movie is quick paced and fun to watch. The entire cast is excellent in their roles but Fisher easily outshines them all. The character of Becky (especially in some of the outfits in this movie. It looked like Rainbow Brite was the wardrobe designer!) could all too easily be a hysterical caricature of herself – look for the dance scene, one of our favorites. Fisher manages to give her warmth and innate likability.

‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ opens in wide release on Friday February 13, 2009. It is a perfect date movie delivered just in time for Valentine’s Day.

[Overall: 4 stars out of 5]

Chad:

So, Jennifer (my girlfriend) and I saw Jerry Bruckheimer’s vision of ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ and I have to say, it was pretty good. It was much better than I had initially expected. The movie is based on two books, Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, from the best selling author Sophie Kinsella. The movie itself was trite and fun, which I think was the main part of it’s appeal.

The film had two things going for it. It was far from predictable, which was very refreshing for me, and it had plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The story follows shopaholic Rebecca Bloomwood, played by Isla Fisher (‘Wedding Crashers’), as she traverses the outrageous worlds of high fashion and high finance. The only problem is that she finds herself on the wrong side of both. Her addiction, buying the peak of fashion items, has gradually sunk her deeply in debt with her credit card companies.

Her debt becomes a problem when an alcohol-induced mailing mistake lands her in a writing position with a finance magazine of all things. However, with the help of her editor Luke Brandon, played by Hugh Dancy (‘Blood and Chocolate’), she finds her voice. The fashion metaphors she uses to explain the almost too complex world of money and finance really resonate with the general public. She even lands a spot on a television show, which is an awesome opportunity for her. That is, until they open the floor for questions and one of her bill collectors takes the mic.

All in all, this was a fun film. I was pleasantly surprised at that. To all the guys out there, this is a perfect date movie. It’s witty, funny and your ladies will enjoy it.

It opens this weekend, just in time for Valentines Day!

[Overall: 4 stars out of 5]

Review: ‘New In Town’

Ram Man:

‘New In Town” the new romantic comedy from Danish director Jonas Elmer. If this film was a recipe and Jonas was creating a great meal… he just gave everyone food poisoning by including Renee Zellwegger in the dish. Renee still doesn’t realize she isn’t funny and in ‘New In Town’ she has slimmed down so much she resembles a human bobble-head. I guess the next fateful “ingredient”   would be Harry Connick Jr. That is the team to get me out to the theater… NOT!

Zellwegger plays Lucy Hill a Miami beach resident and executive for Food manufacturing company that sends her (kicking and screaming) to frigid Minnesota to restructure a processing plant to manufacture energy bars. The locals meet Lucy with an equally frigid welcome and began to wager on how long she will actually last in the great white north.   Lucy fist hurdle with the plant is winning over the Union rep (and love interest in the film) Ted Mitchell (Connick, Jr).

‘New InTown’ features all the usual fish-out-of-water humor you might imagine dropping someone from Florida in Minnesota in November. Lucy even gets her car stuck in a snow drift and is forced to raise her red nightie as a distress flag. Thankfully we never see her in it or the crowd would be distressed. Connick’s character of Ted Mitchell is the same guy he played in Hope Floats, backwards country guy going to tame the city-slicker. The bright spot of the film that makes it viewable is the townspeople. The people in Minnesota lead by the great character actor J.K. Simmons as the plant foreman, who constantly mess with Lucy until she ends up firing him. Talk about wrongful termination!

Ads are saying ‘New In Town’ is the first really good comedy of 2009…I guess those folks missed Paul Blart:Mall Cop. ‘New In Town’ has a few laughs and is a valid reason to make a trip to the video store. But the is nothing “new” about ‘New In Town’ to make you throw down $10+ to see it at the cinema.

[Overall: 1.75 stars out of 5]

Jeremy:

Renee Zellweger is not an actress who is easy to hate. Her cherub-like facial features give off a radiance that could melt even the most frigid, wintry locale. However, with ‘New in Town’, we are supposed to hate her. Okay, maybe “hate† is a strong word. We aren’t supposed to care much for her in the early parts of the film. It’s only late in the game, when the woman’s heart begins to turn from cold to luke-warm, that we are allowed to look upon her with any kind of acceptance. Unfortunately, by that point, we’re already so involved in not liking her that not even Ms. Zellweger’s squinty eyes dripping tears can win us back.

Zellweger plays Lucy Hill, a big-city consultant who is sent to a small town in Minnesota by her corporate bosses. She is sent to oversee the restructuring of a food-manufacturing plant, and, if necessary, trim the fat of the employee list. It’s a thankless job, and Lucy isn’t exactly welcomed with opened arms. The only one who seems to enjoy her presence in the town is Blanche Gunderson, played by Siobhan Fallon Hogan.

Among those who aren’t exactly thrilled to have Lucy in town are Stu Kopenhafer (J.K. Simmons), the plant supervisor, and Ted Mitchell (Harry Connick Jr.), the union rep. Ted, rustic and unshaven as he is, is the hottest guy in town, so, naturally, Lucy will eventually fall head-over-heels in love with the guy.

The film, directed by first-time feature director Jonas Elmer, doesn’t exactly have anything new to say. There’s a nice correlation between the literal thawing of the town as it goes from winter to spring and the thawing of Lucy’s emotions towards the town. Like any good city-slicker-in-a-small-town comedy, Lucy turns from a fish out of water to a local yokel in no time. However, without much substance behind her character or much of the town itself, any naturalistic sense of the story is completely squandered. Eastwood’s character transformation in ‘Gran Torino’ was more believable than this, and that’s saying something.

There are a few moments of genuine comedy. Whether you like her character or not, there’s no denying Zellweger’s ability to perform physical comedy. In fact, she probably does so better than any other leading lady out there. One scene involving a hunting outfit and a broken zipper is quite hilarious.

However, the film takes so much time in presenting Lucy as an unlikable, corporate shill that, by the time she falls for Ted, we don’t care any more. We just want her to leave town, with or without the factory intact.

There are numerous things that could have made the story or the characters involved more interesting. This kind of paint-by-numbers storytelling isn’t even interesting enough to bash on any more. Once you realize how modular everything is going to play out, the film becomes dull almost to the point of mind-numbing. Lucy’s character becomes headache-inducing, and the filmmakers don’t even bother to remedy this. They just feel that if you throw a cute guy her way and film her falling in love, we’ll follow through right along with her. It doesn’t work that way.

Connick, Jr. and Simmons play their parts splendidly. Simmons has really come into his own these past few years, and it’s great to see his acceptance among the best character actors. However, it is Siobhan Fallon Hogan who gives, by far, the best performance in the film. She seems so sincere even if the direction involved seems to have been the director plopping her in front of a showing of ‘Fargo’ and saying, “Here. Imitate that.† At times, her character even lets us like Lucy’s character a little bit more. It’s a character as likable as Lucy is not, but Hogan still pulls off a masterful job at acting it out.

There is nothing new to be found in ‘New in Town’, a comedy that is, for the most part, completely void of veritable humor. It’s standard, romantic comedy filmmaking that, given the characters and the setting, could have been so much more. From concept to execution, it all comes off as flat and unflinchingly convention. Soap operas aren’t this formulaic.

[overall: 2.25 stars out of 5]

Review: ‘Bride Wars’

Travis:

‘Bride Wars’ is essentially a romantic comedy chick flick that revolves around the rituals of the wedding. Surprisingly, the first half of the film is very entertaining. Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson actually work well together and the comedy benefits from good-timing and a strong chemistry between the two actresses. It’s not until after the first half, when the more “dramatic” leg of the story kicks in, that I lost interest and found myself yawning and going “ah, geez… how sappy?”

Emma (Hathaway) and Liv (Hudson) are two best friends since childhood who dream of having June weddings at The Plaza. Their whole lives are been molded by this desire and when the ring is finally presented it’s like a dream come true. The problem, however, is that this occurs for both friends and when they try and book the plaza, a mistake is made and both weddings are scheduled for the same day. This is where the comedy really begins and, while it’s not all that original, is entertaining.

Candice Bergen plays Marion St. Claire, the most-famous and highly sought-after wedding planner in New York. Emma and Liv both idolize her and hire her to plan their weddings. It’s also a booking error by Marion’s secretary that causes the entire comedic war of the weddings in the first place. Bergen’s performance is basically textbook typical and just feels like Murphy Brown changed careers. Again, the comedy is enjoyable, but unless you’re into highly-predictable, fairy tale come true endings and sappy stories of romance and friendship, you may want to just wait for this on DVD.

[Overall: 2.75 stars out of 5]

Jeremy:

Sometimes a film takes the best elements out of the conventional Hollywood style of filmmaking and turns out rather entertaining. These films, though completely shaded over by the ridiculous escapism found in the movie industry, make for a fun time even if they are faker than Rolex watch found on a New York street corner. Take ‘Bride Wars’, for example. It’s conventional. It’s nothing we haven’t seen a hundred times before. There’s no deep-seeded message that is to be gained from it. If anything, it probably does more harm than good to the wedding-obsessed culture. However, it’s a fun film that offers up some unpredictable laughs and genuine performances.

Kate Hudson plays Liv. Anne Hathaway plays Emma. Childhood friends, they grow up promising each other that they would always be there for one another and promising themselves that they would have the most perfect wedding ever put on display. Leave it up to film logic and some nicely placed deus ex machina to put their two weddings on the exact same day. Before you know it, these two lifelong gal pals are at each other’s throat, sabotaging one another’s “most perfect day† with ruthless abandon.

‘Bride Wars’ was directed by Gary Winick, who made a name for himself with the 2002, indie film ‘Tadpole’. He’s come a long way. ‘Tadpole’ was a no frills comedy that was filmed on a shoestring budget and looked exactly like it was. Now that he has a budget behind him, Winick is able to put a little style into filmmaking techniques.

‘Bride Wars’ is injected with style. It has to be. Any film that glorifies the act of getting married as much as this has to be chic infused to the brim. Women filmgoers all over the world will swoon over the Vera Wang wedding dress and the Tiffany’s engagement ring. This isn’t the movie to take your wife-to-be to if you’re wanting a quiet, little ceremony.

The screenplay, though it follows most of the trappings of traditional Hollywood films, allows itself just enough variances on the typical comedy to feel somewhat fresh. When you get more than two screenwriters credited on a film, it tends to feel patch worked between all the different drafts the script goes through. ‘Bride Wars’ was written by five, different screenwriters, but it feels cohesive enough to not throw you from one scene to the next.

You understand full well why Liv and Emma are going at each other as hard as they do. There are never character choices that feel forced or wholly unrealistic.

There are some legitimate surprises in the film, as well. Going into it, you may think you know how it is going to end, and there was definitely a sappy, Hollywood ending the film could have fallen into very easily. It doesn’t allow itself to do that, and the way it does end is refreshing.

Hathaway and Hudson work really well together. Hathaway, in particular, does a great job with the character she’s given. She has a way of transforming her appearance drastically and this skill is necessary for her Emma’s alterations throughout the film. Hudson is decent enough in her part, but you clearly see who the real actress is when she’s butting heads with her on-screen counterpart.

The secondary cast is pretty forgettable save for Kristen Johnston who seems to be channeling Kathleen Turner and not in a good way. John Pankow returns from the 80s land of the lost actors, but his hairline has always been a better actor than he is.

‘Bride Wars’ is better than it deserves to be. It will be a riot for those among you who fit into its target demographic. Women are going to eat this film up, but the men they drag along shouldn’t get too discouraged. It is conventional, but it’s also reasonably entertaining. It offers a lot of laughs, most of which are genuine or witty, and, when all is said and done, that’s about as much as you can hope for from a film of this nature.

[Overall: 3.5 stars out of 5]

Ram Man:

I actually like a good “Chick Flick”. My manhood has been previously questioned in previous reviews I have posted on this site (Mama Mia, Sisterhood 2, Sex & the City). So I was curious when i went to check out Gary Winick’s (13 going on 30) new comedy ‘Bride Wars’. Winick produced one of my favorite films ‘Pieces of April’ (2003), so I had high expectations going into this 90 minutes of comedic bridal bliss.

Oh, did I mention, Kate Hudson is in this. She is on a losing streak that would rival the NFL’s Detroit Lions. I’m beginning to wonder if someone switched the kids at birth. Goldie (Hawn) was cute and hilarious….Kate is pretty but not so funny. I can tolerate ‘How to Lose a Guy’ but her last great film was 9 years ago! (Almost Famous) Luckily Ann Hathaway is co-starring and is strong enough as an actress and funny enough to carry the film.

‘Bride Wars’ is another we have to wreck the wedding comedy. Only this time it’s the Brides doing all of the damage. Two best friends, Emma (Hathaway) and Liv (Hudson), joined at the hip for 20 years. These girls do everything together. So their dream……to get married at the Plaza hotel in New York City in June. Emma gets engaged and Liv follows suit less than a week later. So the girls head down to meet with “Oprah” of wedding planners Marion St. Clair (Murphy Brown herself Candice Bergen). She handles all the weddings at the Plaza Hotel. Did I mention she doesn’t handle personally. Following a clerical error by St. Clair’s (former) assistant, Emma and Liv’s weddings are scheduled for the exact same day!

This just won’t do! You see they are also each other’s bridesmaids so unless they can be in two places at once,,,someone has to switch their date. The next June wedding at the plaza is available in 3 years. Hello…Vegas is open 24/7 and there are chapels in every hotel! (Remember I’m a guy!) With this bad news, neither one is about to switch their date.

“DING” DING” Let the battles begin! Liv and Emma begin their mission to wreck the other brides wedding. You have Emma with her spray-on tan resembling a traffic cone (orange) after Liv switch the color in the booth. Emma then changed the hair coloring for Liv, who ended up looking like smurfette. You have many other attacks and counter attack by both brides until you feel sorry for the grooms (Chris Pratt,Steve Howey). There is also an uninspiring performance from normally hilarious Kristen Johnson (3rd Rock) as Deb, Emma’s overbearing teaching buddy who is drafted in to the war as Emma’s bridesmaid. Liv promotes her assistant at the law firm where she works to be her bridesmaid. Oh… by the way, his name is Kevin (Michael Arden). (This was just done with P. Dempsey last year in Maid of Honor)

This film is targeting a female audience between the ages of 15-35. If that is you…you will enjoy this film! If your like me, looking for a good comedy to start off 2009 wait for this to hit the DVD shelves. Guy’s if it is date night…see the movie first and catch a matinee of ‘Bride Wars’ and get dinner after. There are enough laughs from Hathaway and during the war to get you through it. I may be a bit harsh to start off 2009 with ‘Bride Wars’, i did enjoy the first half of the film. But, as in too many comedies put out these days, the writers seem to be going stong in the begining of the film and it’s like a buzzer goes of and they just end it. This causes the film to come to a screeching hault in the end. This is true with ‘Bide Wars’ also. I won’t give up the end but you will know it by the midpoint in the film.

[Overall: 2.5 stars out of 5]

Review: ‘The Women’

Quinn:

As a chick flick lover, I was so excited about this star-studded movie.   If y, Candace bergenou are a fan of Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bette Midler, or Candice Bergen this might be a movie you would enjoy.

As the main character, it was awesome to see Meg Ryan in a leading role again, I feel like she has been gone for way too long. I have a deep love for Debra Messing and her laugh out loud personality that she portrays on screen and I was not disappointed by this performance. Candice Bergen, oh Murphy Brown†¦ played the role of Meg Ryan’s mother and did a great job guiding her and giving her advice.

I laughed and cried. The movie made me thankful for my girlfriends and mom.   Things get difficult at times but everyone is always looking out for you even if they do not go about it the right way.   There was not a male role in this movie; men were just topics that were discussed in many forms.

[rating:4/5]

Chick Flick from the Past: ‘Brief Encounter’ (1945)

Brief Encounter

Director: David Lean

Writer: Based on the play “Still Life† by Noel Coward

Cast: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, and Joyce Carey.

Run time: 86 minutes (black and white)

Rating: None

Awards: Nominated for 3 Oscars, won Grand Prize at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival

DVD features: Audio commentary from film historian Bruce Eder, original trailer (which I found quite amusing).

Plot: Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson) is a lonely housewife who makes weekly trips to town every Thursday. During these trips Laura shops and usually catches a matinee at the local theater before taking the train home. One particular Thursday, Laura is standing by the train tracks and an express train speeds by causing dirt to fly into her eye. Laura walks into the train station’s cafà © to ask for some water to help clean her eye. Dr. Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard) hears of Laura’s distress and offers to help thus marks the beginning of an ill-fated love affair. Continue reading Chick Flick from the Past: ‘Brief Encounter’ (1945)