Coraline

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Rating:  A-

Premise:  Coraline Jones is ignored by her parents and is very bored at her new home.  She discovers a secret door in her living room that takes her to an “other” alternate life.  Things seems dreamy until her other mom gets a little needy.  Then it gets creepy.

I love this book.  It is creepy and scary but doesn’t back down like most children’s books.  The movie is a good adaptation of the book and really brings the characters and images to life almost exactly how  I imagined them.  There is this great sense of creepiness from frame 1.  The animation is fantastic and so seamless that I forgot it wasn’t computer animation but stop motion.  The story drags a little but overall I liked this a lot.  Got an A- for the quality of the animation.  I saw this in 2-D but may have to go find a 3-D showing.

Technorati Tags: Coraline,Neil Gaiman,Henry Selick,Dakota Fanning,Ian McShane,Teri Hatcher,Keith David

Lars & The Real Girl

Rating:  A

Premise:  Lars is a young man whose mother died in childbirth and never really knew what it was like to love or be loved.  He orders an “anatomically correct” doll named Bianca and falls in love with her.   The effect this has on his small town is extraordinary

Recommend: YES!  I was on the fence about seeing this one but the premise was so interesting that I added it to my queue.   This movie had me crying with its sweetness.  Ryan Gosling is outstanding.  You must see this.

Technorati Tags: Lars and the Real Girl, Ryan Gosling, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelly Garner, Nancy Oliver

Persepolis

Rating: A

Animated movie that depics the life of Marjane Satrapi's life from her childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution to her adulthood in Europe.

This is a beautiful movie.  A must-see.

Technorati Tags: Persepolis,Marjane Satrapi

The Jane Austen Book Club

Rating: A-

Five women and a guy with really bad relationship issues create a book club where they meet to discuss only Jane Austen books.  The relationship issues go away magically after the men become "Austenized".

I haven't read the book this is based off of but I have read most of the Jane Austen books.  (All but Northhanger Abbey - just haven't gotten around to it).  I thought it was entertaining and a definite chick movie.  The guy in the book club, Grigg, is adorable.

Technorati Tags: Jane Austen Book Club, Maria Bello, Emily Blunt, Amy Brenneman, Maggie Grace, Kathy Baker, Hugh Dancy

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Rating: A-/B+

Prisoner fakes insanity in order to spend time in a mental institution instead of a work house.  He should have stayed at the work house.

I thought this movie was fantastic.  I only gave it an A-/B+ because I don't need to own it.  The cast was superb and now I know what people mean when they say "Nurse Ratched".  She was infuriating.  Can't believe how many of today's stars are in this movie.  Just wonderful.

Technorati Tags: One flew over the cuckoo's nest, Jack Nicholsen, Danny DeVito, Nurse Ratched, Louise Fletcher, Brad Dourif

27 Dresses

Rating: A-

Jane is always a bridesmaid and never the bride.  She has to play the ultimate bridesmaid when her sister becomes engaged suddenly to the man Jane's been in love with for years.

I read the so-so reviews - that it was good but nothing great.  So I went in with no expectation other than to be entertained for two hours.  The reviews are wrong.  This is a really FUN movie.  James Marsden and Katherine Heigl are great.  I'm totally in love with James Marsden now. The entire audience was laughing out loud.  This is a must-own for me.   Oh, there were about 3 guys in a theater of about 60 women.  Don't know how the guys liked it but if you are one and want to score points with your lady - take her to see this.

Technorati Tags: 27 Dresses, Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Judy Greer, Ed Burns, Malin Akerman

Miss Potter

Rating: A-

This is a biography of Beatrix Potter as a woman about to publish her Peter Rabbit books and of the struggles she has being a famous woman in strict society England.  This is very character driven and "talky".  I thought it was wonderful - especially Ewan McGregor and Emily Watson.  Renee Zellweger was good - but her face seemed really puffy and red.  I know that that shouldn't make a difference but it was distracting.

Technorati Tags: Miss Potter, Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson, Renee Zellweger

His Girl Friday

Rating:  A-

The ex-wife/newspaper reporter of a newspaper editor shows up one day and announces she is getting married the next day and settling down in upstate New York.  The editor knows too well that she won't be happy so he gets her to get involved in a hot story in order to bust up the wedding.  It ends up working.

This is a fantastic example of GREAT dialogue.  It is sharp and fast-paced and pulled off by the acting talents of Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell.

Technorati Tags: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell

The Holiday

Grade: A-

Premise: Two disgruntled with love women exchange homes (one in London and one in LA) for two weeks during Christmas.

Recommend?:Yes! This is actually a "must buy" for me. This movie is total fluff but it was very sweet. Total Chick Movie. I must say that I'm iffy about the main cast except for Kate Winslet, but I ended up liking them all.

The Holiday Kate Winslet
Cameron Diaz
Jack Black
Jude Law

The English Patient

Grade: A-

Premise: A burned guy tells the story of his true love through flashbacks.

I resisted this movie when it came out and after it won all it's academy awards...Mostly due to that Seinfeld episode where Elaine just hates it and is forced to watch by J. Peterman...(hysterical! Love Seinfeld) However, I learned a month or so ago that Colin Firth is in it. So it had to be watched. It is a bit long but not boring at all... I'm giving it an A- because it deserves to be purchased but there's hardly any 3 hour movies that I need to watch more than once besides the Sound of Music and any of the Lord of the Rings. Watch out though...it's V E R Y S L O W...