dblcap-1 Reviews

The Last Lions (2011)

One of the best wildlife documentaries to date

[8/10 · 12 February 2011]

I was one of the fortunate few who were introduced today to this cinematic dreamscape of Botswana and the incredible life of one brave lioness. The premiere in Houston, TX was presented by National Geographic and the audience was also treated to a Q&A session with the actual film makers -- Dereck and Beverly Joubert. Quite an honor and special event offered to the contributors of the Big Cats initiative where the donations help dedicated researchers and animal conservationists find solutions to the grave threats facing lions, tigers, leopards, and other big cats.

This documentary provided scenes of survival that even this Big Cat Diary watcher has never witnessed. Amazing truths of the brutal life in the wild that these creatures face every day in Africa. Incredible scenes of the adaptation of the kings and queens of the jungle and their unwavering dedication to the protection of their young.

The musical score and cinematography, together with the slightly subdued drama beautifully presented by Jeremy Irons made this a truly riveting experience that I will never forget and, for which I am proud to be a continued supporter.

This is a must see for animal lovers.

Zerophilia (2005)

Charming from beginning to end!

[10/10 · 25 October 2010]

Its a wonderful and crazy idea for a story line -- I'm almost ashamed I didn't think of this myself when I was in eighth grade biology! The movie offers a great soundtrack and the writing weaves in every possible cliché masterfully! Also, the clever references to frogs were subtly disbursed throughout. Very funny, provocative, sensitive and truly relatable. A complete success for fist time writer and director Martin Curland. I hope to see more from him.

The acting can be a little amateur at times, but who cares -- they're all so damn hot! There's no bitching and whining from this cast of characters -- just a healthy dose of examples of true friendship, support and understanding that is offered during a crisis. We can all use more of that!

Definitely watch this one and enjoy!

Rachel Getting Married (2008)

Tacky Wedding & Bad Writing

[1/10 · 23 October 2010]

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen! I wouldn't hang out with any of these characters! The writing was so full of holes that you really didn't get any depth to any of them.

I must have missed the part that explains what Rachel's husband or father do for a living, but they're both great at loading a dishwasher! That scene should have been deleted and cut down to setting the table and finding a plate with the dead kid's name on it. This was so ridiculous that I couldn't find an ounce of sympathy for anyone at this point!

How about Rachel's mother's new man -- husband? boyfriend? PA? I also must have missed the part where he was introduced -- he didn't even have a line! He just stood there like filler!

Kym's family was so enabling -- she never had a chance at recovery due to her own self-righteous attitude and how they coddled her. I waited the entire movie for her suicide -- the car accident was an anti-climactic disappointment because she survived and then had her sister bathe her on her wedding day! If I was her sister, I would have either killed or disowned her long ago, let alone asked my best friend to 'step down' so she could have the undeserved privilege of being Maid of Honor after being released early from jail/rehab. This was over the top -- who cares if blood is thicker than water -- it stains!

They could have cut out at least seven of the boring, stupid speeches from the rehearsal dinner and we still would have gotten the point of how selfish Kym is by her ill-timed and self-centered speech. Duh! After she screwed the Best Man within minutes of meeting him -- about 3 months away from where AA even lets you have a relationship -- this woman just takes, takes, takes with no end in sight! Shameful!

I'm still trying to figure out which drugs the writer was on -- who cares who her father and grandmother were! This movie was produced to solely give these people a paycheck. What a flop! Also, the music was just plain annoying -- if I had gone to a tacky wedding like that, I would have either cut out early or, better yet, just RSVP'd NO with a check to avoid the pain and suffering for 2+ hours.

Don't bother watching it! It'll suck you in like watching a train wreck!

The Holiday (2006)

Dual Sides Means One Loses

[8/10 · 1 May 2010]

From the beginning, this movie had me -- Kate Winslet is adorable as Iris -- the love-forlorn, hopeless romantic! Her side of the movie wins hands down! For many reasons -- the fabulous Eli Wallach, who plays her new California neighbor and Jack Black, who shines as her new love interest.

I usually would side with any part of a movie that has Jude Law, but the sleazy relationship start-up with Cameron Diaz is out of character (no pun intended) for both of them! Diaz' character Amanda is about as over-the-top, over-acted and unbelievable as they come. I've seen this movie dozens of times and still can't believe somebody exists on this planet that is such a needy, dumb ass as Amanda, who can be as successful as the writers have created her to be. What were these writers thinking? Fairy tales? Pathetic!

Back to the good part of the movie -- Ms. Winslet is a joy to watch -- she brings realism to a character that is sorrowfully tangled in the worst of relationships -- unrequited love! Her character is a brilliant writer who makes every effort to move forward while trying to forget the selfish man that has stolen the last three years of her life, played brilliantly by the handsome Rufus Sewell.

The connection between the two stories, via house-swapping is believable, but the story as a whole is lopsided. The story of Iris is rather fulfilling, but the story of Amanda has so many holes -- the only blessing is the reference to the "Three Musketeers", which is thin at best, but sweet.

Great holiday, romantic movie for people to watch... but I'm not sure it will stand the test of time in comparison to The Bishop's Wife! I will continue to watch The Holiday though -- no matter what the season! I loved it! :D

Julie & Julia (2009)

Likes & Dislikes

[8/10 · 20 April 2010]

I'm a sucker for period pieces, so the entire Julia Child side of the movie and the fact that it takes place in Europe is the selling feature for me. I have been watching Julia Child cook on TV for as long as I can remember. Her bio is intriguing and, while watching the movie, you tend to forget that it is actually Meryl Streep acting and not the real thing! Ms. Streep carries this movie -- there is no doubt about it! She has the accent and mannerisms of Ms. Child down pat! :D Stanley Tucci is fabulous as Paul Child also! :D

On the opposite end, the Julie Powell side of the movie touches my heart from the 9-11 point of view, as I was working in Manhattan at that time and I am well aware of the thought processes of most of the citizens during that time. Finding themselves, searching for meaning -- re-births galore! Her blog/challenge is totally understandable as it was also the height of the internet and the DOT com companies.

I have watched this movie at least 20 times and the one major thing that I cannot stand is the character of Eric Powell -- not to be confused with the wonderful actor, Chris Messina, who portrayed him. The director/writers are to blame for his over-the-top character flaws, which Chris portrayed brilliantly! Almost too much so. What were they thinking? Why didn't the director pull him back? Being a female, she must have a dozen ankle biters, Hell's Angels biker gang, pygmies, cannibals, acid metal rock groups, hyenas and toothless hillbillies in her home at any given time because she is obviously not offended by an adult male inhaling food like a caveman and talking with his mouth full! I find this extremely disgusting, probably because Chris acts the part over the top with his gulping, yumming, groaning and mumbling with every mouthfull. He actually has the perfect lips/mouth to do it -- perfect vaccuum shaped! He could sweep a pie-eating contest hands down! LOL

Also, they cruelly made this guy out to be extremely insensitive and self-centered -- I certainly hope the real-life Eric is not that way! The scene when they just moved into their apt and Julie is unpacking the kitchen and he is batting socks with a tennis racket -- was this for real? He immediately joined the ranks of useless men worldwide.

One of the most important scenes -- when Julie's distinguished dinner guest cancelled -- Eric was heartless -- right after they discussed the possibility of a $100,000 advance for a possible publishing! That is some serious bucks and all he cared about was 'more stew for us' while he continued to stuff his pie hole before leaving her! Not to mention the guest alone was a huge honor for this epic task and long-distance time-travelling relationship that Julie took on with Julia! This extremely important dinner plan falling apart -- especially after burning the dinner the night before and Julie having to call in sick to try to make it work a second time was a HUGE setback! If Eric was a supportive husband there should have been an immediate Plan B to pack up the meal, hail a cab, and take everything to Judith Jones for the interview! Even if it wasn't true, they could have made Eric out to be a better man than that! If it was true -- I would have divorced his sorry ass! LOL

They did give Eric some credit at the end when he was consoling Julie after she heard from an interviewer of Julia Child on her birthday that she was not too impressed with Julie's blog. I have to give them kudos on that scene! He was written very sweet at that point -- no food in his mouth either! LOL

Finally, a year of hard work, sacrifice and revelation ends with a pilgrimage to the Smithsonian Museum in DC to see the Julia Child kitchen. But the characters only breezed through the exhibit in less than 2 minutes and, although Julie presented a pound of butter, she didn't even sign the Guest Book!

This would have been a great time to go over some interesting details of Julia Child's life rather than just a single sentence at the end of the movie. The fact that they dared to end the movie with the line "her's was made into a movie" -- making it seem like Julie Powell's life/book was more significant than Julia Child's, is just plain annoying! Talk about disrespectful! Get over yourself, Julie!

I enjoy this movie for the bio of Julia Child, the romance of Europe, the joy of cooking (no pun intended), the remembrance of 9-11, and the love and respect of great acting by Meryl Streep!

Without criticizing the actors, Amy Adams and Chris Messina, I'm not too impressed with the Powells, whether the details of their stroy is true or not!