GRAN TORINO

MY VIEW:
Once again Clint Eastwood makes a great movie! The acting was well done. Clint Eastwood is still Clint Eastwood. This movie made me laugh and watch how he built a relationship with his neighbors, which ended up better than the relationship he had with his family. This was a great movie...go see it!!

SYNOPSIS:
Clint Eastwood stars as Walt Kowalski, a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Michigan neighborhood and the world around him. Kowalski is a grumpy, tough-minded, unhappy an old man, who can't get along with either his kids or his neighbors, a Korean War veteran whose prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in mint condition. When his neighbor Tao, a young Hmong teenager under pressure from his gang member cousin, tries to steal his Gran Torino, Kowalski sets out to reform the youth. Drawn against his will into the life of Tao's family, Kowalski is soon taking steps to protect them from the gangs that infest their neighborhood.

TULSA

A great movie to have seen! A fiesty red head named Cherokee Lansing seeks revenge for her father's death. His cattle was killed when the Tanner Oil Co. was drilling for oil in a nearby field and oil leaked into the stream where Lansings cattle drank from and some of his cattle died. Lansing went to speak to Tanner Oil and was killed. Cherokee Lansing ended up drilling her own wells and which ended up in her seeking power and wealth. This film was done in 1949. Starring in it was Susan Hayward, Chill Wills, Lloyd Gough and Robert Preston along with many others who made this a great old time flick!

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTONS

SYNOPSIS:

"I was born under unusual circumstances." And so begins 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,' adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918 to the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man's life can be. Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett with Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas and Julia Ormond, Benjamin Button is a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.

MY VIEW:
I would give this movie a 9 also!! Brad Pitt was perfect! This movie was also emotional for me. Then again I'm a crybaby at movies sometimes. This is one I will be buying the DVD for when it becomes available. I say go see it...you won't be sorry you did!
Brad Pitt once again pairs up with Tilda Swinton. I saw then together in the movie "Burn after Reading" which I didn't care much for after they killed Brad Pitts Character, I thought that movie went downhill after that.

7 POUNDS

SYNOPSIS:
An IRS agent with a fateful secret embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.

MY VIEW:
I gave this movie a 9!! it was so wonderfully done!! Will Smith once again at his best! I enjoyed his acting as well as the story he told. This movie will surprise you. don't try to figure it out...just watch it!! It was great. I laughed and cried my emotions were touched. I would definately recommend this movie!!

TWILIGHT

SYNOPSIS:

Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) has always been a bit different, never caring about or fitting in with the trendy girls at her Phoenix, Arizona high school. When her mother Renee (Sarah Clarke) remarries and decides to move with her new husband to Florida, and Bella decides to go live with her father, Charlie (Billy Burke), in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she doesn't expect anything to change. Then she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a boy unlike any she's ever met. Intelligent and witty, his piercing eyes see straight into her soul. Soon, Bella and Edward are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance. Edward can run faster than any cheetah, he can stop a moving car with his bare hands, and he hasn't aged since 1918. Most importantly, he's a vampire. Like all vampires, he's immortal. He doesn't drink human blood (they're vampire "vegetarians"), which is rare among the vampire population. Instead, they go on regular "hiking" trips, where they feed on prey such as grizzly bears and mountain lions. For Edward, Bella is the thing he has waited ninety years for - a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. And what will they do when James (Cam Gigandet), Laurent (Edi Gathegi), and Victoria (Rachel Lefevre) come into town and James sets his sights on Bella? Will true love prevail when Edward is forced to save her life and conquer his thirst? The true question is, When you can live forever, what do you live for?

MY VIEW: OH WOW!! I'm hooked on Twilight Series. I loved the books and I loved this movie. It was so well done!! Directed to the youth, but loved by big girls too. I liked that the movie was morally clean however it kept my intest with just enough romance and seductiveness. I say Yes to this one! Also the guy who plays Edward (Rob Pattinson) was born on my birthday, May 13th! (well he was born in 1986) He is a very good pianist and wrote a song and played it on the piano in the movie.

SECRET LIFE OF BEES

SYNOPSIS:

The Secret Life of Bees i set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by the intelligent and independent Boatwright sisters, Lily finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping.

MY VIEW: I really enjoyed this movie. We had read it earlier in our book club. Queen Latifa plays her role very well. I am impressed at how Dakota Fanning has grown in her acting abilities and just physically she has grown in young woman.

FLASH OF GENIUS

MY VIEW:
This was a well done movie! The actors played their parts well. Greg Kinnear was great in his role as was Lauren Graham. It was a true story. I found it to be a bit sad in the courts outcome in the end for the Kearns family. But he got what he ultimately wanted...the recognition that Ford was in the wrong. In August 2008 I went to the Benjamin Franklin Museum in Philadelphia, PA and saw his actual invention on display in the museum along with his story. I would give this movie a B++. Go see it...it was very good.
SYNOPSIS:
Based on the true story of college professor and part-time inventor Robert Kearns' (Greg Kinnear) long battle with the U.S. automobile industry, Flash of Genius tells the tale of one man whose fight to receive recognition for his ingenuity would come at a heavy price. But this determined engineer refused to be silenced, and he took on the corporate titans in a battle that nobody thought he could win. The Kearns were a typical 1960s Detroit family, trying to live their version of the American Dream. Local university professor Bob married teacher Phyllis (Lauren Graham) and, by their mid-thirties, had six kids who brought them a hectic but satisfying Midwestern existence. When Bob invents a device that would eventually be used by every car in the world, the Kearns think they have struck gold. But their aspirations are dashed after the auto giants who embraced Bob's creation unceremoniously shunned the man who invented it. Ignored, threatened and then buried in years of litigation, Bob is haunted by what was done to his family and their future. He becomes a man obsessed with justice and the conviction that his life's work-or for that matter, anyone's work-be acknowledged by those who stood to benefit. And while paying the toll for refusing to compromise his dignity, this everyday David will try the unthinkable: to bring Goliath to his knees.

NIGHTS IN RODANTHE

MY VIEW: OH MY GOODNESS!!! I say YES to this movie!!

Go see it!! it was very well done, not to mention it was at the beach...one of my favorite places to be!! Richard Gere and Diane Lane were perfectly casted and acted outstandingly!!

Great cinematography...The beach is the place to go for healing in the body and the mind. These two were both there doing just that and ended up healing each other.

Makes you want to go stay at the Inn!

However Richard Gere will not be there, and the Inn really does not exist on the beach, as the person I went to movies with lived there and said there is no such place. This movie gets an A+ from me!!

SYNOPSIS:

In "Nights in Rodanthe," Oscar nominee Diane Lane stars as Adrienne Willis, a woman with her life in chaos, who retreats to the tiny coastal town of Rodanthe, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, to tend to a friend's inn for the weekend. Here she hopes to find the tranquility she so desperately needs to rethink the conflicts surrounding her -- a wayward husband who has asked to come home, and a teenaged daughter who resents her every decision. Almost as soon as Adrienne gets to Rodanthe, a major storm is forecast and a guest named Dr. Paul Flanner (Richard Gere) arrives. The only guest at the inn, Flanner is not on a weekend escape but rather is there to face his own crisis of conscience. Now, with the storm closing in, the two turn to each other for comfort and, in one magical weekend, set in motion a life-changing romance that will resonate throughout the rest of their lives.

BURN AFTER READING

MY VIEW:

OKAY....so here's what I thought of the movie...

Yes it was a dark comedy, that was pretty funny in alot of places. I thought Brad Pitt was the funniest and was excellent...and he along with George Clooney Frances McDormand, and Tilda Swinton all did a fantastic job of acting...as usual. I didn't care to much for John Malkovich's character. They felt it neccessary for him to constantly use the "F" word through out the movie...I hated it...not funny!! I also was dumbfounded at the way the movie ended. The ending made me sorry for even seeing the movie at all. Very stupid ending...again....not even funny!! There was absolutely no closer to the movie, it was like someone turning off the TV right before the movie ended and your upset because you didn't get to see HOW it ended...and you just sit there and go "Huh"? What was THAT all about??? Very Bad...very bad!!!

SYNOPSIS:

Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) is a CIA analyst who quits his job at the agency after being demoted ostensibly because of his drinking problem. He then decides to write a memoir about his life in the CIA. His wife, Katie Cox (Tilda Swinton), wants to divorce Osbourne and, at the counsel of her divorce lawyer, she copies many of his personal and financial files off his computer and onto an optical disc. Katie's lover is Treasury agent Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney). The disc eventually finds its way to Hardbodies, a workout gym. An employee of the gym, Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) obtains the disc from the gym's custodian and ascertains that it contains classified government information. Along with his fellow employee Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand), he intends to use the disk to blackmail Osbourne - Linda needs the money to pay for cosmetic surgery. They call up Cox in the middle of the night, but he is not receptive. When blackmailing him fails, Linda decides to take the information to the Russian embassy. At the embassy, she hands the disk over to the Russians, promising that she will give more information afterwards. Because Linda and Chad don't have any more information, they decide to break into Cox's house.

MAMMA MIA!

MY VIEW:

I LOVED THIS MOVIE!!! I took all the females in my family and we had a "girl day" !!! It was wonderful to see how crazy we all still are. Luckily, we were just about the only ones in the theater as all the girls started singing out loud with the movie!! FUN!!

SYNOPSIS:

20 year old Sophie (Seyfried) is preparing to marry her boyfriend Sky (Cooper) at her mother's hotel on an island in Greece. She seemingly has it all -- a carefree life, a loving fiance, and happy friends -- but one thing has been missing all her life: a father.Her only wish now is to be given away by her dad at her wedding. By reading her mother's diary she discovers that she has three possible fathers. Sophie then secretly invites all three men to the wedding in a desperate bid to discover which of them is her father before the wedding bells start to chime!But not all goes according to plan: old loves are re-kindled, new loves are formed, and Sophie risks everything to discover the true identity of her father.Featuring the songs of ABBA, and based on the world's number one musical comedy which has people dancing in the aisles every night, this movie is sure to be the hit of Summer 2008!

THE DARK KNIGHT

MY VIEW:

WOW!! this was the BEST of all the BATMAN movies I've seen!! I would have never guessed that Heath Ledger played the Joker...Job Well done!!

SYNOPSIS:

Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker.

SPACE CHIMPS

MY VIEW:
I took the grankids to see this movie. They enjoyed watching it and laughed. Only the 2 year old thought it was too long and she wanted to go home. haha!! I thought Pixar did a good job in making the movie entertaining for the kids. Cute movie!


SYNOPSIS:

Three NASA chimps are sent to a galaxy far, far away. Two have 'The Right Stuff,' and the other, a good natured goofball, has 'The Wrong Stuff.' They find themselves on a strange, uncharted planet, where they embark on a fantastical journey to save its inhabitants from a tyrannical leader.

HANCOCK

MY VIEW:

Well...once again the critics were wrong about this one too. I thought it was a good movie! I laughed all through the movie.

Will Smith had some great one liners. Great acting and great photography, Pretty good Movie actually! There were a few scenes in the movie that a little corny looking but over all...I would see it again!

SYNOPSIS:

There are heroes... there are superheroes... and then there's Hancock. With great power comes great responsibility -- everyone knows that -- everyone, that is, but Hancock. Edgy, conflicted, sarcastic, and misunderstood, Hancock's well-intentioned heroics might get the job done and save countless lives, but always seem to leave jaw-dropping damage in their wake. The public has finally had enough -- as grateful as they are to have their local hero, the good citizens of Los Angeles are wondering what they ever did to deserve this guy. Hancock isn't the kind of man who cares what other people think -- until the day that he saves the life of PR executive Ray Embrey, and the sardonic superhero begins to realize that he may have a vulnerable side after all. Facing that will be Hancock's greatest challenge yet -- and a task that may prove impossible as Ray's wife, Mary, insists that he's a lost cause.

LES MISERABLES

MY VIEW:

We went to the Walnut Street Theater to see this play. It was excellent! We saw it in NYC a few years ago and I loved it then also. The cast here in Philly was fantastic and did a wonderful job putting on quite a show.
SYNOPSIS:

This is the story of the peasant Jean Valjean—unjustly imprisoned, baffled by destiny, and hounded by his nemesis, the magnificently realized, ambiguously malevolent police detective Javert. As Valjean struggles to redeem his past, we are thrust into the teeming underworld of Paris with all its poverty, ignorance, and suffering. Just as cruel tyranny threatens to extinguish the last vestiges of hope, rebellion sweeps over the land like wildfire, igniting a vast struggle for the democratic ideal in France.

WALL - E

MY VIEW:

I took kids to see this movie and LOVED IT!! it was another Disney Special for the summer!! The kids really enjoyed it too. I kind of liked the idea of booking 5 year vacations without having to do ANYTHING!! EVERYTHING IS DONE FOR YOU!! Instead, I go watch it at the movies. Great flick for summer for the kids!!

SYNOPSIS:
What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off? After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL*E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL*E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, WALL*E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets an adventure into motion. Joining WALL*E on his journey across the universe is a cast of characters including a pet cockroach and a heroic team of malfunctioning misfit robots

KUNG FU PANDA

MY VIEW:

I went to see this with my grandson, Tayvon. It was a cute movie for the kids. Tay was ready to leave before it was over. He said it was just too long. Panda learned a good lesson but for the age group in the theater that I went to the kids were a bit to young to see the lesson learned by Panda. It was entertaining.

SYNOPSIS:

Po (Jack Black) is a panda who works in a noodle restaurant owned by his goose father Mr. Ping (James Hong). He is a kung fu fanatic with secret dreams of becoming a great master in the discipline, however his weight and clumsiness seem to make his goal unattainable; Mr. Ping hopes instead that Po will one day take over the restaurant.
The tortoise Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) has a premonition that the evil snow leopard warrior Tai Lung (Ian McShane), the former student of his own protégé, the red panda Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), will escape from prison and return to threaten the Valley of Peace. While Shifu sends Zeng (Dan Fogler), a messenger goose, to Chorh-Gom Prison to have the security increased, Oogway orders a formal ceremony to choose the mighty Dragon Warrior who can defeat Tai Lung. Everyone assumes that one of the Furious Five — Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Crane (David Cross) — a quintet of supremely skilled martial artists trained by Shifu, will be chosen for this honor.

SEX AND THE CITY

MY VIEW:

This was a good girlfriends movie. Take yours and leave the kids home...it's not for kids! I laughed at the funny ways the girls tried to work out issues. You can see relationships work out after trials. Loved the penthouse she got and all the clothes!! I loved the giant closet that was built for her too!! I want one like that!! penthouse attached would be nice...and the nice skinny body to fit in such fashions and shoes!!

SYNOPSIS:

After moving in together in an impossibly beautiful New York apartment, Carrie Bradshaw and Mr. Big make a rather arbitrary decision to get married. The wedding itself proves to be anything but a hasty affair--the guest list quickly blooms from 75 to 200 guests, and Carrie's simple, label-less wedding gown gives way to an enormous creation that makes her look like a gigantic cream puff. An upcoming photo spread in Vogue puts the event--which will take place at the New York Public Library--squarely in the public eye. Meanwhile, Carrie's girlfriends--Samantha, the sexpot; Charlotte, the sweet naïf; and Miranda, the rigid perfectionist--could not be happier.

A FAREWELL TO ARMS 1932

My View:

Another afternoon at the Silver Screen showing of "A Farewell to Arms" starring Gary Cooper (Fredrick)and Helen Hayes (Catherine) filmed in 1932. Although this movie was filmed in WWI times you have to remember this movie was a love story between Fredrick and Catherine. Well done too! I was the youngest one in the afternoon matinee. I love these old movies. I had read this book but never seen the movie so it was a treat for me! I enjoyed the movie. With these older movies it's kind of funny to see how the technology of filming a movie has come such a long way since they were made. The movie was entertaining, I got wrapped up in the story line but just know that the book by Ernest Hermingway tells more.

Synopsis:

Make no mistake, this is a love story, not a war movie. It is a love story set in the midst of World War I and it takes place in Italy and Switzerland. Not only do the images set the scene for this film but the actors make a love story unfold in the midst of the terrible taking place. Helen Hayes is a stand out in her role as the nurse from Great Britain. Gary Cooper has never been more handsome and charming as an American Ambulance driver. Their romance and struggle to be together are poignant and convincing. Gary Cooper has a marvelous friendship with a doctor played by Adolphe Menjou and some touching scenes with a priest portrayed by Jack Larue. Time has been kind to this movie which goes beyond era and place and develops its characters and story well enough so that they transcend the 1932 style of making films and the WWI setting to shine in a classic movie for any age. This movie was directed by Frank Bozarge and it won a well deserved Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

GET SMART

MY VIEW:

If you are old enough to remember the old TV show Get Smart, then you will enjoy this movie even more than if you hadn't seen the the original TV show. It was well done. There were some incredible stunt doubles that were great! I laughed throughout the entire movie. Anne Hathaway was perfect in her role. Dwayne Johnson always makes me laugh. It was a funny movie...go see it and have a good laugh!

SYNOPSIS:
When the headquarters of U.S. spy agency Control is attacked and the identities of its agents compromised, the Chief (Alan Arkin) has no choice but to promote his ever-eager analyst Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell), who has always dreamt of working in the field alongside stalwart superstar Agent 23 (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson). Smart is partnered instead with the only other agent whose identity has not been compromised: the lovely-but-lethal veteran Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway).

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

MY VIEW:

Many told me not to waste my money on this movie. Glad I didn't listen to them! If you are an INDY fan or have at least seen the last 3 Indy movies, I don't think you'll be bored with movie #4. There was plenty of action in the movie, some a bit unbelieveable but I mostly credit that to Spielbergs awesome imagination

Cate Blanchett: played her role very well. Indy didn't care for her to well as she was played the rold of a Soviet Villianess, trying to play "Mind Games" if you will with Indy to try and get him to do as she tells him. Thinking she could read Indy's mind and would be able to have control over him. Then soon they the Soviets could control the world. I found the movie entertaining. I laughed once again at the one liners that Indy throws about. The hat nor the whip were forgotten in this movie. It was true to Indy character but I could see in this movie that maybe Harrison Ford was growing a bit aged and doing all the stunts he used to do didn't happen much for him this movie. Well...reality is, HE IS AGING!! I think younger audiences will enjoy this movie who like stunts and action!! BUT watch out for those human eating ants in the AMAZON!!

"This episode may mark the end of the line for Mr. Ford in the title role even though he still performs stunts in a most impressive fashion. But young Shia Labeouf-- who shows up looking like the young Marlon Brando --appears ready to take over the franchise. And it was good to see Karen Allen again in her role as Indy's long lost girlfriend even though her part was definitely underwritten.
As for Spielberg himself, who knows? You'll notice echoes of many of his most famous movies in this one. But I doubt that's a sign that he's running out of creative energy". (by:Terry Hunter)

SYNOPSIS:

Famed archaeologist/adventurer Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones is called back into action when he becomes entangled in a Soviet plot to uncover the secret behind mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls.

Spielberg thought he was finished with the character when he had Indy ride off into the sunset eighteen years ago, but he says that all over the world, people kept asking him if he was going to make another Indiana Jones movie. With the prospect of making plenty of money and pleasing lots of people, he couldn't resist. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" cost about 185 million dollars to make, but it earned around 150 million during its first five days in theaters.