Calamity Jane (1953)

Doris Day was beyond talented.  In this 1953 musical she sings, dances and acts her way into a star.  I've seen her in a few other films but this one showcases her chrisma.  A fairy tale take of the Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickcock legend, it's a complete fiction but a wonderfully entertaining one that had me smiling the whole time.  The music is fun and the lyrics are catchy.   A couple times Howard Keel's singing didn't match up with his lips but that could be from post-production.   This is a fine musical with a simple story that anyone who loves carefree musicals will enjoy.  Grade: B+

Please Give (2010)

This is the first film of Nicole Helenfcener's I've seen although I have watched episodes of television she directed.  I have to say I was impressed by her unique style and subtle way to move a story along but I was underwhelmed by this film's overall effect.   I'm not saying it's a bad film.  It's pretty good.  In fact I keep going back and forth on how good or great it is.  I liked the unusalness and bitchiness in each of the characters and I thought the dialogue was smart and memorable.  The problem really is the story which kind of goes nowhere.  I mean it meanders around and things happen but there are no real results to cap it all off.   Maybe this is good modern film making.  Maybe it's too lowbrow to want a bold climax at the end.   Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt play husband and wife who buy dead people's furniture and sell it for a profit in their store.  They own two apartments and are waiting for the old lady living in on of them to die so they can remodel and expand their house.   They encounter the old lady's grand daughters and comedy and awkward tension ensue.   Except I don't want to oversell the comedy, it is funny, it's just not laugh out loud funny.  Wit without the guffaw.  I'm going have to check out Helenfcener's earlier works to see how she has developed but I like what I saw.  Grade: B+.  

You Have Killed Me (Comic book) by Jamie S. Rich & Joelle Jones

Meant to read like watching a film noir from the nineteen forties, this stand alone story is entertaining but pretty typical of the genre.  Some good dialogue helps keep a pretty average story moving along.  The artwork is pretty fun, but none of the imagery sticks out or impresses.  I wanted to like it more than I did.  Grade: B.

Another Year (2010)

Mike Leigh makes movies for actors and those who love to watch actors live on screen.   Plot is a minor concern, not that there isn't a plot here it's just that the character work is the real selling point of this film.  Tell people it's about a happy married couple (no, really, they're perfectly happy) and their neurotic friend that wanders in and out of their life in the span of a year, divided by four seasons, and most people will give you a disinterested look.  Tell them that nothing much really happens but much happens between the lines of the characters actions and again they will stare at you like you are some artsy-fartsy elitist.   If you want to see cars blow up or a clear, simple plot about boy meets girl, or a gang of thieves planning a heist job, stay away from this one.   But if you wish to examine the lives of some complex and fascinating British citizens, like a voyeuristic fly on the wall, check this one out.   I must admit that while watching it, I found it takes a while to get going; I'll admit I was bored.  Then when all the characters are set up the film gels into a satisfying experience.   This only tells me that Leigh needed to cut some of the beginning.   There's even an opening scene that has nothing to do with the rest of the film, but as a thematic starting point.   Besides this flaw, this movie is a breath of fresh air acted out by a group of fine actors.   If you like character-based stories and enjoy watching good acting this is a keeper.  It'll be interesting to see if this is nominated for the Oscars.   Soon we'll see.  Grade: A-

Me & Orson Wells (2010)

Having studied Orson Wells' famous production of Julius Ceasar in school I was excited to see how Richard Linklater would direct this story. The result is an entertaining little film that's sort of a love note to the '30s and to the theater.  The best way to describe this movie is Shakespeare In Love without a love story.  I'm not convinced Zach Efron has the makings of a star yet but his performance here is serviceable.  The real impressive performance is McKay who plays Orson Wells.  He had the smile and the voice to match, wow, can he play anyone else again?   Also Tupper who plays Joseph Cotten looks just like the man.  Great casting  Solid director and more than adaqute screenplay.   Grade: B+.

True Grit (2010)

I have yet to see a better remake (if we should even call it a remake that is).  Here's another example why the Coen Brothers are my favorite film makers.  Everything from the writing to the production to the acting to how it's all put together is brilliant here.  When I first heard that they were remaking this, I rolled my eyes, not because I thought it would be terrible because I didn't (in the Coen Brothers I trust) but because I'm sick of all the remakes being made today, except-- so I'd learn-- this technically isn't a remake, it's a re-adaptation of the same novel that was the basis of the John Wayne incarnation.   Not that this matters, when you make a great film like this it could be based on cave paintings, I don't care.  I loved this movie.  Jeff Bridges is great, Matt Damon is equally impressive and Barry Piper is better than he has ever been.  Yet it is the girl of the story, played by Hailee Steinfeld, that steals the show.  I haven't cared about a character like this in a movie in a long time.  The fact that the Golden Globes snubbed this movie is proof to me that they're brainless, celebrity courting dweebs.  Easily one of the best films of the year.  Grade: A

Tangled (2010)

A small part of me, an over-critical intellectual that's always craving for new and bold ways to tell a story, wishes to rant on this latest Disney Princess fairy tale and complain of their surrender to a formula that's all-too-familiar.  But I won't because the rest of me loves this movie.  It's a great time at the movies for everyone, even those without children.  Disney knows how to tell a fairy tale and while the Princess concept is old fashion, the hopeless romantic in me shrugs it off and doesn't care.  With a style all its own, humor that's genuine and hip without getting into too many cultural references that most bad animated movies depend on, Tangled is the story of Rapunzel, music by Alan Menken (as usual) and animation that's as fun to watch as anything Pixar has done (maybe that's because John Lasseter was the executive producer; you think?).  What I especially loved was how they blended the classic hand-drawn look of older Disney movies (think Beauty and the Beast) with the more modern computer generated films of today (think The Incredibles).  Each song was memorable and helped expand on the story.  Each character, while from the same cookie-cutter school of Disney character types, was believable and enduring.  I really cared about these characters and hoped that they succeeded.  I even have to admit that its end surprised me.  I don't know if this is Disney's last Princess flick or a beginning to a new Renaissance but if they can recreate the magic this film inspires I'm more than welcome for more of the same.  Grade A-