Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a Woody Allen movie about relationships. Vicky and Cristina are visiting Barcelona for the summer where their opposite views on love and dating come to the forefront.
This movie really did not do anything for me. The American characters are ridiculously flat and uninteresting. The Spanish duo at least has passion, but is also flat. The dialogue was unentertaining and bored. I agreed with the viewpoint of love projected through Juan Antonio but that was all I had out of this one. The characters were all so stereotypical and it was very aggravating. Their were some interesting points of dialogue, but the film was too cliché-ridden. Riding classic bikes in Europe, what a novel idea! Type A’s are stiff as a board and uncomfortable with their own sexuality. Type B’s are well, sluts. Luckily, there were tiny bits of good acting and writing to save this thing from completely bottoming out.
“She put a knife into me.”
4/10
True Grit (2010)
The second film adaptation of the 1968 novel of the same name written by Charles Portis. A 14 year old girl hires a mean and drunk bounty hunter to track down her father’s murderer.
I really feel pretty much the same about this film and the 1969 version. Neither are anything special. Hailee Steinfeld’s performance was quite incredible given that she is just fourteen. To be honest though, and this is not the opinion of the majority, but I liked Kim Darby’s version of the character better. This film is much darker in tone and lighting than its predecessor and I liked it just a shade more. I also thought it was a little more realistic and gritty, both of which I am a big fan of. The Ned Pepper scenes seem to parallel the original so much they were almost identical. This could be the result of the original novel, but none of the other scenes were so closely mimicked. I did not care for the ending at all as it completely removed me from the movie and what the heck was it trying to say? True Grit has a solid storyline and this is a slight improvement from 1969, but it still isn’t very interesting.
“One would be just as unpleasant as the other.”
6/10
Average Rating: 7/10 (2 ratings)
The Other Woman (2009)
The Other Woman stars Natalie Portman as a young wife mourning the loss of her infant daughter while trying to maintain her family and develop a healthy relationship with her stepson.
A decent film. It did just well enough in acting and writing. The final series of happenings dampened the film I thought. The movie is a series of highs and lows with the final low being the lowest point of the film and I believe a natural end point. Unfortunately, we are dragged through a sappy Hollywood ending that is obvious in meaning and lame in delivery. I thought Natalie Portman was terrific and Scott Cohen was not bad at all. Lisa Kudrow’s performance was her usual bit that I do not enjoy. My displeasure was then compounded by her character having no depth or basis in reality. The movie was probably weak overall as many critics have found a distaste for it, but I found the dialogue sans Kudrow to be authentic, the acting sans Kudrow to be well done, and this made it doable for me.
“Why is she dead?”
“I don’t know.”
5/10
Santee (1973)
Santee (1973) was directed by Gary Nelson, Nelson started in Tv and moved to movies. He directed five films, including Disney’s “The Black Hole”.
Santee (1973)
Jody Deakes (Michael Burns) joins his outlaw father after his mothers death. Jody’s father is running from Santee (Glen Ford) a bounty hunter. Santee kills Jody’s father and Jody follows him hoping to take revenge. Santee takes him to his ranch and the two of them form a bond. Jay Silverheels (Tonto) plays John Crow a ranch hand.
Glen Ford was made for this role, unfortunately the script doesn’t hold up. It’s got all the parts, but the film falls flat.
“They’ll get a preacher, and a prayer, and a pine box”
Feel like a Glen Ford western, watch the Rounders or 3:10 to Yuma—-4/10