This movie is absolutely wonderful. It’s a great family film. It’s so uplifting and warm, it will make you laugh and cry. And what’s even more incredible, it’s a true story. To think that there’s this much good in the world simply is the most heartwarming story of the holiday season. The Blind Side is based on the true story of Michael Oher and Leigh Anne Tuohy. Grounded in the direct, disarming truth of their experience, the movie is brilliant. This could be Bullock’s award-winning role. Just as Julia Roberts reached a turning point and a high in her acting career with Erin Brockovich, Bullock could well be doing the same in The Blind Side. She is perfect as the saucy, direct Leigh Anne who has a heart of gold. (Bullock actually lived with the Tuohys and shadowed them in order to understand Leigh Anne’s character better.) One night, Leigh Anne sees Oher (Quinton Aaron) walking alone on a cold, rainy Memphis night and spontaneously invites him to stay the night with her family. She puts him on her sofa because her guest room is littered with boxes. (Let me just say here that Quinton Aaron is superb in the role of Michael Oher.) I love him.

Leigh Anne’s precocious youngest son, S.J., played by Jae Head, is adorable. He steals every scene he’s in. S.J. immediately befriends Michael and takes him under his wing as his “big brother.”  Lily Collins plays Collins Tuohy and she’s beautiful and a great, encouraging sister.

If viewers may experience a twinge of misgiving about the issues of race and class that are alluded to in The Blind Side, they can’t help but be enormously entertained and moved by its irresistible story. I didn’t see an issue with race. I saw love on a grander scale – one much larger that has nothing to do with skin color, religion, politics or socioeconomic status. This is a story about the authentic, compassionate response to vulnerability and need. It’s a story about family and it’s a story about love, above all.

The movie’s title is a football reference, which the voiceover of Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) explains at the beginning. Michael Oher (Quenton Aaron) is sweating out a tough but unspecified situation in an office, when we flash back a few years and meet him as Big Mike. An African-American staff member at a mostly white Christian private school in Memphis, Tennessee, is trying to get his athletic son into the school, and the school’s coach also spots some athletic potential in Big Mike, granting him a scholarship. Big Mike has terrible trouble keeping up in school, and when his friend’s family stops helping him out, he is virtually homeless — sleeping in the school gym, eating popcorn left there after events, wearing the same thin clothes daily, which he washes out by hand in a Laundromat.

Big Mike is an oddity at the private school, but he is a gentle soul. When the Tuohys take him in, they encourage him and provide the first real family he has ever known. The Tuohys finally become Michael’s legal guardian. They’re very much into sports both as former participants and current fans, so they encourage him in football and in schoolwork so he can possibly win a football scholarship to college. S.J. takes on the role of a personal coach to teach Big Mike about football and these are great scenes in the movie. Will Michael succeed, or will he return to his neglectful, drug-addicted mother in the projects? 

The Blind Side is based on the nonfiction account of Michael Oher by Michael Lewis, which was adapted by the film’s director, John Lee Hancock. If you’ve read the book or know about Oher, the outcome of the movie won’t surprise you. But that’s not the point — this is a movie about characters and relationships, and the effects of great acts of kindness. In essence, it’s about love. Bullock, Aaron and Head are the highlights of the film. Tim McGraw plays Sean Tuohy, Leigh Anne’s husband, and he is perfect in that role. Kathy Bates, as Miss Sue, has a small but heartfelt role as a tutor. Her greatest line was when she had to explain to them that she was a Democrat.

The Touhy adults are actually Ole Miss alumni. Hancock does have some fun casting the college football coaches in The Blind Side –  they all play themselves. Some of the coaches are not exactly great actors, but the then-LSU coach, Nick Saban, was terrific.

Many of you probably already know Michael Oher’s story. I didn’t, but all of my brothers did. Michael Oher ends up being signed by the Baltimore Ravens. Honestly, it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen all year. Take your family to see it. You’ll love it.

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These violent delights have violent ends

And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,

Which, as they kiss, consume. 

            ~Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene VI

A sliver of a moon hangs high. Stars dot the sky and chill the air with a brightness. The wind rustles the leaves with a delicious expectancy that I’ve been waiting for all night.  I eagerly drive to the theater almost 2 hours early. After all, it’s the midnight premiere of Twilight Saga: New Moon, and I know there will be a long line. I pull my jacket tighter and wrap my scarf closer around my neck as I hurry to the doorway. Swarms of both men and women – of all ages – crowd the entryway and spill out into the foyer and onto the escalator. I go to the concession stand and get a small bag of popcorn and a diet coke. I’ve saved my calories all day for this treat.

Zig-zagging through the lines, I find my theater and go inside. Turns out, all the theaters in this 16-theater cinemaplex are showing the New Moon movie tonight. And, they are all sold out. I am grateful that I bought my ticket online at Fandango weeks ago. I find a seat on the top row, and sit there relaxing, while watching as young men and women stream in, filling the seats. Young girls huddle together and laugh, twirling their ponytails in their hands; some play cards, others play on their iPods, cell phones or Blackberries while waiting for the movie to begin. Many of them are wearing New Moon t-shirts as well as “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob” shirts. One young guy and his girlfriend come in dressed as Edward and Bella. Cute.

An attractive 30-something guy in blue jeans and a flannel shirt walks in, looks around and notices an empty seat by me. He approaches and asks if he can sit by me. I say sure. I’m impressed that a 30-something guy would come to this movie alone. He confides that he is a “closet” Twilight lover – that his “dude” friends would think he was silly. I tell him that he’s got great taste – that it’s one of the best series of books I’ve ever read and that the movies – so far – have been wonderful. My new friend Michael and I munch on popcorn and chit-chat about actors, movies and books. I like him.

The time passes quickly and before I know it, the lights dim and previews of upcoming movies pop up on the screen. The first one is the preview of Robert Pattinson’s upcoming movie with Emilie de Ravin, Remember Me, which is due in theaters February 2010. It looks terrific and Rob’s acting is heartfelt and emotional in the trailer. I tell Michael that Rob is destined to become one of the best actors of all time. He agrees. Soon, the screen goes to black and a beautiful, orange round moon appears. New Moon begins.

I am transported immediately back to green, rainy Forks, Washington, the hometown of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and her father, Charlie Swan (Billy Burke) and her beautiful vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). (This movie was actually filmed in Vancouver, but looks very much like the setting in the first movie, Twilight.)

The movie is wonderful. The actors are brilliant. The pace is slow, deliberate and yet, fast-paced. Slow enough to build emotion and fast enough to move the plot forward. If one hasn’t read the books or seen the first Twilight movie in the series, then you may have a difficult time understanding what’s happening. It would be an enjoyable movie for anyone to see – regardless if you’ve seen Twilight or read the books. But, it is so much better if you know the story because of all the layers of emotions. This Twilight belongs to me – to all of us who love it. I am at home here. My friends are here. My thoughts are here.

The movie opens with a dream. Bella is in the field of wildflowers where she and Edward proclaimed their love for one another. Bella sees herself as old as her grandmother and there stands Edward with them – not a day older than the first day she met him. It’s Bella’s birthday and she’s 18 years old. She’s getting older by the minute while Edward remains 17. She wants Edward to “change” her into a vampire so she can live with him forever. This is a constant friction between the two in the story. Edward refuses to change her – thinking it will take away her soul in the process.

That night, the Cullens give Bella a birthday party and she slightly cuts her finger on some tape. Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) finds her blood too hard to resist and is getting ready to attack her, but Edward and the other Cullens intervene. The other Cullens are: Carlisle Cullen (Peter Facinelli), Esme Cullen, Carlisle’s wife (Elizabeth Reaser), Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene), Rosalie Cullen (Nikki Reed), and Emmett Cullen (Kellan Lutz).

Edward cannot bear the thought of Bella being in danger, so he and his family decide to leave the town of Forks, Washington to keep Bella safe. Edward tells Bella he will never see her again and that he doesn’t want her in his life.

Bella spirals downward into a deep, dark depression. On the screen, she sits catatonic in her bedroom while the seasons change before her eyes. The heartbroken Bella sleepwalks through her senior year of high school, numb and alone. Finally, after her father threatens to send her to Jacksonville, Florida, where her mother lives, she decides to go out with her girlfriend, Jessica, (Anna Kendrick). Bella soon realizes that she can see visions of Edward and hear him when she is about to do something dangerous. This spurs many dangerous acts on her part. Her desire to be with him at any cost leads her to take greater and greater risks.

Bella finds also finds comfort in her old friend, Jacob Black, (Taylor Lautner) who falls in love with her. Jacob is a member of the mysterious Quilete tribe and has secrets of his own that Bella doesn’t know about. Mainly, werewolves.  They are: Sam Uley (Chaske Spencer), Embry Call (Kiowa Gordon), Quil Ateara (Tyson Houseman) and Paul (Alex Meraz). The two elders are Jacob’s father, Billy Black (Gil Birmingham), and Harry Clearwater (Graham Greene).

Bella’s high school friends are back: Jessica (Anna Kendrick) – who stole every scene she was in; Mike, (Michael Welch) – who also stole every scene he was in; Eric (Justin Chon) who didn’t have much to do in this movie and Angela (Christian Serratos) who also didn’t have much to do in this movie either. It was nice to see them though. Taylor Lautner, of course, starred as Jacob Black and he was excellent. Sweet, lovable and the kind of friend you’d love to have. Bella’s father, Charlie Swan, is played by Billy Burke. As he did in Twilight, he steals every scene he’s in. I love him.

My favorite scenes were the ones with the Volturi in Montepulciano, Italy (Volterra, Italy in the books).  British actor, Michael Sheen stars as Aro and he is absolutely brilliant. Another British actor, Jamie Campbell Bower, is beautiful as the pale, blonde Caius. And, then there’s Marcus, played by another Brit, Christopher Heyerdahl. Dakota Fanning stars as the cunning Jane and her twin is Cameron Bright as Alec. Noot Seear is Heidi, the Volturi vampire that hunts for humans to feed on.  Other Volturi members are Charlie Bewley as Demetri and Daniel Cudmore as Felix. The action scenes are tense and will have you on the edge of your seat. And, Montepulciano, Italy is absolutely gorgeous.

On the vampire scene, Edi Gathegi is back as Laurent and Rachel Lefevre as the redheaded vixen, Victoria.

The way that the actors have all grown together and have blended harmoniously in their roles in the Harry Potter movies, the Twilight actors are doing the same thing and it’s obvious in New Moon.

I am not going to give away any plot secrets in this review – in case you have not read the books. If you have read them, you know the story. For those of you who haven’t, it will be more fun for you to be surprised. And surprised, you will.

In essence, the movie is about losing your love – your heart and soul – and trying to learn how to live without that love. It’s about not caring if you live or die once that love is gone. This loss is something that most every boy and girl past their teenage years can identify with. (Sorry, tweens and teens, you’ll probably experience this sometime in your life.) Questions like: What do you do when someone breaks up with you? Leaves you? That’s what makes these Twilight books and movies so appealing and so wonderful. They’re about relationships – about love.

Twilight was lush and romantic; New Moon is heartbreaking, exhilirating,  and action-packed with the introduction of all the werewolves and the Volturi coven in Italy. And, New Moon brings out the question about the soul. Not only is this movie about love and relationships, but it posits a more profound question: Do vampires have souls? Where do they go when they die?  New Moon deals with Edward’s belief that vampires do not have souls and that humans do. Edward thinks that by leaving Bella, he’s doing what’s best for his her. I like to believe that anything living has a soul. Animals have souls. Beings have souls. Actually, I believe we are souls who have bodies. Not the other way around. So,yes, Edward, you have a soul. You are soul!

To recap: This movie is wonderful and will not disappoint fans. Directed by Chris Weitz, (The Golden Compass), he takes the action scenes to a new level in this movie. Melissa Rosenberg adapted the screenplay from Stephenie Meyer’s book, New Moon.) (Rosenberg also wrote the screenplay for Twilight.) 

The music is quite good, although I have to admit I miss the score from Twilight. Leading off with Death Cab For Cutie’s infectious “Meet Me On The Equinox,” New Moon’s fifteen tracks are good, covering indie moods and attitudes. Some of the best material comes from unknown acts like Lykke Li whose sensuous “Possibility” is breathtaking.  Anya Marina’s “Satellite Heart” is whispery and soulful, Bon Iver and St. Vincent perform a beautiful song, “Rosyln,” and San Francisco’s Black Rebel Motor Cycle Club performs the wonderful “Done All Wrong.”

As the credits start rolling on the screen, I come back and remember where I am. I’m back from Forks, Washington…back from Montepulciano, Italy…I’ve said goodbye to Bella and Edward and Jacob…for now…

Michael loves the movie as much as I do. He and I leave the theater. He asks me if I’d like to get an early breakfast and discuss the movie. Sure, I tell him. After all, the stars are still bright, the air is crisp…and love is in the air. I put my arm through his and we head off into the night…

Bella, Edward and Jacob, see you next year (2010) in “Eclipse.”

Tom Sturridge is adorable in British film, “Pirate Radio,” opening everywhere today!

This movie is just wonderful. Pirate Radio, originally called The Boat that Rocked, is the newest ensemble comedy written and directed by filmmaker Richard Curtis (screenwriter of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, and writer/director of one of my favorite movies of all time, Love Actually). The story is based loosely on real facts about a seafaring band of rogue rock and roll deejays whose “pirate radio” captivated and inspired 1960s Britain. Playing the music that rocked a nation – a world – and a decade, the group boldly and hilariously defies the government that tries to shut them down. The movie is filled with satire, raucous sex, (but not offensive in any way), and lots of statements about the government and freedom. It is wonderful.

The deejays broadcast live 24/7 from an old tanker anchored in the middle of the North Sea (just beyond British jurisdiction). Radio Rock sends out a message of freedom in the form of rock’n’roll to millions across the nation, ranging in age from wide-eyed pre-teens secretly tuning in long past their bedtimes to everyday people in need of a musical pick-me-up. The actors are phenomenal and star Bill Nighy in the role of Quentin, the station owner and ship’s captain, Philip Seymour Hoffman, the only American DJ on the boat, as The Count, the wonderful Rhys Ifans, in the role as sexual mystic royalty Gavin, Nick Frost as a delightful, amorous, chubby Dave, Rhys Darby as New Zealander Angus, Ralph Brown as mysterious, bearded Smooth Bob, Tom Brooke as Thikc (intentionally spelled this way) Kevin, Chris O’Dowd as the naïve, lovelorn Simon, Tom Wisdom as the gorgeous heartthrob, Midnight Mark, Ike Hamilton as the shy Harold, Will Adamsdale as reporter News John, and Katherine Parkinson as the only woman on the ship who is the cook and also a lesbian.

One night, in 1966, Quentin’s teenaged godson Carl, played by adorable Tom Sturridge, comes aboard after being expelled from school. His glamorous mother, played by Emma Thompson, thinks it will be a good experience for him. Here he meets Radio Rock’s crew of ramshackle, fun-loving disc jockeys.

At 17, Carl is skinny, awkward, shy. He admits that the closest he has ever come to “shagging” a woman is when an animal licked his face. This gets a roar of laughter from his comrades and they all take him under their wing to mentor him and befriend him. While Carl harbors romantic aspirations that he hopes will be fulfilled during one of the biweekly visits by Radio Rock’s prettiest girl fans, he also hopes to find out more about his long-absent father, who took off after he was born.

Tom Sturridge is perfect in his role as Carl. Always “underplaying” his role in shy, slow, and thoughtful movements, he becomes at once likable and charming. With chiseled cheekbones, piercing eyes, lanky body, and dark luscious hair, Sturridge could easily become a leading man someday. He is the movie’s consciousness and through his eyes, we observe the rest of the characters. And what a rambunctious group they are. They are quite literally wonderful.

As the ship sails on and rocks out, what Carl and the freewheeling, free-loving Radio Rock gang don’t know is that back in London, landlocked government minister Dormandy, played superbly by Kenneth Branagh, has embarked on a vehement crusade to silence their signal – permanently. The most uptight individual you’ll ever meet, he hates rock’n’roll and everything it stands for. Freedom. Non-inhibition. Sex. To stay afloat and keep their devoted audience plugged in, the crew will have to band together and trust in the power of music like never before. We’re talking about 60s music and is it ever wonderful. The soundtrack is superb.

Woman expert Dave wastes no time in introducing Carl to women, only for both of Carl’s attempts to be foiled by Dave himself, including Carl’s first crush, Quentin’s niece, Marianne (Talulah Riley).  Simon also is unlucky in love, meeting and marrying the too-good-to-be-true Elenore (January Jones who stars in TV’s Mad Men) only to find her affections are really placed with the returning “King of the Airwaves,” Gavin (Rhys Ifans). The Count objects to Gavin’s antics with Elenore, leading to a clash of egos.

Dormandy instructs his subordinate Twatt, (what a name!) portrayed by Jack Davenport, who now stars on the new sci-fi TV series, V)  to find a way to take down pirate radio, despite its popularity among the pop hungry masses. He finally figures out a way to stop the boat. I am purposefully not telling you the whole story here. I believe you will have more fun if you watch it and let it surprise you. And you’ll really enjoy Tom Sturridge’s performance.

Tom Sturridge, who is 23 years old, attended Winchester College in Hampshire, England. Sturridge’s father is the television director Charles Sturridge of “Brideshead Revisited,” and his mother is the stage actress Phoebe Nicholls. He claims he avoided acting for as long as he could. “I was quite against it, and it was the last thing my parents wanted me to be doing. I was so afraid of becoming a cliché, but unfortunately, I ended up becoming one,” he says with mock regret.  A friend’s parent was casting Being Julia and was looking to hire an actor, but they couldn’t find a suitable 17-year-old boy. Tom got the job. One of his favorite hobbies is reading (like that of his best friend, Rob Pattinson.) Tom just finished Roberto Bolano’s “The Savage Detectives,” and has just picked up a copy of “Legend of a Suicide” by David Vann.

His next movie is Waiting for Forever, which was shot in Salt Lake City and is due out next year. “It’s about a homeless street performer stalking a girl,” he says. “It was a low-budget film shot in 18 hours.”

Pirate Radio, first titled The Boat that Rocked, actually flopped in London theaters last spring, but was shortened and reedited for the U.S. This time around, the focus is less on history and more on that merry band of music makers who broadcast from old ships anchored in the North Sea.

The movie is rated R because of sexual humor and profanity. But, honestly, it’s not offensive in any way. If I had teenage children, I’d take them to see this movie. It’s uplifting, fun and the music is a collection of 60’s music that’s timeless featuring the Kinks, Duffy, The Turtles, Jeff Beck, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, The Hollies, The Troggs, The Who and much, much more.

The Men Who Stare at Goats had a lot of potential. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. It introduced many great ideas and concepts about the power of the mind and positive thinking, but didn’t really go anywhere from there. Set in the 1980s, The Men Who Stare at Goats, stars Scottish actor, Ewan McGregor, who plays Bob Wilton, a lowly journalist from Ann Arbor, Michigan whose wife leaves him for his editor/boss. Heartbroken, he decides to seek out adventure and goes to Kuwait, waiting to cross the border into Iraq to cover Operation Iraqi Freedom. With his personal life in shambles, Wilton figures that he can go to Iraq and write some Pulitzer Prize-winning story, which will ultimately win back the love of his life. Wilton has no idea, however, how his life is about to change when he meets up with a character named Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), who claims to be a recently re-activated member of the U.S. Army’s New Earth Battalion, a unit that trained its soldiers to use psychic/paranormal powers on their missions. Cassady tells him, “I’m a Jedi.” They don’t fight with their hands, but with their mind.   

Together, Wilton and Cassady trek through the desert to Iraq. Along the way, amidst some hilarious mishaps, Cassady recounts the history of the classified military program where we are introduced to off-the-wall characters like Lieutenant Colonel Bill Django (Jeff Bridges who wears a pony tail at times and a  long braid down his back at other times), the zany founder of the program and the man in charge of training the soldiers with New Age methods and techniques. We also meet Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey) who is a psychic soldier and Lyn’s former nemesis. Even with a dark hairpiece, Spacey looked quite old to be playing the part of a young army guy.  

However, the actors are all great. That’s not the problem. The problem is that the movie doesn’t really go anywhere. It gets boring midway through and I almost fell asleep. At the end, we are left with a lot of questions. I think it is supposed to be a comedy and I did find myself laughing quite a few times. George Clooney wears a mustache and with his salt and pepper hair, he honestly looks like a lot like Dennis Farina.  The movie is an antiwar “satire” and had much more potential than it ever achieved. Mostly, it just made the guys look like idiots.

Probably the most unbelievable thing about this movie is the fact that it is based on a true story. It seems a bit crazy, doesn’t it? I find it hard to believe, but you never know. Goats is based on the nonfiction book of the same title, written by England’s Jon Ronson. According to him, it is completely true. The movie even starts with a footnote that “More of this story is true than you would believe.” If that is the case, then somewhere in America in the 1980’s a U.S. soldier killed a goat with his mind.

Peter Straughan wrote the screenplay for The Men Who Stare at Goats and it was directed by British writer and documentary filmmaker, Grant Heslov (he also worked with Clooney as a producer on Leatherheads and co-wrote the excellent Good Night, and Good Luck, but in this movie, he could have used some help. Heslov weaves a tale of a battalion of New Age paranormal soldiers – Jedis –  who were trained, during Vietnam, to don cloaks of invisibility, kill goats with their minds, and generally turn war into a groovy thing. He slaps numerous gags together, but never really finds the “voice” of the movie.  The ending is lame and unsatisfying.  It would be an O.K. DVD rental because the actors are great and there are a few laughs along the way.

Double-click on the title above the photo if you would like to leave a comment. A blank box will appear beneath the review. Thanks! Donna

At the beginning of this docu-movie, Milla Jovovich talks directly into the camera and tells the viewer that what we’re about to see is based on real case studies – a blend of real stories and dramatized stories. In The Fourth Kind, Jovovich plays the part of allegedly real life psychologist, Dr. Abigail Tyler.  The Fourth Kind purports to be the true story of the experience of Dr. Abigail Tyler, who lived in Nome, Alaska, and her attempts to treat several different town members who seemed to be suffering from psychological trauma relating to their suppressed memories as alien abduction victims. Memories that produce horrible consequences when brought to the surface.

In 1972, a scale of measurement was established for alien encounters. When a UFO is sighted, it is called an encounter of the first kind. When evidence is collected, it is known as an encounter of the second kind. When contact is made with extraterrestrials, it is the third kind. The next level, abduction, is The Fourth Kind. This encounter has been the most difficult to document…until now.  Supposedly, since the 1960s—a disproportionate number of the population has been reported missing every year.

Set in October 2000, the Fourth Kind is written and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi. The story is by Osunsanmi and Terry Lee Robbins.

Throughout the movie, Osansanmi contrasts his dramatization with alleged archival video footage of the events he is recreating. Several times he places both versions on screen together to show how close to reality the film is, as well as interspersing the story with excerpts of an interview between himself and the actual Dr. Tyler. It’s interesting as experiments go; but at times it was more distracting than anything.

Jovovich is excellent as the distraught Dr. Tyler. Her husband, a psychologist who had been researching the instances of suicide around Nome and their possible connection to abduction theories, was killed in an unclear but traumatic fashion that left their youngest daughter psychosomatically blind, their son hostile, and Dr. Tyler an emotional wreck. We are not sure throughout the movie exactly who killed Dr. Tyler’s husband. It’s a mystery that unravels at the end of the movie.

Supposedly, many of the videotapes and audio recordings in the movie are based on true stories. The Fourth Kind exposes some of the most disturbing evidence of “alien abduction” ever documented, as never-before-seen footage is integrated into the film. There has been a lot of controversy about these “true” videotapes. Some people think they’re fake. I’m not so sure. Universal claims the footage is real, but that could be a marketing tool on their part.

Also starring are Will Patton and Elias Koteas, who are excellent.

I thought the docu-movie was good and I enjoyed it. I don’t know if the facts shown are real or fictional. I am not even sure that Dr. Abigail Tyler is a real person. I do believe that people who do not think there are any other life forms out there in the universe are very narrow-minded. It’s a little arrogant to think that only life exists on little ole planet Earth when there are thousands of galaxies in the universe. I thought the movie brought out an interesting point about humankind though. People are afraid to believe anything that’s not of the norm. They’re afraid of going outside their own safe parameters to even think aliens could be real and that abductions might exist. I think anyone who enjoys stretching the mind a little bit might enjoy this movie.  The ending isn’t very satisfying, but is supposedly true to the story.

Caution: Do not take children under the age of 16 to see this movie. It will scare them and keep them up at night.

I thought The Box, a new sci-fi opus was going to be a great mystery movie. One with intriguing concepts and spine-tingling revelations. Well, parts of it were. But, part of it wasn’t. Basically, this film is about karma. It’s about “reaping what you sow.” It’s about accepting the consequences of your actions.  Parts of the movie were very good, but the ending was awful. I hated it and it ruined the rest of the movie for me.

The Box was written and directed by Richard Kelly and was an adaptation of Richard Matheson’s 1970 tale Button, Button, a short story. Kelly’s two previous films was the beloved Donnie Darko, with its time-traveling teens, wormholes and giant evil rabbits, and the not-so-beloved Southland Tales, with its Justin Timberlake musical numbers, neo-Marxist terrorist groups and magical flying ice-cream trucks.

Button, Button was previously adapted for the 1980s revival of The Twilight Zone, and the story underwent such radical changes that Matheson had his name removed from the episode. But the name remains among the credits for The Box, even though the film and short story are so different, they aren’t even in the same genre. The picture certainly starts out like Matheson’s story: A married couple, Arthur and Norma Lewis (James Marsden and Cameron Diaz), receive a package containing a small wooden box with a single red pushbutton protected by a locked glass dome.

The movie is set in the 1970s and the costumes and household furniture were spot-on. The box comes with a mysterious note: “Mr. Steward will call on you at 5 p.m.,” it says, and he does. Arlington Steward (Frank Langella) is creepy, missing much of the left side of his face, reminding me of Phantom of the Opera. We learn later this was caused by lightning striking him.  However, he’s polite, well spoken and stylishly dressed, and he comes bearing the key to the glass dome. He explains, “Push the button, and two things will happen: someone somewhere in the world you don’t know will die. You will also receive one million dollars in cash. You have 24 hours to decide whether to accept the offer or decline and give back the box.”

At first, Arthur and Norma think it’s a joke or Candid Camera. They discuss their decision and worry about the prospect of being responsible for the death of another human being. Arthur pleads, “What if it’s a baby?” She responds, “What if it’s a murderer on Death Row?”

The Lewises are caring parents of a son, Walter.  Good, upstanding people. Arthur works at NASA and his career goal is to eventually become an astronaut on the Mars Mission, while Norma is a high school English teacher who also has a maimed foot from radiation when she was younger. On the same day that Steward visits them, Norma is denied tuition reimbursement and Arthur learns of his rejection from the space program. Financially strapped, and faced with compromises to their future plans, one of them predictably pushes the button. They get the money, the box is taken away, and they are left with the consequences of their actions.

By this point, The Box has already begun its drastic departure from Matheson’s story, from the introduction of Norma’s maimed right foot as a crucial plot point to the prominence of Arthur’s job at NASA’s Langley Research Center.  Then, we learn that the NSA has set up shop at Arthur’s work and the movie begins creating a startlingly convoluted connection between Steward’s behavior, the philosophies of Jean Paul Sartre and the possibilities of life on the Martian surface.

People around Arthur and Norma start having strange nosebleeds and inexplicably flashing “V” signs. A wedding-rehearsal dinner among friends and family takes a seriously surreal turn. Many ideas and plot points are introduced in the movie and if they had gone a bit further to explain some of them, I believe it would have been better. But, they just tossed these ideas out there with no cohesive plan of where they were going. Nothing was satisfyingly resolved. The movie could have been excellent with the right writing and directorial movement. The movie is bold and ambitious – it just isn’t cohesive. The first part of the movie is much better than the second part. That’s kind of where it all falls apart.

Marsden and Diaz both are excellent in their roles and Frank Langella is very effective as the creepy messenger with “the box.” Just be forewarned if you go and see it that you will probably be disappointed with the ending. I was. Even though I believe everyone should take responsibility for their actions, I also believe that there are alternative options and solutions to problems. And this movie definitely points out that money will not solve your problems.

It’s not totally bad. I just hated the ending. Most of my friends will, too.

I enjoyed this film very much because I love fashion and I love hearing people’s life stories.  Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel) is a French film with English subtitles. It chronicles the early life of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, the woman who would become perhaps the single most influential figure in 20th-century fashion. The film is co-written by Anne Fontaine and Camille Fontaine, along with Edmonde Charles-Roux who wrote the book, L’Irrégulière ou Mon Itinéraire Chanel. Anne Fontaine also aptly, beautifully directed the movie. The movie bears less resemblance to a standard-issue biopic like La Vie en Rose, than to a novel by Émile Zola or Theodore Dreiser. And that makes it quite wonderful. With just the right blend of candor, sensitivity and sympathy, it chronicles the rise of a direct, forthright and sometimes difficult woman. It also clearly focuses on the obstacles and opportunities offered women at this point and time in history.

This movie is about perseverance – never giving up on your dreams and putting for the work and efforts to achieve those dreams. What I particularly loved about the movie – and Coco’s life – is how she broke all the rules. In fact, she refused to believe there were any rules. Right or wrong, she took chances. Her adventuresome spirit was dizzying. Somewhere along the way, she realized that fear is man’s greatest problem and she had nothing to do with fear. Gutsy, ambitious and totally delightful, Coco Chanel was born way before her time.   

The tale begins in an orphanage, where the Chanel sisters, Gabrielle and Adrienne, (played beautifully by Audrey Tautou and Marie Gillain) have been deposited by their father. An inkling of Gabrielle’s eventual vocation is provided when the audience is directed to notice her noticing the stitching on the nuns’ wimples, but for the most part, the writer, Ms. Fontaine avoids the easy prefiguring that deadens so many film biographies.

When Gabrielle and Adrienne grow up, they sing together in a provincial music hall, singing mildly flirtatious, naughty songs. One is about a lost dog named Coco, which provides the nickname with which Gabrielle becomes famous. Gabrielle is a chain-smoker and views the world and the men in it, with a wariness that borders on hostility. Mostly, she’s bored by them.

Gabrielle knows that a woman without money or status can only acquire these things by attaching herself to a man, ideally as a wife, but more plausibly as a mistress. Adrienne finds a baron to keep her, while Gabrielle, after some teasing and flirting, hooks up with a playboy in uniform, a worldly and cynical fellow named Étienne Balsan (Benoît Poelvoorde).

The relationship between the two is affectionate and unpredictable. With a mixture of impulsiveness and blunt premeditation Coco shows up at Étienne’s country mansion outside Paris, (castle as Coco calls it), where she installs herself as his mistress. His treatment of her is genuinely gallant and kind, while at the same time, snobbish. For a long time he sequesters her in a back room and instructs her to eat in the kitchen whenever he entertains his upper crust friends. This bothers her a lot, but she perseveres, which exposes a lot about her unflappable spirit. Even when he attempts to send her away, she refuses stubbornly.

Coco crashes their parties, befriending a flamboyant actress named Emilienne (Emmanuelle Devos) and catching the eye of a beautiful English businessman known as Boy Capel (Alessandro Nivola). His soulful sensitivity makes him appear to be everything Étienne is not, and he offers Coco and the film (and a million women viewers) a vision of true love. Alessandro is much like a young  Daniel Day-Lewis. In the movie, he introduces Coco to great books and tells her she is exceptional. “You’re elegant,” he says for what seems like the first time in the film, we see Tatou’s dazzling smile.

Boy, Coco’s ideal lover, is something of an adventurer, a serial seducer whose only advantage over Étienne may be that he has better looks and better game. As far as acting is concerned, Mr. Poelvoorde wins. He portray’s Étienne’s repellent, gracious, selfish, but kind personality with dazzling relish.

Coco starts out as a seamstress with an eye for novelty and a keen aesthetic sense. Coco disdains corsets, sometimes dresses in men’s garments, (which shocks high society women) and adapts simple hats and fisherman’s shirts to marvelously chic effect. The blossoming of her ambition, as much as her love life, drives the story forward, and turns Coco Before Chanel into a costume drama worthy of the name.

I definitely recommend this film. It’s quite wonderful.

Note: Coco Chanel briefly served as a nurse in World War I. Nazi occupation meant the fashion business in Paris was cut off for some years; Chanel’s affair during World War II with a Nazi officer also resulted in some years of diminished popularity and an exile of sorts to Switzerland. In 1954 her comeback restored her to the first ranks of haute couture. Her natural, casual clothing including the Chanel suit, once again caught the eye of women. She introduced pea jackets and bell bottom pants for women. She was still working in 1971 when she died. Karl Lagerfeld has been chief designer of Chanel’s fashion house since 1983.

In addition to her work with high fashion, Coco Chanel also designed stage costumes for such plays as Cocteau’s Antigone (1923) and Oedipus Rex (1937) and film costumes for several movies, including Renoir’s La Regle de Jeu. Katharine Hepburn starred in the 1969 Broadway musical Coco based on the life of Coco Chanel.