Word of Mouth Scale

Shirley Valentine

Shirley’s a middle-aged Liverpool housewife, who finds herself talking to the wall while she prepares her husband’s chip’n'egg, wondering what happened to her life. She compares scenes in her current life with what she used to be like and feels she’s stagnated and in a rut. But when her best friend wins an all-expenses-paid vacation to Greece for two, Shirley begins to see the world, and herself, in a different light.

One of my favorite flicks for many reasons. It completely reinforces my trip to Greece fantasy. It illuminates the drawbacks of a small life, and highlights the options. It makes being “of a certain age” seem a bit more palatable. It has several laugh out loud lines, along with all the chuckles. It also has a great message and some very touching moments. It has gorgeous scenery. It has Tom Conti

Shirley Valentine is an anthem to the freedom of the soul–with a generous dose of salt of the earth.

I have yet to see Mamma Mia, but I doubt it will replace Shirley Valentine on my “chick flick set in Greece” list. The only reason it doesn’t get the full five stars is because of the chick-flickiness….and some bad language…and nudity.

If you haven’t yet seen it, rent it soon. You may not love it as much as I do, but you are sure to be entertained.

Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 73%; Users 76%

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Iron Man

Based on yet another Marvel series, Iron Man has plenty of things going for it, the main assets being an enjoyably sardonic Downey, his hardware, and the downturned mouth of his new metal visage – a warning that this self-styled messiah means business.
~ Tim Robey; Daily Telegraph

Just a quick note because I have to get to work: very well done, definitely worth your time to see on the big screen. Not much graphic violence, not much sex, great cast (except Gwyneth Paltrow, and she is fine, not good, but OK)

Robert Downey Jr owns this movie, as usual.

Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 94%; Users 87%

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Pursuit of Happyness

Will Smith stars in the inspirational true story of Chris Gardner, a San Francisco salesman who’s struggling to make ends meet. When his girlfriend Linda (Thandie Newton) walks out, Chris is left to raise their 5-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Smith) on his own. Chris’ determination finally pays off when he lands an unpaid internship in a brutally competitive stockbroker-training program, where only one in twenty interns will make the cut. But without a salary, Chris and his son are evicted from their apartment and are forced to sleep on the street, in homeless shelters and even behind the locked doors of a metro station bathroom. With self- confidence and the love and trust of his son, Chris Gardner rises above his obstacles to become a Wall Street legend.
~ from Amazon

One of my favorite movies from 2006, and one of the best performances from that year, as well. Truly, if not for The Last King of Scotland, Will Smith would have been the clear favorite at Oscar time. I loved the plot driven movie with a strong message of hope and personal responsibility, and the interaction between Smith and his real life son was quite believable and moving. Perhaps a bit too syrupy for some, I non-the-less recommended this to almost everyone in my circle.

Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 65%; Users 88%

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Over The Rhine at The Rhythm Room

People, people, people – if you are missing out on these great shows, it is because you aren’t listening to me.

I know I told you about Over The Rhine a little late in the day, but the show has been on my public calendar for at least a month. What a phenomenal performance. Fun group, fun venue, fun crowd.

I was worried about not getting a ticket, so I showed up just after 6:00. There was one person in line ahead of me, the very nice attorney I met at the David Wilcox show in August. I had mentioned Over The Rhine to him, and he looked them up. I love introducing people to new music, and it was nice to see a friendly face.

The evening started with a performance by Griffin House, not that I had any idea who he was. Turned out to be a guy and a guitar, one of my favorite set-ups. Unfortunately, he had some sound issues – a little hot on the guitar volume and some buzzing when he was intentionally loud. He did a couple of protest songs which weren’t quite clever or subtle enough to work for me, but they were melodic and well delivered. I enjoyed his set quite a bit, enough to pick up two of his CDs (well, it was one for $15, 2 for $20)

He did this song, The Man That Says Goodbye To You Is Out Of His Mind. It is funny, though the humor was more evident live – you’ll just have to imagine the winking delivery and audience laughter in all the right places.

Over the Rhine was everything I expected them to be . . . and more. Really great live performers. I have seen so many concerts in my day, and one of my biggest pet peeves is musicians who just seem to be going through the motions (or who you wish were lipsynching because they sound so bad live). OtR seemed to be having a blast and I got the feeling they wanted us to be having fun, as well. There were some issues with the mix early on (too much of the instruments, not enough vocals) but they got that worked out.

Karin Bergquist delivers her exquisite vocals in a casual, intimate way. You can almost imagine her singing you torch songs in her living room, something I am sure she does for husband, and original OtR bandmate Linford Detweiler (who was fantastic on keyboards, guitar, bass…). Filling out the band on this tour were Jake Bradley, master of the upright bass, and Mickey Grimm, amazing on the drums.

If this group is coming through your town, do yourself a favor and see the show. You won’t regret it.

BTW: I got a few more of their CDs; two that I bought, and two that were gifted to me. I think I now have seven of their albums. How cool am I? OtR also releases all their albums on vinyl. Does anyone still have a turntable?

Cross posted at Vox

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Pan’s Labyrinth

In 1944 fascist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she’s a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.

Beautiful, captivating, mesmerizing . . . and a story, as well.

The subtitles were a bit of a distraction since the images were so amazing. Like with Amelie, I hated to look away from the picture to catch the dialog.

The movie is not, however, all fairies and bows and butterflies. It has serious brutality, which is why it loses a star. I am not sure this is a movie I would recommend to my sister, for instance.

This movie is much like Life is Beautiful, involving a fantasy world which helps a child deal with a world which is frightening and harsh.

Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing: critics 96%; users 94%

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Kinky Boots

From the makers of “Calendar Girls” comes an uplifting British comedy about two outcast dreamers who finally figure out how to stand up for themselves . . . in thigh-high leather stilettos.

Despite the Rotten Tomatoes rating of just 57% from the critics, this is a sweet movie – perhaps that is why it scored much higher with the general public who give it 78%.

Despite the name, there is nothing kinky, or even racy, about this movie.

Despite the cross-dressers, I recommended this movie to my mother, and she really enjoyed it, as well.

An absolutely fabulous performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor puts it right over the top for me

Rich in spunk, humor, dignity, subtle emotions when needed, and dressed to kill when belting songs like “I Want to Be Evil” in a meaty, gal-guy voice, Ejiofor amps and vamps the contrivances appealingly.

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Last Holiday

I wasn’t expecting much from this movie, though I had heard it was funny. I was pleasantly surprised by how entertaining it was – though I would hesitate to call it a “good movie”. I would say it is what it claims to be, a fun little romp. It is also quite palatable for the whole family – not so chick-flicky that it would be hard for guys to sit through, not full of bad language or scenarios that would make it uncomfortable in mixed company.

“…when she learns she only has a few weeks left to live, Georgia gathers her money, quits her job, and flies to a swank European resort she’s always dreamed of visiting. Naturally, her new carelessness with money and fearless candor lead everyone around her–including her senator (Giancarlo Esposito, Do The Right Thing) and her former boss (Timothy Hutton, Ordinary People)–to think she’s a mover and shaker. Last Holiday unfolds the way you expect it to (dozens of movies and TV shows have similar plots), but Latifah and the capable cast keep it alive.” –Bret Fetzer

I would recommend it to just about everyone in my circle.

A couple of silly complaints:

• I think Queen Latifah has shown she has acting chops and she is well cast here, but if you are going to have her in your movie, find a way to get her to sing.
• I don’t know how they would have gotten it into the script, but why have
  LL Cool J in your movie and not have him shirtless at least once?

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