Movie Review: Up in the Air (*** out of 4 stars)
Year of Release: 2009
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Jason Reitman
Cast: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick
Plot outline: The story of Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizer and consummate modern business traveler who, after years of staying happily airborne, suddenly finds himself ready to make a real connection (IMDb).
The story (***1/2 the script breathes so much fresh air with sparkling dialogue and interspersing snappy scenes of scripted firings)
How the story unfolds (*** the third act loses its way a bit and the sudden change in the work resolution doesn't really fly since it seems as if a lot of money was wasted on something they decide to discontinue rather quickly; also, one other twist I saw coming 20 miles down the road and I have a hard time believing a cynic such as Ryan Bingham wouldn't have seen it either)
The characters (***)
The dialogue (***1/2)
The acting (*** Clooney, Farmiga and Kendrick are all excellent, especially Kendrick, who gets to show the most shadings to her character)
Overall rating *** out of 4 stars
Movie Review: The Sneakers (**1/2 out of 4 stars)
Year of Release: 1992
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Cast: Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn, Dan Aykroyd, Darren 'Mother' Roskow, River Phoenix, Mary McDonnell
Plot outline: A team of security experts is blackmailed by Government agents into stealing a top secret black box. After they recover the box, they find themselves embroiled in a game of danger and intrigue (IMDb).
The story (**1/2)
How the story unfolds (**1/2 entertaining enough to make it a passable diversion; most audience will finish it painlessly, but will be mildly disappointed in it)
The characters (**)
The acting (**)
Overall rating **1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: The Children's Hour (**1/2 out of 4 stars)
Year of Release: 1961
Country of Origin: USA
Director: William Wyler
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, James Garner
Plot outline: A private school for young girls is scandalized when one spiteful student accuses the two young women who run the school of having a lesbian relationship (IMDb).
The story (*** forging its way into the mainstream thanks to its famous stars, it was one of the first movies to present a lesbian as an ordinary person who might experience life and love like anyone else)
How the story unfolds (**1/2 though it looks dated in some ways, with its lapses into melodrama problematic in places, it has strong characters whom modern audiences will have no difficulty relating to, and, sadly, its plot remains highly relevant)
The characters **1/2
The acting **1/2
Overall rating **1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: The Ladykillers (***1/2 out of 4 stars)
Year of Release: 1955
Country of Origin: UK
Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Cast: Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Katie Johnson
Plot outline: A gang of five oddball criminals rent a room in an isolated house from an old lady who thinks they are musicians. When they set out to kill her, they run into one problem after another, and they get what they deserve (IMDb).
The story (***1/2)
How the story unfolds (***1/2 the story begins when the deed is seemingly done, but is about to be undone)
The characters (*** distinctive and amusing personalities)
The acting (***)
Overall rating ***1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: The Offence (** out of 4 stars)
Year of Release: 1973
Country of Origin: UK, USA
Director: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Sean Connery, Trevor Howard, Vivien Merchant, Ian Bannen
Plot outline: After 20 years with the police force, after countless murders, rapes and other serious crimes he has had to investigate, Detective Sergeant Johnson's anger and aggression that had been suppressed for so long finally surfaces when interviewing a suspected child molester (IMDb).
The story (***)
How the story unfolds (** an interesting story, but played against cold, dreary backgrounds and with colourless people)
The characters (**)
The production sets (*)
The acting (**)
Overall rating ** out of 4 stars
Movie Review: The Unforgiven (**1/2 out of 4 stars)
Year of Release: 1960
Country of Origin: USA
Director: John Huston
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn, Lillian Gish, Joseph Wiseman
Plot outline: A frontier family is suspected that their adopted daughter was actually an Indian, stolen from the local Kiawa tribe (IMDb).
The story (***)
How the story unfolds (**1/2 well-intentioned message movie, but its strong sentiments against racism seem countermanded by portraying the Indians in a stereotypical role)
The characters (**1/2)
The acting (**1/2)
Overall rating **1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Time Lock (**1/2 out of 4 stars)
Year of Release: 1957
Country of Origin: UK
Director: Gerald Thomas
Cast: Robert Beatty, Betty McDowall, Vincent Winter, Lee Patterson
Plot outline: It's Friday afternoon and a boy is accidentally locked in an airtight bank vault which won't open until Monday morning. With less than 10 hours of oxygen left in the vault, it becomes a race to save the boy (IMDb).
The story (**)
How the story unfolds (**1/2)
The characters (** young Sean Connery features in his debut-speaking role portraying a welder)
The acting (**1/2)
Overall rating **1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Bloodline (*1/2 out of 4 stars)
Year of Release: 1979
Country of Origin: USA, West Germany
Director: Terence Young
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara, James Mason, Omar Sharif
Plot outline: After her father is killed while mountain climbing, a reluctant heiress inherits her family-owned multi-national pharmaceutical company. Soon after an investigation determines that the cause of his death was not an accident but murder, she realizes that she is now a target (IMDb).
The story (*1/2)
How the story unfolds (*1/2 poorly interwoven subplots, inability to build up any suspense)
The characters (*1/2 shameful waste of talented actors)
The acting (*1/2 despite lack of chance to deliver a solid performance--many of Hepburn’s serious fans cringe at the thought of her being in a movie like this, she does actually give a good performance; managing to create a warm, sympathetic character that nevertheless has enough guts to stand up to all her cousins and not let them boss her around)
Overall rating *1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Little Miss Sunshine (***1/2 out of 4 stars)
Year of Release: 2006
Country of Origin: USA
Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Cast: Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, Alan Arkin
Plot outline: A hopelessly optimistic motivational speaker is desperately attempting to sell his 9-step program for success--without much success. Meanwhile he's determined to get his young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant, so he takes his family on a cross-country trip in a VW Kombi (IMDb).
The story (***1/2)
How the story unfolds (*** drag toward the end, nevertheless ...)
The characters (***1/2)
The dialogue (***1/2)
The acting (***1/2)
Overall rating ***1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Love in the Afternoon (**1/2 out of 4 stars)
Year of Release: 1957
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier
Plot outline: A comedy about a middle-aged playboy who's fascinated by the daughter of a private detective who has been hired to entrap him with the wife of a client (IMDb).
The story (**1/2)
How the story unfolds (** flat, loose in the middle, implausible ending)
The characters (**)
The acting (**1/2)
Overall rating **1/2 out of 4 stars
Movie Review: Wait Until Dark (*** out of 4 stars)
Year of Release: 1967
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Terence Young
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Plot outline: A recently blinded woman is victimized by a psychopathic killer and two desperate convicts while they search for a heroin stuffed doll they believe is in her apartment (IMDb).
The story (**1/2)
How the story unfolds (***)
The characters (**1/2)
The dialogue (***)
The acting (*** Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna)
Overall rating *** out of 4 stars
Year of Release: 2009
