Baby Mama

Viewed by moi* at home
* "me" in French

I became a Tina Fey fan while watching 30 Rock on Netflix Instant Watch. She's good - what can I say. Cute, witty, a great writer and actress, saucy and sassy. I really like her. So, I was looking forward to seeing her on the big screen. Instead, I saw her on my DVD player while sitting on the bed wearing earphones and my jammies

I was not disappointed, in Tina or her co-star, Amy Poehler. Actually, I think Amy upstaged Tina in this movie, but the part she played gave her the chance to upstage anyone - a hillbilly, weirdly fashion conscious, white trash surrogate mother person for Tina Fey. No, I don't remember their screen names, but that doesn't really matter in this review.

Tina Fey is supposedly infertile because her uterus is T shaped. OK. Events leading up to this discovery are constructed so that that they introduce other important characters into the picture. She goes to an agency for surrogacy run by Sigourney Weaver, who is looking her age, by the way, but looking good. Enter Amy Poehler, the surrogate. Dumping her loser boyfriend, she moves in with Amy. After these two hookup, it's one funny thing after another. Tina's uptight, Amy's not. Tina wants her baby (inside Amy) to eat healthy food, Amy doesn't give a rip. Tina begins child proofing the house which results in a hilarious scene when Amy cannot get the toilet lid open. They go to child birth classes together where Amy's comments regarding certain child birth aspects are something you must hear to appreciate. No, I won't quote them. See the movie.

Greg Kinnear (a cute guy, of course), Romy Malco (the doorman) and someone I've haven't heard of before and Steve Martin add greatly to the mix. Especially Steve Martin, who plays Tina's boss - a pony tailed, very new agey, health food grocery store tycoon with a pretty amazing ego.

Like most movies today, there are instances of uncommitted relational sex, sexual references and so on. If these are offensive to you, then don't see it. If you want to enjoy a movie, have some laughs and get over these smaller moral issues, then by George, rent that puppy and have a great time!

Rating for Baby Mama:

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

Viewed at the multiplex theatre whilst dining on contraband snacks

We just got back from seeing this movie and have declared ourselves fans of Kevin James. We loved him in "Hitch" and now we love him as the Mall Cop.

He is a vigorous man, light on his feet for someone who is on the heavy side. But let me be very clear on this, he is a cute guy, in like handsome and attractive because of his bulk, not in spite of it. He exudes vulnerability, sweetness and he makes us like him. I hope he never plays a bad guy. I looked him up on IMDB and his career looks like it has always been on the comedic side, so I think we are safe there.

This movie was tailor made for him and this would be because he co-wrote it.

He is Paul Blart, a mall cop on a Segway who takes his job very, very seriously. (Segway sales will probably climb now....) Paul and the Segway move as one and it's clear that many of the scenes are written around it's use.

Paul's earnestness regarding his job lead to some hilarious encounters. The elderly wheelchair speeder, the fight between to women over the last push up bra at Victoria's Secret and more. This is a very physical part for Kevin James and he performs the stunts and falls with great zeal insomuch as they look like they probably hurt some (if he did even some of them, they look that way).

The story line in brief: A single dad with one daughter and living with his mother, Paul Blart has failed at the state police academy multiple times. Not because he can't do the physical stuff, but because he is hypoglycemic and sort of just passes out sometimes. To combat this, he ingests tubes of sugar with a flourish that only Kevin James can pull off. He is in love with the cute, mall kiosk girl, she shows interest but then he manages to get incredibly and innocently drunk and make a utter fool of himself. It goes on and suffice to say he redeems himself and wins her over. His redemption comes in the form of a big mall crime that he singlehandedly squashes.

We laughed a lot. We felt good when we left. We didn't feel abused like we sometimes do after leaving the movies. We didn't hear one bad word, see anyone half or wholly naked and any violence was slapstick. Despite it's lack of these typical Hollywood scenarios, it was not a boring or goody two shoes movie. It was just good.

You can't ask for much more than that.

RATING FOR PAUL BLART: MALL COP

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly or Scaphandre et le papillon

Watched at home on Netflix Instant Watch.

Based upon a true story. Fast living, on top of the world Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby suffers a massive stroke that leaves him completely paralyzed except for his left eye.

I started watching this movie in the garage riding my exercise bike. I find that watching something while I'm exercising helps the time goes by more quickly. After finishing the "ride", I was so engrossed in the movie that I skipped the shower until later and watched the rest of it.

Movies like this that are based upon true, painful events are sometimes hard to watch. There was one time when I had to avert my eyes and another time when I actually started to cry. I'm not into weepy movies, but somehow, knowing that this was true, that I was not being emotionally manipulated, made me feel OK with getting a little weepy.

Max von Sydow plays Jean Dominique's old father who is suffering from early Alzheimer's disease. Their interaction before the stroke (seen in a flashback) is affectionate and moving, but not maudlin. After the stroke, the old man calls him at the hospital, unable to travel to it. This is a real heart breaker to watch and Max is so excellent in making the scene work. He is the only one who can talk, except through Jean Dominique's "translator" and that makes the scene particularly poignant - he does not get to hear his son's voice ever again in his life.

The only way Jean Dominique can communicate is by someone reciting a list of the most common letters used in words and when they say letter he wants to use, he blinks once. Once for Yes, twice for No. Laboriously, they do this over and over until he makes words that turn into sentences.

He says he has his intelligence and imagination and that he will not feel sorry for himself. At this point, he decides to write a book about his experience. Using the alphabet/eye blink method, he and the young woman who helps him, write the book. It becomes a best seller and is made into this movie. He dies of pneumonia 8 days after it is published.

Everyone in this movie is great. For parts of the movie we see life and the characters with him through his good eye. Sometimes the people with him forget he has limited range of vision and move out of his/our sight. We hear, throughout the movie, his voice conveying his thoughts and they are the kinds of thoughts you would expect a person in his condition to have. Angry and frustrated thoughts. Lonely and regretful thoughts.

Flashbacks are used to show his life prior to the stroke. Surreal sequences are shown to convey his imaginative thoughts. His ex-wife and children visit. Other visits tell us more about what kind of person he was. We watch his therapy sessions. All of this was carefully put together in such a way that it has a wonderful cohesiveness.

The movie was made in French and dubbed in English. This is not distracting, as it can sometimes be when it is not done well.

I found the movie to be very satisfying and sad, but not in a bad way. Here's the movie trailer.

Rating for

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Ghost Town

Watched rental movie at home

I was anticipating this movie simply because I really enjoyed Ricky Gervais in The Office and yes, he was good in this movie, but I felt he was not used to his best potential. He was funny, but not FUNNY. The material was at fault, in my opinion, as it did not provide him with enough FUNNY stuff. Nevertheless, he had his moments, albeit too few.

Tea Leoni and Greg Kinnear were both very good as a wife (Tea) and her recently deceased, philanderer husband (Greg). I have to say that Greg Kinnear does seem to play the typical nice, sometimes not nice guy very well and possibly too often. From the movies I have seen him in, I don't see that he plays any edgy roles, stays sort of in the middle of the acting field. However, he is very good and I suspect that one of these days he will get the role of his lifetime that will transform his acting image and probably result in an Oscar nomination.

The story was an original one - a funny "I see dead people". After a general anesthesia faux pas, he is able to see deceased people and communicate with them. They, in turn, want to take advantage of this unique situation by asking him to take care of unfinished business for them which he is loath to do. This sets the stage for his interaction with Greg Kinnear and Tea. It goes on from there as Ricky, who starts out as a dentist and a jerk of the highest level, is slowly changed into a person of goodness.

So, it's good, but not the greatest. If you want to see Greg Kinnear singing, Watch This. OK, so he's more versatile than I've given him credit for......

Rating For

GHOST TOWN

Valkyrie

The theatre was full for the latest matinee on a Saturday. However, we arrived early enough to get our favorite seats. These are on the top row at the the top of the stairs on either side of the theatre. We like these because we have leg room and because those kinds of people who like to kick the back of your seat are not able to sit behind us. That said, we still had to deal with the "Texting Teenagers" (TT's). The TT (a girl) sitting to my left finally got the message when I actually turned in my seat with my back to her so I wouldn't be distracted by the screen on her cell phone. I noticed that she finally put it away. It's a good thing or I might have had to grab it from her and toss it all the way down to the Exit sign by the theatre screen.

Anyway, about the movie. It was very good. Somber, as would be expected, but great performances. Tom Cruise was not spectacular, but he wasn't supposed to be as a disciplined German soldier. This brings me to the TT again that was sitting next to me with her other TT friends. Why were they at this movie? This was not a movie most teenagers would go to on a Saturday afternoon. The only thing I could figure out is that they hoped to swoon over Tom Cruise. However, Tom Cruise in a Nazi uniform, with a missing arm, missing fingers and a black patch over his eye isn't exactly "swoon material" in my book.

This was a movie where you know it's not going to end well for these guys. And it doesn't, of course. But, the events leading up to the doomed finale were very interesting. Based upon facts of which I was not aware, it tells the story of a fairly courageous group of German soldiers who plot to assassinate Hitler, one of 15 other assassination attempts according to a note at the end of the movie. They had consciences as opposed to the majority of other Germans. It is nice to know that someone wanted to stand up to the monster.

The costumes, the filming, the script and the acting were all first rate. Go see it but leave your TT home, please.

Rating for

VALKYRIE

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Viewed at our local theatre.

We liked it contrary to about half the people that reviewed it and some regular folks we talked to about it.

Brad Pitt gets the accolades here from the general reviewing popluation, but Cate Blanchett rules. She was stunning to look upon and achieved her usual high level of actressing. She pulled off some very real looking ballet moves too, I must add. Faune Chambers, who I've never heard of before this, played the black housekeeper that raises Benjamin after finding him on the doorstep. She did an excellent job. I just IMDB'd her and cannot believe what a babe she is - she was not looking like that in the movie, I can tell you.

The script, based upon the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, was intriguing enough to keep us engaged for it's lengthy 166 minutes. We were not bored. We liked the characters and wanted to see what happened to them. If there was anything I would have changed about it, it would be the switching between the hospital scenes where Cate Blanchett, as a dying, aged woman, reveals through her diary read by her daughter, the story of Benjamin Button. There were too many instances of the hospital/past story switches. Despite this, it was a good movie at which to while away a cold, snowy afternoon at the matinee with snacks we snuck in with us in my extra large leather Fossil handbag. (What can I say, we are on a limited budget....)

Rating for:

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Viewed at our local theatre.

We have the original version on DVD - it's awesome. Filmed in black and white. Black and white movies are good.

The current version is quite awful. After having read the "real" reviews online for this movie that were 98% bad, we still opted to go just in case the special effects were worth it. They weren't. We were especially dissapointed in Gort who was no where near as cool as the original. Gort, in the original, had a little personality, whereas Gort, in this movie, was probably totally computer generated - there was no flesh and blood person inside a suit. Somehow, although you never did see the person inside the original Gort suit, you knew he was there and it really did add something to the character. Really.

The storyline sucked. They "modernized" it and as a result, it lost something critical in the translaytion. The original was simple, this was way, way too complicated.

About our stars. I am quite at a loss on how Keanu Reeves keeps getting any movie roles - he hasn't had a good movie since the days of the Matrix. He didn't display great acting skills then and the same can be said for his performance in TDTESS. Suffice to say it was totally leaden (like lead, heavy, dull).

Ms. Jennifer Connelley Beware! It seems that you, although a good actress (you won an Oscar once, so you must be), have an agent who is not making sure you get roles that will give you the acclaim you no doubt desire. Did you actually read this script and decide it was Oscar material? If so, you guys need help in the script assessment department.

HOWEVER, I suspect, in the cases of both of these stars, that the big bucks were what made them make the movie although by now, I would imagine Keanu Reeves would be "on the sale rack", having not produced any great smashes at the box office for some time.

Will Smith's cute young son Jaden did a good job with crappy material. His character had a very convoluted parentage issue that was distracting from the beginning.

Kathy Bates was good - what can I say. She was practical, logical and good.

Rating for

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL