No Reservations

One of my passions is to a) Bake; b) Cook. That is why the Food Network is on my small list of favorite channels. I love watching chefs whip up tantalizing entrees and exquisite desserts, and then trying a few of those recipes to make them my own. So I was delighted when the film No Reservations was released. What could be better? A romantic comedy where gourmet food is practically a character.

Kate (Catherine Zeta-Jones) has suddenly become responsible for her young niece Zoe (Abigail Breslin) after their sister/mother dies. While she is attempting to adjust to her new role with Zoe, Nick (Aaron Eckhart) is hired as a chef in the restaurant where Kate has long been the head chef ruling the kitchen with discipline and structure. Initially Nick seems to be her opposite, but what they share in common is their love of food. Zoe quickly warms up to the effervescent Nick, and Kate starts to fall for him too.

Zoe struggling with having lost her mother makes this film more of a drama than what I expected. Abigail Breslin’s performance makes our hearts ache for Zoe as she slowly comes to terms with the turn of events that has changed her life. You may remember Abigail from her role in Little Miss Sunshine for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress. She is growing into a fine young actor the likes of which we haven’t seen since Anna Paquin.

As in all romantic comedies (as in life itself), the path to love is never a straight line, and we are kept guessing about Kate and Nick until the end. Aaron Eckhart is appealing and it’s not difficult to see why Kate is attracted to the opera singing, Italian chef. The food does play front and center in many scenes. It’s nourishment, not just for our physical bodies, but also for our souls. The communal table where the waiters and chefs eat and practice their litanies of the ingredients of each new dish of the day, the makeshift tent where Zoe, Nick and Kate eat homemade pizza, the crowded café where friends meet for breakfast, provide more than just food, they bring a sense of belonging to a world where people can grow increasingly isolated and distant if they’re not careful.

Anyone who likes a film that goes deep into the characters and what they’re experiencing will like this one. And if you prefer a sit down restaurant where the food is cooked after you order it instead of before you arrive at the drive through, you will like this film. See it with No Reservations.

The Queen

The Queen has been nominated for six Academy Awards (including Best Picture). With those kinds of accolades, I decided to go see it. Although it won’t ever be on my best movies of all time list, I was intrigued as the story unfolded. The film stars Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth and James Cromwell as Prince Philip.

I remember well my circumstances at the time I discovered that Lady Diana had died. I was shocked and angry at the paparazzi that surely contributed to the fatal accident. I had never been one to follow Diana’s activities with the zealous interest of a fan, and yet I certainly had heard enough about her in recent years to mourn the loss of this special woman.

The Queen examines the week following Diana’s death from the perspective of the “royal” family and that of recently elected Prime Minister Tony Blair. The queen’s reluctance to acknowledge Diana’s death publicly was a mistake she made and was severely criticized for. Some of what is depicted is surely the result of writers/filmmakers creative imagination, but it all serves to make a point about Diana’s tragic death. I appreciated the film as one who is not all that familiar with the British monarchy and England’s strange obeisance to a centuries old tradition of honoring this genealogical line. I came away having gained some insight into the tradition that uses God’s will as a reason for this family’s privilege.

The scenery shown as the royal family goes stalking (our equivalent of hunting) in the week following Diana’s death is stark, yet beautiful. It is an England I had not seen portrayed before: 40,000 mountainous and mostly treeless acres belonging to the royal family. I’m having a difficult time coming up with other positive things to say about this film. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t deserve any of the awards it has been nominated for. Perhaps it received the nominations because of its subject matter. There have certainly been better films that were released this year. Even though I don’t think it should win the awards, it was still an interesting movie.

Dreamgirls

If you enjoy musicals, you will enjoy Dreamgirls. Based on the Broadway musical of the same name, it boasts a fine cast of actors and singers. The film is nominated for Best Motion Picture-Comedy or Musical at this year’s Golden Globe Awards. There are other film musicals I liked more overall (Chicago comes to mind), but this film has something Chicago never delivered: a really great singer. You may remember Jennifer Hudson from the 3rd season of American Idol. She didn’t even make it to the top two, but beat out winner Fantasia Barrino for the coveted role of Effie in Dreamgirls. She proves that one need not win the title of American Idol to go on to have a lustrous career.

The story follows the lives and dreams of a Supremes-like girl group. The turbulent 60’s with civil rights front and center, and later the 70’s with the movement toward disco are the backdrop for the action. Beyonce Knowles as Deena Jones, Anika Noni Rose as Lorrell Robinson, and Jennifer Hudson as Effie White, are the three young women with dreams of stardom. Effie’s brother C.C. (Keith Robinson) is a songwriter, and the four meet a manager, Curtis Taylor (Jamie Foxx), and the singer James “Thunder” Early (Eddie Murphy), as they navigate the world of entertainment and recording. Danny Glover and Loretta Devine are also featured.

Eddie Murphy received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance in a Supporting Role. I recalled that he had released a single or album in the 80’s (My Girl Wants to Party All the Time) and his performance on stage is fun to watch. It is puzzling that Beyonce Knowles netted a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance in a Comedy or Musical, while Jennifer Hudson was relegated to a nomination for Best Performance in a Supporting Role. From the beginning of the film, it is Jennifer as Effie who steals our attention, not Beyonce. It is Effie’s story, and Jennifer is definitely the better singer, and the one who will be remembered. Her voice is extraordinary, and although I hate to compare her with the other queens of soul, she is up there with the ranks of Aretha and Billie.

I overheard someone say they did not wish to see Dreamgirls as it would be depressing. This person went on to say she had heard the film was based on the Supremes, and thus thought it would be a sad ending. I was happy to discover it did not have a sad ending. It doesn’t stick strictly to the Supremes story, and is the better for it. It is in the end, a story of redemption for the good people in the film. I laughed, shed a tear, enjoyed every minute, and left the theatre feeling great.

The film is rated PG-13 for language, some sexuality and drug content. Bill Condon, who had a hand in writing the screenplay for Chicago, directed. Whereas Chicago is for me about the incredible dance numbers, Dreamgirls is all about the music. See it on the big screen.

Heart of the Beholder

Heart of the Beholder is based on the true story of Mike and Diane Howard, video storeowners in St. Louis in the 1980’s. All is going along well for them until 1988 when The Last Temptation of Christ is released. The Howard’s refuse to pull the video from their shelves, and are targeted for financial ruin by a fanatical religious group, the Citizens For Decency. The group has blackmailed the Prosecuting Attorney to file obscenity charges against the Howard’s for carrying X-rated videos, a move supremely ironic since the Prosecuting Attorney frequents prostitutes. The case is taken to trial, but that is not the end of the difficulties for the Howard’s. Mike becomes very depressed and nearly throws his life away before bouncing back and strategizing a way to bring down the Prosecuting Attorney.

Early on in the film, a comment is made that not all Christians are like these fanatical groups who bomb family planning clinics and ban books. And that is important to remember. However, groups like the Citizens For Decency are still very vocal in their attempts to regulate other people’s lives, often in extreme and violent ways. Their members are damaged, vulnerable people who have found their way into the group, desperate to have a place to belong.

One such person depicted in this film was played by Silas Weir Mitchell as Lester, a mentally ill man easily influenced to commit crimes ranging from arson to intimidation and near kidnapping of a child. I recognized Mr. Mitchell from his playing an equally psycho young man in last season’s hit sitcom My Name is Earl, and his performance is outstanding.

This story is so incredible, I wondered how much was cooked up to make the story thrilling in a Hollywood storytelling way, and how much was truly factual. I found myself shaking my head in disbelief, such as when the movie Splash is presented as a target for banning, because their “rationale” was so ridiculous. But those who ban books and films are not rational. Since I am a lover of story and film and its potential to enlighten, educate and entertain, I feel that we should all protest censorship. It is up to individuals to decide, based on reviews such as mine, whether a film is something they want to watch or not, and leave everyone else to decide for themselves as well.

Heart of the Beholder is an entertaining and engrossing film. I liked the opening sequences as we follow the mighty Mississippi to its banks in St. Louis, but it soon has a made-for-TV movie feel to it. It is still worth renting or buying the DVD as this is a fascinating story that echoes the present as extremist groups still attempt to regulate how people should think and behave in our country today.

Slumber Party

I remember hearing about a slumber party my older sister had where some boys allegedly snuck some beer into their tent that was pitched out under the trees in the orchard. The rest of the details of that night are unknown to me, but Slumber Party, a funny little film I was treated to recently, shows just what lengths a group of guys will go to crash a girls only night.

This is the first film written, produced and directed by Jazmine Bizzoco, Crystal Burdette, and Venice Ventresca. It is not rated, but in my judgment it is probably around a PG-13. I think it is amazing that a group of women in their twenties could pull off a production like this. Its humor reminded me vaguely of Booty Call, a very funny R rated film with Jamie Foxx and Tommy Davidson chasing around two women for you can guess what.

In Slumber Party, four friends go to Palm Springs to help one of them house sit. They deem their weekend as No Boys Allowed. A neighbor, Rufus, sees an opportunity has landed in his neighborhood, and he calls a couple of friends to come crash the party. This is where it gets really funny. I have to give these three writers credit for coming up with some very funny scenes of the guys’ journey to get to the party, and what they do to try to enter the house. Will the guys be successful and gain entrance to the slumber party? I’m not going to give it away.

The only thing that really kind of bothered me was the language. Do people in South Central LA really talk to one another like that? I’ll have to trust the filmmakers that it is realistic. I really can’t say living in the middle of New Mexico. The film is available on DVD only. There were parts that really had me laughing out loud. If you just want to experience something different and light for pure entertainment, give Slumber Party a try.

Lady in the Water

M. Night Shyamalan has written and directed yet another fine film. I have been a fan of his ever since The Sixth Sense, and have carried my admiration for his work through viewing Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village. His most recent work, Lady in the Water, proved to be a complex and ambitious film.

Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) is the stuttering maintenance man/superintendent at The Cove, an apartment complex with a unique swimming pool that leads to the Blue World. Cleveland discovers Story (Bryce Dallas Howard) swimming in the pool one night after hours. Story however is from a fairy tale, and has a purpose to fulfill for the benefit of mankind. A Chinese woman in the building slowly reveals to Cleveland the archetypal tale Story inhabits, and he tries to piece together the clues to deliver a happy ending. To finish the tale he enlists the help of a group of diverse residents in the building. That in itself was the part of the movie that was difficult to believe, that these residents would help him and not simply think him crazy, but this is a fantasy after all, and suspension of disbelief is required here.

The film is shot in a Rear Window like fashion (Alfred Hitchcock is one of Shyamalan’s favorite directors; mine too). Shyamalan himself has a more than cameo acting role in his film this time around as Vick, a young writer with a manuscript that will eventually help change the world. This role Shyamalan has chosen to play seems a bit of a grandiose choice, but he is a brilliant filmmaker after all and everything Vick learns about his writing could be applied to Shyamalan’s own works as well. For who among us really knows the impact our life’s work can have on future generations?

If I could distill the subject of this film into one word, it would be purpose. The mystery that is our world is looked at through the eyes of the residents of The Cove who are trying to figure out their purpose in life the same as any of us are doing in our own lives. This I think is what made Lady in the Water so appealing to me. Shyamalan attempted to tell an archetypal tale to inspire us to think about life, and anyone who likes to go to a film to have their mind challenged and stimulated would appreciate his attempt. I liked how I felt when I left the movie that even if I don’t know what exactly my contributions through my work and life have accomplished, they may be part of a process that helps the planet evolve.

The film is rated PG-13 for some frightening sequences (the world Story comes from has some truly scary creatures in it). If you haven’t seen Shyamalan’s other films, I recommend them all. You can easily rent them from Netflix (see link on this site).

The First Wives Club

The grande dames of Hollywood, Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton, star in The First Wives Club. With divorce in the United States running at 50% or more of all marriages, the fate of the women in this film is not unlikely. What they perpetuate after each of their marriages fail is.

The three were college girlfriends along with another woman, Cynthia Swann Griffin, who is so convincingly played by Stockard Channing in about two minutes of screen time, that the memory of her is indelibly imprinted on our minds just as it is for our three heroines, shocked by her death. The three reunited friends find they all have in common husbands who left each of them for younger women.

Elise (Goldie Hawn) is an award-winning actress with a drinking problem rivaled only by her need for plastic surgery. Annie (Diane Keaton) is separated from her husband, a self-involved businessman and philanderer. Brenda (Bette Midler) has a husband who is going through his second adolescence with younger Shelly (Sarah Jessica Parker) accompanying him. Grieving over the loss of their friend, they decide to join forces to get even with their ex’s. I really like the camaraderie between Annie, Elise, and Brenda, and how they help each other grow. Three heads are better than one.

I find it ironic and very sad that Olivia Goldsmith, the author of The First Wives Club (the book upon which the screenplay was based), died from complications of anesthesia during plastic surgery (I believe she was having liposuction underneath her chin). Is that the risk modern day women will have to take to stay appealing to men? Every woman I’ve talked to who’s seen this film loves it because even if they weren’t dumped for another woman, they know men who are like these husbands, and also know firsthand the attitude our culture perpetuates about youth and beauty which is so detrimental to women’s self-esteem. I recommend you see this film with your closest female friends. This is a very funny movie (rated PG), one that women will relate to, and during which men should be embarrassed as it shows the men here as completely pathetic creatures.

The outcome of The First Wives Club is so satisfying, and the actors’ performances really shine through the witty dialogue and physical comedy. It’s really a film classic for all time. Who hasn’t dreamed of getting even? Here is your chance to live vicariously through the antics of Annie, Elise, and Brenda, along with the help of a gay decorator (Bronson Pinchot), and socialite (Maggie Smith). The film also stars Marcia Gay Harden, Dan Hedaya, Victor Garber, and Elizabeth Berkley among others, and won the National Board of Review award for Best Acting by an Ensemble that year. Sarah Jessica Parker is svelte and beautiful in this pre-Sex and the City role, and Heather Locklear true to form as the woman who helped send Cynthia over the edge. Don’t give up-Get Even!