In the Dark – Then She Found Me

 Genre: Drama with some Comedy

 Tagline: Life can change in a heartbeat

 Ebert gave it: can’t seem to find if he gave it anything…then again this one came out a while ago…like in May

Why is it that it is so hard for women to direct, produce, and star in a movie? Clint Eastwood does it all the time and he is like a corpse (sorry I did like Million Dollar Baby). I think Helen Hunt proves women can do it all and don’t need to have a plastic face to do it.

Helen Hunt stars as (among other things) April, a middle aged school teacher finds herself alone after her husband (Matthew Broderick) leaves her, her adoptive mother dies and she is unable to have a child. Shortly after her biological mother (Bette Midler)pops into her life, sending everything even more off kilter that it was before. April also falls for one of her students’ fathers (Colin Firth). Just when life starts to look up she realizes she is pregnant…with her estranged husband’s baby…but she has found love elsewhere…and has really lost faith in everything else. 

In the Dark – Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Genre: Drama/Romance with a splash of wit

Tagline: Life is the ultimate work of art.

Ebert gave it: 3 stars

Woody Allen has done it again. Time after time he delivers great movies with interesting character, dialogue and plot lines which are narrated for us and played out by tremendous actors and this flick doesn’t fall short. 

Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johannson) take a trip to Barcelona together. Vicky is going to school for Catalan studies and Cristina needs to get away from her failing career as an actress. They stay with Cristina’s relatives Judy and Mark (Patricia Clarkson and Mark Nash) in a gorgeous house close to the sights. One night they attend an art show where a strapping man enters. Judy explains that he is an artist who has had a crazy and public relationship with another artist (Penelope Cruz) which ended with one of them trying to kill the other-all very US Weekly. Later at dinner the mysterious artist reveals himself, Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem). He invites the friends to go explore Ovieda, another Spanish city, and to explore the sexual tension he feels between the three of them.

In the Dark-The Wackness

 Genre: Dramedy

 Tagline: Sometimes it’s right to do the wrong things

 Ebert gave it: 3 stars

 Let’s get a few things straight. The 90s were cool (I wasn’t cool in the 90s because I was in my awkward puberty phase for some of it), Ben Kingsley is cool (and sexy), despite what some say, drugs are cool (low key drugs), new york is cool. Ok The Wackness won the Audience Award at Sundance, my friend, let’s call her Suzanne (because that’s her name) loved this film and recommended it to me. Lucky for me I have a theatre just a few bus stops away that plays great artsy, independent movies so I’m able to see this stuff whenever I want for $10 a pop. Which in the time of stupid people and bad movies is a deal.

 

The Wackness follows young (and moodily hot!) Luke Shapiro through his journey of leaving the safe confines of high school and entering a new world. He trades pot for therapy sessions with therapist Dr. Squires who refuses to give Shapiro any sort of drug remedy for the so call depression he is convinced he has. Instead he tells him that life won’t get better and you might as well just get laid. These therapy sessions also give Dr. Squires some well needed help with his life that is falling apart.

Move to Top-Life Before Her Eyes

If you like movies that make you think, that make you feel and that are beautifully filmed add Life Before Her Eyes to your queue on the movie mailing site of your choice. From the trailor you would never guess how this movie ends, or even what it’s exactly about. I loved it so much that I watched it once…read every blog post about it and then watched it again with directors commentary. Director Vadim Perelman does a great job explaining everything in the behind the scenes feature (He also directed House of Sand and Fog). With the twists and subtlety you would think he had secrets to hide like David Lynch, but everything is explained…and not in a condescending way. This movie is also based on the book with the same title I believe-haven’t read it yet. 

To recap: Go rent Life Before Her Eyes with Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood (I adore her!) and then let me know how you liked it!

In the Dark – Towelhead

Genre: drama/awkward 

Tagline: How can you find yourself if no one can see you.

Ebert gave it: 2 stars…NOT 2 thumbs up

I was tricked. I thought to myself a movie written by the guy who won an Oscar for writing a enthralling drama about a dad who is seduced by a high school cheerleader, who created my favorite tv show about a dysfunctional undertaking family, an actor who earned my respect far before Batman ever took to saving the streets of Gotham city-in fact who was a hot motorcycle boyfriend to savior Erin Brokovich (tho I didn’t know it until recently…it’s all in the eyes), and an actress who made me laugh in yet another dysfunctional family movie. Yes, Alan Ball, Aaron Eckhart and Toni Collette tricked me into see this movie.

Jesira (Summer Bishil) is sent away by her mother to live with her Lebanese father in Houston, TX after her mom’s boyfriend takes a liking to the 13 year old girl. Once under the strict rules of her daddy Jesira begins a journey into womanhood. The only person more clueless about what is happening is her father. Jesira’s doe eyed look and early boobs  make her the object of desire of her next door neighbor, Mr. Vuoso – an army dude who is waiting to be called up by Bush Sr. to go kill Hussein (remember what life was like before Jr. finished his daddy’s dream?)