DVD - Thank You for Smoking (B-)

Starring Aaron Eckhart, William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Katie Holmes (PBA), Sam Elliott, and J. K. Simmons.
Directed by Jason Reitman.

Rated R for pervasive language and for sexual situations

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Synopsis from the back of the box:

Aaron Eckhart stars as Nick Naylor, a sexy charismatic spin-doctor for Big Tobacco who'll fight to protect America's right to smoke -- even if it kills him -- while still remaining a role model for his 12-year old son. When he incurs the wrath of a senator (William H. Macy) bent on snuffing out cigarettes Nick's powers of "filtering the truth" will be put to the test.

I think the problem many people have with this film is that - unlike most moralizing Hollywood movies - it doesn't take a stand for or against smoking. While I think smoking is disgusting and practically crazy and I've lost count of the people I've known who died from it, I actually found this approach refreshing. It's essentially a cynical, amoral, libertarian satire on the American nanny state, corporate shills, and posturing politicians. In essence it boils down to this message: "Everyone's got a selfish reason for doing what they do and all information is skewed to the interests of the person providing it. Make up your own mind based on that. If you can."

Since I'm neither amoral nor very libertarian I was not thrilled with the main character (His motto: "If you argue correctly, then you're never wrong.") or the way he indoctrinated his son into believing "doing what you do best" is one's highest calling - even if it's for a horrible cause. But his blunt honesty appealed to my cynical side and was often quite amusing.

Based on the novel by Christopher Buckley.

Final score: B minus

Trailer:

DVD - 27 Dresses (C+)

Starring Katherine Heigl (PBA), James Marsden, Malin Akerman, Edward Burns, Judy Greer, Melora Hardin (PBA).
Written by Aline Brosh McKenna.
Directed by Anne Fletcher.

PG-13 for language and sexuality

Buy it

Plot description from the cover:

From the screenwriter of The Devil Wears Prada, 27 DRESSES centers on Jane (Emmy winner Katherine Heigl), an idealistic, romantic and completely selfless woman -- a perennial bridesmaid whose own happy ending is nowhere in sight. But when younger sister Tess captures the heart of Jane's boss - with whom she is secretly in love - Jane begins to reexamine her "always-a-bridesmaid..." lifestyle. Jane has always been good at taking care of others, but not so much in looking after herself. Her entire life has been about making people happy - and she has a closet full of 27 bridesmaid dresses to prove it. One memorable evening, Jane manages to shuttle between wedding receptions in Manhattan and Brooklyn, a feat witnessed by Kevin (James Marsden), a newspaper reporter who realizes that a story about this wedding junkie is his ticket off the newspaper's bridal beat. Jane finds Kevin's cynicism counter to everything she holds dear - namely weddings, and the two lock horns. Further complicating Jane's once perfectly-ordered life is the arrival of younger sister Tess (Malin Akerman). Tess immediately captures the heart of Jane's boss, George (Edward Burns). Tess enlists her always-accommodating sister to plan yet another wedding - Tess and George's - but Jane's feelings for him lead to shocking revelations - and maybe the beginning of a new life.

This is a by-the-numbers rom-com confection sprinkled with nothing but charming, good-looking, talented actors. No new ground is broken. In fact, (except for an openly vindictive moment for Heigl's character) the existing ground is paved over with a thick layer of sugary glaze and cordoned off with "Do Not Touch" signs.

But that's okay. There's no pretension of aspiration to high art or even to a cursory correlation with reality here. Just lightweight disposable entertainment. And it does that well. I'm just not sure that's worth an hour and forty-five minutes of my life.

Final score: C plus

Trailer:

DVD - The Savages (B+)

Starring Laura Linney (PBA), Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco
Written and Directed by Tamara Jenkins

R for language, mature themes, and sexuality

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Billed as a dark comedy, 'The Savages' is certainly not standard movie fare but I think it's a film that we're richer for having around. Many have tackled end-of-life issues before but very few have done it like this. It is an unsentimental, unapologetic, slice-of-life depiction of two middle aged siblings, Linney (in an Oscar-nominated turn) and Hoffman, managing the rapid mental deterioration and death of their estranged, abusive father and the process - physiological and logistical - that entails.

It averts its gaze from none of the practical and emotional issues met by everyone whose family members live so long. From scatological problems to the appalling reality of nursing homes to the pressures of guilt, it covers the bases. It does punctuate it with moments of humor and sprinkles knowingly wry observations of sibling dynamics throughout. But there are no saccharine reconciliations or dramatic changes of heart in the last act to pull the punches. Things just happen and the people react as we all do - with integrity and responsibility in some areas and utter cowardice and flakiness in others. And with many things left unsaid.

My only real nit to pick is a slight sense of self-indulgence in the characters' professions. Everyone but the father is in the theater (or wants to be). It leads to a bit of inside humor that took me out of the movie a few times. (If you know who Bertolt Brecht is, it could open up another level of Hoffman's character to you. He briefly summarizes Brecht's epic philosophy at one point.) But it's not a huge liability.

Linney and Hoffman are, of course, impeccable but I believe Philip Bosco, who plays the largely silent role of the father, deserves praise as well. He speaks volumes with exhausted eyes and resigned yet pained stillness.

Final score: B plus

Trailer:

DVD - Juno (A-)

Starring Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner (PBA), Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, and J.K. Simmons.
Written by Diablo Cody.
Directed by Jason Reitman.

PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content, language, and a disturbing image

Buy it

Easily one of the best films of 2007. Possibly the best. It's a very stylized but not entirely fantastic spin on some very uncomfortable and potentially taboo subjects and whips up thought-provoking and ultimately rather positive results.

I have a habit of assuming everyone has heard the basic premise of every movie I review simply because I keep abreast of upcoming releases. Sorry. Here's Juno's plot according to the back of the box:

Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) is a cool, confident teenager who takes a nine-month detour into adulthood when she's faced with an unplanned pregnancy - and sets out to find the perfect parents to adopt her baby. With the help of her charmingly unassuming boyfriend (Michael Cera), supportive dad (J.K Simmons) and no-nonsense stepmom (Allison Janney), Juno sets her sights on an affluent couple (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman) longing to adopt their first child.

There's something to chew on for those in all the generations depicted here. What is maturity? When do you need to grow up? What ways do you hide from it? Why do you want children? How do you do the right thing? And who's the right person to do it with? Everyone will get a jab of self-recognition at all the various stages in life. And apart from all that it's just plain funny, engaging, and touching. I didn't often find it a bust-a-gut, knee-slapping kind of funny but my face started hurting from smiling throughout the first half of the movie.

The performances are solid all around but Page owns the picture, playing Juno's wise-cracking bravado and her fear with equal skill. Her Oscar nomination was a no-brainer. There was a nearly-successful push for a Jennifer Garner supporting actress nom at the Golden Globes and that would also have done her thoughtful, conflicted work justice.

Let me say this: If you are put off by quick, sarcastic, graphic, pop culture-sprinkled dialogue, you may have difficulties enjoying Juno. It comes mostly from the main character and there's enough that some people my age couldn't listen to two lines of it without saying either "What? Huh? What is she talking about?" or "No child of mine will talk like that heathen!" They may want to watch Matlock instead.

Final score: A minus

Trailer:

TV - Bionic Woman premiere (B-)

Starring Michelle Ryan (Okay, I give in. She's a PBA), Miguel Ferrer, Katee Sackhoff

Now that the pilot has come and gone, how good was it?

First of all, it's manic. It essentially crams a two-hour movie into 43 minutes. The main character, Jamie Sommers, is introduced three minutes into the show, cajoles her sister, goes to work, gets proposed to, survives a devastating crash, is fitted with bionic parts, goes berserk, gets sedated, gets loose and is out on the street - all before the episode is half finished! It never stays in one place or on one emotion more than fifteen seconds.

Jamie spends about ten seconds (I timed it) dealing with the emotional impact of being turned into a cyborg without her consent - then goes back to tending bar. There's also a very serious, life-changing conversation between Jamie and her fiance during a car ride in the opening act that is obviously edited down to the bare bones. All reaction shots and pauses are cut out. It gives you the information you need and moves on. The editor is like Joe Friday with ADD. At any rate, it gives extremely short shrift to the characters.

Apart from that, I thought it still had great potential. Seriously! It has very high production values, good special effects (some very good), and passable acting by most parties. Michelle Ryan (Sommers) holds her own and does some good stunt work, all while keeping her American accent consistent. Keep in mind she's only 23. A pretty scary villain (the prototype bionic woman, who's gone mad) and a good fight sequence with her didn't hurt either. In fact, if they can spread the tension in that scene over more of the show, it could be very interesting indeed.

One thing that bothered me about that battle was a glaring violation of the "Show, don't tell" rule of drama. You should show actions that illustrate the characters' motives, not have them announcing their motives to each other outright. Give the audience credit. In this case the villain, Sara Corvus (played impeccably by scene-stealer Katee Sackhoff), comes right out and says she's gradually replacing her humanity with bionics because "I'm cutting away all the parts of me that are weak." Well, there goes a year's worth of symbolism down the tubes. I'm surprised Jamie didn't respond, "I have abandonment issues. So there!"

I realize it's an action show and they don't want it to get bogged down like Heroes did for a few months last year but I hope that once the audience is hooked the writers will slow down long enough to let these characters breathe. Give them some real back-story beyond having the bullet-point version read by someone in a suit (which is how we find out about most of Jamie's life!)

Watch it yourself at NBC.com.

Final score: B minus

DVD - Friday Night Lights: Season 1 (A-)

Starring Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton (PBA), Gaius Charles, Zach Gilford, Minka Kelly, Taylor Kitsch, Adrianne Palicki, Scott Porter, Aimee Teegarden

Arguably the best drama on network television. Why are you not watching it? It was - thankfully - renewed for a second season and will actually air on Friday nights this year beginning October 5.

That wasn't an automatic decision: Friday Night Lights has languished in its timeslot. To its credit, NBC really believes in this show. So much so that it has released this complete season DVD set at the unheard of price of $19.99 - with a money-back guarantee if you don't like it. They really want the word to spread and keep it afloat. I do, too.

Many fans of the show admit that they initially avoided it because they thought it was only about football. But it's not about football. It's about life. It's about high school anxieties, high-pressure jobs, modern-day parenting, the fragility of trust, preserving a marriage, conflicting priorities, sexual morality, physical disabilities, dysfunctional families, reaching out to the children of dysfunctional families and a million other things that pull us all in multiple directions at once. As in life, each time a character recovers from one blow another comes right behind it. Fortunately, things are balanced - as in life - with a healthy dash of perspective and humor.



Some parents will object to the fact that most of the older players are sexually active and drink frequently. Realistically, most junior and senior jocks ARE sexually active and drinking frequently. One kid is depicted as an alcoholic but the rest seem to suffer no consequences from their drinking. Sexually, there is no depiction of the act but there is some before and after imagery. There are plenty of emotional and relational consequences to their "hook-ups." And there are some frank, impassioned, positively-portrayed parental stands made on the subject. Of course, that doesn't mean the kids always listen. Here, mother Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) confronts her daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden) after spotting her boyfriend buying "protection" at the drugstore.



Britton was robbed of an Emmy nomination this year. Just so you know.

On quality points alone, I'd give this series a full-fledged A. But there is one element that bothers me. Two junior students (one guy and one gal, both the troubled black sheep of the show) have dalliances with adults. Neither story has a happy ending but they are not treated as particularly worse than any other liaison, either. It is not addressed on the show but technically it could all be legal since 17 is the age of consent in Texas. The actors playing the teens are 26 and 24, FYI. But it is still rather creepy.

Final score: A minus

News - 'Bionic Woman' sister recast, healed

Just read an article on the change of actresses and abilities for the role of Becca Sommers on Bionic Woman. She's no longer played by Mae Whitman and she's no longer deaf.

I am not happy about this, for two reasons.

First, could it be any more obvious that they are trying to up the hottie factor? They dropped a short, average-sized, cute-but-punk actress and replaced her with petite, pretty, former tween pop singer Lucy Hale.

And how many beautiful women do they need? Can't anyone on TV be simply average? Michelle Ryan (Jamie Sommers) is very pretty. She's also, in Hollywood parlance, "voluptuous." This means she actually looks like she eats three squares a day and fills out a C naturally. Is that their problem? A little insurance against people who find the bionic woman "fat"?

Secondly (and most egregiously), they took away Becca's deafness. They say it doesn't serve the plot anymore. Since when does deafness have to be a plot device?!?! Is Jamie Sommers' skin color a plot device? Can't she just have a deaf sister and know sign language without it being a special thing? Could they not just communicate that way and nothing be made of it? And if they felt compelled to have it be utilitarian, fine. Make Jamie insist that her bosses give her sister bionic hearing. Have her sister argue with her about the identity aspects of it. Just Google cochlear implants' divisive effect on the deaf community and you've got material for a month. It was not rocket science to think of that. Took me three seconds.

I am SO disappointed about this move. I was looking forward to seeing a disabled character with depth, who wasn't played as a saint and had a giant chip on her shoulder that wasn't related to her disability. Not gonna happen now.

I'll watch Bionic Woman for all the other reasons I said I wanted to earlier: Female empowerment; promising lead actress; great fight scene potential. But I'll be more skeptical about it. They'll have to impress me to keep me coming back. And Lucy Hale had be better be good.

Preview - Bionic Woman 2007 (A-)

Starring Michelle Ryan, Miguel Ferrer, Katee Sackhoff

I plan to preview a few shows from the upcoming TV season that I find interesting. So here's the first one. Be forewarned: This is a really extensive trailer that's essentially a 5-minute distillation of the pilot movie. So if you don't want the episode spoiled, skip past the clip!



This re-imagination of one of my favorite childhood shows, The Bionic Woman, looks pretty cool. It certainly has greatness potential. With what little I can see, Michelle Ryan seems to be doing a commendable job so far with a role that has tons of 1970s-pop-culture-icon baggage. The "realness" upgrades could easily trip her up in writing that makes her merely another angsty superchick but I truly hope this doesn't happen. And her American accent is darn good. Most Brits play it safe with a flat, generic accent but she's doing a regional one! I can't quite figure out which, though.

Sadly, solo female action heroes almost never bring in huge numbers on the big or small screen, regardless of the quality of the material. Buffy The Vampire Slayer, though it was popular for a WB show and a huge critical success, routinely came in the bottom 50 in the Nielsens. Alias (which struggled for all of its five years on a major network) opened with two of the best seasons of any show ever then fell into a funk of ratings-desperate plotting and schedule changes and limped to a closure that would not have been afforded most other shows. I'm afraid the same gender bias may hurt this show's chances as well. And that' what it is. Bias. If I took the same show with the same writing and production and reversed the genders, it'd be an instant hit. Please send our young women a better message than this. It's shameful.

NBC is either extremely confident about Bionic Woman or is taking a huge gamble, hoping it and the superhero-related Heroes will boost their ailing flagship network. It may perform better on a niche channel, though. We'll see.

Final trailer score: A minus

TV - Goodbye, Girls

After several months of coquettish avoidance, the CW network and the creative team behind the show have finally announced what has been obvious to the entire world for a painfully long time: Gilmore Girls will be no more after this season's finale.

Easily one of the ten best series of this century, the show has been in decline for the better part of 18 months due (in no small part) to the abrupt departure of its original creator, Amy Sherman Palladino. I don't mind them stopping before it gets too ugly. But it will be sorely, sorely missed.

The rapid-fire dialogue - fortified with seemingly limitless literary and pop culture references and rare, razor-sharp wit and sarcasm modeled after 1930s screwball comedies - gets all the glory and it IS what hooked us. But the loving yet hard-fought relationships between the slightly off-center characters also kept us coming back.

Gilmore Girls had something for everyone. There was just enough teen angst for the high school girls who hung on every twist and turn in young Rory's love life. The literate (e.g., namechecking Dorothy Parker and Robert Benchley) and nostalgic (70s and 80s references in every episode) quips and the confrontations between single mom Lorelai and her judgmental, controlling mother kept adults in stitches week after week.

Special kudos to actress Lauren Graham (PBA), who anchored the show both in humor and in drama and set the pace for all the other actors in delivering an hour's worth of dialogue in 43 minutes week after week. NO ONE else could ever be Lorelai Gilmore.

Here's a first season sampler. In less than two minutes they reference Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, Noah, Shaft, Charlie Brown specials, Richard Simmons, Barbara Hutton, the Menendez murders, The Waltons, Wonder Woman's invisible plane, gauchos, Flashdance, Annie Oakley, Elsa Klensch, Bob Barker, Oscar Levant, Howard Cosell, Mary Poppins tunes, Emily Post, the Iran-Contra scandal, Fawn Hall, Judy Blume, 50s monster movie titles, Nietzsche, Dawson's Creek, and The Odd Couple:



The Gilmore girls - Lorelai, Rory, and Emily - were a breath of fresh air for seven years. May their Friday night dinners go on forever!

Series Final Score:
Season 1 - A
Seasons 2 & 3 - A plus
Seasons 4 & 5 - A
Season 6 - B
Season 7 - B minus

DVD - The Devil Wears Prada (B–)

Starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway (PBA), Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, Adrian Grenier
Directed by David Frankel
PG-13 for some sensuality, adult themes, profanity
Buy it

To begin with, this film is billed as a "wicked" comedy but I found no laughs in it. Maybe two or three mild chuckles. All the telegraphed moments that were intended to be comedy were glaringly unoriginal. Virtually every demeaning thing Meryl Streep's character does to Anne Hathaway's has been done in at least two dozen movies in the past 25 years. Only the specifics have been updated. This one simply has the world's greatest actress doing them.

Hathaway was cast because she's not only talented but also gorgeous and not emaciated. She is instantly likeable. Adrian Grenier is bland window-dressing as Hathaway's love interest. Chronic upstager Stanley Tucci is an actor I often can't appreciate but his under-the-top, small doses here keep him from being a liability. Streep is ... Streep! Her deft touch and perfect subtlety keep her absurd character in the realm of possibility. My biggest complaint is that her character's unsubtle hair is distractingly reminiscent of Glenn Close's Cruella Deville in Disney's "101 Dalmatians."

The entertaining and engaging parts primarily involve life lessons from the moral ambiguity that rears it head for Hathaway's character. However its lessons are contradictory and all over the map. Much of it is trite and all of it could have been done in a decent LifeTime movie but Streep and Hathaway bring it a level difficult to find on TV. And Hathaway's Andy ends up in a pretty questionable "happy ending" that belies her independence.

The film tries it hand at subtle apologetics for the high fashion industry. Even though I didn't buy it, a few of them were food for thought. And it's neat to hear Streep wrap attitude around the word "cerulean."

Final score: B minus

DVD - Click (D and B–)

Starring Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale (PBA), Christopher Walken, Henry Winkler
Directed by Frank Coraci
PG-13 for crude, scatalogical, and arrested sexual humor, profanity, child profanity, and drug references
Buy it

Full disclosure: I cannot stand Adam Sandler. He is the black hole of humor. Any idea remotely resembling funny that approaches his vicinity is sucked down into neverending annhilation at the hands of fart gags, monotonous rhyming, and nicknames for male parts.

Moving on ...

A harried workaholic Michael Newman (Adam Sandler) doesn't have time for his wife (Kate Beckinsale) and children not if he's to impress his ungrateful boss and earn a well-deserved promotion. So when he meets Morty (Christopher Walken) a loopy sales clerk he gets the answer to his prayers: a magical remote that allows him to bypass life's little distractions. But as Michael gleefully mutes skips and scans past his family and his friends the remote gradually takes over his life and begins to program him.

You'll notice I've given it two grades. That's because it's like two different movies spliced together.

The first movie is like a live-action Disney flick written by the Farrelly Brothers. The acting, plot, dialogue, music, and direction - even the photography - mimic stuff pitched to a 8-year-old's level. But it's packed with a fratboy's sense of humor. Farts, bimbos, and humping dogs rejoice.

The second movie is like a protracted 'Twilight Zone' episode ... written by the Farrelly Brothers. The upside of this segment is that it actually begins to explore the metaphor that Sandler's universal remote represents. As Sandler rockets through the second half of his life, it takes an emotional and visual dark downward spiral into regret and pathos that may actually read your mail and jerk a tear or two. The downside is that there isn't enough character development in the first movie to earn the tears this second movie wants to jerk out of you. It has to rely solely on the viewer projecting him/herself onto the screen, which means only part of the audience will get it.

Though Oscar-nominated, the aging and fatsuit make-up work created by the legendary Rick Baker is excellent but not quite up to his past work. And Kate Beckinsale seems to age at half the rate of everyone else. But those are quibbles.

There is a moment that I particularly appreciate, even though it takes you out of the film. Christopher Walken's character states the first comment most people have upon seeing the trailer: How in the heck did a schlub like Sandler end up married to a raving beauty like Beckinsale?

Final score: First part, D. Second, B minus

DVD - Junebug (B+)

Starring Embeth Davidtz, Alessandro Nivolo, Amy Adams (PBA), Celia Weston, Ben McKenzie
Written and Directed by Phil Morrison
R for sexual content, explicit paintings, and language
Buy it

While this film is sometimes uneven in its pacing and priorities and often quirky and crude simply for its own sake, on the whole it was well worth the investment of time and effort to watch it. It was certainly one of the better films of 2005 and, as has been stated many times here, Amy Adams' Best Supporting Actress nomination was richly deserved. In fact, she was flat-out robbed in not winning.

If you've ever spent an unexpectedly protracted time in a family member's home (where every routine is backward to yours, personal tensions are kept just out of your sight with varying degrees of success, politeness has different definitions and contexts, and even the sounds and smells are foreign) the stylistic approach of 'Junebug' will give you a nearly claustrophobic sense of deja vu.

Some of the themes presented here are well-worn: "All regional cultures have good and bad in them," "Do you really know the people closest to you?" "Dysfunction is a distorted mask worn by thwarted attempts at showing love," and "Why doesn't anyone say what they're really feeling?" But the realism with which it is occasionally portrayed in 'Junebug' hits awfully close to home.

Amy Adams walked an extremely fine line with amazing ability here. The relentlessly dogged positivity and adorability of her character was designed to be comic, admirable, tragic, and unwittingly profound but could easily have veered into an unbelievably cartoony pathos. Judging from the clips of Adams' audition, she had just the right touch mapped out from day one. I can't imagine anyone else playing her this perfectly. My test for her performance was, "Is this realistic? Have I actually met people like her?" I have.

I am an 8th generation Southerner. Some Southerners see Adams' character as a stereotype. Is she? She could be interpreted as one. If you see her as just a dumb, sweet hick, then she is a stereotype to you. But I saw a voraciously curious, idealistic, restless, compassionate young woman who felt absolutely trapped in a home that didn't reward such things and who adapted the only way she knew how - gathering obscure knowledge like manna and always holding out hope, no matter the evidence to the contrary. She was inundated with negativity from every angle, every day and you could see her mentally trying to ignore the gunk thrown on her rose-colored glasses at the beginning of each sentence she spoke. I thought it was terribly true to life.

Final score: B plus