Movie Slut Reviews

One For The Money: Plum Pointless

2012-01-29T14:56:00.001-08:00

Author Janet Evanovich has legions of loyal readers who adore her flacky, messy, over-eating, wise-cracking, bounty hunting protagonist Stephanie Plum. These fans will adore this first of probably many Evanovich movies.
So, what if you're not a Plum fancier?
Luckily, eminently likable Katherine Heigl brings a spark to the lead character and great-to-look at Jason O'Mara provides the delightful steam heat in or out of the shower.

Haywire: She's Off The Grid

2012-01-26T13:45:00.000-08:00

Don't mess with Mallory. She leaps like a gazlle, runs like a panther, fights like Jackie Chan, shoots like Annie Oakly, drives like Dale Inman and loves like a woman.

But don't tell that to double crossers Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Bill Paxton, Michael Fassbinder, Antonio Banderas, and, maybe Michael Douglas. She gets the better of every one of them and she does it with style.

Don't see this movie for the plot. It's nonsensical at best.

See it — and the Movie Slut thinks there's always a reason to see a movie — for the exquisitely choreographed and vibrantly scored fight and flight scenes. Mallory is played by martial arts whiz Gina Carano, a Thai MMA specialist (whatever that is) and she's got the moves.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

2012-01-21T16:18:00.001-08:00

Oskar Schell is not one of those prototypical precocious Hollywood brats whose simple wisdom teaches adults how to smooth out they're messy lives.
You can thank the Lord for that.
Oskar is as idiosyncratic as they come, a tangle of fears and confusions, obsessions and compulsions. He can't leave home without his juice container and a tambourine to soothe his jangled nerves.
He's also smart, eager and experiences the world in his uniquely fascinating way.
Watching him weave through life is what makes this film a joy, and that's in large part due to the brilliant performance by young Thomas Horn.
Now, the bad part.
Oskar's dad was in the Twin Towers on 9/11 and the boy is pretty sure he was one of those people floating through the sky after the terrorists' planes blew a whole through so many hearts.
The movie recounts Oskar's journey after his father's death.
"Extremely...Incredibly" is based on a 2005 book by Jonathan Safran Foer and the Movie Slut can't speak about that. But she wishes the movie wasn't a fictionalized account of the aftermath of that horrendous day. The tragedy is all too real, the thousands of true stories all too agonizing. Maybe, ten year later, it's still too soon.
Oskar's story is intense and moving. Still, it doesn't feel quite right when it's attached to that infamous event.

Contraband: A work of Art

2012-01-16T14:38:00.000-08:00

Here's a movie for hardcore Mark Wahlberg fans, folks who are into alpha males with gorilla tendencies, who think a sentence must begin with an F-bomb, and don't mind suspending with globs of disbelief.

Gritty, dark and ugly, the cinematography has a certain interest and appeal. Hey, this is the world our bad-turned-good-turned-bad guy hangs in.

So why does the movie slut call this film a work of art?
You'll have to watch the flick clear to the end for this colorful surprise. (Hint. Hint.) This, plus the rousing end-credit music, makes it worthwhile for soft-core Wahlberg fans to see this flick.

The Iron Lady: A Woman Among Men

2012-01-15T07:06:00.000-08:00

The brilliance of this new biopic about the rise and fall of Britain's only female prime minister is not how astonishingly Meryl Streep channels Margaret Thatcher. It's the way Streep disappears and Thatcher becomes the star of this riveting drama about the accomplishments and ambitions of a duty-driven grocer's daughter.

The film does an excellent job of revealing her parental influences. The positive — her passionate father trying to improve the lives of working people, and the negative — her mousy mother scurrying around the kitchen.

Sometimes better than others, the movie takes viewers back to the historical events that defined Thatcher's 11-year tenure, from 1979 to 1990. And we're privy to her decisions, reactions and the growing inflexibility that brought her down.

The Movie Slut may not agree with the Iron Lady's ideology, but she cheers her right to express those ideas right up there with the most powerful men of her time.

She was a trail blazer, a true feminist in the real sense of the word. And MS applauds her for that.

"I owe nothing to Women's Lib," Thatcher once said.
How true. It is Women's Lib that owes Margaret Thatcher.

Joyful Noise: Glorious Gospel

2012-01-14T10:16:00.000-08:00

It's all about the music. That's the reason to see this otherwise lackluster flick. Not the predictable plot, or the cookie-cutter characters, or the insipid insights.
Still, there is one other reasons why you might fall in love with "Joyful Noise."
Call it the Likability Factor. Few actors today are as endearing as Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah.
You can even forgive them lines like:

Dolly: I am who I am.
Queen: Maybe you were five procedures ago.
Dolly: God didn't make plastic surgeons so they can starve to death.

Love ya Dolly and back at you QL.
Thanks for the music.

Pina: The Undoc

2012-01-08T06:58:00.001-08:00

Ah dance! The Movie Slut thought she could never get enough of it. Until now.

"Pina," an anti-documentary documentary, does exactly what MS always says a doc should do: Show us the subject's art, music, whatever, and puh-leze stop with the talking heads.

Beware of what you ask for.

Here we have a film about Pina Bausch, the German dancer and choreographer who died in 2009, and if it weren't for Google, we would still be blissfully ignorant of these facts.

Pina was an avant garde choreographer - also not stated in the movie - whose work was jarring and emotional and cerebral. It was about life and death and all that fits between. And her work could be funny and whimsical, too.

Alas. This movie is only for the most hardcore dance aficionados. Although with a some judicious editing (Did we really have to see every dance she created?) it would have a more universal appeal.
Too bad. Pina deserved better than an arid academic study of her art.

Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy: There's a mole among us

2012-01-07T06:37:00.000-08:00

This mirror image of Gary Oldman as British super-spy George Smiley is the Movie Slut's favorite moment in TTSS. It's not only visually arresting, but it also asks the question: Is he the double agent at the heart of this retro thriller?

It seems a mole has infiltrated the highest ranks of the British Secret Service. In fact, that nugget of information is repeated so often that when the gorgeous gal spy, Irina, turns up with a — you guessed it — mole beside her perfect lips, you can't help but wonder. (Or laugh.)

What you begin wondering depends on your tolerance for grainy cinematography, a cast of look alike pasty white guys, and a plot that revolves around the Red Menace.

The story unfolds in 1973 (when the cold war was still hot), a year before John le Carré wrote the novel of the same name. The secret service, and most other institutions on both sides of the pond, were good old boys clubs. Another favorite TTSS moment reveals a wall graffitied with the message, "The Future is Female."

Your enjoyment of this alleged thriller will depend on your tolerance for returning to that past.

The Adventures of Tintin: Boy Reporter comes to Hollywood

2012-01-03T15:41:00.000-08:00

Who knew? The boy reporter has been around since 1929 when Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi took him on his first adventure.
Maybe the Movie Slut was too busy reading Nancy Drew when she would have been into cub reporters. But now she's caught up with the intrepid chaser of stories. And hopes his box office receipts warrant a sequel.
"Tintin" is two movies rolled into one. A charming arch comedy when the lad is at home in London and a hyper action flick when he's battling evil-doers.
The result is more than a sum of its parts. It's a movie to be enjoyed by grownups, who aren't too old for cartoons, and kids, who aren't too young for a global romp.

Stay tuned for her review.

The Artist: Silence Please

2011-12-30T14:34:00.001-08:00

"The Artist" is to a Hollywood blockbuster as a Laura Ashley pinafore is to a Versace gown.

The big screen doesn't light up with pyrotechnics. There are no car chases. And nothing flies off the screen threatening to pierce you between the eyes.

You won't hear any chit-chat either because this is a silent movie.

The consensus in the ladies room after the film was that "The Artist" was "boring."
"I kept nodding off," one woman complained.
"I wish I did," another groused.

The Movie Slut, however, adored this flick. It was an old-time silent movie with the improvements of modern-day technology. If you've never seen a pre-talkie, as the women in the ladies room confessed, you might agree with them. But if you've enjoyed this old-time entertainment in the past, say on Turner Classic Movies, you'll find "The Artist" a treat.

A Dangerous Method: Talk Isn't Cheap

2011-12-29T13:23:00.000-08:00

Way back when psychoanalysis was born, Sigmund Freud had chosen the young Swiss doctor, Karl Jung, to be his heir apparent. But they drifted apart. It seems Jung didn't believe that all human neuroses were about sex.

Clearly, he didn't see this movie.

"A Dangerous Method," which doesn't seem that dangerous (but more about that later), is all about sex. Oh the sex, sex, sex, sex, sex. Good sex. Boring sex. Pervy sex, gratuitous sex and lots and lots of talk about sex. And yet, somehow this flick isn't sexy at all.

The plot revolves around a young woman, Sabina Spielrein (over-acted by Keira Knightly), who suffers from hysteria. She becomes Jung's patient, and then his mistress.

Sabina was treated with the Talking Cure — when she wasn't shtupping her shrink. And she was restored to a highly functioning woman who became a psychoanalyst herself.

Luckily, those were the days before physicians prescribed drugs instead of talking to their patients. (Much cheaper and less time-consuming than actually listening to them.) Sabina had to face her problems instead of popping pills to numb her feelings and mask her symptoms. Now, that's really the dangerous method.

War Horse: A Very Human Story

2011-12-28T13:58:00.000-08:00

You've got to love a movie with end credits that include a goose trainer and an equine makeup artist. But those are lesser reasons to adore this Steven Spielberg epic drama about love and human kindness exhibited by people even in the most dire circumstances.

And how welcome that message is at a time when our species is constantly being told how greedy, worthless and corrupt we all are.

That the most wonderful of human traits is revealed in a story about a horse — well — does it really matter how the tale is told? Some say this movie is about the bond between man and beast. But the humanity exhibited by the characters in this sweeping saga seems to say more about our fundamental humanity.

Joey, the horse, is no ordinary creature. But the adoration heaped on him by the people who weave through his life is even more extraordinary.

He's trained and learns to plow by a Devon lad who worships him. A young French girl teaches him to jump. (Both these skills save him from imminent death.) And in the movie's defining scene, an English and a German soldier on the front lines during WWI, come together and risk their lives to save his.

Now what do you think? Is this a movie about horse or human?

If you haven't seen this movie, do so asap and let the Movie Slut know what you think.

We Bought a Zoo: Don't we all?

2011-12-23T14:09:00.001-08:00

Life is an adventure. And to thrive you need 20 seconds of insane courage. That's the message of this surprisingly excellent family movie. Change that to 20 minutes of insane courage every day and the Movie Slut is willing to buy into the idea.

Sorry, right-wing conservatives, you no longer have a stranglehold on family values. Matt Damon, the consummate Hollywood insider, now wears that crown.

"Zoo" could have been a cloying, shmaltsy, sappy flick about a widower (Damon) with two children and a wicked case of crushing grief. He's a newspaper reporter. Not a happy job to have these days. (Thanks very much Internet.) But that was before he bought the zoo.

And so he takes the path less traveled and finds himself emerging, ever so slowly, from the loss of his beloved wife.

This is not rocket science. Neither is it simplistic. It's a flick filled with emotional truth and love.

No animals were harmed during the filming of this movie. And no humans will be harmed by watching it.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

2011-12-22T06:24:00.001-08:00

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Your mission, loyal reader — if you choose to accept it — is to enjoy this movie without thinking about Tom Cruise, his spiritual beliefs, his antic couch jumping, his anti-psychiatry rant. This flick is about Ethan Hunt, daredevil IMF agent and indestructible, unstoppable, indomitable good guy. And his mission — which he chooses to accept, of course — is nothing short of saving our planet from a global!!! nuclear!!! attack!!!!!

And that means zooming around the planet from Moscow, where he breaks out of prison, to Budapest, to Dubai, where he scales the world's tallest building, to Mumbai, and finally to San Francisco for about three minutes of downtime, where we learn there will definitely be a fifth "MI"movie.

Oh Goody. One can never get enough of fiery explosions, cool electronic gadgets, sexy chicks, studly hunks and diabolical evil-doers.

Extreme action is what this flick is about and the Movie Slut says, "Bring it on."

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

2011-12-18T06:41:00.001-08:00

The deerskin hat is gone. And so are the violin, the cocaine and the unbearable boredom. But we've got the pipe, the disguises and the ingenious powers of deduction. We also meet his one true love, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdmas), his archenemy, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), his eccentric brother Mycroft (Stephen Fry), and of course, his loyal sidekick, Dr. Watson (Jude Law).

Some say Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is rolling over in his grave now that Robert Downey Jr. is back as Sherlock Holmes. But the Movie Slut thinks he's sitting bolt straight, laughing his head off.

Doyle wrote his first Holmes mystery more than 125 years ago. And although the stories and writing hold up to this day (the MS has read every story and novel), it's more than likely that the detective would have changed after all these years.

This new Holmes is a manic sort. He dashes around the foggy streets of London, the raucous alleys of Paris and the snowy mountains of Switzerland.

He's having such a good time and so will you if you accept the fact that you won't meet classic Sherlock at the multiplex. It's elementary, my dear readers.

Young Adult: Arrested Development

2011-12-17T07:46:00.001-08:00

The Hello Kitty T-shirt speaks volumes. Mavis Gary's emotional development stalled about ten years ago when she was in high school. Mavis, played brilliantly by Charlize Theron, was the prom queen back then, and a hot item with a hunk named Buddy.

Sure, he's married with a baby, now. But the way she sees it, that's a minor roadblock in their long life together.

And so, Stalker Girl returns to the small hometown that was — and will remain — the winter of her discontent. She's smart and gorgeous, but that's no longer the ticket to success.

"Young Adult" is funny in a politically incorrect way that's reminiscent of "There's Something About Mary," but underneath the laughs, it's a portrait of depression, exacerbated by booze.

It's one of the most thoughtful movies the Movie Slut has seen in some time. Adding to its appeal is the open-ended final scene.

Does Mavis trash the Hello Kitty T-shirt, move on from writing Young Adult novels, and enter the world of grownup reality? Or does she down another drink?

See what you think.

Jack and Jill: Womb Mates

2011-12-15T06:43:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you gotta slum. Intellectually speaking. And what better way to get your low-brow fix than at an Adam Sandler movie?

In this deliciously dumb flick, Sandler is both Jack and Jill. He's become a wealthy advertising mogul in California, while she's been stagnating in New York. But now, the holidays bring the siblings together for some "twin time."

Sandler is more than a movie star. He's a brand: The clueless, sophomoric good guy with a warm heart and winning family values, although it usually takes between 90 and 120 minutes to discover his attributes.

Beware: You'll have to suffer through the requisite scatology, a defining (groan!) element of any Sandler film.

Kudos to director Dennis Dugan for coaxing wonderful performances from supporting characters, including Katie Holmes, Jack's wife and foil, who's never been better, and Al Pacino, who inexplicably and hilariously falls in love with Jill. The Movie Slut hasn't seen Scarface this good in decades.

New Year's Eve: Schmaltz +Corn = Cr--

2011-12-11T06:39:00.000-08:00

If you don't already hate New Year's Eve, you will after seeing this inane movie. Unless, that is, you're not old enough to remember too many end-of-the-year "celebrations" full of faux frivolity and idiotic party hats, followed by hellacious hangovers. The young audience at the multiplex last night laughed their way through this banal, shallow, insipid film, while The Movie Slut and her friend groaned (good naturedly).
"NYE" is another one of those star-studded efforts with a cast of thousands. Okay, about eighteen. The 2003 British flick "Love Actually," did it wonderfully, weaving together meaningful, powerful, heartfelt stories that resonated with movie goers and pulled their heartstrings.
Unfortunate imitations were sure to follow. And now we have another one.
Not a platitude has been left on the cutting room floor. No cliché is too hackneyed to be ignored.
Still, with all that star power, some excellent performances are on the screen. And one more blast of good news: Justin Bieber doesn't even have a tiny cameo. Hallelujah.

Arthur Christmas: No Kid Left Behind

2011-12-11T06:24:00.001-08:00

It's Christmas Eve, circa 2011. The reindeer are nestled all snug in their stalls. Santa is delivering his gifts in a flying saucer-like contraption.
But ooops!
One gift remained behind.
How will the small girl in England get the pink twinkle bike she wants so desperately?
Arthur to the rescue.
Santa's younger son is a behind-the-scenes kinda guy. In fact, he suffers from a wicked fear of heights. Worse than flying, however, is the knowledge that one small child won't enjoy the Christmas she deserves.
What ensues is an animated galactic odyssey — with the requisite amount of wonder — that both parents and children will enjoy.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good movie.

My Week With Marilyn: A Young Man's Delight

2011-12-02T08:26:00.000-08:00

Michelle Williams is no Marilyn. But neither is any other contemporary actress. It's difficult to think of anyone who could capture that intoxicating mix of voluptuous, vulnerable va-va-va-voom.

Still Williams does a fine job of bringing Marilyn to life (yes, Oscar buzz has begun) and the fact that she doesn't steal every scene, as Monroe did, is right for this movie.

It's about a young man, played to perfection by Eddie Redmayne, who enjoys a week with Marilyn during the filming of "The Prince and the Showgirl," in 1957.

This is a coming-of-age, first-love movie and rightfully belongs to Redmayne.
Kenneth Branagh, as Sir Laurence Olivier, who starred with Monroe in the "Prince," is wonderfully snooty and punctilious. His precise acting style and overbearing narcissism contrast sharply and beautifully with Monroe's insecurities and messy natural talent.

The movie is a feast for the eyes and also provides food for thought.

(How's that for two cliches in one sentence!)

Hugo: Unlock the Mystery

2011-12-02T08:00:00.001-08:00

Martin Scorsese has abandoned the mean streets for the romance of an early 20th-century train station. A French station, which adds to the romance, of course.

Hugo, an orphan, lives within the walls and makes sure the clocks run on time.

Still, this mesmerizing, enchanting film is not as much about this winning boy, but about what he discovers, which is something the Movie Slut discovered, too. Let's call it the wonder, magic and delight of movies. This flick will amaze you and make you fall in love with them all over again.

Sensational performances by Sacha Baron Cohen as a touching and hilarious martinet of a station inspector, and Ben Kingsley, as an old, washed up shopkeeper with a secret, enrich this already magnificent film.

The Descendants: Trouble in Paradise

2011-11-27T14:50:00.001-08:00

Life is messy and even the most intelligent of us can behave stupidly, especially at times of crises. And that's pretty much all you need to know about this tragi-comedy starring George Clooney.
Oh, one more truth: None of us are blameless and all of us should make room for forgiveness. So, forgive the Movie Slut if she adds one more observation. Maybe Clooney isn't really the star of this surprisingly enlightening film. The islands of Hawaii steal this show. The flowers,
the music, the sand, the sea and the lush green hills.
"The Descendants" isn't for everyone. One critic called it a movie for grownups. The 3D crowd will want to miss it. Nothing comes flying off the screen except raw emotion.

The Muppets: Mahna Mahna

2011-11-27T10:22:00.000-08:00

The Movie Slut will not be reviewing this film. Annie, 6, and Charlie, 4, will be the critics.

"Ten stars! Excellent!" Annie enthused after the grand musical finale. "It was actually a little bit better than 'Mr. Popper's Penguins.' It was much better than "Tangled."

Annie says her favorite part of the movie was when Miss Piggy said, 'I am not going to do The Muppet Show again.'" And she was happy that Kermit and Miss Piggy got together at the end.

As for Charlie, he only liked the movie "a little bit." But he loves
the music. And he sings a pretty mean version. "Mahna Mahna."

Mary Marcie May Marlene: Mmmmmmmm?

2011-11-20T07:58:00.000-08:00

If you like sitting on the edge of your seat at the multiplex, four M is the movie for you. It's not a traditional thriller. But it is scareeeeeee!

A young woman, who joins a cult for some reason we never discover, falls under the spell of the leader, a Charles Manson/Warren Jeffs kinda guy.

She manages to escape to the home of her only living relative, her married sister and then...

No, the Movie Slut is never a spoiler. But she will say that MMMM is one of those independent films with a narrow take on a narrow subject. And unfortunately, it doesn't break new ground. We all know about Manson and Jeffs and what happens to their followers.

Still, superb acting by the lead characters, including Elizabeth Olsen, the annoying twins' younger sister, make this dark film worth a see.

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1

2011-11-19T06:19:00.000-08:00

The Movie Slut can't wait for Part 2.

Maybe she doesn't belong to this flick's target audience. She hasn't been a tween or even a teen for many twilights, but you gotta love a film that equates marriage with death.

Yes, dear readers, Bella marries the studly vampire. Not the hunky werewolf. You need not be versed in vampire lore to realize the dangerous honeymoon to come. And the movie doesn't disappoint.

It's still curious that Bella's parents are so clueless about their new sons-in-law's deathlike pallor and that of his white-out-faced friends, for that matter.
But never mind.

"Breaking Dawn" is delightfully irony-free, and though some of the characters have a habit of transmogrifying, while others chug blood like it's Miller's Light, this movie exudes more emotional truth than many of the year's more celebrated films. (That's right "J. Edgar," we're talking about you.)

The perfectly cast stars, none of whom exhibit laudable acting skills, work as a winning trifecta. They may be awkward at times but that's part of their appeal.

J. Edgar: The Untrue Story

2011-11-15T14:42:00.001-08:00

You've got to hand it to director Clint Eastwood. Who else would take an obsessive-compulsive, paranoid, stuttering, gayish, cross-dressing, self-promoting mama's boy with not one tiny redeeming characteristic and place him at the center of a 137-minute movie?

Add to that the lumpy, pasty makeup piled on characters when they age, and the absurd accent Leonardo DiCaprio sports to mimic the controversial FBI director, and let's just say likability is not this movie's strong point.

What is?

Good acting and cinematography and polished story telling.

Still, that wasn't enough for the Movie Slut.

OK, so she knows J. Edgar Hoover was a tyrant and a bully, but should we pile on now — and not even with a hint of nuance? The guy's no longer around to defend himself.

So, what's your game Clint? Dirty Harry never seemed dirtier.

The Skin I Live In: More Than Skin Deep

2011-11-12T06:14:00.001-08:00

Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar is arguably the most accomplished film-maker of our times. If you think not, you'll have to argue with the Movie Slut.

He had her at "Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," 1988, and "Tie Me Up! Tie me Down!" 1990. Perhaps her favorite is "High Heels," 1991. This remarkable new movie continues his unparalleled oeuvre.

Almodóvar is an artist, a psychologist and a supreme story teller. His characters, usually strong, smart, stylish, sexy, slightly loco women whose love has no boundaries, are some of the screens most memorable.

"Skin" is a sci-fi thriller, a mystery, and a love story. Antonio Banderas is a modern-day Dr. Frankenstein, a plastic surgeon whose obsession defies the laws and ethics of the medical establishment. And if you think that will stop him, you don't know Almodóvar.

Please, dear readers, do not read one of those tell-all reviews (which should be outlawed) before seeing this movie. Watching the unpredictable plot unfold is one of this year's cinematic highlights.

Margin Call: The Party's Over

2011-11-08T13:09:00.000-08:00

Greed isn't good in this surprisingly thoughtful financial thriller. It's October, 2008, the night before the stock market dive. A young employee at a fictitious (Lehman Brothers like) company discovers that the financial markets are braced for the plunge.
Who knew what when is uncovered during a sleepless night as the firm's higher ups, played by some of Hollywood's best actors, decide how to handle the looming disaster.
Much is learned about the Wall Street culture and a cast of characters for whom money is everything. Interestingly, they believe everyone is as money hungry as they are. Doesn't everyone want a Mercedes and a house in the Hamptons? Not the Movie Slut.
You won't find heroes or saints in this film. Just a bunch of people who are bankrupt in every way.
Little sympathy is wasted on the "little" people who are about to lose their life savings. As one character put it, they gambled and they lost.
You won't lose by seeing this flick.

Tower Heist: Revenge of the 99%

2011-11-04T14:48:00.001-07:00

Watching this zippy comedy might be the most fun you've had at the movies since you were 16 and on a date. And this time, it has everything to do with what's on the screen.
The comedy dream team of Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy are at the core of this delight about a modern-day "Robin Hood and his band of merry doormen." (Which gives you an idea of the inspired writing.)
Stiller plays his best role, a la "Zoolander" and "Tropic Thunder." He's a guy who takes himself far too seriously, a guy who knows he's right, a guy who rarely stops to to think. Whether he's the punctilious manager of a luxury Manhattan apartment building or a manager gone rogue who's out for revenge, he's always full steam ahead. Forever clueless. Never considering good advice or common sense.
Murphy, on the other hand, is the lovable crook, who's not nearly as larcenous as he'd like people to believe.
Put them together with Alan Alda, a Bernie Madoff-style swindler, and what you get are the "peasants taking back from the feudal lords." You go, guys.
Murphy and Stiller are joined by a competent cast of comedians, but perhaps the real star of this feel-good flick is New York City. It sparkles and gleams on the screen as if nothing too sinister could ever happen there. If only.

Rum Diaries: A Toast to Thompson

2011-11-03T09:48:00.000-07:00

Lurking under the fog of booze and drugs, a darn good movie can be found here. Based on a book by Hunter S. Thompson, and staring Johnny Depp as Thompson's alter ego, movie-goers meet the young journalist in the days before he goes gonzo.
It's 1960. Kemp, as he's called in the film, is a writer in search of his voice. He hunts for it in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he lands a job at an English language newspaper.
What he discovers on this island awakens him to the injustice and greed he will rail against in the future. Unfortunately, there's all that rum.
Too much of the movie is devoted to supposedly funny drunken shenanigans. Been there. Seen that. Still, it's worth picking through the empty bottles to meet Thompson when he was on the verge of creating a new journalistic style.

In Time: Confusing Times

2011-10-29T09:42:00.001-07:00

Time is literally money in this imaginative, futuristic film. Indeed, a hamburger could cost 30 minutes, and a gallon of gas could set you back a day.
In this have-and-have-not world, the 1% can buy immortality, while the 99% will die at 25 if they're unable to accrue additional time. It goes without saying that salaries are paid in minutes, that policemen are "time keepers" and that outlaws steal your time, and not because they're boring.
Gigantic quantities of belief suspension are needed to enjoy this flick, but the effort is worth it, probably due to Justin Timberlake's believable performance. And Amanda Seyfried's to a lesser extent.
And there's plenty of thoughtful ways to view this movie. Is endless life worth living if you're merely existing? Is immortality all it's cracked up to be? And most perplexing, since those who live beyond age 25 never appear a day older, what happens when grandma and gramps are the same age as you? Confusing, right? Come to think of it, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" was a much better film.

Take Shelter: Is He Or Isn't He

2011-10-27T06:34:00.001-07:00

What if Noah had a shrink? That's the question that zoomed through the Movie Slut's mind after seeing this thought-provoking psychological drama/quasi thriller. If you insist on plots that zip across the screen at Nascar speeds, skip this flick. The man across the aisle clearly was not a member of the target audience. You could tell by the way he slipped into a snoreful snooze.
"Shelter" does crawl, sometimes even plod along, but thanks to exacting performances by Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain, the MS was never bored or restless. Curtis and Samantha are a young couple in the mid-West, living happily from paycheck to paycheck, until strange things start happening that only he can see.
It's a movie that will stick with you thanks to a well-developed plot that unfolds believably.
And in case you're wondering, Curtis does see a shrink.

The Thing: Trust No One

2011-10-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

The Thing is grotesque. Check. It turns up in a remote location. Check. And the humans who discover it are isolated from the rest of the world. Check.
All systems are go for a gratifying horror flick."The Thing" doesn't disappoint. But as gross as the alien monster is — and it is horrifying — it's what this movie tells us about ourselves that's even scarier.
Let's time travel back for a minute. It's 1951 and "The Thing" is in theaters for the first time. Considered a cult classic, it had all the requisite elements. Even more frightening than the slimy, growling monster, however, were the effete scientists in the movie. Back then, the atom bomb and its mushroom cloud were fresh in our minds. And then there was Dr. Freud, telling us stuff about ourselves that we didn't want to believe. It stands to reason that we'd distrust these guys.
In the remake, everyone is suspect. No one can be trusted. And as a statement about life in the second decade of the 21st century this is about as chilling as it gets.
Happy Halloween.

Footloose: Dance Your Arse Off

2011-10-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

The way the Movie Slut sees it, comparing a movie to its remake is like comparing siblings. Each is wonderful in its own way.
So, which is better the 1984 version of this feelgood dance movie or the flick now in theaters? Wrong question.
The right question is will you like it?
The gaggle of 13-year-old girls perched behind the MS in the theater adored the new movie, featuring stars only they would know. And they are the prime audience for his movie, which is also about misguided adult decisions and the frustration of being young and answerable to those same adults.
The MS only recognized two songs from the original film, which is too bad because the entire soundtrack had a way of forcing viewers into the aisles to join in on the fun.
Dancing is, after all, the physical expression of joy.
Click here and see if your feet don't start tapping.

Real Steel: Real Deal

2011-10-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

The year is 2020 and humankind has not yet acquired universal dental insurance. You can tell by the toothy sneers and smiles on the faces of some of the characters in this not-so-futuristic flick.
That doesn't mean we haven't evolved.
Wind farms dot the landscape and humans no longer bash each others brains out in the ring. They now have robots to do the deed.
Atom, the underbot in this David and Goliath tale, is the steely star of this family-friendly film. Zeus is his nemesis. Boooooooo!
Hugh Jackman is fiercely fine as a Peter Pan of a dad. And then there's Dakota Goyo, who plays his precocious 11-year-old son — as wise as Yoda and as cute as Justin Bieber. Check out the hair.
Tap into your inner 12-year-old boy and enjoy the show. So what if it's predictable. It's such fun.

to be con'd

Ides of March: It Ain't Shakespeare

2011-10-08T06:48:00.001-07:00

Everyone has feet of clay in this facile political drama based on the play "Farragut North." Sadly, only one character has a heart and he or she (MS gives nothing away.) comes to a very bad end.
"Ides" is a consummately cynical film. Self interest is the only motivation for every character. The problem with rampant cynicism is that it's one dimensional. I don't know about you, but the Movie Slut has never met such single-minded people.
If you're a cynic, you're probably saying she's lucky.
The characters (They can hardly be called people.) in this slick flick are no more than stick figures acting out the misanthropic message. Little effort is spent in understanding what really makes them tick. All MS is asking for is a little character development. Is that too much?
Stephan Myers (Ryan Gosling) is the press secretary for Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney). He's a political genius. How do we know? Because the movie tells us so. Unfortunately, he never exhibits behavior that's even remotely smart. And neither does anyone else, even the non-pols.
Sadly, the Movie Slut fears there's a large audience for this movie — people who take the easy way out, believing the worst of everyone but themselves. (How's that for cynicism?) She's not naive enough to think everyone's a Mother Teresa clone. It's just a lot more complicated.
So why see this movie? Because you'll witness some of today's best actors giving their best cynical performances, including Gosling, Clooney, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Marisa Tomei.

What's Your Number: Who's Counting?

2011-10-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

This little number of a movie might just be a chick flick and a dick flick rolled into one. It is definitely not an ick flick, which is basically what a certain New York Times critic called it. He said the movie was "smutty" and compared it to "Bridesmaids," a pathetic flick in which bodily functions were the punch lines for failed jokes.
In deference to the aforementioned critic, "Number" tries a little too hard to be cool and shocking by tossing out references to genitalia every five minutes, but the Movie Slut gave it a pass because this film has so much more going for it.
The story revolves around a zany chick, Anna Faris, who's determined to keep the number of men she's slept with to its present double digit until she meets Mr. Right. Along the way, hilarity happens.
Some may find the movie sophomoric. So tap into your inner sophomore and enjoy the show.

Mozart's Sister: A Film in Minor Key

2011-10-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

Girls don't play the violin. Girls don't compose music. Girl's don't become artists. It's 1762 and Mozart's older sister is playing second fiddle (not literally, of course) to her prodigy brother.
A woman's place is in the bedroom and the delivery room. Whatever you do, don't buck the system.
Being a feminist, the Movie Slut, was programmed to embrace this fictionalized French costume drama set in an era even less gal-friendly than the 1950s. But although the costumes were sumptuous and the decors opulent, the movie was about as moving as rush hour traffic on the Cross Bronx Expressway.
Several characters reciting their lines as if they were at a play reading. Maybe the director wanted to portray the passivity of women, but robbed of the passion the script talks about so much, it was difficult to empathize with the young woman robbed of her talent because of her sex. Now that's the saddest part of this film.
Consider staying home and listening to this or this.

Warrior: A Knockout

2011-09-30T14:51:00.001-07:00

Just because guys are pounding each other into mulch doesn't mean "Warrior" is a dumb flick. Consider this: it also gives us Beethoven's Ode to Joy on the soundtrack, passages from Melville's "Moby Dick," and a refresher course in Newton's Laws of Physics. And that's not all. The story is, like, biblical, dude. As in the Good Book.

Maybe now the movie sounds like a three ring circus. But the Movie Slut assures you there's only one ring in which a winner-takes-all martial arts wackathon is taking place.

The real strength of this ambitious film is that director Gavin O'Connor makes us care —reely, reely care— about who wins.

And then there's the one-two punch of the casting. Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy as the muscle men and Nick Nolte playing sort of himself as a washed up trainer.

Dolphin's Tale: A Winter's Tail

2011-09-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

Finally a family flick without fart jokes or singing chipmunks.
Based on a true story, and with Winter the dolphin playing herself, this inspirational movie takes us back to the 1970s when kids road bikes without helmets and walked home from school without fear. OK, there were the requisite playground bullies but no Internet to bring them into your home.
Young Sawyer is having a hard time. Dad deserted him and now his cousin has joined the army. He's lost. Until he literally finds an injured dolphin on the beach.
The rest of the movie, beautifully acted by Ashely Judd, Harry Connick Jr, Morgan Freeman and Nathan Gamble, as Sawyer, weaves together the lives of those who swim with those who walk and illustrates how each enriches the other.

Moneyball: A Homerun

2011-09-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

"How can you not be romantic about baseball?" asks Oakland A's General Manager Bill Beane (Brad Pitt) near the end of this fascinating baseball bio-pic.
A good question, especially since much of this flick is doing just that.
"Moneyball" takes us back to 2002, when a shallow-pockets Beane is assembling a team to compete with the Daddy Warbucks of baseball, the New York Yankees.
Enter Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), an ivy league geek with a passion for the national pastime. Brand devises a new method of selecting players based on math and computer magic. A desperate Beane signs on. Now we're ready to play ball.
Much of "Moneyball" takes place around conference tables not out on the ballfields. It could have been a strike out, but the film is also a character study of the general manager, once a ball player himself. His story, and the way it's brought to life by Pitt, make "Moneyball" a must see for anyone who loves the game. And that includes the Movie Slut.

Colombiana: It's Payback Time

2011-09-23T07:01:00.001-07:00

Revenge is a dish best served by Zoe Saldana. The "Avatar" actress has landed on planet Earth to star in this action-packed revenge thriller. To enjoy this flick, you'll have to suspend with heaps of disbelief. It will be worth it.

We first meet young Cataleya (Saldana) as a child in Bogota, where the reason for her revenge obsession is established. Other girls might want to be ballerinas. She dreams of becoming an assassin.

Fast forward to Chicago ten years later. Cataleya is all grown up and ready for revenge. There's death by sharks and pit bulls in this movie. And Homeland Security might reconsider toothbrushes on planes. But despite the violence, Cataleya remains a sympathetic heroine. It's our empathy for her that makes this movie work and it's Saldana that pulls it all off. She moves like a panther in pursuit of her prey. She exudes grace and intelligence. It's doubtful that another actress could make this dark film such a glowing success.

Drive: Wheel Man Can't Walk

2011-09-19T08:28:00.001-07:00

The first 30ish minutes of "Drive" are inspired. We meet the intriguing driver, who's not only fascinating because he's Ryan Gosling. He's a man of few words, as you'd be if you were clenching a toothpick between your teeth. We never even learn his name. He lives in LA and knows every one of the streets. He'd make a great taxi driver, but Robert De Niro already did that.
When the driver is not driving, he's fixing cars. Behind the wheel he's a whiz. When he steps onto the curb, not so much. He lives in the moment, has no past we learn of, as for the future, well the Movie Slut never gives away the end.
"Drive" zooms along at a nice clip until the driver meets a girl and then the movie sputters. (Call AAA, please.) It also spouts more blood than your typical vampire flick.
It could have been so much more than a mob flick, but in the end, that's exactly what it is. So, fuggedaboudit.
Or just revel in the first 30ish minutes and dig the driving techno music.

I Don't Know How She Does It: Grown-up Chick Flick

2011-09-17T09:04:00.001-07:00

Reasons to see this smile-a-minute flick.

THE LIST

1. We've all seen Sarah Jessica Parker dashing through the streets of Manhattan in stiletto Jimmy Choos. Now you can see her racing through the snow-covered cobblestone streets of Boston in limousine shoes. How does she do it?

2. A fun plot that remains realistic.

3. Emotional truth.

4. Revenge on mean stay-at-home moms who made us feel imperfect.

5. The dream team cast. SJP, as a floundering supermom, is joined by Pierce Brosnan, Kelsey Grammer, Greg Kinnear Olivia Munn, Christina Hendricks, Seth Meyers, Jane Curtin. How did the casting director do it?

Reason's not to see "I Don't Know How She Does It."

The LIST

1. You've got an X and a Y chromosome.
2. You're a mean stay-at-home mom, who was oh, so, perfect. How did you do it?
On second thought, who cares?

Sarah's Key: A real heartbreaker

2011-09-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

With apologies to the cliché police, the MS wonders:
Do you think truth will free us or that ignorance is bliss? Your answer to this question will determine if this film is for you.

It's 1942 and tens of thousands of Jews are rounded up and taken to death camps. But this isn't Germany and the soldiers are not Nazis. This is France and those carrying out the despicable order are French collaborators.
The story of Sarah's key unfolds years later when a French journalist (Kristin Scott Thomas), who believes in truth telling, follows a trail that gradually reveals what is possibly the saddest story every told. Even when the truth threatens to destroy her own safe and comfortable life, she persists in chasing it and exposing it.
In the tradition of "Sophie's Choice," this film could be called "Sarah's Decision." Her decision haunted the rest of her life. Now, it will haunt you.

Contagion: The handshake from hell

2011-09-10T13:10:00.000-07:00

A hacking, phlegmy cough is the first human sound you hear in this frightening film about a new killer virus. Unfortunately, an identical cough echoed through the theater where the Movie Slut was watching this biological thriller. Maybe that's why she couldn't keep all the characters straight.
"Contagion," with its cast of too many, is an ambitious film. It sets out to uncover every aspect of this global crisis. We see members of the medical establishment working valiantly to understand exactly what they're fighting, then racing feverishly (sometimes literally) to create a vaccine that will end the pandemic.
We see politicians scrambling to contain the growing panic, some selfless, others self-serving. And since this is a modern-day take on an old plot, we also have a blogger. Is he a journalist speaking truth to power? Or a paranoid lunatic? Or a crass opportunist? The MS won't tell.
And then we have our ordinary Joe and Jane, who are just trying to stay alive till the end of the film. Played here by Matt Damon and Anna Jacoby-Heron, as his daughter.
Yes, a lot is going on and a lot of it is excellent. But as the movie zooms across continents to cover every possible eventuality, it seems to lose the human touch. In the end, the MS didn't care enough about any of these characters. Or maybe it was just the relentless coughing.
PS. "Contagion" begins on Day 2 of the pandemic and returns to Day 1 at the end. That's when we learn how it all started.
PPS. The amazing cast includes Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Kate Winslet, Elliott Gould, Jennifer Ehle, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta (CNN) playing himself.
And what would the movie be without Josuha Pollock, who plays coughing man. The one in the movie. Not the one in the theater.

The Debt: A Thriller Plus

2011-09-07T08:17:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you saw a movie that riveted your attention to the screen? When was the last time you saw a movie that kept you thinking days after you left the theater? When was the last time you saw a movie that pulled at your heartstrings until they twanged like a wailing country and western guitar?
"The Debt" is all of the above.
The plot, which shuttles between 1965 and 1997, tells the story of a mission conducted in East Germany by three agents of Mossad, the Israeli foreign intelligence service. And it is at once a crackerjack thriller, a poignant love story and a ethical conundrum. And the cast is perfection. Jessica Chastain and Helen Mirren share the role of Rachel Singer, the female operative, while Sam Worthington and Claran Hinds and are young and old David Peretz, and Marton Csokas and Tom Wilkinson are Stephan Gold.
It's not a perfect movie. The Movie Slut wishes one hokey scene was left on the cutting room floor. Still, this is a film you won't soon forget. It sweeps you up and pushes you to think and feel like no movie she's seen in a good long while.

Our Idiot Brother: Who's the dummy?

2011-09-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

Click here and listen and you'll experience the best part of this failed film.

OK, maybe the Movie Slut is being a bit harsh. No, this isn't such a miserable movie, it's just that she'd hoped for more. The plot has been done before and so much better. The guy (Paul Rudd) is a sweet simpleton without the wiles of more sophisticated adults. And in the end, it turns out that he's the one with the answers.

In this movie the other adults are his sisters, which might lead to a sexist interpretation. But the Movie Slut didn't go there. She saw this as a bigger story about grown up shortcomings and innocent childlike truths.

If only it had been done better and hadn't wasted the efforts of the talented Elizabeth Banks and Zooey Deschanel.

Wondering what Willie Nelson has to do with anything? He's all over the terrific soundtrack and is the name of our so-called-idiot's dog.

Brighten Rock: Noir, Noirer, Noirish

2011-08-27T14:55:00.001-07:00

"Brighten Rock" is film noir at its darkest, but also happens to be about the brightest of subjects: miracles. Based on a Graham Greene novel about a small time hood who's a big time psychopath, the movie moves the timetable from the 1930s to the 1960s.
Leonardo DiCaprio lookalike Sean Riley is the gangster whose involvement with Rose, (Andea Riseborough), a teen-aged witness to his crime, serves as the heart of the unsettling plot.
Everyone but the naive Rose is out for themselves in this story and that includes the hard-bitten owner of the tea shop (Helen Mirren) where she works.
"Brighten Rock" is not a great movie. What kept the Movie Slut on the edge of her seat was her concern for Rose, who hobbled, sometimes literally, on the edge of a rocky cliff.
Supposedly the end of the movie is a departure from the book but the MS thinks it works brilliantly. After all, miracles do happen.

Chasing Madoff: A Wistleblower's Tale

2011-08-27T14:43:00.001-07:00

Meet Harry Markopolos. It took him four hours to discover Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme and eight years to convince anyone that the guy was a crook, and then only when the stock market tanked leaving the Madoff mess to unravel on it's own, bringing down millions of investors.
Poor Harry. He was the guy screaming wolf when the wolf was at the door and nobody believed him.
This interesting, frustrating documentary follows Harry's growing obsession with the Madoff scheme, his attempts to convince the SEC that the investor was a fraud and his efforts to get the press to take his allegations seriously.
A lesser man — you might say a saner man — would have given up. But luckily he was neither.
The film leaves us wondering why the SEC failed so miserably at its job. Were they just incompetent or were they complicit in the hoax?

Another Earth: Out of this world

2011-08-24T07:34:00.001-07:00

A second Earth, a replica of our planet, hovers over the action in this haunting, thought-provoking sci-fi drama. At once, it changes everything and nothing. If you've ever looked to the heavens and wondered, this movie will resonate with you.
Earth 2, as the new planet is called, appears for the first time at the beginning of the film and sets the plot in motion, causing a tragic encounter between a bright teenager and a happy young married musician. But most of the action takes place four years later.
Earthlings have learned that we each have a double living on our twin planet. Communication is established and a space trip is planned.
"Another Earth" is a spare story about regret and second chances, forgiveness and repair. It haunts with its promise and stuns with its beauty.
Actress Brit Marling, who co-wrote the script with director Mike Cahill, is a mesmerizing screen presence. Her performance and that of William Mapother contribute to the gravitational pull of this absolutely-must-see movie.

One Day:

2011-08-21T06:13:00.000-07:00

Four reasons to see this flick:
1. To observe the plethora of hairdos modeled by Anne Hathaway.
2. To relive the tackiest moments of the 1980s.
3. To remember how much you loved "When Harry Met Sally."
4. As a cautionary tale about how gimmicks sink movies.

The conceit in this majorly disappointing dud is that a couple, Emma and Dex, who may or may not be soulmates, touch bases one day a year. The movie hangs on a will-they-or-won't-they theme. Will they "do it?" Will they do more and get hitched? Which is fine — maybe — if the movie-goer cared one fig about the characters involved. And that includes the eminently annoying secondary ones.

The Movie Slut supposes a certain segment of the audience will find "One Day" a delicious, romantic date night movie. We even have some "Love Story" elements thrown in to twang the heartstrings.

Still, in her book the likable Anne couldn't even lift this bomb of a movie. As for her sidekick, Jim Sturgess will have you begging for Hugh Grant.

And you thought that sentence would never be written.

30 Minutes or Less: Less is Less

2011-08-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

Question: What's Jesse Eisenberg doing in a hapless lowball comedy like this? Did the ace actor read the script? Did "The Social Network" star check out the other cast members? Did he owe someone bigtime? Is he slumming?
There's a moment in this moronic movie when it actually seems like a sentient being was at work. Jesse is a pizza delivery guy who works for an operation that promises speedy delivery. Later in the plot, he uses this skill set (the only one he has) in a car chase with the ridiculous bad guys. Alas, the moment zooms by leaving movie-goers wondering if it were just a fluke.
So how bad is "30 Minutes or Less?"
Imagine you're locked in a room with a bunch of tween boys, a couple of kegs of beer, and a dictionary of raunchy words.
Yes, that bad.

Glee,The 3D Concert Movie: Not for Gleeks Only

2011-08-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

First there was the TV show. Then there was the concert. Now, there's the movie of the concert.
The Movie Slut isn't a gleek. But she does glike the TV show, and she was pleasantly surprised that the movie was more than kids singing and dancing, which, after all, is free each week on television. What enriches the movie experience is the interspersing of the musical numbers with testimonials from real fans, who explain their affinity for the fictitious nerds, wackos and weirdos who join the glee club instead of the football team or cheer leading squad.
These real high schoolers, including a girl with Aspergers syndrome, a dwarf, and a gay guy, who was forced to change schools when he was outed, are the true stars of the movie.
Still, all is not perfect with "Glee, the 3D Concert Movie." It's about the 3D. Totally unnecessary and annoying, especially because the movie costs more and delivers less. The Movie Slut would have gloved to see this flick in good old 2D.
Enough already!

The Help: Lest we forget.

2011-08-14T07:37:00.000-07:00

The tragic and outrageous tale of American segregation has been told before. But not this way. Based on a book by author Kathryn Stockett, this movie brings viewers into Mississippi homes in the early 1960s to witness, firsthand, how black domestics were treated by the white women who hired them.
The jobs, a step up from slavery, which found them cooking, cleaning a caring for white women's babies, were the best these maids could get. Everyone knew that and behaved accordingly.
It would be easy for this movie to slide into a good-vs-evil scenario, in which black and white are reversed. But the beauty of "The Help" is that it doesn't. Not every white woman is a Dickensian evil-doer. In fact, one of the most delightful characters is a "white trash" woman ostracized by the gals of the ladies' league.
Jessica Chastain, who gained a voluptuous 15 pounds for the role, is an excellent foil for the "refined," better make that snooty, young women. And Emma Stone, the movie's star is as terrific as we've come to expect her.
And then there's Viola Davis It's almost scary how she slunk back into the role of a subservient domestic with virtually no rights under the corrupt Jim Crow system.
Yes, we know about separate and unequal, but the strength of this must-see movie is that it shows us, as if for the first time, how heinous this chapter of American history really was.

If you have a heart, bring tissues. You'll weep for these women and also for our misguided past.

Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness

2011-08-10T14:06:00.000-07:00

In the small theater where the Movie Slut saw this inspiring documentary, there is a tradition. Before the movie begins, theater personnel amble down the center aisle to greet moviegoers and announce the name of the film they're about to see. (On the outside chance they're in the wrong theater? Or just a nicety? Whatever.)
On this day, the young man who had this job admitted he had no clue how to pronounce the name of the movie. Still, the tradition continued.
It was a fitting beginning for the story of the renown Yiddish writer whose most famous character, Tevye, the milkman, the man who sang about tradition, is probably known to the theater greeter, even if he didn't realize that this "Fiddler on the Roof" character sprung from the pen of the man whose name he could not pronounce.
Yiddish, btw, is defined in the documentary as the "in language of those on the outs." (Not necessarily a direct quote.)
It was the language of Eastern European Jews — part Hebrew, part German with a little Slavic thrown in — in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the chosen written language of the man whose stories entertained these Jews at a time when their traditions were threatened.
The film introduces him as a man with bushels and baskets of stories and shows how his life was many stories, each with its highs and lows.
"Laughing in the Darkness" is not for every moviegoer but it will enrich every moviegoer who sees it.
P.S. It's Shah-lum A-lech-hum.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes: An apex of summer

2011-08-06T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hail Caesar! King of the Apes. Son of Bright Eyes, died due to an experimental drug to cure Alzheimer's disease. Adopted by a hunky scientist played by James Franco, excellent as always.
If you're looking for a non-taxing summer flick with more heart than brains, that can be enjoyed by all in the family (no toddlers, please), then you can't get much better than this film. Yes, it's full of corn. But no porn. And the violence is minimal. Just leave your disbelief at the ticket counter. It will get in the way of the fun.

Crazy,Stupid,Love: What fools these mortals be

2011-07-30T14:32:00.001-07:00

In the spirit of the Bard's "Midsummer's Night Dream," we now have a contemporary comedy that shows how love twists us into raving nincompoops. And if he were with us today, the Movie Slut thinks Will would have cast Steve Carell as the lead fool.
Our "Office" friend is spot on as the cuckolded spouse who's a fool in more ways than one. His isn't the only story of unrequited and befuddled love on this screen. And just when you think this movie isn't all that, it proves you wrong.

Also terrific in their roles: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore.
You'd be a fool to miss this one.

Beats, Rymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest

2011-07-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

A Tribe Called Quest,
Were dey da best?
A new doc puts dem to da test.
Unless hip hop you detest,
Give it a try lest
You get no rest.
No pest.
But this doc's got zest.
Now it's at your multiplext.

VACATION TIME

2011-07-26T12:29:00.001-07:00

The Movie Slut is on vacation. Sort of. She's actually writing other stuff. But that doesn't mean she's not going to the movies.

Here's what to see and what to flee.

SEE:
Captain American: The First Avenger: An old-fashioned summer superhero flick that takes time to develop characters. And you've got to love the villain, a skeletal-faced evil-doer with a John Boehnor tan.

Friends with Benefits: Witty, slick with major chemistry between Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. You'll have lotsa fun, but in the morning you may be sorry you saw it.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. If you're a Pottermaniac, by all mean break out your flying stick and zoom to the multiplex to see this flick. Otherwise, flee as fast as your muggle legs will carry you.

Bad Teacher: Cameron Diaz is hilarious as the teacher you never had, but wished you did. Justin Timberlake is a riot as the rich nerd in her conniving cross hairs. If you've ever been a teacher, and MS has, you'll recognize the characters on the screen and laugh even louder.

Beginners: In the true independent film mold, this movie gives us unconventional characters struggling through life. It's a downer, really. (Even with the extravagantly adorable canine.)Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Terri: Another independent flick with characters you might glimpse at Stop&Shop but never see navigating your circles. If only this were a TV drama. Think The Wonder Years updated with an obese Fred Savage.

FLEE:
Horrible Bosses: Not so horrible, really. But MS can't let you think she's so indiscriminate that nothing's on her --it list. And maybe she's not all that objective considering the staggering number of horrible bosses who befouled her working days. But then, can any movie with Kevin Spacey be that bad?

It's a musical. It's a movie. It's Sondheim's Company

2011-06-16T13:12:00.001-07:00

Television meets Broadway meets Lincoln Center for a special four-performance only screening of Steven Sondheim's 1970 hit musical about matrimony. "Company" comes to the big screen with some of the Movie Slut's fave television personalities. Steven Colbert, as in Comedy Central's "Report;" Christina Hendricks, Joan in "Mad Men;" Jon Cryer, "Two and a Half Men;" and Neil Patrick Harris, "How I Met Your Mother," join forces with Broadway's Patti LuPone, Martha Plimpton and others, to give movie audiences their money's worth and then some.
The adorable, if not deep, show paints a less than sterling picture of marriage. But, hey, it was pre-P.C. 1970 and people were more honest back then.
The songs (accompanied by the New York Philharmonic), are brilliant, if not memorable, and the acting is a treat.
But hurry, only two more nights to see this gem: June 19 and 21.
For more info, Google fathomevents.com and you'll be in good company.

Super 8: Is a 10 minus

2011-06-15T07:12:00.000-07:00

"Super 8" has all the ingredients for a blockbuster movie that will be remembered for decades to come. Unfortunately, it's no "E.T."
Sure there is an extraterrestrial who's misunderstood, a group of smart, appealing tweens with family troubles, an insular small town, a nostalgic look back (this time to 1979), and Kyle Chandler of "Friday Night Lights" fame. And not to forget Steven Speilberg as its producer and J.J. Abrams as its director. But somehow, those ingredients don't congeal into the kind of masterpiece the Movie Slut expected.
Which is not to say that you won't enjoy "8," especially if you bring along a tween or two.
The movie centers on the kids who are making a zombie movie when things start going all kerflooey in their town.
What we get is a movie within a movie and don't leave before the closing credit. That's when you see what the kids came up with.
If the Movie Slut could pluck out one thing that kept this flick from greatness, it's how the alien/monster is kept under wraps. Not until the end do we sort of see its soul and witness its, for want of a better word, humanity. Wouldn't it have been more fun if the kids knew what it really wanted, but the adults were too scared and jaded to recognize the truth? Just an idea.

Tree of Life: Amazing Grace

2011-06-10T07:05:00.001-07:00

Terrence Malick's "Tree of Life" is arguably the most talked about film of the year and
much of the talk revolves around whether the film is a pretentious piece of s--t or a stunning masterpiece. The Movie Slut believes it's both ostentatious and stunning and
definitely worth seeing.

Part of the pretentious problem it the whispering and mumbling of characters as if what they have to say is so terribly profound, when in fact it's quite banal, but not necessarily in a bad way, after all the Big Questions are also the old questions.

The movie begins with a churning, roiling, fiery, volcanic beginnings of our planet. (A spectacular cinematic moment.) So much for the God-created-Earth-in-six-days theory. Then we move to dinosaurs, leading us to believe that evolution is also a possibility. But then the lead female character whispers something about two paths to choose from in life, Grace or Nature.
Grace meaning the Christian idea that God will help us on our path. Nature says we're on our own.
So much of this film is about faith, particularly about faith at times when people feel abandoned by their God.
The characters in the movie are seen through the eyes of a boy, who grows up to be Sean Penn. His father is Brad Pitt, with a '50s buzz cut, and his mom is the luminous Jessica Chastain in a fabulous '50s wardrobe.
Many of the family scenes resemble Ralph Lauren commercials of a beautiful family performing ordinary activities.
The broad strokes of these scenes can be off-putting until you remember they're seen, not only through the eyes, but also through the memories of Sean Penn's character.
So, the MS has told you far too much about this movie but felt compelled to because it's been so maligned and revered. "Tree" is a visual and auditory (thanks to a spectacular soundtrack) masterpiece. Don't let all the extreme talk keep you from seeing this exceptional work of movie art.
Have a listen.

The Beaver: What's with this clueless title?

2011-06-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

Here's what the Movie Slut wrote about another Mel Gibson movie. It holds for this one, too.

The Movie Slut is indiscriminate. When it comes to flicks, she sees the wondrous, the so-so and the wickedly awful. But, even she has her standards. That's why she's passing on Mel Gibson's new movie, "Edge of Darkness." She will not see it. She will not review it. Here's why.

In 2004, the Movie Slut was disturbed by "The Passion of the Christ," in which Gibson espoused pre-Vatican II ideas, including Jewish culpability for the killing of Christ. She didn't like it, but she respected his right to express his beliefs. After all, he was a Fundamentalist Catholic and that's the party line.

That respect came to a dead end in 2006, when Gibson went on an anti-Semitic rant after being arrested for drunk driving.

Surely that's not behavior condoned by his religion or the first amendment.

Now, the more-Catholic-than-thou Gibson is getting a divorce amidst rumors of philandering. Divorce! Philandering! Finally, he's showing the world exactly who he is: A loathsome hypocritical bigot. The Movie Slut urges you to boycott this flick.

X-Men: First Class: In the beginning...

2011-06-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

Who knew? Sure, Kevin Bacon is all over the place. Hence, the whole six degrees of separation thing.
But now, thanks to this tongue-in-cheek summer, sci-fi thriller, headed for blockbuster status, we also know he was behind some of the most egregious holocaust horrors and the freakingly frightening Cuban Missile Crisis.
Those two events bracket this highly entertaining prequel, which takes us back to the beginnings of the X-Men story. It's one of those epic summer flicks that the Movie Slut saw at the old RKO or Loews theaters on rainy days in July and August and didn't know what the heck was going on. But the action was mesmerizing and the theater was air conditioned.
In those days, for some inexplicable reason, you went to the movies at your convenience. If the film was halfway through, you stayed till the end, watched the second feature, then took in the first part of the movie. It didn't much matter because you didn't know what was going on anyway.
The new X-Men is not that difficult to understand if you know a smidgen of 20th-century history, which will probably eliminate much of the audience. But they'll groove on all the action, special effects and pyrotechnical bells and whistles.
If you're a grownup, you'll find this a lively, and at times witty, summer diversion. Mutant Power!

Midnight in Paris: Une Petite Bijou

2011-06-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" is a gem of a movie that works simultaneously on several levels. In just 88 well edited minutes it tells a story of time travel, mismatched lovers, a longing for the unattainable, and the inner workings of a writer's mind. All this is played out in the city of light and love, starring Owen Wilson in the Woody Allen role and Rachel McAdams as his betrothed.
Without giving too much away, the Movie Slut will tell you that this flick is speckled with unforgettable cameo performances by both the living and the dead. Look for, not necessarily in this order, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kathy Bates, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Carla Bruni Sarkozy, Adrien Brody and Ernest Hemingway.
If you see one movie this year, make it "Midnight in Paris."

The Hangover Part Two: Here we go again

2011-06-03T06:16:00.000-07:00

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," said philosopher George Santayana, though it's doubtful he was referring to alcohol and drug-induced amnesia. Still, the statement aptly describes the plight of three bachelor party celebrants (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis), who woke up in Vegas with no memories of their night of debauchery and are now back to repeat the insanity in Bangkok.
If you're a movie-goer who remembers past flicks, you'll recall the first "Hangover" as a quintessential dick flick with the requisite gross out bathroom scenes, sparsely clothed girls with breast implants and gazillions of comments about male body parts. Now, multiply these and you'll have a firm handle on Part Two.
The Movie Slut shared the theater on a weekday afternoon with a troop of tween boys, who'd probably purchased tickets for "Rio" or "Kung Fu Panda 2," then sallied into the "wrong" theater. They loved it. And MS has to admit she also laughed out loud.

Incendies: Double Trouble

2011-06-01T13:14:00.001-07:00

Somewhere in the Mid-East, sometime in the 1970s, a Christian woman, pregnant with the child of her Muslim lover, is forced to flee her homeland. Her winding, troubled path finally leads to Canada. Along the way, she gives birth to twins, who migrate with her.
This crushing tale of two epic journeys spans four decades. The mother's odyssey ends in Canada, where her twin's quest begins. A letter, written by the mother, sends them back to their roots to find the father they believed was dead and the brother they didn't know they had.
The scenes shift seamlessly in time and space, relating the two heart-wrenching stories.
"Incendies," which means "fire" in English, is not a movie for the faint of heart and the Movie Slut kept wondering where in the Middle East it began, until she realized it didn't really matter. Is there any difference between blind and brutal hatred? The film also reveals great love and, though difficult to believe, even forgiveness.

Double Hour: A Chambermaid's Tale

2011-05-30T15:53:00.001-07:00

No not that chambermaid. And no financier appears in this mesmerizing movie either. What we have is a puzzling story set in Turin, Italy, in which love trumps betrayal. At least that's what the Movie Slut thinks it's about.
This flick isn't exactly play fair. It tends to shift gears on a whim. One minute it's showing this, the next minute it's that.
Persnickety movie goers might balk at such shenanigans and, truth be told, MS did have moments of thinking "say what?" But then she got caught up in the slippery plot and the heart-breaking characters and her attitude changed to cheering "yes, yes, yes."
It's been a long time since such chemistry electrified the big screen. Perhaps that's why Ksemia Rappoport and Filippo Timi won best actress and best actor awards at the Venice Film Festival.

Thor: Euthoria

2011-05-30T07:54:00.001-07:00

The Movie Slut offers her profound apologies to loyal readers. She should have seen and reviewed this crazy good movie sooner. But who knew?
It's based on a Marvel comic. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But she assumed...
Rule #1: Never assume anything.
Thor is a sci-fi flick, a thriller and a rom-com rolled into one. It takes place in two galaxies with characters who span 12 centuries.
The story is positively Shakespearean: An old king, two sons to vie for the throne and a diabolical enemy.
So much to enjoy.
The movie is directed by Kenneth Branagh, who knows his way around Shakespeare, and stars Natalie Portman and a fantastic Chris Hemsworth as the star-crossed (pun intended) lovers.

L'Amour Fou: Yves & Pierre

2011-05-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

Legendary fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge, his partner in life and business, are the subjects of this interesting documentary that falls short of being the amazing fashaganza it should have been...considering.
Considering the homes, the objet d'art, the drugs, the glitterati, and the clothes, clothes, clothes.It's all there on the screen but muted through the prism of Pierre's mourning for his life companion, who died at the age of 71 in 2008.
The documentary is organized around the sale of art and furnishings that decorated the men's three homes, in Paris, Marrakesh and Normandy, and although they collected many of the 20th century's great artists, the furniture and accessories left the Movie Slut cold.
She wanted to see more fashions, more glamor, more models strutting down the catwalk, more celebrities sashaying in YSL's incredible creatings.
"L'Amour Fou" is a perfectly serviceable biography, but if it's chic you're craving, check out "Valentino: The Last Emperor," a veritable orgy of organza.

Everything Must Go: You should, too

2011-05-20T09:55:00.001-07:00

So, first thing's first. Can Will Ferrel, comedian par excellence, pull off a movie with no laughs and few smiles? The Movie Slut shouts a resounding "Yes."

Stay tuned for more.

Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

2011-05-17T05:55:00.000-07:00

"The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" is not the greatest movie ever told. The idea: Great. But something happened on the way to the theater.
Morgan Spurlock, the guy who gave us "Super Size Me," a first person account of the gross-out danger of eating fast food, had another excellent idea. He'd make a movie about product placement and fund it completely with $ he got from placing products in his film.
Could be incredible. But it wasn't.
Too much of the movie centered around his search for companies who'd buy into his idea, which means lots of boring sitting around conference tables, chuckling about how funny this is.
Well, the Movie Slut says show me, don't tell me. She wanted to see footage of products in movies that were blatant examples of product placement. Like this.

Bridesmaids: Of Dishonor

2011-05-14T06:16:00.001-07:00

Maybe it was great expectation that led to the Movie Slut's great disappointment in this movie. She was hoping for a female flick on par with "Wedding Crashers" or "The Hangover."
Not happening.
Oh, the critics loved this one. They thought the scene where Maya Rudolph, dressed in full bridal regalia, is hit with a sudden bout of diarrhea, forcing her to poop in the street was hysterical.
OK gals, how many of you dig scatological humor? And while you're at it, isn't shitty, shitty enough? Do we have to venture into, well, you know what.
Supposedly, "Bridesmaids" is a spoof on wedding hoopla. Unfortunately, the unappealing characters took over. Oh, they were petty, jealous, man hungry and, let's see, are there any more negative female stereotypes. Weepy, backstabbing. There must be more.
In fact, the two funniest and most endearing characters in this disappointing film are guys: Jon Hamm as the hysterically clueless selfish lover and Chris O'Dowd as a sympathetic traffic cop.

Something Borrowed: Something Blah

2011-05-07T05:48:00.000-07:00

Rachel and Dex are locked in an on-again-off-again romanceish relationship with a few too many ons and offs to keep us caring whether they're on or off. And that's not the only problem with this tepid rom-com. Unfortunately, romance and comedy are in short supply. What's even more troubling, however, is that Rachel and Dex are just Too Darn Nice.

Sure nice is nice. But it's not enough. How about interesting, funny, smart, creative? Anything but white-bread nice. Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Dex (Colin Egglesfield) are so perniciously nice that they almost let Darcy (Kate Hudson)push them onto the terminally off ramp.

Darcy is obnoxious, loud, superficial and narcissistic. So, tell us again why she's Rachel's best friend. No matter. We need her because she keeps us from falling asleep. Especially if the theater has those really nice seats.

The Movie Slut was not impressed, but maybe this mild movie wasn't for her demographic. The 14-year-old gals in the audience actually clapped at the end, proving the old movie maxim — "You can't please all of the movie-goers, all of the time."

Bill Cunningham New York: Street Chic

2011-05-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

For a certain gaggle of New York gals, the supreme honor is not winning a Pulitzer or Oscar. It's getting shot by New York Times street shooter Bill Cunningham. And the Movie Slut is one of these chicks. Over the years, she and Bill have smiled and nodded their greetings on Madison in front of Barneys, on Fifth near Saks or down in the Meatpacking District not far from Jeffry. Alas, he never raised the camera to his discriminating eye. Here's one of the subjects he shot instead.

No matter, MS won't hold this against him and will tell you how much she loved, loved, loved the documentary that celebrates him in all his eccentric glory. Bill pedals around town on his bicycle, wearing a street-sweeper's jacket, photographing fashionable street creatures. A true democrat, his subjects may be two or four legged, billionaires or paupers, minimalist or maximalist. He's at every fashion show. In fact, they don't start until Bill takes his front-row seat. He covers the poshest fundraisers. And yet, down to earth doesn't begin to describe this man's humility.

Hey Bill, if you read this, the Movie slut just acquired a fantabulous red sleeveless trench dress and will be on the corner of 6th and 42nd Street.

Love Hate Love: A Dynamite Doc

2011-04-29T09:48:00.001-07:00

Executive producer Sean Penn with documentarians Dana Nachman & Don Hardy.

Full disclosure: One of the documentarians who brought us this powerful, moving film is the Movie Slut's daughter. However, as a trained journalist, you can rely on MS to be completely and utterly objective. At least that's what she says.

So, here goes.
LHL, which was brilliantly filmed on five continents, weaves together three stories about people who suffered crushing losses in terrorist attacks and somehow managed to turn their grief into hope for thousands of others. This exceptional documentary introduces the viewer to a New York couple who lost their 25-year-old son in the Twin Towers collapse; an English women whose sister was killed in a London bus bombing; and a young Australian man who lost both legs in a Bali nightclub bombing. Each of them came — independently — to the same conclusion. They would not be destroyed by these harrowing experiences and they would not allow hate to prevail over love.
The film, which was executive produced by Sean Penn, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this week to an enthusiastic audience. It's not yet known who will buy this inspiring documentary or where it will be shown next. The MS will keep you posted.
To read more about the film, click here.
To read more about the filmmakers, click here.
Click here to see a trailer.

The Conspirator: Not Guilty as Charged

2011-04-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

We can't be sure if Mary Surratt was guilty of conspiring to kill Abraham Lincoln, but we can be sure that the critics were guilty of ignoring this movie's merit. Oh how condescending they've been. Making matters worse, they insisted that the movie is a statement about trying suspected terrorists in military courts as opposed to civilian ones.
Oh, come on guys, this is a human drama about a woman whose life is on the line for a crime she may not have committed and a government that desperately wanted to give the grieving American people a person to blame for the loss of their leader.
The Movie Slut thinks this flick is about the injustice of "justice" and the victims of this system, as well as a cautionary tale about the horror of capital punishment.
Robin Wright is Mary and James McAvoy is the northern lawyer who defends her against his wishes. It's a flick worth seeing, even if director Robert Redford didn't breath much life into the doomed Mary.

Soul Surfer: No Wipe-out here

2011-04-18T13:58:00.000-07:00

Based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton (left) "Soul Surfer" fits neatly into the Movie Slut's favorite genre: Films about triumphing over adversity and striving for success. Having said all that, "SS" loses points by being too preachy about the role religion plays after the 13-year-old is maimed by a shark. That's what the movie tells us, but what it shows is quite different. It reveals the true grit that enabled her to jump back on the surfboard and compete again.
It shows that her determination is the greatest part of her success, but the movie also brings home the role of her super-supportive family with Dennis Quaid as her father and Helen Hunt, as Mom.
Still, the stars of "SS" are the Pacific waves and the girl who was born to surf.
See Bethany surf: and the competition.

Jane Eyre: See it again for the first time

2011-04-17T06:57:00.001-07:00

One hundred and sixty-four years after Charlotte Bronte wrote her powerful Goth novel about a young woman whose personal strength and unshakable moral code allows her to prevail against the harshest existence, the story is playing out again. And though you may have read the book and seen one of the six previous movie adaptations, don't miss this one staring Mia Wasikowska.

How drab and forbidding her surroundings are. Even the grand home from which she's banished as a child is hardly bright and cheerful. When she walks outdoors, her path is a maze squeezed between stone walls and high shrubbery. Is there any hope for her to break out of this harsh, confining life?

Jane Eyre is what we call today a coming-of-age story and it's a love story, too. A bleak one. But Michael Fassbender's Mr. Rochester is a sympathetic soul.

Every one of the characters we meet in this haunting drama is a victim of a social system that failed all but the very few at the top. Sound familiar?

Hanna: Who's Her Daddy?

2011-04-14T14:53:00.000-07:00

The whole isn't always greater than the sum of its parts. Take "Hanna." Breath-taking cinematography + breathless acting + breath-defying Chemical Bothers music + breath-holding plot + breath-stopping back story = deflating, disappointing flick.
The problem?
Director Joe Wright's blood lust and obsession with sadistic violence. (Oh, so artfully choreographed. We're supposed to be impressed, a la "Pulp Fiction." Sorry, Joe. You're no Quentin.)
"Hanna," starring Saorise Rona, completes the trilogy of recent movies celebrating super-human Grrrrl power. First we had Sucker Punch," then "Red Riding Hood,"" now "Hanna."
And an intriguing character she is. Raised in an isolated snow-crusted wood, she's set free when she comes of age.
With due respect to Janis, freedom is a word for everything you can lose.
Why is this gal an endangered chick? Who's out to get her? Can her powers prevail?
Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana join her in this brutal romping blood fest. This grim Grimm fairy tale should have at least equaled the sum of its parts.

Win Win: Winning

2011-04-10T06:38:00.000-07:00

Previously in the Movie Slut:
MS was disgusted by Paul Giamatti's performance in "Barney's Version". Well, now he's back in her good graces, starring as a lawyer and family man who makes a whopper of an ethically-questionable decision. And he's not the only character in this touching, quasi-comedy who's less than perfect. (Now, that would have made a better title for this delightful film.)
The movie is saved from the fate of being just another Giamatti showcase (Oh, he's so pudgily adorable and doughily endearing — puh-leeze) by the young man, Alex Shaffer, who turns up on his doorstep and manages to more than hold his own on the screen.
Thank you so much, Alex.
Like its characters, this movie is far from perfect. Too many unanswered questions. Still, if you're looking to avoid 3D at the multiplex and get into some genuine depth, this flick's for you.

Of Gods and Men: Love and War

2011-04-04T13:39:00.000-07:00

The eight Trappists monks living in the Atlas Mountains have devoted their lives to prayer, service and humility. Still, they couldn't escape the bloody civil war that tore through Algeria in the 1990s. They're urged to leave, to escape back to France, their homeland. Instead, they chose to stay and continue their work with the poor villagers.
"Of Gods and Men," which is based on a true story, proves that "Hurt Locker" and "Platoon" aren't the only kind of anti-war films and that the banality and insanity of war can be revealed quietly and stoically.
The movie is not for the short-attention-span set, but for those who can be moved to tears by a stubborn jut of a noble jaw or a resigned wince of fear.

Source Code: Time is on his side

2011-04-03T07:22:00.001-07:00

The Source Code is not about time travel. Or so we are told. It's about time recalibration. Whatever that is. And it has something to do with quantum physics. (Failed that in high school.) This explanation made the Movie Slut's head throb, luckily understanding how it works is not integral to enjoying this Ground Hog Dayish thriller.
Jake Gyllenhaal is in the Bill Murray role, the guy who has to do the do-overs until he gets it right. And he has only eight minutes to get it done.
The movie has it problems in the beginning, when movie-goers will surely figure out some stuff before they should, and the end, or shall we say ends, since there seemed to be three or four tacked on.
But oh, the fun, fun, fun in the middle.

Red Riding Hood: What big eyes you have.

2011-04-01T11:30:00.001-07:00

'Tis the season for saucer eyes, plumped lips and not so helpless damsels in distress. (See "Sucker Punch" below.) Now we have Amanda Seyfried as the red-cloaked heroine in this new version of the old fairy tale. And it's a mighty good retelling of the ancient story.
In keeping with our 21st-century fascination with morphing creatures, our new villain is no boring old ordinary wolf. It's a werewolf. (Take that "Twilight Saga.")
The setting is an isolated medieval village transfixed by fear. The old nemesis has returned and everyone is suspect.
Does grandma (played suspiciously by Julie Christie)transform into the four-legged canibal upon the full moon? Or is it one of Red Riding's two strapling suitors? Or is it the Gary Oldman character, who comes to town to slay the beast.
This new tale is a mystery — a who done it. And howling fun at that.

Sucker Punch: A Feminist Interpretation

2011-03-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

Some would call this a sexploitation flick. That's cool. But the Movie Slut sees it as a feminist manifesto. Think "Charlie's Angels" for the digital age, with Scott Glenn in the Charlie role.

Then add elements of "Girl Interrupted" and "Hidden Tiger Crouching Whatever." Throw in a video game scenario and —presto — you're sucker punched.

We all have an angel looking out for us, the narrator tells us. And that angel is within. Take control of your own destiny.

The action spins out in the 1950s with delightful anachronistic elements. Most notably the music. Baby Doll, staring Emily Browning (looking like a Keane painting), is tossed into an insane asylum/brothel, but is determined to win her freedom and that of her fellow inmates/prostitutes. The gals are up against some mighty ferocious and disgusting guys, who love the status quo. Sorry suckers. They've got Grrrrrl Power on their side.

Women must fight for their freedom, this flick tells us. It's a long, bloody battle, but the prize is priceless. At least that's the feminist interpretation. Should you want to see the film to ogle the scantily clad sexpots, so be it. The movie is worth watching for whatever reason, even if it's just for Jon Hamm's cameo.

Limitless: One Pill Makes You Smarter

2011-03-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

Say you're a writer with a severe case of the blocks. These days you might seek a pharmacological fix. That's the premise of this sci fi, pill-popping thriller starring an antic Bradley Cooper as the troubled scribbler.
The FDA hasn't approved his meds, but we all know those guys are a bunch of Debbie Downers. So, he pops and — oops — smashes right into a load of unexpected side effects. Not all bad. Just most of them, like death by evil pill poachers.
"Limitless" is nothing if not entertaining. The cinematography is as frenetic as Cooper on his pills. And it's fun. But in the end, it may be the saddest movie of the year. What does it say about the human condition if the best he can think to do with his limitless brain power is to make more bimbos and bucks?
"Limitness" is the antithesis of "Biutiful." The Movie Slut recommends both.

Lincoln Lawyer: A Guilty Pleasure

2011-03-21T08:34:00.000-07:00

Michael Connelly's captivating legal thriller bursts onto the big screen with all its twists and turns intact. And much as she loved the book, the Movie Slut wishes she hadn't read it. Not knowing is part of the fun.

And a hearty welcome back to Matthew McConaughey. After peacocking through his recent films, it's a delightful surprise to see that he can still act. And wear a shirt. Sometimes at the same time!

Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe and William H. Macy round out the talented cast in this Did-He-Do-It? story. It's all good.

Battle: Los Angeles: Marines Don't Quit

2011-03-11T15:55:00.000-08:00

In the left corner wearing Marine-issue combat gear and an expression of exquisite consternation, you have Aaron Eckhart fighting to save his country.

And in the right corner, looking like hokey computer-generated homonids, you have the Aliens who've invaded our planet for one reason. Our H2O. These water guzzlers are intent on taking over every ocean, river, stream, faucet and toilet bowl. And they're desperate. And they have limbs that turn into weapons.
The Movie Slut loves alien-invasion flicks, the hokier the better.
And "Battle" also has Eckhart on his side, which tends to cancel out some of the ludicrously laughable dialogue.
"You're like my older brother," one character tells him. "You never smile."
What's there to smile about when ginormous extraterrestrials are blowing LA into itty-bitty Lala Land specks?
Thanks to Eckhart the human element is injected into the movie. But the MS wishes the aliens had a tad more screen time.

The Adjustment Bureau: The Best Laid Plans

2011-03-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

All you need is love in this brain teaser of a sci fi
thriller, which also takes on the big metaphysical question: What governs life on Earth? Fate? Or free will?

"AB," based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, wants us to believe homo sapiens led predetermined — planned — lives, then at the dawn of the 20th century, the "Chairman" switched to the free-will model.

We know how well that went: WWI, WWII, the presidency of George W. Bush. So back we skittered to preplanned existence.

Enter Matt Damon, a politician you can actually like, and Emily Blunt, a dancer and free spirit who's cool when he spills coffee all over her miniskirt. ( If that isn't love, what is?) Alas, love between this gal and guy is not stipulated in The Plan. Actually, it was, but no longer is. Hence their confusion. (And yours?)

The extent to which you enjoy this beautifully acted and executed far-fetched flick is directly proportional to your ability to suspend with disbelief. The Movie Slut is a master at believing anything she sees on the big screen. That's why she rates "AB" five out of five fedoras.
P.S. You'll have to see the movie to understand the rating system.

Hall Pass Vs. Cedar Rapids: Viva la difference

2011-02-28T13:56:00.000-08:00

All Dick flicks are not created equal. In fact, if they were comedians, "Hall Pass" (right) is to Bill Crystal as "Cedar Rapids" is to Ricky Gervais.
Both movies are about men behaving babyishly and both have the requisite raunchy, gross out and scatological moments, but while HP slips them seamlessly into the uproarious plot, CR tosses them in gratuitously, for shock value only.
The Farrelly Brothers are the wacko brains behind HP and they've made a movie in which we all, men and women, can identify. While CR is about people you've never met and never will. Ed Helms is a naif from the backwater who visits the biggish city. You probably know 5 year olds who are more street smart. It's all about the dirty joke, while HP is a movie with heart.

The Oscars: Gold Man on Life Support

2011-02-28T08:58:00.000-08:00

Who will resuscitate the Gold Man? Last night's disaster of an Academy Award show done the poor guy in.
The best that could be said about Anne and James is that they're not Ricky Gervais. Oh how dull they were. Oh how boring, tedious
and catatonia-inducing. But at least they didn't infect the entire proceedings with nasty, bilious, aged, faux jokes.
Thanks to Anne and James, two actors the Movie Slut adores on the big screen, the MS had a sound, sound sleep on Sunday night. What a ginormous snooze-a-thon.

I am Number Four: A Real Ten

2011-02-24T14:25:00.000-08:00

Halfway through this totally satisfying flick, a character observes, "My whole life has been like an 'X-Files' episode."

YES!!!

That's exactly what we need right now. At least the Movie Slut says so.
"Number Four has humor & horror, aliens & monsters, love & longing, friendship & jealousy, ignorance & intelligence, a shape-shifting canine, a flying fire goddess, and most important, characters we can really care about. Thank you director Michael Bay.
This is not a flick for everyone. But for "X-Files" fanciers, it has everything. Oh, how we miss you Mulder and Scully. No, they're not in this thoroughly satisfying sci-fi thriller, but the next generation of paranormal seekers are. We'll learn more about them in the sequel. Oh yes, a sequel is on the way.

The truth is still out there.

Movie Slut Rating:

Unknown: Until The Movie Ends

2011-02-20T06:42:00.001-08:00

Will the real Dr. Martin Harris please stand up? Is it Liam Neeson? Or Aidan Quinn? And while we're at it, who is January Jones married to?
All the answers to the mystery at the heart of this fun, frenetic film are answered in the last minutes of the movie, and while they do meet the plausibility test, it's doubtful any viewer will guess the outcome.
This is good and bad. Who doesn't like a real shocker of a surprise? Then again, aren't there supposed to be play fair clues sprinkled through the action?
Despite its basic unfairness, "Unknown" is an eminently fulfilling flick, which fits neatly into the old thriller genre — long on car chases and dead bodies, short on special effects. And best of all, it's not in 3D!
Movie Slut Rating: Four out of five lipsticks.

Barney's Version: Lose Lose.

2011-02-18T13:51:00.001-08:00

"Barney's Version" is based on a Mordecai Richler book of the same name. Read the book. Or maybe you dig movies about beautiful, smart women who hook up with flabby, foul-mouthed morons. Then rent "Knocked up," with Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen. And what if you're hankering for a film in which a guy falls for another woman shortly after he's hitched. Then check out "The Heartbreak Kid." The 1972 version.
Which leaves us with absolutely no reason to plunk down hard-earned cash on this loser of a movie.
"Barney's Version" begins promisingly, with some funny, sort of smart scenes. Alas, it quickly zooms downhill faster than a runaway roller coaster. There's a mystery at the heart of the movie and even that can't sustain our interest.
Paul Giamatti plays the eminently unlikeable Barney, who's not only exceedingly unattractive on the outside, he's also downright ugly under his hairy skin. In the book, he's a more nuanced character, which explains why gorgeous gals fall for him, while some call it Richler's masterpiece. In this icky flick, any redeemable attributes are on the cutting room floor.
But don't feel sorry for Giamatti. Trailers are already out for his new film, "Win Win."

Just Go With It: Or Not

2011-02-13T06:37:00.001-08:00

The new Adam Sandler flick is like that unfortunate early-'80s do — the mullet. It's uneven and equal parts horrendous and hysterical. Sandler, as usual, is an emotionally-stalled every guy (this time with $), whose plan to ensnare babes backfires when he actually develops — hold on to your seat — Feelings for a gal.
He's a cosmetic surgeon and the funniest scenes are those where he deals with cases of plastic surgery run amok.
Jennifer Aniston is his office manager and the smartest scenes are those in which she appears. Did she work with a different writer?
Then we have Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker (the latest It girl), who wants to prove she's got brains as well boobs and does a pretty fair job of actually acting.
Nicole Kidman appears for her bit part in a TD4 wardrobe. Who designed it? The Movie Slut is working on that. Chanel? Versace?
And you'll never guess who makes a surprise appearance as her nelly hubby.
Due to infantile pottie humor, the Movie Slut award is:

Sanctum: Sinks

2011-02-09T07:25:00.001-08:00

What's amazing about "Sanctum," the soggy new James Cameron dud, not to be confused with his soggy old overrated flick, is that it topped the box office on Monday. But then Monday wasn't exactly a blockbuster movie day. Still, the Movie Slut did see this misery of a movie that day. About half of it before she fled.
Problem No. 1: Whatever happened to character development? Who were these people? Who cares?
Problem No. 2: It's not so much that no A-list actors were on the screen. No actors appeared in this foul flick. Who were these losers?
Problem No. 3: The 3-D looked like grade-school dioramas. Remember the ones we made out of shoe boxes?
Problem No. 4: The dialogue. Oh, let's not even...bhah, blah, bor-ing.
Movie Slut rating: One broken lipstick.

Biutiful: Brethtaking

2011-02-05T06:58:00.000-08:00

"Biutiful" is beautiful in the way that Amerika is America. It's a chord that's slipped from major to minor key. Biblicly speaking, Javier Bardem as Uxbal, a denizen of Barcelona's meanest streets, has been compared to Jesus. Maybe Job is the better metaphor.
"Biutiful" is not for everyone. Gritty and dark doesn't begin to describe Uxbal's world, and he's not alone. Every character in this crushingly breathtaking film was absent when the blessings of life were distributed.
The movie deals with death, mental illness, poverty, illegals, crime and corruption. Still, biuty — even beauty — ignites the screen.
While many serious contemporary films focus on men and women driven by greed, lust, pride and a few other deadly sins, Uxbal and the others in his grimy corner of the universe are motivated only by the will to survive. And miraculously, they rise above their agonizing circumstances with their fundamental humanity intact. They stumble along the darkest paths and yet they float above them.
It's difficult to imagine that this movie would be as powerful without Bardem (He has been nominated for a best actor Oscar), but the genius of director Alejandro González Iñárritu ("Babel" and "21 grams") can't be overestimated.
Movie Slut Rating: Five out of five lipsticks.

Another Year: Feels Like Ten

2011-02-01T12:32:00.001-08:00

How do you feel about watching a movie about people who are even more boring than you are? (No offense.) If this sounds like an interesting, enlightening or enjoyable prospect then, by all means, go see "Another Year." It comes to us from British filmmaker Mike Leigh, who gave us the delightful "Happy-Go-Lucky." His new flick might be called "Unhappy-and-Unlucky."

That's if you don't count the two main characters, husband and wife, Tom and Gerri, for whom contentment is an art form.

The trouble is that they're surrounded by misery. All their best friends lead lives of quiet, and sometimes not so quiet, desperation.
One reviewer called the movie "wise." And at the risk of sounding like a wiseguy, the Movie Slut wonders if Tom and Gerri have chosen a pathetic group of friends only to up their happiness ante. In comparison.

"Another Year," is peopled with a collection of eccentric British characters who manage to make their misery watchable, even at times — dare we say it — amusing.
Movie Slut Rating: Two out of five lipsticks.

From Prada to Nada: In Lala Land

2011-01-30T06:56:00.001-08:00

Two sisters, who are as different as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, are left without a home when their father suddenly passes away.
Sound familiar?
If you answered "yes," you've probably read Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility," or seen one of the wonderful movies based on the book, which celebrates its 200th birthday this year.
"From Prada to Nada" is a sweet, unsophisticated update of the story. The movie takes the girls from Beverly Hills to East L.A., a cultural journey that rocks their world. The sisters are Mexican Americans who rediscover their heritage after moving in with their Aunt. Of course love interests turn up in the form of cads and gentlemen in disguise.
Caution: If ever there was a chick flick, this is it, and one for chicklets at that.
Movie Slut Rating: Four lipsticks out of five.