Reviews

Here are some quick thoughts on some movies I've seen recently... Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - 5.0 Watched this one cause it made AFI's new top 100 list - was mildly disappointed. It reminded me of Ordinary People, but this movie never grabbed me like that one did. While the acting was very impressive, it was a little too talky for me. Suddenly, Last Summer - 8.0 I imagine this Tennessee Williams tale of repressed homosexuality and psychiatric extremes may have been more timely when it came out in 1959. And while it was a bit dated (lobotomies used as a legitimate procedure??), this movie worked because it was essentially a showcase for its actors. This, of course, is much more effective when you have three of the best actors of all-time at your disposal (Monty Clift, Katharine Hepburn, Liz Taylor). Clift, as the upright surgeon, gave the movie a backbone which allowed Hepburn, as the deluded, crazed mother, and especially Taylor, as the traumatized, beautiful young woman to shine. In my opinion, Liz Taylor gave an even more impressive performance in this film than she did for her deserved oscar for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (and man she used to be hot). Sophie's Choice - 7.0 Here's another movie that essentially relies on a brilliant actress to carry it. Not too bad a trait when you have Meryl Streep giving possibly her best ever performance (and only lead actress oscar win I believe) as a Polish concentration camp survivor living in the US. It is a slow slow slow movie but when the flashbacks to Sophie's time at Auschwitz begin, it really picks up. It ultimately is one of the more heartbreaking movies I have seen in recent memory. Shooter - 5.0 This has essentially the same strengths and weaknesses as Live Free or Die Hard (some good action set pieces, charismatic lead performance as strengths and a general stupidity and complete implausibility as weaknesses) but because I didn't expect as much from Shooter, I enjoyed it slightly more. There were also some nice bluray visuals that worked in its favor. Elizabeth - 6.0 This is a pretty interesting historical look at how Queen Elizabeth I came to power (though not surprisingly, it took some liberties with the actual history). I had a bit of trouble following the plot, mainly because in these types of movies, there generally seems to be a lot of different characters that have some importance to the plot that are never really introduced, or only introduced in passing. I was however playing poker while I watched so it was probably just as much me as any ambiguity in the storyline. Pretty interesting movie with a good performance from Cate Blanchett.