notes on a scandal [A]

moviemcpeake snippet: finally, a film worthy of review. the story is intensely dark so you will not be getting a feel good jubilation from me but wow what a great story. the leading actors, cate blanchett and judi dench are fascinating, stunning, and repulsive. how blanchett lost the oscar to jennifer hudson, i will never know (well i do know and it is what makes the oscars so frustrating). the onscreen vulnerability of blanchett and dench portraying two lonely, desperate women was truly captivating and a must see during the week as you are recovering from the summer blockbuster weekends.
as the audience you are taken down two paths, one with barbara’s (dench) obsession with sheba (blanchett), the new teacher at school that befriends her. the other path follows sheba’s obsession with her young art student. as the film progresses, their secrets and actions continue to spiral out of control and each woman screams a self destructing cry for help right before our eyes.
the supporting cast, including the set and wardrobe blends perfectly with the story and provide a colorful backdrop to dench and blanchett’s performances. even if you are not into intense films focused on muddled relationships this film is a must see if only for the strong and perfectly delivered female performances.


recommendation: rent now, watch now.

the pursuit of happyness [B-]

moviemcpeake snippet: i am in an "ehhh" slump for films right now. we should have seen shrek this weekend but elected to stay home and watch our netflix rental instead. an "ehhh" means that nothing is bad about the film but i didn't want to jump on my couch tom cruise style and profess my love for the film i just experienced. and right or wrong, that is actually what i am always seeking is the couch jumping film experience. the film that inspired me to start sharing reviews (like the hours, sideways, moulin rouge, etc).
so in my pursuit of happyness, i got an "ehhh" experience but hey! i even stayed awake through the whole movie so it wasn't bad. however, something or some things were lacking. i can't put my finger on it. the story was already created as it was based on the true story of a man (chris gardner) who went through all odds to pursue his dream. so how did the script not capture the magic of one pursuing a dream? it ended up being a feel good fictional movie instead of a powerful, inspirational film. or maybe i am just too corrupted on my opinion of the financial industry and corporations that i didn’t buy into when it seemed that it wasn’t about a lifelong dream but an escape to a world that was centered around the fancy car that crosses his path. which i know is not what his dream and life was about. the film also leaves out important details that make moments unrealistic, even though it happened. the dvd extras missed a great opportunity to load itself with extras on chris gardner, his son, and more on his life, instead of just one little clip/interview about the making of the film. i didn't read his memoir but i am guessing it captures the essence of his story better then will smith and this film.

recommendation: rent it for a lite summer fix or pick up the book instead

spider-man 3 [C]

moviemcpeake snippet: if you liked 1 and 2, you will really like 3. if you enjoyed but not impressed with 1 and 2, you will feel the same after 3. spider-man 3's storyline was the most interesting and had the most potential out of the three. the movie still didn't execute like i would like a big hype kick off the summer blockbusters to do. i don't know why but i just didn't like tobey maguire’s performance this time, thankfully the new goblin and spidey’s rival, portrayed by james franco, was the hero of the day with better acting, stealing the scenes he was in, and then getting the better ending. the action was too choppy which i felt was done to hide the lack of details and make the computer graphics blurry and not enough explaination on how certain things occurred. but the black suit WAS sweet which help make me not frustrated that we braved the crowds for a solid c movie.

recommendation: see it on the big screen if you are only going to see it once

moviemcpeake survey of the month

what summer blockbuster are you most excited about? (post a comment)

• 28 weeks later
• harry potter
• live free or die hard
• pirates of the caribbean
• spider-man 3
• the bourne ultimatum
• transformers
• other?

an inconvenient truth [A]

moviemcpeake snippet: this film gets an A on message alone. i am a sucker for the environment and the new planet earth series on discovery HD (plug for this awesome tv series). however, there are some things this film could have done better. most of gore's facts make sense, are compelling and make you want to send out mass emails about recycling and doing all the little things possible. some points during the film get confusing or hard to see the conclusion he is trying to make. i wish at the end there would have been a larger focus on the little things. the film briefly skims over it in the credits and points you to the website which has great information. it would have been more powerful if they stated things like if American replaced just ONE standard light bulb with the new CFL light bulbs 27 billion pounds of carbon dioxide would be diverted from the atmosphere each year. don't you want to go get the CFL light bulb now?

recommendation: must see and react

the holiday [C]

moviemcpeake snippet: so i didn't listen to my friend stacy. she said that this movie was not really that great. too much cameron diaz (enough with the underwear booty shake), not enough kate winslet, and jack black and winslet had no chemisty. all true. i just couldn't help myself as i love winslet and michele likes to watch romantic comedies so i was hoping we had a winner. yet again i walk away disappointed in this genre (and a bit disappointed in winslet although she still is the meryl streep of our times)...actually i fell asleep and michele says it ended decent.

recommendation: skip this one