S A A.'s Reviews

This story is about friendship and how people can fill each others' needs if they just stop to notice that they can. It shows how fulfilling that can be and how it can be achieved without the need to control or dictate. The story has a very organic flow to it and is thoughtful and runs deep. The viewer has to slow down too and pay attention to the subtle interactions and sensibilities displayed by the characters. This movie is a philosophical one and it is very well executed with really wonderful performances by both main actors. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn a little more about how to give of yourself with subtlety and kindness, without expecting anything specific in return. It shows you how very much you do reap with this mindset in ways you never even imagined.
Review Date: 5/6/2013

Wow! VERY sexy movie! A definite R rating, but nothing hard core. A story of a marriage told in 5 scenes, played backwards. Starting with the divorce, it goes back to the signs of trouble beforehand, the pregnancy and delivery of the wife, the day of their marriage and, finally the way the two met. Stephane Freiss, while not a bad actor overall, is largely forgettable as the husband, but Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi is amazing! She is a fabulous actress who easily and naturally gives off subtle nuances. She is eminently watchable not only for her considerable physical beauty, which is well and freely displayed in this venue, but also, and more so, for her enormous talent. She is quite literally riveting! Your eyes will never leave her when she is on screen.

The story itself is well done and probably would not have worked nearly as well if the timeline had been presented in chronological order. The sets and scenery are very interesting and make me want to go to France real soon.
Review Date: 11/5/2009

Superb movie! Great cast, great plot line, great narration and the best Hugh Grant movie ever!!! In fact, in an interview, he said that, of all the roles he's played, this character is the closest to his own persona. That's very interesting, because it is not your standard Hugh Grant fare. Very different flavor coming through here.

This is one of those movies you can watch again and again. Even the score is excellent! You can't have my copy, but you've gotta see this movie! :)
Review Date: 10/26/2008

Superb movie! Great cast, great plot line, great narration and the best Hugh Grant movie ever!!! In fact, in an interview, he said that, of all the roles he's played, this character is the closest to his own persona. That's very interesting, because it is not your standard Hugh Grant fare. Very different flavor coming through here.

This is one of those movies you can watch again and again. Even the score is excellent! You can't have my copy, but you've gotta see this movie! :)
Review Date: 11/21/2007

Superb movie! Great cast, great plot line, great narration and the best Hugh Grant movie ever!!! In fact, in an interview, he said that, of all the roles he's played, this character is the closest to his own persona. That's very interesting, because it is not your standard Hugh Grant fare. Very different flavor coming through here.

This is one of those movies you can watch again and again. Even the score is excellent! You can't have my copy, but you've gotta see this movie! :)
Review Date: 10/26/2008

More than anything else, a visually fun movie. The storyline is pretty good, but the costumes and special effects are great, as is the soundtrack. Lots of action, adventure and tension. But still, most memorable because it is a feast for the eyes. I would think that men especially will find Charlize Theron in spandex not too hard to take... She cuts a very athletic, very solid, sexy figure.
Review Date: 7/9/2008

A classic. Just look at the awards. Speaks for itself. My most memorable character in this is Harvey Keitel as the boyishly charming boyfriend who turns out to have a hair-trigger violent temper, as well as other unexpected surprises in store for all. He should have had some nominations and awards too.

A must-see, must-own movie. Right up there with the likes of "The Goodbye Girl" and "Five Easy Pieces"
Review Date: 10/13/2008

I generally like Woody Allen movies, but this one is a major (as in M.A.J.O.R.) snooze. Imagine a cast of characters as varied as Christina Ricci, Jason Biggs, Danny de Vito, all acting as if they were channeling Woody Allen...! Words, gestures, inflections... everything! It is painful to watch and not rendered any easier by the insipid plot line and the ego-centric, megalomaniacal script. My husband and I just gave up watching it altogether after 30 minutes. We didn't even get as far as seeing Stockard Channing in there.

Can't say I'd recommend this to anyone I care for.
Review Date: 2/11/2009

Now *that* is one helluva great mystery movie. I had to watch it 4 times to figure it out and even then, I needed help from the IMDB discussion boards. Near as I can tell, on those discussion boards only one person has managed to figure out the correct plot to this movie. When I read her/his post is when the AHA! dropped. I went back to watch it again and, sure enough, the poster was right. That was the only explanation of the plot that made sense and held it all together.

This is a superb movie, with great actors. Vincent Cassel strays from his usual bad-boy image and becomes a relatively clueless, befuddled guy, chasing a former lover who remains elusive. Monica Bellucci (Cassel's wife in real life) is gorgeous and definitely worth the chase. However, I have to disagree with Sandra Brennan (AMG reviewer) on two points:
1. Alice (Romane Bohringer) is far from drab and mousy. She is mysterious and enigmatic and very attractive.
2. Lisa loaned her car to Alice, not the apartment. She thinks the apartment is dangerous, that's why she won't go there herself. Alice goes there without permission, because she happens to have the key.

If you enjoy a well-made, maddeningly convoluted mystery, this movie will put you into seventh heaven.
Review Date: 12/8/2008

Great ski shots in this movie and the acting is not as painful as one might expect, except for Teri Polo, who could not act her way out of a paper bag. But, even she has her redeeming characteristics, as she looks like a female young James Spader lookalike. Very weird! It feels like you're looking at James Spader with a long blond wig on. Even down to her facial expressions.

Paul Gross is easy on the eyes and a passable actor. Peter Berg would be sexy too, but his character is kind of a loser, goof-ball sort who nevertheless, I am sure, holds his own appeal for plenty of women who like that type. Finola Hughes plays the same role I have seen her play in countless movies since her stint with John Travolta in Staying Alive. The snooty, superior, monetarily and/or talent endowed, emotionally unavailable older woman who is looking for some young hunk to amuse her briefly until she gets bored with him and moves on to the next candidate. She plays this role to perfection, as well she should, considering that I have not seen her do any other character, except for her Anna Devane role on General Hospital.

The scenery shots in this movie are worthy of National Geographic. The music is cool and the storyline, although predictable, is not a snooze.

All Movie Guide has it wrong, Dexter is not a writer. TJ is.

Overall, a nice, fun, relaxing, undemanding movie with lots of great scenery. Landscape and human too.
Review Date: 10/23/2009

A fairly obscure little movie that my husband and I are oh-so-glad we found. Great acting, quirky but interesting storyline. An atmosphere that is hard to describe. We have watched it many times over and would not part with our copy for the world.

A truly fun and amusing, quirky (did I mention that already? Well, it bears repeating), feel-good movie.
Review Date: 10/13/2008

Just saw this movie with my husband and we were very impressed by the depth and intelligence of it. A very deep, very touching, very interesting movie. All those awards and nominations were well deserved!

Even so, as good as the movie was, surprisingly, the best part is in the special features, where all the characters are reunited for a long, relaxed, and conversationally rich dinner. What a great idea! So much better and more rewarding than interviewing a couple of the main characters and maybe the director, sitting rigidly in an armchair, with a microphone shoved in their face, nodding mechanically, and answering a few questions by rote. This informal and congenial setting (not to mention the fine food and the wine)really brought out the true personalities and genuine thoughts of all the actors. And they were very insightful and intelligent in their comments and observations about life, death, the movie itself and their respective roles in it. This special feature was about as long as the movie itself and every bit as engaging, if not more so. Recommend it highly!
Review Date: 10/21/2008

A true masterpiece, this movie. It will have you on the edge of your seat throughout. Amazing character development and acting. No surprise that, from Philip Seymour Hoffman and Albert Finney. The real surprise was Ethan Hawke who, to me, always seemed an overrated mediocre actor. He was unbelievably good in this!

The plot of this film is fairly original and deserved the nominations for Best Original Screenplay, but the presentation is what makes it really work. There should have been an award for the editing too. The score ratcheted up the suspense nicely too.

The whole story comes together flawlessly, at its own prescribed pace. You may not feel much for the characters, but you don't have to. It merely shows you how seemingly ordinary people can get themselves into extraordinarily bad situations just by a slight miscalculation or two. They think they have this plan all sewn up, no problem. So simple. A cakewalk really. All too human... And so are their reactions when it all goes horribly wrong.

I gave it 4 stars. IMDB gives it 7.4/10.
Review Date: 1/4/2009

A true masterpiece, this movie. It will have you on the edge of your seat throughout. Amazing character development and acting. No surprise that, from Philip Seymour Hoffman and Albert Finney. The real surprise was Ethan Hawke who, to me, always seemed an overrated mediocre actor. He was unbelievably good in this!

The plot of this film is fairly original and deserved the nominations for Best Original Screenplay, but the presentation is what makes it really work. There should have been an award for the editing too. The score ratcheted up the suspense nicely also.

The whole story comes together flawlessly, at its own prescribed pace. You may not feel much for the characters, but you don't have to. It merely shows you how seemingly ordinary people can get themselves into extraordinarily bad situations just by a slight miscalculation or two. They think they have this plan all sewn up, no problem. So simple. A cakewalk really. All too human... And so are their reactions when it all goes horribly wrong.

I gave it 4 stars. IMDB gives it 7.4/10.

There are several copies of the DVD (not mine) available on this site, if you don't want to wait for the Blu-ray.
(http://www.swapadvd.com/dvd/title/187839-Before+the+Devil+Knows+Youre+Dead+Widescreen)
Review Date: 5/3/2009

Sorry, but no! This was nothing more than an icky-sticky, thinly disguised Pro-Life propaganda movie. The New York scenes, the restaurant workings and the glimpses into Puerto-Rican/Mexican culture were kind of interesting, but the pathos was overworked and the moral message was seriously oversold, but in a very unclear way that lacked a logical explanation. Too much "stuff", not enough substance.
Review Date: 4/7/2009

This is one of the best movies I've seen this year. Surprisingly so, because it is habitually rated just average on the various sites like Amazon and IMDB. People don't seem to understand the very deep and beautiful psychology of this movie, which ultimately culminates in discovering what and where a person's real freedom is. Not in a political way, but in a liberating, "life's journey" kind of way. This movie is beautifully written, which is a tricky matter when dealing with this level of intellectualism. It stops short of being preachy or over-written. It is perfect! The casting is excellent too. Each character has great depth (or shallowness) that is magnificently represented by the actors chosen for each role. The pacing is also very well done, as is the score and the camera work. All in all, when it was over, I was ready to start watching it all over again. I really actually wish the whole story would have stretched much longer. It was sheer delight.

A movie about recognizing the chains that bind you and the love that frees you. Five Stars from me.
Review Date: 3/14/2011

Except for Alicia Silverstone's predisposition to be constantly frowning in this movie, this is one of my favorite fun movies. The premise is fun, the acting is pretty good, lots of little fun vintage details to pick up on. Brendan Frasier carries this role really well and the script is full of great laughs. Definitely a timeless piece. Recommend highly.
Review Date: 11/28/2007

The Long Kiss Goodnight: You've gotta love a story where a "typical" innocent mommy type with long flowing hair and wearing Laura Ashley print dresses regains her memory and becomes a hard-as-nails Femme Nikita type sharp shooter, with ninja-like physical prowess, and an attitude to match, literally overnight. Of course the fate of the world is in her hands and she has very little time to save it as well as her little daughter who has been nabbed by the bad guys.

Predictably, the action is fast-paced and non-stop. This is a very fun, easy-to-immerse-into action packed thriller that just never lets go. It has you on the edge of your seat within the first couple of minutes and it's so effective at keeping you there that you'll forget to eat your popcorn.

The bad guys are very bad and Samuel L. Jackson is (of course) great. Geena Davis is superb. The storyline is pretty predictable, but you won't notice because you're having so much fun watching it. Eminently watchable over and over again.
Review Date: 12/3/2008

OK little story, markedly enhanced by awesome music throughout. *THE* *BEST* rendition ever of Rodrigo's 'Concerto de Aranjuez' - and on a Fluegel yet... A must-hear, if not quite a must-see movie. Recommend highly.
Review Date: 12/5/2007

Very riveting movie. Chris Cooper at his very best, eliciting sympathy and repulsion with equal ease. Ryan Phillippe is great too. Laura Linney is uncharacteristically wooden in this part. Not her best vehicle. The sound track is great, very suspenseful. I found, however, that a couple of alternate scenes proposed in the special features would have made the plot more linear and the movie work better overall.

A very watchable, edge of your seat movie that shifts your views and emotions about Chris Cooper's character very deftly as you go along.
Review Date: 1/21/2008

This is a du-umb and bo-oring movie. A huge disappointment, because I really liked the first Bridget Jones. This movie has no redeeming characteristics other than getting to watch Renee Zwellwiger, Hugh Grant and/or Colin Firth. If you happen to be a huge fan of one or more of them and merely gazing upon their countenance (no matter how shoddy the vehicle) is a turn-on, well, then go for it! As for me, this is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I tend to lean towards optimism and generally like to finish even bad books and movies, always hoping that perhaps somewhere along the line they will improve and make the experience at least somewhat worthwhile - but not this one. I gave up and packed it in about 2/3 of the way through. A giant, irritating snore of a movie.
Review Date: 1/5/2008

This is a du-umb and bo-oring movie. A huge disappointment, because I really liked the first Bridget Jones. This movie has no redeeming characteristics other than getting to watch Renee Zwellweger, Hugh Grant and/or Colin Firth. If you happen to be a huge fan of one or more of them and merely gazing upon their countenance (no matter how shoddy the vehicle) is a turn-on, well, then go for it! As for me, this is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I tend to lean towards optimism and generally like to finish even bad books and movies, always hoping that perhaps somewhere along the line they will improve and make the experience at least somewhat worthwhile - but not this one. I gave up and packed it in about 2/3 of the way through. A giant, irritating snore of a movie.
Review Date: 1/5/2008

Omigosh! An awesome movie! But not for the faint of heart. This may well be our future in many ways. I could not put it better than many of the user comments on IMDB (International Movie Database), so here is the link to read more: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/usercomments

Don't miss this movie!!!
Review Date: 12/25/2007

My all-time favorite series ever! In spades! Chuck has it all: great cast with fun, likable characters; great acting; varied, fun plot lines that amazingly never grow stale, intelligent comedy with lots of laugh-out-loud moments - many of them sudden and unexpected which, of course, magnifies the effect substantially. The episodes never got boring or repetitive over all 5 seasons, which was really an amazing thing, if you think about it.

The characters were varied and really well developed. And even the ones that seemed annoying at first, somehow ended up growing on you and even became endearing, in spite of the "flaws" in their personalities. Kind of like a quirky but beloved friend or relative might be.

The writing in this show was amazingly creative and offered many unpredictable, surprising moments - and not just in a comic sense. The cinematography was flawless, artistic, and just plain beautiful. The sets were easy to relate to and well-thought-out. Every episode had great elements of action, drama and comedy blended masterfully and perfectly. The music was also great throughout. From the cool and quirky intro theme, to the Bond-like closing theme and all the music used within each episode. Even their product placement was done in such a way that it added to the scenes rather than grated on them. They managed to plug Subway sandwiches in such an overt but fun, comical way that it added to the enjoyment of the moment rather than irritated the viewer with what easily could have otherwise been construed as "crass commercialism". On Chuck they managed somehow to just make it part of the fun. This show really did have it all.

I am still mourning the fact that they ended the series two years ago and keep hoping that they will change their minds and revive it.
Review Date: 5/22/2014

My all-time favorite series ever! In spades! Chuck has it all: great cast with fun, likable characters; great acting; varied, fun plot lines that amazingly never grow stale, intelligent comedy with lots of laugh-out-loud moments - many of them sudden and unexpected which, of course, magnifies the effect substantially. The episodes never got boring or repetitive over all 5 seasons, which was really an amazing thing, if you think about it.

The characters were varied and really well developed. And even the ones that seemed annoying at first, somehow ended up growing on you and even became endearing, in spite of the "flaws" in their personalities. Kind of like a quirky but beloved friend or relative might be.

The writing in this show was amazingly creative and offered many unpredictable, surprising moments - and not just in a comic sense. The cinematography was flawless, artistic, and just plain beautiful. The sets were easy to relate to and well-thought-out. Every episode had great elements of action, drama and comedy blended masterfully and perfectly. The music was also great throughout. From the cool and quirky intro theme, to the Bond-like closing theme and all the music used within each episode. Even their product placement was done in such a way that it added to the scenes rather than grated on them. They managed to plug Subway sandwiches in such an overt but fun, comical way that it added to the enjoyment of the moment rather than irritated the viewer with what easily could have otherwise been construed as "crass commercialism". On Chuck they managed somehow to just make it part of the fun. This show really did have it all.

I am still mourning the fact that they ended the series two years ago and keep hoping that they will change their minds and revive it.
Review Date: 5/30/2017

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