Movie Round-Up

A few from the last couple of weeks...

1. Charlie Wilson's War - Pretty decent stuff. I can't say that I didn't enjoy CWW, though I also can't say absolutely loved it. There is a pretty fair amount of chop to the way it's filmed, and it can distract from time to time. As for the leads, Tom Hanks does a good enough job...Julia Roberts...never been a big fan, and this performance hasn't convinved me otherwise. I think you have a pretty good idea when the majority of the talk about the performance is the fact that she looks good in a two-piece bathing suit after she has had kids...is well, not quite focusing on her acting "ability". I'm not saying she's bad or anything, but just isn't up holding her own against Tom and Phil. And Philip Seymour Hoffman, what can I say? The man is incredible. Sinking, once again, completely into his role as a CIA chameleon. He's funny, serious and completely believeable. Outside of Daniel Day-Lewis he is THE guy. B+

2. The Kite Runner - I wouldn't lie if I said it was hard to be objective on this one. I read this book a little less than a year ago, as apparently many other did as well. It was moving, perhaps even more so because of my personal history. Marc Foster has done a pretty good job here with an unenviable task. The film stays true to the novel and gets some pretty nice performances out of the two child actors as well as Houmayoun Ershadi as "Baba", Amir's father and incredibly compassionate and generous employer of Hassan and his father. Many of the scenes in the film are actually exactly like what I imagined them to be in my head while reading the book. TKR never got a wide release in the states. As for why, I can't answer that question based on how many people have bought, read and loved the book. Possibly the fact that the majority of it is in a foreign language? I hope not. It's well worth seeing. B+
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3. Juno - Ah, the hip little indie that could for 2007. Many have compared in the Oscar watch to Little Miss Sunshine. That's nice, only this is waaay better than LMS. And the annoyance factor is mainly held to the er...cutesy dialogue which after a while, I gotta tell you, does start to make me roll my eyes. Is it better than having to listen to Abigail Breslin scream and preen? Not even close. I'd watch Juno another 10 times before I'd sit through another viewing of LMS. Ellen Page is dead-on in her role as the other girl that was "knocked-up" this year. I still recommend checking out "Hard Candy" if you have yet to see it. Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner are both Oscar-nod worthy in supporting roles as the adoptive parents to me. And Michael Cera is...well, okay, he's just Michael Cera. The same character in Arrested Development, Superbad...you get the idea. Does he actually have any range? Dunno. Haven't seen it. I do know that Juno is still worth watching again, even with my cringing at some of the hipster dialogue. And to me, that makes the rest of the movie just that much better. A-