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Friday, December 31, 2010

Chocolat (2000)

A young woman named Vianne and her six-year-old daughter Annouk arrive in a small village in the French countryside called Lansquenet. In this village the people believed in tranquility. But when Vianne opens up a chocolate shop at same the time of Lent, the villagers are curious about her and the fact that she doesn't attend church. Despite what they think of her she stays and sells mouth-watering treats that cause the villagers to act differently as she changes their lives. Then one afternoon when an Irish river rat named Roux comes to the village, the people of Lansquenet get angry but since the riverbank is public land they can't force him to move but put up signs to ban immorality. But Vianne and Roux become friends anyway. A sweet and delicious romantic film with an all-star cast. Starring Juliette Binoche, Alfred Molina, Judi Dench, Lena Olin, Carrie-Ann Moss, Johnny Depp 8/10

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Funny Games (2007)

Two seemingly polite young men wearing white outfits and gloves visit a unexpected family at their vacation house near the lake one day. But they are not who they appear to be because these two young men want to play a game with them, a deadly and violent game. This film is very intense and often uncomfortable to watch at times. It starts out a little slow but it gets interesting when the two young men stay to sadistically torture and manipulate this poor family. But as it goes on the film doesn't give any reason why these two young boys want to harm them, but it seems they do it just for fun. Naomi Watts and Tim Roth are excellent in this suspense thriller. Starring Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart, Siobhan Fallon 6/10

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Love with the Proper Stranger (1963)

Italian Catholic Angie Rossini is a salesgirl who works at Macy's. She discovers she's pregnant from a brief fling she had with a musician named Rocky Papasano. She lives at home with her three protective brothers and widowed mother. But she doesn't tell them she's going to have a baby. Instead she finds Rocky and tells him about it, that she has to find a doctor to get an abortion, which in those days was an illegal act. He agrees to help her raise the money to pay for it. But when they find out that the conditions that it's going to be performed in are bad, he takes her out of there. Eventually the family finds out and Rocky wants to marry her, but Angie thinks it's a bad idea and spends her time with another man named Anthony, despite Rocky's insistent nature. A wonderful and sweet romantic comedy; McQueen and Wood make a cute pairing. Starring Steve McQueen, Natalie Wood, Edie Adams 8/10

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Son in Law (1993)

Rebecca Warner is a country girl who decides to go to college in California to see new places and meet new people. But when she gets there she feels out of place, until she meets a wild and wacky student named Crawl. They become friends and in transforming her look she breaks out of her shell. When Thanksgiving holiday rolls around, and Rebecca realizes that Crawl is going to be alone she invites him back to Nebraska to meet her family. Of course one look at Crawl and they think he's a nut. Things become a bit complicated for Rebecca when she finds out her boyfriend Travis is going to propose. So she lies to everyone saying that Crawl has already asked her to marry him so she can buy some time to think. An often silly film, Pauly Shore plays the usual zany and obnoxious character, but it is still fun to watch. Starring Pauly Shore, Carla Gulino, Lane Smith, Cindy Pickett, Mason Adams, Patrick Renna, Tiffani Thiessen, Dennis Burkely, Dan Gauthier 5/10

High School High (1996)

In this very funny comedy spoof on "Dangerous Minds", Jon Lovitz stars as teacher Robert Clark, who believes that anyone can have a chance at a good education, no matter what background they're from. He leaves a private school to go teach at an inner city school which is in a bad neighborhood filled with crime and drugs. Even so, he still goes there to teach, meeting the students and the staff including the attractive Victoria Chapell, and the mean principal Evelyn Doyle who's more than meets the eye. Richard knows that if he can get the smartest kid named Griff to listen, then the other classmates will follow. Starring Jon Lovitz, Tia Carrere, Mekhi Phifer, Louise Fletcher, Malinda Williams 6/10