If they ever decide to do a live stage version of Droopy Dog (younger subscribers will have to look him up), Paul Giamatti would be the perfect choice to play him. Paul has the dark cloud over his head, fire in his belly, sad sack character down to a science. Playing Mike Flaherty, a down on his luck lawyer–and if that wasn’t enough, a volunteer wrestling coach to a losing team–who finds himself in a dilemma, when an opportunity presents itself to him though it is not ethical. With solid acting, Paul’s co-star Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead), who plays his wife, matches him in the acting department. I found the story well thought out and enjoyed the way the different characters intertwined, to add layers to the main story line. A well done movie that you will not regret watching.

3 1/3 stars — DVD

As I looked at the crowd seated around me, prior to the start of the movie, it struck me that for some of the people, this was going to be their first NC-17 movie. Was that enough reason to come see this movie? Maybe that was part of the marketing hook, since the majority of articles I have read talked about the movie’s NC-17 rating for sexual content. For me, there has to be more than gratuitous sex, to go see a movie. Michael Fassbender is Brandon, a mid 30’s man who cannot get enough sex… as long as he is not emotionally involved with the person. His life is thrown into a tailspin when his sister Sissy, played by Carey Mulligan, appears unannounced at his home one day. I thought Carey did a wonderful job of acting and could get an Oscar nomination here.  Michael, overall was good in his role; I just did not find as much depth to it. The film had an interesting look to it, where close-ups would almost be oversized as a counterbalance to the drama of the scene.  Overall I did not feel sympathetic towards Brandon and was left wanting more.

2 3/4 stars

I was excited to see this movie; but for all the hype, I have to say there was more drama from the director’s offscreen comments at his press conference, then his vision for this film. For those of you who may not be aware; the director, Lars von Trier, talked about his family being Nazis and that he understood Adolf Hitler. If you type his name in Youtube, it will be the 1st thing to come up. Seated next to him is Kirsten Dunst, the star of the movie. Watch her expression as she realizes any hope of an Oscar nomination has just fallen into the hole the director had dug for himself. Truth be told, I did not consider her performance Oscar worthy. Though individual scenes had excellent acting, the movie dragged for me. I was curious to see Alexander Skarsgard in a different role from his True Blood character, Eric Northman; however, I did not think the script gave him the opportunity to display fully his capabilities. The story involves two sisters, whose strained relationship is challenged further when a mysterious new planet appears on a possible collision course with the earth. By the end of the movie I did not care whether the planet was going to hit earth or not; I just wanted this movie over.

2 stars

When a movie has both Judi Dench and Maggie Smith in it, can it really be bad? In this case, absolutely not. This charming movie has a wonderful story line:  Judi and Maggie play two aging sisters living in a cottage on the coast of England, back in the 1930’s. One day they discovered a young man had washed up onto shore and decided to nurse him back to health. The chemistry between the sisters felt real to me, as I watched the two actresses in their roles; forgetting they were Maggie and Judi, believing they really were sisters Janet and Ursula. If you want to see good acting and be entertained, then this is a movie you should see.

3 1/4 stars — DVD