Hope Springs

This movie stars Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones as an almost elderly couple who have been married for 31 years. They haven't had sex in 5 years or so and they never touch or even really talk.. They share nothing except a house- they don't even share a bedroom.  SO they go to an intensive marriage counseling week at a charming town in Maine (really Connecticut -but who cares) where the marriage counselor (Steve Carrell) helps them work through it. And for the love of all that is holy, it is the MOST DAMN BORING movie ever made. Seriously. It's like you've been there for those 5 years.  I kept wishing I had a remote to fast forward through the misery that is Tommy Lee Jones in this. And Meryl Streep plays a character who is about 62-and is digusted by sex, etc. Excuse me??? If she is around 62, she was in college in the late 60s- was she in a cave? a nunnery? a cult? Her character is such a boring woman. This movie was so unrealistic. And so many pauses. And so many stupid and contrived moments. Nothing about it was good but the lovely room they get at the Inn. I'm going to look that one up to see if it is real or just a set.  Otherwise, SKIP IT and don't even watch it on cable. EVER. I'll give it 1 star - I don't even know why.

Ruby Sparks

A writer (Paul Dano) suffers a severe case of writer's block after having published a blockbuster novel and having been proclaimed a "genius"- the kiss of death in creativity. The pressure freezes his brain. But his shrink suggests he do a specific writing exercise, and voila!- the woman he imagines is perfect and is his total creation- so of course, in she walks into his life. Really. Named Ruby Sparks (Zoe Kazan- Dano's real life girlfriend as well as the writer of the film), and everyone else can see her, too. Now there is a novel in the making.  Some people want to compare this to all the other films based on this idea- but I would prefer to simply say there is a charm and inventiveness to this film. Dano plays the reclusive and inept boyfriend with just the right intensity. Kazan is the appropriate level of charming and goofy- she's written herself a role full of opportunity.  Of course, the viewer can pull a lot of analysis into the characters- I found the ending to be a cop out- but it certainly is one of the best movies this year. I would hope Dano and Kazan win an award or two for what they accomplished.

Batman-The Dark Knight Rises

OH God. Please give me back the over 3 hours I sat through this movie. The villain mumbles, the hero lisps, Catwoman sleepwalks through her lines, ugh- so what if it has special effects and a lot of shooting and bombing and slicing. I'll be the brave critic-- it isn't that good. The script is confusing in spots, the storyline is weak and often nonsensical. There is a RULE I have for science fiction or fantasy- it doesn't have to be REAL, or even plausible, but it has to be true to its own reality. You can't suspend the plot logic just because you want to. (Harry Potter is a great example of being fantasy that is true to its own reality).  Ugh. What a shame that most reviewers won't tell you that this movie is really only for the die-hard batman fans. I've never like Christian Bale as Batman but compared to Michael Keaton- well, he does do a much better job.  I expected the darkness, and I expected the twists, but not the totally illogical actions. It was as if the editors realized the movie was getting damn long so they just snipped away without thinking of what it meant. Just as an example- if someone sticks a knife in your chest or belly and twists it for a few minutes and rips it around, even if you are Batman, you are going to be HURT badly. Sigh. I loved the Dark Knight- it was chilling and real. This is not. Why one star- well, with that budget and those special effects they owed us more.

Safety Not Guaranteed

From the same folks who brought you Little Miss Sunshine comes another quirky (and sometimes downright odd) indie type film.  It's about a bunch of bored reporters who have no real story but decide to follow up on an ad in their little paper- one asking for a companion to go along on a space time travel mission- and safety not guaranteed. Of course, the acting is spotty- especially the lead actress who should probably stay unknown. But the story is kind of touching - especially because the end is fun. I'll give it 2 1/2 stars because it is almost really good.

Katy Perry: Part of Me

Confession: I didn't really get Katy Perry- I thought she was just a concoction dreamed up by a record company to impress young girls and about 5 boys who might or might not grow up to be costume designers. She was too cutesy and too, well, nice.
Confession: I was SO wrong.

Look- she is really beloved by a lot of kids and teens. And this is a documentary made during her year long (and VERY exhausting) world tour. It is her first world tour- and she gives it her all. This is a smart, caring and decent woman. She isn't that young- she is 27 rapidly closing in on 28. But she is young in spirit and certainly in shape.  I was interested in her from the first frame to the last. She is a role model for anyone who has talent and a dream. And her personality made her influential friends along the way- especially the woman who got her to Capitol records.  When she marries Russell Brand, you feel the chill in your heart for her because you have the knowledge that hindsight gives. Near the end of her tour, when the exhaustion and the breakup have pulled her into a cave, if you are female, you cry with her. She is broken in the way that girls and women get when someone doesn't love them anymore.  She has tried so HARD to make it all perfect. I have a newfound and HUGE respect for her. Some critics have called this film manipulative and promotional- but it is a documentary after all. She isn't going to be the gross Ho that Madonna was (hey thanks Madonna for giving MY kid such a crap music role model).  Moms aren't going to wring their hands over I Kissed a Girl. They love her, too.
I wish everyone with a music ambition would watch this very carefully- particularly if you aren't as talented and driven as Perry. Because that is what it takes.