« August 2005 | Main | October 2005 »
September 30, 2005
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
(out of four)
"That woman's a saint,'' whispered a lady down the aisle 10 minutes into The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, and sure enough, the way the movie paints '50s housewife Evelyn Ryan, the woman is a saint. She gave up everything to raise her children, channeling the wit she might've used as a writer into concocting clever jingles for mail-in competitions that kept her family fed, dressed and relatively happy.
Continue reading "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio"
Posted by Peter Debruge at 12:04 PM | Comments (0)
The Greatest Game Ever Played
(out of four)
If you were to take a poll among your friends in which you asked them to name the greatest game ever played, I suspect none would pick the 1913 U.S. Open. They probably wouldn't even agree on golf, but before the debate could even begin, Disney has gone and awarded the title to the landmark game in which an amateur (an American, no less) first won the U.S. Open, triumphing over British golfing legend Harry Vardon.
Continue reading "The Greatest Game Ever Played"
Posted by Peter Debruge at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
Into the Blue
(out of four)
Let's be honest: Whether it's Jessica Alba or Paul Walker you're dying to see stripped down to her/his sexiest swimwear, there's only one reason anyone is interested in diving Into the Blue. So it should come as a pleasant surprise that all that skin is just the bait, and the movie's more than loaded with sunken pirate treasure, near-death shark escapes, and international drug running to justify your shallow motives.
Continue reading "Into the Blue"
Posted by Peter Debruge at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2005
Grizzly Man
(out of four)
"Grizzly People'' co-founder Timothy Treadwell dedicated his life to the protection of North American grizzly bears, traveling to the Alaskan wilderness to live in close proximity with the deadly animals every summer for 13 years. It may seem like an ironic twist of fate that Treadwell ultimately (or perhaps inevitably) met his death in 2003 at the paws of the very animals he worked so diligently to protect, but irony itself is characterized by surprise and contradiction. What other outcome could Treadwell possibly have expected to the lifestyle he had chosen?
Continue reading "Grizzly Man"
Posted by Peter Debruge at 12:04 PM | Comments (0)
Flightplan
(out of four)
Flightplan takes every parent's worst nightmare – that your child might be snatched right out from under your nose – and compounds it by having the disappearance take place on a double decker jumbo jet where none of the possible witnesses believe that the missing girl was ever on board. Consider how you might react under such circumstances. Now imagine how tight-lipped, steely-eyed Jodie Foster might play it.
Posted by Peter Debruge at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
September 16, 2005
Just Like Heaven
(out of four)
Just Like Heaven is the story of a real estate dream come true interrupted by a dopey supernatural romance. When out-of-work garden designer David Abbott (Mark Ruffalo) stumbles across a fully furnished San Francisco apartment with big windows, a fireplace, and a private roof overlooking the bay, of course there has to be a catch. Turns out the place is haunted, and no sooner has David left his first water ring on the coffee table than Elizabeth Masterson (Reese Witherspoon), the anally retentive chick who used to live there, pops up to pester him about it.
Continue reading "Just Like Heaven"
Posted by Peter Debruge at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)