Grey Gardens (2009)

HBO's Grey Gardens follows the lives of Jackie O.'s cousins, Edith Bouvier Beale (aka Little Edie) and her mother Edith Ewing Bouvier (aka Big Edie), from Little Edie's premiere as a debutante in 1936 through the filming of the documentary Grey Gardens circa 1975 - where this movie got a fair amount of it's source material.

Drew Barrymore is Little Edie and Jessica Lange is Big Eddie. And I use "is" because if you've ever seen the documentary, you'll know that these two are the embodiments of the Edies. Barrymore and Lange earned their awards. And I don't think it's going too far to say that had his been released in theaters, they could have been up for Oscars (although it might not do as well at the box office due to the Beale's modern day obscurity).

It's this possessive, co-dependent, passive-aggressive relationship that sits at the heart of the film. They're each captivating characters. Big Edie lives in her own world, refusing to bend to anyone or anything. Little Edie feels compelled to bend to her mother's will, even at the cost of forgoing having her own life. Both women stand on their own but recreate the interaction between mother and daughter beautifully. The crew did a great job aging them 40 years over the course of their story but the actresses don't rely on their hair (or lack there-of) and make-up as a crutch. It's all there in their voices, their posture, the way they seem to carry this lifetime of memories. Little Edie says that it's hard to keep a line between the past and the present and it's shows so true. They play the society-mavens craving attention and they play the recluses living in a house that is literally crumbling around them. It's amazing juxtaposition further enhanced by the fact that it's all true.

To the audience, the Beale women's circumstances don't seem normal, but it's all business as usual for the Beales - and that's part of the fascinating charm this movie provides.

One of my favorite instances of that charm comes from Little Edie. She wore rather unconventional ensembles in her later years that she referred to as "the costume for the day". When the Maysles brothers come to film their documentary she tells them about that day's costume explaining her choices and ending with "Mother wanted me to come out in a kimono, so we had quite a fight."

Rating: 5/5
Recommended for:People who really understand the phrase "a beautiful train wreck".

Moon (2009)

Moon centers around Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), who is two weeks away from the end of his 3-year contract running mining operations on the moon. He's desperately looking forward to seeing his daughter and wife in person again after not being able to get a live connection to them his entire term. He gets in an accident while out checking on broken down equipment. He wakes up back at his station and is taken care of by the station's robot Gerty (Kevin Spacey). Sam discovers things he's not supposed to and then it starts to get weird.

There's so much to like about this film, but in the end it's ever-so-slightly off balance. This is Duncan Jones' first full-length feature film. His background is more so in commercial work and he and his crew are very good at using models to make things seem realistic and do more effects in camera without having a huge budget. While the story is interesting and Sam Rockwell deserves major props for all the acting he did in the film (where was his due at awards time?), there's an imbalance between the love and attention to detail put into fantastic lunar sequences and the story itself. The good news is the imbalance isn't so large it ruins the film.

I won't say much more regarding the plot because I could easily dive into spoiler territory and I think, if you're going to watch this film, you should learn all the info as you go. Knowing the ins and outs will definitely ruin the allure.

So here's what I will say... With such obvious allusions to 2001, this film manages to still be fresh. The plot raises questions about general human behavior even in the most unusual of situations. And the film-making itself is rugged and hands-on. It makes me look forward to what else Jones has up his sleeve.

Rating: 4/5
Recommended for: Anyone who'd like to see some good sci-fi that doesn't involve people in alien masks or rely on CGI

Revolutionary Road (2008)

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio play April and Frank Wheeler in this depressing drama about a dissolving marriage in the 1950s. The film is dedicated to Joe and Mia, the children of Kate Winslet and this movie's director Sam Mendes. I realize it's because it's Winslet and Mendes' first film collaboration, but if I were them, I'd rather dedicate something much more uplifting to my children. I'd also like to chose one where we don't see at least eighty cigarettes being smoked.

Within the first ten minutes you can see what kind of trouble we're in for - not only with the words but with the visuals. As they walk down that long hall to exit the building, the overhead lights hit Frank while April is in the dark, and then April while Frank is in the dark over and over again until it's clearly evident these two are not on the same wavelength. After their argument on the side of the road, the interior shot of the car makes it look like they're so far away they're not even traveling in the same vehicle.

Mendes had the production rehearse for three and a half weeks before filming and it shows. Every line sounds like it's come out of the moment, every character is clearly thinking something even when they're saying nothing. More of the aforementioned visual metaphors abound and the whole production is beautifully shot. But it's such a tough story to digest as a helpless audience member.

Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: if you're not feeling crappy enough and really want to take yourself down a peg.

The Brothers Bloom (2009)

It's not often that I'm beguiled by a trailer. I usually see through the marketing ploys and am keenly aware when one month the trailer is presented as a drama and the next it's been recut as a comedy. But then along came Brothers Bloom with its Wes Anderson-esque whimsy in camera shots and characters and smaller, yet acclaimed Ocean's 11-ful cast and plot.

Point to you for that one, The Brothers Bloom. Too bad you won't be scoring much more than that. First let's start with the title. The brothers in it are lifelong con artists Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrien Brody). They do not appear to have a last name. So why is the film titled after one of the two brothers? If anything it should be called "Brothers, Bloom."

Then there's the mess of a plot. We're constantly out of the loop because more than one character is out of the loop but they are all out to varying degrees. And even when you think you've been let in, you're usually still left out. Us audiences tend to like to be in on things from the beginning, or left totally out and surprised at the end, or slowly have things revealed to us over time. None of this see-sawing crap, please. Some sort of flow or balance is missing. Ironically, towards the end a character essentially promises the story will be better next time.

At least some of the characters are fun. Rachel Weisz's Penelope Stamp is a reclusive heiress who collects hobbies. Weisz seems to be having a blast in this comedic role. She actually tried to learn every hobby her character has. I kept thinking if only Wes Anderson could scoop up Penelope and the brothers' mute associate Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi) and give them a better story in which to play... if only.

An alluring trailer and two fun female characters just aren't enough though.

Rating: 2/5
Recommended for: Penelope's hobby montage.

Bottle Shock (2008)

I've never had a movie make me want to own an old beat-up pickup truck before. Although I guess it's not really the pickup truck itself. It's the whole atmosphere of this movie: the California sunshine, the vast fields of grape vine, and of course the wine.

Bottle Shock is based on the real-life 1976 competition to see which wines were better - the classics of France or the up and coming Napa Valley, CA.

It's not the most fantastic movie and there's not really any suspense despite the competition but it's a sweet little film. The poster makes it look like it's going to be a little quirky. It's not. The characters aren't weird. They're just in bellbottoms and messy haircuts - Chris Pine being the worst offender.

Seriously though, they present as pepole who are really devoted to making wine and it's that devotion that makes them somewhat lovable. It adds to the idyllic quality wafting off the screen too. And best of all, they don't lull you to sleep like Sideways.

Rating: 3/5
Recommended for:If you've never been to Napa and really want to go.