Everyone Says I Love You (1996)

If Charade was ridiculous, Everyone Says I Love You is downright wacky. The amount of suspension of disbelief required to accept this movie is more than could be asked of most movie-goers. And to top it off, it's a musical.

I didn't realize that last part going in, only to be greeted by Edward Norton singing to Drew Barrymore in the film's opening. That's right. Edward Norton. Singing. Happily. Director Woody Allen did round up an extensive well-known cast. The movie is narrated by Natasha McLyonne as DJ, the daughter of ex-couple Steffi (Goldie Hawn) and Joe (Woody Allen). She tells the story of her life with her mom, step-dad (Alan Alda), step-brother (Lukas Haas), step-sister Skylar (Barrymore), and half-sisters (Gabby Hoffman & Natalie Portman) as well as the time she spends with her Dad.

Oh, wait. Did I mention Julia Roberts is in this too? Yes, she is - as the woman Woody Allen's character is interested in, of course. And of course with it being a Woody Allen comedy and an ensemble like this hijinks ensue. There's even a man in trouble with the law and gasp! - it's not Edward Norton. It's Tim Roth.

I'm sure many people would find this whole thing charming and silly. I got hung up on the silly part and was too busy staring in disbelief at the screen. The singing is not perfect, but they say that's what Allen was going for. The dancing is sort of impressive.

It's just all so.... wacky.

Rating: 3/5

Recommended for: viewing on a day you're feeling giddy

Inception (2010)

When writer/director Christopher Nolan was figuring out this film, I'm pretty sure he said multiple times,"Oh look. There's a stake we haven't raised yet. Let's raise it."

Inception is a dramatic, action-packed, science fiction, thriller of a heist film. So if you were looking for mindless summer blockbuster entertainment, run away. You need to go into watching this one knowing that your brain will be running the gambit.

Mine likes to wander off sometimes when I'm watching a movie. I'll start thinking about what other movies I've seen these actors in, or why they chose to light that scene like that, or, if the film is especially not engaging, things I should be doing instead of watching this movie.

Inception did not let me wander to any of those places. My attention was completely wrapped up for all 148 minutes of it. Plus, with how they mess with the concept of time, it doesn't even feel like 148 minutes. Actually, it doesn't feel like any specific amount of time. At the end I had no idea how long I was sitting there. And I wanted to see it again.

As others have said, it's not an easy movie to describe without having to say too much, but here's the premise. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) leads a team that steals ideas out of people's dreams, usually in the name of corporate espionage. After trying to prove they can do it undetected to energy company head Saito (Ken Watanabe), Saito offers them a job doing the much tougher opposite--inception. He wants them to plant the idea of breaking up his dying father's energy empire into the mind of Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy). Cobb's point man Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has reservations about it, but Cobb insists it can be done. If they can do it, Saito will make sure Cobb can see his children again.

There's no standalone star here, even if Leo is on the poster. Instead it's a great ensemble--so much so it reminded me that there should really be a Best Acting Ensemble award at the Oscars. A solid team makes for such a more enjoyable and easier to get lost in film. Ellen Page who plays the team's new architect even manages to remove most of her Juno-esque line delivery and falls right in with the rest of the crew. Marion Cotilliard as Cobb's wife, Mal, pulls off being both caring and menacing. Tom Hardy (Eames, the forger) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's banter is amusing without becoming tedious. And Dileep Rao as Yusuf the chemist plays the science guy without resorting to a stereotype.

In fact, the whole movie follows the balance you see in the acting. It has strange concepts without getting too trippy. The special effects are amazing without relying too much on CGI. Dialogue moves the story along and informs without hit-you-over-the-head narration. There's a lot of chase scenes without it becoming tiring. Even with some comparing it in ways to The Matrix, the whole thing just feels so fresh. Although the best part of all when I saw it was the collective noise most of the audience made at the end. It's a brilliant move.

Of course, as with most things, if you think about certain elements long enough you can start to pick it apart. But don't do that. Just enjoy the ride.

Rating: 5/5

Recommended for: Its elegant complexity

A Single Man (2009)

A Single Man is so morose but so pretty. It makes me sigh just to think of it.

The story follows George (Colin Firth), a British professor teaching at an American university, as he tries to get to the end of his day after the death of his long-time partner. Firth's performance is so intimate and intricate. It's quiet and reserved but deep. And it's really a portrait of love and grief. What do you do when someone who was such a fixture in your life is gone? Every day can be a struggle. It's complimented nicely by the rest of the cast (especially Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode) sliding seamlessly into supporting positions.

But even with Firth's terrific (and Oscar-nominated) turn, he's slightly out-shined by the styling. Directed by fashion designer Tom Ford, the whole movie is like a slick pictorial come to live. It's set in the 1960s but not the neon, flower-power 60s. Instead it's the cool, clean world also seen in TV's Mad Men. In fact, the same production designers worked on both.

Not too many movies anymore can be paused and leave a beautifully composed image on the screen. Not only does A Single Man do that, but it leaves an image worthy of fashion ad.

Rating: 4/5

Recommended for: viewing in your slickest outfit on a rainy day

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

Terry Gilliam likes his movies fantastical and quirky and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is no exception. Despite his successes, Gilliam is also known for his string of unfortunate production problems. Again, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is no exception.

This is the movie where Heath Ledger died during a filming break. Upon Ledger's death production shut down until Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Ferrell stepped up to take over Ledger's role. Magically, this role sharing actually works with the story.

Ledger was playing Tony, a man found hanging from a bridge in London by the gypsy-like performing group of the 1,000-year old Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer). Tony stays with the group as they go around inviting people into Doctor Parnassus' Imaginarium. Like the name implies, inside people can experience worlds of their own imagination, but it's also where Parnassus can collect their souls. Soon the group has to hurry to capture five souls before Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) does. It's an alternate to Parnassus' old deal with Nick that required him to surrender his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) to Nick on her sixteenth birthday.

No doubt the film is wacky. It's part of the fun. But eventually it flounders before it reaches the end and any concern I had for the characters was gone just when it was called for most. It's really too bad. The cast does a nice job. I especially look forward to seeing more of Lily Cole and Andrew Garfield (another member of the Parnassus group) in other films. And of course there's Ledger. Ledger had reached new levels as The Joker in The Dark Knight and he was still going strong in this movie.

Rating: 3/5

Recommended for: Anyone who wants to see Heath Ledger in one more movie

Extended Review: At certain points it seems like Ledger is channeling Johnny Depp (especially Jack Sparrow Johnny Depp). So when Depp is the first to play Ledger, there's a great symbiosis.

Charade (1963)

Charade is one odd cookie of a movie.

Audrey Hepburn is Regina Lampert, who upon returning to Paris from a holiday plans to ask her husband for a divorce. When she returns to their home though she finds it completely empty and is soon notified that her husband was found dead after someone threw him from a train.

Strangers show up at his funeral and test the body to make sure he's really dead. She then finds out from CIA agent Hamilton Bartholomew (Walter Mathau) that her husband was part of a group of soldiers who buried money that they were supposed to give to the French Resistance during World War II. Mr. Lampert had recently gone back to the site and dug up the money for himself but no one could find it in his possessions. So now Regina and her new randomly-found friend Peter Joshua (Carey Grant) need to figure out where the money is so they can return it to the US before Mr. Lampert's fellow ex-soldiers hunt them down and take it from them.

If it sounds goofy with serious elements that aren't taken seriously, that's because it is. It's also all over the board.

Regina is threatened and intimidated by the ex-soldiers. But then for no apparent reason they don't scare her anymore. Then they follow suit and become more accommodating.

Regina trusts Peter even though she just met him. Then she thinks maybe she can't. Then again maybe she can. Then again, oh look there's Audrey Hepburn managing to be the most fashionable and out-of-nowhere stealthy person in Paris. (Well she was dressed by Givenchy.)

And after all this dated flightiness, I was ready to write it off. But then, in the last fifteen minutes, it becomes this suddenly gripping, really serious, really interesting film. It's as if the film was a balloon floating around Paris and suddenly someone jumped up on a chair, grabbed the string, tied a rock to it and grounded the darn thing. Really it was for the best.

Rating: 3/5

Recommended for: People who like their well-dressed screwball comedies to have sudden moments of gravitas and violence that doesn't involve animals or a man being hit in the crotch

Shutter Island (2010)

When Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese collaborate you have certain expectations. For example, you expect the movie to be good. Maybe you expect it to be a little violent. You might even expect it to not treat the audience like idiots.

Well... Shutter Island at least lives up to the second one. And it has an interesting plot. Or at least it makes you think it has an interesting plot.

Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a US Marshal in 1954 on the case of a missing patient from a hospital for the criminally insane on the allegedly unescapable Shutter Island. With his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), Teddy comes across several roadblocks from the staff to the investigation and begins to suspect that something akin to the sinister activities he witnessed in death camps during World War II is taking place on the island. Things are further compounded by a hurricane, more escaped patients, and Teddy's dead wife.

Unfortunately Teddy and Chuck tell us way too many things explicitly. At some points it wouldn't be surprising if they turned to the camera and relayed the lines. And with the storm and the fireplaces and the men sitting in high-back chairs, you almost expect Teddy to announce it was Col. Mustard who absconded with the missing patient in the library with the candelabra.

There's a fair amount of suspense but it gets tiring after awhile and the story really starts to drag. Eventually, it's just annoying and tempting to fast forward to the end.

The actors do a fair enough job with what they've been given. Patricia Clarkson probably gives the strongest performance, but then again she was just making the most of the 5 minutes she's in the movie. DiCaprio and Ruffalo seem like an odd pairing. I never think of them as being in the same genre of films, but they work well together here.

In the end, only parts of it were the thriller I expected and instead of finding the ending itself clever, I felt betrayed. Looking back I see where all the seeds are sown, I just didn't care any more when it came time to harvest.

Rating: 2/5

Recommended for: People who like to be reminded that sometimes great film people put out a not-so-great movie