Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Bottomline: Terrific movie
Pros: Solid acting, great story, wonderfully constructed, incredibly tense, incredibly entertaining.
Cons: Explosively, graphically violent. Extremely long (running time = 2 hrs 32 mins).
Where Is It Playing: It is still in some theaters but is slowly being squeezed out by new films.
QMR Opinion: There are movies that you go see that remind you why you go see movies in the theater. This is one of them. It is fantastic. Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Rayne leads a small group of Jewish-American in Nazi-occupied France during WWII and proceeds to maim, torture, kill, and scalp every Nazi they come across. The movie is clearly a revenge fantasy and the end is produced perfectly so that you're cheering for the very thing that you were just disgusted by. Interesting. Brad Pitt is great as Aldo Rayne who is essentially an amalgamation of every hard-boiled, no-nonsense leader of men in every war movie ever made. The clear winning actor here is Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa. He is gloriously slimy. Absolute caveat: If you don't like Tarantino movies, you will not like this film. The tension of the film with its endless dialog is broken most often by explosive and graphic violence.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)
Bottomline: Should be better than it is.
Pros: Directed by Sidney Lumet. Get to watch at least two of the best actors in the business do their stuff -- Philip Seymour Hoffman and Albert Finney. Interesting story twist.
Cons: Ethan Hawke. Marisa Tomei. Story is interesting at first and then unravels and gets way weak. If you watch the trailer all the way through, then you've seen the movie.
Where Can I See This? It's available for rent on DVD.
QMR Opinion: By all accounts, this movie should just be phenomenal. Sidney Lumet is one of the best directors around (check out his filmography on IMDB.com and be amazed). Albert Finney is one of the best actors that has ever stood upright. Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of the best young actors around. The problem here is the story. It starts off strong with a great twist and then just loses its way. By the end of the movie, you're wondering what in the world just happened to bring Hoffman's character to this point. Both Ethan Hawke and Marisa Tomei are weak spots here and certainly don't help the cause. If you're looking for a suspense/thriller, rent Rear Window (1954).
Sunshine Cleaning (2008)
Bottomline: Cute little movie that is a good date night rental.
Pros: Amy Adams. Interesting storyline. Amy Adams.
Cons: Tries hard -- really hard -- to pull, yank, tug at your heartstrings.
Where Can I See This Movie? It is available for rent on DVD.
Interesting Note: Rent the DVD and be sure to watch the "making of" extra because it features an interview with two women who actually do crime scene clean-up.
QMR Opinion: Amy Adams and Emily Blunt are sisters and are down on their luck. To turn their lives around they start their own business -- crime scene clean-up. To add some oomph to the film and because this movie was produced by the same folks that produced Little Miss Sunshine (2006), you have Alan Arkin playing their father. I am biased here a little because I would watch Amy Adams in just about anything and she is good here. Blunt looked uncomfortable throughout the film and her British accent slipped out fairly regularly. A couple of surprising bright acting spots were turned in by Jason Spevack, who plays Adams' young son, and Clifton Collins Jr. who manages the local cleaning supply store. The story works overtime to try and get you to cry -- and it doesn't.
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