Change Your Image
bludwig2
Reviews
Orphans (2007)
Pure emotion from beginning to end.
I caught this at the SXSW film festival. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I think it is a wonderful movie. Orphans is the story of two sisters, Rosie (Lily Wheelwright), and Sonia (the outstanding James Katharine Flynn). They are estranged from each other but they agree to get together for Sonia's birthday party. Nothing quite turns out as either had hoped. We learn some of their history, both parents killed five years earlier in a car wreck, Sonia's drinking bouts with her father, but basically the movie is pure emotion from beginning to end. The acting is really outstanding as is the wonderful camera work and editing. I look forward to seeing these actors in future films.
Forgiving the Franklins (2006)
As enjoyable as it gets for me.
I agree with the other 9 and 10 star reviews. I saw this at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin. Of the 20 films I saw,7 were really good and this was the best one for me. I'm a sucker for movies that have plot devices where characters go through transformations that totally change their lives. The excellent acting was mostly done by people involved in TV, or it was their first movie. It was written and directed by Jay Floyd. This was his debut as a director. Jay's day job is apparently as a clearance administrator for lots of famous films. Forgiving the Franklins was a total delight and extremely funny in spots. This is one movie where I would buy the DVD and re-watch it, truly a high complement from me. Well done, Jay, yes...give up your day job!
The Oh in Ohio (2006)
A very funny movie
I just saw this movie's official world premier at South By South West in Austin. It was so well done. Parker Posey, Paul Rudd and Danny DeVito did a wonderful job with a script that was funny but also very honest and free from a lot of pitfalls that have hurt other movies. The movie was never gratuitous.
There are two major plots going on at once, Parker Posey's character, "Priscilla", and Paul Rudd's "Jack" each go their separate ways for most of the movie but director Billy Kent skillfully brings a great balance to the two halves and when they interact once more at the end the result is extremely satisfying.
Prime Suspect 5: Errors of Judgement (1996)
Superb acting, penetrating story, the cream of the crop
I remembered the original Prime Suspect TV mini-series as being very good. I decided to re-watch them (with no interruptions this time) on DVD. I rarely re-watch anything, but seeing this series again was like basking in quality.
The acting is sometimes staggeringly good. The story lines are always great, of course I responded to some of the series more than others. Prime Suspect 3 was very dark, but great. Prime Suspect 5 is concerned with real life conflict. There is a mole in the department but who is it? When the answer is revealed, there is no cut and dry conclusion as to their fate, which turns out to be very satisfactory.
My wife and I go to the movies a lot and seeing the Prime Suspect series made ALL the other movies we were watching on the big screen pale in comparison. Even Collateral, which I consider a finely crafted movie just isn't in the same league.
The Station Agent (2003)
I wished it would never end.
A charming film. I loved being with all of the characters and I wished the movie would never end, or at least go a bit longer!
The acting disappears in a movie like this as they are all so good you believe in them all the time. A great movie for train buffs by the way.
Freaky Friday (2003)
Very well done, very funny.
How can a comedy deserve a "9" rating? Does one dare to put it up with the ranks of the truly great classic movies? No, of course, not, but I found that, while most comedy movies are not all that funny, Freaky Friday made me really laugh from the beginning to almost the end (they had to wrap-up the movie somehow!) They got it right. Thus, within the comedy genre, this movie surely deserves a "9".
Without spoiling the plot, a certain relationship between the mother and daughter needed to occur and they accomplished this with subtlety and skill. Very well done, very funny.
Dummy (2002)
One of the most truly funny movies I've seen in a long time.
I saw this at the South By Southwest film festival, I hope they get great distribution for this. Many movies are supposed to be "comedies" and, in fact, aren't really that funny. This movie made me and my wife laugh out loud more than other movie in recent memory. Adrien Brody (the Pianist's star) does a fantastic job. He apparently had to learn how to be a ventriloquist from scratch and learned in only 3 weeks and, according to the Director's Q/A at the end of the film's screening, he is actually was a better ventriloquist than he is portrayed in the movie. Milla Jovovich steals the show with an intense punk-rocker part. The way she changes her musical styles through the movie was hysterical to me. This movie connected with me in a touching way and I'm not even Jewish or Italian!