Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a couple reviews for you good folks to feast on. The first is for the Richard Gere/J. Lo/Dammit Janet flick SHALL WE DANCE, the second is for a thriller starring Jamie Bell called UNDERTOW. I remember seeing SHALL WE DANCE (the original Japanese film) in its limited theatrical release at the Village theater in Austin, back before it closed down and the super awesome Alamo Drafthouse Cinema bought it out and made it presentable again. I remember being pleasantly surprised on just how sweet the film was and look forward to seeing the remake. Remember when Tom Hanks was going to star in this film? That would have been something, but honestly Richard Gere is hard to beat when he decides to turn up his charm-o-meter to 11. Here's the review of SHALL WE DANCE!!!
Hi Harry! I have just seen "Shall We Dance", the new movie with Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon, and since it has yet to be released I decided to send you my review in case you want to put it in your site :D Keep up the good work!
"I have just finished watching "Shall We Dance", the remake of the japanese movie with the same name.
I was expecting an entertaining movie and it was exactly what I got. "Shall We Dance" is definetely a lift of fresh air. I was delightly surprised.
Richard Gere is an overworked lawyer who discovers that dance lessons is what he needed to fulfil his life with happiness and joy.
I know that the plot might sound pretty lame and it does. On paper it does sound pretty cliché and pretty lame. Why would anyone want to watch this? The question - the actors.
The cast is what raises the bar in this movie. It isn't just a sweet comedy with bland, underdeveloped and uneven performances like all the other sweet comedies. The actors in their roles completely shine.
Richard Gere brought for the first time in years the charm and charisma that he once had. He is perfect as the main lead and I really think he will have a shot in making my Best Actor ballot at the end of the year. I really expect him to be nominated at the Golden Globes for Best Actor Comedy/ Musical. It's just the type of performance that they love to recognize.
Susan Sarandon can do no wrong. And once again she showed that she is really one of the best actresses working today. She doesn't have big scenes or strong moments. But she is absolutely great during the whole movie. I really loved her.
And now Jennifer Lopez. As many of you know I don't hate her like everybody does but I also don't like her. I found her a talented actress (she already proved that in Out of Sight) with some terrible bad choices in movies and of course in personal life. At the beginning her character seemed kind of bland and uninteresting as did she. However as the movie keeps going Jennifer Lopez turns out to give an extremely and surprisingly sweet performance. And wow she really can dance. I think that people will be warm to her again after seeing this movie.
All the supporting cast is hilarious. I loved Stanley Tucci in this and I don't think he was overexposed. One of his best performances to date. And I absolutely loved Lisa Ann Walter - the funniest performance (Quit looking to my ass!!! ).
Another thing that surprised me in this movie is the strong chemistry that Richard Gere has with both leading ladies - Lopez and Sarandon. It's really unbelievable.
All the dance scenes are great, especially one in the middle between Gere and Lopez.
One of the few things that I really didn't like was the Score. It was a bit annoying.
I really think this movie will do great in the box-office. Of course it won't be a critical success but it is definetely a crowdpleaser and it will have a good word of mouth.
"Shall We Dance" is one of those movies that can't do no harm. It's extremely inoffensive and also sweet and cute. Of course it isn't a masterpiece. Far from it. But trust me you will have a good time watching this.
A surprise.
Call me F.
Alrighty. On with the next one... From reading this review, I get a very RADIO FLYER feeling about this flick. Goddamn that movie fucked me up as a kid. I could watch Ripley duking it out with the Bitch or Brundle transforming into a shit-eater or Jason hacking and slashing his way through horny teens, but should I happen upon Elijah Wood trying to protect his little brother from an abusive stepfather... well, my stomach would tighten. I don't know if the below film is exactly the same thing, but Josh Lucas sounds like he'll be pretty damn creepy. I can't wait to see this flick, though, even it doesn't seem to be perfect. Enjoy the review!
Hey Harry, MiraJeff here with a review of David Gordon Green's latest film, Undertow. I had the privilege of seeing the movie at the MGM Screening Room on 55th St, here in New York. Now I haven't seen either of Green's earlier works, George Washington and All the Real Girls, but I'm aware how widely praised both have been for their lush, lyrical direction. Undertow is another beautifully shot film that seems to accurately capture the South, where Green grew up, but the story falters in the second half where the film loses momentum and fails to build on the suspense generated by a gripping first beginning.
The story follows two brothers, Chris (Billy Elliott's Jamie Bell) and Tim (Devon Alan) who grow up sheltered from relationships outside the family thanks to their father, John (Dermot Mulroney). John is filled with sadness and struggling to raise a family the best he can without his wife who has passed away. He drives a beat up station wagon to a dead-end taxidermy job, choosing to spend his nights staring at a family portrait in quiet reflection, smoking his pipe. John is frustrated with Chris, who has had a few run-ins with the law lately, and is more than happy when his estranged brother, Deel (Josh Lucas) tracks him down, fresh from prison. Deel can help him keep an eye on the boys, and John is looking forward to the chance to catch up with him, though there is still some unresolved tension between them, as Deel blames his older brother for going to prison. Both are men who harbor dark secrets. Deel tries pitting a rebellious Chris against his over-protective father in hopes of recovering a valuable set of gold coins that he is entitled to half of. When the tension comes to a head, Deel lashes out in a horrific act of violence and the boys are forced to go on the run.
The second half of the film has some poignant moments between the two brothers, but besides those, was surprisingly mediocre and disappointing. Once the boys hit the road, the film plays like a Disney movie, with a crazed uncle chasing two boys for a lost treasure. Lucas is forced to feign desperation in a series of near-misses, always one step behind or too late. There seem to be no stakes involved, and the audience is painfully aware that Lucas won't find the boys until their final confrontation at the end. And even the manner in which Deel finds the boys at last is suspicious. (He spies Chris buying medicine for Tim's stomach, the only payoff of a lame subplot in which Tim has an ulcer because he eats paint chips and dirt in every other scene, behavior that is never really explained.
Green also makes some odd stylistic choices, particularly at the beginning of the film, during the title sequence. There is one shot of a rock being thrown through a window that Green insists on showing four times through four different filters, including the negative. The brief sequence seems out of place in a film that doesn't employ the technique again, especially since the scene in question seems irrelevant to the story. There is no greater significance to the choice and Chris' subplot of forbidden love with a local girl does nothing for the film except explain whatever happened to actress Kristen Stewart since her stellar debut in Panic Room.
What carries Undertow are its strong performances from its three leads. Josh Lucas brings a ferocious intensity to Deel, and even the actor's soft blue eyes seem threatening. Before the script turns Deel into a caricature, Lucas does a credible job of channeling a rugged Matthew McConaughey mixed with Jack Nicholson in The Shining. I'm ashamed to admit never having seen Billy Elliot but Jamie Bell impressed me. The script keeps him active, always aware of but never comfortable with his surroundings. His scenes with the younger Devon Alan are touching, especially when Chris gives Tim a hand-made birthday gift, and a mud-wrestling scene in the rain. It's imperative to the film that the audience can believe the two are brothers, and fortunately Green gets deft performances from both his child actors. Finally, Mulroney's presence is sorely missed in the second half of the film. He lends such weight to the first half's proceedings that the film never recovers. I've always liked him as an actor and he makes interesting career choices.
I won't give away the ending, which did pull me back into the film, though it was telegraphed thanks to an unnecessary opening voice-over from the boys' grandfather, who we don't meet and isn't mentioned until the end. All the elements of a great movie are present but Green fumbles in his execution, and the end result is a merely decent family drama about a young boy's coming of age into manhood. Green again proves he is a filmmaker with something unique to say, but I wouldn't label him an auteur yet. I wish I had a reference point for his work, because from what I've heard about it, this film feels like a step backward. While Undertow is certainly powerful, it never really sucked me in.
