A creative film with a very unusual storyline, it is an animated production done by Pixar studios distributed by Disney. If you like the previous films Pixar has done such as WALL-E (2008) or Toy Story (1995) then you may enjoy this one as well. I thought visually it was well animated, but what stood out was the story which was pretty original about a house floating merely by balloons, an old man, a boy, a strange bird, and a dog. This was directed by both Pete Docter and Bob Peterson. Both of them collaborated with Thomas McCarthy for the story and Bob Peterson and Pete Docter did the screenplay.
There were a number of Hollywood talents bringing their voices to these characters. Edward (Ed) Asner is Carl Fredricksen, Christopher Plummer is Charles Muntz, Delroy Lindo is Beta, John Ratzenberger is Construction Foreman Tom, Jordan Nagai is Russell, Bob Peterson is Dug / Alpha, Jerome Ranft is Gamma, David Kaye is the Newsreel Announcer, Elie Docter is the Young Ellie, Jeremy Leary is the Young Carl, Mickie McGowan is Police Officer Edith, Danny Mann is Construction Worker Steve, Donald Fullilove is Nurse George, Jess Harnell is Nurse AJ, Josh Cooley is Omega, Pete Docter is Campmaster Strauch and Kevin.
I don’t think small children will fully understand the story for this film, they may find moments of it funny and amusing. But, it seemed to be tailored towards adults more. There are a few moments of sadness in the story which makes you feel for the character, but it was pretty straightforward from the start to the end. There are a couple surprises along the way which I think you will find interesting. Pixar did well bringing elements to each of the characters such as the gestures they used during many of the scenes and some of the interaction between the characters were mostly expressions without any dialogue whatsoever.
I think this was still worth looking at, you can appreciate the time and effort again spent putting this film together. It is something to share with your family together and it keeps your interest for the most part.
This is a charming film that stars Richard Dreyfuss as Jack Noah an actor who impersonates President Alphonse Simms the leader of Parador. In reality there is no such country, but a franchise chain of luxury hotels exist including the Aigua Blava Parador, which overlooks Aigua Blava Bay in the Costa Brava in the country of Spain. Director Paul Mazursky did a really nice job working again with Dreyfuss since their previous teaming from the film Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986). He has also made acting appearances in such films as 2 Days in the Valley (1996). Moon Over Parador’s story was written by Charles G. Booth. The screenplay was written by both Leon Capetanos and Paul Mazursky.
The late Puerto Rican actor Raul Julia also stars in this as Roberto Strausmann. Brazilian actress Sonia Braga stars as Madonna Mendez. Jonathan Winters is Ralph, Fernando Rey is Alejandro, Michael Greene is Clint, Polly Holliday is Midge, Milton Gonçalves is Carlo, Charo appears as Madame Loop, Marianne Sägebrecht is Magda, Reinhard Kolldehoff is Gunther, José Lewgoy is the Archbishop, Richard Russell Ramos is Dieter Lopez, Dann Florek is Toby, and Roger Aaron Brown is Desmond.
The film is rather humorous at certain moments, and you can’t help but get caught up in the story following what will happen next. I will recommend this to everyone as I think they will get at least a few laughs out of it. The story follows dictator Alphonse Simms aka Jack Noah as he tries to win over the people with the watchful eye of Roberto Strausmann looking over him at all times. Along the way, he meets Madonna Mendez the wife of the real Alphonse Simms and they begin to connect to one another. It is considered a comedy with romance and adventure.
If you enjoyed this film, you will like others such as the film Dave (1993) starring Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, and Frank Langella. Only this story takes place in the USA, but the story is very similar.
This is an astonishing tale of a true life story about an abused prostitute who faces many tragedies in her life. She sees things from her own flawed vantage point. It is an intense roller coaster ride of sorrow and depression as we get a chance to follow Aileen Wuornos through the spiraling whirlwind of self destruction and self loathing in Daytona Beach. The film was written and directed by Patty Jenkins.
The film focuses mostly on the relationship between Selby played by Christina Ricci and the leading character Aileen played by Charlize Theron. Not only did she give an incredible performance, but the academy didn’t overlook her efforts, Charlize walked away with the Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar in 2004. She also won a number of other awards around the world for her performance in this. It is rare to see such a character come to life on screen and command each scene. I would compare this to Angelina Jolie’s performance in the HBO movie Gia (1998) for example.
Bruce Dern appears in this as Thomas who is kind of friend to Aileen. Lee Tergesen plays Vincent Corey, Annie Corley is Donna, Pruitt Taylor Vince is Gene / Stuttering “John”, Marco St. John is Evan / Undercover “John”, Marc Macaulay is Will / Daddy “John”, Scott Wilson is Horton / Last “John”, Rus Blackwell appears as a Cop, Stephan Jones is a Lawyer, Tim Ware is Chuck, Brett Rice is Charles, Kaitlin Riley is the Teenage Aileen, and Cree Ivey is the 7-Year-Old Aileen.
The film’s facts are pretty accurate; you see the beginnings of her life briefly, and understand what lead her to this path in life. She is constantly plagued by physical, emotional as well as drug abuse living in Michigan, she moves to Florida later on. There things change even more dramatically for her and the story focuses on her meeting with Selby followed by their relationship together.
The film had an older look about it in the way it was filmed; it reminded me of the films from the early 1970’s in the way the scenes were done on the flip side, it also at times seemed like an artsy horror film. I think you will find the story interesting and the acting was fantastic. What a tragic tale of a woman who loses her humanity and spirit.
This indie film was a cult hit and was popular with the younger crowd of movie goers. I think most people will find it to be quite charming in its own way. The directorial influence was done by Jason Reitman who has done other films such as Thank You for Smoking (2005). He seemed to really capture the character and story of Juno, which is about a 16 year old Minnesota girl who unexpectedly became pregnant, and wants to give her child to a responsible couple. She faces issues with her peers and family…while dealing with a relationship at the same time. This film was written by Diablo Cody based upon some of her own high school experiences. She has also written the film Jennifer’s Body (2009) starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried.
Canadian actress Ellen Page stars in this as Juno MacGuff and is a talented force to be reckoned with, she is unique and this film seems to showcase her talents on screen. Michael Cera also stars in this as Paulie Bleeker who is a good friend to Juno. Jennifer Garner plays Vanessa Loring and Jason Bateman is Mark Loring. They are the couple seeking adoption for a child. Allison Janney plays Brenda ‘Bren’ MacGuff the mother of Juno. Her father Mac MacGuff is played by J.K. Simmons. Olivia Thirlby plays Leah, Eileen Pedde is Gerta Rauss, Rainn Wilson is Rollo, Daniel Clark is Steve Rendazo, Darla Fay is Bleeker’s Mom, Valerie Tian is Su-Chin Qah, Aman Johal is Vijay, Emily Perkins appears as the Punk Receptionist, and Kaaren de Zilva is the Ultrasound Technician.
This film was very well casted, and each of the actors seemed to fit each of the roles, it is not often you will find such a collective pool of talents thrown together. In this, you will see them breathe life into each of their characters. The film doesn’t pretend to be anything else; it has its own kind of thing going on. I think this movie is about acceptance, forgiveness and seems to march to its own path. The film had a meager $7 million dollar budget and has since grossed $231,411,584 million worldwide. That’s pretty good for an independent film such as this. I hope you enjoy Juno as much as we did. It was a real treat to see. I highly recommend seeing this one as well.
“A comedy about growing up… and the bumps along the way”
Like many great Hollywood magicians Clint Eastwood does it again with his directorial and acting efforts. It is not often you watch a carefully crafted film with many different elements within the story that often reflect issues of modern day society. In this, we see a representation of that and much more. The masterful eye of Eastwood captures the story of Walt Kowalski played by Clint Eastwood as an angry Polish man who fought in the Korean War; he befriends a young boy Thao Vang Lor played by Bee Vang who he mentors in the ways of life helping him see things differently and making an impression upon him. The screenplay was written by Nick Schenk, and the story was written by Dave Johannson and Nick Schenk.
Thao’s sister Sue Lor played by Ahney Her also steps into Walt’s life, she impacts him in a positive way and changes his outlooks on things as well. Christopher Carley plays the character Father Janovich who tries to figure Walt out and his intentions as he meets with him. Walt also has a family and two sons; he has been in mourning since the passing of his late wife. He has become bitter about the world and the environment he lives in as things have changed before his very own eyes.
More of the cast includes: Brian Haley playing Mitch Kowalski, Geraldine Hughes as Karen Kowalski, Dreama Walker as Ashley Kowalski, Brian Howe as Steve Kowalski, John Carroll Lynch as Barber Martin, William Hill as Tim Kennedy, Chee Thao as Grandma, Brooke Chia Thao as Vu, Choua Kue as Youa, Scott Eastwood (Son of Clint Eastwood and Jacelyn Reeves) as Trey, and Xia Soua Chang as Kor Khue.
This film will grab a hold of you and won’t let you go until the end, the characters were quite realistic and seem to be a slice from life captured and represented. I think the film also deals with many issues including race, violence, relationships, territory and dominance. It makes you think what is wrong with society and how people are different from one another. If only we all could see eye to eye on things, if people would spend time getting to know one another better there would be less misunderstandings. Perhaps this film is trying to teach this lesson to us in its own way.
The film was very polished how it was put together the scenes played out nicely. I highly recommend watching this one. It was a fantastic film, one of the better films I’ve seen in the last few years. You will have to watch to find out why the name of the film was used.
I haven’t seen this one in years; I decided to watch it again. I remembered it being an excellent film with great characters. After seeing it again, it still holds up as a great film. I highly recommend seeing this one, it is a story about a police man who takes matter in his own hands, and he faces his own fate. There are a number of things this film touches upon such as friendship, love, understanding, compromise and influences. This was written and directed by Heywood Gould who has done a few other films including the hit film Cocktail (1988) starring Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown and Elisabeth Shue.
The story follows Artie Lewis played by Michael Keaton who is absolutely brilliant in this role; it is certainly one of his highlight performances. His partner Stevie Diroma is played by Anthony LaPaglia who does an excellent job with his role as well. Rene Russo plays Rita Lewis wife of Artie. She is fantastic and the pairing of these two was great casting. The Diroma children were adorable and added something to the film as well. They were played by Grace Johnston as Marian Diroma, Rhea Silver-Smith as Barbara Diroma, and Blair Swanson as Carol Diroma.
Benjamin Bratt plays a character named Felix and stepped right into the role, Kevin Conway is Lieutenant Danny Quinn who nailed the part, Rachel Ticotin is Grace and was great in this role, Tony Plana was very convincing as Beniamino, Charlayne Woodard is Cheryl Clark, Victor Rivers is Oreste, David Barry Gray is Mickey Garrett, Lisa Arrindell Anderson is Raisa, and Rick Aiello is Knudso.
It was just another routine investigation when everything changed for Artie and his life. You get a chance to follow along in this wondrous series of events that happen to him. By the end of the film you feel for Artie and everything he has gone through. It was done in a great way with the editing of the scenes by Richard Marks. This was distributed by Hollywood Pictures and is a classic cop tale. Don’t miss out on seeing this one. I personally have put it in my top 20 films to see and really enjoyed it.
