‘Movie Corner’ Archives
Winter”'s Bone & Despicable Me
By Howard McQuitter Winter”'s Bone ***** Anonymous Content Drama/Thriller Uptown Running Time: 100 minutes Rated: R Director: Debra Granik If ever there was a heroine from opening to closing scene in a film, it”'s a new actress named Jennifer Lawrence, 18. Her character Ree Dolly lives in the Ozarks of Missouri, a harsh country with tin can houses, junk cars in backyards, an occasional horse or cow, and in this backwater, more than a few dogs. Miss Dolly has plenty on her plate, taking care of two younger siblings, Sonny (Isaiah Stone) and Ashlee (Ashlee Thompson) and a mentally incompetent mother. Times are so hard Ree gives her horse Ginger, who hasn”'t eaten in four days, to her neighbor Sonya (Shelley Waggener). Ree is saddened by leaving her horse in another”'s care. When Sheriff Baskin (Garret Dillahurt) shows up at Ree”'s front yard, asking for her dad, Jessup, who may have slipped bail after being arrested for setting up a meth [...]
Ondine & Holy Rollers
Ondine (2009) ***1/2 Wayforce Entertainment 111 minutes Director: Neil Jordan Syracuse (Colin Farrell) makes a living by fishing off the coast of his native Ireland free of a catastrophic BP oil spill, with untainted fish at the end of his line. One day Syracuse unexpectedly catches in his net, a woman likened to the Celtic myth of the selkie ”“ a seal that can shed her skin and transform into a human. Syracuse”'s bright 10 year old daughter, Annie (played extremely well by Alison Barry) realizes her dad”'s past tense story of the mythical mermaid Ondine, is real in the present tense. Syracuse”'s new guest seems bemused by her surroundings as well as insisting on being away from people. He hides her in his deceased grandma”'s cottage in a cover. Almost reading her father”'s mind, his physically challenged daughter Annie visits the cottage, and finds Ondine swimming in a pool. Colin Farrell has shown on several occasions his [...]
Solitary Man & The Karate Kid
Solitary Man (2009) ***1/2 Millennium Films Comedy/Drama Running Time: 90 minutes Director: Brian Koppelman and David Levien Michael Douglas as graying old Ben Kalmen is neither villain nor hero in “Solitary Man,” Mr. Kalmen in his heyday was a sparkling car dealer for New York”'s Honest Car Dealership. He”'s saliently flawed in the morality department by cheating on his wife Nancy (Susan Sarandon) and disappointed his daughter Susan (Jenna Fischer) too many times to count. Interestingly enough, Ben”'s not solitary by choice but because of his breaking trust with the ones he loves. His new girlfriend Jordan (Mary-Louise Parker) asks him to accompany her college-bound daughter Allyson (Imogen Poots) to a college interview at his alma mater. He”'s reluctant to go but he goes anyway. Later (as he has done in the past) he makes more injudicious choices. Michael Douglas is one of those actors who can look like he”'s in crisis or about to [...]
