Latest movies

Hard Candy (2005) - I liked it a lot, it's visually wonderful, but it's also pretty difficult, and certainly not what I would call "entertaining," though the twists and surprises are clever, and of course it's thought-provoking.   I wanted to see Hayley (Ellen Page) as a feminist hero, but I have to agree with what Jeff (Patrick Wilson) says - the things you do to hurt people haunt you.  I think her rather gruesome determination makes it hard to believe that she'll be o.k. in the long run (and makes it harder to admire her).  But I'm glad I saw it - I'm sure it will stick with me, and I'm more impressed with Ellen Page with each performance I see of hers.  I'm also glad that I watched the extensive Making Of video - makes me really appreciate what went into making this very low budget ($1 million) film.

I Hate Valentine's Day (2009) - from the harrowing to the banal; the much anticipated repairing of Nia Vardalos and John Corbett (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) is a total misfire; the comedy is mostly unfunny and the romantic tension is absurd (their misunderstanding is stretched out far too long - one phone call could have cleared things up immediately).  A cute set up, and a few entertaining moments, but overall, not a memorable film.

The Bounty Hunter (2010) - I didn't expect to love this, but the two leads (Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler) are so appealing and charismatic, I figured it couldn't be too bad.  What a disappointment - the plot is all over the place, with gamblers and crooked cops and red herrings, and the "comedy" part of the rom-com is basically MIA.  Worse, the leads have no chemistry at all - if they had, it might have rescued this mess.  As it was, you never believed they were ever madly in love, nor did you care if they managed to reunite.  Such a waste!  How many movies could have been made if they had used this money for other projects???