The Village - 7 stars out of 10

The Village - 7 stars out of 10

“The Village” is a fascinating thriller that creates unexpected twists by altering our perspective of events after they occur.  The film has been polarizing for individuals as they either highly praise or deeply criticize director M. Night Shyamalan’s ending.  I am on the side of those who love the ending and see genius in Shyamalan’s sleight of hand, which focuses our attention on the creatures while the magic trick is occurring out of our sight.  The other side calls the ending anticlimactic and transparent, but it had me fooled all the way.  Your opinion of the ending will cause you to either love or hate the movie, but nothing in between.  I really appreciate the atmosphere of the story.  The blend of a traditional 19th century town and the monsters that live in its woods puts the entire film on edge.  This combination of realism and fantasy allows for anything to happen.  The acting is a bit odd, which makes everything seem even more mysterious.  It is full of big names William Hurt, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, Sigourney Weaver, and Bryce Dallas Howard, though no particular performance steals the show.  But this film is all about the storytelling and it truly captures that aura of a Grimm fairy tale.  In an age of special effects, “The Village” succeeds because of the simplicity of its story and the exploitation of our perspective.

[Pictured: The combination of realism and fantasy makes this film unpredictable]

Cinderella (1950) - 8 stars out of 10

Cinderella (1950) - 8 stars out of 10

“Cinderella” is the quintessential Disney classic but it is certainly not the best.  I find that the film’s reputation exceeds the effectiveness of its storytelling; still, the beautiful animation pales in comparison to the film’s importance in changing the landscape of the Disney company forever.  Following the commercial failures of “Bambi” and “Pinocchio,” Disney was $4 million in debt.  It is hard to imagine a world without Disney’s theme parks and animated features but, without “Cinderella,” the company would have likely fallen into bankruptcy and forever shelved its plans for Disneyland.  Thankfully, the critical success of this film led to proof that animated features could be lucrative in the film industry, the completion of Disneyland in 1955, and the company has been at the head of the film and entertainment industry ever since.  The significance of Disney World’s Cinderella Castle goes beyond a park icon because it stands as a reminder that dreams can come true… even when a company is deep in debt.  The film’s iconic Disney moments have cemented its place in film history, from the animals fixing up the dress to the Fairy Godmother’s song and the fitting of the glass slipper.  It has three songs that have remained popular for over 60 years (“A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo,” and “So This Is Love”).  The music is perfectly integrated into the story, from “Bibbidy” being the spell that transforms Cinderella into a princess, to “A Dream” working as a part of her opening conversation while establishing one of the main themes of the film.  This is one of the best fairy tale stories and the animation is absolutely marvelous.  The voice acting is great, particularly Ilene Woods as Cinderella (I could listen to her sing “So This Is Love” all day), Verna Felton as Fairy Godmother, and Eleanor Audley as Lady Tremaine (though she’s much scarier as Maleficent).  Mickey Mouse even makes a cameo as his "voice" (Jimmy MacDonald) provides the voices for the high-pitched mice.  So what is wrong with “Cinderella”?  The entire thing feels rushed.  Cinderella barely has one dance to establish an important connection with Prince Charming before midnight, there is little time between the ball and the arrival of the Grand Duke, and the ending (Cinderella’s return to Prince Charming/the wedding/the closing of the storybook) is condensed into a few minutes.  Moreover, I’m shocked that the Fairy Godmother, one of the most famous Disney characters with one of the most popular songs, is in the film for less than 5 minutes.  We've seen the Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo scene replayed so many times that it is easy to forget that it is Fairy Godmother's only scene!  Yet there is plenty of time for Gus Gus to drop and stack his food multiple times and Lucifer earns more screen time than Lady Tremaine.  I suppose that this story is less complex than that of “Sleeping Beauty” or “Aladdin,” but I wish that I got to enjoy the important moments without feeling so rushed and that the writers would focus more attention on the main characters than the mice.  “Cinderella” is one of the first films that come to mind when someone mentions Disney and, while I don’t find it to be one of the best Disney films, it certainly is one of the most memorable.

[Pictured: Classic moment, wish that it had more time to develop]

Sense and Sensibility (1995) - 8 stars out of 10

Sense and Sensibility (1995) - 8 stars out of 10

“Sense and Sensibility” is a well-executed adaptation of Jane Austin’s first published novel.  Between the stunning scenery, perfect casting, and director Ang Lee’s delicate treatment of the story, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood step right off of the page and into our hearts.  As one might expect, the film moves a little slow but the story is so addictive that you won’t mind.  The atmosphere of the English countryside is magic and the indoor shots of high class homes have a true transporting power; however, the true power of this story comes from unexpected surprises and the need to know what happens next.  Emma Thompson is stunning as Elinor and it is easy to see why she received four Oscar nominations in the early 90’s.  On top of her Best Actress nomination for this role, she won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.  She is perfectly matched with Kate Winslet, who earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination.  This was only Winslet’s second feature film role but it is easy to see the natural acting ability that has enabled her to be a significant presence in the film industry.  These leading ladies deliver the rich dialogue in a flowing manner that makes it as beautiful to hear as it is to comprehend.  The supporting characters are also well-cast, from the deep voice of Alan Rickman (Colonel Brandon) and the good looks of Greg Wise (Willoughby) to the character acting of Imelda Staunton (Charlotte) and a young Hugh Laurie.  I did not care for Hugh Grant at first, but his delivery of Edward’s final dialogue brought a tear to my eye.  I wouldn’t call myself a Jane Austin fan but this rendition of “Sense and Sensibility” has inspired me to look deeper into her world and experience more of her stories.

[Pictured: The film was destined to succeed with two leading ladies this good]

Crossroads (2002) - 2 stars out of 10

Crossroads (2002) - 2 stars out of 10

...stereotype much?  “Crossroads” brings a new meaning to cliché through its unoriginal plot and painfully bad dialogue.  Still, it succeeds in capturing the pop culture of a generation and reminding us why we have moved on.  The clothing and makeup seem ridiculous at times, but it is truly authentic and even nostalgic for those of us who remember “those days.”  It also manages to preserve the good girl heartthrob image of Britney Spears that defined the beginning of her career.  The movie seems to be unintentionally symbolic of Spears’ career as she goes from innocent teen to sex symbol... or perhaps it was strategically used as propaganda to present her in this new light.  The acting isn’t particularly bad as one might expect.  Dan Akroyd makes an appearance, we get to see a young Zoe Saldana, and Spears portrays some impressive tears during her emotional breakdown.  The real problem with this movie is its horrid script and (sadly) the singing.  The characters are complete stereotypes, the soap opera-ish plot crams more teen struggles into 90 minutes than one would think possible, and the dialogue is simply awful.  There was one unpredictable plot twist that resulted in a good moment of realization but the rest of this story is so pointless and mundane.  Most of it feels like an excuse to show Spears wearing next-to-nothing (including several scenes in her underwear).  By the third car-radio-sing-a-long, I was ready to turn it off.  Spears became less impressive each time that she interpreted another pop song with her distinctive nasal tone with that throaty sound that begins each phrase.  I’ve always been a big fan of her music but I found myself thinking “Oh no, she’s going to sing again!” every time that a new song began.  Sometimes it is worth watching a film along the lines of “Spice World” as an opportunity to relive the culture of a generation, but I can honestly say that the only people who will enjoy “Crossroads” are the ones with a crush on Britney Spears.

[Pictured: I miss this rendition of Britney Spears]

Into The Storm (2014) - 3 stars out of 10

Into The Storm (2014) - 3 stars out of 10

“Into the Storm” is an unsuccessful attempt at recreating “Twister” for the next generation.  Its attempt to combine the disaster film genre with the found footage genre is interesting but falls apart with a bad script and melodramatic acting.  The special effects are everything that you hope for, vividly bringing the storm and its destruction to life.  Still, you would be better off watching real storm chasers on the Discovery Channel.  It’s way too convenient for there to be video cameras in all of the places that this storm hits and the writers forgot the most important part of found footage films - the footage has to be found!  Unless there is a Truman Show-esque producer watching these characters through security cameras, the documentary crew’s footage, and home movies, there is no reason to believe that all of these camera shots would ever be compiled together.  Throw in a boy-meets-girl love story, a father-son conflict, and a single mother trying to get back to her son, and you have every cliché in the book.  “Into the Storm” tries to assemble the best aspects of the disaster film and found footage genres but it manages to do both half-heartedly instead of creating a memorable film experience.

[Pictured: You should stay farther away from the storm than these actors]