Girl with a Pearl Earring - 6 stars out of 10

Girl with a Pearl Earring - 6 stars out of 10

Vermeer's painting, “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” is my favorite of all time.  There is so much mystery filling the wide eyes of this young lady.  Whose jewelry is she wearing, and who is she looking at with such a longing desire?  The painting is marvelous and this film does a nice job of fictionalizing its creation.  As a lover of this masterwork, I do take a small issue with the fact that Scarlett Johansson is not an identical match to the girl, but she portrays the character well and I am amazed at how plain the make-up artists were able to make her until she is subtly transformed into this iconic figure.  The scene when he paints her is absolutely chilling if you are a fan of this work and Colin Firth brings life to Vermeer.  While the story is slow at times and could be better, I'd recommend this unique period piece to any art fan out there.  Absolutely beautiful.

And Then There Were None (1945) - 5 stars out of 10

And Then There Were None (1945) - 5 stars out of 10

 How dare they change the ending to this story!!!!  Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” has one of the most epically awesome endings in history.  It is one that makes you scratch your head at the story’s impossible conclusion, only to be saved by Christie’s genius addition of a Postscript by the killer.  I am so offended that this ending has been changed, even though the change was made by Christie herself.  I understand that some details had to be changed due to the strict censorship of this time period, but the altering of the ending destroys the integrity of the story.  It would figure that my favorite novel would not have a good cinematic interpretation.  That being said, this film is a much better interpretation of the story than the 1965 snowstorm version.  Each actor’s performance is average or better, the island creates the perfect atmosphere, and each murder is treated in a way that is surprising while remaining family friendly.  Even though the ending is ruined, Christie’s amazing character-driven story still plays out perfectly over the first 85 minutes of the film and it is worth watching.  While this is an enjoyable film, it only acts as a supplement to the book instead of a substitution.  I would never recommend watching this film before reading the book because the story deserves to be told the right way.

The Invisible Man (1933) - 3 stars out of 10

The Invisible Man (1933) - 3 stars out of 10

I cannot even fathom how amazing it must have been to witness “The Invisible Man” in 1933.  While we often take green screen and simple smoke-and-mirrors (or wires) special effects for granted, they were groundbreaking in this film.  To the modern eye, this film is not very impressive but it is important because of its cinematic historical significance.  It demonstrated the potential movie magic that was possible at the time and effectively drives home the helplessness of trying to catch a man who cannot be seen.  Unfortunately, the acting is rather bad.  With the exception of Claude Rains, the acting is either non-existent or too far over the top.  I do give the film a low ranking because, despite its significance, it isn't very good.  While I wouldn’t recommend this film for an acting clinic, it was one of the most successful Universal horror films of the 1930’s and is a must for any movie fan who wants to experience the history of cinema.

Footloose (2011) - 7 stars out of 10

Footloose (2011) - 7 stars out of 10

While the 2011 remake of “Footloose” is better than the original, it still pales in comparison to the 1999 stage musical.  With so many great songs, it is a waste to have them playing on the radio instead of being sung by the characters.  I know that dance movies are a “thing” but sometimes, dance sequences don’t smoothly fit into a dramatic storyline.  The whole angry gymnastics/dancing scene was pretty awkward.  If this was a musical (like it’s supposed to be), it would have been awesome but it just didn’t have a place in this version.  That being said, the writers did a great way of adapting the 1980’s story to work in modern times.  I like how they worked in the original recording of “Let’s Hear It For The Boy.”  I don’t like how they massacred “Holding Out For A Hero.”  Again, I would have loved it if they just brought the Broadway show to the big screen.  The film is very well cast.  Dennis Quaid was a great choice for Reverend Moore.  While he didn’t quite capture the internal conflict that John Lithgow portrayed in the original film, I still really enjoyed his performance.  Julianne Hough brought a great attitude to Ariel, Kenny Wormald had the right look and dance ability for Ren, Miles Teller made Willard loveable and a memorable small role, Ziah Colon was very cute as Rusty, and even Andie MacDowell (from “Groundhog Day”) lit up the screen in the small role of Ariel’s mother.  And yes, I even liked the country version of “Footloose” during the final dance scene - it was very appropriate.  While I will always feel that this remake could have been so much better as a musical, it is highly entertaining and worth watching, even though the dance montages aren’t always a good fit.

The Invisible Woman (2013) - 1 star out of 10

The Invisible Woman (2013) - 1 star out of 10

“The Invisible Woman” is so painfully slow that it is difficult to even follow the story.  With Ralph Fiennes and Kristen Scott Thomas, I expected a lot more.  It was a nice performance for Felicity Jones but that is overshadowed by the dullness of this plot.  I agree with the Oscar nomination for Best Costumes, but a part of me wishes that it hadn’t been nominated so that I would not have heard of it and spent two hours enduring it.  It has been a long time since I cared less about a movie.  After about 15 minutes, I could feel my eyes glaze over and my body lay comatose as my mind thought about anything but the film.  The synopsis makes the story seem so interesting but even Dickens could not have made it successful.  The only thing that film is good for is a nap.

The Book Thief - 6 stars out of 10

The Book Thief - 6 stars out of 10

The perspective of “The Book Thief” is what makes it great.  Unlike most Holocaust-era films, this story draws attention away from the concentration camps and puts it on the hardships and intimidation faced by the rational Germans.  The film leaves some strong lasting images, particularly the book burning and the parade of Jews on their way to the concentration camp.  There are many facets to the story, including a German family hiding a Jew, a love story, a girl’s fight to overcome illiteracy, and an adoptive mother’s change of heart.  Unfortunately, the many different themes cause the film to move a little too slow to hold my interest.  All of the events are important to the story (and I really enjoyed the story), but it just lost too much momentum throughout the film to keep me hooked.  That being said, I loved the performance by Sophie Nélisse.  With the amount of refinement in her acting, it is difficult to believe that she was only 13 when this was filmed.  Most 13-year-old girls can’t even deal with their own emotions, but she was able to comprehend and portray the emotions of people from all walks of life in a German WWII community.  I cannot wait to see her in another film soon.   Geoffrey Rush was fantastic and I also enjoyed Emily Watson (though she isn’t my favorite actress).  John Williams’ score magnificently pulls together all of the emotions and, although the critics blasted this film, it is definitely worth experiencing.

Star Trek (2009) - 9 stars out of 10

Star Trek (2009) - 9 stars out of 10

I have never been a fan of Star Trek, but this movie is a gamechanger.  The “geek factor” of Star Trek is generally pretty high but J.J. Abrams has taken this sci-fi franchise and rebooted it into a dark, cool action film that still captures the intellectual aspects of the original.  Even though it has more grit than past iterations of Star Trek, it seems that the Trekkies approved of this origin story.  The success of this film begins with its casting.  The Star Trek characters are iconic and it was necessary to cast a Spock and Kirk that would not be a distraction due to their appearances.  Zachary Quinto (Sylar from “Heroes”) looks surprisingly similar to Leonard Nemoy and Chris Pine definitely looks like a youthful James Kirk.  Meanwhile, the excellent character acting of Karl Urban and Simon Pegg breathes life and comedy into the roles of Dr. McCoy and Scotty.  And of course, the writers deserve a lot of credit for finding a way to write Leonard Nimoy into the film.  The story is excellent, from the progressive crossing of paths to bring the main characters together to the time loop that will send your mind spiraling.  This film is unpredictable and it does a good job of building toward many sequels.  Finally, the thing that pulls it all together are its special effects.  From the time that you saw the USS Enterprise in the trailers, you knew that it would be surreal to see this ship flying in the digital age of movies.  The designs of the various spacecraft are interesting and really boost the film above the models used in previous versions of Star Trek.  Whether you are a Trekkie or someone who never thought you would be interested in this series, Abrams’ reboot of “Star Trek” is sure to grab your interest.