Certified Copy

March 26.

I had really high expectations for Certified Copy. The French movie set in Tuscany starring Juliette Binoche got rave reviews everywhere I looked. So as the main characters - Binoche, an apparent single mother running an antique shop in small town Italy and William Shimell an art historian and author - have an uncomfortable meeting, full of strange bickering, I wasn't sure what I thought of it.

And then, when the pair started acted as a married couple, but not in a cute, fun way - in a strange sad way, I was actually less uncomfortable but still confused. This couple seemed to truly be married ... I think.

So in the end I wasn't sure what I thought. The conversation was interesting, the scenery and camera angles were gorgeous and interesting. But the story. What had happened? Were they married? Were they strangers? I don't know.

A few days later, I was talking to a coworker about the film and we had similar reactions. But as we talked about it, we both began to appreciate what we saw more and more. There are so many questions. About what happened, sure, but also about the way people speak to each other and why. And there's no denying that the storytelling was like nothing I've ever seen before. So, now I feel like I need to watch this movie again, and that it could be a movie I love, but for now ...

Rating: Like

Gnomeo & Juliet

February 13.

Awwwe. Gnomeo & Juliet is so cute. These angry little garden gnomes live in neighboring English gardens and come to life whenever their owners disappear.

Just like in the original Romeo & Juliet, the two families are feuding but we don't really know why. Gnomeo is a blue and Juliet is a red but when they first see each other they miss the color of the others hat and fall in love.

Things get complicated when they find out who the other is, but anyone who knows Shakespeare's story knows what's coming. Of course this is a cartoon about Gnomes so there isn't as much sex or death, but the general components of the classic tragedy are there.

The story isn't the only thing that's cute. The animation is also unique and creative. The gnomes are all a little scratched and dented, which make them look lifelike.

I should admit, I boycotted the 3D version for the old-fashioned 2D, so I can't comment there. But I don't know that any movie needs 3D, let alone Gnomeo & Juliet.

Rating: Like

The Affair of the Necklace

January 29.

No, no, no, no, no. No.

Hilary Swank may have won an Oscar, but she's awful, awful, as a down-on-her-luck aristocrat in pre-revolutionary France. Awful.

I found this movie because I watched a documentary about Marie Antoinette and thought this true story of a necklace scheme, which is credited for starting the French Revolution, was fascinating. But The Affair of the Necklace did not translate. The bad script and bad acting did not bring the story to life or shed a new light on the doomed queen of France.

The whole movie was flat. Swank is not sexy and not even a little French. I still think the story of the extravagant necklace, which the queen might have been trying to buy secretly, as not to incite the people of France who were starving to death, is interesting. Especially since the queen claimed she never agreed to buy the necklace but because the citizens believed the story, or wanted to believe it, it put them over the top and started the French Revolution, which left the queen and her husband headless, and the monarchy dead forever.

But why with such great material, why are so many movies so bad?

Rating: Hate

The Heart Specialist

January 16.

The Heart Specialist is almost a good movie. It’s kinda funny and sort of touching. But I had a hard time getting passed the bad production and the choppiness.

The story follows a Harvard Medical School graduate to an internship in Miami where his ex-girlfriend now lives. Ray becomes friends with Sidney, the chief resident and a woman, who is kind of Sidney’s girlfriend, I think, played by Zoe Saldana. The movie quickly becomes about Sidney, who is a writer and a comedian in addition to being a doctor.

I don’t think every movie should be a mystery but when the story is building up to a reveal that I figured out 40 minutes ago I tend to get annoyed. So I won’t say what the big surprise is here, but if you watch the movie you will know long before you’re told.

Rating: Ehh

Blue Valentine

January 15.

Well, now I'm depressed.

There are a lot of movies that tell the story of the beginning of a relationship or the end of a relationship. Some even show both, War of the Roses was brutal. But the way Blue Valentine shows snapshots of this married couples start and finish, moving from happy moment to sad, it's wrenching.

Michelle Williams, who was nominated for an Oscar for this role, and Ryan Gosling do an excellent job of playing the young smitten couple as well as the broken married pair.

Usually I agree with one person more than the other, most stories are written that way, but in Blue Valentine it's hard to say who is right and who is wrong. It's just a real, raw marriage that's over.

Rating: Like

Country Strong

January 8.

So, here I am, bored to tears, watching my first mess of a movie of the year, Country Strong. It isn't long exactly, but it does feel like it won't end.

There are too many main characters - Gwyneth, a country super star fresh out of rehab; McGraw, her asshole of a husband and manager; and the two young wannabes along for the ride. The writer really should have picked whose story this was before trying to jam all their lives down our throats. As the story builds it feels forced and phony. This is not at all like last year's successful movie about a washed up, drunk country star - Crazy Heart, which was authentic and raw.

Country Strong moves along quickly, it has to in order to fit it all in. Alcoholism, dead babies, affairs, parents in prison, lies, music - this movie has it all. The story isn't unfolding as much as is being thrown at us. The scenes don't build and reveal secrets slowly, they just spat out some issue and then the next scene spats out something new and unbelievable. And even without any build up everything is completely predictable.

I don't really like any of the characters but the secondary leads are better than Tim and Gwyneth. It is weird watching Blair Waldorf sing country music, but she's not bad. The young, sweet country crooner, who prefers singing in honky-tonks to good people who just want to hear some good music while they drink their beer, is cute, but his facial hair is distracting. It's long and straight and grows in patches. He needs to shave.

The end came just in time with a big, sad, to some, dramatic finale that, again, is predictable even though there isn't any preparation for it.

Rating: Hate

(500) Days of Summer

April 24.

"(500) Days of Summer" was one of my favorite movies of 2009. I bought the DVD as soon as I could and have seen it more times than I care to count. It's now one of those movies I can pop in when I just want something on. It always makes me happy, especially the lone musical number set to the upbeat Hall and Oates-classic, "You Make My Dreams."

I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and the music, and how the movies shows LA. All the scenes were filmed in downtown LA. I didn't even know people lived there, but the movie makes it look like a place I really should explore.

A Room with a View

April 11.

I caught the Masterpiece Theatre version of E.M. Forster's "A Room with a View" on PBS. (I heart PBS) I had, of course, heard of the book, but hadn't read it or seen any of the film adaptations.

I could tell the story, about a British girl living in Edwardian England and visiting Florence, Italy, was something I should love, but the movie didn't quite work. I've seen many Masterpiece Theatre movies and always loved them. Masterpiece's "Pride and Prejudice" may be the best adaptation of that story. But, this one felt rushed and not complete.

I read that there is an Oscar-nominated version starring Helena Bonham Carter from the 80s, so, I added that to my Netflix queue. I hope that version does a better job of telling the whole story. Maybe I'll have to skip the movies and pick up the book.

The V.I.P.s

April 3.

I love how old movies don't need to fit into one genre or another. I'm sure "The V.I.P.s" is listed somewhere as a drama or a comedy or a romance, but it's really all three.

This classic was suggested to me by the Bushman, who has yet to steer me wrong, current rom-coms excluded. I added it to my Netflix queue without really checking it out and was intrigued by the list of stars in the cast. I had never seen an Elizabeth Taylor movie, or Richard Burton. Maggie Smith I know from "Harry Potter" and Orson Welles is, well, Orson Welles.

The film takes place during one night while a group of V.I.P travelers are stuck waiting for their flight from London to New York. There are so many great stories in the movie and each is well done. There aren't many movies that can successfully pull off intertwining story lines–yes, I'm talking to you "Valentine's Day."

Watching this movie, I'm reminded how much I love old movies. I've got to start watching more again. Thanks Bushman!

You've Got Mail

February 20.

"You've Got Mail" is one of those movies I always stop at when flipping channels. It represents a surreal New York that doesn't exist. It's all good weather and smart people living in beautiful, spacious apartments. Oh well, I still like it.

If you're an old movie fan check out the pre-email versions that I also liked. There is the 1940 version, "Shop Around the Corner," starring James Stewart, where two shop employees in Budapest who hate each other fall in love through anonymous letters. And the 1959 version, "In the Good Old Summertime," starring Judy Garland. The musical take on the story is set in turn-of-the-century America and follows the same formula: Man and woman hate each other but fall in love through letters.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

February 20.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" is one of my favorite movies, even if it is about a prostitute and a gigolo. I've probably seen it 100 times. I love Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly and George Peppard as Paul "Fred" Vargas. It's all 60s-Style and New York City. I remember seeing it, more than once, in a great, old theater in New York while I was living there. It was a great way to watch an old movie – the sound of the reel and crackling of the old film. Although there's nothing like a theater experience catching it on TV is OK, too.

My favorite scene is when Holly and "Fred" celebrate his story being published. They spend the day doing things the other has never done before, including drinking champagne before breakfast, taking a walk in the morning (Holly has walked in the morning but only home from the previous night), going to the library, buying something at Tiffany & Co. (the only scene actually in Tiffany's), and stealing something from a five and dime. I've always wanted to do that. (Not steal something from a five and dime, spend the day doing things I've never done before.)

Two Lovers

January 24.

I missed this movie in the theater last year but really wanted to catch Joaquin Phoenix's last movie before leaving the business to become a rapper. (No, seriously. That's what he did.)

I love this movie, which centers around quirky Leonard Kraditor's (Phoenix) relationship with two completely different women. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Michelle, his neighbor in a Brooklyn apartment building where he lives with his parents. Leonard is infatuated with her from their first meeting, but she is dating a married man. Paltrow makes the character likeable even though it could have easily gone a different way for me. Leonard is sweet and wounded, I honestly thought in the beginning he might be slow, but he's not, just broken.

The other love story in the film is between Leonard and his mother's choice, Sandra, played by Vanessa Shaw. Sandra is a nice, Jewish girl whose father is trying to buy Leonard's family's dry cleaning business. She seems taken with Leonard from the beginning and lets him know she wants to take care of him.

The movie is touching, sweet, and sad. And it has the most agonozing marriage proposal I have ever seen.

I hope Phoenix gets back to making movies soon.