Julie & Julia

Magdaleen Duvenage

Viewing at: Sterkinekor
Release Date: 13 November 2009

Directed By Nora Ephron.
Screenplay By Nora Ephron & Julie Powell
Produced By
Laurence Mark, Amy Robinson, Eric Steel & Nora Ephron.
Cast: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci & Chris Messina.

Genre: Biography Comedy.
Classification: PG 13
Running time: 123 Minutes

This movie was quite fabulous! It is something serene and feminine, it brings something home that has been missing for quite some time... Some of the articles I have read on Julia Child was that because of her, Americans started cooking again, she was the reason for getting rid of microwave dishes and take-outs. This woman is about: pearls-in-the-kitchen and loving-butter-all-the-way! She is the reason why I love being a woman, everything about her way of living and loving is so true to the feminine heart. I understand Powell's fascination with Julia, I am developing the same craziness...



Poor Meryl is not a hottie in this one, I have to just say how completely and utterly fascinated I am with her; this woman can play absolutely ANY part imaginable! If you can dream it, she can play it! I am shocked how she can go from Donna Sheridan in “Mamma Mia” to Julia Child in “Julie and Julia”, she is really one gifted lady. I bow down to you – oh gifted actress of the ages – all hail to Meryl!!!It felt like watching the elements of cooking written together in a recipe of Life and Marriage. Mouth watering aroma's all around – Julia squeaking voice, all thrown together in a dish called everyday life!



The story takes part in two scenes. The one is with Julia and her amazing husband Paul (played by Stanley Tucci) in Paris in the nineteen-fifties. She is restless, and is on a seeming tour to finding her passion in life. Trying everything from making hats to painting, but all she seems to know how to do, and is extremely good at it, is: eating! Thus the love for food begins and the journey is enfolded with lots of butter, garlic, spices, meats and sauces! Julie Powell (Amy Adams) is a wife in Queens who lives in 2002, she works for a government organization that is involved in rebuilding the World Trade Centre.



She seems to be a woman who loves her husband and cooking. It feels like she has lost her way though. Doing a job she clearly is not in love with, she decides to cook all 524 of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” – in Julia's cook book, and she plans to do it in 365 days and blog about it. Julie found a way to connect with herself, she found something she is good in, in her struggle with life, she found something that makes her want to get up in the morning and she was good at it!
Blogging is what I like to call the “fake” author. It is almost the same as reality T.V.'s fake “celebities”. The difference is that Powell was an actual writer and her book became this movie...




One of the most outstanding features of this film is the fact that Julie became a “better person”, and “better wife” because of this challenge. She finds herself. There is stages where one gets the idea how selfish she became, but to me a story needs to end better than it began; the same as in cooking.Julie got to know Julia through this experience, although it turned out to be different than what she anticipated – the difference is that it happened. She connected with a woman she never met, on a deep emotional level and it taught her to be her... Julia was for Julie a symbol of growth and it left a good taste. One cant ignore certain elements in this movie. Clearly Julia could never have children, and the longing in her life was visible, it seemed that children never was a bother to Julie.



They both were happily married, it was like Nora created a interesting sex live for the conservative Julia. It is almost to say: Who needs kids? We have good food and great sex! A compromise, if I may call it that... There was never explicit sex, always just the insinuation towards it that made it so fascinating.I like the unexpected ending. I have always been a favourite when it comes to story telling, literally before fame hits. I think that characteristics are so scares and one never knew those people before they become what we know them as... I loved the platonic way of doing things and the effort it took was phenomenal, nothing back then, came as easy as things do these days.Both these stories are true, both have an impact on society today, and both portray something that is lost to the feminine realm... I thought it was very entertaining and funny! The language was incredible, this is the way men and women are suppose to talk ladies and gentlemen. The story was told amazingly and everything about this movie is almost edible... Don't be surprised when you go home hungry.

I am giving it a tasteful 8/10!

See you at the Movies!

500 Days of Summer

Magdaleen Duvenage

Viewing at: Nu Metro
Release Date: 13 November 2009

500 Days of Summer.

Directed By Marc Webb.
Screenplay By
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Webber.
Produced By
Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Mason Novick & Steven J. Wolfe.

Cast:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Geoffrey Arend, Chloe Grace Moretz, Matthew Gray Gubler, Clark Gregg, Rachel Boston & Minka Kelly.

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Classification: PG 13
Running time: 96 Minutes

When this movie begins, they say up-front that this is not a romantic story, at this specific stage I start getting sad... I know that movies are suppose to be realistic and that there is a line in life of realism that one can never escape – but for me, when I see a movie, I want to relax, I want to believe that all is going to work out fine and that every one will get there happy ending. Almost as to say: there is hope and light in a dark and sad world, there is a way that everyone, no matter your race, seize, age, colour or gender, can live happily ever after – for the purpose of this movie I want to call it a Cinderella syndrome...

“I think the key is for me to figure out what went wrong. Do you ever do this? Go back and think about all the things you did together. Everything that happened. Replay it over again in your mind, looking for the first sign of trouble.” – Tom

The beauty with this movie is that EVERYONE, at one stage or another is Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel). The story can be traced back to the beginning of human kind. I, personally, fell in love with Joseph in 10 Things I hate about you, for my generation we were introduced to stars like the late Heath Ledger and Julia Styles, but the shy, small and nerdy Joseph is the one that I knew will brake out into the world in a movie like this and become a instant star – I almost want to say that we grew up together!

Tom is a inspired architect, realistic hallmark card writer, who seems witty and almost unbelievably naïve. Summer is the new piece of meat in the office, she is the artistic P.A.; and when you were introduced to her in failure to launch, you just knew that this natural beauty has more to offer than meets the eye. Needless to say, Tom does the inevitable, he pursues a relationship with Summer. Summer, however, is not the typically “title” girl.She does not want to be labelled as someone's girlfriend/wife. He falls passionately, head-over-heals and over-the-top in love with Summer. From this point on, you know that this poor guy is going to end up with a broken heart. You almost get the suicidal love pattern, completely unhealthy for the realist.

Tom's life is a whirl wind of emotions. You feel from time to time like watching a hormonal teenager. Then again, that is the exact point the director tried to create, I believe that when one can get to a stage of loving whole heartedly, not holding back in any sense, and end up hurt, there comes a sense of maturity, responsibility and wisdom, which in no sense can be bought for any amount of money. Through this relationship, getting hurt and experiencing a complete feeling of death, Tom found himself. He grew up, this pain almost made him a man, which is inevitable – almost like looking at the wizard of Oz, when Dorothy got to the other side of the rainbow – colour began to flow with the story. It becomes part of the telling. Tom's utter depression forms him as a man. I would like to quote: “Better to love and lost, than never to loved at all.” One almost experience with him growing up, he gets rid of that smack look on his face, he becomes mature.



I think it is untrue to say that Summer does not believe in love. She is a interesting character, I sometimes feel that people deny what they feel for fear of fear – that only means that she is not interested in labelling and believes in the certainty of natural events in life. She says in the end: I knew it was different cause I know something I always wondered about with you. I think she was looking for a defining moment in time in their relationship. I feel she searched for something profound, something real, not necessarily with Tom, but more with herself. I applaud her for taking the courage to do so. So many women fall in love and stay in love for the wrong reasons, if you ever have the chance to get out before making the wrong decision do it, you made have saved a lot of heart ache even though you caused it...

The movie is edited in a way of forwarding/rewinding, and you basically always end up in the middle, getting very few ideas of what happened in the beginning or the end. Usually, I don't like this wayof editing, but with the style of the this specific movie, (please all other directors: don't use this if it does not complement the style!), it works amazingly. The movie does turn out, not to be a typicalromance.

When I look at Joseph in the above photo, I am amazed at how he grew up. I can actually see he is a man and not a boy any more. He became attractive over night, and in this movie, his presence is tangible.The movie promotes premarital sex, (with all the different positions, ways and colours), which leads up to a promiscuous life style. I believe that this is why Tom ends up devastated, his whole world almost ends because his relationship with Summer was so unhealthy. I cant repeat myself enough that there needs to be some form of stability and balance.However, it is a movie you think about after wards. You do walk away with a sense of ease. The director really got the message of the story across, which is for his first feature film, a huge accomplishment. I am very much looking forward to his next movie, I think this is just the beginning of Marc Webb. Congratulations Marc!!

I am giving it a very easy 6.5/10.

See you at the movies!

Cloudy with Chance of Meatballs

Cloudy with Chance of Meatballs By

Jozua J. Jonker

Viewing At: Sterkinekor
Release Date: 16 October 2009


Directed By Phil Lord
Screenplay By Phil Lord
Producers: Pam Marsden
Voices:
Flint Lockwood - Bill Hader, Sam Sparks - Anna Faris, Tim Lockwood - James Caan, "Baby" Brent - Andy Samberg, Mayor Shelbourne - Bruce Campbell
Earl Devereaux - Mr. T, Cal Devereaux - Bobb'e J. Thompson, Manny - Benjamin Bratt

Genre: Animation
Classification: PG
Running time: 90 Minutes

After watching the movie I did not feel this movie was for me. Maybe it was an off day for me or that I am not a parent yet. But their where a few things in the movie that caught my attention which I think is worth mentioning.

The story begins with Flint Lockwood as young child having dreams as an inventor. Not sure whether he should pursue his dreams or follow his dad's dreams Flint's mother encourages the boy to follow what is in his heart. As Flint grows up his inventions are prone to have a life of their own which helps set-up the towns disaster that is about to happen as the antagonist, gets a life of its own, creating the food storm of the century . This is motivated by the town itself when it runs into an economic recession. Up to this point the town survived by catching and canning sardines but the world no longer needs it and so the town falls on hard times.

In Flint's impressive make-shift laboratory he works on a solution to the towns problems. An invention that can turn water into food. At the unveiling of the towns new theme park Flint activates his machine, creating a food euphoria for the citizens of Swallow Falls. The sub plots build around Flint's relationship with his father and a newly formed relationship with the Weather Girl Sam Sparks which is told by a big city news broadcaster to report on the weather in Swallow Falls as snippet to the daily news.

The movie is unique in its style, bringing a world of food to everyone's everyday life without it being that “gross”. Kids playing in ice cream show, having a house build out of jello etc. The visual effects created by Sony's new 3d imaging software gives way to stunning weather, food and big crowd sequence effects. Comedy is the drive behind the story which will be appealing to the adult audience and all the color and spectacle will wow the kids. Using animation as a platform to tell the story made the unique events believable, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. The creators of this animation used their knowledge of modern day culture to fuse story and character quirks together in a story mould that will be likable to kids and their parents.

The moral of the story is revealed early in the film, being yourself is OK, even if you are a nerd. The fact that the hero is typical outcasts, loner, does not fit in type who saves the day can be overlooked as each character is given distinctive visual and personal characteristics that make them as unique as the story itself. Cloudy with a chance of meatballs gets a hearty 7 out of 10.

See you at the movies.

Not Easily Broken

Not Easily Broken

By Magdaleen Duvenage

Directed By Bill Duke.
Screenplay By Brian Bird
Produced By Mr. Duke, Mr. Jakes and Curtis Wallace.

Cast:
Morris Chestnut (Dave Johnson), Taraji P. Henson (Clarice Johnson), Maeve Quinlan (Julie Sawyer), Kevin Hart (Tree), Wood Harris (Darnell), Albert Hall (Bishop Wilkes), Eddie Cibrian (Brock Houseman), Jenifer Lewis (Mary Clark) and T. D. Jakes (Allen).
Running time: 1 hour 39 minute

The main story is about a couple who's marriage is in trouble. The opening scene is a wedding, where the pastor places three cords around the couple, symbolizing the bonds in a marriage. This is also the part where you know we are going to see a troubled marriage, obviously “losing the three string cord”, we know that God would save the day and they will “live happily ever after.” It is truly one of those movies you have seen before, and just can't come up with its name. Clarice (Taraji P. Henson) is an ambitions real estate manager, Dave (Morris Chestnut) was a aspiring basketball player, due to a knee injury he was called back to the real world, and became a a general contractor.

Dave seems like the perfect husband in this movie, he is loving, kind, generous – he clearly adores and loves his wife. She however, can't stop to humiliate and degrade him, even to the extend of doing so in front of her clients. The movie takes an unexpected turn when the couple gets into a car accident, leaving Clarice cripple and bittter, she would be able to walk again after intensive therapy. Her mother (Jenifer Lewis) blatantly blames Dave for the accident and moves in with them, he gets verbally beaten now from two angles.

Dave finds a way out, he coaches baseball to a little league team for underprivileged kids, with his two buddies Tree (Kevin Hart – the funny one) and Darnell (Wood Harris). The wedge between Dave and his wife grows deeper and deeper. The fire is turned on when Clarice's physical therapist Julie Sawyer (Maeve Quinlan), and Dave become intimately involved. Dave had a interest in her son first – and it is clear that his intentions was pure, but when the movie takes an emotional turn, she seeks comfort; Dave being the all American hero turns her down! I was very sad when this happened, he deserves happiness and his wife's over clichéd ego, self-obsessive attitude drove me insane! A blind woman, with no sense of touch or hearing could tell he was an amazing husband!

I know the African Americans have an over stated vocabulary that is mostly funny. In this movie it was exactly the opposite, it was irritating. Niecy Nash had one part to play – you don't need to actually know what that part is, one can watch Clean House on TSN to find out. The difference is, this is on a movie set and she gets to play her self, with the "Giiiiiirlll", "Don't make me go all Oprah on you" and the "Don't go all Waiting to Exhale on me." Niecy, don't quit your day job yet!

I am also not sure I like the way they portray God in this movie. He seems to be the Guy who fixes everything, with no effort from our part when it comes to character related issues. If something is not working out, go to God – He will fix it! The moment Clarice decided to admit in her life that she might have left God out of their marriage, everything magically began to sort themselves out. No hard work, no therapy secessions - just nothing. What I don't understand is that five minutes ago, she was standing by letting her mother throw all Dave's clothes out, now she wants him back, all issues aside, even willing to give him kids, which he so longed for!

The story line goes missing when it gets to the plot, and they seem to then go and say: Well, don't worry, no work required, all you need is God and your marriage will be saved! This movie is extremely upsetting – I agree that God is a vital part of any marriage but it takes work and devotion from both parties! There is no magic wands when it comes to marriage. I don't even think these two belong together. From this type movie I expected more...

A disappointing 4/10

See you at the movies!

The Informant

The Informant

By Magdaleen Duvenage

Viewing By Nu Metro
Release Date: 16 October 2009

Directed By Steven Soderbergh.
Screenplay By Scott Z. Burns.
Produced By
Gregory Jacobs, Jennifer Fox, Michael Jaffe, Howard Braunstein, Kurt Eichenwald
Cast:
Matt Damon, Melanie Lynskey, Thomas F. Wilson, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale.

Classification: 13ML Running time: 108 minutes

I guess the question is always where to start? This movie is one of those whom just makes everything else seems bearable, and for a change, the bad guys look good. It is based on the true story of the highest ranking corporate whistle blower in U.S. History. Mark Whitacre is a family guy – he seems very naïve and likeable, your typical all-American. Mark works for a company called Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), in the agri-industry. The company is set on price fixing, and Mark decided to not go through with it any longer because of ethical values. He claims to not want part of a lying scandalous operation. Mark starts to work under cover with the FBI to catch the “bad guys”.

Mark hopes of gaining a promotion and hero status for doing the “right thing”. He however, helps himself to millions of dollars which threatens the very core of the investigation. Before the FBI can start arresting people and closing companies they need hard core evidence to comply with their story. Mark starts being wired, and goes into meetings with FBI equipment to uncover the truth.

This role he takes to heart and adapts easily. In a very comical way, and a hint of innocence, he talks to the mini microphone introducing his surroundings and people. A four year old toddler could see that he is wired and operating with the FBI. Yet he was never caught. When watching the movie one seems to have immediate sympathy with Mark because of his childhood. He was adopted by a wealthy man who gave him a chance in life and wants to sincerely do good to someone else to carry on the process. According to Mark this is the main purpose of the whistle blowing, to do good in the world cause good was done to him.

As the story progresses, more lies surface. Mark believes till the very end that he will become the president of ADM. With sharp tones like: “Just call me 0014! Why 0014? Cause I am twice as smart as 007!”; one knows that this story will end hilariously. The FBI never really discussed the way his life will change once they take over ADM, he assumes it will be for the best, being a hero after the bad people are caught is always a up side to things. The very funny FBI agent says to Mark: “Well, the atmosphere in the office might change a bit...”He “acts” with the FBI when everyone is arrested – and one can only laugh for his very plausible techniques. At times it felt like watching a scene out of “Clueless”.

Marks lies start catching up with him unfortunately, he appears to not be the angel he started out to be. In the end, he ended up stealing almost more money than the whole company combined and tragically the case turns on him. He was given very strict instructions to not, under any circumstances tell employees, media, etc. what was happening – needless to say, he did not oblige by it. The whole case comes tumbling down when the truth about Mark is discovered. He was never adopted, he only said so because of sympathy reasons. He kept on changing the millions he stole, never remembering the previous million he spoke about.

This story is just written so innocently – with a clear message of never to lie, cause it will catch up with you. It was a very good story; although Mark paid for his actions, you still have sympathy with him for being so naïve. I believe there must be more people like Mark Whitacre, he did not in any way came out to harm anyone visibly. His intentions was pure, his only crime is being the dumbest whistle blower in the world with no sense of integrity and an imagination that reinvents Peter Pan.The script was written in a typical drama/suspense style. The focus was divided on the story and the telling, which is something I love about Soderbergh, I have always been a great fan of his work – he had me with Oceans 11. Up until the very end you are hooked, although the story takes an unexpected turn. As always, Mr. Damon was very impressive, his acting skills go far beyond a nice face and a tanned body.

I am giving it a satisfying 7/10!

See you at the movies!

The Visitor

By Jozua J.
Viewing: Sterkinekor
Release Date: 16 October 2009

The Visior
Directed By Tom Mcarthy
Screenplay By Tom Mcarthy
Director Of Photography Oliver Bokelberg

By Jozua J.
Viewing: Sterkinekor
Release Date:

The Visior
Directed By Tom Mcarthy
Screenplay By Tom Mcarthy
Director Of Photography Oliver Bokelberg

Cast:
Richard Jenkins, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Jekesai Gurira, Hiam Abbass
Running Time: 103min

When it comes to film genre's I must confess that dramas don't feature at the top of my list to watch, but it seems I would love directing a few. Because I now write reviews I am exposed to them more and more and as a director one can learn a lot from good dramas in terms of story telling. This is one of them. As dramas go, this is a character driven story and we find our main character, Walter (Richard Jerkins) seemingly at the end of his life. He is in his late fifties, his wife has passed away and he sits in a job which means nothing to him, the question is: Did it ever? During this time Walter is also a co-author to a student writing her thesis. The student falls ill and the university forces the professor to present the paper on behalf of her at a convention in New York, which he reluctantly agrees to. Arriving in Manhattan, it appears someone is trying to a make quick buck and has placed loggers in his apartment, which catches him of guard. Here we meet Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) an Arab, an aspiring musician along with his girl friend Zainab (Danai Gurira) an African girl, who makes and sells her jewelery at the local flee market. Not only are they now out of house and home, but it seems they are illegal immigrants in the US.



As the story unfolds, Walter is faced with his own empty life as well as getting involved with the lives of his loggers, which seems to be filled with joy, contentment and promise. As Walter's relationship grows with Tarek, he is taken away by the police, whom soon discovers that he has no papers and is an illegal immigrant. Taker's mother (Hiam Abyss) comes to visit her son which she has not heard of in five days, because he phones her everyday. The battle with the US immigration begins to find a way to get Tarek released. Amidst the personal battles, the film stirs one with beautiful moments and reminds me that I need to cherish every moment with people who become special in my life.


The sheer simplicity of the story which evokes so much emotion, really made me sit up and pay attention, not only on screen but the impact of it in real life, as my thoughts wandered back to the movie while I was driving home.

Pauses to responses from one character to another was stirring, the carefully chosen shots which meanings resound character change can be overlooked as the film subtly takes you forward in the journey of this man's life; making the film more than just the rules that govern a society and the people that come in and go out of our lives.

For the deep at heart and realist who wants to take a journey of the soul, I will see you at the movies. The Visitor gets a serious 8 out of 10.

Rudo Y Cursi

By Magdaleen Duvenage

Viewing: Sterkinekor

Release Date: 11 September 2009 (Cinema Nouveau)

Rudo Y Cursi.
Directed By Carlos Cuaron
Screenplay By Carlos Cuaron

Cast:
Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Guillermo Francella, Dolores Heredia, Adriana Paz,
Jessica Mas, Salvador Zerboni, Tania Esmeralda Aguilar, Joaquín Cosio

This is a movie that one would describe as realistic and honest – in some ways brutally so. Carlos shows the true poverty situation in Mexico. The battle to be seen and heard. The hard physical labour of the countrymen, which makes this story very intriguing. Everyone, in some way or another, can relate to their struggle to get to the top. Beto and Tata are brothers, they grew up in a very poor neighbourhood in Mexico. As expected, they are ill educated, ill mannered and lets just say, you wont look at the movie and think they will survive in a prison break scene – definitely not the smartest pencils in the packet. His brother, Luna is even worse off. Luna is married, with kids and he has a nasty gamble habit. Tata is nicknamed “Cursi” because of his adorable innocence and romantic looks, he has a dance when ever he scores a goal – which is exactly what it means: “tacky but kind of cute.” He is a dreamer and a artist. Beto gets the nickname “Rudo” because of his hot tempered behaviour on and of the field. They are discovered by a sport agent “Batuta,” (Guillermo Francella), his car tyre got a flat, in the middle of Mexico, they help him to get it fixed and he watched their game. This is the part where the film becomes predicable – some where in the film there will be a celebrity girlfriend, money, drugs, sex and finally the pressure of fame and power will destroy their life's.

Cursi gets the first opportunity. He climbs the ladder of success very quick. I believe this is where the trouble and the action start – you wait in anticipation to see what is he going to do wrong, like so many before him. He then gets the celebrity girlfriend (Jessica Mas), the house, car, etc. True to what he wants, he pushes for a music career. He records the song: “I want you to want me”; a very bad Spanish version – but the cherry on top is the music video which is as common as pink grass. This becomes the movie's irritating trait. It causes toe curling laughter! When Cursi lost his “mojo”, his love life takes a toll – not that there was any love from the start though. One can not believe how naïve he is. Rudo gambles all his money away, among other possessions. The plot boils down to the last game, when Rudo and Cursi play against each other. Both the brothers reputation is on the line. The director takes the story back to the beginning, which provides the movie with excitement and drama. In this movie, losing is the trophy, and wining, the lost. The difference the director bring is to keep the cameras off the field, but he classically revolves the story around the game. The soccer ball, is the girlfriend, who wins every time a goal is reached and instantly disappears to the next guy. Every guy wants it. The fans are like the brothers relationship with their mother Elvira (Dolores Heredia) . Each fan believes he is soccer's/teams biggest and most valued fan; as each boy believes he is his mothers favourite and most worthy son, and he would do almost anything to prove it. The narrators role is done subtly, as I am not a favourite of this style of filming, it gives the film a philosophical angle and it provides depth.

Both the brothers end up working for their sisters drug lord husband, who build their mothers dream house. They seem to be back where they started with miner improvements. This movie is an amazing preparation for South Africans regarding the FIFA 2010. One walks away with a feeling of excitement mixed with nostalgic emotions. This sport incorporates all cultures; and everyone, on and off the field, feels invited and part of the game. The theme in my opinion is that everyone wants fame and power, but rarely has the knowledge for a lifestyle of meaningless existence created by a world dominated media circle. The movie was a great laugh, you walk away wondering: What if? For my personal taste the language was very foul and the brutality of certain scenes is not at all the kind of movie that I would declare as a must see; In the context of the movie it definitely worked, and it was even funny. A realistically good story, great telling, yet it lacks a depth that is not mentioned. It deserves a lovely 6. See you at the movie's!