Love Actually; The Quiet American; Legally Blonde 2; Terminator III; Daddy Daycare; Bruce Almighty

The triumphant return of Movie Queen Maggie:

Love Actually (A-) I loved it—loved all the actors—enjoy all their films, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Notting Hill…who can complain about Hugh Grant (Two Weeks Notice) and Colin Firth (Easy Virtue) in the same movie??!! It was the ultimate girl movie because there were about 7 love stories all going on at once and it had the added bonus of being well-written, well-acted and really funny! I think it is a must-see for all. Boys, take notes and pay special attention to the whole note card at the door thing—girls loved it and will now expect something like it (David, are you paying attention??)!

The Quiet American (A) Great film with Michael (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island) Caine (no surprise) and Brendan (Journey to the Center of the Earth) Fraser (big surprise) about Saigon during the Vietnam war. It was an interesting story with beautiful cinematography and very strong acting. Caine was nominated for an Oscar for his role and deserves it. It is definitely worth the rental fee.

Legally Blonde 2 (F) Quite possibly the worst movie ever made. I can sum up what I thought of it in one sentence…I had to really consider whether or not I would rank it below the wonderful cinematic genius of Wet, Hot American Summer. YUCK! Bob Newhart (Elf)—what were you thinking??!!

Terminator III (B) I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I groaned when my husband brought it home from the video store and wondered, again, why I ever let him go there alone. But, I actually enjoyed it. The special effects were great and the lead, Nick Stahl (In the Bedroom), who is now starring in the HBO original series, Carnival, gave a very solid performance. So, all of that plus you get to hear Arnold, now Governor Ahh-nold, Schwartzenegger (Maggie) say really cool lines like, “I am unable to comply.” I mean, what more could you want from an evening of entertainment??

Daddy Daycare (D) Even though I loved the kid humor, I mean who can resist adorable kids being goofy, this was a very poor flick. Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop) had his funny moments—but the story was so tired and predictable it just couldn’t be overcome by the presence of cute kids and Eddie. It can certainly be missed.

Bruce Almighty (C) I liked the idea of the story, God giving someone his powers, but it was quite simply a poor movie. Jim Carrey (A Series of Unfortunate Events) was, well, Jim Carrey and no one else in the movie did anything they should be proud of (Morgan Freeman (Invictus), sir, you seriously took a step down for this one). It had some funny scenes, most of which you have already seen if you saw the previews, and there were some relatively neat special effects. Other than that, it was forgettable and certainly skippable.

The Life of David Gale

From The Movie Queen:

The Life of David Gale. (B+) This film was based on the true story of a Harvard-educated, Rhodes scholar (played by Kevin Spacey, Margin Call) who was convicted of rape and murder and sentenced to death in, of course, Texas. The week before his execution, he asks a reporter (played by Kate Winslet, The Reader) to come interview him for his story that he has previously never given. It is through their interviews that the story is told. It was compelling and definitely not typical. I really enjoyed it and appreciated the strong acting by both Ms. Winslet and Mr. Spacey. It is certainly worth a rental.

A Guy Thing; The Truth About Charlie; The Recruit

From The Movie Queen:

A Guy Thing. (D-) God-awful. I thought it would be a cute romantic comedy, but it wasn’t. It was worse than stupid, it was boring. I found myself fast-forwarding through parts so I could get to the end faster. I may have been tempted to walk out had I seen it in the theater. YUCK! Not worth my time or the $3 rental fee.

The Truth About Charlie. (C-) Remake of the old movie Charade. It starred Tim Robbins (Green Lantern), Mark (The Italian Job) Wahlberg (aka Markie Mark of New Kids on the Block fame) and Thandie Newton (Crash). It was a pretty poor suspense thriller with so many silly twists and turns that you really didn’t care what the truth was about Charlie. The characters were flat, the acting poor and the overall story pretty weak. I wouldn’t recommend it.

The Recruit. (B) I was pleasantly surprised by this thriller starring Al Pacino (Scarface) and Colin Farrell (The Beguiled). It was entertaining, albeit a little predictable. I enjoyed it, maybe even worth seeing in the theaters and definitely worth a rental.

The Man from Elysian Fields

A review from Movie Queen Maggie:

The Man from Elysian Fields. (B+) Film with Andy Garcia (Ocean’s Twelve), Julianna Margulies (City Island) and Mick Jagger (Twenty Feet From Stardom) about a struggling writer who becomes a male escort in order to support his family. I knew nothing about this movie until I watched it and was pleasantly surprised. I always like Andy Garcia, and he was no different in this one. Julianna has been a favorite since she was Hathaway on ER, so I was pleased to see her in a good film. I didn’t know what to expect from Mick, but he was actually a really good pimp! It was an interesting story, well acted by strong characters and it handled a potentially raunchy topic very tastefully. It was certainly worth the rental fee!

Possession; Undercover Brother; One Hour Photo

These reviews are courtesy of our acknowledged “Movie Queen” Maggie. She has seen well over 1000 movies, and she’s adding more all the time….

Possession. (B+) Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man), Aaron Eckhart (Sully) and Jeremy Northam (The Statement) star in this movie about two scholars uncovering the truth about a love affair between two Victorian poets. I thought the story was intriguing and the acting strong. It may have been a bit of a “chick flick,” and my husband slept through it, but I really enjoyed it. Worth a rental.

Undercover Brother. (F) The African-American version of Austin Powers with Eddie Griffin (Norbit) and Denise Richards (Starship Troopers) was truly terrible. I didn’t even make it through the entire movie, but I endured enough that I deserve to report it.

One Hour Photo. (B) Robin Williams (The Final Cut) and Michael Vartan (Rogue) (Angie’s dream man) thriller about a creepy one-hour photo guy who sees a family whose pictures he develops as his own. It was a little slow, but scary enough to keep you enthralled. It was definitely creepy and Robin Williams plays a great bad guy.