Movie Reviews By Movie Reviews Pro

Taking Woodstock

Rating:

Movie: Taking Woodstock (2009)

Studio : Film in Focus

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 110 min

Website : Taking Woodstock

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xa3i5g

Review:

As a lifelong fan of Woodstock-era artists like The Who and Jimi Hendrix, I looked forward to this movie, an uncharacteristically lighthearted affair from director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain). It’s inspired by the true story of Elliot Tiber (renamed Jake Teichberg in the film), a New York City interior designer who organized the iconic festival in order to save his parents’ failing motel.

One of the things I enjoyed about this movie was its focus on the work that went into putting on the festival. Amazingly, we don’t see any concert footage or meet any actors called on to play Hendrix or Joplin. It has a documentary-like feel in such scenes as when we see Teichberg (played by Demetri Martin) riding on the back of a cop’s motorcycle in order to get into the actual concert or when we see Max Yasgur (well-played by Eugene Levy) agreeing to let the promoters hold the concert on his land while offering them some of his farm-made chocolate milk. The film is at its best when we’re among the fans and we’re seeing the show put together. We meet some colorful characters during the journey, including Liev Schreiber as a transvestite security guard and Dan Fogler as the leader of a postmodern thespian troupe that lives in Teichberg’s parents’ barn and manages to cause a ruckus among Bethel’s more conservative types, who feared the hippies would destroy the town.

The film also includes some interludes involving Teichberg’s tumultuous relationship with his mother (Imelda Staunton), who kavetches throughout the film, while his father is more accepting and drinks beer with the hippies. While Staunton has some good one-liners, this part of the story feels underdeveloped, and the final scene doesn’t have the emotional impact for which it seems to be reaching. It feels secondary to the festival. Still, I enjoyed the film on the basis of the realistic crowd shots, the likable Teichberg, the vibrant supporting cast, and that groovy soundtrack.

-Craig Wynne

Comedy, In Theaters, Music Comedy, Music, Taking Woodstock

Inglourious Basterds

Rating:

Movie: Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Studio : Universal

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 153 min

Website : inglouriousbasterds-movie.com

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9zcxu

Review:

While it will certainly not win any Oscars, Quentin Tarantino’s, Inglorious Bastards, entertains for the full 2 hours and 33 minutes. The film is divided into five chapters, which at first seem mutually exclusive, but begin to tie together towards the middle of the movie.

Though it is a war movie, there are very little gunfights. The classic “Tarantino violence,” mostly comes from the scalpings of dead Germans, body mutilations, and one overly gruesome execution by baseball bat, though none of it is comedic as usual. Tarantino also uses a series of flashbacks in order to fill the audience in on plot holes, which works very effectively and is also very entertaining. Seeing as how the rest of the movie is filled in by scheming, plotting, and a pestering German war hero, it is difficult to understand how the movie went by as quickly as it did.

The reason for this however, is that Tarantino was able to create an intricate plot with many captivating characters. The story is an alternate history of World War II, beginning with a young girl named Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent), who witnesses the murder of her family, but narrowly escapes. She flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as French theatre owner. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Bradd Pitt), creates a group of Jewish American soldiers, known by the enemy as “the Basterds,” who are trained to commit quick and shocking attacks on German soldiers.

When a young German war hero, Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl)—who has had a film made about him, starring him—falls in love with Shosanna, he moves to have the highly anticipated premier of his film at her theatre. With Hitler and the entire high command set to attend, both Shosanna and Aldo create separate plots for their assassinations.

This film is unlike any World War II movie ever made, however, it does have many flaws. While Bruhl’s character, Zoller, is supposed to be annoying to Shosanna, he did a better job of annoying me. Additionally, Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), an actress/double agent, who is supposed to help Raines carry out his mission—but ends up hindering it instead—seems almost completely unnecessary. “Basterds,” is not to be a Tarantino classic, but it is certainly worth seeing, even if it is just to see Pitt speak Italian in a Southern accent.

-Stephen Fox

Action, Drama, In Theaters, War Action, Drama, Quentin Tarantino, War