M After 30 years together, Kay (Meryl Streep) and Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) begin seeing a couples therapist (Steve Carell) in the hopes of rekindling the romance in their marriage.

Hope Springs is one of those movies that manages to get everything just right: great writing, perfect casting, superb acting, fitting music, and a simplistic, straight forward style of directing that allowed for all of these elements to shine through.  Meryl Streep was, as always, fantastic, but I think the real star of the show in this case was Tommy Lee Jones.  The Tommy Lee Jones I saw in Hope Springs was a Tommy Lee Jones I’d never seen before; an adorable, sweet, sensitive old grump that I just couldn’t get enough of. 

Though the previews painted Hope Springs to be a comedy, the overall storyline was rather sad and quite realistic, and I’m sure it must have hit close to home for several of the people watching it.  Don’t get me wrong, there were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments (as well as a few risque ones), but watching this film proved to be more of an interesting and enjoyable experience than a purely comical one.  I am in my early twenties and, although I couldn’t really relate to this film, I could certainly comprehend it, as I’m sure any adult would be able to do (though I doubt that anyone under the age of, say… 20 would appreciate it).  All in all, I think that Hope Springs is a wonderful little movie that everyone should watch, learn from, and remember fondly with a smile on their face. 

Grade:  A

*Just a side note, but I must share my excitement that parts of this movie were filmed in Stonington, CT.  Words cannot express how cool it will be to shop in Stonington Village knowing that Meryl Streep has walked on those very same grounds!  First Mystic Pizza and now Hope Springs.. Connecticut is coming up in this world, slowly, but surely!

M Iris (Emily Blunt) tells her friend Jack (Mark Duplass), who is still grieving over the loss of his brother, that he can use her family’s remote island cabin for a much-needed getaway, not realizing that her sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt) is already staying there.

Mark Duplass is a fairly fresh face on the scene and I’m really liking him so far!  Emily Blunt’s been around for awhile and I absolutely love her (I’ve got a major girl crush on both her and Keira Knightley).  Rosemarie DeWitt… oh, Rosemarie DeWitt, I’m sorry, but I just don’t like you very much.  No matter how hard I try I doubt that I will ever like your nose, or your voice, or any of the characters you play.  In this film, for instance, DeWitt plays Hannah, the uptight, bitchy, conniving, lesbian, vegan sister to Blunt’s sweet and gentle Iris.  Granted, DeWitt’s character is in a bad place in her life, but I still didn’t really see any redeeming qualities in her.  And yet, regardless of my somewhat inexplicable dislike for Rosemarie DeWitt, Your Sister’s Sister is still a well-made, wonderfully acted and fairly comical film about how complicated relationships can be. 

Grade:  B+

M After their plane crashes somewhere over Alaska, a stranded team of oil workers must fight to survive both the cold and the hungry pack of wolves that is hunting them.  With Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney and Frank Grillo.

My favorite thing about Liam Neeson has to be that deep, gritty voice of his.  But my second favorite thing about Liam Neeson is the fact that he’s an action star who doesn’t look like an action star.  Yes, he’s rather tall (with a height of 6’ 4”), but he doesn’t have a particularly muscular frame or anything, and he’s also kind of.. old.  His average Joe looks belie the fact that he’s a total bad-ass, and on top of all this he’s an amazing actor.  And so, give me any movie with Liam Neeson in it, and you can count on the fact that I will watch it and most likely enjoy it.

I didn’t really know what to expect with The Grey, as I hadn’t really read or heard much about it.  But I have to say that, although it was rather long, it kept my interest piqued throughout and even made me jump a few times.  In fact, the only thing I didn’t enjoy about watching this movie was the fact that the dialogue, especially in the beginning, was difficult to hear, and since I was watching this with my might-as-well-be-deaf mother, we had to put the subtitles on.  I absolutely hate when this happens; when you keep turning the volume up because you are straining to hear what’s being said, yet somehow only manage to make the background music so loud that you have to cover your ears.  Which dumb-asses are responsible for making DVDs this way and why?? 

All in all I’d say that The Grey is definitely worth watching.  It is suspenseful and will keep you guessing the whole time, all while remaining in the realm of possibility.  I’ve never actually been pursued by a pack of angry wolves before, but this movie doesn’t seem to be nearly as far fetched as other films in the same genre are.   More than just the thrill of the chase, The Grey is a movie about redemption, faith, and finding the will to survive when you think you have none.  

Grade:  B+

T One summer years ago I managed to catch about a season’s worth of Dawson’s Creek reruns on daytime television, and the show has been on my watch list ever since.  Because it was so long ago the only thing I really remembered was what happens in the series finale (which I watched live back in 2003 amidst all the screaming girls on my 8th grade class trip), but in no way was already knowing what happens in the end going to stop me from watching! 

The old WB has supplied me with a great many shows through the years (Buffy, Angel, Felicity, Roswell, Gilmore Girls, Everwood, Veronica Mars…) and Dawson’s Creek, while it may not make my list of favorites, is still pretty great.  I must say it is quite refreshing watching an older show like this that’s actually about real people dealing with real problems.  Nowadays all television dramas seem to fall into 1 of 3 categories: 1.) a semi-soap about the rich and the beautiful, 2.) a procedural about doctors, lawyers or cops, or 3.) a combination of 1 & 2 with some sort of supernatural spin (kudos to the raging popularity of Twilight).  [Side Note:  I am a BIG fan of supernatural shows (Buffy the Vampire Slayer being my all time favorite show in the world), but, aside from The Walking Dead, I don’t think any of the supernatural shows currently airing on television are doing the category any justice.]  The only recent show I can think of that felt like classic older television to me and not just the modern trash we’ve been calling television is Friday Night Lights, but I think it’s high time we applied this “real people with real problems” theme to a show about adults and not just high school or college students.

But back to the item at hand-  When I think of Dawson’s Creek my brain seems to automatically start singing what I thought was the show’s iconic theme song: Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait.”  However, watching the reruns on Netflix (and I’ve only gotten through season 4 so far, so it’s possible that it does change later) the theme song used is actually Jann Arden’s “Run Like Mad.”  I’ve done a bit of research on this and everyone seems to be saying different things, but I think basically Run Like Mad was the theme song for season 1 in every country except for the United States, but after season 1 the theme song used everywhere was I Don’t Want to Wait.  Due to financial reasons, however, the theme song used on Netflix and on the DVD box sets was changed back to Run Like Mad.  Apparently there was a big uproar about this because people in the US especially had never even heard this song before.  Personally, I actually really like Run Like Mad because I think the lyrics are more fitting for the show, but Dawson’s Creek and I Don’t Want to Wait will still be forever linked in my brain!   

Seasons 1 and 2 of Dawson’s Creek were not the best, but they were still good enough to keep me watching.  I guess any show can be addicting if you sit and watch episodes back to back, but there is A LOT of talking on this show and those first two seasons were a little too teenage angst-y for my liking.  By season 3, however, the show was really in its prime with the addition of a few new characters and less of a focus on the Dawson/Joey dynamic.  Season 3 also marks the beginning stages of the relationship between Joey and Pacey, and if you ask me, the two of them together makes the entire series worth watching!!  One thing I can say for this show is that the characters grow multitudes each season, both in personality and appearance.  For actors who were in their early 20’s playing 15-year-old teenagers it kind of shocks me to see how different they look at the start of every new season, but it’s exciting at the same time.

Anyway, I’m really enjoying watching Dawson’s Creek.  I’ve only got two seasons left to go, which is a bit bittersweet, but my television watch list seems to grow daily and I’ve got to work hard to keep up with it.  But I’ve definitely fallen in love with the Creek Cast and will now be even more obsessed with Joshua Jackson on Fringe, as well as diligently following the careers of Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, and Mr. JVDB.

Grades:

     Season 1:  B-

     Season 2:  B

     Season 3:  A-

     Season 4:  B

M Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and side-kick Dr. Watson (Jude Law) must face off against arch-enemy Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris) in this sequel to 2009’s Sherlock Holmes.  Also with Noomi Rapace, Rachel McAdams and Stephen Fry.  (Based on the novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).

I wasn’t really sure how I felt about 2009’s Sherlock Holmes, and I’m not really sure how I feel about A Game of Shadows either.  I spent the first 3/4 of both movies feeling bored, frustrated and slightly confused, but was oddly smiling by the end…  and I credit Conan Doyle’s splendid writing and original character creation (as well as Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of it) with any contentment I felt, and blame all of my disappointment on Director Guy Ritchie.  The timing in these movies is all wrong if you ask me; they are too long to begin with, fast-paced in a way that still manages to be boring, and have fast-spoken dialogue intended to sound smart but which instead is just difficult to hear (for me at least).  The slow motion fist fights are indeed pretty cool, but I find it beguiling that only the action sequences are slowed down because this does nothing to showcase the iconic Sherlock Holmes’ intellect or impressive powers of deduction.  Furthermore, Professor Moriarty is supposed to be Sherlock Holmes’ arch-enemy, but I didn’t really glean this fact from A Game of Shadows because the movie doesn’t really do much to depict his character as being especially shrewd or unrelenting.  Basically, my reaction to Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows was ‘Eh’ when it should have been “Wow!”  And if you want to watch what this movie could have been, then watch season 2 episode 3 of the BBC’s Sherlock.  Better yet, watch every episode of Sherlock because that show is freakin’ amazing! 

Grade:  B-

M After one boy hits another in the head with a stick, both sets of parents get together to discuss the matter “like adults.”  With Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, Cristoph Waltz and John C. Reilly.  (Based on the play God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza).

As of yet I’ve only seen a handful of Roman Polanski’s directorial work, but I’m fairly confident that I’m in love; Rosemary’s Baby, The Pianist, The Ghost Writer, and now Carnage, each film is exquisite and enthralling in its own way.  Watching Carnage is almost like watching a psychology experiment run its course.  It’s an in-depth character study of how four very different personalities deal with the same situation when trapped in the same room together.  Aside from the scene that’s played during the opening credits in which you actually see the boys fighting on the playground, the entire rest of the movie is just four people, in one room, talking.  It may sound a bit boring, but the writing is smart enough and the acting captivating enough as to make Carnage not only an intriguing, but an extremely entertaining film to watch.  Observing these characters, as their civilized adult behavior slowly unravels and takes a back seat to their true dispositions, and thinking about which personality type you, the viewer, are (and how comical your behavior can appear to other personality types) is exceedingly fun.  For me, the only slight complaint I can make about this film is that, at times it seemed like Jodie Foster was overacting a bit.  But then again, maybe it was just the nature of her character that I found irksome rather than her portrayal of it!  Regardless, Carnage is, without a doubt, a must see!        

Grade:  A-