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by Sarah Star

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Archive for December, 2006

18/December/2006 [4:19 PM] -- Charlotte’s Web
Terrific, radiant and humble those are the three words Charlotte uses to describe Wilbur and also happen to express exactly how I feel about this delightful family film. We all know E.B. White’s charming story and we all have pretty much seen the movie cartoon but Gary Winick’s version of Charlotte’s Web completely brings each character to life and really brings out the heart, soul and magic of this timeless classic. Wilbur voiced flawlessly by Dominic Scott Ray was born the runt of the litter, the odd one out unable to get milk from his mother and is about to be immediately turned into bacon when Fern, Dakota Fanning (always dazzling) takes it upon herself to convince her father he is being unjust to the poor little piglet. Dakota is amazing she has so much passion in her expressions as she speaks the words “He can’t help that he was born small, would you have killed me if I was born small” you can hear the determination in her voice and see the pain in her eyes. When he gets too big for Fern to take of, Wilbur is put into a small barn on Fern’s Uncle Homer’s farm and is in desperate need of a friend to help cure his loneliness; however, the resident animals want nothing to do with a pig! Enter Charlotte, a spider, (the always charming Julia Roberts) who does all she can to save Wilbur from becoming the Christmas ham and proves to be the greatest friend anyone could ever have. Charlotte’s Web is a story about friendship, trust, love, promises and everyday miracles. I know you are thinking “Yes Sarah I know! I have read the book and seen the cartoon a million times!” but there is something new to be seen here I promise you with the amazing additional voice talents of Steve Buscemi as Templeton “the rat”, John Cleese as Samuel the leader of the sheep, Kathy Bates as Bitsy the cow, Reba McEntire as Betsy the cow, Oprah Winfrey as Gussy the Goose, Cedric the Entertainer as Golly the Goose, and Robert Redford as Ike the Horse then throw in a marvelous script, a wonderful director and then add the musical genius of Danny Elfman and what you have is a heart-warming, beautiful woven masterpiece! I laughed, I cried, and I was deeply touched by what an outstanding film this turned out to be! It is not currently available in MoPix but there is plenty of dialogue and narration it is not needed here. If you can only see one family film this year, this story of Wilbur and his friends is definitely the one, he sure is Some Pig!
- (Paramount)
- Starring: Dakota Fanning, Julia Roberts, Dominic Scott Kay, Steve Buscemi, Kathy Bates, Oprah Winfrey, Robert Redford, John Cleese, Cedric the Entertainer, Thomas Hayden Church… the list goes on and on…
- Rated: G
- Running Time: 97 mins
- This film is currently not available in MoPix descriptions.
Posted in [Family Film Reviews]

11/December/2006 [5:52 PM] -- Happy Feet

I must tell you, I am a bit bias when it comes to this film, being a vegetarian and an environmentalist Happy Feet is a motion picture after my own heart! Happy Feet follows the story of young Mumble (Elijah Wood, perfectly cast) an Antarctic Empire Penguin who is born completely unable to carry a tune, which is not a problem except that for these little creatures finding your “heartsong” is the only way to discover your true soul mate! Instead Mumble is born with some really happy feet, he can dance his flippers off but every time he opens his beak he’s sounds like puberty stricken teenager! His mother Norma Jean (the enchanting Nicole Kidman) thinks Mumble is just fine the way he is but his father Memphis (Hugh Jackman, one word, brilliant) isn’t so sure and neither is the rest of the community and poor Mumble becomes banished from home and stumbles upon some new friends some hilarious Latino penguins, the head of the amigos is Ramon (Robin Williams, who continues to delight and impress me). Mumble comes up with a plan to finally be accepted by his fellow penguins including Gloria (the charming Britney Murphy) the love of Mumble’s life. He decides his only chance at redemption is to find the source of the penguins’ current fish famine so he sets out on an extraordinary journey with his new compadres to help bring food back to his community. The film reaches its climax when Mumble comes face to face with the cause of the food shortage “aliens” as they call them, otherwise known as humans. This is a very educational film, fun to watch and really puts the way our world has become so dependent on animals and the effects that will have on earth and the creatures that live on our earth in later years. It has fantastic dialogue and is very easy to follow for visually impaired and sighted alike. I fell in love with Happy Feet; I even danced my way out of the theatre with my two little nieces! I’m sure it will have you dancing too!

(Warner Bros.)
Voices by: Elijah Wood, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Robin Williams, Britney Murphy and Hugo Weaving
Rated: PG
Running Time: 108 mins
This film is currently available in MoPix descriptions.

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Posted in [Comedy Reviews, Family Film Reviews]

5/December/2006 [3:11 PM] -- Little Children

I found Little Children to be disturbing, intriguing and at some points I almost felt embarrassed to watch some of the very personal moments brought to life in this film. Director Todd Field, who also brought us In the Bedroom, is once again exceptionally successful at putting the audience directly into the lives of the characters they are watching on screen. Although I do feel that the film is just as well directed and acted as In the Bedroom, it has lost the subtlety that made his previous work so extraordinary. Little Children is based on the Tom Perrotta novel of the same name and centers mainly on Sarah Pierce (the phenomenal Kate Winslet). Sarah is a bored housewife whose husband is falling deep into an obsession with internet porn and she begins to turn to the neighborhood hunk Brad Adamson (the vibrant Patrick Wilson) for support and companionship. Brad is having family troubles of his own with his wife Kathy (Jennifer Connelly) which in turn leads him into the arms of Sarah and they spark up a very erotic affair. The film becomes more complex when a convicted sex offender returns to the small town to live with his mother. This brings about much fear, paranoia and panic amongst the residents of the town even between Sarah, Brad and their children. As all the lives of these main characters begin to collide, events unravel and lives are put at stake. There are brilliantly woven threads woven throughout this story but I feel Field is almost too forceful with some incredibly reckless revelations. This film is not available in MoPix but has enough well written dialog to follow what is going on this story. I must warn you though after I left the theatre, even hours later, I found myself disturbed by what I had seen in this film. It is a very heavy drama superbly acted and very well directed I just would have preferred a more subtle approach to this story.

(New Line Cinema)
Starring: Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson and Jennifer Connelly
Rated: R
Running Time: 130 mins
This film is currently not available in MoPix

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Posted in [Drama Reviews]

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Film reviews to entertain and enlighten sighted and blind movie enthusiasts alike...

by Sarah Star

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