It’s very rare that modern family films leave me feeling overwhelmed with emotions, but oddly enough this adaptation of the Walden media book managed to accomplish that very task by being a sweet family dramedy that doesn’t talk down to its audience. Sure, it’s whimsical and goofy and occasionally wholesome, but deep down there is a strong undercurrent of sadness and grief present among every character, all of whom are facing change in their lives that may decide who they become in the next few years and beyond. “Ramona and Beezus” is a remarkable dramedy about a small girl named Ramona Quimby a child large heart and an even larger imagination who uses her creativity and individuality to not only disconnect her from her world but cope with the massive and potentially traumatizing life altering changes happening around her.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)
When all is said and done, you really won’t miss much with “Diary of the Wimpy Kid.” It’s all a fairly forgettable and polarizing comedy that’s strictly targeted to the preteen boys of the audience, all of whom are convinced this is how middle school is and will be like. Unless you’re an absolutely die hard fan of Chloe Moretz or Steve Zahn, you really should not rush to see “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” in spite of the fact that it’s not at all the excruciating experience the trailers would have you believe. There is really some interesting bits and storytelling to be had here with some honest explorations in to these young characters.
Elf: Ultimate Collector's Edition (DVD)
Anyone in the market for a nice gift set this year may want to refer to the “Elf: Ultimate Collector’s Edition” set, a nice gift pack that will make a nice stocking stuffer for anyone who genuinely enjoyed Will Ferrell as an overgrown adopted Elf who goes in to the real world when he leaves the North Pole. “Elf” is really the only Will Ferrell movie I actually enjoy mainly because Ferrell is so unlike Ferrell here. He’s much more innocent, much more likable and never plays on his whole inept shtick he’s used to milk his film career since leaving Saturday Night Live. Now an apparent Broadway Musical (Ah, Broadway, you’ve sold your soul), this original film is a delightful and often hilarious fish out of water film about finding yourself after a life changing revelation, and trying to maintain innocence and optimism in a world filled with misery and cynicism.
Malice in LaLaLand (2010)
Lew Xypher’s porn “Malice in LaLaLand” is a wildly visual and unique porn flick that takes the entire Alice in Wonderland tale to a whole new level. Sure, it’s basically a fuck flick, but it’s also a very original and surreal trip in to the psyche of a young girl named Malice who is locked in an insane asylum and through her sub-conscious manages to travel in to LaLaLand where she confronts unreal monsters, wild creatures, and hot women all of whom inhabit this world. What’s interesting is that this world Malice travels may or may not be in all in her head, and she manages to escape the confines of her asylum with the help of a mysterious rabbit that breaks her free and helps her find the rabbit hole that brings her in to this journey of the mind.
Winter's Bone (2010)
Ree Dolly is smart enough to know not to have sex at her young age and have a child. She is in a world of poverty and goes to school with friends who are barely out of puberty and strapped down with a baby. The tragedy though is with her mother being basically an invalid incapable of caring for herself, Ree is forced to be a mother anyway for her baby brother and sister, both of whom can barely cook let alone fend for themselves. It’s a horrible sick irony that plagues the life of Ree, the oldest of three children who is basically the mother, daughter, and guardian of her household, forced to live day by day and is often so desperate she has to rely on the neighbors to feed her family and give them electricity, but is too proud to ask for a hand out.
Aiming at Nikita
So far this is the third variation of the Luc Besson spy thriller masterpiece “La Femme Nikita,” and the more variations we see of it, the more the actual point of the premise is loss. We had “Point of No Return” a remake with Bridget Fonda I think I’d rather forget if only for being a piss poor adaptation of Besson’s film and for becoming a relatively obscure nineties fixture that put some nails in to Fonda’s career coffin. Then there was the basic cable spy thriller starring Peta Wilson that I really never bothered to watch mainly because it felt like a version of “Mission: Impossible,” and now there’s “Nikita.”
Pretty Things: The Last Generation of American Burlesque Queens [Hardcover]
In celebration of the theatrical release of “Burlesque,” Harper Collins publishing releases a hardcore massive compendium of tributes and explorations in to the final generation of burlesque and the art of the seduction where revealing barely anything often is much more arousing than revealing it all. In the process though, it deems it loud and clear that a PG-13 film about Burlesque makes about as much sense as a PG movie about pornography. It’s absurd since while the book is an amazing look in to the final hurrah of Burlesque it’s also a pretty revealing look in to what made Burlesque so attractive from female performers who were skilled contortionists, to others who had some rather rotund and gigantic breasts who excelled at teasing men with what they didn’t see under their sweaters and tassels.