With a subtle, calm style the director, Nanni Moretti, takes us through a slice of life of this lovely Italian family with a perfect pace and amazing sensibility. Mother, father, son and daughter face challenges that test their ability to remain the close, happy family they have always been. Parallels are drawn from life through some wonderful dialogue and observations made by the characters. Cracked dishes that have been glued back together equal the cracks inside them that they hide away from each other. This is a strikingly obvious idea, yet it seems so moving when seen through the eyes of these characters.

A son caught in a controversy at school. A daughter caught in teenage life, boys, sports etc. A successful mother in love with her husband and adores her children. A father who’s patients see him as the answer to their psychological problems, their own lives poured out in his office as gateways to his own understanding of life. Outside the more intense patients, all of these people live a well controlled, well defined life until they face the unexpected.

The writing and acting are so elegant and intriguing, even though we follow quietly, slowly through their journey, it is exciting in a voyeuristic way.

There are so many funny, happy moments with these characters they seem genuine, believable 100%. There is nothing lacking from this film. I say this is one of those all time classic family dramas that can move you, impact you emotionally the way Ordinary People or Magnolia can, and for me that’s saying A LOT!

“Bond, James Bond…” Oh no, wrong movie. Pierce Brosnon stars in this sensual remake of a story about the fine line between greed and lust for life.

Crown has a desire for life that can get very expensive. When he steals a valuable painting from a museum, mostly for the thrill of it, an insurance company puts a woman investigator on the case to get it back.

Renea Russo has never been sooooo sexy. I’m a woman, yes, but geez.

The subtle twists and turns and attention to character development really got my attention. This flick is slick and smooth. The writing is a bit ambitious at times, cutesy lines and sometimes unnatural, BUT still very good for a remake.

The directing controls the image of the movie. Great lighting, very nice backdrops and scenery all may seem unimportant, but it adds to the richness of a movie.

Overall, it’s a good rental if you don’t have kids around. It’s smart and interesting.

Political stories usually interest me for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes it’s the historic value of the story being told. Sometimes it’s the director’s perception of events I am interested to experience. But this time, I was not sure about the actual events that the story was based on and, at the time, I did not know what else the director had done, I guess the draw was that I knew nothing about it. I have always heard about the Cuban Missile crisis, but never knew the twists and turns or just how close we did come to a disaster. Surely Hollywood stretches the truth, of course, but the underlying reality is that we obviously were on the brink of a huge change in course of history, had events gone the way they eventually did.

Thirteen Days is a dramatic, nostalgic look at an otherwise overlooked time in our countries past. I liked the authenticity of the set designs, costumes, makeup. The directing was very classy, very distinctly a drama-directed film. Not a lot of pomp and flash, just quality through and through.

If you like historic stories of presidents and statesmen.. this one is a good three hours spent in a novel-like movie. Impressive acting, solid writing, if not a bit overly sentimental in the look back at the Kennedys but that is to be expected.

A good rental.. lots of movie for your buck.

Kurt Russel and Kevin Costner individually make me quiver.. imagine them in a movie together.. geez.. heheehe..

I just mean, they are two of the film God icons to my movie loving self. This story is an all out, manly, tough guy, explosive action, power tripping collection of movie going fun. Minus the violence (not all of which is relative to the story, just tossed in for effect), this is a classic twisting turning tale of greed and love and troubled souls.

Courtney Cox, while I shutter to think of what I’m about to say, is pretty good. I was impressed with her honest and comfortable performance. I am not a fan of hers on a regular basis, but now I will have to give her another try. Her character is vibrant, colorful, convincingly unique and very overstated (that means tacky!). She, along with her male cohorts, converge on a plan and a half to procure a load of cash, or at least keep hold of it and along the way each makes choices and takes turns that keep you wondering what will happen next.

These days it’s hard to find that in movies these days. By 15 minutes into it you are sure you know every possible conclusion and by 16 minutes, you are sure of the exact ending. Imagine that you forget you are watching a movie and just get interested in what is gonna happen to the fictitious folks on the big screen in front of you. Graceland can do it for ya, with all it’s testosterone and Viagra hungry middle aging stars, it’s a must see for action fans, not to mention it’s got a smart edge that keeps it from being another tribute to the Bang’em’up guy flick.