Bernie

— "Bernie", my weekend movie, just wasn't as good as it should have been.

---

[2011. 104 min. Directed by Richard Linklater. Starring Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, and Matthew McConaughey.]
http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/movies/bernie-with-jack-black-and-shirley-maclaine.html

Hope Springs

— "Hope Springs" was really just a senior "chick" flick, but I could feel every second of the couple's discomfort and desperation and love. Heck, Streep and Jones could probably have starred in "Gigli" and I would have liked it. There's just no way not to marvel at their skill.

---

[2012. 100 min. Directed by David Frankel. Starring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell, and Jean Smart.]
http://www.hopesprings-movie.com/?hs308=HPS6186

The Intouchables

— Saw “The Intouchables” and can see how it may be one of the most popular French films of all time. I attribute the popularity to the actors’ skill more than anything. The characters are somewhat stereotypic and the storyline is a little too familiar save a few uncomfortable moments. Even so, the actors make the people seem real and the movie seem heartfelt, so you can’t help but be happy you’re part of it. In fact, it’s almost a “feel-good” movie. I’m glad I saw it.

---

[2011. 112 min. Directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano. Starring Francois Cluzet, Omar Sy, and Anne Le Ny.]
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/05/25/the_intouchables_racist_french_people_don_t_think_so_and_here_s_why_.html

Certified Copy

— “Certified Copy” is well worth seeing, but it takes a bit of work. There are lots of long conversations between the two main--and pretty much only--characters, as what's real and what's fake, blur. Michael O’Sullivan’s review tells the story far better than I could.

---

[2010. 106 min. Directed by Abbas Kiarostami. Starring Juliette Binoche, william Shimell, and Jean-Claude Carriere.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/movies/certified-copy-copie-conforme,1177144/critic-review.html

Safety Not Guaranteed

— Having seen Mark Duplass in “Safety Not Guaranteed” only a couple of weeks after seeing him in a much more minor role in “People Like Us”, maybe I suffered overload. Most people seemed to have loved “Safety Not Guaranteed” and I liked the somewhat low key feeling of the film and the offbeat characters spending more time than they should regretting their past but, in the end, I was only warm to Duplass’ character, thinking he was outshined by Aubrey Plaza’s character. SNG doesn’t stand a chance of getting in my top 500 movie list, but it was still a pleasant enough hour and a half.

---

[2012. 86 min. Directed by Colin Trevorrow. Starring Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, and Jake Johnson.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/safety-not-guaranteed-2012

The Dark Knight Rises

— Went to “The Dark Knight Rises” for my summer blockbuster fare. Wow. I really enjoyed all 2 hours and 45 minutes. Thank you Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale, and Anne Hathaway! A perfect film for when it’s 105 outside.

---

[2012. 165 min. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Matthew Modine.]
http://www.thedarkknightrises.com/

Jeff, Who Lives At Home

— I have to admit I like the cleverness of the Duplass brothers quite a bit and “Jeff, Who Lives At Home” gives me the eccentric and intriguing characters I want, making me wonder exactly what defines a “grown-up”. The people in this film all have middle-class lives that might make you a little desperate and questing what we can do to find happiness. I’m not one to make every common occurrence seem special, but I do think everything may be interconnected. How the day’s events in this film relate and come together is fairly clever and ultimately pretty satisfying.

---

[2011. 83 min. Directed by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass. Starring Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Susan Sarandon, and Judy Greer.]
http://www.jeffwholivesathome.com/

People Like Us

---

[2012. 114 min. Directed by Alex Kurtzman. Starring Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Jon Favreau, and Michelle Pfeiffer.]
— Yesterday I finally saw “People Like Us” and liked it more than I expected. I was a little slow getting into it, but it ended up being a nice, heartfelt story of family and truth. I went hoping to shake the flashbacks my mind was having from “They Came Back” (“Les Revenants”), a DVD I watched over the weekend—definitely the most cerebral zombie movie ever made and worth your time to get a glimpse of undead who are nearly indistinguishable from the living, and the living’s reaction to having them back.

http://afflictor.com/2011/07/11/strange-small-forgotten-film-they-came-back-2004/