The best two words to describe The Motion Picture Association of America, the organization in charge of rating movies, is consistently inconsistent. If you watch the documentary “This Film is Not Yet Rated” explores their double standards and odd choices, and I highly recommend it for any movie fan. The most recent victim of their crazy logic is “Blue Valentine.” The film was given an NC-17 rating, but was eventually moved to an R when the studio appealed the decision. 
Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) are going through a rough patch in their marriage. The movie cuts between their courtship leading up to their marriage and the breaking down of their relationship.
One reason why I love movies like this is that the plot synopsis is so much easier to write than other movies with a myriad of characters and plots that are hard to distill into a single coherent paragraph.
My true love of this movie is the performances. Williams and Gosling make these two performances real. There are times when it feels like you are watching a real marriage fall apart. They fight and argue almost as much as they show any affection.
Dean is a “jack of all trades, master of none.” 
In one scene Cindy tells him that he is so talented, but as settled for being just a painter. He tells her that all he wants is to be her husband and their daughter’s father. Gosling plays Dean a man who may want to believe that, but his actions tell a different story. If this were true, he would do things much differently. Things he says and does are counter to what he claims.
Cindy is a woman who is afraid of love. 
She has seen what happened to her parents, and is not one to believe that love makes everything better. Even as her marriage is falling apart, she is still trying to love Dean. She is willing to go away for the night to rekindle the romance, even though she has to work early in the morning. Williams plays this perfectly. She is probably the strongest character in the movie because of all she is forced to go through.
The beauty of this movie is how it is cut together. There are two stories going on. One is Cindy and Dean meeting and dating, the other is them falling out of love. We get to see the series of events that lead up to their marriage, but we never see what started them down the road they are on at the beginning of the movie. It is something that we do not need to see because, in the grand scheme, it is not important.
These are two amazing performances by two actors who shine in independent movies like these. They could (and should) have main stream success, but the fact that they stick to smaller movies is a sign of good judgment. These movies let them showcase their talents and find the best material.
9 out of 10
Rated R for strong graphic sexual content, language, and a beating.
112 min
Every now and then a movie slips past my radar.
I know it is hard to believe, but I do not know about every movie that comes out each and every week. Most of the time it is because it is a crappy movie that appeals to the lowest common denominator. Then there are movies like “Rabbit Hole” which is right up my ally and yet, I just don’t seem to catch them before the hype begins.
Based on a play of the same name, “Rabbit Hole” looks at how people deal with grief and find closure. When their young son dies in an accident, Becca (Nichole Kidman) and Howie (Aaron Eckhart) find themselves trying to cope and figure out what to do now.
I am not sure how much more to say than that. These two people find ways to cope and their own sort of closure in very different ways.
Kidman and Eckhart are stunning. The only proof I need to show is the scene where they fight over changes Becca has made. Howie is furious that she is slowly removing any part of their son from the house. At the height of the fight, they go through the “what ifs” 
of the accident. The both feel a huge responsibility for the death and it comes out in this scene. This scene is by far the strongest in the film, but it is also the turning point in the movie. It is where they truly go their separate ways in grief. This scene alone is worth the price of admission.
I was so moved by this movie. It deals with grief and loss in such a real way. No one finds closure in the same way. Becca goes one way and Howie goes another. These are two people who experienced the same loss and grieve in their own way.
9 out of 10
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, some drug use and language
91 min
(I hate myself for writing that headline, but after writing six reviews in two days, cheesy is all I have left)
I can remember a few years ago, in 2005, when Mark Wahlberg was attached to play the lead in “The Fighter” he said that if he were going to make this movie, he needed to do it soon. He was not getting any younger and the role was going to be very physical. Well now he has made it and recently got an Oscar nomination for his troubles. 
Micky Ward (Wahlberg) is a boxer from Lowell, Massachusetts who is in the twilight of his career. He is known more as a stepping stone for other boxers than a genuine championship contender. His mother, Alice (Melissa Leto,) is his manager and his half-bother, Dicky (Christan Bale,) is his trainer. Dicky is a local legend because he knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard, but has become addicted to crack. Micky deals with his mother ignoring Dicky’s addiction and not being able to rely on Dicky.
This is movie has probably the strongest cast of any movie this year. Wahlberg, Bale, Let, and Amy Adams, who plays Micky’s girlfriend, deliver some great performances. The boxing scenes are shot in such a way that it looks and feels like watching a fight on HBO. 
I have a strong feeling that Bale will win the Oscar for his role in this movie. Dicky is a drug addict. HBO has come to document his addiction, but he claims they are there to watch is return to the ring. He is a man who is stuck in the past. He had one shining moment years ago and he has thrived on that fame for years. This is another role that Bale threw himself into--he lost weight to get the drug addict look. Bale plays Dicky as the delusional, burned out, former boxer incredibly well. He steals the spotlight from Wahlberg in many scenes, but it works because Dicky is the one who gets the most attention. He asks for it by being a drug addict, loud and funny.
I could go on about Adams, Leto and Wahlberg and their strong performances, but that would make for a really long review. 
It is best to look at their relationship to one another. Charlene (Adams) and Alice want what they think is best for Micky and his loyalties are torn. On one hand he has his mother who he loves and has been his manager for his entire career. On the other hand there is the woman he loves who has shown him that his mother does not always know what is best. This is a greater conflict in this then Micky faces in the ring. Those moments, when the tension comes to a head, is where the power in their performances comes from.
After the movie I texted my mom and told her that despite the cursing, I think she would like it. It is a great movie and I can honestly say that it is easy to recommend to everyone. Some movies I cannot recommend to everyone (see my review of Black Swan), but this has such a wide appeal that you cannot go wrong.
8 out of 10
Rated R for language throughout, drug content, some violence and sexuality
115 min
“The Kings Speech” follows the rise of King George VI before and leading up to England’s involvement in World War II. Prince
Albert (Colin Firth) speaks with a stutter and is terrified to make speeches. In an effort to cure him of his stutter, his wife (Helena Bonham Carter) meets with Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) a speech therapist and gets him to agree to treat her husband.
I was blown away by this movie. I went in not really interested in it, but left shocked at how much I loved it. I knew very little about it going in and had managed to avoid much of the hype. It is everything you have heard. It is a stunningly made and amazingly acted. 
Of the two lead actors, I was most impressed with Rush. Lionel has a respect for the future king, but demands the same back. He treats Prince Albert as an equal and even calls him “Bertie,” a nickname reserved for use only by those in the royal family. Prince Albert allows Lionel these liberties and the two of them form a tenuous friendship. The relationship is tested at many points. Things are said and done that cross a line when dealing with a prince. Rush gives an Oscar worthy performance by making Lionel someone who is not afraid to do what is best for his patient. He is steadfast in his convictions and does not relent even in the face of a king.
Firth also deserves the nomination he recently received. Albert is a man looking to find his voice. He is not the most strong-willed member of the family. His doubts about his ability to give a speech lead to his fear of becoming the king. There is a power in his transformation we see in the two bookends of the film. In the beginning we see him struggle to give a speech at the closing of the 1925 Empire Exhibition to reading the declaration of war that brought Britain into World War II. I was impressed at what a convincing stutter Firth had and part of me thinks that this is why he was nominated.
Come Oscar night, I expect to see this win many of its 12 possible Oscars. The performances alone are reason enough to see this. Rush and Firth are stunning to watch and make these two characters powerful to watch in screen.
9 out of 10
Rated R for some language
118 min
There have been a plethora of superhero movies for close to a decade now, but this coming year may be the biggest offering of comic book/super hero movies ever. This summer there are three of them coming out within a few weeks of one another. But that is six months away--right now we have “The Green Hornet.”
When his father dies, Britt Reid (Seth Rogan) abandons his playboy ways and sets out to clean up the city. He enlists the help of his father’s friend Kato (Jay Chou) and dons the mantel of the Green Hornet. Where Batman and his ilk fight crime by standing for good, Reid’s Hornet fights crime by being the bad guy. 
One man has a problem with this, Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) a gangster who has a stranglehold on the crime in the city. He sets out to take out the would-be crime lord before his empire crumbles.
Rogan does a good job and is pretty funny, but his character is not even remotely likable. He is a rich, spoiled, jerk who does not earn any of the character moments the movie tries to give him. 
Jay Chou is known to in Taiwan as a pop singer and movie star. In the past few years a few of his movies have been released here in the States. This is his first big movie role and he does a pretty good job. He is the sidekick in the partnership, but is really the one who does all the heavy lifting. He is a skilled fighter and designed the Black Beauty that the Hornet and Kato drive around in.
My biggest grip with the movie is Cameron Diaz. She adds nothing to the movie. All she is there for is to add tension between Britt and Kato. Even then it is forced and only hurts the movie.
Long story short, this movie is only worth it only if you catch it on cable on a lazy afternoon. Other than that, don’t worry about it. You are not missing much.
7 out of 10
Rated PG-13 for sequences of violent action, language, sensuality and drug content
119 min
