I loved "The Ice Storm" and it is one of the few films in which I actually enjoyed Katie Holmes' performance. As for "Pieces of April," thank your for braving it--and family quarrels--so I don't have to watch it. I can immediately tell the kind of movie I'm to going to like through your reviews.
I am beyond surprised that Home For The Holidays! It’s my personal favorite as Anne Bancroft reminds me of my grandmother, and Holly Hunter of my single mom raising me.
Reading this, am ashamed to admit that I saw none of the films you mention. How could that be? But I immediately thought of a film that you didn't mention -- "Home for the Holidays" starring Holly Hunter, Robert Downey, Jr. (apparently during his drugged out phase), and a number of other notables. And directed by Jodie Foster (?!?!?) I haven't seen it since it was released in 1995, but I remember it vividly and I thought it hit all the major themes and discomforts of the family holiday movie. Am eager to take a look at it now to see how it has aged. ( Have to confess, I have a soft place for Holly Hunter, who I think is an underrated actress, and is a Texan, and we Texan girls who have escaped have to stick together.) Anyway, here's a quote from Roger Ebert's review: "What Foster and Richter have created here is a film that understands the reality expressed by Robert Frost when he wrote, 'Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.'"
Oddly enough, last night I started rereading Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina," and the opening line is (drumroll): "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Hi Ty, My husband and I watched Pieces of April on your quasi-recommendation and his take (and now mine) is that it's a movie worth remaking. He thought the plot had legs. If things were more believable and not so campy, the movie could have been good. But we both learned early on not to believe where the movie was supposedly leading us. We knew early on that Bobby was a good guy so that the set-up of him dealing wasn't going to be true. We knew when the mother led us to believe that she was going to talk about her mortality in the car that this was yet another set-up. Finally, if the whole story was leading to family healing, then the end should have had more depth. Instead it was like a Coke commercial. If the movie had believed in itself more -- if it had not made fun of itself -- it could have worked. We recommend a remake.
I loved "The Ice Storm" and it is one of the few films in which I actually enjoyed Katie Holmes' performance. As for "Pieces of April," thank your for braving it--and family quarrels--so I don't have to watch it. I can immediately tell the kind of movie I'm to going to like through your reviews.
I'm honored, vindicated and laughing hysterically. Happy Thanksgiving Ty! And we can retire this ritual next year.
Happy Thanksgiving, dear sir!
I am beyond surprised that Home For The Holidays! It’s my personal favorite as Anne Bancroft reminds me of my grandmother, and Holly Hunter of my single mom raising me.
Reading this, am ashamed to admit that I saw none of the films you mention. How could that be? But I immediately thought of a film that you didn't mention -- "Home for the Holidays" starring Holly Hunter, Robert Downey, Jr. (apparently during his drugged out phase), and a number of other notables. And directed by Jodie Foster (?!?!?) I haven't seen it since it was released in 1995, but I remember it vividly and I thought it hit all the major themes and discomforts of the family holiday movie. Am eager to take a look at it now to see how it has aged. ( Have to confess, I have a soft place for Holly Hunter, who I think is an underrated actress, and is a Texan, and we Texan girls who have escaped have to stick together.) Anyway, here's a quote from Roger Ebert's review: "What Foster and Richter have created here is a film that understands the reality expressed by Robert Frost when he wrote, 'Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.'"
Oddly enough, last night I started rereading Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina," and the opening line is (drumroll): "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Have a good Thanksgiving!
And Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Hi Ty, My husband and I watched Pieces of April on your quasi-recommendation and his take (and now mine) is that it's a movie worth remaking. He thought the plot had legs. If things were more believable and not so campy, the movie could have been good. But we both learned early on not to believe where the movie was supposedly leading us. We knew early on that Bobby was a good guy so that the set-up of him dealing wasn't going to be true. We knew when the mother led us to believe that she was going to talk about her mortality in the car that this was yet another set-up. Finally, if the whole story was leading to family healing, then the end should have had more depth. Instead it was like a Coke commercial. If the movie had believed in itself more -- if it had not made fun of itself -- it could have worked. We recommend a remake.