Duplicity

Who: Me & Bob
What: Duplicity staring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen
Where: AMC PI
Why: Date Night and I had a free ticket!

I wanted to see this movie because I usually enjoy Julia Robert's movies. The story was very complex and Julia was great. Clive was good but compared to her, his acting was not as believable. They just seemed like an odd match for a couple. I kept thinking she could do better. It had the look and feel of Ocean's 11 but it was not edited together as well as that movie.

It is the story of two corporate spies. They meet early in their careers and have a moment together in Dubai. Years later they reunite in Rome and New York and things don't go well... so you think. They have the most complex relationship in addition to the complexities of their jobs. The whole movie you just kept wondering if their relationship was real or were they just playing their spy parts well. The men who play the CEO's of the companies were great characters that were portrayed as crazy, paranoid, goofs. Just when you think you have it all figured out things end very different. I thought the movie was over and then in the last 5 minutes we learn things were not as they seemed.

The movie kept moving back and forth through time. This made it hard to follow, not impossible but more of a challenge that was needed. I would have loved to have seen the movie put together in sequence then when things ended go back and review all the secrets. I give it a B- or 2.5 out of 5 stars depending on which scale you like.

Rachel Getting Married

Who: Liz
What: Rachel getting Married
Why: I heard about it and wanted to see it.
Where: home on DVD

Well this movie was kind of intense. I loved it. Anne Hathaway did a fabulous job as Kym, the addict sister.

This movie starts out when Paul and his wife, Carol, pick up his daughter, Kym, from rehab to come home for her sister Rachel’s, wedding. Apparently, Kym has been in trouble with drugs for a long time and is only clean for about a month this time. This film is about the family’s interactions with Kym over the weekend of the wedding. Kym is so self absorbed. She has to make everything about her. Rachel is upset about this and just for once since she is getting married, would like to have the family pay some attention to her and not Kym. Paul, the dad, is such an enabler. Finally, we meet Kym’s mother, played by Debra Winger…she was excellent.

This movie is filled with interesting characters. Sidney, the groom, has a cousin, Joe, who is in the army and on leave for the wedding. He always has a video camera in his hand and Paul twice alludes to him “coming back, safe and sound”. Sidney has horrible glasses, I mean really, a little ridiculous. I couldn’t tell if the wedding was supposed to be non-denominational or whatever…but they all dress in Indian garb. The ceremony takes place in the family home, with the reception later on, outside. Lots of music and singing and a universal cast of characters.

Some scenes were hard to sit through, but sometimes I think movies need to be a little more reality based, rather than these fantasies of “happily ever after”.
I think if you like movies with a little substance, you will want to see this film.

Slumdog Millionaire

Who: Liz
What: Slumdog Millionaire
Where: AMC at Pleasure Island
Why: I really wanted to see it,heard it was good and had the day off!
I absolutely loved this movie! It kept your attention, wasn't too violent, and had a compelling story. One older couple did leave towards the beginning, maybe they didn't like the subtitles. I didn't mind them, though from where I was sitting, I had to lean forward to see a few of them. It was really crowded for a Thursday afternoon!

This movie was about a "Slumdog", Jamal. Jamal and his brother Salim, grew up in some large city in India, they mentioned Mumbai and Bombay, but I couldn't tell where they grew up.
It starts out with Jamal being questioned about how he is winning at "Who wants to be a Millionaire". Apparently the police think he is cheating. So the movie tells the story of how Jamal knew all the answers with the flashbacks of his life.
When Jamal and his older brother, Salim are young, they live in a horrible slum and their mom gets killed and they go off and live on their own. They meet this girl, Latika, and she and Jamal bond. They are like maybe 10 and 11. Then they get picked up in a "orphanage" raid. This guy takes them to live on a "farm" with all these other kids and they have to go out begging for money every day. I don't want to give too much away, it was really intense and they got away, but just Salim and Jamal, Latika let go of Jamal's hand as he was on the train.........
The rest of the story is about the atrocities of Jamal and Salim's life and Jamal's quest to find Latika. I loved the way the present day and the flashbacks were interwoven.
It was mostly in English, except for when they are children and then most of those scenes are subtitled.
The ending was excellent, I won't tell you whether he wins it all or loses it all, but it's a movie, so you can probably figure that out!
Like I said, I really enjoyed this and can understand why everyone seems to like it!