Movie Reviews Galore!

I have been slacking in posting movie reviews so I'm just going to put all of them up at the same time. You all know how much I love to multi-task.

There Will Be Blood
This is a story of a man named Daniel Plainview who drills for oil and his rise to fortune. I will always remember how proud this man was (and I'm talking the 7 Deadly Sins Pride) and the portrayal of Eli Sunday by Paul Dano (from Little Miss Sunshine). Daniel's pride allowed him to have a drive to create his fortune, but what was the cost? And Eli Sunday, well quite frankly, freaked me out. Daniel Day Lewis deserves the Oscar for Best Actor. I was completely engrossed with his character and while I was sympathetic to his drive for success, I felt offended by the way he treated people around him - especially his son.
Rating: I highly recommend the movie and grab a bag of popcorn.

La Vie En Rose
The movie is the life story of Edith Paif, a famous French singer - and yes, its in French. Marion Cotillard transforms herself from a quiet street singer to a famous songstress to a woman who realizes her life is coming to an end. The story and the acting of Cotillard really suck you into Paif's ups and downs of her life. It amazing that she became who she was because of the life she had as a child. I was impressed by her drive to perform and her need to just sing, because its who she is. And honestly that is what I remember most of her, this image of her being ill and telling her manager to put her up in front of the microphone because she had to sing.
Rating: Awesome biopic - I recommend it highly as well.

La Dolce Vita
Fellini's classic about a journalist at a crossroads of his life and looking for maybe a meaning to it. You know, maybe it was because I saw this move right after I watched La Vie En Rose, but it didn't wow me as much as I thought it would. I was pulled into the story and the sympathized with Mastroianni's roller coaster ride but there was something, just not real. The sweet life that Fellini is a fascade that only exists with certain people. For some reason the one scene that did speak to me was when the paparazzi were waiting for the wife of Mastroianni's friend. It was heartwrenching and is the moment that made him change his way of life, to an extent. I think this is one of those movies that I have to watch again but I've learned that not all classics are classics for everyone.
Rating: Rent it to see it for its brilliance but don't expect it to be brilliant for you.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
This movie is a true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor of Elle, who suffers a stroke and has to live in an almost fully paralyzed body, only his left eye isn't paralyzed. One word: Magnicifent. I just can't convey how wonderful this movie is. Just watch it...seriously...just watch it. I have to admit one thing though - the movie is in French and it has subtitles. And one part of the movie, Bauby learns how to speak by blinking. The speech therapist says letters and when she gets to the letter that he wants, he blinks. Its tedious but he ends up writing the book that the movie is based on. Ok, back to my thing. So I'm listening to her ramble off the alphabet and I'm trying to guess what he's going to say along with her. And she says the letters - M-E-R..then the subtitle is saying T-H-A and I'm wondering why its not right...then I realized that they were translating what its going to be in English. Kind of messed me up for a minute there, thought that I completely forgot how to speak French.
Rating: GO WATCH NOW!

The Cooler
William H. Macy plays this unlucky fellow that works for a casino who uses him to "cool off" tables when people are winning too much money. He then meets a cocktail waitress and his luck changes. The movie was, eh - ok. The movie has its moments and its really a dark film at times. If I wouldnt have seen this movie right after I saw The Diving Bell and the Butterfly then I probably would have liked it a little bit more. It is entertaining but I'm not running out and buying it for my collection.
Rating: Rental.