Short Reviews of home viewed movies

The End of the tour: You don't have to know anything about the late author David Foster Walkace to enjoy this film that does a nic job to getting to the heart and humanity of an author who is being interviewed by a Rolling Stone reporter played by Jesse Eisenberg.   At about an hour and ten minutes the conversation between the two men starts to run its course a bit, but Jason Segel gives a career changing performance as David Foster Wallace.   While it's doubtful, it'd be nice to see him recognized when Oscar nominations come out.   7 out of 10

Me, Earl and the Dying Girl- While the three main character have interesting relationships in this film, the film itself is pretty basic Sundance indie.   There are lots of quirky cliches (like the folksy cool but annoying parents that almost no one in real life has), and the whole premise of the two leads remaking classic films is a flimsy one. The filmmaker should gave trusted that the leads could be interesting characters and telling their stories would have been enough.  6 out of 10

The Wolfpack- here is another film with teenagers remaking movies. This time it's about a group of brothers who are forced by their father to stay holed up in their New York apartment.   There should be an interesting story there, but only glimpses of it are told.  I did like when the brothers finally got to explore the world outside their apartment, but the film doesn't do much to differentiate between all of the similar looking brothers.  6 out of 10

The Salt of the earth- Sebastião Salgado is a great photographer, and here  he talks about how his beautiful photos as they are displayed on this screen this documentary is like watching someone's vacation slide show.   It's dull but very pretty.   I basically watched it because it was nominated for an Academ award for best documentary.   On a side now that I've seen all 5 nominees from last year. This is how I'd rank them.

5.  The Salt of the Earth
4. Last Days of Vietnam
3. CitizenFour
2.  Virunga
All of these are underwhelming.   I gave them all a 5 or 6.  The only documentary from these nominees that I can recommend without reservation is
1. Finding Vivian Maier

Hopefully the Academy will choose a better group of docs this year.


Cinderella- I was surprisingly charmed by this film. This may be the best version of Cinderella I've seen.  Even though there are basically no songs, Disney is able to use special effects in a powerful way to show the transformation Cinderella goes through to go to the ball.  It also takes a bit of a feminist bend on a story that definitely needs it.  My only minor complaints are that the story drags a bit after the ball (but this happens in every adaptation), and I would've liked to have seen Cate Blanchett go more over the top as the step mother.  Kenneth Branagh does a nice directing job here.  8 out of 10