Waking Ned Devine

Four Stars: ˜˜˜˜

When an old hermit in a tiny village in Ireland wins the lottery and promptly dies of a heart attack, the stage is set for comedy. A very unique brand of comedy, to be precise. This 1998 movie is one of a kind in its concept, as the entire town conspires to collect the dead man’s winnings. Small town scandals and secrets will be revealed along the way to cashing in, affording the audience a singular treat in this hilarious little film.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“You'll be cursing in heaven tonight, Ned Devine.”

“You slipped on his intestines!”

“I’d marry you today if it wasn’t for the pigs.”

Stalag 17

Four Stars: ˜˜˜˜

America in 1953 was finally able to look back on WWII and laugh a little. This movie will definitely make you crack up, as POWs continue to fight from behind enemy lines using whatever they can. As these men use humor to fend off the crippling despair of failed escape attempts and executions, we catch a glimpse of the indefatigable spirit which defined their generation.  

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“Now you put 630 sergeants together and, oh mother, you've got yourself a situation!”

“The first week I was in this joint, somebody stole my Red Cross package, my blanket and my left shoe.”

“The barracks should be schpic, and also schpan!”

Casino Royale

Three Stars: ˜˜˜

The Bond franchise was reinvented in 2006 with a new lead who could actually act and a plot which already would have made a good film in its own right. While not entirely devoid of the traditional clichés, this movie has some refreshingly original components. Despite the obligatory homages to the genre, the decision to hit the restart button offers considerable promise for future projects as new elements are introduced.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“There are dinner jackets and dinner jackets; this is the latter.”

“Even accountants have imagination.”

“Being dead does not mean one cannot be helpful.”

Water for Elephants

Three Stars: ˜˜˜

So many important contemporary issues are able to be addressed when they are removed to another context and this film takes full advantage of that. It delves deeply into one of the greatest shows on earth, fully exposing the “blood, sweat and shit” which fuel the circus of life. The movie’s stars shine brightly amid the filth of the spectacle. Visually and emotionally blinding, this brilliant plot runs the full gamut of human depravity and virtue.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“I’m not running away, I’m coming home.”

“Love is just a battlefield, you silly girl.”

“Any living creature needs to know who’s in charge.”

Holiday Inn

Five Stars: ˜˜˜˜˜

This musical treasure by Irving Berlin combined the talents of two song and dance men (who are always fighting over the same girl) into one of the funniest and best pieces of 1942 Americana. It’s a sweet comedy about a nightclub entertainer who gets tired of the grind and buys a farm. However, showbiz follows him and he converts the farm into an inn that is only open on holidays. Two of the musical numbers, “White Christmas” and “Easter Parade,” eventually inspired their own hit films.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“How can I stop him sir when I don't know which way is Connecticut!”

“She was sort of a medium built, medium height. With a nice evening gown on with a belt in the back. She's sorta built like the girl I knew from the corner drugstore who used to play pinball. Consuela Schlepkiss. I remember she was high man three weeks in a row.”

“How’d he get that far in five minutes?”

Chicken Run

Four Stars: ˜˜˜˜

This was the very first film I actually saw in theaters, back in 2000. Reminiscent of all the great escape movies, it’s a clay-mation comedy that follows chickens desperate attempts to escape, well, a chicken farm. Not just any chicken farm, of course, but one run like a concentration camp where all the British inmates are destined to become dinner once they’ve stopped laying eggs—unless they can be saved by a slick American rooster who flies in just in time.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“All me life flashed before me eyes… It was really boring.”

“I wasn't on holiday, Babs. I was in solitary confinement.”

“Good heavens, no! I'm a chicken! The Royal Air Force doesn't let chickens behind the controls of a complex aircraft.”

New in Town

Four Stars: ˜˜˜˜

A classic fish out of water story, this 2009 movie about a Miami executive that gets transferred to a plant in Minnesota is delightful in its pure simplicity. There are no surprises along the way in this romantic comedy, yet it remains thoroughly enjoyable as a career woman learns the value of family. Keep your ears perked for some very interesting commentary on industry and labor when she falls in love with the local union representative.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“I may be a city girl, but I know how to start a fire. Where's the button?”

“Remember, whatever you do to my daughter, I do to you.”

“It's okay because we're just silly podunk Minnesotans, right? We talk funny and we ice-fish and we scrapbook and we drag Jesus into regular conversation.”

Kingdom of Heaven

Four Stars: ˜˜˜˜

The box office in 2005 was not kind to this film and understandably so. It is a deeply thought-provoking story which can cause painful self-examination in an audience. As a blacksmith joins the Crusades, he struggles to find true religion in a world where the most pious are the most malevolent. Many questions are raised and not all are answered when the lines between right and wrong, Christian and Muslim, righteous and unregenerate are blurred. Ultimately, each is responsible for his own choices.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“God will understand, my lord. And if he doesn't, then he is not God and we need not worry.”

“If you continue like this, I shall have to find some use for you.”

“You go to where the men speak Italian, and then continue until they speak something else.”

Bride & Prejudice

Four Stars: ˜˜˜˜

A colorful 2004 adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic Pride & Prejudice, this Bollywood production has universal appeal. Contemporary India provides a surprisingly equivalent alternative for the original Victorian England setting of the story. Ancient tradition (complete with arranged marriages) collides with the modern world to produce such archetypal characters as William Darcy, Lalita Bakshi, Mr. Kohli, and even Johnny Wickham.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“I suggest you find yourself a simple, traditional girl to teach you to dance like the natives.”

“You should be stirring your husband's dinner not trouble.”

“He's about to transform into the Indian MC Hammer!”

Leatherheads

Four Stars: ˜˜˜˜

When you think of the Roaring 20s you think jazz, flappers, Prohibition, mobsters, and… football? This 2008 comedy has all of those in spades as smart reporter follows the evolution the modern NFL. Along the way, she meets a struggling professional who’s too old for her and a college athlete who’s too young for her. Full of laughs, mud and a lot of pig skin, this is one particularly American comedy.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“Being the slickest operator in Duluth is sort of like being the world's tallest midget.”

“Rules are ruining this game.”

“Oh, Leonard, it's 1925. There are no rules. Except that boys like you are tedious until they're forty, at which point they become unbearably tedious.”

Roman Holiday

Five Stars: ˜˜˜˜˜

In 1953, Audrey Hepburn landed her first starring role in Hollywood—as a princess. She was perfect for the role and her career soon outshone her previously established costars. Playing a European royal who becomes bored with the constraints of her life, Princess Ann stole the hearts of the audience just as surely as her character won over a sour newspaper man. Filmed on location in eternal Rome, this film is a timeless classic with lessons for people of all ranks and eras.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“She's fair game, Joe. It's always open season on princesses.”

“It isn’t Annie Oakley, Dorothy Lamour, or Madame Chiang Kai-shek.”

“Do you have a silk nightgown with rosebuds?”

Reign of Fire

Five Stars: ˜˜˜˜˜

Produced in 2002, this film envisions a not-so-distant future where dragons once again roam the earth. All of mankind’s technology proves useless against the fiery army and the few survivors have reverted to living in castles for protection. Feudal tribes have formed as people struggle even to farm—until a hero arrives, challenging the locals to stand up and fight. This fantastical tale of man vs. nature, man vs. beast, and even man vs. man will cause you to stop and examine your own frail humanity.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“Only one thing worse than a dragon... Americans.”

“We’re going to London!” – “Good luck. It’s that way.”

“Oh, he's a Dragon Slayer. I suppose that would make you King Arthur does it?”

UP

Five Stars: ˜˜˜˜˜

This 2009 animated film may well prove to have been the pinnacle of the Disney/Pixar franchise. Winning Oscars, Golden Globes, Grammys, and dozens of other awards, this masterpiece captured a vision and set a standard. It has one of the most unique plots, soundtracks and concepts ever to be imagined, let alone animated to perfection. The first ten minutes alone could have made an incredible movie, but just as life goes on, so does the story, taking the audience on a fantastic trip.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“I was hiding under your porch because I love you.”

“That might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most.”

“Scream all you want, small mailman. None of your mailman friends can hear you.”

Fiddler on the Roof

Five Stars: ˜˜˜˜˜

Every time I watch the 1971 film adaptation of the award-winning Broadway musical, I end up smiling through my tears. A poignant tale of a Jewish peasant family in Bolshevik Russia, you easily identify with Tevye, his grumpy wife and their five daughters. Some moments in life are celebrated, others are mourned; some transform you, others only confirm your identity—but there is always a choice. When revolution and tradition collide, how do you keep your balance?

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“A blessing for the Tsar? Of course! May God bless and keep the Tsar... far away from us!”

“A poor girl without a dowry can't be so particular. You want hair, marry a monkey.”

“I know, I know. We are Your chosen people. But, once in a while, can't You choose someone else?”

Sahara

Five Stars: ˜˜˜˜˜

Whether you’re already having fun or if you need a laugh, this movie is always a good time. In 2005, deep-sea treasure hunters’ search for an American Civil War ironclad leads them into the middle of a Malian civil war. Their paths cross with a pretty doctor who is tracing a plague outbreak and adventure becomes inevitable. Toxic waste, Tuareg warriors, the CIA, camels, and lots of explosions are perfectly balanced in this romping cocktail of a movie.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

 “My dad collected ancient coins, from Rome, China, Siam, Persia... somehow they all ended up in a shoe box in New Jersey.”

“You know how it is when you see someone that you haven't seen since high school, and they got some dead-end job, and they're married to some woman that hates them, they got, like, three kids who think he's a joke? Wasn't there some point where he stood back and said, ‘Bob, don't take that job! Bob, don't marry that harpy!’”

“No, no, I only know how to say ‘I don't speak English’ in English.”

Dan In Real Life

Five Stars: ˜˜˜˜˜

Add this film from 2007 to the list of reasons why Steve Carell should not be boxed into his role on The Office. This family comedy is truly heartwarming as the widowed Dan struggles to parent his three daughters who think of him as “a great father but a horrible dad.” Accompanied by a uniquely acoustic soundtrack, he meets a new woman who makes him feel really alive again. Laughs will be had and lessons will be learned when you watch this brilliant movie.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“I don't want to go out with the pig... face.”

“You are a murderer of love!”

“I ordered a muffin, but I think they gave me a small planet.”

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Five Stars: ˜˜˜˜˜

In 1938, one of the first great action/adventure films was released and has been an industry standard ever since. Few have been able to capture the elusive combination of wit, charm, chivalry, and good old-fashioned swashbuckling embodied by Errol Flynn. Bursting with pageantry and larger than life characters, the essence of the Robin Hood legend is fully realized in every brash insult and daring escapade.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“If he's not we'll stick your head upon the target and shoot at that.”

 “Why, you speak treason!” – “Fluently.”

“May I obey all your commands with equal pleasure, sire!”

Robin Hood

Three Stars: ˜˜˜

Every time I watch the 2010 version of this story, I am left unsatisfied. It seems to have all of the necessary elements for a successful epic: a great plot, an accomplished director, talented actors… yet somehow it failed to jell. There is nothing glaringly wrong with it, but neither is there anything spectacularly right. The most likely culprit is poor writing which lead to nonexistent character development; although I’m certain the writers would blame the relatively brief two-hour time frame.

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MEMORABLE QUOTES

“What has eighteen legs and isn't going anywhere?”

 “It wasn't fear in her eyes, it wasn't anger. It was only pity. She knew that when you gave the order, and our blades would descend upon their heads, in that moment: we would be godless. All of us.”

 “If you have to ask, it’s not a gift.”