Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)

Though this film is short, it is abound with important messages galore.
It is 1953 (though the film is told mostly in flashback with Edward R. Murrow receiving his main award in 1958) and the McCarthy witchhunt is on. If you are a communist or have ever been associated with a communist, beware and hide because you will be found out.
Edward R. Murrow (an Oscar-nominated David Strathairn) is a celebrated journalist for CBS and has his own weekly talk show at night. He is also a chain-smoker (not important to the plot). He stumbles upon a case of this air force member being forced to resign because his father was associated with the communist party. Murrow attacks this and later takes on McCarthy, and McCarthy fires back. Murrow checks the facts and proves McCarthy wrong and eventually, his actions, so eloquently put, reach fruition, the Senate is investigating him but won't kick him out, they will just censure him instead.
However, this success comes at a price. Murrow is told to leave by Bill Paley (Frank Langella), the station manager. He does leave, but insists on going down swinging.
What makes the film come alive is the supporting players, including director George Clooney himself as one of Murrow's right hand men, Fred Friendly. Patricia Clarkson and Robert Downey, Jr are great as a secretly married couple who must keep their marriage a secret because co-workers can't be married at the station. Jeff Daniels is another executive at the station.
A truly shocking and devastating scene is when Clarkson (Shirley) is reading reviews of the previous night's boardcast. One review praised the coverage while another wildly criticized it, bashing both Murrow and the man who follows him, Don Hollenbeck (Ray Wise). Later, Hollenbeck commits suicide over this and the newsroom is devastated as they should be. The media can be a powerful thing. 
The film utilizes actual McCarthy footage and blends it in perfectly with the film which is also filmed in black and white and completely appropriate for the time period.
In addition to the film discussing the 1950s America, it is still relevant today. How much power should the government have over its people? Is freedom really free? Grade: A-

The Middle: Wheel of Pain

Okay, this is the last new episode for a whole month so I will try and savor it. However, the consistency was interesting.
First off, Cassidy was mentioned several times which was good, though we haven't seen her in some time, so we're back to my sister's original theory, that she's in jail. (The actress who plays Cassidy also guest-starred in an episode of Bones where she turned out to be the murderer.) The Hecks are also still driving the church van because of the car's broken windshield and Frankie is still in her dental school. But there is a huge problem. Sue is looking forward to her sweet-sixteen. The problem? Her birthday is on leap year, which meant that she turned sixteen last year, though she is only a sophomore in high school. This problem would make the others look small.
While Sue is planning her party, Axl forces her to smell his shoe but she knocks it away. It heads toward Brick and he hits it with a tennis racket and it flies through the window. They decide to blame someone else, the crazy Glossner children of the neighborhood. However, both Brick and Sue are horrible liars, truly the public schools have failed them (Axl's line, not mine). Both Frankie and Mike try to break them. Frankie performs dental work on Axl while Mike and Sue roll coins that had saved up for a trip to Disney World. Yet, neither of them break. Brick doesn't even say anything while they take him out for ice cream. But Frankie and Mike know that something is wrong. So they create a wheel of pain which will dole out punishments. Axl will have an earlier curfew (he argued succcessfully for a later one earlier in the episode because Cassidy has a later one), Brick can't read (the only thing he does for fun) while Sue will lose her birthday party. Even after spinning the wheel three times, it lands on Sue each time. She is devastated and begs her brothers for help. Axl assures that Frankie will cave, and she overhears this. She does want to cave, but instead she turns the tables and says that Mike (who does own a lot of plaid)  is the one who insisted that Sue have her party. So Sue has her party and her friends (but not Darrin, interesting) arrive. These include: Brad, Carly and all the wrestlerettes. Ruth, the religious one, didn't buy her anything because she was convinced the world was going to end so she didn't think it was worth it. Here, Ashley confronts Axl and informs him that prom is coming up. He tells her that he is dating Cassidy so he will probably take her. She nods and then asks for a piece of Cassidy's hair. Naturally, Axl gives her a weird look. Only when Sue blows out her candles that she wishes her parents would stop fighting and she spills her guts because she doesn't want a sour sixteen. Despite their actions and the lying, the kids aren't punished because they were trying to help each other and, at least temporarily, they were nicer to each other.
Also, Frankie got her rotation for dental school so she has to go to prison to clean the prisoner's teeth because she injured a patient in the workshop. But that whole plot line is only minor and doesn't take too much time away from the main plot line.
Overall, this episode by itself was great, really funny and realistic, but as far as the series is concerned, I can't believe they (the producers, writers, etc.) didn't catch the change of Sue's birthday, shame on them. Still, the performances were good as they always are, with Eden Sher and Charlie McDermott being two of the most underrated actors on television. This episode will have to last me for a whole month. See you guys then. Grade: B (+, if they got her age right)

Wreck-It Ralph

This film was largely enjoyable except for the nasty demon bugs which caused me to have a spas attack as they are even scarier than the doll head with spider legs in the original Toy Story.
Ralph (John C. Reilly) is the bad guy. For the past thirty years he has lived in a game called Fix-It Felix, Jr. where he smashes a building only to have Felix put it back together and win medals for doing so. Ralph is ignored, living in a dump and not being invited to the party to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the game. He finally decides to take action and leaves the game and tries to win a medal in another game where he needs to fight warrior bugs (the gross demon bugs I mentioned earlier). However, after winning the medal, he accidentally touches a bug egg which causes it to hatch and others then also hatch, causing a huge problem. Ralph manages to escape in a plane, but one bug comes with him. He lands in a Candy Land-type game and the bug drowns. He believes that will be the end of it.
By this time, the head of the bug game, Calhoun (Jane Lynch) has discovered his secret thanks to Felix (Jack McBrayer) trying to find him so the game doesn't get permanently put out of order. They chase after him and follow him into the candy land game. Upon entering the candy land game, Ralph's medal is lost and taken by Valnellope (Sarah Silverman) who is a glitch. She uses the medal to enter the off-hours racing competition though she is not allowed to enter. After being initially furious at her, Ralph teams up with her so she can win and get her medal back, but the king of candy land (Alan Tudyk) has other ideas because if Valnellope wins, then the whole game could be ruined. So Ralph ruins her car and leaves only to discover the truth, that the King is evil and cannot stand to lose. Ralph returns to help Valnellope get her victory. However, the bug has laid eggs and they have hatched so the entire game is about to be ruined and because she's a glitch, Valnellope can't leave the game so she will be left to die. But Ralph solves this problem and soon everything is right in the world. Valnellope is back to being part of the game, Ralph is her hero and Ralph is no longer taken for granted, he is treated nicely by his fellow game people and his game gets even more popular.
Despite the nasty bugs, the film has its funny moments, with using music from The Wizard of Oz for the king's minions. The film is also truly touching, proving that as long as someone appreciates you, nothing else matters and being a hero isn't all that important if you can make a difference. However, I feel that the bugs are too gross and cringe-worthy for this to the children's or family film it was intended, but that doesn't mean teenagers and adults can't enjoy it because I did. Unfortunately, I probably won't watch it again, thanks to those evil and nasty looking bugs. Grade: B+

Up in the Air (2009)

This film is amazing. Absolutely amazing.
The concept is simple and depressing. Ryan Bingham (a brilliant George Clooney) flies around the country firing people for the company he works for. He makes his living out of the misery of others. But it is how he does it, or so he claims. The reactions of the people he fires are devastating, but he remains stoic throughout the whole thing. He has few goals in life, not wanting to get married, have a permanent relationship, definitely no kids, but he wants to reach 10,000,000 miles in the air. That is all he cares about. He is distant from his sisters and cares little about that. He also occasionally gives motivational speeches over the burdens of average life. Then he meets Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga, wonderful). She is his match-made in heaven, being equally as travel savvy as he is. She is likewise fine with having a relationship that is casual and fleeting, because they are slaves to their schedules.
Then, things change. Thanks to the economy and young graduate, Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), Ryan is being grounded. People will now be fired via webcam, meaning the company will save tons of money. He finds the whole thing upsetting. For now, he and Natalie hit the trail, though Natalie is a travel novice and drags Ryan down. Then Natalie's boyfriend breaks up with her via text message, which Ryan compares to firing someone via the internet. As Natalie breaks down, Alex arrives and they have an interesting conversation, with Natalie thanking Alex for what her generation did for her (granted Alex is only roughly a decade older than Natalie). Natalie often clashes with him but eventually learns the ropes, though the people react badly as one can expect. Ryan informs Natalie not to worry about it.
Meanwhile, Ryan's younger sister is getting married and he asks Alex to attend with him. While his younger sister, Julie (Melanie Lynskey) is preparing for her wedding, his older sister, Kara's (Amy Morton) is falling apart. However, Ryan is so out of touch with his sisters, that he is not even asked to walk Julie down the aisle (their father has already died). Then Jim (Danny McBride), Julie's fiance, has a breakdown and Kara insists that Ryan pick up the pieces. This goes against everything he has ever believed in, but he manages to coax Jim to reconsider everything. After all, being alone is lonely. Ryan should know, he is always alone. The wedding goes forward, to everyone's relief.
After the wedding, Ryan returns to Omaha where he has a desk job, though he misses Alex massively. After walking out on a motivation speech, he goes after Alex, only to be dealt the shock of his life. (I won't give it away, but I, along with the entire rest of theater, when I first saw the film, was shocked speechless.) Then he finally meets his goal of ten million miles, but it is a bittersweet victory. And then he receives word that one of the people whom Natalie fired followed through on her threat, and Ryan, who had seen the warning signs, did nothing. Because of this incident, Natalie quits and Ryan writes her a good letter of recommendation. In the meantime, Ryan's life has returned to normal, meaning for more than three hundred days a year, he will be on the road. He is not thrilled, but almost disappointed about the whole thing.
The script is smart and snappy, but realistic though the performances are what makes the film brilliant, with each of the nominated performances, Clooney, Farmiga and Kendrick (both Farmiga and Kendrick were up for supporting actress) each deserved to win the Oscar, though Farmiga and Kendrick lost to Mo'Nique, evil but sensational in Precious. On the other hand, Clooney was completely robbed.
The film is still timely, with the economy in the dumps and the issues it presents are timeless. Are relationships worth it? What happens when everything you ever stood for changes but the people don't change with it? Though the film delves into some serious issues, comedy also ensues, weaved in flawlessly. This film is to be treasured and watched over and over again. Grade: A

The Middle: Winners and Losers

Where do I begin? With what my friend said, it's easier to express yourself in song than saying stuff.
I'll get to that plot later. Because Brick is in fifth grade, he gets to go on a class trip. He's going to Chicago and Frankie is terrified about the whole thing. Brick is thrilled as he has never been to Chicago before (this is false because they all went during the first season so Brick could participate in a spelling bee). She even tries to volunteer to chaperon the trip but she doesn't get picked. She is upset about the whole thing as the whole thing is completely rigged as she put her name in four times. She is worried about him though Mike tells her to calm down as if anyone does kidnap him, after a few days, they will return him. Upon dropping him off, Brick pulls out this strip of gum and hands it to Frankie. And then Frankie forgets to pick him up from the school so he gets a ride home from the Donahues. Frankie was too busy watching the Oscars (yes, EW, this is shameless promotion, but somewhat realistic). Brick is upset that his own mother forgot about him. This causes Axl to say the Oscar for worst mom goes to Frankie.
Now, the other plot line which was vastly more interesting. As everyone knows, Darrin and Sue kissed at the end of last week's episode and she is wondering what it all could mean, as crystal balls make people do crazy things. Sue is determined to find out if he really likes her or if was just some fleeting thing. So some major Sue flirting begins. And awkwardness ensues, from both sides. Sue crashes one of the band rehearsals in a little red dress and heels and nearly falls over. Naturally, Axl kicks her out, almost literally. Later, Darrin announces that he has written a song. It is easily one the funniest and most awkward scenes of the season, but Sue is so touched, she nearly starts crying. Sean and Axl think that it is the worst song ever.
Everything comes to a head when Darrin (wearing the ugliest green shirt I have ever seen before) comes over unexpectedly during the Oscar Ceremony. Axl believes that he has to see him, though that is not the case. Sue invites him to watch the Oscars with her (and everyone else). Then Brick arrives home and Frankie goes to comfort him. Sue continues her flirting. And the just before the last commercial, they reach for each others' hand and Axl freaks out. We all expected that. And it is a major freak out. He forbids it and insists that Darrin is only doing it because Darrin feels sorry for Sue, though Darrin says that that is not the case. Then Axl says he will date Darrin's mom, though Darrin also nixes that because she just met someone on Christian Mingle. He drags his parents to their room and tells them the news. Frankie is delighted while Mike is not happy because he doesn't want his little girl to grow up. He then has a heart to heart with Darrin and Darrin is rather respectful, calling him sir and everything. Mike warns him that he works at a quarry and has access to dynamite. Sue and Darrin end up going out for FroYo while Axl rolls around in pain on the couch. Frankie and Brick look at pictures from his trip. She sees one from Wrigley Field and says that she didn't know they were going there. "No, just me," responses Brick.
Overall, the episode was pretty good, despite them not mentioning the fact that Axl has a girlfriend and the inconsistency with Brick never going to Chicago before, but Eden Sher is utterly brilliant as Sue. Sue is also one of the greatest characters on TV right now. Darrin is also great and I like the two of them together so much, as he is really sweet, Frankie's words, not mine, though I completely agree with her. The only problem is now the show has two couples that I'm rooting for (Axl and Cassidy, Sue and Darrin) and I know that both of them can't last and it's upsetting. But, for now, I will take what I can get and enjoy the moment, because that's all you really have. Grade: A-

Downton Abbey, Episode 8, Season Three Finale

Downton Abbey, I'm disappointed, in you. Very much so.
This episode takes place a year after the last one ended, which is fine. I didn't have a problem with that at all. Mary is eight months pregnant (not that she looks it) and has a naive attitude surrounding it, which is odd especially after what happened to poor Sybil. She still insists on journeying to Scotland for a family outing to visit some distant relatives there (aka Lady Rose's parents). Branson will be left behind, which will please the new maid Edna (MyAnna Buring). She likes him, but also undermines his climb into society and tries to encourage him to get back to his roots. She also doesn't really like her job nor the family in which she serves. She also hopelessly flirts with him, and he does nothing about that. Toward the end, she even comes into his room (he doesn't have his shirt on!), without permission, and continues to approach him even after he tells her she should go. They kiss. Nevertheless, Mrs. Hughes fires her. Tom doesn't fight it, though he insists that she give Edna a good reference. Mrs. Hughes also says that (in something right out of Glee, circa season one), "You never encouraged her, but you didn't discourage her either." So Edna leaves. Tom cries to Mrs. Hughes over how much he still misses Sybil. Crisis averted. For now.
In the meantime, the servants are having some fun, despite Carson's constant disapproval, with the family being away, though there is always work to do. Mrs. Patmore also has a suitor, a local grocer, Mr. Tufton (John Henshaw). However, though he likes her, he only wants to marry her for her delicious cooking and he flirts hopelessly with any woman that moves. Fortunately, Mrs. Hughes alerts Mrs. Patmore to this before she can accept his marriage proposal, and Mrs. Patmore is relieved by all of this. Crisis averted, hopefully forever.
Also there, Jimmy and the others participate in a tug of war contest and Downton wins and Jimmy wins some money in a bet, but the losers are sore and after Jimmy gets drunk, they nearly beat him up but Thomas intervenes. Thomas has some horrible battle wounds, though he will recover. At the end, Jimmy goes into his room (after knocking, that is key) and says that he can't give Thomas what he wants, but Thomas is okay with that. Jimmy sits down and reads him the newspaper. That plot line is settled, thank goodness.
Isobel also was not invited to go to Scotland so she stays put and continues to look for a purpose and visits with Dr. Clarkson (David Robb) a great deal. In the end, Clarkson does not propose because Isobel makes it clear that she doesn't want to married again, that she enjoys being single. As my sister put it, friend zoned. It truly was somewhat upsetting, though why Clarkson waited until now to start dating her seems a bit random, but I would have enjoyed them together. This plot line might continue into the next season.
As for Daisy, they did nothing with her, leaving her plot line hanging until next season, to my dismay. Ivy was likewise ignored. Alfred merely expressed interest in his passion is really cooking. But that is all.
Now, to the family in faraway Scotland. For the servants, O'Brien meets her match in the ladies maid Wilkins, who, after O'Brien shows her how to do Susan's hair the same way as Cora's, tries to get her drunk, though she fails as Moseley finishes the drink and starts to behave like a madman. Needless to say, Wilkins will regret getting on O'Brien's bad side.
Bates and Anna catch Rose smoking, but instead of telling, Anna insists that Rose teach her the reel which impresses Bates. That is basically all that happens to them.
Meanwhile, the hosts, Shrimpy (Peter Egan), fortunately that is only his nickname, and Susan (Phoebe Nicholls) are having a whole bunch of marital issues and can barely stand to be in the same room as each other. The children are mostly grown, and they have simply grown apart. Their estate has also fallen into ruin as they have failed to modernize, which Downton did, only after the insistence of Matthew. Only now does Robert realize how truly valuable is.
Also, Michael Gregson returns and tells Matthew the truth about everything. Matthew encourages him to let Edith down gently but he does need to go. This plot line is left open, so I guess we'll be seeing Michael Gregson again and Edith might become his mistress, though Gregson says he does love her, but he can offer her nothing more than this as his wife will forever be in the mental institution.
Mary overdoes it in Scotland and journeys back to London a few days early and doesn't even go home. She goes straight to the hospital, where she delivers a tiny, somewhat premature baby boy. Matthew arrives (as word was given to the family immediately thanks to Carson) and the family has a sweet lovely moment. "The end tail is secure." Mary's line, not mine.
Meanwhile, the family awaits the news eagerly at home. Carson (who actually had a soft side, picking up the crying baby Sybil and showing her around the house, just as he did with her mother) informed Mrs. Hughes that everything is fine, but didn't even think to ask whether the baby was a boy or girl. Matthew starts the drive home to tell the family the good news, but he never makes it. He is hit by another car and is dead. (We know this because Dan Stevens didn't renew his contract for the next season.)
I hated the ending. Yes, I knew that they had to get rid of Matthew in some way, but they basically repeated what happened right after Sybil died. A baby is born and a parent dies, within hours after the birth. Thanks for coming up with something original. Now, the heir is a fragile, premature baby, so in my opinion, the end tail is not secure, not anywhere close to being secure.
Downton Abbey has killed off many characters, but most of them are young, in the prime of their lives. Last season, with the war and influenza, that made sense, but now, without those huge obstacles, it seems unnecessary. I am furious that they killed off Matthew immediately after the birth of their son. He was everything to Mary. He saw through her evilness as she still could be a horribly nasty person, especially to Edith. Their happy ending was ripped out right from underneath them. Does anyone in Downton get a happy ending? So far, Sybil didn't; she was close, but then she died. And Mary didn't. And it doesn't look like Edith will end happy either, being jilted at the alter and now being in love with a married man. Fortunately, at least for now, Bates and Anna are happy, but that is it. I wish they could have ended the season differently.
As for next season, Rose will continue to appear because they need another character, I guess.
This season was mostly good, with witty dialogue (most of it coming from Violet) and great acting, but the writing suffered and apparently liking characters doesn't mean they will survive. I hope that season four goes differently. If they kill of Tom or either of the two small children, I'm done, just warning you. Grade: B

Safe Haven

Of course I had to see this film as it was Valentine's Day weekend.This review contains massive spoilers.
It was actually really good, certainly so much better than last year's The Lucky One.
Here, Katie (Julianne Hough) is on the run and details are slowly revealed throughout the film. She hops on a as the police chase after her. The bus is destined for Atlanta, though they make a stop in a seaside town of Southport which is where she ends up staying. She finds a job as a waitress at a local fish restaurant and buys a house in the middle of nowhere. She tries to keep to herself for good reason. But then she meets Alex (Josh Duhamel), who owns the general store in town. Katie meets his daugher, Lexie (Mimi Kirkland, in a brilliant performance from a young child) first and they hit it off fine. Lexie even gives Katie the picture she is drawing. Alex's son, Josh (Noah Lomax), isn't thrilled at all, still missing his mother.
One day Katie comes home from work and sees this woman looking through her windows. Jo (Cobie Smulders) lives near-by and is surprised to find that she has a neighbor. They become friends. Eventually, through the encouragement of Jo, Katie accepts the bicycle present from Alex and eventually they begin a relationship, first as friends and then it becomes something more, as we all knew it would.
But unlike all other Nicholas Sparks movies, this one is sort of a thriller, with real stakes. Kevin (David Lyons) is determined to find Katie and uses interesting and illegal methods to find her. He also basically harasses the neighbors, determined to find her. The part that I found really weird is that he goes into the house where the attack happened and just stays there. Then he has to meet with is boss who places him on suspension without pay, effective immediately as he was drinking on the job and he lied about the arrest warrant for Katie (murder in the first degree). It turns out that Katie isn't really Katie, her real name is Erin and she's this mean policeman's wife. Yikes, didn't see that one coming.
Kevin is determined to find her. But before that can happen, Alex discovers who Katie really is and is devastated as he let her into his life and the lives of his children. But after some thinking, he chases after her (as that always happens in romance films). Katie decides to leave and nothing Jo can say can convince her to stay, but Alex doesn't care about her past and says that he will protect her. Katie decides to stay and she grows closer to Alex as Kevin gets closer to finding her.
On July Fourth, everything comes to a head. Kevin, horribly drunk, arrives in Southport. He even goes to the general store and asks young Lexie if she has seen Erin (he shows her a picture). She says no though he tries to explain that it is wrong to lie to a cop, but she does anyway and is quite good at it. He breaks into the closed fish restaurant and later finds her at the dance, happily dancing with Alex and the kids. Kevin turns away; it makes him sick at how happy she is. But he can't let her go. That evening Alex and Josh (and some of his policeman friends) set-up the fireworks display. Katie walks down to the pier to watch the show and Jo comes to warn her that he's here. However, this turns out to all be a dream, but it is true, he is here. Kevin arrives. She refuses to go with him and pushes him away. If only things could be that easy. He sprinkles the store with gasoline. Katie goes out and says that she will come with him, that she is sorry for everything. She pushes him into the sea, but a spark from the fireworks lands on the gasoline and sets the store ablaze, with little Lexie still inside. Katie tries to rescue her, but Kevin arrives out of the sea and begins his attack on Katie. (He does also have a handgun, scary stuff.) Alex returns to his house and rescues Lexie. Katie continues her fight for her life with Kevin and finally it ends with a gunshot. Alex cries out, fearing that Katie is the one who was killed, but no, it was Kevin. Everyone can get their happy ending.
Now, the reason why Katie is running. She and Kevin did get into a fight, though the evening started out fine but turned quickly sour as Kevin is a hopeless alcoholic and drinks constantly, I don't know how he even functions. They get into a fight and Kevin nearly strangles her but luckily she grabs a knife and stabs him in his stomach, though it is clearly not fatal.
Now, Kevin is dead and everything is fine. While rebuilding the store, Alex goes through the letters his wife wrote before her death from cancer (luckily they were saved in the fire) and finds one labeled To Her. He gives it to Katie and she reads it. Now, this blew my mind. It turns out that Jo is Alex's late wife. Yes, you read that right. Now we all know why only Katie could see her. Jo gives Katie her blessing, wanting her husband to be happy.
Overall, the film was good with good performances from merely decent actors, Duhamel and Hough. This is certainly their best film, though not too much is demanded from each of them, but they are still great. The kids, especially Kirkland are great, though Josh changes quickly from hating Katie to liking her. The camera work is good and the town is wonderful to look at. This is more than love story as it is a thriller also and despite the cheesy parts, it is genuinely good and the chemistry is excellent between the two stars, something that The Lucky One sorely lacked. Grade: B+

Clueless (1995)

I watched this film on Valentine's Day evening and it was fully enjoyable.
Here Cher (Alicia Silverstone) is a spoiled rich girl, growing up in Beverly Hills. She is beautiful but looks and appearance are all that matters to her. She doesn't really care about others, though she strongly encourages her father (Dan Heyada) to eat more vegetables. She also negotiates grades, using all sorts of different methods so her so-so grades can be improved. Naturally, this makes Daddy proud. However, he does get mad at her, when she drives her car without a license. One of the few things she can't negotiate is when she fails her driver's license test as she is a horrible driver.
In school, she is largely respected. Her best friend, Dionne (Stacey Dash) is quite similar to her, though Dionne does have a boyfriend, Murray (Donald Faison). After receiving a bad grade in speech, Cher decides to find her teacher, Mr. Hall (Wallace Shawn) a girlfriend, so she and Dionne turn the mousy Ms. Geist (Twink Caplan) into a hot babe so Mr. Hall will fall for her, which happens, and her grade gets turned from a C+ to an A-. This happens fairly early in the film.
The rest of the film revolves around Cher trying to do good. A new girl, Tai (Brittany Murphy) arrives at the school. She is horribly average looking and has a taste for skater boys, including Travis (Breckin Meyer), a skater and pot head. Instead, Cher gives Tai a makeover and steers her toward the respectable Elton (Jeremy Sisto, who has aged oddly since). However, despite all of Cher's attempts, Elton likes her and on the ride home from a party, tries to hit on her. Cher leaves the car and then is robbed at gunpoint. She calls the only number she can, her former stepbrother, Josh (Paul Rudd). Yet, when Tai nearly falls off a balcony at a mall at the hands of some random guys, she is hailed as a hero and takes over Cher's position as the most popular girl in school.
Luckily, a new guy, Christian (Justin Walker) comes along and Cher tries her hardest to woo him and lose her virginity, but it turns out (just like I predicted) that Christian is in reality gay. And then Cher is upset to learn that Tai has a crush on Josh, though she doesn't know why. She even tries to win Josh's attention and to prove that she is more than a snobby rich girl, she begins helping her hot-shot lawyer father with one of his big cases. Josh is helping too, because it is his ambition to be a lawyer, though the environmental one, to Daddy's dismay.
Luckily, everything works out. Cher helps out Ms. Geist with her charity case and Travis gets clean and soon Tai's crush on Josh is history. Tai and Travis end up together and so do Josh and Cher (also just like I predicted). Elton ends up with no one (serves him right). Dionne and Murray are still together and have had sex (not that that is horribly important to the plot of the film). The film is incredibly funny and enjoyable with a good soundtrack. It is also interesting to see these people before they were truly famous. And there is a message underneath all the gloss and fake fingernails, Cher does grow and change and the ending is a happy one, with Mr. Hall and Ms. Geist getting married at the end and Cher catching the bouquet. I will watch this film again as it was wholly enjoyable. Grade: B+

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

This film is one of the most powerful, screw-with-your-mind movies ever. Yes, it’s dated and the dialogue is extremely painful at times, but it is nevertheless one of the best films ever made.

Upon his return from Korea, Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) is hailed as a hero and there is a television crew to greet him. His mother (Angela Lansbury) is thrilled but her pushy personality is almost immediately shown, with her shoving others out of the way so she can get to her son.

In the meantime, Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra) is having nightmares from a horrid incident during his time in Korea. In this nightmare, he dreams that Shaw killed two of his fellow army members and the two he killed were the only two not returned when the group went on patrol, but he can’t believe this. He also can’t believe that he said that Shaw was the nicest, kindest man ever when in reality he hated him.

This is only the beginning of the craziest film ever with more twists and turns than any other. Marco nearly suffers from a breakdown, only to get better upon the awkward meeting of Rosie Chaney (Janet Leigh). This Rosie is somewhat of an ambiguous character though she does truly seem to care about Marco, but some, including Roger Ebert suggest that she might be a mole, though I don’t really see enough evidence to support this because Rosie is a horribly underdeveloped character.

After initially arguing with his superiors, Marco is put in charge of discovering the truth behind the nightmares so he begins to follow Shaw around. The biggest clue is when Raymond starts playing a seemingly simple game of solitaire but after seeing a certain card, he hears what the bartender say something about Central Park, he wanders out of the bar and goes to Central Park. It is the weirdest thing. 

The film continues to build off this and Marco gets deeper and more involved as the film goes along and more people are hurt. Yet there are some good moments only to be ruined by the overprotective mother. She ruins Raymond's relationship with the rival senator's daughter, Jocie (Leslie Parrish). Mother is also cruel to her puppet husband, to whom she tells not to think, because that is not one of his great skills. 

There are parts that are truly heart-wrenching, making it a great movie to watch on Valentine's Day (which is when I watched it in class) but it is thrilling and the camera angles are wonderful. John Frankenheimer is a former television director and uses that to his advantage. There is one great angle that wraps around an entire room and another, during a press conference that includes live footage at the same time the film is being shot. Both are brilliant. 

In the end, Lansbury steals the film as one of the most evil characters are portrayed on screen, but she does it effortlessly. Also, she easily looks at least ten years older than her thirty-seven years and makes the mother so utterly believable. (Harvey is only three years younger than her.) I wish I could say more but to give anymore away would just be wrong, but you will be on the edge of your seat throughout. Grade: A

The Middle: Valentine's Day IV

Well, at least they mentioned why Cassidy wasn't in this episode. She's out of town, at a wedding. Lame yes, but at least they didn't just ignore her as they did last episode.
Axl and his friends, Sean and Darrin  need some money (though I don't know why as two of them don't even have girlfriends and Axl's is out of town) so they decide to open up a break-up service just in time for Valentine's Day. So they spend the majority of the episode breaking up people and the girls react to the news badly. Finally, the guys realize that they don't like being mean and at the twelfth hour, they decide to change their plan and go to the Valentine's Day Dance to try and get people together but Sean and Axl run away as they are nearly beaten up by a group of angry girls.
Valentine's Day isn't going well for Brick as he finds a homemade Valentine's Day card he made for Frankie in the trash. This upsets him massively and he begs Frankie to find him something that he made for her but everything he ever made for her was thrown out. Yet, apparently Frankie hasn't thrown out everything. Axl and Sue still have stuff around the house somewhere.
Mike, in an attempt to be nice, sends a sweet text message to Frankie but it accidentally gets sent to one of his co-workers and that whole situation gets crazy. Jim (the guy who received the message) is touched, but then all the other guys get jealous and eventually Mike admits that it was meant for Frankie and the guys tell him that he needs to do more than that. Though he doesn't say the l-word, he still shows Frankie that he cares and finishes helping her with the dishes. At least that was sweet.
Then to my favorite plot line. Sue decides to clean up after the Valentine's Day dance so other people can be happy. Then she gets a call from her ex-boyfriend, Matt, who broke-up with his girlfriend and will be thrilled to take her to the dance (he goes to another school). Naturally, Sue is thrilled but then, just as the boys realize what they are doing is wrong, Matt calls and says that he got back together with Sherry. Axl can't tell her because he doesn't want to comfort her and Sean can't deal with breaking people up anymore, so that leaves Darrin. Sue is upset but Darrin saves the day (literally). He announces that he will take her to the dance and so they go, though the dance is horribly lame with crappy music but Sue and Darrin liven it up some (he dances weird but she should know as he was her prom date last year) and he even stays to help her clean up and he says that he didn't just bring her to be nice. Instead, he actually likes her and they kiss, over top of the trash can. At least someone had a good Valentine's Day. Someone got a sweet, sappy plot line and no one deserved it more than Sue.
Back at home, Frankie gives Brick a nice homemade Valentine card and though it is filled with meaningful messages, and he appears to be really touched, but once he is done reading it, he throws it away. That killed me, and brought the overall grade down somewhat. 
Still, though this episode wasn't that great, I haven't really liked any of the Valentine's Day episodes, as they included Frankie 'dating' Axl and Sue complaining about French kissing so at least this one was better than the last two years' episodes. What I really wanted and predicted is that Axl would continue growing up and do something sweet because he actually has a girlfriend this time, but because they mentioned her, I won't send ABC a nasty email, but I am not pleased because this show could have been so much better and Brick should have known better than to throw out Frankie's valentine. I expected better from him. Grade: B+

Downton Abbey, Episode 7

Wow, Downton, where do I ever begin?

First of all, to the plot that consumed the downstairs staff. Thanks to O’Brien’s scheming, Thomas decides to pursue his interests in Jimmy. But it is the way he does it. With Alfred seeing a film with Ivy, Jimmy has the room to himself, and Thomas goes in and kisses the sleeping Jimmy. Yes, while he was sleeping. I freaked out, it was the weirdest thing ever and wrong on so many levels. Number One, Jimmy isn’t interested in him and even if he was, you don’t kiss someone while they are sleeping. Alfred walked in on this and naturally, was disgusted. Jimmy is furious and likewise disgusted so things are incredibly awkward downstairs. Finally, Alfred tells Carson what occurred. Carson is grossed out by the events that happened and even tells Thomas that he is crude and other mean things but he doesn’t want to ruin Thomas’s life so he says that if Thomas resigns, he will still provide him with a good reference. Thomas agrees to this but O’Brien continues to interfere and insists that Jimmy decide to press charges so no one would think that he actually enjoyed it. Jimmy tells Carson that he will press charges unless Carson withdraws the good reference. Thomas is devastated and you almost feel sorry for him, even Bates (released from prison, but I’ll get to that later) feels sorry for him and takes pity on him and figures out that O’Brien is behind everything. He is the one to get O’Brien to convince Jimmy to drop the charges. O’Brien manages to convince him to do so and life momentarily seems restored downstairs though Bates is somewhat that he was kind to Thomas (because no one deserves to spend time in prison) but now Thomas will be underbutler, so no one really wins. When Anna asks Bates what he told to O’Brien, he merely says, “Lady Grantham’s soap.” This is a reference to O’Brien leaving the soap outside of the bathtub, causing Cora to slip and fall and subsequently miscarry the baby. Naturally, O’Brien doesn’t want this to be heard and regrets it severely. However, in the end, Alfred has decided to press charges though Lord Grantham manages to talk him out of it. So problem solved there at least.

Now to Matthew and his dealings with the estate.This is still a sticky issue between Matthew and Robert, with basically everyone against Robert except for the old overseer, Jarvis. In the end, because of all the crazy changes which will make the estate more effective, Jarvis decides to resign. Instead of Matthew coming up with the idea, Violet broaches the idea to Robert. She believes that Tom should be made overseer, Robert, surprisingly, agrees on two conditions, that Matthew agrees (which he does, in fact, he is ashamed that it wasn't his idea) and that Violet and Cora admit that they are wrong if things don't go wrong. Violet says that that won't be a problem because she is never wrong (or is she?). Tom does take the job, and even decides at the very end to continue to live in the house which pleases Cora greatly as she still wants to be close to her granddaughter (another issue I'll bring up later). He even persuades Robert to jump on board with the whole scheme of changing the estate and even learns cricket for the town match which ends the show. Life is good for Tom; he has changed massively throughout the season and is accepting the wealth and his wife's lifestyle, too bad Sybil isn't around anymore.

More on Tom. The baby is baptized Catholic and Mary is made the godmother, which is allowed as Tom's weird and crass brother, Kiernan (Ruairi Conaghan) arrives. That man is a piece of work and is even more against the lifestyle than Tom ever was, but Tom sticks up for the Crawley's and insists that Kiernan join the family for dinner. Thank goodness Kiernan is barely in the episode and luckily Tom is not going to live with him.

Now back to Matthew. Worried that Mary isn't pregnant yet, he journeys to London (on the interesting trip that will come next) to get checked but there he runs into Mary who is there for her follow-up visit. (When she went to London in the first place is never shown, only referred to, by her extreme tiredness.) She was the one with the problem which is why she needed a minor surgery (which is why she and Matthew haven't had sex in some time) but everything is fine now, thank goodness. However, Violet mentions to Isobel that she was a doting mother, despite spending only a mere hour with them daily. Tom may love his daughter to death, but he appears to spend little time with her. Even Cora and Robert, who claim to love her and I'm sure they do, walk the grounds at the same time a nanny is pushing the baby around, so they also spend little time with her. And the baby is a perfect British baby as she never cries.

Now to the crazy London trip. Violet has a guest come to stay with her, her great-niece, Rose (Lily James). Rose decides to come to London with Edith, who must visit her editor and decide if she will take the column job, and Matthew for his doctor's visit. Here, Rose wanders off and goes to a nightclub with her married lover. They are disgusted but Matthew manages to convince Edith and Rosamund (Samantha Bond), Robert's sister to say nothing if Rose goes quietly. Though that happens, Violet overhears stuff and manages to punish Rose anyway. I don't know if the whole Rose plot line was necessary but it does have importance. 

Edith develops a crush on her editor, Michael Gregson (Charles Edwards) and he certainly likes her as well. But then she discovers that he is married and nearly quits her job. Gregson says that his wife is in an insane asylum, I scream no, get away Edith, he will say anything to keep you in his life. Though he may be telling the truth, he cannot get a divorce and I kept thinking of Jane Eyre over and over again and that sort of thing is just overdone. They should have come up with something different, but I did totally guess that he was married. The plot is just too similar and though Edith was disgusted when Rose was seeing a married man, she might start doing the same thing. Poor Edith, she's had too much heartbreak and needs to leave him alone. 

Briefly, Bates is out of prison and busy setting up a house with Anna. Despite the hell he endured in prison, he seems to be settling in to the normal life quite easily. While setting out the house, he literally rips bolt of fabric out of Anna's hands and begins making out with her. It was hilarious, and funnier than anything Violet had to say, which is saying something. 

Now to the last plot line. Violet posts an advertisement in the paper so Ethel can find a new job. She receives several answers but the only one she is interested in is in a town close to where her son now lives and that would be too close. Luckily, the Bryants (at least Mrs. Bryant) doesn't have a problem with that so Ethel takes the job, leaving the Crawley household free of scandal. 

Overall, tons of stuff happened and luckily, I'm actually not angry at anyone, which is a nice surprise. However, I wonder how Bates knew about the soap for O'Brien and would have liked for the show to really mention that Mary went to London. Though I know women didn't discuss such things, I also am curious over what her issue really was. Also, what about the Daisy plot line? She received next to no screen time in this episode and that annoyed me; they need to give her more to do. Ditto for Mrs. Patmore, who hasn't had a good plot line since season one really. Grade: B+

All the King's Men (1949)

This is movie is still powerful more than sixty years after it was first released.
Here a budding journalist is told to investigate the story of an honest man campaigning for an office. Jack Burden (John Ireland) goes to do a story on Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford). Stark is certainly an honest man and also a family man, with a kind wife Lucy (Anne Seymour) and adopted son, Tommy (John Derek). Naturally, he doesn't win the election so his wife continues to tutor him and he becomes a lawyer and eventually rises to fame after a devastating event where, during a simple fire drill, the fire escape stairs collapse and a dozen children die. Stark sues the man responsible and is now a known man. He decides to run for governor and the other campaign encourages this because if he runs, then the votes will be split between him and the other candidate so the third candidate will win. This is how Sadie Burke (Mercedes McCambridge) enters to manage his campaign. Jack continues to write his stories on Willie. After drinking some alcohol (Willie is not allowed to drink because  his wife is against it), Willie becomes more impassioned about his cause though he still loses the election. (Apparently this is also when the affair between Willie and Sadie begins, though I did not pick up on this.)
Four years later, he runs again and this time he wins, but he uses unscrupulous methods to get the victory. Willie is no longer the small town, honest man he once was. Certainly he is doing some good things, such as building a free hospital for the people and schools and colleges, but he is doing so many evil things and alcohol is becoming more important in his life. He is also no longer being loyal to his wife, having affairs with Sadie and later with Ann (Joanne Dru),  the love of Jack's life.
Needless to say, just as the title suggests, Willie falls at the very end. But tons of stuff happens before then. Jack is asked to dig up some information on the attorney general, and Ann's uncle, Judge Stanton, but he opts to keep the incriminating information hidden though he turns it over to Ann so her brother, Adam (Shepperd Strudwick) can take over as head of the hospital that Stark built. However, Ann turns these over to her lover and this comes back to bite Jack as Willie is being impeached and now the senators will no longer be loyal to Stanton. Judge commits suicide. This causes Adam to become angry and just after the impeachment trial is over and Willie has won, Adam shots Willie while he is also shot and killed. Both die.
And they are not the only ones. Tommy is in college by the time his father is governor but he behaves badly, not listening to his football coach and driving drunk. He does get into an accident and the girl in the car with him dies, eventually. Her father wants justice and though Tommy has no problem admitting that he was drunk, his father refuses to admit it and has the father done away with (presumably beaten by one of his men, Sugar, his main minion with a stutter [Walter Burke]). The discovery of the body is what leads to the impeachment trial, though the people of the unnamed state rally around Willie; he is their God and saver. Later Tommy plays in the football game after his father insistence and ends up being paralyzed for life. He will forever pay for his father's sins.
The film contains tons of plot for a film not even running two hours in length, but it is also a great character study of two people: Willie and Jack and how they change throughout the course of the film. They both start out good and both fall, but Jack tries to pick himself up again and toward the tail end of the film, he leaves Willie Stark's campaign. The acting, with the noticeable exception of Dru, who is nothing more than a glorified rag doll, not looking at the men whenever they have a grip on her, is amazing with two of three nominated people winning Oscars and Crawford certainly deserved his win with McCambridge doing quite well.
The film still is relevant today and one of my favorite films from 2011 The Ides of March, much of the same thing happens. Unfortunately, politicians are corrupt but we must vote for them. Hopefully, the ends can justify the means. Maybe they did in this film but hopefully they do in real life. Too bad the law doesn't rest with the will of the people though Willie likes to say that it does. Instead, men are conceived in sin and born in corruption another one of Willie's great lines. That is the more of the truth and that is the scary part. Grade: A

The Middle: The Smile

Though this episode didn't have Cassidy in it, it was still enjoyable and it had a happy ending.
First, Brick was quite desperate for an IPAD. Naturally, Frankie and Mike kept saying no despite his constant pleas until finally they did some research and realized that it wouldn't be too expensive so they ended up buying him one and he was delighted.
Sue had a teacher who finally noticed her but it wasn't in a good way. He scolded her for using different pen colors when writing a paper for his class. Now, she had to propose an experiment. She decided to figure out if smiling is contagious or not. However, the results were devastating. Except for her friend, Brad who is always smiling despite attending drama camp, no one else smiles back including this random baby who starts to cry upon seeing her smile. But in the end, in typical Sue style, she won't give up because it took Einstein ten years to prove that e equals mc squared.
Now to Axl (who is dressed up in as a baby for spirit week, which is the most awkward thing ever, especially after he says that he's going to be an adult about everything, yikes), after some time of his parents getting desperate to see if he had made it into college, finally receives an email telling him just that. Naturally, he is thrilled. At first, he was reluctant to join with his friends in the senior prank. (Cassidy is really having a good influence on him!) But after receiving his email for college, he decides to join them. They decide to turn the water tower Orson into Snorson. So they climb up there (Axl and Sean and Darrin) and my friends and I freak out, praying that he wouldn't get caught which would ruin his chances of college (not to mention also ruin his friends' lives) but Darrin had forgotten the paint, so they couldn't even go through with the prank. Instead, they remember the good times and can't believe that in a few short months, they will all be gone. Sadness.
Mike and Frankie didn't have much to do this episode, though Frankie did go after the mailman, convinced that the acceptance letter is somewhere in that mail truck. Even the dinner at Red Lobster, which Axl insisted upon so he can tell them his good news, but that doesn't go as planned because Brick continues to pester for the IPAD. He finally tells them before going to bed and they are so thrilled, just as any parent would be. Axl is finally growing up, but in a different way from last episode.
Now, to next week's Valentine's Day episode, I predict that someone will pop the L-bomb. I think that it will be Cassidy as Axl freaked out when Darrin told them (Axl and Sean) that he loved them. But I've been wrong before. Please let me know what you think will happen in the comments. Grade: A

Downton Abbey, Episode 6

Well, it was sort of calm after the storm, but not really.
The episode picks up immediately after poor Sybil's funeral, with Robert and Cora still not speaking to each other, as she blames Robert for Cora's death, though she does admit that it probably affects him more because he is the whole reason she died.
Then their is also the baby to consider. At breakfast one morning, Robert asks Tom what he wants to call her and he says Sybil, which is just weird to me and sort of gross but whatever, that's what Tom wants. He also wants the baby to baptized Catholic which infuriates Robert so much that he even brings Reverend Travis to try and persuade him otherwise. Luckily, Mary (who didn't tick me off the whole episode) had a secret weapon. She knows that Sybil wanted the baby to be baptized Catholic because that was what Tom wanted. This pleases him immensely. Now, to the baby. She is barely seen, locked up in the room with her nurse. There is only one scene with her but Tom certainly does know how to hold a baby, even supporting her head.
Okay, now back to the main plots. Bates is still in jail and it looks like he might be in there for some time, but somehow the lawyer managed to get the main witness to change her statement so soon Mr. Bates will be released. That is truly good news because the family needs some good news at this point.
In addition to Robert being an idiot and whatever else he is, Carson is also horrible and unforgiving, not allowing anyone else to go to the Crawley house because Ethel works there. But Isobel insists on having the Crawley women over for a luncheon to get them out of themselves and after some initial reluctance, Cora agrees. Ethel also enlists Mrs. Patmore's help so she can cook something to Isobel's chagrin. Luckily, that goes well, but what doesn't go well is Robert's reaction. He storms in and insists that everyone (his wife, two daughters and mother) come with him because it is unseemly that they are in the company of a former prostitute. But the women stand their ground and stay put. Good for them.
Also downstairs, Thomas is growing closer to Jimmy, which angers Jimmy greatly. And now, Thomas basically told O'Brien that he likes Jimmy, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out. The love square is getting squarer, with both Alfred and Jimmy interested in Daisy, though Jimmy also plays the piano, just like William used to do, but that doesn't bother her much. Ivy is only interested in Jimmy but he pays her little attention. In fact, Alfred has also lost points because he asked Daisy for some dancing lessons but Jimmy takes over and they are the ones that get caught by Carson, each receiving a nasty scolding. Also, Mr. Mason has offered to leave Daisy the farm and wants her to come live with him so he can show her the ropes, which is kind though it seemed slightly creepy to me but part of me wants her to that because, though she loves cooking, she needs a change.
That is pretty much the whole show, though Matthew and Robert continue butting heads over what should be done with the estate because Robert is an old stick in the mud. And in order for order to be restored, Violet asks Dr. Clarkson to lie to Robert and Cora, and tell them that Sybil would have died regardless of his interaction with the surgery. Though this is a lie, it works and hopefully the marriage will be saved.
Despite everything, including the crazy prison subplot, it was still a solid episode and it was also nice to not be angry at Mary, though I know it certainly won't last. I also wonder what Tom will do for the rest of his life as the family wants the baby, but he wants to take her with him though he will have to hire someone to look after her. I think Matthew is going to insist that Tom stays as they get along quite well. I also hope he stays. A good show nevertheless despite the underused baby. Grade: A-

Erin Brockovich (2000)

This is a very good film, and the scariest part about it is that it is true.
Here, Julia Roberts is Erin Brockovich, a single mom struggling to make ends meet. Her car is hit by this idiot, but because of her reputation, for lack of a better word, as she has been married and divorced twice, she loses the case and is in even more debt than she was before. She returns to her lawyer's office, and nearly begs for a job which he provides. It is while she is doing some simple filing that Erin stumbles upon an interesting real estate case which also has medical records involved. She does some further investigating and discovers something much bigger than either she or her boss, Ed Masry (Albert Finney) ever could have anticipated. However, because she has disappeared for some time, she loses her job and then uses extortion so she can get her job back along with benefits.
Erin continues with her investigation. As it turns out, the company PG & E poisoned the water of the small town of Hinckley with hexagonal chromium, which is extremely dangerous and is causing the people of Hinckley tons of health problems. Donna Jensen (Marg Helgenberger) is one of the main victims, dealing with benign tumors. In one of the most powerful scenes, she tells Erin that she was so used to the tests coming back benign, but this one is different. There is also another little girl dealing with a brain tumor. These are real people and they relate to Erin. Then enters the big guns, Kurt Potter (Peter Coyote) and his assistant. Though they are refined lawyers and have tons of money, the case almost falls apart because the people do not like them, they only want Erin.
In the end, there is a happy ending. Masry wins the case and receives an enormous amount of money. However, no amount of money will cure the people from their ailments, but at least PG & E finally admitted their guilt over destroying people's lives and livelihoods.
Erin is also a fully fleshed character, with her horribly skimpy outfits and her snapping at her new neighbor for making too much noise. George (an unrecognizable Aaron Eckhart) is her new neighbor, and is quite attracted to her, despite the fact that she admits right away that she has three children and been divorced twice. (Her exes are never mentioned by name or seen throughout the whole film.) Eventually, she and George do, despite her saying that it wasn't going to happen, hook up, but he also seems to enjoy taking care of the children for some time, though as the case begins to take over her life more and more, he gets more and more frustrated, believing that she is taking advantage of him, which is probably true. Her kids also don't react that well to the fact that Mommy isn't around that much, though once she finally explains herself to her oldest child, he understands.
The film is horribly enlightening, proving that the company does what they want, despite its harmful effects on the environment and the people drinking the tainted water. In addition to Robert's fine performance (though she was, at times, a bit over the top, but that is because of the crazy speeches written for her), Finney is also fantastic and fully deserved his Oscar nomination. Cherry Jones is also great in a small role of another affected mother who doesn't want to really become involved with the whole lawsuit.
One of Erin's greatest speeches is where she tells the people sent from PG & E to put a price on a uterus and spinal cord and then multiply that by one hundred because anything less than that wasn't worth her time. The point is made. This is a great film and one that I will, without a doubt, will certainly watch again. Grade: A