Blow Dry (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)I recently saw Richard Curtis' wonderful 'Love Actually' and - having been bowled over once again by the bountiful comic talents of Bill Nighy and great work of the sloe-eyed, laconic Alan Rickman - wondered where to turn next to enjoy the work of these two fine actors.
The answer: "Blow Dry." Rickman and Nighy are fabulous as long-time rival hairdresser competitors in this campy but touching tale that tries very hard to get that unique "Strictly Ballroom" feel and camp/pathos/triumph balance. It falls just short of that, but it's a real treat nevertheless.
Unfortunately, judging from the irksome U.S. coverbox you'd never guess this was such a touching, well-written and intelligently humorous movie with a *very* talented cast - Nighy, Rickman, Natasha Richardson (!), Rachel Griffiths (!!). Now, that's an honor roll. With all that going for it, why, why, why do we get force-fed a marketing campaign featuring Josh Harnett and Rachael Leigh Cook? Harnett is quite good here, actually, pulling off a British accent with aplomb. But poor Cook is placed into a no-win situation as the supposed Minneapolis-based daughter of hairdresser Nighy. It seems force-fed into the movie...she's totally boxed in here and can't fight her way out.
I ignored this movie for two years because of bad marketing. How many others are going to miss out for the same reason? I knew Nighy (possibly my favorite actor) was involved, but felt like I was going to have to sit through a Harnett/Cook "She's All That" clone. I had to have a friend tell me otherwise. Turns out, nothing could be further from the truth. This is a great little film you need to check out as soon as possible.
Two additional little treats -
- Warren Clarke as The Mayor, who gets more and more showy and confident as the movie goes on (and actually shepards the film through its credits in a bit of solo showmanship). Name ring a bell? How about 'Dim' in "A Clockwork Orange"? Wow! Also, he's known in the UK most recently as Detective Andy Dalziel in the recurring TV series "Dalziel and Pascoe."
- Heidi Klum, hiding behind pancake makeup and blonde fright wig as 'Total Look' muse 'Jasmine.' You wouldn't think it possible to turn Heidi Klum shrewish and unattractive, but 'Blow Dry' pulls it off.

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Starring Rachael Leigh Cook (SHE'S ALL THAT), Josh Hartnett (PEARL HARBOR), and Alan Rickman (GALAXY QUEST) in a great ensemble cast -- the Academy Award(R)- nominated writer of THE FULL MONTY has crafted a hilarious story about the things everyone wants in life: love, happiness, and great hair! As the National Hair Championships descend upon a small town in England, the country's top stylists aren't expecting much from the local talent. But they didn't count on Phil Allen (Rickman), the retired golden boy of the competition circuit, entering the fray! Also starring Natasha Richardson (THE PARENT TRAP), Rachel Griffiths (MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING), and supermodel Heidi Klum -- laugh along as the locals dazzle the out-of-towners with some hair dos ... and don'ts.

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Valkyrie (Single-Disc Edition) (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)9/10 Stars Forget all the negative hype surrounding Valkyrie, because I assure you it is false. Bryan Singer has made a well-crafted thriller that kept me and my family on the edge of our seats until the end - even though we all know what the story's unfortunate outcome. Also, many tabloids were making this out to be the movie that would permanently cripple the career of Tom Cruise. This is entirely false. Cruise delivers a fine performance, and this hatred I can only assume is related to his rather odd personal life. Tom Cruise is as strong of an actor as he ever was, and I won't let something like turning Oprah's couch into a playground deny the fact that the man has talent, and is a truly passionate actor (and seriously, he does have a slight resemblance to Stauffenberg).
The movie is based on the last of fifteen known attempts on the life of German dictator Adolf Hitler (I'm sure everyone will have him in a nice "Five Most Evil People" list), and has Tom Cruise playing Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, who of course was the key player in the assassination attempt. Ultimately this attempt failed (as we all know Hitler would die by suicide nine months later), but that doesn't keep Valkyrie from being an addictively engaging film.
Every member of the cast does their part well, not jockeying for superiority in any way. More importantly Cruise does not grandstand in this movie, fading in with the rest of the cast, rather than trying to stand above them like you'd expect, given his past films. Cruise gives a performance similar to 2005's War of the Worlds, where he does a good performance, but he never tries to overpower the other members of the cast. In Valkyrie Tom Cruise is a being a good team player, not trying to steal any glory, and never once does he overact the part.
Using very little CGI Valkyrie is also a wonderful film to look at. The vintage automobiles and aircrafts make this film have a distinct authentic flair that few other war films have (CGI looks like it was only used for the climatic assassination attempt). You can look at this and tell that this is the real deal, with the production team putting careful care into how they want this film to look, unlike most Blockbuster films that try and inflate every aspect of the film rather than aim for reality. Like the performance by Tom Cruise they don't try and overpower the audience with special effects, they simply let the characters slip into the realistic settings.
Also, the complaints about the accents I truly feel are desperate attempts to bash Cruise's performance. It was director Bryan Singer's concept to not use false German accents, and not that of Cruise, or the primarily British cast. I agree with Singer's concept that if feels false, and inaccurate to have people speak in English, but with foreign accents. I know several Germans in real life, and they do not sound very "German" when they speak in English, because the accent is not intended for the English language. I personally feel the desire for English being spoken in German accents comes from decades of WWII films where we've categorized every-single member of the German army, and by them speaking in that accent only is to cliché them and separate them from American audiences. They can speak in German accents, but only if they're speaking in German, because if they aren't it seems to be a tool to keep your common American moviegoer from relating to the characters.
Don't go into Valkyrie expecting to be greeted with a horrifically bad film that you will be able to poke fun at with friends. The movie has been released, and I feel the rumors, and negative hype of been proven decisively false. This isn't a movie to kill Cruise's career, but it won't help him regain love in the American community either (as previously mentioned he doesn't shine so much as mix in with the rest of the cast). It is a very enjoyable dramatization of a true event, and I don't think the material could have been handled much better, even with a full German cast, because Singer's style and method of conveying this story are all very well-done.
Go out and enjoy this dramatization of one of the darkest periods of human history. It is worth every second of your time, and all though it isn't Oscar-worthy it is certainly worth two-hours of your time.

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State of Play (BBC Miniseries) (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)"The more compelling moments of the series come not in the various subplots surround the mystery in front of us--although it is a great mystery indeed--but in how indoctrinate and incestuous the interplay between politics, media, and industry are in the modern information age. All three stand at cross-purposes, yet secretly acknowledge that none can succeed without careful consideration of the other two. Vital communication often runs deep underneath the observed interactions between the groups, taking place in back-room meetings and clandestine e-mails, and through veiled threats." Judge Arsenault
Having just come off the viewing of 10 weeks of the critically acclaimed HBO's TV show 'The Wire', I needed a pick me up, and wowser did I find one. This BBC 6 show series that aired in 2004 has it all and it is an even toss up with me as to which show is best, 'The Wire' or 'State of Play'. In both series the acting is superb. Bill Nighy as the wry, buttoned down, full of himself editor of the Herald hits the mark every time and won the UK's Best Actor award. Polly Walker known to most of us from HBO's 'Rome' is the politician's wife and is flawless. David Morrissey, as the politician, John Simm and Kelly Macdonald as the intrepid reporters for the Herald mark this cast as fully realized.
The shotgun murder of a drug-related killing, and the apparent accidental death of Sonia Baker, a researcher for Member of Parliament Stephen Collins seems unrelated. The one difference is the makings of a scandal when the news of Sonia's death hits the streets. Stephen Collins the Parliament member who employed Sonia is visibly shocked and upset when her death is announced. The editor of the Herald suspects some hanky-panky and sends two of his best investigative reporters out to look the matter over. Cal McCaffrey and Della Smith find that these two deaths are not only related but were linked to the oil industry and the British government. One scandal after another is uncovered and this minor story soon leaps to the largest story of the year.
The story of corruption and mayhem and lies and deceit are all realistic. The fact that the media, government and industry could all be in collusion seems all too true to those of us in the US looking at the war in Iraq and what has been wrought. What we don't count on is that once we think we have everything figured out, a new twist occurs. Some of this is a little over the top, but the superb acting counters any fallacy.
'State Of Play' shines on the media, in this case, the newspaper, the Herald. Financial success is intertwined with the government, and it is not easy to convince the CEO and the board that publishing the story is the right thing to do. Everyone in this series is touched in some manner by the final decisions and actions that take place. The action, the suspense, the writing, the cinematography are all as one to produce one of the best BBC series I have viewed. Helen Mirren and Russell Crowe are at this moment filming a movie version of this series. We have the best here, how could they ever top this series?
Highly, Highly Recommended. prisrob 03-13-08
The Girl in the Cafe
8 1/2 Women

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Stephen Collins is an ambitious politician. Cal McAffrey is a well-respected investigative journalist and Stephen's ex-campaign manager. En route to work one morning, Stephen's research assistant mysteriously falls to her death on the London Underground. It's not long before revelations of their affair hit the headlines. Meanwhile a suspected teenage drug dealer is found shot dead. These (apparently unconnected) events expose a dangerous habit within modern government of dancing too closely with the corporate devil. Friendships are tested and lives are put on the line as an intricate web of lies unfolds.

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