The Family Stone (Widescreen Edition) (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)OK, this film was a bit misleading in its promotion. This film is NOT a comedy. It has comedic elements but the film is a drama. The film is perfect in its execution. It is far from the cheesy Christmas films of old. It harkens back to films like "Home for the Holidays" with Holly Hunter (a classic in its own right for both Hunter and Robert Downey Jr's performances). The familial angst, the liberal meeting the conservative, the desire for love, family protecting family, it's all here. Sarah Jessica Parker shines in a very different role for her. You feel her painful shyness at dinner when she is so misunderstood in her intentions that she ends up in the car crying.
Not all aspects of the film are to be applauded but the underlying story of the "family stone" which could be the ring requested from the matriarch of the family, the last name of the family of course or the matriarch herself are amazing. Very touching moment at the end, if a bit unrealistic, where they all focus on the picture given as a gift of a pregnant Diane Keaton.
Rachel McAdams is also a shining part of this truly ensemble performance. She plays the little sister with tenacity and twisted pleasure but hides a softer side under sarcasm. She is the perfect foil to Sarah Jessica Parker and I love the humor, heart and love shown throughout this wonderful film.

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Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Keaton, and Rachel McAdams lead an all-star cast in The Family Stone. Join the eccentric Stone family for a holiday gathering filled with unexpected surprises. Before the festivities are over, love affairs will unravel, new ones will form, outrageous secrets will be revealed and the family will come together like never before.

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Temple Grandin (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)My husband and I watched this movie last night for the first time. We are as different as night and day but this movie had both of us riveted from beginning to end. It opens up the door to a wealth of insight on autism. Once I finished the movie I did some internet research on Temple Grandin and was blown away at how one person's life experiences can have such an impact in the world. I am so excited to share this movie with my children. It will be one more teaching tool to show them how important it is to embrace all people simply because they are people. As Temple's mother is quoted in the movie as saying, "She is different, not less." What a great life lesson to pass on to both young and old in this world.

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Based on the writings by its title subject, HBO Films’ Temple Grandin is an engaging portrait of an autistic young woman who became, through timely mentoring and sheer force of will, one of America’s most remarkable success stories.

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Stardust (Widescreen Edition) (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)The story begins in the 19th-century village of Wall. But Wall isn't your average country village -- it guards a low, stony wall between mundane England and the fantasy kingdom of Stormhold. No one crosses the wall -- except for young Drustan Thorn, whose curiosity led him to an otherworldly market and a single night of passion with a captive gypsy -- or princess -- and nine months later he was given a son, Tristan, who was left for him by the wall.
Flash forward 18 years, and Tristan (Charlie Cox) hopes to win the heart of his beautiful but shallow love, Victoria (Sienna Miller), by recovering a star that fell somewhere beyond that wall. So Tristan sets forth on his own journey in Stormhold. Meanwhile in that magical land, the dying king (Peter O'Toole) has set his four surviving sons on a quest for the crown. And the witch Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) is seeking the heart of the star for an entirely different purpose, one that probably will not turn out well for anyone else involved in the story.
Despite initial trepidations over seeing a favorite Neil Gaiman story converted to film, "Stardust" is all I could hope for. The settings and scenery are lush and beautiful. The effects are seamless and spectacular. The score by Ilan Eshkeri is dramatic. Narration by Ian McKellen is compelling. And the casting is exceptional, from Robert De Niro as the delightful sky pirate Captain Shakespeare to Pfeiffer as the sumptuously evil witch.
Claire Danes is absolutely radiant as Yvaine, who in one way or another holds the resolution of every quest. Poised, beautiful and sporting a great English country accent, Danes glows even without the benefit of special effects. And Tristan Thorn is a classic everyman hero, a simple young man who grows and flourishes on his journey; Cox captures the role perfectly. A relative newcomer to the screen, he's without question an actor to watch.
Gaiman is a brilliant writer, a man with an imagination like no other. Fortunately, director Matthew Vaughn bucked the Hollywood trend by respecting the source material, creating a splendid film, one that will surely become a classic for generations to come.
by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(NET) editor

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Escape into the enchanted world of chivalry and romance in Stardust, an epic tale starring Claire Danes with Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro. In hopes of wooing a beautiful girl (Sienna Miller), Tristan (Charlie Cox) promises to bring her a falling star. But he’s in for the adventure of his life when he discovers the star is actually a celestial beauty named Yvaine (Danes) When an old witch Lamia (Pfeiffer) attempts to steal Yvaine’s youth, Tristan must protect her at all costs, in this magical family adventure that will make you fall in love over and over again.

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