Penelope • July 15, 2008

Penelope (2007) - Starring: Christina Ricci • James McAvoy • with Catherine O'Hara, Reese Witherspoon and Peter Dinklage.

Christina Ricci stars as Penelope, a lonely heiress who has spent her entire life trying to break a strange family curse that left her with the nose of a pig. When she meets a charming aristocrat, James McAvoy, who seems to see beyond her physical appearance, Penelope begins to learn that loving herself is more important than breaking the curse.


Enjoyable from start to finish. Good moral to the story, clever wit, interesting characters, the list goes on and on. Not to mention that even a prosthetic pig nose can distract you from Christina Ricci's idiosyncratic and stunning good looks *wink*. Very stylish from the set design to the costumes making the whole movie a visual feast. The casting of this film was key, every character brought to life by the actors that portrayed them giving them unique personalities. A simple storyline that is fine tuned by a well crafted screenplay. The movie has a good pace and keeps your interest at all times. Not your typical sloppy romantic comedy, this film has class and heart. Check it out! (Rated PG for thematic elements, some innuendo and language.)


Yes, that's right! I gave it four buns! Baron says I am shooting my wad on only the second movie but I don't care, this one deserved it. This movie was sweet, poinent, funny, heart warming, and sarcastic in the best way. Christina Ricci plays a girl, Penelope, who was born with a pig nose because of a curse. Even with a pig nose Christina is beautiful. She is clever and witty in the deliverance of her lines and her chemistry with James McAvoy is undeniable. James McAvoy's character, Max, falls in love with Penelope in spite of her looks. He exudes confidence and carrisma in this film. Another gem is Catherine O'Hara. In each scene she is classic Catherine, scatter-brained hilarious! Have I used enough adjectives for you? The set design is stylish and almost story book like. I thought the film was entertaining and fun but best of all we could watch it with our kids. It goes to show that Hollywood can make wonderful movies in todays day and age without all the garbage. I highly recommend checking this out. As for me I want to buy it!

August Rush • July 08, 2008

August Rush (2007) - Starring: Freddie Highmore • Keri Russell • Johathan Rhys Meyers • with Terrence Howard and Robin Williams

There's music in the wind and sky. Can you hear it? And there's hope. Can you feel it? The boy called August Rush can. The music mysteriously draws him, penniless and alone, to New Your City in a quest to find - somehow, someway - the parents separated from him years earlier. And along the way he may also find the musical genius hidden within him.

It's no secret that this film is driven by the the mystery and majesty of music. Also very common knowledge is the fact that music , in so many forms, affects me deeply in my own life. So it's no wonder that i gave this film a solid [3 Buns]. The story is heartfelt, the score along with the fantastic guitar work is both an audio and visual treat. The dialogue surrounding the topic of music brings great depth to it as well as opening our minds and hearts to the music all around us. At times the acting and delivery of what should be key moments, falls short of the precedent the music sets. I feel the movie was well cast even with Freddie Highmore reaching that stage where talented child actors are just in too many movies, i thought his performance was solid. Jonathan Rhys Meyers singing his own songs was refreshing. Admittedly it is sometimes hard to watch Robin Williams in the roll of the villain with his background in lovable comedic characters but he does well regardless. Try not to pay too much attention to the close-up shots when "August" is playing the guitar because it's overly obvious that they are not the hands of an eleven year old boy. I was excited to hear Michael Hedges classic "Ritual Dance" as one of the songs played by the young prodigy. I had the great fortune to experience one of Michael's performances when he opened for Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1992 just 5 years before he died. If you get a chance i recommend you pick this movie up and enjoy this musical journey as i did, you won't be disappointed. (Rated PG for for some thematic elements, mild violence and language.)

Alright I'm gonna have to crank up the cheese factor on this one. Don't get me wrong I like my share of sappy movies but this one was poorly executed, it was more awkward and embarrassing than sentimental. Speaking of awkward and embarrassing the main character played by Freddie Highmore was just that. He was just goofy. It seems like his part would have worked better if he were a few years younger. Being a preteen isn't cute anymore. Keri Russell stumbled through her performance in this like a deer in the headlights. She stares off in space most of the time like she is a mental patient that hears voices. The only redeeming quality for me was John Rhys Meyers performance. It also couldn't hurt that he is a tasty piece of man candy. The movie consisted of the three main characters looking to the wind because they hear each other. I get kinda sick of looking at wind chimes. Robin Williams has a weird cameo as a crazy transient that exploits orphans by making them play music in public for money. This movie, to me, should have been a little lighter for a PG rating but putting that element in it bothered me. Also nothing is resolved with the rest of the homeless children besides the main character. I felt like there were holes in the plot and the ending was disappointing. You wait the entire movie for the main character, Evan, to be united with his parents and you don't even get to see them talk or hug, just stare at each other and...credits. Lame. I give this movie one bun because of the music, I did enjoy it but for a movie that is centered around music there should of been a lot more.

Short audio clip of one of the improv guitar pieces that you'll hear in the movie. I apologize for the poor quality, but i didn't want to bog down the blog with a large file.