Hey, Hey, It’s Esther Blueburger

Posted on July 13, 2010 at 10:51 am

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 For thematic elements, language, some sexual content and brief teen smoking.
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Teen smoking, drinking, drug references
Violence/ Scariness:	Sad death
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to DVD:	July 13, 2010
Amazon.com ASIN:	B003F5WOBA

This 2008 Australian film is one of my favorites of the past few years and I am very happy that it is finally available on a US-format DVD. It’s the story of the title character, Esther Blueburger (Danielle Catanzariti), approaching her bat mitzvah and feeling like a complete outcast among the confident and willowy girls at her school. When she meets the free-spirited Sunni (“Whale Rider’s” Keisha Castle-Hughes), daughter of an even more free-spirited single mother (Toni Collette), she decides to re-invent herself. Without telling her parents, she starts attending Sunni’s school, trying out a new, cool persona. And it works.

Until it doesn’t.

Yes, lies will be discovered and lessons learned. As coming of age stories go, this one is told exceptionally well, with verve, imagination, an outstanding visual sensibility, and a great deal of understanding and compassion for its appealing heroine.

The Bounty Hunter

Posted on July 13, 2010 at 8:00 am

Jennifer Aniston is a beautiful and talented woman, but this film had me thinking some very mean thoughts about her, thoughts like, “She is too old for this kind of movie” and “Probably not a good idea to make a movie that seems like a lesser version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, best known for documenting her real-life husband falling in love with his co-star.”

If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen this movie: battling exes squabble as he (Milo the bounty hunter played by Gerard Butler) tries to take her (Nic the journalist played by Aniston) to jail while she tries to persuade him that she’s working on an important and very dangerous story. Will they get shot at? Will there be chases? Will there be a romantic interlude interrupted by a mis-communication? You don’t even have to see the trailer to have seen this movie. You already know everything that’s going to happen.

Aniston is too old for this movie. Butler looks pudgy-faced and uncomfortable. Despite rumors of an off-screen romance, there are no sparks between them and we never get any sense of what brought them together or any relationship between what we are told about their issues and any aspect of their behavior toward each other or anyone else. This is one of those films where if anyone behaved in a rational manner, the whole thing would have been over in 20 minutes.

It does have a good chase scene at the beginning and a couple of briefly interesting goons (Milo owes some gambling debts). But it lets us down repeatedly by wasting the time and talents of the fabulous Christine Baranski (as Nic’s glamorous mother), SNL’s Jason Sudeikis as Nic’s co-worker, and Carol Kane (with a new set of teeth) and Adam LeFevre as bed-and-breakfast owners. It is supposed to be heartwarming and humorous that Nic’s mother has some boundary issues when it comes to Nic’s romantic life. It’s just icky. It’s supposed to be funny that her co-worker keeps trying to persuade her to get romantic with him. It’s just icky — until he is mistaken for Milo and gets beat up by the goons, when it becomes not just icky but ooky. It’s even supposed to be funny that Nic tases Milo. Nope. This falls into that category of movie that exists to be perpetually playing on airplanes — because when the pilot interrupts to tell you to look out the window you won’t miss anything.

Related Tags:

Action/Adventure Comedy Crime Romance

Grease: The Singalong Version!

Posted on July 11, 2010 at 12:06 pm

It’s the one that you want!

You probably already know the words, but it’s great to see them up on the big screen and it is really fun to sing along. For just one moment, we’re all students at Rydell High.

Tell me more!

Check here to see where it is playing and order tickets online as many shows are already sold out. If your city is not on the list, demand it!

NOTE: “Grease” was rated PG when it first came out, before the introduction of the PG-13 rating. It is now rated PG-13 for sexual content including references, teen smoking and drinking, and language. Parents should know that the themes include a possible teen pregnancy and the movie suggests that the way to get a boyfriend is to act like a tramp. This is all presented in a heightened, parody tone but it may be disturbing to younger audiences.

The Jesus Guy

Posted on July 10, 2010 at 8:00 am

A wandering evangelist known only as “What’s Your Name” walks through the world with no money or possessions, dressed like the images of Jesus most familiar to Christians, sharing the messages of the Bible. It is interesting to me that many people approach him because they’ve seen him on television rather than because he represents the spirit of Christianity. But people find their encounters with him genuinely moving and inspiring, and it is touching to see the connections he makes with people, often more from the way he listens than from what he says. Believers and non-believers will both find their assumptions challenged in this film, and as with the people he encounters, your reactions will be more governed by what you bring with you than by whether he is a con man or mentally ill or truly filled with the spirit of God.

The entire “Jesus Guy” film is currently available at no charge on Hulu.

Related Tags:

Documentary Spiritual films

Preview: The Jensen Project

Posted on July 9, 2010 at 8:00 am

The people behind the sensationally popular “Secrets of the Mountain” have a new family movie called “The Jensen Project,” starring Kellie Martin and premiering July 16 on NBC. It’s the story of a couple who once worked at a secret retreat for top scientists who must return when one of their former colleagues goes rogue. As they work to keep the world safe they reconnect to each other and their son.