Every Little Step

Every Little Step is a must-see documentary for every young girl who dreams to be a dancer/singer/performer on Broadway. It follows a group of dancers as they go through auditions for the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line. It also tells the history of the show and pays tribute to the genius of Michael Bennett who created the show. The characters in A Chorus Line are all based on Bennett’s taped conversations with 22 dancers. Step basically shows a chorus line try out for A Chorus Line. At the end of the movie, while you may feel happy for the ones who made the cut, you are even more touched by the heartbreak of those starry-eyed hopefuls. As directors Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern have shown in this movie, success and failure are simply two sides of show biz.

The Brothers Bloom

The Brothers Bloom is an eccentric piece of work and I struggle to find the right words to describe it. The titular brothers are the best con men in the world and have been perfecting their skills since childhood. The entire movie centers around these two con men and the cons they pull off, but I simply don’t know who will be conned by two people who dress like they were from a hundred years ago. In the opening sequence, when the brothers started their first con at tender ages of 10 and 13, they mesmerized all the kids with their far-fetched tales. I would love to find out where that town is. Because in most towns I know, the kids will make fun of their get-up, especially those goofy hats, and never give them time of the day. Mark Ruffalo, Adrien Brody and Rachel Weisz are all find here, but they do not compensate for all the holes in the script. For a con movie, Brothers is quite predictable. Based on some dialogues early on in the movie, I correctly guessed that those dialogues would all come true later. I think the lesson I have learned from Brothers is that maybe I have seen too many movies and I am just a hard mark to con even though this movie has succeeded into conning many critics.

Two Lovers

It is sad to see Joaquin Phoenix’s weird behaviors these days because he is truly a very talented actor of his generation. Two Lovers once again proves his acting ability. The film, on its own, is not a bad movie. It just doesn’t offer anything new. The story is one of those relationships we have seen again and again in movies: a lonely man caught between two fundamentally different women. One is loving, caring but may be considered boring by some men. The other is exciting, beautiful but volatile who is having an affair with a married man and is also an ex-drug addict possibly off the wagon. It is quite obvious who is the right woman for Phoenix’s character – Leonard, but of course, to make it into an almost two-hour movie, we need to see Leonard make all kinds of wrong choices. Phoenix has such a heart-breaking vulnerability that it is unbearably sad and moving at times to see his love crushed again and again. It will be a sad day for the movie industry if this movie turns out to be Phoenix’s swan song. We already lost one talented Phoenix at a young tender age. We cannot afford to lose another one.

Sunshine Cleaning

Sunshine Cleaning will be inevitably compared with that other sunshine movie. You know, the one with a dilapidated VW bus and an old eccentric grandpa. Not only do they share sunshine in their titles, they both also have Alan Arkin in almost identical roles, you guessed it, that lovable, eccentric grandfather.

Cleaning may be a bit predictable and clichéd, but I truly enjoy this movie, mainly because of the actors in this film. Amy Adams is just terrific as a single mother trying to start an unusual cleaning business in order to raise the tuition to send her son to a private school. She uses her innocent screen presence to full advantage. One moment she would light up the entire room and next moment she could bring you to tears with a longing look. Emily Blunt plays Adams’ irresponsible sister, giving as good as she gets. Blunt has really proved her ability with supporting roles such as the one in this film and The Devil Wears Prada. Arkin may have been typecast in recent years, but he is simply superior to any actors out there when it comes to playing those wise old men roles.

The movie may be a little too sentimental at times, but its mellow, touching bookend to the characters make you feel good walking out of the theater.

Taken

Taken is written by French screenwriter/director Luc Besson of La Femme Nikita fame. Since Nikita, Besson has not been able to write, direct and/or produce anything that surpasses that movie. Taken has trademark Besson violence and is entertaining for anyone who enjoys fast action and quick thrills. However, the main story makes very little sense and we have to suspend most of our beliefs to allow an ex-CIA spy Bryan (played by Liam Neeson) to almost single-handedly rescue his estranged daughter (played by Maggie Grace) who has been sold into the white slave trade. This movie has done a very decent business and it could well serve as resurgence for Neeson’s career. In the movie he shows his potential as an aging action hero even though his face does show some signs of cosmetic surgery. Grace as the daughter is extremely annoying. Grace is only capable of playing her spoiled side without any other depth. Former badass Bond girl Famke Janssen plays Neeson’s long suffering ex-wife. She is given very little to do in the movie except constantly complaining about how Bryan’s old job destroyed their family. OK, as I said, people don’t go to see this movie for the story or dialogue. You go to see how Neeson shoots everybody up and kicks bad guys’ asses.