Town & Country

Grade: F-

One can only presume that, all these years after the recording of “We Are the World,” there are still children starving to death in Ethiopia. There are still homeless in the United States, and senior citizens are still eating cat food for dinner. How then, dear God HOW, could members of the human race be permitted to spend tens of millions of dollars on such a stunningly, horrificly bad piece of crap? This one is a blatant demonstration of the absolute arrogance of ego – “we’re stars, we’re fabulous, people adore us -- so who needs a script? Certainly not us big movie stars!” Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Gary Shandling, Goldie Hawn, Andie McDowell, Charlton Heston and on and on – in this disjointed, unfunny (as in not a single giggle), often incomprehensible mess of a, of a – what? It’s certainly not a movie. Two “Ishtars” in one lifetime. Impressive. One of the worst movies I have ever seen in my entire life.

More Movie Info: http://imdb.com/title/tt0141907/

Bridget Jones's Diary

Grade: B+

Charming, quirky, sweet-hearted tale, of the “Four Weddings and a Funeral” variety, except with a truly wonderful performance from Renee Zellweger -- funny, vulnerable, totally winning – a refreshingly happy surprise. The only thing that stops me from loving this movie is a thoroughly pat and predictable storyline, which is virtually paint by numbers in its obvious plot contrivances. We never doubt for a second how the tale will be resolved or how we’re going to get there, and a sub-plot involving Bridget’s parents feels totally unnecessary and uninteresting. Some truly hysterical moments (Bridget’s introduction of “the best book of the century” before noticing that Salman Rushdie and Jeffrey Archer are in the room is simply priceless) are also splattered with “we’ve seen in all before” routines (blenders exploding with food, answering the telephone with sexual innuendo only to discover it’s your mother on the other end of the line), which are also pat although not particularly bothersome. But the film’s perspective is so loopy and good-hearted, you can’t help but smile and root for the underdog. Hugh Grant and Colin Firth give solid supporting performances, but the star is Zellweger – weight gain + British accent – can an Oscar nomination be far away?

More Movie Info: http://imdb.com/title/tt0243155/