A suburban London teen finds her traditional education replaced by something slightly more sinister when an older, more worldly suitor sweeps her off of her feet while placing her future in jeopardy. London, 1961: 16-year-old Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is smart, attractive, and eager to start her adult life. She’s grown tired of the familiar adolescent routine, so when urbane newcomer David (Peter Sarsgaard) appears in town, Jenny senses a rare opportunity to shake things up a bit. Quickly falling under David’s spell, the impressionable Jenny begins accompanying her newfound beau to classical concerts, art auctions, crowded pubs, and dinners that stretch into the small hours of the night. But Jenny is brighter than most kids her age, and her parents always dreamt of getting their exceptional daughter into Oxford. These days it seems like she’s headed in a different direction — will David ultimately be her undoing, or the person who helps her finally realize her true potential?

An Education was so good, it might be my favorite movie, in I don’t know how long. I’ve always loved Peter Sarsgaard, and this performance will hopefully bring him all the praise and awards he deserves. He was absolutely brilliant as the tormented, creepy older man, who falls for the beautiful, smart and naive 16 year old girl.  Carey Mulligan  is absolutely gorgeous, and her performance makes you stop and say “Who is this girl!”. She is such an amazing actress, I can’t wait to see her next films.

There are so many things to love about this movie.  For one – the acting is absolutely Oscar worthy. If Peter and Carey don’t come away with Oscar nominations, I will be absolutely shocked.  The second is the cinematography.  Each scene is more beautiful than the next, and the atmosphere almost becomes a character in and of it’s own.  It was like you could pause each scene, and it could be a work of art.

There were so many amazing actors in this film, every time a new character was introduced, I was shocked to see them! There were characters played by Emma Thompson, Rosamund Pike, Dominic Cooper and Sally Hawker (Happy Go Lucky).

It was one of those films that I’m happy to have seen because I know it’s going to really take off. You know when you see a really amazing movie and you just know you’ve seen something special? It really is that amazing. I know the critics are going to love it, and I know I’ll be seeing this on Oscar day. 

Bottom line: An Education is absolutely brilliant. I’m going to see this movie again, just in case I missed anything the first time. You won’t be disappointed, it really is THAT GOOD.

Check here to see when An Education opens in your town!

I had the pleasure of attending a screening of Chris Rock’s new documentary Good Hair on Friday, and I absolutely loved it.

The documentary starts off with Chris’s two beautiful daughters, and was shocked to hear his youngest ask him “daddy, why don’t I have good hair?” And so began an exploration into the billion dollar enterprise of “good hair”.  I literally had NO IDEA this world even existed, let alone to what extent.

Chris delves into why thousands of women feel the need to have “good hair”.  Why they will spend thousands of dollars on a weave, or inflict injury upon themselves with the toxic “relaxer”. Why men can’t even begin to think of touching their wives head, and why they would spend more on their wife’s hair – than their own mortgage payment. It’s unflinching and moving.

Chris jetted from Los Angeles to Atlanta – and even India to find out how important good hair really is.  The most poignant part of the documentary, for me, was when Chris traveled to India, where one of their top exports is human hair. It was difficult to watch as women have their heads shaved in a religious ceremony, only to have the church turn around and sell the hair for a profit.  This particular ritual makes this church the most profitable – second only to the Vatican.  It was really unbelievable to watch.

Chris sets off to talk to hair professionals, stylists, actresses and singers to get to the root of the pursuit of good hair. The documentary was eye-opening to say the least. Chris proved to be a masterful host, bringing humor – and sometimes the sad truth to the what some women will do for a good head of hair.

It’s no wonder this documentary won the Jury Prize Award at the Sundance Film Festival.  It really is a gem.

Bottom line? I loved it. Chris Rock does a perfect job of exploring the topic completely – while keeping us laughing the whole time.

Good Hair opens near you this Friday on October 23rd.

Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) lives in small-town Texas and yearns to break free of her mother’s (Marcia Gay Harden) world of beauty pageants and conformity. Bliss sees her chance when she meets the Hurl Scouts, a roller-derby team; she tries out for the team and wins a slot, lying to her parents about her new hobby. Bliss finds friendship and freedom with her teammates, but a conflict between a championship game and the Bluebonnet beauty pageant threatens to spill her secret.

I saw Whip It over the weekend, and I absolutely LOVED every minute of it.

The movie stars Ellen Page as Bliss, a unhappy teen stuck in the small town of Bodeen, Texas.  She has a pageant obsessed mom, played by Marcia Gay Harden and an ex-football star father, played wonderfully by Daniel Stern. (He’s such a great actor, he needs to do more!)

While on a shopping trip with her mother in Austin, Texas, Bliss is introduced to roller derby, and instantly falls in love. What happens next is awfully predictable, but is also completely fun and exciting. Bliss is torn between pleasing her mother by competing in a beauty pageant, and competing with the roller derby team Hurl Scouts. Gee, I wonder what happens!

I think first time director Drew Barrymore did a brilliant job – but my only complaint is that Drew should not have starred in the movie. Her character, a stoner named Smashley Simpson was completely unbelieveble and bordered on annoying. With that said, I totally enjoyed watching Juliette Lewis as the badass, and Jimmy Fallon as the hilarious announcer. PS: Singer-songwriter Landon Pigg made his acting debut as Bliss’ rocker – love interest. I have his album sitting here on my desk – I’ll write that review up soon.

Bottom line – you should definitely check out Whip It! It’s so much fun! I loved it – and will totally be seeing it again!

A reinvention of the original Oscar®-winning hit film, Fame follows a talented group of dancers, singers, actors, and artists over four years at the New York City High School of Performing Arts, a diverse, creative powerhouse where students from all walks of life are given a chance to live out their dreams and achieve real and lasting fame…the kind that comes only from talent, dedication, and hard work.

The cast includes Asher Book as Marco, Kristy Flores as Rosie, Paul Iacono as Neil, Paul McGill as Kevin, Naturi Naughton as Denise, Kay Panabaker as Jenny, Kherington Payne as Alice, Collins Pennie as Malik, Walter Perez as Victor, and Anna Maria Perez de Tagle as Joy. Their instructors include Debbie Allen as Principal Angela Simms, Charles S. Dutton as Alvin Dowd, Kelsey Grammer as Joel Cranston, Megan Mullally as Fran Rowan, and Bebe Neuwirth as Lynn Kraft.

I had the pleasure of attending a screening of Fame last night, the new film by director, dancer and choreographer Kevin Tanchareon.  This is a reinvention of the original 1980 musical of the same name, and it was brilliant. This PG movie is a perfect family movie that any young boy or girl can enjoy – and one that adults can enjoy as well!

One of the things I appreciated most about Fame was that it wasn’t an overly stylized movie.  Wasn’t glossy, pretty, and bright (like the High School Musicals). It was gritty and felt real, and each scene captivates you. I like that for the most part, the cast was full of young actors you wouldn’t recognize.  It gives the film a very real – documentary feeling.  The acting was great, the dancing, singing and music was even better. As I was leaving the theater I heard a lot of “the music was awesome!” and it was! The music kept the movie flowing at a wonderful pace. You wanted to tap your toe in one scene, and cry in the next.  The emotions seemed so real, and so raw, you felt part of the story.

I would have really liked to see  more back story on the characters, if anything – that’s where the movie fell short. There was a lot of singing, dancing and music – and not enough character development. But I liked the movie a lot – this would have just made the movie better. Many of the characters were so interesting, I just wanted more!

I usually shy away from remakes, but this remake was worth the 107 minutes.  I really enjoyed it – and I would highly recommend it for families with children interested in the arts. I would definitely watch this again with my kids – to be honest, I’d probably watch it again on my own.

I give it two thumbs up!

“Away We Go” is a contemporary comedy directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes from an original screenplay by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. The movie follows the journey of an expectant couple (John Krasinski of “The Office” and Maya Rudolph of Saturday Night Live), as they travel the U.S. in search of a place to put down roots and raise a family. Rounding out the cast are Jeff Daniels, Carmen Ejogo, Jim Gaffigan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Josh Hamilton, Allison Janney, Melanie Lynskey, Chris Messina, Catherine O’Hara, and Paul Schneider. “Away We Go” is produced and co-financed with Focus by Big Beach.

The cast is amazing. John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Jeff Daniels, Carmen Ejogo, Jim Gaffigan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Josh Hamilton, and Allison Janney.

Away We Go was SO GREAT. I knew it would be good, but I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph were both so brilliant, I can’t imagine anyone else pulling it off as great as they did. The story teeters between comedy and drama, and I think it pulls it off expertly.

I didn’t know what to expect going into this movie, so there were many great surprises (including a rather shocking scene with Maggie Gyllenhaal) and many huge laughs. I loved the movie so much I didn’t want it to end. I wanted to continue watching the couple wander throughout the country and the people they met along the way.

What I didn’t realize until the end, was that this movie was directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road). It’s no wonder I loved it so much, he’s a genius!

I liked this movie so much, I’ve seen it 4 times already. I LOVE IT! I would watch it over and over. It’s a great movie to own, because you WILL want to watch it more than once. LOVE IT!

Don’t forget to go out and get your copy of Away We Go – which is available on DVD and Blu-Ray Hi-Def on September 29th!!

Anna Wintour, the legendary editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine for twenty years, is the most powerful and polarizing figure in fashion. Hidden behind her trademark bob and sunglasses, she has never allowed anyone to scrutinize the inner workings of her magazine. Until now. With unprecedented access, filmmaker R.J. Cutler’s new film THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE does for fashion what he did for politics in The War Room, taking the viewer inside a world they only think they know. Every August a record-breaking number of people can’t wait to get their hands on the September issue of Vogue. The 2007 issue was and remains the biggest ever, weighing over four pounds, selling thirteen million copies, and impacting the $300-billion global fashion industry more than any other single publication. An intimate, funny and surprising look at Anna Wintour and her team of larger-than-life editors as they create this must-have Bible of fashion, Cutler explores the untouchable glamour of Wintour’s Vogue to reveal the extraordinarily passionate people at its heart. He takes us behind the scenes at Fashion Week, to Europe, on shoots and reshoots, and into closed-door staff meetings, bearing witness to an arduous, entertaining, and sometimes emotionally demanding process. At the eye of this annual fashion hurricane is the two-decade relationship between Wintour and Grace Coddington, incomparable Creative Director and fashion genius. They are perfectly matched for the age-old conflict between creator and curator. Through them, we see close-up the delicate creative chemistry it takes to remain at the top of the ever-changing fashion field.

I had the immense pleasure of attending a screening of The September Issue last night. I can’t even tell you how much I enjoyed this documentary. I was completely sucked in, the moment Anna Wintour took the screen.  She is such a fascinating character, you instantly want to know more about her – know what makes her tick. R.J. Cutler’s new documentary is pure GENIUS, an hour and twenty-eight minutes of excitement!

If you saw The Devil Wears Prada – and liked it, you’re going to see The September Issue and LOVE it. We all heard that Meryl Streep’s character was based off of Anna Wintour – and it’s very interesting to watch the real Anna Wintour in all her glory. She is both scary and wonderful, and you can tell almost instantly why she is the success she is.

I absolutely loved the behind-the-scenes look into the world of Vogue. I have to be honest, I’ve never bought the September issue of Vogue, but after seeing the movie – I’m half tempted to go pick it up.  After seeing how much work goes into it, and the time an effort that goes into every single picture, I think I need to respect that and go get a copy myself!

You need to grab a bunch of your girlfriends, and go see this movie when it opens on Friday. Have I ever steered you wrong? The September Issue is an absolute joy! It was such a great movie, I enjoyed every single minute. I could have watched it for five hours. It was absolutely thrilling. Listen to me – GO SEE IT!!!

THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE is now playing in New York and will expand nationally on Friday, September 11, 2009.
Fresh off the runway, THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE opens nationwide this Friday, September 11th!!

THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE will be opening in:

• Los Angeles, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Washington, D.C.
• Boston, MA
• New Haven, CT
• Philadelphia, PA
• Chicago, IL
• Kansas City, MO
• Minneapolis, MN
• St. Louis, MO
• Atlanta, GA
• Charlotte, NC
• Dallas, TX
• Austin, TX
• Jacksonville, FL
• Denver, CO
• Portland, OR

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“Inglourious Basterds” begins in German-occupied France, where Shosanna Dreyfus(Mélanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema. Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution. Known to their enemy as “The Basterds,” Raine’s squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich.

This is not my type of movie. Since I had my kids, I haven’t been able to watch any scary or gory movies. I knew going into this movie that I was going to have to close my eyes half the time. Buuut with that said, I knew that I HAD to see this, and see for myself what all the hype was about.

The first scene of the movie, in which a Nazi Colonel interrogates a war-crime suspect had me hooked. I LOVED this movie. Yes there was gore – but not as much as I thought there would be. I did close my eyes during the scalping scenes, but there were only a handful of those anyway.

I thought Inglourious Basterds was genius. I think Quentin Tarantino is genius. This movie was amazing. It’s  so wonderfully made, and wonderfully written. It’s pure Quentin Tarantino – in the sense that it moves from dramatic to violent to comical – all in a few minutes. That drove my husband completely mad – but we’ve since determined he may not be a Tarantino fan, like I am.

And let me just say – will someone give Brad Pitt an Oscar already? He (like Johnny Depp) has such a wide range of what he’s capable of, he can play an 80 year old man (Benjamin Button) in on film, and a raving – scalping lunatic in Basterds.

My one complaint is that there wasn’t enough Brad Pitt. He really was only in the movie for probably 30-40 minutes total (out of a whopping 2 1/2 hour long film).  But I’ll take what I can get, because he was awesome.

Bottom line: I loved it!! It was gory – but I was able to close my eyes for most of it. It’s not a true story – of what really happened – it’s a complete farce, really. But I like that. I like that in the end the bad guy gets it…even if that’s not how history wrote it.

Two thumbs up for Quentin Tarantino and his brilliant Inglourious Basterds!