The Queen (2006)

The Queen is a quintessential movie. (At its end, I thought, "Now *that* was a movie!") Its performances are measured and outstanding, its story fascinating and snugly fit, its direction balanced and dead-on -- in a word, quintessential. Helen Mirren will take the Oscar. She is completely convincing as the sovereign embodiment of royal tradition yet also a human being with habits and emotions, just needing an adjustment to the Royals' perspective on Lady Diana. This movie is a captivating modern-day morality play that discerns the line between what is stiff-upper-lip prim and what is do-the-right-thing proper. All the supporting cast members turn in fine performances, esp. Michael Sheen as Tony Blair. 5 stars.

Happy Feet (2006)

Without going into great detail, Happy Feet is the best animated movie in recent years, bar none! It's infectiously joyful and inspiring and the music is awesome. Compared with every other animated film in recent memory, Happy Feet wins hands down! Five stars.

Unforgiven (1992)

A meaty, gritty Western morality tale that you should remember for a very long time. It didn't connect with me as emotionally as Silverado but it's a deeper and truer story that won't let go either, just in a different visceral way. As an actor and a director, Clint can do no wrong! 4.5 stars.

Mad Hot Ballroom (2005)

Documentary. Here is an infectious and inspiring journey into the hearts and minds of fifth graders who are learning to ballroom dance -- very well! A passel of NYC kids at a number of schools take a 12-week dance course then head straight into a citywide competition -- all I can say is wow! (I loved Indigo team best and they won.) The teachers' enthusiasm and dedication is great to witness and a wonderful racial mix of kids opens up with their thoughts about boys, girls, parents, and growing up. This film showcases a superb program for teaching life skills and self-confidence to our inner-city youth and will be inspiring to anyone who believes in children, education, the arts, and growing up as a contributing member of society. Five stars.

Night at the Museum (2006)

I just saw this movie on the big screen (a must -- though we missed the IMAX screen due to highway construction). (I had to see Rexy in action. Fetch, boy!) This movie is a strong entry in the special effects and feel-good categories and a positive entry in the moral-of-the-story category too. Lots of laughs, lots of fun! I esp. enjoyed Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney. Ricky Gervais as the inarticulate museum curator was a stitch. Owen Wilson can do no wrong. Ben Stiller plays Larry, a putz of a single father who can't hold down a job much less his self-respect. (Not funny so I like the sequel better.) He's conflicted (but desperate) about accepting a job as a museum night guard -- and anyway, the job is pushed on him since he's about to become the disgruntled retirees' patsy. He struggles through his nocturnal predicament and habitual malaise ("Yeah, no, I got it") until he realizes that he must get personally involved to respect others (and himself) and to make a difference. The humor comes from the initial premise of museum exhibits that come to life at night plus the wrangling between miniature cowboy Jedidiah (Owen Wilson) and miniature centurion Octavius (Steve Coogan); the human touch comes from the breezy Jedidiah and the noble Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams) who pines for Sacagawea (Mizuo Peck). The moral of the story is about the courage of persistence, of being a great person in the daily tasks, of faithfulness and making a difference no matter where you find yourself. There's a good lesson in book learning and museum learning too, which can't hurt in our days when "test your knowledge of Spongebob Squarepants trivia!" (a real Nick commercial seen today) is too often the norm. This is a fine family film -- with a PG rating for bits of rough language and battle violence -- that may have you dancing at the end too. 4.5 stars. (1-13-07 updated 5-29-09)

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)

Documentary. This film chillingly reveals -- through video and audio tapes of those Darwinian snakes Lay, Skilling, and Fastow with their dog-eat-dog traders -- just how far and deep the perpetual posing and intentional deceptions really ran at Enron. Lay was a close personal friend of the Bush presidents and personally machinated the deregulation of electric power in California (even as he denied such truths) so that his traders could manipulate and hobble the power grid at will -- and then chortle over their every coup. (It's all on tape!) Enron traders were morally compromised people who were told to step on the throat of their own grandmother or their own boss to make millions for the company and themselves; do you think they cared one whit for any of the tens of thousands they defrauded out of their life savings or the millions of citizens they economically raped in California, all to the tune of billions of dollars? The Milgram experiment is even more relevant here than to Abu Graibh because of Enron's drink-the-Kool-Aid cultlike status. This documentary should deeply anger you, no matter what your political affiliation, if you have a conscience of your own. Five stars.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

An adrenaline-laced wild ride with plenty of mayhem and a sexy botte fatale! T3 isn't as iconic as T1 or T2, but it's riveting because its chase and crash scenes are much bigger and the Terminatrix can't be stopped by anything short of a nuclear blast. Arnold does fine as do Nick Stahl as John Connor and Claire Danes as his future spouse and lieutenant. Kristanna Loken is hot -- often quite literally! -- as the lethal late-model T-X. Yes, the plot has holes but they're lacy not regular Swiss-sized. This movie covers the bases and gives you a workout at the same time. 4.5 stars.

Miss Potter (2006)

This is a delightful and charming English love story in a gorgeous panoramic setting. Living amidst an Edwardian society of manners that was stultifying to gifted women, Beatrix Potter (Rene Zellweger) drew animals and the outdoors since she was a child and became a woman of independent means upon the publication of her series of animal tales that grew immensely popular as children's books. Her endearing and inimitable drawing style is crisply and colorfully reproduced, and in an inventive bit of whimsy, they sometimes become animated as they interact with her imagination. Zellweger's idiosyncratic and inspired facial expressions artfully convey the complex emotions of a "proper" woman who chafes for a measure of autonomy as an intelligent woman in her 30s. She meets the man who will become her publisher (Ewan McGregor) and in time the two forge a romance (all under the watchful eyes of her parents and crone of a chaperone). McGregor and Matyelok Gibbs, her chaperone, are a delight, and the film has plenty of moments that made the preview audience around me laugh heartily. Miss Potter is a wistful and innocent love story about the love of art and animals and books but esp. the love of a man and a woman who agree to a summer's separation imposed by her parents, only to be separated forever before they can wed. The scenes in Beatrix Potter's beloved English Lake District, which her estate became instrumental in preserving as a national park, are breathtaking. 4.5 stars.