A very different movie, enjoyable and engrossing but at the end of it you are left wondering what the point was. Is there a moral here? A life lesson? Or is the movie just telling a quirky story? I'm still not sure. This movie is well acted and is never boring, but it is puzzling.
***Artistic, profound, amusing, tragic, haunting coming-of-age in the 70s*** A 13 year-old girl from a Catholic family in a Detroit suburb commits suicide during the late 70s and its effects are shown over the course of the next year in the lives of her four sisters (e.g. Kirsten Dunst), her parents (James Woods & Kathleen Turner) and the boys of the community. Josh Hartnett is on hand as the school stud who’s interested in Lux (Dunst). "The Virgin Suicides" (1999) was Sofia Coppola’s debut film based on the book by Jeffrey Eugenides; she would go on to great success with “Lost in Translation” (2003) and the underrated “Marie Antoinette” (2006). To be expected, Sofia’s style is similar to her father, as well as Peter Weir, but maybe more focused on feminine themes. The tone of the movie is artsy and deep, but not without a sense of humor. It’s haunting, mysterious, beautiful and impenetrable, reminiscent of Weir’s “Picnic at Hanging Rock” (1975). There’s also a great 70’s soundtrack featuring well-placed songs by The Hollies, Heart, Styx, Todd Rundgren and 10cc. The subtext on parental legalism brings to mind “Footloose” (1984), but it’s clear that the blame can’t be placed solely at the feet of the parents, who are certainly overprotective but also clearly loving to a degree. Cecilia’s rash actions are the catalyst and the domino effect comes into play coupled with the oppression of stifling legalism and perhaps passive revenge. At the end of the day, though, it comes down to just a stupid decision by teenagers. Yet the movie’s about way more than suicide and its causes. It’s about coming-of-age, seeking identity & a voice, coming-of-death and the haunting reflections of those that remain. The film runs 1 hour, 37 minutes and was shot in Toronto. GRADE: A-/B+
Set amidst 1970s Detroit suburbia, this follows the ultimately tragic lives of five sisters who live with their teacher father (James Woods) and rather possessive mother (Kathleen Turner). It's narrated by one of their neighbours, a youth whom - along with his friends - has a bit of a crush on the girls. Disaster strikes early on when "Cecilia" manages to impale herself on the garden fence and what now ensues follows the family's quirkily poignant and entertaining evolution from this event. Things eventually come to an head when the girls plead with their parents to be allowed to go to a school dance whereupon "Lux" (Kirsten Dunst) and her all-American boyfriend "Trip" (Josh Hartnett) do the deed! Arriving home late, and alone, this causes ructions within the family and drives the young girl off the rails with ghastly consequences. There's a lot of nuance here. The performances from Turner, Dunst and a rather under-stated one from an increasingly effective Woods all help build this to a conclusion that is sadly, in my view, all a bit rushed. The effects of the isolation and loneliness on the all-but-incarcerated girls is there for us to see, but not really to appreciate fully enough and I felt that a shame. There is also quite a potent aesthetic here - the visuals offer us a subtle reinforcement of stereotype, ageing, maturity, comedy and indifference and I could have done with some meat on the bones of the actual story, the film gets better after each viewing.
A New York schoolteacher hits a midlife crisis when, in quick succession, her husband leaves, her adoptive mother dies and her biological mother, an eccentric talk show host, materializes and turns her life upside down as she begins a courtship with the father of one of her students.
Movie Star Rating : 5.6 Read More
Zia, distraught over breaking up with his girlfriend, decides to end it all. Unfortunately, he discovers that there is no real ending, only a run-down afterlife that is strikingly similar to his old one, just a bit worse. Discovering that his ex-girlfriend has also "offed" herself, he sets out on a road trip to find her.
Movie Star Rating : 6.9 Read More
Set in 1982 in the suburb of Blackeberg, Stockholm, twelve-year-old Oskar is a lonely outsider, bullied at school by his classmates; at home, Oskar dreams of revenge against a trio of bullies. He befriends his twelve-year-old, next-door neighbor Eli, who only appears at night in the snow-covered playground outside their building.
Movie Star Rating : 7.5 Read More
Nora Wilder is freaking out. Everyone around her is either in a relationship, married, or has children. Nora is in her thirties, alone with job she's outgrown and a mother who constantly reminds her of it all. Not to mention her best friend Audrey's "perfect marriage". But after a series of disastrous dates, Nora unexpectedly meets Julien, a quirky Frenchman who opens her eyes to a lot more than love.
Movie Star Rating : 6.1 Read More
A mushroom embarks on an epic adventure to find its purpose in life.
Movie Star Rating : 6.8 Read More
Teacher's daughter Anna cannot enter the music college because of her family's opposition. At the request of her relatives she goes to Helsinki to study administrative sciences, but nasty fellow students make the girl leave the university and apply to become a nurse.
Movie Star Rating : 3.7 Read More
Bri, a young rapper and the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died just before making it big. Her father’s legend makes him a hard act to follow, but between Bri being bullied and watching her mother struggle after losing her job, she pours out her frustration into songs that become big viral hits.
Movie Star Rating : 7 Read More
Madame Web 2024 - Movies (Apr 24th)
The Pod Generation 2023 - Movies (Apr 24th)
6 Hours Away 2024 - Movies (Apr 24th)
Food Inc. 2 2023 - Movies (Apr 24th)
Blackout 2023 - Movies (Apr 24th)
Mean Girls 2024 - Movies (Apr 24th)
Civil War 2024 - Movies (Apr 24th)
Hanky Panky 2023 - Movies (Apr 24th)
The Beekeeper 2024 - Movies (Apr 23rd)
Munch 2023 - Movies (Apr 23rd)
Drive-Away Dolls 2024 - Movies (Apr 23rd)
Challengers 2024 - Movies (Apr 23rd)
MR-9 Do or Die 2023 - Movies (Apr 23rd)
Justice League Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two 2024 - Movies (Apr 23rd)
Accidental Texan 2023 - Movies (Apr 23rd)
Exhuma 2024 - Movies (Apr 23rd)
Arthur the King 2024 - Movies (Apr 23rd)
Monkey Man 2024 - Movies (Apr 23rd)
The Cost 2023 - Movies (Apr 23rd)
Dangerous Waters 2023 - Movies (Apr 23rd)
Downtown Owl 2023 - Movies (Apr 23rd)
Blood Free - (Apr 24th)
FBI- Most Wanted - (Apr 23rd)
X-Men 97 - (Apr 24th)
Star Wars- The Bad Batch - (Apr 24th)
Grand Cayman- Secrets in Paradise - (Apr 24th)
FBI - (Apr 24th)
The Valley - (Apr 24th)
Vanderpump Rules - (Apr 24th)
Moonshiners- Master Distiller - (Apr 24th)
Under the Bridge - (Apr 24th)
The Big Door Prize - (Apr 24th)
Little People, Big World - (Apr 24th)
Mud Madness - (Apr 24th)
For the Love of Dogs - (Apr 24th)
Accused - (Apr 24th)
Saving Lives at Sea - (Apr 24th)
Michael Palin in Nigeria - (Apr 24th)
Hannity - (Apr 24th)
Gutfeld! - (Apr 24th)
Lopez vs Lopez - (Apr 24th)