Movies: Breach and Bridge to Terabithia
Still way behind. I saw these a few weeks back, while out of town, and just hadn't bothered to post the reviews.
Breach
Based on a true story, this movie deals with the FBI trying to find the evidence of their own leak. This was a decently styled movie, where instead of "who did it" the question becomes "how do you prove it". While there were points where I wanted to roll my eyes, it also isn't something that surprises me. The depth to which people can fall for their own lies and arrogance is never really all that shocking.
Not having known any of the people involved, I can only judge the acting based on what was shown... and at points, it seemed a little off. Not a lot, just enough to cause a squint at the screen. Chris Cooper (Hanssen) is rather masterful and is definitely good at portraying someone that makes your skin crawl from the alternating moods and patterns of behavior. Ryan Phillipe (O'Neill) is the more sketchy of the two... and Caroline Dhavernas (O'Neill's wife, Juliana) grated on my nerves on occasion.
Overall, it's worth a see... even if there are no real car chases or bullets. There is DC gridlock rather well portrayed, however!
Bridge to Terabithia
A cute kids movie, but not quite what I was expecting. While the child actors are mostly believable, I actually expected more... imagination. (I haven't read the book, so I'm not reviewing it based on that.) The ending is what I expected to see throughout -- and no, I won't spoiler it. However, if you're expecting something like Narnia, re-think your reason for going.
It does show how mean kids can be to each other, which is really no different than the absurdity of adults other than the topics. It isn't a Disneyfied land where everyone is happy and Mary Poppins feeds you sugar with the medicine, but it also isn't angst-ridden and dreary. For that part, the "real world" parts of the movie aren't too much of a stretch. It is perhaps that part that makes this movie interesting -- it's not a young kids movie; but closer to the about-to-enter-pre-teens type of movie. It has a lot of serious moments mixed in with the more fun stuff.
It was different. If you've got kids in the 10-year-old range and you don't mind them seeing plots that deal respectfully with death and religion (among other similar weighty topics), then you really should go to this movie. if nothing else, it's not the crap that all the other studios try to feed to children. If you're looking for Narnia and something fanciful and silly -- look for another movie. Is it worth the ticket price? That depends on why you're going to see it...
Breach
Based on a true story, this movie deals with the FBI trying to find the evidence of their own leak. This was a decently styled movie, where instead of "who did it" the question becomes "how do you prove it". While there were points where I wanted to roll my eyes, it also isn't something that surprises me. The depth to which people can fall for their own lies and arrogance is never really all that shocking.
Not having known any of the people involved, I can only judge the acting based on what was shown... and at points, it seemed a little off. Not a lot, just enough to cause a squint at the screen. Chris Cooper (Hanssen) is rather masterful and is definitely good at portraying someone that makes your skin crawl from the alternating moods and patterns of behavior. Ryan Phillipe (O'Neill) is the more sketchy of the two... and Caroline Dhavernas (O'Neill's wife, Juliana) grated on my nerves on occasion.
Overall, it's worth a see... even if there are no real car chases or bullets. There is DC gridlock rather well portrayed, however!
Bridge to Terabithia
A cute kids movie, but not quite what I was expecting. While the child actors are mostly believable, I actually expected more... imagination. (I haven't read the book, so I'm not reviewing it based on that.) The ending is what I expected to see throughout -- and no, I won't spoiler it. However, if you're expecting something like Narnia, re-think your reason for going.
It does show how mean kids can be to each other, which is really no different than the absurdity of adults other than the topics. It isn't a Disneyfied land where everyone is happy and Mary Poppins feeds you sugar with the medicine, but it also isn't angst-ridden and dreary. For that part, the "real world" parts of the movie aren't too much of a stretch. It is perhaps that part that makes this movie interesting -- it's not a young kids movie; but closer to the about-to-enter-pre-teens type of movie. It has a lot of serious moments mixed in with the more fun stuff.
It was different. If you've got kids in the 10-year-old range and you don't mind them seeing plots that deal respectfully with death and religion (among other similar weighty topics), then you really should go to this movie. if nothing else, it's not the crap that all the other studios try to feed to children. If you're looking for Narnia and something fanciful and silly -- look for another movie. Is it worth the ticket price? That depends on why you're going to see it...