I hate when a film is hyped up to be amazing, and I only find it to be pretty good. Little Children is apparently “The Best Reviewed American Film of the Year” if you believe all of the ads. It’s gotten fantastic reviews in nearly every publication of note, and so I was anxiously awaiting the chance to go to the Angelika and see it.

It’s a movie about making the wrong moves in life, and the fact that redemption may come in many different forms, whether drastic or not. I feel that a movie like this is so tricky because it must be done with the right amount of nuance to not come off as didactic and heavy-handed. The redemption rang false to me, and I was unsatisfied by the ending. The acting is fantastic all-around (I actually didn’t find Kate Winslet to stand out, as the reviews promised, but that is not to say she wasn’t great.), but…this one I’ll recommend for the “Wait for DVD” list.

YouTube: Little Children trailer

–

When Robert Altman died, I felt a little sad that his last movie was A Prairie Home Companion. I thought it was a film that went nowhere, charming in its meandering nature at first, but less than the sum of its parts by the ending credits. Robert Altman, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin…It would be hard for this movie to not be a slice of heaven, but it managed, in my mind, to be forgettable.

Tonight, I watched the DVD of Gosford Park, and I have to hope that this is the kind of filmmaking Altman for which Altman is remembered. It’s a absolutely charming piece, Clue meets Masterpiece Theatre, and you can’t keep your eyes off what is unfolding before you. The movie contains a million and one famous actors–Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Kristin Scott Thomas, and (really.) Ryan Philippe among them–yet Altman’s masterful direction makes each one shine.

It’s delicious.

Virgin.net: Gosford Park trailer