Mini Reviews111 – 120 of 137 |
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Margaret plays Beth in this 1949 adaptation of the classic book. I can't
help comparing her to Claire Danes' fantastic performance in the 1994 version, and
it's impossible to live up to those standards. Claire makes an
extraordinarily soft and gentle Beth, while Margaret seems better suited
for lively and humorous characters. Also, Margaret is only 12 in this role,
but the role seems better suited for a slightly older actress. Nonetheless,
I still liked Margaret's portrayal of Beth, and the reasonably varied role
will be of interest to any fan of hers.
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An accomplished romantic comedy. Many people appear to like this, but I
found both of the main characters rather dull. Chloe plays Rachel Hansen,
the lead male's little sister. While two of his bachelor male friends talk
with him about his love troubles, it's Rachel who gives the most mature
input. Absurdly precocious, she's a good, occasionally funny character, but
only has less than about five minutes of screen time. The low score of 2.0
reflects the size of the role much more than the quality of those minutes.
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This movie has it all: gratuitous violence, perfect women, cute kids, all
mixed up into one disgusting dish. An FBI agent works undercover as the
nanny Big Momma in this obnoxious sequel. Chloe is the adorable daughter,
but gets only shallow lines and too little screen time. Recommended for
fans of Chloe only.
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Jena plays Mary McGuire, who is "soon sixteen," but physically three years
younger because of her sickness, cystic fibrosis. Her only family is her
sister Penny, some ten years older, who brings food into their table by
working as a prostitute. She's an intelligent woman, who has published a
poetry book a number of years ago, and such work, which she doesn't enjoy,
wouldn't be her only option.
Mentally Mary is of her actual age, or more. Her health doesn't allow her
to go out much and meet people, so when a mysterious man from a far-away
land moves next to them, she's quick to invite him over. Another man in the
life of the sisters is an inmate, who writes Penny a letter about her
poetry book. Penny doesn't want to write back, as she doesn't want to let
herself become close with anyone except her sister. Mary replies, however,
pretending to be her big sister.
Though gloomy and harsh, this is essentially a chick movie, and much of the
events and characters only makes sense from that perspective. In the center
is the love triangle between the sisters and their neighbor. Mary's burden
is her appearance of a child, while Penny has to watch her little sister
flirt with the man that Penny can't let herself have.
The interesting property of Jena's character – her appearance being
significantly less than her age – isn't explored to its full potential.
It's mainly used as a component in the budding romance, which is a shame.
Mary is a gentle and considerate girl, more so than your average almost
13-year-old would be, but it's not sufficiently obvious that she's mentally
older than her appearance.
Jena's acting isn't bad, but neither is it her best performance. The budget
has clearly been low, and there are no particularly attractive looking or
sounding scenes. This is a small movie that will appeal to some, but me it
left luke warm.
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A mediocre kids' movie about five children living in their strict uncle's
mansion, and trying to get their father back from the war by means of
wishes granted by the little Yar-Yar-Binks-like sand fairy. The girls do
decent acting, but Freddie Highmore steals the show just as in Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory.
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Karen Tunny, a young mother of two, moves into an old house near which a
group of children were buried alive in a mining accident in the beginning
of the century. Things are blatantly creepy and unoriginal throughout, and
all the darkness gets tiring. The visuals are competent if uninspiring, but
that's about all the upsides about this piece of zombie horror. Chloe plays
Emma Tunny, the youngest of the family, who gets a supposedly imaginary
friend who lives in an old mine.
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A children's movie where early teenagers plan and execute a ridiculously
unrealistic robbery. If you can ignore the silliness, the Danish origin of
the film is refreshing. Julie has the main role, and is both immediately
likable and attractive, as well as a fair actress. There is also an
English remake of this film starring the lovely Kristen Stewart called Catch That Kid.
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This movie is closer to a Broadway play on which it's based than an actual
movie. For the most part characters, of which there are only a handful, sit
or pace back and forth, and speak awkward lines. Many lines seem to serve
no purpose, or make no sense. The movie is available on VHS only.
Anna plays Frankie Addams, an early teenager, who lives with her black
cook. Frankie keeps talking about going to her older brother's honey moon
with him. That doesn't happen, and, disappointed, Frankie runs away, but is
soon found.
Anna's role is the largest one. Sadly she speaks in a southern accent and
has a short hair. For someone not a fan of Anna or of the original play –
which I understand is a fine play – this movie offers nothing. For fans
of Anna however the large quantity of her somewhat makes up for the lack of
quality.
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A technically fluent but dull horror movie, with a scary run-down building
and a haunting little girl. Ariel, despite her mediocre acting, is highly,
highly adorable.
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A family drama centered around a family in which Vivien plays the young
daughter, Delia, who is nine years old during the first season. The show is
rather unremarkable, as is Delia's character and Vivien's acting. In
particular, it wouldn't hurt to see Delia smiling once in a while. However
she has a reasonable amount of screen time, and Alex and I find her very
beautiful, so the show may be worth following just because of Vivien.
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Writing full reviews is an extremely time-consuming process. These are movies we've seen and want to comment on, but don't have time to write full reviews for. If you have any suggestions for movies you feel should be on this list, please let us know.











