Drinking Buddies: Movie Review

The criss-crossing of two relationships by four perfectly matched actors.

“Drinking Buddies” is a relationship drama and succeeds because the lines that the relationships cross, and not cross, are interesting, because the actors make them interesting. They dare us to like them and care for them and the best part is that there's a good chance that we would still like them no matter how each relationship ended up. That can be difficult when we have friends bordering on more and chemistry which could be stronger with someone else.		2013 Directed by: Joe Swanberg Screenplay by: Joe Swanberg Starring: Jake Johnson, Olivia Wilde and Anna Kendrick

Austenland: Movie Review

The good and bad of a Jane Austen theme park with clever romance and cute comedy.

Austenland is a Jane Austen theme park designed for Jane Austen fans to live the life of their favourite heroines. I was really hoping that this was a real place or at least could have been a real place because the idea of it is a lot of fun. But for the sake of the delusional fans, it’s probably best that this is not real. Jane (Keri Russell) is obsessed with Pride and Prejudice, and in doing something about it, she spends her life savings on a trip to England to Austenland.		2013 Directed by: Jerusha Hess Screenplay by: Jerusha Hess and Shannon Hale Starring: Keri Russell

Between Us: Movie Review

Boring people in uncaring friendships and relationships.

Between Us is a relationship drama. Two thirty-something couples, all friends, have ended up in slightly different places in life, but they are all determined to get through their relationships together. Except, they really don’t care. And that leads us to a pretty insurmountable problem. If they don't care, why should we? In short, we don't.		2012 Directed by: Dan Mirvish Screenplay by: Joe Hortua, Dan Mirvish Starring: Julia Stiles, Taye Diggs, David Harbour and Melissa George

Family Weekend: Movie Review

Dark comedy turns a kidnapping into a sweet coming-of-age story.

“Family Weekend” is a dark comedy about a 16-year-old girl, Emily (Olesya Rulin), who takes her family into her own hands to turn them into a normal family. But it’s not going to be easy; Samantha Smith-Dungy (Kristin Chenoweth) is a workaholic mom, Duncan Dungy (Matthew Modine) is hippie artist dad, and her brother and sister are maladjusted kids who think they are perfectly well-adjusted.		2013 Directed by: Benjamin Epps Screenplay by: Matt K. Turner Starring: Olesya Rulin, Matthew Modine and Kristin Chenoweth

Prisoners: Movie Review

Two suspenseful approaches to one dark crime.

It’s Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania and the sky is gray, the air is cold and the ground is frozen. Two families, perfectly matched, celebrate the holiday together. Each family has two kids, a teenager and a younger daughter. The daughters are 6-year-old girls, ready to get into a harmless adventure, and the teenagers are teenagers. But the girls go missing, and on we go to find them and figure out what happened.		2013 Directed by: Denis Villeneuve Screenplay by: Aaron Guzikowski Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal