nomadreader

In a World by Lake Bell Lake Bell does triple duty in this comedy she wrote, directed, and starred in. She plays a  Carol, a struggling vocal coach who finds relatively unexpected opportunities in voiceovers for movie trailers, a strictly male-dominated field. The film's biggest strength is its smart, often dark humor. When it veered into schmaltz at times, it was less successful, but still highly enjoyable. Intelligent comedies with strong female characters are far too rare, and this one is definitely worth watching. Rating: 4 out of 5 Availability: dvd Peeples  by Tina Gordon Chism Peeples  is an utterly forgettable script made quite entertaining by the tremendous talent of its cast. Kerry Washington, unsurprisingly, is amazing as Grace Peeples, a smart, talented young woman from a rich, Sag Harbor family. She's dating (and living with) Craig Robinson, but her family has no idea she is. He's goofy and likable, but I found their coupling on the laughable side o...

The basics: Matt Damon plays Roy Miller,a warrant officer leading teams on tactical missions to discover the weapons of mass destruction we all now know were never there. My thoughts: If you're been paying attention for long here, you know I'm not a big fan of war films (the notable exception, of course, being The Messenger , which is both the best war film I've seen and the best film of 2009.) I almost always enjoy Matt Damon, and his films with Paul Greengrass have been smart, action thrillers, so I was still eager to see this film. Green Zone take place, not surprisingly, in the Green Zone of Iraq. It's a contemporary war film, a genre that often has trouble gaining traction. If you're a person who goes to movies to escape reality, then you probably don't read my blog; if you're a person who goes to movies to gain a deeper understanding of the world, contemporary or not, and also to be entertained, then you might just find yourself in love with this ...