The Citizen Review " A man goes to the movies. A critic must be honest enough to admit that he is that man." -Robert Warshow

Jack says: A-

If you ever watch a reality show on MTV, then I'm sorry. Those aren't realilty. There is one called "Taking the Stage" about teenagers at an art school in Cincinnati trying to become stars. It's not horrible but it's not very realistic. Well, Every Little Step gets everything right that TTS gets wrong. It's gritty, it's funny, personal, terribly entertaining and you can't help but get up and dance.

It follows the journey of severl actor/dancers trying out for a part in the revival of A Chorus Line, the tour de force of the 70's. It shows just how quintessential this show was and is in the lives of dancers and actors. There are parts where the director plays excerpts from the famous night where all the dancers gathered to talk about themselves. That premise alone is haunting and beautiful enough to sustain the movie.

To make things very interesting, it puts the story of the dancers struggling to get to the top in the real lives of the dancers trying to make the crucial cut.

The dancing is real, raw and out of control. The producers and directors and choreographers who worked on the original show are great to watch as well. They are true characters, especially Baayork Lee. She is the dancer from the original, playing the part that was written about her life. and she's a true force of nature, a creature of the theatre.

This film deftly moves from person to person, telling their story from callback to callback. It shows the pain and the risk that actors take when they do their job. It shows the letdowns, the happiness, the utter up-then-downness of it all. It's a documentary that is so electrifying and raw that I found myself wanting to watch it over and over again.

Matthew says: A-

Documentaries. No matter how riveting the subject sounds, the real film is rarely ever as intriguing. However, this little documentary will make you smile, cry, bite your nails in anguish, and want to leap from your seat and dance. In fact, that may be the only flaw in this film, having a sudden wish to burst out in song and dance and then realizing you can't. (I'm just speaking for myself).

Every Little Step is the story of the revival of the Broadway classic, A Chorus Line. The film goes off and on between the audition process of the revival and the history behind the original musical. The history is fascinating, and the auditions are insanely entertaining.

This movie really does make you feel deep sad emotion. With the true stories of these dancers with subtly troubled pasts. They may not seem excruciatingly horrible on paper, but as these real people tell their stories with full honesty, it's heart breaking. And then it shows these actors try to pay homage to these people and their stories, you really want them to. And in the end, seeing the finished show, after all the work put into it, you feel like a proud parent seeing their child chasing their dreams.

Jack says: C

The Lovely Bones is one of those confusing dramas where one must watch it two or three times to fully grasp or understand it's intent. Unfortunately, it's also one of those dramas where you don't want to endure it's wrath more than once.

There were parts of this film that I found enjoyable. The writing (which I hear is mostly derivitive of the Alice Sebold bestseller) was very good. Susie Salmon's monologue was poetically passive, if not slightly ambivalent. It was delicate and quietly beautiful. I thought the scenes that simply examined how the family reacted to the given situation were at times very good too. It showed how random the horrible act was, and how everything can suddenly change, and how we realize that we are so unaware. It also showed that life is so delicate and that very few things are needed for us to be alive, and how easily they can be taken away.

There were also parts that were in my opinion just unnecessary. Not unnecessary just in the aspect that they were frivolous and didn't help the story, but scenes that were probably not meant for the screen. The scene that leads up to the murder of Susie is so horrifying and taxing that I had to turn away. It wasn't exactly distasteful, it wasn't gruesome. It was subtly disturbing, but I don't think it needed to be. We all know how horrific murder is, we don't need a lesson.

The book The Lovely Bones is unread by myself but it seems like a book that doesn't translate well for screen. The scenes where she was in "the blue in-between" weren't inconsistent but they just were wrong. I don't know why. It seems like the film would have been better as a dramatic study of the family after Susie's death, and her just narrating it. But on the same token, those heaven scenes might be necessary. What I guess I'm saying is that this just can't be made into a film, at least not by Peter Jackson.

After leaving the theater, my friends and I were confused. We weren't sure whether it was good, or if we even liked it. But we were pretty sure we wouldn't want to see it again. I think we were so confused because the film was confused along with us.

Matthew says: C+

For the past 20 years or so, Woody Allen has made and released a film ever year. Perhaps this reflects on his work. Well, in any case, it certainly has in his latest release, Whatever Works.

The movie is very "Woody Allen-like" but that's basically all it is. When you watch the movie all you think is him trying to recreate his success with his previous, and better, New York set film. It's been four films since his last New York picture, and let me just say, maybe he should go back to Barcelona.

Whatever Works is the morality tale of an intelligent but has a very dark view of the world. One day he stumbles upon a teenage southern belle, comfortably residing in the dumpster by his house. She ran away from her constrained life in the south and wants a place to stay. Well, she and he get more than they bargained for when the incidentally fall in love (or something like that).

Her very southern, bible beating mother comes along and gets swept up in the mad world of New York City. Her father also drops by, and gets swept up as well.

In the end of this messy, confused tale, the only lesson I found is do "whatever works", whatever that means.

Sincerely,

Jack says: B-

In 1999's A Midsummer Night's Dream, we have a perfect example of what happens when a movie is nearly perfectly faithful to a piece of work, but changes all the wrong aspects of it.

The movie has a magical forest of great actors: Christian Bale, Dominic West, Calista Flockhart, Michelle Pfieffer, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Kline, Rupert Everett. They all have pretty good performances, considering the whole movie is in the original Shakespearian tongue. They all do their job, but it's all a mess at the same time. Another mistake was casting Anna Friel in the role of Hermia. Hermia could arguably be called the heroine of the story and she is least well-known actor. It seemed a little off.

The film is not set in Shakespearian times, but in the 19th century in Athens (it basically looks like England) which I think was the first mistake. If the film wanted it to be set in that era, I think 19th century jargon would suited the film better than the original play. It was just too confusing and clunky. If they wanted to keep the Shakespeare-speak, then it should have been set in the original date. There are bicycles, hoop skirts, parasols. It's a little over the top.

The storyline is also exactly the same as the play, which seemed to be a burden in the 'modern' setting. They should have changed it up a little if they wanted the film to communicate better to audiences. It's like it can't really decide if it wants to be a broad Shakespeare-blockbuster or a die hard period piece, for the most discriminating English scholar.

The film uses all classical music for the score, which made for some dramatic sequences that I quite enjoyed, it almost made up for the ridiculous other parts of the film.

The film can be used as an educational tool, since it follows very closely to the script. I watched the film in my Shakespeare class recently and one can basically hold the script in front of them and follow along. People who have studied Shakespeare in high school or maybe even college can appreciate the film for it's accuracies and it's beauty, for it's production value and for the merit of the performances by the supporting cast. But for those scholars out there writing their dissertation on old Billy S., it may seem like a frivolous misfire.

Sincerely,

The Citizen Review

First off, the best dramatic actress of the year was Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side. Not Gauborey Sibide in her remarkable performance in Precious. Or Carrey Mulligan in her vibrant performance in An Education. Nope. Or, let's talk about how Robert Downey Jr. won best actor, musical or comedy. The category was a little vacant. But I'd say he was the last person I would pick out of that bunch of actors. He gave his acceptance speech and I could have sworn it was the Sherlock Holmes her "portrayed" in the film. Or Iron Man. Whichever, they're pretty much interchangeable.

And, finally, let's all say it out loud. The Hangover won best film, musical or comedy. (500) Days of Summer? Nine? No.

Well, on a happier note, James Cameron won best director and best picture, drama for Avatar. And it deserved it. Hopefully these two categories will be the same in the Oscars. Meryl Streep won for best actress, musical or comedy and Jeff Bridges won best dramatic actor. Oh yes, and Mo'Nique won for best supporting actress and most dramatic speech. At least that gives us some hope that the Foreign Press wasn't smoking pot while they were choosing the winners. Some hope.

Well, the announcements for the Academy Award nominees will be aired February 2nd. We'll see what fate gives us. Or what the Academy gives us.

Sincerely,

The Citizen Review

1. Avatar

2. The White Ribbon

3. The Hurt Locker

4. Precious

5. Where the Wild Things Are

6. Up in the Air

7. (500) Days of Summer

8. Inglorious Basterds

9. A Serious Man

10. A Single Man

Colin Firth, A Single Man - WINNER

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Morgan Freeman, Invictus

Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer

Gabourey Sibide, Precious - WINNER

Carrey Mulligan, An Education

Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Zoe Saldana, Avatar

Zooey Deschanel, (500) Days of Summer

Christopher Waltz, Inglorious Basterds

Woody Harrelson- The Messenger

Matt Damon, Invictus

Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones

Zachery Quinto, Star Trek

Mo'Nique, Precious - WINNER

Julianne Moore, A Single Man

Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air

Penelope Cruz, Nine

Marion Cotillard, Nine

Jason Reitman, Up in the Air - WINNER

James Cameron, Avatar

Lee Daniels, Precious

Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds

Spike Jonze, Where the Wild Things Are

An Education, Nick Hornby - WINNER

(500) Days of Summer, Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber

Up in the Air, Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner

Inglorious Basterds, Quentin Tarentino

Precious, Geoffrey Fletcher

Where the Wild Things Are - WINNER

Nine

The White Ribbon

Broken Embraces

A Single Man

It should be noted that these categories are listed in increasing merit. In other words the winner is first and first runner-up is listed second, etc.

Sincerely,