Notorious (2:02) 2009

Notorious is the story of Christopher Wallace, the rapper better known as Notorious B.I.G. The movie starts with Chris as a young boy being raised by his single mom, played by Angela Bassett. As a young teenager, Chris sells drugs and meets with success. After a slip up, Chris is arrested and spends some time in prison. While in prison, his girlfriend gives birth to his daughter. While he prison, Chris writes poetry. When he is released, he has an opportunity to become a rapper. With Sean Combs help, he releases his first album. Biggie rises to the top quickly. As he rises to the top, a war breaks out between the West Coast and East Coast rappers. Unfortunately, the war has been created by the press and then continue to fuel the flames until the war ends in tragedy. Neither my daughter or I are fans of the rapper genre but we both admitted that Notorious is a very interesting story, with a big round of applause to Jamal Woolard who became Biggie.

The Debt (1:44) 2011

Rachel, David, and Stefan are heroes. It's 1997 Israel and Stefan and Rachel's daughter has written a book detailing the mission as Massad agents bringing a Nazi doctor out of East Berlin to be tried as a crimes against humanity. Although Rachel is very proud of her daughter, she is uncomfortable with the attention. The movie flashes back to the 1967 mission and the plan to kidnap Dr. Vogel and smuggle him out of the country unfolds. As the mission is about to be successful, the trio hits a snag and they have to hold onto the doctor until another plan is developed. Keeping Vogel hidden in their apartment is causing conflict among the team members. Will the team's mission be successful or will their plan fall apart? The movie sifts back to 1997 with Rachel and Stefan coping with David's suicide. Will past secrets be kept safe or will the truth finally be revealed. Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkerson and Ciaran Hinds are excellent as the present day retired Massad agents. The actors who play the team in 1967 are also very good. This a quality story that moves along but it does have some short, intense violent scenes. See it.

Imagine Me and You (1:33) 2005

Set in modern day England,  Rachel and Hector's wedding day is here. All goes well except for one hitch. Rachel is instantly attracted to Luce, the florist. After the wedding, the couple invites Luce for dinner to introduce her to Cooper, a real ladies' man. Luce isn't interested in Cooper or any other man. She is attracted to Rachel. As time goes on, Rachel is continually drawn to Luce. Heck becomes aware that Rachel has changed and is convinced that it is his fault. Rachel is conflicted, she doesn't want to hurt Heck, her long time friend and recent husband. Imagine Me and You received poor reviews but I thought that the film treated the subject in a very sensitive manner. Heck is a good man and realizes that Rachel can not be happy staying married but he is distraught over losing Rachel. Rachel is torn between  Heck and Luce. Luce believes that single people should never come between a married couple. Whatever the outcome, someone will be hurt. Heck is portrayed by Matthew B. Goode as a sensitive man who heart is being broken. At first, Heck is not understanding what is going wrong in the marriage and reveals to his friend, Coop, that he is afraid to find out. This movie maybe the quality of a made for television movie but it deserves to be recognized for the dignified manner in which it handled the subject matter.

Colombiana (1:47) 2011

Colombiana is a guilty pleasure. There really isn't a reason why I should like the movie but I did.  Cataleya is a nine year Columbian girl who sees her parents shot to dead. When she arrives in Chicago to live with Theo and his mother, Cataleya has already made up her mind to be a killer so she take  revenge on those who murdered her family. Fast forward to the present day and Cataleya is now an adult and professional killer. Cataleya has learned a lot of skills in fifteen years, she is a sharpshooter, a technological wiz and break into a prison cell, commit murder, and then walk out the police station unnoticed. Colombiana shows a lot of shootings but the victims pretty much fall over dead without a lot of blood and gore. If you can suspense your belief, it is a romp which promotes a very intelligentm highly skilled young woman. Yes, she is doesn't have pro social behaviors but she does have strong family ties.

TrollHunter - Trolljegeren (1:30) 2010

What a fun movie. The opening is reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project as students are in the forest looking for bears. They soon meet Norway's sole troll hunter, Hans and a close encounter with a troll. The two students ask if they can film the troll hunter on the job and he agrees. Sometimes funny, sometimes scary, sometimes gross with a tinge of horror, the film sticks close to troll folklore.  A big bonus to this movie is the scenery which includes fjords, forests, waterfalls and farmland which I would have loved to see on the big screen. Being a highly original and imaginative film TrollHunter should do well in the rental market. If you are in the mood for a lark, see it.

Chicago (1:53) 2002

It's hard to believe that Chicago is almost ten years old. I remember seeing it on the big screen when it was first released and loving it. It was fast moving, the musical numbers were snappy, the dialogue was sharp and funny. I watched it again this afternoon and was surprised that I was bored by some of the scenes and the musical numbers. The acting was phenomenal, all the main cast were great although I wasn't a big fan of some of Gere's musical numbers. Queen Latifah was just as fantastic now as she was ten years ago. Set in Chicago during the Roaring Twenties, the main character Roxie, a chorus line dancer, is accused of shooting a man who claims he can make her famous. Roxie hires Billy Flynn, a hotshot lawyer, who is able to flimflam the press into making Roxie a likable victim. The movie really does have a strong message about our legal system and the power of the press. If this movie has escaped you so far, it is worth renting. It has lost some of its glitter on the small screen but it certainly an enjoyable musical.

Julie & Julia (2:02) 2009

In case you missed Julie & Julia at the movies, this is a must see movie. My aunt and I went during Christmas week in 2009 and we both thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Meryl Streep is excellent as Julia Childs and nails down both her personality and voice. Stanley Tucci was also excellent as her husband Paul. Although I have watched Julia's television show, I didn't know anything about her early life or her marriage to Paul. Amy Adams plays Julie Powells who blogs about Childs as she attempts to make and bake every recipe in Childs' cookbook in the course of a year. I thought the scenes of Julie and Eric, her husband, were the weaker part of the movie. This definitely Streeps' movie. If you have missed it up to now, give yourself a real treat and rent Julie & Julia.