nomadreader

Fruitvale Station by Ryan Coogler Near the beginning of Fruitvale Station , Ryan Coogler's debut (as screenwriter and director), the audience sees some of the actual cell phone video of the last moments of Oscar Grant III's life in Fruitvale Station in the early morning of January 1, 2009. I was familiar with the story before this film, but this choice places an omen over the rest of the film, which then takes the viewer to get to know Oscar through the last day of his life. I was gripped with fear throughout the film. In each scene, I kept expecting something terrible to happen, even though I knew the terrible moment, when Oscar is shot in the back by a security guard while handcuffed on the ground, would come near the film's end. The tension is still palpable. Coogler paints a well-rounded portrait of Oscar. He isn't made a martyr--the viewer sees all of him, both the positives and the negatives. Some of these moments were more successful than others, but I think it...

Admittedly, I am not the biggest fan of Nancy Meyers. I usually want to like her films or really enjoy the premise ( The Holiday) , but I usually leave the theater disappointed. I left the theater wanting to see It's Complicated again, preferably immediately. What makes this film so much better than anything else Nancy Meyers has done? Fantastic actors and a script that doesn't take itself too seriously. Meryl Streep has been divorced from Alex Baldwin for fourteen years. They have three grown children, who are all wonderful. On a side note, all three are believably Meryl Streep's children, which is wonderful look-a-like casting. Jon Krasinski is about to marry their oldest daughter, and he almost steals the entire movie. He's fantastic. Also fantastic, of course, are Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin (Streep's architect who is designing her dream addition). In the midst of the humor (and almost every scene is laugh out loud funny), are wonder...