The Odd Life of Timothy Green

Family Faire:  The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012)  Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton play Cindy and Jim Green, a couple who have been told by doctors that they will never get pregnant. Jim and Cindy get a little drunk, write down their wishes for the infant they never will have and bury the box in the garden. Then something magical happens as Timothy shows up on their doorstep. Timothy was born in the garden. This is an enjoyable family film that will make you laugh and will tug at your heart strings.  Sure, it’s a little sappy, but sometimes that’s okay. CJ Adams does an excellent job as Timothy Green, a boy who is caught up in the wonder of the world around him. Jennifer Garner is outstanding as the young mother who tries to cope with the situation.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee   The Odd Life of Timothy Green Website

My View:   Sparkle (2012)  Set in the 1960’s, three sisters form a Motown singing group, but fame has a heavy price, and Sparkle (Jordin Sparks) is seeing her family fall apart right before her eyes. While Sparkle is writing her songs, it’s her sister, named Sister (Carmen Ejogo), who has center stage.  The other two sisters are backup for her, but she is a troubled soul and could make all their hopes and dreams come crashing down. The music is the best thing in this film (a lot of the original songs were written by R Kelly), which is a good thing because it makes you forget the plot is so full of clichés that you can see from a chorus away. Whitney Houston does sing one song in this film, and I sure some tears will be shed.   My Rating: Cable   Sparkle Website

Family Faire:  ParaNorman (2012)  Norman isn’t an ordinary boy – he can see dead people. In fact, Norman can’t just see them, he can interact with them. He is going to need this talent to help stop a legendary curse from destroying his town. This film is from the same group who did Coraline and it has that marvelous rich looking, stop-motion animation. The film starts off fresh and funny, especially when you can see the ghosts that Norman interacts with. The film bogs down at the end, with a confusing tale of a girl who is falsely accused of being a witch and now she has come back for revenge. I enjoyed this film, but it just didn’t have enough material to be a feature length film - it would have worked much better as a short. This film has some rather scary looking zombies and ghosts, so it’s not good for the 6 year-old and under group.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   ParaNorman Website

Indiefest:  Killer Joe (2012)  Chris (Emile Hirsch) is a man who is in debt to a local mobster. When he hears that his mom has a $50,000 life insurance policy, he plans to hire Killer Joe (Matthew McConaughey), a hit man who happens to also be a police detective, to carry out the dirty deed. However, Killer Joe may want more than money to seal the deal. This is one of those films that some critics are going to love and some are going to hate. It is an ultra-violent film that doesn’t contain one redeeming character in it. My guess is that McConaughey just might get an Oscar nomination from this film.  McConaughey's that good in it, but one performance doesn’t make it a good movie. And, the last twenty minutes of this film is very graphic and bloody, making it very uncomfortable to watch.  My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again   Killer Joe Website

Indiefest: The Awakening (2012)  In 1921 England, Florence (Rebecca Hall) has dedicated her life to de-bunking the claims of paranormal activity. After exposing a fake séance, she is hired to investigate a ghost that is haunting a boarding school. This film starts out fun and entertaining as we see Florence exposed in a crooked séance, but, by the time we get to the boarding school, it becomes your run of the mill ghost story and not very scary at all. There is a huge twist in the film that I absolutely hated. I did like Rebecca Hall as the pants wearing, tough as nails investigator, but the film’s script lets her down in the end.   My Rating: Cable   The Awakening Website

Indiefest: Easy Money (2012) JW (Joel Kinnaman) is a college student who comes from a poor background and needs money to stay in school and keep up appearances. He becomes involved with a drug gang who are trying to set up the drug deal of a lifetime, and JW gets more and more involved with the deal. This Swedish film is interesting to watch as a we see the mob and it’s drug induced way of life aren’t just native to the US. Kinnaman does a first rate job as the college student who gets in way over his head and just might not be able to get out of a life and death situation. But it’s Kragomir Mrsic as the hit man/enforcer named Mrado who makes this film so compelling. He is a man of extreme violence but must temper it when given custody of his young daughter. Now, he must decide to stay in the mob and risk his daughter's life or try and get away.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Easy Money Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Sparkle: Piano Coach to Jordan Sparks

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: Lawless (2012) Just the cast alone, Tom Hardy, Shia LeBeouf, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, makes me want to see this film about bootleggers during the depression.   Lawless Info

Until Next Time!