Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2010)

Sorry, never gonna happen. What is it about this kid that everyone likes?

The Hurt Locker (2009)

The title "Hurt Locker" comes from the phrase "they sent him to the hurt locker" meaning someone that has been injured in an explosion.

Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner) has just been sent to take over a team that deactivates Improvised Explosive Devices or IED's. He has taken over for someone that has just been killed trying to deactivate another bomb. The other members of his team are Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anothony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty). From their first mission with James, the Sergeant and Specialist, who provide cover for James while his is working, look at James as sort of a loose cannon. James takes unbelievable chances with his life while trying to deactivate bombs. Is he really that reckless or is he that good and professional? They have only 38 days left on their tour, will they make it?

While trying to chase down some insurgents (that his colleagues thought would best be left to the infantry) one of them suffers a bullet wound and blames James.

James goes home to his wife and child and the boring drabness of everyday life. The last shots of James are those of him going back to Iraq for another tour, this is his life.

This was a great movie. However it was hard to watch in parts.

This movie was based on accounts by Mark Boal a journalist who in 2004 followed a United States bomb squad in Iraq. He would often go out on 10 missions a day to observe the squad. The movie was shot in Jordan and Kuwait and won 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman director to win the award. This movie was made for 15 million dollars and is the lowest grossing movie to win the Academy Award. Since it's win, it has been re-released in theaters, although it is now on video. Netflix it!

Many veterans do not seem to care for the movie claiming that some of what they show is not like it is in real life.

Rated R. 131 Minutes. I give this movie FOUR AND ONE QUARTER STARS.

The September Issue (2009)

This film is a documentary that follows Vogue Magazine's editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, through the making and publication of the magazines September 2007 issue.

The September issue of the magazine is their largest for the year as it introduces the fall fashions and is filled with advertisements. This particular issue was their largest ever. It weighed five pounds and had 840 pages. I recently flipped through the latest Vogue magazine and had a hard time finding anything other than advertisements for the first quarter of the issue. For those who know me well, fashion isn't exactly my forte considering that some of my favorite pairs of shoes are still Vans.

There is much speculation that Meryl Streep's character in "The Devil Wears Prada" is based on Wintour and I was all set to see this. She is definitely a strong and aggressive personality and I found that most of her staff would back down in an instant and not try to push their opinions. One of her creative directors, Grace Coddington, a former model, has dealt with Wintour for around 20 years and they seem to have a wary working relationship as Grace is able to stand up to Wintour. Wintour apparently recognizes Grace's creative genius and even brings it up at the end of the film.

With the success of this documentary, sales of this particular issue of Vogue has sold from a high of $80-$115.

I found this film to be an interesting overview of how an issue of a magazine is prepared.

Not Rated. 90 Minutes. I give this film THREE AND ONE HALF STARS.

Herb And Dorothy (2009)

This documentary profiles Herb and Dorothy Vogel, a regular couple who managed to amass one of the most important modern art collections in history.

The Vogels live in a very small one bedroom apartment in Manhattan and have been married since the 60's. He was a postal worker and she was a librarian and they would spend his salary on art and live on her salary. Their commitment to their art is astounding and it proves that you don't have to be rich to acquire art.

They seem to concentrate on up and coming artists and their only requirements are that the art be affordable and that it be able to fit into their apartment. They eventually filled up their small apartment with more than 4000 works of art worth millions and in 1992 they had their collection moved to the National Gallery of Art. They have since refilled the apartment.

I am not much on contemporary art, but I found this documentary to be interesting and have much admiration for this couple.

Not Rated. 87 Minutes. I give this film THREE AND ONE HALF STARS.