Rumor Has It...

Believe it or not, friends, Susan actually went to a Kevin Costner movie without having to be dragged kicking and screaming.

Jennifer Aniston is so beautiful. It makes me sick.

I give this movie a "really quite funny". I laughed out loud many times. I also can't remember the last time I said "Oh for crying out loud" so many times. The girls in Mena Suvari's wedding party were SO over the top, you couldn't help but sypathize with the plight of Jennifer Aniston's character. I swear, if I was ever in a wedding with a group of people like that I would want to die too.

Wait a minute... I think I was. Thank christ the writers didn't make us sit through the bridal shower. Ugh.

Anyway, I really connected with Aniston's character. She was just scared and needed to get to the point in her life where she was comfortable with her past, present, and future. But the main thing here is that just because you feel that you are different from your family doesn't mean that you're not a part of them. I mean, when it comes to how traditional weddings need to be, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, my older sister would be a 12- just like Mena Suvari. My younger sister would be a 5. I don't even think that I'm on the scale, very much like Aniston's character.

To say the least, it is a very funny movie. Shirley McClain was SO superb. We laughed and laughed- and even if you've never seen The Graduate (and shame on you if you haven't) you can still appreciate this film.

Syriana

All I have to say about this film is that it must have been made by someone with ADD. It was awful. They go from scene to scene to scene with half of the stories having no relevance whatsoever. I cannot even get my thoughts together enough to write a simple review. It was just awful.

The Family Stone

No matter what anyone says- this movie is no comedy.

What a cast. Sarah Jessica Parker, Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Craig T Nelson, Luke Wilson, Dermot Mulroney, and Rachel McAdams. The thing about this film that gets me is how subtly the writers suck you in to the story of a nervous girl meeting the family that may one day be her in-laws, and weaves a tapestry of the family with an ailing mother, a free-spirited man, a vindictive daughter, a nervous mess of a man, his son who follows in his footsteps through every emotional roller-coaster, and the quite displaced deaf gay son and his partner who, ironically, are the most balanced of the crowd.

The weakest of the bunch? Acting-wise, without a doubt, is Dermot Mulroney. The storylines are based on five of the seven family members: Dermot Mulroney's (Everett), Luke Wilson's (Ben), Rachel McAdams's (Amy), Diane Keaton's(Mom/ Sybil) , and Ty Giordano's (Thad). The weakest storyline in the movie is Mulroney's part, the weakest acting is his part, yet the name of the film revolves around his story, interestingly enough. Some may argue that the Thad's (the deaf gay son and his partner) was the weakest- I disagree. Although the story could have gone on without Thad's story, I liked that story better than Everett's.

But the movie was still a pretty good movie. Not too comedic, not too much of a chick flick, just a pretty good movie.

Capote

Philip Seymore Hoffman at his best since... I can't remember. Magnolia??

One thing I found particularly interesting was Harper Lee's story and the fact that she was so close to Capote, not to mention the fact that even when the book became such an enormous hit people were still putting "How" in front of the title of her story. (To Kill A Mockingbird) the ignorance of the masses.....

That is not to say that I know so much more than anyone else. I honestly don't know anything about Truman Capote. I have never read In Cold Blood, but the film made it so that anyone would be interested in reading it. It is the story behind the story- the man who became so close to one of the murderers and it truly consumed his very being. He began to neglect his friends, his love, his life, everything but the bottle... it is the true picture of how debilitating a disease depression can be.

And I should know. Depression consumed my life for years. It was the same with Capote, and Hoffman's portrayal of that was wonderful.

Even though the film was not fantastic, it was still very good. Hoffman deserves an award for that at least. The viewer really feels the world of Capote and his Benedict Arnold complex.