Laura Loves Kate

Capsule reviews of feature films

THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU 2 stars. Slack adaptation of Philip K. Dick's short story "Adjustment Team" stars a disengaged Matt Damon as an aspiring pol who goes off message when he falls for flirty dancer Emily Blunt. The action sequences feel like filler, the romantic leads have little magnetism and the metaphysical underpinnings fall to pieces. 1 hr. 39 PG-13 (discreet sexuality, profanity, discreet violence) - Carrie Rickey </p><p> AFRICAN CATS 3 stars. Prey. Eat. Love. That's the cycle of life of the lioness and cheetah mother in this magnificent Disneynature documentary, a live-action "Lion King, that is deeply involving and primally moving. 1 hr. 30 G (may be too intense for children under 6) - Carrie Rickey</p><p> ANOTHER YEAR 3 1/2 stars. Mike Leigh's meditation on why some people chase happiness and others radiate it takes the form of four seasons in the life of a couple for all seasons, shaggily played by Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen. 2 hrs. 09 PG-13 (profanity) - Carrie Rickey </p><p> BEAUTIFUL BOY 2 1/2 stars. In Shawn Ku's quiet film about the aftermath of violence, Maria Bello and Michael Sheen as the parents of a college student who goes on a killing spree. 1 hr. 41 R (nudity, sex, violent themes) - Carrie Rickey</p><p> THE BEAVER 3 stars. Mel Gibson is compulsively watchable as the near-suicidal family man in the film veering from family tragedy to absurdist comedy to possessed-by-demons thriller. 1 hr. 31 PG-13 (mature themes, sexuality, brief violence, drug reference) - Carrie Rickey</p><p> BEGINNERS 3 stars. Mike Mills' captivating film about a melancholy young man (Ewan McGregor) both damaged and inspired by his vivacious father (Christopher Plummer) who comes out of the closet at 75. 1 hr. 45 R (profanity, sexual content) - Carrie Rickey </p><p> BHUTTO 2 1/2 stars. One part biography, one part idol worship, this portrait of the late Pakistani prime minister, the first woman to lead a Muslim state, is a bullet train through South Asia, chronicling its subject's 54 years while providing an incomplete, if sympathetic, portrait of her. 1 hr. 51 No MPAA rating (mature themes, political violence) - Carrie Rickey </p><p> BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK 4 stars. An inspirational, illuminating doc about the on-the-go, octogenarian New York Times photographer. A celebration of individualism, integrity, fashion, passion, urban living, street art, magazines and newspapers, and the absolute essentialness of a vintage 3-speed bike. 1 hr. 24 No MPAA rating (nothing offensive) - Steven Rea</p><p> BLANK CITY 3 stars. From the mid-'70s through the early-'80s, when New York was still crime-ridden and graffiti- smeared, a loose collective of artists, musicians, writers and yes, filmmakers, created a new kind of street cinema. Jim Jarmusch, Amos Poe, Susan Seidelman, Beth B, Deborah Harry, Thurston Moore and many others recall the days of rat-infested Lower East Side life - and the movie movement, later to be dubbed No Wave, that came out of it. A thorough, thoroughly engaging doc. 1 hr. 35 No MPAA rating (nudity, sex, profanity, adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> BRIDESMAIDS 3 stars. A hybrid. Part female friendship flick, part grossout gagfest, this comedy of terrors co-written by and starring Kristen Wiig is about singleton afraid of losing her best friend (Maya Rudolph) to a rival bride attendant (Rose Byrne). With Chris O'Dowd and Jon Hamm. 2 hrs. 05 R (sex, potty mouths and potty humor) - Carrie Rickey </p><p> CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS 3 1/2 stars. Werner Herzog ventures into southern France's Chauvet caves, sealed for eons by a rock fall and only discovered in 1994, where the glistening rockfaces turn out to house humankind's first art gallery: paintings of horses and mammoths, lions and reindeer, put there some 32,000 years ago by a budding Picasso or two. Amazing. 1 hr. 30 No MPAA rating (adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> CERTIFIED COPY 3 1/2 stars. Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's first feature set outside his homeland offers a shambling, multilingual discourse on the nature of art and the nature of marriage (and the nature of movie narratives, for that matter). That this purposefully twisting exercise takes place amid the sun-burnished cypresses and towns of Tuscany makes this playfully enigmatic meditation all the more pleasing. Juliette Binoche and William Shimell star. 1 hr. 46 No MPAA rating (adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH 3 1/2 stars. Unsettlingly beautiful, black-and-white, widescreen account of the Nanking massacre, the nightmare six weeks in late 1937 when Japanese soldiers raped and killed thousands of Chinese. At once allusive and lucid, mixing cinematic impressionism with documentary-like detail, director Lu Chuan has made a chilling and powerful anti-war war movie. 2 hrs. 13 R (extreme violence, sexual violence, nudity, adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> THE CONSPIRATOR 3 stars. Robin Wright is exceptional as Mary Surratt who owned the boardinghouse where John Wilkes Booth hatched plans to assassinate President Lincoln and in this provocative film from Robert Redford was the scapegoat sacrificed those hungry to avenge the president's death. 2 hrs. 3 PG-13 (violence, mature themes) - Carrie Rickey</p><p> COST OF A SOUL 3 stars. Gripping and emotional film about two veterans of the Iraq war who return home to the warlike neighborhoods they attempted to escape by enlisting. 1 hr. 45 R (pervasive violence, profanity, brief nudity, sexual content) - Carrie Rickey </p><p> EVERYTHING MUST GO 3 1/2 stars. Will Ferrell gives an unexpectedly poignant performance as an Arizona ad exec who loses his job, his wife and his house all on the same day - you can feel the guy's pain, but there's humor here, too. A first film by writer-director Dan Rush, adapted from a Raymond Carver short story. With Rebecca Hall, Laura Dern and a beautifully unselfconscious turn by a young actor, Christopher Jordan Wallace. 1 hr. 36 R (profanity, adult themes) - Steven Rea</p><p> EXPORTING RAYMOND 3 stars. Documentary about the the difficulties faced by the creator of "Everybody Loves Raymond" when he attempts to adapt the show for Russian television. 1 hr. 26 PG (nothing unsuitable for children) - Carrie Rickey </p><p> FAST FIVE 3 stars. Defying laws of physics, laws of acting and the law of diminishing returns, the fourth sequel in the "Fast and Furious" franchise delivers a ridiculously fun mix of motorized macho mayhem and multicultural bonding. With vintage muscle cars and special purpose monster trucks, over-the-top-stunts, heist jobs and rescue missions, all set in colorful Rio de Janeiro. 2 hrs. 10 PG-13 (violence, intense action, profanity, adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> FOUR LIONS 2 1/2 stars. Fanaticism gets the farce treatment in director Chris Morris' whopping strange and incendiary comedy about a band of bumbling British Jihads. When it works - and it doesn't half the time - it's as if Monty Python were back, putting its merrily imbecilic stamp on the dark world of terrorism. Pushing the envelope of political correctness well into another dimension. 1 hr. 37 R (profanity, violence, adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> THE GRACE CARD 2 stars. Steeped in Christian tenets of forgiveness, brotherhood and prayer, and rife with earnest platitudes about race and family, this overwrought melodrama tracks a white Memphis police officer as he struggles to deal with the loss of a child, a crumbling marriage, a troubled teenage son and his own racial prejudices and rage. Well-meaning, to be sure, this evangelical soap calls out for, well, absolution. 1 hr. 41 PG-13 (violence, adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> THE GREEN LANTERN 1 1/2 stars. Almost as enjoyable as an explosion in a mold lab. This intermittently-amusing, interminable affair stars a tongue-in-cheek Ryan Reynolds, an earnest Blake Lively and a scenery-chewing Peter Sarsgaard who never quite emerge from the green gunk encrusting the sets like so much Silly String. 1 hr. 54 PG-13 (sci-fi violence, action) - Carrie Rickey </p><p> THE HANGOVER, PART II 2 stars. Todd Phillips' overfamiliar sequel to his unexpected 2009 hit is a Bangkok-and-bull story, virtually a scene-for-scene clone of the first - this time in Thailand. With Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis. 1 hr. 41 R (frontal nudity, sexual candor, profanity, drugs, general raunch) - Carrie Rickey </p><p> HANNA 3 1/2 stars. A rip-roaring fairy tale cloaked in spy clothing, starring Saoirse Ronan as a mystery girl raised off-the-grid and trained as a killing machine. Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett co-star. Nutty and exhilarating, violent and smart, with action set in snowy Nordic regions, the deserts of Morocco, and grungy Berlin. 1 hr. 51 PG-13 (violence, profanity, adult themes) - Steven Rea</p><p> HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE 1 1/2 stars. Manhattan twentysomethings at that awkward age: Too old for casual relations, not ready to commit. The actors (Josh Radnor, Zoe Kazan, Malin Akerman and Kate Mara) are appealing. The plausibility quotient of the film is so low, however, you don't believe in them. 1 hr. 38 R (sexual candor, profanity) - Carrie Rickey</p><p> HESHER 2 stars. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, looking nothing like the cute guy he was in "(500) Days of Summer," is a long-haired, muscled-up, seriously tattooed stranger who moves in, uninvited, to a grief-stricken family's home and proceeds to shake things up. 1 hr. 40 R (profanity, drugs, drink, sex, adult themes) - Steven Rea</p><p> HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN 2 stars. Neo-exploitation, and the title says it all. Born out of a grindhouse trailer contest co-sponsored by Robert Rodriguez, this grainy, grungy replication of the blood-splattered Bs of the '60s and '70s stars Rutger Hauer as a homeless guy who hops off a freight car in a hellish burg and decides to clean the place up. Flying prosthetic body parts and fake blood fill the screen. 1 hr. 26 No MPAA rating (violence, gore, profanity, drugs, nudity, adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> HOODWINKED TOO! HOOD VS.Evil 2 stars. Anne Hathaway does not return as the voice of Little Red Riding Hood in this hopped-up, "Shrek"-ian melodrama of Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm flickers with references to pop culture and anthropomorphic sidekicks joking. There is no real history, or purpose (beyond the obvious to make money), just a lot of high tech-y, "Mission: Impossible"-style action and "Kill Bill" arts Martial and mysticism. PG (cartoon chaos, scary stuff, adult themes) - Steven Rea </ p> I AM 3 stars.Hollywood director Tom Shadyac provides the trappings of wealth and made a documentary about how people can make the world a better place. 1 hour. 20 No MPAA (sophisticated discussion of scientific exploration and religious) - Carrie Rickey </ p> INSIDIOUS 2 1 / 2 stars. Writing / directing team behind the grisly "Saw" comes this picture scare more rarefied, and the atmosphere. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne are the nice couple who move into a house with their son and newborn, only to find that something is terribly, strangely wrong.Alarming whooshing ceiling fans and a visit from a bunch of ghost-busting nerds follow. 1 hour. 42 PG-13 (fear, violence, children in jeopady, adult themes) - Steven Rea </ p> Judy Moody BUMMER AND NOT BEEN 2 1 / 2 stars. Live action adaptation of series of popular children's books. " Sparkling effort by young Jordana Beatty as the title character. 1 hour. 31 PG (mild humor pot) - David Hiltbrand </ p> JUMP 2 1 / 2 stars BROOM. Buoyant multigenerational comedy about the tensions before the wedding between an old-money daughter of privilege (Paula Patton) and a bootstrapper from Brooklyn (Laz Alonzo). Angela Bassett and Loretta Devine are their dueling mothers. 1 hr. 53 PG-13 (sexual innuendo and references) - Carrie Rickey </p><p> KUNG FU PANDA 2 3 stars. There's an ancient Chinese saying: "The sequel is never as good as the original. Still, the further adventures of Po are fast and a little furious, combining tumbling chopsocky with witty wisecracks and kernels of koan. 1 hr.30 PG (intense images, cartoon violence) - Steven Rea </ p> Meek CUTOFF 3 stars. Homesteaders on the Oregon Trail are lost in Kelly Reichardt beautifully observed, poky resolutely Western, with, among a small group of others, Michelle Williams, and Will Patton, last seen together in Reichardt similarly discreet, low-budget out, "Wendy and Lucy". 1 hour. 44 PG (adult themes) - Steven Rea </ p> MIDNIGHT IN PARIS <p> 3 1 / 2 stars. A lark, a soufflé, a charming shaggy-dog story with Owen Wilson as her hirsute hero. What's he doing in a Woody Allen movie about a B-list screenwriter who time-travels from the present to the Jazz Age? Disarming the audience with his wistful joie de vivre, that's what. With Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard and Michael Sheen. 1 hr. 34 PG-13 (sexual references) - Carrie Rickey</p><p> MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS 2 stars. Jim Carrey stars as a hard-driving New York real estate guy whose icy heart gets thawed when a six-pack of penguins show up at his Park Avenue door. Putative comic mayhem, potty-training jokes and profound life-lessons ensue. 1 hr. 35 PG (cartoon mayhem, potty jokes, adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGERS TIDES 2 1/2 stars. Somewhat more buoyant than its two immediate predecessors, the fourth installment in Disney's billions-o'-doubloons franchise finds Johnny Depp teamed with Penelope Cruz in a quest for the Fountain of Youth. Geoffrey Rush is back as Jack Sparrow's rival, and a school of CG mermaids bring Pre-Raphaelite Victoria's Secret action to the proceedings. 2 hrs. 07 PG-13 (violence, intrense action, scares, adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> POM WONDERFUL PRESENTS THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD 3stars. Morgan Spurlock bites the hand that feeds him and then asks for more, as he gets more than 20 big name brands to finance his expose about product placement in the media and movies. It's a move at once meta and masterful. 1 hr. 28 PG-13 (adult themes) - Steven Rea</p><p> PRIEST 1 star. Director Scott Charles Stewart and star Paul Bettany, who bored us to death with 2009's apocalyptic thriller "Legion," return with another yawn-inducing actioner. Bettany is a member of an elite Church-trained team that hunts down vampires. 1 hr. 27 PG-13 (violence, some gore, profanity, slimy vampires) - Tirdad Derakhshani </p><p> RANGO 2 1/2 stars. That acting chameleon Johnny Depp gives voice to one in Gore Verbinski's off-center animated Western that's a mashup of "Chinatown" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." A film for movie geeks and those who enjoy watching Depp role-play around. 1 hr. 46 PG (rude humor, animated violence, smoking) - "C.R. </p><p> RED RIDING HOOD 2 stars. The quavery, saucer-eyed Amanda Seyfried stars in "Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke's "Twilight-ian take on the fairy tale about the a girl, a wolf, and a grandma (Julie Christie, of all people!) A trippy tweenage bodice ripper that's funny and sexy and ridiculous. PG-13 (violence, gore, sex, adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> RIO 3 stars. Carlos Saldanha's joyous carnival of animation celebrating avian (and human) biodiversity. Winging and singing creatures frolic in Brazil's capital of fun. Storks samba! Toucans tumba! Parrots party in kaleidoscopic formations to the music of Sergio Mendes! Voice work by Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway and Jamie Foxx. 1 hr. 36 G (animal adventure) - "C.R.</p><p> THE ROBBER 3 1/2 stars. An exhilarating and ultimately haunting thriller, based on a true story, about a champion Austrian marathon runner compelled to rob banks. Run, moolah run. 1 hr. 37 No MPAA rating (violence, nudity, sex, adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> SCREAM 4 2 1/2 stars. Franchise spawners Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson bring back original "Scream" threesome Courtney Cox, Neve Campbell and David Arquette, throwing new faces - Rory Culkin, Erik Knudsen, Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts and many more - into the hallways of Woodboro High for an intergenerational bloodbath. The Ghostface Killer runs amok, prank calling, punking and posting messages on Facebook. 1 hr. 51 R (violence, gore, adult themes) - Steven Rea</p><p> SOMETHING BORROWED 2 stars. A dull prenup romantic triangle starring Kate Hudson as Darcy, smug bride-to-be, and Ginnifer Goodwin as Rachel, submissive maid of honor, who belatedly realizes oops!, she's in love with Dex (Colin Egglesfield), the charmless groom. From the novel by Emily Giffin. 1 hr. 48 PG-13 (discreet drugs, profanity, sexual candor) - Carrie Rickey </p><p> A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN 2 1/2 stars. Like its star, Stellan Skarsgard, who plays a sensitive former hitman, Hans Petter Molander's film walks the line between funny-ha-ha and funny-awkward. Think of it as the Coen Brothers, Norwegian style. 1 hr. 43 No MPAA rating - Carrie Rickey </p><p> SOUL SURFER 1 1/2 stars. The takeaway line from this reverent retelling of shark-attack victim Bethany Hamilton's ordeal is that with faith, all things are possible. Just goes to show that the Gospel isn't always right. Faith clearly does not assure a good movie. The aquatic and surf scenes are spectacular. The story, a cliched climb to inspiration. "Soul Surfer" is more parable than plot. 1 hr. 46 PG (intense action sequence) - David Hiltbrand</p><p> SOURCE CODE 2 stars. Jake Gyllenhaal keeps waking up as a stranger on a train. He has eight minutes to find a bomb, save Chicago and get the girl (Michelle Monaghan). Ready? Go! This distemporal thriller is even more disjointed than it means to be. 1 hr. 33. PG-13 (language, violence). - David Hiltbrand.</p><p> SPORK 2 stars. A potty and potty-mouthed junior-high school musical that plays like "Napoleon Dynamite" spliced with an episode of "Glee." By turns energetic and slack. 1 hr. 26 No MPAA rating (profanity, sexual candor) - Carrie Rickey</p><p> SUBMARINE 3 stars. This jaunty coming-of-age movie is set in Swansea, Wales, in the 1980s as its hero surfaces from acute self-consciousness to a new awareness of family and friends. 1 hr. 37 R (drug use, profanity, sexual candor) - Carrie Rickey </p><p> SUMMER WARS 3 stars. Trippy, eye-popping anime fun about a virtual world universe colliding with real-world teen romance. Animator Mamoru Hosoda combines Miyazaki-like elegance with pop art, psychelia and the cartoonish whimsy of Takashi Murakami. Cool. 1 hr. 54 PG (profanity, cartoon mayhem, adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> SUPER 8 3 stars. A model of recycling, this adolescent romantic thriller from JJ Abrams salvages the best parts from Steven Spielberg blockbusters. Because Abrams likes his melancholy characters and lets them be awestruck and aw-shucks, it works. With newcomer Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning. 1 hr. 52 PG-13 (intense action sequences, drug refereces) - Carrie Rickey </p><p> THOR 2 stars. Chris Hemsworth stars as the Norse god of comic book fame in this handsome but vacuous action film. With Anthony Hopkins and the ubiquitous Natalie Portman. 1 hr. 54 PG-13 (intense action and violence) - David Hiltbrand </p><p> TINY FURNITURE 3 1/2 stars. Writer/director/star Lena Dunham's fiercely witty, self-lacerating study of a college grad's aimless return to the family nest (in artsy downtown New York). Bad sex and identity crises ensue. A tiny indie with big, bold ideas - and a big prize from the South By Southwest Film Festival. 1 hr. 38 No MPAA rating (sex, profanity, adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> THE TREE OF LIFE 4 stars. Terrence Malick contemplates the universe and nature, grace and grief and love - and the lives of a family in 1950s Texas - in his beautiful, elipitical, kind of nutty masterpiece. With Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and Sean Penn, and yes, CG dinosaurs, too. PG-13 (violence, adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> THE TRIP 4 stars. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, two friends (and friendly rivals) who happen to be famous British funnymen, and who happen to be traveling together for a week through the hills and dales - and posh restaurants - of the Lake District. Ridiculously riotous comedy - and crazy impressions - ensue. 1 hr. 47 No MPAA rating (profanity, drugs, sex, adult themes) - Steven Rea </p><p> VANISHING ON 7TH STREET 2 1/2 stars. Darkness Itself has swallowed up virtually everyone on the globe, save four hapless survivors in this creepy thriller from Machinist helmer Brad Anderson. A superior cast (Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo and Thandie Newton) and brilliant idea ruined by lame script and uneven direction. 1 hr. 30 R (profanity, terror, existentialism) - Tirdad Derakhshani</p><p> WATER FOR ELEPHANTS 3 stars. Steamy and sexy with a smack of sadism, this atmospheric adaptation of the Sara Gruen novel is a throwback to old-school Hollywood action/romance. Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz co-star as a veterinarian, trick rider and unstable ringmaster struggling to save a financially-ailing circus during the Depression. 2 hrs. PG-13 (abusive behavior to humans and animals, discreet sex) - Carrie Rickey</p><p> WIN WIN 3 stars. Paul Giamatti stars as a small-town lawyer who makes a big-time ethical misjudgment, jeopardizing his career, his marriage and even the high school wrestling team he coaches. Amy Ryan and newcomer Alex Shaffer are onboard, and Tom McCarthy - "The Station Agent," "The Visitor" - directs. Deftly. 1 hr. 46 R (profanity, adult themes) - Steven Rea</p><p> X-MEN: FIRST CLASS 2 1/2 stars. The truth behind the Cuban missile crisis is revealed - finally! - in this elaborate origins story, which also explains how the mutant superheroes of the Marvel Comics franchise came to be. For a time, director Mathhew ("Kick-Ass") Vaughn keeps everything going, but the then the inevitable nosedive into meaningless action and save-the-world histrionics sets in. With James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Laurence, January Jones, and Kevin Bacon as a very, very evil German. Lots of cool, James Bond-ian '60s clothes and props. 2 hrs.

Kate Hopewell-Smith Photography: Rob & Lisa - Shoot the Love

When you are a photographer you often lack the kind of imagery in your life that you create for others. For example I have very few photographs with my husband and kids, even less with my husband etc. And yet I know many, many photographers! Asking someone to take photographs of you/for you is a quite a big thing. Not least because you have to put aside how you would shoot it. What is also interesting is that when the shoot is about you and how you feel you do step back from the 'frame' and from judging it with a photographer's eye. Lisa and Rob are delighted with the images - because it is abundantly clear how they feel about each other. As far as they are concerned I have captured the love and the spirit of that love. The fact that they might like the light or the composition is very much secondary. As it should be from their perspective. The photographer on the other hand should be constantly striving to bring together the emotion, the light, the environment and the composition. No pressure then....

Welcome to Kate Hopewell Smith Photography, based in Buckinghamshire, but working across the UK and locally covering London, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Bedfordshire, Herefordshire, Surrey, Hampshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire. Kate specialises in superior wedding and lifestyle portrait photography, her uniquely creative photographic style and exceptional level of service has made her one of the most sought after photographers in her area.

© Copyright 2010 Kate Hopewell-Smith. All Rights Reserved.

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