Breakfast at Tiffany's

Watching Breakfast at Tiffany's is sure to accomplish at least one thing: the song "Moon River" will be stuck in your head for at least a day after viewing. Other than that, it might leave you feeling touched by the sweetly sad story of Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn).

The movie is actually a very strange tale of two lonely young people trapped in a large city without much hope of a good future. They live similar lives: taking money from people for favors. What those favors are is highly in question... but I won't go into all the details of the film. Basically, like all other Hollywood films, the two characters fall in love and everyone is happy.

What makes the movie really interesting is the gossip behind making the movie. Often quoted are the facts that Truman Capote really wanted Marilyn Monroe to play the part of Holly. In addition, the film ending was completely changed from the novel ending (in the same fashion as the movie The Devil Wears Prada). Finally, the opening scene was shot as quickly as possible to avoid tying up New York streets while Audrey forced down a Danish (which she despised).

The facts surrounding the film definitely make the film come alive. Plus, the acting is quite stunning at times. Audrey does a great job as the lead. Several people say that the role was written for her. Unfortunately, George Peppard falls flat, especially at the most crucial part of the film. His lines often seem forced and over-practiced, nothing like Audrey's free-spirited dialogue. Finally, Mickey Rooney plays one of the most racist roles I have ever seen, aside from those in Birth of a Nation of course. It's almost painful to watch, but worth watching since it gives a glimpse of how race was perceived several years ago and how far we have come.

Personally, I didn't like the story. The author's intention was to capture Holly in perpetual flight, but the film ends in exactly the opposite manner: she stays. To suddenly "fly" from this idea of flight creates incoherency. I give the film 2 1/2 potatoes.
1/2

Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine will definitely capture your heart. It is a hilarious and often heartfelt tale about a family torn apart by a overwhelming drive for success. However, several lessons learned along the way bring the family closer together.

The family is your typical American, dysfunctional family, reminiscent of the family in the Squid in the Whale and Napolean Dynamite. Every member has his or her quirks: the father is trying to make it big as a motivational speaker, the grandfather is a brutally honest heroine addict, the uncle is a gay, suicidal genius, the mother is trapped in a KFC dinner cycle, the son has sworn silence until he becomes a pilot, and the daughter is obsessed with winning her beauty pageant.

A phone call forces the family on a road trip from Albequerque to LA. They have 2 days to arrive in LA for a beauty pageant. Several hilarious bumps along the way bring the family closer together. I will not give away any of the details, but you will be laughing out loud. In the end, the daughter gives a very "unique" performance. This allows the family to realize that, despite their own failures and flaws, everything is ok. The world will push you around, it will bring you down, it will tell you you're not good enough, but as long as you have people to love and people who love you than maybe things aren't so bad.

Not only is the story excellent, the acting is superb. Steve Carrell does an awesome job as the uncle, Greg Kinnear plays a very convincing dad, and Abigail Breslin steals the show as the daughter.

Although some of the scenes are a bit disturbing, especially those of the beauty pageant, I still thoroughly enjoyed this film. I give it 3 and 1/2 stars.
1/2

Snakes on a Plane

Ah, yes, the overly-hiped movie Snakes on a Plane has finally made its theatrical debut. And I have to admit that I loved the film. Or maybe I should rather say: I loved watching the film. You can really get in to the movie by seeing and hearing the audience reaction as the characters are bitten by snakes in as many creative ways as possible.

The story begins in the most cheesiest of manners: a man, Sean Jones, witnesses a murder in a remote location on the island of Hawaii. Immediately following the death, Sean decides to peel out on his motorbike, alerting the killer, Chen Leong, to his wherabouts. (stupid, stupid man. didn't anyone ever tell him to remain quietly hidden until the coast is clear?)

Not only the killer's men but Samuel L. Jackson somehow find Sean at exactly the same time in his Hawaiian home a day or two later. Samuel shoots the evil men and convinces the boy to fly to LA to testify in Chen's trial, an infamous assassin who is also notorious for murdering witnesses to his crimes.

After "exhausting all other means" of taking out the witness, the next logical step for Chen is to hide extremely poisonous snakes on board the witness' flight to LA. To begin the madness, there is the obligatory sex scene where snakes attack love-struck passengers in the airplane bathroom. All hell really breaks loose when turbulence knocks open the oxygen masks to open causing snakes to fall on the passengers.

After a grueling hour or so of watching people brutally die by snake, Samuel finally yells the words everyone is waiting for: "Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherf***ing snakes on this motherf***ing plane!"I couldn't have agreed more.

I won't give away the ending since it is genius and should be enjoyed purely by any geek. I will say this: it is absolutely ridiculous and really makes the entire film worth watching.

I think the movie is truely a classic of its type. The cheesy lines live up to their full potential. The mediocre acting makes the film come alive. The snakes do not disappoint. I give it 4 motherf***ing snakes..err.. I mean potatoes.