Quick summer movies reviews

This week a movie about some mofo snakes on a mofo plane, one about a pageant contest for little girls, one about the very friendly world of fashion publishing in NY and the last one about the even friendly-er world of caving in the Appalachians.

Snakes on a plane
With: Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies, ...
Directed by: David Richard Ellis
Release date (France): august 30th

OK not the best movie ever but better than what I expected. I guess I don't need to tell you the story, the title is kinda self-explanatory, no? You have to see this movie preferably in a crowded theater as (just like for the "Rocky Horror Picture Show") the reactions of the audience are almost as important as the movie itself. Samuel Jackson overact just the right way, the fake CGI snakes are not so scary but whatever... just enjoy the ride. Don't forget before the movie to go and buy some fake plastic snakes to throw on the crowd at the right time... ;-)


Little Miss Sunshine

With: Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carrell, ...
Directed by: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Farris
Release date (France): september 6th.

A dysfunctional family (the grand-father is a drug abuser near the end of his life, the father is a loser in his professional life, the son won't talk until he manages to enter the air force academy and despise everybody on earth except Nietzsche and the uncle has suicidal tendencies - actually only the mother and daughter seem to not be that far gone) decide to help the 6 years old daughter to achieve her ultimate dream: participating in a pageant contest called "Little Miss Sunshine". To do so they have to cross the country in the old familial van. IMHO one of the best movie released so far this year, the kind of movies, like Amelie, where you exit the theater with a big smile on you face just because you feel happy. I don't know why but I just love road movies. A road movie (and the best one for me would be Thelma & Louise) is a great vehicle (no pun intended) for a story and its characters. This movie is packed with love, the dialogues are great and the cast is perfect (Carrell as a gay Proust-literate with suicidal tendencies is another demonstration of this guy's talent). I don't need to say "Go and see it!", just... go and see it!

The devil wears Prada
With: Meryl Streep, Ann Hathaway,...
Directed by: David Frankel
Release date (France): september 27th

When Andy (Hathaway) arrives to take the position of Assistant to Miranda Priestly (Streep) the most powerful woman in the fashion world, she has to decide between her love life and mental health or a promising carreer in the fashion biz. Definitely more creepy than the snakes on a plane, Meryl Streep shines in this movie as the viper-like editor of Runway Magazine and perhaps won a new nomination for the Oscars 2007. Between the prospect of a flight in a 747 filled with snakes and being seated besides her character in this movie in another flight, I think I'd take my chance with the first one, survival instincts.

The Descent
With: Shauna MacDonald, Natalie Mendoza, ...
Directed by: Neil Marshall

One year after a tragic accident, six women go caving in the Appalachians. When their way back to the surface is blocked they have to find a way through an unexplored cave. Creepy. While Snakes on a Plane can be considered as a "horror movie" it draws more laughs than screams from the crowds. Not so much with this one as it's definitely one of the scariest movies since the first Alien. Note to self: consider not going back caving in the near future...