Steph and I have been watching tons of movies this summer and enjoying the return of TNT's The Closer.

We saw two films at the theater this weekend, Evening and Ratatouelle. The reviews follow.

Evening: A cast filled with notable and award winning actresses, intrigue ("Harris and I killed Buddy."), and promises of hanky worthiness (tear factor high). All in all, the movie was a great disappointment. A woman in the throws of dying revisits a past regret, what she considers her greatest mistake. Her daughters try and make sense of her ramblings about people they've never heard of, the name Harris grabs the attention of the younger daughter.

I think the biggest problem was the expectations I had after reading then seeing The Hours. I loved that movie and the way the scenes were shot were so beautiful, seemless. Evening shifts from present time to flashbacks in a way that I think is supposed to represent the main character in the process of dying. One of the first flashbacks shows Redgrave in a white gown with what look like stagelights above her. Given her stage prowess, I thought this might be interesting if those scenes where she is in that in between place, not dead, not alive, not in the present and not in her memories, might be represented by that stage like essense. But no, and there is a later scene in which she follows a moth down the stairs and out of the house at night and the scene looks as though it should have been shot on the stage. I'm not sure what they were going for, but it was a mystery to me.

In addition to the clunky mechanics, the symbolic elements felt like cliche, the moth, the boat, white gown, white light, fireflies. The night nurse was interesting, but ultimately the fantastic elements and reality clash in a way that falls flat rather than inspires.

The trailer looks like this movie is about the relationship between these women, but really it is about this dying woman hangning on to a one night stand who she claims was the love of her life. It's all about Harris. The problem with this is that she is presented as flighty, kind of selfish, maybe even unlikable, also, there is very little about their coming together that would make it seem like it was such an amazing thing that she would be hanging on to this in death. The mention early in the movie about this woman and Harris killing Buddy is HUGE! And yet the mystery unfolds to be not a mystery at all. Mentioning the possibility that she killed someone and not hitting a note higher than that is a mistake. They could have done without that element. It was unnecessarily misleading. Buddy is who she should have been thinking of if she was thinking of that time and what happened. And yet, when Buddy's sister visits this woman on her deathbead, neither women mentions Buddy at all, only Harris. I mean, Harris must have been a stone cold stud or something, but in the movie he was just another guy, kind of good looking but not extraordinary. I don't buy Claire Danes as a singer, though this is a minor point, as is Glenn Close's performance that harkend back to the Stepford Wives, freaky red lipstick, crazy eyes. The back breaking bones of this story are the messages. Women can't count on or hope for the sparks flying kind of love. That kind of love is a myth, something not worth pursuing. Along with careers as anything but homemakers Additionally, Harris is a stud and we should all want him. I am so glad we saw this at mantinee prices. If you go to this movie expecting to see these women at their best don't bother. If you go expecting them to be powerful and empowering, don't bother. However, if you too think Harris is a God among men, by all means see this film.

Ratatouelle: This movie kicks so much butt! It could be that after suffering through Evening, this animated gem was exactly what we needed. Our expectations were met. It was funny, the main characters were guys (and gal) we could root for. I heart Pixar. I think Pixar is much much more sexy than Harris. I would rate this as really good. Not great like Finding Nemo, but totally worth the price of admission and the outrageous cost of drinks and popcorn. Now I will tell you why it isn't as good as Finding Nemo. Death, threat of death, death defying feats, death. That little ditty always ups the anty, particularly in an animated movie. I saw the barnyard movie with my nephew and the death scene in that movie sucked ass. In Nemo it's what moves the scenes forward, it's what makes our characters heros. There are no real heroics in Ratatouelle unless you count fighting for your dreams, and that's where I give the furry guys the win. If you like food, see this movie. If you like cooking, shows about cooking, Top Chef, anything on the Food Network, see this movie. If you think rats rock (Cortney and Jillian!) see this movie. If you just got out of Evening and want to scoop your eyes out with a spoon, go see this movie, order a large popcorn, a beverage, and enjoy. Bon Apitite!