Chocolat movie review

Here are some simple rules for life:

1. Never join a religion that denies you chocolate, or for that matter, simple pleasures like food, unless you eat so much that you end with a health emergency.
2. Never support the integration of church and state. It is always a dangerous mix regardless of how politicians and church leaders may want to help each other out to screw the people.
3. Always enjoy what you have. On your death bed, you will not regret what you did, but would surely regret all those places that you did not visit or the time that you did not spend with your family or the things that you did not try.
   

Chocolat is a great movie for anyone who likes chocolate or enjoyed "Like Water For Chocolate." Vianne (Juliette Binoche) and daughter Anouk (Victoire Thivisol) show up in a tiny French village, where the main square appears to be literally just as big as my backyard (it is important to understand this because it shows how small the minds of the residents were). Vianne does not go to church, does not have a male companion, wears red shoes (rather than black as all other women did), and opens a chocolaterie at a time with Catholics are supposed to resist temptations.

Thus begins the mother of all battles with the mayor Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina) who is literally in bed with the Catholic church and even edits the priest's sermons till they say what he wants to say.

Contrary to his expectations and disappointment, the chocolaterie not only thrives but also becomes a place for all the outcasts (Judy Dench as Armande who wants to enjoy her final years rather than go on a diet to fight her diabetes or Johnny Depp as Roux who as an Irish gypsy is not welcome and battered wife Lena Olin). In the end the whole town is literally licking chocolate off their fingers.

A beautiful family movie with something for people of all ages.

The Astronaut's Wife movie review

All the way from science fiction movies to space research to robots to robonauts, we devour anything with "science." That is why when the chance came up to watch "The Astronaut's Wife," we grabbed the opportunity. Plus, it had two stars that we love: Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron.

Surprisingly enough, even though the movie is about an astronaut, there is really nothing about space. Actually, the real movie begins after Spencer Armacost (played by Johnny Depp) decides to leave NASA after a very tough mission in which for two minutes the spacecraft had lost communication with mission control and the mission was promptly terminated. He decides to work for a private aerospace company in New York.

Jillian (played by Charlize Theron) suspectes something is not "normal" about her husband, especially in light of the fact that his colleague (Nick Cassavetes) on the mission died unexpectedly and his wife (Donna Murphy) committed suicide. Is she just paranoid (and her old mental illness is coming back) or did something really happen to her husband during the spacewalk?

We did not find the plot to be as engaging as we would have liked and so many parts of the plot are so unrealistic. The movie also ends rather quietly (and the process to the end drags on) with no climax, so to speak. Unless you are a big fan of either of the two stars and want to watch it for their great acting alone, this is not a film worth watching. There are better science fiction movies that we like: Stepford Wives and The Day After Tomorrow.

Pirate of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest movie review

As anyone who has ever watched a sequel knows, the sequel is almost always less interesting, though that does not mean you shouldn't watch this one. When we watched the "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," we were mesmerized by the costumes, the sets, and some excellent acting by Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley.

In "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," you will not be disappointed - just not as fascinated since the novelty is not there any more. That does not mean the plot is not engaging or the acting is poor or the cinematography unimpressive. In fact, the movie improves upon the previous one in all of these.

This time, the search is on for a chest that is linked to a key which is linked to a compass that Jack Sparrow has. Actually the plot is even very confusing, espcially if you saw the first movie a long time ago. But like any fantasy, don't get too involved with the plot or don't think too hard about the movie - after all almost everything in the movie is one big fantasy.

Finally, I would have really liked this movie to have less violence. Such movies are excellent for children but we felt that the violence was a bit too much for little children.