“I Am Love”, originally released last year in Italy and later released in American theaters on June 18 of 2010, is a dramatic Italian film that depicts the tale of the extremely wealthy Recchi family through a daringly beautiful sequence of trials of love and loyalty.

When the Recchi grandfather retires and passes his entire business down to his son Tancredi and grandson Edo, the lives of everyone in the family begin to change. With this inheritance, the two men also gain a sense of power and entitlement.  

Edo channels his time and money onto his close friend Antonio, a chef seeking to start his own restaurant where he can cook the way he wants. Antonio, played by Edoardo Gabbriellini, is a mysterious man of very few words. He begins to work for the Recchi family after which Tancredi’s wife, Emma, instantly falls in love with his cooking and soon Antonio himself.

Tilda Swinton plays Russian-born Emma, a mother who loves to cook and has acclimated to the extravagant lifestyle of Milan. Her unconditional love for her family is put to several tests throughout the film when she is forced to choose between her personal desires and those of her loved ones. Swinton learned Italian solely for “I Am Love” and gives a fantastic performance.

Filmed in Italy, the movie shows its audience a glimpse of some of the magnificent Italian architecture and breathtaking countryside landscapes. The incredible scenery creates a foreign ambience that sets the tone for the entire movie and the camera work truly captures the artistic beauty from all angles.  

The film contains incredible amounts of emotion but a portion of that meaning is lost through the necessity of subtitles. The subtitles at times fail to capture the true essence and feelings behind the words and although the plot is easy to follow, the film loses some of its grandeur.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino, “I Am Love” won two awards this year, one for Best Feature Film at the Boulder International Film Festival and one for Best Female Performance at the Dublin International Film Festival.

“I Am Love” is not the typical summer romance flick. It is instead, an intrepidly beautiful and honest work of art.

The tale begins as Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), an aspiring writer, and her fiancé (Gael García Bernal) prepare to head off for a romantic honeymoon in the city that bread the “star crossed lovers,” Verona, Italy. Within the first few days of arriving in Verona, it is evident that the couple has different ideas of a romantic honeymoon. Bernal excellently portrays an annoying, “Italian-wanna-be,” as he drags Sophie from vineyard to vineyard and factory to factory to taste various Italian foods that would make some yummy money for his new restaurant. Unfortunately, Sophie would much rather site see than walk around dusty-old-factories to taste food. So, the couple decides to venture the city independently, both indulging in their own desires; and thus begins the story’s true adventure of destiny.

As Sophie begins to explore the city, she comes across the Secretaries of Juliet. After women visiting Verona post letters onto a stone wall within the city, the Secretaries of Juliet collect the letters and act as the “wise Capulet” as they respond to the letters of the desperate women seeking advice. Sophie, as the aspiring writer she is, senses an interesting story and begins to mingle with the ladies. While she begins to assist them with their trade she is greatly fascinated with the process; so, it comes as no surprise that when Sophie discovers a Letter to Juliet written by a Claire (Vanessa Redgrave), buried within the Wall of Letters for over 50 years, she has to write back.

Soon enough, the audience has the pleasure of meeting Claire’s thick-skinned grandson, Charlie (Christopher Egan). Charlie is everything but thrilled with his grandmother’s desire to rekindle the relationship with her long-lost-love, Lorenzo Bartolini (Franco Nero), and is even less excited with Sophie’s idea of a journey to find Claire’s childhood Romeo.  Egan does a brilliant job bringing a soft-hearted young man marked by a tough exterior to life onto the big screen. Though Charlie loves his grandmother with all his heart, he wants nothing to do with the long-lost-Lorenzo, realistically in fear that Lorenzo may just be lost in a cemetery or lost in his use of memory. Nonetheless, he unwillingly departs on the journey with his grandmother and Sophie, and in the process the audience witnesses the young man come of age and discover what it really means to “follow your heart.”

Yet, although Egan brilliantly captures Charlie’s identity, one could argue that the applaudable character and star of the film is Claire. Winick’s creation of Claire is heart-warming and truly connects the film. As Claire, Charlie and Sophie venture on their journey to find Lorenzo, the audience views the juxtaposition of Claire’s search for a lost love to Charlie and Sophie’s independent absences of love. While the film continues to roll, the audience views how through Claire’s story the characters develop deeper understandings of the phrase “to love and to be loved.”

One significant scene in the film is when Claire brushes Sophie’s hair to give Sophie a royalty she never got to possess because of the absence of her mother throughout her childhood. Although the scene is one of the quieter ones in the film, it carries one of the main messages of the film, which is that love does not always have to be spontaneous or shown in flamboyant acts of display, but it is also shown in the very small and affectionate things people do for each other every day.

Letters to Juliet is a story about adventure, discovering who you are and following your heart to achieve your aspirations. So, with that in mind, head off to the theater to view the heartfelt motion picture, because it is much more than just a “cheesy-lovers-tale;” it is a film enclosed with valuable life lessons and, of course, a whole lot of love.

The movie, expectedly, takes place on City Island, where the Rizzo family, a very Bronx-ian clan of clamdiggers (the town’s term for generations-long natives) resides.  Their town, as patriarch Vince (Andy Garcia) lovingly explains, is an island haven amidst the workaday bustle of the Bronx.  Like the contradiction that is an isle within a metropolis, the Rizzo family is an oasis of familial love amidst the chaos of a family at the height of dysfunction.  The Rizzos are, by nature, a traditional family, and Vince can’t figure out why he and his wife are drifting apart and his children hardly seem to be his.  Vince, a prison guard, also has a secret ambition of becoming an actor in the footsteps of his hero, Marlon Brando.  When Vince invites a mysterious young prisoner to live out his parole with the Rizzo family, a whole slew of secrets, lies and a few sneaked cigarettes push the family to all but fold in on itself.

Though the dysfunctional family angle is nothing new in movies and their ever-worsening circumstances seem somewhat contrived, the relatability and charm of the crazier-than-thou Rizzo family makes this movie great.  Each Rizzo has, aside from a brash New York twang and a Bronx swagger, a secret of their own. There’s Vince Jr. (Ezra Miller), who squanders his smarts on internet porn; the college-girl daughter (Dominik Garcia-Lorido), whose nighttime activities are less than venerable, and Vince’s wife (Julianne Margulies), who nurses a surreptitious crush on the handsome new addition to the family, whose precise identity may reveal a long-kept secret scandal. 

As the Rizzos become more and more entangled in their convoluted web of deceit, the truth, of course, begins to unravel.  The Rizzos prove that even the best-kept secrets come to light, and can perhaps bring together the lives that were otherwise up in smoke.

The troubles of the movie begin when Andy is forced to clean his room. His mother is unhappy with how messy it had become, and tells him that he has to throw his toys in the trash, put them in the attic, or donate them to a daycare center. Andy wants the toys to go to the attic, but his mom saw them in a trash bag and put them outside, so the toys ran out and got in the back of the moms car and got to day care. However, Woody (voice of Tom Hanks) is chosen to go to college with Andy, but he escapes to look for his friends. The toys think that they will like the day care center because the kids will play with them, but soon a bad bear toy comes along named Lotso (voice of Ned Beatty). Many issues arise, but viewers will be surprised with what happens when the toys think they have reached their destruction.

The movie is no letdown, with its fun story line, amazing animation and constant humor. Grab your friends, and get ready for a good time.

Actually, this sudden desire to make a restaurant started in the early 1990s when Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis launched the famous restaurant chain, Planet Hollywood. Although Schwarzenegger stopped his involvement in the chain back in 2000, the investment proved to be successful, as Planet Hollywood’s popularity has grown tremendously over the past few years.

Many celebrities admit that the only reason for opening a restaurant is just for fun and to create a place that completely fits his/her taste. According to cnn.com, many celebrity-owned restaurants are based on the food the owner grew up with or has just begun to love from travels around the world.

Music artist, Justin Timberlake is a perfect example of this. He launched the restaurant Southern Hospitality in New York in 2007. Southern Hospitality serves all kinds of “comfort food,” including ribs, burgers and fried chicken. According to virginmedia.com, Timberlake “missed food like Granny used to make” and even put some of her recipes in the menu. Co-creator, Eytan Sugarman said the restaurant “is essentially inspired by a lot of the restaurants you’d find in Memphis,” which is Timberlake’s hometown.

Eva Longoria, along with the help of celebrity chef Todd English, opened up a Tex-mex restaurant called Beso in Los Angeles. The food is essentially based off of her childhood in Texas as well as her newly developed, bold culinary style from her travels. According to citysearch.com, the majority of users rated Beso with four to five stars.

Actor, Robert De Niro opened up The Tribeca Grill in 1990. The restaurant is located on the first two floors of the Tribeca Film Center, which is also the headquarters of Mr. De Niro’s film company, Tribeca Productions. De Niro also uses the restaurant as a gallery for the artwork of his father, Robert De Niro Sr. The opening of The Tribeca Grill made a huge impact on the city of Tribeca in New York and improved its popularity. De Niro has also helped open other restaurants in the United States, including Nobu, a Japanese restaurant in New York City.

While some celebrities have found success in the restaurant industry, many celebrity-owned restaurant only remain in business for short periods of time. “Owning a restaurant is a dream for many,” said Stensson.

So as celebrities follow their dreams of owning restaurants, we are able to enjoy the unique styles and atmospheres these restaurants tend to provide, whether it be for a few months or many years of success.

On May 7, Iron Man 2 will be released. This is the most anticipated sequel to the 300 millions dollar hit from two years ago. Robert Downey Jr. joins a stacked cast who includes: Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Rockwell and Samuel L. Jackson. Projected opening weekend gross: 155 million dollars

Following Iron Man 2, on May 14, is a team up of Director Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe in Robin Hood also starring Oscar winning actress Cate Blanchett as the Maid Marion.

On May 21 two big name movies are set to release. One being the hit “SNL” comedy sketch starring Will Forte MacGruber starring Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillipe and Val Kilmer, and the other being the forth and final movie of the Shrek franchise, entitled Shrek Forever After starring the original cast plus “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm, “The Office” actor Craig Robinson, “Glee’s” Jane Lynch and Kathy Griffin will all be joining the cast. The last three Shrek movies have grossed over two billion dollars worldwide so this movie should yet again become a box office hit.

Over the next two weeks, several potential box office hits are set to release. They are: May 28- Sex and the City 2 (on Thursday) and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time starring Jake Gyllenhaal, June 4- Forgetting Sarah Marshall spinoff Get Him To The Greek starring Russell Brand and Jonah Hill along with a lot of musical cameos, including P. Diddy, Katy Perry (Brand’s real life fiancée) and Pink; Ashton Kutcher Katherine Heigl action comedy Killers; Owen Wilson has the beloved 1950s comic dog Marmaduke; and Adrien Brody’s Sci-fi Horror movie entitled Splice.

June 11 is the remake weekend with The A-Team set to release starring Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, District-9’s Sharlto Copley and Quinton Jackson as Sgt. Bosco ‘B.A.’ Baracus formerly played by Mr. T in the 1983 series. Also to release that day is The Karate Kid starring Jackie Chan as Mr. Han and Jaden Smith to play the lead.

June 18 has the most anticipated animation movie since its predecessor in 1999. Toy Story 3 in 3-D with the original cast plus newcomers Michael Keaton, Bonnie Hunt, and Whoopi Goldberg. Look for this movie to become the highest grossing Pixar film of all time (Finding Nemo at 339.7 million dollars). Josh Brolin is set to play Jonah Hex the cowboy from DC Comics, also starring Megan Fox and John Malkovich.

The next movies to be released are as follows in this order…

June 25- Adam Sandler’s Grown Ups, Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz in Knight & Day, July 2- M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, and the third movie from the Twilight series called The Twililght Saga: Eclipse, July 9 has Despicable Me and a remake of Predators. July 16 has Nicholas Cage and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin) in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and also that week is one of the most anticipated movies since Avatar, called Inception. This movie, directed by Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Memento) will star Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine. Nobody knows anything about this movie because Nolan wanted to surprise everyone with the movie some critics are saying Leo could finally win his well-deserved Oscar.

July 23 has two big movies; Dinner For Schmucks with Paul Rudd and Steve Carell, and also Angelina Jolie as Salt the movie originally written for a man. July 31 has Beastly, Cats and Dogs sequel, and Charlie St. Cloud starring Zac Efron.       

August brings a lot of blockbuster movies with: The Other Guys and Step Up 3D on August 6, Eat Pray Love, Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World on August 13, the over the final two weeks of summer blockbusters, the movies to spend money on are Bow Wow’s Lottery Ticket on August 20 and Piranha 3D on August 30.

So ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy the show and remember: “State Law prohibits smoking in this auditorium.”

Here the prawns become not welcomed, but feared, and their camp they call their new home turns into a prison.  Fearing alien attacks, humans demand that the prawns be relocated far from town and a clueless man named Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is placed in charge of this task. The prawns are not eager to move. A private security force, led by van der Merwe, moves in with armored vehicles and flame-throwers, encouraging them to leave at once.

This science-fiction film, directed by newcomer Neill Blomkamp and produced by Peter Jackson, takes the form of a mockumentary about van der Merwe’s relocation campaign, his infection by an alien virus, his own refuge in District 9 and his partnership with the only alien who behaves intelligently and reveals human emotions. This alien, named Christopher Johnson, has a secret workspace where he prepares to return to the mother ship and help his people, including his son, return safely.

Later on in the film, van der Merwe discovers alien weaponry, which can only be used by aliens, targeting a new assignment: figuring out how to use them against the aliens. Things end up going van der Merwe’s firm’s way as that infection starts to spread, leading to him developing a lobster-looking hand (as that of the alien). Unfortunately for van der Merwe, these are not all the transformations he is going through. He loses all his teeth, picks off all his fingernails and throws up a blue liquid. As van der Merwe goes through these transformations, his boss and father-in-law, Piet Smit (Louis Minnaar), wants to use him as a test-subject to kill the aliens because he is the only human being able to operate the weaponry.

What Neill Blomkamp somehow does is make Christopher Johnson and his son, Little CJ, sympathetic despite their appearances. This is achieved by giving them, but no other aliens, human body language, and little CJ even gets tearful, like E.T did in Spielberg’s film.

A lot of fans seem to be disappointed in the third act, where there is a gigantic shoot-out and no attempt is made to resolve the situation, but the action in the film is what gives it that difference maker that all of the other nine Oscar-nominated movies lack. Blomkamp combines the ability of “prawns” to show human emotion, the transformation of van der Merwe into that of an alien and the superbly done action sequences in the film into a Best Picture nod that brings along three more nominations in arguably the best movie of firsts.

First acting role for Sharlto Copley, the directorial debut for Neill Blomkamp and the entire supporting casts’ first movie. District 9 grossed 115 million dollars domestically, putting it in fifth place among Best Picture nominations.

“War is a drug”.

Short but potent – maybe not the most poetic of starts but the Chris Hedges quote signals the consistent and battering theme of the multiple Oscar nominated film The Hurt Locker. The story follows a three-man American bomb squad as it is ordered around the streets of Baghdad to diffuse explosives.

This film gives a master class of suspense. From the get-go, you are stuck on the very tip of your seat. Every scene is worked to be dangerously tense and agonizingly suspenseful without boring or disappointing the viewer. Everything is worked together smartly and beautifully to leave your heart pounding itself to pieces at the end of each scene.

Sgt. William James, played by Jeremy Renner, is the hero of the action without having to be an action hero. He’s never afraid to put himself in danger and, in fact, is intrigued in the idea that every job he is given could be the one to snuff him off the planet. His recklessness and indulgence of danger leads him to unnecessarily dangerous situations but truthfully it’s in these moments that James is at his calmest and most stable. Here lies the complexity of Renner’s Oscar-nominated character – he’ not afraid to die but only because he has a problem with living any other way.

The script, truthfully, does not give a lot of room for character development but here is where director Kathryn Bigelow’s genius picks up. Every shot is each character developing. The visuals, the slumps, the contortions, the reactions and the shining glints are the most responsible for carrying growth of these characters. Bigelow’s subtle character direction is the true stroke mastery that elevates this film to the Oscar-worthy status.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 4

courtesy of foxnews.com