Reviews for the Javascript challenged
The Dilemma
Review coming soon
Black Swan
This is a brilliant and very intense film. There's only one flaw. Too little Winona! Noni portrays a ballerina at the end of her career, having been replaced by Natalie Portman's Nina. People who have seen Darren Aronofsky's work before will recognize the themes of self-destructiveness and obsession.
When Love is Not Enough
This beautifully shot film is Winona's most substantial role in years. For once, she gets lots of screen time, playing the wife of a self destructive alcoholic. This is a true story based on the life of the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Star Trek
This prequel to the Star Trek series did very well at the box office. The explosions were great, but I feel that sci-fi used to be smarter than this! Winona plays Spock's mother, and she is good but her screen time is brief.
The Last Word
I quite liked this film, about a man who makes a living composing other people's suicide notes. He gets into a romance with the sister of a recently deceased client. Fan views on this one are mixed. Some hate it, others like it. It's a flawed film, but the concept is original, and it is departure from the standard Hollywood romantic comedy.
Sex and Death 101
A sucessful guy gets an email which includes the names of everybody he has had sex with and everybody he ever will have sex with. Meanwhile, a Death Nell, a femme fatale played by Winona, is stalking men and putting them into comas. This comedy is one of Winona's best films of recent years. It was written and directed by Dan Waters, who also did 'Heathers'.
The Ten
Zany offbeat comedy which is a collection of ten short stories each inspired by one of the Ten Commandments. Winona has the funniest scene where she makes love to a puppet.
A Scanner Darkly
Sci-fi with a unique look. Winona stars together with Keanu Reeves and Woody Harrelson in this adaption of the Philip K Dick novel. Directed by Richard Linklater, this film features a unique form of animation called rotoscoping. The movie is set in a Los Angeles of the near future, a city where almost everything is under video surveilance. This is her best film of recent years, but her screen time is short.
The Darwin Awards
In this film based on the 'awards' given to people who die in stupid and interesting ways, Winona plays a tough wise-cracking insurance investigator. Winona has a lot of screen time in this film. Joseph Fiennes plays her partner in investigating Darwin Awards cases. The film starts well but falls apart at the end. It features cameos by many of Winona's San Francisco colleagues, including Metallica and beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
The Heart is Deceitful above all things
Only a brief clip of Winona in this film based on the book by author JT LeRoy. The author claimed to be the son of a former truck stop hooker, and claimed the book was based on his own experience. The author was a fake, 'he' was a woman, and the story wasn't true.
