MM Theater, Film, & Dining Blog

First, I have to admit that I am quite partial to British films. And among those, anything adapted from a Jane Austen novel is bound to be high on the list. And of those, Pride and Prejudice is among the best of the best. This 1995 television version directed by Simon Langton (of Upstairs, Downstairs fame) is first rate -- it is probably the best of all of the many versions of what is likely Austen's most popular novel.

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A good cast is wasted in Woody Allen's 2005 crime drama, Match Point. Reported to be made in the style of Alfred Hitchcock, this film is a huge disappointment, as it is neither suspenseful nor very interesting. Mr. Allen spends the first 90 minutes setting up the action, so when it finally happens, it is anti-climactic.

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Don't let the title fool you -- the only part of writer/director John Gatin's film inspired by a true story is the story of the horse. Everything about the characters is pure fiction -- but it is fiction at its best. Quite an accomplishment for first-time director Gatin.

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Arena Stage kicks off the season in high style with the World Premiere of Moisés Kaufman's 33 Variations, in co-production with Tectonic Theater Project. Creator of The Laramie Project and Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, and director of the Pulitzer and Tony-winning I Am My Own Wife, Kaufman is adept at translating actual or historical events into dramatic theater.

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The young adult novel by Ann Brashares is beautifully adapted to the silver screen. Amber Tamblyn (daughter of Russ Tamblyn), Alexis Bledel (The Gilmore Girls), America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), and Blake Lively (yes, that's her birth name) portray the four teens who share a pair of pants and much more in this delightful coming of age story. Friends since birth (when their mothers met in an aerobic class for pregnant mothers), the girls happen upon a magical pair of jeans that fits each one of them perfectly, despite their varying sizes. About to be split apart for the summer for the first time, they vow to take turns wearing the pants, each for one week. The girls expect great things to occur while wearing these magical pants. However, at first they seem to get the opposite results. Or do they?

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