A Mighty Heart and Ocean’s Thirteen

A Mighty Heart (4/5 Stars)

In January 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl traveled to Karachi with his pregnant wife, Mariane, in pursuit of the truth.

He was investigating a possible tie between “shoe bomber” Richard Reid and Sheikh Gilani, a Pakistani cleric who dabbled with radical Islamic groups in the past. “Meet him in public” everyone warned Daniel, fearing for his life.

A Mighty Heart is Mariane Pearl’s account of the five weeks leading up to her husband’s death. It’s based on the memoir she wrote of the experience in hopes that her son, Adam, could get a feel for the great man his father was and how much people cared about him.

While no recreation could ever truly capture what they had or the tragic direction their lives would lead, A Mighty Heart makes a surprisingly effective attempt. After all, not many movies can break your heart, keep your adrenaline racing and remind you of life’s value all at once.

Ocean’s Thirteen (4/5 Stars)

For the actors on set, the Ocean’s movies are a party. Famous people show up, hang out, and seem to have a lot of fun with each other . There’s very little acting involved, but that’s also part of the series’ genius.

As the franchise wears on director Steve Soderbergh has begun to merge the public persona of his very famous actors with that of the movie’s characters.

By now, in the midst of the third film, there’s very little effort at all to develop these people into anything other than themselves.

You’re watching George Clooney and Brad Pitt up there, not Danny Ocean and his good buddy Rusty. It’s not that Pitt and Clooney can’t act, it’s just that for these movies, they don’t need to.

For Ocean’s Thirteen, that blending of public persona and character is more complete than ever and as a result the Ocean’s franchise works better than before.

As usual, Ocean’s is all about looking cool. Clooney looks cool, Pitt looks cool, Damon looks cool. They talk cool, they move cool, and that’s good enough. Combine that with one of the better heist plots the series has had and you have a movie that’s a lot of fun.

– Also keep an eye out for,

Knocked Up (5/5 Stars)

Judd Apatow gets guys. For years men in movies have been cookie cutter presentations of ferocious might or sensitive driveling. In his movies, Apatow brings a different breed of man: one who falls between the stereotypes of the sensitive man and the ubermensch and paints a complete picture of just how complex men can be.

Nowhere is this more true than in Apatow’s latest flick, Knocked Up. The 40-Year Old Virgin director tackles the worst nightmare for the single man – having a one night stand with a girl and then finding out that you’ve knocked her up.

It’s a simple enough concept for a story, but thanks to Apatow’s delightfully complex characters and hilariously irreverent approach to the subject matter, Knocked Up runs the chance of being one of the most brilliant comedies of the decade.

Read more at Cinemablend.com