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Stardust [2007]

starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, Clare Danes, Charlie Cox, Robert De Niro, Sienna Miller
directed by: Matthew Vaughn

February 25, 2008
From the point of view of an adult this film has lots of flaws - perhaps too long and the humour wasn't so great and the love story a bit unconvincing.But for children it is something of a wonder with tremendous special effects,battleaxe witches,sword fights,chases on horseback,a pirate ship that flies through the air,palaces and cities built on towering mountain peaks ( much of the scenery is scottish), and mystery and mayhem all over the place.
The last twenty minutes or so is great whatever your age:one of the best fight sequences I've ever seen on film.

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Romeo And Juliet [1996]

starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo, Pete Postlethwaite
directed by: Baz Luhrmann

March 04, 2002
I usually enjoy Shakespeare "done modern" but this was awful! It was Shakespeare meets Westside story, Moulin Rouge and greasy was the word that came to mind. The film kept to the traditional language of Shakespeare but it does not suit American accents. The words grated, uttered thoughtlessly for the most part from the mouths of Hawaiian shirted American gang youth. Even Peter Postlethwaite seemed preoccupied with maintaining his American accent over what he was saying.
Dicaprio and Clare Danes however do make a charming couple and you cannot help wishing that their love would survive the maelstrom of brutish hate that the two families have for each other. The film gets its reputation for being "good" from this simple alchemy and possibly from ... Read More:

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Evening [2007]

starring: Patrick Wilson, Glenn Close, Meryl Streep, Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Richardson
directed by: Lajos Koltai

February 18, 2008

'Parked uneasily between sensitive indie and studio chick flick, Lajos Koltai's Evening makes star-studded hash of Susan Minot's beautifully written, if emotionally constricted, novel about a terminally ill woman trying to wrestle meaning out of the shards of her memories. Floating in and out of delirium in her Cambridge, Massachusetts, home, Ann Lord -- a former singer, twice married to men she didn't fully love and vice versa -- is cared for by her two daughters, played in the movie by the world's least likely siblings, Natasha Richardson and Toni Collette." Ella Taylor

Something is missing from this film. We are left searching for a memory that will organize the fragments of Ann Lord's life. Vanessa Redgrave plays a woman dying. Her ... Read More:

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Little Women [1995]

starring: Winona Ryder, Gabriel Byrne, Trini Alvarado, Samantha Mathis, Kirsten Dunst
directed by: Gillian Armstrong

June 28, 1999
First things first - watch it at all costs if only for a young Kirsten Dunst. I can't imagine a better Amy and whenever I go back to the book I always imagine her in the part. Full of life, adorable and hilarious. There's a bit I just love, where Jo says "Stop sulking, Amy, you look like a pigeon", and Amy leans back, rolls her eyes and gives a sulky couple of 'coo's. Sadly, she gets cut two thirds of the way through for a 'grown-up' Amy, who is all right but nothing to write home about.

I wanted to like it, but the film as a whole is pretty flawed. The pace is monotonous and some of the best scenes of the book are cut and replaced with dull dialogue. Because the film is of both Little Women books, a lot of character development is cut and ... Read More:

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My So Called Life

starring: Claire Danes, Jared Leto, Devon Gummersall, A.J. Langer, Wilson Cruz

May 14, 2007
It's been an odd 15 years since I saw this from TV. Times have changed and I've grown up so I was a bit hesitant to buy this. I was worried that perhaps the series would seem silly and outdated by now, but fortunately that was not the case! In fact, it was even better than I remembered! My So-Called Life is a pearl among TV drama and obviously remains to be that.

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Family Stone, The [2005]

starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Paul Schneider, Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams
directed by: Bezucha Thomas

April 17, 2006

What happens when the son brings home for X-mas a girl he wants to marry and the family thinks her utterly unsuitable for him and the family? Well this movie answers your question.

Legendary and Oscar winning Diane Keaton as Sybil Stone is the outspoken matriarch, wo survived a bout of breast cancer and has recently fallen ill again, keeps the family together and presides over it.

Sarah Jessica Parker as Meredith Morton is the stiff businesswoman and control-freak girlfriend with a throat-clearing tick who annoys the members of the Stone family. Sarah Jessica Parker may have risen to stardom as one Carrie Bradshaw in the award-winning Sex and the City, but the actress proves her versatility as an unsympathetic character in this movie. ... Read More:

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Stardust [HD DVD] [2007]

starring: Sienna Miller, Jason Flemyng, Ricky Gervais, Robert De Niro, Charlie Cox
directed by: Matthew Vaughn

February 25, 2008
A young man looking for adventure and what ever comes his way breaches The Wall to find a magical kingdom. He is seduced by a beautiful woman who claims to be a captive princess. Later he finds a little gift at his doorstep. Yep the little tyke looks like its father.

Well Young Dunstan Thorn is unaware of his heritage and has a soft spot in his heart for a local girl, Victoria (Sienna Miller). He would do anything for her, even bring back a fallen star; this quest will take him to the other side of The Wall and we will go with him on the quest.

This quest reminds you of "The Walrus and The Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll, as we dive into adventure with the fallen star Yvaine (Claire Danes), a witchy woman (Michelle Pfeiffer), a flying pirate (Robert De Niro), ... Read More:

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Romeo And Juliet [1997]

starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo, Harold Perrineau, Pete Postlethwaite
directed by: Baz Luhrmann

February 07, 2000
The opening sequence of this film includes arial shots of an American city in which a church spire is dominated by two much taller skyscrapers belonging to the chief businesses there. Visually, this sums up one of the important themes of the play, how material values in Verona have become more important than spiritual ones. There are many more ways in which this film intelligently translates Shakespeare's words into pictures. Particularly enjoyable is the way in which, at the Capulet's party, all the major characters play a symbol of themselves: Tybalt is a devil, Lady Capulet is Cleopatra, Mercutio is a transvestite, Juliet is an angel, and though Romeo begins as an astronaut, he ends up looking far more like a knight in shinning armour. The text is very much shorter than we might ... Read More:

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Stage Beauty [2004]

starring: Claire Danes, Billy Crudup, Ben Chaplin, Zoe Tapper, Tom Wilkinson
directed by: Richard Eyre

December 27, 2004
It's London in the 1660's when women were forbidden by law to appear on the stage. Female roles were played by male actors who were raised and trained for this specialty. The greatest of them is Ned Kynaston (Billy Crudup) and we meet him on stage while he's playing Desdemona's death scene. Maria (Claire Danes), his dresser, wants two things...to be an actor and to have Ned. When Charles II issues a decree that henceforth women only may play women's roles, Ned's world crashes to the ground. As he says, "Where's the art in a woman playing a woman?" Maria's world changes just as radically.

Stage Beauty is a terrific movie about theater and gender. Kynaston is a man who plays women who now must learn to play men. He's gay, he's straight, he's bi, and he doesn't think seriously ... Read More:

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Brokedown Palace [1999]

starring: Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Pullman, Jacqueline Kim, Lou Diamond Phillips
directed by: Jonathan Kaplan

June 30, 2003
The other reviewers have basically explained the story, so I won't bother except to clarify that the movie is set in Thailand and not Tibet!

The piece explores complex ideas of modern friendship and the concept of human responsibility through a tragic tale of innocence lost in the midst of a corrupt Thai justice system. The movie burns slowly, which is beautifully captured in the production, editing and soundtrack. Clare Danes gives a stunning performance as the reforming sinner, drawing heavy influences from Shakespearean ideals of the classical tragic hero. Kate Beckinsale gives a more convincing performance than the forgettable 'Pearl Harbour' but nonetheless, her rather emotionless facade often seems unconvincingly fragile juxtaposed with Dane's super-charged characterisation ... Read More: