The Music Never Stopped (2011)

Be patient.  This story takes a little time to get going.  The character develpment is thorough and delicious.  The pay-off is worth the wait.

If you are a child of the 60's, or a fan of that decade's music, or if you are just a hippie at heart, you will most likely enjoy this movie.  On the other hand, it may just make you angry all over again.

This is partially a movie about the power of music.  But it is also about generation gap bridging, family relationships, and the power of the human mind.

J. K. Simmons does his usual excellent job of playing a 2-dimentional Dad.  Lou Taylor Pucci is "The Last Hippie".  Actually the movie is based on an essay of that title.

Julia Ormond plays professor looking into the impact music has on memory and the mind in general.  Cara Seymour plays the torn wife and mother of the two main characters.  Well played everyone!

Watch this movie wearing something tie-dyed.

New In Town

While this movie follows the standard RomCom formula and is totally predictable, it does have a couple of things in it that make it worth a watch. First, the cold weather and fish-out-of-water Miami girl spending her winter in Minnesota is very interesting especially for folks for have known both extremes. Second, the great cluster of locals make for enough funny moments to keep us interested.

Renée Zellweger looks her age and as if shes had too much work done to hide. Sorry Renée but some of the close-ups were not very flattering. Perhaps this was by design? If so, the effect is successful.

Harry Connick Jr. plays her professional "rival" but personal love-interest. Similar to his character in "Hope Floats", this character is scared and flawed and available. The relationship is a bit rushed by the time constraints of the movie and never really felt real to me.

The real "characters" of this story are the locals, played to perfection by the likes of Siobhan Fallon, J. K. Simmons, and Frances Conroy. If you know anyone from Minnesota you will surely recognize these folks. No offense intended - I love these people. Ja sure.

This is sort of a cross between "Gung Ho" and "Hope Floats" and "Norma Ray", but don't read too much into that comparison.

Watch this movie with someone who has had to get out of coveralls in a hurry.