Rating: 
Summary: Dream with the movie !
Review: i was attracted by the imaginary scene and the "sistership" between Penny and Mary. Jena Malone's performance as a mature little one in this movie is excellent, definitely can moisture your eyes. And for the hear it's also a touching one- the ballad folk song at night, the music companied with the prisoner's poems...etc., which connected every single part of the movie and made it a complete one, a dream world. So just let yourself stuck in the sofa (or on the bed like me) and get your desert eyeballs an oasis! BTW Danile, i watched it accidentally on cinemax too!
Rating:
Summary: Dream with the movie !
Review: i was attracted by the imaginary scene and the "sistership" between Penny and Mary. Jena Malone's performance as a mature little one in this movie is excellent, definitely can moisture your eyes. And for the hear it's also a touching one- the ballad folk song at night, the music companied with the prisoner's poems...etc., which connected every single part of the movie and made it a complete one, a dream world. So just let yourself stuck in the sofa (or on the bed like me) and get your desert eyeballs an oasis! BTW Danile, i watched it accidentally on cinemax too!
Rating:
Summary: Dream with the movie !
Review: i was sttracted by the imaginary scene, and the "sistership" between penny and mary. Jena Malone's performance as a mature little one in this movies was excellent, definitely can moisture your eyes. And for the hears it's also a touching one ------ the ballad folk song at night, the music companied with the prisoner's poems..., which connected every single part of the movie and made it a complete one, a dream world. So just let yourself stuck in the sofa (or on the bed just like me) and get your desert eyeball an oasis! By the way Daniel, i watched it accidentally on cinemax too!
Rating:
Summary: Dream with the movie !
Review: i was sttracted by the imaginary scene, and the "sistership" between penny and mary. Jena Malone's performance as a mature little one in this movies was excellent, definitely can moisture your eyes. And for the hears it's also a touching one ------ the ballad folk song at night, the music companied with the prisoner's poems..., which connected every single part of the movie and made it a complete one, a dream world. So just let yourself stuck in the sofa (or on the bed just like me) and get your desert eyeball an oasis! By the way Daniel, i watched it accidentally on cinemax too!
Rating:
Summary: "The Book of Stars"
Review: I've watched this movie in two different settings, once on my computer and once at the Spindletop Film Festival in Beaumont, Texas. When I watched on my tiny computer screen it seemed promising, but it was hard to immerse myself completely in the story. When I saw it on the big screen I was awed by its haunting beauty.I've thought a lot about the two experiences since then and realized a few things about the movie. First of all, it is a dreamlike movie of intense realism. You have to suspend your life for two hours, skip trips to the bathroom and the kitchen, turn off the ringer on the phone and immerse yourself in the story. It reminds me of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in this way: if you walked into the middle of "Tiger" you'd ask yourself, "How can these people fly?" because you are not a part of the movie. Similarly, you cannot pass in and out of "Book of Stars", you have to live within the screen for a couple of hours. Secondly, I realized that the production and distribution systems of "Hollywood" rob us of many beautiful stories that will never be seen. Movies that don't fit into a particular niche with a preordained advertising scheme either will not be made or will not be distributed nationally. "Book of Stars" is not easily pigeon-holed and thus was never seen on more than a handful of screens and went straight to video. I highly recommend this movie, only if you are willing to lock yourself in a room and breathe in a story filled with the darkness and beauty of life. It is filled with hope and despair, resignation and longing, love and fear, the things that make our life deeper and more rewarding than a trip to Wal-mart.
Rating:
Summary: While life exists, there is always hope
Review: If you don't need tissues long before the end of this story, you have no heart. I bought this DVD because it was one of the recommendations made to me by amazon, and because it starred Jena Malone. Mary (Malone) suffers with the terminal illness, Cystic Fibrosis, or "sister fibrosis" as she called it as when a small child. She lives with her elder sister, Penny, who is a lady of the night. The bond that exists between the sisters is the first heart warming aspect you experience with this film, when Mary snuggles up to her sister in bed, and makes her wake up by forcing open her eyes and then saying "Oh good, you're awake". Then along comes Kristjan, a new neighbour in the adjoining apartment, a refugee from the war-torn Balkan region, whose first experience of Mary is getting a wet head as he stands outside because she over-waters a plant in the window box above. She is struck by him as he turns the event into a magical comedy, producing an umbrella in mock protection of himself, before then revealing the fact that the brolly has a large hole in it, through which he peers at her. When they meet again in a local store, and he accepts Mary's invitation to dinner with her and her sister, the chain of events are set. Mary has a wonderful, dream like vision of life, which she portrays within the pages of a scrap book she calls her Book of Stars. Mary sees only beauty in the things around her, the stars, butterflies, flowers and plants, angels.... Her zest to experience as much as possible in the short life she has left is singled out when she admits to Kristjan that she isn't sad about her fate, and that she believes that exciting things are still going to happen to her, "scandalous things". When out on a picnic, a role-play ensues between Mary and Kristjan, encouraged by Penny, where they again pretend to meet for a first time, at a Society ball. This is then swapped for a bus seat together. At the end of it Kristjan asks Mary to respond to a question. If he is to ask her out, then she must reply if his timing is too soon or too late. He asks her "tomorrow ?", to which Mary replies "too late". It is at this point in the film where Mary's very fragile hold on life is magnified a thousand times over. Tomorrow is too late. The celebration of Mary's 16th birthday inevitably occurs in a hospital bed. Kristjan remembers their role-play, and buys her a beautiful dress, "for the Society Lady". But with a collapsed lung, there is no hope that Mary will now leave the hospital alive. And Kristjan is also bearing the news that his family has now been traced, and that he will be leaving for his homeland. Despite this, Mary carries Kristjan along with her continued zest for life, telling him that his leaving is too bad, and that she was going to ask him out on a date as soon as she got out of hospital. He tells her that he would have accepted. She says she would have worn the dress. And then she remembers how he taught her to say "I love you" in his own language, and in a heart-wrenching moment she repeats those words to him, and he replies the same. This movie has so many other elements to it besides the love story between Mary and Kristjan, and the extra-ordinary bond that exits between Mary and Penny. Watching it time and time again also reveals how Kristjan helps Penny to come to terms with Mary's condition. There is also the Professor, a friend of the girls, who helps them both to cope, providing romantic novels to Mary for her to read, taking her to her clinical appointments, and giving words of wisdom to Penny who doesn't want to hear them, but who fortunately does hear them before it is too late. And the Prisoner, who writes to Penny, inspired by her book of poetry she wrote some time before, particularly a poem about Mary, which was helping him to cope with prison life until his release. Penny doesn't respond to his letters, but he only keeps writing because Mary does respond, pretending to be her sister. The movie immerses you in a vision of life that sparkles and glows, but which always brings you back to earth again as Mary's condition worsens, and those close to her, Penny and the Professor, argue about her care. In the night before her death, Mary finishes the last page of her book of stars, a moving portrayal of herself as a guardian angel looking down on Penny as she stands on the beach where both sisters played together as children. In her death, Mary understands that her book of stars and lovely things will act as a reminder to her sister of what life is really about. For Penny, its very existence helps her to understand that her life has a future without Mary, a life full of hope.
Rating: 
Summary: A total waste!
Review: If you want to watch a weird, depressing movie about a self-absorbed, drug-addicted prostitute who neglects (and repeatedly betrays) her sick, dying sister, this is the one for you! I can definitely think of better ways to spend 4 bucks.
Rating:
Summary: Stirring, captivating... a beautiful drama
Review: Like the earlier reviewer, I first got to watch this film via Cinemax. That was earlier this afternoon. ^_^; I didn't get to watch it in full, only caught the middle, but even then it still hooked me. I guess it was 'cause I found the younger sister (Mary) too cute to resist. So I sat and watched, and it didn't take me too long to realize that I was watching a rare masterpiece. First of all, it was different. Not that I've seen about a million or so movies to really make a comparison, but it certainly *was* a refreshing change from the stifling, sickening romances, supposed 'thrillers' that made me go to sleep (literally) and the eternally drained 'save the world' routine. Uniqueness is what always grabs my eye, and it was no wonder that this film had me in its claws in no more than a few moments. I loved it for its emotional appeal and striking realism, which was effectively carried out by the characters. Dying young girl who's making the most out of her last few months, older sister immersing herself in pills and prostitution to escape this terrifying reality, alien (er, not a space alien, mind you) whose only salvation in the prison lies in the form of a charming correspondence. Woven together in an intricate, vivid plot and expressed in excellent, effective dialogue, this makes for a definite must-see.
Rating:
Summary: "The Book of Stars"
Review: Spotted this at a video store and thought it would be good due to the description on the back...wrong! I could barely sit through it. I can't imagine why Mary Stuart Masterson would star in something like this...she must have been desperate for work! I love her acting but I'd rather watch her in Immediate Family, Bed of Roses, or Fried Green Tomatoes. If you're looking for something to make you want to go jump off a cliff, go ahead and rent this movie, if you're looking for something entertaining and uplifting, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Sad, bizarre, pointless movie.
Review: Spotted this at a video store and thought it would be good due to the description on the back...wrong! I could barely sit through it. I can't imagine why Mary Stuart Masterson would star in something like this...she must have been desperate for work! I love her acting but I'd rather watch her in Immediate Family, Bed of Roses, or Fried Green Tomatoes. If you're looking for something to make you want to go jump off a cliff, go ahead and rent this movie, if you're looking for something entertaining and uplifting, look elsewhere.
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