Essay: Amanda Knox is Innocent and Lifetime is Irresponsible - 2011

The Amanda Knox Story (2011) 

Directed by Robert Dornhelm

Written by Wendy Battles 

Starring Hayden Panattiere, Marcia Gay Harden, Vincent Riotta 

Release Date February 21st, 2011 

Published February 21st, 2011

Lifetime debuts their Movie of the Week "The Amanda Knox Story" an allegedly fact based drama on the case of an American student charged with the murder of her British born roommate while they lived in Perugia, Italy. While this type of ripped from the headlines melodrama is par for the Lifetime, movie of the week course, the network is irresponsibly cashing in on this story at a crucial moment in the real life of Amanda Knox.

In November of 2007 the body of Meredith Kercher was found, throat slit and stabbed multiple times on the floor of her bedroom in a student apartment in Perugia, Italy. The natural suspects in this case would be her roommate and the various people who made their way into the apartment, friends, boyfriends, aquaintances.

The suspect that emerged immediately for Italian prosecutors was Meredith's roommate Amanda Knox, a 20 year old from Seattle living it up in Italy. With her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, Knox did herself no favors in the wake of Meredith's death allowing little quirky behavior and an inconsistent alibi to cast a suspicious pall over her.

While Amanda's actions fairly brought some suspicion upon her the physical evidence of the case and especially the forensic evidence demonstrate Knox's innocence. Knox's fingerprints nor footprints were found in Kercher's bedroom. DNA, blood, footprints, and fingerprints, of a third suspect, Rudy Guede were found at the scene while peripheral evidence, such as a kitchen knife from Knox's apartment was found at Sollecito's apartment; leading prosecutors believe the knife was being hidden.

Regardless of the physical evidence Amanda Knox was found guilty by a corrupt Italian justice system which used the media to sell their case. Prosecutors tainted the jury pool by framing Knox as a loose party girl who, with her glamorous Italian boyfriend, murdered Kercher in sex games gone wrong. They released videos showing Knox's admittedly callous seeming reaction to Kercher's death while a conspiratorial media latched on to the sordid elements of the story with the intent of selling papers. 

Now the Lifetime cable network is weighing in with "The Amanda Knox Story." Starring Heroes star Hayden Panattiere, "The Amanda Knox Story" is an allegedly fact based recounting of Knox's murder trial that until recently featured a graphic recreation of Kercher's murder as prosecutors claimed it happened. 

This malicious and irresponsible film, which I have not seen, comes at a time when Knox's appeal is about to be heard in an Italian court. The timing could not be worse as the media was used in the original trial to manipulate jurors, potential retrial jurors will be exposed to "The Amanda Knox Story" which is based on court records from a case that sketchy throughout and media accounts which were malicious, salacious and prejudicial. 

Meanwhile, the makers and stars of "The Amanda Knox Story" continue to make claims of objectivity and fairness. For her part, star Hayden Panattiere refused to meet Amanda Knox and tells interviewers that she goes back and forth about whether she believes Knox was guilty of the murder, ignoring the exculpatory forensic evidence. 

How exactly can a movie of the week based on the court records of a botched murder trial and prejudicial media reports claim objectivity and pretend to be unbiased. The facts are that merely bringing to life the murder of Meredith Kercher, as this movie did until it was edited out just prior to air, makes the film biased. It sets the scene and creates the false memory of Knox as a murderer and physically dramatizes what was until now merely a story crafted by prosecutors. 

The level of irresponsibility on the part of Lifetime is off the charts. The network could have, at the very least, waited a few months until the completion of the appeal to try to cash in on the death of Meredith Kercher and the destruction of the young life of the wrongly accused Amanda Knox. Sadly, restraint in the face of profits is not the strong suit of a modern American corporation. 

Lifetime should be ashamed. The life of Amanda Knox hangs in the balance as they weigh their balance sheets.

Movie Review Hoodwinked 2 Hood Vs. Evil

Hoodwinked 2 Hood vs. Evil (2011) 

Directed by Mike Disa 

Written by Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, Tony Leech, Mike Disa 

Starring Hayden Panattiere, Patrick Warburton, Glenn Close, Cory Edwards 

Release Date April 29th, 2011

Published April 29th, 2011

It's rare when a sequel is better than the original. Then again, few movies as bad as 2005's "Hoodwinked" actually get sequels. We're not exactly talking about "Godfather 2" surpassing the original "Godfather" here. "Shrek" vs. "Shrek 2" is barely a fair comparison. "Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil" had a low bar to exceed to improve on the first film and in that way it succeeded.

Hansel & Gretel

Red (voice of Hayden Panettiere subbing for Ann Hathaway) has gone off to train with a mysterious sisterhood of bakers who hold the key to an ancient truffle recipe that could give the one who eats the truffle unending power if they can guess the secret ingredient. Meanwhile, Red's Granny (Glenn Close) and her partner the Wolf (Patrick Warburton) with his sidekick Twitchy (Cory Edwards, writer and co-director of the first "Hoodwinked") are on the case of two children kidnapped by a witch living in a Gingerbread house.

Yes, Hansel & Gretel (Bill Hader and Amy Poehler) have been kidnapped by an evil witch (Joan Cusack) and she won't release them until Granny gives up the secret truffle recipe secret ingredient. Eventually, Granny is taken hostage and Red must break off her training to team with the Wolf and Twitchy to rescue her.

James Bond, Kill Bill and Granny

"Hoodwinked 2" shares with the first film the idea of 'Happily Ever After' as a secret law enforcement agency, led by Freddy Flippers (David Ogden Stiers), which assures happy endings to all fairy tale creatures. Where the first film took the "Rashomon" multiple stories from different perspectives, "Hoodwinked 2" goes for straight forward action with nods to Kill Bill and James Bond.

You have to admire the high minded film references of both "Hoodwinked" films but "Hoodwinked 2" gains something from not convoluting the references and instead telling a straightforward action comedy story with mere nods toward what influenced them. It's a cleaner, clearer and funnier approach than in the original which was far too proud of how clever the filmmakers thought they were.

Better than the original

The animation of "Hoodwinked 2," which is playing in both 3D and 2D, is a nice counterpoint to the slick CG animation that has become the standard. It's not nearly as beautiful but it's not as distractingly arty or disturbingly uncanny either. The characters are reminiscent of computer generated Rankin and Bass characters with their chubby faces and limbs.

"Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil" is far from brilliant. In fact, it is exceptionally minor entertainment. You could do better if there were a Pixar movie out there or if your kids have yet to see "Rio" or "Rango" but if they have seen those movies, "Hoodwinked 2" is a fine third choice, a modest and mildly funny kid's movie that surpasses the original.

Movie Review Raising Helen

Raising Helen (2004) 

Directed by Garry Marshall

Written by Jack Amiel, Michael Begler

Starring Kate Hudson, John Corbett, Joan Cusack, Hayden Panattiere, Spencer Breslin, Helen Mirren

Release Date May 28th, 2004

Published May 30th, 2004 

Ever since I was a kid, there was one thing that my mother and I had in common and that was a love for movies. Though our tastes are very different, occasionally my mom would surprise me. She loves Days of Heaven and Sleepless In Seattle, she loves La Dolce Vita and Grease, all of which are in her video collection. Her one abiding love however is cheeseball romantic comedies. Anything of the Hanks-Ryan canon, Julia Roberts is a goddess, but only romantic Julia, preferably teamed with Richard Gere.

I bring this up because on Mother's Day my mother joined me for one of those cheeseball romantic comedies she so dearly loves, Garry Marshall's new film Raising Helen. While I sat there in my cynical, cold-hearted shell completely unmoved by Marshall's greeting card sentimentality, my mother laughed and cried as if on cue from the film to do so. It's an example that any film critic needs to hear that certain movies play to certain audiences. That doesn't make a movie good but it should give you something to think about before launching into another cynical diatribe about the death of film. I might have walked away from this film ready to write such a review had my mom not been there.

In typical romantic comedy fashion, Helen Harris (Kate Hudson) has a fabulous job, fabulous friends and endless amounts of disposable income for her fabulous clothes and apartment. This all changes when Helen's older sister Lindsey and her husband are killed in a car crash leaving behind three children. Naturally, Helen assumes that her other sister Jenny (Joan Cusack), already a wife and mother, will take in Lindsey's kids but Lindsey has a surprise for them both. In what many would consider bad judgment, Lindsey has left the kids, Audrey, 14 (Hayden Panettiere), Henry, 10 (Spencer Breslin) and Sarah, 5 (Abigail Breslin) to Helen.

Helen's life of fashion shows and nightclubs is thrown out of whack. Soon her trendy apartment is gone in favor of a not-so-posh Brooklyn apartment. Her job working at a fashion agency for the criminally underused Helen Mirren in a throwaway role as Helen's boss, is gone because her kids destroy a fashion show. On the bright side, Helen has found the kids a good school. A Lutheran high school where the principal is the very handsome Pastor Dan (John Corbett).

From my perspective this obvious material moves slowly towards its obvious conclusions with a little humor and plenty of contrived melodrama. Sitcom level humor permeates every corner of the film that isn't taken up with “very special episode” style theatrics. However, for every cynical hard-hearted comment from me, my mom laughed and cried. Mom was under the film’s spell from moment one and remained there until the very end.

The one part of the film that we both could agree upon were the actors who at times when not being manipulated by the plot, actually are very good. Kate Hudson deserves a better vehicle for her talents than the tired romances she seems trapped in at the moment. The radiance and life force that made Almost Famous so memorable still shines through, slightly dimmed because the material is not nearly as engaging as she is.

The supporting cast is also very good. Joan Cusack may be the most reliable character actresses in all of Hollywood. John Corbett backs up his handsome face with great wit and self-deprecating manner. The film actually gets a little better in the scenes when it's only Hudson and Corbett together, these two have terrific chemistry. The child actors are…well, they are child actors and in movies like these, they are placeholders for the plot.

Ask me how I feel about Raising Helen and I'll tell you that Garry Marshall's affinity for greeting card level emotions is as grating as fingernails on a chalkboard. Raising Helen is another assembly line Hollywood film that had a poster before it had a script. However, my Mom would tell you that Raising Helen is a sweet, funny, family movie that will make you laugh and cry and walk out with a smile on your face and a little choked up. Mom would give Raising Helen 10 out of 10. I wish I could be as kind.