MOVIE REVIEW - Like Water For Chocolate (1992)

A Jacob/Rachael/Leah love triangle - well, really just two, because the Leah character was left out of the mix. What a strange tale of food and, well, they would say love but I would just say yearning. Sub-titles, decent acting, but an overly melodramatic story. Also a little confusing near the end when they skipped a generation - who had married whom? Who lived and who died? The ghosts and supernatural digestion are indicative of the unsettling weirdness throughout the entire movie. Even if it hadn't been so girly, I don't think this would've been a movie for me.

MOVIE REVIEW - River Runs Through It, A (1992)

I was quickly drawn into this deep and nostalgic tale of two brothers in Montana. Sons of a pensive preacher, they were torn between the depth of their upbringing and their desire to live life to the fullest. Though the brothers chose different paths for living that life, they were bonded by family, luscious Montana nature, and fly-fishing. The story was a tad heavy-handed in its foreshadowing, Skerritt's preacher became too girlishly prudish, and the movie ultimately succumbed to narrative platitudes (by director Robert Redford). Flawed as it is, this is a story worth telling, scenery worth drinking in, and has characters you care about.