Theater. A professor of literature in 1930s Germany (Viggo Mortensen) is thrown into an ethical dilemma when a novel he has written endorsing euthanasia becomes a propaganda tool in the hands of the Nazi government. Vicente Amorim directed from a play by C.P. Taylor; with Jason Isaacs, Jodie Whittaker and Mark Strong. This remarkable movie, which left me crying at the end, shows that when you remove yourself from your basic moral compass, you are eaten up and destroyed at the end. He let his best friend die. He allowed himself to become part of the Nazi machinery for his own personal ambition. Extraordinary film.
Defiance
Theater. Three Jewish brothers escape from Nazi-occupied Poland into the Belarusian forest, where they join Russian resistance fighters and endeavor to build a village in order to protect themselves and others in danger. Jamie Bell. Liev Schreiber. And Daniel Craig star. It was a marvelous and exciting, dangerous, heroic film with a great, strong message for Jews. I LOVED it. I felt high when I left the theater. What courage. What faith. What fire to survive, at such impossible odds! For years in the forests! Just one thing would have been enough, but so many issues had to be overcome, it was indeed a miracle. We felt that the Soviets swallowed up most. A few must have moved to Israel. And, the brothers came to New York.
Revolutionary Road
Theater. This movie stars Kate Winslett and Leo DeCaprio. The same director who did American Beauty does it. It possessed the same stylized, well-articulated, hostile environment of a marriage and its ultimate destruction. The acting superb. Detached. I felt it was a rallying cry for the importance of choice for women.
The Perfect Murder
TV. This movie stars Michael Douglass and Gwenth Platow. It was about the planned murder of how Douglas tries to murder his young beautiful wealthy wife. The plan is foiled and the suspense holds up until the end. A very intense and engaging movie.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
DVD. An absolutely stupid insipid film of a creepy nerdy large heavish young man who loves a movie TV star and goes to Hawaii to get over his broken heart when she leaves him for a creep and he runs into a love hotel hostess who wins his heart instead. Lots of sex without meaning or real relationship or understanding of its purpose and respect. Creators of Knocked Up.
Ghost Town
DVD. This story is about a dentist who is cranky and miserable. He develops the unwelcome ability to see the dead. Really annoying dead people. But when a smooth-talking ghost (Greg Kinnear) traps Bertram into a romantic scheme involving his widow Gwen, they become entangled between the now and the hereafter. It is a nice movie that I enjoyed on a Sunday afternoon.
Snow Angels
DVD. A torturing fragmented film that I could not wait for it to be over. Messy lives. Stalking husband. Broken stories. Dead child in river. Weird characters. A day in the life of a rural town.
The Wrestler
Theater. This movie stars Mickey Rourke. It is phenomenal. Extremely violent and not for everyone. I was so gripped by it that when the movie ended, I just sat until the song, created for the film by Bruce Springsteen, was over. Rourke is brilliant and vulnerable and real and gives an absolutely devastating performance. I had no idea if The Wrestler was he or he was playing a role. PHENOMENAL.
The Wild Child
DVD. Francois Truffaut has created a film about the true-life tale of a young boy found living alone in the woods of France in 1798. Using actual journal entries, Truffaut not only directed and cowrote the script but also starred as the unflappable Doctor, the visionary who takes on the incredible task of civilizing The Wild Child. This movie, shot in black and white, is the precursor to, The Miracle Worker, the story of Helen Keller. A fascinating, superb piece of a classic film.
Gran Torino
Theater. Walt Kowalski, an iron-willed veteran living in a changing world, who is forced by his immigrant, neighbors to confront his own long-held prejudices. The people he once called his neighbors have all moved or passed away, replaced by Hmong immigrants, from Southeast Asia, he despises. Resentful of virtually everything and everyone he sees, Walt is just waiting out the rest of his life, until the night his teenage neighbor Thao tries to steal his prized '72 Gran Torino, under pressure from Hmong gang-bangers. But Walt stands in the way of both the heist and the gang, making him the reluctant hero of the neighborhood-especially to Thao's mother and older sister, Sue, who insist that Thao work for Walt as a way to make amends. Though he initially wants nothing to do with these people, Walt eventually gives in and puts the boy to work, setting into motion an unlikely friendship that will change both their lives. A wonderful satisfying movie with unbelievable Clint Eastwood at 78! Another damaging child film.
Owl and Sparrow
Theater. A little orphan girl sells roses on the streets and relies on the kindness of strangers to survive. A beautiful flight attendant is looking for love and she fixes him up with the zookeeper. In 4 days, the young runaway will play matchmaker to these two lonely hears in the hopes offering a surrogate family. Her uncle who is only interested in the money that she can provide is more than happy to get her off his hands. It is a lovely, lyrical, quiet, sensitive film. It was fascinating to see the streets of Saigon and cultural differences and behaviors and foods.
Hancock
DVD. Will Smith stars in this action-packed comedy and plays him as a sarcastic, hard-living and misunderstood super-hero that has fallen out of favor with the public. He caused too much collateral damage when he saves victims. Charlize Theron plays his hidden female sidekick who also possesses super human powers. I found it entertaining and mindless. Cary hated it.
Elmer Gantry, 1956
TCM. A young drifter finds success as a traveling preacher until his past catches up with him. Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons and Shirley Jones who plays the prostitute. Lancaster and Jones both win Academy Awards. Filled with Biblical references and preaching, it was a marvelous film of dialogue and serves as for curser to the Evangelical movement in the US. Superb film. Jones stole every scene that she was in from Lancaster.
Taken
Theater. For its genre, this was a highly suspenseful and supremely well done thriller, starring Liam Nelson, I loved it. Liam is a former CIA Special Forces who comes back into action when his only daughter is kidnapped and he must rescue her from white slave prostitution. I was only the edge of my seat and really like Liam and his flighty silly daughter.
Pride and Glory
DVD. Good cup. (Ed Norton) Bad cop (Colin Farrell) and Cop whom Looks The Other Way (Jon Voight and Noah Emmerich. This family of brothers and brother-in-law comes into its own when family ties are tested and ultimately destroyed by the bad cop.
He’s Just Not That Into You
Theater. A very generational film of dating and romance and love with the 20’s and 30s crowd. It was a spin off of Sex & The City. From my point-of-view, I found it sad. Adolescent with fucking. And, a sad state of our culture of young people. This movie would be unable to be related to in Russia and China, where young people mature younger and are more focused.
Bitty one-liners and quips. Most of the guys are jerks and the women, shallow and self-absorbed.
Blessed Is The Match
Theater. From this direct and clear documentary, that was made without all the manipulative bells and whistles of recent documentaries that are made to entertain rather than present the truth, emerged one image that for me, symbolized the entire film. It was poetic and metaphoric and said everything without words. It was the image at the beginning and at the very end, when on grainy film from years past. a host of parachutes float down from the sky, and then the camera zeroes in on one singular parachute. This took my breath away. Far away and far up high, was a young girl, alone in the sky, delivering hope and miracle. It spoke of courage and destiny and loneliness.
Academy Award Nominated Live Action Shorts
Theater. Five foreign films from Germany, (2) Denmark, Ireland, France within 30 minutes that capture ideas, philosophies, slices of life. All were superb but the one that touched me the most was the first. On one hand, the man was decent to the people he had addressed and yet, he did not stand up for the “brother” of the girl that he had a secret crush on. Both were broken by guilt.
The last one, was of a girl who was dying after being hit by a car and saw in her head everyone’s reactions and thoughts and actions. The live action program includes all five nominees: New Boy (Ireland), Auf Der Strecke (On the Line) (Germany/Switzerland), Spielzeugland (Toyland) (Germany), Grisen (The Pig) (Denmark) and Manon Sur Le Bitume (Manon on the Asphalt) (France).
Secret of The Grain (Couscous)
Theater. A remarkable French film of the life of an immigrant family who suffers with all the issues and heartbreaks and messy lives of all human beings. The father lives with his mistress and her daughter who adores him, and has the dream of opening up a restaurant on a boat. Through a series of human failings, such as cheating husband, and angry ex-wife, and angry daughters, he endures their wailings and rages and testimonies, all the time persevering his dram, only to be destroyed by it at the end. Heartbreaking and powerful.
Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films.
Theater. The nominees for this year's Academy Award in the category of Best Animated Short! The animated program includes all five nominees: Lavatory - Lovestory (Russia), Oktapodi (France), Le Maison en Petits Cubes (Pieces of Love, Vol. 1) (Japan), Smith & Foulkes’ This Way Up (UK) and Pixar’s Presto (USA), plus a bonus selection of highly acclaimed recent shorts: Varmints (UK) featuring music by Jóhann Johansson, John and Karen (UK), Gopher Broke (USA), Skhizein (France) and Hot Dog (USA), from the ever-popular Bill Plympton.
Petites Cubes, made me cry. It is about memory and how the old and lonely man, goes down from one floor to the next, and each floor brings him to an earlier memory of his life where he was happy and with family. The colors would become warm and tender. Phenomenal.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Theater. Kevin James stars in the title role, as a very likable mall cop, whose rite of passage into manhood, even though he is in his 30’s, occurs when he needs to rescue the girl from the take over of bandits who have hijacked the mall. He plays an schlep fat guy lovesick for a girl who sells wigs. It is innocent and decent and appealing because of its simplicity and easy. Enjoyable and Mindless.
Cherry Blossoms
Theater. Germany’s Doris Dörrie directs this moving story of mature marital love. Only Trudy knows that her husband Rudi is suffering from a terminal illness. She decides not to tell him and convinces him to visit their family in Berlin. There a giant change in the relationship happens which takes the story to Tokyo in the midst of the cherry blossom festival, a celebration of beauty, impermanence and new beginnings. "A tender tale of cultural crossings and a double portrait of grief.” (New York Times) This exquisite and tender film, slow moving in its development, unfolds unexpectedly, yet profoundly realistically. The dialogue and behavior of their three children toward their parents was so profoundly real, I felt as if I was one of them.
I loved its tenderness and heart and sensitivity.
Belgium, Moscow
Theater. Moscow, or 'Moscow' in Flemish, takes place in a densely populated working class neighborhood on the outskirts of Ghent, Belgium. That's where Mattie (Barbara Sarafian), an ordinary housewife with nothing but three kids to her name, works at the post office. Her art teacher husband Werner (Johan Heidelberg) has run off to the bedroom of one of his students. At 43, life seems pretty hopeless. Then she gets in a fender-bender at the grocery store with 29-year-old truck driver Johnny (Jorgen Delnaet). After some harsh words, Johnny finds himself attracted to Mattie, who finds that she likes being wanted. A romance ensues just as her wandering husband comes home. Now the center of attention, Mattie must choose whether to settle back into the life she was leading or step into the unknown. A heartfelt dramatic comedy about a woman whose soul is full of dents and bruises, from award-winning director Christopher Van Rompaey. Even though, she chooses not to go back with her husband, a decision I wonder she would have chosen in real life, as Johnny went to jail for wife abuse, and her young children needed their father, and her daughter who turned out to be lesbian became her confidant, the movie still felt satisfying and complete. Mattie was well defended, brutally honest and tough and Johnny broke down those defenses. The trust was gone with her husband
Golden Boy, 1939.
TV. A crooked promoter lures a young violinist to give up music for boxing. Barbara Stanwick, William Holden. Holden was a heartthrob, wow! And, though they played an “Italian” family, they all came across to me as Jews!
Everlasting Moments
Theater. Today, as always, I read your weekly full-page movie reviews and once again agreed with you heartedly. The sentence, "Any movie with Patricia Clarkson has my attention from her very first scene." leapt off the page! And, "Patricia Clarkson was her usual self - maximally marvelous." Pieces of April is one of my all time favorite films, because of Clarkson, who I think is one of our best character actresses in film today. She has not yet received the recognition she deserves. She is always outstanding. Just like Katie Holmes is always forgettable.
I saw Everlasting Moments today. It was extraordinary, truly exquisite and fine. There were moments I forgot I was watching a film, I felt transported into a different time and place and era. It could be understood on so many levels. The Life of Poverty. The Life of Abuse. The Life of Survival. The Life of Fear with Moments of The Sublime. It caught repression of feeling, of proper and civilized behavior, of the role of children and obedience toward their parents, a trait that has long disappeared, of civilized behavior within a rigid social and moral code, when society had rules and people understood shame. The intense love and respect that Maria and Sebastian possessed never crossed lines in voice or in behavior. He never even caressed her hands. He would only try and keep her longer in his shop by offering her tea or wine. His helper did not disappear when she came into the shop but kept herself visible and noisy to remind them to behave properly. She acted like a chaperon. Yet, through their unspoken communication, you could feel their skipped heartbeats, hope, excitement, anticipation, a quiet joy to escape the reality of his loneliness and her reality.
Lives are messy and though we, the viewer, were not supposed to like her husband, he was a product of his time. Macho. A father who was supposed to beat their kids if they conducted themselves poorly or brought shame to their family. He beat his wife. He drank too much. But, his behavior was not out of the norm of society. He loved his children and was warm and affectionate. (more than Maria was) impulsive, but extremely hard working and understood his role as Master of His Home. His character was more complex than good and bad, evil and good. I could see how women, including Maria, found him charming, how they would feel safe in his arms and presence, how a woman could feel protected by him, how, when he was not drinking or in a jealous rage, was a man, pretty much like every other man that would have been in Maria's orbit. When she revealed to Sebastian toward the end of the film that she did not miss her husband, and the words came out like vomit, she could not keep them in any longer, this revelation for her was profound and this confession to another man made her vulnerable. It was an extraordinary moment.
As a professional photographer (you can check me out on my website at www.nightvisionpress.com) I found the film particularly touching and insightful, reflective. When Sebastian told her "we take pictures to explore, to preserve, to record, to describe" I felt he nailed the essence of photography. I would add to tell a story too. I understood her behavior of putting her camera away for periods, even years, at a time. Serious camera work goes inside and it is a complicated relationship with oneself. There are times you can do nothing but work. And, there are times; the camera lies there unused for months. Often, you see things through the camera that are simply so intense, so alive, so profoundly sad, that you are relieved you have the camera to protect you from yourself. There are times you look through the camera and the person you are photographing is naked and vulnerable and they do not even know it. Through, the camera the mask that people wear falls off. You see things because the distance between the camera and the subject gives you the space where insight and understanding can breathe. All of this mysteriousness for me was caught in this film. I left shaking my head in disbelief by its elegance and s
simplicity and clarity. There was a purity that left me stunned.In your review, you spent an entire long paragraph talking of its length. It felt defensive. I would not have even included this at all. It was irrelevant and unnecessary. It focused the viewer to think about the length of time when to me, the film revealed an unspoken timelessness.
12
Theater. When a Chechen youth is put on trial for the murder of his adoptive father, it's up to a room full of jurors divided by racism and prejudice to determine the boy's ultimate fate. "A riveting Russian re-do of the Reginald Rose teleplay Twelve Angry Men." Seeing the Russian corrupt system played out by these random 12 men who are placed together to decide the future of a young boy, you get worn out by its suffering and forever broken infrastructure. The bird became a clique. The men’s psychological stories portrayed their decision instead of evidence.
Mon Uncle Antoine. By Claude Jutra
DVD. Critics and scholars have consistently cited this evocative portrait of a boy’s coming-of-age in wintry 1940s rural Quebec as the greatest Canadian film of all time. I wonder why.
Joe Morgenstern recommended it. Delicate, naturalistic and tinged with a striking mix of nostalgia and menace, the movie follows Benoit, as he first encounters the twin terrors of sex and death, and his fellow villagers, who live under the thumb of the local asbestos mine owner. Because of the recommendation, I expected to like it more than I did.
The Earrings of Madame de … by Max Ophul
Ophul’s most cherished work, the movie if a tale of false opulence and tragic romance. When Madame de sells her earring’s unbeknownst to her husband (Charles Boyer) in order to pay personal gambling debts, she sets off a chain reaction, the financial and carnal consequences of which can only end in despair, a duel and a death. The camera work is so elegant and precise that it has been equaled to Orson Welles and is considered a classic. I loved the commentary.
The Majestic, 2001
TCM. Starring Martin Landau and Jim Carrey. This movie stars a low key Carrey as a man who has lost his memory in a car crash. When he returns, he is welcomed back to this small town as a war hero. Yet, like Martin Guerre, his past catches up with him and he pays the price for his amnesia.
Duplicity
Theater. Starring Clive Owens and Julia Roberts. A tedious, boring and extremely complex plot to follow of two agents who worked for M6 and the CIA, and who decide to go off on their own.
Sunshine Cleaning
Theater. Starring Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. A deeply serious human drama by the director of Little Miss Sunshine. They create a business where they go in and clean up the mess after someone has committed suicide or murder. It is a terribly sad film with damaged lives and wrecked homes. They have to clean up their own lives as they clean up others.
Twilight
Airplane. I saw this movie twice and loved it each time. Unexpected and unprepared, I loved the characters. The girl reminded me of Yael in high school. Sullen. I loved the romanticism, the beauty and the magic.
The Troupe
Airplane. This movie is an old Israeli classic about a singing troupe for the army and all the personal dynamics and betrayals and secrets that the various characters carry inside them.
Tokyo Sonata
Theater. A portrait of a seemingly ordinary Japanese family: The father who abruptly loses his job conceals the truth from his family; the eldest son hardly returns home while the youngest takes secret piano lessons; the mother, who feels her role is to keep the family together, cannot find the will to do so. From the outside, all’s well, but somehow a chasm has opened within the family. “An extremely impressive and intricate family drama from Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa.” (Time Out) The best thing of this film was the playing of the piano at the end of the film. It threw in everything and the kitchen sink with each family member being developed into a full dysfunctional and desperately unhappy human being. Who can live in that isolation? The dinner food however, looked delicious!
Sin Nombre
Theater. Sin Nombre is a dramatic thriller from director Cary Joji Fukunaga. Seeking the promise of America, a young Honduran woman, Sayra, joins her father and uncle on an odyssey to cross the gauntlet of the Latin American countryside en route to the United States. Along the way she crosses paths with a gang member, El Casper, who is maneuvering to outrun his violent past and elude his unforgiving former gang. Together they rely on trust and street smarts if they are to survive their increasingly perilous journey towards the hope of new lives. This was one heck of a violent film. Quite intense, quite well done and quite harrowing. It was when the dogs ate a human that had been hacked up into little pieces that I found myself squirming. For a low budget film, with a message to make, it was well done.
Rain
DVD, Recommended by Joe Morgenstern. It is summer in New Zealand. Janey and her family settle into their isolated cottage for a vacation. Here days with her younger brother are willed with swimming and fishing. At night, her parents give parties and she begins to feel the cracks in their marriage and lives. Sad. It feels autobiographical from the director or writer. What I felt was going to happen, her brother and water, did. It had that tragic subterranean feel to it.
Singing In The Rain
TCM. A wonderful classic of the old school where movies entertained and escaped into fantasy.
Good Girl vs. Bad Girl. Romance and Dance. It was all fun and it was unforgettable. Gene Kelly was phenomenal. He makes it look all so easy and effortless.
Shall We Kiss
Theater. A lovely, poignant film of a flashback – the story of how two people met and fell in love while with others, and how it all began with a simple exploratory, without much thought, kiss. While it began innocently, this kiss led to tragic consequences, but learned experiences.
A delicate film that only the French could make. While traveling to Nantes for one evening, Emilie meets Gabriel. Equally seduced by one another, but both otherwise committed, they know they will probably never see each other again. He would like to kiss her. She as well, but a story prevents her from doing so: that of a married woman and of her best friend who were surprised by the effects of a kiss, of a kiss that should have born no consequences.
Adventureland
Theater. A modern coming of age film about teenagers with teenage angst, broken dreams, accommodating dreams, real life issues who for one reason or another are thrown together to work at this poor amusement part in Pittsburgh for a summer. I found it caught all the underworld of what goes on in a teenager’s life as he tries to find himself, with the conversations as to who is sleeping with whom, all with the parents having no remote idea at all. It caught it!
It's the summer of 1987, and James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg), an uptight recent college grad, can't wait to embark on his dream tour of Europe. But when his parents announce they can no longer subsidize his trip, James has little choice but to take a lowly job at a local amusement park. Forget about German beer, world-famous museums and cute French girls—James' summer will now be populated by belligerent dads, stuffed pandas, and screaming kids high on cotton candy. Lucky for James, what should have been his worst summer ever turns into quite an adventure as he discovers love in the most unlikely place with his captivating coworker Em (Kristen Stewart), and learns to loosen up. Written and directed by Greg Mottola
Sugar
Theater. A marvelous film that feels like a documentary about one young man’s struggle from the Dominion Republic and how he hopes to make it to the big leagues in American baseball. Miguel Santos, a.k.a. Sugar, is a Dominican pitcher struggling to make it to the big leagues and pull himself and his family out of poverty. Playing professionally at a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, Miguel (Algenis Perez Soto) finally gets his break at age 19 when he advances to the United States' minor league system. Miguel travels from his tight-knit community to a small town in Iowa, where he and a couple of other Latin American teammates are the only Spanish-speaking people in the vicinity. As Miguel struggles with the new language and culture, despite the welcoming efforts of his host family, he is faced with an isolation he never before experienced. When his play on the mound falters, he begins examining more closely the world around him and his place within it, and ultimately questions the single-mindedness of his life's ambition. He realizes that he does not have what it takes, he cannot take the pressure. Written and directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson).
Valentino-The Last Emperor
Theater. A fascinating account into the life of Haute Designer Valentino and his long suffering 24/7 Companion, Business Creator and Advertising Promoter, Lover, of 45 years. Valentino came across to me as a Prima Donna, imperial and willful and cold. His sycophants, in the form of celebrities and models and kiss uppers, came across as insincere, insipid, uneducated, without elegance, grace or class. I wished they had all kept their mouths shut. What a life of wealth and money. It took ones breath away.
Goodbye Solo
Theater. Solo did a marvelous job of acting and like-ability. Why he so cared about William is not really explained well or understood. Solo tried to keep him from killing himself, but to no avail. Very well done. I just wish that William was likable and appreciative so that I would care whether he lived or died. I did ‘t. I did care for Solo. I don’t see how they changed each other’s lives. “On the roads of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, two men forge an improbable friendship that will change both of their lives forever. (This I do not get at all.) Solo (Suleiman Sy Savane) is a warm-hearted, extroverted Senegalese cab driver working to provide a better life for his young family. William (Red West, former personal driver, bodyguard, and stuntman for Elvis Presley) is a tough, reserved Southern good old' boy! (Absolutely not!) with a lifetime of regrets.
Ballerina
Theater. “Ballerina is Bertrand Normand's portrait of five ballerinas from Russia’s renowned Mariinsky Theatre, (formerly known as the Kirov). These premiere dance artists leap from rehearsal halls to international stages as they re-invent classical ballet.” This movie was poorly filmed, developed, interviewed and boring. It was nothing like Children of Theater Street years ago. It answered few questions and I could not understand what point it was trying to make.
The Song of Sparrows
Theater. Directed by Maijd Majidi, who did Children of Heaven and Color of Paradise, this movie starred Reza Naji, who won the Silver Bear Best Actor Award. A fable, heartwarming and sad, but ultimately redemptive, this fine and absorbing film flowed with an underlying suspense and tension. I loved it. I thought of the billions that The President of Iran is using for nuclear arms to kill and destroy when its own people live in such poverty and with limited dreams and opportunities. Morals do flow and rules are adhered to regardless. Quite impressive.
Is Anybody Home?
Theater. This slice of life British film is about the delicate interaction between a young boy, whose parents run a small home for elderly people before they die, and an old man. (Michael Caine), a former musician with tons of regrets. When he arrives a relationship begins with Edward. Gentle, and very well done, there was not with a false sentiment or note. These small budget, intimate films are what I adore.
DVD, Recommended by Joe Morgenstern. It is summer in New Zealand. Janey and her family settle into their isolated cottage for a vacation. Here days with her younger brother are willed with swimming and fishing. At night, her parents give parties and she begins to feel the cracks in their marriage and lives. Sad. It feels autobiographical from the director or writer. What I felt was going to happen, her brother and water, did. It had that tragic subterranean feel to it.
Singing In The Rain
TCM. A wonderful classic of the old school where movies entertained and escaped into fantasy.
Good Girl vs. Bad Girl. Romance and Dance. It was all fun and it was unforgettable. Gene Kelly was phenomenal. He makes it look all so easy and effortless.
Shall We Kiss
Theater. A lovely, poignant film of a flashback – the story of how two people met and fell in love while with others, and how it all began with a simple exploratory, without much thought, kiss. While it began innocently, this kiss led to tragic consequences, but learned experiences.
A delicate film that only the French could make. While traveling to Nantes for one evening, Emilie meets Gabriel. Equally seduced by one another, but both otherwise committed, they know they will probably never see each other again. He would like to kiss her. She as well, but a story prevents her from doing so: that of a married woman and of her best friend who were surprised by the effects of a kiss, of a kiss that should have born no consequences.
Adventureland
Theater. A modern coming of age film about teenagers with teenage angst, broken dreams, accommodating dreams, real life issues who for one reason or another are thrown together to work at this poor amusement part in Pittsburgh for a summer. I found it caught all the underworld of what goes on in a teenager’s life as he tries to find himself, with the conversations as to who is sleeping with whom, all with the parents having no remote idea at all. It caught it!
It's the summer of 1987, and James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg), an uptight recent college grad, can't wait to embark on his dream tour of Europe. But when his parents announce they can no longer subsidize his trip, James has little choice but to take a lowly job at a local amusement park. Forget about German beer, world-famous museums and cute French girls—James' summer will now be populated by belligerent dads, stuffed pandas, and screaming kids high on cotton candy. Lucky for James, what should have been his worst summer ever turns into quite an adventure as he discovers love in the most unlikely place with his captivating coworker Em (Kristen Stewart), and learns to loosen up. Written and directed by Greg Mottola
Sugar
Theater. A marvelous film that feels like a documentary about one young man’s struggle from the Dominion Republic and how he hopes to make it to the big leagues in American baseball. Miguel Santos, a.k.a. Sugar, is a Dominican pitcher struggling to make it to the big leagues and pull himself and his family out of poverty. Playing professionally at a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, Miguel (Algenis Perez Soto) finally gets his break at age 19 when he advances to the United States' minor league system. Miguel travels from his tight-knit community to a small town in Iowa, where he and a couple of other Latin American teammates are the only Spanish-speaking people in the vicinity. As Miguel struggles with the new language and culture, despite the welcoming efforts of his host family, he is faced with an isolation he never before experienced. When his play on the mound falters, he begins examining more closely the world around him and his place within it, and ultimately questions the single-mindedness of his life's ambition. He realizes that he does not have what it takes, he cannot take the pressure. Written and directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson).
Valentino-The Last Emperor
Theater. A fascinating account into the life of Haute Designer Valentino and his long suffering 24/7 Companion, Business Creator and Advertising Promoter, Lover, of 45 years. Valentino came across to me as a Prima Donna, imperial and willful and cold. His sycophants, in the form of celebrities and models and kiss uppers, came across as insincere, insipid, uneducated, without elegance, grace or class. I wished they had all kept their mouths shut. What a life of wealth and money. It took ones breath away.
Goodbye Solo
Theater. Solo did a marvelous job of acting and like-ability. Why he so cared about William is not really explained well or understood. Solo tried to keep him from killing himself, but to no avail. Very well done. I just wish that William was likable and appreciative so that I would care whether he lived or died. I did ‘t. I did care for Solo. I don’t see how they changed each other’s lives. “On the roads of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, two men forge an improbable friendship that will change both of their lives forever. (This I do not get at all.) Solo (Suleiman Sy Savane) is a warm-hearted, extroverted Senegalese cab driver working to provide a better life for his young family. William (Red West, former personal driver, bodyguard, and stuntman for Elvis Presley) is a tough, reserved Southern good old' boy! (Absolutely not!) with a lifetime of regrets.
Ballerina
Theater. “Ballerina is Bertrand Normand's portrait of five ballerinas from Russia’s renowned Mariinsky Theatre, (formerly known as the Kirov). These premiere dance artists leap from rehearsal halls to international stages as they re-invent classical ballet.” This movie was poorly filmed, developed, interviewed and boring. It was nothing like Children of Theater Street years ago. It answered few questions and I could not understand what point it was trying to make.
The Song of Sparrows
Theater. Directed by Maijd Majidi, who did Children of Heaven and Color of Paradise, this movie starred Reza Naji, who won the Silver Bear Best Actor Award. A fable, heartwarming and sad, but ultimately redemptive, this fine and absorbing film flowed with an underlying suspense and tension. I loved it. I thought of the billions that The President of Iran is using for nuclear arms to kill and destroy when its own people live in such poverty and with limited dreams and opportunities. Morals do flow and rules are adhered to regardless. Quite impressive.
Is Anybody Home?
Theater. This slice of life British film is about the delicate interaction between a young boy, whose parents run a small home for elderly people before they die, and an old man. (Michael Caine), a former musician with tons of regrets. When he arrives a relationship begins with Edward. Gentle, and very well done, there was not with a false sentiment or note. These small budget, intimate films are what I adore.
The Soloist
Theater. Based on a remarkable true story, The Soloist is an emotionally soaring drama about the redemptive power of music. When Los Angeles Times journalist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) discovers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a former classical music prodigy, playing his violin on Skid Row, Lopez endeavors to help the homeless man to get off the streets and back into the world of music. But even as he fights to save Ayers' life, he begins to see that it is Ayers—with his unsinkable passion, his freedom-loving obstinacy and his valiant attempts at connection and love—who is profoundly changing Lopez. A unique friendship is formed between the two men, one that transforms both their lives. This marvelous film did not have a false note or sentiment. It respected boundaries. Lopez never brought Ayers into his home and made him leave the front of his office building, The LA Times. It was not sentimental hogwash but felt real and authentic. Beethoven’s music was magnificent.
State of Play
Theater. Russell Crowe plays D.C. reporter Cal McAffrey in a blistering thriller about a rising congressman and an investigative journalist embroiled in a case of seemingly unrelated, brutal murders. Handsome, unflappable U.S. Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) is the future of his political party: an honorable appointee who serves as the chairman of a committee overseeing defense spending. All eyes are upon the rising star to be his party's contender for the upcoming presidential race. Until his research assistant/mistress is brutally murdered and buried secrets come tumbling out. McAffrey has the dubious fortune of both an old friendship with Collins and a ruthless editor, Cameron (Helen Mirren), who has assigned him to investigate. As he and partner Della (Rachel McAdams) tries to uncover the killer's identity, McAffrey steps into a cover-up that threatens to shake the nation's power structures. And in a town of spin-doctors and wealthy politicos, he will discover one truth: when billions are at stake, no one's integrity, love or life is ever safe. Suspenseful and highly entertaining and gripping. Great for the Genre.
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
TV. Tennessee William’s remarkable screenplay with Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor is a classic. We are given a torture in live in order to understand ourselves and to find a search for the truth. Mendacity
One Night of Love, 1934
TV. Starring Grace Moore and Tullio Carminati. This great classic of an opera singer who goes to Italy to become an opera singer and who falls in love with her teacher and he with her.
Anatomy of a Murder, 1959
TV. Starring Lee Remick, James Stewart and Directed by Otto Preminger. This is a marvelous classic of a courtroom drama with superb dialogue and analysis of the case, life and truth.
Marty, 1955
TCM. Ernest Borgnine (Best Actor) Betsy Blair, Paddy Chayefsky, Best Screenplay, Delbert Mann, Best Director. I love this movie. A Classic. It is about an ordinary guy to falls for an ordinary girl and how he has to comes to terms with himself, his society, his dreams and his limitations and his loneliness.
Empty Nest
Theater. When their last child leaves home, an Argentine couple suddenly finds itself alone for the first time in years. While Martha goes back to school to cope, her husband, Leonardo, disappears into an all-consuming fantasy life. Boring and self-indulgent.
Every Little Step
Theater. Every Little Step explores the journey of A Chorus Line from ambitious idea to international phenomenon. A Chorus Line spanned four decades and reached audiences in 22 countries. Who would have imagined this play would arise from middle-of-the-night conversations in a dance studio? Interviews, then and now, with the creative minds that shaped A Chorus Line and the cast who realized it, the original real-life "gypsies," provide insight into behind-the-scenes events and reveal the truths behind the genesis of the show. For the first time in the history of Broadway, outside camera crews were allowed into the extensive audition process for the show's recent revival. This exclusive privilege allowed directors James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo to capture intimate and the grueling behind-the-scenes moments—actors suffering emotional breakdowns, dancers executing the most exquisite pirouettes of their lives, and directors moved to tears by a new delivery of a line they've heard a thousand times before.
Beautifully done and poignant and powerful at the same time.
Adoration
Theater. This movie was awful, one of the worse I have seen. A teacher from Beirut, who uses him to use his personal history of his parent’s tragic death in a car accident and to reinvent the ending of their death, manipulates a high school student. He does this by the using the story of a man who sends his unsuspecting wife and unborn child to carry a bomb on a plane for him. I almost walked out. The political correctness that this murderer had a viewpoint drove me mad.
Happy Go Lucky
DVD. A London based Indie, this female film initially made my skin crawl with the main character. However, she grew on me and as the film developed, you saw a slice of life of young twenty year olds, struggling with small paying jobs to make a go of their lives and find love.
The hot-tempered driving teacher brought the film to a proper climax and our heroine to reality.
Treeless Mountains
Theater. Based on a true story in Japan, this sad movie of two little girls abandoned by their mother who can no longer support them. Told through the eyes of the girls, you see the range of emotions and how they register confusion and loss and fear. Powerful and moving and ultimately sad. They end of on the farm, unloved, but cared for, having to drop out of school where they did well, and knowing their future has been destroyed. In reality, the mother returned after 3 months.
The Merry Gentleman
A suspenseful. But ultimately rewarding with a unresolved conclusion mystery of a walking dead hired killer who falls for a lovely, innocent young girl who is on the run from a police husband who beats her. They meet and connect but cannot conclude as he kills her husband to protect her.
Revanche
Theater. Desperate to escape the Viennese brothel owner who controls their lives, a prostitute and a driver resolve to rob a bank in the Austrian countryside -- and everything goes well until it doesn’t. This movie made it to be one of the four 2009 Academy Awards nominees for Best Foreign Language Film. "Darkly compelling...”It’s carefully plotted, convincing scenario will leave you with a lot on your mind." (Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times. Two families intersect: one family is yearning to create a family and the driver is hiding on his grandfather’s farm. The murder of the girlfriend brings them together and sets them apart with their buried secret. An arranged pregnancy and the robber of the bank unfold slowly.
Marley & Me
DVD. Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston. A heartwarming dog and family movie. Marley is untrained and wild and exhausting but deeply loved by an ordinary American family. The movie comes from a book. It was very sad at the end when Marley dies.
Bride Wars
DVD. Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway. A want-a-be Devil Wears Prada movie but it misses the mark. Life long friends become enemies when a clerical mistake is made at the Plaza Hotel and they are booked at the same time for their nuptials. Their game playing escalates into a fight at the end. Entertaining a little. Mindless for the most part. A chick flick.
Frost/Nixon
DVD. A sad portrait of a paranoid, manipulative strange man. I came away with the feeling of how did anyone like him make it to Presidency? He played people and distrusted everyone.
Easy Virtue
Theater. (2x) A marvelous interpretation of Noel Coward’s 1924 hit plays in London. Jessica Beal, Kristin Scott Thomas, Colin Firth were all-fabulous in their roles. The wit and dialogue, acting and plot were all moving, accurate and relevant and poignant. I LOVED it. Music & all.
Young Englishman John Whittaker, falls madly in love with Larita (Jessica Biel), a sexy and glamorous American woman, and they marry impetuously. But when the couple returns to the family home, his mother—the stoic and neurotic Mrs. Whittaker (Kristin Scott Thomas)—has an instant allergic reaction to her new daughter-in-law. Larita tries her best to fit in but fails to tiptoe through the minefield laid by her mother-in-law. Larita quickly realizes Mrs. Whittaker's game and sees that she must fight back if she's not going to lose John. A battle of wits ensues and sparks soon fly. Co-starring Colin Firth as the war-weary head of the household. Directed and co-written by Stephan
Up
Theater. From Disney•Pixar. This animated comedy adventure is about a 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Frederickson, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers too late that a 9-year old has stowed away under the house. This movie was way too intense for any child. Maayan would have been terrified and traumatized for life, screeching at the top of her lungs! Especially in 3D! I felt like an antique coming out of the film. This was cutting edge creative technological material and it was way over my head.
Departures
Theater. Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Departures is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan as well an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan's cultural heritage. Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved, is suddenly left without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living. (Fully subtitled)I loved it. It was masterful, tender, and I wept for my father at the end. Music, magnificent. Hayden by Pablo Casals.
Tulpan
Theater. Winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, acclaimed Kazakh documentarian Sergey Dvortsevoy's first narrative feature is a gorgeous mélange of tender comedy, ethnographic drama and wildlife extravaganza. Following his Russian naval service, young dreamer Asa returns to his sister's nomadic brood on the desolate Hunger Steppe to begin a hard-scrabble career as a shepherd. But before he can tend a flock of his own, Asa must win the hand of the only eligible bachelorette for miles—his alluringly mysterious neighbor Tulpan. Accompanied by his girlie mag-reading sidekick Boni (and a menagerie of adorable lambs, stampeding camels, mewling kittens and mischievous children), Asa will stop at nothing to prove he is a worthy husband and herder. In the tradition of such crowd-pleasing travelogues as The Story of the Weeping Camel, Tulpan's gentle humor and stunning photography transport audiences to this singular, harshly beautiful region and its rapidly vanishing way of life. A simply marvelous film of life in this region. Gritty and harsh One really cared for Sergey and his dreams and hopes.
Heartbreak Kid
1972. 2008
TCM. Neil Simon wrote the play. The 1972 film was serious and sad. The later version, with Ben Stiller, was extremely funny. Your sympathy was entirely with him. He changed the original remarkably and for the better.
Lost Islands
Theater. Israeli Film Festival. Autobiographical. The 1980 drama centers on the large Levi family. Twin brothers fall in love with the same aggressive girl. The father becomes paralyzed. Ofer dies. It was an OK film. I found the film disjointed, the "truths" of the film were always overheard or revealed in a voyeuristic fashion, and the main truth of all, of which the entire film was based, was revealed only at the end and was not even a truth, but a untruth it did not make sense. The first phase of the film was funny and raunchy. The second phase was serious and heavy. It was uneven at best.
Eli and Ben
Theater. Israeli Film Festival. Twelve-year-old Eli’s world is turned upside down when his father, the City Architect of Herzelya, is charged with taking bribes. His father is taken into custody right before Eli's eyes and the news makes its way into the newspaper and the school ground. Eli is convinced that his father is innocent. He intends to draw on the full reserves of his innocence and mischief to see to it that his father is released. But the path will not be easy. Eli will face injustice and corruption, among adults and children. He will have to shape his own principles and stick to them. In the process he will re-discover his father and taste the bitter sting of first love. Starring Lior Ashkenazi. Eli did a phenomenal job of acting. The main story is of a father that is accused of graft and how it affects his son Eli. Back-stories take place on the schoolyard and with the police departments as Eli tries to find ways to prove his father's innocence. There is a great climax of morality, of a father and son’s love and affection, of the land mines that occur in the schoolyard between the students. It was a very satisfying film and left you with a wonderful feeling of hope and redemption.
Tel Aviv Documentary
Theater. Israeli Film Festival. Original footage of Tel Aviv from 1909 to the beginning of the State. It as quite a miracle how they built the city from sand dunes and camels. It was done with determination, hard and brutal work and a phenomenal faith and hope.
Séraphine
Theater. Seraphine vividly recounts the tragic story of French naïve painter Séraphine de Senlis (Yolande Moreau), a humble servant who becomes a gifted, self-taught painter whose brilliantly colorful canvases adorn some of the most famous galleries in the world. German art critic and collector Wilhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tukur) discovers her paintings while she is working for him as a maid in Senlis near Paris in the early part of the 20th century. A poignant and unexpected relationship develops between the avant-garde art dealer and the visionary cleaning lady. Director/co-writer Martin Provost's fictionalized portrait of this forgotten painter is a testament to creativity and the resilience of one woman's spirit. Winner of 7 Césars (French Oscars) including Best Film, Best Actress and Best Cinematography. I found this movie boring and tedious.
It All Begins at Sea (2008)
Israeli Film Festival. This is the story of the coming of age of the Goldstein family - mother, father and son; an Israeli family coping with a familiar array of life experiences - friendship, love, sex, death. The film comprises three episodes: the first occurs at the seashore, the second unfolds in Ashkelon National Park among the ancient statues and ruins, and the third takes us to the family's new home where they moved in anticipation of the birth of a new baby. Each of these situations becomes fraught with danger and drama. Taken together, they bind the three family members to each other more strongly and more profoundly than before. Fate plays tricks on the Goldstein’s; sometimes the tricks are amusing, often they are menacing. The Goldstein’s cannot rely on fate, only on each other... I found this movie profoundly sad and secular. What was Jewish about it except that it took place in Israel and had aggressive pushy females, (I have found that it seems in every Israeli film this is the characteristic of females!) and the characters spoke Hebrew.
The Seven Days (2008)
Israeli Film Festival. The movie was exhausting. It was about a Moroccan family that lives in Israel and one of the brothers of the family of 9 children (and their wives) all had to stay together during the Shiva. In this week of torture, hatreds and furies and resentments and unrestrained rages, and accusations and explosions occurred. There were too many stories and too many children to cover! The sub titles were too low on the screen and went by too quickly to read and absorb. I thought the best piece of the film was at the very end, (it seemed as if it would never end), when the mother, the matriarch, sat there without speaking and quietly weeping seeing the mess and hatred of her children with each other and for the family that she had created.
Tetro
Theater. This is Francis Ford Coppola’s autobiographical drama about tensions within an Italian immigrant family living in Argentina. Vincent Gallo plays the title character, a writer; Alden Ehrenreich is his younger brother; Maribel Verdú is his girlfriend; It’s Mr. Coppola’s first film in black-and-white. It was melodramatic, boring at times, contrived at others. He has lost his voice and genius and it felt repetitive from his earlier work. The rage is still there.
Confessions of A Shop Alcoholic
Theater. I loved this movie! Even though the reviews were not great. I identified with it. I found it clever, like the talking mannequins. I thought the actress had brilliant comedic timing and was so cute. I had so much fun with it!
Small Change
TMC. Francois Trauffalt French Film about a schoolyard of boys. He uses untrained actors and through their eyes and lives, you see the land-mines, the hurdles, the fears and interpretations of their lives and how they perceive the adult world. Things are left undone, presented and forgotten, like in life. It is a sensitive portrayal with the outsider, the child who is bruised and beaten, left to survive forever searching for love. Sad in a particular French way. The teacher at the end summarizes the film by his talk to the children and how one will always seek love.
The Bride Wore Black
TV. Francois Trauffet film about a woman who seeks revenge in killing off 5 people who accidentally shot her long time lover and friend on her wedding day from a balcony where they were playing with a gun. It was boring and undeveloped and an immature piece of film work.
Cheri
Theater. Based on the book by Colette, it is a caricature of the courtesan way of life in France. Cheri is a ner‘do-well, 19-25 who has a long time love affair with an aged courtesan. (50-year-old Michelle Pfeiffer. Directed by Stephen Fryers, it has a comical, not-too serious story-line. OK
The Hurt Locker
Theater. FANTASTIC. Filmed in Jordan, the story could be one in Israel too, it tells the fear and tension of soldiers who take apart the bomb. Realistic and reflective of the war experience. Hurt Locker is an intense portrayal of elite soldiers who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: disarming bombs in the heat of combat. When a new sergeant, James (Jeremy Renner), takes over a highly trained bomb disposal team amidst violent conflict, he surprises his two subordinates, Sanborn and Eldridge, by recklessly plunging them into a deadly game of urban combat. James behaves as if he's indifferent to death. As the men struggle to control their wild new leader, the city explodes into chaos, and James' true character reveals itself in a way that will change each man forever. Journalist and screenwriter Mark Boal who was stationed with a special bomb unit base this riveting and suspenseful drama from visionary filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow on first-hand observation. Also starring Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pearce. Saw twice.
Kamouraska
DVD. You will not believe it! I happened to go onto Amazon and after years of checking and there was one VHS of this movie! I bought it, had it made into a DVD. Thought it was in French, and I do not understand a word, and it was not sub-titled, it did not matter. I followed the movie, it all came back from when I saw it 5 times in 1974, and it was as if I understood every word! 3 hours long but it had just the same magic, as I remembered. It remains my favorite movie.
Jules and Jim
TCM. Truffaut’s classic of two best friends who fall in love with the same girl. The acting is OK, but the story-line is ahead of its time, with open marriage and compromise, seduction and murder. The movie felt long and dated, the subject matter, current and fresh.
400 Blows
TCM. Truffaut’s classic of a twelve year old unloved boy who falls into delinquency because his actions are misinterpreted, he his hated by his teachers, verbally abused by his parents, his mother’s emotions are hot and cold, and yet deep inside he is a hurt boy and as hard as he tries to do right, no one trusts him. He does his chores and is accused of plagiarism. No one understands him. I identified deeply with him. I feel there are no bad children. Only bad and brutal parents, teachers and authorities. I would love to see the following 4 movies that follow his life.
Ruby Blue
DVD. Starring Bob Hoskins. This independent film was satisfying, although unfinished. It tied up its loose ends too easily at the end and other story-lines were dropped. But, overall, it was a moving film that kept my interest throughout. I especially liked the little girl, Florrie. Jack raises homing pigeons, has just lost his wife, is estranged from his angry son, and through this little girl he comes back to life, when he brings an assortment of neighbors into his life. He is wrongly accused and framed of child abuse, but all ends happily, esp. with his transgender girlfriend.
I Served The King of England
DVD. A Czech film. Strange. Told through flashbacks, this weak small waiter, but ambitious, tells his story to become a millionaire as he sleeps his way up. He is such an unattractive leading man. He marries a German, goes along with the program, and ends up in jail for 15 years for being rich. The movie has comedic much but the film is pretty much irrelevant, without much charm or purpose.
Bruno
Theater. Staring Sacha Cohen from Borat fame. On
e of the most appalling and disgusting films I have ever seen. I sat there most of the time cringing with my fingers over my eyes. It was Animal House Cubed with the gay emphasis and focus, rather than women and Jews. It was gross and vulgar and took the definition of appropriateness to a whole new level. Revolting.
Theater. Based on a remarkable true story, The Soloist is an emotionally soaring drama about the redemptive power of music. When Los Angeles Times journalist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) discovers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a former classical music prodigy, playing his violin on Skid Row, Lopez endeavors to help the homeless man to get off the streets and back into the world of music. But even as he fights to save Ayers' life, he begins to see that it is Ayers—with his unsinkable passion, his freedom-loving obstinacy and his valiant attempts at connection and love—who is profoundly changing Lopez. A unique friendship is formed between the two men, one that transforms both their lives. This marvelous film did not have a false note or sentiment. It respected boundaries. Lopez never brought Ayers into his home and made him leave the front of his office building, The LA Times. It was not sentimental hogwash but felt real and authentic. Beethoven’s music was magnificent.
State of Play
Theater. Russell Crowe plays D.C. reporter Cal McAffrey in a blistering thriller about a rising congressman and an investigative journalist embroiled in a case of seemingly unrelated, brutal murders. Handsome, unflappable U.S. Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) is the future of his political party: an honorable appointee who serves as the chairman of a committee overseeing defense spending. All eyes are upon the rising star to be his party's contender for the upcoming presidential race. Until his research assistant/mistress is brutally murdered and buried secrets come tumbling out. McAffrey has the dubious fortune of both an old friendship with Collins and a ruthless editor, Cameron (Helen Mirren), who has assigned him to investigate. As he and partner Della (Rachel McAdams) tries to uncover the killer's identity, McAffrey steps into a cover-up that threatens to shake the nation's power structures. And in a town of spin-doctors and wealthy politicos, he will discover one truth: when billions are at stake, no one's integrity, love or life is ever safe. Suspenseful and highly entertaining and gripping. Great for the Genre.
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
TV. Tennessee William’s remarkable screenplay with Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor is a classic. We are given a torture in live in order to understand ourselves and to find a search for the truth. Mendacity
One Night of Love, 1934
TV. Starring Grace Moore and Tullio Carminati. This great classic of an opera singer who goes to Italy to become an opera singer and who falls in love with her teacher and he with her.
Anatomy of a Murder, 1959
TV. Starring Lee Remick, James Stewart and Directed by Otto Preminger. This is a marvelous classic of a courtroom drama with superb dialogue and analysis of the case, life and truth.
Marty, 1955
TCM. Ernest Borgnine (Best Actor) Betsy Blair, Paddy Chayefsky, Best Screenplay, Delbert Mann, Best Director. I love this movie. A Classic. It is about an ordinary guy to falls for an ordinary girl and how he has to comes to terms with himself, his society, his dreams and his limitations and his loneliness.
Empty Nest
Theater. When their last child leaves home, an Argentine couple suddenly finds itself alone for the first time in years. While Martha goes back to school to cope, her husband, Leonardo, disappears into an all-consuming fantasy life. Boring and self-indulgent.
Every Little Step
Theater. Every Little Step explores the journey of A Chorus Line from ambitious idea to international phenomenon. A Chorus Line spanned four decades and reached audiences in 22 countries. Who would have imagined this play would arise from middle-of-the-night conversations in a dance studio? Interviews, then and now, with the creative minds that shaped A Chorus Line and the cast who realized it, the original real-life "gypsies," provide insight into behind-the-scenes events and reveal the truths behind the genesis of the show. For the first time in the history of Broadway, outside camera crews were allowed into the extensive audition process for the show's recent revival. This exclusive privilege allowed directors James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo to capture intimate and the grueling behind-the-scenes moments—actors suffering emotional breakdowns, dancers executing the most exquisite pirouettes of their lives, and directors moved to tears by a new delivery of a line they've heard a thousand times before.
Beautifully done and poignant and powerful at the same time.
Adoration
Theater. This movie was awful, one of the worse I have seen. A teacher from Beirut, who uses him to use his personal history of his parent’s tragic death in a car accident and to reinvent the ending of their death, manipulates a high school student. He does this by the using the story of a man who sends his unsuspecting wife and unborn child to carry a bomb on a plane for him. I almost walked out. The political correctness that this murderer had a viewpoint drove me mad.
Happy Go Lucky
DVD. A London based Indie, this female film initially made my skin crawl with the main character. However, she grew on me and as the film developed, you saw a slice of life of young twenty year olds, struggling with small paying jobs to make a go of their lives and find love.
The hot-tempered driving teacher brought the film to a proper climax and our heroine to reality.
Treeless Mountains
Theater. Based on a true story in Japan, this sad movie of two little girls abandoned by their mother who can no longer support them. Told through the eyes of the girls, you see the range of emotions and how they register confusion and loss and fear. Powerful and moving and ultimately sad. They end of on the farm, unloved, but cared for, having to drop out of school where they did well, and knowing their future has been destroyed. In reality, the mother returned after 3 months.
The Merry Gentleman
A suspenseful. But ultimately rewarding with a unresolved conclusion mystery of a walking dead hired killer who falls for a lovely, innocent young girl who is on the run from a police husband who beats her. They meet and connect but cannot conclude as he kills her husband to protect her.
Revanche
Theater. Desperate to escape the Viennese brothel owner who controls their lives, a prostitute and a driver resolve to rob a bank in the Austrian countryside -- and everything goes well until it doesn’t. This movie made it to be one of the four 2009 Academy Awards nominees for Best Foreign Language Film. "Darkly compelling...”It’s carefully plotted, convincing scenario will leave you with a lot on your mind." (Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times. Two families intersect: one family is yearning to create a family and the driver is hiding on his grandfather’s farm. The murder of the girlfriend brings them together and sets them apart with their buried secret. An arranged pregnancy and the robber of the bank unfold slowly.
Marley & Me
DVD. Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston. A heartwarming dog and family movie. Marley is untrained and wild and exhausting but deeply loved by an ordinary American family. The movie comes from a book. It was very sad at the end when Marley dies.
Bride Wars
DVD. Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway. A want-a-be Devil Wears Prada movie but it misses the mark. Life long friends become enemies when a clerical mistake is made at the Plaza Hotel and they are booked at the same time for their nuptials. Their game playing escalates into a fight at the end. Entertaining a little. Mindless for the most part. A chick flick.
Frost/Nixon
DVD. A sad portrait of a paranoid, manipulative strange man. I came away with the feeling of how did anyone like him make it to Presidency? He played people and distrusted everyone.
Easy Virtue
Theater. (2x) A marvelous interpretation of Noel Coward’s 1924 hit plays in London. Jessica Beal, Kristin Scott Thomas, Colin Firth were all-fabulous in their roles. The wit and dialogue, acting and plot were all moving, accurate and relevant and poignant. I LOVED it. Music & all.
Young Englishman John Whittaker, falls madly in love with Larita (Jessica Biel), a sexy and glamorous American woman, and they marry impetuously. But when the couple returns to the family home, his mother—the stoic and neurotic Mrs. Whittaker (Kristin Scott Thomas)—has an instant allergic reaction to her new daughter-in-law. Larita tries her best to fit in but fails to tiptoe through the minefield laid by her mother-in-law. Larita quickly realizes Mrs. Whittaker's game and sees that she must fight back if she's not going to lose John. A battle of wits ensues and sparks soon fly. Co-starring Colin Firth as the war-weary head of the household. Directed and co-written by Stephan
Up
Theater. From Disney•Pixar. This animated comedy adventure is about a 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Frederickson, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers too late that a 9-year old has stowed away under the house. This movie was way too intense for any child. Maayan would have been terrified and traumatized for life, screeching at the top of her lungs! Especially in 3D! I felt like an antique coming out of the film. This was cutting edge creative technological material and it was way over my head.
Departures
Theater. Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Departures is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan as well an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan's cultural heritage. Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved, is suddenly left without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living. (Fully subtitled)I loved it. It was masterful, tender, and I wept for my father at the end. Music, magnificent. Hayden by Pablo Casals.
Tulpan
Theater. Winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, acclaimed Kazakh documentarian Sergey Dvortsevoy's first narrative feature is a gorgeous mélange of tender comedy, ethnographic drama and wildlife extravaganza. Following his Russian naval service, young dreamer Asa returns to his sister's nomadic brood on the desolate Hunger Steppe to begin a hard-scrabble career as a shepherd. But before he can tend a flock of his own, Asa must win the hand of the only eligible bachelorette for miles—his alluringly mysterious neighbor Tulpan. Accompanied by his girlie mag-reading sidekick Boni (and a menagerie of adorable lambs, stampeding camels, mewling kittens and mischievous children), Asa will stop at nothing to prove he is a worthy husband and herder. In the tradition of such crowd-pleasing travelogues as The Story of the Weeping Camel, Tulpan's gentle humor and stunning photography transport audiences to this singular, harshly beautiful region and its rapidly vanishing way of life. A simply marvelous film of life in this region. Gritty and harsh One really cared for Sergey and his dreams and hopes.
Heartbreak Kid
1972. 2008
TCM. Neil Simon wrote the play. The 1972 film was serious and sad. The later version, with Ben Stiller, was extremely funny. Your sympathy was entirely with him. He changed the original remarkably and for the better.
Lost Islands
Theater. Israeli Film Festival. Autobiographical. The 1980 drama centers on the large Levi family. Twin brothers fall in love with the same aggressive girl. The father becomes paralyzed. Ofer dies. It was an OK film. I found the film disjointed, the "truths" of the film were always overheard or revealed in a voyeuristic fashion, and the main truth of all, of which the entire film was based, was revealed only at the end and was not even a truth, but a untruth it did not make sense. The first phase of the film was funny and raunchy. The second phase was serious and heavy. It was uneven at best.
Eli and Ben
Theater. Israeli Film Festival. Twelve-year-old Eli’s world is turned upside down when his father, the City Architect of Herzelya, is charged with taking bribes. His father is taken into custody right before Eli's eyes and the news makes its way into the newspaper and the school ground. Eli is convinced that his father is innocent. He intends to draw on the full reserves of his innocence and mischief to see to it that his father is released. But the path will not be easy. Eli will face injustice and corruption, among adults and children. He will have to shape his own principles and stick to them. In the process he will re-discover his father and taste the bitter sting of first love. Starring Lior Ashkenazi. Eli did a phenomenal job of acting. The main story is of a father that is accused of graft and how it affects his son Eli. Back-stories take place on the schoolyard and with the police departments as Eli tries to find ways to prove his father's innocence. There is a great climax of morality, of a father and son’s love and affection, of the land mines that occur in the schoolyard between the students. It was a very satisfying film and left you with a wonderful feeling of hope and redemption.
Tel Aviv Documentary
Theater. Israeli Film Festival. Original footage of Tel Aviv from 1909 to the beginning of the State. It as quite a miracle how they built the city from sand dunes and camels. It was done with determination, hard and brutal work and a phenomenal faith and hope.
Séraphine
Theater. Seraphine vividly recounts the tragic story of French naïve painter Séraphine de Senlis (Yolande Moreau), a humble servant who becomes a gifted, self-taught painter whose brilliantly colorful canvases adorn some of the most famous galleries in the world. German art critic and collector Wilhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tukur) discovers her paintings while she is working for him as a maid in Senlis near Paris in the early part of the 20th century. A poignant and unexpected relationship develops between the avant-garde art dealer and the visionary cleaning lady. Director/co-writer Martin Provost's fictionalized portrait of this forgotten painter is a testament to creativity and the resilience of one woman's spirit. Winner of 7 Césars (French Oscars) including Best Film, Best Actress and Best Cinematography. I found this movie boring and tedious.
It All Begins at Sea (2008)
Israeli Film Festival. This is the story of the coming of age of the Goldstein family - mother, father and son; an Israeli family coping with a familiar array of life experiences - friendship, love, sex, death. The film comprises three episodes: the first occurs at the seashore, the second unfolds in Ashkelon National Park among the ancient statues and ruins, and the third takes us to the family's new home where they moved in anticipation of the birth of a new baby. Each of these situations becomes fraught with danger and drama. Taken together, they bind the three family members to each other more strongly and more profoundly than before. Fate plays tricks on the Goldstein’s; sometimes the tricks are amusing, often they are menacing. The Goldstein’s cannot rely on fate, only on each other... I found this movie profoundly sad and secular. What was Jewish about it except that it took place in Israel and had aggressive pushy females, (I have found that it seems in every Israeli film this is the characteristic of females!) and the characters spoke Hebrew.
The Seven Days (2008)
Israeli Film Festival. The movie was exhausting. It was about a Moroccan family that lives in Israel and one of the brothers of the family of 9 children (and their wives) all had to stay together during the Shiva. In this week of torture, hatreds and furies and resentments and unrestrained rages, and accusations and explosions occurred. There were too many stories and too many children to cover! The sub titles were too low on the screen and went by too quickly to read and absorb. I thought the best piece of the film was at the very end, (it seemed as if it would never end), when the mother, the matriarch, sat there without speaking and quietly weeping seeing the mess and hatred of her children with each other and for the family that she had created.
Tetro
Theater. This is Francis Ford Coppola’s autobiographical drama about tensions within an Italian immigrant family living in Argentina. Vincent Gallo plays the title character, a writer; Alden Ehrenreich is his younger brother; Maribel Verdú is his girlfriend; It’s Mr. Coppola’s first film in black-and-white. It was melodramatic, boring at times, contrived at others. He has lost his voice and genius and it felt repetitive from his earlier work. The rage is still there.
Confessions of A Shop Alcoholic
Theater. I loved this movie! Even though the reviews were not great. I identified with it. I found it clever, like the talking mannequins. I thought the actress had brilliant comedic timing and was so cute. I had so much fun with it!
Small Change
TMC. Francois Trauffalt French Film about a schoolyard of boys. He uses untrained actors and through their eyes and lives, you see the land-mines, the hurdles, the fears and interpretations of their lives and how they perceive the adult world. Things are left undone, presented and forgotten, like in life. It is a sensitive portrayal with the outsider, the child who is bruised and beaten, left to survive forever searching for love. Sad in a particular French way. The teacher at the end summarizes the film by his talk to the children and how one will always seek love.
The Bride Wore Black
TV. Francois Trauffet film about a woman who seeks revenge in killing off 5 people who accidentally shot her long time lover and friend on her wedding day from a balcony where they were playing with a gun. It was boring and undeveloped and an immature piece of film work.
Cheri
Theater. Based on the book by Colette, it is a caricature of the courtesan way of life in France. Cheri is a ner‘do-well, 19-25 who has a long time love affair with an aged courtesan. (50-year-old Michelle Pfeiffer. Directed by Stephen Fryers, it has a comical, not-too serious story-line. OK
The Hurt Locker
Theater. FANTASTIC. Filmed in Jordan, the story could be one in Israel too, it tells the fear and tension of soldiers who take apart the bomb. Realistic and reflective of the war experience. Hurt Locker is an intense portrayal of elite soldiers who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: disarming bombs in the heat of combat. When a new sergeant, James (Jeremy Renner), takes over a highly trained bomb disposal team amidst violent conflict, he surprises his two subordinates, Sanborn and Eldridge, by recklessly plunging them into a deadly game of urban combat. James behaves as if he's indifferent to death. As the men struggle to control their wild new leader, the city explodes into chaos, and James' true character reveals itself in a way that will change each man forever. Journalist and screenwriter Mark Boal who was stationed with a special bomb unit base this riveting and suspenseful drama from visionary filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow on first-hand observation. Also starring Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pearce. Saw twice.
Kamouraska
DVD. You will not believe it! I happened to go onto Amazon and after years of checking and there was one VHS of this movie! I bought it, had it made into a DVD. Thought it was in French, and I do not understand a word, and it was not sub-titled, it did not matter. I followed the movie, it all came back from when I saw it 5 times in 1974, and it was as if I understood every word! 3 hours long but it had just the same magic, as I remembered. It remains my favorite movie.
Jules and Jim
TCM. Truffaut’s classic of two best friends who fall in love with the same girl. The acting is OK, but the story-line is ahead of its time, with open marriage and compromise, seduction and murder. The movie felt long and dated, the subject matter, current and fresh.
400 Blows
TCM. Truffaut’s classic of a twelve year old unloved boy who falls into delinquency because his actions are misinterpreted, he his hated by his teachers, verbally abused by his parents, his mother’s emotions are hot and cold, and yet deep inside he is a hurt boy and as hard as he tries to do right, no one trusts him. He does his chores and is accused of plagiarism. No one understands him. I identified deeply with him. I feel there are no bad children. Only bad and brutal parents, teachers and authorities. I would love to see the following 4 movies that follow his life.
Ruby Blue
DVD. Starring Bob Hoskins. This independent film was satisfying, although unfinished. It tied up its loose ends too easily at the end and other story-lines were dropped. But, overall, it was a moving film that kept my interest throughout. I especially liked the little girl, Florrie. Jack raises homing pigeons, has just lost his wife, is estranged from his angry son, and through this little girl he comes back to life, when he brings an assortment of neighbors into his life. He is wrongly accused and framed of child abuse, but all ends happily, esp. with his transgender girlfriend.
I Served The King of England
DVD. A Czech film. Strange. Told through flashbacks, this weak small waiter, but ambitious, tells his story to become a millionaire as he sleeps his way up. He is such an unattractive leading man. He marries a German, goes along with the program, and ends up in jail for 15 years for being rich. The movie has comedic much but the film is pretty much irrelevant, without much charm or purpose.
Bruno
Theater. Staring Sacha Cohen from Borat fame. On
e of the most appalling and disgusting films I have ever seen. I sat there most of the time cringing with my fingers over my eyes. It was Animal House Cubed with the gay emphasis and focus, rather than women and Jews. It was gross and vulgar and took the definition of appropriateness to a whole new level. Revolting.The Adventures of Antoine Doinel
Five Films By Francois Truffaut
Les salads de l’amour: with five supplements DVD
The 400 Blows
Antoine and Colette
Stolen Kisses
Love on the Run
Bed and Board
The 400 Blows was one of the most extraordinary films I have ever seen. Revolutionary in its time, brilliant in its execution and story-line, profoundly and personally emotional for me, superb acting, it felt as if I was watching perfection. The commentary felt like a film class. I have never seen a more visual, experiential and expressive film in my life. It will be my all time favorite like Kamoraska. I felt in my bone the 400 Blows s, in my life, in my own childhood experience. Teachers despised him. Like me. So many times he was trying to be a good boy and was falsely accused and coldly despised. Like me.
Fourteen Hours. 1951
TCM. With Richard Basehart and Paul Douglas. A highly suspenseful film about a disturbed young man who sways on a hotel ledge as this rookie cop tries to convince him to come off the ledge. The only reason, I could keep fear at the edge is because of when the film was made.
In real life, he jumped but this was Hollywood. I was on the edge of my seat. It was a fantastic film. I loved it.
Manhattan, 1979
TCM. Woody Allen The movie has stood the test of time. In fact, it is pretty extraordinary that the dialogue and struggles feel as relevant now as edgy as the film felt back then.
Persona. 1966
TCM. Classic Ingmar Bergman. With Liv Ulliman and Bibbi Anderson. Intense and dramatic and superbly acted, the dialogue becomes an inner monologue of Bergman angst.
(500) Days of Summer
Theater. "This is a story of boy meets girl," begins the wry, probing narrator of (500) Days of Summer, and with that the film takes off at breakneck speed into a funny, true to life and unique dissection of the unruly and unpredictable year-and-a-half of one young man's no-holds-barred love affair.” I found the movie refreshing, with an original new spin, entertaining, funny and a great summer flick. I loved the “Expectations” and “Reality” double screen effect and the Slum dog break out dancing number.
Kramer vs. Kramer, 1979
TCM. This classic, extraordinary film has stood the test of time. The dialogue, development and acting were all superb and I was left longing for this kind of great film work of yesterday, today.
Dark Victory, 1939
TCM. Bette Davis’s favorite role, the Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, the film is about a stubborn, sassy, 23-year-old woman, dressed to the nine’s who first refuses to admit she has an inoperable brain tumor, falls to the seduction of her tall handsome single doctor who does the surgery on her, only to be shielded from the truth which she eventually finds out, and after she deals with her betrayal and rage, she marries her leading man only to succumb at the end. It reminded me a little of the great English novel, Withering Heights. Great acting and quite sad.
A Night At The Opera, 1935
TCM. The Marx Brothers. Reached their zenith in this satire on the world of opera, featuring riotous gags and glorious music. Dated and comical and Jewish and there will never be an act like these three brothers.
In The Loop
Theater. “A political farce about U.K. – U.S. involvement in a possible war. With James Gandolfini, as the peace-loving General (The Sopranos), it was face paced, funny, quick and exaggerated, and brilliantly cynical.
The Cove
Theater. This movie was a sensational documentary about the slaughter of dolphins and whales in a small village cove in Japan. Experienced like a thriller, it left me shaking and enraged and profoundly sad and fearful for the future of our planet. Powerful and a must see.
French Lieutenant’s Woman, 1981
TCM. A marvelous film with superb acting. I so enjoyed it more now than when it saw it when it first came out. Then, I was critical and disdainful. This time, I saw Meryl Streep in all of her beauty, talent, and sensitivity. She had no evil or bitchiness inside of her. Only vulnerability.
Sophie’s Choice, 1982
TCM. From William Styron’s book, Meryl Streep gives the most commanding performance of her life. Powerful and profoundly sad, Streep is brilliant and makes the film. Liked it completely.
Love Affair, 1939
TCM. The earlier version of An Affair To Remember. Starring Irene Dunne and Charles and Boyer and Maria Ouspenskaya as the grandmother, it was sentimental and corny but wonderful.
Spellbound, 1945
TCM. Alfred Hitchcock’s case of mind over murder centers on an analyst trying to help an amnesiac who my be a killer. Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck. They were simply the two most magnificent gorgeous actors on screen together. Wonderful film.
Rope
TCM. Alfred Hitchcock’s film of two boys who try to commit the perfect murder. With James Stewart who figures it out. Tense and gripping and compelling.
Lorna’s Silence
Theater. “Lorna, a young Albanian woman living in Belgium has her sights set on opening her snack bar with her boyfriend. In order to do so, she becomes an accomplice in a diabolical plan devised by mobster Fabio. Fabio has set up a false marriage between Lorna and Cluday allowing Lorna to get her Belgian citizenship. However, she is then asked to marry a Russian Mafioso who’s ready to pay hard cash to also get his hands on those vital Belgian identity papers. Fabio intends to kill Cluday in order to speed up the second marriage. But will Lorna remain silent? The Pal d Or winner of The Cannes, was a gripping, solid, interesting movie. I admired her silence and her strength and determination to stand up to these characters.
Lost Color
Theater. A lovely, tender, coming-of-age story, inspired by true events of a young 18-year-old boy who seeks to be mentored by a bitter angry, famous Russian painter, and through their relationship each becomes greater than they would have been without it.
Midnight, 1939
TCM. Claudette Colbert and John Barrymore. Colbert plays a showgirl, hired by a Parisian aristocrat to side track his wife’s suitor.
This movie was funny to the point I was laughing out loud! I simply and thoroughly enjoyed it through and through!The Rains Came, 1939
TCM. India’s torrential rains backgrounds the romance of a straying wife and Hindu physician.
Tyrone Power plays the Indian Royal. I fell in love with his handsome, gorgeous looks!
Intermezzo: A Love Story, 1939
TCM. The love of a violinist (Leslie Howard) for his daughter’s music teacher (Ingrid Bergman) forces him to leave his wife and family and run off with her in a passionate affair, which cannot be maintained or sustained. It sadly ends with him going back to his family. Simple and lovely.
The Ugly Truth
Theater. Katherine Heigl is a romantically challenged morning show producer whose search for Mr. Perfect has left her single. She's in for a rude awakening when her bosses team her with Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler), a hardcore TV personality who promises to spill the ugly truth on what makes men and women tick. This mindless chick flick stays with constant in your face sexual innuendoes and references that become silly and predictable and clique.
Mr. Lucky
TCM. This pot-broiler, Cary Grant escapade felt dark and boring, with no point. ‘
Julie and Julia
Theater. Julie Powell (Amy Adams) is 30-years-old, living in a rundown apartment in Queens and working at a soul-sucking secretarial job that's going nowhere. She needs something to break the monotony of her life, so she invents a deranged assignment: She will take her mother's dog-eared copy of the 1961 classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child (Meryl Streep) and she will cook all 524 recipes in the span of one year. Based on two true stories, Julie & Julia intertwines the lives of two women who, though separated by time and space, are both at loose ends until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible. Also starring Stanley Tucci. Written and directed by Nora Ephron. I thoroughly found it absorbing and utterly entertaining. Yael hated it. I loved the struggle to find oneself and the determination to do so. It felt very real.
Flame & Citron
Theater. “This Danish drama is based on the true story of Flame and Citron, two legendary resistance fighters charged with liquidating Danish informers in 1944. But when Fame is asked to execute his girlfriend, he questions his orders, wondering who she really is.” Both of them became national heroes. Both won the US Metal of Freedom. Both families suffered because of their loss. It was a gripping film, where no one could trust anyone except each other, where unspoken words were taken for understanding, where betrayal and greed and power ruled over integrity and doing the right thing. Flame was forever talked out of his own private instincts.
“It is really a meditation on the nature of heroism and the quest for purity of purpose.” Joe Morgenstern.
The Bad and The Beautiful, 1952
TCM. Five Oscars went to this portrait of a Hollywood heel. It starred Kirk Douglas and Lana Turner. Douglas was a manly man, magnificent and powerful. Turner was stiff. It was an extremely well done, written story of how 4 people were screwed by Douglas but how they forgave him and decided to help him with a comeback. Superb movie.
War & Peace, 1956
TCM. With Audrey Hepburn and Peter Fonda and Mel Ferrer. Tolstoy’s sprawling classic about Czarist Russia under attack by Napoleon and his army. Boring, but quite an ambitious and remarkable creation. I loved Hepburn as Natasha. Fonda was ridiculous as Pierre. I watched it so I would understand the general plot and story-line so I could read the book. I now want to see the 1968 Russian version that was up for best Foreign Picture.
Mr. Bean’s Holiday
TCM. Starring Rowan Atkinson, 2007. A famous British comic, who plays the part of a klutzy, bumbler who does not talk. He reminded us a little bit of Adam! Mindless and cute.
Darling, 1965
TCM. Starring Julie Christie. Small and natural, especially her lips, this extraordinary film won her best actress. Sad, ambitious, she throws away real love for the fake and at the end discovers she has the empty, lonely life she always feared. So, so sad.
Beeswax
Theater. Awful. Walked out. Amateurish. Boring. Not going anywhere. Could care less about the people and their small and insignificant lives where everyone is so nice to each other, when in reality, there has to be a smoldering rage somewhere. Yes?
My One and Only
Theater. The tires of a baby blue '53 Cadillac Coupe de Ville convertible squeal down the New York Street, and none of its occupants looks back. The beautiful but mercurial Ann (Renée Zellweger) has just left her philandering husband Dan Devereaux (Kevin Bacon), a society bandleader, and taken to the road with her teenage sons, George (Logan Lerman) and Robbie (Mark Rendall), in search of a wealthy replacement mate. Although it's 1953, Ann is certain that her girlish charms will serve her as well as they did two decades earlier. But time has marched on since Ann's courting days, and it seems that the losers and playboys outnumber the eligible and willing bachelors. Ann never gives up hope, but a series of new schools for the boys, ever more humble lodgings and romantic misadventures start to take the gloss off their trip. Yet Ann is indefatigable, her pride matched by the flighty enthusiasm of her older son Robbie, a flamboyant boy who believes he is meant for a life on the stage, and the cynical wit of George, an observant aspiring writer. As the miles roll by, their journey veers from eccentric, to hair rising, to poignant, to comic. I loved it. It held my interest and respect for George Hamilton!
The Secrets
Sinai Temple. I was so tense inside as I get too tense recommending a film and then I feel responsible for the person I am with, if they do not like it. I was recommending this movie and lecture because of Rabbi Azriel. I am a groupie of his! I adore listening to him as he makes any movie so satisfying for me in understanding it. I feel that he gives words to a visual experience masterfully. It becomes more for me than just going to the movies. It becomes an entire experience! This film, one I had never seen before (I loved this director's first film in Israel, "Go Left At The End of The World" and felt very nervous about it, since I had not previewed it. It is about such an insulated part of the world and life and religious experience. I had no idea how people would respond to it - from the first frame forward and I could not relax. For me, it was a deeply nuanced film of many layers and many levels of interpretation. I loved the young girls, they were so lovely to watch, I loved their awakening exploration into themselves and how they used their bodies for deeper information and recognition, I loved how they used their own understanding of their universe and culture to help another human being in pain, risking a great deal in the process, and I loved how the older woman regretted everything in her life, except her great love and passion, though it brought her into the abyss and she never really recovered from it. But, at the end, she was a woman without regret, though it cost her everything, peace of mind, her children, and her health. And for Naomi. Her brilliance and depth ran deep and wide and at the end, she gained a hard won courage and recognition of herself. What bravery to break an engagement in that closed Haradi community and with a father like hers! It was quite enlightening how women are subjugated and treated and live with a silent scream. Fortunately, unlike her mother, Naomi, our heroine, will not. It is not a movie that one would normally see. It stays with you and you think about it long after you leave. It is what a good book, a good film, is all about? It challenges you and makes you think, and feel.
Inglourious Basterds
Theater. “Writer/director Quentin Tarantino's seventh feature film begins in German-occupied France, where Shoshanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christopher Waltz). Shoshanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema. Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution. Known to their enemy as "The Basterds," Raine's squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammers mark (Diane Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shoshanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own...” I saw Inglouious Basterds and I LOVED IT! IT WAS FABULOUS! I was absolutely absorbed and gripped by it and fascinated. I loved how he played with metaphor, and dramatic story line, and comedy, and make-believe and fantasy, and the narrative, and the acting was marvelous. The climax of the film felt orgasmic! I swear to God! That was my reaction!! It had everything and was superbly done. Don't miss it.
Ponyo
Theater. A marvelous animated Japanese children’s film of a little fish that wants to be a human and is rescued by a little boy. The beauty and poetry and wonderment of this film were simply wonderful.
District 9
Theater. Highly recommended by several people I respect, we went to see the film. I found it boring, predictable, a hodge podge of several films, E-T, science fiction, blow up, aliens. It was as if there is nothing new under the sun and creators cannot get out from their own imagination. Ready for the Sequel District 10! Yuk
Barbary Coast, 1935
TCM. Starring Edward G. Robinson and Miriam Hopkins, this melodrama of brawling San Francisco in the early gold rush days was romantic with the most gorgeous leading man I ever saw! Enjoyable and fun for the timepiece and time period that it was and took place in.
Mr. Skettington, 1944
TCM. Claude Rains and Betty Davis. I wonderful film, well-developed, terrific memorable lines, and plot. Betty Davis plays herself, a vain, narcissist woman who abandons her daughter and lives for her mirror and admirer. Her long-suffering husband is marvelous and a wonderful character. She never loved him, ignores him, yet takes him back when he becomes blind and cannot see how old she has become. Disgusting character.
There’s A Girl In My Soup, 1970
TCM. Starring Peter Sellers and Golde Hawn. Golde is 22, and is adorable. Peter plays a roving 41-year-old playboy who gets his due when he meets up with Golde. Cute and mindless.
Room at The Top, 1958
TCM. With Simone Signoret and Lawrence Harvey. Mature study of a ruthless social climber in a British dialogue that retains much of John Braine’s novel. Marvelous and powerful and intense.
To Catch A Thief, 1955
TCM. Alfred Hitchcock’s caper about a former jewelry thief (Cary Grant) and a jet setter (Grace Kelly) it all takes place on the French Rivera. Light and elegant and engaging.
Now, Voyager, 1942
TCM. With Bette Davis, Claude Rains and gorgeous Paul Henreid. A marvelous, romantic story of a wealthy socialite whose mother is another Ruth, cold and calculating and vicious and who is saved by a marvelous psychologist who encourages her to take a 6 month cruise and where she is saved and loved by Henreid. The dialogue and storyline and film are simply wonderful. I loved it.
September Issue
Theater. A documentary into the life of creating the September Issue of Vogue.
Starring Anna Winotour, the Editor of Vogue and her Assistant Grace, the movie is a fascinating exploration into this world of fashion. Anna gets a bad rapt. She is cold, does not give in to small talk or intrusions into her private life. She is authoritarian and decisive and perfect for the job.
I actually ended up having a great admiration for her nerves of steel and refusal to get into screaming binges and loose control. Entertaining and thoroughly engaging.
Deception, 1946
TCM. Claude Rains. Bette Davis. A classical piano player tries to keep her insanely jealous husband from finding out about her affair before he reappeared into her life. Dialogue wonderful.
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Theater. Rachel McAdams and the man who starred in Munich. A sad film, well done and well liked. Clever in its idea, I found their love deep and abiding and traumatic. I could not imagine my life like this. She is married to a time traveler who sees the past and the future.
Crisis, 1950
TCM. Richard Brooks, Director.
Houseboat, 1959
TCM. Romantic comedy with Cary Grant and Sophia Loren. She was gorgeous! It was a p.g. Crowd-pleasing audience with accessibility. Grant is always first class and have good taste.
Bright Star
Theater. Written and directed by Jane Campion (The Piano), Bright Star is a riveting drama based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish), which was cut short by Keats' untimely death. London, 1818—a secret love affair begins between 23-year-old English poet John Keats and the girl next door, Fanny Brawne, an outspoken student of fashion. This unlikely pair started at odds; he thinking her a stylish minx, she unimpressed by literature in general. But when Keats's younger brother falls ill John and Fanny are drawn together. Keats, touched by Fanny's efforts to help care for his brother, agrees to teach her poetry. By the time Fanny's alarmed mother (Kerry Fox) and Keats's best friend Charles Armitage Brown (Paul Schneider) realize their attachment, the relationship had an unstoppable momentum. Sad. Perfectly nailed of profound love, the movie rang of truth.
The Cranes Are Flying, 1957
TCM. Tatyana Samoilova and Alexei Batalov. It is about young lovers separated by WW2. The movie was marvelous. It captured the essence of Russia under the Soviets. The love story did not have a Hollywood ending but a realistic one. There was closure. It tells the love story of a young man who volunteers for war leaving this girlfriend behind, and how she copes and fails and finds a way to survive with her grief and her actions. Powerful and raw and honest.
Notorious, 1946
TCM. Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant. Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller of an American agent who seduces and joins forces with the enemy and an FBI agent who is in love with her. A marvelous classic and simply, they do not make movies like this anymore.
The Passionate Friends, 1949
TCM. Starring Claude Rains and Ann Todd. “Mary” is the wife of a wealthy banker and meets up with her former boyfriend, the great love of her life. She is torn apart when she reconnects with him, but at the end, returns to her husband in forgiveness and decision. Solid good film.
Coco, Before Channel
Theater. Starring Audrey Tautou. Coco begins her life as a headstrong orphan and through an extraordinary journey becomes the legendary couturier that embodied the modern woman and became a timeless symbol of success, freedom and style. An excellent biopic of this remarkable woman.
Vertigo, 1958
TCM. Hitchcock’s classic study of illusion versus reality. An acrophobia detective tails an enigmatic woman. Suspenseful and exceptionally well done. James Stewart and Kim Novak.
Middle of The Night, 1959
TCM. Directed by Paddy Chayefsky (Marty) and staring Fredric March and Kim Novak. The movie is a study of loneliness and frustration that focuses on a middle-aged (56) widower, who is in love with a 24-year-old woman. It reflects upon jealousies and competition and opinions; and has wonderful realistic dialogue and acting.
The Unsuspected, 1947
TCM. Joan Caulfield and Claude Raines. Raines stars as a radio spinner of murder yarns, while accomplishing some real life crimes. Thrilling and tense and perfectly acted, I loved it.
An Education
Theater. "An Education is the story of a teenage girl's coming-of-age set in 1961 London, a city caught between the drab, post-war 1950s and the glamorous, more liberated decade to come. Jenny (Carey Mulligan) stands on the brink of becoming a woman: a brilliantly witty and attractive 16-year-old whose suburban life is about to be blown apart by the utterly unsuitable 30-something David (Peter Sarsgaard). Urbane and witty, David manages to charm her conservative parents Jack (Alfred Molina) and Marjorie (Cara Seymour). David introduces Jenny to a glittering new world of classical concerts and late-night suppers with his attractive friend and business partner, Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Danny's girlfriend, the beautiful but vacuous Helen (Rosamund Pike). Just as Jenny's family's long-held dream of getting their brilliant daughter into Oxford seems within reach, Jenny is tempted by another kind of life. Written by Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity) and directed by Lone Scherfig (Italian for Beginners)."
This simply marvelous film has created a star with Carey Mulligan. This 24 year-old actress has burst upon the scene with this role. I loved this film. It is a coming of age, a familiar story we all have known and experienced, yet it is told through a fresh interpretation I have not seen in a long time in present day film work. David is a con man, a serial seducer, a liar and a thief, a scoundrel with despicable character. She got back at him by writing this memoir. Told through Lili's eyes, one never despises him, as she obviously never did. Her real education came with Life and not with school. Her parents were as seduced by his charm and class, as much as she. Several points to notice: her "boy" friend that was her age was also Jewish but with David, the parents did not mind; when she first steps into the car and makes that decision, and takes that leap out of the rain, her life has changed. And, later on, when again she makes the decision to return to the car, she looses her inner compass and almost wrecks her life. Fortunately, she is given a second chance and does not end up with a ruined life.
I found this on the internet for all you people who saw an education.
By Caraculiambro
(La Mancha and environs) - See all my reviews
This review is from: An Education (Paperback)
I was so moved by a searingly honest excerpt of Lynn Barber's "An Education" that appeared a couple of weeks ago in the Guardian that I ordered the book forthwith. I was a little leery doing so, since, as I'd never heard of Lynn Barber before then, I was dreading a biography that would go on and on about a person I knew nothing of.
Mercifully, however, Lynn Barber's "An Education" is a swift read: 182 pages that can probably be finished in an afternoon.
So who is Lynn Barber? In brief, a British journalist who's famous for controversial interviews. In the 70's, she worked at Penthouse, which at the time was quite the louche thing for a Oxford-educated lady to do.
The reason this book is getting a bunch of press is that its third chapter, "An Education," has been turned into a movie starring Carey Mulligan, with a script written by the much-praised Nick Hornby. That's also the excerpt I read in the Guardian, and yow, is it fantastic. Here's a paragraph:
"But there were other lessons Simon taught me that I regret learning. I learned not to trust people; I learned not to believe what they say but to watch what they do; I learned to suspect that anyone and everyone is capable of 'living a lie'. I cam to believe that other people -- even when you think you know them well -- are ultimately unknowable. Learning all this was a good basis for my subsequent career as an interviewer, but not, I think, for life. It made me too wary, too cautious, too ungiving. I was damaged by my education." (pp. 55-56)
As for the rest of it, I found it pretty forgettable. Part of the problem is that, since I'm not British, I'm lost with all of the Fleet Street name-dropping. Whatever effect it was intended to have is lost on me. Here's a sample of what I'm talking about:
". . . . so I assembled a good backlog of interviews for Stephen Glover to choose from. In the very first issue he ran an interview I did with John Aspinall in which - I always believe - Aspinall admitted to having seen Lord Lucan after he murdered his nanny." (p. 133)
Other than third chapter, the only other part of the book that I felt was worthwhile was the end, where Ms. Barber finds that her youngish husband of thirty years is unexpectedly dying of a rare disease. She really put her heart on the page in those final pages, and it shows.
As for the impression you get about the life Barber has achieved, it seems like it doesn't sum to much. As quoted above, she blames her relationship with Simon for her being ungiving, but she struck me as just another typical baby boomer. Her life was one series of self-indulgent antics after another, and, though she does mention her kids, she doesn't seem too interested in them. Seems like her whole life has been more about getting rather than giving. Sadly, the author, now about 65, has apparently yet to realize this.
Quotes that creep the reader out are frequent. Here's one:
"I probably slept with about fifty men in my second year [at Oxford]. My fantasy in those days was to meet a stranger, exchange almost no words, jump into bed, and then talk afterwards." (p. 67)
In short, a poorly lived life.
All Fall Down, 1960's
TCM. Warren Beatty and Eve Marie Saint and Karl Malden. A deeply trouble family, with the good son who is 16 (Clinton) and the bad son and bad boy (Barry Barry) who is revered by his parents, interact into an explosive and devastating conclusion over a girl. Barry Barry is unable to stand up and become a man and do the right thing because he is of bad character. Clinton adores him and finally becomes a man when he sees the kind of person Barry Barry really is -destructive and someone who hates life and brings everyone and everything around him into the gutter, where he lives. Gripping. Dramatic acting. Absorbing.
My Life In Ruins
Airplane. "A disillusioned American-Greek tour director has her life transformed during one last excursion.
With a little help from an elderly tourist, she not only finds love but also reconnects with her mother country and passes her passion or all things Greek onto her clients." It was a cute lively romantic comedy. The star wants to be a babe and is not. It was sad to see Dreyfuss, one of the great actors of his generation, having only parts like this one. It held my interest and care and it forever banned me from ever taking a tour with a group!
Imagine That
Airplane. "A financial executive (Eddie Murphy) who cannot stop his career from down spiral is invited into his daughter's imaginary world, where solutions to his problems await." I enjoyed this film thoroughly.
I found it poignant and moving. The little girl, delightful. She wasn't cutsey and saccharine. I felt it carried strong moral messages. How not to use children for your own ambition. How to be a parent and make priorities mean something. What it means to love and to care. How know one really knows the stock
market. It is just hunch at the end of the day.
The Hangover
Airplane. "A Las Vegas set comedy centered around 3 groomsmen who lose their about-to-be wedding buddy during their drunken misadverntures, the must retrace their steps in order to find him." Not expecting to, I enjoyed this film and took it for what it was. A light comedy of mishaps and chaos, where the whore is sweet and loving and marriageable and the professional woman is a bitch, the Jew is a nerd and clumsy, but smart. Stupid but entertaining.
Ghosts From Girlfriends Past
Airlplane. Opening to terrible reviews, I actually liked this film. I don't know why. Maybe, it was that I liked the message or the surfer dude or Jennifer, who was not a push over, although she was the major love interest of our anti-hero. I liked how he grew and only through seeing into the future, did he finally understand his present, how the way he lived his life today would have profound consequences on his life tomorrow.
Bunny Lake Is Missing, 1965
TCM. Laurence Olivier and Carol Lynley star in this movie about a kidnapping of a woman's daughter.
Many years later, a remake was made of this film by Jodi Foster, who goes onto an airlplane and no one sees her daughter and the daughter is drugged and kidnapped, her identity removed the the airplane roster and the crew feels Foster is distraught and not to be believed. This is the same with this movie. I wonder if they copied this story line because it was so similar to Bunny Lake.
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler
"Irena Sendler was one of the most remarkable-and most unlikely heroes of World War II, saving 2500 Jewish children during the German occupation of Poland. As a social worker, Irena had access to the Warsaw Ghetto, making it possible for her to rescue the daughter of a Jewish friend and safely hide the young girl with a Catholic family. Realizing that thousands of children were still in danger, Irean recruited sympathetic friends and co-workers to smuggle children out and place them in safe homes, farms and convents.At great personal risk, she devised extraordinary schemes to sneak the childrenby Nazi guards, bringing them out in ambulances, suitcases and even wheel barrows. Irena was eventually captured by thee Gestapo. Even after months of torture, she maintained her silence. Her heroic effects were honored by a nomination for the Nobel Peace Price in 2007." A moving and powerful story of remarkable courage.
Skin
Theater. "The award-winning drama Skin tells one of the most unusual and moving true stories to emerge from apartheid South Africa. Sandra Laing (Sophie Okonedo, The Secret Life of Bees) is a black child born in the 1950s to white Afrikaners (Sam Neill, Alice Krige) who are unaware of their black ancestry. Her parents are rural shopkeepers serving the local black community, who lovingly bring her up as their 'white' little girl. But at the age of ten, Sandra is driven out of white society. The film follows Sandra's thirty-year journey from rejection to acceptance, betrayal to reconciliation, as she struggles to define her place in a changing world." This disturbing and very well done film, where detail was research and brought from past records, presents the remarkable story of a girl who truly feels she is white, because of her white parents, who both possessed a recessive black gene. Her parents did not prepare her for life in the white world, the ridicule, hatred, prejudice and snickers. She had few opportunities. Because, the movie is true, elevates it into a wonderful and powerful story. Not to be missed.
Precious
Theater. "Set in Harlem in 1987, Precious is a vibrant, honest and resoundingly hopeful film about the human capacity to grow and overcome. Claireece "Precious" Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) is a 16-year-old African-American girl born into a life no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother (Mo'Nique), a poisonously angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is a place of chaos, and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and an awful secret: she can neither read nor write. Precious may sometimes be down, but she is never out. Beneath her impassive expression is a watchful, curious young woman with an inchoate but unshakeable sense that other possibilities exist for her. Threatened with expulsion, Precious is offered the chance to transfer to an alternative school, Each One/Teach One. In the literacy workshop taught by the patient yet firm Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), Precious begins a journey that will lead her from darkness, pain and powerlessness to light, love and self-determination. Winner of three awards at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, including the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Co-starring Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd and Lenny Kravitz. " This is one of the most powerful and extraordinary films I have seen, in a long long time. Disturbing and harsh, moving and poignant, this film moves into the lexicon of unforgettable.
Princess O'Rourke, 1943
TMC. With Olivia DeHaviland and Bob Cummings. This terrible movie was a precursor to Roman Holiday 10 years later. There was no chemistry, the man was a bumbling idiot, it was not believable, but the structure and theme of the film was improved upon to make its later version into a Classic.
Mangambo, 1953
TCM. With Clark Gable and Ava Gardner. John Ford's remake of the 1932 "Red Dust." The movie is about an aging big-game hunter and trapper who has a hook up with Ava Gardner, only to be swept off his feet by married 28 year-old, Grace Kelly. It is a tough position to be in, a man in love with two gorgeous, but very different women, who happen to eye each other with fierce competition and one-up-man-ship.
Gardner plays the woman who has been around the corner a few times and Kelly plays the lonely wife who is no longer in love with her husband and is searching for passion and romance. Very amusing film.
a little traitor
theater. Israeli Film. This award winning film, which has been shown in Independent Film Festivals, around the glove, is simply marvelous. I loved it. Moving and achingly poignant, it is about the world of an 11 year old boy who becomes friends with a British soldier. The movie takes place right before Israel is declared a State. The lonely boy, who has a distant and judgement relationship with his father, gravitates towards this caring soldier. The ending brought me to tears. This film is not to be missed.
Ecstasy, 1933
TCM. Hedy Lamarr and Aribert Mog. "A young Lamarr caused a sensation in this beautifully photographed film of a once-notorious study of a frustrated young wife and her ex-marital affair with a young engineer." This movie was revolutionary because of the beautiful nudity and passion and hunger to feel life and to feel alive. It challenges the mores and morals of the time. There was extraordinary chemistry between the lovers. It was a marvelous, marvelous film.
The Red Lily, 1924
TCM. Ramon Novarro. "Lovers unite only to have to part when their lives take terrible turns when they are separated in Paris only to be reunited years later." Silent film. But, the dialogue and suspension and dramatic acting kept me completely engrossed. I find it fascinating that these silent films are finer and more reflective of human pathos and comedy than the superficial silly movies being made today.
The Great White Hope, 1970
TCM. James Earl Jones. This extraordinary, Shakesperian trained actor, respects this Tony Award winning role in Howard Sackler's Pulitizer Prize winning play. It is the story of Jack Johnson (Jack Jefferson in the movie) and Jones does such a remarkable, remarkable job. It motivated me to buy the Ken Burns DVD of this great world boxer. I was captivated from the first scene with Jones, as he ate up the role and the stage. Based on his life, they melded the role of his wife into one (he had 3) but it worked and it worked brilliantly. Not be be missed.
The Country Girl, 1954
Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby. "Grace Kelly's oscar-winning performance as the wife of an alcoholic actor who is trying to make a comeback." Well done and moving although I question the award for this performance for Kelly.
The Messenger
Theater. "Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a our in Iraq and is assigned to the Army's Casualty Notification service is partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers. ... When he finds himself drawn to Olivia to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband's death, Will's emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival."
This deeply penetrating and emotional film moves at a regular life like pace. Working class, uneducated and poor, it reflects the people the army gets and trains. Samantha Morton has gained a great deal of weight and looks particularly heavy. It was hard to understand the pull that Will was drawn to. His thin frame and small head looked strangely disproportionate and unattractive against Morton. Drinking hard, holding in emotions, reflecting army protocol and behavior, these soldiers gave a riveting performance. There is no sense of family both personal, or collective belonging in the army setting. Everyone feels disconnected from themselves, their friends, their family and their country.
Brothers
Theater. "When a decorated Marine goes missing overseas, his black-sheep younger brother cares for his wife and children at home—with consequences that will shake the foundation of the entire family. Brothers tells the powerful story of two siblings, Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) and younger brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), who are polar opposites. A Marine about to embark on his fourth tour of duty, Sam is a steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart, Grace (Natalie Portman), with whom he has two young daughters. Tommy, his charismatic younger brother, is a drifter just out of jail who's always gotten by on wit and charm. Shipped out to Afghanistan, Sam is presumed dead when his Black Hawk helicopter is shot down in the mountains. At home in suburbia, the Cahill family suddenly faces a shocking void, and Tommy tries to fill in for his brother by assuming newfound responsibility for himself, Grace, and the children. When Sam unexpectedly returns to the States, he is uncharacteristically withdrawn and volatile, and grows suspicious of his brother and his wife. I Directed by Jim Sheridan (In America, My Left Foot)."
I found The Messenger a far better film for this topic. I am also getting weary of soldier movie films where the soldier goes psycho upon his return. Enough! There are plenty of soldiers, in fact, most, that do not! Tobey Maguire was poorly miscast, too small and too bad an actor to pull it off. He overacts. How did he ever get as far as he got? Natalie Portman is one of our finest actresses but the part could not allow her to breathe, it was too limiting. I found the movies full of cliche (another Cain and Able story too!) dialogue trite and I found myself looking at my watch.
The Last Station
Theater. "After almost fifty years of marriage, the Countess Sofya (Helen Mirren), Leo Tolstoy's (Christopher Plummer) devoted wife, passionate lover, muse and secretary, suddenly finds her entire world turned upside down. In the name of his newly created religion, the great Russian novelist has renounced his noble title, his property and even his family in favor of poverty, vegetarianism and even celibacy. When Sofya then discovers that Tolstoy's trusted disciple, Chertkov (Paul Giamatti)—whom she despises—may have secretly convinced her husband to sign a new will, leaving the rights to his iconic novels to the Russian people rather than his very own family, she is consumed by righteous outrage. Into this minefield wanders Tolstoy's worshipful new assistant, the young, gullible Valentin (James McAvoy). In no time, he becomes a pawn, first of the scheming Chertkov and then of the wounded, vengeful Sofya as each plots to undermine the other's gains. Complicating Valentin's life even further is the overwhelming passion he feels for the beautiful, spirited Marsha (Kerry Condon), a free thinking adherent of Tolstoy's new religion whose unconventional attitudes about sex and love both compel and confuse him. A tale of two romances, one beginning, one near its end, The Last Station is a complex, funny, rich and emotional story about the difficulty of living with love and the impossibility of living without it." I raced to see this film because I had read so much about it. It follows the truth to the tee, from all that I have read about this situation. The acting was superb. Brilliant. The costumes and period piece display, perfect. Details were flawless. Dialogue rich. Sophia sympathetic. And, yet, I was bored during much of it. And, if I missed it, it would not have been the end of the day.
everything is all right
Theater. Robert D-Niro. A marvelous, heart-warming and poignant story about a widower. The film captures the feeling of loneliness perfectly. And, in that loneliness he proceeds to surprise his 4 children, which takes him all over America, because he feels their distance from him. In so doing, in making this journey, no good deed goes unpunished, and the finding out of the truths of their lives, when so much is left unspoken and hidden, is devastating, but not without a feeling of renewal and redemption. The movie left me in tears through much of it, and the music was perfect and wonderful. I loved it.
A Single Man
Theater. "Set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, A Single Man is the story of George Falconer (Colin Firth), a 52-year-old British college professor who is struggling to find meaning to his life after the death of his longtime partner, Jim (Matthew Goode). George dwells on the past and cannot see his future as we follow him through a single day, where a series of events and encounters ultimately leads him to decide if there is a meaning to life after Jim. George is consoled by his closest friend Charley (Julianne Moore), a 48-year-old beauty who is wrestling with her own questions about the future. A young student of George's, Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), who is coming to terms with his true nature, stalks George as he feels in him a kindred spirit. A Single Man is a romantic tale of love interrupted, the isolation that is an inherent part of the human condition, and ultimately the importance of the seemingly smaller moments in life. Directed and co-written by acclaimed fashion designer Tom Ford (making his feature debut), based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood." This film will have a very small audience. A Gay one. The way it is being marketed is somewhat misleading, trying to use a gay theme and pretty boys and nude swimming and chaste kissing and greek god like bodies floating in the ocean as examples that universal themes make people (color, gay) blind. We are all the same. The problem is that we are not. The student who asks about the Holocaust was not real, as no one asked about the Holocaust in 1962. And, then Tom Ford picks the nerdiest, unkept "Jewish" looking boy to ask the question. Manipulated, so that George can lodge into a monologue about fear and (homosexuality) without speaking about it. The neighbors would have been up in arms at his life style with 3 little children, in this time period. The whole movie felt fashioned and coordinated and stylized and contrived. It was all too controlled, too pretty, too organized as fashion photography must be to create a world of fantasy. Ford may want to be a director but he should stick to magazines. Firth was fantastic. I forgot that this was him acting as he was outstanding and gave an Oscar Award winning performance. I also thought it was a cheap shot to make him die at the end, since of course, everything is tied up neatly and nothing is messy. As if life is anything but neat. There were two great quotes: "Living in the past is my future." and "It's not what happens to a man, its what a man does with what happens." I jotted this down on a a page with this quote: "If you don't see the evil in your midst, then in your midst, you will be forced to see evil." Interesting. Both quotations on the same page.
Up In The Air
Theater. "From Jason Reitman, the director of Juno and Thank You for Smoking, comes a dramatic comedy starring George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate hatchet man who loves his life on the road but is forced to fight for his job when his company downsizes its travel budget. He is required to spend more time at home, just as he is on the cusp of a goal he's worked toward for years—reaching ten million frequent flyer miles—and just after he's met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams." This film is more drama then comedy. Hearing real peoples speak of their personal job loss made the film immediate and powerful, bringing the statistic into a real human drama. The film was crisp, Clooney was at his best, and Reitman is securing his place as a sensitive and powerful director. A very fine piece of film work not to be missed.
The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1934
TCM. Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon. This is one of Howard's best know roles. He plays the role of a superman, Sir Percy Blakeney, a silly dandy aristrocrat by day, and a rescurer of nobelmen by night. It was a wonderful old film.
Broken Embraces
Theater. This convoluted and long tedious film, that is in love with itself, stars Peneolpe Cruz, as the muse for director, Pedro Almodovar. It is about a blind director, who takes care of his son, though he does not know that it is his son, and shares with him his traumatic story of love loss, trauma, heartache and passion. Lena is the great love of his life and it is through this passion, that he looses his sight, yet, gains insight.
I felt detached as I watched it. It was too much of an art film and less of a movie of consequence.
Young Victoria
Theater. This movie stars Emily Blunt who does a wonderful restrained job, as does Rupert Friend, who must be gay in real life as he had no idea how to respond and to touch a woman. I watched it wondering what was the point of it, and when I left, I felt, that it was just another movie. The costumes and period piece, that it represented were beautiful and abundant, but they had 9 children and 20 years, far longer than most marriages of that time period, so where was the tragedy? A great loss for her but it was hard to feel more than that.
TCM. Tatyana Samoilova and Alexei Batalov. It is about young lovers separated by WW2. The movie was marvelous. It captured the essence of Russia under the Soviets. The love story did not have a Hollywood ending but a realistic one. There was closure. It tells the love story of a young man who volunteers for war leaving this girlfriend behind, and how she copes and fails and finds a way to survive with her grief and her actions. Powerful and raw and honest.
Notorious, 1946
TCM. Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant. Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller of an American agent who seduces and joins forces with the enemy and an FBI agent who is in love with her. A marvelous classic and simply, they do not make movies like this anymore.
The Passionate Friends, 1949
TCM. Starring Claude Rains and Ann Todd. “Mary” is the wife of a wealthy banker and meets up with her former boyfriend, the great love of her life. She is torn apart when she reconnects with him, but at the end, returns to her husband in forgiveness and decision. Solid good film.
Coco, Before Channel
Theater. Starring Audrey Tautou. Coco begins her life as a headstrong orphan and through an extraordinary journey becomes the legendary couturier that embodied the modern woman and became a timeless symbol of success, freedom and style. An excellent biopic of this remarkable woman.
Vertigo, 1958
TCM. Hitchcock’s classic study of illusion versus reality. An acrophobia detective tails an enigmatic woman. Suspenseful and exceptionally well done. James Stewart and Kim Novak.
Middle of The Night, 1959
TCM. Directed by Paddy Chayefsky (Marty) and staring Fredric March and Kim Novak. The movie is a study of loneliness and frustration that focuses on a middle-aged (56) widower, who is in love with a 24-year-old woman. It reflects upon jealousies and competition and opinions; and has wonderful realistic dialogue and acting.
The Unsuspected, 1947
TCM. Joan Caulfield and Claude Raines. Raines stars as a radio spinner of murder yarns, while accomplishing some real life crimes. Thrilling and tense and perfectly acted, I loved it.
More Than A Game
Theater. “Five talented young basketball players from Akron, Ohio star in this remarkable true-life coming-of-age story about uncommon friendship in the face all too common adversities. Coached by a charismatic but inexperienced player's father, and led by future NBA superstar LeBron James, the "Fab Five's" improbable seven-year journey leads them from a decrepit inner-city gym to the doorstep of a national high school championship. Along the way, the close-knit team is repeatedly tested—both on and off the court—as James' exploding worldwide celebrity threatens to destroy everything they've set out to achieve together. More Than A Game combines a series of unforgettable one-on-one interviews with rare news footage, never-before-seen home videos and personal family photographs to bring this heart-warming and wholly American story to life.” I left the theater feeling the downfall of our society. We truly live in an anti-intellectual society where 1 out of 10 people must be connected in some way to sports or celebrity. These kids could not speak English or read or speak well. They were not educated. And, yet they are our heroes! I found the larger picture that I gleaned from it troubling and disturbing.
Cynara, 1932
TCM. Ronald Colman, Kay Francis. Poignant story of a married man reluctantly involved in a casual affair that leads to tragedy. Astounded by the sophistication, the dialogue, the story line that this kind of movie felt as relevant and real as if it had been done today, but with class and innuendo instead of crass vulgarity.
An American in Paris, 1951
Gene Kelly and Leslie Canon. This Oscar Winner for Best Picture features Gershwin songs and dance numbers created my Kelly. I thought the dance sequence at the end was way too long.
Footloose, 1984
TV. Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer. "A kicky soundtrack adds pep to this teenager fighting to organize a dance in a repressive midwestern town." I could not believe how young everyone looked, how well Bacon could dance, and watching this kind of movie from a guy's viewpoint.
Lili, 1953
TCM. Leslie Caron. An enchanting fable that always brings me to tears. The dance scenes reminded me of The Wizard of Oz and An American in Paris. The movie played in a small 550 seated theater because it could not be booked into the larger 6000 seat theater in New York, the year that it was released. Because of this, it allowed word of mouth to be created and it ended up playing for over two years to packed crowds, in the same small theater house, becoming a world wide sensation and giving Caron an Oscar Award nomination. I LOVED it.
Theater. "An Education is the story of a teenage girl's coming-of-age set in 1961 London, a city caught between the drab, post-war 1950s and the glamorous, more liberated decade to come. Jenny (Carey Mulligan) stands on the brink of becoming a woman: a brilliantly witty and attractive 16-year-old whose suburban life is about to be blown apart by the utterly unsuitable 30-something David (Peter Sarsgaard). Urbane and witty, David manages to charm her conservative parents Jack (Alfred Molina) and Marjorie (Cara Seymour). David introduces Jenny to a glittering new world of classical concerts and late-night suppers with his attractive friend and business partner, Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Danny's girlfriend, the beautiful but vacuous Helen (Rosamund Pike). Just as Jenny's family's long-held dream of getting their brilliant daughter into Oxford seems within reach, Jenny is tempted by another kind of life. Written by Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity) and directed by Lone Scherfig (Italian for Beginners)."
This simply marvelous film has created a star with Carey Mulligan. This 24 year-old actress has burst upon the scene with this role. I loved this film. It is a coming of age, a familiar story we all have known and experienced, yet it is told through a fresh interpretation I have not seen in a long time in present day film work. David is a con man, a serial seducer, a liar and a thief, a scoundrel with despicable character. She got back at him by writing this memoir. Told through Lili's eyes, one never despises him, as she obviously never did. Her real education came with Life and not with school. Her parents were as seduced by his charm and class, as much as she. Several points to notice: her "boy" friend that was her age was also Jewish but with David, the parents did not mind; when she first steps into the car and makes that decision, and takes that leap out of the rain, her life has changed. And, later on, when again she makes the decision to return to the car, she looses her inner compass and almost wrecks her life. Fortunately, she is given a second chance and does not end up with a ruined life.
I found this on the internet for all you people who saw an education.
By Caraculiambro
(La Mancha and environs) - See all my reviews
This review is from: An Education (Paperback)
I was so moved by a searingly honest excerpt of Lynn Barber's "An Education" that appeared a couple of weeks ago in the Guardian that I ordered the book forthwith. I was a little leery doing so, since, as I'd never heard of Lynn Barber before then, I was dreading a biography that would go on and on about a person I knew nothing of.
Mercifully, however, Lynn Barber's "An Education" is a swift read: 182 pages that can probably be finished in an afternoon.
So who is Lynn Barber? In brief, a British journalist who's famous for controversial interviews. In the 70's, she worked at Penthouse, which at the time was quite the louche thing for a Oxford-educated lady to do.
The reason this book is getting a bunch of press is that its third chapter, "An Education," has been turned into a movie starring Carey Mulligan, with a script written by the much-praised Nick Hornby. That's also the excerpt I read in the Guardian, and yow, is it fantastic. Here's a paragraph:
"But there were other lessons Simon taught me that I regret learning. I learned not to trust people; I learned not to believe what they say but to watch what they do; I learned to suspect that anyone and everyone is capable of 'living a lie'. I cam to believe that other people -- even when you think you know them well -- are ultimately unknowable. Learning all this was a good basis for my subsequent career as an interviewer, but not, I think, for life. It made me too wary, too cautious, too ungiving. I was damaged by my education." (pp. 55-56)
As for the rest of it, I found it pretty forgettable. Part of the problem is that, since I'm not British, I'm lost with all of the Fleet Street name-dropping. Whatever effect it was intended to have is lost on me. Here's a sample of what I'm talking about:
". . . . so I assembled a good backlog of interviews for Stephen Glover to choose from. In the very first issue he ran an interview I did with John Aspinall in which - I always believe - Aspinall admitted to having seen Lord Lucan after he murdered his nanny." (p. 133)
Other than third chapter, the only other part of the book that I felt was worthwhile was the end, where Ms. Barber finds that her youngish husband of thirty years is unexpectedly dying of a rare disease. She really put her heart on the page in those final pages, and it shows.
As for the impression you get about the life Barber has achieved, it seems like it doesn't sum to much. As quoted above, she blames her relationship with Simon for her being ungiving, but she struck me as just another typical baby boomer. Her life was one series of self-indulgent antics after another, and, though she does mention her kids, she doesn't seem too interested in them. Seems like her whole life has been more about getting rather than giving. Sadly, the author, now about 65, has apparently yet to realize this.
Quotes that creep the reader out are frequent. Here's one:
"I probably slept with about fifty men in my second year [at Oxford]. My fantasy in those days was to meet a stranger, exchange almost no words, jump into bed, and then talk afterwards." (p. 67)
In short, a poorly lived life.
All Fall Down, 1960's
TCM. Warren Beatty and Eve Marie Saint and Karl Malden. A deeply trouble family, with the good son who is 16 (Clinton) and the bad son and bad boy (Barry Barry) who is revered by his parents, interact into an explosive and devastating conclusion over a girl. Barry Barry is unable to stand up and become a man and do the right thing because he is of bad character. Clinton adores him and finally becomes a man when he sees the kind of person Barry Barry really is -destructive and someone who hates life and brings everyone and everything around him into the gutter, where he lives. Gripping. Dramatic acting. Absorbing.
My Life In Ruins
Airplane. "A disillusioned American-Greek tour director has her life transformed during one last excursion.
With a little help from an elderly tourist, she not only finds love but also reconnects with her mother country and passes her passion or all things Greek onto her clients." It was a cute lively romantic comedy. The star wants to be a babe and is not. It was sad to see Dreyfuss, one of the great actors of his generation, having only parts like this one. It held my interest and care and it forever banned me from ever taking a tour with a group!
Imagine That
Airplane. "A financial executive (Eddie Murphy) who cannot stop his career from down spiral is invited into his daughter's imaginary world, where solutions to his problems await." I enjoyed this film thoroughly.
I found it poignant and moving. The little girl, delightful. She wasn't cutsey and saccharine. I felt it carried strong moral messages. How not to use children for your own ambition. How to be a parent and make priorities mean something. What it means to love and to care. How know one really knows the stock
market. It is just hunch at the end of the day.
The Hangover
Airplane. "A Las Vegas set comedy centered around 3 groomsmen who lose their about-to-be wedding buddy during their drunken misadverntures, the must retrace their steps in order to find him." Not expecting to, I enjoyed this film and took it for what it was. A light comedy of mishaps and chaos, where the whore is sweet and loving and marriageable and the professional woman is a bitch, the Jew is a nerd and clumsy, but smart. Stupid but entertaining.
Ghosts From Girlfriends Past
Airlplane. Opening to terrible reviews, I actually liked this film. I don't know why. Maybe, it was that I liked the message or the surfer dude or Jennifer, who was not a push over, although she was the major love interest of our anti-hero. I liked how he grew and only through seeing into the future, did he finally understand his present, how the way he lived his life today would have profound consequences on his life tomorrow.
Bunny Lake Is Missing, 1965
TCM. Laurence Olivier and Carol Lynley star in this movie about a kidnapping of a woman's daughter.
Many years later, a remake was made of this film by Jodi Foster, who goes onto an airlplane and no one sees her daughter and the daughter is drugged and kidnapped, her identity removed the the airplane roster and the crew feels Foster is distraught and not to be believed. This is the same with this movie. I wonder if they copied this story line because it was so similar to Bunny Lake.
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler
"Irena Sendler was one of the most remarkable-and most unlikely heroes of World War II, saving 2500 Jewish children during the German occupation of Poland. As a social worker, Irena had access to the Warsaw Ghetto, making it possible for her to rescue the daughter of a Jewish friend and safely hide the young girl with a Catholic family. Realizing that thousands of children were still in danger, Irean recruited sympathetic friends and co-workers to smuggle children out and place them in safe homes, farms and convents.At great personal risk, she devised extraordinary schemes to sneak the childrenby Nazi guards, bringing them out in ambulances, suitcases and even wheel barrows. Irena was eventually captured by thee Gestapo. Even after months of torture, she maintained her silence. Her heroic effects were honored by a nomination for the Nobel Peace Price in 2007." A moving and powerful story of remarkable courage.
Skin
Theater. "The award-winning drama Skin tells one of the most unusual and moving true stories to emerge from apartheid South Africa. Sandra Laing (Sophie Okonedo, The Secret Life of Bees) is a black child born in the 1950s to white Afrikaners (Sam Neill, Alice Krige) who are unaware of their black ancestry. Her parents are rural shopkeepers serving the local black community, who lovingly bring her up as their 'white' little girl. But at the age of ten, Sandra is driven out of white society. The film follows Sandra's thirty-year journey from rejection to acceptance, betrayal to reconciliation, as she struggles to define her place in a changing world." This disturbing and very well done film, where detail was research and brought from past records, presents the remarkable story of a girl who truly feels she is white, because of her white parents, who both possessed a recessive black gene. Her parents did not prepare her for life in the white world, the ridicule, hatred, prejudice and snickers. She had few opportunities. Because, the movie is true, elevates it into a wonderful and powerful story. Not to be missed.
Precious
Theater. "Set in Harlem in 1987, Precious is a vibrant, honest and resoundingly hopeful film about the human capacity to grow and overcome. Claireece "Precious" Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) is a 16-year-old African-American girl born into a life no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother (Mo'Nique), a poisonously angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is a place of chaos, and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and an awful secret: she can neither read nor write. Precious may sometimes be down, but she is never out. Beneath her impassive expression is a watchful, curious young woman with an inchoate but unshakeable sense that other possibilities exist for her. Threatened with expulsion, Precious is offered the chance to transfer to an alternative school, Each One/Teach One. In the literacy workshop taught by the patient yet firm Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), Precious begins a journey that will lead her from darkness, pain and powerlessness to light, love and self-determination. Winner of three awards at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, including the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Co-starring Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd and Lenny Kravitz. " This is one of the most powerful and extraordinary films I have seen, in a long long time. Disturbing and harsh, moving and poignant, this film moves into the lexicon of unforgettable.
Princess O'Rourke, 1943
TMC. With Olivia DeHaviland and Bob Cummings. This terrible movie was a precursor to Roman Holiday 10 years later. There was no chemistry, the man was a bumbling idiot, it was not believable, but the structure and theme of the film was improved upon to make its later version into a Classic.
Mangambo, 1953
TCM. With Clark Gable and Ava Gardner. John Ford's remake of the 1932 "Red Dust." The movie is about an aging big-game hunter and trapper who has a hook up with Ava Gardner, only to be swept off his feet by married 28 year-old, Grace Kelly. It is a tough position to be in, a man in love with two gorgeous, but very different women, who happen to eye each other with fierce competition and one-up-man-ship.
Gardner plays the woman who has been around the corner a few times and Kelly plays the lonely wife who is no longer in love with her husband and is searching for passion and romance. Very amusing film.
a little traitor
theater. Israeli Film. This award winning film, which has been shown in Independent Film Festivals, around the glove, is simply marvelous. I loved it. Moving and achingly poignant, it is about the world of an 11 year old boy who becomes friends with a British soldier. The movie takes place right before Israel is declared a State. The lonely boy, who has a distant and judgement relationship with his father, gravitates towards this caring soldier. The ending brought me to tears. This film is not to be missed.
Ecstasy, 1933
TCM. Hedy Lamarr and Aribert Mog. "A young Lamarr caused a sensation in this beautifully photographed film of a once-notorious study of a frustrated young wife and her ex-marital affair with a young engineer." This movie was revolutionary because of the beautiful nudity and passion and hunger to feel life and to feel alive. It challenges the mores and morals of the time. There was extraordinary chemistry between the lovers. It was a marvelous, marvelous film.
The Red Lily, 1924
TCM. Ramon Novarro. "Lovers unite only to have to part when their lives take terrible turns when they are separated in Paris only to be reunited years later." Silent film. But, the dialogue and suspension and dramatic acting kept me completely engrossed. I find it fascinating that these silent films are finer and more reflective of human pathos and comedy than the superficial silly movies being made today.
The Great White Hope, 1970
TCM. James Earl Jones. This extraordinary, Shakesperian trained actor, respects this Tony Award winning role in Howard Sackler's Pulitizer Prize winning play. It is the story of Jack Johnson (Jack Jefferson in the movie) and Jones does such a remarkable, remarkable job. It motivated me to buy the Ken Burns DVD of this great world boxer. I was captivated from the first scene with Jones, as he ate up the role and the stage. Based on his life, they melded the role of his wife into one (he had 3) but it worked and it worked brilliantly. Not be be missed.
The Country Girl, 1954
Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby. "Grace Kelly's oscar-winning performance as the wife of an alcoholic actor who is trying to make a comeback." Well done and moving although I question the award for this performance for Kelly.
The Messenger
Theater. "Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a our in Iraq and is assigned to the Army's Casualty Notification service is partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers. ... When he finds himself drawn to Olivia to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband's death, Will's emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival."
This deeply penetrating and emotional film moves at a regular life like pace. Working class, uneducated and poor, it reflects the people the army gets and trains. Samantha Morton has gained a great deal of weight and looks particularly heavy. It was hard to understand the pull that Will was drawn to. His thin frame and small head looked strangely disproportionate and unattractive against Morton. Drinking hard, holding in emotions, reflecting army protocol and behavior, these soldiers gave a riveting performance. There is no sense of family both personal, or collective belonging in the army setting. Everyone feels disconnected from themselves, their friends, their family and their country.
Brothers
Theater. "When a decorated Marine goes missing overseas, his black-sheep younger brother cares for his wife and children at home—with consequences that will shake the foundation of the entire family. Brothers tells the powerful story of two siblings, Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) and younger brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), who are polar opposites. A Marine about to embark on his fourth tour of duty, Sam is a steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart, Grace (Natalie Portman), with whom he has two young daughters. Tommy, his charismatic younger brother, is a drifter just out of jail who's always gotten by on wit and charm. Shipped out to Afghanistan, Sam is presumed dead when his Black Hawk helicopter is shot down in the mountains. At home in suburbia, the Cahill family suddenly faces a shocking void, and Tommy tries to fill in for his brother by assuming newfound responsibility for himself, Grace, and the children. When Sam unexpectedly returns to the States, he is uncharacteristically withdrawn and volatile, and grows suspicious of his brother and his wife. I Directed by Jim Sheridan (In America, My Left Foot)."
I found The Messenger a far better film for this topic. I am also getting weary of soldier movie films where the soldier goes psycho upon his return. Enough! There are plenty of soldiers, in fact, most, that do not! Tobey Maguire was poorly miscast, too small and too bad an actor to pull it off. He overacts. How did he ever get as far as he got? Natalie Portman is one of our finest actresses but the part could not allow her to breathe, it was too limiting. I found the movies full of cliche (another Cain and Able story too!) dialogue trite and I found myself looking at my watch.
The Last Station
Theater. "After almost fifty years of marriage, the Countess Sofya (Helen Mirren), Leo Tolstoy's (Christopher Plummer) devoted wife, passionate lover, muse and secretary, suddenly finds her entire world turned upside down. In the name of his newly created religion, the great Russian novelist has renounced his noble title, his property and even his family in favor of poverty, vegetarianism and even celibacy. When Sofya then discovers that Tolstoy's trusted disciple, Chertkov (Paul Giamatti)—whom she despises—may have secretly convinced her husband to sign a new will, leaving the rights to his iconic novels to the Russian people rather than his very own family, she is consumed by righteous outrage. Into this minefield wanders Tolstoy's worshipful new assistant, the young, gullible Valentin (James McAvoy). In no time, he becomes a pawn, first of the scheming Chertkov and then of the wounded, vengeful Sofya as each plots to undermine the other's gains. Complicating Valentin's life even further is the overwhelming passion he feels for the beautiful, spirited Marsha (Kerry Condon), a free thinking adherent of Tolstoy's new religion whose unconventional attitudes about sex and love both compel and confuse him. A tale of two romances, one beginning, one near its end, The Last Station is a complex, funny, rich and emotional story about the difficulty of living with love and the impossibility of living without it." I raced to see this film because I had read so much about it. It follows the truth to the tee, from all that I have read about this situation. The acting was superb. Brilliant. The costumes and period piece display, perfect. Details were flawless. Dialogue rich. Sophia sympathetic. And, yet, I was bored during much of it. And, if I missed it, it would not have been the end of the day.
everything is all right
Theater. Robert D-Niro. A marvelous, heart-warming and poignant story about a widower. The film captures the feeling of loneliness perfectly. And, in that loneliness he proceeds to surprise his 4 children, which takes him all over America, because he feels their distance from him. In so doing, in making this journey, no good deed goes unpunished, and the finding out of the truths of their lives, when so much is left unspoken and hidden, is devastating, but not without a feeling of renewal and redemption. The movie left me in tears through much of it, and the music was perfect and wonderful. I loved it.
A Single Man
Theater. "Set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, A Single Man is the story of George Falconer (Colin Firth), a 52-year-old British college professor who is struggling to find meaning to his life after the death of his longtime partner, Jim (Matthew Goode). George dwells on the past and cannot see his future as we follow him through a single day, where a series of events and encounters ultimately leads him to decide if there is a meaning to life after Jim. George is consoled by his closest friend Charley (Julianne Moore), a 48-year-old beauty who is wrestling with her own questions about the future. A young student of George's, Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), who is coming to terms with his true nature, stalks George as he feels in him a kindred spirit. A Single Man is a romantic tale of love interrupted, the isolation that is an inherent part of the human condition, and ultimately the importance of the seemingly smaller moments in life. Directed and co-written by acclaimed fashion designer Tom Ford (making his feature debut), based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood." This film will have a very small audience. A Gay one. The way it is being marketed is somewhat misleading, trying to use a gay theme and pretty boys and nude swimming and chaste kissing and greek god like bodies floating in the ocean as examples that universal themes make people (color, gay) blind. We are all the same. The problem is that we are not. The student who asks about the Holocaust was not real, as no one asked about the Holocaust in 1962. And, then Tom Ford picks the nerdiest, unkept "Jewish" looking boy to ask the question. Manipulated, so that George can lodge into a monologue about fear and (homosexuality) without speaking about it. The neighbors would have been up in arms at his life style with 3 little children, in this time period. The whole movie felt fashioned and coordinated and stylized and contrived. It was all too controlled, too pretty, too organized as fashion photography must be to create a world of fantasy. Ford may want to be a director but he should stick to magazines. Firth was fantastic. I forgot that this was him acting as he was outstanding and gave an Oscar Award winning performance. I also thought it was a cheap shot to make him die at the end, since of course, everything is tied up neatly and nothing is messy. As if life is anything but neat. There were two great quotes: "Living in the past is my future." and "It's not what happens to a man, its what a man does with what happens." I jotted this down on a a page with this quote: "If you don't see the evil in your midst, then in your midst, you will be forced to see evil." Interesting. Both quotations on the same page.
Up In The Air
Theater. "From Jason Reitman, the director of Juno and Thank You for Smoking, comes a dramatic comedy starring George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate hatchet man who loves his life on the road but is forced to fight for his job when his company downsizes its travel budget. He is required to spend more time at home, just as he is on the cusp of a goal he's worked toward for years—reaching ten million frequent flyer miles—and just after he's met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams." This film is more drama then comedy. Hearing real peoples speak of their personal job loss made the film immediate and powerful, bringing the statistic into a real human drama. The film was crisp, Clooney was at his best, and Reitman is securing his place as a sensitive and powerful director. A very fine piece of film work not to be missed.
The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1934
TCM. Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon. This is one of Howard's best know roles. He plays the role of a superman, Sir Percy Blakeney, a silly dandy aristrocrat by day, and a rescurer of nobelmen by night. It was a wonderful old film.
Broken Embraces
Theater. This convoluted and long tedious film, that is in love with itself, stars Peneolpe Cruz, as the muse for director, Pedro Almodovar. It is about a blind director, who takes care of his son, though he does not know that it is his son, and shares with him his traumatic story of love loss, trauma, heartache and passion. Lena is the great love of his life and it is through this passion, that he looses his sight, yet, gains insight.
I felt detached as I watched it. It was too much of an art film and less of a movie of consequence.
Young Victoria
Theater. This movie stars Emily Blunt who does a wonderful restrained job, as does Rupert Friend, who must be gay in real life as he had no idea how to respond and to touch a woman. I watched it wondering what was the point of it, and when I left, I felt, that it was just another movie. The costumes and period piece, that it represented were beautiful and abundant, but they had 9 children and 20 years, far longer than most marriages of that time period, so where was the tragedy? A great loss for her but it was hard to feel more than that.
it's complicated
Theater. Starring Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin. The movie is an entertaining, an extended sit com, that is funny and for the crowd over 50 years old. The plot evolves around a divorcee for 10 years, who has an affair with her ex, who ultimately wants her back. Meanwhile, she establishes a relationship with her architect and decides to go with him. (Steve Martin). It really is not all that complicated at all. The highlight of the film for me is the line that Martin gives to Streep: "It is your age that is the most attractive to me." I groaned. And, the acting of Streep's future son-in-law, the star from The Office, who steals every scene that he is in. He was fabulous. Baldwin has gotten very fat and unattractive. Streep always gives her best. It is a light and engaging funny film, with Streep living in a beautiful rural home, a highly successful and beautiful bakery and with well adjusted kids. She is navigating the dating scene again.
la danse
Theater. One of the longest, most boring films I have ever seen. The film evolves around the famous Paris Ballet Company in France. There is no plot, lots of scenes of repetitious rehearsals and final performances. It was tedious, everyone existed inside a bubble, there were the same ariel shots of Paris and I saw absolutely no point to this film. Maybe dancers would respond to it. I felt it was torture and it left me irritable.
The Blind Side
Theater. "Teenager Michael Oher is surviving on his own, virtually homeless, when he is spotted on the street by Leigh Anne Tuohy. Learning that the young man is one of her daughter's classmates, Leigh Anne insists that Michael -- wearing shorts and a t-shirt in the dead of winter -- come out of the cold. Without a moment's hesitation, she invites him to stay at the Tuohy home for the night. What starts out as a gesture of kindness turns into something more as Michael becomes part of the Tuohy family despite the differences in their backgrounds. Living in his new environment, the teen faces a completely different set of challenges to overcome. And, as the family helps Michael fulfill his potential, both on and off the football field, Michael's presence in the Tuohys' lives leads them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own." I found this a touching and very interesting true story that held my interest and my heart. Sandra Bullock put in a masterful performance of spunk, courage, strength, insight and no nonsence direct toughness. I admired her character.
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes, 1945
Edward G. Robinson. Margaret O'Brian. This movie is about the pleasures and problems of Scandinavian farm life in Wisconsin. The little girl was serene and heavenly, like a little angel, a reall goody goody.
I stayed with the film. It never would have been made today. It was too good and dripping with old world values and situations.
