War/Dance

Uganda is one of those countries in Africa that has been at war longer than most of it's residents have been alive. So this might have been just another documentary about Africa... the violence, the poverty, the inhumanity that just seems to ravage that continent like an airborne virus out of control. But War/Dance is a different documentary about Africa, and perhaps that is why it won so many awards including a nomination for an Oscar. War/Dance is a documentary about hope.

War/Dance tells the story of three Ugandan children and their remarkable journey from the Patongo refugee camp to the National Music Competition - where 20,000 schools compete to be the best of the best in music and dance. We meet Rose, Dominic and Nancy - all teenagers who have never known a life without war - all with a tragic story to tell of lost childhood and violence - and all with a passion for making music. As the kids prepare for the music festival, without instruments, without uniforms and costumes, the real underdogs going into the competition, their individual stories unfold. These stories may break your heart, but the kids will bring new meaning to the term "survivor."

Directors Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine made a documentary of amazing beauty; the cinematography and editing give a dreamy quality to the film that is hard to resist. The music is breathtaking. But the kids... well, what is there to say. I cried. But it will leave you in awe of the human spirit. See the excellent website here.

Beyond the Sea

Okay, okay, okay - I'll be right upfront and admit that I adore Kevin Spacey. There's not anything he can't do - from scary, evil villain (think Seven) to ridiculous, deadpan comedy (The Ref.) He's proven his ever so serious acting skills over and over (American Beauty, The Usual Suspects etc. etc. etc.) You're getting the adoration, here? I love him in a 'wanna take him home and keep him' sort of way. But everyone has his limits, right? And a musical? How many decent musicals have been made since... I dunno... 1956?

I'm here to tell you that - to date - Kevin hasn't found any limits. Not only can he sing, and dance(!) but this little musical is charming. Simply charming. Beyond the Sea is, of course, the Bobby Darrin story - which in and of itself is so Hollywood a tale as to out Hollywood Hollywood. Poor boy, raised by his Mama, nearly dies of rheumatic fever, not supposed to live very long - goes on to fame, fortune and Sandra Dee. Does it get any sweeter? Bobby defined the lounge singer better than any of the Rat Pack - in point of fact, Sammy Davis Jr. once opined that he would never be willing to follow Bobby Darin. And to give it the proper Hollywood ending, he did indeed die relatively young.

Spacey is delightful, and manages to look much younger than he should. Add an amazing cast who more than carry their own - Kate Bosworth as Sandra, John Goodman, Bob Hoskins!!! Holy cow! We have a winner! Pop some popcorn and be entertained.
See the lousy (can't have everything,) website here.

The Air I Breathe

Here I go again. It's good that no one will sue me for having eclectic taste; perhaps I'm just looking for something that the typical film 'critic' isn't... because usually the films that make my socks go up and down are thought provoking. That's the big criteria. Does it get me thinking... does it linger in the back room of my mind for days... do I find myself returning to a scene... and most importantly, does it make me glimpse yet another facet of the ever fascinating human condition? The Air I Breathe did just those things... so I'm unmoved that virtually every paid critic hated it. I found it thought provoking.

Four main characters, representing the four emotional cornerstones of human existence, Happiness, Pleasure, Sorrow and Love, are linked together by luck? destiny? and a really evil crime boss who goes by the name of Fingers (Andy Garcia.) The characters have no names - a fact that only registered with me after it was over - they are archetypes. Happiness (Forest Whitaker) risks everything in an effort to simply have something extraordinary happen. Life is a burden to Pleasure (Brendan Fraser) until his gift of precognition desserts him. Sorrow (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a sad victim of circumstance who discovers the strength to finally live when Love (Kevin Bacon) offers her the chance to save a life. Their stories are woven together (think Babel or Crash,) and presented in vignettes that are chronologically uneven, but you'll get the point. Two will make it. Two won't.

You'll figure out how an unknown director got this cast in a minute - this is an actors film and they all do a fine job. Andy Garcia is chilling, Whitaker and Gellar take fear and pain to new levels and Fraser stays complicated. It's a violent story well done without going over the top, and I personally enjoyed the fact that the observer is asked to read between the obvious lines. Is the outcome predictable? Perhaps. Was it thought provoking? Definitely. See the (not so great) website here.

Paranoid Park

Gus Van Sant is a weird dude. Okay, that's unfair - he's just not a Hollywood dude and I should add that I don't think that is a bad thing. He just refuses to be categorized. Big time Director with a capital D - sure - think Good Will Hunting, To Die For, Milk. Independent film maker with an eye for teen angst - you bet - My Own Private Idaho, Elephant and Paranoid Park. Likes to thumb his nose at studios and Big Money - well let's remake Psycho... exactly like the original, cheesy dialogue and all but in color. hmmmm.

Paranoid Park is based on a novel by Blake Nelson and is set in a real skatepark in Van Sant's native Portland. Perhaps that is what drew him to the material. The story revolves around Alex (Gabe Nevins) who's disaffection draws him methodically through his days, until the accidental death of a security guard seems to give him a reason to breathe. The skaters, the oblivious adults and the urban blight seem to coalesce into... not much. It's hard not to watch though, lovingly filmed and framed - and Nevins is so pretty.

Sooo, I don't know. Verdict is still out on how Van Sant keeps getting money (even small amounts) to make these sort of ego driven visual cotton candy movies. All shiny and no substance? I have to admit that his fascination with his star is founded (Nevins is a natural, most of the other teens in the film are stilted) if a little creepy in its dedication. But long moments of the camera lingering hungrily on Nevins walking, or skating, or taking off his shirt??? hmmm. Another review here.

Reservation Road

Terry George displayed a gift for handling difficult subject matter with Hotel Rwanda. That was a big story with big implications and Reservation Road is a more subtle thing. Again, with the difficult subject matter, but this time George endeavors to show us both sides of the story - walking a careful line and reserving judgement for the viewer. It is both deft and heartbreaking, and aided (as was Hotel) by some incredibly talented actors.

The story starts with two families wrapping up their weekends. Ethan and Grace (Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly) are driving the kids home from a lakeside concert. Dwight (Mark Ruffalo) is racing home late from taking his son to the ball game - an extra innings, angry ex-wife sort of desperation about him. Dwight bolts in fear from the accident that leaves Ethan's son dead on the side of the road. What follows is a sort of descent into hell - Ethan from grief and Dwight from guilt.

This could have been another overdone vigilante film, but it isn't. Ruffalo brings such human vulnerability to Dwight, showing a depth of pain and desperation that easily matches the anger and frustration of Phoenix. The two men show a range of emotion often alien from films with men as protagonists, and the women of the film get to demonstrate some rarely seen female rationality. The ending is just about pitch perfect. Worth the watch... see another review here.

Fugitive Pieces

It is the rare film that stays with you. You know what I mean. The type of thing that haunts your head with images and words that linger and slide past your defenses; snapshots that stick around and crop up in unexpected places. Fugitive Pieces is such a film, so lyrical and lovely and ripe with human experience that I found myself thinking of it as poetry. This is my favorite type of film - one that takes you to another facet of our humanity - and takes you there with all your senses.

Told largely in the fragmentary flashbacks of memory, this is the story of Jakob (Stephen Dillane)who at seven years old watches in terror as his parents are murdered by Nazis in occupied Poland. Jakob escapes to the woods where he is rescued by Athos (Rade Serbedzija)who successfully smuggles him out of Poland to Greece. Jakob is haunted by images of his sister being dragged away, but the war comes to an end and Athos packs them off to live in Canada - far from memories. Despite the love and dedication of his 'godfather' Jakob grows into a brilliant writer but a deeply lonely man as "living with ghosts requires solitude." But through the love of friends, themselves all in some ways victims of the war, Jakob finally makes peace with his ghosts and learns to love, and live, again.

Jeremy Podeswa delivers a masterful adaptation of Anne Michael's novel - beautifully framed and lovingly filmed. The acting is superb and subtle as well; I was particularly smitten with Serbedzija and his expressive eyes. This lovely film may well break your heart, but it demonstrates the ever remarkable ability of the human heart to heal. See more here.

In Bruges

Have you ever been to Bruges? Me neither. Apparently it is an amazingly beautiful little city in Belgium, complete with canals and spectacular medieval architecture. Who knew? Anyhooter, Bruges is the fabulously picturesque setting of this black little comedy... and it has a part to play, so to speak. As anyone who has been stuck for any significant length of time in a tourist trap can attest, a gorgeous backdrop can be remarkably tedious and more than a little sad.

So what happens In Bruges, is that Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are stuck hiding out in a cozy little hotel room for two after a poorly dispatched assassination. Crime boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes) is rather adamant that they stay in Bruges, see the sights and lay low. Ray is having a hard time of playing tourist and having an even harder time of dealing with his new profession. Ken is trying to enjoy the vacation. There are lots of very odd and funny bits about tourists (American and obese) and dwarfs. There are lots of odd and funny bits about honor and responsibility regarding killing people. There is a fair amount of blood.

In the end, I would say that this was a moderately clever, mostly entertaining bit of blackness with some fine actors having a bit of fun. Fiennes does a splendid job as the psychotic Harry, hamming up the accent and the f-word. Colin does his vulnerability shtick and Gleeson is solid as the ever-faithful regular-guy sort of killer for hire. You end up sort of liking them all in a vaguely disturbing kind of way. Charming and offensive all at once. And Bruges is really gorgeous. See another review here.

Rails & Ties

Contrary to popular belief, I can be as sentimental as the next gal. True, I am unforgiving of the sort of trite sentimentality that seems to be prerequisite of the 'chick flick,' and I am unrepentant in my avoidance of anything that might qualify. Rails and Ties snuck in under my radar; probably because I don't think of Kevin Bacon as the sort of actor who would choose to be in one. My bad. This is definitely a chick flick, and it is achingly sentimental - heck, my husband cried. What it isn't is trite - although the story is fantastical and no, Virginia, life rarely works out in quite this tidy a fashion.

Tom (Bacon) is a train engineer who is having a lot of trouble dealing with the fact that his wife, Megan (Marcia Gay Harden) is dying of cancer; he's having so much trouble dealing with it that she is near to leaving him... determined to make the most of the time she has left. Then Tom makes a judgement call in a train vs. car situation that results in the death of a young woman, and makes an orphan of her 13 year old son (convincing newcomer Miles Heizer.) When Davey eludes Child Protection and shows up at their doorstep to confront Tom, Megan is smitten and unable to turn him away.

This is the first feature film directed by Alison Eastwood, (yep, that would be Clint's daughter) and she seems to have the family gift for drawing out memorable performances. Harden is blessed with looks that seem to meld into Everywoman- she is remarkably real and beautiful while trying to look plain and simple. Her Megan is glorious in her pain and vulnerability. The ending may be fairy stuff, but the journey seems genuine in its exploration of grief and healing. See the website here, and don't give me any chick flick crap....

Burn After Reading

Can't tell you how many people told me in no uncertain terms that they hated this movie. Enough that I put off a viewing despite George Clooney and, did I mention and? Brad Pitt. I love George Clooney in a would bear him children sort of way. I love Brad Pitt (although I'm not sorry Angelina is doing the bearing.) But I put off the movie because a number of folks really, really, really didn't like it and then I realized that all these folks were younger than me. Yes, this has bearing. It takes a certain maturity to truly appreciate irony. To enjoy anything by the Coen Brothers requires a deep seated love of the ironic. Oh, and this is really a film about middle aged angst... something the younger folks just aren't going to get. Go figure.

The story in a nutshell - middle aged Linda (Francis McDormand) has decided that nothing short of radical plastic surgery will find her a man, so when her brain dead buddy (Brad Pitt is hilarious!) at the fitness center finds what is apparently a CD of spy type stuff she sets off to sell it to the Russians. Middle aged Osbourne (John Malkovich) has been let go from his post at the CIA as a low level analyst - it's really just his financial records that our dubious duo are trying to peddle; dropped by middle aged Harry (George Clooney) who's boffing Osbourne's viper of a wife (Tilda Swinton) and anything else that walks including Linda. Lost yet? It gets incredibly worse and people end up living impaired and the CIA tidies everything up in the end. Don't they always?

The ever jovial Coens actually wrote these parts for these very actors and take great glee in taking ridiculously handsome men like George and Brad and making them simply ridiculous dorks. Of course, they've played with Francis (Fargo) and George (O Brother, Where Art Thou) before - but they sure had fun with Brad. So, I laughed at the irony and I laughed at Brad Pitt playing a mindless muscle head and I even laughed at the outrageous and unexpected violence. I hate it when they get me to do that... but I do love it so. Check out the website here.

The Counterfeiters

What I enjoy about foreign films is usually based on how different they are from our domestic product. Films that are made not only in a language other than English, but also in a context other than the American worldview, are a completely refreshing window into the larger world. From that point of view, The Counterfeiters is a bit of a disappointment. Other than language, this Austrian film could have been made on a Hollywood sound set - with production values, writing, and acting that is definitely on a par with anything made in the US. And, sadly, this is the film that beat out Pan's Labyrinth for the best foreign language film of 2007.

The film is based loosely on on the memoirs of Adolf Burger and his participation in Operation Bernhard - the Nazi plan to destabilize the Allied war effort by flooding the UK and US economies with counterfeited cash. Life in the special barracks at Sachsenhausen is luxurious for a concentration camp, but the hand picked specialists are still prisoners - stripped of their families and their dignity. The story centers around Burger (August Diehl) with his deep seated desire to resist the Nazis in every possible way and Sorowitz (Karl Markovics) who pragmatically simply want to survive.

As a film about the horrors of the Holocaust, this is pretty mild stuff - our protagonists are subtly removed from the worst of it. It's an interesting story anyway - particularly regarding the CO Herzog, who believes in a very unNazi way that you can get more flies with honey than vinegar. As I mentioned, the production values are superb, and the acting is top notch. But I'm afraid to say that I didn't feel I got anything more out of the experience than a history lesson. Just Ok. See the website here, (artsy and none too easy to navigate.)

Murderball

Picture, if you will - young, testosterone laden, professional athletes. Piss and vinegar, ego driven muscle in laser-like pursuit of victory at any cost - ready and willing to lock horns with any buck that gets in the way - the steely gaze along the line, teeth clenched in effort, all mano e mano bravado - and may the best man win. All that's in play in Murderball; I mean we're dealing with rugby here, not some sport for girls. The fact that it's quadriplegic rugby and our rutting male athletes are in wheelchairs just makes it more interesting.

The film follows a number of players as they work toward the 2004 United States Rugby Team and the Paralympics in Athens, Greece, and along the way shines a light into life with disability. All these guys have suffered spinal cord injury or debilitating disease that has left them "incomplete quadriplegics" - they all have some use of upper body but are impaired in all four limbs. Quad rugby is full contact - players move a ball down court to score goals in specially made wheelchairs on steroids that would be Thunderdome appropriate. The opposing team tries to stop you. Any way they can. Padding and helmets are for sissies.

Dana Adam Shapiro and Henry-Alex Rubin have made a gem of a film, focused on a side of life few of us might have the chance to visit. They let the guys tell their stories; about coming to terms with life in a chair, about rivalry and loyalty, about sex (yes, they can!) and finding some dignity. Not every one of these guys is equally likable, but their fortitude and never say die attitude is refreshing in a world that tends to whine... Try watching this film before your next pity party. I double dog dare you. See the website here.

The Fall

And now for something completely different. Perhaps you remember a very odd but forgettable movie back in 2000 starring the equally forgettable Jennifer Lopez but having some very memorable if macabre imagery.... The Cell? Well, chillins, Tarsem Singh is back at it again with some bigtime backers (David Fincher and Spike Jonze) and locations in 18, count them 18! countries. The Fall is again, odd, but it is anything but forgettable. And neither is it's heroine.

Roy (Lee Pace) and 5 year old Alexandria (Catinca Untaru) find themselves with too much time on their hands while recuperating in a hospital in Los Angeles circa 1915. Both have suffered a grievous fall, she picking oranges and he, the result of a movie stunt gone wrong. But Roy has no wish to live, heartsick from losing his girl to the movie star - and to win Alexandria's help to obtain the drugs to take his own life, he spins her tales of fantasy that she visualizes around the people in the hospital. With a child's innocence, she eventually sees the outcome Roy is seeking.

From the exquisite black and white opening sequence, through every rainbow hued frame of the fantasy story the imagery will leave you breathless. Tarsem repeats images Escher-like, draws shadows from smoke, and captures a child's whimsy in vivid color and painstaking detail. The story weaves jerkily in and out of reality, but Tarsem isn't taking himself too seriously this time. Untaru is mesmerizing (she's 9, unbelievable!)- she'll capture your heart and break it- but it is the sheer beauty of film that will hold you. Website here.

The Dark Knight

Before we begin, let me go on the record - Batman Begins was without a doubt the best vision of the comic book superhero ever done. BUT, somewhere between that vision and this mess, Christopher Nolan must have suffered a severe head injury or, perhaps more likely, a near fatal level of toxic ego massage. Of course you are going to sit through all 152 minutes of this thing... it will seem longer... for one excellent reason. Heath Ledger.

Synopsis? Batman (Christian Bale,) DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) and Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman) are cleaning up Gotham. Enter new bad guy - the Joker. The story wasn't important beyond that. Ledger is mesmerizing as the sociopathic jokester who's only real goal is to mix things up. He's brilliant. In every way. Makes the skin stand up on your neck, scary, brilliant. And for the first couple of hours that was enough to hold my attention. That, and the cool toys and nifty effects.

But then it all started wearing thin. Bale demonstrated the emotional range of cardboard with a speech impediment (I know, I know - so people won't guess he's really Bruce Wayne... right.) Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman aren't given enough material to justify their salaries, and we won't even get into the ridiculous role of Maggie Gyllenhaal - to suffice as appropriately gendered victim and look earnest. The film belongs to Ledger. Sadly, I fail to see how Nolan can follow his Joker with anyone else. But the real tragedy is that we'll never get to see how truly remarkable Heath Ledger was going to be. See the mostly commercial (buy it NOW!) website here.

Chaos Theory

Okay, you know that I'm not that into comedies - given my theory on tasteless vs. mindless a thousand times. Not one to sit still for much cute. Can't abide chick flicks - safe to say you will not see a review of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants on this blog. It's a rare one that makes the cut... by virtue of originality, or just plain old silly, or sometimes, like this one, enough reality to bring the funny into pleasant contrast. Chaos Theory starts out like a traditionally mediocre comedy- ohmygod, saw that coming from last week sort of Disney bad - and then morphs into a meaningful, and sweet, little movie. Largely due to Ryan Reynolds.

If they don't lose you with the opening dumb pre-nuptial of his daughter mess, let's get to the real story ... it goes like this: Frank is an efficiency expert with a lovely wife, a beautiful daughter and a career about to take off when a series of highly unlikely, but seriously funny accidents lands him in the doghouse - lovely wife (Emily Mortimer) thinking he's been leading a double life complete with baby. In an effort to convince lovely wife of his fidelity, Frank learns that he is in fact sterile, and always has been, leaving lovely wife with some explaining to do.

What follows is some soul searching that is tenderly handled by Reynolds - his moment of falling apart will go down in my head as one of those rare moments of watching an actor cry so believably that I do too. Mortimer is equally adept at working with complicated emotion and her character is multidimensional and believable as well. Parts of Chaos Theory are predictable, parts are silly, some of it is deep and clear and true. A lot of it is really funny. See the website here.

The Visitor

I loved "The Station Agent." That said, I was really glad to see that Tom McCarthy is off and running with more original, and meaningful, material. A subtle director who tells heartbreaking stories with wit and grace - go figure. He's never going to make any money in Hollywood. But he sure is going to have my attention.

The Visitor follows Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins,) an aging, insufferably dull economics professor on the verge of simply fading into nonexistence - Walter is so pointedly colorless that you feel the need to take a pulse. But Walter is unwillingly shipped off to Manhattan to present a paper he didn't write, and when he unlocks his long unused city apartment, he finds it terribly occupied by the very colorful Tarek and Zainab. The couple has been scammed into renting his apartment, and Walter, on a very un-Walter like whim, let's them stay until they can sort things out. What follows is a kind of coming of age film, where Walter grows a soul through a deepening friendship with Tarek, a passionate musician from Syria.

Tarek and Zainab are illegal aliens (you know there are some who aren't from south of the border,) and when a very predictable misunderstanding brings Tarek to the brink of deportation, Walter gets a life. Richard Jenkins is positively brilliant, taking Walter from walking corpse to a man of passion so gently that you can record the changes in nanoseconds. The supporting cast is splendid and the film is a quiet reminder that there are people all around us who may not be citizens per se, but are Americans just the same. Hope Oscar notices this sleeper.... website here.