Current Movie Picks - December 2008

Here come the biggies from Hollywood. Doubt is a gem. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep going at it. There are two good movies with similar themes that have been out a while and are still playing here in San Francisco - Rachel Getting Married and I've Loved You So Long. I liked Rachel slightly better. Debra Winger, one of my all time favorites, has a small but crucial role, and the pivotal confrontation scene between her and her daughter played by Anne Hathaway is one that shouldn't be missed. A very good, under-the-radar indie is Beauty in Trouble. The very attractive Czech actress, Anna Geiserova, is magnetic. She has an uncle, whose is an articulate but nasty creep, and you just can't wait for his next scene.
Two other good ones are Milk and Slum Dog Millionaire.
Waiting patiently to see: The Wrestler, Reservation Road, The Reader and Gran Torino.

Current Movie Picks - November 2008

My current favorite movies are Mister Foe and Changeling. Mister Foe is a little gem from Scotland about a teenage boy who is obsessed about the idea that his stepmother killed his mother, so he takes up spying on her. This continues when he moves to Edinburgh and begins spying on a woman who resembles his mother. A good script and soundtrack give this film broader appeal and the titles should not be missed at the beginning and at the end of the movie. The best titles I've seen since Leaving Las Vegas. Changeling is Clint Eastwood's latest and it's a good one. Based on a true story which occurred in Los Angeles in the late 20s and early 30s. A young boy goes missing in LA and his mother (Angelina Jolie) seeks the help of police to find him. This police force is riddled with corruption and is loaded with creeps. When they find a boy they claim is her son, she says he isn't and her plight from here is severe. She has a relentless determination and Clint keeps the action going like a slowly moving train. I don't put either of these films in the "A" category, but I give the each a solid B+.

2008 Favorite Movie Picks

The only film so far in 2008 that I rate in the A category is The Edge of Heaven. Other films I put solidly in the B category this year are: Herzog's Encounters at the End of the World, David Mamet's Red Belt, also Mister Lonely Tell No One, Elegy and Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona. For comparison purposes, here are recent (last 3 years) movies I give an A to: Crash, Inside Man, No Country for Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Little Miss Sunshine and Touch the Sound.

TV Picks

As for tv series, the only A I give is to Mad Men. Other solid series are Real Time with Bill Maher, Dexter, TrueBlood, Entourage and The Closer. Others I fully enjoy but are not running now are: Big Love, The L Word, Brotherhood and Damages. Also for comparison purposes, here are tv series from past years that I would rate an A: Six Feet Under, The Sopranos and Twin Peaks.

Comments on Current Events

We're on the eve here of what I assume will be a win by Barack Obama. As far as I'm concerned this will be the most exciting presidential win in my adult life (over 50 years!). I'm also hoping for No to win on Proposition 8. This is about fundamental rights and seems very obvious to me. I see this a being similar to rights battles in the past, i.e. women's right to vote, interracial marriage and Brown v Board of Education ("separate is not equal"). Well, separate is not equal in marriage rights either, but oh how the religious right is threatened by this concept.
Until...