Summer Sizzlers

The best war movie I've ever seen is out there now, The Hurt Locker. A US bomb defusion unit is constantly under tension while trying to do its job. Iraqi eyes are always on them and nobody knows if these are the eyes of enemies, friends, simply onlookers or bomb detonators.

My favorite current tv series is Nurse Jackie. Edie Falco is perfect as the complicated and conflicted, but steady, title character. This series is already on the verge of making it onto my short list of favorite series. That list includes Mad Men, which starts its 3rd season this Sunday and I can hardly wait.

July Gems

Three very good films are out right now: Revanche, Tetro and Anvil. Revanche involves a desperate couple who pay the consequences of a desperate act, then the film slows down and another couple writhes in this simple but deeply moving story. Tetro is a wild ride from a great movie maker, Francis Ford Coppola. Anvil is a good music movie about a band that didn't "make it" with two talented and very likable guys.

Under the Radar Alert!

Adoration is Atom Egoyan's latest and it is a gem. The story centers around a boy delving into the past to try to understand how his parents died. It is a thoroughly engaging film with crisp, penetrating and surprising dialog. It takes place in a post 9/11 world and the prejudice resulting from that horror is a central theme. The real star here, along with Egoyan, is his wife, Arsinee Khanjian, and she is on a quest every bit as captivating as the boy's.
Another movie not to miss is Food, Inc. This excellent documentary explores how multinational corporations have risen to take over so much of the marketplace, but it also reveals the rise in organic and locally grown foods.

April, 2009

It's been rather thin in the movie world lately, with the exception of Two Lovers and The Great Buck Howard. These movies both make the "must see" list. On a music note, Leonard Cohen was in Oakland recently and he was extraordinary!!! This great poet/song writer, musician is a good as ever and the band is right there with him.
I enjoyed this concert more than any I have ever seen. It's hard to pick out favorite songs, but three of them did stand out to me: Tower of Song, Everybody Knows and I'm Your Man.

Best Under-the-Radar Movies for 2008

1. The Edge of Heaven
2. Tell No One
3. Beauty in Trouble
4. Mister Foe
5. Mister Lonely

All of these movies are must-sees. The Edge of Heaven is an absolute gem. It involves searching for people who have been missing but are somehow connected to the searcher(s). Hanna Schygulla plays a mother with such a generous nature that you are simply bowled over.

Oscar Time - February 2009

My top 10:
1. The Wrestler
2. The Edge of Heaven
3. Revolutionary Road
4. Vicky Christina Barcelona
5. Doubt
6. Milk
7. Red Belt
8. Tell No One
9. Rachel Getting Married
10. Slumdog Millionaire

Honorable mention:
Encounters at the End of the World
Elegy

Best scene:
Anne Hathaway and her mother (Debra Winger) in Rachel Getting Married

Biggest oversights in nominations:
The Edge of Heaven for best foreign film and Rachel Evan Wood for best supporting actress in The Wrestler

Best credits:
Mister Foe

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.