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.

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.