DVD Recommendations

While I haven't seen many movies in the theater recently that have inspired me to write, there are a few new DVD releases I'd like to recommend. If you missed them in the theater (or if, sadly, they never made it to a theater near you), consider checking these out:

Drive
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, this movie stars Ryan Gosling as a stunt car driver by day, get-a-way driver by night who gets entangled in a dangerous situation. This movie is brutal in its violence and features an ironically chilling performance by one of my favorite comic actors, Albert Brooks. The movie is highly stylized, starting with the music and style of the opening credits that pay homage, or more accurately, resurrect the action film genre of the 70's. As in most action films, the main female character, played here by Carey Mulligan, takes a back seat (pardon the pun), but it's worth checking out to see Ryan Gosling play a macho guy with some integrity to back it up.

Higher Ground
Directed by and starring the luminous Vera Farmiga, this movie explores a woman's relationship with God and religion. While many of today's movies steer away from the topic of religion, this movie explores it with honesty and humor without resorting to mockery.

Incendies
Directed by Denis Villeneuve, this movie stayed with me long after I viewed it. Moving between the past and present, the film follows a set of twins, brother and sister, that travels to the Middle East to uncover secrets from their mother's tortured past. The Radiohead soundtrack certainly doesn't hurt either.


The Iron Lady
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd, this movie features an amazing, moving performance by Meryl Streep. Her performance is not an imitation of Margaret Thatcher, as some have said, but rather, a memorable portrayal of a very strong woman.

Pariah
Directed by Dee Rees. With a tremendous cast led brilliantly by newcomer Adepero Oduye, this movie is my favorite of the bunch. It takes us into the world of Alike, a black teenager struggling to hide her homosexuality from her traditional parents. The movie glides effortlessly through Alike's daily rituals of school, family dinner, and Sunday church service, all the while leading to an emotional, yet hopeful, ending. Such authenticity comes from the convincing script and performances. It seems that all those who worked on this project shared a mutual passion for the message the film conveys: that loving one's self is freedom.

Check out "Return"

Coming soon: "Return" starring Linda Cardellini as a soldier returning home from war. Also stars the odd, yet somehow sexy, Michael Shannon as her husband. I'm pleased that a filmmaker has decided to portray the challenges wives and mothers face when they return from duty. Not that Jarhead and The Hurt Locker weren't great; they were. So glad that Linda Cardellini has finally gotten a chance to show off her acting chops. She was great in Freaks 'n Geeks, but unlike her costars from that show (Franco, Rogen, Jason Segal), she hasn't had that many opportunities. I'm looking forward to this one, even though it probably won't receive wide release. Look for it at your local independent theatre.

Check out the trailer here.

Funny. . . like us

Bridesmaids
Directed by: Paul Feig
Written by: Kristen Wiig & Annie Mumolo

People who know me well know that I tend to snort when I laugh at something pretty damn funny. When I watched "Bridesmaids", I hadn't experienced the "snort-laugh" while watching a movie in a long time. During the movie's 125 minutes of hilarity, I decided to let the snorts run wild, and boy, did they ever.

My laughter was not just at the infamous food poisoning or drunken air travel scenes, but at the glee I felt that finally a movie being seen by mainstream audiences shows that women can be raunchy, outrageous, and fiercely competitive, but also vulnerable, sentimental, and compassionate.

As in other movies that show more fully-formed portraits of women, this movie places female friendships in the foreground, while romantic relationships take a back seat. However, when the movie does explore a budding relationship between main character Annie (Kristen Wiig) and local cop Nathan (Chris O'Dowd), the relationship is not glossy. It has kinks and awkward moments, and it actually shows the male being the more overzealous and clingy in the relationship, which contrary to popular belief, can actually happen.

Everyone in this movie is good. But I must say that Kristen Wiig has finally stepped out of the shadows of her many weird, troll-like characters on SNL to show herself to be a fully-defined actor. In fact, most of the comic relief in the film comes courtesy of the amazing Melissa McCarthy (of CBS' "Mike & Molly"). Wiig seems more than equipped to carry the emotional weight of this movie on her shoulders.

Speaking of emotions, I cannot fail to mention the wonderfully touching performance of Maya Rudolph who plays bride-to-be Lillian. At the core, the movie is about her life-long friendship with Annie, and they both play the ups and downs of long-term female friendship so well. The scene on the morning of the wedding when Annie finds Lillian sitting alone on the bed in her old apartment is very telling of the fact that no matter how old you are when you get married or move in with a significant other, there will always be a part of you that will miss the autonomy and comfort of the single life. The dialogue these two share while sitting on Lillian's bed should strike a chord with most women.

Everyone should see this movie- men and women alike. I was surprised at the amount of men in the theater. All in all, I'd still call it a "chick-flick", but at least it's a good one. With that said, I give it my four-snorts seal of approval.

A guy, a girl, and 3000 miles

Going the Distance
Directed by Nanette Burstein
Written by Geoff LaTulippe

"Going the Distance" is an extremely watchable movie thanks to the natural, truthful performances of Drew Barrymore and Justin Long and the realistic dialogue of screenwriter Geoff LaTulippe. Erin (Barrymore) and Garrett (Long) meet in a bar and share what could potentially be a meaningless, drunken night together but instead find themselves falling in love. The catch is that Erin will be leaving New York in six weeks to complete her graduate studies in San Francisco. Hence the dilemma, one which this movie so accurately portrays.

Instead of going their separate ways after their night together as many practical-minded folks would do, Erin and Garrett continue to see each other. This leads to six weeks of goo-goo eyes, excessive displays of public affection, and all of the other indescribable, mushy magic that happens at the very beginning of a relationship. Still, Erin moves to San Francisco, and she and Garrett eventually agree to pursue a long-distance, exclusive relationship.

The movie deftly portrays all of the problems that arise when you're in a long-distance relationship, from the painful: missing each other so much it feels like an organ's been removed, to the comical: trying your hand (no pun intended) at awkward phone sex. And let's not forget the temptations that lurk at home- handsome and sexy co-workers who threaten an already vulnerable relationship. Anyone who has ever engaged in a long-distance relationship will appreciate Erin and Garrett's frustrations with time difference, expensive plane tickets, and the nagging, yet often unspoken, question of whether they'll ever end up in the same time zone.

Barrymore is a natural on screen. Her mixture of girlish mischief and downright ballsiness make her a realistic prototype for today's 30-something woman. The character of Erin is brash, yet also sensitive and open. At 31, she knows who she is and is assured in both her quirks and her talents. Long's performance reminds me a bit of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's in "500 Days of Summer". Like Gordon-Levitt, Long utilizes his boyish looks to portray a sensitive, creative man without being wimpy. Garrett is laid-back and somewhat passive while Erin is direct and at times, explosive. Erin also drops the F-bomb A LOT. In this way, the movie breaks the traditional rom-com mold. Women can be foul-mouthed, and men can cry. Who knew?

With or without the long-distance theme, the movie wonderfully shows the evolution of falling in love. Prior to meeting Erin, Garrett consistently fails at committed relationships. In the beginning of the movie, we see him with his current girlfriend, treading water, treating her in a way some would consider inconsiderate and inattentive. Cut to the scene where he meets Erin and voila! he's seemingly a completely different person. Whether he's aware of it initially or not, he's found what he wants in Erin and there's never any doubt that he will treat her with all of the respect and love he was unable to give to his previous girlfriend. It's not that Garrett was a jerk who suddenly changes for the better because someone showed him how to love. He's always known how to love. He just needed to find the right girl for the impulse to kick in.

As for Erin, when she meets Garrett, she's focused solely on her education and career. She's not looking for a relationship, which makes her evolving feelings for Garrett all the more interesting to watch. When Garrett tells Erin he loves her during an embrace at an airport, the camera fixes on Erin's face which, in only a matter of seconds, reveals pure happiness, surprise, and the heart-thumping realization that she's involved in so much more than a summer fling. That's what is great about this movie. It's like we're watching the relationship in real time. While there are the obligatory musical montages showing the lovers "connecting", some scenes appear as if they're shot in a documentary style (which isn't surprising since this movie is documentary director Burstein's first foray into fictional film). Erin and Garrett are far too entranced in one another to care what any outsider would think. They are two mature adults who don't need to refer to self-help books or best friends to reassure them that their relationship has legs.

I won't reveal the ending of this movie. We all know that long-distance relationships are hard to maintain. In fact, the whole goal of a long-distance relationship is to have it end as soon as possible. But we know that this doesn't always happen. The fatigue of long-distance can get to the most dedicated of people, and lengthening the relationship, though well-intentioned, can be a masochistic endeavor.

Breaking up is hard to do, but breaking up because of distance is even more bitter-sweet. This movie shows that all relationships come down to one thing: sacrifice. No lasting relationship exists without it. Either Erin or Garrett or both will have to sacrifice something to make the relationship a go. It becomes a question of how much they themselves are willing to sacrifice, and how much they'll allow the other person to sacrifice... and those decisions arise from a place of love. "Going the Distance" has very little to do with physical traveling and everything to do with making sacrifices.

Living in the valley

Crazy Heart
Written and Directed by Scott Cooper
Based on the novel by Thomas Cobb

Jeff Bridges' performance in "Crazy Heart" moved me to tears. Bridges relinquished all inhibitions to portray the sinking desperation of alcoholism and the yearning for what could have been. His performance is raw, vulnerable, and proof that material for older actors comes along far too infrequently. Bridges plays Bad Blake, a 57 year old country musician who once had his day in the sun and now spends his nights playing bowling alleys and dive bars in between downing whiskey and bedding aging groupies. Bridges could have easily played Blake with one note- as simply mean or grumpy or cynical. Instead, he gives Blake an inherent likability and charm that allows us to understand why he became famous in the first place.

Blake's clearly down and out when he meets Jean, a small-town reporter in New Mexico who wants to do a story on him. Initially, Blake only seems interested in getting Jean into bed, but eventually something about her moves him to start making better choices. Jean, played so wonderfully by Maggie Gyllenhaal, is much younger than Blake. I don't know if their age difference exists in the original novel, but it works. Jean is a single mother and level-headed, not at all spontaneous in the way Blake is. In fact, it's obvious that her interest in Blake both scares and excites her, and she knows that falling for him would be far too risky an undertaking. I think that Blake sees in Jean and her young son all of the goodness of a youth he ravaged through.

Fans of country and blues music will especially like this movie, and actual touring musicians even more so. In an uncredited role, Irish actor Colin Farrell plays Tommy Sweet, once Blake's protege, and now one of the hottest country acts. The relationship between Blake and Sweet is interesting - not adversarial, but far from father-son.

This movie is about the peaks and valleys in life, how one day you're on top, and whether through your own actions or simply by circumstance, you end up in a valley. Though it may look like hell, it's so easy to stay there. Bridges' outstanding performance shows how hard it is to climb out, but how sweet it is once you meet the level road.

If you don't ever see this movie, at least listen to the film's title song. It says it all. Isn't it amazing how music can do that? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwwkqABItLA

In Defense of Carrie Bradshaw

Sex and the City 2
Written & Directed by Michael Patrick King

When Sex and the City aired on HBO, I wasn't a fan. I would occasionally watch an episode, but I certainly wasn't a die-hard follower of Carrie Bradshaw's misadvantures. I thought Carrie was materialistic, superficial, and trivial, and found her problems to arise out of shallowness and self-involvement. However, while watching the SATC sequel, I finally understood her. After her years-long quest to get Mr. Big to love her, he finally does, and yet, she finds herself restless in the certainty, unhappy that Big chooses the couch over a night on the town. This sequel deals with the reality of marriage and the compromises that go with it. Underneath its over-indulgent costumes, hijinx, and vulgar double-entrendre, this movie is really about the power of female friendship, and the freedom allowed American women to make choices, no matter how frivolous, insensitive, or irrational those choices may be.

But let me get to what I find to be the most interesting aspect of this movie: the controversy it has ignited for its supposed caricature of Arab culture. Some critics, like Ebert, gave the movie scathing reviews. For once, I must disagree with Ebert and come to the defense of Carrie and her entourage. I feel like Elaine in that episode of Seinfeld where she admits to hating "The English Patient." I like this movie... not for the trendy clothes or the risque dialogue but for the overall message it conveys.

In one scene, the women are attending a gay wedding ceremony in Connecticut (where gay marriage is legal) complete with Liza Minelli and a gay men's choir singing show tunes. Cut to the girls arriving in Abu Dhabi where women are required to wear head scarves, and public affection can land you in jail. The juxtaposition is striking. Do I have to ask - where would you rather live?

What I find most exasperating is that the same people who have always loved SATC for its liberal stance on sexuality and feminism, are now turning their backs on Carrie and her pals. The critics claim that their disdain for the film is based solely on its portrayal of Arab culture. Could it be, however, that these critics, however subconsiously, simply will not allow these over-40 women to get away with the same shenanigans they were up to in their 30's? The same critics who have lambasted the movie for being politically incorrect are apparently unaware of their own bias toward women over 40. The sad part is that some of these critics are women themselves!!

I'm one of the last people to take offense at jokes about aging actresses. But if you're going to make statements about what is considered unseemly behavior for a woman over 50 (Samantha's character) or about how a woman of a certain age should dress, then what was women's lib for? So that female critics can spew negative remarks about female characters who have chosen to neither marry nor procreate, and who dare to still follow their libidos at 50?!!

Regardless of director King's intentions, SATC 2 is much more a celebration of being American than a derisive commentary on another culture. This movie is about all that America and its people represent: transparent emotion (and sometimes transparent clothing), frivolity, abundance... but most of all freedom: freedom to love, freedom to be restless, freedom to dress how you like. In some countries, freedom is more yearned for than sex itself. And for some very lucky, priveleged American critics, that is a hard concept to accept.

A life of high-flying solitude

Movie #6: "Up in the Air"

Directed by Jason Reitman; Screenplay by Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner; Based on book by Walter Kirn


With all the talk of "Up in the Air" being about the current state of the economy, don't let anyone fool you. The book version of "Up in the Air" was written far before the downfall of the stock market and auto industry. This movie is about people. It's about all the small, trivial things that make human relationships so poignant and staggering. From the touch of a hand to the sheer joy of forgetting the world around you as you dance tipsy on a dance floor, "Up in the Air" wants you to reflect on the moments of your life that make you happy.

For me, "Up in the Air" has the same intangible quality, and ability to touch a nerve, that the film "American Beauty" has. When I saw "Beauty" in the theatre, I sat and cried while the end credits rolled and everyone else headed for the exit. Why, I don't know, but the film moved me deeply. Yes, the part where the neighbor boy shows off his video of a plastic bag blowing in the wind is far beyond pretentious. Things really can't be that bad if you have a roof over your head and money to burn as the characters in these movies do. But their situations echo the lives of those of us who have enough money and possessions to sometimes feel guilty for our luck, but not enough that we don't sometimes desire more. Such situations are rich material for the satire of "Beauty" and "Air."

In "Air," George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a professional terminator of jobs. He travels state to state to different companies, firing employees. He travels most days of the year and hordes frequent flier miles. Marching into this life of self-induced isolation comes new colleague Natalie. Played by Anna Kendrick, Natalie is fresh out of college and full of business-like pragmatism. She believes the company would save loads of money if they did the firings online, a possibility that would put an end to Bingham's life as the happy transient. To show her that in-person firing isn't as easy as it looks, Bingham takes Natalie on a crash-course in firing, which of course, turns out to be more of a crash-course in life.

Along the way, Ryan meets Alex, played wonderfully by Vera Farmiga. She, too, travels frequently for her job, and one night in a hotel bar, they find they have an equally unnatural passion for travelers' perks. This flirtation quickly leads to a sexual relationship which they rekindle in various cities when their schedules allow. I appreciate how the movie shows the evolution of their relationship in a natural way. They don't have some big talk about moving the relationship out of bootie-call mode into something more serious. It just happens. Ryan and Alex are two people who may or may not have different motives, but when they're together, they're on the same page, they are in the moment, and they are seemingly in love in that "I could kiss you all day and not get tired of it" kind of way. What I love about their chemistry is that it's not portrayed as two jaded 30 & 40-somethings who are bitter because they haven't yet succeeded in love. Their affection for each other is fresh and reminiscent of what it looks like to be in love for the very first time.

What is clearly evident throughout the film is Ryan's loneliness and his self-imposed exile from family and potential relationships. A major part of the plot is Ryan's sister's wedding, which shows the family dynamics in a very realistic light. His sisters are played amazingly by Amy Morton and Melanie Lynskey (the bride). To me, the scene that is the crux of the movie is one in which Ryan is called on to convince his sister's fiance, who is suffering from cold feet, that he should get married. In the scene, the fiance tells Ryan how lucky he is that he's single with no responsibilities or commitments. How Ryan responds is what makes this movie for me, because ultimately this movie isn't about Ryan and Alex, or Ryan and his family. It's about Ryan.

"Up in the Air" looks at life as the limbo we experience between birth and death, and how we decide to either cherish it or flush it down the toilet. By the end of the film, Ryan realizes he could have something more, and even if he doesn't get it right away, he's had a taste of it and knows that he wants it.

The women in this film are wonderfully written. Alex and Natalie are strong, intelligent and capable of behavior typically only portrayed by men in movies. I hope mainstream cinema welcomes more films like this in which women have practical agendas, not just hopes and dreams.

Young women making choices

"An Education" Directed by Lone Scherfig; Screenplay by Nick Hornby; Based on memoir by Lynn Barber
"Precious" Directed by Lee Daniels; Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher; Book by Sapphire
 
Two of this year's most heralded film performances came from relative newcomers. In "Precious" and "An Education" respectively, Gabby Sidibe, 26 and Carey Mulligan, 24 create subtle, authentic performances, the kind that few young actors could hope to match. Both play characters facing divergent paths.Though the characters' specific circumstances differ greatly, both performances reinforce the idea that the choices young adults make, no matter how small, will affect the rest of their lives.

Before seeing "Precious", I read the novel "Push" by Sapphire on which the film is based. I was impressed with the book's rawness and with the author's refusal to water-down the sexual, physical, and emotional abuse endured by Precious. Without giving away major plot points, I'll simply say that Precious has a lot to overcome from her past and plenty to face in her future. Illiterate and pregnant, she enters an alternative school for female teens who have failed within the traditional school system, and she finds camaraderie, confidence, and most importantly, an advocate in teacher Ms. Rain. With new-found strength, Precious decides to leave her abusive mother. However, it's clear her struggles will not end when the reader turns the final page.

Originally, Sapphire was opposed to a film adaptation. She had been courted by other directors and declined their offers. In an interview with Charlie Rose, she said she feared a film version would somehow stereotype the characters in a way that the book does not. I don't know how Sapphire reacted to the film, but I agree that the book has a kind of mystical quality, in the vein of Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, that encourages the reader to feel the characters more than actually see them. In contrast, the film version refuses to shield its viewer from the harsh reality of Precious' life.

Sidibe plays Precious to perfection. Though quiet and often appearing emotionless, Precious is not a frightened rabbit. She mouths off to teachers and pushes around her little girl neighbor. At the same time, she has an elaborate fantasy life which involves her becoming a much-loved celebrity. Her real life, though, is dark, and director Lee Daniels does not shy away from it. The Harlem apartment she shares with her mentally and physically debilitated mother is all dark and shadows. Until she encounters Ms. Rain, the only light in Precious' life is in her fantasies.

"An Education" is about a far less challenged, yet equally interesting, young woman. Jenny is a British high-school student in the 1960s. Like Precious, she has a toughness which dwells beneath a sweet-faced exterior. Though she engages in idle chatter about how she plans to wear all-black at university and slips French phrases into conversation, actor Mulligan allows Jenny to rise above angst and neuroses. Fueled by her hard-working father, she spends the majority of her time studying and attending orchestra rehearsals in the hope of making it to Oxford. These hopes are challenged when Jenny meets David, a much older man who sees in her all that he has left behind.

David woos people. It's how he gets by in life. He even wins over Jenny's father, which seems an unbelievable feat. What is most interesting, though, is that out of all the people David encounters, the one who seems least impressed by him is Jenny. David has money and all the right connections, but he knows little of art, literature, and language, at least not in the way Jenny does. For a time, though, Jenny chooses to ignore his veiled provincialism in order to travel, go to concerts, and simply escape the reality of what she sees as a one-dimensional life.

Though the movie is called "An Education", it's less about Jenny learning hard lessons about men than about her realizing, earlier than most, that her options are far more unique than she was led to believe. Through her brief, yet valuable, affair with David, she discovers she can create her own path. 

What I find most intriguing about Precious and Jenny is that they are so much more complex than they appear, and prove that, though young and vulnerable, they are not easily taken in, and even in the most dire or difficult circumstances, they wish for a life less ordinary.

Ebert's List

Now this is a list:
Roger Ebert's Top Films of the Decade

Please notice #5 on the list- "Me and you and everyone we know". I can't believe this movie is actually on Ebert's list of top movies of the decade- not because it's not a good movie, but because so few people have seen it and even the ones who have may not appreciate its depth at all. However, I am not one of these people, so Rog and I have #5 in common. :)

Kudos also to Ebert for placing Spike Lee's "25th Hour" #8 on the list.

Not sure how I feel about "Almost Famous" and "Crash" being on there, but I figure Ebert has a soft spot for young journalist coming-of-age stories ("Famous") and not sure what fascinated him about Crash. Yes, it was well-received by critics and audiences, but I see it as more of a "message" movie than a piece of art.

Feel free to comment on the list. Now I have some movies to watch: Numbers 1, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, 16-20. :)

Oscar Oscar!

It's coming upon Oscar nomination time, and anyone who follows movies knows that this is the time of year when all the heart-tugging, tear-inducing movies and performances emerge at the theater. I've recently seen "Precious" and "An Education" and will be posting about those soon. As for other movies I'm looking forward to, "Up in the Air"and "A Serious Man" top the list.

How about you, reader? Any hidden gems this year that you wish got more attention?

The new America

Movie #3: Goodbye Solo
Directed by Ramin Bahrani; Written by Ramin Bahrani & Bahareh Azimi

Touted by Roger Ebert as the "new great American director", Ramin Bahrani, director of 2005's "Man Push Cart" and the more recent "Goodbye Solo", must be flying pretty high right now. After only five movies under his belt (according to imdb.com), Bahrani has obviously impressed critics with his films about the immigrant and minority experience in America. Ebert calls "Goodbye Solo" a "masterwork." While I liked the film, my review is not quite as glowing as Ebert's.

Set in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the film follows a black, Senegal-born cab driver named Souleymane (Solo, for short) and William, an old man with reddish-blonde hair and a face that more than shows the traces of a life lived. One day, William gets into Solo's cab and makes him a deal: he'll give Solo a large sum of money to drive him one-way to Blowing Rock, a place where it's so windy, the snow appears to be falling backwards. Solo seems almost immediately concerned with why William wants to go to Blowing Rock and never come back. The entire film hinges on Solo's concern for William and his obsession with figuring out why someone would want to turn his back on life. One thing is for sure- Solo is one of the most compassionate characters I've seen on screen in a long time, and William, one of the most enigmatic.

The opening scene is one of the best things about this movie. Unlike mainstream Hollywood movies that open with a long line of credits moving to the rhythm of a Top-40 hit, "Goodbye Solo" opens mid-scene, the two main characters already engaged in conversation as they sit in Solo's cab. No pretense, music, or credits- just dialogue which provides exposition and character development at the same time. Not enough movies utilize this device. Perhaps writers and directors don't think their audiences are smart enough to figure out what's going on without some ultra-obvious montage at the beginning of a movie. This movie's opening scene reminded me of a play- spare and efficient, not in a way that's trying to make a statement (like the set of Lars Von Trier's "Dogville," for example), but in a way that best serves the story.

Solo has been driving cabs for three years and is ready for a change. He has taken his flight attendant exam at least once, but he keeps getting rejected. Solo seems to have little problem learning the material, and the viewer is ever so gently led to believe that perhaps discrimination plays a role in his not getting hired. Solo is married to Quiera, a Mexican-American woman pregnant with his child who also has a young daughter named Alex from a previous relationship. Solo and Alex have a wonderful relationship- he relates to her somewhere between a father and a friend. Solo is joyful, open-hearted, talkative, but he is not naive. He's got layers. Anyone watching him from the outside would think that Solo's got it pretty good- a wife, a beautiful step-daughter, a house, and a job, but things aren't so rosy on the inside. Quiera wants him to stick with driving the cab- they've got a new baby on the way, and she expects more from him than what he's currently giving. Solo doesn't see it this way. He's in pursuit of more happiness even if that means disappointing his family in the process. The viewer isn't provided with Solo's back story- what his life was life in Senegal, etc. and perhaps that's for the better.

William is Solo's opposite. He is tight-lipped, stoic, closed-off. One can tell just by looking at him that he was at one time a major bad-ass. Even Solo refers to him as "an original player" when he sees the tattoo on William's bicep and learns that he used to ride a motorcycle. As with Solo, the viewer is given no real back story on William. He tells Solo that his wife left him 30 years ago and that he has no children, but these statements come into question later in the film, and William remains an enigma to the end. All we know is that he is wounded inside, probably by something pretty big. Solo is intuitive enough to immediately sense William's pain, and for some reason, he becomes obsessed with saving him.

Bahrani provides us with characters who are America's outsiders: the immigrant, the Mexican, the old man. Those of us who live in less integrated places wouldn't expect these people to inter-mingle in real life. However, it's obvious that Bahrani strives to exceed stereotypes and focus instead on humanity. What's interesting about Solo is that he's equally comfortable in the company of white William as he is with his black, native Winston-Salem friends and his African immigrant friends. Is Solo the exception or the rule? Is Winston-Salem a model for the new America in terms of cross-culturalism? Is Bahrani looking at identity from within rather than from the outside? Or is this some kind of world that Bahrani only wishes exists? Bahrani is native to Winston-Salem, so I won't make any assumptions other than to say that this is a location Bahrani knows well and perhaps wishes were more akin to the place he creates in the movie.

Maybe I'm being cynical in questioning the reality of the relationships in this movie. It's not like Solo and William become best-buds- there is always a lack of trust on William's part. However, the extent to which William lets Solo in, no matter how small, seems unrealistic at times.

What I appreciate most about this movie is that it's a non-traditional love story. It is rare that we see films focusing on male friendship and all that can be revealed between male friends without a word spoken. We've all seen the films where boy wants girl, boy gets girl, and boy loses girl. This film is framed in much the same way... it's as if Solo and William engage in a short-lived love affair full of mystery, obsession, secrets revealed and of course, a bittersweet ending.

This is Solo's movie, and for sure an acting triumph on the part of Souleymane Sy Savane in only his second film. The viewer realizes that this is only the beginning of truths learned for Solo, that for all the hope America represents for him, there are plenty of sad, cynical stories to be found beneath its glossy veneer.

Directors who luv movies

Check out this site on directors who love movies: http://www.cinematical.com/2009/09/01/filmmakers-who-love-to-talk-about-movies/

There's some Tarantino in it for you. : )

Movie suggestions

Hello reader (if you're out there). :)

I welcome movie suggestions and comments about your favorite movies, actors, directors, writers. I feel like I've come to a fork in the road when it comes to movies (rentals, in particular). I'm thinking that I should start renting older movies that I have missed or overlooked. By older, I mean anything pre-2000, not necessarily black&white or silent. :)

Looking forward to your suggestions!

Top-notch acting

Movie #2: Julia (2008)
Directed by Erick Zonca; Written by Erick Zonca and Aude Py

Tilda Swinton is an actor whose face serves her well. One would think that her porcelain-pale skin, flashy red hair, sharp nose, high cheekbones, and dazzling green eyes would inhibit her from varying her roles. However, the case is just the opposite. Swinton's talent belies her unique appearance (which has been described as everything from weird to beautiful). What a viewer cannot deny is her watchability. She is in almost every scene of "Julia" in which she plays the title character, an American woman, and not once did I hear even a tinge of Swinton's Scottish accent sneak into the dialogue.

This movie is obviously a vehicle for Swinton's talent. However, "Julia" is more than a character study. It's tense, suspenseful, and at times, downright uncomfortable. Three-quarters into the movie, I was sitting on the edge of my seat, amazed that I was actually rooting for a character whose ugly predicament is caused by her own greed. Here's the scenario: Julia is an alcoholic unable to hold down a job. Swinton plays drunkenness to perfection- from the gradual descent from merely being buzzed to waking up the next morning with a severe case of paste-mouth to the strange, cautious gait she assumes after having been numbed by alcohol.

Julia grudgingly attends AA meetings at the request of her sponsor played by the fabulous Saul Rubinek. At one of the meetings, Julia meets a young Mexican woman who offers her $50,000 to help kidnap her son who has been living with his wealthy grandfather since the boy's father died of an overdose and the mother was deemed incapable of caring for the boy. But in an attempt to get even more money out of the deal, Julia decides to turn the tables on the woman and kidnap the child herself, an act that ultimately has severe consequences.

On the surface, "Julia" is a movie about greed and its consequences. But what I found most interesting are the underlying themes of the movie that you really have to want to see to truly see them. One of these themes is motherhood. Julia, unmarried and childless, has no responsibilities, and cannot even take care of herself. She is, by all standards, a screw-up. Although she has no intention of physically harming the child when she kidnaps him, it's obvious that she has done him enough mental damage to last a lifetime. As she takes him from hideout to hideout, however, she grows more attached to him even though her negligence allows the tables to be turned on her after they cross the border into Mexico, an event that I saw coming but it didn't come when I thought it did... kudos to the writers for that!

While in Mexico, there is a scene of genuine affection between Julia and the child. The scene, involving a partially naked Swinton, is slightly uncomfortable to watch. Nevertheless, I think it serves to establish a growing familiarity between her and the child. He is scared and in a foreign place, and by this point in the movie I think he realizes that Julia will not cause him harm. Because he hasn't seen his real mother in years, Julia may be the only woman with whom he can experience any motherly affection. The fact that his caretaker (shown early in the movie) is male supports this theory.

As was the case with my previously reviewed movie, this film was difficult to watch. The fact that a child's fate lay in the hands of Julia, a woman who has nothing to lose but her love of the drink, is a cruel one. With each lie she tells, she makes things worse for herself and the boy. As Julia digs her proverbial hole deeper, the viewer must wonder when she will stop running from the law, stop trying to get what she thinks she so deserves.

Julia's other major flaw is her inability to communicate with men in a non-sexual way, especially when she's intoxicated. What's curious about Julia is that she appears very tough and street-smart and able to handle herself in any situation, but when drunk and in the presence of a man, she crumbles into a complete ragdoll of a woman. Julia even admits, perhaps in a moment of weakness, that her luck with men is horrible and that her only means of getting them to pay her any attention is through sex. This flaw emerges when she's in Mexico and proves that her need to get a man's attention is just as much of an addiction as is her alcoholism.

I think I saw some good in Julia that may not have even existed. I kept hoping for a happy ending or at least some sort of redemption on her part. Julia is a desperate woman who makes a lot of bad choices, and even by the movie's end, I was not completely convinced that she was acting in the best interest of the child. The movie, gladly, is not cut and dry and allows Julia to remain flawed and conflicted. I still think Julia finds something good, but not without a heavy price.

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Movie #1: "Inglorious Basterds" Written & Directed by Quentin Tarantino
*** Warning: There are spoilers in this review. ***

Maybe I'm going out on a limb when I say that Quentin Tarantino is a movie buff who happens to make movies. It's not the worst thing to be. I haven't even seen all of his movies, so my opinion could very well be flawed. Nevertheless, it's become common knowledge among movie critics that Tarantino's movies are all about paying homage to directors of the past. Tarantino is the ultimate movie geek. He knows movies. He knows styles of cinematography and dialogue. He knows color schemes and angle shots. It's obvious in his product that he adores film. Yet does his movie knowledge work to his detriment in the sense that his movies are so full of homage that they have no identity of their own? Nevertheless, Tarantino has created a niche for himself, and he has a knack for stirring up visceral audience reaction.

When asked by Tarantino at the Cannes Film Festival in May how he felt about "Inglorious Basterds", the king of all film critics (in my opinion) Roger Ebert responded that it is either the best or worst film of the year. After a subsequent viewing, Ebert concluded it was the best. In some ways I agree with Ebert, but for reasons that probably differ from those of the typical Tarantino fan. The reason is this: the movie is a master class in meta-criticism. Framed around a group of Jewish-American soldiers (the "inglorious basterds") charged with hunting down, killing and scalping Nazi soldiers, the film puts the audience in a quite uncomfortable position: one of deciding whether or not to cheer on these soldiers as they kill, maim, and even carve German soldiers.

I felt dirty more than once while watching the film, wondering if it was more appropriate to smile or grimace while Hitler's face was shot numerous times into a bloody pulp. And I've come to the conclusion that this reaction is exactly what Tarantino intended. A friend with whom I saw the film pointed out one of the most telling scenes in the movie: a movie theatre full of Nazis watching a movie about a German solider taking out countless American soldiers from a watchtower. The camera scans the audience as they smile and laugh uproariously at the tragedy unfolding before them. Throughout the movie, as I sat listening to the laughter and sensing the smiles of those around me as the "basterds" slaughtered one German solider after another, I realized that we, the audience, were being parodied in the movie. Our collective conscience was being confronted and challenged. Of course things would have been different (better) if Hitler had actually been murdered - I'm not questioning that - but does that mean as a society we have a free pass to judge every single German soldier (or any soldier involved in a war we may not agree with) in the same way we judge a sadistic or corrupt leader? Or are they equally guilty for "simply following orders"? That's not a question I can answer, but the movie places the questions directly in front of us whether we choose to see them or not.

Perhaps my questions run too deep considering that Tarantino has always romanticized violence. He overdramatizes and fantacizes violence in a way that is both shocking and reassuring, because while it is gory and unsettling, the violence is also fantastical and voyeurstic. It's comic-book on celluloid.

Yet I believe that Tarantino has succeeded in creating quite a powerful allegory through this movie, raising questions of good and evil, revenge, integrity and cowardice. No character gets off easy in this film, and none deserve to.

What the film does not do is create human relationships that we care about. The movie is about superlatives- exagerrated characters who find themselves in exagerrated circumstances. Of course WWII and the Holocaust are all too real, but the framework of this film is not set up to look history in the eye but rather to look at ourselves through a lens of heightened satire and farce. One can even say that Tarantino trivializes WWII and the Holocaust, but for every person who says such a thing, there will be someone who says "Shut up! You're thinking about this way too much. It's ****ing Tarantino, for cripe's sake."

The movie is visually-pleasing. The image of Shoshanna- the young woman who four years earlier escapes being murdered by the evil Nazi Col. Landa- as she prepares to seek vengeance is a beautiful one. Dressed in a long, red dress, she sits in front of a vanity, applying red lipstick and placing a hat on her head, a small veil covering her eyes. The scene is art in motion.

For all the distance created between audience and characters in Tarantino films, for some reason, it's hard to stop thinking about this movie and what Tarantino wants us to think.