Star Trek

J.J. Abrams, 2008 (8.2*)
a.k.a. Star Trek Zero, Star Trek XI
This was certainly a pleasant surprise for me. In a nutshell, 'this rocks'!
This exciting 'prequel' came as a big surprise, and it has to be what creator Gene Roddenberry intended all along but was always missing: exciting action, believable heroic characters, and despicable villains, in this case a planet-destroying Romulan named Nero (Eric Bana). The cast looks amazingly like young versions of the original tv actors, especially Zachary Quint as Spock, while Chris Pine is adequate as Kirk, and John Cho makes Sulu a real character for once. The others are all better than the original actors as well, but the real attraction is the special effects, finally worthy of a major SF film for the first time in the Trek series.

Since childhood, I've been a fan of good science fiction and fantasy literature, but it took a long time (Kubrick's 2001 in 1968) for films to catch up with the writers to create anything worth seeing. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed with the original Star Trek tv show, feeling like it was even worse than the intended "western in space". The Star Trek films fared little better, with only The Wrath of Khan being re-watchable for me, as I much preferred the technical class of Spielberg's SF films (Close Encounters, E.T., later Minority Report), or Lucas' simplistic battle in space Star Wars series just because they were so well done, even if poorly written.

TV producer-director J.J. Abrams was talked into directing this by Steven Spielberg, who advised him on the action sequences. Original fans won't be disappointed, nor those who hated the originals, like myself. This is more action, less amateurish moralizing, like it was intended to be. Having now breathed new life into a tired and cliched series, I'm sure many sequels will follow with this cast.

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Grave of the Fireflies

a.k.a. Hotaru No Haka
Isao Takahata, Japan, 1988, anime (8.4*)
This is a tough film to watch, as it concerns the efforts of two children to survive in Japan in WW2, but is a very poetic war fable, rarely seen in films. While their dad is off in the navy fighting in the Pacific, a young teenage boy, Seita, is forced to take care of his 4 yr old sister, Setsuko, when their mother is killed by U.S. bombers. Times are harsh for everyone, the schools and factories have been bombed, there's no work, little food, and children like this, in both Japan and Europe, had to fend for themselves in order to survive, and many didn't.

This is done without much preaching or propagandising at all, which is one reason this film is #185 on the IMDB top 250, and placed #324 on our compendium of internet film polls. The story is a nice mix of reality and childish fantasy. The animation still has the cheap "doe-eyed" simplicity on the people, but the backgrounds, landscapes, rain, ponds, and fireflies are all very artistically done, and reminded me of early Disney cartoon art (Silly Symphony series) and actually have the quality of full-length films. The story is from a novel by Akiyuku Nosaka, based on that author's real wartime experiences, so it's a universally authentic war tale that is bound to tug the heart of those with compassion for children orphaned by wars, and the struggle of all the innocent civilians facing wartime deprivations.

[Note: one ignorant commentor at IMDB said, "hey, get a job" - typical uncaring American response. Hey dummy, the country had been bombed into oblivion, there were no schools nor jobs available. Are people really this stupid here? Even in our wealthy, non-wartorn society there are few jobs available and we don't have any excuse other than criminals running a system which is not working for the common person.]

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13 Tzameti

Géla Babluani, France, 2006 (9.1*)
Grand Jury Prize, Sundance
This is one of the most riveting crime films you will ever see - one reviewer said "when done, the audience had to extract their fingernails from the armrests". It begins with a young man working to repair a leaky roof for an aging gangster, who overhears the criminal speaking of being able to earn lots of money overnight by answering a mysterious letter which contains a train ticket and hotel reservation. When the workman answers the request, he is plunged into a nightmarish scenario that may very well be his last job on the planet. I don't want to give away the surprise here, but if you watch the dvd's "interview with a witness", you'll find that this is based on an actual crime, making the plot even more astounding. Shot in black and white to give it the look of classic French film noir, director Géla Babluani has created a modern noir classic with a visual link to great crime films of the past. Babluani's son plays the lead role.

Winner of the grand jury prize at Sundance, it won 8 awards out of 11 nominations at various festivals (Awards page at IMDB)

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Prisoner of the Mountains

Sergei Bodrov, 1996, Russian (8.9*)
This is a very touching and unusual anti-war story based on Leo Tolstoy's story Prisoner of the Caucasus. The story is updated to Russia's war with Islamic separatists in Chechnya, and begins with the ambush of a small Russian unit. Two soldiers are captured by guerillas, one a late teen named Vanya (Sergi Bodrov Jr.) who youth is accentuated by his attachment to his mother. Their captor is a man (Jemel Sikharulidze) who hopes to barter at least one in exchange for his son, arrested in town by the head of the local Russian army.

While held captive in a small, primitive yet beautiful stone village, Vanya develops a strong bond of friendship with his captor's young teenage daughter who oversees the captives, Dina (Susanna Mekhraliyeva), who thinks she will not be able to find a husband. At the same time, his mother works through the Russian army attempting to gain release for her son. Bodrov shows both sides of this story without bias, and allows the viewers to develop a rapport for all the characters and their predicaments. A foreign language film nominee for an Oscar and a Golden Globe, winner 5 "Nikas" (Russian film awards), including best picture and screenplay, and five other international awards.

Awards page at IMDB

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Secondhand Lions

Tim McCandlies, 2003 (7.8*)
Ok, so it's a bit sentimental and perhaps a little unrealistic, but this is still a thoroughly enjoyable little film. Haley Joel Osment ("I see dead people..") does a credible job as a kid who fed up with mom Kyra Sedgwick's flighty lifestyle (always seeking a new husband in all the wrong men), and being left with "uncles", but this time the uncles in Texas are brilliantly played by Robert Duvall and Michael Caine (ok, so Caine struggles a bit with his Texas accent, one hardly cares, Duvall is perfect as always). These two characters sit on their porch with loaded shotguns ready to chase off salesmen and any other pesky visitors. They welcome Haley into their secluded lifestyle, which includes anything that strikes their whim, including ordering an airplane in pieces, and a used up "secondhand lion".

They fill Osment with stories of world travel and war, especially some tall tales of Arabia and a princess and a sheik's treasure. This is all wonderful and entertaining stuff, and reminded me of good 40's fantasies with lots of chidlish adventures. A beautiful and small film with many joys if you aren't looking too deeply for real meaning.

Quote: There are some things you need to believe in whether they're true or not: the good guys always win, and true love conquers all (Robert Duvall, talking to Osment)

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Turtles Can Fly

Bahman Ghobadi, 2004, Iraq-Iran-France (9.3*)
This is an amazing anti-war film which takes place in a Kurdish village on the border of Iraq and Turkey, just as the 2004 invasion of Iraq by the U.S. takes place. The star of the film is charismatic Soran Ebrahim, as a kid called Satellite because he sets up those dishes for remote areas who otherwise would have no tv. He's also the self-appointed leader of about 200 war orphans, organizing them into work details who earn most of their money by disarming land mines and reselling them, and harvesting spent artillery shells from two decades of war in the area for their scrap metal value. Into this village arrives a beautiful young girl (Ajil Sabari), taking care of her armless brother (who does amazing things with his teeth), and a near-blind infant her brother thinks deserves someone's care, who needs an ankle leash to keep him from wandering away.

This film is amazing for the amount of hope shown by the kids, all but ignored by the mostly shepherding adults, and how perseverance and ingenuity can allow survival in the harshest of conditions, amid a chaotic, war-torn environment. The Kurds are the largest ethnic group on earth without their own country or government, and they have been constantly attacked and persecuted by both Turkey and Iraq. This is one of the more memorable anti-war films ever made and should have a much wider audience, as it's been compared to Schindler's List for emotional impact.

All of the child actors were actual refugees, and this is the first film made in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Red Fish, shown throughout the film, are a symbol of the Iranian new year and symbolize life within life. This was Iran's submission for the Best Foreign Film category at the 2004 Oscars, and won 15 international awards out of 19 nominations.

Awards page at IMDB

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In Bruges

Martin McDonagh, 2008 (9.1*)

This is a thoroughly enjoyable and creative black comedy, about two hit men hiding out in Bruges, Belgium, the best preserved medieval city in Europe. Rookie director Martin McDonagh got the idea for this film while visiting the city once, and the two characters represent his own split feelings about the town: beautiful and historic on one hand, then boring when that becomes the everyday routine. In two terrific performances, Brendan Gleeson is the older, wiser hit man who enjoys touring the historic town, while Colin Farrell, new to the profession, is bored, anxious, and needs more excitement, more booze, more anything.

The pair quickly discover a film being shot and befriend both a dwarf actor, and a crew member, the sensual Clémence Poésy, who offers Farrell just the escape he needs. The film escalates into violence, especially after boss Ralph Fiennes shows up, but is a dark comedy until then. It's really a film noir with some humor, and lots of swearing. The supporting cast from the hotel owner (Thekla Reuten) to a rude Canadian (Zeljko Ivanek, Emmy-winner for Damages) are all excellent.

The film has some artistic and even surreal moments, magically filmed. When you consider all the elements involved: a town as co-star, a dwarf in a surrealist film, drug-dealing con-artists, a hit on a priest, a kid-loving mobster - this turns out to be quite a unique script from McDonagh. Farrell won the Golden Globe for actor in a comedy (I think his most versatile performance to date, tho' Home at the End of the World was probably more difficult), and Gleeson (brilliant!) was nominated, as their onscreen chemistry was hilarious. Gleeson's performance is actually the more polished and professional, he's done this often. McDonagh's Oscar-nominated screenplay won several international awards, including the BAFTA®, for which the movie was nominated for Best British film.

Be sure to watch all the bonus shorts on the dvd, especially one with all the F-word outtakes from the whole movie, there's certainly over a hundred!

Update: Brendan Gleeson just won an Emmy in Sept 09 for actor in a tv film or miniseries, for "Into the Storm"

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Jodhaa Akbar

Ashutosh Gowariker, India, 2007 (8.1*)

Update: this just won 11 International Indian Film Awards, 2nd most ever, including picture, director, music, costumes, editing; it's now won 39 awards worldwide (link to its page at Wikipedia)

This has to be India’s Gone with the Wind (only better), an epic 16th century historical tale with beautifully ornate palaces, jewels, costumes – it even effectively mixes in some haunting and entrancing musical numbers (but not many). My favorites were a wedding night song and dance performed by whirling dervishes of the Sufi sect (trance inspiring!), and a beautiful romantic ballad from the second half when the lovers are alone (sensual yet very understated). Some of the dances have camera shots from overhead like a Busby Berkeley musical (only with 300 dancers instead of 30), performing ornate moving mandalas in bright colored costumes.

The stars are both very beautiful, the role of the Muslim Mughal Emperor is Hrithik Roshan (a strong, muscled warrior-king and swordsman), and his reluctant (and Hindu) Rajput Queen named Jodhaa is the breath-taking beauty Aishwarya Rai, in her finest here as a well-jeweled queen; this cements the argument that she is the most beautiful woman in the world (see photo), and she can also sing and dance (see Bride and Prejudice)

The story is multi-cultural and about the religious freedom and unification attempted by Akbar (a title of honor), who allows his Queen to build a Hindu shrine to Kali and maintain her religion. The story is fictionalized regarding the romance, turning it into a fairy tale love story, but the history is generally accurate about the unification of Hindustan. About an hour too long at 3.5 hours (Netflix inaccurately shows 450 minutes, or 7.5 hrs, yikes), with the better drama all in the second half (the first seems rushed and sketchy), and some of the martial arts are a bit slow and clumsy, rated down for these criticisms.

Note: Indian history buffs say that Jodhaa eventually converted to Islam to be totally acceptable to Akbar’s subjects.

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I Am Cuba

a.k.a. Soy Cuba
Mikhail Kalatozov, USSR-Cuba, 1964, bw (8.8*)

This is a remarkable film about fifties Cuba that is only now getting its proper recognition due to western prejudice. It's admittedly socialist propaganda, but is so well photographed and tells such a touching story that one can hardly disagree with its message. The film begins with a quote from Columbus' diary about "the most beautiful paradise on earth", then shows sugar cane farmers at work. Soon, the landowners tell farmers they've sold the land to United Fruit Company, and they all must abandon their homes and crops with no compensation. This leads to demonstrations in cities, and the fascist police kill many, added to the growing resentment of big business and corrupt government. Many of the now jobless farmers join a growing army in the mountains - with machetes as their only weapons until they can capture rifles in battles. When the government starts bombing the mountains and more civilian homes, they add to the ranks of the growing guerrilla movement.

Everyone knows the story, but few have seen this film, which captures the point of view of the innocent victims of capitalists, who were so short-sighted that to save just a few dollars of compensation for those displaced created a nation of communists and lost a valuable market for U.S. trade as a result, costing them billions over time - a just reward for those who think with their wealth first and their hearts last.

This Russian film has narration written by the famous poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, and was brilliantly directed by Mikhail Kalatozov. In 1996, it was voted into the archive films by the National Society of Film Critics, and nominated for an Independent Spirit award that year also, only 32 years after its release! Even Martin Scorsese has screened this film to talk about the cinematography and creative direction, which uses a lot of wide-angle, camera motion, and upward perspective to include the mountains and sky. Told in four major vignettes and running 141 minutes, the film does lack a consistent story line and will remain an "art" film, studied by professionals and students of film, but will always have limited appeal in a nation controlled by large corporations, as it exposes their guilt in their disdain for the laborers who do most of the work in every culture.

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Brothers

Susanne Bier, 2004, Denmark (8.2*)
Sundance Audience Award 2005
Brothers (aka Brødre) is another gripping and emotionally charged drama from master Danish director Susanne Bier (see After the Wedding here), winner of 13 international awards. This film deals with the effect of war on civilian life, as the film begins as one brother, Michael, a major in the army, is about to embark for duty in Afghanistan. We see a family dinner with his wife and two girls, his parents, and midway through his alcoholic brother Jannik shows up, who is an ex-convict and the black sheep of the family, who hangs in bars and shuns real jobs.

However everything changes after the brother leaves, and Jannik changes and becomes a good friend to the family, especially playful with the little girls. (Describing much more would spoil the plot, which has some turns). The stunningly beautiful Connie Nielsen (photo rt) is terrific as the wife, and won five international awards, including one as part of the winning ensemble, which is excellent overall. In a way, this is a Danish Best Years of Our Lives, updated for a modern world where small wars are fought but undeclared, raising moral issues for all concerned.

For me, not as artistic or subtle as After the Wedding, but still another worthy volume in Bier's impressive filmography as perhaps the best living female director.
Awards Page at Imdb

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After the Wedding

Susanne Bier, Denmark, 2006 (9.8*)
I was totally captivated by this film, which has a giant heart and is not afraid to show honest human emotions when dealing with all that life can throw at people. The film starts with a young Danish man in Bombay (Mads Mikkelsen) feeding street orphans, and we find out that he runs a small orphanage that needs more funding. He returns to Denmark to meet with a possible corporate donor (Rolf Lassgård), who invites him to his daughter's wedding the next day, saying they'll meet for a decision on the project the day after that. At the wedding, unexpected events occur that turn his life upside down.

This story has many surprising turns, so its hard to mention any more without spoiling some for the audience. Suffice to say that director Susanne Bier is a master at both plot subtleties and in showing human emotions honestly and openly. This is made possible by a super cast, all of whom were terrific. Rolf Lassgård as the CEO, is totally believable and won one best actor award; Mads, in the lead as Jacob, also won a best actor award. The CEO's wife, Helene, a very complex character, was brilliantly played by Sidse Babett Knudsen (photo left) and won two international awards; and young Stine Fisher Christensen (photo rt), who played their daughter Anna, the bride, was also brilliant in a very demanding and emotional part, and she also won two int'l awards for supporting actress. The film itself was nominated for 25 awards, including a foreign language film Oscar®, and it won 9 international awards. The awards page at IMDB

This is quite simply one of the best films ever directed by a female director, up there (for me) with Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay!, and Lena Wertmuller's Seven Beauties, but the acting, editing, and cinematography are better than those to me, it has a clarity and technical perfection rarely seen in films. Even the interiors are immaculately designed and lit, and Susanne uses some extreme close-ups that show only one eye, or a pair of lips, yet somehow you can still read the emotion emerging from what little portion of the face is revealed. I can't imagine why I haven't heard more about this movie, nor how it could have lost the Oscar®. Susanne (photo rt), also directed The One and Only (also a winner of many awards), Brothers (also numerous awards, including five for actress Connie Nielsen), Things We Lost in the Fire, which starred Halle Barry and Benecio del Toro. Susanne undoubtably has many more great films in her future.

Here's is Susanne's personal page at Facebook

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Hara-kiri

aka Seppuku
Masaki Kobayashi, Japan, 1962, bw (8.2*)
Winner of the Jury Special Prize at Cannes, this is not a typical samurai film at all, but actually a critique of authority and a social system that trains and uses great numbers of samurai warriors during wartime, who are then unneeded and out of work in times of peace. In this type of era in the early 17th century this story takes place, and the plot is predicated on a starving samurai who shows up at a clan castle, asking to commit harakiri (ritual suicide) there in a place of honor. What follows is a winding tale told to the new arrival of a similar samurai in the recent past with the same request.

There is some action here, but it is as much about inaction as anything, and a society that discards and ignores those who would protect and sacrifice for it in a time of need, so it speaks to all generations who have dealt with war veterans. This also introduces much of the samurai culture to the world, and explains some of the thought behind the rituals. This is definitely one of the classics of Japan and martial arts films due to a great story, though not as action packed as Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, it is still engrossing and should be seen by all fans of that genre or of Asian films.

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Veer-Zaara

Yash Chopra, India, 2004 (8.0*)
This is a legendary love story, an epic musical-romance in the tradition of Austen and Bronte meets Bollywood. Veer Singh (played by Shahrukh Khan) is an Indian Air Force rescue helicopter pilot, who meets a beautiful young Pakistani woman, Zaara Khan (Priety Zinta), who has come to India to scatter the remains of her loyal servent in her homeland (which is a great scene), when he rescues her from a bus crash on a mountain road. She wants to repay him, so he asks for one day to show her his home village; of course, in a musical-romance, one day is all you need to fall in love for eternity.

Thus begins a three-hour epic with about 10 songs, some of which are needlessly thrown in, but others are perfect for both setting the mood and opening up the culture of this area for filmgoers as well the visitor from Pakistan. I especially liked "This Is Our Land" for that reason, a colorful Hollywoodish outdoor musical number with lots of locations and people. This is a long and evolving story, told as a flashback to a lawyer, with several interesting plot twists, for Zaara is already engaged to an arranged and political marriage fiance (to a bore) in her home town, so the plot immediately gets sticky for the romance.

This is typical of Bollywood films today: three hours, and with 6-8 musical numbers with pre-made videos for tv, a couple are quite exhilirating. It's also a good example of their two styles of film: a light-hearted musical with dancing crowds and vibrant colors, then a long slow drama with serious societal and humanitarian overtones. This film, with an intermission, is pretty much divided that way into two halves, with most of the music and cheeriness in the first half.

This could easily have been done in two hours, with about 4-5 songs, so I'm downgrading it some for that reason, but it's still a classic love story and entertaining musical as well, in the tradition of 50's Hollywood musicals (Sound of Music, Oklahoma, American in Paris).

Winner of 8 International Indian Film Awards, including picture, director, actor, actress (a lawyer, not the lover), story, music director, makeup. The awards page at IMDB, 20 wins, 47 nominations (rated 7.3/10 at IMDB, a reader's poll open to all viewers)

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The Cranes Are Flying

Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957, USSR, bw (8.4*)
Palm d'Or (Cannes)
This was one of the first post-Stalin films from the USSR that got distribution in the west, becoming a critical and commercial success in the US as well as winning the Palm d'Or at Cannes. It's a beautifully photographed black and white anti-war film that dealt with the effects of war on civilians in a realistic manner without sentimentality, similar to way Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives showed the effect of war on Americans.

The story involves a beautiful young woman named Veronika, played by Tatyana Samojlova, who has decided that Boris will be her fiance (not Mark), just as he gets sent off to WW2, along with best friend Stefan. His cousin Mark (Aleksandr Shvorin) receives a deferrment and remains behind, and is also in love with Veronika, who now must decide between remaining faithful or being practical. We first see the effect of the war on those who remain at home, and later for those who go off to war, as many return wounded, reminding Veronika the nurse of the absence of her love.

This is a heroic story about the struggle of the common man, and even manages to poke some good-natured fun at "the workers maintaining their work quota at the factory in spite of war". This is not a war story about heroism in battle, as we never see the war directly, but about courage and cowardice among the civilians.

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State of Play

Kevin MacDonald, 2009 (8.1*)
This is a surprisingly tense and riveting political thriller. Combining journalism, national security, homicide, and mystery is not easy to pull off unless you have a good screenplay. This was adapted by Matthew Michael Carnahan and Tony Gilroy from a BBC series by Paul Abbott, 'updated' to the U.S., and filmed by talented young director Kevin MacDonald, who previously helmed award winners Touching the Void and Last King of Scotland. There are also crew links to the Bourne films. Apparently this had "all sorts of actors wanting in", said MacDonald, so the cast is a stellar ensemble. Oscar winner Russell Crowe is a reporter for Oscar winner Helen Mirren, who is perfect as editor of a major Washington paper. Oscar winner Ben Affleck is a US Congressman investigating a company that does private security for the war on terrorism, at a price tag of billions per year.

Oscar nominee Rachel McAdams is a young reporter who does the paper's online blog; she ends up getting involved early and helps Crowe with the investigation. Oscar nominee Robin Wright Penn is Affleck's wife, and good friends with Crowe through the Congressman; this connection drives Crowe's character to dig into the story to help his friend. Jeff Daniels is also in the cast, as another important politician connected to national security. Jason Bateman even has a small but important part as a PR man with some weighty info. [He was also in
The Kingdom; what's with Bateman and suddenlyll all these national security/spy movies?]

This is just the background, the plot is even more twisty and involved, and begins with the homicide of Affleck's aid in the investigation, and some unrelated street homicides; thus the mystery begins and the plot quickly thickens. This story has come very eery national security implications, and the way MacDonald lets the story unfold through journalists, so that the audience gets information when they do, was reminiscent of All the President's Men. This is a more violent and potentially frightening scenario, but that one had the weight of being true and part of history. There is even a sly reference made in the story here with the Watergate building.

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Heathers

Michael Lehman, 1989 (8.8*)
This is a rare and unique black comedy about high school. Remember all those snobbish cliques with the hottest girls? – well in this high school they’re all named Heather so they’re known collectively as 'Heathers'. Enter the picture a new student, dark and ominous, therefore alluring, played by Winona Ryder. For some reason the Heathers invite her in, even without the proper name. Her ultra-cool boyfriend Christian Slater decides they should prank one of them and the results are both surprising and unpredictable for all, an event that starts a chain reaction of crime that spirals out of control with hilarious results. This is one of the more unique high school comedies you’ll ever see, with an unforgettable cigarette lighting method, and is definitely wish fulfillment on film. Described as 'inventive, irreverant, and offensive', it the perfect comedy for the new millenium.

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The Memory Loss Tapes

Shari Cookson and Nick Doob, 2009, HBO (10*)

[Update: This just won an EMMY for "Exceptional Merit in Non-Fiction Programming" - congrats to all involved! updated 9.14.09]

The Memory Loss Tapes is the first part of the HBO series The Alzheimer’s Project, and it’s an extremely powerful documentary that touches on the most basic human emotions, those that flow naturally from love, caring, and mortality. The film was brilliantly constructed by producer-directors Shari Cookson and Nick Doob to slowly reveal the progressive stages of Alzheimer’s in seven different patients, and just as importantly, to show how the families of each have to cope with different aspects of the disease.

The first patient, Bessie, has only mild symptoms, so we get to see her as a lively, outgoing, and funny person. She knows what’s coming eventually but is still enjoying every day to its fullest. Another patient, Fannie, is losing her ability to drive her car, and with it her independence. Joe keeps a blog of his decline and can feel his mind slipping away. Yolanda thinks her reflection is a new best friend. Woody can’t remember his wife but can still remember song lyrics and sing with his old group.
Josephine’s daughter has had to fence in her property to keep her mom from wandering away. The patients shown exemplify the progression of the disease by revealing their everyday reality.

The most gripping part of this film deals with someone in the final stages of life, and the devastating effect it has on his family. In a heart wrenching revelation, the man’s wife admits feeling selfish for wanting to keep her husband with her as long as she can, despite the fact that he has "no life."

I don’t think I’ve ever seen mortality treated so realistically or with as much impact in any film. For parents, I would warn you to either pre-screen this for your children, especially those under ten, or counsel them before viewing. It’s something we’ll all face, but it may be distressing for young viewers to actually see in reality.

The saddest part of this illness to me is that it robs its victims of their memories at a stage in life when these are likely their most cherished possession. As a child, we would visit my great-grandmother in her nursing home, but she never remembered who we were, and she lived to be ninety-nine. I would have loved to have heard her stories that began around 1870, and just imagine the century she was able to witness.

Hopefully this film will instill a desire in many to become healers or medical researchers, and bring an understanding of the heavy cost of all terminal illnesses on the families and friends of the patients. We should all be aware now that new biotech research is necessary to cure this and similarly debilitating illnesses, and that money wasted on destructive goals is being diverted from these more humane purposes.

Many elderly patients don’t have any remaining family, as I found out when my mom was in a nursing home with Parkinson’s. Many eat alone and never have visitors, something we should never allow to happen. Visit as many of these people as you can, their smiles will be the best reward you’ll ever receive.

The Memory Loss Tapes should receive a handful of well-deserved Emmy nominations, and some awards. It's technically superb, emotionally powerful, and for me is one of the best TV documentaries ever made.

Producer-director Shari Cookson at IMDB
Producer-director Nick Doob at IMDB

[Though not yet on DVD, I'm reviewing this here in the hope that people will watch it on HBO or from their website: Click here for the HBO Link, and all episodes can be streamed from here as well.]

The Alzheimer's Organization is at http://www.alz.org/

Patients and families affected by Alzheimer’s can visit Icara Study to see if they might be eligible to enroll. [Thanks to Tracy for this]

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Elevator to the Gallows

Louis Malle, 1958, France, bw (8.2*)
This was 24-yr old Louis Malle's first film after being an assistant to Jacques Cousteau. It pays perfect homage to America's best film noir, as it begins with a rather boneheaded criminal, Maurice Ronet, who carries out a well-planned 'perfect murder' of the spouse of his adulterous lover, wonderfully played by a harried yet sensual Jeanne Moreau. All goes according to plan except for one minor detail, and from then on the plot spirals into a night of anguish for all involved, which grows to even more drastic actions as the night progresses, involving more criminals and victims.

The entire film is perfectly scored by the eloquent 50's jazz of Miles Davis, which is just right for the look and ambiance of a jazz-era Paris of the night. Even though the plot may stretch a bit, the acting and journalistic look make this a timeless window into a certain era which had the classy elegance we all miss. Certainly a noir classic, and an auspicious beginning to Malle's brilliant career, which included Au Revoir, Les Enfants and Atlantic City. I prefer this to the other French noir classics I've recently seen, it seems to have more plot twists and a humorous wit that most others lack. This should be ranked on the internet survey, I can't believe it's not on some of the lists.

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Defiance

Edward Zwick, 2008 (8.0*)
They keep releasing holocaust films, and I, for one, keep watching them all; I find inspiration in the struggle of the of the common man against the fascist machine (Star Wars), usually the "freedom fighter" archetype. I saw Margaret Bourke-White's photos of Auschwitz at age 5, so the worst possible images are already seared into my psyche anyway; I recently posted a list of 100 at my Worlds Best Films site. I just saw Defiance, based on the true story of the Bielski brothers of Belarus, here played by Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber (he really fits this part!), who escaped the Nazi invasion of their land by going into the forests, as the Germans burned everything their path: villages, people, livestock, farmland. Over three years, the Bielskis saved over 1200 people, and fought alongside partisans. Their knowledge of the dense Nibelofski (sp?) Forest allowed them to continue to escape capture, and survive the winter outside.

Even though the film is not as intense as I expected, it still tells an inspiring story of those who fought back with literally nothing to begin with but a few hunting rifles, then more and more captured weapons as time progressed. This group refused to give up, and lend more historical credence to the lesson all have learned: never invade even a part of Russia. Napoleon's army invaded with over one million soldiers, and only 5000 returned to France.

A similar Russian film also eerily documents the invasion of Belarus, Come and See (1985), and it reveals the Nazi atrocities in more horrifying images, approaching a dreamlike quality rarely seen in war films outside of Apocalypse Now. Defiance is more of a traditional war film, with a good mix of story and action.

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Australia

Baz Luhrmann, 2008 (7.8*)
This epic adventure, romantic western war film is actually an enjoyable piece of fluff, in spite of the mixed reviews (Roger Ebert gave it 4/5*, and it's got a 3.6/5 at netflix, I'm right between). The story takes place in the northern territory of Australia, around the coastal port of Darwin; beyond that is just desert, canyons, and huge cattle ranches. The first half of this 2.5 hr epic is a western, featuring an incredible cattle drive - you'll feel like you're in a John Ford film. The second half becomes a war film, as it's 1940 and the Japanese are advancing toward Australia.

Throughout each half, it's is also a romance, between a ranch heiress from England played by Nicole Kidman, who arrives to sell the property, and a contract drover, who gets cattle to market then moves on, played by buffed-up Hugh Jackman, who really should've been less Conan and more Indy Jones. Nice to see Aussie vets with meaty character parts here: Bryan Brown, as a competing cattle baron; Jack Thompson (Breaker Morant) as her boozing accountant; Road Warrior fans will also recognize gyro captain Bruce Spence. Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil from Walkabout plays a wise old shaman in the wild, named King George, who "has the magic".

A sidebar to the main plot involves the plight of mixed-race children (called "creamies" by the white racists), those with one white and one aborigine parent, who were taken away by officials and placed in their own type of orphanages, called "locky-locks" by the kids. One such child on Lady Ashley's ranch wants to hear a story one night, and Kidman, having just seen the film, recounts the Wizard of Oz to the child, teaching him Over the Rainbow, which becomes their special song. Now the story uses Oz as inspiration, and could even have been called "Ozstralia". This also "self places" the film in that historic era of film classics, whose look it emulates pretty well, thanks to modern special effects.

There's a lot of both cinematic and aboriginal magic here, with an almost painterly look at times, and it has the grand adventure epic feel. It's perhaps not as gripping or original as modern critics expected, and the war half seems in intrusion into a nice Aussie western, but it does have the old Hollywood formula and atmosphere - we even see big maps of Australia, like those in Casablanca and Indy Jones. Seen in that perspective, it's another grand entertainment in the over-the-top style of Cecil DeMille. Australia deserves their own grand national epic, for now, this is it.

Note: fans of this should enjoy see the four-hour miniseries "A Town Like Alice", based on Nevil Shute's romance novel of WW2 and Alice Springs, Australia.

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Gran Torino

Clint Eastwood, 2008 (8.7*)
This is just another gripping and hard-hitting modern drama from actor-director Clint Eastwood, who seems to improve with age like a fine Carmel area wine. Here he appropriately plays a hardened, grizzled Korean war veteran whose wife has just died. His neighborhood is now mostly southeast Asian immigrants from the Hmong culture, a mountain tribe there. He avoids them, they mouth off about him under their breaths. Things change when a local Hmong street gang starts putting pressure on his neighbor's son Thao, played by Bee Vang, and Eastwood helps keep the gang from kidnapping him by showing up in the yard with his loaded rifle from the war.

From then on, he's broken through the cultural barriers and the Hmongs all now respect him, a stranger who came to their aid. His gruff facade is gradually broken down by Thao's sister Sue, an intelligent and straightforward teenage girl, superbly played by Ahney Her; she simply doesn't accept his rejections, and is persistant in an unassuming way. She quickly becomes a closer friend to him than his own relations, who seem to consider him an aging inconvenience.

The Gran Torino of the title sits in Clint's garage, and is something he once worked on at the nearby auto plant; it's also something the gang, his granddaughter, and Thao all admire. Here, it become's a metaphor of an idealistic America of the past, when things were well made and people took pride in making them - much happier and more secure times, with ideals worth holding onto; for Clint, he can at least hold onto the car, keeping it in mint condition as life deteriorates all around. This is a very gripping, believable drama, one that should have been up for the best picture Oscar, as Clint was for directing; he even wrote the title song, played over the closing credits.

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Ace in the Hole

Billy Wilder, 1951, bw (8.0*)
Just another notch in the genius belt of director-screenwriter Billy Wilder. Though not one of his important films, still a small gem of a story. Washed up big city reporter Charles Tatum (Kirk Douglas) ends up in Albuquerque with no real stories, when by chance he stumbles onto one, when local Leo Minosa gets trapped in a cave behind some ruins of cliff dwellings in a town of 7 people in the desert. Douglas and his photographer are passing by on their way to a rattlesnake hunt, and Douglas sees a chance to milk a story all the way back to the big time.

Wilder accurately shows how just any human interest story becomes a literal circus in America, as hordes descend on the area when the story hits the press, including circus tents, rides, vendors, anyone out to make a buck, and of course the national media. Admittance to the ruins starts out free, and doubles each time they show the sign! Jan Sterling, as Leo's bored wife at the end of her patience, won a Nat'l Board award for actress, while Wilder received one of his 20 Oscar® nominations for the screenplay (he won six, 3 for screenplay, 2 for directing), and a directing award at Venice. This is another must see for his fans.

Here is our own article on the films of Billy Wilder, posted last year. He's one of my favorite directors.

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The 400 Blows

François Truffaut, 1959, France, bw (9.0*)
Excellent first film of François Truffaut that deservedly put him on the map, where he caused quite a stir at Cannes, winning best director. The film was shot in a documentary style about a troubled youth, Antoine, played very naturally and realistically by Jean-Pierre Léaud at only age thirteen; the film succeeds because of his performance, and much of that was improvised by Trauffaut, a former film critic making his debut film at age 25. This is a realistic story about being an alienated teenager in a big city, and it still rings true today, five decades later.

The story is actually partially autobiographical, and Antoine and his best friend Rene would cut school to go to the cinema, just as Trauffaut himself did, then would get in trouble with the school authorities, who would of course notify the parents. Antoine senses that his parents don’t really want him around, so he spends as much time running away as he does in their cramped apartment. This film has some of the more memorable scenes in movies: kids spinning around in a roundabout amusement ride, shot from their vantage point and that of the spectators watching them from above, glued by centrifugal force to the ride's walls; another of kids faces while watching a puppet show, some with open-mouth astonishment, the same looks you’d see from a cinema audience as well, especially in a children’s film. Perhaps my favorite: Antoine's face staring out from the back of a police bus, at the city lights of Paris rolling by.

I just watched this for the third time, and it actually gets better each time, as I notice new things on each viewing. This is a bona fide cinema masterpiece (ranked #60 on our survey, the 5th French film, just after his own Jules and Jim), with terrific camerawork, a very natural style, with a total lack of pretension or self-awareness. Winner of several international awards, with one Oscar nomination for screenplay. The awards page at IMDB

[Note: don't be deterred by the title, he's not a victim of abuse, he only gets slapped a couple of times, once by the police. Be sure to watch the interviews on the Criterion dvd if possible. Most will recognize Truffaut as the actor playing the scientist in Close Encounters who invented the musical method of communication with the aliens.]

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Le Samourai

aka The Godson (US)
Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967, France (8.0*)
This is a very stylish film noir (in color) from French master director Jean-Pierre Melville, about a modern 'samourai', a hit man for hire, used by gangsters in Paris. Glamour boy Alain Delon fits this part perfectly, playing trench-coated Jef Costello with his cold blue-eyed stare and seeming indifference to everything, beautiful women as well as killing. This is all done very quietly, with meticulous care, thankfully with no symphonic or rock music score for distraction, just some occasional tasteful jazz, played live at a nightclub.

The film is almost as much a police procedural, with Francois Perier perfectly cast as the police superintendant investigating the murder committed by Costello near the film's beginning. Delon's wife Nathalie becomes his gorgeous alibi, and Cathy Rosier is the jazz singer at the club where the contract is completed. Even the art direction is perfect, notice how each apartment is furnished perfectly for each of the characters, from tasteful elegance to bare essentials only. After Army of Shadows, #291 on our survey, the highest rated of Melville's films at #358; both scored 8.1 at IMDB, as did his Le Circle Rouge.

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Johnny Guitar

Nicholas Ray, 1954 (7.6*)
This is an absolutely bizarre western, featuring gun-toting women and music loving gunmen. The title character is a guitar-toting, peaceful outsider, played by Sterling Hayden, in his "glamour boy" days, with curly blond hair. He drifts into a dusty town where saloon-keeper Joan Crawford has a feud going with local rancher Mercedes McCambridge and the locals, including sheriff Ward Bond, all seem to do her bidding, which can be pretty vindictive. There are also hints of romantic jealousy between the two over Dancing Boy (Scott Brady), who has a gang of illiterates led by perfectly cast tough guy Ernest Borgnine.

There are few western cliches here, as if Ray intentionally set about to break traditions. Little in the plot is "black and white", it's all intense hues of color - literally. By way of introduction to the town, Sterling Hayden's fingers fly over the guitar, while Dancing Boy illustrates his nickname as well, wheeling McCambridge around he room. Even the settings are bizarre: Crawford's saloon, which stands by itself outside of the town proper, has a desert rock wall and resembles a cave, the outlaw hideout is on a hilltop approached by going through a waterfall. Written by blacklisted author Ben Maddow (credited to Philip Yourdon) from a Roy Chanslor novel. Oddly listed by IMDB as "film noir" - a western?

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Revolutionary Road

Sam Mendes, 2008 (8.7*)
Finally, an adult drama that is thoroughly engrossing and powerful. Richard Yates novel about alienation is brilliantly filtered through the directing eyes of Sam Mendes (American Beauty), concidentally, star Kate Winslet's husband in real life. Here Winslet is reunited with Leonardo DiCaprio as suburban married couple Frank and April Wheeler. By outward appearance they are typically normal and happy, but inside neither is fulfilled, and the story is about marital and emotional desperation, the lack of personal identity that each feels, and their ideas for escape from their suburban prison.

There are some of the most emotionally gripping scenes in recent films between DiCaprio and Winslet, in some ways the best acting each has acheived; Winslet won a Golden Globe for her performance (and four others, see below), but won her Oscar® for The Reader, which wasn't nearly as involved or emotional a role as this one, which I think elevates her to the level of the elite group of best all-time actresses (Davis, Hepburn, Streep, Glenda Jackson). Kathy Bates is spot on as usual as their unsuspecting real estate agent, one of those positive and polite people who are everywhere. Oscar® nominee Michael Shannon steals his scenes as Bates' mentally unstable son, who is very perceptive but also undiplomatic about his observations, like we all want to be.

This is an exhausting but remarkably real story, all perfectly balanced by Mendes and a terrific screenplay adaptation by Justin Haythe from the Richard Yates novel, yet the Oscar nominations were art direction, costume design, and Shannon's performance for supporting actor. Both Haythe and DiCaprio should have each been nominated as well as director Mendes, as for me this was a more rewarding film than American Beauty, which won best picture and director.

Kate Winslet won five international acting awards for this role - click here for the awards page at IMDB

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Come and See

Elim Klimov, 1985, Russia (8.4*)
This is one of the more harrowing WW2 films, as it takes place in rural Belorussia as the Nazis invade, turning idyllic, pastoral farmland into a living hell. We see life through the eyes of a teenage boy, named Florya, brilliantly played by Alexei Kravencho, who begins the film digging in the sand for discarded weapons, which he and his friends use for playing war. Soon after, the Nazi invasion comes, and he flees with some armed partisans into the woods. Gradually through the film, his face becomes etched by horror, and his his eyes mirror his internal shock at the atrocities he witnesses.

This has some of the more memorable war scenes in memory. Director Klimov has made the film more immediate and realistic by using high contrast, grainy film and hand-held cameras. You often feel the trees whipping past you as you hike through the forest with partisans to escape the invading army, which is leaving a path of destruction. There’s a particularly frightening one of machine gun fire in the dark on a moonlit night, tracers skimming by just over the head of a prone Florya in the grass.

A warning that this depicts war brutality at its worst, and is not a family film nor one for the squeamish, but for everyone else, a must-see war film that brings the ultimate reality of mankind’s atrocities back to our consciousness once again. One of the best Russian films, #559 on our top ranked films on the net survey.

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Band of Outsiders

aka Bande à part
Jean-Luc Godard, 1964, France, bw (7.6*)
This small crime film is, for me, Godard's most appealing film that I've seen. It's an unassuming and simple movie, and maintains a freshness throughout he's usually lacking. The story involves vivacious and attractive student Anna Karina, who perhaps has too big a mouth to be involved in crime. Living at her aunt's house she lets out the info that a roomer has some embezzled cash on hand. This intrigues two of her male friends, played by Sami Frey and Claude Brasseur, as much as she herself does, so they hastily hatch out an amateurish plot to steal the money and head for some more exotic locale. Some of the plot is perhaps a bit stretched, but its all in good fun, especially when the three dance The Madison together in a small club, a scene that the actors rehearsed for two weeks in their spare time. Don't expect anything deep here, but a well photographed black and white crime caper. Ranked #374 on our film survey.

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Meet Me in St. Louis

Vincente Minnelli, 1944 (8.4*)
This is one of the best of the Judy Garland musicals, and it involves a family that enjoys life in hometown St. Louis, around the time of the world's fair in 1903. There's not a lot of story here, but it's also not the old "let's put on a show, let's make a musical" plot either. It's primarily about the family enjoying each others company on holidays, and the girls entertaining beaux, all the noise driving father Tom Drake 'to distraction'.

Margaret O'Brien plays Garland's scene-stealing little sister, especially during one Halloween sequence that involves some pretty delinquent behavoir: bonfires in the streets, dusting residents with wet flour, and later even trying to derail a streetcar with a fake body. These kids were middle-class hoodlums, but all in good fun, like the Our Gang comedies. The musical numbers include "The Trolley Song" and the title song. Garland was in her prime here, a young woman of 22 who could really belt out a song. The technicolor is absolutely mouth-watering, perhaps a little too intense, but this is a good, fun family film for all ages. In fact, many think it's director Vincente Minnelli's best, along with An American in Paris. #293 on our top ranked films on the net survey.

Garland didn't want to star in this, as a teenager, but Minnelli not only convinced her to, but also to marry him later.

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The Edge of the World

Michael Powell, 1937, bw (8.0*)
Filmed on one of Scotland's Shetland Islands, in a location so remote that the Roman Empire named one of the these islands the Latin for "edge of the world". This is a stark, beautifully shot black and white film whose style mirrors the harsh, simple, ascetic lifestyle of the people who inhabit the westernmost islands of the British Isles, beyond whose open sea lies "only America". Life is becoming increasingly harsh and unliveable for the fisherman of the island, due to overfishing from the bigger commercial fleets, and some nearby islands have had to be evacuated. The only current means of livelihood are wool and peat and there is little future for the island's youth, who are deserting for the towns and cities of the big islands.

Powell is perhaps less polished without his famous screenwriting partner Emeric Pressburger, (see The Red Shoes, A Matter of Life and Death, Colonel Blimp) but this remains a very interesting early Powell effort. In fact, one might say the stark island landscapes only broken by people foreshadowed Antonioni's L'avventura over 20 years later. The dvd features a documentary by Powell shot when cast and crew revisited the island of Foula, location of the film's shooting, and revisited original inhabitants who were also in the film 25 years previously.

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