Mr. Nobody

Jan Van Dormeal, 2009 (9.5*) 
Belgium-Canada-France-Germany 

It's hard to describe this film without making it sound perhaps incohesive and out of control, but quite the contrary, this is a long, complex work of art that is very well constructed, and one which will warrant and reward the true cinema fan on repeat viewings.

What director Jaco Van Dormeal has done here is not new, he shows us alternate realities in one life, similar to the visual style used for the same by Tom Tykwer in Run, Lola, Run - and triggered by one incident involving a train, like Gwyneth Paltrow's character in Sliding Doors. As a child, Nobody is known as Nemo, and at age 9, he must choose which parent to live with when they seperate. The decisive scene takes place at a train platform, and little Nemo must either stay with dad or get on the train with mom. This being a film, he does both, and we see both lives.

This is really a science fiction story, which is about a Mr. Nobody, who is called that because they don't know his name, and he can't remember it, but it's Nemo, which we find out in flashbacks. Nemo is now the last living mortal at age 118, in a world where apparently everyone else no longer ages and dies (at least not naturally, I'm sure you can still blow people up or shoot them down, because, as they say here, "some people just need killin").

The film begins with a professional type suit, who is interviewing Mr. Nobody (for broadcast live to the masses), about his life and how he feels being the last mortal. When Nemo remembers his life, it's not always the same exact story he remembers, and this is the point of the film. It's not "a story" that matters, but that you travel the journey of life not knowing the final destination. This film has as many visual ideas as 10 average films, in fact, Van Dormeal spent nine years on this one project from writing to completion, and it shows.

There are so many mind-boggling images in this, that its best not to describe the film at all, but to urge everyone to watch it, then watch it again. There is one problem: it's not available at Netflix, you'll have to either borrow or buy it on dvd. You also want only the director's cut (it's 157 minutes, the original is 141, so it's hefty in either format), that's the version I saw and it has one added scene I thought particularly important: Nemo is going through a car wash inside his car, and we see closeups of all the action on the windshield, which is uncannily like nebula activity in space: the macrocosm becomes the microcosm. If you don't understand that, then you may not like this film, and you probably didn't enjoy The Tree of Life either, another visual masterpiece.

Jared Leto stars in this, that's him in makeup as the 118 year old man (Mr. Nobody) as well. He had just made Aronofsky's incredible Requiem For a Dream (2000), so apparently he only stars in a director's "magnum opus", or greatest of his work. He should be a better known actor, he's quite accomplished in every film I've seen. Canadian director-actress Sara Polley (Dawn of the Dead, Go, The Sweet Hereafter) plays one of his wives, Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds, Troy) another, and Viet actress Linh Dan Pham (Indochine) the third. All are perfect for what the film required - of the three, Polley is the most accomplished actor having won 31 awards so far, and she shows it here.

This may bore or confuse the more literary cinemaniacs, those who want a beginning, middle, and end of one story. To me, that's like criticizing the impressionists because the realists painted the same scenes more realistically. Do you want life to imitate art, or can art just be the creative expression of an artist's inner philosophy? This film toys with the idea of "string theory", which always baffled me, but the idea is that there may be several universes or realities occuring at the same time, it depends on your choices in life. That's such a scary thought to some, that one reviewer said he couldn't leave his house for three days after seeing this film!

This film is going into my top 100, easily (out of about 10,000 seen, the top tenth of one percent), and also on my short list of must-see science fiction-fantasy films, which is less than 50 at this point. To which I would only say, as Rossanno Brazzi told Katharine Hepburn in Summertime, "You are hungry, senora - eat the ravioli!" EAT THIS MOVIE! Then again, and again..

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Emma (Miniseries)

Jim O’Hanlon, 2009 (9.5*)
Masterpiece Theater version for BBC

There have been a veritable plethora of Jane Austen’s novels put to film, usually 3 to 5 per novel. In fact, this is the fourth version of Emma since 1972, beginning with another BBC miniseries, then a tv film with Kate Beckinsale, then the more famous film in 1996 with Gwyneth Paltrow (trying her best to affect a British accent, see our review here), then finally what I would call the definitive version – this one with the engaging Romola Garai. There was also the updated American adaptation, Clueless (1995), from Amy Heckerling, which retold the story with a spoiled Beverly Hills princess and a hilarious spoof of modern teens, starring a spunky 16-yr old newcomer Alicia Silverstone. (Ok, I confess, this over-the-top version is my favorite one to rewatch, but it bears few traces of Miss Austen.)

Romola Garai, whose name is the feminine version of Romulus, founder of Rome, comes from a Hungarian background, born in Hong Kong, and later relocated to England. Perhaps this outsider’s take on Austen gave her the necessary freshness and naivity that the role ultimately requires.

For the incogniscenti, Emma is born into aristocracy, and in this film Michael Gambon plays her doting and ultra-mindful father with loving humor – he frets about anyone even walking outside catching their death of something - in his mind it's best not to leave home at all. Emma’s mother died when she was “too young to remember her laugh”, and she’s remained by her father’s side ever since.

She’s grown up with a neighbor, a Mr. Knightly, who has been not only her brother-in-law, but like a brother, often scolding her like a parent for her insensitive improprieties. Jonny Lee Miller (yes, the one from the aborted Eli Stone tv show) turns in a remarkably effective and in tune performance as Emma’s longtime friend and confidante; one could argue that he’s the best cast male of any of Austen’s novels put to film.

Michael Gambon, Romola Garai, Jonny Lee Miller

Not being interested in romance, Emma fancies herself a matchmaking cupid after taking responsibility for getting her governess hitched to a wealthy widower nearby. Spurred on by this achievement, she spends the story trying to advise everyone in her sphere regarding romance, without any firsthand experience herself.

Most people either love Jane Austen or think she’s overblown and trivial; after all, most of her novels are about little more than whether a single woman will ever get married or not. However, primary plots aside, Austen’s forte was in painting a picture of both aristocracy and the common people within their spheres, society’s affect on individual happiness, usually influenced by idle gossip and speculation of outsiders.

This version of Emma was so wonderfully cast that it’s now easily my favorite Austen work put to film. A rather long work at around 270 minutes, it does give the novel ample coverage; it’s been described as Austen’s most complex plot with the most relationships. Emma grows from child to woman before our eyes, yet it’s her childish innocence that makes her so likable, even though Austen herself said of all her heroines, Emma is a person she wouldn’t like herself.

The outing to Box Hill

In this production, she is surrounded by a well-cast supporting group of characters. Blake Ritson was funny and dead on as the local preacher Mr. Elton. The chatty but well meaning Miss Bates was perfectly played by Tamsin Greig. Perhaps only Laura Pyper as Jane Fairfax was too tepid to exhibit even a brief glimpse of personality, dominated by her aunt, Miss Bates.

If you like Austen, you should love this; if you like the BBC’s Masterpiece Theater, this is another stalwart entry in that long-enduring and endearing series. It may not have the wonderful subtlety or complexity of Downton Abbey, but then it’s a novel from a century and a half ago, so in that regard it’s amazing, and a tribute to Austen, that it’s still able to enthrall audiences this far removed from her period in history. No film can capture the beauty and artistry of eloquent prose, but this mini-series in four parts comes as close to Austen as any other to date.

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The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Trilogy

Noomi Rapace, her biopic, and as Lisbeth

Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Denmark - Sweden - Germany - Norway
Niels Arden Oplev, 2009 (7.8*)
I’m reviewing these together because after you’ve either read the novels or seen the trilogy, you realize it’s just one long story about the heroine, not three distinctly different stories.

Actress Noomi Rapace made a star of herself and created an indelible screen image in punk hacker Lisbeth Salander, the subject of this crime trilogy from the famous novels by Stieg Larsson. I haven’t read the novels, but like most transcriptions to screen, you lose a lot because you’re getting a lot of other artists to interpret a solo work from the mind of one person, and the medium is also being transformed from one of linguistics and the mind’s imagination to a series of images filtered through the minds of others – the screenwriters, the cinematographers, the editors, and the director. All form a collaberative committee on a film, overseen by the director’s vision, which often changes during the process.

Some may find these films a bit too explicit, they show a woman who’s the victim of abuse, and it’s not for the squeamish. Some found this exploitive, others found it a frank depiction of the misygony in society, and how women in general are the victims of sex crimes perpetrated by sadistic men – unfortunately there’s never a shortage of these at any time in history. For me, I found the films to be more about a woman empowering herself by using her brains and street smarts to stand her own ground. In many regards, I found these films similar to the theme of the powerful French film Chaos (2001), from director Coline Serreau, which I’ve called “the ultimate women’s power film”, and one which had me standing and applauding at the end.

The series begins with a man convinced a relative was murdered and he employs a disgraced journalist, expertly played by Michael Nyqvist, and a criminal computer hacker, Lisbeth Salander, to help him unravel the mystery of some grisly murders in the distant past.

The first film won 13 awards (and Rapace won three for actress), including a BAFTA for films not in English (the equivalent of foreign language film at the Oscars). Rated 7.7 at IMDB, and 76 from Metacritics – that’s probably about right, though the cinematography and music are first rate, and actually make each film better. Some think it’s a bit long at 155 minutes, and there’s a longer 180 minute version from Sweden.

The Girl Who Played With Fire
Daniel Aldredsen, 2009 (7.2*)
The second in the series begins to unravel the mystery of Lisbeth Salander’s life. Her father may have been a Soviet agent, that’s part of the mystery. Journalist Blomkvyst of Millenium magazine (Nyqvist), who exposes the corrupton of the establishment, is investigating sex trafficking in Sweden, and the two themselves become the targets of the powerful in return

This film has more action, and is also compelling but is really setting you up for the concluding film, which provides closure to the entire series.

This film is not as compelling as the other two, and was only rated 6.9 at IMDB (fan votes), and 66 at Metacritics. This film and the third didn’t win any awards, and only garnered five nominations between them.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
Daniel Alfredson, 2009 (8.0*)
[Rated 7.0 at IMBD and 60 at Metacritics]

This film was the most riveting of the three for me, perhaps because it was the least violent. Without giving anything away, it becomes a battle of wits between two viewpoints – to put it in normal cinema jargon, the good guys and the bad guys, but using their minds rather than weapons or martial arts.

However, depending on how you feel about certain issues, these sides may appear the opposite to other people. It’s almost like politics - if we agree with a rebel, they’re freedom fighters; if we disagree, they’re terrorists. That's why we have a legal system, at least for civilians.

We see the entire mystery unfold as the journalist uncovers the clues himself. Another long film at 147 minutes, it still didn’t seem overlong; it’s a complex psychological story that demands thorough examination and revelation. The third film brought closure to the story, and in an intelligent, credible manner. Those who stick with the entire trilogy should feel justified in the end.

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Mao's Last Dancer

Bruce Beresford, 2009 (8.6*)
Based on the autobiography of Li Cunxin, a dancer who was plucked from his mountain village in China at age 11 by members of the cultural revolution, and trained in classical ballet from that point on. Criticized for being weak, he added extra weights to his legs and spent many hours developing strength to go with his natural agility and long-limbed grace. He is played here by actor Chi Cao.

In 1979, he is sent to the Houston Ballet in a cultural exchange with the U.S. He often struggles with his conscience, on doing what he feels is right, or acting like a good diplomat for the Communist ideal in China. Eventually he falls in love with a dancer in Texas, and this then becomes his biggest personal challenge.

This could have been a movie of the week but for the touch of veteran director Beresford, director of best picture winner Driving Miss Daisy (1989), and the military trial film Breaker Morant (1980). The dance sequences are wonderfully shot, some of the best in cinema. For me, these carry the film, though for others it may drag it down. I think for a dancer, his story can well be told through his dancing, and for me it seems natural here, not strained like in many musicals.

I was genuinely moved by this film in several places. I've read online posts by other Chinese immigrants who say it's a very accurate portrayal of someone from that part of China, Qingdao I believe. For lovers of dance films, this one's almost up there with The Red Shoes.

Winner of 6 awards and 14 nominations

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Farewell

Christian Carion, France, 2009 (8.5*)

This intriguing spy film is more like a John le Carre novel (Smiley's People; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; The Spy Who Came in From the Cold), meaning realistic (and relatively slow moving), than a modern action-packed pseudo spy story (a la James Bond). The film actually recounts the true story of a Russian agent in the waning days of the Soviet Union who was dubbed Farewell in the west, a man inside Soviet intelligence who smuggled out important information. This is the thinly disguised fictional filming of the story of the Russian KGB colonel Vladimir Vetrov, who apparently was a lot stranger and impulsive than this film portrays.

His contact was a minor diplomatic liaison at the French embassy, Pierre Froment (Guillame Canet), involuntarily swept into the espionage game without any training, and who also lacked the common sense that most in that profession need to survive. Willem Dafoe has a minor role as a U.S. intelligence officer who fills in Froment on all the info the former is missing due to his low rank. (..and just see if you can spot David Soul in this film!)

In order to prove his veracity, the Russian, Gregoriev, played by Serbian director Emir Kusturica, leaks information to the west that proves that Soviet agents have penetrated the U.S. defense system – they know the locations of major radar installations, the nuclear codes, and even the delivery times of vendors to the White House. His intelligence treasure is the identities of these agents within the U.S., which the Russians call the X Line.

This is an intriguing and riveting story, in spite of some caricatures within the players, such as Fred Ward’s portrayal of Ronald Reagan, who has a few intelligence meetings in this story. Some who know the real story of Vetrov say it’s truly stranger than this fiction – perhaps the filmmakers toned it down to make it more realistic. At any rate, it belongs on the short list of realistic espionage films worth recommending.

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Lebanon

Samual Maoz, Israel, 2009 (8.6*)
Golden Lion Award, Venice
Riveting war film follows an Israeli tank that is lost inside Lebanon and separated from the rest of its division during their first war in the early 80's. It's been described as the 'Das Boot' of tank films but it's a lot shorter at around only 100 minutes, and also lacks the epic scope of that submarine film.

It is however, eerily realistic for the trapped and claustrophobic environment of a tank crew lost and without support inside a hostile country, when you don't get out of the tank for any reason, nor do you sit still in any location for very long. The only view of the outside is through circular viewscopes, all attached to guns, so the only thing that can be seen is what you're aiming at, there is no peripheral or panoramic view available.

They're not entirely alone as they are joined for awhile by an infantry squad, but there is obvious friction between those inside and outside the tank, and those inside don't always trust decisions made on the outside, which adds to the helpless feeling of being trapped in the tank.

This film belongs in all lists of must-see war films as it presents a unique view of modern war, and also covers an aspect of a war rarely covered by any films. Winner of 10 awards overall, most for its excellent cinematography

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Women Without Men

Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari, Iran, 2009 (8.1*)
This story links the lives of four different women living in or near Tehran, Iran during the time, 1953, that their elected President was replaced by the Shah in a CIA-backed coup, after British ships blockaded Iranian oil tankers. Their stories are unified by an idyllic garden location, and the symbology of Eden is apparent. Co-director Shirin Neshat is a visual artist turned director, known for her works exploring gender relations.

One woman is unmarried at 30, living with her brother, who considers her a family disgrace for not yet accepting any suitor. He truly cares more about his own social status in the community than his sister's happiness. Another woman is a miserable and bored prostitute. Another is the jaded wife of a long, boring marriage, whose husband has a younger mistress.

Using some indelible and haunting images, we are given a poetic story of the stuggle of women in a fundamentalist society in political turmoil. Most of the women here had their lives dominated by men, so there was no personal independence for an entire gender. The film succeeds most when it ignores politics and becomes lost in the imagery of people in nature, dwarfed by the vast landscapes here.

It's not surprising that the novel this is based on by Shahrnush Parsipur is banned in Iran, and also this film, it's an important look the plight of women in some cultures of the world, and the hopelessness faced by some of them.

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Samson and Delilah

Warwick Thornton, Australia, 2009 (8.2*)

Australian Film Institute, Best Picture
Samson & Delilah is not the biblical duo, but a couple of aborigine teenagers in the central Australian desert. Delilah (Marissa Gibson) lives in austere poverty with her Nana (Mitjili Napanangka Gibson), who takes care of the very old Nana; together they survive by making Aborigine rugs for sale at an upscale native art gallery run by upper-class whites.

The aimless petrol-sniffing Samson (Rowan McNamara) lives with older brother (Matthew Gibson) with whom he doesn't get along, being extremely fed up with the brother's one-song reggae band, which seems to play the same music incessantly on their front porch. Samson decides to move to Delilah's place, which delights Nana, who calls him Delilah's husband, but frustrates the reluctant Delilah. This is all done without dialogue in a strange courtship ritual.

Soon, both teens are forced to hit the road after Nana unexpectly dies and the village women beat Delilah, while Samson's brother chases him off after an ugly confrontation. They're now a traveling couple depending on each other to survive. They meet their future at a highway overpass in a marginally sane and homeless white man named Gonzo, played by the director's brother Scott Thornton, who was replaying his own lifestyle.

The story is a wake-up call about downtrodden native Australians, and poverty-stricken outcasts everywhere, who are considered an untouchable problem but become an exploited lower class whenever possible. Not a pleasant film, but a necessary one. Warwick Thornton used film newcomers for his lead actors, and his debut film was selected as best feature by the Australian Film Institute, where it won three awards. It won 10 awards overall

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Fantastic Mr. Fox

Wes Anderson, 2009 (8.5*)
A hilariously adult animated comedy, but still G-rated, in which the star, George Clooney as Mr. Fox, has no constructive line of work (he's a chicken thief), which causes constant stream of harangue from Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox. The dialogue is a throwback to the 30's screwball comedies style, so it's sparkling in comparison to most talking animal pictures, which seem aimed at five year olds. The talented comedic cast also includes Bill Murray and Owen Wilson.

The animation has the old style claymation/puppet look, which makes it look more like real objects than cartoons, so that adds to the element of reality the storyline establishes. This was a refreshing antidote to all the Disney-esque animated ventures which always seem to follow a similar heart-tugging path that requires sad violin music. If you're looking for a different kind of comedy, check this out.

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Micmacs

Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2009, France (8.8*)
aka Micmacs à tire-larigot
A wonderfully inventive and constantly surprising comedy film from Jeunet, director of the more famous Amelie, and the epic and beautifully shot war-romance A Very Long Engagement, his previous film (2004). The story begins with a soldier being killed disabling a land mine. His young son sees the logo of the arms manufacturer in an army photo of the site. Now an adult, Bazil, comically played by Danny Boon, is a video store clerk who takes a bullet in the head in a bizarre crime accident when a shootout occurs outside his shop. Doctors can't remove the bullet, but Bazil is given the spent cartridge, so he now knows the ammo maker as well.

Bazil becomes a street performer and beggar, and decides to seek revenge on the two companies, but doesn't know how. He meets a wonderful group of eccentric castoffs through a pardoned criminal named Slammer (Jean-Pierre Marielle) who have a hidden fortress (called 'Micmacs à tire-larigot') inside a junkyard - a group that fixes and recycles various items discarded by society. This makeshift family takes him in, and also takes on his goal.

With the help of a contortionist, Elastic Girl (Julie Ferrier), who sometimes hides in the refrigerator, a human calculator (Marie-Julie Baup), an inventor (Michel Crémadès), a 'mama cook' (Yolande Moreau), a human cannonball (Dominique Pinon) and others, they devise a long, complex, Rube Goldberg-like plan, which often requires a "Plan B" as things often go awry.

This film often surprises and never follows a straight path anywhere, and is quite unlike any other film - think Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Time Bandits, Fisher King) meets Cirque du Soleil, yet it never takes itself as seriously as either of those. Jeunet, in an interview on the dvd, says that "Micmacs" is an invented word that means "shenanigans". He spends two years on average making a film, and it shows in all the little details you can spot in a world that always seems a little off from reality, as if you're seeing the world through circus-tinted glasses. He says he includes every little inspiration he gets from reality, logging them all on a computer, and part of this came from the tv-series "Mission Impossible".

Sadly, we need more inventive films like this one, which borders on fantasy, yet delivers a seemingly straighforward plotline that has one cheering it's eccentric gang of societal castoffs as they take on major worldwide arms dealers. Jeunet is establishing himself as one of the most visually unique directors in the world, perfect for a new millenium.

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An Education

Lone Scherfig, 2009 (9.0*)

Sundance Audience Award
Carey Mulligan gives a star-making and Oscar®-nominated performance in this brilliant coming-of-age British romance from Danish director Lone Scherfig. She plays Jenny, a 16-yr old, middle-class honor student, at a prep school for Oxford in 1961 who begins a romance when a thirty-ish man, Peter Sarsgaard (as David), gives her a ride home from school in the rain to 'protect her cello'.

What follows is a very gentle, slowly-paced romance during which David is able to charm his way into her life and show her how 'the other half' lives, attending art auctions, expensive dinners, and real estate sales.

Her best teacher, superbly played as usual by unheralded Olivia Williams, (star of many BBC classics, and the hilarious comedy In The Loop) and her principal, in this case former Oscar®-winner Emma Thompson, are both convinced she is throwing her education and her future away. Meanwhile, her parents, with Alfred Molina terrific as her dad, showing a previously unseen vulnerable (yet still humorous) side, are a little more accepting while becoming friends with David themselves.

For me, this is art at its finest - we see the gradual character growth in Mulligan's face, and don't need dialogue or events to hammer home the point that she is transforming from girl to woman in a few weeks. Lone Scherfig has done a typically understated and brilliant piece of Danish film directing (fellow director Susanne Bier is one of the world's best) that shows romance in a romantic, non-prurient and positive setting, letting the story and character development evolve seemingly on their own. This is all too rare in the last half century.

As proof, An Education was nominated for the best picture Oscar®, as well as screenplay (Nick Hornby brilliantly adapted his own novel), and best actress for Carey Mulligan. She won the BAFTA, the only award it won there out of 8 nominations (including film and British film), and 11 other best actress awards worldwide, many from critics. Overall, it won 15 awards out of 63 nominations, including the Sundance Audience Award.

Director Lone Scherig has 25 wins overall out of 39 nominations, most for Italian For Beginners (2000). Not bad for any director, and she's a Danish woman! I keep telling you, they're way ahead of us..

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The Time Traveler's Wife

Robert Schwentke, 2009 (8.2*)
This science fiction romance poses an interesting dilemna, how does a woman maintain a solid relationship with a man who pops into her life at various times, beginning in childhood, while he himself is various ages?

Rachel McAdams is the woman in adult age, who has to cope with husband Eric Bana (Munich) at times being near, at times being out time traveling beyond his control. He at least seems to pop in and out of his own timeline rather than zip all around the universe or world. One advantage to this phenomenon is that she knows ahead of time that this will the love of her life.

This is both an engrossing science fiction tale and a tender romance. Based on the Audrey Niffenegger novel, I have a feeling that like most novels set to film that her book is likely deeper and more involved than this film, but it's still good entertainment, and far more interesting than the average romance, when the major problem seems to be how to work in 'business time' between all the self-centered interruptions of kids and relatives. This scenario thankfully avoids anything normal.

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The Secret in Their Eyes

(El secreto de sus ojos)
Juan José Campanella, Argentina, 2009 (9.5*)
Best Foreign Film (AA)
A retired couselor, played by Ricardo Darín, who worked for the court system in Argentina, is writing a novel about a homicide case that haunted his career. He goes to visit a former female colleague, Soledad Villamil, to discuss the case and get some input for shaping the story for his novel - he wants credibility, he's not just writing a memoir. The original homicide case, as well as the couple's work history, is then shown in flashbacks, from the time the politically connected Irene is newly hired into the office of a court judge where Benjamin is a dedicated and determined mid-level bureaucrat.

What follows is a complex and sophisticated crime story, which takes the viewers on a serpentine path that wanders from past to present. At times this is a mentally engrossing puzzle, but at others can be a brutal, conscience churning exercise in trying to understand the will and methods of governments, especially one controlled by police state fascists.

Mixed with the homicide investigation is an undercurrent of romantic intrigue, as the older bachelor, mired in a anonymous obscurity, has an obvious attraction for the younger, attractive, but engaged Irene. This is understated but to some may seem an unnecessary sub-plot that detracts from the crime story; it's for this reason that I didn't rate this a 10. Still, the screenplay, from a novel by Eduardo Sacheri, is terrific, as are the cinematography, editing, and Campanella's superb directing. This is one of the best crime films of the first decade of the new millenium, some are saying 'of all time'.

Including the Oscar® for Foreign Language Film, Secret won 34 international awards, and had another 19 nominations (awards page at IMDB). It's currently ranked #170 on the IMDB top 250, as rated by regular reviewers. It won 13 Argentinian academy awards with another 4 nominations.

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It's Complicated

Nancy Meyers, 2009 (8.1*)
This was a surprising romantic comedy, as director Nancy Meyers' screenplay has enough comedy to overcome the tendency of this type of 'middle-aged' sex comedy to get serious about relationships. Divorced for 10 years and with her last child moving out for college, French pastry cook Meryl Streep is having a hard time living alone, while ex-hubby Alec Baldwin has re-married to a woman half his age, a domineering Hispanic woman (Lake Bell), whose main interest in him is as an insemination factory.

The two run into each other in New York at their son's college graduation, and while reliving old times have far too much to drink and fall into bed with each other. Thus begins the complications for each. Meanwhile, Streep is having an addition built to her house, and finds architect Steve Martin a pleasant and non-threatening possible romance.

Alec Baldwin is hitting his comedic strides, and carries the comedy here, while Streep carries the drama. Ironically, Martin is the straight man, but with one hilarious scene with Streep at a party, as the two begin the evening by smoking a doobie given to Streep by Baldwin.

This was nominated for some awards (though overlooked by the Academy): a Golden Globe for comedy, a BAFTA for Baldwin for supporting actor, and actually winning best ensemble cast by the National Board of Review. Definitely fluff, but pleasant and funny enough to make it worth seeing, as the cast is superb, and the script by director Meyers is both witty and engaging.

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Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 7

David Mandel, Larry Charles, Robert Weide, 2009 (9.0*)

Excellent season of Curb is their best ever. Not wild about the early seasons, in fact, I quit watching them as the non-stop self-degradation of creator-writer Larry David, who did the same for the Seinfeld series (the character of George was based on Larry himself), became a little predictable, tiresome, and unrewarding. Larry plays 'himself' and is perhaps too little talented a comedic actor to pull it off regularly. He seems to generally lack energy or commitment; he only has a self-centered arrogance delivered in the style of a permanent curmedgeon. Not even his younger (and hotter) wife seemed to make him happy.

However, this time Larry took a year off and wrote 10 brilliant episodes, which revolve around the fact that his wife, Cheryl Hines, has left him (small wonder! she's a gorgeous and younger blond), and he envisions putting together a Seinfeld reunion so he can write in a part for her and win her back by spending time with her on the set.

The series begins where season 6 left off, with a family of African-Americans still living at Larry's house, who were displace victims of hurricana Katrina in New Orleans. Ironically, it was his wife Cheryl who brought them there to begin with, now Larry is involved with the single mother. In fact, Leon steals several scenes he has with Larry, especially when heavily laying on the slang, even using Mitvah as a verb: "I totally Mitvahed his ass", when he impersonates a sick Jewish friend of Larry's to fool Michael Richards (Kramer).

Some of these episodes are the funniest in the entire series: Larry gets into a physical knock-down fight with Rosie O'Donnell in public at a restaurant; at Larry's golf club, he is attacked by the club's symbol, a large black male swan; he dates two women in wheelchairs to appear unprejudiced. The major bonus: we see the entire Seinfeld cast, including 'Newman', playing their actor selves going through a script read and rehearsals; we also see the 'reunion' episode being put together, but as a Curb story, not as a real reunion show. We even get to see Larry doing Jason Alexander (who's hitting on his ex) doing George, who is doing Larry! Is that complex enough Jungian comedy for you?

The actors, in interviews on the 2nd dvd, said this was the only way this could occur, as part of the Curb series, and they only did it because of the way Larry put it together, as a story within a fictional series, but one based on real lives. By the way, much of the original Seinfeld set was pulled out of the archives of the Warner-Brothers tv 'museum', and restored but also updated a little, as if ten years later Jerry is in the same apartment.

This season has some excellent guest stars: Rosie, Christian Slater, Meg Ryan, Elizabeth Shue, and others, along with the continuing stars Richard Lewis, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen playing themselves as Larry's Hollywood friends.

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A Prophet

Jacques Audiard, France, 2009 (9.0*)
Palm D'Or, Cannes
This is an excellent prison drama, the best since Shawshank Redemption, and it won the Palm D'or at Cannes likely because it sticks with you long after you've seen it. The pace takes awhile to become engrossing but once it does it has the viewer in a hypnotic spell.

Blurbs compare it to The Godfather but it's not about a family clan, nor multi-generations - it's a coming of age story for a shrewd survivor, wonderfully performed by Tahir Rahim as an 18-yr old suddenly thrown into prison for striking a policeman in a brawl. The prison is primarily controlled through bribery by the head of the Corsicans, Cesar, brilliantly acted by Niels Arestrup - after just one scene you forget he's acting; he even looks like a criminal, with greasy white-blond hair and a menacing glare.

Rahim is an Arab outsider, a non-Muslim, unwanted by both sides so he's recruited by Cesar to betray another Arab, and thus begins his education within prison, which is also mirrored by his own desire to take language classes while there. He also learns a bit of Corsican by observation, and quite a few more things about people, as this film is about culturally divided classes and complex inteactions among Arabs, Muslims, French, Corsicans, southern Italians. Everyone mistrusts all other groups yet are forced to interact for self-preservation.

This is superb piece of filmmaking all around, and an engrossing story. There's a little violence, hardly any compared to American films, and a couple of R rated sex scenes which some have compained about, and is perhaps a bit long at 2:30, so it's more like a diamond in the rough. I'll have to see the film that beat this out for the foreign language Oscar®, it's hard to believe this lost.

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Invictus

Clint Eastwood, 2009 (7.5*)

Not one of Clint's best as director, a by-the-numbers sports film which contains little drama or conflict to pull the viewer in. Morgan Freeman, who produced, is excellent as Nelson Mandela, even somewhat resembling him physically, and garnering another best actor Oscar® nomination. Newly elected, his country is still torn apart racially, so he sees the upcoming 1995 rugby World Cup, being held in South Africa, as a potentially unifying event. Their rugby team, though world ranked, is being manhandled by better teams like England.

President Mandala calls in the team's captain, blandly played by Matt Damon, who does little here to convince skeptics that he can act (in spite of a supporting actor Oscar® nomination, where the heck did that come from?) to his office for an inspirational meeting. Damon has little do other than play rugby and tell his players "we can do better for our country". If you don't know this story or the outcome, it may have a little suspense for you, but it seems to be directed as if everyone knows the outcome, here's the 'behind the scenes' inspiration.

Don't expect to learn much about rugby here, but you will learn something more about South African racially motivated politics. All in all, a pleasant but forgettable sports film. Good for soccer junkies disappointed that the 2010 World Cup is now over.

Quote: Soccer is a gentlemen's game played by hooligans, rugby is a hooligan's game played by gentlemen.

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The White Ribbon

Michael Haneke, Germany, 2009 (8.4*)
aka Da Weisse Band
Palm D'Or, Cannes
In a small German village in 1910, a series of bizare sadistic acts begins with a doctor on his horse being thrown by a nearly invisible wire strung across his daily path, resulting in his hospitalization and the horse's destruction. While is recuperates in a nearby town, more incidents occur.

The local preacher, eerily portrayed by Burghart Klaussner, is shown to cane his six children when they are late for dinner, while other parents react similarly when their children disobey, one even attacking his son with a military sword. Meanwhile, the local teacher, played by Christian Friedel, begins to investigate the incidents on his own, suspecting that some of his students may be to blame as many children in the village seem to have the mean streak of bullies, and they congregate in gang-like groups, often acting suspicious.

Micheal Haneke has given us a mystery in classic bw that seems to imply a growing inclination towards fascism in the grassroots areas of Germany which may have resulted in full-blown Naziism as these kids grew up - they would all be young adults in the 20's and 30's. This film won't suit all tastes, but is rewarding for those willing to be patient and examine complex human motivations through cinematic art.

This understated film has won 17 international awards so far, including the Palm D'or at Cannes, a Golden Globe for foreign film, and garnered an Oscar® nomination for foreign film, and is nominated for 13 German film awards, yet to be presented.
The awards page at IMDB

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The Last Station

Michael Hoffman, 2009 (8.6*)
Normally films about authors are tedious and uneventful, but The Last Station, due to superb acting and a very interesting, intimate screenplay, manages to remain engrossing until it's dying breath. It follows the last days of the author Leo Tolstoy, forever beloved in Russia due to War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

Oscar®-nominee Christopher Plummer turns in his finest performance in a long career as the elderly author, well beyond his years of creative fiction and now more interested in creating a new world movement of pre-Communist 'Tolstoyans', who denounce private property, the superstition of religions, and even the pleasures of the flesh. Instead they strive to create peaceful communes where individuals are allowed freedom without attachment to personal wealth, material concerns, or nationalistic endeavors.

Helen Mirren, also an Oscar® nominee, is her usual perfect self playing his suffering wife, who fears that his new found asceticism may cause him to rewrite his will and give the rights of his creations to the public domain, thus robbing his widow and his children of their inheritance.

Thrown into this family dispute at Tolstoy's country estate, called Polyana, is James McAvoy (Atonement) as a new secretary for Tolstoy (Valentin Bulgakov) appointed by Paul Giamatti (as Chertkov), who heads the organization of Tolstoyans, but who is under 'house arrest' by the czar's agents, so he sends Valentin there as his eyes and ears, instructing him to write down everything and report even insignificant details to him.

Valentin, whose is really the subject of this film, is sent to live in a nearby commune of Tolstoyans, where he is thrust into a romance with the agressive Masha, sensually played by Kerry Condon, who initiates him into the new philosophy of 'free love', in spite of the Tolstoyans denouncement of sexual activity. Valentin becomes torn between his love for Masha and his adherence to the master's new philosophy, which Tolstoy himself admits he doesn't really follow, reveling in memories of a promiscuous sex life, even writing the details so his wife can read about his exploits.

For me, this was an enlightening expose of Tolstoy's private life. I found his prose difficult at best, finishing War and Peace only after two aborted attempts, and decades apart. The film claims he's the most celebrated author in the world, but for my money, Charles Dickens and James Conrad are infinitely more interesting and rewarding. However, I found Tolstoy's personal philosophy very appealing, and this film, in spite of some soapy dramatics, more rewarding for me than any of the films of his novels.

Ironically, even with 10 best picture nominees, this one was slighted, with nominations only for Mirren and Plummer. Mirren proabably should've have won her second Oscar®, and Plummer his first, but who can figure out Hollywood voters? (No one will ever convince me Sandra Bullock is in the same league as Mirren). This was easily one of the best five films of the year, in fact, second for me only to the winning Hurt Locker. It may be a little 'soapy' for some, but Tolstoy's novels were even more sentimental and melodramatic; this was less so for me, more compact and to the point.

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Crazy Heart

Scott Cooper, 2009 (8.2*)

This is a simple yet effective story as old as country music: a jaded country singer is nearing 60 and is tired of life on the road playing bowling alleys and roadside bars for chump change as his best years are behind him. Jeff Bridges was not only perfect in this, doing all his own singing, but finally got a well-deserved Oscar after some near misses (four previous nominations) and a career of impeccable professionalism in his performances. This is as good as my favorites of his: as the cheating best friend in The Last Picture Show, as the jaded supper club pianist with brother Beau in The Fabulous Baker Boys, and as the air crash survivor who loses fear of death in Peter Weir's Fearless.

Maggie Guylenhaal nearly steals this movie with her excellent and believable portrayal of a young music journalist who falls for Bridges' inner man; this has to be her best performance. Colin Farrell, as a young hot attraction who was mentored by Bridges when starting out, actually outsings Bridges in a surprisingly twist to his stellar career - who knew Colin had this voice hidden within? (..but not many male country stars wear two earrings!)

Probably the only thing wrong with this film is what will make it more popular: a plethora of 'soundtrack ready' simple country songs that even Bridges and Farrell can sing, including the Oscar-winning song "The Weary Kind", co-written by producer musician T-Bone Burnett. Great for country fans, but a bit much for those of us who prefer bluegrass, rock, jazz, classical, or something where musicians actually play their instruments well. Thankfully on the dvd you can fast-forward the ones you don't like. Robert Duvall has a near-cameo as a bar owner, and he also produced, a story eerily simliar to his Oscar®-winning performance in Tender Mercies.

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