THE HELP [2011] movie review
February 5, 2012
Even though I had read negative things about THE HELP and only all of a sudden decided to watch it this evening, I came away from the movie liking it much more than I expected because of the chemistry, both friendly and hostile, between the characters.
THE ARTIST [2011] movie review
February 3, 2012
It is a rare pleasure to view of movie that appears to be what I call, “handmade.” THE ARTIST is such a movie, and not just because it is the first silent film I have ever seen in my life nor because it is in black and white, but because every frame on screen is on purpose, crafted, and punctuated by a score that provides emotion so differently than endless dialogue does.
MARGIN CALL [2011] movie review
February 1, 2012
I learned about MARGIN CALL because of its nomination for a best writing Oscar (J.C. Chandor also directed). The movie is described as a thriller about the start of the financial crisis on Wall Street, but it would be better classified as a drama with political overtones.
WAR HORSE [2011] movie review
January 28, 2012
If you do not think a person can believe in something so strongly that no matter how astronomically improbably it is, it can still happen, then you need not see WAR HORSE. If you are, however, a person who does, as I am, then you will find WAR HORSE inspiring and raising your own confidence that what you are trying to believe in can be done.
A BETTER LIFE [2011] movie review
January 28, 2012
If not for Demian Bichir getting nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, and deservedly so, I may never have watched A BETTER LIFE because up until then I had not even heard of it. I hope this review helps people find this movie about a father wanting for his son exactly what the title says. This movie is incredibly sincere and real, and therefore on those accounts alone, one of the ten best movies of 2011.
ANOTHER EARTH [2011] movie review
January 22, 2012
It amazes me how in some many individual calendar years two movies of the same small niche come out (think Armageddon/Deep Impact, Dante’s Peak/Volcano). For 2011 it was movies about large planetary objects approaching Earth in small, ordinary person films. Exactly two weeks ago I saw MELANCHOLIA and tonight I saw the perhaps superior ANOTHER EARTH.
MALCOLM X [1992] movie review
January 17, 2012
It might be somehow odd to watch MALCOLM X on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, but having earlier listened to King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, X seemed like an appropriate companion movie for the evening as I could not think of any King movie existing. A search of IMDB confirmed that, very surprisingly, there is no King biography movie, how has one never been made? Perhaps because there is no actor that can play the part and be as uncannily in resemblance to King as Denzel Washington is to Malcolm X. Additionally, I cannot think of any greater character arc covering more ground than Malcolm’s. That was the biggest thing I got out of viewing X, just how far and how many times Malcolm changed as he expanded his world view.
A SEPARATION [2011] movie review
January 14, 2012
Roger Ebert chose A SEPARATION as his favorite film of 2011. I would not put it that high, but it is definitely in my top ten for 2011 and absolutely a unique movie. I have been interested in seeing court drama movies lately, and to my surprise A SEPARATION was an amazing one. I now know that being a judge in Iran is one of the hardest jobs in the world!
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