RABBIT HOLE

Becca and Howie are very happily married, successful and have rather a charmed life, which is shattered when their only child, a 4-year-old boy, chases his dog into the street and is killed by an oncoming car.  8 months later they are still trying to come to terms with his death and find ways to not just being able to communicate with themselves, but also with their families and friends.

They try Group Therapy which Becca soon shuns after other grieving parents claim their own losses are part of God’s great plan. And Becca needs to confront the fact that her wayward younger sister is now suddenly pregnant for their first time, and also deal with her own mother who insists on comparing the pain of the loss of her own son who died by a heroin overdose with that of her grandson.  And as Becca and Howe start to find their own separate ways of dealing with all of this and try to move forward, they put their own relationship at risk.

The excellent and wonderfully rich movie completely avoids the trap of being the slightest bit maudlin and melodramatic and it deals with all their loss and all the other effects of this tragic accident so sensitively.  What makes this so extremely watchable is the fact that the story seems not to be about healing, nor even finding any real consolation, but an attempt to give some sort of meaning to the awful experience that they suffered.

Nicole Kidman loved the Tony Nominated play it was based on and bought the rights to produce and star in the move, and I am so pleased she did.  She is in her element with this superb pared down performance of a woman who is so brittle she could break at anytime. It is unquestionably worthy of an Oscar.  Ms Kidman handpicked Aaron Eckhart to play Howie, and the perfect chemistry between them certainly helped him give the best performance I’ve even seen from him.  And I should not fail to mention the superlative Dianne Wiest as the mother

R.T.V. The subject matter means that this rather beautiful movie would not be an obvious choice for quite a lot of people, which is a pity.  It is excellent and does deserve a much wider audience than it will get.  Go see it … unless maybe if you are on a first date

P.S.  Two very surprising facts/trivia about Rabbit Hole.  It's written by David Lindsay-Abaire who won a Pulitzer for the play BUT then went on to write the Book & Lyrics for 'Shrek The Musical.'  And the movie is directed by the multitalented John Cameron Mitchell who’s claim to fame so far is the fact that he wrote, starred and directed 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch', and then the very provocative 'Shortbus'. Now there’s versatility for you

★★★★★★★★

FOUR LIONS

This rather wonderfully insane movie is about 5 bumbling idiotic Moslem would-be terrorists, with a combined IQ of about 100, who decide that they want to be martyrs for the 'Cause.'  They can’t agree as to exactly what that is or indeed how they should go about it, but they are intent on making a ‘plan’.   Living in a working-class town in the North of the UK, 4 of them are Pakistanis by birth but it is the redheaded Brit Moslem convert who is the most fanatical of them all. He wants to blow up a Mosque to radicalize Muslim moderates, and the irony of the fact that he is a westerner is totally lost on him.  As are so many other things.

They settle instead to dress up in outlandish clown costumes to run in the London Marathon because one of the dim-wits has the idea that blowing up the runners in this high-profile event would get them the attention they want.  When one of them gets locked in a Kebab Shop en-route and ends up taking hostages, he admits to the Police Negotiator that aside from the fact that he is looking forward to arriving in heaven smiling after blowing himself up, that he has no other plans or demands.

This is probably the very first jihad terrorist comedy ever!  When we originally viewed it at Sundance, we simply could not stop laughing.  It has some incredulously hilarious scenes that had us bellowing out loud. It is a daring, extremely black comedy of very dubious taste, unquestionably shocking, but it is blissfully funny. Four Lions is an inspired and risky movie and it took the sheer audacity of the talented satirist Chris Morris (Brass Tacks’, ‘I’m Alan Partridge’) who directed and co-wrote to bring this to our Screens.  You’ll either love the results of his labour, or hate it.

It was in a few movie theaters but for far too short a time but it is now out on DVD/VOD and so deserves to be seen.

★★★★★★★★

ANIMAL KINGDOM

The opening scene of this gritty crime thriller movie shows Jay, a teenage boy, at home calmly watching ‘Deal or No Deal’ on the TV as his heroin addicted mother has just O.D. on the couch besides him.  His grandmother, who has been estranged from her daughter for years,  rushes over to pick him up and welcomes him into the lion’s den of her dysfunctional family of desperate criminals in their suburban Melbourne home.  And the story is essentially how Jay gets enmeshed  in the lives  by default at the very time it is all about to blow up in their faces.

The matriarchal grandmother maintains total control over her three sons; Pope the eldest and the bullying gang leader, Craig the paranoid thug who is always high on the drugs he sells, Darren the youngest, who is taunted for being gay, and whom his mother kisses on the lips just too long to be comfortable.  Things have not been going too well for them all recently, and when the corrupt vengeful Armed Robbery Squad kills their fellow gang member Barry, war is declared.

This is a wild gripping thriller, evidently based on a true story, that is about sheer survival in a jungle of an underworld where they are some blurred lines between the cops and the robbers as to who are the real baddies.  The movie excels because of the wonderfully rich characters that are superbly played by an excellent Australian cast (the only famous one is Guy Pearce) who all shine, and also because the plot itself never fails to surprise with all its unexpected twists and turns right to the very last scene, and you never ever guess what it coming next

R.T.V. A stunning piece of work that was a joy to discover, and one that even got the attention of the Hollywood Foreign Press who deservedly nominated Jackie Weaver for her performance as the Grandmother.  Unmissable

★★★★★★★★

CASINO JACK

Jack Abramoff was one of the most successful political Lobbyists in Washington.  He was also a brazen swindler and an egotistical crook who was illegally bank-rolling seemingly half the Republican Party (and a few Democrats too) ostensibly to further his Client’s ‘causes’, but in reality the money he stole from all of them primarily lined his own pockets.  When the scandal broke in 2005 it seemed to have the potential of being another Watergate, but as we know too well now no amount of dirt every stuck to George W’s Administration, it simply slid of their backs.

Last year Alex Gibney, an Oscar Winning Director, brought out his Documentary ‘Casino Jack and The United States of Money.’  (also reviewed in this blog), which stunned me into almost total silence when faced with the reality of the sheer audacity of Mr. Abramoff and the complicity of so many politicians.  This new movie is a fictionalized account of the same story which had the opposite effect on me as Kevin Spacey‘s portrayal of this larger than life crook gave him humor, warmth and even some morals as a consummate family man and Observant Jew who did so much charity work. Hard to believe, but the way the story plays out here, you actually (almost) like the guy.

R.T.V. As a piece of fiction this is rather a good movie thanks mainly to Mr. Spacey and a script that gives him a couple of great set pieces to rant and rave, and also to a very talented supporting cast.  If you can forget all the havoc and harm that Mr. Abramoff caused, then go see this one, after all its good to escape reality once in a while.

P.S.  Mr. Abramoff has served his meager prison sentence and was last spotted working in a Kosher Pizzeria in Baltimore (totally true story) … lets hope they kept him away from the Cash Register.  And Mr. DeLay the ex Congressmen who benefited most from Abramoff’s largess has just been sentenced for 3 years in prison for other dodgy dealings.

★★★★★★★★

CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY

A fascinating documentary that tracked the rise and fall of the powerful lobbyist Jack Abramoff who at one time was funneling huge funds to help bank roll most of the Republican Party’s key players and a few minor Democrats too.  It was ill-gained money that he wrangled out of Indian Tribes and the Government of the Marianas Islands by charging them extortionate fees for pressing their causes in Washington by foul means and fair, although evidently not much of the latter.

It’s a powerful story that cannot fail to exasperate and anger even the most cynical of us, but the most shocking part is not the fact that Abramoff was corrupt but that the whole structure of our government is fundamentally so engrained in corruption with seemingly not even a glimmer of a prospect of it ever really changing.

R.T.V. If you liked Alex Gibney’s previous stunning expose on Enron,  the Oscar nominated ‘The Smartest Men in The Room’ , then you’ll love this one too.  Riveting facts , well presented and without any of the preachiness of Michael Moore.

P.S. Mr. Abramoff ended in up in jail, and disgraced Texas Congressmen Tom Delay ended up on TV’s ‘Dancing With The Stars’ .  I’m not sure which punishment is worse.

P.P.S. This Blog was originally published in May 2010 when the movie was released, and is now repeated here to link up with 'Casino Jack' the feature film on the same subject that has just now been released and also now reviewed by me.

★★★★★★★★

EYES WIDE OPEN

Aaron runs a kosher butcher shop in an ultra-orthodox part of Jerusalem and as a devoutly religious man, dedicated husband and father, he divides his time between work, prayer and his family, and he takes his duties in all three areas very seriously.  Until that is one day when Ezri, a young man, takes shelter in the shop from a downpour, and he and Aaron start chatting. Turns out that he needs a job and a place to stay, and Aaron takes pity of the stranger and offers him both.

At first they are just employer and employee, and then became teacher and student as they study together at the synagogue each day and there is very soon a close bond between them.  When they cross the boundary … at first very hesitantly ……. they unwittingly find themselves drawn into a physical and emotional relationship neither can resist.  As Aaron declares ‘I feel alive now.  I was dead before.’

The Rabbi and the local ‘Modesty Squads’ are pressing Aaron to help them put a stop to a straight couple’s relationship that the parents don’t approve and that just serves to emphasis what a tight rope he is walking and the danger he is in by risking his own way of live that he values so much.

This beautiful study of how conflicted a modern ultra-orthodox life can be tells its story quietly and responsibly without sensationalizing this sensitive issue at all. And the fact that it does not take sides in the struggles that Aaron and Ervi, and also Rivka, Aaron’s wife must deal with, makes it even more powerful and moving. An impressive directing debut from Haim Takabkamn, it gives the best insight into gay Orthodox Jews outside of a documentary that I have ever seen …. and is heart wrenchingly wonderful too.

It's now been released on DVD everywhere.

★★★★★★★★

OH VEY MY SON IS GAY!

As the title clearly gives the game away you’ll know already that this movie is about the angst of a Jewish family when they discover their only precious son is not going to be bring home a nice girl home soon. Or in fact any time in the future. Not exactly an earth shattering scenario, but potentially one that has the possibility of being the basis for a feel-good funny movie.  Or so I thought.  But I was so wrong.

This was without question THE very worse movie that I have had the misfortune to see for a very long time.  Clichéd, grossly insulting, patronizing, extremely unfunny and it plays up all the excesses of  so many single Jewish and gay stereotype that have ever been. A embarrassingly awful script made much worse by the hysterical over-acting from the well-known cast that included the likes of Laine Kazan … and forgive the bad pun, but I never seen so much ham (ing) in a kosher movie.

I only have 3 questions to ask the Russian/Israeli Writer/Director/Producer Eugeny Afineevsky.  How did he persuade comic genius wordsmith Bruce Vlanch to act in it and spout such dreadful lines?  What on earth was Carmen Electra doing in the middle of all this  showing off her bare talents ?  Because I know nothing about Mr Afineevsky other what he boasts about in his online resume, it would be unfair to jump to the only conclusion that I could come to in answer of my third question ….why did you do it? I just can't thinking that it was the work of a self-loathing gay man, because that’s exactly what it looked like from where I sat.

This film has no redeeming features at all, and is not worth viewing.  It is also not worth rating.

PATRIK 1.5

Sven and Goran are a happily married gay couple in their mid-30’s.  They have great jobs, and a new house in a small country town (which bares more than a passing resemblance to Legoland).  They want for nothing.  Except a child.  So they get approved by the authorities, but it turns out  that even though gay adoption is legal in their native Denmark there is still a resistance to actually find kids for same-sex couples and so it soon looks likely that the nursery they have lovingly made may never get to be occupied.  And then one day they get a letter announcing that after all there is one slightly troubled child available, Patrik 1.5 years old, who will arrive at their home the next week.

Turns out there is a typing error in this communiqué and so they are totally unprepared for the tough teenager who, at 15 years old, already has a history of violence and crime, who turns up on their doorstep announcing  that he is Patrik.  He too is horrified at the mistake when he discovers that Sven and Goran are gay as he is convinced that they will molest him.  As its Friday night they will all have no option than to get through the weekend together until the Adoption Office opens again in Monday Morning.

Without giving too much of the plot away, Patrik reluctantly ends up moving in albeit temporarily which in turn has Sven moving out of the marital home  …. but panic not, as in this  delightful endearing comedy, all’s well end’s well. 

R.T.V. By placing the emphasis on the human relationships rather than sexual orientation this wonderful feel-good movie makes light of what are often heavy issues.  And it has one great message when it suggests that sometimes the things we least desire are exactly what we need.  Hmmm.


★★★★★★★★

THE BOYS ; THE SHERMAN BROTHERS

Richard and Robert Sherman are two remarkable songwriters who so excelled at writing smash hit songs for family musical that they became the only in-house composers that the Walt Disney Studios ever hired.  They were responsible for all the sugary hits in classic children movies such as ‘Mary Poppins’, ‘The Jungle Book’, ‘The Parent Trap’, ‘Bedknobs & Broomsticks’ etc …along the way picking up two Academy Awards and a Grammy.  Yet behind this successful working partnership that spanned over 50 years that specialized in producing such overly-happy songs,  the two brothers so disliked each other that they didn’t socialize for over 40 years.

Cousins Gregory and Jeff Sherman, sons of Richard & Robert eventually met a rare function where both families were studiously avoiding each other and they got together for the very first time to see if they could get to the bottom of the feud.  This engaging movie of their dysfunctional family is the result.  And although we never really quite get to know exactly why the brothers ended up like this, it is a fascinating account of an immensely rich and successful career/life. Plus it also gives a good insight into the workings of the Disney Studios back in their heyday.

R.T.V. This type of documentary that exposes the flaws of seemingly successful relationships is one of my very favourite movie genres.  You could generously call it my innate desire to get to know and understand people's psyche  …. or just a mere excuse to be real nosey.  Either way although this one is not quite up there with my gold-standard favorites such as  ‘Crazy Love’, ’31 Birch St’ and ‘Capturing The Friedman’s’ it is immensely watchable and a great view.  

★★★★★★★
Click For Trailer

EASY A

Olive’s best friend Rhiannon at school is so nosey that to stop her pestering with questions about the previous weekend she spent alone she says she slept with a college boy. This information is overheard in the next bathroom stall by Marianne, who is a pious Jesus freak and is so totally horrified that she quickly spreads it around the entire High School.  When confronted with the exaggerated stories about her promiscuity, Olive refuses to deny them and so soon gets a reputation as being a ‘good-time’ girl.  But rather than hiding in shame she defiantly decides to use it for her own good, and starts by taking a lead from ‘The Scarlet Letter’ which they are studying in English Class, she sews a capital A on her clothes and parades around in skimpy skanky clothes.

Marianne’s little group of do-gooders publicly denounce her, which only encourages the attention of all the boys who believe the rumors and want to have a date with her.  Including Brandon who is gay and who (in an hilarious scene) persuades Olive to fake a noisy make-out session with him so that the other kids will think he is straight and get off his case.  This works so well that Olive soon has a whole list of geeks and nerds who want her to work the same magic on their own dismal standing at school.

All’s well that end’s well cos despite all the innuendos and smuttiness our girl, like in any good Doris Day movie, is still a virgin and she will naturally get her man (or rather in this instance , a big boy!).  And whilst that aspect may seem a tad old-fashioned, this movie certainly is not.  It’s a bright, witty and extremely funny comedy that is totally engaging and also manages to score a few points about the less amusing topical subject of mean-girl cults and bullies.

Add to the mix the adults in Emma’s life like her offbeat ex-hippie parents who are fazed by absolutely nothing,  and played by the wonderful Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci. And her misguided Guidance Counselor (Lisa Kudrow) who's been sleeping with a cute but dumb Christian student who hasn’t graduated in 4 years.

R.T.V. Olive is played by Emma Stone who makes this movie her very much her own with her sassy brilliant performance and is the main reason that I so liked this high-school comedy which would not normally have figured on my viewing schedule …but I’m so glad that it did.  She will be a big star.  

★★★★★★★

COUNTRY STRONG

Kelly Canter is a Country & Western Superstar who got so drunk one night she fell off the stage causing her to have a miscarriage and ending up in rehab. Whilst in recovery she meets and falls for a young attendant Beau, who is also an aspiring country singer/songwriter. When James, her manipulating husband/manager insists that Kelly check herself out and get back on the road Touring he hires Beau to be an Opening Act for the show and also to keep an eye on Kelly to see she doesn’t slip back into bad habits.   James, a cold fish of a man, also hires Chiles, a pretty young ex-beauty queen as a singer  too presumably to make her the next big thing in and out of his bed … but with the plot getting more muddled by the minute, we are never really sure what is going on with that.

This ill-conceived badly written melodrama never draws you in emotional and frankly you end up not caring less if Kelly gets wasted again … in fact there are moments in the 2 hours you wish you had smuggled a flask into the theater to have a nip yourself to make this pap more passable.

Even as Kelly, Gwyneth Paltrow still looks and acts every inch like the superstar that she is even though she’s not helped with this script: Tim McGraw as the James is so totally bland he’s either got the role off to a tee, or as I suspect, this is the best he can do: I still cannot decide if Leighton Meester, who played Chiles, was meant to be as annoying as she was.  The real delight however was Garrett Hedlund who got his role as Beau pitch perfect and was also so convincing as a country performer, and I was even more impressed when I later read that he had never ever sung or played a guitar before.  My research also told me that Tim McGraw (James) who is a major county star, coached him, so what a pity that Mr. Hedlund didn’t return the compliment and help Mr. McGraw to learn how to act.

Roger Eberts, one of my favourite Critics, summed this movie up so perfectly by declaring that he it was a throwback to a different cinematic era and sincerely believed it would have been one of the best movies ……in 1957 ….. with Lee Remick in the lead.  And he’s so right.

R.T.V. For Miss Paltrow in sparkly skanky dresses, and for the music, but mostly for handsome and talented Garrett who is the one to watch. (P.S. In his next project a movie based on Jack Kerouac’s 'On The Road' he plays Dean Moriaty ….perfect casting).

★★★★★

LEBANON

This is the story of one particular Tank and its crew in the first few days of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.  It tells of the sheer terror of young inexperienced soldiers doing all that they can to survive just by obeying orders that they don’t understand, and keeping on the move, and when in doubt, shooting to kill.

Apart from the opening and closing shot the entire movie is filmed from inside the tank and we only get to see the outside world through the tank’s viewfinder.  Sharing the close confines with these frightened young men creates this extra dimension as we witness their total fear, and the very fact that they seem to have no real grasp of why they are fighting, or even a clear idea of whom they are fighting.

 “Lebanon’ is not about the political aspect of this particular war, but by showing the life-threatening effects on this small army platoon, it is a powerful indictment of war in general.  The movie was written and directed by Samuel Maoz who was 20 years old when he served as a Tank Gunner in the war, and that is why it all seems not just so  authentic and real, but extremely personal and touching too.

R.T.V. I’ve struggled with my description here as I know however I put it, the concept of a movie shot in this way seems daunting to say the very least. However, let me qualify it by saying unequivocally that this outstanding movie that had me totally transfixed for the entire 90 mins,  and moved me for a long time after, is definitely on my list of Top Ten Movies of 2010.  It is that brilliant.

P.S. As it is rarely on more than two screens in the US, be sure to add it to your Netflix list ....its already in DVD in the UK.

★★★★★★★★★
Click For Trailer

THE TOWN

The Town in this story is what the locals call Charlestown a neighborhood in Boston that we are told in the opening moments of this film has given birth to more bank robbers than anywhere else in the world.  And this is where Doug MacRay, a second generation bank robber, runs his 4 man gang who meticulously plan their jobs to avoid any possibility of being caught.  They are very suceessful  and all is going well until one job, when Jem, a really loose cannon in the gang, breaks their own code of conduct and takes Claire, a  Bank Manager,  hostage.  They later release her unharmed but Doug tracks her down and gradually gets to know her,  and after that life is never really the same again for him.  Clare opens his mind to the possibility of a life beyond crime … almost enough … and maybe he will stop after this one last big job.

Now normally movies of this genre just do not do it for me but this one was very different;  totally superb and really justified me straying out of my comfort zone. It was directed, co-written and co-produced by Ben Affleck … who also starred in it to … and I had been so impressed with his recent directing debut 'Gone Baby Gone' another crime film set in the streets of Boston.  Secondly a superb cast that included Jon Hamm (Mad Men’s Don Draper) as an FBI Agent, the wonderful Rebecca Hall as Claire, the indefatigable Pete Postlewaite (who sadly passed away today and will be sorely missed,) Chris Cooper as Doug’s tough Dad.  But best of all the was the amazing Jeremy Renner who as scary Jem, proved that his Oscar nominated turn in 'The Hurt Locker' last year was no accident at all.

And dare I say it without being embarrased, but I even loved the manic car chase that precariously spun out of control around some of Boston's prettier streets!

Its fast, great characters, intriguing plot, well written, brillantly acted  …….. not the least bit bloody, and enormous fun.

★★★★★★★★
Click For Trailer

ALAMAR

A young boy leaves the comfort of the big city where he lives with his Italian mother to make the long trek to join his Mayan father on a remote coral reef off the Mexico coast.  The parents are divorced so this is an opportunity for the lad to get right back to nature and bond with his father and grandfather as they go about their very primitive life.

And that’s the whole sum of it.  Three generations of men in the middle of a very beautiful nowhere where nothing beyond just surviving ever happens.  The view is unquestionably breathtaking but the sheer slowness of this quasi documentary, where the most exciting thing to watch is men fishing, can only be described as painful.

Why did I sit through it all? Well it arrived on my screen via Film Movement who I subscribe too and they send me one unsolicited movie every month,  and have so far introduced me to some real treats that I would have otherwise missed.  And I sat through it so you wouldn’t have too.  If you have a pang to see the Mexican Caribbean,  than go rent out a National Geographic Travelogue… or better still, get on a plane and see the real thing.

★★★
Click For Trailer

THE FOUR FACED LIAR

Two handsome young couples: Trip and Chloe are cool and hip and old-Greenwich Village hands, whilst Greg and Molly are uptight and unsure as the newbie’s in town.  They meet one night by chance in a neighborhood bar  … The Four Faced Liar … along with Bridget a pretty and very in-your-face promiscuous lesbian who is Trip’s oldest friend and present roommate.  Despite their differences they all soon become firm friends and very quickly Bridget develops a crush on Molly who eventually becomes curious enough to see where it could lead too.

This is a delightful and refreshingly energetic and honest view of life about a charming group of 20 year olds making out in the big city. It is totally captivating and has a sensibility about relationships and romance that is a joy to watch, and although ostensibly a small budget indie movie it remarkably has all the finesse and production values that one expects only from a major Hollywood studio.

R.T.V. I fell in love with it at first sight at Slamdance (the indies Sundance) and encouraged it to be included as the Gala Centerpiece at last years MGLFF. And I ended up giving Marja Ryan-Lewis who wrote, co-starred, and co-produced it, THE ROGER WALKER-DACK AWARD FOR EMERGING TALENT IN QUEER CINEMA for 2010.  That’s how much I liked it.

★★★★★★★★★

A CALL GIRL (AKA SLOVENIAN GIRL)

Aleksandra is desperate to escape the small industrial town where she grew up and move to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, and to fund her studies and the expensive apartment she is buying there she advertises her services as a prostitute in the classified ads.  This is the year that it is Slovenia’s turn at the European Presidency so the city is full of visiting politicians and businessmen, prime candidates for her services.  One such rather rotund gentleman has the misfortune to die in flagrante and in a panic Aleksandra dashes from the scene before robbing him.  The police investigating the death are anxious to trace her, as are two pimps that she has managed to shake off by going freelance.

Add to the mix a vengeful spurned boyfriend, a rather rigid college professor who she must convince to let her re-sit an important exam, an inflexible Bank hassling her for late mortgage payments, plus all the secrets and lies that she must spin to maintain her life.

R.T.V. It makes for a well-paced thriller that never fails to engage you even when it changes course towards the end without much warning and Aleksandra bowing under the weight of all the pressure returns to her father’s home thinking its not so bad after all. Pity in a way that it is being marketed as a Foreign Art House Movie as it is a very accessible film and deserves a wider audience than the one it will reach.

★★★★★★

BEAR CITY

Tyler is a pale skinny twink who has a passion for Bears.  The hairier and bigger the better.  ( If you’ve no idea what I am talking about here, then you  better skip this one entirely as its not for you).  Tyler sets out to hunt himself a furry Daddy in this cute romantic comedy set in NY’s Chelsea District and billed as a ‘Bears meets Sex In The City’ which, with the lack of any clever banter, it clearly isn’t.

It does have a few comic moments such as when a couple decide to try and have an ‘open relationship’  with hilarious consequences, but it’s just that the script generally tries too hard to be funny  like the really bad actors in this movie who over shadow the couple of really good ones in the cast.

R.T.V. All said and done if Bears are your thing, and your expectations are low and your glass is full, then you’ll enjoy this feel-good movie.

PS Who Tyler actually ends up is a hirstute muscle man without an ounce of fat on his body …. but hey, I’m not one to quibble on the finer details.

★★★★★

BROTHERHOOD

Lars is a young Danish soldier who is resentful because he has been thrown out of the Army after being accused of making a pass at some of his men. Frustrated at being back home with his pushy interfering mother, and unsure of where his life is going,  he becomes easy prey for a local gang of xenophobic neo-Nazi thugs looking for new recruits.  Although somewhat reluctant at first, he naïvely allows himself to be drawn into the group and is soon recognized by the leaders as being a brighter than average convert who they want to install as a fully-fledged member.

Lars’ quick rise through the ranks doesn’t sit well with everyone, particularly the group’s hard-nutted lieutenant Jimmy who is bitterly resentful of Lars for usurping the position that he felt his  brother should have received.  The angered Jimmy is ordered to be his trainer but the hate he shows however soon turns into lust, which ultimately turns to love in this most unlikely setting.

R.T.V. This award winning movie shows the sheer brutality, depth and bitterness of the Far Right’s racism and homophobia in a powerful and moving way.  It’s both explicit and shocking and its subject matter is unquestionably disturbing,  but the powerful and honest way that this drama unfolds, juxtaposing vitriolic violence and hatred with tenderness makes this film totally unmissable.

It won the Best Feature Award at last year's MGLFF and is included in this Blog as it is now been released on DVD.

★★★★★★★★
Click For Trailer

HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER

Hard to believe it is even summer in this weather station located on a remote island off Russia’s most northern coast as the two sole inhabitants still need plenty of layers of clothing when they go outside to take readings from the instruments that they monitor.  The older meteorologist Segei has little in common with Pavel the newbie, and their conversations are sparse and confined to work matters.  Sergei takes a few unofficial days off to go fishing leaving young Pavel in charge when a call comes in from the Base Station announcing that Sergei’s wife and son have been killed in an accident.  When Sergei returns Pavel simply cannot bring himself to reveal his secret and hopes that the Rescue Team on their way will be the bearer of bad news.  But things never works out as planned and there is an unexpected twist at the end that ratchets up the tension more than a notch or two.

This two superb actors share the credit for this rather wonderful slow burner of a movie with a stunning panorama of a severe landscape that is so beautifully photographed.  If you like you movies fast paced then this is not for you, but if you are prepared to watch a minimalist psychological drama then I think you’ll like this one.

★★★★★★
Click For Trailer

LEAVING

Now that Suzanne’s two children are teenagers she decides that she wants to start working again as a Reflexologist and start her own Practice up at home in Nimes (South of France).  Her husband hires Ivan a handsome Spanish handyman to fix up the outbuildings she is going to use but he turns out to be handy in other ways too, and soon he and Suzanne are having a wee torrid affair.

She may be married to a Frenchman but Suzanne is a Brit by birth, and we are a nation that feels obliged to tell the truth even when its not called for.  She spills the beans to her priggish and rather cold Doctor husband which doesn’t go over too well (!) so like a lovelorn young girl she runs off with her hairy hunk to live happily ever after that is until Hubby stops her allowance, freezes her bank account and cancels her credit card and makes life generally too difficult.

R.T.V. This movie could have been easily dismissed as just another clichéd chauvinistic love story that went wrong and ill served by a mediocre script BUT it does one remarkable ace that makes it a very watchable film i.e. Miss Kristin Scott-Thomas giving her all as Suzanne.  Even if this light fare she still shines.

★★★★★
Click For Trailer

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

The phenomena known as Facebook started as a germ of an idea that Mark Zuckerberg had when he wanted some payback after being dumped by his girlfriend.  He exacted his revenge not just on her but all the woman undergrads at Harvard when he set up a computer program that encouraged his fellow students to rate the girls for their beauty.  It was totally sexist and very illegal but it was so popular with visitors to the site that it actually crashed the Harvard servers.   Peaked by his success he developed a more mundane networking site called The Harvard Connection, which he eventually grew into Facebook.

This is a fascinating account of an unlikely socially inept prodigy who had an uncanny knack and the intuition to create a winning system that would impact all our lives.  The fact that others like fellow students the WASP Aryan Winklevosses twins claimed credit for the idea adds a frisson to a story where success can be envied and coveted, and shared too by the likes of Sean Parker who founded Napster, once he got his hands on Mark and his fledging Facebook.

The whole irony of this unpopular geek with barely one friend creating this unprecedented social quasi-revolution made it a fascinating story to tell, but the fact that it is told so well is thanks to the steady hand of inspired director David Fincher ( 'Zodiac', 'Fight Club' and Oscar nominated for 'Benjamin Button')  and a brilliant script by Aaron Sorkin (multi Emmy Awards for 'The West Wing')   They have a superb cast to make it that more special led by Jesse Eisenberg who is astonishing as Mark Zuckerberg and will undoubtedly get an Oscar nomination, Andrew Garfield the Brit actor as Edward (Mark's only friend) who after this and his next movie when he will play Spiderman will be a major star, and Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker …who knew he could act.

This is unquestionably one of THE best movies of 2010 even for someone like me who is known as a rabid Anti-Facebooker (or is it the Anti-Christ?).  I would just add my usual words of caution.  Facebook is intended to enhance one’s life, NOT be it.

★★★★★★★★★★
Click for Trailer

IF I WANT TO WHISTLE, I WHISTLE.

This movie tells the story of Chiscan an 18-year-old youth who blames his mother for a bad upbringing, which is why he has landed up in jail. He is just 2 weeks away from being released, when his mother suddenly reappears after being absent for some years and announces that she wants to take Chiscan’s younger brother (who Chiscan has raised for eight years) back to Italy to live with her.  Chiscan is a charismatic but tough cookie, whose sheer determination has helped him survived, and now he simply wants just two things from his life.  He is desperate to save his sibling from having their mother ruin his life too, and at the same time he wants to enjoy the company of a sweet and attractive young prison trainee that he has become smitten with. Simple and exemplary desures that are quite creditworthy, but when he resorts to some inexplicable violence to achieve these, we lose all sympathy with him …. and start to question the movie too.

The violence that pervades throughout is very realistic because they were not actors but actual inmates playing these roles. Up to that part I was intrigued with Chican’s story and wanted to know how it would pan out: it is after all a powerful piece.

This movie is part of the nouveau Romanian film movement that has attracted international acclaim as brave new realistic cinema (in fact this one won the prestigious Silver Bear Award in Berlin last year).  It started in 2005 with ‘The Death of Mr. Lazarescu’ a smash hit black comedy that totally depressed me …. and then in 2007 there was the one that still resounds with me ‘4 Months 3 Weeks 2 Days’ about illegal abortions that I never want to have to sit through again, brilliant as it may have been.   They are all tough topics for a tough crowd, and I’m still not sure if I want to be part of it.

R.T.V. If you a fan of movies shot on hand held cameras with no annoying soundtracks throughout and with a tad too much violence, then this could be for you.  You may not actually 'enjoy it' per se, BUT maybe like me it will all stick in your mind for days after.

P.S. Warning : There is no whistling involved at all in the making of this movie.


★★★★★★★
Click for Trailer

IS IT JUST ME?

Blaine and Cameron are the most unlikely of roommates. Blaine is an average-looking nice guy with low self-esteem who articulates his frustration finding Mr. Right in his weekly newspaper column. Cameron is the polar opposite; a muscle-bound hunk who’s ego is as big as what he’s hiding in his tight go-go boy outfit that nets him a constant catch of Mr. Right Now’s.  The only thing they share in common is the computer they both use, so when Blaine hits it off with the potential man of his dreams online, the photo he inadvertently sends his new beau is actually a scantily dressed Cameron.

Desperate not to lose the chance of pursuing this real cutie (and when you see him, you’ll know EXACTLY why!) Blaine persuades Cameron to pose as his stand-in until they can clarify this innocent mistake.

What follows is a funny and heartwarming delight of a romantic comedy. Nothing deep, but quite cute, it is a sweet date movie that will remind us all of when we were just like the shy Blaine …. or maybe even more like a provocative and slutty Cameron …. either way it will leave a smile on your face

Shown at last year's MGLFF, its included in this Blog now as it has just been released on DVD.

★★★★★★★