* *
Cyrus – sp – Brothers Jay and Mark Duplass are the screenwriters/directors of this movie which is their first relatively big budget independent film and it has been picked up by Fox for distribution. This skillful duo has a knack for providing interesting characters with very realistic dialog. They discourage rehearsal and let their actors work using the script but improvising to bring out their interpretation of the their characters. In this case they had John C. Reilly and Marisa Tomei playing two somewhat awkward people in their mid 40s who seem to be falling in love shortly after meeting and hopping into bed. Tomei’s character has a 22 year old son, Cyrus well captured by Jonah Hill who appears to be a regressed mama’s boy who is joined at the hip with his mom but yet has a cold calculating almost evil side who will do whatever he can to prevent John played by Reilly from taking her away. This is essentially the plot . As John gradually becomes aware of the intense relationship between his new girl friend and her son he seeks the advise of his ex-wife played by Catherine Keener . He ultimately tries to confront Cyrus which leads to some intense and comedic moments. The Duplass brothers acknowledge that they do not provide much back story so we see these weird but appealing characters as they are, without knowing how they got to be this way or why they undergo some change. Therefore the result is a “Johnny one note” film with a simple story. Despite the talented expressions and sensitivity of the actors, we are not greatly moved or enlightened. There were a few somewhat disorienting brief scenes in the movie where the characters were talking without moving their lips but yet it did not appear to be a representation of internal thinking. When we asked the directors about this, they acknowledged that in one case they were trying to correct and shift the dialog which they were doing in the editing room. They then decided to use this motif in a few other scenes. While we did not feel the net result of this film merited our recommendation, we will look forward to future work by these talented brothers. (2010)

* * *
The Blind Side – nf- A few months after the Academy Awards we decided to see this movie since it was nominated as one of the 10 best pictures of year and of course Sandra Bullock was named Best Actress. While it was a good performance by Bullock who had a fine southern accent for her character, we decided that she probably was given the Oscar for “her body of work”. The movie was a predictable “feel good” story that in our opinion was not in the same league as the other nominees for best picture. It is based on a true story of Michael Oher, an oversized black teenager from the wrong side of the tracks ( Quinton Aaron), who gets “adopted” by a rich Memphis couple ( Sandra Bullock and country music star Tim McGraw) with two kids of their own. The school football coach drools over his potential as a offensive lineman but it is not until his new Mother knowing that he has tested to have high aptitude in the “protectiveness” scale encourages him to “protect” the quarterback or the running back as he would protect his own new found family does he show his stuff. He now is able to use his size and power and become a great football player who is recruited by many colleges including his new parent’ s alma mater “Ole Miss”. In order to play football and stay in the game he had to be tutored by a teacher who also went to Ole Miss played by Kathy Bates. There are a few mild twists and subplots in the story line but no big surprises. You come away from the movie with a warm feeling, especially as you look at the closing credits interspersed with photos of the real Michael Oher and the family that adopted him, as well as confirmation that he eventually made the NFL. (2009)

* * *
Jack Goes Boating – sp – It is not surprising that when Academy award winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman decides to direct his first movie in which he will also star, he chooses a script with great depth and character development. This movie is about two couples and each of their relationships. In the case of Jack and Connie ( Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Ryan) we see the construction of their chemistry and how they make an endearing connection. In the case of the other couple Clyde and Lucy (John Ortiz and Daphne Rubin-Vega) we see the deconstruction of their relationship as it slowly but surely falls apart although the dynamics for the breakup are not as clear as the mutual attraction of Jack and Connie. The screenplay by Bob Glaudini was originally produced on the stage by Hoffman’s Theater Company and was very well received with all but Ryan playing the same roles as in the movie although the storyline was slightly different.

We can imagine that this story focusing on these four characters might play better on the stage. It was the talking heads and their words which held the attention and drew in the audience rather than the few authentic but not really necessary New York City location scenes. The intensity and some of the unraveling which occurs in climatic scene reminded me of that old classic Who is Afraid of Virginia Wolf although time did not fly by as quickly as I recall it did with that play/movie. Also the degree in which drugs were used in this important scene in our judgment wasn’t necessary as the characters were strong enough to create the mood and emotions which were needed. The film will be released in the Fall of 2010 and might receive an Oscar nod or two for the acting. (2010)

* * *
Please Give – rm – This Woody Allanesque movie set in New York City written and directed by Nicole Holofcener deserves more than the nearly empty movie theatre that we saw it in on weekend evening. It is a slice of life movie that doesn’t go anywhere except that some of the characters seem to be a little better off at the end of the movie than they were at the beginning and the viewer has had an insightful 90 minutes into these people laced with some humor. A husband and wife own an upscale furniture store in Manhattan where they buy furniture of deceased people at low prices and sell high. The wife (Elizabeth Keener) is a do gooder by nature and tries to slip twenty dollar bills to street people or those that look like street people much to the chagrin of their 15 year old daughter ( Sarah Steele) who is struggling with her acne and her desire for expensive jeans. Oliver Platt is the teddy bear type husband who while devoted to his family does have a slight itch. There is a crabby elderly woman next door played by veteran actress Ann Morgan Guilbert, who is nearly 80 herself, in a standout performance. She has two contrasting granddaughters who visit regularly to take care of her. Mary ( Amanda Peet) is the older by five years who makes no bones about the factthat she is waiting for her grandmother die and insensitively will say so as well as other things that are best left unsaid. Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) is the sweeter grandchild who is good and loyal to her grandmother. As noted the story really doesn’t go any place but we felt good when it was over as we walked out of our empty movie theater. (2010)

* * * * *
John Rabe – sp – Most American have either never heard about the Rape of Nanking or certainly know very little about it. Probably almost nobody in this country has heard of John Rabe. This German film tells the true story this man who felt he was a loyal Nazi working for Hitler and his government in Nanking as the Director the German Industrial Siemens factory, when the Japanese decided to invade China in 1937. This ultimately brings the Japanese forces led by a relative of the Emperor to Nanking. Rabe found himself having to take actions and make decisions which would effect the lives of over 200,000 Chinese. This is a personal drama, a war story with thousands of extras, an accurate history lesson founded on diaries and the book, The Good Man of Nanking as well as an extremely well done movie which will keep you on the edge of your seat for more than two hours. There is a seamless blend of brutal scenes with touching human moments interspersed with black and white authentic newsreels which reminds you although this is a fascinating story, it is reflecting all too true events. Usually when we see a World War II movie showing the murder of prisoners and civilians, it is the Germans who are doing the killing. However this time it is the Japanese who are murdering the Chinese. In one unforgettable ironic scene, Rabe is outraged at acts of the Japanese who are, of course, allies of the Germans. Therefore he sends a fruitless telegram to Hitler asking and expecting him to insist that the Japanese stop murdering innocent people. Ulrich Tukur plays Rabe and won the equivalent of the German Academy Award as did the movie. American actor Steve Buscemi superbly plays Dr. Robert Wilson the American doctor who actually founded the hospital in Nanking and worked very closely with Rabe. The screenwriter and Director is Florian Gallenberger who took a couple of years researching and writing the movie. He told us of the conflicts that he had with the Chinese government during the preparatory phase of the movie. You should see this movie in your local theatres if you can. However, if you end up watching it on Netflix, hopefully there will be a director’s narrative or interviews with Florian Gallenberger. Despite his relative young age he was a major player in this very large endeavor. He is extremely articulate in English, his second language and relates a fascinating account of the making of this movie. (2010)

* * *
Bottle Shock – nf – We finally caught up with this movie that we had been wanting to see since we missed it at the local movie theatres. As new Californians the pride we have in California wines is nothing compared to the passion that Napa valley vinters had in their local wines which 35 years ago were hardly recognized world wide as compared to French wines. This movie, which is based a true story, centers on Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) a Brit living in Paris who had a wine store there and his pal and confidant (Dennis Farina). Spurrier decided that he would stimulate interest in buying wine by showing that in the 1976 bicentennial anniversary year, the upstart Americans still could not make wine, which could hold a candle to the established French products. He travels to America and meets Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) owner, but deeply in debt, of the Montelena Chateau and his son Bo (Chris Pine) as well as a group of other California vintners. He convinces 12 of them to give him two bottles each to enter into a French wine tasting event in which the wine would be blindly judged. The California group knew that “if one wins, they all would win.” As they say, the rest is history. There are a few subplots which include Sam (Rachel Taylor) the beautiful graduate student wine intern, Bo, Barrett’s son who gets boxed around by his father and Gustavo (Freddy Rodriquez), the Mexican-American farm hand who is owner of a small wine maker operation with his father (Miquel Sandoval). The movie also stars the beautiful green California grape yards, the spirited Napa Valley Wine growers and the very French wine guys in Paris. There is the expectable dramatic blind wine tasting contest in Paris which has subsequently come to be known as Judgment in Paris. There were no big surprises although you do come away from the movie feeling good and also having learned an important history lesson about a product many people love and revere. (2008)

* * *
Pirate Radio – nf – This is just the type of movie we don’t mind having missed in the movie theatre and then catching at home on the couch while we eat our favorite treat.

It is a feel good movie that is fun to watch. We are introduced to the premise in the opening as we are told that in the year 1966 British Rock and Roll is on the music scene scene …but no one in Great Britain was allowed to listen to it on the radio…even though approximately half of the people there, 25 million people, were listening to it on sea going pirate radio stations. Then we are introduced to a great ensemble of characters who are the DJs on this boat Rock Radio floating in the North Sea and beaming music back to Great Britain. The movie grows on you as you get to know the personalities on the boat and a few little subplots- the most significant one being that the British government is planning to shut them down. The DJs reflect the exuberance and rebelliousness of the music of the time. There is a great soundtrack throughout the film which matches the mood of the events being depicted. The acting was excellent by mostly British actors with a standout performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman . It was written and directed by Richard Curtis who also did Four Weddings and A Funeral. Billed as a comedy, we found it a charming film which will touch a nostalgic button in many rock and roll fans. (2009)

* * *
We Live In Public – sp – This is documentary that followed the main character and his activities for about 25 years. Josh Harris as an awkward young man realized the potential of the Internet and became a multimillionaire before the dot com crash. He was also obsessed with how the coming generation would display themselves in public through the potential of the Internet. In the 1990s in New York he set up The Bunker which was an experimental underground living arrangement where people would live in an elaborated constructed set up with a multitude of video cameras which would allow them to view each other at will in every private and public aspect of their lives. Subsequently Mr. Harris offers his own living arrangement with his girl friend to be totally accessible to the Internet Documentary maker Ondi Timoner is given access to all this footage plus interviews with Mr. Harris, his family, friends and associates. What emerges is picture at man who may be a prophetic genius who has understood and predicted the social changes that the Internet with Facebook, My Space, You Tube and Twitter is now demonstrating. The film also shows the origins that made this man a troubled not very well liked individual who had great difficulty with relationships and perhaps led to his at times bizarre behavior which was never fully explained Also, people shown in the film were not exactly typical representations of that generation. For example just about all the people shown to be willing to live in the Bunker were identified as “Performance Artists” but yet the film seemed to be implying that was a new trend in this generation. Ms Timoner who wrote, directed, produced and edited this film had a clear vision of what she wanted to say about this man and his own vision of modern technology. We may need several years to see if she and he are correct. It is films such as this one that makes us realize that our rating system for the usual films we have screened may not be applicable for documentaries. The quality of the film was OK and it is possible that significance of the film may turn out to be very great.

* * *
Rails & Ties – nf – You take two great actors and provide an unusual painful but simple story and the result is a touching but difficult movie to watch. A women suicides by planting her car on the tracks in front a speeding railroad train. Her 11-year-old son ( Miles Heizer) barely escapes from the car. The train engineer (Kevin Bacon) and his wife (Marcia Gay Harden) who just found out that she has metastatic cancer take in the young boy into their childless home. They both bond with him and for a moment in time, some good has come from all this tragedy. Not bad for the directing debut of Allison Eastwood who is the daughter of Clint. (2007)

* * *
The Cove – sp – Rick Barry , the man who trained the original Flipper the dolphin and made it into a successful TV show which ultimately led to Dolphin Aquarium Shows and Swim with Dolphin Exhibits all over the world, has had a change of heart. He now believes these intelligent creatures greatly suffer by being in captivity and should be allowed to run free. He has identified a cove near Taijii, Japan where thousands of dolphins are both regularly captured and sold into captivity or are slaughtered and their meat which has toxic mercury levels are shipped all over the world for food consumption, often labeled as whale meat.

Mr. Barry has connected with film maker Louie Psihoyos to make this documentary film which features a clandestine, dangerous undertaking in which the secret activities of capture and murder of the dolphins in this cove are recorded. They used a team of a man and a woman, who have the ability to free dive without scuba equipment, to plant listening devices and video cameras hidden in artificial rocks. The result was a heart wrenching and bloody film sequence which Barry then dramatically presents at an international meeting. While somewhat disjointed and repetitious at times, the story is unique and compelling. The film makers hope that this documentary (which won Audience First Choice at Sundance Film Festival) to be released 7/31/09, will influence world public opinion leading to changes of these terrible practices. (2009)