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Casablanca – nf – We had to see this classic so should you even if you have seen it awhile back. It is amazing to appreciate that this film made in 1942 about wartime Casablanca and the interface of various people who want to escape the iron hand of the Nazis, before anyone really knew how things would work out. Beautiful Ingrid Bergman and debonair and yet tough Humphrey Bogart in their classic performance. You will be reminded of all those classic film lines such as “Here’s looking at you kid “. Thoroughly enjoyable. 1943

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Captain Abu Raed – sp – This is one of few films made for export from Jordon. It is non-political. It is a beautiful film that shows life in rural Jordon but what makes this film so worthwhile is the sensitivity and depth in which it shows the ability of human beings to care for others. It also shows some important universal conflicts. The young children in the movie are important players and the actors were found by holding auditions in various orphanages. The movie has won numerous awards in movie festivals and the lead male Jordanian older actor should be a candidate for many awards. (Subtitles but you forget that they are there) 2007

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Happy-Go-Lucky – np – Poppy (played by Sally Hawkins for which she won a Golden Globe) is a thirty year old impish London schoolteacher who has a great sense of humor and is always making jokes which will make you smile. She has some close girl friends and even meets a nice guy. But her sensitive side shows through when she sees kids in trouble and also in her relationship with her once a week driving instructor who is somewhat unbalanced. This is a slice of life piece of a very likeable character. Kudos to the acting and to Michael Leigh the director for a good character study. We could have used subtitles for the first ten minutes until we were use to the British accent. We weren’t sure the film was worth an hour and 58 minutes. 2008

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Gran Torino – rm – Clint Eastwood directs and stars as the crusty widower who is the last relic of a changing neighborhood. Not surprisingly, the character is perfectly played and created a full range of emotional experiences in your reviewers. While the story is somewhat predictable it holds your full attention. We almost didn’t choose to see this movie but are very glad that we did and will not forget it. 2008

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Garden State – nf – Kind of a slacker movie, “days in the life…” of some offbeat, but affecting young people having trouble growing up. 2004

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Frozen River – nf – Set in northern New York state at the icy cold Canadian border, this painful movie will hold your attention every second. It is about two women. One is a white women trying to survive with her two children and barely making ends meet, played by Melissa Leo in an Oscar nominated performance. The other is a widowed Mohawk woman from the reservation who is desperate to get her son back from her mother- in law and will also need money to survive. They become involved in smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States across the frozen river. There is tension mixed with real human struggles. The movie doesn’t make one false step. We can’t think how they could have done it better. It is directed and written by Courtney Hunt who received an Oscar nomination for the screenplay. There is no joy in watching this film but it is very good! 2008

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Frost/Nixon – rm – This is the story of the remarkable series of TV interviews that David Frost, a TV emcee type person had with the then deposed ex-President Richard Nixon. If you recall this historical time you will relive the unique situation our country was going through. The depiction of Nixon and Frost is quite good and the actual interviews are apparently true to the transcript of the programs. They do seem to have captured the fascinating personality of the flawed President. The writer and director did take some poetic license with some of the interactions which they purport to have taken place between Frost and Nixon which disappointed us when we learned this from other sources This made the movie less significant in our minds and takes away from our valuation of the movie although it is still immensely enjoyable. 2008

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Flawless – nf – You can call this a good diamond heist movie. Demi Moore plays the passed over women diamond executive who decides to try to change her life by going over to the criminal side. She is seduced into the big caper by an about to retire janitor played by Michael Caine who has his own motivation. There is the requisite detective who is working to solve the crime and moments of suspense with the appropriate musical background. The plot seemed a little contrived and at times somewhat fuzzy. You may even feel a little warm and fuzzy at the end after the clever plot twists and “hold your breath” moments. 2007

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Everlasting Moments – sp – This is Swedish movie which follows a women through her poverty, abuse and the discovery of her special gift which is being a sensitive photographer of the people and the times. The movie is one of the longest we have seen in awhile (132 minutes) and felt like it. Jan Treoll is a skillful director but the movie is having difficulty getting distribution in the US . We can understand why it hasn’t been picked up yet as it wasn’t quite our cup of tea. (In Swedish with subtitles) 2008

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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – nf – We had the thought that we better write this review before it was erased from our minds. Actually with this movie you had to buy into the idea that you could arrange to have the memory of a person and everything associated with him or her completely eliminated from your brain. Jim Carey who has been known to play in movies with unusual concepts plays Joe a nebbish guy who falls in love with Clementine a somewhat flakey girl with blue hair played by Kate Winslet. She is really into him and they get along great until she tires of him and decides to sign up to completely erase him from her memory. He gets wind of this and is very hurt so he decides to likewise with any memories of her. Wouldn’t you know it that while he is in the induced sleep having the memories removed, he and she in his thoughts decide not to go through with this. However the erasing team is far along in the process. In fact the team has their own issues which are a subplot in the movie. Now we enjoy a good comedy and science fiction story but we both felt that his movie didn’t really work. Perhaps the movie was raising the question can true love triumph even when people recognize each other’s flaws. However it was a long tedious pathway to get there and we hope to lose the memory of this movie to make room for better ones. 2004