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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)

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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)

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500 Days of Summer – sp – Boy meets girl and both like each other. Boy falls in love with girl but girl doesn’t believe in true love and just wants to let the relationship happen. The film crisply directed by Marc Webb in his first feature film, weaves some of older Los Angeles architecture into the story. It is focused completely on this charming young women played by Zooey Deschanel but through the eyes of a love struck and terribly disappointed guy played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It should resonate with the modern 20s and 30s crowd going through the trials and tribulations of trying to find true romance when both parties always aren’t on the same page. Other than a good music background sound track, it doesn’t have much more to offer although the off-beat take on the familiar well told story may be enough for many viewers. (2009)

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The Answer Man – sp – This is another one of those independent films that is rising to the top based on a very good script with rich juicy roles which attracts grade A actors who take a chance, in this case, on writer and first time director John Hindman. Veteran actor Jeff Daniels, whom we recently saw on the Broadway stage in the hit God and Carnage, plays a middle aged reclusive author of highly successful spiritual books but hasn’t made much of his own personal life. He meets and connects with a struggling single mother ( Lauren Graham ) as well as a young book store owner ( Lou Taylor Pucci ) who is  fresh out of alcohol rehab and chases our guru down seeking advice on how to keep his own life together. You might call this a solid comedy but the attraction here is the touching relationships between these improbable people. We agree with the word out of the Sundance Film festival that this film stands out from the crowd.  (2009)

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Cold Souls – sp – This is one of most unusual movies that we have seen in a long time. We are not sure if it is science fiction, new age, deeply metaphorical or just a ridiculous comedy.

A tortured actor by the name of Paul Giamatti (sic) played by Paul Giamatti can’t stand himself anymore so he goes to a place on Roosevelt Island in New York City that he read about in the New Yorker magazine in order to have his soul removed and put in cold storage. Will he like the one that he chooses to replace it with? How does this affect his acting or his relationship with his wife? What will happen when shady people from Russia are trafficking souls on the black market? Giamatti is on the screen at least 90% if the time and he almost makes everything in this fanciful movie quite believable. It was written and directed by Sophie Barthes in her first feature film produced by Liz Giamatti, Paul’s wife, along with a few other people. While the movie did not hold Susan’s attention and interest as well as it did Michael’s, we both agreed that it ultimately had some flaws in the script and fell short of a great movie. Paul Giamatti should get special recognition for his performance in this difficult role. To be released in August. (2009)

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Inglourious Basterds – sp – The fact that this movie is written and directed by Quentin Tarantino probably best defines it. There are hints of great movies of the past in it and there is even a key plot theme of a movie being shown within this movie. It is two and a half hours but time flies and the unusual story is sure to hold your attention. The setting is World War II and the character played by Brad Pitt is leading a special group of US soldiers to kill Nazi soldiers. The film is filled with unpredictable twists and turns and you will not figure out who is going to live or die. Each character is well developed and the acting is outstanding by an ensemble of well chosen actors and actresses with a truly great performance by Christophe Waltz as an SS officer.There is a touch of gory violence but even the fiery special effects are quite beautiful. The fact that prior to the preview screening that we attended, we were searched for cameras by men in black suits suggests that Tarantino and company hopes that this film will make a surprise explosion on the summer movie scene. It deserves your attention. To be released mid August. (2009)

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The Hurt Locker – rm – This movie is not about your typical US soldier in Iraq. It is about a young man who may not yet have been successful in life or in relationships but who finds himself very good at what he is doing in the Army. In this case it is in finding and detonating bombs that are left at the roadside to blow up US vehicles and soldiers, or are hidden in the ground or strapped perhaps to unwilling suicidal bombers. The movie focuses on one such soldier, played by Jeremy Renner, and his small group of comrades. He is smart, courageous but capable of being emotionally affected by what he is doing. If anyone had any doubts that a woman could capture the realism of a raw combat zone, Katherine Bigelow, who brilliantly directed this movie, has certainly shattered any such misconceptions. As the days scheduled to remain in Iraq are counted down for this group of soldiers, the viewer can smell the acrid air, feel the sand and most of all sense the almost continual apprehension. It may be hard to believe that in our voluntary army, some soldiers choose to be in this place but this film will make it hard to forget those that do. (2009)

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Julie and Julia – rm – Two women on separate continents also separated in time by more than a half of a century are both trying to find themselves. Once they see their goal they pursue it with dedication and determination. One of them is Julia Child (Meryl Shreep), wife of an American diplomat in Paris who becomes passionate about French cooking and becomes involved in trying to write book in English about it. The other is Julie Powell (Amy Adams), a young wife and government worker who becomes passionate about the now famous Julia Child and decides to try out all 524 recipes from her cookbook in 365 days while reporting regularly in a new blog that she has started. The film was directed and produced by Nora Ephrom who also wrote the film script based on a book recently written by Ms. Powell .It moves back and forth in time following the struggles of both of these women. The support and love of both their husbands, played by Stanley Tucci and Chris Messina are an important part of this story. We don’t usually hear the out loud laughter that we heard in the movie theatre several times during the humorous moments. We felt the tug of heart strings in the difficult trials and tribulations along the way of their journeys. The movie also conveyed the jubilation of their ultimate successes. Julia Child’s cookbook is now in its 49th printing and it has found a way on to the bookshelves of a few generations of young households. Many people have had a glimpse into Ms. Child’s personality by her pioneer TV cooking show where she showed everyone that it isn’t so terrible to pick your prize cooking off the floor when it accidentally lands there. This film will further humanize this American icon and give insight into her inspiring story. (2009)

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World’s Greatest Dad – sp – When comedian /screenwriter/director Bobcat Goldwait showed his script to Robin Williams, he thought that his friend might do a cameo part. Instead Mr. Williams obviously saw the potential of this project. He became the lead in this comedic satire which holds up a mirror to so many people today who are often not listening to each other. An unpleasant, unlikeable teenage son of a high school teacher ends up causing his own demise. The response of the grief stricken father is to put words in the mouth of his departed son through writings that his son never really wrote This triggers responses in everyone from his principal to the kids in school most of whom never cared for the teenager when he was alive. Their exaggerated love and identification with the now deceased young man becomes the vehicle for this movie to make it’s point about the lack of empathy and understanding which young people and grown ups often show to each other. So often film scenarios, which are dealing with these complex notions, have difficulty in coming up with a good ending. Not so in this movie, as the main character who was previously an unsuccessful writer in addition to being a barely passable school teacher has now cleansed himself of bearing false witness and we imagine would now write for the sake of telling what is true. Mr. Goldwait seems to have found a way of doing this with this movie, which may just resonate with enough people to be successful. It will be released in September. (2009)

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The Informant! – nf – This is another one of those stories where it turns out the truth is stranger than any fiction which a writer might dream up. The story is actually based on a non fiction book by Kurt Eichenwald which Steven Soderbergh has masterfully brought to the screen. Matt Damon plays Mark Whitacre, a scientist turned business executive who holds a high position at the Decatur Illinois Fortune 500 food company Archer Midland Daniels ( ADM) as well as being a dedicated husband and father of two children . The story revolves around how he presents himself to the FBI as an informant and has decided to tell the story of how his company is fixing world wide prices which effect just about every meal that we eat. Damon’s voice narrates most of the film so you get the impression that you really know what is going on in his head. He does a believable acting job in creating the strangely patriotic, naïve guy who also doesn’t really know how to tell the truth and seems to believe his own deceptions. A certain amount of tension and suspense is achieved as he does his undercover work with clandestine audio and video recordings. As the story evolves and the details fall in place, it is hard to believe that this all really happened or perhaps we should say, “only in America.”. This is a fast moving 108 minute movie which will be just right for those who like this genre. (2009)