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Shorts – rm – Did you ever imagine what it would be like if you had a magic object that would grant you any wish? That is the premise of this children’s movie and the morale of the story is to be careful what you wish for. You could even confront your own nose bugger as a giant monster. This movie follows a young kid who is pushed around a lot in school, especially by a girl his age. He and his friends find away to change things and in doing so have quite an adventure. We saw this movie with our two grandchildren who were the main reviewers of this film especially since we didn’t feel that it had any great appeal to grown ups. We all agreed that it held our interest for most of the time. Events were presented in a unique manner. There is was even an lesson to be learned as that is if we work together, we can accomplish much more than if we just do what we want as individuals. There was a little too much bullying than was needed for the story although there was no serious violence. The magical fantasies were cute but not very imaginative. Compared to some of the other children’s films that come around, this does not stand out very much but many kids will like it. 2009

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Nothing But the Truth – sp – This movie was clearly inspired by the Judith Miller/Valerie Plume story, but is not that story. It was a very well-crafted film about two strong women, one a journalist with a Pulitzer Prize nominated story which happens to “out” a strong and committed C.I.A. agent. The consequences of all this are dire and difficult on both women and their families and the film provokes much thought about “our right to know”, the “right to not reveal sources” and all the unintended consequences therein. Well worth seeing. 2009

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Not Forgotten – sp- Simon Baker, who plays the Mentalist on a popular network TV series, stars in this movie of mystery and intrigue set at the US- Mexican border. Religious cult rituals of an (Santa Muerte) actual fast growing religion in this area set the tone, as does some very graphic violence. Everything and everyone are not always what they seem to be which makes the movie an interesting experience. The acting, photography, lighting and editing are excellent. Screenwriter and Director, Dror Soref, told us that at a test run of the movie, the audience missed too many subtle points so pieces were added and it was recut. We still missed a few points and conclude that the movie didn’t make the top shelf. 2009

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Milk – rm – Extremely well done movie about the gay activist Harvey Milk and his life in San Francisco between 1970 -1978 which tragically ended by an assassination. This is a “Rocky” movie which shows how determined people can make a difference. It is particularly relevant today as gay marriage has been challenged in California and elsewhere. Sean Penn did a magnificent job and is sure to be nominated for many awards. (Addendum- He won Oscar for Best Actor) 2009

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Lymelife – sp – This is an Independent film put together by two brothers who grew up in Long Island and wanted to show the nature of relationships between people that they had observed in their youth in the 70s and early 80s. They were able to put together an outstanding cast of Alec Baldwin, Jill Hennessy, Timothy Hutton, Cynthia Nixon, Emma Roberts and Culkin brothers Rory and Kiernan. They all turned in extremely fine performances (with a low budget and brief time to shoot) It is directed by Derrick Martini, one of the brothers, who wrote the screenplay. Not surprising he most effectively captured the budding romantic relationship of the young teenagers in the film whom he best understood and this makes the film worth seeing. 2009

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Red Cliff – sp- If Steven Spiegelberg were to decide to make a blockbuster movie about the US North-South Civil war and the Battle of Gettysburg most Americans would probably be quite familiar with the various leaders and generals. Even more so apparently are the Chinese and the people of other Asian countries knowledgeable about the cast of characters who took part in the great battles as the armies of the north tried to conquer those of the southern China, leading to the battle at Red Cliff, which took place about eighteen hundred years ago. Director John Woo felt that this was so much the case that he needed to make two versions of this movie, one for non Asian world with more background material and a two part film with even more details of the actual events for the Chinese and others who are familiar with the historical events.

The 2 ½ hour movie which we saw has a brief English narration at the beginning and then is in Mandarin with English subtitles which you soon forget are present. It shows the personal and political decision of the northern dynasty to send it’s huge army which probably numbered in the hundreds of thousands of soldiers to the south to squash the smaller southern coalition. A great deal of the movie consists of battle scenes on the ground and between naval forces. At first we had the impression we were watching a Chuck Norris or Jackie Chen movie that we would only have seen in coming attractions, with bodies whirling through air, swords and spears impaling soldiers, blood squirting out of the period armor, catching spears in mid-flight, horses rearing up, thousand of arrows flying through sky and all sorts of acrobatics. People are being killed everywhere except the main characters who seem to be able to leap between thrusts of opposing soldiers. Then after awhile we realized that in fact we were watching a classic operatic story and ballet in a beautiful setting. John Woo told our film course that he used 1500 hundred Chinese soldiers in the movie and made them look like many times that number of warriors by computer generated editing techniques that he also used to enhance the magnificent appearing background. The movie also vividly shows the brilliant military strategies that were used by the outnumbered army including clever troop formations, innovative weaponry and an exquisite understanding of the forces of nature. Woo also chose to create a story line that was not in the known history of these events that involves the role of some very brave, strong and attractive women.
In the end it is a beautiful, poetic epic movie with an antiwar theme but yet pays homage to the value of people working together for a just cause even against daunting odds. This film has a cast of thousands, used 24 cameras and took 4 1/2 years to make. It obviously cost multi millions of dollars to produce which came from many countries including the Chinese government. We can’t see how it will miss being a tremendous hit in the Asian world and is bound to have a great following in the US. Anyone seeing this movie should be sure to not miss the closing credits, which includes some very moving verse. (2009)

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Capitalism: A Love Story – rm – Michael Moore set out to make a movie to show how things have changed in this country so now maybe 99% of the wealth is controlled by 1% of the people. The post World War II development of a healthy middle class which he experienced in his youth in Flint Michigan, no longer exists there and not in too many other places in the USA. There are lots of rich people still around but tons of hard pressed people losing their jobs and their homes. He is contending that because we have capitalism, doesn’t mean that we have true democracy. He makes his point by documenting the well-known stories of the changing economic conditions and by using very personal vignettes, which he poignantly captures on film. Is he being completely fair to all the Wall Street bankers and CEOs some of whom have taken major government positions whom he now depicts as only trying to make more money for their old firms and their own portfolios? Is he being fair to Senator Chris Dodd whom he shows was given a mortgage on favorable terms because he was considered a friend of the CEO of AIG when so many others were defaulting on sub prime mortgages? Was the government bailout all-bad, as he seems to be saying? Moore certainly knows how to push our emotional buttons as he shows the faces of the children as their parents try to resist foreclosures of their homes. How can we not be stirred up by the valiant attempt of workers who refuse to leave their now closed factory because they weren’t given wages they were owed? ? Moore’s parting shot is a piece of an obscure video of FDR calling for a new Bill of Rights where everyone is entitled to a job, a descent living, a home and healthcare. Moore shows how the United States helped our defeated enemies achieve these goals after WWII but have not accomplished them ourselves. If you leaned towards his point of view at the beginning, you will be moved towards some kind of action. If you have been on the other side of the philosophical spectrum, you most probably will soften some of your resistance. If the film has a weakness, it is it’s inconsistent form, which veers between being a documentary, a polemic and a comedy. Whatever it is, it is worth seeing and should not be missed. (2009)

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The Damned United – sp – Imagine a storyline in which Joe Torres iconic manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers steps aside and some younger hot shot guy who did well with a second rate team is given the job. Picture that this new guy thinks he is the greatest and is out to prove that he is even better than Torres whom he dislikes. He doesn’t even feel he needs his beloved assistant manager on whom he was very dependent on his previous teams. Add great action, inside locker room scenes and baseball talk that you really appreciate having grown up as a baseball fan. Now transform the whole story to Great Britain and make it about soccer instead of baseball and you have the essence of this movie. We were very impressed with Michael Sheen whom we met at our film course and who plays Brian Clough, the well-known real life soccer coach, who might be called the tragic figure of this movie. Sheen who played David Frost on the screen and in the theatre in Frost-Nixon described his preparation to inhabit the characters he plays. He takes over the screen and brilliantly conveys the depth of personality and emotion. Although the movie is not just about soccer, there is something lost in the translation to more familiar life situations. We don’t think that the journey taken in this film will be worth the 98 minutes to most people we know. (2009)

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District Nine – rm – If you like alien movies where the alien looks like a 10 foot lumbering ant like object with human qualities, this movie may be for you. It has some familiar themes of a gigantic spacecraft arriving at earth and this time it ends up hovering over Johannesburg South Africa. Over a million refugees from it live in shacks in an area called District Nine and are about to be moved to a more rural area by a non-governmental para- military agency. The main character of the movie is in charge of carrying out this move but he gets accidentally sprayed by an alien chemical, which begins to slowly turn him into an alien. Since the alien’s weapons, most of which have been confiscated can only be fired by the aliens (a bioconnectviity link) and since this man now has an alien arm, he is a rare individual who can fire these weapons. The plot thickens and includes a cute child alien, the wish of the aliens to go home, some battle scenes with conventional and state of the alien weaponry. The special effects are as expected and the movie generates a reasonable amount of suspense. It touches on some issues of discrimination but not in any depth. This is not for everyone. (2009)

Although we have not seen all the possible contenders we decided to draw up our abbreviated list for Academy Nominations with our projected winners. We have combined best picture and best director awards since we are not quite sure how to make that distinction. Our choices are listed in order of our preferences with 1st choice in bold.
(Published day before Golden Globe Awards)

Best Movie and Director

The Hurt Locker- Katherine Bigeloe
Precious –Lee Daniels
Inglorious Basterds – Quentin Tarentino
Julie and Julia – Nora Ephrom
Invictus – Clint Eastwood

We found this was an easy winner although all great films

Best Actress

Merly Streep ( Julie and Julia)
Gaborney Sidibe (Precious)
Carey Mulligan (An Education )
Helen Miren ( Last Station )

The Pro takes it from newcomer but it is close call

Best Actor

Morgan Freeman ( Invictus )
George Clooney ( Up In the Air )
Ben Foster ( The Messenger)
Jeremy Remney ( Hurt Locker)

Almost too close to choose winner

Best Supporting Actress

Mo’Nique (Precious)

Easy winner

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Waltz (Inglorious Basterds) – Michael’s choice
Woody Harrelson ( The Messenger ) Susan’s choice

Best Foreign Film

Red Cliff- John Wo

We haven’t seen that many but this was good