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Greenberg – rm – Screenwriter and Director Noah Baumbach (who gave us The Squid and the Whale) presents us with Roger Greenberg who is comfortably inhabited by Ben Stiller. This single guy in his forties, now a New Yorker, working as a carpenter, recently in a mental hospital, returns to Los Angeles to housesit for his brother who is taking his family on vacation in Viet Nam. He looks up some old friends who were members of his band back then and are at various places now in their lives. His reminiscence with them and his encounters with some younger generation guys and gals seem to be trying to tell a story of the difficulties that one goes through in trying to negotiate to a successful stable life and relationship. The problem is that there is very little back-story with Roger and it is near impossible to understand or get much of a feel why he is having so much trouble. We are left with a self centered, obsessive guy whom you imagine is suffering on some level. The story doesn’t really go any place and we are really not very enlightened about the characters. Greta Gerwig plays the personal assistant of his brother who also ran the household where Roger is staying and with whom he makes some tentative attempts to have a relationship. Her performance stands out as she creates a very sensitive, likable but sad young woman who desperately wants to be loved and have a relationship but doesn’t quite know how to do it. It is unclear if the title of the movie implies something Jewish, perhaps some stereotype of Jewish angst? The Stiller character mentions that that his father was Jewish but not his mother but we are not sure what that was supposed to mean. Perhaps in the future when Baumbach gives us characters who have figured out their lives, we will look back and realize this was an earlier phase of his work when things were more confused. (2010)

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Casino Jack – sp – Jack Abramoff was a very successful but very greedy Washington lobbyist who now sits in a federal jail serving out his 4 year prison term scheduled to released later this year. Director George Hickenlooper had the idea to tell his story and enlisted writer Norman Snider to put together the screenplay based on the facts of this true story.

Hickenlooper spent 30 hours visiting Abramoff in prison to gather as much information as possible to add to their study of the historical documents upon which this movie was based. Oscar winning actor Kevin Spacey who plays Abramoff participated in one of these five jailhouse visits and he apparently hit it off quite well with the protagonist despite their being at opposite poles of the political spectrum. If you know the widely reported story of how Abramoff took excessive fees from multiple Indian tribes, was involved with shady business deals and paid off congressmen, landing at least one in jail and causing Tom Delay majority leader of Senate to quit this position and his Senate seat, you may be a little bored as the details are played out. On the other hand, many viewers will be getting a great history lesson at the same time that they are seeing a very well done movie. Barry Pepper is sufficiently nefarious in looks and deeds as Michael Scanlon, Abramoff’s partner who deserved more than he got for punishment. Jon Lovitz plays an almost completely serious role as a not so smart and crooked enough to end up in jail, business associate of Abramoff. Political junkies will love this movie. You can’t help coming away from seeing it without wondering how can we let our political system continue to function without reigning in lobbyists. Hickenlooper related an incident, which he touches upon at the end of the film, where while in jail anticipating his release shortly before the upcoming 2010 elections Abramoff has expressed a desire to collaborate with the Democrats and reveal information that he knows about the Republicans in order to hurt them in this and future elections. While this film is scheduled for wide release and distribution prior to the November election, there is also another movie coming out at the same time about Abramoff, which is an actual documentary and may have the same name as this one. Instead of Kevin Spacey that one will star the real Abramoff. (2010)

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Phyllis and Harold – sp- Cindy Kleine undertook a project for 12 years where she interviewed her parents on film and put together the story of their 59 years of marriage with old movies, slides and letters. She originally felt the story was so interesting that she was going to transcribe the interviews and write a screenplay. However, she then realized that the real people saying their own words would be better than any actors she could get to recreate their story. So this filmmaker with the support of her husband Andre Gregory (well known theatre and film director best known for “Dinner with Andre”) put together a most unusual and successful documentary of the story of the marriage and subsequent life of Harold and Phyllis. Her father is shown as the dashing, handsome, confident young dentist who courts his future wife while he is in the army during World War II. He goes on to then develop a successful practice where he can take his wife on vacations all over the world providing all the comforts of life including a devoted nanny for his two children. However, the core of the story is how this marriage is experienced by his wife Phyllis, who is shown to have been a beautiful, articulate and poetic young woman. She shares in interviews with her moviemaker daughter on film her feelings and doubts about her marriage as well as her early secret romantic life, which blossomed again at age 70. Her grown children each find themselves becoming bold participants in a small but significant way in her mother’s secret life. The 84 minutes of this film seems to fly by reminding us that everyone’s life might be summarized in a well-kept photo album or in a thoughtful documentary if anyone was there to make it. Usually the children, let alone a discerning movie audience do not know parent’s innermost secrets. This is the exception and it is an exceptionally creatively edited, well-done documentary. It must have been somewhat therapeutic for Ms. Kleine to have made the film and for sure it will stimulate complicated emotions and discussion in many parents and grown children who view it. Expected to be released shortly and then on DVD. (2010)

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I Love You Phillip Morris – sp – One of the most remarkable things about this movie is that the outlandish events that are depicted really happened. Jim Carrey plays Steven Russell who realized at a young age that he is gay. He grows up and marries a women dedicated to him and to Jesus and he leads a life as a devoted husband and father up until a certain point. He then has a revelation which causes him to leave his family becomes a con artist and fully involved in a free wheeling partying gay life style. Ultimately his grandiose con games end him up in jail where he meets Phillip Morris played by Ewan McGregor. They fall madly and tenderly in love with each other. Russell’s ability to deceive allows them to be together in jail and amazingly (but true) he escapes from and reenters a Texas jail multiple times. The screenplay crafted and directed by Glen Ficarra and John Requa based on a true story is a combination of a romantic comedy with a little bit of the keystone cops thrown in. It has it’s serious side as the Carrey character has to sadly acknowledge that he doesn’t feel like a real person. There is a well described psychodynamic explanation for this state of mind in the psychoanalytic literature which is quite compatible with the sorrowful circumstances of Russell’s early childhood which was depicted in the movie.. The story provides no insight into Phillip Morris. We are left with the marvel over the cons and the deception, a few smiles from the comedy and at best, a little sadness for a mostly unfulfilled life. Movie scheduled for release in the Fall of 2010 in the U.S. (2010)

**
The Joneses – sp – Very close to the beginning of the film, you realize that the Jones family who are moving into an affluent suburban area are actually a business team who pretend to be a family of a loving couple and two teenagers. Their purpose is to infiltrate the neighborhood, win the friendship and hearts of each of their peers and influence them to buy and consume all the expensive and glitzy things which they are being paid to promote. This is a clever premise which allows the film to attempt to explore some of the things that are wrong with our society where materialism often predominates over meaningful relationships. David Duchovny does a sensitive portrayal of the so-called Dad of the family. His pretend wife is Demi Moore who is the leader of the “team” who mostly is strictly business but for unexplained reasons shows some ambivalence. Amber Heard and Ben Hollingsworth do good acting jobs in their roles as pretend teens who take on the youth of the community with more than just parties. There seems to be a lot of driving around in Audis and hitting golf balls as well as promoting cosmetics. While the characters evolved and changed, we in the audience were not very moved. It was part comedic and part a grim movie. Perhaps they couldn’t decide which way to go. The ending was drawn out and didn’t seem right or satisfying. (2010)

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Music Within – nf – Richard Pimentel is a real Viet Nam veteran who was injured in the war and returned home with severely impaired hearing. That experience inspired him to become an activist, author and spokesperson for the disabled. He became one of the major forces behind the American with Disabilities Act of the 1990s. This movie is the story of his journey from a kid with a mentally ill mother, which led him to have a troubled childhood, to the success, which he ultimately had. When he was unable to realize his gift for public speaking, he put things on hold and entered the military. The pathway he took upon his return to civilian life and his skill in convincing employers to hire disabled vets was quite impressive. Thanks to some excellent writing, director Steven Sawalich and his very talented team were able to bring this unforgettable story to the screen. Ron Livingston carries off a very fine portrayal of Pimentel with Melissa George as his girl friend and an excellent job by veteran actor Hector Elizondo as a Speech Professor. However, the most amazing performance of the movie is that of Michael Sheen who plays Art Honeyman a brilliant college student with cerebral palsy who befriends Pimentel and is a key part of the movie. Sheen’s wheel chair performance with a severe speech defect is one of the highlights of the film and should have earned him an Academy Award nomination. This is a period piece and seamlessly with the aid of appropriate music moves through the decades of the 50s through the 90s. This is certainly a tribute to all those who battle with disabilities and find themselves misunderstood. It also is an inspiring story, which shows how one dedicated and passionate person can make a difference, and brings about meaningful change. (2007)

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The Greatest – sp – Almost immediately after the movie opens you realize that this is a story about the painful grieving of a family. While in this case it is about the kind of grief most people should not have to experience, it touches upon emotions that everyone has either had or knows that that they can have tomorrow. The writer and first time director Shana Feste shared with us that she probably wrote this because her father had such a loss many years ago and only spoke once to her about it. She researched the subject and her own emotions quite well. She was able to get Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon to buy into this project and bring their maturity and great acting to this film. Then Ms. Fester and her duo of women producers Lynette Howell and Beau Marie St. Clair were able to find young Carey Mulligan, before she received her Oscar nomination for An Education, to play the centerpiece of the young woman who carried within her the essence of this film. All three stars brought to the screen a very palpable realism in their three different but yet very appealing characters, each of whom drew you in as you felt their pain. A trio of three young talented actors rounded out the outstanding cast. The movie has the haunting presence of what we recall from the 1980 Oscar winning film Ordinary People which incidentally had the same Director of Photography, John Bailey. Whereas the older classic showed the disintegration of a family, this one leaves you with the possibility of a rebirth. The experience is definitely worth going through (2010)

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The Yellow Handkerchief – sp – 83 year old Arthur Cohn who is a five time Oscar winner with films dating back to 1961 was the producer of this film and guest at our screening. He noted that for many of his great movies, including The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, it was often difficult to get a distributor and the films did not achieve box office success until they won the Oscar. In the case of this current film he told us that be thought that the reason he had trouble getting a distribution (finally picked up by Samuel Goldwyn Films) was because this movie does not have sex or any significant violence which many people believe are necessary for a movie to achieve box office success. This film is a road movie which follows Brett, played William Hurt, as he is released from prison after serving 6 years and hitches a ride with a 15 year old girl played by Kristen Stewart (of Vampire movie fame) and slightly older teenage guy played by Eddie Redmayne. Both young people have their own histories of feeling unloved and would like to get away from their unhappy lives. Brett’s history unfolds through a series of short flashbacks as they travel in the south towards New Orleans. He had a troubled youth and hadn’t made much of his life. He thought perhaps things were changing around when he met May played by Maria Bello, but his view of himself as a flawed person along with some particular circumstances caused him to destroy this relationship and end up in jail. As the three travelers who were seemingly going nowhere in their lives get to understand each other and grow, there is a sense of redemption. You see these three misfits and unlikely companions travel in a battered old convertible through Louisiana on their way to New Orleans which is beautifully photographed by award winning Director of Photography Chris Menges. The energy and eternal hope that producer Cohn put into this project (which comes to the to the screen three years after it was filmed) makes us want to root for the this movie to be successful just as we find ourselves also rooting for the characters to make it in their lives. You are left with the dream of the possibility of second chances, which is no small feat. (2008)

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Formosa Betrayed – sp – An FBI agent in the 1980s is following the clues of a murder of a mid-western university professor in search of the killers. If you didn’t know anything about the history of Taiwan alias Formosa, you would still no doubt find this a very riveting, suspenseful, exciting thriller. However, if you know the history of this embattled country or as you may be able to figure it out from the unfolding story, the intrigue becomes even more meaningful. You may remember that little island off the coast of mainland China was the refuge of Chiang Kai-shek and his followers after the communists took over the mainland of China. It became a very strategic location as the United States made a commitment politically, financially and militarily to protect it from the Communists. What you may not have appreciated is that this government was corrupt and oppressed its people in the worst ways possible in order to keep itself in power. His son continued the martial law after Kai-shek’s death in 1975. It was not until a time frame after this movie that Taiwan became a true thriving democracy. Will Tiamo, a co-star of the film was also one the creative forces behind the movie as one of the writers and the person most responsible for raising enough money to make the film before it was even written or cast. He wanted to tell the story of his parent’s generation and the oppressive environment which existed in the land of their birth. FBI agent Jake Kelly played by James Van Der Beek encounters deception, murder, and torture. He also realizes that his own government, for political reasons, is not keen on exposing these terrible things. This all adds up to a top rate adventure story with conflict and a moral dilemma of the main character. The screenplay was based on various true events and was skillfully directed by Adam Kane. Although the movie has just received a distribution deal with a release date at the end of February, 2010, we suspect that it may not make it to your local theater or hang around there very long. So if you are at all inclined to see an exciting history lesson, be sure to look for it or put it on your Netflix queue. (2010)

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Iron Cross – sp – Screen writer and director Joshua Newton said that his father, a holocaust survivor who lost most of his family at the hands of the Nazis, had a great deal of bottled up anger for most his life. His son often fantasized what his father would do if by some coincidence he ever encountered any of the murderers of his family. He also wondered what he himself would do if his father asked him to help him revenge their deaths in such a situation. Newton then recognized that these thoughts could be the nucleus of just the kind of movie he wanted to create which would help to fill in the lack of education that the current generation has about the holocaust. He was able to convince Roy Scheider to star in what would be Mr. Scheider’s last film and he makes his final bow with very fine performance. In addition the director has cast his own teenage son to play the younger version of the Scheider character. The setting starts off in modern day Germany as an older survivor is visiting his son who is now living in Germany. The movie is filled with powerful and poignant flashbacks to his youthful journey of encountering the Nazis, surviving them and then returns to his modern day quest for revenge. The film has suspense, drama and the powerful emotion that this subject matter usually brings forth. Newton’s use of music and sound provides explanation points at every turn. The edits and the merges are at times unexpected and a few scenes are perhaps a little too drawn out. However the characters, their dilemma’s and actions become quite clear and unforgettable. This movie will be released in May and it was our first preview of 2010, If it is indicative of the quality of films that we will see this year, we are in for quite a treat. (2010)