Movies to See this Week

Gianni Di Gregorio (right) and his wing man in THE SALT OF THE EARTH

The Kid with the Bike is an extraordinary film that tells a riveting story of unconditional love. It is emotionally powerful without being sentimental and is gripping without stunts and explosions.  It’s now topping my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.  It may be out in theaters for only another week or to, so see it now.

The Hunger Games is a well-paced, well-acted and intelligent sci-fi adventure fable with excellent performances by Jennifer Lawrence and Stanley Tucci.

The Deep Blue Sea is well-crafted and deeply, deeply sad tragedy of a woman (Rachel Weisz) who loves too much.

The Salt of the Earth is a gently funny and insightful Italian comedy about men of a certain age.

In Footnote, a rising Talmudic scholar sees his career-topping prize accidentally awarded to his grumpy father. This potentially comic situation reveals the characters of the two men.

The searing and brilliantly constructed Iranian drama A Separation won the Best Foreign Language Oscar. The Best Picture Oscar-winning The Artist is still playing in theaters.

I haven’t yet seen Monsieur Lazhar, which opens this week. You can read descriptions and view trailers of these and other upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is The Descendants, a family drama with superb performances by George Clooney and Shailene Woodley.

Movies to See this Week

THE KID WITH THE BIKE

Don’t miss The Kid with the Bike, an extraordinary film that tells a riveting story of unconditional love. It is emotionally powerful without being sentimental and is gripping without stunts and explosions – one of the year’s best.

The Hunger Games is a well-paced, well-acted and intelligent sci-fi adventure fable with excellent performances by Jennifer Lawrence and Stanley Tucci.

The Deep Blue Sea is well-crafted and deeply, deeply sad tragedy of a woman (Rachel Weisz) who loves too much.

In Footnote, a rising Talmudic scholar sees his career-topping prize accidentally awarded to his grumpy father. This potentially comic situation reveals the characters of the two men.

The drama Detachment features a top-rate performance by Adrien Brody as a teacher in a hellish school system that decays teachers’ souls. In a sizzling performance, Woody Harrelson plays a corrupt and brutal LA cop trying to stay alive and out of jail in Rampart. The searing and brilliantly constructed Iranian drama A Separation won the Best Foreign Language Oscar. The Best Picture Oscar-winning The Artist is still playing in theaters.

I haven’t yet seen The Salt of the Earth, which opens this week.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of these and other upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is the edgy game changer comedy Young Adult.

Footnote: a comedy of awkwardness reveals two guys choosing misery

A rising Talmudic scholar sees his career-topping prize accidentally awarded to his grumpy father.  This potentially comic situation reveals a character study of the two men.  At the beginning, we see the father as bitterly sullen.  As the story peels back the onion, we see the pomposity and narcissism in both men.

As you would think from watching the trailer, the first two-thirds of the film is very funny.  In fact, the scene of an academic meeting in a cramped office is one of the funniest moments you’ll see in any movie this year.  However, once the father makes a discovery, the movie darkens as the two men miss every chance to grasp selflessness.

As the end of the movie nears, the filmmakers create tension that makes the ending too abrupt for me, with too little payoff.  I think that the filmmakers of A Separation, by winding down the end of the movie, created a much successful ambiguous ending.

I admired Footnote more than I liked it, and, indeed, the critical consensus warmed to the film more than I.  Footnote won the screenplay award at Cannes and was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.

Capturing the essence of the film perfectly, Roger Ebert wrote, “The Talmud provides guidance to Jews about how to lead their lives, but these two Jews have learned nothing that helps them when they find themselves in an impossible situation.”

Movies to See This Week

DETACHMENT

Yes, it’s Despair Week at the Movie Gourmet, where you can experience the hopeless human experience with my three top picks.  First, the gripping drama Detachment features a top-rate performance by Adrien Brody as a teacher in a hellish school system that decays teachers’ souls.  In a sizzling performance, Woody Harrelson plays a corrupt and brutal LA cop trying to stay alive and out of jail in Rampart.  The searing and brilliantly constructed Iranian drama A Separation won the Best Foreign Language Oscar.

Joshua Marston, writer-director of the brilliant Maria, Full of Grace, has made a fine drama set in Albania, The Forgiveness of Blood.  It’s slightly less depressing than my top three this week.

Safe House is a fine paranoid action spy thriller with Denzel Washington and the director’s pedal jammed to the floor. Thin Ice is a Fargo Lite diversion.

The Best Picture Oscar-winning The Artist is still playing in theaters.

I have also commented on the biopics My Week with Marilyn (thumbs up) and The Iron Lady (thumbs down).

I haven’t yet seen Footnote and The Kid with the Bike, which open this week.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of these and other upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is Take Shelter, #2 on my list of Best Movies of 2011 and probably the single most overlooked film of last year.

movies for late March

We begin on March 23 with Israel’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, Footnote.  A rising Talmudic scholar sees his career-topping prize accidentally awarded to his grumpy father.  It won the the screenplay award at Cannes.

The Kid with a Bike is the latest from the Belgian Dardennes brothers, two of my favorite film makers (The Son, Rosetta).  A 12-year-old boy wants to find the father who dumped him at a children’s home, but meets a woman who becomes his de facto foster mom.  The Kid with the Bike will be released in the US by Sundance Selects on March 23.

The Salt of the Earth (Gianni e le donne) stars and is written and directed by Gianni Di Gregorio, just like the very fun Mid-August Lunch.  Releases March 30.

You can read descriptions and watch trailers at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

Here’s the trailer for Footnote.