This week’s must see film is Rabbit Hole, an exquisite exploration of the grieving process with great performances by Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhardt, Diane Wiest, Sandra Oh and Miles Tenner. Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan is a rip roaring thriller and a showcase for Natalie Portman and Barbara Hershey. Fair Game, the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson story with Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, is also excellent. For some delectable food porn, see Kings of Pastry.
There are some Must See films still kicking around in theaters this week: Inside Job, The Social Network and Hereafter. All three are already on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far.
The Town is hanging around theaters and, without strongly recommending it, I can say that it is a satisfying Hollywood thriller. If you’ve seen the first two Lisbeth Salander movies from Sweden, then you should complete the trilogy with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.
I have not yet seen The Fighter, The Tempest or The Company Man, opening this weekend. You can see the trailers at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.
My DVD of the Week is Inception, perhaps the year’s best blockbuster. My top two American films of the year are now available on DVD – the indie Winter’s Bone and Pixar’s Toy Story 3. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TVinclude Stagecoach, A Shot in the Dark and The Searchers on TCM.
The best of the recent films is Fair Game, the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson story with Naomi Watts and Sean Penn.Morning Glory is a passable comedy, as is Love and Other Drugs.
There are some Must See films still kicking around in theaters this week: Inside Job, The Social Network and Hereafter. All three are already on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far.
The Town is hanging around theaters and, without strongly recommending it, I can say that it is a satisfying Hollywood thriller. If you’ve seen the first two Lisbeth Salander movies from Sweden, then you should complete the trilogy with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.
I have not yet seen Black Swan or I Love You, Phillip Morris, opening this weekend. You can see the trailers at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.
My DVD of the Week is Mademoiselle Chambon, the year’s best romance. My top two American films of the year are now available on DVD – the indie Winter’s Bone and Pixar’s Toy Story 3. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TVinclude The Caine Mutiny, Annie Hall, Easy Rider and Stagecoach on TCM.
Pedro Almodovar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
The Must See films in theaters this week remain Inside Job and The Social Network. Hereafter and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest are also good choices. Morning Glory (more tomorrow) is a passable comedy.
Charles Ferguson’s brilliant documentary Inside Job may be the most important movie of the year. It is a harsh but fair explanation of the misdeeds that led to the recent near-collapse of the global financial system. Unexpectedly, the film begins in Iceland, setting the stage for the collapse and kicking off the easily understandable explanations of the various tricks and bamboozles that have hidden behind their own complexity.
Hereafter: For the first time, Clint Eastwood and screenwriter Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon, The Damned United) venture into the supernatural with the story of three people and their individual experiences with death. The most skeptical, nonspiritual viewer (me) finds this to be a compelling film.
The question of What Comes Next is unanswered, and less interesting than the film’s observations of what happens on this Earth to living humans. Eastwood’s genius is in delivering moments of complete truthfulness, one after the other, across a wide range of settings, from intimate human encounters to the big CGI-enhanced action sequence at the beginning of the film. Eastwood is an actor’s director, and star Matt Damon leads a set of excellent performances, especially by Bryce Dallas Howard, Frankie McLaren, Cecile de France and Richard Kind.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is an acceptable final chapter in Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy and best as the showcase for Noomi Rapace’s final performance as Lisbeth Salander. If you’ve seen the first two movies, you should complete the trilogy by seeing this somewhat plodding film. As with the first two films, Hornet’s Nest centers on Rapace’s Lisbeth, a tiny fury of a Goth hacker, damaged and driven. Lisbeth is always mad AND always gets even.
The Social Network: The birth story of Facebook is a riveting tale of college sophomores that are brilliant, ambitious, immature, self-absorbed and disloyal – and about to become zillionaires. It’s a triumph for actor Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland and Solitary Man), director David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing, Charlie Wilson’s War). It’s already on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far.
Leaving (Partir) is a romantic tragedy with another powerful performance by Kristin Scott Thomas and not much else. Howl has a fine performance by James Franco, but is marred by an unsuccessful animation. The Town is hanging around theaters and, without strongly recommending it, I can say that it is a satisfying Hollywood thriller.
I have not yet seen Welcome to the Rileys. This Sundance hit features James Gandolfini as a Midwestern plumbing contractor who visits New Orleans for a conference, meets teen runaway Kristin Stewart, and decides to stay. I also haven’t seen Fair Game, the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson story. You can see the trailers at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.
My DVD of the Week is Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. My top two American films of the year are now available on DVD – the indie Winter’s Bone and Pixar’s Toy Story 3. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TVinclude Leave Her to Heaven, Seven Days in May and Strangers on a Train on TCM.
The Must See films in theaters this week remain Inside Job and The Social Network. Hereafter and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest are also good choices.
Charles Ferguson’s brilliant documentary Inside Job may be the most important movie of the year. It is a harsh but fair explanation of the misdeeds that led to the recent near-collapse of the global financial system. Unexpectedly, the film begins in Iceland, setting the stage for the collapse and kicking off the easily understandable explanations of the various tricks and bamboozles that have hidden behind their own complexity.
Hereafter: For the first time, Clint Eastwood and screenwriter Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon, The Damned United) venture into the supernatural with the story of three people and their individual experiences with death. The most skeptical, nonspiritual viewer (me) finds this to be a compelling film.
The question of What Comes Next is unanswered, and less interesting than the film’s observations of what happens on this Earth to living humans. Eastwood’s genius is in delivering moments of complete truthfulness, one after the other, across a wide range of settings, from intimate human encounters to the big CGI-enhanced action sequence at the beginning of the film. Eastwood is an actor’s director, and star Matt Damon leads a set of excellent performances, especially by Bryce Dallas Howard, Frankie McLaren, Cecile de France and Richard Kind.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is an acceptable final chapter in Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy and best as the showcase for Noomi Rapace’s final performance as Lisbeth Salander. If you’ve seen the first two movies, you should complete the trilogy by seeing this somewhat plodding film. As with the first two films, Hornet’s Nest centers on Rapace’s Lisbeth, a tiny fury of a Goth hacker, damaged and driven. Lisbeth is always mad AND always gets even.
The Social Network: The birth story of Facebook is a riveting tale of college sophomores that are brilliant, ambitious, immature, self-absorbed and disloyal – and about to become zillionaires. It’s a triumph for actor Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland and Solitary Man), director David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing, Charlie Wilson’s War). It’s already on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far.
Leaving (Partir) is a romantic tragedy with another powerful performance by Kristin Scott Thomas and not much else. Howl has a fine performance by James Franco, but is marred by an unsuccessful animation. The Town is hanging around theaters and, without strongly recommending it, I can say that it is a satisfying Hollywood thriller.
I have not yet seen Welcome to the Rileys, which is just opening. This Sundance hit features James Gandolfini as a Midwestern plumbing contractor who visits New Orleans for a conference, meets teen runaway Kristin Stewart, and decides to stay. I also haven’t seen Fair Game, the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson story. You can see the trailers at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.
My DVD of the Week is I’ve Loved You So Long. My top two American films of the year are now available on DVD – the indie Winter’s Bone and Pixar’s Toy Story 3. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TVinclude The Best Years of Our Lives, Harlan County U.S.A., The Crimson Kimono and Picnic at Hanging Rock on TCM. More on The Crimson Kimono tomorrow.
Charles Ferguson’s brilliant documentary Inside Job may be the most important movie of the year. It is a harsh but fair explanation of the misdeeds that led to the recent near-collapse of the global financial system. Unexpectedly, the film begins in Iceland, setting the stage for the collapse and kicking off the easily understandable explanations of the various tricks and bamboozles that have hidden behind their own complexity.
Hereafter: For the first time, Clint Eastwood and screenwriter Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon, The Damned United) venture into the supernatural with the story of three people and their individual experiences with death. The most skeptical, nonspiritual viewer (me) finds this to be a compelling film.
The question of What Comes Next is unanswered, and less interesting than the film’s observations of what happens on this Earth to living humans. Eastwood’s genius is in delivering moments of complete truthfulness, one after the other, across a wide range of settings, from intimate human encounters to the big CGI-enhanced action sequence at the beginning of the film. Eastwood is an actor’s director, and star Matt Damon leads a set of excellent performances, especially by Bryce Dallas Howard, Frankie McLaren, Cecile de France and Richard Kind.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is an acceptable final chapter in Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy and best as the showcase for Noomi Rapace’s final performance as Lisbeth Salander. If you’ve seen the first two movies, you should complete the trilogy by seeing this somewhat plodding film. As with the first two films, Hornet’s Nest centers on Rapace’s Lisbeth, a tiny fury of a Goth hacker, damaged and driven. Lisbeth is always mad AND always gets even.
The Social Network: The birth story of Facebook is a riveting tale of college sophomores that are brilliant, ambitious, immature, self-absorbed and disloyal – and about to become zillionaires. It’s a triumph for actor Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland and Solitary Man), director David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing, Charlie Wilson’s War). It’s already on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far.
Howl has a fine performance by James Franco, but is marred by an unsuccessful animation. Without strongly recommending it, I can say that The Town is a satisfying Hollywood thriller.
I have not yet seen Welcome to the Rileys, which is just opening. This Sundance hit features James Gandolfini as a Midwestern plumbing contractor who visits New Orleans for a conference, meets teen runaway Kristin Stewart, and decides to stay. I also haven’t seen Fair Game, the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson story. You can see the trailers at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.
My DVD of the Week is Toy Story 3, the best American studio film of the year. Last week’s choice was my favorite 2010 film, the indie Winter’s Bone. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TVinclude Metropolis, M and The Set-Up on TCM.
Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes in Winter's Bone
Charles Ferguson’s brilliant documentary Inside Job may be the most important movie of the year. It is a harsh but fair explanation of the misdeeds that led to the recent near-collapse of the global financial system. Unexpectedly, the film begins in Iceland, setting the stage for the collapse and kicking off the easily understandable explanations of the various tricks and bamboozles that have hidden behind their own complexity.
Hereafter: For the first time, Clint Eastwood and screenwriter Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon, The Damned United) venture into the supernatural with the story of three people and their individual experiences with death. The most skeptical, nonspiritual viewer (me) finds this to be a compelling film.
The question of What Comes Next is unanswered, and less interesting than the film’s observations of what happens on this Earth to living humans. Eastwood’s genius is in delivering moments of complete truthfulness, one after the other, across a wide range of settings, from intimate human encounters to the big CGI-enhanced action sequence at the beginning of the film. Eastwood is an actor’s director, and star Matt Damon leads a set of excellent performances, especially by Bryce Dallas Howard, Frankie McLaren, Cecile de France and Richard Kind.
The Social Network: The birth story of Facebook is a riveting tale of college sophomores that are brilliant, ambitious, immature, self-absorbed and disloyal – and about to become zillionaires. It’s a triumph for actor Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland and Solitary Man), director David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing, Charlie Wilson’s War). It’s already on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far.
Howl has a fine performance by James Franco, but is marred by an unsuccessful animation.
The Social Network tells us something about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – not about this year’s Swedish version, but about next year’s Hollywood version to be directed by David Fincher.
First, The Social Network shows that Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) is still operating at his best. The Social Network is essentially about some annoying, immature geeks writing computer code and getting financing for a company – but Fincher makes it rock! Fight Club and Zodiac are two of my favorite contemporary films, and Fight Club‘s desperate violence and Zodiac‘s whodunit relentlessness translate directly to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. So there couldn’t be a better director for this project than Fincher.
Rooney Mara in The Social Network
Second, the success of the Stieg Larsson trilogy depends on the portrayal of Lisbeth Salander. The Swedish version has been amazing because of the Danish actress Noomi Rapace’s jawdropping Lisbeth. But in Fincher’s movies, Lisbeth Salander will be played by Rooney Mara. The good news from The Social Network is that Mara nails her scenes as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s soon-to-be ex-girlfriend. And we get a glimmer of the intensity that Mara will need for Lisbeth. Plus Mara is used to working with Fincher, who is notorious for his scores of takes; reportedly, Fincher required over 90 takes for the opening scene between Mara and Jesse Eisenberg.
James Coburn and James Garner in The Americanization of Emily
The best movie to see is still The Social Network. The birth story of Facebook is a riveting tale of college sophomores that are brilliant, ambitious, immature, self-absorbed and disloyal – and about to become zillionaires. It’s a triumph for actor Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland and Solitary Man), director David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing, Charlie Wilson’s War). It’s already on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far.
Howl has a fine performance by James Franco, but is marred by an unsuccessful animation. Without strongly recommending it, I can say that The Town is a satisfying Hollywood thriller. You can skip Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger. For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.
I have not yet seen Inside Job or Hereafter, which open this week. You can see their trailers at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.
My DVD of the Week is still The Day of the Jackal. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TVinclude The Americanization of Emily (more on that tomorrow) and The Black Stallion, all coming up on TCM.
Rooney Mara and Jesse Eisenberg open The Social Network
The Social Network is still the top choice in theaters this week. The birth story of Facebook is a riveting tale of college sophomores that are brilliant, ambitious, immature, self-absorbed and disloyal – and about to become zillionaires. It’s a triumph for actor Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland and Solitary Man), director David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing, Charlie Wilson’s War). It’s already on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far.
Howl has a fine performance by James Franco, but is marred by an unsuccessful animation.
It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a light and wry coming-of-age comedy set in a locked psychiatric facility. It’s good-hearted fluff with a few chuckles and an unexpectedly restrained and heartfelt performance by Zach Galifianakis.
Without strongly recommending it, I can say that The Town is a satisfying Hollywood thriller. You can skip Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger.
My DVD of the Week is The Day of the Jackal, like The American, the tale of an international master assassin – only fact-based and even better. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TVinclude Mister Roberts, Repo Man and Arsenic and Old Lace, all coming up on TCM.
Make sure that you see The Social Network. The birth story of Facebook is a riveting tale of college sophomores that are brilliant, ambitious, immature, self-absorbed and disloyal – and about to become zillionaires. It’s a triumph for actor Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland and Solitary Man), director David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing, Charlie Wilson’s War). It’s already on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far.
I’m still pushing the hardhitting documentary The Tillman Story. Without strongly recommending it, I can say that The Town is a satisfying Hollywood thriller. You can skip Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger.
My DVD of the Week, like The Social Network, is a classic send up of contemporary business history: Barbarians at the Gate. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.
I’m featuring Hail! The Conquering Hero on TV this week. Other Movies on TVinclude Strangers on a Train, The Big Sleep and The Best Years of Our Lives, all coming up on TCM. Baseball fans might still be able to find Ken Burns’ The Tenth Inning on PBS.
