This Week’s Movie Recommendations

James Franco in Danny Boyle's 127 Hours

If you want to see the Oscar nominees for Best Picture, I’d suggest catching True Grit, The King’s Speech, Black Swan and The Fighter in a theater. Another Year and Rabbit Hole are also on my list of Best Movies of 2010. 127 Hours, The Way Back, Somewhere and Biutiful are also good movies out now.

Another Year is Mike Leigh’s brilliant observation of the human condition, and asks why some people find contentment and others just cannot; Lesley Manville has the flashiest role – and gives the most remarkable performance – as a woman whose long trail of bad choices hasn’t left her with many options for a happy life.  I also strongly recommend Rabbit Hole, an exquisite exploration of the grieving process with great performances by Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhardt, Diane Wiest, Sandra Oh and Miles Tenner. 

Season of the Witch is a bad Nicholas Cage/Ron Perlman buddy movie set among the plague, crusades and witch hunts of the 13th century.

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick is The Tillman Story. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV include The Caine Mutiny, Glory, Quo Vadis and The Graduate on TCM.

DVD of the Week: The Tillman Story

The Tillman Story weaves three stories together: the making of Pat Tillman, how he died in Afghanistan and his family’s struggle to pull the sheets back on the US military’s cover-up.  At its core, it is the story of people who insist on truth dealing with a system that operates on perception.

I thought I knew the story. Tillman left the fame and wealth of an NFL career to enlist in the Army post-911.  He was killed in a firefight in Afghanistan.  The Army reported that he was killed while heroically charging the enemy to save his comrades.  It was later revealed that he was killed by fire from his comrades.   Still later, it became clear that the heroic death story was immediately concocted by the military for spin control or, worse, propaganda.

I didn’t know that Tillman predicted that the Army would propagandize his death and smuggled out to his wife the documentation of his wish for a civilian funeral.  I didn’t know that Tillman crouched on a hill watching the bombing of Baghdad, and said, “This war is so fucking illegal.”  I didn’t know that Tillman was with the team that waited hours to “rescue” captured soldier Jessica Lynch (abandoned by her captors) until a film crew arrived.

The US military made a huge miscalculation:  they assumed that the family that produced someone with Pat Tillman’s values would be satisfied with a phony narrative of cartoonish heroism.

The more I think about The Tillman Story, the more I admire it.  And I am increasingly grateful that Michael Moore didn’t make this movie and degrade it into a screed.  Instead, Director Amir Bar-Lev avoids the simplistic and satisfying formulas and respects his subject matter and the audience by letting the story speak for itself.

2010 in Movies: The Year's Best Movies

Here’s my list of the best films of 2010: 1)  Winter’s Bone; 2) Toy Story 33) The Social Network; 4) The Secrets in their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos); 5) Rabbit Hole; 6) Black Swan; 7) A Prophet (Un Prophete); 8 ) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; 9) Mademoiselle Chambon; 10) (tie) Ajami and Inception.

(Note:  I’m saving room for some films that I haven’t yet seen, especially Mike Leigh’s Another Year.)

Continuing with my list of 2010’s best films: The Tillman Story, True Grit, The King’s Speech, The Girl on the Train (La Fille du RER), Inside Job, Fish Tank, The Ghost Writer, Carlos, Fair Game, Hereafter, The Fighter, Solitary Man, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work and Sweetgrass.

You can watch the trailers and see my comments on all these films at Best Movies of 2010.

(Further Note:  The Secrets in their Eyes, A Prophet and Ajami were nominated for the 2009 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, but were widely released in the US in 2010.)

2010 in Movies: Documentaries

As usual several documentaries made my list of  Best Movies of 2010Inside Job, The Tillman Story, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, and Sweetgrass.

And there were still more excellent documentaries.  Ken Burns augmented his brilliant Baseball with The Tenth Inning.  PBS’s Earth Days told the story of the modern environmental movement through the voices of key players.  The Most Dangerous Man in America brought new texture to the story of Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers.   The fine PBS series Independent Lens brought us Lost Souls (Animas Perdidas), in which filmmaker Monika Navarro trailed an uncle deported to Mexico and discovered secrets in her own family.

Here’s the trailer for the magical Sweetgrass.

Updated Movies to See Right Now

Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network

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.

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

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 TV include  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.

This week's Movies To See

Mademoiselle Chambon

Mademoiselle Chambon is the year’s best romance, and very worth seeking out;  The lovers are beautifully acted by Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlaine in two of the very finest performances of the year.  I’m still pushing the hardhitting documentary The Tillman Story. There’s also the George Clooney arty thriller The American. If you can still find them, there are also two excellent crime dramas –  Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Animal Kingdom.  For a date movie, there is the charming and relatively smart romantic comedy Going the Distance.

Without strongly recommending them, I can say that The Town is a satisfying Hollywood thriller and the silly A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop has its moments.  You can skip Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

My DVD of the Week is one of the year’s best so far:  The Ghost Writer.  Don’t miss another of the year’s best, The Secret in Their Eyes either.   For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV include lots of good choices:  Seven Days in May, Badlands, Boxcar Bertha, Leave Her to Heaven, Twentieth Century and The Earrings of Madame de…, all coming up on TCM.

If you’re a baseball fan, there’s Ken Burns’ The Tenth Inning on PBS.

New Movies to See Right Now

Mademoiselle Chambon

Mademoiselle Chambon is the year’s best romance, and very worth seeking out in the next two weeks.  The lovers are beautifully acted by Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlaine in two of the very finest performances of the year.

I’m still recommending the hardhitting documentary The Tillman Story, the George Clooney arty thriller The American and the two gritty crime dramas –  Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Animal Kingdom.  For a date movie, there is the charming and relatively smart romantic comedy Going the Distance.

Without strongly recommending them, I can say that The Town is a satisfying Hollywood thriller and the silly A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop has its moments.

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

My DVD of the Week is one of the year’s best so far:   The Secret in Their Eyes.  For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV include Sunset Boulevard, What’s Up, Tiger Lily? and The Searchers, all coming up on TCM.

Movies to See Right Now

The American

This week, I’m recommending an arty thriller, The American with George Clooney and two gritty crime dramas – the true story Mesrine: Killer Instinct and the Aussie fictional Animal Kingdom.  For a date movie, there is the charming and relatively smart romantic comedy Going the Distance.  The hardhitting documentary The Tillman Story is one of the year’s best.

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

My DVD of the Week is one of the year’s best so far:   Ajami.  For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV include Underworld USA, Soylent Green, Sunset Boulevard and What’s Up, Tiger Lily? all coming up on TCM.

Movies to See: Something for Everyone!

a good date movie - Going the Distance

How about starting off the weekend with an arty thriller?  There’s The American with George Clooney.

Want gritty crime drama?  You can choose between Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Animal Kingdom (or make them into a blood splattering double feature).

Maybe a smart and charming and relatively smart romantic comedy?  Going the Distance is your pick.

Hardhitting documentary?  The Tillman Story.

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV include Underworld USA and Soylent Green, all coming up on TCM.

The Tillman Story

Pat and Kevin Tillman in Afghanistan

The more I think about The Tillman Story, the more I admire it.  And I am increasingly grateful that Michael Moore didn’t make this movie and degrade it into a screed.  Instead, Director Amir Bar-Lev avoids the simplistic and satisfying formulas and respects his subject matter and the audience by letting the story speak for itself.

I thought I knew the story. Tillman left the fame and wealth of an NFL career to enlist in the Army post-911.  He was killed in a firefight in Afghanistan.  The Army reported that he was killed while heroically charging the enemy to save his comrades.  It was later revealed that he was killed by fire from his comrades.   Still later, it became clear that the heroic death story was immediately concocted by the military for spin control or, worse, propaganda.

I didn’t know that Tillman predicted that the Army would propagandize his death and smuggled out to his wife the documentation of his wish for a civilian funeral.

I didn’t know that Tillman crouched on a hill watching the bombing of Baghdad, and said, “This war is so fucking illegal.”

I didn’t know that Tillman was with the team that waited hours to “rescue” captured soldier Jessica Lynch (abandoned by her captors) until a film crew arrived.

The US military made a huge miscalculation:  they assumed that the family that produced someone with Pat Tillman’s values would be satisfied with a phony narrative of cartoonish heroism.

The Tillman Story weaves three stories together: the making of Pat Tillman, how he died in Afghanistan and his family’s struggle to pull the sheets back on the US military’s cover-up.  At its core, it is the story of people who insist on truth dealing with a system that operates on perception.

And here is a sharp insight from Mick LaSalle:

“By the way, “The Tillman Story” has an R rating because of language. Think about that one, too: Lies are rated G and can be heard around the clock on television, but try saying the truth with the proper force and you end up with a restricted audience.”
Here is Mick LaSalle’s full review.