Another Year

The latest from Mike Leigh

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This month, British filmmaker Mike Leigh delivers what could be one of the best films of the year, Another Year.  Leigh has been nominated for four screenwriting Oscars and two directing Oscars, and is best known in the US for art house favorites Happy-Go-Lucky, Vera Drake, Secrets and Lies,  Topsy-Turvy and Career Girls.

Leigh is known for outlining a story, rather than writing a word-for-word script.  He then develops the scenes and dialogue with his actors in rehearsal.  He is especially notable for directing actresses to Best Actress recognition.   Sally Hawkins won a Golden Globe for Happy-Go-Lucky.  Imelda Staunton was Oscar-nominated for Vera Drake, as was Brenda Blythen for Secrets and Lies.

In my opinion, Leigh’s masterpiece is his 1999 Secrets and Lies.

Another Year was uniformly celebrated at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film observes a year in the life of a happily married couple (Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen).  They and we pick up insights about themselves and their family and friends.

Movies I'm Looking Forward To: Early December Edition

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I’ve updated the Movies I’m Looking Forward To page to add trailers and descriptions of some key December releases.

This weekend brings us Black Swan with Natalie Portman and I Love You, Phillip Morris with Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.

December 17 may be the best opening weekend for quality films all year.   I’ve already seen the exquisite drama Rabbit Hole, with Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhardt.  We can also see Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter, Julie Taymor’s version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, The Company Men and the sci fi TRON 2: Legacy.

And later in the month will come Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, the Coen Brothers’ True Grit, Javier Bardem in Biutiful and Kevin Spacey in Casino Jack.  Just in time to qualify for Oscars, Master Director Mike Leigh will release Another Year, and Peter Weir will showcase The Way Back.

The year’s final release will be the offbeat romance Blue Valentine, with Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.

See my Movies I’m Looking Forward To page for descriptions, image and trailers.

Here’s the trailer for Rabbit Hole.

Movies I'm Looking Forward To: Early November Edition

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I’ve updated the Movies I’m Looking Forward To page to add trailers and descriptions of some key November releases.

November 5 brings us Fair Game and Welcome to the Rileys. Ripped from the headlines, Fair Game is the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson story with Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. Welcome to the Rileys was a hit at Sundance hit featuring James Gandolfini as a Midwestern plumbing contractor who visits New Orleans for a conference, meets teen runaway Kristin Stewart, and decides to stay.

On November 26, we’ll see some major Oscar bait with Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter in The King’s Speech.

I’ve also listed the big December movies, including The Black Swan with Natalie Portman, The Fighter with Mark Wahlberg, Julie Taymor’s The Tempest, the Coen Brothers’ True Grit and Mike Leigh’s Another Year.

Here’s the trailer for The King’s Speech.

More Movies I'm Looking Forward To

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September is approaching, and so is the Fall movie season, when the studios push their Oscar contenders.  So I have updated my Movies I’m Looking Forward To page with new titles and new trailers.

There are films by Clint Eastwood, Mike Leigh, Terrence Malick, Peter Weir, Sophia Coppola, Julie Taymor and the Coen Brothers.  Two of my favorite lesser-known directors, Suzanne Bier (Brothers, After the Wedding, Things We Lost in the Fire) of Denmark and Guillaume Canet (Tell No One) of France, have new movies.  Darren Aronofsky will release his newest film after hitting it big with The Wrestler – Black Swan with Natalie Portman.

Helen Mirren will star in three movies: The Debt, Brighton Rock and The Tempest.

The Oscar Bait includes The Town, The Fighter, Another Year, Somewhere, Hereafter, True Grit, Howl, The Way Back and The Tree of Life.  Wall Street: The Money Never Sleeps and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest look to me like the surest Fall hits.   Another Year, The Town, Hereafter and The Way Back look like they will be the best movies.  We should have a better feel for the buzz after Toronto’s film fest in mid-September.

Visit Movies I’m Looking Forward To for more descriptions and trailers.

Movies I'm Looking Forward To – Updated

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I’ve updated my Movies I’m Looking Forward To page (also known as The Paula Page).  I’ve included the movie Get Low and trailers or clips from/about Get Low, The Girl Who Played With Fire, Cane Toads: The Conquest, Welcome to the Rileys, Animal Kingdom, Uncle Boonmee  and Carlos.

I’m still the most eager to see Mike Leigh’s Another Year, The Girl Who Played With Fire, The Kids Are Alright, Poetry, Certified Copy, Inside Job and Cane Toads.

I had already posted the trailers for The Kids Are Alright and Homewrecker/The Locksmith, plus the teaser for Certified Copy (Copie Conforme).

Other movies featured include The Square, Biutiful, Howl, The American, Blue Valentine, Of Gods and Men (Des Hommes et des Dieu), One Too Many Mornings and Aurora.

Robert Duvall, Lucas Black and Bill Murray in Get Low

Movies I'm Looking Forward To

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Here’s my new Movies I’m Looking Forward To page.  Click to get the buzz on promising films and to see trailers.

If I were programming a theater, I would make sure I had locked up Toy Story 3, The Kids Are All Right, Another Year and Inside Job.  I would take a flyer on The Certified Copy, Poetry and Uncle Boonmee.  And I would try to track down The Locksmith, Everyone Else, The Square and Cane Toads.

On July 9, I’ll be watching for The Girl Who Played With Fire, which follows my personal favorite film of the year so far, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo as the second part of Stieg Larssen’s trilogy.  

This post is for you, Paula.