Weekly Movie Recommendations

Movies to See Right Now

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Nicole Kidman in THE PAPERBOY

The best bet is still Argo, Ben Affleck’s brilliant thriller based on a true story from the Iran Hostage Crisis.  It’s unquestionably the best Hollywood movie of the year so far.

But there are some other excellent choices.  The Sessions is an uncommonly evocative, funny and thoughtful film about sex leading to unexpected emotional intimacy.   The Paperboy is a deliciously pulpy crime drama, enhanced by a trashy Nicole Kidman and a canny Macy Gray. You can still find End of Watch, a thrilling cop movie that rises above the genre. I also liked the thinking person’s sci fi movie, Looper.  Perks of Being a Wallflower is an authentic coming of age story. I also recommend the realistic indie alcoholism drama Smashed.

Two lower profile films are continuing their long runs. The zany French odd couple comedy The Intouchables is a crowd pleaser – and an attendance record breaker in France. Another good choice is the compelling documentary Searching for Sugar Man, about the hunt to uncover the secret fate of an artist who didn’t know that he was a rock star.

Paul Williams Still Alive, an affecting documentary about the songwriter, omnipresent in the 70s, but not now, is available on Video On Demand.  History buffs will appreciate Ethel, the documentary on Ethel Kennedy by her daughter Rory Kennedy, still playing on HBO.  You can skip HBO’s dreary The Girl.

The dark crime comedy Seven Psychopaths is well-acted by a very deep team of my favorite actors and is embedded with belly laughs, but, as a whole, it’s just not that satisfying. The Master is a visual and acting masterpiece, but the story fizzles out.

I haven’t yet seen the blockbuster sci fi epic Cloud Atlas, which opens this weekend. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is the most overlooked film of the year, Sarah Polley’s brilliant Take This Waltz.   It’s a woman’s movie, but in the best possible way. It’s not a shallow chick flick and there’s no wedding scene. Instead, it’s an exploration of attraction and fulfillment from a woman’s perspective. Take This Waltz makes my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

DVD of the Week: Take This Waltz

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My DVD pick this week is the most overlooked film of the year, Sarah Polley’s brilliant Take This Waltz, which makes my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

Take This Waltz is a woman’s movie, but in the best possible way.  It’s not a shallow chick flick and there’s no wedding scene.  Instead, it’s an exploration of attraction and fulfillment from a woman’s perspective.

Margot (Michelle Williams) and Lou (Seth Rogen) have been happily married for five years.  They are affectionate and playful with each other, but they have hit a patch where it’s easy for one to kill the other’s buzz and for a romantic moment to misfire.  But Lou is a fundamentally good guy who loves Margot, and he is definitely not driving her into the arms of another man.

But Margot meets Daniel (Luke Kirby) and is fascinated by him. He is completely attentive – not in a chocolates and flowers kind of way, but by observing her deeply and pointing out things about her personality that she hasn’t recognized herself.  Daniel exhilarates her, and she can’t keep herself from engaging with him.

Michelle Williams is once more transcendent.  She is our best actress.  We know that Rogen can play a goodhearted, ambling guy, but when his character is profoundly hurt, he delivers a tour de force.  Sarah Silverman co-stars as Margot’s sister-in-law, a recovering alcoholic whose relapse sparks a fierce moment of truth telling.

Take This Waltz could not have been made by a man.  In particular, there is a remarkable shower scene in which women of a variety of ages and body types have the type of frank conversation that women share with each other.  Although they are all naked and fully visible, the scene is shot as to be devoid of any eroticism or exploitation.  All that is there is the content of the conversation and the female bonding.

33-year-old Canadian actress Sarah Polley wrote and directed;  Polley’s debut feature was Away From Her, my pick for best movie of 2006.

Take This Waltz is a beautifully shot film, but generally not in a showy way.  The film opens with Williams backlit as she prepares a batch of muffins; it’s a simple kitchen scene, but Polley showcases Williams as Margot reflects on her choices and their consequences.

In one extraordinary scene, the camera swirls with Margot and Daniel on an amusement park ride blaring “Video Killed the Radio Star”.  Their faces show fun, then an urge to kiss, then regret that they can’t kiss, then fun again and, finally, disappointment when the music and the ride end way too harshly.

Later, Polley reprises the muffin baking scene, paired with “Video Killed the Radio Star” in an unexpectedly rich way.  After just two features, Sarah Polley is established as one of today’s top filmmakers.

Movies to See Right Now

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Ben Affleck in ARGO

DO NOT MISS Argo, unquestionably the best Hollywood movie of the year so far.   In this true story from the Iran Hostage Crisis, a down-on-his-luck spy rescues six Americans hiding in the Canadian Ambassador’s Tehran home by pretending to make a cheesy Hollywood sci fi movie. The scenes in Tehran and Washington are pure thriller, leavened by the very funny Hollywood thread.

The Paperboy is a deliciously pulpy crime drama, enhanced by a trashy Nicole Kidman and a canny Macy Gray.

End of Watch is a thrilling cop movie that rises above the genre. I also liked the thinking person’s sci fi movie, Looper.   Perks of Being a Wallflower is an authentic coming of age story.

Two lower profile films are continuing their long runs.  The zany French odd couple comedy The Intouchables is a crowd pleaser – and an attendance record breaker in France.   Another good choice is the compelling documentary Searching for Sugar Man, about the hunt to uncover the secret fate of an artist who didn’t know that he was a rock star.

The dark crime comedy Seven Psychopaths is well-acted by a very deep team of my favorite actors and is embedded with belly laughs, but, as a whole, it’s just not that satisfying.  The Master is a visual and acting masterpiece, but the story fizzles out.

I haven’t yet seen Smashed, which opens this weekend.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is Wes Anderson’s wistfully sweet and visually singular Moonrise Kingdom. It’s on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

DVD of the Week: Moonrise Kingdom

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In the wistfully sweet and visually singular Moonrise Kingdom, two 1965 twelve-year-olds fall into profound platonic love and run away together, with a cadre of sadly weary adult authority figures in comic pursuit.  Director Wes Anderson has had some quirky hits (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore) and some quirky misses (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), but he’s always original.  This is a hit.

While very funny, the story is deeply sympathetic to the children.  As Andrew O’Hehir of Salon.com put it,

Yes, Anderson’s principal subject, and arguably his only subject, is the collision between the emotional lives of adults and children and the paradoxical tragicomedy it can so often produce. But if Anderson’s adults yearn for the comparative simplicity of childhood while his children long for the big, important feelings they believe (wrongly) go with growing up, that in itself is a distinctly adult perspective.

We know that we’re watching something unique from the very first shot, in which the camera swivels to show each room in a home as family members enter their spaces and define their relationships to each other.  As The Wife, pointed out, we look into the family home as would a child looking into a dollhouse.

In a year that is especially rich with able child film actors, the kids here (Jared Gilman and Kara Hayman) are excellent.  Bruce Willis, Ed Norton, Bill Murray and Frances McDormand are also very good as the sad, burnt-out adults.  Tilda Swinton and Harvey Keitel show up briefly in broad comic roles.

Since Moonrise Kingdom is set in 1965, Baby Boomers will appreciate the Mad Men moments –  a portable record player,  a coonskin cap and adult indifference to a kid simultaneously holding lighter fluid and a flaming torch.  The girl’s books have cover art typical of the era’s quality young fiction (a la A Wrinkle in Time).

This is an excellent movie – and one that you haven’t seen before.

Movies to See Right Now

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Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in LOOPER

As I wrote on Wednesday, I’m eagerly anticipating today’s release of Seven Psychopaths and Argo.   The best of the movies already in release is End of Watch, a thrilling cop movie that rises above the genre. I also liked the thinking person’s sci fi movie, Looper.   Perks of Being a Wallflower is an authentic coming of age story.

The inventive Sleepwalk With Me and Robot and Frank.are two excellent comedies that you haven’t seen before. Although there isn’t an unpredictable moment in Trouble with the Curve, it charmed me with its fine acting and baseball nostalgia. The Master is a visual and acting masterpiece, but the story fizzles out. The indie comedy Liberal Arts has some good moments, but overall rings hollow.

It’s worth seeking out the compelling documentary Searching for Sugar Man, about the hunt to uncover the secret fate of an artist that didn’t know that he was a rock star.

The stylishly violent crime drama Lawless is well-made and well-acted but predictable. The bike messenger thriller Premium Rush is nothing more than a chase scene, but it’s a cool chase. The Dark Night Rises is too corny and too long, but Anne Hathaway sparkles. The Words is a corny drama that insults the audience by over-explaining everything.

I haven’t yet seen the big Hollywood thriller Argo or the dark crime comedy Seven Psychopaths, which open this weekend.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is the gripping drama Detachment, a nightmare for teachers with Adrien Brody’s best performance since winning an Oscar for The Pianist.  Detachment is on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

DVD of the Week: Detachment

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My DVD pick this week is the gripping drama Detachment, with Adrien Brody’s best performance since winning an Oscar for The Pianist.  Detachment is on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

Detachment is a gripping drama about the failure of American public schools from the teachers’ point of view.   Adrien Brody plays a long-term sub on a 60-day assignment at a high school that has burned out virtually every other teacher.  I can’t use the words  “grim” or “bleak” to describe this school environment – it’s downright hellish.    It’s making their very souls decay.

The students are rebellious and disrespectful, and somehow manage to be zealously apathetic.  No parents support the teachers, but some enthusiastically abuse and undermine them.  Administrators demand better test results but offer little support beyond “flavor of the month” educational fads.   The ills of the high school in Detachment are exaggerated – this is not a documentary – but there isn’t an urban public high school in American that hasn’t endured some elements of Detachment.

Brody won an Oscar for 2002’s The Pianist, and, in Detachment, he makes the most of his best role since.  Brody plays a haunted and damaged man with strong core beliefs, who, faced with a menu of almost hopeless choices, picks his battles.

Detachment’s cast is unusually deep, and the performances are outstanding.   James Caan is particularly outstanding as the veteran educator whose wicked sense of humor can still disarm the most obnoxiously insolent teen.  Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) is excellent as the young teacher hanging on to some idealism.  Blythe Danner and William Petersen (CSI) are the veterans who have seen it all.  Lucy Liu plays the educator who is clinging by her fingerprints, trying not to flame out like the basket case played by Tim Blake Nelson.  Marcia Gay Harden and Isiah Whitlock Jr. (Cedar Rapids) are dueling administrators.  Sami Gayle and Betty Kaye are superb as two troubled kids.  Louis Zorich delivers a fine performance as Brody’s failing grandfather.  There’s just not an ordinary performance in the movie.

For all its despair, Detachment doesn’t let the audience sink into a malaise.  Director Tony Kaye (American History X) keeps thing moving, and his choices in structure and pacing work well.  This is an intense film with a dark viewpoint.  It is also a very ambitious, thoughtful and originally crafted movie – one well worth seeing.

Movies to See Right Now

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END OF WATCH

I recommend End of Watch, a thrilling cop movie that rises above the genre. I also liked the thinking person’s sci fi movie, Looper.  Perks of Being a Wallflower is an authentic coming of age story.

The inventive Sleepwalk With Me and Robot and Frank.are two excellent comedies that you haven’t seen before. Although there isn’t an unpredictable moment in Trouble with the Curve, it charmed me with its fine acting and baseball nostalgia. The Master is a visual and acting masterpiece, but the story fizzles out.  The indie comedy Liberal Arts has some good moments, but overall rings hollow.

It’s worth seeking out the compelling documentary Searching for Sugar Man, about the hunt to uncover the secret fate of an artist that didn’t know that he was a rock star.

The stylishly violent crime drama Lawless is well-made and well-acted but predictable. The bike messenger thriller Premium Rush is nothing more than a chase scene, but it’s a cool chase. The Dark Night Rises is too corny and too long, but Anne Hathaway sparkles. The Words is a corny drama that insults the audience by over-explaining everything.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is the story of aged Brits seeking a low-budget retirement in India, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It is much more than a fish-out-of-water comedy, and has deservedly become they year’s biggest indie hit.

DVD of the Week: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

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As you can see from the trailer, this story of aged Brits seeking a low-budget retirement in India looks like enjoyable fluff with a great cast.  I was expecting a fish-out-of-water comedy, but found much more than that.  Besides dealing with the culture shock issues (which are plenty funny), the characters each forge their own journeys of self-discovery.

Of course, the cast is a superb collection of British acting talent:  Bill Nighy, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith,  Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey).  Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire is their genial and scattered host.

Nighy is especially brilliant as a guy trapped too long by his own profound decency.  Dench delivers an equally outstanding performance as a woman determined to make her own way for the first time.  In another acting gem, Tom Wilkinson follows a thread from his secret past and uncovers a moving revelation.

But those are just the highlights.  The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is justifiably the biggest indie hit of the year.

Movies to See Right Now

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Jake Gylenhaal and Michael Pena in END OF WATCH

The best of the new movies is End of Watch, a thrilling cop movie that rises above the genre.   Although there isn’t an unpredictable moment in Trouble with the Curve, it charmed me with its fine acting and baseball nostalgia.  The Master is a visual and acting masterpiece, but the story fizzles out.

We still have a couple of fine comedies in theaters, most recently Sleepwalk With Me.  Frank Langella’s performance in Robot and Frank elevates the film from a pretty good comedy to a revealing study of getting older.

It’s worth seeking out the compelling documentary Searching for Sugar Man, about the hunt to uncover the secret fate of an artist that didn’t know that he was a rock star.

The stylishly violent crime drama Lawless is well-made and well-acted but predictable. The bike messenger thriller Premium Rush is nothing more than a chase scene, but it’s a cool chase. The Dark Night Rises is too corny and too long, but Anne Hathaway sparkles. The Words is a corny drama that insults the audience by over-explaining everything.

I haven’t yet seen the screen version of the coming of age best seller The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the sci fi hitman thriller Looper or the campus comedy Liberal Arts, which open widely this week.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is Bernie, a very funny dark comedy by Richard Linklater, shows off Jack Black’s talents in a whole new light.  Bernie makes my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

DVD of the Week: Bernie

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BERNIE

This is one very funny movie. Playing against type, Jack Black is Bernie, an assistant funeral director who is the kindest, most generous guy in a small East Texas town. Bernie becomes entangled with the most malicious town resident, the rich widow played by Shirley MacLaine. We are used to seeing Black playing venal and devious characters, but Bernie is utterly good-hearted. He has built up so much good will in the community that when he snaps and commits one very gravely wrong act, he is still locally beloved. Black also gets to show off his singing voice on some heartfelt gospel hymns.

But the real main character is really the East Texas town of Carthage. Director Richard Linklater has the local residents (some played by actors) tell the story in capsule interviews. Through this chorus, we see how the locals view Bernie and the widow, and we learn a lot about the local values, customs and colorful language. Linklater is from East Texas himself and clearly revels in sharing the culture with us. It’s very, very funny.

The plot takes one improbably funny turn after another – but it’s a true story, which makes it even funnier. You can look it up in the New York Times [major spoilers in the article]. During the end credits, we even see Jack Black conversing with the real Bernie at Bernie’s current residence.

(I’m not embedding the trailer, because it doesn’t make clear that Jack Black’s character is not the winking, edgy guy that he usually plays. Just see the movie.)

Bernie is on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.