Movie Recommendations, Rants and Ruminations
I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback on the recent post updating my 10 Most Memorable Food Scenes – the movie food scenes that are the most amusing, shocking, etc. But what about the most tantalizing food movies? They are on a completely different list: 10 Food Porn Movies.
Nobody will be surprised that I’ve included Babette’s Feast or Eat Drink Man Woman. But I also feature four 2010 films. Visit the 10 Food Porn Movies for the other picks, trailers, images and even a link to some recipes.
This documentary chronicles the physically grueling and emotionally draining three-day competition for the MOF, the highest designation for French pastry chefs. Amid impossibly towering sugar sculptures and delectable cream puffs and layer cakes, we see the essential cores of competition – aspiration, ambition, perseverance, commitment, desperation, heartbreak and victory. Kings of Pastry is directed by the brilliant documentarians Chris Hegedus and DA Pennebaker (The War Room).
It has earned a spot on my list of 10 Food Porn Movies.
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.
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.
For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.
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 TV include Stagecoach, A Shot in the Dark and The Searchers on TCM.
Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhardt play a couple that lost their four-year-old son eight months ago, and are grieving in different ways and at different paces. David Lindsay-Abaire’s screenplay is based on his Pulitzer- and Tony-winning play, and it’s as brilliant an exploration of the grieving process as I’ve ever seen. There is just enough suspense and humor to make the film eminently watchable despite the grim subject. Kidman, Eckhardt, Sandra Oh, Dianne Wiest and newcomer Miles Teller lead an excellent cast.
This is an exquisite film – one of the year’s best.
Inception is the year’s most successful Hollywood blockbuster and now available on DVD. Because it was written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Dark Knight), we expected it to be brilliantly inventive and it exceeds that expectation. The story places the characters in reality and at least three layers of dreams simultaneously. A smart viewer can follow 85% of the story – which is just enough. Then you can go out to dinner and argue over the other 15%. The Wife said it was “like The Wizard of Oz on acid”.
Leonardo DiCaprio leads the cast, but the supporting players give the best performances: Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard, Pete Postlethwaite, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, Tom Berenger and Tom Hardy.
For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.
Natalie Portman plays a ballet dancer competing for the role of a lifetime. Her obsession with perfection is at once the key to her potential triumph and her potential ruin. Barbara Hershey brilliantly plays what we first see as another smothering stage mother, but soon learn to be something even more disturbing. Vincent Cassell (Mesrine) captures the charisma of the swaggering dance master who pushes the ballerina mercilessly. Portman’s dancer has the fragility of a porcelain teacup, and, as she slathers herself with more and more stress, we wonder just when, not if, she’ll break. The tension crescendos, and the climactic performance of Swan Lake is thrilling.
Fresh from The Wrestler, Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan is another directing triumph. In fact, parts of Black Swan are as trippy as Aronofsky’s brilliant Requiem for a Dream. I expect Aronofsky, Portman and Hershey to be nominated for Oscars.
This iconic 1939 Western was John Ford’s first Western sound film and the first of the seven that he shot in Monument Valley. It’s a conventional Western plot, exquisitely executed with a young and vital John Wayne leading an outstanding cast. Watch for stuntman Yakima Canutt jumping from horse to horse in front of the runaway stagecoach. Plays on TCM on Saturday, December 18
For other great movie choices on TV, see my Movies on TV.
Let’s see if you can help a Hollywood studio with a marketing problem. Suppose you have made a highbrow, smart, quirky film about a man who emerges from a disabling depression by communicating only through a beaver hand puppet. And the film is titled The Beaver.
Now suppose that the guy’s wife is played by the eminently respectable, sympathetic and likable Jodie Foster, who also directs the film. Everybody always likes Jodie Foster, right?
With me so far? Wonder what the marketing problem is? Well, the problem is that the audience must sympathize with the husband and root for him to learn how to express his feelings appropriately. And that husband is played by Mel Gibson.
See the problem?
To make things worse for poor Jodie Foster, her film was already in the can and awaiting a Fall 2010 release when the tapes of Mel threatening his real life ex were splattered across the global media.
The Beaver reportedly had a $19 million budget and finished shooting in November 2009. The release date is now the vague “2011”. But, never fear, the trailer is here!
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.
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.
For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.
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 TV include The Caine Mutiny, Annie Hall, Easy Rider and Stagecoach on TCM.