DVD of the Week: The Secret in Their Eyes

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The Secret in their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos): This year’s Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Picture, is a police procedural set in Argentina with two breathtaking plot twists, original characters, a mature romance and one breathtaking, “how did they do it?” shot.  The story centers on a murder in Argentina’s politically turbulent 1970s, but most of the story takes place twenty years later when a retired cop revisits the murder.

Veteran Argentine actor Ricardo Darin shines once again in a Joe Mantegna-type role.  Darin leads an excellent cast, including Guillermo Francella, who brings alive the character of Darin’s drunk assistant.

Director Juan Jose Campanella is receiving justifiable praise for the amazing shot of a police search in a filled and frenzied soccer stadium.  It ranks as one of the great single shots, along with the kitchen entrance in Goodfellas and the battle scene in Children of Men.

It’s one of my Best Movies of 2010 So Far.

Mademoiselle Chambon

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Mademoiselle Chambon is the year’s best romance.  Finding one’s soul mate in middle age, when one may have serious commitments, can be heartbreaking.  Here, the two people are not looking for romance or even for a fling.  He is a happily married construction worker.  She is his son’s teacher.  They meet (not cute) and do not fall in love (or lust) at first sight. He is unexpectedly touched by something she does, and she is touched that he is touched.  Despite their wariness, they fall in love.

The lovers are beautifully acted by Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlaine in two of the very finest performances of the year.

5 Classic American Movies to Start With

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All About Eve: "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"

My sister-in-law just asked me a great question:  name five movies that will introduce a high school student to classic American films.  (Even more interesting, the student is here on an exchange program from Europe.)   So I came up with a list in just a few minutes: a drama, a comedy, a Western, a suspense thriller and a film noir:

All About Eve

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Strangers on a Train

Double Indemnity

Sullivan’s Travels

If you see these five movies, you will be introduced to directors John Ford, Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Preston Sturges, plus movie stars John Wayne, James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Marilyn Monroe, Edward G. Robinson, Lee Marvin, George Sanders, Joel McRae and Veronica Lake – not a bad intro.

To see descriptions along with trailers or clips, go to A Classic American Movie Primer – 5 to Start With.

A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop

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A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop is a remake of the Coen Brothers great neo-noir Blood Simple, set in feudal China. I love Blood Simple.  Woman Gun Noodle Shop is a pretty faithful remake, but is a far less successful film, at least to this Western viewer.  Both films tell the story of venal and carnal people committing selfish and deadly acts; in both films, the darkness of the story is leavened by humor.  However, Blood Simple works because of the Coen Brothers subversively dry, ironic humor.  The humor in Woman Gun Noodle Shop is very broad;  a Chinese friend tells me that this “is very Chinese” and reflects traditions of other Chinese performance mediums.  Anyway, the humor was too broad for me.

One thing that DOES work: the beautifully severe landscape of northwest China is another character in the film.

Movies to See Right Now

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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.

The Town

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Ben Affleck knows Boston, which is the best thing about this crime drama about thieves desperately evading the FBI.  The Town is a well made, satisfying Hollywood action thriller, but nothing more.  The movie really had me hooked through the second act with the world of Irish professional criminals in Charleston, Mass.  But the end of the movie wraps up everything way too neatly.

Ben Affleck the actor, Mad Men’s Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, and The Hurt Locker‘s Jeremy Renner are all good.  Chris Cooper is excellent in a five-minute scene.

Ben Affleck proved in Gone Baby Gone that he can be a fine director, and hopefully he will reach that standard again.

DVD of the Week: Ajami

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Ajami is an ultra-realistic crime drama set in a scruffy neighborhood in Jaffa, Israel.  The story weaves together Arab Christians and Arab Muslims and both religious and non-religious Israeli Jews.  Everyone aspires to make a living and live in personal safety, but the circumstances and tribal identities make this very difficult at best.  There are two trans-religious romances, but no one is going to live happily ever after.

It’s a film that doesn’t make any overt political statements, but shows what is from the perspective of individual of different backgrounds.  Given their own experiences, it’s easy to understand the motivations of each character.

Ajami was co-writtten and co-directed by Scandar Copti, a Jaffa-born Palestinian, and Yaron Shoni, an Israeli Jew.   After seeing the film, I was surprised to learn that it has no trained actors – all of the roles are played by real-life residents who improvised their lines to follow the story line.

Ajami was nominated for the most recent Best Foreign Language Oscar, was released earlier this year in US art houses and is now available on DVD..

Co-Director Scandar Copti discusses the process of using non-actors improvising within a script framework.

Movies to See: Something for Everyone!

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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.

Going the Distance

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Drew Barrymore and Justin Long star in that rarity –  a sweet, smart, funny and successful romantic comedy for adults.  Screenwriter Geoff LaTulippe tries a novel approach that respects the audience- creating characters like the ones we know in real life, who talk and act like real people do.  Instead of an implausible set-up, the conflict here is the real problem of a bi-coastal romance.

Her sister, played by Christina Applegate, is wound very tight for comic effect, but I know people like her.  His friends are WAY eccentric, but their exaggerated quirkiness delivers laughs without  distracting from the central romance.  Going the Distance has the toilet humor of a guy flick, but both genders were yukking it up at the screening I attended.