Friday, January 29, 2010

New Last Week:


Good Soldier: What is Courage?

Invention of Lying

Lorna’s Silence


What I've been watching: Adam

A young woman moves into a new apartment and becomes attracted to her new neighbor, Adam. He is a handsome and highly functional young man with Asperger’s syndrome. They have a relationship of a sort which is tested by the ever present complications of life. The film is very sweet and sensitive—a touching love story, and the acting is terrific, particularly Hugh Dancy as Adam.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

What I've been watching:

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
Cordelia Gray is a serious young woman who has inherited a private detective business. With the help of her assistant she sets about investigating crimes. This was a BBC mystery mini-series from the books of P.D. James. The series is very well-done, exciting and leaves you wanting more.

Out of Sight
A career bank robber breaks out of jail and kidnaps a US Marshal in the process. When the cons head for Detroit to pull off their final big scam, the Marshal is put on their case but finds she is attracted to one of them and has second thoughts about bringing them in. Very funny!

Weather Girl
After catching her boyfriend, the anchorman, with the co-anchor, the weather girl has a meltdown on live TV. This ruins her credibility and temporarily ends her career. She is forced to move in with her younger brother and his friend and take up waitressing. When the TV station invites her to come back because the audience loved that “sassy” weather girl, she is forced to re-think what she wants out of life. This is a cute little film.

New This Week:


The Burning Plain
Sylvia is a beautiful restaurant manager whose cool, professional demeanor masks the sexually charged storm within. When a stranger from Mexico confronts her with her mysterious past, Sylvia is launched into a journey through space and time that inextricably connects her to these disparate characters, all of whom are grappling with their own romantic destinies. Gina is a housewife trapped in a loveless marriage who finds solace and passion in an illicit affair. Mariana is a young woman coping with the death of her mother, who falls in love with a young man her father despises. Though separated by time and distance, these women find their lives linked by the forces of love and fate.

Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and he finds himself without a job. He decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled 'Departures' thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency. He discovers that the job is actually for a 'Nokanshi' or 'encoffineer,' a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art, acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. In Japanese.

The Hurt Locker

In the Loop
The British Prime Minister and the U.S. President infer that they want to embark on a war in the Middle East. Simon Foster, the British Minister for International Development states, off the cuff in a radio interview, that 'war is unforeseeable.' He later tries to recant his statement to news reporters with another statement. Both remarks start a series of maneuverings on both sides by both the pro- and anti-war factions in both governments. U.S. Assistant Secretary for Diplomacy Karen Clarke and U.S. Lieutenant General George Miller lead the anti-war faction, against chief warmonger Linton Barwick. Each principle with their staff, some of whom do not agree with their political master, will do whatever he or she needs to achieve the desired end goal. This includes having fake meetings, having fake committees, spinning information, leaking information and documents, and doctoring documents. These maneuverings are most important in the lead up to the UN vote on the issue.

It Might Get Loud
Documents the day three generations of electric guitar players met to share their own stories on how they developed their own unique sound and playing style. Viewers will hear fresh music from each artist and witness intimate moments as they discuss what influences how they write and play.

Like Stars on Earth
Eight-year-old Ishaan can't seem to get anything right in class and gets into more trouble than his parents can handle. They pack him off to boarding school to 'be disciplined,' and his art teacher, Nikumbh, realizes that something is wrong and sets out to discover what it is. With time, patience, and care, Nikumbh helps Ishann find himself. In Hindi and English.


Out of Sight


The Way We Get By

Thursday, January 7, 2010

New This Week:


Armchair Thrillers
This 4 volume set of psychological thrillers was originally televised in Britain in the 1970’s and 80’s and was a great success. This is the first of two Armchair Thriller series. The four titles included in this set are: Dying Day, starring a young Ian McKellen who plays a lonely man who believes he is about to be murdered; The Limbo Connection where a man’s wife vanishes without a trace; Rachel in Danger about a young girl setting off to meet the father she never knew, and The Victim about a wealthy man who embarks on a hunt for his daughters kidnapper. All of the titles involve ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances with the first two being quite eerie while the others are suspenseful. The production quality is high although a bit dated but on the whole this is a thoroughly enjoyable set. If you are a fan of British mysteries you’ll love these films!

Bell, Book and Candle (1958)
Kim Novak is a witch who casts a spell on a book publisher (James Stewart) to make him fall in love with her. He is most unhappy when he finds out what happened.

Big Night (1996)

Lost Souls (2000)
For 2000 years, he has feasted on pain, sown the seeds of chaos ... and waited. But now, the Devil will take human form and plunge humanity into eternal darkness-- unless one woman can stop him. Maya Larkin (Winona Ryder) must race against time and all the forces of evil to convince a born skeptic (Ben Chaplin) that he's the unwitting, chosen pawn in a shocking Satanic conspiracy that will end the world as we know it.

Munyurangabo (Rwandan)
An orphan of the Rwandan genocide travels from Kigali to the countryside on a quest for justice. ““Munyurangabo” considers the genocide in Rwanda entirely through the lives of two adolescent boys…. It is in every frame a beautiful and powerful film — a masterpiece.”—Roger Ebert.

Weather Girl
Sylvia is quickly succumbing to the stresses of work and a romance-gone-wrong with a devilishly handsome newscaster. Sylvia is a Seattle morning weather anchor who has a melt down live on-air. At 35, she is now unemployed and lacks career prospects. She has to move in with her brother, but soon begins dating a younger man - her brothers’ best friend. Now, Sylvia has to reckon with the difference between growing old and growing up.

The Cove

Follows animal rights activist Richard O'Barry as he and his film crew document the abuse of wild dolphins and the poisoning of the waters by fishermen in the coastal Japanese town of Taiji. “"The Cove," a heartbreaking documentary, describes how Richard O'Barry, director Louie Psihoyos and a team of adventurers penetrated the tight security around the Taiji cove and obtained forbidden footage of the mass slaughter of dolphins…. There are many documentaries angry about the human destruction of the planetary peace. This is one of the very best — a certain Oscar nominee.”—Roger Ebert.