Some Great Movies Lately.

I have experienced some wonderful movies lately. Some are being released on DVD, some are still in theaters. Here are just a few of my favorites! I have included links to most of the official websites of the films listed below so you can go check out the trailers and so on. I will try to give a brief description of the movies but mostly I want you to just take my word for it! Ha!

The White Ribbon: Germany. subtitles. This film follows a small town that has been plagued with some mysterious “accidents” befalling it’s folk.. It’s a bit sinister and the characters are so pale and blond, you just know something awful is gonna happen! The movie is just plain wonderful. It’s shot in black & white (which I love) and has a real “old school” feel. It also won a whole bunch of awards including an Academy Award nomination for “Best Foreign Language” film. On DVD

Mother:: Korea. subtitles. I LOVED this movie. It has twists and mystery. This mother’s son (he’s mentally disabled) has been accused of murder and she sets out to prove his innocence. Don’t let the trailer fool you. This movie has humor galore yet it also has brutality and suspense. Loved, loved LOVED this movie. A Must see!!!! On DVD

Please Give: US. . Sweet real comedy set in Manhatten. It’s about modern life, loss & family. It’s not a barrel of laughs but it’s more comedy than drama, ya dig? In theaters.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo: Sweden, subtitles. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this movie.This film is so great that the Hollywood remake has already been cast. Eww. Try to catch the Swedish version. There is a trilogy of these films based on the books of journalist turned crime writer: Stieg Larsson, the first in his “Millennium Trilogy.” One of the main characters in this film is the original Kick Ass. Lisbeth Salander is a super-hacker, tough, smart and takes no crap from anyone. She uses her wits and then throws in a few well aimed kicks. She’s a Goth girl with piercings, and a huge dragon tattoo on her back. And we like her because she ain’t hurting nobody who doesn’t deserve it. And she has some dark pain in her life. We see glimpses of it. The other main character is Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist for a paper called the Millenium. One of his big whistle blowing stories suspiciously falls apart and he is sentenced to jail time for libel. Six months before he is supposed to serve his sentence he is hired to discover the mystery behind the disappearance of the beloved niece of a wealthy industrialist named Vangar. Vangar suspects a family member may have had something to do with it. The entire family is rich, vengeful and full of secrets. Our two heroes connect (super journalist sleuth and super hacker) and begin an unlikely partnership to solve the mystery. It’s a suspense murder mystery that I expected to be thick with dread and darkness. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of darkness and some brutality but it’s not in the tone of the film. Did I mention that I loved this movie? I also loved the fact that they used the same computer I use at home. In some theaters. On DVD. Roger Ebert gives it four stars!
The second movie in the trilogy – The Girl Who Played With Fire – is in theaters now.

Greenberg: US. I liked this film very much. it stars Ben Stiller as a troubled, whiny-assed underachiever fresh out of a nervous breakdown and institution, who house sits for his brother and continues to whine, act out and confuse his friends. It’s a nice “slice of life” film. On DVD.

October Country: US Documentary. This doc follows the life of an American family and because it’s a family, there’s lotsa bullshit going on: like their daughter’s screwed-up life decisions. Mom & dad are still married. They have two daughters who have both gotten involved with abusive men, gotten beaten, pregnant and have no money. We watch the second generation start the cycle. It’s funny to watch these women discuss their experiences as a “cycle.” There’s also an aunt who wanders the cemetery communicating with the spirits. She calls herself a a witch, wears a hooded long velvet cape. You can imagine how well that goes over with her Vietnam War Veteran brother… The trailer did this film no favors. It sets you up to dislike them or look down on the people before you met them. You thought you were gonna see a film about some poor trash out ruining their lives, but these folks are hard working caring people. They were likable folk. There are parts where you feel sorry for the messes they gotten themselves into but no one is self pitying here. I liked it.

Death at a Funeral: US. I saw the original British version when it came out and when I heard about this one I was very curious. It is a madcap comedy set at Dad’s funeral. Dad was on the down-low with a midget who shows up at the funeral to extort some money. Then there’s the cousin with the white boyfriend who has been accidently dosed with LSD, the elderly curmudgeon uncle (Danny Glover) Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence are so great as his two sons. One is a wildly successful writer, the other has not so much success but he does have dreams of being a writer. Funny one this. On DVD

The Ghost Writer: Roman Polanski’s latest film. This movie was wonderful. It felt like Hitchcock. It’s another mystery, suspense film and it’s cast with some of my favorite actors: Ian McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, tom Wilkinson, Timothy Hutton and Kim Cattrall. McGregor plays a newly hired ghost writer for ex Prime Minster Brosnan – which is a great gig for a writer. Did I mention that the last ghost writer for the PM was killed in an unfortunate “accident”? Will our new hero also find himself an unfortunate victim of an accident? Intrigue, lies, mysterious deaths, government plots… It’s a good one! Coming to DVD August 3, 2010.

Vincere: Italian. subtitles. Oh MY!! This epic, beautiful film blew me away. It’s set in Italy and follows the beginning of a young Mussolini and the life of his first wife. She falls passionately in love with Benito Mussolini and gives up everything to help him achieve his goals. She has a child with him and when he begins his ascent into power, he dumps her and disowns the child. She doesn’t stand for it and that’s when her real troubles begin because he is powerful and his “people’s” goal is to silence her. This movie is filled with passion for everything: ideals, love, sex and justice. LOVED it!!!!!

Joan Rivers, A Piece of Work: US. This documentary follows this Show business veteran around for a year. It is hilarious, poignant, insightful and I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. Joan is hilarious. And she’s tough, but not as tough as you think. She talks about disappointment – hell, she talks about show biz!!! You gotta see this piece of work!! Trust me! In theaters.

Back to the movies. I want to see: Iron Man 2, SATC, Toy Story 3 (what’s with all of the sequels?) Winter Bone, I Am Love – I gotta lot of movie watching to do!!!