RYAN REYNOLDS,RACHEL WEISZ,ISLA FISHER,EMILY BANKS,ABIGAIL BRESLIN
A very funny,smart,witty scriptabout relationships. Ryan Reynolds tells his daughter the story of how he met her mother, but, he decides to tell her about the 3 women he knew and change the names, then let her decide which one he ultimately married. Great performance by Ryan Reynolds and all three females roles are very well written. A superior relationship movie.
CHRISTIAN SLATER,WILLAM MACY,ELISHA CUTHBERT
A quirky dark drama about a frustrated office worker who fantasizes going on a killing rampage at his office, until the day another co-worker does the same thing. He kills the man and is catapulted to heroic status with the company president, Bill Macy.
he forms a close friendship with the woman he saved, until, she asks him to end her life. Brilliant performance by Christian Slater.
KEVIN CLINE
A disturbing, poignant movie about the sex slave trade in North America. Set largely in Mexico, it follows the kidnapping of a young Mexican girl by a trade ring, taking women,girls and boys to an illegal auction in New Jersey. Her brother follows the trail to the US, where he makes an unlikely alliance with a policeman, who lost his own daughter to the same sordid underworld. They must track down the slave traders before they lose the girl forever.
DANIEL DAY LEWIS
A good, not a great movie, it is more a platform for a tour de force performance by Daniel Day Lewis as a greedy,amoral,vicious oilman at the turn of the century. It would have been a great movie if there had been a real story to it.
TOMMY LEE JONES,CHARLIZE THERON
Very good performances in this movie about a man looking for his son, who has returned from Iraq and disappeared. The driving point of the film is the effect of the war on the soldiers that fight it, and the demons they bring home with them.
GEORGE CLOONEY,TILDA SWINTON,TOM WILKINSON
An extremely well written legal thriller and fine performances. The movie is about a law firm and the company they represent in a multi billion dollar class action lawsuit, when the lead defense lawyer has a mental breakdown. Clooney is a "fixer" who must pull the case and players together.
FRENCH WITH SUBTITLES
MARION COTILLARD
The life of Edith Piaf is vividly portrayed in a beautiful film, with a brilliant performance by Marion Cotillard, who won the Oscar for her role.
DIRECTED BY BRIAN DEPALMA
Distubing and provoking movie about the effect of war on soldiers and the Iraq war. Based on a real incident, the story is about a group of soldiers who raided an Iraqi home, raped a teenager, murdered the family and tried to plant evidence.
The larger story is how you get to this point and how the war makes sociopaths out of ordinary soldiers.
DIRECTED BY GRIFFIN DUNNE
STARRING DIANE LANE,DONALD SUTHERLAND
After taking a drug bust for his mother, she takes her son to the home of an ultra rich friend, where he learns that the rich are more fierce and strange than the primitive tribes he has studied as the son of an anthropologist. The tribe of the rich of upper New York state are a fascinating study until things turn very dark and dangerous.
DIRECTED BY CHARLES HERMAN-WURMFIELD
WRITTEN BY AND STARRING JENNIFER WESTFELDT AND HEATHER JUERGENSEN
Called the gay "Annie Hall", this very funny and smart movie does have the irony of a Woody Allen film. It certainly has the neurotic characters and the great dialogue. It is a romantic comedy for the distaff side that makes it clear that life is no less complicated on the other side. Very smart, very well acted.
FRENCH (SUBTITLED)
A very smart,witty comedy about a French director and an English actress who collaborated in movies and romance in the 70's, but, had a very bad breakup. 30 years later the BAFTA want to present a lifetime film award to him and have his partner present it. Only, they despise each other, but, when they reunite sparks and comedy ensue.
INDIAN (SUBTITLED)
Another controversial film from Canadian director Deepa Mehta, about the restrictive and stifling role of women in traditional Indian marriage. The two women in the film are drawn to each other as friends and then lovers because of the circumstances in their lives.
RUSSELL CROWE,CHRISTIAN BALE
A great western and remake about honor and commitment.
Crowe gives a complex fascinating performance as an enigmatic outlaw. Bale is a crippled war vet who needs money and self respect by taking the job of escorting a dangerous outlaw to the train station. Very good story, fine acting, script. Best western since Unforgiven.
WILLIAM H MACY,NEVE CAMPBELL,DONALD SUTHERLAND
A fine,well told dramatic film about a man trapped in the family business who wants out. Problem is the family business is contract killing and his father will not hear of it. Macy's problem is exacerbated when he meets a vibrant,sexy young woman at his therapist office. The problem comes to a head when his family is threatened.
DIRECTED BY KIMBERLY PIERCE (BOYS DON'T CRY)
Very good dramatic movie illuminating the Bush government's appalling and deceitful policy of invoking a clause in the military contract to prevent veterans from leaving the service and forcing them to go back to Iraq. They have no recourse except to flee the country or go on the run. Ryan Phillippe gives his best performance as a veteran who believes he has been betrayed by the army and refuses to go back to the war.
The film also shows the toll the war has taken on the returning veterans and their close family.
DIRECTED BY MARC FORSTER
AFGHANI (SUBTITLED)
A brilliant movie, one of the very best of the year, is a story of friendship, loyalty, betrayal and redemption. It tells the story of two boyhood friends in Afghanistan in 1978, and how a moment of cowardice and dishonesty ended that friendship. The story continues with one boy moving to the US. Years later, in the 1990's, he is called by an old family friend and must make a dangerous journey back to Afghanistan to right a wrong and redeem his friendship. A very extraordinary film, rich in the customs and traditions of the country, a greta story, very well acted.
HINDI (SUBTITLED)
DIRECTED BY MIRA NAIR
Very funny and warm drama about an arranged marriage in a large extended Punjabi household, with all the controlled chaos of such an occasion. It is a great portrait of the Punjabi people, and weaves many interconnected stories and family secrets.
Very good script and well acted.
DIRECTED BY SIDNEY LUMET
STARRING PHILLIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN,ETHAN HAWKE,ALBERT FINNEY,MARISA TOMEI
The best movie of 2008 to date, and directed by one of the great directors, it is a story of greed and tragedy. Two brothers in need of money have a simple plan to get some, rob their parent's jewelry store. The plan goes horribly wrong, and things go from bad to worse, and keep spiraling out of control, to its tragic conclusion. Wonderful script, many great acting performances, absolutely excellent film.
STARRING RYAN GOSLING
A funny and warm story about a socially and emotionally retarded guy, who fears women and close contact, who orders a blow up sex doll off the internet and believes it is a real woman. His family are in shock, but, the doctor convinces them that they must go along with the delusion to help his recovery.
In fact, soon, everyone in the community is treating "Bianca" like she were real, and the nonsense continues. Another fine and different role for Ryan Gosling.
Another raunchy and smart comedy from the Apotow machine.
Jason Siegal has been dumped by his girlfriend and cannot cope. His freind suggests he get away to Hawaii, but, she is there with her new boyfriend. Craziness and bizarre events ensue amidst really smart and raunchy laughs.
Directed by Rod Lurie
Sam Jackson,Josh Hartnett,Alan Alda
Josh Hartnett is a reporter whose stories lack depth and soul, but, things change when he meets a homeless man who claims that he was a famous heavyweight boxer. Hartnett writes a powerful story of the rise and fall of a sports legend that catapults him to fame. Just as he is enjoying his new found reputation as a writer, truths come to light that threaten to destroy everything. based on a true story.
FRANK LANGELLA,LILI TAYLOR
The story of a great writer who has fallen off the lierary radar and wants to write one more book to redeem his reputation. he is approached by an ambitious grad student who wants to convince him that she can revive interest in his work with her post grad treatise. He is reluctant to participate because it may be a distraction from his own writing, but, he is captivated by her intelligence and nature, and agrees.
It is a great performance by Frank Langella, who brings a quiet dignity and reserve to the main character.
FRENCH (SUBTITLED)
DIRECTED BY LUC BESSON
JAMEL BEBBOUZE, RIE RASMUSSON
Andre is a loser, a compusive liar, gambler, dreamer, in debt to loan sharks, and about to meet a premature demise. Determined to put an end to a pointless life, he climbs out onto a bridge and, about to jump, sees a beautiful blond girl out on the same ledge. When she jumps, he goes in to save her and does.
It turns out that she is an angel sent to help him redeem his life. If this sounds like "It's A Wonderful Life", it is, albeit a very different and wonderful version set in Paris. It is a terrific story, with great acting.
GERMAN (SUBTITLED)
Vitus is a prodigy, with an extremely high intellect and a piano virtuoso. At school, he is bored and unchallenged and torments the teachers to the amusement of his classmates. He hates being treated special and only wants to fit in. Only his grandfather sees this and lets him just be a kid.
he goes to the extent to fake an injury and memory loss to escape his life as a gifted person. He changes his mind in the face of a family crisis.
DENZIL WASHINGTON,FOREST WHITTAKER
The story of the debating team of a small Texas all black college, Wiley College, who were the first to compete against white colleges including Ivy league schools. Denzil plays the debating coach, a prickly, complex man who worked at night to organize the local farmers and by day to hone the debating skills of his students. Very good performances from Denzil and Whittaker.
FRENCH (SUBTITLED)
The best movie of 2008, and one of the best war movies, a French Saving Private Ryan. Set in Algeria, in 1959, it is about the war that the French army wages in the colony of Algeria. Refusing to grant independence, as they had to Morrocco and Tunisia, the FLN began a campaign of armed resistance to attain their independence. The movie is set in 1959, at the height of the war, an idealistic lieutenant has arrived at a remote army base, whose mission is to suppress the FLN and locate the local militia leader. Gradually, the soldiers are coarsened and brutalized by the environment, the futility of thier mission, the viciousness of the fighting, and they are transformed into something they hardly recognized.
The treatment is very realistic and historically accurate, the combat scenes are very well done, capturing a savage kind of warfare where the enemy is rarely seen. issues like the reason for the war, the use of torture, burning of villages, murder of civilians, propaganda on the home front, the disillusionment of the soldiers are all dealt with. It is well written and acted, and there are interviews with veterans of the war in a separate documentary.
iSRAELI (SUBTITLED)
A very moving story about crossing cultural and political boundaries. When an Egytian Police band is invited to perform at the opening of an Arab cultural centre in Israel, they take a bus to the wrong town and end up in an out of the way crossroads in the middle of nowhere. Stuck for the night, they are taken in and welcomed by the locals and shown around.
The interaction is warm and funny, and commonality of experience, of music and humanity. The local cafe is run by a lonely and lively Israeli woman who is very attracted to the band's conductor, but, the very formal and quiet band leader has had a personal history of family tragedy and sadness.
The movie is well written and acted, with well drawn characters, and interesting themes.
COLIN FARREL, BRENDAN GLEASON, RALPH FIENNES
A quirky story of 2 contract killers who are on a break from assignments, and are laying low in the old city of Bruges, Belgium. They encounter some unusual characters on a film set and one has to face a harsh moral choice. Well written and acted, with sharp dialogue.
STEVE BUSCEMI, MICHAEL PITT, ALLISON LOHMAN
Buscemi is a papparazzi who pretends he is more than just a celebrity photographer. Pitt is a homeless man who is befriended and becomes his assistant. Through a twist of fate, he meets a pop star(Lohman) and gets involved with her and becomes a pop icon of his own. Very well written and acted.
HINDI (SUBTITLED)
DIRECTED BY DEEPA MEHTA
A powerful story about a group of friends in Lahore at the time of the partition, and how they were affected by the hatred and violence of the time.
RYAN PHILLIPE
The story of a group of soldiers in Iraq who survived a harrowing firefight and are prevented from leaving the military by the duplicitous policy of forcing soldiers with certain skill sets or rank to return to Iraq.
DIRECTED BY PETER SOLLETT
SCREENPLAY BY LORENE SCAFARIA
STARRING MICHAEL CERA,KAT DEMMINGS
The best movie of 2008 to date (Oct 7) and one of the best comedies, as good if not better than Juno. About 2 people thrown together for one long night in New York, a night of music and zanieness, as they search for the venue of a concert by a fabled indie band. Great acting in a brilliant, witty, sharp, very funny script, a fine cast, memorable characters and great music score.