Category: Film

Title: 50-50

Genre: Film

Grade: B+

Notable People: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick

Review: this movie was a sleeper. Went to see at the dollar theater and was really pleasantly surprised. Could be a tear jerker-and comes close- but it’s not. VERY emotionally moving film and I thought the acting was tremendous; subtle and complex characters. Rogen is mostly Rogen but with enough of an underlying twist to make it a new place for him. Oh and by the way- its the story of a young guy who suddenly finds he has potentially terminal cancer and how everyone around him handles that. Great turn by the long missing Angelica Huston as his mother.

Title: Martha Marcy May Marlene

Genre: Film

Grade: B

Notable People: Sam Durkin (Director), Brady Corbett, Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes

Review: This is a pretty strange movie- hard to decide on it. Can be very dark at times about a cult with some similarities to Manson- and a girls’ attempt to break away from it. Hawkes is subtle but mesmerizing as the Manson figure. Elizabeth Olsen is the sister of the infamous twins- and is going to be a big movie star.

Title: The Way

Genre: Film

Grade: A

Notable People: Martin Sheen, Emilio Estavez

Review: This is an amazingly touching movie about the pilgrimage known as “the Way”- the Camino de Santiago- an ancient walk from the French Pyrenees to the Spanish Basque country; walked by thousands over a century. Sheen’s family is from the Basque region and he wanted to make this film for the last 40 years. It is directed , produced and written by his son, Emilio who has a small part in it as well. A breathtaking movie; emotionally connecting and spiritually profound. Don’t miss it.

Title: Beginners

Genre: Film

Grade: A-

Notable People: Christopher Plummer, Ewan Macgregor, Melanie Laurent

Review: This is a wonderfully touching and funny movie about a man dealing with his fathers’ coming out of the closet in his mid 70’s. Plummer is a jewel and Macgregor is really good. Laurent is the French beauty from Ingloriuos Basterds in a role that will leave you smitten with her. Very cool graphics in the film; the director a graphic designer as well. Great art house film.

Title: Caleb’s Crossing

Genre: Novel

Grade: A

Notable People: Geraldine Brooks

Review: This is magnificent book that tells the story of the first Native American graduate of Harvard in the mid 1600’s. Beautifully written and fascinating historical saga told from a fictional woman character whose family were the original settlers of Martha’s Vineyard. A little slow to get started- especially with the local language of the era- but a sweeping book once you get hooked.

Title: Potiche

Genre: Film

Grade: B +

Notable People: Catherine Deneauve, Gerard Depardieu

Review: a very nice French film (subtitled) featuring two aging icons of the French cinema. Superbly acted battle of the sexes and classes in 1970’s rural France. Not a heavy film- just a lot of fun. If you like French cinema- you’ll like this.

Title: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

Genre: Film

Grade: A-

Notable People: Directed by Woody Allen. Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Naomi Watts

Review: If you like Woody- you’ll really like this one. If not – probably not so much. This is his last love affair with London film and he gets great performances from his ensemble f players. It is beyond amazing how he gets people like Anthony Hopkins to begin to sound and whine like Woody himself- they all take on his persona , which is a treat to see from Hannibal Lecter.

Title: Meek’s Cutoff

Genre: Film

Grade: Not Rated

Notable People: Michelle Williams

Review: Too weird to give a rating to. The slowest most thought provoking western in the history of cinema. Story of pioneers lost on their way west to the Pacific; led by a cowboy philosopher (Meks) who know nothing. This is the antithesis of the grandiose awe- inspiring western. Got to have an art house theater nearby to see this one.

Title: Water for Elephants

Genre: Film

Grade: B +

Notable People: Robert Pattinson, Renee Witherspoon, Christopher Waltz

Review: nice adaptation of an excellent novel. Great cinematography that really captures the gypsy life during the Depression. Waltz (who won Academy Award for Tarentino’s Ingloriuos Basterds- is an absolute tour de force. The ending was changed to be more Hollywood- which was a little disappointing. Reece’s role is a real departure for her-pretty gritty. Overall pretty good for a mainstream movie

Title: Before the Devil (Knows You’re Dead)

Genre: Film

Grade: B+

Notable People: Directed by Sidney Lumet, with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke and Marisa Tomei

Review: Wacked out film about two loser brothers who decide to hold up their parents’ jewelry store. Very good performances. Lumet’s last film before his death.