Some Movie Reviews .... just for Eva :)

Just so you don’t think I’m scrap obsessed all the time, I thought I’d share one of my passions here on my blog. I’m a self professed indie/foreign film buff as well as a foodie. The food, I'll get to in a future entry.

I’ve seen a lot of movies this year, at probably the rate of 3-4 per month, and have been so disappointed lately at the long drought of quality films. With a few exceptions, most have been duds, especially the blockbuster ones produced by Hollywood. Then I saw a french one Tuesday night and followed that up with the new Bat Man movie the night after. WOW!!

The french one, TELL NO ONE (Ne Le Dis Personne), is a non stop thriller about a doctor whose wife is murdered, becomes a suspect and who, eight years later, again finds himself a suspect when the investigation reopens. Things take a spin when the doctor receives an anonymous email that suggests his wife may still be alive. It's a whirring display of paranoia, the insanity of the (french judicial) supposition of “guilty until proven innocent,” and a cat-and-mouse gamesmanship in outsmarting both the police and the “bad guys” to try to exonerate himself while exploring the shocking idea of his wife possibly being alive. This is not your ordinary Bruce Willis Die Hard type of thriller in which the film expects the audience to stupidly sit and be entertained. Oh no, there are so many twists and turns as each of the characters in the movie develops along with the plot and subplots that it literally had me at "bonjour."

DARK KNIGHT, well, box office figures show that everyone and their mother has seen it this past opening weekend! I have to say that this movie, especially Heath’s performance, actually lived up to the hype and reviews. In my opinion, not since Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of Hannibal Lector have we seen a sociopath of this caliber so fantastically realized and embodied by an actor. The voice, the enunciation, the face makeup, the constant flickering of his tongue among other things will literally make your skin crawl. Oh yeah, the rest of the movie was pretty darn entertaining too even though it was a bit long. I was surprised that the movie explored that many characters, since this is a sequel franchise and it could have been covered later for another cool $158 mil. I stupidly didn't expect there to be an actual plot line!

Hmmm, the casting of Maggie Gyllenhaal didn’t sit well with me because…hmm, Katie Holmes, who originated the role of Rachel, is just plain prettier than Maggie. Hmm, did Tom have anything to do with Katie not reprising her role, now that they're TomKat? Or do I read too many tabloids at the grocery store?) I have enjoyed most of Maggie’s roles in other films but didn’t quite do so in this one --- I like Maggie best with short hair or hair pulled up because the long dark hair she sported in Dark Knight just didn’t flatter her face too well. (Ok, with that, I will burn in hell for being so petty and mean. But then again, she's a lot skinnier than I am.) Even though this movie was in (American) English, I could barely understand Michael Caine's regional English accent. He mumbles and UNDER enunciates!! His accent sounds like working class London rather than the POSH butler of the illustrious Mr. Bruce Wayne. Obviously, this movie was cast for international appeal.

Two other movies that I saw earlier this year stick out in my mind as being really, really, I mean, really amazing. So I might as well include it here in today’s entry to get it out of the way.

THE KITE RUNNER, which for those of you who have read the book know that it, was an incredibly visceral and haunting tale of a childhood friendship, between two boys of different social classes, that is brutally interrupted by an unspeakable act of violence. Soon there are secrets, a heart wrenching betrayal and regret which never gets a chance at redemption because of the ensuing political terror caused by Taliban rule. One of the boys and his affluent father are able to immigrate to the United States as refugees, while the other one is left behind in chaotic and war torn Afghanistan. Many years later as the boys grow to be adults, redemption presents itself again as we witness the main character shed the insurmountable burden he’s been carrying his entire life to emerge as the kind of man his now deceased father would have been fiercely proud of.

The other movie that absolutely fascinated me was a Romanian film about the depths of friendship between two college friends when one of them is in dire need of a medical procedure that is currently illegal under the Communist regime they live under. The pair turns to the black market just as all other citizens do for most everything including their daily needs such as shampoo, cosmetics, feminine napkins, etc.

"The resulting 24 hours reveals a harrowing descent into a world in which the possibility of tragedy lurks around every corner. The director’s decision to film every scene in a hyper-documentary style, with long, unbroken takes, ratchets up the tension to nearly unbearable proportions. Adding even greater drama is his decision to focus on the friend, not the victim. The friend’s face, filmed in unflinching close-ups, expresses the impossibly complex flood of emotions that nag her throughout the day. The film’s true revelation, however, is Ivanov, whose portrayal of the shady doctor is an absolute tour-de-force. 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS is filmmaking at its most masterly.”

The film has a very typical European ending (meaning that there is no “tidying” of all story lines) which makes the tale of these two friends even more realistic and harrowing. The ending shot before the credits roll is disturbingly effective.

The subject of the medical procedure the girls seek, could never have, in my opinion, been handled so adeptly by American film makers because we are a country so polarized by puritanical political correctness. Under this movie's (Romanian) direction, the hardship of surviving behind the Iron Curtain is the real maniacal catalyst that drives the actions and plight of the two friends so that the focus is primarily on the indomitability of the human spirit rather than propaganda of conservative moralists.

But, as an American, because we HAVE the luxury to do so, I beg you to ponder this question:

“In certain contexts, is morality then defined/applied differently?”

Definitely food for thought and plenty of discussion over a cappuccino, and NOT over a tub of popcorn that's for sure!

:) I promise, I'll get back to the fun and light scrappy stuff next time.