Saturday, December 25, 2010

Spy Game, 2001 (Grade B+)


Director: Tony Scott
Any Awards? none I know of
CAST: Robert Redford: Brad Pitt; Catherine McCormack;  Larry Bryggman; Marianne Jean-Baptiste; Stephen Dillane; Matthew Warch; Michael Paul Chan
Plot Outline: this espionage thriller places veteran spy Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) on the verge of retiring from the CIA when he learns that his one-time protege and close friend, Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt), is a political prisoner sentenced to die in Beijing. Although their friendship has been marred by bad blood and resentment, Muir decides to use his knowledge to rescue Bishop--from the Chinese and from the CIA
sez says:  well who doesn't like to watch Robert Redford?  Toss in Brad Pitt and you can double the fun--and here this pretty twosome engage in a 'real politics' thriller., in which it is sometimes hard to tell the good guys form the bad guys.  From Viet Nam to East Germany to the Middle East and on to China--and back to Washington the bad guys seem to outnumber the good guys in a world where people are expendable and governments ulterior motives run amok.  Lots of action..good story telling.
mjc says:   Redford and Pitt raise questions with their performances --is this spy stuff just a game, or is it really a struggle to find a way to a more civilized world.

Wendy and Lucy. 2008 (Grade B-)

Director: Kelly Reichardt
Any Awards? nominated for Independent Spirit Award
CAST:  Michelle Williams; Will Patton: Will Oldham; John Oldham; John Robinson;  Wally Dalton;  Larry Fessenden;  Ayanna Berkshire;  John Breen; Deneb Catlan
plot summary: Looking for a new start Wendy (Michelle Williams) is headed to Alaska to get a hope for high-paying job in the canneries.  She and her dog (Lucy) get stopped in Portland, Oregon (where this is filmed) when Wendy attempts to steal some dog food, gets arrested and then, once she is released by the police, can't find Lucy.  Things head down hill from there--as her car breaks down and her cash if growing short. 
sez says: this is a worthwhile looks at how alone a person can become--and how even small kindnesses can make all the difference in another person's life.  Success is creating a drama about trying to find a lost dog deserves credit:  Good work there, it is not such an easy assignment .  And the acting was first rate.   
mjc says:  familiar sites of Portland drive a simple story

Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Milk of Sorrow, 2009 (Grade D)

Director Claudia Llosa
Awards: Nominated for and Academy Award
Cast: Magaly Solier; Susi Sanchez; Efrain Solis;  Barbara Lazon; Delci Heredia; Karla Heredia; Fernando Caychol  Miller Revilla Chengay; Spencer Salazar

Plot summary--spoiler alert:  Fausta is the child of a woman who was raped during Peru's Civil Wars--Her mother was pregnant with Fausta when this happened and she spent her life singing to Fausta about the event. Fausta knows her mothers songs well.  Fausta has thus been stricken with a pathological fear that she "contracted from her mother's breast milk" which is the title: The "milk of sorrow,"  Fausta (Magaly Solier) inserts a potato in her vagina to protect her own sexuality and safety. She is a sick young woman--afraid  of the world.  When her mother dies she is driven to take a job to earn some money in order to take her mother's body home "to her village' to be buried.  Her new employer is a wealthy woman who is a musician who hears Fausta sing -- and we watch the woman steal (and take credit for) Fausta's music --and we are shown that there is more than one way the rich and powerful rape the poor.

sez says:  really rather slow and boring--and the potato is a bit too much-- I am sympathetic and generally support--and find vitality in stories that try and deal with the issues of abuses of power and how common people resist. but this was just the story of a disturbed girl...with no exit. or solution to her problem.  Sweet family she came from, running a wedding business was the saving grace.

mjc says: life goes on so best not to stash your dead mother under the bed--better to bury the dead and their horrors

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Riding In Cars With Boys, 2001 (Grade B)

Director: Penny Marshall
Any Awards?  none that I know of
Cast:  Drew Barrymore; Steven Zahn; Brittany Murphy;  Adam Garcia;  Sara Gilbert; James Woods; Mika Boorem; Lorraine Bracco; Skye McCole Bartusiak; Maggie Gyllenhaall VIncent Pastore; Rosie Perez

story summary:  smart youg girl gets pregnant at 15 -- marries a good-hearted, but dim-bulb of a boy and thus has her life's ambitions challenged by having to attend to mother hood and supporting a family. Eventually she does succeed at her greatest ambition--and her son finally learns what what he needs to know--taht is to ask for help--from his father.

sez says; this is a sleeper of a movie--I had heard it was good when it came out but had never followed-up. I had taken it for a female coming of age flick.  It is much more that that. It is about female friends, and it is about coming of age...but it is also about life altering mistakes, facing adversity without being heroic, about plans going awry, about moving forward, inch by inch, and about family sticking together even when individuals are not getting what they want. It is about people not being able to see themselves as others see them.   It is a whole lot of real life happening.  It is an appealingly little move with lits of big issues being considered. And the acting is adequate to the task.


mjc says:  Her husband proves that sorry isn't enough