Waking Life (Grade A)

Director: Richard Linklater

Any Awards? Nominated for Independent Spirit Awards

Cast: Wiley Wiggins; Peter Atherton; Steve Brudniak; John Christensen; Julie Delpy; Charles Gunning; Ethan Hawke; Nicky Katt; Kim Krizan; Richard Linklater; Steven Soderbergh

 PLOT: animated film follows a young man (Wiley Wiggins) as he floats in and out of philosophical discussions with a succession of eccentrics and passionate thinkers, all the while uncertain whether he's conscious or dreaming. Thanks to each character's oddball charm, the ethereal conversation is as dynamic as the animation, resulting in an innovative film that is by turns droll, disturbing and provocative.

sez says: great animation--every shifting perspectives and colors and wobbly reality. You find in the end our protagonist is dead and his brain is still function via a lucid dream during the last minutes before his consciousness evaporates into the either. At first he just listens to the conversations and ramblings of others, then he begins to interact with the ideas that are being espoused-- which are early 21st century thoughts about the meaning of existence, human capacity,  free will, evolution, the nexus of science and religion, and the like. Hopeful ideas and angry ideas, wild rants and profound thoughts all have their moment. Not for someone who is looking for a traditional storyline and linear thinking. But fun for those who enjoy a little brain exercise once in awhile.

mjc says: fascinating animation weave together stretches of cosmology and philosophy allowing the viewer to absorb the words more forcefully.

The Secret Life Of Words, 2005 (Grade B+)

Director: Isabel Coixet

Any Awards?  None that we know of

Cast: Sarah Polley; Tim Robbins; Javier Camara; Julie Christie; Eddie Marsan; Steven Mackintosh; Leonard Watling; Daniel Mays; Dean Lennox Kelly; Danny Cunningham

PLOT: After physically surviving the war in Yugoslavia, the psychologically damaged  nurse Hanna (Sarah Polley) is forced to take time off her numbing factory job and is sent on vacation. She heads to Ireland and is lost and anxious until she hears about an oil-rig accident off the coast and she agrees to go to th rig and tend heroic burn victim Josef (Tim Robbins). She encounters various personalities on the derrick: Josef, a Russian soldier (Sverre Anker Ousdal), a lively Spanish chef (Javier Cámara), a caring and committed oceanographer and other oddballs who have found reasons to separate themselves from society.  Slowly people on the rig reveal their stories...Hannah's being the last, and most difficult.  And we, the audience are left to wonder about all of the 'forgotten' victims of war.

sez says: Bravo -- this is a great story, well told, brilliantly acted.  It is slow paced but even so it has a tension that builds, and a mystery to be solved.  Not 'who done it'  but 'what happened' and in the end, what is humanities responsibility in a case such as this--which is only one case in a million.   

MJC Says:  the depth and engagement that good actors can achieve even in roles with limited action is demonstrated brilliantly in this film of the range of humanity

Five Minuites of Heaven, 2009 (Grade B)

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel

Any Awards?  None we know if

Cast: Liam Neeson;  James Nesbitt;  Anamaria Marinca;  Luliet Crawford;  Niamh Cusack;  Mark David;  Gerry Doherty;  Richard Dormer;  Paul Garret; Katy Gledhill;  Jonathan Harden

plot summary:  a meditation on guilt, forgiveness and reconciliation, this drama presents two men on opposite sides of Northern Ireland's political struggle: one a killer, the other the brother of the man he killed.  We meet them at the point of their being brought together years after the killing, to see if they can find peace with the past.

sez says: good stuff here...a thriller without any bombs or car chases.  Neeson & Nesbitt both do fabulous jobs with their characters.  And, ultimately the story is about much more than The Troubles in N. Ireland.  It is about the how and why people can get recruited to an extremest  group and how and why they will do anything --including the most heinous types of violence-- for the sake of there group. 
And even more it is about the real price and consequences of violent acts, which, once committed, take on a life of their own..both for the one who commits the violence and for the victim.  And without reconciliation--however that may take place -- there is no end to the original act of violence itself -- it takes over the lives of perpetrators and victims alike and can not be escaped without forgiveness.

mjc says:  always like watching Liam Neeson. Took on a very big topic here--and didn't quite make it.

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Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, 2008 (Grade B+)

DIRECTOR LEE DANIELSAwards? nominated for lots of awards, Independent Spirit, BAFTA, Golden Globes Sundance and Academy Awards, Int Won many awards for best supporting actress (Mo'Nique).
CAST: Gabourey; Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, Sherry Shepherd, Nealla Gordon. Xosha Roquemore, Chyna Lane, ANgelic Zambrana, Stephanie Andujar, Amina Robinson, Nia Foster

sez says, this story provides a window on a world that most of us would like to never look into.  It is about a girl who is terribly abused by her family and the path she finds to get away from that life and hopefully to move into a new life.  It is horrific--and hopeful. The hope comes out of believing anyone can escape, even to a small degree, the imprint that is left on someone who has been so totally and absolutely beaten down and violated.  It does not end with Precious having solved all the problems she faces. Rather, it ends with her decision to take her life, and the lives of her children, out of the situation they have lived in. The strength that is required to do that is enormous. But we are shown that she has the strength to do that--and thus we can imagine and hope she will be able to continue to move forward. I loved that the public employees are depicted as caring and tireless in their efforts to open doors for abused kids.  And, equally important is the fact that they can not do anything to help these children unless the kids open the doors themselves.  Add to the powerful story outstanding acting and it is is clear why this won so many awards.


MJC Says:  hard to watch, which is a tribute to the actors who presented a potentially sentimental story with enough grit and reality to stop the maudlin and invoke the hope

Pirate Radio, 2009 (Grade B+)

Director: Richard Curtis

Awards? none that we know of but is worthy of consideration 

Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh. Tom Sturridge, Rhys Darby, Talulah Riley, January Jones, Emma Thomposn. Gemma Arterton, Tom Wisdom,  Jack Davenport

sez says: what a great cast....esp Bill Nighy is a stand-out, and that is a real accomplishment with so many great performances in this movie to compare it to.  This is a fun. If you like rock and roll you can't help but enjoy this movie.  It is not esp profound.. Its main message is that creativity is good and it can not be legislated away -- or suppressed.  Creativity and in this case music feeds our souls and it will always find a conduit to seep back into the world whenever and wherever it is threatened.  It will survive because people -- everyday people--need it, love it and support it.  There are good guys in the story (our wild disc jockies --and associates) and bad guys (Kenneth Branagh does a brilliant job as the bad bureaucrat--he disappears into his role) who want to outlaw rock and roll.  And you have a boy in search of his father..and costumes right out of the wilder part of the 1960s... It is a fun fun fun romp --  Grade B+

mjc says: pure fun, just what we needed as a transition from the British Isles to the USA.

Yes Man, 2008 (Grade D+)

Director: Peyton Reed

Cast:  Jim Carrey;  Zooey Deschanel; Sasha Alexander,  Terence Stamp,  Molly Sims, Danny Masterson, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Labyorteaux.  Fionnula Flanagan, Rhys Darby

SEZ: Jim Carrey relies on physical comedy and it's not so easy to find a story in which his physicality can be employed successfully especially as he gets older. In this story he is a depressed divorcee with low self esteem and a zero life.  He goes to a seminar learning about the power of "YES" and, of course, he learns to say yes to everything.  This, of course, takes him on a topsy-turvy ride of fun. And, Of Course, he finds the girl of his dreams and makes many people happy but things get complicated -- but never fear, of course, he works it all out. There are a few scenes which would probably make anyone smile but he is trying for hilarious and that's not happening. ANd there are too many "Of Courses"  in the story. Good luck to you Jim-Bo in finding some new ways to be funny that transcend the need to be twenty-something years old. You are not 20 any longer and you need to start acting your age.

MJC:  I am a sucker for feel good books & movies etc.  This made me feel good so I let go of all it's faults. There was one clarifying moment when the hero gets the girl and Jim Carrey really looks his age and the sweet young thing he is embracing at the Griffith Park Observatory looks like his daughter and that tells the tale of where he has ended up. Time to find a way to be his age and still use that fabulous plastic mug of his to give us the laughs we so desperately wish for and need. 

The Chorus, 2004 (Grade C+)

Director:  Christophe Barratier 

Cast:  Gerard Jugnot; Francois Berleand, Kad Merad, Jean-Paul Bonnaire, Marie Bunel, Jacques Perrin. Didier Flamand, Paul Charieras, Carole Weiss, Philippe Du Janerand, Erick Desmarestz, Jean-Baptiste Maunier, Maxence Perrin, Thomas Blumenthal, Cyril Bernicot

 SEZ SAYS: In the 1930s Bing Crosby taught the bad boys in his neighborhood to sing and everybody loved it. In this case we have a schoolteacher teaching dispossessed and orphan boys to sing after WW2. When our hero-teacher arrives at his new job he find  a lot of very bad boys but he teaches them to sing and meanwhile he fills our hearts with joy as we see the boys turn their lives around and become  little angels -- of nearly so. As hooky as this sounds it was actually acceptable fare when nothing better is around to watch. At least the music was better in this version then in the Bing Crosby version.  ANd who doesn like a little well done UP-LIFT from time to time.

MJC SAYS:  there was a Very cute kid in this singalong version of the old Bing Crosby singing priest movie. Here at least the hero teacher was bald which made for a slightly more realistic version of life.  Still we rooted for the kid we already knew was going to be a big time philharmonic conductor and sure enough he made it.