Heaven, 2002 (grade D)

 Director: Tom Tykwer

Awards: None I know of

Cast: Cate Blanchett; Giovanni Ribisi; Remo Girone; Stefania Rocca; Alwssandro Sperduti; Mattia Sbragia; Stefano Santospago; Alberto Di Stasio; Giovanni Vettorazzo; Gianfranco Bara; Mauro Marion

plot summary: outraged by law enforcement's non-investigation following her husband's drug-related death, Philippa Paccard (Cate Blanchett) takes the law into her own hands--and kills innocent people by mistake.  She ends up imprisoned and accused of terrorism by police who are in cahoots with the drug dealers.. Filippo (Giovanni Ribisi), a police officer involved with Philippa's questioning, falls in love with her and helps her escape. Then the story turns down some strange roads --and all the things that it might have been about disappear into the sky.

sez says: I really like Cate Blanchett so I will watch most anything that she is is--but this...well, what was she thinking. At first it seemed like it might be a typical cop drama--but it went off on some spree about love at first sight, and bed wetting, and romantic surrealism. Not my cup of tea.  And it is rather annoying all of this acting talent got used up in such a farce.

mjc: stupid movie --inane plot leads nowhere leaving one to wonder what Blanchett was thinking when she agreed to participate.

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

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

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

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