Biutiful (2010)

This movie is an excruciatingly detailed and real look at the lives around us; the lives we probably do not see or notice. This movie is about the immigrants, the unemployed, the mentally ill; the people who are scratching just to exist. Not to get ahead - that is not an option for these people. This movie is about the people who just want to eat and stay warm, have shelter of some kind.

Javier Bardem plays Uxbal, a low level criminal in Barcelona who juggles various groups of immigrants - finding work for them in sweatshops or illegal construction and taking a cut from their employers as pay. He cares about his groups of workers, but he still needs to feed his kids and pay the rent. When he discovers he is dying, all his machinations take on a new level of urgency.

Alejandro González Iñárritu wrote and directed this film. He directed Babel, 21 Grams and Amores Perros. I loved Amores Perros, but this movie is far better. I would say his prior movies were primarily constructed of separate stories which all came back to a common theme or connection, even though the characters may not know each other. Biutiful is different. All the stories radiate from Uxbal and his groups of immigrants or family. Uxbal holds them all together, even though he is dying. There is so much going on here, I cannot believe Iñárritu was able to keep this movie coherent, but he did. It is a great movie. I don't ever want to see it again, though.

Toy Story 3 (2010)

The expectation is that this will win the Oscar for best animated film. You've got to watch this one to hear Ned Beatty play the evil stuffed bear. I need to see the other two films. One is French and drawn by hand (old school).

Clash By Night (1952)

This is classic noir. The plot involves a bored and unhappy wife, a really crappy friend, an affair and tons of really, really bad decisions.

The plot is a super, extra special downer. The great part is watching Barbara Stanwyck play bored and shallow, with Marilyn thrown in as the gorgeous youngster in the family. The two women are fantastic together. Marilyn is really acting here, and of course Stanwyck is amazing.

If you like either of these actresses, or noir, pick this up.

The Dresser (2003)

Great directors really, really make my day. Think about the Coen brothers, or Clint or Hitchcock, Billy Wilder. They are so reliable that you can pick up any of their movies and find some enjoyment. With their better films, you are taken away.

I've always loved Breaking Away, which I consider one of the best sports films ever. I think it is perfect, so it's a great movie, not just a sports movie. Peter Yates, the director, seems to like variety; he also directed Bullitt, the Steve McQueen cop flick, and the Dresser, which I just watched.

This one is not about bicyclists or cops, but about an aging stage actor, played by Albert Finney, in WWII England. Finney's character has a dresser, Norman, played by the incredible Tom Courtenay, whose job it is to keep Finney on track and on stage. It's basically babysitting with costume changes. One day Finney starts to deteriorate - fast - and Norman has to cajole him, plead with him, threaten him, manipulate him through a performance of King Lear.

This is incredible acting - by everybody - and a beautifully made film. If you just like movies as art, pick this one up.

Crazy Love (2007)

OMG - this is truly a crazy story. It's a documentary about Burt Pugach and Linda Riss. In the late 50's, Burt saw Linda on the street, or a park bench, something like that. He immediately fell in love. He pursued her avidly, although he was married. Linda did not know about the marriage. When she found out, she broke up with him. Burt went nuts. He hired some guys to throw acid in her face, got caught and went to prison for a good chunk of time. And then things got weird.

If you find it hard to understand love, put this in your queue. It will confirm that love is nuts; forever more you can point to this movie as support for the sanctity of love and marriage. This is a great story; all the best ones are true.

No Strings Attached (2011)

This is not a great movie by any stretch, but it is watchable - mainly due to Natalie P and Ashton K. They are good together, and Natalie is particularly great. I've always thought of her as too high-brow for a silly rom-com, but she was awesome. She was dirty and bawdy and sweet; the best part of the movie.

The movie itself had too many side stories and side characters. It could NOT figure out if it wanted to be a farce, a comedy or a drama. Certain scenes that took a lot of screen time fell absolutely flat and seemed dropped in from a different movie. The name is stupid and I will never remember it (like Total Recall - what a bad movie title).

Kevin Kline is in this, and he was great, though his dialog was bizarre. He looks fantastic, but he's getting old, which means I'm getting old. Shit.

Impromptu (1991)

This movie is about the love affair between George Sand (Judy Davis) and Chopin (Hugh Grant). I did not know anything about George Sand (a French noblewoman and writer who went by the name of George Sand, wore man's clothing and slept with whomever she liked), so it was interesting to learn about her.

However, this movie is bad. The dialog is bad, many roles are mis-cast (Bernadette Peters in particular), and the production quality is poor. And then there are the accents, which are distracting at best. This is a movie with French characters filmed in English. That is fine. But some of the actors try to use accents, and slip in and out of them at will. Some, such as Judy Davis, use no accent at all. Hugh Grant as Chopin is supposed to be Polish, but he sounds like Count Dracula.

I would pass right over this one.

Timer (2009) - a good surprise

OK - you know how you go to Blockbuster and can't find anything? Pick this one up next time. It is a chick flick, so not necessarily a movie to watch when the BF is around. It stars Emma Caulfield (Anya from Buffy!!) as a gal looking for her soul-mate. The trick: in this movie, which is supposed to be set today, people get timers implanted in their wrists which count down to the year / day / minute you meet your soul-mate. You get them implanted at 14, then wait.

So how long do you wait? If you know you don't meet your "one" until age 43, what do you do until then? What if you fall in love in the interim? I liked it. My friend S found it - nice to see something different.

Somewhere (2010)

Well, I loved this movie. I had low to middle expectations, because I knew it was essentially about nothing. The thing is, I forgot how wonderful a movie full of nothing can be in the hands of a great director. Sofia Coppola did something really special here.

The movie starts with Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) driving his Ferrari around and around (and around) on a track in the middle of nowhere. That's a metaphor for Johnny and his life. Sofia lets us really see Johnny's life, in all its vapid, empty, pointless detail, for a good portion of the movie. We meet his daughter, Cleo (Elle Fanning), whom he loves but doesn't know much about. When mom has to leave for a while - no explanation given to us or Johnny - he has Cleo for an extended period. His life starts to look different.

There is no typical Hollywood ending, no big reconciliation. The movie ends with the Ferrari on a road, but in a far different scene. I thought it was lovely and funny. I recommend it to anyone who does not need explosions or guns or even dialog.

Lilies of the Field (1963)

This movie is unwatchable. I know it has Sidney Poitier in it, but please pass on this one. I don't think it's just dated (a drifter runs into some nuns who think he is sent by God to build them a chapel); it is truly cringe-worthy.

Poitier won an Oscar for this - the first for an African American man. He's a great actor, but he deserved a better film.

I Am Love (2009)

Tilda Swinton is great in this movie, and the clothes are great, and the houses are palatial, but I was bored. There was too much silence combined with too many nature shots and food shots. A movie needs something to hang onto, and the clothes were not enough.

It's about a very lonely mother in a rich Italian family. She falls in love, there is a tragedy, things change. And in the midst of it all are many shots of food, insects, lush scenery. I was bored.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009)

Well, this was an amazingly satisfying film. It is the conclusion of the Swedish series of three films based on the book series by Stieg Larsson. If you've read the books, you know that this one finds Lisbeth in the hospital in the opening scenes with a bullet in her head.

These movies were all wonderfully done. Whoever wrote the script (Ulf Ryberg did this one) needed to remove entire story lines to make the movies a reasonable length (this one is 147 minutes). They were smart about what they included and what they left out. The ending of the movie is perfect - very true to the characters.

I really hope the American versions don't suck. We are not great with restraint.

Klute (1971)

I really liked this movie, and I would recommend it to anyone with a yen for noir. Jane Fonda plays Bree, a NY hooker, but she's not a movie heart-of-gold hooker. She is in it for the money while she works to be an actress (a regular NY story, right?). We learn through her therapy sessions, and in other scenes, how complicated and messed up Bree is. Plus she has a killer that may be stalking her.

Enter Donald Sutherland, a small town cop trying to figure out what happened to his missing friend. This friend may or may not have been involved with Bree. It's not much of a mystery because the viewer knows almost from the beginning who the killer is. Instead it is a noir-ish character study, and an incredible acting vehicle for Jane Fonda. She is great. Roy Scheider has a small part, and he is super-creepy wonderful as well.

Jacques Tati

Jacques Tati died in 1982, yet one of his scripts has been made into a film this year (The Illusionist). It has been showing up on some best 10 lists. Anyway, Tati has a couple of super-famous films that I have been trying to see for a while. I can get them, but I keep falling asleep during them.

Tati is a comedian. His films contain much physical comedy in the form of choreographed movements, kind of like Chaplin. If you like Chaplin, try Mr. Hulot's Holiday and Mon Oncle. I cannot recommend them, but I am told they are quality.

Happy New Year!