Gomorra (2008)

Gomorrah can be likened to a less visually stunning Italian City of God. Kids entering mob gangs in Naples - how they are initiated, how the gangs are accepted in the communities, and the trauma on members and the community. It's worth watching.

Hanna (2011)

A rather forgettable action movie trying to capitalize on a teen female lead. It is a long chase a la Bourne Identity to find ones identity and a trail of carnage follows this young lady.

Biutiful (2010)

Leave it to Iñárritu (21 Grams; Babel) to deliver yet another gut-wrenching drama. This time we're in Barcelona peering into the life of a man having difficulties financially, relationally, physically - and yet, moments of lightness (very few of them) give us a reason to believe that even at the lowest moments in life, we can shine.

The Hunger Games (2012)

At Amber's prodding, I read the books prior to watching the movie. I must say that I was take with them - the whole female anti-hero, land of excess vs. desolation dichotomy, and kids killing kids themes kept me turning the pages. I thought the film was faithful to both the book's tenderness towards it's victims and to the social issues brought up by the story.

Not sure why this felt more like a TV movie than a actual film, could be the odd, ever present sense that it is futuristic and backwoodsy at the same time. It is geared for teens, so things are over explained and that takes a fair bit away from a good story.

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

This could be my favourite of the 9 films nominated for 2012 best picture. The visuals, the grittiness, the supreme performance of the little girl lead, the presence of the fantastical, the music... it's all so good. A fractured family living in The Bathtube - an anarchic society outside New Orleans who live on little islands unprotected by a levee - face flooding and the little girl gets to experience survival in a community of poverty, but also very alone. Just a gorgeous film - watch it if you haven't already.

Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta (1986)

Ever since I watched my first anime flick (Howl's Moving Castle), I have had a special place in my heart for the genre, particularly the unrestrained creativity that comes from Studio Ghibli. Castle in the Sky brings a great adventure out of ordinary happenings. The boy & girl team end up foiling secret agents, flying all over the world, facing magical foes and of course discovering courage and strength along the way. The best part of these stories is the unpredictable turns, which may also be what people don't like about them - the magical elements are simply boundless making it easy to conjure a story that no one else could make up.

It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010)

A teen checks himself into the psych ward at a local hospital due to depression (girl and family problems). He is placed in the adult ward since the youth one is under renovation. There, he encounters real mental patients and gains a healthier perspective on life.

The film is worth watching just for the dream sequence / music video of Queen's Under Pressure. But it's also a really enjoyable and touching film.

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The Muppets (2011)

With hilarious self-awareness, the Muppets work to retain their legacy by trying to save their old theatre which is under threat from a caricatured villain real estate developer.

All the great characters make appearances and some new ones join in on the romp. A couple humans lead the crew and we get to watch their awkward romance flourish.

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Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Wes Anderson's latest fable is set in the 1960s on a fictional island off the coast of Massachusetts. The hero is a foster boy at a summer camp for boys who has fallen in love and has planned an elaborate escape for him and his melancholic girl. The police (Bruce Willis), campers (Edward Norton, parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand), and social services (Tilda Swinton - who they always call Social Services) chase them down.

There is tons of humour, vulnerability and style. One of Anderson's best.

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Rabbit Hole (2010)

This play adaptation plunges viewers into parental grief. The acting is superb and not surprisingly, the dialogue is rich and layered.

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La cité des enfants perdus (1995)

The City of Lost Children is one of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's (Amélie) early films (a collaboration with Marc Caro) and it certainly bears his marks of humour and fantasy. One of the lead actors, Dominique Pinon, appears in nearly all of Jeunet's films.

The story here revolves around the abduction of children from a port town by drones. The one having the children abducted can't dream, so he connects his brain to the kids' brains so that he can participate in their dreams. Ron Perlman's character is out looking for his lost little friend and eventually uncovers this massive plot. The film is saturated with rich villains, colourful children, and high contrast lighting. Oddly enough, Perlman delivers very few lines in barely understandable French.

It's a fun, rather humourous film despite its dark subject, but I found it a little difficult to follow.

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The Pool (2007)

The Pool is a gracious look at the severe class divisions in India. A hotel worker becomes infatuated with a wealthy family's pool and then the family itself. The relationship between the two parties grows and understanding starts to form.

I quite enjoyed it, mostly because the poorer characters were so interesting and risk-taking.

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Saint Ralph (2004)

Not a great movie - I wanted to see it since it was about a marathoner (albeit fictional) and it's Canadian - how bad could it be? It is quite contrived, poorly acted, but not without some charms.

Ralph is in high school and his mother is dying. He wants a miracle, so he prays to the saints, decides he needs to work on his faith and decides he'll win the Boston Marathon... And there are a few laughs too.

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Tickets (2005)

Three master directors give us a collection of short films all set on the same train. The stories are all very unique and give us a flavour of humanity and Europe that we don't often get in film - or as isolated passengers on a train. Very lovely!

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Wisconsin Death Trip (1999)

The narration is readings from late 19th century newspaper articles from Wisconsin's frontier. The stories are acted out on black and white film. That's it.

The title gives away the common thread of the various articles.

It's a fascinating film in that it shocks any kind of romance out of the settler/homesteading era. The madness, lack of social recourse, and ignorance in these remote locations is saddening, if not a quite upsetting.

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Lovers in a Dangerous Time (2009)

I really enjoyed this Canadian indie romantic comedy drama - a lot of qualifiers, but the more something resembles real-life, the more it's going to reflect all of these. The film stars the same pair who wrote and directed the feature and according to DVD extras, it took three years to complete the project - which is set over a summer and fall in the small mountain town of Creston, BC.

A young woman returns to her hometown for a class reunion, but more to see her old best friend from high school. The two buddies spend time resolving personal struggles and awkward mutual attractions.

The realism in the movie (the actors aren't super gorgeous, the situations appear natural, the tension is not overdone and complex) brings a certain humility to the characters, reflecting the Canadian trait of being self-effacing. I hope the filmmakers get another shot at making another great film.

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Hugo (2011)

When evaluating a film, I do my best to consider the intent of the filmmaker and their intended audience. I wouldn't hold the characters of this film to the same kind of standards I would in The Thin Red Line for instance. I believe the intent of Martin Scorsese was to tell Hugo's story of loss, imagination, and salvation in children's terms, much as how the book did so. So, the people in the story are more austere or more fat or more tender than they would be in a typical drama. It's also a classic happy ending which is rare these days among the film elite.

Hugo is a beautiful film with outrageous camerawork and flamboyant characters. These drew me into the title character's tragic circumstances and into the era of discovery that was Paris in the 1930s. The despair throughout the film made the ending all the sweeter.

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Divorzio all'italiana (1961)

Since the Roman Catholic Church forbids divorce, the only way to get out of a marriage is the either the unfaithfulness or death of one's spouse. When Ferdinando falls in love with his nubile cousin, he devises a ploy to get out of his marriage.

The film is quite clever in its portrayal of the very inept Ferdinando and we are completely flabbergasted that his cousin falls for him and at the grossly inept Italian justice system. But we laugh a lot thanks to ingenious acting.

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Never Let Me Go (2010)

This terribly moving film begins at the edge of sanity where children are raised in an idyllic setting and then harvested for their organs once they reach adulthood. The organ donors live out their purpose without questioning why or without really believing that they have any other purpose. Aside from the heavy sentimental reaction I got from watching their young lives get snuffed out, I was pushed to consider the idea of free will as it was presented in the film - and I always appreciate that opportunity!

As I often do, I really appreciated the gentleness in the film and the easy pace as it massaged the fate of the characters into our minds.

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Dare mo shiranai (2004)

Nobody Knows is loosely based on true events of four children who are abandoned by their mother in Japan. The siblings are cared for by the oldest as they manage to elude discovery by the outside world. This is a very sad story, making the plight of abandoned children around the world more accessible as it is set against a first world backdrop.

Children need to be loved.

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