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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L'illusionniste (2010)

The Illusionist is a lovely tale from the makers of The Triplets of Belleville - this one is far more melancholy and far less violent.

A French illusionist ends up on the road in a rustic and remote island off of Scotland. There he picks up a loyal fan who has is urbanized slowly when they settle in Paris. The film centres on his resourcefulness, her quaintness, and their devotion to each other.

The animation is lively which is good because the film is rather slow. Great story telling though and you will find yourself responding out loud with the emotional movement.

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Cinema Paradiso (1988)

Sweet, sweet nostalgia in romantic Italy with a fairytale ending - what could be better?

Toto's father is killed in the war and is sort of adopted by the local projectionist at the village theatre. The two form a close bond and we watch Toto mature and ultimately leave the village only to return decades later.

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Taking Woodstock (2009)

Ang Lee is remarkable in how diverse his projects are and this one pushes into remarkable territory. While he maintains the sensitivity that most of his films have, he captures americana during an era of transformation in a collision between rural and urban, the hippy and silent generations, and the peace that was necessary between all of the shifting tectonic plates of the 1960s.

Taking Woodstock takes the legendary summer concert to a personal level by focusing on the planners and more specifically, the family/town who hosts the hordes.

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Nollywood Babylon (2008)

The makers of this documentary display a two pronged story pairing the burgeoning low budget high profit film industry in Nigeria with the prosperity gospel being preached in Nigerian mega churches. It is a fascinating look at what are often one dimensional issues.

We learn of how the video industry started and it's relationship to animist witchcraft and then we follow it is being used to promote Charismatic Christian values such as how to get rich and famous by making movies.

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The Informers (2008)

The writer of American Psycho presents another morose view of humanity and American culture on the west coast. It's the mid 1980s when drugs had grown up, music was synthesized, and AIDS was detected.

Some rich, spoiled kids stir it up in their broken families while demonstrating horrific disaffection towards any painful experience. There's lots of sex, lots of treachery, and lots of brokenness giving way for any rejoicing at the least emotional reality.

The film is well-made, its the sentiment that is hard to watch. I did have a hard time sorting out the dozen young men who make up the younger generation cast.

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Pirate Radio (2009)

In order to avoid real character development, many comedies feature many main characters with various appeal - sex, charismatic, comic, etc. Pirate Radio (or as it was known everywhere else, The Boat that Rocked) does this with usual British flair.

The tale is derived from real events when advertisers saw the untapped market of radio, which was exclusively public owned in Britain (the BBC family), and set up stations in northern Europe or on flotillas in the sea. They were illegal and many of them were run by actual criminals out for quick cash. The film's version features people who just love music and would die for rock 'n roll.

Lots of laughs from crass humour and even nostalgia is evoked for the sixties in this flick. It's fun, but not too edifying.

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Easy Virtue (2008)

This is another variation on a popular British theme, that of reserved stiff upper lip vs carefree libertine. While much of the acting is very, very good, the lead female - American Jessica Biel - is about as wooden as you can get which is disappointing as she is supposed to be the contrast to the stiff Brits.

The only son of a British gentry family brings home a wildly independent American woman who unsettles the status quo, despite noble efforts to fit in.

The sharp, witty dialogue truly saves the film.

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Stories of Lost Souls (2005)

This DVD compilation of short stories feebly attempts to tie them together with the universal theme of being. The problem is that any story that has a character of any kind has this theme. What I'm trying to say is that the stories don't work together at all.

From a gruesome crime of passion to a swindler, to a mimed comedy, to a barely cognizant drama, to a brilliant commentary on fame, to a moral tale, to a short sighted romance - some are gems and others are clear throwaways. What is remarkable is that every flick carries remarkable star power.

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Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

Kind of lame Jim Jarmusch movie to be honest. I liked Coffee and Cigarettes and Broken Flowers, but Ghost Dog just went on and on without any kind of useful affectation.

Forest Whitaker plays a modern day urban samurai who contracts himself out as a hitman. After a hit, an entire gang decides to take him down. . . Guess what happens. The film is littered with sayings from a book called "The Way of the Samurai" which demonstrates that this guy just needs something to believe it. There's a constant juxtaposition with violent cartoons too which brings out our ongoing fascination with violence.

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Nacho Libre (2006)

Jack Black becomes a man of the cloth and a luchador of the ring in this zany collaboration with Mike White.

Ignacio (Nacho for short), a junior monk in Mexico is faced with either finding a way to earn big money fast or continuing to feed slop to the orphans in his care. Finding some inspiration from a new and hot nun, Nacho teams up with a violent vagrant to become a local masked wrestler. He faces some moral compromises along the way.

The film is elegant and understated from the costumes to the music allowing Black to truly shine as a stout hearted athlete.

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Death Defying Acts (2007)

In a similar way that Public Enemies romanticized the last days of John Dilinger, Death Defying Acts takes a melodramatic look at the end of Harry Houdini's life.

Plagued with the recent death of his mother, famed illusionist Harry Houdini is on a quest to speak to the dead - or at least demonstrate clairvoyance to be fraudulent. He meets his match in Scotland where a beautiful single mother promises to help him communicate with this dead mother.

While the story is a stretch from real events, they are remarkable in that they even resemble the truth. It is an interesting tale and the acting in it is acceptable.

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Topsy Turvy (1999)

This has been on my to see list for 10 years. Mike Leigh (director of one of my favorites - Secrets and Lies) delivers the epic tale of Gilbert and Sullivan's struggle for meaning towards the end of the 19th century.

Despite far-reaching fame and impressive riches, lyricist W.S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan are having difficulty putting together a new musical opera. Gilbert is not happy with the total whimsey that his material is treated with and Sullivan wants to be known as a more serious composer. Their stage collaborators all have their own struggles too and it is with strained effort that one of the their final original productions, The Mikado, makes the stage.

The film is long. Really slow and long. We are left sometimes just watching rehearsals and performances of G & S's musicals for 4-6 minutes. This really kills the pacing, but it also gives us a true feeling of what entertainment was like and what the writer/composer pair were struggling with.

Great acting. Great costumes. Great music.

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Flashdance (1983)

Amber brought this classic home from the library and I joined in watching as I had never seen it and as far as films go, Flashdance is a slice of cinematic history and a standard as far as women are concerned. I thought I would gain an education.

Alex is an 18 year old welder in Pittburgh. She is apparently orphaned and highlights as an exotic dancer. Her dream is to be a ballerina, but she doesn't have the formal training or the money (or the guts to try out). The boss of the mine she works at notices the exotic youngster and they two form a relationship.

The entire story is pretty lame and predictable, but it delivers on the passion and butt close-ups. We had some good laughs at the expense of eighties culture, but we weren't inspired to follow our dreams. At least I wasn't.

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Interview (2007)

Steve Buscemi directs his debut with this film and does an amazing job acting in it too.

Pierre Peders is a high profile political news writer who is assigned an out of character task of interviewing a sexy actress who is used to having the media in tow. The interview gets a very rocky start, but then the two make an effort to get through it. What ensues is a brilliant game of give and take, deceive and believe.

The acting and story telling is great. The two sole characters compel us to both sympathize and loathe them which is a remarkable accomplishment.

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JCVD (2008)

In an industry that likes to clone success, an original film like this one often does not get made - or at least doesn't usually get distribution. I'm glad this one was made.

The story is fictional, but I think it puts a relatively real Jean-Claude Van Damme in a unique situation where we can see more clearly what his reaction would be. Van Damme plays himself as a down and out actor whose life is in a the last rounds of a downward spiral. He's back in Brussels, Belgium where his stardom is still potent. He enters a post office/bank as an armed robbery is in progress and as the police arrives, they believe he is the perpetrator. We watch as Van Damme deals with the situation and his celebrity.

The best part of the film is Van Damme exposing a wretched self with a wellspring of goodness.

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Redbelt (2008)

Veteran screenwriter David Mamet directs another contemplative film. Honour is something that is often quickly sacrificed in western culture in order to cash in or avoid responsibility. When a Japanese understanding of the concept confronts Los Angeles culture, we quickly see the power honour has to influence others and the difficulty one has to perserve it.

Mike Terry owns a jujitsu club and teaches the martial art to his devoted students. As a principle, he has decided to avoid using his mastery of the art in competition as he believes it weakens the fighter, but when his life begins to unravel, one competitive fight could turn it all around.

Mamet's characters do not often seem to be multi-dimensional as they seem to personify issues more than complex people. I don't see this as a deficiency, just a unique and strong way of exploring issues.

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Full Frontal (2002)

Steven Soderbergh delivers a somewhat cryptic art film that only the most interested viewer would probably enjoy.

The focus is a group of people in the Los Angeles area who are connected to the film industry. When a marriage begins to fall apart, an interview between the hottest black actor begins, a job is lost, a play on the verge of a flop, an internet date getting primmed, and a birthday party scheduled for that night, everything blurs between reality and entertainment. 

I can't say that I was able to follow all of the ins and outs, so I'll probably watch the film again as I've thoroughly loved all of the other Soderbergh films I've watched in the past (Che, Traffic, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, The Good German, Bubble, Ocean's Eleven, etc.).

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Brüno (2009)

Sacha Baron Cohen brings a second satirical character to the big screen with Brüno, an Austrian homosexual model with aspirations of being überfamous.

There isn't much point in writing a plot as the movie didn't have much of one nor did it need one. Similar to its first cousin Borat, the film is done in a documentary style with Brüno inciting his interviewees with outrageous comments, flagrant sexual depictions and come ons, and exposing America for what it truly is: homophobic, capitalistic, fame crazed, and cannibalistic. Cohen goes further by drawing the viewers into the film and shocking them into repulsion.

I have no intention of ruining the film by sharing the funniest/most disgusting parts, so I'll stop my analysis there, though I didn't find the film as compelling as Borat.

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Frost/Nixon (2008)

A more personal Nixon is revealed in this drama based on the historical interviews conducted by David Frost.

Ron Howard directs behind the scenes stories as both Frost and Nixon vie for popularity. The only way they will win the hearts of Americans is if the other capitulates during the taping of the interviews - Frost wins if Nixon confesses and Nixon wins if he can keep Frost from asking the right questions.

The acting in the film is superb, Frank Langella's Nixon especially. We get a dramatized version of the icon that still represents corruption and self-interest on the grandest scale. The film is stylistically done to keep the flavour of the era strong.

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