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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Wanderlust (2012)

Just a comedy about a commune in the spirit of Funny Farm or The Great Outdoors - city folks are just funny out of their urban environs. This film is full of cliché and one-liners.

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Blaise Pascal (1972)

As my son is named after this theologian/philosopher/scientist, a work buddy lent me this made for TV bio-pic, now a part of the Criterion Collection. The production is both elaborate in its sets and costumes, and yet quite simple in its script. The film essentially follows Blaise Pascal from his late teens through to his death giving him opportunity to speak some of his writings out loud and with props. There is little story or character development. In fact the setting draws the viewer in most as we are exposed to Catholic politics, scientific rivalries, provincial taxation, and superstitions.

The movie is slow, but full of Pascal's genius, so it's well worth the 2+ hours of view time.

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The Descendants (2011)

Alexander Payne (About Schmidt, Sideways) walks us through letting go and hanging on at the same time. The Descendants  is fresh and old at the same time, an unromantic look at some upper crust folks in Hawaii.

George Clooney plays a lawyer, father to two daughters, husband to a wife in a coma, and heir to family land - and he does so comically and pathetically. What I discovered thinking about this movie afterwards is that his character has quite a bit of moral strength that was simply disengaged - this narrative shows him putting everything into gear, testing his fabric.

I quite enjoyed it.

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127 Hours (2010)

Danny Boyle and James Franco tell the gutwrenching tale of an outdoorsman who is trapped with no prospect of rescue in the remote wilds of Utah. It is a formidable film and the final sequences are stellar!

The film lovingly captures the sacredness of life.

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Goodbye Solo (2008)

Empathy confronts free will in this sorrowful tale of hopelessness. A taxi driver, Solo, is contracted to drive a man one-way to a cliff on an upcoming date. Solo recognizes that this is essentially assisting this man's suicide, so he works towards befriending the aging and cranky man.

The dynamic between the upbeat Solo and the vacant William is superb - a contest of influence of wills, especially considering Solo's personal problems and the enormous possibilities for failure in his own life.

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Tulpan (2008)

Asa has big ears and because of this he can not find a wife. He lives on the steppe in Kazakhstan (the real one, not Borat's) with his sheep herding brother-in-law and family. Asa is torn between the big city life (personified by his peddling buddy) and his current rural life. The promise of a wife does not seem to be on his horizon.

The desolate and remote setting and characters eclipse the story though. Amazing birthing scenes of lambs appear twice in the film which alone make the film worth watching.

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The Secret of Kells (2009)

This is such a lovely, fresh film that I can't help but give it my full endorsement. The animation is themed after the illuminating art in the Book of Kells - Celtic production of the four Gospels circa 800 AD. The story focuses on an Irish monastery where this special book is being guarded and produced under constant threat of invading clans. A young boy left in the care of the monks is so drawn to the book and also to the forbidden woodlands that his loyalty to the abbot is questioned.

I can't wait to see it again.

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The Unforeseen (2007)

This film focuses on the conflict between development projects and the protection of a water table in Austin Texas. The Edwards Aquifer becomes under threat when huge suburban subdivisions are planned. Civic minded residents and aquifer appreciators go into battle on behalf of the land and water and wildlife.

I picked this documentary up because Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life) was listed as a producer. I'm guessing Malick's involvement is based on the overt environmental message.

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Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Not ever being a fan of the Planet of the Apes franchise or having ever seen the TV series or the following movies, I didn't know what to expect in relation to the actual storytelling in this pre-quel, but my expectations were low. I watched this movie mainly for the stunning computer graphic renderings of the apes.

The story - pretty lame, including some super cheesy performances. The visual effects - really amazing.

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Finding Farley (2009)

This is a National Film Board produced documentary about a family retracing famed novelist Farley Mowat's journey's through much of Canada. A couple and their toddler leave Canmore Alberta in a canoe and head east switching up their modes of transportation several times to end up at Farley Mowat's home in Nova Scotia. Along the way they visit several remote settings for Mowat's books.

Finding Farley is a lovely and intimate look at Canada.

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The Tree of Life (2011)

One of my favourite film makers delivers this masterpiece of cinema - a poetic account of one boy's struggle with meaning juxtaposed with images of the cosmos and eternity. Absolutely stunning camera work, realism blended with childlike wonder and real emotional pain and joy.

The pace is slow, but the characters are engaging and the 139 minutes pass as though a dream. Categorically perfect contemplation.

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The Cove (2009)

The film was much less disturbing than I expected. It focuses on a dolphin slaughter in a remote part of Japan. Dolphin meat is highly toxic and yet it is peddled as other types of fish and so the act, while not illegal, is still practiced despite much public pressure.

As a documentary, it is more personal than most. The producer is in on the stunt of trying to get film and audio footage in this circumferenced cove and the stories and reasons of the other professionals was a nice touch.

Gotta feel for those porpoises.

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Vanishing of the Bees (2009)

This documentary was distributed with an intent to educate and raise concern for a relatively recent plight of one of our foundational agricultural components. Bees began vanishing a few years ago without any recognizable reason causing concern for beekeepers and crop owners as bees pollenate their crops.

The film focuses on a few possible causes, the main one being new strains of pesticides being used that may affect the bees.

Viewers are asked to share the film and get involved in trying to support healthy growth of food in their areas.

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One Week (2008)

Without taking any firm positions, One Week crosses dying, relationship, and purpose with a journey to the west coast of Canada. And despite the real possibility that the movie is going to be corny (and it is a little), I was pleased with its genuine sentiment.

Joshua Jackson plays a man diagnosed with cancer who decides to leave his job, his fiancée and treatment for a while to discover why he is alive. His conclusion does seem rather selfish, but he comes by it honestly.

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Så som i himmelen (2004)

This Swedish film, As it is in Heaven, is one of the most beautiful stories of restoration and sacrifice I have ever been told.

A famous classical musician returns to his boyhood home when his health diminishes. Though he seeks solitude and an opportunity to enjoy the natural world, he is seduced into leading the local tiny church choir. As the choir develops, the town is changed.

The final seconds of the film are perhaps the most poignant and subtle moments of any film. I loved it! I shouldn't have lost the Academy Award to The Sea Inside.

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Into Great Silence (2005)

This really long documentary isn't entirely silent. For a few minutes the monks are sitting on a patio and chatting, but yeah, aside from that, pretty quiet...

I enjoyed it, but it was more experiential than expository. I like the notion of work in the film.

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Okuribito (2008)

Departures tells the beautiful story of a Japanese cellist who, when faced with unemployment, begins to prepare bodies for burial at traditional ceremonies. The stigma attached to the work causes rifts in his personal life, but the impact he has on the mourning families brings a lovely meaning to his work.

The music is gorgeous throughout the film and the lead actor does a tremendous job facing inner conflicts. Japanese culture is lovingly portrayed too.

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No Impact Man: The Documentary (2009)

A small film crew recorded an experiment that a family undertook in downtown NYC of which the father wrote a book called "No Impact Man." The experiment involved trying to bring their energy consumption down to zero (no electricity, no travel, no purchasing of goods that had to be transported from afar, no plastic, etc.).

The film is a fascinating study of what it would be like to live a hundred years ago and also the benefits of doing so. It is not meant to be a call to live this way completely, but to reduce consumption gradually individually and as a society.

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Babies (2010)

Documentary film maker Thomas Balmès films and juxtaposes the lives of four babies during their first year of life. The babies grow in the diverse environs of San Francisco, Tokyo, Mongolia and Namibia. With all the obvious diversity, it's a blast to see how the babies are so similar developmentally and so happy in their world.

What is really interesting though is how the babies are cared for by their moms. Two of the babies live in the poor world and the other two live in privilege. The question posed to me is "Which ones will have a healthier view of the the world, life and others?"

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