Moneyball (2011)

I wasn't drawn to this story initially as it seemed like it was based on a theory book more than actual human pathos. Watched it anyway based on reviews and lauded performances and was pleasantly surprised. Sure there was a human element, but I took away the theory part more than their personal struggles: you can use formulas to make great ball teams out of low cost players whose total is far greater than the sum of each athlete's individual ability.

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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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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The Two Escobars (2010)

When I saw the opening credits state that this was an ESPN Film, my hopes dropped. Wow! Was I ever impressed. This documentary chronicles the lives of two of Columbia's most prolific men: Pablo Escobar the drug lord and Andrés Escobar the soccer star and the amazing symbiotic relationship they both had with their nation and each other.

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Win Win (2011)

Win Win is a superb film with plenty of flawed (but very entertaining) characters. The collision of two families each with a unique struggle who then lean into the other is a picture of communion and love.

Paul Giamatti plays another semi-neurotic character, but more subtle and relatable in the role of a small town lawyer. His counterpart Kyle, a loner and gifted teen, is played by a newcomer - a real live wrestling prodigy. The five main supporting actors add great humanity and comedy to this beautiful story.

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American Flyers (1985)

Pure cheddar! And the American patriotism drips off of it like butter on corn. Pretty hilarious to watch. Two brothers attempt a gruelling cycling race in Colorado, one of them hiding a bad illness. They've both got sexy girlfriends and there are 2 villains - a former racing partner and the Russian competitor - scary!

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The Blind Side (2009)

A bit heavy on the sap, but considering the true story it's based on, a pleasantly passionate retelling. The Christian element of sacrifice and love seemed secondary to the grave class division - a dire consequence of Christianity gone amiss in the United States. Again, I did enjoy the film and I was moved by the compassion.

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Any Given Sunday (1999)

Oliver Stone tackles the inside world of sports making it a little more glamourous than it is in real life, but capturing the essence of modern leagues where the only thing that matters money for owners.

Veteran coach, star quarterback and young owner clash when their interests can't all be met at the same time. Yep, that and lots of football.

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Hoop Dreams (1994)

Clocking in a nearly three hours, this documentary doesn't quit. I didn't take my eyes off the screen the entire time.

Hoop Dreams follows two inner city kids in Chicago over their high school career as they lead their basketball teams to championships and try to catch the eyes of university talent scouts so they can eventually make it into the NBA. The power of the film is the dynamic between each of the boys and their family, their coach, their academics, and their dream of pro basketball.

The film was snubbed by the Oscars, but praised by critics as the best film of 1994. It should have at least taken the Best Documentary category and a nod from Best Picture.

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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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Whip It (2009)

Ellen Page plays a cool kid stuck with a humdrum mom who wants her to behave like a lady. So, she sticks to her coolness and defies her mom by joining a roller derby team.

The story plays out predictably with moments of comic relief. Fortunately, the story keeps enough classic story themes and enough fine actors (except for an attention grabbing Drew Barrymore) to keep viewers tuned in.

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La stanza del figlio (2001)

The Son's Room is an emotional investigation into life after death in Italy.

An ideal professional family, active and communicative lose their son in an accident, they struggle to find an appropriate way to live. The father, a psychologist has trouble listening to other people go on and on about their problems when he dismisses these in comparison with the heartache he has. The surviving daughter struggles to continue contact with her increasingly distant parents.

Without stooping to melodrama and a trite answer to the issue, The Son's Room honestly explores a variety of responses to loss. The film won accolades when it came out and it should continue to be watched today.

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Say Anything... (1989)

Certain I wouldn't really like this 80's romantic comedy, I begrudgingly sat down to watch it with a bunch of women. Happily, I was smitten immediately with this classic teenage romance.

Lloyd is graduating and hasn't much direction in life, but a solid belief that kickboxing will be big in the future. He gets up the nerve to call the prettiest and smartest girl in his class and ask her out. He manages to charm her enough to scare her daddy.

The Cusack siblings do super well as youth, keeping the angst levels just below boiling point and maintaining a cool realism. This film was made in response to all those sappy teenage 80's movies.

Oh, and SNL has a great parody of the scene Lloyd is holding up the stereo playing Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes.

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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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Astérix aux jeux olympiques (2008)

Well-loved French comic book heroes Astérix and Obélix return to the big screen in an epic tale of the little guy winning against the tyrant.

Traveling from Gaul, the only remaining non-Roman province in Europe, Asterix and his spherical sidekick attend the olympics in Athens to support their friend who has fallen in love with a Greek princess. Here they must thwart the illegal efforts of the Emperor's son who also has an eye for the princess.

The entire thing is simply farce with very little tongue in cheek commentary on politics, which is too bad, because the comics did have their fair share of satire. The effects are acceptable, but the entire story is weak and random.

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She's the Man (2006)

This is an entertaining though quite hollow adaptation of Shakespeare's The Twelfth Night.

Viola is a soccer player bent on showing that girls can play as well as boys. She disguises herself as a boy and begins classes at another school to prove the point. Situational humour ensues and as it is a comedy, the end is happy.

There is plenty of slapstick and overly dramatic fare and overall, the film succeeds as entertainment, but don't expect much more than that. She's the Man panders more to its teenage audience than it ought to.

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W. (2008)

Oliver Stone follows up depictions of JFK and Nixon with this two termer and his pappy. George W. Bush gets a fair treatment on the big screen.

We cover a period of 40 years spanning W.'s university, marriage, career and presidency. The two greatest impacts on his personal life (which then spilled into his professional life) are his father's approval and his faith. 

The acting in the film is superb, especially Josh Brolin's title character, Jeffrey Wright's Powell, and Richard Dreyfuss's Cheney. There seems to have been a concerted effort to replicate the events as accurately as possible and then edit them together out of sequence to tell the desired story.

It's no secret that I dislike Bush and even more so his policies, but this film drew some humanity out and I felt bad for him, a little. Just a tiny bit. I still have more sympathy for his international victims than for him though.

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MASH (1970)

Robert Altman barely holds this largely incoherent film together with a couple fool doctors. 

A Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is stationed in Korea in the 1950s. Sex, alcohol, and stunts keep the staff occupied when they are out of the operating room. 

In its day, MASH was an innovative film with ongoing dialogue in the background and plenty of ad lib from the actors. Today, it's difficult to stay awake with much of the lines being washed over by background noise and incoherent speech. The actors often mumble their lines on top of that. The movie is episodic and doesn't have much continuity to hold the story together.

In large part, besides producing some comedy, this film is a rebellion to the Vietnam war at the time and to the military establishment. 

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Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006)

Dragnet comes to Canada. It is a police action movie with a ridiculous villain who is trying to save hockey in Canada. The draw to the film is the fact that it is fully bilingual - so if you're francophone, you understand half the film and the other half you get French subtitles and vice versa for the anglophone viewers. English and Québec Canada are caricatured in the two lead cops.

There is no hint in the film of being a low budget Canadian movie which can sometimes be the case with Canuck flicks. It's flashy and could easily pass as a Hollywood film if not for the content. There is plenty of cliché that we've seen in almost every action movie made. I think it tries too hard to be American, the one thing that the movie's message speaks against.

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Match Point (2005)

Woody Allen presents us with a moral tale of deception, but deception of one's self. The question is "are we to experience guilt if we are never caught?" There are a variety of sins that the protagonist commits and he rejects the notion of responsibility in all of them. A Dostoyevsky novel can be seen on a coffee table in one scene showing the primacy of the guilt issue.

The story is very compelling. The acting is superb. The dialogue is unusually subdued for an Allen film, suggesting he heavily edited himself, which for me makes the film even better: distilled greatness.

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