Film Independent Spirit Awards nominees

I love the Independent Spirit Awards. They always have an irreverent and highly entertaining awards show (this one will be February 26, 2011, aired on IFC, available on some cable packages, and hosted by Joel McHale, star of NBC's Community), they honor the best movies even if Oscar doesn't, and I make a point of seeing them. Nominees are below. I will use the list to update my 2010 list of nominees sorted by movie. And on that list I will link to my blog posts on the ones I have seen.

Best Feature (Award given to the producer) Executive producers are not listed.

127 Hours: (Producers: Danny Boyle, Christian Colson, John Smithson)

Black Swan: (Producers: Scott Franklin, Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Brian Oliver)

Greenberg: (Producers: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Scott Rudin)

The Kids Are All Right: (Producers: Gary Gilbert, Philippe Hellmann, Jordan Horowitz, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Celine Rattray, Daniela Taplin Lundberg)

Winter’s Bone: (Producers: Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Anne Rosellini)

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan

Danny Boyle - 127 Hours

Lisa Cholodenko - The Kids Are All Right

Debra Granik - Winter’s Bone

John Cameron Mitchell -  Rabbit Hole

Best Screenplay

Stuart Blumberg & Lisa Cholodenko - The Kids Are All Right

Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini - Winter’s Bone

Nicole Holofcener - Please Give

David Lindsay-Abaire - Rabbit Hole

Todd Solondz - Life During Wartime

Best First Feature (Award given to the director and producer)

Everything Strange and New: (Director: Frazer Bradshaw, Producers: A.D. Liano, Laura Techera Francia)

Get Low: (Director: Aaron Schneider, Producers: David Gundlach, Dean Zanuck)

Night Catches Us: (Director: Tanya Hamilton, Producers: Sean Costello, Jason Orans, Ronald Simons)

The Last Exorcism: (Director: Daniel Stamm, Producers: Marc Abraham, Tom Bliss, Eric Newman, Eli Roth)

Tiny Furniture: (Director: Lena Dunham, Producers: Kyle Martin, Alicia Van Couvering)

Best First Screenplay

Diane Bell - Obselidia

Lena Dunham - Tiny Furniture

Nik Fackler - Lovely, Still

Bob Glaudini - Jack Goes Boating

Dana Adam Shapiro & Evan M. Wiener - Monogamy

John Cassavetes Award (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer) Executive producers are not listed.

Daddy Longlegs: (Writers/Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Producers: Casey Neistat, Tom Scott)

Lbs.: (Director: Matthew Bonifacio, Writers/Producers: Matthew Bonifacio, Carmine Famiglietti

Lovers Of Hate: (Writer/Director: Bryan Poyser, Producer: Megan Gilbride)

Obselidia: (Writer/Director: Diane Bell, Producers: Chris Byrne, Matthew Medlin)

The Exploding Girl: (Writer/Director: Bradley Rust Gray, Producers: Karin Chien, Ben Howe, So Yong Kim)

Best Female Lead

Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right

Greta Gerwig - Greenberg

Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence - Winter’s Bone

Natalie Portman - Black Swan

Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

Best Male Lead

Ronald Bronstein - Daddy Longlegs

Aaron Eckhart - Rabbit Hole

James Franco - 127 Hours

John C. Reilly - Cyrus

Ben Stiller - Greenberg

Best Supporting Female

Ashley Bell - The Last Exorcism

Dale Dickey - Winter’s Bone

Allison Janney - Life During Wartime

Daphne Rubin-Vega - Jack Goes Boating

Naomi Watts - Mother And Child

Best Supporting Male

John Hawkes - Winter’s Bone

Samuel L. Jackson - Mother And Child

Bill Murray - Get Low

John Ortiz - Jack Goes Boating

Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right

Best Cinematography

Adam Kimmel - Never Let Me Go

Matthew Libatique - Black Swan

Jody Lee Lipes - Tiny Furniture

Michael McDonough - Winter’s Bone

Harris Savides - Greenberg

Best Documentary (Award given to the director)

Exit Through The Gift Shop: (Director: Banksy)

Marwencol: (Director: Jeff Malmberg)

Sweetgrass: (Directors: Ilisa Barbash & Lucien Castaing-Taylor)

Restrepo: (Directors: Tim Hetherington & Sebastian Junger)

Thunder Soul: (Director: Mark Landsman)

Best Foreign Film (Award given to the director)

Kisses (Ireland): (Director: Lance Daly)

Mademoiselle Chambon (France): (Director: Stéphane Brizé)

Of Gods And Men (Morocco): (Director: Xavier Beauvois)

The King’s Speech (United Kingdom): (Director: Tom Hooper)

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Thailand): (Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

Robert Altman Award (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)

Please Give (Director: Nicole Holofcener, Casting Director: Jeanne McCarthy, Ensemble Cast: Ann Guilbert, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Lois Smith, Sarah Steele)

Acura Someone To Watch Award (The 17th Annual Acura Someone To Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Acura).
The Finalists Are:
Hossein Keshavarz, director of Dog Sweat
Laurel Nakadate, director of The Wolf Knife
Mike Ott, director of Littlerock

Aveeno® Truer Than Fiction Award (The 16th Annual Aveeno® Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Aveeno®).

The Finalists Are:
Ilisa Barbash & Lucien Castaing-Taylor, directors of Sweetgrass
Jeff Malmberg, director of Marwencol
Lynn True & Nelson Walker, directors of Summer Pasture

Piaget Producers Award (The 14th Annual Piaget Producers Award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget).

The Finalists Are:
In-Ah Lee, producer of Au Revoir Taipei
Adele Romanski, producer of The Myth Of The American Sleepover
Anish Savjani, producer of Meek’s Cutoff

Soul Kitchen (2009)

Delicious and delightful, this German farce about a Greek/German restaurateur had us howling with laughter and tapping our feet to the kick-ass soundtrack. Though the Doors song is missing, our hero Zinos sports a Jim Morrison haircut. Co-writer Adam Bousdoukos plays it straight as the beleaguered Zinos, while the better-known Moritz Bleibtreu plays his brother Ilias with a comic flair not seen in his earlier work (Run Lola Run (1998), Munich (2005), The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008), among others). Moritz's mother Monica Bleibtreu has a cameo as Nadine's grandmother (she's in the photo I linked above) but sadly died in May 2009, before the movie was released anywhere. Director/co-writer Fatih Akin (no, not Faith) is a German man of Turkish descent, and there are a few Turkish references as well as the Greek ones, including the casting of Turkish actor Birol Ünel as the volatile chef Shayn. The only one of Akin's movies I've seen is his segment of New York, I Love You, but will definitely watch for him from now on. Newcomer Anna Bederke is funny as waitress Lucia. But it's Akin's and Bousdoukos's writing that really sparkles. Warning: don't read the synopses. Every one that I've seen is full of spoilers.

The soundtrack details are, for a change, listed on imdb. As I said, we loved the music, soul and otherwise. If I had thought of it earlier, I would have a list on the blog of wonderful music movies, and this would go on it. However, I do have a list of food movies, which I'm pushing up to a later publishing date, with this added, because the food stylings are great. We think it's better than its 75% rating from critics and 77% from audiences on rottentomatoes, and can whole-heartedly recommend this (to adults--there's sex in it!).

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Luftslottet som sprängdes - 2009)

This brings the trilogy of the girl with the dragon tattoo to a satisfying conclusion and anyone who liked the first two will be seeing this one. With less violence than the others, just as much suspense, and similarly long (2:28), part three is intriguing, and our heroine gets a new look (it's easy to guess after what event she does her makeover). I suspect they were all shot one after another because the release dates were so close -- less than a year for all three in each country, starting with Denmark in each case, perhaps due to star Noomi Rapace's being Danish. She is still terrific as hard-as-nails heroine Lisbeth Salander. After the three movies came out, longer versions were released as a six part Swedish TV series called Millennium, which is both the name of the late Stieg Larsson's trilogy and the name of the magazine published by Mikael Blomkvist in the stories. Here, someone deconstructs the differences between the movies and the series. I haven't read any of Larsson's books on which the series was based, so I can't comment (I couldn't get past the first few dozen pages and put it away when I found out it was going to be a movie). Swedish director Daniel Alfredson takes the reins on this one as he did on the second, and cast his father Hans Alfredson in a small part as Gullberg. The Swedish title, Luftslottet som sprängdes, literally means "the air castle that was blown up," but some say it would translate idiomatically to "pie in the sky."

My recommendation is to watch part one, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2:32 long), on your computer or xbox on netflix, then follow it with part two, The Girl Who Played With Fire (2:09), either instantly or on DVD, then get down to your local art theatre and see the last one on the big screen. If you choose to see this one all by itself, you should know one fact from before that the filmmakers left out: the character of Ronald Niedermann, the "blond giant," is unable to feel pain (to describe who he is in greater detail would be a spoiler for the middle movie). As I said in my post on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the trilogy is being remade in English with an all-star cast. Still, you should see the originals.

14 Rules for movies and television

Rule #14 (first published September 3, 2012)
When a modern character jumps in the water, there is almost never any consequence to the cell phone that he or she is undoubtedly carrying.

Rule #13 (February 6, 2012)
As an ex-smoker I can tell when someone has actually inhaled and when they're faking. They're usually faking. And then, 19 times out of twenty, when an onscreen smoker stubs a cigarette into an ashtray, s/he doesn't finish the job, leaving it smoldering. Another reason to be grateful we don't have smell-o-vision.

Rule #12 (November 21, 2011)
On screen, driving the wrong way on a crowded street, freeway, sidewalk, or even through a parade, causes honking, swerving, screaming, running, but almost never a quick crash or fatality. Please, PLEASE do not test my theory!

Rule #11 (October 14, 2011)
A character rings the doorbell or knocks, and someone is there within 15 seconds, no matter how big the house or apartment. If it's longer than that, no one is home. Jack's corollary: if it's longer than that, someone is inside dead or dying.

Rule #10 (November 28, 2010)
When a character is driving, s/he usually finds a parking place right in front of the destination. Also known as the Doris Day Parking Spot (thank you Dan, I had never heard of it put that way). The only time I ever heard my atheist mother pray was when she was driving us in New York City (which could cause some passengers to look to their own deities) in the 50's and 60's. Searching for a parking place, she would chant, "I'm God's perfect child," repeatedly, until gleefully finding an available spot.

Rule #9 (October 31, 2010)
Zooming in on a computer image usually delivers a sharp, recognizable picture, even though that almost never happens on my screen.

Rule #8 (May 21, 2010)
If a character is supposed to be unsophisticated, maybe even a hick, he or she will frequently hail from Ohio. In the Grey's Anatomy season finale last night, one character, an intern at Seattle Grace Hospital, said she was from Columbus (a bustling city and the state capital), and was the daughter of a teacher and a "corn farmer."

Rule #7 (May 4, 2010)
In a movie, turn on a computer and it boots up immediately. Copy a file and it zips by, blazing fast. Hook one gadget to another, and the correct cable is always there. Every now and then, it will take way too long instead, but usually, it's unrealistically cooperative.

Rule #6 (April 5, 2010)
When a character is watching a news item on TV that concerns him or her greatly, that character will almost always switch off the TV before the news item is finished.

Rule #5 (March 23, 2010)
In a movie, the wait staff seldom clears the glasses or bottles from the table, leaving them lined up so that the audience can count them (to see how drunk the characters are by any given time).

Rule #4 (March 13, 2010)
In a movie, if a woman faints, she is probably pregnant. If she throws up, and didn't drink to excess just before, she is definitely pregnant.

Rule #3 (November 30, 2009)
Any movie located in New York City will have a shot of the lead actor walking on a crowded sidewalk, looking all the more crowded by the use of a zoom lens that makes the other people seem closer and reduces the depth of field, or sharpness around the actor.

Rule #2 (March 15, 2009)
If a film or a scene is set in Paris, the Eiffel Tower will be visible from at least one location.

Rule #1 (January 12, 2009)
A character who coughs in a movie will be dead by the beginning of the credits. Over 99% of the time.

Howl (2010)

A must for fans of Allen Ginsberg, the so-called beat generation, and for hipsters of all stripes, this is an entertaining account of Ginsberg's writing of the book-length poem Howl in 1955 and the subsequent obscenity trial of its publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, mixed in with Ginsberg's friendships with Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady, a re-creation of a 1957 interview, some creative animation, and not enough of Ginsberg's long relationship with his partner Peter Orlovsky. James Franco (after I wrote about him in Milk, he was in Date Night and Eat Pray Love, and 127 Hours opened yesterday) has Ginsberg's speech inflections down pat and gives us a look into the writer's soul. In court, David Strathairn (I wrote about him in Cold Souls) is the straight-laced prosecuting attorney, Jon Hamm (Mad Men, 30 Rock, The Town) still buttoned-down for the defense, Bob Balaban (such a great character actor, he makes it hard to pick my favorites. I'll let you look at his list and decide) the judge, and Mary-Louise Parker (after I wrote about her in A Solitary Man she was in Red) with some fabulous 50s eyeglasses, is the only woman in the movie with a speaking part (for the record, it was hard for me to imagine her as the prim character she was playing, as Nancy Botwin on Weeds is one of many free spirits in her repertoire). Other good actors have small supporting roles, including Jeff Daniels, Alessandro Nivola, and Treat Williams.

Rob Epstein (director of 12 documentaries, including The Times of Harvey Milk) and Jeffrey Friedman (collaborator on 8 of Epstein's docs) co-directed, co-wrote, and co-produced this (along with 15 other producers). Cool music by Carter Burwell (Fargo (1996), O Brother Where Art Thou (2000), Before Night Falls (2000), A Serious Man, The Kids Are All Right, 74 others!) is supplemented by a little cool music of the period, and the movie ends with Ginsberg himself singing a song over pictures of the real people and their fates. The critics have not been kind (55% on rottentomatoes) but audiences have liked it better, averaging 67%. We liked it better than that. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Morning Glory (2010)

I didn't expect much from this but Jack chose it because we like Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton, plus Jack taught a high school student who went on to become a TV producer, and I was pleasantly surprised at how many laughs we had beyond those from the trailer. Despite Keaton's star power, she is but a supporting actress to the talented Rachel McAdams (her breakthrough role was as one of the Mean Girls (2004), she was also good in Wedding Crashers (2005) and Sherlock Holmes (according to imdb the sequel is filming right now), and she played one of Keaton's daughters in The Family Stone (2005)), who is adorable as awkward producer Becky, a multi-tasking workaholic. Harrison Ford is pretty darn funny as the "third worst person in the world," narcissistic, award-winning newsman Mike, and Keaton (my faves: anything by Woody Allen (she won her Oscar for Annie Hall (1977)), Reds (1981) for which she was Oscar-nominated, Crimes of the Heart (1986), Baby Boom (1987), The First Wives Club (1996), and Something's Gotta Give (2003) which got her a fourth nomination--I can't remember if I saw her third nominated performance in Marvin's Room (1996)) is also wonderful as the perpetually irritated but always professional co-anchor Colleen. Jeff Goldblum (I wrote about him in The Switch) is reliably good as the big boss, Ty Burrell (doofus dad Phil on Modern Family) has a comical bit as a co-anchor, as does Matt Malloy (I don't think he's had a leading role but he's a funny guy) as the weather man, and John Pankow (long list) and Patrick Wilson (also The Switch) are fine, too. Watch for quick looks at Elaine Kaufman (owner of Elaine's nightclub), and newsmen Chris Matthews, Bob Schieffer, and Morley Safer playing themselves. Although IBS is apparently an actual television studio, I laughed every time I saw it, thinking of irritable bowel syndrome.

Director Roger Michell brings experience with comedy (I loved both Notting Hill (1999) and Venus (2006)) and drama (Changing Lanes (2002), The Mother (2003), and Enduring Love (2004) were all first rate) to the table. And writer Aline Brosh McKenna is no slouch either, having adapted the screenplay for The Devil Wears Prada (2006), among others.

Fabulous original music by David Arnold (How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, Quantum of Solace, and plenty of other Bond and non-Bond work, including a Grammy for a song in Independence Day (1996)) plus the songs listed on imdb (in my opinion, too many songs and not enough score) and beautiful panoramic shots of New York by Alwin Kuchler (Proof (2005), Solitary Man, and more) contribute to the overall entertainment value. Despite its 54% rating on rottentomatoes, it is sixth at the box office today. We think it's worth seeing to lift your spirits with something fluffy. I said "fluffy."

Stone (2010)

This well-timed taut drama features powerful performances by Edward Norton and Robert de Niro as a convicted arsonist named Stone and his parole officer Jack, respectively, and Milla Jovovich as Stone's sultry wife Lucetta. I was already a big fan of director John Curran for We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004) and The Painted Veil (2006), both of which starred Naomi Watts, and the latter, which I've mentioned many times on these pages, starred Norton as her husband. Written by Angus MacLachlan (nominated for an independent Spirit Best First Screenplay Award for Junebug (2005); this is his second feature) and photographed by cinematographer Maryse Alberti (Crumb (1994), Happiness (1998), We Don't Live Here Anymore, and The Wrestler, among many others), it was captivating watching and listening to Norton (Oscar nominated for American History X (1998), which I didn't see because I was afraid at the time that it would be too rough, and Primal Fear (1996), which was great; I also liked him a lot in a lot: Everyone Says I Love You (1996), Keeping the Faith (2000), Death to Smoochy (2002), Frida (2002), 25th Hour (2002), The Italian Job (2003), Down in the Valley (2005)--he was scary!, The Illusionist (2006), The Incredible Hulk (2008), and of course The Painted Veil) affecting a high-pitched yet gravelly voice as Stone tries to manipulate De Niro (I wrote about my De Niro faves in Everybody's Fine) into granting his parole. I didn't expect much from ex-model Jovovich (despite her nomination for a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress I quite liked The Fifth Element (1997); I haven't seen any of the Resident Evil series) so was pleasantly surprised when she turned in a believable performance as the sexy and persistent Lucetta. Frances Conroy (Ruth in Six Feet Under) has a few scenes as Jack's wife Madelyn.

Shot entirely in Michigan, it has no score, just songs, and only five are listed on imdb. My Jack remembered that we saw the trailer a long time ago. I'm glad I forgot it, because it gives away a lot. It's still in first run, at various places around the country. Perhaps not first on anyone's list, it's still very good.

Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story (2010)

Those who know me know that I love baseball, but many are surprised I am not well-versed in baseball history. Now I know more than I did last week after watching this entertaining documentary. Hank Greenberg, his family, and Sandy Koufax are featured prominently. With a fabulous soundtrack of jazz and other classics and narrated by Dustin Hoffman, this is screening only at Jewish Film Festivals around the world (one coming up in Hong Kong!) and isn't yet listed on netflix. Here's its own website. Directed and produced by documentarian Peter Miller and written by New York Times sportswriter/columnist Ira Berkow, it's a winner, but has not yet won any awards. I imagine it will, once it gets shown to a wider audience.

Off and Running (2009)

This documentary about an African-American girl raised as a Jew (along with adopted brothers who are of mixed-ethnicity and Korean, respectively) by her lesbian adoptive parents gets its title from our heroine Avery's talent as a track star and was engrossing to me and a full house at a Jewish film festival recently. We also got to meet Avery in the flesh, and she is a delightful, self-assured 20-year-old. I wasn't going to write about it because I had the time wrong and arrived late, but PBS (it was originally shown as a segment of the series P.O.V.) will be streaming it online until December 7 so I got to see the beginning and check out the credits again. Here's a review. The music by Daniel Bernard Roumain added much to the feel of this short (1:15) feature. And now I see that it's available to watch instantly on netflix as well. I think it's really good, and recommend it.

Winter's Bone (2010)

We were engaged for 100 minutes by this nearly laugh-free drama about a teenage girl, sole caretaker of her young siblings and mentally ill mother, who has to find her father because he put up their home for his bail and then disappeared. Winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, it boasts gorgeous gray shots of Ozark Missouri (by cinematographer Michael McDonough) and terrific performances by actors of whom we've seen little in the past. Starring as Ree Dolly, 20-year-old Jennifer Lawrence is in nearly every scene, which she can totally carry off. In supporting roles we have, among others, John Hawkes (Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005), American Gangster (2007)) as Ree's uncle Teardrop, Garret Dillahunt (plays the young grandfather in the very funny new comedy Raising Hope, created by Greg Garcia) as the sheriff, and Dale Dickey (who played Patty the Daytime Hooker on My Name is Earl, a now-canceled comedy by Greg Garcia) as the scary neighbor Merab.

It also won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance for director/co-writer Debra Granik and co-writer Anne Rosellini (they adapted from a novel by Daniel Woodrell). There will be inevitable comparisons to Frozen River, due to its chilly, rural setting, its female-led cast, its mid-fall release, and its Oscar buzz. We saw it in its last days at the dollar theatre, having avoided it due to the downbeat nature of the subject, and were glad we finally saw it. It's available now on netflix. Don't turn it off at the beginning of the credits because, rare for a drama, there's a tiny little bonus at the end (I think. We saw this over 10 days and four movies ago). Check it out and watch Raising Hope afterwards to raise your spirits. And also watch Greg Garcia's acceptance speech at the 2008 Emmy Awards.

A Secret (Un secret - 2007)

This gripping and beautiful drama, about a huge secret in a dysfunctional family, was on my radar screen because of its 11 César (French Academy) nominations (won only supporting actress for Julie Depardieu (Gérard's daughter) who plays Louise), as well as the starring role of Cécile de France (I wrote about her in Hereafter) as Tania. Based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Philippe Grimbert, adapted and directed by Claude Miller, it jumps around in time from 1955 to the present to before and during World War II. It also stars Patrick Bruel as Maxime, Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007), Quantum of Solace, Wild Grass) as the adult François, two talented boys, Valentin Vigourt (who looks a lot like Lukas Haas did in Witness (1985)) and Quentin Dubuis, as younger versions of François, and the radiant Ludivine Sagnier (Swimming Pool (2003), Moliére (2007), 8 Women (8 femmes - 2002), Paris Je T'aime (2006)) as Hannah.

The luscious cinematography is by Gérard de Battista and the moving score is composed by Zbigniew Preisner. This played at many Jewish Film Festivals around the country, but, if you missed it, you can get the DVD from netflix or watch it right now, streaming on your computer, from the netflix site. I suggest you do!

A Matter of Size (2009)

This delightful comedy from Israel is about an overweight man who, in an effort to make peace with his size, takes up Sumo wrestling with some friends from his weight-loss meeting (definitely NOT 12-step inspired). Having garnered 13 nominations (everything) and 3 wins (actress, supporting actress, costumes) at the Israeli Academy Awards, it's been optioned by Harvey Weinstein for an American remake. The award winners, Levana Finkelstein and Irit Kaplan, play his mother and girlfriend respectively. Co-director co-writer Sharon Maymon (a slim man) describes coming up with the idea in this spoiler-free interview, and how he met co-director Erez Tadmor, who is also not, as former NPR commentator Daniel Pinkwater described himself to Tom and Ray Magliozzi, circumferentially challenged. All the acting is great, by Israelis previously unknown to me and one Japanese man, Togo Igawa (Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), The Last Samurai (2003), more), but the writing really sparkles, affording plenty of, you should forgive the expression, belly laughs.

The DVD release date hasn't yet been announced (I was lucky enough to see this at one of the many Jewish Film Festivals that have screened it). So just remember what babetteflix told you, and put it on your "Save" list on netflix. Then we can all compare the remake to the original.

Red (2010)

We enjoyed this silly geezer action romp that was #4 at the box office last weekend, three weeks after release. With cartoonish violence, spectacular locations, and great wardrobe, especially Dame Helen Mirren's, the movie, based on a graphic novel, will entertain anyone who doesn't cringe at a shoot-'em-up for shooting's sake. Jack and I sometimes call ourselves geezers, though we're not quite old enough to qualify for senior prices at the mutliplex. The stars Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mirren, Morgan Freeman, and Mary-Louise Parker are, at this time, 55, 56, 65, 73, and 46, respectively. Parker isn't supposed to be a geezer, but Willis's character, like the other three, is RED (retired, extremely dangerous). And for geezers of our age and above, Ernest Borgnine (he is 93 years old! Doesn't look a day over 90. He won his Oscar for Marty in 1955, and Jack and I both remember him in McHale's Navy on TV in the mid 1960s and more. See what you remember from his resumé) has a cameo.

Willis (my faves: Die Hard (1988, 1990, 1995), Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), Twelve Monkeys (1995), Alpha Dog (2006), What Just Happened) is so clearly able to laugh at himself (watch this!) that we can easily do so when he's onscreen. I wrote about Malkovich (who can also laugh at himself) in The Great Buck Howard, Mirren in The Last Station, Freeman in Invictus, Parker in A Solitary Man, and they all add to the comedy, as does Brian Cox (I loved Running with Scissors (2006), and he was in Fantastic Mr. Fox and much more, including another movie called Red in 2008--I didn't see it), who is 64, as the Russian. Playing it straight are Karl Urban and Rebecca Pidgeon (Mrs. David Mamet--she annoys me every time with her wooden demeanor, including in the excellent The Spanish Prisoner (1997) and the hilarious State and Main (2000), and this is no exception). I'm not familiar with director Robert Schwentke, nor brothers Jon and Erich Hoeber, who adapted the graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, but obviously they've got some chops.

Prolific composer Christophe Beck (here, you may read it yourself) provides James Bond-like music, and the songs are listed on imdb. We didn't see The Expendables earlier this year, and I haven't seen a review that doesn't mention it in comparison to this one, so I am unqualified to compare. Still, we had fun.

Never Let Me Go (2010)

This was beautiful and sad and would have been surprising had I not accidentally read the second sentence of the netflix description, so beware (unless you've already read the Kazuo Ishiguro novel). With an Oscar-worthy soundtrack (here's a taste) by Rachel Portman, it could easily get Carey Mulligan another nomination (as she did in An Education; her breakthrough role was as Keira Knightley's sister Kitty Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (2005)). Mulligan's face speaks volumes without her opening her mouth, and when she does, we feel the great burdens her character Kathy endures here. Knightley's (I'm finally beginning to warm to her a little; I did love Bend it Like Beckham (2002) and liked The Duchess; anyone could have filled her roles in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, in my opinion) work is fine here as Ruth, but it's Mulligan's movie, though Andrew Garfield (also great in The Social Network and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) does a great job as Tommy, and the supporting cast is also outstanding: Izzy Meikle-Small, making her feature debut as young Kathy, Ella Purnell (also a debut, with two upcoming) as young Ruth, and Charlotte Rampling (after I wrote my faves in The Duchess, she had a cameo in Life During Wartime, which I forgot to mention), Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky and a small but pivotal role in Mulligan's An Education), and Nathalie Richard (many credits, my favorite of which was Irma Vep (1996), in which she played the cute wardrobe mistress with a crush on Maggie Cheung) as some of the teachers/adults in their lives.

Most of the PR for this movie says, "From the director of One Hour Photo," which was a good and creepy 2002 movie with Robin Williams, and the only other feature directed by Mark Romanek (he's done some documentary work). Alex Garland, who adapted Ishiguro's novel for the screen, is a novelist himself; his first, The Beach, was adapted into the 2000 Danny Boyle-directed, Leo DiCaprio-starring movie of the same name. He's written two other novels and two more Boyle-directed screenplays (28 Days Later (2002) and Sunshine (2007)). Ishiguro's novel, a finalist for the Booker Prize and also titled Never Let Me Go, is his sixth and most recent, published in 2005. His third, the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day from 1989, was made into a 1993 movie of the same name nominated for eight Oscars, including for Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson in the leading roles and James Ivory for directing, but it didn't win any. I was interested to learn that producer Andrew Macdonald has produced, among others, six of Boyle's nine movies (three above, plus Shallow Grave (1994), Trainspotting (1996), and A Life Less Ordinary (1997)--not Millions, Slumdog Millionaire, nor 127 Hours, which is to be released next week), and was the producer to whom Garland brought his spec script when the novel was not yet published.

Portman, who was Oscar-nominated for the scores for The Cider House Rules (1999) and Chocolat (2000), won for Emma (1996), and also scored The Duchess, has given us mesmerizing music to which I'm listening as I type. Some of the other songs in this movie are listed at imdb, which does not disclose the spoiler that's on netflix (to be fair, the fact is revealed about 30 minutes in). Since I'm a bit behind in writing, I haven't had a chance to read all the interesting-looking stuff on the movie's official website, so have at it.

Sorry, but we waited so long to see this, and then I took longer to write, that it's left the big screens in our area. The projected DVD release is February 2011. You probably shouldn't watch it in bed because I advise watching something that will make you laugh before going to sleep if you, like I, watch TV in bed). Do something fun or funny afterwards. But do see it.

Nowhere Boy (2009)

Kristin Scott-Thomas is wonderful as the chilly aunt Mimi who raised John Lennon, and Anne-Marie Duff adorable as her free-spirited sister Julia, but Aaron Johnson is a bit too earnest as the teenage John Lennon in a turbulent time of his life. Think Eric Stoltz who was cut from Back to the Future. Acting chops, sure, and cute as a button, but so SERIOUS, even when John is being playful. Although maybe it's the turbulence of the story or the directing and I'm blaming the wrong person. Then, there's another issue I have that's kind of a spoiler, in my opinion, so ask me off the page and I'll tell you. I liked Johnson's work in Kick-Ass and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, and he helps us feel young John's pain. We just don't see his funny side after the first 15 minutes, and we know Lennon had one. Some of my faves of Thomas' work: Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), The English Patient (1996) which got her an Oscar nomination, The Horse Whisperer (1998), Gosford Park (2001), Life as a House (2001), and I've Loved You So Long. Duff, who played the severe Sasha Tolstoy in The Last Station and was in the great Is Anybody There?, finally gets a meaty role here and skips away with it (that's a good thing). 20 year old (same age as Johnson) Thomas Brodie Sangster, who plays Paul McCartney, looks nothing like Paul but seemed so familiar when I saw him onscreen. That's because I saw him in the trailers for Nanny McPhee (2005), and he played Liam Neeson's son in Love Actually (2003) and Fanny Brawne's little brother in Bright Star. Sangster knew how to play the guitar when he got the part, but had to learn to do it left-handed to match Paul.

This is director Sam Taylor-Wood's feature debut. The other noteworthy thing about this 43 year old is that she is engaged to her star Johnson and their baby girl was born less than a month after his 20th birthday. Perhaps they're waiting until he's of legal age to tie the knot? Oh, wait. Wikipedia says that in the United Kingdom the age of consent is 16. Taylor-Wood has two daughters by her first marriage, the elder of whom, Angelica Jopling, born in 1997, plays Lennon's young half sister, also named Julia (her married name is now Julia Baird).

Apparently screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh is a bit free-spirited with the facts, and, although imdb gives Baird's memoir Imagine This - Growing up with my brother John Lennon a writing credit, she is a nowhere girl in the movie's credits. Johnson gets credit for vocals and guitar (as part of the band called The Nowhere Boys), as does Sam Bell, who plays George Harrison, but Sangster does not. The 33 song soundtrack (the first 18 songs are in the movie and the last 15 are "inspired" by it) should do well with its 50's era rock 'n' roll, a few songs by The Nowhere Boys, and Mother by John Lennon. The only Lennon music you will hear are the opening chord from A Hard Day's Night at the opening of the movie, and Mother over the credits. Here's a track from the movie and the real thing for your enjoyment.

I am in the minority for not loving this unabashedly. Rottentomatoes gives it 81% from critics, though only 70% from audiences. Roger Ebert gives it 3½ stars, and there are plenty of things to recommend it in addition to the acting and music above: sets, costumes, great greaser hair, and Liverpool and Blackpool locations. For the record, Jack liked it better than I did, and I think it's worth seeing. Plus I want to know what you think!

Freakonomics (2010)

We thought this documentary based on the best-selling book (that Jack loved and I have not read) was fun. Economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner's book examines "the hidden side of everything" (well, six things) and the movie covers four of them with humor, live action, animation, six directors, ten writers, and twenty producers (not the most--the current record-holder is 23). Director Seth Gordon (The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) which is one of Matt Groening's favorite documentaries, some episodes of some of my favorite TV comedies, and Four Christmases) creates the introductory and transitional segments. Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me (2004), 30 Days) narrates, as he usually does, the chapter called A Roshanda By Any Other Name, a fast-moving treatise on baby names in America, written by him and documentary producer Jeremy Chilnick (they made Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? (2008) together). The Alex Gibney (won Oscar for doc Taxi to the Dark Side (2007), also directed Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) and Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008), none of which I've seen) chapter, Pure Corruption, written by him and Peter Bull, is mostly about Sumo wrestling, with a little AIG and Lehman Brothers thrown in. In my opinion, it was the slowest. Then, the most controversial, It's Not Always a Wonderful Life, written and directed by Eugene Jarecki. I won't reveal the controversy just in case you haven't read the book. When the chapter concluded I realized the concept was familiar to me. And lastly, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Oscar nominated for Jesus camp (2006)--I meant to see it but didn't) write and direct the chapter Can a Ninth Grader Be Bribed to Succeed? The two ninth graders are appealing and their moms are good sports.

The transition segments with Dubner and Levitt holding court are entertaining, too, reminding me of something I read long ago: there are few things more fun than having someone ask you to talk about your passion. These guys are really smart, created their work, love their work, and do not take themselves seriously. They run an ongoing blog on the New York Times site. If you want to know more about the book, here's a wiki summary (it gives away the controversy above). Another interesting thing about this movie is that it was released online BEFORE theatrically, though we saw it in a traditional theatre. The DVD release date is unknown by netflix. We recommend this movie for smart people.