True Grit, Animal Kingdom, and Musical Notes

True Grit

In my (achieved) goal to see all the Best Picture nominees by nomination morning, I caught True Grit last Sunday. I'll start off by saying that I am a huge Coen Brothers fan. They are modern directors with a true vision and a distinctive style. They pick a theme and they go with it and put their own twist on it, whether it be film noir (The Man Who Wasn't There), revisionist Western (No Country for Old Men) or personal purging of their past (A Serious Man). With True Grit they've done something quite different-they've made what I think is easily their most "straight" film, a Western in the traditional sense of the word. In my mind, this has both its advantages and disadvantages. Many scenes have a kind of classic power in that you almost feel like you're watching an image that is already iconic. The stakeout on the roof, Mattie in the cave, Rooster carrying Mattie, and several other moments feel very "classic." On the other hand, this fidelity to the Charles Portis novel and the Western genre leaves a little less room for the Coens' spark. I enjoyed the movie the whole way through, but only at times did I feel the familiar Coen brothers touch.

The three lead performances are all quite strong. As we know from Crazy Heart, Jeff Bridges played falling down drunk and washed up quite well. If his performance as Rooster Cogburn seems a little less revelatory than last year's, I still can't think of another actor I'd rather see in the role. Matt Damon brings an enjoyable deadpan humor to his role as the Texas Ranger LaBouef. And Hailee Steinfeld really has the lead role (despite what Oscar said giving her a supporting nod) as Mattie Ross, the 14-year-old looking to avenge her father's killer. She has to speak in an old-fashioned cadence and carry herself with determination, and she pulls it off very well and plays very well against her co-stars. The one performance I didn't really like was Josh Brolin as the villain Tom Chaney. He felt like caricature with very little depth, and this made him seem too weak in his scenes with the more fully developed characters.

True Grit has a very good beginning, taking its time to set up the characters of Mattie and Rooster. The middle of the movie is also very entertaining, but again felt reminiscent of many westerns before it. What makes the movie memorable is a truly spectacular last 15 minutes or so, including a poignant epilogue which moves into the characters' future. The Coen brothers are, as usual, served with wonderful cinematography by the great Roger Deakins. Perhaps my favorite part of the movie is the poignant and evocative score by Carter Burwell, which digs into classic American hymns. It's too bad it was disqualified for the Oscars, but take a listen below.

Overall, I applaud the Coens for creating a beautiful film that has great fidelity to both its source material and film history. If it doesn't quite place in the rank of my favorite Coen Brothers films (that would be Fargo, No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man, Raising Arizona, and The Big Lebowski), it's still a great addition to their filmography.

Grade: B+

Animal Kingdom

Seen by probably 1% of the folks who saw True Grit, this is a small and gritty crime film from Australia which has mostly been covered for its great Supporting performance by Jacki Weaver, who managed to snag a Best Supporting Actress nomination.

Animal Kingdom follows a 17-year-old (James Frecheville) whose mother dies. He then goes to live with his uncles, a notorious and wanted group of criminals, and his grandmother. The most interesting part of the movie is the family interplay, specifically with the mother of the criminals, who watches over her boys like a viper over her brood. Weaver gives a great, surprising, and nuanced performance as the mother. I also loved Ben Mendelsohn as the most vicious of the brothers. I thought James Frecheville was a bit too passive in the lead role, but there's a lot of interesting things going on around him. The movie started off a little slowly, but it had a great final third with many surprising twists and turns.

If you like crime movies, I'd definitely recommend seeking Animal Kingdom out.

Grade: B

Musical Notes

When going over my favorite surprises yesterday, I didn't mention the Best Score category. Take a listen to these 5 scores. Aren't they so enjoyable? I'm an especially big fan of The King's Speech and The Social Network. I'm really pulling for a Social Network win. How cool would it be for Trent Reznor to win an Oscar?

Oscar Nominations!!

So the Oscar nominations are now out! I MAY have been 3 minutes late to pick up my third graders from the auditorium so I could finish watching the nomination announcements on my computer at school....... but sometimes you have to make sacrifices.

First a few thoughts before I run through the major categories.

-Overall, this is a really terrific lineup of actors. There is almost no "filler" from mediocre movies like we saw last year (The Last Station, The Lovely Bones, Nine, Invictus).

-My favorite category: Best Supporting Actor-LOVE this lineup. Followed closely by Best Actress.

-Least favorite category: Best Supporting Actress. Not bad at all. Just not as filled with greatness as the other acting categories.

-There's some great young talent out there. Natalie Portman, Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Williams, James Franco, Jesse Eisenberg, Hailee Steinfeld are 32 or under.

Yes!

-I'm so glad for the Winter's Bone love. Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor (John Hawkes in a bit of a surprise), and Adapted Screenplay. It's the only true indie in the Best Picture race, and it's damn good. See it if you haven't.

-Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom. A great performance in a small Australian movie. I'm glad the Academy recognized it.

-Exit Through the Gift Shop in Best Documentary. Unlike typical Academy tastes, but what a great movie. Check it out on Netflix watch now.

-Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine. Great choice for the coveted fifth slot.

No......

-I didn't really think Ryan Gosling would get nominated for Best Actor for Blue Valentine, but there was an outside chance the Academy didn't take. His was probably my favorite performance of the year.

-No costume design nomination for Black Swan. Really??

-No Film Editing nomination for Inception. It certainly wasn't one of my favorite movies of the year, but its editing was superb.

-Despite the love for many aspects of 127 Hours, no Cinematography nomination for 127 Hours. Wasn't that kind of its greatest strength?

Best Picture

127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

How I Did: 9/10. I thought they'd go for The Town rather than 127 Hours. Everyone figured either The Town, 127 Hours, or Winter's Bone would miss. I'm really glad Winter's Bone stuck it in. I liked The Town a smidgen more than 127 Hours, but either way I'm fine. As for the whole lineup-I've seen them all by nomination morning! I'm proud to say there's not a dud among these movies. In fact, I rated them all at least a B+, so I think it's a really strong lineup.

What Will Win: It looks like a tight, tight race between The King's Speech and The Social Network. The Social Network has the buzz, but The King's Speech did exceptionally well today. If I had to put money on it, I think I'd stick with The Social Network.

Actor

Javier Bardem, Biutiful

Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Colin Firth, The King's Speech

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

James Franco, 127 Hours

How I Did: 4/5. I thought Robert Duvall (Get Low) would get in, but instead it was a surprise nod for Bardem in the foreign film Biutiful (also nominated for Foreign Language film). I've heard he's terrific. A good category, although I was REALLY hoping for a surprise nod for Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine, probably my favorite performance of the year.

Who Will Win: Colin Firth. Take it to the bank.

Actress

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

How I Did: 5/5!! I predicted it. I haven't seen Rabbit Hole yet, but these other 4 performances are all completely Oscar worthy. What a terrific category.

Who Will Win: Portman, with a small chance Bening pulls off an upset. Black Swan didn't do as well as it could have today, so perhaps it's not entirely loved by the Academy.

Supporting Actor

Christian Bale, The Fighter

John Hawkes, Winter's Bone

Jeremy Renner, The Town

Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

How I Did: 5/5! I correctly guessed Hawkes would pull off a surprise nomination over Andrew Garfield from The Social Network. I LOVE this category. In fact, I think this would be my exact lineup if I had a ballot. All 5 of these gentlemen gave amazing performances.

Who Will Win: Christian Bale, with a teeny tiny chance Geoffrey Rush could win.

Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech

Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

How I Did: 4/5. I thought they would go with Mila Kunis in Black Swan instead of Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom. I just saw Animal Kingdom last week, though, and I think they made the right choice. This is probably my least favorite of the acting categories. I loved Adams and Weaver. Bonham Carter was good in a limited role. Leo was interesting but over-the-top. Steinfeld was strong for a young actor, but not quite to the level of greatness for me.

Who Will Win: This is the only really interesting acting race. I think it's between Melissa Leo and Hailee Steinfeld, although I think Adams has a small chance as well.

Director

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

Joel and Ethan Coen, True Grit

David Fincher, The Social Network

Tom Hooper, The King's Speech

David O. Russell, The Fighter

How I Did: 4/5. I, along with everyone else, though Christopher Nolan would be nominated for Inception. I predicted him instead of the Coens. This is the third time Nolan has had a Directors Guild nomination and then miss the Oscar race (after Memento and The Dark Knight).

Who Will Win: Fincher, I'm pretty sure. Even if The Social Network doesn't win Best Picture.

Original Screenplay

Another Year

The Fighter

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

The King's Speech

How I Did: 4/5. I thought they would go for Black Swan over Mike Leigh's Another Year. I haven't seen Another Year yet, but I'm a big fan of Leigh and his work.

Who Will Win: The King's Speech, with an outside shot for The Kids Are All Right.

Adapted Screenplay

127 Hours

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter's Bone

How I Did: 4/5. I thought The Town would get in instead of 127 Hours, which did much better than I expected today. A nice lineup of scripts.

Who Will Win: The Social Network. For sure.

My Stats: Of the categories I predicted, I got 39/45 for a percentage of 87%. Not too shabby. This is EXACTLY the percentage I got last year. Maybe one year I'll up it to 90%.

If you'd like to see the whole list, go here

Final Oscar Predictions

Nominations are coming on Tuesday morning (!), so here are my final picks. I'll try to list the nominees more or less in order of likelihood.

Picture

Sure Things

The Social Network

The King's Speech

Black Swan

The Fighter

Inception

Looking Good

True Grit

Toy Story 3

The Kids Are All Right

Questionable

The Town

Winter's Bone

Runners-Up

127 Hours

Another Year

The Ghost Writer

Shutter Island

Blue Valentine

The second-year of the 10-wide field makes the picks for the last 2 slots a little tricky. I'll frankly be shocked if anything other than the top 10 or 127 Hours makes it in, though. After my viewing of True Grit today, I've now seen ALL of the main contenders before the nominations, a nice feat for me.

Actor

Sure Things

Colin Firth, The King's Speech

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

James Franco, 127 Hours

Looking Good

Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Questionable

Robert Duvall, Get Low

Runners-Up

Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine

Javier Bardem, Biutiful

Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter

This category has seemed set for a while, but can Duvall still make it in? I'm betting yes, but I will be THRILLED if Gosling takes the fifth spot.

Actress

Sure Things

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone

Looking Good

Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole

Questionable

Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Runners-Up

Lesley Manville, Another Year

Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit (If voters decide to take on the category fraud-she's being campaigned for Supporting)

Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right

Hilary Swank, Conviction

Noomi Rapace, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Tilda Swinton, I Am Love

This category is chock full of contenders, and there is a wide open race for that fifth slot. I think we may see something interesting in this category.

Supporting Actor

Locks

Christian Bale, The Fighter

Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

Looking Good

Jeremy Renner, The Town

Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

Questionable

John Hawkes, Winter's Bone

Runners-Up

Andrew Garfield, The Social Network

Matt Damon, True Grit

Sam Rockwell, Conviction

Bill Murray, Get Low

I'm making my biggest leap here predicting that the Academy will follow the Screen Actors Guild lineup and pick Hawkes over Garfield. This may be wishful thinking because I would LOVE this lineup if it followed my predictions.

Supporting Actress

Sure Things

Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Amy Adams, The Fighter

Looking Good

Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech

Questionable

Mila Kunis, Black Swan

Runners-Up

Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Lesley Manville, Another Year (If voters vote for her in Supporting instead of lead...)

Barbara Hershey, Black Swan

Dianne Weist, Rabbit Hole

Another interesting category that could have some shakeup depending on where Steinfeld ends up.

Director

Locks

David Fincher, The Social Network

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

Christopher Nolan, Inception

Looking Good

Tom Hooper, The King's Speech

Questionable

David O. Russell, The Fighter

Runners-Up

Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit

Debra Granik, Winter's Bone

Danny Boyle, 127 Hours

Mike Leigh, Another Year

I think there is a really horse race between the Coens and Russell for that fifth slot. I would be thrilled if Granik pulled off a nomination, but I don't think it will happen.

Original Screenplay

Locks

The King's Speech

The Kids Are All Right

Inception

Questionable

The Fighter

Black Swan

Runners Up

Another Year

Blue Valentine

The first three will definitely be nominated and will soon be duking it out for the win. After that, I'm guessing they'll likely go with the probable Best Picture nominees.

Adapted Screenplay

Locks

The Social Network

Winter's Bone

Toy Story 3

Probable

True Grit

Vulnerable

The Town

Runners Up

127 Hours

Ghost Writer

Rabbit Hole

Again the fifth slot looks like it could go a lot of ways.

I won't go into full predictions for all the categories, but I'll make some guesses on the number of nominees for some of the top contenders.

Inception: 10 (Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction, Editing, Visual Effects, Score, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing)

True Grit:10 (Picture, Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Costumes, Art Direction, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Makeup)

The King's Speech: 9 (Picture, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Director, Original Screenplay, Costume Design, Art Direction, Editing)

Black Swan: 8 (Picture, Actress, Supporting Actress, Director, Original Screenplay, Editing, Costumes, Cinematography)

The Social Network: 8 (Picture, Actor, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Score, Cinematography, Editing)

The Fighter: 6 (Picture, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actress, Director, Original Screenplay)

If things end up this way, it will be very interesting. It's kind of an Academy tradition that the movie with the most nominations goes on to win Best Picture. The Social Network is the frontrunner right now, but it look as if 2 or 3 movies will likely beat it out in nominations.

Check back Tuesday to see how my predictions fared!

Blue Valentine & Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Blue Valentine

You know a movie is great when it sticks with you, haunts you, when you can't get the characters out of your head. Ever since seeing Blue Valentine on Sunday, I've been thinking about the incredibly sad story of Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) a whole lot. I can't remember the last time a movie was so heartbreakingly real and true without ever once going over the top. It's sad, yes, but the kind of sad you feel glad to have witnessed. Something about the relationship of these two characters strikes you as unflinchingly honest and beautiful, even in their worst moments.

The movie is split between the present day, when Dean and Cindy are going through a period of crisis in their relationship, and about 6 years earlier, when Dean and Cindy were beginning their relationship. When I had read about the movie, I imagined that the earlier scenes would be all sweetness and light and the later scenes incredibly sad. It doesn't play out that way at all. Just as many sad event happen in the earlier scenes, but the difference is the relationship between the two characters. The early scenes are infused with a sense of connection and care and the later scenes show the fissure that has occurred.

I can't say enough about the two central performances. With this performance following his spectacular turns in Half Nelson (2006) and Lars and the Real Girl (2007), I think I can confidently name Ryan Gosling my favorite modern actor. He is so charismatic, natural, and unique in his performance as the more outgoing and aggressive one in the relationship. He feels entirely like a complete person, and not at all like a character type. Michelle Williams plays a quieter character, and in some ways her challenge may be even greater. She has such an uninhibited naturalism in this role, she also makes her role deep and affecting. There is one crucial scene in the movie that is absolutely gripping, thanks in large part to her performance. If there's any justice in this year's Oscar race, both actors will be nominated for their roles.

Blue Valentine has gotten a lot of press for it's initial NC-17 rating, later changed to an R. I'm frankly confused at the initial rating. Sure, there's some sex and a bit of nudity, but nothing more than many other mainstream R movies. I think the ratings board couldn't handle the emotional truth of the movie. If you want to see highlights of emotionally truthful acting, you should see it as soon as possible.

Grade: A

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)

If there's a relationship movie that's the opposite of Blue Valentine, Scott Pilgrim might be it. I happened to see them a day apart, which made for an interesting contrast. Director Edgar Wright pulls out every video game, comic book styling he can throw in to the movie to show the story of a young band member (Michael Cera playing.....wait for it.... the EXACT SAME character he always plays, although I guess he's good at it) who has to fight the "Seven Evil Exes" in order to win the love of his crush.

I was with this movie for about the first 45 minutes or so. There's a great supporting cast you'll recognize from lots of movies, and the stylishness of the movie is fun to watch. After a while, though, I really wanted to feed the movie some Ritalin. The fights get a bit redundant, and I can't say I ever felt any emotional connection to the characters. If you're a comic book/video game enthusiast, you may appreciate this movie more than me.

Grade: C+

Oscar Nominee Prediction Updates

I think I did a decent job with my earlier predictions but I've made a few changes in terms of likelihood. Also, a few comment after each category.

Picture

The Social Network

The King's Speech

True Grit

Black Swan

The Fighter

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

Toy Story 3

The Town

Winter's Bone

Alternate: 127 Hours

Buzz has definitely coalesced around these 11 movies. Which one will they leave out? I'm thinking it's between The Town, Winter's Bone, and 127 Hours for the last 2 slots. There has been a lot of buzz about voters refusing to see 127 Hours because of the arm cutting scene, so I'm thinking it's the most likely candidate to be out. I'm really really hoping Winter's Bone makes it in.

Actor

Colin Firth, The King's Speech

James Franco, 127 Hours

Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

Robert Duvall, Get Low

Alternate: Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine, Javier Bardem, Biutiful

It feels like this will be the five. Get Low has definitely lost buzz, but I think Duvall's legacy will carry him through in the end.

Actress

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone

Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole

Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Alternate: Lesley Manville, Another Year, Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right, Hilary Swank, Conviction

The top 3 are absolutely locked, Kidman is likely, and there's a tough fight for the last spot. Why do I have a weird feeling that Swank could sneak in?? Manville is being raved about by the critics in her Mike Leigh film, but if Sally Hawkins couldn't make it in an equally acclaimed performance in a weaker year for actresses, I think Manville might miss out.

Supporting Actor

Christian Bale, The Fighter

Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

Jeremy Renner, The Town

Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

John Hawkes, Winter's Bone

Alternate: Andrew Garfield, The Social Network, Matt Damon, True Grit, Sam Rockwell, Conviction, Bill Murray, Get Low

I'm going out on a limb and saying the Winter's Bone fans might pull in the superb John Hawkes. I also think Garfield might miss out-it's not a super showy role and he's not that well known. You can already call it a win for Bale, barring a surprise upset by Rush. If this ends up being the lineup, this might be one of my favorite Supporting Actor categories ever. These performances were all truly great.

Supporting Actress

Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Amy Adams, The Fighter

Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech

Mila Kunis, Black Swan

Alternates: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom, Dianne Weist, Rabbit Hole

This really feels like the lineup to me. Weaver was very acclaimed, but did anyone see her small Australian movie? (I'm getting it when it hits Netflix)

Director

David Fincher, The Social Network

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

Christopher Nolan, Inception

Tom Hooper, The King's Speech

Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit

Alternates: David O. Russell, The Fighter, Debra Granik, Winter's Bone, Danny Boyle, 127 Hours

This is an interesting category. I think the top 3 are fairly solid. After that I think any of the other folks could make

Winter Break Catch-Up: The Figher, The King's Speech, and many more

With a two-week winter break (and a bout of sickness before that), I tend to do so much watching of movie that I have little time to blog. Preparing for my end-of-year wrap-up, I'm trying to catch up on a lot of 2010 movies. Here's some longer notes on The Fighter and The King's Speech (look for both to rack up the Oscar nominations) and some short notes on my Netflix views.

The Fighter

The Fighter is a traditional boxing movie with a twist. It is an up-by-the

bootstraps tale of a weak fighter (Micky Ward, played by Mark Wahlberg), who, through some training and determination, makes it to a big fight. The difference, however, is how little the movie is really about the boxing. Director David O. Russell, who made Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees, uses the boxing story as a chance to take a sociological/tragic/humorous look at Ward's extended, highly dysfunctional family, especially his crack-addict brother and sometime coach Dicky, played in a remarkable performance by Christian Bale.

Micky is initially managed by his mother, played brashly by Melissa Leo. She is constantly followed by a throng (7?) of his sisters decked out in early-90s trashy outfits. Things start to change when he starts a relationship with a local bartender (Amy Adams) who encourages him to stand up to his family.

The performances are all great. Mark Wahlberg is the least colorful of the main characters, but he still manages to imbue his character with heart and sympathy. Christian Bale is simply astonishing in his crack-addict role, and I'll be very surprised is he doesn't win the Supporting Actor Oscar. I also loved Amy Adams in an atypical role for her. She's the best she's been since her revelatory role in Junebug, one of my favorite movies ever.

The Fighter is the kind of movie where I cannot find much to quibble with at all. Perhaps there were times when mom and sisters threatened to go over-the-top, but it also made the movie so much fun. Nevertheless, it doesn't quite rise to the level of greatness to me, although individual scenes do achieve that power. Perhaps the sports-movie story arc is too familiar, but as much as I enjoyed the movie, it didn't hit greatness for me. A well-made, extremely well-acted, and very entertaining movie that will do very well Oscar nomination morning.

Grade: B+

The King's Speech

While The King's Speech is a very different movie than The Fighter, I have many of the same feelings about it. A somewhat familiar genre (royalty drama), great performances, highly entertaining, well made, and yet not quite transcendent.

The best reason to see this movie is the absolutely masterful performances by Colin Firth (as King George VI) and Geoffrey Rush (as his speech therapist Lionel Logue). The movie starts a little slowly, as we see the Duke (he later becomes king) hobbled by his stutter and pitied by his royal family. As soon as the two men meet and begin their sessions, however, the sparks in the movie start to fly.

The core of the movie is really about friendship. In a world where royalty and commoners were kept apart, but where a vicious war was about to unite the country, here is an example of what friendship can achieve. A late scene in the movie of Rush standing by as Firth gives a speech is truly beautiful.

Director Tom Hooper crafts The King's Speech expertly, filming the whole movie in a sort of muddy War-era England. He wisely keeps the action on the main relationship in the movie, while giving us glimpses of the rest of the royal family.

As with The Fighter, I don't have much to criticize in this movie, but neither did it achieve greatness for me. I've heard a lot about the Best Picture race boiling down to The King's Speech vs. The Social Network. While it's certainly plausible The King's Speech could pull it off, I would have to put my money on The Social Network. You can already ink in your ballot for Best Actor, though. Colin Firth will be on stage.

Grade: B+

Other notes.....

Since I've been busy viewing, I'll try to keep my notes quick. I've been especially trying to catch up with some prominent foreign and documentary films.

Cairo Time

A very pleasant surprise. This movie is sort of a Lost in Translation set in Egypt. The principal characters are Juliette (Patricia Clarkson), an American traveling to meet her husband, and Tareq (Alexander Siddig), her husband's colleague who joins her for her journey through the city. This movie is definitely worth seeing for Clarkson's performance alone. She is that amazing. Her character arc is slow and gradual, but Clarkson is such a masterful actress you can feel each moment of change so beautifully. Candian director Ruben Nadda has made a very impressive movie. For those who want movies with a lot of plot, you probably won't like it. For those who are into atmosphere and acting, however, I definitely recommend it.

Grade: B+

Easy A

Another pleasant surprise, and it also has a great performance by Clarkson. Emma Stone is fantastic as Olive, a whip-smart teen who gets mistaken for a slut and has some fun with her classmates. She also has some really cool parents played by Clarkson and Stanley Tucci. This movie was definitely reminiscent of 80s John Hughes movies (it even acknowledges its debt with a little montage) in a good way. Of course elements are predictable, but it was really fun to watch, and I think Emma Stone is on her way to stardom.

Grade: B+

Everyone Else

If you know me as a blogger, you know I love quiet character studies. In fact, they're one of my favorite genres. Even so, this German movie tested my patience. This story of a disintegrating relationship between a young German couple was well-acted and interesting for a while, but it gradually grew tiresome. The stakes in their casual relationship didn't seem that high, so I eventually lost interest.

Grade: C

Exit Through the Gift Shop

I don't want to say too much about this movie, because the less you know about it the better. It's about the street art (or grafitti) movement and many of the folks involved. It's made by Banksy, the British graffiti superstar and focuses on another fascinating character. If you're into art, or street art, or self-delusional people, watch it. It's on Netflix's Watch Now.

Grade: A-

Mother

This Korean thriller was funny and atmospheric and I admired a lot about it. Kim Hye-Ja is excellent as the mother of a mentally challenged young man accused of murdering a young girl. Something about this movie didn't quite click with me, though. The mystery gets a little overly murky. It's the kind of movie I can see others loving, but it just wasn't quite my taste.

Grade: B-

Mother and Child

This movie from director Rodrigo Garcia (who directed the excellent movie Nine Lives and created the excellent HBO series In Treatment) is about the scars of motherhood and adoption. It's kind of one of those "we're all connected" movies (think 21 Grams, Babel, Crash), so if you like those you'll probably be intrigued. The lead actresses (Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, and Kerry Washington) are all excellent in tricky roles that have to be both sympathetic and yet a bit off-putting. Samuel L. Jackson and Shareeka Epps (who was sensational as the young teen in Half Nelson) also provide strong support. It's good, but it's filmed a bit like a TV show. If it had some more filmmaking aplomb, I think it would have been stronger. It's good, though, and worth checking out.

Grade: B

Restrepo

This documentary follows a company of soldiers as they work in the deadliest valley in Afghanistan. This documentary was extremely eye-opening for me in getting an inside view of what life in wartime is like. You get both the good (the friendship, sacrifice, and strength of the troops) and bad (masculine energy run amok, a certain callousness to deaths of Afghan civilians and soldiers). Perhaps a little longer than it needs to be, but very strong.

Grade: B+

Soul Kitchen

Turkish-German director Fatih Akin made The Edge of Heaven, one of my favorite movies of 2008. His movies usually involve the stresses and opportunities of a cross-cultural Europe. In Soul Kitchen, he turns the same theme to comedy, as his Greek protagonist tries to turn a dump of a restaurant into a great dining experience. This movie started out really strong, but I thought it focused too much on the relationships outside the restaurant and not enough on the fascinating interplay of the food, cooks, and patrons in the restaurant.

Grade: B-

Watching again.....

As I've been sharing my favorite movies of the year with others, I've had the chance to watch some of my favorites of the year again. Winter's Bone and The Kids Are All Right looked even better on a second view, so much so that I think I'll change my grades to solid As and drop the minus. Toy Story 3, which I originally gave an A, absolutely deserves it. It's absolutely terrific.