Vicent wants the Sea (Vicent will Meer)
Vincent suffers from Tourette’s syndrome, “an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by multiple physical (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic” (Wikipedia). When his mother dies, his father, a politician in Bavaria, sticks him into an institution of people with mental problems so that his tic gets cured. Now we are in location explored by earlier films such as Rain Main and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The film at times is funny and has a few deep moments, but it also deteriorates into cheesy kitsch. It is also too close the earlier German film The Princess and the Warrior (Der Krieger und die Kaiserin), which was a lot better and I recommend you see instead.
Family Wedding, Youth in Revolt, Arthur, and Brooklyn’s Finest
Four films: two good, two bad. Family Wedding, which chronicles the challenges of marrying across cultural and racial boundaries, had great comic potential but delivered a lame treatment of the subject. Youth in Revolt is the opposite: a film about love that is poetic and deep. Two thumbs up. Arthur, mixing animation with human being acting, turned out better than anticipated. It celebrates the power of the human imagination. I will see the next installment. Brooklyn’s Finest was a waste of time because this film was already made many times.
United 93
We all roughly know what happened in the case of United 93. It was the fourth plane that was hijacked on September 11, 2001, to hit a high profile target. In this case, it was not the World Trade Center or the Pentagon but possibly the White House or the Capitol Building. If the Presidential mansion had been destroyed, September 11 would have been an even more shocking event. The plane never hit its target because some passengers found out via phone during the flight that two planes had struck the world trade center and they realized that their hijackers in all likelihood would fly the plane into another high profile target. To prevent this larger catastrophe, they banded together, stormed the cockpit, and overpowered the hijacker flying the plane, leading it to crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. I have seen my share of films in the airplane hijacking/catastrophe genre, but this one is different because we know it is based on a real event and the creators made some clever moves: First, they recreate perfectly what it feels like traveling on a United plane across the country so you have the sense “Yes, that could me be on the plane.” Second, they show you what we did not know about United 93, namely, what happened behind the scenes at the Federal Aviation Authority that fateful morning of September 11 that in our lifetime we will never forget. I still remember getting the email. “Peter, watch CNN. Plane struck the world trade centre…” Anyone who lived through this day and did not lose a relative or personal friend will enjoy watching this film.
Crazy Heart
I will always remember Easter 2010 as the Crazy Heart weekend. Aside from Avatar a few weeks ago, this is my favorite film in a long time. I knew before walking into the cinema that the film followed at country singer who had seen better days. Critics also raved about Jeff Bridges performance. Yes, his performance deserved an Oscar. But the most amazing person connected with the film is the first-time director Scott Cooper. Cooper was trained as an actor but never became a superstar. We are all better off for it because the man as a poetic sensibility that is put to better used as a writer and director. Every detail about the film is right. Cooper refused to shoot in Canada to save costs because he knew that original scenes in the Southwest would please our eyes and fit much better to country music. When I reviewed Walk the Line, I confessed that I could not relate to the music because country was foreign to my ears.
Sherlock Holmes
Guy Richie took some liberties in wooing young audiences to see his version of Sherlock Holmes. The historical—but let us not forget fictional—19th century character invented by the writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is quite meticulous with his personal hygiene and does not seem to have any constitutional interest in the opposite sex. Richie’s Sherlock only puts drops of water on his body when it is absolutely necessary. One could mistake his Sherlock for a homeless street bum. Richie’s Sherlock could also pass for a Don Giovanni who is merely between affairs rather than an incurable bachelor. Richie cast Sherlock Holmes in the genre an action movie, putting it closer in the tradition of James Bond or Jason Bourne films. Yet in one way Richie stayed faithful to the character in the Conan Doyle books. Sherlock Holmes is one hell of a detective. His powers of reasoning are peerless.
The Hurt Locker
A few years ago I was staying for a night in a motel in the vicinity of the Washington airport. Breakfast included. USA Today placed before my door as is customary for this kind of American establishment. I read this snapshot of American life at the breakfast table. Next to me sits a man in his early 30. He is looking for conversation and connection. After training in Texas he is being shipped out to Iraq via this airport. The politicians make the decisions. We just hope that we are doing the right thing. His IQ is in the lower ranges. I come to share the trace of fearfulness about his future that has enveloped his being. “Can I have your email address so that I can write from Iraq,” he asks me. How can I say ‘no’. I never heard from him again. There are two possibilities: Everything went so well that he didn’t feel the need to write. Or he simply got himself killed soon after he arrived in Iraq.
New Moon
The sequel to Twilight is a big disappointment for the adult mind. Only teenage girls with a crush on Robert Pattison will enjoy this film. Nothing new happens. Bella’s vampire boyfriend, Edward (Robert Pattison), leaves her so she can be safe. Bella is crushed and becomes depressed. She spends a lot of time with Jake, who develops a big crush on her and now competes with Edward for Bella’s love. Jake also moonlights as a werewolf. Edward, believing that Bella died, wants to commit suicide. But Bella finds him in Italy just in time to prevent his suicide. They promise each other to stay together forever. The End. We are ready for the next episode, Eclipse, coming out in June.
Up in the Air
What is a perfect night at the movies? A splendid dinner before! Short ticket lines! Then a surprisingly deep film with George Clooney in the lead! The words “deep” and “George Clooney” typically don’t go hand in hand. But a strong novel by Walter Kirn and a director (Jason Reitman) who can bring into focus at the same time life’s joys and disappointments provide a platform for Clooney to deliver a compelling performance. Clooney is Ryan Bingham who travels some 320 days a year from one American city to another to fire people on behalf of their employer. Once in a while he also gives motivational speeches that have become so popular in many American hotel conference rooms. Among the 300 odd million Americans, there may not be a single person who completely fits Bingham’s profile of being rather content although he has no family, no significant other, no close friends, and not even place to come home to.
Whip It
Girl Power comes to Texas. Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut is weak. But I enjoyed learning about the sport Roller Dirby. I had never seen it before. The sport is a bit rough yet fun to watch. Hey, what do you expect of Texas!
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An Education
The skill of con artists is not specialized to particular types of people. The best of them such as Bernie Madoff in recent times fool almost everyone. That is what makes them so dangerous. Teenage girls falling for the bad guy is not news. But parents falling for the bad guy is an underexplored theme in the movies. If you are a parent of a teenage daughter, this film will be an educational experience. It does a very nice job in capturing the mood of 1960s Britain. We follow the journey to adulthood of a 16-year-old daughter who comes from a lower middle class family. Father and mother’s only wish for their talented daughter is to attend Oxford. But suddenly a much older man appears on their doorstep and he shakes the very foundations of this socially ambitious family.
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