2007, Sci-Fi

I Am Legend (2007)

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From NetFlix:

A terrible virus has spread across the planet and turned the human
race into bloodthirsty monsters. Mankind’s only hope for survival
is scientist Robert Neville (Will Smith), the one person left
unaffected by the epidemic. When he’s not fighting for his life
against the hordes of the infected, Neville searches for a cure
to reverse the virus’s effects — all the while battling his own
doubt and despair as he spends every day alone.

In 1954 Richared Matheson wrote the book “I Am Legend”. It has been made into a film three times: “The Last Man on Earth”, “The Omega Man”, and “I Am Legend”. It explored the notion of vampirism as a disease.

OK, OK. Yes, it sounds like a high-school film. And yes, I was ready to chuck it after 10 minutes. You have to like apocalyptic science fiction to enjoy this. It starts out slowly. But wait … the tension really builds (what is that lurking just around the corner ?). Will Smith gives a terrific performance as a very very very lonely man (his dog Samantha means everything to him). Maybe it’s an anti-SciFi predjudice, but I have to give this film a B.

2007, DO NOT MISS, Not Feel Good

The Visitor (2007)

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From NetFlix:

Widowed professor Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins) discovers an immigrant
couple, Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and Zainab (Danai Gurira), squatting in
his Manhattan flat and becomes wrapped up in their lives when Tarek is
thrown into a detention center. A wonderful Hiam Abbass co-stars as
Tarek’s mother, who forges an unlikely connection with Walter.
Director Thomas McCarthy’s follow-up to his indie hit The Station
Agent premiered at Sundance in 2008.

Kathy and I saw this at the Embassy in Waltham. It’s an eye-opener into the world of immigration detention centers (nothing harsh, just the utter bureaucratic hopelessness). The acting, especially Richard Jenkins (the father in “Six Feet Under”), is superb. In other words, don’t miss it.

Immediately after the film, Kathy and I were driving in the car when we were stopped by an extremely polite police officer who informed us that our car was no longer registered. Upon inspecting my valid registration, plates, sticker, and license, he decided that the RMV had made a mistake and he would therefore not have our car towed. However, I did have to have a court appearance. I spent the morning at the RMV having them correct their mistake. At least we were not thrown into a detention center and made non-existent.

But the movie was really good.

2007, Not Feel Good, Revenge

Reservation Road (2007)

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From NetFlix:

The lives of Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix) and his wife, Grace
(Jennifer Connelly), are thrown into chaos after their 10-year-old
son is killed in a hit-and -run accident. When the case stalls, Ethan
makes it his mission to hunt down and punish the person responsible.
Violence, revenge and justice collide head on when Ethan finally finds
the man who killed his son. Mark Ruffalo co-stars

I don’t remember seeing Joaquin Phoenix in a bad movie. Considering the good actors that are in this film, somehow the film seemed flat. It is NOT a feel-good movie. But it would probably teach a lot to a child. The story line is compelling and I can see just this sort of thing happening (although the relation between aggrieved father and guilty driver is a bit contrived). I begrudgingly give this film an A.

2007, Unusual

Juno (2007)

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From NetFlix

Facing an unplanned pregnancy, teenage Juno (Ellen Page) devises
a plan to locate the proverbial perfect parents to adopt her baby.
But the seemingly ideal couple Juno chooses still has some growing up
to do. Now, everyone in Juno’s world must do a little soul-searching.
Michael Cera co-stars while Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner play the
pair of affluent yuppies anxious for a child in this offbeat coming-of-age
comedy, which won the 2008 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay

I had a rhetoric teacher who said you have to read bad literature from time to time to appreciate the good stuff. It was with this intent that I decided to tackle a prototypical teenage pregnancy movie. Surprise! Even if you might not agree with the theme, the dialog sparkles. The boyfriend is the world’s most perfect dweeb. I will not reveal the ending but it made sense and did surprise me.

The details and acting are too well done to be anything but an A. I felt I had to put the film in the “unusual” class, because the teenage sexual indifference might offend. Not for children.

2003, Italian, Unusual

I’m Not Scared (2003)

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From NetFlix:

Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano), a 10-year-old boy growing up
in a southern Italian village, discovers another youngster,
Filippo (Mattia Di Pierro), chained up inside a small hole dug
in the yard of an abandoned house. Michele soon learns from
watching the news that the boy has been kidnapped and things
take an even darker turn when he realizes his own parents may be
involved. Aitana Sanchez-Gijon co-stars. Gabriele Salvatores
directs.

Just watching this slow film of southern Italy just makes me hot and drowsy. It’s also as much of southern Italy as I want to see. Could those small towns really be that desolate ? The story is compelling, the ending a tad maudlin. I liked the film because of the Italian, although in real life they would be speaking some dialect of Italian instead. It’s not a bad movie, but you really need a firm desire to persevere.

Damning with faint praise.

2007, Feel Good For All

Rails and Ties (2007)

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From NetFlix:

When a mother commits suicide by parking her car on the train
tracks, an unlikely bond forms between her son Davey (Miles
Heizer) — who’s wracked with guilt — and the tormented
engineer (Kevin Bacon) who was driving the train that fateful
day. Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden co-stars as the engineer’s
wife in the directorial debut of Alison Eastwood (Clint’s
daughter).

I can’t remember if I have ever seen Kevin Bacon or Marcia Gay Harden in a bad film. “Rails & Ties” is a sad feel-good. It offers universal human values. The son Davey could have been a bit better. Sometimes the film seems to solve problems too easily. I think adolescents could watch this despite a sad scene in which Marcia Gay Harden inspects her breasts (one already disfigured by a cancer operation). The less hard-hearted of you might even shed a few tears.

2006, TV Series, Unusual

Dexter (2006)

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From NetFlix:

Playing a sympathetic serial killer may sound like a stretch,
but former ‘Six Feet Under’ star Michael C. Hall pulls it off
neatly in this Showtime drama about a likable forensics expert
who channels his violent tendencies by killing miscreants
who’ve avoided punishment. So harmless is Dexter Morgan’s
(Hall) demeanor that neither his girlfriend (Julie Benz) nor
his sister (Jennifer Carpenter) has any inkling of his
extracurricular activities.

At first I thought “this is stupid and creepy and sensationalistic”. But it isn’t really violent (but really creepy). There are involving subplots and the plot twists are clever (if a tad unbelievable). You have to wade through the entire season to see the bad guy get his deserved due. I suspect that only someone like Michael Hall could actually make this idea work.

I Dare You!

2007, Violent

There Will Be Blood (2007)

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From NetFlix:

At the turn of the 20th century, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis,
in an Oscar-winning role) becomes a tycoon when he buys the oil
rights to a California family’s ranch. Meanwhile, as the simple
village becomes a boomtown, a charismatic young preacher (Paul Dano)
fights his community’s growing greed. Kevin J. O’Connor, Ciarán Hinds
and Russell Harvard co-star in writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s
Oscar-nominated adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s novel Oil!

I had to classify this as “Basically Violent” not so much because there is bloodshed (and indeed there is) but because the sociopath Plainview goes out of his way to destroy people’s souls. Daniel Day-Lewis is mesmerizing. There is nothing feel-good about this movie. On another level this is a competition between two con artists: the oil man and the preacher. I was glued to the screen.

You are warned.

2006, Feel Good For All

Bella (2006)

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From NetFlix:

Two lost souls, Nina (Tammy Blanchard), a pregnant, unmarried waitress,
and Jose (Eduardo Verástegui), an introspective yet troubled cook with
a mysterious past, find solace in each other as their lives become
unpredictably linked throughout the course of one incredible day.
An uplifting story of love, hope and forgiveness, this remarkable
tale is co-written and directed by Alejandro Gomez Monteverde

This “feel-good for everyone” is 98% in English. But most of the characters are Latinos in New York City. Any Spanish is subtitled. This is really a warm film with lots of good human values. It is just a tad corny. The ending seems too good to be true. But just watching the interactions in the Latino family made me feel good all over. The mother is great. And yes, I found myself wishing I had grown up in a family like that.

2008, Violent

The Air I Breathe (2008)

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From NetFlix:

Kevin Bacon, Forest Whitaker, Brendan Fraser and Sarah Michelle
Gellar star in this Jieho Lee-directed drama that mines four
basic human emotions — love, pleasure, sadness and joy — for
inspiration. A banker discovers true happiness; a mobster finds
hope; a celebrity sees life lose its luster; and a doctor wrestles
with matters of the heart that can’t be addressed within the
confines of an operating room. Julie Delpy and Andy Garcia co-star.

This is a VIOLENT movie. I give it a B because the interconnecting of the 4 lives is a bit sloppy. This is the first movie I can remember in which Brendan Fraser has a dark, serious role. At first I thought I could not recommend this movie, but the story held my attention.