Weekly Movie Recommendations

New Movies to See Right Now

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Jake Gyllenhaal in Source Code

The gripping sci fi thriller Source Code is the must see in theaters right now. Potiche opens this week, and this delightful French farce of feminist self-discovery is the funniest movie in over a year, and another showcase for Catherine Deneuve (as if she needs one). The Music Never Stopped is a crowd-pleaser, especially for Baby Boomers.  Certified Copy is a well-acted puzzler of an art film.

The best holdovers in theaters now are the combo thriller/love story The Adjustment Bureau and the fun and unpretentious comedy Cedar Rapids.   Nora’s Will is a wry family dramedy, which is also now playing on HBO Signature as Cinco Dias Sin Nora (Five Days Without Nora).

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

I haven’t yet seen Carancho, Hanna or Restless, which open this weekend.  You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick is Black Swan.

Movies on TV this week include A Face in the Crowd and The General on TCM.

This Week’s Movies to See Right Now

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Catherine DeNeuve has heard it one too many times in Potiche

Potiche opens this week, and this delightful French farce of feminist self-discovery is the funniest movie in over a year, and another showcase for Catherine DeNeuve (as if she needs one).  The Music Never Stopped is a crowd-pleaser, especially for Baby Boomers.   Certified Copy is a well-acted puzzler of an art film.

The best holdovers in theaters now are the combo thriller/love story The Adjustment Bureau and  the fun and unpretentious comedy Cedar Rapids.  Nora’s Will is a wry family dramedy, which is also now playing on HBO Signature as Cinco Dias Sin Nora (Five Days Without Nora).

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

I haven’t yet seen Jane Eyre.  You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick is Fair Game. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV this week include Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Frankenstein and the great Sam Fuller war film The Steel Helmet on TCM.

DVD of the Week: Fair Game

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Ripped from the headlines, this is the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson story with Naomi Watts and Sean Penn.  We already knew the story of Joe Wilson exposing the Bush Administration’s false WMD pretext for the Iraq war, and the White House striking back by outing an American covert intelligence operative –  Wilson’s wife, Plame.  But this film adds two more dimensions to the story.

First, this screenplay is based on Plame’s book, and the first act chronicles Plame’s exploits as a CIA officer.  She indeed ran undercover operations.  The depiction of real life, contemporary spycraft is even more thrilling than a fictional spy movie.

Second, the story also explores the excruciating pressure on the Plame/Wilson marriage.  Joe is an able and principled guy with a little too much testosterone.  His short fuse leads him to act impulsively to pick a fight that has even more severe consequences for his wife.  In principle, Joe is right, but Valerie’s career is ruined, her family’s safety is threatened and her social life is shattered; she is both scared and resentful.  And at the moment that they are under the most unbearable stress, each of them wants to react by moving in an opposite direction.  Will the relationship survive?  This dimension – a study of an adult relationship – makes this film much more than a typical history.

It’s also on my list of Best Movies of 2010.

Updated Movies to See Right Now

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Lou Tayor Pucci and JK Simmons in The Music Never Stopped

The best bets in theaters now are the combo thriller/love story The Adjustment Bureau and the Baby Boomer-friendly The Music Never Stopped.

Cedar Rapids is a fun and unpretentious comedy. Nora’s Will is a wry family dramedy, which is also now playing on HBO Signature as Cinco Dias Sin Nora (Five Days Without Nora).

Oscar winner The King’s Speech is on my Best Movies of 2010 and is still kicking around in some theaters.

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick is The Fighter. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV this week include two all-time greats,  Lawrence of Arabia and All About Eve on TCM.

DVD of the Week: The Fighter

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Here’s you chance to see the Oscar-winning performance by Christian Bale and Melissa Leo in The Fighter. Mark Wahlberg stars as a boxer trying to succeed despite his crack addict brother (Bale) and his powerful, trashy mom (Leo).  As one would expect, Bale nails the flashier role of the addict, deluding himself about both past glories and his importance to his family. Leo is almost unrecognized under her teased hair, and is accompanied by a hilarious Greek Chorus of adult daughters, each trashier than the last.

The boxing scenes are very well done, and Wahlberg matches Sylvester Stallone and Hilary Swank in making us believe that he is, indeed, a boxer. See my list of 10 Best Boxing Movies.  It’s also on my list of Best Movies of 2010.

Movies to See Right Now

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Nora's Will

The Must See film right now is The Adjustment Bureau, a first rate love story embedded in the action thriller genre.  The Music Never Stopped is a crowd pleaser that opens this weekend.

Cedar Rapids is a fun and unpretentious comedy. Nora’s Will is a wry family dramedy, which is also now playing on HBO Signature as Cinco Dias Sin Nora (Five Days Without Nora). The Illusionist is the wistful and charming animated story of a small time magician who drifts through an ever bleaker array of gigs while helping a waif blossom.

Oscar winners True Grit, The King’s Speech and The Fighter are on my Best Movies of 2010 and are still kicking around in some theaters, as is Oscar nominee 127 Hours.

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick is Hereafter. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV this week include Sleeper, The Natural and Shock Corridor on TCM.

DVD of the Week: Hereafter (and its tsunami)

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For the first time, Clint Eastwood ventures into the supernatural with the story of three people and their individual experiences with death.  It’s also a departure for screenwriter Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon, The Damned United).   The most skeptical, nonspiritual viewer (me) finds this to be a compelling film.

The question of What Comes Next is unanswered, and less interesting than the film’s observations of what happens on this Earth to living humans.  Eastwood’s genius is in delivering moments of complete truthfulness, one after the other, across a wide range of settings.  Young boys enabling a druggie mother.  People in a hostel watching for the last breath of a loved one.  Experienced, skilled and loving foster parents facing a challenge that they cannot fathom.  Every instance of human behavior is completely authentic.

Equally realistic is the big CGI-enhanced action sequence at the beginning of the film – an Indonesian tsunami, not overblown in any way, but frightening in its verisimilitude.  The sequence lost the special effects Oscar to Inception.

Eastwood is an actor’s director, and star Matt Damon leads a set of excellent performances.  Bryce Dallas Howard gives an Oscar-worthy performance of a woman achingly eager to move past the painful episodes of her life.   The child actor Frankie McLaren carries significant stretches of the story with his unexpressed longing and childish relentlessness.  Cecile de France ably plays a successful television anchor compelled by events to veer her life in a different direction.  Richard Kind delivers a moving portrayal of a man seeking closure after the death of his wife.

It’s on my list of Best Movies of 2010.

Updated Movies to See Right Now

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Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in The Adjustment Bureau

The Must See film right now is The Adjustment Bureau, a first rate love story embedded in the action thriller genre.  You can still see Oscar winners True Grit, The King’s Speech and The Fighter. They are on my Best Movies of 2010. 127 Hours and Biutiful are also good movies out now. The Illusionist is the wistful and charming animated story of a small time magician who drifts through an ever bleaker array of gigs while helping a waif blossom. Cedar Rapids is a fun and unpretentious comedy. Kaboom is a trippy sex romp. Nora’s Will is a wry family dramedy.

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick is Inside Job. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV this week include After the Thin Man, Arsenic and Old Lace, Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Trouble Along the Way on TCM.

DVD of the Week: Inside Job

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Charles Ferguson’s brilliant documentary Inside Job may be the most important movie of the year.  It is a harsh but fair explanation of the misdeeds that led to the recent near-collapse of the global financial system.  Unexpectedly, the film begins in Iceland, setting the stage for the collapse and kicking off the easily understandable explanations of the various  tricks and bamboozles that have hidden behind their own complexity.

It’s on my list of Best Movies of 2010.

This week’s Movies to See Right Now

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Oscar winner Natalie Portman and Natalie Portman in Black Swan

You can still see Oscar winners True Grit, The King’s Speech, Black Swan and The Fighter and Oscar nominee Another Year. They are on my Best Movies of 2010. 127 Hours and Biutiful are also good movies out now. The Illusionist is the wistful and charming animated story of a small time magician who drifts through an ever bleaker array of gigs while helping a waif blossom. Cedar Rapids is a fun and unpretentious comedy.  Kaboom is a trippy sex romp.  Nora’s Will is a wry family dramedy.

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick is Fish Tank. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV this week include D.O.A. and The Searchers on TCM.