Buck

Buck: the man inside the horseman

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Buck is a documentary about real-life horse whisperer Buck Brannaman, an exceedingly grounded and gentle man who knows everything about horse behavior.  But the movie is more about human behavior,  about the disturbing crucible that formed Buck, and about what we can learn about people from their handling of horses.

Fortunately, Director Cindy Meehl realized that she had a great story and got out of the way.  The understated guitar-based score never becomes melodramatic.  And Meehl never lets the admiring talking heads elevate Buck to more than what he is, which is remarkable enough.  This movie could have easily been painfully corny or pretentious and is neither.  I’d happily view it again today.

Buck’s own background is so nasty that it would totally unremarkable for him to have emerged mean or emotionally crippled – and he is the farthest from either.  With some help from loving people, Buck has chosen to become something different from his apparent fate.  In this way, Buck could be a companion piece to Mike Leigh’s Another Year.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCMm5uoZtXw]

Movies to See Right Now

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Project Nim

The cream of the crop are still the sweet, funny and thoughtful comedies Beginners and Midnight in Paris, along with the riveting documentary Project Nim. All three are on my list of Best Movies of 2011 – So Far.

Buck is a wonderful documentary about a real-life horse whisperer with a compelling human story.  If you have kids, Pixar’s Cars 2 is an excellent choice (adults will especially enjoy the James Bond spoof thread).  So is Super 8, a wonderful coming of age story embedded in a sci fi action thriller.  The Trip delivers some chuckles.  Turkey Bowl is a delightful indie comedy available from iTunes.  Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times explores journalism’s evolution in an age of new media, and I recommend it for hard news junkies.

In Bridesmaids, Kristen Wiig plays a woman whose insecurities keep her from seeing the good and the possible in her life; it’s funny, but not one of the year’s best.  The Hangover Part 2 is just not original enough, and, consequently, not funny enough. Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life contains a good 90-minute family drama that is completely derailed by an additional hour of mind-numbingly self-important claptrap.

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

I haven’t yet seen Tabloid, which opens this weekend. You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD picks are the surfing classics Riding Giants and Step into Liquid.

Movies coming up on TV include the prison classics Midnight Express and Cool Hand Luke on TCM, both on my list of 10 Best Prison Movies.

All new – Movies to See Right Now

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Christopher Lee and Ewan McGregor in Beginners

This week, the best choices are the sweet, funny and thoughtful Beginners and Midnight in Paris.  If you have kids, Pixar’s Cars 2 is an excellent choice (adults will especially enjoy the James Bond spoof thread).  So is Super 8, a wonderful coming of age story embedded in a sci fi action thriller.

In Beginners, Ewan McGregor plays a guy who tends to the depressive and sabotages his relationships.  His father (Christopher Plummer) has just died after coming out of the closet at age 75.  Can he make things work out with Melanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds)?

Woody Allen’s sweet and smart Midnight in Paris is his best comedy in twenty-five years. Owen Wilson accompanies fiancée Rachel McAdams to Paris, where she is intrigued by pretentious blowhard Michael Sheen, leaving Wilson to explore midnight Paris and time travel back to the Paris of the Lost Generation.

13 Assassins is brilliantly staged and photographed, and is one of the best recent action films; an honorable samurai must assemble and lead a team of thirteen to hack their way through a psychotically sadistic noble’s 200 bodyguards.

In Bridesmaids, Kristen Wiig plays a woman whose insecurities keep her from seeing the good and the possible in her life; it’s funny, but not one of the year’s best.

The Hangover Part 2 is just not original enough, and, consequently, not funny enough.

Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life contains a good 90-minute family drama that is completely derailed by an additional hour of mind-numbingly self-important claptrap.

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

I haven’t yet seen the horse whisperer documentary Buck or the comic road tripper The Trip, which open this weekend. You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick is the nastily hard-bitten noir Kiss Me Deadly.

Movies on TV this week include the Hitchcock thriller Strangers on a Train and Kiss Me Deadly on TCM.