The Secrets in their Eyes

Movies to See Right Now

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THE LOOK OF SILENCE
THE LOOK OF SILENCE

The chilling and powerful documentary The Look of Silence is not for everyone, but it’s on my Best Movies of 2015 – So Far . It’s unsettling, but it’s an unforgettable movie experience.

The End of the Tour is the smartest road trip movie ever, starring Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg. It opens today, but it may be hard to find until next weekend. I really liked Amy, the emotionally affecting and thought-provoking documentary on Amy Winehouse. In Mr. Holmes, Ian McKellen is superb as the aged Sherlock Holmes, re-opening his final case.

Opening today is the  excellent documentary Listen to Me Marlon, with Marlon Brando’s own words revealing the keys to his life.

The coming of age comedy Dope is a nice little movie that trashes stereotypes. This summer’s animated Pixar blockbuster Inside Out is very smart, but a little preachy, often very sad and underwhelming. The Melissa McCarthy spy spoof Spy is a very funny diversion.

On August 12, Turner Classic Movies is presenting The Yazuka, with a tired and world weary Robert Mitchum taking on the Japanese crime syndicate in the 1960s.

My DVD/Stream of the Weeks is the Oscar-winning Argentine mystery thriller The Secret in Their Eyes. Make sure that you see it before the Hollywood remake comes out. The Secret in Their Eyes is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, Xbox Video and Flixster.

Ricardo Darin in THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES
Ricardo Darin in THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES

A Remarkable Film Distributor

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Roger Ebert just tweeted that today is the 20th birthday of Sony Pictures Classics.  I normally don’t weigh in on distributors, but I note that Sony Pictures Classic has already released three of the films on my Best Movies of 2011 – So Far – Incendies, The Guard and Midnight in Paris.

In 2009-20, their released four films that made my annual top ten lists:  Another Year, The Secrets in Their Eyes and A Prophet.  And, in 2008, Sony Pictures Classics released both my #1 film, I’ve Loved You So Long, and my #2, Rachel Getting Married.  Not bad.

 

2010 in Movies: The Year of the Crime Drama

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2010 continued a trend of really good recent crime dramas.  This year, most of them came from overseas:  The Secrets in Their Eyes (Argentina) won the most recent Best Foreign Language Oscar and A Prophet (France) and Ajami (Palestine/Israel) were nominated.

All three made my list of the year’s best movies and my list of  Best Recent Crime Dramas.

We also had other strong imports in this genre:  the Mesrine films (France), Animal Kingdom (Australia) and Mother (Korea).

The best American crime drama was The Town, in which the rockin’ first two acts were betrayed by a sappy and implausible climax.

Here’s the trailer for Ajami, an ultra-realistic crime drama set in a scruffy neighborhood in Jaffa, Israel.  The story weaves together Arab Christians and Arab Muslims and both religious and non-religious Israeli Jews.  Everyone aspires to make a living and live in personal safety, but the circumstances and tribal identities make this very difficult at best.  There are two trans-religious romances, but no one is going to live happily ever after. Ajami was co-written and co-directed by Scandar Copti, a Jaffa-born Palestinian, and Yaron Shoni, an Israeli Jew.   After seeing the film, I was surprised to learn that it has no trained actors – all of the roles are played by real-life residents who improvised their lines to follow the story line.

2010 in Movies: The Year's Best Movies

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Here’s my list of the best films of 2010: 1)  Winter’s Bone; 2) Toy Story 3;  3) The Social Network; 4) The Secrets in their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos); 5) Rabbit Hole; 6) Black Swan; 7) A Prophet (Un Prophete); 8 ) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; 9) Mademoiselle Chambon; 10) (tie) Ajami and Inception.

(Note:  I’m saving room for some films that I haven’t yet seen, especially Mike Leigh’s Another Year.)

Continuing with my list of 2010’s best films: The Tillman Story, True Grit, The King’s Speech, The Girl on the Train (La Fille du RER), Inside Job, Fish Tank, The Ghost Writer, Carlos, Fair Game, Hereafter, The Fighter, Solitary Man, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work and Sweetgrass.

You can watch the trailers and see my comments on all these films at Best Movies of 2010.

(Further Note:  The Secrets in their Eyes, A Prophet and Ajami were nominated for the 2009 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, but were widely released in the US in 2010.)

Updated Movies To See Right Now

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Black Swan: Natalie Portman is under a little too much pressure

It’s the Holidays – this is your best chance to see a few excellent films.   I strongly recommend Rabbit Hole, an exquisite exploration of the grieving process with great performances by Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhardt, Diane Wiest, Sandra Oh and Miles Tenner. True Grit is the Coen Brothers’ splendid Old West story of Mattie Ross, a girl of unrelenting resolve and moxie played by 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld in a breakthrough performance, and Jeff Bridges is perfect as the hilarious, oft-besotted and frequently lethal Rooster Cogburn. The King’s Speech is the  crowd pleasing story of a good man (Colin Firth) overcoming his stammer to inspire his nation in wartime with the help of a brassy commoner (Geoffrey Rush).   Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan is a rip roaring thriller and a showcase for Natalie Portman and Barbara Hershey. The Fighter is an excellent drama, starring Mark Wahlberg as a boxer trying to succeed despite his crack addict brother (Christian Bale) and trashy mom (Melissa Leo). Fair Game, the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson story with Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, is also excellent. I Love You, Phillip Morris is an entertaining offbeat combo of the con man, prison and romantic comedy genres. For some delectable food porn, see Kings of Pastry.

Love and Other Drugs is a passable comedy.

There are some Must See films still kicking around in theaters this week: Inside Job and The Social Network. Both are on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far.

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

I didn’t pick a new DVD of the Week.  This is the time to catch up on the year’s best, such as Winter’s Bone, Toy Story 3, Inception, The Secrets in Their Eyes, A Prophet, Mademoiselle Chambon, Ajami, The Girl on the Train, The Ghost Writer and Joan River: A Piece of Work, all available on DVD.   For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV include Arsenic and Old Lace, My Darling Clementine and The Producers on TCM.

2010 in Review: Foreign Films

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It was another year in which foreign cinema was essential.  Three of the nominees for the 2009  Best Foreign Language Oscar were released in the US this year:  Ajami (Israel/Palestine), A Prophet (France) and the Oscar winning The Secrets in Their Eyes (Argentina).   Those three made my list of Best Movies of 2010, along with Mademoiselle Chambon, The Girl on the Train, and The Ghost Writer from France, Carlos from France/Germany, Fish Tank from the UK, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo from Sweden.  If I couldn’t see foreign films, I wouldn’t have a Best Movie list.

France also gave us the Mesrine films.  Ireland offered Kisses.  Italy had the food-centric  I Am Love and Mid-August Lunch.  In a tremendous year for crime drama, the Aussies added Animal Kingdom and the Koreans contributed Mother. Police, Adjective was another bleak, cynical drama from Rumania.

Here’s the trailer for Kisses.

This week's Movies To See

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Mademoiselle Chambon

Mademoiselle Chambon is the year’s best romance, and very worth seeking out;  The lovers are beautifully acted by Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlaine in two of the very finest performances of the year.  I’m still pushing the hardhitting documentary The Tillman Story. There’s also the George Clooney arty thriller The American. If you can still find them, there are also two excellent crime dramas –  Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Animal Kingdom.  For a date movie, there is the charming and relatively smart romantic comedy Going the Distance.

Without strongly recommending them, I can say that The Town is a satisfying Hollywood thriller and the silly A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop has its moments.  You can skip Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

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

My DVD of the Week is one of the year’s best so far:  The Ghost Writer.  Don’t miss another of the year’s best, The Secret in Their Eyes either.   For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV include lots of good choices:  Seven Days in May, Badlands, Boxcar Bertha, Leave Her to Heaven, Twentieth Century and The Earrings of Madame de…, all coming up on TCM.

If you’re a baseball fan, there’s Ken Burns’ The Tenth Inning on PBS.

New Movies to See Right Now

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Mademoiselle Chambon

Mademoiselle Chambon is the year’s best romance, and very worth seeking out in the next two weeks.  The lovers are beautifully acted by Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlaine in two of the very finest performances of the year.

I’m still recommending the hardhitting documentary The Tillman Story, the George Clooney arty thriller The American and the two gritty crime dramas –  Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Animal Kingdom.  For a date movie, there is the charming and relatively smart romantic comedy Going the Distance.

Without strongly recommending them, I can say that The Town is a satisfying Hollywood thriller and the silly A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop has its moments.

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

My DVD of the Week is one of the year’s best so far:   The Secret in Their Eyes.  For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV include Sunset Boulevard, What’s Up, Tiger Lily? and The Searchers, all coming up on TCM.

DVD of the Week: The Secret in Their Eyes

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The Secret in their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos): This year’s Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Picture, is a police procedural set in Argentina with two breathtaking plot twists, original characters, a mature romance and one breathtaking, “how did they do it?” shot.  The story centers on a murder in Argentina’s politically turbulent 1970s, but most of the story takes place twenty years later when a retired cop revisits the murder.

Veteran Argentine actor Ricardo Darin shines once again in a Joe Mantegna-type role.  Darin leads an excellent cast, including Guillermo Francella, who brings alive the character of Darin’s drunk assistant.

Director Juan Jose Campanella is receiving justifiable praise for the amazing shot of a police search in a filled and frenzied soccer stadium.  It ranks as one of the great single shots, along with the kitchen entrance in Goodfellas and the battle scene in Children of Men.

It’s one of my Best Movies of 2010 So Far.

Movies to See Right Now

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The American

This week, I’m recommending an arty thriller, The American with George Clooney and two gritty crime dramas – the true story Mesrine: Killer Instinct and the Aussie fictional Animal Kingdom.  For a date movie, there is the charming and relatively smart romantic comedy Going the Distance.  The hardhitting documentary The Tillman Story is one of the year’s best.

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

My DVD of the Week is one of the year’s best so far:   Ajami.  For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV include Underworld USA, Soylent Green, Sunset Boulevard and What’s Up, Tiger Lily? all coming up on TCM.