The Beat That My Heart Skipped 2005

     Tom is in his early thirties, his life goes back and forth between loyalty to his father and his violent lifestyle.  He beats up a man who owes his father money and makes a living arranging crooked real-estate deals.  He forces people out of their homes so he and his partners can take over the property.  He also is a mid-level gangster and loan shark with a hair-trigger temper.  His other side loves music and he wants to have a career as a concert pianist.  His mother was a pianist, her former manager gives him his business card and urges Tom to give him a call.

     If I were a doctor, I would diagnose Tom as having bipolar disorder.  He is unstable, glowering, needy, enraged and manic at times with some calmness at other times.  It seems like a slog to get through this film, I had to stop halfway to have a break from the constant turmoil.  3* (This movie is OK)

107 min, Drama directed by Jacques Audlard with Romain Duris, Niels Arestrup, Linh Dan Pham, Gilles Cohen, Jonathan Zacca Aure Atika.

Note:  Blockbuster 3 ½*, imdb 7.3 out of 10, 85% critic 83% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Birders: The Central Park Effect 2012

     There is an abundant array of wild birds regularly stopping at Manhattan’s Central Park.  Some New Yorkers schedule their lives around the rhythms of bird migration.  An author, trombone technician, teenager and a bird-tour leader are just a few of the people bird watchers.  It’s a dazzling world that can go completely unnoticed by the 38 million people who visit Central Park each year.

     This is very good, you see into the lives of the birds and the people who come to watch them.  I didn’t know a lot of the information presented about the birds and Central Park.  4* (I really liked this movie)

60 min, Doc directed by Jeffrey Kimball with Regina Alvarez, Anya Auerbach, Mike Bryant, David Burg, Irving Cantor, Starr Saphir.

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, 100% critic 75% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Special Note:  Starr Saphir is the bird-tour leader, she mentions she has cancer but still goes as much as possible to the Park.  I looked her up and unfortunately she passed away on 2/5/13.

Heaven 2002

     This film was adapted from a play co-authored by German filmmaker Tom Tykwer and the late Krzysztof Kieslowski.  Philippa is originally from Britain but is now a school teacher in Turin, Spain.  She learns from her students and from her late husband that Marco Vendice caused his death and the deaths of some of her students.  He is a businessman but seems to be above the law regarding his drug dealings and sales.  Phillippa has called, written letters she sent in the mail and delivered in person.  She becomes overwhelmed by the lack of action by the police, she takes a bomb to Vendice’s office and leaves it in the trashcan.  She calls the secretary and asks her to shut off her car alarm going off in the parking lot.  She wants to get her away from the bomb.

     This keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen.  Blanchett and Ribisi are very good in their roles and you feel their emotions plus the weight of their choices.  It leaves you pondering what your actions would be in a similar situation and presents a lot of issues for reflection.  4* (I really liked this movie)

97 min, Drama directed by Tom Tykwer with Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Remo Girone, Stefania Rocca, Matthis Sbargia, Alberto di Stasio.

Note:  Blockbuster 3*, imdb 7.1 out of 10, 74% critic 75% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Game Change 2012

     Originally shown on HBO and based on the book Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin.  Arizona senator John McCain causes a media firestorm when he selects Alaska governor Sara Palin as his running mate during the 2008 presidential campaign.  Mainly told from the point of view of Steve Schmidt and Nicolle Wallace, advisors to John McCain.

     Entertaining and incredible if this is true but that is the question, is this a true story or fiction?  The facts and narrative seem to be accurate but there is no input from the Sarah Palin side.  Each viewer will have to make up their own mind about what they think of this as true or false.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)  

 

117 min, Drama directed by Jay Roach with Julianne Moore, Ed, Harris, Woody Harrelson, Sara Paulson, Peter MacNicol, Jamey Sheridan, Ron Livingston.

Note:  Blockbuster 3 ½*, imdb 7.4 out of 10, 63% critic 78% audience on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Special Note: The filmmakers state that the purpose of the movie is to “create a meaningful narrative, not a history lesson.”  The writers say the book is "an accurate depiction of the campaign." 

A Burning Hot Summer 2011

     Frederic is an artist married to Angele, he is a painter and she is a successful actress.  They invite Frederic’s close friend Paul and his girlfriend to spend some time with them at their large apartment.  Paul and Elisabeth are both actors in bit parts and crowd scenes.  Paul and Frederic spend a lot of time together and Angele and Elisabeth become friends also.  Elisabeth finds she is becoming jealous of the amount of time Paul spends with Frederic instead of being with her.  Frederic and Angele are having problems with their marriage and this begins to spill over into the relationship between Paul and Elisabeth.

     You are a husband, you are very self-absorbed, convey indifference to your wife and your marriage.  Why are you surprised when you begin to have difficulties with your wife and the marriage?  This film is very superficial, the characters are vapid, flat and one-dimensional.  Why would I want to relate to them or their lives?  2* (I didn’t like this movie)

95 min, Drama directed by Philippe Garrel with Monica Bellucci, Louis Garrel (the son of the director), Celine Sallette, Jerome Robart, Vladislav Galard.

Note:  Blockbuster 3 ½*, imdb 4.9 out of 10, 50% critic 19% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Handmaid’s Tale 1990

     Adapted from a 1986 novel by Margaret Atwood.  A war rages across the fictional North American Republic of Gilead.  Pollution has made 99% of the female population sterile.  Kate, her husband and daughter try to cross the border into Gilead but her husband is killed. Kate is taken as a prisoner and she doesn’t know what happened to her daughter.  Since it’s determined she is still able to have children, she is placed in a home with a childless couple.  They are hoping she will be able to have a child for them.

     This may be the most ridiculous movie I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen some strange films!!  The Republic of Gilead is on some kind of hallucinogenic or they have all lost their minds or maybe both!!  Rituals, unusual clothing, practices, ideas and should be called a comedy but it wasn’t meant to be?  2* (I didn’t like this movie)

109 min, Sci-Fi directed by Volker Schlondorff with Natasha Richardson, Robert Duvall, Faye Dunaway, Adian Quinn, Elizabeth McGovern, Victoria Tennant.

Note:  Blockbuster 3*, imdb 5.9 out of 10, 23% critic 43% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Amador 2012

     Marcela packs her suitcase, writes a letter to her husband and leaves to wait for a bus.  A man catches her just as she faints and she finds out she is pregnant at the hospital.  She had an abortion two years ago because they didn’t have enough money for a baby.  She has two choices, leave or go back.  She goes back but she says nothing about any of this to her husband.  She finds a summer job looking after Amador, an elderly bed-ridden man whose family is away.  The money is good and they need it to buy a new refrigerator for their flower business. 

     This is a very quiet and slow moving film.  Marcela doesn’t have the time or energy for facial expressions and they will not help in her life.  I almost couldn’t finish this film but I went back to continue.  I was glad I did, there is a lot more going on in this film than you see in the beginning.   There are secrets and an unusual ending that I would’ve missed.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

102 min, Drama directed by Fernando Leon de Aranoa with Magaly Solier, Celso Bugalio, Pietro Sibille, Sonia Almarcha, Fany de Castro, Manolo Solo.

Note:  Imdb 6.5 out of 10 74% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.