The Unborn

Hey - this wasn't my first choice, but there have been many horror flicks I really enjoyed, so I gave it a chance.
My first reaction after it ended was this:
"What is Gary Oldman doing in this movie?"
And then I said:
"What the HELL is Gary Oldman doing in this movie?"
Okay - I didn't say hell.
Yes, the same Gary Oldman who has played Beethoven, Sid Vicious, Pontius Pilate, Dracula, Lee Harvey Oswald, Rosencrantz, and Drexl Spivy! Just what is he doing in this movie? I am still mad about it.
And furthermore, when, oh when, are we going to see Idris Elba in some really good roles. NOTE to Hollywood! We want more Idris! Get him cast in something good! And, oh yah, please hurry!
Okay...on to the movie musings.
It started off so creepy that I had high expectations. I know when the mysterious tapping starts, or when people start looking in mirrors where things might appear along with their reflection, or when somebody hears a strange noise upstairs, that I am going to be scared ALL NIGHT. And that irrational fear of ordinary events happening in an extraordinary way can be completely quashed in a hurry with screaming, monsters you can see, too much gore, big huge fight scenes, and other obviousness. Where's the creepitude when all that happens? Gone out the window with the barely discernible little child's voice saying something chilling.
So those are my thoughts on this movie. Started well, finished laughable. And please everyone, make a note to yourself. If your best friend in the world, who ignored warnings and came to save you anyway, should be lying on the floor helpless, bleeding from the stomach, and obviously possessed by a demon who makes her waggle her head strangely and make demon sounds; please don't just run away and leave her there, getting on with your mission, and never think about her again. That's just rude.
Postscript: If there is anything worth seeing in this film, besides Idris Elba of course, it is the fantastic work done with aerial shots of Chicago. Spectacular!

Valkyrie

There are an infinite number of stories to tell about WWII. Valkyrie is the story of Colonel Clause von Stauffenberg's plan to assassinate Adolph Hitler, and it is a story worth telling! The film's best trick is to keep you in suspense even though you already know how it turns out!
This is also a story most people do not know. We have been taught that Hitler's forces were terrible people, and I often wondered how they could be united in agreement with his ultimate plan. Turns out they weren't, and that there are people with integrity everywhere. Valkyrie was an operation taken over by a small group of high officers, and their attempt to use it to unseat the Fuhrer near the end of his weakening push for supremacy.
The cast is excellent, the performances are believable and forceful, and the story is well told cinematically: sad, gripping, and hopeful all at the same time. It is a solid movie all round.
Just a small note - the casting is interesting. Eddie Izzard, whom I know mainly from his standup comedy, plays a collaborating communications officer General Erich Fellgiebel. Bill Nighy moves from the latest Pirates of the Caribbean and Hot Fuzz to his very sympathetic role here as Friederich Olbricht, who is against Hitler, but having trouble doing something about him. And Terrence Stamp is a person who actually lived through the Blitz as a child, and not only played idealist Colonel General Ludwig Beck, but acted as consultant to the director for the scenes where von Stauffenberg's family is hiding from the bombs.

Valkyrie is an MGM, U/A Release directed by Bryan Singer, starring Tom Cruise, Bill Nighy, Terrence Stamp, Eddie Izzard, and Tom Wilkinson

Doubt

I know that, for most of you, the movie Doubt is somewhere near the bottom of your list. Because, understandably, most of us in the age of Saw V can't imagine how a bunch of nuns and priests could be interesting. But I have just seen the movie, and I can tell you that not only is it interesting; it will engage your attention at every moment, it will speak to everyone, and it is downright suspenseful!

My attention never wandered, not even for a second. The movie is tight. There's not a wasted word, scene, or even gesture.

Meryl Streep plays Sister Aloysius. Even in 1964, she's the old school's "Old School" - the fire and brimstone principal eliciting terror in the students and teachers alike. But she proves a keen observer of people, and when Sister James, played by amy Adams, approaches her timidly with her suspicion of an inappropriate relationship between a priest and the school's first black student, Sister Aloysius responds with "So, it's happened."

From there the movie surges forward, balancing on the crest of the controversy, and falling on neither side of the truth. Philip Seymour Hoffman is the accused Father Flynn, and he's perfect. He is eloquent, likeable, sensible, but also loves the power he has over his congregation, and over the nuns. He's maybe a little creepy - or maybe not. Streep gives Sister Aloysius the same kind of contradictory character. She is strict, scary, and unlikeable, but will defend the welfare of her female teachers and especially the children to the death, even, she says, to her own damnation. At times we want to scream at her, we want to hate her, and then...we want to cheer her on. She's maybe right. And maybe not.

No matter where you stand in your own opinion of the truth, your mind is going to be working at it non-stop. In one of my favorite scenes, Sister Aloysius talks to the mother of the boy in question. As the boy's circumstances are revealed, piece by devastating piece, I changed my mind over and over again about what might be best for him. As my mind revolved around each new idea, so Sister Aloysius moves about the boy's mother, and the wind twists them up together. It is pivotal. They circle and dance around each other as their conversation dances around the truth, sometimes backing off, sometimes embracing it. At the end of the scene Sister Aloysius is left alone in the wind, with everything she thought she knew about family love and motherhood unravelling and scattering with the leaves.

This cast is amazing. It was a privilege to see them all together in this powerful piece. I highly recommend it, especially if you doubt you will like it!

Doubt is based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play by John Patrick Shanley. It is a Miramax production directed by John Patrick Shanley starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis.

Gran Torino

Gran Torino is the best B movie out there!

Sure it's got some implausible story points, so what! Who doesn't want to see a modern-day older and dirtier Harry? There's a saying that goes "Old age and treachery always overcome youth and skill." Waylon Jennings even sang a song about it. This movie embodies it in the highest form of wish fulfillment for young and old, both.

Clint Eastwood is a fearless actor and director in portraying himself in the harsh light of old age. I don't know if you, reader, remember Eastwood as a young actor, but he was beautiful. I have so much respect for him because through the years he has never flinched when it comes to showing his age onscreen. In Gran Torino he is and plays a man in his late 70's, with a face worthy of a character who has seen a lot of life, a lot of death, and has developed a very narrow opinion about what is valuable in human relationships.

Just a short aside here on the matter of suspension of disbelief. In order to really enjoy this story, there are a few things you have to accept about the movie world. For instance, that asians might be good natured enough to put up with scathing name-calling in their own home; that the Christian mythology, which hasn't served a man for 78 or so years, suddenly might become his guiding force; and most of all, that a gang might consist of only about 6 thugs, whose elimination would presumably end their violence against any opponent.

And if you can accept those things, then this is a well crafted story. Walt Kowalski allows himself to progress from an opinionated, growling (really!) racist, to a man who deeply cares for his asian neighbors. He also goes from a man resigned to guarding his lawn, to a man who ferociously protects the strangers he has come to love.

And he kicks ass.

Gran Torino is a Warner Brothers movie starring and directed by Clint Eastwood.

The Reader

The Reader

This movie will stay with me for a long time. What is doesn't have is heroes. What is does have is questions, the kind we ask ourselves every day. The puzzle we must always solve involves how much of ourselves to reveal. What parts of our inner workings, feelings, and past do we allow out in the open in order to maintain order and integrity. What is integrity, anyway?
The story takes place in WWII Germany, a place and time that was a puzzle for most people living through it. It involves a boy's sexual awakening with an older woman, and the feelings that emerge between them. It is sensual, and beautiful.
A key scene is an ordinary family dinner for the boy, Michael, after his first sexual experience. He has a secret! He looks around at his family as they eat in silence, tickled at the memory of what he has just done, and the wonder that they don't know. It is a great scene which will evoke memories in just about everyone. We each imagine what he is thinking. Maybe: "Here I am eating an ordinary dinner just like every day, and only an hour ago I was naked with a woman." Or: "I am a sexual being and they don't know." Or: "My parents - they have done this, too. It is a secret we have in common." He watches them eat, and keeps it to himself. It is the start of a life of secrets. Later, he keeps it from his friends. Eventually, he keeps it from a court of law, even though he knows a secret about his lover, Hanna, which would change her future for the better.
The story is well told, and every new development in Michaels life begs the question: "How much do I really want other people to know about me?"
David Kross is spellbinding as the young Michael Berg, played with painful reserve as an adult by Ralph Fiennes. Kate Winslet plays Hanna Schmitz throughout her life with a harshness of expression that belies her fear, ignorance, and sensuality. These three performances are incredible and real and Lena Olin and Bruno Ganz add depth to the story and the questions that arise from it.
I'm thinking about it so much I might just have to go see it again!

The Reader, presented by the Weinstein Company, stars Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. Directed by Stephen Daldry. Screenplay by David Hare.