DVD Mini Review - The Darjeeling Limited

I am not a big fan of Wes Anderson's films. The only one I liked was The Royal Tenenbaums and I think that had to do mostly with Gene Hackman's terrific performance. I avoided seeing The Darjeeling Express in the theater because it did not pull me in. I decided to rent it and found that my original vibes about the film were correct.

The story is about three brothers played by Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman. They are far from close but after their father's death they try to get past old wounds. They embark on a "spiritual" journey of India. You would think that a story like this would be filled with emotion but it isn't. The story seems to be more about luggage than anything else. The way the film is shot is nice - it must have looked good on the big screen. And the sound track is wonderful. But that is about it. The three brothers are never fully developed. Brody isn't bad but both Wilson and Schwartzman are quite stiff. The film just doesn't go anywhere.
The great Irfan Khan has a small role in the film and it was a pleasure to see him. Angelica Houston is also in the film but I don't want to say who she played.

Before Darjeeling there is a short film entitled Hotel Chevalier. It is actually better than the feature film and that is because Natalie Portman is in it. She conveys more emotion in this short film that the three actors convey in the 90 minutes of the feature film. Hotel Chevalier sheds some light on Schwartzman's character.

All in all, I do not recommend this film. It is not a terrible film just a very bland one.

Oscar Winners

Best Motion Picture: "No Country for Old Men."

Lead Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood."

Lead Actress: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose."

Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men."

Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton."

Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men."

Foreign Language Film: "The Counterfeiters," Austria.

Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men."

Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, "Juno."

Animated Feature Film: "Ratatouille."

Art Direction: "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street."

Cinematography: "There Will Be Blood."

Sound Mixing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."

Sound Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."

Original Score: "Atonement," Dario Marianelli.

Original Song: "Falling Slowly" from "Once," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.

Costume: "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."

Documentary Feature: "Taxi to the Dark Side."

Documentary Short Subject: "Freeheld."

Film Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."

Makeup: "La Vie en Rose."

Animated Short Film: "Peter & the Wolf."

Live Action Short Film: "Le Mozart des Pickpockets (`The Mozart of Pickpockets')."

Visual Effects: "The Golden Compass."

Independent Spirit Winners

I do not like all of the Juno awards.

Robert Altman Award
Todd Haynes, Laura Rosenthal and the cast of I’m Not There

Best Director
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Male Lead
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Savages

Best Female Lead
Ellen Page, Juno

Best Feature
Juno

Best Supporting Male
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Talk To Me

Bests First Screenplay
Diablo Cody, Juno

Best First Feature
The Lookout

Best Supporting Female
Cate Blanchett

John Cassavetes Award
August Evening

Best Foreign Film
Once

Best Screenplay
Tamara Jenkins, The Savages

Best Documentary
Crazy Love

Best Cinematography
Janusz Kaminski, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

The Year My Parents Went on Vacation

Cao Hamburger's The Year My Parents Went on Vacation is a warm and wonderful film from Brazil. The year is 1970. Young Mauro (Michel Joelsas) loves soccer and is obsessed with the World Cup (just like everyone else in Brazil). But Mauro's life is going to be turned upside down because his parents are going away on "vacation" and leaving him with his grandfather (his father's father). However, his parents are really going into hiding because they oppose the military dictatorship and are being hounded by the authorities. They drop him off by his grandfather's house but grandpa never shows up. It turns out that he died of a heart attack a few hours ago.

So what will happen to poor Mauro? The Jewish community of Bom Retiro in Sao Paul take him in. His grandfather's neighbor Shlomo (Germano Haiut) is his main caretaker. Eventually Mauro makes friends with some of the children in the neighborhood. And there is the World Cup. When that is going on we see Orthodox Jews, students against the dictatorship, Italians and everyone else rooting for Brazil to win. But even all of this excitement can't take Mauro's mind off of his parents.

The film is mainly in Portuguese but there is also a good amount of Yiddish throughout. I don't want to say more about the plot because I don't want to spoil things. I will say that although Mauro's father is Jewish his mother is not so he 8is not considered to be a Jew. But that doesn't matter because this loving community takes him under their wings. This film has a small distributor so it may not be easy to find. I highly recommend it but if you can't see on the big screen then by all means rent it when it comes out on DVD. You will not be sorry that you did.

DVD Mini Review - Rendition

Rendition, Gavin Hood's follow up with his Oscar winning Tsoti, is a good but not great film. However, it is also an important film.

Rendition is best described as when someone is arrested for alleged terrorist activities. These people are takent to secret prisons and tortured. They have no legal representation and are not tried. The United States is one of the greatest proponents of this.

In the film Anwar El-Ibrahim (Omar Metwally) is arrested upon returning to the US from South Africa (even though he lives in the US and is married to an American). His pregnant wife Isabella (Reese Witherspoon) attempts to find out what happened to him. He is taken back to Africa and confined to a prison and tortured. At first American Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal) goes along with this. But he eventually comes to realize how horrendous this is.

There is another story thread as well. A young girl - whose father happens to be El-Ibrahim's torturer - falls for a young man who is involved with radical Muslim extremists.

Alan Arkin also stars as a Senator, Peter Sarsgaard is his assitant (and an old friend of Isabella's) and Meryl Streep is the woman behind the torture. Except for Streep and Metwally the acting is nothing special. But the film held my interest from beginning to end.

Included on the DVD is a short documentary about victims of rendition and how it affected them and their families. See this film just to learn more about what is going on. The United States should be ashamed of itself.

My Picks for the Best of 2007

It is time for me to list my favorites of 2007. It was a great year for film and I think that the 2000s are the best years since the 1970s. So here it is.

Best Films

1) No Country for Old Men
2) There Will Be Blood
3) The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
4) I'm Not There
5) Michael Clayton
6) Into the Wild
7) Eastern Promises
8) Persepolis
9) Lust, Cauton
10)Once

And here are my runner ups - there are many (and I didn't include a number of films that I liked because then I would have an endless list - these are in the order that I saw them - not of preference)

Breach
Amazing Grace
The Namesake
Black Book
The Wind that Shakes the Barley
The Hoax
After the Wedding
Paris Je T'aime
Red Road
Away From Her
Jindabyne
Pierrepoint
Lady Chatterley
A Mighty Heart
Ratatouille
Goya's Ghosts
Live-in Maid
Moliere
This is England
3:10 to Yuma
In the Valley of Elah
Across the Universe
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
The Savages
Love in the Time of Cholera
Control
Starting Out in the Evening
Youth Without Youth
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
The Orphanage
Introducing the Dwights
Slipstream

Here are my acting picks. They are not in any order except that the first two actors are my first choices. Lead and supporting are together.

Actors

Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men, Goya's Ghosts, Love in the Time of Cholera
Daniel Day Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Chris Cooper - Breach
Irfan Khan - The Namesake, A Mighty Heart
Richard Gere - The Hoax
Alfred Molina - The Hoax
Cillian Murphy - The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Mads Mikkelsen - After the Wedding
Gordon Pinsent - Away from Her
Timothy Spall - Pierrepoint
Christian Bale - Rescue Dawn, 3:10 to Yuma, I'm Not There
Russell Crowe - 3:10 to Yuma
Ben Foster - 3:10 to Yuma
Viggo Mortensen - Easter Promises
Armin Mueller-Stahl - Eastern Promises
Vincent Cassel - Eastern Promises
Tommy Lee Jones - In the Valley of Elah, No Country for Old Men
Emile Hirsch - Into the Wild
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Ed Harris - Gone Baby Gone
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton
Tony Leung - Lust, Caution
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Before the Devil Know's You're Dead, The Savages, Charlie
Wilson's War
Benicio del Toro - Things We Lost in the Fire
Ryan Gosling - Lars and the Real Girl
Philip Bosco - The Savages
Josh Brolin - No Country for Old Men, American Gangster
Mathieu Amalric - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Max von Sydow - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Hector Elizondo - Love in the Time of Cholera
Sam Riley - Control
Frank Langella - Starting Out in the Evening
Paul Dano - There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Will Smith - I Am Legend

Actresses

Tabu - The Namesake
Carice van Houten - Black Book
Marion Cottilard - La Vie en Rose
Kate Dickie - Red Road
Julie Christie - Away from Her
Olympia Dukakis - Away fro Her
Marina Hands - Lady Chatterley
Angelina Jolie - A Mighty Heart
Natalie Portman - Goya's Ghosts
Norma Alejandro - Live-in Maid
Norma Argentina - Live-in Maid
Jodie Foster - The Brave One
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
Katherine Keener - Into the Wild
Tang Wei - Lust, Caution
Marisa Tomei - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Laura Linney - The Savages, Jindabyne
Kelly MacDonald - No Country for Old Men
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Charlotte Gainsbourg - I'm Not There
Giovanna Mezzogiorno - Love in the Time of Cholera
Fernanda Montenegro - Love in the Time of Cholera
Catalina Sandino Moreno - Love in the Time of Cholera
Samantha Morton - Control
Lili Taylor - Starting Out in the Evening
Nicole Kidman - Margot at the Wedding
Jennifer Jason Leigh - Margot at the Wedding
Helena Bonhan Carter - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Belen Rueda - The Orphanage
Brenda Blethyn - Introducing the Dwights

I will name a few directors and writers - I can't name too many or I will be here all night

Directors

Ethan Coen and Joel Coen - No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Todd Haynes - I'm Not There
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Sean Penn - Into the Wild
David Cronenberg - Eastern Promises

Original Screenplay

Todd Haynes and Oren Moverman - I'm Not There
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Steven Knight - Eastern Promises
Brad Bird - Ratatouille
Tamara Jenkins - The Savages

Adapted Screenplay

Ethan Coen & Joel Coen - No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
Ronald Harwood - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Sean Penn - Into the Wild
Marjane Satrapi - Persepolis

Now for the annual Woody awards - this year they will be given to two outstanding actors

First is Javier Bardem. He is an amazing actor and he is not yet 40 years old. He is finally getting the recognition that he deserves with No Country for Old Men. Although Goya's Ghosts and Love in the Time of Cholera didn't do well he was great in those as well. I look forward to seeing what he does in the future but I have no doubt that he will continue to grow as an actor.

The second Woody goes to Daniel Day-Lewis. He is the cream of the crop and he truly transformed himself in There Will Be Blood. He doesn't make many movies and I hope that we won't have to wait four or five years to see him again. But I trust that he will make something that will be a quality product.

Congratulations to JB and DDL!

Oh, I forgot to mention documentaries. I haven't seen many this past year and I will try to catch up with some of them on DVD. I loved Michael Moore's Sicko. Moore took an important but dry topic - healthcare in the US - and made an entertaining film out of it. The above mentioned Senor Bardem had a documentary that he produced shown at the Tribeca Film Festival. It is entitled Invisibles and it contained five short films by five different filmmakers showing terrible situations around the world that most of us know nothing about. Hence the title. So far it hasn't been released here but hopefully it will come out on DVD so people can see it (it won the Goya award for Best Documentary).

I saw Charles Ferguson's acclaimed No End in Sight. I happened to find it dull. I might be in the minority on this one but that is how I feel. Ferguson shows how the Bush administration made blunders regarding the war in Iraq but I wouldn't call this an anti-war film. And that is one of my problems with it.

In Bruges

In Bruges is Martin McDonagh's wonderful new film. The story is set in the midieval city of Bruges in Belgium. After a botched job hitmen Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) leave London to hide in Bruges. This is on the orders of their boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes).

Ray hates being in Bruges. He is going out of his mind. But Ken is making the best of things and is enjoying the sites. Ray meets a woman that he likes but she has an agenda. He also meets some people who are involved with making a movie.

I can't reveal more about the plot because I don't want to give too much away. The film is well written (McDonagh is a well know playwright) and directed. The acting is also very good. Farrell is finally living up to his potential with this and Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream. His Ray is funny, sexy and vulnerable. Gleeson is always great and he once again proves that he is one the best character actors working today. And I liked Fiennes too (though I must say that his voice and accent sometimes reminded me of Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast).

Oh, and then there is Bruges itself. It is just a lovely city. This film made me want to go to Bruges.

There you have it - a fine film indeed. I highly recommned this film to those of you who like films that mix comedy and crime with a touch of sass. If you like that then you will like In Bruges.

Caramel

Caramel is a warm and funny comedy from director Nadine Labaki. It takes place in Beirut and it revolves around five women who are connected with a beauty salon.

Labaki plays Layale who lives at home with her parents and is involved with a married man. Nisrine (Yasmine Elmasri) is about to be married but has a secret that she has to face up to. Rima (Joanna Moukarzel) just happens to prefer women. Jamale (Gisele Aouad) is trying to get back into acting on commercials. Rose (Sihame Haddad) devotes her life to taking care of the mentally challenged Lili (Aziza Semaan).

During the movie you get to know these women and have a feel for what their lives are like. And they feel like real people and I wanted to find out more about each one of them. We get to see what it is like to live over there but, happily, we don't get to see any religious fanatics because this film has nothing to do with religion or politics.

All of the acting is good and Ms. Labaki is the best of all. She is truly talented.
I look forward to seeing what she does in the future and I hope that she gets some well deserved recognition in this part of the world.

The title is named after the sticky and sweet substance that people love to eat. But here the substance is also used to remove body hair. I recommend Carmel to those of you who enjoy slice of life films. I would say that women might like this film better than men but I think that an enlightened man will like it as well.

DVD Mini Review - We Own the Night

James Gray's We Own the Night is a pretty good crime/police drama. Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) works as a manager in a club. He is friendly with some unsavory characters. His brother Joseph (Gorsinsky) is a copy just like his father Albert (Robert Duvall). But Bobby doesn't have much respect for them. That is why he uses his mother's maiden name. But when the Russian mob tries to take over things change.

Gray knows quite a bit about this subject as he made the terrific film Little Odessa,
which is also about the Russian mob. Once again, this film takes place in New York City. It is quite gritty but it focuses on characters more than action. The acting is good but not spectacular. I would say the Phoenix is the best. Eva Mendes plays his girlfriend Amada and she is okay. Again, I didn't expect a lot out of this film and I liked it more than I thought I would. It is a good solid crime drama.

DVD Mini Review - Introducing the Dwights

And it has to be very mini because I am exhausted.

This lovely little dramady is directed by Cherie Nowland and is written by Keith Thompson. Brenda Blethyn plays Jean, a canteen worker who moonlights as a comedienne at a club (this film's original title was Clubland). Jean is a single mother to two young men. The shy Tim (Khan Chittenden) is close to his mother but things start to change when he meets Jill (Emma Booth)and falls hard for her. Also living with Jean is her special needs son Mark (Richard Wilson). Jean is British and she gave everything up to marry her ex-husband John (Frankie J. Holden) and move to Australia. John is a one hit wonder - having had a hit record many moons ago. He would like to have another hit song.

Jean is not the nicest of people but you really do feel sorry for her. She wanted a different life than the one she wound up with (like so many of us). Blethyn's portrayal of her is just wonderful. The film depicts real people with all of their flaws. These are the kind of people that might be our neighbors.

I don't know why Introducing the Dwights didn't do better at the box office. I am guessing that it wasn't promoted in the right way. But it is now out on DVD and I suggest that you rent this little gem of a film as soon as you can.

BAFTA Winners

Best Film
Atonement

Best Director
Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men

Best Actor
Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

Best Supporting Actress
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

Best Original Screenplay
Juno

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best British Film
This is England

Best Film Not in the English Language
The Lives of Others

Best Animated Feature
Ratatouille

Best Editing
The Bourne Ultimatum

Best Cinematography
No Country for Old Men

Best Music
La Vie en Rose

Best Production Design
Atonement

Costume Design
La Vie en Rose

Best Make Up & Hair
La Vie en Rose

Best Sound
The Bourne Ultimatum

Best Special Visual Effects
The Golden Compass

Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer
Matt Greenhalgh, Control

Writers Guild Winners

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

JUNO, Written by Diablo Cody; Fox Searchlight

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, Screenplay by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen, Based on the Novel by Cormac McCarthy; Miramax

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE, Written by Alex Gibney; THINKFilm

DRAMATIC SERIES

THE WIRE, Written by Ed Burns, Chris Collins, Dennis Lehane, David Mills, George Pelecanos, Richard Price, David Simon, William F. Zorzi; HBO

COMEDY SERIES

30 ROCK, Written by Brett Baer, Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Dave Finkel, Daisy Gardner, Donald Glover, Matt Hubbard, Jon Pollack, John Riggi, Tami Sagher, Ron Weiner; NBC

NEW SERIES

MAD MEN, Written by Lisa Albert, Bridget Bedard, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Tom Palmer, Chris Provenzano, Robin Veith, Matthew Weiner; AMC

EPISODIC DRAMA – any length – one airing time

THE SECOND COMING (THE SOPRANOS), Written by Terence Winter; HBO

EPISODIC COMEDY – any length – one airing time

THE JOB (THE OFFICE), Written by Paul Lieberstein & Michael Schur; NBC

LONG FORM – ORIGINAL – over one hour – one or two parts, one or two airing times

PANDEMIC, Written by Bryce Zabel & Jackie Zabel; Hallmark Channel

LONG FORM – ADAPTATION – over one hour – one or two parts, one or two airing times

THE COMPANY: A STORY OF THE CIA, Teleplay by Ken Nolan, Based on the novel by Robert Littell; TNT

ANIMATION – any length – one airing time

KILL GIL VOLUMES 1&2 (THE SIMPSONS), Written by Jeff Westbrook; FOX

COMEDY/VARIETY – (INCLUDING TALK) SERIES

THE COLBERT REPORT, Written by Bryan Adams, Michael Brumm, Stephen Colbert, Rich Dahm, Eric Drysdale, Rob Dubbin, Glenn Eichler, Peter Grosz, Peter Gwinn, Barry Julien, Jay Katsir, Laura Krafft, Frank Lesser, Tom Purcell, Allison Silverman; Comedy Central

(*Editor’s Note: There are no nominations this year in the Comedy/Variety – Music, Awards, Tributes – Specials category.)

DAYTIME SERIALS

THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS, Written by Lynn Marie Latham, Scott Hamner, Jeff Gottesfeld & Cherie Bennet, Bernard Lechowick, James Stanley, Natalie Minardi Slater, Lynsey Dufour, Marina Alburger, Sara Bibel, Janice Ferri Esser, Eric Freiwald & Linda Schreiber, Joshua McCaffrey, Sandra Weintraub; CBS

CHILDREN’S SCRIPT - EPISODIC & SPECIALS

LOOK WHOSE NOT TALKING (FLIGHT 29 DOWN), Written by D. J. MacHale; Discovery Kids

CHILDREN’S SCRIPT- LONG FORM OR SPECIAL

JOHNNY KAPAHALA: BACK ON BOARD, Teleplay by Ann Austen & Douglas Sloan and Max Enscoe & Annie deYoung, Story by Ann Austen & Douglas Sloan; Disney Channel

VIDEOGAME WRITING

DEAD HEAD FRED, Written by Dave Ellis and Adam Cogan, D3 Publisher

DOCUMENTARY — CURRENT EVENTS

RETURN OF THE TALIBAN (FRONTLINE), Written by Martin Smith; PBS

DOCUMENTARY — OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS

BILLY STRAYHORN: LUSH LIFE (INDEPENDENT LENS), Written by Robert Levi and Robert Seidman; PBS

TELEVISION NEWS — REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN OR BREAKING REPORT

AMISH SCHOOL SHOOTING (WORLD NEWS WITH CHARLES GIBSON), Written by Josh Landis, Joel Siegel, Julia Kathan, Charles Gibson; ABC

TELEVISION NEWS — ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY

TO BEE OR NOT TO BEE (GOOD MORNING, AMERICA), Written by Mary Pflum; ABC

RADIO AWARD WINNERS

RADIO DOCUMENTARY

GO WIRELESS, GET CONNECTED! ABC’S TECHNOLOGY SURVIVAL GUIDE, Written by Andrea Smith; ABC

RADIO NEWS — REGULARLY SCHEDULED OR BREAKING

WORLD NEWS THIS WEEK, Written by Marianne J. Pryor; ABC

RADIO NEWS — ANALYSIS, FEATURE OR COMMENTARY

PASSAGES, Written by Gail Lee; CBS

PROMOTION WRITING AND GRAPHIC ART AWARD WINNERS

TELEVISION ON-AIR PROMOTION

DAYS OF OUR LIVES: MINI-SERIES, THE BRADYS VS. THE DIMERAS, Written by
Judie Henninger; NBC

TELEVISION GRAPHIC ART

ONE PRICEY PANTS SUIT, William J. Hennessy Jr.; ABC News

TELEVISION GRAPHIC ANIMATION

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS . . . MATT LAUER?: TEASE CAMPAIGN 2007, Joe Strobino and Miranda Patterson; NBC

HBO Movie - Bernard and Doris

Bernard and Doris is directed by Bob Balaban. It is the story of the relationship between an aging Doris Duke (Susan Sarandon) and her butler Bernard Lafferty (Ralph Fiennes). The film was made with the intention of having a theatrical release but I guess that it had a hard time being picked up by a distributor so HBO films came to the rescue. In any case it is a good film.

Doris is very rich but very lonely. She has a number of young male lovers (who she pays for). But she doesn't have to worry about Bernard because he is gay. She is difficult but he is quite low key so the two get along well. As time goes on he becomes her best friend and confidante. Both of them have something in common - a love of booze. The film is nicely paced and has some comedic moments. Fiennes does a fine job of playing the sweet (supposedly so anyway) Bernard. And Sarandon is terrific as the feisty Doris. The film is part truth and part fiction. But one thing is for sure - when she died Doris left almost everything to Bernard.

I recommend this film to you and if you don't have HBO (I just got it for the night) then rent it when it comes out.

DVD Mini Review - King of California

Mike Cahill's King of California is one of those Sundance indie comedies that is too quirky for its own good.

Charlie (Michael Douglas) is just released from a mental hospital. His teenage, high school dropout daughter Miranda (Evan Rachel Wood) is there to meet him upon his release. The two are getting reaquainted after several years of Miranda living on her. Her mother abandoned her. Much of the film is basically the two of them playing off each other as they get to know each other again. But Charlie is reading a book that says a great buried treasure sits many feet under a Costco store. And he intends to find it. At first Miranda poo-poos him but he eventually wins her over and she particpates in his scheme.

Douglas and Wood are very good and there is great chemistry between them. But the plot is just so ridiculous. It is highly unbelievable. Wood doesn't look sixteen going on seventeen either. And since she is a minor I would think that social services might have helped her.

Douglas and Wood are fine actors and they deserve better material. Although the film didn't do anything for me I didn't mind watching it. But the main reason to see this film is for the two lead acting performances.

DVD Mini Review - Vanaja

I was sent a DVD copy of this film to view because I am a member of the Independent Feature Project (IFP) and I will be casting my vote for the Independent Spirit Awards this week.

Vanaja is the first feature by writer/director Rajnesh Domalpalli. It focuses on the class/caste system that still plagues India. Young Vanaja is motherless and lives with her poor fisherman father - who also happens to drink too much. She wants to work for their landlady in the hopes that the older woman will teach her to dance. Things are going well until the landlady's son comes home.

Although the plot is somewhat predictable I still enjoyed this film. The non-actors do a good job. And the cinematography by Milton Kam is lovely.

The bottom line of this film is that no matter how smart you are (and Vanaja is smart) if you are born into the wrong caste you can never escape it. Vanaja makes a very good addition to your list of world cinema films that you should see.

Producers Guild of America Awards

Feature Film: No Country for Old Men
Animated film: Ratatouille
Documentary: Sicko
Episodic TV comedy: 30 Rock
Episodic TV drama: The Sopranos
Live entertainment/competition TV: The Colbert Report
Long-form TV: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Non-fiction TV program: Planet Earth

4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days

4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days won the Palm D'or at last year's Cannes Film Festival. And while I don't think it is as good as some of its competitors (No Country for Old Men and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) it is a damn good film.

The story takes place in Communist Romania. Otilia (Annamaria Marinca) and Gabita (Laura Vasiliu) are roommates and university students. Gabita is pregnant and wants to get an abortion. Otilia is going to help her with this. Since abortion is illegal in Romania this is no easy task. But they have found a willing person - a vile man named Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov).

Writer/director Cristian Mungiu has done a terrific job of making this film. It is not really about taking sides in the abortion debate. He just wants to show how difficult it was to obtain an abortion in those days. The film is filled with tension (one such scene is when Otilia goes to the birthday party for her boyfriend Adi's (Alexandru Potocean) mother. She would rather be with Gabita and her face reveals the discomfort she feels being there. In fact the film has so much tension that I felt tense sitting in my seat and watching it.

Vasiliu is very good as the timid Gabita as is Ivanov as the chilly Bebe. But the film belongs to Marinca. Her face and body language says it all. She is definitely an actress to watch.

This film does not have any easy answers. I am pro-choice but making the choice is very difficult. And I am only pro-choice for the first trimester unless there are circumstances that make it necessary to abort later on (the life or health of the mother being the prime one). I highly recommend this film but I must say that there are some graphic images that might disturb some people (and they should). 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days does not pull any punches and that is why it is such a good film.

Persepolis

Persepolis is based on Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel of the same name. It was co-directed and co-written by Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud. Although it is done in animation format it is not a film for children.

Persepolis is told through the eyes of young Marjane who lives in Iran. She and her family live through the horrors of the Shah's regime. Friends and relatives are jailed and sometimes even murdered. When they revolution comes they are happy but the tide turns when it becomes an Islamic revolution. Their lives are turned around. Marjane is an outspoken critic of the Islamic regime. Eventually her parents send her to live with friends in Vienna. That doesn't turn out as expected and Marjane returns to Iran.

This film is like a well told history lesson. My heart went out to Marjane and her family. Several times during the film I had tears in my eyes. It is hard to imagine living in such a place.

The film's animation is not as sophisticated as some of the computer generated animation we are used to. But this film is not about graphic design and the simple animation really does the trick. The film is in French with English subtitles. The characters are voiced by Chiara Mastroianni (Marjane), Catherine Deneuve (her mother), Danielle Dairieux (her wise grandmother) and Simon Abkarian (her father).

I highly recommend this film. It opens up our eyes to a world that we are not familiar with and makes us appreciate the freedoms that we (so far) have in this very flawed country.