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The buzz was that A Serious Man might get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture this year, but I was still surprised to see it. Surprised and kind of elated. I just loved the movie. For me, it was Coen Brothers at their best. And movie-making at its best.
The movie is hard to describe, and [...]

Shortly after the opening of The Boys Are Back, Clive Owen’s character, Joe Warr, a sportswriter, experiences the painful death of his wife. Joe finds himself as the single dad to Artie, age 6. They live in Australia. Joe also has a 13-year-old son, Harry, who lives in England with his mother, Joe’s first wife. [...]

500 Days of Summer has gotten huge acclaim from both critics and filmgoers alike. The story is told going back and forth along the 500 calendar days that the relationship developed between Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel). It’s a quirky relationship comedy, very indie feeling, and tries to give us a [...]

For me, the first part of Taking Woodstock was pretty awful. You have Imelda Staunton, miscast as Elliot’s mom, screaming about Jews being gassed while she’s trying to get a bank loan, plus a weird over-the-top drama troupe interpretatively prancing, and living in the barn of Elliot’s family’s motel, and if that weren’t enough, poor [...]

Julie & Julia is a very good movie. There are two parallel storylines: One is the story of Julia Child, the renowned chef, and the other is of Julie Powell (played by Amy Adams), a government cubicle worker who decides that the best way to get herself out of her doldrums will be to prepare [...]

I goofed. I thought I was signing up to review A Christmas Tale with Catherine Deneuve, but I accidentally signed up to review Four Christmases instead. I’m not a big fan of slapstick humor or “physical” humor, and hated I Love You, Man. So you can see already that I have little credibility when it [...]

Lemon Tree (Etz Limon) is about a Palestinian widow whose property has hundreds of lemon trees, planted by her father and thriving for over 50 years. The Israeli Prime Minister and his wife move in to the house adjacent her property. Their Secret Service deem the lemon trees a threat to their security, and order [...]

Sunshine Cleaning is a greatly enjoyable indie dramedy with a good cast and a unique plot. Amy Adams plays Rose, former cheerleading captain and now a single mom. She is still carrying on with her ex- high school boyfriend Mac, a football hero played surprisingly well by the unlikely Steve Zahn. Rose’s sister is Norah [...]

Okay, so I could be hypercritical of Gigantic, but not today. It’s not gigantic, though. It’s a small, quiet, quirky, and somewhat campy indie movie with two wonderful stars. Here’s your “plot”: Paul Dano plays Brian Weathersby, a mattress salesman, and the youngest of three brothers. Zooey Deschanel is Harriet (Happy), daughter of Al Lolly [...]

The Soloist is a huge step above many of the DVD releases we’ve seen over the last few months. The film is based on the true story of Steve Lopez, reporter for the LA Times who, while out looking for a story, encounters the homeless cellist, Nathaniel Ayers. The movie tracks their relationship and, in [...]