December 12, 2010
November 11, 2010
October 10, 2010
The Way Back (2010) ****
An inspiring drama directed by Peter Weir, based on a real-life story recounted by Captain Rupert Mayne, a British intelligence officer in Calcutta, who in 1942 interviewed three emaciated men, who have escaped from a Soviet gulag and walked across Siberian forests, Mongolian deserts and Himalayan mountains. The same story has been told in the 1956 bestselling novel "The Long Walk" by Slawomir Rawicz (who falsely claimed that it happened to him).
Winter's Bone (2010) ****
Amazingly insightful, scarily realistic portrait of a rural, white-trash, hillbilly Ozark community devastated by methamphetamine, cruelty, betrayal, suspicion and despair. But the film isn't about despair, but about the most basic and elementary kind of courage - the kind a 17-year-old girl must have to face an unforgiving world where her mother is mentally unstable, her younger siblings need food, and her father has just skipped bail (putting their house as collateral). She will either find him, dead or alive, or face eviction. Jennifer Lawrence is amazing in the lead role and the film won the top prizes at the Sundance Film Festival.
Toy Story 3 (2010) ****
September 9, 2010
The Social Network (2010) ***
The epic tale of the founding of Facebook by Harvard undergrad Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg). Aaron Sorkin's incredibly witty screenplay drips with clever one-liners and killer repartees. Best lines: "Do you think I deserve your full attention? (...) You have part of my attention - you have the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, are intellectually or creatively capable of doing. Did I adequately answer your condescending question?", "Sorry, my Prada is at the cleaners, along with my hoodie and my 'fuck you' flip-flops, you pretentious douche bag!", "We lived in farms, then we lived in cities, and now we're gonna live on the internet!", "I think we should just be friends (...) I don't want friends (...) I was being polite, I had no intention of being friends with you" and "As for the charges, I believe I deserve some recognition from this board (...) I'm sorry? (...) Yes (...) I don't understand (...) Which part?". Director David Fincher ("Se7en", "Fight Club") has taken a potentially unfilmmable story and turned it into a fast-paced, exciting and instinctively perceptive film. Justin Timerlake is particularly impressive as Napster's co-founder Sean Parker.
La Tête en friche (2010) ***
Profoundly moving French film about an unusual friendship between an uneducated and simple-minded worker (Gérard Depardieu) and an erudite old lady from a nursing home. A simple tale about human decency. Surprisingly funny and very touching.
Portraits In A Sea Of Lies (2010) ***
Tragic drama from Colombia, about a young girl whose entire family was killed by paramilitary thugs. Spanish title: "Retratos en un mar de mentiras".
Never Let Me Go (2010) ***
Strange little film about children raised to be donors of their body parts. With Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, Charlotte Rampling and Sally Hawkins.
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