V o l v e r

Spain 2006



Written and directed by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, this humorous fantasy stars Carmen Maura as Abuela Irene, who revisits her hometown in the La Mancha region -- in spectral form -- to resolve problems she couldn't settle during her life. Abuela's spirit gradually becomes a reassuring presence to her daughters and grandaughter.
8.5/10



Almodóvar's distinct ability comes out strong in this entourage of subtly quirky yet realistic characters connected through their kinship and lives. Not as humorous as explained in many descriptions but lack of comedy does not deplete any of the lighthearted approach at the storytelling of many disheartened emotions. Many of which deal with family turmoil on abusive levels. Throw in some scandal and vengeance based of treachery and jealousy. And you have another work of cinematic brilliance from Almodóvar.

Slumdog Millionaire

USA/UK/India 2008



After coming within one question of winning 20 million rupees on the Hindi version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" 18-year-old Mumbai "slumdog" Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is arrested on suspicion of cheating. While in custody, Jamal regales a jaded police inspector (Irfan Khan) with remarkable tales of his life on the streets, as well as the story of Latika (Freida Pinto), the woman he loved and lost.
8/10



A typical kinetically shot drama with elements of black comedy that we would come to expect from Danny Boyle. This film chronicles a convoluted storyline of Jamal. Once a what is called "slumdog" of the ghetto slums of India, Jamal meets a little girl.
Throughout time the two are separated on several occasions for years at a time. Jamal's desperation for the love of his life reaches it's peak as he becomes a contestant on the Hindi version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"in order to reach out to his childhood love, Latika who loves the show.
As Jamal sits at the ring of the show on live television, he begins to make history answering all the questions correctly which has never been done before. Accused of cheating, he his temporarily incarcerated, tortured and questioned on how he knew all the answers. He then tells his life story of how coincidentally he knew all the answers to the questions. This really makes for a great viewing.
Danny Boyle is not daring for being able to make and choosing to make different genre films. He is well rounded and is inspired by all aspects of life.
It doesn't make him daring to make a heartfelt rags to riches love story based in India from a novel. It makes him genius and eclectic showing that other people's work is an inspiration to him. Also there is an uncredited co-director for India, Loveleen Tandan. Great movie.

Old Joy

USA 2006



When old friends Mark and Kurt embark on a weekend camping trip in the Oregon Cascades, they soon find themselves exploring much more than nature in this meditation on friendship, memory and generational malaise. As the men journey deeper into the wilderness -- losing and then finding their way -- they struggle to find common ground in the divergent paths they've chosen for their lives. Daniel London and Will Oldham star.
7/10



This minimalistic tale is a quietly portrayed mildly eventful outing of two longtime friends who have taken two entirely separate route in their lives. Kurt one day calls up Mark offering to take him up to a quiet and desolate natural hot springs lodge. Mark now married with a child just around the corner has a moment of subtle tension with his wife in regards to going, which is really well played which is the case for most of the acting in the movie, very natural. Kurt and Mark then set out on their small journey catching up with one another's lives and trying to understand their choices. What I liked about this film is there was no tension or maliciousness. The two characters really are good friends and have no ill intent or contempt for each other. The dialog isn't rich but definitely has some sincerity behind it. "A must see" or "Exquisite" is a little stretch, it's a good movie and all but nothing incredible or special. If it were any longer I would not have felt so positive about it. An hour and 16 minutes was just fine.

The Devils

United Kingdom 1971



Cardinal Richelieu and his power-hungry entourage seek to take control of seventeenth-century France, but need to destroy Father Grandier - the priest who runs the fortified town that prevents them from exerting total control. So they seek to destroy him by setting him up as a warlock in control of a devil-possessed nunnery, the mother superior of which is sexually obsessed by him. A mad witch-hunter is brought in to gather evidence against the priest, ready for the big tria
10/10



A truly controversial cult epic, indisputably. Surreal, twisted, intense, beautifully crafted, theatrically acted, Ken Russel's 1971 adaptation of Aldous Huxley's The Devil's of Loudon tests and redefines the boundaries of mainstream cinema even to this day. The story is based on real accounts of 17th century France, The Devil's is about an angry political era of corruption on all fronts namely, religious power and sexual indignation. Considered one of the most important works of post war British cinema the film was definitely banned, damned and ridiculed upon it's release. the original version was cut dramatically of it's key scenes by censors declaring the sections too graphic for the public eye and mind. The visual aspects of this masterpiece is truly devine on levels easily rivaling Jodorowsky and Kubrick. Truly magnificent.

R E D

USA 2007



Emmy winner Brian Cox heads the cast as Avery Ludlow, a simple, affable man driven to extremes when a group of teenage miscreants kills his beloved dog, Red. When it becomes obvious that the boys won't be held accountable for their senseless act, Ludlow takes matters into his own hands. Tom Sizemore, Robert Englund and Amanda Plummer also star in this disquieting thriller directed by Trygve Diesen and Lucky McKee.
8/10



I was looking forward to this under the radar subtly suspenseful justice seeking redemption film for quite sometime. I did not even notice it was available on dvd already. The film surely was what I was expecting with a little more, both in a bad and good way.
The bad is very minuscule. I know it was based of a novel accordingly so I cannot really rag on the slightly over dramatic at time dialog interweaving some sub plotting to fill in a full feature. Those tiny cons could have been completely excusable if it wasn't for some of the surprisingly flat delivery.
Other than that the film is completely solid and satisfying. A lot of authentic tension is built as the protagonist seems to fail miserably at over coming fittingly impossible odds of a seemingly unjust system of laws on crimes against animals.
The movie is not slow moving like some readers suggest. It is straight to the point and continually unfolds into a climatic Mexican standoff. The patience of Avery(COX) blatantly dwindles into a maddening set of wide open eyes, which really sets the the level of intensity to high octane. Nice.

Devil's Island

Iceland 1996



Brothers Baddi (Baltasar Kormákur) and Danni (Sveinn Geirsson) are being raised by their grandparents in the relative poverty of 1950s Iceland. But when their mother marries an American serviceman, one of them -- Baddi -- is determined to visit his family in the United States. When he returns, he's sporting a new accent and fancy foreign car in this unique look at Iceland at the dawn of 20th century globalization.
7/10



The first hour of "Djöflaeyjan" I loved! Reasons being;
hilarious characters, an unsettlingly gritty backdrop, American resentment and an outlandish reactionary premise. A dramatic black comedy with a coming of age commentary, the film only starts to lack within the last 40 minutes. Where it loses it's quirky pacing and pushes forth toward a muddle of sadness that really fails at providing what profoundness it's aiming for. A great watch though, especially since Iceland puts out about 2 movies a year. The relationships build collapse and then crash as quickly as a breath of air, which is a hilarious spectacle. I've never watched a movie with more cigarette smoking in it, in all my life.
Seriously, this should have been called "Tobacco's Island"

The Girl on the Bridge

France 2000



A despondent girl named Adele (Vanessa Paradis) is about to take a swan dive off a bridge into the Seine River when she's rescued by Gabor (Daniel Auteuil), a knife thrower who needs a human target for his show. The luckless Adele agrees, and together the pair thrives, winning a fortune gambling when not performing their act. But fate conspires to separate the duo, who find they need each other to maintain their lucky streak.
9/10



A very eclectic and involved upbeat romance with a brave opening interview with the lead actress. Two downtrodden people's lives intersect at a bridge where they are coincidentally about to leap to their early deaths. To much of their surprise even without realizing it at first, the two have an unusual and almost supernatural bond for which great fortune plays in their favor when they are together creating a magnificent and intriguing story that becomes more eccentric, beautifully quirky as well as relatively dangerous as the two's relationship progresses. Shot entirely in black and white there is definitely a noir overtone to this wonderful film