Moscow on the Hudson

Who knew all the things you could get at Bloomingdale's in Manhattan. A very hairy Robin Williams plays a musician for the Moscow circus performing in New York. A very funny string of events, beginning in Moscow, and ending with a defection in Bloomingdale's sets this story in motion.

Maria Conchita Alonso is beautiful as William's new American girlfriend. And Cleavant Derricks is the security guard to whom Williams defects. And the late great Alejandro Rey plays Williams immigration attorney. Funny stuff.

This poignant story is as timely now as it was 25 years ago. Everyone wants to be in America. Everyone in America is from somewhere else. Williams goes from a tiny apartment with 3 generations of his own family to an identical situation with a black family in New York.

Watch this movie with someone who has been a stranger in a strange land. Like this one.

The Bucket List

Everyone should see this movie regardless of age, economic status, or religious belief. There are not many movies I feel this strongly about. Crash also comes to mind.

Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are at the absolute top of their game here. Like their characters, they are a very unlikely acting duo. But this makes the whole concept, the whole movie, work much better.

Sean Hayes of Will & Grace fame, also does a great job playing the straight-man to Nicholson's character. Pun intended.

I also recommend watching the Extra Feature short about Writing a Bucket List. Then I suggest, while the laughter and tears this movie emotes are still fresh in your memory, you write your own Bucket List.

Even though you know from the beginning how this movie ends, I'm guessing you will still be touched by how well Rob Reiner pulls it off. Reiner is an absolute genius. Look at the diversity of movies he has done - This is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men, and now this. Any one of these movies would make a career high for someone. But to all come from the same mind is evidence of solid brilliance.

Watch this movie with someone who will be part of your personal Bucket List.

Wall-E

It's all about sound. Watch the DVD Extra Features and see, or hear, for yourself.

Some have said this is the best thing Disney has done with Pixar since Finding Nemo. I disagree. The Incredibles is still the best thing since then. Wall-E is good; very good even, but not Oscar material. I may however be proven wrong on that count because of the moral of the story.

This movie is a little preachy but entertaining enough that you may not mind. This is certainly a good family movie. Kids will enjoy the sounds and the action. The story teaches some pretty good lessons to kids if the parents are clever enough to discuss them. The lessons are there for us so-called grown-ups too if we are honest enough to admit them.

Count how many Apple tie-ins you can spot in this film. You'll need more than two hands.

Fred Willard is the only "live" actor in this movie (a first for a Pixar feature-length project), but he is certainly animated enough to fit right in. His face and voice are perfect as the leader of the corporation that ruins the planet and then abandons it.

You may also recognize the voice of Sigourney Weaver, Kathy Najimy, John Ratzenberger, and Jeff Garlin.

As with most animated shows these days there are different layers of entertainment for different age groups. Watch this movie with someone who will have fun on at least 2 of those levels.

Tropa de Elite (The Elite Squad)

If you liked Colors, Training Day, or any of the other gang-related movies of past years, you will most likely enjoy this movie. Yes, it is from Brazilian cinema, but the themes are similar. You can choose either Portuguese or English dialogue. I recommend the Portuguese with English subtitles.

This movie was shot entirely on location in Rio de Janeiro neighborhoods. In fact, over 90 weapons were stolen during filming. It was also shot with hand-held 35mm cameras giving a very real sense of "being there". The soundtrack is purely Carioca. Muito bom.

Unless you are familiar with Brazilian cinema, you will most likely not recognize any faces here, but I want to give high praise to Wagner Moura, Caio Junqueira, and André Ramiro. All do a great job of showing the stress and range of emotions police undergo in a variety of social situations. All are familiar faces to Brazilian audiences and I hope we get to see more of them in mainstream cinema.

Yes, I am biased. I love most things Brazilian. But this is a genuinely good entry in the police-thriller genre.

Watch it with someone who will not be afraid to visit tourist mecca Rio afterwards.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

This was clearly not the fun roller coaster ride of Raiders or Last Crusade, but I think this movie was at least a bit better than many critics have made it out to be. I liked it, but I didn't love it. Last Crusade remains the best of the series in my opinion.

Any time you get Steven Spielburg and George Lucas together on a project you MUST accept that is will be a little cutting edge. I highly recommend watching the Extra Features on this DVD before watching the movie. That may accomplish a couple of things. First, you hear from the Titans themselves about how hard it was to decide to do this project and why it took the direction it did. It makes total sense once you have from them. Second it will catch you up on some of the high points of the previous 3 films. You don't need to have seen the first 3 to get or enjoy number 4, but I recommend it.

Harrison Ford was 65 when this movie was finished and he looked great and played the role of the now-senior Dr. Jones very well. Karen Allen reprises her role as Indy's old flame with a significant twist.

Jones is fighting the Russians this time now that WWII is finally over and the Cold War has begun. His nemesis is played by the ever-amazing Cate Blanchett. John Hurt is the big surprise and delightful member of the expedition.

Some have said there was too much CG in this movie and yes, there are significant amounts. But, I did not find it distracting. This movie could not have been made without it, or it would have been done very badly.

Like Spielberg, I would have been content to let the Crusade end with Raiders III. But I do not think this movie was a mistake even if the story bears striking similarities to "Secret of the Incas" starring Burt Lancaster in 1954. But if you know this history of the creative team behind Raiders in the late 1980's, they were wide open about using this great movie an an inspiration. End of story.

Watch IJ4 with someone who will suspend belief with you and enjoy the ride.

Mister Foe

First let me say that this movie is not for everyone. But I liked it. A lot. Part of the reason is I liked this is the Scottish humor just under the surface. Very dark. Another reason I liked this was the supernatural performance of relative newcomer Jamie Bell. Was he really possessed? His character was surely haunted enough.

Other faces you will surely recognize include Ciarán Hinds and Claire Forlani but someone you may not be so familiar with is Sophia Myles. She is another reason to enjoy this movie. Maurice Roëves even has a charming role here as a career hotel dishwasher. He too is a very pleasant surprise.

The plot is not really as complicated as most the summaries suggest. You have a teenage boy who is distraught over the death of his mother. He is convinced his father's girlfriend committed the murder. He runs away from home and is forced to find a job to survive in the big city. He meets a woman who looks just like his mother and he falls in love. This trouble young man is finally able to make peace with all his relationships. No, I'm not giving anything away there. He is also a Voyeur, which plays prominently in the plot, but is really just a second tier story feature.

And as with so many well-done independent projects, this movie has a fantastically eclectic soundtrack with music by many Scottish artists you'll love once you've heard them.

If you can make it past the first 40 minutes of this movie, which I admit are pretty disturbing, you will be richly rewarded with a funny, tasteful ending. And I've seen way too many movies I can't say that about.

Watch this movie with someone who can handle the nudity and the psychotic teen angst.

Charlie Wilson's War

Where were you for the 10 years between 1979 and 1989. Do you remember what was going on in the world? Do you remember Iran-Contra and Oliver North? Do you remember that the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan? Do you remember what the United States did about that invasion?

This movie will only answer the last question. It brings to light what was known in only a few small circles during that period of time. And, rather than a typical history lesson, this movie teaches without letting you know a lesson is going on. That is high craft indeed.

Director Mike Nichols who has been the brains behind such varied greats as The Graduate, Catch-22, Working Girl, and The Birdcage, brings what I believe is another classic story to cinema.

It helps that he had such a powerful cast. Tom Hanks is his usual brilliant self. Julia Roberts shows that she really can act. And Philip Seymour Hoffman shows us again what playing a role is supposed to look like.

What is this movie about? It's about how a hand full of people brought about the beginning of the downfall of the old Soviet Union. And a less likely bunch is hard to conceive. Fact truly is stranger than fiction.

Watch this movie with someone who "gets" how things happen despite themselves in DC.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Written and directed by Steven Spielberg over 30 years ago, this is a timeless, classic, masterpiece. You can see several themes which are seen again 5 years later in E.T.. Spielberg loves to play with light and shadow. He understands that telling stories does not have to include constant dialogue. He uses music, imagery, facial expressions, and action to tell a story in addition to very smart dialogue.

Richard Dreyfuss is brilliant here in his third Spielberg project. He leaves nothing in the dressing room when he acts. Directors love him as do the audience.

French screen legend François Truffaut makes what is his only appearance in an American film to date, but is great as the other Lead is this script.

If you have never seen this movie, I suggest you give it a try to see how good sci-fi can be without today's computer graphics. Don't get me wrong, I love good CG. But I also like film-making on real celluloid. This is good story-telling at a very high level. You can see things in this movie that Spielberg uses in most of his projects since.

If it has been a while since you last watched this movie, I suggest you take some time and do a little cinema appreciation project.

Better yet, watch this movie with someone who has not seen it yet, and help them get into it.

Mongol

After being on my rental list for a very long time, I was happy to see that it was well worth the wait. Epic in scope. Grand in scale. Simple is message. This movie is very much a work of art. Filmed in parts of China that were so remote crews had to build roads before equipment could be transported in.

Totally in Mongolian with English subtitles, it was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 2008. A very worthy nod.

Based on historical records with a great deal of fictional license, this is an interesting look into the early life of Genghis Khan. It is a war story. It is a love story. It is a personal discovery drama. I'm convinced everyone will take something different away from this movie.

Every character is totally believable and most are lovable. This is not so much different from movies like Braveheart. Just in a language very few of us understand.

Watch this movie with someone who will enjoy the battle scenes as much as the love scenes.

War, Inc.

There is an awful lot to NOT like about this movie. But when added all up they still don't equal a bad movie. This is political satire in a very high form. No doubt in many countries this sort of thing would be banned or outlawed, and the makers flogged and banished. But, this is America and we hold some truths to be self-evident. One of those is the right of fools and scholars alike to to behave badly in the name of art.

Stepping down from MY soapbox now, let me address the soapbox that is this film. If you are from a "red state" you may not like this movie much. If you voted for Bush or McCain, you probably won't like it either. If however, you can accept and digest some very sharp barbs pointed at the current, and soon to be future, administration's perceived policies and relationships, you may have a very good time watching it.

Here are a few of the minor things I didn't like about the movie:
John Cusack in an action, tough-guy role
Ben Kingsley with a strong southern accent
Joan Cusack as herself (yes editorial liberties taken here)
American soldiers portrayed as confused and addicted, trigger-happy idiots

Here are a few things that make those other things insignificant:
Marisa Tomei - full stop - enough said
Hillary Duff as the exploited pop-singer who I didn't even recognize
Joan Cusak as herself (yes, this counts twice because she is so funny)
The soundtrack is diverse and wonderful

Add to the above items that I truly enjoy good satire even about things I hold dear. Some say it is the lowest form of comedy. Maybe that's true, but I laughed plenty in this movie.

Watch it with someone who gets whats right and wrong about this movie.

Get Smart

Is anyone NOT in this movie? What a cast. And what an intentionally goofy movie.

As a kid I was a huge fan of the TV series. I was Maxwell Smart for Halloween a couple years there in the 60's. So, I had very high expectations for this movie. I was not disappointed. It had everything from the TV series plus 100 other things TV never attempted. Like Agent 23 and Agent 86 kissing. Welcome to the 21st century.

Smart's catch phrase "Missed it by thaaaat much" cannot be be applied to this movie. They got it - just right.

This is a very fun, very dumb, very inappropriate movie. If you like the TV series there will be plenty for you to recognize. If you never saw the series, it's a shame. But if you like movies like the Pink Panther series, the Police Academy series, the Naked Gun series, and so on, you will like this movie too.

Watch it with your secret friend.