Trying to decide what flick to watch this week? Why go to a movie review website and read critical reviews and ratings, when you can simply take my word for what’s good?
Silver Linings Playbook – The best movie I’ve seen recently. A bipolar guy (Bradley Cooper) leaves a mental hospital against medical advice and returns home to his dysfunctional family (Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver) and soon meets a woman (Jennifer Lawrence) with her own issues. Comedy, drama, and romance ensue. 122 min
Moonrise Kingdom – A close second to Silver Linings Playbook. A funny and seriously quirky movie about two young lovers who run away from their New England town, prompting a search party to look for them. Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, and other names big and small. 94min
The Sapphires – I very much liked this movie that was inspired by a true story. In 1968, a singing group of four Australian Aboriginal girls toured Vietnam to entertain US troops. They quickly learned a lot about love and friendship. 103min
The Impossible – Excellent drama based on a true story about a family split up among tens of thousands of strangers caught in a horrific natural disaster. 114min
Argo – A fact-based drama. Six Americans are extracted from revolutionary Iran by a CIA operative pretending to be scouting locations for a science fiction film called Argo. Good movie. I would bet the book is even better. 120min
Zero Dark Thirty – An entertaining film about the hunt for America’s most wanted terrorist. 2hr 37min
Lincoln – This film could have been a stage play and a fairly cerebral one at that. It’s about the political horse-trading that was necessary to get Congress to pass the 13th Amendment. Kind of a “how the sausage got made” movie. 2hr 30min
Beasts of the Southern Wild – A 16mm indie-budget film, well made, with strongly emotional content. A small group of people in southern Louisiana live impoverished lives on a fictitious island called the “Bathtub”. The main characters are “Hushpuppy” played by Quvenzhané Wallis (age 5 when cast and now the youngest nominee for the Best Actress Academy Award), and her father Wink played by Dwight Henry. Henry was not looking for an acting job and had never acted prior to this film. He owned a bakery across the street from the film studio. During one slow hour he walked over to the studio, auditioned for the movie, and was hired. 93min
Django Unchained – Blaxploitation meets Spaghetti Western. If Sergio Leone had made a movie about slavery, this could be it. If it seems long, well, it is long. 2hr 45min
Life of Pi – It has 11 Academy Award nominations and critical reviews gushing with praise. Basically, a young man gets stranded in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. Then mysterious stuff happens. Or maybe it doesn’t happen. Who knows for sure? Not the audience. Excellent special effects, especially in 3D. 127min
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