Snow Angels (2008)

Ugh. David Gordon Green again. Hopefully, next time, I'll remember that I don't like this guy! While I'm at it, I might as well remind myself that Sam Rockwell skeeves me out -- he must be irresistibly drawn to every "annoying asshole" role that lands on his desk. I'm pretty sure I haven't enjoyed him since Galaxy Quest.

OK. Down to the movie. The "main" story -- and there are quite a few fighting for attention here -- centers on Annie, a single mother who is dodging the advances of her ex-drunk ex-suicide attempt ex-husband who's now got himself some religion and believes that means he should get himself some Annie as a reward, while sneaking off to cheap hotel rooms with her best friend's husband. It doesn't much matter to me that most of the scenes were intensely, uncomfortably authentic -- it was a little like being impressed at a restaurant because "that tasted exactly like vomit!"

As much as I'd love to slap an "F" on 75% of this movie, it gets bumped up on the strength of a couple of the satellite stories: the lovely romance between two high schoolers (I'd love to see an entire movie about these two -- directed by someone else though, please) and the fierce loyalty of Annie's best friend (Amy Sedaris!).

C-

Burn After Reading (2008)

As the credits were rolling, Gary turned to me and asked me what I thought. My immediate reaction was "yeah - pretty entertaining, but weird" while his was a flat "didn't like it."

On the ride home we talked over scenes and what worked and didn't work -- what was surprising and what was just too much and by the time we turned into the drive 10 minutes later, we had effectively switched opinions. He was kinda liking it and I was rather annoyed with it. So I guess I'd have to say that it wasn't special enough for either of us to stick with our respective opinions for more than a few minutes; it wound up a "meh" for us both.

I will say that the reveal of what Clooney's character had been building in the basement was one of the most surprising and gut-busting things I've seen on film in years (don't click if you don't want it spoiled).

B-

The Counterfeiters (2007)

The Holocaust is such an emotional subject and one that's been covered so many times that my usual reaction to finding out that a movie is set in Nazi Germany is to steel myself for an epic chore. Even the ones that are well-done usually aren't better than, say, The Pianist or Schindler's List -- is there really anything new to cover?

Well, turns out that there is. I had never even heard about the Nazis' counterfeiting effort ("Operation Bernhard") - designed to flood the market with fake pounds and dollars thereby crippling the economies of their enemies. It was run out of a concentration camp with Jewish prisoners specifically assembled for their artistic and banking knowledge.

It's fascinating stuff. The prisoners have to weigh their pride in workmanship against the moral dilemma of "helping" the Nazis -- and several deal with crippling guilt over having a relatively soft imprisonment (pillows, square meals) when prisoners just over the wall are getting shot. Parts of it feel familiar, but it's a whole new story told extremely well.

B+

Into the Wild (2007)

Emile Hirsch is wonderful. He plays Chris McCandless, this privileged kid yearning for -- and going after -- a life that's different than the one for which he's been groomed since birth, and he gets it just right. The mixture of arrogance and humility, of charm and self-righteous cruelty comes alive on the screen.

Despite that, the film is seriously flawed. It's too long by at least half an hour and the overwrought narration, courtesy of Chris's little sister (Jenna Malone), is both annoying and poorly written. Just like with Garfield, sometimes silence is more profound.

Read the book!

C+

How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer (2008)

Before the movie started, an onscreen notice warned that portions of the film lacked sound for artistic effect. As I watched the movie, I couldn't help but wonder if there could possibly be some deliberate reason for the lack of plot, direction, acting skills, and return on time spent watching...

Basically, the Garcia "girls" (actually only one girl -- the other two Garcias are a lonely divorcee and an equally lonely grandmother), spend their summer sticking their nose into each others' business and screwing around...just like everyone else in the dead-end desert town.

There's one scene that stood out in particular as symbolic of the rest of the film to me. The middle Garcia, Lolita, in a sexual panic, digs her vibrator out for a little "me" time. It's not buzzing, so she pillages the batteries from the TV's remote (um...didn't Nancy pull that little trick on Weeds?) and gets busy. The camera focuses on her face...her little moans...the satisfaction...I mean, even typing it is rather uncomfortable -- but the length of time the camera was trained on Lolita's face during this episode made me pretty icked out -- and I was watching it alone in my living room. It just seemed so dang obvious that the director had no idea how long was too long and that the audience would have very little interest in sharing the entirety of this moment with Lolita. She didn't have a clue about this -- which should have been an easy scene -- and it just got worse with the rest of the movie.

This is a tiny story. It should have been a small movie. Instead it's bloated to over 2 hours. Edited down to 85 minutes or so would've likely been just right (though I still doubt I would've liked it...just fairly sure I wouldn't have loathed it).

F

Recount (2008)

That anyone managed to put together a movie covering the 2000 election debacle in Florida that's even watchable is pretty amazing. That this movie goes beyond "watchable" and achieves a level of entertainment that I really didn't expect is a triumph. Plays like a comedy thriller - tense, shocking, and fascinating throughout.

Make no mistake, though, it's thoroughly partisan. The Democrats are played as reasonable and above-board scrappers while the Republicans are come off as cynical dirty fighters and/or idiots. Still, it's great story-telling and also pretty educational about the dozens of little decisions involved in local level voting and all of the things that can go wrong. It's a minor miracle that mishaps like this don't happen more often.

A