nomadreader

The backstory: Paul Giamatti won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy for his role in Barney's Version , a film based on the novel by Mordecai Richler . The basics: The film begins in Montreal in modern time with Barney (Paul Giamatti) appearing as a rather miserable alcoholic. It then jumps back to 1974 in Rome, Italy, where Barney is getting ready to get married because he's gotten Clara (Rachelle Lefevre) pregnant. When she delivers the still-born child, it's clear the baby isn't his. Quickly, wife #2 (Minnie Driver) enters. At their wedding reception, Barney meets Miriam (the divine Rosumind Pike) and falls in love. My thoughts: The film jumps around in time over thirty-five years (it's also nominated for the Oscar for Best Makeup; it won't win because it's so subtly done, but it was genius). For the most part, it works, but there were times the narrative force wasn't strong enough to handle the audience already knowing the ending. There wer...

The backstory: Nominated for Best Original Screenplay at this year's Oscars, as well as two BAFTAs: Outstanding British film and Best Supporting Actress, Lesley Manville (it won neither.) The basics: Another Year  is the story of Tom and Gerri, a late middle-aged couple who remain happily married. Despite their happiness, no one else around them seems to share it. Their son Joe is the closest to happiness at the beginning of the film, but he longs for a relationship. In the unhappy camp are Mary, a co-worker of Gerri's, and Ken, an old friend of Joe's, both of whom drink to excess whenever they're on screen. My thoughts: The film is broken into four seasons in a seemingly typical year of Tom and Gerri's life. The first three seasons seem like vignettes. The script is dynamic, the characters are well-developed, and the acting is superb. There's little to no plot to speak of, but the film moves along at a lovely pace. I was riveted by the performances. Lesl...

The backstory: Michelle Williams is nominated for an Oscar (Best Actress) and an Independent Spirit Award (Best Actress). Both she and Ryan Gosling were nominated for Golden Globes as well (Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively.) The basics: Blue Valentine is the story of Cindy and Dean. It begins in present time, when their marriage is quite strained. Then the film jumps between the first days of their relationship and the present. My thoughts: I tend to be drawn to films (and novels) about relationships and marriage. I also tend to favor films nominated for acting awards (especially Best Actress) over films nominated for Best Picture. Blue Valentine , it seems, was tailor-made for me, and I loved every minute. Blue Valentine isn't a glamorous tale; it's incredibly honest and real. Derek Cianfrance takes the viewer inside a relationship and exposes the good, the bad and the moments that shift the balance.   The film was edited with restraint: early scenes beca...

The backstory:   Made in Dagenham  is nominated for three BAFTA Awards: Outstanding British Film of the Year; Best Supporting Actress, Miranda Richardson; and Best Costume Design. The basics:  Made in Dagenham  is the story of the striking female machinists at the Ford factory in Dagenham, England in 1968. My thoughts: I'm a huge fan of films about both women's rights and social justice, and I admit to tearing up during the trailer for this film. Made in Dagenham  delivers exactly what it promises: an inspiring story, intelligent laughs, period fashion and accents that are difficult to understand at times. The story of these women is indeed extraordinary, but the film never veered over the top. It was true to its time and honestly portrayed the distinctions between doing what's easy and being an agent of change. Sally Hawkins is dynamite as the strike's unlikely leader, Rita. I give credit to her and Nigel Cole, the film's director, for honestly portrayin...

The backstory: Already nominated for multiple Golden Globes, Screen Actor's Guild, Critic's Choice Award and Independent Spirit Awards, I was eager to see The King's Speech  when it came out on Christmas. It went on to win 4 Academy Awards, including Best Picture at the 83rd Oscars . The basics: Colin Firth plays King George VI of Britain as he tries to stop stuttering to lead England. My thoughts: With no disrespect to Jeff Bridges, I think Colin Firth should have won the Best Actor Oscar last year for his performance in A Single Man . I think he finally will win Best Actor this year for his amazing performance in The King's Speech . I was mesmerized by his performance. Geoffrey Rush was similarly amazing, and the scenes with the two of them were magnificent. The screenplay was well-written. It captured enough background to place the film in context, but it never let the story get bogged down with its history. I laughed, I cried, and I joined the rest of the audien...

Welcome back to my Monday morning recap of my no-longer-Friday-night date with myself. I've been working Friday nights for the past few months, and I've missed both enjoying a movie and dinner and recapping them. I've decided to keep this feature on Monday morning, and I hope to find time each week to squeeze in a film at my favorite independent movie theater in Albany and my favorite restaurant, New World Bistro Bar. The backstory: I'm a huge fan of Angelina Jolie, and I've been eager to see Salt  ever since Tom Cruise dropped out and Angelina took over his role. I'm thrilled the day has come when gender-blind casting of a summer adventure film can exist. To further entice me, part of the film was shot right here in Albany last summer. Who knew our I-787 interchange closely resembles D.C.'s? It was fun to see some of our local landmarks in the trailer. The basics: Evelyn Salt is a CIA agent accused of being part of a brilliantly cool (for a fiction...

The backstory: City Island  won the Audience Award at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, and it has a wonderful cast. It's also refreshing to see an independent comedy, as so many films deal with more serious subject matters. The basics: The Rizzo family is full of secrets. Everyone has one. Some are bigger than others, but the audience is in on all of them. Watch the trailer here . My thoughts: I really wanted to like City Island . The acting was superb. The idea of the film was wonderful. The cascade of secrets, of course, all come out in one, long, awkward, unfunny scene. The film is certainly an homage to and a twist on a tragedy, but it ends up falling short of its aim despite the great acting. The problem for me is silly storylines are given as much dramatic heft as the serious ones. The juxtaposition of exposing these secrets at the same time made them all pale in comparison. As the audience knew all of the secrets from early in the film, by the time the resolution came, ...

The backstory: As soon as I saw the trailer, I wanted to see this movie. The basics: The documentary cameras follow the four babies through the early stages of development. It's an insight into life and raising children in San Francisco; Tokyo; Opuwo, Namibia; and Bayanchandmani, Mongolia. My thoughts: Babies  was quite a bit like spending time with actual babies. It was sometimes boring and monotonous, but then a baby would do something so adorable or hilarious it made it all worthwhile. There was no narrative arc, and some scenes lasted longer than others. I found myself enjoying the Namibian baby the least because I know so little about their culture. There are no subtitles for the stories, so I was left lost (like a baby) with the other languages. I was hoping for more insight into the other cultures. I'm fascinated by differing gender roles and social customs around the world, and while I could infer some of these, I would have loved a little explanation. There ...

The backstory: While chick flicks aren't normally my first choice of films, I thought the trailer for this film was fantastic. Seriously, I cried all of the four times I saw it. It's set in Verona, a city I happen to love, and it stars Amanda Seyfried, whom I have adored since Mamma Mia!   The basics: The trailer is pretty awesome in its own right, but Amanda Seyfried plays Sophie, a fact-checker for The New Yorker  who dreams of writing for it instead. She's engaged to Victor, played by Gael Garcia Bernal, a restaurateur who doesn't really prioritize their relationship. The two set off on a pre-honeymoon a few weeks before their wedding to Verona. Victor is more interested in meeting vendors and going to a wine auction than spending time with the delightful Sophie, who soon makes friends with the women who answer the letters to Juliet.  Sophie happens to find a very, very old letter and writes back. My thoughts: Most of this film is cute and fun to watch...

The backstory: Admittedly, I had not heard of Vincere  when it opened at my favorite independent movie theater , but I try to see almost every film showing there. The basics: Vincere  is the story of Ida Dalser, who was Mussolini's little known first wife and the mother of his child. It's in Italian with English subtitles. Overall: I'll be honest. Vincere  is beautiful, moving and absolutely depressing. If it weren't a true story, I would hate the writer and director for telling such a bleak story. I've seen several films about Mussolini, but this one unabashedly take a look at both him as a leader and a human being. He denied his marriage to Ida and denied being the father of their child. Ida was seen as desperate, crazy and frightening to the government. Her child was taken from her, and she was placed in a mental institution. The verdict:  See it, but be prepared to be depressed.  Rating: 5 stars Length: 128 minutes Release date: It's still playin...

Welcome to my Monday morning recap of my fabulous Friday night date with myself. This week I'm back to my usual location: the Spectrum 8 Theatres and New World Bistro Bar. The back story: As someone who grew up on the c'singles (cassette singles) of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, I was immediately interested in learning about her early years in rock and roll with the all-girl rock band, The Runaways. Feminism and music? Yes, please. Also, after being pleasantly surprised with how good Kristen Stewart was in Twilight ( my review ), playing a character I disliked in the novel, I was eager to see her act again. The basics: Although it was billed largely as a Joan Jett biopic, it's more of a Cherie Curry biopic. Cherie was the lead singer of The Runaways, and the script was based on her memoir Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway . The film focuses on Jett and Curry, and the band's other three members are barely included.  The verdict: Floria Sigismondi managed...

Welcome to my Monday morning recap of my fabulous Friday night date with myself. I was looking forward to seeing Chloe , even though I didn't know much about it, because I adore Julianne Moore, really like Liam Neeson and have somewhat recently become a fan of Amanda Seyfried. I'm also a big fan of the director, Atom Egoyan. Here's Chloe  in a nutshell: if you know nothing going in, it's a gripping, intriguing psychological and sexual thriller. Apparently if you watched the trailer, you know the film's climax, and I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it. The joy of this film was its twisted journey. The journey isn't amazing enough to shine through spoilers. Here are the barebones details that won't spoil the film's fun for you: Liam Neeson, a music professor, and Julianne Moore, a gynecologist, are somewhat happily married, but she suspects him of cheating. She hires Amanda Seyfriend (Chloe) to seduce Liam Neeson to see if he would fall for it. ...

Welcome to my Monday morning recap of my fabulous Friday night. After journeying to the suburbs for Alice in Wonderland last week, it was wonderful to be back in the neighborhood to enjoy an independent movie at the Spectrum and dinner at my favorite Albany restaurant, New World Bistro Bar . The Movie: I've been eager to see The Last Station for months, but it only opened in Albany a few weeks ago. The film was nominated for numerous awards, including Best Picture at the IFC Independent Spirit Awards. Helen Mirren was nominated for Best Actress and Christopher Plummer was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Neither won, but seeing two powerhouse performances share so much screen time was a dream. Both displayed raw emotions beautifully. James McAvoy also shined.  Without giving away too much, the film is based on a novel by Jay Parini and focuses on the last year of Tolstoy's life. Tolstoy is a major celebrity in Russia, and the Tolstoyan Movement has become q...

Welcome to my Monday morning recap of my Friday night adventures. Mr. Nomadreader and I had the pleasure of seeing the Oscar nominated short films, both animated and live action. The theater broke them up into two different sessions, which really was a blessing. The shorts are currently showing at selected local theaters, but they're also available on demand in some areas and through iTunes. More information is on the Oscar shorts Web site . The Live Action Shorts: (Links are to the film's official sites or imdb.) Kavi , a film set in India about modern day slavery. It was bleak, depressing and powerful. The director, Gregg Helvey is currently looking for financing to make it into a full-length feature film. The New Tenants , a dark, violent, satirical gem. I actually squealed when Vincnet D'Onofrio unexpectedly appeared on screen. It's crazy, and it's lovely if you can stomach violent dark humor. Miracle Fish , an Australian film about a charming 8-year-old ...

  A Single Man is one of many films more deserving of a Best Picture nomination than The Blind Side or Avatar . It's the first film by Tom Ford (yes, the fashion designed Tom Ford). It stars Colin Firth, who is rightly nominated for an Oscar and won a BAFTA for his role. The film is absolutely riveting. Colin Firth is phenomenal, and if I were voting for the Academy Awards, I would pick him over Jeff Bridge. Yes, I adored Crazy Heart and Jeff Bridges' performance; that's how good Colin Firth was. Colin Firth is a British English professor living in L.A. in the 1960's. His lover died recently, but he is present in flashbacks. Julianne Moore stars as Firth's best friend, who also emigrated from England. She's a delightful alcoholic with her own problems. As a director, Tom Ford shows immense promise, even if it felt he tried to hard visually at certain times. There were a few overly long extreme close-ups that did not add much to the scene. He was clearl...

I saw The Messenger several weeks ago, and my initial reaction was strong, both emotionally and intellectually. To attempt to do this movie justice, I wanted to wait to fully compose my thoughts about it's brilliance. It's no secret I adored An Education ( here's my review of it ), and I almost like The Messenger as much.  The Messenger is the story of Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery, played by Ben Foster, a wounded soldier who has returned to the base and is placed on the notification team until the time of his discharge. Colonol Dorsett, played by Woody Harrelson in his best performance to date, shows him the ropes. The two are an unlikely duo, and despite both being combat veterans (Dorsett in Desert Storm), this assignment provides a very different stress. The two soldiers are on call every hour of every day. When a soldier dies, they race to notify the family before they hear about their love one's death somewhere else. Given their unique jobs, they spend ...

Young Victoria  is the story of Queen Victoria's early years. Emily Blunt stars as Queen Victoria, and she was nominated for quite a few Best Actress awards, most notably, the Golden Globe. The film begins a year before Victoria becomes Queen and continues through the first few years of her reign. I was not terribly familiar with Queen Victoria's early life, and I found the film fascinating. Emily Blunt shines as Victoria. She plays her with a beautiful mix of energy, youthfulness, spunk and properness. This Victoria is caring, idealistic and eager. Part of the story focuses on Victoria's desire for love and uneasiness about finding a partner who will love her for her rather her throne. Through a modern lens, it's both a beautiful and frightening love story. It's a quick courtship, and it works for them, but the modern skeptic in me cannot imagine a courtship of mostly letters, especially when you're the Queen of England and have so much to protect. I...