Dogs Bark

Far From Heaven, Too Close To Paramount - - Bless Me, Ultima (2013, USA) - - 22 November 2013

Recommended. With all that Hollywood owes New Mexico, you’d think that Carl Foreman’s very nice film, Bless Me, Ultima would have been better promoted. There is another land of true enchantment that has little to do with blue meth. The story takes place in the 40’s on the Pecos River, but Bless Me, Ultima looks more like northern New Mexico. The book, by Rudolfo Anaya, is sort of the Southwestern To Kill A Mockingbird, read in school by everyone currently under 50. Director/scripter Carl Foreman (Devil in a Blue Dress) demonstrates a surprising verisimilitude interpreting the book. My only concern is a narration that seems occasionally intrusive, robbing the story of drama. The ultimate joy, literally, is the radiantly beautiful Miriam Colon (All the Pretty Horses), pouring sixty years of (mostly TV) acting into her character. Her vision of rural New Mexico’s uniquely mystical Catholicism is spot-on and Oscar worthy.

Running With Scissors - - Blue Is The Warmest Color [La Vie d'Adèle](2013, France) - - 16 November 2013

Recommended. This movie explains how you get a lesbian love story on the screen:  include about 15-minutes of high-quality carpet munching. I think it’s testimony to the good humor of the ladies interviewed below that they enjoyed the titillation while shaking their heads over the foolishness of Blue Is The Warmest Color. After all, Adèle Exarchopoulos (Adèle) has a posterior that transcends politics. She’s also a great actor, along with winsome Léa Seydoux (Emma). And director Abdellatif Kechiche is such a . . . guy. But despite the silly lezboporn there’s still much to like about Palme d'Or-winner, Blue Is The Warmest Color, particularly the realistic depiction of adolescent homophobia and the excruciating desire that lights Ms. Exarchopoulos’s huge, sloppy, lovely face. It’s a beautiful, but over-long (three hours!) story of the confusion of first love/lust and doomed romance between social classes. A perfect film for a first date, girls!

http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/11/11/lesbians-react-to-blue-is-the-warmest-color-sex-scene/

Saving Private Property - - Captain Phillips (2013, USA) - - 10 November 2013

Strongly recommended. Captain Phillips is an excellent movie. Paul Greenglass (United 93) has managed to compose a thriller that unrepentantly thrills, yet includes enough humanity and understated politics to provide an evening of thoughtful entertainment. Back in 2009, Somali pirates botched a hijacking of the Alabama Maersk container ship with dramatic results. As the skipper, Tom Hanks gives an Oscar-worthy performance but he simply (and well) plays a variant of his Captain Miller/Jim Lovell persona. More extraordinary is former limo driver and real-life Somali refugee, Barkhad Abdi, as the extempore chief of the pirates.  After Abdi tries to blame the ravenous warlords driving him, Hanks quietly says, “I have bosses, too,” reminding him what game the pirate’s really playing . . . and who must win.  These exchanges humanize the confrontation and remind the audience that the consequences of geopolitics often reduce to a single gun aimed at an individual head.

Dick In A Box - - Buried (2010, Spain) - - 2 November 2013

Not recommended.  I haven’t actually analyzed this but would guess that most of my reviews are positive. I only watch the movies I want to see so chances are good I’ll like most of them. But every so often I get slipped a Mickey. To be fair, Buried was nominated for a swarm of Spanish Oscars, and got some critical praise. God only knows why. Perpetual lightweight, Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal), plays the buried guy. His captor - - presumed Iraqi by a ridiculously racist ‘Middle-Eastern accent’ - - tosses in a cell phone so he can persuade the US Government to pony up the ransom. I won’t identify the numerous logical inconsistencies of the screenplay since it’s the only source of amusement. The dialogue is so false as to lose any sense of identification or tension; however, I did feel buried watching this awful movie . . . by leaden writing, witless direction, and clumsy acting.