This 1953 classic by Yasujiro Ozu (Floating Weeds) is a masterpiece of elegant, artistic, and human filmmaking.
All in Drama
Yasujiro Ozu's EARLY SUMMER
In this Japanese film from 1951, 28-year-old Noriko (played by Setsuko Hara, who also appeared in Ozu’s Tokyo Story) lives with her three-generation family. She helps support them with the wages she earns in her downtown Tokyo clerical office job. Her family decides that she is getting along in years and needs to get married. The wheels of an arranged marriage start turning. This leads to complications.
HEAVEN is an almost leisurely emotional odyssey of two seemingly dissimilar people — one a murderer, the other a young police officer — that evolves into a meditation on the relationship between morality and … gorgeous aerial photography?
Vidhu Vinod Chopra's “MISSION KASHMIR”
I rented this film because I was reading a book (Maximum City) by one of the screenwriters (Suketu Mehta) and because, let’s face it, I crave a Bollywood fix from time to time. I was not disappointed. This is now one of my favorites.
The Upside of Anger
My wife is always pestering me to rent movies SHE will like, so I used the Netflix "recommendation" feature and found "Upside of Anger." A wise choice.
Oliver Stone's “ALEXANDER” (Director's Cut)
Contrary to popular opinion, it IS possible to find positive reviews of this movie onlne.
William Wellman's “ISLAND IN THE SKY” and “THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY”
These two long-out-of-circulation movies present a version of John Wayne to the public that we have all but forgotten: the strong silent type who doesn’t go around smashing people with fists or blasting them with a gun. Instead he exerts his authority through quiet determination and professionalism.
Jasmin Dizdar's “BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE”
This movie is filled with angry, argumentative, strange, cruel, and just plain mean characters. Ultimately, it is profoundly humane.
Mike Leigh’s “Vera Drake”
One depressing thing about this movie is what it points out about "developed" Western societies: there are two levels of access to medical services, one for the rich, and one for the poor.
Thoroughly undistinguished music aside, Yuva is an engrossing melodrama that combines politics with brutality, intellectualism, social activism, soap opera, and young love.
Sue Brooks’ “Japanese Story”
Toni Colette (About a Boy) shines in this fishes-out-of water story.
Ray
I remember a couple of years ago Diana Krall came to the DC area, headlining for Ray Charles. I didn't go to the concert, I was only interested in Krall. Paying so much to see what I considered to be a "vintage" act just didn't seem like a good idea.
The Passion of Joan of Arc
This 1928 silent film is emotionally wrenching. We follow a fictionalized account of the “trial” of Joan of Arc by an English-controlled religious court. The “trial” spans a day leading up to her being burned at the stake.
Shohei Imamura's DR. AKAGI
In the closing days of World War II, family doctor Akagi runs (literally) from patient to patient in a small Japanese seaside village and discovers an alarming increase in hepatitis among his increasingly war-weary patients. He seeks a cure but the government is more interested in preparing for The Final Battle as the war draws inevitably to a close. He enlists the support of a diverse collection of friends including a morphine addicted surgeon, a hedonistic monk, and a young recovering prostitute who inevitably falls in love with him.
Mani Ratnam's DIL SE
First I popped in the DVD and selected the “play all songs” options. Wow. I have never seen a song-and-dance production number like the one that takes place on the top of the moving train (“Chaiyya Chaiyya”). My daughter wondered, “How many people died making this?” The rest of the musical numbers are quite interesting, a mix of romance and action, including one sequence with plentiful fire and explosions.
Nicolás Echevarría's CABEZA DE VACA
This movie is a good experience if you have any interest at all in early exploration of the Americas by the Spanish. I watched it spellbound and, despite some serious drawbacks, I've decided to watch it again.