The King's Speech (2010)

By now, anyone who reads this blog (all six of you) have either seen this, or have no intention of seeing it. George VI had a stammer, it was WWII, some Australian guy helped his stammer, Oscars all around! Colin Firth can produce real tears, a rarity for most male actors. They are probably tears of gratitude for landing this role, for he finally gets a chance to command the screen (he's usually the milquetoast off to the side or the loser in a love triangle). Helena Bonham-Carter comes up empty once again. Geoffrey Rush is likable as always. I was resistant going in, this is such obvious Oscar bait, and there's lots of showy and distracting camera work. But I gave in, I let myself be manipulated. Much like a visit to a chiropractor. I suspect the positive effects will wear off in a few days.

I Love You Phillip Morris (2009/2010)

Jim Carrey plays real life con man Steven Jay Russell who falls in love with fellow prisoner Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor, can you blame him?) in the directorial debuts of directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. The events are so unbelievable that if they didn't actually happen you'd cry "bullshit". Russell managed to break out of prison half a dozen times just to be with the man he loved. The absurdity level is played up of course, but there are moments that have a genuine tenderness. Both actors are committed to their characters wholeheartedly, though Carrey squanders some scenes by being a spaz. The problem is tone, really, and the gaping differences that occur when a natural actor (McGregor) meets a natural comic (Carrey). Many scenes work, some don't. Interesting, but a mixed bag.

Waiting For Superman (2010)

Documentary on the state of America's public schools from director Davis Guggenheim. The public school system, as you may have guessed, is a monstrous bureaucracy where children are statistics, not people. The Teachers Union was an entity I'd always liked, because, at least in Chicago, they were always going on strike, and that meant an unexpected and welcomed vacation. In actuality, they are a Teamster-esque brick wall insisting on jobs for life and automatic raises in their contracts. How well would you do at your job if you couldn't be fired and kept getting raises? I'd probably sit there and read Entertainment Weekly while I forced students to darn my socks and balance my checkbook (in silence, of course). The sad thing is, if you are a smart kid, and also happen to be poor, you're really fucked. There are heartbreaking scenes of parents desperately trying to get their kids out of the system and entering lotteries to gain attendance to private or charter schools. All this affirms what many of you have no doubt noticed just by looking around: people are getting more and more ignorant.

Daughters of Darkness (1971)

Chic lesbo vampire flick starring French legend Delphine Seyrig. A pair of newlyweds check into a Belle Epoque seaside hotel during off-season and find the only other guests at the hotel are a mysterious countess (Seyrig) and her timid secretary. As the couple get to know each other, the husband's shady past and sadistic tendencies start to bubble to the surface. They soon find the countess is getting quite chummy and might have something more in mind for them than polite conversation. This moves at a very slow pace, but in an intriguing way. It draws you in with it's languidness. This could have been an exploitation film (there are moments of cheese), but it has restraint, looks expensive, and relies heavily on Seyrig's considerable acting abilities and electrifying screen presence (her wardrobe in the film is delicious). Tony Scott's The Hunger (1983) owes this film plenty. It is ridiculously similar in style and content.

The Tillman Story (2010)

Documentary about the professional football player who quit the NFL to enlist, and ended up being killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan. Tillman suspected from the outset that he'd be a poster child for the war, and that's exactly what happened. Then the obfuscation perpetuated by the army brass surrounding the circumstances of his death, all to avoid bad publicity. War is hell, the army is inept, good publicity sells wars...no big revelations here. The movie is no big deal, except for his little brother's drunken appearance at his televised funeral. In front of hordes of generals and politicians, he punctures all the pomp of a military funeral in just a few sentences. One of the best eulogies.

Let Me In (2010)

American/British remake of the Swedish horror film Let The Right One In about a bullied 12-year-old boy who befriends a young girl who turns out to be a vampire. The original was quite good and, surprisingly, the remake is just as good. At times, it is a little too similar (long stretches are shot-for-shot identical to Tomas Alfredson's original) but writer-director Matt Reeves subtly plays up key moments and tones down others. It's like the experience you'd have listening to the same piece of music led by two different conductors. Kodi Smit-McPhee is perfect as the shy lead. He can cry effortlessly and, as in The Road, is called upon here to do so often. Indeed, he may be our generation's Margaret O'Brien, except more feminine. Oh, and Chloe Grace-Moretz as the vampire.

Ondine (2010)

We live in such a cynical time, that it's hard for filmmakers to get audiences to swallow a pure fairy tale. I mean no "tongue-in-cheek" stuff, fairy tale played straight. The last time a major director attempted an honest to goodness fairy tale (that I can think of) was Jacques Demy's "The Magic Donkey" (1970), and even he couldn't get it right, it seemed forced and precious. Writer-director Neil Jordan now gives it a try, and succeeds beautifully. Colin Farrell is a lonely fisherman with a critically ill daughter and an alcoholic ex-wife, who pulls in his net one day and finds a beautiful girl in it. Is she a water nymph/mermaid type thingy? Is she lying? See the movie, no one else did. This lovely film came and went, which means I'll probably have to wait another forty years for a director to have the assurance and vision to give this kind of thing a go.