Another high wire act from Australian writer/director Sarah Watt: sweet on the surface but zeroing in with pinpoint accuracy on the bittersweet joys & sorrows of an “average” middle class family living day-to-day in a modern first world city (once again Adelaide on Australia’s southern edge). Filled with foreboding, all we can do is keep on keepin’ on.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by both me & Rich: click HERE to read our FF2 haiku. Read more about Watt’s first feature LOOK BOTH WAYS.
13.Aug.10 
Reviews: K-M 
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Click HERE to download my WomenArts review as a pdf file.
Noble failure: What starts as broad family comedy (two kids raised by Lesbians) deteriorates badly after the siblings track down the donor of the sperm used to impregnate both Moms. Excellent performances thru-out, but despite Bening’s high wire acting, her character isn’t given enough depth to hold up her end of the complex triangle.
Click HERE to read my review on WomenArts.
Click HERE to read FF2 haiku.
Qualified Recommendation by BOTH Jan & Rich.
14.Jul.10 Reviews: K-M Read more Comments (0)
Set in Jerusalem in 1947 (at the tail end of the British Mandate), The Little Traitor stars Ido Port (from Dear Mr. Waldman) as 12 year old “Proffy.” One night, failing to make it home before curfew, Proffy is stopped and questioned by a soldier named “Sergeant Dunlop” (Alfred Molina).
Proffy has lived his entire life surrounded by refugees and Holocaust survivors (including his emotionally damaged father), and he has absorbed their bone-deep fear of imminent annihilation, but he develops feelings for this gentle giant anyway. Secret meetings with Dunlop are soon discovered by Proffy’s school buddies, and their suspicions ultimately impact the entire neighborhood. Although historical circumstances drive Proffy and Dunlop apart, the film ends with a touching epilogue—a tiny, humanistic statement of hope for a beleaguered world.
The Little Traitor is based on Amos Oz’ 1995 novel Panther in the Basement, but readers of his award-winning memoir A Tale of Love and Darkness (2004) will also recognize many of his idiosyncratic characters and evocative locations. Note: Even though the film was made in Israel, the primary language is English (with some subtitled Hebrew).
Click HERE for FF2 haiku.
06.May.10 Reviews: K-M Read more Comments (0)
Click HERE to print review from a pdf file.
FF2 Haiku: LORD OF THE RINGS team (director PeterJackson plus screenwriters Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens) exquisitely adapt beloved Alice Sebold novel about the murder of a teenager by a seemingly ordinary suburban neighbor (brilliantly played by Stanley Tucci). Special note to those who have read Sebold’s novel: Please keep an open mind & let these wonderful filmmakers explore the new work they believe Susie (Saorise Ronan) needs to do in “the Inbetween” before she can enter Heaven.
Highly Recommended by Jan!
Rich likes it too.
Click HERE to read my full review on WomenArts.
14.Jan.10 Reviews: K-M Read more Comments (0)
DEAD FROM THE PAIN–Argentine satire starring Pinto as an aging bureaucratic who becomes a one day news sensation when he has his “I’m mad as Hell & I’m not going to take it anymore” moment. Quick-witted & amusing, we suspect it’s also chockfull of sly local references but universal enough to recommend in any language. Click HERE for FF2 haiku.
16.Oct.09 Reviews: K-M Read more Comments (0)
Eloquent doc about photographer Edward Burtynsky & his extraordinary compositions, showing how 21st century industrialization is changing our visual landscape. Baichwal’s camerawork is slow & steady, drawing back from the microcosm to the macrocosm to reveal the universal implications. Click HERE for FF2 haiku.
16.Oct.09 Reviews: K-M Read more Comments (0)
“The ABBA Musical” - Almost unwatcheable… except… Meryl Streep is fabulous! Altho almost 60, she plays someone ~ 40, & she blows all the youngsters off the screen, especially in tandem with Gal Pal showstoppers Baranski & Walters. Rich agrees, but these miracles weren”t enough for him. Kudos to good sports Brosnan, Firth & Skarsgard. Click HERE for FF2 haiku.
16.Oct.09 Reviews: K-M Read more Comments (0)
Aline Brosh McKenna’s first screenplay needed to put more flesh on the Brosnan character, but overall this is a giddy romp about the accomplished daughter (Moore) of a beautiful mother (Fisher) who still thinks of herself as an ugly duckling long after she’s actually become a swan. Dress rehearsal for THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA. Click HERE for FF2 haiku.
16.Oct.09 Reviews: K-M, Reviews: H-J Read more Comments (0)
Mini-Doc coming in CFIC ‘08. Not yet seen by Rich. Click HERE for FF2 Haiku
16.Oct.09 Reviews: K-M Read more Comments (0)
Well-paced, gently-didactic story about life in Depression Era America based on popular series of stories by the AMERICAN GIRLS doll company. Breslin stars as a Cincinatti preteen with ambition, empathy, & pluck. Recommended for all (girls & boys & adults too) by Jan & Jan”’’s BFF Dorthea, but Rich says: Kids only. Click HERE for FF2 haiku.
16.Oct.09 Reviews: K-M Read more Comments (0)
