Gran Torino

At this point in his career, when Clint Eastwood stars in and directs a film, all bets are off. Things that would be old-school and sentimental in other hands morph into something different when he is involved. If Tina Turner's motto is that she doesn't do anything nice and easy, Eastwood's would be that the ordinary is just not his style. Which brings us to "Gran Torino"...Read Kenneth Turan's full review of Gran Torino at the LA Times.

Synopsis of "Gran Torino"
Walt Kowalski is an iron-willed veteran living in a changing world, who is forced by his immigrant neighbors to confront his own long-held prejudices.

Cast: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Christopher Carley, Brian Haley
Director: Clint Eastwood
Genres: Psychological Drama, Drama, Urban Drama

Opened December 12, 2008 Runtime:1 hr. 56 min.

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Che

A critics' choice award for Che from a reviewer for the LA Times that I haven't noticed before, Sheri Linden.

The predominantly Spanish-language feature is about as far from Soderbergh's fizzy celeb-o-rama "Ocean's Eleven" and its sequels as the filmmaker could get (short of his star-free experiments such as 2005's "Bubble.") As an exploration of the rigors of armed struggle, "Che" favors action over psychology. It makes no attempt to explain the soul of a revolutionary by connecting a series of dramatic dots. Neither does it indulge in romance, however inextricably linked that may be to its protagonist...

Review of "Che" by Sheri Linden at the LA Times

Synopsis of "Che"
Ernesto "Che'' Guevara (Benicio Del Toro) transforms from an intellectual, asthmatic doctor to one of Latin America's most legendary revolutionaries. In the years before his famous 1964 visit to the United Nations, Che joins forces with Cuban exile Fidel Castro (Demián Bichir) and ignites a revolution that eventually brings an end to the Batista regime in Cuba.

Seven years after his triumph in Cuba, Che winds up in Bolivia, where he tries to ignite the same revolutionary fires as before. But, with the Bolivian army bolstered by CIA support, Che faces one defeat after another, finally meeting his end in the village of La Higuera.

Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Javier Bardem, Santiago Cabrera, Julia Ormond, Franka Potente, Edgar Ramirez, Demián Bichir
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Genres: Documentary, Drama

Opens January 9, 2009

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Waltz With Bashir

L.A. Times movie critic Kenneth Turan gives "Waltz with Bashir" a critics' choice award:

"Waltz With Bashir" is one of Israel's first animated features, and it's going to be a hard act to follow. Provocative, hallucinatory, incendiary, this devastating animated documentary is unlike any Israeli film you've seen. More than that, in its seamless mixing of the real and the surreal, the personal and the political, animation and live action, it's unlike any film you've seen, period.

"Waltz with Bashir" review by Kenneth Turan

Synopsis of "Waltz with Bashir"
One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there's a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can't remember a thing anymore about that period of his life. Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images.
*Note: Film is presented in Hebrew with English subtitles.

Opened December 25, 2008 Runtime:1 hr. 27 min.
Cast: Ari Folman, Ori Sivan, Roni Dayag, Shmuel Frenkel, Ron Ben Yisahi, Dror Harazi, Boaz Rein Buskila, Carmi Cna'an
Director: Ari Folman
Genres: Avant-garde / Experimental, History, Military & War, Tragedies & Catastrophes

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Ballast

In awarding "Ballast" an LA Times "critics' award", Kenneth Turan writes:

"Ballast" has the heft and substance its name implies. A double prize winner at Sundance, this austere, rigorous film has a sense of place, a feeling for reality so compelling it makes us feel like we're living it, not just watching on a screen. Read Turan's review of Ballast

Synopsis of "Ballast"
The static living arrangement between three lonely souls living in a rural Mississippi Delta township is suddenly shaken up due to a tragic suicide in this intimate family drama from first-time writer/director Lance Hammer. Single mother Marley was barely getting by when her 12-year-old son James fell into a dangerous cycle of drugs and violence. Desperate to escape her current surroundings and save her son from becoming another statistic, Marley seeks safe harbor at a home on the property of Lawrence -- a man with whom she has been locked into a bitter feud ever since the birth of her son. Brought together by circumstance and left with little choice but to work through their hardships, Marley, James, and Lawrence do their best to move beyond the grief that has befallen them, and transform tragedy into the foundation for a new and hopeful future. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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Kenneth Turan's Top 10 Movies of 2008

Top 10 of 2008 - Los Angeles Times

Kenneth Turan published his picks for the Top 10 Movies of 2008 in today's LA Times. Turan typcially just lists his picks alphabetically, but this year gives "Slumdog Millionaire" the #1 slot, and then lists the rest alphabetically.

In giving Slumdog Millionaire the clear #1 position, Turan writes

I'm naming it No. 1 because of the effect it had on me as well as almost everyone I've talked to. Watching it was like seeing an old friend long presumed dead suddenly walking around town as healthy as you please. "Slumdog" is a modern version of an old-fashioned Hollywood-style audience picture, an updated romantic melodrama whose outlines the Warner brothers themselves would have embraced. If you think this kind of thing is easy to do, you haven't been going to the movies lately.

The rest of Turan's list for 2008, with some pairings that are explained in his piece:

• "A Christmas Tale" and "The Class"
• "Frost/Nixon"
• "Frozen River" and "Ballast"
• "Gomorrah" and "Happy Go Lucky"
• "Rachel Getting Married"
• Four Sundance documentaries:"Man on Wire", "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired", "Stranded", and "Trouble the Water"
• "Tell No One"
• "Wall-E"
• "Waltz With Bashir"
  
  Read Turan's full write-up or his picks for top films of 2008

Frost/Nixon

In giving Frost/Nixon a Critics' Choice, Kenneth Turan writes in today's LA Times:

Ron Howard has never been what you would call a critic’s favorite, but “Roost/Nixon” is changing that. Using his experience, his professionalism and his skills, the director successfully has opened up the Peter Morgan play without pushing anything too hard, and he’s made the most of the stars of that theatrical original, Michael Sheen and Tony Award winner, Frank Langella. The result is involving, engrossing cinema, more thrilling, in fact, than “The Da Vinci Code” filmmaking of a type rarely seen anymore and sorely missed. Read Kenneth Turan's review of "Frost Nixon" at the LA Times

Synopsis Frost/Nixon
In 1977, three years after the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency, Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) selects British TV personality David Frost (Michael Sheen) to conduct a one-on-one, exclusive interview. Though Nixon believes it will be easy to snowball Frost, and Frost's own team doubts their boss can stand up to the former president, what actually unfolds is an unexpectedly candid and revealing interview before the court of public opinion.

Opened December 5, 2008 Runtime:2 hr. 2 min. R some language
Cast: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Rebecca Hall, Toby Jones, Matthew MacFadyen, Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell
Director: Ron Howard
Genres: Docudrama, Political Drama, Drama

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