Foreign films

I was talking to someone last night about the film Maria Full of Grace. It features the best actress nominee Catalina Sandino Moreno and is about a young woman in Colombia. It is in Spanish with subtitles. I don't want to give away what it is about, but I encourage you to see it on my recommendation. I was fascinated by what was depicted in the film about life in Colombia, and later in the U.S.

I know subtitles scare off some people, but I have rarely seen a subtitled film from any country that did not fascinate me and illuminate something about another culture for me. What are your favorite foreign films?

Super Size Me!

One of the nominated documentary features this year was Super Size Me. It documents the filmmaker's one month gig of gorging on McDonald's food, and his subsequent ill health from eating all that fat and sugar.

Ironically, the filmmaker, Morgan Spurlock, is engaged to a vegan chef. I could be a vegan and live quite happily, as long as I had a personal chef in the house to prepare the food for me! But getting back to the film, it is really very well done, and I learned alot about the state of nutrition in our schools, and what all those lab tests at the doctor's mean.

Austin Powers and Dr. Evil

Austin Powers in Goldmember was on TBS tonight, so I tuned in. I had not seen it since it first came out in theaters almost two years ago. My opinion is that the first two Austin Powers movies are the best ones of the three. True, Goldmember has some fun cameo appearances and an interesting twist at the end, but the first two I think are just funnier.

And to Marianne, if you watch An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle over and over again, I would say you are a romantic at heart.

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Sue

A movie to rent

Last night I noticed that the movie Dave was being shown on TV. I remembered how much I enjoyed this film when it first came out. It stars Kevin Kline as the man who bears an uncanny likeness to the President of the U.S., who then "fills in" for him, and Sigourney Weaver, as the wife of the real President who has become seriously ill. It always leaves me thinking, "Why can't our presidents be more like Dave?"

If you're looking for a good, lighthearted movie to rent, put this one on your list. Even if you've seen it already. Which leads to my question to you, "What movies do you watch again and again?"

Adapted Screenplay

I like to try to see as many of the nominees for best screenplay as I can before the awards. This year I looked to rent a video called Before Sunset. When I read the description of the film, I noticed it was a sequel to a film made around nine years ago called Before Sunrise. So of course I rented both of them.

What a treat! These two films break the rules about writing a screenplay. They are 99% about two characters, and most of it is dialogue, but what rich dialogue! I highly recommend these two romances. It is understandable why Before Sunset was nominated for an award. Plus they take place in Vienna, and the second one in Paris, so the background is very intriguing too.

The Day After the Awards

Mixed feelings on the results-I really didn't think Million Dollar Baby would win everything it did. It was a little movie with an important message, but nothing much when compared with the complexity of the other films in the Best Picture category.

And  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for best original screenplay? I have a phrase that describes works like that one: labored creativity. It's as if the writer said, "Let's see just how clever and wierd we can be, and try to make a point in the film while we go along." Charlie Kaufman should have won for Adaptation when he was nominated; it was vastly better than this mess.

Chris Rock? He was good. Sean Penn should just lighten up.

Academy Awards Picks

I'll be glued to the TV tomorrow night watching the Academy Awards and not taking calls.

Here are my picks if I were the one voting (I have seen all the nominees for Best Picture and Best Actor).

Best Picture:  Ray

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, The Aviator

Best Actor: Jamie Foxx, Ray

Best Actress: Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby

Best Supporting Actor: Alan Alda, The Aviator

Best Supporting Actress: Sophie Okonedo, Hotel Rwanda

Screenplay (Original): The Aviator John Logan

Screenplay (Adaptation): Sideways Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor

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