August already!

The choice I find most promising is Brick Lane.
I read the novel it's based on, and found it very moving. The film adaptation seems to be well received, so this one gets my vote.

Hmmm. Maybe there's another contender that's equal: Before the Rains
also has an Indian subcontinent flavor, looks more spectacular and action oriented than the personal and domestic BL. I'd be good with either one.

The earliest BL is at 1:20 (at Regal) which I spoze is a small drawback. BTR is at Regency at 12:25.

Pas mal!

Saw Roman de Gare.
Claude Lelouch (an oldie but a goodie) puts together a combo of suspense, humor, and romance that's an odd mix but fun, very involving if not so plausible. Recommended for francophiles.

I've seen many worse weeks...

We could go British understated family drama in When Did You Last See Your Father or do the documentary thing with The Rape of Europa , either of which should suit the effete elitists among us.

Small pic, no steppes, no hoards

The Promotion seems like a a worthy effort in the small movie realm, but got such lukewarm notices I don't see how it can compete with Ghengis freakin Khan below, but that's just me.

Sweeping! epic!

In the realm of sweeping epics, Mongol appears to be both sweeping and epic. Anyone want to sweep in for an (e)pic?

June brings fare from many (three, actually) nations

The Counterfeiters (see March 26 entry below) is back. Bra Boys (below) is still here. A new to Jax festival fave is The Band's Visit.

So, there we are.

I saw Young @ Heart today. Olders' chorus sings rock and soul standards (from after their time as youth, which is kind of the interesting part) and some new material e.g. Coldplay numbers. I choose not to think about my being closer in age to hoary choristers than to members of Coldplay; movie actually very engaging, not esp icky.

May 18 possibilities

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Trying again for May 11

Grrrr. Blogger didn't save my post before.

OK, we got the aforementioned In Bruges see entry below. The new entries are (very well received at festivals and in reviews) The Visitor

Then there's the mixed-reception arty reverie My Blueberry Nights.

Any interest?

Choices getting whittled down...

It looks as though the list of eligibles is getting thinner. I saw Snow Angels; it's one of those movies whose lengthy review would turn into a class assignment centering on the Kate Beckinsdale character's motivations, so I'll refrain. Definitely a sad movie, but not unrelievedly grim, and I found it emotionally involving.

As to what's left, we've still got In Bruges, Shine a Light, and Run, Fat Boy, Run, links for all below in earlier blog entries. I'll check again tomorrow to see if anything else has turned up.

Smart People well received

Exquisite Snob George G. of Orange Park had this to say about Smart People:

I really liked it. It was like Squid and the Whale. Quaid looked like he was
channeling Jack Nicholson sometimes, but it was good.

April 20, approaching nirvana for Jax anyhow

Not only are the aforementioned (please page down cuz I'm too lazy to make an extra link!) Run, Fat Boy Run and Persepolis still around or back, but we also have Snow Angels (depressing doings in a small New England town; I thought the trailer looked pretty interesting, depressing or no)

There's quirky brit/continential hit man comedy In Bruges not to mention heavily promoted Smart People, which reviewers think is either semi-fabulous or highly forgettable. Also presented for patronage or disdain is period noirish dramedy Married Life
and...men over sixty cavorting around in tiny skinny stage trousers... Rolling Stones performance film Shine a Light.

March goes out like a lamb? A lion? An extinct carnivorous marsupial?

Hard to say, but it does look as if there are a couple of interesting movie choices.

There's The Counterfeiters,  a well received Austrian movie about dark times in the mid-twentieth century.

In less grim vein, we have Run, Fat Boy, Run which is meeting with a mixed reception.

For There WIll Be Blood fans...

SNL's take on Daniel Planview and the drinking of milkshakes.

March comes in like a lion!

From the director of Eternal Sunshine, who is also auteur of The Science of Sleep, we get an auteur outing, Be Kind, Rewind.

Reviewer sentiment is v mixed on Charlie Bartlett but it looks kind of fun.

This brings us to my personal choice, Persepolis, which is loved by pretty much all critics It's only at Regency, which is kind of a neutral factor for me.

Actually, I guess I have two personal choices, seeing as how The Diving Bell and the Butterfly has finally showed up right here in River City.

Big screen choice for second weekend in Feb

Gotta be Steep, docu about extreme skiing. At Regal.

There Will Be Blood has spawned a meme, or at least

a catchphrase.

Seems as tho "I will drink your milkshake" has caught the popular imagination in a big way!

Won't try for a full post mortem on I'm Not There

except to say that since so many screenplays have been radically slicing and splicing timelines and point of view, how could they not try persona?

I thought the real show stealer was "Woody." Here's a youtube interview with the actor He's not as adobable cuz he's a full blown teen instead of being poised (gracefully!) on the cusp between childhood and adolescence as in the movie, but he's still got the charisma thing going on.

Many who heart it, a few who hate it,

but it seems like the obvious choice as an actual attempt to do something different, which also sounds pretty interesting and accessible. I'm talking bout I'm Not There.

As of today, looks as if it's just at Regency but I'll check again tomorrow.

Reactions?

There was blood! It was awesome!

The music score was really memorable, but it turns out that even tho critics loved it, it was ineligible for Oscar consideration cuz the proportion of outside music (nothing shady, nothing unattributed, just in there) was over the official percentage criterion.

Alas! But soundtrack is selling well.

There Will Be Blood!

I'm obsessed with seeing this. Not sure why, but I don't think I'm leading others astray. It's even in Orange Park, not that I'm particularly advocating taking things in that direction.

Choices for 1-20

The Rotten Tomatoes showclock seems like the best thing since sliced bread if you don't count ipods and antilock brakes and bagged salads and various other innovations I enjoy. Anyhow it's good! Every theater and critical concensus right there.

I've already seen The Savages, Into the WIld, and Atonement, all v.g., as well as some of the bigger releases. Seems to me this week comes down to Juno, No Country for Old Men, The Orphanage, and The Kite Runner, altho Cloverfield is a dark horse. I'm willing to see Juno, but if I had my personal druthers I'd just wait for the DVD cuz I've seen so many clips that I feel as if I've already had the experience, plus seems like this year's Little Miss Sunshine, i.e. indie flick that gets so much publicity that seeing it is anticlimactic. Also, others on the list beg more for the big screen, and this movie clearly does not need support of counter box office pretentious elitists like us cuz it's a huge box office hit. But that's just me.

It turns out Margot at the Wedding is back, but...

I saw it Thursday. I thought it was better than reviews, at least as good as The Squid and the Whale. Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh were v.g. and I even liked Jack Black's performance, which is saying a lot since he usually makes me want to go onto the screen in the manner of The Purple Rose of Cairo and annihilate him, and I'm not a violent person.

Late Breaking news!

The Orphanage, link to reviews at the right, has come to Jax. It will probably be around more than one week, but definitely seems like a big screen experience, and it's foreign and kinda arty so fits our criteria.

OK, how bout the second Sunday...

I've already seen Charlie Wilson's War and Atonement which are both big budget flicks with major backing anyhow, altho aimed at the upper bourgeoisie more than the lumpenproles. Both very good, actually, esp. recommend Atonement as a big screen experience.

Anyhow, The Kite Runner will join Juno in Jax the coming weekend. Secondary choice Walk Hard is still around; that's kind of indie-ish.

I suspect Margot at the Wedding is going away Friday, and since I have some kind of weird fixation with seeing it on the big screen, I'm going to try for that tomorrow, i.e. Thursday.

The two movies all the critics were talking about in December, The Savages and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, may NEVER get to Jax, alack. I saw The Savages in NYC, good but not transcendently fabulous, basically above-average dysfunctional family fare.

FIrst Sunday of 2008!

A one page view of all the movies, how bout that!

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/showtimes/theaters.php?zipcode=32246&x=16&y=6&date=20080106

My votes are for Juno, which of course has caught on and looks kind of like an indie phenom, and secondarily, Margot at the Wedding, by The Squid and the Whale guy. I think the reason I want to see it despite iffy reviews is just that the trailer got pounded into my head so long, and then it came out but not to Jax, etc. Needless to say, I can see it on my own if it's not a group choice. What say you? Who's in town?