Quartet of Wild Angels

     Today we cover a bi-sexual three way romance, another bi-sexual three way romance, and a tale about an elderly foursome.  Always trying to keep you on your toes here at TheMovieFrog.  Age before beauty...

  Quartet - This film was the directorial debut of acting legend Dustin Hoffman.  While it is not the most deeply affecting film you are likely to see this year, nor the most imaginatively rendered, it is a solid ensemble performance piece.  Often when actors are transitioning into the role of director, the aspect of the job that comes most naturally is motivating and guiding other actors.  Such would certainly seem to be the case here.  To Mr. Hoffman's credit, he chose a script that lent to great performances.  Academy winning writer Ronald Harwood (who adapted from his own stage play) has certainly written more ambitious scripts (The Pianist, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), yet Quartet does an excellent job of providing interesting character frameworks for the actors to build upon.
     The film really is an actor's showcase first and foremost.  Although all four of the primary actors do extraordinary work, bringing well rounded characters to life, Tom Courtenay is probably the least memorable.  I do not think we can hold it against him too much, though, as every comedic ensemble must have a "straight man", and Reginald is the (relatively) reasonable member of the title group.  He is a bit curmudgeonly, but once men round a certain age that passes for suave.  Billy Connolly is his polar opposite and best friend as the outlandish and delightfully cheeky scoundrel Wilf.  The "oafish clown whose external nature masks a true self that is calm and wise" persona has certainly been done numerous times before, but Connolly brings real charm and sincerity to the role, embellishing a slightly tired character "type" with genuine humanity.
     The ladies REALLY steal this show, however.  Pauline Collins plays Cissy, a delightfully daft alto who appears to be in the early stages of dementia.  What she lacks in reliable cognitive function, she more than makes up for in radiant goodness.  It is impossible not to love Cissy, even as you laugh at her slow ruination, then hate yourself just a little for doing so.  Ms. Collins never treats Cissy as a joke, and the effects of this choice enhance both the character's comedy and pathos in equal measure.  Then, of course, there is the truly incomparable Maggie Smith. No one plays the crusty old Brit with a heart of gold quite like Smith, and that is exactly the sort of role that Jean, the film's true diva, qualifies as in spades.  While it's not exactly new territory for the veteran actress, it is terrain she travels in style.
      In many ways, we've seen the story of Quartet before.  It is essentially Cocoon without the fountain of youth.  However, we have rarely seen this tale told with such a consistently high quality of acting talent involved, and this keeps the film well worth paying attention to.  I wouldn't say that Hoffman has knocked it out of the park with his directorial debut, but he hits a solid double...4 out of 5 stars.

  Angels of Sex - As I mentioned before, this film and Young and Wild are very similar in terms of both story line and thematic center.  Both films involve a central character caught in a love triangle in which they have fallen for two people, one of each sex.  As such, both films delve wholeheartedly into questions of gender identity, sexual orientation, and society's relative acceptance of the bisexual.  I have to admit that I preferred Angels of Sex, but this could be because I find it more relevant to my own life experience, having gone through a phase of my life when I was a guy sexually involved with both genders.
     You also can't argue with the power of eye candy, and all three of the leads in this story are definitely pretty to look at.  Astrid  Berges-Frisbey plays Carla, who starts out as the woman wronged when her boyfriend gets a boyfriend of his own. She previously crossed over into English language films in Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides.  Lorenc Gonzalez plays Bruno, the boyfriend with the wandering eye and Kinsey scale score. His previous acting experience has mostly been on Spanish language television.   Both of these actors give fine performances, but it is Alvaro Cervantes (who may be recognizable to English speaking viewers from the feature Hanna) in the role of the tempter Rai, who steals the show for me.  Of course, as the tempter Rai, he is meant to steal everything, but he does so remarkably well.
     I won't say that Angels of Sex is a revolutionary film or that it revisits its story's ideas with a lot of original insight.  I WILL say that it was entertaining, and featured a believable and palpable chemistry among the cast's central trio.  It also managed to mislead me at the end, faking me out a bit.  As many movies as I watch, that has to count for something...4 out of 5 stars.

  Young and Wild - Then there's the OTHER mixed gender three way romance of this post.  I actually had somewhat higher hopes for this film.  I found the mixed message of spirituality played against more bestial instincts to be thematically intriguing, but didn't ever really feel as if the film developed these ideas enough for my liking.  While I did see potential in the film making technique of director Marialy Rivas (this is her first international breakout feature, and the second one period), her skills as both a writer and a director may still be a little too raw to handle such ambitious subtext gracefully or in manner that probes it deeply enough. I do hope that she sticks with it, and meets enough success that she flies onto TheMovieFrog radar again.
     I WAS quite impressed with the film's young star Alicia Rodriguez, who brought a sort of bemused vitality to her role.  If anything was lacking in her performance, it would be chemistry with her two co-stars, but I found them lackluster next to her in general, so this may have been due to no fault of Ms. Rodriguez's.
     All in all, Young and Wild was a film with several great moments that never quite found a cohesive whole to belong to...3 1/2 of 5 stars.

Struck by the Rabbi's Color

     Yeah, I know, this is the part where I usually give you cute little teasers about the three films I'm going to be reviewing.  Today's post, however, is special because it is our first At Home Viewing article that includes 2013 releases, specifically Upstream Color and Struck By Lightning.  We are not, however, quite done with the 2012 films as I have about twenty left to do. Today they are represented by the animated feature The Rabbi's Cat.  Might as well get under way...

  Upstream Color - This is the second feature from writer/director/star Shane Carruth.  I have not seen his first film, Primer, but after checking out this movie, I'm more than a little interested.  Upstream Color is, quite simply, the most creative and original science fiction movie that I have seen in a long time (at least since Inception).  I don't ever say this lightly but I was quite literally blown away.  I went into the film with very few expectations one way or another (the picture is still quite obscure, flying under most movie goer's radars).  This is probably to the film's advantage because it is said air of mystery and uncertainty that is the film's greatest strength.  To that end, I am not going to give away any more of the plot than is absolutely needed.
     Upstream Color is not for the impatient or easily frustrated.  The plot is quite literally baffling in the film's first half.  It is the sort of film that you need to just let wash over you for a time until the pieces finally begin to come together.  Even when you have seen the whole film once, chances are that it will not all make sense.  I admit to re-watching it a couple of times myself almost immediately.  Of course, this means that I can say without reservation that this is definitely a feature that highly rewards multiple viewings.
     Besides its ambiguity, the only other real complaint that I've read about the film is the acting performance of director Shane Carruth.  I, however, found both he and Amy Seimetz's lead performances to be fantastic. They both come across as listless and emotionally disconnected, but there is a very good reason for this.  Just trust me.  I actually found that both of them gave multi-layered performances, letting you see glimpses of their more humanizing emotions seeping out through the cracks of their general disorientation.  Andrew Sensenig is also delightfully creepy in a supporting role and Thiago Martins absolutely terrified me in the first half hour.
     I guess at this point I don't really have to say that I HIGHLY recommend this picture.  Besides surely being one of the best written films of a year that is just getting started, and being very well acted, the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous.  You can once again thank the multi-talented (and multi-hat-wearing) Mr. Carruth, who also composed the original music and had a hand in the editing.  He instantly goes to the front of the class of exciting new auteurs with Brit Marling and Benh Zeitlen.  I cannot think of a more perfect low budget science fiction flick...5 of 5 stars.

  Struck By Lightning - This marks Emmy winning actor Chris Colfer's (best known for playing Kurt on the television show Glee) debut writing credit on a feature film. I have really enjoyed Mr. Colfer's work on Glee, especially the way in which his character has helped to change public perceptions of young gay men.  As such, I was very hopeful that this film would be just as much of a delight, whether it addressed similar themes or not.  Unfortunately, I cannot say that it was.  It was actually a rather flawed effort which failed to really go anywhere or say very much of anything.
     It tells the story of an ambitious young high school student who is trying desperately to effect his escape from the small town he feels is hampering his growth.  Or was that Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Rushmore? No, no...Election. Get it? Subplots include his relationships with his estranged parents.  His mother is a pill popping head case who acts as if she couldn't care less about him while his father is absent and plays no part in his life whatsoever.  Both of these relationships provide rich potential for development, but were never given enough time or focus to evolve into anything that would provide growth or insight to either the characters or the viewer.  Carson (Colfer) starts a literary magazine to try and improve his college chances and blackmails other prominent members of the student body into participating.  We never really see his plan's success or see him face consequences for his unscrupulous methods.  Some effort is made to insinuate that the students involved might have learned something about themselves through the process of writing, but this thematic thread doesn't go far enough, and sort of trail off into nothingness.
     Mr. Colfer also stars in the film, and I think that he may have been thinking more as an actor than as a writer during the process of conceptualizing his script.  Carson (his character), besides being bitter and witty, is left as sort of an everyman, the straight man (or voice of reason if you want to get really technical in a literary way) in a field of extreme personalities.  I can only assume that this was done to demonstrate that the actor possesses range well the flamboyant exuberance central to his characterization of Kurt on the show that made him famous.  This does not serve the plot as well as it could have, but it REALLY does a disservice to the young artist as an actor.  Mr. Colfer has tremendous talent, but it is as a CHARACTER actor.  This is not to say that he must always be relegated to supporting status, but standard everyman type leading characters are a waste of his rare gift for quirkiness and going over the top.
     The best things about this film are the performances of SOME members of the supporting cast.  Allison Janney is captivating as always even when delivering slightly stilted dialogue as Carson's mother.  Polly Bergan is likewise delightful as his dementia ridden grandmother, although we have certainly seen her play somewhat similar roles in the past.  Sarah Hyland (best known as the youngest daughter on Modern Family) does a respectable job although she, too, is cast to rather familiar type.  Allie Grant (who played young lesbian plus size model Isabelle Hodes on the first several seasons of Weeds) probably stretches herself the most as the uptight yearbook editor.
      Late in the film, Mr. Colfer tries to tie in some sort of metaphoric subtext about bitterness and "personal rain clouds".  Like most of the other threads of the script, this one comes off as frayed.  I do hope that Mr. Colfer gets another shot with another screenplay (or at least another leading film role) because I feel that he has a lot more to offer than just one great role on one good TV show.  Next time, however, I hope he gives himself a more interesting character that stretches his bag of tricks in some way besides being less obviously homosexual. I also hope that he takes a little more time with his other characters and situations so as to avoid quick and easy stereotypes.  Maybe even a story outside of the overly dramatized and over played struggles of American high school students...3 of 5 stars.

  The Rabbi's Cat - Typically, European animated films are quite different from their American counterparts in several key ways.  They tend to be aimed more at the entertainment of both adults and children (you know, like Pixar in the old days only more so).  They rely a lot less on musical interludes delivered in the style of a Broadway play (if at all).  The cast of characters in no way seem to have been designed with an action figure line already planned out.  They involve a little more thought (and wit) than cuteness (and fart jokes).  The biggest difference, however, is that Foreign 'toons seem to be written in a far more literary style, at least attempting to develop something a little more thematically complex than a one sentence moral presented in a far more clumsy and obvious way than Aesop ever did.  The higher meanings behind last year's Animated nominees, for example, could be summed up like this:
                                1. Don't be ruled by fate, but don't forget who you are.
                                2. Sometimes weird is good and even necessary.
                                3. If you set out to do the impossible you may succeed, but it will be an empty victory if your motivations are not rooted in love. (Which ain't half bad and is why Frankenweenie should have won)
                                4. Don't be ruled by fate, but don't forget who you are. (This would have been good advice to both the parent studio and its subsidiary.  Maybe if they'd paid attention to their own platitudes they wouldn't have both made the same cartoon last year.)
                                5. It's funny when stupid clumsy pirates get hurt. (Sorry Aardman, but this was such a make-up nod for nominating three films that were nowhere near as good Arthur Christmas for the 84th Oscars.)
     Which brings us, at long last, to The Rabbi's Cat.  It is not an "adults only" type of animated story.  It doesn't indulge in the sort of lusty sensuality (not to mention excessive overindulgence in alcohol) of Chico and Rita.  It IS, however, the most thematically ambitious piece of 100% animated film making that I have ever seen.  Race relations, the quality of truth, religious tolerance, the nature of faith, love (in a world beyond fairy tales) and tradition versus innovation are all topics that have been skillfully woven into the tapestry of this tale.  I cannot stress enough how refreshing it is that these serious subjects of thought emerged  organically from the interaction of the characters and events.  The Rabbi's Cat is no message movie, nor does it attempt to give pat or easy answers to the questions it raises.
     The picture is based upon the graphic novel of the same name by French actor/writer/director Joann Sfar.
Of course, he had help on the directing side of things from Antoine Delesvaux, and on the writing side from Sandrina Jardel.  I incorrectly assumed that having created the original story was Mr.Sfar's only qualification for these positions, but he actually had previous directing experience on Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (which I have never seen).  The translation from printed medium to dramatic representation was accomplished with sensibilities that show deft awareness pertaining to the requirements of the medium.
     I do have a couple of reservations about the film, however.  While I usually abhor dubbed translations on Foreign Language Films, I actually prefer them to subtitles (which this film implemented) when the film in question is animated.  In live action movies, the dubbing of (usually inferior) English interpretations of the lines detracts far too much from the power of the actors' performances.  In a cartoon, where every element besides the voice is supplied artificially, it is difficult to pull much depth of feeling from the words if you do not understand them. It is something of a lesson about how essential facial expressions and body language are to our perceptions of not only the craft of acting, but all observations of human expression.  At any rate, The Rabbi's Cat went with subtitles which is far too distracting from the animation itself, as it requires that you look at it to appreciate it.
     The only other complaint that I can muster is that the film ended a little too abruptly for my tastes.  While I understand that the thematic questions raised in this picture are far too expansive and elusive to enable neat and easy solutions over the course of one feature length cartoon.  Trying to wrap them up in the finale would have been disastrous.  The problem lies in the fact that even the plot lines seemed to just sort of rush through a denouma and end, without resolving any of the characters' plots.  Still, you have to give Mr. Sfar points for courage and chutzpah...4 of 5 stars.
     

Daddy's Evil Plan

     And the second installment of the 2010 rewind series finds me covering an Italian true crime thriller, a romantic dramedy of errors, and a tribute to the best worst Dad ever.  Today's selection is really about some LITTLE films that most of you were probably completely unaware of.  I hear echoes of a time JUST before TheMovieFrog was set loose...

  Angel of Evil - The Salamander actually caught this on Netflix Instant Play and insisted that I make it a part of the rewind series so I decided to check it out.  It is the first film that I have seen from Italian director Michele Placido but it reminds me very much of the French crime thrillers I have seen in recent years such as Headhunters and particularly the Mesrine films.  Highly stylized violence with a charming but reprehensible leading man that still packs more surprises than your average American action flick.
     I am likewise unfamiliar with the career of leading man Kim Rossi Stuart, who plays the infamous outlaw Renato Vallanzasca with cockiness and vulnerability.  The actor has the charisma to pull off that most precious of characters: the one you love to hate.  He refers to himself in the third person and you loathe him for it, but then he almost gets killed and you ache at the thought of no longer getting pleasure from detesting him.  It is a fine performance, which only suffers by inevitable comparisons to both Vincent Cassell as Mesrine and Edgar Ramirez as Carlos the Jackal, both in movies released around the same time.
     Which is really my one complaint with the film overall.  It's just not QUITE as good as those other flicks.  I enjoyed it but it felt a little like watching an American remake of a great European picture often does, something in the formula seemed a little hinky.  Maybe the problem is that Italian acting and film making styles are rather demonstrative and in a film where the lead character has such a naturally bombastic personality a guiding hand that takes a little more time with the subtleties is more in order...3 1/2 of 5 stars.

  Plan B - The debut feature from out German writer/director Marco Berger has disproved my previous impression that Wolfe releasing dealt strictly in lesbian themed films.  Apparently they distribute films about gay men as well.  In this picture, one man (Bruno) decides to try and get his ex-girlfriend back by seducing her new lover Pablo, who is rumored to be bisexual.  Of course, over the course of the story the men fall in love with each other for real, etc., etc.
     As I'm sure you can guess from just that briefest of synopsis, the film has three primary weaknesses.  The first is that the plot is such a hackneyed, contrived thing.  Obviously.  The second is that the film is totally predictable, and unspools exactly as anyone who has watched very many "gay" movies will expect it to.  The third is that the primary character's motivations are so petty, and his methods so deplorable, that it is difficult to garner much sympathy for him or his rather unbelievably discovered emotions.
     Fortunately, most of the little details are a bit more acceptable.  The script takes this improbable situation and injects it with so many vivid, valid details that you almost begin to believe it.  Bruno and Pablo's overall journey is ludicrous, but the little steps that they take along the way are nicely handled.
     The film's other saving grace is that the primary actors Manuel Vignau (Bruno) and Lucas Ferraro (Pablo) both do decent jobs with their roles and there is a LITTLE sizzle to their onscreen chemistry.  They are both best when they play towards awkwardness, maybe because the premise itself is so clumsy.  I wasn't angry about the time I lost watching Plan B, but I'm not coming back if they make a Plan C...3 of 5 stars.

  Daddy Longlegs (aka Go Get Some Rosemary) - This largely autobiographical film from the Safdie brothers tore up the independent film circuit in 2010 although the chances are probably quite good that you've never heard of it before.  Star Ronald Bromstein won the Breakthrough Award at the Gothams.  The film itself was given the Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirits.  All of this despite the fact that it looks not so much like a low-budget film, but a no-budget film.  In fact, the whole thing might have been shot on a Super 8 camera the brothers found in their parents attic (just a wild guess).  So why did people like it so much?
     Well, two reasons.  First, the script tells a small scale story very, very well. It is basically a character study, one that delves into a very extreme character.  Rather than try to neatly sum up a personality with so many disparate sides, it gives you episodes in the course of a life.  Many of these seem so contradictory that it is hard to believe that they are all about the same person.  Slowly, laboriously, you begin to understand the man as a whole.
     Of course, this sort of tale would never work without a strong central performance, and Ronald Bromstein gives just that.  He never seems to judge or condone Lenny, he just is Lenny.  We may be shocked at Lenny, even appalled by Lenny, but we can never bring ourselves to hate Lenny.  Both lovable and infuriating, Mr. Bromstein's performance allows you to put yourself emotionally into the shoes of Lenny's children with regards to how you perceive him.  Which is, of course, seems to be the Safdie's intention in this backhanded tribute to their father...4 of 5 stars.

  Related articles:  Monsieur Cat-Hunter (Headhunters review)

2013 Awards Preview - Part 3: Little Pics That Might Could

    Below is my third list of films for the 2013-2014 Awards season, titled Little Pics That Might Could.  Each article in this series will present a group of upcoming releases that are currently on my watch list.  I divided the articles up to each represent the strengths found in cinema in one of the last four years (with 2013 as an unknown wild card for the fifth post). This post is in honor of the year 2011, when the little art house film (most too small for Oscar to notice) ruled the day.  In its honor, I present this set of films destined for limited release and crossed fingers.  This category can contain many genres, but it is mainly the stomping ground of dramas and dramedies.
     On a side note, 2013 is showing early signs of a strong art house year already.  Films like Mud, Fruitvale & Ain't Them Bodies Saints are already tearing up the festival circuit and we still have films from Jeunet and Gillam coming down the pike.
      The movies that already have release dates are presented in chronological order.  The films that have not received such dates are listed alphabetically afterward.  The fifteen films (that have not already been released) that I am most excited about seeing appear in bold with short descriptions of why.  Do not be surprised if we see some of these get pushed back until 2014.  I will be surprised if we don't.  Still, for now, the Little Pics That Might Could in 2013 are...

  01/11 - Quartet (stars Maggie Smith)
  03/15 - Better Mus Come
              Ginger & Rosa (Elle Fanning is supposed to be amazing)
  03/22 - My Brother the Devil (gay themes and Islam collide in Great Britain)
               The Sapphires (the 2012 festival sensation finally makes it stateside)
  04/26 - Mud: So, director Jeff Nichols blew me away with Take Shelter in 2011 and Michael Shannon (my #1 lead male performance of 2011 for Shelter) is reunited with the film maker for this picture.  This film has received almost universal praise on the festival circuit.  Oh, and for those who feel Matthew McConaughey was unduly snubbed for his work in Magic Mike last year, this is supposedly the best work of his career.  Also features Reese Witherspoon.
               The Reluctant Fundamentalist
  05/03 - What Maisie Knew (Julianne Moore & Alexander Skarsgard & the trailer looks GREAT)
  05/17 - The English Teacher (Julianne Moore again)
  05/31 - Shadow Dancer (Andrea Riseborough's lead performance has received near universal acclaim)
  06/07 - Passion (Brian De Palma directs a sapphic thriller starring Noomi Rapace and Rachel McAdams)
  06/14 - Bling Ring (director Sophia Coppola's follow up to Somewhere looks far less drowsy)
  06/21 - Unfinished Song (Terrence Stamp and Vanessa Redgrave)
  07/19 - Girl Most Likely (Kristen Wiig and Matt Damon)
  07/26 - Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen's latest)
               Fruitvale: This film already won writer/director Ryan Coogler both the Grand Jury Prize and an Audience Award at Sundance before being picked up for distribution by The Weinstein Co.  I don't know how your math adds up, but that sounds like a potential awards player to me.  Star Michael B. Jordan is also generating buzz.  Octavia Spencer supports.
  08/16 - Ain't Them Bodies Saints: This one won the Cinematography award at Sundance and David Lowery won the Directors To Watch award at the Palm Springs Film Festival.  With a cast that includes Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, and Ben Foster, this one could also be a major player.
  TBA -   Austenland
               Berberian Sound Studio: This little horror film cleaned up at last year's British Independent Film Awards as well as with the London Film Critics Circle last year.  Lead actor Toby Jones (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) has also won a lot of acclaim. Now if it would just get a U.S. release date...
               Bluebird
               Breathe In (writer/director Drake Doremus's follow up to Martha Marcy Mae Marlene)
               Calvary (writer/director John Michael McDonaugh's follow up to The Guard)
               Concussion
               Dallas Buyer's Club: Matthew McConaughey may have the best year ever in 2013.  He stars in this tale of a homophobic man infected with HIV in the mid-80's who founds a smuggling ring to get unapproved meds into this country.  Jean-Marc Vallee (The Young Victoria, Cafe de Flore) directs and Jennifer Garner co-stars.
               The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers
                                             and
               The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: His: Two films that tell the same story from two different perspectives.  This will be the debut feature from writer/director Ned Benson but he managed to attract a cast that includes Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Ciaran Hinds, William Hurt and Viola Davis.
               Effie:  Emma Thompson penned this one and has a meaty supporting turn.  Oh, and it stars Dakota Fanning.
               Francis Ha (Noah Brumbaugh and Greta Gerwig's follow up to Greenberg)
               Gambit (script by the Coen Brothers)
               Jayne Mansfield's Car (written & directed by Billy Bob Thornton)
               Kill Your Darlings: Writer/director John Krokidas's debut feature is a thriller set in the world of the beat generation.  The film stars (get ready) Daniel Radcliffe, Michael C. Hall, Elizabeth Olsen, Ben Foster, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kyra Sedgewick & Dane Dehaan.  Krokidas was cited as a director to watch at the Palm Springs film festival.
               Laurence Anyways: Winner of the Queer Palme at 2012 Cannes, this film from director Xavier Dolan (I Killed My Mother) follows a transexual's relationship with her lover as she changes.  Actress Suzanne Clement also was awarded Un Certain Regard.
               The Look of Love (from Michael Winterbottom, director of 24 Hour Party People)
               Madame Bovary: This latest adaptation from director Sophie Barthes (Cold Souls) is being kept fairly quiet at the moment.  However, any film that stars Ezra Miller, Mia Wasikowska & Paul Giamatti has my interest.
               Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom: The Weinstein Company has already picked up this latest from director Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl), which always boosts a film's chances at recognition. The film stars Idris Elba and Naomie Harris as the Mandelas.
                Mother of George
                Night Moves (Jesse Eisenberg & Dakota Fanning)
                Nightingale
                Nymphomaniac: Writer/director Lars von Trier is both a genius and a madman, his films both amazing and disturbing.  This follow up to the masterpiece Melancholia stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgard, Shia LaBeouf, Jamie Bell, Christian Slater, and Willem Dafoe.
                Parkland (Zac Efron, Paul Giamatti, Tom Welling, Billy Bob Thornton, Jackie Earle Hayley...)
                The Railway Man: Oscar loves movies tied to World War II and true stories and this is both.  More than that it stars Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Stellan Skarsgard, and War Horse star Jeremy Irvine.
                Sunlight, Jr. (Naomi Watts & Matt Dillon)
                Touchy Feely
                You Can't Win
                The Young and Prodigious Spivet: Writer/director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's work (Amelie, City of Lost Children, Micmacs) is always creative, playful, dark and wondrous simultaneously.  This time he's working in English with Helena Bonham Carter, Rober Maillet (a usual suspect), Callum Keith Rennie and Judy Davis.
                Zero Theorem: Terry Gillam has got to be one of the most pivotal directors of the last several decades to have never received a Best Director nomination (although he did get a screenwriting nod for Brazil).  Granted, his work is usually VERY bizarre, but surely the Academy has to recognize what a unique cinematic voice the man has.  Oh, well, they'll probably ignore this one too, and I'll probably love it.  The cast features Christoph Waltz, Matt Damon, Ben Whishaw, Tilda Swinton, David Thewliss & Melanie Thierry.
             
        And that does it for the Little Pics That Might Could in the coming year.  Two more sets of films remain.  Next up: "The Usual Suspects" covers the true Oscar Bait.  Hop aboard my lily pad and take a look.
                                                                                             Froggy

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