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SimonSays2
Reviews
Defiance (2008)
Excellent and inspirational movie
At the time of the movie's release, much attention was being paid to Slumdog Millionaire's illumination of the relationships between brothers. Yet this movie has quite insightful -- and realistic -- things to say about families and brotherhood. The movie does not denigrate the actions of other Jews during the war, as some reviews have suggested, but instead calls attention to truly heroic actions and to human decency. While not without flaws, a fine movie. The acting is mostly good; there are some trite moments but these are balanced by truly moving ones. The movie does not portray Jews solely as victims nor solely as touching or saintly martyrs. And in these times, it is especially welcome to see heroes and the rebuilding of civil society in a period of terrible stress and crisis.
Red Road (2006)
Close observation of sad woman in Glasgow
Reviews and articles about the film suggest it is suspenseful and a "thriller." It is not at all thrilling and the suspense is limited: on the contrary much of it is quite tedious at times and seems to be happening almost in real time, or even slow motion. The suspense was mainly wondering when the obvious back story would finally be said out loud and when it would occur to Jackie that her plan was ridiculous and doomed to failure. Bizarrely, it never does, leaving viewers wondering how why the director thinks the police and prosecutors in Glasgow are unable to connect dots.
On the other hand, even if one can't quite quite suspend one's sense of disbelief, there are some interesting moments and shots in the film. The close observation of Jackie was interesting and could have been more interesting had the director allowed her simply to be an intelligent, thinking woman coming back from a tragedy.
Instead, pretty much all the events were announced long before the happened. The sex scene is pretty much just disgusting and sick, not sexy.
Ne le dis à personne (2006)
Excellent film, beautifully acted, and wonderfully transposed to France
The film, although adapted from an American novel, wonderfully brings to life Paris and the countryside surrounding it. Many characters and events that had seemed typically or even uniquely American were transposed to France so well that they seem in the film typically Gallic.
The acting is terrific -- even the Briard is wonderful.
Tautly suspenseful,a tale of corruption and evil, it is also and above all a story of love: true love between lovers, familial love between parents and children, and the sustaining love of companions and friends. Excellent!
Francois Cluzet won a deserved Cesar for his role as did the director.
Shut Up & Sing (2006)
Wonderful and inspiring movie with a great beat
I also saw this movie at TIFF and thought it one of the highlights of the festival. Like the music that envelopes it, this film was worth the wait. The film shows the band as professional, very talented, and still growing in their musicianship and performing skills. At the same time, Kopple and Peck capture the personalities and heart that are at the center of the band and their music. The film is revealing about the American's media's trivializing of dissent about the Iraq war and the deep antagonisms within American society -- antagonisms that defy country v. rock v. pop v. classical labels. It clearly shows some of the ill effects of the media monopolies newly permitted by the FCC. The Dixie Chicks were ahead of some of their audience in recognizing the disastrous nature of the war but many in that audience have now caught up with those sentiments and the Dixie Chicks have broadened their audience and their music since then. The music is terrific! What a great film!