“Outrage” – Queer politics

Dir. Kirby Dick
(2009, R, 89 min)
★ ★ ★

“I think I should just keep my mouth shut. Call me in ten years and I’ll tell you a story.” — Kelly Crosby Heyniger, responding to the claim that her ex-boyfriend, Florida governor Charlie Crist, is gay

Washington, we’re told, is gayer than San Francisco, but its closet door is nailed shut. Our nation’s capital, an insulated mecca of political ambition, is steeped in a tradition of going along to get along, and identity runs a distant second to job security. A lot of those gay staffers operating under the radar — or sometimes very visibly on the radar — are working against gay rights, whether they believe in it or not. Why? Because every year is election year.

“In the Loop” – War is swell

Dir. Armando Iannucci
(2009, Not Rated, 106 min)
★ ★ ★ ★

In the Loop is peel-your-eyes-back entertainment, a blistering, pungent, savage political satire that suggests the result if Christopher Guest directed a screenplay by David Mamet. It takes place in contemporary England and the United States, though whether it concerns the near future or recent past isn’t precisely clear. The nations are on the verge of war with an unnamed country in the Middle East, though according to government spin-doctors, war is neither foreseeable nor unforeseeable.

“The Cove” – Blood in the water

Dir. Louie Psihoyos
(2009, PG-13, 92 min)
★ ★ ★ ½

The important question The Cove doesn’t answer, because the filmmakers can only venture to guess, is why? The documentary showcases such a strange stubbornness on the part of the Japanese government, working in defense of a minority of unscrupulous fishermen, for the trade of goods that make only a small amount of money and poison its own citizens. Such an endeavor seems wildly against the nation’s interests, if only from a public-relations standpoint, yet they push so hard against anyone who tries to stop them … Read the rest of my review at Culturazzi.org

“Avatar” – Man versus wild

Dir. James Cameron
(2009, PG-13, 162 min)
★ ★ ½

Leaving James Cameron’s science-fiction epic, I didn’t think it was possible to reconcile its parts into a single review. So I wrote two.

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” – Diamond in the rough

Dir. Lee Daniels
(2009, R, 110 min)
★ ★ ★

Precious, it of the awkward title caused, I’ve been told, by the release of other films called Push and Precious last year, is made with a lot of grit, but is a surprisingly conventional urban-poverty drama, with all the trappings: a disadvantaged youth, a pair of abusive parents, an inspirational teacher, a caring social worker, and a group of quirky inner-city classmates for color and comic relief — subtract the F-words and they’re the kids from Sister Act 2.

“Up in the Air” – Lonely at the top

Dir. Jason Reitman
(2009, R, 109 min)
★ ★ ★

Director Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air is a nice film, a warm and funny film; I liked it, but it’s a rather minor achievement. It doesn’t feel like a film that will be contending for Oscars. Its themes — cynical loner learns to open up — are familiar. Its observations of the economic crisis — lotsa people getting fired — don’t dig very deep. And the central romance follows a predictable course. But it’s nice. Well-written. I felt good when it ended. This happens a few times every awards season: a perfectly decent film disappoints me only because advance hype was for something greater.

“(500) Days of Summer” – Seasons of love

Dir. Marc Webb
(2009, PG-13, 95 min)
★ ★ ★ ★

There comes a moment in some movies after which it can do no wrong. In (500) Days of Summer, it’s a split-screen sequence that contrasts romantic hero Tom Hansen’s (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) heightened expectations for a party with the disappointing reality. It’s whimsical in its construction, but so sad in its effect. Like the rest of the film, it’s subjective about the nature of love, showing us not how it functions in reality but how it works on the mind and emotions, is filtered through our memories, and comes out a heightened version of itself … Read the rest of my review at Cultrazzi.org

“Summer Hours” – Object lessons

Dir. Olivier Assayas
(2008, Not Rated, 102 min)
★ ★ ½

There are touching moments and meaningful connections in Olivier Assayas’s Summer Hours, which is nevertheless lackadaisical in its telling of the story of three French siblings who must decide how they will manage their inheritance after the death of their mother. In style and theme it reminded me of Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story, which despite its universal adoration I just couldn’t connect with. I had the same trouble here.

“Inglourious Basterds” – Bidness is a-boomin’

Dir. Quentin Tarantino
(2009, R, 153 min)
★ ★ ★

Inglourious Basterds opens with its best scene. Colonel Hans Landa of the SS (Christoph Waltz), nicknamed “the Jew Hunter,” visits a French dairy farm in 1941. His conversation with the taciturn farmer (Denis Menochet), which reminded me of the slow-building Anton Chigurh scenes in No Country for Old Men, is full of tensely simmering dread; Landa knows the farmer is harboring Jews, and the farmer knows he knows, and over the course of about fifteen minutes they sit at his kitchen table and engage in a kind of chilling small talk that faintly conceals their real subject.

“Julie & Julia” – Just desserts

Dir. Nora Ephron
(2009, PG-13, 123 min)
★ ★ ½

My food metaphors are rusty, but I’ll give it a shot. Julie & Julia is sweet. Too sweet. It’s apple pie dipped in honey, drizzled in caramel, and injected with high fructose corn syrup. What it needs is a touch of the tart, salty, or savory. Written and directed by sugar specialist Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail), with an extra dollop of cutesy meringue by composer Alexandre Desplat, it makes Chocolat look like No Country for Old Men.