City Island (2009), The Debt (2011), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), The Woman in Black (2012), Post Cards from the Edge (1990)

City Island

When I was in the hospital a couple of years ago recovering from a major car accident, I watched a lot of Reelz Channel (limited menu) and so saw a lot of reviews and promotional material on this movie. It was dirt cheap at Hastings and I figured I'd see it eventually, so I bought it, sat on it a number of months and just saw the other night. I really liked it, it exceeded expectations. It's one of those 'my family's crazy/quirky movies' and a well done one, not over ambitious, it knows what it is and succeeds because of that. It's well written, and well cast, and just enjoyable. I don't pay a lot of attention to Andy García but he's a real good actor, and Julianna Margulies has a good kind of ethnic part, and I love Emily Mortimer. Be advised of PG-13 sexuality, so its probably not for grandma. I'm gonna call it Great for what it is.

The Debt

The Debt is a re-make of a 2007 Israeli film of the same title. It has a very refreshing take on the espionage movie, the films three lead characters (Israeli agents all) live in close quarters in 1965 East Berlin working to apprehend a war criminal Nazi doctor now in private practice. First time agent Rachel Singer (Jessica Chastain) has a cover as the wife of David Peretz (Sam Worthington) with whom she develops feelings, but he's slow to reciprocate so scared and lonely Rachel spends a night of solice with ambitious agent Stefan Gold (Marton Csokas) by whom she becomes pregnant. Nazi doctor Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen) is apprehended but the attempt to flee to the west with the sedated man goes wrong, and the three Mossad agents take turns watching him in their cramped apartment, love triangle drama seething beneath the surface all the while. Well something happens with Vogel, its the cause of the titular Debt and flash forward thirty-some-odd years and the three former agents (now played by Helen Mirren, Ciaran Hinds, and Tom Wilkinson) have a reckoning coming. This can't help but remind one of Munich and it's just about as good. An unusually smart thriller and surely one of the best films of last year. Great.

Dog Day Afternoon

Perhaps both the ultimate bank heist film and hostage drama movie, and based on a true story no less. That's a good deal of what makes this film so interesting, it's so strange, yet true, well thinly veiled true. This is Al Pacino's character piece, and expertly directed as always by Sidney Lument. Sonny Wortzik is an emotionally scared, poor, Italian-American, Vietnam war vet with a wife and kids and a gay lover for whom he wishes to finance a sex change operation. He's a compelling figure, sad, determined, in over his head, idealistic, naive, a romantic, and doomed. I love the look of the 70's in film, and gritty New York is not one to disappoint. A good assemblage of characters, odd and interesting, John Cazale's in it, so how could it not be worth seeing. Also important for your film literacy. Great.

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The Woman in Black

-Harry Potter looking for a more adult role.
-Kind of a want to be 'Hammer Horror' picture
-There are a couple of moments that take you by surprise but mostly a very fair work.
-This was my second Ciaran Hinds movie in as many days.

Fair

Post Cards from the Edge

-Loosely adapted by Carrie Fisher from her own book of the same name. The book is about addiction and rehab, and the movie is too, only in pre-production it shifted much of its form, becoming less free-wheeling and more concentrated on the mother/daughter dynamic.
- The mother/daughter pair very consciously and obviously evokes Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds, though of course plenty is fictionalized.
-Meryl Streep plays Suzanne Vale who is a more successful Carrie Fisher.
-Shirley MacLaine plays Doris Mann who is an even campier version of Debbie Reynolds.
-Pre-famous Oliver Platt and Annette Bening have bit parts.
-Film also has smallish roles for Rob Reiner, Gene Hackman, Richard Dreyfuss and Dennis Quaid, which is I guess a testament to how well liked Carrie Fisher is.
-Having seen the HBO production of Wishful Drinking first I feel I now have a very firm understanding of the Carrie Fisher wit and comic persona, her audio commentary was like Wishful Drinking II.

Good