The Shallows (2016), Brooklyn (2015), The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Five Graves to Cairo (1943)

The Shallows (2016)

Think of it as a sexier version of Jaws. Blake Lively is a med student (that comes in handy) on a surfing vacation in Mexico as she attempts to deal with the recent death of her mother (who was also and avid surfer) from cancer and decide if she wants to go back to med school. A particularly dickish shark kills a number of people in an isolated cove leaving a wounded Lively marooned on a small rock outcropping with only the companionship of an also wounded seagull. The ending strains credulity some but one the whole this was an excellent woman vs nature picture, and Lively proves she can hold the screen pretty much by her self, and of course looks great doing so. ***1/2

Brooklyn (2015)

Based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Irish writer Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn is the story of a young woman (Saoirse Ronan, excellent) who in 1952 moves from her small Irish town to Brooklyn, New York for work. Free and independent for the first time in her life Eilis Lacey (Ronan) comes into herself, starts taking night classes in accounting and enters into a romantic relationship with a charming young Italian American man (Emory Cohen). However her new life is put in jeopardy when a death in the family back home prompts a return to Ireland and a personal crises of identity. Smarter and more complex then I had anticipated, the film delves into some moral gray areas and questions about judgment and judgmentailism. The acting is good and there are some memorable characterizations, I particularly liked the woman who ran the women's boarding house. I also loved the costumes, set designs, and color palate of this movie, the latter being rather evocative of the era, kind of faded but with strong blotches of color, particularly in the scenes in America. ****

The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Based on a Roald Dahl novel and done in a sort of taxidermy-esque stop motion style, its remarkable how well this film works both as children's entertainment (my niece and nephew seemed to enjoy what they saw of it), and as a legitimate Wes Anderson movie. Mr. Fox (George Clooney) an anthropomorphic Vulpes vulpes has promised his wife Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) that he will stop stealing chickens and such from local farmers and settle down as a newspaper columnist, but he just can't resist the temptation of one last big score, the results of which could threaten the lives and safety of his son (Anderson muse Jason Schwartzman) and various animal contemporaries. Wonderfully dry and low key the film seems to keep the original novels 1970's setting ,which fits perfectly into Mr. Andersons retro aesthetic, as does the unique looking stop motion work. Domestic drama and existential frustrations charmingly channeled into a family friendly talking animal tale. I love that this movie exists. ***

Five Graves to Cairo (1943)

Billy Wilder's second American directorial outing, and one of his least known films, Five Graves to Cairo updates a World War I era play by the Austro-Hungarian writer Lajos Bíró to Egypt in the Second World War and inserts real world figure German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel as the villain. British Corporal John Bramble (Franchot Tone) is the lone survivor of his tank crew after a battle with Rommel's Afrika Korps, lost in the desert to the point of delirium he luckily stumbles upon a hotel in a small sea side town just recently retreated from by the British. When the Germans arrive and make the hotel their local headquarters, Bramble with the aid of the hotels owner (Akim Tamiroff) and his sole remaining employee a French maid (Anne Baxter) takes on the identity of a limp footed waiter who was killed in a recent air raid. From this position Bramble quickly comes into the confidence of Rommel (Erich von Stroheim, perfectly cast as an arrogant German militarist, even though his and this characters resemblance to the real Rommel aren't particularly strong). You see the dead waiter Davos was actually a German advance spy, this could help Bramble as he attempts to unlock the mystery of hidden German supply depots (the five graves) they intend to use to help them quickly overtake Egypt's capital (Cairo). However with the real Davos corpse in danger of being uncovered in the rubble its a race against time to learn the Germans secrets The film is well enough made, but outside of von Stroheim's performance, not really that memorable. There are better films of a similar type made throughout this era, particular by the British, and other then it being one of the few Billy Wilder directed films I had yet to see (the only one's remaining on my list now are his last move, the ill regarded 1981 comedy Buddy Buddy, and his holocaust documentary from 1945 Death Mills) there was little reason to bother with this movie. **1/2