We have actually been really slow on the movie front this year...but we have seen a few good and bad:
"Slumdog Millionaire" is good, but it's not blindingly great. It doesn't make either of our "Best" lists. It's worth it if you are interested though.
"The Wrestler" is also good...and also not great. Mickey Rourke IS very good as is Marisa Tome...but Evan Rachel Wood blows pretty hard & the story is a little predictable...more worth your time than the previous.
"The Reader" is really good. It IS on both of our "Best" lists. Great performances all around and just a fascinating story. Well worth your time.
"Revolutionary Road" is bad...Kate Winslet is good (but not great) but that's not her fault. The script would have worked best as bird cage liner...and she could only do so much with that load of tripe. As Trent said, the characters had no subtext to work with, they shouted it at each other. They had amazo-disappearing kids that were present when they were needed as plot points. The only thing worth seeing here is the supporting cast...but wait for DVD. (Spooky aside: Kathy Bates seemed to be channeling my grandmother--same hair...same voice...very similar faces...and THE SAME NAME! ;-) This is VERY missable.
"Milk" is really good. I think it too is on both of our "Best" lists (it is on mine). It is a very good biopic with a very good script. Sean Penn was amazing. Mickey Rourke was playing in kind--Sean Penn was playing a whole other person. And Josh Brolin was good and crazy. This is well worth your time. If the producers had THOUGHT, they would have released it before the November election & we wouldn't have this Prop 8 crap to deal with.
"Doubt" is Trent's favorite for the year. We both really liked it...great performances all around. Of this list, it's probably the not-to-be-missed title with "Milk" a close second.
So Great and not-so-great stuff out there...and on Revolutionary Road...don't believe the hype.
(We have no interest in "Benjamin Button" the "Forrest Gump" retread by a bunch of people who missed the central joke of the source material...and made it maudlin)
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