Holiday Movies

Johanna and I have been heading out to see a bunch of the year end Oscar contenders this week.

Gran Torino
"You know how sometimes you come across someone you just shouldn't have messed with...that's me." - Walt Kolawski

Pearl Jam once wrote the lyric "I changed by not changing at all". That's Clint's portrayal of Walt Kolawski, retired autoworker and Korean war vet that recently lost his wife. He lives in a suburb that has been slowly rolled over into a Hmong immigrant ghetto. Clint meets his neighbors shouting "Get off my lawn" and pointing his Korean war rifle at them.

His neighbors are trapped on the edge of a street gang that wants to recruit the son into their gang. The gang forces Tou into trying to steal Walt's 1972 Gran Torino. When Tou's family find out about the attempt they put him in service to Walt for two weeks. Bonding, neighborhood improvement and acceptance follow.

Walt eventually takes Tou under his wing teaches him how to fix things, teaches him how to stopping being a wimp and in a hysterical scene, teaches him how to "talk like a man".

It's really a great movie. The only caveat I'd put on it is that the language can be a bit over the top. Walt's a bigot and he doesn't miss a chance to spout off with a racial slur or five. Every racial slur for Asians I've ever heard was used by Walt at some point in the movie. If that type of stuff super offends you, you might want to wait for it to come out on network TV...it might replace Pulp Fiction as the most bleeped movie of all time on TV.

Go see it, its really good.


Slumdog Millionaire
What happens if a boy from the Indian slums won "Who wants to be a millionaire"? We both really loved Slumdog Millionaire. We've all see Millionaire. As each question is asked, the movie flashes back to a point in Jamal Malik's life where he learned the answer to the question. Unfortunately, Jamal's life has been a rather sad one up to this point. A Muslim in India, he's orphaned early in life and spends most of his life bouncing around in the world of poverty and crime at the underbelly of India. For example, one of the questions is "Who is on the American $100 bill. We flash back to a time when Jamal is leading fake tours of the Taj Mahal and scamming them for hundreds of dollars.

It's a very sweet movie with a very good soul. We both enjoyed it immensely.



Doubt
I liked Doubt, but I don't have much to add that you can't see in the trailer. If you've seen the ads, you've seen the movie. It's not going to surprise you, it's probably not going to shock you. Merril Streep is good as is Philip Seymour Hoffman. But beyond just seeing good acting, I don't think there is much there...there. We live in a post Catholic scandal era and I don't think suspicion about the priest and the alter boy is anything that will rock your world.

It's good, but you can probably catch it on video and be just as happy.


Frost/Nixon
I actually remember the Frost Nixon interviews. I was to young to attach the significance that they had, but I barely remember them. If you like politics, this is probably a must see, if you could careless, then this is skipsville. Frank Langella, the guy playing Nixon, does an amazing job. He doesn't look like Nixon, but every thing from the shoulder slump, to the body language, to the deliberate speaking pattern are nailed perfectly.

The movie itself is well crafted. Instead of focusing on the Watergate crime, it focuses on the events surrounding the interview. Giving a sort of backstage perspective on the motives, actions and inner demons of the two men involved.