Toni Erdmann
This father-daughter dramedy/farce from German director Maren Ade may clock in at 162 minutes, but I never got bored and it certainly didn't drag. The film starts with a familiar…
The Great Beauty (La grande bellezza)
One of the five films nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, The Great Beauty is an amazingly wonderful dip into the pool of modern Roman decadence. The story is…
The Oscar nominated Animated Shorts
It is rare that I have gotten to see all the Oscar shorts ahead of (or even after) the awards were given out. Wouldn’t it be nice if they brought…
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Three of the most popular books of 2008-2010 were Stieg Larssen's Millennium Trilogy. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first book and there is already one great movie…
Another Year
Mike Leigh knows how to write and direct women better than just about anyone else I can think of. He has been nominated for 5 Academy Awards for writing/directing films…
Animal Kingdom
Out in the jungle, the strongest creatures prevail by preying on the weakest. In the gritty drama Animal Kingdom, this dynamic is played out within a tight knit family of…
Seriously, A Serious Man?
Seriously? That’s what I thought when I heard the Coen Brothers film announced as an Oscar nominee for best picture. It’s out on DVD now and I have to admit…