#7 - The Visitor

I watched this by my lonesome on January 5, 2010.

Watch the trailer

Directed by: Thomas McCarthy

Written by: Thomas McCarthy

Starring: Richard Jenkins

             Haaz Sleiman

             Danai Gurira

             Hiam Abbass

Plot synopsis:
A grumpy old white guy makes friends with a charming young foreigner.
Walter is a college professor who leads a lonely existence. He has to go to New York for a conference or some shit. When he arrives at the apartment that he owns but never visits he finds Tarek and Zainab living there. They were victims of a scam or something and thought they were renting it legally. Walter invites them to stay because he is just that lonely. Walter has a love for music and Tarek is a musician so they build a friendship off of that and Tarek starts teaching him how to play the African drum. One day in the subway station Tarek gets arrested because it's post 9-11 and he's Syrian. Walter finds out that Tarek is an illegal immigrant and is being held in an immigration prison. Tarek's mother shows up unexpectedly at his door, worried because she hasn't heard from her son. Walter and Tarek's mother forge a cute relationship as they bond over Tarek's horrible situation.

Review:
This had the potential to be a very average meaningless movie but thankfully it wasn't. The relationships aren't exactly believable but so what. The characters are all extremely likable so you care about what happens to them. The story of Walter and his sad little life is simply used as a way to meet and get to know these characters and is ultimately unimportant. What makes this movie good and important, and it is important, is what happens to Tarek. This is the only movie that I've seen or at least that I can currently recall that deals with these issues. The issues of racial profiling, abuse of power, the loss of rights, and the hysteria about illegal immigrants in a post 9-11 America. More than anything though, this movie is about empathy. Which there seems to be a great lack of  today in America. Probably in the rest of the world too but I don't really know or particularly care because I am after all American. Fuck Yeah! In summary go watch The Visitor, it's enjoyable.

#5 - The Hurt Locker

We watched this somewhere around January 3, 2010. I'm was going to make Tim write this one but then he didn't so now I'm doing it. Wasn't that a great story?

Watch the trailer

Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow

Written by: Mark Boal

Starring: Jeremy Renner

             Anthony Mackie

             Brian Geraghty

             Guy Pearce

Plot Synopsis:
So there's this guy, Sgt. James, who is some bomb defusing specialist. He joins Sgt. Sanborn and Specialist Eldridge in Iraq after their former team leader was killed attempting to defuse a bomb. James comes in as the new hotshot team leader who plays by his own rules. He's the classic renegade with a heart of gold type. While the other two are basically scared shit-less and want to go home, you know, like any sane person would be in that situation. James doesn't seem to know or want any other life. He even seems to get a high off of defusing bombs. The movie follows the three of them as they go on a few missions and get themselves in some pretty sticky situations. Zany

Review:

The Hurt Locker is (probably) the best movie of the year. I'd be very happy if it got Best Picture at the Oscars. Is it nominated for Best Picture? Hang on let me check......Yes, yes it is. So is Up In The Air. Hmmmm that was also a very good movie. Okay so it's between those two for the best movie of 2009 in my opinion.
Anyway - review: Really Fucking Good!
If you haven't seen it yet then I kinda hate you. It's that good. It's not some big actiony war movie. It's much more personal and psychological, showing some of the different effects war can have on people. Some people (Sanborn) try be logical and treat it like a job. Some people (Eldridge) let it get to them and become emotional and fragile. While other people (James) see it as a drug. That's not to say he necessarily enjoys it, he just seems to get a rush from it. He's good at defusing bombs and he knows it. This is a very tense movie. The directing is brilliant. Long quiet scenes help build the suspense and paranoia. We're only given small glimpses into these characters backgrounds and personal lives. We don't need any more than that. We get to know them through their actions and behavior. We don't even need to fully understand them or what makes them tick. We just need to see how they handle these given situations. It's gritty and beautiful.