Review: A Short Film About Love (1988)

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Director: Krysztof Kieslowski
Starring: Grazyna Szapolowska, Olaf Lubaszenko

The late Krysztof Kieslowski was, without question, one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century. Many storytellers can talk about ideas, but he was (and remains) one of the few who could dramatize an idea. The series that best demonstrates this ability is The Decalogue, a series of short films based on the ten commandments, from which two segments (this one and A Short Film About Killing) were later expanded into full length films. Though slightly altered from the segment as it appeared in The Decalogue, A Short Film About Love is still an excellent and thought-provoking film.

Review: The Skin I Live In (2011)

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Director: Pedro Almodovar
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya

Pedro Almodovar is very good at what he does; I'd say that he's one of the most consistently excellent filmmakers working today. With The Skin I Live In he takes the admirable step of trying to branch out from familiar territory, but steps a little too tentatively and falls back a little too readily on those familiar tropes and techniques. It's still a good and often fascinating film (and beautiful looking even at its ugliest moments), but it's not quite everything that it could be.

Unsung Performances: Tilda Swinton in I Am Love

When I made my "Best of 2010" lists, Luca Guadagnino's sumptuous I Am Love came up again and again. It's a film that I admire a great deal and there's nothing I admire more about it than the central performance by Tilda Swinton. One of the most consistently great (and interesting) actors working today, Swinton never disappoints and often surprises with her ever shifting screen persona. Here she plays a much softer character than she typically does, but loses none of her usual intensity in doing so.

Friday's Top 5... Marilyn Monroe Movies

Note: for the purposes of this list I'm only looking at the movies in which she had a starring role, otherwise All About Eve, in which Monroe is fantastic but only features for about five minutes, would take the top slot.

#5: How To Marry a Millionaire

Suspend your disbelief long enough to buy that Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, and Lauren Bacall would have any trouble landing a millionaire. Monroe's performance as nearsighted Pola, who refuses to wear glasses, is one of her comedic best.

Book vs. Film: Fugitive Pieces vs. Fugitive Pieces

Basic Plot: After narrowly escaping from the Nazis (and watching his family be dragged off by them) in Poland, young Jacob Beaer is rescued by Athos Roussos, a Greek archaeologist who hides him for the duration of the war. Afterwards the two move to Toronto, where Jacob grows up to be a writer and is haunted by his past. He marries but the union is unsuccessful do to his inability to let go of the past and after their divorce, he finds love again but first must find a way to reconcile himself to his survivor's guilt.