Thursday, June 30, 2011

Random Musings of the Month - June 2011

Random Notes of the Month

June brought visitors from 111 different countries
On the personal side of things June was quite a depressing month that I'm glad is finally over.  Good riddance, and hopefully July will be a kinder one around here.

Things are good on the blog side though, this month I reached 250 followers and at the time of writing this post, sit right on the cusp of 50,000 pageviews.

Thanks again to all the visitors and everyone who comes back, links, and comments frequently, I really appreciate all your support!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

How I Ended This Summer (2010)

How I Ended This Summer / Kak ya provyol etim letom (2010)
How I Ended This Summer / Kak ya provyol etim letom / Как я провёл этим летом (2010)

Genre: Drama
Director: Aleksei Popogrebsky
Starring: Grigory Dobrygin, Sergei Puskepalis
Duration: 130 min.
Rating: 7.5

Summary:
At a polar station on a remote island in the Arctic Ocean.  Sergei, a veteran meteorologist, and Pavel, a recent college graduate, are spending months in complete isolation on a once strategic research base.  Pavel receives an important radio message and is still trying to find the right moment to tell Sergei, when fear, lies and suspicions start poisoning the atmosphere...

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The Portuguese Nun (2009)

The Portuguese Nun / A Religiosa Portuguesa (2009)
The Portuguese Nun / A Religiosa Portuguesa (2009)

Genre: Drama
Director: Eugène Green
Starring: Leonor Baldaque, Francisco Mozos, Diogo Dória, Ana Moreira, Eugène Green, Adrien Michaux
Duration: 127 min.
Rating: 8.5

Summary:
Young French actress Julie de Hauranne speaks Portuguese like her mother but has never been to Lisbon.  She arrives in the city for the first time just as they are about to start shooting a film based on the Letters of a Portuguese Nun by the Count of Guilleragues, a French nobleman from the 17th century. She quickly becomes fascinated by a nun who prays every night in the chapel of Our Lady of the Mountain, on Graça Hill.  During her stay, the young woman has a series of encounters that seem as ephemeral and inconsequential as those from her past. But on the night she finally speaks to the nun, she manages to perceive the meaning of life and of her destiny.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Soul Boy (2010)

Soul Boy (2010)
Soul Boy (2010)

Genre: Drama
Director: Hawa Essuman, Tom Tykwer
Starring: Samson Odhiambo, Leila Dayan Opou, Krysteen Savane, Frank Kimani
Duration: 61 min.
Rating: 6.1

Summary:
Nairobi, Kenya. 14 year-old Abila lives with his parents in Kibera, one of the largest slums in East Africa. One morning the teenager discovers his father ill and delirious. Someone has stolen his soul, mumbles the father as he sits huddled in a corner. Abila is shocked and confused but wants to help his father and goes in search of a suitable cure. Supported by his friend Shiku who is the same age as him, he learns that his father has gambled his soul away in the company of a spiritual woman. The teenager doesn't want to believe it and sets about looking for the witch. When he finally discovers her in the darkest corner of the ghetto, she gives him seven challenging tasks to save his father's lost soul. Abila embarks on an adventurous journey which leads him right through the microcosm of his home town.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sound of Noise (2010)

Sound of Noise (2010)
Sound of Noise (2010)

Genre: Comedy
Director: Ola Simonsson, Johannes Stjärne Nilsson
Starring: Bengt Nilsson, Sanna Persson, Magnus Borjeson, Marcus Boij, Fredrik Myhr, Anders Vestergard, Johannes Bjork
Duration: 102 min.
Rating: 7.0

Summary:
The narrative revolves around police officer Amadeus Warnebring, tone-deaf scion of a distinguished musical family, and his attempts to track down a group of six guerilla percussionists whose anarchic public performances are terrorizing the city.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Monogamy (2010)

Monogamy (2010)
Monogamy (2010)

Genre: Drama
Director: Dana Adam Shapiro
Starring: Chris Messina, Rashida Jones, Meital Dohan, Zak Orth
Duration: 96 min.
Rating: 5.9

Summary:
Increasingly anxious about his impending marriage to Nat and thoroughly bored with his day job as a wedding photographer, Theo establishes a hobby: he's hired by clients to clandestinely snap voyeuristic photos of them as they go about their days. Things go smoothly until a sexy exhibitionist leads him into an all-consuming obsession. As Theo stalks her day and night, the woman's mysterious public trysts send him reeling, forcing him to confront uncomfortable truths about his sex life at home.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Dreamland (2010)

Dreamland / Draumalandið (2010)
Dreamland / Draumalandið (2010)

Genre: Documentary
Director: Þorfinnur Guðnason, Andri Snær Magnasson
Duration: 89 min.
Rating: 6.0

Summary:
A nation standing at cross-roads.  Leading up to the country’s greatest economic crisis, the government started the largest mega project in the history of Iceland, to build the biggest dam in Europe to provide Alcoa cheap electricity for an aluminum smelter in the rugged east fjords of Iceland.  Today Iceland is left holding a huge debt and an uncertain future.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Seconds Apart (2011)

Seconds Apart (2011)
Seconds Apart (2011)

Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Antonio Negret
Starring: Orlando Jones, Edmund Entin, Gary Entin, Samantha Droke
Duration: 85 min.
Rating: 6.4

Summary:
Seth and Jonah are twins with a dangerous ability. Telekinesis. Things start to spiral out of their control as their classmates end up dying in twisted and bizarre ways. The police suspect them. But, jealousy begins to divide them and soon they can no longer trust each other. Leading up to a horrific battle against themselves.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Human Resources Manager (2010)

The Human Resources Manager (2010)
The Human Resources Manager (2010)

Genre: Drama
Director: Eran Riklis
Starring: Mark Ivanir, Gila Almagor, Noah Silver, Guri Alfi, Julian Negulesco
Duration: 103 min.
Rating: 5.7

Summary:
The Human Resources Manager of Jerusalem's largest bakery is in trouble. He's separated from his wife, distanced from his daughter and stuck in a job he hates. When one of his employees, a foreign worker, is killed in a suicide bombing and the bakery is accused of inhumanity and indifference, the HR Manager is sent on a mission to make things right.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Deliver Us From Evil (2009)

Deliver Us From Evil / Fri Os Fra Det Onde (2009)
Deliver Us From Evil / Fri Os Fra Det Onde (2009)

Genre: Thriller
Director: Ole Bornedal
Starring: Lasse Rimmer, Lene Nystrøm, Mogens Pedersen, Jens Andersen, Bojan Navojec
Duration: 100 min.
Rating: 7.2

Summary:
Lars and Johannes are brothers with very little in common. Johannes is a high-powered lawyer with a beautiful wife and two children; Lars is a truck driver and a drunken brute who beats his girlfriend. Having returned to his hometown in the country, Johannes hopes for a less hectic, more genuine lifestyle. But trouble is underfoot when Lars runs over a woman with his truck. He sees only one way out: put the blame on Alain, a Bosnian refugee with impaired mental functions. But when Lars, the God-fearing husband of the victim, and his friends close in on the Bosnian, Johannes stands up for the man and shelters him. Undeterred, the violent, drunken horde makes their way to Johannes´ secluded house, where the family and Alain fear for their lives. When words no longer suffice to contain the madness, a siege begins, in which unchained anarchy dictates a scenario of terror…

Monday, June 20, 2011

The Tree of Life (2011)

The Tree of Life (2011)
The Tree of Life (2011)


Genre: Drama, Sci Fi
Director: Terrence Malick
Starring: Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, Sean Penn, Hunter McCracken
Duration: 138 min.
Rating: 8.9

Summary:
The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s.  The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father.  Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Tirza (2010)

Tirza (2010)
Tirza (2010)

Genre: Drama
Director: Rudolf van den Berg
Starring: Johanna ter Steege, Sylvia Hoeks, Hasrdin Dchar, Abbey Hoes, Gijs Scholten van Aschat
Duration: 100 min.
Rating: 6.8

Summary:
Jörgen's world is crumbling.  Forced into early retirement and harassed by his ex-wife, the only part of his life which makes sense, his beloved daughter Tirza, is shattered when she disappears on holiday in Namibia.  After weeks of terrifying uncertainty, Jörgen goes searching for her, but the heat, his drinking and bad memories combine to unhinge him.  His only ally is a child prostitute called Kaisa.  Together they journey into the wilderness on Tirza's trail to discover her fate.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Besa (2009)

Besa (2009)
Besa (2009)

Genre: Drama
Director: Srdjan Karanovic
Starring: Miki Manojlovic, Iva Krajnc, Radivoje Bukvic, Nebojsa Dugalic
Duration: 106 min.
Rating: 6.9

Summary:
At the eve of The Great War, Filip, a Serb and the school headmaster in a small Serbian town, is summoned urgently to Belgrade to serve in the war effort.  He leaves his wife with the school custodian Azem, an illiterate, patriarchal Albanian, who gives Filip his solemn oath to look after Lea and to see to it that nothing happens to her.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Morgen (2010)

Morgen (2010)
Morgen (2010)

Genre: Drama / Comedy
Director: Marian Crisan
Starring: Andras Hathazi, Yilmaz Yalcin, Elvira Rimbu, Dorin C. Zachei
Duration: 100 min.
Rating: 7.1

Summary:
Nelu, a man in his forties, lives in Salonta, a small town on the border.  He has a simple life, fishing at dawn, then work, and finally home with his wife.  One morning, Nelu finds something different in the river; a Turkish man trying to cross the border.  Not able to communicate verbally, the two men somehow understand each other. Nelu takes the stranger to the farmhouse, gives him some dry clothes, food and shelter and promises he will help him cross the border tomorrow...

Thursday, June 16, 2011

El Topo (1970)

El Topo (1970)
El Topo (1970)

Genre: Fantasy / Western
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Starring: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Brontis Jodorowsky
Duration: 125 min.
Rating: 7.8

Summary:
El Topo decides to confront warrior Masters on a trans-formative desert journey he begins with his six year old son, who must bury his childhood totems to become a man.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Aurora (2010)

Aurora (2010)

Genre: Drama
Director: Cristi Puiu
Starring: Cristi Puiu, Clara Voda, Catrinel Dumitrescu, Luminita Gheorghiu
Duration: 181 min.
Rating: 7.0

Summary:
Inside a non-descript apartment kitchen, a man and a woman discuss the inconsistencies in Little Red Riding Hood, their voices hushed, mindful of waking the little girl sleeping in the next room.  Behind a line of abandoned trailers, on the outskirts of Bucharest, the same man waits for something or someone to arrive.  At a metallurgical factory, he collects two hand-made firing pins secretly prepared by a coworker. The man's name is Viorel.  He is 42 years old, divorced, a father of two young girls, and today he will carry out a plan that will bring order to his world.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Last Circus (2010)

The Last Circus / Balada trieste de trompeta (2010)
The Last Circus / Balada trieste de trompeta (2010)

Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Alex de la Iglesia
Starring: Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre, Carolina Bang, Manuel Tallafe
Duration: 107 min.
Rating: 7.2

Summary:
Javier, the son of a clown, dreams of following in his father's career footsteps, but has seen too much tragedy in his life he's simply not funny and is only equipped to play the role of the Sad Clown.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Mamma Gógó (2010)

Mamma Gógó (2010)
Mamma Gógó (2010)

Genre: Drama
Director: Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
Starring: Kristbjörg Kjeld, Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Gunnar Eyjólfsson, Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir
Duration: 84 min.
Rating: 6.4

Summary:
An ambitious filmmaker has his eyes on an Oscar nomination despite the fact that his latest film is an absolute flop in his native Iceland. At the same time, his energetic and quick-witted mother is diagnosed with Alzheimer´s. With his own troubles suddenly seeming petty, he tries to show her his love by accompanying her on her journey into the night.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Cold Weather (2010)

Cold Weather (2010)

Genre: Drama
Director: Aaron Katz
Starring: Cris Lankenau, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Raul Castillo, Robyn Rikoon
Duration: 96 min.
Rating: 7.6

Summary:
A college dropout returns to his hometown and moves in with his sister then becomes involved in the mystery of his ex-girlfriend's disappearance.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

The Thing (1982)

The Thing (1982)
The Thing (1982)

Genre: Sci-Fi / Horror
Director: John Carpenter
Starring:  Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Charles Hallahan
Duration: 109 min.
Rating: 9.1

Summary:
Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)

Smiles of a Summer Night / Sommarnattens leende (1955)
Smiles of a Summer Night / Sommarnattens leende (1955)

Genre: Comedy
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Starring: Ulla Jacobsson, Eva Dahlbeck, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Jarl Kulle
Duration: 108 min.
Rating: 7.0

Summary:
In turn-of-the-century Sweden, four men and four women attempt to navigate the laws of attraction.  During a weekend in the country, the women collude to force the men’s hands in matters of the heart, exposing their pretensions and insecurities along the way.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Pale Flower (1964)

Pale Flower / Kawaita hana (1964)
Pale Flower / Kawaita hana / 乾いた花 (1964)

Genre: Crime Drama
Director: Masahiro Shinoda
Starring: Ryo Ikebe, Mariko Kaga, Takashi Fujiki, Chisako Hara
Duration: 96 min.
Rating: 9.3

Summary:
A yakuza, fresh out of prison, becomes entangled with a beautiful and enigmatic gambling addict; what at first seems a redemptive relationship ends up leading him further down the criminal path.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Diabolique (1955)

Diabolique / Les diaboliques (1955)
Diabolique / Les diaboliques (1955)

Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Starring: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse
Duration: 114 min.
Rating: 9.0

Summary:
The fragile wife and the willful mistress of the sadistic headmaster of a boys' boarding school conspire to kill him, but after the murder is committed, strange events begin to plague the two women.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

La Pivellina (2009)

La Pivellina (2009)
La Pivellina (2009)

Genre: Drama
Director: Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
Starring: Tairo Caroli, Asia Crippa, Patrizia Gerardi, Walter Saabel
Duration: 100 min.
Rating: 6.3

Summary:
Patty, a middle aged circus woman finds Asia, a two year old girl abandoned near the trailer park where she lives.  Attached to the child is a note from her mother that says she will eventually return to pick her up.  Not wanting to leave the youngster on her own, Patty brings Asia back to her trailer...

Monday, June 6, 2011

Even the Rain (2010)

Even the Rain / Tambien la lluvia (2010)
Even the Rain / Tambien la lluvia (2010)

Genre: Drama
Director: Icíar Bollaín
Starring:  Luis Tosar, Gael García Bernal, Raúl Arévalo, Najwa Nimri, Karra Elejalde
Duration: 104 min.
Rating: 7.2

Summary:
As a Spanish director and his crew shoot a controversial film about Christopher Columbus in Cochabamba, Bolivia, local people rise up against the privatization of their water supply.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Route Irish (2010)

Route Irish (2010)
Route Irish (2010)

Genre: Drama
Director: Ken Loach
Starring: Mark Womack, Andrea Lowe, John Bishop
Duration: 109 min.
Rating: 7.5

Summary:
The story of a private security contractor in Iraq who rejected the official explanation of his friend's death and sets out to discover the truth.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Loft (2005)

Loft (2005)
Loft / ロフト(2005)

Genre: Horror
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Starring: Miki Nakatani, Etsushi Toyokawa, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Yumi Adachi
Duration: 115 min.
Rating: 5.8

Summary:
Suffering from writer's block and some curious ailments, Reiko, a celebrated writer, moves to a countryside villa at her editor's beckoning to quietly work on her next novel.  However, her new environment turns out to be anything but peaceful...

Friday, June 3, 2011

Loft (2010)

Loft (2010)
Loft (2010)

Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: Antoinette Beumer
Starring: Anna Drijver, Barry Atsma, Fedja van Huet, Jeroen van Koningsbrugge, Katja Herbers
Duration: 108 min.
Rating: 6.6

Summary:
Five close friends, all of them married, share a loft to meet their mistresses. One day they find the body of a young woman in the loft. Since there are only five keys to the loft, the five men begin to suspect each other of murder.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Loft (2008)

Loft (2008)
Loft (2008)

Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: Erik Van Looy
Starring: Koen De Bouw, Filip Peeters, Matthias Schoenaerts, Bruno Vanden Broucke, Koen De Graeve
Duration: 118 min.
Rating: 7.3

Summary:
Five close friends, all of them married, share a loft to meet their mistresses. One day they find the body of a young woman in the loft. Since there are only five keys to the loft, the five men begin to suspect each other of murder.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Attenberg (2010)

Attenberg (2010)

Genre: Drama
Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari
Starring: Ariane labed, Giorgos Lanthimos, Vangelis Mourikis, Evangelia Randou
Duration: 95 min.
Rating: 7.5

Summary:
Marina is an eccentric woman in her early 20's who lives with her father, an architect suffering from an advanced stage of cancer.  She views the world and the rest of humanity with a sense of detachment, and a strange curiosity learned from watching the documentaries of David Attenborough.