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Julian Schnabel's adaptation of paralyzed fashion editor Jean-Dominique Bauby's last days is creative filmmaking at its best. Schnabel's artistic direction and Ronnie Harwood's heartfelt script adds up to a powerful combination of visual and dramatic genius.
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Viggo Mortensen has his career best performance as a Russian gangster at odds with his ruthless boss over the fate of a child. David Cronenberg's second effort (A History of Violence was the first collaboration) with Mortensen is astonishing, the darkest and most thrilling crime drama of the year. |
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Daniel Day-Lewis and Director Paul Thomas Anderson make a 'Citizen Kane' for the oil industry. Filled with treachery and deceit, Day-Lewis' performance as the misanthropic 'Daniel Plainview' is a brutal allegory for human nature. |
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The latest from indie-gods Ethan and Joel Coen is the movie to beat come awards time. Lead by Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem in Oscar worthy performances, No Country for Old Men is an austere and philosophical tale about a stolen bag of loot. I had major issues with the third act, but the film is absolutely riveting to that point. |
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Carice Van Houten is mesmerizing as a Jewish woman spying on the Nazis for the Dutch resistance during World War II. Director Paul Verhoeven (Robocop, Basic Instinct) makes his best film in his native tongue. Van Houten would have surely nabbed the Best Actress Oscar if this film had been released in the fall. |
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Ben Affleck's directorial debut is a searing portrayal of lower income Boston. Casey Affleck, Ben's younger brother, plays a rough-and-tumble detective searching for a kidnapped girl. It is a star-making performance for the younger Affleck. |
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Werner Herzog's true story of Dieter Dengler's escape from a Cambodian prison camp. Christian Bale withers away in another extreme and physical performance. Steve Zhan and Jeremy Davies are also excellent as fellow POW's. |
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Judd Apatow hits the comedy jackpot with his follow-up to the smash Forty Year Old Virgin. Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogan are superbly cast as a young couple dealing with an unexpected pregnancy. |
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I love westerns. And this is a damn good one. Russell Crowe and Christian Bale kick major ass in James Mangold's remake of the classic 1957 western. |
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Angelina Jolie's portrayal of Marianne Pearl is powerfully dramatic. The film follows the events directly after Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl's kidnapping and eventual beheading. |
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