*Note:  Please see my father's in memoriam piece below; my grandfather was a great man who we lost to pneumonia after seven years of Alzheimer's.  "Papa" quit smoking for the last eight years of his life.

     Hamlet is Kenneth Branah's voluptuous, penultimate film adaptation of William Shakespeare's classic tragedy.  The art direction and production design are ornate and uniquely beautiful, placing the characters in the much-lored Danish hall.  My favorite scene is with the prince Hamlet and Claudius.  The prince has the murderer of his father within knife-point at a confessional.  This is a masterstroke from Branagh who has directed many great films in the past such as Dead Again and Henry V.

     Delirious sets its story amongst the paparazzi and celebrity nightlife of New York.  The main narrative thread concerns the red-carpet premiere of a new film.  Obsessive paparazzi get a thorough cinematic treatment at the hands of filmmaker Tom DiCillo (the glorious, underrated The Real Blonde and the whimsical, lovable Box of Moonlight).

     Sally Potter's Yes is exquisitely existential.  This film from the feminist filmmaker Potter is the story of an unhappily married microbiologist (Joan Allen) who strikes up an affair with a Lebanese cook (Simon Abkarian).  Not since Allen verbally sparred with Gary Oldman's pro-life senator in The Contender has there been such a juicy role for this gifted actress. 

     Shirley Henderson is unforgettable as a maid who comments about all the bed bugs and micro-organisms that make it difficult to get everything real clean.  We can clean with chemicals, organize things, and fold clean laundry but these living organisms will still be there, even if we just move them.

     Canvas is a brilliant film about brain dis-ease and medicines that can calm people down.  Psychiatric medicine is good for the soul and hope does seem to be on the horizon for all the characters in this generous film from Joseph Greco (the assistant director on James Cameron's epic tragedy Titanic).

     Shotgun Stories is mainly about a young man's attempts to cope with his father's death.  The funeral is the main narrative thread in the film.  The movie is unfortunately a huge product placement picture for Miller High-Life.  Anyway, the man's distant mother tells him that the funeral arrangements are in the newspaper.  Over the course of the film, the family will come together over insurmountalbe obstacles.  That is the predictable though uplifting arc of the picture.

     Underworld submerges one in the world of the mafioso circa the late 1920s.  The music that accompanied the film at the Overlooked Film Festival really striked a chord.

     The Real Dirt on Farmer John is a charming documentary that was adored by Al Gore and the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert upon its release in 2005.  Farmer John is an advocate for organic fruits and vegetables.

     Mishima:  A Life in Four Chapters is an ornate film from Paul Schrader detailing a military man's rise and fall in Japan.  The sets and costumes are lively and atmospheric.

     Hulk is a jubilee of colors with strong greens, desert earth tones, rich reds, and stark blacks.  The story of Dr. Bruce Banner and his exposure to radiation right in front of his fiance's eyes is a tragic and unsettling one.  The arc of the story reaches its zenith when his wily father chews on some electrical cords and mutates himself as well.

     I adored The Band's Visit with its lively, pungent rave music and its keen observation of characters right out of a Jim Jarmusch film.

     Housekeeping is about a lively group of relatives who go a little crazy and cope by collecting newspapers and by visiting an old bridge and an icy river.  Christine Lahti is nuanced as an aunt who comes to visit her nieces.

     The Cell is a phantasmagoric, hallucinatory film that reminds one of The Silence of the Lambs, Santa Sangre and What Dreams May Come.  The gorgeous visuals are a side attraction to the timeless Jennifer Lopez who is really fine in the picture.  The visions in the movie are beautiful, bleak, and radiant.

     Romance & Cigarettes is a touching musical about a man who deems nicotine his princess and has "wolf lungs" according to his mother.  The movie is frivolous at times, but it's a real blast if one can catch it on the big screen.  John Turturro's film was a hit on the festival circuit and will stand the test of time.

Tags: Film Review Memory In Memoriam

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