The best movie of 2009 (so far, at least) .... flippin' sweet!

Before I get into all that, it's hard to tell who's the bigger winner with what's clearly the news of the day, Darren Aronofsky or us.

If I had to pick one, I'd say us, because along with being news that he's onto what should be a fascinating project, it hopefully means he's NOT making a remake of "Robocop." And if that's the first you're ever hearing of that, just pretend you never did, because hopefully now it will never happen.

Instead, the director of "The Wrestler" (one of my five favorite movies of 2008, along with "Let the Right One In," "Tell No One," "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Milk") is turning to competition of a different sort with something appropriately twisted called "Black Swan."

Actually, as I type this, it doesn't seem real, which seems just right: Natalie Portman is (almost) set to star in "a supernatural thriller set in the world of New York City ballet." Specifically, she'll play a veteran ballerina who finds herself locked in an intense rivalry with a fellow dancer who may or may not be just a figment of her imagination. Bring it on!

Here today, however, it's all about what I can firmly call, after stewing with it for a day or so, the best movie of 2009 (so far, at least.) Sure, "Star Trek" was as thoroughly fun as it was refreshing, and unlike many people, I thought "Watchmen" was a nearly flawless adaptation of Alan Moore's oddly great graphic novel, but the best flick I've seen so far is something on a far different scale, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's sublime baseball movie "Sugar."

Actually, what makes "Sugar" work so well is that it starts with baseball as a backdrop but then tackles something much more compelling: Life in modern America, and what it must look like to someone who's just arrived in our often bizarro world.

"Sugar" tells the story of Miguel "Sugar" Santos, a 19- (I think, but with Dominican players, of course, who knows?) year-old Dominican pitching prospect who's owned by a fictional Kansas City team and toiling with other prospects at what seems alternately like a summer camp or a prison yard - or maybe something in between, a summer camp that just happens to have guard towers.

From the outset, you get a strong sense of the movie's two strongest suits, it's natural - I'd go so far as to say "organic" - pacing, and the equally natural banter of the ballplayers and everyone they encounter in their new world.

Sugar, played with raw charm by Algeniz Perez Soto, catches the eye of a scout and eventually gets promoted all the way to AA minor league ball in Bridgeport, Iowa, which might as well have been Mars. At this point, the flick easily could have succumbed to either of two predictable and familiar courses, the fish-out-of-water story or the rah-rah sports flick, but instead it takes the best elements of each and pretty much turns them upside down.

Sugar is taken in by an elderly couple who are freakishly but never quite cartoonishly devoted to minor league baseball, which I sorely wish we still had here in Macon. During this stretch, the movie often finds it grace in quiet moments as Sugar adapts to his odd new world, and the best scene of all comes when he simply learns how to order breakfast in a restaurant.

And the games themselves, while they will seem real to anyone whose had the joy of watching minor league ball, are never pitched as anything more than that. Sure, they're important, but only as we see it through the eyes of Sugar and his fellow ballplayers in how they can advance their fledgling careers.

This game-by-game stretch can get a bit too methodical, but it deftly sets up the knuckle curve that is the third act, when Sugar's tale becomes one of the immigrant experience in America and, more importantly, of the power of rational adults to simply change their minds. I certainly won't spoil it by telling you how, but Sugar eventually ends up at the home of Yankee Stadium, and it just makes a cycle that perfectly fits this movie about baseball and much more.

With "Under the Same Moon," "Frozen River," "Sin Nombre," "The Visitor" and now "Sugar," immigration has quickly become my favorite sub-subject for movies, and it's not hard to see why. No other subject better invokes the peril of the human condition, and Boden and Fleck have captured this just right in a movie that I can't recommend you see soon enough (as to when that might be, however, who knows, because I think it's finished its theatrical run and I can't find a DVD release date in sight yet.)

And with that, I have to get ready for the job that still pays me just enough to get by in this odd place called America. Peace out.

Demko's DVD shelf: A truly packed week

"It would be like me going to ['No Country for Old Men' author] Cormac McCarthy and going, 'I have an idea for a [sequel]: You write a book, and I'll write a movie, and you can release it. You'll win a Pulitzer; I'll win an Oscar. It'll be awesome. The attitude toward comic books, they show their hand a little bit. They would never say that about a real novelist, but they would about a comic book."
- Zack Snyder in The New York Times

The rather meager $55 million opening of "Watchmen" will hopefully put the kibosh on any talk about a sequel, and judging from that quote above I'd have to assume Mr. Snyder at least wouldn't be on board. At least until the dumptrucks of money pull up to his door, anyway.

I will say this about anyone who would dare to pen a "Watchmen" sequel, which would really be just about the worst cinematic idea short of a big-screen remake of "The Wizard of Oz": He or she would have to have some serious huevos.

But enough about that. Let's just assume for now that it's never going to happen and move on to a much happier subject: This week's rather seriously loaded DVD shelf. There's a ton of new titles, and at least six that are well worth a rental. These include "Milk" and "Synecdoche, NY," but because I still don't get paid to do this I'm just gonna have to brush over those and simply say check them out if you haven't already (even if Charlie Kaufman's conceit, unfiltered, does wear out its welcome a bit by the end.)

And there's a 12th season of "South Park" (and, much better, a new season beginning tomorrow night, huzzah!), but I just checked Hulu and all 14 season 12 episodes are indeed available there, so why not just watch them for free? A good starting point would be the "Breast Cancer Show Ever," 'cause there really are few better ways to waste 20 minutes or so than by watching Cartman finally get his ass thoroughly kicked by Wendy. Priceless.

But there are four other titles out this week that are so good they're worth a full mention, starting with the best vampire movie I've seen in many, many years. I had no expectations at all going into "Let the Right One In," which probably helped it grow even higher in my estimation, but mi hermano has seen it and raves about it just as much as I do, so I know this time I'm right.

Director Tomas Alfredson's flick, based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, is in fact at least as much a coming-of-age tale as it is a horror movie. Set in frozen Sweden and making full use of its smothering setting, it tells the story of 12-year-old Oskar, who is bullied by his stronger classmates and is pretty much just all-around miserable until he meets new neighbor Eli, who resembles a pale young girl, but, well you can probably figure out the truth. Watching what happens as Oskar does too is easily one of the biggest cinematic pleasures of 2008, and I guarantee you won't soon forget what happens when Eli steps up to fight for Oskar. I've ranted about this before, but it's so sinister an idea that it's worth mentioning again, only as a word of warning: "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves' plan for an American remake, to be transported to snowy Colorado, is now far enough along to have an IMDB listing. Stop this madness now if you somehow can, or at least just trust me and watch the original now that you have another chance.

"Cadillac Records"
Anyone who's been here before (and I'm still amazed there appear to be a few of you out there) knows that I have nothing but love for Darnell Martin's flick, and I'm happy to sing its praises for what might be the last time now that it's out on DVD. Rather than the straightforward story of Chess Records, Martin just makes her movie all about the music, the mood and the 'tude, and she's helped out by - with all apologies to "Milk" and "W." - the best ensemble cast of 2008. If you think you haven't heard Beyonce sing Etta James' "At Last" by now, you're probably wrong, because its just everywhere. But as beautiful as that is, the real joy in Beyonce's performance (and yes, I am serious) comes in the pain she mines in James' story. Just as good are Jeffrey Wright, who is just a simmering pot of pride and anger as Muddy Waters, Columbus Short, who wrings all the life out of Little Walter, and finally Mos Def clowning it up in full ham as Chuck Berry. All Ms. Martin has listed now on her IMDB sheet since this thoroughly fun flick is three episodes of "Law and Order," but here's hoping she finds real movie work again soon, because she certainly deserves it.

Rachel Getting Married
Be warned before you watch it: Jonathan Demme's flick is the most claustrophobic one I've seen since "Margot at the Wedding," but - on screen, at least - I like my family life served up with a big helping of dysfunction, so they both just worked for me. I was really hoping Anne Hathaway would win the Oscar for this, because she really is as good as all the hype would have you believe as the unwelcome guest at her sister Rachel's wedding. My parents were surprised by this one because they heard a "Fresh Air" interview with Demme in which he called it a "romantic comedy." It's far from that, but you won't get very many flicks that take a more perceptive look at the family dynamic, and Rosemarie DeWitt (Don Draper's hippie mistress on the first season of "Mad Men") is every bit as good as Hathaway as the titular Rachel.

"Happy-Go-Lucky"
I'm not sure I was supposed to find Sally Hawkins' Poppy easily the most annoying lead character of 2008, but it's one of the biggest strengths of Mike Leigh's flick that I was still rooting for her from the start. Hawkins' Poppy is indeed so cheerful that you might want to throttle her, but it will certainly make you think when she encounters someone who might just be ready to act on that understandable impulse in combustible driving instructor Scott, in an unforgettable turn by Eddie Marsan. Like most of Leigh's movies its just an enjoyable little snapshot of working life, with the bonus this time that it just might make you think a little about how you look at the world around you (hokey I know, but true.)

So, there you have it. If you rent any of these, I certainly hope you like them as much as I did. Peace out.

My top 10 - or maybe 12 - movies of 2008

For most people in the world there certainly have to be more important things to spend your Sunday afternoon thinking about, but it took me quite a while to get this list down to only 10 flicks.

Oddly enough, since this list will be presented simply in alphabetical order, the first one you'll find is actually the last one to make the cut, just edging out Oliver Stone's "W." and Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" for the final spot.

And, even though "Ratatouille" was my single favorite movie of 2007 (though "Into the Wild" has pretty much moved into a tie with it), the simply charming "Wall-E" didn't quite manage to find a home here.

So, without further ado, here goes, and please feel free to share your favorites or let me know of any you think I've just snubbed.

"Cadillac Records"
Writer/director Darnell Martin's take on the history of Chess Records plays more than a little loosely with the facts, but in a way that strays in refreshing ways from the conventional music biopic. And it certainly doesn't hurt that this woefully under appreciated little flick contains my favorite ensemble cast of the year, led by Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, a surprisingly strong Beyonce as Etta James and a thoroughly fun Mos Def as Chuck Berry. See it if you somehow still can.

"The Dark Knight"
With crazy rumors flying around about what might happen with the next chapter of director Christopher Nolan's take on the Batman saga (Eddie Murphy as the riddler? Really!?!?), it's easy to overlook just how much he accomplished with this one. Though "Iron Man" was also a brainy and fun superhero flick, Nolan just made the story of "The Dark Knight" his own, with more than a little help from the much-missed Heath Ledger.

"The Fall"
I think I may be the only person in the world who would put this on the list of 2008's best movies, but I love it and have no intention of backing down. I went into Tarsem's oddly engaging flick expecting a visual stunner but also found a tender story starring Lee Pace of "Pushing Daisies" as an injured stunt man who befriends a young girl played by the charming Catinca Untaru. I loved this movie the first time I saw it in Atlanta, and do so even more now.

"Let the Right One In"
All I knew about this flick as I was examining the lineup for the 2008 Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, which I was fortunate enough to attend with my parents, was that it was a Swedish vampire flick (not, as I somehow first thought, a Mexican one), but that was enough to get me hooked. What I found was a genuine horror movie that also mixes in a fantastic coming-of-age tale about a social outcast who finds out his new neighbor and friend just happens to be a vampire. "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves is making noise about transporting this European charmer to Colorado for everyone who can't be bothered to read subtitles, but I heartily recommend checking it out in its original form instead of waiting.

"Milk"
All politics aside, if you can really say that, Gus Van Sant has made what I think will turn out to be my favorite flick of the entire year with this biopic of the slain San Francisco pol Harvey Milk. What makes it work so well is that, even as it presents a true American tragedy, it never dwells on that but instead shows the resolve and joy that made Milk (played by Sean Penn) try so many times to break through barriers. I was surprised - but never bored - by just how much it got into San Francisco politics of the time, and next to "Cadillac Records" it features the second best ensemble cast of the year with supporting players Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch and "Freak" James Franco.

"Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"
Peter Sollett, who clearly knows the city of New York as well as Woody Allen used to, turns what could have been (and in many ways is) just a silly teen tale into a thoroughly fun portrait of the bridge-and-tunnel set that invades Manhattan every weekend. He's certainly helped by charming leads Kat Dennings and Michael "George Michael" Cera, and has managed to craft here my single favorite comedy of the year.


"Slumdog Millionaire"
Even though Danny Boyle's last flick, "Sunshine," was one I had very little time for at all, I knew he would strike gold with this tale of a Mumbai "slumdog" who competes on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" in hopes of winning the affection of his true love. That just sounds hokeyer each time I type it, but even though the game show framing gets a little old by the end, Boyle's affection for India shines through in every scene, many of which will become permanently burned onto your brain.

"Tell No One"
As happens to me with many mind-bending thrillers, I was sure after watching this French flick based on a Harlan Coben novel once that it just didn't add up. Boy, was I wrong. This one should be out on video soon, and if you like a really taut thriller with natural action scenes and a "reveal" that I guarantee will simply stun you, definitely check out Guillaume Canet's flick. The Macon Film Guild, by the way, will be showing this one soon at the Douglass Theatre downtown, so if you happen to live in my little burgh please turn out for it.

"The Visitor"
As good as Sean Penn was as Harvey Milk, these last two contain my two favorite male acting performances of the year. (My vote for woman of the year, which will be on the list coming out tomorrow, is Sally Hawkins in Mike Leigh's "Happy Go Lucky," another great flick that just missed making this list. In "The Visitor," Thomas McCarthy (director of "The Station Agent") finds a perfect foil in "Six Feet Under" veteran Richard Jenkins, who plays a college professor who finds an immigrant couple living in the New York apartment he owns but hasn't visited for many years. It can be more than a little heavy-handed, but along with Patricia Riggen's "La Misma Luna" it tackles the issue of immigration in the United States while at the same time simply telling a very engaging story.

"The Wrestler"
How in the world they didn't open a movie this good about professional wrestling throughout the South in its first wave is beyond me, but it will be thankfully playing everywhere very soon. Darren Aronofsky's clever movie starts with the conventions of your typical sports underdog flick but turns them into something unique thanks to Mickey Rourke's amazing turn as the titular grappler, simply the best performance I've seen on the big screen all year.

So, there you have it. And here, by the way, are a few of the other flicks I really liked this year that didn't quite make the cut: Cloverfield, In Bruges, Be Kind Rewind, The Bank Job, Iron Man, Son of Rambow, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Kung Fu Panda, Wall-E, Man on Wire, Tropic Thunder, Trouble the Water, A Secret, Burn After Reading, Tyler Perry's The Family that Preys, Ghost Town, The Express, Happy Go Lucky, Waltz with Bashir, Gran Torino, Doubt, W., Synecdoche, NY, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Soul Men and Australia.

Once again, please feel free to share your favorites, and have a perfectly passable Monday. And if you want to, also please come back tomorrow for my women of the year and Wednesday for 2008's best leading men.

A New York five minutes or so: The three winners

This is, of course, supposed to be all about movies, but if you'll indulge me for a second I just have to say goodbye to one of my favorite New York night clubs, which I thought would never die.

When my brother and I were planning our musical nights out, I picked the "End of the Weak" hip-hop showcase at the Pyramid club (a very fun way to kill a few hours if you like rap music, which I do), and he picked the "Three Floors of Ska" night at the Knitting Factory. I love ska too, so I was certainly down with that.

Throughout the night, the bands (the best of which was easily New Jersey's Hub City Stompers) kept lamenting the fact that this would be the last "Three Floors of Ska" event at the Knitting Factory. We just assumed the event was simply moving to another venue, but the truth was much worse: The Knitting Factory is closing its Tribeca spot and moving to a much smaller space in Brooklyn.

Now, this obviously means nothing to you if you've never been there, but as much as I love New York (and I really, really do), the gentrification of neighborhoods can just be sickening. I wish the Knitting Factory the best of luck in its new home, and sincerely hope the club keeps bringing its eclectic mix of music to Brooklyn until it inevitably wears out its welcome there too.

OK, enough bile for now. It is indeed all about movies from here on out, and specifically the best three (out of a fairly amazing seven) I saw while I was there. So here goes:

Milk:
Although I won't unveil my top 10 for the year until tomorrow morning (so please check back!), I can safely say now that this gem from Gus Van Sant is my favorite movie of 2008. It's so clearly a labor of love for Van Sant, and even though this looks nothing like his recent output ("Elephant" being my favorite of those uniformly dark flicks), you can tell it's the movie he was meant to make (though there will hopefully be many more.)

It's anchored, of course, by Sean Penn's performance as the slain San Francisco pol Harvey Milk (I assume I'm not really giving away too much there), and even if you don't normally like Sean Penn, don't let that scare you. He plays Milk as a driven pol, but also an impish character with a wicked sense of humor, and his scenes with James Franco and Emile Hirsch give the movie such a feeling of joy that it makes the end we know is coming all that much more stunning.

The biggest accomplishment of "Milk" is that it leaves unstated but perfectly implied the greater tragedy of Milk's life: That even as he won his biggest victory for gay rights in California, AIDS was only a few years away to bring it crashing down. And if you simply can't bring yourself to watch two men kissing, I would indeed stay away from this one (and, frankly, please keep it to yourself.)

"The Wrestler"
Given both the subject matter and the fact that "Milk" is simply a sensational film guarantees that Penn will win the Oscar for Best Actor this year, but if I had a vote it would go without question to Mickey Rourke.

For me, it's a simple test: When you see someone in a role, do they play it so well that they disappear into it, to the point that you couldn't possibly see any other actor or actress playing that part? Rourke certainly does that here in Darren Aronofsky's flick, in his perfect portrayal of a "professional" (in as much as that's his only paying job, at least) wrestler who is consumed by vanity even as his career is clearly coming to an end.

But that's only one level on which Aronofsky's movie excels. As a glimpse into the sordid world of semi-pro wrestling, not a place you want to be for too long, it's achingly funny, especially when a staple gun gets involved (I won't spoil it for you any more than that.) The humor, strongest between Rourke and Marisa Tomei as a stripper who befriends him (as a paying client, of course), was the real surprise here. I won't spoil too much, but the line about how his daughter's personal life might influence her choice in clothes is priceless. And, just to put it on the completely piggish level of pro wrestling, this second consecutive flick in which Marisa Tomei spends much of the proceedings topless is much better than the last one, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead."

One last word of praise for Aronofsky to wrap it up (hopefully as well as he did.) It seems like very few directors have any idea how to end a movie any more. Unable or unwilling to simply choose one ending, they throw four or five at us, and can spend up to 20 minutes doing it. The final shot of "The Wrestler" is a simple but iconic one, and just wraps up the movie's spirit perfectly. I was pleasantly surprised to see the trailer for this great flick Friday afternoon in Macon, so hopefully it's finally going to play everywhere - as it certainly should - very soon.

"Happy Go Lucky"
It came as no surprise at all that Mike Leigh's flick was the oddest one I saw this week, but also one of the best. A word of warning before you enter: Even if you think you have a sunny disposition, prepare to be thoroughly annoyed by Poppy, the central character brought to all-too-cheerful life by Sally Hawkins, who I couldn't remember ever having seen on the big screen before.

She will, at at least one point, make you want to reach out and choke her, but that's clearly Leigh's point here. To give you a sample of what I mean, she's the kind of person who has to answer every thing she hears around her. For example (as my dad explained it to my mom, who didn't come with us to this one), if you say "the door is open," she'll have to say "come in" even if no one is there or repeat several times what you just said. All, of course, with an ever-present smile.

It's when Poppy begins to see the effect she has on the people around her that Leigh's movie really gets interesting. And again, if I had an Academy vote, I might give the Supporting Actor nod to the late Heath Ledger for his unforgettable turn as The Joker, but Eddie Marsan's performance as Poppy's driving instructor here would probably edge him out. He perfectly plays a character just consumed with inner and outer rage, and when the two of them come together in that tight space it's very funny until it's not, at which point it takes a truly terrifying turn.

Leigh's movie isn't perfect (there's a completely nonsensical scene between Poppy and a homeless man that just goes on way too long), but it is - as his movies almost always are - like nothing else you can see on the big screen. He specializes in truths that can make you laugh until they turn into a dagger, and the scene in "Happy Go Lucky" when Poppy and her friends go to visit her supposedly happily married sister is just perfectly uncomfortable. See this one if you can.

And there you have it. Just for the record, along with those three great flicks, I also saw three good ones - "Synecdoche, NY," "Waltz with Bashir" and "Gran Torino" - but I'll have to beg out of reviewing them at least for now because I am very sick (just a sore throat and runny nose, actually, but still none too pleasant.)

Starting Monday I will roll out my best of 2008 set, which will be incomplete since I have yet to see "Frost/Nixon" or "Frozen River," but it seems the time is as right as it's ever gonna be (and just as a teaser, it will contain at least two comedies, one French flick and one Swedish one.) Monday will feature the top 10 (or more if I can't make up my mind) movies of 2008, Tuesday will feature the best female performances of the year and Wednesday the men will get their turn. On Thursday, if you care to come back, I plan to tear into Steven Soderbergh's thoroughly tedious "Che" (whenever I think of the word "overkill," which this clearly is by at least half, I always think of that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" joke, "no, it's just enough kill." Not the case here, but still one of my very favorite Buffy lines.) If you have any suggestions for other best of categories I should dig into, please feel free to let me know, and I'll certainly consider them, since that's what I love to do. Peace out.

Merry Christmas to all, and movies for me!

I'm obviously far from alone in declaring the Christmas week to be my favorite time of year, but I may be the only person who says that but still has to work on both Christmas Eve day and Christmas. Not a complaint, mind you, because come Boxing Day I'm off to NYC, which means spending five days with my parents and brother and, of course, a heck of a lot of movies.

There are bound to be some surprises that I'm not aware of yet, especially since we're arriving on the last opening Friday of the year, but here are the seven movies I most want to see, assuming they're still playing somewhere in the city (and, on a side note, how in the world did Rian Johnson's "Brothers Bloom" get pushed back to the end of May? I was really looking forward to seeing that one right about now.) Here goes:

"Happy-Go-Lucky"
On paper this sounds about as appealing as a Tony Robbins seminar, but I'll trust Mike Leigh to turn it into something twistedly appealing. Sally Hawkins plays a schoolteacher whose constant optimism irks everyone around her, which actually sounds right up my alley.

"Synecdoche, NY"
I have a feeling this will be the one I see first, since my parents are arriving before mi hermano (who has already seen it), and I'm really looking forward to it. Oddly enough, Philip Seymour Hoffman's other cheerful holiday flick, "Doubt," is surprisingly opening Friday at a multiplex down in my little corner of the world, so that one will definitely be off the NY menu. For a great read on Mr. Hoffman, check out the profile from last Sunday's New York Times Magazine (which I tried and failed to link to, but you can easily find yourself.)

"Milk"
I was having a discussion with a co-worker and fellow movie devotee yesterday, and I was surprised to hear him say he just can't stand Sean Penn. He compared him to Al Pacino in that they each shout and over emote a lot, but while I can see it with Mr. Pacino, I can't go there with Sean Penn. He just has tremendous range, and you can tell from the trailer for "Milk" that he and director Gus Van Sant found the joy in Harvey Milk's life that came before the tragedy, and I can't wait to see what they came up with here.

"Frost/Nixon"
Apparently wide doesn't mean wide at all, or this one would be entering the fray even in my little corner of the world with the other 10 million flicks opening everywhere on Christmas day. Since it's not, I'll probably catch it in NYC for Frank Langella's performance as tricky Dick and because I have full faith in Peter Morgan and Michael Sheen. By the way, I rented "The Deal," a k a their other Tony Blair flick, the other day, and it's almost as good as "The Queen." Check it out.

"Che"
Despite the certain numbness it will bring to my posterior, I'm hoping that the entire five hours of Steven Soderbergh's "Che" will be playing somewhere while I'm there, and hopefully WITH AN INTERMISSION. From what I've heard it's far from an objective tale, but I really wouldn't have expected it to be, and it's been far too long since I've seen Benicio del Toro on the big screen.

"The Wrestler"
The same friend who was impugning the good name of Sean Penn has already seen this Darren Aronofsky flick, and can't believe it's not playing everywhere. Especially down here, where we may not know much about movies, but we do love our wrestling. I don't see any way this one won't be fun, even if it is a bit depressing.

"Frozen River"
Seeing as this opened way back in like June, I suppose it's a long shot that it would be playing anywhere, but I'm hoping the Melissa Leo Oscar train brings it back for one more run. Immigration, by the way, has turned into the great Hollywood (if not great box office) subject that the Iraq war never became. Already this year has come Patricia Riggen's "La Misma Luna" (Under the Same Moon) and Thomas McCarthy's "The Visitor," both of which are superior to just about any of the recent war flicks, and I'm sure "Frozen River" will be fine fare to complete the set.

So, there you have it. Please, if you think of any that I might be able to catch but haven't thought of, let me know, and have a happy, happy holidays! I'm signing off until at least Jan. 2 or so, but I'm fairly certain the world will continue just fine without me. Peace out.

A real dark horse for a Best Actor Oscar

Thomas McCarthy's "The Visitor" is such an unassuming little film that I have to admit it sat in my house for a week before I could summon the desire to watch it, but now I'm certainly glad I did.

McCarthy, who directed the equally satisfying "The Station Agent" in 2003, may also be known to fans of "The Wire" as Scott Templeton, the Sun reporter with a very active imagination. Though that great show went more than a little off the rails in its final season, it was never his fault.

With "The Visitor," he has an able co-conspirator in Richard Jenkins in creating this tale of a man who has pretty much given up on life until he returns to his NYC apartment to find the titular "Visitor" there in the form of an illegal Syrian immigrant (Haaz Sleiman) and his Senegalese girlfriend (Danai Jekesai Gurira), though, as it soon becomes clear, Jenkins' Walter Vale is often the real visitor in this world of ours.

Though McCarthy has an occasionally heavy-handed tale to tell about what rights we have given up since 9/11 and the constant peril of living illegally in this country, his movie is much stronger when it just tells the tale of Walter and lets Jenkins jump completely into the role. Partly because of this absorption and partly just because my mind is slowly faltering, I must admit I had to check the closing credits to remember exactly what his name was (though of course we well know his face.)

As we meet Walter, he's a college professor who's been teaching the same one class for 20 years and has now been asked to present a report he only put his name on but no work into. Jenkins captures this detachment perfectly while at the same time moving us to cheer for him without ever becoming manipulative.

And it's a credit to McCarthy's slow-moving but constantly engaging story that he lets Jenkins' Walter be drawn out of his tough shell at a natural pace. Though I'm far too cynical to ever want to participate in anything as hippy-dippy as a drum circle, it's a joy to watch as the Syrian Tarek first teaches Walter to play the African djembe drum and later to even do so in public (and in the most joyous scene, belatedly in life discover the pleasures of Fela Kuti.)

McCarthy lays on the sentiment here but not quite as heavily as in another movie about immigration that's among my favorites from this year, Patricia Riggen's "La Misma Luna" ("Under the Same Moon"). Thanks to uniformly solid performances from his cast, rounded out by Hiam Abbass as Tarek's mother, it never seems anything but genuine and just manages to suck you in.

As for Jenkins, who most people might know from his work on "Six Feet Under" but also appeared this year in "Burn After Reading" as the gym owner who longed for the love of Frances McDormand (and, really, who wouldn't?), he's certainly turned in an Oscar-caliber performance here, but it's probably come in a year too crowded for him to even be nominated. If I had to pick it today, I'd have to guess the final five will be Brad Pitt for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Clint Eastwood for "Gran Torino," Sean Penn for "Milk," Frank Langella for "Frost/Nixon" and Mickey Rourke for "The Wrestler." That final slot could also swing to another outsider, but it's not likely.

But "The Visitor," out now for a while on video, is still well worth checking out, for Jenkins' performance and a whole lot more. And Thomas McCarthy is certainly a director to keep your eyes on. Peace out.

An animated Best Picture nominee? Why the "Wall-E" not?

I'm always hopeful when I hear a major group of critics sharing the kudos love with animated movies, even if in this case it comes a year too late.

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association, usually a contrarian bunch, has just named "Wall-E" as its pick for Best Picture, with "The Dark Knight" as its runner-up. I think they'll end getting one out of two right in the end, with "The Dark Knight" snagging the final Oscar slot (If I had to pick it today, with the caveat that this is mostly a list of movies I haven't seen, I'd say the final five will be "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Milk", "Revolutionary Road", "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Dark Knight.") And if that is the final list, count me among the "Slumdog" supporters.

"Wall-E," however, certainly has enough charms to merit it at least being in the conversation, so thanks to the L.A. crew for that. The first 45 minutes or so of "Wall-E" are just the most enchanting kind of romance, and even if it does become more and more conventional as the story goes on, it's still often a very magical movie.

But like I said, the only problem I have with any of this is that it comes a year too late. Where were the critics when it came to hailing "Ratatouille," the best animated movie I've seen in many, many years, and my pick for the best movie of 2007?

My final five, if I remember this right, were in fact "The Savages", "Into the Wild", "Once", "Zodiac" and "Ratatouille." Of those five, I think "Into the Wild" stands the test of time the best, since I just watched it again the other day and loved it even more.

Though I have a slew of prestige pics to catch up on when I get the chance to hit NYC for the end of the year, I have to say that so far it looks like this year just doesn't measure up as well. So, in that void, why not a win for "Wall-E"?

Can "The Dark Knight" really take out "Titanic"? And will Whedon's "Dollhouse" really ever open?

On the surface, it might seem like a gamble for Warner Brothers to send "The Dark Knight" back to theaters Jan. 23, banking on a bounce from the Oscar nominations being announced the day before.

If you think about it, however, there's really no way the flick can lose at this point. If it snags the Best Picture nomination it clearly deserves (and some posthumous love for Heath Ledger), than a run big enough to net the $77 million domestic take needed to unseat "Titanic" as the U.S. champ becomes inevitable. But even if it doesn't, the chip that will put on the movie's devoted fans' shoulders will only gin up the drive to take the title even further.

And I'm not a "Titanic" fan or much of a hater either. I do know that "The Dark Knight" is a far superior flick, and as a sports fan I love competitions of all kinds, so I can only say bring it on (and I'll certainly contribute my $8 or so to see it again, maybe this time finally in Imax.)

But on a personal note, this weekend is now shaping up as perhaps the best movie weekend of the year. Along with visiting a friend for lunch tomorrow, I'm hitting Atlanta mostly to see two of the movies I've been looking forward to all year: "Slumdog Millionaire" and then "Milk," both at the fantastic Regal Tara theater. I can't wait, and of course feel free to check back for reviews of both soon.

Here today, however, it's mostly about the first review of Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse," which has been in development for more than a year, has gone through at least two pilots and is supposedly still going to hit the airwaves in February on Fox (though I'll believe it only when I see it at this point.)

Well, it seems that Time TV critic James Poniewozik has done exactly that, and had what could be charitably be called a mixed reaction at best.

For those who can't remember (and really, who could blame you at this point), the new show from the creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" will be about a group of people known as "actives" or "dolls" who have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new ones to perform missions. It's set to star Eliza Dushku, a k a Faith the vampire slayer, in the lead role of doll Echo, and also Olivia Williams (a k a Ms. Cross from "Rushmore") as the matron of the "dollhouse," Tahmoh Penikett of "Battlestar Galactica" as a FBI agent tracking the secret project and even "Angel" veteran Amy Acker in a recurring role (if it even goes that far) as a doctor who tends to the dolls.

After offering the qualifier that he initially misunderestimated "Firefly" when that great Whedon sci-fi Western hit the air for its far-too-brief run, Poniewozik had this to say about Whedon's new offering:

Yes, this is certainly Joss Whedon trying to do What People Think Works on Broadcast TV Today—the legendary serial-procedural hybrid. But the first episode—in which Echo is imprinted with a kidnapping-negotiator's personality to secure the return of a rich man's abducted daughter—is well enough written to be absorbing. Writing a crime hour doesn't seem like Whedon's thing, but the episode is tight, suspenseful, with intriguing psychological twists and flashes of Whedonesque humor. ...

Now the minus. Dollhouse as conceived (a heroine plays a different "person" every week) is less a series concept than an actress' showcase, a sort of extreme version of an Alias undercover premise. And the actress being showcased is Eliza Dushku. Now, I have nothing against Dushku. I thought she was fine on Buffy. But she's not exactly Toni Collette (who's playing a multiple-personality case on Showtime's The United States of Tara, which I have not seen). Watching her inhabit her imprinted "personality"—a tough negotiator with secret vulnerabilities—I did not see her becoming another person. I thought: Oh, look! There's Eliza Dushku with glasses and her hair in a bun!

If it weren't for Whedon's pedigree, I'm not sure I'd be dying to see a second episode. But for me, the main draw now is not seeing Dushku become a different person every week, but getting to see Joss Whedon become a different writer every week.

I could certainly do without the Dushku hating, but from his assessment I'd say this was just about exactly what I'd expect. Anyone who's seen the rather pedestrian first seasons of both "Buffy" and "Angel, however, knows that Whedon's stuff can often get off to a rocky start but - given the chance - eventually develop into something seriously entertaining.

You can read the rest of what Poniewozik had to say here, and like I said, please feel free to check back for a couple reviews of what are hopefully two of the year's best movies later this weekend. Peace out.

Got Milk? A great trailer, and better news about Hayao Miyazaki

It's hardly a bold prediction to say that Gus Van Sant's "Milk," the biopic about the late San Francisco pol Harvey Milk, is just going to be an Oscar magnet.

First off, the academy loves biopics, and the story of the supervisor of San Francisco and gay rights activist, who was slain by a former city supervisor, is just naturally compelling. Second, it's been a little while since Sean Penn has won an Academy Award for acting (2004 in "Mystic River" to be exact), so you'll certainly be hearing his name, and I suspect Josh Brolin's portrayal of Dan White will garner a lot of attention too.

But much more importantly, you get a sense from the two-and-a-half minute trailer that Van Sant has really thrown his heart into this one. Emile Hirsch, James Franco and Diego Luna, all dudes I like, are in this one too, so enjoy this trailer (and if you have anything negative at all to say about homosexuals, please just keep it to yourself!)



Miyazaki's coming to America again!

With Hayao Miyazaki's latest film, "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" (Gake no ue no Ponyo), enjoying a Japanese box-office run to rival his biggest hit there, "Spirited Away," it was only a matter of time before it got picked up for American distribution.

Time magazine reports that Disney has indeed stepped up to acquire the rights to "Ponyo," and it will be distributed in English and co-produced by Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy. All that muscle pretty much ensures, I think, that it will play wide enough to reach my little corner of the world some time next summer, and I can only say huzzah to that!

The story of "Ponyo" is about girl fish, Ponyo, who wants to become human after befriending a 5-year-old boy named Sosuke. I'm sure there's a lot more than that going on, and I can't wait to see it all.

You do, of course, lose something in the move to English. The best thing about this "Ponyo" trailer (which could be quite old by this point) just might be the rather crazy Ponyo song that accompanies it. I suppose you could just keep the song but have the characters speak in English, but it will still certainly be a little odd. Anyways, enjoy this trailer too, and have a perfectly pleasant day.