TNMC

What makes Jason Reitman stand out from the crowd of directors is his mastery of tone.  That has allowed him to tackle material that could have easily gone badly with a tone deaf director.  Thank You For Smoking's libertarian themes could have been mangled, turning Nick Naylor into an unfunny caricature.  Juno's unique voice and ambiguity on hot button issues could have tipped badly into message, rendering it a cheap after school special.

Against the Current is an indie film written and directed by Peter Callahan.  To discuss this film properly I'm going to have to bring up some plot points that are surpises of sorts in the story.  So if you'd really rather know nothing, move on, check it out and come back.

Living in Emergency is a documentary about the organization Doctors Without Borders.  They recruit doctors from all over the world to send to war torn regions or areas battered by natural disaster.  It specifically follows four doctors in Liberia and Congo.  Two are on their first six month tours and two are veterans of multiple tours.

Tonight I finally pulled my head out of my scriptwriting long enough to watch the series finale of Battlestar Galactica.  I've been watching on DVR, so you'll forgive me if I'm a bit behind the curve on this.  Some of you may remember that I actually reviewed BSG regularly at the beginning.  Eventually the time demands of reviewing a TV series brought that to an end but it still feels like I should take a little time to bookend my commentary on this great series.  So here goes.  Let's see if I can remember how this works.

The next two movies I review are both ones dominated by a single actor.  One is The Wrestler, where Mickey Rourke gives a career performance in a movie completely wrapped around that performance for its structure.  The other is The Reader, where Kate Winslet gives a remarkable performance that provides the movie's thrust and drive for the plot.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is expertly crafted, well acted and highly ambitious in scope.  And it is emotionally touching, particularly at the end.  But despite all that it is a movie with a problem.

A disclaimer is in order here.  As an aspiring screenwriter who lives in the same county of upstate New York as writer/director Courtney Hunt, I'm more than a little delighted at her success.  A few years ago I saw her at the FilmColumbia festival getting an award as an up and coming filmmaker.  Now I find myself wondering if that award money went into the budget of Frozen River.  Let me be clear though, I don't know Ms. Hunt at all.  If my review seems gushing, that's because the movie is that good.  I'm only mentioning this at all because I want to make sure someone from my neck of the woods to get every bit of respect she deserves for this work.  And she deserves a lot of it.

Has there ever been a movie more aptly named than Doubt?  That word sums up virtually every aspect of its story and theme.