What is your favorite period film and why?

My first experience to period pieces was with Robert Altman's Gosford Park. I did not particularly care for it, but someone told me how to watch period dramas. Most of the time they're slow, so she told me to savor the costumes, sets, photography and music.

Now that I've acquired that taste, some of my favorite films are period pieces.

Here are a few I like:
Amadeus Milos Forman 1984
Barry Lyndon Stanley Kubrick 1975
Ben-Hur William Wyler 1959
Days of Heaven Terrence Malick 1978
Kagemusha Akira Kurosawa 1980
Ran Akira Kurosawa 1985
Seven Samurai Akira Kurosawa 1954

What are your favorite period pieces? Barry Lyndon, for me, is the difinitive period epic that marked a change in how they were done (by the inimitable Stanley Kubrick), and, while very slow, is very much - for lack of better words - "an uncompromised artistic vision" (Richard Schickel). By changed, I mean from the "Hollywood" look of the 1950s to the soft, modern look achieved by new Carl Zeiss lenses for shooting in natural light. It's one of the best films of the 1970s.

Mr. Movie's review of "Secret of Roan Inish"

The Secret of Roan Inish

John Sayles is one of the best writer/directors of all time.

Unless you’re a film fanatic, most have never heard of Sayles. His résumé includes exceptional films like Matewan, Passion Fish, The Brother from Another Planet and Eight Men Out.

Sayles still doesn’t ring a bell? Catch The Secret of Roan Inish and introduce yourself to an American movie secret. Some say it’s his best film, and that’s hard to argue against.

A 10-year-old Irish girl tries to solve the mystery of the deserted island, Roan Inish. Legend says her family has Selkie blood in its veins. Selkies are half-human, half-seal.

Sayles’ movies are filled with layered characters, believable, everyday problems and unusual solutions. Roan Inish shows off his textured, patient storytelling style. He slowly unfolds the mystery of the girl’s family and its connection to the island.

At the same time, Sayles keeps enough to himself that you have to come to your own conclusions — conclusions you’ll be debating for days, maybe years, to come.

Mr. Movie rating: 5 stars.

Rated PG for mature themes. It plays tonight only at the Battelle Auditorium at 8 p.m.

Mr. Movie's review of "The Cave of the Yellow Dog"

Cave of the Yellow Dog
If you want to call it a “plot,” Cave of the Yellow Dog is about a young Mongolian girl finding a dog in a cave. The family’s main staple is sheep. Dad thinks the dog may have been raised by wolves that decimate his herd regularly. He fears the dog may lead more of them to the herd.

More documentary than plot, Cave of the Yellow Dog is a brief snapshot of the lives of a real Mongolian couple and their kids. It is a fascinating couple of hours.

Mr. Movie rating: 4 1/2 stars.

Mr. Movie's review of "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring"

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter … and Spring is a subtitled gem from Korea. A monastery floats on a remote lake. An old monk tends the place. Spring finds him mentoring a young boy. In the summer a woman enters their lives. Fall changes things forever. Winter is a disaster. The second spring is rebirth.

Lessons learned are slow and patient and done with little or no dialogue.

The most beautiful movies in the universe come from Asia. Patience seems to be the key. Where English-language directors work overtime to tie loose ends up in tidy little bows, Asian directors waxing philosophic tend to make gorgeous movies with stories that breathe. Writer/director Kim Ki-duk trusts your intelligence. He fills his film with thought-provoking images, not unnecessary language.

Mr. Movie rating: 5 stars.

Mr. Movie's review of "La Vie en Rose"

French singer Edith Piaf was known as the little Sparrow. Petite but powerful, Piaf’s unique voice carried her to unbelievable highs. Alcohol and drugs fueled the lows.

“La Vie En Rose” is as uneven and difficult to follow as the singer’s life. Though you won’t be bored, writer/director Olivier Dahan does bounce you all over the place as Piaf slips from one tragedy to another.

It’s the amazing work of Marion Cotillard that gives Dahan’s film its power and appeal. Five minutes into her performance and why she took home the Best Actress Oscar is obvious. Biopics are tough for an actor. To transform oneself body and soul into a legend is the hardest acting of all.

Cotillard makes it look easy.

David Rakoff on Woody Allen

Sometimes those apparently random links that pop up--this one on my GMail inbox--take you interesting places. I might never have discovered this series of reviews of Woody Allen movies.

In late 2006, the critic David Rakoff decided to watch all 28 Allen movies in the space of about 20 days, and lucky for us, to write about the experience. A listing of all of his reviews is called
Back When We Were Interesting. Rakoff is knowledgeable and intelligent and has a certain quirky way with words that is fun to read even when you don't agree with him.

Mr. Movie's review of "Brothers"

Mr. Movie, a/k/a Gary Wolcott, asked me to post his review of last Friday's film "Brothers" for him. Besides appearing in the March 7th print version of the newspaper, the review is also posted on the Tri-City Herald's site. What did you think of the film? Feel free to comment.

One brother is happily married, a solid family man and the light of his parent’s life. The other drinks too much. One brother goes to war in Afghanistan. The other stays home. Horrible things happen to the good brother. The irresponsible brother becomes responsible.

The subtle flip-flop gets you a closer look at the younger brother, a man desperate for a center. And that deeper look reveals gaps and flaws not seen in the older. Anchoring the conflict and also at its hub is the older man’s wife.

The subtitled Dutch film “Brothers” is a character study masterpiece; quiet, powerful and difficult. The three lead characters are given plenty of space as the story weaves in and out of their lives in such a personal way that sometimes you feel like you’re eavesdropping.