Nothing But The Truth was quite a bit better than I was expecting it to be. I was expecting some Judith Miller hagiography, which it isn't (although the Judith Miller stand-in is pretty saintly). My big complaint is that I think it fails to be sufficiently critical of the way the media picks and chooses which stories it runs with (and how). Alan Alda makes an appeal for the importance of the free press to keep government power in check and, well, I don't think that's the role the press wants to play at the moment.

Also, it passes the Bechdel test.

Has anyone else seen Eden Log?

Shakesville is talkin' about best movies of 2008. Coincidentally, one of my cow-orkers asked me the same thing yesterday, albeit more specifically: did I think The Dark Knight was my favourite movie of 2008?

If I measure 2008 by when I saw the film, Milk just squeaks in, but (strangely) I think I enjoyed Dark Knight's themes more. The only other possible contender for me was Hunger which still haunts my memories. The Visitor would also be in my top 5.

I broke down and bought a Blu-Ray player this week. 'cause, hey, watching movies is my big vice.

The first Blu-Ray disc I bought was Batman Begins because I think it's sufficiently visually interesting and I've seen the standard DVD version enough times that I can compare the two fairly effectively. My conclusion: Blu-Ray is pretty.

I had to fuss with a few configuration settings to get (what I consider) the right settings. My TV is surprisingly dumb about incoming formats. It has a few options to support 4:3 versus 16:9 output. But it seems happiest making images to use the entire TV screen space. Invariably, this involves scaling the image, which I kinda hate. I don't notice horizontal scaling (such as scaling old 4:3 films, like Casablanca, to 16:9), but vertical scaling (such as a 2.40:1 blockbuster film) looks really wrong to my eyes. Even some very recent TV shows, like The Wire are only in 4:3.

Eventually I found a setting by which the Blu-Ray player could emit the image with appropriate letterboxing so that the original aspect ratio is preserved, and the TV doesn't try to do its weirdness. But I do find myself confused about why people might prefer stretching (to the extent that that's the default set-up). Hm.

The first film I thought about buying on Blu-Ray is Solaris: it's such a visually gorgeous film. Sadly, it's not out on Blu-Ray yet. I won't replace the whole DVD collection -- that'd cost a pretty penny. But a few choice films -- I could see that. I'll probably rent more on Blu-Ray when it's an option.

Several Warner Brothers DVDs, lately, have had an anti-piracy commercial as the first thing played when you put the disc in the machine. The commercial uses clips from Casablanca, and concocts a story about how Rick Blaine is mad at Ilsa Lund for illegally copying movies.

As owners of the movie, Casablanca, Warner Bros. certainly are legally entitled to use it in this way. But I'm fascinated by how much of a violation their commercial feels to me. So much so, that I become more sympathetic to movie piracy, not less.

I rented a bunch'a movies for the long weekend (I went through serious movie withdrawal in Haiti). The best of the bunch has been an independent film called The Visitor.

I can't think of very many depictions of the deportation process for illegal immigrants in film.

( Reposting a picture from a few years ago... )

So I just started watching Six Feet Under recently. I hadn't seen it before. It's kinda funny recognizing all these actors from other works. Look! Dexter, and the wife from Ira and Abbey and the cop from The Lost Room and the college student from Starting Out in the Evening!

I'd heard that it was well-written, and I've been quite impressed with the writing so far. I'm part-way in to the second season. In an episode I watched tonight, ( Second Season Spoiler? )

Alvy Singer: Here, you look like a very happy couple, um, are you?
Female street stranger: Yeah.
Alvy Singer: Yeah? So, so, how do you account for it?
Female street stranger: Uh, I'm very shallow and empty and I have no ideas and nothing interesting to say.
Male street stranger: And I'm exactly the same way.

— Annie Hall

So, this afternoon I learned about a film, Lost and Delirious, and, fortunately, my DVD place had a copy. It's a Canadian film about three teenage girls in a boarding school, two of whom are in a relationship that ends because one of the girls can't bring herself to come out. It stars Piper Perabo as the broken-hearted Paulie, and it has a few common Canadian actors, including Graham Greene and Jackie Burroughs.

I'm not sure what I think of this movie. On the one hand, it's one of these movies that ends in death, 'cause queerfolk can't have happy endings. On the other hand, it has Ani Difranco in the soundtrack, in a really moving sequence. I'm not sure if it comes off seeming like a caution about The Threat Of Lesbianism, or what.

So I went to rent a DVD from my DVD place: a British show called State of Play. Except, instead, they gave me a film called The State Within, another British show about political intrigue between a British Ambassador to the US and the US Secretary of Defense.

So I watched it. And I kept thinking: this is filmed in Toronto. Not all of it, sure, but there was something about the city that kept making me think of Toronto. So I started hyperactively looking for clues: in one scene there was a TTC-style bus shelter with an ad for ZipCars. Another scene looked like it might have been filmed in the main lobby of the Royal York (I haven't been there in years, but the Royal York has a distinctive ceiling that I'm pretty sure I recognized). Also, Canadian actor Nigel Bennett played a key role.

I scanned the credits looking for indications of filming locations; they mentioned Canadian casting, but nothing about locations that I could see. Finally, I checked IMDb: sure enough, filmed in Toronto, Hamilton, Washington DC, Tampa, Oshawa and London, England. I don't know what it was that led me to recognized Toronto, but my instinct was spot-on.

( Talking about BSG Season 3 DVDs and Media Analysis, spoilers if you haven't seen Season 3 )

Yet one more way I know I'm not part of the main movie-going population: I just watched a DVD called Shattered, a thriller with Maria Bello, Pierce Brosnan and Gerard Butler. It's a joint UK/Canada film. And apparently, in the UK (and, I presume, Canada also), it's known as Butterfly on a Wheel (except that the version I got at the DVD place is clearly titled Shattered). To me, Butterfly on a Wheel is an infinitely better title, and I can't, for the life of me, imagine why anyone would give it a bland name like Shattered.

Last Tuesday, Sans Soleil, one of my three favourite movies of all time, was finally released on Region 1 DVD. Sans Soleil isn't for everyone (if you want plot, this isn't the movie for you), but I love love love it.

It's paired with La Jetée, the film which inspired Twelve Monkeys.

See Snowcake. Good film.

Edit: the primary criticism on Rotten Tomatoes appears to be that it has the pacing of a Canadian film. So. Take that into consideration.

I watched Ghost Rider, and my lactose intolerance has been seriously aggravated by all the cheese.

Catch and Release: 1 star. Boooooring.

Breaking and Entering: 3 stars. I really enjoy its script. The dialog between Jude Law and Robin Wright Penn is amazing stuff. I suspect that the film won't work for a lot of people, but I so enjoyed seeing a very different kind of relationship breakdown than is usually trotted out in this kind of film.

A Crude Awakening: 2 stars. The category of "Peak Oil" documentary needs to get out of 101 territory.

Land of the Blind: 2.5 stars. I enjoyed this film, while being well-aware of its flaws. It's cartoonish and over-the-top, but I enjoyed its literate script. I'm a bit suspicious of films that seem to say, as this one does, that it doesn't matter what you do to try to change the system -- every replacement system is just going to be as bad.

I watched Little Children tonight. I knew nothing about the film, and the description on the box made it sound like I'd hate it. But I watch so many DVDs, I often rent films that I question whether or not I'll enjoy.

I liked it. There were lots of little elements of the story I liked. Kate Winslet uses the 'f' word (feminist) in an approving manner (with no time given to anti-straw-feminist positions). The weird and conflicting set of emotions that we end up feeling over the character with the unhealthy interest in children. The whole sequence where the reading group discusses Madame Bovary, and the way it's interweaved with scenes of an affair between two characters.

Lots of excellent moments. I had just mentioned to the_siobhan (when she was over Wednesday night) that I expected to hate it, and although I can't say that I loved it, I'm glad to have seen it.

I think I've realized that I'm most pleasantly surprised by films I know nothing about. Some of the films that just blew me away, I knew almost nothing about before seeing: Solaris, The Hours, and Crash are ones that stand out to me. So, perhaps I just shouldn't watch any ads for any movies, ever.

I saw The Caine Mutiny last night. One of the few Bogarts that I haven't seen before.