JimSDCal

"The Reader" directed by Oscar-nominated director Stephen Daldry should not have been the 5th film to earn an Oscar-nomination as Best Picture. That honor should have gone to "Doubt" or "The Dark Knight". But, Holocaust-themed pictures are popular with the Academy so this film was nominated. However, this is not a great movie like "Schindler's List" but only very-good, like "The Pianist"

Michael is a high-schooler in West Germany in the mid-50s when he is afflicted with scarlet fever. When he gets sick on the streets, Hannah (the very good Kate Winslet) comes to his aid. After months of convalescense, he goes to Hannah's house to thank her for her assistance and soon the pair starts a romance. It mostly consists of Michael's reading literary classics to Hannah and then sex. This tryst lasts a few months and then peters out.

Almost a decade later, Michael is a law student and as part of a seminar on the legal ramifications of the Holocaust he attends a trial of several women charged with war-related crimes. Michael is very surprised to see Hannah on trial and has crucial evidence about her possible complicity. He must decide whether or not to bring it up.

I like this film but do not feel it to be one of the year's 5 best. So it gets a grade of 8 and a positive recommendation. But, do not expect a truly great movie when going to see this film.

This movie is rightly considered the front-runner for this year's Best Picture. It is easily the year's best and one of the best of the whole decade. It is directed by Danny Boyle, who should win the year's Best Director Oscar, and is about a young man, Jamal Malik (Dev Patel, who should have been Oscar-nominated) who is a contestant on India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". Jamal does very well on the questions of the show, which are very difficult, and the police believe to have gotten so many questions right, Jamal must have cheated.

But in telling the story of his life, amidst grinding poverty and oppression, Jamal tells how he was able to know the answers to the questions that were posed to him. Jamal's story is mainly about how he combated his dire circumstances with his brother Salim and how he has always loved a young girl named Latika. In fact Jamal went on the game show hoping Latika would see it and that the two might be reunited after years of separation.

I went to this film expecting a lot and was surprised to see that it was better than I hoped for. It tells an uplifting story and mixes gritty drama, of how Jamal used his wits and courage to get by in a world designed to grind him down as he is only a "slumdog", with romance as Jamal never forgets Latika and only dreams that against all odds that the pair can get back together. So, this film gets a grade of 10 and the highest possible recommendation.

"Grumpy Old Men" is a movie about two senior citizens, John Gustafson (Jack Lemmon) and Max Goldman (Walter Matthau) who have known each other their entire lives and love getting the better of one another. They refer to each other as "Moron" (Goldman) and "Putz" (Gustafson) and play pranks on the other. John puts a fish in Max's back seat causing an awful stench in his friend's car while Max uses his remote to change channels while John is attempting to watch the lottery. The two men embark on a competition to win the affection of an attractive woman, Ariel Truax (Ann-Margret), who moves into the neighborhood and each does his best to win her heart. This movie is very funny, Lemmon and Matthau are one of the movie's best comedic duo and their story is filled with touches that show how both men retain their vitality though they are getting up in age. So, this film gets a grade of 7 out of 10 and a pretty strong recommendation.