Cassandra's Dream

Rating: 7

This would be an excellent companion piece with Before The Devil Knows You're Dead, which is also centered around a pair of brothers who get in over their heads as criminals. It's a really enjoyable film and I was surprised by Colin Farrell's wonderful performance, playing against his usual tough-guy type. Of course, Ewan MacGregor is excellent as always. I haven't enjoyed Woody Allen's comedies in quite some time but he's got a flair for noir-ish suspense stories, and I hope it's a genre he'll continue exploring.

Sundance Update - from roving reporter, Cinde Ennis!

What a fun place for a group vacation.

I saw:

Love Comes Lately

Directorial debut of Michael Keaton: A Merry Gentleman I really liked it and the female lead, Kelly McDonald was FABULOUS. Michael was there for the Q and A. Cool guy.

Megane (Glasses): A Japanese film written and directed by a woman It was AWESOME

Patti Smith Documentary: It was in the making for 12 years. Loved it!

Incendiary: directed by Sharon McGuire who did Bridget Jones Diary. Stars Michelle Williams and Ewan MacGregor . Loved it! She is academy award level excellent.

Lot's of celebrity sightings: Collin Farrell, Kirsten Dunst, Bill Paxton, Glenn Close, Matthew Broderick and SJ Parker, Mos Def, Kevin Bacon (my friend Kira (his sister) was with us so we went to a cool fund raiser with him and skied.

Big Guy from The Office who was engaged to Pam" that works in the warehouse. He was in the category of "I recognize you but don't know your name"

Barry Levinson, Bob DeNiro (I heard the film sucked)

R.I.P. Heath

It's hard to say anything about this without sounding corny and trite I guess, but this is an unthinkable loss and it breaks my heart.

Atonement

Rating: 7

A little weepy & sappy, but the costumes were pretty and there's one cool long tracking shot. It would be a typical choice for best picture at the Oscars - I thought the Golden Globes tended to be a bit more edgy, what with being foreigners & all, but I guess not this year.

Cloverfield

Rating: 5

I think rather than being decapitated by a giant monster, the Statue of Liberty's head exploded as a result of the choppy, shaky hand-held photography in Cloverfield. Ow, my head!

Billy The Kid

Rating: 7.5

It's about a 15-year-old in a small town. And if that's not bad enough, he's got Asperger's Syndrome. It would be cool if at some point there was a 7 Up-style follow-up to this, because it captures such a small period in his life, it leaves the viewer with a lot of questions.

There Will Be Blood

Rating: 9

Is it just me, or does Daniel Day-Lewis bear a striking resemblance to Charles Foster Kane in that poster? I don't think it's a coincidence, since the movie's about how greed and ambition make you kooky. Also there's some metaphor about blood being like oil, I think. It's a gothic, sad, creepy story with strange and interesting characters, made even creepier by the score from Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead. And the title doesn't lie: there was blood.

The Orphanage

Rating: 8.5

Goodness me, it's creepy! The majority of the story is about discovery, and it's captivating. I don't know what it is about the Spaniards that makes them a little obsessed with the death of children but it's definitely a theme that isn't ever explored in American cinema. I'm sure it's got something to do with Catholicism. And what is it about European directors that allows them to get phenomenal performances out of children? This will forever perplex me.

The Savages

Rating: 8

It's about people my age who are emotionally underdeveloped. Though I'm sure the film isn't intended as a downer, it depressed me how much I related to it. Good story and wonderful acting.