February 22, 2008

Gone Baby Gone - $10

It is officially the year of Casey Affleck as I have now watched two movies in succession where he has blown me away.


Gone Baby Gone is a heart wrenching story of a missing girl and the desperate search for her by family, police and a private detective named Patrick Kenzie. Kenzie is portrayed brilliantly by Casey Affleck who could very well have gotten an Oscar nod for this role. He's already up for supporting actor for his equally marvelous role in The Assassination of Jesse James... and as good as he is in that he is ever better in this movie.

Gone Baby Gone was directed by Ben Affleck who also had a hand in adapting the screenplay from the novel by Dennis Lehane, writer of Mystic River. Set in Boston, this story gave the Boston native the unique ability to make it authentic and with his choice of casting his brother Casey in the main role and using local people as extras the authentic Boston feel comes through perfectly. Ben has destined himself to be known as "the other Affleck" now though as this movie is yet another piece of evidence that the acting talent is clearly stronger with Casey in that family.

Gone Baby Gone is not to be missed. I can't think of a single thing that the movie makers didn't get right. The mood is dark and engaging, the writing is fantastic as the story and characters are developed quickly and deeply, the music is as haunting as the story, and several of the acting performances were among the best of the year. I was left thinking about this movie for a long time afterward.

See this movie and do it soon. This is a nearly flawlessly told story and is the best movie of 2007 in my books. (I'm gonna have to redo that best of 2007 list.)

Gone Baby Gone is on my 'Watch It' list and I give it a full value rating of $10

February 18, 2008

LAMB Article

I'm a member of the Large Association of Movie Blogs (LAMB) and I've written an article for them as part of a 24 part series about the Oscars.

Check it out here.

And take a look at the many other quality members of LAMB.

Large Association of Movie Blogs

February 12, 2008

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - $9

To use a tired blog cliche, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's been a busy time in life and so I'll keep this one brief. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (TAJJCRF) was brilliant.


TAJJCRF grabbed me from the first moment. The visuals were outstanding, it is a crime that the director is not up for an oscar, the acting was amazing and even the narration is worth mentioning.

This is a long movie so be prepared for that and it is a bit slow in parts which is really the only thing keeping me from rating it at $10.

Amazingly though this is the second western in a row that I've loved.

TAJJCRF is on my 'Watch It' list and I give a value of $9.