Capsules for movies No. 27-32

OK, here are the capsule reviews that I promised, from best film to worst ...

Movie No. 27: "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days": One of the only movies I've ever walked out of absolutely floored but the directorial choices. Almost every shot is perfectly calibrated to make this story of a college student trying to help her friend procure an illegal abortion in Communist 1980s Romania one of the year's most powerful films. For instance, in one scene the main character Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) has been coerced into having sex. While many films might have shown the pseudo-rape, this one chooses to instead have the camera stay in the bathroom with her friend. We know what is going on next door. We don't need to see it to make it powerful. Instead we see her friend's face as she hears what is going on, realizing what she has done to her friend and what is in store for her. It's an amazingly powerful scene, and it is one of many great ones in this film. Had I included this on my list from last year instead, it might have toppled "Once" from the top spot. It is that good. A

Movie No. 28: "The Visitor": While the film could maybe use a few more shades in its plotting, as a portrait of a man discovering something within himself that he thought had died long ago, the movie truly shines. That is in part because of the wonderful work of Richard Jenkins, who plays Walter Vale, a professor who returns to his little-used apartment in New York to find a pair of illegal immigrants have made it their home. Also deserving high praise is Hiam Abbass as the mother of one of the immigrants who Jenkins' character forges a connection with. It is here that the heart of the film lies, and this connection is one of the main reasons director Tom McCarthy's followup to the also wonderfully low-key "Station Agent" succeeds. It's almost enough to forgive McCarthy for his role as sleazy reporter Scott Templeton on the fifth season of "The Wire." A-

Movie No. 29: "Paranoid Park": Messed up chronologies can either work ("Memento") or not ("21 Grams") depending on whether there is an actual reason for the device other than just to add dramatic tension to a story that otherwise would be lacking. Here, director Gus Van Sant manages to use his fractured storytelling as a way to further explore the confused, clutterred mind of his protagonist Alex, a high school kid who must deal with his role in the accidental death of a security guard near a skateboard park. Since Alex is, ultimately the one telling the story, how he chooses to tell it, the jumping around, putting off showing the death, tells us something about him as well. It's an interesting trick and it works well. While Van Sant never quite achieves the poetry he seems to be looking for in some of the scenes, he does craft a compelling character piece, and that is no small feat. B+

Movie No. 30: "The Edge of Heaven": I'll admit, plot description of this German/Turkish film involving the search for a dead prostitute's militant daughter by the son of the man who accidentally killed her made me a bit skeptical. That Fatih Akin's film succeeds, however, is a testiment to how it never loses its focus on its characters' humanity. It handles the film's themes about the search for connection in a wonderfully understated manner. Perhaps the film's only problem is that the fractured nature of its storytelling robs it of a bit of its momentum between its three chapters. That flaw, however, is minor compared to its success. B+

Movie No. 31: "Ghost Town": This Ricky Gervais-headed Rom-Com never really found much of an audience, which is too bad because it might be the most sneaky-good movie of the year. It goes along for most of the film kind of like its protagnonist, occasionally amusing, definitely competant. Then at the end it hits you just how much the film has actually made you care about these characters, something far too few romantic comedies succeed at. That is sneaky-good. And that is what makes this romance/redemption tale a wonderful surprise. B+

Movie No. 32: "Snow Angels": A much more typical David Gordon Green film than his other effort of this year, "Pineapple Express," for much of its run "Snow Angels" is also the far more consistent, effective film, partially thanks to wonderful performances by Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale. That's right, Beckinsale, who I know I've said a few not-so-kind things about in the past, is utterly remarkable here as a mother, estranged from her husband and stuck in a waitressing job she doesn't seem to like. The film mixes sadness and desperation with hope in a wonderful combination. At least it does until an ending that just feels forced. Still, a more-than-worthwhile sit. B+

More coming soon.