Sugar (dir. Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden)

Quick synopsis: Sugar follows the story of Miguel Santos, a.k.a. Sugar, a Dominican pitcher from San Pedro De Macorís, struggling to make it to the big leagues and pull himself and his family out of poverty....
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It's a compelling drama - drawing in on a raw emotion, realistic in it's character portrayal.
It's really involving and leaves you wondering about your own life.

The Reader (dir. Stephen Daldry)

"I don't think we need another film about the Holocaust, do we? It's like how many have there been? We get it. It was grim. Move on. Now, I'm doing it because if you've noticed, if you're doing a film about the Holocaust - you're guaranteed an Oscar. <...> Schindler's bloody List, The Pianist - Oscars coming out of their arses."
Kate Winslet in 'Extras'

She knows how it goes. It's not amazing, just it's guilt-trippingly okay.

Milk (dir. Gus Van Sant)

I liked Milk, I liked his passion and understood his empathy for the underdog. It's a well balanced film. Wonderfully written by a young and smart Dustin Lance Black, who grew up in mid-America with very religious parents. It seems like the guy has an innate talent to listen and portray a very realistic and compassionate image. Gus Van Sant did a wonderful job with this movie. He's a dream director for a film like this. Highly recommend and hope that it will pick up an Oscar. It's contemporary history at it's best. It's funny how some things get forgotten so quick and yet they are just as relevant today as they were then. They should teach this stuff at school.

Three Monkeys (dir.Nuri Bilge Ceylan)

Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s film shows a glimpse of a one family life and how it's affected by surrounding forces. It's a movie about guilt, grief and murder. I have my issues with the realism of the story, but then I don't know enough about Ceylan's films. Apparently, whether you find it gripping or disappointing largely depends on how familiar you're with his earlier work. It's slow and melodramatic both visually and tonally. I found it long, and there were quite a few scenes that the film could do without. The shots that didn't set the scene or gave anything to it - it seemed like the film was full of time fillers, beautifully shot yet meaningless. I didn't see the reason for it to be disaturated to the extent of almost being black and white. It's sepia tonality didn't add to the story, but distracted along with countless silent moments. I felt that the screenplay and the visual language both wanted to tell a story and you could almost feel the competition between them both.

Slumdog Millionaire (dir.Danny Boyle)

Slumdog Millionaire tells a story of three poor kids, who were born into extreme poverty in poorest part of Mumbai. This is a film about their lives. Despite it being full of slaughter, enslavement, brutality and criminal activity - it's a happy movie. And a very involving at that.
I must admit that I didn't like the trailer or the posters for the film - both give you a warp view of what the movie is really about. My guess is that the marketers wanted to portray it as a Bollywood film, which it is not. It's too grotty and vivid with shanty town scenes to be seen as such. It talks about brutality and corruption, the everyday struggle for survival. It's Danny Boyle at his best. Well captured characters and wonderfully framed scenery. Working with a small crew he managed to capture the ever changing and expanding slums. Recruiting locals and recording in hindu, made it possible for him to capture the real hunger and passion the small kids have.
It's another great film from a very good director.

Che 1&2 (dir. Steven Soderbergh)

What a way to start New Year - Soderbergh's 'Che' is a must movie to watch.
Soderbergh puts more emphasis on ideology rather than possible side effects of the war. It's a one sided view in many ways - it shows Ernesto Che Guevara (Benicio Del Toro) as people's hero who never left anyone behind or betrayed a comrade. It's an idealistic view of a warrior, it's easy to see why people would love him and idealise him.
Don't watch it if you're expecting an honest portrayal of the revolution. This is a movie about a hero and it should be seen as one. Benicio Del Toro gives a wonderful performance. The film is well art directed, it's not a Hollywood epic drama, but rather a film resembling a well shot documentary.

Nagi Noda (1973-2008)

This is the saddest news. Nagi Noda, the talented Japanese artist and director has died on Sunday 7. September. It's believed she died of the complication from the injuries she received in the car crash a year ago. It is also believed that she knew she was going to die as she got dressed for the occasion in Mark Ryden dress, Chanel bools and Victor&Rolf black lace eyelashes.
She created many memorable ads, amongst them for Nike and Coca-Cola. Many inspiring music videos for Japanese and international artists. She had her own studio called Uchu Country, which she started in 2003. And Nagi Noda was represented by Partizan in US and UK.

She will be greatly missed.