Kicking off this week’s new releases is Film of the Week In The Valley of Elah. As one of the numerous Iraq films that have been released recently I would have to say that it is certainly the finest and as a drama there is no denying that Paul Haggis’ film is simply brilliant. Tommy Lee Jones is the ex-army officer who finds out that his son has returned from Iraq and subsequently gone AWOL and decides to try and find him. This is powerful stuff featuring great performances from Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon, James Franco, Josh Brolin and Jason Patric (not to mention Tommy Lee Jones who seems to have be created solely for this role) that offers a thoughtful meditation on the nature of war and the way it can poison society.
Next up (and Film of the Week any other week) is Before The Devil Knows You’re
Dead. As an old man (84 years young) it is nice to see that director Sidney Lumet is still making films with the same energy as he was decades ago. This tale of two brothers setting out to rob their parents’ jewellery store is a fierce character driven drama starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke. Of course, as always, things don’t go to plan but the fractured structure, plus some great work by Marisa Tomei and Albert Finney ensures that the film stays nicely ahead of the audience.
Also out this week are the Andrzej Wajda War Trilogy, Wim Wenders’ Alice In The Cities, under-seen youth drama On The Edge and the brilliantly soundtracked Radio On; all of which are worth checking out (sorry for the lack of detail but I’m writing this against a cinema appointment deadline) as is, allegedly cos I ain’t seen it yet, bestiality documentary Zoo.
…gotta run, happy viewing, I’m off to watch Cassandra’s Dream and I’ll bore you all about it tomorrow.
