Celluloid #45

In Theaters (the theme this week is: People with face tattoos are bad news)

Sin Nombre (2009) Fukunaga - Sayra (a Honduran girl), her dad, and her uncle are travelling North to get to New Jersey. Meanwhile, Willy aka Casper is part of a violent gang, but has become increasingly frustrated by his role and his life. Circumstances cause Willy to commit an act of revenge which leaves him on a train full of immigrants including Sayra and her family. Another installment in the New Neo-Realism trend in independent films --featuring some crazy scenes considering most of the film takes place on top of the train, but some fairly predictable plot points. 4/5

Star Trek (2009) Abrams - A fun, campy, modern-day B-movie. Exactly what you would expect from a summer movie: some action, some style, and good-looking people (Spock is cute!). I really wish J.J. Abrams would get off of his time travel/alternate reality kick; I think he's exhausted most of his ideas surrounding that theme on both "Lost" and "Fringe". Other than that, I enjoyed the multiple father son dilemmas and that nobody seemed to be taking themselves very seriously. 3.5/5

In Home

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) Scorsese - Alice lives a life controlled by men. Her abusive husband dies and sends her on a journey to recapture the happiness of her childhood in Monterey. On the roadtrip with her 12 year-old son, she gets a job as a singer in a nightclub and later as a waitress. She also gets involved with two men: one who hits her and one who hits her kid. This film seems like it wants to put forth a strong female character, and perhaps even an overall feminist slant, but eventually falls back into typical attitudes towards women and their inability to survive without a man. 3.5/5

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1961) Reisz - Arthur works at a factory and has an ongoing affair with a married woman whom he gets pregnant. He's also seeing another young lady and spending much of his free time playing pranks. Arthur desires a life of nonconformity, but finds it hard to break from standard expectations. Stylish film that was part of the "Angry Young Man" film movement, aka the British New Wave. 4/5

the Son (2002) Dardenne - A carpentry teacher for a boys' vocational school becomes obsessed with a new student. We learn early on that this student is connected to the death of the teacher's own son several years earlier. A tense film full of incredible dialogue scenes, confrontations, and occasional attempts at redemption. 4/5