Celluloid #159

In Theaters

This Must Be the Place (2012) Sorrentino - Sean Penn plays an aging rockstar who looks remarkably similar to Robert Smith, and has the strangest soft voice. Cheyenne is pretty bored with his cozy life in Ireland, but all that changes when his estranged father dies. He flies to New York for the funeral and discovers that his father spent the majority of his life searching for the Nazi responsible for torturing him in the concentration camps. Cheyenne decides to adopt this cause as his own, taking him all over the country. Also, David Byrne plays himself in the film. 7/10

In Home

Margaret (2011) Lonergan - Lisa is partially responsible for causing a bus accident that results in a woman getting run over and killed. Lisa's also a teenager so we see her at school, having sex, and fighting with her mother in that particular way that daughters and mothers do. In general she emotionally manipulates everyone around her. She also gets it in her head that the bus driver should be fired despite the fact that she initially lied to the police to cover up for him. Lisa is not a particularly likable person, but that's perhaps what makes this film so compelling for its long run time. Lisa is played by a pre-True Blood Anna Paquin. 8/10

Miss Bala (2011) Naranjo - A young woman named Laura is trying out for a beauty pageant gets sucked into the dangerous world of drugs and violence in Tijuana just for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. She tries to escape several time, but the drug guys always find her. Not wanting her family to be involved, she endures multiple indignities to protect them. This film makes Laura suffer so much - I guess to show the world how rough things are in Tijuana, but this shouldn't be news to anyone. 6/10

Monsieur Lazhar (2012) Falardeau - A teacher at a private Montreal middle school hangs herself in her classroom. The students take her death very hard and the administration hires an older Algerian immigrant to take her place, since they don't have a lot of options. Monsieur Lazhar's methods are much more strict and old-school compared to the other teachers. We also find out that he is grieving for his own family and struggling to be allowed to stay in the country. 7/10