I have been a movie reviewing bum, but here is a list of some films I have watched...that I can recall...and that I will make an effort to comment on by year's end:

Perfume
Bridesmaids
Horrible Bosses
Crazy, Stupid, Love
District 9
Zombieland
Tyranosaur
Neds

Damn, I better get busy!

Local Hero

In between viewing films nominated for Academy awards, I am sneaking in a few personal favorites and general feel-good or simply self-indulgent pieces here and there. So, when I couldn't sleep the other night, I loaded up Local Hero, a rare gem of a film by director Bill Forsyth (Gregory's Girl, Comfort & Joy). Local Hero has been a personal favorite from the first time I saw it when I was about 12 or 13 years old. Then I loved it because I had a crush on Peter Reigert and because it made Scotland seem like the most magical place on earth with the most beautiful coastline and the most fascinating night skies. I was also enamored of the red call box that played prominently in the film, and to this day I still yearn to have one in my home. I swear some day I will!

I have watched the film several times over the years, and each time I have grown to love it more because I have matured in my understanding of human nature and relationships, and that's what the movie us ultimately about. Burt Lancaster is an oil tycoon who sends Reigert, a 1980s emerging yuppie business exec, to Scotland to handle a transaction that involves convincing an entire village to sell their property in order for an oil refinery to be built there.

Of course, the villagers want to jump at the chance because life has been hard, but one wise old fisherman holds out, and thankfully so. Old Ben Knox teaches everyone what matters most in life and...ding, ding, ding - you guessed it! It ain't money.

There is also a fascinating subplot with a marine biologist named Marina (of course) who has webbed feet (what would a film about a Scottish or Irish coast be without some allusion to a mermaid?) and her role in the refinery plans, which she thought was going to be a research laboratory.

The sky and astronomy play big roles in the film too, and there is a character named Stella to help carry this theme along too. Burt Lancaster's character, Happer, is an astronomy buff, who is looking for a comet in the Virgo constellation, which can be seen perfectly from this particular wee Western Scottish beach village.

I won't spoil the ending in case you've never seen it, but it is a sweet, humble little movie that gives hope in the face of an ever present crushing capitalist marketplace. Beautifully scored by Mark Knopfler, Local Hero is an immensely satisfying, sweetly funny, slice of life film.

Black Swan

I watched this film Saturday night and needed a bit of time to process it. I think I want to watch it again, but so many movies to catch up on for the Oscars and a few indulgences along the way means it might be another week or two before I have time.

Black Swan. "I want to be perfect." I loved this movie. It is fraught with tension, and it surprised me at every turn. The trailers for it did a good job at misdirecting the would-be viewers as to what the film is really about. Yes, there is dancer on dancer sabotage, but it really goes deeper than that and is a film about woman on woman sabotage in many forms: friend to friend, mother to daughter, and self. It reminded me a bit of All About Eve, but far more psychologically interesting and, of course, cinematically executed.

Natalie Portman was fantastic, exuding paranoia, innocence, fear, and finally serenity and confidence that comes with the all necessary transcendence she finds in the end. She gave good face! I was shocked by Winona Ryder's appearance in the film; I honestly didn't recognize her at first. Vincent Cassell...mmm. Creepy, but motivational ballet director - brilliant. Mila Kunis was amazing. I have always liked her, but this was such a breakthrough role for her, and she was the perfect guide for Portman's required night journey into the underworld.

The dancing was phenomenal, and I loved the costuming. It truly was a brand new Swan Lake, focusing on the darkest, most seductive and sexual elements of the tale.

Aronofsky has managed to pull off another visually stimulating, slightly freakish piece of art. I was impressed by the camera work, and I especially loved the head shots of Portman walking through Manhattan.

Can't wait to watch it again.

127 Hours

I just watched 127 Hours, and I am blown away. It is a beautiful film. The cinematography is incredible, the split screen shots are compelling, James Franco is fantastic, and even though the outcome of the story is known ahead of time, it is wonderfully life affirming and uplifting. It was also fascinating to watch Ralston's self-analysis and mental state unravel over the course of the four days he was stuck in the gap. A bit gruesome at moments, but that's the reality of getting your ass trapped between a rock and a hard place. The soundtrack and score just move the film right along. My main negative critique is the tacked on real-life feel good ending. It just struck me as a bit pandering.

Not for everyone, but it is a good story about developing humility out of hubris.