Movied Out

Here on the Vineyard it's tough to see a really good movie. Most of the movies are your regular much-advertised mediocre Hollywood movies.

I hadn't been to the movies here for maybe a year, so I decided to take in the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival this past weekend. It certainly was not full of Hollywood movies; most of the movies required sub-titles. Maybe I've become jaded in my dotage, but the five movies I saw were really not spectacular in any sense, most were too long and boring. The best was a 20-minute short, God of Love.

Next up was a trip to the local movie house which showed an American but not really Hollywood movie, Get Low. It has received very good reviews and really deserved them. I'd be surprised if Robert Duvall does not win an Oscar for his performance. But he was not the only good part of the movie. The story was adult, the filming meshed with the story. The other actors, Bill Murray, Sissy Spaceck and a host of actors unknown to me, were very good. See it if you can.

By all means don't see The American. This film made absolutely no sense to me or my son, who theorized that George Clooney took the role because he wanted a vacation. While the story was based on a novel, the adaptation missed the plot if the novel had one. This is certainly a strong candidate for worst film of the year.