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2. Charlie Wilson's War
"My loyalty? For twenty four years people have been trying to kill me! People who know how. And do you think that's because I'm the son of a Greek soda pop maker, or because I'm an American spy. Go fuck youself, you fucking child!"
After the implosion of Studio 60, it seemed we'd lost Aaron Sorkin to a self-righteous, shrill parody of his former self. Maybe it was the distance of adapting someone else's work, but his first post-60 script (and his first screenplay in 12 years) evidences a return to form.
The same sharp dialog that sets Sorkin apart to the point where you have to ask if a particular actor can speak Sorkin the same way you ask if they can speak Mamet, is firing on all cylinders here, placed in the mouths of some fine performers. Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman in particular form one of the year's best duos (right up there with Cheryl Hines and Adrienne Shelly in Waitress or Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor in Talk to Me).
The film also manages to accomplish in the last five minutes what most of this year's war-themed movies couldn't manage in two hours. In that short space, the flick makes its point (something like, "If you don't invest in infrastructure after arming a bunch of people, many of whom would like to kill you, it'll probably come back to bite you in the ass") without much fanfare, and still has more to say than 90 percent of its kith. A lot of that is due to the respect it shows for its audience by letting them do the math.
1. Once
"During the daytime people would want to hear songs that they know, just songs that they recognize. I play these song at night or I wouldn't make any money. People wouldn't listen."
I have never really seen a movie like Once. You could compare it to Lost in Translation, but that would neglect the music. You could compare it to Before Sunrise, but that would neglect the scope. You could compare it to a series of music videos (really, really good music videos), but that would neglect the characters.
That last description, though, would probably be the most accurate. Writer/director John Carney presents us with two characters (played with effortless naturalism by Markéta Irglová and The Frames' Glen Hansard) who fall into what can be best described as real-life music videos. Just watching their relationship develop is charming enough, but the music. Oh, the music. Suffice it to say if I could have downloaded the soundtrack in the theater during the film, I would have.
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