Richard: Mark, the end of the year always offers up great movies for Christmas consumption. Some of the biggest hits of the year, like The Help and The Smurfs, are coming out, but I’d like to suggest an overlooked movie from earlier this year. The First Grader is the story of Kimani N’gan’ga Maruge, an 84-year-old Kenyan villager and ex Mau Mau freedom fighter, and his fight to earn a fundamental right – to get an education. It’s inspirational and an engrossing study in strength and dignity. What will you rent this week?
Mark: Yes, DVDs are an excellent way to see some of the smaller films that flew under the radar this year, although I can’t completely share your enthusiasm for The First Grader. I found the film kind of reductive, although the stellar performance by the elderly lead was captivating. You cannot keep your eyes off him! Another octogenarian, Christopher Plummer, stars in Beginners, which I want to see again. One of my favourite films of the year, it’s an elliptical romance involving a depressive slacker and his girlfriend, with Plummer as the dad who comes out of the closet at 75. Seen it?
RC: I have! Plummer is fantastic, but I have to say my two favourite performances in that movie belonged to Mélanie Laurent and Cosmo, the Jack Russell terrier. If there was an Academy Award for cute, they’d both win. Another movie that should have gotten more attention is Warrior. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton play estranged brothers brought together by ultimate fighting. It’s hard going stuff, but in its own way it was a heartfelt, inspirational story. Like Rocky times two.
MB: Haven’t seen it, Richard, so thanks for the tip. The antithesis of Warrior might be Magic Trip, a documentary of found footage from Ken Kesey’s band of Merry Pranksters bus trip across America in 1964. A real time capsule of proto-hippie peace and love, I’m giving it as a gift this season to any of my friends who think they remember the Sixties. And I never saw Apollo 18, which combines mock-footage, paranoia, and sci-fi. I’m hoping to love it!
RC: I missed that one as well. But in keeping with the spacey theme, I can recommend Another Earth, a low-fi sci-fi story about a second earth and the redemption it offers. It’s more about ideas than special effects, but it is worth a gander.
