the Movies...

Of the movies I watched this weekend, two took me by complete surprise. Although one had come with much recommendation, the other fell from my desire to watch foreign/art type films.

The Matador was film Saturday; número one. Highly praised by a close friend, I entered the experience with anticipation high. This thankfully, did not kill the moment. I’m going to keep this short; Pierce Brosnan completely dispels the vestige of 007’s shadow and presents a range that is absolutely phenomenal.

Greg Kinnear’s impressive portrayal of Bob Crane in ‘Auto Focus’ buried ‘Talk Soup’ memories and in Matador, we see his befitting backdrop to Brosnan’s humor as a disintegrating facilitator. This is two hours of your life that is worth committing to the couch.

Caché was film Sunday; nombre two. Reminding myself to breathe was an often occurrence as Michael Haneke's directorial approach drew me into an odd sense of anticipation. Lengthy, static shots of nothing seemingly particular set the pace for psychological terrorism through the mere concept of being watched.

Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil give convincing performances as a couple pulled into interpersonal distrust, but it’s the films direction I found most appealing. At the risqué of revealing too much, the viewer is required to dissect elements within moments that appear overtly benign, ultimately to construct resolution from those extractions.

The pace, like many a French film is slow, but in this case, deliberately. This is two hours of your life that is worth the couch and quite a bit of discussion afterward.