108 - I'm Not There

Trying to decipher Bob Dylan was probably an impossible task, but this was a good effort to try and give people somewhere to start (or not). Personally, I think this made me realize that he really didn't want to represent or be represented. Dylan bounced off ideas or expressed what was there...he couldn't care less what it meant or how it could be absorbed by the listener.

I enjoyed Michelle Williams' turn as Coco and Bruce Greenwood's Keenan Jones. David Cross as Allen Ginsberg though....that felt weird.

Not much to say about Cate (just bow your head and pay your respects!)

107 - The Savages

Tamara Jenkins said it best when she explained how she preferred to allow the dark comedy be viewed by the audience as an observer and not something that had to be rammed down one's throat. And the whole film really is presented from an observer's point of view. Just watching Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney bounce lines off of each other is very satisfying. And Philip Bosco's performance (as their father) was golden. I was hoping this film would remain true and not deliver this wonderful redemptive ending (that could potentially spoil it), but I was very pleased with Tamara's approach. It's not a sugar-coated one. It was genuine and in the hands of Laura and Phil, just cannot be delivered any better.

106 - There Will Be Blood

Daniel Plainview is a cold-blooded bastard :)

Dillon Freasier, who portrayed H.W., could very well be a really great actor in the making....should he choose the profession....he clearly picked up from Daniel and presented a cold facade that can be quite scary if he ever stared at you. While he was under the shadow of his father's retched ways, I think we was merely an observer.....untainted.

Paul Dano was very good, as well, but I had to get used to him having all that dialogue, as the last time I saw him (or remember him clearly) was in Little Miss Sunshine.

105 - The Brave One

The role of Erica Bain required somebody who had a hard face and a masculine stance and I think Jodie Foster was a good choice. I was most caught by this scene where Erica returns to her radio show and after seconds of pause, transforms from this island of fear to rugged terrain. Her words of realization was a turning point in the story. Terrence Howard was another good choice. He's a tempered version of Denzel Washington (a better version, I think).

Now could someone please give Jodie her dog back.......