Gran Torino [Theatrical Release]

Clint Eastwood couldn’t screw up a movie if he tried. Gran Torino begins as an in-your-face testimonial about bigotry in America that calls attention to how ridiculous racial preconceptions really are. By confronting these issues head on, Eastwood shows us that when intolerance is challenged with love and compassion, instead of hate and scorn, even a lifelong racist can find redemption and salvation among those he used to execrate. A roller-coaster of a movie, Gran Torino will make your sides hurt with laughter, and sting your cheeks with tears. It is a bittersweet lesson teaching us that words only have power over you when you let them, and simple friendship and acceptance can change lives.

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [Theatrical Release]

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a gut-wrenching journey through the twentieth century as seen through the eyes of the singularly unique Benjamin Button. Button, born with all the physical ailments of the elderly, leads a life in reverse, living his youth as an old man, his silver years as a young man, and then finally, his golden years as a child. His journey isn’t without peril, as he learns that even though his medical condition is unlike anyone else’s, his human condition isn’t. This is an amazingly conceived movie that can’t help but remind me of Piers Anthony’s Death Rides a Pale Horse. Benjamin is anything but immortal though, even if Roth’s vision of him is. A wonderful movie for everyone, but I have to warn you, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

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