I suppose having your son accidentally die while masturbating isn’t how comedies usually start, particularly when the incident isn’t treated as a joke; but that’s how Bobcat Goldthwait works. In aiming his fourth film, World’s Greatest Dad, towards middle-aged grown-ups rather than the genre’s typical teenage audience, he symbolically does so by literally killing a teenager.

Summer Hours
France, 2008, 102 minutes
Director: Olivier Assayas

Using the story of a grieving family as the driving narrative, Summer Hours at first feels like a collection of painfully unbearable and pretentious bickering by members of a bourgeois-artistic French family. Upon looking closer, its real protagonists—the ones who change and experience conflict—are the objects around the house.

Still Walking
Japan, 2008, 114 minutes
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda

“These days, we’re not abnormal,” so says the returning son in Kore-eda’s film about family bond challenged by the pressure to maintain normalcy when things don’t go according to plan, leading to many of life’s regrets. By tackling the issue of mortality, the title Still Walking becomes a sad but hopeful ode to our memories of loved ones.

The Age of Stupid
England, 2008, 89 minutes
Director: Franny Armstrong

Recently, because of the gravity of the situation, there’s been a wave of “guilt trip” films about the environment. It’s no longer contained to just documentaries, though docs tend to be more direct in said guilt-tripping. The Age of Stupid, alas, takes it to another level, resorting to insults now. It’s angry and preachy as all get-out, though that should be apparent from the title. Not everybody is willing to give 90 minutes of their time to being called stupid repeatedly by a movie, but given the mounting evidence spelling out our doom, maybe it is necessary to be so blunt.

Moon
England, 2008, 97 minutes
Director: Duncan Jones

Despite its low budget and one-set limitations, Moon doesn’t fail to evoke a grand sense of wonderment by putting its idea and execution its means. Resolving the mystery of its narrative quickly, the film’s heart and drive is in its treatment of its (two of the same) main character—supported by a strong performance by Sam Rockwell.

You can already read Neil's review of Tyson here, which I think is spot on, but on Saturday I had the chance to see the movie introduced extensively by the film's director, James Toback, which offered me an uneasy perception of the film—largely because during the Q&A, Toback painted himself as a biased and somewhat unreliable source.

Standing across the street from the Castro Theater, a long line of people were standing in the rain, waiting to see a screening of a new print of The Rain People, the film Francis Ford Coppola made right before The Godfather. I wanted to make a pun, but it would have been to myself. So I suppressed the urge, knowing none would appreciate it more than I, anyway.

Rudo y Cursi
Mexico, 2008, 103 minutes
Director: Carlos Cuaron

Deliberately not showing the athletic talents of its protagonists, Rudo y Cursi thinks of itself as a story of brotherhood rather than soccer. While not as ambitious, nuanced or interesting as Y Tu Mama Tambien, this film offers a simple and predictable story that nevertheless shows the offbeat reality of the Mexican Dream and the cost of wealth.

Sorry it's a bit behind! Crazy week. I'm trying to catch up.

In the Loop
England, 2009, 109 minutes
Director: Armando Iannucci

Hilariously profane with its rapid-fire jokes, In the Loop (a standalone spinoff of the BBC series The Thick of It) leaves little room to breathe. Telling a fictional what-really-happened of how America and Britain started the Iraq war, it’s a witty satire concerning the catastrophe left behind when politicians are saving their own asses.