Rabbit Hole

This is a gem of a movie. Small near perfect personal study of a couple who lose their son and are trying to cope with his death.  The dialogue and direction are excellent. The story is realistically told ,not manipulative, leaving you feeling like you are supposed to be crying for these people. Instead you are pulling for them, just as they are pulling themselves together as best they can.

The acting is wonderful- Aaron Eckhart is wonderful as the husband, Sandra Oh is great as the support groupleader, Dianne Wiest is marvellous as the mother of the wife, the young man who plays the driver of the car is incredible.

The problem with this movie is Nicole Kidman. Nicole Kidman used to be a great actress with courage in her roles, emotion, diversity. She still is. Unfortunately, in this film she does not appear to belong in this lower white middle class family she is from which she is supposed to come .

Worse, she has no ability to make facial expressions anymore. Her crying and anger and laughter are all just as well played as ever but she doesn’t have a face to match. She appears to be expressing everything from behind a mask. So sad to watch- in fact ,sadder than the story of this family. She is the real tragedy and a cautionary tale. A brilliant actress lost but still alive and making movies. The Heath Ledger story without the corpse.

Having said that, it is still on my top ten for 2010 for the beautiful script, lovely low key honest story and the other actors. See it, flaws and all. Oh yes, and did I mention that I would go to see Aaron Eckhart read for two hours out of the dictionary ? Any edition.

True Grit- A True Blue Western

True confession: I don't like Westerns and don't get the point of them. Unforgiven was a recent exception. So is True Grit. I loved this movie. It is like a crotchety old friend who has no filter for his words or deeds but you know he has a heart of gold. The casting was perfect. Jeff Bridges was ideal and Matt Damon was creditable and not too cute. The young girl Ashlee Steinfeld played Matty to a T. The dialogue was funny and fast paced and the direction flawless. If you feel like seeing a great Western, or evn , like me, if you don't you will be won over. Great work, Coen brothers.

Barney's Version- A version from an earlier generation

You either get Mordecai Richler's schtick or you don't. I do. I was a little girl in Montreal when guys like Duddy Kravitz and Barney Pernofsky were around. They were post-Holocaust Jews who faced terrible discrimination in Canada. They did whatever they had to do to make money and to feel secure. They had a passion for life too and played as hard as they worked.

Paul Giamatti, whom I have previously utterly detested, has finally been cast in a part in which I find him credible, an ugly, crass cigar chomping entrepreneur. Dustin Hoffman as his father is Dustin Hoffman as his father, if you know what I mean. I found this film funny and poignant but at the screening I attended with my housemate, we seemed to be the only people laughing. I suspect the other, older crowd was too busy looking down their noses at our shmuck Barney. Me, I'm a Montreal kid, turned Scarborough teen. He made lots of sense to me.But then so did Duddy Kravitz.

Happy New Year,

Dame Velveeta Peron

True confession: I hate boxing but I am addicted to boxing movies. It must be the Scarborough girl in me or maybe I just love underdog stories. I watched the Rocky movies long past their “Best Before”date and I loved De Niro in Raging Bull.  The Fighter is definitely in the top tier of boxing movies. Based on a true story, the acting is amazing, especially Christian Bale, as the champs crack cocaine addicted brother. The other supporting actors and actresses playing the rest of the Ward clan are sensational, not that I want to have any of them over for dinner any time soon. Mark Wahlberg gives a very solid performance as the boxer although I wish he had a wider range of emotions. Amy Adams also does a creditable job as his girlfriend. The direction is believable and the story riveting. Definite Oscar contenders here. Not quite as good as The King’s Speech, which is flawless, but a “must see” for the Holidays nonetheless.

Must go back to the egg nog now,

Happy Holidays,

Dame Velveeta Peron

This is a great movie on every count. Great acting, lovely true story, likeable characters, believable dialogue, interesting costumes and sets, and Colin Firth, the most beautiful man in the world. He can stutter for two hours- or more- at my house anytime. Do not walk, run, to see this film, unless you’re a bit unsteady on your high heels. A girl must protect her shoes at all costs.

Your in lust,

Dame Velveeta Peron

So I’m back from the OHTN (Ontario HIV Treatment Network) Research Conference in Toronto. My head is still kind of reeling with the tons of data I try to suck up like a sponge at these events. Reeling too with the memories of the dozens and dozens of beautiful, committed people I know and love and reunite with at these affairs.

What we sometimes call the “HIV community” really is a wonderful thing. It makes me so proud to be a part of it.

Anyway, its back to business in this little corner of rural nowhere I call home – and back to PositiveLite, which happens to be a distinct pleasure, as I have much to share.  The OHTN Research Conference is both huge (over 600 people attended) and an important one, so there will be a number of posts about it..  You'll hear what I learned about some of the hot issues currently being debated in our community, interviews with some of the people I spoke to, and my impressions too of just where we are at.   I also wanted to give you some behind-the-scenes looks at our new collaboration with the OHTN in action.

But I wanted to start things off with Louise Binder. Many people already know Louise – she’s had an outstanding career as one of this country’s foremost poz activists spanning the last seventeen years, a champion hell-raiser if ever there was one. But she’s also funny, charming and she loves movies, cats and Japanese food, all of which she talks about here,   But the centrepiece of the story - how she wouldn’t give up the microphone after giving a keynote address on womens' issues at the 2006 International AIDS Conference, and who she kept waiting in the wings - is one of the classic moments in the history of the Canadian AIDS movement. She tells it here with gusto.

Thank you Louise. You are an absolute sweetheart – and you give great interview!