Three Films I Could Do No Justice

Surveillance by Jennifer Lynch is a beautifully slow psychological thriller that toys with the expectations of the viewer, with the way we put together information when there isn't enough of it. After a horrifying event, two agents (Bill Pullman, Julia Ormond) from the outside start to interrogate a group of witnesses in the local police station, and it soon turns out that everybody has something to hide; by the end, you might find yourself rooting for someone you'd never thought you would. Well acted (especially by Pullman and Ormond), plus Add it Up by the Violent Femmes plays a central role in the movie (it's all fun and games, until suddenly there's a gun), so what could possibly go wrong? 

Surveillance (2008), directed by Jennifer Lynch, starring Julia Ormond, Bill Pullman, Caroline Aaron, Gill Gayle, Kent Harper, Michael Ironside, Pell James, Shannon Jardine, Charlie Newmark.

Christophe Honoré's Les chansons d'amour is a musical; but one more in the tradition of Whedon's Once More With Feeling, where the lyrics reveal things about the characters they are desperately trying to hide. It's essentially about loss more than love - the family, friends and lovers of Julie (Ludivine Sagnier) deal differently with her sudden and unexpected death - and about how in the face of loss, people form new connections with each other, if sometimes only hesitantly. Serious recommendation from someone usually not easily wooed by romantic movies.

Les chansons d'amour (2007), directed by Christophe Honoré, starring Louis Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier, Chiara Mastroianni, Clotilde Hesme, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, Brigitte Roüan, Alice Butaud. 

Ryan Gosling is an idealistic teacher who disregards the syllabus to teach his students about how opposing forces and they struggle for dominance define the course of history, all the while battling his own demons. His drug addiction might not entirely define him as a man, but neither does being a good teacher; the balance is fragile, and as he forms a friendship with one of his students and tries to protect her from what he regards as destructive influences, he also learns that his addiction prevents him from being able to be the good guy in the story. Brilliantly acted by Gosling and Epps, one of those rare movies that could easily drift into being a cliché but never does, and instead tells an authentic story with complex characters. 

Half Nelson (2006), directed by Ryan Fleck, starring Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Jeff Lima, Nathan Corbett, Stephanie Bast, Eleanor Hutchins, Tina Holmes.