"Hector and the search for happiness"

What a wonderful film. I haven't seen a movie that captivated me like this in a long while. The story is about a psychiatrist  who becomes disillusioned with his job. He decides to travel the world and discover what makes people happy. It's at times corny, melodramatic, and funny, but has some amazing cinematography. I really love this film. The two principles Simon Pegg and Rosamund Pike were both amazing. Well worth watching! What a fun movie. Almost 5 stars!

4.5 out of 5 starts

"Living is easy with eyes closed."

What a sweet film. It's about a nerdy English teacher in Spain in the early 60s who worships the Beatles. He finds out that John Lennon is shooting a movie in Spain and goes on on a trek to meet him. On his way, he picks up a couple hitch-hikers and the story enfolds. It's such an enjoyable movie. And the actors are all wonderful.
4.5 stars out of 5

"Eva"

An excellent movie for sci-fi buffs. It's different indeed. Alex returns to his hometown after 10 years to be part of a project to make robots with human emotion. He left years ago in the middle of a project working with his brother and future sister-in-law. When he meets his precocious niece, he decides to model the robot after her. I'll say no more. It's a wonderful movie. And I have to say, the young actress, Claudia Vega was absolutely amazing. Don't miss this one.

4.5 out of 5 stars

"Mapmaker"

I love the way the movie evolves. It starts out with an innocent  surveyor  who is trying to map a county in the north of Ireland. As the story enfolds, he's preyed upon by the suspicious locals. As it turns out, he's heavily involved. I'll say no more, but the plot does indeed, thicken. Interesting movie. Especially if you enjoy all things Irish.
3.5 out of 5 stars

"Pride"

What a fun movie. It's based on a true story. A group of gays and lesbians decide to support a coal miners strike in Wales. They collect money for them and then decide to go to Wales to join the strike. As you'd expect, at first they're rejected by the wary and somewhat bigoted miners. Eventually the two join hands. What a wonderful ride of a film. I'm not sure why this movie wasn't more talked about. Well worth a watch.
4 stars out of 5.

"You're Not You"

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for a well done tearjerker. And this one was extremely well done. It was the usual, someone's dying of a debilitating disease and befriends a caregiver. In this case, Hillary Swank plays a former concert pianist who's married to a rich attorney. When she contracts ALS, she hires a feisty young woman who's down on her luck and just needs a job, played by Emmy Rossum. The two form a bond and the chemistry between them is simply amazing. Both actors give outstanding performance which make this a much better movie than it would have been otherwise. It's pretty formulaic, but I thought it was great nevertheless. Get out your handkerchiefs for this one.
4 out of 5 stars.

"Shun Li and the Poet"

I was attracted to this movie because it was set in Venice. I was looking forward to beautiful scenes of one of my favorite cities in the world. But alas, it takes place in one of the grittier fishing villages in the lagoon. That aside, this is a wonderful yet subtle movie. It centers around a Chinese immigrant who works in a bar to pay off her debt to immigrate to Italy and raise enough money to be reunited with her young son. She befriends an older Yugoslavian immigrant and the story is about their relationship. The movie is slow moving and there isn't much drama except when some of the locals turn on her because they feel she's just a gold-digger. A very moving little film.
4 1/2 stars out of 5.