4th & Short: 11/22/09

I know you might find this hard to believe, but there are other movies out now other than New Moon. Nah, I'm serious. You might not believe it since you probably can't see past the blockade of pimple faced teeny-boppers, with their Team Jacob backpacks and glazed look in their eyes. If you managed to survive the trek into dangerous territory to see New Moon, then you and I are kindred spirits. We've seen the face of the enemy, and the enemy wears lots of pink.

3. Precious

If you haven't had a chance to check out Gaby Sadibe's stirring, deeply affecting performance as Precious, you're depriving yourself of one of the best performances of the year. But this is a film full of wonderful turns by some actors you'd least expect it, Mo'nique will surely be nominated for her turn as Precious's deeply manipulative and abusive mother; but it's Mariah Carey as a concerned social worker that really opened my eyes.

2. The Messenger

In the pantheon of bad jobs, being a Casualty Notification Officer has to rank right up there at the top. Ben Foster plays a war hero who returns home only to be given the job of telling the next of kin that someone they love won't be coming home. Woody Harrelson, who is quietly having one of the best years of his career, plays a grizzled veteran who perhaps has been at the job too long. When one of them enters into a relationship with the widow(Samantha Morton) of a fallen officer, all types of moral boundaries are crossed. While I have some issues with the script, the performances alone by everyone involved make this a must-see. A look at the true cost of war that we've never really seen on screen before.

1. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

I'm not even sure Nicolas Cage read the script. Oftentimes it seems like he's ab-libbing his way through all this craziness. I think I caught Val Kilmer trying not to laugh on a couple of occasions. This is Nicolas Cage unchained, and teamed up with eccentric director Werner Herzog you just knew fireworks were gonna fly, and I'll be damned if they don't! Cage plays a drug addicted corrupt cop working the New Orleans beat right after Hurricane Katrina. Wild, unpredictable, and by far the most fun movie I've seen in months. If you have a chance to see anything, and Bad Lieutenant is nearby, GO SEE IT! I promise you won't be disappointed.

DVD Pick: Thirst (2009)

Expecting to see Star Trek here? While I loved JJ Abrams' reworking of the classic sci-fi franchise, no DVD out this week had more of an immediate impact with me than Park Chan-Wook's crazy vampire horror/comedy, Thirst. Those jonesing for a vampire fix and feeling a little uninspired by the recent rash of teen angst blood suckers will find themselves fulfilled by a fresh, new take on vampire lore. When a priest finds himself the victim of an experiment gone wrong, he turns into a creature that must consume the blood of others to survive. But being a devout, religious man, how does he reconcile his new craving with his long held beliefs? It's an intriguing moral dilemma made all the more compicated by his girlfriend, who's all too eager to revel in their new found powers.