Movies

Tamara Drewe (2010) Superior dramedy showing the complex interactions of a diverse group of well-realized characters. I don't recall seeing reviews for a U.S. release, maybe because it would have little appeal to the car chase, shootout and explosion demographic. I picked it for Family Movie Night specifically because I saw stills of people sitting around a laden table, talking - it's one of those, but never bogs down with prolonged scenes of someone walking and thinking, or sitting and thinking, the way they sometimes do. I attribute its superiority to the fact that the source material and screenplay were both written by women, who probably never once felt the urge to make it more exciting by having someone point a pistol at another person. Lots of good intelligent laughs and believable circumstances. It's also nice to see email and cellphones as plot devices occasionally, mired as I often am in the archaic and fantastic. Well worth seeking out. 9/10

The Falcon Strikes Back (1943) This is part of my continuing program of seeing movies based on popular radio shows, or upon which radio shows were based. I don't expect them to be very good, and they rarely are. Tom Conway is The Falcon, and supporting characters include Harriet Hilliard, Cliff Edwards, and Edgar Kennedy. There are a number of rationing-related gags - all you had to do was say rubber or meat and it was a joke. 4/10