Movie Diary 6/3/2010

Agora (Alejandro Amenabar, 2009). Rachel Weisz being smart as Hypatia, the ancient scholar, who met her fate at the hands of Alexandria’s Christian population. Like many historical epics of nowadays, its digitally-constructed world makes it seem wrapped in a layer of seamless, blemish-free polyurethane.

The Wildest Dream (Anthony Green, 2010). An IMAX feature shot on Mt. Everest, probably because it’s there. If it doesn’t live up to the astonishment one hopes for, that may have something to do with the bar being raised really, really high.  (full review 8/6)

Last Train Home (Lixin Fan, 2009). At times startling documentary about the annual migration of low-paid workers to and from their homes in China. Like the Mt. Everest doc, you marvel at how they got their cameras where they got their cameras.

Amer (Helene Cattet, Burno Forzani, 2009). The conventions of the Italian horror film are deftly rendered in this didn’t-miss-a-trick homage. And it gets better as it goes – rare for this kind of project.