Christine, No Country for Old Men, Dante's Peak, and Lust, Caution

There is something comforting in the morally balanced (in terms of debits and credits) universe of Stephen King -- like in a film adaptation of his work such as Christine. Sure, it's an adolescent sense of righting wrongs, but it's all about karma and comeuppance. It's also not unique. Take another example, chosen almost at random: Dante's Peak. When the boss-geologist, who didn't think there was a reason to worry, dies in the volcanic maelstrom, one is left with a kind of "he deserved to die more than most of the victims".

So it is with great interest that we see the return of films where the glass is always less than half full. Whether it's the "bad guy" getting away, in Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men -- or whether it's the betrayal of a tight circle of friends, to save a man who would turn around and kill his savior, in Ang Lee's Lust, Caution -- there is something creeping back into motion pictures that last left it's mark during the heyday of American cinema of the early 1970s.

Tre

Should probably be called "Kakela" as I heard someone say leaving the screening. This almost too real foursome features strong performances all around, but the center of it really is Kakela, not Tre.

That being said, Tre is engaging for yet another reason -- its director, Eric Byler, who also brought us the true in spirit, if less mature in content and execution, "Charlotte Sometimes". Screening after screening brings cast and crew to parade in front of festival and club audiences -- and too often we're left on the verge of wondering whether getting started home earlier in the day might have been a better use of our time. There are almost always nuggets, but often not quite enough. Byler is different -- so while the film itself is quite worthwhile, if you can here from him (dvd extra, perhaps?) in addition to seeing the film, by all means pursue that!

Meet the Robinsons = The Terminator

Strangely enough, the story behind Meet the Robinsons is the same as
the story behind The Terminator: An invention gone wrong creates a
dystopian future in which machines enslave humans... and time travel
provides the solution.

Of course, the Disney movie emphasizes the brighter future, with the
dystopian future offered as a brief alternate scenario -- which is
the opposite of the emphasis in the Terminator films/tv series.