The House of Sand and Fog: A heart-wrenching, gripping, pure-human thriller, The House of Sand and Fog paints an unforgettable portrait of decent, well-meaning, conflicted people moved to frustration, helplessness and grief.
Lending his expatriate Iranian army colonel a bit of the stark fury he brought to bear in Sexy Beast, Best Actor Oscar nominee Ben Kingsley’s performance is riveting from beginning to end. How it came to be that Jennifer Connelly was overlooked for a Best Actress Oscar nod for her powerful portrayal of a damaged, uncomprehending recovering alcoholic, beggars belief. At least Shohreh Aghdashloo, as the flinty colonel’s self-deluded émigré wife, received a Best Supporting Oscar nomination.

Master and Commander: Late last evening, the multiple Academy Award nominee picked up the Best Film award from the London Film Critics’ Circle, whose members write for newspapers and magazines published in the UK.

A Capra-esque tale of whimsy leavened with wrenching drama and heartfelt sentiment, Irish born director Jim Sheridan’s In America, a multiple Academy Award nominee, is sure to move any audience to tears by movie’s end.
A 2003 critics’ favourite, this semi-autobiographical immigrant story of lives lived on the knife edge of hope, poverty and despair tracks the arrival of the director’s family into America in the early 1980s, in a story that would pierce the defenses of all but the most dogmatically cynical viewers.
Another must-see film to catch prior to Oscar night, February 29th.

Richly textured, uncompromising and transformative, Monster, writer/director Patty Jenkins’ award-winning interpretation of the life and death of Aileen Wuornos, dubbed America’s first female serial killer after her arrest for the murder of eight men along the Florida coastal highway in 1982, devastates almost from the first scene, as it presents the pitiless life story of its harridan / whore central character.
One of the must-see films this Oscar season, with an almost assured Best Actress Oscar for the bravura, ferocious central performance by Charlize Theron, Monster demands to be seen.