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THE DAMNED UNITED
√ Bob Certified

    An Oscar-consideration performance by Michael Sheen, the English actor who played David Frost in last year’s taut “Frost/Nixon,” fuels this tale of  Brian Cough, the brash, flamboyant (and ultimately) legendary British soccer team manager. The emphasis isn’t on soccer. In fact, there is little time in the film devoted to what is happening on the field. The real battle is over such matters as unchecked ambition, teamwork, unhealthy obsession, values, loyalty and redemption.  Written by Peter Morgan and directed by Tom Hooper, the film has such an authentic feel that there is a strong documentary-like feel to it. Goal!
 
An Education 10/21/2009
 
AN EDUCATION
√ Bob Certified

      This is a deceptively complex film about youthful awakening that changes directions frequently but never at the risk of mood or believability.  Peter Sarsgaard is so charming as a seemingly sophisticated man in his early 30s that you’re alarm only barely triggers when he offers a 16-year-old school girl (Casey Mulligan) a ride after he sees her standing on a street corner in the rain.  She’s bored with school and resists her parents’ hopes of her going to Oxford because she sees formal education as a path to dullness—something she sees in her teachers, school administrators and her parents. So this man offers another kind of education: a step into the glamour of the arts (he takes her to a recital) and the magical Paris (which triggers her dreams far more than drab England).  Things start to feel a bit creepy when he asks her to go to a late supper after the recital and then to spend the weekend with him and some friends in Oxford, and you can’t imagine Casey’s parents granting permission. But her folks succumb, also, to the man’s charm and see him as a way to help get their daughter into Oxford. Well after some clear sailing things do go wrong, and you are left with many intriguing questions about values, the role of parents and just how much a young girl—even a smart one—can trust her instincts. Excellent performances by Sarsgaard and Mulligan. The screenplay is by Nick Hornby.  A low-key gem. 
 
Bright Star 10/05/2009
 
BRIGHT STAR
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    I was planning to review director Jane Campion’s heralded film about English poet John Keats’ two-year relationship with his romantic muse (David Denby and Joe Morgenstern both loved it),  but I have to disqualify myself because I fell asleep a third of the way into it.  Sorry.
 
 
Albums:

     THE AVETT BROTHERS 
√ Bob Certified
     I haven’t heard this North  Carolina trio’s earlier albums so I’m basing my opinion solely on this Rick Rubin-produced major label debut—and I’m telling you there’s a touch of greatness in this band, whose best moments remind you of the richness and depth of the Band’s softest moments. The imagery is sometimes familiar—which is often the case with songwriters as steeped in the folk and country traditions as the Avetts appear to be. But the songs are evocative and heartfelt, making those images take on a fresh, modern sensibility. The album’s opening lines invite you on a journey that touches on the kind of youthful awakening that has been at the heart of best bands, from the Band to U2: “Load the car and write your note/ Grab your bag and grab your coat/ tell ones that need to know/ We are headed north.”  (American)


     MONSTERS OF FOLK
√ Bob Certified
     Many of today’s most gifted musicians, from Jack White to Conor Oberst, seem to enjoy collaborations, even if it means putting their own best work on a sidetrack (the White Stripes and Bright Eyes/Oberst). Here Oberst teams up with some talented pals (Jim Jarvis, M. Ward and Mike Mogis) and it works wonderfully. Many of the songs are about searching for love, faith or, maybe, just some sanity in a time when society’s values seem in transition. There are several gems here, including Oberst’s “Map of the World”—the Bright Eyes boy’s own statement of youthful awakening and wonder. It begins: “There is a map of the world on the wall in your room/ Green pins where you want to go/ White pins where you been/ There isn’t even 10/ You’re already feeling old.” (Shangri-La)