Cynical Cinema

I have seen what might be the best movie made this year. And it’s out on DVD now. Here is a link to the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq_M8EOC4zA

David Cronenberg is quickly becoming one of the top five directors in movies today, along with Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorcese, Tarantino and the Coen Brothers. A couple more like this and he will be number one, easily. He was the auteur of last year’s best movie as well, A History of Violence. Viggo Mortensen is in Eastern Promises as well, playing a driver and general thug-for-hire for the Russian mob in London. Naomi Watts plays a midwife who accidentally uncovers evidence against the Russian syndicate. She is one of the most underrated actresses in movies, and a new addition to my “top five actresses whom I would pay to see in a movie” list, now that Hilary Swank has become a motivational speaker. Not that that matters. Really. Go see that movie being advertised just to the right of this post. I’m sure it’s delightful.

But first, rent Eastern Promises. Because the next “new release Tuesday” is actually Christmas day, the whole system gets screwed up for a couple of weeks, and movies are released on Friday of this week. Also Rush Hour 3, and The Heartbreak Kid. Rush Hour 3 might be decent, The Heartbreak Kid will likely be lousy, but Eastern Promises is so worth the trip to the video store. It is such an intense, powerful drama/thriller/crime story/gangster epic that it is, in my humble movie critic’s opinion, the best movie of 2007. The others are Superbad, The Host, Knocked Up, Rescue Dawn, Sicko, Hot Fuzz, Ratatouille and The Bourne Ultimatum. This may be because I have not yet seen No Country For Old Men. But as it stands right now, Eastern Promises is the must-watch, get-it-now movie of the year.