HARD CANDY: This torture film is fucking brilliant.  Ellen Page, who plays Hayley (she also plays Shadowcat in X-Men 3), will be huge someday because she can act rings around every anorexic A-lister.  Hard Candy is a film in which a pedophile photographer named Jeff, played by Patrick Wilson, meets young Hayley on the internet.  They meet in person & then go back to his place.  That's where the hunter becomes the hunted.  But unlike other films that feature torture, the viewer will be not be rooting for the victim to escape.  You enjoy watching young Hayley outthink Jeff at every turn.  It is a tense, distrubing & original film.  We need more movies like these.

BATMAN VS DRACULA: T his little animated gem makes the list because it's not a theatrical release, but it does let you indulge your nerd passion for the old Dracula films put out by Universal.  While both the Penguin & the Joker take on aspects of Renfield (who would've been a perfect guest at Arkham Asylum)  old time movie fans can giggle as Drac uses Lon Chaney Jr's alias of Alucard (spell it backwards, kids) to get into a party at Wayne Manor.  Batman, as always, is the world's greatest detective & Gotham's protector.  The clash of iconic characters is just plain fun.

THE PROPOSITION: This is not your typical Western.  Nick Cave writes the brilliant screenplay about Austrailian outlaw Charlie Burns who is given a choice from a bastard English lawman, bring his estranged older brother to justice or see his younger brother hang.  Director John Hillcoat's visuals bleed the beauty of the land with it's own violent history.  The talented cast (with Guy Pearce, Emily Watson & John Hurt among them) does not shy away from the filth.  They dive headlong into the fray as the music of Nick Cave & Warren Ellis envelopes the audience making them almost feel safe.  This is what happens when British gentlemen attempt to civilize a land.

LEONARD COHEN- I'M YOUR MAN: This documentary focuses on a 2005 concert in Montreal honoring singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen.  Performances by Rufus & Martha Wainright, Jarvis Cocker, Beth Orton & Nick Cave are interspersed with interviews in which each artist recounts what Leonard's songs mean to them.  Then there is the man himself, Leonard Cohen.  Impeccably dressed & well-aged he waxes poetically about his various muses & explains his philosophy the way an old man often will, with self-deprication & humor.  He explains that the sadness of his songs comes from sometimes, despite what we believe, we are not the hero in our own story.  With a buddhist-like zen & enough misanthropy to leave you in awe, just sit back & watch the poet pay his rent in the tower of song.

R

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