Drive

Drive is a difficult book. I could not quite follow its story and I found none of the characters engaging. I have bought the DVD film because of one thing: Ryan Gosling. And he hasn't disappointed. Actually, I was hooked the minute from the credit sequence: Cary Mulligan is in it. And the chemistry between her and Ryan is just brilliant. I still find the story a bit thin, but then the music, as well as the performance, creates a surreal world where such thing doesn't seem matter that much, at least when you are immersed in it anyway.

Mother

This Korean movie is, on the surface of it, about a mother's desperate efforts to prove the innocence of her retard son who has just been accused of murder. In the last ten to fifteen minutes however, it becomes an observation on human nature and what it can drive us to do in the name of love. 'Mother' gave a virtuous performance, especially in the closing sequence when she dances in the open field to the music only we can hear. It feels as if she is then completely free - beyond any moral boundaries. With this film, Boon Joon-ho proves once again his power in depicting the blurring of the conventional moral boundaries.

Raising Victor Vargas

It is so raw yet real and powerful, one can hardly believe it is made in America.