SIFF Sighting: WORDS AND PICTURES (Romance; USA)

Jack (Clive Owen) is a film cliché. He's an angry English teacher with a drinking problem and a troubled relationship with his son.

Dina (Juliette Binoche) is an artistic spitfire on a mission to ignite her students since her physical limitations prevent her from being what she used to be.

One would assume they're destined to be together, and one would probably be right.

The thing that saves this formulaic story from being too sugar-sweet predictable is the incredible appeal of the two lead actors. Owen, despite the drunkenness, has never been more charming (though I missed his British accent); Binoche is both delicate and demonic in equal measure. You simply can't help but root for them.

As a writer (and full disclosure: former English major), I appreciated the defense of words; as a sucker for teacher heroes, I relished in the inspirational classroom energy.

Go see this one to enjoy it and find forgiveness in your heart for its faults.

WORDS AND PICTURES will screen at the 40th Seattle International Film Festival on May 17. For tickets, go here.

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Cinebanter #68 - DUPLICITY

The MP3 of Cinebanter #68 is available here.

In this episode, Michael and Tassoula classify their conflicting opinions of DUPLICITY. In the Last Five®, Michael provides listeners with deja vu, while Tassoula revisits the 50s—twice. In the Listener Feedback segment, the hosts respond to several Top 10 of 2008 lists. The breakdown is as follows:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:32 DUPLICITY Discussion
• Break
• 22:14 To Sum It Up
• Break
• 22:46 The Last Five®
• Break
• 45:15 Listener Feedback (3)
• 59:56 Credits and Outtakes

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Michael's Last Five in this episode were: TANDOORI LOVE; ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS; GOODBYE SOLO; I DON'T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE and THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC. Tassoula's Last Five in this episode were: LES MISERABLES; PILLOW TALK; I LOVE YOU, MAN; SEX AND THE CITY and THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE.

Special thanks to Brad Daane and Mark Cummins for providing the original music in this episode.

Reviews and/or notes of every movie Michael sees can be found at his MichaelVox website.

Tassoula has reviews, musings and movie-related product links at Tassoula's Movie Review Blog.

Feedback is always welcome - you may leave comments here or e-mail the hosts at cinebanter@gmail.com.

We hope you enjoy the show!