Friday Minute
No. 186 | October 22, 2010

The Crystal Ball

Our theme this week
Movies that open later in 2010

Featured this week (theme introduction)
Monday         —   Fair Game
Tuesday         —   The Way Back
Wednesday    —   The King’s Speech
Thursday        —   Somewhere

Biutiful

The story
Uxbal is a man who leads séances in which he communicates with the recently deceased.  He is diagnosed with a terminal illness, given months to live, and must reconcile the conflicts of his life and provide for the well-being of his children. 

Reasons to see it
Set in the underworld of Barcelona, Biutitul is the latest from Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros, Babel).  He’s back with another tale about death, his favorite subject.  Oscar winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) stars as Uxbal, winning Best Actor honors this May at Cannes, and the film is Mexico’s selection for Best Foreign Language Oscar.  The word is it’s a grim story.  González Iñárritu has never been a stranger to tragedy, but his heroes often find a measure of the redemption they seek.  He is not working with his frequent collaborator, writer Guillermo Arriaga, this time out (perhaps this explains why).  In the past I’ve found González Iñárritu’s work to be especially moving, and I look forward to seeing what he’s been up to lately.

Release date (U.S.)
December 29 (limited)

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Biutiful (2010)
Alejandro González Iñárritu, director
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Armando Bo, Nicolás Giacobone, writers
Rodrigo Prieto, cinematographer
Javier Bardem, Blanca Portillo, Maricel Álvarez, Rubén Ochandiano
Trailer

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Quote of note
“All I know is that the boy was my charge, and if he was not the word of God, then God never spoke.”
—The Man (Viggo Mortensen), The Road (2009)

…58…59…60.