The New Wave: 11/19/10

I just saw a video recently of an 11-year old Emma Watson talking about her role as Hermione in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It's crazy how fast time flies, but looking back on that also shows how far these actors have come and matured. Director David Yates is back for the third time, each of his flicks growing increasingly bleak. Deathly Hallows pt. 1 is by far the darkest of the bunch, clearly the "Empire Strikes Back" of the series, a Harry and his friends flee from Voldemort's incoming assault. There's hardly a single cheery moment, and this is definitely NOT a film for little kids. Expect a beloved character to make the ultimate sacrifice. I found it a little slow, but the hardcore Harry Potter fans won't be disappointed in the least. You can read my review here.

Paul Haggis has written some truly great stuff. Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters to Iwo Jima, just to name a few. All of them were directed by other folks. When he's wearing both the writer and director hats, the guy trafficks in absurdity. And yes I'm counting Crash as part of that. The Next Three Days pits the always formidable Russell Crowe as a teacher who goes to ridiculous lengths to bust his wife out of prison, jailed for a crime he believes she didn't commit. It would've been nice if her guilt/innocence was left a bit more up in the air, but instead it's beaten into our brains. Look for Liam Neeson's blistering cameo as an author who specializes in prison breaks. His conversation with Crowe at the bar is both awesome and terribly heavy handed at the same time. You can read my review of The Next Three Days here.

No, this is not the Today's Special that ran on Nickelodeon back in the 1980s("hocus pocus alimagocus!"). Most people will recognize Aasif Mandvi as the foreign correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, but he's also an accomplished playwright. Today's Special is loosely based on his stage play, and features the comedian as a sous chef who desperately wants to study French cuisine and open his own restaurant. Unfortunately, life gets in the way, and he's forced to take over the family's Indian restaurant.Features an impressive cast for such an under the radar film, including Dean Winters(30 Rock), Kevin Corrigan(Unstoppable), and cherished Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah.

In 1931 she became the world's youngest PhD at only 20 years old. In 1944 she was part of a secret mission to accompany 1000 Jewish refugees from Italy to America, escaping the horrors of the Holocaust. While there, she recorded the different stories of these desperate people and wrote a book about it, Haven: The Dramatic Story of 1000 World War II Refugees and How They Came to America. The woman is Ruth Graber, and she has always been ahead of her time. This documentary, the first by An Inconvenient Truth cinematographer Bob Richman, chronicles the life and achievements of this amazing but mostly unrecognized figure in our national history.