Milk (2008)

[Movie 189 / Day 206]


Harvey Milk was America's first openly gay elected official. This is his story, how he came to lead the gay rights movement in 70s America, and how he came to be assassinated while in office.

It's a good film, well acted and written. However, it only really gets going halfway through when he finally gets elected on his fifth attempt. It also features far more of Sean Penn kissing other men than I ever wanted to see. I mean, the film is all about the gay movement; did the point need that much emphasis?

My rating: 7.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.0 / 10
Running time: 128 mins
IMDB link

In the Valley of Elah (2007)

[Movie 8 / Day 6]


Tommy Lee Jones seems to only get better with age. He's brilliant in this fairly depressing movie (based on a true story) of a father trying to trace his son who is AWOL from the US Army. He's also backed up by a solid supporting cast, including Charlize Theron, Jason Patric (who makes up for the abysmal Speed 2 here), Josh Brolin (who, for me at least, can do no wrong at the moment)... Even Susan Sarandon seems perfectly cast as the depressed wife - and that's saying a lot, as she usually irritates the shit out of me.

It's a bit too long and the ending is a bit meh, but overall it's enjoyable. Depressing, though.

My rating: 6.9 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.5 / 10
Running time: 121 mins
IMDB link