Diversions Film Review: 2009-10

Fantastic Mr. Fox

With high-profile animated releases from Pixar and Dreamworks, it’s easy for “Fantastic Mr. Fox” to fall between the cracks. But with its stunning stop-motion animation and offbeat humor, Wes Anderson’s first animated film is as good as any of this year’s more mainstream offerings.

A top-tier cast and witty script add substance to the abundance of Anderson’s style and make this a movie that shouldn’t be overlooked. — Mark Niegelsky

Goodbye Solo

Filmed in Winston-Salem with a mostly unknown cast, Ramin Bahrani’s “Goodbye Solo” is a bleak and powerful film.

When Solo, a Senegalese cab driver, learns that the fare who hired him plans to kill himself, he attempts to intervene and change the man’s mind. The film explores the tenuous and unusual relationship between the unlikely Good Samaritan cab driver and an older passenger with nothing left to live for. — MN

The White Ribbon

This film tells you so much by showing you so little. Director Michael Haneke creates his signature sense of harrowing realism in the fictitious hamlet of Eichwald, Germany, between 1913 and 1914, where random acts of terrorism disturb the villagers. This quiet picture purposefully disciplines you to realize for yourself what lies beyond the frame. It’s a rare film — one that allows you to conceive the bleak truth behind Haneke’s portrait of humanity. — Rocco Giamatteo

The Road

Director John Hillcoat’s “The Road” steps out of the shadow of other apocalyptic movies.

With its bleak setting and lack of grandeur, it makes displays of violence in the league of “Dawn of the Dead” look like second-grade Halloween parties. The film interpretation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel creates a tragically sweet father-son story that shows the measures a man goes to in order to protect his son from the dangers of a dying world. — Lyle Kendrick

It Might Get Loud

The premise alone is intimidating. Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Page, three of the world’s most famous guitarists, together in one room jamming.

That guitar summit, the centerpiece of 2008’s “It Might Get Loud” is indeed awesome. But it’s not the star of the show.

Following the three musicians back to their old stomping grounds, director Davis Guggenheim shows the audience what makes each of these icons tick. — Jordan Lawrence