black dynamite - if you liked 70s movies like shaft, superfly & coffy, impressively conceived and executed blaxploitation homage, and pretty funny...
saw a couple hotel movies on vacation (san diego zoo & sea world)...
shutter island - liked it...
SPOILER
compared to ninth configuration... also somewhat reminiscent of angel heart and the mechanic (riffing on protagonist as unwitting bad guy)
SPOILER OUTRO
book of eli - didn't like this so much, imo pretty forgettable... waste of denzel washington...
standing in the shadows of motown - maybe the best music documentary i've ever seen... the funk brothers, unsung heroes of countless motown hits, finally get their due (posthumously in some cases)... outstanding tribute concert interspersed with interesting vignettes about the history of motown and the musicians who were instrumental in the labels's massive success, in their own words... master bassist james jamerson had a huge influence on james brown, sly stone's larry graham, p-funk's bootsy collins, miles michael henderson, and thereby, the history of funk... his playing was so in the pocket, it was like one of those pants that has a pocket INSIDE the pocket!

one thing that shined through is a reason they played so well together is that they genuinely liked each other and functioned as much as a family as a band. the marvin gaye song what's goin on was a highlight, there are like ten instruments, nobody plays on top of each other, and you can hear all of them... sent chills up my spine... the musicians still had their chops and were a tight ensemble, despite not having played together in decades... i always remembered motown for the routinely brilliant vocals, mournfully universal lyrics, and the simple melodic hooks... this movie forced me to reevaluate how sophisticated the music was, in effortlessly melding many genres (soul, blues, jazz, funk, pop, etc)... highest possible recommendation...
straight, no chaser - on thelonious monk (by producer of gimme shelter & exec produced by clint eastwood, who directed bird), one of the three towering figures in the history of post-bop in the second half of the 20th century (with miles and coltrane)... lots of outstanding concert footage, as well as offstage interviews, with family, associates, musicians, which reveals (painfully at times), how razor thin the line between genius and madness can be...
'round midnight - riveting, touching, naturalistic, unaffected performance and brilliant, haunting sax work by first time actor, the late dexter gordon, loosely based on life of ex-pat pianist bud powell in europe... like miles and coltrane, he wrestled with demons (ie - heroin addiction) in his life, and the redemption of making it to the other side, and the indomitable spirit and will exemplified by their lives and presence, pours out of nearly every note like a tidal wave of emotion (like eminent sociologist bootsy presciently pointed out with his pinnochio theory, if you fake the funk, your nose gots to grow)... on the bonus plan, i think an oscar wining score by herbie hancock, includes as backing musicians most of the legendary fellow miles sidemen from the 60's (wayne shorter, ron carter, tony williams, john mclaughlin, along with the great freddie hubbard).