The Constant Gardener (2005)

Someone's been dropping DVDs on the giveaway shelves at my apartment building. This was the only one to interest me so far. I didn't know any more than the gawky title when it was new, but once I read that it was a political thriller from John le Carré, I figured on checking it out. His work had been hit (The Spy Who Came In from the Cold) and miss (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) to me, but at least I'd get a better feel for him.

English diplomat and, yes, gardener Justin (Ralph Fiennes) falls for Amnesty International activist Tessa (Rachel Weisz) and agrees to take her to Kenya, where he's headed for work. They marry, but much of her present activity remains unknown to him. When she dies in a remote area, it's clearly murder, but by whom and why? He soon learns that she was on the verge of blowing the whistle on a shady, powerful drug company, which now threatens to off him too if he keeps sniffing around.

The Favourite (2018)

This is one of those times that I completely forgot what I'd learned of a movie's nature before it began playing in front of me. All I knew offhand was that it's in talks for award nominations, and a Meetup group invited me.

For starters, the setting is 1708 England, during the War of the Spanish Succession. Abigail Hill (Emma Stone), who lost her aristocratic status through no fault of her own, finds employment as a scullery maid in the royal palace, thanks in part to her blood link to royal counselor Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz), however little they've known each other. Abigail's medical knowledge earns her the positive attention of ailing Queen Anne (Olivia Colman)—to too great a degree for Sarah's comfort. Anne and Sarah are on very intimate terms, and it might be especially bad to attempt a ménage à trois while fighting France....

The Fountain (2006)

Hoo boy, Darren Aronofsky. When he's not directing straightforward downers like Requiem for a Dream, he's spinning dark mind screws like Pi and Black Swan. My favorite work of his is The Wrestler, more for Mickey Rourke's performance than anything else. Throw in TF's box office failure and a considerable discrepancy between its ratings on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, and I had a real gamble on my hands. But Aronofsky didn't regret taking chances, so it didn't seem wrong for me to do the same. Besides, I tend to like love stories better with sci-fi/fantasy elements.

Netflix describes the story as taking place over a millennium, but there are only three times with which we need concern ourselves, all distinct enough not to disorient us much with the many jump cuts. Probably the most screen time is spent in the present, when surgeon Tom (Hugh Jackman) strives to find a cure for cancer before his wife Izzi (Rachel Weisz) dies of it. Izzi has been writing a story set primarily in the 16th century, in which Queen Isabella (Weisz again) assigns conquistador Tomás (Jackman again) to find the Tree of Life guarded by Mayans. The other segments show an enhanced Tom, now "Tommy," in the future, staying by the Tree of Life while flying to a nebula that Izzi had identified as Xibalba.

Enemy at the Gates (2001)

Yep, my final viewing before the New Year deadline was of another war film. Set in Europe during World War II, no less. Fortunately for my sake, that's about where the similarity ends.

For one thing, EatG has a much more individual focus, specifically on real-life Soviet sniper Vasily Zaytsev (Jude Law). Commissar Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) notices his talent and writes about him in the news to increase morale on their side. It works, but the tradeoff for so much publicity -- a sticking point between the two friends -- is that the Germans know too much about Zaytsev and his whereabouts. Their own star sniper, Major Konig (Ed Harris), goes on a mission to take him down.