Hanna Arendt (2013)

The banality of evil. The very notion that anyone can commit unspeakable evil under the oh-so-wrong “right” condition is something of a cliché now. But back in the early 1960s as philosopher/teacher/writer Hanna Arendt coined the phrase while covering the Eichmann trial for the New Yorker, she was met with a crushing ethical/academic flame war. As played by Barbara Sukowa, this European art-house take of “Hanna Arendt” has the Holocaust survivor and NYC resident shunned here and in Israel after she not only wrote that Eichmann was just a boring mediocre shit with no brains, but some Jewish leaders helped open the door of Nazi extermination through contrition. It’s relatively accepted now. Not then. Not when wounds and memories were so raw. The move is at its best at these moments of personal drama and inner torment. Yet, often I feel left cold by these New York intellectual dramas as they seem to take anyone not in the “know” to task for not being a member of the party. I look at these square-heads here and think, “Why be friends with them?” My tweed jacket diet only goes so far. B

Cold Souls (2009)

Paul Giamatti is known to us as an eccentric worry wart, an unkempt guy who can’t stay happy. Or so that’s the impression. He has a long list of misfits and oddballs on screen, for sure. The comedy-drama “Could Souls” plays on this apparent perception. Giamatti plays “himself,” as he struggles through a production of famous downer “Uncle Vanya.” Through a “New Yorker” article, Giamatti learns of a soul storage business. Naturally, he figures no soul equals more freedom to act. Despite misgivings, he gets de-souled, save 5 percent. In pure irony, his soul ends up smuggled to St. Petersburg, Russia. This is a quirky little movie in line with “Being John Malkovich.” Like any good Russian story, “Cold” spills much suffering. But writer/director Sophie Barthes has enough tricks up her sleeve to make the oddities go down smoothly. The best of the sharp jokes: Giamatti acting indignant when told his soul is less valuable than Al Pacino’s. Giamatti must be the coolest guy on the planet. For real. B+