Just a hair below WOW! Not in the sense of blowing one away, but an excellent film full of humor and melancholy, loneliness and community, intimacy and formality.

An Egyptian police band going to the opening of an Arab Cultural Center in a town in Israel, ends up in the wrong town (Bet Hatikva instead of Petah Tikva). It is a place of emptiness -- empty streets, empty lives. They are taken in by some towns people until they can arrange to get to the right place. Nothing overwhelming, but it is such a sweet and bittersweet set of stories.

Scene to watch for: The Egyptian lady's man, his shy Israeli friend and a crying girl at the roller rink -- absolutely classic.

My review is up.

For those who don't want to read it, I'll mention here that the town names are interesting. Bet Hatikva = House of (the) Hope. Petah Tikva = Doorway of Hope.

Just saw this, I found this is a charming film grounded in a strong sense of place with a number of rewarding small moments, and very real characters. It's well worth checking out.

Man... I'm on a roll. Recently I've been finding one great movie after another.

What a lovely, softspoken picture.

Sasson Gabai's performance as Tawfiq is an exquisite demonstration of subtlety and detail. I haven't been so fond of a character since Bob the Espresso Guy opened for business in The Station Agent.

Eran Kolirin knows just how far to push the humor without breaking the spell... although I was certainly nervous during the rollerskate sequence.

One storytelling turn really distressed me at the end, but the more I think about it, the more I realize it was the right decision. Terribly sad, but true.

I add my hearty recommendation to the chorus, and I wish it had caught on in theaters. It deserved to be one of this year's sleeper hits.

getting ready for your new blog is paying dividends, huh?

Jeffrey and I are on the same wavelength in terms of movies we're watching, but he's ahead of me. I just put this one on hold last week and will see it in a couple of weeks. Coincidentally, we watched the preview before our Sunday-night viewing of Persepolis.

I find it hard to believe that there's been no announcement yet of an American remake about a displaced New Orleans jazz band, probably starring Tom Hanks.

As I look back over my favorite films of the year, my memories of this one grow fonder all the time.