Review: "Still Mine" (****)

Campbell Scott and James Cromwell star in "Still Mine"

"Still Mine" has been on my radar since premiering in Toronto last fall—going so far as for me to incorrectly predict it as part of last year's Savannah Film Festival lineup. Writer-director Michael McGowan's latest film is notable for a number of reasons; the natural beauty of its New Brunswick setting, the articulate depiction of a saintly love story, but most of all for the dynamic leading performances by veterans Geneviève Bujold and James Cromwell—a perennial supporting actor.

Review: "Welcome to Pine Hill" (****)

Shannon Harper stars in "Welcome to Pine Hill"

From the first moment we hear the crickets chirp in the overgrown shrubs of a Brooklyn neighborhood, to the last moment, as the camera fades out on the singing birds in the Catskill wilderness– "Welcome to Pine Hill" exhibits a simplistic, measured humility. Keith Miller's debut feature is a focused portrayal of a man moving beyond his drug dealing past, caught off guard by an unexpected illness. Possessing an authenticity few films can boast, the project was born out of the real life stories of both Miller and star Shannon Harper, and the encounter between the two that created an unlikely friendship. "Welcome to Pine Hill" burned up the independent festival circuit last year, taking home top honors in Slamdance, Atlanta, Nashville, Sarasota and Seattle.

Savannah: "Amour" (****½)

Emmanuelle Riva stars in "Amour"

Having worked in film and television for over four decades, Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke only really began to solidify his status as a force in modern cinema in 2001, when "The Piano Teacher" won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. Without discounting his early efforts, Haneke has given us some of the most subtly beautiful and unsettling films of the last decade. Cannes showed him some love again in 2005, awarding him the Best Director Award for "Cache." He went on to take the Palme d'Or in both 2009 for "The White Ribbon" and in 2012 for "Amour."