The world lost a giant of the screen yesterday, when acting legend Karl Malden died of natural causes in his Brentwood, California home at the age of 97. We would like to take this opportunity to bid farewell and pay tribute to Malden with a look back over his impressive life and career.

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After a string of films set outside not just the familiar confines of Manhattan, but outside of the U.S.A. altogether, Woody Allen returns to his home country and his hometown with a vengeance in Whatever Works, a comedy about how America would be a much better place if everyone lived in New York.

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All the changes the Academy continue to make to the Oscars have me thinking about the awards even earlier than usual this year, and since we’ve reached the beginning of July it seems like a natural time to look back over the last six months. So, with that in mind, here’s a completely arbitrary and personal look at the best of 2009 so far. All things being equal, it’s shaping up to be a very good year:

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Michael Mann’s 2009 crime thriller Public Enemies tells the story of Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger — in the most brooding and serious terms possible. You might think that a movie about one of the most beloved badasses in criminal history would be all about explosiveness and fun. But, then again, you’d probably think the same thing about a movie adaptation of Miami Vice. Exuberance just isn’t Mann’s style, and for people who want a little payoff or satisfaction in their 2.5 hours of plodding, teeth-grinding intensity, that will be a problem. But for people who loved Heat, this is a tour de force.

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For moviemakers, there is a line between giving the people what they want, and giving people the exact same thing you’ve given them before. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs falls squarely into the latter category.

As we rejoin the motley herd from the two previous Ice Age films, Manny the mammoth (Ray Romano) nervously pampers his expectant mate, Ellie (Queen Latifah), while his best friend, Diego the saber-toothed tiger (Denis Leary), bristles at the thought of Manny’s domesticated existence. Meanwhile, Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo) continues to annoy everybody, and Scrat the rock rat is still trying to get that acorn.

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America’s place in the world of manufacturing and finance may be a pale shadow of its former self, but there’s one area where the United States still rules — popular culture. Folks all over the globe still love our movies, music, television, and fashion, and even in places where American values and politics may be considered suspect, they’re watching and listening to us, though the cultural signifiers frequently mean something different in other lands. Anyone who doubts this need only watch Havana Marking’s fascinating new documentary Afghan Star for proof; the Anglo-American talent show phenomenon American Idol has spawned a copycat series in Afghanistan, but while the producers have carefully followed the U.S. model, it’s the differences that tell a truly remarkable story.

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Pietro Paladini (Nanni Moretti), the main character of Antonello Grimaldi’s slice-of-life drama Quiet Chaos, watches his life fall to pieces when his wife unexpectedly dies as the result of a freak fall. Faced with a young daughter, Claudia (Blu Yoshimi), Pietro must find a way to cope with this sudden and unexpected tumult as a single parent — and he makes an almost obsessive commitment to wait outside of Claudia’s school, all day, every day, until she emerges from the building.

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Special limited time offer: Purchase one ticket for My Sister’s Keeper at face value and receive one bulging pocketful of tear-soaked tissues free of charge! (Tissue not included.)

Perhaps My Sister’s Keeper should be shown in theaters that offer seats with tissue dispensers built right into the arm rests; it’s a true weepy in the most literal sense of the term, and it never misses an opportunity to tug at our tear ducts in telling the tale of a young girl conceived to keep her leukemia-stricken sister alive. The concept of the movie alone may be enough to choke up any loving parent, but recruit the kind of talent that can make the entire thing believable and even the most cynical of viewers are likely to get a little misty-eyed. Occasionally overbearing, yet consistently well played, it’s the kind of film that audiences turn to when they need a good cry.

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