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( Check my archived movie-reviews at : http://www.nothingifnotcritical.net )
MOVIE REVIEW- "AN AMERICAN RHAPSODY" The true-life story of writer/director Eva Gardos plays like a cold war soap opera. Her family fled Communist-ruled Hungary in the middle of the night, leaving her behind as a baby, because travel with a baby was too dangerous. She was to be sent to them later. In the meantime, she was cared for by relatives in the country. "Meantime" stretched to six years and young Szusi learned to think of these people as her real parents. When she was finally sent to America, where her parents were now American middle-class suburbanites, she never knew where she really belonged...in Hungary or America. At age 16, this rebellious American teen-ager returns to her native Hungary and her adoptive parents, only to learn a very important lesson about herself, her parents, and Hungary. Beautifully written and acted (by Nastassia Kinski, Tony Goldwyn and Scarlett Johansson,) director Gardos allows the story to unfold in a slow, deliberate way so that we learn all about this family, and also about how freedom can survive even under impossible circumstances. (4-Stars)
MOVIE REVIEW- (TALK CINEMA PREVIEW FILM)- "SKINS" MOVIE REVIEW- (TALK CINEMA PREVIEW) "AMELIE" MOVIE REVIEW- "K-PAX" MOVIE REVIEW- "RIDING IN CARS WITH
BOYS" MOVIE REVIEW- "FROM
HELL" MOVIE REVIEW-
"SERENDIPITY" MOVIE REVIEW- "THE
CLOSET" (in French with English sub-titles) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE PERFECT STORM" This movie, based on the Sebastian Junger best-seller, is the most exciting film that I've seen in a long time. It's a modern-day Moby Dick, whose captain is every bit as obsessed, and possibly mad, as was Ahab. The object of his obsession is not a whale, but rather a large catch of swordfish, that would translate into big bucks...money that he desperately needs. His obsession recklessly brings about his own death, and the death of everyone on his doomed ship. The true heroes of this film/book are the men and women of the Coast Guard who risk (and in this case lose) their lives to save obsessive fishermen and idiotic pleasure sailors! The few women in the film (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Diane Lane, Karen Allen, Cherry Jones, and two fat actresses whose names I didn't catch,) do a much better job of acting than do the men. George Clooney who proves in yet another film, that he's a terrible actor, once again uses his two expressions inappropriately! Mark Wahlberg and John C. Reilly do much better with the little they're given. The computer graphics of ILM create the most frightening storm that I've ever seen on film. It's certainly the main character in the film. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "MULHOLLAND DRIVE" "Mulholland Drive," the latest film written and produced by David Lynch, opened the new season of Talk Cinema's movie previews with a bang. On my comment card I wrote the following: "The best film noir that Fellini never made." The first two hours of this 2 1/2 -hour film consists of the most coherent narrative that Lynch has ever put on screen. It's film noir at its best, complete with mistaken identities, murders in the shadows, unusual plot twists, and constant unbearable tension! The last 1/2 hour completely deconstructs the story, so much so, that you really have to see it twice in order to make sense of the FIRST two hours. I can't say any more without revealing the secrets of the plot...some of which I STILL don't understand. Once again, the dark brooding musical score is by Angelo Badalamenti ("Twin Peaks.") There are some stars like Ann Miller, Lee Grant, Billy Ray Cyrus (yes HIM,) Robert Forster, and Chad Everett in bit parts. Otherwise the excellent cast consists of unknowns. If you go expecting "weird," "bizarre," and "tense," you won't be disappointed. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "OUR LADY OF THE ASSASSINS" Director Barbet Schroeder has created a fascinating, horrifying look into life and death in present-day Medellin, Columbia...the city from hell! An author returns to the city of his birth, only to find that this once-peaceful town has now become a city of muggers, whores, crack heads, and killers. Violence and street-killings are everyday occurrences. The author strikes up a beautiful relationship with Alexis, a street-kid gangster who is forced to kill over and over again just to exist on a day to day basis in this terrible city. Ironically, much of the story takes place in the cities beautiful churches...now filled with drug addicts doing business. The only thing that isn't made clear in this highly original, but disturbing film, is why anyone in his right mind would choose to stay in this hell-hole! (4.5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "MEMENTO" If you enjoy puzzles, riddles, games , Rorschach tests, and movies like "The Sixth Sense," you'll love this movie. It's a puzzle, within a puzzle, within a puzzle, and if five people go to see it, there'll be five different versions of the story. I couldn't begin to try to summarize the plot, but I can say that it's about a man who has short-term memory loss (he can't remember what he said or did just moments before!) and who may or may not be in pursuit of the man who may or may not have killed his wife!!! Because of this disability, the "hero" and the audience are forced to relive everything that he's done, often in different, and conflicting versions. If you're looking for clues, AND YOU'D BETTER BE, look for the changes in the looks of his clothing and car. (Don't worry; I'm not giving away anything, because I don't have the answers either.) Two of the main characters may be telling the audience what REALLY happened, so listen carefully to what people are saying. Writer/Director Christopher Nolan won the prestigious Waldo Salt Screenplay Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival, for his script; he earned it. What a convoluted, intricate plot! In spite of this, I'm withholding one "star" because I think that the resolution could have been (and should have been) cleaner and clearer. Nevertheless, a fascinating and truly original film. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "HAPPY ACCIDENT" The best way that I can think of to describe this warped, quirky love story is by comparing it to other movies and TV shows. Here goes. It's a combination of a romantic comedy like "You've Got Mail,"/ "Sleepless in Seattle," and The X-Files. Or, try mixing "Sex and the City" and "Star Trek." If that doesn't clarify things for you, here's the plot: Ruby (Marisa Tomei) meets Sam (Vincent D'Onofrio) and falls for this sweet and gentle oddball, until his idiosyncrasies and strange behavior are explained by him as the result of being a time traveler who has returned illegally from 400 years in the future!!! Is he really a time traveler, or is he a very sick person with a very real earthly disease? Whatever! It won ME over with its oddball originality...and fine acting. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "HEARTS IN ATLANTIS"
(5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "ZOOLANDER" This satire of modern pop culture in general, and the model business specifically, is about as funny as a movie with this plot/theme can be. We laughed a lot at the funny situations, the dialogue, the unusual cameos, and we smiled even more throughout this combination male model/James Bond parody. Just about everyone in the Stiller family (Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Christine Taylor) is in the film, which was also written and directed by son Ben. From what I understand it's an expansion of a skit that Ben Stiller wrote for the VH1 model awards (or something like that,) and that's the problem. It plays like a short skit that's been retrofitted to the large screen and expanded in length to 10 times it's original playing time. Basically it's a one-joke movie, and blowing it up to a full-length film strains it beyond its limits as a comedy piece. Go to see it for some well-needed laughs and to spot the dozen or so famous actors, models and designers who play cameo roles. (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "IN THE BEDROOM" The author of last year's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, House of Sand And Fog, has written the story upon which this film was based, and it's a brilliant story. A tale of life, love, and death, in a beautiful peaceful town in Maine, it unravels at a very slow, deliberate pace, but with the force of a Greek tragedy. The actors are so perfect that one appears to be looking in on just plain folks under tragic circumstances, rather than people playing roles. It wouldn't surprise me if one or more Academy Award nominations came out of this film, especially for Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, and Marisa Tomei. I really enjoyed this film. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "TRAINING DAY" I've never seen Denzel Washington play a role like this one before...and he's brilliant. In "Training Day" he's a rogue cop, who "polices" his inner-city (L.A.) beat using the laws of the jungle. Today is training day, where he gets to break in a rookie cop, (played by the always-excellent Ethan Hawke;) a cop who lives by the rule-book, and by the "good cops" code of ethics. The combination is a deadly one! All of the action takes place in the course of one day, and be warned, there's more action and violence in this film than you would expect to find in a film of such quality. Credit the fine actors, and the excellent director, Antoine Fuqua ("The Replacement Killers") for making it thoroughly believable, and often uncomfortable to watch. Look for some Best Actor nominations come Oscar time. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE MAN WHO WASN'T
THERE" MOVIE REVIEW- "GHOST WORLD Almost without exception, movies about teen-agers follow one general rule: make it dumb, make it dirty, and make it fast! "Ghost World" breaks this rule in every way. Although it's the story of a teen-age girl, it's intelligent and well-thought-out, creative in an analytical way, and a disturbing true original. Writer, director, and actors all obviously sat down and spoke at length about how to make this unique document of the life of a disturbed loner. The story begins with two young girls at their high-school graduation. It's obvious that they're misfits. But instead of descending into the usual raunchy comedy, the plot follows the adventures of one of the girls...an obnoxious and pathetic loser. Thora Birch, the young actress from "American Beauty" is perfect as this girl, who in everything she does is crying out for love and attention. At the same time that you want to shake her by the shoulders and smack her face, she's breaking your heart. Her look and her story will stay with you long after you leave the theater. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "SESSION 9" If you're looking for a movie like "Scream," or "I Know What You Did
Last Summer," ...this isn't it. This is the movie that "Blair Witch
Project" tried to be, but failed. Instead, what this film is, is a
suspenseful psychological thriller for intelligent adults who want a good
honest scare! The basic plot concerns a group of men whose "elimination
company" is hired to remove all of (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "NOVOCAIN" I have an intelligent dentist, so it's hard to imagine any dentist...in fact, any MAN, being as stupid as the character portrayed by Steve Martin in this appropriately named film. Dentist take note: if you're looking to save money, show this film to your patients while you're working on them, and you won't need that nitrous oxide. The film is a series of boring stretches, interrupted by a thoroughly unbelievable and gory plot. A dentist in lust, tells a simple lie to cover up his indiscretion, and this lie escalates into an avalanche. A cast of fine actors (Helena Bonham Carter, Laura Dern, Scott Caan, and an unbilled Kevin Bacon) is wasted on this ridiculous story. Steve Martin was there in person to receive the Career Excellence Award. His hilarious acceptance speech was the best part of the evening! (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW- "ONE-EYED KING" Set in the violent world of Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen, "One Eyed King" is an Irish "Godfather," filled with the drama of five young men, who grew up in this cauldron of ignorance, violence, love, loyalty, and betrayal. The film is so well acted by the likes of William Baldwin, Jason Gedrick, Jim Breuer, Bruno Kirby and a frighteningly-evil Armand Assante, that the viewer feels that he/she is not watching a film, but looking at real people spiraling down into an unsinkable pit. Connie Britton (soon to be the new addition to TV's "The West Wing,") is excellent as a young woman who hates "the neighborhood" that has killed her father, brother, and soon possibly, her lover. She functions as a Greek chorus, looking in at the action from its perimeter (although very much a part of it,) and commenting on it with her eyes and sad face. Chazz Palmintieri is fine as a police officer who is loyal to his friends in the neighborhood. The friendship of these five young men is portrayed very realistically, complete with its absurd loyalties based on fear, ignorance, and love. When one betrays the others, the friendship is strengthened, and then destroyed. A documentary-like film with an incredible musical soundtrack of hits of four decades. Not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "APOCALYPSE NOW: REDUX" If there was ever any doubt about the "classic" status of this 22-year-old film, that doubt has just been eliminated. With 50 minutes of the original footage restored to the film (it now runs 3 1/2 hours!) it's truly a masterpiece, and the best film that was ever made, about the Vietnam War. Some of the new footage gets lost in the overall arc of the film but some truly stands out. There's an extended scene where the Martin Sheen character is entertained at a French plantation, thereby giving Director Coppola the opportunity to present the French side of the issue. It's informative and beautifully acted by several French actors. There's also an addition to the famous "surfing" scene ("I love the smell of napalm in the morning,") that ends that scene on an hilarious note. With the additional footage, the journey up the river to "find" Colonel Kurtz seems less like an adaptation of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, (as it was meant to be,) and more like an adaptation of Homer's Odyssey, complete with the "sirens" (the Playboy bunnies, ) and the "Cyclops" (the surfing Colonel Kilgore!) Even though I had just seen the 2 1/2- hour version of the film just a few months ago on TV, I wasn't bored for one minute during this complete version of the movie. That says a lot. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "AMERICAN PIE 2" For those of you who don't remember, I wasn't exactly what you'd call a "fan" of the original. In fact, I thought it was highly overrated teen crap. As for the sequel... I loved it. Back is the entire cast, lots more flesh and another plot almost entirely focused on sex. Sounds like a good summer comedy to me. This time, the gang is all back from their first year at college and they've decided to spend the summer at a beach house, working summer jobs and partying every night. Maybe I liked this one better because I could relate to the characters as college students better than high school students, but I'm pretty sure it really had something to do with a much heavier dose of my favorite character, Stifler. Jim and his dad are idiots, Chris Klein is underutilized, Finch is annoying as hell, but Stifler is hilarious. A nice continuation of the 1999 blockbuster. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN" When I reviewed the book "Corelli's Mandolin" last year, I wrote, "The story and characters are buried under a ton of verbiage, similar to what students do when they hand in overwritten papers in order to impress their professors. This will probably be one of the rare cases where the movie will be better than the book." I WAS WRONG! The movie IS as bad as the book, saved only by the beautifully photographed Greek scenery and the enjoyable Italian music. Penelope Cruz once again proves that she simply can't act in English. Nicolas Cage was either directed to, or chose to, use an absurd faux Italian accent, which is distracting, when it's not downright hilarious. When will actors/directors realize that Italians, Greeks, Germans, don't speak with accents. They speak Italian, Greek, and German!!! Either the accents should be eliminated entirely, or else the film should be IN the foreign language with subtitles. Not even the always-excellent actors John Hurt and Christian Bale could save this fiasco. Questa fa puzza! (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE CRIMSON RIVERS" Have you ever gone to a movie, enjoyed it immensely, and didn't have a clue as to what was going on in the story? That's what happened to SIX of us who went to see the French film, "The Crimson Rivers." I had a similar experience when I saw this year's film "Memento." Getting back to "The Crimson Rivers." This sub-titled French film-noir takes place high in the French Alps in a picturesque town that turns into a Stephen King-like nightmare as the film progresses. A series of seemingly unrelated killings/mutilations has taken place, and the Lieutenant (played by a very somber Jean Reno,) is brought in to help the local gendarmes solve the cases. What follows is a series of bizarre incidents, linking these killings to each other, and to a more outrageous "larger scheme. "The cinematography is extraordinary, and the acting is first-rate. That leaves us with the curiously unsettling feeling that perhaps we WEREN'T meant to understand everything that was going on. How French! In any case, we talked about the film for about 15 minutes outside the theater, and then carried our discussion over into dinner. How many films can stimulate THAT kind of reaction in six different viewers? (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE DEEP END" Last week at the Boston Film Festival, I saw a movie about the dumbest dentist on screen this year ("Novocain.") "The Deep End" is a perfect companion-piece to that film, in that it portrays the dumbest MOTHER on screen this year! Tilda Swinton, in a fine acting job, portrays the overprotective mother of a teen-age son, who she suspects has been involved in a crime of passion. In order to protect him, she sets in motion one of the most ridiculous and improbable plots that I've seen on screen all year. Not a minute of it is believable. As I said before, Tilda Swinton does a fine job of portraying this woman, but what good is a fine acting job in the service of a stupid plot? I can't tell you how many times I said to myself (I think,) "Jesus lady, that's SO dumb!" I wouldn't even waste my time renting this one, unless you must see some picturesque scenery in Lake Tahoe and Reno. (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW- "L.I.E." One reason why I wanted to see this movie was because I spent some time at the Boston Film Festival, talking to its two stars (Brian Cox and Billy Kay.) Each one had wonderful things to say about the other's performance. They were both right. Unfortunately, the film doesn't live up to the high standards of the actors in it. In fact, it's a terrible bore. The story, such as it is, concerns Howie, a young Long Island boy, who comes from a wealthy but dysfunctional family; his thieving young friends and corrupt father; and Big John, the Fagin-like ex-marine/spy...a pedophile, who "takes in" young boys. Given those ingredients, don't you think that YOU could make a better film than this one? I know that I could! (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW- "MADE" This film reunites Jon Favreau and his buddy Vince Vaughn, in the second film written and directed by Favreau. The first film, "Swingers," gave an entire generation of acne-ed adolescent boys, enough "what-to-say-while-hitting-on-girls" jargon to get them through the first stages of their never-to-be-consummated dates. This one will give them "the right things to say" if they're planning to join the Mob! Vaughn and Favreau once again play losers (boxers this time) from L.A., who are sent to New York, by the local mob boss (played brilliantly by Peter Falk) to settle a "deal." Sean "Puff Daddy"(or whatever the hell he's calling himself this week) Combs, plays himself, a high-living criminal contact in New York. All that's missing is Mike Tyson as Father O' Shaunnessey! What Favreau has written (and directed) is the funniest movie of the year. He and Vaughn play the dumbest, most incompetent and idiotic wannabe thugs seen on screen since "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight." Favreau writes dialogue that is so realistic that it seems to be improvised, and nobody plays this kind of idiot better than Vaughn; he's absolutely brilliant. As my friend and I left the theater, we were thinking maybe 3-1/2 or 4 stars, but damn, I'm still laughing (and thinking) about so many of the scenes, that I'm raising it to 5 stars. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "SEXY BEAST" This movie has so many good things going for it, let me get the one BAD thing out of the way up front. When will the English/Irish/Scottish filmmakers realize that Americans can't understand a word that they're saying on screen? Please give us sub-titles! The plot, about a London criminal who comes to the Costa del Sol in Spain, to "convince" one of his former mates to come back for one last job, takes a back seat to (a) director Brian Glazer's incredible ability to create, through the use of style, mood, and acting, the most tension-filled movie of the year, (b) this year's best acting job so far: the performance by Ben Kingsley as Don Logan, the psychopathic criminal, (c) the beautiful reactive acting of the other cast members, (Ray Winstone, Amanda Redman, Ian McShane and James Fox) who through their subdued performances help to make Kingsley's character seem more frightening and over-the-top than it might have been, had they all been directed to play at the same level of energy. Kingsley, who is sure to be nominated for an Oscar, uses every "trick" at his disposal to create a truly memorable monster. He's terrifying even when he's sitting perfectly still. His character will stay with you long after you've left the theater. Try NOT to think about him! (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE SCORE" If you're looking for a good reason to see what might appear to you to be just another "let's-plan-a-robbery" film, I can give you two good ones. First, it's a VERY GOOD heist film. Although it does tend to bog down a bit during the expository and planning phase of the robbery, the actual heist will keep you on the edge of your seat. Second, it's a rare opportunity to see America's three greatest actors (Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, and Edward Norton) perform together for the first, and probably the last, time. Each actor represents the elite of his generation, and it's wonderful to watch their scenes together. Although Brando and De Niro are excellent in creating their characters, Norton steals the film with yet another one of his insightful on-the-edge interpretations. Angela Bassett is there as eye candy; she has very little to do and she does that well! Filming in Montreal gives the movie an unusual, not-often-seen, exotic quality. If you've seen the movie "Sexy Beast" you'll see some striking similarities in both films. They're both worth seeing. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS" Simply filling the screen with some of my favorite stars (Julia Roberts, John Cusack, Stanley Tucci, Christopher Walken, Hank Azaria, Billy Crystal and Alan Arkin) doesn't guarantee that a film will be a good one; "America's Sweethearts" is the latest case in point. Summertime...story's weak, the acting is dry...fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high." I'm guessing here, that the "creative minds' behind this film, were aiming to recreate the goofy magic of director Preston Sturges' classic comedies of the 1940's. Unfortunately, due to a lack of brains and imagination, they didn't have a clue as to how to utilize the potential of the talent at their disposal. When the funniest scene in the movie is one in which a Doberman-pinscher simulates the act of oral sex on the Billy Crystal character, then you know you're in deep trouble! Instead of going out and wasting your time and money on this film, stay home and rent a video of one of Sturges' comedies. I recommend either "The Lady Eve," or "Sullivan's Travels." There isn't a Doberman in either one of them! (2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "INTIMACY" All of the controversy surrounding this film
has to do with its many sex scenes, in particular, one involving
UNSIMULATED oral sex...the leading man gets his weenie sucked!
Actually, I've got that wrong; it's the film that sucks. "Intimacy" is
nothing more than a series of explicit sex scenes, interrupted by a
depressing and dreary plot, involving two characters who meet once a week
to have great sex without any intimacy. The actors are very good at
conveying the anguish of their characters, which makes the film even more
depressing. Three questions have to be asked concerning this film: (1) why
would noted Shakespearean actor Mark Rylance agree to play such an
unpleasant role, (2) why would the jury of the prestigious Berlin Film
Festival give its Best Film, and Best Actress Award (to Kerry Fox who
performs "the act,") to this movie, and (3) why did I waste a good
afternoon seeing it? Don't do the same. MOVIE REVIEW- "WAKING LIFE" MOVIE REVIEW- "SHALLOW HAL" TALK CINEMA
PREVIEW MOVIE REVIEW- "HEIST" MOVIE REVIEW- "HARRY POTTER AND
THE SORCERER'S STONE" MOVIE REVIEW- "BEHIND ENEMY LINES" TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "OCEAN'S 11" MOVIE REVIEW- "THE BUSINESS OF STRANGERS" In Neil LaBute's movie "In The Company of Men," two men psychologically abuse a helpless deaf woman. In "The Business of Strangers," two women turn the tables on a far-from-helpless man. Stockard Channing (in an Oscar-worthy performance,) is an insecure CEO who is stranded in an airport hotel with her pathological assistant, played by Julia Stiles. Into their lives comes an obnoxious boor (Frederick Weller,) and they proceed to teach him a lesson! The bad things that these people do to one another is done in such a slow-moving context, that at times, the film is quite boring...and it shouldn't be! Stockard Channing has been so good in so many Broadway plays over the years, it's about time that TV ( she plays The First Lady in "The West Wing") and movies are beginning to recognize her incredible talents. She'll give Sissy Spacek ("In The Bedroom") a run for her money this year at Oscar time. May the best actress win! (2 1/2 -Stars) Nick TALK CINEMA
PREVIEW MOVIE REVIEW- "VANILLA SKY" "Open your eyes" are the first three words in this movie, as well as the title of the Spanish film of which it's a remake. (Why does Hollywood keep remaking foreign films? Don't they think that we can read sub-titles?) Anyway, those three words are the key to unlocking the film's mystery. If writer/director David Lynch ("Mulholland Drive") had remade Frank Capra's corn-ball "It's A Wonderful Life," the remake would have been "Vanilla Sky!" Instead, writer/director Cameron Crowe ("Jerry Maguire") made it, and so it's big, splashy, way too long, but with brilliant performances by two beautiful actors: Tom Cruise (maybe his best performance) and a radiant Cameron Diaz. What's wrong with this movie can be summed up in two words...Penelope Cruz. This actress, so good in her native tongue, Spanish, simply can't act in English. She reads her lines phonetically, ruining every scene in which she appears. But in fairness to Ms. Cruz, there is something else seriously wrong here. The plot is so convoluted, and often boring, that long before the last sentence that gives meaning to the whole story, the film sinks under its own weight. I couldn't begin to summarize the story except to say that like "It's A Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Carol," it's about a man who gets a second chance to redo his extravagant and wasted life. Cameron Crowe should have left well enough alone, and not given this plot a second chance. I'm going to rent the Spanish original, "Abre Los Ojos" to see if it's any better than its remake. Any bets? (2-Stars) Nick MOVIE REVIEW- "A BEAUTIFUL MIND" This excellent film chronicles the true adventures of "a beautiful mind" as it declines into the horrors of paranoid schizophrenia. The beautiful mind belongs to mathematician/economist (and Nobel laureate) John Nash, played brilliantly by Russell Crowe, surely an Oscar-worthy performance. Although we've seen minds and personalities deteriorate on screen before, what sets this film apart is that the main character's delusions are enacted realistically, so that we, the audience, see what he sees, and WE'RE never sure what is a delusion, and what is reality. Ron Howard directs his actors lovingly, and because the caliber of acting is so high, the film never feels as long as it really is (2 hours and 15 minutes.) Much of the film takes place on the campuses and in the classrooms of Princeton, M.I.T., and Harvard... photographed beautifully. All of the aforementioned actors are excellent, especially Ed Harris, Jennifer Connolly, and Christopher Plummer, one of whom plays a character that exists only in the mind of John Nash! Although there's a great deal of talk about math, theories, and economics in this movie, there are also some very funny moments, some truly heartbreaking ones, and some that are terrifying.. Praise must go to the makeup artist who helped make Russell Crowe age from a man in his 20's to a man in his 70's. However, most of the believability of this aging is due to Crowe's amazing acting skills. This is truly a once-in-a -lifetime role for Crowe and he makes the most of it. (5-Stars) Nick MOVIE REVIEW- "LORD OF THE RINGS; THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING" I've waited all of my life to see a film version of one of my three favorite series of books (the others being, the "Harry Potter" series, and Isaac Asimov's The Foundation Trilogy. Someday, if we're VERY lucky, we'll see that one on film.) Well, it was worth the wait, because "The Fellowship of the Ring"(the first of three films in this series) is one of the most beautiful films that I've ever seen. Thanks to director Peter Jackson's persistence and vision, author J.R.R. Tolkien's many fans are seeing their dreams come true. With a perfect cast (including Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, and Liv Tyler,) majestic sets, a Tolkien-like script, brilliant direction and wonderful acting, the hobbits once more leave Middle Earth in order to return the One Ring...to destroy it, and rid the world of the Dark Lord Sauron's evil. Their adventures are many, exciting, and often frightening in this 3-hour film. At times it moves along at a slow pace, and at other times the action is fast and furious. It's definitely NOT for young children. I can't wait for the next two films and the next 6 hours of a dream come true! (5-Stars) Nick MOVIE REVIEW- "KATE
& LEOPOLD" MOVIE REVIEW- "THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS" The films of director Wes Anderson usually walk a fine line between moving reality and comedic farce. "Rushmore" didn't succeed because its characters were annoying or unbelievable. "The Royal Tenenbaums" on the other hand is an inspired ensemble piece of creative and hilarious comedy. Just filling a film with a large cast of good actors doesn't guarantee that the film will be a good one. Look at last year's "America's Sweethearts!" But in "The Royal Tenenbaums," an ensemble cast of gifted actors manages to sustain a tongue-in-cheek mood for two hours, with not one actor making a false move. Maintaining this mood for such a long period, often makes for some slow and even boring stretches (fault the director,) but the whole is worth...yeh, yeh, you know! Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) is a cold and distant father of a dysfunctional family of traumatized geniuses (played brilliantly by a lobotomized Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, and Ben Stiller.) After being thrown out of his lodgings for being broke, he decides to return to the family home (after 20 years) just as his wife (Angelica Huston, in the film's best performance) is about to marry their accountant (Danny Glover.) Bill Murray plays Paltrow's cuckolded husband, and Owen Wilson is one of her many lovers. Even Feydeau couldn't come up with a better one than that! (4-Stars) Nick MOVIE REVIEW - " ALI " I hate boxing! I don't get any enjoyment out of watching two men beat each other senseless, either in the street or in the ring. So I put off going to see "Ali" until a rainy day came along, when no other movies were opening. That was today. I had heard that the only thing good about the film was Will Smith's performance. That's not quite accurate. Once Will Smith got his body all "buffed-up" his performance ended! He walks through most of the film, like an actor playing Jesus in one of those cheesy religious films. In fact this supposed bio-pic has a lot in common with those religious films. Mohammed Ali is depicted as being a combination of Jesus, Mother Teresa and Jake La Motta ("Raging Bull.) In fact Ali was neither. I remember him during those ten years depicted in the film, when he was metamorphosing from Cassius Clay (the womanizing wildman) into Muhammed Ali (the self-righteous conscientious objector.) He was far from a saint. Jon Voight (as Howard Cossell,) although he does a fine acting job, needs to get out from under all of the facial prostheses that he's been buried under in his last two films (as FDR in "Pearl Harbor" and now as Howard Cossell.) Smith and Voight have some funny scenes together, and there are some excellent supporting performances from Melvin VanPeebles, Jamie Foxx, and Ron Silver. Other than that, stay home and rent "Raging Bull." (3 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "BLACK HAWK DOWN" Years ago, when this incident happened, I read about it in the newspapers, and then when the book came out, although I had been told that it was an interesting read, I didn't think that an entire book about the event could hold my interest...so I never read it. Having just sat through a 2 1/2-hour movie based on the very same incident, I'm surprised to report that the film is not only interesting, but fascinating, exciting, and thoroughly spellbinding. The entire film, one of the most brutal war movies ever made, has the same intensity of the excruciatingly painful and realistic first half-hour of "Saving Pvt. Ryan." However, what's surprising is that it's also a great human interest story, and in spite of what you may have heard, we, the viewers, do get to know many of the large cast, as individuals, and we're able to empathize with their horrible hell-like situation. Although it's far from a "first-date flick," women should see this film as well as men. It's an important part of the history of all of us. There are no stand-outs in the cast; all seem to be real soldiers. Director Ridley Scott has to be commended for commanding this cast through the impossible carnage of the battle scenes. WARNING: If you're teetering on the brink of racism, this film will push you over! (5-Stars) If you cry easily at the movies, then you might enjoy this trite, manipulative, Italian, tear jerker, about a perfect family that falls apart when one of its members dies. Although all of the actors are excellent, believable, and quite likable, I was bored to death most of the time, and I kept thinking about the cosmic burritos and smoothies that my friend Pete and I would be having for lunch after the movie! What were the jury members thinking, at the Cannes Film Festival last May, when they awarded the coveted Palme D'or to this thoroughly predictable soap opera? If you want to see a similar plot told on film, but told brilliantly, see "In The Bedroom." (2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO" There's a reason why this story has been popular for over 100 years, and there have been countless movie versions of it. The reason? It's good! The book written by Alexandre Dumas, pere, is a huge page-turner, and it transfers beautifully to the screen. The tale of love, treachery, and revenge set in 19th Century France, tells the story of two "friends" from childhood who are torn apart under the worst of circumstances. While in the infamous Chateau d'if prison in the harbor of Marseilles, Edmund Dantes (Jim Caviezel) plots revenge against his villainous "friend" (Guy Pierce,) who has destroyed his life and taken his woman. In prison, he is befriended by an old priest, also a prisoner (Richard Harris,) who tutors Dantes, turning the simple, uneducated dolt, into an intelligent and cultured gentlemen, and eventually several plot turns later, into the immensely wealthy and vengeful "Count of Monte Cristo." I'm guessing that even the young generation of MTV fans and rappers, will enjoy this film, even though they don't know what the word "swashbuckler" means, and have never heard of Errol Flynn or Douglas Fairbanks, jr.! The film is big and old-fashioned, in the most positive sense of the word. I loved the book when I read it in high school(!) and I really enjoyed this movie. It's a great way to spend two hours on a Saturday afternoon. (4-Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "SCOTLAND, PA" I have no problem with productions of Shakespeare's plays, in which the time and place have been transferred to something other than the original (e.g., "King Lear" done with a cast of Eskimos with music by Barry Manilow.) But, if it's Shakespeare, stick to the TEXT. Therefore , I was prepared to hate "Scotland, PA" a film by writer/director Billy Morrissette, in which nothing but the skeletal plot of "Macbeth" was kept with none of Shakespeare's words, and the action was transferred to a fast-food restaurant in backwoods Pennsylvania in the 1970's. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. But, what a pleasant surprise it was to find that the film was not only clever, and well-acted, but very funny as well. I must warn you however that, it will increase your enjoyment of the movie, IF you're familiar with the story of Macbeth, because it's filled with subtle (and not so subtle) references to the Scottish play. Maura Tierney (Mrs. Billy Morrissette) and James LeGros play the McBeths(!) beautifully, and Christopher Walken steals every one of his scenes, as a vegetarian Lt. Ernie McDuff. The sets and costumes are as funny as anything that I've seen on film this year. Although I hope that this film doesn't start a trend for doing Shakespeare without the words of Shakespeare, this one was worth the effort. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "MONSTER'S BALL" Easily one of the most uncompromising (and depressing) films of 2001, "Monster's Ball" tackles the difficult subject of racism in America, and deals with it more effectively than just about any film since "To Kill A Mockingbird." Set in the contemporary South, we are presented with three generations of corrections officers who are also haters. The grandfather (Peter Boyle) hates all blacks and it would seem, life itself. The son, Hank (Billy Bob Thornton) hates blacks as much as his father does. The grandson (Heath Ledger) hates himself more than anything. The story is a classic tale of irony and tragedy, as old as Ancient Greece. Hank, the state executioner, electrocutes a black killer (played very effectively by Sean Combs.) When he meets the widow (Halle Berry,) in what is an unlikely turn of events, he falls in love with her. The results are implausible, but always interesting. I found it hard to believe that a man, who one day shoots off his rifle to scare two young black boys off of his property, would allow himself to fall in love with a black woman a few days later! In spite of the unbelievability of the last part of the film, the acting is so intense, especially on the part of Halle Berry, who fills every scene with depths of anguish and pain rarely seen on screen, that I would recommend that you see this film just to see what will surely be an Academy Award-nominated performance. (4-Stars)
TALK CINEMA PREVIEW MOVIE- "FESTIVAL IN CANNES" This cinematic gem was written, directed and edited by Henry Jaglom...a man who obviously knows the movie industry thoroughly...and must hate it! Using the 52nd Cannes Film Festival as a backdrop, Jaglom introduces us to some of the most megalomaniacal, egotistical, borderline sociopathic con artists ever put on screen...the producers, writers, directors, agents and stars who go to the festival to "do business." Using some new young stars( Jenny Gabrielle and Zack Norman,) some old reliables (Ron Silver, Faye Dunaway, William Shatner,) and some of the greatest classic European actors of the past (Maximilian Schell, Greta Scacchi and Anouk Aimee,) Jaglom tells a story of manipulation, con-artistry, and lies, that makes you feel dirty watching it unfold. As my friend Pete said, "it's almost Shakespearean in scope." I couldn't agree more. A great star like Anouk Aimee ("La Dolce Vita," "8 1/2," "A Man and a Woman,") can say more just by brushing her hand through her hair, than all of today's "Meg Ryans / Julia Roberts/ Gwyneth Paltrows" can say with 10 pages of script. The note-perfect musical score couldn't be better. You'll come away from this film disillusioned (you mean film festivals are not about fun and glamour?) and thinking, "thank God I'm not in THAT business!" Jaglom has written the most sarcastic, incisive, biting, and twisted dialogue about the movie business, since "All About Eve"(in 1950.) Anyone who loves the movies MUST see this unforgettable film. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "WE WERE SOLDIERS" Fortunately, America is a young country, and we've only had a few wars. Hollywood, on the other hand, has made ENDLESS films about these few wars, thereby decreasing the chances of producing a truly original war film. The same plots are recycled over and over again, specifically the one about a noble band of soldiers trapped behind enemy lines. "We Were Soldiers" offers at least a rethinking of this theme by taking a War and Peace approach to its story. The scenes of the soldiers "at peace" at home with their wives and children, although a bit too idyllic and TV sitcom, offer a stark contrast to the scenes "at war" in Viet Nam, where everything is horrifying, nightmarish, and realistically violent. The fact that war is insane, is made evident in this expertly-done film by writer/director Randall Wallace. Based on the book by Hal Moore and James Gallaway, the centerpiece of the movie is the battle at Ia Drang in Viet Nam in 1965. Lt.Col. Hal Moore (a stoic Mel Gibson) leads his band into one of the most ferocious battles in America's history, and becomes disillusioned with the futility of this, "the war that America lost," as most of his men are killed mercilessly. Actors Chris Klein and Greg Kinnear, and the grizzled veteran Sam Elliott, do an excellent job of portraying some of these men. I can't say that this movie will make you feel good, or that you'll love America even more than you do now, but it does make a strong statement about how it's often necessary to take up arms to defend a life-style worth defending. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "IRIS" If you have the patience and stamina to sit through this short, but heartbreakingly sad film, then you'll at least be rewarded for your time, by seeing four of the finest acting performances on screen in 2001. This Richard Eyre movie, tells the real-life story of the famous English literary couple, Dame Iris Murdoch and John Bayley. The drama of the tale lies in Dame Iris' steady and rapid descent into the hell that is Alzheimer's. The story flashes back and forth from the elderly couple in the present, to the young couple as they fell in love. The heartbreak is in the editing. Playing Iris and John as a young couple, are Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville, and they are wonderful. Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent are Iris and John in their later years, and they are astonishing. Bonneville and Broadbent look so much alike that they could be the same actor in aging make-up. If there's a moral in this gut-wrenching story (and there are several,) it's that love can't conquer this horrible disease, but it can sure make the downward spiral easier for the victims. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "MONSOON WEDDING" (in Hindi and English with English sub-titles) If you're tired of seeing films like the big, waste-of-talent, stupid ones that Hollywood has opened in theaters this weekend, check out Mira Nair's unique Indian (yes, Indian) film "Monsoon Wedding. Bombay, or Bollywood as it's known in the trade, churns out movies like this one by the hundreds, and we're lucky if we see one of them a year. "Monsoon Wedding" is the story about the preparations for an arranged marriage in New Delhi. Even if you hate sub-titled films, you'll probably be entertained by the sheer joy, silliness, color, and humanity of this Indian version of "Father of the Bride." There are so many plots weaving through this movie that, just as you may be getting tired of one, another comes along to occupy your senses. The actors are all, talented, perfectly suited for their roles, and some of them really stand out, although you won't recognize any names or faces! It's exotic, soapy, fun, often surprisingly dark, but always colorful...just what we need right now to take our minds off of the ugly real world outside the theater. If you want to open a door into a different world, one that Westerners don't often get a chance to experience, then accept the invitation to this unusual wedding. (4-Stars) Unless you've been sleeping under a rock for the past year, you're probably aware that "Project Greenlight," the brainchild of actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, is an attempt to make it easier for new screenwriters to get their film made and distributed. Scripts were submitted, judged, and then, the winner, Pete Jones' "Stolen Summer," was filmed under the guidance of Damon, Affleck, their "bad-cop," Harvard's Chris Moore, and Miramax. All of this was documented in the HBO series, which turned out to be the best reality show on TV this past season. But what about the film itself? Was it worth the effort? Only the powers behind "Project Greenlight" can say if the effort was worth it. However, the film "Stolen Summer" is a beautiful film; one that could have been made by Frank Capra ("It's A Wonderful Life.") It has that Capraesque blend of humor, family values, goodness, and the sense that right does triumph in the end. It tells the story of two young boys, one of whom is Jewish, the other Catholic, who decide, because of the impending death of one of the boys, to compile a list of 10 good deeds, guaranteed to get the Jewish boy into heaven! The actors are letter-perfect in their roles, especially Bonnie Hunt, Aidan Quinn, Kevin Pollack, Brian Dennehy, and the two little boys whose names I missed. You'll be moved to tears one minute, and laughing out loud the next...all the time saying, this IS the way it was growing up. I loved it! (5-Stars)
MOVIE REVIEW- "THE ROOKIE" Because it's only two days to the Red Sox opening game, I chose to see "The Rookie" today, in anticipation of the upcoming baseball season. It was an inspired choice. If you love baseball and old-fashioned movies...clean movies with heroes, dreams, and happy endings...then you and your family will love "The Rookie." Part "It's A Wonderful Life," "Field of Dreams," and "Rocky," this film tells the story of Jim Morris, a high-school chemistry teacher, who had to give up his short-lived career in baseball, because of a serious injury. In addition to teaching, he coaches his high school's losing baseball team. Toward the end of a dismal season, the team-members present the coach with this challenge..."if we win the district championship, you have to try out for the major leagues." They do...and he does, leading up to a predictable, but thoroughly enjoyable ending. What keeps this film from being buried under a field of corn, is an intelligent screenplay, fine direction, and excellent acting from Rachel Griffiths, Brian Cox, and especially Dennis Quaid...in possibly his best role. Oh, by the way, this is based on a true story. (4- Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "BIG TROUBLE" If you're unlucky, or stupid enough, to stumble into this movie, then you'll just have to take my word for it, that it's based on one of the funniest books that I've ever read (see my review of the Dave Barry book in BOOKS.) The film, on the other hand is not only a waste of some high-priced talent (Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Stanley Tucci, Tom Sizemore and Jason Lee,) but also is absolutely moronic. My advice is obvious: skip the movie, read the book! (1-Star) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "TIME OUT" ("L'EMPLOI DU TEMPS") (in French with English sub-titles) Vincent appears to be a successful French businessman, with a nice car, decent clothes, a loving wife, and a cell-phone. For the first 40 minutes of this 2-hour film, we are kept in the dark as to just exactly what Vincent does. Soon, we see that Vincent appears to love his car more than he loves his job or his family, because he sleeps in the car in hotel parking lots, and lies to his friends and family about his fictitious new job in Switzerland. When we find out that Vincent was fired because he loved driving around in his car more than he loved making his sales, and that he now is bilking his father and his friends for large sums of money, we realize that Vincent is a real sicko; is there such a disease as autophilia? But, more importantly, who cares about Vincent, his scamming lifestyle, or his damn car? The film is a colossal bore! (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW- "Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN" ("AND YOUR MOTHER, TOO") (In Spanish with English sub-titles) Although it could hardly be said that the Mexican film industry churns out great film classics by the score, every few years it does manage to send up a truly excellent, original film, like "Amores Perros," and "Like Water For Chocolate." "Y Tu Mama Tambien" is NOT one of those. The somewhat interesting story concerns two adolescent boys (who act like pre-teens,) who out of sheer boredom and horniness, convince an older female relative of one of the boys, to join them on a road trip, in search of a fictitious beach. Their goal is to see her naked (or better,) but what they don't realize is that she has her own hidden agenda. This could have played out well, had the three main characters not been so stupid, immature, and uninteresting. One loses interest in them long before the tragic, but predictable ending. Don't be fooled by the critics who are calling this a sociological study of the class struggle in Mexico. It's about two naked boys screwing cousin Luisa, and it borders on child pornography! (2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT" I assume that Julia Roberts and Winona Ryder were wisely not available when this role was handed out, and Billy Bob Thornton must have been out of town when his wife signed on the dotted line to star in this mushy, soap opera of a chick flick. Angelina, what were you thinking? No one comes out of this cheesy tearjerker unscathed...not Angelina Jolie, not Edward Burns, not Tony Shalhoub, and not even the city of Seattle. If you need to know, this is yet another one of those "what would I do differently if I had my life to live over?" films. Chose another role Mrs. Thornton! (2 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "FRAILTY" A truly frightening and upsetting film that stays with you long after you've left the theater. It's not scary the way those silly, stupid, "Scream" movies are scary to adolescent girls, or the way those gymnastic, kung-fu, "Matrix" movies are scary to adolescent boys. But rather, it's scary the way the psychological thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock were/are scary to intelligent adults. No special effects. Just a good story, good cinematography, and good acting. Driving this story is a disturbing religious belief that's even more upsetting than the violence in the film. I'm sure that you know at least one person who believes that God makes us do everything that we do, and that we must do it unquestioningly. If you do, and I know that you do, please don't take that person with you to see this movie. Especially if that person is carrying an axe! (4-Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING" I love Greeks. I love Greek food. I love Greek music. I love this hilarious movie, about an out-of-control extended Greek-American family, that exemplifies the worst (and the best) of what it's like to grow up in a large ethnic family. Toula (screenwriter/actress Nia Vardalos) is in her 30's, and her overprotective mother and father (Lainie Kazan and Michael Constantine) treat her like a child, until a waspy, but loving, man (John Corbett) tells her that she's beautiful. Not since Woody Allen went to meet Annie Hall's waspy family, has there been a funnier clash-of-cultures scene on film. This movie is laugh-out-loud funny, and if you come from a large hyphenated family (Greek-American, Italian-American, Latin-American, etc.) you MUST see it. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "SPIDER MAN" Tobey Maguire is one of the finest young actors working in films today. If you're not familiar with his work, rent "Wonder Boys" and "Cider House Rules." Obviously, I was predisposed to enjoy his work as Spider Man, and enjoy it I certainly did. He is wonderful in the role, and mostly because of his performance in it, I loved the film. In fact, it's the best movie about a comic-book hero since "Superman I" and Batman I." Director Sam Raimy wisely chose to ground his film in the love story between nerdy teenager Peter Parker (Maguire,) and his next-door neighbor Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst.) Then, when the spider bites, and the computer graphics kick in, enough of a strong foundation has been built from which to enjoy the dizzying special effects, and to prevent the film from descending into the usual cheesy camp. Unfortunately, the villain of Willem Dafoe does not escape this fate. The Green Goblin is cheesy, campy, and over the top. His costume is downright silly, as is his mode of transportation. J. K. Simmons as the newspaper editor, does a fine job, as does Broadway diva Rosemary Harris as Aunt May. This film stands on its own. It requires no sequel. Unfortunately, due to its phenomenal success in such a short time, there'll most certainly be one...or two! (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "UNFAITHFUL" "Unfaithful" is the story of the most recklessly horny housewife in all of suburban New York, whose adulterous love affair destroys not only her supposedly happy marriage, but also the lives of everyone involved. Director Adrian Lyne returns to the theme of his "Fatal Attraction" film, upping the ante this time, and foolishly pushing the envelope into the realm of absurdity. Beginning with the most stupid and phony windstorm seen on film since Dorothy landed in Munchkinland, scene after scene that should have produced either terror or suspense, produces laughter instead. That's not good! If there's a reason to see this soft-core porn film, it's because it's a soft-core porn film, and also because Diane Lane as the sex-starved wife, gives one of the most daring and expert performances seen in a while. Look for her at Oscar time next year. Olivier Martinez plays the sex-crazy stud (the Glenn Close role,) and Richard Gere comes to as close to acting as he's ever done....and that's saying a lot. My suggestion to Adrian Lyne? Try a comedy next time. It should be terrifying! (2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "NINE QUEENS" (in Spanish with English sub-titles) No, it's not about nine gay men! What this film from Argentina IS about, is one of the most masterfully crafted scams perpetrated by two con men, that will keep you talking and guessing about who did what to whom and when, long after you've left the theater. Now, I'm not stupid, but I was fooled about what was going on during the course of this film-length con. Writer/ director Fabian Bielinski tells a story of the theft of nine stamps printed in the Weimar Republic, each stamp bearing the likeness of a queen, and valued at half-a-million dollars. If I told you anymore, I'd be giving away key elements of the intricate plot, so I'll stop right here. I know that I don't have to say this but, please don't give away the ending! (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "STAR WARS: ATTACK OF THE CLONES" Having seen the previous four films as recently as yesterday, allow me to recap for a moment. Episodes IV, V, and VI, are completely lacking in computer graphics, but are filled with the charm, humor, and intelligent dialogue of a Spencer Tracy- Katherine Hepburn film, and the gripping story line of a work by Tolkien, Vonnegut, Asimov or the Brothers Grimm. When I first viewed Episode I three years ago, I thought that the computer graphics overpowered the story, and that the character of Anakin was weakly drawn and badly acted. On viewing it again, in the context of the other three films, I can say that it's a fine film, and the character of Anakin is just perfect. Context is everything. When one is forced to wait three years to see a film, ones perception changes. Now to the present film. Everything that George Lucas has learned in the four previous films, he builds on for this film...even his mistakes. Episode II is the best of the series in every way. The story lines are complex, but build logically from what came before and what is to follow. The acting, especially by the young lovers Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) and Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman,) couldn't be better. They're beautiful, believable, and often quite moving. The action scenes have to be seen to be believed. Here, the amazing computer graphics enhance the story. Wait until you see Yoda kick ass in a light saber duel! The settings, especially the real scenes at Bellagio at Lake Como in Italy (the lovers balcony scenes) are breathtaking. The music is used as Wagnerian leitmotifs; when Anakin reveals his dark side you hear Darth Vader's theme. I could go on, but this review is long enough. Allow me to make the recommendation that you rent the four previous films and see them before you go to the theater to see this one. It'll make your viewing experience an unforgettable one. (5-Stars) After having seen "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" shown on film and digitally, I can speak to the differences. Although the film version (seen in most theaters,) is bright and clear, the digital version is incredibly sharper, brighter, and almost 3-D-like in some intimate scenes. In the large-scale scenes of cities, receding landscapes, and epic battles, even the images in the extreme background, are seen as clearly as those in the foreground. The colors are the brightest that I've ever seen on screen. So, if you don't have to go too far out of your way to see the digitally-projected version of this incredible film, see it. It's definitely the better movie-going experience MOVIE REVIEW- "ABOUT A BOY" Everything that I'd heard about this movie predisposed me to like it. It was Hugh Grant in a break-out role, rather than playing his stuttery-aristocratic ditz. It was directed by Paul and Chris Weitz, the brothers who made "American Pie," operating in their adult mode, rather than doing their lovable potty-mouthed thing. It was touted as a great hit by my favorite critics. It was about an independently wealthy man, who spends his days doing those things that will make him happy. So, why then did I find it to be only mildly amusing some of the time, and very annoying most of the time? The characters, especially the insane suicidal, self-centered mother and her nerdy, socially inept son were on the top of the annoying list, followed closely by the slacker himself, who hasn't a clue as to how to enjoy a life of true unbridled leisure. Around these three, circles a whole solar system of dysfunctional, mean, and, yes, annoying people. The actor playing the young boy is so bad, he would make milk curdle. I wanted him to suffer! Some critics were calling this the male version of "Bridget Jones's Diary." I agree with them. That's probably why I disliked it. (2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "INSOMNIA" Once again, let me tell you how I feel about the remaking of successful foreign films into American movies in English, implying that Americans just won't, or are too stupid to, read sub-titles. I feel insulted, and so should every intelligent moviegoer. The most recent examples of this cinematic dumbing-down trend are "Abre Los Ojos" into the ridiculous "Vanilla Sky," and "La Femme Infidel" into the trashy "Unfaithful." "Insomnia" (from the Norwegian film of the same name,) is the latest film to come out of this simplistic mind set. (It's not surprising to see that non-actor George Clooney was one of the producers!) The film, set in the beautiful landscapes of an unforgiving Alaska, follows two L.A. cops (Al Pacino and Martin Donavan) who are on the trail of a killer (a miscast Robin Williams) in the land where the summer day is 22 hours long. That fact, and a guilty past, produces the insomnia of the title, and our good/bad cop Pacino seems to collapse under the weight of sleep-deprivation. Actually, from the first frame of the movie, Pacino looks as though he'd been dragged behind a truck for a mile and a half! Especially when he's sitting next to the beautiful Hillary Swank, who doesn't get a chance to do anything remotely Oscar-worthy in this film. There's nothing really bad about "Insomnia," except the pacing, which during the first hour, is actually sleep-inducing. Ironic, isn't it? (3-Stars) (I had the opportunity to see the Norwegian film, "Insomnia," this evening, and it's not much better than the American version.!) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE SUM OF ALL FEARS" Before I start to review this film, let me say that I believe that releasing a movie, that deals with a nuclear attack on an American city by terrorists, AT THIS TIME, borders on irresponsibility. Money be damned; save it for a less traumatic time. As for the film itself, it's a very good action thriller of the "almost-the-end-of-the world" genre, but it has enough loopholes in it to drive a stealth bomber through. The plot concerns the unleashing of a nuclear device by terrorists (Arabs in the book; more politically correct neo-Nazis in the film,) during a Super Bowl, and making it look as though the Russians did it. Everything escalates, and only Jack Ryan can save the day. Now about Jack Ryan. The last time we met him (in Clancy's book Debt of Honor,) he was Harrison Ford (age 60-ish) and he was President of the United States. His wife Kathy (Dr. Muller-Ryan) was First Lady, and John Clark was an aging Master Spy. Did they suddenly discover the fountain of youth? Because even though the last film (and book), and the current film, take place in the present time, they've all become twenty-somethings, and Jack Ryan is now an aging frat boy (albeit with a doctorate in History!) who has a minor governmental job. How did this happen and how can I get some??? The acting is all good, within the context of the action-film genre: ("Don't you understand, I've got to get to the President or all of mankind is doomed?") If you have no knowledge of the Tom Clancy series of books upon which the films are based, you will probably enjoy this as a straight "brink-of-disaster" action thriller. If you've read the books, well, you'll probably come out as confused as I was. (3 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "BAD COMPANY" In the most unlikely pairing on screen since Sir Lawrence Olivier starred with Marilyn Monroe in "The Prince and the Showgirl," Jerry Bruckheimer's latest video game teams up Sir Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock in a dreadful movie that should have been left on the shelf, where it was sitting since the events of Sept. 11th rendered its terrorists/nuclear attack theme tasteless. Nevertheless taste never enters the picture when it comes to making money, does it? Shakespearean actor Anthony Hopkins has obviously decided that money is good, even if it means prostituting his talent in a piece of garbage like this film, and we all know that Chris Rock would sell his mother for a buck. Do you really need to know that the plot involves the CIA, represented by Hopkins, having to recruit the idiot twin brother of one of their best agents, (Rock in both roles) in order to avert a nuclear disaster? Hopkins sleepwalks through the film, and Rock does his stand-up comedy act. What's next, Sir Ian McKellen and David Spade in "The End of the World- the Sequel? Stay home and rent any video game; you'll have more fun, and save the movie money (0-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST" When I think of intelligent comedy, I think of two authors...Oscar Wilde and Woody Allen. Oscar Wilde's most brilliant comedy-of-manners is the hilarious "The Importance of Being Earnest." Although the definitive version of this play was already filmed in the 1950's, with a cast that included Dames Edith Evans, and Margaret Rutherford, and Sir Michael Redgrave, the present film is pretty good as well. As the ditzy Cecily, Reese Witherspoon does a fine job, and manages to maintain a proper British accent throughout. Everyone else in the cast is an accomplished British stage actor (Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Frances O' Connor, and the incomparable Dame Judi Dench as Lady Bracknell) and so it's not surprising how well they handle Wilde's classic witticisms. The play is practically a compendium of Wilde's witty quotes. Here are a few: "To lose one parent, Mr.Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness." "All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his." "In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing." "This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last." "It is a terrible thing for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth" Who writes lines like that nowadays? Many scenes in the play are "opened up" in this film, and I can only think that Wilde would have approved of their bawdy bent! (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE BOURNE IDENTITY" I loved the book (written 20 years ago and arguably Robert Ludlum's finest,) and I'm happy to say that I loved the movie as well. On paper, Matt Damon, America's boyfriend ("the guy-next-door,") might appear to be horribly miscast as an action hero in a shoot-'em-up spy film. On the contrary, his persona works in his, and the film's, favor, as his character, a victim of amnesia, learns that he is not the boy next door, just as we, the audience, learn the same thing. He is in fact a CIA assassin...one of the best. Unfortunately, too many people know this, and they're all out to kill him. Thus the film becomes one long chase, and one of the best espionage thrillers to come around in a long time. Director Doug Liman ("Swingers," "Go,") follows Jason Bourne (Damon) from the time he is found floating near dead in a stormy Mediteranean, until............I can't say anymore! Franka Potente ("Run, Lola, Run") and Chris Cooper ("American Beauty") are also along for the ride, and speaking of rides, the long car chase is one of the best on film, rivaling those in "Bullitt" and "The French Connection." Damon's acting in this film doesn't reach the heights that he achieved in "The Talented Mr. Ripley," "Good Will Hunting," and "The Legend of Bagger Vance," but after all, this is an action film, and he turns in one of the most credible performances seen in a film of this genre. In fact, he's the best thing in an already fine film. There are two more "Bourne" books. Sequels Matt? (4 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "LA PIANISTE" ("THE PIANO TEACHER") in French with English sub-titles The winner of the 2001 Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and the Best Actor and Actress awards for its two stars, Isabelle Huppert and Benoit Magimel, "The Piano Teacher" is a difficult film to review. On the one hand, its screenplay is utterly original and well-written, its director (Michael Haneke,) has done his job well, and it's brilliantly acted by its two award-winning stars, in addition to the wonderful Annie Girardot. On the other hand, it's one of the most disgusting and repulsive films that I've seen in a long time. The story concerns a well-respected, authoritative Viennese piano teacher, who goes from her master classes at the Conservatory, to a humdrum life in a dreary apartment, where she lives with her domineering mother. Her father has just died in an insane asylum. However, in secret, this prim and proper woman, is a self-mutilator, a regular visitor to the neighborhood porn house where she views porno films in private, and a seducer of at least one of her young male students. Although the sadomasochistic elements of the film are shocking and ugly, there's nothing remotely erotic about the movie at all. In fact, some of the sickest scenes become almost comical! Although I can appreciate the craftsmanship that went into making this film, I could never recommend it to anyone. (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "MINORITY REPORT" If you're going to this film thinking that you're going to see "Mission Impossible 3, forget it. This is one of Stephen Spielberg's finest films; arguably, a masterpiece. Filled with ideas that resonate to things in our present, this sci-fi film is based on a short story by Philip K. Dick ("Blade Runner.") Philosophical and ethical issues ("Are we giving up our privacy? If so, at what cost?) are balanced with exciting chase and action scenes, resulting in a truly memorable film experience. The time is 2054; the place, Washington D.C. The crime of murder has been virtually eliminated, thanks to three pre-cogs...psychics who can sense future crimes. People are arrested BEFORE they commit the murder. James Aderton (Tom Cruise,) one of the best of the pre-cog officers, has his belief in the system tested, when HE becomes one of the accused. If Cruise has given a better performance in ANY film, I haven't seen it. He is completely believable in this role, possibly because he and Spielberg have tailored the role to suit all of his talents and skills. It pays off. Cruise and the film have attained mythic status...no mean achievement for a summer movie. In addition, the movie is a virtual encyclopedia of cinematography. It's a visual stunner. Spielberg has done things with color, and the removal of color, that will be studied in film schools for years to come. A wonderful cinematic experience. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE ROAD TO PERDITION" Not as epic in scope or operatic as "The Godfather" saga, "The Road to Perdition" is nevertheless a classic of the gangster family genre. Although the stars of the film (Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Stanley Tucci) are all quite excellent, although directed to act in a relatively passive and restrained way, the true "stars" of the film are not the actors. The story, the way it unfolds, and the way it looks on screen raise what could have been another melodramatic mobster film, into the realm of "one of the best of its kind." Therefore, credit must be given to director Sam Mendes ("American Beauty,") screenwriter David Self, and cinematographer Conrad L. Hall. The story concerns the relationship between fathers and sons, and that really says it all. The fact that this drama plays out in the context of the Irish mobs of the Depression era is almost irrelevant. Boss of bosses John Rooney (Paul Newman) has two sons...one his real son (a hot-headed idiot,) and another, his surrogate son Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks.) Sullivan is one of Rooney's most trusted hit men, and Rooney truly loves him. Sullivan in turn has two sons of his own, and when one of them accidentally sees his father committing murder for the mob, a chain of events is set in motion that rivals the plot of even the best of the Greek plays or the tragedies of Shakespeare. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "K-19: WIDOWMAKER" Although "K-19:Widowmaker" is good enough to take its place alongside the other great movies about submarines ("Run Silent, Run Deep;" "Crimson Tide;" "The Hunt for Red October," etc.) it's still just a movie about a submarine and its crew, and there's not much room for variation on that theme. What does set it aside somewhat, is that it's one of the few American films that deals heroically, with what was our Cold War enemy...the Soviet Union. Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson do a fine job of portraying the captains of the ill-fated ship...Neeson, the good, humane one, and Ford, the single-minded, by-the-book, captain. They are both believable as Russian naval officers, and wisely, they've chosen to affect only a slight Russian accent. When will American film makers realize that Russians don't speak with Russian accents? They speak Russian! So either use the original language with sub-titles, or drop the attempt and speak English, damnit. The plot involves a new Soviet nuclear submarine that was put to sea long before it was finished and, short on all supplies and emergency materials, how its captains and crew deal with an impending nuclear meltdown. The question is asked, did this heroic crew prevent a catastrophic nuclear disaster and possibly WW III? (3 1/2- Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "TADPOLE" If you must see a movie about a 14-year-old overachiever from the Upper West Side of Manhattan, who goes to an exclusive prep school, lusts after his step-mother, speaks French fluently, has an affair with his step-mom's best friend, and shaves the hair off of a dog to make sideburns because his step-mother loved Elvis Presley when she was 15...then this is the movie for you. (1 1/2- Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER" If you've never seen an Austin Powers film before, then don't start with this one, simply because it assumes that you know what happened in the first two, and it makes constant references to the earlier films (as well as to other movies, from "Singin' in the Rain," to the Star Wars films!) But, if you have seen the other two movies, then rush to see this one. It's funnier than the first one, and equally as funny as the second one, my favorite. I laughed out loud for almost the entire 1 1/2 hours. The same wonderful characters are back from Austin Powers and Dr. Evil, to Fat Bastard and Goldmember (all portrayed brilliantly by Mike Meyers.) Then there's Mini-me and Powers father, super-spy Nigel Powers (Michael Caine.) Beyonce Knowles is decorative...nothing more. The jokes are outrageously potty-mouthed, and the visual genital jokes are even funnier...and very clever. If you shock easily, or have no sense of humor, then do yourself a favor, and rent something that WILL make you laugh. But if you are an Austin Powers fan, then you'll love this one. Oh, the plot? Well, Dr. Evil has a tractor-beam that can pull a meteor down onto the Earth, and Austin Powers has to thwart the plot. But, the plot is only the framework on which to hang the jokes...visual and otherwise. I won't give away any secrets by telling you that there are lots of surprise "guests" in the movie. I'm laughing now, as I write this review, just thinking of some of the funnier things in it. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "SIGNS" M. Night Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense," and "Unbreakable,") must have spent a great deal of time studying the work of Alfred Hitchcock, because in "Signs," he has written and directed a modern-day horror film in the style of the master, and done it beautifully. Nowadays, when blockbuster films boast of having hundreds of computer-generated special effects, this one has none...or at best one! Shyamalan does it all the "old" way...with brilliant writing, directing, acting, cinematography, and music. I can attest to the fact that it works, because four grown men (three of my friends and I,) almost jumped out of our seats a few times during the two-hours of "Signs!" The plot concerns the appearance of large symbols that have been "cut" into the cornfields of a family in America's mid-west. The family consists of Mel Gibson (a former priest,) his brother (Joaquin Phoenix,) and his two children (Rory Culkin and a wonderful young actress whose name I don't know.). When these 500-foot "crop-circles" begin to pop up all over the world, people start to wonder who made them and why. All of the actors in the film, (including the wonderful stage-actress Cherry Jones as the town sheriff,) are so thoroughly believable, that you're swept up in their plight, and terrified along with them. Although the ending is somewhat anti-climactic, (one expects a surprise "punch" from Shyamalan, and there is none,) everything in the film works, and it works perfectly.( Look for Shyamalan in the role of the town's animal doctor, who changes the life of the Mel Gibson character, in a horrible way.) (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "FULL FRONTAL" Not even its ensemble cast of relatively decent actors, could have saved this turkey by director Steven Soderbergh. In fact, the actors (Catherine Keener, David Hyde Pierce, David Duchovny, Blair Underwood, and Julia Roberts,) seemed to be making it up as they went along. Who knows; maybe they were. I couldn't even begin to summarize the several disjointed plots, because I have no idea what they were all about. I should have stayed home and reread my birthday cards! (0-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "BLOOD WORK" If you stumble into a theater near you, thinking that you're going to see an action film starring Vin Diesel or The Rock, you'll fall sound asleep in the first 15 minutes of this movie...especially if you're a 14-year-old boy who's only interested in seeing large screen video-games, rather than movies of substance. "Blood Work" (from the novel by Michael Connolly,) is an old-fashioned cops-vs-serial killer thriller, similar to the "Dirty Harry" movies of decades ago. It's plot and character driven, with no trendy fast cuts, martial arts sequences in slow motion, explosions, or MTV sound track. It features two "mature" stars at their best , Angelica Huston and Clint Eastwood (also its director,) and the always dependable but underused actor, Jeff Daniels. The plot concerns a former FBI agent, and now happily retired senior citizen (Eastwood,) who comes out of retirement to track down the killer of the woman whose transplanted heart is now ticking soundly in his body! Daniels is his buddy, and Huston is his doctor. Although it's filled with flaws, one of which is Paul Rodriguez' portrayal of one of the dumbest cops on film, and another is the fact that you'll guess the ending long before the characters do, it's still a fine example of the best kind of old-fashioned film-making. (3 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "XXX" This movie doesn't have a thought in its head other than to entertain you for nearly 2 hours, and it does this perfectly, through non-stop fast-paced action, wry humor, outrageous special effects, and an uncanny ability to imitate every aspect of the James Bond-film-formula, substituting muscles and tattoos for martinis and tuxedos. Unless you've been living in a cave for the past two months, you must surely know that Vin Diesel has emerged as the screen's action star for the new millennium, pushing Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Willis et al, into the category of senior citizen. As in the Bond films, the locale is exotic. Most of the action takes place in and around the city of Prague, one of the most beautifully photogenic cities in the world. It almost looks as good on film as it does in person. The plot is irrelevant, having something to do with a biological weapon of mass destruction that is capable of annihilating the entire world. It's a blast! (5-Stars CB*) *WITH THIS FILM I'VE STARTED A NEW WAY OF CATEGORIZING ACTION FILMS (POPCORN, BLOCKBUSTER, SUMMER MOVIES,) USING THE INITIALS "CB" TO STAND FOR "COMIC BOOK." I HOPE THAT THIS WILL DISTINGUISH THESE KINDS OF FILMS THAT RECEIVE MY 5-STAR RATING, FROM PLOT AND CHARACTER-DRIVEN FILMS LIKE "A BEAUTIFUL MIND," "IN THE BEDROOM," AND "THE ROAD TO PERDITION." IF YOU CAN THINK OF A BETTER DESIGNATION FOR THESE "COMIC-BOOK" ACTION FILMS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. Thanks. MOVIE REVIEW- "POSSESSION" A.S. Byatt's novel, upon which this film is based, is one of the most perfectly crafted pieces of contemporary literature that I've read in years. It engages the intellect, as well as the emotions , of the reader. The film does neither. In spite of some fine acting, and some beautifully filmed locales in England, "Possession" never touches the heart. The movie (and novel) tells two parallel love stories. It concerns two present day academics (Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart,) who are on a quest to unravel the mystery behind the love letters of two Victorian poets (Jeremy Northam and Jennifer Ehle.) Director Neil La Bute in a shocking departure from his usual heartless, cold, mean, misogynistic films (and plays,) has tried to redeem himself by making an unabashed romance. He failed. The book read like a Bronte novel. The movie plays like a Harlequin romance! (2 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE GOOD GIRL" In every state, there's a town like the one in this film, populated by ignorant, middle-class white trash, who live out their boring, go-nowhere, unhappy lives, unable to do anything to get out of the downward spiral. Director Miguel Arteta has assembled an ensemble cast of great character actors, led by Jennifer Aniston, to tell their story. Aniston, at her best in this un-Rachel-like role, is a clerk at the local Rodeo Retail, and married to an ignorant pot-head of a house-painter (John C. Reilly.) Out of sheer boredom, she has an affair with a younger co-worker (Jake Gyllenhaal,) who just happens to be a psycho. Nothing goes right for anyone after that. It's all beautifully written, and acted so well, that at times you think that you're watching a documentary of life in a small Texan town. What is truly surprising about this un-formula-like film, is how hilarious it is. The humor comes out of the situations and the characters themselves, in spite of the fact that we're dealing with sterility, suicide, robbery, adultery, and food poisoning! (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "SIMONE" If you're as fed up as I am with the fakery--technical, emotional, cultural, political, you name it--in the world around us, then this stab-in-the-back to the movie industry is just the movie for you. But satirizing Hollywood, which it does brilliantly, is not just what this film is trying to do. Director/ Writer/Producer Andrew Niccol ("Gattaca," "The Truman Show,") is going for bigger game. He's interested in how technology has effected the mass media, and how it has changed the public's perception of reality. The plot involves a has-been director who, out of desperation, accepts the help of a crazed, dying software genius, and creates a digital actress, who becomes the darling of the world! All of the actors in the film play the satire for all it's worth, giving brilliant tongue-in-cheek performances. The best of these are Al Pacino, Catherine Keener, Winona Ryder, Jay Mohr, and especially Rachel Roberts as the fake, Simone (Simulation One.) Hypocrisy is the target and Writer/Director Niccol hits his mark every time. So many aspects of modern-day society are skewered, from lawyers who cloak their clients in the insanity plea, to popular idols, who are nothing better than criminals and lunatics. You'll laugh while you're being insulted. I loved this film, and how it targets everything that I feel has dumbed-down my once happy world. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "A FEW GOOD YEARS" (Private screening of a "working print" of the film) Last night, I attended a private screening of a new film starring virtually every member of the acting Douglas family. Before entering the auditorium to see what was called a "working print" of this film, we were asked to sign a waiver claiming that we would not discuss this film with anyone. I'm breaking this promise now, so please don't tell anyone! The film, directed by Fred Schepesi is called "A Few Good Years," and it's absolutely wonderful. A dramatic comedy with the Douglas family as the Grombergs, a highly successful New York family--except when it comes to communicating with each other. Three generations of a family, each in their own dysfunctional way, live their own separate lives but find a couple of moments in time to come together and remind themselves they are attached by blood. As they struggle to get from one end of life to the other--the younger Grombergs try to figure out where they're going while the older Grombergs try to figure out how in hell they got there in the first place. The elder Grombergs are played by Kirk and Diana Douglas. Their son and his wife are played by Michael Douglas and Bernadette Peters. Their sons are played by Cameron Douglas and Rory Culkin. Audra McDonald (three-time Broadway Tony winner!) has a cameo as one of Peters' patients. Cameron Douglas is a stand-out in a breakthrough role; he's a winner. The film has everything...comedy, sadness, good music, tragedy, great acting, beautiful New York settings, and a chance to hold a mirror up to at least some aspects of your own life. I loved it! (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "ONE-HOUR PHOTO" Although it's only a movie, it's still unpleasant to be reminded of the fact that there are so many sick, pathetic little psychos out there, similar to the one portrayed so effectively by Robin Williams, in this otherwise so-so film. Williams character lives vicariously through the lives of families, whose photos he develops in his one-hour photo booth. Not only does he live through them, but he also, at least in one terrible case, tries to "correct" their marital problems. He's sort of a moralistic stalker. Although Robin Williams performance is frighteningly chilling and right on target, one performance does not make a movie, and unfortunately, I was bored to death through three-quarters of the film. When it finally picked up toward the end, it was a case of too little, too late. If there's a moral to this tale, it's this; when you're having your films developed, don't have extra copies made! (2 1/2-Stars)
MOVIE REVIEW- "KNOCKAROUND GUYS" Four sons of Mafia overlords are having an identity crisis. They feel that they're not appreciated by their fathers, who don't seem to trust them enough to do the mobs dirty-work. Perhaps the old guys are right, because when they do get to do a job, they screw it up so badly, it's a wonder that they made it out of puberty. All they're asked to do is pick up a bag from mobsters in Montana, which contains a half a million dollars. When you consider that the young hood who is supposed to make the initial pick-up is a cokehead played by Seth Green, you can understand how things get messed up so badly. When all is finished, half of the cast, and much of the small Montana town...is dead. To think, I thought that this was going to be a comedy! Although all of the actors (John Malkovich, Dennis Hopper, Vin Diesel, Barry Pepper) are excellent, they're not given enough with which to work. The story is too light-weight for all of these heavy-weights. (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "KISS THE BRIDE" Four sisters return to Rhode Island to attend the big Italian family wedding of the youngest of the four, in this badly written, badly directed, and badly acted film. If you want to see this same story done to perfection, see "My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding" instead. (0-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "WELCOME TO COLLINWOOD" (U.S. Premiere) In this remake of the 1958 Italian film classic, "Big Deal on Madonna Street," the action has been switched from Italy to Cleveland (!) but the story remains the same. Once again, five totally inept misfits band together to make themselves rich by pulling off the greatest robbery they've ever heard of. Their stupidity and inexperience cause numerous disasters. The original Italian cast featured such greats as Marcello Mastroianni, Vittoria Gassman, and Claudia Cardinale. We have to settle for George Clooney, William H. Macy, and Jennifer Esposito who don't have the star-power to pull it off...the heist OR the film. It's a no-brainer and unfortunately it doesn't work. In a heist film, you have to either be kept on the edge of your seat from the tension of the job, or if it's meant to be a comedy, you should be rolling in the aisles. In this one, you alternate between switching from one side of your butt to another, and checking your watch; neither one a good sign. Stay home and rent the original. (2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE EMPEROR'S CLUB" William Hundert (Kevin Kline) is a passionate and principled History professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and altered forever, when a new student, Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsh,) walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills, eventually gives way to a close student-teacher relationship. But the good professor, although he knows how to convey a love of Greek and Roman history to his young charges, crosses the line with this one wise-ass problem student, and gives him special privileges, slighting at least one of his other students. When he crosses this line, he has failed as a teacher. What is a theme/plot that hit close to home for me, reinforced my belief that some teachers miss the boat as teachers, even though, objectively, they might appear to be perfect. I knew several of these "learned men." The movie starts as a formulaic "boys' prep school" film (e.g., "Dead Poets Society," "Goodbye Mr. Chips,"etc.) and then twists it into some surprise plot developments. In addition to Kline, the actors (Patrick Dempsey, Edward Hermann, Rob Morrow, Harris Yulin) are excellent. A fine beautifully photographed film. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "IGBY GOES DOWN" If you don't mind being depressed by one of the sickest new movies of the season, then you'll be rewarded with an original, clever, and well-acted film. If "Igby Goes Down" is even slightly autobiographical, then writer/director Burr Steers must be a shell of a man! The story follows the miserable life of a rich preppy who has just run away from the last of a dozen prep schools, most of which have thrown him out. Why? In his words, because he's "drowning in a sea of assholes." Think "Catcher in the Rye" on acid! Igby is played, brilliantly, by both Rory and Kieran Culkin. Igby's parents (Bill Pullman and Susan Sarandon) are card-carrying psychos. His brother (Ryan Phillippe) is a fascist robot. His godfather (Jeff Goldblum) is despicable, abusive, and something even worse, which I can't say right now. On the lam, and in hiding from just about everyone, Igby is comforted by two "older women"(Claire Danes and Amanda Peet) who have sex with him and turn him into a drug dealer. His psychiatrist is so put off by him that he slaps him during therapy. His former art teacher and her husband (Cynthia Nixon and Eric Bogasian) buy drugs from him. And so it goes..... (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "8 WOMEN" (In French with English sub-titles) Not even eight of the greatest actresses in the history of French cinema could save this turkey! Blend in equal parts of "Gosford Park," "Moulin Rouge," the worst French film ever made, and an entire field of French cow manure, and you've got "8 Women." Only a writer/director who hates women (Francois Ozon) could have made this film, but how he convinced Danielle Darrieux, Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Beart, etc., to star in it is the real story. Now THAT would make an interesting movie. (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW (TALK CINEMA ADVANCE SCREENING): "REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES" In her application to Columbia University, a Latina from the barrio in Los Angeles is asked to write a "personal statement." In one sense, this entire film is the personal statement of playwright Josefina Lopez. Whether or not the story is autobiographical, it is powerful in its depiction of life in the Latin community of L.A., and how it is virtually impossible for a young woman with brains, to escape the ignorance of her family and the humdrum, hopeless, downward spiral of her go-nowhere environment. The story is a depressing one, and the cast of fat and homely women doesn't help to relieve this feeling of "what a miserable life these people live." What were they thinking at Sundance when they give this film an award? (2 1/2 -Stars) MOVIE REVIEW (TALK CINEMA ADVANCE SCREENING): "RENO: REBEL WITHOUT A PAUSE." Reading the hand-out before entering the theater, I learned that Reno was a former crystal meth addict, a lesbian with attention deficit disorder, and one of New York's underground club performers. The film would consist of a 75-minute monologue about living through the disaster of "Sept. 11th." I knew that I would hate it, and was prepared to leave after a few minutes. To my shock and amazement, what I saw was one of the funniest movies that I've ever seen. Who would have guessed that someone could talk about these horrifying events in a tasteful, respectful, and moving way, and still be absolutely hilarious? Certainly not me! Many members of this packed house at Lincoln Center were probably near "ground zero" when the disaster took place, and were directly affected by what transpired. Their laughter was even more surprising...but maybe not. Reno taps into something primal, twists it with love, and makes it funny. Laughter is involuntary. Amazing! If you get a chance to see this film (and I hope that you do,) don't prejudge it as I did, and you'll be rewarded with some of the best, and most meaningful, comedy that you've ever seen. I laughed so hard that I got a headache! (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "RED DRAGON" Unless you're one of the Al-Qaeda prisoners in Cuba, you probably already know that "Red Dragon" is the prequel to "Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal," and that it's a re-make of the fine film "Manhunter," in which we were first introduced to the character of Hannibal Lecter..albeit a more benign Hannibal, as played by Brian Cox. In "Red Dragon" (based on the first book in the trilogy,) the theme is the same as in the other books and films. Namely, "set a thief to catch a thief." I must admit that I wasn't sure about seeing Hannibal on film yet another time, until I heard what an extraordinary cast had been assembled to tell the story. Led by the ubiquitous Anthony Hopkins, the cast includes Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Emily Watson, Harvey Keitel, Mary Louise Parker, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. With that cast, they could have re-made "Mars Attacks" and made it work! Once again, Hannibal is asked to get into the mind of a serial killer, by the very same FBI agent who was almost killed by Lecter, and who was responsible for putting him into his now-famous prison cell. The tale unfolds in the same dark, chilling, suspenseful, and horrifying manner of "The Silence of the Lambs" without any of the operatic over-the-top humor of "Hannibal" (both of which I thoroughly enjoyed.) The music of Danny Elfman helps to set the mood, especially in the chilling opening sequence. (By, the way , I loved the last line of the movie.) Now let's hope that there are no more Hannibal films, unless they can convince Jackie Chan and Martin Lawrence to play the serial killers. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "SPIRITED AWAY" I don't think that I've ever used the word "masterpiece" to describe an animated movie, but in hindsight, maybe I should have. Certainly some of the Disney classics like "Snow White," "Cinderella," "Pinocchio," "The Sleeping Beauty," "Aladdin," "Beauty and the Beast," and "The Lion King" qualify for the title. Now, add "Spirited Away," the Japanese "anime" film to that list. With a story line straight out of "Alice in Wonderland," and with the darkness of the Grimm brothers, this long, animated movie should become an instant classic, although it's somewhat frightening for young children. Once again, a young girl steps through a portal, leaving behind her human parents (and reality,) and enters a magical, frightening world of witches, dragons, monsters, and over-sized babies! Here she finds inner strength, and overcomes various obstacles, and learns some lessons about herself. The artwork is absolutely breathtaking. What I did miss however, was a musical score/songs, which I think would have enhanced the magic and charm of the film, in addition to making it seem less long than its 2 hours and 5 minutes! (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE" In his latest documentary, this one on violence in America, controversial writer/director/producer Michael Moore tries to answer the puzzling question, "why do more Americans kill each other than do people in other civilized countries (e.g., less than 500 per year in other countries; 10,000 or more per year in America???") Using his usual film techniques of hunting down controversial subjects who are a part of the problem, stalking them, and then getting some of them to humiliate themselves on camera, Moore has put together a film that is alternately chilling, very funny, moving, shocking, and ultimately thought-provoking. He and his staff have done their research and I'm sure that you'll learn something about our country and its people. His camera focuses on everyone from the students at Columbine and Littleton in Colorado, to an unusually articulate Marilyn Manson, to bank tellers in Michigan who give away rifles to new customers, to Charlton Heston who becomes tongue-tied in his own home and walks off camera to leave Moore with no one to interview. At times Moore can get too self-serving, sanctimonious, and unfair, but most of the time he's right on target...no pun intended. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "A la folie...pas du tout" ("HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT...") (in French with English sub-titles) Easily the most disturbing film of the year, this is also one of the most intricately designed, compelling, and fascinating ones. Unfortunately, I can't say much more about it than that, because the plot is so delicately constructed, that anything at all could be saying too much about the unique story line. Written and directed by newcomer Laetitia Colombani, it stars Audrey Tautou ("Amelie") in a role that could easily win her an Oscar nomination next year. I recommend this intriguing film very highly, but let me also tell you to resist the understandable urge to want to leave half way through the film. It's a complete package and it MUST be seen in its entirety. You'll be "happy" that you stayed. Also, don't read any other reviews except this one! (5-Stars)
MOVIE REVIEW- "THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE" If you saw Stanley Donen's classy 1963 thriller, "Charade" (the Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made,) then you probably won't enjoy this dumbed-down and unnecessary remake for several reasons. First of all, you'll know who the villains are and that will strip the film of the only suspense in it. Secondly, you'll miss the haunting melodic score by Henry Mancini. Third, in place of the picture-postcard view of Paris in the original, you'll now get a more politically-correct view, showing the multi-ethnicity of the more seedy arrondisements of the most beautiful city in the world. But most of all, in place of the ethereally elegant Audrey Hepburn, and the suave sophisticated Cary Grant, their roles are now played by Thandy Newton, and Mark Wahlberg! Enough said? If you've never seen "Charade, " you can do one of two things. See the current remake and settle for an average thriller (it's not terrible,) or you can stay home and rent "Charade." I'd opt for the latter. (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE RING" This could have been a very scary movie, if someone had bothered to write a screenplay that made any sense, because this one sure as hell doesn't! After a creepy beginning, in which the premise is set forth...anyone who watches this special video-tape will die in seven days...the movie starts to unravel immediately. Somewhat interesting characters start to behave like idiots, and we're bombarded with more inexplicable visual images than are found in all of the films of Fellini! After an hour, the film deteriorates into a bad version of one of those "Halloween" films. The biggest mystery in the movie, is why Jane Alexander would come out of retirement to play a role that could have been phoned in. Perhaps the story makes more sense in the Japanese trilogy of films on which this hodge-podge is based. Why don't you rent them and tell me all about it? (2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "FRIDA" Poor Salma Hayek worked so hard to get this story put on screen, rounding up a posse of her friends (Edward Norton, Ashley Judd, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Antonio Banderas, Roger Rees and Valeria Golino) to star in it, and hiring one of the world's most creative directors, Julie Taymor, to direct it. Unfortunately, the end result is a visually stunning, but strangely un-involving and emotionally flat generic bio-pic...the kind that you might sleep through on PBS. Granted, the lives of Mexican painters Frida Kalho and her husband Diego Rivera were wildly eccentric and filled with unbelievable incidents and historical figures. However, the emotions that are triggered in an audience viewing it, are detached shock, condescending laughter at their craziness, and ultimately a sense of "who cares?" boredom. (2 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "STAR WARS: ATTACK OF THE CLONES" (THE IMAX VERSION) If the reformatted version of "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" is being shown at an IMAX theater in your city, run to see it! Even if you've seen the film a dozen times, it's like seeing a brand-new film. In a word, it's OVERWHELMING. My God, Yoda is 4 stories tall! Everything about this IMAX version of "Star Wars 2," is larger and louder than any movie that you've ever seen or heard...unless you're old enough to remember Cinerama. The picture is digitally clear and the sound is loud enough to vibrate the theater seats. Images come from left and right out of your peripheral vision. Imagine that army of clones/storm troopers coming on screen from around the side of your head. Even the intimate love scenes have an added dimension to them. Once again, seeing this movie reinforces my original belief that the heart of the film is the love story, and that Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen are absolutely perfect in their roles as the future Mr. And Mrs. Darth Vader. (A word about the IMAX Theater in Boston. This exciting piece of architecture, is a titanium free-standing sculpture on the waterfront. It's worth a trip just to see the building.) (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS" To get right to the point, yes, this film is better than the first one. Because there WAS a previous film, there's less exposition in this one, more action, and a darker story line. If you've never read any of the books written by the once prolific (now somewhat dormant,) J.K. Rowling, or have never seen the first "Harry Potter" film, I can only ask, WHY? Go out and get the books and read them before the next film comes out. Book number 5, WHEN it comes out, should outsell the Bible! But getting back to the present film, it's one year and one grade later, and we're back with the same characters at Hogwart's School for Wizards (where the faculty consists of every great actor in Britain!) The actors who play Harry, Ron, and Hermione, have obviously grown a little older, and the voices of the boys come complete with built-in frogs....perfectly suitable for the characters that they're portraying. Director Chris Columbus, once again, sticks faithfully to the book, which might offend all but the purists. Although there's enough creativity, imagination, and inventiveness for two films, a bit more daring might have been exciting. The next "Harry Potter" film will be directed by Alfonso Cuaron, who made "A Little Princess" and "Y Tu Mama Tambien." He should be able to bring that extra something to this incredibly successful series. Until then, go and enjoy this one. It's spellbinding. (5-Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "PERSONAL VELOCITY" Based on her own book of short stories, writer/director Rebecca Miller (the daughter of Arthur Miller, and wife of Daniel Day-Lewis,) has created an original and exciting film about the lives of three self-loathing, self-destructive women, who with their own personal velocity, arrive at a moment in their lives when change will send their lives into completely new directions. The film is told in three half-hour stories with little, or nothing, connecting the three story lines, other than the fact that the three women were abused by dysfunctional parents. The first woman is a battered piece of trailer park trash (Kyra Sedgwick.) The second is an ambitious, but highly neurotic book editor (Parker Posey.) The third is another runaway of sorts (Fairuza Balk,) who picks up a young wounded hitchhiker. What distinguishes the film is the fine writing and directing of Ms. Miller, and the incredible right-on-target acting of these three wonderful actresses. (A Grand Jury Winner at this year's Sundance Film Festival.) (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "DIE ANOTHER DAY" If there's a person on this earth who doesn't know what to expect when buying a ticket to see a James Bond film, that person should not expect to find a summary of plot & theme in this review! All that the Bond fan wants to know is: how big are the special effects? how big are the breasts on the "Bond girl(s)?" how evil is the villain(s)? how destructive is "the secret weapon?" how exotic are the settings? To answer these questions: the special effects are spectacular, although at least one looks cheesy; the breasts belong to Halle Berry...need I say more? the villains are creepy and come with the appropriate sneer; the secret weapon is a doomsday device that circles the earth and can bring down destruction anywhere that it's pointed; the locales range from a militaristic North Korea to a colorful Cuba. Having said all of this, let me also say that if you view the first Bond film, "Dr. No," and compare it to this one, you'll see that the films have evolved into a comic-book format, and into adolescent self-parody. Nevertheless, this is still the best James Bond film in many, many years. It's also the only Bond film that stars two Oscar winners...Halle Berry and Judi Dench...although neither one had to tap into her bag of acting tricks for this one! It's time to start looking for a replacement for Pierce Brosnan. He's looking a bit long-in-the-tooth. My vote goes to either Jeremy Northam or Rupert Everett. (4 1/2-Stars CB*) *Comic Book/Action Rating MOVIE REVIEW- "ROGER DODGER" Everyone has known a snake like Roger Dodger, a self-deluded "womanizer," who thinks that he has all of the inside information on how to bed any woman, with a line for every occasion, every woman, and every bar, and who invariably goes home alone at night! Campbell Scott, in a brave performance, is letter-perfect in the role, and you hate every word coming out of his misogynistic mouth. Two actresses who are are not known for their acting ability (Elizabeth Berkley and Jennifer Beals,) and one who is (Isabella Rossellini,) turn in fine performances as well. The plot takes place in one long night. Roger's 16-year-old nephew Nick (Jesse Eisenberg in a realistic performance) has come to spend a couple of days with his uncle, who in turn decides to instruct him in the ways of seducing a woman. What eventually ensues is a case of role-reversal, where both the nephew and the uncle come to learn a lot about themselves. I can't say that I enjoyed the film, because I hated the character of Roger, but I certainly did admire the acting by everyone concerned. (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "FAR FROM HEAVEN" Back in the 1950's, director Douglas Sirk made a series of romantic melodramas ("chick-flicks") with titles like "All That Heaven Allows," "Magnificent Obsession," "Imitation of Life," and "Written on the Wind." They starred actors like Rock Hudson, Lana Turner, Robert Stack and Jane Wyman. In tribute to these films and to Sirk, writer/director Todd Haynes felt that it was time to revisit this genre, using present-day sensibilities and tastes, in order to put a spotlight on the hypocrisy, the racism, and the fake politeness of the '50's. Big mistake! All that he's done is make yet another one of these dated Technicolor corny old-fashioned movies, and in the year 2002, this film looks like it fell out of a time warp. Sure, he's added a touch of homosexuality here, and an interracial relationship there, but it still stinks of moth-balls. A New England housewife has her picture-perfect life turned upside down when she finds her ad-executive husband kissing another man. Yikes, what to do. Her solution? Have a relationship of her own...with the thoughtful black gardener. The acting by Dennis Quaid, Julianne Moore, and Dennis Haysbert is excellent; the Technicolor look of the spotlessly phony Martha Stewart homes and shiny family cars is even better; the '50's hair styles are almost as funny as the hair in "Hairspray," and the lush Elmer Bernstein score should be played in the cells of "gangsta" rap stars who are currently in prison. That'll teach 'em! If you really need to see a film like this, rent one of the Douglas Sirk originals mentioned above. (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW- "EL CRIMEN DE PADRE AMARO" ("THE CRIME OF FATHER AMARO") (in Spanish with English sub-titles) It's virtually impossible not to view this film as a metaphor for the horrible state of affairs in the Catholic Church, but I'll restrict my review to the movie itself. Father Amaro, a newly-ordained young priest comes to a small town in Mexico, to assist the older Father Benito, who has been the priest there for many years. Amaro is filled with idealism, spirituality, and kindness. He isn't in the town more than a few days before he realizes that all of the priests, and the bishop himself, are corrupt. Father Benito is in bed figuratively with the area's drug lord, and in bed literally with one of his parishioners. The bishop, and all of the other priests are aware of this. The people in town, however, love their priests, and don't seem to be aware of any wrong-doing. Before long, Father Amaro is having sex with the parishioner's young, virginal daughter. This love affair spirals downward pulling everyone down around the young lovers. The only person who seems to be unscathed is the "good" Father Amaro. Sound familiar? The story builds slowly, but when it reaches its climax, it races ahead to a very disturbing conclusion. All of the Mexican actors are thoroughly believable, and the direction is excellent. The film is filled with irony, not the least of which is the fact that the only good priest, gets excommunicated! (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE PIANIST" (Havana Film Festival) Yet another Holocaust/Warsaw Ghetto film....from director Roman Polanski, this time. In this film, the horrors are seen through the eyes of a concert pianist who manages (through bumbling stupidity and the kindness of others,) to survive the insanity. A true story. Adrian Brody finally gets a role that shows off his considerable talents. Beautiful Chopin music, played brilliantly by a Polish pianist, whose name I didn't recognize when the credits rolled at the end. Too long, and the hour was very late. (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS" When is a sequel not a sequel? When it's the middle third of a 9-hour film! As everyone knows by now, director Peter Jackson has already filmed the entire J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy as a 9-hour film, and is releasing it yearly, as three 3-hour films. The first film was primarily exposition, character development, and lots of action. This present film is virtually non-stop action from beginning to end. It's epic in scope, but unfortunately, we get little expansion of the three-dimensionality of the main characters, beyond what we've already learned in the first film. Nevertheless, the many threads of the plot are woven beautifully throughout. Our band of seven hobbits, elves, dwarves and humans is now trying to return the "ring of power" to the dark land of Mordor, in order to save the world of Middle Earth. Along the way, they fight battles involving tens-of-thousands of evil creatures, who are trying to wrest the ring away from them...and kill them as well. It's ironic, I suppose, that the character with the most vivid personality in this film, is Gollum, a computer-generated creature. At times, his facial features resemble those of another famous computer-generated creature...Yoda! Although it was slow going at times, as was the first film, I couldn't take my eyes off of the screen. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "GANGS OF NEW YORK" In "Gangs of New York," director Martin Scorsese has created his finest film, and a true masterpiece. In an earlier one of his films, "Age of Innocence," he gave us an exquisite period drama, showing the life of upper class New Yorkers in the opulent Gilded Age...the end of the 19th Century. Reversing the coin, he now takes us down to where poor New Yorkers lived during the same period. In minute detail, he creates an epic portrait of a place where five neighborhoods come together and form a seething cauldron straight out of Dante's Inferno. Dickens could have written about these people and this place, and Breughel could have put them on canvas, but Scorsese has made them come alive. Gangs of disenfranchised men and women, roam the streets, killing anything that gets in their way. Corrupt politicians support them to get votes. Those people who were born in America prey on the immigrants who have just come in, and blacks are hated by both. There's no clear pecking order; only random violence rules. In fact, the brutal killings make the murders in Scorsese's gangster films ("Mean Streets," "Goodfellas," etc.) look like child's play. The center piece of the three-hour film is the New York Draft Riots of 1863, which are reenacted in horrific fashion. All of the actors (Leonardo Di Caprio, Cameron Diaz, Jim Broadbent) are excellent, but watch for Daniel Day-Lewis to take home the "Best Actor" Academy Award at Oscar time. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "ABOUT SCHMIDT" Jack Nicholson is Warren Schmidt, an unsociable, miserable, lonely, loser who upon his retirement as an actuary, realizes that he has done nothing in his life worth noting, and now faces another 10 or 20 years of more of the same. In short, he hasn't lived. This role is certainly a departure for Nicholson, and he milks it for all that it's worth. In fact, on the merit of his performance, this film has found its way onto just about every critic's "Best Movie of the Year"- list. Not mine unfortunately! There's no need to sit through another "how dysfunctional can a trailer-park-trash family in Denver" be. The family referred to, is the family that Warren's daughter is marrying into...and it's a doozy. Mama, Kathy Bates, is an oversexed housewife, who nursed her son Randall (Dermot Mulroney) "until he was 5, and look how he turned out." Bates gives an over-the-top performance, and in one scene she gets completely naked, which should earn her some award for bravery or guts, but not the Best Supporting Actress Oscar that she's being hyped for. Hope Davis, who never gives a bad performance, almost succeeds in giving one. Don't bother with this one, unless you're the most avid Jack Nicholson fan. (2-Stars)
MOVIE REVIEW-"CHICAGO" During the "Golden Age of Movie Musicals" (1928-1978,) people of all ages (from nerds to jocks of both sexes,) flocked to movie musicals and enjoyed them. The best of them ("Singin' in the Rain," "My Fair Lady," "Gigi," "The Sound of Music," etc.) are always listed among the best films of all time. If "Chicago" doesn't start a renaissance of the movie musical, then nothing will! Broadway director Rob Marshall has found a way to transfer this biting, satirical, comical Broadway musical to film, and makes it work beautifully. It's paced at a lightning speed and the songs are integrated into the story so effectively, that even untrained audiences should be willing to accept the switch from speech to song. "Chicago" is still the story of two murderesses on death row (Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellwegger,) who, with the help of their Johnny Cochran-like slime-bucket of a lawyer, Richard Gere (who would defend Hitler for a buck,) manage to convince the gullible public, that they're misunderstood, and it's not long before they become media-darlings and instant celebrities. Everyone in this film turns in an award-winning performance, including Queen Latifah as the prison matron, and John C. Reilly as the meek husband of one of the murderesses. The classic musical score by Kander and Ebb is virtually intact, and is served beautifully by this quintet of singing and dancing stars. All of the chorus dancers are as good as anything on Broadway today. This film is a groundbreaker and my choice for best film of the year this year (2002.) (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "ADAPTATION" Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman ("Being John Malkovich,") has written this year's most inventive, original, creative, and clever screenplay. Faced with the daunting task of turning author Susan Orlean's non-fiction book about orchids into an exciting movie, author Kaufman (Nicolas Cage,) after experiencing an extreme case of author's block, decides to write himself into the story, as well as creating a fictitious twin brother (also a screenwriter,) an imaginary love affair between the author (Meryl Streep) and an orchid poacher (Chris Cooper,) and tagging on an hilarious Hollywood ending to the "orchid story." All of this is very original, but unfortunately, I lost interest in all of the inventiveness and self-indulgence (on the part of the author as well as the director, Spike Jonze,) just about half way through the film. It was like listening to a long joke that you've already heard. Nevertheless, the saving grace of "Adaptation," is the strong acting by all of the stars. Look for nominations for Cage (brilliantly playing BOTH twin brothers, and making each one believable,) as well as Streep and Cooper. A daring, but ultimately disappointing experiment in film making. (2 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "NICHOLAS NICKLEBY" This perfect adaptation of the lengthy Charles Dickens novel, has been brought lovingly to the screen by writer/director Charles McGrath, who understands and respects the book, and by a brilliant cast of stage actors led by Christopher Plummer, Tom Courtenay, Nathan Lane, Alan Cummings, Barry Humphries ("Dame Edna") and Jamie Bell. Because they all do their jobs so well, this fine movie, with the exception of the last 15 minutes, is the most thoroughly depressing film of the year! (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE 25th HOUR" In this, his latest, and probably his greatest film, director Spike Lee reveals himself to be the most moral of film-makers, delivering a work that should be shown in all schools (after being tidied up a bit,) to discourage any budding entrepreneurs who might be considering drug-dealing as a career choice. Screenwriter David Benioff has done an excellent job in adapting his own novel for the screen. In it, he tells the story of a drug-dealing kingpin (played brilliantly by Edward Norton,) who has been "busted" and who is living out his last 24 hours before being sent to prison for seven years. In this 24-hour period he gets to re-live and rethink his entire life, and his fatal choice as a career. (In one unforgettable scene, Norton's character delivers a 10-minute rant, in which he spews racist and sexist venom at every major minority group in New York City. It's bound to become a classic!) In the evening, he bids farewell to his childhood friends (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Barry Pepper,) his girlfriend (Rosario Dawson) and his father (Brian Cox.) All of the actors deliver award-winning performances. The cinematography and the music add immeasurably to the film. But ultimately, the highest praise must go to the extraordinary director. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "MAX" A slow-building, but ultimately fascinating, and chilling study of the early life of Adolf Hitler...as it might have happened. After World War I, a 29-year-old struggling artist returns to his native Germany, with nothing but his ambitions for a career in art. Here, he is befriended by a Jewish art dealer, who tries to channel the young artist's frightening energy, anti-semitism, and zealotry into a new form of artistic vision. Ultimately, Hitler realizes that the best way to express himself is not through his art, but through his newly-formed politics. Although this is fiction, nevertheless it's fascinating to see how a monster can be created through misplaced ideals, narrowly focused beliefs, and introverted, anti-social behavior. At any step of the way, a slight change in events could easily have sent him into a life of art, and the history of the world could have been changed. John Cusack as the wealthy Jewish art dealer, is letter perfect, but the film is stolen by the shocking, brilliant performance of Noah Taylor as Hitler. He is mesmerizing. (5-Stars)
MOVIE REVIEW- "THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE" (Introduced by Kevin Spacey, who led a Question & Answer period after the film) This overwrought tale whose theme is whether or not we should abolish the death penalty, walks a fine line between exciting thriller, melodramatic soap opera, and pedantic lecture. Although it's not a piece that tries to sell the viewer on a particular viewpoint, it does lean heavily on the side of doing away with the killing of people on death row. The story concerns a Texas college-professor, a vocal advocate of the abolishment of the death penalty, who after an unusual turn of events, finds himself on death row. The acting on the part of Kevin Spacey as the professor, and Laura Linney as his faithful disciple, is especially good. Kate Winslet, as a driven reporter, is unfortunate to be stuck in some of the more ridiculous scenes, which require wildly improbable events and over-the-top histrionics. She cries incessantly. The best thing about this film is, just when you're ready to put it down for being annoyingly predictable, it takes a sharp turn into something entirely different. (3 1/2- Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE HOURS" (The film was introduced by author Michael Cunningham, who also led a Q & A after its screening) No, it's NOT a "chick flick," if by "chick flick" you mean a movie that allows women to feel good about themselves after viewing it. David Hare has written a devilishly clever and intelligent screenplay, based on Pulitzer-prize-winning author Michael Cunningham's book. It concerns three women, whose lives are spread out over 80 years and two countries. The connecting link is author Virginia Woolf, whose life and book Mrs. Dalloway, change the lives of all three women, and the men and children around them. In spite of the brilliant screenplay, it's not the story of this film that keeps you glued to your seat. It's the staggering excellence of the acting of everyone in the movie. Director Stephen Daldry ("Billy Elliot",) has assembled a true ensemble of great actors, down to the smallest roles, and what they do is astonishing. Volumes of emotion are conveyed by just the right look on the face of an actor, or in his/her body language. Here is the ensemble cast: Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris, Toni Collette, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney, Miranda Richardson, John C. Reilly and Eileen Atkins. They are all deserving of Acadamy Awards. Not least of the virtues of this masterpiece is the magnificent original music of composer Philip Glass. It's intrusive in the best possible sense of the word. A great film, and one that will stay with you long after you've seen it. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN" If I didn't know that this was a Steven Spielberg film, I never would have guessed it. It's not top-draw Spielberg, lacking his usual creativity, sense of magic and wonderment, and showmanship. Instead what we get is a relatively lifeless story of real-life con man Frank Agagnale, Jr., who became a check forger and imposter, while only in his late teens. It's funny at times, and sad at other times, and tongue-in-cheek satirical at still other times. Sort of a movie in search of a style. What it does do well, is recreate the look of an innocent and naive DisneyWorld-type America of the 1960's, when people still took people at face value, and it was easy to "pull the wool over the eyes" of so much of the population. At least that's the 60's portrayed in this film. That's not the 60's that I knew! The best acting comes from Christopher Walken as Frank's loser of a father. With parents like this it's no wonder that Frank Jr. kept creating fantasy lives. Leonardo Di Caprio is OK as the young imposter, but poor Tom Hanks is up a tree with the worst Boston accent ever captured on film. The best thing about this film is the wonderfully imaginative titles sequence. Almost everything after that is a disappointment. (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND" Chuck Barris was the producer of some of the cheesiest game shows on television.; shows like "The Dating Game," "The Newlywed Game," and "The Gong Show." But, the question is, was he also an assassin for the CIA, as he claimed in his trashy autobiography? Screenwriter Charles Kaufman ("Adaptation,") and first-time director George Clooney seem to think so as well, and so we get this preposterous film about a shallow game-show producer/host who is also a CIA assassin. If it were played strictly for its comedic value, it might have been a funny movie, but, my God, I think that they want us to take it seriously! At that level, it simply doesn't work, in spite of some extraordinary acting on the part of Sam Rockwell as Barris, and some fine acting by Drew Barrymore as his hippie girlfriend. Julia Roberts, as some sort of campy spy, is perfectly ridiculous, and the less said about George Clooney, as a CIA operative, the better. The man can't even direct himself to give a good performance! 15 minutes before the end of the movie, the theater was evacuated due to an emergency. I didn't return. (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE RECRUIT" There are two main reasons for going to see what is being advertised as a standard spy thriller...Al Pacino and Colin Farrell. Surprisingly, the "who's -the-mole-in-the -CIA?" plot is pretty good. The first hour is interesting and informative, with an "inside" look at what goes on, on "The Farm." The second hour is suspenseful and thrilling, although the outcome is thoroughly predictable. As for the two leads, Pacino reprises his standard role of mentor to a young apprentice...a role that he could mail in. However, between growls and mannerisms, he does create a more interesting character than those that he created in his last few films. Farrell, the rising young star from Ireland, is loaded with talent...much more than what was required of him in this film. His direction must have been "brood, and run." I can't wait to see him in a break-out role, one that will show us what he can really do. Something like what "A Beautiful Mind" did for Russell Crowe. Until that role comes along, we'll have to settle for "brood, and run." I could just imagine what he would do with the role of Heathcliff in a remake of the classic "Wuthering Heights!" (3 1/2- Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE PREVIEW- "THE QUIET AMERICAN" On the surface, this film, set in Vietnam in 1952, during the Vietnamese liberation war from French rule, tells the story of an opium-addicted British reporter, Fowler (Michael Caine,) in love with a beautiful young Vietnamese woman , Phoung (Do Hai Yen,) who is dismayed when a young American CIA agent, Pyle (Brendan Fraser,) falls in love with her, and tries to take her away from him. But the true story is told in metaphors, with each of the characters representing his/her country, and showing how Vietnam was destroyed, by the people who thought that they were "saving" her. Both the surface-story and the sub-text are exciting, brilliantly written (based on the novel by Graham Greene,) and flawlessly acted. Michael Caine certainly deserves an Oscar for this one...possibly his best role. To see the beauty of Saigon, with its romantic restaurants, sidewalk cafes, and pastoral country scenes, rips your guts out when the explosions begin, and the bloody bodies of innocent people fill the streets. In one telling scene, the American brings his unruly dog into the elegant apartment that the Englishman shares with his lover, the Vietnamese, and the dog proceeds to climb all over the furniture, and tear up the bed-coverings. If that isn't a metaphor, albeit a crude one, for what happened in Vietnam, I don't know what is! (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "CITY OF GOD" (In Portuguese with English sub-titles) Many years ago, when I visited Rio de Janeiro, I was warned not to wander into the favelas (the slums on the hills behind the city,) because they were ruled by drugged-out teenagers, who raped, robbed, and killed anything and anyone that got in their way. This film is their story. It follows the insane lives of several of these young boys, only one of whom remains alive by the end of the film. Unfortunately, what was confined to the slums years ago, has now spilled down into the heart of this once-beautiful city, where these animals feel free to terrorize tourists as well as the natives. At the closing ceremony of the Havana Film Festival, which I attended last month in Cuba, "City of God" took all of the major awards, including "Best Picture." These awards are well deserved; the film almost plays like a documentary. The actors, some of whom are real gang members, are completely believable in their roles. Be warned, however. The film is very graphic. It's as violent, bloody, and shocking as the thugs who are its subject. You may be horrified, but you won't be able to take your eyes off the screen. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "TALK TO HER" /"HABLE A ELLA" (in Spanish with English sub-titles) Spanish director, Pedro Almodovar, is certainly up there on any list of the 10 most creative and prolific directors working in the world today. His list of fine films includes: "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down," and "High Heels." Unfortunately the present film is not up there with the best of them. The story concerns two men (a writer and a psychopathic male nurse,) who stand vigil over the women that they love (a ballerina and a female matador,)....women who happen to be in comas! Now one would think that given THAT cast of characters and that premise, one could come up with a spell binding story. Not so. In fact, I was bored most of the time. What did hold my interest was the incredibly beautiful Spanish music, especially the long song sung by Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso (about a dove..."una paloma.") This mesmerizing song alone, was worth the price of admission. (2 1/2-Stars)
MOVIE REVIEW- "DAREDEVIL" I don't know if never having read a Daredevil comic was a disadvantage or an advantage. I certainly wouldn't want to read one after having sat through this stupid film! Where to start. First of all, the script was so poorly written, that even highly charismatic stars couldn't rise above it. (Jon Favreau's dialogue was very funny, leading one to believe that he wrote his own scenes.) Unfortunately the two leads (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner,) sound as though they're reading their lines phonetically. Affleck is a good enough actor to be able to rise above a bad script. Here, unfortunately, he didn't. Garner is simply a pretty model who can't act. Together, they comprise the two most boring and unlikable "action figures" ever put on screen. Colin Farrell, on the other hand (as the villain Bullseye,) lights up the screen for the few short moments that he's on it. Speaking of action, the action scenes all look like out-takes from the far superior film "Spider Man." In addition, the music is so intrusive and silly that, as one of my friends said, it sounds like an episode of "Baywatch!" Buy the comic and save the movie money! (1 1/2- Stars) (Comic Book) MOVIE REVIEW- "OLD SCHOOL" If you're in the mood for lots of laughs, and who isn't nowadays, this is the movie for you. Think of "Animal House" for grown-ups! Sure, it's wacky, immature, predictable, and nonsensical, but it all seems to work somehow. The reason is that the comedy grows out of character and situations, rather than being an excuse for an endless series of potty jokes. When the characters are portrayed by Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Luke Wilson, you know that the comedy is in very strong and capable hands. These actors play it straight, each one doing a turn on his usual screen persona, and the result is often hilarious. Oh the story, you ask? Well, if you must. It's about three thirty-somethings (two of whom are married,) who have never really outgrown their adolescence. All three set up house on the fringes of a down-and-out college, where they turn their "home" into a social club/fraternity, for every misfit who can stumble in the door. The results are predictable, but very funny. (3 1/2- Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM" Think "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" meets "A League of Their Own," and you have this often very funny film, which suffers, unfortunately, from following by one year, the hilarious "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," a film that covers much of the same ground, but does it more effectively. This time the culture clash involves Indians in London, and a daughter who wants to break away to pursue her dream of playing women's football (soccer.) The film was written, produced, and directed by Gurinder Chadha, who I'm assuming is a product of this culture. Her/his portrayal of the Indians is merciless, depicting them as so ethnocentric and paranoid that it would probably take them another century to become fully assimilated! Had a non-Indian made this film, it probably would have been branded as being racist. Most of the funny moments come from watching the Indian family, relatives, and friends, do and say things that are so far removed from Western thinking, that they appear to be absurd and therefore, funny. I wasn't offended watching "The Godfather," so I hope that Indians won't be offended watching this movie. As I said before, it is very funny! (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE SAFETY OF OBJECTS" Having decided not to indulge in the "pleasure" of seeing one of the two Hollywood bombs that opened today ("Bringing Down The House," and "Tears of the Sun,") I went to see this independent film that was starting to get some buzz. What a mistake! Writer/Director Rose Troche must truly hate the suburbs because she paints a picture that rivals an Hieronymous Bosch painting. Sure we know that lots of suburbanites are dysfunctional (we've all seen "American Beauty,") but this is ridiculous. Four families, who live in the same neighborhood, have story lines that interconnect throughout the film. Robert Altman might have been able to pull this off, but not Rose Troche. Since everyone in the film is nuts, and in various stages of coming apart, one or two of the actors in the film (Glenn Close, Patricia Clarkson, Dermot Mulroney,) get a juicy scene or two. But the sum total is a complete mess. I should have gone with one of the bombs. Relative to this, Bruce Willis and the Nigerians might have come off as lots of fun! (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW- "GERRY" Director Gus Van Zant ("Good Will Hunting,") and Writer/Actor Matt Damon, have chosen to stretch their creative minds, as well as their fertile imaginations to come up with this exercise in existential minimalism (an oxymoron?) Based on a true story of a student from Northeastern University, the author and director have opted out of a straight dramatic narrative, and instead, have chosen to tell this odd story in the form of an almost silent film. Two young men named Gerry find themselves stranded in the desert, and after wandering aimlessly, they begin to realize that death is a possibility. Unfortunately the film doesn't work as entertainment. There is virtually no plot. Nothing happens. It's about choices, and the not-too-bright young men who make all of the wrong ones. It could be a metaphor for life. Nah! Conceivably it might have a future in film, as well as philosophy, classes. There's plenty to talk about here! (1-Star) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "THE GOOD THIEF" Some films just cry out for sub-titles, and this is one of them! Everyone in the international cast speaks with a heavy accent (Russian, French, Algerian,) and star, Nick Nolte, is virtually unintelligible, mumbling his way through his entire role, like a man whose lips have been sewn together. Writer/Director Neil Jordan ("The Crying Game,") has the makings of an excellent heist film in here ("let's round up our crew and steal the paintings from the casino,") but he sabotages it with stilted, overly-written dialogue, tricked-up photography and lighting, and an intrusive musical score. The one question you shouldn't be asking when you come out of a heist film is "what the hell was that all about?" The plot is too confusing to follow, and that was enough to ruin what could have been a perfectly fine film. It's a remake of the French film "Bob Le Flambeur," so I may have to rent that video to find out what actually took place! (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "PHONE BOOTH" Wow, what a surprise. I expected to see a bad movie starring one of my favorite young actors, but only half of that was true. I like Colin Farrell as an actor and as a professional "Irish character." This isn't even a case of a good actor having to carry a lightweight film on his very capable shoulders. "Phone Booth" is a highly suspenseful, yet funny, film about an unseen serial killer who has a victim trapped inside of a phone booth in Manhattan. The first ten minutes of the film, which amounts to a prologue of sorts, is the only time that Colin Farrell's character is seen outside of the prison-like phone booth. In this short scene, director Joel Schumacher and writer Larry Cohen get to say lots of relevant things about the erosion of decency in society today. Of course I agree with everything that they say. Once Farrell is in the phone booth, all of the acting rests on his shoulders and he is wonderful. Nothing outside of the phone booth relates to good acting or well-written dialogue. Especially bad are the two women, one of whom is mimed by child-star Katie Holmes! Farrell, on the other hand, gets to show his stuff, ranging from despicable arrogance (in the prologue) to pitiable shame. He may get a nomination for this. Abetting him beautifully is the unseen, but terrifying voice, of the serial killer...voiced by Kiefer Sutherland. I won't give away anymore of this short, but mostly excellent film. (4 1/2- Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST" (in Finnish with English sub-titles) A man gets off a train in Helsinki, Finland. He goes into a park, falls asleep on a park bench, and then gets beaten to the point of death by muggers. When he reawakens in a hospital, his memory is gone. He falls in with a bunch of homeless people who live in freight containers and dumpsters. It took me almost a half hour before I realized that it was supposed to be a satirical black comedy! Sure, I laughed at some sight gags, some funny lines, and some funny scenes, but in order for a satire to work for me, I have to know what is being satirized. I didn't have a clue. The movie didn't work for me! (2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "ANGER MANAGEMENT" (Private Screening) I can't believe that, not only did I enjoy this Adam Sandler movie, but that I was cheering on his character right to the end of the film. As you must know by now, Sandler plays a timid and passive executive assistant (secretary,) who, after a series of misunderstandings, ends up in an anger management program, with the counselor from hell. Jack Nicholson, in a role reminiscent of the role that he played in "The Shining," plays the psychotic shrink. He's completely over the top, and hysterically funny. The jokes come fast, and the lines, sight-gags, and situations are often hilarious. I understand that it's common for an Adam Sandler film to be filled with celebrity guest appearances, and this one is no exception. Turning in very funny cameos are John Turturro, Luis Guzman, Woody Harrelson, Heather Graham, Derek Jeter, John C. Reilly, Rudy Giuliani, and others. Marisa Tomei, as Sandler's patient girlfriend, is her usual adorable self; this role was obviously a favor to Sandler. I thought that I would never say this, but I recommend this Adam Sandler movie, if you're looking for enough laughs to fill two funny movies! (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "A MIGHTY WIND" If you're a film buff, then you're certainly familiar with the hilarious parodies created by Christopher Guest and his acting company. If you're not, then do yourself a favor and have a Christopher Guest film festival, by renting his previous films, "This Is Spinal Tap," "Waiting For Guffman," and "Best In Show." The latest parody skewers the world of the sixties folk singers (e.g.,"The Kingston Trio," "The New Christy Minstrels," "Peter, Paul & Mary," etc.) Guest's acting ensemble consists of Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard (my favorite,) Parker Posey, Michael McKean, Bob Balaban, Ed Begley, Jr., Harry Shearer...each and every one a brilliant solo artist, but when they come together, watch out! The usual format is a mock documentary in which, I suspect, most of the actors dialogue is improvised. The results are always hilarious, often brilliant, and sometimes even touching, as they are in this movie. The occasion for the reunion in this film, is a memorial tribute to a folk impresario, arranged by his anal-retentive son. Each group has its turn in the spotlight (on, and off, stage) and each one shines. A very funny film, especially if you're old enough to have lived through those wonderful sixties! (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW - "IDENTITY" (This is a tough one to review, so bear with me, at least until part way through...and then you might need to leave. I'll tell you when.) Although based on an imaginative and thoroughly original story, the movie itself is filled with implausible plot devices, annoying performances, and every cliche in the horror-film genre. Once again, we have a group of strangers who come together (this time in a deserted motel,) and one by one they are being killed off. (If you intend to see this film, you might want to leave, because I'm going to give away the main secret of the film.) After sitting through an hour of ridiculous nonsense, we find out that the entire film is taking place inside the mind of a serial killer. Therefore, no rules apply. Hence the nonsense, the bad-acting, the impossible occurrences, etc. It's the kind of movie that becomes much better, after you've left the theater and talked about it with the friends who saw it with you. Then, things start to make sense. However, the difference between "secret" movies like this one and "The Sixth Sense," for example, is that the latter was an entertaining film while you were watching it, and the surprise ending only added to your enjoyment. This film is a pain-in-the-ass while you're watching it, and maybe, only maybe, it makes more sense, and becomes better after you've left the theater. Long after! John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Ray Liotta, and Alfred Molina are in the movie. They've all been much better in other films! (2-Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "L'AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE" ("The Spanish Inn" or "EURO Pudding") in French with English sub-titles "The Real World" comes to Barcelona! A group of immature students from all around the world, share an apartment in Barcelona, while attending a business school. It just goes to show that idiotic students can be assholes no matter what country they come from. Think Spring Break in Cancun, or Thursday Night in Boston for that matter. Audrey Tautou ("Amelie") lends her presence (tiresome as it's becoming) to the film for about 10 minutes. I can often tell how boring/annoying a film is by the length of time it takes me to start thinking of the delicious burrito that I'm going to eat after the film. I started to think about my burrito about 25 minutes into a nearly 2-hour movie! (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW- "X2: X-MEN UNITED" Not only is this sequel better than the original film, but it's also better than any other "comic-book" film since the first, dark "Batman." Although beautifully scripted for a film of this genre, and directed expertly by Bryan Singer ("The Usual Suspects,") it's the fine acting that sets it apart from all of the other "comic-book" movies. With a cast headed by three brilliant Shakespearean actors, playing the two opposing mutant leaders and their nemesis (Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Brian Cox,) as well as a group of fine young New York and London stage actors playing the mutants (Hugh Jackman, Famke Jansen, Anna Paquin and Alan Cumming,) their readings of even the most superficial of lines has import and meaning. Especially moving, is some of the interaction between the mutants. It's obvious that these people know and love one another. In case you are not a reader of these particular comics, and I wasn't, the story deals with two warring mutant leaders who band together when a powerful arch-villain threatens to destroy all mutants (people with specific, individualized superpowers.) There is a not-very-subtle sub-text dealing with preserving the dignity of "people who are different," reflecting the civil rights era when these comics were written, but which resonates as powerfully today, when Muslims, gays, blacks, people with SARS and AIDS, etc. are still discriminated against and treated as though they were mutants. I'll bet that some of these groups wish that they did have superpowers. But that's another story! Oh, and yes, the computer graphics and action sequences are spectacular, especially those involving my favorite mutant, Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming.) I can't wait for the next film in the series. (5-Stars) CB (Comic Book) MOVIE REVIEW- "IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY" (See my review of the film under its original title "A FEW GOOD YEARS.") MOVIE REVIEW-"THE MATRIX RELOADED" Ideally, the purposes for making a good sequel should be: to advance the story line in an intelligent way; to give more depth to the main characters; and to explore further, the theme of the original piece. Practically, the most important purpose is to make lots and lots of money! "The Matrix Reloaded" succeeds on all counts. Supposedly there are 1000 computer generated images in this sequel, as compared to 400 in the original (as though that should have any significance.) It's hard to imagine this story being told without them. The story continues the battle between a renegade group of humans, and the machines and their agents, that rule the minds of men in the future. Leading this group are the messiah-like Neo (Keanu Reeves,) his love-interest Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss,) and their "Obi-Wan with muscles" mentor, Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne.) There are enough Kung-Fu sequences in the film, to delight even the most intelligent 14-year-old boy. The morons in this age category will be ecstatic. Watching the umpteenth kicking match, it occurred to me that these Kung Fu movies (even the epic ones) are to me, what musicals are to the teen-agers and twenty-somethings. As soon as Julie Andrews would open her mouth to sing a note of the first song, the young people would "turn off" and wait for the song to be over, and the story to continue. That's what I do when the first slow-motion-foot hits the air! But if I'm making it sound as though I didn't enjoy this movie, then let's get back on track. I enjoyed it thoroughly...even the parts that I couldn't understand. I defy you to make sense of the long monologue delivered by a character called The Architect, near the end of the film. I have three degrees, and I didn't know what the hell he was talking about! It's like a Rorschach ink-blot. You read onto it whatever you want it to mean...the more pseudo-religious-philosophical you make it, the better it sounds! But all of this is just nit-picking. The movie is great entertainment, especially the 15-minute car chase, surely one of the greatest ever filmed, even though there may not have even been one real car used. And what about that crowded dance sequence in Zion? It looked like a Rave at the Apollo theater in New York! And how about those sex scenes? NOW I've got your interest. Go see it; you'll love it. (5-Stars) CB (Comic Book) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE SHAPE OF THINGS" All men over the age of 18 should see this film before hitting the bars in search of their next "prey." It's a cautionary tale, in which writer/director Neil LaBute once again demonstrates his hatred for people. That's all that I can tell you about the story without ruining it. Sorry. Although the four actors in the film (Gretchen Moll, Paul Rudd, Frederick Weller, and Rachel Weisz,) are too old for their roles, they're all uniformly excellent, and are convincing in making you believe that they are who they're supposed to be. When I saw it as a play Off-Broadway (with the same four actors,) two years ago, it was like a punch in the gut. It's even more sickening on screen. Guys, see this film, and, if you have one, take your current girlfriend. Ouch! (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE ITALIAN JOB" Well, it's not the worst heist/caper movie ever made ("Welcome to Collinwood," "The Good Thief;") nor is it the best ( the classic "Topkapi," and the original "Thomas Crown Affair.") What it is, is surprisingly uninteresting, and quite boring. It's so boring at times, that my mind wandered to such thoughts as: why would the Italian authorities in Venice be so irresponsible as to allow them to film a chase scene, using several speedboats racing through the canals, when this is exactly the reason why Venice is sinking? Why would Edward Norton take third billing to Charlize Theron and Mark Wahlberg? How much money did Northeastern University get to allow the school's name to be used in the film, as well as the appearance of my former student, Shawn Fanning ( the real "Napster") who played himself in the scene? Have we become so jaded to these heist films, or is it just that the script was bad, the acting terrible, and the chase with Mini Coopers, completely ridiculous? Yes, that's it. Don't waste your time. (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW- "FINDING NEMO" If you're looking for a family film to take the kids to this summer, look no further...this is it. "Finding Nemo" is pitched at the 10 and under set, but adults will get a chuckle or two out of some of the humor, and the computer-graphics artwork (Pixar) is some of the most colorful and beautiful that I've ever seen in an animated film. The story, most of which takes places under the sea, in and around Sydney, Australia, concerns an over-possessive (and very annoying,) father-fish, who is a single-parent. Did I mention that all of the characters in the film are either fish or birds, with an occasional human being thrown in, including the most hideous little girl seen on screen in years? Anyway, the son-fish (Nemo) gets lost, and the entire film is the father's search to find him. There is some moralizing about overprotective parents, but basically it's a tale of lost and found. The major voices belong to Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Willem Dafoe, Allison Janney and Barry Humphries ("Dame Edna.") No one voice is outstanding. The star of the film is the undersea artwork; it's truly magnificent. (3 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE HULK" Drawing from such diverse sources as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "King Kong," and the biblical tale of "Samson and Delilah," screenwriter James Schamus has written a beautiful story based on the comic book/TV series "The Incredible Hulk." For once in a fantasy film of this genre, the computer-graphics (which come midway through the 2 1/2 hour film,) actually serve the plot, rather than the other way around. There's a great deal of exposition and back story involved, but as someone who never read the comic, I welcomed it. Once again, the story revolves around a young scientist and an experiment that went wrong. In this case, the result of the failed experiment is that every time the scientist gets angry he turns into a large green hulk! With that kind of truncated synopsis, the story invariably sounds pulpy and stupid. Trust me, it's not. What saves it from this fate, is the expert, and serious, direction of Ang Lee, as well as the high quality of all of the acting, especially that of Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, and Nick Nolte (the latter two are now playing larger than life versions of Sam Elliott and Nick Nolte!) The only weak link is the Bruce Banner of Australian actor Eric Bana, who is merely good. For those of you who saw the trailers, and thought that the animated Hulk looked cheesy (as I did,) he/it definitely doesn't in the actual film. In fact, he looks like a larger, greener version of Eric Bana, and in some scenes, is more moving! The chase scenes through the Mojave Desert are filmed almost like a ballet. It's reminiscent of all of those flying Chinese in Ang Lee's other film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." I liked "The Hulk" better than that epic bore! (5-Stars) (Comic-Book) MOVIE REVIEW- "28 DAYS LATER" If you combine "The Night of the Living Dead" with any survivor/end-of-the-world film (e.g., "On The Beach," etc.,) then you've got this surprisingly ho-hum movie by director Danny Boyle ("Shallow Grave," "Transpotting.") A mysterious plague has spread rapidly through London (and apparently the rest of the world,) killing all but a few survivors. The four that we follow are a father (Brendan Gleeson) and his young daughter, a black superwoman, and a young dolt who is reminiscent of those stupid young girls in the "Scream" movies who always go where they're specifically told NOT to go! All of the frightening scenes, and there are several, are telescoped so that you know exactly what to expect and when. The photography is so amateurish that I can only assume that those old-newsreel-like pieces of footage with superimposed backgrounds, were done deliberately. Boyle has taken ideas and images from so many films that the film comes across as a first-year-film-student's end of year project. It starts off very well, but it reaches its low peak very quickly and stays there for almost two hours. This is so surprising from Boyle, who is usually inventive, creative, original, and always has something important to say about people and/or society. None of that is evident here. (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES" It's 12 years after "Terminator 2," Schwarzenegger is nearly 60, and although the role of the cyborg still fits him like a glove, the formula has run out of gas. There's no acting, no new plot, nothing original, creative or unique in this film; nothing but a rehash of the ideas in the first two Terminator movies. Once again, the robotic killing machines come from the future to change the course of history. It's too bad that they couldn't have brought a new plot with them, instead of resorting to ripping off the original one. Although the villainess looks great in a red-leather jumpsuit, she's a complete annoying bore! All she does is tilt her head and plow through explosion after explosion. Nothing will stop her. Where is the suspense, if the villain is indestructible? Even Superman had Kryptonite and Achilles had his heel! Speaking of explosions, there are enough here to fill three other bad films...and the car-chases just look ridiculous. Too much destruction of property becomes numbing after awhile!!! The "Terminator 3" 3D attraction at Universal Studios in Orlando, is more exciting, original and creative than this overblown video-game. If a big video-game is all that you're looking for, then by all means, go and enjoy it. Here's a challenge to a director: try to create an exciting film without resorting to car-chases and explosions. Until then, you'll excuse me if I skip "Terminator 4: Arnold uses a Walker!" ( 1 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS" Ironically, the three best action films in this Summer blockbuster season, are three films with animated leading characters..."The Hulk," "Finding Nemo," and "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas." ("X-Men 2" and "The Matrix Reloaded" were the best action films of the Spring releases.) "Sinbad" is the latest creative adventure from DreamWorks...Disney's chief competitor. It tells one of the Tales from the Arabian Nights in the vernacular, for people who never read the original, and it uses the voices of Brad Pitt, Joseph Fiennes, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Michelle Pfeiffer as the hero, his best friend, the heroine, and the villainess respectively. The overall result is a wonderful, exciting, high-seas tale for everyone in the family. It's filled with fantasy, comedy, romance, and adventure. That's a lot in one film. Take the kids; you'll all enjoy it. (3 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL" Remember the fun that you had the first time that you went on the ride "Pirates of the Caribbean" at Disney Land or Disney World? Well, that's the spirit that's been captured by everyone involved in this film...the sense of eye-popping spectacle, the tongue-in-cheek humor, and a feeling of innocent excitement and adventure. Several things separate this movie from the pack of summer popcorn blockbusters. It's very well written, acted beautifully by an ensemble of real actors who know how to do comedy, and directed by Gore Verbinski ("The Ring") who knows the difference between stupidity and humor! The leading actors (Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Jonathan Pryce, and Keira Knightley) are all excellent, but Johnny Depp mercilessly steals the film from under their very capable noses, with the most over-the-top, campiest performance on screen this year. Mincing around like a drag queen on Halloween, and using a voice that owes everything to Keith Richards, he steals every scene that he's in...and that's a lot of this 2 1/2 hour film. He plays Captain Jack Sparrow, a pirate who tries to rescue the governor's daughter from Captain Barbossa and his crew of the undead. There's a lot of sub-plot, but you'll learn that when you see it. For those of you who have enjoyed the ride, as I have, it's fun to try to find the scenes (and the music) in the movie which match the same scenes on the ride. There are several of them. Before you go into the theater, put your tongue firmly in your cheek, and then enjoy the ride...I mean, the movie. (4-Stars) CB (or rather, Thrill Ride) MOVIE REVIEW- "CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS" After sitting through a month of mindless summer movies, it was a jarring "wake-up from complacency" to see a film that is adult, thought-provoking, controversial, and intelligent. In place of the action-movies' car chases and explosions, there is subject matter that is so shocking and disturbing, that it'll give you something to think and talk about long after you've left the theater. Andrew Jarecki's documentary tells the true story of an accused pedophile Arnold Friedman, and his son Jesse, both of whom have been arrested for committing "acts of sodomy" on children in the father's computer class. The film is told through the medium of actual video-tapes that were taken by another son, David, a compulsive sociopath who was foolish enough to document everything that was said and done by this highly dysfunctional family. Listening to the rantings and ravings of the various family members, it's easy to come to the conclusion, at first, that the father and his son are guilty as charged. However, as we begin to hear interviews with the arresting officers, the supposed "victims," the judge, an investigative journalist, and each of the Friedmans themselves, we begin to see the makings of a modern-day witch hunt. Did the father and son actually commit the crimes, or were they framed by overzealous police officers, impressionable children who have been coached by these officers, and by their own bizarre family history? These are the questions that you're left to ponder, long after the film has ended. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "SEABISCUIT" Everyone should see this movie! It has more action and excitement in it than any of the so-called "action" films this year. It has more genuine emotion, love, and caring than any of this year's "chick-flicks." It has more suspense, surprises and twists than any of the "scare" films. And, there's more comedy in just the writing and the acting of William H. Macy's caricature of a cheap track announcer, than there is in any of those dumb "cop-buddy" films. Besides, I predict that it will be one of the five nominated films at Oscar time. No, it isn't the life of Jesus. It's the life of Seabiscuit, the horse! If you've read Laura Hillenbrand's best seller, you'll appreciate the fact that writer/director Gary Ross has only improved on the book. Once again, we're told the story of the misfits who came together, almost miraculously, to create the horse-racing legend known as Seabiscuit. During the Depression, this horse was a symbol to all of those respectable people who had lost their way of life and were looking for something to hang onto. They found that something, strangely enough, in a horse! All of the actors are superb. I couldn't imagine anyone doing a better job than Tobey Maguire, Chris Cooper, Jeff Bridges, Elizabeth Banks (who IS she?) and of course, William H. Macy (a sure-fire Oscar nominee for this one.) I'm not a big fan of horse-racing, although I have enjoyed going to races. I'm certainly not a fan of movies about horse-racing. So, I'm not prejudiced when I say that this film is a masterpiece of its genre. Take the whole family to see it. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "SPELLBOUND" No, this isn't the Alfred Hitchcock classic film, but it could become a classic of the documentary genre. Jeff Blitz' film about spelling bees in America, made ME feel optimistic about some things that I feel very pessimistic about. For one, the absence of parenting in America (obviously some people are doing it right.) For another, the deplorable condition of the American educational system, especially the virtual elimination of geography, the arts, and spelling, from the curriculum (obviously some people are doing it right.) Then there's the influx of immigrants inundating our population (obviously some people are doing it right.) See what I mean? The film follows eight children (who can spell words better than you or me,) from the preliminaries in their hometowns, to the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Their own words, and the words of their parents, are at times poignant, tense, illuminating, and often very funny. These kids are not the stereotypical freaks that you'd expect them to be. They're normal, and lovable...with the possible exception of one. You figure out which one! As one by one, they're eliminated, you feel for them, but you know that they'll all succeed in life brilliantly...especially the young girl from the projects in Washington, D.C. She had more self-esteem than many adults that I know. The film is short, but packed with emotion. Now, go back and find the word that I spelled inncorrectly! (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE MAGDALENE SISTERS" Only in Ireland, a country that has been ruled, repressed, oppressed, and nearly destroyed by the Catholic Church, could an institution like the Magdalene "asylums" flourish, and indeed be run by the very same Catholic Church. Ostensibly a series of large commercial laundries, the asylums were really maximum security prisons for "girls who sinned." The girls were imprisoned like hardened criminals, and treated as such, by a religious order of sadistic and near-psychotic nuns (or is that redundant?) Writer/director/actor Peter Mullan has created a masterful film, in which both the acting and the directing are so realistic, that a documentary quality is reached, and is therefore even more painful to watch. He's relentless in his depiction of religious hypocrisy, but from letters that I've read in the New York Times, sent in by women who actually lived in the asylums, they were even worse than they were depicted in the film...if that's at all possible. In the postscript to the film, we learn that the last of these institutions was closed as recently as 1996. Incredible! 4-Stars BOSTON FILM FESTIVAL: MOVIE REVIEW-"OFF THE MAP" What an amazing film this is....one that lingers with you long after you've left the theater and have had time to think about the characters, their relationship to one another, and their relationship to the majestic environment (Northern New Mexico) in which they live. An extraordinary extended family (consisting of a mother, a father, a 12-year-old daughter, and the father's best friend,) lives in a ramshackle (but picturesque) shack in the desert, in what, by objective standards, would be considered extreme poverty. They have no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no telephone, and to complicate matters, the father is in a complete state of depression. But the strength and love that each of these individuals draw, and give to one another, makes them a more powerful family unit than what would be considered to be a successful, happy family anywhere else. Into their lives comes an IRS agent, to audit these people who make less than $5000 a year, living on what they can grow and hunt. He comes with his own baggage, and soon becomes a part of the family. Everything about this film sets it apart from anything else that you've ever seen...the acting, the directing, the beautiful script, and the overwhelming scenery. The actors are incredible. Amy Brenneman plays the grown daughter who narrates the film. The father and mother are Sam Elliott and Joan Allen. The best friend is J.K.Simmons (the Nazi skinhead from the TV show OZ.) The wonderful actress who plays the daughter is Valentina DeAngelis in her first movie role. She's a natural and the camera loves her. The IRS agent is Jim True-Frost. They all give Oscar-worthy performances, especially Joan Allen. The story was written by Joan Ackermann and directed by actor/director Campbell Scott. This is screen poetry! (Campbell Scott. looking uncannily like his father George C. Scott, and Joan Ackermann, conducted an informative, interesting, funny, and articulate "Question & Answer" period after the film.) (5-Stars) BOSTON FILM FESTIVAL: MOVIE REVIEW-"MATCHSTICK MEN" The main character in this film suffers from a psychological illness known as obsessive-compulsive disorder, and the film itself suffers from a problem commonly referred to as "split personality." The first hour and a half of the two hour film is a quirky, hilarious comedy about two off-the-wall con men (played brilliantly by Nicolas Cage and Sam Rockwell, who could go out on the road as a comedy team!) Watching them pull off their small-time scams, is a joy. Up to this point, I would have given the film 4 stars. Then, a daughter (newcomer Alison Lohman) that the Cage character never knew he had, enters the picture, and director Ridley Scott makes a big mistake, and turns the film into a melodramatic, mysterious, shoot-em-up soap opera. It simply doesn't work. Several of us discussed the last half of the film on the way out of the theater, and none of us knew what the hell was going on! This isn't good. I gave this part of the film 2 stars at best. That averages out to...................................... (3-Stars) The Opening Night party of the Boston Film Festival preceded the screening. Lots of free drinks and hors d'ouevres...short on celebrities. At the screening itself, Sir Ridley Scott received the Festival's 2003 Film Excellence Award, and he was cheered on by his stars Nicolas Cage, Alison Lohman, and Sam Rockwell, all of whom left before the film started. Smart move!!! BOSTON FILM FESTIVAL: MOVIE REVIEW-"MAMBO ITALIANO" Picture "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," only now, the couple consists of two young gay men who come from quintessential Italian families. Sounds dreadful, doesn't it? Well, it isn't! Instead, it's one of the funniest movies that I've seen in a long time. I suppose it would help if you were Italian-American (or Italian-Canadian,) as the families are, in this simple, but uproariously funny film. The writing is clever, in that it consists of parading out every Italian cliche and stereotype in the book, and milking them for every possible laugh. The actors were probably directed to play it all larger than life...and it works. The father of the young narrator, Angelo's, family is played by Paul Sorvino. I've never seen any of the other actors before, but they were all letter-perfect. The music, costumes, and sets (especially those houses) add to the hysterically funny atmosphere of the piece. There are actually some moving moments stuck in there between the laughs. God help me, I'm actually wishing for a sequel! (4-Stars) BOSTON FILM FESTIVAL: "MY LIFE WITHOUT ME" An intelligent script and an ensemble cast of fine actors keep this film from being just another "illness-of-the-week" Lifetime TV movie. The story of a young working class housewife who learns that she has inoperable cancer, and decides to keep this a secret from her husband, her children and her mother, is a story-line that's been done to death (no pun intended.) But the well-written script, by writer/director Isobel Coixet, keeps you involved, because of its unexpected twists and turns. However, even an unusual script wouldn't have been enough to raise this film above your average tear-jerker. It's the actors that do that. The ensemble cast includes a brilliant Sarah Polley (in what could be an award-winning performance,) along with Mark Ruffalo, Alfred Molina, Amanda Plummer, Scott Speedman, and Deborah Harry (yes, THAT Debbie Harry!) They're all amazing. But even with that fine cast, the excellent script, and the fine directing, there's no way that this film will appeal to your average male moviegoer. (Even your above-average male moviegoer!) Let's face it. It is what it is. IT'S A CHICK FLICK! (The Spanish film director, Isobel Coixet, and one of her stars, Scott Speedman, were there for an interesting, long, Question & Answer period afterward) (3-Stars) BOSTON FILM FESTIVAL: "THE COMPANY" The fact that I didn't enjoy Robert Altman's new film about the world of ballet, is probably colored by my lack of interest and understanding of this world. Except for the music in the classical ballets, I simply don't enjoy anything about ballet. Having said that, let me say that director Robert Altman, and actress/producer/writer Neve Campbell's decision to tell the story of a ballet company, through the devise of a plotless film with virtually no dialogue, simply didn't work for me. It ends up looking like an endless number of documentaries often seen on the Bravo channel on TV. There have been wonderful, classic films, that have used ballet to tell a story...films like "The Red Shoes," "The Tales of Hoffman," and "The Turning Point." This is not one of those films. In case you're wondering, Neve Campbell trained as a young ballet dancer with the National Ballet of Canada, when she was a young girl. She used some of that training in this film in her role of an up-and-coming young ballerina with The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, although none of the dancing that she did in the film looked to be of the very-professional "on-the-tips-of-your-toes" variety. In addition to the actual members of the Joffrey Ballet, the other stars of this movie are Malcolm McDowell (as the ballet company's stern manager,) and James Franco (once again doing his James Dean thing.) Only for the most avid fans of ballet. (A very articulate, business-like Neve Campbell conducted an interesting Question & Answer period after the film.) (2-Stars) BOSTON FILM FESTIVAL: "CASA DE LOS BABYS" Director John Sayles focuses his attention on a group of American women who have come to a Latin American country to adopt a child. Each one comes with her own "baggage," and each one is acted by a fine actress (Marcia Gay Hayden, Rita Moreno, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Daryl Hannah, Mary Steenburgen, Lili Taylor, and Susan Lynch.) However, as written by John Sayles, each character is so neurotic, that I wouldn't give a child to any one of them! Even though the country is unspecified, it looked to me that the movie was filmed in the back-streets of Acapulco, Mexico, and my mind wandered trying to figure out where the action was taking place, instead of concentrating on what was happening in the scene. That's not a good sign. Another negative: in one long scene, actress Susan Lynch, playing an Irish woman who lives in Boston, delivers what amounts to a monologue in English, to the maid who's cleaning up her room. The fact that the maid can't understand a word of English doesn't stop this idiot from droning on, in a thick brogue no less, for at least 15 minutes. That interminable and insensitive speech almost drove me out of the theater! The best thing about the film, (aside from my game of trying to figure out where we were in Acapulco at any given time!) was the amazing performance of Marcia Gay Hayden in a hateful role. (2-Stars) BOSTON FILM FESTIVAL: "I AM DAVID" A beautiful, haunting, moving, and completely incredible film about a young boy's journey from a hellish life in a Bulgarian labor camp just after World War II, to the hope of a normal life in a distant country. How he gets to that "distant country," is the story of this film. David escapes from the insanity of his life in the labor camp, with nothing but a sealed envelope from a friend at the camp, instructing him to take the envelope to a specific person in Denmark, where he will unravel the mystery of his past. The obstacles that he faces along the route, put those of Candide to shame, and rival those of Ulysses in the Odyssey! Director Paul Feig, known to many as the creator of TV's "Freaks and Geeks" show (!) wrote and directed this unforgetable film, based on the novel by Anne Holm. It must have been a labor of love for the young director, who knows how to blend humor and tragedy to create a story about a 12-year-old's amazing life. And amazing is the only word to describe the young actor Ben Tibber, who is in every scene of the film, and carries it beautifully. He is assisted by effective cameo appearances from Jim Caviezel and Joan Plowright (Lady Laurence Olivier.) The enchanting musical score was carefully put together by Stuart Townsend and the director himself. (The director was there for an informative Question and Answer period after the movie. He said that he loves stories about people who are discovering life for the first time. His film is one of those stories.) (5-Stars) BOSTON FILM FESTIVAL: "SHATTERED GLASS" An expose of fraudulence in journalism at one of America's most prestigious magazines, might have been shocking news as recently as ten years ago, but unfortunately, today it almost seems dated! What isn't dated in this excellent film by first time director Billy Ray, is the exciting screenplay (by Billy Ray once again,) the direction, and the impeccable acting of a truly ensemble cast. Back in 1998, Stephen Glass was the star writer for the respected current events and policy magazine The New Republic ("the magazine of choice on Air Force One.") Everybody loved him, until it was found out that he was a pathological liar/sociopath who had "cooked" (made up) most of his articles! Even then, his loyal following of "fans" on the staff fought not to have him fired. Only a brave editor was courageous enough to confront him with his problems, and throw him out. The fine cast includes Hayden Christensen and Peter Sarsgaard as Glass and his editor. Both deliver Oscar-worthy performances. Hank Azaria plays the previous editor, Michael Kelly, and Chloe Sevigny is one of the on-staff writers who sticks with Glass till the very end. Portraying the writers of the on-line magazine that did all of the detective work and exposed Glass, are Steve Zahn and Rosario Dawson. As I said before, everyone in the cast is letter-perfect. As an unfortunate coda to this story, today Glass, after having written a novel about a writer who makes up articles (!) is being sought after by magazines like Rolling Stone and Esquire, to write articles for them. Says a lot about how we glorify criminals, psychopaths, and wrongdoers today, doesn't it? (Director Billy Ray presided over the informative and lively final Q & A at this closing film of the Boston Film Festival.) (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "CABIN FEVER" I can only imagine how the idea for this film came about. Picture writer/director/producer Eli Roth sitting in his backyard in Newton, Massachusetts with about ten of his former college friends. He says to them, "Look, I just happen to have a large vat of pig's blood in the yard. Let's throw it on each other and make a movie." That's about it! The result is a cliche-ridden mess (literally) filled with a bunch of people who can't act, who in addition, are asked to play roles that are so repulsive that you just can't wait for them to be killed. But that in itself is a cliche as well, isn't it? The story is the usual one. Five people in a cabin in the woods. One by one they catch "a contagious disease," and die of illogic and stupidity! I found myself rooting for three "Deliverance"-type goons and a deputy sheriff who couldn't spell "sheriff!" Why did we see it? Because the print for "American Splendor" got ruined by a water leak. Such is fate! (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW- "AMERICAN SPLENDOR" Sure, this film is creative, original, unique and highly imaginative. But I also had to fight the urge to walk out on it several times, because it's also bizarre and painfully boring! Harvey Pekar was a real person, a file clerk in a hospital, and also, a gloomy, depressed and depressing, obsessive-compulsive, obnoxious slob of a loser, who felt compelled (out of insanity perhaps?) to sketch his life as a comic book. Through a strange series of circumstances, he met and became friends with Robert Crumb, the equally wacko illustrator, who felt the need to illustrate a comic book based on Pekar's stick-figure sketches and stories. The rest is history, so to speak. The underground comic book "American Splendor" and Harvey Pekar, became the darling of the cult circuit. Although he maintained his slovenly life-style and his pathetic job, despite acquiring a nut-job of a wife, he managed to become a regular guest on the David Letterman Show, where he was ridiculed by the host. Mercifully I missed all of these appearances, possibly because I never watch Letterman! The actors portraying Pekar and his wife (Paul Giamatti and an unrecognizable Hope Davis) were brilliant. It must have been painful for them to spend so much time in the "skin" of these misfits. But then again, they're actors and they probably enjoyed the challenge. I would rather have a root canal. I can't believe that, for the past month, I looked forward to seeing this self-indulgent piece of trash! (1-Star) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "BOLLYWOOD/HOLLYWOOD" I know that there's a huge international audience for the big musicals that are churned out by the studios in Bombay, India (nicknamed "Bollywood.") If this film is typical of those movies, then it'll be my first and last one! The plots are basically all the same: melodramatic soap operas told through tongue-in-cheek comedy, and big musical numbers. Directors, like Deepa Mehta, who make these films, should be locked in a movie theater, and forced to watch all of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals of the 1930's and '40s, and then watch every musical that the MGM studios made in the '50's and '60's. Then they might learn something about how an elegant musical with class, intelligence, and excellent music is made! The present film has no class, no intelligence, and no music that my ears would ever want to hear again. The characters in the movie are all repulsive, but giving them the benefit of the doubt, they're supposed to be. We're supposed to be seeing Indo-trash (I didn't even know that this group existed!) at play, in their garish homes that look like Vegas lounges, driving their BMW's, and wearing tasteless clothes and jewelry. If this group does exist, then their values are every bit as reprehensible as the worst of those in the Euro-trash, and Sino-trash categories. I don't need to go on. You get the picture; don't see this one! (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW- "ANYTHING ELSE" Woody Allen used to be one of the most creative and brilliant minds working in film. Unfortunately, he's lost it all. This film is perfectly dreadful! His writing has become ugly, mean, and condescending. His directing brings out the worst in a talented cast of actors who bring to life some of the most obnoxious and hateful characters seen on screen this year. His acting has been reduced to doing a bad Woody Allen impersonation. Very sad. Jason Biggs, a gifted actor/comedian, plays a comic writer (the Woody Allen alter ego,) who is such a neurotic nerd and doormat, that he allows a host of sick individuals to control his life, simply because he's too afraid to tell them to get lost. These deranged lunatics include his girlfriend and her live-in mother (Christina Ricci and Stockard Channing;) his agent (Danny DeVito;) and his mentor and friend (Woody Allen.) For those of you with a morbid curiosity for freaks, you might want to check out Christina Ricci's performance as the nastiest, craziest, most mean-spirited bitch on screen this year. I hope that this is good acting on her part! Is there anything good about this film. Yes. The New York scenes in Central Park, Sheepshead Bay, and the Upper West Side, are lovingly filmed by a man who truly loves his city. As in all Woody Allen films, the music, consisting of great standards of the past, is impeccable. But scenery and music aren't enough to make a film worth seeing...unless it's the Discovery channel! Stay home and rent "Annie Hall," arguably his best film. (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE RUNDOWN" This is as good as an action film gets. It's the Schwarzenegger film that Arnold never made (although he does have a cameo appearance in it.) It's the next Indiana Jones movie. It's The Mummy #4 (or is it #5?) You get the picture, right? The plot is irrelevant, but in synopsis, it involves an invincible bounty hunter (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson,) who is hired by a bad guy to find his son, a student of Archeology (Sean William Scott..."Stiffler" in the "American Pie" films,) who is searching for a priceless golden statue in the Amazon jungle. He, in turn, is being pursued by the Lord-Jim-like owner of a slave-run gold-mine (played by a wildly over-the-top Christopher Walken, who is doing the best Christopher Walken impersonation since Jay Mohr!) Providing the eye candy, is the leader of the rebels, played by Rosario Dawson (who is not only sexy, but a damn good actress as well.) So there you have it. Each actor plays a stereotype, but plays it to the hilt. They couldn't be bettered. The jungle settings (enhanced by computer graphics) are truly spectacular; the fights (enhanced by Dolby sound) are thrilling...and absurd; the action is fast and furious. In short, a perfect Summer blockbuster. Oops, I forgot. It's Fall. Oh well. It's still a thrill-a-minute enjoyable movie. I loved it. (5-Stars) CB (Comic Book) MOVIE REVIEW- "LOST IN TRANSLATION" Some critics have said that Bill Murray's performance in this film should get him an Academy Award nomination. If he does, then so should the horse who played "Seabiscuit." They both show about the same amount of emotion, with the nod going to the horse! Maybe it's the fault of Sofia Coppola, the director, or maybe it's Sofia Coppola, the writer, but in either case, she's given her stars little or nothing to do, or say, for that matter. The only actor who shows any emotion at all is Giovanni Ribisi, who's on screen for about 12 minutes. The two main stars (Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson) were directed to act as though they were just coming out of a coma and are trying to adjust to oxygen. The story, such as it is, involves a has-been movie actor who's in Tokyo to film a whiskey commercial (Murray,) and the young wife (Johannsson) of a photographer who has accompanied her inattentive husband (Ribisi) on a photo-shoot in the same city. For some strange reason, neither one can sleep in their extremely luxurious Japanese hotel, so they end up in the bar, where they "meet cute" and then drink and smoke for the rest of the movie. It seems to me that these two losers would have been lonely in any city on this planet. They develop a slightly more than platonic relationship, and then "part cute," after boring the audience nearly to tears for almost two hours. The only redeeming feature of the movie is the beautiful photography in the photogenic cities of Tokyo and Kyoto, and the portrait of contemporary life in these two exciting cities. But, at nomination time, my money is on the horse! (1 1/2- Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "MYSTIC RIVER" When I reviewed the Dennis Lehane novel Mystic River, I said that although it's "not a masterpiece of great literature, it's certainly a page-turner and an excellent example of the murder-mystery genre." Director Clint Eastwood has actually improved upon the book and made it into a masterpiece of FILM literature. The story remains the same. Three young boys are playing street hockey when a car pulls up and two men posing as cops abduct one of the boys. The boy is sexually molested and then released. Twenty five years later the three men are united when the daughter of one of them is tragically murdered. Eastwood has wisely assembled the finest ensemble cast of actors on screen this year, and they all fulfill his expectations. Another wise decision on the part of the director was to film the story where it was set in the book...in Chelsea, a seedy "suburb" of Boston. The result takes this murder mystery out of the realm of the ordinary, and elevates it to the level of Greek tragedy. The dream cast includes Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurence Fishburn, Laura Linney and Eli Wallach. Look for at least two or three Oscar nominations for several members of the cast (my bets are on Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Marcia Gay Harden,) a best film nomination, and a surefire nomination for the brilliant director, Clint Eastwood, who incidentally, composed the musical score as well! (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "INTOLERABLE CRUELTY" In this tribute to the intelligent "screwball comedies" of the '30s and '40s, the Coen Brothers ("The Big Lebowski," "Fargo," and "Raising Arizona,") have recreated the mood of one of these classic comedies, in both style and substance. The gifted actors play their tongue-in-cheek roles perfectly, especially one who I never thought that I'd call a "gifted actor".....George Clooney. Now we all know that Clooney can't act, all he can do is play George Clooney. So the Coens have capitalized on this fact, by writing a role that pokes fun of the George Clooney persona, vanity and "charisma." He plays it beautifully. Clooney is Miles Massey, a vain con-man, Beverly Hills divorce lawyer, who specializes in getting philandering husbands out of paying huge sums of money to their Barbie-doll wives. Then along comes one of these gold-digging wives and Miles falls for her, hook, line, and sinker. Who can one trust? George Clooney plays the Cary Grant/Spencer Tracy role, and Catherine Zeta-Jones is all elegance, class, and humor in the Katherine Hepburn/Rosalind Russell role. (If you don't know who I'm talking about, then you should rent one of the classic screwball comedies, like "Bringing Up Baby," "The Awful Truth," "The Lady Eve," or "The Philadelphia Story.") Giving very rich support in this farce, are such gifted actor-comedians as Geoffrey Rush, Julia Duffy, Edward Herrmann, Cedric the Entertainer (yes, you heard me!) and Paul Adelstein. The Coen brothers have done it again! (4-Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "LES TRIPLETTES DE BELLEVILLE" ("THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE") I was very sorry when I missed this film that became the runaway hit of the Boston Film Festival last month. Therefore, I was very happy that it was selected for this advance screening. "Happy" is a good word to describe this French/Canadian/Belgian animated film. Other words that could describe it are "imaginative, creative, thoroughly original, bizarre, funny, beautifully drawn, irreverent, artistic, politically incorrect, etc." It was conceived, written, and directed by Sylvain Chomet who probably has Hollywood banging down her/his doors right now. There may have been a time when studio animators had the guts and the vision to create a surrealistic movie like "The Triplets of Belleville," but I can't remember having seen one. It's virtually a film without words, and those that are in the movie are either a garbled French or English, or are sung in parodies of French songs. The story defies description but I'll try to summarize it anyway. Madame Souza lives with her grandson Champion and his dog Bruno. Through a rigorous training regimen, she turns him into a first-class cyclist, and he enters the Tour de France. During the course of the race, he's kidnapped by the French mafia, and transported to a New York-like city called Belleville, where he's kept a prisoner, used to entertain the gangsters in a bizarre way. Meanwhile, Madame Souza, with the help of three old ladies (who were once famous music-hall stars, "The Triplets of Belleville,) and the old dog Bruno, set out to rescue Champion. If the story sounds crazy, it's meant to be, and it's thoroughly entertaining for it's short 80 minutes. Stay through the end of the credits for a quick, but funny scene. Take the kids. It's a little violent and wacko, but they'll get it...and love it! (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "KILL BILL: Vol. 1" Anyone who knows me, knows that I hate martial arts films, especially those that have dozens of Chinese flying through the air on invisible wires. If Quentin Tarentino's brilliant "Kill Bill" is a martial arts film, then it's the "Gone With The Wind" of this genre. In short, it's a work of art! Tarentino has written and directed his most beautiful film. Because he loves films, he's made it into a parody and an homage at the same time. He quotes from such diverse sources as: the Sergio Leone "Spaghetti westerns"( close your eyes and you'll think that you're listening to the wonderful Ennio Morricone music from those movies;) every martial arts film ever made; the musicals of Busby Berkeley, with the overhead camera shooting dancers in kaleidescopic patterns; the "Anime" animated films from Japan (an entire sequence is brilliantly animated;) etc. The movie is written, directed, acted, photographed, and choreographed magnificently. Yes, choreographed. The final 30-minute fight scene in the "House of Blue Leaves" is virtually a ballet, complete with beautiful music. The story concerns members of an assassination squad, who murder one of their own on her wedding day. Instead of dying, she (known only as "The Bride,") goes into a coma for months. When she revives, she plots the killing of each and every one of her former fellow assassins. Uma Thurman is absolute perfection as "The Bride," as are Lucy Liu, Viveca A. Fox, and Daryl Hannah as her former "team-mates." For those critics who have complained that the film could have been condensed and shown as one film, rather than two (Vol. 2 comes out in February,) I, for one, wouldn't want to have to be the one to decide which frames get cut from the present film. As I said before, it's a work of art, and cutting any of it would be an act of vandalism! (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "WONDERLAND" This movie depicts the true-life multiple murders that marred the end of the already-fading career of porn star, John (Johnny Wadd) Holmes. It's a mess from start to finish, as I assume was the life of Johnny Holmes, and it qualifies for the worst movie of the year. One would think that a film about pornography, drug-addiction, whores, real-life gangsters and multiple- murders, would at least be interesting. This one is a colossal bore! In addition to being sleep-inducing, it's a waste of the talents of some skilled (and not-so-skilled) actors, including Val Kilmer, Lisa Kudrow, Jeanine Garafalo, Eric Bogosian, Carrie Fisher, Christina Applegate and an almost unrecognizable Dylan McDermott ( formerly from TV's "The Practice.") Mercifully, we're never shown the 14-inch "piece of equipment" that made Mr. Holmes famous! One can only be thankful for small favors. (0-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "RUNAWAY JURY" This movie was in trouble very early on in the creative process. Its script, based on the John Grisham best-seller, dealt with whistle-blowing in the tobacco industry, and that was out-dated before filming even started. (That story had already been done so well by Russell Crowe in "The Insider.") So the script went through a year of rewrites, and in the process, lost its original stars, Sean Connery, Edward Norton, and Gwyneth Paltrow, and turned into a movie about whistle-blowing in the GUN industry. (Always topical, unfortunately.) The skeleton of Grisham's novel, which dealt, primarily, with jury tampering, is still intact, and the new stars are Gene Hackman, John Cusack, and Rachel Weisz. Dustin Hoffman is the only original star who stayed with the project from the beginning, and it was he, who brought on his former room-mate Gene Hackman. The two strike sparks whenever they're on screen together, sparring as opposing lawyers in the big-money case. Gene Hackman, is the bad guy lawyer, and just in case you're in doubt, he's made up to look like Mephistopheles, in a modern-day production of "Faust." John Cusack is good, playing an adult role for a change, as is Rachel Weisz, once again, showing what a good actress she is, and how well she does an American accent! In spite of all of the drawbacks prior to filming, the final product is a big, old-fashioned, fascinating cat-and-mouse thriller, with lawyer pitted against lawyer, juror against juror, and the entire judicial system in America, on trial. There are enough twists and turns in it, to keep you guessing "who did what, and why?" If you guess the ending, you get to be excused from your next jury duty! (4- Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "THE COOLER" This is easily the best movie about Las Vegas that I've ever seen. Not the glitzy "billion-dollar-theme-park" Vegas of The Strip, but rather the seedy, rundown Vegas of downtown Fremont Street, with its desperate, pathetic winners and losers. There, in the "old-school" casino, the Golden Shangri-la, we meet someone known as "The Cooler," who is such a loser, that he's actually hired by the casino bosses to walk around the tables, emanating an aura of bad luck, and turning winners into losers. What a goldmine for a casino! As played brilliantly by William H. Macy, we in turn feel sympathy and also disgust for this complete wreck of a man. He has a strange relationship with the casino boss, (played to perfection by Alec Baldwin,) who claims to be his friend, but who also smashed his kneecap to smithereens with a bat, when he did something wrong to him. Maria Bello plays the role of a cocktail waitress who falls in love with this pathetic shell of a man. At the Shangri-la, old-time gangsters do business with young Harvard B-School whiz-kids. A washed-up lounge singer (Paul Sorvino) shoots up with heroin after his dreary act, as his young replacement (Joey Fatone) waits to fill his worn-out shoes. If the unusual mixture of comedy, tragedy, extreme violence, and explicit sex is not your cup of tea, then stay away from this unique and original film. But be warned. If you do stay away, you'll be missing one of this year's best written, directed, and acted movies. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Oscar nominations for William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin, Maria Bello, and even Paul Sorvino. (4 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "SCARY MOVIE 3" Most of this movie is pretty stupid; some of it is very funny; and a little bit of it is absolutely hilarious. The cleverest, and funniest parts of the film are the spoofs/parodies of such other films as: "The Matrix:Reloaded," "Signs," "Seven Days," the Pamela Andersen/Tommy Lee sex tape, and the Coors-Lite commercial. Of course, none of this will make any sense to you if you haven't seen the original films. Somehow I think that I remember the first two "Scary Movies" as being funnier, but that might just have been the fact that the idea was still new and fresh. What is truly refreshing is to see what comedy can accomplish when it isn't politically correct. Some of the politically incorrect scenes in the film are also the funniest, especially the one involving Michael Jackson, and the one with Father Muldoon and the little boy! Unfortunately, the trailer gives away most of the funniest scenes. (2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE HUMAN STAIN" Although I'm not a fan of Philip Roth, I can only imagine that his novel, upon which this film is based, must have had more substance and intelligence than does this overblown, superficial, soap-opera, period piece of a movie. Although not meant to be an homage, it brings to mind those dated movies of the '40s and '50s, in which a black character trying to pass for white, is played by a white actor. Maybe I just gave away more of the plot than I should have, but it's all academic anyway...no pun intended. The plot concerns a Classics Professor (Anthony Hopkins) in a college in the Berkshires (Williams?) who is forced to resign in disgrace, because he calls two chronically-absent students "Spooks," (ghosts.) What causes the furor is that the students happened to be black, and they took offense with the word, thinking that he meant it as a racial slur, even though he never met the students. What transpires after that is inspired lunacy! His wife dies when she hears the news; he has an affair with a 34-year-old cleaning lady, who's being stalked by her psychotic ex-husband (Ed Harris); he strikes up a friendship with a lonely writer (Gary Sinise) who decides to write his biography; and in ludicrous flashbacks, we find out that he is black! Add to all of this, the fact that the two leads are dreadfully miscast, especially Nicole Kidman...as a trashy cleaning lady??? At least the campus scenery is pretty. It was filmed in Williamstown, Massachusetts, one of America's most beautiful towns. (2 1/2- Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS" With this final film, "The Matrix Trilogy" comes to a smashing conclusion...literally. What was given to us in the first film, was the gift of novelty. The story was new and original, and although the characters were all two-dimensional, the action and computer graphics were outstanding. The story, in the second film, was cloaked in a lot of philosophical mumbo-jumbo...sort of a cinematic Rorschach ink-blot. People read into it all kinds of deep meanings, that I'm sure were never even imagined by the creators of the film! In this final film, all of the story lines come together, and the grand cosmic battle (machines vs man,) is the highlight of the film. The computer graphics are truly awesome, and the plot draws heavily from "Star Wars," "2001: A Space Odyssey," and "The Wizard of Oz!" The "saviour" Neo, with the help of the Oracle, Morpheus, Trinity, and the whole gang at Zion, battle the machines in a spectacular "siege of Zion scene," and if this isn't enough to tax the supernatural powers of Neo, he's forced to fight Mr. Smith to the death, while thousands of cloned Mr. Smiths look on. But not before he and Trinity pay an unforgettable visit to the City of the Machines (a CGI worker's dream come true!) I only wish that I could have seen these three films through the eyes of someone who had been raised on video-games; they would have had much more substance and meaning. But I WAS raised on comic books, and that old imagination of mine kicked in to provide the needed pump. I did notice something interesting in this last film. Although the computer graphics wizards were able to provide terrifyingly realistic machines and weapons, the last scene of the movie has one of the phoniest sunrises and cityscapes that I've ever seen. I guess computer graphics imagery can't create EVERYTHING! (5-Stars) CB (Comic Book) MOVIE REVIEW- "LOVE ACTUALLY" I had expected this movie to be a silly comedy about Love: British Style. I was going to see it because of its excellent cast...and I was prepared to hate it. I even had composed a sentence in my mind, that I had planned to insert in my review. So as not to waste it, here it is: "This film is so flat and soggy that it's like a platter of yesterday's fish and chips." Well, in fact it's the exact opposite. It's utterly and completely charming! As the film unfolded, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was not only enjoying it, but that I was feeling good about enjoying it! The eight intertwining stories deal with various aspects and types of love...adolescent love, unrequited love, philandering love, stupid love, tragic love, brotherly love, etc. It's easy to see why the incredible ensemble cast of six of Britain's best actors (Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Rowan Atkinson, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant) and two of America's best (Laura Linney and Billy Bob Thornton) jumped at the chance to play these roles, and play them they do...brilliantly, intelligently, and comically. Each role is a gift to the actor playing it. The story is beautifully written and expertly directed by first-time director Richard Curtis (he wrote "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill.) The plots jump from sugary love scenes, to comic slapstick, to intelligent family drama, to dorky "American Pie"-like scenes, and they do it so comfortably. Why can't we do this as well as the British can? Take your girlfriend, your wife, or your mother to see this as a holiday gift. She'll love you for it...and you'll feel good about it too. (4 1/2- Stars) MOVIE REVIEW-(Special Screening)- "LOONEY TUNES BACK IN ACTION" I can almost guarantee with complete certainty, that anyone over the age of seven, who isn't severely retarded, will hate this film! ( 0-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "ELF" Who would have thought that my favorite cynical-hipster, actor/writer/director Jon Favreau ("Swingers," "Made,") and outrageous, often potty-mouthed comic Will Ferrell, could have created an old-fashioned Christmas movie...one that is sure to become a yearly holiday classic? Not me, that's for sure. It would have been easy to go for the cheap, gross-out laugh, but never once does the excrement hit the fan. Instead, Favreau has given us an early Christmas gift...a true film for the whole family to enjoy...from children to grandparents, and most definitely including the college students as well, who are flocking to it in droves, and loving it. A young orphan crawls into Santa's (Ed Asner's) gift bag on Christmas Eve, and is accidentally taken back to the North Pole, where he's adopted by an older elf (Bob Newhart) who raises him as his own son. When Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) learns that he's really human, and that he has a father in New York, he leaves the North Pole, and walks to Manhattan! When he gets there, he finds that his father (James Caan) is a Scrooge-like owner of a childrens-book company, and that he has a new step-mother (Mary Steenbergen) and a step-brother. Buddy innocently wreaks havoc on the city, including the toy department of a Macy's-like department store (named after the defunct Gimbel's,) and his new family's apartment. At the department store, he meets a co-worker (a charming Zooey Deschanel,) who brings out the man in him. All ends well, as the holiday spirit is restored to a beaten-down New York. (Something that hasn't happened yet in real life!) I can't think of another actor besides Ferrell, who could have made the role of this child-like human, believable, without turning it into a sugary caricature. Director Favreau keeps the film moving from one hilarious scene to the next, but never loses sight of the sweet and gentle story that's being told. It's a beautiful fairy tale of a Christmas movie for the entire family to enjoy. (4 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD" If you're a fan of 19th Century British naval history, and you love to see historic battles fought at sea, then you'll probably enjoy this fine film much more than I did. Although I can certainly appreciate the tremendous amount of work that director Peter Weir did in having these two frigates built, outfitted accurately, and then wrecked, and I can also appreciate the work of the talented actors involved (especially Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany,) I can't say that I was glued to the screen throughout the entire movie. Maybe it was the lack of land, or possibly the lack of women, but I found my attention lagging because of the sameness of watching two ships chasing each other through a lot of water for two and a half hours! The story did much to keep me interested, even though it was filled with so many of the usual cliches of this genre: the obsessed sea captain, the mutinous crew, the brave ship's doctor who operates on himself and then is playing his cello a week later, and all those young boys who should be home playing "little-league cricket" rather than having their limbs cut off at sea. Topical comment: in the Patrick O' Brian books upon which this film is based, the action takes place during the War of 1812 and the bad guys are the Americans. But in the film, the action was pushed back to the Napoleonic Wars, and the bad guys are now the French. I guess they felt that it was easier to hate the French nowadays! Does anyone reading this know, if this title is the longest title in film history? At times, the film seemed like the longest movie in film history! (3 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "ELEPHANT" In an almost documentary fashion, writer/director Gus Van Sant takes us into a typical American high school, and introduces us to the "cast of characters" of his latest award-winning film. They're all stereotypes and you'll recognize every one of them. There's the jock, the school photographer, the most popular pretty girl, the bulimic ditzy air-heads, the grungy goths, the library nerd, and the two clean-cut guys who march into the building during the last 20 minutes, and shoot dozens of their fellow-students, and blow up parts of the school! I've heard Gus Van Zant say that he has no intention of answering the question "why?" However, I'm afraid that he has. The leader of the two guys is bullied by his classmates. They play target-practice computer games. They passively watch Nazi documentary films on TV. They order automatic weapons on-line, and have them delivered to their homes by an unsuspecting FedEx man, and under the noses of their all-too-absent parents. Isn't that enough to send two sociopaths (albeit normal-looking ones) on this deadly rampage? The cast consists of non-actor high school kids whose naturalism is absolutely perfect. However, there's so much time taken just going through the every day activities of a normal school day (I know; that's what the director was going for!) that at times it gets a bit boring and repetitious. Nevertheless, it's thrilling, if you know what's going to happen, and you should, and the final killings are bone-chilling in the matter-of factness of the killers. Maybe some parents will wake up if they see this, and take a look at what's going on in junior's bedroom, and in his head! (3 1/2-Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING" Director Peter Webber has created a visual (and aural) masterpiece, in this film about a painter and his subject, that is as much a work of art as is any one of the paintings by Vermeer scattered throughout the movie. Credit cinematographer Eduardo Serra, and the set (Ben von Os) and costume (Dien van Straalen) designers, for making each frame of the one-and-a-half-hour film an accurate representation of a Dutch painting. It's like taking a tour of the 17th Century Dutch Painting gallery at a great museum. However, with THIS tour comes a beautifully written story (from the book by Tracy Chevalier,) brilliantly acted by a perfect cast of actors. In 1652, in the beautiful blue town of Delft, Holland, the household of near-bankrupt self-absorbed artist Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth) is dominated by manipulative women, and neighbor and patron, Van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson.) Vermeer's mother-in-law (Judy Parfitt, in a performance deserving of an award,) rules the roost, while his wife (Cillian Murphy) primps, broods, and produces daughters...four brats and one psycho! Into this cauldron comes the innocent new maid (a radiant Scarlett Johansson) who proceeds to set in motion a set of unfortunate events that eventually will produce the magnificent painting that sits in The Hague..."Girl With A Pearl Earring." Everything about this film reeks of class, not least of which is the magnificent musical score by Alexandre Desplat. It's still playing in my head! I can't think of the last time that I saw a film that so accurately and faithfully reproduced a time and a place. For a short time, we the viewers ARE in Delft, Holland, watching lives fall apart, and a painting come to life. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "BROTHER BEAR" I can just imagine how the planning session went, around that big conference table at Disney, when someone proposed the idea for this animated film. "Forget the computer crap this time. It worked for "Nemo," but let's give them something classic, like "The Lion King." Do we still have anyone at the Studio who knows how to draw? Get him out of the hospital; we need him. The story's about talking animals; that's good. It worked for "Bambi," and we can try to kill off the mother again. That's a sure winner. Make sure that some of the animals sound Jewish, and at least one should sound Black. What about that gay guy in London? Can we get him to write the music? He's a Lord now? Forget it; too expensive. Get Phil Collins. He'll do anything for a buck, but tell him that every song should sound like something from "The Lion King." We need an Oscar-nominated song. We can't keep milking that damn "Circle of Life" forever. Well, that should do it. What could go wrong?" I'll tell you what went wrong, my friends. First of all, you needed a hateful villain. There is none in the movie. Therefore, there's little tension or conflict. At least one of the animals should have been a memorable character. Not one, I'm afraid. They were all stupid, annoying, or forgettable. What's left is a truly boring, but beautifully hand-drawn travelogue of somewhere up in the Far North. Mercifully, it was only 85 minutes long. "Hey, that's not fair. Wait till you see our next one. It's about a talking shoe!" (2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "21 GRAMS" This film is the most brilliantly acted and startlingly constructed movie of the year. It's also one of the most oppressively depressing films that I've ever seen. As he did in his first film "Amores Perros," Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu tears the story into pieces, and then scatters these pieces on screen, making audiences work at putting the pieces together...during some boring stretches at times. Math professor Paul (Sean Penn) has just had a long-awaited heart transplant. His wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg) wants to have a baby, something of him to leave behind, in case he dies. Paul hires a detective to find out who the heart donor was. In doing so, he comes in contact with two seriously damaged characters. Christina (Naomi Watts). an ex-junkie, is the widow of the man whose heart Paul now carries. Jack (Benicio Del Toro) is the ex-con, Jesus freak who accidentally killed the man and his two young daughters. When they finally all come together, so does the story, and it explodes violently into a bloody climax. As I said before, the acting is brilliant, and the three leads will probably be nominated for Oscars, putting Sean Penn in the unique position of competing against himself ("Mystic River.") Just in case you're wondering, as I was, "21 Grams" is the weight that a body loses at death. That'll give you an idea of the overall tone of this very heavy film! (4- Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "BAD SANTA" Independent film director Terry Zwigoff ("Ghost World," and "Crumb,") has come up with an alternative to this year's two feel-good Christmas movies..."Love Actually," and "Elf." The movie is the grungy, profane, and absolutely hilarious "Bad Santa." Billy Bob Thornton and midget (I'm not politically correct, remember?) Tony Cox, play con-men who take department-store jobs at Christmas, working as the store's Santa Claus and his Elf helper by day, and robbing the store at night. They make enough each Christmas to sustain them throughout the year until the next holiday season rolls around. That is, until "Santa" meets the dumbest and fattest kid in a movie this year (Brett Kelly,) and mellows out to the point where he can't do his job effectively. "Bad Santa" is basically a one-joke movie. The joke being, that outrageous non-stop cursing, done in the presence of, and to, children, is...sick as it may seem...downright hilarious! Every time it happens, and it happens every time that "Santa" opens his mouth, it's just as funny as it was the first time it happened. I feel sorry for all of those poor 8-year-old actors, who had to have these words thrown at them in every scene. Hell, if they're in the business, they were probably cursing at the age of three! A couple of afterthoughts. It was sad to see brilliant comic actress Cloris Leachman in a virtually non-speaking role as the fat kid's grandmother. (Rent "Young Frankenstein" to see her in her prime.) Also, as an opera-lover, it was gratifying to hear the classical music of Bizet, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, etc. used as part of the movie's background music. I don't know why it was used, but I for one, enjoyed it. In any case, if you're looking for laughs, this is the movie for you. But PLEASE, leave the kids at home! (3 1/2- Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE LAST SAMURAI" Make no mistake about it, this is a great film...beautiful, exciting, and moving, in the tradition of "Spartacus," "Glory," "Braveheart," and "Gladiator." Tom Cruise, in his finest performance, plays Captain Nathan Algren, a drunk and disillusioned Civil War veteran, and a survivor of Custer's Last Stand. Because of his military expertise, he's hired by no less a personage than the Emperor of Japan, to train the Imperial troops in the ways of modern warfare, with the purpose of defeating the last rebellious Samurai. After being captured by the Samurai and their warlord Katsumoto (a brilliant Japanese actor, Ken Watanabe,) Algren undergoes a life-changing transformation. During the course of this fast-moving 2 -1/2 hour film, Cruise's character learns about himself, the Samurai, and Japan itself, as do we. Director Edward Zwick keeps the plot and theme focused on clashes...clashes of cultures on the practical and philosophical scale, clashes of personalities on the personal level, and clashes of swords vs guns on the epic scale. In the battle scenes, Zwick makes it clear that he's an admirer of the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. The battles are realistic, terrifying, moving, and epic in scope. By imitating Kurosawa, Zwick achieves a cinematic beauty often missing in these types of battle scenes. All of those martial arts movies, with their multiple flying Asians, pale in comparison to the real thing! Ironically, all of the battle scenes, especially the grand climactic one, were filmed in New Zealand. It would seem that the spread of modern technology, which is at the heart of this story, has rendered the Japanese countryside useless for filming scenes of epic grandeur. At least all of the scenes filmed in and around the grand Shinto shrines, were filmed in Kyoto, Japan. Even the relentless bombings of WWII, spared that royal, magnificent city. (5-Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS" (In French with English sub-titles) A French-Canadian college professor is diagnosed with terminal cancer. His wife, who has been divorced from him for 15 years, makes a frantic phone call to her successful capitalist son in London, pleading for him to come to Montreal to help her care for his father during his remaining days. The son, who hasn't spoken to his father in a year, and who feels no emotional ties to him, agrees reluctantly. On their first meeting in a year, they have a fight. But then the son takes charge, not because he cares about his father, but that's because that's what he does for a living. He makes things happen. He phones all of his father's dearest friends and former mistresses, and asks them to come to his father's bed-side. Surprisingly, they all do, and what ensues is a sweet, gentle, moving story of interpersonal relationships. The discussions at bedside are revealing, intellectual, and often very funny. There's no action, as such, but none is needed. It's just one of those well-written, well-acted "slice of life" films. The barbarian invasions in the title refers to all of those people, places, and things that are threatening to destroy the civilized world...from the animals who flew those planes into the World Trade Center, to moronic students who sit in college classrooms absorbing absolutely nothing. (3- 1/2 Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG" Here's what I wrote when I reviewed the book by Andre Dubos III: "I can't remember the last time that I read an American novel that's as good as this one; a blend of Greek and Shakespearean tragedy set in modern-day California. It's the story of a house...and the three people whose lives come together because they want what each one thinks is rightfully his/hers. Kathy Nicolo's father left her the house, but because of a misunderstanding due to her alcoholism and drug addiction, she loses the house. Colonel Behrani, formerly a high-ranking colonel in the army of the Shah of Iran, but now reduced to collecting garbage, buys the house on auction with the remainder of the money that he brought with him when he and his family fled Iran. Deputy Sheriff Lester Burdon, a married man who has fallen in love with Kathy, is obsessed with returning the house to Kathy, come what may. It's a modern-day story of misunderstandings, due to cultural and language differences; a lack of communication; obsessive love and sheer ignorance. This suspenseful page-turner is, at times, almost too hard to take. There are really no heroes or villains in this story of fate, in spite of the fact that at times you hate, and understand, each of the characters, as they, and the reader, are drawn toward their unnecessary tragic end. What a movie this one will make!" Well, now the movie HAS been made and it's magnificent. It's a slow, deliberate, painful, tension-filled retelling of the story of the book. The three leading actors (Ben Kingsley, Jennifer Connelly and Ron Eldard) are perfectly cast, and Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly (as Behrani and Kathy) will certainly be nominated for Oscars, as will the film, unless it's crowded out by all the competition this year. I was depressed for a week after reading the book, and it looks as though the same will happen now that I've seen the movie. Nevertheless, it's a must-see film. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE" If you've read the ads and seen the movie's trailer, then you'd probably think, as I did, that this was a chick-flick for the over 60 set. Well, you'd be wrong. Beautifully written and directed by Nancy Meyers, this ensemble piece is an hilarious off-beat romantic comedy, with unusually good acting on the part of its five principal actors. Its humor, ranging from broad slapstick to highly sophisticated drawing room comedy, would appeal to anyone who knows how to laugh. Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson) is a 63-year-old bachelor tycoon who dates no one over the age of 30. His current squeeze (Amanda Peet) is the daughter of a famous female playwright (Diane Keaton.) On a visit to her mother's Martha Stewart-like home in the Hamptons, Harry and his date are surprised by Erica (Keaton) and her sister (Frances MacDormand) who didn't expect her daughter to be visiting, especially with her old-man boyfriend. In all the excitement, Harry gets the first of several heart attacks, which he gets the way people get headaches. The young doctor (Keanu Reeves, still recovering from "The Matrix,") who takes care of him, takes one look at Erica, and falls in love with this woman who's twice his age. Because Harry can't be moved a long distance, he's forced to stay at Erica's home. They all get to know each other very well. Get the picture? Diane Keaton hasn't been this good in films since her award-winning work in the classic comedy "Annie Hall." Watch for her at Oscar time. Nicholson matches her in every scene that they have together. The scene in which they take a long walk on the beach, has some of the best dialogue ever written for two mature adults. Frances MacDormand is so good that she's really wasted in the few scenes that she's in. Keanu Reeves makes you realize that he can play a real person, and make you believe his character...in fact, feel sorry for him...without resorting to computer graphics. Credit old-fashioned clever writing, and excellent acting, with making this movie one of the most enjoyable this season. It's just plain great fun! (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING" I remember when I finished reading the Tolkien books, many years ago, the ending brought tears to my eyes. At the end of this film, my eyes were dry. It's either that I've grown harder and more critical with age, or else the film does not have much emotional depth to it. What it does have is lots of plot (don't even think of seeing it if you haven't seen the previous two films;) lots of beautiful New Zealand scenery; and scene after scene of incredible computer-graphics-enhanced battles. It's a worthy challenger to the Star Wars saga in vying for the crown of the finest piece of epic-fantasy-fiction ever filmed. Director Peter Jackson is to be congratulated on a great achievement. In this third chapter of the trilogy, Frodo (Elijah Wood) pursues his difficult quest to return the ring to its final destination, while Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and the surviving members of the Fellowship, distract the evil Sauron and his endless armies. The creepy Gollum (a computer-generated version of actor Andy Serkis) is there to try to get the ring away from Frodo, and faithful Sam (Sean Astin) is around to keep him from doing this. (Was Frodo such a whimpering asshole in the books? I don't remember.) The scenic effects are truly spectacular, with some non-realistic landscapes appearing to be a tribute to the work of Maxfield Parrish. Ironically, the most dramatic and awe-inspiring scene in the film is one that requires no computer graphics. It's a scene in which a series of signal fires are lit on the snow-covered peaks of a chain of mountains. Spectacular! The actors all handle their roles well enough, considering the fact that they're dwarfed by the special effects. Sean Astin as Sam, and Miranda Otto as Eowen (I think that's her name,) come off the best. The others all seem to spend most of their time and energy swinging their swords at Orcs or other fearsome creatures. The film is so entertaining that its 3 1/2-hours go by very quickly. So, if you've read the books and loved them, as I have, and have seen the previous two parts of the trilogy, you will probably love this ending to the story. All the threads of the various plots come together, as they do in the books, but with no tears for this viewer. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "COLD MOUNTAIN" "Cold Mountain" and "Gone With the Wind," are two sides of the Civil War coin. In "GWTW," the war is romanticized in an epic way, and everything is painted in broad, colorful melodramatic strokes. "Cold Mountain" focuses a laser beam on individual lives, and does it in an ugly, nauseating, violent, and painful way. Two distinct ways of portraying the same war. Much has been made of the parallels between the book by Charles Frazier, and Homer's Odyssey. True, they both deal with a soldier's trying to return home to the woman that he loves, and the obstacles that he has to overcome to get there. But, in fact, there are only two or three episodes that parallel the Greek classic tale. As in his "English Patient," writer/director Anthony Minghella tells his story in a slow, sometimes plodding way. Just when you feel the boredom set in (and it IS a long film,) he sings you with a violent, jarring scene. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. What does work is the excellent award-winning acting from this large cast of talented actors. The three perfectly-cast leads (Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, and Renee Zellwegger) couldn't be better, and they are brilliantly supported by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Giovanni Ribisi, Eileen Atkins, Natalie Portman, Brendan Gleeson, and Kathy Baker. Each one comes on to take the spotlight in a vignette in which the character portrayed, either aids or hinders, the soldier Inman on his journey home. Renee Zellwegger as Ruby, pretty much steals the film away from everyone (as the character did in the book,) as does the beautiful scenery of Transylvania, Romania, standing in for an overdeveloped, Wal-Mart-ed North Carolina. If you're a Civil War buff, you'll love it, otherwise, be prepared for a 2 1/2-hour journey, that sometimes feels as long as Inmans! (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "MONA LISA SMILE" At the risk of sounding sexist, I can't imagine any man truly enjoying this chick flick, unless he were doing a sociological study of "women in the '50s," specifically the women of Wellesley College in Massachusetts. I don't know just how accurate the film is in its portrayal of life at Wellesley in the '50s, but the college, which has probably turned out more successful female judges, doctors, lawyers, scholars, and even one misguided Secretary of State (Madeleine Albright,) than any other comparable college in the '50s, is portrayed as nothing more than a finishing school...a place where young girls learned how to become good wives and mothers! Into this traditional, conservative, repressed environment, comes a "progressive" teacher (Julia Roberts) who teaches art history, and much, much more, to her students (Julia Stiles, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gylenhaal.) Naturally, the college's stern President (Marian Seldes) and some of the other teachers (one portrayed by the always excellent Marcia Gay Harden) label her subversive, and try to have her thrown out. Her only female friend on the faculty, is a lesbian who gets fired (Juliet Stevenson.) It's all so Oprah Winfrey, and there isn't a scene in this movie that hasn't been done better in other films such as "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," and "Dead Poet's Society." It all looks as authentically '50s as possible, but then so does the "Carousel of Progress" at DisneyWorld! (2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "PETER PAN" Do we really need a new version of "Peter Pan" you might ask? After all, there's the classic Broadway/TV musical starring Mary Martin as an ageless Peter Pan, and Cyril Ritchard as the definitive Hook, and with that unforgettable musical score. Then, there's the Disney animated version, with a completely forgettable score. If only we could forget that expensive Spielberg flop, "Hook," with Robin Williams as a grown-up Peter, and Dustin Hoffman as Hook. Wow, that was a bomb! So what does this new film version bring to the table? Well, for one, it adheres closer to the original Sir James M. Barrie play than do any of the others. For another, it has a beautifully written screenplay...one that's written with intelligence, wit, sophistication and charm. It easily appeals to children, adolescents, and adults. In short, take the whole family to see this one. In addition, the acting is first-rate and the special effects add to the story...they're not the story! But, even with all that, it could have remained firmly planted on the ground, had it not been for the two wonderful actors who play Peter and Wendy (Jeremy Sumpter and Rachel Hurd-Wood,) and for the scary, but lovable Hook of Jason Isaacs (the senior Malfoy in the Harry Potter films.) They're all charming, and they soar...figuratively, and literally. The London settings are beautiful, and although it's an American film, it has a British disregard for political correctness. Hook shoots people randomly (albeit comically,) and he even kicks a child to the ground. How refreshing! (3 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "MONSTER" In a breakthrough performance, an unrecognizable Charlize Theron gives the performance of her career as real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a truck-stop prostitute who murdered the trucker-johns who tried to rape her, and who was executed in Florida just two years ago. With a lot of unflattering poundage, and a a set of prosthetic teeth, Theron has transformed herself into this pathetic hunk of white trash, and as a result, will most likely take home the Oscar this year for Best Actress. Credit the director, the screenwriter, and most of all, the actress, for allowing us to see the frightened woman behind this monster. It's an ugly, hard film to sit through; a sad and upsetting tale of a lonely sociopath. Cristina Ricci does a fine job in portraying Wuornos' sick, lesbian lover, who goads her on to do her evil deeds (the true "Monster" of the movie,) but make no mistake about it, this is Theron's film, and she takes it to the bank! (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "BIG FISH" You don't usually think of words like "sentimental," "sweet," "sugary," "soap-opera-ish," and even "corny," when you think of a Tim Burton film. The director of such films as "Batman," "Planet of the Apes," "Edward Scissorhands," and "Ed Wood," usually makes films that are often described as "fantastic," "dark," "creative," and "off the wall." Well, "Big Fish" is certainly all of these things as well, but it's burdened with an overpowering sense of heartwarming sentiment...something that Burton doesn't do very well. A Southern patriarch (Albert Finney) a man who has spent his entire life telling fantastic stories, or lying, (depending on your point of view,) is visited by his estranged son (Billy Crudup.) What makes the film interesting, is that the story bounces back and forth between the present, and the make-believe (are they?) stories in which the old man is seen as his younger self (Ewan MacGregor.) Some of the characters in these bizarre stories are enacted by the likes of Danny DeVito, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi, a giant, and Siamese twins! A director like Federico Fellini would have known what to do with them, but Burton just puts them through the motions. There's something very definitely missing. Poor Jessica Lange is wasted as the wife of the old guy. Oh, and did I mention the Buick in the tree, the one-eyed witch, the living tree that acts like an escapee from the Lord of the Rings....................................................................................................................................??? (3 1/2- Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "MR IBRAHIM" ("MONSIEUR IBRAHIM ET LES FLEURS DU CORAN") (in French with English subtitles) This is the kind of sweet, gentle film that I feel guilty about not being able to recommend to anyone. Although there is a situation presented, a conflict, and an ultimate resolution to the story, there's so little that actually happens to the main characters, that I was bored almost to sleep. Moise (Pierre Boulanger) is a young boy who lives in Paris with his father, who treats him as though he doesn't even exist. His mother left them a long time ago. His only friends are the neighborhood prostitutes, who befriend him and "initiate" him, and the Arab owner of the grocery store across the street. Eventually this kind old man, played by an old, old Omar Sharif, becomes the surrogate father that this boy so desperately needs. Well, that's it folks! (2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "IN AMERICA" In this charming but depressing little film, writer/director Jim Sheridan ("My Left Foot,") tells the semi-autobiographical story of his own move to America from Ireland. In the movie, the dirt-poor young Irish immigrant family leaves Ireland to find a better life in America, which in this case, turns out to be in a crack-house in New York. My God, how bad were things in Ireland? The young father is a weak, proud and often foolish man who can't get over the death of his young son. The wife (played brilliantly by the Oscar-nominated Samantha Morton) loves her husband enough to stick by him as he tries to get work as an actor, while he drives a cab at night. His daughters are thoroughly delightful (as are the young actresses who play them,) especially the eldest (age 10,) who is the strength and backbone of the loving family. The girls frolic in the halls of the crack-house like Eloise at the Plaza, and with the exception of one ugly incident, the denizens of this slum apartment house seem to be as content as the singing nuns in "The Sound of Music." Not too realistic a picture I would say, but what do I know about life in an absentee landlord's nightmare? One of the mysterious neighbors, who becomes a friend to this innocent family, is an Aids-victimized African (played by another Oscar nominee for this film, Djimon Hounsou.) The whole thing struck me as a calculated tear-jerker, although it had plenty of interesting moments to keep me involved, and the acting by everyone in the film, is worth the price of admission. With the exception of a few bumps in the road, the movie makes immigration look like loads of fun. No wonder America's crawling with illegal aliens! (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "MIRACLE" This "Rocky-on-Ice" film tells the corny, but true, story of the 1980 U.S.A. Olympic team...the one that performed the "miracle" of beating the professional, unbeaten Soviet juggernaut. The team consisted of a pick-up group of students from Boston and Minnesota-based schools, who were molded into an unbeatable hockey team, by a strong-willed, intractable coach. Remember, this was before the Dream Team turned the Olympics from a sporting event of true amateurs, into a media event, where professionals join some amateurs to compete against one another. Kurt Russell does a fine job of impersonating the in-your-face, take-no-prisoners coach, Herb Brooks, (who was killed in an auto accident just last year.) The young actors who play hockey players Jim Craig and Mike Eruzione, also are convincving as their real-life counterparts. But viewing, and enjoying this movie must come with a caveat. Since the actual events were almost too corny and patriotic to be believed, the film struggles not to sink under a load of "film corn," and it almost succeeds. Also, you'd better be a fan of hockey or else you'll find it difficult sitting through the 25-minute recreation of "the big game" at the end of the film. If you can handle the heavy doses of corn, and the long recreation of the hockey games, then you should find this film very entertaining. Way too long and cliche-ridden, this piece of patriotic Americana may be just what the movie-going public needs in these troubled times. (3 1/2-Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW: "KITCHEN STORIES" (in Norwegian with English sub-titles) When one of my friends saw this at a screening in New York, she said that the reels were accidentally reversed and the movie was shown out of sequence. That might have improved the film! As it was shown to us, correctly, it was the most boring movie that I've seen since Gus Van Sant's "Gerry" (sorry Matt!) This Norwegian film, deals with loneliness, alienation, the importance of communication, friendship, blah, blah, blah. So what? Although there are some humorous moments, it's still a bore. If you're in a sick-bed, and a friend brings a CD of this movie over to cheer you up, and he puts the film in and presses the "start" button, then I would say watch it. But if it takes any more effort than that for you to see it, forget it! (1-Star) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE DREAMERS" Back in 1973, noted Italian film director Bernardo Bertolucci pushed the censors buttons with his sexually explicit classic, "Last Tango in Paris," in which Marlon Brando gave one of his best performances. (The X-Rated version is available in video stores!) Thirty years later, he's made the companion piece to that film, pushing the sexual envelope for today's audiences. With its frontal nudity, graphic scenes of feigned intercourse, and incest, it just barely made an NC-17 rating (by removing a scene involving oral sex.) Sadly, possibly due to the dumbing-down and vulgarization of America, the film doesn't shock as much as it bores the viewer. The year is 1968; the place is Paris during the student riots. A teen-age American boy, there to "learn French," meets two siblings at a protest for the closing down of the Langlois Cinemateque (a place where film classics are shown.) When the three realize that they are fanatic film buffs, having memorized scenes from just about every film, they become friends, and soon all three are living, and having sex together, in the spacious apartment where the French twins (yes, they're twins) live with their parents. The fact that the twins are self-indulgent psychos doesn't become readily apparent to the naive American. When it does, it's almost too late. At times, it's interesting to see how Bertolucci has his characters mimic the behavior of characters in classic films, but it's just not enough to maintain ones interest in these jerks. The nudity is nothing more than what's available to any 12-year-old on an unguarded computer. Ah, progress! For me, the best part of the film was the beautiful recording of Edith Piaf singing "Rien, je ne regrette pas," over the end-titles! (2 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST" (in Aramaic and Latin with English sub-titles) Whatever motivated Mel Gibson to make this film is irrelevant, because what he's created is a masterpiece...and not just a masterpiece of the biblical/religious-film genre. It's easily the best re-telling of the Jesus story that I've ever seen, read, or heard about in church. Yes, it is excessively bloody, brutal, cruel, and hard to watch, but within the context set up by the director, it adds to the overall powerful effect of the film. No, it's certainly not anti-Semitic, or anti anything except hate, mob-rule, and the fearful power of an angry, ignorant mob. In fact, Gibson is extremely fair in depicting all sides of this story. Just as there were bad Jews and good Jews involved in Jesus' final hours, there were good Romans and bad Romans, a good thief and a bad thief, and even good disciples and the infamous bad one. As a non church-going but religious and moral person, I was anxious to see if a sense of the religious and spiritual comes out in the telling of the story. It most certainly does, in a moving and powerful way. The sense of this Man's sacrifice through love of humanity, is overpowering. Anyone who comes away from this film with nothing but the memory of the blood, gore, and violence, is surely sado-masochistic. Although the director is telling the story of the last 12 hours in the life of the Christ, he uses flashbacks to show important scenes in Jesus life...scenes that offer a marked contrast, or commentary on the events taking place at the end. Telling the story in the original languages which were used by the people who lived it, is not gimmicky, but on the contrary, most effective. It gives an added level of authenticity and realism to "the greatest story ever told." After sitting through the retelling of this horrendous story, the director allows the viewer to leave, feeling up-lifted and renewed. It's a brilliant ending to a perfect film. (5-Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF" A thoroughly annoying and depressing little Scottish film, in which everyone is either completely obnoxious, stupid, or insane...AND it's almost two hours long! (0-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "SPARTAN" Writer/director David Mamet ("Glengarry Glen Ross," "Heist," "The Spanish Prisoner," "House of Games," etc.) may just have created a new genre with this film... the film-noir action thriller for the thinking person! Once again, Mamet has his characters speak in the stilted, unrealistic style that has come to be known as "Mametese." Val Kilmer, William H. Macy, Derek Luke amd Ed O'Neill have mastered it for the film. This rhythmic dialogue is calculated to have the viewer concentrate less on what's being spoken, than on the true emotions of the speaker. There are so many twists and surprises in the film, that even the barest outline of the plot would give away too many secrets of the story. What I CAN say is that it deals with a whoring and murderous president, villainous Arabs (no political correctness in THIS film,) a hostage from Harvard, a white-slavery ring in Dubai, a deceiving media (redundant?) and the bridge and tunnels of The Big Dig in Boston. Throw in some con-artists from the White House, and some killer marines, and you've got the ingredients for this edge-of-your-seat brain-twister. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "INTERMISSION" A quirky Irish film that consists of a series of intertwining plots, whose story lines run the gamut from melodramatic soap opera, to black Irish humor. The ensemble cast consists of some of Ireland's best actors (Colin Farrell, Colm Meaney, Cillian Murphy, Shirley Henderson, and Kelly MacDonald,) acting their hearts out in the service of a ridiculous plot that can't decide whether it's a comedic farce, a bank-robbery heist film, or a sappy love story. One point of view might have worked, but layering all three on top of each other just makes for a car-wreck of a movie. In case you're interested, the story is an urban love story about insecure people and their desperate, sometimes sad/sometimes funny journey for love. This kind of Irish thing has been done so much better by both Guy Ritchie and Mike Leigh. Rent one of their films instead. (2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND" In screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's ("Adaptation," "Inside John Malkovich,") brilliantly creative script, modern "science" has developed the technology to erase the memory of someone from a person's mind. If only we had that technology now, I can think of one or two people who I'd like to have erased.....but that's another story for another time! Clementine (Kate Winslet) has decided to erase the memory of her boyfriend Joel (Jim Carrey,) so that she can go back to a happier time. When he finds out, he decides to erase HER...only things start to go terribly wrong. For one thing, he realizes that he still loves her and cherishes her memory, and wants out of the erasing process. The movie is filmed in sort of a reverse love story. Kind of like "Memento." It's tricky to follow, because of the intricacy of the flashbacks, which come complete with partial erasures. Every one of the actors in the film is brilliant, from Carrey and Winslet (in their best acting roles,) to the players in the sub-plot (Tom Wilkinson, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Rufalo, and Elijah Wood.) If you like to just kick back and enjoy a film without having to use too much of your brain, then go to see a less complex film. This one is for people who enjoy doing the Sunday NY Times crossword puzzle (in ink!)...and finishing it. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "TAKING LIVES" If you enjoy seeing Angelina Jolie on screen as much as I do (although she is becoming a computer graphic image of herself,) then you might take the time to see this otherwise predictable, generic thriller, about a serial killer loose in Montreal. There are some genuine scares, and some moments of Hitchcockian suspense in the film, but they're few and far between. With the exception of a truly surprise ending (no, it doesn't involve the identity of the killer,) the rest is, as I said before, predictable. Philip Glass has composed the background music, as if anyone will even notice it. There is some good acting from Jolie, Ethan Hawke and a hammy Gena Rowlands, and some unintelligible garbling from Olivier Martinez (where are sub-titles when you need them?) Oh, did I mention that Kiefer Sutherland makes a brief appearance in the movie, twenty minutes from the end? Montreal looks good, and for a change it's not acting as a stand-in for New York or Chicago! All in all, a disappointing effort on the part of all involved. (2 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE LADYKILLERS" Fifty years ago, Alec Guinness and Peter Sellars starred in the classic British comedy "The Ladykillers." I guess that I can understand why the edgy Coen brothers decided to do a remake of this campy heist story. It gave them the opportunity to deal with irritable bowel movements, severed fingers, racial stereotypes, and retarded football players. However, it was probably Tom Hanks, sensing the unlimited possibilities of his comic role as the leader of this band of dysfunctional robbers, that got the green light for this film. The tired heist genre is once again hauled out for yet another time. This time we have a band of thieves posing as musicians, who rent a room in the home of a feisty black matron in the very deep South. Her home just happens to be next to the office that stores all the money for the neighboring riverboat casino, and under the guise of practicing their instruments in her root cellar, they plan to dig a tunnel to...............well, you know the rest. Irma P. Hall as the overly religious landlady, almost steals the film away from Hanks, who has one of his funniest roles. Marlon Wayans as the stereotypical black street-smart(?) hip-hop punk, holds his own with these two comic actors. But all in all, in spite of the comic performances, we've seen all of this so often that we can practically say the lines with the actors. The best thing about the film then, is the foot-stomping gospel music, sung on screen, and as background music to other scenes as well, by the Thomas Dorsey Gospel Jubilee Singers...the great performers that I see at the New England Conservatory's rockingest concert each year. That was worth the price of admission for me. But other than that, this is definitely not a top-drawer Coen brothers film. (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "HELLBOY" I never read the "Hellboy" comics, so this film was my introduction to the character and his story...and what a bad introduction that was. The movie is a confused hodge-podge of what could be outtakes from dozens of different films about superheroes...from "Raiders of the Lost Ark," to "The Matrix," and "X-Men." I won't even begin to try to summarize a plot that includes as its main characters: the Russian monk Rasputin (from the court of Nicholas and Alexandra,) Hitler and the Nazis (from World War II,) an apparently gay aquatic superhero (from under the sea,) and the Spawn of Satan (from God knows where or when!) You've seen all the special effects before, including the monsters, who look like a cross between Alien, and some large calamari...and they're all starting to get more than a little annoying. The main character "Hellboy" (and isn't it good to see Ron Perlman working again?) is sort of a large, red, klutz, who likes candy bars and a woman who's a firestarter (wasn't that another film?) The story never really gets in the way of the special effects, although it sometimes threatens to do so. Those, of course, are the best parts of the film! (2-Stars) Comic Book TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "THE AGRONOMIST" The director of Talk Cinema, Harlan Jacobson, must be on drugs this year, because the five films that he's selected to be screened have been incredibly depressing, and just plain bad. Today's film was the straw that broke this camel's back; I just may not join the Club next season. Today's movie, Jonathan Demme's "The Agronomist," is a documentary about a human rights activist in Haiti during the Duvalier and Aristide regimes, and it is easily the worst film that I've seen this year! Even if you were interested in the tragic politics of this faux country...which I'm not...this film would still be an unbelievable bore. (0-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "WALKING TALL" One goes to a movie starring ex-wrestler "The Rock," to see him kick ass, and if the movie happens to be inspired by the true story of Sheriff Buford Pusser, and it's a remake of the 1973 cult classic "Walking Tall," then you've got some bonuses thrown in. Sure, it's one cliche after another, but they all work, and you'll come out feeling good when it's short 90 minutes are all over. Our hero returns from the war to his picturesque hometown in Washington State, to find that the town lumber mill (its chief employer) has closed, a casino has opened, and pornography, crime, drugs, and Home Depot have destroyed the life style of a once typically American town. A perfect recipe for The Rock...and he certainly takes advantage of it. Before long, his shirt comes off, a plank is in his hands, and he's waging a war of his own against the "bad guys." The fighting is fast and furious, and as you're rooting for The Rock, now The New Sheriff, he does everything that you want him to do and more. If only he could be cloned, and sent to every city and town in America. (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE ALAMO" Long & boring! If you need to hear more, read on. Originally, this film was supposed to be directed by Ron Howard, starring Russell Crowe, and meant to be a violent blood-bath of a movie. Plans changed, time went on, and eventually the direction went to John Hancock, the starring role went to a miscast Dennis Quaid, and Disney made sure that the blood level was toned down. What resulted is this ponderous, heavy-handed, plodding, history-text of a movie, with dull acting (except for Billy Bob Thornton who does some interesting things as a toned-down Davy Crockett,) and hundreds of soldiers being moved around like tin soldiers on a table-top. Nothing new emerges. You'd probably have more fun renting the historically inaccurate John Wayne version of the story, with its big cast of leading actors, and 7000 Mexican extras playing 7000 Mexican soldiers. (2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "KILL
BILL: VOL. 2"
With "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" as the longest, and most perfectly made
trailer, this film more than fulfills the promises of that "trailer,"
bringing to closure this masterpiece by Quentin Tarentino. The character
of The Bride, goes on a "roving rampage of revenge" to avenge the murder
of her entire wedding party, (as well as her own attempted murder) by the
Assasination Squad led by her former lover, Bill. Tarentino cuts down on
the comic-book style violence, and in its place, gives us long,
beautifully-written scenes, in which characters speak at length with one
another; something not often seen in films catering to the short
attention span of the modern-day audience. Once again, the cinematography
is exquisite, as is the acting, and the music. Stars Uma Thurman, David
Carradine and Darryl Hannah have never been better on
screen. Warning: if you're one of those film buffs who tries to
pick out all of the references to other films, etc., there are so many in
this film, that in trying to do so, you'll be reduced to being a
blabbering idiot on the floor of your neighborhood theater!
(5-Stars)
TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW: "THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD" You'll either hate or love this brilliant, original, creative,
satirical comedy. Obviously, I loved it. Here's a checklist to see if
you'll like it too. You'll love the film if: you loved "The Best of Show;"
you enjoy the black and white, silent films of the German
Expresionistic school; you love the films of Federico Fellini; you love
surrealism; you enjoy hearing music standards, like "The Song is You;" and
"San Francisco;" you enjoy tongue-in-cheek humor, and biting satire. I
could go on, but that should give you a good idea what to expect. Isabella
Rosselini and Maria de Medeiros (Mary in "The Passion of the Christ,")
star in this movie about a competition to determine which country has "the
saddest music in the world." Written and directed by Guy Maddin (who
IS this genius?)
(5-Stars)
MOVIE REVIEW: "MAN ON FIRE" After making two or three flops in a row, Denzel Washington has
redeemed himself, with this, his best movie since his Oscar-winning
"Training Day." This makes the second action movie that I've
seen in two weeks (the other being "Kill Bill: Vol. 2,") that has a
beautifully scripted screenplay. Although the last hour and a half of this
2 1/2 hour film is an action-packed, violent, revenge movie, the
first hour takes the time to develop characters and plot, in long scenes
in which characters have the opportunity to speak to one another with
meaningful realistic dialogue. Highly unusual for this type of film. In
addition, the cast features actors who really know how to act, not just to
shoot guns and torture people. It includes Washington, his wonderful
young co-star Dakota Fanning, Marc Anthony and Rachel Ticotin, Mickey
Rourke, and the always dependable Giancarlo Giannini. The musical score is
first-rate, as is the cinematography in the gritty but beautiful
Mexico City. All in all, a revelation of a film, and quite a surprise
for someone who was expecting the worst.
(5-Stars)
MOVIE REVIEW: "50 FIRST DATES" I loved this movie! To think that I stayed away from it, because I
thought that it looked stupid. Instead of stupid, it's charming,
hilarious, picturesque, moving, and beautifully acted, by a cast of actors
who seem to be having a great time with one another, both as the
characters they're portraying, and as themselves. This ensemble consists
of Drew Barrymore, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Sean Astin and Dan
Ackroyd. The story is about a young girl who, after an auto accident, is
left as an amnesiac, who, when she wakes up every morning, has forgotten
everything that's happened the day before. Try falling in love with
someone like that, as the Adam Sandler character does. I laughed out loud
through most of the movie. What a wonderful way to spend an hour and a
half!
(5-Stars)
MOVIE REVIEW: "CONNIE AND CARLA" Aren't there any original ideas to be found in Hollywood? This movie
is a complete rip-off of the classic films "Some Like It Hot" and
"Victor/Victoria," without the sophisticated comedy of the former, or the
stylish elegance of the latter. Connie and Carla are bad performers in a
dinner-theater in Chicago, when they accidentally witness a mob murder.
They flee Chicago, and go into hiding in Los Angeles, disguised as drag
queens performing in a run-down dinner theater. Of course, they're so
good, singing their Broadway show tunes, that the act becomes such a
big success, and the gangsters hear about them, etc. In a misguided
attempt to be sexually correct, this film manages to insult just
about everyone, even drag queens, who I thought couldn't be insulted.
Ooops, I think that I've just insulted them!
(2-Stars)
MOVIE REVIEW- "VAN HELSING" Having signed on for "X-Men 3," and with promises from director Stephen Sommers, that there will be a "Van Helsing 2" and Van Helsing 3," Hugh Jackman joins the other 9 actors who have been in two or more film trilogies (franchises.) Can you name the 10 of them? In Bram Stoker's classic book Dracula, the character of Van Helsing is a 65-year-old professor who has dedicated his life to hunting down and killing Dracula. In this film, he is a swashbuckling action hero of indeterminate age and background, who pursues just about every major monster from gothic literature, from Mr. Hyde and Dracula, to Frankenstein and the Wolfman. It's too bad that the director didn't throw in Gollum and Cruella DeVille just for the fun of it! And this film Is great fun. Sure it's too long, and some of the effects are cheesy, but it's also got a well-written screenplay, with enough story plots for three films; it's spectacular, and in the masked ball scene, quite elegant, in a Fellini-esque way; it's well-acted by Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale...I don't know which one is prettier; and there are enough CGI special effects in it to short out a 12-year-olds Play Station! In my opinion the best computer graphics are not the flying animated monsters, but rather the hauntingly beautiful scenes of Paris, the Vatican, and a very snowy mountainous Transylvania. Many years ago, I spent one night in Dracula's castle in Transylvania, and although Transylvania was recreated quite accurately, the castle was MUCH smaller, but just as frightening! Go prepared to have a fun time, and you'll really enjoy this often scary, often funny, always beautiful-to-look-at circus. (5-Stars) Comic Book MOVIE REVIEW- "TROY" MOVIE REVIEW- "STILL WE BELIEVE: THE
BOSTON RED SOX MOVIE" MOVIE REVIEW- "SHREK
2"
When the CGI Special Effects team for this film received the initial script, their pre-shooting conference might have gone like this: "Global Warming. Melting of the Polar Ice Cap. Massive tidal waves. Earthquakes. Tornadoes. Destruction of major U.S. cities. Dennis Quaid and Ian Holm as scientists trying to prevent the disasters. Jake Gyllenhaal for the chicks. Awesome. This is the big one, dudes. Story? We're flooding New York and burying the f_____g Statue of Liberty under water. Isn't that enough?" The answer? No! Had director/writer/producer Roland Emmerich written a screenplay that was the equal of the spectacular special effects, this film could have had class. Instead, he's written a series of cheesy interlocking stories, that are unbelievable, illogical, condescending, and just plain stupid. Especially the one in which the supposedly intelligent scientist straps on his snow-shoes and decides to walk to a frozen Manhattan, from Philadelphia, to find his moronic son...with no idea as to what he's going to do when he gets there. The screenplay is a throwback to the days of "The Poseidon Adventure," "The Towering Inferno," "Earthquake," and those campy Japanese Godzilla movies. I expected better. (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "HARRY POTTER AND THE
PRISONER OF AZKABAN" MOVIE REVIEW- "MEAN
GIRLS" MOVIE REVIEW- "THE
STEPFORD WIVES"
To give Stephen Spielberg the benefit of the doubt, let's say that he was aiming for a fable, an allegory, a cautionary tale, or just a fun, exciting film. I don't think that he succeeded on "any of the above." The story of a man who is forced to remain in the international terminal at JFK airport indefinitely, because there's been a coup in his country, rendering his passport ineffective for either returning him home, or allowing him to enter the U.S., should have made for an engrossing film. It didn't. I found it to be overlong, somewhat boring at times, hopelessly corny, and completely far-fetched. Yeah, I know it's based on a true story, but even true stories can be far-fetched! Tom Hanks gets into the skin of his character, speaking real Russian, and affecting some comical mannerisms, but all in all, I found the character to be annoying and somewhat stupid, although under the circumstances, who wouldn't be? Catherine Zeta-Jones is wasted in the role of a flight attendant who always falls for unattainable married men, and Stanley Tucci plays "the villain" as a one-dimensional pain-in-the-butt. The secondary roles are played with all the cuteness of the mice in "Cinderella." At least one woman in the theater laughed hysterically at just about everything in the film, and I'd venture to say that she probably DOES live in a lounge...somewhere! (2 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK" The character of the interplanetary outlaw, Riddick, was introduced in a minor action film, entitled "Pitch Black," several years ago. It didn't seem to warrant a sequel, but now here we are, with what threatens to become a major franchise. The story of Riddick has been pumped up, as have the muscles of Vin Diesel who plays the role. Pumped up (some might say bloated,) to epic proportions, into a sado-masochistic comic book of violence and non-stop action. It's great fun, if you like this sort of thing, and I do. The fact that the movie could never have been made before the advent of CGI effects, shouldn't bother the avid reader of action comic-books, and I grew up on these. I recommend renting "Pitch Black" before you see this film, because the story is confusing enough, as it is. It's Flash Gordon meets The Matrix, with Necromongers threatening to obliterate the universe, until interplanetary super-hero/outlaw Riddick, saves the day. Needless to say, there's no acting to speak of in the film, with Diesel impersonating Governor Schwarzenegger, Thandi Newton in a performance that could be used in film schools to exemplify terrible acting, and Dame Judi Dench strutting her stuff in a cameo of a role that screams "Give me the money, so that I can go do a good play, or a fine independent film, where I can show you what an actress can really do." (4-Stars) Comic Book MOVIE REVIEW- "FAHRENHEIT 9/11" MOVIE REVIEW- "SPIDER
MAN-2"
MOVIE REVIEW- "SAVED"
This charming little comic allegory takes us into a strange suburban
community...one that appears to be populated by noone but Christian
Fundamentalists. At least, the high school, American Eagle High, has
a student body made up entirely of born again "Jesus freaks." It's almost
like looking at one of those bizarre tribes that used to populate our
Sociology textbooks. Everything revolves around Jesus, or at least the
students perception of Jesus, as reinterpreted by Pastor Skip, the
Headmaster. They're all forced to confront their moral and value systems,
when they are challenged by the few misfits in their midst: an unwed
mother (Jena Malone) and her off-center mother (Mary-Louise
Parker,) a Jewish girl (Eva Amurri,) a cripple (Macaulay Culkin, in
his first good role,) and a gay male. The ringleader of the students, and
the true "Heather" of the school, Hillary Fay (an excellent Mandy Moore)
gets her well-deserved comeuppance at the end, in a fashion worthy of
Jesus himself!
(3 1/2-Stars)
MOVIE REVIEW- "THE BOURNE SUPREMACY" Matt Damon says that "there have only been three sequels that qualify as masterpieces. The New Testament is better than the Old. Huckleberry Finn is better than Tom Sawyer, and "The Godfather: Part 2" is better than "The Godfather." I agree with him, but I probably would have added a few more films like "Kill Bill: Vol. 2," and at least one or two of the Star Wars films. Then there are all of those wonderful books in "The Forsyte Saga." In any case, although not a masterpiece, the present film is an excellent sequel, far surpassing the fine original film "The Bourne Identity." Once again, Jason Bourne ( a perfectly-cast Matt Damon) is being pursued by a team of CIA agents, led by the incomparable Joan Allen, that is bent on killing him, simply because they think that he's "turned," and is trying to kill them. Peter Greengrass, the director of "Bloody Sunday," certainly knows how to keep the action moving at a dizzying pace, right from the opening scene. In addition to being a nail-biter from beginning to end, it's a great travelogue of Moscow, Berlin, Naples, etc. The story (based on the fine Robert Ludlum novel) is well-crafted, and all of the actors are superb. You can't miss when you have a cast that includes Damon, Allen, Julia Stiles, Brian Cox, and Franka Potente. Take a high-speed ride on this completely satisfying roller-coaster of a film, and get ready for the next Bourne film. Yes, there IS another book by Ludlum. (4 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE
VILLAGE" MOVIE REVIEW- "THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE" Why would someone choose to remake a classic, especially if the definitive version of the story is already on film? One reason might be, if the director thought that he could re-imagine the classic, and make it more relevant to a new generation. Jonathan Demme has not only done just that, but he's actually made the current "Manchurian Candidate" even better than the 1962 original. It's still a political thriller about an American war vet (this time it's the Gulf War,) who suspects that he and his platoon have been brainwashed during the war. Not only brainwashed, but brainwashed to become future assassins. Demme has made his version of the story even more horrifying, suspenseful, and shocking than the excellent John Frankenheimer original film. The conspiracy angle and political satire are even more relevant, and therefore more terrifying, today, than they were 40 years ago. The actors are all brilliant, from the three leads (Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, and Meryl Streep,) to the many talented supporting players (Jon Voight, Zjelko Ivanek, Dean Stockwell and Al Franken.) They're even better than the original cast (Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, and Lawrence Harvey.) I'm going to end this review now, so that I can go downstairs to rent the original! (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "COLLATERAL" Sometimes it pays to be BAD. Whoever told Tom Cruise to take the role of "the bad guy" in "Collateral," gave him the best advice of his career since the time that he danced in his underwear in "Risky Business!" At Oscar time next year, this role might just do for him, what "Training Day" did for Denzel Washington. As I said before, sometimes it pays to be BAD. Sporting gray Clinton-like hair, Cruise plays a sinister, but classy, hit man, who "commandeers" a taxi (driven by Jamie Foxx,) and drives around a film-noirish L.A. killing people who are unfortunate enough to be on his "list." The tension between the Foxx and Cruise characters is chilling, and their dialogue is believable and frightening. Both actors dance around each like two cobras ready to strike. The end is somewhat predictable, inevitable, and satisfying. The last half-hour of the film is more exciting than just about anything else on screen this year. Michael Mann ("Miami Vice") has directed two actors at the top of their game. They're a pleasure to watch, even though what they're doing is terrifying. (4 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "VANITY FAIR" Director Mira Nair has taken the classic novel by Thackeray, dealing with that most famous of bitchy gold-diggers, Becky Sharp, and removed most of the biting satire, in order to make the heroine "more acceptable for modern audiences." By removing the sting, she has also removed the power of the book. Now we're left with an overblown period piece, starring Reese Witherspoon and her fine British accent, surrounded by a cast of British supporting actors (Bob Hoskins, Eileen Atkins, Jim Broadbent, Jonathan Rhys Myers,) who do far more than support her. It's only an intermittently enjoyable film, with snippets "borrowed" from such films as "Moulin Rouge" and "Gone With The Wind." Becky Sharp was born poor (in 19th-Century England,) but decides early on that she'll do ANYTHING to get rich---and for two and a half hours she does just that. This is the kind of thing that Masterpiece Theater used to do so well on TV years ago. But when it's blown up onto the big screen as this one is, it comes across as a colorful, but overlong and fragmented soap opera. Read the book instead. (2 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "HERO" (in Chinese with English sub-titles) If you liked "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (I didn't. I wasn't prepared for all of those flying Chinese!) then you'll love this film. Chinese director Zhang Yimou uses color and cinematography brilliantly, to create a visually stunning epic, that is part Chinese history, part Art, part Martial Arts, and part Ballet. In the style of the Japanese classic "Rashomon," a story is told three different times from three different viewpoints. Of course, it's different each time. The difference between "Hero" and "Rashomon" is that the director and his cinematographer designed the look of each version of the story in a different color. The story involves a prefect (Jet Li) who kills three potential assassins, who were plotting to kill the king of their province. The movie is still filled with flying Chinese, but this time I was prepared for them, and I enjoyed their ballet-like movements through the air. Kind of like a Chinese laundry just exploded! (4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD
OF TOMORROW"
TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "I (HEART) HUCKABEES" MOVIE REVIEW- "THE LAST
SHOT" MOVIE REVIEW- "LADDER
49" MOVIE REVIEW- "BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS" MOVIE REVIEW- "FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS" MOVIE REVIEW- "TEAM AMERICA: WORLD
POLICE" MOVIE REVIEW- "RAY" MOVIE REVIEW- "SHAUN
OF THE DEAD" MOVIE REVIEW- "THE
INCREDIBLES" TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "KINSEY" MOVIE REVIEW- "THE POLAR EXPRESS" MOVIE REVIEW- "SIDEWAYS" MOVIE REVIEW- "FINDING NEVERLAND" An enchanting and magical film. Set in London in 1904, this beautiful story follows playwright J.M. Barrie's journey to bring Peter Pan to life, from his first inspiration for the story, up until the play's premiere at the Duke of York's Theatre....a night that will change not only Barrie's life, but the lives of everyone close to him. Whenever Johnny Depp signs on to play a role, you know that he'll do everything to make that part unforgettable to the moviegoer. The role of J.M. Barrie fits him like a glove. With a flawless Scottish accent, a stylish "do," and impeccable clothes, he becomes the eternally young Barrie. Whether or not he was inspired by the sons of his dear friend, the widow Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet) to create Peter Pan, may be a fictionalized version of what really happened, but it makes for a wonderful Masterpiece Theater-like movie. Director Marc Forster has decided to veer off into fantasy in depicting some of the inspirational moments in the gestation of the Peter Pan story. Some critics didn't like this; I loved it! All of the actors in the film are perfect in their roles, especially Depp and Winslet. But also adding immeasurably to the story, are the always fascinating Julie Christie, as the stern and frightening grandmother to the boys (the inspiration for Captain Hook?,) Radha Mitchell as Barrie's long-suffering wife, the wonderfully talented young boys who play the Davies children, and Dustin Hoffman as Barrie's patient American producer. The sets and costumes add to the authentic, atmospheric ambience of this period piece. A perfect film for anyone who loved the Peter Pan book, play, films, and musical, or like me, just "won't grow up." BELIEVE!!! (5-Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "THE WOODSMAN" Three actors at the top of their form, bring to life a raw, gritty, tension-filled screenplay, in what may be the most overwhelming film of the year. First-time director Nicole Kassell takes us into the mind of 46-year-old Walter (Kevin Bacon,) who has just been released from prison, after having served 12 years for molesting pre-teen girls. He walks like a zombie through his barren apartment and through his job at a lumberyard, where he meets a rough-and-tumble, tough-talking woman (Kyra Sedgwick) who tries to help him forgive himself, and re-enter society. Mos Def plays the police sergeant...more Greek chorus than Javert...who keeps tabs on him. Director Kassell is relentless in her pursuit of the truth of the story, providing no Hollywood cliches or safety nets, for either the characters, the actors, or the audience. Just about everyone in the story, has either molested someone, or been molested. It's a harrowing and moving tale of how low a man can sink, and his desperate attempts to rise above the depths. You'll find it difficult, as I did, not to judge him for his past, but you want him to make it, nevertheless. Magnificently written, directed, and acted, this is a movie that's very hard to sit through, but ultimately, it's a rewarding experience. Caveat emptor! (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "ALEXANDER" Writer/ Director Oliver Stone has fashioned his ambitious epic film about Alexander the Great, in the style of the classic "old-school" epics of the past ("Lawrence of Arabia," "Doctor Zhivago," "The Fall of the Roman Empire," etc. ) Rather than caving in to the narrow attention span of the modern-day audience, raised on video-games and play-stations, he takes his time (almost 3 hours) to tell the story of the man who had conquered the known world by the age of 27. The movie is plot and character-driven, rather than proceeding in short spurts from one computer-graphics-created action scene to the next. As a result, it might seem overly talky and filled with too much plot for the eyes and ears of young moviegoers weaned on trash. I thought that it was beautifully done however, allowing this expansive style to tell the story of the remarkable leader, from his birth and traumatic younger years, to his early death at the age of 33. There are a couple of bad things about the film. The first is that Anthony Hopkins, whose character tells the story in flashbacks, is given page upon page of narrative exposition that is overlong and often dull. Hopkins must have loved all of these monologues, but it's hard on the viewer! Secondly, for some curious reason, most of the Macedonians, from King Philip (Val Kilmer) down to his lowest soldiers, seem to be speaking in Scottish accents! With those two qualifiers aside, the rest of the film is wonderful, especially Colin Farrell in the title role, and Angelina Jolie, as his fiery and ambitious mother. Their scenes together are explosive. The battle scenes are massive, graphic and extremely bloody, but they are some of the best that I've seen on film. The recreation of ancient Babylon, in all its beauty and splendor, makes you want to pack your bags and move to an apartment with a view of the Hanging Gardens! Unlike the less serious "Troy" which ignored the sexuality of Achilles (Brad Pitt) and Patroclus, "Alexander" treats the bi-sexuality of Alexander as what it was...a fact, common to its time. Unfortunately, the two actors who play his love interests, the beautiful Rosario Dawson, and the equally beautiful Jared Leto, do nothing more than provide eye candy. All an all, this remarkable film is a landmark of film-making, in that it breaks most of the rules of modern-day movie-making, and takes the time to present its story with honesty and integrity. (4 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "CALLAS
FOREVER" MOVIE REVIEW- "CLOSER" MOVIE REVIEW-"OCEAN'S 12" I had forgotten how much I had enjoyed the remake of the old Rat Pack home movie, "Ocean's 11," until I saw "Ocean's 12." This sequel has more in common with the Rat Pack's original film, than it does with the remake of that film. It has the same chemistry between the actors (who are obviously enjoying themselves,) and the same funny dialogue. What it doesn't have is a good plot and exciting action. Instead, the plot is a confusing hodge-podge (WHAT did he say???) and the action is virtually non-existent. The only actor in the current film who appears to have read the script, is Catherine Zeta-Jones. The others (George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Scott Caan, Elliot Gould, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, Julia Roberts, and the wonderful Carl Reiner,) appear to be improvising the whole story. Maybe that's why it's so hard to follow. (Watch for some fun cameos by Bruce Willis, Albert Finney, and Broadway and Cambridge's own Cherry Jones.) The scenery is beautiful, especially those scenes that were filmed at George Clooney's own villa on Lake Como. Not being able to act appears to be working for Mr. Clooney. (3-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS" If you love the miserable little books upon which this movie is based, then I'm sure that you'll enjoy this film as well; it's faithful to the books in tone and content. I found the books, as well as the movie, to be mean-spirited, overly cynical, and leeringly smutty in a scary way, considering that they're aimed at an audience of impressionable children. Roald Dahl wrote dark, and Gothic books for children too, but he did it in such a funny way, that you couldn't be offended by them. At least, I couldn't. However, Lemony Snicket (a.k.a. Donald Handler) has hit on a winning formula, whether I like them, or not. Once again, the Baudelaire children are orphaned, when their parents are killed and their home burned to the ground...under suspicious circumstances. They are placed into the care of their distant cousin, Count Olaf (Jim Carrey,) who is intent on killing them, to gain their vast inheritance. As in the books, every other adult in the film is an incompetent fool, who refuses to listen to the children's pleas for help. Meryl Streep, Catherine O'Hara, and Billy Connolly play three of these inept jerks. Jim Carrey plays all the rest of the adults. All of them overact outrageously! The three Baudelaire children are named Violet, Sunny and Klaus. If you get the sick joke in the linking of those last two names, then you understand what I mean when I say that these stories are just plain mean. (2 1/2-Stars) TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "THE MERCHANT OF VENICE" In this age of "political correctness," actors and directors are hesitant about putting on this most problematic of Shakespeare's plays because of its blatant anti-semitism. After all, the title character Shylock, is a moneylender, a Jew, and an unsympathetic monster. His daughter Jessica, is a deceitful and selfish bitch. Writer/Director Michael Radford, without any qualms, tackled the problem head-on without changing anything, and in the process created one of the most beautiful film versions of any of Shakespeare's plays. If Al Pacino, the Shylock, doesn't get nominated for an Academy Award in March, he was robbed. He's letter-perfect and very brave in a difficult role. He's surrounded by such brilliant actors as Jeremy Irons (Antonio,) Joseph Fiennes ( Bassanio,) and wonderful newcomer and Gwyneth Paltrow clone, Lynn Collins (Portia.) All are wonderful, and deserving of awards. They make the story come alive in a surprisingly accessible way. The two main speeches, Shylock's "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech, and Portia's "The quality of mercy is not strained," flow from the preceding dialogue like a continuation of the conversation. There's another star in this all-star film, and that's the ageless city of Venice. This incredibly magnificent city never looked so beautiful. Not even a Zeffirelli could have re-created 16thCentury Venice in such colorful and detailed opulence. It looks magical. A film for adults, created by intelligent adults. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE PHANTOM OF THE
OPERA"
MOVIE REVIEW- "THE AVIATOR" In Martin Scorsese's 3-hour biopic about billionaire-aviator-director-madman Howard Hughes, it will increase your enjoyment of the movie if you're familiar with the famous celebrities depicted in it...celebrities like Hughes himself, and the legendary actresses that he "dated"... Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale,) Katherine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett,) and Jean Harlow (Gwen Stefani.) But even if you've never heard of any of the people in the film, you should still be able to enjoy this beautifully written, expertly directed, and perfectly acted "story of a madman." Just about every major young actor (Johnny Depp, Edward Norton, Nicolas Cage) wanted to play the role that eventually went to Leonardo DiCaprio, and although he's not one of my favorite actors, he's absolutely brilliant in the part. Although DiCaprio's finest acting role is still "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" director Scorsese seems to bring out the best in him. (He also directed him in "Gangs of New York.") The current film deals with everything but the later years of Howard Hughes, and stops long before he ended up as a long-nailed, long-haired madman, living on the entire top floor of Boston's Ritz Hotel while undergoing treatment for cancer at Mass. General Hospital. In his glory years as a young man, Hughes was a creative inventor, an innovative aviator, and the discoverer of some of Hollywood's leading talents. He produced and directed revolutionary films, while creating new, and unheard of, flying machines. Scorsese has assembled a perfect cast of actors to bring all of this to life, In addition to those already mentioned, his illustrious supporting cast consists of Alan Alda, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin and the ubiquitous Jude Law as Errol Flynn. Credit must also be given to the cinematography, especially in the incredible flying scenes, and to what should be an award-winning screenplay by John Logan. The 3 hours fly by as quickly as did some of Hughes' aircraft. (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "MILLION DOLLAR BABY" MOVIE REVIEW- "BEING
JULIA" MOVIE REVIEW- "BAD
EDUCATION" in Spanish with English sub-titles MOVIE REVIEW- "HOTEL
RWANDA" MOVIE REVIEW- "MEET
THE FOKKERS" MOVIE REVIEW- "BE
COOL" MOVIE REVIEW- "DOWNFALL"
(in German and Russian with English sub-titles) MOVIE REVIEW- "SIN
CITY" TALK CINEMA MOVIE PREVIEW- "ST. RALPH" MOVIE REVIEW- "SAHARA" MOVIE REVIEW- "THE INTERPRETER" What a smart move it was on the part of the United Nations to allow Sydney Pollack and his film crew, to film this movie in, and around the headquarters in New York. This is the first time that a movie was filmed there, and it coincides, not surprisingly, with the fact that the U.N.'s reputation is at the lowest point in its history. It will remind you of the days when the U.N. was a powerful and necessary institution, commanding of the world's respect, and the headquarters for the world's hope. The film is an old-fashioned political thriller, with an exciting story having to do with the attempted assassination of an African warlord. Its story is exciting and believable, and the acting by the three main stars (Sean Penn, Nicole Kidman, and Catherine Keener) gives the film even more of an impact. There's suspense, red herrings, an attempt at some political relevancy, and some beautiful photography highlighting the majesty, as well as the burden, of having this institution in the heart of an already troubled New York. I remember the horrible traffic jams (at least once a week) when heads of state crisscrossed Manhattan in their motorcades. Getting back to the story, there is one glaring error or miscalculation in the story line, that will have you screaming, "that could NEVER happen," and you're absolutely right. That's why I took one star away from what could have been a five-star blockbuster. It's still a fine film.(4-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "CRASH" The initial response to this incredibly complex and intelligent film, is that its moral is, people of different races and ethnic groups shouldn't live in the same city, especially if that city is Los Angeles (where no one walks, but everyone just peers at each other through car windows.) This "coexistence" produces fear, hatred, paranoia, ignorance, and senseless killings. This thought-provoking film written and directed by Paul Haggis ("Million Dollar Baby,") begins with a multi-car crash, and then proceeds backwards to show the many lives that collide in that crash. Each life intertwines with one or more of the others, and in the process, your ideas about race are challenged, reinforced, or destroyed. Every stereotype is explored with no holds barred...no punches pulled. There's the upper-class racist housewife (Sandra Bullock) and her DA husband (Brendan Fraser.) There are the two car-jackers...one a black, ignorant bigot (Chris "Ludicris" Bridges,) the other a bright but doomed accomplice (Larenz Tate.) An African-American television director (Terrence Howard) and his bitch of a racist wife (Thandie Newton,) come into conflict with a white racist cop (Matt Dillon) and his innocent rookie partner (Ryan Phillippe.) If there's a hero in the film, it's a black police detective (Don Cheadle) whose lover is an hispanic woman (Jennifer Esposito.) Throw in a Mexican locksmith, a paranoid Iranian shopkeeper, a middle-aged Korean couple with a terrible secret, an unexpected but beautiful miracle, a large black insurance agent named Shaquanda, and you have an idea of what this funny, powerful, unpredictable, compelling film is all about. You'll be talking about it for a long time after you leave the theater. Brilliant! (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE HITCHHIKER'S
GUIDE TO THE GALAXY" TALK CINEMA MOVIE REVIEW- "ME & YOU & EVERYONE
WE KNOW" MOVIE REVIEW- "KINGDOM OF HEAVEN" MOVIE REVIEW-
"MONSTER-IN-LAW" MOVIE REVIEW- "MAD HOT
BALLROOM" (3 1/2-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "THE
LONGEST YARD" MOVIE REVIEW- "LAYER
CAKE" MOVIE REVIEW- "STAR WARS 3: THE REVENGE OF
THE SITH" MOVIE REVIEW-
"CINDERELLA MAN" MOVIE REVIEW- "MR.
& MRS. SMITH" MOVIE REVIEW- "BATMAN
BEGINS" MOVIE REVIEW- "BEWITCHED" MOVIE REVIEW- "WAR OF THE WORLDS" Even the title conjures up images of little green Martians in space ships blowing up the Empire State Building and the Capitol Building. Orson Welles scared people to death (literally, in two cases,) with his ultra-realistic 1938 radio broadcast, and then George Pal made a campy film based on the radio broadcast, back in 1953. Now Stephen Spielberg has gone back to the original source material, the H.G. Wells classic novel of the same name, and in true Spielberg fashion, has created an unforgettable science-fiction horror film. It's hard to take Tom Cruise seriously nowadays, but this film should help to bolster his image. He does a fine job portraying an un-heroic blue-collar worker, (a jerk, actually,) with two children...two of the most troublesome and annoying children ever put on screen! (Thank God they didn't cast Katie Holmes as his daughter!) The fine young actress Dakota Fanning does an excellent job in this role. She's the "go-to" girl when you need a kid in trouble, on film. Spielberg manages to avoid some of the cliches of this genre (e.g., blowing up world-famous landmarks, trashing New York City, having generals move toy tanks around with long sticks on a war table, etc.) and as a result has come up with a pretty damn good, realistic, and exciting, thriller about Martians invading the Earth. Of course the computer graphics are many, but necessary to the story, and the story is well written, well acted, and well directed. It's Spielberg at his best. Tim Robbins plays a deranged survivor, who spends a great deal of time hiding under his ruined house. He should hide, after his disgraceful role in the failed Kerry campaign last year! You may choose to see this film as a metaphor or allegory for global terrorism, the cultural erosion of America from within, or the destruction of manners, taste, and values due to MTV and cell-phones. I choose to see it simply, as the scariest film of the year! (5-Stars) MOVIE REVIEW- "HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE" (Dubbed
from the Japanese) |
