Off the Map

I'm a little sensitive about movies that deal with mental illness. In our culture, stigma is in the groundwater and the mentally ill are usually portrayed as psychopathic killers (author's note: big difference between someone who's psychotic and someone who's a sociopath.) Perhaps that's why I found this little movie charming. This film explores a very real mental illness - clinical depression - in a gentle and sympathetic fashion.

Charley and Arlene Groden (Sam Elliot and Joan Allen) are not your average couple. With their precocious daughter Bo (a delightful Valentina d'Angelis,) they've elected to live "off the map," growing their own food and bartering for everything else in a tiny town in New Mexico. Charley has sunk into a deep and lasting depression for no apparent reason, and as Arlene struggles to hold the family together they are suddenly visited by the IRS for several years of failing to file income taxes. The agent (Jim True-Frost) finds himself enamored with the Grodens, particularly Arlene, and ends up staying on and pursuing his own demons right along with Charley.

Campbell Scott has directed a sensitive, magical look into the hearts of his characters. Elliot and Allen are perfectly cast as our starcrossed oddballs. It may require some suspension of disbelief, but this is a sweet little modern fairy tale about love and letting it be. More info here.

Death of a President

The controversy surrounding the release of this film in 2006 was brief, noisy and enough to spur my curiosity. Directed by Gabriel Range (who also co-wrote the screenplay,) this British made film broke a lot of taboos by depicting the fictional assassination of a living and sitting US President, George W. Bush. Hilary Clinton called the film, "despicable." The Bush Administration refused to comment. Reviewers were all over the place - calling it everything from a silly marketing ploy to real genius. It won the International Critics Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. It never hit a movie screen in the US.

Although I spent a good deal of the film trying to figure out just what the message might be, I still found it intriguing. Whether you love the Deciderer in Chief or loathe him, it's bound to make you mighty uncomfortable to watch his assassination - a point that makes you wonder if the filmmaker took into account how that discomfort will effect your overall take on the film. It is, however, fascinating to watch how live footage is seamlessly morphed into an apparent documentary complete with the melodramatic real time interviews we all know and hate. (The state funeral must have been Gerald Ford.)

By the way, the message does finally become apparent in the last 10 minutes or so of the film - and it is a worthy one. So I guess I fall into the category of reviewer who found it worth the watch; it was just that thought provoking, even if it does push the limits of taste. You can see the lackluster website here.

Jindabyne

It's the rare director that can set a tone in the opening of a film and maintain that same tone through another 100 or so minutes. Ray Lawrence manages to keep you miserably uncomfortable from the first tense minutes as you watch something bad about to happen right through to the aching end of this haunting and beautiful film. I found myself biting my nails and squirming all the way.

Jindabyne happens to be set in a particularly bleak but gorgeous part of Australia, but it could have been anywhere. The central story line is one of four good old boys on a fishing trip who happen upon a young woman's corpse in the river, and opt to fish first and report later. Well, she was already dead now, wasn't she? The consequences of this thoughtless act then avalanche through the town - made all the more poignant by the fact that the dead girl is aboriginal (read this Mexican, Black, or Minority of Your Choice.)

Stellar performances from all concerned, including Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne, should be noted but it is the screenplay and direction that make this film amazing. Every character has an open wound; they are all profoundly human and all questioning their own motives in every tidy scene. Lawrence doesn't waste a minute or a line. In the end, you feel you know these people and you hurt right along with them. That's genius. Here's another review.

Letters from Iwo Jima

I was really looking forward to this second part of the Iwo Jima saga as envisioned by Clint Eastwood. I thought it was the coolest idea - to shoot two movies looking at the same battle from the opposing viewpoints. This one was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and won for Best Sound Editing. Even more I was looking forward to the story as told by the losers... after all, twenty thousand Japanese soldiers died on that little chunk of rock and held off the overwhelming American forces for 40 endless days. The stuff of epic...

I was HUGELY disappointed in this film. Where do I begin? I'll start with the writing (best screenplay?) which I found so loaded with stereotypes as to be almost comical and so obviously written by an American; her surname may be Japanese but it is very clear that her native culture invented McDonald's. There are the repetitive battle scenes straight out of Flags of our Fathers with little change in perspective, all cleverly tied together so that the two movies mirror each other - neither offering any insight into the other. And after a half hour of reading subtitles of uninspired dialogue and watching even talented actors like Ken Watanabe overact all over themselves to give this mess meaning, I was ready to commit hari kari.

Again, Clint Eastwood is a lazy storyteller. I guess I understand shooting battle footage once for the sake of the budget, but could we have altered the camera angles or something? He used the same soundtrack, for heavens sake. Maybe I could have been kinder if I had seen this movie first... but I doubt that there was a need to make it at all. At least Flags had a point. Website here.

Jesus Camp

Documentaries can be borrring. I can tell you that this one is anything but. It's harder to look away from than a train wreck and was rightfully nominated for Best Documentary. Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, who admit to having no previous experience with the Evangelical movement, managed to make a film that walks the most incredible line ever imagined. The religious subjects of their film were delighted with it. And anyone not of that bent will be horrified. As I was.

Jesus Camp follows three intelligent, articulate children (Levi's 13, Rachel's 10 and Tory is 11) as they experience the "Kids on Fire" summer camp in Devil's Lake, North Dakota. Pastor Becky Fischer is the force behind the children's ministry where kids as young as 6 are taught to become dedicated soldiers for Christ. Becky shares, the kids share, their parents share the very passionate beliefs they hold about child rearing and the evils of the secular world(read abortion and Muslims.) The only voice of dissent present in the film is that of Mike Papantonio of Air America as he reiterates our rights of separation of church and state.

These brilliant filmmakers manage to remain completely neutral as they present this material for you. So much so, that of all the folks in the film, only Ted Haggard felt misrepresented (all this prior to his fall from grace.) You can call it what you like, but whipping 7 year olds into hysteria about their need to repent is child abuse in my opinion and was not easy to watch. Still this film puts a spotlight onto a movement in America that is moving more and more into the mainstream. This is an important little film. Official website here.

Flags of Our Fathers

I have a love / hate relationship with Clint Eastwood as a director. On the one hand, I think he has an amazing gift for pulling the absolute best performance out of any actor. On the other, I think he tends to be a lazy storyteller, relying too heavily on those actors. Both his gifts and his flaws are on display in Flags - a moving anti-war film that works despite choppy editing and poor story structure.

Flags of Our Fathers isn't about the battle of Iwo Jima, it's about the famous photo of the flag being raised on Mount Suribachi. The photograph, taken by Joe Roesenthal on the fifth day of the siege on the island, was on the wire service around the world with 18 hours of being taken, and became an icon of victory for Americans. It also launched the six ordinary soldiers caught raising a replacement flag (the first raised was coveted by a high ranking officer) into a weird superstardom. The three who survive long enough to become "the heroes of Iwo Jima" are cast into a propaganda circus, and struggle to make sense of the horrors of it all - war and war machine.

Eastwood gets his performances, most notably from Ryan Phillipe and Adam Beach - who's teary, tender moments are heartbreaking. But it's hard to follow the story as he jumps from narrator to narrator. I got the drift in the end, and it's a good one - that soldiers don't fight wars and become heroes for a cause or even for their country... they fight for the men they eat with, their friends, their mentors. For all it's flaws, this movie puts Saving Private Ryan to shame. Official website (with some nifty history) here.

The Lives of Others

When Pan's Labyrinth lost the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, I was shocked. After all, that brilliant little Mexican offering had already won several technical awards usually reserved for our domestic product. It was a tough call, I'm sure, but I have to agree with the Academy on this one. The Lives of Others is a gem.

Set in the German Democratic Republic (read East Germany) before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the film follows a time in the life of Capt. Wiesler (Ulrich Muhe,) a respected officer of the Stasi (read Secret Police) whose job it is to know everything about the"lives of others." After being assigned to watch a squeaky clean playwright and his actress girlfriend, Wiesler discovers that this investigation has less to do with politics than with the sexual aspirations of a ranking official for the girl. His dedication to his work becomes further eroded as he watches the couple drawn deeper into the intrigue of revolution, and with his involvement comes a terrible choice. Surrender his career or let them slip to their doom.

The Lives of Others is a splendid examination of the paranoia bred of oppression and the humanizing effect of "becoming involved." This message is terribly relevant today, complete with unregulated surveillance, blacklisting, and torture. Ulrich Muhe is amazing, making Capt. Wiesler a character who will be hard to forget. We need more films about people making moral choices. Don't miss this haunting masterpiece. Great website here.

You Kill Me

I have trouble with what passes for comedy these days, which is why you'll note that I don't review many. As the commercial success of films like Borat confirms, what passes for comedy is - for the most part - stupid, mean spirited and in bad taste. So I have to admit to being positively giddy about this little gem of a film. With a smart screenplay, fine direction and a picture perfect cast - this is my idea of great comedy.

Frank Falenczyk (Sir Ben Kingsley!) is a hit man for a low level crime family out of Buffalo. He is also an alcoholic who's out of control consumption ultimately causes him to miss a crucial job. When he's sent to San Francisco to clean up his act, or else, he enters AA and starts the 12-step process with a vengeance. Are you following here? Just inserting an assassin into the culture of 12-step should have you giggling; he's so earnest at the podium trying to explain how his drinking has interfered with his work while the fellow addicts all nod in empathy. Add the romantic interest of Laurel (Tea Leone!) and his gay sponsor Tom (Luke Wilson!) and you have a delightful tale of redemption... well, of a sort. He really does love his work.

John Dahl artfully directs, but this cast of pros including Bill Pullman and Dennis Farina are so obviously enjoying themselves, how could this go wrong? Tea and Sir Ben, both masters of deadpan delivery, also manage a sweet chemistry. I hope these young writers (Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely) keep this kind of comedy flowing. We could all use this kind of laugh more often.... Check out the website here.

Perfume, the Story of a Murderer

Okay, there's strange and then there's uber-strange. You know I have nothing against a little oddness, being a little odd myownself, but... this film takes off into a whole new realm of weird. I think they were aiming for high brow. They missed. I'm thinking a head or two at Dreamworks must have rolled.

Based on a 20 year old international best seller, Das Parfum by Patrick Suskind, Perfume is the story of Jean-Baptiste Granouille, a child of misfortune born in 18th century Paris with an extraordinary sense of smell. Just being in an 18th century city with a sense of smell at all would be a misfortune, but Granouille (Ben Wishaw) pursues olfactory experience with a relish that leads him to become a happy little serial killer. And that's not even the weird part.

A lavish period piece with fine cinematography (you've got to admire when a visual medium actually conjures up smells for you,) with, get this, Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman in supporting roles, now that's got to sound interesting. And although there are moments when the film almost saves itself with some good ol' black humor, I'm afraid the descent, if you'll pardon the pun, into bizarre was too much for me. Check out the equally lavish website, where you can purchase a $700 perfume coffret, here.

Zodiac

David Fincher is not my favorite director. Remember Seven? Probably the slowest serial killer movie ever. You could nap during all the aching cop "what's it all mean?" stuff even with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. Well, he's done it again. Zodiac is slow - slow to get started, slow to get to the point, slow to reveal why Jake Gyllenhaal is even there. But look on the bright side. It's also long.

Now you think you know that this film is about the Zodiac killer who terrorized the Bay Area in the late 60's'/early 70's, less with his killings as he wasn't all that prolific, than with his taunting encoded letters to the press. You would be wrong. It's really about Robert Graysmith (Gyllenhaal,) his obsession with the killer and the subsequent bestsellers he wrote about his theories. This story is Graysmith's interpretation of the events, so don't start taking notes.

Now I adore Jake Gyllenhaal, but he's wasted here. As are Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey, Jr. (who's starting to do the Jack Nicholson thing and only portray himself - as in eternally stoned and cynical.) I'll throw them a bone to say that the Zodiac saga leaves much to be desired in and of itself - what makes it interesting is what's missing - an ending. The film gives us one, if you want one bad enough you'll find it. Even if it's false. (The official website slowed my computer to a crawl, but if you want to, try it here.)

Fracture

Fracture is one of the smarter crime dramas I've watched in awhile, but let's give credit where it's due and I will never tire of Anthony Hopkins. What is it about this guy that makes him so thoroughly... creepy? No other actor comes to mind that can make the hair on the back of my neck stand up while sitting shackled in a chair. As his most terrifying scenes in Silence of the Lambs were spent sparring with Clarice in that position, his best work in this film is toying with Ryan Gosling. Hopkins has the chilling smile and dead eyes of the psychopath down cold. duh.

Ted Crawford (Hopkins) shoots his cheating wife in the head. Willie Beachum (Gosling) is the smug, up and coming prosecutor who wrongly assumes that nailing Crawford for attempted murder (wifey is a cabbage) will be the last slam dunk of his DA career before he's off to a lucrative position in a major law firm. But Crawford is a fracture engineer and way smarter than you or Mr. Fancypants DA and he's going to get away with it... and Willie is going to have to make the tough choice of that big money job or letting the bastard walk.

Gosling is going to be around for awhile. He more than handles sharing the screen with Sir Anthony and that's saying a bunch. Director Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear) builds the game and the tension between his players nicely. Anthony Hopkins is ... creepy. You may figure this one out before the hapless hero, but not ten minutes into it, so it's entertaining to the end. Check out the above average website here.

End of the Spear

Sometimes a film is terrific because it tells a good story. No famous faces, no fancy effects - just a good story. This is such a film. What makes it actually even more terrific is that this film was produced by an independent company called Every Tribe Entertainment. Their byline: "We are storytellers. Every Tribe Entertainment creates films that address globally relevant issues in order to incite a positive impact on the world." How cool is that?

I'll tell you how cool. End of the Spear is a true story about an indigenous tribe in Ecuador that nearly drove themselves to extinction by the routine practice of revenge killings. He gave you a funny look - skewer him... that sort of thing. So this group of missionaries - families - decide to try to make contact, and show them another way. What follows is a story of amazing folly, tragedy, courage and human compassion. We can save the debate on the right of everyman to his own culture no matter how perverse for another day. This is a story about people caring about the lives and well being of other people.

You won't know any of the actors, although Louie Leonardo in a loincloth is hard to forget. The cinematography of this beautiful portion of the Amazon is top notch. But most of all, this is a well told story. Stay for the credits and meet the real people behind the story. Website here.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Sometimes you just have to revisit an old favorite, and tonight I loaded up the old DVD player with this little sleeper from 2005, to share with a friend and love all over again. I readily admit that Robert Downey, Jr. is an actor that I'd love to hate for being the poster child of the inequalities of our justice system ( if he were a poor black boy from LA he'd be doing life for all those little indiscretions,) but he's just so damn talented. But I digress.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a gleeful little bit of film noir, cheesy detective novel fun, complete with that annoying voice over narration - only this annoying voice over is Downey doing his best deadpan, mile a minute stream of consciousness. Harry Lockhart (Downey) is a two-bit crook who falls into a Hollywood screen test complete with detective training from real PI Perry van Shrike (Val Kilmer.) Van Shrike is slick, tough as nails and very, very gay. Enter lovely damsel in distress Harmony (Michelle Monaghan,) Harry's high school crush, add a reappearing dead girl, and let the mayhem begin.

This is the sort of comedy to relish - with great memorable lines and every hackneyed trick in the book. Harry backtracks and talks to the audience constantly so we're all in on the joke, the story is told in labeled vignettes. The humor is black and there's lots of moments that might offend, but it's all done with such evil glee and the boys are having SO much fun. If you make it past the peeing on the corpse scene without laughing out loud, check your pulse. Visit the equally cheesy website here.

300

Sometimes we watch the movie that somebody else wanted to watch. My "boys" saw 300 about three times each in the theater. The thing made a killing - with production costs of about 65 million, it had a domestic gross of $210,614,939.
So you gotta ask, "why?" Curiosity killed the cat, I guess I only feel maimed.

Frank Miller (Sin City) wrote the graphic novel from which the film is spawned and Frank has a twisted little love affair with really sick violence. Very loosely based upon the battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartan warriors held off the legions of Xerxes, Miller borrows from history what he chooses and embellishes the rest. I mean embellishes, with a capital E - all the Spartan warriors have chiseled abs (airbrush defined) and good hair - all the baddies are tres ugly - throw in a kick-ass queen -everything else is gravy.

Mostly, this is a video game brought to life. The dialogue is cheesy but delivered with good humor. What the boys want is what the boys get - long protracted battle scenes that lurch from real time to slo mo so you don't miss a decapitation or the gallons of CG blood. Who needs a meaningful story? Just throw in some hubris and words like "freedom" and "glory." The visual effects are fascinating if incredibly over the top; with manipulated color contrast and texture. Who expects acting? The costuming is original, creative and effective. Loads of talent and effort went into the battle choreography.

It's just so sad that we still find bloodbaths entertaining. See the website here.

Deja Vu

Denzel Washington is seriously one of the sexiest men in Hollywood. Jerry Bruckheimer makes more action flicks than Hershey makes kisses. Tony Scott directed Denzel twice before (with mixed results in my humble opinion - Crimson Tide and Man on Fire.) They managed to capture a stand up supporting cast including Val Kilmer and Jim Caviezel. Everything's in place for a blockbuster, no? Did anyone think to hire a writer?

Deja Vu starts with a bang and a truly terrific fx sequence of a New Orleans ferry blowing sky high, pretty much vaporizing, cars going into the drink, flaming bodies and all that. Enter ATF agent Carlin (Washington) who's way smarter than most, quickly leaving the other official types in the dust and discovering this is an act of terrorism. With me so far? With lightening speed, he connects the burned body of a murdered woman to the crime - she washed up inconveniently before the explosion. So far so good. Then Carlin is invited onto a "special team" for this investigation. And everything goes stupid.

Maybe it's me. Anytime some bright screenwriter says, "let's do the time travel thing, yeah, we'll create a wormhole, you know, by accident, and then they can go back to the past and stop blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada," someone needs to taser the guy until he comes to his senses. Time travel simply does not work. Somewhere along the way you're going to screw up. And although this is certainly not the worst of this variety, it is also not the best. It's a tremendous waste of talent and a whole lot of money. If you're still curious, website's here.

Hard Candy

Viva Vigilante! Ever since Charles Bronson did Death Wish it's been a genre all its own. Who doesn't want to see the tables turned - sniveling prey snarling into predator? The Collective We (downtrodden regular folks) just love to see somebody take the situation in hand, and give the bad guy, or The Man, not just the finger but the whole fist. Pretty formula stuff, usually involving men's men and guns and bad guys complete with do-rags/tattoos/insert your creepy fetish here. But how about a vigilante story with a charming, 30-something photographer and a sweet-faced 14 year old girl?

Hard Candy is a nifty little film that could have been a nifty little play. From the moment our baby Hayley (Ellen Page) agrees to meet Jeff (Patrick Wilson,) the older guy she met on the internet, you know something's just not right. Misgivings continue - flirtatious wordplay at the coffee shop, his home/studio adorned completely with photos of nymphets, alcohol. But just when you know what's going to happen next, the film veers off into another dimension. Little Hayley has a dark side, and a mission. Suddenly you find yourself wondering - is Jeff a pedophile about to get what he deserves or the victim of a teenage Lizzie Borden?

Page and Wilson play off one another nearly perfectly. She delivers just the right note of teenage righteousness and invincibility. Wilson, a trained stage actor, sweats and screams, and is equal parts frightening and pathetic. Two people, four rooms and I dare you to look away or guess the ending. A little bonus - a haunting original score. See the website here.

Alpha Dog

THIS MOVIE IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. Notice the capital letters? If you cannot tolerate a whole bunch of that one particular word that fills in for adjectives and adverbs, or girls being referred to as "bitches," rap music, or constant images of drinking and casual drug use and/or sex, this film is a big NOT FOR YOU. Which is not to say that I didn't find it interesting. But I have a high tolerance for bad adolescent behavior. I recently had adolescents.

What makes the film interesting is that it is based on an actual kidnapping/murder that happened in 2000. Nick Cassevettes wrote and directed and used the notes of one of the prosecutors and caused a bit of a stir since one of the perps had not been tried when the film was released (three others were already doing serious time.) hmmm. What makes the film troubling is the lifestyle portrayed very nicely by a swarm of young actors (Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Shawn Hatosy, Anton Yelchin.) Southern Californian disaffection is not pretty. The acting is very natural - Cassevettes had the boys weight train together for weeks to get that sense of homeboy. And as much as I hate to say this, Timberlake is good.

Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone manage some interesting moments as well. Yes, Bruce and Sharon. Weird little film for either of them. The inevitable conclusion is heartbreaking. And if you're interested, that angelic voice singing "Over the Rainbow" during the opening titles is Eva Cassidy. See the official website here.

Breach

"Inspired by the true story of the greatest breach of security in US history." That is the tag line of Breach, and although I tend to get nervous whenever I read inspired by, (as in mostly fiction) this is an interesting and mostly accurate take on the last days of Robert Hanssen. If you were on some other planet seven years ago, Mr. Hanssen is doing life in a super max prison for some 20 years of espionage for the Soviet Union.

Bob Hanssen was a brilliant weirdo of the first order and Chris Cooper, just one of my favorite underrated character actors ever, does him justice in every way. I got the distinct impression of the always overlooked loner, smarter than most of those around him, growing more jaded and ego maniacal by the day. Although they spare us the years of back story, Cooper imparts us with a sense of the oddness of the man - who didn't drink, went to mass every day, and had a taste for strippers and porn. (If you're curious read more of the story here.)

Ryan Phillippe plays the eager young wannabe sent to spy on the spy and the always impeccable Laura Linney rounds out the cast as the lead on the investigation. Phillippe was better than expected (another baby face who's just going to get better.) Even though I knew the ending, this is a taut little thriller, leaving you to wonder how this kid is going to outwit someone who's generally two steps ahead of him. The answer is inevitable. Human ego gets 'em all in the end.

See the interactive website here, and take the actual FBI entrance exam.

Blood Diamond

Movies that try to educate are almost always on shaky ground. No matter how noble the cause, it can be an interesting juggling act to try first and foremost to entertain your audience, introduce them to something they know nothing about, and then sway their opinion on it. This movie just smacks of good intentions, but makes the usual mistake of trying to do too much - anything written about Africa tends to do that. It's an unfortunate failure with Blood Diamond.

The story unfolds with the stereotypical white mercenary (Leonardo DiCaprio) joining forces with the stereotypical noble, but dim, savage (Djimon Hounsou) to locate a priceless pink diamond. They are, of course, constantly bumping into the stereotypical white journalist (Jennifer Connelly,) hordes of deranged insurgents, and deranged government soldiers and there will be lots and lots of explosions, and executions, and bullets raining. (Extra credit will be given for somehow avoiding the inevitable mercenary/journalist bedroom romp.) It all ends with the stereotypical solemn government hearings on the evils of insert your cause here.

Although it's entertaining enough for action fans and garnered six Academy Award nods (including Best Actor and Best Supporting for the two guys above,) this screenplay deserved a rewrite or a better edit. The African continent has enough content to drive anyone mad, but trying to squeeze in storyline about how conflict diamonds are funding terrorism AND how they're acquired (slavery) AND moved (smuggling) AND how they brainwash kids into soldiers AND the continuing genocidal violence AND the politics of all of this is a bit much. They lost me early on. AND DiCaprio was better in The Departed.

See the website here.

Little Children

When you know going in that a film is based on a novel, the chances are good that you're in for a disappointment. If you read the book and loved it, the film won't live up to what went on in your head. When the film resorts to a non-character voice over of description from the novel, whether you read the novel or not becomes sort of moot. If they need to read to you from the book - the book was better. That said, this is an interesting film, probably because author and director (Tom Perrrota and Todd Field) collaborated on the screenplay and most likely created a different animal altogether.

Little Children is a study of homo sapiens suburbia from the handsome football star who peaked in college, the housewife with a masters in English Lit and a husband addicted to porn, to the pedophile back from prison. And I do mean study, as in it shows all their bumps and scars and wobbley bits in all their human glory. Nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress (Kate Winslet) and Best Supporting Actor (Jackie Earle Haley), this is an actors dream film - there is no real story only pages and pages of character development. Even so the film does pull you along to a dramatic climax as you anxiously await the disaster or near miss that humans inevitably create.

I'll go on the record that I believe Kate Winslet is one of the great actresses of her generation, but every performance in this film was on the mark. Be prepared for lots of lousy judgement and a fair amount of nakedness and sexuality. I personally did not have a problem with loads of sweaty Patrick Wilson booty, others might.

View the lackluster website here.

The Queen

I really wasn't interested in seeing this film as I generally find the whole celebrity phenomenon boring. When the film got six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Frears,) and Best Original Screenplay I was forced to say, well, best take a look. But of course, my curiosity was most piqued by the fact that everyone sort of drooled, and went on and on about Helen Mirren, and she did win Best Actress just as the masses had foretold. For playing Elizabeth II? How do we get this kind of outpouring of worship for playing a person so... dull?

I was pleasantly surprised. The film of course, concentrates on the royal reaction to the death of Princess Diana, (another person who's ability to fascinate leaves me utterly stumped, but I digress.) Being on the other side of the camera, in the quiet chambers of a family, you are deftly shown the private side of a public tragedy. The film is sympathetic without being sappy, and asks us to consider the pressures of duty, the power of tradition, and the prison of a station in life that leaves you few real choices.

Mirren imbues her Queen with strength and dignity, while giving us a peek at her self doubt. She is glorious. But a strong supporting cast, including James Cromwell as the caustic Prince Philip and Michael Sheen (no, he's a Brit) as a young, idealistic Tony Blair, carry their load. The story's been told to death, I know, but this is a more human version and worth an evening.

See the website here.

Stranger than Fiction

I am not a fan of Will Ferrell. Actually, I'll take that farther. I don't find Will Ferrell movies funny - probably because he generally plays a character with an IQ that should be a shoe size. That said, I really loved this movie. Despite an unbelievable plot, this is a rare delight - a comedy that explores characters, that lets people act in plausible ways in ridiculous situations, that tempers silly with serious. Sort of like life.

Harold Crick (Farrell) is a dull man with a dull job and a touch of obsessive compulsive disorder who suddenly begins to hear his life narrated by a woman's voice. Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson) is struggling with the inability to finish her latest novel - she's run out of interesting ways to kill off her characters. Yes, you guessed it, Kay is Harold's narrator and yes, she's going to kill him.

As silly as this sounds, it works because you come to like Harold. No really. As Harold tries to foil the voice by changing his habits, he starts to become a real person. Will Ferrell imparts this sad, strange man with such innocence and sweetness you want to adopt him. Add Dustin Hoffman as the literary expert and Maggie Gyllenhaal as the unlikely love interest and this becomes a touching story about making a life. But all Kay's main characters die. Sort of like life.

Check out the official website here. (PS- an actually fun website!)

The Dead Girl

This is a seriously disturbing film. Which means I liked it. A lot. But by disturbing, I mean that this is a movie that will stick in your head - and not in a good way. Images will linger. You'll do mental replay. And you'll wonder what motivates human beings to do the things they do.

As the title suggests, the story begins with the discovery of a woman's mutilated body. Then writer/director Karen Moncrieff takes us on five different storylines, all of them pivoting on this single act of violence. What drives these stories and the women in them is a critical need for change. And with unswerving honesty, we watch how decisions can save a soul or lose it.

The men in this film, even the killer, are marginal characters and are barely defined. But the actresses shine - Toni Collette, Brittany Murphy and Marcia Gay Harden in particular. There's even a brief and horrific cameo by Piper Laurie. This is a really original take on the serial killer saga, but there are some terrible moments here - shocking as they are poignant. Be prepared.

See the official website here.

Tsotsi

If the purpose of art is to transport the soul - to share the experience of being human- then this film is art in it's highest form. A film of this magnitude transports us, and not only to a foreign land but to the foreign heart as well. The foreign land is South Africa. The foreign heart is that of a "tsotsi," a street thug, and it is a heart so full of darkness and violence that it chills us to the bone.

The blue South African sky seems an unlikely backdrop to the urban ugliness of Johannesburg, where street gangs slide out of the ghetto shantytown to prey on the upper classes. Tsotsi is the icy leader of these violent misfits, a boy without a real name, angry and lethal. One rash act leads to another and a spiral of violence terminates in a messy carjacking of a not so empty car - there's a baby on board. If our hero were as empty as he seems, this may have been a really short film, but something about that vulnerability touches the human in the monster, and he decides to keep it.

Presley Chweneyagae is an actor of remarkable ability. His Tsotsi spends a good deal of this film doing unspeakable things that usually involve guns and/or copious amounts of blood and yet he paints a portrait of a man unravelling. It doesn't happen quickly or magically like it would in an American movie, but Tsotsi rediscovers his humanity. It may be cliche to say that this is a film about the transformative power of love, but if you can make it through the last 10 minutes of this film without crying, check your pulse. No wonder it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2006.

Postscript: the language is a fascinating blend of Zulu, Dutch and English. See another review here.

The Departed

Okay, I know. It was Martin Scorsese's turn. A director of Martin's stature needs to get an Oscar eventually. But as much as I hate to agree with the Hollywood politic of the moment, this was an incredible film. A Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Picture trifecta and deservedly so.

The adapted screenplay part - this was an Americanized version of the Japanese blockbuster "Infernal Affairs." As for the rest - it would be pretty hard to mess up a movie featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen and Jack. Nicholson actually does his Nicholson schtick here, not that that isn't exactly what's asked of him - but it's hardly a stretch for Jack to play a charming if psycho Irish crime boss. Leo was surprisingly good in a surprisingly grown up way - by far one of his most challenging roles in a long while. Wahlberg was nominated for Best Supporting for cursing and about 10 total minutes of screen time (?) The unsung hero is Damon - who gave a rock solid performance and got about as much attention as a used coffee cup. DiCaprio and Damon made for a perfect match of light and dark - one edgy and pill popping, the other icy and unaffected.

It's a great story - a mole in the police department and a mole in the crime world trying to outwit each other and stay alive - each not quite knowing the identity of the other. Don't expect it to have a happy ending and be prepared for a good deal of murder and mayhem, however it'll keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat, just like a thriller should.

See the website here.

Borat

There are certain, unmistakable signs of a culture in decline. In my humble opinion, the popularity of this heinous piece of crap is irrefutable proof that the US has taken a sharp left turn toward the nether regions. That this is now one of Blockbusters' top five rented videos assures me that the taste of the average Blockbuster customer must run to fried SPAM sammiches and Ripple. But I'll come clean. I actually saw this stinker in a theater. With my husband. Guess who picked the movie.

Sacha Baron Cohen thinks of himself as a comedian. He is a comedian who reminds me of no one more than the late Andy Kaufman - who's idea of humor was anything that induced bad behavior or made people miserably uncomfortable. The big joke here is that all the real people in this film, and most of them are ordinary folks, don't know that Borat is a fictional character. Cohen pretends to be a journalist from a fictional backwater country and then eggs people into acting reallllllllly stupid. Not that it's hard to do.

Let's just say that the tastelessness knows no bounds. Lots of poop, lots of disgusting sexual innuendo, lots and lots of bigotry, and a naked wrestling scene with a hugely obese and very hairy man ( in on the joke although the poor, luckless folks at the hotel who get to witness it are not.) Several people have sued Cohen for being misled into making this film. It's hard to tell who gets shafted more, them or the folks who have paid to watch this, but Cohen is laughing all the way to the bank. He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. That's the biggest joke of all.

If this sounds like your cup of tea, see the website here.

The Pursuit of Happyness

I didn't like it. I know it's based on a true story. I know it's uplifting and inspirational, and all "poor guy makes the big time" feel goody. I know Will Smith and his sweet little boy are all adorable. I suddenly feel the need for an insulin shot.

Chris Gardner (Smith) is smart but under. Underemployed. Undereducated. But overextended with an overworked wife and a five year old son. Synopsis - mom can't take it anymore and splits and Chris can't catch a break to save his soul, so he decides to overextend some more with son in tow and take an unpaid internship as a stockbroker. Homelessness and various other misfortunes ensue. Until the happy ending where Chris gets rich.

Will Smith works like a dog in this movie. Mostly he runs. A lot. Lots and lots of running. Since homeless, poor folks have often not had the regular meals, I considerably doubt that they do all this running. In addition, running is tough on the wardrobe and yet our hero, homelessness aside, always manages a clean shirt and tie. This is hollywood horseshit. The only thing I will say in it's favor is that the film manages to avoid implying that Chris is black. The voice over is annoying, Thandie Newton is wasted playing the one dimensional, screechy wife and Will's little boy is - cute. If you're really interested in the Chris Gardner story, read his book and avoid the running.

If for some reason you still want to know more, the website is here.

Notes on a Scandal

Back to brooding intellectual, I'm afraid. This is a heavy film that makes you squirm with it's intensity or the sheer moral ambiguity of the folks involved. With a cast that includes Dame Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett and Bill Nighy you are completely correct in your assumption that the acting is, well, about as perfect as acting gets. You don't see these performers, only perfectly rendered and horribly flawed characters.

This is a tale of obsession at it's ugliest so there's no one to root for. Not beautiful Sheba (Blanchett) nobly bearing her crosses until she succumbs to the temptation of a striking 15 year old boy. Nor lonely, jaded Barbara (Dench) who befriends her with less than honorable intentions. The tag line "we are bound by the secrets we share," sums up where all this is going- and you know it's hell in a handbasket time.

This is an artful film that is bound to offend or upset damn near everybody - still both Dench and Blanchett were nominated (Best Actress and Best Supporting) for a reason. It also received Oscar nods for best original score and best adapted screenplay. Bill Nighy is perfection as the older cuckolded husband, no one ever gives this guy any credit. So watch this when you don't mind being really creeped out by powerful, very human emotions with a twist.

See more here.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend

Just to prove that I'm not all intellectual and brooding all the time, let's talk about something completely different. Okay, okay, okay, so the trailer may sort of scream stupid, but give it a chance. Matt Saunders (Luke Wilson) is a mild mannered everyguy who's been unlucky in love when he meets gorgeous Jenny Johnson (Uma Thurman.) Of course he remains unlucky in love as Jenny is two fries short of a Happy Meal - controlling, manipulative, and jealous. But wait, there's more - she also just happens to be the alter ego of G-Girl - super hero. Dumping a psycho girlfriend who might key your car simply does not compare with dumping a psycho girlfriend who can put your car in orbit.

So this isn't the film to impress at the next meeting of Mensa, but if you're sharing a pizza and beer with the buds - it is a kick in the ass. Nimbly directed by Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Dave,) and having a great cast including Eddie Izzard as the lovesick, arch villain - Barry, it's simply a bit of fun. Official website here.

Children of Men

Random explosions, armed police in the streets and immigrants being rounded up for deportation. Greeley, Colorado? LA? How about the UK in 2027, in Alfonso Cuaron's vision of a world without a future. Enter Theo (Clive Owen) as our hero without hope because humanity has stopped reproducing and the youngest human is 18.

Okay, it doesn't sound all that bad at first listen especially if you've ever had a rug rat behind you on a plane - but THINK about it. Exactly how do you think humanity would react to the news that the fat lady has sung? I have to admit I think ol' Alfonso pretty much nails it. Let the killin' begin.

When the lovely maid in distress shows up, preggers, things get jumping as Theo tries to get her safely to where the maybe scientists might show up and figure out how to save us all, while everybody else acts like - well - people, and tries to nab the gal and impending babe for insert your self serving purpose here. Supported by Michael Caine and Julienne Moore, Owen is incomparable, but this is dark stuff. Although the violence isn't sensationalized a'la Gibson, this is not for the faint of heart. My only complaint is a bit of blood that hits the lens of the camera during an extended FX scene that was left in probably because it was too costly to reshoot - it made me suddenly aware I was watching a movie. Other than that - good story, great cast, well done! Check out the official website HERE.

Pan's Labyrinth

For all you folks who shy away from foreign films because reading dialogue is just soooo tedious, this is one of those times you need to suck it up. This little gem won 3 Oscars for a REASON. Besides being visually stunning in a so-not industrial light and magic sort of way, this is a story that requires some intellectual soul searching. Try to remember you are watching a film made for another culture - and all those lovely countries south of our border - where the magical and the spiritual constantly invade our mortal world.

Director and writer Guillermo Del Toro takes us back to the Spanish civil war, where we meet our heroine Ofelia - brilliantly portrayed by 12 year old Ivana Baquero. Ofelia is living the nightmare of war, shipped off with her pregnant mother to where her stepfather is busy quelling the last of the rebellion. The Captain is a classic bogeyman, oozing menace ... so it's little wonder that Ofelia is not at all put out by creepy bugs that become only slightly less creepy fairies who lead her into things that just get creepier... so is Ofelia's labyrinth real or only a projection of the evils of wartime from a child's mind? Anyway you look at it, it's worth the trip - the effects are great, there's a ton of violence for the boys, but in the end all fairy tales have a happy ending.... or do they?

Official selection from Mexico, Pan's Labyrinth was nominated for Best Foreign Film, and won Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Makeup against all our domestic stuff. See the official website HERE.