Man with the Movie Camera (1929)

As the brief introductory titles (the only ones in the film) tell us, Man with the Movie Camera is to be an “experiment” in pure cinema, unfettered from the restraints of the theatrical or literary traditions, a ‘truly international medium’. It is not surprising to see such a concept, and such a film arise out of Soviet silent cinema, it fits both the Russians pioneering use of montage, as well as the ideological considerations of that place and time. It is a snap shot of everyday scenes in and around what I believe to be Odessa. As such it proves to be a great record of the ordinary, you get to see people and things long gone, of which you otherwise would never be aware. In some respects its simplicity, showing people at the beach, or playing sports, or going for a drive, foreshadow the ‘real world segments’ of Sesame Street, which I’ve always found oddly fascinating. There’s some interesting editing and stop motion work here to, but not as much as I’d anticipated. Still an often referenced film, and thusly part of motion picture litera... I mean cinemaiteary. 4 out of 5.

Match Point (2005)

Hailed as the best Woody Allen film in a decade, Match Point is at heart a revised rendering of Theodore Dreiser ’s An American Tragedy, only here set in London. Allen hadn’t made a film oversea’s since Love and Death in 1975, in fact he has been almost exclusively a New York film maker for the past 30 years. Though many of his New York films are quite good (Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters), Allen’s movies had been suffering since at least The Curse of the Jade Scorpion in 2001. But with Match Point, even though the subject matter is still vintage Woody (this film strongly evokes his earlier Crimes and Misdemeanors as an immoral morality play), everything about it seem’s reinvigorated. Reminiscent of the praise Alfred Hitchcock received in 1972 for his return to England film Frenzy, Match Point feels like the work of a young film maker with vision, not a calcified old one prone to self parody.

It is a story of a young Irish man (excellently and cooly played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers) who has already pulled himself up from poverty, if not into particular wealth, via the pro tennis circuit. But Chris is unsatisfied there and leaves professional touring to teach the sport at a posh London country club, spending his free time listing to opera and reading Dosteisky. His interests combine when he meets wealthy young Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode) at the club and is drawn into his wealthy family circle, before long he is dating (later marrying) Tom's sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer) and working for his father (Brian Cox). The cards have lined up nicely for Chris, he has been lucky, a persistent theme of the film, save for his inability to get over his attraction to the sensual young American Nola (a sensual young Scarlett Johansson). An affair ensues, it is complicated by pregnancy, and all that Chris has spent his life building is now in jeopardy. What will this ambitious, often private, emotionally vague young man do, or more interestingly what will Woody Allen chose to do with him and his story. As An American Tragedy has already been made into one of THE great movies, 1951's A Place in the Sun directed by George Stevens, that Allen's rendering can be so present and involving speaks to the strengths of the director, the actors, the source material, and the human drama of the unknowable depths of anothers soul, even when you think you know them so well. A refreshing something new from Mr. Allen, ironicly out of something old. 5 out of 5.

Boston Legal: Season 1 (2004-2005)

A couple weeks ago I happened to watch a good portion of the final episode of Boston Legal. I had never seen the show before but understood the finale would involve a case argued before the Supreme Court and thought that sounded fun. Anyway I came to quite a realization watching that episode, namely, “Why have I not been watching this show?” This program is the true heir to The West Wing, witty smart writing, fascinating characters, discussion of controversial current issues, in short my kind of entertainment. So a little more then a week later I got the first season for cheap at Shopco, and watched all 17 episodes in about 5 days. I love this show, I am addicted to it, I’m already through disc 3 of season 2. So there’s not a lot to say other then to encourage you to give the show a chance, it’s the only way you’ll really have to appreciate it. 5 out of 5.

East Side, West Side (1949)

There is strain in the Bourne marriage, James Mason loves his wife but he cheats, you see he “just can’t help it”, especially when the pretty Ava Gardner’s around. Jesse (Barbara Stanwyck) loves her husband, but she’s weak and lets him get away with his sins. Hero cop Van Heflin would love to be Jesse’s man but says “homewreacking isn’t my beat”. Future first lady Nancy Davis is Jesse’s best friend, Cyd Charisse the model with a heart of gold who loves Heflin. It’s a great cast in what would otherwise have been just another period melodrama, had it not taken that fun turn and become kind of a police procedural at the end there, thus elevating it from 3 to 3 ½ stars out of 5. Dredgery

Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001)

Documentary on the life and career of the late Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999). One of the giants of the directing profession he left only 13 feature films to his credit, but what an astounding collection it is, I list only those which I have seen : The Killing (1956), Paths of Glory (1957), Lolita (1962), Dr. Stranglove (1964), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), and (probably my favorite) Barry Lyndon (1975). An informative glimpse on the background and work of an extraordinary, revolutionary, visionary film maker. 4 out of 5. Dredgery

Planet B-Boy (2007)

Documentary on an international break dancing competition in Germany. At first I didn’t think this movie would be my thing, but it proved surprisingly entertaining on both an artistic and human interest level. 3 out of 5. Dredgery

Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)

For me the most disappointing John Ford movie since Wagon Master. Normally Ford is great, and he does get a couple of his trademark landscape shots in this picture, but the film is felled by the usually strong Henry Fonda. He is just miscast in this movie, playing a newly wed frontiersman as a shy, uninteresting, even terminally boring figure. There was just no energy, and his character was impossible for me to connect with on any serious level. Claudette Colbert, also typically a delight to behold is only okay as the wife who at first screams her head off at the sight of a friendly Indian, and towards the end of the picture gets to shoot attacking ones. The only one who doesn’t disappoint, and who brings the film its only really energy is Edna May Oliver giving us a fun performance as a head strong frontier widow. 2 out of 5. Drudgery

Brand Upon the Brain (2007)

I think its fair to say that no director working today is more obsessed with Soviet style silent expressionism then Guy Maddin. This was true with his Canadian father, son and a beer heries film The Sadist Music in the World, and it is true of Brand Upon the Brain. Mostly silent save sound effects, a brief song, and narration by Isabella Rossellini, this is the odd tale of a house painter who returns to the island where he was raised by his disturbed parents in the company of his older sister and the denizens of the family run orphanage. Ironically the orphans seem tangential to the story which instead dwells on disturbed love and odd relationships, with gender and mother issues abounding. Told as a remembrance in 12 chapters it actually made a kind of sense up until mid-way through chapter 9 where I just could no longer travel down the same path as the movie in my sympathies. I appreciate some of this but it was like A Clockwork Orange with its stylization and boobies, but missing the good acting and point of Kubricks work. I don’t approve.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Watching a Stanley Kubrick movie is always an experience, an often intense, gripping, even hypnotic experience, and A Clockwork Orange is no exception. The director Frank Capra once wrote that Kubrick was a director of extreme talent, but who couldn’t figure out what it was he wanted to say. I would have to disagree here with Capra, I think Kubrick had tons to say, and this movie is loaded with enough social commentary and insight to warrant volumes of analysis. It is an ultra violent, extremely sexual film, boardering on porn, but also profound. Malcolm McDowell gives what can only be called an amazing performance as Alex DeLarge, a teenage miscreant living in a decaying and crime plagued near future London (1).

Following two days of explicitly depicted debauchery Alex is picked up and arrested for murder, having been betrayed by the gang mates he excessively lorded over. Two years he spends in prison, pretending to be reformed while inside nursing the violent and sexual fantasies that have always been central to his being. Upon hearing of a new experimental technic that is said to cure violent impulses and allow even the worse offenders to be safely released back into society, Alex determines to participate in this program as a way to get early release from his sentence, thinking he’ll be able to con his way through what must be a naive liberal psychobabble of a program. However a new government has come to power, and there efforts to curb individuality and control people are more extreme then anything Alex has ever experienced.

The treatment Alex is put through consists of exposing him to images of extreme violence and sexuality while gradually altering his brain chemistry so that such things make him physically sick. They literally make it impossible for Alex to act upon his baser impulses, any effort to do so is greeted by extreme and debilitating physical pain. Alex is in fact not changed, but robbed of the full extent of his agency, forced to be good for simple self preservation, a prospect that the prison Chaplin finds extremely odious to his higher Christian sensibilities. Upon his release Alex finds that not all is forgiven, and despite all that he has suffered through his former friends and victims, even to an extent his parents, desire him to suffer yet more. Unable to defend himself he is beaten by the homeless people he used to beat, by his former friends now gestapo like cops in the new government, and tortured by others in the films climax and twist, which I will not reveal to the reader.

There is much much here worthy of analyses, and both the left and right are critiqued as unable to deal with a psychotic like Alex, as both a threat and as a human being. It may be that Kubrick intended to tell us that such a person as his protagonist is simply beyond the ability of any society to properly deal with, and that unfortunately he may be the ultimate product of societal excess on either side of the spectrum. This is a touch stone film that shattered barriers and broke new ground, one of the most important films of Kubrick’s career and of the 1970's as a whole. This is as shocking today as it was upon its original release. The best summation of my feelings regarding this film could be summed up in one word: Wow. 5 out of 5.

(1) One of my favorite lines in the film is when a homeless man that Alex and his cronies are beating up, complains that with people living in space and on the moon the decay on the earth has been largely ignored. In this way the movie can almost be viewed as a counterpoint to the directors previous film 2001: A Space Odyssey, while man is exploring the mysteries of transcendence in space, the earth is reverting to a baser more primal state.

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)

There couldn’t be better source material for a Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musical then the lives of the titular Castle’s, dance phenoms and super celebrates of the 1910's (the Bradgillina of their time Gina Jacobs says). Vernon was a fairly successful vaudeville slapstick player when his new wife Irene redirected his career, and started her’s, as professional dancers debuting in Paris. The two ignited various period dance crazes on both sides of the Atlantic including the Foxtrot and Tango. They also seemed to be willing to put there names on just about any product, and Irene’s fashion sense and ‘bob’ haircut had tremendous affect on the look of American women. Vernon Castle died in an airplane training accident during World War I, saving the lives of two others in the act. The movies big flaw is its removal of several black individuals from there rightful places in the narrative, including the Castle’s longtime composer and arranger James Europe, and recasting faithful family servant Walter as a white man (played by Walter Brennen who’s odd characterization is kind of fun to watch). Also must give a shout out to John Quincey Adams decendent Edna May Oliver as the Castle’s agent and friend Maggie. Rather Enjoyable. 4 out 5.

The musical short Happily Buried (included on the DVD) about the strained romance between the heirs of two large waffle iron manufacturing concerns, is defiantly worth seeing as well.

Flushed Away (2007)

From the Wallace & Gromit people comes this CG flick about a Hyde Park pet rat (Hugh Jackman) flushed into the seamy world of London’ Sewers. Kept afloat by the combined personality of an excellent voice cast (including Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, and Jean Reno) in spite of an unexceptional plot. Everybody I saw it with loved the singing slugs. 3 out of 5.

Australia (2008)

Aussie director Baz Luhrmann departs from the pop-artie form of his ‘Red Curtain Trilogy’, with this sprawling and evocative epic of the rough life in Northern Australia at the beginning of World War II. Conceived as an homage to the sprawling historical epics of David Lean and others ,this films works not only as tribute (laced with motifs and references to movies, stars and directors to numerous to mention), but AS such a film. With the exception of the well played critique of Aussie racial polices of the time (personified in the amazing of performance of first time aboriginal actor Brandon Walters as a ‘half cast’ boy), this film could have been made as is in 1943, 1963 or even 1983. It’s pure classic entertainment in story and form executed to near perfection. This film is as much about the ‘old time movie going experience’ as it is about anything, and I found mine completely satisfying. 4 ½ out of 5.

24: Redemption (2008)

This is the teaser tele-film for the late coming seventh season of the popular series. Asked how it was as a movie, I’d have to say not that great, but 24 fans will enjoy it. I say not great not because its bad, in fact its fairly good, I’m giving it a 3 out of 5, just that its structured like an episode of 24 and hence cuts between a number of ongoing story lines with little or no resolution; which while often admirable in episodic TV, is typically less satisfying in movie form. Anyway as I said I enjoyed it and you know that young Siyabulela Ramba did a really good job, I’m impressed and would actually like to see him act again. Glade we’re getting back to a more inspirational type president in Cherry Jones’s Allison Taylor, and it will be interesting to see this somewhat softened Jack Bauer for the Barak Obama era.

Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

I had intended to see this movie in the theater, and in fact I had lots of chances as it was in our local three dollar reel for a surprisingly long time. However I didn’t get around to it, attempts to see it in a group fell through, and well it seemed neither appropriate date material, or the kind of thing I’d like to see in a theater alone. Indeed given the circumstances I was probably right to wait and see it on DVD, but I’m certainly glade I’ve been able to see it now.

This is a great movie, moving, empathetic, funny, smart. With the premise of a man falling in love with a sex doll it sounds like a Farley brothers movie, but in truth the premise doesn’t capture the spirit of the film, which is really about loneliness, mental illness, friendship, and love. The script and the direction couldn’t have been better in terms of the balance of tone struck, and subtlety of plot and character development as a variety of influences help guide Lars through long neglected social and emotional development. All of the performances here are great, Ryan Gosling in the title part of course, he really inhabits this character, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson and new find Kelli Garner are three rather appealing ‘real girls’, but its Paul Schneider's performance as Lar’s brother Gus that is my favorite. His arc is perhaps an even tricker one for an actor to navigate then Lars’s, a man who at first feels himself something of a victim, forced to suffer through the potential embarrassment his brothers condition could bring into his life, refusing to accept that he bear even partial responsibility for the apparent breakdown of a brother he knows he has neglected. The characters gradual coming to terms with the way he abandoned his sibling, his sincere efforts to atone in his way, the genuine interest and concern he grows to express, its all very well done. Then there’s the whole Frank Capra element of the film, in the way the community rallies around Lars and accepts ‘Biannca’s’ presence because of their love for this awkward but good natured young man; the descriptive term ‘sweetheart’ used for Lars at several points in the film couldn’t be more accurate. I don’t think this film could have been done better, and how much more original could you expect a movie to be then Lars and the Real Girl. This will be on my list of best feature film’s I’ve seen this year. 5 out of 5.

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Walter Mirisch produced John Sturges directed Western (in 2 senses of the word) adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Saimiri. Widely beloved by male members of a certain generation, it was partly cribbed for the 80's comedy The Three Amigos, which its self is widely beloved by male members of at lest two generations. I find the movie more interesting for the reputed on set rivalry between Yul Brenner and Steve McQueen. The movie its self I was mostly bored with, I wasn’t quite in the mood for it when I started it a 9 pm on a Thursday night, and it’s really something I should have watched with my dad rather then alone. I hardly feel qualified to rate this film, because I mostly lost interest after the Seven were assembled and the proceedings seemed to be no great stretch of the period formula. Therefore my add hoc rating for the film would be between a neutral 2 ½ and a 3 recognizing its cultural significance.

Umberto D. (1952)

Famed Italian neo-realist drama about an elderly penchaniner (played by first time actor and lingustics proffesor Carlo Battisti) just trying to keep himself and his dog alive; there’s also a subplot about Umberto’s landlady’s secretly pregnant maid (a compeling Maria-Pia Casilio). If this all sounds depressing, that’s of course because it is, but its also an effecting account of loneliness and economic desperation. A heart breaking and important entry in the cannon of significant European films. 5 out of 5.

The Visitor (2008)

Writer/director Ted McCarthy’s second film, like his first 2003's The Station Agent, is about a socially isolated individual who finds some unlikely friends. However The Visitor is far from a re-tread. It is overtly a political film, a condemnation of an unthinking, bureaucratic and reflexive American immigration system post 9/11, and while very much empathetic, it is not sentimental in the same way the Station Agent was. The film stars Richard Jenkins, one of our great character actors who is always welcome on my screen, in a rare feature part. He is Walter Vale, a university professor and widower who leads a lonely and unfulfilling existence. Dragooned by his department head into leaving Connecticut for a few a weeks to present a paper he was only tangentially involved with at a New York City academic conference, Walter returns to the apartment he once shared with his late concert pianist wife, but to which he has seldom returned since her passing. He is needless to say surprised to find a couple of illegal immigrants, Syrian Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and Sengali Zainab (Danai Gurira) living there, a never seen hustler named Ivan having ‘leased’ them the place. Though at first Walter throws them out, he has seconds thoughts and invites them back to stay, at least until they can find a new apartment. Though Zainab is at first leary of this white man whose motivations she can not understand, the easy going Tarek instantly takes to him and they quickly form a close bond. In this young couple Walter finds his first link to truly living since his wife died, for which Tarek’s teaching him to play the African drum, serves as counterpoint to the classical piano that represents his old life, which he must learn to move beyond.

Complication arises when Tarek is arrested for what at most was a minor infraction, and is sent to a detention center pending deportment, it is here that the films more overt political aspects come to assert themselves. The political message is unmissable, but it works only because of the compelling story and delicate handling of the characters, which are McCarthy’s great strengths as a film maker. This is a more mature, more nuanced film then what he had done before (and what he had done before was quite good), and there is no more perfect example of this then the graceful dance of a budding, but never fully consummated relationship between Walter and Tarek’s visiting mother, played by the elegant Hiam Abbass. This is not the kind of film that well, tends to get made, and its uniqueness, worldly relevance, and the obvious infusion of talents involved in its creation make this a must see, and one of the ten best films to come out this year. The Visitor is a humble masterpiece. 5 out of 5

Oliver & Company (1988)

As with The Black Cauldron, I chose to give this movie a review because I have not seen it since its original theatrical run twenty years ago. In fact I have surprisingly vivid memories of the Saturday I went to see this movie when I was eight. You see my family had only lived in Boise for about a year at that point and my dad got lost trying to find the right theater, that and small elements of the film are what stayed with me. For most among those elements is the song at the beginning of the film, ‘Oliver Don’t You Cry’ I believe the name is, and it’s a rather poignet little number performed by Huey Lewis; in fact the whole soundtrack of this film is laced with the work of 80's pop artists, including Billy Joel who was making his acting debut in the part of Dodger.

The film of course is an adaptation of Dickins Oliver Twist, though extremely simplified, and ultimately more watch able then the Oscar winning 1968 musical version. A capable voice cast includes the work of Bette Milder, a young Joey Lawrence, the ubiquitous in animation Dom Delouse, Roscoe Lee Brown, and Cheech Marian as Tito the Chihuahua, the comic break out character to all the kids in the audience. The villain of the picture, a crime lord named Sykes, is quite intense, I remember him being perhaps to intense for my eight year old self, he also falls victim to one of the more violent deaths of a Disney villain, when he is felled by a train on the Brooklyn Bridge. This was one of the first Disney animated films to really make extensive use of computer aids in the animation, and is (according to special features on the DVD) the movie that quality and box office wise ushered in that platinum era of 1988-1994 which would include such classics as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. This movie is however not the great accomplishment that those movies were, despite having a rather strong sentimental value to me. 3 out of 5.

Get Smart (2008)

Adaptation of the 60's TV show benefits from a good cast and sense of restraint, though the plot is nothing special. Watch for cameos by Bill Murray and the original Siegfried. Otherwise, I really have nothing to say about this film, except of course that Alan Arkin is good as always. 3 out of 5.

The New Guy (2002)

The odd looking D.J. Qualls stars in this teen comedy about a long time loser who starts over as the cool kid at a new school. Predictable, not great, but since I don’t see many of these types of movies I enjoyed it. Also featuring Zooey Deschanel on her way up, Eddie Griffin at his peak, and Eliza Dushku on her way down. 2 1/2 out of 5.

A Century of Black Cinema (1997)

A general survey of the black presence in American film from the birth of the movies to the mid 1990's. All the obvious highlights are touched on, Birth of a Nation, Gone With the Wind, Carman Jones, Guess Whose Coming to Dinner, Shaft, The Whiz, The Color Purple, etc. A good primer that may introduce the viewer to some good films that otherwise might be lost in obscurity (like Paul Robeson's Song of Freedom from 1937). Speaking of Robeson, he and other forgotten black performers like him are another reason to see the film, they were pioneers and often quite talented, like Fredi Washington in the original 1934 version of Imitation of Life, or Roscoe Lee Brown whose maybe 10 minutes of screen time in Hitchcock's 1968 film Topaz constitute that movies high point (ironically these two personalities are not really featured in the doc, but others like them are). I would still like to see more of Pam Greer. 3 out of 5.

Film Geek (2005)

Written and directed by Portland based film maker James Westby, Film Geek is a low budget, kind of underground movie, staring Melik Malkasian as Scotty Pelk, the ultimate nerdy film fan. At the start of the film Scotty works at a video rental store, were he constantly annoys the customers and his co-workers with his encyclopedic knowledge about film. A lonely, rather pathetic character (yet still a sympathetic one), Scotty lives in a one room apartment were he devotes his spare time to watching movies and writing about them on his internet film site which nobody reads (ala His Other Band). Events transpire to cost Scotty his job at the video store, and he winds up working at an auto parts warehouse. Socially awkward in the extreme Scotty thinks he may have found some one with whom he can strike up a romantic relationship, a pretty young artist (Tyler Gannon he sees reading a book about David Cronenberg on the bus. The young women talks to him, and they even have a partly successfully date, but as the film maker tells us in one of the special features, while she makes him less of a robot, he’s still plenty robot. A film with which I relate more then I wish I did. The way the ending plays around with our Hollywood expectations contrasting them with real life is worthy of Bergman, even without the beautiful cinematography of Sven Nykvist . 3 ½ out of 5.

Baby Mamma (2008)

Tina Fay and Amy Pohler, whose comic abilities have long been on display on SNL and other TV forums, have at last made a movie together. The basic premise of an uptight business woman who hires a ‘white trash’ girl to be her surrogate for pregnancy, is a natural fit for these two, though it could have been awful under lesser hands. A good, solid comedy, with both buddy picture and romantic elements (Greg Keaner proving a great casting choice as Fay’s love interest), and a fun supporting part for Steve Martin. Well handeld. 3 ½ out 5.

Chicago 10 (2006)

Documentary on the trial of eight protesters and activists for incitement to riot at the anti-war protests held in conjunction with the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago (the number 10 comes from the inclusion of their two lawyers). The documentary makes extensive use of the court transcripts of the trial dramatized through that usually superfluous ‘digital people’ effect, and using all star voices including Dylan Baker, Hank Azaria, Mark Ruffalo, and Jeffery Wright. This proves a very effective and compelling way to present the trial, and in fact it was snippets of these sequences which I saw in the documentary’s run on PBS the other week, that inspired me to rent this and see it in full. That Judge comes off horrible, unfit for duty and quite likely rather racist, while the defense attorney a true liberal hero. The ‘eight’ are an interesting, surprisingly diverse bunch, who while sometimes unorthodox weren’t really dangerous. In fact they were all found innocent on the trumped up conspiracy charges, but some were sentenced to prison time for contempt of court, again trumped up charges coming from that sadistic judge. Higher courts later reversed all of these sentences. A fascinating story well told. 4 out of 5.

P.S. I recently learned that Spielburg is doing a movie on this same story.

The West Wing: Season 7 (2005-2006)

So I’ve now finished every episode of the series on DVD, though I had seen the entirety of the 7th season during its original network airing. The truncated nature of this last season, so far as time line covered goes (it covers August of 06 to inauguration day 2007 in the West Wing chronology) offered new dramatic possibilities owing to the tightness of events not spread out over a full 12 months (the majority of the seasons episodes span August to the first few weeks of November). Also the general election campaign is generally compelling, with two fascinating candidates, interesting story lines, and important issues actually discussed with some intelligence. A crowded but worthwhile capstone of a season, and one of the all time great televison series. Not much left to say really, if you want more of my writings and thoughts on this last season of the show you can find them on my old blog The Dredge Report. 5 out of 5.

Aeon Flux (2005)

Based on the unique MTV animated serial of the early 90's, so far this movie has been quite true to the source material, or at least my limited knowledge of it. I say so far because I’m still watching the movie. It’s another one of those oppressive dystopia films and I find, I just don’t care anymore, even with Charlize Theron’s outfits, and her crawling an awful lot. You know from the opening scene, were Theron catches a fly by closing her eyelid on it, that this movie is all about special effects and looks, and nothing more. The bad dialogue has confirmed this, and after 11 minutes I wanted it to be over. So I’m going to comment on this tripe as it flashes before my eyes. Highlights missed so far: Why would anyone were that outfit at home alone, and Francis McDormand? Really?

24 minutes in: Aeon and the evil dictator were lovers? She didn’t know the dictator? What?

28 minutes in: Magnetic ball things that look like something you would find at Scientific Wizardry.

31 minutes in: The dictator, or ‘Chairman’ has a brother who is trying to have him killed, the viruse that wiped out 99% of the human population 400 years ago has done ‘something’ to us, and people are having weird dreams. Drink the message? I don’t know if I can do this movie? I have to put this exercise to an end.

48 minutes in: This is awful want to be metaphysical bull hockey. They have memories from 400 years ago right, is that it? I think maybe this is all an illusion, because the way that transport belt thing works doesn’t make any sense. That’s it’s Charlize, the answers to your questions have got to be on the zeplin thing, I guess. Ohhh, the inside looks like the Guggenheim. What, that guy? He looks like he just walked out of the sci-fi channels Dune mini-series. Okay the ‘Chamber of Solace Computer thing’ says people are being 'reassigned'. Sophie Okonedo’s hiding in the reflecting pool prior to her meeting with the Matrix lady, what is this crap? The chairmans brothers dressed like a new age Nazi. I think I might rather be watching In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale.

55 minutes in: Oh my God, the dead are all being re-born as babies! I don’t care. This is like a bad joke on one of these movies. There Clones, I thought I sensed The Island in this. The memories are like genetic memories, this would have been done so much better and efficiently as a half hour long Twilight Zone episode.

101 minutes in: Who directed this, and what can we do to keep them for directing again?

102 minutes in: Those solders look like Cobra commandos from the 80's animated G.I. Joe. Best we hide in the Logan’s Run like public transit system.

104 minutes in: THX 1138 hallways, this movie has become a game of find the half-assed homage.

109 minutes in: Of course, she was the Chairmans wife in another life, they have this connection. They really thought this basic idea was worth resurrecting (pardon the pun) in altered form in Hancock. I would disagree with them.

118 minutes in: This final battle is reminiscent of a paint ball match.

125 minutes in: "To live only once, but with hope", that is the message of this film. Six Feet Under’s "Why do people have to die? To make life important." is a far superior version of this sentiment, and far superior entertainment.

Well I watched the whole thing. Augh, it was awful. Aeon sucks. One of the worst movies I have ever seen. Completely derivative, completely pointless, not a compelling character there. 1 out of 5, and with spite. I think I may have to cleanse my cinematic palate on Touch of Evil tonight.

Sister Aimee: The Aimee Semple McPherson Story (2006)

Bio-pic on the pioneering female evangelist, radio personalty, and Church of the Four Square Gospel founder. Mrs. McPherson’s personality and story have been minded before for use in fiction, she is the inspiration for the Barbara Stanwyck character in director Frank Capra’s early 30's film The Miracle Women, and her relationship with her third husband provides a good deal of the plot for Elmer Gantry. Here we have the story of the women’s real life, and it is inherently compelling and kind of complicated. This movie rendering however is severely handicapped by an embarrassingly small budget, the story of a women who preached to hundreds of thousands done here without a single crowed scene. With the exception of Rance of Howard in a fairly well done supporting part, none of the players are names, and their acting ability limited. This combined with costumes that might have been procured from Savers, and some scenes that may have been filmed in Church offices and peoples basements, distract from the story and periodically strains ones ability to buy that all of this is supposed to be happening between 1907 and 1944. In the end you feel like you’ve just seen something on par with a well done community theater production. I found myself throughout the viewing wishing that I was seeing this story (which really is engaging, and despite its cheap rendering here I can’t say that I was ever board) with respectable Hollywood production values. I even found myself casting this imagined remake, which should include the talents of Michelle Williams and Hugh Jackman. One’s ability to take this film depends on ones ability to stand its budget, and for the type of bare bones production it is it’s on of the few I could every stand to see again, which puts it above a lot of big budget Hollywood tripe. Being generous it’s a three, more realistically it’s a 1 ½ or a 2, so in the end I deem to give it a 2 ½ out of 5.

W. (2008)

Oliver Stone is thought of as a liberal film maker, and no doubt that’s were his politics lie, but behind the camera, perhaps especially of late, he can be a quite fair, and always (in his way) sympathetic chronicler of the story of post World War II America. From Platoon, to Nixon, and more recently World Trade Center (the last of which I didn’t like, but it was quite restrained politically), Stone puts forward a rending of a historical event or personality that while clearly embracing today’s conventional wisdom about the subject matter, is empathetic but none excusatory to its flawed characters. W. is one such rendering, with the current president seen as affable and well intentioned, but of limited ability, narrow focus, and easily manipulated. It’s a testament to the script, and especially Josh Brolin’s performance in the title role, that such a well known story can be so truly enveloping. We follow W. from his college day’s to midway into his presidency, we observe the development of his character through a prism of Shakespearian tragedy (my favorite way of viewing the Bush administration) and pop psychology, with a father complex always front and center. We like the young Bush, he’s an affable rouge, though his dad’s kind of a jerk to him, while none-the-less remaining every bit as well intentioned as W himself. Becoming born again and sober pulls our protagonist partway out of his psychological muck, though far from entirely, and while we feel the sincerity of his change, and see how it improves his life, we know it will never be able to compensate for what the film and nearly all the players seem to see as the man’s tragic shortcoming, namely that he is not Jeb.

Bush partisans may feel short changed that the highpoint of the man’s administration, namely his broadly lauded handling of events immediately post 9/11, are completely absent from the film. This is not a "complete" biography, you can get a book for that, but rather traces the man’s psychological development, with an eye on how it made the Iraq debacle possible. While future history might still see the 2003-? Iraq War as an accomplishment, it will surely never see its early handling as such (I largely blame Rumsfield for the logistical errors). You do however get both sides of the question of wether or not to go into Iraq, fairly presented as the situation would have seemed then, with the thinking and information that was prevalent and available to those who helped make the decision in 2002 and 2003. I can honestly say that there and then in that room, I would likely have gone with the Cheney faction. In the end Iraq became Bush’s Vietnam, his crucible, and unlike the often bulling Johnson who seems somehow forgiven for that conflict because we know it ate him up inside; Bush is often viewed as unmoved by the plight of the solders, to narrow minded, and to afraid to admit he was wrong to ever look at his decisions fairly and admit that he made some major mistakes. That is why to me the key scene in the film has to do with Cats (even though it is a litany of Bush dogs who make cameo appearances through the film).

One night in their bedroom in the White House residence W. is bemoaning his fate to his wife Laura, who lies in their bed reading a newspaper. She interrupts him to tell her husband that his favorite play is coming to town, she want’s to cheer him up. "Cat’s, now that’s something I’d stay up late for," the President responds. That George W. Bush’s favorite play would be the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical Cat’s seems just perfect to me, it encapsulates everything about the man and his presidency. It’s sentimental kitsch, decidedly middlebrough in taste, maudlin, cloying, but sincere. Bush is somewhere between Rum-tum-tugger and Memories. It’s not that the man doesn’t care, it’s just he doesn’t know how to care, or do much of anything for that matter, in a high concept way. He’s limited to the emotional length and breath of Cat’s, when only Hemingway or Faulkner will do. So the story of W. exists in an uncertain space between Frank Capra movie and train wreak, and as both of those things will command the viewers attention, so to will this film. 4 ½ out of 5.

An American Carol (2008)

From one of the three Airplane! guys comes this spoof variant on Dickens A Christmas Carol, only here the ‘scrooge’ character is a caricature of Michael Moore who hates the 4th of July. Featuring a lot of ‘hit in the face’ humor (none of which is funny), and cameos from a number of Hollywood’s best known Republican actors (when did Dennis Hooper become a Republican?), this is an ambling film, likable enough in tone, though obviously simplistic in its politics (though a lot of its history’s surprisingly good). More mildly amusing at parts then funny, flat material such as Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo singing Kumba, and a terrorist cell made up almost entirely of men named Mohammad Hussain, elevate David Allen Greer’s cameo as a slave to the statues of movie high point. The whole thing seems four years out of date. 2 out of 5.

Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater (2006)

Documentary on landmark political figure Barry Goldwater, produced and narrated by his granddaughter C.C. Goldwater. In addition to covering the man’s storied political career, and his central role in the birth of the modern conservative movement, the film also explores Barrys many hobbies and interests, such as photography, flying, and the Hopi Indians. The sections covering Barry and his family relationships, including interviews with three of his four children, and his then 95 year old brother, were to me the most interesting parts of the film, as they revel a man very much devoted and caring for his family, but who had a difficult time expressing that love verbally and physically, and whose lone wolf streak resulted in a well maintained aura of distance from them.

Other things that caught me about Goldwater from this documentary was his very charming personality, and how despite his downright unfair demonization in the 1964 presidential campaign (1), was almost universally loved and respected on both sides of the isle in the Senate. Also quite interesting is what is sometimes referred to as Goldwater’s 'political evolution'. Pro-choice and gay friendly Barry would seem out of place among those politicians we call conservative today. But Goldwater would no doubt consider that a category error, and rightly so, his conservatism was about limited government interference in all aspects of peoples sovereign lives, not the imposition of religious or political orthodoxy upon them. In the arc of his strongly held convictions played out against a changing national political conversation, he is reminiscent to me of William Jennings Bryan, who started out as the great progressive championing bimetallism and women’s suffrage, but at the end of his life time seemed regressive do to his outspoken biblical literalism and involvement in Tennessee’s famous Scopes Monkey Trial. Goldwater, as he says of himself in archival footage, started out his career in the Senate opposing the exercise of undo influence on the government by unions, and ended it opposing the same from the Churches. Here is a figure just awaiting a proper contextual re-discovery, one who while in life dubbed Mr. Conservative, might today stand for the vast center of American political thought. 4 out of 5

1. Though Johnson had practically no chance of losing that race to Goldwater, the sitting President authorized a series of hateful and scorching political adds that would insight widespread furor if used today.

Religulous (2008)

I like Bill Maher, I even liked him when I hated him. He fills something of the role of a loyal opposition to the conventional wisdom, an important if not often well received avocation in this country, and the world at large. Maher’s new film, often labeled a documentary, though he prefers “unscripted comedy”, (a categorization that fits all the more well given that its directed by Larry Charles of Borat fame) is about religion, and how its... ridiculous. Or at least that’s what Maher, and as much as 16% of the country feel about the subject of religion now. In fact its that 16% to whom this film is mostly addressed, not just for that constituencies entertainment, but also to call for their mobilization. The film points out how atheists, agnostics, and the religiously uninterested represent the great untaped special interest group in American politics (only 1 of the 535 members of congress will admit to a lack of belief in God). Maher wants these people to rise up and assert their influence, noting how homosexuals and NRA members have done so quite effectively, and there only 3 and 1.2% of the population respectively. I have no doubt we will see more atheistic influence in this country as we become more like Europe in many of our collective sensibilities, and this will be quite helpful in quailing many of the political excesses of the religious right, though doubtless not without its own fallouts. Anyway I digress.

Religulous can be approach two ways, for its polemics, many of which have great merits, and for its entertainment value. For blogging comment safety purposes I’ll limit myself largely to the entertainment aspects. This movie is funny. It is also smart. Some of the great moments come simply from Maher’s facial expressions following any of a number of interview subjects making particularly incredulous statements. Maher stacks his film with religious persons whom it is easy not to take seriously, the Rabbi who is a militant anti-Zionist and once exchanged hugs with Iran’s president at a Holocaust deniers conference (one desperately wants to see that guy mocked), an ex R & B singer turned pastor fond of $2000 suits, a Muslim rap artist whose attempts at being insightful and nuanced only make him look foolish, and even tolerant of murder. True a handful of well educated religious people appear in the film, most notably two decidedly unorthodox seeming Catholic priests, but they seem mostly if not exclusively on Maher’s side (what’s the old joke about all Bishops in the Church of England being atheists). But as one reviewer said of the film, maybe its best just to ignore the parts about your own religion in the film (in my case Mormons get about 4 or 5 minutes of air time), and enjoy the skewering of everybody else’s. In a religiously charged world there can be some value to channeled venting, the 2 minutes or so spent watching audiences cheer the re-enacted beatings and lashings of Christ at a Bible themed amusement park, pretty much sums up most of my criticisms of Evangelical Christianity. This is provocative humor and social commentary of almost rare rawness, and thusly a joyous blessing to behold for those who have the stomach for it. I’m glade I was able to rush from my Tuesday night Doctrines of the Gospel class in time to see it. 4 out of 5.

Henry Poole is Here (2008)

A ‘Christian’ themed movie staring Luke Wilson, yes I was skeptical to when I first saw the televison adds. But Henry Poole is Here is better then the typical ‘Christian’ fair, in large part I’m sure do to the fact that its director Mark Pellington (The Mothman Prophecies, among others) has roots in film making beyond the particular ‘nich market’ one associates with the works of Kirk Cameron (and Wilsons a level or two above him as an actor to boot). Poole is the story of man diagnosed with an unspecified but rare terminal illness (this news broken by Richard Benjamin in a cameo role that makes you realize just how long its been since you saw Richard Benjamin in a movie) who buys a house on the street were he spent his troubled boyhood, with the intent to die there, quietly, alone, and most likely drunk. However the self imposed exile of this “sad and angry” atheist is not to be. You see his over enthusiastic real estate agent (Cheryl Hines) thought she got a good deal on a new stucco job for the house, but it left behind a water stain that very Catholic neighbor lady Adriana Barraza is just sure to be the face of Christ, and by extension a good candidate for official miracle statues. Poole fights this intrusion on his solace, and the well intentioned but unwanted concern of a number of acquittances, while simultaneously developing an affection for the beautiful single mother next door Radha Mitchell and her emotionally troubled young daughter Millie Morgan Lilly (Who from her first moment on screen, doe eyed and clutching the tap recorder she uses to capture the conversations of those around her, you just know is going to break your heart).

There’s a maturity here about human suffering that to me evoked Six Feet Under. At first I didn’t fully understand why, though this is a more sobber then typical ‘Christian film’, it certainty didn’t approach the darkness and vulgarity of the late HBO series. Upon reflection I think that what I was picking up on is how both works took what are often stereotypes we’ve seen before (Here the angry atheist, hot signal mom, latina catholic, Under, ageing ladies man, repressed housewife, arty teen) and presented them to us in a deeper, more honest way. I also liked the ambiguity of much of the film, and the fact that the atheist often has the strongest argument. I’d say I was 90% with this movie, it decided to give us something of a connect-the- dots happy ending, and I understand why, though that diluted the piece a little bit for me. Still a surprisingly strong film, that has genuine merit. This could easily end up on MySpace top 20 films I saw this year list. 4 out 5.

Paul Newman: 1925-2008

I’ve let far to much time pass without stopping to type a few words about Paul Newman’s passing. I think a headline on the MSNBC web page said it best, in summery he was a man who had a lot to be proud of, an Oscar and many nominations, a fifty year marriage to Joanne Woodward, and vast charity work. Paul Newman was an unusually good man for Hollywood, and the world at large. He was great both on and off the screen, and will be sadly missed.

1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

I recently checked out from the library the (2002) book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, to see how much longer I needed to live to be a satisfactory cineaphile in the eyes of compiler Steven Jay Schneider. Turns out I have only seen 296 of the 1001, and thus have a long ways to live yet, especially given the fact that some of the titles listed, such as the silent, Danish, witchcraft movie Haxan, will likely require years to come across an available copy. Listed bellow are all of the films on the list which I personally have seen:

1902

1. A Trip to the Moon

1903

2. The Great Train Robbery

1925

3. Seven Chances
4. The Phantom of the Opera
5. The Battleship Potemkin
6. The Gold Rush

1927

7. Metropolis
8. The General

1928

9. The Crowd
10. Steamboat Bill, Jr.

1930

11. Little Caesar
12. All Quiet on the Western Front

1931

13. Dracula
14. Frankenstein
15. City Lights
16. The Public Enemy
17. M.

1932

18. I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
19. Freaks

1933

20. Duck Soup
21. King Kong
22. The Bitter Tea of General Yen

1934

23. Triumph of the Will
24. It Happened One Night
25. The Thin Man

1935

26. Mutiny on the Bounty
27. A Night at the Opera

1936

28. Modern Times
29. My Man Godfrey
30. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
31. Things to Come

1937

32. Grand Illusion
33. Stella Dallas
34. The Life of Emile Zola
35. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

1938

36. The Adventures of Robin Hood
37. Angles with Dirty Faces
38. Bringing Up Baby

1939

39.Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
40. The Wizard of Oz
41. Destry Rides Again
42. Gone With the Wind
43. Ninotchka
44. Wuthering Heights

1940

45. His Girl Friday
46. Rebecca
47. Fantasia
48. The Philadelphia Story
49. The Grapes of Wrath
50. Pinocchio
51 The Bank Dick

1941

52.Citizen Kane
53. The Lady Eve
54. The Maltese Falcon
55. Sergeant York
56. Dumbo
57. Sullivan’s Travels
58. How Green Was My Valley

1942

59. The Palm Beach Story
60. Now, Voyager
61. Casablanca
62. Cat People
63. The Magnificent Ambersons
64. Yankee Doodle Dandy

1943

65. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
66. Shadow of a Doubt

1944

67. Meet Me in St. Louis
68. Laura
69. Double Indemnity

1945

70. Spellbound
71. Mildred Pierce
72. The Lost Weekend

1946

73. The Best Years of Our Lives
74. The Postman Always Rings Twice
75. The Stranger
76. The Big Sleep
77. Notorious
78. Black Narcissus
79. It’s A Wonderful Life

1947

80. Monsieur Verdoux
81. Out of the Past
82. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

1948

83. The Bicycle Thief
84. Rope
85. The Red Shoes
86. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

1949

87. The Heiress
88. Adam’s Rib
89. White Heat
90. The Third Man

1950

91. The Asphalt Jungle
92. Winchester ‘73
93. Rio Grande
94. All About Eve
95. Sunset Blvd.

1951

96. The Big Carnival (Ace in the Hole)
97. A Streetcar Named Desire
98. Strangers on a Train
99. The African Queen
100. An American in Paris
101. A Place in the Sun
102. The Day the Earth Stood Still

1952

103. The Quiet Man
104. Singin’ In The Rain
105. The Bad and the Beautiful
106. High Noon

1953

107. From Here to Eternity
108. The Big Heat
109. Shane

1954

110. Johnny Guitar
111. On the Waterfront
112. Rear Window
113. A Star is Born
114. Carmen Jones

1955

115. Bad Day at Black Rock
116. The Lady Killers
117. Marty
118. Kiss Me Deadly
119. The Man From Laramie
120. Rebel Without A Cause

1956

121. The Searchers
122. The Man Who Knew Too Much
123. Giant
124. All That Heaven Allows
125. The Wrong Man
126. High Society
127. The Ten Commandments

1957

128. 12 Angry Men
129. The Seventh Seal
130. The Incredible Shrinking Man
131. The Bridge on the River Kwai
132. Paths of Glory
133. The Sweet Smell of Success

1958

134. Touch of Evil
135. Gigi
136. Vertigo

1959

137. The 400 Blows
138. North By Northwest
139. Some Like It Hot
140. Anatomy of a Murder
141. Ben-Hur
142. Rio Bravo

1960

143. La Dolce Vita
144. Psycho
145. The Apartment
146. Spartacus

1961

147. Breakfast At Tiffany’s
148. West Side Story

1962

149. Lawrence of Arabia
150. To Kill A Mockingbird
151. The Manchurian Candidate
152. Lolita
153. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
154. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

1963

155. The Birds
156. 8 ½
157. HUD
158 Winter Light
159. The Great Escape
160. The Leopard

1964

161. Marnie
162. My Fair Lady
163. Dr. Stranglove; Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb

1965

164. Doctor Zhivago
165. The Battle of Algiers
166. The Sound of Music

1966

167. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?

1967

168. In the Heat of the Night
169. Cool Hand Luke
170. The Jungle Book

1968.

171. Once Upon A Time in the West
172. Planet of the Apes
173. The Producers
174. 2001: A Space Odyssey

1969

175. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
176. Easy Rider

1970

177. Patton

1971
178. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Facotry
179. Harold and Maude
180. The French Connection

1972

181. Solaris
182. The Godfather
183. Frenzy

1973

184. The Sting
185. Papillon

1974

186. Young Frankenstein
187. China Town
188. Blazing Saddles
189. The Godfather Part II

1975

190. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
191. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
192. Barry Lyndon
193. Nashville

1976

194. All the Presidents Men
195. Rocky
196. Taxi Driver
197. Network

1977

198. Star Wars
199. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
200. Annie Hall
201. Eraserhead

1978

202. The Deer Hunter
203. Grease

1979

204. All That Jazz
205. Being There
206. Kramer Vs. Kramer
207. Apocalypse Now
208. The Muppet Movie

1980

209. Ordinary People
210. Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back
211. The Elephant Man
212. Airplane!
213. Raging Bull

1981

214. Raiders of the Lost Ark
215. Chariots of Fire

1982

216. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
217. Blade Runner
218. Tootsie
219. Gandhi

1983

220. A Christmas Story
221. Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi
222. Terms of Endearment
223. Once Upon A Time in America

1984

224. Amadeus
225. This Is Spinal Tap
226. Ghost Busters
227. A Passage to India
228. The Killing Fields

1985

229. RAN
230. Out of Africa
231. The Purple Rose of Cairo
232. Back to the Future
233. Brazil
234. The Color Purple

1986

235. Blue Velvet
236. Hannah and her Sisters
237. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
238. Platoon

1987

239. Raising Arizona
240. The Princess Bride

1988

241. Cinema Paradiso
242. The Naked Gun
243. Big
244. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
245. Rain Man

1989

246. Batman
247. Roger & Me
248. Glory

1990

249. Dances With Wolves
250. Edward Scissorhands
251. Total Recall

1991

252. The Silence of the Lambs
253. JFK

1992

254. The Player
255. Glengarry Glen Ross
256. Unforgiven

1993

257. Groundhog Day
258. Philadelphia
259. Jurassic Park
260. Schindler’s List

1994

261. Forrest Gump
262. The Lion King
263. Pulp Fiction
264. The Shawshank Redemption

1995

265. Babe
266. Toy Story
267. Braveheart

1996

268. Fargo
269. Independence Day
270. The English Patient

1997

271. Deconstructing Harry
272. L.A. Confidential
273. Titanic

1998

274. Saving Private Ryan

1999

275. Three Kings
276. Fight Club
277. Being John Malkovich
278. American Beauty
279. The Sixth Sense
280. The Matrix

2000

281. Gladiator
282. Traffic
283. Memento
284. O Brother, Where Art Thou?

2001

285. Amelie
286. Moulin Rouge!
287. Mulholland Dr.
288. The Royal Tenenbaums
289. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
290. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence

2002

291. Gangs of New York
292. The Pianist
293. City of God
294. Adaptation
295. Far From Heaven
296. Chicago

(Since original compilation of this list on the 24th, I have added Heat as my 297th viewed)

Cleopatra (1934)

Cecil B. DeMille’s take on the story of the iconic Egyptian queen and her relationship with two rulers of Rome , this is thankfully much more condensed then the later, better known Liz Taylor version. Claudette Colbert plays the title role, in a year that also saw her Oscar winning performance in It Happened One Night. This film was the eightieth motion picture to be given a passing certificate by the then newly established production board (for runner to today’s MPAA) but I don’t see how. One of the first images you see on screen is what certainly looks like a naked women, though lit in such a way that I suppose it could be taken as ambiguous, but I’m pretty sure those were nipples. That’s the thing about DeMille, did you he use the sex to sell the piety, or the moralism to justify the depravity, me thinks a little of both. Pretty sensual stuff for its time, and some of those outfits still warrant a double take. In all though more watchable then either The Crusades or Sign of the Cross. Some great set pieces and production numbers. 3 out of 5.

Through a Glass Darkly (1961)

The first chapter of Bergman’s faith trilogy. Here the director explores how we play roles for others in our lives, and the guilt that can come from that, when we know they know, and we feel we fall flat. Set on an island off the Swedish coast there are only four characters, a popular though not critically acclaimed novelist (Gunnar Björnstrand) , his subtlety estranged 17 year old son (Lars Passgård) , his psycho frantic daughter (Harriet Andersson), and her doctor husband (Max von Sydow) . The author, though doubtless pained by his daughters condition, is simultaneously exploiting it, and studying her, for material for his next novel, one which he hopes will finally provide him with the positive critical recognition he craves. The man feels conflicted about this, but it's also a part of his nature, and perhaps a commentary on how our sympathy for others can often be limited, be an obligatory role that comes from our socially dictated relationship with a person. The daughters condition makes her crazy, but also quite honest in her way, and when she discovers what her father has written about her in his notebook, it sets off, or rather exacerbates an episode, that forms much of the narrative core of the story; what happens to her, how others react, not just to her, but to the way the father reacts. Often silent, and sometimes slow, I regret to say I had a hard time paying attention, and multitaskesed some, thusly limiting the full impact of the film on myself. I should probably try and watch this one again, but I doubt I will, least not in the near future. Interesting premise, if dragged out more then I was in the mood for. 3 ½ out of 5.

Smart People (2008)

Intellectuals can be pretentious and self involved, thus alienating others in there lives and making themselves unhappy, unless of course they learn to overcome these self-defeating impulses, this is what Smart People is about. Dennis Quaid gets to play one of these smart people, a professor, which is a little different for him, and Ellen Page whose trademark aura of being beyond her years I do enjoy, plays his daughter. They have parallel storylines about how they strain relationships with people they’d like to be close to, Quaid his doctor girlfriend, Page her uncle. There’s really not a lot new here, but its done pretty well, despite a certain superficiality about the proceedings, and my not buying everything about how the characters progressed. Upon reflection though, I really can't say I liked it, 2 out of 5.

Hamlet 2 (2008)

Sometimes your just in the mood for a little light hearted blasphemy, and in Hamlet 2 you’ll defiantly find it, both religious and PC. Actually this is a deceptively smart movie, a kind of Ed Wood meets Six Feet Under. British comedian Steve Coogan, who I had basically dismissed out of hand before observing him in a brief role in Sofia Coppala’s Marie Antoinette, plays a never-was actor (career highlights include a juicer commercial and episode of Xena) just barley subsisting financially as a Tucson high school drama teacher, whose enthusiasm far outstrips his talent. When the financially strapped school system decides to scrape his program, and by extension his job, Coogan decides to re-invigorate interest in the arts by having his ‘rag tag’ class perform a sequel he wrote to Shakespear’s Hamlet. As you’ll recall pretty much everybody died at the end of the original Hamlet, but that’s not a problem when one employs dramatic devices such as a time machine, and a cell phone sporting Jesus Christ. The triumph of the movie, and the musical play within, is the concept, surpassingly well pulled off, that trash can be elevated to beauty, that art can be made of a mess if there’s a enough (for lack of a better word) sincerity to it. The hodge poge of satirized tripe that fills the screen and stage proves a metaphor for forgiveness and transcendence probably more effective then the pretentious guff of many a would be art genius, just like Coogan’s character, its all self referential to a absurdly sublime degree. So all I can say is: "Oh, Shue." 4 out of 5.

An Unreasonable Man: Ralph Nader (2006)

Ralph Nader is more then a perineal spoiler, and in fact its kind of sad that that is what he’s most likely to be remembered for. Simply put Ralph Nader is the most legislatively influential private citizen in the history of this country. He is one of the most important men in the past hundred years, in his effect on the every day life of the American people. Seat belts, air bags, the Freedom of Information Act, nuclear regulation, the clean water act, emission standards, government oversight, third party development, charitable organizations, the political mobilization of college students, Michael Moore, and ironically Al Gore have all been profoundly influenced by him. He is a good man, he really means it, he’s given his all towards making America a better place, to encouraging us to live up to our civic ideals, if he gets a little bit of an ego trip out of it, so be it, though I think the megalomania allegations are over-rated. I was surprised how much I agreed with and liked this man, and all that he has done, though I had previously heard him speak live, it was with this documentary (which is pretty balanced, particularly about his notorious 2000 presidential campaign), that I really came to ‘get’ Nader’s appeal. Worthwhile and largely engaging viewing. 4 out of 5.

Now I really want to track down the 1977 Saturday Night Live episode he hosted.

Heat (1995)

An opus. The film for which Michael Mann will rightly be remembered. It is an urban environment, particularly that of Los Angels, that seems to be Mann’s muse. He likes to play with the dynamic between the honest and law abiding, the good cops, and the fascinating but amoral, Tom Cruse in Collateral, and here Robert De Niro’s Neil. Al Pacino is Vincent the good cop, and he and Neil serve as mirrors to one another, much as could be argued Pacino and De Niro do in real life. It’s all about parallels, and this is never more apparent then in the two dinner party scenes, De Niro’s able criminals, and Pacino’s capable cops. There essentially the same, not in words, but in setting, the simple conversations people have away from work, and what they revel about the leads relationship with the women in there lives. A cast of massive talent. Intimacy in epic. Ruminations on genera conventions, and human relationships. A master piece, you will remember this movie as an experience. Five out of Five.

Dexter: Season 2 (2007)

Dexter season one was a novel for television, it impressed me with its finely constructed story arc, compelling characters, intriguing premise, and acerbic wit. I didn’t think it could get any better, but here it did. A logical extension of what happened in season 1, season 2 evolves for the most part quite naturally, and while seemingly less focused in some ways then its predecessor, it has a freedom about it that re-invigorates us from all that came before. Even more addicting and suspenseful then season 1, I was just overjoyed to watch Dexter season 2. Keith Carradine even manages to create a character whose an equal foil for our serial killing anti-hero. Five out Five.

Persepolis (2007)

French made adaptation of a young Iranian women’s autobiographical graphic novel. Animated mostly in a simply black and white style, reminiscent of a weekday comic strip, this is a powerful coming of age story set against the backdrop of two decades of recent Iranian history. You’ll learn a lot from this movie, and perhaps be surprised how emotionally effective a medium this simple two-toned animation proves to be. Unique and satisfying, shows there’s still a lot of new ground that can be covered in film making, both thematically and stylistically. 4 ½ out of 5.

Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948)

The first oversea's film to a win a best picture Oscar. Undoubtably Academy voters were attracted by the prospect of honoring something different, something "legit". It was the prestigious nature of the film that attracted the votes, and the originality of the presentation. Evocative of German expressionist cinema, the movie is overtly theatrical, you feel like your watching a stage play on an impossible set. Still there are more accessible versions of Hamlet, though here I’m rather impressed with the way the play-within-the-play was handeld, as well as the finally. Three out of Five.

The Silence (1963)

Like Winter Light this is also part of Bergmans faith trilogy, though less overtly Christian in its themes, and to me less resonate. Sisters Esther and Anna are returning home (presumably to Sweden) from a vacation with Anna’s son Johan. While traveling by train Esther becomes sick to the point of coughing up blood, to give her some time to recover they stop in a strange, never identified country, that appears to be on the brink of war. Staying in a grand though almost empty hotel, the sisters revel themselves as a dualistic coupling, Esther the intellectual, almost anaseptic, Anna the earthy, and overtly sensual (in its Yin-Yang the film is almost Buddhist). They have a love/hate relationship with each other, unable to truly communicate, a recurring theme in Bergmans work. Foreignness and separation abound, with young, innocent, curious Johan serving as the films link to the possibility of a hopeful, better future. Well done, but also not something I fully connected with, three out of five.

Burn After Reading (2008)

This latest Coen brothers movie attempts to do for the espionage picture, what The Big Lebowski did for film noir. As you may recall Lebowski was about an L.A. area slacker who gets involved in a story line in which he had no business being in, namely an over-complicated often obscure Raymond Chandler-esque mystery. In Reading we find three employees from a D.C. area gym (Hardbodies) inserting themselves into the world of espionage, blackmail and adultery, a world in which they are far from competent enough to be playing in. The movie, is uneven. It starts out kind of broad, and eventually takes an almost jarring turn into dark territory, becoming No Country For Old Men-like in its violence. Though the darker second half in may ways works better then the relatively lighter first, it also feels kind of uncomfortable, because of the way the dimmer characters are massacred, both physically and psychologically. Like this summers Hancock, Reading also has the feeling of two different films trapped in one movie, though in this case an uneasy alliance between the two holds up, unlike the near literal surrender of the first film to the second in the Will Smith vehicle. Burn After Reading is in any case a great showcase of character actors, and should be used to aid in the casting of other movies. The funniest scenes here where the few between David Rasche (let him be rediscovered please), and J.K. Simmons, as the CIA big wigs trying to figure out just how the employees at Hardbodies got mixed up in this mess. A lot of the other humor falls flat. In spite of this I liked the move enough to give it a 3 out of 5, even an unsuccessful Coen brothers film is more interesting then most other contemporary movies.

Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)

Lose adaptation of the Jules Vern novel is an epic adventure spectacle. Affable rouge and jack-of-all-trades Mike Todd produced the film, and apparently got it made largely through force of personality. Todd begged and borrowed to finance the mammoth production, and managed to charm big name stars from both sides of the Atlantic to appear in ‘cameo roles’, a term Todd coined for this film. In all something like 40 stars appear in the movie, ranging from silent screen comedian Buster Keaton, and British stage performer John Gielgud, to gangster film star George Raft and actor/singer Frank Sinatra. David Niven plays Phileas Fogg, and a young Shirley MacLaine an Indian princes. This film, which charmed both audiances and critics and made $18 million box office, and beat out my favorite film Giant for the 1956 best picture Oscar. Two disc DVD edition includes the first film adaptation of a Jules Vern story, From the Earth to the Moon (1902), a 1968 documentary on Mike Todd (who died in a plan crash a year after receiving the Oscar for 80 Days), and numerous other special features, including a 1957 TV special built around a party Todd held for 18,000 guests at Madison Square Garden (1). Here the producer competes with his film for entertainment value. Four out of Five.

1. Which at the time would have translated to one out of every 10,000 Americans attending.

Winter Light (1962)

Ingmar Bergman’s study of a pastors crises of faith is brilliant. I have watched this movie three times in the week since it arrived via Netflix, and I continue to get something more out of it each time. It is a complicated, layered, even ambiguous film, and intentionally so. The performances of the actors and interrelations of the characters are complex and deeply human. The snowy setting in the north of Sweden, in the winter time no-less, adds to the strained and alienated subtext of the characters. The cinematography distant, the dialog often sparse, but an intensity permeates throughout. This is the first Bergman film I’ve seen with a contemporary setting, and I felt that helped me relate to it more directly then The Seventh Sign or The Virgin Spring; yet Winter Light must be called timeless as well. I could talk about this film for a long time with you in conversation, but I find that writing about it almost seems futile at this point. You need to see this film to appreciate it. I appreciated it so much that I’ve orderd up the two other chapters of Bergmans ‘Faith Trilogy’, Through a glass Darkly , and The Silence, and shall see those both real soon. I may write a longer post about all three films in the future. Again, I love this movie. Five out of Five.

Sheen Gems: The Best of Fulton J. Sheen (2005), His Irish Wit and Wisdom: Fulton Sheen (2006)

Respectively highlights from, and three complete episodes of, the long running television programs of Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979). A Bishop in the Roman Catholic Church, Illinois native Sheen was a philosophy professor and the author of 73 books. Bountifully blessed as a communicator, Sheen was a broadcasting natural, possessed of a rare magnetism that draws the viewer in, as well as a slight penchant for theatricality (watch how he uses his robe). I myself was utterly captivated by the man with in minutes, of course I was a communications major so I’m perhaps extra appreciative of fine speechmanship. Sheen seemed a kindly and warm hearted man, with a mischievous smile and excellent mental recall, yet when aroused by some moral issue he could speedily transform his soothing vocal into a thundering roar of conviction and moral indignation. In short a very dynamic, and fascinating gentleman, who had he pursued another course in life could have been a great politician, news, or entertainment personality (and no doubt he was all of those to some extent in his life). Bishop Sheen is currently being considered by the Catholic Church as a candidate for Sainthood. So if you know little or nothing about this man, I recommend you check out some of his material, you should be dully impressed by his performance and deliver if nothing else (though his messages are largely non-denominational). 4 and 3 out of 5 respectively.

Trivia: The actor Martin Sheen adopted his current last name in honor of the good Bishop.

Tropic Thunder (2008)

You know I’m rather impressed with just how on the money this film was. It’s an action/comedy, a send-up of the Vietnam war epic, and perfectly suited for its late summer release, when audiences are ready to have the explosion field behemoths they’ve been watching lambasted. Yet it is also a knowing satire, perhaps even deceptively brilliant, in that it captures the present state of the film industry as accurately in its satire, if not in its artistic merit, as Billy Wilder’s Sunset Blvd. did, nearly sixty years previous. Stiller accomplishes this through his presentations of types, the fading action star, the method Oscar hog, the gross-out comedian, the rapper aiming for cross over. These all could be rendered rather surfacey, and this film doesn’t escape that problem entirely, but even the characters of shallower pool are given something of a deep end.

Stiller has an ability to display a sympathetic insecurity, and the endearing drive of a character of limited ability to succeed. His Tug Speedman develops in his humanity in a way so natural to the flow of the film, that I’m only fully appreciating it upon reflection. Robert Downey Jr’s Russell Crowish, Kirk Lazarus is a brilliant performance, and loads of fun to watch, yet it evokes Peter Sellers tragic character dependency in ways both spelled out, and more subtle. Jack Blacks drug dependent gross out comic, and Brandon T. Jackson’s closeted rap star are less intricately developed, but effective renderings. I also quite enjoyed Jay Baruchel as the unknown young character actor in the film, and the groups anchor to reality.

The film of course takes its plotting from that old chestnut device of characters (not at first) realizing the situation they are in is real (The Three Amigo’s, The Man who Know to Little, Galaxy Quest). Yet this device is a well suited vehicle for what the film wants to accomplish. The humor here is in many parts quite funny, and often gross out, but there’s enough lite pathos and moral complexity to bring this near Judd Apatow territory. Agent Matthew McCongaughey’s moral dilemma over whether to save his friend and client of 15 years, or take the insurance money and the jet the studio promises if he remain silent about their plan to let Speedman die, actually felt legitimate to me. This movie works on both levels, which is almost amazing. Lastly I must mention Tom Cruse as the harry and foul mouthed executive Lou Grossman, just when you think he can’t surprise you anymore. My kudos to this smart crowd pleaser, 4 out of 5.

Anita Page: 1910-2008

Rambo (2008)

Stallone returned to this franchise, much as he did to the Rocky series in 2006, with a kind of epilog. The most reflective Rambo movie since the original finds our protagonist living in self imposed exile in Thailand, hunting poisonous snakes to be used in dubious ‘sporting’ competitions. Along comes a group of Christian aid workers from Colorado, who want to hire out Rambo and his boat to take them into war torn Burma, so as to service the persecuted Christian minority there. At first Rambo demurs, but a sincere, blond 6th grad teacher prevail upon him to act as there escort. Seeing them passed river pirates to their destination, Rambo leaves the naive Christians and returns to Thailand. Several weeks later the Christians pastor arrives with some mercenaries, he wants Rambo to fairy these hired strong man back into Burma to rescue his parishioners, who according to contacts in that countries resistance, have been taken hostage by the oppressive government. Rambo of course goes and end up saving some lives, but we’ve seen that before and that’s not what lends the movie its interest. The intriguing aspects of the film are two fold, 1) Rambo’s internal ‘spiritual’ reawakening brought on by that blond Christian, and leading ultimately to the series ending exactly the way it should; and 2) the intensity of the violence, even for a Rambo movie, and the films mediation on what that means.

To explore the second point further I refer to a sequence fairly early in the film. Rambo is transporting the Christians by night into Burma, they pass some nasty river pirates in the dark partying. Rambo tells the Christians to remain perfectly silent as their boats attempts to creep past unnoticed, this fails and they are besieged. Rambo tries to work something out with the pirates, they can take any money or supplies they want, but they are most interested in the blond. So, Rambo kills the pirates, thus preventing the rape of the young women, and the probably painful deaths of all the other missionaries. Now one of the missionaries, a doctor, protests this violence in the strongest terms, yet ultimately he was a supreme beneficiary of Rambo’s combat skills, in that he got to remain alive when he otherwise wouldn’t. So what do you do in a situation like this? It is the pacifist dilemma, what to do when violence is your only way to survive against the onslaught of pure evil? This is fairly waity for an action movie, and indeed so is the setting, highlighting the appalling and under reported situation in Myanmar. Stallone ratches up the violence to communicate this state of affairs, and it is affective, though rendered with digital effects that draw undo attention to there status as effects. Though I must complement how the main Burmese villain is that right kind of emotionally dead evil you expect from a war lord. I like were Stallone went with this film, though like the second Rambo it just seems lacking in places for the audience to emotionaly invest, we can be horrified by the carnage we see, but on a personal level the characters we are suppose to care for give us very little, much like Rambo in conversation. So a not fully realized though valiant effort, three out of five.

In a World without Don LaFontaine....

The Love Boat: Season 1, Volume 1 (1977)

I decided to view these old Love Boat episodes as a nostalgia kick. You see when I was a little kid, say around four years old, I used to watch a lot of The Love Boat. Now this my sound a strange programing choice for a member of the pre-school set, but I watched the show for several reasons. One, I could not yet tell time, but I did know how to change the channel, and I learned that when The Love Boat rerun was over you could flip a station and watch Sesame Street. Two, the show was on a boat, and this was inherently interesting to my young mind. Three, it was very formulaic, there was pattern to each episode with the rytheme of the cruse, folks came on the ship, it sailed around stopping a few times, folks got off the ship, young children like and can understand patterns. Fourth and finally, the very fake deck with the swimming pool would probably have been my number two dream vacation destination for 1984-85, next only to Disney Land. Though I vaughly recalled interpreting the show then as a drama, (anything with the word ‘love’ in it would doubtless seem serious and adult to a child of four) now having watched the program for the first time in over 20 years I know it to be in fact a dramady, waited to the comedy, but more then anything a cross-promotional vehicle for the stars of other TV shows, and a make work program for various has-beens. That being said its very likeably cheesy and comforting programing. Three out of Five. Next big nostalgia project, possibly The Fall Guy.

The West Wing: Season 6 (2004-2005)

On re-watching season six, in relatively short order, I was impressed with how well developed it was, and how it transitioned from satisfying story-arc to satisfying story-arc in a way its immediate predecessor season never did. This is probably the strongest of the post-Sorkin seasons, and one of the things that makes it so is that the series transitioned into something else, away from the soft-toned neo-Capra, into something a little more real, as well as more politically balanced, with Alan Alda’s Republican Senator Arnold Vinick being perhaps the most fully developed and fascinating Republican character, well maybe ever. I’m gonna 5 out of 5 it.

Worth noting are the many similarities between the series 2006 campaign and our present election cycle. First off the Republicans, an older maverick Senator with a semi-strained relationship to the party base, Arnold Vinick of California (John McCain of Arizona) wins the parties nomination. Vincik defeats an early front runner who was made viable by his handling of a national cries, Fmr. House Speaker Glen Walken in the aftermath of the Zoe Bartlett kidnaping (Rudy Giuliani and 9/11). The last major Republican rival to be vanquished by the nominee is a charismatic southern preacher, Don Butler of Virginia (Mike Huckebee of Arkansas).

For the Democrats you have a contest in which a likely early front runner drops out before officially announcing, Pennsylvania governor Eric Baker (fmr. Virginia governor Mark Warner). So the contest is mostly between a relatively uninspiring establishment pol, vice president Robert Russell (senator Hillary Clinton), a southerner who’d been out of the game for a little while and is later supremely damaged by a affair of years previous, fmr. vice president John Hoyns (fmr senator John Edwards), and the eventual nominee, a liberal racial minority and relative newcomer, Texas congressman Matt Santos (Illinois senator Barack Obama). There is a protracted and bitter primary campaign, a divided party, and eventually the nominee chooses a party establishment figure with loads of experience as his running mate, Leo McGerry (Joe Biden). Additional parallels in season 7 may be pointed out by me later.

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

This is quite a movie. Update of the chain gang, prison films of an earlier generation, with the non-conformist streak then just starting to re-emerge in Hollywood. Luke is a great character, he’s complicated, and you never fully understand what’s going in that head of his, which is what makes him so fascinating. Throughout the viewing I kept being reminded of Heath Ledgers recent performance as The Joker. Both of these characters are the ultimate individualists, they do what they feel like when they feel like doing it, with little thought to the consequences; yet they almost always seem to be enjoying themselves regardless of their present circumstances. Yet Luke is obviously more restrained then The Joker, either this is an inherent aspect of his disposition, or related with his then current existential battle with the idea of God. Luke has taken a side, yet not yet severed that link to an idea of things beyond himself, he is not a nihilist, though I think he kind of wishes he were. The movie has some great lines and moments, including the visit of Luke’s mother, bed ridden so there in the back of a pick-up truck, presumably cancerous but still smoking cigarettes, and of course the egg eating contest, "No man can eat fifty eggs!" This movie did not fail to communicate, and on several levels. Five out of Five.

See also: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Waitress (2007)

Writer, director, actress Adrienne Shelly was tragically murdered around the time of this movie’s release, and I had wondered what effect that had on the films positive reception. There had been talk that had Shelly lived Waitress could have been the start of a successful directorial career, this we will never know. Certainly the film is charming, though the sitcomy premise (waitress in bad marriage gets pregnant has affair with gynaecologist) and diner setting had me wondering how much this was going to be like reruns of Alice. I thought the diner or ‘pie shop’ material not exceptional, though it grew on me, to be secondary, as I’m sure it was meant to be, to waitress Jenny’s (Keri Russell) existential journey. Jeremy Sisto, so good at playing crazy creeps, does a wonderful job as an intimidating jerk of a husband, who is also co-dependent on his long emotional distant wife. Russell and Sisto’s relationship is so bad, that it takes her months to tell him she’s pregnant, as the waitress contemplates some kind of escape from her situation. Jenny’s desired golden parachute is the prize money from a big pie making contest, but ultimately her husband won’t let her enter. Jenny does find release and ultimately catharsis through an affair with her gynecologist, which forms the heart of the movie. Russell and Nathan Fillon, who plays the doctor, have a great chemistry together, they make the movie, and you can really buy how this relationship could prove so pivotal to the protagonists emotional development. However Fillon alone is not the only positive male emotional influence in Jenny’s life, the other being Andy Griffith’s old Joe, the supposedly crumudgenly rich regular at the pie shop, who of course has a heart of gold. Griffith’s seeming stereotypical casting (it is a southern based movie after all) shouldn’t necessarily work, but it does, and in fact this is true with much in the film. The movie manages to keep both its quirky and serious themes in balance, in fact seamlessly, and that’s something not every screen writer and director can do. While the death of this films author may have increased its publicity, this movie is a success on its own terms, being a rather pleasant romp. Four out of Five.

Autism: The Musical (2007)

Documentary on an L.A. area therapy through theater center for autistic children. The founder of the center is herself the adoptive mother of an autistic child. Several of the children in the program, ranging from around 9 to 14 are profiled. We get a look at the diversity that defines autism, some of the children are so high functioning that you might not even notice that they have a condition, others seem almost retarded (though I should point out some individuals can suffer both mental retardation and autism simultaneously). For example one of the students, in fact the child of the centers founder, can hardly communicate vocally, but does okay with a voice synthesizer. The documentary is as much about the parents as the children, as this condition will completely rewrite the lives of the caretakers. Very informative, and sometimes very sad. I chose to see this film because last week my two year old niece was diagnosed autistic, this documentary is a helpful introduction for those who may be on the verge of more regularly interacting with those with autism. Four out of Five.

Cinema Paradiso (1988): Directors Cut

Having just seen and been blown away by director Giuseppe Tornatore’s The Legend of 1900, I decided that I must see more of his work. The logical place to start was Cinema Paradiso, the 1988 film for which the director is best known and most loved. As hard as it may have been for me to conceive when I started the movie, this Is better then 1900, and 1900's still awesome! I was completely floored by this movie, it is completely beautiful. Buckets you will sob, I was an emotional wreck by the end. I think this is now my favorite non English language film, replacing Life is Beautiful (which is still Beautiful), and as I reflect on it over the next several days it may prove a strong contender for my favorite film of all time! It’s an ode, a Valentin to movies and the emotions they make you feel, and it succeeds brilliantly at capturing the essence of so much, time, love, family, friendship. If you see it I strongly recommend getting the directors cut, which adds an entire third act to the film. The movie would be wonderful without this material, but adding it gives you so much more. Again I’m typing this just moments after my first viewing, so I’m gushing, but I know this film will sustain the gush. An incredible experience of a film, Five out Five.

Rambo III (1988)

I wasn’t expecting much out of this, but it proved to be a far more likable film then its immediate predecessor. I thus spent part of the movie trying to figure out why I was responding so much better to it, then I did to Rambo Part II. I think at least part of the explanation lies in the fact that this film chose to more fully embrace what it was, a kind of Reaganite Great Escape. Rambo II certainly had a triumphalism in it, but it was rather down beat, that film strateled the types of movies that Rambo I and Rambo III fully are. Part II tried to be both Vietnam era eulogy, and high octane 80's action pic, and failed to be fully either. Rambo III knows what it is, goes for it, and succeeds, yet still manages to remain sufficiently true to the whole Rambo ethos and mythology. Loved the fact that this film was dedicated to the gallent Afghan people, knowing what happens since it adds an interesting aura of pending fate to some of the characters, especially the little boy. Also if I haven’t said it yet I must say that I really enjoy the Richard Crenna character, and I finally figured out who that actor reminds me of, William Holden. Three out Five.

Bernie Mac: 1957-2008

Issac Hayes: 1942-2008

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

While the first Rambo movie proved a surprisingly capable and contemplative vehicle for exploring American’s conflicted feelings towards the Vietnam War, the second film in the series is a prime example of revisionist Reaganite Cinema. Three years after the events of the first film, John Rambo is doing hard time for his little post-traumatic rampage in the Pacific North-West. Our hero is offered the chance at a presidential pardon if he agrees to go on a covert mission into Vietnam looking for missing POW’s. Rambo of course agrees to do this, unfortanitly the bureaucrats who green lit the mission never expected him to find actual missing veterans!. Not wanting to deal with the political consequences of sending a full fledged rescue mission into Nam, the head bureaucrat on the scene decides to abandon Rambo, the POW’s, and the beautiful Viet recon agent, to both the local communists and their Soviet allies. Rambo of course will have none of this, and in his decidedly unsubtle, explosive style sets about to free himself and the others. This film lacks the poignant sense of sorrow that so distinguished it predecessor , and instead attempts to give us a kind of wronged triumphilism, that while well received by audiences at the time, I found to fall completely flat. I cared about Rambo in the first film, but here I found I felt next to nothing. The action, complete with torture, machine guns, napalm and all the fixings just seemed to pass on the screen, and I felt board! It went through the motions, but somehow managed to avoid the emotions. If this film is this disappointing, I’m really kind of scarred to see the ill-regarded part three. 1 1/2 out of 5.

Eastern Promises (2007)

Director David Cronenberg’s violent, graphic, hard R film about the Russian mob in London. Naomi Watts plays a half-Russian nurse who takes it upon herself to track down the family of the infant daughter of an immigrant prostitute that died in her care. Her efforts lead her to a prosperous restaurant owning family of Russians, who turn out to be major players in London organized crime. She thusly enters into an artful dance of a relationship with the family’s stoic driver (Vigo Mortensen in a transformative performance). While the gory roughness that shows up so early in the film had me thinking the movie might turn out to be nothing more then a glorified exercise in the maccabe, the characters and their relationships proved intricate and fascinating, developing in complexity until what at first may have seemed a stereotype (Vincent Cassel’s over zealous son to sly mafioso Armin Mueller-Stahl) proves to be stunningly complicated. Defiantly not for all tastes, but a dramatic accomplishment that blooms from what may seem to be a darkly exploitive Hollywood turd. 4 out of 5.

The Legend of 1900 (1998)

The fact that this movie is not better known is near unto a crime. Giuseppe Tornatore directed this fable based on a stage monologue. It is the story of Danny Boodmann T.D. Lemon Nineteen Hundred (A great performance by Tim Roth), born on a steam ship in January of the aforementioned year, he would prove a piano prodigy, yet would never be able to bring himself to leave the vessel of his birth. Spanning roughly fifty years the film more then ably offers us meditations upon a verity of subjects relevant to the human condition, concepts of friendship, love, home, fear, meaning, and destiny. There is also some great stuff on the allure and power of America as a dream or idea, it sometimes seems like the Italians get this more then we do. I have also perhaps never seen a film were the music is more integrally woven into the story, and Ennio Morricone’s score proves as lovely as any ever written. This is A beautiful, stirring motion picture that is truly one of a kind. A grateful Five out of Five.

'The Magic Waltz' scene

The Love Theme form The Legend of 1900

Lost Boys Calling music video (with spoilers)

Lost Boys Calling trak with lyrics

The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008)

This much belated movie sequel to one of the more iconic series to come out of the 1990's, eschews much of the dense conspiratorial mythology that developed over the course of the show, and in its place offers us something akin to the programs more accessible ‘stand-alone’ episodes. After years in hiding former FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is allowed to clear his name of old trumped up charges, in exchange for helping his former employer investigate the mysterious disappearance of another FBI agent. With the help of old partner and current flame Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and a small core of agents lead by Amanda Peet, the team enters into an awkward alliance with Father Jake (Billy Connolly), a former pedophile priest who may be having visions of the missing agent. Such an arraignment has definite possibilities for dramatic tension but here they are executed only mediumly well. A lot of the plot feels like it could easily be rewritten as a non X-Files piece, a more traditional thriller, but I was still there with it in 3-out-of-5- land for most of the picture. Unfortunately what was intended to be the films shocking twist ended up simply seeming ridiculous, bad horror movie type stuff that squanders the good will generated by seeing two old favorites reteamed. Submitting to the impulse for a far to easy pun ‘I wanted to Believe’ in this X-Files movie, but I wouldn’t have respected this from an episode of the show and thus can’t countenance it from a theatrical film. Still I hope it succeeds well enough to justify a third film, because despite a paucity of evidence I have faith that a good movie is still out there. Two out of Five.