Scan and Pan

Review: Revanche (Austria, 2008)

2010-06-04T02:20:00.000-07:00

Ex-con Alex (Johannes Krisch) works as a bouncer in a Vienna brothel, where he carries on a secret romance with Ukrainian prostitute Tamara (Irina Potapenko). He wants to take her away to Ibiza, so he plans a bank robbery to fund their escape together. The robbery goes tragically awry, and small town policeman Robert (Andreas Lust) and his wife Susanne (Ursula Strauss) are sucked into its wake.

Writer/director Götz Spielmann spins a sublime tale of tragedy, guilt, revenge, and forgiveness, while exploring the theme of responsibility and loss creating a potential space for growth. He takes an approach that can best be described as minimalist. Dialogue is sparse, and much of the film plays out slowly and quietly in longer takes, contrasting the profit-driven big city with the cooperation of the natural world, as well as a criminal and a policeman both burdened by overwhelming guilt. The simplicity and glacial pacing could doom a lesser filmmaker, but Spielmann successfully forges a compelling drama out of those elements.

From the grittiness of Vienna to the dignified grace of the rural Austrian landscape, the naturalistic 16mm cinematography of Martin Gschlacht is deceptively understated yet strikingly beautiful. Production designer Maria Gruber creates an equally naturalistic atmosphere with her sets. As part of Spielmann's mimimalist approach, there's no musical score, only some diegetic music in certain scenes.

Johannes Krisch makes an impact as Alex, portraying him as a complex, conflicted man who shows that he can be more than just a hardened criminal, but who must ultimately come to terms with his responsibility for the tragic events in order to move on. Irina Potapenko is believable as Tamara, detailing the soul killing nature of her work and how it contrasts with her relationship with Alex, without descending into the usual clichés of such a role. Andreas Lust and Ursula Strauss both deliver quite good performances as the guilt-ridden policeman and his caring but frustrated wife. Solid performances also come from Hannes Thanheiser as Alex's grandfather and Hanno Pöschl as the sleazy brothel owner.

Revanche isn't a film for everyone. Although it earned an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009, I dare say it's one of those films that you'll either love or hate. I didn't know what I thought at first, but once the end titles rolled, I realized I had been under its spell all along and it left me with much food for thought. Count me in the 'love it' camp.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

The US Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection features a stunning transfer, full of subtle detail and even striking depth of image at times.

Review: The Road

2010-06-03T02:45:00.000-07:00

A man (Viggo Mortensen) and his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) travel across the landscape of post-apocalyptic America, a world of barren wastelands, dying forests, dead wildlife, abandoned cities, and gangs of roving cannibals. The man is determined to head as far south on the east coast as he can, with the hope of finding something better.

Music video director turned film director John Hillcoat (To Have & to Hold, The Proposition) creates an unusually intelligent post-apocalyptic drama. It's an impressively visual film, yet the images exist only to illuminate the story's world. Not once do they distract the viewer from the subtle character drama at the heart of the film. Hillcoat expertly uses the camera to tell the story in a series of vignettes as the man and his son travel across the landscape. In some ways, it can almost be described as a Biblical narrative. There's an intensity flowing throughout the film that captures you and draws you in as if you were hypnotized.

Having never read Cormac McCarthy's novel, I can't reliably say just how faithful the screenplay by Joe Penhall (Some Voices, Enduring Love) is to it, but from the plot described on Wikipedia it sounds like it's at least broadly faithful to it. A major theme explored in the film is keeping one's humanity in the most inhumane of situations. How does one stay human when mere survival is a miracle and others descend into monstrous brutality? As bleak as the story is, it carries within it the fire of what it means to be human. Although we never learn what triggered the apocalypse, clues can be interpreted as either nuclear war or perhaps a comet strike, but the ambiguity suits the story.

The imaginative but very believable world of The Road is brought to life by cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe (Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Twilight Saga: New Moon), production designer Chris Kennedy (To Have & to Hold, The Proposition), costume designer Margot Wilson (The Thin Red Line, The Proposition), the visual effects teams, and the digital colorists. There's not a single wrong note in the look of the production, and the visual effects are entirely seamless.

The overcast skies and monochromatic color scheme conspire to cast a constant gloom on the screen, while the sets (including shooting locations in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Oregon, and Washington State) and costumes look lived in rather than artificial. The minimalist score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (the Australian musician, not the British writer) matches the tone of the story while lurking in the background.

The cast is brilliant. Viggo Mortensen delivers a searing performance as a man who's lost his world and the woman he loves, yet struggles to survive so he can protect the most precious thing he has left, his son. Mortensen is one of those actors who doesn't seem to have a bad performance in him, and he speaks volumes here with his eyes and facial expressions. Kodi Smit-McPhee is a find as his son. It's usually asking a lot for a child actor to carry a major role in a serious, bleak even, drama. Smit-McPhee does it. He's believable, dramatic yet understated, and completely sells you on being wise beyond his years in refusing to surrender his humanity.

The stellar cast also includes Charlize Theron as the wife and mother of the two main characters, an unrecognizable Robert Duvall as an old man they meet on the road, Michael Kenneth Williams as a thief, Garret Dillahunt as a member of a cannibal gang, Guy Pearce as a character described in some places as the Veteran, and Molly Parker as the Veteran's wife.

The Road is an outstanding drama. It has a lot to say about the human condition, while being graced with some fine performances and a believable post-apocalyptic environment. It will linger with you long after the final credits roll.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

The Blu-ray sports a very good transfer with a high amount of fine detail and a subtle but healthy grain structure, providing a rich, film-like quality.

Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

2009-07-06T13:05:00.001-07:00

It's a big dumb action movie, but as big dumb action movies go, it's reasonably entertaining.

Two years after the events of the first film, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is off to college, leaving behind girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox), parents Ron and Judy (Kevin Dunn and Julie White), and his Autobot Bumblebee, but college brings him an eventual ally in conspiracy theory-obsessed fellow student Leo (Ramón Rodríguez). Meanwhile, an ancient rogue Prime known as the Fallen (voice of Tony Todd) is plotting revenge on the human race, leading to the resurrection of his apprentice, Megatron (voice of Hugo Weaving). Can Sam and Autobot leader Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Cullen) save the day once again?

Director Michael Bay (Armageddon, Transformers) is never going to be mistaken for a great filmmaker, but he's a master of big dumb action movie spectacle. And, no, that's not really a slight in this case. If you want to make a film like this and do it well on the level intended, Bay is the director you want behind the camera. He delivers mayhem and action with conviction, and few directors have his eye for sheer spectacle. I don't understand why the same critics who rave about J.J. Abrams for his direction of Star Trek pan Bay for this film. I think Bay made the better of the two films. I'm sure quite a few people will take exception to that statement, but I stand by it.

The screenplay by Ehren Kruger (The Ring, The Brothers Grimm) and writing team Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman (Transformers, Star Trek) blends up high octane action, low humor, and a high stakes plot into a mostly satisfying whole, although not as successfully as the first film. I'm not even going to try to defend it as good writing, but it's certainly fun to watch it unfold on the screen. Good guys win, bad guys lose, and two young people are in love. On that level, it's actually part of the long tradition of Hollywood hokum.

It must also be said that the film contains the worst ethnic caricatures in a genre film since Jar Jar Binks and Watto in Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace. The scenes with the characters Mudflap and Skids are truly cringeworthy. Did no one involved in the making of this film, including executive producer Steven Spielberg, see these scenes and think there might be something offensive in them? Unbelievable. Note to filmmakers: applying ethnic caricatures to CG aliens or CG robots doesn't make them any less offensive.

Some have criticized the film for being too long at two and a half hours. If I have one complaint, it's the ending of the film is so damned unsatisfying, mainly because it doesn't resolve a major conflict but instead leaves it to be resolved in a third film (much as the second Pirates of the Caribbean film did). The film really doesn't feel that long until you get to the end and realize that it's all been a set up for another sequel. Then it suddenly feels longer.

I saw the film on an IMAX screen, which was worth it. Three action scenes were specially filmed in IMAX, and it's noticeable when the image suddenly fills the entire screen and becomes so much sharper.

Whatever else one can say about a Michael Bay film, they're always made with a high level of visual and technical skill, and this holds true here with the contributions of cinematographer Ben Seresin (A Good Woman), production designer Nigel Phelps (Alien Resurrection, Transformers), and costume designer Deborah L. Scott (Titanic, Transformers). Everything is as polished as one would expect.

Composer Steve Jablonsky (Transformers, Friday the 13th) layers on the bombast with a trowel, which certainly is a good fit with the tone of the production as a whole. Visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Transformers) has a bigger effects budget and more effects heavy scenes this time, and responds with seamless and compelling effects that carry the film.

Shia LaBeouf has established himself as the kind of action hero who resorts more to brains than to brawn but can still handle himself when the action begins, while also being photogenic and possessing a certain geeky charm. Once again he's called upon to add the human element to an action and effects heavy film, and once again he succeeds. Megan Fox is the drop dead gorgeous love interest, and playing drop dead gorgeous is so very easy for her, but it's her chemistry with LaBeouf that makes the romance between a geek and a grease monkey beauty seem believable. I think she's on her way to being a star, and hopefully she'll get some roles that allow her an opportunity to stretch her acting muscles. Ramón Rodríguez is the comic relief character who helps the hero and heroine, and he handles the role capably. I actually wanted to see more of his character.

The rest of the cast is solid across the board, including Josh Duhamel as Major Lennox, Tyrese Gibson as Sergeant Epps, John Turturro as former Sector 7 agent Seymour Simmons, Kevin Dunn and Julie White as Sam's parents, John Benjamin Hickey as the National Security Advisor, 24's Glenn Morshower as General Morshower (a character named for him, and he also played a different character in the first film), Isabel Lucas as a co-ed who shows a strong interest in Sam, and Rainn Wilson as a sleazy physics professor.

The voice cast shines in bringing Autobots and Decepticons to life, including Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, Tony Todd as the Fallen, Hugo Weaving as Megatron, Jess Harnell as Ironhide, Robert Foxworth as Ratchet, Mark Ryan as Jetfire, Grey DeLisle as Arcee, André Sogliuzzo as Sideswipe, Tom Kenny as Wheelie, Michael York as one of the Dynasty of Primes, Charlie Adler as Starscream, and Frank Welker as Soundwave.

Turning one's brain off every now and then isn't an entirely bad thing. In exchange, you get giant robots, explosions, Shia LaBeouf, and Megan Fox. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen isn't as good as its predecessor, but anyone who enjoyed the first film should enjoy this one, too.

[3.5 out of 5 stars]

Review: Terminator Salvation

2009-05-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

The fourth film in the Terminator franchise may not be on the same level as the first two directed by James Cameron, but it's miles above the weak third film and actually feels like a legitimate follow-up to Cameron's films and ideas.

Fourteen years after the nuclear apocalypse of Judgment Day when Skynet launched its attack on the human race, John Connor (Christian Bale) is a member of the resistance, but not yet the leader of it, when he becomes part of a mission that could destroy Skynet for good. He also learns that Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), the young man who in eleven years will go back in time and become his father, is being targeted for termination by Skynet. Meanwhile, Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), whose last memory is of being on death row fifteen years earlier, wanders into the wasteland of Los Angeles and is rescued by Reese, and after hearing an inspiring radio broadcast from Connor they decide to find him and join his group.

On first glance at his resume, director McG (numerous music videos, Charlie's Angels, We Are Marshall) may not have appeared to be the ideal choice to direct a mega-budget serious science fiction action film, but he proves to be more than up to the task, showing a steady hand with both the action scenes and the actors. His efficient storytelling keeps the film moving ahead at a good pace, but unlike some other recent genre films it never feels like it's merely rushing from one action scene to another, but instead takes some time for exploring the main characters and the themes of the story.

The screenplay is credited to writing team John D. Brancato & Michael Ferris (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Catwoman), but also includes uncredited revisions by Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight), Paul Haggis (Casino Royale), The Shield creator Shawn Ryan, and CSI: Las Vegas creator Anthony E. Zuiker. The film is both a sequel and a prequel, and a few small plot holes aside, the story is solidly constructed. While there's nothing really surprising about where the story takes us, it does a good job of advancing the overall story arc of the franchise and some of the humanistic themes found in the second film, but while the main characters are capably written, the secondary characters seem underdeveloped.

The film owes its distinctive look to cinematographer Shane Hurlbut (Drumline, We Are Marshall), who uses harsh lighting and the bleach bypass process to visually construct a post-apocalyptic future that looks hard and monochromatic, and production designer Martin Laing (Ghosts of the Abyss, City of Ember) and costumer designer Michael Wilkinson (300, Watchmen) further add to that effect with their sets and costumes. The overall feel is more credible than fantastic. Composer Danny Elfman (Batman, Spider-Man) contributes one of his typically Wagnerian scores while also incorporating Brad Fiedel's theme from Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Visual effects supervisor Charles Gibson (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End) capably oversees the work of several effects studios to create top of the line effects that seamlessly fit into the style of the production. The late Stan Winston, who provided the animatronic and makeup effects for the previous three films, died during production, but his studio completed their work on the film supervised by John Rosengrant (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Iron Man).

Christian Bale steps into the role played by Edward Furlong in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the woefully miscast Nick Stahl in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, making it fully his own. Bale's made a career of playing obsessed, psychologically scarred characters, and count this as another successful role in that vein. Bale brings some dramatic weight to the role, allowing us for the first time to really see John Connor as a hardened resistance fighter who inspires people to follow him.

Sam Worthington is a good counterpoint to Bale as a death row inmate who awakens in possibly an even worse situation, and then must find his place in a changed world where he's apparently been given a second chance. Anton Yelchin portrays the younger version of the character played by Michael Biehn in the original Terminator, and much as he did as the young Chekov in the new Star Trek, he successfully re-creates a known character at a younger age that reflects the original actor's performance while making it his own.

While the film lacks a paragon of physical feminism like Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor, Moon Bloodgood is credible enough as resistance fighter Blair Williams, minus one scene which can only be blamed on the writers. Bryce Dallas Howard replaces Claire Danes as Kate, a character introduced in the third film and now Connor's wife, and although she has limited screen time, she radiates a quiet strength that redeems how the character was portrayed in the previous film.

The rest of the cast is generally effective, including Common as Connor's right hand man Barnes, Helena Bonham Carter as a dying scientist whose research and experiments pioneer the Terminator cyborgs, Jadagrace Berry as an orphaned child named Star in Reese's care, Michael Ironside as the leader of the resistance movement, and Jane Alexander as a compassionate woman who aids Marcus, Reese, and Star. Linda Hamilton has a voice cameo as Sarah Connor in recorded messages her son listens to. Roland Kickinger plays a T-800 Terminator, the same model played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the previous films, and Kickinger is digitally manipulated to look like Schwarzenegger.

I went in with low expectations due to the mediocre third film and television series (which actually takes place in a different continuity than the later films), but I came out feeling that the Terminator franchise has been redeemed. Terminator Salvation isn't the classic the first two films were, but it's a good film that successfully continues their story and themes into a new era without rebooting everything that came before or significantly dumbing down. It's easily the best summer movie of 2009 so far.

[4 out of 5 stars]

Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

2009-05-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - While not without its flaws, this film is an entertaining action-oriented prequel to the X-Men films, featuring the most popular X-Man, Wolverine.

Beginning in 1845 and ending in 1979, the film explores the backstory of mutant superhero Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and his relationship with his older half-brother Victor aka the future supervillain Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber), and their involvement in the Team X black ops squad created by Colonel William Stryker (Danny Huston).

Director Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, Rendition) gets as much as he can out of the script with several well-conceived big action set pieces and capable performances from the main cast. There were reportedly major disputes between Hood and studio executives about the tone and direction of the film, and executive producer Richard Donner (director of Superman: The Movie) spent time on the set to smooth over the tensions. The creative differences may explain the uneven tone of the finished film, but Hood still proves capable of delivering exciting action scenes that fans will enjoy.

The screenplay by David Benioff (Troy, The Kite Runner) and Skip Woods (Swordfish, Hitman), while faithful in broad strokes to the character's comic origin, suffers from rushing from one action scene to another while leaving characters and sub-plots undeveloped. Benioff's original draft had some good buzz attached to it and was reportedly more character driven, so the contributions of Woods and three other uncredited writers may represent what the studio wanted more than what the director wanted. It's satisfactory as far as summer action flicks go, but there was room to do much more. Still, it's not the disaster that X-Men: The Last Stand was.

The productions values are high, with contributions by cinematographer Donald M. McAlpine (Moulin Rouge!, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), production designer Barry Robison (Rendition, Nim's Island), costume designer Louise Mingenbach (X-Men, X2: X-Men United), and composer Harry Gregson-Williams (Shrek, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) leading the way. The CG visual effects are good and effectively add to the action scenes.

What really makes the film work are the performances of Jackman and Schreiber, both individually and together, providing some depth lacking in the script. Jackman's portrayal of Wolverine through four films has been iconic, and this has been true even when the scripts were lacking, and he carries this film with grit and determination. Schreiber delivers the goods as Victor, so alike his brother in some ways but also so very different. Where Wolverine struggles to control his dark side, Victor embraces his. I would have liked more screen time devoted to the dualism of these two characters and their relationship.

The rest of the cast is adequate to the task at hand, including Huston as Stryker (an older version of the character was played by Brian Cox in X2), Black Eyed Peas' singer will.i.am as John Wraith, Lynn Collins as Kayla Silverfox, Kevin Durand as the Blob, Dominic Monaghan as Bolt, Taylor Kitsch as Gambit (although his Cajun accent is weak), Daniel Henney as Agent Zero, Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, Scott Adkins as Weapon XI, Tim Pocock as a teenaged Scott Summers (the future superhero Cyclops), Max Cullen and Julia Blake as an elderly couple who help Wolverine, Troye Sivan and Michael-James Olsen as young Wolverine and young Victor, and Tahyna Tozzi as Kayla's sister Emma (possibly Emma Frost). There's also a fun cameo that I don't want to spoil for anyone, but fans should love it.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine sacrifices character development and plot coherence for action, but despite its flaws it manages to be an entertaining start to the summer film season. If you like Wolverine and you like action, this film should satisfy you.

[3.5 out of 5 stars]

Review: Watchmen

2009-03-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

Watchmen - A graphic novel once labeled "unfilmable" finally arrives on the big screen. The result is breathtakingly good. It's not quite another Dark Knight, but it's easily one of the best films ever produced in the superhero genre.

In 1986-87, DC Comics published a twelve-issue comic book series called Watchmen, written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons. Later collected as a graphic novel, this series was a revolutionary and sophisticated take on superheroes with a heavy dose of social commentary. It also became the only graphic novel to be included on TIME Magazine's 2005 list of "the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present." After several attempts to adapt it into a film by directors including Terry Gilliam (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream), and Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday) all collapsed, it looked like it would never get produced. It was worth the wait.

After a retired superhero known as the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is murdered, the vigilante Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) believes that there's a conspiracy to eliminate costumed heroes, and soon the other retired Watchmen--Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson), Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman), Doctor Manhattan (Billy Crudup), and Ozymandias (Matthew Goode)--become involved as events begin to spiral out of control, threatening the entire planet.

Director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, 300) proves his critics wrong, myself included, by successfully translating difficult source material into such a strong film. He's always been a talented visual stylist, so it's no surprise that by using Dave Gibbons' art as a blueprint, Snyder has quite literally and vividly brought the world of Watchmen to life, allowing fans of the graphic novel to feel like they've stepped inside them. He transforms each action scene into a slow motion ballet of carnage, and the opening credits montage that reveals the backstory is brilliantly executed. What's surprising, at least to me, is that after 300's cardboard story and woeful acting, Snyder manages to tell a compelling story with good performances. Perhaps it's simply a case of rising to the level of the material he's working with.

The screenplay by David Hayter (X-Men, X2: X-Men United) and Alex Tse (Sucker Free City), with uncredited revisions by the team of Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman (Transformers, Star Trek), is largely faithful to the source material except for certain events at the end, but it's really only the method by which those events occur that has been changed rather than the events and their repercussions. The story that unfolds on the screen isn't as deep as in the graphic novel, but the social commentary in Alan Moore's works have always fared better on the printed page (see the film adaptation of V for Vendetta as another example). Still, the screenwriters deserve much credit for distilling such a complex tale into a two hour and forty-two minute film without losing the essence of the story or its characters, allowing it to be enjoyed by both fans of the graphic novel and a mainstream film audience. A three hour and ten minute director's cut will eventually be released on DVD.

The contributions of cinematographer Larry Fong (Lost, 300), production designer Alex McDowell (The Crow, Fight Club), and costumer designer Michael Wilkinson (Babel, 300) are very important to realizing the story's world on the screen. Fong's bold use of color and lighting achieves the dramatic effect required, McDowell's sets convey a sense of the real world with a twist in some scenes and a sense of the fantastic in others, and Wilkinson's costumes, designed with an assist by comic book artists Adam Hughes and John Cassaday, look quite convincing on the screen. The sweeping score by Tyler Bates (The Devil's Rejects, 300) captures the changing moods of the story, punctuated by several perfect songs (some of which were actually referenced in the graphic novel). The visual effects are outstanding, but rarely drown out the human aspects of the story.

Former child actor Haley (The Bad News Bears) dominates the film with his visceral and frightening performance as Rorschach. Crudup is chillingly aloof as Doctor Manhattan, a man transformed into a cosmic being and who seems to have lost his humanity, conveying so much through body language and subtle facial expressions. Wilson is a very believable Nite Owl, while former model Akerman is respectably solid as Silk Spectre. The Comedian is a nasty piece of work who, like many such people, is also superficially charming, and Morgan captures that perfectly. Although Goode isn't a match for how Ozymandias was portrayed in the comics, he's well-suited to the role of an arrogant genius for whom the ends justify the means.

The rest of the cast is solid, including Carla Gugino as the original Silk Spectre, Matt Frewer as retired villain Moloch, Stephen McHattie as the retired original Nite Owl, Robert Wisden as President Nixon, Frank Novak as Henry Kissinger, Danny Woodburn as Big Figure, and Eli Snyder (the director's son) as a young Rorschach.

Watchmen the film lacks some of the complexity of Watchmen the graphic novel, but I suspect the former comes as close as possible to realizing the latter on screen as one could hope for. As a film, it's excellent, offering a compelling story, quality acting, incredible visuals, and a visceral experience. Highly recommended. I watched it on an IMAX screen. If you have an opportunity to see it in IMAX, I recommend it.

Note to parents: yes, I know it's based on a comic book and has costumed heroes, but Watchmen has an R rating for a very good reason. The film has graphic violence, profanity, nudity, extended sex scenes, and a violent attempted rape. Be aware of this before deciding to take your children to see it.

[4.5 stars out of 5]

Quantum of Solace

2008-11-18T22:20:00.000-08:00

Overall, this is an entertaining sequel to Casino Royale, the 2006 reboot of the venerable James Bond film franchise.

British superspy James Bond (Daniel Craig) seeks revenge on those responsible for the death of Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, namely the shadowy organization Quantum (similar to SPECTRE in the early films) and one of its leaders, Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric). This course of action also brings 007 into conflict with his boss M (Judi Dench) and CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), as Bond's mission of vengeance threatens the interests of both the American and the British governments.

Director Marc Forster (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland) seems to be influenced by the successful Bourne films in the frenetic shooting style he uses here, and for the most part it works well for creating an exciting, action-based Bond film for the 21st century, although his overuse of ShakyCam renders some scenes confusing and hard to watch. He continues the grittier feel began in the previous film, and also includes a nice visual homage to 1964's Goldfinger in one scene. Thanks to his efficiency as a director, Quantum of Solace clocks in as the shortest Bond film on record at 106 minutes. The film also redefines the meaning of the word globetrotting.

The screenplay by Paul Haggis (Crash, Casino Royale), the team of Neal Purvis & Robert Wade (The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale), and the uncredited Forster, producer Michael G. Wilson (writer or co-writer of all five Bond films produced in the 1980s), and Joshua Zetumer results in a smart and compact action film that continues to re-build the Bond character after the Casino Royale reboot (described by some as Bond Begins) while making a 46-year-old franchise seem relevant again. The more cooly ruthless portrayal of the main character moves the franchise back toward creator Ian Fleming's novels, even as the dialogue-light, action-heavy story is thoroughly contemporary.

I recently re-watched one of the best Bond films ever, 1963's From Russia with Love, which seems almost sedentary when compared to the pace of Quantum of Solace. Pacing aside, it's nice to see the rebooted films bringing back some of the classic elements of the franchise. Casino Royale waited until the end credits to use Monty Norman's classic "James Bond Theme", while this film waits until the end credits to bring back the classic gun barrel sequence.

Cinematographer Roberto Schaefer (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland), production designer Dennis Gassner (Field of Dreams, The Golden Compass), and costume designer Louise Frogley (Good Night, and Good Luck, Syriana) contribute high production values to the film. Schaefer's hard but stylish lighting sets the tone for the entire film, while Gassner adds to the list of memorable sets created for Bond films.

Composer David Arnold, who's worked on five straight Bond films dating back to 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies, provides a thrilling score while making appropriate use of the "James Bond Theme" (used more than in Casino Royale, but far less than in the pre-reboot films). The theme song "Another Way to Die" performed by Jack White (from the band The White Stripes) and Alicia Keys is seductively catchy, perfectly complementing the eye-catching main title sequence created by visual effects company MK12.

In his second outing as 007, Craig once again proves highly capable of playing the character and making him seem real, and shows why he's easily the best Bond since Sean Connery put away his Walther PPK. Craig's Bond is serious, driven, and a bit of an emotional wreck, but slowly we see him becoming the smooth spy we all know without losing the nuances Craig brings to the role.

Noted French actor Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) is good as the latest Bond villain, more low-key than past villains but still a compelling character. Dench continues to be a strong presence as M, while Wright's second turn as Leiter is effective despite limited screen time.

Forster is a good director of actors and gets effective performances out of the cast as a whole, including Ukrainian model Olga Kurylenko as latest Bond girl Camille Montes, Giancarlo Giannini as retired MI6 agent René Mathis, Gemma Arterton as secondary Bond girl MI6 agent Strawberry Fields, David Harbour as CIA section chief Gregg Beam, Jesper Christensen as Quantum's Mr. White (one of the villains in the previous film), Anatole Taubman as Greene's henchman Elvis, Rory Kinnear as M's chief of staff Bill Tanner, Tim Pigott-Smith as the British Foreign Minister, Joaquín Cosio as General Medrano, Fernando Guillén Cuervo as a corrupt Bolivian police colonel, Glenn Foster as M's bodyguard Craig Mitchell, and Oona Chaplin (Charlie's granddaughter) as a hotel receptionist who catches the eye of Medrano. Noted directors Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) and Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men) provide voices in several scenes.

Quantum of Solace isn't quite as good as Casino Royale, but it's still a worthy sequel and immediately ranks among the better 007 films. After 46 years and 22 films, no one still does it better than Bond, James Bond.

[4 out of 5 stars]

The Dark Knight

2008-10-14T15:45:00.000-07:00

It's rare that a film lives up to all the hype, but in the hands of director Christopher Nolan and a brilliant cast, this one does.

One year after the events of Batman Begins, Batman (Christian Bale), honest cop Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman), and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) are putting the squeeze on Gotham City's crime bosses. Just when it appears that they may be winning the war on organized crime, a sociopathic agent of chaos called the Joker (Heath Ledger) begins to terrorize the city with his own twisted propaganda of the deed.

Director Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins, The Prestige) proved with the previous film that he could craft intense action scenes and intense performances without skipping a beat. In his second journey into the shadows of Gotham City, Nolan turns the intensity dial up to 11 to deliver what may be the best superhero film ever made. It's certainly the darkest one, and despite the PG-13 rating in the US, one of the most violent. It's not a perfect film, but it comes close.

Screenwriters Nolan, his brother Jonathan Nolan (Memento, The Prestige), and David S. Goyer (Blade, Batman Begins) take the conflict between a dark hero and an even darker villain to almost Shakespearean heights. By not providing a definitive origin for the Joker or explaining his madness, they create a character who remains a frightening enigma. This is the Joker the way he should be, the twisted opposite of an emotionally scarred hero.

Cinematographer Wally Pfister (Memento, Batman Begins, The Prestige), production designer Nathan Crowley (Batman Begins, The Prestige), and costume designer Lindy Hemming (Batman Begins, Casino Royale) render an environment that seems part of our real world while also suggesting the twisted emotional terrain that gave birth to both Batman and the Joker. Reflecting the main character's war on crime, Gotham City looks cleaner and more prosperous than in the previous film. The musical score by James Newton Howard (Batman Begins, King Kong) and Hans Zimmer (Batman Begins, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest) is a dark, swirling mass of sound that captures the contradictions of Gotham City and its Dark Knight.

Bale once again brings substance to his portrayal of socialite Bruce Wayne and his obsessed vigilante alter ego, remaining the definitive Batman of film or television. What can one really say about the late Ledger's performance as the Joker except that it's brilliant. His Joker creates an indelible impression upon the screen. This isn't Cesar Romero or Jack Nicholson. This is a raw, messy, stark raving mad tour de force of a performance, to the point where Ledger ceases to exist and only the Joker remains. Eckhart gives a strong performance as the idealistic Harvey Dent, Gotham City's Light Knight to Batman's Dark Knight and Bruce Wayne's romantic rival, and his performance only gets better after he's victimized by the Joker's campaign of terror.

The rest of the cast is strong across the board, including Michael Caine as Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred, Maggie Gyllenhaal as Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes (played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins), Oldman as Lt. Gordon, Morgan Freeman as Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox, Monique Gabriela Curnen as Detective Anna Ramirez, Chin Han as crime gang accountant Lau, Nestor Carbonell as Gotham City's Mayor, Eric Roberts as crime boss Sal Maroni, Anthony Michael Hall as reporter Mike Engel, Keith Szarabajka as Detective Gerard Stephens, Colin McFarlane as Police Commissioner Loeb, Melinda McGraw and Nathan Gamble as Gordon's wife and son, Doug Ballard as a businessman and Tiny Lister as a prison inmate who have key roles in stopping one of the Joker's plans, and Cillian Murphy briefly reprising his role as the Scarecrow.

The Dark Knight is a masterpiece in a genre where action and visuals are too often stronger than writing or acting. Everything about this film is high quality, and it serves as an enduring testament to the talent of the late Heath Ledger. Highly recommended.

[5 out of 5 stars]

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

2008-07-02T00:05:00.000-07:00

It would have been asking too much to expect this film to recapture the magic of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) or the B-movie thrills of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), but it gives it a good try and manages to at least achieve a similar level of entertainment value as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), which it resembles both in theme and tone.

1957. Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr. (Harrison Ford) is kidnapped by Soviet agents led by the icy Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) to help them locate a missing artifact they believe will give them military superiority. Although he escapes their clutches, the adventure is hardly over for Indy once the young motorcycle-riding greaser Mutt (Shia LaBeouf), who claims to be the son of a woman named Marion (Karen Allen) who once knew Indy, informs him that his old friend Harold Oxley (John Hurt) went missing in Peru after finding a mysterious crystal skull. Indy and Mutt head for South America, where they find danger and some surprising revelations waiting for them.

Director Steven Spielberg is called upon to adopt a shooting style he largely abandoned after the previous Indiana Jones film in 1989, and for the most part he succeeds in recapturing it. The film does suffer from some pacing issues and some bloat, but for a fourth entry in a nearly three decade old film franchise, it has to be judged a success. Spielberg has certainly grown immensely as a filmmaker since 1989, and it's perhaps for this reason that he can't entirely recapture his old touch for pulp adventures. Although executive producer George Lucas prefers his productions to be shot digitally now, Spielberg wisely shot on film to keep the production's look consistent with its predecessors.

The screenplay by David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Spider-Man), based on a story by Lucas and Jeff Nathanson (Catch Me If You Can, Rush Hour 3), is solidly constructed if formulaic. Raiders of the Lost Ark screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan returns to polish up some of the dialog, but receives no on-screen credit. Many plot elements can be traced back to the unproduced Indiana Jones and the Saucer Men script by Jeb Stuart (Die Hard, The Fugitive) from 1995, which was also based on a Lucas story, although Stuart also goes uncredited. It doesn't fail to let us know what life has been like for Indy since the last film, or what happened to his father and Marcus Brody.

The story is set in the 1950s, reflecting both the pop culture and the paranoia of the times, when even a decorated war hero like Indiana Jones could be suspected of disloyalty. While all the films have had a good amount of humor in them, this one often goes the furthest toward being an outright comedy. Some of it works, some of it doesn't, but it's consistent with the direction the franchise started taking with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Critics have complained about the film's science fiction elements, but they fit what's essentially a 1950s pulp story and don't require any more suspension of disbelief than angry spirits, magic stones, or centuries-old knights guarding the Holy Grail.

Douglas Slocombe, the cinematographer of the first three films, retired after the previous one, so the task fell to frequent Spielberg collaborator Janusz Kaminski (Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan) to successfully recreate Slocombe's style, which he does quite well. Production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas (X2, Superman Returns) and costume designers Bernie Pollack (Rain Man) and Mary Zophres (Catch Me If You Can) very effectively create sets and costumes that reflect the period as well as the more fantastic elements of the story. John Williams provides an appropriate score, and his famous "Raiders March" is still a thrilling theme for the exploits of Indiana Jones.

Although some have criticized the film for using so many CGI effects, Industrial Light & Magic is up to its usual high standard of work in creating those effects. The stunts were performed the old fashioned way with CGI used only to remove wires and other mechanical effects equipment from shots, and I think that's the most important thing here, the old school stuntwork.

Ford easily slips back into the familiar fedora without a hitch after almost two decades away from the role, and now Indy is older and a little wiser, but still someone who enjoys a good adventure. Following his lead role in Transformers last year, LaBeouf gives an adept performance as Indy's greaser sidekick and the son of Indy's Raiders love interest Marion Ravenwood, and it's a delight to see Allen return to the role of Marion, as her spirited presence was sorely missed in the other sequels. Blanchett is spot on as the coldhearted Soviet agent, reminding one of a classic James Bond antagonist.

The rest of the effective cast includes Hurt as Indy's old friend, Ray Winstone as Indy's fellow adventurer Mac, Jim Broadbent as the Dean of the college Indy teaches at (essentially taking the place of the late Denholm Elliott's Marcus Brody), Igor Jijikine as KGB Colonel Dovchenko, and Alan Dale as US General Ross.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is an entertaining and affectionate production with nods toward all three of the previous films and television's The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. It works as a nostalgic two hours spent with an old friend who's a little past his prime but still has one last hurrah left in him. Thanks for four entertaining films, Indy!

[3.5 out of 5 stars]

Starship Troopers

2008-06-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

I re-watched Starship Troopers last night. Although it has a poor reputation in some quarters, I think director Paul Verhoeven created a shockingly good film if you understand that it's actually an ultraviolent black comedy that satirizes the unreflective militarism of Robert Heinlein's novel. It's deliberately over the top as it takes aim at militarism, authoritarianism, and media propaganda, and it's more complex than it appears to be if you view it simply as a sci fi action film, although it certainly delivers some impressive action scenes to complement the satire. Verhoeven and screenwriter Ed Neumeier previously collaborated on the similarly satirical RoboCop. Starship Troopers is less immediately accessible in some ways than RoboCop, but it's just as good.

2008-06-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

I re-watched a couple of my favorite films last night. If a film is ranked among my favorites, I never get tired of seeing it again and again.

First was 1983's Videodrome, directed by David Cronenberg, and starring James Woods and Debbie Harry. Like most of Cronenberg's earlier films, it's a cult classic that deals with physical transformation, the nature of reality, and systems of control. It's brilliant and bizarre, and after seeing it too many times to count, I'm still not entirely sure what it's really about. Woods' performance is one of the film's strengths, and Harry's charged portrayal of a woman turned on by pain is erotic.

Then it was 1964's A Hard Day's Night, the first film starring the Beatles. Looking back to the Marx Brothers and The Goon Show and forward to Monty Python's Flying Circus and music videos, it's a hilarious farce told cinema-verité style by director Richard Lester and blessed with musical performances by the Fab Four. For musicians with no previous acting experience, John, Paul, George, and Ringo capably handle that side of things and their rough edges actually work in the film's favor. Ringo, especially, displays a goofy charm that steals the spotlight several times.

I also watched part of a horror film on cable called Black Dahlia that was so bad it made Uwe Boll's films look like Citizen Kane. Seriously. I just had to stop watching it after about ten minutes. I couldn't even finish it so I could write a proper review. It was directed by Boll's countryman, Ulli Lommel. If a film's bad enough to make Boll's films look good, it should be banned as a crime against humanity.

2008-05-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

I re-watched the first three Indiana Jones films. They're still great fun, and I find that my overall ratings of them haven't changed at all.

Raiders of the Lost Ark - 4.5 out of 5 stars
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - 4 out of 5 stars
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - 3.5 out of 5 stars

That's right, I rate Temple of Doom higher than Last Crusade. Temple of Doom is the underrated film in the series. It's not quite as good as Raiders, but in many ways it's the truest to the spirit of the old movie serials that inspired the Indiana Jones series in the first place. Those serials were basically exploitation films, and Temple of Doom gets that in a big way.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

2008-05-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

The second film based on C.S. Lewis's series of novels isn't as smoothly realized as its predecessor, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but it still offers a good amount of entertainment value.

The four English children (Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell) who became rulers of Narnia in the previous film are called back after 1,300 years have passed there to aid Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) in overthrowing his evil uncle, King Miraz (Sergio Castellitto), and restoring freedom to Narnia.

Director Andrew Adamson (Shrek, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) once again proves capable of bringing the world of Narnia to life and his background in visual effects (he supervised the effects for Batman Forever and Batman & Robin) still serves him well. However, his sense of pacing frequently deserts him this time around, delivering a film that wanders aimlessly at times and has abrupt scene transitions at others. Even though it's two hours and twenty minutes long, it feels like it was intended to be a much longer film but was reduced to a shorter running time. Editor Sim Evan-Jones (Shrek, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) certainly deserves a share of the blame for the pacing problems.

Adamson and co-writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (both of whom worked on the previous film) make more changes to Lewis' novel than the last film did. The rivalry between Peter and Caspian, and the romance between Susan and Caspian, are unnecessary additions. The spectacle overtakes the story just a bit here in trying to make a bigger film. Still, it's a solid adaptation overall.

Cinematographer Karl Walter Lindenlaub (Stargate, Independence Day), production designer Roger Ford (Babe, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), and costume designer Isis Mussenden (Shrek, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) do a good job of building on the visual look of the previous film. It's still not quite up to the standards set by The Lord of the Rings, though. The score by Harry Gregson-Williams (Shrek, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) is suitable to the story. The visual effects are outstanding, and the CGI looks smoother and more realistic this time.

Henley, Keynes, Moseley, and Popplewell again bring the characters of the children to life quite convincingly. Barnes is slightly wooden as Caspian, but still adequate to the tasks at hand. Castellitto is convincing as the villain of the piece. I've always enjoyed the performances of actor Peter Dinklage (Threshold, Penelope), and it's no exception here where he plays Trumpkin the dwarf. Eddie Izzard is marvelous as the voice of Reepicheep the swashbuckling mouse. Liam Neeson's voice work as Aslan is again right on the money. Although not strictly faithful to the novel it's fun to see Tilda Swinton return as the White Witch for a cameo appearance.

The rest of the cast is solid across the board, including Pierfrancesco Favino as Miraz's military commander, Damián Alcázar as the scheming Lord Sopespian, Vincent Grass as Dr. Cornelius, Warwick Davis as Nikabrik the dwarf, and Ken Stott as the voice of Trufflehunter the badger.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian has more flaws than its predecessor, but it's still an above average fantasy film that children and fans of the novel should enjoy. The third film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is in pre-production and may benefit from a different director in Michael Apted (Gorillas in the Mist, The World Is Not Enough).

[3.5 out of 5 stars]

Iron Man

2008-05-08T14:15:00.000-07:00

The golden age of films derived from comic books continues with a production that immediately vaults into the category of the best superhero films.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a billionaire playboy and a brilliant engineer. While in Afghanistan to demonstrate his new weapons system to American military brass, including his old friend Lt. Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Terrence Howard), Stark is severely wounded during an attack on his military convoy and is taken hostage by the Ten Rings terrorist group and their leader Raza (Faran Tahir), who wants Stark to build a weapons system for him. Stark and fellow captive Dr. Yinsen (Shaun Toub), who creates a device to keep Stark alive despite his injuries, instead construct a metal battlesuit that Stark uses to stage an escape. Returning home to America, Stark finds himself changed by his experience as a captive and decides to stop manufacturing weapons. His decision puts him in conflict with his mentor and corporate second in command, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), who challenges Stark for control of the company and uses his battlesuit designs to become the villainous Iron Monger. Can Stark save the day as Iron Man?

Director Jon Favreau (Elf, Zathura) completely gets what this film and by extension the superhero genre are all about, injecting high flying action, a sense of humor without getting campy, and a respect for the genre into a thoroughly entertaining two hours of cinematic fun. It's a tightly constructed film that effortlessly succeeds on all intended levels. It doesn't break any new ground, but it's a satisfying and high quality production that ranks among the best of the superhero films. I was initially concerned when Favreau was hired as director because his previous films just seemed to lack a certain spark, but that spark is here in spades.

The screenplay by the writing teams of Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby (Children of Men) and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (Shadow of Fear), along with a final polish by the uncredited John August (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride) and some uncredited additional dialog by comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis, is top notch and faithful in tone to the source material. The script was more of a guide for the director and actors, with much of the dialog improvised on set, giving a much more naturalistic feel to many scenes.

Cinematographer Matthew Libatique (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain) provides a sleek visual style as polished as Iron Man's armor, matched by the sets of production designer J. Michael Riva (Zathura, Spider-Man 3). The three versions of Iron Man armor were created by Stan Winston Studios, with the final form based on designs by artists Adi Granov and Phil Saunders. The score by Ramin Djawadi (Blade: Trinity, Mr. Brooks) is perfectly suited to the story, with just the right amount of bombast befitting of the film's title (the Black Sabbath song of the same name is used over the end credits). The visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic are up to their usual high standard of work, featuring seamless CGI.

Downey is absolutely perfect as Stark/Iron Man. The roguish charm, the ego, the determination, and the transformation into a hero...it's all here, and Downey's presence lends weight and believability not only to his role but to the film as a whole. While Bridges' performance isn't on that level, it's still a solid counterpoint to Downey's as Stark's mentor turned foe. Howard captures the personality of Rhodey. Gwyneth Paltrow has fun with the role of Pepper Potts, Stark's enamored personal assistant.

The rest of the cast is also well chosen for their roles, including Toub as Yinsen, Tahir as Raza, Leslie Bibb as a reporter Stark has a one night stand with, Bill Smitrovich as General Gabriel, Clark Gregg as SHIELD Agent Coulson, and director Favreau as Stark's bodyguard/driver Happy Hogan. Iron Man co-creator Stan Lee has a cameo as a benefit party guest mistaken for Hugh Hefner. Paul Bettany is another nice touch as the voice of JARVIS, an advanced artificial intelligence program that Stark uses (in the comics, Jarvis is a human butler).

The summer film season just got kicked off in a spectacular fashion. Whether you're a comic book fan or just an action movie fan, Iron Man will leave you completely satisfied and then some. Just be sure to stay past the end credits for a special bonus scene that sets up future developments in a fan-thrilling way.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

Nim's Island

2008-04-16T01:15:00.000-07:00

If the definition of a good family film is one that successfully appeals to all members of a family, no matter their ages, then this fun little picture meets the qualifications to be labeled a good family film.

Nim (Abigail Breslin) is a girl who lives on an island in the South Pacific with only her scientist father (Gerard Butler) and her animal friends as companions. After her father goes missing while conducting research at sea, Nim emails adventurer Alex Rover (also Butler) for help, but Rover is only a fictional character created by novelist Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster), an agoraphobic and obsessive-compulsive who's urged by her own fictional creation to venture outside her home to the South Pacific to answer Nim's pleas for help.

Directors Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett, who previously collaborated on Little Manhattan with Levin as director and Flackett as writer, deliver a playful and laugh out loud adventure comedy with light fantasy trimmings. It's a successful throwback to the kind of live action family films Hollywood used to do so well once upon a time. Yes, that means it's fair to call it predictable and lightweight, but it's also funny enough and short enough to provide above average entertainment that the entire family can enjoy together. I enjoyed it on the escapist level it's intended to be taken at.

The screenplay by Levin, Flackett, Joseph Kwong (Growing Pains) and Paula Mazur is based on the novel by Wendy Orr, and if the plot summaries of the novel I've perused are accurate it appears to be a reasonably faithful adaptation.

Cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh (Bridget Jones's Diary, Æon Flux) provides the film with an appropriately bright and polished look, while production designer Barry Robison (Wedding Crashers, Rendition) creates a believable world for the characters to inhabit. The score by Patrick Doyle (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Eragon) is right at home with the material. Visual effects supervisor Scott Gordon makes good use of CGI to bring Nim's animal companions to life as wonderfully realized characters in their own right.

What really makes the story work as well as it does is its cast. Breslin, nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in 2006's Little Miss Sunshine, once again proves to be a capable and charming young actress who can carry a film and make you believe in her character. Foster takes on a rare comedic role and does just fine with the lighter material, also displaying a good knack for physical comedy when required. I disliked Butler's obnoxious performance in 300, but he's in good form here as both Nim's loving father and the fictional adventurer that exists inside the head of his creator. He's especially good as the latter, and one wishes they could make a spinoff film about that character. The principal actors all have nice chemistry with each other.

Also good are Michael Carman as the captain of a cruise ship, Anthony Simcoe as his first mate, Maddison Joyce as a young boy passenger on the ship who encounters Nim, Peter Callan and Rhonda Doyle as the boy's parents, and Jay Laga'aia as a helicopter pilot who helps Foster's character get to the island.

While Nim's Island hardly breaks new ground, it's an effective piece of family entertainment that succeeds at what it's trying to accomplish.

[3.5 out of 5 stars]

The Maltese Falcon

2008-04-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Keeping with the theme of re-watching DVDs in my collection, I turned my attention to the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon on Saturday night.

It has long been one of my favorite films from the classic era of Hollywood. It's also widely considered to be the first film noir, and many of the conventions of the genre are established in it. Its quality is even more remarkable an achievement when one considers that it's John Huston's first film as a director.

Based on the influential 1930 novel by Dashiell Hammett, Huston's Oscar nominated screenplay is unusually faithful to its literary source for a Hollywood production. He essentially condenses it for the screen and removes material deemed inappropriate by the Production Code--mostly sexual content, particularly the homosexuality of several characters (although the film still manages to imply much of it).

As directorial debuts go, it's a great one, but it was only second best in 1941, which happened to be the same year that Orson Welles' Citizen Kane was released. Both The Maltese Falcon and Citizen Kane were nominated for Best Picture, although only Welles earned a Best Director nomination. Neither film won (nor did Welles win as a director).

The production values are high across the board, with the moody cinematography of Arthur Edeson (Frankenstein, Mutiny on the Bounty), the well-designed sets of Robert Haas (Knute Rockne All American) and the score by Adolph Deutsch (They Drive by Night, High Sierra) standing out.

As is usually the case with a great film, one of its many strengths is its cast. Humphrey Bogart is absolutely perfect as private eye Sam Spade. Something I like about Bogart's Spade is what a complete bastard he can be. He's very much an anti-hero. My favorite line comes when Spade slaps Joel Cairo and then tells him, "When you're slapped, you'll take it and like it." Then he slaps him a few more times for good measure. He epitomizes the tough guy detective, and one can justifiably say that his performance here is the blueprint for the character type in future film noirs.

Bogart got the job only after George Raft turned down the role because he didn't want to work with a first time director. Ironically, Raft would later turn down the lead role in Casablanca, which again went to Bogart, who turned in another memorable performance. How much different would the careers of both actors have been if Raft had accepted both roles?

The rest of the cast is every bit as good, including Mary Astor as manipulative femme fatale Brigid O'Shaughnessy, Peter Lorre as the effeminate Cairo, veteran stage actor Sydney Greenstreet in his film debut as the Fat Man (which earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor), Lee Patrick as Spade's secretary Effie, Jerome Cowan as Spade's ill-fated partner, Gladys George as the partner's wife and Spade's lover, and Elisha Cook Jr. as the Fat Man's boy toy and hot-headed gunman Wilmer.

In 1989, the Library of Congress' National Film Registry placed this film on its list of "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films". If one was to compile a list of films worthy of being seen before you die, I'd argue strongly for the inclusion of The Maltese Falcon. "The stuff that dreams are made of", indeed.

It's of interesting note that the film is actually the third adaptation of the novel. In this case, the third time really is the charm. The first adaptation is 1931's The Maltese Falcon with Ricardo Cortez as Spade and Bebe Daniels as Brigid. The second is 1936's Satan Met a Lady, a much looser adaptation done as a comedy, with Warren William and Bette Davis in the main roles (although with different names than in the novel or other films). I haven't seen the 1931 version, something I should rectify soon, because it's currently available on DVD. While the 1936 film isn't a classic, I do enjoy it for its more screwball aspects and Davis having fun as a femme fatale.

I think my next re-watch will be The Thin Man, another adaptation of a Hammett novel.

The Ruins

2008-04-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

It's hard being a horror film fan some days. You have to see a lot of chaff to get to the occasional good stuff, and sometimes it seems like filmmakers aren't even trying to make something good. This film is a good example of that.

Two young American couples (Jonathan Tucker and Jena Malone, Shawn Ashmore and Laura Ramsey) on vacation in Mexico meet a German tourist (Joe Anderson) who tells them that he knows of an archaeological dig at newly discovered ruins in the jungle. Looking for some more excitement before they return home, the couples and their new friend travel to the ruins but discover a little more excitement than they bargained for.

Fashion photographer turned director of television commercials Carter Smith makes his feature film debut, and fails in just about every way possible. If he understands the concept of generating suspense, his flat direction of every scene doesn't show it. No suspense, no horror and no entertainment value sums up my experience of this film. Take away the ample gore and there's nothing at all horrific here except how awful the production as a whole is. It's like one of those horrible films the Sci Fi Channel is notorious for broadcasting, only with more gore and bad words. Same level of badness, though.

Scott B. Smith (A Simple Plan) adapts his own novel into an over-simplified and predictable screenplay with paper-thin characters and dialog that is frequently laughable. The ending itself is a cop-out compared to the bleak ending of the novel. It's not often that the original writer deserves some of the blame for how a film adaptation turns out. This is one of those times.

The talents of noted cinematographer Darius Khondji (City of Lost Children, Se7en) are absolutely wasted here, as director Smith wants everything lit as bright and flat as possible. Khondji complies, but it's nothing that any average cinematographer couldn't have done just as well.

The cast is adequate to realizing the paper-thin characterizations, which is a kind way of saying not very adequate in terms of quality. The biggest disappointment is Malone, who quickly gets on your nerves and stays there. The only other actor I'm familiar with is Ashmore, whose work as Iceman in the X-Men films showed more ability than is on display here. I'm going to take a stab and say the inexperienced director was a factor here as well.

As the tourists in the film discovered too late, The Ruins are best avoided. Enter at your own peril.

[1 out of 5 stars]

Heston/Touch of Evil/Murder, My Sweet

2008-04-08T01:10:00.000-07:00

Charlton Heston. Yet another link to the old days of Hollywood is gone. His list of credits is impressive, including Dark City, The Greatest Show on Earth (winner of the Best Picture Oscar in 1952), The Ten Commandments (with his iconic performance as Moses), Touch of Evil, Ben-Hur (for which he won the Best Actor Oscar in 1959), El Cid, The Agony and the Ecstasy, and Planet of the Apes, not to forget his roles in films of more dubious quality such as Soylent Green, The Omega Man, Earthquake, and Solar Crisis. And he could even make fun of himself, as he did in Tim Burton's otherwise dismal remake of Planet of the Apes.

The only Heston film that I have on DVD is Touch of Evil, which I re-watched Sunday night. Now Touch of Evil is an interesting topic on its own. It was a B-movie that in the hands of director Orson Welles became the last great film noir of the classic era, and it wasn't until Roman Polanski made his 1974 neo-noir Chinatown that another classic came along, although one could argue that Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 classic Alphaville had elements of noir in it.

And even the greatness of Touch of Evil was partly obscured after the studio (Universal) took the film away from Welles in post-production, bringing in Harry Keller to direct some new scenes and editing it without Welles' input. It was still a good film, but it wasn't until much later that one was able to fully appreciate just how good it was. Welles left a detailed 58-page memo about how the film should be edited, and in 1998 the closest thing possible to a director's cut was finally constructed according to that memo.

Walter Murch, editor of Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece Apocalypse Now, skillfully re-cut the film to Welles' specifications and allowed film lovers to see what studio hackwork had blurred for decades. Of course, even the studio version couldn't hide Russell Metty's starkly beautiful black-and-white cinematography or Henry Mancini's score, both of which contributed to the essential tone of the film.

Touch of Evil is a wonderfully baroque film noir with a tawdry underbelly and a surprising sense of humor that keeps it from becoming too grim. On first glance, Heston would seem to be miscast as a Mexican police official, but with the exception of a non-existent accent, he's really quite good as the straight-arrow Vargas. Of course, the real star of the film is Welles, masterfully chewing the scenery as a corrupt, racist cop from the American side of the border. With much padding to add to his physical bulk, Welles literally and metaphorically throws his weight around as both actor and director.

The stellar cast also includes Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Ray Collins, Dennis Weaver, Mort Mills, Marlene Dietrich, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Joseph Cotten and Mercedes McCambridge in a brief but memorable cameo. It's the kind of film that could only have been made by the Hollywood of the past, and Heston is an essential part of it.

I recently also re-watched one of my other favorite classic noirs, 1944's Murder, My Sweet. Based on Raymond Chandler's novel, Farewell, My Lovely, it was the first screen appearance of Chandler's private eye Philip Marlowe. Director Edward Dmytryk (who later testified against the film's producer, Adrian Scott, before the House Committee on Un-American Activities) provides one of the truest adaptations of Chandler, filled with the seamy atmosphere of Los Angeles in bygone days captured by the moody cinematography of Harry J. Wild.

Marlowe is portrayed by Dick Powell, previously known as a youthful looking star of musicals and light comedies. Certainly not an actor at the time who would be considered ideal for the role of a cynical, tough guy detective, but it's an offbeat casting choice that works very well, capturing the cynicism of Marlowe without allowing the character to become unlikable.

Marlowe has been subsequently portrayed by numerous actors over the years: Humphrey Bogart, Robert Montgomery, George Montgomery, Philip Carey, James Garner, Elliott Gould, Robert Mitchum, Powers Boothe, James Caan and even Danny Glover. I would argue very strongly in favor of Powell being the best Marlowe of them all, with Bogart coming in a close second. Of the actors that Chandler saw in the role before his death in 1959, Powell reportedly was also his favorite.

Murder, My Sweet's cast also includes Claire Trevor as the femme fatale, Anne Shirley as her step-daughter (and Marlowe's love interest), Otto Kruger as quack/criminal Jules Amthor, and former wrestler Mike Mazurki as the dim-witted Moose Malloy, whose performances collectively add to the quality of the production.

Murder, My Sweet may take a few liberties with Chandler's novel, but it's remarkably successful at transforming the rhythms of Chandler's words into a visual form. It's pretty close to being pure Chandler in moving images. The second best screen version of a Chandler novel would be Howard Hawks' The Big Sleep in 1946, sizzling with intensity and gifted by the performances of Bogart as Marlowe and a young Lauren Bacall as the story's femme fatale.

But for my money, Murder, My Sweet and Dick Powell are still the best.

Shutter

2008-03-24T15:30:00.000-07:00

It's getting to the point where I feel like I don't even need to watch an American remake of an Asian horror film. I can just assume it's inferior and be absolutely correct in that assessment. Take this film as further proof of that.

Photographer Ben (Joshua Jackson) and his new bride Jane (Rachael Taylor) travel to Japan for a honeymoon before he has to begin a new work assignment in Tokyo. While driving to Mount Fuji, Jane accidentally runs over a young woman (Megumi Okina) who suddenly appears in the middle of the road. No body is found, but soon strange flashes of light begin to appear in Ben's photographs and weird things happen to the couple, leading Jane to believe that they're being haunted by the young woman's spirit.

The original Thai film released in 2004 was one of the more terrifying and palpitation-inducing films I've had the pleasure of viewing. This remake is anything but. Despite being an American production, the director is Japan's Masayuki Ochiai (Saimin, Kansen), whose flat direction drains all of the suspense out of the story. I'm not surprised by this result, because I wasn't very impressed by his earlier work on 1999's Saimin, which had the same flaws and was an unscary mess. Instead of using atmosphere and carefully executed camera work to generate scares like the original did, he resorts to cheap jump scenes that we've seen too many times before.

The screenplay by Luke Dawson is generally faithful to the original film's story, but he's managed to take something that was unpredictable and scary and transform it into something that is predictable and boring. It's been dumbed down, over-explained, and generally made as obvious as possible for its intended teenaged American audience.

Jackson is too wooden and Taylor too histrionic as the protagonists. Okina, previously a victim of a ghost in Ju-on: The Grudge, is effective as the ghostly antagonist. The cast also includes David Denman and John Hensley as Ben's friends, Maya Hazen as Ben's assistant Seiko, and James Kyson Lee as Seiko's ex-boyfriend who publishes a magazine dealing with the phenomenon of spirit photography.

Shutter is a dull, unimaginative remake of a really good horror film. It should only prove frightening to someone who has never seen a horror film before, let alone a good one like the one this is based on. Take my usual advice in these matters and just watch the original on DVD.

[1.5 out of 5 stars]

Funny Games

2008-03-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

A pretentious exercise in satire that has no apparent reason to exist, seeing as how it's a scene-for-scene remake of a 1997 film from Austria by the same filmmaker.

A wealthy married couple (Tim Roth, Naomi Watts) and their young son (Devon Gearhart) arrive at their lake house for a vacation. Paul (Michael Pitt) and Peter (Brady Corbet), two charming young men who initially appear with one of the couple's neighbors, take the family hostage, treating it as a game and betting the family that they won't be alive when the next morning arrives.

Writer/director Michael Haneke (The Piano Teacher) remakes his own earlier production of the same name, but to lesser effect. What seemed daring eleven years ago now seems merely shallow and pretentious, especially when moved to an American setting. Haneke thinks he's being far more clever than he actually is, and the whiff of authorial smugness wafting from the screen is somehow appropriate for a film that offers up such leaden satire.

The subtext about audience enjoyment of cinematic violence has been better explored by a film like The Devil's Rejects, which I find far more subversive than the original Funny Games or this remake. There's such a chasm of emotional detachment in Funny Games that one simply cannot connect with it. If Haneke wants to make us uncomfortable accomplices to torture and murder, then he needs to make us enjoy it and then he needs to make us feel uncomfortable about enjoying it. Boring us, as he does here, defeats his own purpose.

The talents of a gifted cinematographer like Darius Khondji (The City of Lost Children, Se7en) are wasted on a production that the director wants lit in such a flat manner. Production designer Kevin Thompson (Stranger Than Fiction, Michael Clayton) perfectly realizes the bourgeois lifestyle of the family.

The cast is the film's only strong point. Pitt and Corbet perfectly capture the banality of evil in a chilling fashion as a latter day Leopold and Loeb. The performances of the actors playing the family are also quite good: Roth plays against type as the helpless father, Watts is compelling as the traumatized but defiant mother, and Gearhart is believable as the terrified child.

The real torture in Funny Games is that which is visited upon the audience by a filmmaker more intent on wagging his finger in our faces than on telling a compelling story or even making us feel something.

[1.5 out of 5 stars]

Doomsday

2008-03-22T22:55:00.001-07:00

It looks far more interesting in advertisements than it is in actuality, in large part due to a stunning lack of originality.

2035. Twenty-five years after the Reaper Virus ravaged Scotland and the British government built a wall across the north of England to keep the infected and dying inside, the virus reappears in London. The government knows that some people survived in Scotland, so they place Major Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra), who as a child was one of the last people to make it out of Scotland, in charge of a team to go there to locate a possible cure. When the team reaches Glasgow, they discover it's now under the control of a gang of cannibalistic punks calling themselves the Marauders. Can Eden and her team survive the Marauders and find a cure before it's too late?

Writer/director Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent) tosses Mad Max, Escape from New York, Resident Evil, and 28 Days Later into a blender and pours a tall glass of unpleasant cinematic mess for the audience. Marshall the director has a certain flair for action scenes, but Marshall the screenwriter lets him down with a derivative story and worse, one that takes itself far too seriously. Tongue planted firmly in cheek, it could have been campy fun. Marshall's earlier films were creative genre films, which makes this one even more disappointing.

Marshall works with some familiar creative personnel from Dog Soldiers and The Descent, including cinematographer Sam McCurdy, who delivers some stylish lighting, and production designer Simon Bowles, who creates a convincing post-apocalyptic Scotland. The score by Tyler Bates (The Devil's Rejects, 300) is adequate.

Mitra, a former live action model of Tomb Raider Lara Croft for public appearances and promotions, is surprisingly credible as a female Snake Plissken (the anti-hero from Escape from New York), but she's consistently undermined by the poor writing. Craig Conway is energetically over the top as Sol, leader of the Marauders, but his schtick quickly becomes tiresome. Bob Hoskins and Malcolm McDowell appear to be just picking up paychecks as, respectively, Eden's boss and a rogue scientist.

The cast also includes Alexander Siddig as the British Prime Minister, David O'Hara as the real power behind the government, Darren Morfitt and Sean Pertwee as two scientists sent on the mission, MyAnna Buring as the rogue scientist's daughter, and Lee-Anne Liebenberg as Sol's beloved, Viper.

Doomsday is an inferior post-apocalyptic action film that copies much better films without understanding what made them entertaining. Do yourself a favor and go watch those films instead.

[2 out of 5 stars]

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

2008-03-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

A light truffle of a romantic comedy that provides a moderate dose of amusement.

Miss Pettigrew (Frances McDormand) is a down on her luck governess in late 1930s London. After being fired from several jobs due to her personality, she steals a contact from the agency she works for and suddenly finds herself working as the personal secretary of singer and actress Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), leading to a whirlwind of a day helping Delysia resolve her romantic entanglements while finding some of her own.

Screenwriters David Magee (Finding Neverland) and Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty) adapt Winifred Watson's novel for the big screen, and along with director Bharat Nalluri (The Crow: Salvation) do a credible job of evoking the spirit of 1930s romantic comedies, but this film could use a bit more screwball and a touch more fizz to really stand out. Nalluri's best work here is with his sparkling cast, but he struggles at times with keeping the tone light and the pacing steady.

Cinematographer John de Borman (The Full Monty, Ella Enchanted) employs soft lighting to play up the romantic angle in an excellent fashion, while production designer Sarah Greenwood (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement) and costume designer Michael O'Connor (Nomad, The Last King of Scotland) convincingly recreate a bygone era. Paul Englishby (Magicians) adds a jazzy score that bounces along from start to finish.

McDormand delivers a winning performance as the dour governess who suddenly blossoms into a fashionable personal secretary under the guidance of a vibrant younger woman. Adams once again demonstrates what a funny and charming light comedic actress she is as the ditzy Delysia, and also gets to show off her singing abilities again (as she did so well in last year's Enchanted). Lee Pace (star of television's Pushing Daisies) is good as Michael, one of Delysia's many paramours, although one wishes that his character had more to do in the film and was written to stand out more as a love interest. Reliable Irish character actor Ciarán Hinds has fun with a more romantic role as a fashion designer who falls for the title character.

Among the other notable performances are Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle in two of the Harry Potter films) as a friend of Delysia and Miss Pettigrew's rival for Hinds' character, Tom Payne as the wealthy young producer of a musical Delysia's trying to get the lead role in, and Mark Strong as Delysia's club-owning sugar daddy.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day lacks some of the zaniness and energy necessary to be really good screwball romantic comedy, but thanks to the cast it's an above average film with decent entertainment value.

[3.5 out of 5 stars]

Penelope

2008-03-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

A quirky romantic comedy with touches of fantasy, a winning cast, and a little bit of magic.

A curse put on a wealthy family generations ago finally comes to pass when Penelope (Christina Ricci) is born with the nose and ears of a pig. Her frantic parents (Richard E. Grant, Catherine O'Hara) fake her death and hide her away for years. Believing that the curse can be removed if a man of her own kind (meaning one of privilege) falls in love with her, they bring suitable young men to court her, but they all run away when they see her. One of those men, Edward (Simon Woods), is publicly ridiculed for his stories of a pig-nosed monster, and hatches a plan with dogged reporter Lemon (Peter Dinklage) to expose the truth in a bid to restore his reputation. Their secret weapon is Max (James McAvoy), a down on his luck blue blood they hire to court Penelope and take a photo of her as evidence. Will Max be able to go through with the plan or will he fall in love with Penelope instead?

Director Mark Palansky (a former assistant to Michael Bay) makes his debut with a project that on the surface sounds like a Tim Burton film. While Palansky lacks the unique visual flair of Burton (or even Bay), he ably blends comedy and romance into an entertaining brew with a feel good message. The film proceeds in an uneven manner at times, but there are enough strengths on display to offset that. The screenplay by Leslie Caveny (a former staff writer for television's Everybody Loves Raymond) provides a story that's one part charming modern fairy tale and one part an important message about beauty and self-esteem, the latter aimed at the young female demographic that the production seems tailor made for.

The cinematography of Michel Amathieu (responsible for the "Place des Fêtes" segment of Paris, je t'aime) is competent but also a bit flat. Although it was filmed in London, production designer Amanda McArthur (Passion in the Desert, St. Trinian's) niftily constructs a cityscape that's not-quite London and perhaps is a metropolis that only exists in this tale. The score by Joby Talbot (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) ably complements the story's different textures.

Ricci is really a lovely presence here, filling the screen with an innocent charm and sweetness that makes it all the more heartbreaking when she experiences rejection after rejection. Of course, on a physical level, Ricci is so lovely that even a prosthetic pig snout can't disguise it and the suspension of disbelief necessary to buy into the story must be extended to men fleeing in fright at her appearance. Ricci's on-screen charm is ably matched by that of McAvoy, which adds to the strong chemistry they have. Grant and O'Hara give fine comedic performances as Penelope's parents.

The rest of the cast is also quite good, including Reese Witherspoon (one of the film's producers) as the first real friend Penelope makes, Dinklage in a dryly funny turn as Lemon, Burn Gorman as another reporter, Woods as Edward, Ronni Ancona as a matchmaker, Lenny Henry as a detective, Nick Frost as a gambling acquaintance of Max's, and Richard Leaf as a barman.

Penelope may be fairly predictable in the way romantic comedies tend to be, but the journey is what it's all about and the cast is what makes it such a fun one to take. Take it for yourself and you'll also fall in love with the film and its titular character.

[4 out of 5 stars]

Charlie Bartlett

2008-03-06T16:35:00.001-08:00

This teen comedy had its release date changed several times before it was finally dumped in the off-season, usually a good indication that a film isn't very good. Not this time. This one is actually a quite good and quite funny film about teens and their problems.

Rich kid Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) gets kicked out of yet another private school, so his mother (Hope Davis) sends him to a public school. He doesn't fit in at first, being mocked for his style of dress and beaten up by the school bully (Tyler Hilton). After being prescribed Ritalin by a psychiatrist and enjoying its effects, Charlie begins to sell his pills to other students. With his popularity suddenly rising, Charlie decides to counsel his fellow students and get them the drugs they need to deal with their emotional problems, a course of action that puts him in conflict with the school's alcoholic principal (Robert Downey Jr.) while also winning Charlie the affections of the principal's teenaged daughter Susan (Kat Dennings).

First time feature film director Jon Poll (a former film editor whose credits include Monkeybone and Meet the Fockers) takes a decidedly low key approach to the story that allows for a surprisingly thoughtful examination of teen angst. The screenplay by Gustin Nash is a refreshing 21st century take on the time honored student vs. principal genre, resembling as much as anything a darker John Hughes film filled with edgy satire but still having an emotional core that understands its characters' need for popularity and self-expression as they're poised between the worlds of childhood and adulthood. If some of it seems familiar at times, its snarky sense of humor (right down to "no teenagers were harmed during the making of this movie" in the end credits) and engaging cast allow it to rise above that.

Yelchin's combination of vulnerability and quiet charm brings the title character to life with a subtle shading rare for such a young actor. He's someone to keep your eye on as his career develops further. Downey's performance reveals a keen understanding of what makes his character tick, a man who routinely drowns his pain in alcohol, and he's able to bring some depth to the role that makes him more interesting than just being the authority figure tying to keep the crazy kids down. Dennings supplies some fresh-faced charm as Charlie's love interest.

The supporting cast is also very good, including Davis as Charlie's ditzy mother, Hilton as the school bully, Mark Rendall as an outcast who expresses himself by writing a play, Dylan Taylor as a mentally handicapped student befriended by Charlie, Derek McGrath as the tough-minded superintendent, and David Brown as a sympathetic police officer.

I have to admit, I liked both Charlie Bartlett the film and Charlie Bartlett the character. There's a certain sweetness to both of them that allows the film's message that the problems of young adults are ignored or minimized by those around them, including authority figures, to resonate with some emotional depth. Also, it's just plain funny.

[4 out of 5 stars]

The Other Boleyn Girl

2008-02-29T17:10:00.000-08:00

Based on Philippa Gregory's novel, this historical soap opera set amongst the Royal Court of Henry VIII of England is insufferably tedious.

The scheming Duke of Norfolk (David Morrissey) seeks to increase his family's position by offering his niece Anne Boleyn (Natalie Portman) to be the mistress of Henry VIII (Eric Bana). Although there are immediate sparks between the two, the Duke of Norfolk considers Anne a liability after an accident that causes the King to be injured and instead aims to have her sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson) replace her in the King's affections.

Director Justin Chadwick (responsible for multiple episodes of British television's Bleak House) earns high marks for how he visualizes the story, but deserves failing marks for how he handles it as a drama. It plays out very predictably, full of melodrama bordering on the risible at times and about as deep an exploration of its characters as a piece of tissue paper. The surprising thing is that Peter Morgan (The Last King of Scotland, The Queen) has contributed such a weak screenplay. Granted, it's based on someone else's novel, but one expects better from a proven screenwriter. Never have I been so pleased to see someone's head removed from their body as I was when Anne Boleyn experiences that fate here, because it meant that my suffering through two hours of tedium was finally at an end.

The best part of the film is the beautiful lighting of cinematographer Kieran McGuigan (a veteran of British television shows like Bleak House and Spooks) that reminds one of the great Baroque paintings. There are so many scenes that could be freeze framed and placed on a museum wall as art. Production designer John-Paul Kelly (Bloody Sunday, Venus) and costume designer Sandy Powell (Interview with the Vampire, The Departed) do an outstanding job of re-creating the 16th century Royal Court with sumptuous sets and costumes.

Portman once again amply demonstrates what an overrated actress she is, while Johansson just isn't very credible as a 16th century English noblewoman. Rumors of discord on the set between the two may explain why there is so little chemistry between them on screen as sisters. Without exception, the rest of the acting is all on the surface without digging any deeper, which must be partly blamed on the director. The cast includes Bana as Henry, Morrissey as the Duke of Norfolk, Jim Sturgess as Anne and Mary's brother George, Mark Rylance and Kristin Scott Thomas as the parents of the Boleyn siblings, Benedict Cumberbatch as Mary's first husband, Ana Torrent as Catherine of Aragon, and Juno Temple as Jane Parker.

The Other Boleyn Girl is almost a complete waste of time. As beautiful as it may be to look at, its predictable melodrama will have you wishing you were somewhere else. Do yourself a favor and just be somewhere else.

[1.5 out of 5 stars]

Justice League: The New Frontier

2008-02-28T00:35:00.000-08:00

Writer/artist Darwyn Cooke's award-winning comic book miniseries DC: The New Frontier is adapted into a quality direct-to-DVD animated film that's superior to many of the live action superhero films released in recent years because it gets what superheroes are about on a mythic level.

As the plot is described on the DVD cover: "With Cold War paranoia putting Superman (voice of Kyle MacLachlan), Batman (voice of Jeremy Sisto) and Wonder Woman (voice of Lucy Lawless) under government suspicion, only the gravest threat imaginable can force these heroes--along with an army of newcomers including the Flash (voice of Neil Patrick Harris), Green Lantern (voice of David Boreanaz) and Martian Manhunter (voice of Miguel Ferrer)--to unite."

Cooke's comic book miniseries is a complex tale told across over 400 pages filled with multiple subplots, some of which aren't strictly necessary to the main story, but the screenplay by Stan Berkowitz (a former staff writer for the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited animated television show) successfully pares the story down to its essential elements without losing its epic feel, while building it around the character of Green Lantern. The pacing could be better in some instances, but overall the story works quite well in animated form.

Veteran producer Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League/Justice League Unlimited) and first time director Dave Bullock (a storyboard artist for Timm's previous productions) deliver good animation that captures the nuances of Cooke's art while also accurately reflecting the Silver Age influences on his story. The production justifiably earns its PG-13 rating, as there are a couple of instances of vivid violence and disturbing imagery, as well as an overall tone suited to an older audience.

The closing montage set to John F. Kennedy's presidential nomination acceptance speech (the source of the phrase "the new frontier") perfectly captures the spirit of hope and scientific progress from that period in American history that was also so much a part of the Silver Age of comics, but earlier in the film the realities of McCarthyism, Cold War paranoia, and civil rights struggles are touched upon as well (the last when a news report mentions that a black superhero who fights against the KKK has been killed by an angry mob).

The score by Kevin Manthei (Invader ZIM) has an appropriately heroic dimension to it, although the theme isn't as immediately memorable as the one Lolita Ritmanis composed for the Justice League show.

Voice director Andrea Romano, another veteran of Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, is up to her usual high standard of coaching voice performances out of her cast that are just right for their characters. Boreanaz finds the right balance of idealism and angst as emotionally damaged Korean War veteran Hal Jordan, soon to receive the awesome power and responsibility of being a Green Lantern. MacLachlan plays up the earnestness of Superman without sounding corny, Sisto's deep voice helps to make him a compelling presence as Batman, Lawless is perfect as a different warrior princess than the one she's most famous for portraying, Harris captures the insecurity of the Flash when the fate of the world is literally in his hands, and Ferrer is convincing as an alien trapped on Earth trying to find a way to fit into human society.

The supporting cast is equally up to the task, including Brooke Shields as Carol Ferris (Hal's boss and love interest), Kyra Sedgwick as Lois Lane, Phil Morris as government agent King Faraday, Keith David as the Centre (the global menace in the story), John Heard as Hal's pilot friend Ace Morgan, Vicki Lewis as Iris West (the Flash's love interest), Jim Meskimen as Detective Slam Bradley (a character who shares the same creators as Superman), Alan Ritchson as Aquaman (a role he previously played in the live action Smallville television show), Lex Lang as Rick Flag, and Joe Mantegna as a sleazy Vegas crooner who hits on Iris West.

By adapting Cooke's miniseries and doing it well, Justice League: The New Frontier continues the tradition of excellence in superhero animation that Warner Bros. Animation began when Batman: The Animated Series debuted on television in 1992.

[4 out of 5 stars]

Be Kind Rewind

2008-02-27T17:50:00.000-08:00

What is it about having a story told to us that we enjoy so much? Is storytelling something that someone else must do for us or is it something that we can participate in? While attempting to answer both questions, this delightful comedy serves up a lot of laughs.

Video store owner Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) has to go away for a few days and leaves his store in the hands of his only employee, Mike (Mos Def). Mike's best friend Jerry (Jack Black) gets magnetized in an incident involving a transformer and accidentally erases all of the tapes. When the store's most loyal customer, Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow), demands to rent Ghostbusters and threatens to tell Mr. Fletcher if she doesn't get it, Mike and Jerry hatch a crazy plan to use a video camera to re-create the films using themselves as the actors and crew.

Writer/director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep) applies absurdist humor to the task of exploring the social nature of the creation and ownership of art. If that sounds too highbrow, its philosophical structure is wrapped in a shiny package of goofy charm that makes its points in an entertaining fashion. Gondry's films can be inconsistent, particularly when he also writes them, because he is seemingly compelled to explore every artistic impulse that comes along, but this is also what makes them so fascinating to watch. The swing and a miss here is the story's relatively shallow emotional resonance. That flaw doesn't keep it from being good, it just keeps it from being better. The hilarity of Mike and Jerry's shabby remakes of films is what makes Be Kind Rewind work.

Unlike Gondry's previous films, which were stylized and verging on surrealist at times, here cinematographer Ellen Kuras (Summer of Sam, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) uses a more grounded visual approach that nicely complements the story along with the sets of production designer Dan Leigh (Basquiat, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), which transform a rundown section of Passaic, New Jersey into a wonderland of possibilities.

Black brings just the right note of well-meaning insanity to the character of Jerry, and his earnest attempts to re-create famous film characters just get funnier and funnier. Mos Def's Mike is more of a straight man to Black's Jerry, but his low-key approach to humor works just as well. Veteran actors Glover and Farrow are very effective in their roles. Melonie Diaz sparkles as Alma, a woman who becomes part of the films when Mike and Jerry need an actress for Jerry to kiss instead of mechanic Wilson (a hilariously deadpan Irv Gooch) in drag. Also funny in smaller roles are Sigourney Weaver as an attorney who goes after the video store for copyright infringement and Kid Creole as the manager of a rival video store.

Be Kind Rewind is a film for adults that has the sensibility of a children's tale about how magic is made, a combination that Michel Gondry is well-suited to creating on the screen. For the most part, he succeeds.

[4 out of 5 stars]

The Signal

2008-02-23T13:50:00.001-08:00

It's a clever indie film that manages to both disturb and amuse, while proving that American filmmakers are still capable of making a decent horror movie, something that seems to be a lost art today.

New Year's Eve in the city of Terminus arrives as a mysterious television signal causes residents to become psychotic and murderously violent, while those unaffected fight to survive.

Writers/directors/camera operators/editors David Bruckner, Dan Bush, and Jacob Gentry deliver an edgy horror film that recalls the early films of David Cronenberg and the apocalyptic vibe of a George A. Romero film or 28 Days Later, making the most of a limited budget by focusing on a small number of characters. The film is divided into three interconnected segments, each one made by a different director who puts their own spin on the story--from horror to black comedy to mystery. Despite three different approaches with multiple changes in tone, the filmmakers succeed in making a remarkably cohesive film. It stumbles in the third segment, the least successful one, but not badly enough to mar the overall experience.

Each director serves as a camera operator, using high definition video and practical light sources to create a documentary feel, matched by the lived in looking sets of production designer Lisa Yeiser (it was filmed entirely in Atlanta). The score by Ben Lovett (Last Goodbye) adds a creepy soundscape to the story.

The cast of unknowns is very effective and easily adapts to the different tones in each segment, including Anessa Ramsey as Mya, a married woman trying to escape the city with her lover; Justin Welborn as Ben, her lover and someone able to resist the signal; AJ Bowen as Lewis, Mya's controlling husband; Sahr as Rod, one of Lewis' friends; Scott Poythress as Clark, a conspiracy theorist who manages an apartment building; Christopher Thomas and Cheri Christian as Ken and Anna, a married couple who live in Clark's apartment building; and Chad McKnight as Jim, a friend of Ken and Anna.

The Signal is worth a look for horror fans tired of uninspired remakes of Asian films or older American films. While not always successful, it works often enough and well enough to be an above average addition to the horror genre.

[3.5 out of 5 stars]

Diary of the Dead

2008-02-16T20:50:00.001-08:00

In 1968, George A. Romero shocked the world with a new kind of horror film, Night of the Living Dead. Forty years later, he returns to the scene of the crime with what can be viewed as either a companion piece to the original or a reboot of the franchise. Whichever it is, it's bloody good.

A group of film students are shooting a low budget horror film in the backwoods of Pennsylvania when corpses begin reanimating to feast on the flesh of the living. As the students try to escape, one of them keeps filming with his video camera, obsessed with documenting everything that occurs so that someone may eventually know the truth of what happened.

Writer/director Romero returns to his roots as a low budget guerrilla filmmaker, and the result is easily the best Dead film since Dawn of the Dead in 1978. Romero has always used the horror genre as a way to examine and satirize contemporary society. The satire is on the mark here, taking aim at the news media, internet culture, and reality television among other things, while raising chilling questions about the manufacturing of "truth" by the media and our own enjoyment of violence.

The production pushes the boundaries of its R rating with some particularly gory scenes, but it's also wonderfully funny at the most unexpected of times and it's not above mocking other modern zombie films where the walking dead are more like the sprinting dead. Romero finds and successfully maintains the delicate balance between horror, satire, and dark humor throughout. The final shot is like a kick to the throat, putting a brutal exclamation point on the film's themes.

As the title suggests, the story is told as if it's a video diary, taking a cue from The Blair Witch Project (and putting it on common ground with Cloverfield) with a first person narrative where the camera is used to appear as if it's being carried and operated by one of the characters. The technique once again works very well for providing a terrifying sense of immediacy, but cinematographer Adam Swica (Bruiser) achieves the effect without the nausea-inducing ShakyCam of its stylistic predecessors. It's quite different from Romero's usual style of filmmaking, but he shows himself more than capable of adapting himself to a different way of telling a story, and this allows him to succeed in a way that he hasn't for quite a long time.

The cast of unknowns is well suited to the guerrilla style of the film, providing believable performances within the framework of the story, including Joshua Close as the obsessed filmmaker who we hear more than we see because he's the one with the camera; Michelle Morgan as his frustrated girlfriend; Shawn Roberts, Amy Lalonde, Joe Dinicol, Philip Riccio, Chris Violette, Tatiana Maslany, and Megan Park as the other students; Scott Wentworth as their alcohol soaked film professor; and Alan Van Sprang as a National Guard officer they encounter. Romero himself has a cameo as a police chief providing information at a televised press conference.

News broadcasts are used as backgrounds to several scenes, and the voices of the unseen newsreaders are provided by Wes Craven, Stephen King, Simon Pegg, Quentin Tarantino, and Guillermo del Toro.

The fifth entry in the Dead franchise is one of its best, providing a fresh take on the material four decades after the franchise's birth and finding its creator back in top form as a social satirist. Diary of the Dead is grisly, funny, thought provoking, and one hell of a ride.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

The Spiderwick Chronicles

2008-02-15T15:24:00.000-08:00

The popular series of illustrated fantasy books by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi are brought to the screen in an entertaining fashion.

After the Grace family--rebellious Jared (Freddie Highmore), his more intellectually inclined twin Simon (also Highmore), their older sister Mallory (Sarah Bolger), and their mother (Mary-Louise Parker)--move into an old country home that used to belong to a relative, strange things begin to happen for which Jared, prone to emotional outbursts after his parents' recent separation, is quickly blamed. In the attic, he finds a book written by his great-granduncle Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn), along with a handwritten note warning against reading it. Jared disregards the warning and discovers the book is a field guide to magical creatures, good and bad. As a new world unfolds before his eyes, he learns that the ogre Mulgarath (Nick Nolte) will stop at nothing to obtain the book and its secrets, and soon Jared's entire family is in mortal danger and it's up to him to save them all.

Although it begins a bit slowly and initially has the feel of a telefilm, once the fantasy elements kick in you'll find yourself won over by its charms, as I was. Director Mark Waters (Freaky Friday, Mean Girls) employs a light touch that serves the story well, transforming the books into an exciting adventure that will appeal to fantasy fans of all ages, but especially to younger ones. I haven't read any of the books, but reportedly elements from all five of them were used as the basis for the screenplay by Karey Kirkpatrick (James and the Giant Peach), David Berenbaum (Elf), and John Sayles (The Secret of Roan Inish), and successfully so. It never once feels like bits and pieces of several stories have been cobbled together.

Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (The Black Stallion, The Passion of the Christ), production designer James Bissell (Jumanji, 300), and costume designers Odette Gadoury (Lucky Number Slevin) and Joanna Johnston (Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan) do a wonderful job of realizing the look of DiTerlizzi's illustrations on the cinema screen, aided by excellent visual effects courtesy of Industrial Light & Magic and the Tippett Studio. The pleasant score by James Horner (Jumanji, Apocalypto) completes the spell.

The young cast seems a little uncertain early on, but quickly find their footing. Highmore is a suitable lead and quite convincing as both brothers, Irish actress Bolger is spirited as Mallory, and Parker is a solid presence as their mother. Strathairn and Joan Plowright are perfectly cast as Spiderwick and his now elderly daughter. Andrew McCarthy has a cameo as Jared's father. Nolte only has a little face time before giving way to voicing a CGI character, but he's an appropriately menacing Mulgarath. The rest of the voice cast shines as well, including Martin Short as Thimbletack and Seth Rogen as Hogsqueal.

The Spiderwick Chronicles is one of the early surprises of the 2008 release schedule, a wonderful little family-friendly fantasy film. It may lack the scope of other recent films in the genre, but it reliably captures the magic of a boy finding a world of wonder in his own backyard.

[4 out of 5 stars]

The Eye

2008-02-11T23:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Hollywood, please stop with the inferior remakes of Asian horror films already. Dear American filmgoers, please stop being afraid of good films because they have subtitles and just see the originals.

Violinist Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba) has been blind since a childhood accident. Now an adult, she undergoes a successful cornea implant operation and has to learn how to use her sense of sight all over again. She also begins to see things and people that no one else does. Is she losing her mind or do her new corneas allow her to peer into the world of the supernatural? With the help of sympathetic therapist Paul (Alessandro Nivola), she begins a journey to discover the source of her visions.

The original film, a Hong Kong-Singaporean-Thai co-production directed by the Pang Brothers, was a highly effective chiller. I watched it at the Seattle International Film Festival in 2003, and it's the only screening of a horror film I remember attending where someone in the audience bolted out of his seat, ran out of the cinema, and never returned.

This remake, directed by the team of David Moreau and Xavier Palud (Ils), is inferior in every way and lacks the sheer creepiness of the original, proving once again that there's more to remaking a scary film than having access to a larger budget and fancy CGI effects. It's not enough to make a technically proficient film, the filmmakers also have to remember to scare people, and scares are one thing wholly lacking here. While the screenplay by Sebastian Gutierrez (Gothika, Snakes on a Plane) is generally faithful to the original by Jojo Hui and the Pangs in the details, it just doesn't work very well. The characters are less developed and too many things are spelled out instead of leaving some ambiguity.

I recently re-watched two of my favorite Asian horror films, Shutter and A Tale of Two Sisters, and even though I knew exactly when the ghosts would appear and what they would do, both films were as terrifying to me as they were on first viewing. So it wasn't my familiarity with the original that made The Eye a poor viewing experience, it was how poorly executed the remake is.

The contributions of cinematographer Jeffrey Jur (Dirty Dancing, My Big Fat Greek Wedding) are polished and effectively allow the audience to experience the world the way the protagonist does as she regains her vision. The score by Marco Beltrami (Live Free or Die Hard, 3:10 to Yuma) is dead center average for a horror film.

The cast is uninspired at best verging on awful at times, including Alba as Sydney, Nivola as Paul, Parker Posey in a very disappointing turn as Sydney's sister, Rade Serbedzija as the conductor of the orchestra Sydney works for, Rachel Ticotin as a woman in Mexico who may have the answers Sydney needs, Obba Babatundé as the eye surgeon, Danny Mora as the doorman at the building Sydney lives in, and Tamlyn Tomita as Sydney's neighbor. It leads one to believe that poor direction is largely to blame for this state of affairs, because the actors I'm familiar with have done much better before.

The Eye is further evidence that Hollywood is unable to succeed with the kind of horror films that Asian filmmakers in particular seem to do so well. Other than The Ring, they've all been hugely disappointing. Don't bother with The Eye unless you want to be bored by what you see.

[1.5 out of 5 stars]

El Orfanato (The Orphanage)

2008-02-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

Executive producer Guillermo del Toro (The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth) presents a good old fashioned ghost story that hits all the right buttons for sending chills down the collective spine of an audience.

Laura (Belén Rueda), Carlos (Fernando Cayo), and their son Simón (Roger Príncep) move into an old house that used to be an orphanage, the same orphanage where Laura lived as a child until a family adopted her. Soon, strange things begin to happen, and then Simón disappears. How far will Laura go to find her son?

Spanish music video director J.A. Bayona makes his feature film debut with a well-crafted exercise in horror that's as atmospheric as it is poignant. The careful use of camera and lighting by Bayona and cinematographer Óscar Faura evokes a mood of impending doom that slowly creeps up on you as if on tiptoes, never settling for cheap scares. It winds its way along its chosen path to a conclusion that's at once beautiful and moving.

The screenplay by Sergio G. Sánchez is a smart take on a very old kind of story, and I think it does a particularly good job of exploring the fragile psyche of Laura as she searches for Simón. There's an ambiguity to the story that allows it to be interpreted on different levels, reminding me of Hideo Nakata's Honogurai Mizu No Soko Kara as well as del Toro's own films.

No ghost story is complete without a creepy old house, and production designer Josep Rosell (Juana la Loca) graces the film with one that really does seem laden with the spirits of the past. The understated score by Fernando Velázquez (Savage Grace) is an integral part of the film's atmosphere.

Rueda is compelling as Laura, her subtle performance making what her character experiences all the more believable. It's her portrayal that seals the deal for the audience. Príncep is also quite good as a lonely boy whose imaginary playmates may not be so imaginary. Cayo is a little flat as Carlos, but still adequate for the role. The rest of the solid cast includes Geraldine Chaplin in a creepy turn as a medium, Mabel Rivera as a skeptical police psychologist, Montserrat Carulla as a woman who claims to be a social worker concerned with Simón's case, and Edgar Vivar as an expert on the paranormal.

El Orfanato (The Orphanage) is a nicely done horror film that relies on imagination and mood to generate scares. It's a breath of fresh air in an American market dominated by unimaginative remakes. Sadly, this film is itself slated for a US remake. Do yourself a favor and see the original.

[4 out of 5 stars]

Top 10 Films of 2007

2008-01-19T13:35:00.000-08:00

This is my entirely subjective list of the top 10 films of 2007, presented in reverse order with my original reviews (and an honorable mention list at the end).

***

10. Zodiac - The true story behind the investigation of the infamous Zodiac killings comes to the screen as one of the best films of 2007 so far.

After claiming his first three victims, the mysterious Zodiac begins sending letters to the press, including the San Francisco Chronicle where journalist Paul Avery and cartoonist Robert Graysmith work. Avery begins writing about Zodiac, while Graysmith remains on the periphery at first. When Zodiac kills a cabbie in SF, Inspectors Toschi and Armstrong take charge of the investigation, intersecting with the paths of Avery and the increasingly obsessed Graysmith as Zodiac claims more victims and continues to taunt the police.

Director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) once again demonstrates his meticulous craftsmanship as he melds three related but distinct genres -- true crime, police procedural, and crusading investigative journalist -- into a riveting and complex film. Although Fincher's noted as a visual stylist, this film's story never falls into the ocean of style over substance to suffer the cruel fate of drowning in it. He steadfastly focuses on the characters and the details of the investigation, letting them guide the audience along in an unhurried but never slow manner.

The screenplay by James Vanderbilt (Darkness Falls), based on the book by Graysmith, takes a fairly comprehensive look at the investigation over many years. Fincher and Vanderbilt interviewed all of the surviving participants and victims in order to make the film as authentic as possible, and that level of detail seeps into every scene and every performance. Even the routine details of the investigation become interesting. The script also respects the audience enough to allow them to put the pieces together much as the investigators had to do, and nicely avoids a definitive conclusion.

Harris Savides (The Game, Finding Forrester) contributes highly polished cinematography using the Thomson Viper high definition digital video camera, notably making this the first production to be recorded entirely in the camera's uncompressed digital data format. The images are very filmlike, with the exception of a noticeable lack of grain, allowing Fincher and Savides to gain the advantages of digital video without sacrificing the richness of image usually obtained by shooting on film.

Production designer Donald Graham Burt (The Joy Luck Club, Donnie Brasco) ably recreates San Francisco of the late 1960s to late 1970s, aided by seamless CGI. Composer David Shire (All the President's Men, 2010) provides a good score that recalls the music from the films of the story's era. Some critics have said that the film is too long at 158 minutes, but editor Angus Wall (Panic Room) deftly keeps the pace going strong, avoiding crashing on the rocks of boredom.

The film is filled with quirky but realistic people, and the actors bring them to life with a high standard of excellence, including Robert Downey Jr. as the boozing Avery; Jake Gyllenhaal, who's spot on as the overly earnest Graysmith; Mark Ruffalo as the Columboesque Toschi, Anthony Edwards as Armstrong, and Dermot Mulroney as their captain; Brian Cox as attorney Melvin Belli in a brief but brilliant performance; John Carroll Lynch as the prime suspect and Charles Fleischer as his former friend; Elias Koteas and Donal Logue as investigators from other police agencies; and Chloe Sevigny as Graysmith's wife. There are so many other good actors in small roles that I can't name them all.

Zodiac is as close as you'll get to experiencing an investigation of this magnitude without actually being a journalist or a detective, and it's also a damned fine piece of dramatic filmmaking. Highly recommended.

***

9. Sunshine - In an era where science fiction films too often mean mindless action and visual eye candy substituting for an actual story, this film stands apart as a serious science fiction film, but its seriousness doesn't mean it lacks thrills.

2057. The Sun is dying and humankind faces extinction on an Earth growing colder each day. After a mission to re-ignite the sun with a massive thermonuclear device is lost, a second mission is sent toward the Sun seven years later to complete the task. Since all of Earth's fissile nuclear materials were mined to make the two devices, it's literally a do or humanity dies mission. As the ship Icarus II passes Mercury, its crew receives a signal from its predecessor and they detour to investigate.

Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) tackles the science fiction genre for the first time (although 28 Days Later certainly had some SF elements in it) and proves that he can succeed in seemingly any genre. Screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later) plays loose with the science at times, but overall his script is a carefully crafted story about the greatest rescue mission of all time played out by a crew of disparate men and women coming under increasing stress in a claustrophobic environment.

As with his earlier films, Boyle showcases his style of gritty realism that makes this film feel very real at all times, and there's a certain coldness to the narrative that recalls the films of Stanley Kubrick. Boyle and Garland don't allow the audience to get close to the characters, but they still achieve a result that works on visceral and psychological levels with philosophy, suspense, elements of horror, and an edge of your seat conclusion.

Cinematographer Alwin Küchler (The Claim) approaches the setting of a spacecraft with an underlit look that recalls an airliner or a submarine, using cool colors so that there's a greater contrast between the interior sets and the exterior effects shots. Production designer Mark Tildesley (28 Days Later) presents a spacecraft that looks possible without being too futuristic and creates a sense of claustrophobia that bleeds off of the screen. The score by John Murphy (28 Days Later, Miami Vice) and electronic band Underworld creates an almost hypnotic mood that nicely complements the story. The visual effects by the Moving Picture Company (28 Days Later, Batman Begins) are outstanding.

It's truly an ensemble cast, but Cillian Murphy stands out as the physicist who designed the bomb. He seems like a background character at first, but begins to come to the fore when a fateful decision is placed in his hands by the captain. He's a complex man who mostly keeps his emotions in check, but Murphy's performance allows us to subliminally comprehend the character's depth without having it spelled out. Chris Evans also impresses as the spacecraft's engineer, who makes several hard but necessary choices without flinching. He's all about the mission, and nothing or no one is more important, not even himself.

The rest of the cast is also strong, including Rose Byrne as the pilot, Cliff Curtis as the medical officer, Troy Garity as the first officer, Hiroyuki Sanada as the captain, Benedict Wong as the navigator, Michelle Yeoh as the biologist who loves her plants more than people, Mark Strong as the captain of the first mission, and Chipo Chung as the voice of the Icarus II computer.

Sunshine is the most satisfying science fiction film I've seen in a long time. On some levels it's a familiar story, but in the capable hands of Boyle it rises to another level and succeeds by finding the right balance between ideas and the need to entertain an audience.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

***

8. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - This is a very good film, blessed with a veteran director and a great cast working from a strong, character driven screenplay. If that's the recipe for a successful film, then this cinematic meal passes the taste test.

Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is an executive with a drug problem and a failing marriage to an unfaithful wife (Marisa Tomei). In need of money, he convinces his similarly cash desperate younger brother Hank (Ethan Hawke) to rob a jewelry store belonging to their parents (Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris). Hank hires a criminal acquaintance named Bobby (Brían F. O'Byrne) to do the actual robbery, but things go awry with tragic consequences for all involved.

Sidney Lumet has been directing television and film since the early 1950s, with credits including 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, and The Verdict. At the age of 83, he adds another quality film to his resume, demonstrating an old school substance over style approach that gets to the heart of an almost operatic tragedy. He tells the story through flashbacks and from multiple perspectives, carefully weaving the threads until they come together with a terrible finality.

The original screenplay by playwright Kelly Masterson presents a compelling and fatalistic profile of human beings whose lives are spiraling out of control by their own actions and the actions of those around them. There are some plot twists that require suspension of disbelief, and a couple of plot threads aren't adequately resolved at the end, but those are minor quibbles. The focus on the characters is what makes this story really work.

Lumet recently declared that the future of filmmaking is in digital video, and this is his first film to be shot in that format. Using the Panavision Genesis high definition video camera (most notably used previously on Superman Returns and Zodiac), cinematographer Ron Fortunato (Basquiat, Catch a Fire) achieves a low-key realism that captures the tone of the story without getting in the way of the performances, matched by the production designs of Christopher Nowak (The X-Files, Find Me Guilty) and the dramatic score by Carter Burwell (The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men).

Lumet always draws out the best possible performances from his cast, and here that includes Hoffman and Hawke as the ill-fated siblings, Finney and Harris as their parents, Tomei as Andy's wife, O'Byrne as Bobby, Aleksa Palladino as Bobby's wife, Michael Shannon as her scheming brother, and Leonardo Cimino as a jewelry fence. Hoffman always seems to quietly deliver great performances, Hawke and Tomei serve up their best work in years, and Finney is spellbinding. The acting keeps the film on track even when the script drifts into occasionally hard to believe areas.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead dives into the darker abysses of familial relationships and takes the audience along for the ride, complete with thrilling plot twists and the rush of watching a master storyteller and skilled actors do what they do best.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

***

7. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - A poetic film based on the true story of a man trapped in the ultimate prison, his own body, with only the ability to blink as a way to communicate with the outside world.

December 28, 1995. Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric), the editor of the fashion magazine "Elle", wakes up in the hospital, learning to his horror that he has suffered a stroke and is almost completely paralyzed except for being able to move and blink his left eye. With the help of therapist Henriette (Marie-Josée Croze), he learns to communicate using blinks to indicate letters as the alphabet is repeatedly read out to him. Using this method of communication, Jean-Do dictates his memoirs to transcriber Claude (Anne Consigny) from inside the living prison that his body has become.

Screenwriter Ronald Harwood (The Pianist, Oliver Twist) translates Bauby's remarkable memoir into an equally remarkable screenplay that achieves dramatic power and emotional clarity without succumbing to the usual cliches of the 'sick person' genre by telling the story with great honesty. Painter turned director Julian Schnabel (Basquiat, Before Night Falls) transforms it into a piece of visual poetry by crafting a unique first-person cinematic narrative that allows the audience to experience as much as possible what Bauby did. It's a visceral and intimate creation that succeeds beautifully by consistently defying convention.

Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan) brilliantly suggests a haunting waking dream with soft, hazy lighting, while making creative use of the camera to place the audience firmly inside Bauby's head. The score by Paul Cantelon (Everything Is Illuminated) contributes to the dream-like atmosphere.

How much can an actor really convey if he or she is limited to using one eye for their performance? For a gifted actor like Amalric, a single eye is enough to open a window into the very soul of his character, and his voice-overs of Bauby's internal dialog capture the despair, acceptance, patience, courage, and black humor that mark Jean-Do's state of mind. It's one of the more astounding pieces of acting I've seen in the cinema.

Schnabel also directs strong performances from Croze as Henriette, Consigny as Claude, Max Von Sydow as Bauby's father (a moving performance from a veteran actor), Emmanuelle Seigner as the mother of Bauby's children, and Olatz López Garmendia as his physical therapist.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is quite simply a work of art. There's no other way to describe it, but even that description can't do full justice to the film. It's at times challenging, at others terrifying, but always life affirming.

[5 out of 5 stars]

***

6. No Country for Old Men - The Coen Brothers' latest film can be summed up in one word: brilliant.

Texas, 1980. Vietnam veteran Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is out hunting when he comes across the results of a drug deal gone bad--several dead men, a truck full of heroin, and $2 million in cash. He takes the cash, which immediately places him in the fatal path of hitman Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), who also wants the money. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) investigates the drug killings, coming to the realization that Moss took the money and his life is now in danger.

Screenwriters/directors (also editors and co-producers) Joel and Ethan Coen (Miller's Crossing, Fargo) generally remain faithful to Cormac McCarthy's novel while placing their own unique signature on the material. The dialog is sparse but revelatory. The story is bleak but a vein of sardonic humor lurks just below the surface. It's a dark thriller that owes a debt to the film noir and western genres, while it projects itself onto the cinema screen with an unwillingness to conform to a conventional narrative path.

The Coens suggest that exploring the forces of fate that draw the characters into the same orbit is more important than neatly tying things up at the end, and they're correct. Real life isn't as neat as a bow on a Christmas package. Real life is messy and usually leaves us with more questions than answers. So does No Country for Old Men, and therein lies its brilliance.

Cinematographer Roger Deakins, who has collaborated with the Coens since 1991's Barton Fink, captures the nihilistic mood of the material with simple and realistic lighting, along with careful framing of each shot. Production designer Jess Gonchor (Capote, The Devil Wears Prada) and costume designer Mary Zophres (Fargo, Lions for Lambs) credibly evoke the place and time of Texas in 1980. The minimalist score by Carter Burwell (Fargo, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) perfectly suits the starkness of the story.

The cast is superb. Brolin is outstanding as Moss, revealing more about his character through body language than dialog. He remains a sympathetic lead throughout, adding impact to the story as the dark clouds of inevitability form above his head. Bardem is disturbing as the remorseless and seemingly unstoppable assassin tracking Moss. Some of his scenes will send shivers down your spine. Jones is pitch perfect as the aging lawman whose investigation triggers an existential crisis in his life. Also noteworthy for their performances are Woody Harrelson as a second hitman tracking Moss, Kelly Macdonald as Moss' wife, Garret Dillahunt as Sheriff Bell's eager deputy, Barry Corbin as Bell's uncle, and Rodger Boyce as the Sheriff of El Paso.

No Country for Old Men is easily one of the elite films of 2007. It also proves once again that the Coen Brothers are some of the most strikingly creative filmmakers of this era. It's difficult to single out one of their films as the best, but without a doubt this one is a highly qualified candidate.

[5 out of 5 stars]

***

5. 3:10 to Yuma - The Western genre makes a triumphant return to the big screen with a searing and suspenseful character study remade from a 1957 classic that starred Van Heflin and Glenn Ford.

Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is a disabled Civil War veteran and impoverished rancher in peril of losing his land to the railroad. After Dan and his two sons witness the ambush of a stagecoach by outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) and his gang, Dan helps the lone survivor of the stagecoach crew, bounty hunter Byron McElroy (Peter Fonda), and is instrumental in the capture of Wade. In exchange for some much needed cash, Dan volunteers to help McElroy and railroad representative Grayson Butterfield (Dallas Roberts) transport Wade to Contention City to be put on a train bound for the prison in Yuma, a task that's complicated by the determination of Wade's lieutenant Charlie Prince (Ben Foster) to rescue him from the clutches of the law.

Director James Mangold (Cop Land, Walk the Line) subtly distills all the tropes of classic Westerns into a single film that intelligently explores the moral ambiguities of its characters and the West, and there isn't as much as a single extraneous frame in this tautly executed study of men who are as unpredictable as the landscape they inhabit. Mangold successfully invokes the ambience of a classic Western while employing modern pacing and sensibilities to tell the story. The splendid pacing starts out at a slow burn and builds toward a dramatic climax.

Screenwriters Michael Brandt & Derek Haas (2 Fast 2 Furious) deftly update and expand upon the 1957 screenplay by Halsted Welles, which was loosely based on Elmore Leonard's short story, offering characters that are as complex and vividly drawn as the story is compelling from start to finish, leading inevitably toward a memorable denouement that arrives like a shot to the gut. As a remake, it never once feels superfluous.

Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael (Identity, Walk the Line) uses hard, textured lighting to capture a naturalistic impression of the rugged New Mexico landscape where it was filmed. Production designer Andrew Menzies (art director of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Munich) and costumer designer Arianne Phillips (The Crow, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) strive for and achieve an authenticity that instantly transports the audience into the Old West. The brooding score by Marco Beltrami (Hellboy, Live Free or Die Hard) seals the mood.

3:10 to Yuma is an actor's film, and both Bale and Crowe deliver Oscar-worthy performances. Bale always excels at playing damaged men, and he's outstanding here as a man beaten down by life and trying to find a way to redeem himself. He allows much of Dan's inner torment to go unspoken, revealed instead only in his eyes. Crowe is magnificent as he revels in the complexity of a charming, morally ambiguous outlaw. You may love or hate Wade by turns, but you'll always be fascinated by him. Crowe's performance is at once subtle and bravura, vividly etching onto the screen a character who's more than just the sum of his outlaw reputation.

The strong performances don't stop there, with Fonda as the grizzled bounty hunter, Foster as Wade's vicious lieutenant (seemingly in love with his boss), Roberts as the railroad man, Logan Lerman as Dan's rebellious teenaged son, Gretchen Mol as Dan's weary wife, Alan Tudyk as the town veterinarian pressed into service as a doctor, Luce Rains as the Marshal, and Kevin Durand as the local landlord's hired muscle.

Although the heyday of the Western was decades ago, it's a genre that still has a lot to say when done right. 3:10 to Yuma is not only done right, it's a flawless film that instantly joins Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven as one of the rare modern classics of the Western genre.

[5 out of 5 stars]

***

4. Across the Universe - The story of the 1960s told as a musical based on the songs of the Beatles. It's a concept that could only result in a film that's either totally brilliant or totally pretentious. In the hands of visionary screen and stage director Julie Taymor (Titus, Frida, Broadway's The Lion King), it's the former, and it immediately ranks as one of the great films of 2007.

Jude (Jim Sturgess) is a young dock worker from Liverpool who travels to the United States in the mid-1960s to find the American G.I. father (Robert Clohessy) he never knew. He befriends the privileged Max (Joe Anderson) and his sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). Jude and Lucy fall in love, and their relationship develops against the turbulent backdrop of the Vietnam War, student protests, and societal upheaval.

Although Taymor's background is in stage productions, all of her films are intensely visual in a way that can only be described as mainlining pure cinema directly into the veins of an audience. She's one of the rare filmmakers who knows how to use all the tools of the visual arts to expand the horizons of cinema. Across the Universe is no different. Taymor and screenwriters Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais (The Commitments, Flushed Away) craft a cleverly complex story told as a series of interconnected vignettes around the songs of the Beatles to explore the 1960s through the eyes of the characters. It never feels anachronistic because its themes are directly relevant to contemporary society. Taymor translates the screenplay into a film that's visually literate, highly metaphorical, and an emotionally powerful artistic statement.

Some controversy arose during post-production after Revolution Studios chairman Joe Roth decided to make his own edit without informing Taymor, cutting out nearly a third of the film. After months of conflict between Taymor and Roth, the studio relented and released Taymor's 131 minute cut. The film's structure is so intricately woven that it's hard to imagine a radically shortened version working at all. Thankfully, Taymor's vision prevailed.

Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel (Amélie), production designer Mark Friedberg (The Ice Storm, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), and veteran costume designer Albert Wolsky (Grease, All That Jazz) bring Taymor's vision to vivid life in a sense stunning fashion, delicately treading a fine line between realism and artifice. Elliot Goldenthal (Titus, Frida) contributes some original music and is also one of the people responsible for the song arrangements. You've never heard the Beatles quite like this.

There are thirty-four Beatles songs used in the film, mostly compositions of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, but also three from George Harrison and one credited to all four band members. As if any further proof is really necessary, it once again shows why Lennon and McCartney were two of the greatest writers of popular music in the 20th century. The musical numbers are brilliantly staged by Taymor and choreographer Daniel Ezralow (Earth Girls Are Easy), and they all work perfectly in the context of the story.

Taymor gets great acting and singing performances out of her cast, including the McCartney-esque Sturgess as Jude, Wood as Lucy, Anderson as the Vietnam-bound Max, Dana Fuchs as the Janis Joplin-inspired singer Sadie, Martin Luther McCoy as guitarist/singer JoJo (inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Marvin Gaye), T.V. Carpio as yearning runaway Prudence, Clohessy as Jude's long lost father, U2 frontman Bono as the charismatic Dr. Robert (his performance of "I Am the Walrus" is outstanding), Eddie Izzard as the circus ringmaster Mr. Kite, Salma Hayek as a nurse, and Joe Cocker in three different roles.

It's not often that a piece of cinema raises itself to the sublime level of a work of art, but Across the Universe is one of those rare examples. It's mind-blowing in all the right ways and very highly recommended. It's only the second film this year (the other was The Wind That Shakes the Barley) that I feel is worthy of a full five stars.

[5 out of 5 stars]

***

3. Into the Wild - At times it's easy to despair about the state of filmmaking, but then a film comes along to remind you that there are still films that have something to say and say it well. This is one of those films.

It tells the controversial true story of Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), an idealistic young man who decides to donate his college fund to charity and leave behind what he sees as a meaningless existence to wander around the country under the name of Alexander Supertramp with the goal of making his way to Alaska to live off the land, a quest that ultimately leads to his death from starvation in the Alaskan wilderness.

Writer/director Sean Penn (The Indian Runner, The Pledge) transforms Jon Krakauer's book about McCandless into a powerful film that seduces the audience from the very first frame and doesn't let go until the end credits roll. Penn finds both grace and tragedy in the life and death of a remarkable young man, albeit one who was naive and even arrogant in overestimating his ability to survive in the wild. There's poetry in the telling of this story that is as intimate in scale as it is epic in theme, recalling the films of Terrence Malick (Days of Heaven, The New World).

In exploring how one character on a journey touches the lives of others and in turn has his life touched by them, it also makes an interesting companion piece to David Lynch's The Straight Story. In the end, we're defined by the lives we touch and our relationships with our fellow humans. What lends strength to this film is its refusal to judge McCandless or to attempt to neatly explain what drove his actions, showing Penn's respect for both McCandless and the intelligence of the audience.

Cinematographer Eric Gautier (The Motorcycle Diaries) captures the beauty of the natural landscapes McCandless travels through, allowing us to appreciate them in the same way the character does. A combination of music by Michael Brook (An Inconvenient Truth), Kaki King, and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder with original songs written and performed by Vedder results in a soundtrack that matches the story's intensity.

Penn's direction of his cast is sharp, obtaining the kind of electric performances he's known for as an actor. Hirsch's fervent portrayal of the central character burns up the screen, and he goes so deep into his role that only McCandless seems to remain as a charismatic presence that you can't take your eyes off of even for a second. The cast includes William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden as McCandless' parents, Jena Malone as his sister, Brian Dierker and Catherine Keener as a hippie couple he meets on the road, Vince Vaughn as a man he works with in South Dakota, Kristen Stewart as a teenaged girl he meets in California, and Hal Holbrook as a lonely retired soldier who takes him in and begins to see him as the grandson he never had. For some of them, this is their best work in years, for others, it's their best ever.

Into the Wild is one of those rare films that works on every level. It's not something that can merely be watched, instead it begs to be experienced and even endured as an ordeal as emotionally draining as it is life affirming.

[5 out of 5 stars]

***

2. The Wind That Shakes the Barley - This brilliant and electrifying historical drama, which won the Palme d'Or for Best Film at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, is a masterpiece of political filmmaking that uses a particular historical struggle to draw broader lessons from.

Damien (Cillian Murphy) and Teddy (Padraic Delaney) O'Donovan are brothers from County Cork on two different paths as the story begins in 1920. Damien is on his way to London to attend medical school, while Teddy is the leader of the local Irish Republican Army unit. After Damien witnesses an act of resistance to the routine violence of British soldiers, he puts aside his studies to join his brother in the IRA, fighting in the Irish War of Independence against British colonialism and the Black and Tans, a paramilitary police force. After a treaty is signed which partitions the country and stops far short of economic and political liberation, Damien and other anti-treaty IRA volunteers continue their fight, while Teddy supports the treaty and joins the new Irish Free State military. The Irish Civil War becomes a familial civil war, as the two brothers come into opposition with tragic results.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley represents British director Ken Loach (Hidden Agenda, Riff-Raff, Land and Freedom, Bread and Roses) at his absolute best: a bold storyteller who paints finely detailed, humanistic stories with an unabashedly leftwing perspective on culture and politics. The original screenplay by Paul Laverty (Bread and Roses) is both epic and intimate, with political and class struggle on a wide level represented by a small number of characters, which gives the film great emotional impact. Although it's a fictional story, the events are historically accurate, and it's portrayed with such realism that it feels like a documentary. It's not a dusty history lesson, it's as alive as a modern news report from a war torn country.

Loach doesn't take a single wrong step as he transforms the screenplay into a complex, emotionally draining film that has more edge of your seat tension in scenes of people debating politics than other films have in their action scenes, but it has conventional action scenes, too. It wears its politics on its sleeve, quoting the Irish socialist James Connolly and portraying Damien as a committed republican socialist who understands that the treaty will do nothing to change the distribution of power in his country, but it never idealizes any of the characters. In fact, its refusal to do so is one of its strengths.

The film also unflinchingly portrays how struggles for freedom are derailed so that only the color of a flag changes but those with economic power remain in control. This provides a certain universality to the film's themes, reflecting not only the present day Good Friday Agreement in Ireland, but also any struggle pitting the powerless against the powerful.

The naturalistic cinematography of Barry Ackroyd (United 93) is both bleak and beautiful, capturing the lush greenness of the County Cork filming locations while investing them with a heavy sense of tragedy. Production designer Fergus Clegg and costume designer Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh (Omagh, Breakfast on Pluto) bring the past back to vivid life. George Fenton (Cry Freedom, The Fisher King) provides a sweeping score that appropriately accents the story's themes.

Murphy's performance as Damien is a finely polished gem, as he grows from a quiet bystander to a committed revolutionary willing to give his life for his principles despite being stripped of his innocence by war. Delaney's Teddy is a born fighter whose war weariness leads him to the most emotionally wrenching act a man could take against his brother, and his chemistry with Murphy is such that one can easily imagine that they really are brothers. He has a scene toward the end that is simply heartbreaking and he plays it perfectly.

Strong performances also come from Liam Cunningham as Dan, a trade unionist and republican veteran who fought alongside Connolly in the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising; Orla Fitzgerald as Sinead, the love of Damien's life and also a committed republican activist; Roger Allam as a British landowner; Laurence Barry as a young man who defiantly refuses to give his name in English when it's demanded of him even though he knows it may get him killed; and John Crean as an IRA volunteer who informs on his comrades and suffers the usual fate of informers in a riveting scene.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley is a work of art that does what art should do, examines real life and shines a powerful light on the human struggle for freedom. There have been many films that have told stories about this period of Irish history, but this one can truly be called great. Highly, highly recommended.

[5 out of 5 stars]

***

At last we come to my choice for the best film of 2007...

1. There Will Be Blood - If you thought American filmmakers had nothing left to say, then this is a film that will renew your faith that there are still inspired American directors with quite a lot to say and who can say it brilliantly.

Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is an oilman who travels around early twentieth century California with his son H.W. (Dillon Freasier), always looking for the next opportunity to increase his fortune. When he learns about the possibility of a major oil field located beneath the remote town of Little Boston, he begins purchasing as much of the town's land as he can, with the dream of finding that oil and building a pipeline to the Pacific Ocean. His presence brings him into conflict with a young faith healer and preacher named Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), and the two vie for dominance over the other.

This extremely loose adaptation of Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel, Oil! by writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia) is a searing epic that effortlessly spans three decades. Instead of relying on a cast of thousands, Anderson chooses to tell this story as an intimate character study, a choice that proves to be richly rewarding as it unfolds into an uncompromisingly bleak tale of greed, misanthropy, and obsession with competition and wealth acquisition to the point of insanity. His well-honed satirical darts hit the mark every time, while the themes of an oil-hungry society and religious fervor resonate as a powerful allegory. A keenly black sense of humor makes itself known in the second half of the film, adding yet another dimension to the story.

Anderson's craftsmanship as a director is superb, and there's not even as much as a frame out of place. He boldly allows numerous scenes to play out without dialog, allowing images and ambient sounds to move the story along. It's almost like a silent film in that technique, but it only makes the actual dialog, as sparse at it may be, that much more powerful. Anderson has always been a good director. There Will Be Blood surpasses all of his previous works. This, my friends, is how you make a film.

Cinematographer Robert Elswit (Syriana, Michael Clayton) finds beauty in stark, naturalistic lighting, making the harsh landscape a character in its own right. Production designer Jack Fisk (Mulholland Drive, The New World) and costume designer Mark Bridges (8 Mile, The Italian Job) vividly resurrect four different periods of time for the film, achieving the effect of being lived in instead of created. Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood contributes a richly textured score that perfectly complements the visuals and conveys the underlying themes of the story in scenes that lack dialog.

Day-Lewis adds yet another great performance to his résumé as Daniel Plainview. If he doesn't win the Best Actor Oscar, something is rotten in Hollywood. His charismatic turn as the oilman seduces you into giving him your full attention at all times. He's subtle at one moment and grandiose in the next. It's like watching his body be possessed by the spirits of John Huston and Orson Welles.

Dano brings a terrifying fervor to his role as a faith healer with a growing number of followers, although Plainview sees right through him from the start. First-time actor Freasier is more than convincing as Plainview's son, a shrewd boy raised at his father's knee in the California oil fields.

The strong cast includes Kevin J. O'Connor as a man who claims to be Plainview's half-brother, Ciarán Hinds as Plainview's right hand man, David Willis as the patriarch of the Sunday family, David Warshofsky as an oil company representative, and Hans Howes as a landowner whose initial refusal to sell his land is eventually an obstacle in Plainview's plan to construct the pipeline.

There Will Be Blood is a stunning masterpiece, a label that should never be tossed around carelessly, but one that it fully deserves. Some critics are comparing it to Citizen Kane. At the very least, it may just be the best film to be released in 2007. Yes, it's that good. People actually stood up and applauded as the end credits rolled.

[5 out of 5 stars]

***

Honorable Mention: Black Snake Moan, Eastern Promises, Halloween, The Kite Runner, Michael Clayton.

Cloverfield

2008-01-18T16:05:00.000-08:00

If you ever wondered what it would be like if some of the people behind television's Lost decided to make a giant monster movie, then here's your answer: it's one hell of a thrill ride. Producer J.J. Abrams once again delivers the goods.

Jason (Mike Vogel) and his girlfriend Lili (Jessica Lucas) throw a surprise going away party for Jason's brother Rob (Michael Stahl-David), who's also in the middle of a romantic crisis with Beth (Odette Yustman). Jason gives a video camera to Rob's best friend Hud (T. J. Miller) and tells him to gather video testimonials at the party. Suddenly a power outage occurs and an explosion is heard in the distance, and the party guests are thrust into the chaos of a city under siege from an unknown but very large source.

Director Matt Reeves (who created television's "Felicity" in collaboration with Abrams) uses a narrative device borrowed from The Blair Witch Project to tell the story, but it works even better here because of the ubiquitous YouTube videos that we're all so familiar with by now. It makes it feel that much more immediate by framing the story as a pseudo-documentary told entirely through the lens of a video camera wielded by a character, capturing the chaos and horror in real time. The screenplay by Drew Goddard (a former staff writer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a current writer/producer for Lost) doesn't break any new ground and character development is sketchy, but it's clever and entertaining, which is what we really want from this kind of film.

Cinematographer Michael Bonvillain (Lost) uses practical lighting to convey a heightened sense of reality, using a Panavision Genesis high definition camera to avoid a typical film look. One word of warning: if you dislike Shaky Cam, you probably won't enjoy this. Most of the music is diagetic, but the end title theme by Michael Giacchino (Lost, Mission: Impossible III) beautifully recalls the music of science fiction films of the 1950s and even Alexander Courage's original Star Trek theme. The visual effects by Double Negative and the Tippett Studio are outstanding, and they provide the film with an awe-inspiring creature that's as scary as giant monsters come. It all looks so real.

While there are no great performances here, the cast is entirely convincing that they're living through a series of terrible events. Miller's character holds the camera for most of the film, but he makes the somewhat dim-witted Hud a likeable and human recorder of events. Stahl-David, Lucas, Yustman, and Vogel are effective in their roles, along with Lizzy Caplan as a party guest Hud has a crush on.

Cloverfield has had months of hype leading up to its release. It more than lives up to it. Giant monster fans, this one is for you!

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

Atonement

2008-01-17T17:45:00.000-08:00

This film is technically flawless, stunning even, but it lacks emotional resonance, and it's this that dooms it to being more style than substance.

A 13-year-old girl named Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) misunderstands the complexity of the adult world when she witnesses sexual activity between her older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and housekeeper's son Robbie (James McAvoy). When her cousin Lola (Juno Temple) is raped, Briony is convinced that Robbie is responsible, which sets in motion several tragedies.

Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons, Mary Reilly) adapts Ian McEwan's novel into a screenplay that director Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice) turns into a series of pretty images, but something important is missing from the equation. A story about passion and tragedy needs to engage you emotionally far more than this one does, and no amount of excellent production values can replace that. One glaring flaw is the relationship between Cecilia and Robbie isn't properly established, another is the narrative trickery in the third act that renders the recounting of earlier events unreliable, which again distances the audience from the film. Wright's direction also seems too showy at times, particularly the Dunkirk scenes. The powerful sequence of soldiers waiting for rescue ships just feels out of place here.

Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey (The Hours, World Trade Center) uses his tools in this production the way a master painter might. From a rural English manor to London under siege to war-torn France, McGarvey treats us to one gorgeously lit scene after another. It's some of the absolute best cinematography seen on the screen in 2007. Production designer Sarah Greenwood (Pride & Prejudice, Starter for 10) and costume designer Jacqueline Durran (Pride & Prejudice) provide sumptuous sets and costumes that convincingly recreate a bygone era. Dario Marianelli (Pride & Prejudice, V for Vendetta) adds a classy, understated score.

Ronan, a young actress with a bright future, is splendid as the intelligent but uncomprehending Briony. Romola Garai and Vanessa Redgrave also make their presences felt as the same character at later stages of her life. McAvoy delivers another fine performance as Robbie, but Knightley is bland as Cecilia. She doesn't have much chemistry with McAvoy and she isn't able to bring any dimension to her character beyond looking pretty. Temple is excellent as manipulative teenager Juno. The rest of the cast is solid, including Harriet Walker as the matriarch of the Tallis family, Patrick Kennedy as Cecilia and Briony's older brother Leon, Brenda Blethyn as Robbie's mother, Benedict Cumberbatch as Leon's visiting friend Paul, and Danny Mays as one of Robbie's fellow soldiers.

Atonement is nice to look at and offers some good performances, but there's no emotional connection and nothing deeper under the surface. As a whole, the dramatic elements are disappointing in comparison to the impressive technical elements.

[3 out of 5 stars]

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

2008-01-11T16:55:00.000-08:00

A poetic film based on the true story of a man trapped in the ultimate prison, his own body, with only the ability to blink as a way to communicate with the outside world.

December 28, 1995. Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric), the editor of the fashion magazine "Elle", wakes up in the hospital, learning to his horror that he has suffered a stroke and is almost completely paralyzed except for being able to move and blink his left eye. With the help of therapist Henriette (Marie-Josée Croze), he learns to communicate using blinks to indicate letters as the alphabet is repeatedly read out to him. Using this method of communication, Jean-Do dictates his memoirs to transcriber Claude (Anne Consigny) from inside the living prison that his body has become.

Screenwriter Ronald Harwood (The Pianist, Oliver Twist) translates Bauby's remarkable memoir into an equally remarkable screenplay that achieves dramatic power and emotional clarity without succumbing to the usual cliches of the 'sick person' genre by telling the story with great honesty. Painter turned director Julian Schnabel (Basquiat, Before Night Falls) transforms it into a piece of visual poetry by crafting a unique first-person cinematic narrative that allows the audience to experience as much as possible what Bauby did. It's a visceral and intimate creation that succeeds beautifully by consistently defying convention.

Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan) brilliantly suggests a haunting waking dream with soft, hazy lighting, while making creative use of the camera to place the audience firmly inside Bauby's head. The score by Paul Cantelon (Everything Is Illuminated) contributes to the dream-like atmosphere.

How much can an actor really convey if he or she is limited to using one eye for their performance? For a gifted actor like Amalric, a single eye is enough to open a window into the very soul of his character, and his voice-overs of Bauby's internal dialog capture the despair, acceptance, patience, courage, and black humor that mark Jean-Do's state of mind. It's one of the more astounding pieces of acting I've seen in the cinema.

Schnabel also directs strong performances from Croze as Henriette, Consigny as Claude, Max Von Sydow as Bauby's father (a moving performance from a veteran actor), Emmanuelle Seigner as the mother of Bauby's children, and Olatz López Garmendia as his physical therapist.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is quite simply a work of art. There's no other way to describe it, but even that description can't do full justice to the film. It's at times challenging, at others terrifying, but always life affirming.

[5 out of 5 stars]

The Kite Runner

2008-01-11T14:20:00.001-08:00

The best examples of storytelling convincingly transport the audience into another world and into the lives of the story's characters. This compelling drama successfully does that.

In Afghanistan of the 1970s, boys Amir (Zekeria Ebrahimi) and Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) are friends who participate in the sport of kite fighting together. Amir is the son of a liberal-minded businessman (Homayoun Ershadi), while Hassan is the son of a family servant (Nabi Tanha). After a traumatic incident, the boys grow apart. When the Soviet army enters the country, Amir and his father flee to the United States. Years later, a now adult Amir (Khalid Abdalla) is called to Pakistan by his father's former business partner (Shaun Toub), where his life once again intersects with that of his childhood friend and his home country in unexpected ways.

Khaled Hosseini's bestselling novel is faithfully brought to the screen by scriptwriter David Benioff (25th Hour, Troy) and director Marc Forster (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland), who previously collaborated on Stay, a film that made my Top 10 list for 2005. The story's powerful narrative about friendship and responsibility packs an emotional punch without pandering to sentiment, while providing a vivid look at life in Afghanistan in two very different eras. It starts out a bit slowly, but it's the carefully observed details of the first act that lends such strength to the redemptive final act, and the tension in the latter will have you on the edge of your seat. Forster's finely honed direction opens a window into the souls of the characters and their world, immersing the audience in an unfamiliar setting with clarity and conviction.

The crisp cinematography of Roberto Schaefer (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland) is imbued with warmth in the early scenes, but becomes harsh and desolate when the adult Amir returns to a country now controlled by the Taliban. Because of the risk involved with filming in Afghanistan, the production was instead shot in western China, which production designer Carlos Conti (Wild Orchid, The Motorcycle Diaries) convincingly uses to recreate Afghanistan of the 1970s and 2000. The Eastern-influenced score by Alberto Iglesias (The Constant Gardener, Volver) effectively sets the mood for the story.

This is a character driven film, and so the burden of bringing it to life largely rests on the shoulders of its cast. Young Afghan actors Ebrahimi and Mahmidzada are very believable as Amir and Hassan, bringing authenticity and surprising depth to their performances. Ershadi delivers a memorable and at times dryly funny performance as Amir's father, while Toub is a warm presence as the father's business partner and friend. Abdalla is quite good as the adult Amir, who finally acts with the courage that failed him as a boy. Also noteworthy are Atossa Leoni as a woman the older Amir falls in love with; Qadir Farookh as her father, a former Afghan general; Maimoona Ghizal as her mother; Saïd Taghmaoui as Amir's guide when he returns home; Abdul Salam Yusoufzai as a Taliban member who Amir knew as a boy; Ali Dinesh as Hassan's son; and Tanha as Hassan's father.

If you're looking for an intelligent drama with skilled performances and genuine emotion, then look no further than The Kite Runner. It's a very good film, and one that could be a contender at awards time. One hopes that scriptwriter David Benioff and director Marc Forster will collaborate again in the future.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

There Will Be Blood

2008-01-06T22:25:00.000-08:00

If you thought American filmmakers had nothing left to say, then this is a film that will renew your faith that there are still inspired American directors with quite a lot to say and who can say it brilliantly.

Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is an oilman who travels around early twentieth century California with his son H.W. (Dillon Freasier), always looking for the next opportunity to increase his fortune. When he learns about the possibility of a major oil field located beneath the remote town of Little Boston, he begins purchasing as much of the town's land as he can, with the dream of finding that oil and building a pipeline to the Pacific Ocean. His presence brings him into conflict with a young faith healer and preacher named Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), and the two vie for dominance over the other.

This extremely loose adaptation of Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel, Oil! by writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia) is a searing epic that effortlessly spans three decades. Instead of relying on a cast of thousands, Anderson chooses to tell this story as an intimate character study, a choice that proves to be richly rewarding as it unfolds into an uncompromisingly bleak tale of greed, misanthropy, and obsession with competition and wealth acquisition to the point of insanity. His well-honed satirical darts hit the mark every time, while the themes of an oil-hungry society and religious fervor resonate as a powerful allegory. A keenly black sense of humor makes itself known in the second half of the film, adding yet another dimension to the story.

Anderson's craftsmanship as a director is superb, and there's not even as much as a frame out of place. He boldly allows numerous scenes to play out without dialog, allowing images and ambient sounds to move the story along. It's almost like a silent film in that technique, but it only makes the actual dialog, as sparse at it may be, that much more powerful. Anderson has always been a good director. There Will Be Blood surpasses all of his previous works. This, my friends, is how you make a film.

Cinematographer Robert Elswit (Syriana, Michael Clayton) finds beauty in stark, naturalistic lighting, making the harsh landscape a character in its own right. Production designer Jack Fisk (Mulholland Drive, The New World) and costume designer Mark Bridges (8 Mile, The Italian Job) vividly resurrect four different periods of time for the film, achieving the effect of being lived in instead of created. Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood contributes a richly textured score that perfectly complements the visuals and conveys the underlying themes of the story in scenes that lack dialog.

Day-Lewis adds yet another great performance to his résumé as Daniel Plainview. If he doesn't win the Best Actor Oscar, something is rotten in Hollywood. His charismatic turn as the oilman seduces you into giving him your full attention at all times. He's subtle at one moment and grandiose in the next. It's like watching his body be possessed by the spirits of John Huston and Orson Welles.

Dano brings a terrifying fervor to his role as a faith healer with a growing number of followers, although Plainview sees right through him from the start. First-time actor Freasier is more than convincing as Plainview's son, a shrewd boy raised at his father's knee in the California oil fields.

The strong cast includes Kevin J. O'Connor as a man who claims to be Plainview's half-brother, Ciarán Hinds as Plainview's right hand man, David Willis as the patriarch of the Sunday family, David Warshofsky as an oil company representative, and Hans Howes as a landowner whose initial refusal to sell his land is eventually an obstacle in Plainview's plan to construct the pipeline.

There Will Be Blood is a stunning masterpiece, a label that should never be tossed around carelessly, but one that it fully deserves. Some critics are comparing it to Citizen Kane. At the very least, it may just be the best film to be released in 2007. Yes, it's that good. People actually stood up and applauded as the end credits rolled.

[5 out of 5 stars]

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

2007-12-21T20:25:00.000-08:00

The award-winning stage musical by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler arrives on the screen as part of a recent renaissance of film musicals (including Hairspray and Across the Universe), and it's a marvelously twisted tale of obsession and revenge put forth with great style.

Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) is a barber convicted of a crime he didn't commit by Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), who covets Barker's beautiful wife (Laura Michelle Kelly). Fifteen years after being deported to a penal colony, Barker returns under the pseudonym of Sweeney Todd to take his revenge. His landlady, the pie-making Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) tells him that his wife took poison and he also discovers that his now teenaged daughter (Jayne Wisener) is Turpin's ward. Twisted by anger and despair, Todd returns to barbering with a wicked twist: he murders his clients and allows the adoring Mrs. Lovett to use their bodies as the main ingredient in her meat pies.

It's the kind of opulently gothic story that director Tim Burton (Batman, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) has running through his veins, and it's hard to imagine another director being as successful at transforming it from the stage to a sumptuous cinematic feast. From the ominous notes of an organ over the studio logos at the beginning to the final shot of Sweeney Todd, it's an exhilarating journey through the macabre that represents Burton at his best, a film that's at once tragic and wickedly funny. Burton approaches the material as if he was directing a performance at the Grand Guignol, with multiple throat slashings spewing blood on everything from the characters to the camera lens. The first time Todd draws blood brings a genuine sense of shock to the audience. In many ways, Burton has made something more gruesome than any recent outright horror film even as it's highly stylized.

Screenwriter John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator) streamlines the stage version's book by Wheeler from three hours to a two hour film without losing its essence. One might have wanted more scenes between Todd's daughter and her sailor suitor to remain in the production to better flesh out those characters and their relationship, but I think that's a minor quibble. The deletions usually work to the film's advantage because they allow an even greater focus on Sweeney Todd's obsession.

Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski (The Crow and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy) uses low lighting and desaturated colors to suggest a grey world where there are no happy endings, but adds glorious colors to the "By the Sea" sequence. Production designer Dante Ferretti (Interview with the Vampire, Gangs of New York) creates a vividly drawn Victorian-era London of dark alleys, old buildings, and belching smokestacks, while costumer designer Colleen Atwood (Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow) provides a gothic touch to the wardrobe.

Most of Sondheim's great songs are here, transformed by music producer Mike Higham and original stage orchestrator Jonathan Tunick into versions that fit seamlessly into what Burton is trying to accomplish. Some of them are abbreviated, but all of them display a rich sonic palette because a much larger orchestra was used than the stage version had available.

In his sixth collaboration with director Burton (their first was 1990's Edward Scissorhands), Depp is simply magnificent as the vengeance obsessed title character. He stalks the screen with a deranged gleam in his eye, but the biggest surprise is that he's up to the task of singing Sondheim's songs, which he delivers with a snarling rage in his voice. Bonham Carter displays splendid comic timing as Mrs. Lovett and has good chemistry with Depp's Todd, which offsets her adequate but sometimes thin singing voice. Rickman is perfectly cast as a man who uses his power as a judge for his own corrupt purposes, while Timothy Spall puts his comedic skills to good use as the judge's obsequious henchman.

Sacha Baron Cohen is gleefully flamboyant as the Italian barber and snake oil salesman Pirelli who engages in a public duel of barbering with Todd. Ed Sanders is a find as Pirelli's abused boy servant who finds his way into the employ of Mrs. Lovett. Young Irish actress-singer Wisener is like a precious doll as Todd's daughter, Johanna. Jamie Campbell Bower looks too pretty to be a sailor man, but he brings just the right amount of romantic yearning to his role. Kelly previously played Mrs. Barker on stage, and although her performance here is small, it's a polished one. Although Anthony Stewart Head's character of a victim turned ghostly narrator was removed from the film, he appears to still have a blink and you'll miss it cameo.

As the latest collaboration of director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is bloody good fun in all the right ways.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

American Gangster

2007-12-20T23:45:00.000-08:00

On paper, the combination of a noted director, an Oscar-winning screenwriter, and two really good actors probably sounded like a sure-fire winner, so why doesn't it work?

The story depicts the rise of Harlem heroin dealer Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) in the early 1970s and how he's brought down by doggedly honest Detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe).

Director Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator) never fails to put together a polished film, but what this one lacks is energy. As well-made as it is, the momentum switch seems to be set to 'coasting' from start to finish, as if Scott simply couldn't muster the passion for it. Although the screenplay by Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List, Gangs of New York) is competently written, there's absolutely nothing in it that we haven't seen before in similar films. It's scripted by the numbers and pays scant attention to developing its characters or their motivations. We learn that as a child Lucas witnessed police murder his cousin. We learn that Roberts is as dishonest in his personal life as he is honest in his professional one. That's about as developed as the characters get.

The moody cinematography by Harris Savides (Finding Forrester, Zodiac) nicely captures the gritty, urban feel of the story, while production designer Arthur Max (Se7en, Gladiator) and costume designer Janty Yates (Gladiator, Miami Vice) provide an authentic period look. The score by Marc Streitenfeld (A Good Year) is simple but effective, with songs from the period also being used.

Despite his character being underdeveloped, Washington delivers a good performance as Lucas. His charisma always makes him watchable even in lesser films, and that trait serves this production well. Crowe's performance is respectable, but pales in comparison to his work in 3:10 to Yuma earlier in the year. The only time he gives off sparks is in the few scenes he shares with Washington.

It's certainly true that the best thing about the film is its cast, even if it seems that some good actors are wasted on routine roles that don't require them to stretch their acting muscles. That cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor as Lucas' brother Huey, Josh Brolin as a corrupt detective, Lymari Nadal as Lucas' beauty queen wife, Cuba Gooding Jr. as a rival gangster, Ted Levine as Roberts' superior, Armand Assante as a Mafia boss, John Hawkes as Roberts' partner, Ruby Dee as Lucas' mother, Carla Gugino as Roberts' ex-wife, Joe Morton as an associate of Lucas, and Clarence Williams III as Lucas' mentor Bumpy Johnson.

American Gangster wants to be a gangster film, a police procedural, a study of police corruption, a morality play, and a biography, and its inability to decide which it really is leaves it feeling unfocused. It's an uninspired attempt from filmmakers who have proven that they're capable of much more, and that's the most disappointing thing about it.

[2.5 out of 5 stars]

I Am Legend

2007-12-18T18:35:00.001-08:00

The third film adaptation of Richard Matheson's classic 1954 novel offers a winning performance by its star and some stunning visuals, which are just enough to offset its flaws.

The film opens with an announcement that a cure for cancer has been found. Cut to three years later, where New York City is an abandoned wasteland. We learn that the cure for cancer was a virus that instead killed 90% of the world's population and transformed most survivors into flesh-eating zombies. The only apparent surviving human is Robert Neville (Will Smith), a military scientist who spends his time searching for any other humans and trying to find a cure, all while hiding from the sunlight-averse zombies.

Director Francis Lawrence (Constantine) began his career in music videos and is known as a visual stylist, so the film really plays to his strengths in scenes of a post-apocalyptic New York City that's abandoned, overgrown with weeds, and filled with wild animals. He provides a vivid glimpse of a city bereft of civilization. He also generates some suspense when needed and there are some decent action scenes, but the film is mostly an atmospheric study of a man in isolation. The problems with the film don't stem from his direction.

Matheson's novel was previously realized on film as The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price in 1964 and The Omega Man with Charlton Heston in 1971. The former was the most faithful to the novel, while this film is based on both the novel and the latter film (with its screenwriters John William Corrington and Joyce H. Corrington receiving credit). For the first two acts, the screenplay by Mark Protosevich (The Cell, Poseidon) and Akiva Goldsman (Batman & Robin, The Da Vinci Code) provides an interesting profile of a man who's been alone and suffering from emotional trauma for three years, with his only companion a dog.

However, it often seems more like a series of set pieces strung together rather than a complete film, which reflects that it went into production without a finished script and with re-writes by Goldsman continuing throughout shooting. It starts to sag a bit in the second act until it falls apart in an overly compressed third act that culminates in an unsatisfying ending. There are also some lapses in story logic that are never properly explained.

Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie (The Lord of the Rings, King Kong) and production designer Naomi Shohan (American Beauty, Constantine) create a very believable setting for the story, as disturbing as it is sometimes beautiful in a state of ruin, and a combination of location shooting and CGI are fit together seamlessly. Where the CGI isn't as successful is in the creation of the zombies, who just aren't as believable as the low-key vampire-like monsters of the novel. The brooding score by James Newton Howard (Batman Begins, King Kong) is a plus mark for the film.

Smith's combination of movie star charisma and acting ability is the key to I Am Legend's success. So many scenes are essentially monologues that it could quickly become tedious if the actor delivering them wasn't able to hold your attention. He does, and in doing so makes us believe in who he is and what he has to do to survive. At times you wonder if the isolation has finally driven his character over the edge, and Smith achieves this effect with subtlety. The rest of the cast is solid, including Emma Thompson as the scientist who creates the virus, Salli Richardson as Neville's wife, Willow Smith (Will's actual daughter) as Neville's daughter, and Alice Braga (niece of noted actress Sônia Braga) as a survivor who escapes from Brazil on a Red Cross ship.

I Am Legend is above average for entertainment value, and that's entirely due to the presence of Will Smith and the visual sensibilities of Francis Lawrence, who keep the film afloat despite a leaky script.

[3.5 out of 5 stars]

The Golden Compass

2007-12-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

The long-awaited film version of Philip Pullman's fantasy novel is an entertaining if somewhat uneven adaptation.

On an alternate Earth where people's souls take on animal shapes known as daemons and where the powerful Magisterium reigns supreme, young Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) is entrusted with a golden compass that allows her to see the truth of things. After her uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) leaves on a journey, she's taken into the care of the sinister Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman). When Lyra learns that Mrs. Coulter is behind the mysterious disappearances of children, including her best friend Roger (Ben Walker), she flees with her daemon Pan (voice of Freddie Highmore) and begins an epic adventure to rescue the children and find her uncle. Along the way she gathers crucial allies in the ice bear Iorek Byrnison (voice of Ian McKellen), the Texan aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), and the witch queen Serafina (Eva Green).

Screenwriter/director Chris Weitz (best known as one of the producers of the American Pie films, but also the co-director of Down to Earth and About a Boy) succeeds on the whole in bringing Pullman's novel to the screen. The film is mostly faithful to the plot of the novel, and even though Pullman's philosophical views are watered down, the story still works as a more broadly anti-authoritarian tale, even if it has become more about spectacle than ideas. Weitz is up to the task of visualizing the story, ably blending live action and visual effects while displaying a competent handling of the action scenes. It's an enjoyable film, but one that's not without flaws.

What makes it merely good rather than great is that a certain degree of character development, plot development, and pacing has been sacrificed on the altar of creating a film that's less than two hours in running time, but it's hard to say if that's the fault of Weitz or of New Line Cinema. Even an extra thirty minutes would have improved the pacing and allowed for more development of the key characters and themes, potentially making it a better film. A decision was also made to end the film at a slightly earlier point in the story, leaving the novel's final chapters to be used as a prologue for a sequel if one is produced. Combined with the relatively short running time, the ending leaves one feeling as if there should have been a little more to it.

Cinematographer Henry Braham (Nanny McPhee, Flyboys) contributes gleaming lighting that stylishly conjures up the appropriate mood for an epic fantasy, while production designer Dennis Gassner (Field of Dreams, Waterworld) and costume designer Ruth Myers (Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Addams Family) create an amazing world to feast your eyes on. The visual effects, produced by several effects houses, are skillfully rendered, and convincingly portray such creatures of the fantastic as daemons and talking bears. If a fantasy film can be judged solely on how well the story's world is brought to life, then The Golden Compass is a smashing success. Alexandre Desplat (Syriana, The Queen) provides a solid musical score, although the song during the end credits written and performed by Kate Bush is surprisingly unmemorable.

Despite having limited acting experience, Richards makes her film debut with a spirited performance as Lyra. Kidman plays against type as a villainess, but her icy delivery really captures the character of Mrs. Coulter. Craig is only in a few scenes as Lord Asriel, but he makes the most of them with his usual magnetism. Although Weitz wanted to use a lesser known actor to voice Iorek, the rich voice of McKellen really adds another dimension to the character. Elliott is just perfect as Scoresby. While they may have only limited screen time as leading members of the Magisterium, does it get any better than Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee hatching evil plots together? I think not.

The rest of the cast is effective, including Green as Serafina, Walker as Roger, Ian McShane as the voice of King Ragnar of the ice bears, Highmore as Pan's voice, Jim Carter as Gyptian leader John Faa, Tom Courtenay as Farder Coram, Clare Higgins as Ma Costa, Charlie Rowe as Billy Costa, Kristin Scott Thomas as the voice of Asriel's dameon, Kathy Bates as the voice of Scoresby's rabbit daemon Hester, and Simon McBurney as Fra Pavel.

While The Golden Compass may not be on the same level as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it's still a good fantasy film that offers much entertainment value while generally remaining faithful to its literary source.

[4 out of 5 stars]

No Country for Old Men

2007-12-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

The Coen Brothers' latest film can be summed up in one word: brilliant.

Texas, 1980. Vietnam veteran Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is out hunting when he comes across the results of a drug deal gone bad--several dead men, a truck full of heroin, and $2 million in cash. He takes the cash, which immediately places him in the fatal path of hitman Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), who also wants the money. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) investigates the drug killings, coming to the realization that Moss took the money and his life is now in danger.

Screenwriters/directors (also editors and co-producers) Joel and Ethan Coen (Miller's Crossing, Fargo) generally remain faithful to Cormac McCarthy's novel while placing their own unique signature on the material. The dialog is sparse but revelatory. The story is bleak but a vein of sardonic humor lurks just below the surface. It's a dark thriller that owes a debt to the film noir and western genres, while it projects itself onto the cinema screen with an unwillingness to conform to a conventional narrative path.

The Coens suggest that exploring the forces of fate that draw the characters into the same orbit is more important than neatly tying things up at the end, and they're correct. Real life isn't as neat as a bow on a Christmas package. Real life is messy and usually leaves us with more questions than answers. So does No Country for Old Men, and therein lies its brilliance.

Cinematographer Roger Deakins, who has collaborated with the Coens since 1991's Barton Fink, captures the nihilistic mood of the material with simple and realistic lighting, along with careful framing of each shot. Production designer Jess Gonchor (Capote, The Devil Wears Prada) and costume designer Mary Zophres (Fargo, Lions for Lambs) credibly evoke the place and time of Texas in 1980. The minimalist score by Carter Burwell (Fargo, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) perfectly suits the starkness of the story.

The cast is superb. Brolin is outstanding as Moss, revealing more about his character through body language than dialog. He remains a sympathetic lead throughout, adding impact to the story as the dark clouds of inevitability form above his head. Bardem is disturbing as the remorseless and seemingly unstoppable assassin tracking Moss. Some of his scenes will send shivers down your spine. Jones is pitch perfect as the aging lawman whose investigation triggers an existential crisis in his life. Also noteworthy for their performances are Woody Harrelson as a second hitman tracking Moss, Kelly Macdonald as Moss' wife, Garret Dillahunt as Sheriff Bell's eager deputy, Barry Corbin as Bell's uncle, and Rodger Boyce as the Sheriff of El Paso.

No Country for Old Men is easily one of the elite films of 2007. It also proves once again that the Coen Brothers are some of the most strikingly creative filmmakers of this era. It's difficult to single out one of their films as the best, but without a doubt this one is a highly qualified candidate.

[5 out of 5 stars]

Beowulf

2007-12-03T16:35:00.000-08:00

The past (an Old English heroic epic poem) meets the future (digital animation) in an entertaining fantasy film.

Denmark in the sixth century: King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) is celebrating the construction of his new mead hall when it's suddenly attacked by the monstrous giant Grendel (Crispin Glover), who kills many of Hrothgar's subjects. Hrothgar offers half of his gold to any hero who can slay Grendel. Every man who takes up the challenge dies. Enter Beowulf (Ray Winstone), a boastful warrior who vows to slay Grendel and bring peace to the kingdom once more. To achieve his goals, he must contend not only with Grendel, but also with Grendel's demonic mother (Angelina Jolie).

The classic poem is reinterpreted for the 21st century by screenwriters Neil Gaiman (Neverwhere, MirrorMask) and Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction, The Rules of Attraction). The film covers the three major events in the life of the titular hero--the slaying of Grendel, the encounter with Grendel's mother, and the slaying of a dragon--while cleverly expanding on the source material to transform it into a more complete and emotionally involving story while maintaining its heroic epic qualities. In the poem, Beowulf is a one dimensional archetypal hero, but here he becomes a more interesting character with emotional conflicts and better definition as an individual. There's also a fine sense of humor that keeps it from becoming too grim.

The film's weakness is the choice made by director Robert Zemeckis (best known for Back to the Future and Forrest Gump) to use motion capture and digital animation by Sony Pictures Imageworks to bring the story to life, just as he did for 2004's The Polar Express. It looks like a fancy video game rather than an epic film, and you may well wonder where your game controller is at times. There are other ways to do a film like this. For example, using live actors and real sets enhanced by visual effects (Lord of the Rings), or using live actors and digital backgrounds (300).

Call me old fashioned, but when I plunk myself down in a cinema seat, I want to see something that looks like a film instead of an oversized video game. As good as the animation may be, the motion capture simply can't quite fully render facial expressions and complex motions without looking fake. However, Gaiman and Avary's screenplay is strong enough to mostly overcome the problems with the animation and suck the audience into the story. It must also be noted that this film would have been pushing an R rating if it had been filmed live action, and the unreality of the animation may have allowed it to get by with a PG-13 rating instead.

Production designer Doug Chiang (The Polar Express) and costume designer Gabriella Pescucci (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Brothers Grimm) provide the film with a strong visual sensibility that looks at once historical and fantastical. Longtime Zemeckis collaborator Alan Silvestri contributes an epic sounding score, along with some songs co-written by Glen Ballard that are hauntingly beautiful.

Because of the motion capture and animation, it's difficult to judge the actors on anything except their voice work, which is of top quality. Hopkins' rich voice is perfectly suited to Hrothgar, Winstone is appropriately heroic while bringing some depth to the role of Beowulf, Glover is strangely sympathetic as Grendel, and Jolie is perfectly cast as a seductive demoness who can make a man lose his powers of reason. The rest of the talented cast includes John Malkovich as Hrothgar's sharp-tongued advisor Unferth, Brendan Gleeson as Beowulf's friend and sidekick, Robin Wright Penn as Hrothgar's queen, and Alison Lohman as Beowulf's mistress.

Literary purists might not approve of some of the changes wrought by the screenwriters, but Beowulf the film is a good epic fantasy with a conflicted hero, a sense of humor, and a wonderfully ambiguous ending. Those qualities allow it to transcend the limitations of motion capture and digital animation, and by the end the story will win you over and you'll forget that it looks like a video game.

[4 out of 5 stars]

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

2007-11-27T17:20:00.000-08:00

This is one of those films that probably sounded better on paper, but there's just something lacking in its translation to the cinema screen.

Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman) works in a magical toy store owned by the whimsical 243-year-old Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman). When Mr. Magorium believes his long life is coming to an end, he decides to leave his store in the care of Molly, despite her nagging self-doubts about her abilities. With the help of a young boy (Zach Mills) and a practical-minded accountant (Jason Bateman), can she come to believe in herself and succeed as the new owner of the Wonder Emporium?

Writer/director Zach Helm (writer of Stranger Than Fiction) makes his directorial debut with a light fantasy that's certainly a colorful production with a whimsical sensibility, but it lacks a certain magical spark. The story offers too slender of a plot and at times is simply bland, while Helm's direction is competent enough but lacks the imagination that the concept demands. I also felt like I'd walked in on the middle of the story with some essential character development missing, especially for Molly.

The lighting of cinematographer Roman Osin (Pride & Prejudice) is uninteresting and far too mundane to conjure up a magical mood. However, production designer Thérèse DePrez (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) provides eye candy in the form of a magnificently eccentric toy store, while the store's living toys are believably brought to life by CGI effects.

Make no mistake about it, this is Hoffman's film. He's wonderful as an eccentric old toy store proprietor, a Willy Wonka of toys instead of candy. The film is always at its best when he's on screen and working his acting mojo. Mills delivers a winsome performance as the shy but wise beyond his years young boy, but Portman's performance as Molly is just flat. Bateman is well-cast as a buttoned-down accountant who stubbornly refuses to see the magic around him. There's also an amusing cameo by Kermit the Frog, performed and voiced by Steve Whitmire.

What an audience expects from a film with an imaginative title like Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is to be amazed and charmed. While it may not succeed at that, it's an inoffensive family film with some entertainment value that might be worth watching on DVD.

[2.5 out of 5 stars]

Enchanted

2007-11-22T18:50:00.001-08:00

Just in time for the holidays, Walt Disney Pictures and producer Barry Sonnenfeld (director of The Addams Family and executive producer of television's Pushing Daisies) unveil a lighthearted truffle that's a mixture of animation and live action, filled with songs and romance, and sure to appeal to the entire family.

In the storybook land of Andalasia, the blissful Giselle (Amy Adams) is engaged to be married to Prince Edward (James Marsden), a union opposed by Edward's wicked stepmother, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon). Narissa tries to eliminate Giselle by shoving her through a magical portal that transports her to the real world of New York City. Wandering around the city in confusion, Giselle is taken in by divorce lawyer Rob (Patrick Dempsey) and his daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey). After Edward follows Giselle to the real world, Narissa sends her bumbling henchman Nathaniel (Timothy Spall) after him to ensure that he doesn't marry Giselle and threaten her control of Andalasia.

Director Kevin Lima (Tarzan, 102 Dalmatians) understands the conventions of classic Disney films, and Enchanted has numerous references to them while also gently poking some fun at them. The film portrays Andalasia using traditional animation, then switches to live action when the story moves to the real world, and the transition is smoothly handled and believable in the context of the story. The live action sequences are enhanced by CGI effects to bring to life various animals and creatures that help Giselle, as well as a menacing dragon. It's such an exuberantly frothy concoction that you can't help but be carried away by it.

The charming screenplay by Bill Kelly (Premonition) understands the appeal of happily ever after fairy tales. It may be predictable in the way that Disney films usually are, but what makes it so fun is seeing how artfully the familiar tropes are employed here, and how enjoyable they can still be when done right. It's also a clever homage to Disney classics that fans of those films should enjoy.

Cinematographer Don Burgess (Spider-Man, My Super Ex-Girlfriend) and production designer Stuart Wurtzel (Stepmom, Charlotte's Web) bring a bright, airy look to the film that gives the live action scenes the ambience of an animated fairy tale. Costume designer Mona May (Stuart Little 2, The Haunted Mansion) provides some fantastic gowns for Giselle.

Sometimes characters in these kinds of films burst into song, and the songs here are provided by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. As individuals and as a team, they've been responsible for the songs in past Disney films like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, as well as Broadway productions Little Shop of Horrors and Wicked. Their contributions here are as clever and tuneful as one would expect from their past body of work, and adds greatly to the pleasure of watching the film. One only wishes that there were more than five songs. The choreography by John O'Connell (Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge) is energetic, including a big song-and-dance sequence set in Central Park.

The luminous Adams is ever so perfect as a Disney Princess come to life and having to deal with the tribulations of a world that doesn't believe in magic or happily ever after, while Marsden exhibits a goofy charm as her earnest but none too bright fairy tale prince. The rest of the cast shines, too, including Dempsey as the practical-minded lawyer who slowly falls for Giselle, Covey as his daughter, Sarandon as the archetypal wicked stepmother/evil queen (she seems to be having a lot of fun in the role), Spall as the bumbling henchman, Idina Menzel as Bob's fiancée-to-be, and Matt Servitto as the boss of a sewer crew working at a manhole that just happens to be the exit point for the magical portal. Julie Andrews is the narrator, while Jodi Benson (the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid), Paige O'Hara (the voice of Belle in Beauty and the Beast), and Judy Kuhn (the singing voice of the title character in Pocahontas) have cameos.

Enchanted is a magical romantic comedy for those of us who still want to believe that there's a happily ever after. What it may lack in substance it amply makes up for in entertainment value.

[4 out of 5 stars]

The Mist

2007-11-21T17:10:00.000-08:00

There have been some good films based on the stories of Stephen King and there have been some really bad ones. The Mist is my personal favorite King story, so I approached the film with some caution. My worries were unfounded. This is one of the good ones.

The night after a violent storm damages his property outside a small Maine town, successful artist David Drayton (Thomas Jane) takes his son Billy (Nathan Gamble) into town to purchase supplies. While they're inside the grocery store, the town rapidly becomes shrouded in a dense mist and the dozens of people inside the store find themselves trapped, in danger from both their own hysteria and the deadly creatures that lurk outside in the mist.

In the skilled hands of screenwriter/director Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile), it's a mostly faithful adaptation of King's novella that deftly captures the author's style. The dark humor, the dialog that sounds natural even as it verges on becoming hyperbolic, the sometimes eccentric characters, and the things that go bump in the night (or the mist). They're all here, faithfully rendered onto the cinema screen.

The film is a fundamentally sound effort that walks the line between the horror and disaster genres, complete with nail-biting suspense and frightening creatures. Oh, the creatures. They may only be CGI, but they're disturbingly alien and you'll struggle to convince yourself that they're not real.

The exception to its fidelity to King's novella is the ending, which replaces the ambiguous one of the source material with something much different and much darker. If the premise sounds like something from The Twilight Zone, it's Darabont's revised ending that really pushes it into classic Rod Serling territory, delivering a climax that's as memorable as it is emotionally devastating. Wow. Just wow.

Cinematographer Ronn Schmidt (Lord of Illusions, television's The Shield) strives for and achieves a hyper-realistic look that makes it seem more documentary than fiction. The production was going to be shot digitally, but it was decided that a grainy film stock would better suit the demands of the story. Production designer Gregory Melton (Bordello of Blood, The Majestic) and costume designer Giovanna Ottobre-Melton (The Rapture) create practical sets and costumes that also have somewhat of timeless quality to them. Cell phones and other technology place the story in the here and now, but visually it could almost be anywhere or anytime. The atmospheric score by Mark Isham (The Majestic, Crash) adds to the dramatic tension, and Darabont also uses the Dead Can Dance song "The Host of Seraphim" for great impact at the end.

Jane delivers a strong performance as David, especially at the end, providing an emotional center for the story. He's well-matched by Andre Braugher as his acrimonious neighbor and Marcia Gay Harden as a dangerously delusional religious fanatic. In general, the rest of the cast are solid and believable, including Gamble as Billy, Laurie Holden as a schoolteacher who develops an emotional bond to David and Billy, Toby Jones as the store's unassuming assistant manager, William Sadler and David Jensen as mechanics, Robert C. Treveiler as the store manager, Jeffrey DeMunn as a local man who first warns the people in the store about the danger in the mist, Frances Sternhagen as a gutsy older woman, Sam Witwer as a soldier who grew up in the town and Alexa Davalos as a store clerk he has a crush on, and Kelly Collins Lintz as David's wife.

The Mist immediately ranks as one of the better adaptations of Stephen King, and it's an entertaining and well-crafted thrill ride from start to finish. And just try to forget the ending when you leave the cinema.

[4 out of 5 stars]

P2

2007-11-18T12:35:00.001-08:00

This horror film has an interesting premise, and rather efficiently gets the job done.

Angela (Rachel Nichols) works in a high-rise office building. On Christmas Eve, when the entire building is being shut down for the holiday, she finds herself trapped in the underground parking garage at the mercy of Bob (Wes Bentley), a security guard who has been quietly stalking her.

Two people in a parking garage could quickly grow tedious, but credit first time director Franck Khalfoun for keeping the tension level up, and working with cinematographer Maxime Alexandre (Haute Tension, The Hills Have Eyes) to use camera and lighting for maximum effect within that space. There's gore in the film, but it's usually more restrained than you'd expect.

The screenplay by Khalfoun and Haute Tension scribes Alexandre Aja & Grégory Levasseur takes a minimalist approach to storytelling, although it effectively plays on the fears of being trapped in a dark, empty structure, and does a decent job of creating a good female protagonist.

Nichols is very believable as Angela. She's likeable, plays the emotional scenes well, and ably handles all of the demands of the story. Bentley is frequently over the top as Bob. What makes his performance work is his earnestness. Bob is as delusional as they come, but Bentley makes him oddly sympathetic.

P2 is a competently made low budget horror film, but nothing more. If you're a horror film fan, it might be worth a a future DVD rental.

[2.5 out of 5 stars]

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

2007-11-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

This is a very good film, blessed with a veteran director and a great cast working from a strong, character driven screenplay. If that's the recipe for a successful film, then this cinematic meal passes the taste test.

Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is an executive with a drug problem and a failing marriage to an unfaithful wife (Marisa Tomei). In need of money, he convinces his similarly cash desperate younger brother Hank (Ethan Hawke) to rob a jewelry store belonging to their parents (Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris). Hank hires a criminal acquaintance named Bobby (Brían F. O'Byrne) to do the actual robbery, but things go awry with tragic consequences for all involved.

Sidney Lumet has been directing television and film since the early 1950s, with credits including 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, and The Verdict. At the age of 83, he adds another quality film to his resume, demonstrating an old school substance over style approach that gets to the heart of an almost operatic tragedy. He tells the story through flashbacks and from multiple perspectives, carefully weaving the threads until they come together with a terrible finality.

The original screenplay by playwright Kelly Masterson presents a compelling and fatalistic profile of human beings whose lives are spiraling out of control by their own actions and the actions of those around them. There are some plot twists that require suspension of disbelief, and a couple of plot threads aren't adequately resolved at the end, but those are minor quibbles. The focus on the characters is what makes this story really work.

Lumet recently declared that the future of filmmaking is in digital video, and this is his first film to be shot in that format. Using the Panavision Genesis high definition video camera (most notably used previously on Superman Returns and Zodiac), cinematographer Ron Fortunato (Basquiat, Catch a Fire) achieves a low-key realism that captures the tone of the story without getting in the way of the performances, matched by the production designs of Christopher Nowak (The X-Files, Find Me Guilty) and the dramatic score by Carter Burwell (The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men).

Lumet always draws out the best possible performances from his cast, and here that includes Hoffman and Hawke as the ill-fated siblings, Finney and Harris as their parents, Tomei as Andy's wife, O'Byrne as Bobby, Aleksa Palladino as Bobby's wife, Michael Shannon as her scheming brother, and Leonardo Cimino as a jewelry fence. Hoffman always seems to quietly deliver great performances, Hawke and Tomei serve up their best work in years, and Finney is spellbinding. The acting keeps the film on track even when the script drifts into occasionally hard to believe areas.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead dives into the darker abysses of familial relationships and takes the audience along for the ride, complete with thrilling plot twists and the rush of watching a master storyteller and skilled actors do what they do best.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

Lars and the Real Girl

2007-11-11T13:50:00.001-08:00

If there's one thing indie films are known for, it's quirkiness. This film has that. However, quirky doesn't necessarily mean good, and this film is proof of that.

Lars (Ryan Gosling) is a shy loner who orders a RealDoll sex doll for companionship and falls in love with it. His brother (Paul Schneider) and sister-in-law (Emily Mortimer) take him to see the town's doctor/psychologist (Patricia Clarkson), who urges his family and friends to help him by acting as if the doll, dubbed Bianca, is a real woman.

Director Craig Gillespie (Mr. Woodcock) handles the material with a flat, realistic touch that makes it difficult to connect with the story. It needs a touch of whimsical absurdism a la Tim Burton or Barry Sonnenfeld to really work, because a realistic style makes it much harder to suspend disbelief and become engaged by the story. Gillespie's approach is all wrong for what he's trying to accomplish.

The original screenplay by Nancy Oliver (a former staff writer for television's Six Feet Under) has underwritten characters, mistakes quirkiness for genuine humor, and mistakes sentimentalism for genuine emotion. The premise might have worked as a five minute sketch on a television show like Saturday Night Live or MADtv, but stretched out to 106 minutes it seems to drag on interminably as the story plays out in a predictable fashion.

Cinematographer Adam Kimmel (Jesus' Son, Capote) and production designer Arvinder Grewal (Land of the Dead, 16 Blocks) nicely capture the feel of a small town in winter. The style may be wrong for the material, but their work is solid. David Torn (The Order, Friday Night Lights) contributes a score that's excessively sentimental, trying to wring emotional responses out of the audience that just aren't there.

Gosling delivers a mixed performance as Lars. While he brings some charm to the role, the mannerisms he brings to his character, especially when Lars is stressed, are extremely annoying and quickly wear out their welcome. Clarkson gives a warm performance as the sympathetic doctor, while Schneider and Mortimer are solid as Lars' loving but confused brother and sister-in-law. If there's one performer who really stands out here, it's Kelli Garner, who steals the film as Margo, a sweet girl who works with Lars and has an enormous crush on him, although he's blind to how she feels about him.

Although Lars and the Real Girl falls into the quirky comedy-drama genre of indie films, it's a dreary film that's neither funny nor dramatic. All it has left is quirkiness, and that's simply not enough in this case.

[1.5 out of 5 stars]

Into the Wild

2007-11-06T18:55:00.000-08:00

At times it's easy to despair about the state of filmmaking, but then a film comes along to remind you that there are still films that have something to say and say it well. This is one of those films.

It tells the controversial true story of Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), an idealistic young man who decides to donate his college fund to charity and leave behind what he sees as a meaningless existence to wander around the country under the name of Alexander Supertramp with the goal of making his way to Alaska to live off the land, a quest that ultimately leads to his death from starvation in the Alaskan wilderness.

Writer/director Sean Penn (The Indian Runner, The Pledge) transforms Jon Krakauer's book about McCandless into a powerful film that seduces the audience from the very first frame and doesn't let go until the end credits roll. Penn finds both grace and tragedy in the life and death of a remarkable young man, albeit one who was naive and even arrogant in overestimating his ability to survive in the wild. There's poetry in the telling of this story that is as intimate in scale as it is epic in theme, recalling the films of Terrence Malick (Days of Heaven, The New World).

In exploring how one character on a journey touches the lives of others and in turn has his life touched by them, it also makes an interesting companion piece to David Lynch's The Straight Story. In the end, we're defined by the lives we touch and our relationships with our fellow humans. What lends strength to this film is its refusal to judge McCandless or to attempt to neatly explain what drove his actions, showing Penn's respect for both McCandless and the intelligence of the audience.

Cinematographer Eric Gautier (The Motorcycle Diaries) captures the beauty of the natural landscapes McCandless travels through, allowing us to appreciate them in the same way the character does. A combination of music by Michael Brook (An Inconvenient Truth), Kaki King, and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder with original songs written and performed by Vedder results in a soundtrack that matches the story's intensity.

Penn's direction of his cast is sharp, obtaining the kind of electric performances he's known for as an actor. Hirsch's fervent portrayal of the central character burns up the screen, and he goes so deep into his role that only McCandless seems to remain as a charismatic presence that you can't take your eyes off of even for a second. The cast includes William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden as McCandless' parents, Jena Malone as his sister, Brian Dierker and Catherine Keener as a hippie couple he meets on the road, Vince Vaughn as a man he works with in South Dakota, Kristen Stewart as a teenaged girl he meets in California, and Hal Holbrook as a lonely retired soldier who takes him in and begins to see him as the grandson he never had. For some of them, this is their best work in years, for others, it's their best ever.

Into the Wild is one of those rare films that works on every level. It's not something that can merely be watched, instead it begs to be experienced and even endured as an ordeal as emotionally draining as it is life affirming.

[5 out of 5 stars]

Saw IV

2007-10-31T16:25:00.001-07:00

By the time most horror film franchises reach their fourth entry, they're like vultures picking over the bones of whatever made them good in the first place. Not so with the Saw franchise. Its fourth entry is the best since the first one.

The Jigsaw Killer (Tobin Bell) and his apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith) are dead. Meanwhile, it appears that Jigsaw's deadly games are continuing with new victims, leading FBI agents Strahm (Scott Patterson) and Perez (Athena Karkanis) to suspect that Jigsaw had another apprentice and that Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) and Lieutenant Rigg (Lyriq Bent) are in danger.

Director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, Saw III) effectively takes the audience through the twists and turns of a story where past and present collide, employing clever transitions between scenes and keeping the audience guessing until the final plot twist that sets up Saw V. This is the first time that franchise creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell weren't involved in the writing process, but the screenplay by the team of Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan (Feast) still has the expected clever death traps Saw fans have come to expect while also being a surprisingly character driven entry in the series as a significant amount of time is spent revealing Jigsaw's buried past.

David A. Armstrong has been the cinematographer for all four Saw films, giving the franchise a coherent visual look, and his work here is as stylish as ever. Production designer David Hackl (Saw II, Saw III) continues to provide imaginative sets for the mayhem to occur in (and reportedly he'll direct the next two entries). Charlie Clouser, another veteran of all four films, once again provides one of his trademark dissonant keyboard-driven scores.

Bell continues to make Jigsaw a compelling figure, even more so as we continue to learn more about the man he was before he became a killer. The rest of the cast is solid, including Patterson and Karkanis as the FBI agents, Mandylor as Hoffman, Bent as the increasingly obsessed Rigg, Betsy Russell as Jigsaw's ex-wife, Justin Louis as Jigsaw's former friend and attorney, Donnie Wahlberg as Detective Matthews, and Billy Otis as Jigsaw's very first victim. Smith as Amanda and Dina Meyer as Detective Kerry also appear in flashbacks.

If you're not a Saw fan, you probably won't enjoy this film. If you are, you won't be disappointed by Saw IV. There's a lot of life left in this franchise.

[3.5 out of 5 stars]

30 Days of Night

2007-10-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

In 2002, IDW Publishing published a comic book miniseries by writer Steve Niles and artist Ben Templesmith that reinvigorated the vampire genre. Unfortunately, the much anticipated film adaptation produced by Sam Raimi (director of the Evil Dead and Spider-Man films) is a big disappointment.

Barrow, Alaska. A town so far north that it's in complete darkness for thirty days every year. A group of vampires led by Marlow (Danny Huston) decide to make a feast of its residents during those thirty days, and so the carnage begins. Can Sheriff Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) and his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George) save themselves and the town?

Director David Slade (Hard Candy) delivers impressive visuals and some effective scenes of the town being decimated, but as a whole fails to create much in the way of suspense or emotional connection to the plight of the characters. Never mind vampires draining people of blood, the life's been drained right out of this film. Scenes that are meant to scare the audience are flatly directed. Scenes that are meant to make us care about the characters are uninteresting.

The screenplay credited to Niles, Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), and Brian Nelson (Hard Candy) is generally faithful to the story in the miniseries, but where the source material offered originality and well-realized characters, the screen version is predictable and surprisingly thin on characterization.

Cinematographer Jo Willems (Hard Candy), production designer Paul Denham Austerberry (Resident Evil: Apocalypse), and costume designer Jane Holland (Riverworld) do a remarkable job of translating Templesmith's art onto the big screen. It literally looks like you stepped into the panels of the comic book, right down to the Max Schreck by way of a shark look of the vampires, who are impressively realized with makeup and visual effects. The visuals are the best thing about this film. The discordant score by Brian Reitzell (Stranger Than Fiction) effectively conveys a creepy mood.

The cast is solid. There are no great performances, but no bad ones, either. Besides Hartnett, George, and Huston, the cast includes Ben Foster as a human who does the dirty work of the vampires before the sun sets, Mark Rendall as Eben's teenaged brother, Mark Boone Junior as the rugged loner Beau, Manu Bennett as the deputy sheriff, Megan Franich as one of the vampires, and Amber Sainsbury, Joel Tobeck, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Nathaniel Lees, Craig Hall, and Chic Littlewood as the principal survivors of the first night.

30 Days of Night is visually pleasing and technically well made, but as a dramatic presentation it's all rather anemic. A story about people facing unthinkable horror and trapped in an isolated setting simply shouldn't be this dull.

[2 out of 5 stars]

Michael Clayton

2007-10-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

Despite the unassuming title, this is a smashingly good thriller made with skill and conviction, and sure to garner some Oscar nominations.

Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is a fixer for a prestigious law firm. After the firm's top litigator, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), suffers a manic episode and damages an important case, Clayton is called in to clean things up. He learns that Edens was defending a corporation against a class action lawsuit brought over a toxic chemical that killed hundreds of people when his conscience caught up to him, triggering his manic episode. Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), the corporation's general counsel, hires her own fixers (Robert Prescott, Terry Serpico) of a more deadly kind to ensure that the truth remains buried.

Writer and first time director Tony Gilroy, who previously wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for all three Bourne films, makes an impressive debut at the helm with a smart, character driven thriller that sleekly unfolds like a cleverly planned maze. Several times I thought the film was headed in one direction only to discover it was actually bound for a much different destination. The rhythm of the film is that of a slow burn, but the slower pace serves to heighten the suspense. Instead of relying on numerous action scenes, Gilroy turns to characterization, dialog, and a carefully plotted story to build and sustain interest. It's a throwback to the intelligent thrillers of the 1970s like Three Days of the Condor, and the director of that film (Sydney Pollack) is one of the producers of this film (as well as a member of its cast).

Cinematographer Robert Elswit (Good Night, and Good Luck, Syriana) contributes low key lighting that neatly balances realism and style, while James Newton Howard (Batman Begins, Blood Diamond) contributes an atmospheric, almost ambient, score that plays a big part in setting the mood for the film. Film editor John Gilroy (the director's brother, who previously worked on Narc and First Born) keeps the pacing tight, and the two hour film never once feels padded.

Clooney combines his movie star charisma with a performance from the gut to deliver a strong portrayal of the title character, a man weary of cleaning up the messes of others, whether they're clients or relatives. Clayton seemingly lives on auto-pilot, doing what he does because he doesn't know what else to do. Wilkinson is compelling as the bipolar attorney whose conscience finally gets the best of him, and his manic rants ring with intensity. Swinton is sublime as Karen Crowder, from practicing an interview to chillingly ordering murders in a way that gives her full deniability to what she does in the final scene. Her desperation and ambition are palpable.

This is a well-cast film from top to bottom with good performances by the entire cast, including Sydney Pollack as the ruthless head of the law firm, Michael O'Keefe as one of the firm's partners, Prescott and Serpico as the other fixers, Merritt Wever as a young woman Edens is trying to help, Sean Cullen as Clayton's police officer brother, David Lansbury as Clayton's gambling addict brother, Denis O'Hare as one of Clayton's clients, and Austin Williams as Clayton's young son.

The basic plot of a corporation trying to subvert justice isn't a new one, but writer/director Tony Gilroy finds a fresh approach and plays it out with well-drawn characters, smart dialog, and a great cast. From the very first frame to the very last, I was completely engrossed in the story of Michael Clayton.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

Top 10 Films So Far

2007-10-21T20:10:00.001-07:00

The year's not over yet, but here are the top 10 films I've seen so far.

10. Hairspray
9. Halloween
8. Stardust
7. Eastern Promises
6. Black Snake Moan
5. Zodiac
4. Sunshine
3. 3:10 to Yuma
2. Across the Universe

And the best so far...

1. The Wind That Shakes the Barley

3:10 to Yuma

2007-10-19T13:15:00.000-07:00

The Western genre makes a triumphant return to the big screen with a searing and suspenseful character study remade from a 1957 classic that starred Van Heflin and Glenn Ford.

Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is a disabled Civil War veteran and impoverished rancher in peril of losing his land to the railroad. After Dan and his two sons witness the ambush of a stagecoach by outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) and his gang, Dan helps the lone survivor of the stagecoach crew, bounty hunter Byron McElroy (Peter Fonda), and is instrumental in the capture of Wade. In exchange for some much needed cash, Dan volunteers to help McElroy and railroad representative Grayson Butterfield (Dallas Roberts) transport Wade to Contention City to be put on a train bound for the prison in Yuma, a task that's complicated by the determination of Wade's lieutenant Charlie Prince (Ben Foster) to rescue him from the clutches of the law.

Director James Mangold (Cop Land, Walk the Line) subtly distills all the tropes of classic Westerns into a single film that intelligently explores the moral ambiguities of its characters and the West, and there isn't as much as a single extraneous frame in this tautly executed study of men who are as unpredictable as the landscape they inhabit. Mangold successfully invokes the ambience of a classic Western while employing modern pacing and sensibilities to tell the story. The splendid pacing starts out at a slow burn and builds toward a dramatic climax.

Screenwriters Michael Brandt & Derek Haas (2 Fast 2 Furious) deftly update and expand upon the 1957 screenplay by Halsted Welles, which was loosely based on Elmore Leonard's short story, offering characters that are as complex and vividly drawn as the story is compelling from start to finish, leading inevitably toward a memorable denouement that arrives like a shot to the gut. As a remake, it never once feels superfluous.

Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael (Identity, Walk the Line) uses hard, textured lighting to capture a naturalistic impression of the rugged New Mexico landscape where it was filmed. Production designer Andrew Menzies (art director of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Munich) and costumer designer Arianne Phillips (The Crow, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) strive for and achieve an authenticity that instantly transports the audience into the Old West. The brooding score by Marco Beltrami (Hellboy, Live Free or Die Hard) seals the mood.

3:10 to Yuma is an actor's film, and both Bale and Crowe deliver Oscar-worthy performances. Bale always excels at playing damaged men, and he's outstanding here as a man beaten down by life and trying to find a way to redeem himself. He allows much of Dan's inner torment to go unspoken, revealed instead only in his eyes. Crowe is magnificent as he revels in the complexity of a charming, morally ambiguous outlaw. You may love or hate Wade by turns, but you'll always be fascinated by him. Crowe's performance is at once subtle and bravura, vividly etching onto the screen a character who's more than just the sum of his outlaw reputation.

The strong performances don't stop there, with Fonda as the grizzled bounty hunter, Foster as Wade's vicious lieutenant (seemingly in love with his boss), Roberts as the railroad man, Logan Lerman as Dan's rebellious teenaged son, Gretchen Mol as Dan's weary wife, Alan Tudyk as the town veterinarian pressed into service as a doctor, Luce Rains as the Marshal, and Kevin Durand as the local landlord's hired muscle.

Although the heyday of the Western was decades ago, it's a genre that still has a lot to say when done right. 3:10 to Yuma is not only done right, it's a flawless film that instantly joins Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven as one of the rare modern classics of the Western genre.

[5 out of 5 stars]

Across the Universe

2007-10-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

The story of the 1960s told as a musical based on the songs of the Beatles. It's a concept that could only result in a film that's either totally brilliant or totally pretentious. In the hands of visionary screen and stage director Julie Taymor (Titus, Frida, Broadway's The Lion King), it's the former, and it immediately ranks as one of the great films of 2007.

Jude (Jim Sturgess) is a young dock worker from Liverpool who travels to the United States in the mid-1960s to find the American G.I. father (Robert Clohessy) he never knew. He befriends the privileged Max (Joe Anderson) and his sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). Jude and Lucy fall in love, and their relationship develops against the turbulent backdrop of the Vietnam War, student protests, and societal upheaval.

Although Taymor's background is in stage productions, all of her films are intensely visual in a way that can only be described as mainlining pure cinema directly into the veins of an audience. She's one of the rare filmmakers who knows how to use all the tools of the visual arts to expand the horizons of cinema. Across the Universe is no different. Taymor and screenwriters Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais (The Commitments, Flushed Away) craft a cleverly complex story told as a series of interconnected vignettes around the songs of the Beatles to explore the 1960s through the eyes of the characters. It never feels anachronistic because its themes are directly relevant to contemporary society. Taymor translates the screenplay into a film that's visually literate, highly metaphorical, and an emotionally powerful artistic statement.

Some controversy arose during post-production after Revolution Studios chairman Joe Roth decided to make his own edit without informing Taymor, cutting out nearly a third of the film. After months of conflict between Taymor and Roth, the studio relented and released Taymor's 131 minute cut. The film's structure is so intricately woven that it's hard to imagine a radically shortened version working at all. Thankfully, Taymor's vision prevailed.

Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel (Amélie), production designer Mark Friedberg (The Ice Storm, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), and veteran costume designer Albert Wolsky (Grease, All That Jazz) bring Taymor's vision to vivid life in a sense stunning fashion, delicately treading a fine line between realism and artifice. Elliot Goldenthal (Titus, Frida) contributes some original music and is also one of the people responsible for the song arrangements. You've never heard the Beatles quite like this.

There are thirty-four Beatles songs used in the film, mostly compositions of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, but also three from George Harrison and one credited to all four band members. As if any further proof is really necessary, it once again shows why Lennon and McCartney were two of the greatest writers of popular music in the 20th century. The musical numbers are brilliantly staged by Taymor and choreographer Daniel Ezralow (Earth Girls Are Easy), and they all work perfectly in the context of the story.

Taymor gets great acting and singing performances out of her cast, including the McCartney-esque Sturgess as Jude, Wood as Lucy, Anderson as the Vietnam-bound Max, Dana Fuchs as the Janis Joplin-inspired singer Sadie, Martin Luther McCoy as guitarist/singer JoJo (inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Marvin Gaye), T.V. Carpio as yearning runaway Prudence, Clohessy as Jude's long lost father, U2 frontman Bono as the charismatic Dr. Robert (his performance of "I Am the Walrus" is outstanding), Eddie Izzard as the circus ringmaster Mr. Kite, Salma Hayek as a nurse, and Joe Cocker in three different roles.

It's not often that a piece of cinema raises itself to the sublime level of a work of art, but Across the Universe is one of those rare examples. It's mind-blowing in all the right ways and very highly recommended. It's only the second film this year (the other was The Wind That Shakes the Barley) that I feel is worthy of a full five stars.

[5 out of 5 stars]

The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising

2007-10-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

Walden Media wants to create the next big fantasy film franchise à la the Harry Potter films or its own Chronicles of Narnia. As an adaptation of Susan Cooper's popular fantasy novel, "The Dark Is Rising", it's a travesty. Judged on its own merits as a film, it's a solidly entertaining effort, although unlikely to start a franchise.

Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) is a seemingly ordinary American boy living in England with his family until he learns on his fourteenth birthday that he's destined to become a warrior fighting on the side of the Light against the Dark, the latter personified by the menacing Rider (Christopher Eccleston). Will has mere days to locate six objects of power and use them to defeat the Rider before he can bring about the apocalypse.

Director David L. Cunningham (The Road to 9/11) has a background in television and at times this film feels like an oversized television production, but overall Cunningham does a good job of visualizing the story and conveying its themes, while relying more on character than visual effects to move things along. Screenwriter John Hodge (Trainspotting) said in an interview that he read Cooper's novel and just couldn't get into it, which likely explains why he felt comfortable making so many unnecessary changes to it. Faithfulness to the source material aside, Hodge's script has a compact narrative and a well-realized protagonist, although the climactic showdown between Will and the Rider is too brief to be fully satisfying.

Major changes from the novel include transforming Will from an 11-year-old English boy to a 14-year old American boy, the inclusion of several action sequences, the removal of all pagan and Arthurian elements, and the complete excision of an important character (The Walker). The list of changes is a long one.

Although filmed in Romania, cinematographer Joel Ransom (the 2003 Battlestar Galactica miniseries and The Road to 9/11) and production designer David Lee (art director for Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith) create a beautiful and mysterious England of fog and snow, of small villages and ancient churches. The lighting and set design are both excellent. Christophe Beck (License to Wed) contributes a competent fantasy score.

Ludwig gives a strong performance as Will, convincingly portraying his character's evolution from alienated schoolboy to magical hero, with all the angst that entails. Without his presence, the film wouldn't work even half as well. Former Doctor Who star Eccleston is splendid as the story's villain, although he doesn't get nearly enough screen time.

The rest of the cast is solid and well-chosen, including Ian McShane as Merriman, Frances Conroy as Miss Greythorne, James Cosmo as Dawson, Jim Piddock as Old George, Amelia Warner as an older girl who Will has a crush on, John Benjamin Hickey and Wendy Crewson as Will's parents, Emma Lockhart as Will's sister, and Gregory Smith as Will's brother Max.

If The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising never reaches the magical highs of the Harry Potter films, it also doesn't hit the lows of an Eragon. If you're a fan of the novel, you'll be extremely disappointed by the screen version. If you haven't read the novel or can put aside your thoughts about it, it offers a fair amount of entertainment value.

[3 out of 5 stars]

Eastern Promises

2007-09-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

Director David Cronenberg follows up A History of Violence with another film about violence encroaching on the world of ordinary people, this time set in London's Russian underworld. Like its predecessor, it's a compelling piece of filmmaking with an outstanding cast of actors.

Midwife Anna (Naomi Watts) finds a Russian-language diary on the body of an anonymous young woman who dies while giving birth at a London hospital. Although her father was Russian, Anna can't read the language and relies on her uncle Stepan (Jerzy Skolimowski) to translate for her. She also finds a business card for a Russian restaurant inside the diary and makes inquiries with the owner, the deceptively charming Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), in reality a boss in the Russian Mafia. While trying to unravel the mystery of the baby's parentage to find living relatives, Anna's life becomes intertwined with that of Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen), Semyon's driver and a rising star in the ranks of the crime organization.

Cronenberg's direction of a screenplay by Steve Knight (Dirty Pretty Things, Amazing Grace) seduces the audience into the film's shadowy world from the very first scene. It's a place where menace lurks behind a seemingly ordinary facade, a place where violence is as sudden as it is deadly. It's set in London, but Cronenberg and Knight take us into an unfamiliar London, an underworld of immigrant criminals for whom masculinity and violence are inextricably linked. Cronenberg's finely crafted narrative is brooding and hypnotic, with at least one harrowing fight scene that's destined to be remembered for a long time and a surprising denouement.

Cronenberg's usual collaborators--cinematographer Peter Suschitzky, production designer Carol Spier, costume designer Denise Cronenberg, editor Ronald Sanders, and composer Howard Shore--are up to their usual high standards of craftsmanship in bringing this unfamiliar side of London to life. In particular, Shore's use of Russian motifs in the score lends a sense of unspeakable sadness and unfolding tragedy to the film.

Mortensen is brilliant as Nikolai, a man who's seen and done some of the worst things a man can do but still seems to have a conscience lurking somewhere beneath his stone cold exterior. His subtle performance just seems so authentic, as does his accent. He went to Russia to research the role and his attention to detail pays off in one of the best performances in a film this year.

Mortensen's performance is matched by Mueller-Stahl as a crime boss whose manners and soft-spoken facade belie what a dangerous man he really is, and his understated performance only makes him seem more menacing. Watts is believable as a woman courageously putting herself in danger for a baby she helped bring into the world. Other noteworthy performances are delivered by Vincent Cassel as Semyon's son Kirill, a captain in the criminal organization who drinks to excess and whose homosexuality isn't as repressed as he'd like (it's clear that he's in love with Nikolai); Skolimowski as Anna's uncle and Sinéad Cusack as her mother; and Mina E. Mina as the Turkish proprietor of a barber shop where a gangster is murdered.

Eastern Promises is another gem from Cronenberg, a film that appears simple on the surface while an intelligent complexity lies just beneath the surface waiting to be uncovered. It's one of the best films of 2007 to date, and it's worth seeing just for Mortensen's performance although it also offers so much more.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

Resident Evil: Extinction

2007-09-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

The latest entry in the film series based on the popular video games is a disappointment compared to its predecessors, with not nearly enough action to sustain itself.

Five years after the events of the first two films, the world is a wasteland overrun by zombies. Alice (Mila Jovovich) is now a nomad roaming the desert that used to be the western United States, until she comes across a convoy of survivors lead by her old friend Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) and Claire Redfield (Ali Larter). Alice convinces them that the only safe place is Alaska and decides to help them get there, but she doesn't know that Umbrella Corporation scientist Dr. Isaacs (Iain Glen) is still alive and using all of his resources to find and capture her.

Director Russell Mulcahy (Highlander) is at his best when he can apply his kinetic shooting style to action scenes, but screenwriter Paul W.S. Anderson (who wrote both previous films and directed the first one) eschews the non-stop action of the first two films for a slower paced story that places zombie fighter Alice in a post-apocalyptic, Road Warrior-esque setting. It's competent enough, but it lacks the pure adrenaline rush of the first two films.

Instead of building up to what should be a big climax, the final showdown between Alice and Dr. Isaacs seems perfunctory, and the convoy subplot is wrapped up in an unsatisfying fashion. There aren't nearly enough action scenes, but the ones it does have work well, with Alice having to fight hordes of zombies, zombie dogs, and even zombie crows this time. More action would have served the film better, though.

Cinematographer David Johnson (Resident Evil) and production designer Eugenio Caballero (Pan's Labyrinth) use the Mexican desert landscape to create a look very different from the usual urban or rural farmland settings of zombie films. Charlie Clouser (Death Sentence) provides an appropriate score for zombie killing mayhem, complemented by Collide's cover of "White Rabbit" over the end titles.

Jovovich continues to confidently portray the beautiful zombie killer Alice, nicely complemented here by Larter (Heroes) as the tough leader of the convoy. The rest of the cast is competent, including Fehr as ex-soldier Carlos, Glen as the corrupt scientist, Mike Epps as L.J. (another survivor from the previous film), Spencer Locke as a young woman who forms a friendship with Alice, and singer Ashanti as the convoy's nurse.

Resident Evil: Extinction feels like the filmmakers weren't really trying very hard to make an entertaining film and will leave fans of the franchise wanting much more than they actually get.

[2.5 out of 5 stars]

Superbad

2007-09-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

Call this the summer of Judd Apatow. After writing and directing the hit comedy Knocked Up released earlier this summer, he returns as the producer of this hilarious if ribald film about friendship, horny teenage boys, and growing up.

High school seniors Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) are the best of friends, but they're not very successful with girls. When they're invited to the last party of the school year, they promise their respective crushes, Jules (Emma Stone) and Becca (Martha MacIsaac), that they'll supply all the alcohol necessary for the party. Their plan is that the young women will get drunk enough to actually sleep with them. Thus begins an epic quest by Seth and Evan to procure the alcohol with the help of their friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and his fake ID, all in the hope of finally getting laid before graduation.

The raunchy humor of Seth Rogen (the star of Knocked Up) and Evan Goldberg, both former staff writers for Da Ali G Show, isn't for the easily offended, but those who don't take offense will be rewarded with a good, sometimes uproarious comedy that just gets better as the situations become more complicated. The heart of the film is the genuine friendship between Seth and Evan (yes, the writers named the main characters after themselves), played out as a love story between two young heterosexual men. Underneath it all is a bittersweet recognition of the inevitability of change. While it does slow down a little toward the end, director Greg Mottola (The Daytrippers) generally keeps the antics going full steam ahead while taking an approach to the material that's more realistic than overly broad.

Russ T. Alsobrook (Reign Over Me) contributes solid cinematography using the Panavision Genesis digital video camera. Lyle Workman (The 40 Year Old Virgin) adds a funky score performed by a band led by Bootsy Collins, while music supervisor Jonathan Karp (Knocked Up) chooses an equally funky selection of songs.

Hill and Cera are spot on as the oafish Seth and the awkward Evan. Hill has the more difficult task of making an obnoxious character likeable, but he successfully navigates that tricky terrain. The nebbish Mintz-Plasse is a scene stealer as Fogell, whose acquisition of fake ID in the name of McLovin sets up so many of the film's comedic situations. Rogen and Bill Hader are hilarious as a pair of irresponsible police officers. Stone, MacIsaac, and Aviva Farber are quite good as the objects of Seth, Evan, and Fogell's lust, and their roles have more substance than the usual female characters in teenage sex comedies. Kevin Corrigan and David Krumholtz are funny in small roles as people at a party where Seth and Evan end up while hunting for alcohol.

Superbad may be rude and crude, but it's also genuinely funny and has something to say about friendship between young men. When it was over, my facial muscles hurt from grinning so often and so broadly, and can you really say anything better about a comedy than you'll smile and even laugh until it hurts?

[4 out of 5 stars]

The Brave One

2007-09-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Can a revenge fantasy with Jodie Foster as a gun-wielding urban vigilante instead of Charles Bronson really work? The answer is yes.

Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) and her fiancé David (Naveen Andrews) are viciously attacked by thugs while walking through Central Park late at night. Erica survives, but David is killed. When Erica is released from the hospital, she illegally purchases a firearm for protection. After she witnesses a man murder his wife, she's forced to kill him in self-defense. Feeling strangely empowered by this act, she embarks on a career as a vigilante while also developing a friendship with Detective Mercer (Terrence Howard), who begins to suspect that she's responsible for the shooting deaths of several criminals.

Director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire) has certainly made more meaningful films, but his career has always veered between personal films and more commercial Hollywood productions. In this case, Jordan seems unsure of whether he's making a film that explores the destructive nature of revenge or a film that revels in it, but it's as much a struggle between trying to be thoughtful about the subject matter and the film's commercial aspirations.

One thing can be said with certainty. Jordan successfully takes us into Erica's world and allows us to see through her eyes. When Erica finally leaves her apartment for the first time after returning from the hospital, she's consumed by anxiety and paranoia, and Jordan effectively induces a collective case of PTSD in the audience as well. While the violence isn't as gruesome as in other recent films, it's still sudden and lurid.

The screenplay by Roderick Taylor (American Outlaws), Bruce A. Taylor (Instant Karma), and Cynthia Mort (whose previous credits include writing episodes of television sitcoms Roseanne and Will & Grace) is essentially a distaff version of Death Wish, but it also has a level of characterization usually lacking in the genre. It vividly depicts how each act of violence committed by Erica slowly eats away at her. She's as permanently scarred by them as she is by the violence committed against her and her fiancé. Revenge is a nasty business and the film doesn't shy away from this. Sometimes, though, it wants us to cheer her on as she exorcizes her personal demons with a gun. It's both a cautionary tale and an exploitation film.

Cinematographer Philippe Rousselot (Interview with the Vampire, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) uses expressive lighting and a prowling camera to create a sense of paranoia that mirrors the main character's psychological state. The score by Dario Marianelli (The Brothers Grimm, V for Vendetta) adds to the dramatic tension.

Foster delivers an intense performance that transcends the exploitative aspects of the story. While she seems to only take on 'women in distress' roles at this point in her career, this film reminds you that she's a fine actress who can bring gravity and depth to her characters. Howard is compelling as a lonely but driven police detective who wants to believe that he'll always follow the law, but his friendship with a woman he has growing suspicions of begins to challenge that. Foster and Howard have good chemistry and it's refreshing to see a film where the opposite sex leads aren't required to be romantically linked.

Andrews takes time away from his role on television's Lost to play Erica's ill-fated fiancé, and he makes the most of his limited screen time. The rest of the cast is also solid, including Nicky Katt as Mercer's sarcastic partner, Mary Steenburgen as Erica's boss, Dana Eskelson as a police sketch artist, and John Magaro as a stoner who witnesses the precursor to one of Erica's attacks.

With the release of Death Sentence a few weeks ago, the revenge fantasy genre seems to be making a comeback. Both films have strong lead performances and are inclined to show the consequences of their protagonist's actions. The Brave One could have been better had it tried to be a serious drama or a revenge fantasy instead of both, but it's certainly satisfying enough on both levels.

[3.5 out of 5 stars]

Shoot 'Em Up

2007-09-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

If this extremely over the top action film was a person, I'd ask it to marry me. It's insanely brilliant in the same way that Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's Grindhouse was earlier this year, while also recalling the best films of John Woo or Takashi Miike with its sheer audacity.

Mr. Smith (Clive Owen) is minding his own business at a bus stop when he observes a pregnant woman being pursued by a man with a gun. Against his better judgment, he rescues the woman and helps her give birth. When more men with guns show up and start shooting at Smith, the woman is killed in the crossfire and he finds himself unable to abandon the baby. He approaches Donna (Monica Bellucci), a prostitute he knows who specializes in lactating fetishes, for help with the baby, but what they don't know yet is that the baby is the real target, and the charmingly sociopathic Mr. Hertz (Paul Giamatti) and his associates will stop at nothing to kill it.

Writer/director Michael Davis (100 Girls, Monster Man) delivers one high octane, physics defying, physically impossible action scene after another, while gleefully sending up the conventions of action films. If it's all just an excuse for an hour and a half of ultraviolet mayhem, well, I say bring it on. There's more twisted fun in any one scene of this film than should be legal. The action scenes are all imaginatively staged, including some of the most amazing shootouts ever put on screen (skydiving shootout, anyone?). Davis doesn't slow things down with extraneous backstory, and rather than being a weakness it actually allows him to create a more interesting protagonist, while the dialogue is peppered with campy one liners and some of the best lines are reserved for Hertz.

Cinematographer Peter Pau (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Woo's The Killer) gives the film a gritty look, but it's his background in Asian action films that allows him to do some crazy things with the camera to fully realize Davis' vision of a violent live action cartoon. Editor Peter Amundson (Blade II, Hellboy) keeps the pacing razor sharp from start to finish. Former Tangerine Dream member Paul Haslinger (Underworld) adds music that perfectly underscores the film's mayhem, complemented by a hard rocking soundtrack with songs by AC/DC and Motley Crue among others.

Move over, James Bond, Mr. Smith is the new British man of action on the scene. No matter how absurd the action becomes, the always charismatic Owen plays things deadpan straight and oh so perfectly hard boiled. Giamatti is one of the best actors working in film today. Here he chews and chews and then chews some more scenery in an outrageous performance that's frankly as good as his more serious roles. This isn't a bad actor hamming it up, this is a great actor delivering a deliciously campy performance. Bellucci shines as the prostitute with a tragic past who finds herself in the middle of flying bullets while being expected to take care of someone else's baby.

Also good are Stephen McHattie as the owner of a gun manufacturing company, Daniel Pilon as a pro-gun control politician, Greg Bryk as a government agent, Julian Richings as Hertz's driver, Ramona Pringle as the baby's mother, and Laura DeCarteret as a woman at a museum who becomes part of a hilarious diversion created by Smith.

You want ultraviolent mayhem? Shoot 'Em Up delivers ultraviolent mayhem. And then some. Just when you think it's gone as far over the top as it can, it simply raises the bar for how over the top should be defined.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

Balls of Fury

2007-09-05T15:35:00.000-07:00

I wanted to like it. The trailers suggested it would be a dumb but hilarious parody of martial arts tournament films (Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon in particular). Dumb but hilarious generally works for me. Instead, it's one of the most painfully unfunny films in recent memory.

Ping pong wunderkind Randy Daytona (Brett DelBuono) competes for a gold medal in the 1988 Olympics, but loses in humiliating fashion to an arrogant East German player (Thomas Lennon). Worse, his father (Robert Patrick) bet heavily on him and is killed on the orders of crime lord Feng (Christopher Walken) when he can't pay his debt. Nineteen years later, the adult Randy (Dan Fogler) is a low-level Reno entertainer until FBI Agent Rodriguez (George Lopez) enlists him in a plan to get to Feng through his underground ping pong tournament.

Writer/director Robert Ben Garant and co-writer Thomas Lennon are two of the three creators of television's Reno 911!, a frequently hilarious parody of police reality shows, so it's a mystery to me how they could make a film so totally bereft of laughs. It's like they've never seen a comedy before and are just making their best guess about how to create one. Perhaps they were replaced by pod people. I don't know. I do know that this film is an abject failure as a comedy. It might have some future use as an instrument of torture, though. The only thing even mildly amusing is the entire cast singing along to Def Leppard during the end credits. And for a film about a ping pong tournament, the competition scenes are almost non-existent.

Tony Award-winner Fogler is likable as Tony, and there are times where you see what a funny guy he could be with the right material, but then the awfulness of the script buries him again. Walken can usually make a film, even a bad one, better simply by his presence, but not this time. Lopez is flat as the FBI agent with James Bond fantasies. DelBuono as the cocky younger Randy, Lennon as the German champion, and James Hong as Randy's trainer fare better despite the material they have to work with. Patrick's scenes are so few that you'll quickly forget he was even in it. Aisha Tyler is too good and too funny to be wasted on the role she has here. Maggie Q is supposed to be the eye candy love interest for the hero, but the poor girl looks so skinny here that I just wanted to offer her some food. Masi Oka of Heroes has a blink and you'll miss it cameo.

How bad is Balls of Fury? There are more laughs to be found in an Ingmar Bergman drama. Dumb comedies can be entertaining. Unfunny ones...well, not so much. Stay far, far away from this one.

[1 out of 5 stars]

The Simpsons Movie

2007-09-04T19:00:00.000-07:00

For far too many seasons, The Simpsons television show has been in decline and not living up to its own legacy. Apparently the creative staff were just saving all of their good ideas for a movie.

Homer Simpson (voice of Dan Castellaneta) causes a massive environmental disaster in Springfield and must find a way to redeem himself. That's all of the plot I care to divulge because to say more would spoil some good gags.

There are eleven writers credited, including Simpsons creator Matt Groening, yet the film has a cohesive storyline and consistently funny jokes. Although the momentum sags a little toward the end, for the most part it feels like it's right where it belongs on the big screen rather than like a long television episode. If it isn't quite as good or as bitingly satirical as the show's greatest years, it's still much funnier and irreverent than the broadcast version has been in a long time.

Director David Silverman has worked in various capacities on the television show since it debuted in 1989, so his familiarity with the characters allows for a smooth transition to the cinema screen, and it's even in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio to make it more visually expansive than on the small screen (the wider image is used as part of a gag). The animation is also far more detailed and colorful than ever before. Hans Zimmer (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End) contributes a fun score that also manages to sound epic at times, while finding ways to use Danny Elfman's famous Simpsons theme. Green Day also contributes their own version of Elfman's theme.

Castellaneta, Julie Kavner (Marge), Nancy Cartwright (Bart), Yeardley Smith (Lisa), Harry Shearer (Ned Flanders), and Hank Azaria (Chief Wiggum) could effectively voice their characters (and also the secondary ones they perform) in their sleep at this point, but they seem especially inspired by the good script here. Kavner in particular has one scene that may be her best ever as Marge. Among the guest stars, Albert Brooks is spot on as the power mad head of the EPA while Tom Hanks has a funny cameo as himself.

If you're a Simpsons fan who's been disappointed by recent seasons, then The Simpsons Movie will renew your faith in Groening and the funniest dysfunctional family in Springfield, _____.

[4 out of 5 stars]

Death Sentence

2007-09-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

This descendant of Death Wish is quite an effective thriller thanks to solid direction and a good performance from its star.

Nick Hume (Kevin Bacon) is a successful businessman who seemingly has it all, including a loving wife (Kelly Preston), a hockey star son (Stuart Lafferty), and a younger son (Jordan Garrett). Returning home from a hockey game one night, Nick and his eldest son stop for gas at a convenience store in a bad part of town. Their timing couldn't be worse, as a gang of men suddenly rob the store and kill Nick's son while he watches helplessly. When Nick learns that the killer Joe Darley (Matt O'Leary) will only get a short prison sentence, he recants his testimony so Joe will be released, allowing him to take personal revenge on his son's killer. The only problem is, the Joe's brother Billy (Garrett Hedlund) is the leader of the gang, and now he wants revenge on his brother's killer. Nick finds himself in a war of attrition that has tragic consequences.

Director James Wan (Saw, Dead Silence) delivers a polished and relentless revenge thriller with good action choreography. As familiar as the premise may be, it still makes for surprisingly gripping viewing. It's made with conviction and there's nothing extraneous to slow it down. Loosely based on a novel by Brian Garfield that was a sequel to Death Wish, the screenplay by Ian Mackenzie Jeffers reworks the characters and plot to make it a separate entity. Wan and Jeffers are aware of all the usual tropes of the genre and use them to maximum effect here. Yes, those tropes strain credulity at times, but done right they can still work, as they do here. It's a brutal film, but it also has a necessary sense of irony about the evolution of the protagonist from family man to grim avenger that's so often missing from similar films. The final scene between Nick and Billy brings that full circle.

Cinematographer John R. Leonetti (The Mask, Dead Silence) gives the film an appropriately dark and gritty look, while production designer Julie Berghoff (Saw, Dead Silence) visually balances safe suburbia and a scary urban environment. The score by Charlie Clouser (Saw, television's Numb3rs) adds to the film's tension.

Bacon plays the role of Nick with conviction, and his performance adds some emotional heft to the story. He makes you feel both his character's desperation and his internal conflicts as he begins his mission of vengeance. Aisha Tyler has a strong turn as a police detective who suspects that Nick has turned vigilante. John Goodman manages to be both menacing and funny while he chews the scenery as a local crime boss. Preston, Lafferty, and Garrett are believable as Nick's family. The antagonists are the usual one dimensional thugs common to the genre, but Hedlund is convincing as Billy and the other actors are adequate.

Death Sentence is a B-movie in the very best sense of the word. It may be exploitation fodder, but it also delivers thrills and entertainment value. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but if it's yours, it's definitely worth seeing.

[3.5 out of 5 stars]

The Lookout

2007-09-02T17:15:00.000-07:00

Although it failed to make its mark at the box office, this understated thriller with a strong cast is worthy of a look on video.

Chris Pratt (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a talented hockey player who causes a car accident that claims the lives of two friends, maims his girlfriend, and leaves him brain damaged. Four years later, he lives with a blind roommate named Lewis (Jeff Daniels) and works as a janitor in a bank, struggling to rebuild his life. Still cognitively impaired, he becomes an easy mark for ex-con Gary (Matthew Goode) and beautiful ex-stripper Luvlee (Isla Fisher) in the former's plan to rob the bank Chris works in.

Screenwriter Scott Frank (Dead Again, Minority Report) makes his directorial debut with a good film that favors character and dialogue over action. While in some ways it's predictable, the pleasure of watching it comes from well-conceived characters and a slow building of suspense to pull the viewer into the story. Frank makes us care about what happens to Chris, and this is the hook that everything else is built around. The voice over narration at first seems repetitive of what we're seeing on screen, but it quickly becomes apparent that it shows how Chris tries to function with a disability and becomes very important to the story's resolution.

Cinematographer Alar Kivilo (A Simple Plan, The Ice Harvest) gives the film a moody, low key look that subtly suggests film noir without any stylistic excesses, which complements the simple but expressive sets of production designer David Brisbin (After Dark, My Sweet). The score by James Newton Howard (Lady in the Water) nicely matches the tone of the film.

As he was in Brick, Gordon-Levitt is compelling as a young man caught up in a web of danger. His character's frustration over his limitations is palpable, but he never overplays it. He's best known from the television sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, but he's developed into quite a good dramatic actor. Daniels is almost unrecognizable as Lewis, but his performance as Chris' only friend feels genuine. Goode is, well, good as the manipulative Gary, and plays him in a way that makes it plausible that Chris would buy into his plan. Fisher is believable as she uses her physical charms to ensnare Chris while seemingly developing real feelings for him. Greg Dunham is intimidating as Gary's henchman, Bone. Also good in small roles are Carla Gugino as Chris' caseworker, Bruce McGill as his father, Alberta Watson as his mother, and Sergio Di Zio as a friendly policeman.

If you're searching for a suspenseful film with good performances, The Lookout should satisfy you. It's one of those films that seems to get overlooked when it's released, but don't let that stop you from seeing it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is really good.

[4 out of 5 stars]

Halloween

2007-09-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

It's not often that one can say that a remake is not only good in its own right, but also strikingly successful. This reimagining of director John Carpenter's 1978 horror classic is one of those rare times where it's true.

After ten tear old Michael Myers (Daeg Faerch) kills most of his family on Halloween, he's institutionalized under the care of Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell). Fifteen years later, the adult Michael (Tyler Mane) escapes and returns to his hometown on another Halloween to find his only surviving relative, his now teenaged sister Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton).

Writer/director Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects) doesn't simply take the original film written by Carpenter and Debra Hill and remake it, he expands on it while undeniably making his own film (which was exactly what Carpenter advised him to do after Zombie sought his blessing). It's full of his characteristic dark humor and colorful dialogue, but it also takes the central figure of Michael Myers and provides him with a stronger backstory that makes him seem more frightening than ever. Zombie imbues his version with a manic intensity that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

Some have raised the question of whether a remake was necessary. Well, this isn't a pointless remake like Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot remake of Psycho or an inferior piece of work like so many other remakes. It stands alongside the original Halloween as an equal. If there can be numerous reinterpretations of Hamlet, is it any less legitimate to reinterpret Halloween? I would argue that a remake should be judged on its own merits and not condemned simply for being a remake.

This is Zombie's first feature film to be shot with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio (the same as the old CinemaScope or Panavision processes), which is also how the original was filmed, yet his framing feels as tight and in-your-face as in his previous efforts. Cinematographer Phil Parmet (The Devil's Rejects) creates a textured visual look with low-key, harder lighting sources, while also subtly distinguishing between the different time periods of the story. Tyler Bates (The Devil's Rejects) contributes an archetypal horror score, and finds several ways to fit Carpenter's famous theme from the original film into it. Zombie also serves as music supervisor, and the on-screen mayhem is set to a soundtrack which includes KISS, Blue Oyster Cult, Rush, Peter Frampton, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, and most appropriately, the Misfits (with the Danzig era song, "Halloween II").

The role of Michael Myers isn't one that requires a great actor inside the mask. Like David Prowse as Darth Vader, it requires a menacing physical presence, and the six-foot-eight former wrestler Mane provides exactly that. Faerch is truly disturbing as a child psychopath on the rampage, and that also bleeds through to how one perceives Michael as an adult. McDowell's steady acting aptly portrays Loomis as a lonely man whose closest human relationship over the years may just be with a monster while also using that relationship to become a successful author. Taylor-Compton is likable as Laurie and believably transitions to terrified prey later in the film.

Zombie fills the screen with familiar faces in smaller roles, including Sheri Moon Zombie as Michael's mother, William Forsythe as her abusive boyfriend, Sid Haig as a cemetery caretaker, Sybil Danning as a nurse, Udo Kier as the head of the asylum, Brad Dourif as the sheriff, Dee Wallace-Stone as Laurie's adoptive mother, Clint Howard as a doctor at the asylum, Ken Foree as a truck driver, Bill Moseley as a security guard, and Danny Trejo as another guard who tries to befriend Michael.

The reimagined Halloween takes the tired slasher genre and reinvigorates it. Rob Zombie is a craftsman who brings his own unique vision of horror to the story of Michael Myers, and it's easily the best American horror film I've seen since Zombie's 2005 endeavor, The Devil's Rejects. This is a must-see for all horror fans.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

Mr. Bean's Holiday

2007-08-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

The bumbling, mumbling Mr. Bean returns for another adventure, but I'm sorry to report that this one is a disappointment. Even for devoted fans it's a tough slog to get to the good stuff.

Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) wins a holiday in Cannes and a video camera at a church raffle. After he inadvertently causes Russian film critic Emil Dachevsky (Karel Roden) to miss the train from Paris to Cannes, he finds the man's son Stepan (Max Baldry) alone on the train and, realizing his mistake, decides he must see the boy safely to Cannes to be reunited with his father.

Director Steve Bendelack (The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse) and writers Robin Driscoll (Bean), Hamish McColl, and Simon McBurney start out on unsure footing. The first two acts of the film are very hit and miss as they struggle to find the right tone, while many of the gags are stale and predictable. When they finally settle on a whimsical tone in the third act, the film hits a more confident stride and the gags improve. There's even some sharp satire on display when the Cannes Film Festival is parodied, but it's too little, too late.

I'm a fan of Mr. Bean, but I found this film unsatisfying for what's supposedly the character's final bow. There was only intermittent laughter in the cinema where I saw it, which is never a good sign for a comedy. The technical aspects of the film are competent but nothing more, although music supervisor Nick Angel (Smokin' Aces) chooses a good selection of songs to move the story along.

The cast is better than the script. Atkinson is once again in fine form as Mr. Bean, his skill as a physical comedian shining through even when faced with an inferior script. The winsome Baldry as Stepan comes close to stealing several scenes from Atkinson. Roden doesn't have many scenes as the boy's father, but his performance is solid enough. Willem Dafoe is hilarious as a self-absorbed American film director presenting his new film at Cannes. Emma de Caunes is delightful as an actress who helps the clueless Mr. Bean get to Cannes. Jean Rochefort is funny in a small role as a maitre d'. Atkinson's daughter Lily has a cameo as the girl operating the stereo at the church function at the beginning of the film.

Mr. Bean's Holiday owes an obvious debt to Jacques Tati's Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (Mr. Hulot's Holiday), but if you're going to take your inspiration from a film that's considered a classic, you need to present more than just a decent third act if you want to succeed. If this is really Atkinson's final outing as Mr. Bean, it's a shame to see him go out with something decidedly less than a bang.

[2.5 out of 5 stars]

The Invasion

2007-08-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

The latest remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a mess, no doubt in part due to its troubled production history.

After a space shuttle crashes, an alien virus begins to spread that turns its victims into emotionless drones. Psychiatrist Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman) begins to notice people around her changing, including her ex-husband (Jeremy Northam) who has their son Oliver (Jackson Bond) for a sleepover. With the help of her colleague and close friend Ben Driscoll (Daniel Craig), Carol discovers that the transformation occurs when a victim falls asleep. Although infected herself, she takes drugs to stay awake so she can rescue her son and make it to the safety of a military base where a cure is being worked on by a molecular biologist (Jeffrey Wright).

The film went into production with acclaimed German filmmaker Oliver Hirschbiegel (Der Untergang aka Downfall) in the director's chair. After shooting was completed, studio executives decided they weren't satisfied with his work and brought in the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix) to rewrite the script and supervise seventeen days worth of re-shoots. The Wachowskis hired James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) to direct the re-shoots, although only Hirschbiegel receives on-screen credit.

It's hard to tell if the film would have been better or worse without the re-shoots, but the clash of styles between the two directors doesn't help matters. The end result is a very uneven work, a slick but empty film. There are some effective scenes in the second half which evoke an atavistic response to seeing a mother and child in danger, but they quickly give way to routine action scenes. The original 1956 film directed by Don Siegel and the 1978 remake by Philip Kaufman both evoked a paranoid, disturbing mood. This version succeeds in doing so in only a precious few scenes, which simply isn't enough to sustain itself with.

Ostensibly based on Jack Finney's classic science fiction novel The Body Snatchers, which was the basis for three previous films, first time screenwriter Dave Kajganich and the Wachowskis have refashioned the story into something very different, keeping only the theme of humans being taken over by something alien while they sleep. The film also has a happy ending, but that's actually consistent with the novel. The message in the film about human nature is absurd and actually makes one sympathetic to the pod people, but it's impossible to say if Kajganich's script or the Wachowskis' rewrite should be blamed.

Cinematographer Rainer Klausmann (Der Untergang) sets an appropriate mood for the story and a few scenes, like the one set in a nearly abandoned subway station, work well because of his lighting. The score by John Ottman (Superman Returns) is atmospheric and deserves a better film to go with.

Despite the troubled production, Kidman manages to deliver a solid performance as Carol. She makes us feel her panic when her son is threatened and is believable enough with the character as written. Craig evinces the charisma that made him so good as the new James Bond, but the script doesn't provide him with a compelling character to work with. Wright is too good of an actor to be wasted on a few scenes of technobabble. Bond is believable as Oliver, but Northam is unconvincing as his pod person father. Josef Sommer and Celia Weston are suitable as the Czech ambassador and his wife, while Roger Rees makes his appearance as a Russian diplomat a memorable one. Veronica Cartwright, who starred in the 1978 version, has a small role as one of Carol's patients.

The premise of The Invasion may be familiar, but it can still be an effective one if handled properly. If not, you get a film like this which should be avoided like an alien plague. Unless there's a director's cut released on DVD, we'll probably never know who really deserves the most blame for this disappointing cinematic exercise. Just watch the 1956 or 1978 versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers instead.

[2 out of 5 stars]

Stardust

2007-08-21T18:25:00.000-07:00

Neil Gaiman's novel comes to the screen as a truly magical experience that's easily the best film of the summer and the most compelling fantasy film since The Return of the King graced cinema screens.

Poor shop boy Tristan Thorne (Charlie Cox) sees a shooting star and promises to bring it back to win the hand of the rich young woman (Sienna Miller) he's trying to woo. The star lands on the other side of a stone wall near his village, a wall which is actually a portal to the magical land of Stormhold. He discovers that the star has assumed the form of a beautiful young woman who calls herself Yvaine (Claire Danes). He vows to fulfill his promise to Victoria and then set Yvaine free, but Yvaine's heart is coveted by the evil witch Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) and the ruby she carries is needed by the scheming Prince Septimus (Mark Strong) to lay claim to Stormhold's throne. As Tristan and Yvaine flee the evil forces that are after them, they're aided by the flamboyant sky pirate Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro).

Director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake) skillfully blends fantasy, romance, comedy, swashbuckling, and suspense into a finely polished gem that recalls The Princess Bride. At its heart this is an old-fashioned fairy tale, and Vaughn's direction of both action and actors wonderfully captures that feeling. If you could bottle that feeling, what a magical elixir it would be, and that's exactly what the clever screenplay by Vaughn and Jane Goldman is. Their screenplay is mostly faithful to the novel, but the changes they made with the author's approval work exceedingly well in the context of the film.

Cinematographer Ben Davis (Layer Cake, Hannibal Rising), production designer Gavin Bocquet (Star Wars: Episodes I-III), and costume designer Sammy Sheldon (V for Vendetta) perfectly capture the fairy tale mood and create an enchanting fantasy land using the lovely landscapes of England, Scotland, Wales, and Iceland. Ilan Eshkeri (Layer Cake, Hannibal Rising) contributes a memorably rousing score. A modern touch is added by the Take That song over the end credits.

Cox is outstanding as the awkward young man who must grow into a courageous hero to save the true love of his life. He more than holds his own against the big name actors in the cast with his seemingly effortless charm and boyish good looks. Danes is also quite charming as the star who falls to earth and becomes a woman, convincing us that she really is such a magical being. She finds the necessary balance between innocence and an ancient soul that makes Yvaine who she is.

For the second time this summer (after Hairspray), Pfeiffer gives a deliciously wicked performance that lets us see just how much fun she's having. De Niro delivers a fine comedic performance as Captain Shakespeare, and reminds us that he's more than just a great dramatic actor. Strong makes a great scheming villain, but finds just the right amount of humor to prevent his performance from being one note.

There isn't a bad performance in the film, and other performers worthy of note include Peter O'Toole as the dying King of Stormhold; Nathaniel Parker and Kate Magowan as Tristan's parents; Ricky Gervais as Ferdy the Fence; Miller as Tristan's spoiled object of affection and Henry Cavill as a rival for her hand; Sarah Alexander, Joanna Scanlan, and Melanie Hill as witches; Jake Curran as a peasant who's bewitched by Lamia; Olivia Grant as the peasant after he's transformed into a woman; Mark Williams as a goat transformed into a human; Dexter Fletcher as Captain Shakespeare's first mate; and Rupert Everett, Jason Flemyng, Mark Heap, Adam Buxton, David Walliams, and Julian Rhind-Tutt as Septimus' similarly scheming brothers. Also, the wonderful voice of Ian McKellen is perfect for the story's narrator.

Stardust effortlessly captures the feel of a classic fairy tale with modern touches. A star has indeed fallen to earth and brought magic into the lives of mortals if only for two hours. See it. You won't regret it.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

Hairspray

2007-08-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you take a Broadway musical based on a cult film from the 1980s and make it into another film? You get this effervescent treat that's thoroughly entertaining from start to finish, with great songs and a great cast. The genre of the film musical is alive and well in the 21st century.

Baltimore, 1962. Pretty but plump teenager Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) dreams of dancing on the popular "Corny Collins Show" and meeting heartthrob Link Larkin (Zac Efron). Her father (Christopher Walken) supports her, but her mother (John Travolta) worries that her heart will be broken by failure. When Tracy's dance moves catch the eye of the show's host (James Marsden), she wins a coveted spot on the show and becomes an overnight sensation. Along with her best friend Penny (Amanda Bynes), Penny's new boyfriend Seaweed (Elijah Kelley), and DJ Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah), the idealistic Tracy is determined to bring racial integration to the show, opposed by the spoiled, untalented Amber (Brittany Snow) and her scheming mother (Michelle Pfeiffer).

The original 1988 film written and directed by John Waters is a highly regarded cult film, so director/choreographer Adam Shankman (The Wedding Planner) has the unenviable task of trying to live up to that standard. This version may lack the original's sense of subversive satire, but Shankman succeeds by making the story his own and infusing it with a bubblegum pop art sensibility. His song and dance sequences are dynamic and just plain fun to watch.

Shankman and screenwriter Leslie Dixon (Outrageous Fortune, Mrs. Doubtfire) freely adapt both the original film and the Broadway show into something that's not quite a remake of the former and not quite a literal rendition of the latter. Instead, it's something new that stands up on its own merits. Waters had a much keener grasp on the class and racial divides of the story's milieu, and if this film is decidedly weaker in one area that's it.

The songs written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman for the Broadway musical are jubilant and catchy. They also composed two new songs for the film, and added another written for Broadway but unused in that production. It all comes together to make one of the catchiest film soundtracks in a very long time. They're the kind of songs that might lead to dancing breaking out in the audience.

Cinematographer Bojan Bazelli (The Ring), production designer David Gropman (Little Children), and costume designer Rita Ryack (How the Grinch Stole Christmas) effortlessly create a bright, kitschy atmosphere that perfectly captures the mood of the story.

First time film actress Blonsky absolutely shines as Tracy. She sings, she dances, she makes you fall in love with Tracy in the very first scene, and she exhibits a fresh-faced charm that helps to define the entire film. Casting an unknown is always a risk, but the rewards can be well worth it when it works, and, oh, does it work here.

If I had one concern about the film going in, it was Travolta in drag as Tracy's mother Edna, a role originated by drag queen Divine. To my surprise, Travolta is splendid, even touching, as a shy woman whose own fears initially keep her from supporting her daughter's dreams. Instead of playing the role only for laughs, Travolta gets to the heart of Edna and makes her someone we care about. It's easily his best performance in years.

Walken's quirky but genuinely funny performance as Mr. Turnblad is another strength of the film, and he also displays good chemistry with Travolta. Pfeiffer is perfect as the evil Velma Von Tussle, and it's easy to see how much fun she's having. Marsden often comes across as wooden, but his turn as Corny hits all the right notes with just the right touch of sincerity. Queen Latifah is a vibrant scene stealer as Maybelle.

The rest of the cast sparkles as well, including Bynes as innocent-turned-rebel Penny, Efron as the good looking charmer Link, Kelley as Seaweed (and, oh, does he have some dance moves), Snow as Tracy's rival, Allison Janney as Penny's ultra-religious mother, Taylor Parks as Little Inez, Paul Dooley as the sponsor of the "Corny Collins Show", and Jerry Stiller as the owner of a boutique for big women.

The film offers several fun cameos if you watch for them. John Waters is the flasher in the opening sequence, Mink Stole is a woman smoking on the street in the same scene, Ricki Lake (the original Tracy) plays a talent agent attending the Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant, and Shawn Thompson (the original Corny) is the tv reporter outside the studio at the end.

Hairspray lacks the explosions and reels of visual effects shots that are seemingly de rigueur for summer films these days, and that's what makes it so refreshing. It's an old school musical with modern sensibilities, one that makes you feel better leaving the cinema than you did when entering it. The original film will always remain first in my affections, but this version is more than good enough to share the love with.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

Sunshine

2007-08-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

In an era where science fiction films too often mean mindless action and visual eye candy substituting for an actual story, this film stands apart as a serious science fiction film, but its seriousness doesn't mean it lacks thrills.

2057. The Sun is dying and humankind faces extinction on an Earth growing colder each day. After a mission to re-ignite the sun with a massive thermonuclear device is lost, a second mission is sent toward the Sun seven years later to complete the task. Since all of Earth's fissile nuclear materials were mined to make the two devices, it's literally a do or humanity dies mission. As the ship Icarus II passes Mercury, its crew receives a signal from its predecessor and they detour to investigate.

Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) tackles the science fiction genre for the first time (although 28 Days Later certainly had some SF elements in it) and proves that he can succeed in seemingly any genre. Screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later) plays loose with the science at times, but overall his script is a carefully crafted story about the greatest rescue mission of all time played out by a crew of disparate men and women coming under increasing stress in a claustrophobic environment.

As with his earlier films, Boyle showcases his style of gritty realism that makes this film feel very real at all times, and there's a certain coldness to the narrative that recalls the films of Stanley Kubrick. Boyle and Garland don't allow the audience to get close to the characters, but they still achieve a result that works on visceral and psychological levels with philosophy, suspense, elements of horror, and an edge of your seat conclusion.

Cinematographer Alwin Küchler (The Claim) approaches the setting of a spacecraft with an underlit look that recalls an airliner or a submarine, using cool colors so that there's a greater contrast between the interior sets and the exterior effects shots. Production designer Mark Tildesley (28 Days Later) presents a spacecraft that looks possible without being too futuristic and creates a sense of claustrophobia that bleeds off of the screen. The score by John Murphy (28 Days Later, Miami Vice) and electronic band Underworld creates an almost hypnotic mood that nicely complements the story. The visual effects by the Moving Picture Company (28 Days Later, Batman Begins) are outstanding.

It's truly an ensemble cast, but Cillian Murphy stands out as the physicist who designed the bomb. He seems like a background character at first, but begins to come to the fore when a fateful decision is placed in his hands by the captain. He's a complex man who mostly keeps his emotions in check, but Murphy's performance allows us to subliminally comprehend the character's depth without having it spelled out. Chris Evans also impresses as the spacecraft's engineer, who makes several hard but necessary choices without flinching. He's all about the mission, and nothing or no one is more important, not even himself.

The rest of the cast is also strong, including Rose Byrne as the pilot, Cliff Curtis as the medical officer, Troy Garity as the first officer, Hiroyuki Sanada as the captain, Benedict Wong as the navigator, Michelle Yeoh as the biologist who loves her plants more than people, Mark Strong as the captain of the first mission, and Chipo Chung as the voice of the Icarus II computer.

Sunshine is the most satisfying science fiction film I've seen in a long time. On some levels it's a familiar story, but in the capable hands of Boyle it rises to another level and succeeds by finding the right balance between ideas and the need to entertain an audience.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

1408

2007-07-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

ased on a Stephen King story, this is a good old-fashioned throwback to The Uninvited, The Haunting, and, yes, even The Shining, haunted house/hotel films that generate chills by creating an evocative atmosphere that gets inside your head even before anything goes bump in the night.

Mike Enslin (John Cusack) is a writer who cynically produces best sellers about hauntings even though he doesn't believe in the supernatural. After he learns about an allegedly haunted hotel room in New York City, he's determined to write about it. When he arrives, the hotel manager (Samuel L. Jackson) stubbornly refuses to let him stay in room 1408, warning that no one lasts more than an hour and 56 people have died in the room. Mike finally persuades the manager to let him stay overnight in the room, a room that looks normal on first glance but Mike soon learns that first impressions can be very wrong.

Mikael Håfström, a Swedish director whose 2003 drama Ondskan was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, crafts a stylish film where the scares are generated by psychological tension and unexplained events rather than from overt violence and gore. Most of the film takes place in a hotel room, yet Håfström continually finds ways to make it interesting to the viewer. The screenplay by Matt Greenberg (Halloween: H20) and writing team Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood) is generally faithful to King's short story while expanding the backstory of the main character and balancing horror with a surprisingly sly wit. At times, it verges on being a subversive dark comedy.

Cinematographer Benoît Delhomme (Sade) and production designer Andrew Laws (The Number 23) achieve the seemingly impossible by making a brightly lit room as disturbing as any wrapped in shadows. The score by Gabriel Yared (The Lives of Others) is suitably creepy without being too obvious.

Cusack is excellent as the cynical writer who begins to question his own sanity as he faces the strange occurrences in room 1408, selling the audience on the story's reality by sinking his teeth into his character and never letting go. Jackson's role is only a small one, but he's masterful as the charming hotel manager who's willing to do anything to prevent Mike from staying in the room. Leave it to Jackson to take a role that exists primarily for exposition and make it a memorable one. Good performances also come from Mary McCormack as Mike's estranged wife, Jasmine Jessica Anthony as their daughter, and Tony Shalhoub as Mike's editor.

Blessed with some top notch acting and a director who gets great mileage out of a limited setting, 1408 is one of the best Stephen King adaptations in a very long time and an entertaining horror film that's refreshingly back to basics.

[4 out of 5 stars]

Captivity

2007-07-14T17:40:00.000-07:00

After a controversial marketing campaign lead many critics to declare that this film was contributing to the fall of civilization, I decided to see it and make up my own mind. To my surprise, it's actually an effective horror film.

Actress/model Jennifer Tree (Elisha Cuthbert) is stalked, drugged, and awakens in an isolated cell, where she's subjected to psychological and sensory torture by a merciless sociopath (Pruitt Taylor Vince). She discovers a man named Gary (Daniel Gillies) in the next cell, and together they try to escape from their sadistic jailer.

Oscar nominated director Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields, The Mission) plays in the horror genre sandbox for the first time and the result is a disturbing yet compelling thriller made with a high degree of craftsmanship. Joffé builds and maintains the tension throughout, and the violence is more psychologically shocking than graphic in most instances. The screenplay by Larry Cohen (It's Alive, Maniac Cop) and first time screenwriter Joseph Tura isn't particularly subtle and the ending is hardly original, but it knows exactly what's necessary to tell this kind of a story.

The film belongs to a subgenre of horror that's been erroneously labeled by some critics as "torture porn". The 'porn' part of the label implies that audiences are supposed to become aroused by it, but I would suggest that the filmmakers are actually trying to push the limits of what can be done to disturb an audience. In this film, you're supposed to be disturbed by what the main character experiences and sympathize with her, not excited by observing her abuse. Far from being misogynistic, I think it's actually about how misogyny leads to violence against women.

Cinematographer Daniel Pearl (1973's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and its 2003 remake) and production designer Addis Gadzhiyev work with Joffé to create a claustrophobic atmosphere that disorients the audience as much as the characters, with most of the film being shot in a Moscow studio. Marco Beltrami (The Invisible, Live Free or Die Hard) contributes a solid score.

Cuthbert (24) delivers a believable performance as Jennifer, and her terror seems genuine rather than forced. This is the type of film where a performer could easily go over the top, but Cuthbert doesn't. Gillies is merely average as her fellow captor, but he also avoids going too far over the top towards the end. Vince creates a chilling characterization in limited screen time. Laz Alonso and Michael Harney are solid as two cops looking for the missing Jennifer, although one gets the feeling that some of their scenes were edited out.

Captivity isn't going to garner another Oscar nomination for its director, but it achieves what it sets out to do in an unsettling fashion and isn't really deserving of the moral panic it seems to have generated in some quarters. It's a decent B-movie that doesn't overstay its welcome at only 85 minutes of running time.

[3.5 out of 5 stars]

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2007-07-11T15:25:00.001-07:00

Everyone's favorite boy wizard returns for a fifth adventure that sheds the lighter entertainment of earlier films in favor of a darker, more challenging effort that represents the best film in the series yet (although my personal favorite remains Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in terms of pure entertainment).

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) enter their fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry under a cloud of controversy after the Ministry of Magic refuses to accept the claims of Harry and Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) that the evil wizard Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) has returned. Dumbledore is increasingly pushed aside at Hogwarts in favor of the cruel Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton), who delights in making life miserable for students. Harry takes it upon himself to lead a rebellion and properly teach other students in the use of magic skills needed for the coming conflict, all while the machinations of Voldemort begin to come to fruition.

Noted British television director David Yates tackles his biggest project to date, and his take on the venerable franchise is darker and more realistic than that of previous directors. This is a grim film about a boy being forced to grow up and take on adult responsibilities. War is coming, and Harry has to be ready to play his part. Anyone expecting the light-hearted fun of the early films will be sorely disappointed, but if you're prepared to accept that even a fantasy world has its deep shadows you'll be richly rewarded. It's also the first Harry Potter film to be more character driven than visual effects driven, and Yates' background in gritty television dramas like State of Play and Sex Traffic makes him the right man for the job.

Screenwriter Michael Goldenberg (Contact) replaces usual adapter Steve Kloves, who was busy directing a film of his own, but the transition is seamless. Goldenberg's script is faithful to the plot of J.K. Rowling's novel, although a lot of compression is required to turn an 870 page book into a film that's only 138 minutes long. Clever montages are used to move the narrative along without slowing things down with too many expository scenes.

Veteran Polish cinematographer Slawomir Idziak (The Double Life of Veronique, Gattaca) conjures a darkly subdued look that matches the tone of the story while also grounding it in a more realistic interpretation. There are times where the lighting is simply beautiful while remaining practical. Production designer Stuart Craig, who's worked on all five Potter films, continues his tradition of excellency in set design, adding some brilliant Ministry of Magic sets this time. Nicholas Hooper (The Heart of Me) contributes an ominous but compelling score that's almost entirely his own, with only one of John Williams' original themes being reused. Although there are fewer visual effects scenes this time, the quality of those effects remains high with Industrial Light & Magic leading the way, and the climactic battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort is stunning.

Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson have grown up before our eyes over the past six years, and this film reveals that their acting skills have also matured. All three handle the darker material with aplomb, but Radcliffe stands out with a complex performance as the titular wizard, digging deep within the character's psyche as he grows out of boyhood. This is without a doubt the young actor's best performance and suggests a fine future is ahead of him after the Harry Potter series ends.

The usual suspects are as good as ever, including Gambon as Dumbledore, Fiennes as Voldemort, Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, Emma Thompson as Sybil Trelawney, Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid, Brendan Gleeson as Mad-Eye, Mark Williams and Julie Walters as Mr. & Mrs. Weasley, and David Thewlis as Remus Lupin. Katie Leung returns as Harry's love interest Cho Chang, but the romantic subplot is given short shrift (my one quibble with the film).

Among the new cast members, Staunton is pitch perfect as Dolores Umbridge, Evanna Lynch is ever so ditzy yet charming as Luna Lovegood, Helena Bonham Carter is suitably deranged as Bellatrix Lestrange, and Natalia Tena is just right as Order of the Phoenix member Nymphadora Tonks.

Some critics have suggested that the magic has gone out of the Harry Potter franchise, but I think they're victims of their own expectations that these films should remain light-hearted and ignore the maturation of Harry, as well as of Rowling's themes. That said, because this film is so grim at times, it'll probably play better to Harry Potter fans than to general audiences looking for some summer fun. It's also the first of the films that's not likely to hold the interest of children.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix dares to take itself down some dark paths as it explores another year in the life of a wizard who's now less boy and more man. That it does so with intelligence and a more realistic style is commendable. It's not just the best Harry Potter film, it's a good film period. Highly recommended.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

2007-07-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

We've just passed the midpoint of the year, so here's my list of the top 10 films of the year so far.

10. Music and Lyrics
9. Puccini for Beginners
8. Hot Fuzz
7. Knocked Up
6. Transformers
5. 28 Weeks Later
4. Grindhouse
3. Black Snake Moan
2. Zodiac

Finally, the best film that I've seen so far in 2007. It's one that could still be in the top spot when I make my official top 10 films of 2007 list come January.

1. The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Transformers

2007-07-03T18:25:00.001-07:00

First came the toys and a television cartoon series in the 1980s, and now executive producer Steven Spielberg presents a live action theatrical film that's the best freakin' giant robot movie ever. Quite simply, this may be the most awesome summer movie of 2007 in terms of sheer entertainment value.

After the war between the good Autobots and the evil Decepticons destroys their home planet, they scatter throughout the universe looking for a powerful device that was lost to them, which is eventually located on a little planet called Earth where geeky high school student Sam (Shia LaBeouf) has just purchased his first car. It's an old yellow Camaro that's actually the Autobot Bumblebee (voice of Mark Ryan) in disguise. Bumblebee helps Sam woo popular school beauty Mikaela (Megan Fox) before Sam finally learns that his car can transform into a giant robot. Soon they're caught up in a battle between Autobot leader Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Cullen) and Decepticon leader Megatron (voice of Hugo Weaving) with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.

Director Michael Bay (Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon) is known for celebrating spectacle and cinematic eye candy, and those are the traits that serve this film so well. It's a kinetic, edge of your seat experience with big, bold action scenes that thrill you without becoming pointlessly bombastic. If you want to see giant robots fighting and widespread mayhem, Bay delivers both in spades. He also bring a sense of wonder to the story that will appeal to kids and adults alike, and will make the latter feel like wide-eyed kids again.

The screenwriting team of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (The Legend of Zorro, Mission: Impossible III, and the upcoming Star Trek film) are fans of the original cartoon and their affection for the material bleeds through in every scene. Even the changes they've made to the fictional universe feel right in the context of the film. Their screenplay has it all: humor, action, drama, more action, sentimental scenes ala Spielberg, and even a little romance, all wrapped up in a satisfying package. Films like this aren't about deep exploration of character, but when they work it's because they give us likable heroes to cheer for and villains we love to hate, and this is one that works. Even the robots are brought to life as individual characters in their own right. And how can you not like a film where a geek saves the world and gets the beautiful girl?

Cinematographer Mitchell Amundsen (Transporter 2) employs bright lighting with lots of texture and shading to create a high octane look for the film. Production designers Jeff Mann (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) and Nigel Phelps (Judge Dredd, Alien: Resurrection) bring the story's fictional universe to life with a combination of mind-blowing science fiction imagery and down to Earth settings. Composer Steve Jablonsky (The Island, television's Desperate Housewives) provides a suitably rousing score.

Industrial Light & Magic revolutionized the field of visual effects in 1977 with Star Wars, and they and the other effects studios involved here may have just done so again. The effects are so seamless that you have to remind yourself that what you're seeing isn't real. The robots may only be CGI effects, but you'll respond to them just like the characters in the film do, as real beings.

LaBeouf has the natural charm and comic timing of a young Tom Hanks, and he puts both traits to good use in making Sam a believable and compelling lead for the film. At its heart, this is a story about a boy and his sentient robot car, and LaBeouf's performance sells us on the reality of that relationship. Fox has the beauty for the role of Mikaela, but her performance also makes her a strong character who's more than just the requisite love interest. LaBeouf and Fox have good on-screen chemistry.

The rest of the cast is just as good, including Jon Voight as the US Secretary of Defense, Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson as Special Ops soldiers, John Turturro in a hilarious turn as the head of a secret government agency, Rachael Taylor as a signal detection and decoding expert, Anthony Anderson as a master hacker, comedian Bernie Mac as a used car salesman, Kevin Dunn and Julie White as Sam's parents, Amaury Nolasco as a Spanish-speaking soldier, Sophie Bobal as a little girl who mistakes a robot for the tooth fairy, W. Morgan Sheppard in flashbacks as Sam's famous explorer great-grandfather, and
Ravi Patel as an annoying phone operator.

The voice cast is also strong. Standing out in particular are Cullen as he returns to the role he created in the original cartoon, Weaving as a menacing villain, Ryan as a suitable Bumblebee in limited speaking time, and Reno Wilson mining laughs as Frenzy.

Motor vehicles that turn into giant robots? Check. Giant robots fighting and causing mayhem? Check. Cool geek heroes? Check. 144 minutes of non-stop entertainment? Check. There are some people out there who probably won't like this film. I feel sorry for them, because Transformers is one awesome thrill ride from start to finish and is an example of Hollywood summer entertainment at its finest. Longtime fans may just get teary-eyed when they see their favorite robotic characters for the first time.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

Live Free or Die Hard

2007-07-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

Nineteen years after the first Die Hard, the fourth installment arrives in cinemas uninspired and predictable. If you've seen the promotional trailer set to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, you've seen something much better than the actual product.

After the FBI's computer systems are breached by hackers, they ask local law enforcement around the country to help them bring in known master hackers. Enter NYPD Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis), who's assigned to locate hacker Matt Farrell (Justin Long) and deliver him to Washington DC. Things start to go awry when assassins are sent after Farrell, who unknowingly supplied cyber-terrorists Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) and Mai Linh (Maggie Q) with code they're using to bring all of America's computer systems to a halt. Finding himself in the middle of another fine mess, McClane has to keep Farrell alive while trying to stop the cyber-terrorists.

Director Len Wiseman (Underworld, Underworld: Evolution) tackles his largest project to date but is unable to recreate the tight shooting style employed by director John McTiernan in the first and third films (or even the serviceable style of Renny Harlin in the second film). Instead of thrilling the audience, he bludgeons them with lifeless action scenes characterized by excess more than creativity. Only in the third act does Wiseman seem to realize he's making a Die Hard film and finally presents us with some action scenes befitting the franchise. Too little, too late.

The weakest element of the film is the screenplay by Mark Bomback (Godsend), from a screen story by Bomback and David Marconi (Enemy of the State), with its incomprehensible plot, lack of suspense, tired quips, and worst of all for a Die Hard film, a dull villain. John McClane is at his best when he knows he's fighting to save a loved one, but Bomback doesn't bring that into play until very late in the film, making it feel like a meaningless addition. There are numerous elements that seem to be borrowed from television's 24, only the writers of that show know how to create suspense and keep the audience guessing.

Willis steps into the shoes of McClane once again like he never left them, trading punches, bullets, and one liners (as tired as some of them are, he still knows how to deliver them with gusto) with his opponents and being a thorn in the side of a terrorist mastermind. He has one great scene after Farrell tells him he's a hero where he bitterly enumerates all the bad things that have happened to him (a divorce, estranged kids, etc.). For one moment the filmmakers get it right and we see what the film as a whole could be but isn't. Long, best known as the personification of a Mac computer in numerous Apple commercials, is a fresh face as the hacker who finds himself right in the middle of the action. Willis and Long make a surprisingly good partnership.

The original Die Hard had Alan Rickman as the terrorist Hans Gruber, a memorable villain portrayed by a great actor. This film has a wooden Olyphant as the villain du jour, but he's about as intimidating and charismatic as a frat boy throwing a tantrum. Maggie Q is wasted as his partner/lover, seemingly here only to be the stereotypical Asian who happens to be skilled in martial arts.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead is good as Lucy McClane and it's very easy to believe she's the daughter of John McClane. Cliff Curtis gives a solid turn as the FBI agent in charge of the investigation. Best of all, Clerks director Kevin Smith is spot on as a hacker and Star Wars fan who still lives in his mother's basement.

I wanted director Len Wiseman to recreate the magic of the first film, a justifiable classic of the action genre, or at least the entertainment value of the second and third films. Instead, Live Free or Die Hard (aka Die Hard 4.0 in some markets) is overblown and even dull, failing to muster much excitement until it's almost over. Stay home and watch the first film on DVD.

[2 out of 5 stars]

Knocked Up

2007-06-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

This hilarious comedy is the perfect counter-programming to the action and effects films that make up the bulk of the summer release schedule. Surprisingly, it also has a lot to say about growing up and becoming responsible without taking anything away from the humor.

Ben (Seth Rogen) is a contented slacker who spends most of his time smoking marijuana with his roommates. Alison (Katherine Heigl) works for the E! television network and has just been promoted to being an on-screen interviewer of celebrities. The two meet at a nightclub and a drunken one night stand ensues. The next morning, a sobered up Alison tells Ben that she doesn't want to see him again. Eight weeks later, Alison discovers that she's pregnant, throwing both of their lives into sudden disarray.

Writer/director Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin) successfully blends romantic comedy, raunchy comedy, and relationship drama into a satisfying whole. It's the funniest film I've seen in awhile, but it also manages to say something about human relationships and what it means to take responsibility for our actions. The film makes us care about the characters and the choices they make. Apatow demonstrates that he can write believable characters of either gender without sacrificing comedic value. Despite being relatively long for a comedy at 129 minutes, it never feels padded with filler and never feels as long as its actual running time.

On the technical side, cinematographer Eric Edwards (My Own Private Idaho, Cop Land) goes for a bright, natural look that's good without distracting the audience from the characters or their situations. The score by Joe Henry (Jesus' Son) and Loudon Wainwright III fits the story's tone without being obvious or obtrusive. In addition, Wainwright writes and performs the excellent song playing over the end credits.

Rogen's adroit performance as Ben makes his evolution from stoner to father seem believable. Ben genuinely wants to do the right thing even if his immaturity sometimes gets in the way of that. Rogen brings an almost sweet charm to Ben that makes him very likable, and the strong on-screen chemistry he shares with Heigl is what really makes the film work. Heigl is quite funny as the young career-minded woman whose life plans are altered in a single night, and shows good comic timing in her character's hormonally induced mood swings.

Leslie Mann (Apatow's wife, and their children are in the film as the children of Mann's character) and Paul Rudd are funny as Alison's controlling sister and her browbeaten husband. Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill (the star of the upcoming Apatow-produced, Rogen-written comedy Superbad), and Martin Starr are hilarious as Ben's fellow stoner roommates. Also notable are Harold Ramis as Ben's father, Joanna Kerns as Alison's mother, Alan Tudyk as Alison's boss, Wainwright as Alison's doctor of choice, and Ken Jeong as one of the doctors she rejects. Saturday Night Live's Kristen Wiig is a scene stealer as Alison's co-worker who tries to verbally undercut her at every opportunity. Ryan Seacrest, James Franco, Andy Dick, and Steve Carell have genuinely amusing cameos as themselves, while Jessica Simpson, Eva Mendes, and Jessica Alba also appear as themselves.

Knocked Up is an enjoyable comedy with engaging characters. It succeeds in making its audience laugh while also making some good points about responsibility. Recommended.

[4 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

2007-06-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

The second chapter of this superhero film franchise is one of the rare sequels that's better than its predecessor, being more consistently entertaining than 2005's Fantastic Four. It's also lighter in tone than most superhero films these days, making it a refreshing change of pace.

Two years after the end of the first film, where Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd) proposed to his girlfriend the Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba), the couple are still trying to actually get married. There's always some disaster interrupting their weddings, and this time it's the appearance of the mysterious Silver Surfer (body movements of Doug Jones, voice of Laurence Fishburne) and the return of the villainous Doctor Doom (Julian McMahon). When Mr. Fantastic learns that the Surfer's appearance heralds the end of worlds at the hands of his master, Galactus, the team--including the Human Torch (Chris Evans) and the Thing (Michael Chiklis)--must find a way to save the planet from certain destruction.

Director Tim Story (Barbershop, Fantastic Four) displays a surer hand with a big action and effects film this time around (the previous film was his first attempt at an effects-laden blockbuster), and the result more consistently provides entertainment value for the audience. Screenwriters Don Payne (My Super Ex-Girlfriend, which was similarly light and entertaining), Mark Frost (co-creator of television's Twin Peaks), and John Turman (Hulk) do a good job of combining action, humor, and fun characters into a satisfying whole. It may not rank among the elite superhero films, but its lighter approach to the genre is consistent with the tone of the classic Fantastic Four comic book stories. The X-Men and Spider-Man did the angsty stuff, the Fantastic Four were a family of adventurers. My only complaint is that more could have been done with Galactus, but the shorter running time does keep it from becoming bloated by unnecessary elements.

Cinematographer Larry Blanford (Operation Sandman) goes with a bright, polished look that's perfectly suited to the material. Production designer Kirk M. Petruccelli (Mystery Men, Ghost Rider) expands the visual universe of the Fantastic Four with a redesigned Baxter Building, our first look at Latveria and Castle Doom, the Fantasticar, and a military base in Siberia. John Ottman (X2, Superman Returns) contributes a light but dramatic score that fits the film's tone.

The visual effects are, well, fantastic, which is just what one would expect with Weta Digital (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) and The Orphanage (Sin City, Superman Returns) involved. The Silver Surfer, digitally animated over the movements of Doug Jones, is particularly impressive. Fans of the comics may be disappointed by the non-traditional appearance of Galactus, but the effects still provide him with an awesome presence.

Gruffudd and Alba were solid as Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman in the first film, but they've really grown into their roles. Gruffudd is a more commanding presence but he also deftly handles some funny scenes. I dare you to not have the urge to cheer when he tells off a certain character. Alba is more assured and her portrayal is much closer to the character in the original comics this time. Chiklis continues to literally rock the screen as the perfect actor to play the Thing and Evans shines again as the cocky, womanizing Torch. The chemistry of Chiklis and Evans again brings the Thing-Torch rivalry to life.

I thought McMahon was poorly cast as Doom the first time, lacking the charisma or the voice for the character, and nothing here makes me reconsider that opinion. The Silver Surfer doesn't have much dialogue, but combined with Fishburne's rich voice it gives him emotional depth and completes the illusion began with Jones' body movements and the visual effects to make the character come to life.

Kerry Washington is good in her few scenes as Alicia, the Thing's love interest, while Beau Garrett is right for the role of Frankie Raye, an attractive military officer who catches the Torch's eye. Andre Braugher is well-cast as General Hager and has several good scenes with Gruffudd. Comedian Brian Posehn is funny as the minister who keeps trying to officiate during the wedding attempts. Fantastic Four co-creator Stan Lee makes his usual cameo appearance, and this time it's an amusing one as a wedding crasher.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer should entertain comics fans and general audiences alike. Its light tone and lack of bloat easily puts it ahead of Spider-Man 3 as the best superhero film of 2007.

[4 out of 5 stars]

Hostel: Part II

2007-06-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

Executive producer Quentin Tarantino and writer/director Eli Roth serve up a disappointing sequel to last year's surprise horror hit.

In the first film, three male tourists in Slovakia are abducted by a shadowy group that auctions people off to be tortured and killed for the pleasure of wealthy patrons. This time the main characters are three female American students in Italy: wealthy lesbian Beth (Lauren German), party girl Whitney (Bijou Phillips), and bookish Lorna (Heather Matarazzo). They meet model Axelle (Vera Jordanova) in an art class and then again while traveling by train to Prague. Axelle tells them she's going to a spa in Slovakia and invites them to come with her. They accept her offer, and that's when thing start to go really wrong for them.

Roth's first two films, Cabin Fever and Hostel, were fresh contributions to the horror genre, and the latter film was good because it turned genre cliches on their head. Its sequel, on the other hand, is predictable to the point of boredom. The central concept doesn't work nearly as well with women as the victims because that's the oldest horror cliche of them all, and Roth can't find anything new to do with it. Horror films are the most successful when the monsters, whether supernatural or human, retain some element of mystery. Explain too much, and they lose their power. Here, we learn too much about the group behind the torture factory and their clients, and mysterious turns banal. It doesn't even succeed as a gore film because the violence is far too tame. With one exception, it's routine rather than extreme.

The protagonists in the first film may not have been three dimensional, but they were often vivid and interesting (like Óli). Not so this time. Some critics have suggested that Roth isn't as good at writing female characters, but the male characters are even more poorly conceived here. The two American businessmen who want to experience the thrill of torturing and killing a human being are absurd, even more so when the personality of one of them abruptly changes. Roth's characteristic dark humor plays out as flat and uninspired this time, except for the nicely twisted soccer scene at the end.

The cast is generally solid enough, with German, Phillips, and Matarazzo making more of their characters than the script gives them to work with. Jordanova is charming and seductive as Axelle, while Milan Knazko is chillingly restrained as the leader of the shadowy group. Richard Burgi and Roger Bart play the American businessmen, but they're not up to the task of salvaging their characters. Jay Hernandez returns as the only survivor from the first film and Patrik Zigo is once again spot on as the leader of a group of feral children known as the Bubblegum Gang.

Hostel: Part II displays a lack of originality and to all appearances is simply a cynical attempt to cash in on the success of the first film without putting any effort into it, which is not what one has come to expect from either Tarantino or Roth.

[2 out of 5 stars]

Rise: Blood Hunter

2007-06-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

Lucy Liu as a vampire turned vampire slayer? What should have been an entertaining distaff version of Blade turns out to be a rather bloodless cinematic exercise.

Sadie Blake (Lucy Liu) is an up and coming reporter known for investigating the dark corners of modern life. After a young woman (Margo Harshman) she interviewed turns up dead, Sadie looks into some more dark corners and discovers a group of vampires preying on people. After she falls victim to them and becomes a vampire herself, her motivation becomes one of seeking revenge on the group and their leader (James D'Arcy), with the assistance of a bereaved detective (Michael Chiklis) whose daughter was Sadie's interviewee.

Writer/director Sebastian Gutierrez (writer of Snakes on a Plane and writer/director of the underrated Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She Creature) had a good idea, but his execution of that idea leaves much to be desired. It needed to have the action of the Blade films and the humor of Snakes on a Plane, but instead it takes itself far too seriously and the action scenes are tame. Remove the strong language and multiple scenes of Liu in her birthday suit, and it could easily be a pilot for a television series. One wonders if the nudity was added simply because someone realized there wouldn't be any other selling point. Its technical aspects are all high quality, though, including the stylish cinematography by John Toll (Braveheart, The Last Samurai) and the atmospheric score by Nathan Barr (Cabin Fever, Hostel).

Liu is game as the sexy victim turned avenger, but the script simply doesn't give her much to work with. Chiklis is good as the grieving detective who wants revenge for his daughter's death, while D'Arcy isn't very compelling as the superficially charming vampire leader. Solid enough for the material are Harshman as the detective's daughter, Carla Gugino as the vampire who turns Sadie, and Mako as one of the vampire leader's henchmen. Marilyn Manson and Nick Lachey have small roles as a bartender (I didn't even recognize Manson at first) and a thug for hire.

There's so much that could be done with the story's basic concept, but Rise: Blood Hunter is too sedate and by the numbers for its own good, and is disappointing in light of Gutierrez's previous work. It's not a truly bad film as much as it's simply not a very interesting one.

[2 out of 5 stars]

28 Weeks Later

2007-05-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

This follow-up to 2002's 28 Days Later is every bit as good as its predecessor and perhaps even surpasses it.

The film opens in the same time period as the first film. Donald (Robert Carlyle) and his wife Alice (Catherine McCormack) are hiding out in a rural cottage with several other people. When the cottage is attacked by people infected by the Rage virus (which causes zombie-like behavior), Donald panics and leaves his wife to be killed. Twenty-eight weeks later, the infected have all died of starvation and a section of London has been made safe by the US military. Survivors and those who were outside of the country when the outbreak began are allowed back into the safe zone, and Donald is reunited with his children, Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton). When a new outbreak occurs inside the safe zone, it's up to an Army medical officer (Rose Byrne) and sniper (Jeremy Renner) to lead them to safety.

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Intacto) replaces Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) in the director's chair for this sequel, although Boyle and the first film's screenwriter Alex Garland serve as executive producers. Fresnadillo picks up where Boyle left off, taking the audience on a horrific ride through a familiar world turned chaotic, and he's more than up to the task of keeping you on the edge of your seat for 99 minutes. If 28 Days Later was Alien, this would be Aliens. It's also quite a gory film at times, so viewer beware.

The screenplay by Fresnadillo, Jesús Olmo, Rowan Joffe, and Enrique López Lavigne has a rare emotional resonance for a horror film by making you care about the characters, even though you suspect that very bad things will happen to them. It expands on the first film's themes while suggesting that real horror results from the choices people make in the face of terror and death. Like George A. Romero's zombie films, there's also some charged social and political commentary, which here parallels the war in Iraq.

Cinematographer Enrique Chediak (Turistas) uses harsh lighting, desaturated colors, and handheld cameras (both film and video) to capture a sense of immediacy that thrusts you directly into a situation that is as terrifyingly real as a report from a war zone while under fire. John Murphy (28 Days Later, Miami Vice) provides a strong score but he and Fresnadillo also know when to silence the music for greater impact.

Carlyle never fails to deliver a strong performance, and this holds true again. The scenes where he realizes what he's done to his wife and where he has to tell his children about their mother's death are effectively carried by his acting. McCormack makes an impact in limited screen time as his wife. Poots and Muggleton are convincing as the teenaged daughter and younger son, and it's their reactions that draw one into the story as it unfolds. Byrne, Renner, and Harold Perrineau (Lost) are well-cast as the military characters, with Renner nicely conveying the conflict between obeying orders and making his own ethical choices.

28 Weeks Later succeeds by being more than a retread of a sequel and by intelligently balancing the requisite action scenes with characterization. It also never sells out on its bleak worldview. If you liked the first film, you should like this one, too. If you never saw the first film, this sequel can be watched as a standalone story. Recommended.

[4.5 out of 5 stars]

Bug

2007-05-30T10:50:00.001-07:00

Marketed as a disturbing horror film, Bug is actually a psychological drama. However, it's not a particularly good one. It's too talky by far and it turns ridiculous in the third act. Good performances by its cast aren't enough to overcome its numerous flaws.

Agnes (Ashley Judd) lives in a seedy motel in rural Oklahoma and works as a cocktail waitress at a roadhouse that caters to lesbians. When the film begins, she's living in fear that her abusive ex-husband Jerry (Harry Connick, Jr.) will find her now that he's been released from prison. One night, her lesbian biker friend R.C. (Lynn Collins) introduces her to a shy drifter named Peter (Michael Shannon), who soon becomes Agnes' lover. When Peter wakes up one night to find bug bites on his body, he's convinced that the room is infested with bugs coming from inside his body.

Screenwriter Tracy Letts faithfully adapts his own stage play and early on it looks like it could turn into an interesting film, but it's never able to escape its stage origins. It's slightly over an hour and a half of people mostly talking. Worse, the motivations of some of the characters seem to change at whim, so it's hard to believe what they're doing. It's not so bad in the first two acts thanks to the quality acting, but the third act makes it impossible to continue suspending one's disbelief. Veteran director William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist) keeps it from feeling too stagey through good use of camera movements that open things up, but sadly it's a disappointing effort from a filmmaker whose best days are well behind him.

Cinematographer Michael Grady (Factory Girl) keeps the film visually interesting, using lighting to signify changes in time and to reflect the psychological states of the characters. Production designer Franco-Giacomo Carbone (Cabin Fever, Rocky Balboa) really only has one set to work with, but he turns it into a realistic place that takes on an increasingly disturbed quality as the story progresses.

Judd delivers a strong performance, even if the script doesn't always make her actions believable, grabbing hold of her character and not letting go until the third act, when her performance jumps the tracks along with the rest of the film. Shannon, who originated his role on stage, is compelling as the shy drifter who may be dangerously delusional, and his outbursts are frightening in their sudden intensity. Connick is excellent as a charming but abusive ex-con, making us believe that Agnes would have fallen for him in the first place and that she would now be terrified of him. Collins is also good as R.C. and, truth be told, there's far more chemistry between Judd and Collins than between Judd and Shannon. Irish actor Brian F. O'Byrne has a bizarre turn as Peter's doctor, but the problem is how the character is written than O'Byrne himself.

One suspects that Lionsgate used a deceptive marketing campaign because that was the only way they were going to get an audience for a filmed version of an off-Broadway play that's not scary, not psychologically or philosophically deep, and which leaves one not quite sure of what the point was. Not recommended.

[1.5 out of 5 stars]

Spider-Man 3

2007-05-06T16:10:00.000-07:00

The third films in superhero film franchises seem to be persistently cursed with mediocrity. Think of Superman III, Batman Forever, or X-Men: The Last Stand as examples. Does this film avoid the curse? Yes and no. It's certainly the weakest of the three Spider-Man films by far, but it's still an entertaining one. If it's disappointing, it's largely because it has the unfortunate luck of following the flawless Spider-Man 2 and is unable to recapture that film's magic.

Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) finally feels like life is going his way. The city loves his costumed alter ego and he's ready to propose to his actress girlfriend Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). Then things start to go wrong. His former best friend Harry (James Franco) still thinks Peter killed his father, the villainous Green Goblin, and becomes the new Goblin to take revenge. Then Peter learns that the real murderer of his beloved Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) was petty criminal Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), who's been transformed into the supervillain Sandman by an accident involving a particle accelerator. If that's not enough, an alien symbiote has bonded with his Spider-Man costume, turning it black and warping his personality, while a new rival at work named Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) threatens his job and later his life as the vicious menace known as Venom.

Director Sam Raimi returns for his third go-around, and again demonstrates that he can balance action, characterization, and humor to accurately render a comic book world on screen. With a $258 million budget, the largest film budget ever in absolute dollars (although 1968's War and Peace and 1963's Cleopatra had larger budgets when adjusted for inflation), Raimi can do just about whatever he wants, and this means top drawer action scenes and visual effects. He doesn't disappoint. However, perhaps it was a little too much, as he reportedly often found himself running between different units during shooting instead of focusing on the main one, and the end result lacks the heart and soul that he brought to the previous films.

The screenplay by Raimi, his brother Ivan (Army of Darkness), and veteran screenwriter Alvin Sargent (A Star is Born, Ordinary People, Spider-Man 2) is solid albeit flawed. They try to fit in one too many storylines (the Venom storyline deserved a full film to itself and feels shoehorned into this one), the second act is overlong, and as a whole it lacks the depth and emotional resonance of the previous film. That said, it's still full of entertainment value and it's mostly a satisfying conclusion if Raimi and his stars don't return for future installments. Like the early stories written by Spider-Man's co-creator Stan Lee, the angst of Peter's life is as important, sometimes more so, than the action. The film at least tries to get to the heart of what makes the character great and it dares to be more than just another action movie even if it doesn't always succeed.

Bill Pope (The Matrix, Spider-Man 2) provides crisp, bright cinematography which, combined with the production designs of Neil Spisak (Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2) and J. Michael Riva (Lethal Weapon, The Pursuit of Happyness), captures the look of a comic book without appearing fake. Costume designer James Acheson (Brazil, The Last Emperor, and both previous Spider-Man films) is up to his usual standard of excellence, with the new black Spider-suit and Sandman's ripped directly from the comics costume standing out. Christopher Young (Hellraiser, Ghost Rider) effectively combines his new compositions with themes composed by Danny Elfman for the previous films into a cohesive whole. Film editor Bob Murawski (Army of Darkness and both previous Spider-Man films) could have easily trimmed the flabby midsection and the editing as a whole isn't as tight as in the first two films.

Maguire effortlessly embodies the angst of Peter Parker and the heroic strength of Spider-Man in a performance filled with a geeky charm that's engaging even when he turns into a self-centered jerk under the influence of the symbiote. Dunst once again makes a charming and believable Mary Jane. The screen lights up every time she's on it, even if the script sometimes shortchanges her. If this is indeed their final appearance in the franchise, it'll be a poorer one without them. Franco always seems wooden, but it's not quite as bad this time as he seems to have grown into the role of Harry a bit. Church's Sandman convinces us that he's more than a one-note villain, but doesn't have enough screen time to create a more full blooded performance. Grace effectively plays Brock as a charming creep who seems to be under the influence of a potent and addictive drug when Venom-possessed, but again the crowded film simply doesn't give him enough time for further development.

J.K. Simmons is again so perfect as Peter's boss, newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson, that it's as if the real Jameson was transported to our universe to play himself. Bryce Dallas Howard is quite good as Gwen Stacy and James Cromwell is solid as her police captain father, but the characters seem awkwardly placed into the continuity of the films. Rosemary Harris has fewer scenes as Peter's Aunt May this time, but she's still an effective presence in his life, while Cliff Robertson returns for flashbacks as her murdered husband. Bruce Campbell has a small but hilarious role as a maitre d' in a French restaurant (he's had a small role in each film as a different character each time). Elya Baskin and Mageina Tovah return for some funny scenes as Peter's landlord Mr. Ditkovich (a nod to Spidey's co-creator, Steve Ditko) and his daughter Ursula. Co-creator Lee has a cameo as an old man who talks to Peter in Times Square, and he ends it with the appropriate words "'Nuff said."

Spider-Man 3 isn't as good as Spider-Man or the flawless Spider-Man 2. There are too many stories crammed into 139 minutes and the middle of the film seems too long. Attempts to explore the characters and their emotions seem forced at times. But it's not a bad film. It rates as above average for the genre while providing quite a bit of entertainment value.

[3.5 out of 5 stars]

The Invisible

2007-05-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

This American remake of the 2002 Swedish film Den Osynlige is an intelligent supernatural mystery with noirish undertones.

Nick (Justin Chatwin) is a quiet, intelligent high school student who aspires to be a writer. While trying to help his best friend Pete (Chris Marquette), he comes into conflict with another student, the violent criminal Annie (Margarita Levieva). After Annie is arrested, she suspects that it was Pete who turned her in. In fear for his life, Pete blames Nick (however, both Pete and Nick are innocent), and Annie and her thuggish friends decide to beat him up. Annie goes too far, and Nick's body is left in a drainage pipe in the woods. When Nick goes to school the next day, he quickly discovers that no one can see or hear him, and he must somehow solve the mystery of what's happened to him.

Director David S. Goyer (co-writer of Batman Begins and writer/director of Blade: Trinity) takes a very low key approach to the story, favoring characterization over spectacle. Like the film it's a remake of, it's based on a novel by Mats Wahl, and the screenplay by Mick Davis (who also wrote the screenplay for the original film) and Christine Roum (Bodyguard II) is unusually intelligent for a supernatural story centered on teenagers and works quite well as a metaphor about guilt and redemption, with an emotionally satisfying payoff at the end. The original film reportedly has a much darker ending, but the ending here finds a note of hope without cheapening what came before it.

The film is set in Washington State but filmed in British Columbia, and cinematographer Gabriel Beristain (Blade: Trinity, The Ring Two) contributes a moody, overcast look that sets an appropriate tone for the story, matched by the score of Marco Beltrami (Hellboy, Underworld: Evolution) and an excellent selection of alternative rock songs chosen by music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas.

Chatwin makes a good lead for the film and is very realistic as a young man suddenly faced with a mystery with literal life or death consequences for him. Levieva, who resembles a younger Eliza Dushku, steals the film with a compelling performance as a tough but achingly vulnerable young woman who has one chance for atonement. Marquette is good as Pete, whose fear-caused actions inadvertently have tragic consequences. Marcia Gay Harden plays Nick's mother and has one emotionally wrenching scene that completely sells her as a grieving mother. Australian actor Alex O'Loughlin (who was considered for the role of James Bond in Casino Royale) has the least original role as Annie's thuggish boyfriend and partner in crime, but he avoids overacting and makes the character at least seem believable. Callum Keith Rennie and Michelle Harrison are solid as the detectives investigating Nick's disappearance.

Studios often dump their weaker films in cinemas in the springtime to bide time for the big summer season. The Invisible very easily could have been one of those weaker films, another routine supernatural film with teenaged protagonists, but it's not. It's a good film, well-written and well-acted, and one that deserves to be very visible to filmgoers. Recommended.

[4 out of 5 stars]

2007-05-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

The latest Hollywood adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story has an interesting premise but the finished product doesn't capitalize on it and is a big disappointment considering the talents involved.

Cris Johnson (Nicolas Cage) is a small time Las Vegas stage magician with the ability to see two minutes into his future, with the exception of a vision where he meets a beautiful young woman named Liz (Jessica Biel). After they finally meet and she begins to fall for him, he finds himself being pursued by FBI Agent Ferris (Julianne Moore), who's willing to go to any lengths to force Cris to help her track down terrorists planning to detonate a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles, as well as the terrorists themselves, who know that his ability is a threat to their plan.

Beyond a character named Cris who can see the future, the film has absolutely nothing in common with Dick's story. Screenwriters Gary Goldman (Big Trouble in Little China, Total Recall), Jonathan Hensleigh (Die Hard With a Vengeance, Jumanji), and Paul Bernbaum (Hollywoodland) have taken a potentially intriguing concept and constructed a formulaic action film. After taking the time to set up how Cris' powers work, they then proceed to violate their own rules, which is the same way they treat the audience with their cop out of an ending. The villains are cardboard cutouts and it's never made clear why a coalition of Germans, French, and Asians want to nuke a US city in the first place. All three writers are capable of much better than this. Director Lee Tamahori (Die Another Day, xXx: State Of The Union) can usually be relied on for some exciting action scenes at least, but they seem strangely perfunctory here.

Cage is solid as the cool but brooding hero. Cage the actor isn't the problem here as much as Cage the producer, who presumably had a large hand in the development of the film. Of all the actors, Biel comes off the best as the obligatory love interest in danger, taking a routine role and delivering a performance that's surprisingly vulnerable and charming. Moore, meanwhile, seems to be sleepwalking through her role. Peter Falk has a fun cameo as Cris' curmudgeonly friend, Irv.

Next simply isn't a very good film. The thought-provoking ideas of Philip K. Dick have been replaced with Hollywood formula by filmmakers who don't seem to be trying very hard.

[2 out of 5 stars]

Wind Chill

2007-04-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

Executive producers George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich, Ocean's Eleven) present a ghost story that's driven more by character development and atmosphere than by cheap thrills.

A young woman (Emily Blunt) trying to get home from college at Christmas accepts a ride share with another student, a young man (Ashton Holmes) who may just be stalking her. Instead of staying on the main highway during a snow storm, he decides to take a short cut down an old country road. After swerving to avoid an oncoming car, they crash into a snowbank and decide to wait until the morning to hike out for help. While trying to keep warm in sub-freezing temperatures, they begin to see and experience things that leave them in doubt of surviving the night.

Director Gregory Jacobs (Criminal), a longtime assistant to Soderbergh, serves up an old fashioned ghost story where a disquieting sense of isolation effectively puts the audience on edge for the scares to come. The screenplay by Joe Gangemi and Steven Katz (Shadow of the Vampire) is a bit talky at times, but it's all part of trying to create characters with some psychological depth. It appears at first that the biggest danger to the two are their own emotional issues, which threaten their safety long before the ghosts do. The horror elements aren't nearly as strong as they could have been, but they're good enough to prevent the film from being a disappointment. The story takes place mostly in the car or just outside of it, so cinematographer Dan Laustsen (Brotherhood of the Wolf, Silent Hill) deserves credit for creating a creepy atmosphere in such limited settings.

Blunt follows up her scene-stealing performance in The Devil Wears Prada with a vivid performance as an angst-ridden young woman trapped with a companion who she thinks may be a bigger danger to her than the inclement weather or the weird goings-on. The English-born actress also assumes a convincing American accent. Holmes (the teenage son in A History of Violence) is very believable as the creepy guy with a crush on Blunt's character. Martin Donovan is solid enough as a patrolman who they encounter on the road.

Wind Chill isn't a great horror film, but it's an effective one at times that tries to offer something more than the usual CGI effects, gore, and jump scenes.

[3.5 out of 5 stars]

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

2007-04-25T00:35:00.000-07:00

This brilliant and electrifying historical drama, which won the Palme d'Or for Best Film at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, is a masterpiece of political filmmaking that uses a particular historical struggle to draw broader lessons from.

Damien (Cillian Murphy) and Teddy (Padraic Delaney) O'Donovan are brothers from County Cork on two different paths as the story begins in 1920. Damien is on his way to London to attend medical school, while Teddy is the leader of the local Irish Republican Army unit. After Damien witnesses an act of resistance to the routine violence of British soldiers, he puts aside his studies to join his brother in the IRA, fighting in the Irish War of Independence against British colonialism and the Black and Tans, a paramilitary police force. After a treaty is signed which partitions the country and stops far short of economic and political liberation, Damien and other anti-treaty IRA volunteers continue their fight, while Teddy supports the treaty and joins the new Irish Free State military. The Irish Civil War becomes a familial civil war, as the two brothers come into opposition with tragic results.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley represents British director Ken Loach (Hidden Agenda, Riff-Raff, Land and Freedom, Bread and Roses) at his absolute best: a bold storyteller who paints finely detailed, humanistic stories with an unabashedly leftwing perspective on culture and politics. The original screenplay by Paul Laverty (Bread and Roses) is both epic and intimate, with political and class struggle on a wide level represented by a small number of characters, which gives the film great emotional impact. Although it's a fictional story, the events are historically accurate, and it's portrayed with such realism that it feels like a documentary. It's not a dusty history lesson, it's as alive as a modern news report from a war torn country.

Loach doesn't take a single wrong step as he transforms the screenplay into a complex, emotionally draining film that has more edge of your seat tension in scenes of people debating politics than other films have in their action scenes, but it has conventional action scenes, too. It wears its politics on its sleeve, quoting the Irish socialist James Connolly and portraying Damien as a committed republican socialist who understands that the treaty will do nothing to change the distribution of power in his country, but it never idealizes any of the characters. In fact, its refusal to do so is one of its strengths.

The film also unflinchingly portrays how struggles for freedom are derailed so that only the color of a flag changes but those with economic power remain in control. This provides a certain universality to the film's themes, reflecting not only the present day Good Friday Agreement in Ireland, but also any struggle pitting the powerless against the powerful.

The naturalistic cinematography of Barry Ackroyd (United 93) is both bleak and beautiful, capturing the lush greenness of the County Cork filming locations while investing them with a heavy sense of tragedy. Production designer Fergus Clegg and costume designer Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh (Omagh, Breakfast on Pluto) bring the past back to vivid life. George Fenton (Cry Freedom, The Fisher King) provides a sweeping score that appropriately accents the story's themes.

Murphy's performance as Damien is a finely polished gem, as he grows from a quiet bystander to a committed revolutionary willing to give his life for his principles despite being stripped of his innocence by war. Delaney's Teddy is a born fighter whose war weariness leads him to the most emotionally wrenching act a man could take against his brother, and his chemistry with Murphy is such that one can easily imagine that they really are brothers. He has a scene toward the end that is simply heartbreaking and he plays it perfectly.

Strong performances also come from Liam Cunningham as Dan, a trade unionist and republican veteran who fought alongside Connolly in the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising; Orla Fitzgerald as Sinead, the love of Damien's life and also a committed republican activist; Roger Allam as a British landowner; Laurence Barry as a young man who defiantly refuses to give his name in English when it's demanded of him even though he knows it may get him killed; and John Crean as an IRA volunteer who informs on his comrades and suffers the usual fate of informers in a riveting scene.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley is a work of art that does what art should do, examines real life and shines a powerful light on the human struggle for freedom. There have been many films that have told stories about this period of Irish history, but this one can truly be called great. Highly, highly recommended.

[5 out of 5 stars]

In the Land of Women

2007-04-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

This relationship drama with touches of comedy has a lot working in its favor but it doesn't fully live up to its potential.

After screenwriter Carter Webb (Adam Brody) is dumped by his famous actress girlfriend (Elena Anaya), he decides to get away from it all by taking care of his ailing grandmother (Olympia Dukakis) in Michigan. He soon becomes entangled in the lives of his neighbor Sarah (Meg Ryan), who's dealing with breast cancer and an unfaithful husband (Clark Gregg), and her teenaged daughter Lucy (Kristen Stewart).

Writer/director Jon Kasdan's first film shows a lot of potential. Like the best films made by his father Lawrence (The Big Chill, The Accidental Tourist, Grand Canyon; also the executive producer here), it's a well-crafted film that's strong on characterization while delving into the murky waters of relationships with some perceptive dialogue. Unfortunately, much of its potential goes unrealized because Kasdan's characters inhabit a story whose beats and resolutions are fairly predictable, and it never truly engages your emotions. It's too much a film of the head and not enough of the heart.

The crisp cinematography of Paul Cameron (Deja Vu) and the sets of production designer Sandy Cochrane (A Wrinkle in Time) combine to convincingly create the ambiance of a middle-class Minnesota neighborhood in Vancouver, Canada, while Stephen Trask (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) contributes a score and songs that are ideally suited to the production's tone.

Brody (of television's The O.C.) delivers a believably honest performance as the self-deprecating yet self-possessed Carter, injecting the role with his trademark geeky charm. Ryan's performance is one of her best in a long time as Sarah, who's forced to examine the shortcomings of her life by the realization of her own mortality. Ryan sometimes has a tendency to be too cutesy, but she finds the right balance here and makes her character seem real. Stewart continues to develop into a more than capable young actress, demonstrating good rapport with Brody and Ryan while giving a low-key performance of her own. Dukakis is hilariously deadpan as Carter's demented grandmother. The rest of the cast is solid, with Gregg as Sarah's husband, Anaya as the woman who breaks Carter's heart, Makenzie Vega as Lucy's charming younger sister, Dustin Milligan as the shy geek with a crush on Lucy, and JoBeth Williams as Carter's mother.

Although In the Land of Women lacks the spark that would have made it a really good film, the quality performances and dialogue make it a solid film. The best thing about it being a first film is that Kasdan should only get better, and I can't wait to see if that holds true for his future films. Wait for the video on this one.

[3 out of 5 stars]

Vacancy

2007-04-22T22:15:00.001-07:00

This thriller starts out promisingly enough but falls apart at the end.

David (Luke Wilson) and Amy (Kate Beckinsale) are a married couple on the verge of divorce. Driving home late at night from a party, David decides it'll be quicker to take a back road home. After the car breaks down, they find an isolated motel run by the eccentric Mason (Frank Whaley) and decide to spend the night there. They discover a stack of videotapes in their room that at first appear to be low-budget slasher films, but instead turn out to be snuff films shot in the same room they're staying in.

Director Nimród Antal (Kontroll) effectively builds suspense while echoing the classic Psycho by using an isolated location to conjure up all the fears about what could happen in such places. It's enough to sustain the film through two acts, but in the third act Mark L. Smith's screenplay runs out of ideas and falls back on cliches. The ending is entirely predictable and artificial. It doesn't help that the limited number of characters aren't always well-realized, particularly Amy. Coming just after the release of Grindhouse, whose female protagonists stand out as strong individuals, the female protagonist here comes across as a tired genre cliche.

Cinematographer Andrzej Sekula (Pulp Fiction, American Psycho) and production designer Jon Gary Steele (American History X, Cruel Intentions) create an atmosphere of isolation and fear with shadowy lighting and a rundown motel set that looks like so many places you see from the safety of the highway and wisely avoid.

Wilson and Beckinsale are believable as a couple with a strained marriage. Wilson comes off better because his character is better realized by the script, while Beckinsale's character spends much of the film whining, hysterical, or cringing. Whaley is good at first when he has to play eccentric, but loses any sense of menace when the script requires him to go over the top. Truly menacing villains are best underplayed rather than overplayed. Ethan Embry and David Doty round out the cast as a mechanic and a state patrolman respectively.

It's a shame that a film that starts with some promise ends in such a disappointing fashion.

[2.5 out of 5 stars]

Hot Fuzz

2007-04-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

The creators of Shaun of the Dead return with another film full of mirthful mayhem.

Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is a London police officer who's so good at his job that he makes his fellow officers look bad, so he's promoted and shipped off to the quiet village of Sandford, where he's teamed with Danny (Nick Frost), the oafish but well-intentioned son of the local police chief (Jim Broadbent). When people start turning up dead in incidents the village leaders consider accidents, Nicholas suspects foul play, and it's up to him and Danny to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Writer/director Edgar Wright and co-writer Pegg serve up a clever action comedy that's a homage to American buddy cop movies and films about British villages where the locals are up to no good. Like Shaun of the Dead, it's an engaging, hilarious spoof that pays careful attention to the details of what it's spoofing, while a friendship between two men delivers some emotional weight. The jokes are neither slapdash nor mocking, but are instead well-constructed and affectionate. Wright and Pegg take their time to carefully set everything up, from the jokes to the mystery to be solved, and it all pays off with a film that's more entertaining than many recent 'serious' action films. Wright's direction of the over the top fantasy violence is spot on. While American parodies like the Scary Movie films take the lowest possible route to laughs, Hot Fuzz is genuinely witty. It also remembers that characterization and plot aren't afterthoughts, they're key ingredients in any good film.

The brash score by David Arnold (Casino Royale), combined with a good selection of songs, provides suitable accompaniment for the on-screen antics. Production designer Marcus Rowland (Shaun of the Dead) and cinematographer Jess Hall (Stander) use the Somerset location to create a naturalistic setting for the unbelievable action, while editor Chris Dickens (Shaun of the Dead) keeps the film well-paced. Despite a two hour running time, it never feels that long, even though there are some slower patches.

Pegg and Frost once again make an engaging team. Pegg in particular has a deft knack for deadpan earnestness that serves him well as the dedicated big city cop who's out of his element in a pastoral setting. Frost meanwhile makes an ideal comedic foil as the earnest Danny, who knows more about Hollywood action films than police work and sees Nicholas as his ticket to living out his action fantasies.

The rest of the cast is good, too, with Broadbent as Danny's father, Timothy Dalton as a slick supermarket owner, Stuart Wilson as the local doctor, Edward Woodward as the head of the Neighbourhood Watch Alliance, and Paddy Considine and Rafe Spall as local detectives who couldn't find a clue if one was gift wrapped for them. Cate Blanchett has a cameo as Nicholas' ex-girlfriend, while Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson appears as a violent Father Christmas.

Hot Fuzz is hilarious, thoroughly entertaining, and recommended.

[4 out of 5 stars]