Ever After401998PG-13U.S.121ColorHistoricalRomance20th Century Fox20th Century Fox4.543Matyelok GibbsLouiseJoerg StadlerWilhelm GrimmElvira StevensonQueen of SpainToby JonesRoyal PageMegan DoddsMargueriteLee IngleyGustaveAnna MaguireYoung DanielleKate LansburyPauletteMark LewisGypsy LeaderTimothy WestKing FrancisDominic RoldChoirmanSusan FieldLaundry SupervisorRicki CuttellYoung GustaveAlex PooleyYoung JacquelineErick AwanzinoShort Bald ManElizabeth EarlYoung MargueriteRupam MaxwellMarquis de LimongesJudy ParfittQueen MarieWalter SparrowMauriceJean-Pierre MazieresCardinalDougray ScottPrince HenryJohn WaltersButlerJeanne MoreauGrande DameJeroen KrabbeAugusteUrsula JonesIsabellaPatrick GodfreyLeonardo da VinciMelanie LynskeyJacquelineAndrew HendersonJacob GrimmRicardo CruzCracked SkullJanet HenfreyCelesteChristian MarcKing of SpainAnjelica HustonBaroness RodmillaPeter GunnCaptain LaurentTony DoyleDriver of Royal CarriageHoward AttfieldJewellerAl Hunter AshtonCargomasterVirginia GarciaPrincess GertrudeAmanda WalkerOld NoblewomanFrancois VelterChoirmanRichard O'BrienPierre Le PieuDrew BarrymoreDanielleGraeme CrowtherStuntsMireille SoriaProducerRick ParksWriterAndy TennantWriterSimon KayeSound - mixerMartyn JohnArt DirectorRoger BondelliEditorJenny BeavanCostumesMichael HowellsProduction DesignerBelinda HodsonMake UpTimothy M. BourneCo-ProducerJohn ClarkSpecial EffectsAlan SeniorSpecial EffectsPriscilla JohnCastingJudy FarrSet DecoratorStephen DobricArt DirectorTracey TrenchProducerGeorge FentonMusical ComposerKevin ReidyCo-ProducerMelissa CobbAssoc. ProducerDamien LaFranchiArt DirectorLucinda SysonCastingSusannah GrantWriterAndrew DunnCinematographer3Once upon a time there was a feisty young woman who didn't sit around twiddling her pretty thumbs and singing "Someday My Prince Will Come." That's the revisionist spin onCinderella,and it twirls very nicely. Poor orphaned Cinderella, a 16th-century French girlwho loses her beloved father and gains a just-short-of-wicked stepmother and two horrid stepsisters on the same awful day, is now called Danielle (Drew Barrymore). Her widowed father (Jeroen Krabbe), a free thinker who encouraged Danielle to read, speak her mind and treat all people as equals, hasa fatal heart attack shortly after marrying the elegant Baroness Rodmilla (Anjelica Huston), who longs for the glamour and intrigue of court society. Left to the social-climbing Rodmilla's less-than-tender mercies, Danielle is treated as a servant by step siblings Marguerite (Megan Dodds), astuck-up beauty, and plump, graceless Jacqueline (Melanie Lynskey), and spends her days cleaning and tending livestock. But Danielle still catches the eye of rebellious Prince Henry (Dougray Scott), who's in the market for a bride: Unfortunately, she does so while in disguiseandwhileBaroness Rodmilla is doing her damnedest to promote Marguerite as the most marriageable girl in town. No, this isn't the classic Cinderella: It's an eclectic mix that ditches magic spells in favor of a message of self-reliance, and tosses in everything from the Mona Lisa (Leonardo da Vinci, who'svisiting the French court, acts as Danielle's benevolent protector) to a glass slipper from Ferragamo, then tops it off with Jeanne Moreau. As thegrande damewho commands the movie's framing story, she advises the Brothers Grimm that she's very fond of their collection of folk stories, butthey got that Cinderella business all wrong. "How do you begin these tales?" she asks in her cigarettes-and-whiskey voice. "Ah, yes, once upon a time... "leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh First Daughter652004PGU.S.90ColorComedyDramaRomanceKarz EntertainmentNew Regency PicturesRegency Enterprises20th Century Fox59Forest WhitakerNarratorMelissa RiversHerselfMichael ConnorProtestor #1Sonnet Noel WhitakerLaughing GirlToby MooreFrat Guy #2Dwayne AdwayAgent DylanTed GarciaWhite House Reporter #2Sophia ChangSorority Gal #2Vera WangHerselfAdam DonshikFirst Lady's Chief of StaffPhilip BoydFrankDan BrinkleCaucus HostKent ShocknekContentious ReporterScott HammFrat Guy with Water GunParry ShenRally LeaderAnn RyersonNurse PractitionerJeff MichaelNews ReporterFreddy BoucieguesDancing Frat GuyMarilyn McIntyreTeacher at PartyTim LilesReporter on the StreetMane AndrewMia's VisitorJohnny SneedEnglish ProfessorMargaret ColinMelanie MackenzieNicole AvantProtestor #2Brian A. SmithGuy on StreetMaria QuibanWhite House Reporter #1Austin PriesterDancing Frat GuyHollis HillAgent ColvinAndy UmbergerSecret Service SupervisorAndrea AveryLinda PattersonAndrew Caple-ShawAgent DryerPiper CochraneCommunications DirectorMichael KeatonPresident MackenzieTore BirkedalPizza GuyDamon WhitakerCharlesMichael MilhoanAgent BockRyan RaddatzFrat Guy #1Katie HolmesSamantha MackenzieSteve TomSenator DownerLela Rochon FuquaLiz PappasNatalie CoreLady with CameraAmerieMiaJoan RiversHerselfSheila ShawHealth Center ReceptionistKatrina ConnorSorority Gal #1Barry LivingstonPress SecretaryGunther JensenFootball CoachTeck HolmesMia's FlameJustine WachsbergerPassing StudentKen MorenoAgent MercerJay LenoHimselfAlex AvantShift LeaderMarc BlucasJamesPeter WhiteCollege DeanJohn HartiganSpecial EffectsForest WhitakerExec. ProducerRobert JanigerSound - mixerJessica BendingerSourceLiza RichardsonMusical ComposerWyck GodfreyProducerPamela WestmoreMake UpMiranda GarrisonChoreographyDenise ChamianCastingJerry O'ConnellExec. ProducerMike KarzProducerArnon MilchanExec. ProducerKate KondellWriterJeffrey DownerExec. ProducerKeith NeelyArt DirectorFrancine Jamison-TanchuckCostumesDenise PizziniSet DecoratorRichard ChewEditorManny PerryStuntsToyomichi KuritaCinematographerAlexander HammondProduction DesignerJohn DavisProducer2.5Director Forest Whitaker's romantic comedy with a political backdrop starts off strongly, thanks to its well-cast leads — Katie Holmes, in full-on adorable mode and buffBuffy the Vampire Slayer alumMarc Blucas — but its predictable conflict (particularly to anyone who's seen the Mandy Moore showcase CHASING LIBERTY) and plodding pace ensure lukewarm exit polls. Teenage Samantha (Holmes) is desperate to begin her college career so she can escape the watchful eye of her parents (Michael Keaton, Margaret Colin) and dreams of driving alone cross-country to school in California from her Washington, D.C., home. Unfortunately, that's out of the question; not only are her parents overprotective, but they happen to be the President and First Lady of the United States, which means Samantha has a host of secret-service agents eyeballing her every move. While she loves many of the perks of being the Commander-in-Chief's kid — big house, lots of traveling — growing up in the spotlight has been difficult — what teenager really wants her wardrobe choices to be the subject of public scrutiny? And blending in at school is hard enough for a freshman without her family being greeted by an entire marching band playing "Hail to the Chief." Samantha's spunky roommate, Mia (Amerie Rogers), does her best to get the first daughter to loosen up and enjoy her collegiate experience, including frat parties. But her guardian agents, Bock (Michael Milhoan) and Dylan (Dwayne Adway), are prone to panicking and cramping her style. Fortunately, Samantha's cute and funny resident advisor, James (Blucas), finds a way to sneak her out of the dorm for some typical dating fun. They begin to fall for each other, but when the press gets hold of the story the situation quickly spirals out of control; surprising secrets are revealed, and it doesn't help that it's an election year. Whitaker does his best to add tension and drama to this lightweight film, and while he manages to drum up some sympathy for poor little rich girl Samantha, even the slightest bit ofsturm und drangseems out of sync with the fundamentally silly premise. The nearly laughable "once upon a time …" narration that opens and closes the film only makes a muddled mess messier, but Keaton and Holmes have some sweet father-daughter moments and the supporting cast gives its all.leave a comment--Angel Cohn Hope Floats831998PG-13U.S.112ColorDramaRomance20th Century Fox20th Century Fox4.517Dee HenniganDotMichael PareBill PruittKathy NajimyToni PostMartha LongWaitressChristina StojanovichKristenMona Lee FultzTeacherGena RowlandsRamona CalvertRachel Lena SnowBig DoloresRichard NancePriestTara PriceYoung BirdeeHarry Connick Jr.Justin MatisseArt Michael TamezBartenderJames N. HarrellHarry CalvertTisa HibbsSuzyNorman BennettMr. DavisSandra BullockBirdee PruittConnie RayBobbi-ClaireRosanna ArquetteConnie--uncreditedMae WhitmanBernice PruittJeanette SiehVolleyball CaptainMeason WileyYoung Man at DanceChris DrewyP.E. TeacherCameron FinleyTravisSydney BerryOrange JuliaAllisa AlbanDebbie ReissenBill CobbsNurseForest WhitakerDirectorFelipe BorreroSound - mixerRandy E. MooreSpecial EffectsDouglas A. MowatSet DecoratorMargaret JohnsonSpecial EffectsSandra BullockExec. ProducerChristina SmithMake UpChrista MunroArt DirectorSteven RogersWriterDave GrusinMusical ComposerLynda ObstProducerKiante ElamStuntsSusie DeSantoCostumesRonnie YeskelCastingCaleb DeschanelCinematographerElizabeth HooperAssoc. ProducerRich ThorneSpecial EffectsSharon HollySpecial EffectsMary McLaglenExec. ProducerDanny CastleStuntsRichard ChewEditorLarry FultonProduction Designer2No, it sinks slowly, like a stone in molasses. Her open face surrounded by a shiny mane you just know smells like Herbal Essence shampoo, Sandra Bullock is like the wiggliest, friendliest, most bright-eyed puppy alive. Whose heart is hardenough not to soften before her guileless charm? So you're rooting for one-time Corn Queen Birdee Pruitt from the get-go. How could her tacky, so-called best friend Connie (Roseanna Arquette) go on a sleazy talk show and tell the world she's having an affair with Birdee's hound-dog husband(Michael Pare)? With Birdeethere,no less, isolated in a soundproof booth and thinking she's going on-air to get a beauty makeover. Anybody dealt such a hand gets the knee-jerk sympathy vote, especially when she holds her head up and manages a wan little smile in the face of abjecthumiliation. But this sodden romance manages to squander that considerable store of good will over the course of two very long hours at the heartbreak hotel, masquerading here as the home of Birdee's mom, Ramona (Gena Rowlands). Nothing earthshaking happens once Birdee gets home to Smithville, TX:Mama Ramona tells her to get off her duff and on with life, old acquaintances gloat secretly -- and not so secretly -- at the sight of the high-school golden girl brought low, down-home charmer Justin Matisse (Harry Connick Jr.) tries to rekindle their adolescent romance. Director Forest Whitaker,who appears to have been typed as a female-friendly director in the wake of WAITING TO EXHALE's runaway success, drags out the already painfully slow proceedings with syrupy dissolves, slo-mo sequences and redundant flashbacks, underscoring it all with an intrusively obvious country soundtrackthat matches lyrics to emotions with cringe-inducing exactness.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh 88 Minutes862008RU.S.108ColorThrillerEquity Pictures MedienfondsMillennium FilmsNu Image EntertainmentSony3.510Carrie GenzelStephanie ParkmanChristopher RedmanJeremy GuberTim HenrySean McBainBrendan FletcherJohnny D'FrancoKaj-Erik EriksenMatt WilnerTimothy PerezCabbie #1Leelee SobieskiLauren DouglasKristina CopelandDale MorrisBrenda McDonaldMrs. LowinskyMichal YannaiLeeza PearsonJulian D. ChristopherMactireDeborah Kara UngerCarol Lynn JohnsonWilliam ForsytheFrank ParksTammy HuiJanie CatesLeah CairnsSara PollardBrad TurnerFireman #1Stephen MoyerGuy LaForgeBenjamin McKenzieMike StemptVictoria TennantKateAl PacinoJack GrammJean MontantiWomen in CrowdMike DopuDetectivePaul CampbellAlbert JacksonMarcus HondoCabbie #2Neal McDonoughJon ForsterAmy BrennemanShelly BarnesMichael AdamthwaiteFireman #2Heather DawnHeatherAlicia WittKim CummingsMichael EklundJ.T. RyckerJosef LautenschlagerExec. ProducerEdward ShearmurMusical ComposerTracey GallacherProduction DesignerGeorge FurlaExec. ProducerAndreas ThiesmeyerExec. ProducerAvi LernerProducerSandy CooperMake UpTrevor ShortExec. ProducerOwen WalstomStuntsJochen KamlahCo-ProducerJohn BaldecchiExec. ProducerManfred HeidCo-ProducerPeter BergerEditorJohn ThompsonCo-ProducerBoaz DavidsonExec. ProducerLawrence BenderExec. ProducerDarren BriskerSound - mixerSamuel HadidaCo-ProducerMichael FlanniganCo-ProducerDominique Fauquet LemaitreSet DecoratorJordan MarkovSpecial EffectsScott AteahStuntsRick PaganoCastingTodd GilbertAssoc. ProducerDanny DimbortExec. ProducerGary Scott ThompsonProducerMary McLeodCostumesMargaret YaworskiMake UpDenis LenoirCinematographerJon AvnetProducerGerd KoechlinCo-ProducerJeremy StanbridgeArt DirectorMarsha OglesbyCo-ProducerBill MillsSpecial EffectsRandall EmmettProducer1Gary Scott Thompson and Jon Avnet's twisty tale of a forensic psychiatrist given 88 minutes to live by a shadowy sociopath might have made an entertainingly direct-to-DVD B-movie thriller with the courage of its sleazy convictions. But expectations are different for a theatrical feature starring Al Pacino, and by those standards it's a preposterous misfire.Nine years ago, Jack Gramm's (Pacino) testimony helped put Jon Forster (Neal McDonough) on death row for the torture killing of Joanie Cates (Vicky Huang). Dubbed the "Seattle Slayer," Forster always maintained his innocence, claiming both that Gramm lied under oath and that forensic psychiatry is voodoo science. On the eve of Forster's execution, the Seattle police discover a crime scene with all his trademarks: Is it the work of a copycat killer, or was Forster wrongly convicted? Worse still, the victim was one of Gramm's Northwest Washington University students; the FBI has picked up on rumors that he was sleeping with her, and the killer taped her pleading with him to admit that he falsified testimony. Shortly after, Gramm receives a phone call telling him he's going to die in 88 minutes. Over the course of the next hour and a half, Gramm is threatened, attacked and finds himself suspected of two gruesome murders. He becomes convinced that his tormentor must be someone close to him who's inexplicably conspiring to help Forster get a stay of execution and maybe even a new trial. Could it be Gramm's assistant, Shelly (Amy Brenneman)? Perhaps one of his students, like whip-smart Lauren (Leelee Sobieski) or sullen Mike (Benjamin McKenzie)? How about his teaching assistant, Kim (Alicia Witt), or maybe her ex-husband (Stephen Moyer), who did time at Walla Walla Prison -- where Forster is confined -- and has been lurking around a lot recently? Maybe Dean Johnson (Deborah Kara Unger), who seems to resent Gramm, or the creepy campus security guard (Brendan Fletcher) fascinated by serial killers? But as evidence against Gramm mounts, even his old friend, Agent Frank Parks (William Forsythe), begins to wonder whether he's become a murderer.Thompson supplies plot twists galore, none of which make a lick of sense: The 11th-hour -- sorry,86th minute-- revelation of the killer's real identity is truly groan-inducing. 88 MINUTES opened in the U.S. a full year after its DVD release in several territories, and marked a low point in Pacino's career -- physical as well as artistic, in that every woman in the cast towers over him.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Chicago472002PG-13U.S.113ColorCrimeMusicalMiramaxMiramax415Christine BaranskiMary SunshineSebastian LacauseJune's Husband, WilburRenee ZellwegerRoxie HartEkaterina ChtchelkanovaHunyakDeirdre GoodwinJuneDenise FayeAnnieMyaMonaTaye DiggsBandleaderRichard GereBilly FlynnMarc CalamiaHunyak's HusbandMike HaddadMona's Husband, Alvin LipschitzSusan MisnerLizQueen LatifahMatron Mama MortonJoseph ScorenLiz's Husband, HarryScott WiseAnnie's Husband, Ezekial YoungJohn C. ReillyAmos HartLucy LiuKitty BaxterDominic WestFred CaselyColm FeoreMartin HarrisonChita RiveraNickieCatherine Zeta-JonesVelma KellyColleen AtwoodCostumesAndrew StearnArt DirectorJordan SamuelMake UpBob WeinsteinExec. ProducerDavid LeeSound - mixerSam CrothersExec. ProducerBob FosseSourceMartin RichardsProducerRob MarshallChoreographyDion BeebeCinematographerMartin WalshEditorTed RossSpecial EffectsMeryl PosterExec. ProducerJohn MyhreProduction DesignerBill CondonWriterGordon SimSet DecoratorFred EbbMusic/Lyrics Composer - lyricsSteve LucescuStuntsDon CarmodyCo-ProducerJulie GoldsteinExec. ProducerJohn KanderMusic/Lyrics Composer - musicAli FarrellCastingMaurine WatkinsSourceCraig ZadanExec. ProducerNeil MeronExec. ProducerHarvey WeinsteinExec. ProducerLaura RosenthalCastingJennifer BermanExec. ProducerDanny ElfmanMusical Composer4The legendary stage musical, based on a 1926 play by Maurine Watkins, gets an old-fashioned movie-musical treatment, tweaked and polished to the tastes of contemporary moviegoers. When this dark, casually cynical valentine to a pair of media-wise chippies who get away with murder opened in 1975, it was more admired than embraced, despite its Bob Fosse choreography, and music and lyrics by the celebrated team of John Kander and Fred Ebb; the friendlierA Chorus Lineswept the Tonys and became Broaway's longest-running musical. Twenty-seven years later,Chicago's sting is gone (the 1996 theatrical revival opened in the wake of O.J. Simpson's sensational murder trial) and its knowing depiction of sin, spin and fleeting celebrity seems matter-of-fact, almost quaint. But Broadway choreographer-director Rob Marshall's feature film debut is spectacular and sleekly entertaining, given considerable luster by an all-star cast who really can sing and dance. The plot is straightforward: one-time chorine Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger), who dreams of stardom but settled for marriage to dependable Amos (John C. Reilly), shoots the bounder (Dominic West) who seduced her with the promise of showbiz introductions then callously dumped her before delivering. Taken to Cook County Jail, Roxie finds herself on murderess's row, where slinky hoofer Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who murdered her husband and sister when she caught them in the wrong kind of act, is the undisputed star. Roxie's loyal husband hires flamboyant criminal attorney Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), who assures his guilty-as-sin clients that if Jesus had been tried in Chicago and ponied up $5000 for legal representation, things would have turned out better. Flynn gives Roxie a whole new image — the wronged naif — and soon Velma's vanished from the news. But the trial still looms, and there's always a glamorous new murderess waiting in the wings. Numbers have been trimmed and Fosse's choreography replaced by Marshall's (whose "Cell Block Tango" is a highlight), but the movie's spirit is close to the show's and unlike Baz Luhrmann (MOULIN ROUGE), Marshall generally opts for letting the musical numbers unfold in long shot to creating movement through editing (ironically, the method Fosse favored). Marshall and screenwriter Bill Condon's solution to the fact that contemporary audiences are generally uncomfortable with classical movie conventions is both straightforward and savvy — in fact, it's the same strategy used by modern-day Bollywood films. Non-musical scenes that move the narrative forward are staged realistically, while the lavish production numbers reflect the star-struck imagination of Roxie, for whom all the world ought to be a stage.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh All The King's Men332006PG-13U.S.0ColorDramaPoliticalColumbiaPhoenix PicturesRelativity MediaRising StarVIP Medienfonds 3A/4ASony35Patricia ClarksonSadie BurkeValerie StodghillMiss DuMondeTravis M. ChampagneTom StarkBruce HeinrichMr. BurdenPaul DesmondSladeSean PennWillie StarkJoe KnezevichPhotographer 1Nicole BobekIce SkaterMichael CavanaughMr. PeytonFrederic ForrestWillie's FatherJordan RhodesMacMurphyJames GandolfiniTiny DuffyTom AldredgeCarruthers' BankerHunt DownerSenate LeaderEileen RyanLily LittlepaughCaroline Renee ChristmannAnne at Age 9Gary GrubbsSheriffMarcus HesterPhotographer 2Kate WinsletAnne StantonAnthony HopkinsJudge Montague IrwinT.J. FaltermanTom Stark at Age 11Jay PattersonSenatorLelia BazzaniBurlesque DancerDavid Montgomery JohnAdam at Age 11Tom McCarthyEditorKeb' Mo'Slade's GuitaristCharles NewellReporterCaroline LagerfeldtMrs. PeytonJude LawJack BurdenMark RuffaloAdam StantonJackie Earle HaleySugar BoyTalia BalsamLucy StarkKathy BakerMrs. BurdenKevin DunnAlexElijah Luke MorrisJack at Age 10Glenn MorshowerCommissionerLenka PetersonSavannah ClerkAvy KaufmanCastingGuy ClaytonSpecial EffectsDrew KuninSound - mixerJames HornerMusical ComposerJames CarvilleExec. ProducerPatrizia Von BrandensteinProduction DesignerDavid ThwaitesExec. ProducerRick LefevourStuntsPatricia SchneiderSet DecoratorWayne WahrmanEditorMichael HausmanExec. ProducerMarit AllenCostumesGary N. BaughArt DirectorMike MedavoyProducerGeorge AguilarStuntsPawel EdelmanCinematographerAndy GroschExec. ProducerKen LembergerProducerSteven ZaillianProducerAndreas SchmidExec. ProducerLinda MelazzoMake UpRobert Penn WarrenSourceRyan KavanaughExec. ProducerArnold MesserProducerTodd PhillipsExec. Producer2.5Three fine British actors, one grade-A U.S. ham, and writer-director Steve Zaillian bring Robert Penn Warren's great American novel of political corruption and wrecked idealism to the screen in an adaptation that's more faithful than, if ultimately inferior to, Robert Rossen's 1949 Academy Award winner. Set in the post-WWII South and loosely based on the colorful career of real-life Louisiana governor Huey Long, the film charts the rapid rise and precipitous fall of the essentially good but corruptible Willie Stark (Sean Penn), who took on the moneyed Old Guard that kept "hicks" like Stark down in the mud while enriching themselves through cronyism, corruption and graft. A self-educated pig-farmer-turned-county-treasurer, Stark gets his big break when a fire escape collapses on a new local school, a school Stark had warned was being built with substandard materials by a firm closely connected to Louisiana politicos. The tragedy reminds people of the honest man who tried to blow the whistle on the scam, and when the political machine in Baton Rouge goes looking for a popular rube to split the "hick" vote and ensure the incumbent governor's reelection, gubernatorial aides Tiny Duffy (James Gandolfini) and Sadie Burke (Patricia Clarkson) call on Willie Stark. When Stark figures out he's being used, he delivers a fiery harangue against the powers-that-be, a rant whose righteous anger and populist rhetoric proves immediately popular with the "hicks" and turns Willie Stark into a political force. Forged in the crucible of political corruption, newly elected Governor Stark keeps his enemies close — he even hires Sadie and Tiny as aides. He also enlists the help of formerChroniclejournalist Jack Burden (Jude Law), not because he wrote a series of favorable profiles about the Stark campaign, but because Jack represents theotherLouisiana where Stark has yet to gain a foothold: the conservative, affluent world of Burden's Landing, where Jack grew up with his best friends Anne and Adam Stanton (Kate Winslet, Mark Ruffolo), children of the former governor, and their powerful uncle, Judge Irwin (Anthony Hopkins), Jack's beloved godfather. Jack knowshe'sbeing used, but he believes in Stark's promise to provide poor Louisianans with roads, schools and hospitals, and when rumors of strong-arm tactics and graft reach his ears, Jack uses these noble ends to help justify Stark's questionable means. But when Stark orders Jack to dig deep into the seemingly incorruptible Judge Irwin's past for an exploitable bit of scandal that will force him to withdraw his support for Stark's impeachment, Jack finds himself torn between the blind innocence of his past and the reality of Louisiana's future. Fitting Warren's sprawling 700-page novel into a two-hour movie is a tall order — Rossen simply snipped out most of it — and the scars do show. We never see enough of the small compromises Willie Stark makes on the way up to fully grasp the tragedy of his fall. Some will undoubtedly find Penn's ham-boned, spittle-lashing performance a bit much, but it's a pretty close to Warren's original conception. Besides, few other actors could hope to compete with James Horner's overbearing, "Feel this now!" score.leave a comment--Ken Fox Across The Universe562007PG-13U.S.133ColorDramaMusicalSonySony4.531Bruce WilliamsonMember of Circus BandJerzy GwiazdowskiPranksterJoe CockerBum/Pimp/Mad HippieDylan BakerLucy's FatherSam KitchinSergeant on RooftopHarry LennixArmy SergeantAisha De HassTavern WaitressDaniel EzralowMother SuperiorFrank FigheraMember of Circus BandCicily DanielsSadie's SingerBonoDr. RobertMark StewartMember of Circus BandYassmin AlersHookerT.R. Boyce Jr.JockChris McGarrySergeant on RooftopTimothy Tm MitchumJo-Jo's BrotherEddie IzzardMr. KiteSarah Jayne JensenHigh School GirlfriendRon Cephas JonesBlack PantherMark LewisMember of Sadie's BandTimothy KeiperMember of Sadie's BandNicholas LumleyCyrilBruce MorrowHimselfJohn Jeffrey MartinDorm BuddySalma HayekSinging NurseMartin Luther McCoyJo-JoJim SturgessJudeSaycon SengblohSadie's SingerGeoffrey CountrymanMember of High School Dance BandMichelle LookadooHigh School GirlfriendNavarra Novy-WilliamsHigh School GirlfriendDan WeltnerPranksterJarlath ConroyBartender at Max's BarPeter MuiPranksterJoey SykesMember of Sadie's Rooftop BandLynn CohenGrandmother CarriganJacob PittsRap Magazine EmployeeMandy GonzalesSadie's SingerAmanda ColeEmilyLisa HoggJude's Liverpool GirlfriendThomas GrassoMember of Sadie's Rooftop BandCarol WoodsGospel SingerBrian McKennaMember of High School Dance BandKarine PlantaditPranksterMatt CaplanDorm BuddyJennifer Van DyckDaniel's MotherKiva DawsonMax's GirlElain GrahamJo-Jo's MotherSpencer LiffDanielLuther CreekPranksterChristopher YoungsmanPranksterHalley Wegryn GrossMax's GirlCyro BaptistaMember of Circus BandAntonique SmithHookerEllen HornbergerLucy's SisterMichael RyanPhilLogan Marshall-GreenPacoOrfehHookerAmbrose MartosPranksterEvan Rachel WoodLucyTracy Nicole ChapmanHookerDaniel Stewart ShermanCop at Wharf WarehouseLeonard TuckerKatz's WaiterDestan OwensSadie's SingerEkaterina SknarinaRitaArabella HolzbogPranksterRitt HennMember of Circus BandJoe AndersonMax CarriganDana FuchsSadieDeidre GoodwinHookerDanya TaymorHigh School GirlfriendJulien JoyMember of High School Dance BandJames UrbaniakSadie's ManagerFrank HopfDoor Officer at Strawberry RecordsMichael ArenellaMember of Circus BandLeah HockingTavern WaitressCharles DraytonMember of Sadie's Rooftop BandAngela MounseyJude's MotherJeanine SerrallesDaniBryan NollMember of Sadie's BandBill IrwinUncle TeddyTracy WestmorelandFillmore ManagerLinda EmondLucy's MotherChing Valdes-AranLuna ParkArthur LewisMember of Sadie's BandErin ElliottCheer CoachRobert ClohessyJude's FatherJack PetricelliMember of High School Dance BandBill BuellOld Guy at TavernStaceyanne ChinRap Magazine EmployeeLuke CresswellTramp Drumming on Bin LidsConrad KorschMember of High School Dance BandW.W. Wilson IIIPrecinct House SergeantKathleen EarlySDR WorkerPaul WallfischMember of Sadie's Rooftop BandChristopher TierneyDorm BuddyT.V. CarpioPrudenceCurtis HolbrookDorm BuddyMatthew GrossProducerJudy ChinMake UpDaniel EzralowChoreographyKyle CooperAnimationBernard TelseyCastingMark FriedbergProduction DesignerEllen Christiansen de JongeSet DecoratorIan La FrenaisWriterTod MaitlandSound - mixerPeter RognessArt DirectorAlbert WolskyCostumesMark BeroSpecial EffectsMargie DurandMake UpRichard BarattaCo-ProducerGeoff HansenAssoc. ProducerBruno DelbonnelCinematographerStephen PopeStuntsCharles NewirthExec. ProducerDick ClementWriterFrancoise BonnotEditorSuzanne ToddProducerBen HaberCo-ProducerGeorge AguilarStuntsDerek DauchyExec. ProducerElliot GoldenthalMusical ComposerPeter CrossmanSpecial EffectsJulie TaymorDirectorRudd SimmonsExec. ProducerSteve KirshoffSpecial EffectsJennifer ToddProducer2.5Theater-trained Julie Taymor's phantasmagoric story of young lovers caught up in the counterculture as seen through the prism of Beatles songs is a wildly ambitious undertaking, and her reach exceeds her grasp for a good half of its two-hour and 10-minute running time. But the other half is breathtaking, simultaneously visually inventive and vividly attuned to the broad streak of melancholy that runs through some of the sunniest pop hits of the 1960s.The year is 1968, and restless Jude (Jim Sturgess) sits on a deserted Liverpool beach, plaintively singing "Is there anybody going to listen to my story?" as he looks out to sea. Determined to escape the dead-end shipyard job where his dreams of being an artist die a little more every day, he leaves his conventional girlfriend (Lisa Hogg) and the single mother (Angela Mounsey) who raised him after her wartime romance with an American soldier went bad. Jude works his way to the U.S. as a deckhand and jumps ship, hoping to find the father he's heard works at Princeton University. The reunion isn't all he'd hoped, starting with the fact that his dad is a janitor, but Jude falls in with restless, free-spirited Max (Joe Anderson), who hates his wealthy family's lockjawed conformity and runs away to livela vie de bohemein Greenwich Village. Jude tags along, falls in love with Max's sister, Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), who just lost her high-school sweetheart to the Vietnam War, and bears witness to the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll revolution. Their circle of friends and fellow travelers includes rockers Sadie (Dana Fuchs) and JoJo (Martin Luther McCoy), cheerleader-turned-lesbian-hippie Prudence (T.V. Carpio), student radical Paco (Logan Marshall-Green), merry prankster Dr. Robert (Bono), acid guru Mr. Kite (Eddie Izzard), and sundry dropouts, scenemakers and activists. Any resemblance to Ken Kesey, Timothy Leary, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin (whom Fuchs played in the Off-Broadway musicalLove, Janis), Weather Underground founder Mark Rudd and other icons of the decade are strictly intentional.The Beatles catalog spans the innocent optimism of early '60s beat boom hits like "All My Loving" and the pessimistic bad-trippiness of "Helter Skelter," so it's no stretch to find the entire history of the 1960s in their cumulative output. And Taymor's cast can sing, some astonishingly well. But for every brilliant reimagining of a familiar song — "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" as a plaintive expression of thwarted same-sex love — there's an obvious clunker like "Something in the Way She Moves," which Jude sings in the first flush of love for Lucy, or "Revolution," his reproach to Paco and his student activists. Daniel Ezralow's choreography, which relies heavily on ordinary movements in stylized patterns (like Twyla Tharp's numbers for 1979's HAIR), is equally uneven, but there are a couple of stunning sequences, notably the nightmarish induction fantasy set to "I Want You." And yes, that is Salma Hayek in the chorus line of sexily sinister nurses, perhaps repaying Taymor for lending her dramatic credibility with FRIDA (2002).leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh XXX382002PG-13U.S.124ColorActionOriginal FilmRevolution StudiosColumbia436Tom EverettSenator Dick HotchkissThomas Ian GriffithAgent Jim McGrathMarton CsokasYorgiJan FilipenskyViktorLeila ArcieriJordan KingVin DieselXander CageWilliam HopeAgent Roger DonnanSamuel L. JacksonAgent Augustus GibbonsPetr JaklKolyaMichael RoofToby Lee ShaversEveJ.J.Richy MullerMilan SovaAsia ArgentoYelenaDanny TrejoEl JefeWerner DaehnKirillJohn FrazierSpecial EffectsDean SemlerCinematographerHilton RosemarinSet DecoratorRob CohenDirectorGavin BocquetProduction DesignerJonathan LeeArt DirectorMatthew StillmanAssoc. ProducerArne L. SchmidtExec. ProducerTim WalstonSound - designNeal H. MoritzProducerJoel NegronEditorGeorge ZakkExec. ProducerLance GilbertStuntsWilliam B. KaplanSound - mixerDavid MinkowskiAssoc. ProducerRich WilkesWriterKate DowdCastingJoel HynekSpecial EffectsChris LebenzonEditorJames ArnettStuntsRonna KressCastingMichelle GlassAssoc. ProducerCreighton BellingerCo-ProducerDerek DauchyCo-ProducerTodd GarnerExec. ProducerPavel CajzlStuntsPaul RubellEditorStan ParksSpecial EffectsHallie D'AmoreMake UpSanja Milkovic HaysCostumesRandy EdelmanMusical ComposerVin DieselExec. Producer2Video-game kicks rule in this high-concept, lowbrow action picture, as cynically calculated as it is efficiently executed. Extreme-sports outlaw Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) lives to give the establishment the finger. We first see him stealing an uptight senator's sports car (the fascist fogie supports regulating violent video games) and driving it off a bridge, surfing the hood and parachuting to last-minute safety as the pricey wheels crash to the ground. Radical. Meanwhile, having just lost a suave, James Bond-style agent on a mission in Prague, veteran espionage agent Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) is looking for an unconventional spy to take his place. Even among "the best and the brightest of the bottom of the barrel," Xander stands out. After putting Xander through some high-adrenaline tests, Gibbons makes his patriotic pitch. Xander refuses — he isn't selling out to the man, not for fame, not for cash and certainly not for patriotic bombast. Undaunted, Gibbons switches to the DIRTY DOZEN/LA FEMME NIKITA approach: If Xander doesn't do his bit for flag and country, his tattooed ass is going to jail for a good long time. That works better, and Xander is dispatched to the Czech Republic to infiltrate "Anarchy 99," a gang of leather-clad thrill freaks led by disillusioned, former Soviet soldier Yorgi (Marton Csokas). Xander's cover — he's looking to buy stolen high-performance sports cars — is bolstered by his X-games credibility, and he's soon in like Flynn with Yorgi and Yorgi's lethal-looking lady (Asia Argento). Xander also learns that beneath their hard-partying, who-gives-a-damn facade, Yorgi and his gen-X comrades are masterminding a plan to plunge the world into chaos by unleashing a biological weapon code-named "Silent Night." The movie is designed to showcase Diesel's strengths (nice tats, surly delivery, wicked abs), pretty much to the exclusion of other considerations. Italian actress Argento (daughter of director Dario Argento) has a darkly sexy presence that occasionally shines through the testosterone-heavy bluster, but that's her own doing. The plot is minimal, the dialogue formulaic and the supporting cast loaded up with unknowns. The movie isn't hard to watch; it zips along at a good clip, never wasting time on exposition when there's something to break. But the irony is that, for all its "not your father's spy movie" posing, it'sexactlylike the later James Bond pictures: predictable, lightweight and 100-percent disposable.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Quantum Of Solace22008PG-13U.S.105ColorActionSpyThrillerMGMMGM3.582Mathieu AmalricDominic GreeneGiancarlo GianniniRene MathisOlga KurylenkoCamilleJesper ChristensenMr. WhiteGemma ArtertonFieldsDaniel CraigJames BondJeffrey WrightFelix LeiterDavid HarbourGregg BeamJudi DenchMJoaquin CosioGeneral MedranoRobert WadeWriterLouise FrogleyCostumesRoberto SchaeferCinematographerRichard PearsonEditorMarc ForsterDirectorDennis GassnerProduction DesignerChris LoweArt Director - Supervising Art DirectorNeal PurvisWriterMichael G. WilsonProducerDebbie McWilliamsCastingPaul HaggisWriterIan FlemingSourceMatt ChesseEditorDavid ArnoldMusical ComposerCallum McDougallExec. ProducerAnthony WayeExec. ProducerBarbara BroccoliProducer2James Bond embraces the Jason Bourne model withQuantum of Solace, a rough-and-tough 007 adventure whose aspirations are admirable, even if the aesthetics are not. Back once again is Daniel Craig as the thuggish brute who pummels his way to solving the mystery continued from the previous installment. Stripped away of nearly every trait that the character has worn so well, this isn't the cinematic Bond of yore, rather a closer fit to the Ian Fleming mold of sophisticated brawler. Tonally,Quantum of Solaceis a sobering hangover from the rousing experience of its predecessor. Where there was finely crafted action in the first, in its place are jarring action set pieces where disorienting camera moves and rapid editing rule the school. The days of the series' escapist entertainment are momentarily shelved, thanks to the unsteady hand of indie filmmaker Marc Forster, who seems far out of his league when painting on a canvas this large. What he brings to the table is a yearning to delve more into Bond's psyche -- it's just too bad that he felt the need to ape Mr. Bourne, Bond's cinematic cousin, when it came to crafting its action scenes, of which there are many. Dour, hyper-stylized, and completely gadget-less -- nobody does it better? Not in this case.The film opens just where the last left off, with Bond bringing into custody a member of the secret society responsible for the death of his love, Vesper. But before any answers can be wrought, the criminal, Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), escapes, with the 007 agent hot on his heels. Working with M (played by the returning Judi Dench), Bond globetrots until he finds himself in South America, where he encounters Camille (Olga Kurylenko), another soul yearning for vengeance. Their mutual connection is Dominic Greene (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly's Mathieu Amalric), a businessman whose ties to the mysterious organization put him on the top of the suspect list. With the help of fellow agent Fields (Gemma Arterton) and returning CIA comrade Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), Bond and Camille make their last stand against the ones who have done them wrong, with the hope that this will close a chapter in both of their tortured existences.Tortured is certainly one word for the film. While there are no rope-swinging knocks at Bond's manhood here, the entire film feels a bit too concerned with tying up the loose ends left over fromCasino. This newfound focus on dramatics is commendable -- and no doubt the reason that Forster was brought onto the project, but at what cost was this realized? For starters, the film was put in the hands of someone utterly clueless as to how to handle the intense storytelling. With little regard for pacing, the artsy director plops in action scenes seemingly whenever he feels like it, likening the picture to a bad musical where songs just appear out of nowhere. Relying on the current cinematic landscape forged by Bourne is another monumental mistake for the series, and the sooner they rectify this, the better. Moreover, the film needs at least some iota of fun injected into it. Escapist entertainment this is not. A valid continuation of the franchise's sensibilities this is not. Audience members who are cool with that could find the proceedings to be a further breath of fresh air, though purists may likely walk away wondering whatever happened to the Bond that they know and love.Performance-wise, Craig wins with his take on the role. His bullish Bond is a force of nature, narrowly determined to stop at nothing until he gets what he wants. Though still a continuation from what came before, there's something different in this performance that doesn't quite promise anything other than this character staying as severe as he is here, which is too bad. As far as the rest of the cast, Dench again scores as M. Given more screen time than ever before, she's the rock that has spanned two generations of the character and who will hopefully continue to add to the experience. Additionally, Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton both add their own flavor to the material, with Kurylenko pushing the Bond Girl mold into new dramatic territories. As the slimy bad guy, Mathieu Amalric excels, yet is missing a bit of over-the-top aplomb in his villainy. One interesting misstep is the wonderful Jeffrey Wright, who suddenly becomes a gruff Eastwood type under Forster's direction. Subtle he is not, but then again, neither is the film.Clocking in at a brisk 105 minutes (the shortest in the series' history), this rare direct follow-up hopefully will put to rest the leftover emotional baggage of the character and leave Bond open to a bit more familiar interpretation in the future. While not the natural step after the end ofRoyale, it is its own animal -- and an unexpected one at that. The film will no doubt find its fans and lose just as many, but one thing is for sure -- this isn't the last we'll see of the daring agent. Let's hope next time the producers understand that Bond can stay mature without bowing down to current film trends and artistic ambition. People need to believe that there is still one number that they can always count on -- it's time to stay true to that promise.leave a comment--Jeremy Wheeler Max Payne232008PG-13U.S.99ColorActionFirm Films20th Century Fox57Olga KurylenkoNatashaBeau BridgesB.B. HensleyChris BridgesJames BravuraMark WahlbergMax PayneChris O'DonnellJason ColvinMila KunisMona SaxAmaury NolascoJack LupinoDan ZimmermanEditorBeau ThorneWriterTom KarnowskiExec. ProducerJohn MooreDirectorRick YornExec. ProducerKaren LauderExec. ProducerMarco BeltramiMusical ComposerDaniel T. DorranceProduction DesignerJonathan SelaCinematographerBuck SandersMusical ComposerScott FayeProducerJulie YornProducer2.5Video-game adaptations have a deservedly bad reputation, probably because most of them suck. The heart of the problem is probably the fact that you're basing your screen story on something created in a medium where story isn't really necessary.Max Payne, however, finds a loophole in this conundrum, because it's a movie based on a game that was already sort of based on movies.The video game ofMax Payneis mostly just your basic third-person shooter -- the way it defines itself is through its modern-noir style. That's the key element that the movie ran with, and as a result, it isn't half bad. It's your basic hard-boiled detective story, where the titular hero strives tirelessly to solve the mystery of why his wife and child were murdered years before. The past is shown in golden-hued images of happy sunlight, while everything pictured in the present day is depicted in blue-filtered New York winter bleakness. Mark Wahlberg is more or less perfect for the role of a tough-guy rogue cop, and over the course of his super-gritty two-hour adventure, he gets to stoically stare down the barrel of a drug ring, the Russian Bond girl fromCasino Royale, a big pharmaceutical conspiracy, and Mila Kunis pointing a gun at his head in a dark alley (imagine the voice of Meg Griffin telling you to put your hands above your head).For a movie of its type,Max Payneis a little short on excitement and heavy on pathos, and there are lots of scenes where you can't believe people (namely Beau Bridges) are still talking. But when the action sequences happen, things get flat-out ridiculous, with fantastically crazy scenes where Wahlberg takes out fully armored, machine gun-toting SWAT team members with nothing but a handgun and a European-style leather jacket. In the end, you can't really discount the fact that as action movies, neo-noir films, and video-game adaptations go,Max Payneis pretty cool -- and definitely not like anything else. It's not exactly an amazing movie, but it unquestionably breaks the curse laid down by its predecessors (okay, mostly by Uwe Boll).leave a comment--Cammila Albertson A Walk On The Moon741999RU.S.105ColorComedyRomanceMiramaxMiramax45Joel MillerShapiro, SidDiane LanePearl KantrowitzMal Z. LawrenceComedianHoward RosensteinSheldon DymbortSam GesserCustomer #2Tamar KozlovWendy GreenViggo MortensenWalker JeromeLisa JakubMyra NaidellBill BrownsteinCustomer #1Liev SchreiberMarty KantrowitzAnna PaquinAlison KantrowitzStewart BickNeil LeibermanJames LiboironJeffrey FolgerJesse LaVendelCarl ApplebaumVicky BarkoffSelma LevitskyMahee PaimentMrs. DymbortTovah FeldshuhLilian KantrowitzJess PlattHerb FoglerJoseph PerrinoRoss EpsteinBobby BorielloDaniel KantrowitzEllen DavidEleanor GelfandStar JasperRhoda LeibermanLisa Bronwyn MooreNorma FoglerLee GottsegenProducerDiane SimbardMake UpLaura GherardiAssoc. ProducerLouis CraigSpecial EffectsGilles AirdArt DirectorJay CohenProducerDana CongdonEditorPamela GrayWriterKerry BardenCastingBilly HopkinsCastingJess GoldsteinCostumesGreg CooteExec. ProducerDave McKeownStuntsAnthony B. RichmondCinematographerDustin HoffmanProducerLemore SyvanAssoc. ProducerJosette PerottaCo-ProducerClaude LaHayeSoundTony GoldwynProducerMason DaringMusical ComposerVera MillerCastingAntonio VidosaSpecial EffectsAnn GoulderCastingNeil KoenigsbergProducerDan LeighProduction DesignerGraham BurkeExec. ProducerMurray SchisgalProducerSuzanne SmithCastingMinor MustainStunts3.5The Summer of Love comes to the Catskills in this sharply observed, beautifully acted story of one woman's sexual coming of age. The sexual revolution has passed Pearl Kantrowitz (Diane Lane) by: Married and pregnant at 17, she has spentthe Age of Aquarius raising 14-year-old Allison (Anna Paquin) and her younger brother Danny (Bobby Boriello); her stolid husband Marty (Liev Schreiber), a television repairman, has hocked his own dreams to the realities of providing for his wife and children. The counterculture is so alien to theKantrowitzs that the sight of hitchhiking hippies by the roadside is as exciting as spotting a bear in the backyard. All that changes during the summer of 1969, when Pearl, the children and Marty's mother (Tovah Feldshuh) make their annual pilgrimage to Dr. Folger's Catskill Bungalows. Their dailyroutine of Mah Jongg, swimming and gossip is enlivened by the arrival of handsome Walker Jerome (Viggo Mortensen), who has taken over the job of selling vacationing housewives blouses and accessories from a battered old bus. But noone is more captivated by Walker's flirty manner and low-keysexiness than Pearl, who enters into an impetuous affair with him on the night of the first moon walk (hence the film's rather misleading title). Making his directing debut, actor Tony Goldwyn elicits top-notch performances from all concerned. They're helped by a strong script that makes bothPearl's affair and its aftermath thoroughly convincing. This intimate, bittersweet romance is proof that a familiar story and the trappings of a done-to-death era can still seem fresh and engaging in the right hands.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Blazing Saddles961974RU.S.93ColorComedyWesternWarner Bros.Warner Bros.528Slim PickensTaggartJohn HillermanHoward JohnsonGeorge FurthVan JohnsonCount BasieHimselfGene WilderJimDavid HuddlestonOlson JohnsonAlex KarrasMongoDom DeLuiseBuddy BizarreCleavon LittleBartMel BrooksGovernor Lepetomane/Indian ChiefLiam DunnReverend JohnsonHarvey KormanHedley LamarrMadeline KahnLili Von ShtuppRichard CollierDr. Sam JohnsonAlan UgerWriterNorman SteinbergWriterDanford B. GreeneEditorJohn C. HowardEditorPeter WooleyProduction DesignerAndrew BergmanSourceAlan JohnsonChoreographyJohn MorrisMusic/Lyrics ComposerVittorio Nino NovareseCostumesMel BrooksMusic/Lyrics ComposerRichard PryorWriterJoseph BirocCinematographer - TechnicolorMichael HertzbergProducer2.5A lewd spoof of westerns and racial prejudice; enough laughs to cover the fact that it is, essentially, a stupid movie. Little is terrific as a black sheriff who has been hired so that the citizens of the town will panic and sell their land out cheap to speculators who plan to run arailroad through town. When the village turns on Little, he must call on the jail's only con, Wilder, who was at one time the fastest gun in the West. Last fifteen minutes of the movie are an obvious cop-out and the humor is often toilet level, but in addition to Little, Kahn scores big (in atakeoff of Marlene Dietrich's saloon belles), as do Karras and Korman. What really lessens SADDLES is that its intentions aren't clear. Its humor provoked no thinking; insensitive moviegoers assumed the racial put-downs and cowboy crudeness were deliberate. The public loved the film--it stands asthe highest grossing western in history--$45 million plus! But they loved it for all the wrong reasons.leave a comment Yentl601983PGU.S.134ColorMusicalBarwoodLadbrokeMGM; UA4.56Ruth GoringEsther RachelAnthony RubesVillage StudentDanny BraininStudentDavid De KeyserRabbi ZalmanTeddy KempnerStudentPeter WhitmanStudentMiriam MargolyesSarahLynda BarronPesheJack LynnBooksellerSteven HillReb Alter VishkowerAnna TzelnikerMrs. KovnerDoreen MantleMrs. ShaemenRobbie BarnettTailor's AssistantFrank BakerVillage StudentMandy PatinkinAvigdorAmy IrvingHadassIan SearsDavidBernard SpearTailorJonathan TaflerStudentAllan CordunerShimmeleNehemiah PersoffPapaGary BrownStudentRenata BuserMrs. Shaemen's DaughterKerry ShaleStudentBarbra StreisandYentlMary HenryMrs. JacobsMichel LegrandMusic/Lyrics ComposerJack RosenthalWriterLeslie TomkinsArt DirectorDavid WatkinCinematographer - TechnicolorIsaac Bashevis SingerSourceMarilyn BergmanMusic/Lyrics ComposerLarry DeWaayExec. ProducerAlan BergmanMusic/Lyrics ComposerRusty LemorandeCo-ProducerJudy MoorcroftCostumesTerry RawlingsEditorBarbra StreisandProducerRoy WalkerProduction DesignerAlan WhibleySpecial EffectsTessa DaviesSet DecoratorGillian LynneChoreography3Isaac Bashevis Singer's beautiful short story "Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy" is turned into a musical ego trip in Barbra Streisand's directorial debut. Set in Eastern Europe in 1904, the story concerns the fortunes of Yentl (Streisand), a girl who wants to study the Torah. Strict Jewish lawprohibits such knowledge for women, but Yentl won't give in to community pressure, so, after the death of her father, she disguises herself as a young man and leaves home, hoping to be accepted into a yeshiva. In this guise, she falls in love with fellow student Avigdor (Mandy Patinkin), who takesa liking to young Yentl, but never realizes that his friend is really a woman. When Avigdor's engagement to Hadass (Amy Irving) breaks off because her parents disapprove of him, Avigdor asks Yentl to marry Hadass in his stead. Can the deception continue?Streisand has undertaken an extremely ambitious project to mark her directorial debut and, while far from perfect, the superstar performer shows undeniable promise. The production values are topflight but Streisand lacks visual skill and relies on the musical numbers to link episodes and detailcharacter motivation. In the opening sequences these songs, all sung by Streisand and structured as musical soliloquies, work quite well but they later become repetitious and intrusive--important characters are tossed aside to make room for her to belt out another tune. In all fairness, however,Streisand is actually quite credible in her role and she elicits beautifully shaded performances from a large cast, particularly Patinkin and Irving. Streisand owned the movie rights to Singer's story for 14 years and finally acquired the clout to bring the project to life after many years oftrying. Singer, however, was appalled by the film.leave a comment Changeling92008RU.S.141ColorCrimeDramaImagine EntertainmentMalpasoRelativity MediaUniversalUniversal4.57Peter GeretyDr. Earl W. TarrAngelina JolieChristine CollinsFrank WoodBen HarrisReed BirneyMayor CryerGeoff PiersonS.S. HahnJason Butler HarnerGordon NorthcottDevon ContiArthur HutchinsMichael KellyDetective Lester YbarraJohn MalkovichReverend Gustav BrieglebGattlin GriffithWalter CollinsJeffrey DonovanCaptain J.J. JonesDenis O'HareDr. Jonathan SteeleEddie AldersonSanford ClarkAmy RyanCarol DexterColm FeoreChief James E. DavisRon HowardProducerPacific Title and Art StudioSpecial Effects - visual effectsPatrick M. Sullivan Jr.Art DirectorWalt MartinSoundTim MooreExec. ProducerRobert LorenzProducerBrian GrazerProducerJoel CoxEditorBuddy Van HornStuntsMichael OwensSpecial Effects - visual effectsTom SternCinematographerJ. Michael StraczynskiWriterGary FettisSet DecoratorDeborah HopperCostumesClint EastwoodMusical ComposerJim WhitakerExec. ProducerJames J. MurakamiProduction DesignerEllen ChenowethCastingGary D. RoachEditorCIS VancouverSpecial Effects - visual effects2.5An elegant but tragic example of how a film can be beautifully acted and gorgeously photographed yet still fall victim to a fundamentally flawed screenplay, Clint Eastwood'sChangelinghas everything going for it as the riveting story builds steam, only to falter at the precise point that it should be winding down to a satisfying conclusion. By the time the long-awaited coda does come, the audience's patience (and trust) has been eroded, and the one scene that could have had the most emotional impact of all is rendered hopelessly ineffective.It's easy to see why a filmmaker of Eastwood's caliber would be drawn to a story like the one that inspiredChangeling, because the way in which the elements all come together seems almost too preposterous to be true. March 1928: Single mother Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) returns home from work to discover that her nine-year-old son, Walter (Gattlin Griffith), is nowhere to be found. After being forced to wait 24 hours to file a police report (a necessary "technicality" given the number of young children who simply run off with friends for a day), Christine embarks on a torturous quest over the coming weeks, dedicating her every waking moment to finding her missing son, supposedly with the help of the police. A few months later, LAPD captain J.J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) appears to deliver some astounding news -- Christine's son has been found, and he'll be arriving home shortly to be reunited with his mother. In most stories, this is where the nightmare ends; in Christine's, it's only the beginning. Immediately upon seeing her "son," she realizes that the police have made a terrible mistake. Not only is it a mistake that they're not willing to own up to, but one that the boy who claims to be her son is inexplicably playing along with wholeheartedly (even to the chilling point where he calls her "Mommy" behind closed doors). Though everyone in the city, including the outspoken Rev. Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich), is well aware of the deep-rooted corruption within the LAPD, few would have suspected the reprehensible lengths to which they would go in order to cover up the truth and cling to power. When a young Canadian boy is discovered residing illegally on a nearby ranch, his capture sets into motion a remarkable series of events that will expose the deeply corrupt system for what it truly is, while finally setting the wheels of justice into motion.Considering the story's many intriguing nuances, it's a small miracle that the screenplay doesn't get bogged down earlier than it actually does. Thanks to Eastwood's assured use of cinematic shorthand and some skillful editing by regular editors Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach, the first two hours ofChangelingmove along at a satisfying, deliberate pace that truly draws the viewer in. We feel the mother's anguish of knowing that her child could be out there waiting to be found, and share her helplessness when she falls victim to a venal legal system that's more interested in cornering the market on crime than helping the unfortunate victims.As such a victim, Jolie quietly conveys the unfathomable pain of a mother who has lost her only son, often with little more than a wounded, glassy-eyed glance and a meek response to the intimidating powers that be. Watching her character evolve from a frightened and confused victim of the machine to a figure that inspires a fundamental change in the justice system is central to the success of the film, and helps to keep things interesting even after the action grinds to a halt in the interminable final act. Likewise, a pious Malkovich gives the crowd a character to cheer for just as the screenplay starts to meander, and -- in his role as suspicious ranch owner Gordon Northcott -- a giggling Jason Butler Harner accepts the full blunt of the audience's disdain with scenery-chewing abandon Yet, while Harner's nervous energy serves well to set some darker elements of the plot into motion at the midway mark, his unhinged performance doesn't benefit from extended screen time, and feels slightly out of place as the audience begins to understand the true nature of his character. Unfortunately, in the end, not even an Oscar-caliber crew on both sides of the camera can cover for the fact that the screenplay forChangelingsimply flounders in the final act. Perhaps with a few more drafts, the filmmakers could have found a means of maintaining the quiet momentum displayed early on, but as it stands,Changelingis little more than a frustrating missed opportunity that's dressed to the nines, but a day late for the party.leave a comment--Jason Buchanan Miss Congeniality532000PG-13U.S.105ColorActionComedyCastle RockFortis FilmNPV EntertainmentVillage RoadshowWarner Bros.518Lucien DouglasWarehouse Hair StylistSummyr MillerMiss UtahPei-San BrownMiss AlaskaShana McClendonMiss NevadaKonstantin SelivanovIvanDaniel KaminKrashowMarco PerellaStarbucks GuyPam GreenMiss WashingtonDon CassPageant DirectorCassandra L. SmallStarbucks CopHeather BurnsCheryl "Rhode Island"Jimmy GrahamBackstage Security GuardJohn DiRestaAgent ClonskyLeeAnne LockenMiss NebraskaJessica HolcombBethChristopher SheaAgent JensenJanie TerrazasMiss New MexicoRuperto Reyes Jr.Security GuardFarah WhiteMiss TennesseeDyan ConnerMiss MassachusettsPaige BishopWarehouse DentistLaurie GuzdaAssistant DirectorSergei LevtsukRussian BodyguardMichael CaineVictor MellingSteve MonroeFrank TobinTarah BartleyMiss South CarolinaAngela VanDeWalleMiss OregonMelissa De SousaKaren "New York"Benjamin BrattEric MatthewsHolly MillsMiss OhioGabriel FolseAgent GrantCatenya McHenryNewscasterWendy Raquel RobinsonLeslie "California"William ShatnerStan FieldsGeorgia FoyMiss United StatesErnie HudsonMcDonaldEllen SchwartzHerselfStephen BrutonBartenderBernadette NasonPageant MatronJamie Drake StephensMiss MarylandEric Ian GoldbergAlanCody LinleyTough BoyDeirdre QuinnMary Jo "Texas"Isamari WhiteMiss FloridaJohnny CaanRussian BodyguardMary Ashleigh GreenYoung GracieKimberly CrawfordMiss MaineJennifer GareisTinaMona LeeRussian WaitressSandra BullockGracie HartCynthia DornPreliminary JudgeAsia DeMarcosAlan "Hawaii"Jessica HaleMiss VermontKelly BrightMiss MinnesotaDebbie NelsonPageant AnnouncerDee Dee AdamsMiss MissouriKen ThomasAgent HarrisCandice BergenKathy MorningsideMarc LawrenceExec. ProducerEdward ShearmurMusic DirectorJohn T. Van VlietSpecial EffectsDenise ChamianCastingJohn Patrick PritchettSound - mixerCaryn LucasSourceJack GillStuntsBruce BermanExec. ProducerCraig HeathSound - recordistCarla E. PalmerMake UpKatie FordSourcePeter LarkinProduction DesignerLaszlo KovacsCinematographerRay KlugaArt DirectorDorothy PearlMake UpLarz AndersonSpecial EffectsDonald PetrieDirectorBilly WeberEditorSandra BullockProducerScott GrossmanChoreographyRobert RengaSound - recordistLeslie RollinsSet Decorator - Leslie E. RollinsGinger SledgeExec. ProducerRandy MooreSpecial Effects2.5As star-driven vehicles in which the leads have to get in touch with theirfeminine side go, this comedy doesn't have much up on WHAT WOMEN WANT, eventhough that film's seeker of inner softness was Mel Gibson. Hard-as-nailsGracie Hart (the ever-appealing Sandra Bullock) lives for her job as an FBIagent. After ade rigeuropening action sequence, Hart learns that aUnabomer-type terrorist has threatened to blow up the upcoming Miss UnitedStates beauty pageant, and she's the only suitable agent to go undercover as acontestant. Gracie never wears dresses, doesn't own a hair brush and puts downpageant participants as "bikini stuffers who only want world peace." But thisbeing a movie, there's norealproblem. The Feds hire has-been pageantconsultant Victor Melling (Michael Caine) to give Hart a crash makeover, andpresto: She's not only one of the girls, but a plausible contender for thecontest's ultimate prize. And she bags the baddie, high heels and tight skirtsnotwithstanding. Some of the backstage things-falling-apart stuff isreasonably funny, in a NIGHT AT THE OPERA-ish sort of way. But the movie is plagued by rampant implausibilities, from the identity of the villain(s) tothe incredible speed of Bullock's ugly duckling-to-swan transformation. Infact, the script (two of whose auteurs have obvious roots in TV) seemspredicated on the notion that today's audiences will tolerate just about anykind of plot hole, continuity lapse, or "I don'tthinkso" moment.Fortunately, the actors are almost good enough to make you forget suchconcerns while you're watching. Caine's characterization could have lapsedinto gay caricature, but never does; Candice Bergen sparkles as theshark-toothed pageant producer, who may have a hidden agenda; and WilliamShatner's comic timing helps him nearly steal the picture, despite hisunderwritten part as a Bert Parks-like emcee.leave a comment--Steve Simels Casino Royale152006PG-13U.S.0ColorActionAdventureSpySonySony4.532Makhoudia DiawObanno's LiaisonMichael OffeiObanno's LieutenantDusan PelechBartenderGiancarlo GianniniMathisLudger PistorMendelRebecca GethingsHot room TechnicianTobias MenziesVilliersRobert G. SladePilotJohn ChancerPolice CommanderVeronica HladikovaTennis GirlTom SoFukutuMads MikkelsenLe ChiffreMiroslav SimunekDisapproving ManChristina ColeOcean Club ReceptionistCaterina MurinoSolongeLazar RistovskiKaminofskyMichael G. WilsonChief of PolicePhilip MeheuxTreasury BureaucratJesper ChristensenMr. WhiteCrispin Bonham CarterHot Room DoctorOlutunji Ebun-ColeCola KidClemans SchickKrattEva GreenVesper LyndTsai ChinMadame WuVladimir KulhavyCroatian GeneralJiri LencHotel Splendide Limo DriverMichaela OchotskaShop AssistantPaul BhattacharjeeHot room DoctorVlasta SvatkovaWaitressClaudio SantamariaCarlosFelicite Du JeuFrench News ReporterTom ChadbonStockbrokerAlessandra AmbrosioTennis GirlLeostranskyTall ManDiane HartfordCar PlayersDaniel CraigJames BondCharlie Levi LeroyGallardoIvan G'VeraVenice Hotel ConciergeSebastien FoucanMollakaValentine NonyelaNambutu Embassy OfficialMalcolm SinclairDrydenPeter BrookesAirport PolicemenAdeInfanteJohn GoldmanCar PlayersCarlos LealTournament DirectorJeffrey WrightFelix LeiterEmmanuel AvenaLeoRobert JezekArresting OfficerDaud ShahFisherSimon CoxHot Room TechnicianMartina DuravolaPolice Chief's GirlfriendsIssach De BankoleSteven ObannoRegina GabajovaHot splendide ClerkJudi DenchMJaroslav JankovskyHermitage WaiterRichard SammelGettlerMarcela MartincakovaPolice Chief's GirlfriendMartin UcikBarmanSimon AbkarianAlex DimitriosDaniel AndreasDealerVeruschkaGrafin von WallensteinJoseph MillsonCarterJason DurranAirport PolicemenJerry InzerilloCar PlayersPeter NotleyM16 TechnicianUrbano BarberiniTomelliIvana MillicevicVelenkaJessica MillerDealerRobert WadeWriterMartin CampbellDirectorAndrew NoakesAssoc. ProducerStuart BairdEditorNeal PurvisWriterMichael G. WilsonProducerDebbie McWilliamsCastingPhilip MeheuxCinematographerStephane FoenkinosCastingIan FlemingSourceDavid ArnoldMusical ComposerCallum McDougallExec. ProducerAnthony WayeExec. ProducerBarbara BroccoliProducer3Thoroughly overhauling a 40-year-old movie franchise built around a dyed-in-the-wool cold warrior is no small task — it's a much bigger job than swapping out one actor for another. This 21st entry in the "official" Bond series (which includes neither 1983's creditable NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN nor the lame 1967 spoof CASINO ROYALE) is a reboot designed to strip away layers of mythology and mannerism left by five stars and dozens of writers and directors. The source is Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, 1953'sCasino Royale, and new star Daniel Craig returns Bond to his roots. Rather than a sophisticated rake in a dinner jacket, he's a lone wolf barely reined in by his MI-6 handlers, a blunt and cruelly effective tool for termination with extreme prejudice. All of which is great and would be greater were the movie not two and a half hours long and front-loaded with fundamentally irrelevant action sequences. Apparently, no rethinking of the franchise extends tonotcramming it full of show-offy stunts and flashy chase sequences, including the acrobatic pursuit of a suicide bomber through a Madagascar construction site that showcases the athletic martial-artparkourand a chase that ends on the tarmac at Miami International Airport. These delay the real start of the story, built around a high-stakes card game (chemin de ferin the novel, Texas Hold 'em in the movie). Slippery underworld banker Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), preferred financier of international terrorists, has lost disastrously playing the stock market and intends to recoup his losses at the poker table, arranging a game with a $10 million buy-in at Montenegro's Casino Royale. Bond's mission — his first after achieving coveted "00" status — is to bankrupt Le Chiffre. Craig's Bond-in-progress is a brutally vivid creation, from the opening black-and-white sequence in which he earns his license to kill to his position on the iconic question "shaken or stirred?" — "Do I look like I give a damn?" — to the moment he slips on his first tuxedo and sees the potential in putting a sophisticated face on his animal instincts. The women — not "Bond Girls" in any pop-culture sense of the term — are forgettable. Only Vesper Lynd matters at all, and Eva Green's smudgy presence makes it hard to buy her as the woman with whom this hard-bitten Bond falls deeply and ruinously in love. Only the new theme song is less memorable. But the strong supporting cast includes Giancarlo Giannini, Jeffery Wright and Judi Dench, the sole holdover from the Brosnan era. As M, Dench knows she has a tiger by the tail and isn't fazed in the slightest. Reservations aside, the film marks the beginning of a new phase in James Bond's history, and it promises to be a gripping one.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Sky High682005PGU.S.102ColorAdventureComedyWalt Disney PicturesBuena Vista Pictures4.540Patrick WarburtonVoice of Royal PainMary Elizabeth WinsteadGwen GraysonKelly PrestonJosie/JetstreamLynda CarterPrincipal PowersLucille SoongCookKelly VitzMagentaAmy BrownTwinCloris LeachmanNurse SpexBruce CampbellCoach BoomerDave FoleyMr. BoySteven StraitWarren PeaceMichael AngaranoWill StrongholdJill TalleyMrs. TimmermanJake SandvigLashWill HarrisSpeedKurt RussellSteve/The CommanderDanielle PanabakerLaylaNicholas BraunZachChris WynneNews AnchorTom KennyMr. TimmermanJim RashMr. Grayson/StitchesMalikaPennyKimmy BrownEvil TwinDustin IngramCarbon Copy KidLoren BermanLittle LarryDee-Jay DanielsEthanZachry RogersYoung CommanderKhadijahPennyKevin HeffernanRon Wilson--Bus DriverKevin McDonaldMr. MedullaPaul LedfordSound - mixerWilliam HawkinsArt DirectorAndrew GunnProducerMario IscovichExec. ProducerScott RodgersStuntsPeter AmundsonEditorMark McCorkleWriterMitchell DrainSpecial Effects - visual effectsNathan McGuinnessSpecial Effects - visual effectsPaul HernandezWriterAnn Marie SanderlinExec. ProducerMike MitchellDirectorBob SchooleyWriterChristina SmithMake UpAllison JonesCastingRobert GouldSet DecoratorMichael WilkinsonCostumesAsylumAnimationShelly JohnsonCinematographerMatthew W. MungleMake Up - effectsMichael GiacchinoMusical ComposerBruce Robert HillProduction Designer1.5A didactic Disney kiddie comedy that filters run-of-the-mill high school through comic-book superhero conventions, this limp, forgettable fluff is as preachy and heavy-handed as theGoofus and Gallantcartoons that a generation of children far less media-savvy than today's recognized as ham-fisted lessons in good behavior masquerading as funny strips. Dorky Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) is entering his freshman year at Sky High, the top-secret vocational academy for the power-blessed that produced his parents, granite-jawed, second-generation superhero Commander Stronghold (Kurt Russell) and high-flying Josie Jetstream (Kelly Preston). They're tickled beyond belief that Will is going to their alma mater. What they don't know — because Will has been too embarrassed to tell them — is that he doesn't have any superpowers, a deficiency that becomes all too apparent during the school's humiliating Power Placement tests. These funnel incoming students into two tracks: either "Hero," or the dreaded "Hero Support," which grooms unfortunates with not-so-super talents — say, a knack for glowing feebly in the dark or shape shifting, but only into a guinea pig — for the second-class life of a sidekick. Will lands in the Support group with his best friend Layla (Danielle Panabaker) — who has powers but opted out of the "fascistic" selection process — and finds a mortal enemy in Warren Peace (Steven Strait), who can shoot fireballs from his fingertips and hates all Strongholds because the Commander busted his dad. After doing time in high-school purgatory, tormented by bullies, ignored by the cool kids and embarrassed by his own feebleness, Will gets his powers, acts like a jock — sorry,jerk— and learns his lesson in time to do right by everyone. Movies like THE INCREDIBLES (2004), whose story, characters and themes play in different but equally resonant ways for small children, teenagers and adults, are harder to make than is generally supposed, and comic-book movies that appeal to nonfans are harder still. SKY HIGH's juvenile tone and formulaic story are geared to preteens, and the sop of baby boomer-friendly casting likeWonder WomanLynda Carter as Principal Powers or former Disney child star Russell as a supersquare dad isn't enough to keep adults from squirming with boredom. But how many 10-year-olds are crazy for the squeaky-clean charms of old-fashioned superheroes, insipid covers of '80s hits or indulgent high-school nostalgia? As to the idea that it's a John Hughes film "with capes" (as producer Andrew Gunn declared), John Hughes' teen comedies were neither stupid nor condescending. This film is both.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa82008PGU.S.88ColorAdventureAnimatedChildren'sComedyDreamWorks AnimationParamount Pictures4.514Jada Pinkett SmithGloria the HippoChris RockMarty the Zebrawill.i.amMoto MotoElisa Pensler GabrielliNanaChris MillerKowalskiBen StillerAlex the LionAndy RichterMort the LemurDavid SchwimmerMelman the GiraffeAlec BaldwinMakungaTom McGrathSkipperSherri ShepherdAlex's MomSacha Baron CohenKing Julien XIIICedric the EntertainerMaurice the Aye-ayeChristopher KnightsPrivateBernie MacZubaConrad VernonMasonH. Lee PetersonEditorEric DarnellWriterEtan CohenWriterwill.i.amMusic/Lyrics ComposerMark SwiftProducerLeslee FeldmanCastingTom McGrathWriterShannon JeffriesArt DirectorHans ZimmerMusic/Lyrics ComposerMireille SoiraProducerKendal Cronkhite-ShaindlinProduction Designer2Reuniting the all-star comedy lineup from the first film,Madagscar: Escape 2 Africapicks up right where that one left off, with best friends Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) plotting their return to the Central Park Zoo after being stranded in the titular island nation. After a disastrous plane ride -- courtesy of some militarily inclined penguins -- they instead end up at an African wildlife reserve, where Alex has an unexpected reunion with the parents he was separated from as a cub. This storyline, in which Alex attempts to win the acceptance of his alpha-lion Dad, is so tired that not even a go-for-broke Alec Baldwin, as the scheming bad guy, can salvage it.Baldwin isn't the only one giving it his all, because Sacha Baron Cohen, who provided the funniest moments in the first film as King Julien the Lemur, returns with a mad gusto that makes the film worthwhile whenever his character is onscreen. Like Robin Williams inAladdin, Cohen flowers here because of the visual freedoms that animation allows. The filmmakers make sure Julien's physical look matches the voice no matter how demented it gets, and they succeed so grandly that you feel an anticipatory buzz during all his scenes, because truly anything could happen. If bothMadagascarmovies were just about Julien and the penguin commando squad, they would be comic gems.Unfortunately, for all the stuff that works well inMadagascar 2, the movie suffers from a serious case of unoriginality, largely because DreamWorks slavishly adheres to the recipe they believe madeShreka box-office giant: genuine wit + fart jokes + gooey sentiment + overly familiar pop tunes = cross-generational appeal. This time around, the incessant onslaught of music and gags never gels with the overly familiar storylines -- resulting in a film that barely satisfies an entire family. TheMadagascarmovies are like family meal deals from a chain restaurant that only serves pizzas loaded with everything -- it might seem like a good idea, but nobody gets what they really want.leave a comment--Perry Seibert The Last Samurai582003RU.S.135ColorActionAdventureWarner Bros.Warner Bros.421Shimpei HorinouchiSamuraiShichinosuke NakamuraEmperor MeijiChad LindbergWinchester Rep AssistantSosuke IkematsuHigenRyoichi NoguchiSamuraiTakeshi MayaSamuraiRyoichiro YonekuraSamuraiShoji YoshiharaSword MasterJiro WadaSoldier in Street #3Sven ToorvaldOmura's SecretaryTakashi KoraSamuraiYusuke MyochinSword Master's AssistantSeiji MoriSamuraiKenta DaiboSamuraiHisao TakedaSamuraiKoyukiTakaTakeru ShimizuSamuraiKosaburo Nomura IVKyogen Player #1Hiroaki AmanoSamuraiJohn KoyamaOmura's BodyguardTony GoldwynColonel BagleyTakashi NoguchiKyogen Player #2Shun SugataNakaoShinji SuzukiSamuraiShin KoyamadaNobutadaSeizo FukumotoSilent SamuraiTogo IgawaGeneral HasegawaMasashi OdateOmura's CompanionAoi MinatoMagojiroMasato HaradaOmuraWilliam AthertonWinchester RepNoguchi TakayukiKyogen Player #3Satoshi NikaidoN.C.O.Lee MurayamaSamuraiMitsuyuki OishiSoldier in Street #2Ray Godshall Sr.Convention Hall AttendeeKen WatanabeKatsumotoShintaro WadaYoung RecruitHiroshi WatanabeGuardMakoto HashibaSamuraiBilly ConnollyZebulon GantTimothy SpallSimon GrahamShane KosugiSamuraiYuki MatsuzakiSoldier in Street #1Scott WilsonAmbassador SwanbeckTom CruiseNathan AlgrenKoji FujiiSamuraiHiroyuki SanadaUjioYoko NarahashiAssoc. ProducerTed FieldExec. ProducerCharles MulvehillExec. ProducerAnna BehlmerSound - mixerJeffrey A. OkunSpecial EffectsVictoria ThomasCastingNgila DicksonCostumesSteven RosenblumEditorJohn LoganSourceJess GonchorArt DirectorRomulo Adriano Jr.Special EffectsLois BurwellMake UpJohn TollCinematographerPaul LombardiSpecial EffectsVincent WardExec. ProducerKenny MyersMake UpVictor du BoisEditorConor O'SullivanMake Up - effectsJeff WexlerSound - mixerScott KroopfProducerEdward ZwickProducerChris Burian-MohrArt DirectorTom EnglemanProducerPaula WagnerProducerLori A. LopesSet DecoratorHans ZimmerMusical ComposerGretchen RauSet DecoratorMarshall HerskovitzProducerMichael DovenAssoc. ProducerRichard SolomonExec. ProducerNick PowellStuntsLilly KilvertProduction DesignerKim SinclairArt DirectorJames AllenMake Up - effectsAndy NelsonSound - mixerTom CruiseProducerGraham J. LarsonAssoc. Producer3For all the epic visuals and phenomenal production design, Edward Zwick's 19th-century drama of a disillusioned American war hero who finds redemption in the way of the samurai is an honorable film hamstrung by Hollywood conventions. 1876: Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) is a drunken ruin of the war hero he once was, haunted by his part in the slaughter of innocent Native Americans and reduced to shilling for the Winchester rifle company. An old army buddy, Zebulon Gant (Billy Connolly), approaches him about a better gig. The Japanese government is hiring American military experts to train the imperial army in the ways of modern warfare, and paying handsomely. Despite the fact that taking the job means working with craven Colonel Bagley (Tony Goldwyn), whom he despises, Algren accepts. Once in Japan, Algren realizes the dimensions of the game in which he's become a pawn. Nominally governed by a teenaged emperor (Shichinosuke Nakamura), Japan is divided between imperial advisors who favor all things new and Western — often to their own benefit — and those who, like samurai Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), counsel respect for feudal traditions. Algren is forced to face Katsumoto's warriors before his troops are ready and is taken prisoner; Katsumoto spares Algren's life so he can learn about his opponents, but it's Algren who gets the real education. Forced to spend the winter in Katsumoto's remote mountain village, Algren gradually learns to respect the samurai code, with its emphasis on loyalty, honor, respect for enemies, acceptance of destiny and vivid appreciation of everyday life. He stops drinking, learns Japanese and trains in the samurai arts, earning Katsumoto's friendship and his warriors' grudging respect. But as the spring draws near, Algren is forced to make hard choices about his place in the world. If ever a film cried out for Akira Kurosawa's pragmatic bleakness, it's this high-minded yet simplistic story of courage and spiritual redemption. Unwilling to offend, Zwick whitewashes a culture in which brutality and contemplative beauty were inextricably intertwined and, afraid to alienate audiences, he shies away from the story's logical downbeat conclusion, replacing it with an "ambiguous" ending that recalls, of all things, THE ROAD WARRIOR (1981). Cruise gives a thoroughly respectable performance, but he can't make a symbol of the failures of Western capitalist thinking into a truly convincing character. The charismatic Watanabe fares better, but the film never broaches the limitations of samurai thinking, with its inflexible emphasis on obedience and fealty to class-bound codes of behavior.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Stars In My Crown341950GU.S.89Black & WhiteDramaMGMMGM51Connie GilchristSarah IsbellMarshall ThompsonNarratorDean StockwellJohn KenyonAlan HaleJed IsbellJack LambertPerry LokeyAmanda BlakeFaith Radmore SamuelsCharles KemperProf. Sam Houston JonesEllen DrewHarriet GrayLewis StoneDr. D.K. Harris Sr.Juano HernandezUncle Famous PrillJoel McCreaJosiah Doziah GrayArthur HunnicuttChloroform WigginsJames MitchellDr. D.K. Harris Jr.Adolph DeutschMusical Composer - vocal arrangements, Robert TuckerJacques TourneurDirectorCedric GibbonsArt DirectorJoe David BrownSourceCharles SchoenbaumCinematographerMargaret FittsWriterWilliam H. WrightProducerGene RuggieroArt Director2.5A mediocre but well-crafted film which focuses on the events that occur in a small Southern community in one year's time. McCrea is the preacher who, clenching a Bible in one hand and a pistol in the other, moves into the town and helps the locals solve their problems, which include adisastrous typhoid epidemic, KKK terrorism, and resistance to a new doctor. Western fans will recognize the new doctor's love interest as a young, young Amanda Blake, who would later go on to fame and fortune as Miss Kitty on TV's "Gunsmoke."leave a comment Body Of Lies202008RU.S.129ColorSpyWarner Bros.Warner Bros.428Mehdi NebbouNizarOscar IsaacBassamAli SulimanOmar SadikiVince ColosimoSkipMark StrongHaniRussell CroweEd HoffmanGolshifteh FarahaniAishaSimon McBurneyGarlandAlon AboutboulAl-SaleemMichael GastonHolidayLeonardo DiCaprioRoger FerrisJanty YatesCostumesMichael CostiganExec. ProducerAlexander WittCinematographerDonald De LineProducerJina JayCastingWilliam MonahanWriterArthur MaxProduction DesignerDavid IgnatiusSourcePietro ScaliaEditorAvy KaufmanCastingRidley ScottDirectorCharles J.D. SchlisselExec. ProducerMarc StreitenfeldMusical Composer3Ridley Scott'sBody of Liesfollows the increasingly complex machinations of CIA agent Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), who begins the film as a field agent in the Middle East attempting to secure information that would stop upcoming terrorist attacks. Ferris maintains regular phone contact with his boss Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), a CIA bigwig -- forever on his cell phone -- dispensing directives while attending to domestic duties like kiddie soccer games. After a promotion, Ferris becomes the Agency's number one man in Jordan, quickly earning the trust of Jordanian intelligence official Hani (Mark Strong in a scene-stealing performance) -- a relationship that Hoffman compromises in an attempt to catch one of the world's most feared terrorists.All of these characters come to life thanks to William Monahan's airtight adaptation of David Ignatius' novel, and each of the talented actors. In addition to serving up some deliciously funny one-liners, Monahan employs a simple step-by-step construction in order to tell this remarkably complicated espionage tale -- a story chock-full of divided loyalties and paranoia. The audience always knows exactly as much as Ferris does, a fact that keeps his motivations -- and therefore the entire plot -- clear. DiCaprio is, in no uncertain terms, a movie star; and this is a star turn. He's certainly credible as an action hero, but he also communicates intelligence, fear, and an inherent morality in the scenes between the big explosions. This accomplishment makes the chases and gunfights all the more entertaining because we actually care about the person whose life is constantly at risk. Crowe complements DiCaprio as the Aussie's strong physical presence plays off DiCaprio's inherent softness (no matter how much time he spends in the weight room, Leo will always be a babyface).Ridley Scott's movies have always betrayed his formative years in advertising; his films offer loads of surface pleasure, but they rarely have strong ideas. The crisply photographed and editedBody of Liesreveals some ambition, for while it certainly works as pure entertainment, this tale of a good man trying to extract himself from an impossible situation offers some commentary on America's feelings about being in Iraq. Fortunately, Scott never hammers this point home, and the result isn't a lecture about American foreign policy, but a smartly updated old-fashioned espionage thriller.leave a comment--Perry Seibert The Long Kiss Goodnight551996RU.S.103ColorActionThrillerNew LineNew Line4.516Brian CoxNathanTom AmandesHalFrank MooreSurveillance ManLarry KingHimselfMichael K. JonesBum Cop #2G.D. SpradlinPresidentMarc CohenTeenage Burnout #1Craig BierkoTimothyJoseph McKennaOne-Eyed JackDavid MorseLuke/DaedalusJudah KatzHarry--Perkins' AideAlan NorthEarlChad DonellaTeenage Burnout #2Yvonne ZimaCaitlinJohn SteadDeer Lick SentryEdwin HodgeTodd HenesseyRex LinnMan on BedKristen BoneGirl #1Samuel L. JacksonMitch HenesseyCraig EldridgeCrime Scene ReporterSharon WashingtonFran HenesseyChuck TamburroHelicopter PilotGraham McPhersonCIA DirectorSusan HenleyChurch MotherKen RyanNews AnchorDebra KirshenbaumOperatorGladys O'ConnorAlicePatrick MalahidePerkinsMelina KanakaredesTrinBill MacDonaldHostage AgentDan Warry-SmithRaymondShawn DoyleDonlevy Bum CopReginald DoresaBar PatronGeena DavisSamantha Caine/Charly BaltimoreRobert ThomasAlley AgentJennifer PisanaGirl #2Douglas GantonSound - mixerMichael KaplanCostumesHoward CummingsProduction DesignerJeffrey A. OkunSpecial EffectsRenny HarlinProducerSteve M. DavidsonStuntsAlan SilvestriMusical ComposerRonnie YeskelCastingMichael TaylorSet DecoratorChristine HartMake UpSteve ArnoldArt DirectorMary VernieuCastingCarla FryCo-ProducerSpecial Effects UnlimitedSpecial EffectsGuillermo NavarroCinematographerDennis DavenportArt DirectorMichael De LucaExec. ProducerStephanie AustinProducerWilliam GoldenbergEditorRichard SapersteinExec. ProducerShane BlackProducerEstee ChandlerSpecial EffectsSteve TischExec. ProducerAllen L. HallSpecial Effects2.5A moving comic book filled with guns, explosions and ridiculous conspiracies, punctuated by gratuitous shower sequences and scenes in which the heroine muses, "Sometimes I stand naked in front of the mirror and wonder how old I am," while doing just that. Missprissy-pants schoolteacher Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) has had amnesia for eight years, until a car accident precipitates bloody dreams of a bleached blonde harpy named Charly. Charly has a creepy habit of hanging around in mirrors and says she's coming back. Next thing you know, Samantha'splaying with knives, cussing like a sailor and scaring the bejesus out of her nearest and dearest. Enter the cheap detective (Samuel L. Jackson) she once hired to look into her identity, who's found a clue that leads them to Charly Baltimore, the stone killer Samantha once was. Directed by RennyHarlin and starring his wife, who's a bit old to be kitting herself out in LA FEMME NIKITA drag, this is the kind of movie in which a dozen bad guys with an automatic weapon in each hand couldn't hit a lake if they were standing at the bottom of it, to steal the screenplay's best wiseacreremark.leave a comment The Hustler501961NRU.S.134Black & WhiteSportsFoxFox4.56Donald CrabtreePool Room HoodGloria CurtisGirl with Fur CoatPaul Newman"Fast" Eddie FelsonVincent GardeniaBartenderAlexander RoseScorekeeperJackie GleasonMinnesota FatsPiper LaurieSarah PackardMichael ConstantineBig JohnGordon B. ClarkeCashierCarl YorkYoung HustlerMyron McCormickCharlie BumsMurray HamiltonFindlayBrendan FayPool Room HoodStefan GieraschPreacherJake LaMottaBartenderCharles DierkopPool Room HoodGeorge C. ScottBert GordonCarolyn CoatesWaitressWalter TevisSourceRuth MorleyCostumesDede AllenEditorEugene SchuftanCinematographer - CinemaScopeKenyon HopkinsMusical ComposerGene CallahanSet DecoratorWillie MosconiTechnical AdvisorBob JirasMake UpSidney CarrollWriterRobert RossenProducerAlbert BrennerArt DirectorHarry HornerArt Director4.5This dark stunner, based on Walter Tevis's novel, boasts Paul Newman in the role that made him an overnight superstar. The treatment feels like a cross between Hemingway and Odets and there are some affectations with dialogue. But Rossen knows how to frame his story and give his actorsroom to breathe, eliciting terrific performances from everyone."Fast" Eddie Felson is a pool shark who hustles his way across the country to Ames Billiard Parlor in New York, where he challenges the unbeatable Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason). Penniless and alone, Eddie falls in love with Sarah Packard (Piper Laurie), an alcoholic cripple; then, after a returnto small-time hustling that leads to two thug-administered broken thumbs, Eddie teams up with gambler Bert Gordon (George C. Scott), who becomes his backer but also personifies a vision of evil.With the help of Gene Shufton's Oscar-winning black-and-white cinematography, producer-writer-director Robert Rossen offers a grim world where the only bright spot is the top of the pool table, yet his characters maintain a shabby nobility and grace. Gleason is brilliantly detached, witty, andcharming as Fats; sexy, waifish Laurie offers some of the best work of her career; Scott is evil incarnate; and Newman is simply unforgettable in his Oscar-nominated role (he would have to play Fast Eddie again 25 years later in the excellent sequel, THE COLOR OF MONEY, to actually win his firstAcademy Award). The great pool player Willie Mosconi coached Gleason and Newman in their shots. Not to be missed.leave a comment Michael Clayton484.5181Forever Love571998NRU.S.94ColorDocudramaRomanceBWEBWE517Ryan BrowningParamedicEvan TaylorER DoctorAntonia JonesPhysical TherapistFrederick TurnerMaitre D'Andy BuckleyJerryReba McEntireLizzie BrooksFrances BayMartha CraddockBess ArmstrongGailTim MathesonAlex BrooksGarrison HershbergerChuckHeather StephensEmmaRichard BiggsDr. BerrisScott FoleyDavidKaitlin OrrLittle EmmaKirsten Holly SmithDonnaGarett BeckWaitressBarbara PalmerCostumesJoyce Heft BrotmanWriterWilliam ShippeyProducerJack NasserExec. ProducerBill PaceExec. ProducerReba McEntireExec. ProducerJames ShanahanProduction DesignerDavid Barr YaffeSound - mixerMarla A. WhiteAssoc. ProducerJuliet GreenAssoc. ProducerSusan GlicksmanCastingJune BrickmanMake UpNarvel BlackstockExec. ProducerMichael TaveraMusical ComposerJoseph NasserExec. ProducerMark RosenbaumEditorRonnie D. ClemmerExec. ProducerRob DraperCinematographerShelley BrowningExec. ProducerGlenn BerkovitzSound - mixerAlan SiegelAssoc. ProducerMichael SwitzerDirectorRichard P. KughnExec. ProducerSharon CiceroExec. Producer2Rushed to the hospital following a stroke, the once incredibly vital Lizzie Brooks (Reba McEntire) lapses into a coma. When she awakes twenty years later, unlike Sleeping Beauty, it's to recriminations and a painful readjustment to married life and motherhood. Helplessly observing her now-grown daughter Emma (Heather Stephens) headed into a bad marriage, Lizzie also resents how close Emma's become to Lizzie's old best friend Gail (Bess Armstrong). As if she didn't already feel extraneous, Lizzie learns that her once loving spouse Alex (Tim Matheson) and Gail have had a long-standing affair. Angry at being babied and devastated by her spouse's infidelity, Lizzie runs away to revisit her childhood haunts, unsure whether she can forgive Alex and Gail, or whether there's a place for her in her daughter's life. Forever scrambling back and forth in time, this freesia-scented romance is the artistic equivalent of a soothing aromatherapy candle. In typical network TV fashion, the script, loosely based on a true story, soft pedals dramatic conflicts that should've been handled with candor, then offers soapy solutions. What's more, it would've taken a flamboyant filmmaker like Pedro Almodovar to do justice to the bizarre subject matter, as he did with LIVE FLESH. As if hemmed in by the script's and director's restraint, the actors acquit themselves with understatement. Everyone except C&W superstar Reba McEntire, that is, who acts up a spring rain — if not an entire storm! Packaged on video with a music video at the end, this TV movie is actually a sales pitch for McEntire's versatility. She does everything well, but not especially memorably.leave a comment--Robert Pardi The Great Mcginty671940NRU.S.81Black & WhiteComedyPoliticalParamountParamountRichard CarleDr. JarvisRobert WarwickOpposition SpeakerWilliam DemarestThe PoliticianHarry HaydenWatcherCharles MooreMcGinty's ValetMary ThomasCatherine's Girl, Age 6Pat WestPappiaByron FoulgerSecretaryDrew RoddyCatherine's Boy, Age 6Victor PotelCookAkim TamiroffThe BossThurston HallMr. MoxwellArthur HoytMayor TillinghastEsther HowardMadame La JollaBrian DonlevyDan McGintyJimmy ConlinThe LookoutAllyn JoslynGeorgeSteffi DunaThe GirlMuriel AngelusCatherine McGintyLouis Jean HeydtThompsonJean PhillpsManicuristLee ShumwayCopSheila SheldonCatherine's Girl, Age 11Frank MoranThe Boss' ChauffeurDonnie KerrCatherine's Boy, Age 4Harry RosenthalLouis, the BodyguardDewey RobinsonBenny FeigmanLibby TaylorBessieEmory ParnellPolicemanFrederick HollanderMusical ComposerEdith HeadCostumesPaul JonesProducerEarl HedrickArt DirectorPreston SturgesWriterHans DreierArt DirectorWilliam MellorCinematographerWally WestmoreMake UpHugh BennettEditorA.E. FreudemanSet Decorator4A hilarious spoof of American politics, this film marked the directorial debut of the mercurial and brilliant Preston Sturges, one of the best writer-directors of the 1940s. While this film never reaches the giddy heights of some of his subsequent films, THE GREAT MCGINTY was a favorableharbinger of the therapeutic madness to come.The film opens in a smoky banana-republic bar largely patronized, it seems, by Americans on the lam. One such denizen, Thompson (Heydt), is a one-time chief cashier of a major bank turned embezzler. Now dejected from hiding out in this steamy exile, he attempts suicide in the men's room but he'sstopped by the bartender, Dan McGinty (Donlevy). McGinty has an even more ignominious tale to tell: he used to be governor of a state! His strange story unravels in flashback.McGinty begins as a seedy hobo looking for a quick buck. During an election in a major city, he's hired by a slick politician (Demarest) to vote repeatedly using the names of dead citizens. He proves to be an overzealous participant in the democratic process, voting dozens of times at an expected$2 per vote but the politico is unable to come across with the dough. McGinty remains persistent. He's taken to the party hall where The Boss (Tamiroff) is so taken with the bum's moxie that he appoints him a collector of funds in his protection racket. McGinty proves himself a born collector andhe continues moving up the ladder of crime until he is finally ready for the big time--politics.Donlevy, in an early starring role, gives a marvelous performance as a dim-witted bum who's transformed into a polished politician. The flamboyant Tamiroff's rendering of the boss is a comic delight. Demarest is colorful and full of street savvy and wit, once remarking: "If you didn't have graft,you'd have a lower class of people in politics!" This terrific satire was the brainchild of screenwriter Sturges, who, by the time he penned this script, was the highest-paid writer in Hollywood, having written films such as EASY LIVING and DIAMOND JIM.leave a comment Black Snake Moan462007RU.S.116ColorDramaParamount VantageParamount Vantage417John CothranReverend R.L.Neimus K. WilliamsLincolnClaude PhillipsBojoBenjamin RednourGuardsmanKenny BrownHimselfCody BlockBryanJeff PopeBatsonJared HopkinsAuto WorkerMichael Raymond-JamesGillDavid BannerTehronneJohn StillHermanKim JustisWaitressKim RichardsSandyJustin TimberlakeRonnieS. Epatha MerkersonAngelaT.C. SharpeArchieSamuel L. JacksonLazarus WoodsAdriane LenoxRose WoodsJolynne PalmerElla MaeAmy LavereJesseLeonard L. ThomasDeke WoodsSkip PittsCharlieRuby WilsonMayellaTosh NewmanConnerChristina RicciRaeJohn PickleArtyDavid ChapmanRedWillie HallPinetopCedric BurnsideHimselfRaymond PearlHershelClare GrantKellJohn MalloyGeneCarnell PepperMelvinLiba DanielsArt DirectorKiante ElamStuntsCraig BrewerWriterBilly FoxEditorPaul SimmonsCostumesScott BomarMusical ComposerAndy BlackSound - mixerSteve DavisonStuntsKimberly R. HardinCastingRon SchmidtExec. ProducerJohn SingletonProducerAmelia VincentCinematographerScott RadarSpecial EffectsMeg EveristSet DecoratorStephanie AllainProducerDonna M. PremickMake UpKeith Brian BurnsProduction Designer3From its down-and-dirty title to a lurid ad campaign that screams "Everything's hotter down south!" over images of a sweaty Samuel L. Jackson looming over a half-naked — and chained — Christina Ricci, everything about Craig Brewer's follow-up to HUSTLE & FLOW is designed to make you think you're in for the sleaziest, Southern-fried potboiler since SHANTY TRAMP. But while the film kicks off with a steamy shot of Ricci strutting down a country road in cowboy boots and hot pants short enough to shame Daisy Duke herself, Brewer’s torrid tale turns out to be a surprisingly sweet — if not entirely innocent — fable about emotional redemption and self-worth.Just hours after her sweetheart Ronnie (Justin Timberlake) leaves town to fulfill his commitment to the National Guard, Rae (Ricci), a "bad" girl with a terrible cough and a worse reputation, is out on the dusty backroads of her small Tennessee town looking for a little fun. After a sweaty night of pills, booze and random sex, Rae is beaten up and clad in nothing but a barely there crop-top and a pair of white panties, and then dumped in a ditch not far from the small farm owned by Lazarus Woods (Jackson). Lazarus is an aging musician who's just gotten another lesson in the meaning of the blues: His bored younger wife (Adriane Lenox) has just left him for his own younger brother (Leonard L. Thomas). Finding Rae sprawled unconscious on the side of the road, Lazarus scoops her up and takes her inside, but having already been "toe to toe with the law… for no more than being black and nearby," he decides against calling the police, even though Rae clearly needs a doctor for both her bruises and her high fever. Instead, Lazarus cleans her up as best he can and gets some help from Angela (S. Epatha Merkerson), a pharmacist who slips him a bottle of prescription medicine free of charge. Still delirious with fever, Rae mumbles the name "Tehronne" (David Banner), a dealer and a small-time pimp who assures Lazarus that he never laid a hurtful finger on Rae. Tehronne does, however, warn Lazarus that if he’s thinking of shacking up with Rae, he should know that she's subject to spells of nymphomania that send her out into the night like a cat in heat. Lazarus is thinking nothing of the sort, but to keep her from wandering off in a fever delirium, he ties her to his radiator with a heavy gauge chain. When she finally comes to and demands to be freed, Lazarus realizes that while her body might be healthy, her soul is still sick, and decides to keep her captive until he can “cure” Rae of her wicked, wicked ways.By neatly overturning every sleazy element in the exploitation formula to expose a very human reality underneath (the title turns out to be the name of a blues standard by Blind Lemon Jefferson that has nothing to do with what you might think, and even Rae’s nympho attacks are given an empathetic spin), Brewer has made what can only be called a revisionist drive-in movie, and his determination to subvert expectations at every turn lends the film a somewhat deliberate feel. Still, it's beautifully shot — the sweat-drenched jukejoint scenes are particularly evocative — and features a terrific performance by Ricci, one that deserves to be seen by a wider audience than the one certain to be reeled in by those torrid ads.leave a comment--Ken Fox High School Musical 3: Senior Year114141The Day The Earth Stood Still842008PG-13U.S.110ColorScience Fiction20th Century Fox3 Arts EntertainmentDune Entertainment20th Century Fox427Keanu ReevesKlaatuKurt Max RunteCivil EngineerJohn CleeseProfessor BarnhardtMousa KraishYusefLloyd AdamsAgent DriverJennifer ConnellyHelen BensonJ.C. MacKenzieGrossmanJuan RiedingerWilliam KwanRukiya BernardStudentTanya ChampouxIsabelAlisen DownLaptop WomanJon HammDr. Michael GranierSam GilroyTomKyle ChandlerJohn DriscollSunita PrasadRouhaniJames HongMr. WuJaden SmithJacob BensonKathy BatesRegina JacksonJohn RothmanDr. MyronRobert KnepperColonelDaniel BaconWinslowHeike BrandstatterCastingJeffrey OkunSpecial Effects - Visual Effects SupervisorCoreen MayrsCastingDavid TattersallCinematographerScott DerricksonDirectorTish MonaghanCostumesTyler BatesMusical ComposerWayne WahrmanEditorHarry BatesSourceErwin StoffProducerPaul Harris BoardmanProducerGregory GoodmanProducerEdmund H. NorthSourceMindy MarinCastingDavid BrisbinProduction Designer2The Day the Earth Stood Stillis pretty good as science fiction thrillers go, but sadly, there isn't much more to say about it. A remake of the 1951 classic, this film tries to increase the freaky factor with modern-day special effects and update the original movie's message about nuclear war with a vague moral about humankind's general mismanagement of the planet. This actually sounds like a fairly solid premise, but it doesn't always work -- even if you don't think about the massive shoes it's trying to fill.The story begins with Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly), a young widow who was left to care for her eight-year-old stepson, Jacob, when her husband died the previous year. She spends her days in a university lab working as a research scientist in astrobiology, so naturally when a big alien orb shows up in Manhattan, she's called in by the U.S. government to offer expertise on its inhabitant -- an alien representative named Klaatu who, in order to survive Earth's atmosphere, must manifest himself in the form of Keanu Reeves. Of course, the government, led by Secretary of State Regina Jackson (Kathy Bates), reacts hostilely to Klaatu's arrival, thus failing the test he was sent here to administer: to decide whether humans can continue to be trusted with planet Earth.With Dr. Benson's help, Klaatu is able to get the upper hand with his Secret Service captors and use his alien powers of electricity to escape. He takes off with Benson and young Jacob, who's very surly and unresolved over his dad's death. They learn what Klaatu was sent to Earth for, but of course, they also demonstrate the love-in-the-face-of-turmoil that might convince him to spare humanity -- despite its epic squandering of a planet that can support complex life (a rarity in the universe at large). All three of the main actors turn in solid performances, even Jaden Smith (the spawn of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith), who plays Jacob. And in a very cool and unexpected choice by the filmmakers, the role is devoid of any and all quippy racial stereotyping; the fact that Helen's stepson is black is never even mentioned in the script. It also has to be said that Keanu Reeves was kind of born for this role. It sounds a little pejorative to say that his biggest talent is playing someone kind of non-human, and a little dead-behind-the-eyes, but not everybody can do it, and he does it better than everybody.Unfortunately, that whole first act -- when there are mysterious vessels landing and giant expressionless robots emerging and people completely freaking out -- should feel pretty scary and ominous, but it really doesn't. It's not boring either, but ifCloverfieldcan conjure up an eerie sense of foreboding, apocalyptic danger, you'd think that this movie could, too. Instead, it just feels vaguely weird. Things pick up quite a bit when the action starts, and events build toward the awesomely strange method by which the aliens were planning on wiping humanity and its structures off the Earth. But even then, it can sometimes feel a little chintzy, and the idea that we're supposed to be imbibing an important message from the story feels watered down -- because if the filmmakers were hoping to draw a parallel between 1951's threat of nuclear war and 2008's threat of global warming, they don't take a very direct route in doing so. Like everything else in the movie, this idea still comes across, just not as sharply as we'd like it to.leave a comment--Cammila Albertson Tomorrow Never Dies791997PG-13U.S.119ColorActionSpyThrillerMGM/UAMGM/UA4.531Mark SpaldingStealth Boat CaptainBrendan CoyleLeading Seaman--HMS BedfordJulian Rhind-TuttYeoman--HMS DevonshireJonathan PryceElliot CarverRicky JayHenry GuptaPhilip KwokGeneral ChangAl MatthewsMaster Sergeant 3Cecilie ThomsenProfessor Inga BergstromDesmond LlewelynQLiza RossMary GolsonEoin McCarthyYeoman--HMS BedfordJulian FellowesMinister of DefenceJoe Don BakerJack WadeHugh BonnevilleAir Warfare Officer--HMS BedfordVincent WangMig PilotSamantha BondMiss MoneypennyDaphne DeckersPR LadyVincent SchiavelliDr. KaufmanTeri HatcherParis CarverAndrew HawkinsLieutenant Commander Peter Hume--HMS DevonshireLaura BrattanStaff Officer 2Michael ByrneAdmiral Kelly--HMS BedfordPierce BrosnanJames Bond--Agent 007Pip TorrensCaptain--HMS BedfordBruce AlexanderCaptain--HMS ChesterAnthony GreenFiring Officer--HMS ChesterNina YoungTamara SteelGotz OttoStamperGerard ButlerLeading Seaman--HMS DevonshireDominic ShaunLieutenant Commander--HMS DevonshireNadia CameronBeth DavidsonRolf SaxonPhilip JonesTerence RigbyGeneral BukharinChristopher BowenCommander Richard Day--HMS DevonshireMichelle YeohWai LinDavid AshtonFirst Sea LordAdam BarkerSonar--HMS DevonshireHugo NapierJeff HobbsJudi DenchMWilliam Scott-MassonStaff Officer 1Geoffrey PalmerAdmiral RoebuckJason WatkinsPrincipal Warfare Officer--HMS BedfordColin SalmonRobinson--Chief of StaffColin StintonDr. Dave GreenwaltTony ReadingArt DirectorRobert ElswitCinematographerChris MunroSound - mixerGiles MastersArt DirectorLindy HemmingCostumesJonathan LeeArt DirectorChris CorbouldSpecial EffectsStephen ScottArt DirectorDickey BeerStuntsBill NeilSpecial EffectsKen CourtArt DirectorAllan CameronProduction DesignerNorma WebbMake UpBruce FeirsteinWriterMichel ArcandEditorMichael G. WilsonProducerMara BryanSpecial EffectsDebbie McWilliamsCastingSharon LarkSpecial EffectsDominique FortinEditorPeter YoungSet DecoratorDavid ArnoldMusical ComposerRoger SpottiswoodeDirectorBarbara BroccoliProducerVic ArmstrongStunts2.5Kinetic, knowing, crammed with high-tech gadgetry and sophisticated in the most superficial sense of the term: What else could you ask of a James Bond picture? Pierce Brosnan's sophomore effort duplicates the virtues of GOLDENEYE: Hong Kong action legend Michelle Yoeh is a phenomenal addition to the pantheon of Bond girls (Teri Hatcher isn't, but she's dealt with expediently), Jonathan Pryce's villain -- press mogul Elliott Carver -- is shrewdly overwrought and, in a clean break from a disagreeable tradition, the movie actually ends when it's over, rather than dragging viewers through a series of bogus -- sorry,bonus-- climaxes that leave them feeling as though they've been hauled through an explosive wringer. Brosnan's Bond delivers a few of the juvenile one-liners for which the series is famous, but the real humor comes from seeing Bond treated with such withering disdain by his cohorts: Q (Desmond Llewelyn), M (Judi Dench) and Miss Monneypenny (Samantha Bond) treat him as though he were a bright but undisciplined adolescent who needs a firm talking-to. Even Bond's new car talks back to him. The plot involves Carver's attempts to engineer a world crisis that will benefit his global media empire, including a fledgling satellite news network. To that end he and his nefarious cohorts, led by psycho Aryan ubermensch Stamper (Gotz Otto) sink a British naval ship and blame it on the Chinese. Pryce has a fine old time playing media megalomaniac Carver as an ungodly hybrid of Rupert Murdoch and William Randolph Hearst by way of Charles Foster Kane: The highlight of his upstart news network's launch is the reading of Carver's declaration of principles. Ultimately, though, the film is forgettable even by the standards of prefabricated pop ephemera.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Goldeneye951995PG-13U.S.130ColorActionSpyThrillerMGM/UAMGM/UA4.529Gottfried JohnGeneral OurumovIzabella ScorupcoNatalya SimonovaTcheky KaryoDmitiri MishkinSean BeanAlec TrevelyanMichael KitchenBill TannerBilly J. MitchellAdmiral Chuck FarrelAlan CummingBoris GrishenkoDesmond LlewelynQJoe Don BakerJack WadeSamantha BondMoneypennyVladimir MilanovichCroupierMichelle ArthurAnnaPierce BrosnanJames BondRobbie ColtraneValentin ZukovskyTrevor ByfieldTrain DriverRavil IsyanovMIG PilotFamke JanssenXenia OnatoppSerena GordonCarolineConstantine GregoryComputer Store ManagerMinnie DriverIrinaSimon KunzSevernaya Duty OfficerJudi DenchMPeter MajerValentin's BodyguardPavel DouglasFrench Warship CaptainCmdt. Olivier LajousFrench Warship OfficerMartin CampbellDirectorDavid JohnSound - recordistLindy HemmingCostumesEric SerraMusical ComposerChris CorbouldSpecial EffectsMichael FordSet DecoratorBruce FeirsteinWriterMichael FranceSourceMichael G. WilsonProducerMara BryanSpecial EffectsDebbie McWilliamsCastingLinda De VettaMake UpNeil LamontArt DirectorTerry RawlingsEditorIan FlemingSourceTom PevsnerExec. ProducerSimon CraneStuntsAnthony WayeAssoc. ProducerBarbara BroccoliProducerJeffrey CaineWriterPeter LamontProduction DesignerPhil MeheuxCinematographerDerek MeddingsSpecial Effects3Has the longest-running franchise in film history finally run its course, done in by changing politics, sexual mores and audience tastes? In a word, no. GOLDENEYE, starring Pierce Brosnan as Bond No. 5, should appeal equally to die-hard Bondfans and bonded DIE HARD fans.Lean, dark and graceful, Brosnan wraps his perfectly calculated accent around all the standard phrases without making us hear quotation marks. He's a worthy Bond, glib and convincingly athletic, and ought to last a good half-dozen films before his waist thickens and his solid good looks begin toslide. And although GOLDENEYE is the first Bond film that owes nothing to Ian Fleming but 007 himself, that's no particular drawback. The Bond movies, particularly the later ones, were less about plot than trappings: cool gear, perverted bad guys, gorgeous girls and exotic locations. The writersget the mix just about right, and first-time Bond director Martin Campbell moves things along fairly briskly.The plot is along the usual lines, involving a Russian satellite, code-named GoldenEye, that comes under the control of supervillains Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean) and General Ourumov (Gottfried John). GoldenEye has the power to destroy anything containing an electrical circuit, up to and includingan entire city, and the villains plan to decimate London while also making themselves super-rich. If there's a twist, it's that Alec is not the usual foreign criminal mastermind, but a former friend and colleague of Bond's. Bond, in fact, has been racked with guilt (!) for years, convinced hecaused Alec's death during an operation in the former Soviet Union.More importantly, let's talk about girls, beginning with the new M -- surely the first of Bond's bosses to call him a misogynist dinosaur. Dame Judi Dench plays M as a steely schoolmarm who coolly tells her underlings that if she wants sarcasm, she'll talk to her children, utterly unconcerned thatadmitting she's borne babies will undermine her authority. No one could mistake her for a den mother, unless the den were in Sparta.Representing the baddies is Famke Janssen as the ultravixenish Xenia Onatopp. Janssen is all wide, devouring mouth and rolling eyes: She looks like a European adult-comic-book diva, always on the verge of dissolving into bold black lines and twinkling white highlights. That she kills men byscissoring them between her thighs strikes at least some of them as a reasonable exchange. Last and, yes, least memorable is the Bond girl proper, Russian computer whiz Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco), just as lovely and pliant as Bond needs her to be.GOLDENEYE's opening credits sequence is simply stunning, a surreal pop fantasy of Soviet Realist statues and Janus-headed babes whose mouths are equally likely to hold cigars as smoking guns. Who could not love the sight of near-naked girls writhing atop Lenin's bronze head as greathammer-and-sickle sculptures drop through the air and shatter on impact?The James Bond series looked in trouble when Timothy Dalton -- the second-most unfortunate successor to definitive Bond Sean Connery -- failed to single-handedly galvanize THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS and LICENCE TO KILL. No matter that Roger Moore's lightweight characterization and a series ofincreasingly silly stunts had already begun to sabotage the franchise; Dalton took the rap, and the search for a new Bond was on. For the moment, at least, the producers have found the right man for the job.GOLDENEYE goes on a bit, but it was the Bond series that taught today's action directors to go for that extra few minutes of exotic locale, ante-upping gadgetry or spectacularly choreographedmano a manoaction. By the time Bond and Natalya are buzzing around Cuba in a private plane, some viewerswill be plotting their way out of the theater. Others, notably the toy-loving boys for whom 007 has always exerted the greatest pull, will doubtless wish it could all go on forever.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Slumdog Millionaire182008RU.S.116ColorDramaCelador FilmsFilm4Fox Searchlight; Warner Bros.4.524Freida PintoLatika (older)Tanvi Ganesh LonkarLatika (middle)Tanay ChhedaJamal (middle)Irfan KhanInspectorRubina AliLatika (youngest)Dev PatelJamal Malik (older)Azharuddin Mohammed IsmailSalim (youngest)Anil KapoorPremAshutosh Lobo GagiwalaSalim (middle)Ayush Mahesh KhedekarJamal (youngest)Madhur MittalSalim (older)Tessa RossExec. ProducerA.R. RahmanMusical ComposerAnthony Dod MantleCinematographerChris DickensEditorMark DigbyProduction DesignerPaul RitchieCo-ProducerVikas SwarupSourceGlenn FreemantleSoundMichelle DeySet DecoratorAbhishek RedkarArt DirectorSuttirat Anne LarlarbCostumesSimon BeaufoyWriterPaul SmithExec. ProducerResul PookuttySoundLoveleen TandanCastingDanny BoyleDirectorChristian ColsonProducer3.5Danny Boyle'sSlumdog Millionaireis what type of film? a) an inspirational underdog story, b) a harrowing look at the life of a Mumbai street child, c) an epic romance punctuated by tragedy and victory, or d) an affecting crime drama centered upon bitter sibling rivalry.Give up?Slumdog Millionaireis all of those things and more. It's the reason we go to the movies in the first place, and by the time it reaches its climax, you're likely to be yelling at the screen the same way that television viewers around the world did back whenWho Wants to Be a Millionaire?was at the peak of its popularity. Whether you go to the movies to be thrilled, terrified, elated, inspired, or simply entertained,Slumdog Millionairedoes not disappoint. At this point in his career, Boyle has worked in a variety of genres, and here they all come together to create the perfect cinematic storm, an irresistible burst of big-screen optimism that will have the critics swooning and the cynics smiling. Of course, there are times when the waters can get pretty rough for India's most beloved dark-horse game-show contestant, but what are the best moments in life without the worst ones to make them all the more meaningful?The first time we see Jamal, he's being tortured by the police. He's just come off the set ofWho Wants to Be a Millionaire?, and the authorities are convinced that he's just cheated his way to the million-dollar question. But Jamal is no cheat, and as he recalls the life experiences that taught him the answers to the questions he was asked on the popular game show, we come to learn why street smarts are as essential to surviving in the slums of Mumbai as ruthless business savvy is to rising through the criminal ranks. Jamal and his older brother, Salim, were just young boys when their single mother was killed by rioters right before their eyes, and after being orphaned they lived in a garbage dump just to survive. In those dark days, the only thing that kept Jamal going was his love for the beautiful Latika. She, too, was an orphan, and upon joining the two brothers, she was forever bound by fate to both of them. Later, when Jamal and Salim were driven apart by lust and greed, Jamal and Latika were forced to go their separate ways. Now, years later, Jamal is determined to get his lady back, and reasoning that the best way to find her is to become a contestant on the nation's most popular game show, the lovelorn "chai boy" lands an appearance onWho Wants to Be a Millionaire?. But Jamal never thought that he would even get close to winning the top prize, and when he does, the authorities want to know how a kid born in the ghetto could possibly know the answers to such difficult questions.Thus begins a truly remarkable tale of hope, love, and profound adversity. As the detective reviews a videotape of Jamal's appearance onWho Wants to Be a Millionaire?, the irrepressible "slumdog" tells the story of how he came to know the answer to each question in vivid detail. Each answer is a journey unto itself -- sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes humorous -- and the further we travel, the more we become invested in the characters. Through it all, we come to understand just what a decent person Jamal truly is, and why his romance with Latika seemed doomed from the moment they first met. This effect is owed largely to actor Dev Patel, who portrays the older Jamal with such terminal honesty that he gives us a constant place to project our optimism. We relate to him, and after experiencing his hardships, we want desperately to see him win the money and walk away with the girl. His innocence is infectious, and even as different actors take over the role throughout Jamal's journey to adulthood, that purity remains a compelling constant. It's a testament to the casting that we always know Jamal, Salim, and Latika the moment they appear onscreen, and in a movie as nonlinear asSlumdog Millionaire, it's essential that the viewer doesn't get distracted from the story by the struggle to pick out the main players. Fortunately, that never happens, leaving us free to lose ourselves in Simon Beaufoy's smartly structured screenplay, Anthony Dod Mantle's hyper-saturated, glowingly gritty photography, and Chris Dickens' crackerjack editing -- all of which are marvelously held together by veteran Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman's buoyant score, an invogorating fusion of Eastern and Western musical sensibilities. A great movie is something more than the sum total of all its parts, and here, the elements all come together to form a feature that speaks a universal form of optimism that isn't likely to get lost in translation, no matter where it screens, or who is watching.leave a comment--Jason Buchanan Raising Arizona871987PG-13U.S.94ColorComedyCircleFox52Dick AlexanderPolicemen in Arizona HouseOlivia HughesArizona QuintBenjamin SavageauArizona QuintKatie ThrasherGlen and Dot's KidMelanie MalinArizona QuintNicolas CageH.I. McDonnoughJohn O'DonnalHayseed in PickUpAdam SavageauArizona QuintDennis SullivanPolicemen in Arizona HouseFrances McDormandDotFrank OutlawSupermarket ManagerWarren KeithYounger FBI AgentWilliam ForsytheEvellePeter BenedekPrison CounsellorMichael StewartArizona QuintTrey WilsonNathan Arizona, Sr.Mary F. GlennPayroll CashierJeremy BabendureScamp with Squirt GunCraig McLaughlinArizona QuintMargaret H. McCormackUnpainted SecretaryEmily MalinArizona QuintMary SeibelParole Board MemberSam McMurrayGlenBill DobbinsAdoption AgentT.J. KuhnNathan Arizona, Jr.Jeremy ArendtArizona QuintNoell SandersGlen and Dot's KidZachary SandersGlen and Dot's KidAshley HammonArizona QuintKeith JandacekWhiteyLynne Dumin KiteiFlorence ArizonaRandall "Tex" CobbLeonard SmallsRobert GrayGlen and Dot's KidJames YeaterFingerprint TechnicianM. Emmet WalshMachine Shop Ear-benderCrystal HillerArizona QuintTroy NaborsParole Board MemberCharles "Lew" SmithNice Old Grocery ManBill AndresReporterTodd Michael RogersVarsity Nathan, Jr.David SchneiderArizona QuintSidney DawsonEar-bending CellmateDerek RussellGlen and Dot's KidNicole RussellGlen and Dot's KidRichard BlakeParole Board ChairmanBill RoczNewscasterRusty LeeFeisty HayseedRuben Young"Trapped" ConvictHolly HunterEdwinaCody RangerArizona QuintCarver BarnesReporterHenry TankMopping ConvictRalph NortonGynecologistWarren ForsytheMinisterJohn GoodmanGaleMichael R. MillerEditorJames JacksExec. ProducerDeborah ReinischAssoc. ProducerBarry SonnenfeldCinematographer - Duart ColorRobert KracikSet DecoratorKatherine James-CosburnMake UpEthan CoenProducerJoel CoenWriterRichard HornungCostumesJery HewittStuntsCarter BurwellMusical ComposerHarold ThrasherArt DirectorJane MuskyProduction DesignerMark SilvermanCo-Producer3The promise that was evident in BLOOD SIMPLE, the Coen brothers' remarkably assured debut, is fulfilled in RAISING ARIZONA, an entertaining, energetic, and stylish comedy about a simple but loving couple who long to be parents.H.I. "Hi" McDonnough (Nicholas Cage) is a hopelessly inept petty crook who attempts to go straight after he marries prison officer Edwina (Holly Hunter), and they settle down in a trailer in the middle of the Arizona desert. They long for a normal family life, but are childless and unable to adoptdue to Hi's criminal past. When Hi and Edwina read that the wife of wealthy furniture dealer Nathan Arizona (Trey Wilson) has given birth to quintuplets, they decide to steal one for themselves.RAISING ARIZONA is populated with excellent performances, especially from its two leads. Cage creates a homey and thoroughly likable character who earns the respect of the audience, but Hunter is the real surprise. Appearing in her first starring role, the stage veteran displays so much energythat she forces the audience to pay attention. The supporting cast is equally impressive, particularly John Goodman and William Forsythe as a couple of escaped convicts who pay a visit to their old friend Cage. Former professional boxer Randall "Tex" Cobb is also memorable as a thoroughly bizarreand very menacing bounty hunter.leave a comment Fireproof1920080Color4.517The Fifth Element621997PG-13France127ColorScience FictionGaumontColumbia4.520Patrick NichollsZorg's ManSonny CaldinezEmperor Kodar JaphetRobert AlexanderWarship TechnicianLee EvansFogScott WoodsLab GuardGin ClarkeDiva's AssistantRachel WillisStewardessRobert ClappertonRobot BarmanOmar Hibbert WilliamsStaedert's TechnicianKeith MartinPower OperatorYuiFhloston HostessGeorge KhanHead ScientistBrion JamesGeneral MunroAl MatthewsGeneral TudorLuke PerryBillyKim ChanThaiEddie EllwoodRoy Von BaconLaura De PalmaFhloston HostessDane MessamMilitary TechnicianTim McMullanScientist's AideJerome BlakeMondoshawanJohn BennettPriestStewart Harvey WilsonRuby Rhod AssistantKaleem JanjuaShuttle PilotMartin McDougallWarship CaptainMathieu KassovitzMuggerColin BrooksStaedert's CaptainJohn SharianFhloston CaptainTyrone TyrellShuttle Co-PilotRenee MontemayorBurger AssistantJohn NevilleGeneral StaedertRichard AshtonMondoshawanSarah CarringtonScientistDave FishleyRuby Rhod AssistantTiny ListerPresident LindbergPeter DunwellDiva's ManagerBill ReimboldMactilburgh's AssistantAnthony ChinnMactilburgh's TechnicianIan HolmCorneliusPaul PriestleyCopAli YassineScientistSibyl BuckZorg's SecretaryNicole MerryVIP StewardessKevin BrewertonShuttle MechanicMilla JovovichLeelooIan BeckettBaby RayJason SalkeyCopMia FryeTV StewardessCarlton ChanceRuby Rhod AssistantJosie PerezStewardessLeo WilliamsPower OperatorIndra OveVIP StewardessNatasha BriceStewardessStina RichardsonBurger AssistantRobert OatesFhloston CommanderJean Luc CaronFlying CopMac McDonaldFlying CopRoberto BryceOmarMaiwenn Le BescoDivaRichard LeafNeighbourSaid TalidiAzizCecil ChengMilitary TechnicianSophia GothCheck-In AttendantDavid GarveyStaedert's TechnicianJerry EzekielFlying CopKevin MolloyGround CrewBruce WillisKorben DallasZeta GraffPrincess AchenShaun DavisZorg's ManLeon DekkerLab GuardAron ParamorMangalore AkanitFred WilliamsHotel ManagerMarie GuillardBurger AssistantLenny McLeanPolice ChiefVince PellegrinoGround CrewJulie T. WallaceMajor IceborgChristopher FairbankMactilburghSam DouglasChief NY CopIvan HengLeft ArmAlex GeorgijevZorg's ManNathan HamlettMilitary TechnicianJustin Lee BurrowsMondoshawanEve SalvailTawdry GirlDavid BarrassFlying CopCharlie Creed MilesDavidMichael CulkinHefty ManJ.D. DawoduZorg's ManGrant JamesScientistAlan RuscoeMangalore KinoSonita HenryPresident's AideSean BuckleyScientistChris TuckerRuby RhodStanley KowalskiStaedert's TechnicianTrickyRight ArmRoger MonkFlying Cop/Military TechnicianRoy Garcia SinghZorg's ManJohn BluthalProfessor PacoliVladimir McCraryHuman AknotJohn HughesHead of MilitaryDavid KennedyFlying CopRiz MeedinFlying CopStacey McKenzieVIP StewardessGary OldmanZorgClifton Lloyd BryanMangalore Aknot/Airport GuardChristopher AdamsonAirport CopGenevieve MaylamStewardessHon Ping TangMunro's CaptainDerek EzenaguNY CopDan WeilProduction DesignerMarc BoyleStuntsDigital DomainSpecial EffectsDaniel BrisseauSound - recordistEric SerraMusical ComposerThierry ArbogastCinematographerAnna PinnockSet DecoratorLois BurwellMake UpVin BurnhamCostumes - costume effects designNeil CorbouldSpecial Effects - special effects supervisorLuc BessonSourceJim MorahanArt DirectorSylvie LandraEditorLucinda SysonCastingMichael LamontArt DirectorJean-Paul GaultierCostumesMaggie GraySet DecoratorNorman BaillieSpecial Effects - special effects administratorRobert Mark KamenWriterPatrice LedouxProducerNick DudmanSpecial Effects - creature design supervisorJohn A. AmicarellaAssoc. ProducerJohn PospisalSound - designMark StetsonSpecial Effects - special visual effects supervisorNick AllderSpecial Effects - special effects supervisorFrancine MaislerCastingIain SmithCo-ProducerMark ManginiSound - designKevin PhippsArt DirectorJohn Paul FasalSound - design2.5This is the future: New York is one big 60-story traffic jam, stewardesses dress in belly-baring Gaultier, shape-shifting Mangalors (imagine rubbery bulldogs with automatic weapons) prowl the streets, the elite vacation on the interstellar oceanliner Fhloston Paradise and a planet-sized ball o' badness is hurtling toward the Earth at unimaginable speed. The only one who can stop it is fetching waif Leeloo (Milla Jovovich), whose "I dreamed I went walking in my Maidenform bra of the future" scene should insure her a place in the hearts of14-year-old boys of all ages. Brash, often very beautiful, and art-directed within an inch of its life, this juvenile fantasy-adventure (writer-director Luc Besson conceived the story as a teen) pits Leeloo and crack starfighter turned taxi driver Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) against evilcapitalist Zorg (Gary Oldman) and his running Mangalors. The fate of the Earth hangs on a quartet of ancient stones, which must be aligned in an ancient Egyptian temple... oh, forget that part. The fun is in Besson's vision, which draws deeply on European graphic novel traditions, with just a hintof BLADE RUNNER: the giant alien diva (Maiwenn Le Besco) behind her shimmering chador, the flying cars, the friendly Mondoshawan (turtle-like aliens with great bronze shells), the efficiency apartment of tomorrow, the remote-controlled cockroach and much, much more. It's all densely imagined andmore than a little goofy -- perhaps too goofy for the average American viewer, who may also find that the flamboyant tomfoolery of hypersexed (if ambiguously) interstellar DJ Ruby Rhod (Chris Tucker) verges on the stereotypically offensive. The supporting cast, which includes Tiny Lister as thePresident, is full of sci-fi in-jokes, including Brion James as the President's military adviser and Ian Holm as Father Cornelius, keeper of the ancient wisdom.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Mamma Mia!242008PG-13U.S.108ColorMusicalRomanceLittlestar Ltd.PlaytoneRelativity MediaUniversalUniversal4.5121Christine BaranskiTanyaKage DouglasStagLee Honey-JonesStagChris JarvisEddieRicardo MontezStannosMichelle TheunissenHenMaria LopianoIoneKitty WhitelawHenPhillip DzwonkiewiczStagLydia LouisaHenNorma AtallahIriniEd WhiteStagJuan Pablo Di PacePetrosLauri OwenHenJane FoufasElpidaMyra McFadyenElenaNancy BaldwinSam's PAMichelle TrimboliHenSara WestHenKristina MacMillanHenKirsty SwainHenJamie Hughes-WardStagAykut HilmiStagPhilip MichaelPepperJoanne SandiHenNikki Davis-JonesHenDominic CooperSkyDylan TurnerStagColin DavisHarry's DriverPeter Le BrunStagHeather EmmanuelHarry's HousekeeperGeorge GeorgiouPanosMia SoteriouArinaPierce BrosnanSam CarmichaelColin FirthHarry BrightLeonie HillArianaMaria DeSpinaHenTom GoodallStagClaire FishendenHenLisa ReynoldsHenEmma SlaterHenNiall BuggyFather AlexClare Louise ConnollyHenCaterina SpanoHenJack JeffersonStagJulie WaltersRosieGareth ChartStagSebastien TorkiaStagRachel McDowallLisaRebecca LeeHenGareth DerrickStagSean WilliamsStagHelen SorayaHenEnzo Squillino Jr.GregorisJennifer LeungHenStellan SkarsgardBill AustinKirsty MatherHenHemi YerohamDimitriCharlotte HabibHenGareth DavisStagChristie SaundersHenSonny Lee HymasStagMeryl StreepDonnaAshley LilleyAliTaylor JamesHenKarl BoweStagAmanda SeyfriedSophieEmrhys CooperStagTim StanleyStagTommy FranzenStagCelestina BanjoHenMark HuffamExec. ProducerTina EarnshawMake UpBarbara Herman-SkeldingSet DecoratorNick PalmerArt DirectorMark NelmesSpecial EffectsPriscilla JohnCastingBenny AnderssonExec. ProducerPaul CorbouldSpecial EffectsMaria DjurkovicProduction DesignerJudy CraymerProducerPhyllida LloydDirectorRita WilsonExec. ProducerBenny AndersonMusic/Lyrics ComposerAnn RothCostumesHaris ZambarloukosCinematographerEllen LewisCastingGary GoetzmanProducerABBASourceSimon HayesSound - mixerLesley WalkerEditorAlastair SirkettSoundTom HanksExec. ProducerGareth MilneStuntsStig AndersonMusic/Lyrics ComposerCatherine JohnsonSourceAnthony Van LaastChoreographyBjorn UlvaeusMusic/Lyrics Composer2Based on the long-running ABBA-inspired stage sensation, this hot mess of a movie musical spins a perilously thin tale of love and marriage on a Greek isle, and then ransacks the Swedish pop phenomenon's songbook for vaguely relevant songs. It's musical writing in reverse -- something Broadway audiences craving familiar, unchallenging material have come to demand -- and whatever charms it may have had as a live production have been lost in director Phyllida Lloyd's sloppy big-screen translation.Born and raised on the idyllic Greek island of Kalokairi where her American mom, Donna (Meryl Streep), has been running her own ramshackle but charming inn for the past 15 years, 20-year-old Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is about to marry her fiance, Sky (HISTORY BOY'S Dominic Cooper). The ceremony will take place at tiny chapel perched high above the Aegean and the reception will be held at "Villa Donna" which, on the eve of the nuptials, has begun to fill with guests. Sophie's best friends (Ashley Lilley, Rachel McDowall) have arrived as have Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Walters), Donna's two mates from the good old days when they performed in platform boots and sequined bell sleeves as the glitzy '70s glam trio "Donna and the Dynamos." But there's one important person who isn't on the guest list, because Sophie has no idea who he is: her father. Sophie was the unexpected end result of one footloose summer her mother spent on Kalokairi 20 years earlier, and Donna herself doesn't really know whose seed stuck. Desperately wanting her father to walk her down the aisle and give her away at the altar, Sophie pores over her mother's old diary for clues and comes up with three likely suspects: stuffy banker Harry Bright (Colin Firth), adventurous travel writer Bill Austin (Stellan Skarsgaard) and Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), Donna's one true love who broke her heart when he returned to his fiancee. Certain she'd know which one is her dad the moment she lays eyes on him, Sophie, unbeknownst to Donna, invites them all to Kalokairi, then swears them all to secrecy. But deceiving Donna leads to a number of comic misunderstandings and comedic errors and a total of 22 -- count 'em, 22 -- random ABBA songs that come so fast and thick and loud it leaves characters shouting over the soundtrack to be heard.Constructing a musical around a preexisting set of songs isn't always a bad thing: Look at MOULIN ROUGE! the recent French hit CHANSONS D'AMOUR, or Julie Taymor's visionary ACROSS THE UNIVERSE which put a fresh spin on age-old Beatles classics by setting them in imaginative but always appropriate contexts. Had the action here been set in, say, in the 1970s, and reflected the real content of ABBA's songs -- the best of which are melancholy pop confections that often reflected the very real emotional turmoil that was tearing the group apart -- Lloyd, the director of the original stage production, might have produced something more than an ingratiating karaoke sing-along set in a pretty locale. Streep works very, very hard and manages to pull it off (even if it means acting slightly drunk) and Baranski is so good with such bad material you want to sneak her off this picture and into something better worth her time and talent. But the direction is slack -- it's Lloyd's first feature film and it shows -- the choreography clumsy and every ten minutes there's yet another gratuitous showstopper shouting in your face and insisting you have a good time.leave a comment--Ken Fox Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull262008PG-13U.S.124ColorActionAdventureLucasfilm, Ltd.Paramount4124Harrison FordIndiana JonesIgor JijikineColonel DovchenkoCate BlanchettColonel Irina SpalkoShia LaBeoufMutt WilliamsKaren AllenMarion RavenwoodRay WinstoneGeorge "Mac" McHaleJim BroadbentDean Charles StanforthJohn HurtProfessor OxleyDenis L. StewartCo-ProducerKathleen KennedyExec. ProducerJeff NathansonSourceSteven SpielbergDirectorJanusz KaminskiCinematographerPhilip KaufmanSourceJohn WilliamsMusical ComposerMichael KahnEditorDavid KoeppWriterGeorge LucasExec. ProducerFrank MarshallProducer3The long-awaited third sequel to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981), is aimed squarely at fans who waited nearly 20 years for swashbuckling archeologist Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr. to pick up his trademark bullwhip, shake the dust off his fedora and save the world.1957, Nevada. At the fork in a dusty desert road, two pop-culture images of the 1950s diverge. A car filled with fresh-faced teens zooms off in one direction, all giggles and post-war consumer optimism. A military convoy turns off and proceeds to the mysterious Groom Lake military facility base – the fabled Area 51 – and murders everyone who stands between them and a warehouse stacked high with crates crammed with things the government wants to keep hidden. The convoy is made up of Soviet spies in disguise, led by Louise Brooks-bobbed she-wolf Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), who's shanghaied Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and his old OSS buddy, Mac (Ray Winstone), to help her find oneparticularcrate, containing a top-secret whatzit she believes will help Russia win the arms race. Jones isn't about to let her have it, and she's not about to let him stop her.And that, in a nutshell, is the plot. Everything else is highly decorative window dressing. Some is specific to the era: The atomic test village peopled by doomed mannequins, the red-baiting FBI agents, the evil Russians (Blanchett's Natasha Fatale accent and all), the malt-shop brawl where greasers and clean-cut college kids duke it out to a rock 'n' roll beat, the mind control experiments, the wicked Russians, the WILD ONE staging of brainy biker Mutt Williams' (Shia LaBeouf) entrance. Some is the stuff of historical esoterica: The fabled lost city of El Dorado, the rock crystal skulls that seem beyond the abilities of the primitive Mesoamerican cultures to which they're attributed, the Nazca lines – giant, ancient glyphs visible only from the air. And the rest is Indy-world lore: The affectionate references to the late Dr. Henry Jones Sr. and Marcus Brody, a quick shot of the Ark of the Covenant peeping out of a broken crate, the reappearance of Indy's one true love, the feisty Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), the inevitable snake, plus miscellaneous icky bugs, scary locals, ever-escalating feats of derring do and self-aware tough-guy quips.The overall effect is either exhilarating or exhausting, depending on your emotional investment in the franchise, but credit where credit is due: Steven Spielberg and George Lucas set out to make one for the fans and delivered. For all the sound and fury, the result lacks the archly retro-freshness of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981), but how could it? You can't dash through the same river twice.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy452005PGU.S.110ColorComedyScience FictionBuena VistaBuena Vista3.57Simon HibbsVogon SoldierZooey DeschanelTrish McMillan/TrillianIan McNeiceVoice of KwaltzHayley BurroughsCreature PerformerMilo BodrozicVogon SoldierThe League of GentlemanAdditional Vogon VoicesMark LonghurstBulldozer DriverNigel PlaskittCreature PerformerOllie ParhamCreature PerformerJack StanleyLunkwillLynne Robertson BruceCreature PerformerStephen FryNarratorJerome BlakeVogon SoldierSpencer WildingVogon SoldierRob HorsemanVogon SoldierAlan RickmanVoice of MarvinBill NighySlartibartfastAlbie WoodingtonBarmanMos DefFord PrefectCecily FayeCreature PerformerBill BaileyVoice of the WhaleMason BallCreature PerformerSarah BennettCreature PerformerSimon JonesGhostly ImageJessie RileyVogon SoldierMike LewisVogon SoldierBen UttleyVogon SoldierDan EllisVogon SoldierJohn MalkovichHumma KavulaMak WilsonVoice of Vogon InterpreterPaul NathanielVogon SoldierWilliam WollenVogon SoldierAron FreemanCreature PerformerSam RockwellZaphod BeeblebroxMartin DawsonVogon SoldierDanny BlacknerCreature PerformerMartin FreemanArthur DentSteve PembertonProsserHelen MirrenVoice of Deep ThoughtRichard GriffithsVoice of JeltzSteve GrindleVogon SoldierDominique JacksonFookAshley StuartVogon SoldierSu ElliottPub CustomerWarwick DavisMarvinAnna ChancellorQuestularArt HewittVogon SoldierPatrick WalkerVogon SoldierIan KayCreature PerformerTucker StevensVogon SoldierMohsen NouriCreature PerformerNikki McInnesCreature PerformerThomas LennonVoice of Shipboard ComputerTim PerrinVogon SoldierLindsay McFarlaneSpecial EffectsDouglas AdamsExec. ProducerDerek EvansExec. ProducerJonathan GlickmanProducerNiven HowieEditorJoby TalbotMusical ComposerRobbie StampExec. ProducerIgor Jadue-LilloCinematographerPaul DunnSpecial EffectsGary BarberProducerFrank WalshArt DirectorJim Henson's Creature ShopSpecial Effects - creature effectsTodd ArnowCo-ProducerSue RoweSpecial EffectsRoger BirnbaumProducerJay RoachProducerSammy SheldonCostumesKate BecklySet DecoratorGarth JenningsDirectorKarey KirkpatrickWriterMark HoldingSound - mixerBen FlatterSpecial EffectsJoel CollinsProduction DesignerWilma DunnSpecial EffectsSusie FiggisCastingNick GoldsmithProducerJon NeillSpecial Effects - CGAngus BickertonSpecial EffectsRebekah RuddCo-ProducerMatt JohnsonSpecial EffectsJim DowdallStuntsAdam McInnesSpecial EffectsElizabeth TaggMake UpIan WilsonSound - designCaroline HewittCo-Producer3Douglas Adams' cult mainstayThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxytraveled a long, strange road from BBC radio show to book series to interactive CD-ROM to feature film, and die-hard fans will regret every scrap jettisoned along the way. Director Garth Jennings and screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick, who revised the script Adams completed before his death in 2001, remain true to the material's shaggy, baggy spirit and successfully resist the temptation (or more likely pressure) to turn the movie into a gigantic CGI spectacle. Shortly before Earth is vaporized to make way for a hyperspace bypass, shabby little everyman Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is busy processing a series of life-altering revelations. First there's the news about Earth, then the fact that his friend, Ford Prefect (Mos Def), is actually an alien researching new material for the intergalactic best-seller "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," the bible of cosmic thumb-tripping. Veteran hitcher Ford gets them an illicit lift on one of the very ships that just destroyed Earth, and masterminds — if you can call it that — their escape from the awful Vogons, bureaucratic overlords of the universe. Ford and Arthur's next ride is aboard theHeart of Gold, which Ford's cousin, renegade Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell), an insufferable dandy with two heads, three arms and half a brain, hijacked so he could search for the fabled planet Magrathea. The ancient Magratheans built a supercomputer (voiced by Helen Mirren) that spent 7.5 million years coming up with the answer that explains life, the universe and everything — it's 42 — and Zaphod hopes that by now it's come up with the question. His companions in questing are a desperately depressed android, Marvin (voiced by Alan Rickman), and Trillian, the girl (Zooey Deschanel) Arthur once tried to romance at a costume party but turned off with his boring, no-place-like-home attitude. The appeal of Adams'Hitchhikerbooks lies less in the narrative — though Dent's adventures are often quite amusing — than in the loopy digressions, a wildly imaginative mix of spacey science, navel-gazing noodling and a peculiarly English fatalism. Jennings opted to give the film an appealingly low-tech look and populated it with animatronic monsters designed by the Jim Henson Creature Shop and little Warwick Davis stoically shambling along inside the Marvin suit. Driven equally by big questions and the abiding desire for small pleasures, like a decent cup of tea, it's an eccentric, mind-bending head trip that greets every catastrophe with an endearingly goofy smile that embodiesHitchhiker's Guide's Zen mantra: Don't Panic!leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon722000PG-13U.S.119ColorHistoricalMartial ArtsRomanceSony Pictures ClassicsSony Pictures Classics4.58Xu Cheng LinCaptainMa Zhong XuanMi BiaoHai YanMadam YuZhang Shao JunMale PerformerSong DongGangster BYang RuiMaidLi LiMayLi KaiGou Jun PeiLin FengCaptainHuang Su YingAuntie WuYang Yong DeMonk JingShih YiWaitressLi Bao ChengFung Machete ChangFeng Jian HuaGou Jun SinungDon Chang ChengHomeless ManChow Yun-FatLi Mu BaiChen BinServantChang ChenLoChang Sao ChenNightmanLung SihungSir TeLi Fa ZengGovernor YuZhang Jin TingDe LuMichelle YeohYu Shu LienWang Wen ShengGangster ACheng Pei PeiJade FoxMa NingFemale PerformerDu Zhen XiShop OwnerGao XianBoZhu Jian MinWaiterWang DemingTsaiZhang ZiyiJen YuKu Huen ChiuStuntsZheng Quan GangCo-ProducerWang Hui LingWriterAndrew Paul KuninSound - mixerJames SchamusExec. ProducerYuen Wo PingStuntsMan Yun LingMake UpAng LeeProducerYang Xin ZhanArt DirectorTsai Kuo JungWriterEddy WongArt DirectorYang Zhan JiaArt DirectorDong PingCo-ProducerPhillip LeeAssoc. ProducerDavid LindeExec. ProducerTim SquyresEditorWong Kim WaiStuntsBill KongProducerTan DunMusical ComposerChui Po ChuAssoc. ProducerJonathan F. StyrlundSpecial EffectsPeter PauCinematographerTim YipCostumesHsu Li KongProducerWang Du LuSource4Think of this as Taiwanese director Ang Lee's RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, aloving homage to the pulp movies of his youth. Lee grew up on fanciful talesof martial arts chivalry (wuxia pian), filled with balletic,gravity-defying action sequences, philosophical fighters and warrior women.But he isn't interested in wringing ironic laughs from genre conventions. Hisfilm (adapted from material by novelist Wang Du Lu) humanizes the formula byemphasizing two love stories, one filled with youthful fire and the otherdefined by mature melancholy. In ancient China, Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat)decides to abandon his fighting ways and asks fellow warrior Yu Shu Lien(Michelle Yeoh) to present his cherished sword to respected elder Sir Te (LungSihung). Shu Lien and Mu Bai love each other deeply, but tradition preventsthem from acting on their feelings. She agrees to take the sword and persuadesMu Bai to meet her at Sir Te's Peking compound after he's paid tribute at thegrave of his master, murdered years earlier by mysterious bandit Jade Fox. Thesword is promptly stolen from Sir Te's home. The masked thief's identity isquickly revealed: It's Jen (Zhang Ziyi), the beautiful teenage daughter of thedistrict's new governor. Jen, who will soon make a politically advantageousmarriage but secretly loves another, has been surreptitiously trained in the martial arts by her governess. And her governess is none other than theelusive Jade Fox (wuxia pianveteran Cheng Pei Pei). While scrupulouslyconcerned with character relationships, Lee doesn't stint on the dreamlikebattle scenes, choreographed by Yuen Wo-Ping and mercifully free of theexaggerated sound effects familiar from exploitation kung fu pictures. Thecombatants' fists and feet fly while they scuttle up walls, skim the surfaceof water like insects and drift into the air like dandelion fluff (mostWestern viewers first saw this style of martial arts action in THE MATRIX,also choreographed by Yuen). The film satisfies on both visceral and emotionallevels, and showcases veterans Yeoh and Chow, as well as relative newcomersZhang and Chang Chen (who plays her bandit lover).leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Batman Begins642005PG-13U.S.140ColorActionCrimeFantasySyncopyWarner Bros.Warner Bros.4.5108John KazekDock Thug #2Earlene BentleyArkham Asylum NurseStephen WaltersArkham LunaticKwaku AnkomahDock Cop #3Lucy RussellFemale Restaurant GuestJoe SargentNarrows Teenager #1Christine AdamsJessicaTom WuBhutanese Prison Guard #1Rade SherbedgiaHomeless manOmar MostafaFalafel Stand VendorJohn NolanFredericksJo MartinPolice Prison OfficialShane RimmerOlder Gotham Water Board TechnicianPatrick NolanDock Cop #1Flavia MasettoRestaurant Blonde #1Jordan ShawAfrican Boy in RagsLarry HoldenFinchAndrew PleavinUniformed Policeman #2Martin McDougallGotham Dock EmployeeSpencer WildingLeague of Shadows WarriorTim BoothVictor ZsazDavid BedellaMaitre DJonathan D. EllisCourthouse Reporter #2Liam NeesonDucardFabio CardasciaCatererDarragh KellyDock Thug #3Katie HolmesRachel DawesMark SmithLeague of Shadows WarriorJay BuozziAsian Man/Ra's Al GhulMorgan FreemanLucius FoxTom WilkinsonCarmine FalconeJack GleesonLittle BoyTenzin GyurmeOld Himalayan ManNoah Lee MargettsArkham Thug #1Rutger HauerEarleJoseph RyeDock Cop #2Con HorganMonorail DriverKhan BonfilsLeague of Shadows WarriorMichael CaineAlfred PennyworthIlyssa FradinBarbara GordonGus LewisBruce Wayne---age 8Jeff ChristianDriving CopCharles EdwardsWayne Enterprises ExecutiveTim DeenihanMale Restaurant GuestTenzin Clive BallHimalayan ChildGerard MurphyJudge FadenTurbo KongEnormous PrisonerPhill CurrTransit CopJeff TannerBridge CopJohn BurkeArkham Lunatic Cell MateMark ChiuBhutanese Prison Guard #2Terry McMahonBad Swat Cop #!Roger YuanHazmat TechnicianDominic BurgessNarrows CopCharlie KranzBasement Club ManagerJoe HanleyArkham Thug #2Vincent WongOld Asian PrinsonerLeon Delroy WilliamsPedestrianTom NolanValetRichard BrakeJoe ChillCillian MurphyDr. Jonathan CraneJohn JuddNarrows Bridge copRichard LaingAkham Chase CopRonan LeahyUniformed Policeman #1David MurrayJumpy ThugRodney RyanLeague of Shadows WarriorTJ RaminiCrane Thug #1Christian BaleBruce Wayne/BatmanMark StrakerMale Restaurant Guest #2Ruben HalseLeague of Shadows WarriorJeremy TheobaldYounger Gotham Water Board TechnicianEmma LockhartRachel Dawes---age 8Ken WatanabeRa's Al GhulStuart OngChinese Police OfficerColin McFarlaneLoebMark Boone Jr.FlassPoppy TierneyOpera Performer #2 Margaret---SopranoCedric YoungLiquor Store OwnerKieran HurleyCrane Thug #2Karen DavidCourthouse Reporter #1Risteard CooperCaptain SimonsonAlexandra BastedoGotham City DameEmily Steven-DalyRestaurant Blonde #2Jamie ChoStocky Chinese ManSoo Hee DingFarmerSarah WateridgeMrs. DawesRory CampbellOpera Performer #3 Mefistofele---TenorPatrick PondOpera Performer #1 Faust---BassTamer HassanFaden's Limo DriverMel TaylorNarrows ResidentCatherine PorterBlonde Female Reporter/AssassinMatt MillerGotham Car Cop #3Emmanuel IdowuNarrows Teenager #2Chike ChanChinese Police OfficerLinus RoacheThomas WayneRoger GriffithsArkham Uniformed PolicemanGary OldmanJim GordonNadia Cameron-BlakeyAdditional Restaurant Guest #1Dave LegenoLeague of Shadows WarriorKarl ShielsArkham Thug #3Alex MoggridgeArkham Asylum OrderlySara StewartMartha WayneCheloMake UpWally PfisterCinematographerDavid S. GoyerSourceJohn PapsideraCastingLindy HemmingCostumesJames Newton HowardMusical ComposerLarry FrancoProducerSue Robb-KingMake UpChristopher NolanWriterBob KaneSourceOopie ParracoSpecial EffectsSimon LamontArt DirectorChris CorbouldSpecial EffectsNathan CrowleyProduction DesignerBenjamin MelnikerExec. ProducerPeter Robb-KingMake UpJanek SirrsSpecial EffectsLucinda SysonCastingNicola InstoneSpecial EffectsSimon WakefieldSet DecoratorCharles RovenProducerPaul JenningsStuntsEmma ThomasProducerNick DudmanMake Up - effectsCheryl A. TkachAssoc. ProducerLee SmithEditorPaki SmithSet DecoratorHarriet DoningtonSpecial EffectsHans ZimmerMusical ComposerMichael E. UslanExec. ProducerDan GlassSpecial EffectsPeter LindsaySound - mixer3.5Less archly stylized than Tim Burton's cheerfully macabre BATMAN (1989) and vastly superior to the vulgar excesses of Joel Schumacher's crudely camp sequels, Christopher Nolan and David Goyer's somber prequel puts the darkness back in the Dark Knight's corner of crime-fighting hell. Set in a Gotham City suspended somewhere between America's past and a future that never was, it tells the story (or more accurately, given the variations spun by an assortment of comic book writers,astory) of fledgling prince-of-the-city Bruce Wayne's transformation into the haunted Batman. The key elements always remain the same, of course: Little Bruce (Gus Lewis), the much-loved son of wealthy, principled parents (Sara Stewart, Linus Roache), stews in the memory of their senseless murder until his psyche curdles. Raised to troubled manhood by the flinty family butler, Alfred (Michael Caine), the adult Bruce Wayne's (Christian Bale) thwarted thirst for vengeance drives him into the arms of martial-arts guru Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), who in turn answers to shadow warrior Ra's Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe). His education at their hands spawns a bold plan to rescue Gotham from its homegrown bad apples; bit by bit, Wayne channels his darkest impulses into a symbol of justice and order born of ninja stealth, carefully customized accessories developed for Wayne Enterprises' "applied science" (read: weapons) division and the nightmarish memory of a blinding twister of bats spewing from the mouth of a deep, dark cave. Nolan, Goyer and a top-flight cast and crew bring ambition, intelligence and craft to the table, combined with respectful knowledge of the Batman mythos. The result is handsome and logical, but missing the spark that would make it thrilling. Batman's story is grim, a Faustian fable of making deals with darkness in hopes of loosening its stranglehold on the world, but the moments when the backstory coalesces into iconic images and situations should tingle with exhilaration and satisfied recognition — and they don't. That said, Bale burrows into Bruce Wayne's troubled mind with characteristic thoroughness, and the supporting cast is vivid proof that first-rate actors can enrich even broadly drawn characters. They include Cillian Murphy as Dr. Crane, master of Arkham Asylum; Tom Wilkinson as thug Carmine Falcone; Gary Oldman as Commissioner-to-be Gordon; Rutger Hauer as shady CEO Richard Earle and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Batman's ally at Wayne Industries — even the tiny role of a homeless man is brought up a notch by veteran actor Rade Sherbedgia. Only the game but outclassed Katie Holmes falls short as Batman's boyhood crush-turned-crusading district attorney.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Milk102008RU.S.127ColorBiographyDocudramaAxon FilmsGroundswell Prods.Jinks/Cohen CompanyFocus Features3.59Alison PillAnne KronenbergJoseph CrossDick PabichBrandon BoyceJim RivaldoEmile HirschCleve JonesJames FrancoScott SmithKelvin YuMichal WongStephen SpinellaRick StokesJosh BrolinDan WhiteSean PennHarvey MilkJeff KoonsArt AgnosDenis O'HareJohn BriggsDiego LunaJack LiraZvi Howard RosenmanDavid GoodsteinLucas GrabeelDanny NicolettaVictor GarberMayor MosconeBruce CohenProducerCharley BealArt DirectorBarbara HallExec. ProducerHarris SavidesCinematographerDaniel GlickerCostumesGus Van SantDirectorElliot GrahamEditorMichael LondonExec. ProducerWilliam HorbergExec. ProducerDustin Lance BlackWriterDan JinksProducerBruna PapandreaExec. ProducerFrancine MaislerCastingBill GroomProduction Designer4As the first openly gay man to hold elected office in California, Harvey Milk served as the spokesperson for the gay rights movement in the '70s, in San Francisco and, by extension, the United States. Practically from the moment of his assassination in 1978, people have been trying to get Milk's remarkable life story onto the screen, and thanks to Gus Van Sant and Sean Penn, it was worth the wait. The movie follows the final years of Milk's life, starting when he leaves New York with his partner, Scott Smith (James Franco), and opens a camera store in the now-famous Castro District of San Francisco. He faces bigotry based on his sexual orientation, but responds with serious action, spearheading a campaign of activism that organizes the gay community into a group with genuine financial strength -- a strength that Milk translates into political muscle. With his leadership, the community publicizes the unfair treatment often suffered at the hands of cops, who are occasionally physically abusive, and often can't be bothered to investigate the murders of gay men. All the while, Milk continues his attempts to win a seat on the city's Board of Supervisors, even as his devotion to politics leads to the breakdown of his relationship.Dustin Lance Black's screenplay never holds Harvey Milk up as something bigger than he was -- he's never made into a martyr or a saint. He's a heroic, but complicated, three-dimensional person, and Sean Penn rises to the occasion with an empathetic performance that never rings false. He captures the charisma and drive that made Milk a born politician just as cannily as he does the flaws that made him a difficult life partner, and the intimate moments Milk shares with Smith are just as heartfelt as the scenes where he rallies thousands of angry protestors to march on city hall. Penn also gets expert support from everyone in the cast, especially Franco, who plays Smith's loyalty as unwavering, even when their relationship becomes so strained that he must move out. The film also benefits from a nuanced performance by Diego Luna, who plays Jack Lira, another longtime companion of Milk. Although Lira is a grandly flamboyant character, Luna never condescends to playing him as a drama queen -- his histrionics always seem to come from the character rather than from a stereotype. And Emile Hirsch shines as Cleve Jones, the brainy, energetic runaway who turns out to be Milk's political right-hand man.Of course, director Gus Van Sant matches his lead actor's total commitment to the project. He doesn't shy away from the story's occasional stabs at operatic impact, but instead employs a recurring visual motif using mirrors and reflections to help these moments achieve maximum emotional effect. We see major and minor events transpire in mirrors, windows, and other items -- the most striking of which is an argument with a police officer viewed in the reflection of a metal whistle. This visual refrain, along with the measured but consistent use of opera on the soundtrack, helps make the ending an emotional powerhouse -- even though we know right from the start how Milk's life will end. Harvey Milk embodied the concept that "all politics is personal," and by presenting the famed Mayor of Castro Street's personal and public lives with such clarity and empathy, Van Sant has made something very rare in Hollywood -- a genuinely powerful political film that works equally well as a story of personal triumph.leave a comment--Perry Seibert Mandalay881934NRU.S.65Black & WhiteRomanceWarner Bros.Warner Bros.54James B. LeongRam SinghReginald OwenPolice CommissionerLucien LittlefieldMr. PetersOtto FriscoFakirHarry C. BradleyHenry P. WarrenRicardo CortezTony EvansEric WiltonEnglish AgentBodil RosingMrs. KleinschmidtFrank Baker1st MateKay FrancisTanya Borisoff/Spot WhiteLeonard MudieLieutenantLillian HarmerLouisa Mae HarringtonHerman BingProf. KleinschmidtShirley TempleBetty ShawDesmond RobertsSergeantHalliwell HobbesCol. Dawson AmesDavid TorrenceCaptainOlaf HyttenCockney PurserLyle TalbotDr. Gregory BurtonTorben MeyerMr. Van BrinkerRuth DonnellyMrs. PetersHobart CavanaughPurserWarner OlandNickRafaela OttianoThe CountessEtienne GirardotMr. AbernathieGeorge HuerreraStewardCharles KenyonWriterTony GaudioCinematographerAnton GrotArt DirectorPaul Hervey FoxSourceAustin ParkerWriterMichael CurtizDirectorOrry-KellyCostumesRobert PresnellProducerThomas PrattEditor1.5Lithe, lean Kay Francis stars in this piece of fluff as the lover of Cortez, a shady munitions smuggler who dumps her in steamy Rangoon, where she gets a job at a local nightspot run by Oland (in another of his bogus Asian impressions). She soon becomes the kind of local star MarleneDietrich used to be when dumped in exotic places by her various screen lovers. Later, she gets together with drunken doctor Talbot and they are soon in love. Cortez walks back into the picture and fakes suicide by leaving the porthole in his cabin open and an empty poison bottle on the table. ButFrancis eventually puts real poison in his drink and he falls overboard, though no one seems to notice or care. Everybody drinks and smokes and makes witty small talk and the film's short length is its main asset. Francis is lovely to look at and dreadful to listen to--she had difficultypronouncing herrs. An escapist film for everyone who was suffering the ills of the Depression, MANDALAY is a curious film because it allowed the lady to get away with murder (or so it seemed), something that was usually frowned upon. Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal wrote the song "When TomorrowComes."leave a comment While You Were Sleeping851995PGU.S.100ColorComedyRomanceBuena VistaBuena Vista431Bill PullmanJackPeter SiragusaHot Dog VendorJack WardenSaulMargaret TravoltaAdmitting NurseMike BacarellaMr. FuscoPeter BoyleOxDick WorthyOrderlyRichard PickrenLucy's FatherJason BernardJerryPeter GallagherPeterJames KragDalton ClarkeGene JansonMan in ChuchShea FarrellAshely's HusbandAnn WhitneyBlood Donor NurseMarc GrapeyInternGlynis JohnsElsieAlly WalkerAshley BaconKevin GudahlCop at ICUMonica KeenaMaryKate ReindresBethDick CusackDr. RubinSusan MessingCeleste's FriendThomas Q. MorrisMan in Peter's RoomMarcia WrightCelesteRuth RudnickWandaJoel HatchPriestSandra BullockLucy ModeratzBernie LandisDoormanMegan SchaiperYoung LucyMicole MercurioMidgeMichael RispoliJoe Jr.Krista LallyPhyllisJonathan GlickmanAssoc. ProducerDaniel G. SullivanWriterSusan StrempleCo-ProducerJon TurteltaubDirectorBruce GreenEditorLarry DiasSet DecoratorAmanda Mackey JohnsonCastingRoger BirnbaumProducerPamela WestmoreMake UpArthur SarkissianExec. ProducerGarreth StoverProduction DesignerSteve BarronExec. ProducerJoe RothProducerCurt FriskSound - mixerFredric LebowWriterPhedon PapamichaelCinematographerGuy Clayton Jr.Special EffectsCharles J.D. SchlisselCo-ProducerCathy Sandrich GelfondCastingRandy EdelmanMusical ComposerElaine JohnsonAssoc. ProducerChris CornwellArt DirectorBetsy CoxCostumes3Sandra Bullock is a subway token clerk who loves a yuppie commuter (Peter Gallagher) from afar; when she saves him from death on the tracks and he slips into a coma, his family--including affable brother Bill Pullman--mistake her for his fiancee. WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING is a mildromantic comedy rooted in class anxiety, but it's nice to see perennial loser-in-love Pullman (SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE, THE LAST SEDUCTION) get some. Respect, that is.leave a comment Portrait Of Jennie411948NRU.S.86Color/Black & WhiteRomanceVanguardSelznick55Joseph CottenEben AdamsDavid WayneGus O'TooleCecil KellawayMr. MatthewsEsther SomersMrs. BunceJennifer JonesJennie AppletonRobert DudleyOld MarinerHenry HullEkeClem BevansCapt. Caleb CobbFelix BressartDoormanFlorence BatesMrs. Jekes the LandladyLillian GishMother Mary of MercyJohn FarrellPolicemanMaude SimmonsClara MorganAnne FrancisTeenagerEthel BarrymoreMiss SpinneyAlbert SharpeMr. MooreJoseph B. PlattArt DirectorWilliam DieterleDirectorDimitri TiomkinMusic DirectorClaude CarpenterSet DecoratorRobert NathanSourceMel BernsMake UpPeter BerneisWriterLucinda BallardCostumesPaul EaglerSpecial EffectsPaul OsbornWriterJ. McMillan JohnsonSpecial EffectsJoseph AugustCinematographerWilliam MorganEditorLeonardo BercoviciWriterClarence SliferSpecial EffectsAnna Hill JohnstoneCostumesDavid O. SelznickProducer4An eerie love story, PORTRAIT OF JENNIE offers superb performances from Cotten, as a struggling painter, and Jones, as a girl from the past with whom he falls in love. It is 1932, the nadir of the Depression, and Cotten, a young painter who feels that his work lacks depth, sits glumly inNew York City's Central Park, contemplating his not-so-bright future. A beautiful young girl, Jones, approaches him and begins to speak with him, using strange words that belong to a previous era, mentioning that she attends a convent school and that her parents are trapeze artists atHammerstein's Opera House. She sings Cotten a haunting song, then disappears as abruptly as she appeared. Afterwards, Cotten struggles on with his art, encouraged by wealthy art dealer Barrymore, who takes a motherly interest in him, buying his water colors even though she knows they are poor, andsuggesting that he try a new medium. Jones turns up periodically throughout that winter, while Cotten finds work painting a mural on the wall of an Irish saloon, a commission arranged by Cotten's good friend Wayne, a cab driver. Each time Jones reappears through the following spring and summer,she seems older by years, growing up from adolescence to young womanhood. Cotten asks her to sit for a portrait and finishes it just as she tells him she's about to graduate from college. When Barrymore and her associate, Kellaway, see the portrait of Jones, they hail it as a startling, innovativework by the hitherto unpromising Cotten that will surely establish his artistic reputation. Yet Cotten is haunted by Jones and begins to look into her background, discovering that her parents were killed in a highwire accident. Moreover, he finds out from Gish, the mother superior at an all-girlcollege, that Jones was in fact killed during a hurricane in New England in the 1920s. Cotten refuses to believe that the girl he painted is a ghost, but on the eve of the hurricane's anniversary, he rushes to New England. There, Jones comes to him during a raging storm and tells him that theirlove will live across the barriers of time, then vanishes for good. Eventually, Cotten begins to doubt he ever really met the beautiful girl, but when he finds her scarf, he begins to believe that he will meet his true love again in the afterlife after all.Dieterle's direction is sensitive and the sequences are wonderfully constructed, with no scene bruising the next. He draws forth stellar performances, especially from Cotten; Jones is seen too briefly, but projects a genuinely ethereal quality during her moments on the screen. August's photographyis stunning, and Tiomkin's lyrical score, drawn from Claude Debussy's themes (principally "The Afternoon of a Faun") is highly memorable. The foreword of the film, written by Ben Hecht, sums up the story's effect: "Out of the shadows of knowledge, and out of a painting that hung on a museum wall,comes our story, the truth of which lies not on our screen but in your heart." (A similar story of love that crosses mortal boundaries is at the core of a Hecht romance of considerable note, MIRACLE IN THE RAIN.)leave a comment Sail A Crooked Ship321961NRU.S.88Black & WhiteComedyColumbiaColumbiaMark MyerCopGraeme Ferguson1st ManJesse WhiteMcDonaldGuy RaymondHelmutHope SansberryBiddyCarolyn JonesVirginiaRobert WagnerGilbert BarrowsFrankie AvalonRodneyWilton GraffSimon J. HarrisonBuck KartalianFinsterMarjorie BennettMrs. ChowderDolores HartElinor HarrisonErnie KovacsBugsy F. "Captain" FoglemeyerFrank GorshinGeorge WilsonMary YoungWomanBru MysakNewsboyHoward WendellMr. CaldinghamTerry HuntingdonYoung Lady PilgrimTom Symonds2nd ManSid TomackSammyHarvey LembeckNickelsRuth Brooks FlippenWriterWilliam LyonEditorJames CroweSet DecoratorBruce GellerWriterRobert PetersonArt DirectorPhilip Barry Jr.ProducerGeorge DuningMusical ComposerJoseph BirocCinematographerNathaniel BenchleySourceIrving BrecherDirector2This comedy, heavy on sight gags, has a bunch of crooks taking advantage of a naive, ex-Navy officer Wagner. Wagner sails a group of vessels from the scrap heap in an effort to impress the boss' daughter. Petty thief Kovacs, who fools Wagner into believing he is a ship builder, plans touse the ship for a bank heist. Wagner and girl friend Hart are captured, and Wagner is forced to skipper the ship. Gorshin tries to take control of the ship, but Wagner signals the Coast Guard for rescue by using Hart's brassiere as a slingshot. Veteran comedians stand out in their roles, butothers have trouble pulling off the laughs.leave a comment Hocus Pocus511993PGU.S.93ColorComedyFantasyThrillerBuena VistaBuena Vista5176Karyn MalchusHeadless Billy ButchersonBette MidlerWinifred SandersonOmri KatzMaxGarry Marshalluncredited cameoThora BirchDaniTobias JelinekJaySarah Jessica ParkerSarah SandersonSean MurrayThackery BinxAmanda ShepherdEmilySteve VoborilElijahCharles RocketDavePenny Marshalluncredited cameoKathy NajimyMary SandersonStephanie FaracyJennyVinessa ShawAllisonLarry Bagby IIIErnie--IceKathleen FreemanMiss OlinNorbert WeisserThackery's FatherJason MarsdenVoice of Thackery BinxDoug JonesBilly ButchersonC. Darin KnightSound - sound mixerHiro NaritaCinematographerBarbara CohenCastingWilliam SandellProduction DesignerRosemary BrandenburgSet DecoratorMartha JohnstonSet DecoratorSteven HaftProducerJohn ElliottMake UpKenny OrtegaChoreographyMick GarrisSourceDavid KirschnerProducerPeggy HolmesChoreographyMary Gail ArtzCastingBonnie BruckheimerCo-ProducerJohn DebneyMusical ComposerMary VogtCostumesBrad RickerSet DecoratorPeter MontgomerySpecial EffectsPeter E. BergerEditorNancy PattonArt DirectorRalph WinterExec. ProducerJay HeitAssoc. ProducerGlenn WilderStuntsNeil CuthbertWriter2Forget amusement parks and hockey teams. It's in movie comedies that Disney is having its real crisis, as evidenced by this would-be laugh-getter that begins with the murder of a child and a triple hanging.In 1693 Salem, Massachusetts, three witch-sisters--Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy)--are hanged after killing a little girl to prolong their own lives and turning her brother into Binx, a talking black cat doomed to live for eternity. Cut toHalloween, 1993. Newly moved with his family from LA, teenager Max (Omri Katz) is having trouble adjusting. He gets shouted down in class, flirted with and then ignored by sexy classmate Allison (Vinessa Shaw). His offense in class was snorting at the tale of the three local legendary witches.Allison worked at the witches' house, which had been preserved and turned into a museum, now closed.Max gets beaten up by local bullies and then browbeaten into taking his bratty sister Dani (Thora Birch) trick-or-treating. When they stumble into Allison's house, she's warmer to Max and takes him up on a challenge to prove the truth of the witch story by breaking into their house. There, Maxtempts fate by lighting a black-flame candle that brings the witches to life for Halloween night only, unless they can find new youngsters to kill, with Dani the leading candidate. Helped by Binx, who has lived at the house since the spell was cast, they thwart the witches and watch them turn todust with dawn's first light.HOCUS POCUS on paper would seem to have everything going for it, with three top screen comediennes in the leading roles, a potentially interesting idea for a film in which to star them, and eye-catching, ingenious special effects. Producer David Kirschner has a special knack in the latter area.His major credits include the CHILD'S PLAY series and AN AMERICAN TAIL. His key critter creation here is Binx, who is so seamlessly and fluidly executed that it's virtually impossible to tell where the real cat leaves off and the special effects take over. However, it's indicative of the film'sproblems that he never has much of a part to play.Under direction that can only be described as scatterbrained by choreographer-turned-director Kenny Ortega (NEWSIES), HOCUS POCUS runs off in so many directions at once that it keeps tripping over itself behind a plot that doesn't make the slightest bit of sense. Binx is trapped under a spellcast by the dead witches that can only be broken by bringing the witches back to life and killing them again. Before you can say, "Run that by me again?", Binx is forgotten, and the film is dashing off into another nonsensical direction. The witches, having been brought back to life, cast a spellover all the children of Salem so they can kill them for revenge. Having done that, however, they then spend the film's last half hour risking everything to get Dani, as if she were the only child in Salem. Add the fatally mixed moods--how funny can child-killers be, even if they are played bythree of the screen's top comediennes?--and the only possible result is certain failure. Or HOCUS POCUS, which even uncredited cameos by director-siblings Garry and Penny Marshall, cleverly cast as husband and wife, can't save. Parker comes close to making the film watchable with the role of thesimplest sister, an airhead to end all airheads with a body built for evil and the attention span of a Pekingese. Put her and the talking cat together, and you might have a pretty good film.(Adult situations, violence.) leave a comment Man of the House982005PG-13U.S.97ColorComedyBel Air EntertainmentColumbiaRevolution StudiosColumbia44Kelli GarnerBarbAsh ChristianTommyJames VincentJames Pool HallPaula GarcesThereseEric AndersonStadium SecurityVanessa FerlitoHeatherJack CruzStadium SecurityChristina MilianAnneRamon BaezPedestrianCurtis ArmstrongMorgan BallJack CarterTom ReynoldsStephen MoffattUT Football FanR. Lee ErmeyCaptain NicholsMoncia PenaUT Football FanMark HansonJimmyMegan EvanichStudentJimmy OrtegaMexican Bus DriverMonica KeenaEvieShea WhighamRanger HoltGary VaughtFootball OfficialShannon Marie WoodwardEmma SharpPaget BrewsterBinky BeauregardBrian Van HoltEddie ZaneAnne ArcherMolly McCarthySarah MonahanTV ReporterNar WilliamsPizza GuyLiz VasseyMargaret SwansonCedric the EntertainerPercy StevensDaniel ZubiateDriverTommy Lee JonesRoland SharpTiffany BarronCocktail WaitressRicky CavazosFootball PlayerRobert NewellNewspaper ReporterJeffrey WetzelAssoc. ProducerJohn PritchettSound - mixerAnn MastersonMake UpBetsy HeimannCostumesPaul J. LombardiSpecial EffectsMatthew StoneWriterDavid NewmanMusical ComposerRobert RamseyWriterJoel NegronEditorPeter Menzies Jr.CinematographerJohn MesaSpecial EffectsSteven ReutherProducerJohn J. McLaughlinSourceNelson CoatesProduction DesignerAllyn StewartProducerKevin ConstantArt DirectorJeanette ScottSet DecoratorChris LebenzonEditorJeffrey KushonSet DecoratorSharon BialyCastingTommy Lee JonesExec. ProducerMarty P. EwingExec. ProducerDerek DauchyExec. ProducerStephen HerekDirectorWilliam MesaSpecial EffectsAllan GrafStuntsSherry ThomasCasting2Director Stephen Herek was lucky to have roped Tommy Lee Jones into starring in this derivative cheerleader comedy, because too much else has already been broughten for it to score points solely for originality. Granted, Jones offers little more than another rehash of his no-nonsense FUGITIVE persona — and a pretty lazy one at that — but he's still entertaining enough to float the rest of the movie. Just as Texas Ranger Roland Sharp (Jones) and his partner, Margaret Swanson (Liz Vassey), are closing in on Morgan Ball (Curtis Armstrong), a potential key witness in a government case, everything goes wrong: Swanson is badly wounded and Ball shot to death in a back alley. The murder was witnessed — in a manner of speaking — by five University of Texas cheerleaders who just happened to be catching a bit of fresh air at an open window. Granted, they can't agree on what the shooter looked like (except that he had really bad hair), but they saw enough to be considered potential targets of retaliation. To ensure their protection, Sharp agrees to move into the squad's spacious house and pose as their new assistant cheerleading coach. Of course the concrete-faced, no-fun Ranger's personality is the very antithesis of pep, hence the occasionally funny comedic situations that ensue. The girls don't intend to let themselves be pushed around by a man old enough to be their father and mean enough to confiscate their cell phones, so the arrangement quickly turns into a contest of wills. Even if the girls weren't exactly what you'd expect — Barb (Kelli Garner) is really dumb, Evie (Monica Keena) is really smart; squad captain Anne (Christina Milian) is really bossy, fiery Latina Therese (Paula Garces) is really temperamental and tough-gal Heather (Vanessa Ferlito) is the predictable wild card — their misadventures are. They get into a bar fight, give the nervous Sharp a makeover before his date with an English professor (Anne Archer), teach him how to reach out to his 17-year-old daughter (Shannon Marie Woodward) and, yes, use their pyramid-building skills to catch the bad guy. And if you can't figure out whothatis the minute he first appears, you've either seen too few movies with mind-numbingly predictable plots or you've seen far too many.leave a comment--Ken Fox Hellboy492004PG-13U.S.120ColorActionHorrorScience FictionColumbiaColumbia4.543Jo EastwoodDown's PatientJeremy ZimmermanLobby GuardWilliam HoylandVon KruptRupert EvansJohn MyersAngus McInnesSgt. WhitmanStephen FisherAgent QuarryAlbert MayTrain DriverEllen SavariaBlonde Television ReporterLadislav BeranKroenenWinter Ave ZoliGirlfriendAles KosnarGerman ScientistJames BabsonAgent MossBettina AskKidGarth CooperAgent StoneKevin TrainorYoung BroomYoung GuyGerman ScientistAndrea MiltnerDoctor MarshAlvaro NavarroKidJan HolicekMuseum GuardPetr SekaninaGerman ScientistAndrea StuartGirl With KittensRichard HaasSecond DoctorCharles GrishamMuseum GuardRon PerlmanHellboyMonty SimonsOrderlyMark TaylorTruck DriverJeffrey TamborDr. Tom ManningBob ShermanTelevision HostBrian SteeleSammaelBrian CaspeAgent LimeRory CopusKid on RooftopKarel RodenGrigori RasputinJustin SvobodaGerman ScientistJim HowickCorporal MatlinDaniel AarsmanKidEmilio NavarroKidDavid Hyde PierceVoice of Abe Sapien -- uncreditedPavel CajzlSherpa GuideJohn HurtProfessor Trevor "Broom" BruttenholmSantiago SeguraTrain DriverMillie WilkeYoung Liz ShermanDoug JonesAbraham "Abe" SapienSelma BlairLiz ShermanJohn William JohnsonAgent ClayBridget HodsonIlsaTara HugoDoctor JenkinsRick BakerMake Up - effectsMike MignolaAssoc. ProducerKazuhiro TsujiMake Up - effectsJohn CalpinMake Up - effectsJeremy ZimmermanCastingHilton RosemarinSet DecoratorPeter FrancisArt DirectorJames HambidgeArt DirectorLloyd LevinProducerLawrence GordonProducerPeter AmundsonEditorStephen ScottProduction DesignerSteve BoeddekerSound - designBart MixonMake Up - effectsMike RichardsonProducerJohnathan RothbartSpecial EffectsPeter BriggsSourceGuillermo NavarroCinematographerMonty L. SimonsStuntsKevin BaillieSpecial Effects - CGMarco Bittner RosserArt DirectorGuillermo del ToroSourceNick AdlerSpecial EffectsMark HoldingSound - mixerEdward IrastorzaSpecial EffectsMarco BeltramiMusical ComposerChad WatersMake Up - effectsPatrick J. PalmterExec. ProducerBrian WalshMake Up - effectsDeborah JarvisMake UpWendy PartridgeCostumes2.5Humanity's last best hope against the monsters and mystical malefactors is a muscle-bound, cigar-chomping, cat-loving demon with Oedipal issues and the unlikely name Hellboy (Ron Perlman). On a dark and stormy night in 1944, American GIs led by high-strung British occultist professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm (Kevin Trainor) disrupt a ceremony designed to open an inter-dimensional portal and jump-start the apocalypse. Who would want to do such a thing? The usual suspects: undead Russian mystic Rasputin (Karel Roden), she-wolf Ilsa (Bridget Hodson), zombie assassin Kroenen (Ladislav Beran) and a scrum of occult-obsessed Nazis. The portal is closed but a little cherry-red demon with an oversized stone arm has already come through; the Yanks dub him "Hellboy" and Broom raises him like a son. In the present day, newly graduated young FBI agent John Myers (Rupert Evans) reports for his first assignment at what appears to be a waste-management facility in Newark, N.J. It's actually the ultra-top-secret Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, run by the aging professor (John Hurt) and manned by the now-grown Hellboy, a psychic merman named Abe Sapiens (Doug Jones, voiced by David Hyde Pierce) and a flock of highly expendable human agents. Another of Broom's talented freaks, conflicted fire-starter Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), recently committed herself to a mental facility, devastating the besotted Hellboy and leaving him in no mood to warm to a new minder, the post Myers has been handed. Summoned to investigate a break-in at the Machen Library, where six guards lie dead and an ancient artifact shattered, Hellboy quickly traces the lingering nasty vibe to a writhing bit of self-replicating grotesquerie summoned up by Rasputin, Ilsa and Kroenen, who are back to finish what they started 60 years earlier. Writer-director Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of the first story cycle in graphic novelist Mike Mignola'sHellboyseries is gloomily gorgeous, but its tone careens recklessly between light comedy and dark portentousness and the character relationships suffer. Hellboy's love for the troubled Liz, which should be a heartbreaker, is undermined by his played-for-laughs jealousy of Myers; the yin-yang interplay between fastidious, cultured Abe and hardboiled Hellboy is underdeveloped; and the bond between Hellboy and the professor never feels as intense as it's clearly meant to be. Arguing that you shouldn't expect rich characterization from a comic-book movie misses the point: Vivid relationships separate the graphic novels from the funnies and, in the end, spectacular set design is just window dressing.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Miracle At St. Anna392008RU.S.160ColorDramaWar40 Acres and a Mule FilmworksOn My Own Produzioni CinematograficheRAI CinemaTouchstoneBuena Vista3.511Michele De VirgilioPaoloPierfrancesco FavinoPeppi "The Great Butterfly" GrottaMichael K. WilliamsTucker -- Scared SoldierJohn TurturroDetective Antonio "Tony" RicciWaldemar KobusColonel PfluegerStephen Monroe TaylorCaptain RuddenD.B. SweeneyColonel DriscollValentina CerviRenataOmari HardwickPlatoon Commander HuggsLily AgostoPostal Worker -- SoniaLeland GanitLivingstonKai MeyerKarl LessnerSean RyalShawAlexandra Maria LaraAxis SallyNicholas ThompsonGerman POW #5Jan PohlHans BrundtOliver KorittkeFritz BenneckeMatteo BonettiBlind Accordian PlayerUsman SharifRadio Operator HughesLivia TaruffiAnnaKesia ElwinLourdes NegronGiulia WeberIdaLydia BiondiNatalinaAgnese NanoPaselliMichael DendekkerMichael Decker -- Legal Aid AttorneyDe'adre AzizaBailiffKaryl SloanHerb's WifeOmar Benson MIllerPrivate First Class Sam TrainLemon AndersonPostal Worker -- SixtoDerek Luke2nd Staff Sergeant Aubrey StampsMax MalatestaMajor Gerhard BergmannCurt LowensDr. Everton BrooksRobinson WendtHerb's SonLeonardo BorzonascaArturoPeter FrechetteDistrict AttorneyRobert John BurkeGeneral Ned AlmondLars GerhardGerman POW #4Massimo SarchielliFrancoJohn LeguizamoEnricoGiselda VolodiIoleRebecca Naomi JonesZana Wilder's AssistantAlexander BeyerNazi SoldierDieter RiseleGerman POW #2Matthew CarrollGerman POW #6John Earl JelksDetective DillardLaila PetronePinaMatteo RomoliGianniJohn HawkesHerb RedneckAl PalagoniaDetective HaggertyMarcia Jean KurtzPost Office CustomerChristian BerkelCaptain EichholzJoseph Gordon-LevittTim BoyleMatteo SciabordiAngelo Torancelli -- The BoyHans SchoeberGerman POW #1Giovanni ZigliottoItaloRalph PalkaLieutenant ClaussenEugene BrellGerman POW #3Kerry WashingtonZana WilderRodney JacksonIlion HinsonLaz AlonsoCorporal Hector NegronLuigi Lo CascioAngelo Torancelli -- AdultPeter KybartJudge TrinkoffMassimo De SantisDon Innocenzo LazzeriDouglas M. GriffinMP Freddy NaughtonMichael EalySergeant Bishop CummingsTory KittlesLieutenant BirdsongBradley WilliamsTrueheart FrazierChiara FranciniFabiolaOmero AntonuttiLudovicoColman DomingoWest Indian Post Office CustomerSergio AlbelliRodolfoJoe ChrestMP Doyle ellisMalcolm GoodwinHigginsAndre HollandPrivate NeedlesWalton GogginsCaptain NokesFabrizio SforzaMake Up - effectsJon KilikExec. ProducerGrady CoferSpecial EffectsIndstrial Light & MagicSpecial EffectsSpike LeeProducerAnita GibsonMake UpRoberto CicuttoProducerKim Taylor ColemanCastingJames McBrideSourceMatthew LibatiqueCinematographerCarlo PoggioliCostumesCristina OnoriSet DecoratorTerence BlanchardMusical ComposerDaniel Dominic AconSpecial EffectsMaurizio ArgentieriSound - mixerDonato TieppoArt DirectorGiuseppe DesiatoMake Up - prostheticCarlo SerafiniArt DirectorRenato AgostiniSpecial EffectsTonino ZeraProduction DesignerLuigi MusiniProducerFederico LaurentiMake UpFranco Maria SalamonStuntsBarry Alexander BrownEditorMarco Valerio PuginoExec. ProducerGiorgio AntoniniStuntsSteve KirshoffSpecial Effects2From the opening clips of John Wayne marshalling his all-white troops in the classic D-Day epic THE LONGEST DAY, it's clear that Spike Lee's important reminder of the so-called "Buffalo Soldiers" of the all-black 92 Infantry Division -- Americans of color who fought and died for their a country until the end of WWII -- has a bone to pick with the way the story has been told over the intervening years, particularly by Hollywood. And rightfully so. But while grateful for the history lesson, one wishes Lee's clunky adaptation of James McBride's celebrated novel was a much better movie.New York City, 1983. At a Harlem post office, an elderly, bespectacled clerk inexplicably shoots a man after he asks to purchase a 20-cent stamp. The gun the clerk uses is a WWII-era German Luger. Baffled, Detective Tony Ricci (John Turturro) orders his men to search the killer's apartment where they find a Purple Heart and the head of the 450-year-old marblePrimaverathat once stood on Florence's Ponte Santa Trinita before the bridge was destroyed by German troops. Intrigued, cub reporter Tim Boyle (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) visits the shooter in the psych ward and convinces him to tell the story behind the Primavera's long-missing head -- and why he murdered a man in cold-blood.Tuscany, Italy, 1944. After a disastrous attempt to cross the Serchio River that wends its way along the Gothic Line where deeply entrenched German troops have been battling Italian Partisan guerilla fighters, four black soldiers of the 92nd Infrantry Division find themselves stranded on the wrong side. Their predicament is largely the result of bigoted Lt. Claussen's (Ralph Palka) refusal to take seriously the word of "waiters and shoeshine boys" concerning their position, and now they're stuck with no way to go but forward. By the time Staff Sergeant Aubrey Stamps (Derek Luke), Sergeant Bishop Cummings (Michael Ealy), Puerto-Rican Corporal Hector Negron (Laz Alonso) and hulking Pfc Sam Train (Omar Benson Miller) reach the tiny Tuscan village of Colognora, their ranks also include Angelo (Matteo Sciabordi), the 8-year-old survivor of a terrible atrocity at the nearby village of St. Anna. For the past three years, Colognora has been under siege and most of the villagers -- with the exception of the fascist Ludovico (veteran Italian actor Omero Antonutti) -- are thrilled to see the Americans, regardless of their race. Angelo needs medical attention but as Ludovico's daughter, Renata (Omero Antonutti), warns them, the region is infested with German troops who are vigilantly searching for an AWOL German solider (Jan Pohl) and the renowned Partisan fighter Peppi Grotta (Pierfrancesco Favino), known locally as the "The Great Butterfly." And even if the way were clear, they're ordered to stay put by Lt. Claussen with whom they finally make radio contact. Claussen also orders them to capture and hold a German prisoner for interrogation, but soon after their job is done for them when Peppi and his fellow fighters arrive in Colognora with the AWOL POW in tow. Angelo, however, recognizes them both from what occurred at St. Anna.This is first Lee's first attempt at a war epic, but it feels like it's his very first film: What should have been an eloquent answer to the likes of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood -- with whom Lee justly took to task over the total absence of any black soldiers in THE FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS -- is instead a patchy war-time drama that only catches fire when it deals directly with Bishop's and Staples' conflicting views on what it means to risk their lives serving a country that still considers them no better than second-class citizens. The rest is filled with tin-ear dialogue, ham-fisted montage (they may be enemies, but they all pray to a Christian God), unintentionally laughable images, an amateurishly staged final shootout and inexplicable lapses. In a lengthy early scene, John Leguizamo is introduced as an American art dealer in Rome, but is never seen again. His total absence would have at least made this overlong film feel slightly shorter.leave a comment--Ken Fox The Devil Wears Prada772006PG-13U.S.109ColorComedy20th Century FoxFox 2000Wendy Finerman20th Century Fox4.547Robert VerdiFashion ReporterStanley TucciNigelJames CroninAmbassadorLindsay BricePR WomanAdrian GrenierNatePaul KeanySt. Regis ButlerAlyssa SutherlandClacker #2L.J. GanserMartyRori CannonGirl at PartyRebecca MaderJocelynJimena HoyosLuciaAlexie GilmoreClacker 31George C. WolfePaulSuzanne DengelCassidyRich SommerDougColleen DengelCarolineJames NaughtonStephanGisele BundchenSerena the Talking ClackerInes RiveroClacker in ElevatorSimon BakerChristian ThompsonDaniel SunjataJames HoltStan NewmanJohn FolgerEmily BluntEmilyJohn GrahamBook GuyWells DixonHenryStephanie SzostakJaqueline FolletRibor FeldmanIrv RavitzBridget HallHerselfValentino GaravaniHimselfHeidi KlumHerselfTracie ThomsLillyAnne HathawayAndy SachsDavide CallegatiMassimoDavid Marshall GrantRichard BarnesEric SeltzerRoyJohn RothmanEditorMeryl StreepMiranda PriestlyEvelyne NorazMake UpJoe Caracciolo Jr.Exec. ProducerFlorian BallhausCinematographerJess GonchorProduction DesignerLydia MarksSet DecoratorKaren RosenfeltExec. ProducerWendy FinermanProducerEllen LewisCastingLauren WeisbergerSourceRandall BalsmeyerSpecial EffectsPatricia FieldCostumesMark LivolsiEditorGeorge AguilarStuntsAline Brosh McKennaWriterT.J. O'MaraSound - mixerTom WarrenArt DirectorTheodore ShapiroMusical ComposerDavid FrankelDirectorMaya HardingeMake Up3There's a surprisingly sharp little sting hidden in this sleek throwback to old-fashioned Hollywood melodramas about sweet young things thrown into the lairs of hard-edged harpies who value their careers above all things womanly. Combined with Meryl Streep's outstanding performance as elegant virago Miranda Priestly, editrix extraordinare, the acid-tipped sliver of truth tucked into the flutter and frippery gives the comedy a chill that lingers longer than the small, knowing snickers. Fresh out of Northwestern University and convinced her future lies in serious journalism, coltish but unpolished Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway) lucks into the job "a million girls would die for": second assistant to the imperious queen bee of "Runway" magazine. Miranda is the "ne plus ultra" of bad bosses, ruthlessly selfish, mercurial, imperious, insanely demanding and just plain cruel. "Runway" staffers live in terror of her excoriating rages and scatter at the click-click-click sound of lethal stilettos in the hall, as though laser-eyed Miranda were capable of looking right through their cutting-edge frocks to pass judgment on plebeian panties. Andrea is found lacking on every level, from her schlubby sweaters to her tacky nickname —Andy, if you canimagine— and woeful ignorance of the semiotics of cerulean (and she thinks she's so smart!). Oh, and she's fat — at "Runway," a lanky size 6 is a full-blown chubbette. Andy learns the biz, with a little help — a very little help, truth be told — from Miranda's right-hand flunky, Nigel (Stanley Tucci), and hollow-eyed first-assistant Emily (Emily Blunt), but as her wardrobe grows trendier, her soul withers, pickled in a stew of hunger, celebrity worship and label addiction. Briskly directed bySex and the Cityveteran David Frankel, the movie is far better than the source, which was Lauren Weisberger's clunky, thinly fictionalized tale of her ordeal byVogueeditor Anna "Nuclear" Wintour. The trouble isn't that it's chick lit — Jane Austen wrote chick lit — but that it's a shallow compendium of brand names and whining. Streep is the answer to what ails it: Her magnificently nuanced Miranda is a monster of monumental proportions, across whose face ghostly glimpses of a fully realized person whomadeherself horrible flicker briefly. The sheer force of Streep's performance pulls the talented Hathaway up, and the bitter truth beneath the feathers, silk and sequins is simply that everyone pays for ambition, but dragon ladies pay double at the door.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Australia42008PG-13U.S.165ColorDramaBazmark Films20th Century Fox4.541Bryan BrownKing CarneyHugh JackmanThe DroverDavid WenhamNeil FletcherDavid GulpililKing GeorgeJack ThompsonKipling FlynnNicole KidmanLady Sarah AshleyRonald HarwoodWriterBaz LuhrmannWriterStuart BeattieWriter3.5It may interest readers to know that, for certain prominent movie databases, it is the official editorial position that the genre of "epic" be applied sparingly -- and almost never for new movies. This makes enough sense if you think about it: the great equalizer of CGI has changed the playing field, and there's no longer a feeling of grandness in the casts of thousands and exotic locales that once made movies likeThe Ten CommandmentsandLawrence of Arabialive up to their classification. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's still a shame -- at least in the case of Baz Luhrmann's 2008 filmAustralia, which is, in the classic sense of the word, epic.An ode to Luhrmann's home country,Australiatakes place during the early days of World War II -- a historical setting that, as in all good WWII movies, brews in the background until the third act, when stuff starts to blow up. The film opens with the prim and proper (but very ballsy) Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) defying all early-'40s conventions by ditching her aristocratic British estate to collect her skirt-chasing husband from a cattle station they own in the Australian outback. Said husband arranges to have the lady escorted from port to ranch by a cattle drover (Hugh Jackman), who goes by the creative nickname Drover. The cavalier Aussie takes Lady Ashley on a three-day ride through the desert en route to the station, and of course along the way, he shocks her left and right with his rough-and-tumble style -- as well as his egalitarian attitude toward the native people, who live in your basic state of colonial impoverished subjugation.Sarah's journey gets more complicated after they arrive at the cattle station, but it would take way too long to explain the rest of the plot, as the film clocks in at over two and a half hours. Basically, there's an evil, monopolizing cattle company, a beautiful orphaned Aboriginal child, a massive cattle drive by a few ragtag wranglers, a world war, an island full of children in danger, and Hugh Jackman with his shirt off. And yes, somewhere along the way, Sarah and Drover teach each other how to love again. The opposites-attract premise may sound old and stale, but it works perfectly here, where a less tried-and-true romantic formula would have just been confusing amid the rest of the sweeping story -- which spans years. In fact, it should probably be said that one of the reasonsAustraliaworks so well is that the story at its core is simple and solid. The enormous scale of the film's vision is what pushes that simple story toward moments of greatness, but it could still survive on its own as a romantic drama if it had to.It doesn't have to, though; Australia goes for the absolute limit in terms of scope. And let's not be coy -- size may not matter, but it still helps. The majesty of vast desert landscapes splaying out into the distant edges of the frame remind you every few minutes that this harsh, enigmatic, brutally gorgeous continent really is like nowhere else on earth. Luhrmann is also completely unabashed when it comes to weaving in themes about the tragically squandered beauty of Aboriginal culture. He dives headlong into his celebration of Australia's native peoples -- complete with their strange singing, their half-nakedness, and any other attribute likely to sit uneasily with cigar-chomping studio execs and corn-fed test audiences. And his commitment to the theme pays off -- even when that skinny elder tribesman pops up out of nowhere like Jim Morrison's imaginary Indian in Oliver Stone'sThe Doors, you're still totally on board, still believing in the magic, and still paying attention after 160 (very epic) minutes.leave a comment--Cammila Albertson Role Models122008RU.S.99ColorComedyUniversal513Paul RuddDannyChristopher Mintz-PlasseAugieBobb'e J. ThompsonRonnieElizabeth BanksBethJane LynchGayle SweenySeann William ScottWheelerPaul RuddWriterRuss T. AlsobrookCinematographerStephen LineweaverProduction DesignerScott StuberProducerEric KissackEditorKen MarinoWriterDan KolsrudExec. ProducerKevin ConstantArt DirectorTimothy DowlingSourceCraig WedrenMusical ComposerAndrew Z. DavisExec. ProducerW. Blake HerronSourceDavid WainWriterWilliam SherakExec. ProducerKathy NelsonMusic DirectorJason ShumanExec. ProducerMatt SeigelExec. ProducerLuke GreenfieldProducerMary ParentProducer3Comedy director David Wain has proven himself in the past with exercises in manic, over-the-top, ADD madness likeWet Hot American SummerandThe Ten, and while his 2008 filmRole Modelsdoesn't strive for that level of slap-your-mama absurdism, it does consistently remain both totally nuts and totally hilarious.Wain gives the movie its initial boost by casting Paul Rudd in the starring role as Danny, a disgruntled spokesman for an energy drink called Minotaur. Rudd has been stealing the show in comedies for years, showing up to briefly spike the laughs-per-minute ratio in everything from Apatow flicks to Will Ferrell vehicles, but seeing him take the lead is truly gratifying -- and, more importantly, funny. Seann William Scott (still known mainly as Stiffler fromAmerican Pie) actually does a more than adequate job of playing the number two in this buddy film as well, taking on his usual role of the simple, horny creature with a crappy post-college apartment and a zillion creative ways to talk about boobies. In this case, this creature comes in the form of a guy named Wheeler, who tours around with Danny to speaking engagements wearing a big, puffy minotaur costume. He pretty much likes the gig, but Danny gets steadily more and more despondent over the lack of meaning in his life, and eventually tells an auditorium full of middle-schoolers to stem the tide of life's unyielding mediocrity and get started on hard drugs good and early. Then he and Wheeler crash the Minotaur-mobile into a statue of a horse.Danny's lawyer and recent ex-girlfriend, Beth (played by Elizabeth Banks, the go-to girl for seemingly every comedy made since the start of the millennium), manages to get the guys out of serving jail time by reducing their sentence to 150 hours of community service, which the judge stipulates must be carried out at Sturdy Wings, a Big Brothers-type organization that partners problem kids with guiding older pals. Of course, Danny ends up with a fantasy-obsessed, live-action role-playing kid named Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, hopefully still known mainly as McLovin' -- for the rest of his life) and Wheeler gets Ronnie, the quintessential angry black 11-year-old (played by Bobb'e J. Thompson, a kid who spews such earnest and authentic profanity that you'd swear he's really a 30-year-old with one of those Gary Coleman-type growth disorders). The premise is simple enough, but the execution is comedy gold. It doesn't try to push the envelope or bury a bunch of pretentious subtext under the humor, it just hands the idea over to the creative folks on either side of the camera and lets them whip it into a mile-high pile of spot-on jokes about D&D nerds, relatively clever dick jokes, and kick-ass running character gags (read: Jane Lynch).The story does eventually succumb to the nowde rigeurstandard of throwing in a sappy, guileless happy ending to compensate for the rest of the movie's balls-out vulgarity, but it doesn't feel any more shoehorned in here than it does anywhere else. In fact, the underlying mushiness inRole Modelsotherwise pops up in the movie in really delightful ways, like the storyline about role-playing dorks. The movie makes fun of their costumes and PVC swords, but in the end, it's totally sympathetic -- even celebratory -- about a bunch of kids doing what makes them happy. The heroes might storm the climactic battle in somewhat unorthodox outfits (which it would be a crime to spoil), but by this point, they've won you over with plenty of crudeness and satire and sodomy jokes. And besides, it's fun to play pretend. After all, that's why we go to movies in the first place.leave a comment--Cammila Albertson The Searchers891956NRU.S.119ColorWesternWarner Bros.Warner Bros.4.59Antonio MorenoEmilio FigueroaMae MarshWoman at FortPete Grey EyesComancheAway LunaComancheJack Tin HornComancheLana WoodDebbie as a ChildMany Mules SonComancheExactly Sonnie BetsuieComancheOlive CareyMrs. JorgensenCliff LyonsCol. GreenhillJack PennickSergeantWalter CoyAaron EdwardsBeulah ArchulettaLookBilly YellowComancheKen CurtisCharlie McCorryPipe Line BegisheComanchePippa ScottLucy EdwardsRuth CliffordDeranged Woman at FortPeter MamakosFuttermanFeather Hat Jr.ComancheNatalie WoodDebbie EdwardsChuck RobersonMan at WeddingBob Many MulesComancheWilliam SteeleNesbyVera MilesLaurie JorgensenHarry Black HorseComancheWard BondCapt. Rev. Samuel ClaytonSmile White SheepComancheDan BorzageAccordionist at FuneralHarry Carey Jr.Brad JorgensenPatrick WayneLt. GreenhillShooting StarComancheDorothy JordanMartha EdwardsJohn QualenLars JorgensenJohn WayneEthan EdwardsRobert LeydenBenHank WordenMose HarperJeffrey HunterMartin PawleyHenry BrandonChief ScarJack MurrayEditorJames BaseviArt DirectorVictor A. GangelinSet DecoratorAlan LeMaySourceWinton C. HochCinematographer - VistaVision, TechnicolorFrank S. NugentWriterPatrick FordAssoc. ProducerC.V. WhitneyProducerFrank HotalingArt DirectorMax SteinerMusical ComposerMerian C. CooperExec. ProducerJohn FordDirectorGeorge BrownSpecial EffectsAnn PeckCostumesFrank BeetsonCostumes5"What makes a man to wander?/What makes a man to roam?/What makes a man leave bed and board and turn his back on home?/Ride away, ride away, ride away."This sad and beautiful song accompanies the opening credits of what may be the finest and most ambitious film from director John Ford, America's premier poet of the Western. Part of what makes this classic film so remarkable is that these questions are never answered directly--an oddity for aproduct of Hollywood where loose ends are rarely allowed. This is the ultimate cult film for the new Hollywood. It is quoted and alluded to in numerous films such as HARDCORE, TAXI DRIVER, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, and STAR WARS.As THE SEARCHERS begins, we hear the extraordinarily beautiful strains of Max Steiner's score over darkness. A cabin door opens to reveal the harsh beauty of the arid Monument Valley in the distance. The silhouette of a frontier woman moves into the doorway. Far beyond we see a tiny figure onhorseback approaching. "Ethan?" queries the woman uncertainly. The figure dismounts and walks toward the house. The woman is Martha Edwards (Dorothy Jordan), the wife of Ethan's brother. She is joined on the porch by her husband, Aaron (Walter Coy), their teenaged daughter, Lucy (Pippa Scott),10-year-old Debbie (Lana Wood), and teenaged Ben (Robert Lyden). Ethan's clothes are filthy and he wears a faded Confederate coat. The children chant "Uncle Ethan! Uncle Ethan!" Ethan Edwards has finally come home--three years after the end of the Civil War.John Wayne gives the performance of his career as Ethan Edwards, one of the most intriguing characters the American cinema has given us. Ethan is a mysterious obsessive man who rides in from the wastelands of Monument Valley into a small frontier farm settled by his brother years earlier. He hasbeen missing since the end of the Civil War in which he fought for the Confederacy. He never turned up at the surrender to give up his sword and saber. He is also inexplicably carrying a large quantity of gold and, in the words of the local captain of the Texas Rangers, Reverend Samuel Clayton(Ward Bond), Ethan "fits a lot of descriptions."The last family member to arrive is Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter). Now nearly grown, Martin was saved years ago by Ethan when his parents were slaughtered by Indians. Ethan left him in the care of Aaron, who has raised him as his own son, but because Martin is one-eighth Cherokee, Ethan nowtreats him as a boarder rather than as one of the family.The tranquility of the Edwards' lives is shattered when the local Commanche tribe goes on the warpath. Most of the men are lured away from the farm and the Edwards' farm is attacked. Most of the family is brutally murdered and the two daughters are abducted. The men form a search party and go offin hot pursuit. The ravaged body of the older girl is found and buried while the search for Debbie continues. When the winter snows come, most of the men turn back. Ethan is undaunted by this temporary setback. He and Martin resolve to continue the search and they do--for seven years. As themonths drag on, Martin is amazed by Ethan's knowledge of the Indians' ways and his ability to read their signs and speak their language, but comes to realize that his guide is also a fanatical racist who intends to kill Debbie when they find her because she has become a "squaw."THE SEARCHERS is an extremely rich film that continues to reveal new nuances with each viewing. The genre's traditional opposition between "Civilization" and "Wilderness" has rarely been as powerfully represented dramatically or visually. Ethan sees himself as an agent of civilization but hisskills ally him with the forces of wilderness. He can find nowhere where he can be at peace and accepted. His difficulty in accepting a Native American as part of his family mirrors America's tensions regarding civil rights and integration in the 1950s. In a genre that has often be justlycondemned for its racism, THE SEARCHERS--while hardly politically correct by modern standards--was a major breakthrough for Ford, Wayne, and the genre. The traditional Western hero and the Cavalry is shown in an unusually critical light. Furthermore the Native American point of view is consideredfor a change. By balancing points of view, Ford deepens and informs our understanding of the story. Equally well managed is the film's balance of drama and humor. THE SEARCHERS is essentially a tragedy, and without its humorous passages the film would have been almost too grim to bear (as was AlanLeMay's novel). The humor grows out of and illuminates character; even the hard-driven Ethan reveals a sense of irony and wit.Ford's poetic visual sensibility has never been more richly demonstrated. The film provides an opportunity for numerous striking portraits of John Wayne set against the western vistas in color and widescreen. If you had to pick an ultimate Western still, it would probably come from this film. THESEARCHERS is also that rare sound film in which more is revealed through facial expression, physical stance, and subtle gesture than through dialogue. Deep and complex insights into characters are all beautifully conveyed by body language. All in all, this is about as good as Hollywood filmmakinggets. A deeply emotional experience that is also a grand entertainment, THE SEARCHERS is a true American masterpiece.leave a comment Eagle Eye142008PG-13U.S.118ColorThrillerDreamWorks SKGDreamWorks4.572Michael PotterDoorkeeperCylk CozartSectran Courier #1Craig HarrisMan on TrainSusan Jasmin ArnonWoman in Ballochi VillageJ. Patrick McCormackPentagon General CouncilGerald DowneyConsole TechSebastian TillingerPetagon AgentShia LaBeoufJerry ShawKatija PevecTeenage PageEnver GjokajRemote PilotCharles CarrollMr. MillerPeggy RoederForensics Agent #1Darish KashaniSgt. RourkeJosh ToddConvenience Store ClerkManny PerrySectran Courier #2Eiko NijoMasakoMichael Daniel CassadyWhite House StafferBrad GrunbergCircuit City SalesmanBob MorriseyDirector of IntelligenceRick ChambersNewscaster #4Nigel GibbsCallister AideMadison MasonThe PresidentPeter GailPFPA OfficerRalph GarmanNewscaster #3Jorge-Luis PalloIntel Officer #1McKay StewartF-16 PilotLynn CohenMrs. WierzbowskiSalah SaleaFuneral ChanterMichael KostroffJewelerLesley StahlNewscaster #1Brenda GoodbreadSpeaker of the HouseJonathan ChaseSuited AgentBill SmitrovichAdmiral ThompsonAnthony AziziRanim KhalidFahim FazliAl KoheiChase PennyCapitol Policeman #1Elijah MorelandGuard at Library of CongressDavid HeckelSquadron CommanderTony FloresTeam LeaderDavid Grant WrightSecret Service Agent #1Lorenzo EduardoKwameCameron BoyceSam HolomanTerry WaltersWoman in PriusKen ShocknekNewscaster #6Rolando MolinaTSA AgentStephen SimonSecret Service Agent #2Donnie JeffcoatFBI AgentMatt DeCaroStranger at AirportSharon TayNewscaster #5William SadlerWilliam ShawStacey ScowleyWaitressJarod EinsohnReaper Control TechColby FrenchConsole TechLeyna NguyenNewscaster #2Rosario DawsonZoe PerezEric Christian OlsenCraigEthan EmbryAgent Toby GrantJudith MorelandSecurity Attendant at AirportJimmie AkinsTransit Cop on TrainDavid RowdenSectran Truck DriverLindsay Corinn LuechtGirl on TrainAnthony MackieMajor William BowmanMichael MaizeMaster SergeantSean KinneyJTAC Team LeaderKevin QuinnPentagon AideDeborah StrangJerry's MomJamie MartzNorthcom Control TechGreg CollinsTwo-Star GeneralMadylin SweetenBeckyMichelle MonaghanRachel HollomanRoger GrohExecutive Aide to CallisterDavid ArakelyanBallochi KidJames C. GohrickJames GohrickBrittany IshibashiRachel's Friend #2Nicol PaoneRachel's Friend #1Brandon CarusoBoy on TrainGary HoustonForensics Agent #2Webster WilliamsCommittee HeadMichael ChicklisDefense Secretary CallisterDean CudworthCapitol Policeman #2Bill Bob ThorntonAgent Thomas MorganKristina VogelMake UpPat CrowleyProducerEdward McDonnellProducerNaaman MarshallArt DirectorMary Tricia WoodCastingTom SandersProduction DesignerBrian TylerMusical ComposerJohn GlennWriterD.J. CarusoDirectorDariusz WolskiCinematographerSteven SpielbergExec. ProducerTravis Adam WrightWriterGregg SmrzStuntsRoberto OrciProducerDan McDermottWriterRizelle MendozaAssoc. ProducerJim BerneySpecial EffectsPeter ChesneySpecial EffectsAlex KurtzmanProducerMarie-Sylvie DeveauCostumesKevin KavanaughArt DirectorJennifer L. SmithCastingCindy CarrSet DecoratorJim PageEditorSean HowarthArt DirectorHillary SeitzWriterKirk FrancisSound - mixer1.5Noisy, derivative and thoroughly preposterous even by the standards of 21st-century action movies, this sci-fi tinged thriller pits a pair of ordinary folks against a disembodied voice that orders them to do very bad things.Tired of competing with his brilliant twin brother, Ethan, Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) opts out of the race, dropping out of Stamford to take a series of dead-end jobs and bum around the world. He's working at a Chicago copy shop when he's abruptly called home for Ethan's funeral. After the inevitable run in with his dad, who clearly thinks the wrong son was run down by a truck, Ethan returns home to find his bank account crammed with cash, his apartment piled high with military gear and a strange woman on his cell phone, telling him to do as he's told or he'll be arrested as a terrorist. Jerry is still waffling when the FBI's counter-terrorist unit kicks in his door . While Jerry is being sweated by Agent Thomas Morgan (Billy Bob Thornton), Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) is spending a night on the town with her girlfriends. A single mother, Rachel has just put her eight-year-old, Sam (Cameron Boyce), on a train to Washington DC, where his school band is going to play at the Kennedy Center, and is enjoying her first break in ages. She too gets a call from the same female stranger, telling her that if she fails to follow directions, Sam will die. The stranger engineers Jerry's escape and throws him together with Rachel, now driving a spiffy Porsche Cayenne, and the race is on. Can Rachel and Jerry figure out who's pulling their strings and what they're being manipulated into doing before Morgan catches up to them?A string of elaborate and utterly unbelievable stunts sequences wrapped around a tangle of timely concerns – the roots of terrorism, the price of big-brother surveillance, the pitfalls of super-technologies and the question of who should decide where a nation's best interests lie – this big-budget thriller's tenuous claim to torn-from-today's headlines believability hinges on whether you buy the identity of the mysterious caller, which is revealed halfway through the film. Suffice it to say that the Forbin Project got there first, and more convincingly.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Atl632006PG-13U.S.102ColorComedyDramaOverbrook EntertainmentWarner BrothersWarner Brothers4.535Ashley RaglandTeenage GirlZoe MyersPreppy FemaleCameron GippFamous CustomerAlbert DanielsBrooklynTip HarrisRashad SwannVanessa PetroskyHollyMonicaWaffle House WaitressTyree SimmonsDJ DramaLonette McKeePriscilla GarnettChristopher Ray Robinson IIAnt's FriendTasha SmithGayleDeon RamoneBig RonnieGregory OliverCascade Security GuardJackie LongEsquireRic ReitzMr. SappRoderick MosleyDrug CustomerNick HudaniMr. SartoniBrandon Bernard BentonStudent in ClassroomLauren LondonNew NewJameelah NuriddinYoung GirlOnira SatterwhiteSexy Young GirlJazze PhaDJBart HansardDeputyMarkice MooreAustinWayne HardnettBone CrusherKeith DavidJohn GarnettMykelti WilliamsonUncle GeorgeAlvin Lee FlemingSkatemanApril ClarkTondieAntwan Andre PattonMarcusAlmario ThomasDanteMalikaStarBlazeThugMonique HarrisSexy WomanLaparee YoungPastorKhadijahVedaTae HeckardTonyaJason WeaverTeddyAdam BoyerBartenderLauren Leah MitchellJanice RawlingsAyesha NgaujahCounter GirlGreg AndrewsJayJorge Luis AbreuDoctorEvan RossAntwone "Ant" SwannMargo MoorerMs. JacksonMarie McAdooFat GirlSteven R. EwingFiremanChris RobinsonDirectorAaron ZigmanMusical ComposerDevyne StephensChoreographyJonathan ShortArt DirectorCrashCinematographerKathleen TonkinSpecial EffectsTina Gordon ChismWriterDallas AustinProducerAntwone FisherSourceDenise TunnellMake UpGus WilliamsStuntsRobb BuonoProduction DesignerTionne WatkinsExec. ProducerJames LassiterProducerDavid BlackburnEditorTimothy M. BourneExec. ProducerMary EllisSound - mixerLeah Daniels ButlerCastingJody GersonProducerWill SmithProducerKimberly HardinCastingNicole SelmoSet DecoratorShawn BartonCostumes3Loosely based on the childhood experiences of producers Dallas Austin (DRUMLINE) and Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins (of the rap/hip-hop trio TLC), this upbeat teen drama unfolds in Mechanicsville, a rough South Atlanta neighborhood where the Cascade roller rink provides restless teens with a place to hang out, show off and escape the sometimes harsh realities of their lives. Orphaned 17-year-old Rashad Swann (rapper Tip "T.I." Harris) is shouldering more responsibility than most high-school students. He and his 15-year-old brother, Ant (Evan Ross, son of Motown legend Diana Ross), live with their Uncle George (Mykelti Williamson), who never lets them forget that he kept them out of foster care and assumed their parents' mortgage. After school, Rashad and Ant "help" George clean offices, which actually meanstheyclean while George trims his toenails at some unsuspecting cubicle-slave's desk. Smart, disciplined and serious, Rashad secretly dreams of becoming a comic-strip artist, but looking out for Ant, a restless, indifferent student who's dangerously vulnerable to the cash-and-flash posturing of local dealer Marcus (Antwan Andre Patton, Outkast's Big Boi), eats up much of his time and energy. Rashad lives for Sunday nights at Cascade, where he and his friends are stars in the firmament of the local skate scene. Loyal, good-natured Brooklyn (Albert Daniels) is the clown of the group, while ambitious Esquire (Jackie Long), who worked the system to get into an exclusive public school, works at the local country club and hopes to attend an Ivy League college. But the finances are daunting and he needs a stellar letter of recommendation from the kind of influential pillar of the community no one in his crowd knows. High-school dropout Teddy (Jason Weaver), who keeps quiet about his age but is clearly older than the others, lives with his mom and fits "grills" — gold and gem-studded dental caps — at a local strip mall. And then there's ghetto-fabulous roller girl New-New (Lauren London), the best thing that's happened to Rashad in years and not at all what she seems; for all her weaves and door-knocker earrings, she's actually the pampered daughter of wealthy businessman John Garnett (Keith David). Grittier than the sweetly nostalgic, '70s-era ROLL BOUNCE (2005), this character-driven ensemble piece has the same sense of optimism and pulses with contemporary hip-hop rhythms. The story is familiar, but terrific performances and a vivid sense of place elevate it above the average teen-oriented picture.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh The Boondock Saints542000RU.S.110ColorCrimeThrillerB.D.S.Brood SyndicateChris BrinkerFriedIndicanLloyd SeganFranchise Pictures4.524Ron Jeremy HyattVincenzo LipazziRobert B. KennedyMedia Man #2Brian MahoneyDetective DuffyBill CraigMcGerldnAnthony ChrysostomJudgeCarmen DistefanoAugustusPat RiccioMafia ManLizz AlexanderVirginal WomanJoe PingueGenoRoberta AngelicaForensic Woman #1Darren MarsmanPimpDorothy-Marie JonesRosengurtleKym KristalieBeat-up WomanChristopher FlocktonMr. CobbNorman ReedusMurphy MacManusKevin ChapmanChappyChris BrinkerMafiosa #1William YoungMonsignorDon CarmodyMafiosa #2Gina SorellRayvleMorris SantiaDrug DealerNicholas PascoMojoDerek MurchieMedia Man #1Layton MorrisonVladdyRobert PembertonMackle PennyRyan ParksLangleyTom BarnettIrish Gun DealerJames BinkleyOfficer NewmanGlenn Marc SilotRuebenDick CallahanSalMatthew ChaffeeOfficer ChaffeyAngelo TucciVinnieElizabeth BrownReporter #2Scott GriffithIvan CheckovJohnathan HigginsOfficer MitchellPeter WindremReporter #1Richard FitzpatrickThe ChiefWillem DafoePaul SmeckerSergio Di ZioOlyMarkus PariloSick Mob ManJimmy TingleThe PriestJeffrey R. SmithBartenderGary NicholsonCorrectional OfficerSean Patrick FlaneryConnor MacManusBob MarleyDetective GreenlyDavid FerryDetective DollyDavid Della RoccoRoccoJeanna FineDancerLauren PiechDonnaBilly ConnollyIl DuceGerard ParkesDocVictor PedtchenkThe Fat ManRobert Vernon EatonOfficer LangleyCarlo RotaYakavettaJeff DannaMusical ComposerTroy DuffyWriterAshok AmritrajExec. ProducerMichael KavanaghSpecial EffectsAndrew StevensExec. ProducerSarah CasperAssoc. ProducerCraig LathropArt DirectorLora KennedyCastingMark McGarryCo-ProducerElie SamahaProducerChris BrinkerProducerMario G. CacioppaMake UpLloyd SeganProducerSteve LucescuStuntsAdam KaneCinematographerRichard ZinmanCo-ProducerMary McLeodCostumesRobert De VicoProduction DesignerBill DeRondeEditorRobert FriedProducerPeter ShewchukSound2A classic illustration of a movie whose production history is more interesting than it is. Self-taught, first-time writer/director Troy Duffy, a 26-year-old New Hampshire native, snagged a sweet one with Miramax on the basis of his virtriolic "sickfantasy" (his words) script, inspired by one glimpse too many of L.A. lowlife. The story was that not only would Duffy direct the picture on location in Boston, but his band would do the musicandMiramax would buy the bar where he'd been working and give Duffy partial ownership. Next thingyou know, Patrick Swayze and Stephen Dorff were cast and Paramount was stepping in with a tempting offer for Duffy'snexttwo projects. Then the Miramax deal collapsed, leaving Duffy to shoot in Toronto with indie financing; slated for theatrical release, the finished film slipped intovideo stores with less fanfare than some degenerate POLTERGEIST sequel. What a dramatic arc! Now, to the movie: Boston-based, working-class, Irish Catholic brothers Connor and Murphy McManus (Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus), who mysteriously speak five languages and sport "veritas" and"aequitas" ("truth" and "justice") tattoos on their hands, kill a pair of Russian mafiosi in self-defense and under utterly bizarre circumstances. The local cops are baffled by the crime scene, but gay, New York-based FBI agent Smecker (Willem Dafoe, in one of the worst performances of hiscareer) waltzes in, figures out what must have happened and fingers Connor and Murphy. The siblings, meanwhile, decide they've been called by God to wash the scum off the streets and embark on an increasingly baroque, vigilante killing spree. Smecker, always one step behind, begins to wonderwhether he should just let them take out the bad guys. Duffy's models are clearly snarky, ultraviolent Tarantino-esque crime pictures, but this movie's cleverness is never quite on a par with its bloodlust.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Live Free Or Die Hard782007PG-13U.S.130ColorActionThriller20th Century Fox20th Century Fox4.522Allen MaldonadoGoateeChristina ChangTaylorHoward Tyrone FergusonDC CopRegina McKee RedwingNearby AgentGerald DowneyHoover AgentMary Elizabeth WinsteadLucyZeljko IvanekMolinaRick CramerMP RodriguezCyril RaffaelliRandTimothy OlyphantThomas GabrielEthan FlowerTraderEdward James GageOn Duty PP OperatorKevin SmithWarlockChristopher PalermoDelJim CantafioDeli OwnerDiana GettingerFBI DispatcherCliff CurtisBowmanJoe GeretyJack ParryTim RussChuck SummerKurt David AndersonMillerNadine EllisTellerDavid WalrodDeli CustomerSung KangRajJohn RehaSlacker KidJake McDormanJimTony ColittiChief Hazmat AgentYancey AriasAgent JohnsonRosemary KnowerMrs. KaludisBruce WillisJohn McClaneYorgo ConstantineRussoJustin LongMatt FarrellChris Ellis Jr.ScalvinoMatt O'LearyClayVito PietanzaDC CopMelissa KnowlesFreeway ReporterAndrew FriedmanCasperMaggie QMaiTim deZarnPolice SergeantJonathan SadowskiTreyEdoardo CostaEmersonJohn LacyEMTDennis DepewDC CopNick JainePhone GuyDavid MarconiWriterNicolas De TothEditorJohn CarlinSourceLen WisemanDirectorThomas Elder-GroebeSpecial EffectsTricia WoodCastingCameron FrankleySoundZoltan ElekMake UpDenise WingateCostumesMark BombackWriterTroy SizemoreArt DirectorGerald QuistMake UpPatrick McClungSpecial EffectsPatrick TatopoulosProduction DesignerSimon DugganCinematographerDeborah AquilaCastingAnrold RifkinExec. ProducerMarco BeltramiMusical ComposerRobert GouldSet DecoratorMichael FottrellProducerStephen James EadsCo-ProducerRoderick ThorpSourceMike MeinardusMake UpSteve NelsonSound - mixerWilliam WisherExec. ProducerBrad MartinStunts2.5The key to enjoying the fourth installment in this testosterone-fueled franchise is accepting that it's a live-action cartoon that makes no effort to conform to the laws of gravity, plausibility or common sense — it's enough that itseemsto hang together during the infrequent quiet moments when thinking is possible. Even the title — a play on New Hampshire's notoriously belligerent state motto — doesn't make a lick of sense. But it soundscool, and that's what counts. We last saw blue-collar cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) giving a cackling German terrorist what-for in DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (1995), and 12 years later he's older, crankier and a lot less gung ho about hurling himself into the fray. But somebody's gotta do what a man's gotta do, and McClane is the man.It's July 3 and the FBI needs help rounding up the usual hackers, including scruffy, authority-hating smartass Matt Farrell (Justin Long). All McClane has to do is drive Matt to D.C. and hand him off — simple stuff until the bullets and insanely athletic baddies (including Frenchparkour-isteCyril Raffaelli) start flying. "Is the circus in town?" McClane howls. Well,yeah, complete with incredible flying cars, heavily armed acrobats, a high-kicking kung-fu cutie, a black-clad ringmaster orchestrating Armageddon for fun and profit, and a blue-suited swarm of government clowns whose impotent efforts to contain the spreading disaster provide the film's easy laughs. By the time McClane and the geek reach Washington, chaos is unfolding: Someone is systematically disabling or shutting down air-traffic control systems, the street-light and electrical grids of major cities, and the country's telecommunications network. "It's a fire sale," whispers the awestruck Matt, a total shut-down, and he unwittingly helped it along when he wrote that mutating encryption program for an anonymous, sultry-voiced employer. With federal agencies blundering around like drunken monkeys, it falls to McClane — an analog weapon in a digital war — and his reluctant sidekick to find the man behind the pandemonium. Their quarry: former government-security expert Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant), who, in the wake of 9/11, advised his bosses that America was pathetically vulnerable to computer terrorism and was repaid with total career ruin. And we all know what happens next: McClane blows stuff up (notably the helicopter he takes out with a fire hydrant and a stolen cop-car-turned-flaming-missile), battles the kung-fu cutie (Maggie Q) in an SUV that's hanging down an elevator shaft, goes mano a mano with a fighter jet, and pursues Thomas, who's not only tried to short-circuit America into the Stone Age but also had the audacity to kidnap McClane's estranged daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).Directed by propman turned filmmaker Len Wiseman (UNDERWORLD), it's brainlessly exhilarating until the fighter-jet scene, at which point the high-octane idiocy becomes too preposterous to bear... and there's still a solid half hour to go.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Tropic Thunder272008RU.S.107ColorComedyWarDreamWorksRed Hour FilmsParamount4.529Danny McBrideCodyBrandon T. JacksonAlpa ChinoJay BaruchelKevin SanduskySteve CooganDamien CockburnBen StillerTugg SpeedmanReggie LeeByongRobert Downey Jr.Kirk LazarusNick NolteFour Leaf TaybackMatthew McConaugheyRick PeckJack BlackJeff "Fats" PortnoyBill HaderRob SlolomTrieu TranTruTom CruiseLee GrossmanDan WebsterArt DirectorKathy DriscollCastingEtan CohenWriterBrian TaylorCo-ProducerGreg HaydenEditorJohn TollCinematographerMichael OwensSpecial EffectsDaniel B. ClancySet DecoratorGerald QuistMake UpJason OliverSound - recordistBen StillerProducerEric McLeodProducerCarlton ColemanMake Up - effectsKatrissa PetersonSpecial EffectsJustin TherouxExec. ProducerRichard L. JohnsonArt DirectorFrancine MaislerCastingTheodore ShapiroMusical ComposerMarlene StewartCostumesBrad MartinStuntsJeff MannProduction DesignerStuart CornfeldProducer3When is a bone-headed rumble-in-the-jungle more than just a dumb action movie? When it's also a pretty sharp, knowingly excessive satire of the industry that churns them out."Tropic Thunder" -- ImagiCorp studio's adaptation of 'Nam hero John "Four Leaf" Tayback's (Nick Nolte) POW memoir that's currently being shot on location in Vietnam -- is already way over-budget and a month behind schedule, even though the film has only been in production for five days. The film's rookie director, Brit Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan), blames his ensemble of ego-clashing, out-of-control stars and their inability to take direction for the sinking of the whole project. Damien's star is Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller, who also cowrote and directed), an actor of obviously limited talent whose once-popular, now ludicrous "Scorcher" action franchise has clearly run out of gas. Tugg's previous foray into drama, the embarrassingly bad "Simple Jack," in which he played an intellectually challenged man who can talk to animals, has recently been voted worst movie. Ever. Speedman's costar is Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.), the Australian actor whose commitment to his craft has lead him to take on such "risky," Oscar-grabbing roles as a gay monk in Fox Searchlight's bold "Satan's Alley," as well as undergo a number of startling physical transformations: For "Tropic Thunder," Kirk has gone through a controversial "pigmentation alteration" procedure that has essentially transformed his face into that of an African-American man, albeit one who talks and acts like Carl Weathers in FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE. And making their debut as "serious" actors are two personalities not known for their acting chops: Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), a drug-addicted, gross-out comedian who single-handedly played an entire overweight, flatulent family in the popular comedy "Fatties" ("Fatties: Fart 2" is already in the can, so to speak), and rapper Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson) who, in addition to movies, is also branching out into the beverage market with his Booty Sweat energy drink. After he is chewed a brand-new rear orifice by ImagiCorp's Scott Rudin-esque chief Les Grossman (Tom Cruise, virtually unrecognizable in makeup and padding), Damien takes a note from "Four Leaf" himself: Cockburn air-lifts himself, his four leads -- plus newcomer Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel) -- into a remote valley where they'll have no choice but to follow his direction. There he'll shoot the rest of the movie guerilla style, having already rigged the thick jungle with small cameras and remote-controlled explosives courtesy of pyromaniacal special-effects whiz Cody (Danny McBride). What Damian doesn't realize until it's too late is that the location he's chosen is dangerously close to the notorious Golden Triangle where heroin producing poppies are farmed -- and fiercely protected -- by heavily armed guard who assume these costumed actors are U.S. DEA agents. Within moments of landing war breaks out, and the cast of "Tropic Thunder" finds itself in the middle of a very real firefight with some very real bullets.Written by Stiller, Justin Theroux and Mike Judge cohort Etan Cohen, the film opens with a brilliant conceit: The three main actors are introduced via a hilarious series of fake trailers for their latest movies, while Alpa Chino appears in an ad for Booty Sweat. The movie is funniest when it sticks closest to Hollywood satire, skewering back-lot sized egos and the movie cliches that it also delivers, only with tongue obviously in cheek. The set-up is a little incoherent and like the movies spoofed it all gets to be a bit too much. But a lot of the film looks great and is pretty funny. Downey is particularly good as a serious actor who refuses to break character until he does the DVD commentary, and Cruise is downright scary. It's the creepiest -- and most entertaining -- performance since his unforgettable appearance in that Scientology video.leave a comment--Ken Fox Transporter 2252005PG-13U.S.88ColorActionMartial Arts20th Century Fox20th Century Fox4.514Liv Davalos MaierTV News AnnouncerShelah RhoulhacNurseFrancois BerleandTarconiHeath KeltsSecurity AgentGregg WeinerTipovJason FlemyngDimitriMichael HouseCar JackerJeff ChaseVasilyMax OsterweisPhone's ManAdam FaldettaCar JackerErnest Harden Jr.Billings AideDamaris JustamanteReceptionistGregg DavisTechie at BillingsLaurence GormezanoTV New AnnouncerPaul TeiTechie in VanRaymond TongRastamanAlessandro GassmanGianniAmber VallettaAudrey BillingsMarty WrightCommanderChris CampbellSecurity AgentAnnaLynneCar Jacking GirlSerafin FalconSniperKeith DavidStappletonKate NautaLolaShannon BriggsMaxHunter ClaryJack BillingsGeorge KapetanDr. SonovitchTim PowellMarshall at Robot SiteElie ThompsonCar JackerJason StathamFrank MartinMarc MacaulayMarshall BrownDoug MacKinnonMarshall SmithRobert SmallGovernment DoctorAndy HorneDr. KoblinMatthew ModineMr. BillingsTom DerekMarshall at StakeoutBill WilsonAgent at Billings HouseJim CampbellRobot TechReggie PierreCar JackerTim WareHoffmanDavid LaiAssoc. ProducerTerry MillerExec. ProducerKevin HarrisSpecial EffectsAlexandre AzariaMusical ComposerDiane MaurnoMake UpBobbie ReadCostumesChristine Lucas-NavarroEditorBarbara PetersonSet DecoratorEd ArenasCastingLuc BessonProducerRobert Mark KamenWriterVincent TabaillonEditorC. Mitchell AmundsenCinematographerElayne KeratsisAssoc. ProducerLouis LeterrierAssoc. ProducerArtie MalesciStuntsSteven ChasmanProducerMelissa HuschensonCastingCorey YuenChoreography - fights choreographerDominique LacourSound - mixerMark HarringtonProduction DesignerJonah LoopSpecial Effects1.5THE TRANSPORTER (2002), tailored by French writer-director Luc Besson to the stone-faced, gravel-voiced persona of U.K. diver-turned-model Jason Statham, was a singularly stupid action juggernaut whose breakneck pace almost, if not quite, mitigated its unrepentant ridiculousness. The sequel is a live-action Road Runner cartoon, which is a criticism to the degree that you think story, characterization and some fidelity (no matter how tenuous) to the laws of gravity are important. Man in Black-and-White Frank Martin (Statham), a former special-ops agent turned "transporter" for hire, has taken an unlikely temporary gig chauffeuring the small son (Hunter Clary) of Miami-based drug czar Billings (Matthew Modine) and his unhappy wife, Audrey (Amber Valletta, whose transition from modeling to acting is more a matter of terminology than fact). When the boy is kidnapped, Frank suspects there's more to the matter than ransom money, and sets about figuring out what the child's abductors are up to, even as the FBI predicates its investigation on the assumption that he was in on the crime. Frank is right, of course; Russian scientists, Colombian narcotics cartels, a bio-engineered virus and an upcoming conference of antidrug officials from around the world are involved. Frank is forced to go head to head against oily mercenary Gianni (Alessandro Gassman, whose father, veteran actor Vittorio, was know as "the Italian Laurence Olivier") and gun-slinging, skanky scanties-clad überbitch Lola (model Katie Nauta), who performs miraculous feats of acrobatic mayhem in sky-high heels. His only allies are Audrey and his old friend, small-town French police inspector Tarconi (Francois Berleand, reprising his role from the first film), who had the misfortune to choose this weekend to vacation in Florida. Things blow up, cars fly, jet skis sail down highways and international disaster is averted, no thanks to the boneheaded bumbling of federal and local law enforcement. If not precisely charismatic, Statham brings authentic athleticism and a certain cheeky presence to his lightly written role. The film's relation to physical reality is epitomized by the scene in which Frank drives off a pier, executes a graceful mid-air barrel that scrapes off the explosive stuck to his car's undercarriage on the edge of a dangling crane hook, then lands on the other side of the inlet and speeds off. If you enjoy watching other people play high-end-video driving games, it doesn't get much better than that.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Exit Wounds372001RU.S.100ColorActionCrimeThrillerNPV EntertainmentSilver PicturesVillage Roadshow PicturesWarner Bros.11Dean Monroe McKenzieCarlsonMichael BoisvertSwat GuyJill HennessyAnnette MulcahyShawn LawrenceO'MalleyDavid VadimMontiniEva MendesTrishGary JohnstonAnger Management Group MemberQuancetia HamiltonHousewifeShane DalyFitzTom ArnoldHenry WayneJohn RalstonMulcahy's DateJohn McConnachSwat GuySimon "Tiger Twins" KimThugJoe AlbericoAnger Management Group MemberYanina ContrerasMotherNeville EdwardsSecret Service AgentPhillip JarrettSwat GuyElio CampbellCopJames "Tiger Twins" KimThugMark WilliamsCopDrag-OnShaunEduardo GomezFatherDavid BoyceAnger Management Group MemberMoses NyarkoSwat GuyShakira HarperStatic WaitressAnthony AndersonT.K.Steven SeagalOrin BoydEd SemenukAnger Management Group MemberJenny CellyMariaPeter WalshDucati GuyGreg ZajacAnger Management Group MemberDMXLatrell WalkerNaomi GaskinGeorge's WifeShekib Ahmad ForoughiThugTom SeniukSecret Service AgentEldridge HyndmanSwat GuyJennifer IrwinLindaJaime EstradaAnger Management Group MemberMario TorresJoseIsaiah WashingtonGeorge ClarkMichael Jai WhiteStruttKym KrystalieStripperRick DemasJail GuardArnold PinnockMorrisBobby JohnsonSecret Service AgentDaniel KashRoryBarrington BignallAnger Management Group MemberMatthew G. TaylorUseldingerStone ConwayAnger Management Group MemberChris LawfordVice PresidentJason StephensLab TechBill DukeHingesChristopher OsterThugPaolo MastropietroParkerNoah DanbyTerrorist LeaderBruce McGillDanielsPeter KosakaLab TechGregory VitaleCar SalesmanRothaford GrayNorrisStromm BradshawStormyEkundayo OdesanyoThugShannon JobeStripperDan CracchioloProducerMartin MalivoireSpecial EffectsDamon "Grease" BlackmanMusical ComposerRichard D'OvidioWriterGreg ChapmanSound - mixerJeff RonaMusical ComposerGlen MacPhersonCinematographerBruce BermanExec. ProducerDerek G. BrechinEditorR.A. RondellStuntsJaro DickSet DecoratorErnest JohnsonAssoc. ProducerIrene KentMake UpJohn M. EckertCo-ProducerPaul Denham AusterberryProduction DesignerJohn WestermannSourceRick PaganoCastingJoel SilverProducerAndrzej BartkowiakDirectorJennifer BryanCostumesEd HorowitzWriterJohn Stoneham Jr.StuntsDane A. DavisSound - designerT. Arv GrewalArt Director2Police work by the book? Screw the book — Detroit detective Orin Boyd (Steven Seagal) believes in results, and we first see his cowboy style in action as he rescues the Vice President (Chris Lawford) from white supremacist militiamen disguised as cops. Unfortunately, he defies an explicit Secret Service order not to get involved and shoves the VP into a river to get him out of harm's way. We've come a long way since Dirty Harry incurred the wrath ofhissuperiors for similar hijinks: Harry was never forced to attend anger-management therapy. Reassigned to the worst precinct in town, Boyd realizes in short order that it's crawling with dirty cops, notably cocky Detective Montini (David Vadim) and his pals, who are in cahoots with drug dealer Lattrell Walker (rapper DMX). Boyd is certain they're behind the theft of $5 million worth of heroin from a police storage facility. Abetted by his new partner, straight-arrow George Clark (Isaiah Washington), Boyd declares a private war on the bad cops and is shocked to discover how high up the corruption goes. Formulaic? Yes, sir. A showcase for Seagal's martial arts stylings and whispery delivery? Guilty as charged. But on the plus side, Seagal has slimmed down a bit, lost the sleazy ponytail, and resisted (or was restrained from indulging) the urge to sing or deliver extended monologues about the environment. The movie's comic relief is supplied by Walker's chubby partner-in-crime T.K. (the ingratiating Anthony Anderson) and TV shock jock Henry Wayne (Tom Arnold), whom Boyd meets in anger management class. The closing credits run alongside footage featuring the duo co-hosting Henry's tacky TV show, and they're so spontaneously funny together you actually leave wishing you'd seen more of them.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Towelhead1002008RU.S.116ColorComedyDramaWarner Indpendent PicturesWarner Indpendent Pictures4.54Loridawn MessuriTopless GolfeGemmenne De La PenaDeniseMaria BelloGail MonahanChase EllisonZack VuosoMichael McShaeMiddle School JerkD.C. CodyMiddle School JerkSoldead St. HilareJanitorIrina Voronina"Snow Queen" CenterfoldAaron EckhartTravis VuosoVirginia Louise SmithNurseEugene JonesThomas BradleyShari HeadleyMrs. BradleyPeter MacdissiRifat MarounEamonn RocheSchool PhotographerLarry CedarGlamour PhotographerMatt LetscherGil HinesLynn CollinsThena PanosLee Von ErnstOR OB/GYN NurseSummer BishilJasir MarounRobert BakerMr. JoffreyRandy GoodwonMr. BradleyCarrie PrestonEvelyn VuosoNathalie Walker"Golf Girl" CenterfoldCleo KingSales ClerkKimberly KnightTopless GolferToni ColletteMelina HinesLorna ScottFrench TeacherThomas NewmanMusical ComposerPeggy RajskiExec. ProducerNewton Thomas SigelCinematographerAnne CareyExec. ProducerMark WeingartenSound - mixerAndy KeirEditorFainche MacCarthySet DecoratorJames ChinlundProduction DesignerAlex WeiArt DirectorJean-Pierre BoiesSpecial EffectsAlan BallProducerJ.D. StreetSpecial EffectsGreg JohnsonMake Up - prostheticsTed HopeProducerDan RebertMake Up - prostheticsDanny GlickerCostumesFannie LaRocheSpecial EffectsLouis C. SimonStuntsElisabeth FryMake UpChristian JokanovichAssoc. Producer3.5After firmly establishing himself as one of the more creative minds in television with HBO'sSix Feet Under, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Alan Ball (AMERICAN BEAUTY) returns to the big screen for his directing debut, and he couldn't have picked material better suited to his own dark sensibilities: Egyptian-American writer Alicia Erian's acerbically funny, deeply sad and downright harrowing autobiographical novel of compromised adolescence.Marginalized on account of her heritage on the eve of the first Gulf War, and caught between two selfish parents in the wake of an acrimonious divorce, 13-year-old Lebanese-American Jasira Maroun (newcomer Summer Bishil) is coming of age in Syracuse, NY, without knowing her proper place in her family or the world around her. Jasira understands her burgeoning sexuality and the effect she's beginning to have on men even less, and her self-centered, emotionally needy mother, Gail (Maria Bello), is carelessly teaching her that whatever happens, it's her own fault. When Gail learns that her live-in boyfriend (Chris Messina) has shaved the all the hair from her daughter's inner thighs, Gail blames Jasira and decides it's high time she learned how to act around men. Gail packs her up and ships her off to Houston where Jasira's traditional, Beirut-born father, Rifat (Peter Macdissi), as a NASA engineer. Rifat has just moved into a drab, look-alike housing development -- a sign of financial success he reminds Jasira to tell her mother -- but Jasira is miserable. As tension mounts in the Gulf, the kids at school call her "Towelhead" and a lot worse, and Jasira's new home is no real refuge: Rifat is sarcastic, demeaning and physically abusive, giving his daughter a hard slap in the face when she shows up at the breakfast table in a half-shirt and shorts. But Jasira soon notices that what Rifat forbids in his daughter he finds highly alluring in women his own age, like sexy Thena (Lynn Collins), Rifat's coworker and new girlfriend. Jasira spends her afternoons babysitting for Zack (Chase Ellison), the bratty young son of Rifat's neighbors, Eveyln (Carrie Preston) and Travis Vuoso (Aaron Eckhart), a copy shop employee who expects at to be shipped off to the Gulf at any moment. Rifat, who never once lets anyone forget that his beleaguered Beirut was once considered the Paris of the Middle East, considers Travis little more than an ignorant redneck, but Jasira sees him as something else: sexy. And disturbingly, Travis looks at Jasira in the same way.With no one around to teach her about her body (Rifat even forbids her to use a tampon when she has her first period) or her sexuality (Jasira becomes a chronic masturbator after she has her first orgasm looking at the nude women in Travis's skin mags), Jasira has no way to judge impropriety, even when it comes to boys her own age, like goodlooking Thomas (Eugene Jones). It's not until Rifat's wise and hugely pregnant neighbor, Melina (Toni Collette), returns from her honeymoon that Jasira has any one looking out for her, and by then it's too late. And that's the lesson this dark but important film has to teach: In a world of double standards and mixed signals, the less we tell our daughters about sex, the more vulnerable they become. Ironic, then, the level of outrage Ball's film admittedly graphic has inspired. Originally screened under the less provocative title NOTHING IS PRIVATE, the film is now being released under Erian's original title. And that's as it should be: The movie, like Erian's novel, doesn't pull a single punch and stands as one of the frankest depictions of teenage sexuality since Michael Cuesta's bold 12 AND HOLDING. Macdissi, who appeared as a bisexual hustler/phone salesman in Ball's 2007 stage productionAll That I Will Ever Be, is an amazingly mercurial actor: He's able to go from detestable to sympathetic and back again with quicksilver speed. But the movie belongs to the fifth-billed Bishil, a truly gutsy young actress who captures the essence of young female desire in all its adolescent confusion.leave a comment--Ken Fox Bolt62008PGU.S.96ColorAdventureAnimatedChildren'sComedyDisney Animation StudiosWalt Disney Pictures440Malcolm McDowellDr. CalicoJ.P. ManouxTomGreg GermannThe AgentRandy SavageThugMark WaltonRhinoJames LiptonThe DirectorNick SwardsonBlakeChloe MoretzYoung PennyKari WahlgrenMindyDiedrich BaderVeteran CatMiley CyrusPennyRonn MossDr. ForresterJohn TravoltaBoltDan FogelmanBillySusie EssmanMittensTim MacDougallMusic DirectorByron HowardDirectorChris WilliamsWriterPaul FelixArt DirectorTim MertensEditorClark SpencerProducerJohn PowellMusical ComposerJohn MurrahSpecial Effects - Visual Effects SupervisorDan FogelmanWriterJohn LasseterExec. Producer3Sometimes a story is so beautifully simple that it's impossible to muck it up, and the animated 3-DBoltis a perfect example. The premise: A cute little dog named Bolt (voice of John Travolta) and his loving tween-girl owner, Penny (voice of Disney It Girl Miley Cyrus), are the stars of a hit action TV show about a small white German shepherd with superpowers. The producers of the show believe the program's success stems from Bolt's realistic "acting," so to that end, they never let the canine star in on the fact that he's on a TV show, hiding all the cameras and crew so that Bolt grows up thinking he really does have heat vision, a super bark, and the ability to stop trucks with his head. One day, thanks to a series of misunderstandings and misfortunes, Bolt accidentally gets mailed to New York City, sending him on an adventure-filled cross-country journey back to Penny in Hollywood. During his trek, Bolt learns the truth about himself, and makes new friends in the form of a streetwise alley cat and an overly enthusiastic hamster.The opening of the movie brilliantly establishes the TV show's fictional world -- the one Bolt thinks is real -- with a superb ten-minute action sequence straight out of a family-friendly Jerry Bruckheimer movie. Bolt, with his super-speed, and Penny, atop her tricked-out scooter, evade helicopters, motorcyclists, and a ticking time bomb, all while speeding along a busy California freeway. There is a kinetic pop to the whole scene, especially when the occasional slow-mo shot lets you see exactly how much time is left before the bomb explodes. This opening does such a good job of setting the fun and snappy tone for the rest of the movie (not to mention taking thrillingly full advantage of the 3-D format) that the generic family-movie elements that come later on don't feel so tedious to grown-ups or boring to kids. And as the story unfolds, Bolt's slow acceptance that he doesn't have special powers provides twists on the old finding-your-way-back-home plot, so the movie amuses both those who make up the film's target audience and the parents along for the ride. This winning mix of exciting action, heart-tugging sentiment, and gentle character comedy makesBoltyet another solid addition to Disney's history of family-friendly fare.leave a comment--Perry Seibert Men In Black II802002PG-13U.S.88ColorActionComedyScience FictionColumbiaColumbia4.520Linda KimAmbassador LaurannaRick BakerMIB Passport Control AgentJack KehlerBenAlpheus MerchantMIB GuardErnie GrunwaldYoung Postal EmployeeRichard PearsonGordyPatrick WarburtonAgent TeePeter SpruytMIB Customs AgentSean RouseMIB AgentBarry SonnenfeldNeuralyzed FatherDenise CheshireFamily Mom/Locker AlienGreg BalloraVoice of SleeblePhilip GoodwinDiner GuyJeremy HowardBird Guy Alien/Postal Sorting AlienKevin GreviouxPineal EyeChloe SonnenfeldYoung Girl at Post OfficeJohn BertonSplit Alien GuyDavid CrossNewtonMIchael JacksonAgent MJohn RichardsonPostmanDerek CecilRepairman AgentMarty KlebbaFamily Child AlienAndre BlairCentral Park AgentBrad AbreilVoice of MannixLenny VenitoNew York GuyPaige Brooks"Mysteries in History" LaurannaJoel McKinnon MillerAgentMichael GarveyCorn FaceKevin CotteleerMIB Customs AgentTony ShalhoubJeebsJohnny KnoxvilleScrad/CharliePeter GravesHimselfHoward SpiegelNew York GuyTom WhitenightAgent CSid Garza-HillmanAgent GeeRosario DawsonLaura VasquezStephanie KempNeuralyzed MotherThom FountainVoice of NeebleVictoria JonesNeuralyzed DaughterMichael RivkinMan with DogColombe JacobsenHaileyNick CannonMIB Autopsy AgentMartha StewartHerselfDerek MearsMosh TendrilsJohn AlexanderJarra/Family Dad AlienJay JohnsonAgentMichael Bailey SmithCreepyTommy Lee JonesKayMichael DahlenFlesh BallsSonny TiptonDog PoopRip TornZedPeter SpellosMotormanLara Flynn BoyleSerleenaCarl J. JohnsonVoice of GleebleMary SteinBird Lady AlienDoug JonesJoeyWill SmithJayTim BlaneyVoice of Frank the PugWilliam E. JacksonEye GuyMarty BelafskyMIB Customs AgentLowell CunninghamSourceRick BakerMake Up - alien makeup effectsIndustrial Light & MagicSpecial EffectsGreg GardinerCinematographerMarc HaimesAssoc. ProducerRichard PearsonEditorCheryl CarasikSet DecoratorBarry SonnenfeldDirectorThomas L. FisherSpecial EffectsLaurie MacDonaldProducerSteven SpielbergExec. ProducerWalter F. ParkesProducerStephanie KempAssoc. ProducerBarry FanaroWriterJohn BertonSpecial EffectsMary E. VogtCostumesGraham PlaceCo-ProducerTom BertinoAnimationCharlie CroughwellStuntsJohn RichardsonSpecial Effects - creaturesAlec HammondArt DirectorSteven WeisbergEditorRonna KressCastingBo WelchProduction DesignerDeborah LaMia DenaverMake UpTom WilkinsArt DirectorRobert GordonSourcePeter KurlandSound - mixerSean HaworthArt DirectorDanny ElfmanMusical Composer2A five-years-in-the-making sequel that slavishly duplicates (at great expense) all the identifiable elements that made MEN IN BLACK (1997) a smart-alecky hit, leaching every drop of spontaneity from the material in the process. The film gets off to a bang-up start with Agent Jay (Will Smith) teaching a rowdy alien super-worm who's terrorizing subway riders to act right or get smacked right, but the firstrealorder of business is retrieving the formidable Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) from retirement. Kay, his memory of countless close encounters of the icky kind wiped clean by the MiB agency's nifty neuralizer, now runs a rinky-dink post office in Truro, MA, with the same ruthless efficiency he brought to masterminding bug hunts. Leaving aside the fact that Jones' deadpan gravitas is required to keep the amiable Smith from turning the entire film into a goofy riff on how cool he is, the narrative justification for his return involves a sexy alien super-bitch named Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle) and her search for some extraterrestrial thingamajig. Serleena, whose fingertips sprout masses of writhing tentacles at the slightest provocation, is fully prepared to destroy Earth in pursuit of this otherworldly doohickey, the "Light of Zartha." Since Agent Kay was in charge of the original Light of Zartha case (wittily recapped as an episode of a cheesy, Peter Graves-hosted TV series called "Mysteries in History"), his expertise is sorely needed. Unfortunately, even after he's been de-neuralized, Kay can't remember where it's hidden. Good thing he left himself a series of clever clues that have the reunited partners rushing around Manhattan like campers on a cosmic scavenger hunt, trying desperately to beat Serleena to the prize. There's also a love interest for Jay named Rita (Rosario Dawson), plus expanded roles for the obnoxious worm aliens and Frank the pug (voice of Tim Blaney) — cue the inevitable "Who Let the Dogs Out?" gag — and a small but memorable bit for Patrick Warburton. Rip Torn and Tony Shalhoub reprise their roles from the first film, while Johnny Knoxville, of MTV'sJackass, plays an alien with two heads and half a brain. Screenwriter Robert Gordon's credits include the surprisingly clever sci-fi spoof GALAXY QUEST, but he couldn't overcome the fundamental problem with this material: You've seen it before. To his eternal credit, Jones gives his considerable all and even coaxes a startling note of poignancy from one scene, while Smith just bops along, lobbing gags and grinning at the special effects.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Four Christmases52008PG-13U.S.82ColorComedyNew Line CinemaNew Line Cinema4.523Sissy SpacekPaulaRobert DuvallHowardTim McGrawDenverKristin ChenowethCourtneyVince VaughnBradMary SteenburgenMarilynReese WitherspoonKateDwight YoakamPastor PhilJon FavreauDallasJon VoightCreightonSeth GordonDirectorDerek EvansCo-ProducerJonathan GlickmanProducerCaleb WilsonWriterToby EmmerichExec. ProducerGary BarberProducerMatt AllenWriterRichard BrenerExec. ProducerPeter BillingsleyExec. ProducerBob BowenMusic DirectorMelissa KentEditorShepherd FrankelProduction DesignerMark KaufmanExec. ProducerAlex WurmanMusical ComposerRoger BirnbaumProducerGuy ReidelExec. ProducerScott MooreWriterMichael DiscoExec. ProducerVince VaughnProducerSophie DeRakoffCostumesJeffrey L. KimballCinematographerJon LucasWriterMark HelfrichEditor2Holiday comedies are basically a pass/fail situation; almost no movie produced exclusively for people who are already at the mall and feeling seasonally inclined from hearing the Muzak version of "Santa Baby" 18 times is going to be an opus of hilarity. Holiday movies can, however, be really bad (or at least really mediocre, which is arguably worse), so it's not like there's nothing to strive for in the genre. Lucky forFour Christmases, it passes -- not with flying colors, but not by the skin of its teeth either. It's well acted and it's entertaining -- and who can resist a movie where Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau are brothers, and Robert Duvall is their dad?It probably helps that the premise is fairly unique. Happy couple Brad and Kate (Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon) have a great relationship, full of enjoyed mutual activities like ballroom dance classes and sexual role play. Like a lot of young people, they're long past admitting that their respective families are a zillion kinds of crazy, so every year the two orchestrate an alibi, drop gifts in the mail, and hightail it out of town for Christmas. Unfortunately, this particular year turns out a little differently when their airline gets grounded by fog on the morning of their departure -- an event that would only minorly change their plans, if it weren't for the local news anchor broadcasting live from the airport who catches Brad and Kate in the camera's crosshairs and effectively announces to their families that they'll be very much stuck in town for the holiday.So now, with no excuse to get them out of it, they have to visit all four homes of their collective parents in one day (which is an hour and 22 minutes in audience years). Each household is a different breed of funny/crazy/terrifying, starting with Brad's father, a grumbling old blue-collar retiree played by Robert Duvall. This stop consists of streaking redneck children, dad insisting he can install his own satellite dish, and continued attacks by Brad's amateur UFC brothers (Jon Favreau and Tim McGraw). Next it's off to Kate's mom's house, a WASPish, doily-covered suburban home full of catty passive-aggression and cougary repressed flirtatious outbursts (mostly toward Brad, since all other men in the house have been long since broken). Kate's mom (Mary Steenburgen) has recently discovered religion, which is to say she's dating Pastor Phil, a reverend/local celebrity from the neighborhood Pentecostal rock-concert-style revival church. This creates an extra dose of weirdness for the couple, when she drags them to mass.So then Brad and Kate visit the next parent on the list, then the next -- you get the idea. It's a cleverly written movie, and outside the awesomely gross vomit gags and just-painful-enough-looking slapstick, there's always the underlying feeling that what you're seeing is eerily familiar. These are people you've been stuck with at parties or meals, trying desperately to avoid talking about politics, money, or any other disastrously substantive topic; the trashy ones who serve food you don't want to touch, the backbiting ones who talk smack about your marital status, the super normal ones who wait years to throw an awkwardness curveball at you by suddenly getting way, way into religion. It's spot-on "funny because it's true" humor, which may not be a particularly genius page out of the comedy playbook, but after a day of unwrapping presents with people who share your DNA -- and sap your will to live -- it doesn't have to be.leave a comment--Cammila Albertson Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl364430Virtual Jfk: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived422008NRU.S.80Color/Black & WhiteDocumentaryKoji MasutaniEditorKevin KalunianSound - recordistJanet M. LangProducerDavid A. WelchProducerJoshua KernMusical ComposerEdward HuffCinematographerCurt WordenCinematographerMichael PasztCo-ProducerEllen V. DarlingProduction DesignerKatherin FarrellProduction DesignerEllen C. WhiteProduction DesignerPeter O. AlmondProducerJames G. BlightProducer3Of all the great historical "what ifs" of the 20th century, "What if President John F. Kennedy had lived to serve out his presidency?" is among the most provocative. Under Kennedy's stewardship, would the United States have sunk deeper into the war in Vietnam? Would he have said no to the massive escalation of U.S. troops and vetoed the devastating air campaign against North Vietnam? Would 58,000 U.S. soldiers and some 2 million Vietnamese gone on to live their lives? Or would JFK have made no difference whatsoever?Such thinking isn't mere idle speculation or Monday morning quarterbacking on an epochal scale. It is rather a trend in historiography (albeit a controversial one) known as "counterfactual" or "virtual history": an historical accounting in which the facts as theymighthave been are examined in order to determine the relative importance of a particular occurrence or individual. Critics like to cite the example of Cleopatra's nose to mock the counterfactual approach, but it does provide a vivid, if reductive, example: Had the Egyptian queen's nose been just the slightest bit longer, Marc Antony wouldn't have been so entranced, Rome wouldn't have fallen and Western history would have been completely different. This interesting but ultimately unsatisfying documentary from the young Japanese-born, U.S.-based filmmaker Koji Matsutani and international-relations expert James G. Blight (who closely advised Errol Morris on THE FOG OF WAR) looks closely at six key moments of Kennedy's thousand-day presidency -- crises over the Bay of Pigs, Laos, and the Berlin wall 1961; Vietnam and Cuba in 1962; and Vietnam once again on the eve of his assassination in 1963 -- all moments when the Cold War could very easily have turned red hot -- in hopes of determining how he would have acted in Vietnam had he lived.Throughout each test of Kennedy's nerve and will -- and often in opposition to his closest advisors -- Matsutani and Blight discern Kennedy the peacemaker, and go on to speculate that had he not died in Dallas, Kennedy would once again have said no to war. But rather than go any further into the fascinating what-might-have-beens, the film in its final moments turns to the grim realities of the Johnson presidency. It becomes clear that Matsutani and Blight have simply used Kennedy as an example to prove that an individual as powerful as a U.S. president -- George W. Bush, say -- can make a difference when it comes to matters of war and peace. But it's a foregone conclusion and a basic flaw in the counterfactual argument: By choosing to examine Kennedy in the first place, it already presupposes his crucial importance. The film does, however, assemble an amazing array of recorded conversations and vintage newsreel, and offers up enough press conference footage to make one nostalgic for the days when an uncowed, penetrating press really did serve the public interest, and the president was a smart, inspirational and often very funny figure who could think on his feet and fearlessly take on all comers.leave a comment--Ken Fox The World is Not Enough901999PG-13U.S.128ColorActionAdventureThrillerUnited ArtistsUnited Artists4.517Carl McCrystalTrukhinPatrick RomerPilotDaisy BeaumontNinaJohn CleeseRMichael KitchenTannerNina MuschallikVerushkaSophie MarceauElektra KingJimmy RoussounisPipeline TechnicianDesmond LlewelynQSamantha BondMoneypennyDavid CalderSir Robert KingJohn SeruGaborUlrich ThomsenDavidovOmid DjaliliForemanPierce BrosnanJames BondRobbie ColtraneValentin ZukovskyJohn AlbasinyHelicopter PilotPeter MehtabCasino DealerClaude-Oliver RudolphColonel AkakievichMartyn LewisNewscasterJeff NuttallDr. ArkovGoldieBullDaz CrawfordCasion ThugHassani ShapiDoctorSerena Scott ThomasDr. Molly WarmflashPatrick MalahideLachaiseDenise RichardsDr. Christmas JonesJudi DenchMDiran MeghreblianCoptic PriestColin SalmonRobinsonMaria Grazia CucinottaCigar GirlKouroush AsadRussian Radio OperatorRobert CarlyleRenardJustus Von DohnanyiCaptain NikoliRobert WadeSourceMichael AptedDirectorChris MunroSoundSean McCabeStuntsChris CorbouldSpecial EffectsLinda DevettaMake UpAdrian BiddleCinematographerBruce FeirsteinWriterNeal PurvisSourceNigel GoldsackAssoc. ProducerMichael G. WilsonProducerMara BryanSpecial EffectsDebbie McWilliamsCastingSimon WakefieldSet DecoratorNeil LamontArt DirectorJim ClarkEditorSimon CraneStuntsDavid ArnoldMusical ComposerBarbara BroccoliProducerPeter LamontProduction Designer2The world changes and special agent James Bond soldiers on. In this newest installment in the 007 saga (the 19th or 21st, depending on where you stand on CASINOROYALE and NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN), Bond (Pierce Brosnan, in fine form) is pitted against a walking dead man named Renard (Robert Carlyle), who feels no pain because of the bullet making its way through his brain. Renard seems to be gunning for beautiful Elektra King (Sophie Marceau), who's inherited an oil empire from her murdered father (an old law school chum of Judi Dench's M) and is constructing a pipeline through a network of unstable former Soviet republics. But what's Elektrareallyup to, and what's the real story behind her kidnapping several years earlier, an ordeal that left her missing part of an ear and ended when she killed her captors? Bond finds himself entangled with both Elektra and Dr. Christmas Jones (Denise Richards), a scientist whose expertise comes in mighty handy when someone needs to explain why it's imperative to disarm that thermonuclear thingamabob sometime in the next three minutes, lest Istanbul become toast. The requisite gadgets include the usual fully loaded car and a pair of X-ray spex that briefly turn Bond into the Immoral Mr. Teas; the action set pieces owe a great deal to previous films, including the ski chase from THE SPY WHO LOVED ME and LIVE AND LET DIE's speed boat hijinks. Purists may be bothered that Bond spends an awful lot of time being rescued from peril by supporting characters, and Richards reaches astonishing heights of ineptitude; Dr. Jones's degree appears to be in aerobics with a minor in Valley Speak. And like all recent Bond movies, the whole thing goes on way too long.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest712006PG-13U.S.150ColorAdventureComedyHistoricalJerry Bruckheimer FilmsWalt Disney PicturesBuena Vista4.549Mike HaberechtKursar--Jack's CrewJohn MackeyTurkish PrisonerMarco KhanTurkish GuardDavid KeyesScuttled Ship HelmsmanKeira KnightleyElizabeth SwannJosie DaparCannibal WomanDerrick O'ConnorVery Old ManFelix CastroMoises--Jack's CrewJonathan LinsleyOgilvey/DutchmanJonathan PryceGovernor Weatherby SwannDavid SterneEdinburgh CookNej AdamsonShort SailorOrlando BloomWill TurnerVanessa BranchGiselleAnthony PatricioCannibalDavid ZahedianTurkish GuardSimon MeacockChaplainJimmy RoussounisLarge SailorDermot KeaneyMaccus/DutchmanAlex NortonCaptain BellamySylverShrimper's BrotherJim Cody WilliamsFishermanJohnny DeppCaptain Jack SparrowDavid SchofieldMercerNeil PanlasiguiCannibal BoyMackenzie CrookRagettiIsrael AduramoCrippled ManBill NighyDavy JonesSpider MadisonTurkish PrisonerJohn BoswallWyvernSam ShellaLeechLauren MaherScarlettWinston EllisPalafico/DutchmanRudolph McCollumMatelot--Jack's CrewClive AshbornKoleniko/DutchmanGeorges TrillatSkinny manFred ToftQuartetto--Jack's CrewReggie LeeHeadlessMichael EnrightDeckhand/EdinburghMatthew BowyerSailor/EdinburghFaouzi BrahimiTurkish GuardMoray TreadwellSunburned SailorCraig ThomsonCrimp--Jack's CrewLuke De WoolfsonFrightened SailorNatsuko OhamaCannibal WomanTom HollanderCutler BeckettRobbie GeeShrimperBud MathisTurkish PrisonerJack DavenportJames NorringtonGerry O'BrienIrish ManMax BakerQuartermaster/EdinburghChristopher S. CappParrot VoiceNaomie HarrisTia DalmaChris SullivanLadbroc--Jack's CrewBarry McEvoyCarruthers GuardKevin R. McNallyGibbsLee ArenbergPintelLejon O. StewartLejonHo-Kwan TseHo-KwanStellan Skarsgard"Bootstrap" Bill TurnerJonathan LimboTorch NativeM. Scott ShieldsDuncan--Jack's CrewGerard ReyesTearlach--Jack's CrewMichael MirandaCannibal WarriorDavid BailieCottonMartin KlebbaMartyAndy BeckwithClacker/DutchmanChristopher AdamsonJimmy Legs/DutchmanHernando MolinaSweepyAlex CongNative Bridge GuardMike StensonExec. ProducerGeorge Marshall RugeStuntsJerry BruckheimerProducerGore VerbinskiDirectorDenise ChamianCastingTed ElliottSourceCraig WoodEditorGeorge Watters IISound - editingChad OmanExec. ProducerJill BrooksSpecial EffectsRick HeinrichsProduction DesignerJoel HarlowMake UpPaul MasseySound - mixerDariusz WolskiCinematographerLee OrloffSound - mixerJohn KnollSpecial EffectsPat SandstonAssoc. ProducerChristopher BoyesSound - mixer/editingTerry RossioSourceStephen RivkinEditorJohn DexterArt DirectorEric McLeodExec. ProducerHal HickelAnimationJay WolpertSourceStuart BeattieSourceHans ZimmerMusical ComposerMichael LantieriSpecial EffectsNed GormanSpecial EffectsPenny RoseCostumesVe NeillMake UpCharles GibsonSpecial EffectsBruce HendricksExec. ProducerAllen HallSpecial EffectsCheryl A. CarasikSet Decorator2.5Gore Verbinski's more, more, more sequel to the surprise hit of summer 2003 picks up not long after the first film ended, though it's been long enough for fresh-faced Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), spunky daughter of Port Royal governor Weatherby Swann (Jonathan Pryce), and blacksmith-turned-adventurer Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) to progress from swooningly romantic first kiss to wedding day. Unfortunately, the happy occasion is disrupted by the arrival of nefarious Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), representative of the rapacious British East India Trading Company, to arrest both bride- and groom-to-be on charges of abetting a scurvy buccaneer by the name of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). Weaselly Beckett is a man of the future, where businessmen rule the high seas and inspire more fear in the hearts of the disenfranchised masses than mere pirates ever could, and his five-year plan requires Will to acquire Sparrow's fabled compass on his behalf. What better motivation than to assure Will that should he fail, both he and Elizabeth will hang? Sparrow, meanwhile, has troubles of his own: Having traded his soul to undead pirate Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), captain of the ghostly "Flying Dutchman," in return for 10 years of commanding the pirate vessel "Black Pearl," Sparrow's debt has come due. True to his nature, he's looking for a way out, and a conjure woman (Naomie Harris) advises that he must get his hands on Jones' heart, which is locked in a hidden chest. The rest of Jones is fast becoming one with the briny deep, hands mutated into lobster claws, face dissolving into a mass of squirming tentacles that might, at a misty distance, be taken for a luxurious white beard. Andmeanwhile, Elizabeth has disguised herself as a beardless lad, the better to go to sea in search of her beloved; disgraced Commodore James Norrington (Jack Davenport), the fiance Elizabeth jilted for Will, has signed on to the "Black Pearl"; and Will's long-lost dad, Bootstrap Bill (Stellan Skarsgard), is languishing aboard the hellish "Dutchman," whose crewmen are slowly mutating into rotting half-men/half-sea-creatures like their captain. But wait, there's more: cannibals, coffins, saucy ladies with a slap for Sparrow, swords, pole-vaulting, graveyard hijinks, cages made of bones, a runaway mill wheel and — almost forgot! — the kraken, demoted from legendary sea monster to Davy Jones' pet attack squid. You can't beat on DEAD MAN'S CHEST on value-for-money terms, but it's like an all-you-can-eat buffet — everything's tasty, the surfeit is sickening.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Sex And The City442008RU.S.98ColorDramaRedwood Palms PicturesRedwood Palms Pictures3.53Michelle RodriguezLouAndre BenjaminDjangoJennifer CarpenterSamMartin HendersonJayTzi MaGovernorConnie NielsenJeanWoody HarrelsonDaleRade SherbedzijaDr. MaricIvana MilicevicCarlaRay LiottaMayor Jim TobinCharlize TheronEllaIsaach De BankoleAbassiHaskell WexlerHimselfJoshua JacksonRandallChanning TatumJohnsonVaness PereiraExec. ProducerMonica HuppertMake UpMaxime RemillardProducerLindsay MacAdamCo-ProducerSarah FinnCastingR. Scott ReidExec. ProducerJaison StritchSpecial EffectsKirsten FransonArt DirectorRobert Del NajaMusical ComposerMichele FutermanAssoc. ProducerMary AloeProducerOwen WalstromStuntsLaura ToplassCastingAndrea Des RochesCostumesJulien RemillardExec. ProducerTom OzanichSoundJean LandrySet DecoratorKirk ShawProducerMichael A. DiMannoExec. ProducerBarry AckroydCinematographerNeil DavidgeMusical ComposerDavid FlanaganCo-ProducerFernando VillenaEditorStuart TownsendProducerArt HickmanStuntsBrandon HoustonCo-ProducerShannon MurphySet DecoratorChris AugustProduction DesignerRandi HillerCasting3Actor-turned-writer-director Stuart Townsend bit off more than most neophyte filmmakers could chew in bringing the story of the riots that rocked Seattle, Washington, during the 1999 WTO conference to the big screen. Townsend boldly uses a multi-character, multiple point-of-view structure to tell a very big story in a relatively short amount of time. But what the film lacks in artistry it makes up for in commitment, and his film is a reminder of a key event in the anti-globalization movement.As representatives of the powerful World Trade Organization converge on Seattle to formulate the global economic policy that will effect millions of people with, as opponents claim, no regard for the environment or the economies and well-being of poor, undeveloped nations, protesters from all over the world flood into the city, prepared to voice their opposition and disrupt the proceedings as best they can. Some, like environmental activist Django Mills (Andre Benjamin) and Jay Elgin (Martin Henderson), whose brother was killed by police while trying to protect old-growth forests, are committed to non-violent action. Others believe it will take more than civil disobedience to catch the WTO's attention. Mayor Jim Tobin (Ray Liotta) is taking every precaution that his city doesn't become like Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention and urges cops like Dale (Woody Harrelson) to exercise restraint when dealing with demonstrators, even after they block the entrance to the hotel where the conference is scheduled to take place. By day two, violence has erupted around the city: Masked marauders begin smashing storefront windows and the corporate media makes no distinction between this violent fringe and the peaceful majority, which includes organized labor groups. Relenting to pressure from the Governor (Tzi Ma), Mayor Tobin finally agrees to allow the National Guard into the city, and all hell breaks loose. But not everyone who's come to Seattle to address the WTO has global markets on his or her mind. Abassi (Isaach de Bankole) represents a consortium of struggling post-colonial African nations who hope to convince the WTO to put people before profit; Dr. Maric (Rade Sherbedzija) hopes to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic in Africa and convince pharmaceutical companies to make their expensive drugs available to the suffering poor. But as chaos erupts on Seattle's streets, their voices will be drowned out and uninvolved bystanders, like Dale's pregnant wife, Ella (Charlize Theron), will find themselves caught in the crossfire.From the brief pre-credit sequence outlining the history of the WTO to the epilogue that attempts to cover post-Seattle developments, Townshend's film has a rigid, schematic structure that may be the inevitable result of its effort to present complex and wide-ranging material. Characters are forced to deliver speeches and manifestos rather than speak naturalistic dialogue, but it's still an important consciousness-raising effort and an admirable piece of filmmaking -- Townsend deftly intercuts staged encounters between protesters and police with actual footage of the riots. As Django observes in the smoky aftermath of the riots, people still may not know exactly what the WTO is, but at least they'll now know it's bad.leave a comment--Ken Fox Transporter 372008PG-13U.S.105ColorActionMartial ArtsThrillerLionsgateLionsgate4.572.5Like clockwork, theTransporterseries keeps on tickin' and delivering all of the kicks, jabs, quips, and explosions one has come to expect from the franchise. Though this third installment is not quite as nuts as the second film, it's nevertheless firmly set in the same ridiculous mold. Fans of tongue-in-cheek tough-guy cinema will appreciate the goods on display here -- even if they find it a bit forgettable afterward. This time, producer/screenwriter Luc Besson is back to his old tricks, adding a young female (newcomer Natalya Rudakova) into the equation and letting the film coast on the shaky chemistry between her and Jason Statham. To be sure, though, this is still a succession of films that understands the power of hard kicks, scene-chewing villains, and a sense of fun that continues to be a refreshing change of pace in action cinema's current dour landscape.That's not to say thatTransporter 3is foolproof -- far from it. As great as it is to have an action star who can hold his own when it comes to a bare-knuckled fist-puncher, Statham's moves (under the keen eye of fight choreographer Corey Yuen) are, more often than not, obscured by frantic editing that doesn't allow the audience to fully appreciate the fisticuffs on display. Equally, one could count on any establishing shot to have the same sort of needless zip-bam-pow editing. As with itsBondaction brethren of the same year,Quantum of Solace, it seems that the filmmakers have stooped to copying the frenetic style of the times instead of opting for more traditional cutting techniques that benefited their predecessors so well. Even so, a little Statham charisma goes a long way -- and thankfully there are more than a few over-the-top moments to make this entry noteworthy.Surprisingly, much of the flick's running time is dedicated to the one-on-one scenes of the hero and his "package" --the lithe Ukrainian femme Valentina (Rudakova). Moviegoers are made to swallow not only a fair amount of banter between the two, but to forcibly ingest the schmaltzy romantic subplot of it as well (invariably putting a spin on the series' gay subtext, for sure). Especially of concern is Valentina's hard-to-decipher dialogue, which, if one can get over the thick accent, is rife with quirky character work that's downright laughable.That said, there's little use tearingTransporter 3down. Questionable style aside, it does what it sets out to do -- entertain. With crazy car stunts and one ludicrous bike chase, along with the firm grasp that it's always best to have the hero fight the biggest guy last, this third installment should tide viewers over until they can get their next Euro-tinged action spectacle. Let's hope next time the reins aren't handed over to a director and editor whose biggest accomplishment before this was working on the Timothy Olyphant messHitman.leave a comment--Jeremy Wheeler Out of Sight991998RU.S.129ColorComedyCrimeRomanceJersey FilmsUniversalUniversal4.513Stephen M. HornFederal MarshallSandra IvesReceptionistVing RhamesBuddy BraggAlbert BrooksRichard RipleyKeith HudsonCop in Bank 2Wendell B. Harris Jr.Daniel Burdon, FBIViola DavisMoselleNancy AllenMidgeMichael KeatonRay Nicolette--UncreditedDonna FrenzelLoretta Bank TellerManny SuarezCop in Bank 1Susan HatfieldParking Lot WomanChic DanielFourth FBI ManWayne PereExecutive Guy/PhilipScott AllenPupJennifer LopezKaren SiscoDennis FarinaMarshall SiscoLuis GuzmanChinoConnie SawyerOld Elevator LadyChuck CastleberryLibrary GuardSamuel L. JacksonHejira--UncreditedJim RobinsonBank EmployeeJoe CoyleExecutive Guy 3Mark BrownRipley PersonnelIsaiah WashingtonKennethDon CheadleMaurice (Snoopy) MillerGregory H. AlpertOfficer GrantJames BlackHimeySteve ZahnGlenn MichaelsJoe HessRipley GuardBetsy MonroeCeleste, WaitressPhilip PerlmanOld Elevator GentElgin MarlowBank CustomerCatherine KeenerAdeleGeorge ClooneyJack FoleyPaul SoileauLuluKeith LonekerBob, White BoyJoe ChrestAndy, Executive GuyPaul CalderonRaymond CruzBrad MartinWhite BoxerPaul LedfordSound - mixerElliot DavisCinematographerPhil MessinaArt DirectorJohn HardyExec. ProducerBetsy HeimannCostumesBarry SonnenfeldExec. ProducerMichael ShambertProducerCarol Lynn WengerSpecial EffectsKatherine JamesMake UpAnne V. CoatesEditorCliff MartinezMusical ComposerMaggie MartinSet DecoratorDanny DeVitoProducerGary FrutkoffProduction DesignerSteven SoderberghDirectorStacey SherProducerElmore LeonardSourceCliff WengerSpecial EffectsFrancine MaislerCastingScott FrankWriter3.5Faintly melancholy and alluringly fatalistic, this mercurial romance passing as a crime thriller is slyly entertaining and darkly sexy. Jack Foley (George Clooney) is a lifelong crook who specializes in talking bank clerks out of large sums ofmoney. Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez) is a cocksure, Florida-based federal marshal who adores her dad (Dennis Farina), guns and unsuitable men; her current squeeze is grandstanding FBI agent Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton, doing an uncredited reprise of his JACKIE BROWN role), who's both married anda dope. Jack and Karen meet when she accidentally interrupts his jailbreak, and she winds up sharing a couple of hours with Jack in the trunk of his partner Buddy's (Ving Rhames) car. During the cramped, sexually fraught trip in the trunk, Jack and Karen reluctantly fall for one another: Perhapsit really is all about propinquity, as poor, neglected Zelda Gilroy used to tell Dobie Gillis. Even after she escapes, Karen fantasizes dreamily about Jack; he's doing the same, while he and Buddy plan to rob a smug Detroit financial whiz (Albert Brooks) who keeps millions in uncut diamonds in hishouse and wasn't smart enough not to talk about it when he was doing time for insider trading. Elmore Leonard's huge collection of sharply drawn unsavory characters is perfectly cast, from the leads to a bevy of supporting (but emphatically not lesser) lights, including Steve Zahn as a chatty jailhouse hanger-on; Don Cheadle as psycho boxing buff Snoopy Miller and Nancy Allen as a beleaguered victim of his gang; Luis Guzman as a prison hard-case; Catherine Keener as Foley's flaky ex-wife; and an uncredited Samuel L. Jackson as a prison-bound con whose interests dovetail serendipitouslywith Foley's. Steven Soderbergh's direction conjures an understated '70s vibe, striking an apparently effortless balance between grit and glamour.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Victor/Victoria731982PGU.K.133ColorComedyMusicalAristaBlake Edwards EntertainmentLadbrokePeerfordMGM/UA55Matyelok GibbsCassell's ReceptionistIna SkriverSimone KallistoTim SternHotel Desk ClerkGeoffrey BeeversPolice InspectorGeorge SilverFat Man Eating EclairSimon ChandlerChorus BoyMike TezcanClamGraham StarkWaiterNorman ChancerSal AndrattiTerence SkeltonDeviant HusbandPerry DaveyBalancing ManStuart Craig TurtonBoy Friend to ActressPaddy WardPhotographerJohn CassadyJukeJoanna DickensLarge Lady in RestaurantNeil CunninghamNightclub Master of CeremoniesMichael RobbinsHotel ManagerVivienne ChandlerChambermaidBill MonksLeClouChristopher GoodStage ManagerElizabeth VaughanOpera SingerJohn Rhys-DaviesAndre CassellJulie AndrewsVictoria Grant/Count Victor GrazinskiDavid GantRestaurant ManagerAlex KarrasSquashRobert PrestonCarroll "Toddy" ToddSam WilliamsChorus BoyMalcolm JamiesonRichardMaria CharlesMadame PresidentJames GarnerKing MarchanPeter ArneLabisseSherloque TanneyBovin--the DetectiveMartin RaynerConciergeJay BenedictGuy LangoisLesley Ann WarrenNormaOlivier PierreLangois's CompanionPaul EngelenMake UpRodger MausProduction DesignerPaddy StoneChoreographyHenry ManciniMusical ComposerPatricia NorrisCostumesLeslie BricusseMusic/Lyrics ComposerRheinhold SchuenzelSourceMary SelwayCastingTony AdamsProducerDick BushCinematographer - PanavisionGerald T. NuttingAssoc. ProducerHans HoemburgSourceHarry CordwellSet DecoratorRalph E. WintersEditorRoy CharmanSoundBlake EdwardsProducerTim HutchinsonArt DirectorWilliam Craig SmithArt DirectorHarry FramptonMake UpPeter FramptonMake Up3.5A musical boudoir farce, captivating at times, infuriating at others. A British singer (Julie Andrews) and an aging homosexual (Robert Preston) are down-and-out nightclub performers in Paris. Hungry and broke, they're desperate for employment until Toddy (Preston) recasts his friend asthe female impersonator singer-dancer Victor/Victoria--putting the chanteuse in the unusual position of being a woman who pretends to be a man who performs as a woman onstage. She is an immediate hit at a local nightclub, where King (James Garner), a gangster from Chicago traveling with his blowsygirlfriend (a Jean Harlowesque Lesley Ann Warren) and his bodyguard, Squash (Alex Karras), sees her perform. King is attracted to Victor/Victoria, but thinks, like everyone else, that she is a transvestite. The burly Squash, meanwhile, watches in amazement as his macho boss apparently loses hisyen for beautiful women and becomes attracted to his own kind.Edwards' film forces audiences to examine their own ideas about gender and sexuality, and that's great. But Andrews, despite looking very Berlin Bowie in her tux, is so safe and sane, she brings no madness of her own to the farce. Everything therefore swirls around a still center--in the film'sone good number, "Le Jazz Hot", she climbs a staircase like she has weights on her feet. Nor can she summon any of the impersonator's hauteur or joy to her masquerade. Robert Preston is wonderful--he plays a cliche with such malice and relish, he revitalizes it, and Garner is successful kiddinghis own past macho image. A platinumed Warren is also quite good, but Edwards makes her dopey sweetness go sour--he humiliates her, especially in a chorus line number that could make a feminist a raging virago. Will someone please give Warren a role worthy of her undeniable talent? The film's bestmoments are early on: Andrews warbling for disinterested cabaret owners, or the preparation of Victoria to become Victor. After that, this becomes increasingly coarse and overstated. Edwards directs like a grizzly bear whipping up a souffle. The screenplay was based on VIKTOR UND VIKTORIA, a 1933German film, first refashioned in 1935 into a star vehicle for the ever-delightful Jessie Mathews, FIRST A GIRL.leave a comment Waitress592007PG-13U.S.107ColorComedyDramaNight and Day PicturesFox Searchlight4.58Evan KingToddler in DinerCaroline FogartyDoctor's AssistantCindy DrummondHospital NurseKira GraceThree-Month-Old LuluMacKenzie KingFlower GirlNathan DeanMinisterJeremy SistoEarlJennifer WalshPregnant WomanDonna LeslieCharRiley StefanelliNewborn LuluAndy GriffithOld JoeDoreen PowellPie-Contest Woman No.2Heidi SulzmanExhausted MotherHunter KingObnoxious ToddlerElaine LevinePie-Contest Woman No.1Sophie OstroyToddler LuluZoe SchneiderToddler in DinerLew TempleCalEddie JemisonOgieLauri JohnsonNurse NormaAdrienne ShellyDawnDanny AllenJimAndy OstroyCake ManEleya Avery-AultToddler in DinerBella StromelNewborn LuluNora ParadisoEthelKeri RussellJennaCheryl HinesBeckyHenry Arthur SmithToddler in DinerSarah HunleyDr. Lily MuellerJesse SchneiderToddler in DinerChristy TaylorPregnant WomanNathan FillionDr. PomatterDarby StanchfieldFrancine PomatterHailey ParkerNewborn LuluTodd KingExec. ProducerMatthew NicolaySound - mixerAdrienne ShellyWriterMichael RoiffProducerAnnette DaveyEditorJeff RoseExec. ProducerSusan LynchSet DecoratorRobert BauerExec. ProducerPaula Jane HamiltonMake UpAndrew HollanderMusical ComposerMatthew IrvingCinematographerDanielle RenfrewExec. ProducerRamsey AveryProduction DesignerJason BaldwinArt Director2.5It's tempting to over praise actress-turned-filmmaker Adrienne Shelly's third feature: It's a marked step forward from her second, I'LL TAKE YOU THERE (1999), which was in turn more accomplished than her debut, SUDDEN MANHATTAN (1997). Shelly was murdered before she could continue developing as a writer and director, and while this, her last film, is extremely uneven and undermined by an excess of quirk, Keri Russell's performance as a pregnant pie-guru is a charmer with a bracing streak convincingly desperate determination.Waitress Jenna (Keri Russell) works at a Joe's Pie Diner, an off-beat, small-town shrine to the baker's craft. Sweet and savory, open-faced and lattice-topped, filled with lemon chiffon or spaghetti, Jenna can make it, and she can make it work. Trained at her late mother's knee, she can transform the most unlikely ingredients into confections as unpredictable and complex as the inner turmoil that inspires them. She's a sweetheart, ready to give mousey fellow waitress Dawn (Shelly) a make-over or serve cranky Old Joe (Andy Griffith) when sassy Becky (Cheryl Hines, channeling Polly "kiss my grits" Holliday from TV'sAlice) just can't deal with his complaints. But she's not a doormat: there's a bittersweet finish to Jenna's perky pleasantries. You can even see how she wound up with controlling, pathologically jealous Earl (Jeremy Sisto): She married young and gave him the benefit of the doubt, a mistake she first repented then took steps to correct. Jenna is secretly saving up money for her escape and scheming to enter upcoming pie bake-off with a hefty cash prize. And then she comes up pregnant. After baking an "I Don't Want Earl's Baby Pie," Jenna reluctantly decides to go through with the pregnancy — after all, it's no one's fault but her own that she got drunk and slept with her loutish spouse — and drowns her ever-expanding sorrows in a torrid affair with the new OB/GYN in town (Nathan Fillian).There no way around it: Russell's performance is spunky and just about irresistible, no matter how much you hate spunk. It's hard to imagine WAITRESS working without her: Hines and Shelly are in there slinging one-note performances — cute, but 100% depth free — and Russell is quietly making Jenna into a richly textured character: When she looks at her belly and mutters, "dumb baby!" or whips up a Pregnant Miserable Self-Pitying Loser Pie, the laugh comes with a bitter side of rue.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Can't Hardly Wait701998PG-13U.S.96ColorComedyRomanceColumbia TriStarColumbia TriStar4.512Sara RueEarth GirlCharlie KorsmoWilliam LichterJay PaulsonX-Phile #2Leslie GrossmanReady to Have Sex Girl's FriendSeth GreenKenny FisherChannon RoeJack #1Liz StauberGossipy GirlJennifer PazGirl Mike Hits on #2Jennifer Love HewittAmanda BeckettAlexander MartinExchange StudentBobby JacobyHomeboy #2Rob Roy FitzgeraldCopNils LarsonSkinny BoyJamie PresslyGirlfriend #1Erik PalladinoCousin RonVicellous ShannonReddi Whip KidBranden WilliamsHomeboy #1Ali MacLeanLanguage Lab GirlAlaa KhaledBass PlayerMichelle BrookhurstGirl Whose Party It IsChris OwenKlepto KidReni SantoniCopJoel MichaelyX-Phile #1Steve MonroeHeadbangerCorrinn ReillyCopJenna ElfmanAngelFreddy RodriguezJack #3Lauren AmbroseDenise FlemingNick PaulosBeer DrinkerSean Patrick ThomasJack #2Marisol NicholsGroupiePeter FacinelliMike DexterDonald FaisonDrummerJerry O'ConnellTrip McNeeleyTamala JonesGirlfriend #2Ethan EmbryPreston MeyersChris WiehlHorny GuyMelissa Joan HartYearbook GirlAngela VaccoBeer DrinkerNicole BilderbackReady to Have Sex GirlJennifer LyonsGirlfriend #3Monica McSwainGroupieEric Brice ScottHockey GuyMeadow SistoHippie GirlJohnny ZanderGuitar PlayerBrian KlugmanStoner GuyJohn Patrick WhiteTassel GuyEric BalfourHippie BoySummer PhoenixUncreditedSeth PetersonKeg GuyPaige MossAshleyBrian HallReak HomeboyBreckin MeyerLead Singer in the BandSelma BlairGirl Mike Hits on #1Amber BensonStoned GirlClea DuVallJanaJamie DonnellyTeacherJason SegelWatermelon GuyWarren ZideProducerJenno ToppingProducerMarcia Hinds-JohnsonProduction DesignerKaren KochCo-ProducerClay BossStuntsMatthew SweetMusical ComposerDavid KirschnerSound - mixerMary VernieuCastingLloyd AhernCinematographerAnne McCarthyCastingMark BridgesCostumesDeborah KaplanWriterJohn DamianiMake UpBo JohnsonArt DirectorLou CarlucciSpecial EffectsDavid KitayMusical ComposerRichard GravesAssoc. ProducerJan BergstromSet DecoratorHarry ElfontWriterMichael JablowEditorBetty ThomasProducer3Still more AMERICAN GRAFFITI 100 percent social-significance free. The graduating class of Huntington Hills high is getting ready for a wild party, and over the course of a long, drunken evening, a series of stories overlap and intersect.Sensitive outcast Preston (Ethan Embry), who's leaving the next day for a writing seminar with Kurt Vonnegut, moons over prom queen Amanda (Jennifer Love Hewitt), on whom he's had a crush since freshman year. Amanda has just been dumped by her self-centered jock Mike (Peter Facinelli), who'strying to bully his buds into ditching their girls, too, so they'll all be free for hot college-babe action. Sharp-tongued loner Denise (Lauren Ambrose) reconnects with childhood pal Kenny (Seth Green), who wants to be a homey, while persecuted nerd William (Charlie Korsmo) plots revenge on hispopular tormentors. The cast is peppered with familiar TV faces --Party of Five's Jennifer Love Hewitt, Seth Green ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer, Sabrina the Teenage Witchstar Melissa Joan Hart, Jenna (Dharma & Greg) Elfman andSliders' Jerry O'Connell, in acameo as a jock who washed out in college -- and the soundtrack is an infectious gumbo of songs from the '70s, '80s and '90s. It's all cutely derivative, occasionally charming and very occasionally clever -- the sequence in which a discarded love letter makes its way out of the trash and into thehands of the girl for whom it was intended is a small gem -- but the movie's vague aspirations to being something more than disposable fluff never amount to anything. The busy pop-culture web on which the story rests won't bear the weight of, say, a sage Fellini-esque stripper in an angel costume(Elfman): Better just to let the kids party.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh W.302008PG-13U.S.129ColorBiographyDramaEmperor Motion PicturesGlobal Entertainment GroupMillbrook PicturesOnda EntertainmentQED InternationalLionsgate; Omnilab Media; QED International4.53Richard DreyfussDick CheneyToby JonesKarl RoveEllen BurstynBarbara BushJosh BrolinGeorge W. BushScott GlennDonald RumsfeldIoan GruffuddTony BlairJeffrey WrightColin PowellElizabeth BanksLaura BushJames CromwellGeorge Herbert Walker BushStacy KeachEarle HuddBruce McGillGeorge TenetThandie NewtonCondoleezza RiceJulie MonroeEditorThomas SterchiExec. ProducerMoritz BormanProducerEric KopeloffProducerMichael DennisonCostumesAlbert YeungExec. ProducerChristopher MappExec. ProducerSarah Halley FinnCastingStanley G. WeiserWriterTom OrtenbergExec. ProducerMatthew StreetExec. ProducerDavid WhealyExec. ProducerJohnny HonExec. ProducerElliot FerwerdaExec. ProducerOliver StoneWriterPaul CantelonMusical ComposerPeter D. GravesExec. ProducerPhedon PapamichaelCinematographerTeresa CheungExec. ProducerPaul HansonProducerEthan SmithCo-ProducerDerek R. HillProduction DesignerSuzie GilbertCo-ProducerBill BlockProducer4.5Usually, when the span of time surrounding a movie's release is relevant enough to be worth mentioning, it's because the film was born out of an artistic era or a creative period, like film noir or French New Wave. When a less than reverent presidential biopic comes out while said commander in chief is still in office, the context provided by the timing is a lot less obvious -- but make no mistake, it's still there. Making a distinctly historical film about a history that's still happening placesW.simply and unmistakably in its own artistic context: postmodernism. After all, it's hard to get more self-referential than a movie that lets modern times reflect upon themselves.However, this isn't totally apparent for the first 20 minutes ofW., and it's hard to say if that's Oliver Stone's fault or ours. Watching the movie, it takes a little time to let go of all those pesky preexisting expectations, and adjust to what at first seems a tad lowbrow and simplistic. But by the same token, walking intoW.expectingNatural Born Killers-esquemanic black satire, orJFK-esquesubtle, multifaceted subtext isn't going to help your viewing experience. InW., the story can't possibly be told in complex terms because the perspective is first person, and the person in question just doesn't have those kinds of perceptive tools.Thisis how Stone gets subtle: the hero doesn't narrate the story with a Texas-drawled "Dear Diary" voice-over, yet the movie still effectively provides Dubya's experiences from his own perspective. It's obvious enough from the zillion super close-ups on his bewilderedly determined expression (and the fact that there's a dream sequence), but most of the time, the vantage point manifests itself in the way the events unfold -- and it works brilliantly once you get the hang of it.After the period of adjustment is over, it makes perfect sense for the story to be so literal and straightforward -- or at least appear so on the surface. It alternates between two timelines: one that follows Dubya from college through the 2000 election, and one that follows him from 9/11 through the full-on nosedive of the Iraq War. There are no intricately woven metaphors, and no mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma, just a direct narrative about a fairly unspecial guy with some daddy issues, who endeavors -- but usually fails -- to deserve the opportunities that family string-pulling allows him. When there's symbolism, it's painted in strokes broad enough to fit on an IMAX screen -- he bends over to pray in the War Room, for instance, and it cuts to an upward shot where a huge, hard-edged, blindingly bright ring-shaped lighting fixture encircles his head.Dubya's failures and shortcomings are readily apparent enough -- even to people who haven't seen the movie -- so Stone doesn't have to deviate from the main character's perspective for us to understand the disaster left in Dubya's wake. He trusts that we don't need the filmmaker to vilify or even mock Dubya from the third person, and despite the aforementioned halo (which, of course, is a depiction advocated by the character, not the filmmaker) he also doesn't paint devil horns on the members of the administration like Dick Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss) and Condoleezza Rice (Thandie Newton). They bear their share of guilt as exploiters, yes men, and even blinded ideologues, but Stone never resorts to portraying them as the evil power-mongers who used this poor simpleton for their own nefarious ends. Well, maybe Cheney.If anything, the supporting cast members are just a hair over the line between character and caricature -- a choice that ends up being the cherry on top of that first-person narrative. It provides inescapable novelty (who doesn't like to see a spot-on Colin Powell impression?), but it also illustrates Dubya's blunted and simplified image of everything around him, the way he sees every important figure and idea in slightly cartoonish opaqueness. Certainly, this conceptual hub of the movie depends on star Josh Brolin, whose ability to overcome his own rugged, chiseled jaw and portray Dub's weakness so believably in this regard is pretty mind-blowing (and equally novel). In the end, it's clear that this basic weakness of both mind and confidence was at the root of all the president's epic failures, and while the character of Dubya himself doesn't appear totally self-aware about it, the audience has no trouble figuring it out -- a sure sign of the film's success.leave a comment--Cammila Albertson Vanilla Sky922001RU.S.115ColorScience FictionThrillerParamountParamount4.56Jeff WeissRaymond TooleyKen LeungArt EditorHolly RayeDancerDanielle R. WolfCoat Check GirlTilda SwintonRebecca DearbornTim HopperMan in Blue CoatDavid LewisonSleepyConan O'BrienHimselfJulia Carothers HughesSofia's FriendMichael KehoeChefCurt SkaggsSecurity GuardSteven SpielbergParty Guest -- uncreditedPatrick McMullenHimselfLori LezamaSkyscraper GirlW. Earl BrownBarmanLaura FraserThe FutureCarly Starr Brulo NilesCarlyErin McElmurryModelMark KozelekDude, Fix Your Face GuyDelaina MitchellDavid's AssistantJulia Anne SchulerModelAlice CroweLucid DreamerRobert F. HarrisonLaughing GuyJhaemi WillensJamie BerlinerJessica SiemensSofia's FriendOona HartLynetteNicole Taylor HartParty VideographerJennifer Marie KelleyModelFred ShruersCryo ManPaul HaggarFrozen Risk TakerStacey SherRaynaJohn FedevichSilent Ed VallencourtMark BramhallSneezyCindy CroweHerselfAdam LeGrantDocMarty CollinsMartini WaiterTodd HarrisonSkyscraper GuyScotch Ellis LoringL.E. Building GuardAna Maria QuintanaFrozen TheologistJack HallBashfulJane PrattHerselfCarolyn ByrneBeatriceSteven ColvinHimselfJennifer GimenezLolaKurt RussellDr. Curtis McCabeJim MurtaughBenny's OwnerRobin Van SharnerGrumpyCameron WatsonOther DoctorShalom HarlowColleenIvana MilicevicEmmaJennifer GriffinHappyRay ProsciaDoctor from BerlinJohn SypoltHimselfMel ThompsonFrozen Pediatric CardiologistJohnny GaleckiPeter BrownRandy WoodsideFrozen DadCameron DiazJulie GianniRobertson DeanThird DoctorJohn KepleyDopeyTommy LeeFrozen Vintage Car ManNoah TaylorEdmund VenturaLaurel WileyDr. Jennifer AshMark PinterCarlton KallerJason LeeBrian ShelbyBobby WalshYoung DavidTimothy SpallThomas TippPenelope CruzSofia SerranoBrent SextonSecurity GuardAlicia WittLibbyArmand SchultzDr. PomeranzTom CruiseDavid AamesMichael ShannonAaronDanny BramsonExec. ProducerJohn ChichesterArt DirectorHoward BergerMake Up - effectsK.N.B. EFX GroupMake Up - effectsDigital DomainSpecial EffectsJonathan SangerExec. ProducerBetsy HeimannCostumesCatherine HardwickeProduction DesignerRochelle GrossSpecial EffectsCloudia Bassett-RebarSet DecoratorJohn TollCinematographerJames T. TruesdaleArt DirectorMateo GillSourceGary D'AmicoSpecial EffectsGail LevinCastingBeat FrutigerArt DirectorJoe HutshingEditorJeff WexlerSound - mixerNancy WilsonMusical ComposerPaula WagnerProducerAlison O'BrienSpecial EffectsDigiScopeSpecial EffectsMark LivolsiEditorMichele BurkeMake UpCamille Calvet-SuftinMake UpRobert KurtzmanMake Up - effectsMichael RizzoArt DirectorScott M. MartinAssoc. ProducerMichael DovenAssoc. ProducerGreg NicoteroMake Up - effectsCinesiteSpecial EffectsDonald J. Lee Jr.Co-ProducerAlejandro AmenabarSourceCameron CroweProducerTony LambertiSound - designerTom CruiseProducerBrian SmrzStuntsCFXSpecial Effects2An overblownTwilight Zoneepisode, this nearly scene-for-scene remake of 1998's slickly creepy ABRE LOS OJOS ("Open Your Eyes") feels enervated and logy, its energy sucked into the vacuum of Tom Cruise's star power. David Aames (Cruise) is on top of the world: He's rich, handsome and runs his late father's trendy magazine empire with the hedonistic disdain of a prince. With armies of sour-faced worker ants on staff to do the "work," David devotes himself to the perks, like the glittering girls who flutter seductively around him. At David's 33rd birthday party, his less-handsome, considerably less-wealthy best friend Brian (Jason Lee) shows up with a personable beauty on his arm. Her name is Sofia (Penelope Cruz, who also starred in the original film), Brian says; they met that afternoon in a library, and he thinks she just might be theone. Brian's confidence doesn't stop David from turning on the high-voltage charm, or from spending the night at Sofia's charmingly rundown apartment. All they do is talk, mind you, but David's fundamental caddishness is firmly established. Brian isn't the only partygoer miffed by David's shameless flirting. The following morning, David finds leggy beauty Julie Gianni (Cameron Diaz), with whom he's been enjoying a meaningless fling, waiting at the curb. The fling, it turns out, was meaningless to David but meant rather more to Julie. She entices David into her car, then, bitterly decrying his careless manhandling of her heart, drives headlong off a bridge. When David eventually emerges from his accident-induced coma, he learns that Julie is dead and he's been horribly disfigured. David tells this tale to a court-appointed psychiatrist (Kurt Russell) from behind an eerie, flesh-colored mask; David has been arrested for murdering someone — maybe Julie, maybe Sofia... Things all get mixed up in the telling. Is David's face really scarred, or has it been repaired by a miraculous new form of plastic surgery? And what of David's dream about finding himself in a thoroughly deserted Times Square? Are the empty streets just a symbol of loneliness, or are there more sinister implications? Writer-director Cameron Crowe preserves the original film's plot twists and turns, but his version lumbers when it should be whipping along, daring you to keep up. The wall-to-wall pop music soundtrack eventually becomes oppressive, and Cruise's oily smile doesn't really constitute a characterization — Tilda Swinton blows him out of the water in her all-too-few minutes of 11th-hour screen time.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Titanic821997PG-13U.S.194ColorDisasterDramaHistorical20th-Century FoxLightstorm EntertainmentParamountParamount5328Nick MeaneySteward #2Billy ZaneCal HockleyLew PalterIsidor StrausGaelic StormSteerage BandTricia O'NeilWomanJari KinnunenBjorn GundersonRichard FoxSteward #1Bernard HillCaptain EJ SmithDiana MorganNews ReporterJames LancasterFather BylesRebecca Jane KlinglerMother at SternJonathan Evans-JonesWallace HartleyShay DuffinPubkeeperJonny Phillips2nd Officer LightollerDr. Anatoly M. SagalevitchAnatoly MilkailavichRocky TaylorBert CartmellLiam TuohyChief Baker JoughinVan LingChinese ManGloria StuartRose CalvertTerry ForrestalChief Engineer BellGregory CookeJack PhillipsSean M. NepitaElevator OperatorRichard AshtonCarpenter John HutchinsonGarth Wilton1st Class WaiterEdward Fletcher6th Officer MoodyRomeo FrancisSyrian ManElsa RavenIda StrausRon DonachieMaster At ArmsErik HollandOlaf DahlJonathan HydeBruce IsmayReece P. Thompson IIIIrish Little BoyEric BraedenJohn Jacob AstorAnders FalkOlaus GundersonMartin LaingPromenade Deck StewardJason BarryTommy RyanDan PetterssonSvenEmmett James1st Class StewardDavid WarnerSpicer LovejoyBrian WalshIrish ManRosalind AyresLady Duff GordonEwan Stewart1st Officer MurdochLewis AbernathyLewis BodineBrendan ConnollyScotland Road StewardRichard GrahamQuartermaster RoweMandana MarinoSyrian WomanJames GarrettTitanic PorterAlexandre OwensCora CartmellChristopher ByrneStairwell StewardMark Lindsay ChapmanChief Officer WildeDerek LeaLeading Stoker BarrettAmy GaipaTrudy BoltAlison WaddellCal's Crying GirlPaul BrightwellQuartermaster HichensIoan Gruffudd5th Officer LoweBernard FoxCol. Archibald GracieBill PaxtonBrock LovettRochelle RoseCountess of RothesI SalonistiTitanic OrchestraMark Rafael TruittYaleyJohn Walcutt1st Class HusbandKathleen DunnWoman in WaterCamilla Overbye RoosHelga DahlMartin HubSlovakian FatherCraig KellyHarold BrideMartin EastLookout LeeCharlotte ChattonMadeleine AstorMartin JarvisSir Duff GordonScott G. AndersonFrederick FleetMichael EnsignBenjamin GuggenheimKate WinsletRose DeWitt BukaterAmber WaddellCal's Crying GirlJenette GolsteinIrish MommyNicholas CasconeBobby BuellVictor GarberThomas AndrewsBarry DennenPraying ManPaul HerbertHold Steward #2BjornOlafDanny NucciFabrizio De RossiGreg EllisCarpathia StewardMarc CassHold Steward #1Fannie BrettMadame AubertDavid CronnellyCrewmanLaramie LandisIrish Little GirlLinda Kerns3rd Class WomanKevin OwersSteward #3Simon Crane4th Officer BoxhallSeth AdkinsSlovakian 3 Year Old BoyKathy BatesMolly BrownVern UrichMan in WaterMark CapriSteward #4Frances FisherRuth DeWitt BukaterOliver PageSteward BarnesLeonardo DiCaprioJack DawsonSuzy AmisLizzy CalvertConrad BuffEditorMark LasoffSpecial EffectsGary SummersSoundIndustrial Light & MagicSpecial EffectsDigital DomainSpecial EffectsMali FinnCastingJames HornerMusical ComposerTina EarnshawMake UpJon LandauProducerRobert LegatoSpecial EffectsGrant HillCo-ProducerThomas L. FisherSpecial EffectsVIFXSpecial EffectsMichael FordSet DecoratorTom BellfortSoundJames CameronEditorChristopher BoyesSoundGreg CannomMake UpMichael KanferSpecial EffectsTom JohnsonSoundSharon MannCo-ProducerSimon ThompsonMake UpRichard A. HarrisEditorRae SanchiniExec. ProducerMark UlanoSound - mixerGary RydstromSoundSimon CraneStuntsRussell CarpenterCinematographerPamela Easley HarrisAssoc. ProducerDeborah L. ScottCostumesPeter LamontProduction DesignerAl GiddingsCo-ProducerCharles LeeArt Director3.5It's $200 million-plus worth of old-fashioned melodrama in a state-of-the-art package. It's both the shortest 3 1/2 hours you'll ever spend at the movies and spectacle of such magnitude that it's hard to imagine feeling you didn't get your time and money's worth.It begins with eerie underwater images of the Titanic's remains, resting beneath the Atlantic since its close encounter with an iceberg in 1912. The footage comes courtesy of a salvage expedition led by Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton), whose hidden purpose is to recover a fabulous blue diamond. The gem was bought by caddish roue Cal Hockley (Billy Zane) for his fiancee Rose (Kate Winslet), and apparently lost -- with the girl -- in the wreck. Imagine Lovett's surprise when he's contacted by a 101-year-old woman (Gloria Stuart) who claims to be the missing Rose and offers to tell all about what happened that cold, dreadful night. Everybody knows the plot in its broad outlines: The Titanic -- marvel of modern engineering and floating monument to hubris -- will sink, and more than half its passengers will die ("Not the better half," says the hissably shallow Cal) because therearen't enough lifeboats for them.The drama is in the details, and Cameron pays lip service to the human tragedy: women and children saved while their men stay behind to die; first-class passengers ushered into lifeboats while steerage passengers are held below; the band playing "Nearer My God to Thee" as the icy water rises; individual acts of valor and cowardice that have been told and retold in books, movies and even songs. Cameron concocts a fictional romance between poor little rich girl Rose and penniless free-spirit Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), the better to highlight the brutal class struggle and give tragedy a dewy young face. But his heart is in the spectacle: The drama is cliched, if competently effective, but Cameron's dissolves from the Titanic's rusted hulk to her brand spanking new decks are breathtaking, even poetic. And the sight of the great ship foundering on the black, black sea, its massive stern rising up from the water like a whale's tale, is simply unforgettable. You can cavil that it doesn't look real -- who in this digital age believes seeing is believing? -- but think about it: It probably didn't look real that night 85 years ago, either.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Twilight312008PG-13U.S.121ColorDramaHorrorRomanceSummit EntertainmentSummit EntertainmentKristen StewartIsabella "Bella" SwanGil BirminghamBilly BlackRachelle LefevreVictoriaTaylor LautnerJacob BlackAshley GreeneAlice CullenSarah ClarkeRenee DwyerJackson RathboneJasper HalePeter FacinelliDr. Carlisle CullenSolomon TrimbleSam UleyCam GigandetJamesNikki ReedRosalie HaleBilly BurkeChief Charlie SwanEdi GathegiLaurentRobert PattinsonEdward CullenKellan LutzEmmett CullenElizabeth ReaserEsme CullenNacy RichardsonEditorElliot DavisCinematographerCatherine HardwickeDirectorMelissa RosenbergWriterCarter BurwellMusical ComposerStephenie MeyerSource3Here's the deal withTwilight: Edward Cullen, a 100-something-year-old vampire who doesn't look a day over 17, is attending high school along with his adoptive vampire family. He's beautiful (Robert Pattinson is on the path to being the most sought-after man-child sinceRomeo + Juliet-era Leonardo DiCaprio), he can read minds, and virtually all of his female classmates alternate between lovesickness and trepidation (the Cullens are all a little unsettling in their beauty). In any case, he isn't interested. Enter Bella Swan, Teenage Girl. She's the new kid in a small, perpetually overcast Washington town called Forks. Her first days of school aren't exactly traumatizing; she makes friends easily and attracts her fair share of Forks boys, but she still doesn't feel she fits in and misses her home in Arizona. Everything changes after she locks eyes with Edward Cullen, who doesn't know if he should kill Bella (he admits the scent of her blood is like his "brand of heroin") or allow himself to fall in love with her. This is where The Teen Girl Effect comes into play.Twilightis grade-A film crack. The dialogue leaves much to be desired and the special effects are like something out of an old episode ofThe Outer Limits. Edward's inner struggle to resist the allure of Bella's blood, and Bella's mixed feelings and hurt regarding Edward's erratic behavior plays like a rushed attempt at paving the way to their first kiss.It's not long before Edward and Bella declare their "unconditional, irrevocable" love for one another despite the inherent danger of a love affair between predator and prey (referred to as "the lion falling in love with the lamb" in both the book and film). Bella is willing to give up everything for a boy she hardly knows because she's convinced Edward is her true love, and to be separated from him would be unbearable. It's not a shining moment in terms of social progress for women -- however, if you are a teenage girl, or an adult who secretly keeps a warm place in your heart for your inner-teen to write bad poetry and long for the day her emo Prince Charming will realize just how special and different she really is, this movie delivers the goods.Twilightis almost a spot-on adaptation of the book, down to the mushroom ravioli Bella orders on her first sort-of date with Edward. Similar shout-outs to book fans occur throughout the course of the film; this, along with the casting (though he's not the hero of the story, Billy Burke makes a great protective father), captures the essence of the novel quite accurately.In terms of bringing the book to life,Twilightis a complete success, so much so that most of the film's flaws work within the context of the story. Kristen Stewart is sometimes awkward and self-conscious in her delivery, but Bella is an awkward, self-conscious character. Robert Pattinson appears to have taken a hint fromBuffy the Vampire Slayer's Angel and attended Broody Vampires Who Hate Their Predatory Nature 101, but that's the nature of Edward Cullen. Director Catherine Hardwicke's influence shows in the rival vampire clan (James [Cam Gigandet]), Laurent [Edi Gathegi], and Victoria [Rachelle Lefevre]), who offer a subtly different menace than the Cullens, in that where the Cullens are mostly a benign kind of scary, these vamps love the thrill of the hunt, and it shows. Unlike Edward's family, this clan doesn't believe in leading a "vegetarian" (code for drinking animal blood as opposed to human) lifestyle. These are not self-loathing vampires, and when they catch Bella's scent during a family baseball game, James assumes Bella is the post-game meal. The pacing gets a little odd after this -- Bella's leaving her father, she's in a car, she's on a plane, in a hotel room, outside the hotel, and inside the ballet studio where the epic vampire battle is to take place. Gigandet is appropriately creepy as a vampire obsessed with tracking and killing his prey, though once again the battle seems like an inconvenient obstacle preventing Bella and Edward from staring dreamily at one another. It's a forgivable sin, though -- after all, theTwilightdemographic (and their unashamed adult fans) is prone to skipping to the kissing parts anyway.leave a comment--Tracie Cooper The Perfect Nanny692001NRU.S.95ColorHorrorWorld International NetworkYorkWorld International Network; York53Joyce FessidesDorisDana BarronFawn LewisTracy NelsonAndrea McBride Hatfield/Nikki HarcourtAmy Stock-PoyntonBeth O'ReillyScott TerraBen LewisKatherine HelmondMrs. McBrideSherrie RoseRosaleeDarren Gray WardTroy HatfieldSara Van HornThelmaScott Alan SmithConradSusan BlakelyJulia BruningCharles O. GlennDr. Tanner WallaceChristopher KriesaLibrarianCindy GuyerMandyDavid SederholmHandsome ManBruce BoxleitnerDr. James LewisHelen HarwellProduction DesignerLarry GershmanExec. ProducerTonie KeytonMake UpVictor H. SchulerWriterKen SandersCo-ProducerJose M. RiveraCostumesRob DisnerSoundEric ManskerSpecial EffectsMark CastaldoCo-ProducerDon E. FauntleroyCinematographerRichard BowersMusical ComposerAnita GershmanExec. ProducerChristine ConradtWriterRick EylerAssoc. ProducerRob MalenfantDirectorRichard Gilbert HillWriterNoel A. ZanitschProducerBruce BoxleitnerAssoc. ProducerCraig KellerArt DirectorAaron GriffithCastingRobert PergamentEditorGregg LondonEditorPierre DavidProducer2.5Fans of THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE (1992) can chew their nails over this silly but entertaining example of the "babysitters-gone-bananas" subgenre. Habitual romance reader Andrea McBride Hatfield (Tracy Nelson) catches her husband, Troy (Darren Gray Ward), in flagrante delicto and attacks him; she winds up in a mental hospital. Even after she's declared cured, Andrea continues to confuse the make-believe world of novellas like "The Passion of Mandy" with reality. Like the fictional Mandy, a governess who marries up, Andrea sets out to wed a rich, handsome doctor. While working as a receptionist job at an employment agency, she's privy to potential nanny positions and widower Dr. James Lewis (Bruce Boxleitner) that she's an experienced domestic caregiver (having conveniently eliminated her prime competitor with a toppled bookcase). Once installed in Lewis's household, Andrea proves indispensable. She wins over the doctor's bratty son and bonds with his teenaged daughter Fawn, (Dana Barron), who resents her father's attachment to co-worker Dr. Julia Bruning (Susan Blakely). With her eyes on the marital prize, Andrea makes sure Bruning drowns in her pool. Later, when Lewis's boss threatens to upset the apple cart, Andrea ambushes him and makes the attack look like a mugging. But she makes the mistake of tipping her hand to Fawn, who doesn't regard Andrea as stepmother material, and isn't prepared for the return of her possessive ex-husband, who's been pressuring her mom, Mrs. McBride (Katherine Helmond), about Andrea's whereabouts. Now there arethreeobstacles on the path to Nanny's happy ending: jealous Troy, blackmailing Mrs. McBride and suspicious Fawn. A charismatic psychopath goes a long way to making a horror movie enjoyable, and the personable Nelson is the derivative but efficient picture's greatest asset.leave a comment--Robert Pardi Halloween911978RU.S.93ColorHorrorFalconAnchor Bay Entertainment; Compass International Pictures4.599Robert PhalenDr. WynnNancy LoomisAnnieBrent LePageLonnieSandy JohnsonJudithArthur MaletGraveyard KeeperP.J. SolesLyndaDonald PleasenceLoomisJohn Michael GrahamBobKyle RichardsLindseyPeter GriffithLaurie's FatherCharles CyphersBrackettBrian AndrewsTommyNick CastleThe ShapeDavid KyleBoyfriendJamie Lee CurtisLaurieTony MoranMichael at 21Nancy StephensMarionWill SandinMichael at 6Mickey YablansRichieAdam HollanderKeithDean CundeyCinematographer - Panavision, MetrocolorCraig StearnsSet DecoratorJohn CarpenterMusical ComposerJim WindburnStuntsCharles BurnsteinEditorJoseph WolfExec. ProducerTommy Lee WallaceProduction DesignerIrwin YablansExec. ProducerErica UllandMake UpDebra HillProducerThomas CauseySound - mixerKool LusbyAssoc. ProducerMoustapha AkkadExec. Producer4A modern horror classic. On Halloween night in 1963, a six-year-old boy in a Halloween mask stabs his sister to death after she makes love to her boyfriend. He's institutionalized--until, exactly 15 years later, he escapes and returns to his small Illinois hometown once more to wreakHalloween havoc. His psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) proclaims "The Evil is loose!" and is in hot pursuit with the authorities. Meanwhile Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) seems to be the only girl in town without a date for Halloween. All her high school friends seem to have hot datesscheduled but bright, bookish Laurie must settle for a quiet evening of babysitting, fending off trick-or-treaters, and watching old science fiction movies on television. Just another boring evening? Hardly.There's nary a drop of blood on screen in this rollicking funhouse of a movie but there is enough sheer cinematic ingenuity on display to coax screams out of the most jaded gorehound. Cheap thrills--often accompanied by a joybuzzer noise on the soundtrack--lurk on the periphery of nearly everyframe and film history allusions abound. Fans the moving camera also have reason to cheer as the Steadicam prowls the suburban streets unexpectedly turning into ominous point-of-view shots accompanied by creepy piano music (composed by the resourceful Carpenter). The performances are also farbetter than average for this kind of fare. Pleasance is a hoot as he gnaws on the scenery and the pleasingly equine beauty of Jamie Lee Curtis--at the beginning of the fondly remembered Queen of the B's stage of her career--enhances her sensitive performance.HALLOWEEN was the surprise hit of the 1978 Chicago Film Festival. Some over-enthusiastic critics even compared it with Hitchcock's classic PSYCHO (which starred Curtis's mother, Janet Leigh) but such comparisons are silly and groundless; HALLOWEEN is just a superbly made unpretentious thrillerwhereas one can make higher claims for PSYCHO. Furthermore Carpenter's clean, economical style owes a much greater debt to another master craftsman--Howard Hawks. From the opening--a long Steadicam point-of-view shot seen from behind a Halloween mask--to the climactic battle in which Curtis fendsoff the maniac time after time, only to have him rise again, Carpenter displays an astounding stylistic assurance for a young director working with a low budget.Made for less than half a million dollars, HALLOWEEN grossed well over $50 million on its initial release making it the single most successful independent feature of all time. Two sequels, both produced by Carpenter, were woefully inferior to the original, but a third--released in 1988--wasn't toobad.leave a comment Meet Me In St. Louis811944NRU.S.113ColorMusicalMGMMGM4.521Robert SullyWarren SheffieldHarry DavenportGrandpaJoan CarrollAgnes SmithHelen GilbertGirl on TrolleyMyron TobiasGeorgeJohn PhippsMailmanChill WillsMr. NeelyKenneth DonnerClinton BadgerLeonard WalkerConductorJoe CobbsClinton BadgerHugh MarloweCol. DarlyDarryl HickmanJohnny TevisLeon AmesMr. Alonzo SmithMargaret O'Brien"Tootie" SmithDonald CurtisDr. TerryHank DanielsLon Smith, Jr.Robert Emmett O'ConnorMotormanMajor Sam HarrisMr. MarchTom DrakeJohn TruettJudy GarlandEsther SmithMarjorie MainKatieMayo NewhallMr. BraukoffLucille BremerRose SmithBelle MitchellMrs. BraukoffMary AstorMrs. Anne SmithVictor CoxDriverSidney BarnesHugo BorvisVictor KilianBaggage ManMary Jo EllisIda BoothbyJune LockhartLucille BallardBuddy GormanClinton BadgerKen WilsonQuentinFred FinklehoffeWriterLemuel AyersArt DirectorGeorge StollMusic DirectorCedric GibbonsArt DirectorAlbert AkstEditorIrene SharaffCostumesArthur FreedProducerRalph BlaneMusic/Lyrics ComposerHugh MartinMusic/Lyrics ComposerVincente MinnelliDirectorCharles WaltersChoreographyPaul HuldschinskySet DecoratorEdwin B. WillisSet DecoratorIrving BrecherWriterGeorge FolseyCinematographer - TechnicolorSally BensonSource5A Valentine to the good old days, and all they stood for. Near-peak Judy Garland under the stylish direction of her future husband, Vincente Minnelli, in this wonderful period musical. It opens in 1903 in St. Louis, where Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames), a well-to-do businessman, lives with hiswife (Mary Astor), daughters (Garland, Lucille Bremer, Joan Carroll, and Margaret O'Brien), son (Hank Daniels), capricious Grandpa (Harry Davenport), and maid (Marjorie Main). Daughter Rose (Bremer) is courted by one beau at home and corresponds with another away at college, while Esther (Garland)becomes engaged to the new boy next door. Little sisters Agnes (Joan Carroll) and Tootie (Margaret O'Brien) represent the timeless mischief of childhood. Trouble arises when Alonzo is promoted and ordered to New York, a move no one in the family wants to make.This is a peerless portrayal of America at the turn of the century and one family's struggles to deal with progress, symbolized by the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis (beautifully re-created for the film). Minnelli proves his eye for detail and captures the era and its values in richly colored,gentle images, displaying a startling balance of emotions from scene to scene, song to song. Among the songs included in this triumph of Americana are "The Boy Next Door," "Meet Me in St. Louis," the marvelous production number "The Trolley Song," and Garland's evergreen "Have Yourself a MerryLittle Christmas". An almost unbeatable musical. Note Garland's beauty in this film: a tribute to the overhaul given her by Dottie Pondell, whose services Garland had snatched from under the noses of every major star in Hollywood, upon the death of Carole Lombard.leave a comment Zack And Miri Make A Porno132008RU.S.101ColorComedyWeinstein Co.46Katie MorganStaceyCraig RobinsonDelaneyBrandon RouthBobbyTraci LordsBubblesJeff AndersonDeaconSeth RogenZackJustin LongBrandonElizabeth BanksMiriGerry BednobMr. SuryaRicky MabeBarryJason MewesLesterSalvador PerezCostumesBob WeinsteinExec. ProducerScott MosierProducerJames L. VenableMusical ComposerDavid KleinCinematographerElise G. ViolaArt DirectorCarla GardiniExec. ProducerKevin SmithEditorRobert H. HoltzmanProduction DesignerHarvey WeinsteinExec. Producer2.5On paper, Kevin Smith'sZack & Miri Make a Pornowould appear to be a perfect project for his particular comedic style -- a blend of R-rated talk and a G-rated mushiness. The premise is a perfect high-concept pitch -- platonic BFFs Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) are struggling twentysomethings who decide to make the titular adult film after their financial situation turns dire, and they meet a surprise guest at their high school reunion (a scene-stealing Justin Long) with an unusual career history. The catch, of course, is that they have no idea how doin' it will alter their close friendship.The setup allows Smith to revel in tons of gleefully vulgar jokes, which he spreads among every member of the cast. Rogen brings his winning slacker charm to Zack, keeping his vulnerabilities poorly hidden behind a barrage of profanity. Banks matches him well; her desperation, especially when she throws herself at an old crush (a surprisingly sweet Brandon Routh), explains why she would remain devoted to her and Zack's friendship. And since both these young actors graduated from the Judd Apatow School of Raunchy Sentiment, they know how to balance the gross-out with the heartfelt. Kevin Smith's dialogue falls short of matching the dizzying highs hit by Apatow and Co., but his decision to cast his talented new collaborators was a savvy move. These progenies of modern comedy all know how to get the maximum impact out of what's on the page, but sadly, Smith himself falls back on the familiar View Askew faces like Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson -- both of whom continually dissipate the movie's freshness, as neither is talented enough to bring anything new to the table. It's not that they're bad, they're just woefully uninspired. Smith's refusal to find new creative partnerships compromises not only the performances, but the look of the film as well. Cinematographer Dave Klein ("DP Dave" to those who enjoy Smith's always entertaining commentaries) recycles the same static setups fromClerks, mimicking the 15-year-old waking-up montage almost shot for shot during the opening credits.Chasing Amymay well have been the high point of Smith's career, revealing his talent for examining the sometimes uncomfortable collision between friendship and romantic love, butZack & Miristill finds a fresh approach to this topic, most notably by avoiding the typical love triangle. The big scene where the two leads finally get it on in front of the camera turns out to be a highlight of Smith's career. Close up, we see the touching, intimate moment the two are sharing, while further back, we see how hilariously non-pornographic it looks to everybody else on set. He wrings laughs out of the hazy border shared by love and sex without being prudish or sappy, and it's an achievement that showcases the best of what this film offers. Unfortunately, the third act never strays from the standard structure of every romantic comedy - misunderstanding, then breakup, then will-they-or-won't-they-reunite tension. There are no surprises, and while anybody still with the film won't abandon it at this point, there is the nagging sense you're watching unrealized potential -- a problem common to all of Smith's films sinceDogma. In a sense, this makesZack & Miristand out as Kevin Smith's most thoroughly representative film -- both for better and for worse.leave a comment--Perry SeibertStar Trek Iv: The Voyage Home351986PGU.S.119ColorFantasyScience FictionParamountParamount4.511Nichelle NicholsComdr. UhuraBrock PetersCartwrightJane WiedlinTrillyaMark LenardSarekCatherine HicksDr. Gillian TaylorRobin CurtisLt. SaavikWalter KoenigChekovDeForest KelleyDr. Leonard "Bones" McCoyWilliam ShatnerJames T. KirkJames DoohanChief Engineer Montgomery "Scotty" ScottScott DeVenneyBob BriggsJane WyattAmanda, Spock's MotherJohn SchuckKlingon AmbassadorMadge SinclairCaptain of the SaratogaLeonard NimoyMr. SpockRobert EllensteinFederation Council PresidentGeorge TakeiSuluMajel BarrettDr. Christine ChapelPeter KrikesWriterLeonard RosenmanMusical ComposerJack T. CollisProduction DesignerSteve MeersonWriterJoe AubelArt DirectorJames BaylissSet DecoratorHarve BennettProducerLeonard NimoySourceRobert FletcherCostumesNicholas MeyerWriterRichard BergerSet DecoratorDon PetermanCinematographer - Panavision, TechniclorDaniel GluckSet DecoratorPete SmithArt DirectorPeter E. BergerEditorMichael LantieriSpecial EffectsRalph WinterExec. ProducerBrooke BretonAssoc. ProducerKirk ThatcherAssoc. ProducerGene RoddenberrySource3With directorial tongue firmly in cheek, Leonard Nimoy again takes the helm (he had begun his career with the lumbering third episode), in this environmentally-minded installment which sends our heroes back in time to 1986 San Francisco. Spock gives a Vulcan pinch to a punk, Kirk gets loston a bus, and we learn the importance of saving the whales. (A huge space probe is threatening to destroy 23rd-century Earth unless a whale--by then extinct--can be found for it to "chat" with.) By far the silliest and most self-mocking of the series, with the interplay between Spock and Kirkveering somewhere between Hope and Crosby and Cheech and Chong, but also one of the most successful, grossing around $110 million.leave a comment Wall-E172008GU.S.103ColorAdventureAnimatedChildren'sScience FictionPixar Animation StudiosWalt Disney PicturesBuena Vista4.5139Kathy NajimyMaryElissa KnightEveBen BurttWALL-E/M-OFred WillardShelby Forthright, BnL CEOJohn RatzenbergerJohnSigourney WeaverShip's ComputerJeff GarlinCaptainAlan BarillaroAnimationThomas NewmanMusical ComposerIndustrial Light & MagicSpecial EffectsBert BerryArt DirectorJim MorrisProducerJake MartinAnimationPete DocterSourceStephen SchafferEditorThomas PorterAssoc. ProducerKevin ReherCastingEd HirshSpecial EffectsNatalie LyonCastingAndrew StantonSourceRalph EgglestonProduction DesignerBen BurttSound - designDavid MacCarthySpecial EffectsJim ReardonWriterJason DeamerArt DirectorAnthony ChristovArt DirectorAngus MacLaneAnimationSteven Clay HunterAnimationLindsey CollinsCo-ProducerMark Cordell HolmesArt DirectorJohn LasseterExec. Producer4In 1986 Pixar revolutionized the animation world with "Luxo Jr.," a two-minute, 18-second short about a pair of hopping desk lamps that proved animated machines and the computers that generate them can mimic the soul and sensitivity of humans. This sweet and startlingly visionary feature brings Pixar full circle: Its hero is a small, heartbreakingly lovelorn android who adoresHello, Dolly!and a high-tech space probe named EVA, and it's company's greatest achievement to date.The late, great planet Earth, circa 2800 AD: Seven hundred years have passed since earthlings abandoned their hopelessly polluted, sun-scorched landfill of a planet and boarded the Axiom, an enormous ark/starship owned and operated by the ubiquitous, Wal-Mart-styled retail giant Buy N Large. According to Shelby Forthright (Fred Willard), BnL's unctuous, Bush-ism-spouting CEO, the move was meant to be temporary: While Earth's citizens floated through space in cruise-line comfort, an army of solar-powered, trash-compacting androids known as WALL-Es (Waste Allocation Load Lifters -- Earth Class) would swarm the planet, collecting and compressing all the garbage into neat little piles, hopefully restore Earth to a state capable of sustaining life. "Operation Clean-Up" was meant to take five years, but seven centuries later earthlings are still drifting through space aboard the Axiom, and they've devolved into little more than technology dependent blobs of fat with little intelligence, muscle tissue or bone mass, and no memory of the bright blue marble they once called home. Meanwhile on Earth -- where the only sign of life among the ruined buildings and towering ziggurats of cubed garbage is the proverbially indestructible cockroach -- only one WALL-E (voice of Ben Burtt) seems to be still functioning. Each day, despite the existential fruitlessness of it all, WALL-E goes about his appointed rounds, collecting and compacting trash into small cubes and keeping random objects that strike his robotic fancy: a Rubik's cube, a light bulb, a Zippo lighter and a single slim, green sprout of plant life found safely hidden inside an abandoned refrigerator. Once his day is done, WALL-E and cockroach friend return to the derelict transport vehicle they call home to enjoy WALL-E's most prized possession: a old VHS cassette of the 1969 movie HELLO, DOLLY. Watching the screen lovers tentatively hold hands, fingers entwined, WALL-E longs for companionship. He gets more than he bargained for when a huge exploratory craft deposits a fetchingly sleek, Mac-inspired piece of glossy white high-tech robotics designed to test the Earth for life sustainability. Here name is EVE (Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), and for lonely WALL-E, it's love at first sight.The film's second half -- which takes place almost entirely aboard the Axiom -- is a hilarious comment on the rapid devolution of human civilization a la Mike Judge's IDIOCRACY: In our fat and lazy technology-enslaved future, we won't even need to chew for ourselves, thanks to Big Gulp-sized sippy cups. The film is bright, fast-paced fun in the Pixar tradition with an obvious environmental message, but it's the first half of WALL-E that's the real achievement. Aside from a few blips and beeps, there's nary a word spoken, and the whole thing unfolds like a deeply poignant, Chaplin-esque pantomime set amid the grease and grime of frighteningly realized dead world. It can hardly be called a children's film, but a masterpiece of feature-film animation for all ages.leave a comment--Ken Fox Iron Man282008PG-13U.S.126Color/Black & WhiteActionScience FictionMarvel StudiosParamount4.5105Marco KhanInsurgent No.4Joshua HartoCAOC Analyst No.2Zorianna KitHerselfGerard SandersHoward StarkTim GuineeMajor AllenFaran TahirRazaReid HarperKid in SUV No.1Clark GreggAgent CoulsonJeannine KasparHot Stewardess No.2Jeff BridgesObadiah StanePeter BillingsleyWilliamTerrence HowardLt. Colonel James "Rhodey" RhodesGabrielle TuiteStan's Girl No.4Frank NyiEngineerMarvin JordanAir Force OfficerAva Rose WilliamsKid in SUV No.2Nazanin BoniadiFBX ReporterBen NewmarkPress Reporter No.4Sarah CahillHot Stewardess No.3Javan TahirGulmira KidThomas Craig PlumerColonel CraigTim RigbyViper 1James BetheaCAOC Analyst No.4Adam HarringtonPress Reporter No.2Gwyneth PaltrowVirginia "Pepper" PottsStacy StasWoman at Craps Table No.1Daston KaliliScreaming Insurgent No.1Micah HauptmanCAOC Analyst No.3Ido EzraScreaming Insurgent No.2Jim CramerHimselfDonna Evans MerloWoman In SUVBill SmitrovichGeneral GabrielRobert Downey Jr.Tony StarkFahim FazliOmarRussell RichardsonViper 2Eileen WeisingerRamirezMasha LundStan's Girl No.3Stan LeeHimself -- "Hef"Tim GriffinCAOC Analyst No.1Robert BerkmanDealer at Craps TableAhmed AhmedAhmedLauren ScyphersWoman at Craps Table No.2Will LymanAward Ceremony NarratorSayed BadreyaAbu BakaarNicole LindebladStan's Girl No.2Leslie BibbChristine EverhartShaun ToubYinsenMeera SimhanPress Reporter No.3Tom MorelloInsurgent No.5Callie Marie CroughwellKid in SUV No.4Jon FavreauHoganPatrick O'ConnellPress Reporter No.1Justin RexAir Force LieutenantLana KinnearStan's Girl No.1Kevin FosterJimmyRicki Noel LanderHot Stewardess No.1Garrett NoelPrattVladimir KubrKid in SUV No.3Summer Kylie RemingtonKid in SUV No.2Sahar BibiyanGulmira MomPaul BettanyVoice of JarvisStan LeeExec. ProducerEric N. HeffronAssoc. ProducerDavid KlassenArt DirectorDan LebentalEditorJamie KelmanMake UpIndustrial Light & MagicSpecial EffectsAdi GranovTechnical Advisor - Suit ConsultantLarry LieberSourceLauri GaffinSet DecoratorMichael A. HelfantExec. ProducerMatthew J. LibatiqueCinematographerPeter BillingsleyExec. ProducerDeborah Lamia DenaverMake UpStan Winston StudioMake Up - make-up effectsDon HeckSourceThomas Robinson HarperStuntsSuzan WexlerArt DirectorWesley SewellSpecial Effects - visual effectsMark FergusWriterShane Patrick MahanSpecial Effects - physical suit effectsTim RigbyStunts - aerial stuntsHal HickelSpecial Effects - animation effectsAvi AradProducerHawk OstbyWriterJon FavreauExec. ProducerMark UlanoSoundStan inston StudioSpecial Effects - physical Iron Man suitsJack KirbySourceBen SnowSpecial Effects - visual effectsKent SekiSpecial Effects - HUD effectsVictoria AlonsoSpecial Effects - visual effectsArt MarcumWriterMatt HollowayWriterRichard F. MaysArt DirectorLouis D'EspositoExec. ProducerKeith WoulardStuntsKevin FeigeProducer3The suit is cool, but IRON MAN belongs to Robert Downey, Jr.: His effortlessly nuanced performance as Tony Stark, a heedless, billionaire playboy arms manufacturer cast into a brutal crucible that forces a top-to-bottom reassessment of his life so far, is a dark delight that combines pop-culture wit and genuine emotional depth.Brilliant, hedonistic industrialist Tony Stark (Downey) inherited a clutch of companies invested in everything from medical research to alternative energy, but the pulsing heart of Stark Industries is weapons: The bigger and more destructive the better. Stark's sound-bite patriotism lies over a genuine, if not deeply considered, belief that Stark munitions are making the world safe for his fellow Americans, a position he's compelled to rethink after being wounded and taken hostage by Afghan terrorists during a mega-missile demo/photo op. Held in a mountain camp bristling with Stark products and tethered to a primitive device buried in his chest -- the only thing standing between his heart and stealthy shards of shrapnel lurking in his flesh – Stark is ordered to build his captors their very own super WMD. He instead forges an iron robo-suit and escapes; his first act back in the US is to make the startling announcement that Stark Industries is out of the weapons business until further notice. While Stark devotes himself to constructing an improved version of the suit that saved his life, rumors that he's suffering post-traumatic stress syndrome threaten to destabilize Stark Industries. The three people closest to him – loyal assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow); friend and military liaison James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Terrence Howard); and longtime right-hand Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) – react in very different ways, both before and after they discover exactly what he's been working on and what he plans to do with it.Downey, 42, gets under the skin of a character whose devil-may-care arrogance, born of lifelong privilege, is viciously ripped away, an experience that makes a better man of him, but not adifferentone. He's still cocky, self-centered and superficially imperious, but he knows he's not untouchable, which has as much to do with being obliged to ask Pepper to plunge her hand into the perpetually open hole in his chest and adjust the device keeping him alive as it does his newly awakened conscience. His performance grounds the film's fantastic trappings -- from the sleek Iron Man armor to Pepper's ability to sprint in strappy, sky-high heels – in emotional reality.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh The Benchwarmers662006PG-13U.S.80ColorComedySportsHappy MadisonRevolution StudiosColumbia423Max PradoNelsonTim MeadowsCoach WayneErinn BartlettSarahCraig KilbornCoach JerryRob SchneiderGus MatthewsBill RomanowskiCoach KarlDavid SpadeRichie GoodmanSean SalisburyCoach BradMolly SimsLiz MatthewsAmaury NolascoCarlosJon LovitzMelJon HederClarkJohn HartiganSpecial Effects - visual effectsSandy SolowitzEditorAllen CovertWriterJack GiarraputoProducerDennis DugganDirectorMary Jane FortCostumesPerry Andelin BlakeProduction DesignerAnne McCarthyCastingNick SwardsonCo-ProducerBarry BernardiExec. ProducerDerek DauchyCo-ProducerPeck PriorEditorWaddy WachtelMusical ComposerThomas AckermanCinematographerThomas D. CauseySoundAlan AuArt DirectorJay ScullyCastingAdam SandlerProducerAllegra CleggExec. Producer1.5Screenwriters Nick Swardson and Allen Covert wrap a passel of lessons — bullying is bad, nerds are nice guys under their tics andStar Warsobsessions, girls are better than macaroni and cheese — in a welter of gags about booger-picking, flatulence, bug-eating, pee bottles and gay bodybuilders with criminally unconvincing toupees. Successful landscaper Gus Matthews (Rob Schneider) has a soft spot in his heart for geeks, and has not only taken pathetic paper-boy Clark (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE star Jon Heder) under his protective wing, but he spontaneously comes to the rescue of born-victim Nelson (Max Prado) when he sees the pathetic little doofus being picked on by adolescent baseball jocks. Gus is also a stunningly talented athlete with a gorgeous blonde wife (Molly Sims) who wants nothing more than to wrestle him into bed, albeit because she's desperate to get pregnant. But still — not bad for a guy who looks like the second-rate comedian who's always lurking on the sidelines of his pal Adam Sandler's movies... oh, wait, heisthat guy, and the fact that Schneider has to be the least convincing athletic powerhouse on earth isn't the joke. The joke is that Nelson's dad turns out to be dweeb-turned-multizillionaire Mel Schmegmer (Jon Lovitz), who drives K.I.T.T. fromKnight Rider(his other car is the Batmobile) and offers to underwrite a baseball team built around Gus, Clark and Clark's friend Richie the video-store geek (David Spade) if they'll agree to play against every Little League team in town so dorks will have someone to root for. Between Gus' all-star skills and a little coaching from Mel's old band-camp pal Reggie Jackson, the Benchwarmers are soon wiping the ground with two generations of smug, self-esteem-annihilating jackasses — the ones who pantsed them in high schoolandtheir chip-off-the-old-block kids. They're stars of mega-downloaded video podcasts and an inspiration to spazzes everywhere, but Gus has a secret past that just might destroy everything they've worked for. Produced by — surprise! — Adam Sandler and directed by protege Dennis Dugan, this formulaic mess of sports-movie cliches and self-esteem claptrap contains a couple of funny bits, like Jackson teaching fast reflexes through doorbell-ringing pranks, but you have to slog through a lot of done-to-death bodily function jokes to get to them.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Saw V162008RU.S.92ColorHorrorTwisted PicturesLionsgate4.57Scott PattersonAgent StraumMeagan GoodLubaJulie BenzBritGreg BrykMallickMark RolstonEricksonBetsy RussellJillLaura GordonAshleyTobin BellJigsaw/JohnCostas MandylorHoffmanCarlo RotaCharlesKevin GreutertEditorDaniel Jason HeffnerExec. ProducerDavid HacklDirectorDavid ArmstrongCinematographerPatrick MeltonWriterMark BurgProducerStephanie GorinCastingAlex KavanaghCostumesTony IanniProduction DesignerMarcus DunstanWriter1.5Hello moviegoers. The producers at Lionsgate want to play a game with you. For the last four years, you've been subjected to torturous displays of horrific morality lessons, in hopes that you'd come back for more blood-soaked exploits of the serial killer Jigsaw. With each entry, the stakes have become higher and the plots more complex. So far you've seen dozens of devices of death, each containing its own virtuous lecture on the evils of humanity. There've been silly sequels (Saw II), overly serious ones (Pt. III), as well as the ludicrous follow-up that led to this movie,Saw V. You now have a choice: you can continue this maddening journey or put this well-worn franchise out of its misery. Let it not be said that you weren't warned, for on the road ahead lies the biggest rip-off of them all -- a slapdash affair of dramatic drivel that even the most diehard fan will find lacking. Whether or not the bus had already hit the wall on the series long ago, there's little doubt that it's been left thoroughly in flames after this. The choice is yours. Choose wisely.When last we saw Jigsaw (played here once again by Tobin Bell), he was lying dead in a makeshift hospital gurney, the product of a buzz saw to the throat (back inPt. III). Thanks to the wonderful world of flashbacks, he lived on in the fourth film and does so here again; though don't expect too many revelations about his life or his work from this outing. As we learned at the end ofIV, Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) -- the detective at the heart of the investigation sincePart III-- had been secretly in league with Jigsaw the whole time. Actually, one isn't sure just when he actually started up with the cancerous killer with serious ethics on his brain, thoughPart Vattempts to tell that story -- even if the time frame completely confuses the viewer at every turn. The plot weaves in and out of all of the sequels, with occasional flashbacks to vaguely remind you of how they all tie together. One thing about theSawseries is that you never know exactly when and where things are taking place in regard to what's come before. Usually the film ends with a spinning camera and a character yelling up at the sky, piecing together the movie for you -- except this time, the twist is the equivalent of theTitanicsinking. Of course, there are a few other characters in the flick (the most notable face beingDexter's Julie Benz), but they really make no difference to the plot and serve only to eat up a few juicy kills.And speaking of gore -- where is it? Sure, there's a quick decapitation, some fingers being sliced up, and a guillotined torso, but compared to its precursors,Saw Vdoesn't come close. And really, that's what the audience is there for. Say all you want about them appreciating the plot twists, but in the end, they're there for the nasty, cringe-worthy stuff. It's as if the writers (Feast's Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton) were so preoccupied with threading the story's needle that they forgot what kind of movie they were writing. Say what you will about the franchise -- good or bad -- but if the previous filmmakers got anything right, it's that they delivered the goods to their audience. So doesPart Vcut it? Absolutely not. It's cheap, sloppy, and too jumbled up to know what it should be. With hanging plot threads all over, and a sense that the series really has collapsed in on itself, one has to wonder how Lionsgate could come back with a new entry that continues to successfully question all that came before. What will they do next? Probably rip more people off. It's worked for them so far.leave a comment--Jeremy Wheeler The Godfather941972RU.S.175ColorCrimeParamountParamount5143Morgana KingMama CorleoneTony GiorgioBruno TattagliaJohn MarleyJack WoltzDiane KeatonKay AdamsAl MartinoJohnny FontaneRobert DuvallTom HagenAbe VigodaTessioSalvatore CorsittoBonaseraGianni RussoCarlo RizziJames CaanSonny CorleoneJulie GreggSandra CorleoneCorrado GaipaDon TommasinoVictor RendinaPhillip TattagliaFranco CittiCaloVito ScottiNazorineMarlon BrandoDon Vito CorleoneJeannie LineroLucy ManciniArdell SheridanMrs. ClemenzaTere LivranoTheresa HagenRichard BrightNeriJohn MartinoPaulie GattoSterling HaydenMcCluskeyAngelo InfantiFabrizioRichard ConteBarziniAlex RoccoMoe GreeneJohn CazaleFredo CorleoneLenny MontanaLuca BrasiTalia ShireConnie RizziAl PacinoMichael CorleoneRudy BondCuneoRichard CastellanoClemenzaSaro UrziVitelliAl LettieriSollozzoSimonetta StefanelliApolloniaPeter ZinnerEditorPhilip SmithSet DecoratorSass BedigSpecial EffectsWarren ClymerArt DirectorChris NewmanSoundMurray SolomonEditorPaul BaxleyStuntsGordon WillisCinematographer - TechnicolorPhil RhodesMake UpLouis DigiaimoCastingAndrea EastmanCastingDick SmithSpecial EffectsGray FredericksonAssoc. ProducerFred RoosCastingWilliam ReynoldsEditorMario PuzoSourceNino RotaMusical ComposerFrancis Ford CoppolaWriterMarc LaubEditorDean TavoularisProduction DesignerCarlo SavinaMusic DirectorAlbert S. RuddyProducerJoe LombardiSpecial EffectsAnna Hill JohnstoneCostumesA. D. FlowersSpecial Effects5One of the central American movies of the last 25 years, and one of very few to succed as both popular entertainment and high art. THE GODFATHER changed forever the popular perception of organized crime, implying strong parallels between the workings of the Mafia and those of any otherprofit-making corporation, and imparting operatic gravity to its liberal doses of violence.The film opens with the wedding of Don Vito Corleone's (Marlon Brando) daughter Connie (Talia Shire) to Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo), a small-time bookie. Present at the ceremony is Brando's youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino), a much-decorated Marine captain who has just returned from WWII.College-educated, sensitive and perceptive, Michael is unlike almost all the other guests except Kay (Diane Keaton), his WASP sweetheart. Pacino points out gangster luminaries to Kay as a small boy might heroes in a baseball park.Problems for the Corleone family arise with the appearance of Sollozzo (Al Lettieri), a maverick gangster who has the backing of a rival Mafia family. In a meeting with the Corleones, Sollozzo informs the family that he intends to establish wide-scale heroin sales in NYC, but requires thepermission of Don Vito to do so. Corleone, an old-school Mafia don, sends Sollozzo packing, saying that he is disgusted by the thought of narcotics and is content with his gambling, prostitution and protection rackets. (In fact, he is reluctant to jeopardize his political contacts by venturinginto this controversial new terrain.) The refusal leads to a gang war in which the Godfather is wounded, but not killed, in an assassination attempt.Sonny (James Caan) temporarily takes over control of the family from the injured don, as Michael opts to kill Sollozzo and a corrupt police captain in revenge for the attack on Vito. After Michael goes into hiding in Sicily, the volatile Sonny beats up Carlo for having assaulted Connie and is thenkilled in an ambush that Carlo helped set up.While in hiding, Michael takes a young Sicilian wife, only to lose her in a botched assassination attempt that was aimed at him by a rival family. Newly hardened, he returns to America to take control of the family from Don Vito who, now recuperated from his injuries, is retiring.Great movies aren't usually planned as such; they happen through an unusual confluence of talents and qualities. THE GODFATHER is no exception. Coppola had set out simply to redeem a faltering career when he started to shoot the popular Mario Puzo mafia novel. His talent brought him luck. First hecollected an extraordinary number of the great actors who made American filmmaking interesting during the 70s and 80s: Marlon Brando, James Caan, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall. Then he spiced the mixture with some accomplished character actors: John Marley, Al Lettieri, Sterling Hayden,and Coppola's sister, Talia Shire. Coppola also had the eminent good sense--or good luck--to get Nino Rota to write his last great score. He got a finely crafted script from author Puzo, and then worked obsessively to push all involved to the limits of their abilities, and sometimes beyond.Puzo's novel (which also redeemed a faltering career) provided not one, but several mythic elements that Coppola was canny enough to reinforce in the film. THE GODFATHER is a generational saga; it's also an action film; but above all, it catches the imagination of audiences because it suggeststhat the career of a gangster is not so very different from the career of a businessman or a politician. This had important resonance for the generation of the early 70s.The film is dark--Coppola had cinematographer Gordon Willis deliberately underlight each scene; the mood is dark; and the climax, in which Michael indulges in an orgy of blood vengeance, would simply be horrific, were it not for the ironic melodies of the Rota score, which underline the humanesensibilities of the storyteller and keep us at an appropriate distance. And this points to Coppola's greatest achievement with THE GODFATHER; he simultaneously presents us with two views of the Corleone family. We see it from within, sympathizing with the motives and dilemmas of these very real,attractive and charismatic individuals; and we see it from without, in a state of suspended disgust at a moral code that knows only greed and blood.leave a comment The Dark Knight32008PG-13U.S.152ColorFantasyThrillerDC ComicsLegendary PicturesSyncopyWarner Bros.Warner Bros.5481Sam DerenceMale GuestAndy LutherBrianJonathan RylandPassenger Ferry PilotJoshua HartoReesePatrick LeahyGentleman at PartyAnthony Michael HallEngelEric RobertsMaroniLanny LutzBartenderRon DeanWuertzJoshua RollinsSWAT SniperMichael Corey FosterHonor Guard LeaderTommy CampbellPassengerPhilip BulcockCop with Fat ThugBeatrice RosenNataschaK. Todd FreemanPolkSarah Jayne DunnMaroni's MistressMichael Andrew GormanCop at HospitalNancy CraneNurseLateef LovejoyPrisonerKeith KupfererHecklerWai WongHong Kong DetectiveNydia Rodriguez TerracinaJudge SurrilloNestor CarbonellMayorDavid AjalaBounty HunterPeter DeFariaCivilianAndrew BicknellPrison Ferry PilotRichard DillaneActing CommissionerJames FarruggioMan No. 1Matt RippyFirst MateTom McElroyMan No. 2Tiny ListerTattooed PrisonerMonique Gabriela CurnenRamirezMorgan FreemanLucius FoxChin HanLauAaron EckhartHarvey DentOlumiji OlawumiDrug DealerJoseph Luis CaballeroCop HecklerMatt ShallenbergerBergWinston EllisGanbol's BodyguardLorna GaylePassengerMichael CaineAlfred PennyworthWilliam ArmstrongEvansJames FierroThug at PartyDoug BallardBusinessmanMaggie GyllenhaalRachel DawesGrahame EdwardesPrisonerJames ScalesGuardsmanRitchie CosterChechenGreg BeamDrug BuyerMichael StoyanovDopeyMichael VieauRossiAdam KalesperisHonor Guard ManIan PirieCorrections OfficerThomas GaitschReporter #3Keith SzarabajkaStephensNigel CarringtonWardenMichael Jai WhiteGambolGertrude KylesFox's SecretaryCillian MurphyScarecrowVincent RiottaCop at 250 52nd StreetVincenzo NicoliCrime BossHannah GunnGordon's DaughterDavid DastmalchianJoker's ThugLisa McAllisterPassengerWalter LewisMedicCraig HeaneyPassengerErik HellmanJunkieWilliam FichtnerBank ManagerChristian BaleBruce Wayne/BatmanWill ZahrnAssistant DABrandon LambdinArmored Car SWATPatrick ClearJudge FreelJennifer KnoxFemale GuestPeter BrookePassengerChris PetschlerConvoy LeaderMatthew O'NeillChucklesColin McFarlaneLoebSophia HinshelwoodReporterDanny GoldringHappyMelinda McGrawBarbara GordonHelene WilsonMotherEdison ChenLSI VPRoger MonkPrisonerTristan TaitUniform CopAriyon BakareGuard CommanderRonan SummersPrisonerChucky VennGanbol's BodyguardBronson WebbBounty HunterGary OldmanLt. James GordonMatthew LeitchPrisoner on FerryHeath LedgerJokerDaryl SatcherOfficer at IntersectionDale RiveraSWAT LeaderAidan FeoreFat ThugEd NovickSoundGina DeutersSpecial EffectsWally PfisterCinematographerJonathan NolanWriterDavid S. GoyerSourceJohn PapsideraCastingLindy HemmingCostumesJames Newton HowardMusical ComposerPeter LandoSet DecoratorChristopher NolanProducerBob KaneSourceSimon LamontArt DirectorChris CorbouldSpecial EffectsShelly Lloyd-JamesSpecial EffectsNathan CrowleyProduction DesignerBenjamin MelnikerExec. ProducerRick LeFevourStuntsPeter Robb-KingMake UpCharles RovenProducerPaul JenningsStuntsSusan Robb-KingMake UpConor O'SullivanMake Up - prostheticsTom StruthersStuntsEmma ThomasProducerNick DavisSpecial EffectsAna Marie CruzSpecial Effects - digitalLee SmithEditorKevin De La NoyExec. ProducerKerry Joseph Jr.Special Effects - digitalHans ZimmerMusical ComposerMichael E. UslanExec. ProducerDC ComicsSourceThomas TullExec. ProducerKingsley CookSpecial Effects - digitalToby WhiteSpecial EffectsKevin KavanaughArt DirectorJordan GoldbergAssoc. Producer4Even without Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker, Christopher Nolan's pitch-black sequel to BATMAN BEGINS (2005) would be a tour de force. But Ledger's mesmerizingly damaged agent provocateur is the film's dark heart, a presence so malevolently unpredictable that it remains palpable even when he's not on screen.Millionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) continues to live his double life as the crusading Batman, but at an ever-escalating personal cost: He's displaced and all but alone. Wayne Manor has been burned to the ground, forcing him into an anonymous high-rise apartment, and childhood sweetheart Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, taking over from the vapid Katie Holmes) has taken up with crusading district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) who's conductinghiswar on crime, by the book and in the bright light of day. Faithful butler Alfred (Michael Caine) and Wayne Industries' factotum Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) continue to support Bruce's lonely battle against criminals, but Gotham City is still overrun with warring gangs. Public opinion regarding the dark angel is polarized -- grassroots champion of the average citizen or dangerous vigilante? – and the headline-grabbing exploits of a pack of untrained, hot-headed imitators who've sprung up in the Batman's shadow only muddy the waters further. Succumbing to the unrelenting pressure, Batman and longtime ally Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman) agree to work with Dent, an arrangement that brings impressive short-term results but sets the stage for an anarchic reign of terror orchestrated by the wild card in the underworld deck: The Joker (Ledger). Having made himselfpersona non grataamong thieves by robbing the banks that launder and safeguard their ill-gotten gains, the Joker then proposes that they all work together to take back the night.Written by Nolan and his brother, Jonathan (David S. Goyer gets co-story credit), the film juggles multiple intertwined narratives – Batman's dark night of the soul, the Joker's machinations, the rise and fall of Dent, the criminal super-alliance – without feeling bloated or unfocused; its 142 minutes fly by. Nolan stages some stunning action sequences – the opening heist is worthy of Michael Mann – and maintains a convincing atmosphere of apocalyptic paranoia; Gotham City is under siege, people are genuinely frightened and life-or-death situations can go either way. But most importantly, he gives his top-notch cast plenty of room to breathe and inhabit their characters. That Ledger stands out in such a powerhouse ensemble is a tribute to his radically unhinged interpretation of a familiar character: The lank hair tinged seaweed green, the darting tongue and faint lisp that call constant attention to the ghastly rictus of his mouth, the nightmarishly smudged make up… taken together, they make previous Jokers feel like, well,jokes.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Fantastic Four762005PG-13U.S.104ColorActionAdventureFantasy20th Century FoxConstantin FilmMarvel Enterprises20th Century Fox410Bobbi BysouthCompound Reporter #3David ParkerErnieRon ChartierHotel GuestJamie LittleX Games ReporterHector A. LeguillowNewsstand VendorEd HodsonConstruction WorkerHamish LinklaterLeonardTerry David MulliganCityTVBrian DeeganX Games RiderDouglas WestonVictor's DoctorYlenia AurucciElevator LadyJason SchombingBridge Business ManChris EvansJohnny StormAonika LaurentBohemian Girl 2Kate MullanElevator LadyDavid Richmond-PeckGallery PatronGina HoldenLV ReceptionistPenelope CorrinBohemian Girl 1Kenny BartramHImself/Cowboy KennyLia SalmondElevator LadyEllen EwusieElevator LadyRonnie RennerHimselfPeter BryantLame Joke BusinessmanJohn SperedakosConstruction WorkerMichelle KulasElevator LadyPreston PeetGoth GuyBrenda M. CrichlowCompound Reporter #2Sanja BanicGirl in PinkPascale HuttonNight Cub GirlfriendMichael ChiklisBen GrimmJulian McMahonVictor Von DoomStan LeeWillie LumpkinMorgan ReynoldsCorvette RedheadDanielle Dunn-MorrisOld Lady with Car #2Laurie HoldenDebbie McIlvaneBarbara ChristabellaGirl in PinkDonavon StinsonX Games AnnouncerSienna RoseStorm's FanJuanita MirehouseLusting ModelJenni SquairElevator LadyIoan GruffuddReed RichardsBethann SchebeceNewsstand PedestrianNicole MunozLittle GirlPaul BelsitoNYPD Bridge Cop 3Jason DiabloNYPD Bridge Cop 1Benedict MulroneyETalk Daily CTVDoug AbrahamsTruck DriverSteven Fulani HartNewsstand PedestrianJessica AlbaSue StormKerry WashingtonAlicia MastersMaria MenounosSexy NurseGeorgia DewsonElevator LadyAndrew AirlieCompound DoctorTre VerhoevenLusting ModelTony AlcantarCompound Reporter #!Colin LawrenceNYPD Bridge Cop 2Lauren SanchezKCOP/KTTVPeggy GormleyHomeless WomanLou TorresCad DriverMichael KopsaNed CecilMarlaina MahLusting ModelG. Michael GrayNight Club BoyfriendKevin McNultyJimmy O'HoolihanJaimie McVittieLittle Girl On BridgeDeejay JacksonChief FiremanMaurice TysonHomeless GuyDaniel BaconBridge ReporterLorena GaleOld Lady with Car #1Stefanie SingerLusting ModelJason KaufmanCopOliver WoodCinematographerStan LeeExec. ProducerMark RadcliffeExec. ProducerWilliam HoyEditorJohn OttmanMusical ComposerColin StrauseSpecial EffectsDavid GorderAssoc. ProducerMike VezinaSpecial EffectsBill BoesProduction DesignerGreg StrauseSpecial EffectsMike ElizaldeMake Up - effectsOwen WalstromStuntsChris ColumbusExec. ProducerMichael FranceWriterKurt WilliamsAssoc. ProducerRoss FangerCo-ProducerAvi AradProducerMark FrostWriterJacob RuppStuntsJack KirbySourceDon MacaulayArt DirectorEric BatutSound - mixerLee ClearyAssoc. ProducerTim StoryDirectorJose I. FernandezCostumesElizabeth WilcoxSet DecoratorRalph WinterProducerNancy KlopperCastingBernd EichingerProducerJohn BranaganStuntsMichael BarnathanExec. ProducerKevin FeigeExec. Producer2Less richly realized than the X-MEN and SPIDER-MAN films, this live-action adaptation of the long-running Marvel series favors light action over character dynamics. Scientist Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) believes a cosmic storm could be the key to many genetic ailments, but must turn to his old college nemesis, billionaire Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon), who owns a high-tech space station, for funding. Victor, Reed, Reed's loyal friend Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) and ex-girlfriend, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba), as well as her brother, Johnny (Chris Evans), all arrive at the space station together, only to discover that the storm is mere minutes away. They appear to weather the experience intact, but after returning home begin to notice strange physical changes in themselves. Johnny gets all fired up — literally — while snowboarding; Sue discovers she can disappear and Reed finds himself as flexible as elastic. Ben undergoes the most dramatic alteration: His flesh takes on the consistency of craggy, orange rock, even as his personality survives unchanged. Brokenhearted when his fiancée rejects him, he inadvertently causes a traffic accident that nearly escalates into disaster. But the others use their new abilities to avert catastrophe and are quickly dubbed the Fantastic Four: Sue is the Invisible Girl, Johnny the Human Torch, leader Reed becomes Mr. Fantastic and poor Ben is renamed the Thing. While Reed tries to find a cure for their mutations, Victor is seething at the publicity they've attracted. His company in a shambles, and he's hiding the fact that he too has changed at the genetic level: Victor is now nearly all metal and able to harness electricity. In his fury, he plots to destroy the Fantastic Four and gain world domination. True fans will quibble that Dr. Doom should never have been aboard that space station, but the film has larger problems, starting with some lackluster effects and an uneven script. Superheroes' origin stories are inherently background-heavy, but director Tim Story and screenwriters Simon Kinberg, Michael France and Mark Frost spend too much time on setup. The cast is uneven: Reed Richards may be physically hyperflexibile, but Gruffudd plays him as a wooden good guy. Alba brings little more than phenomenal looks to her underwritten role and McMahon seems more narcissisticly peevish than truly evil. On the plus side, Chiklis finds the heart in the conflicted man-mountain and Evans nails the light tone Story seems to have wanted for the film overall.leave a comment--Angel Cohn Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys432008PG-13U.S.111ColorDramaLionsgateLionsgate430Alfre WoodardAliceJeffrey Alan ChaseAustinTaraji P. HensonPamRockmond DunbarChrisBejamin BrownAbby's HusbandT. Alan BrownPreacherRon Clinton SmithConstruction ForemanEric Lee GoinsMan #2Tyler PerryBenTodd ColeyDancerRobin GivensAbbyMichelle KellerTellerJohnell J. EasterCustomerJason MacDonaldBartenderJeff RoseLoan OfficerAndrew Hyatt MassetSamMark AdamMan on StreetSantana PruittChristopherSanaa LathanAndreaCole HauserWilliamSebastian SiegelNickCrissy CollinsChurch SoloistKaDee StricklandJillianKathy BatesCharlotteKaira WhiteheadRobinRobert M. BobbCo-ProducerJoseph P. GenierCo-ProducerAaron ZigmanMusical ComposerKeith Gl LewisCostumesPatrice ColemanMake UpIna MayhewProduction DesignerShirley LibbySound - mixerCarol RasheedMake UpToyomichi KuritaCinematographerGuss WilliamsStuntsJamie LaneChoreographyTyler PerryProducerMark ErbaughArt DirectorC. Lance TottenSet DecoratorAlpha TylerCastingReuben CannonProducer3The sun never sets on the Tyler Perry Empire: The minute you finish watching one it seems there's already a new one opening next week. But this old-school melodrama actually worth a trip back to the theaters: Thanks to some first-rate acting from its stars, it ranks among Perry's best.Charlotte Cartwright (Kathy Bates) and Alice Pratt (Alfre Woodward) are from entirely different worlds, but for the past 30 years they've been the best of friends. Charlotte is the tough, draconian matriarch of a very wealthy southern family that still maintains a controlling interest in the Cartwright Construction company, even though that family has been reduced to Charlotte and her arrogant son, William (Cole Hauser). Alice, on the other hand, is a single, working-class mother with two now-grown daughters, Andrea (Sanaa Lathan) and Pam (Taraji P. Henson). Down-to-Earth Pam works with Alice at her diner, while frighteningly ambitious Andrea is on a completely different career trajectory: Having received her masters in finance, she's now working as a high-level accountant for William; she's also sleeping with him despite the fact that they're both married, Andrea to Chris (Rockmond Dunbar), who works on Cartwright construction sites, and William to Jillian (KaDee Strickland), whom Charlotte loathes. Pam husband, Ben (Perry), works alongside Chris, but unlike his cuckolded brother-in-law, who wants to start his own construction company and hopes William will be his first investor, Ben is content with his lot in life. It's a delicate balance of relationships that begins to tremble when Charlotte coldly passes over William to hire Yale grad Abigail Dexter (Robin Givens) as Cartwright Construction's new COO. William is furious and plans on squeezing his mother out of the company by voting her off the board of directors, while Charlotte has plans of her own: She's bought a vintage turquoise Caddy convertible and has convinced Alice to accompany her on a fancy-free road trip west."Everybody has a story," Alice tells Pam, but in a Tyler Perry movie everyone has a least two. But grounding this whirlwind of inter-personal relationships is the lovely friendship between Charlotte and Alice that's completely sold by two very fine actresses. It's hard to reconcile the Charlotte we see telling her son that theirs is the kind of family that preys on the weak with the Charlotte who dreams of traveling the country like Gayle and Oprah, and who gets misty over corn like "I Hope You Dance," and in the end her character doesn't quite jibe. The direction is also strictly soap-opera grade and the production design surprisingly uninspired, but no matter. It's all about the drama, and with Bates and Woodard on board, it delivers.leave a comment--Ken Fox Come Early Morning932006RU.S.97ColorDramaBold FilmsFirm FilmsRoadside Attractions53Richard Lee CrowMotel ClerkJustin ShowahChurch Band MemberTim Blake NelsonUncle TimCary HudsonChurch Band MemberRitchie MontgomeryBobTim WilsonLyle's Starstudded Honky-Tonk BandJeannie Max LaneLyle's Starstudded Honky-Tonk BandJoshua Dean PayneCap GuyJ.D. McIntyreLyle's Starstudded Honky-Tonk BandCandyce HinkleDollJason T. DavisMotel ManJeffrey DonovanCal PercellAshley JuddLucy FowlerKelly AdamsWoman at Cal'sTroy Cook Jr.Lyle's Starstudded Honky-Tonk BandBryan LedfordChurch Band MemberJason A. DavisMickeyAnn Marie HallVet ReceptionistDarlene BakerLindaLaura PreponKimRay McKinnonTobyStacy KeachOwen AllenNancy Ellen MillsMichelleJeff NicholsLee YoungJames CottenSteveWally WelchEliTony ReavesLyle's Starstudded Honky-Tonk BandChristine Renee WardSueChuck BordenMan With MichellePat CorleyPapaDiane LaddNanaSteve WilliamsLyle's Starstudded Honky-Tonk BandTed GaineyChurch Band MemberScott WilsonLowell FowlerDan GrodnikExec. ProducerHolly WiersmaProducerTim OrrCinematographerMax BiscoeProduction DesignerMichel LitvakProducerDavid O. DanielSound - mixerMeg RetickerEditorAnuradha MehtaSet DecoratorScott LumpkinCo-ProducerJulie Silverman-YornProducerMary Jo SlaterCastingEdward BassProducerGary WaltersExec. ProducerJoey Lauren AdamsWriterAlan BrewerMusical ComposerChuck BordenStuntsDan EtheridgeCo-ProducerBrad WilderMake UpLee HunsakerCostumes3Husky-voiced actress Joey Lauren Adams' writing and directing debut is the semiautobiographical story of a small-town good-time gal who's getting tired of the endless cycle of drunken one-night stands and self-loathing morning getaways, but isn't sure how to change. Lucille Fowler (Ashley Judd) has spent much of her life living up to her nickname, "Luce" (say it out loud). She drinks too much, doesn't say "no" often enough, is estranged from her tight-lipped father, Lowell (Scott Wilson), and has all but given up on herself. But Lucy isn't a one-note country-music tragedy in the making. She's worked for local contractor Owen Allen (Stacy Keach) for nine years and has both his confidence and respect, and her drinking buddies — a motley crew of older men and habitual barflies who hang out at a rundown local roadhouse called The Forge — look out for her with the kind of devotion that's earned, not given. Lucy is loyal, self-reliant and kind to everyone but herself: She looks out for widowed neighbor Doll (Candyce Hinkle), whose mind is slowly slipping away, maintains close ties with her unhappy grandma (Diane Ladd) and aimless uncle Tim (Tim Blake Nelson), and even adopts the stray puppy that wanders into Owens' yard, swearing the dog is going to the pound even as she names her Bessie, stocks up on dog chow and makes veterinary appointments to treat the abandoned pup's wounded ear. When new-guy-in-town Cal Percell (Jeffrey Donovan) asks Lucy out on a date, her roommate, Kim (Laura Prepon ofThat '70s Show), suggests trying a different approach: Cal seems like a genuinely decent fellow, someone with whom Lucy might be able to have a real relationship. But old habits die hard and Lucy is caught up in a web of old habits and recurring hurts. After years of hiding her light under shallow, disposable Hollywood roles, Judd revisits the grit and vulnerability that made RUBY IN PARADISE (1993) such a revelation: Her Lucy — the part Adams clearly wrote for herself — is an all-too-human bundle of contradictory impulses whose banged-up arms and scabby knees bear witness to a life lived carelessly. Shot in Adams' hometown of North Little Rock, Arkansas, the film has a worn, live-in feel, and its unhurried narrative captures the subtle rhythms of small-town life. Nothing much happens on the surface, but worlds of hope, hurt and determination lie right behind the characters' eyes, waiting to be discovered.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Jawbreaker521999RU.S.89ColorComedyCrimeCrossroads FilmsSony PicturesColumbia TriStar4.58Alexis SmartSuperstar #2Julie BenzMarcie FoxRachel WinfreeEnglish TeacherVylette FagerholmMake-Up Monger #2Ethan EricksonDane SandersRebecca GayheartJulie FreemanDan GerrityDreamperson #2Rick LindlandAuto StudJoni AllenMake-Up Monger #1Jane ConnellyWannabe #2Sophia Abu JamaraBiology TeacherDonna PieroniCooking TeacherTorry CastellanoThe Donnas #4Tommy McKayOfficerMichael McClaffertyCollege StudJessica GaynesWannabe #1Alexandra AdlCheerleader #1Kall HarringtonSuperstar #1P.J. SolesMrs. PurrWilliam KattMr. PurrMaya FordThe Donnas #3Billy ButlerHigh School Stud #2Marita BlackDreamgirl #1Allison RobertsonThe Donnas #1Allison ThayerSuperstar #3Brett AndersonThe Donnas #2Jan LinderCustomerRose McGowanCourtney ShayneBrian GattasDrama Student #1Chad ChristZach TartakAnn ZupaGothic GirlJeff ConawayMarcie's FatherCharlotte RoldanLiz PurrSandy MartinNurseJudy GreerFern MayoRebecca StreetMom FreemanCarol KaneMiss ShermanLisa Robin KellyCheerleader #2Pam GrierDetective Vera CruzClaudine ClaudioDrama Student #2Tatyana AliBrendaJerry FlemingProduction DesignerStacy KramerProducerDarren SteinWriterLisa BeachCastingTroy TakakiEditorScott McElroyStuntsCarol StrongMake UpSarah KatzmanCastingLisa TornellProducerAmy VincentCinematographerVikki BrinkkordCostumes2Oh, the tragedy of hipness! To love CARRIE and HEATHERS, exploitation-era Carol Kane and Pam Grier, to have a star who can rope boyfriend Marilyn Manson into a stylishly sleazy cameo, to be able to reimagine Frankenstein's monster as a plain highschool girl who gets the mother of all makeovers! Darren Stein's attitude credentials are firmly in order; unfortunately, he doesn't have the moxie to execute the classic conjurer's trick: passing off smoke and mirrors as something substantial. The un-cool students of Reagan High, teenage peasantswith lumpy figures and clueless clothes, tremble in terror as the school's aristocrats stride by on their sky-high heels. Courtney Shayne (Rose McGowan), Julie Freeman (Rebecca Gayheart), Marcie "Foxy" Fox (Julie Benz) and Liz Purr (Charlotte Roldan) are the anointed ones, beautiful, haughty,fashionable, and wickedly secure in the knowledge of their own astounding perfection. Their reign of fabulousness is threatened, however, by the grotesque demise of Liz -- ironically, the nicest of the quartet -- during a mean-spirited birthday prank orchestrated by her friends. Courtney, doingher best to live up to the nickname "Satan in high heels," persuades the others that best course of action is to make Liz's death look like a sex murder and deny everything. But enough: The movie's gossamer-thin plot, padded with dream sequences and flashbacks to scenes you saw less than an hourearlier, exists only as an excuse for obvious homages to better films, stunt casting -- Grier as Detective Vera Cruz, William Katt and PJ Soles (he took Carrie to the prom, she was murdered in HALLOWEEN) as Liz's parents, and the like -- and what pass for clever remarks in circles unfamiliar withreal wit. It all looks great, but really... who cares?leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Frozen River972008NRU.S.80ColorComedySad FilmsGigantic Pictures2.53Matthew MabeStanleyBrian C. BlessengerBrian B.Lucas AkoskinTrevor WSir Bato the YugoFrancois DanielMevlut AkkayaThe WaiterLetty SerraNonna Robbie AlessiKareth WhirhurchMake UpBeo MoralesSoundLucas AkoskinProducerAdam SpielbergAssoc. ProducerBrazilian GirlsMusical ComposerMevlut AkkayaProducerBryce AngellExec. ProducerJonathan GrayProducerBrian DevineProducerPatryk RebiszCinematographerWayne PriceEditor1.5Thinly conceived and thoroughly shallow, writer-director Wayne Price's mockumentary chronicles the rise and fall of celebrity doorman Trevor W (co-writer Lucas Akoskin).Handsome, stylish and charmingly exotic – whatisthat accent? – Trevor has perfected the art of the door. He's not a bouncer – he conceives of himself as something more like a DJ who mixes club-going crowds to Saturday night perfection. In what passes for humor, the preternaturally poised Trevor is a klutz in yoga class and eats like a famished wolverine, all the while declaring that he knows everyone and, more important, everyone knows him. His unrequited arrogance is no doubt why so many "friends" are quick to gloat when he falls on hard times after failing to recognize Nicolas Cage and exiling the Oscar-winning hyphenate to velvet-rope Siberia. But Trevor blithely maintains his façade of fabulousness, receiving the film crew in a swank apartment that clearly isn't his and insisting that he's still working at the club (they must have come by at the onemomenthe stepped away from his post), shushing his "adoptive grandmother" when she accuses him of ignoring her, dodging questions about his sexuality and trying to reinvent himself as a pop star and an actor, at one point combing his hair into a ridiculous parody of a gangster pompadour and attempting to talk Peter Bogdanovich into getting him an audition forThe Sopranos.Price peppers the film with B-list celebrities and real-life New York scene-makers, including club owner Amy Sacco, publicist Kelly Cutrone, model agent Jan Planit and boxing guru Michael Olajide. But Trevor himself is a miscalculated creation, a buffoon whose scenes have the exaggerated quality of acting-class exercises. With such an unconvincing center, all the air-kissing and second-hand glamour in the world can't make the film's mock-doc conceit hold.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh The Boy In The Striped Pajamas212008PG-13U.S.95ColorDramaWarHeyday FilmsBBC Films; Miramax51Richard JohnsonGrandpaSheila HancockGrandmaJack ScanlonShmuelRupert FriendLieutenant KotlerDavid HaymanPavelAsa ButterfieldBrunoAmber BeattieGretelDavid ThewlisBruno's FatherVera FarmigaElsa, Bruno's MotherJim NortonHerr LisztJames HornerMusical ComposerMichael EllisEditorBenoit DelhommeCinematographerRosie AlisonCo-ProducerMark HermanExec. ProducerDavid HeymanProducerNatalie WardCostumesJohn BoyneSourceChristine LanganExec. Producer1.5The Boy in the Striped Pajamasmarks one of the most unsettling films to emerge in quite some time. Certainly that response might seem appropriate for any film that pertains thematically to a subject as emotionally challenging as the Holocaust, but writer-director Mark Herman's fictional story -- adapted from John Boyne's 2005 novel of the same name -- feels uncomfortable in an ill-advised way. A treatment of Holocaust-related discoveries shot through the eyes of an eight-year-old boy, it presents Nazi horror after Nazi horror, tempered by the irony of an innocent's continual misunderstandings. That alone is an interesting conceit and suggests dramatic promise; the problem, however, is that Herman fails to journey beyond the surface-level realities of his central perspective, which makes his film feel half-developed and poorly conceived, and drives it into sensationalism.The tale itself pertains to Bruno (Asa Butterfield), the eight-year-old son of an unnamed Nazi officer (David Thewlis) and his wife, Elsa (Vera Farmiga). As the film opens, Bruno's dad receives an appointment to relocate the family from Berlin to a country house occupied by Nazi soldiers. The father's role ties directly into the extermination of the Jews; thus, an occupied concentration camp with gas chambers stands a few hundred feet from the house. Spotting the location from his bedroom window, Bruno misinterprets it as a farm, then defies his parents' orders to stay away from the place by visiting the fence, where he encounters a sweet-natured eight-year-old Jewish boy named Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), dressed in a prison uniform (or the "striped pajamas" of the title), whom Bruno believes is involved in some sort of innocent "game" within the "farm." In time, the boys develop a fast friendship that results in tragic consequences.To be certain, this picture does hint at some fascinating themes that the story could have explored, but that makes the movie extremely frustrating, for Herman skirts around the more intriguing notions that lie in the background of the tale. For example, he provides glimpses of Bruno's 12-year-old sister Gretel's (Amber Beattie) gradual indoctrination and brainwashing by the Nazis, and hints that this may on some level be tied to her stirrings of sexual attraction for a cruel Gestapo officer (Rupert Friend). But this subplot gets relegated to a footnote. And the director could easily have extended the narrative, temporally, into an intriguing and gripping look at how a family of brainwashed Nazis copes, on emotional and intellectual levels, with an intense family tragedy that they ultimately bring on themselves. But that simply isn't done here.To his credit, Herman does seem to spend some of the film working toward the theme of the adult world gradually coming into focus through an innocent child's eyes, and the child slipping into permanent disillusionment, much as Gabriele Salvatores's brilliantI'm Not Scared(2003) did. And that represents the most profound, lofty, and noble of the movie's threads; to the extent that the film charts this territory, it renders itself semi-watchable. But Herman never wraps things up by bringing his lead character to a point of credible realization about what he's witnessing; the writer-director seems so eager to leave Bruno in a state of unblemished naivete that the final sequence undermines everything that has come before. We're asked to believe, for example, that Bruno still fails to grasp the horrific nature of the camp or the destructive toll taken on its inhabitants, even after he observes that Shmuel has been physically abused inside of the camp. In the end, Bruno's continued naivete merely looks like a convenient excuse to set up the film's final tragedy.Admittedly, the film does benefit from some stellar performances, notably a four-barreled one by Farmiga, and a lead portrayal by young Butterfield that is magnificently wrought and convincing. These performances deserve better material, however; they should exist at the service of a script with ambitions loftier than merely stirring up indignation and easy sentiment in the audience and underscoring Holocaust barbarity -- which, in the final analysis, is all that the film really seems to be about. The motion picture accomplishes little other than elevating our own sense of human indecency, leaving us with a sense of emptiness and hopelessness while falling into the trap of exploitation. Given its subject, that feels absolutely inexcusable.leave a comment--Nathan Southern Body Of Evidence751993RU.S.99ColorEroticThrillerDino De Laurentiis CommunicationsMGM1.53D. Scot DouglasPrintmanBryan ClarkClerkCorey BrunishJamieFrank RobertsMinisterMichael ForestAndrew MarshJohn DeLay2nd TechnicianAaron CorcoranMichael DulaneyMadonnaRebecca CarlsonMark RolstonDetective ReeseMario DePriestTechnicianFrank LangellaJeffrey RostonJurgen ProchnowDr. Alan PaleyStan ShawCharles BiggsCharles HallahanDr. McCurdyMark C. VincentMale ReporterJulianne MooreSharon DulaneyRichard RiehleDetective GriffinAnne ArcherJoanne BraslowWillem DafoeFrank DulaneyPeter Paul EastmanJury ForemanRoss Huffman-KerrPhotographerTimi PrulhiereWaitressJeff PerryGabeJoe MantegnaRobert GarrettLillian LehmanJudge BurnhamJohn ChandlerDr. NovaroDale MartinSpecial EffectsUli EdelDirectorVictoria PaulProduction DesignerDeborah LarsenMake UpThom NobleEditorKeith A. WesterSound - production sound mixerMary Jo SlaterCastingStephen DeutschExec. ProducerHerman WeigelCo-ProducerDouglas MilsomeCinematographerSusan BeckerCostumesAlison CrossWriterMichael RizzoArt DirectorMelinda JasonExec. ProducerJerie KelterSet DecoratorDino De LaurentiisProducerDavid EllisStuntsBrad MirmanWriterBernd EichingerCo-Producer2Despite teaming the director of LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN and the star who, according to David Letterman, "just wants to shock us," this "adult thriller" is a surprisingly wan affair bordering on big-star kitsch. Madonna plays Rebecca Carlson, an art gallery owner facing murder chargesfollowing the death of a wealthy lover who has left her $8 million in his will--according to DA Joe Mantegna, she knowingly caused him to die of sexual excitement. She hires attorney Willem Dafoe to defend her; later, she also takes him as her lover, much to the consternation of his wife, whofinds burn marks from candle wax on his chest and cuts on his back from broken glass. Dafoe mounts a defense to counter every startling surprise witness and shocking revelation Mantegna is able to muster for his prosecution. Although she's acquitted, the real truth isn't revealed until the violentdenouement.In her attempts to cast herself among the great sex stars of the stage and screen, it's becoming clear that what Madonna lacks isn't the body or the attitude, but a sense of humor. Her best performances so far have come in comedies like DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN and A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN. ButBODY OF EVIDENCE is at its most hilarious in the deadly earnestness with which it unfolds its ludicrous plot, populated by paper-thin characters who range from the underdeveloped to the simply inane. BODY is oddly conflicted by the sheer unpleasantness of its depiction of sex. There is little, ifany, erotic chemistry between Dafoe and Madonna, and, as a result, their sex scenes look more like hard work than pleasure.leave a comment Burn After Reading292008RU.S.96ColorComedyCrimeMike ZossRelativity MediaStudio CanalWorking Title FilmsFocus Features3.528Olek KrupaKrapotkinYury TsykunSenior Russian Embassy ManPun BandhuParty Guest #1Crystal BockPR WomanTilda SwintonKatie CoxRaul AranasManoloRobert PrescottProcess ServerFrances McDormandLinda LitzkeDermot Mulroney"Coming Up Daisy" StarLogan KulickFour-Year-Old PatientPatrick BollSandy's ManJudy FrankLawyer's SecretaryJeffrey DeMunnCosmetic SurgeonHamilton ClancyPeckJohn MalkovichOsborne CoxLori HammelMorning Show HostessRichard PoeStretching Gym PartnerCarmen M. HerlihyProspective Gym CustomerDavid RascheCIA OfficerBrad PittChad FeldheimerSandor TecsyRussian Embassy EscortKevin SussmanDivorce LawyerRichard JenkinsTed TreffonMichael CountrymanAlanBrian O'NeillHalGeorge ClooneyHarry PfarrarJ,K. SimmonsCIA SuperiorMatt WaltonMorning Show HostJ.R. HorneDivorce LawyerKarla MosleyParty Guest #2Armand SchultzOlsonJoanne LamsteinStuntsDavid SwayzeArt DirectorNancy HaighSet DecoratorPeter F. KurlandSound - mixerDavid DilibertoAssoc. ProducerJess GonchorProduction DesignerEthan CoenEditorJoel CoenEditorTim BevanProducerMary ZophresCostumesCarter BurwellMusical ComposerEric FellnerProducerJean Ann BlackMake UpPatricia ReganMake UpEric J. RobertsonSpecial EffectsEmmanuel LubezkiCinematographerEllen ChenowethCastingRobert GrafExec. ProducerRandall BalsmayerSpecial Effects3Joel and Ethan Coen's follow-up to the Academy Award-winning NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007) is a return to the smarty pants black comedies that put them on the hipster map. And credit where it's due: The brothers' dark, all-star farce about sex, lies and surveillance is pretty damned funny.CIA Balkan analyst Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) has just quit his job, furious that his smug superiors were about to demote him, ostensibly because he has a drinking problem but more likely because of his foul temper and evident contempt for the rest of the human race. Osbourne's wife, ice-cold pediatrician Katie (Tilda Swinton), is furious: Osbourne's plan to start a consulting business and write his memoirs (sorry, mem-wahs) strike her as the height of deluded self-indulgence. Unbeknownst to Osbourne, Katie is having an affair with serial philanderer Harry Pfarrar (George Clooney) -- a charming horn dog who claims to have spent years bodyguarding top-level politicos without ever discharging his weapon (nudge nudge, wink wink) before taking a cushy gig at the Treasury Department -- and has engaged a cutthroat divorce lawyer. Harry is married to successful children's book writer Sandy (Elizabeth Marvel) and has no plans to divorce her, regardless of what he tells Katie or anyone else. Hardbodies health-club employee Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand, Joel Coen's longtime wife) is in the throes of a midlife crisis and wants to reinvent herself via plastic surgery she can't possibly afford. Then her genially brainless co-worker, Chet Feldheimer (Brad Pitt, delivering a broadly comic turn that's oddly charming despite its aggressive lack of subtlety), gets his hands on a disc full of top-secret sh*t -- Osawld's mem-wahs-- the janitor found in the ladies' locker room. Linda sees an opportunity… an opportunity for blackmail, to be sure, but an opportunity none the less. Their inept attempts to cash in set in motion a farcical series of misunderstandings that end in mayhem, murder and massive confusion in the intelligence community.Every Coen Brothers tic and mannerism fans of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN rejoiced they had abandoned is back in full force in BURN AFTER READING: The snarky dialogue, briskly artificial timing, absurd plot contrivances and cavalier willingness to exploit brutal suffering for laughs. And it's often funny and occasionally hilarious: Unlike many films in which the cast is clearly having a high old time, the audience isn't left out of the fun.leave a comment--Maitland McDonagh Spaceballs611987PGU.S.96ColorComedyBrookfilmsMGMMGM; UA4.527Earl FinnGuard with CaptainBill PullmanLone Starr, Space BumLorene YarnellDot Matrix, Droid MaidJim JackmanMaj. A------Ronny GrahamMinisterDick Van PattenKing Roland, Ruler of DruidiaRobert PrescottSand Cruiser DriverMichael PniewskiLaser GunnerSal ViscusoRadio OperatorHenry KaiserMagnetic Beam OperatorFelix SillaThe DinkRick DucommunPrison GuardIra MillerShort Order CookGail BarleWaitressTim RussTrooperJohn CandyBarf the Mawg, CopilotDeanna BooherBearded LadyTony CoxThe DinkStephen TobolowskyCaptain of the GuardArturo GilThe DinkDian GallupMarleneBryan O'ByrneOrganistRick MoranisLord Dark HelmetAntonio HoyosThe DinkKen OlfsonHead UsherJohnny SilverCaddyWayne WilsonTrucker in CapJeff MacGregorSnottyBrenda StrongNurseLeslie BevisCommanderette ZirconTom DreesenMegamaid GuardTommy SwerdlowTroop LeaderJohn Kennedy HaydenThe DinkRudy DeLucaVinnieEd GaleThe DinkDom DeLuiseVoice of Pizza the HuttDenise GallupCharleneJoan RiversVoice of Dot MatrixRhonda ShearWoman in DinerMel BrooksPresident Skroob/YogurtGeorge WynerCol. SandurzDaphne ZunigaPrincess VespaMitchell BockVideo OperatorMichael WinslowRadar TechnicianSandy HelbergDr. SchlotkinJohn HurtHimselfJack RileyTV NewsmanDey YoungWaitressTony GriffinPrison GuardConrad BuffEditorThomas MeehanWriterApogeeSpecial EffectsIndustrial Light & MagicSpecial EffectsRichard WarlockStuntsEzra SwerdlowCo-ProducerTerence MarshProduction DesignerHarold MichelsonArt DirectorBen Nye Jr.Make UpRonny GrahamWriterRobert ShepherdSpecial EffectsDonfeldCostumesJohn MorrisMusical ComposerRick LazzariniSpecial EffectsMel BrooksProducerCraig BoyajianSpecial EffectsRichard RatliffSpecial EffectsJohn Franco Jr.Set DecoratorNick McLeanCinematographer - MetrocolorPeter AlbiezSpecial EffectsPercy AngressSpecial Effects2Vaudeville pratfalls, sight gags, and ribald one-liners have always been producer-director Mel Brooks's mainstay. Here the jokes are tossed haphazardly from Brooks's gag bag and roll out ineffectively in a spoof of the "Star Wars" films. The plot, such as it is, offers pretty princessVespa (Daphne Zuniga), daughter of kindly King Roland (Dick Van Patten), as a kidnap victim of evil Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis). Space adventurer Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his sidekick, Barf the Mawg (John Candy), are assigned to retrieve Vespa. Thus begins a ridiculous odyssey through spacewith blazing rockets, death rays, and firefights among the stars, resulting in a slaphappy ending. This is a formula film for Brooks, one that has long ago worn out its welcome with viewers. Only Brooks shines momentarily as the president of the planet Spaceball and, in a dual role, as that of hiscrinkled, ancient adviser, Yogurt. It's mostly forced humor all the way, a movie that rarely measures up to adequate kitsch. Aimed at younger audiences, SPACEBALLS misses its mark.leave a comment