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Song of the Day: “In the Absence of Sun” - Duncan Sheik

• Director: Olivier Assayas
• Genre: Thriller
• Year: 2007

Occasionally I will take a chance on a movie I know nothing about, but whose trailer or look may seem promising. Occasionally, I get burned this way.

It is truly a sad thing, particularly when you go into a movie excited and wanting to like it, wanting to give it a chance. You never know which independent film willl turn out to be sleepers and which ones can be swept under the rug. With Michael Madsen and Asia Argento in this cast, I truly wanted this movie to take off, but it only took the very first scene for me to realize the acting would not be up to par, the second scene for me to realize the directing would not be up to par, the third scene to realize the screenplay was as unfocused as it seemed and by the fourth scene I wanted to break my television.

This movie dubs itself a thriller, which is a complete misnomer, because I was not thrilled the least, save for a couple of T&A parts which did managed to get me to pay attention for almost a full minute. Quite remarkable actually. Now…this is the point where I normally tell you about the plot, except that in this case I am having a real hard time figuring out exactly what the plot was, and that is largely the problem. Asia Argento (daughter, I believe, of Italian horror director Dario Argento) plays a woman torn between her former love and her new love to two dangerous men working on both sides of the law. Suffice it to say that all sorts of backstabbing take place, some which make no sense at all but which add confusion to the film and apparently somebody decided this amounted to intelligent interest.

This movie does not know what it wants to be, an action film, a thriller, an edgy romantic triangle sprinkled with low level S&M or something else altogether, but in the end it fails to be all of those, mostly due to a cast that can not deliver, a director that  has a hard time guiding the movie, and an editor that needed to work on his transitions. In the end, you are left with a very barren film with a cool look and enough T&A to keep your eyes on the screen at random intervals, but truly, this is the sort of film you can watch with the sound down and while surfing the net. They tried, you can tell there are parts where they were trying to put the effort and save this film from itself, unfortunately there were too many things working against it. Like a freak car accident, there is simply just “nothing here to see.”

Rating: 2 out of 5
Notes: Violence, nudity, brief sexuality, language. The movie itself is in English for the most part but there are subtitled parts which are in French and what I am guessing may have been Japanese or Chinese (call me ignorant but I am not good enough to tell the difference and the characters were supposed to be Japanese, but they were in China…so whatever….)

Song of the Day: “Desperate Guys” - The Faint

• Director: Mary Harron
• Genre: Biography/Drama
• Year: 2005

For a film dealing with the Notorious Bettie Page, this film is surprisingly tame, light hearted and comic almost to a flaw. It is not that this film is necessarily bad, but rather that it fails to truly connect the audience with the subject, which is always kept at an arm’s length. Obviously, this is a subject matter that needs to be treated with care, for anybody that is aware of Bettie Page knows that the pin up girl was in the naughty business of modeling and not always for cutesy swimsuit pictures.

On the basics, this film delivers nicely. The story is interesting, giving an very brief overview of Bettie’s childhood, a brush through of her adolescence and focusing for the most part on her rise to fame. The story is told mostly in black and white, with the occasional scene in color, brightly saturated matching the color quality of film at the time. This technique makes for an interesting look which although it does not quite actually match the grainy film footage used between some scenes, it is close enough to bring a convincing nostalgic mood to the film. From her religious, conservative background to her modeling fame and her return to religion, we see Bettie enter a highly questionable, but also lucrative business with the wide eyes, the easy smile and the naiveté of a little girl.

There is a fun, entertaining, almost tongue in cheek attitude to this film that bothers me, because it fails to recognize the subject matter at hand. The film almost seems guided, in the sense that through out the main body of the film one sees the fun shoots, the laughing, the goofy footage of spankings and S&M in a way that is almost reminiscent of grown girls doing nothing more adult than say…a tea party. And yet, on occasion, when a certain pamphlet of photographs is brought up to Bettie to sign or certain footage is shown during the court scene, we see a quite darker side of what transpired, much more realistic and one that fails to amuse quite as much. It is during those small bursts that this film gains its seriousness. But the inability of the director to project this reality throughout left me in the end feeling that she was opening windows and telling me when to look where.

My wife, who watched this with me brought up some interesting insight, which makes for a valid point in the defense of the director’s choice to show the movie in this fashion. Perhaps, we are meant to see the movie through the eyes of Bettie, who throughout is extremely naive and childish in her approach to her shooting sessions. And the bursts that we see in the pamphlets and the court are meant to be seen the way the public sees it.

This is a valid argument, though one that fails to convince me personally. Why then bother to show the key points in Bettie’s childhood that would traumatize any person. I do not with to spoil the film by discussing it in detail, but suffice it to say that there are a pair of incidents that should have given Betty more insight as to the reality of the world, a lesson which according to this movie was not learned. And it is quite possible that Bettie Page was actually this foolish, in which case, I would be fine with it as long as the director did not hold my hand for so long. I think that even in matters such as S&M I am perfectly capable of being able to tell the fun from the serious and do not need it funneled in the fashion that was done here.

That being my chief complaint on the film, the story itself is quite engaging, and as I said, tame enough that makes it approachable even to the person that may not quite be comfortable with this subject. It is actually quite easy to laugh during this movie and label it a bit of naughty fun without coming out of it with a feeling that something terrible just happened.

It also should be noted that the acting was quite impressive, by Gretchen Mol in the lead role and by the supporting cast who make a convincing job portraying the characters of that time. The technical aspects of the film, including the choice of coloration when it happens, the black and white shots and the old school transitions also do a very good job of making this film fit with the times that it deals with.

Bottom line? Expect a fun, naughty film that will deliver entertainment, but will not necessarily a great drama.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Notes: Adult themes, nudity, S&M imagery…do not get me wrong, I say this film is tame in proportion to the subject matter it deals with, there is still a number of provocative scenes, acts and nudity to make some people blush.
Quote: John Willie: Do you mind if I ask you a question, Bettie? What do you think Jesus would think about what you’re doing now?
Bettie Page: Well, Mr. Willie, I’ve thought about this quite a lot and I’m not really sure if I know anymore. I think God has given us some kind of talent and he wants us to use it. That’s why he gives it to us.

Song of the day: Green Grass - Tom Waits

• Director: Julian Schnabel
• Genre: Drama/Biography
• Year: 2007

I have used the term visual poetry to describe a film before: The New World. I would like to use the term again, but not in the same fashion. If we were talking music, The New Word would be the symphony and this would be far less orchestrated, simpler, definitely more approachable, but by no means lacking power.

You know that shot that I loved from Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice? The peach colored veil with dancing patches of salmon and gold that is meant to represent Lizzie’s closed eyes, aimed at the sun registering the shadows produced by overhead foliage swimming over her? Well, it seems to me Julian Schnabel liked it as well and decided to dissect it, study it and then run with it.

Tilted shots, indecisive focus, streaks and blurs all culminate to create an unorthodox way of telling a story where part of the time you become, with surreal effect, Jean-Dominique Bauby, former editor of Elle magazine and highly acclaimed journalist as he wakes from his coma. His world, becomes our world, his frustrations our own, his sadness and triumphs, become that much more personal.

No intrusive soundtrack here, but the sound of lightly reverberated voices that lock you up, in that diving suit he continues to see himself in, as if a sheet of glass separated him - us- from the world. The effect is frighteningly real and though the story is not entirely told this way and we are given the opportunity to step out for a ‘breather’, so to speaks, this first person tool is utilize with great effectiveness throughout the film.

Make no mistake, the artistic touch is here, in every askew shot and blinding flash of light, from the sideways buildings that threaten to collapse over you after granting you a novel angle to the alienating, symbolic shots of the wheelchair on a barren platform surrounded by the chaotic play of the waves.

The reality of the event, a man who lived success only to have it taken by him when he suffers from a stroke that leaves him almost entirely paralyzed, which leaves him - in his words - with three working parts, his imagination, his memories and his left eye. He communicates through blinks and after forcing himself to pick up where he left off, he goes on to write a memoir which eventually became the basis for this movie.

Humorous at times, highly emotional at others, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a tremendous biographical ride of the sort that leaves you watching the credits quietly, trying to digest the affective load that has been dumped on you and connecting dots together, in an effort to marry what has just been witnessed and the way it applies to one’s individual life. In a word: profound.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Notes: Brief nudity, adult situations and some highly emotional moments. French language with English subtitles. I should also note, Marie-Josee Croze is as charming as ever and Mathieu Amalric continues to impress.
Quote: Jean-Dominique Bauby: A poet once said, “Only a fool laughs when nothing’s funny”

Song of the Day: The Love Letter — Blaqk Audio

• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Genre: Action/Crime/Mystery/Thriller/Drama
• Year: 2008

Believe the hype! I was hesitant, because more often than not the masses get entirely hyped up about a movie that is simply different and are quick to label it ‘the best ever’, one look at 300 or Transformers is enough to prove my point. How many people do you know that came out of there saying it was the best movie ever only to come out scratching your head? Furthermore, I had my hesitations. Last year, while Turtle Pellets was still running, we announced the cast of this movie and the fact that they had signed Heath Ledger as the Joker. I will be honest and admit to not being thrilled about the idea. I think, looking at Heath’s record, there was nothing to support that he would be able to carry out this role and at the time I was thinking of a Joker much more like Jack Nicholson’s rather than the one presented to us in this movie.

Needless to say, I went into this braced to take things with a grain of salt, but the movie is not meant for you to sit back and be cautious with it. It opens with a brilliant scheme to rob a bank and propells you from there into a roller coaster of action that never exactly lets up. Gone is the origin story, which I love. While I loved Batman Begins, the thing that I did not enjoy quite as much was having to get another origin story. It is interesting, yes, intruiging, yes, but the entire time I just wanted to see Batman. That is one of the beauties of a well done sequel, that you no longer have to worry about setting things up. Christopher Nolan makes the assumption everybody saw the previous movie and he jumps off right where he left off and never lets off the pedal.

This is what comic-book movies should be like, and I know I said that about X-Men 2, Sin City and Iron Man, but Dark Knight has just topped them all and truly moved itself to a higher tier of credibility. Already, I have heard this movie being compared to The Godfather 2, Heat and Seven and be that as it may, I think the bottom line one must take out of this, is that if you are squimish about seeing a comic book based movie, that should not deter you from seeing this masterpiece, which is every bit as good as Nolan’s gem, Memento without the unorthodox storytelling.

All the talk you have heard about Heath Ledger’s Joker being brilliant, is absolutely on the mark. Finally, I am seeing a Joker that is so psychotic, so unscrupulous and so genial, rendered with believability, that at this moment I really do believe he is my favorite movie villain. Oscar worthy or not, the point is that Heath Ledger’s last role, was a true mark of his exceptional gift and it is sad to think that he could have only gone upwards from this. As a result, The Joker is brought to us as a mad genius that is frightening in various levels and who pushes the plot of this movie in so many directions that you never feel like you can fully recover your feet.

Driven by an obsession to unmask The Batman, the joker hatches up plans that fully delve into terrorism, lacking any sort of conscience for his actions, pushing a city that had recently begun to clean up, into desperate measures, where its hero’s and polititians are struggling to get a hold of the situation which is careening out of control into an obscenely orchestrated orgy of violence that pits innocents against themselves.

By now you may have heard the one major complaint: the movie is long. Yes, I will not argue with that, it is a long movie, but in this case that is not a bad thing. There is no part in this film where I felt there was still fat to be trimmed. It is a movie that keeps all the crucial parts and if you are a fan of Batman, are you really going to complain that you are given more content instead of less? There are so many layers to this film that the time it takes to tell the story is quite enough and never feels like it drags. So see it as a blessing and not a curse.

There are a couple of things I did not like, the first one being Batman’s voice while under the mask. I realize what they were trying to do, protecting Bruce Wayne’s identity while under the mask, but frankly, Baele did not have to make it sound like he had a pencil stuck where the sun does not shine. That’s it. That is my one complaint. There is one other thing I could comment on but it is so minor I do not think it is worth bringing it up and risking the spoiler.

So, in short? Go watch this movie and go watch it multiple times and be reminded that Nolan is in fact on of our generation’s greatest.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Notes: So you like bringing your kids to comic book movies, I do it all the time, but believe me when I say this movie is NOT for kids. The moment the Joker makes his pencil disappear you will understand why.
Quote: The Joker: I am an agent of chaos.

• Director: Andrew Stanton
• Genre: Family/Animation/Sci-Fi/Comed/Romance
• Year: 2008

The fact that they would be dealing with a cast almost entirely made of robots was difficult enough for many people to swallow. It does not take an animator genius to realize a robot has only so many movable parts with which to express emotions, so having to add to that the fact that this would be essentially a silent movie, in which each robot is given a very set number of noises and sounds they can make…well you can see how this task seemed like a daunting challenge, even for a company with a sterling record such as Pixar. However, the fact that they took it on most certainly made me respect them (as if I didn’t already). This was not an out of left field idea. In fact, when they got together to decide which movies to make during their first few shots out of the gun, all the movies Pixar had done so far were all conceived…all of them leading to this one. That is, if you can take their own teaser/trailers to the word.

The fact that they saved it as one of their last was promising in that perhaps, from the very beginning, they knew that all of the other movies were merely a precursor to a masterpiece they could see in the horizon. Forgive me if I am talking a bit too poetically, but I truly feel this is how it all worked out. It may sound like blasphemy but I dare say this movie might be better than The Incredibles, the movie that I hailed hands down over all of the other Pixar movies. One thing has me saying maybe however, and that is: watchability. Already The Incredibles has proven that it is a movie that can be watched multiple times and satisfy, will Wall-E deliver the same?

I ask this because, if you have not seen the movie, which is likely the case if you have read this far into my rant, you probably do not know that this movie is perhaps the least kid-friendly movie Pixar has put out. Not to say it is not kid friendly, because it has plenty of comedy and cuteness and touching moments as well as action to keep kids of most ages occupied, save perhaps the very little ones. But there is very minimal dialogue as previously stated, plenty of social commentary to go around and a complex set of layers that beef up this film into what is in my opinion, the most meaty film Pixar has done to date.

The story is really not that complicated, essentially, planet earth, has gone to crap, thanks to our commercialism that has turned humans into lazy blobs perpetually connected to the net, forgetting the world around them. To save themselves, they have launched all of the surviving population into outer space, inside enormous, commercially sponsored ships, while wall-e robots are left to clean up the mess. But the mess is too much and the wall-e robots all have pretty much failed and stopped working, except for one that has continued faithfully to do his duty, while at the same time developing human emotions, curiosity, humor, and a desire to be needed. For all intents and purposes, our little friend is becoming human, with a cockroach as his only friend (I hate cockroaches with a passion, but in this movie, you just gotta love that little bug, which ends up getting stepped on more than it probably cared).

Though the cast is limited in its motions, expressions, emotions and vocals, none of that proves to be a barrier too difficult to overcome to a series of robots that break the mold in their personalities from what one is used to seeing in animations. It was refreshing to see the protagonist be not the ultimate machine, but the most antiquated piece of functioning equipment and not only that, the little guy is not only inquisitive, but also timid and not your rampaging, go-get-’em sort of character. Rounding him out is E.V.E., who again is not your typical out of the mold female character, but actually a lot more realistic and believable, temperamental, impulsive and with a sharply focused mind which keeps her aimed to the task at hand, but which does make a drone out of her until she meets Wall-E and learns to open her eyes to see the world around her for what it is.

All in all this is a very welcome film, worthy of the praise it has gotten from the critics over all, which have cumulative made this film the highest scoring film of the year (according to metacritic.com), no small feat considering the fact that the next highest ranking film is Up The Yangtze with 86 points next to Wall-E’s 93. Or consider this other little bit of trivia, in metacritic.com’s list of ALL TIME high scores, Wall-E is solidly set at 15.

So, now that I have expressed my own personal satisfaction with this movie, allow me to play devil’s advocate for a second. This movie will NOT satisfy all people the way it did me. You do have to consider the fact of the limited dialogue, which in many ways makes of this film a Charlie Chaplin-esque display, some people may be turned off by this. Consider also the fact that this movie was emotionally more taxing than all the other Pixar movies, with plenty of heart tugging moments to put a lump in your throat. As an adult, one may be able to appreciate the drama that unfolds and the unfortunate moments that do happen, but a very young child may fail to grasp it. I use my own four year old daughter as an example who often felt so bad and sad at the situations Wall-E found himself in, that she cried at least four times during the movie, and got upset when us as adults laughed at the unfortunate humor that developed from the circumstances. While this may make it a film that is more enjoyable for the adult audience, it may have actually had to sacrifice the youngest members of the market they were aiming for. Or who knows, maybe my daughter is simply overly sympathetic, in which case, bless her heart.

Ultimately, expect a non-traditional animation film and if you end up not being entirely convinced…that’s alright, Kung-Fu Panda is still out in theaters.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Notes: Great family film with a good number of morality to be had.
Quote: Captain: I do not want to survive. I want to live.

• Director: Louis Leterrier
• Genre: Adventure/Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi
• Year: 2008

“Hulk, smash!!!” Two words that are surprisingly descriptive of this movie. You can choose to look at this in two ways; the half empty statement would have you thinking this is numbingly simple; the half full statement would say numbingly simple but also unpretentious and unapologetically so. In comparison to Ang Lee’s visually stunning but thematically convoluted and metaphysical nightmare of an attempt, The Incredible Hulk is really a stripped down chase movie, but it is a fun chase movie that makes no attempt to disguise itself as nothing other than that, and in that, one can only respect it.

Gone is the tediously boring origin story, compressed into one quick paced opening scene that tosses more cookies and biscuits at you than you can shake a finger at, which if you look closely makes all sorts of references to other members of the future Avengers team. This is a neat little tool that is placed from beginning to end and which adds another sub-level of fun. It also should be said that it is a good thing that the origin story is mostly forgone, because as it is the movie starts off with a stagger. Nevertheless, like the character at the center of this movie once the movie gets rolling, there is nothing to stop it all the way to the no-holds barred blow up of a climax between Hulk and Abomination.

This is not a perfect movie, by any stretch of the imagination, even when compared to other comic book movies, a number of them easily come to mind that surpass it (Iron Man, X-Men 2, Spider-Man). The acting also falls short, which is unfortunate, Liv Taylor, is basically useless in this film and John Hurt is about as scary an antagonist as a walrus in a military uniform. Thankfully, both Tim Roth and Ed Norton pick up the slack where the rest of the cast fails. It also needs to be said that Hulk and Abomination never quite seem to fit into the world. This is a problem that plagues a lot of the movies that choose to employ CG. Something that Lord of the Rings did superbly and something that this one did not. In the end, the Hulk looks something out of a video game superimposed into our world and never is fully believable.

Going into this film without high expectations then, is a good idea, because this film delivers on the surface everything it tells you is. Hulk, smash! If you want to see a big green guy bust the crap out of things using cars as punching gloves, then yes, this movie will satisfy. On the other side of the token, when you compare this movie to the main body of work based on comic books, it still is a shinning star, because it stands head and shoulders above a great many others.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Notes: Violence, of course, all over this one, but it is PG-13 violence, never quite so gory to justify most kids out of the theater.
Quote: Betty Ross: [Betty and Bruce need to get across own in New York City] The subway is probably quickest.
Bruce Banner: Me in a metal tube, deep underground with hundreds of people in the most aggressive city in the world?
Betty Ross: Right. Let’s get a cab.

• Director - Mark Osborn, John Stevenson
• Genre - Family/Comedy/Animation/Adventure
• Year - 2008

I expected little and instead I got a lot! In fact, when I started hearing the comments on this movie, the week it opened, I was still incredulous, because to be honest, the trailers did absolutely nothing to get me to want to watch this movie. Chuck it to poor marketing or something, I don’t know. It is not that I thought the movie would flop, but that it would be so lukewarm that it would provoke no reaction whatsoever, which sometimes is worse than outright hating a movie.

Now, I can actually and very honestly say, this is the best NON-PIXAR animated movie since the original Shrek. It is a movie in fact that got me truly excited with only its opening scenes, which are actually 2-D animation very reminiscent (stylistically) of Samurai Jack.

Blissfully, there is a plot here and not just a tolerable plot, but an intriguing, charming and moving plot. Yes, it is kept simple enough for the youngsters to grasp, but it is effectively enough told to satisfy the adult audience. The animation is well crafted; the characters are neatly designed and their personalities thankfully fail to fall into stereotypes. Most impressively however, is that this movie, unlike Shrek, does not have child humor and adult humor. Allow me to explain. One of the plus sides to a lot of movies is their ability to keep a thread of humor directed to children and a more subtle thread aimed to adults. This is a tactic that has managed to fill seats in many a theater with adult butts. This movie does not do that, it does something that in my mind is infinitely better. It blends child and adult humor so well it satisfies the entire spectrum of age.

What’s more, this film is also packed with enough action, details and cool little concepts that even the action fan may be entertained. Animation or not, there are a number of feats that on screen, look absolutely stunning. Truly, this is the sort of movie that will have you trying to pick which character you would rather be…in fact, about halfway through the movie, my youngest daughter did just that, leaning over the seat and saying: “I want to be Master Tigress.” Characters are developed, not without flaws, in ways that make them believable and easy to relate to, which is a nice change from pretty much every other Dreamworks animation movie that has come out lately.

Watch this movie. Yes, it is a family film, yes it is not going to deliver the complicated story of a drama, but by far, this is one of the best animated films of the decade, not just the year.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Notes: Some violence through the martial arts fighting scenes, but no blood is shed, so it is definitely kid friendly.
Quote: Oogway: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.

• Director: Christian Alvart
• Genre: Horror/Thriller/Crime/Drama
• Year: 2005

In the grand tradition of Silence of the Lambs and Se7en, Antikorper brings to the screen the story of a serial killer and while I would say if falls short of the well established bar that the already mentioned films set, this German take does deliver a highly watchable, interesting, if somewhat long film.

Straying away from gore for the sake of shock value, one of the best things this film manages to achieve is bring the thrill of a serial killer and his twisted plan without overdoing the corpse count. However, it should be noted that given the subject matter there is still quite a bit of disturbing imagery here, particularly during the beginning, which starts off with a powerful punch.

The story begins with two seemingly separate stories, one taking place in the city, the other out in the country, though soon enough it becomes clear that the possible unifying bond between both streams is the captured killer. Michael Martens (the chief of police in a small, catholic community) is convinced that the serial killer had something to do with the violent murder of Lucia, a young girl from the town. However, that particular murder seems to go entirely against the pattern which Gabriel Engel (the serial killer known as the crucifix) had established. What ensues is an attempt to uncover the truth, however difficult it may be for Martens to swallow, racing against time and against Martens own personal agenda even as he fights the games played with his own head.

This movie will not attract the audience so much for the twist in plots, and it merges in a good amount of drama to develop the characters. However, there are pleasant enough turns to keep the material fresh and interesting. It is not a perfectly executed movie, with a few holes in acting and with room for cutting down a bit on the fat of certain scenes that one could do without in order to speed up the pace. And while the villain here is not as frightening as Hannibal Lecter (who is referenced in the movie at one point) he still delivers a powerful enough role to keep the storyline alive. While the complexity of the puzzles could have used a bit more tinkering, this movie here is still leaps ahead of the pack and very much worth the watch, though perhaps not worth owning.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Notes: Violence, language, disturbing images, nudity, sexuality. Presented in German with English subtitles which race by a bit too fast at some points, be prepared to hit the rewind button a couple of times to catch it all.
Quote: Gabriel Engel: Evil is a virus. Highly contagious. Highly destructive.
[pause]
Gabriel Engel: You’re already infected.

• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy/Sci-Fi
• Year: 2008

Best movie eVaRRR! No seriously…what the funk happened here? I suppose I should not be surprised given that George Lucas was involved and that he overrode the original script and was involved in the writing of this one. Such a shame too, because more than once the magic of Indiana Jones is there, palpable, emerging its wonderful head just before it get’s whacked by stupidity and silliness. Time and time again when I reached a moment that I may actually like, either Lucas or Spielberg came over and pushed it over the edge to where it made me roll my eyes.

I have no idea who to be upset at here, Lucas or Spielberg for letting Lucas in. Somebody seriously needs to put that man in a straight jacket and wheel him out and put him in a crate full of hay and hide him in Area 51 right along with the Ark to never again be found. Sounds harsh but after effing up my entire childhood, men like this deserve nothing short of a trip across Acheron and then tossed down all the way to the bottom circle reserved for traitors (need I remind you of what he did to Star Wars with Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith?).

*sigh*

I had a technique for this. Initially, I wanted to see this opening weekend, I truly was excited…and then I started hearing the comments, from all sorts of people, even people that normally have a pretty lax attitude about movies. The consensus was pretty much, across the board: it sucked. So I held off a week and I heard all the bad comments about it and finally when I went to see it the bar had been set so low it was actually watchable.

In a scale from Brown Bunny to There Will Be Blood, this movie falls well below Transformers, where it happens to have action and funny moments and then some really stupid moments as well that manage to ruin the experience for you.

The synopsis, if you even care for one is Indiana Jones being forced by paranormal oriented Russians who are bent on finding artifacts that will help them control the world psychic-ly (I am not making this stuff up, though perhaps I am exaggerating a little). So he goes on a search for a Crystal Skull that needs to be taken back to its original temple and which will allow you to control the fate of the world.

Harrison Ford is alright, I have to say he does still wear the Indy hat quite well. Shia Lebouf? Not so much. Cate Blanchet seems awkward here, as do pretty much all the Russians. There are silly moles riddling the first third of the movie; there is a magic refrigerator that will protect you from nuclear explosions; there are monkeys that will teach you to swing on vines, a la Tarzan, in 4.5 seconds; and they overstretch the capabilities of the Dorylus ant beyond measure.

This is where people probably will say, it is a movie and it is an Indiana Jones movie and reality has always been stretched. To this I say yes, but never stretched to such a ridiculous level. I will put it this way, at best, this fourth installment is a B movie and by far the worst of the series. But I am being overly critical, perhaps because I find my hopes shattered all over the floor. It is quite possible that many people will enjoy the lighthearted, silliness that will ensue before you eyes. But if you are going into this expecting something like the first three then watch at your own peril and get insurance for your eyeballs…they may spontaneously incinerate.

Rating: 2 out of 5 (I’m being fair here, because personally I want to give it half a star and a swift boot to the arse).
Notes: Family fun, sure, kids will mostly like it, though be aware of flying S words peppered throughout. As a popcorn movie and going in with no expectations, this is a better alternative to a good chunk of movies, but you are better off watching Iron Man again, or Prince Caspian.
Quote: Mutt Williams: You know, for an old man you ain’t bad in a fight. What are you, like 80?

• Director: Tarsem Singh
• Genre: Fantasy/Drama/Adventure
• Year: 2008 (US)

The first thing that drew my attention to this film was the visuals, its fantastic approach and its costume design. Right off the bat it reminded me off The Cell, a favorite movie of mine which suffered in casting coughjenifferlopezcough but which still remains a complete visual orgasm, as far as I am concerned. As it turns out Tarsem Singh also directed The Cell and so that explains a hell of a lot.

The movie is set in Los Angeles, right around the 1920’s in a hospital in which Roy (Lee Pace; Pushing Daisies), a suicidal stunt man, is being kept under watch after trying to end his life. Alexandria (Catinca Untaru), a young child that is sort of every nurse and doctor’s pet, roams around the building looking for interesting things to do. When she meets Roy, a playful relationship is sparked, in which Roy tries uses an intriguing story to feed the child’s imagination and get what he needs for himself as well.

The story jumps, between the hospital in Los Angeles and the visually stunning story regarding an Indian, an explosive expert, a former slave, Charles Darwin and the Red Bandit, a group of men who are all after Governor Odious, a man they hate equally for distinct reasons.

Following the thread left off by The Cell, The Fall employs amazing imagery with vivid colors, splendid panoramas and unique costuming. Shot in twenty six locations in over 18 countries, the director brings to the screen exquisite scenes that are like the equivalent of candy for the eyes. Moreover, what adds an additional layer of interest here is the fact that the story is presented to the audience through the words of Roy, an adult, but seen through the eyes of Alexandria, a child. This results in quirky misunderstandings or over-stretching of the imagination that make the entirety of this film, that much more fantastic.

It also must be mentioned that Catinca Untaru is about the most beautiful little creature in film I have seen in a long time. Forget child actors, this girl is rumored to have absolutely no training when she shot this movie (apparently at the age of five). Whatever methods the director employed to get her to deliver this character most definitely worked, and the girl has a shinning charm that leaps off the silver screen and rattles you with laughter. There are numerous parts in this film where the interaction of this girl with others is intoxicating, in particular, one conversation between Roy and Alexandria comes to mind, where she brings Roy a bit of ‘host’ stolen from a priest and which the child calls food; Roy’s questioning and Alexandria’s answering is so natural, so realistic and so funny, that you can not help but get attached to these characters.

Exciting, stunning, intriguing, evocative, thought provoking, this is the first film this year that brings back to mind Pan’s Labyrinth, and while this film fails to hit the more subtle notes that Guillermo del Toro so accurately struck, this to me remains one of the first memorable films of the year. It is not perfect, there are aspects of the story that could have been polished a bit more for the delivery and casting decisions in the part of the Nurse/Princess, which were questionable, but all of these are small problems that hardly bear down on the overall scheme. Also, it should be noted that some people will have a hard time with the fantasy end of this story. Those that are caught up in details and making things work in a linear fashion will find themselves frustrated by a story that makes blunders and fixes itself as it goes, more than once back tracking on itself to change details only because it suits. This is something natural to amateurish story telling, and something that in the context is necessary for this movie, but I get the feeling many people will try to knock it for it. Now…what I am asking myself is, was this movie released too early in the year to be remembered come Award season

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Notes: There are some moments of violence that will likely be unnerving to the younger crowd as well as some imagery that could be disturbing. That being said, language is pretty clean and there is no nudity or sexuality. Overall a pretty good film to watch with the family as long as the really little kids are left with the sitter.
Quote: Charles Darwin: Shoot, you animals. They’ll pay you well for Darwin’s hide.