RICK'S FILM REVIEWS

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (UNIVERSAL, 1962)****

2012-02-12T13:40:00.004-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON To Kill A Mockingbird is the next film in Cineplex Odeon's Classic Film Series on February 15 &19, 2012. Gregory Peck stars as Atticus Finch, a Southern lawyer in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama in director Robert Mulligan's film about racial prejudice and the innocence of youth. Told in flashback by Scout Finch, she remembers what it was like when she was a young girl and how her father defended a black man who was unjustly arrested for murder. Based on Harper Lee's best-selling novel of the same name, it was inspired by the author's own observations of her family and neighbours and an incident that took place in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama in 1936. Set three years after the Depression, cinematographer Russell Harlan's effective use of black and white brings the entire story to life as if it were a timeless snapshot of history. The wide angle shots show how impoverished the town of Maycomb still is and the sparseness of detail reminds you of the consistency of thought expressed in the themes of Lee's novel. Elmer Bernstein whose scores for The Man With The Golden Arm (1956) and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) featured a piano to good effect decided to use the instrument again to give To Kill A Mockingbird a haunting quality that was innocent as the children and presented in the first images of Scout's recollections of her childhood: a broken pocket watch, a large safety pin on a chain, Indian head and Lincoln head pennies, a mechanical pencil, a translucent marble, a beaten up crayon, a broken pen point, three more marbles, a button, a harmonica and a silver whistle. The director shows them close up. Watch for the other things that come to life through Scout's fond memories, such as the figures of her and her brother Jem and the other items she found in the tree. What is especially effective in the opening minutes is a drawing of a a stick-figured mockingbird which gets torn to underscore the racial tensoons that will soon occupy the town's inhabitants. Jean-Louise or Scout is well played by Mary Badham whose own innocence is threatened after her father agress to defend Tom Robinson who has been accused of raping a white girl. The timbre in Badham's voice shows how the incidents you are about to see appear as real to her as they do to you. The gothic undertones courtesy of the small orchestral bits and piano strikes on the keys purposefully absorb you in the underpinnings of a sleepy old town where the only excitement comeds from the locals, in particular, Boo Radley, whose presence the children find menacing because they are too young to understand what it means to be mentally handicapped. The children are prejudiced enough to consider him a monster. Mulligan introduces Boo Radley in a silhouette cowering over the children who run away from him out of fear. It is clear their parents haven't taught them tolerance and this contributes to the theme of prejudice. Badham's vocal delivery doesn't change in temper and this forces you to sort out the levels of importance of patience and understanding in your own mind about everything you see and hear. Peck plays Atticus as the stereotypical father who knows and understands everything according to Scout. To her he is a hero. In a display of overt heroism, he shoots a mad dog. In another example, she and Jem watch him in court and true to his fatherly image he never disappoints his children in public. He was a master at playing roles that depended on uncomplicated emotions. From Keys To The Kingdom in 1944 in which he played a priest and Gentleman's Agreement in 1947 where he was a reporter covering anti-Semitism, Peck's honesty shone through. In Mockingbird, he unwaveringly showed his gentle demeanor by sticking to a resolute behaviour in keeping with the lawyer who had to stay focused and remain steadfast in no matter how difficult the situation. When he is spat in the face, watch how he handles himself. His fearlessness and integrity as a man of good standing remained at the forefront of his portrayal and he never winced or showed a false move. He definitely earned his Oscar for Best Actor and his other roles until he died in 2003 revealed a body of work that gained him equal respect and admiration. Looking at To Kill A Mockingbird today, it stands as a film of merit in also helping young readers and moviegoers understand what it means to be tolerant of others, period. In the two worlds expressed there is the dream-like world of the children's imagination which we all have lived at one time. Opposite this is the volatility of the real world that has a tendency to break into the other world and destroy our innocence if we allow hit. Scout has learned a lot and so have all of us watching for just like the mockingbird who sings, we can all sing a tune of understanding and tolerance to our grave. As Lee suggests, however slightly, we will never live in a perfect world no matter how we look up to the Atticus Finches in our own lives. Scout is content to carry on with her own life as we all shall. It is rated PG/Parental Guidance. Others in the Classic Film Series are Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory ( (March), Breakfast In Tiffany's (April), A Streetcar Named Desire (May), Blazing Saddles (June), The African Queen (July) and Singin' In The Rain (August). They were all made in an era when movies were meant to be seen on the big screen. They still are, by the way, even today. Nothing beats the ambience of the theatre and sitting with people who you don't know to experience a movie classic and, yes, smell the popcorn, too. February 12, 2012 Copyright Rick Jackson 2012

THE GREY (E-ONE, 2012)****

2012-02-05T21:46:00.008-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON The Grey is a powerful film about our basic understanding of human nature and how it is tested in the Alaskan wilderness when a plane carrrying a group of oil workers crashes. Left open to the elements of winter, they must deal with a pack of hungry wolves. How they survive both is the focus of the screenplay by director Joe Carnahan (Narc) and Ian Mackenzie Jeffers based on the short story, Ghost Walker by Jeffers. Liam Neeson heads the cast as an experienced shooter whose experience with wolves helps the others learn to keep alive. However, there is a sense of desperation among them and it adds to the dramatic tension throughout. What could easily have been a grisly movie punctuated by lots of gore and violence has been replaced by a character study of how man and beast think. The morality of good and evil is non-existent as both the team and the wolves struggle to stay alive. The cunning and determination of the latter matches the former in sequences that will force you to sit up and watch. Here is an action film in which man is reduced to the basic essentials of surviving the wilderness without any weapons. As you watch Neeson react to the wolves and their own instincts of survival, there is a commonality in purpose. Just as members of the team are bold and cocky, the wolves have their own animalistic egos and in a key scene one wolf gets killed in a test of who is the strongest. The ensuing sequences the wolves act like typically hostile animals who run in packs and will not hesitate to attack their prey. As you will see in the film, they will do anything. Comparisons to other examples of strength and heroism in The Edge (1997) notwithstanding, it is the strong story that sets it apart. Neeson's ability to convey John Ottway as a man of experience holds your interest amid the others whosebasic human weaknesses reveal their true character as men who are incapable of doing little until pushed to do so. The sequences where they are talking amongst themselves say a lot about their stations in life and how they have handled their problems. In the harsh wilderness, they depend on John to guide them to safety. The rest of the cast features Dermot Mulroney as Talget, Frank Grillo as Diaz, Dallas Roberts as Henrick and Joe Anderson as Flannery. Their sense of humour and willingness to get along at all costs maintains the film's impact as a story of survival well told. Carnahan keeps everything well paced and like Narc (2002) there is plenty of realism to remind you of the inherent dangers that are omnipresent and inescapable. If you are paying attention, you will hear in the dialogue a reference to the Uruguayan rugby team who crashed in the Andes Mountains in 1972 and kept themselves alive by eating the bodies of their dead friends. There is nothing like that in The Grey. What you will see is a relevant display of fear that the director maintains consistently right up to the end. Neeson's character says he is terrified of what lies ahead and he is echoing how we watching safely in our seats feels. This common sense of purpose holds us in the story's grasp which is further exemplified in the wolves as they show just how ferocious they are. I almost jumped early in the film when one of them attacked and killed a member of the team. It comes without warning and, here again, Carnahan has you biting your nails with each suspenseful, unprepared moment. Shot on location in British Columbia, cinematographer Masanobe Takayanagi lets you feel the cold with every chilling second the team is held captive in their predicament. Even with each growl from the wolves, there is a growing sense of danger as the director expertly parallels human fear with the animal's primeval instincts. The last scene is purposely cut short to leave you breathless in a moment where fear and anxiety reaches its highest point of impact. The spelling of the film's title says a lot when you remember how quickly one must react if you are going to stay alive. The Grey is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and graphic violence. February 5, 2012 Copyright Rick Jackson 2012

THE WOMAN IN BLACK (ALLIANCE, 2012)***

2012-02-04T16:49:00.007-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON From British director James Watkins comes a superior ghost story about a curse involving the woman of the film's title. You are gently taken on a journey like the lead character, Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) who doesn't know what he will find at a gothic mansion where he is sent to search for the late occupant's papers. Early in the film you see how the local town despises Kipps' presence and his interference ias thought to be the cause of the local children who die under mysterious circumstances. All you are told is about the woman in black and what happens shortly thereafter. Based on the novel by Susan Hill, the screenplay by Jane Goldman offers little that is new to the genre but it does provide the average moviegoer with ample proof at what makes an effective ghost story work. I was reminded by The Innocents (1961), another British film based on a book which was effectively directed by Jack Clayton. Deborah Kerr played the main character in a tale that has stayed with me over the years. Her innocence and sympathetic performance made the film believable just like Radcliffe in The Woman In Black. Cinematographer Tim Maurice-Jones and Watkins indelibly maintain their grasp of the mystery without giving away any details. With help from the visual effects department supervised by Hakan Blomdahl, there is ample evidence to keep you on the edge of your seat in what may be familiar and predictable. However, you have to be prepared for the surprises in store when the suspense builds up at any given moment. There is even the odd jolt to keep you positioned with your back up straight and this is maintained right up to the dramatic conclusion. In his first feature film since Harry Potter, Radcliffe is arguably more mature and he has learned to be a seasoned actor very quickly. His effacing personality mirrors the diverse elements of the story's innermost qualities of fear and endearment. As Kipps gets more involved and, ultimately, closer to possessing the knowledge tha only the town knows, there s an added sense of doom in the background amid the trappings of other films, such as the atmosphere and imbedded impact of the close shot near the beginning when a face almost jumps out at you. It doesn't have the same impact as it did in David Lean's Great Expectations (1946) when Pip meets Magwitch, the convict but I still felt the early scenes with Radcliffe in the town when he was all alone conveyed an elemnt of fear of the unknown. I also didn't hear a sound from those sitting around me, either. The house itself is perfectly ripe with the requisite sound effects and, they made me think of The Changeling from 1980 in which a house was haunted by the memory of a child murdered at the turn of the century. In The Woman In Black you will learn something equally troubling. What is even more disturbing are the scenes of dead children which heighten your your own fear of whether Kipps is going to survive or not. The supporting cast features Ciarin Hinds as Daily who helps Kipps get settled, and Janet McTeer plays Daily's wife. One thing to think about while watching the film is the similarity in the handwriting in both ink and blood. Then there is the title character with her signature devil speak. Horror aficionados will appreciate the director's penchant for detail in creating an atmosphere of fear along with the unexpected chiling moments to hold your undivided attention. It is rated 14A, with the warning: frightening scenes. February 3, 2012 Copyright Rick Jackson 2012

THE IRON LADY (ALLIANCE, 2012)****

2012-01-28T20:21:00.006-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON Meryl Streep gives another astonishing performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia) this biopic about Great Britain's longest serving Prime Minister owes a lot to the politics of an era when politics mattered because of who was in power. Her strong and firm grip you see in flashback is a microcosm of the title character who is suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease. Streep injects her with the solidarity and influence the real Thatcher had to possess and there is a certain amount of familiarity given she is utmost in moviegoer's minds for she is still alive today. What struck me as I watched the dramatic and personal life unfold was another much older film about an English politician: Disraeli (1929) starring George Arliss who served twice as the Conservastive Prime Minister of England in the 19th century. Just as he was a political heavyweight like Thatcher in the 20th century, the similarity in tone is remarkable and this distinguishes The Iron Lady as a film of distinction. I must add that Disraeli dealt more with politics which The Iron Lady steers from. However, Arliss was an actor who defied description and became known as the finest actor of the talking screen. Like Streep, an actress who has a considerable following, there is a demanding sense of urgency in recalling the real Thatcher for Streep's portrayal is a witness to history and a chance to see how the Academy Award-winning actress (Kramer Vs Kramer and Sophie's Choice) transforms herself from a well respected actress to a politician who became known for her strong opinions and Streep's demeanor speaks volumes. One might have hoped to see more of Thatcher in the British parliament but it doesn't diminish Thatcher as the person she became. Seeing her in old age first, you almost wonder if there will be more and you are not disappointed. In her original screenplayAbi Morgan focuses on Thatcher the human being and from this point of view you get to know how a woman of her power and influence lived, thought and worked at home. Sure, you see as a young woman with aspirations to become prime minister and this drives the dramatic tour de force within the time frame it presents, including the tumultuous IRA years when bombs exploded without warning. The Iron Lady is not a substitute for a documentary for there is one you can check if you are interested. As a wife and devoted mother, Streep shows her humanity and there is a welcome dose of humour to hold your attention along with the political climate of the era she represents. In some respects it is similar to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy and without compromising on the real Thatcher you are immersed in her dialogue and strong sense of speaking formally and informally. Unafraid to speak out, you see the ire from her cabinet ministers and as Streep shows her character spoke well of her destiny as a prime minister history will definitely remember. Jim Broadbent plays her husband Denis Thatcher with a touch of frivolity and he may well have been the rock she depended on at home as depicted here. Their scenes togrether add credibility to Mrs. Thatcher as an individual and you can secretly cheer for Streep's intuition to present it as honestly as she does. Whether or not the real Margaret is suffering from dementia is questionable but it does serve trhe film well as a focus to point on for she is not any younger and, despite being out of the public eye where her life is strictly private since leaving public office, Morgan and director Lloyd deserve praise for not exploiting the woman and kept their film as a piece of history, even if it is largely fictionalized. J. Roy Helland does an excellent job in making her look like Thatcher, for she was in charge of Streep's makeup and hair which, with the clothes, allows Streep to become Margaret Thatcher. Editor Justine Wright maintains a decent balance between the historical and fictional Thatcher with archival footage of the staff at 10 Downing Street, U.S. President Ronald Reagen and Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev. It all helps keep you involved long enough so you can enjoy the dramatic impact of the end result. I must admit the first bombing you see nearly made me jump out of my seat and it is this kind of realism adds to this fictional portrait and I know moviegoers will embrace it on their own singular level as entertainment and, of course, by Miss Streep. Thomas Newman's music score is kept in the background until it is necessary to underscore certain parts of the unfolding story you are witnessing. The element of surprise keeps you on the edge of your seat. This is a well paced and heartfelt look at the woman herself. Anyone looking for something else will have look elsewhere. The Iron Lady deserves to be seen and appreciated on an historical level in addition to Streep whose spirit and undeniable courage continues to guide her choices on the big screen. She is, once again, unforgettable. It is rated PG, with the warning: violence. January 28, 2012 Copyright Rick Jackson 2012

TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY (E-ONE, 2011)***

2012-01-23T11:49:00.005-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON Moviegoers who appreciate a good spy story will not want to miss Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. True, it was a mini-series on the BBC starring Alec Guinness as Smiley and which many people may fondly remember. What distinguishes Swedish director Thomas Alfredson's remake is the chilling atmosphere, sound effects and the wealth of talent on the big screen who bring Carre's world to life one more time. For some it may, inevitably, be a time-worn masterpiece of fiction conveyed in the 21st century as a nostalgic laden epic of proportions you may be tired of. Who knows, this just might be the film you also were expecting to come along to rescue you from your comfortable easy chair at home. In their screenplay, Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan delicately and fortuitously return you to a period when espionage was in its purest form and, if you watch closely, you will notice how you are swept up in the labyrinthine plot of yesterday when England's secret intelligence agency nicknamed "the circus" has you in its grip of psychological terror and the characters inhabiting the spy world, courtesy of LeCarre (who serves as an executive producer) delightfully places you in an uncomfortable but relaxed atmosphere where fiction and reality are, once again, here for you to cheer as if your life needed a spy fix. It doesn't matter if the familiar doesn't work beyond the superficial level as a story. Here is an engaging tale where four individuals are puppets in an elaborate chess game which is, at times, ponderous but exciting thanks to the generosity of the ensemble cast. It may brings back the McCarthy era of reporting on your enemies but the screenwriters stick to the novel's inherent atmosphere to convey the subtle nuances of the average spy film from the mid-1960s (The Quiller Memorandum, for example) and you can rejoice at the wonderful locations that help restore your faith in good stories being brought to the screen. Alfredson purposely directs the film as if you are the third person watching from afar. The camera angles are technically superb and you are immersed in the spy subtext of rediscovery. There is an unquenchable thirst for action as you patiently sift through the maze of plot details to see if you can recognize the mole that Control (John Hurt) wants to be caught. It's amazing how the director uses his cameras as if it had an imagination and intelligence all its own. Ours, to be exact. For it moves from one character to another in certain situations as if to cry out here is the mole. Although it isn't quite that simple, the film's dialogue keeps you thinking and wondering and this is where it all works as a film of merit. Gary Oldman plays Smiley with a touch of arrogance, wit and charm and, sometimes, you aren't sure if he will come up with the identity of the mole. How it's done I won't divulge here but you will be surprised and elated by the astounding cast that includes Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds, David Dencik and Tom Hardy. The four main characters represent the four in the film's title and, yes, they are code names. Oldman's codename is Smiley and it is a moniker that is opposite the actor's portrayal for he is not smilingbut quite serious. One even wonders if he is the mole because of his suspicious behaviour. Like The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965) starring Richard Burton and Oskar Werner, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is, what Leslie Halliwell's Filmgoer's Companion, describes "as an extract of plenty of feeling from LeCarre's novel. " The international locations are beautifully captured by cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema as they help underscore the mystery and intrigue in the plot's barest of plot threads. Editor Dino Jonsater does an excellent job in maintaining the level of sophistication, along with the simplicity of Le Carre's words and images with its use of visual rhythm to match the sounds and special effects of a time already spent but not in the imagination of filmmakers who want to recreate this kind of film for old times' sake. Despite the fact there isn't a single outstanding performance that sticks out as "acting" it is really the individuals who make up the ensemble or the whole who you can rejoice and feel satisfied for here is a movie which cries out to be enjoyed on a different level as entertainment. Oldman does stand out with his role as Smiley but he doesn't steal the film. He adds to its element of inherent fear and anxiety as a character threatened by a mole who could do much damage and threaten security of the world. It is this you have to remember consistently throughout and which benefits right up to the last frame that says a lot without dialogue. Alfredson, who injected new blood in the definitive vampire flick, Let The Right One In has uniformly revived the spy genre with enough authenticity to celebrate its return this time around. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and violence. January 22, 2012 Copyright Rick Jackson 2012

CARNAGE (MONGREL, 2011)***

2012-01-19T21:24:00.006-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON Based on the play, God of Carnage by Yasmine Reza, Carnage depicts the claustrophobic world director Roman Polanski has visited in his films, notably Cul de Sac in 1966. What Barbara Leaming, Polanski's biographer describes as the "mechanics of power and humiliation" could also refer to the four parents of the two children who were in a vicious fight and over the next 90 plus minutes you hear how they each try to justify how their child was not the one at fault but the victim. At the same time, they argue and, sometimes, show anger over the reasons of what drove their kid to fight. The reasons become clearer via each of the parents' mental attitude and decided demeanor in expressing how perfect their kid is and as they almost end in a bitter dispute by film's end, you sense more the claustrophobic world of today and, more importantly, how trivial life has become for each of them to argue over a child's school fight at school. Their sensibilities reveal insights into their characteristic behaviour as human beings. Here is Polanski and Reza's look at us through a stylish and voyeuristic world captured in a home in suburbia. The four main players are Penelope and Michael Longstreet (Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly) and Alan and Nancy Cowan (Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet). Together they supply the drama and comedy in the maligned world of the fallen as encapsulated in their two children who remain off camera but remain in their thoughts as they reveal their biases and human flaws during a social meeting of the minds. Cordial and civil it is often funny as their lines are recited as if it were a play within a play. The real world imitated by the fictional: How they collide is in their dialogue and it is through them you can figure out why their kids fought. They each correct themselves when certain words are spoken light a red flag, and the opposition and transference of those feelings occupy the entire film. Waltz plays the man who claims he can't smoke at home because it bothers his wife. Foster is perfectly cast when she is hysterical after Nancy vomits on her valuable books on a coffee table. Despite their politeness, it is the beginning of how friendliness erupts gradually into moments of insanity as they try to convince each other whose kid is to blame for the fight. The parents are, meanwhile, caught in their own world eroded by technology (cell phones), books, and social graces to not notice how their kids might be acting like them. Without being too snooty or sophisticated, this middle class head to head chat is nothing more than exactly what it is: a social event to break the monotony of the middle class. Their conversations are symbolic as the mechanisms of violence that intrude their lives without notice and where Polanski as director has made us voyeurs of his latest incarnation of watching human behaviour at work. You also get a sense of the sexual repression hidden within both Penelope and Nancy as if both their husbands are intimidated by their wives whose feminity goes beyond the household in interests that used to be occupied by men only.As you watch them all react together in one room they are uncomfortable and inferior for the male is, in Polanski's sphere,the arbiter for sex. Watch for the bathroom scene when Penelope goes to aid Alan. No, you won't find them engaging in sex but their sexual attraction for each other is distant, just as it was earlier while coversing with drinks in hand in the living room. Reilly plays Michael with the uneasines of a cat in heat and his sexual repression is more noticeable. He likes to talk and this gives him away.Notice how Waltz is opposite him. He is more business like even if both appear to be convincing as salesmen in different fields. Polanski's extensive use of wide shots give the film its overall feeling of society invading their comfortable worlds at home. The fight between their teenaged children brings them together to prove how the director feels about the precarious way of life we all live in and the most innocent thought or deed can erode our domesticity like a snap of your finger.Suburbia for the middle class is for evceryone, including its valued citizens. Carnage is an interesting character study that some moviegoers may easily be bored. Its stars are playing roles a little out of character but not entirely. They are still actors and they are playing parts here that are challenging from a human perspective rather from a character driven plot that is more easily recognizable for public consumption. Still, it is worth seeing to catch these four in dramatic turns that are may provoke stimulating conversation for yourself over a drink in a social setting. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and mature theme. January 18, 2012 Copyright Rick Jackson 2012

A DANGEROUS METHOD (E-ONE, 2011)****

2012-01-19T15:12:00.008-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON From director David Cronenberg comes an engaging and quietly entertainibng film about the relationship between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung while working together on their analysis of Sabina Spielrein between 1904 and 1913. The melodramatic pulse of the early scenes is kept in check as the story slowly moves in time to give you a psychological view of psychoanalysis within the tightly knit framework of what was originally produced on the stage under the original title of The Talking Cure in London, England by Christopher Hampton in 2002. Cronenberg deftly maintains the sophisticated and brazen edges of the film's serious subject matter and you are left with a memorable and haunting story courtesy of his psychoanalytic lens and the brooding atmosphere that pervades on screen right from the first frame. The screenplay by Hampton based on his own play is light in tone and wihout resorting to deep stretches of psycho babble, its common ordinary dialogue benefits by the cast and their vocal delivery for it is this through this undercurrent of simplicity that beats at the heart of the dramatic tension you see conveyed by the three main stars: Michael Fassbender as Jung, Viggo Mortensen as Freud and Keira Knightley as Miss Spielrein. There is tension between Jung's wife Emma (Sarah Gadon) during the letters of correspondence between her husband and Spielrein and this adds a welcome respite from the dramatic scenes where Knightley looks uncomfortable but is actually proving her mettle as an actress. With her latest role, she is showing how her parts have seen her mature as an actress and for moviegoers used to seeing her in lighter roles such as the Pirates Of The Caribbean series, you will notice how perfectly matched she is as Sabina. Anyone who has seen her in Never Let Me Go and Domino will attest to the actress' ability to take on a role no matter what level of difficulty. Her Sabina comes across as an intelligent woman ahead of her time and it is her feminine instincts that endow the film with an edge worthy of discussion as a woman with profound intellect and understanding. Fassbender injects Jung with the same understanding and as you watch his pedesrtrian moves within each scene and listen to his quiet delivery there is much to celebrate in his discovery of what he finds while working with Sabine which further is enhanced by his meeting with Freud. Their scenes together provide the dramatic pulse throughout the film and their conversations are witty and fun on one level and, on another, they are stimulating and evocative of two old friends who connect well together. After their initial meeting, you hope to see more and Cronenberg doesn't let you down. Mortenson plays him with an air of distinction and his low key portrayal conveys volumes when you think of how his acting allows him to almost be like him in order to get inside the role. His quiet manner and resolve also lets you appreciate Freud more as a human being quite different from Montgfomery Clift's title role in director John Huston's Freud (1962). Less demanding than Clift you can relish Mortensen's demeanor as if the actor knew him in a former life, which is silly but something to consider from a realistic stand point of view as an actor who has to decide how to make him come alive on the big screen. The anti-Semitism that worries Freud after Jung's unethical treatment of Sabina is reflected in a letter Freud writes to her and says "We are and remain Jews." This notwithstanding, is not important in understanding the film for it is the brilliant acting that makes A Dangerous Method a surprise. Cronenberg continues to defy his critics by making films that are challenging to the moviegoer. Whether its his horror films (The Brood, Scanners, The Fly, Dead Ringers) or, more recently, A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, here is a director who is not afraid to invite you to be more adventurous and leave yourself open for something different from mainstream Hollywood. His latest effort is a major achievement in Canadian Cinema.

It is rated 14A, with the warning: sexual content.

January 18, 2012

Copyright Rick Jackson 2012

GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (COLUMBIA, 2011)***

2012-01-09T11:19:00.005-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON Moviegoers who liked the original Swedish version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo which I reviewed on May 7, 2010, will not be disappointed by this American remake directed by David Fincher. It is a much bolder in content and with an international cast led by Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer and Stellan Skarsgard there is a lot to appreciate on a different level for it nicely punctuates affirmatively the main points of the original while conveying a more disturbing point of view courtesy of screenwriter Steven Zaillian who sticks to Stieg Larson's book with every intention to make it unique enough to force you to return to the book to see how different both versions are. What is really unique is the casting of Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Her strong performance mirrors Noomi Rapace's, and together each of their interpretations of the main central character contributes to your understanding of the basic story. Without spoiling it, I can point out that the American version is more graphic in tone and presentation and it means the average moviegoer may have to be prepared for something from the girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Mara injects an equal amount of realism and courage as the victim of circumstances beyond her control who draws inner strength from her instincts for survival which, at first, are perplexing for there is no prologue to introduce her or her background. Like the Swedish version, you are still impressed by Lisbeth's character traits and how she can survive in the first place. Moviegoers who were first aghast by Rapace two years ago may feel at ease with Mara's more openly stated Lisbeth for she has become a stronger woman with a ferocity and skill most actresses die for in a role. Mara's portrayal is equally commanding to watch as she takes control right away as if she has an no ounce of sanity left. She not only demands your attention as you sit in a darkened theatre, you almost sense she will jump off the screen and take you away. Plummer adds credibility with his role as Henrik Vanger. His screen presence conveys more an air of mystery than Sven Bertil Taube's and as you listen to his pleas to find Harriet, his missing niece, there remains more afoot in the story than before primarily because you are aching to see what happens next. Unlike the Swedish original which left you interested, you are left waiting to see how long your patience will hold out because you already are familiar with the story. The interior shots at Vanger's house cry for out for justice in finding Harriet and, despite not finding her at the beginning, Fincher leaves you spellbound to see if there is a surprise in store thanks to Plummer's and the rest of the cast as they play out their roles to perfection. The utter realism and conviction make up for any inherent flaws in script and direction and, yes, your patience pays off with an arresting series of performances in a convoluted plot that almost forces you to yell at the screen but you don't. You are too busy being entertained in a much more different direction in respect to the plot details than ever before, and the graphic sexual nature of the early scenes grab your attention with an acute sense of interest you never thought existed since Marlon Brando's defining display in Last Tango In Paris (1972). Well, I didn't notice anyone covering their face while leaving the theatre so it must have been different in that regard. Fincher directs each scene with a playful nature and despite expectations to the contrary, this remake doesn't let go from its incalcuable grasp until the end credits roll. Despite being longer, too, than the Swedish version, you get your money's worth and more. Craig delivers a performance that is totally different from his other roles. Watch how he portrays Mikael Blomkvist with more an air of authority and suspense as if he wants you to pick up on something missing from Michael Nyqvist's in the Swedish original. This time the character is more interesting on two levels as a superficial character whose thirst for knowledge drives him to seek out the truth and, more identifiable, perhaps, on a deeper level, you wonder if he will succeed or be trapped in his own game of survival unlike Lisbeth, whose tenacity outscores Craig's on all fronts. Craig, notwithstanding, also conveys a sense of mystery by the expressions on his face that show how cleverly he can hold back emotions and still be able to convey the importance of his how his role must configure in the reality of his surroundings. The atmosphere and tension throughout make this a superior American remake and if you are prepared for it, you will be more than satisfied by its forceful storytelling and the impact it will leave when it is all over. It is rated 18A, with the warnings: disturbing content and sexual content. January 7, 2012 Copyright Rick Jackson 2012

THE BEST FILMS OF 2011

2011-12-30T14:31:00.007-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON It's that time again to reflect on a year in film which was stronger in 2011 than previous years, thanks to such directors as Robert Redford (The Conspirator), Clint Eastwood (J. Edgar), Martin Scorsese (Hugo), Woody Allen (Midnight In Paris), Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life), Lars Von Trier (Melancholia), and Steven Spielberg (Adventures of Tin Tin and War Horse). To use a song from All That Jazz, 2011 can best be described as "Everything Old Is New Again." 3D movies played in local theatres with a vengence, despite a certain reluctance that slowly emerged to a gradual acceptance by a film industry struggling to come up with something to attract moviegoers and keep the box office going, following the enermous success of director James Cameron's Avatar in 2009/2010. It should be noted that he is bringing back Titanic in 3D in 2012. Like Cameron, Scorsese and Spielberg know how to use 3D properly to show depth in the moving image rather than try to exploit it as a gimmick. Hugo and The Adventures of Tin Tin benefit greatly but they can also be appreciated in 2D. They celebrate film as examples of how movies may be from now on until something comes along to replace 3D. Movies in general have been an inspiration to many as subjects to talk about and they continue to serve their purpose as fodder for film critics , such as myself, in analyzing them in a critical and intelligent fashion. The year 2011 saw a return to older ideas from directors whose output has been a subject of study and reissues on Blu-Ray and DVD: Spielberg's The Color Purple in a two disc anniversary edition. box set of Stanley Kubrick, with separate reissues of two of his early films, The Killing and Killer's Kiss. Criterion has brought out many foreign film reissues with such British classics as The Four Feathers (1939). For the film buff, there has not been a shortage but a celebration so you can have your join film festival for yourself and friends at home. The best film of 2011 is Hugo in 3D. I wish I could add The Artist but it didn't open in Kingston, Ontario this year. I was asked will my list change in 2012. No. However, it may appear on a different list later on. Then again, it's important not to make lists trivial or they lose their purpose. All films in my 34th annual list played in Kingston. I liked a lot of movies and every year it's difficult to come up with just ten. Three years ago I followed suit with many other critics who decided there should be more. This year I narrowed 15 down to 10 in keeping with the concept of the ten best list. This past year saw The Tree of Life, Another Earth and Melancholia bringing critics to compare it to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), which author/critic Alexander Walker describes in his book, Stanley MKubrick Directs as "a perfect cinematic concept, for the film is a nonverbal visual experience in which the audience's consciousness is at a deeper and more stimulating level." Although I was not impressed by Another Earth, I was by the other two, enough to add them to my ten best for 2011. Michelle Williams gave an astonishing performance as Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn. Her transformation remains remarkable and if you see it again, try closing your eyes to see if she sounds just like her, too. She does. The sphaghetti western was lampooned in the animated Rango, and the early 1960s in The Help and J. Edgar, when the United States (and Canada) were shaped by what happened in the presidency, the emerging pop culture of the twist dance craze, Bob Dylan, and the girl groups, such as The Orlons. The influence of J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI influenced how the media would react to news events like Watergate. It was a time of lost innocence shaken by what we saw on the small screen and read in the newspaper. Woody Allen's Midnight In Paris added a nostalgic trip back in time to people who influenced not only the director but the generationswho were brought up on Steinbeck, Faulkner and Hemingway, not to mention the lyrics and music of the Big Band Era and Cole Porter. Allen's genius contributes to your appreciation of the past which he has done before in Play It Again, Sam (1972) and The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), to give just two examples. Spielberg's War Horse returns the horse film (My Friend Flicka, and last year's Secretariat). Along with the spirit of why we trust animals like horses that serve as our prime source of survival on the farm to a previous generation, there is the inspiration for us to carry on the tradition in the general sense. Besides, there is nothing like a good horse story and Spielberg captures it all in vivid and glorious detail. Moneyball takes you back to the last days when baseball meant something for fans until big business took over. The best film of 2011 is Hugo. It celebrates silent film from the viewpoint of a children's story and the relationship between a boy and a magician/tuck shop owner who turns out later to be pioneer filmmaker George Melies. Borrowing from Harold Lloyd (Safety Last) and Buster Keaton, the magic of the movies which Scorsese conveys as a tribute to his love for a craft he continues to adore through his films. 2011 deserves to be remembered for Drive for it captures the film noir of the 1940s in more contemporary terms a la Quentin Tarantino. Another is Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Werner Herzog's compelling documentary about a period of civilization waiting for you to discover through the magic of film. As I mentioned earlier, I chose ten films to be the best. Followers of my blog will attest to my continuing love for the cinema. Here, then, is my 34th annual list of the ten best films of the year: Hugo (BEST FILM) The Help J. Edgar Melancholia Midnight In Paris Moneyball My Week With Marilyn Rango The Tree Of Life War Horse Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (WB, 2011)***

2011-12-29T20:25:00.005-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON Set in 1891 in Victorian England, Robert Downey Jr. returns as Sherlock Holmes, one of the screen's most famous detectives. In this sequel to the box-office hit, Sherlock Holmes (2009), there is a lot to cheer about because this time he is more like the Holmes you have come to expect. His playfulness and disguises fit in with the Italian opera Don Giovanni which adds a brilliant, fleeting touch to the overall proceedings, while his exploits as a detective are more curiously mannered with a touch of humour not unlike Basil Rathbone in a previous screen incarnation. Based on characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the screenplay by Michele and Kieran Mulroney is inspired by Doyle's The Sign Of Four which was published in 1890. In it there is the marriage of Dr. John Watson to a young lady much like Jude Law to Kelly Reilly's Mary in The Game of Shadows. The sense of appearance vs. reality takes on new meaning as you try to guess when Holmes is going to show up and it sets the stage for an entertaining two hours plus as the action heats up in a familiar and dry story, at first, until the characters pick up the pace with much fun and frivolity to make up for the uneven direction from Guy Ritchie. Much of what happens is sluggish and unimportant in between the idle banter between Holmes and Watson in the first half, and the ensuing plot centered around Professor Moriarity in the second half. When everything is at full throttle, this Sherlock Holmes adventure is a grand escape and the bevy of supporting actors help contribute by each of their performances. Hans Zimmer's music score conveys the proper atmosphere and mood so you can relish the sense of humour presented as if it were a stage play put on film. The entrances on and off stage are invisible to the naked eye, but a careful and precise look will merit more attention to the if you are to understand the full impact of when the screenwriters end the film on such a note to prepare you for what is hoped will be a third film with Downey as Holmes, who feels more at home. His series of costumes in drag are a delight for they each adds to the suspense and intrigue punctuated by the actors in their demeanor and attitude. Law is equally spontaneous with touches of wit and brevity to ensure Watson's growth as a character who need not take second to Downey's strong performance. By film's end, there is a definitive approach to both Holmes and Watson with help from editor James Herbert who makes it all come together plot wise. Philippe Rousselot's cinematography recreates the Victorian look with the right toned down look to match the handsomely produced production design. Noomi Rapace from the Swedish Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy is unrecognizable as Simza Heron, the fortune teller. Canadian Rachel MacAdams is well cast as Irene Adler, Holmes' romantic suitor and Stephen Fry adds some levity as Holmes' brother, Mycroft. Cast as Moriarity, Holmes' nemesis is Jared Harris whose presence almost drags the plot down by his often weightless appearances and a penchant to be seen as a superior presence. Thankfully, the director keeps him within the boundaries as a supporting actor and maintain an equilibrium so as not to make him centre stage too much. What you want to see is the repartee between Holmes and Watson and you aren't disappointed. The laughter comes innocently at the right time and there are some fine moments to make A Game of Shadows worth a visit. It is rated PG, with the warning: violence. December 29, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

WAR HORSE (TOUCHSTONE, 2011)****

2011-12-27T11:44:00.009-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo and the stage play by Nick Stafford, War Horse is a stunning achievement in American Cinema. Director Steven Spielberg outdoes himself in presenting another simple tale and turning it into the kind of movie you ache to see again and again. In their screenplay, Lee Hall and Richard Curtis allow you to experience a timeless story about Albert Narracott and his extraordinary relationship with his horse, Joey. After being introduced to them in a sweeping panoramic dhot of the English countryside of Devon, the bright orange colours of the sky leave you transfixed on the silhouette-like images that dominate the film's central two images of the boy and his horse. What happens feels like a true story brought to the screen complete on a canvas of visual splendor punctuated by the performances of an ensemble cast where the sum of its parts contribute to a whole beyond the simpler underpinnings to the point where it all builds up to a point of impact where you are so absorbed you almost feel like cheering every time you see Joey, a true war horse defined by the seriousness of the time periods it inhabits and by the people who share time well spent as if history was recording each of their very moves. Life on the farm echoes John Ford's Drums Along The Mohawk (1939) in its full technicolor glory, while other sequences later on remind you of Ford's The Horse Soldiers (1959). War Horse does not pretend to be anything more than a tale of dignity and respect between the horse and each person who is touched by the beauty and strength of Joey and the economic stability it brings to them as a tribute to a way of life you only now see in films like this one. When the outbreak of World War I interrupts it, there is a discerning and quiet distinction of attitude and discipline that maintains the story's impact as a story of equal importance among men when they were men. The utter realism of each untangled bridle conveys the unending respect for not just Joey but all horses and this contributes to a greater understanding of humanity which is tested beyond the limits of man and beast's endurance but not without adding an increasing level of magnificence and pride in the mutual respect shown in the scenes that involve both man and beast. The wartime sequences are realistic and evocative of Spielberg's other two major war films, Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). They also reveal a distinctive stamp to show the director's own maturity as a director of films whose choices reveal not just the child in all of us, as Tin Tin amply proves, but a chance to remind you how movies have grown up at an altogether pace beyond the value of the box office dollar to gain a magnitude of respect alongside his contemporaries, notably, Martin Scorsese (Hugo), who is also emerging as a director of projects equal to the moviegoer's overall appetite to see subjects that are not necessarily new, but an opportunity to see the medium of film in a different light and still be entertained. When soldiers from both sides in No Man's Land offer to help Joey who is caught in the barbed wires, it is reminiscent of Joyeux Noel (2005) where two soldiers on both sides agreed to stop fighting for one day. Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski gives the film's first half a brighter look to symbolize life in peacetime, while the duller, gray appearance in the second half underscores the cold and desolation of the trenches. At the same time, the director never lets you forget Joey and the boy who trained him for they are in your thoughts under the best and worst of circumstances. Williams' music score is as integral to the narrative as it is important in capturing the best moments without drawing too hard on sentiment. However, it is strongly uplifting and effective at the right moments. You will not be disappointed by the visual impact of a film that comes at the end of a strong movie year. Whatever you do, don't miss War Horse. It is rated PG, with the warning: violence. December 26, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

ADVENTURES OF TINTIN (3D) (PARAMOUNT, 2011)****

2011-12-26T11:14:00.009-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON Based on the popular comic book series by Belgian artist Herge, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is a rousing adventure yarn from a director whose penchant for bringing out the kid in all of us has made him one of the most respected film directors around today. In this, his first animated and 3D film as director, Steven Spielberg conveys what we all have wanted to do at one time in our lives and this is go on an adventure of a lifetime. This is how Tintin begins for it is through the power of imagination that enables you to believe in the character brought to life in animated form by Jamie Bell. His joie de vivre and enthusiasm for adventure injects the title character with something movies needs to be more often: great entertainment. With his trusty dog, Snowy, Tintin, a young journalist sees a model of a ship that is the cataylst for high adventure when two others eagerly want to have it, too, and before too long you learn why amid the trappings of derring-do and a kidnapping plot where our hero is imprisoned on the SS Karaboudjan by the evil cronies of Sakharine of Marlinspike Hall. Tintin manages to escape for you know the story doesn't end there and he befriends the ship's captain, whose name is Haddock. Screenwriters Steven Moffatt, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish have fashioned a Walter Mitty kind of story around Tintin and as you become immersed in the story, you can't help feel enthralled by the characters who come and go in Spielberg's wonderful journey to another time as if you had just fallen asleep in your reading chair and imagined it all. John Williams has composed another invigorating music score to engage your fantasies at will and it all underscores perfectly the nuances and simplistic fun of Tintin's development as a fictional character. It is reminiscent of Disney's Treasure Island (1950) and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954), while Tintin has the usual boyhood heroics you have come to expect since Harrison Ford starred in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). It is interesting to recall the same look in Jamie Bell's animated face for it is as real as the same look as Elliott in E.T.--The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and James in Empire of The Sun (1987), and Frank Abagnale in Catch Me If You Can (2002) and the much older Indiana Jones. They are unforgettable characters in some of Spielberg's best films. The child-like wonder of escape is in the director's own eyes as he is filming if you have seen pictures of him as he watches the actors on set. When you find out there is more than one model ship and there is a connecting link between them, Bell injects Tintin with an equal sense of boyhood fun and through his courage you learn to like him more as a fictional character and hope the film won't end too soon. In the second half, the director turns up the volume of excitement, and thanks to the imagination of the screenwriters, the story takes on a new momentum when Sakharine plans to stage a concert featuring the famous diva Bianca Castafiore. He hopes she will shatter the glass case where another model sits so he can figure out the clues to the secret of the unicorn. This is Spielberg and if you have been paying attention to his films you will know how generous he is in building up the action to hold your interest right up to the end. Tintin is no exception. His use of 3D adds depth to the entire production and without resorting to gimmickry, it is effectively used to enhance everything with the director's masterful touch, including a sword fight and anything else you care to remember when you think of a pirate ship. As the pace of the story is augmented by Williams' score and by film's end, you are secretly still hoping it will not end. Like all movies you have enjoyed, they must and Spielberg deserves to be commended for making another grand adventure to remember for years to come. It is rated PG, with the warnings: some scary scenes and violence. December 22, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL (PARAMOUNT, 2011)***

2011-12-24T17:12:00.004-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON Mission Impossible:Ghost Protocol is a top notch thriller. It delivers not just a competent performance by Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, but a glorious return to early James Bond which the previous films in the series have tried to do but not always have been successful. When I reviewed Mission Impossible 2 on May 17, 2000, I said that Cruise carries the role with bravado and skill and he is one cool cat under those sunglasses with all the right moves. I echo those sentiments in the fourth, and best, in the series so far. This time the locales play a better role in the nefarious goings-on and you will not be disappointed by the death defying stunts you have come to expect from Cruise, the actor. His accomplished demeanor in portraying a character as ultimately cool will guarantee your undivided attention. As you watch him hanging from 100 stories on the glass windows of the world's tallest building in Dubai, you will have to hold on to your stomach. Beautifully staged and executed, director Brad Bird manages to maintain the momentum of that one sequence with equal aplomb and this is a testament to the popularity of the series. Joining Cruise are Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) as Brandt and Paula Patton as Jane, a triumvirate of ambition and skill and their expertise in the field helps you forget the weaknesses in the predictable screenplay by Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec, based on the TV series created by Bruce Geller. The action antes up the excitement and you become absorbed right from the first frame. One of the more interesting characters is Hendricks, well played by Michael Nyqvist from the Swedish trilogy: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest. He is almost unrecognizable unless you have just seen them. After more than a hundred films later I still found him to be as nasty as villain as there can be in a film at the beginning but, by film's end, he had lost his authority for he was weighed down in alliteration and downright simplicity where all originality the screenwriters cooked up had fizzled out to more predictable banter and action that is meant to pump the individual moviegoer's adrenalin for one last hurrah. It was too much a reminder of the Bonds starring Pierce Brosnan. What is invigorating to watch are the countless exploits of Hunt's bravery and courage and you are waiting breathlessly to see if he will make it free and clear amid the dust of each explosion. You know this is fiction and so is Hunt and this means you can wipe the sweat from your forehead when the end credits roll. Whew! There were some close calls. Need I say more, except to encourage you to line up to see Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol with an unerring sense of divertissement where you need to be ready to see Cruise in top form as the action hero he has learned to perfect with nary a false move. It is rated PG, with the warning: violence. December 23, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (ALLIANCE, 2011)****

2011-12-18T10:47:00.010-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON Based on a true story, My Life With Marilyn is an intoxicating, nostalgic trip for anyone who appreciates a time when the actors had a different attitude to their craft and their personal feelings toward it compelled them to be what they always were: people. This is what drives director Simon Curtis' screen adaptation of Colin Clark's personal account of his short introduction to Marilyn Monroe, who remains an enigmatic and popular person all these years later. It doesn't concern any of us how much of it is true except that it happened. The real Clark is not around for interviews, but his story excites us enough to imagine what it must have been like to meet Monroe or, for that matter, any movie star. Another reason to appreciate My Week With Marilyn on the same level as entertainment. Still, it is Michelle Williams' transformation from an average actress to personifying Monroe that brings you to see the film. Her defining example in portraying her is astonishing in another way, and this is the actress's ability to get inside Monroe and bring her to life to the point where there is a much more interesting story to tell,and this is how wonderful the life of a celebrity is from the viewpoint of an outsider like Clark who secretly fell in love like all of us did whenever you saw Monroe on the big screen. In his screenplay based on The Diaries by Clark, Adrian Hodges revisits Monroe, the symbol of what encompasses what a movie star to be and through Williams' performance you get all of this and more. You believe she is her and as you continue to watch her, the key word is watch, you become enamoured again as if Monroe was back and this, too, is why the entire film is evocative of a time and period when there were real movie stars. In addition to the main story, you get a glimpse of how the media started to treat stars as celebrities in those innocent days when you couldn't wait to see your favourite star up close. At the same time, Eddie Redmayne injects Clark as the presence of royalty, the kind you don't see any more. The events that led up to the real Clark's introduction to Monroe is indicative of how we all still feel today of any current movie stars and it is this essence of purity, if you want to call it that, that invites you to think of the unthinkable. Watching Redmayne is like watching yourself and how you also might have felt. For the real Clark it must have been more, of course, but this is the power of the moviegoing experience. There is a lot to dwell on and it is every bit as entertaining as it was then. Before the story begins, there is a statement telling you this is all true. it happened during the production of a movie called The Prince And The Showgirl starring Laurence Olivier and Monroe which was released in 1957. It's too bad that it is not available on DVD for it remains a buried treasure in both actors' filmography. The last time I saw it I was impressed by the movie star quality and the fairytale presence of the two mainstars in a dramatic and romantic tale that spoke volumes about the meaning of celebrity and worship by an ordinary person toward a star. Williams conveys Monroe's insecurity as an actress and her desire to be loved. As you watch her acting, you can see the real Monroe underneath it all. The clothes and immaturity of a famous actress who, sadly, had to depend on drugs to deal with her fame. The attention she didn't get growing up as a child became her world as a famous actress. See how she reacts when local English boys realize Monroe is in their presence and, later, the bartender in a pub when she sits besides Clark. Williams does her own singing and had a vocal coach to make her sound just like the real Monroe. It is interesting that Curtis borrows from Monroe's other films, such as Bus Stop (1956) in which Monroe sang That Old Black Magic. Williams effectively captures the moment as if it was really happening and it helps get you in the mood by accepting Williams in her role as the sexy bombshell. For true Monroe fans, it will bring back Monroe's rendition of Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and My Heart Belongs To Daddy in Let's Make Love (1960). Kenneth Branagh plays Olivier with the right attitude and without trying to be like the real Olivier he is there in spirit. He says in his memoir, On Acting that he did not bargain for Monroe's method acting and you get to hear Branagh objecting to this in the film. In other roles, Judi Dench is wonderful as Dame Sybil Thorndike, Emma Watson from the Harry Potter movies plays Lucy, Clark's girlfriend, Dougray Scott is Arthur Miller, who was married to Monroe at the time she made The Prince And The Showgirl, and Julia Ormond as the fragile Vivian Leigh who was married to Olivier. Augmented by Donal Woods' production design and Conrad Pope's music score, the director makes good use of Nat King Cole's You Stepped Out Of A Dream and Autumn Leaves to express Monroe's affect on you as you become fascinated by Marilyn Monroe all over again. My Week With Marilyn is a real find during the rush of Christmas movies. Don't miss it. It is rated 14A, with the warning: coarse language. December 17, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

NEW YEAR'S EVE (WARNER BROTHERS, 2011)*

2011-12-12T17:43:00.003-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON With the calibre of star power in this sequel of sorts to Valentine's Day, there is no reason to jump for joy for this New Year's Eve is unmemorable. No singing of Auld Lang Syne will bring you back to the stories that are never as nostalgic as director Garry Marshall intends them to be. The subplots drag the entire film down to the point where you hope something will happen to inject life into the characters who are caught up in some kind of unidentified cinematic fever. Ryan Seacrest plays himself in a segment reminiscent of Dick Clark's New Year specials and there is nothing remarkable here, either. Life gets a nudge by the feelings of hope for the New Year and there is a nocticeable lack of celebration to make this New Year's Eve one of the worst I can remember. Hallee Berry plays Aimee, who tries to console Stan (Robert De Niro). Hilary Swank plays C aire, a woman whose career almost makes her miss the importance of the occasion. The supplementary add on before the end credits roll may be surprising but, in retrospect, it is a last attempt for you to smile at the film's attempt to save the film from being a total waste of time. Katherine Fugate's ideas in her original screenplay are systemically part of Hollywood's sad days where originality is stuck in a time warp of mediocrity and blandness. It's too bad she leaves you wishing you stayed home to watch Bing Crosby in Holiday Inn where New Year's Eve is far more memorable. Although there aren't the same number of stars, it is the story of the Connecticut farmhouse that has made it a classic. Bing even sings about the New Year to make it right. It is far more hopeful than looking forward to the extras in the DVD of New Year's Eve next year. It is rated PG, with the warning: language may offend. December 10, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

MELANCHOLIA (E-ONE, 2011)****

2011-12-06T15:33:00.004-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON Written and directed by Lars Von Trier, Melancholia stands in a class by itself as an empowering example of how effective and important film music is in a motion picture. Kirsten Dunst who won the Best Actress prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival gives a beautifully understated performance as Justine, the bride who has just married Michael (Alexander Skarsgard). Her sister, Claire (Charlotte Ginsbourg) is there. As you soon discover, Justine and Claire comprise the two parts of the film in a story that almost resembles a modern Shakespearean play. The prologue introduces the main characters underscored by Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. His gift of orchestration as a renowned classical composer ties in perfectly to the light soap opera underpinnings of the newly married couple and their simple dialogue that resonates in such a quiet tone you almost feel too relaxed but it is a mere diversion to the astrological discovery by brother-in-law John (Kiefer Sutherland) when he learns the earth is going to collide with another planet named after the film's title. Von Trier is careful not to create paranoia for the moviegoer for this is fiction. For Justine, it is a worry and, despite this, with John's help, fears of this collision seem unlikely and you are equally convinced until strains of Wagner return as a warning to mankind. Meanwhile, the supporting cast that includes Jack (Stellan Skarsgard), the ad man, and the sisters' parents, Gaby and Dexter (Charlotte Rampling and John Hurt) are oblivious to the impending doom. Their conversations speak of a normalcy that is disquieting at times and your thoughts while watching everything ufold is equally disarming in reality. The fact that it takes a while for the catastrophe to happen is part and parcel to the director's intelligent meanderings symbolized by Sutherland's controlled behaviour. You also feel a certain irrelevance to the dialogue that occupies the cast's undetermined sanctuary of depression and this forces you to stay absorbed long enough to see the outcome. Dunst perfectly captures the idea of a resounding death knell by her persuasively sublime performance and as you watch her early in the film, her face in closeup is punctuated in the background by a visual sequence of events where you see birds drop from the sky. The director then uses a succession of shots where Justine's wedding dress clashes with the intoxicating round of nerves and terror ahead as if it is all definitely going to happen as if she is deliberately calling for the end to come. Her deadpan expressions reveal her own melancholy as if getting married is not the happiest day of her life. She is able to communicate better with her brother-in-law and it is this distance between reality and understanding Von Trier builds on to point out the aimless wanderings of mankind as people who have trouble dealing with the small things that eventually trip you up. Sutherland's interjection contributes to the general thought of disbelief that earth could collide with another planet as if it was scientific fantasy but Melancholia does more than just appear it likely to happen. Justine's furious energy in the first half is understated just as Claire's understanding of it's actuality in the second half points to a certainty that the collision with earth is definitely going to happen. It is this knowledge that enables you to figure out the real from the fictional and hope you are right. The boldness in spirit and theatricality possess the characters as if they are playthings and we are the witnesses waiting for the inevitable or not, to happen. As you listen to the music score quietly define each moment as it comes, it all contributes to the film's overall aesthetic value as a unique moviegoing experience. It is rated PG, with the warnings: mature theme, nudity, and language may offend. December 4, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

THE DESCENDANTS (FOX, 2011)***

2011-12-04T11:31:00.010-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON True to director Alexander Payne's body of work so far, his films deal with life from his own personal viewpoint as a mediator between the sexes. In Citizen Ruth (1997) he discussed the female side of the abortion debate with Laura Dern showing her mettle as an actress in the title role. In both About Schmidt (2002) and Sideways (2004), he tackled the male views on retirement and understanding life. In his latest directorial effort, The Descendants he examines the role of the male partner in a marriage when his wife is left dying in hospital after a bad accident. Death becomes the central issue as the husband and the rest of the immediate family learn to cope with the impending outcome which is never easy. As you sit and watch George Clooney play Matt King, there is a sense of decency and respect from the male side which the actor conveys in a convincing way. In the trailer I was under a different impression of him and I'm glad Clooney continues to show maturity as an actor. His range of emotions are dead on and as he tries to deal with the problems of his two daughters there is an added sense of reality and purpose that rings true as life. You can believe what it is happening in the film and you are left to come to your own conclusions about the entire matter of dying with dignity which Payne leaves open for discussion. Unlike Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt and Paul Giamatt in Sideways where the lead male actor was funny, this time the leading male actor tries to be more realistic and determined to be more sane and responsible for death of a loved one, in this case a wife, is serious. What you do see is some humour emanating from the supporting cast and the comic timing is appropriate and more a defense mechanism to release the tension one feels when faced with a personal decision like Matt. Clooney demonstrates Payne's predilection to maintain the consistency of the strong male under difficult circumstances and Clooney gives an outstanding performance in this, his second film this fall. The other is The Ides of March. Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, the screenplay by Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash allows Matt enough courage to get through his personal crisis and still learn something important about himself by film's end. Along the way he, like the other male roles in Payne's films, there is a certain amount of courage and understanding and you can believe Clooney as he portrays a family man whose wife won't be around much longer. The fact it is inevitable only draws you closer to the characters and it is through your own empathy for them, you are absorbed in the overall story from the beginning. Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller play Alexandra and Scottie, Matt's two daughters. The chemistry between them and Clooney works so well that it comes across with more reality than expected. Their strong relationships add credibility and you can appreciate even further their feelings and reactions, especially if you have been like them in real life. The death of a parent is especially hard and Clooney doesn't disappoint by breaking down and crying. If you watch him closely, you will see him inject inner strength for Matt to help him get through his moral dilemma and be strong as a father to help his daughters get through what he realizes is difficult for everyone. The supporting cast features Beau Bridges as cousin Hugh, Nick Krause as Sid, and Robert Forster as Mr. Thorson. Filmed on location in Hawaii, the gorgeous surroundings are emblematic of how we all can still keep going and appreciate what is around us under the most difficult of circumstances. How we resolve them is similar to Matt King's who turns to his family for support. He also asks them about the land he must sell that has been in the family for generations. The screenwriters tie this neatly into the main plot and you are left thinking about your own issues of what happens after you're gone. It is all done with the right amount of sentiment and impact. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: mature theme and coarse language. December 2, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

HUGO (3D)(PARAMOUNT, 2011)****

2011-11-26T12:52:00.007-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON Hugo is a movie lover's dream. Directed by Martin Scorsese whose own love for the cinema has been evident in his movies for years and it comes full circle with this children's story filled with not just the magic and wonder of the title character and his imagination, but a world that encapsulates the history of cinema from its earliest beginnings. You will be amazed at the sheer strength of the simple plot threads as they weave a compelling story of such magnitude you will want to see it again. Hugo Cabret is an orphan boy who lives in the walls of a Paris train station in the early 1930s. Watch how the director shows Hugo as he watches the action from his secret hiding place. He is the central character on which everything revolves and, boy, does it ever work thanks to Scorsese's innate ability to know where to put his camera to convey the simple life of Paris long ago. The entire atmosphere is child-like as if you are like Hugo as he experiences what truly is an escape from reality for him and us, for you are eager to know all about him. You are right up there joining him in an adventure that takes him to an old man who runs a toy shop and without knowing it exposes his secret that the entire world will soon know, not just Hugo. In John Logan's screenplay, based on the best selling book, The Invention of Hugo by Brian Selznick, the characters can almost be described as if they were in another equally imaginative world like Alice Through The Looking Glass for Scorsese allows you to see Hugo's story told as if you were watching from nearby. Asa Butterfield perfectly captures all the ambition and excitement of the average boy who loves to go on an adventure. His gentle smile and innocent look are imperative to understand this is a story about him and your patience is rewarded with an extraordinary tale. Along the way you meet Isabelle, Hugo's friend and together the two portray childhood pals just like you did at their age. Chloe Grace Moretz injects the story with a more childlike experience as the two of them react to situations that are as real as the imaginary world created here. Ben Kingsley gives an Oscar worthy performance as the old proprietor of the shop who catches Hugo stealing. He gives him a familiar sense of Dickensian grace and stature and, in the process, you are equally compelled to keep watching him because he brings an added wealth of screen presence in the way he portrays the old man. You are just as surprised as the boy when you find out his name is Georges Melies, a magician who, as you will soon learn, owned and operated his own theatre. The real Melies ran the Theatre Robert -Houdin in Paris. As you see Kingsley visit the Lumiere Brothers, he is fascinated by what he sees and, as film history has shown, he designed his own camera and became the first public independent producer/director. How this all comes together gives an added dimension to the simple story of an orphan boy and I won't spoil it for you because it is all done so well under Scorsese's capable hands. How he weaves history and fiction together is something utterly fantastic. Imagine seeing how Melies created his film, The Trip To The Moon in 1902. You later get to see the director use Hugo in a recreation of one of Harold Lloyd's "comedy of thrills" from the silent classic, Safety Last (1923) where he hung from the face of a large clock. The use of the train is symbolic of Buster Keaton's The General(1927) when Scorsese lets the train at the station crash. To say more would ruin the fun of this moment, especially if you are a cinephile. I couldn't help be reminded of the power of silent film and the awe it held for moviegoers long before the coming of sound, and Scorsese doesn't disappoint when he conveys this reality. He is also saying how today's movies lack the essence of storytelling and originality of the silent era when moving pictures were new and there was excitement on movie screens every week. You don't get that now and it is his hope by bringing depth to his first 3D film, Hollywood might take another look at this old gimmick and make it more exciting for moviegoers instead of giving them headaches. The supporting cast in Hugo features Sacha Baron Cohen as the station inspector, Christopher Lee as Monsieur Labisse, the bookshop owner, Ray Winstone as Uncle Claude, Hugo's deceased uncle, Richard Griffiths as Monsieur Frick, the newspaper seller, and Frances de la Tour as Madame Emile, the owner of the cafe. Cinematographer Robert Richardson brings the entire period to life and it helps you get in the mood to enjoy everything there is to offer. Complemented by Canadian composer Howard Shore's effective use of music to celebrate the era is also a bonus, and I found myself thoroughly engaged by the entire film and impressed enough to make it, in my opinion, the best film of the year. It is rated PG, with the warning: some scary scenes. November 24, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

BREAKING DAWN PART ONE (E-ONE, 2011)***

2011-11-21T21:27:00.005-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON The latest in the Twilight Saga continues the consistency in plot development that has captured readers of Stephanie Meyer's books and the films that have brought back moviegoers time after time. As the first part of Twilight Saga:Breaking Dawn Part 1 opens, you are immediately absorbed in the the three main characters: Bella (Kristen Stewart), Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner). Picking up where Eclipse left off, you are immediately waiting for the big day when Bella and Edward will get married. It is one of several sequences which are guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Having not read the books, the films in the series have a built-in interest thanks to the screenwriters who have made them come to life. Like the Harry Potter series which just ended, Part Two of the finale will obviously have moviegoers patiently waiting when it opens. Stewart imbues Bella with a vulnerability that cries out for your empathy and as you have watched her grow up on the big screen, she has retained her girlish looks and maintained her credibility as an actress unafraid to take the challenge of living up to Bella as a human involved with both a vampire and a werewolf. The magic of her moments with Edward and Jacob celebrates good songwriting and acting for they are compelling in their portrayals thanks to Meyer's incredible imagination to create a modern day world with the kind of people only a creative mind could come up with and remain consistent, especially in the scenes where Bella must decide between Edward and Jacob. In Breaking Dawn Part 1 you are not almost convinced of her decision to marry to Edward and it is room for doubt that leaves open the dramatic possibilities courtesy of screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg. When Bella gets pregnant there is yet another round of questions as to how it will all turn out. The visual effects along with Carter Burwell's music score underscore the delicate nature of the miracle of childbirth in human terms and you are not disappointed by the dichotomy of anticipation and the birth itself as you wonder if Rosenberg will change the outcome or stick to Meyer's book. It all leaves the innocent moviegoer with a chance to get to know Bella with an even deeper attitude and appreciation for she dutifully carries the main plot threads to a new high. You are on your seat as you wait to see if her birth will happen without incident or not. The classical music strains define those moments that are normal to symbolize Bella's humanity and to maintain the integrity of the mysterious and foreboding atmosphere of the previous films while not forgetting the visual concept in keeping with the supernatural elements that have made the series unique. Director Bill Condon orchestrates everything with a masterful touch and you leave the theatre with more anticipation for the finale. Guillermo Navarro's splendid cinematography distinguishes reality from fantasy by using bright colours for the dream sequences. They come across so real your eyes are glued to the screen so as not to ruin the effect of discerning what is really happening. You can thank editor Virginia Katz for attaching an uncommon sense of storytelling driven by the emotions of characters who are there for one purpose and this is to give you your money's worth. You might want to check out the two disc DVD sets of the entire series to remind you just how clever Meyer has created a saga that first caught moviegoers by surprise in 2008 with Twilight, which impressed me because it was something not just new but extraordinary for a horror film. Admittedly, I had no idea New Moon and Eclipse would be enormous hits and after seeing them I can attest to their story value as something more adult in nature compared to Harry Potter. Both series captured my imagination and whatever Twilight fans call themselves, the saga is definitely worth your attention even if you have skipped the films for whatever reason. Breaking Dawn Part One ends on an appropriate note and it is all equally suspenseful while your own imagination hopes the conclusion will be worth the wait. It is an eye-opener for sure, and I can't wait to see how Part II will resolve the loose ends of the series, including the fates of the main characters. It is rated PG, with the warnings: mature theme and sexual content. November 20, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

THE GUARD (ALLIANCE, 2011)***

2011-11-20T20:50:00.006-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON Written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, The Guard is an Irish black comedy that pokes fun at the American crime movie and the buddy film, in particular). Although I did not find as funny as some of the other moviegoers who are lining up to see it, there is a curious mix of humour, satire and entertainment. With so few really good comedies being made lately, it is refreshing to sit back and not take life so seriously by just laughing at situations that are intentionally funny. After introducing Sgt. Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) and his unorthodox manner toward police work, you are treated toward a series of episodes that look familiar but are symbolic of how McDonagh sees as the essential framework for cops to work and, since this is a comedy, he pairs Gleeson with an American black from the FBI(Don Cheadle) and together their individual methods and attitudes strike a funny chord underneath the seriousness and simplicity of stopping an international drug smuggling operation. While the dialogue is often sharp and witty, it borders on the offensive and with the use of four letter words it may also be offensive to some for it detracts from the film's overall entertainment value. In exposing the drug ring, Gleeson's unexpurgated dialogue includes racial slurs against the blacks and comments about the Irish against the English. I was reminded of Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in the Lethal Weapon films as I watched The Guard zip along with its brand of humour. Sometimes the accent or Irish colloquialisms may be difficult to understand, but it's the cast who convey the thoughts and ideas in the screenplay and make them work so you can laugh. While both cops try to understand each other, you are literally caught unaware by their sense of humour that pervades throughout the film. The murder they try to solve at the beginning is believed to be the work of a serial killer and it all comes to a bloody climax with assistance from the IRA. The last scene when Cheadle is talking to Michael Og Lane, the young boy who is smarter than any of the cops, is meant to make you laugh even harder at the sheer stupidity they have when it comes to connecting the dots to come up with a killer. The boy also lets you know in case you are lost or confused by the goings-on. Larry Smith's cinematography lets you see picturesque Ireland as if the lustre has been worn off to symbolize how crime has corrupted the simple, clean life of today. O'Donagh is pointing out how close the country has become like the United States which explains why Cheadle's character fiits in so well because he is experienced in handling criminal matters. His expertise is given short shrift but it does help the plot by adding more credibility and importance. The supporting cast features individuals who are caricatures of the real thing and this contributes to the offbeat coloured landscape because it is not as clear cut as previous English crime films of the 1980s which were more violent, such as The Long Good Friday, The Krays and Mona Lisa. What makes The Guard work is the chemistry between Gleeson and Cheadle for they play off each other as if they have known each other for a long time. Both actors are consistent in their individual portrayals as you watch them interact in some dangerous situations. Chris Gill's sharp editing maintains an even pace from beginning to end with the two main stars given an equal chance to shine. The pervasive atmosphere is filled with the requisite blackmail, robbery and killings, while the humour keeps the comic edge present so as not to be a complete turn off. The Guard has become one of the most successful independent Irish films ever released. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: sexual content, coarse language, and violence. November 19, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

IMMORTALS (ALLIANCE, 2011)*

2011-11-13T19:17:00.001-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON Loosely based on the Greek myths of Theseus and the Minotaur and the Titanomachy, Immortals is a complete waste of time. Like 300 (2007) it depends entirely on violence and little plot. With John Hurt as the narrator and the Old Man, his presence intermittently helps move the action along so you can follow what's going on. What happens when he is off screen is a maddeningly and deepening exercise in total boredom for the characters look as if they are waiting on cue to act and when they do the result is one bloody mess literally, which I said in my review of 300 on March 24, 2007. In their screenplay, Charley and Vlas Parlapanides focus on the Epirus Bow because it's owner will possess worldly power which includes, sadly, the destruction of mankind. Well, this isn't science fiction but an epic making disaster where the gods are told (and we too) that it is forbidden for them to interfere with man. This, of course, is ignored and they go ahead and do it anyway. It seems the plot is given short shrift and the ensuing episodes of blood and guts ruin any chance for the film to redeem itself. Mickey Rourke is having good time playing the King Hyperion and, although he is built for the part, there is not a lot of originality in his scheme to rule the world. His determination to get the famous bow is predictable at the best and worst of times and the battles are second rate when you think of better scenes in Troy and The Mummy movies. You only get what director Tarsem Singh wants to give you and he comes up short on entertainment and long on violence reminiscent of Excalibur (1981). The same director did The Cell (2000) which I put in my ten best list. Freida Pinto adds a touch of welcome sanity with her role as Phaedra and Henry Cavill plays Theseus with enough credibility to make the story work on the simplistic level. What does serve everything better is the 3D cinematography for it adds to the use of colour for the period by contributing the 3D effect without having to wear the glasses. Everything is glaring and clear to the naked eye and you can appreciate more the uncharted waters of war the story is trying to maintain a certain consistency of thought so as not to throw off your patience and give you a monstrous headache, which it may do anyway. The slashing sequences feature beheadings and other bloody examples of the era depicted here and it all boils down to much ado about nothing over a weapon that never convinces you of its power. It isn't anything like the sword in Excalibur either. Many of the supporting cast come and go and you aren't sure if they died or not. The unusual extravagant temper of the director's own ideas to make a film like this are ruined by an overactive imagination with little thought to make it believable. Even the sets look phony, the music score fails to generate enough interest to hold your attention, and the makeup ghastly. Suffice to say, Immortals is not worth recommending at all. It is rated 18A, with the warnings: brutal violence and sexual content. November 13, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

J. EDGAR (WARNER BROTHERS, 2011)****

2011-11-12T15:49:00.002-05:00

BY RICK JACKSON Leonardo DiCaprio gives an outstanding performance as J. Edgar Hoover in director Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar, a mesmerizing film biopic about one of the most feared men in U.S. history and how he influenced more than one generation with his personal ferocity and conviction about what he wanted expressly for him because his agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was his kingdom. He ran it with an iron hand. As you watch DiCaprio pay particular attention to the way he injects enough authority to instil fear in everyone right up to the presidency. The intrinsic authority and strong will he gves him is notoceable in his vocal delivery where he makes him appear so real beyond a snapshot captured in an old newsreel.Eastwood has succeeded in making a film that, at the heart of it, is a revolving door of history and reality coinciding and colliding together as if it were still happening now. This sense of dramatic urgency has marked the director's last few films to the point where he has become popular and regarded as one of the few film directors who are unafraid to tackle difficult subjects without fear of controversy. In this case, it is Hoover's homosexuality hinted at an old biography by Anthony Summers and the director's own instinct to present Hoover as the man he was in terms of how close he actually was in his personal opinion and the man perceived on other levels that were either clouded or not substantiated until now. In his screenplay, Dustin Lance Black is equally bold to inject the story with a realistic edge so as not to bore you with unnecessary detail and, therefore, conveying J. Edgar as the real man history still has trouble coming to terms. By including clips of James Cagney in The Public Enemy (1931) and G Men (1935) the continuity bridged between fiction and reality adds a dramatic edge as entertainment and for a minute you almost forget this is not a documentary but a feature film. Like Cagney who critic Dwight Macdonald described as "a human wolf with the heartlessness and grace and innocence of an animal, as incapable of hypocrisy as of feeling," DiCaprio essays a different side of his acting ability by allowing us to see him stretch as an actor to where we will ultimately heap praise for this time on screen he is in his element in playing a part that comes easily to him after being the late Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004). You can tell right from the first frame and the use of chromatic colors to remove the brightness of the film's subject, you know J. Edgar is going to be a cathartic experience for the moviegoer. A surprising cast of supporting characters fills out the life of Hoover as if it were a microcosm of undeniable influence exercised by a single individual honoured along the same lines as the more fictional and powerful Charles Foster Kane played by Orson Welles in Citizen Kane(1941). Except, in Eastwood's film, the subject is not gloriously praised but given the regular treatment as if this was a living tribute to a man of such influence from DiCaprio's point of view as an actor which is equally shared with Eastwood's as a dark figure in U.S. history. At various points in the film, you are impressed by the actor's electrifying presence as much as you are with his on screen persona. Rather than try to make J.Edgar a lenghty epic, Eastwood has chosen to deal with Hoover's strong relationship with his mother and the Bureau's swift action in capturing such criminals as John Dillinger. As the story switches back from past to present within the sound of Hoover's voice while he is being interviewed, you are almost reminded of the interviewer in Citizen Kane who is trying to find more about Kane when he was alive. Like the latter, you are generously given a close-up look at Hoover as he explains himself during some of America's most turbulent times. Naomi Watts plays Helen Gandy, Hoover's private secretary, with such conviction that she,too, becomes part of the story after his death. Her scenes, especially at the beginning and end, translate how his behaviour among his staff symbolized the power he wielded inside his office. Armie Hammer is also well cast as Clyde Tolson, Hoover's assistant. It only gives you further evidence of his influence but you see a side of the FBI director that portrays him as the real man he was sometimes perceived to be and it does so discreetly. In so doing, it brings across J.Edgar as the complex individual he was in real life without condemning him for it One can't forget to mention Judi Dench as Edgar's mother. The chemistry between her and DiCaprio adds an essential part to your understanding of J.Edgar who was afraid of making important decisions without consulting her. There is one scene where she tells him to be strong. Watch DiCaprio's facial expressions for they show him as a boy who refused to grow up. His scenes with Hammer show a more emotional side interrupted by the unstabling influence of the political climate of the times. What is even more interesting are the scenes with Nixon and they, too, give you an idea of who he was like as well as Hoover's. They were two strong political allies in public but it was altogether different when they were both alone because Nixon, in particular, hated Hoover over his famous secret files which Gandy kept secret even from her boss through their strong and mutual understanding for each other's importance. Under Eastwood's direction, J. Edgar is a powerful testament to one man's influence when certain men like him fixated on their image as public figures who enjoyed the control they wielded on behalf of the government. It is rated PG, with the warnings: mature theme and language may offend. November 11, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

RESTLESS (MONGREL, 2011)***

2011-11-05T21:10:00.000-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON From director Gus Van Sant comes a powerful and touching love story between a ytoung man and a young girl and how their paths accidentally cross until fate ultimately decides both their futures. Henry Hopper, son of the late Dennis Hopper, plays Enoch, who likes to go funerals and pretends he is dead while lying on the ground with a chalk impression around him like the coroner does on TV shows like CSI. One day he meets Annabel (Mia Wasikowska) who shares his interest in requiems but for an entirely different reason. She has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. They both play out their fantasies and grow closer as their romance blossoms so as not to dwell on subject of death to the point it becomes depressing. Written by Jason Lew from an unidentified source, Restless defines the director's best films by focusing on characters who are more concerned about dying and death with the possible exception this time around that there is a slender thread of hope on the faces of the main characters as they deal with their emotions in their final days or what you believe may be the end coming soon. Australian actress Wasikowsla looks all grown up compared to her last film in the title role of Jane Eyre earlier this year. She has the ability to portray hurt with utter simplicity and her mannerisms effectively portray a normal person who you don't know right away is suffering from a terminal illness. One is also impressed by Hopper's portrayal of a man possessed by Hiroshi Takahashi, a ghost from World War II (Ryo Kase) and this may cause confusion for it is not explained right away. There is the possibility he may be going madness which may explain why he likes to attend funerals but he doesn't look like he is disturbed and this makes you reconsider just where he is coming from. Whether he is really an imaginary friend crosses your mind when he appears without notice as if he just might have an alterior motive. Lending excellent support is Schuyler Fisk as Annabel's sister Elizabeth who, at first, isn't too sure about Enoch. Van Sant's characters are always teetering on the brink between life and death and despite the lack of explanations here and there it is not hard to follow their progress as you become absorbed gently into their fantasy world that is interrupted by reality at any given moment. You soon realize from both Enoch and Annabel's points of view there is an undercurrent of sanity to keep the story's levels of persuasion and understanding in check, and this helps keep things from getting too complicated or confusing. You seem them both enjoy life for it is still as wonderful as Frank Capra believed it to be and there is no reason to dispute this slice of modernity under the guise of a different plot to come to the same conclusion. In its own way, Restless symbolizes what Gus Van Sant may believe where today's generation is heading and it leaves you with some food for thought for the highly educated who lived in suburbia which he has explored in such films as Good Will Hunting (1997), Elephant (2003), and in the much earlier Drugstore Cowboy(1989). Danny Elfman's music score is kept nicely in the background and this contributes to the effectiveness of the acting and the story's strengths. It is rated PG, with the warning: mature theme. November 5, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

ANONYMOUS (COLUMBIA, 2011)***

2011-11-05T10:56:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON One of the more interesting aspects of Anonymous is the historical context which compels you to remain diligent of who William Shakespeare was and his impact as a literary figure. Whether or not he actually wrote his work has been the subject of much study for such a long time, it is to producer/director Roland Emmerich's credit that he had the courage to make a movie that will be looked at carefully by historians of the period and of Shakespeare in particular. The driving focus of the entire film is the Oxfordian theory that denied Shakespeare authorship and the works of the Bard were written by an Elizabethan aristocrat, Edward deVere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. In John Orloff's literate screenplay you are invited to witness the unfolding historical evidence as if it all were a play in itself being presented in a special viewfinder courtesy of motion pictures and like an old Shakespearean play at the old Globe Theatre you are introduced to Derek Jacobi whose distinguished demeanor gives the film a credibility for its own sake by allowing you to be entertained by actors playing the important roles of a lifetime. As the play within the play turns back the hands of time you are enveloped in a rich mystery tempered by the thoughts of a time which were believed to be the prevailing winds when Shakespeare was not the genius of literary repute but a murderous and illiterate simpleton. Although Orloff doesn't waste time in presenting and weighing the evidence it sometimes becomes confusing at first, but this is all part of the narrative that eventually reveals itself as a compelling piece of history bolstered by the flourishes of the Elizabethan age where theTudors and the Cecils were fighting over the succession to Queen Elizabeth I. De Vere is a genius at a young age and in the mid-16th century you see him basking in the success of A Midsummer Night's Dream with DeVere playing the role of Puck to the amusement of the young Queen Elizabeth. Fans of Shakespeare will be in heir glory as they watch play after play being presented in quick succession as if it were really happening and, together with the political climate and personalities of the characters, Anonymous ascends to a higher level of storytelling at the same time you are absorbed in the entire compelling nature of it all. What is different from other films like Shakespeare In Love (1998) is the preponderance of what you already know from studying Shakespeare and this is how spectators were swayed by certain stories and DeVere is shown to understand the underlying power of the stage by its sheer dramatic force in the presentation of a theme relevant to an audience. I only wished there was mention of his genius for understanding human nature and it is barely inferred by Rhys Ifans in his portrayal of the Earl of Oxford. By the way, William Shakespeare is played by Rafe Spall in a part that is almost unnoticeable. There are some liberties taken with Shakespeare's life and the most glaring is him writing and starring in A Midsummer Night's Dream when he was only nine years old. Wikipedia has listed many historical inaccuracies in Anonymous but they do not ruin the film's enjoyment. It is not any different from other recent films which have been appreciated more by moviegoer such as The King's Speech. Still, it is the distinguished cast that makes Anonymous one of the fall's more interesting movies to see on the big screen: Vanessa Redgrave plays Queen Elizabeth I with such conviction you are undeniably impressed with a reminder of the title role she had in Mary Queen of Scots in 1971. Cast as the young Elizabeth I is Jolely Richardson whose performance is almost superior to Redgrave's but it is a small point to argue over for both actresses contribute to the historical period. In some scenes with the Queen I was reminded of the conversations in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) between Bette Davis as Queen Elizabeth and Errol Flynn as Essex. Redgrave doesn't try to copy Davis and by bringing her own interpretation to the role, Redgrave and Richardson add spice to the film. The handsomely built sets recreate the Elizabethan era with an imposing replica of London's Rose Theatre. Anna Foerster's cinematography gives it all the perfect texture and tinted affect to help contribute to the authenticity of the period. Editor Peter R. Adam maintains a steady pace by allowing you enough room to experience everything well enough to hold your interest from beginning to end, while the music score composed by Harald Kloser and Thomas Wanker doesn't take away from your enjoyment with a pounding music score but an elegant and toned down score in keeping with the seriousness of the story's historical impact. To Emmerich's credit, Anonymous does not depend on presenting Shakespeare as a hoax but by intelligently conveying the mystery behind the playwright over the centuries, and it succeeds in making it all a good time for the individual moviegoer. It is rated PG, with the warnings: sexual content, violence and language may offend. November 4, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

PUSS IN BOOTS (3D)(PARAMOUNT, 2011)***

2011-11-01T21:42:00.000-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Puss In Boots is one of the most eagerly awaited films of the year and to no one's surprise it is a great family flick for anyone who wants to return to his childhood or let a little one share in the experience of an old-fashioned fairy tale where you will be literally swept off your feet and be a kid all over again. After enjoying Puss In Boots in the Shrek movies, which I always thought was the best part, you are swashbuckled and chuckled at the same time as you enjoy this prequel with a dash of derring do and a cast of familiar characters from two old stories you heard as a kid: Jack And The Beanstalk ad Puss In Boots. Incorporating characters from both, you can actually the sense of humour in Tom Wheeler's screenplay and director Chris Miller maintains a certain consistency of thought so the small set can sit still and let their imagination take over while all Moms and Dads and other adults without children can thrill to a children's film with an enduring tone and enough action to keep you entrenched in your seat. At the show I attended everyone liked what they saw and I almost felt like cheering much of the time because I was having so much fun. Banderas brings Puss to life as he tells how he became this character. You see him befriend Humpty Dumpty (voice of Zach Galifianakis) and from there the story becomes more and more a tale anyone who likes these characters can't help be thrilled. I must admit this is much better than the Shrek movies and I hope you are not expecting the same schtick. Puss In Boots succeeds in being original and funny and I can't say enough just how much I liked every minute. One revelation is Kitty Softpaws and I won't divulge how she is introduced. Salma Hayek instils so much matchless fun, you are waiting to see when she will turn up next. The overall western feel is different from the far superior Rango earlier this year, but Puss In Boots is worth its weight in the golden moments it creates and in making new memories for younger moviegoers to remember. Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris add a zestful of energy in their roles as the animated Jack and Jill, while a golden goose substitutes for the ogre at the top of the beanstalk. It is better than the live action Jack and Jill starring Abbott and Costello (1952) which was fun or enjoyable. The animators behind Puss In Boots should be congratulated for re-creating the old and making it new all over again and I can't wait for the second adventure with Puss In Boots. It is rated G. October 30, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

GAINSBOURG (E-ONE, 2011)****

2011-10-31T16:30:00.000-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Gainsbourg is not your average biopic but an extraordinary look at the man and his eccentric life as both a composer and lover. He was a great poet and as Eric Elmosnino portrays him, you feel you know him because of his positive look at the world and the way he perceived it as one in which you only live in once. As a poet he could write something about anything and easily add music as if it came to him naturally. Despite the fact he didn't like music when he was a boy, he used it to create an aura of possibilities and it is from this he loved life to the hilt. Directed by Joann Sfar, there are ample opportunities to show off his flair for the coomon man and there is even a chance to see how his mind worked as if it were something madness could easily penetrate and this gives this a dramatic edge other films like this don't often present. The celebrated affairs and sexual nature of his personal life inject Gainsbourg with an affinity for the absurd and, at the same time, you are entertained by a French gentleman with a notoriety he didn't take to his head. The lyrics to his songs were risque and this engendered a sense of apparent importance as a songwriter who loved attention. It is almost as if he was using it as a substitute for the lack of love he received as a boy and wanted to gain more acceptance from his parents who didn't feel he was going to amount to much. Based on the director's own graphic novel, the screenplay spends a lot of time on who he was as both a man and a cause celeb. His affairs with women, notably Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin symbolize the the person as a man of different tastes within his own generation and his songs reflected a devilish quality to his tastes in women who he saw as something more than sex objects but a chance to experiment with his own ideas of sexual intimacy and strength he only dreamed about over and over again as he grew up and where he was exposed to sexual repression. His music as you will see brought forward a way he could express himself eloquently and it caught on to a legion of fans who agreed with his views. When you first hear him sing, there is a raspy quality to his voice reminiscent of Leonard Cohen. Even the latter's quiet persona is similar to Serge Gainsbourg. The supporting cast includes Laetitia Casta as Bardot and it is her acting that distinguishes and underscores the actress who was unafraid to express herself personally. Her life almost mirrored Gainsbourg and in the film you see them complement each other. Elmosnino conveys on the big screen the kind of Gainsbourg may have been and the controversy that dogged him because he strived to be different and, inescapably, became famous because of it. The old-fashioned influence he projected through his chansons was often morbid but there were some high points such as Lollipops which was recorded by France Gall and British teen idol Twinkle. Lollipops caused a scandal which the film doesn't go into, but it still presents Gainsbourg as man who loved to push the envelope to see what would happen. Some of the other songs mentioned via dramatic or musicak scenes include La Javanaise (1962),Baby Pop (1966), Bonnie and Clyde (1968) and Je t;aime..moi non plus (1969). Serge Gainsbourg was born Lucien Ginsburg on April 2, 1928 and died on March 2, 1991. If you want to know more about him, check out this biopic for it is a remarkable portrait of the man and his music. It is rated 14A, with the warning: sexual content. October 30, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

IN TIME (20TH CENTURY FOX, 2011)*

2011-10-31T10:58:00.000-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Movies about time related to the life span of the human race have been a worthy subject for discussion for a long time. Their dark vision of the future does not always relate well to moviegoers because their interest is not equal to Hollywood. Unlike disaster movies or other genres which-have built up an audience, the idea of living a long time is something science fiction writers like to ponder over. When it comes to the silver screen, the presence of big or popular names doesn't always guarantee the movies about time will be big at the box-office. In Time is an example. If you go back to the 1970s and 1980s you will find other films about man's destiny: Soylent Green (1973) starring Edward G. Robinson as Sol Roth who remembers what life was like to enjoy life and decides to end it rather submit to the chemically reducing sea algae named after the film's title which destroys life. Co-star Charlton Heston discovers the truth about it and declares it is people. in Logan's Run (1976) no man is allowed to live past the age of 29, and in Blade Runner (1982), Batty (Rutger Hauer) remembers how precious life was like while being pursued by Harrison Ford's character , a replicant hired to kill him. With In Time, it is a future that resembles the present except you are not permitted to live past 25 unless you are wealthy enough to buy time. It is explained early in the film that most humans are poor and can't live long and to make sure you do what you are told there are timekeepers and their henchmen. Justin Timberlake plays Will Salas, a protagonist who values life and like everyone else one of his arms glows with a number that reduces by the second. You find out what happens when it reaches zero and the lengths the rich and poor will do. Written and directed by Andrew McNiccol, there is a certain lack of details that lead you astray in really appreciating what you see. Apart from the separate desperation of the characters, there isn't anything memorable to recommend. Amanda Seyfried, who plays Sylvia Weiss, Will's love interest, does an admirable job but not even her beautiful screen presence will leave a mark for her performance is too contrived and predictable like much of the simplistic plot. Cillian Murphy manages to convince you that he makes a good villain as Leon, the time keeper and he injects some cursory interest to keep you from checking your watch to see how much longer before it finally ends. One of the best movies about time and motion is Run Lola Run (1998). Writer/director Tom Tykwer leaves you out of breath as you watch Frankie Potente as Lola running in both real and animated sequences that cross alternate and parallel lines. As you watched other characters, it made more sense because you, at least, were asked to explore the possibility raised in one of the quotations at the very beginning from T.S. Elliott's Little Gidding: We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. Over the opening credits, there is a clock and a string. The camera zooms in to an empty hole where darkness yields to people running around in circles until the title card that reads: Man-probably the most mysterious species on our planet. It makes more sense to deal with this one thought than be exposed to science fiction that serves only to make you more perplexed than ever. In Time doesn't leave you hooked to keep watching like Tykwer's film and when the end credits roll, you are shaking your head and wondering why style over substance ruined an afternoon or evening at the movies. It is rated PG, with the warnings: mature theme, violence and language may offend. October 29, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011 It's too bad that the ideas explored here in these films were not well developed beyond the storytelling stage and have left you feeling empty and cold. There is nothing memorable to any of the films I've mentioned, despite the fact they may be science fiction classics.

JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN (UNIVERSAL, 2011)***

2011-10-23T20:25:00.000-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Johnny English Reborn is an engaging spy spoof starring Rowan Atkinson who reprises the title role with a much more comic touch. Director Oliver Parker thankfully doesn't pick up from the awful 2003 original and has stuck more to the spy spoof genre. I was reminded of Casino Royale(1967) but to director William Davies' credit, there is a substantial amount of originality to cheer about. Granted, there is a certain predictable aspect to the main story, but it aspires to be a last vestige for Atkinson to be funny as he gets older. As the film opens English is learning martial arts after a disastrous mission in Mozambique. The diabolical organization known as The Vortex is after three keys that will unlock a major weapon that is not clearly identified but all you need to know is what is explained throughout the film. Like the James Bond films it emulates, there are the pretty girls: Rosamund Pike as Kate Summers, MI7's behavioural psychologist, and Gillian Anderson as Pegasus, head of MI7. Anyone familiar with Rosa Klebb played by Lotte Lenya in 1965's From Russia With Love will appreciate Pik-Sen Lim as the hired assassin known only as The Cleaner. The usual hijinks ensue as you might expect from Mr. Johnny English, whose debonair personality and appearance anywhere makes him a target. It made me remember Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther movies and, despite the lack of physical comedy on the same level as Sellers, Atkinson tries hard to impress with his schtick. The supporting cast does justice to the plot and there are some laughs if you let yourself go and not take everything so seriously. They include Daniel Kaluuya as English's sidekick Tucker, Richard Schiff as ex-CIA agent Fisher, Dominic West as fellow MI7 agent Simon Ambrose and Tim McInnerny as Patch Quartermain. By film's end, you have enjoyed yourself without being bored silly or stupid. Whether or not you see Atkinson back as Johnny English is debatable, but he does bring some undeniable charm to the role and, besides, the franchise is meant to be taken with a dose of humour. Don't be afraid to laugh, anyway. It is rated PG, with the warning: violence. October 23, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

SARAH'S KEY (AZ FILMS, 2011)****

2011-10-23T16:48:00.002-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Told in flashback and in the present, the essence of time and the knowledge it holds unlocks the compelling story of American journalist Julia Ormond's search for the truth of what happened to Sarah Starzynski and her baby brother after their home was raided in July 1942 by the French police under orders from the Vichy government. Sarah valiantly protects her brother by hiding him in a closet, taking the key and promising to return to get him. When the story picks up in 2009, Julia is working on an article about the Velodrome d'Hiver stadium and how it played an important historical role. What she uncovers is as shocking as any other Holocaust film. with the emphasis on Sarah and her brother. There are moments that will remind you of Sophie's Choice(1982) or Life Is Beautiful (1998) but the series of events unfold feel as if this was really happening. Fact blends into fiction on the big screen with an uneasy grip that you quickly become absorbed by the strong sense of storytelling. With each flashback, you are almost feel like hiding your face but you have to be as courageous as the characters themselves so you can see and understand the outcome right up to its conclusion. Based on the popular novel by Tatiana de Rosnay, Gilles Paquet-Brenner has come up with one of the most suspenseful and detailed stories about a time in world history there is an abundance of tales to tale. Without being too predictable, the truth does come out slowly but not without maintaining a strong tone of empathy and urgency from beginning to end. Kristin Scott Thomas plays Julia as if she was born to play her. Her persistence at getting to the truth helps keep focus on the real story she is investigating and this is where you, the moviegoer, are invited to be entertained. The full depth of the emotionally built up sequences depend on your undivided attention as you join her in unravelling the full impact of Sarah's Key. The ensemble cast also engage your attention by the sheer nature of the intricate plot details and the adherence to the vicissitudes of change that govern the time-related dimensions as you watch everything unfold back and forth between the past and present. Paquet-Brenner maintains a steady pace and the visual rhythm of scenes match both time frames and this increases your curiosity in sticking with the slow moving developments because you want to know the outcome. The scenes that will stick in your memory are the sounds of screaming children who are left abandoned in fear, and the fate of Sarah and her brother which is patiently resolved in the secrets of the supporting characters as they relate to the moment the director wants to inform you. As you watch, pay particular attention to Melusine Mayance whose portrayal of Sarah impresses you immediately because it is her innocence of youth that stays with the story consistently and even as you see her as an adult, her baby face lets you know it's her. Aidan Quinn is effective as the American who refuses to believe her mother was the person in the picture Julia showed him. The screenwriters use him to tie loose ends and, thereby, inject a powerful ending to the entire film consistent with the pace of everything that preceded it. Never does the director give anything away too soon and it is to his credit as a director that Pauet-Brenner uses time and knowledge to serve the story so well, you are held within its grasp as if you are waiting for the last note of a symphonic movement to be played. In reference to the music score composed by Max Richter, the piano you hear adds a haunting quality by being there when the screenwriters obviously felt the absence of dialogue would work better and it does. The force of nature in the wind, the tree, and the beach and the unending sense of calm by film's end adds resonance and poignance to an already unforgettable journey. Don't miss it. It is rated PG with the warning: mature theme. October 22, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

ANOTHER EARTH (FOX SEARCHLIGHT, 2011)**

2011-10-22T21:46:00.003-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON From Mike Cahill, the writer and c0-director of the Cuban documentary, Boxers and Ballerinas comes a thought provoking and interesting dramatic piece about the possibility of a second earth and what it all means to the individual on our own earth. Despite not going deep enough in its discussion of the concept conceived by Cahill and Britt Marling, who plays Rhoda, Another Earth leaves you wanting to know more and you just might have to wait for the director's commentary on the DVD and Blu-Ray. Until then, you are advised to see it on the big screen for it conveys the images of a similar planet to earth and how it is connected to a man and a woman. I've already mentioned the woman. The man's name is William who is effectively played by William Mapother. Marling and Cahill don't quite draw a biblical parallel with Adam and Eve but those religiously inclined may discuss it anyway and, thus, bring forward ideas that might have worked better in explaining the existence of the film's title beyond the metaphorical and metaphysical. It's been a long time since I've seen a similar film, Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun (1969) or Doppelganger which focused on the existence of a planet orbitting earth on the exact opposite side of the sun. It starred Roy Thinnes who is not a household name, but this film was curiously interesting enough to hold your attention as a Saturday matinee. Solaris, the original 1971 epic by Tarkovsky has been mentioned in Roger Ebert's review but it is speculative for it has more to do with 2001:A Space Odyssey(1968). As you watch Another Earth promise what it suggests, you are made to believe that we all have a double on the second earth which Cahill fails to convince. Marling and Mapother are more symbolic of a contemporary couple whose paths converge forcefully as part of the weak narrative that holds your attention long enough to keep you entertained. She plays an important role which I won't divulge. It's too bad her role is too predictable and almost a waste of time by the time the conclusion comes. Had her part been enlarged it may have worked in convincing us of a second earth. After all, this is science fiction even if it is presented as a pseudo-documentary. As the latter it surely would have succeeded on the same level as What The Bleep Do You Know. Our arbitrary lives present an inferior example of our inquisitiveness about things in general and as you watch Rhoda and John interact, it is all boring as you wait for their next big scene. You may be wondering about the resemblance of Rhoda to the girl who is killed early in the film. They look a like but I only saw the film once. The ending has her reappear in what is suppose to shock but it doesn't have the dramatic impact Cahill hopes to make. Another Earth also misses its mark as a profound film of distinction and It's a real shame. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: not recommended for children and sexual content. October 21, 2011 Copyright 2011 Rick Jackson

THE BIG YEAR (20TH CENTURY FOX, 2011)*

2011-10-17T21:51:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON With the calibre of acting talent in The Big Year, it is a shame that there is so little to enjoy or laugh at. As a major studio comedy director David Frankel lacks the expertise to capture Steve Martin and Jack Black and, as a result, you don't get to laugh like you should. At the show I attended I didn't hear many people laughing around me, either. The film's title refers to the one bird watcher who can come up with the most bird species in a year. You soon learn that Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson) is the reigning champion birder and Brad Harris and Stu Preissler Black and Harris respectively) are out to dethrone him but, as luck would have it, it is not that simple. During the entire film you are watching all three making a fool of themselves as they track the birds with the intention of being numero uno. At first there is a simple method of capturing the birds and the few comical moments are centered on them but the humour gets side-tracked by a series of mis-steps and gaffes that sideline the main purpose of the story and you are left with nothing but the ill-timed lines that should have made The Big Year memorable. The screenplay by Howard Franklin and Mark Omascik doesn't allow the cast to be their funny selves, so it is no surprise when you realize there is nothing actually funny, just the opportunity to see some faces you haven't seen in a while on the big screen: Anjelica Huston, Dianne Wiest, Jo-Beth Williams and Brian Dennehy. This is one movie which will probably remain unnoticed and remain unmemorable in a year dominated by 3D movies and directors who have done their best work in years, like Robert Redford (The Conspirator) and Woody Allen (Midnight In Paris). Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Roman Polanski, Francis Ford Coppola and David Cronenberg are among several others whose new films will certainly be worth waiting for when they arrive in local theaters. As you wait for the next installment in the Twilight Saga next month, there is the long awaited 3D reworking of The Three Musketeers. As a comedy, The Big Year fails to impress. It is rated PG, with the warning: language may offend. October 14, 2011 Copyright 2011 Rick Jackson

SENNA (MONGREL, 2011)****

2011-10-11T21:29:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Professional car racing has never been my favourite sport but it is watched by legions of fans every year and, despite its appeal to the average racing fan, Senna captures the career and legacy of Brazilian racing car champion Ayrton Senna for the average moviegoer with the focus on his Formula One years, and his rivalry with Alain Prost. Directed by Asif Kapadia, this documentary goes further than most docs by examining the man whose humble beginnings kept him in check and always respected the sport and promoted its integrity whenever he was asked probing questions. When his home country saw him winning, he became a hero which Brazil needed to forget the dictatorship that ran the country with an iron fist. As Brazil and the rest of the world witnessed his rise to fame, it was Senna who took it all in stride. The director's own interest in his subject is consistent with the pulse of the individual races and his subject. Through interviews and archival footage, there is an unerring sense of dramatic tension with each of the races chronicled as if it were happening now. It is this momentum that the film wastes no time and you are guaranteed a personal look inside the man who was neither perfect or heroic in the general sense, but he had a loyal following who worshipped him as if he were a hero and this helps inject the realties and dangers of car racing which the sport had without question and never for a second is anything glossed over or is Senna branded a hero as a label even if after his death he was treated like one. I would have liked to have seen the racing sequences as exciting as the 1966 feature film, Grand Prix but the championships depicted in Senna are as real as a documentary can make them and for the motorsport fan this is all that is needed. The rest of us can be more than satisfied about Senna and his career, along with the impact he made in a sport he had the utmost respect and integrity. His smile was always there and his reservations about racing made him human, which, of course, this documentary proves. The legend of Senna will live on thanks to this extraordinary look at him. It is rated 14A, with the warning: coarse language. October 9, 2011 Copyright 2011 Rick Jackson

THE FUTURE (MONGREL, 2011)***

2011-10-11T12:23:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Written, directed and starring Miranda July, The Future is a quirky look at what she sees in her own perception of what love and romance will be like. Devoid of human feeling and melodrama, there is an attempt to equate love with a pet that is about to die and as you listen to Paw Paw talk to you, you are caught off guard for this is not an animated film but a live action drama where the two principal humans, Sophie (July) and Jason (Hamish Linklater) spend more time surfing the internet and playing a game where they pretend to stop time. Less philosophical and more pedantic than her debut, Me And You Everyone We Know (2005), The Future looks empty and colourless. Like Woody Allen's Sleeper (1973) it warns against the individual's personality to do as he or she pleases. Unlike in the latter where it was replaced by the efficiency of the machine, it is more supernatural in July's latest where the moon speaks metaphorically about our existence. What is not so strange about July's vision of the future is the existence of computers which have replaced printed matter (i.e. newspapers) and it is Jason's job to solve those who use them which hasn't changed. It seems we are always needing help with technology and it is no different here. Paw Paw returns throughout the film to remind you of the importance of pets, presumably in our own present time, and in the future they appear to be going extinct as Sophie and Jason amuse themselves with their own ideas of living in the future. There is one thing they still do and, moviegoers will be glad to know, sex still exists for Sophie and Jason have a daughter named Gaby. Life must go on and in the director's own future, there is obviously going to be more to expect from a filmmaker with a different point of view. Here's hoping it is good as her first two features. It is rated 14A, with the warning: coarse language. October 9, 2011 Copyright 2011 Rick Jackson

REAL STEEL (DREAM WORKS, 2011)***

2011-10-11T11:41:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Real Steel is an unexpected surprise. Director Shawn Levy has taken an old idea about the bonding of a father and son (The Champ-1931&1979) and updated it with a look to the near future when human boxers have been replaced by robots. Any apprehensions of the film as decent entertainment were dismissed when the story decidedly took a less serious turn to make everything as equally exciting as the sport itself. Hugh Jackman plays a robot promoter named Charlie Kenton who is having trouble winning because of the unscrupulous manangers of his opponents. It is reminiscent of 1985's Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome without Mel Gibson. However, you will be impressed by fellow Australian Jackman and his strong acting abilities to change a worn out and familiar premise and inject with some originality the part of an experienced boxer who isn't afraid to, again, be the same ambitious person he was when he started out and restore his faith in humanity by learning from the son he didn't want to meet after his divorce. Toronto-born Dakota Goyo plays Max with an enough resilience and ambition that he looks like a younger version of his father. The family resemblance and their growth together as father and son beats at the heart of the simple plot and it redeems it by forcing you to take closer look at why boxing films are popular even in the near future. Hope Davis plays Max's aunt and although she is pictured as the villain there is still a sense of humanity ringing outside the boxing ring for screenwriter John Gatins, based on the short story, Steel by Richard Matheson, wants to convey less the brutality of boxing and the exponent of the thrills and fun of it. Levy succeeds in doing this and you can really enjoy Real Steel because you become so excited it's as if you are right up there with the main action. With each robotic posturing whether it is shadow-boxed by Jackman's expertise or not, the real deal is the real steel in the ring. I couldn't help be reminded of the robot in Short Circuit(1986) when I saw Atom. It is made to dance and box and without divulging too much more, Max learns Atom's secret. It all contributes to your enjoyment in a film where entertanment is the key and this time you are spared the senseless beatings of Rocky and other boxing films for it is all geared for an audience comprised of fathers and sons. This is the only reason I recommend it and I hope you will agree. ( It is rated PG, with the warnings: violence, language may offend and not recommended for young children. October 8, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

IDES OF MARCH (ALLIANCE, 2011)****

2011-10-08T10:50:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Like Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939) and Meet John Doe (1941), The Ides of March is a powerful look at how cynical the real nature of politics continues to be and how, by film's end, you are either converted into the director's own way of thinking or not when it comes to believing Governor Morris (George Clooney) is a hero to the people and the candidate of choice by you, the filmgoer. What you have here is not so much a rehash of the political movie of yesteryear but as close to a definition of what politics stand for today. For the Canadian moviegoer, this may be harder to achieve for our politics is quite different from the cut-throat competition, intrigue and survival of who will actually win when the actual vote is taken. Co-written, co-produced as well as directed and starring Clooney, this is an absorbing tour de force by a cast of experienced actors who have waited for the chance to sink their acting chops of roles they have longed to do and the result is more than satisfying. It is based on the play, Farragut North by Beau Willimon who is listed as one of the screenwriters along with Grant Heslov. Clooney use of closeups defines the film's perimeters for they tell you exactly where the story is going. This is a movie that literally and figuratively talks to you and whether you understand it or not will up to your interest in watching a movie about politics. Clooney's Morris is a well spoken Democrat among the fray on both sides of Democrats and Republicans. Unlike The Candidate(1972) which came out during an election year in the United States, director Michael Ritchie did, indeed, focus on Robert Redford's charisma and boyish good looks as much as Clooney concentrates on his personal character. He, too, is also a welcome example of the WASP American hero and this contributes to the moviegoer's prime interest for Clooney, like Redford, is the key reason to see Ides Of March. Not to be taken too seriously, of course, are the dramatic behind the scenes that ring with familiarity but it is the acting of all involved that helps make you forget the ordinary long enough to keep you absorbed in the head-to-head political games on both sides by the campaign managers on both sides: Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) for Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris and Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) for Senator Pullman. It is clear from the start that Duffy is a veteran at the political game and Giamatti expertly plays him as an intimidating player in the game. He is street savvy and has the innate ability to size up every situation and take the right gamble to get what he wants. Watch how his facial expressions do not give him away for Clooney is being very careful to ensure the camera is on him for a different reason and this is to capture his demeanor and the glint in his eye so you can appreciate his character's suave and calculated moves without hissing at him. One character I have purposely avoided in mentioning until now is Steven Myers, Morris' press secretary, who is played with such polished conviction by Ryan Gosling, you are secretly cheering for him as he tries to handle the job at hand and be an equal competitor and player opposite Giamatti's Duffy. Their scenes are rich in political dalliances and both their instincts for survival maintain the same level of winning and this keeps the focus of the election in all its ripened glory. Not to take away from the actual vote there is a sub-plot involving a young intern named Molly (Evan Rachel Wood) who becomes the victim of Myers and how, through his suave and cool exterior he is able to make her his by being impressionable and charming. Marisa Tomei is well cast as journalist Ida Horowicz whose field experience conveys a thirst for action during a campaign in which she seizes every opportunity to obtain the information she needs. The way she reacts solo and in concert with Molly provides an unerring sense of fun and excitement. Alexandre Desplat's music score adds the right suspense and intrigue along the way and there is plenty of small but important speeches to underscore the tension on both sides. The Ides of March scores as an inside look at the nature of politics and what strange bedfellows it all makes in the end, something that reminded me of a statement said by Van Johnson in Frank Capra's State of the Union (1948). It is rated 14A, with the warning: coarse language. October 7, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

PROJECT NIM (MONGREL, 2011)***

2011-10-05T10:06:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON From Oscar-winning director James Marsh (Man On Wire), Project Nim is an uneven and uninteresting documentary about Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee who was used as a subject of extended srudy at Columbia University by Herbert S. Terrace. As you watch Nim from birth to old age, you are more persuaded than drawn into what the study is meant to do which remains unclear from the start. Moviegoers are interested in the concept of chimps using American sign language to communicate and it is, albeit, nothing new. Project Washoe conducted by Beatrix Gardner did the same thing and accomplished better results. Washoe was given more affection and her ability to communicate was superior to Nim's and this is proven in the documentary by the limitations of Nim that are clear as he grows up with little of the intelligence that chimpanzees are supposed to have. The fact that you are not introduced to their world and not told the purpose of the study so you can assimilate what the study is doing in your own mind, you are disappointed at the lack of profound knowledge that the people involved during the activities with Nim are able to discern. Instead, you only share in their emotional involvement and this takes away the analysis and conclusions of their study. The entire idea of adapting the same way humans develop and speak lacks evidence from the scientific point of view of ourhuman However, Marsh doesn't dig deep enough and only goes as far to peak our curiosity. The archival footage and the issues the experiments are not fully explained enough and this may point to why Project Nim did not lead to further study with chimps like Nim for further study. If this was the case, you would have been told this and it might given more weight to Project Nim. How the chimp was named after Noam Chomsky, the foremost theorist of human language is also not given as a premise to the study, either. It's as if Marsh expects us all to know what he is doing and wants to tell us what he found from his personal perspective which is fine for this is his documentary. Conversely, his Man On Wire was provocative and entertaining because he allowed you to become involved as someone watching and experiencing the feel of the high wire. Project Nim was meant to go further than Washoe for Columbia used experimental analysis of behaviour through the development of the ape abilities they were convinced would work. Based on Elizabeth Hess's book, Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human, published in 2008, Project moNim doesn;t succeed in achieving its aim to edify the moviegoer beyond the simple understanding that hopefully it will peak some individual moviegoers into wanting to know more. The times you see Nim using sign language to express what he is thinking in three word phrases is amazing. Sub-titles are used so you will know what he is saying. Some examples include apple me eat, banana Nim eat, eat Nim eat me more eat, tickle me eat and yogurt Nim eat. I still found the work achieved in Project Nim a subject worth reading more about and, despite its flaws, it will provoke enough conversation to pass the word about it. It is rated G, with the warnings: language may offend, not recommended for young children and disturbing content. October 4, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

DOLPHIN TALE (3D), WARNER BROTHERS, 2011)***

2011-10-03T20:40:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Movies about dolphins are rare on the big screen. In 1957 Alan Ladd and Sophia Loren starred in Boy On A Dolphin which was more about a treasure hunt in the Aegean Sea with director Jean Negulesco using more close-up shots on Loren than Ladd. Shot on location in the Aegean off Hydra, a rocky island not far from Athens, the Twentieth Century-Fox production remains a curiously empty film in which the story lacked enough drama to make it memorable. Anyone who has ever seen it will only remember Loren whose beauty stole the film. In 1973, George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere starred in Day Of The Dolphin (1973) in which the former Oscar-winning actor for Patton played a character who trained dolphins to speak and understand English. As you watched this part of the story, you were entertained but director Mike Nichols took the magic out of it when the plot focused on the dolphins who were stolen and used in an assassination attempt. In 2000, there was the IMAX documentary about dolphins featuring the music of Sting. With Dolphin Tale, Hollywood has struck box office gold for it is what a film of this nature should be in the first place: a family film. Based on a true story when Winter, a bottlenose dolphin, was caught in a blue crab trap in December 2005 in the Mosquito Lagoon, off the coast of Florida, hence her name. She was brought to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium where she learned to swim without a tail. Kevin Carroll and a team of experts designed a new tail for Winter and this is primarily the focus of Dolphin Tale. Filmed in and around the actual locations, director Charles Martin Smith (Never Cry Wolf) does an excellent job in balancing the events that inspired the film with a dramatic and uplifting sidebar about a boy named Sawyer Nelson whose life changes when he and Winter establish a relationship that is both moving and poignant. Albeit it is predictable, it is the acting that distinguishes it from the proverbial TV movie of the week mentality. There is a genuine series of emotions and concerns in which you are slowly drawn and absorbed and with the real Winter playing herself there is a lot to cheer at by film's end. Morgan Freeman gives an impressive supporting role as the kind-hearted and genial Dr. McCarthy. The air of authority and his quiet manner of behaviour will endear younger moviegoers for he could almost be their grandfather or Dutch Uncle. The rest of the cast features singers Ashley Judd as Sawyer's mother, Kris Kristofferson as the grandfather of Hazel whom Sawyer befriends at the aquarium where he communicates with Winter and where he and the boy communicate as if they have known each other for years, and Harry Connick Jr as Hazel's dad. As you watch it all unfold, there is an air of fun and frivolity to enjoy and there is, of course, Rufus the pelican, for the small fry to appreciate. When Frances Sternhagen shows up to threaten the livelihood of Winter and Hazel and Sawyer's dolphin friend, there is the requisite conflict until the predictable but decent conclusion to please both young and old. Despite any real effects in 3D, it is still worth seeing for it touches the heart with all the right moments to remember and you have to congratulate the director for making the first really good family film of the year. It is rated G which means everyone can see it. October 2, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

KILLER ELITE (E-ONE, 2011)***

2011-09-27T10:50:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON The cold war thrillers of yesteryear come to mind with the release of Killer Elite starring Jason Statham, Robert DeNiro and Clive Owen. The old way of fighting the enemy and meting out justice in such 1965 films as The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, The Quiller Memorandum, and The Ipcress File dealt with spies and double crosses and despite their simple plots they delivered what you came to expect on many Saturday matinees as an escape from reality. To see two actors duking it out or backing their compadres with bullets and cunning getaways only to fight another day are the rules of the game in director Gary McKendry's top notch action thriller about two teams of ex-SAS hit men who are out to kill each other. After you are introduced to Danny and Hunter in a prologue to what happens next, the bar is set to where the story is going to lead. It is not until the end credits you learn this is all based on a true story from author Ralph Fiennes' book, The Feather Men. Rather than copy from previous genre films about the Cold War, the action mostly takes place in places that are familiar to the moviegoer if you have been paying attention to world events or read a local daily newspaper. You don't catch on about the details of the plot until near the end, and this ensures your undivided attention to see what and where is going on. The simplicity of the plot's deadly game of human chess holds within its grasp the professional spirit and tenacity of playing a real game of survival where the line between the good guys and bad guys is obscured and the allies on both sides leave you wanting to see some real action to break the unceasing monotony of who gets shot set in the early scenes. It doesn't matter if you don't who is who because you are slowly drawn in a web of increasing suspense for not being told everything at the start, like reading a novel where not all the characters are revealed in the first three chapters. The screenplay by McKendry and Matt Sherring depends on action and there is lots of it. After you learn why DeNiro's Hunter and Statham's Danny have been lured to visit an Arab sheik who wants revenge against the killers of his three sons, you are immediately set up to believe this is going to be interesting and it is from the start, thanks to DeNiro and Statham whose acting skills put more into the plot with their facial expressions, raison d'etre and their experiences as part of an elite group of individuals whose training you don't see but quickly figure out that they know their business and have done it well when you remember how careful they act without thinking too much for their individual expertise in the field is why they have been chosen for another tricky assignment. It may look predictable at the beginning but there are enough wild cards along the way to keep you thinking and watching. Both DeNiro and Statham consistently keep you glued to the big screen for their distinguished acting abilities are what you made line up to see them and they don't disappoint. Their appearances are right on the money as they become involved in what turns out to be a much bigger stake in a diabolical web where the lines remain in the shadows. With the addition of Spike who is leader of the Feather Men, the action becomes deadlier and more cold-blooded by the very nature of the subtle and mean engagements that define the real nature of the seriousness of their identities and loyalties which remain nicely blurred until you are able to figure them out because you have been watching all along so you can understand the precise directions of the plot. Statham and DeNiro make a good team. They obviously know each other well enough to trust their instincts and know what to expect from each other and this only increases the pulse and ferocity of the action. Owen excels in his role as a worthy opponent who wants to know about Hunter and Danny and why they are involved and this, too, maintains the superior level of storytelling amid the myriad of events going on in the international sections of the world that bring all three characters together. Well paced under McKendry's neophite direction, there is a lot to root for and you are left on a movie high when the film reaches its inevitable conclusion. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and graphic violence. September 25, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

WHISTLEBLOWER (E-ONE, 2011)****

2011-09-26T11:11:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON The Whistleblower tells a story that is as real as the events happening on the big screen. You are immediately removed from the safety and comfort of your seat by the shocking reality of what you are witnessing as if it were ripped from today's headlines. It is this immediacy that Toronto-born writer/director Larysa Kondracki wants you to experience, something that will ultimately also be a subject at the water cooler because some sequences may be disturbing. The main character, Kathryn Balkovac is based on a real person, a former police investigator from Lincoln, Nebraska, who became embroiled in a scandal involving child slavery and human trafficking while on a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, Herzegovina with Democra Corp, a pseudonym for Dyn Corp. Rachel Weisz imbues Balkovac with a sense of normalcy that almost defies description by the sheer manner she approaches the character as an ordinary person, only to be interrupted by circumstances beyond her control. Reading the credits, you will learn that the real Balkovac served as a consultant and this gives the entire film a certain special resonance within the confines of fact depicted as fiction. What makes it even more real than expected is the pervading atmosphere that slowly builds up as if this is a symphony of dialogue waiting for the climactic moment when the ultimate crescendo or climax will shock you with such a reality that it is almost too real to comprehend. The real operatives who commit the crimes you see are part of the bigger picture where Balkovac's life is in jeopardy at every turn and the director doesn't lose any of the momentum thanks, in large part, to Weisz's controlled performance. Kondracki pays urgent attention to her and the details of the story with the actress turning in her best role to date in such a painstaking intensity you haven't seen before. The story also compels you to keep watching and with each plot turn overtly familiar at the outset, there is an overriding sensibility at the heart of the decidely monstrous and threatrening episodes and Weisz demonstrates this in her implacable and honest portrayal. The supporting cast benefits by David Strathairn's meaty supporting role as Peter Ward, who acts as Balkovac's only friend when she is dismissed after filing a lawsuit in England at Dyncorp for her disclosure or, more pointedly put, whistleblowing. What is even equally shocking are the details that show the huge financial profits from the scandal and it makes you wonder if this is still going on in other companies overseas which have yet to by others like Balkovac who had the courage to do what she did. Mychael Danna's superb music score cuts to the suspenseful moments with unerring display and it is a brief reminder of his score he did for Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter in 1997 which was also about an investigation. Like another of Danna's scores for Ang Lee's The Ice Storm (1997) you get to feel for the characters in an atmosphere where the villains are omnipresent and ready to strike without notice or warning of any kind. Thankfully, Kondracki doesn't let things loose too quickly and, in the process, she creates more intrigue and danger just like Egoyan and Lee. The use of sub-titles where necessary in The Whistleblower ritualistically exposes the dramatic elements of this true story. Three supporting roles worth mentioning are Monica Bellucci as Laura Levin, a bureaucrat who refuses to repatriate the female victims in the scandal because they have no passports; David Hewlett as Fred Murray, Balkovac's superior officer, and veteran actrress Vanessa Redgrave as Madeleine Reiss, a friendly official from the Human Rights Commission who shares with Balkovac and us a welcome credibility as to the entire potential influence of the scandal. The real Balkovac has written a book about her experience with author Cari Lynn. It is called Whistleblower: Sex and Trafficking, Military Contractors and One Woman's Fight For Justice. Here is one of the most explosive films to come along in recent years. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and disturbing content. September 23, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

MONEYBALL (COLUMBIA, 2011)****

2011-09-26T09:51:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Based on a true story about Lamar "Billy" Beane , manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, who used sabermetric principles to put together a winning team despite financial constraints and has since influenced the major leagues in how its teams and players think about baseball. In 1998 when he became general manager of the Oakland A's his predecessor, Sandy Alderson had already started using sabermetrics that ultimately led to undervalued players. Although Beane's methods are not discussed or mentioned in the film, it provides you with an colourful perspective that could change the baseball movie in general. Moneyball takes a big risk by being a decent story and triumphs as a moving and persuasive true story. Brad Pitt effectively plays Beane with the requisite courage and ambition and he conveys through his gently mannered and instinctive behaviour what a real team player looks like behind the scenes. Like previous baseball films like The Natural (1984), Eight Men Out (1988), Field of Dreams (1989)and The Rookie(2002) which captured the spirit of the game, Moneyball goes one step further by giving a story behind the story look with the same generosity of spirit and satisfaction. Based on the book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning An Unfair Game by Michael Lewis, the screenplay by Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin deftly focuses on Beane's abilities to take charge and Pitt plays him as if the actor was born to play the part. The office chats between Beane and Art Howe, the owner of the team (Philip Seymour Hoffman) inject the film with credibility and controbute with their conversations, a chance to see some "backroom politics" which you only hear about on sports shows on the small screen. Jonah Hill brings to the role of Peter Brand, one of Beane's cohorts, a challenge to win by sheer attitude and knowledge of the game and instils even further Pitt's portrayal with greater depth than one might think. These characters maintain respect and integrity for baseball and this adds to the movie's overall impact. There is even a touch of comedy to lighten the few serious moments and it increases your enjoyment of watching a great baseball movie. Pitt also brings the family man into his characterization to show even closer his humanity closer to home. Watch for his scenes with his ex-wife(Robin Wright) and daughter (Kerris Dorsey). Mychael Danna's music score maintains the emotional impact of the sport and it is kept nicely in the background so you can appreciate more the baseball plays and the TV coverage. Bennett Miller (Capote) skillfully directs each scene . Its slow pace at the beginning sets the tone of what ends up to be one of the best films of the year for its sheer ability and weight to underscore the back story of one of the American League's most exciting teams. It is rated PG, with the warning: language may offend. September 24, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE (WARNER BROS, 2011)*

2011-09-19T20:19:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON One good thing about this comedy romance is the absence of crude behaviour. Albeit, for the kind of film this is there is little of either to cheer about and you wonder if Hollywood is not able to make a decent comedy for a change. It is something to think about as you chomp away on your popcorn and drink your coke while Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, and Emma Stone try to entertain you with the dialogue courtesy of screenwriter Dan Fogelman. Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa can't decide whether some of it or all of it should be funny because you end up having a box of crackerjacks without the prize. The cynical thoughts of love and romance transferred from the page to the actors' mouths seem endlessly boring to listen to and their facial expressions are trapped in a time warp for there isn't anything worth laughing at by the time the end credits roll. I have purposely avoided telling you anything of the plot because the film's title says it all. It's an abomination from beginning to end and despite it's good box office showing and popularity among the college and high school aged moviegoers, there is, admittedly, one scene that is bringing girls to see the film: Ryan Gosling's near total nude scene where Gosling and Carell try to make a joke about something that is almost funny but misfires because their comic timings are way off and Fogelman is trying too hard to make a statement about how crazy and stupid love actually is from his point of view. I think Hollywood should bring back the comedies of the 1980s starring Tom Hanks for they were, at least, worth seeing even if they weren't classics. They were entertaining and fun and, yes, they were stupid and crazy, too. I almost forgot to mention Kevin Bacon's supporting role as Lindhagen. The pronunciation of his name is a lame joke and I don't recall anyone laughing either. To tell you the truth, I didn't hear much laughter but I was at a matinee when it was quiet. Hey, if you want to see it, go ahead. It just might make your day and impress your significant other, too. It is rated PG, with the warnings: mature theme and language may offend. September 18, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

THE HELP (TOUCHSTONE, 2011)****

2011-09-19T10:24:00.002-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Based on the novel by American author Kathryn Stockett, The Help is a compelling story written and directed by her friend, Kate Taylor. Unlike the novel which was told from the perspective of three women: Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter, the film positions them in such a way that the moviegoer can experience first-hand the small history of how negro maids influenced a generation by working in white houses in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s, specifically the time leading up to Martin Luther King's march in Washington and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, two events that moved Americans to react in a positive way. "The help" as, the maids are commonly referred, eventually become involved in situations that make them more a force from their inroads to power and influence which is symbolically conveyed in the character of Minny, well played by Octavia Spencer. She is the heart and soul and, to a certain extent, the fearless example of the black African American. How she feels about her life story is the focus of the film and as it spins its historical roots from the bounds of fiction among the fictional characters of Skeeter, a white college graduate, played inexorably by the wonderful Emma Stone, and two others: Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and Spencer's Minny. As you watch the little girls who grow up with the help, they become more like their mothers than themselves because the story is confined to Minny's voice, a singular exponent of the power of the black vote which today in recent American elections, continues to provoke political thought and credence. Avoiding the political manifestations, this is really Minny's story. I was reminded of Butterfly McQueen's portrayal of Prissy in the Oscar-winning Gone With The Wind (1939), a film which, according to Roland Flamini, author of Scarlett, Rhett, and A Cast of Thousands missed the opportunity to achieve racial understanding between whites and blacks. Instead, Prissy (Scarlett's Mammy) represented the black race in the 1930s. In The Help when Minny is fired by Philly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), a local society lady, she is hired by Celia Foote, a white woman with influence. Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life) plays her like the ruthless businesswoman of today and overcomes the stains of prejudice by her stalwart attitude and temperament. She doesn't always listen to Minny who, in a series of comic episodes, exerts her small authoritarian ways by offering advice and, in the process, doing tasks the help didn't do. It's interesting how Stone gently insinuates herself by approaching the life of Minny in a book she is writing, something Taylor adds to the overall story as if the entire movie is a history lesson told from an unexpected source, the maid who, through Spencer's commanding presence on and off screen acts as the central force behind the advocacy of freedom for her race. It is undeniably powerful. In a second reminder while watching The Help, her part is similar to Whoopi Goldberg's strong part in 1992's The Long Walk Home which focused on the Montgomery Bus boycott. Sitting in the front of the theatre, I couldn't help but overhear whispers of Sissy Spacek's appearance as Mrs. Walters. She gives just cause in her atitude and her small but pivotal part carries equal weight among the cast. I, too, was amazed how Mary Steenburgen (Elaine Stein), who looks older on screen, still can play her roles so memorably like she did in Melvin And Howard (1980) and Cross Creek (1983) and so many other films. Moviegoers failed to notice Allison Janney as Emma's mother and she, too, deserves special mention for she adds some welcome spice to the entire proceedings and draws your empathy toward Minny much more than you'd think. One could almost unfailingly applaud The Help for its audacity and prevailing winds of calm which are interrupted by historical events that shaped a nation into growing further into understanding the black race as a decent one and where, today, in spite of the stories and politics of President Barrack Obama this story might not have been written and, subsequently, made into a movie. Baby boomers will appreciate the soundtrack because it, too, figures prominently in the film. There is Ray Charles (Hallelujah I Love Her So), Lloyd Price (Personality), the Orlons (Wah-Watusi), Bob Dylan (Don't Think Twice, It's Alright) and Chubby Checker (Let's Twist Again). The ending to The Help speaks volumes for it is emblematic of the struggle of the black race. What you are also left with is the profound manner in which the voices from Stockett's book have resounded with such importance and wit by the ensemble cast in Taylor's film. It is rated PG, with the warnings: mature theme and language may offend. September 16, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

DRIVE (ALLIANCE, 2011)****

2011-09-18T20:01:00.002-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Drive is a slick, well acted piece of film noir starring Ryan Gosling in the title role. His laid back portrayal is emblematic of most of his roles but this time he rises to the occasion in a role made for him. He presents himself as a naive individual who can be pushed around and it is from this vantage point you get to see the world the driver is in from an uneasy and natural place for this is his world normally. When he is offered to buy a Chevy Impala from his agent Shannon (Bryan Cranston), you get to see him open up qhen he breaks loose from his quiet shell and proves he can let loose behind the wheel. Before that happens, you learn the driver's credo: he will wait five minutes for you to do your firty work and what takes place after the time has elapsed will be your responsibility. It is an interesting way in approaching a man without a history and you never really get to know him as a hero or surrogate bad guy. He is a man of mystery and this is what draws you deeper into the world of make believe where the normal isn't perceived the way you think normal should be and the characters are all an embodiment of evil in a sophisticated manner you haven't seen since 1992 with the films, One False Move and Reservoir Dogs. Written by Hossein Amini, based on the novel by Thomas Sallis, Drive lives up to its stylish imaginings by bringing together the appropriate meanness and desperate intentions of the main character while allowing the supporting cast to fill out the story. Here is a film where the expected becomes the unexpected because you don't know where it is going to lead. The seemingly endless nature to the driver's motives are simple and direct and Ryan Gosling perfectly assimilates the kind of person who would be naive enough to leave himself open but not without realizing as the courageous type who never yields for anyone in particular unless he has to. As you watch the actor work the part he is demonstrably perfect as a hero archetype who isn't afraid to react as a way to survive the so-called mean streets of the area and the environs that leave him waiting for the inevitable because you are expecting the same. Amini's cleverly written adaptation lets you follow this series of occurrences as a way of digging into the impenetrable darkness of the human psyche when it is pushed long and hard enough and Gosling delivers in a way that one can hope will lead to an Academy Award nomination. Editor Mat Newman captures both the mythic characters and the real ones by maintaining the spirit of film noirs of yesteryear, notably Dana Andrews in Laura (1944) and Glenn Ford in The Big Heat (1953). Gosling conveys the same cool exterior and like Andrews and Ford he shows just how much it will take for him to prove his courage and manliness by standing up to the bad guys. Carey Mulligan plays the driver's next door neighbour with feline tenderness. Her vulnerability leaves open the gangster's chance to use her to get answers from the driver and it is to director Nicolas Winding Refn that this card isn't played. However, Albert Brooks plays the slimy Bernie, the requisite gangster, with flourishes of nervy optimism and gut emotions like Danny De Vito did in Get Shorty (1995). It is all in keeping with the overall dramatic impact put to the test in the shadows of the cast as they inhabit a different world where the criminals are allowed to be freer than usual and the rest of us are left to survive the days of sin and violence with the least shred of hope. Just as you watched Will Patton and Billy Bob Thornton in One False Move and Harvey Keitel in Reservoir Dogs, Brooks' Bernie lives to see another day for he is the voice of experience amid the amateurs who surround him. Gosling's title role is the epitome of the amateur who learns fast the way to live in the streets where vermin and death co-exist against all that life holds dear. Watch how Brooks thinks he knows how to handle the driver until the director wants us to react in a certain way by letting Gosling do something he hasn't done before on screen. This evocation of justice is never too late in the world of film noir and it comes in an unexpected moment. The stylish way he is staged as if it were in flashback suggests that the driver is telling us the whole experience as if it were a bad dream which, of course, it isn't. Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel captures the acts of violence in the ritualistic fashion you are used to seeing and it still repulses at the same time it entertains with each bullet and knife cutting. It is not gratuitous but it can be shocking for the innocent moviegoer who has not seen a lot of modern gangster films. Gosling may be the main reason a lot of people will see Drive and you will not be disappointed. Here is a chance to see the Canadian-born star play a different and challenging role with the same professional edge and charisma he has used in his previous films. It is rated 18A, with the warnings: gory scenes, coarse language and graphic violence. September 17, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

WARRIOR (ALLIANCE, 2011)***

2011-09-13T14:44:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Co-written and directed by Gavin O'Connor, Warrior tells the story of two brothers named Brendan and Tommy (Joel Edgarton and Tom Hardy) who take different paths until they converge in the boxing arena because it is at this juncture they realize winning is important if either one of them is to continue to live the American Dream like their father who trained both of them to wrestlers or boxers while growing up. When you first see Brendan he is a high school teacher married with children, while Tommy is a marine serving in the Middle East. What happens in between is nicely brought together by Nick Nolte's strong supporting role as Paddy. He instils both of his sons with the right aim and like any father he wants both of them to succeed. He watches them when he can: Tommy on TV when he earns favour overseas and beside the ring closer to home where he does his best to help Brendan who is a lotmore like his father. O'Connor, Anthony Tambakis and Cliff Dorfman intercut the lives of both sons to give you an idea of how they are doing and along the way you become absorbed by their progress without knowing how Brendan and Tommy will cross paths again until the common thread of boxing makes it clearer. Like several critics have stated, you want both of them to win in this heartfelt boxing tale that rises above the mundancity of most in the genre to inspire you to cheer secretly in your seat. Unlike the Rocky films where moviegoers cheered, Warrior isn't moving them to do it but that doesn't mean Warrior is inferior. It is a different fight picture because O'Connor didn't want to make a carbon copy of previous fight films, notably The Fighter last Christmas. True, Warrior has its moments but it is the director's inexperience in carefully pulling the destiny of the two brothers together where the film is at his weakest. Granted there is a lot to tell during the film's two hours plus running time, you are entertained by characters who are unrivalled in spirit and this redeems everything. Nolte is also another major reason the film works better than it should. His character suffers from the demons of alcoholism and he returns to drinking after being sober for 1,000 days. His determination to stay sober and not let his sons down gives the film its heart and soul and like him you wish both brothers will win the big fight that goes the rounds like any other fight picture but this one emerges triumphant on another level. The answer is on the father's face as the film fades to black and the end credits roll. Warrior is bound to have its detractors and supporters but it is a worthy film to see for the acting alone. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: graphic violence and disturbing content. September 11, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

CONTAGION (WARNER BROTHERS, 2011)**

2011-09-13T11:27:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON From director Steven Soderbergh comes an ineffective drama about the potential disaster of an airborne virus that would signal the end of man's existence. The paranoia of such knowledge gets short shrift by a ridiculous premise lost in the director's intent to make an important film for our time. Written by Scott Z.Burns, you are not made to feel threatened so much as you are by the fictional constraints of the characters involved and the lack of real authority in presenting an erudite and scary film about the thought of a virus as simple as the one found by a simple touch and the germs on what has been touched. Matt Damon, a familiar face in Soderbergh's films, does his best to play Mitch, a father whose wife and son die from an inexplicable virus. His range of emotions is thinly portrayed and this hurts the credibility of the story. The presence of such big stars as Gwyneth Palthrow, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, and Jude Law only makes the director's imperative to make a movie with a big box office draw. Had Soderbergh learned something from such classics as Arrowsmith (1931), Jezebel (1938), and Panic In The Streets (1950) there might have been a more realistic and topical film about a simple virus that would really be frightening as you watched it instead of in retrospect. One does have to give credit to the director for not creating a sensational film about a global epidemic and there are, admittedly, some frightening scenes but they do not all add up to much. Soderbergh's visual style works to a certain degree when he starts numbering the days of the epidemic. He starts with Day 2 which leaves open the chance for a slam bang climax when he goes back to Day 1. Unfortunately, it does not do this and you are left wondering why a film with such merit could fall so precipitously down from the point of being such a boldly, frightening film at the beginning to a long and boring TV movie of the week. It is rated PG, with the warning: mature theme. September 11, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS(KINOSMITH,2011)****

2011-09-10T15:32:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a compelling documentary about the Chauvet Cave in southern France. Written, produced, directed and narrated by Werner Herzog (Encounters At The End Of The World), you are invited to see the paintings that have been on its walls for more than 20,000 years. As Herzog tells you the history of the cave, you feel like you are stepping into history with the three people who have been allowed by the French government: the cinematographer(Peter Zeitlinger, a sound recorder, his assistant, and Herzog who works the lights and interviews the special guests who help explain the importance of the cave and how humans way back then lived. It is all a fascinating trip during each of the film's 90 mnutes and I'm positive you will be equally impressed. What is exciting is the discovery of a child who visited the cave and left a footprint. You are told after he left that a rock slide sealed the cave's entrance. In 1994 a team of French archeologists discovered the cave and to show better the actual contours of the ancient walls, Herzog used 3D cameras. In 2D only at The Screening Room you are not robbed of any of their brilliance and you are immediatelyimpressed by the examples left from the Paleolithic Era by the light from flickering torches. Access to the cave by the director and his team was limited as he explains and there is a sense of imminent danger as part of the visual landscape and the penetrating levels of storytelling that rise to the occasion. See early sculptures that show human forms, one of which is a woman shown from the waist down. Other paintings depict the animal life of the time: mammoths, cave bears, lions, bison, panthers, horses and rhinos. The cameras show them in a pseudo silhouette patterns as if they are about to come to life at any moment. When Herzog shows Fred Astaire dancing in silhouette it adds to the intrigue amid the fictional Hollywood side trip. I was enlightened by the discovery of music and early artifacts. The knowledge of finding out that there was also religion many millennia ago as you watch a member of the production play the Star Spangled Banner on a flute. In an interview with Herzog in the May/June 2011 issue of Film Comment, the point is raised about the connection beteen the past and present because the cave allows you to think of man's human soul that obviously developed to where it is today in the technological world of computers, cellphones, and the internet. How man worked the land and killed to survive gives you an idea of how humans existed and it brings into clearer focus the overall feeling of the film as not a movie but a journey inside a cave. Herzog's passion for filmmaking is evident in his features (Aguirre The Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo for example) and his other documentaries. It translates on the big screen as a testament to the myth of storytelling presented by the rock art literally for it all speaks volumes to the team of experts who are work with Herzog and their enthusiasm and excitement also become ours. Ernest Reijseger's music is appropriately kept in the background without any jarring crescendos so you can appreciate the dignity of the period that much more. It also helps to keep you absorbed with every turn inside the cave by cameras that almost seem to be moving on their own to eagerly show everything they can. Herzog mentions the constrictions he had while shooting and his respect toward it enhances the intriguing sensibilities the cave represents. By the time end credits roll, the cave is no longer forgotten but a memory brought to life as timeless as the paintings of long ago. You are suitably and respectably mesmerized and entertained at the same time. It is rated G for General which means everyone can see it. September 9, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

SHARK NIGHT (3D),E-ONE, 2011)*

2011-09-05T21:31:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Steven Spielberg needn't worry about Shark Night in 3D. When his Jaws became the summer hit of 1975 and Time Magazine declared on its cover that it was the summer of the shark. Unfortunately fall will not be with Shark Night because it's premise is stupid and ridiculous despite some good depth shots in 3D and in the end credits. When a group of twenty somethings converge on the beach to do what the sexes do for fun, there is an inherent danger that exists as dramatic irony rather than the director's intention to make you jump out of your seat and scream like moviegoers did in 1975 and, again, in 1979 when it was re-released. Director David R. Ellis leaves little to the imagination and as you listen for the silly dialogue from the lips of the cast, it is easy to judge how the rest of the film will inevitably turn out. It is even clearer after the first 40 minutes when there emerges three characters who are not who they seem and the reason for the sharks becomes a tedious and boring step back from the superior Jaws and Spielberg's magic touch. Sara Paxton plays Sara,the heroine who becomes involved in something so bad, you wish the sharks attacked everyone at the beginning so the story could end sooner. The rest of the dreamy cast features Dustin Milligan as Nick, Alyssa Diaz as Maya, Sinqua Walls as Malik and Joshua Leonard as Red. Screenwriters Will Hayes and Jesse Srudenberg hardly bring anything new to a shark movie and, in some respects, it makes Jaws 3D(1983) look like a classic. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: violence, language may offend and gory scenes. September 4, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK(ALLIANCE,2011)***

2011-09-05T20:22:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark is a first rate horror yarn about a haunted house and the benevolent spirits that have lived there for centuries. The mythic underpinnings contribute to the plot's effectiveness in conveying the horror aspect and it is as a film of terror that it works on more than one level. Based on the 1973 teleplay by Nigel McKeand, the TV movie was a lot scarier. Still, this Australian remake has its moments where you are on the edge of your seat. Director Guillermo Del Toro(Hellboy,Pan's Labyrinth) likes to play with your imagination and he succeeds this time out with special effects that may not appear to be menacing but are terifying just the same for not just the characters but you, too. As I recall, Jim Hutton and Kim Darby were really scared in the original TV movie and it was something different from the so-called slasher movies that invaded local theatres. The simplicity of the horror made you jump and your curiosity about where the creatures came from kept you in suspense. Unlike the telefilm, this remake from Australia (Wolf Creek) lets you see the creatures much too soon and their appearances ruin any build up that might have really put the scare back into the story. The acting in both versions distinguishes it in the genre and moviegoers who are not afraid of the dark should be more than satisfied. The old adage of don't go in the basement takes on new meaning for it isn't bad as the adaptations of Stephen King's novels that are vastly inferior for the most part. Bailee Madison is well cast as Sally, the intended prey of the creatures who are trying to get her to go down to the basement. It isn't quite as effective as Poltergeist (1982) which set the mark for future horror films but there still your inherent fear but if you learned anything from Poltergeist, the little girl in that film and this one isn't afraid and knows how to fight them. The adults here as usual are the sad victims who fall for the creatures magic spell, if you want to describe it that way. The decisions to fight back in an enraged state of mind only lead to their quick exit out of the picture or their capture and the fact that director Troy Nixey doesn't give away many details leaves your imagination to fill in the gaps until you get to see them. Just what the individual goes through when he or she is captured is left open and if you watch closely you will get a better idea by film's end. Guy Pearce plays Sally's father,Alex as a concerned parent but the screenwriters make sure he doesn't figure out what is really going on. This is left up to Alex's girlfriend,Kim (Katie Holmes in a role in she portrays with the requisite courage and I can't tell you anymore. In an excellent supporting role is Australian actor Jack Thompson(Breaker Morant) as the gardener who knows the secret of the house. If horror is your favourite film genre, I believe you will be surprised by Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: frightening scenes and graphic violence. September 2,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

THE DEBT (ALLIANCE, 2011)***

2011-09-05T16:23:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON From Oscar-winning director John Madden comes an explosive thriller that concentrates more on time and theme rather than plot in conveying the dramatic outcome of the three main characters who are three agents of Mossad,the Israeli Intelligence Agency. Their names are David, Rachel and Stefan and when you are introduced to them they have kidnapped a Nazi war criminal and brought him to Israel for trial. He is Vogel, aka the Surgeon of Burkenau,who is responsible for unspeakable atrocities on the Jews. Based on the film, Ha-Hov written by Assaf Bernstein and Ido Rosenblum, the screenplay by Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman and Peter Strongman first focuses on the events of 1965 before going ahead in time to 1997 when the the three are remembering what happened when a book about their past is published by Rachel's daughter. As you watch the events recounted there is a return to the urgent case of dispatching the same war criminal when they learn of his whereabouts. As the story goes back and forth you are not so much reminded of the atrocities you don't see but the sense of history time has not left alone in the memories of the survivors and their children who want to make sure no one forgets what the Nazis did to the Jewish race. I was reminded of the 2007 Canadian film, Emotional Arithmetic about the emotional reunion of three survivors from the Defrancey detention camp 35 years after they last saw each other. Their stories rekindled the time when they had to barter their lives so they could remain free from being killed by the Nazis. In The Debt, you are told in a quiet and powerfully sensitive fashion how the lives of David, Rachel and Stefan were affected by the events in their younger days and with it you can see the faces of fear as they recount for us their desperation to bring the surgeon of Burkenau to justice that ultimately is not purged until they take matters into their own hands when they see the judicial system is taking too long. One doesn't like to use the word revenge for this is not a heavy dramatic film but an unforgettable story marked by passion and intrigue. It is interesting to watch Madden build up the action to almost the boiling point as you wait on the edge of your seat to see what is going to happen next.Albeit some of it is predictable but not without a lot of planning as evidenced by the extremes of history that will forever remainetched in the memories of these three and it is this that obviously convinced the director to make it come alive,hopefully, for the last time if you are disturbed by the film's mature and disturbing subject. The Debt is not about presenting the actors with a chance to impress with their acting abilities for no one steals the film and for this reason it is worth seeing. It is rated 14A,with the warnings: coarse language and graphic violence. September 1, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

BIUTIFUL(MAPLE,2010)****

2011-09-04T22:40:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu brings to the screen an arresting performance by Javier Bardem as a man whose moral principles are questioned by his duty to his family and his responsibiliy to his job. Framed by the same close-ups that have been a trademark in his career,he uncomfortably places his protagonists in a vacuum of emotions and regret that play out in the story's simplistic plot threads while you wait to see where it is all going. The visual impact of Bardem as Uxbal is a testament to the kind of film Inarritu likes to do: hard-hitting dramas that could easily pass as documentaries. He appreciates the moral dilemma of his hero archetype which is not always clear cut but interesting enough to follow by the sheer scope of the visual image that often speaks louder than they are supposed. Watch how Bardem's facial expressions occupy him constantly from the first moment he is introduced. He is a caring father to his three sons and with each succeeding sequence you see him tormented by emotions that are,albeit,familiar,but govern his silent behaviour that appear as visible signs of living and working under difficult circumstances,including his dealings with a criminal gang and the unfortunate results of his guilty conscience that,in turn,will not let him rest when he learns of the tragedy from the faulty heaters. It almost destroys his faith in human nature and it is from this experience you gain a more sympathetic point of view toward the serious undercurrent of the film's dramatic underpinnings. Bardem's character becomes an unlikely saviour in disguise whose motives are as genuine as any other major character in the director's body of work. If you have followed his career you will immediately recognize a common thread of sensibility that comes from the gut,whether he is a hard-bitten killer in No Country For Old Men(2007)or more human person he portrays in The Sea Inside,there is the central issue of morality that the actor conveys by his controlled sense of complexity and understanding in a variety of roles where he is is unconsciously getting closer to reality and away from the fictional approach other inexperienced actors might take. In Biutiful,he plays Uxbal as a man caught in the amoral contradictions of the present that are not meant to be articulated because the actor's latest character is not as easily defined. All things point in retrospect to a stronger characterization,which he has successfully done in all his films including this one. Inarritu likes to see his main characters squirm if you remember Sean Penn in 21 Grams(2003) and Brad Pitt in Babel(2006). There is a consistency in the manner he likes to maintain the proper dramatic pace of his films. In their screenplay,Inarritu,Armando Bo and Nicolas Giacobone,from an original story by Inarritu,Biutiful doesn't conform to convention and there is through Bardem's role a dramatic tour de force. Here is a powerful character study about human behaviour in a film where the story may be superficial but it is all done with complete regard to its mature subject matter. It is rated 14A,with the warnings: coarse language and disturbing content. March 13,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

COLOMBIANA(SONY,2011)**

2011-08-30T21:04:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Zoe Saldana is back in another action flick as Cataleya. The star of Avatar and The Losers holds your interest as you watch her fight back in an urban jungle where thugs rule and the FBI and police are powerless to do anything because they are ill-equipped. The action is at full throttle right from the beginning when Cat,age 10(Amanda Stenburg)witnesses her parents'murders and resolves to catch them perpetrators by enrolling in a school for assassins. When she realizes she has to do it alone,there is a jolt of excitement to keep you glued to the screen. In their screenplay,Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen do their best to be original but the plot resembles La Femme Nikita and The Professional and you are left with a predictable series of events that lead just as you might expect. Saldana is perfect as the tough female protagonist who,like other actresses like Sigourney Weaver (Alien and Aliens),Linda Hamilton(Terminator),and Angelina Jolie(Wanted and Salt)have impressed moviegoers with their moves and athletic prowess.Saldana obviously has worked hard to be the action star she has become and you can expect to see her in more of the same. Olivier Megaton directs with a steady hand and there is plenty of thrills and spills to keep your eyes glued to the screen. The supporting cast features Beto Benites as Don Luis Lennie James as the FBI's Ross and Michael Vartan from the TV series Alias as Danny. Had the screenwriters not tried to copy previous efforts with their limited ideas,Colombiana might have worked better and scored better as a top rated action movie. As it is, it manages to deliver and that is all that matters for now. Let's hope there is more input into being more original so we can all have a better experience at the movies for the next female star who aspires to be famous. It is rated 14A,with the warnings: language may offend and graphic violence. August 29,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

BEGINNERS (ALLIANCE,2011)****

2011-08-29T16:18:00.006-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Based on writer/director Mike Mills own experience when his father announced he was gay,Beginners is a compelling love story starring Ewan McGregor as Oliver Fields and veteran actor Christopher Plummer as his father,Hal. What resonates with their portrayals of father and son is funny,touching and poignant and by film's end,you are also deeply moved by a film that couldn't have been made when Plummer starred opposite Julie Andrews in the Oscar-winning The Sound Of Music(1965). What immediately captures your attention is the choice of songs to get you in the mood for a sophisticated and simple tale where the laughter is a defense mechanism against the seriousness of the main theme: death from terminal cancer. Although the dog Arthur gets some funny lines courtesy of sub-titles,there is an undercurrent of humanity most comedies avoid and Beginners brings to the surface the utter dependence of understanding and patience among family members and this contributes to your overall appreciation of the true nature of the film. McGregor conveys a different reality when as an artist he feels differently about the world and you are touched by his temporary leanings toward fulfilling a life of his own when he meets Annie(Melanie Laurent). Together they forge a relationship that is honest and deeply felt on a superficial level because the two of them want to share in life's funnier moments, and who can blame them. Laurent's condition also contributes to the mystery of a girl Oliver and us have never met and this arrangement courtesy of Mills' literate script brings to the surface a je ne sais quoi of love and laughter that is endearing and wonderful to see. What distinguishes the story is Plummer's honesty in portraying his character as if he really was gay and this reality along with his behaviour and gentle demeanor in respecting gay partners there is a perspective that benefits by the director's own feelings that are spoken through Oliver and Hal. The cheerfulness and simplicity of Hal's relationship with Andy(Goran Visnjic)underlies the sexuality between them and is symbolic,perhaps,of most gay marriages and Beginners doesn't exploit but ,more reticently, accepts this as acceptable in today's society without drawing your personal disgust or embarrassment as something new. Neither is it awkwardly presented in such films as Making Love(1982). It is on the same level as Personal Best(1983) and My Beautiful Laundrette(1985) and this shows that the cinema is not afraid to be consistent in being bold, funny and touching at the same time. Editor Olivier Hugge Coutte carefully bridges the scenes between McGregor and Plummer with brevity and realism, and their individual reactions speak volumes. The songs by Hoagy Carmichael(Stardust),Gene Austin(Everything's Made For Love),Veronica's Blues (Roger Neill,Dave Palmer and Brian Reitzell) and Josephine Baker(Breezin'Along With The Breeze)anchor the sweet side of a story that can only be touching as it is here. The simple lyrics symbolize the inherent plot threads with the same oneness in spirit and frivolity. As you watch it all come together you are left with a more than satisfying result but an outstanding film of such magnitude that you may want to see it again to capture, for a second time, the magic of the movies from a perspective rarely presented with such honesty and conception. It is rated 14A,with the warnings: mature theme,sexual content and coarse language. August 27,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

FRIGHT NIGHT(3D)(DREAMWORKS,2011)***

2011-08-27T22:08:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Colin Farrell injects new blood (pardon the pun)in this 3D remake of Fright Night. The original opened in the summer of 1985 with Chris Sarandon as Jerry, the role Farrell plays with surprising new vitality. Director Craig Gillespie maintains the spirit and familiarity of the original despite being too over the top, a distinctive stamp of the horror films of the 1980s. What distinguishes the two films is Gillespie's attempt at creating an art film from the horror by making Jerry a more sophisticated character so you won't be too repulsed by him too early,in case you don't like blood. As far as I can remember, the original didn't have a lot but your imagination made you think there was. It is the same here,too. What similarities there are between both Fright Nights is the utter predictability because you know what is going to happen next. However,I must add that Farrell injects Jerry with a sense of humour and virility thatSarandon didn't convey in the original. That and Gillespie's solid direction keep you entrenched in your seat with the unexpected and this helps you appreciate the sappy dialogue and near-camp mentality that sends the film in a quick downward spiral just before the end credits roll. The 3D effects are limited at the beginning but don't dispair with your 3D glasses for the end credits are good in 3D along with some scenes throughout which I won't divulge. Anton Yelchin plays Charley,who believes Jerry,his next door neighbour, is a vampire. You don't know for sure right away and the suspicion as to his identity is raised long enough until the obvious becomes true. It is,again,Farrell's approach to Jerry that makes the film much better than expected. When Charley seeks the help of a TV vampire named Peter Vincent, there is also much to be excited about for David Tennant breathes new life into Fright Night with a touch of sarcasm and wit that you didn't see in the original with Roddy McDowall's uninspiring and boring Peter in the original. Production designer Richard Bridgland and makeup artist Aurora Bergere deserve special mention for their artistry effectively creates the proper mood and atmosphere when it is needed to entertain you and,besides,it worked for me. Ramin Djawadi (pronounced Java-Dee)adds the requisite atmosphere to keep you in suspense at what you hope will happen and this also helps in creating the right scary moments. The supporting cast ably delivers the chills the film benefits nicely,notably, Toni Collette as Charley's mother Jane and Imogen Poots as Charley's girlfriend. As a horror flick,Fright Night in 3D is not anything great, but if you like horror films in general,this one is above average. It is rated 14A,with the warnings: coarse language,frightening scenes and graphic violence. August 25,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN (20TH CENTURY FOX, 2011)***

2011-08-23T14:40:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON From director Wayne Wang(The Joy Luck Club) comes the film adapatation of Lisa See's 2005 best selling novel,Snow Flower And The Secret Fan. Already moviegoers are comparing the film to the book and realizing that the film falls short because it doesn't explain enough of the story. Regrettably, it does lack cohesion and editor Deirdre Slevin succeeds in pulling the story together by film's end. Its episodic nature gives it an epic feel like 1993's far superior Farewell My Concubine and,more recently, it is also inferior to 2005's Memoirs Of A Geisha where the novel and film were equally exciting in comparison. Rachel Portman's score for Snow Flower creates the proper mood and atmosphere, as does Richard Wong's colourful cinematography. Filmed on location in Shanghai,there is a distinct Asian feel that distinguishes it from the other two films because the story demands your undivided attention. Set in the 19th century,screenwriters Angela Workman,Ron Bass and Michael K.Ray focus on the strong relationship between the two sisters or the laotong(pronounced loo'tong),a choice each has made emotionally for the purpose of emotional companionship which they must each be held responsible throughout their entire lives together. It is different from marriage because it does not involve childbirth. As you become immersed in this deeply personal story,you see the letters they write to each other on fans with Nu Shu,a phonetic form of women's writing. Born under the same sign of the Horse, Lily(Li Bingbing) and her friend Snow Flower(Gianna Jun) go in different directions: Lily,the more practical of the two,has her feet firmly on the ground,while Snow Flower has desires of being free and breaks the constrictions placed on women in the 19th century. You soon learn Lily is also called Lady Lu,an influential woman and a mother of three sons and a daughter. She is also poor compared to Snow Flower who comes from a prosperous family. She dates a butcher who beats her up. The children she bears all die. Although the film skirts over this plot point by obscuring it with an overlap of time and space, the screenwriters could have made the film more powerful by creating more sequences that would've made everything easier to follow. The depiction of human suffering is symbollically told through the physical and psychological pain of foot binding but time ruins its importance as an important thread to the entire story. It may well be better covered in the book. What redeems the film is the close relationship between the sisters. Snow Flower's name changes to Sophia and it all makes more sense when you realize this. Portman is careful to not let her music overcome you with sentiment and this contriibutes to your enjoyment of this simple tale effectively told in a voice that takes some getting used to as the years pass and the two sisters begin to show their age. Their private secrets written on their fans are part of the symbolic lives hthey lead with one of their fans acting as the gossip of the day that ruins her reputation,however, unclear as it is pointed out in the film. The last few minutes of the film bear a distinctive stamp in presenting an unexpected and stronger conclusion as a result of its visual impact. Wang's use of closeups help explain better than any words what is going on throughout the entire story and this helps keep you absorbed. hugh Jackman lends excellent support as Arthur,one of Sophia's suitors and, without explaining completely his presence,his appearance evokes the bittersweet experience of love and sex and,to the director's credit,it is all done with a touch of civility and sophistication where Hollywood films of this type rarely often go. Gianna Jun and Li Bingbing (who also plays Nina)bring to their roles a welcome sense of conviction by not upstaging each other so you can appreciate the different attitudes and lives lived as a central part to your understanding of the whole concept of the laotong(loo-tong) as it is depicted here. Had their been a more literate script, Snow Flower And The Secret Fan might have been a much more powerful film. Still, it is worth seeing for the strong sense of storytelling despite its limitations. The overall production values add up to something totally more enjoyable and a more of a welcome surprise for the summer movie season. It is rated PG/Parental Guidance,with the warning:mature theme. August 22,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

ONE DAY(ALLIANCE,2011)**

2011-08-21T17:07:00.002-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Danish-born director Lone Scherfig's latest is a lukewarm comedy about two grads who fall in love on graduation night,July 15,1988. The two celebrate it every year as a meeting place where they talk about their lives and sort out what bothers them the most. At least, this is what you hope to see instead of the usual boyfriend-girlfriend talk that endlessly goes on for no apparent reason. Granted,Scherfig's direction is slow paced,it matches the slowly drawn out story of Emma and Dexter whose uncertainty about all things related to life are one boring episode after another. Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway are perfectly cast so why don't they get on with their lives instead of show us how complicated life can get. Moviegoers don't want to see how trivial life is in the theatre, they want to escape from it. It would have been better had David Nicholls come up with something more exciting than his own novel because it doesn't transfer well enough to impress. The anniversary of Emma and Dexter's one night love affair means so much to them, why then aren't we enthralled by it and eagerly await the next year with anticipation. We don't and this is the major reason the film doesn't work as a memorable love story. The suceeding years of their big night are nothing but an emotional diatribe about how bad life is and who wants to see that repeated again and again. Hathaway does a good job behaving like an adult but why does she have a British accent at the beginning and not throughout the rest of the film. Her girlishness and maturity work for Emma and you are drawn to the uplifting moments that take too long to arrive or not get there at all. She has proven to be a good actress and it's too bad this role didn't give her to chance to grow as an actress. Sturgess' wooden acting doesn't give you hope for a lasting relationship no matter what they individually pretend to confess about to each other. What is more interesting is Patricia Clarkson's character. As Alison,Dexter's ailing mother there could have more scenes to help you understand better the reason why July 15 is so important beyond the fact it is one day,hence the film's title. At times, the story is more irritating and when tragedy strikes one of the young lovebirds, you are not moved enough to care. Had there been more substance to Emma and Dexter's romance over the years,One Day might have been more wonderful to expect and,as a result, a movie to cherish for years to come when visited again on DVD or Blu-ray. It is rated PG,with the warning:sexual content. August 21,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

CONAN (3D)(ALLIANCE, 2011)*

2011-08-20T17:20:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON from director Marcus Nispel based on the character Conan The Barbarian created by Robert E.Howard, Conan The Barbarian in 3D) is a loud and bombastic mess. Screenwriters Dean Donnelly,Joshua Oppenheimer and Sean Hood have come up with a more original opening compared to the 1982 version starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, their silly dialogue is so repetitious and boring, you are waiting for some action to keep the film interesting. Jason Momoa is well cast in the title role and he injects some credibility but it is short-lived. After he is introduced as a baby, the story immediately gets involved in a sword and sorcery subplot that ruins the integrity of the film. It is this B movie mentality that ruins,ultimately,any enjoyment. The supporting cast is filled with unmemorable characters who do their best to advance the plot but only drag it down in a muddled sea of mediocrity. They include Rachel Nichols as the beautiful Tamara from a monastery where she is being trained to be a Queen's servant;Stephen Lang as Zym, a ruthless warlord, Rose McGowan as Marique, Zym's daughter and a powerful witch;and Rob Sapp as Ukafa,the leader of Kushite tribesmen. All of them lack the integrity of an ensemble cast and as you watch them interact in implausible but predictable situations, you are wondering where Conan fits and,miraculously,he does. Filmed in Bulgaria, this Conan has some decent 3D fun and there is a lot of violence in keeping with the time period of the story and to justify the warnings by the Ontario Film Review Board. The music score by Tyler Bates fails to underscore the action and,as a result, the few thrills that exist are boring and almost redundant long before the end of the first half. This Conan deserves a quick death. It is rated 18A,with the warnings:gory scenes,sexual content and graphic violence. August 20,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

L'AMOUR FOU (MONGREL MEDIA,2011)***

2011-08-20T16:31:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON L'Amour Fou(Mad Love)is an incisive and thoroughly entertaining documentary about French fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent. Director Pierre Thoretton opens with a tracking shot of Laurent's palatial house where you see his collections of paintings,books and esoteric furniture that made the man the near reclusive figure he became because of his singular attitude about the world. Although Saint-Laurent died in 2008, his memories live on in the words of his lover and friend, Pierre Berge,whose personal and private opinions of the man help you learn and understand the real Yves Saint-Laurent and this contributes to the film's authenticity as a documentary. In archival footage from various sources, you also get to see the fashion designer at work and share in the many people he influenced throughout his short lifetime. Born in Oran on August 1,1936,he left for Paris where he attended school. In his late teens he pursued a career in Fashion and was hired as an assistant couturier for Christian Dior where under his tutelage Yves recognized the importance of fashion and where Dior was impressed enough to promotedhim to a full fledged designer. After Dior died, Saint-Laurent opened his own fashion house and he soon became one of the world's most influential and respected designers. In 1953 he began winning awards for his work and studied his craft. The media found his hyphenated last name hard to spell but it was his flare and insight in the fashion world that made him the envy of the world. In 1958 there was controversy when he was going to be drafted into the French Army during the Algerian War. Marcel Boussac, owner of the House of Dior, managed to get it delayed until after the disastrous 1960 season. Although this is not mentioned in the documentary, it fills in the gap by allowing you to understand the man better because he was loved by so many. What is important to remember is Saint-Laurent's affinity toward alcohol and drugs and his years when his depression almost destroyed him. Still, Saint-Laurent succeeded in returning to his first love. In 1983 he became the oldest living fashion designer to be honoured by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2001,he was awarded the rank of Commander of the Legion d'Honneur by French president Jacques Chirac. After this, you learn of Saint-Laurent's desire to be alone and he lived his remaining years between the two homes he had in Normandy and Morocco. He also created a foundation with Berge in Paris devoted to the history of the house of Yves Saint-Laurent. As you watch the documentary you are not told why he felt the way he did and the fact there are not many interviewed about him leaves you with the impression that he became the man he wanted to be and everyone respected him for it. It's something that the film avoids saying outright. L'Amour Fou celebrates the life of Yves Saint-Laurent not so much as the celebrity he became but as the man he really was behind the scenes and it is this you are left to think about. It just might be his one last dying wish to be remembered and nothing else and this documentary sets out to do just that. It is rated PG,with the warning: substance abuse. August 19,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

RACING WITH THE MOON (PARAMOUNT,1984)****

2011-08-18T15:24:00.000-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Set at Christmas 1942, Racing With The Moon is a wonderful coming of age story between two close friends who grow up during the six weeks they have left before they serve their country during World War II. Screenwriter Steven Kloves celebrates life in small town America in examining these two young men's hopes and dreams as the before the reality of war sinks in and their thoughts of whether or not they will return home weigh heabily on their minds. Henry"Chopper"Nash(Sean Penn)lives at home and works with his buddy Nicky(Nicolas Cage)at the local bowling alley. Life for them both is getting to and fromwork and enjoying the fruits of their labour. Before Henry and Nicky leave they each have a romance with their girlfriends. It is a time of lost innocence that fades when the reality of having sex closes in on their remaining time left at home. Both Penn and Cage symbolize what it must have been like and this reality is the beginning of their maturity as adults. They both inject a believable sense of credibility. While Cage brings solidarity to his role by portraying the average recruit,Penn's strength as an actor is how he can be serious compared to his role as Spiccoli in Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982). By film's end, both actors remind you of how real soldiers may have felt as their last day of freedom draws closer. In an excellent supporting role, Elizabeth McGovern is well cast as Caddie,the young girl who is mistaken for being rich. Her sensitivity and maturity speak volumes as you watch her play Caddie as your average country girl who still lives at home with her mother.It is interesting to see her behaviour change when she sees Nash and Nicky are not serious about the realties of war during a practice bombing. Her innocence,too,is broken by her own fears of the war. When Hopper and Caddie say goodbye,you can only hope for the best and it is this thought you are left with as the end credits roll. Directed by Richard Benjamin,Racing With The Moon doesn't hold back on the true emotions of the boys who leave home tofight and neither does it eschew the reality of what they are going to face as brothers-in-arms. As the train carries them away,there is that poignant moment that sticks in your throat when you realize the memories of their hometown will soon fade to be replaced by the horrors of war on the battlefield where victory is left in their hands. It is rated AA/Adult Accompaniment,with the warning: coarse language. April 4,1984 Copyright Rick Jackson 1984

30 MINUTES OR LESS (COLUMBIA,2011)*

2011-08-16T13:21:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON 30 Minutes Or Less ia based on a real-life bank heist that went wrong on August 28,2003 when Brian Douglas Wells, a pizza delivery man entered a bank in Erie,Pennsylvania with a bomb strapped around his neck. Although the filmmakers denied any previous knowledge of this, it gives a twisted sense of credibility by changing the truth for purposes of creating something altogether fictional. The end result from director Ruben Fleischer and screenwriter Michael Diliberti is a deeply flawed and ridiculous mess from the start. The dialogue and sense of purpose are so stupid, one has trouble believing the actual event from which it was based could have really happened. The film's title comes from a pizza company's promise to deliver your pizza in 30 minutes or less, or it's free. Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) plays Nick who gets yelled at by his boss (Brett Gelman). It is a scene that only sets up the level of stupidity that gets worse as the story goes along. There are so many supporting characters to sort out, you are left wondering when the heist will happen, if at all. When two delinquents named Dwayne(Danny McBride) and Travis(Nick Swardson)rebel against their tyrannical father (Fred Ward), there is supposed to be just cause for the ensuing scenes that you see recreated in a hilarious way but underneath the sarcastic streak of familiarity is a sad excuse for comedy. At the matinee I attended I only heard people laughat the coarse language and sexual innuendos that made the entire film appear to be, in a more reliable context,a wasted film which,alas,it never recovers. One critic praised 30 Minutes Or Less as a relevant film compared to the 1980s but without any examples, you are left scratching your head at his perception and opinion. It's a wonder after walking out of the theatre how Hollywood would waste good money in making such a sleazy comedy without the sleaze. No actor is spared from being anything but clear idiots and I hope Fred Ward will star in something much better next time. Remember him in The Right Stuff in 1983! It is rated 14A,with the warnings:coarse language and violence. August 14,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

MEEK'S CUTOFF (KINOSMITH,2011)****

2011-08-14T21:17:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON The image of covered wagons as Meek's Cutoff opens is as timeless as the western film. Ghosts of John Ford (The Wagonmaster and Drums Along The Mohawk), Raoul Walsh(The Big Trail) and James Cruze (The Covered Wagon) and George Stevens (Shane)can be felt in director Kelly Reichardt's tribute to a fading genre that is slowly making another return thanks to the success of True Grit last Christmas. Moviegoers from another generation who grew up with the western obviously miss it and it is good to see thundering back to the big screen to help us forget the latest incarnation of the 3D film which I hope won't last for very much longer. In 1845 a band of settlers is travelling across the Oregon High Desert. You can hear the ripples in the water before and during the wagons as they cross a river. Cinematographer Chris Blauvelt is careful not to recreate the deep colours of the coloured westerns of yesteryear (Shane,Mohawk to name just two) with the muted texture of Meek's Cutoff in 1845 a fond tribute also to the black and white sagebrush sagas that several more generations past enjoyed every Saturday afternoon. Reichardt's latest predates Ford's Wagonmaster which took place in the 1870s but it is provides a singular vision of the western as the type of film audiences are begging to see. Although the box office for Reichardt's is not as good as True Grit because her film was not distributed by a ,major studio, it is the opening shot that echoes in the memories of myself and the western fan. Written by Jonathan Raymond, the plot is simplistic and easy to follow. The wives of the frontiersmen are the focus of the trip west and it is not until the apparance of an Indian does the story take on a deeper significance as an adult western for the 21st century. Survival is the key to their existence and since humans need water (a common plot thread in westerns)there is hope the Indian will guide them to it. At the same time, there is an undercurrent of fear because the women especially feel threatened their small wagon train will be destroyed by more Indians later. It is this dichotomy of survival and the determination to reach their destination that instils Meek's Cutoff with the necessary tension and excitement to hold your attention. In his biography of John Ford, Andrew Sinclair points out that the director's 1950 film, Wagonmaster was a response to a world of increasing complexity and a tribute to the abiding values of courage and endurance that you can also see throughout Meek's Cutoff. This is common symbolic thread that draws you closer to the main themes of the film and allow you to enjoy it that much more diligently in your seat. Michelle Williams plays Emily Tetherow,one of the wives whose fears are grounded in the reality of her fear that reaches a boiling point after the Indian appears. Her natural fear for him is as omnipresent as the wilderness that offers nothing safe and secure ahead because the leader of the wagon train, Stephen Meek, quickly becomes a scapegoat when the settlers believe he doesn't know where he is going. Another common thread from the old westerns. The power of positive thinking takes over as their journey leads them possibly in the right direction for it is left unclear. What makes the film work is its propensity to almost be a near-great western on the same level as any of the directors mentioned earlier. Bruce Greenwood gives the film its centre as Meek and it is his skill and experience that you hope will pay off by film's end. You have to stick with the story to find out. The emotional and tense scenes in the second half visually give you a major hint about the outcome of their trip but it is the Indian,well played by Rod Rondeaux,whose silence and facial reactions tell you if he is who Emily and the others fear or not. The respect for the Indian conveys the authority of a true western that started with Broken Arrow in 1950 and was further explored in Dances With Wolves in 1990. Jeff Grace's music score doesn't stand out like it should,but it is a minor quibble in a western that retains the dignity of the human spirit when it is tested against the elements and our own basic determination to arrive safe and sound in hostile territory, the one and same commonality most westerns aspired to but Meek's Cutoff nicely avoids so as to keep you guessing without being repulsed by gratuitous vilence and,thereby,ruin your emjoyment. Reichardt's strength as a director is in her ability to keep you guessing with each long and wide shot as a symbol of the vastness of the wilderness while the story contributes to its magnificence and creativity as a worthy addition as a fine example of the western film today. It is rated PG/Parental Guidance,with the warning:substance abuse. August 13,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

CONAN THE BARBARIAN (UNIVERSAL,1982)***

2011-08-14T16:09:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Arnold Schwarzenegger brings Robert E.Howard's pulp fiction hero to life in Conan The Barbarian. Set in the Hyborean Age of 12,000 years ago, this is a mythical time of witches,wizards and snake cults. Director John Milius(The Wind And The Lion) effectively recreates the period and atmosphere, but not without adding excessive bloodshed. Filmed on location in Spain,it is not as gory as last year's Excalibur or as fatuous as this year's The Sword And The Sorcerer. Conan is based on a character created by Howard who committed suicide in 1936 when he learned of his mother's death. The film opens with the young Conan witnessing the brutal slaying of his parents by Thulsa Doom,head of the evil Snake Cult. Forced into slavery,he grows up to be a trained master pit fighter, part gladiator,part part swordsman,part animal. Through some twist of fate he is freed from captivity and avenges his parents' death and kills Doom. The brawny Austrian-born Schwarzenegger makes a perfect Conan. Although he speaks with a bit of an accent, he can wield that sword like a pro. To prepare for the role he cut his weight from 250 to 228 pounds. Sandahl Bergman(All That Jazz)plays the voluptuous Valeria and proves she is an equal match for Conan when she demonstrates her athletic prowess with a warrior. When you first see her,she helps our hero steal the precious Eye of Set in the Tower of the Serpent. In other roles, James Earl Jones plays Doom,ex-Oakland Raider Ben Davidson stars as Rexor,Doom's chief henchman,and Max Von Sydow appears briefly as King Osric. The supporting cast includes Gerry Lopez as Subotai,Valerie Quenessen as the princess of Shadizar and William Smith as Conan's father. Milius and Oliver Stone's screenplay is well balanced. Except for two very violent scenes near the end,it is not too hard to take. Basil Poledouris'music score is well paced and Ron Cobb's production design is excellent. The most exciting sequence is in the Tower of the Serpent where Conan fights a 50-foot snake. It's reminiscent of the All-Seeing Eye in Alexander Korda's 1940 classic,The Thief of Bagdad. Conan The Barbarian offers an escape into a world of black magic and barbaric warfare. You see heads chopped off and other assorted killings, but the real star is Schwarzenegger. It is rated R/Restricted,with the warning: violence. Originally appeared in The Heritage Newspaper on May 19,1982. Copyright Rick Jackson,1982

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (20TH CENTURY FOX, 2011)***

2011-08-07T17:22:00.002-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON With trepidation I went to see Rise Of The Planet of the Apes. To my surprise I liked it more than I thought. Thankfully not in 3D as originally promoted months ago, this prequel to the series(1968-1973) is the beginning of what may possibly be more sequels. The 1968 original was a groundbreaking in the field of makeup because it introduced a new adhesive which allowed for foam rubber masks (cheeks,chins,brows,lips and ears) to be used on actors without irritating or clogging their pores. It was also been experimented before the film's release to help repair faces of the war wounded in Vietnam. In looking back at the Planet of the Apes starring Charlton Heston, one may find it hard to believe it almost never was made. After producer Arthur P.Jacobs bought the rights to Boulle's novel, no studio in the United States and Europe wanted to make the film. Top movie producers laughed at the idea of a movie about talking apes. Jacobs never gave up hope and finally convinced Daryl and Richard Zanuck at 20th Century Fox to make a screen test with Edward G.Robinson in ape makeup and Heston. The 15-minute test was all it needed and with a budget of six million dollars, they made The Planet of the Apes. Makeup expert John Chambers developed an innovative technique that allowed actors to wear makeup for fourteen hours. Filmed in Utah and Arizona,it was a blockbuster hit although you have to remember this was 1968. It competed with Stanley Kubrick's 2001:A Space Odyssey which was also an immediate hit. Rod Serling and Michael Wilson wrote the screenplay and it became the first of five movies in the franchise and today is one of the most successful movie series because it combined an intelligent and thought provoking story for mass entertainment. Judging by its box office triumph this weekend, Rise of the Planet of the Apes has renewed interest in moviegoers to see something old,new again. The simian character of Caesar was originally played by Roddy McDowall in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes(1972). He was the offspring of Zira and Cornelius. In Rise, Andy Serkis plays Caesar all grown up. Best known as Gollum in Lord of the Rings, there are ample opportunities to see him in action. James Franco stars as Will Rodman,a scientist who has developed ALZ 112, a possible treatment for Alzheimer's. He then tests it on chimpanzees whose IQ goes up as a result, including their ability to communiCate in sign language. When Rodman tests it on a human, his father (John Lithgow) who has Alzheimer's, there are interesting results I won't divulge. What makes this prequel a phenomenal film to begin with is the way director Rupert Wyatt slowly introduces the other apes by focusing on their facial and eye movements before showing us the apes full throttle in action. Sure, there is much anticipation and despite some predictability in the story the outcome of it all is well worth it. Freida Pinto is well cast as caroline,a primatologist and Brian Cox is John Landon, the owner of an ape sanctuary, and Tom Felton stars as his son Dodge. It is clear by the second half, the apes upstage the humans ans prove their intelligence in a well executed climax that will make you want to see the next film just to see where the story is going to lead. Screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver were inspired to write a plot suggested by Boulle's novel and they have come up with an original idea that is in keeping with the other films. Patrick Doyle's music score is inferior to Jerry Goldsmith's in the 1968 original but it does help stir up the action long enough to hold your attention from beginning to end. There is a lot more to praise in this prequel and it nicely sets up the proper mood and atmosphere which you can expect in the sequels you hope will come over the next five or more years. Under Rupert Wyatt's capable direction, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes is a phenomenal film. You may want to seek out the previous five films to see where it all fits unless you've already done it. It is rated PG,with the warning: violence. August 7,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

THE TRIP (ALLIANCE, 2010)****

2011-08-06T16:01:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON The two stars and director of Tristram Shandy:A Cock And Bull Story are responsible for the audaciously funny new British comedy, The Trip. The essence of timing and the ability to turn what is so utterly simple into something wildly hilarious like they did in Tristram is also another rare treat at the movies. Based on the BBC documentary series, Winterbottom just lets his two stars, Steve Coogan and Rob Bryden entertain you with their brand of humour, whether it's talking in harmony over nothing in the car,or competing with their impersonations of Michael Caine, Sean Connery,Woody Allen,Ian McKellen,and others. It is clear from the start that Coogan and Bryden are a great comedy team and the director wisely concentrates on them with no distractions to destroy the comic momemtum after it starts. As you see them enter enter and exit each restaurant and hotel in the north of England, you are also edified by their tastes in food that go along with their sense of humour. The each pick items on the menu that are astonishingly funny looking on their plates and Winterbottom takes advantage of it by the closeups and long shots so you can see the innocent reactions on their faces that never give away what funny lines they will each say. There is no script just Coogan and Bryden's improvisational technique and it works better than any American comedy because it is not crude. In fact, the restaurants and hotels they visit are equally funny as you watch them travel in the typical British way that the Ealing comedies of the 1940s and 1950s captured. The Trip never loses your undivided attention because you eagerly await to hear and see what is next. The documentary feel of the entire film makes it appear more as a documentary shot with a hand-held camera and this allows you to laugh more at the antics of Coogan and Bryden as they come up with one entertaining tidbit after another. It is on the same level as the 1981 American comedy classic, My Dinner With Andre which was equally funny and entertaining thanks to Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory who shared their lives over the course of an evening meal at a restaurant. The funniest film where two people sit down to eat is still the 1925 silent classic,The Gold Rush where a starving Charles Chaplin shares his shoe with his pal Mack Swain. When I think back to The Trip,I will always remember the faces of Coogan and Bryden as they engaged in a domestic,peaceful war of words and sounds in a setting that is constantly acted so innocently, you are bound to laugh almost uncontrollably without hesitation. This may well be the most memorable trip you will take all year. It is rated 14A,with the warnings: coarse language and substance abuse. August 5,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

FIRST GRADER (MAPLE, 2010)****

2011-08-02T16:39:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON unkn Filmed entirely in Kenya, The First Grader may appear, on the surface, to be similar to other films about teaching students but this one rises above the familiar by the sheer weight of its subject matter and a cast of unknown actors to bring based this true story of Maruge, an octogenarian who became the oldest man to receive primary education which paved the way for more adults to learn the basic skills of reading,writing and arithmetic. Oliver Litondo brings to the screen a heartfelt and powerful performance as Maruge, whose young adult years saw him as a Mau Mau freedom fighter in the 1950s who fought against British rule. Haunted by the memories of his capture and torture by the insurgents he is an old man when you first see him but it is strong will and determination for the education denied him is the central point of the story and where the entire film returns with an unerring sense of courage as you watch Maruge fight against the school system's policies that rear their ugly head when all he wants is to learn to read. In her screenplay, Ann Peacock understands the plight of the uneducated at any age and she captures a balance between the politics of a system designed to work for the young only. Peacock who was born and raised in South Africa imbues a sense of urgency underneath the simple two-tiered plot: Maruge's desire for an education and the country's need to update their thinking when it comes to serving the public needs for everyone not just a privileged few. When Mr.Kipruto (Vusumuzi Michael Kunene), a ministry inspector, sees Maruge he appoints him a teaching assistant to appease Jane Obinchu(Naomie Harris) the local teacher. However, some of the parents object to his presence, Jane is transferred to another school. Unbekownst to the school board Maruge's story is told on Kenyan radio and the international press. What happens later when Maruge addresses the board in Nairobi is one of the year's most poignant scenes in a movie this year and also one that may move you to cheer when it is all over. Under June Chadwick's capable direction,The First Grader is more to do with Maruge and less about his teacher. Politics aside, Litondo conveys by his understated performance an opportunity to convey the importance of an education and by film's end it is still the point being made in an equally and undeniably powerful way. His quiet mannerisms and attitude toward life rise above the violence he endured at the hands of the British and hopes his country will remember the past in order to learn for the future. In essence, the actor is dispensing wisdom gained by his education and life experience and the point is not lost on the individual moviegoer. Cinematographer Rob Hardy captures the rustic domesticity of the Kenyan countryside by showing it with muted colours. The story illuminates itself with a brighter glow by the acting of local school children hired to play the students and this elevates the entire film to become an important testament to the power of humanity not just one man's cry for his beloved country. It is rated PG,with the warnings:violence and not recommended for young children. July 30,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

COWBOYS & ALIENS (UNIV/DREAMWORKS,2011)***

2011-07-31T17:10:00.002-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON The eyes are on the Wild Wild West in this fictional story about the time when cowboys fought against aliens in the late 19th century in Arizona. It may appear to be silly on the surface, but it is far more entertaining as a modern adult western with touches of welcome humour and a first-rate cast to make it the perfect matinee. Matthew Libatique's cinematography immediately captures your attention in the opening sequence and there are your requisite western flourishes throughout to remind you that this is much better as an intentional entry in the western genre even if the spirit of one rides higher than anything else. What I liked about it is the manner in which it provides an equally satisfying escape without being too ridiculous a premise to follow. Based on Platinum Studios' Cowboys and Aliensby Scott Michell Rosenberg, the screenplay by Roberto Orci,Alex Kurtzman,Damon Lindelof,Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby generates the same kind of wistfulness and excitement as the classic western. Despite the fact that director Jon Favreau is not another John Ford or Howard Hawks, there is a lot to ruminate over and enjoy just the same. Harrison Ford plays Woodrow Dollarhyde, a grizzled old cattle baron of the local town called Absolution. His gruff demeanor injects the western stereotype of yesteryear and it works because the role is perfect for him. He even has a chance to be mean and gentle and it is this dichotomy of feeling that never sentimentalizes the plot threads. If anything, it maintains the spirit of the western like it should. Daniel Craig plays Jake Lonergan, a cowboy of a different sort. You are not sure if he is an alien and your curiosity holds your attention. Like him, you don't know any more about him and this sets the stage for what immediately follows. The mystery and intrigue is reminiscent of Edward Dmytryk's Bad Day At Black Rock(1956) and Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo(1959) where the two main characters played by Spencer Tracy and John Wayne are a study in the complex nature of the cowboy. Just as they must deal with what is good for their town, Ford's Dollarhyde is a contrast between what the man who is not governed totally by personal motives but by the more moral imperative of saving the town and restoring peace and harmony. Instead of the usual gunfighter or cattle rustler, the bad guys are aliens who have come to earth to find all the gold they can for their survival. what is more interesting than the usual aliens from outer space story is the introduction of supporting characters for the plot driven plot to really work. They include Adam Beach as NatColorado, a native American whose knowledge and language serves as an interpreter when the tribes become involved in an attempt to save their people and animals from the aliens. Their plight becomes a universal one when the whites join them in eradicating their common problem. Olivia Wilde plays Ella Swenson,a character who holds the key to solving the humans dilemma. It is nicely explained and in a courageous moment she contributes to the emotionally packed climax. Sam Rockwell is Doc and Keith Carradine is Sheriff Taggert. They bring Absolution to life with their strong acting and conviction. Harry Gregson-Williams has composed a fitting score to maintain your excitement from beginning to end. It keeps pace with the action and the underlying thematic undertones the screenwriters never thought of, such as man's survival regardless of creed, race or colour. It goes beyond the perimeters of the average western to keep the genre up-to-date and fresh for today's moviegoers. It's also interesting how the townsfolk of Absolution are resolved to being stronger examples of humanity by film's end. They have each grown to respect each other more which only reinforces the film's underlying and simplistic point of view. Craig plays Lonergan as a man without a name without relying on Eastwood's persona in the spaghetti westerns he did with Sergio Leone. Unlike Rango earlier this year which parodied them, Clowboys And Aliens resists being nothing more than emblematic in bringing across Lonergan as a believable character and this allows you to sit back and enjoy everything with a smile. Granted, the aliens are shown almost exactly like they did in Alien, there the comparison ends. Cowboys And Aliens deserves to be appreciated as pure entertainment which it is. It is rated 14A,with the warnings: graphic violence and frightening scenes. July 31, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS (SCREEN GEMS,2011)***

2011-07-24T20:52:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Friends With Benefits is an uneven but funny comedy about two friends named Dylan and Jamie and how their views about falling in love, dating and having sex are,perhaps, just what today's moviegoers need to see. Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis aspire to be the perfect young couple and as you watch them interact and behave intimately and with other friends and relatives, there is an uneasy alliance slowly building to turn their modern trip of lust and desire into a cliche ridden plot that screenwriters Keith Merryman,David A.Newman and director Will Gluck feel will work its magic. It is worth mentioning that they think they are a modern Clark Gable and Claudete Colbert who are seen in a poster of the 1934 Academy Award winning film,It Happened One Night. The camera deliberately lets you see it at two diferent angles to juxtapose Dylan and Jamie's sexual trysts with some credibility. It is,of course, up to the female moviegoers if they think Timberlake has the same charisma as Gable but, for the rest of us, it might be a stretch. You do see Timberlake and Kunis in the buff in more than one scene and this will certainly be one of your benefits in seeing the film. All in all, how the story of these two lovebirds is written is a clearly done in good fun and without crude jokes and bad punch lines. There exists a modicum of good taste throughout and you are allowed to actually have fun whenever an actor sings,dances or just wants to be candid enough about his/her feelings to be equally frivolous and amusing. The supporting cast includes a hilarious Woody Harrelson as Tommy,an erudite and gay sports editor who wants a little excitement in his humdrum life. He even commutes to work in a speed boat that may earn a few laughs thanks to his comic timing and a good script. The usual formula of boy gets girl and boy loses girl is conveyed with a new meaning as you watch Timberlake and Kunis gain momentum as the twosome with enough courage and ambition to make you envious of them. It all works along with the emotions and dating tips that keep them together through one crisis after another in the second half. I said crisis but it is more a realistic look at dating from both the perspective of the male and female with a surprising touch of civility and respect for each other. This all contributes to the overall credibility of the film's title. Before the final fade-out you are entertained by Jenna Elfman's knack at having fun in the dullest of situations as Annie, Richard Jenkins as Dylan's father who is suffering from Alzheimer's, and Patricia Clarkson as Jamie's old-fashioned mother. One might want to accuse Friends With Benefits as a bad mistake and call it Fringe Benefits but that would negate the fun-loving and wonderful manner the entire cast manages to make everything such a joy to watch which is alright with me. Here is the perfect summer diversion to keep you away from the heat and humidity. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and sexual content. July 24,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

CAPTAIN AMERICA (PARAMOUNT, 2011)**

2011-07-23T22:24:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Captain America:The First Avenger lacks the fun and excitement of the 1944 Republic serial because you didn't know who the villain was until the last of the 15 chapters. Inspired by the Marvel Comic Book, the screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely lacks originality and the plot is bogged down in a plot reminiscent of Raiders Of The Lost Ark(1981). The whole idea of the Nazis controlling the world is old hat and the entire cast plays each character with utter seriousness, you can't help notice how they each are trying so hard not to laugh out loud. The opening sequence set in the arctic reminded me of The Thing From Another World 1951) with its spooky and mysterious atmosphere. I thought this might be interesting even if it was far afield. What redeems the movie is the decent use of 3D, although I still haven't seen any fantastic effects in 3D yet. Chris Evans plays the central role of Captain America aka Steve Rogers, a 90 pound weakling whose bad health prevents him from enlisting in the army to fight overseas. When he is spotted by a scientist named Erskine(Stanley Tucci)who convinces him to take part in a secret government project, you already know where the story is going. Hugo Weaving almost steals the film with his performance as Johann Schmidt whose altar ego is Red Skull, an evil Nazi whose temperament doesn't quite match Christoph Waltz's in Inglorious Basterds. Still, he manages to hold your interest as the plot threads slowly unravel and your eyes stay glued to the big screen to see what is going to happen next. As a major action summer flick, this one delivers it at full throttle and there are enough supporting characters to hold your attention, especially Tommy Lee Jones as the colourful Colonel Phillips, Toby Jones as Dr.Zola,Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Rogers' romantic interest, and Sebastian Stan as Rogers' sidekick, Bucky. As with all stories based on comic books, it does peak your interest since the storyline ties in other characters, such as Thor, which is supposed to lead to one of next summer's big blockbusters, The Avengers. I only wished I liked Captain America more,it just didn't impress me. It is rated PG/Parental Guidance, with the warnings: violence and frightening scenes. July 23,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

POTICHE (E-ONE, 2011)***

2011-07-23T14:36:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON From director Francois Ozon (8 Women,Swimming Pool) comes a sophisticated and breezy comedy called Potiche or Trophy Wife. Played by veteran French actress Catherine Deneuve, she is the picture of perfection with her slender figure and good looks that have endeared her to moviegoers since the 1960s when she catapulted to fame after directors Jacques Demy(Umbrellas of Cherbourg-1964) and Luis Bunuel (Belle de Jour-1966) saw a wonderful beauty who had the sbility to arouse even the most innocent male moviegoer with her smile and blond looks. Even today while watching her run in a red suit as the film opens, she remains as consistent in the way she can impress you. The actress has looked after herself and it is through this superficial veneer of loveliness and quiet intelligence that she can still make you laugh and smile by just being there. One might come to expect Deneuve and co-star Gerard Depardieu to create the right chemistry to be the next comedy team but this is not a classic American comedy, but a reworking of a French play from 1980 that was originally intended for comic stage actress Jacqueline Maillan. In this film adaptation by Ozon based on the play by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy, Potiche aspires to be an escapist and conservative story set in the late 1970s when feminist struggles and labour unrest were capturing headlines. True in spirit to this time, Deneuve strikes the ultimate pose as the ultimate potiche which means literally, a vase. Her decorative appearance throughout the film is given several opportunities to break figuratively but it is as Suzanne, the undeclared heroine, that Deneuve boasts the attributes of feminism that may possibly have been evident in the director's thinking. How she conveys authority around the house,forces her husband Robert Pujol(Fabrice Luchini) to step down as head of an umbrella factory and provoke unrest there for better workers' rights is a testament to the power of the written word and the strong acting exemplified by the main cast. Evident in the director's latest is the same carnal desires of the male when Robert seeks comfort in the arms of his secretary/mistress Nadege(Karin Viard). Swimming Pool the British mystery author Sarah Morten brushed off excited fans by saying she was not the type who sleeps with anyone. As in 8 Women(2002) and Swimming Pool, Ozon directs each scene with painstaking care and this helps you enjoy the on-screen antics with equal visceral delight. Deneuve is clearly the reason Potiche is a pure and simple delight from beginning to end. Her comic timing and singing hold your attention and there is an unexpected sense of fun in everything she does. She relishes Suzanne as much as you do if you are paying close attention to her character. Lending excellent support are Judith Godreche and Jeremie Renier as Suzanne's grown daughter and son respectively. As for Depardieu who is used to commanding the screen in such films as Return of Martin Guerre and Danton in the early 1980s and Cyrano de Bergerac a decade later, he remains the same charming man he played in Green Card, except this time excels as Suzanne's former admirer from afar as the local mayor.His scenes with Deneuve add an understated elegance and wit to the familiar plot threads and the undercurrent of humour is nicely timed and worth waiting for when it comes. By film's end, Potiche is more than your average pretty story but an elegant and funny romp made enjoyable by the sense of sheer fun shown by the entire ensemble cast. It is rated 14A,with the warnings: sexual content and language may offend. July 22,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

SCREENING ROOM****

2011-07-22T08:01:00.000-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON With this entry on my blog, it is a list of all the four star movies I have reviewed at the Screening Room here in Kingston,Ontario. Since the fall of 2000 when I started going there,I have enjoyed thousands of hours watching quality movies and, although for years I didn't want to put stars on my reviews, they are important to moviegoers because they want to know how I rate them. Sticking to four stars, with no half-stars,I recently went back to do it. For me, an outstanding movie can only be described in words and as you read one of my reviews, you should be able to tell whether it's worth seeing. It is my intention over the course of time to get them all on my blog which I started five years ago. This means you will be able to find all those reviews right now. Here now is my list of all the four star movies from 2000-1010 in alphabetical order along with the date I reviewed them in brackets. THE FOUR STAR MOVIES Across The Universe (October 20,2007) Adam (September 23,2009) Adoration (June 28,2009) Aimee & Jaquar (October 6,2001) Akeelah And The Bee (May 13,2006) Amal Amazing Grace (April 21,2007) Amelie (March 2,2002) American Splendor (Nov 1,2003) An Education (March 10,2010) Animal Kingdom (Oct 2,2010) Atanarjuat The Fast Runner (April 13,2002) Away From Her (May 26,2007) Band's Visit (April 26,2008) Baran (June 14,2002) Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (Apr 19,2008) Before Sunset (August 28,2004) Being Julia (February 26,2005) Billy Elliot (Dec 16,2000) Bollywood Hollywood (November 30,2002) Born Into Brothels (May 21,2005) Bran Nue Dae (Oct 9,2010) Bright Young Things (Oct 23,2004) Brothers Bloom (July 11,2009) Caché (May 20,2006) Capote (Dec 17,2005) Capturing The Friedmans (Nov 8,2003) Caramel (Apr 19,2008) Cat's Meow (Aug 24,2002) Cell, The (Aug 26,2000) Charlie St.Cloud (Aug 8,2010) Che-Part One (May 23,2009) Che-Part Two (May 30,2009) The Class (Apr 25,2009) Coffee And Cigarettes (Jul 10,2004) Closing The Ring (Aug 30,2008 Color of Paradise (Dec 2,2000) Control Room (Sep 11,2004) Conversations With Other Women (Nov 4,2006) Corporation (February 14,2004) Counterfeiters (Apr 26,2008) C.R.A.Z.Y. (Feb 28,2006) Cyrus (Aug 7,2010) Dancer In The Dark (Nov 25,2000) Dancer Upstairs (July 12,2003) Descent,The (August 8,2006) Dirty Pretty Things (Nov 29,2003) Disappearance of Alice Creed (Oct 4,2010) Divided We Fall (Jan 12,2002) Diving Bell And The Butterfly (Feb 23,2008) Door On The Floor (Aug 14,2004) Downfall (Apr 30,2005) Dying At Grace (Feb 21,2004) Eastern Promises (Sep 22,2007) Edge of Heaven (Aug 23,2008) Elegy (Oct 11,2008) EMPz 4 Life (Mar 1,2007) End of Silence (Mar 11,2006) Enfant (July 15,2006) Evelyn (Feb 1,2003) Far From Heaven (Mar 22,2003) Fix: The Story Of An Addicted City (Oct 25,2003) Flight Of The Red Balloon (Aug 9,2008) Food Inc (Sep 5,2009) Frida (Nov 23,2002) Frozen River (Oct 4,2008) Fugitive Pieces (June 14,2008) Girlfight (Nov 4,2000) Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest (Nov 20,2010) Girl Who Played With Fire (Jul 30,2010) Girl With A Pearl Earring (Apr 17,2004) Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (May 7,2010) Golden Bowl (Sept 1,2001) Gomorrah (May 9,2009) Goodbye Solo (July 18,2009) Good Girl,The (Oct 12,2002) Good Thief,The (Jun 7,2003) Gosford Park (Jan 19,2002) Grande Seduction,La (Feb 21,2004) Half Nelson (Nov 4,2006) Happy Go Lucky (Nov 22,2008) Holy Girl (Sep 3,2005) Homme du Train (Aug 16,2003) House of Flying Daggers (Feb 5,2005) House of Mirth (June 30,2001) Human Stain (Dec 20,2003) Hurt Locker (August 22,2009) I Am Love (Aug 13,2010) I Served The King Of England (Nov 22,2008) In The Mood For Love (May 26,2001) Iris (June 1,2002) Is Anybody There (Jul 25,2009) Journals of Knud Rasmussen (Sep 30,2006) Junebug (Dec 10,2005) Kamikaze Girls (Oct 8,2005) Kid Stays In The Picture (Oct 12,2002) Kinky Boots (June 3,2006) Kinsey (Feb 19,2005) La Moustache (Oct 28,2006) La Vie En Rose (Jul 28,2007) Last Round: Chuvalo Vs Ali (Feb 7,2004) Lebanon (Nov 14,2010) Let The Right One In (Jan 17,2009) Lives of Others (May 19,2007) Long Life,Happiness & Prosperity (Feb 22,2003) Lost In La Mancha (Jun 1,2003) Love Is Work (Mar 11,2006) Lust,Caution (Dec 8,2007) Man On Wire (Nov 8,2008) Maria Full Of Grace (Oct 9,2004) Me And Orson Welles (Feb 13,2010) Me And You And Everyone We Know (Sept 24,2005 Merchant Of Venice (May 7,2005) Mighty Wind,A (May 17/2003) Millions (Jul 9,2005) Monster (Feb 14,2004) Monster's Ball (Apr 20,2002) Motorcycle Diaries (Nov 6,2004) Mulholland Drive (Dec 22,2001) Nature of Nicholas (Feb 22,2003) Necessities Of Life (Mar 14,2009) Neil Young: Heart of Gold (May 20/06) Never Let Me Go (Nov 27,2010) Nobody Knows (May 21,2005) Northfork (Oct 4,2003) Nowhere Boy (Nov 6,2010) Once (Jul 14,2007) Orphanage,The (Mar 15,2008) Owning Mahoney (Sep 27,2003) Persepolis (Feb 16,2008) Pollock (Apr 28,2001 Pool,The (Apr 25,2009) Proposition,The (Aug 5,2006) Rabbitt Proof-Fence (Mar 15,2003) Raising Victor Vargas (Aug 30,2003) Reader,The (Feb 9,2009) Requiem For A Dream (Jan 13,2001 Restrepo (Sep 25,2010 Road To Quantanomo (Jul 29/06) Rory O'Shea Was Here (Apr 16,2005) Saddest Music In The World (Jun 19,2004) Samsara (Oct 23,2004) Savages,The (Jan 19,2008) Sea Inside,The (Mar 19,2005) Seraphine (Oct 17,2009) Sexy Beast (Aug 11,2001) Shake Hands With The Devil (both feature&documentary (Sep 29& Oct 13,2007) Silent Waters (Feb 19,2005) Smart People (Apr 26,2008) Smell of Camphor...(Oct 13,2001) Snow Walker (May 1,2004) Sophie Scholl:The Last Days (Jul 8,2006) Standing In The Shadows (Feb 18,2003) Stone Angel (May 31,2008) Story Of The Weeping Camel (Nov 6,2004) Summer Hours (Sep 5,2009) Syrian Bride (Oct 19,2005) Tell No One (Nov 29,2008) Thank You For Smoking (Apr 22,2006) Thirteen Converations About One Thing (Sep 21,2002 Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (May 13,2006 Time For Drunken Horses,A (Feb 3,2001) Transamerica (Feb 4,2006) Triage (Jan 3,2009) Triplets of Belleville (Mar 6,2004) Tristram Shandy (June 3,2006) Trotsky,The (Jun 11,2010) True Meaning Of Pictures (Feb 22,2003) Tsotsi (Apr 29,2006) Tulpan (May 23,2009) Turtles Can Fly (Oct 1,2005) 21 Grams (Mar 6,2004) Two Lovers (June 6,2009) Under The Same Moon (May 10,2008) Valet,The (Aug 25,2007 Vera Drake (Dec 11,2004 Visitor,The (May 17,2008) Volver (Feb 3,2007) Waitress (Jun 9,2007) Waking Life (Dec 15,2001) Wendy And Lucy (Apr 11,2009) What Remains Of Us (Feb 5,2005) Whatever Works (Aug 1,2009) White Countess (Mar 25,2006) White Masai (Apr 28,2007) White Ribbon,The (Apr 9,2010) Widow of Saint-Pierre (June 23,2001) Wind That Shakes The Barley (May 12,2007) Winged Migration (Oct 18,2003) Winter's Bone (Aug 20,2010) Women,The (Sep 27,2008) Woodsman,The (Apr 2,2005) Yi-Yi (Aug 18,2001) Young At Heart (May 24,2008) Youth Without Youth (Feb 9,2008) July 22,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

LOOKING BACK #1

2011-07-21T12:02:00.000-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON This is the first in a series where I am going back over the 33 years that I have been a film critic in Kingston,Ontario, Canada. Happy reading and see you at the movies! FULL METAL JACKET (WARNER BROTHERS, 1987)**** By Rick Jackson Full Metal Jacket is one of the best war movies ever made. It is also a magnificent achievement from producer/director Stanley Kubrick (2001, A Clockwork Orange). Based on the novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford, the screenplay by Kubrick,Michael Herr and Hasford is a searing depiction of Vietnam as seen through the eyes of Private Jocker (Matthew Modine). The first 45 minutes are confined to the boot camp at Parris, Island, South Carolina where a group of raw recruits are deflowered by Gunnery Sgt. Hartman as he uses a barrage of endless insults to dehumanize the men. He even assigns pet names to the recruits. Besides Private Jocker, there is Cowboy(Arliss Howard) and Gomer Pyle (Vincent D'Onofrio), who becomes Hartman's whipping boy. When the action switches to Vietnam, Joker, like Hasford in real-life, becomes a war correspondent for the marine newspaper. There he befriendsRafterman (Kevyn Major Howard),a combat photographer. The two join a small band of marines engaged in urban warfare in the wartorn city of Hue. Kubrick ends the film with the 1968 Tet Offensive and in a gripping climax, the marines fight a single sniper whose identity comes as a surprise. Hartman is well played by Lee Ermy, a former marine drill instructor. In the film he trains his platoon with an iron fist and adds a touch of realism. His black humour and screeching tirades are meant to break his men into killing machines. Kubrick gives him credit as the film's technical adviser. The rest of the cast features Adam Baldwin as Animal Mother,Dorian Harewood as Eightball and Kieron Jecchins as Crazy Earl. With help from sound man Edward Tise and cameraman Douglas Milsome, the director has made an intelligent war epic. As you watch it unfold, the action is not sentimentalized by a hymn-like music score like Platoon. Instead, it is kept in the background except for some 1960 pop hits such as Chapel of Love and Wooly Bully which can be heard intermittently. They are interrupted by the resounding noise of gunnfire and bombs to remind us of the reality of war. The film's title refers to the type of bullet the Marines used. Full Metal Jacket is a must see. It is rated R/Restricted, with the warning: brutal violence. July 15,1987 Copyright Rick Jackson 1987 Full Metal Jacket played at the CAPITOL THEATRE. My review originally was published in The Heritage newspaper. HONEYSUCKLE ROSE (WARNER BROTHERS, 1980)*** By Rick Jackson Willie Nelson turns in a fine performance as Buck Bonham in Honeysuckle Rose. When you first see him, he is playing golf and taking it easy before his next concert appearance. For 20 years he has been travelling on the road and living the life style of a troubadour. The songs he has composed and sung about have made him more than just a country picker from Texas, but a bona fide star. As you watch him perform you can see how his fans respond with enthusiastic applause wherever he goes and they love to shake his hand when the opportunity comes. Like Willie Nelson in real life, Buck is a hero who can lift your spirits when you are feeling low, and warm your heart when you want to just listen. Cast as Buck's wife Viv is Dyan Cannon,who is still attractive at 41. She first toured with him as part of his act and they continued to perform together after they were married. After the birth of their son, she found it wasn't easy on the road and felt it was time to settle down. At this point, the story begins. Intercut with Buck's live performances is the long journey home after another road tour. When he arrives home,he stops at his mailbox. On it is the name of his ranch: HONEYSUCKLE ROSE BUCK BONHAM. (Honeysuckle Rose is also the name of a famous song composed by Andy Razaf and Thomas "Fats" Waller. It is never heard in the film. Buck's latest homecoming is greeted with mixed feelings by his wife and son who are glad to see him. After a nice dinner, they make some homemade ice cream. The closeness they share in this sequence symbolizes what happens next in a surprising moment for everyone. It comes after another quarrel between Buck and Viv, something they muat have had regularly lately when Buck came home. This time their spat leads to a reunion in song that lights up the screen and genuinely proves the love they have for each other is stronger than any argument or disagreement. Never has it been so expressed so well on screen like this. Cannon does her own singing and does a beautiful job on the Kris Kristofferson song,"Loving You Is Easier." Life on the road was lonely for Buck and he quietly confesses that he did kiss another woman. She is played by Amy Irving who you may recognize from Carrie (1976) and The Fury (1978). In Honeysuckle Rose, she plays the daughter of Buck's close friend,Garland (Lily Ramsey). What makes the entire film enjoyable is Nelson's singing. These songs stand out: On The Road Again(the opening number) and Whiskey River. Carol Sobieski, William D. Wittliff and John Binder originally wrote the screenplay with Gustav Stevens and Gustav Molander, two mutual friends who inspired them. Although the end result is a bit weak and very familiar, Nelson and Cannon carry the simplistic plot well and you feel for their characters right up to the end. What makes the film work is its documentary feel as if it could be about any country singer on the road. Emmylou Harris makes a cameo appearance with Willie as the girl dressed in a blue and white cowboy suit. Honeysuckle Rose is produced by Gene Taft and directed by Jerry Schatzberg (The Seduction of Joe Tynan). It is one of the summer's welcome surprises. It is rated PG/Parental Guidance and is playing at the CAPITOL THEATRE. July 18,1980 Copyright Rick Jackson 1980

DEATHLY HALLOWS 2 (WARNER BROTHERS, 2011)****

2011-07-18T21:08:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Harry Potter fans worldwide have suddenly made their hero a cult figure and the box office figures for its first four days confirms it. Not being a big Harry Potter fan, I still have enjoyed the films and even read some of the books. With the opening of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, there is equal cause to expect a slam bang finish and audience expectations have been met. I,too, was elated and surprised by the literate script for this last and eighth entry and Alexandre Desplat has composed an unforgettable score to help you remember Harry as the latest incarnation of what a hero means. As you will see, even if you have read the book, there is a lot more to Harry than in previous films. Written by Steve Kloves based on J.K. Rowling's best selling novel, Part Two picks up from Part One with an opening that is not totally unexpected. What makes the conclusion to this conclusion stand out is the way it ties together certain plot points by recalling key events in the story in order for you to properly gain a better understanding of what you are about to see by film's end. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are noticeably older and their acting has contributed to the credibility of making their fictional counterparts arguably memorable beyond any fictional character you may have seen adapted to the screen. The bevy of supporting characters has made the series of books come alive and apart from some moviegoers who lacked the patience to stick each film out or care about the Rowling's creative imagination which was clearly evident from the inordinate plot twists. Warner Brothers has clearly taken on the assignment in building up the author's enthusiasm by instilling with each frame the skills of many craftsmen to bring each of the book's many nuances and basic plots to life as if you were at home watching the books come to life in your living room. Anyone who has read them will attest to the veracity in keeping the events true to their origins and, despite some scenes that were re-arranged or left out, moviegoers and readers have not been disappointed. The gothic architecture and period of Harry Potter is not well defined for it may be in the future or not. Essentially as I have said it is all part of the creative magination of Miss Rowling and whether or not it stands next to Lewis Carroll's Aventures of Alice In Wonderland is, perhaps, too early to discuss. But it is no secret, Carroll's imagination created characters who have remained dear to both children and adults. You only have to remember last year's adaptation of Alice In Wonderland by Tim Burton which was well received. As you watch Deathly Hallows Part Two unfold, you are first told to put on your 3D glasses and as many hearts and minds sit patiently through the trailers, the theatre is quiet save you might miss an important moment when the feature finally begins and there are many scenes in the first half that are meant to be cliffhangers because you can't wait to see where director David Yates is going to go and if Mr. Kloves has added or changed the book. Desplat's music score enhances even the simplest sequence and as you hear each crescendo is meant to equal your heartbeat because you are right up there with Harry, Ron and Hermione. When each of them makes a move, you can almost feel them breath everything it takes to magically maintain your undivided attention for over two hours. The mysteries hidden around each corner are greeted with equal excitement and anticipation and the special and visual effects departments have conjured up the right amount of solid entertainment. The reognizable trappings of Potter and his suspicions are old hat but Daniel Radcliffe instills the boy inside the fully grown adult whispers of his youth when he encountered the evil Voldemort and his wicked ways. If you look closely, you will still see the young Harry at work for he hasn't changed in attitude or appearance so as not to spoil Rowling's characterization of him. Expectedly he has grown in the part and there is plenty of evidence here. Grint and Watson have also brought to Ron and Hermione a chance to be as good as Harry for they are a threesome who have stayed together and complimented each other right up to the fitting conclusion. It's nice to see the rest of the cast gain notoriety for their individual contributions in making each Harry Potter adventure larger than life: Michael Gambon as the kindly Dumbledore, Robbie Coltrane as the lovable and dependable Hagrid,Maggie Smith as Minerva, Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, and Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, who may well be remembered as one of the screen's best villains. As you ruminate and discuss Harry Potter with friends and family, you can feel satisfied by this strong ending to one of the best loved series in film history. It is rated PG, with the warnings: not recommended for young children, some scary scenes and violence. July 17,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

LAST NIGHT (E-ONE, 2010)****

2011-07-15T21:23:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Written and directed by Massy Tadjedin, Last Night is an artistic triumph from beginning to end. Watching it is like listening to a torch song or, in particular, k.d. lang's Constant Craving because it builds up slowly to a climax which finishes on a climactic note that is haunting and unforgettable. As you are slowly introduced to the four main characters: Joanna and Michael Reed(Keira Knightley and Sam Worthington), Laura (Eva Mendes) and Alex (Guillaume Canet), you become involved in a character study about human relationships and the behaviours of each of the four as they try to reconcile their past and present without going over the top emotionally. Tadjedin, in her literate script, almost defines the way a couple reacts and behaves today as if she understands or has been through a similar situation described in her movie. In a completely different context, Last Night could easily be a film directed by Mike Nichols, despite the fact the two may never have met. The four main characters in Last Night convey the attitudes of two men and women who have trouble communicating with each other but still have the ability to speak their minds in settings where they each have found a certain, if not small, comfort in discussing their innermost thoughts and feelings as you learn how their different paths have converged in the present. Knightley's Joanna is a confused and sexually repressed woman who isn't sure where her marriage is going and her female intuition tells her to question her husband's fidelity rather than trust him. Her sense of humour and quiet demeanor reveals her true character as a woman in a difficult situation that might be a total figment of her imagination because there is no proof of her suspicions being true. While you watch Worthington's Michael share a bed with Laura there is a definite feeling of wilful infidelity on his part as he tries to cover up his guilt by justifying his tryst as a matter of human lust. As the two of them talk, you are shown their weaknesses as characters who are easily persuaded to do what their minds want rather than exercise any normal restraint. Later on you see Joanna test her infidelity which is recoiled by her own guilt that never really goes too far because she is smart enough to realize what is really going on even if her facial expressions and body language are exactly the opposite. Canet's honesty in plating a man who may not be the definition of a gigolo is open to interpretation. His strong acting is convincing and you are left to think about him. Mendes is equally swayed by her own emotions and her cocksure mentality only proves the wiles of a woman in love and what she will do to get what she wants. By film's end, you are not shaken by any of the transgressions of these four but illuminated by the fact they are responsible adults who are prepared to accept the way things are in their current relationships and may be ready to move on. Still, you have to be aware of the way they are behaving when they are with each other to gauge the truth of their individual situations. Tadjedin is careful not to give any pat solutions to the the problems inherent in any of their love lives and without the usual wars of emotions you are left with a more intelligent view of human decency and respect for both sexes. Like Mike Nichols' Closer (2004) where the characters were all left to feel they were special, the four in Last Night remain same respectable persons they were at the very beginning. The conclusion ends on a more poignant note thanks to the quiet strains of Clint Mansell's music score that is also kept nicely in the background throughout the film. It is rated PG, with the warnings: mature theme and sexual content. July 15, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

THE BEAVER (E-ONE, 2011)**

2011-07-14T22:19:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON The Beaver is an unabashed failure. Despite a good cast starring Mel Gibson and Jdie Foster as parents Walter and Meredith, there is an abundance of mediocrity that is so consistent you are hoping at some point for a change when the story of a depressed family man and the puppet beaver literally takes over instead of being relegated to a secondary role as if Foster, who also directs, did not want her latest to be compared to previous movies about ventriloquism which The Beaver is not. Gibson uses his own voice as the Beaver and it ruins the mystery of the central character. It is never explained why he uses a Cockney accent. In his screenplay, Kyle Killen mistakenly avoids the serious or real side of depression which it shouldn't have and this,too, brings across the tedious and tiresome tangents about family love with the kids of a depressed parent. The seriousness of the film's theme is left behind when it should have been addressed by a better developed plot and characters who are not always desperate and unconvincing. Foster does give you an opportunity to see Gibson act again and he doesn't disappoint when he communicates the levels of depression he feels and the emotions that even he doesn't understand which is realistic to a point. Anton Yelchin plays Porter, Gibson's resentful son, and Jennifer Lawrence is Norah. Had the film tried to be more entertaining and been a film about ventroliquism instead of eschewing it, The Beaver might have impressed as more compelling entertainment. It is rated PG, with the warnings: maturem theme, not recommended for children and language may offend. July 14, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

EVEN THE RAIN (2010)***

2011-07-12T10:50:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON The Spanish language film, Even The Rain(Tambien la Illuvia)is a compelling semi-documentary account of the water crisis in Bolivia that hampers a small cast and crew from making a film about Christopher Columbus. Set in 2000, he lines between fiction and reality are the defining moments captured on film as the filmmakers use locals as actors and hope there will be time to finish their film before a major outbreak stops them. Iciar Bollain directs each scene with an air of authority and concern, with each scene drawing on his infinite patience and human understanding shining through when Even The Rain calls for it. I was reminded of the 1954 film, Salt Of The Earth which also dealt with a real strike and focused on the lives of the inhabitants who lived there. Although the issues of the people were more defined in Salt of The Earth and went deeper, Even The Rain touches on the political and social consequences without straying from the initial reason the film crew is there. Gael Garcia Bernal is well cast as Sebastian, the director while Luis Tosar plays Costa, the producer. While watching the crew work, you will notice the collaborative efforts of both men and how different they are when it comes to their welfare and the sympathies of the low paid workers who are hired as extras. It is clear they have never been in a film before and it is interesting now Bollain captures everything on both sides of the camera with the ultimate hope it will all be finished. The locals are resilient and brave to a point even under the most trying circumstances when it looks as if the water strike will escalate at any moment. The drector cleverly takes advantage of the local media that ends up in the film and the opportunity to inform moviegoers of the growing need for water worldwide. Like Salt of the Earth, the film within the film is a low budget independent effort and without stereotyping the underlying racist issues that are not raised for obvious reasons. The strikers are also equally militant and bitter and the violence typical of Hollywood. What makes Even The Rain so absorbing is the meticulous way Bollain draws your sympathy and point of view of what is really going on while watching a real-life film crew at work. It is so real you almost forget this is not a documentary. It is rated 14A, with the warning: coarse language. July 10, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

TREE OF LIFE (E-ONE, 2011)****

2011-07-10T21:35:00.002-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Written and directed by Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life is a bold, beautiful film where the moviegoer is taken on an unforgettable ride where you explore the meaning of your existence via the director's unique way of storytelling. Winner of the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, critics are already comparing it to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 classic, 2001:A Space Odyssey. However, both films are quite different despite the fact they may be confusing at first to moviegoers used to seeing character driven plots and car chases. Where 2001 had an epic structure and was a mythic vision of the relationship between humanity and technology, The Tree of Life examines more concisely on the value we place on family and our lives in general. In order for us to understand Malick's point of view we must be patient with the order of things he wants us to follow. Without going too deep like Kubrick did by using symbolism such as bones that turn into instruments of destruction, Malick prefers through a computer series of frames to convey what the public eye can perceive by a creation sequence that uses sub-atomic occurrences that atretch nanoseconds into cosmic events that condense time. Through the use of dyes, flares, carbon dioxide, paints chemicals and milk, the images you see are striking to the naked eye and your curiosity is awakened as if you are watching something extraordinary for the first time in years. Douglas Trumbull, whose work in the special effects field includes such films as The Andromeda Strain, KiClose Encouters of the Third, Blade Runner, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the short, To The Moon And Beyond that later evolved into Journey To The Stars and,later, 2001. What Malick introduces first is the idea of the perfect family that has grown up to do what society has expected and the modern life adrift in the 1950s. The O'B fien family has suffered a deep loss with the death of one of the sons. Thr middle brother is Jack who is talking to his father on the phone about his dead brother and it is through this loss of innocence that is gently replaced by a tree being planted in front of a building. From this point on, the flashback in time is a fond reminiscence and the tone of the entire film is set with the voiceover narration and the whispers to draw you closer to the characters and their emotional state of mind. Malick returns to the 1950s more than once to remind you of the nostalgic price we put on family and the values that have endured through thr generations as exemplified by the O'Briens. In between there is a dramatization of the formation of the universe with Jack O'Brien's heard underneath as if it were a silent echo asking the questions that are normally asked in a typical family setting. When the sequence gets to the formation of earth, including volcanoes and microbes, the camera stops at a beach where there are dinosaurs. As it fades, the O'Briens are back as a youger family starting out in the 1950s. Jack is a baby who is quickly followed by his two siblings. The growth of the family also shows you the parents, notably the father played by Brad Pitt. The overwhelming love shared here is mixed by generational attitudes of behaviour betweem the father and his sons which is more paternal and strict compared to the mother's more permissive attitude. It is in this decade, there is unemployment for the father when the plant where he works closes and the family must relocate. Without too much dialogue and fanfare on the soundtrack, the film returns to the beginning when the adult Jack (Sean Penn) is waling on rocky terrain and his memories cloud his memory like a crowd in the streets. The essential point in comprehending the entire film is not let it be overshadowed by 2001 but by the intrinsic qualities of life as shown throughout as a main overall focal point from Malick's insistence to attempt to make a profound study of man's deliberate lifestyle, as shown through the decades and, without pounding you over the head in weoghty symbolism, you are entertained by the inordinate sense of human feeling evoked from beginning to end. The 1950s upbringing may have been inspired by the director's own teenage years and this gives The Tree of Life a far greater scope of reality and vision than most films about the same decade that rely more heavily on rock and roll as the main thematic stivking point (i.e. American Grafitti and its imitations. Visual effects supervisor Dan Glass assaults the senses with a euphoric display that may define further films of its type. They are carefully placed and shown with equal meaning so as not to get carried away too soon. The only comparison worth noting with 2001 is in the music score Alexandre Desplat has composed for Tree of Life. It is one of the best of the year because it brings across the various subtle nuances and documentary feel of the fictional elements to greater heights of meaning and comprehension, well beyond the literal as you watch the levels of simplicity and plaintive qualities as if the director demands their attention. It is rated PG, with the warning: mature theme. July 8,2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

LARRY CROWNE (ALLIANCE, 2011)**

2011-07-05T22:19:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON not even the star power of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts can save Larry Crowne from being a dismal comedy. Co-written and co-produced and directed by Hanks, this is a poorly developed story that rings so familiar you are almost shaking your head at the scenes that should have worked but are short-circuited by the lack of screenwriting skills at making a simple story refreshing and entertaining. Roberts looks sensational as Mercedes Tainot, a teacher who follows the rules carefully and almost doesn't get to teach because regulations require classes must have a certain number of students. When she is one short, in comes Hanks as the title character. In their screenplay, Hanks and Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) try too hard at creating an original work out of an old idea that didn't need to be recycled one more time. After the requisite first scene between its two leading stars, your interest quickly gets lost in the long and boring niceties of the classroom where the students couldn't show any less interest than us watching from the comfort of our seats. Crowne's neighbours back home are meant to save the film with Cedric the Entertainer as Lamar and B'Ella (Taraji P. Henson) but they are more annoying. Larry Crowne fails to impress. It is rated PG, with the warning: language may offend. July 3, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS (FOX, 2011)**

2011-07-05T21:49:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Written by Sean Anders, John and Jared Stern, based on the 1938 novel by Richard and Florence Atwater, Mr. Popper's Penguins is an uneven family film about the title character who inherits some penguins. After introducing you to Mr.Popper ably played by Jim Carrey, you soon learn the penguins are not a bad joke but a chance to laugh at some hilarious situations. If it weren't for thw utter predictability of the plot, it might have worked. The screenwriters are content to let Carrey carry the story with his comic timing and it quickly runs out of steam. Granted, there are some moments worth a laugh but it doesn't help you in remembering the film as a whole as a memorable summer flick. Had it been an animated film, it might have worked better. The six penguins that Popper must look after are not cute enough and when they try to dance with Carrey it is entertaining. However, it is short-lived. When Mr.Popper discovers the penguins will behave better when they watch Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush and others set in a cold climate, the story begins to take off but it,too, doesn't last. The screenwriters add a subplot when they have Mr.Popper usee his skills in architecture and real estate to persuade a wealthy socialite named Mrs.Van Gundy (Angela Lansbury) to sell one of her buildings. The whole thing becomes tedious as you wait for the inevitable and the hijinks that ensue serve as a mild diversion at best. As for the penguins, you know beforehand that male and female penguins produce offspring and this only adds a bigger headache. Had the story been better developed as a charming fairy tale and retained the book's basic appeal for kids 8 to 80, there might have been a superior effort. Mr.Popper's Penguins may appeal more to younger kids. It is rated G. July 3, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

OUTSIDE THE LAW (2011)****

2011-07-02T10:16:00.002-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Outside The Law is a compelling and powerful account of Algeria's independence beginning in 1925 when they French authorities forced the people off their land and killed those who resisted. Told from the Algerian point of view, director Rachid Bouchareb (Days of Glory)focuses on three brothers and their mother who are determined to get their homeland back. As you watch each of the brothers (Messaoud,Said and Abdelkader) take a different path, they are reunited by their attempts to overthrow the insurgents. Jamel Debbouze, Roschedy Zem and Sami Bouajila contribute to the film's collaborative plot threads by conveying the historical, though fictional, details with an air of authority and unity. Their individual convictions can be watched closely by their patriotic duty to their homeland and their respect toward their mother from whom they are instilled with their vision for Algeria along with the rest of the country as a powerful symbol of their determination to regain control of Algeria. Time and the four seasons of the year figure prominently in the narrative as a point of historical reference in order to help you understand the political influences and sense of history that guided an entire country through right wing demonstrations and the formation of the FLN or resistance movement. When the family moves to Paris, the story gains momentum and so does the collective futures of the three brothers as they grow up from boyhood to adults with the same vision. With each of their destinies there is a price to pay and it is in keeping with the personal and agonizing past they carry with them. Said works as a pimp on the streets and later runs a boxing ring, while Messaoud fights for the French in Indochina where he learns a parallel between the French takeover of Algeria and the Viet Cong in Vietnam. The rise of socialism and the struggle for freedom is fueled by the individual brothers' aim thanks to their devotion to their mother who holds the family together through their years of tyranny. When one of the brothers dies, it is their respect for her they never forget. An interesting character is Colonel Faivre (Bernard Blancan)who works for the French police and is determined to arrest the brothers and quell the resistance. They will do anything to get them and this increases the tensions and the efforts to fight back outside the law, which explains the film's title. What makes the film resonate with equal purpose is the reality of the situation that is constant throughout. Never does the director abandon the overall point of the film by reducing it to a level in which sentiment ruins everything. In fact there is little emotion showed except at the beginning and near the end. The characters and stories parallel each other without the use of flashbacks so you can't lose sight of the bigger issue of why the brothers are reacting the way they do. An interesting comparison to Outside The Law is The Battle of Algiers in 1965 which chronicled the country's road to independence. Filmed in black and white, it is more persuasive in tone since the entire country was involved in winning Algeria's independence. Still, Outside The Law remains a landmark film in its visual stlye that is arguably borrowed and influenced by the Hollywood gangster films and westerns as some critics have claimed. It is rated 14A, with ther warning: violence. July 1, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

TRANSFORMERS 3(3D) PARAMOUNT, 2011)**

2011-07-01T13:53:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Transformers 3: Dark of The Moon has enough action to fill your weekly action fix. This second sequel to the 2007 original is in 3D and despite the absence of 3D effects, your heart will be racing with each futuristic minute. This time the Autobots must race to the moon to beat the Decepticons from getting a Cybertronian spacecraft and learn what secrets it holds. Screenwriter Ehren Kruger almost loses your attention by focusing more on the dialogue. Unlike Revenge of the Fallen in 2009 which raised the bar in the battle sequences, you are left with a tedious subplot where the human cast of characters make the film less interesting by the insipid undercurrent of familiar emotions and unnecessary hijinks as if it was needed to fill the 154 minutes of screen time. after introducing the autobots and decepticons, there are too many characters to hold your attention. The wasted dialogue and requisite emotional undercurrent of mediocrity almost drags the film down and only when the robots appear is there enough action to keep you absorbed. Shiahe LeBoeuf's return is almost an afterthought and this time he never gets to grow as the heroic figure Sam Witwicky should aspire to. Instead he is relegated to second string next to the transformers who have taken over. Throughout this sequel his vocal delivery is limited to more juvenile behaviour and, in the end,the actor fails to do the job he has been paid to do. The action in the first half is reduced to comic book violence and you patiently wait for the moment when director Michael Bay is going to get the film energized enough to get your heartbeat racing with the action so you can sit back and really enjoy the entire moviegoing experience. What ruins the flow of the action are the characters whose tongue in cheek humour is meant to relieve the tension that slowly builds up but takes too long to develop where it is supposed to lead. The screen erupts in spurts during the first hour and you are left with an empty void until the inevitable conclusion. What Bay is hoping will work is Leonard Nimoy as the voice of Sentinel Prime. If it weren't for Kruger's insistence to borrow from Star Trek's book of tricks, you would be left with a shallow shell of an action flick. Granted, you are not cheated any great battle aequences, there is still little left that is memorable. Steve Jablonsky doesn't disappoint with a music score to augment the action you do see and sound effects editor Tobias Poppe delivers with enough bone crunching noise to keep you from falling asleep. More on the plus side is the use of documentary footage featuring John F.Kennedy and Richard Nixon acknowledging the contribution of the United States'participation in the space race. It helps set up the importance of the Autobots who must destroy the Decepticons which you already know must happen. Thankfully, you are spared the political Russian/American attitudes and you are left to watch again Walter Cronkite's reactions that say it all. Frances McDormand and John Malkovich appear as comic foils for the robots and try seriously to give the film some sound base of reality. The former plays Mearing like a staff sergeant at boot camp, while the latter is happy repeating part of the role he played in Burn After Reading. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is no substitute for Megan Fox. Her sexy role acts as Carly, LaBoeuf's girlfriend is a mere diversion only and she never gets to show off her mettle as an action star. Although the action sequences are well done, Transformers3:Dark of the Moon fails to live up to the first two in the series. It is rated PG, with the warnings: violence, language may offend and not recommended for young children. June 30, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

CARS 2(3D)(DISNEY/PIXAR, 2011)**

2011-06-28T21:04:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Cars 2 (in 3D)lacks the charm of the 2006 original. Despite the anticipation of revisiting Lightning McQueen and Mater, the screenplay by Ben McQueen suffers from a weak story from John Lasseter, Brad Lewis and Dan Fogelman who go over the top in creating an interesting plot for kids of all ages. The addition of 3D doesn't fo anything but make the young set under 7 wear the glasses when there is nothing special for them to see. In other words, there aren't any special effects to hold their attention. Owen Wilson returns as the voice of Lightning McQueen but this time the car doesn't get to do anything like the role in the original. The homespun quality of the film gets lost in a James Bondish sub plot that wears a bit thin beause the screenplay takes too long for the cars involved to get to the heart of the story or lack of. The weak link is the idea of turning the quaint cars into a serious themed affair about a new fuel and the foreign cars that are suspect in a meandering series of sequences that serve nothing but to prolong everything until the inevitable conclusion. As you watch the first World Grand Prix event, you can feel the adrenalin and the excitement of the cars but it doesn't add up to much. Axelrod is the car villain and Eddie Izzard creates your average bad guy image but the screenplay leaves little room for it to be hated. Younger moviegoers (under age 7) may not understand the significance of the new fuel called Allinol and what it means to the other cars. The other car races that comprise the Grand Prix is inferior to John Frankenheimer's 1966 classic, but this is an animated film and the opportunity to make it a great flick is lost in the grandiose scheme to outdo the original and the Pixar arm of Disney. Cars 2 in 3D is a major disappointment. It is rated G. June 26, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011 Michael Caine does add credence to Finn McMissile but his contribution is given short shrift by the thinnest of cartoon plots ever written.

IN A BETTER WORLD (MONGREL, 2010)***

2011-06-28T16:45:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON In A Better World, this year's Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film, is a profound character study about the human capacity for compassion and understanding and how little it takes to test it. On a more superficial level, it is the story of two sons and their fathers. Written by Danish director Susanne Biers and Anders Thomas Jensen, it is told like a documentary when the cameras show the picturesque landscape of Kenya substituting for the Sudanese refugee camp where Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) works as a Swedish doctor. It is there you see the plight of the natives and learn of their tfate at the hands of a sadistic warlord. English is spoken with sub-titles off and on to give authority to the dramatic dimensions of the plot. After introducing us to Anton you then meet the two sons who figure prominently as the innocent voices of Denmark, a place the director wanted to know what would happen if a blissful country like this was disrupted. What makes the film work is the cast who makes each subtle nuance symbolize the rude awakening that follows when the silence of domesticity is suddenly broken beginning with Anton's crumbling marriage to Marianne (Trine Dyrrholm). Their arguments which are not shown are related through the reaction by their older son, Elias, who doesn't understand why his parents may be separating. When Elias befriends Christian (Johnk Nielsen), a new boy who has moved from London with his father Claus (Ulrich Thomsen) you also learn of his emotional hurt since his mother died of cancer prior to their move. The loss troubles him more than he is able to comprehend, and when he meets Elias they are able to share in their deeply troubled lives. At school Elias is bullied until Christian defends him with a knife. It creates the requisite accident to bring into focus Bier's main theme of the interruption of peace. Without spending a lot of time on the incidents, you are left discern the motives of each, including the fight between the father of one child, a mechanic, and Anton. This is the second example that draws you closer to the main theme and it may offend moviegoers because of the violence that erupts without warning. What is even more disturbing is Elias' determination to settle what Anton is not able to do, but this only compounds the problem. Bier seems to be saying that Denmark is only solving its ills by bandaid solutions rather than dealing with them more directly like the boys. However, Bier fails to push the proverbial button far enough and the story loses its sense od urgency as fast as it begins. The emotional weight of the characters reveal more, but it, too, fails to impress beyond the actual realities it conveys in spurts. When the story returns to the refugee camp, you see the warlord wounded with demands to be taken care of immediately. His demeanor is not as dangerous as it should have been compared to Forrest Whitaker's Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland (2006). Had Biers not intercut between stories and focused more on one of them, it might have made a more powerful film. Still, it does cover the profound and unstable influences of a country that can easily be ripped apart by tragedy and within this context there is meaning to the film's title beyond the obvious that being dead you are better off. Christian and Elias symbolize the hope they need to carry on and Bier suggests this indirectly in an awkward fashion that is not entirely convincing but it will have to do. In A Better World is not the strongest Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film, but it is still worth seeing for the enigmatic realties it brings across within its simplistic theme. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and disturbing content. June 27, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (MONGREL, 2011)****

2011-06-28T14:44:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON From the vivid imagination of writer/director comes an inspiring and thoroughly enjoyable comedy called Midnight In Paris. Like the chimes that herald the midnight hour, there is nothing but sheer movie magic to behold every innocent moviegoer who is ready to laugh at something genuinely funny. What is even better, if you are a fan of Woody Allen's work, you will be enthralled by the way the story ofGil, a frustrated American writer whose novel about a nostalgia shop holds promise but right now he is lonely and aching for something that will solve his perplexing human problems. With the stroke of midnight, Allen makes you wait to see where the taxi takes him and like Gil you,too,are invited to believe in a tale where the impossible can be possible if you have the right faith and mindset to let your wandering spirit have the chance to live a dream, a fantasy of inordinate and wonderful imaginings beyond as if you were Alice in the looking glass and all you have to do is be patient and let yourself go long enough to appreciate where Allen wants to take you. Just like he asked you to believe that fictional characters could leap off the screen in The Purple Rose of Cairo in 1985, you can, once again, relate to the people Gil meets in a club where Cole Porter is singing "Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love." It is there he casually meets F.Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, Ernest Hemingway,and William Faulkner. Their idle banter and conversation create such movie magic you hope you won't wake jup in your theatre seat and wonder if you have dozed off and dreamed it all. This is the way Gil feels in his attitude and Owen Wilson personifies an author's biggest fan who seizes an opportunity to get one of them to read it. At various times throughout the film you aren't sure if Gil is dreaming this or Allen. The answer is both. It is simply fantastic to be able to sit back quietly and take it all in as an observer and the best part is you can laugh and smile from beginning to end. Other famous people Gil meets are Salvador Dali, film director Luis Bunuel, and T.S. Eliot.I'll let you find your favourites when you see the film. Jazz plays a large part in Allen's body of work and like he did with Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue in Manhattan (1979), he uses Sidney Bechet's "Si tu vois ma mere to evoke the mystery and life on the streets of Paris in an effective montage that sets the tone for what happens next. It may remind you of two earlier comedies set in France: Billy Wilder's Irma La Douce (1963) and Blake Edwards' Victor/Victoria (1982). As your mind wanders through Allen's latest funny (remember Humphrey Bogart in Play It Again Sam in 1972), your eyes will capture a slice of life only the movies allows you to do. The cast assembled to play everybody is one of the best in a Woody Allen film with Marion Cotillard playing Adriana the inspiration for a great painting Gil sees in a museum later. Kathy Bates is wonderful as Gertrude Stein and Adrien Brody is sensational as Dali. The main star is Wilson whose enthusiasm helps make you feel like him and as he visits the ghosts of literature at midnight, you are envious. Yet, at the same time, you are entertained to the hilt by what is real and/or imaginary. Rachel McAdams is perfect as Inez, Gil's sexually repressed wife who has trouble believing in Gil's late night adventures. Her father is suspicious and hires a private detective to see where Gil goes. How Allen ties reality and fantasy together with a surprise or two along the way is the true genius of Woody Allen's ability to make comedies for all of us to enjoy. Here's to more laughs from him. Meanwhile, there is Midnight In Paris, one of the year's smartest and brightest movies. It is rated PG, with the warning: mature theme. June 26, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

THE CONSPIRATOR (ALLIANCE, 2011)****

2011-06-27T06:32:00.002-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON from director Robert Redford comes an incisive and well acted historical drama about a little known fact about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Set in Savannah, Georgia on April 14, 1865, screenwriter James Solomon revists the day Lincoln was shot before details of the film's titular character reveal an interesting footnote in American history. Robin Wright plays Mary Surratt, the civilian accused of knowing about the assassination because John Wilkes Booth stayed at her boarding house in Washington, D.C. with the other perpetrators who stand on trial before a military tribunal. What makes the film work are the dramatic sounds of procedural justice echoing through the characters as you watch this re-enactment play out as if you had stepped in a time machine. Wright's calm demeanor and quiet manner of speaking speaks volumes as the woman who has been convicted long before her sentence and Redford allows justice to take place without long speeches and political rhetoric. What appears to be a long road is delivered by a distinguished supporting cast who brings the entire proceedings across with equal brevity and temerity. James McAvoy plays Surratt's attorney, Frederick Aiken, with authority and your eyes are focused on him as he presents his case and free Surratt. Despite priot knowledge within the framework of history, it is not as predictable but it is more precisely, in its telling, an amazing story where the acting ensemble is absorbing in its delivery of their dialogue and conversations to inject a sense of importance that is more generally expected in a documentary. In his defence, McAvoy is well suited as the boyish and inexperienced boy who you see lying wounded on the field of battle during the Civil War. When it ends, the boy has become a man and it is within this context, there is the the utter innocence of the soldier up against the more experienced and more powerful halls of justice in where Aiken must overcome in order to provide a decent defence. The literate script gives a perfect eye witness to history through the voice of Kevin Kline as Secretary of War Edwin M.Stanton, and in his presence he stands for the ultimate justice in seeing Surratt tried and convicted as part of the political wave of thinking for the time because most of the key politicians were appointed by Lincoln and in his memory there has to be proper deliberation. As you watch the courtroom antics you can't help notice the effective arguments that made Lincoln's presidency so popular and crucial in the minds of Americans. Helping Aiken is defense attorney Reverdy Johnson well played by Tom Wilkinson and through his strong performance, the echoes of justice ring loud and clear as he discusses the case with Aiken with usual aplomb. McAvoy and Wilkinson act as a great team and they pull off a defense equally as exciting as one may see today. The other notable cast features Colm Meaney as General Hunter, Danny Huston as Joseph Holt and Justin Long as Nicholas Baker. The assassination of Lincoln early in the film reminded me of the unforgettable assasination sequence in D.W. Griffith's silent classic, The Birth Of A Nation(1915)which starred Raoul Walsh as Booth and Joseph Henabery as Lincoln. The visual relationship among Lincoln, Booth, and the audience is as shocking as it is in Redford's latest. The Conspirator is a timeless piece of cinema. It is rated PG, with the warnings: violence and not recommended for children. June 25, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD (MONGREL, 2011)***

2011-06-21T22:17:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON In his latest documentary producer/director Morgan Spurlock succeeds in attracting your interest in how companies market their brands and products in various ways. Unlike Super Size Me which was more effective in pointing out what happens if you eat at fast food restaurants a lot, you don't get to see how much revenue there is as result of the executive decisions to market and distribute what a xompany wants to sell. However, Spurlock brings to the screen an insightful and entertaining doc which many moviegoers are enjoying. Spurlock's technique in getting answers to important questions in the global world of advertising is irreverent at times, and he has the uncany ability to draw fire and catch his breath without infuriating anyone. If anything, there is an unusual sense of undertaking that is more amusing than you might expect even if the people he interviews are not always honest with their replies. When he goes out to promote this documentary, Spurlock shows enough nerve and ambition that you hope moviegoers will see The Greatest Movie Ever Sold will,out of sheer curiosity, see what there is to marketing your own film in a tough market. Originally called POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Spurlock spent 60 days in Altoona, Pennsylvania to promote it and one of the sponsors he contacted, Mane 'n Tail did not give their approval. Like his contemporary, Michael Moore, Spurlock uses his contacts to ask probing questions in such an arbitrary way, you can't help laugh at the responses and graphics that go along with them. The music for the film was supplied by Matt and Kim, a dance-punk duo from Brooklyn, and the rock band OK Go sings the theme song, The Greatest Song I Ever Heard over the end credits. The list of company names who agreed to give their permission include Amy's Kitchen,The Aruba Tourism Authority,Ban, Carrera Sunglasses, JetBlue, Merrell, and Old Navy. You will recognize director Quentin Tarantino, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, and Noam Chomsky, professor emeritus from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Greatest Movie Ever Sold offers you something different and it is worth seeing. It is rated PG, with the warnings: language may offend and not recommended for young children. June 20, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

GREEN LANTERN (WARNER BROTHERS, 2011)***

2011-06-19T19:37:00.002-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Based on the character in DC Comics, The Green Lantern is the latest superhero to reach the big screen. The creation of Bill Finger, Martin Nodell, John Broome and Gil Kane is similar to Superman and this first part of a planned trilogy is albeit predictable but filled with action from beginning to end. Ryan Reynolds is well cast in the title role who is also known as Hal Jordan, a cocky test pilot who is in love with fellow pilot Carol Ferris (Blake Lively. In their screenplay, Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg waste no time in introducing Green Lantern's nemesis, Hector Hammond and the origins of the Green Lantern Corps, and how the he gets his power. What is interesting is his connection to humans in a well conceived prologue where the Green Lanterns have to deal with a formidable enemycalled the Parallax who plans to destroy the balance of power in the universe and is headed for earth where it can easily build up more power at the expense of our weakness of being easily afraid. Unbeknownst to us, the Parallax has hired an inside man to prepare for his inevitable appearance. Reynolds instils Jordan with the requisite courage and determination to succeed as a pilot and as he tries to fill his late father's shoes as a capable pilot who fears nothing, Hal is a worthy adversary for the good side as the truth about his qualities of fighting against the Parallax quickly become clear. When he is chosen to wear the green ring with special powers, it is in true storytelling fashion a predictable turn that helps keep you absorbed right from the start. plot develops, you learn how important the Green Lantern's place is in the order of things when he is there to serve as a galactic saviour who can keep intergalactic order by his sheer will that will ultimately win over evil. How it also relates to human beings as a gentle race of people prone to fail out of fear proves through Jordan's fallibility, the point in which humanity has the ability to muster the strength to conquer our fears and save the day. Any notions of humans being perfect are quickly dismissed by Hector's innate ability to be a futuristic Dr. Frankenstein in creating his own monster as a way to get back at what he sees as a major flaw in humans. However, the screenwriters point out with more certainty the all more powerful concept of our downfall as humans when we believe we can rule the world if given the chance and Peter Sarsgaard fills the role with equal relish and villainy. Lively plays Carol as the undisputed rival between Hal and Hector, with Tim Robbins supplying a worthy anchor for support on the human side as Hector's father. There is plenty of action and director Martin Campbell maintains a steady pace. James Newton Howard's music score is kept in the background until it is necessary to underscore the action with enough pulse pounding thrills. The rest of the cast features Mark Strong as Sinestro, Hal's mentor;Angela Bassett as Dr. Amanda Walker; Temeura Morrison as Abin Sur, and Michael Clarke Duncan lends his voice for Kilowog, who teaches Hal Jordan how to be the Green Lantern. As a film in 3D, Green Lantern succeeds in presenting something different and a step in the right direction in proving that maybe 3D is not altogether a gimmick to entice moviegoers. There are ample scenes to keep you glued, including the end credits. It is rated PG, with the warnings: not recommended for young children and violence. June 19, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

LITTLE WHITE LIES (MAPLE, 2011)****

2011-06-18T20:45:00.002-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON From writer/director Guillaume Canet (Tell No One) comes a funny and audacious character study of a close knit group of friends who meet every year at Max and Veronique's cottage by the sea every summer. This year, their time together is met by tragedy when their beloved friend, Ludo is hit by a truck while going home one night on his scooter. It is clear that fate will change this close knit group because this year their get-together will be tested by a shocking confession by one of them, osteopath Vincent (Benoit Magimel) who tells Max, his male host, restauranteur Max (Francois Cluzet) that he has strong feelings for him. Their reaction to this is comical and it starts the film off on a lighter note that remains consistent until the end. In his screenplay, Canet wisely avoids arguments that would ruin the comic flow as the story slowly develops into a nostalgic trip via home movies. It all helps relieve the stress of facing Ludo's medical condition during a time they should be enjoying themselves. When one of them learns about his medical condition it proves how human nature takes over when they spend the majority of their time laughing and having fun on Max's boat. Their frolic is innocent enough and as you watch each of them interact with a range of different emotions, you are brought closer to the real news about Ludo. There isn't one dominating character and Canet allows you to get to know each supporting character because of their importance along the way in the narrative. Cluzet demonstrates, once again, his ability to handle a role as an actor familiar with comedy and drama. The intimate details of Max provide the catalyst for much of the fun, including destroying a wall to find the weasels that have kept him awake all night. The film's title becomes clear in the last half-hour when Canet uses our basic human character flaws as an excuse for our behaviour. To avoid facing the truth you tell little white lies because you believe you can escape the truth when, in actual fact, your guilt rears its ugly head out of the pent up emotions that have lasted for too long. Cluzet is perfectly at home as a genial host whose bursts of temper reveal his humanity as a decent person, especially in the scene he apologizes to a friend's son for admonishing him. In an excellent supporting role, Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose) conveys the inner strength of a once rebellious youth as the pot-smoking Marie. Gilles Lellouche and Laurent Lafitte round out the cast as two lovesick actors named Eric and Antoine. All of the characters comprise a first-rate ensemble cast reminiscent of the theatrical tendency of Jean Renoir's art in the 1939 classic, The Rules of the Game where the function of the film was to express significantly the dramatic thrust of the story by allowing the individual cast members to articulate their lively riposte. The overall meaning of the film lies within the sphere of reflection in the present when each of the friends in Little White Lies interprets their feelings and emotions to such a degree, you can see them returning again next year. Not content to leave things hanging, Canet poignantly reminds you why they are there together and in an episode that may remind you of 1983's The Big Chill, there is one final sequence to connect all their futures as you watch their facial expressions reveal just how fallible they are and how their lives Can be cut short by an equally similar accident or worse. Little White Lies tells in its own arguments about how fragile our lives are within this compelling story of love, life and friendship. You also leave the theatre enriched by something apparently so complex that it resonates by the utter simplicity of the definitions of love, life and friendship. It is rated 14A, with the warning: coarse language. June 17, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

SUPER 8 (PARAMOUNT, 2011)****

2011-06-16T13:23:00.006-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON With Steven Spielberg's name listed as producer, it's too easy to dismiss Super 8 as another movie about aliens by the director of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977) and E.T. --The -Extra-Terrestrial(1982). Critics in both Canada and the United States have whined about Super 8's affinity to be nostalgic for early Spielberg without understanding his genius and ability to make films that remain popular. In Clelia Cohen's book, Steven Spielberg published as part of a series of film books in Cahiers du Cinema calls the Masters of Cinema, Spielberg describes himself as a filmmaker who likes to make the same kind of movies he saw as a boy growing up. He compares himself to Woody Allen who is worshipped primarily for his early films as an inspiration. The scene is acted out in Allen's 1980 film, Stardust Memories and as Spielberg,too, feels a certain connection with his early work, it remains nearly enigmatic for the director of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan to continue to make movies that move kids from 8 to 80 if they are prepared for the magic of the cinema that grew up in the 1960s but remains at the heart of moviegoers everywhere, an opportunity to feel like a kid watching Spielberg impress you once more with ideas that Spielberg has become an expert and bvecause of his success, he has been rewarded mostly by his adoring public for they have continued to support his movies regardless of any familiarity you may find. Super 8 which is written and directed by J.J. Abrams, is a perfect example of the summer flick of a previous generation and there is nothing wrong about the story's consistency to return to one's youth when movies were more entertaining and gentler to appreciate and enjoy. For those critics and moviegoers who have grown tired of Spielberg's penchant to act like a kid again is a testament more to his inspiration to keep movies within the collective sphere of his imagination for where would good movies be without it. Set in a small town much where a group of young friends are busy working on what Spielberg wanted to do after seeing David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, close to the same ages of the kids in Super 8. Spielberg knew then he wanted to make movies and it became a passion for him just like Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney),Alice (Elle Fanning), and Charles (Riley Griffiths)who are making a zombie film when you meet them. They are enjoying themselves like most young teenagers and you are entertained by their energetic and fun times behind the cameras as they try to work an important scene that doesn't work right away until a train comes down the track and their sense of injecting realism in their small film becomes a distinct reality. For Abrams,here is his opportunity to convey a magic time mixed with a story on more than one level when something happens on the tracks moments before the kids see a car driven by a black man stops and warns them. Like them, you are curious as to the meaning of what he said because there is no prologue to set it up. In his screenplay, Abrams is content to revive the science fiction films of the 1950s when movies were made in the wake of the Cold War. Without copying the Grindhouse movies of the same decade that Quentin Tarantino did with Grindhouse, Abrams succeeds in making an awesome movie about passionate kids who get involved in a mystery as if they were all like Joe and Frank Hardy for my generation who loved to get inside a book and let your imagination take over. To keep the story grounded in reality, there is the father/son relationship between Joe and his father Deputy Sheriff Jack (Kyle Chandler) who has become more obsessed with his job since the death of his wife who died in an accident at the local steel mill. The effective manner Abrams brings to the plot's tender side is notwithstanding entirely welcome and it contributes a sense of depth you don't expect right away. The kids in Super 8 with their furtive imaginations hold your attention as they become involved in what may be a government secret operation. You are not sure, but this forces you to keep watching. If you are wondering about the much talked about aliens, I will say they are there but Spielberg's hand gives everything the same suspense he gave Duel (1971) and Jaws (1975). Older moviegoers who are science fiction fans will recognize the influence of such classics asThe Thing (1951) and Alien (1979), but it is his predilection for creating entertainment that primarily sticks with you as the plot develops further along until the fitting conclusion. As for the influence of E.T. you will have to wait and see if it is different from Close Encounters:Special Edition (1980) and E.T. Under Abrams' capable direction, Super 8 is your perfect summer movie matinee for the entire family. It is rated PG. June 12, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

SUPER SIZE ME (ODEON FILMS, 2004)****

2011-06-15T17:19:00.000-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Written and directed by Morgan Spurlock, Super Size Me is a revealing and thought provoking documentary about the overall harmful effects of eating fast foods. In the United States there is an epidemic of obesity attributed to eating in places like McDonalds, Burger King and Wendys. It also exists in Canada but Spurlock focuses his attention in the United States where the population is much bigger. He narrows his focus to McDonalds because he believes they are the worst culprit when it comes to putting on the weight and the health problems that are a direct consequence. What he doesn't realize when he starts his own binging at McDonalds are the dire effects his doctor tells him. Before he begins his 30-day binge he sees a team of three doctors and two fitness instructors who make sure he is healthy enough to go through it. Just ;like McDonalds where they promise the real deal, Spurlock gives you a closeup look at before, during and after the 30 days. After eating one last good meal with his wife, he starts his 30 days by eating nothing but the food at McDonalds. At first, he discovers the taste of it to be great and after two weeks he returns to his doctor who advises him to stop going to McDonalds. He not only gains weight but his cholesterol is dangerously high and his liver is compared to an alcoholic's. For someone who is a teetotaller and a reformed smoker, this is bad news. What else is shocking is the report of two obese women who sued McDonalds and lost because the judge ruled that they didn't prove eating there was the root cause for their weight gain. Spurlock definitely proves that eating fast food is bad for your health no matter where you go or how frequently and you already know before you see this documentary that too much of anything bad for you is a no-no in the first place. Odeon Films distributed a flyer to reinforce Spurlock's film with these facts about fast food in general: Each day one in four Americans eats fast food. McDonalds feeds more than 46 million people a day which is more than the population of Spain. French fries are the most eaten vegetable in America. Sixty per cent of all Americans are either overweight or obese. You'd have to walk seven hours to burn off a Super Size coke, fries and a Big Mac. The average child sees 10,000 TV advertisements a year. Willard Scott, the weatherman on NBC's Today Show, was the first Ronald McDonald. He was fired for being too fat. McDonalds distributes more toys than Toys R Us. The World Health Organization (WHO)has declared obesity a global epidemic. McDonalds calls anyone who eats a lot of their food "heavy users." Before most children can speak, they can recognize McDonalds. 40% of Americans eat outside the home. McDonalds represents 43% of the total U.S. fast food market. More Americans know the ingredients in a Big Mac than the Pledge of Allegiance. Spurlock gives you a persuasive and inside look at fast food and he backs up everything with facts and figures that may be disturbing. To be fair, there is some credence to eating fast food if you eat it in moderation with regular exercise. Super Size Me is one of the best documentaries of the year. Whether or not it serves as a wake-up call will be up to the individual moviegoer. It won the Best Director's Award at the Sundance Film Festival. In the ads for the film there is added this disclaimer: "this film is not affiliated or endorsed by the McDonalds Corporation. Super Size Me is rated PG/Parental Guidance with the warning: coarse language. June 5, 2004 Copyright Rick Jackson 2004 Note: Morgan Spurlock's latesr film, The Greatest Film Ever Sold opens at The Screening Room in Kingston, Ontario on Friday, June 17. Super Size Me was in its second week at the Screening Room seven years ago this week.

BARAN (MIRAMAX, 2001)****

2011-06-15T16:13:00.000-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Baran, an Iranian film written and directed by Majid Majidi, is a powerful story about a young woman who falls in love with a young man working on a construction site. His name is Lateef(Hossein Abedini), an illegal Afghan worker hired by Memar Mohammed (Amir Naji) who is building a multi-story building not far away from the border with Afghanistan. Majidi is not so much concerned with the working conditions as he is with the differences between men and women who are treated differently by tradition. The diaguises they must put on are symbolic of their ever-changing modern-day world. When Memar hires Rahmat, an injured Afghan worker's son, he does not meet the physical requirements of the job, so he becomes the cook and official tea maker for the rest of the labourers. As the story continues to unfold, you learn that Rahmat is really a girl disguised as a man when you see her drop a load of building materials to the consternation of a fellow worker. As I watched Baran, I was reminded of director Herbert Biberman's 1954 film, Salt of the Earth, which dealt with the working conditions of Mexicans. Although Majidi focuses less on the plight of Afghan refugees, their working conditions are checked by officials who visit the construction site. These scenes give the film a harsh edge. The director's latest is another fable told as an unforgettable life lesson with children and water serving as powerful motifs. In Baran, the title character becomes central to the plot as the object of beauty and romance, both romanticized by Lateef when he gets near to her. Water is symbolic of the love shared between Lateef and Baran when he picks up her shoe in the drenching rain near the end. In two other recent films by the director, Children of Heaven (1998) and The Color of Paradise (1999), you can see a certain commonality. In the former, the two young children of a poor labourer bring a sense of hope and relief to their despairing family. When her brother(Mir Farrolch Hashemian)loses the pink shoes that you see being repaired at the very beginning, he finds a way to replace them. His sister(Bahare Seddiqi)has enough faith in his brother that he won't tell his parents. At a local race, he wins first prize instead of third. Majidi crosscuts between the boy's triumphant win and the father who has bought shoes for both of his children, securely tied on the back of his bicycle. At the end when he boy puts his feet in the pond, it is a reminder that the young in Iran may be the one hope for Iran's future, one that will have to wait until the young grow up. In Color of Paradise, Majidi continued his true-to-life fables with a story about Mohammed, a blind boy who teaches his father throughhis sightlessness a basic understanding of life and how it can all end if you don't take the time to care, appreciate and enjoy. Early in the film, you see him chase a cat away from its prey, a tiny bird. Digging through the leaves,he picks it up and then climbs a tree to return to its nest. Although he is too young to understand why God has left him blind,he learns to triumph over his handicap when he meets a blind carpenter. The boy's father also learns almost too late how much the love for his son truly means when he drowns in the water. Majidi's use of sunlight as a sign of hope and redemption for his country lifts your spirits by film's end because you feel the impact of the conclusion more. Baran (which means rain in English)serves as another prime example of Iranian people's subtle power of overcoming diversity with humanity. The evil that surrounds them in the guise of cruelty and punishment are removed by the weight of their own beliefs, traditions and customs. They are underscored by cinematographer Mohammad Davudi's extensive use of a green filter where you are allowed to feel the emotions of the characters as they slowly learn to realize their inner strength. The grayish snow scenes stand for their pain and displeasure as they try to deal with their discontent. As the rain comes down, you may notice Baran's clothes are no longer a dull shade of green but bright green to symbolize hope. The last sequence in the three director's films I have discussed speaks volumes: the boy who is yet to grow up to be a man in Children of Heaven, the ray of light that shines on a boy's hand at the end of Color of Paradise, and the last shot of the young boy's smile at the footprint left in the rain by Baran's shoe. They represent the universality of life through hope and survival. Baran stands alone as a powerful fable that deals in a subtle manner the themes Majidi started in Children of Heaven and The Color of Paradise. It is rated PG/Parental Guidance. June 14, 2002 Copyright Rick Jackson 2002

WINTER IN WARTIME (MONGREL, 2011)***

2011-06-11T13:28:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON This 2008 Winter In Wartime is a compelling war movie from the Netherlands where it was the highest grossing motion picture in December 2008. Not until March 2011 was it find its way into theatres in Canada and the United States. Directed by Martin Koolhoven, you are immediately impressed by the closeup shots of the bleakness of winter and a small town invaded by the Germans. It is at this point you meet Michiel (Martijn Lakemeier), a young boy faced with a shocking truth about his Uncle Ben (Yorick van Wageningen)while helping a British pilot from being killed by the Germans. While you watch the cold literally close in as you watch the closeups of trees covered in snow and ice, the bleakness of winter metaphorically becomes a race for survival from the atrocities of the Nazis and their ways of persuading the local townspeople to expose the members of the Resistance who are determined to restore peace and harmony. What is especially effective are the cold images that match the fears on the faces of the main characters as they deal with the constant threat of being exposed and shot by a German firing squad. Based on the 1972 novel by Jan Terlouw, the screenplay by Mieke de Jong, Paul Jan Nelissen and Koolhoven allows you to empathize with the characters and their individual fates that appear, on the surface, to be predictable but it is in the undercurrent of events surrounding the three main characters (Michiel,Uncle Ben, and the downed pilot (Jamie Campbell Boer) that convey the film's quiet and powerful moments without being overly sentimental. The director reminds you of the coldness of winter by the chilling reminders of the German presence. Whar is more disturbing is the innocent and persuasive way the story is told as a children's story with nightmarish results. It shares the intensity of those Hollywood war films where the traitor actually shocks you because you are unprepared for it. The classical music score by Pino Donagio has a haunting quality it shareres with the minute details of the plot. Lush at times, it is also sonorous with its crrescendos as if to help you understand better the gravity and depth of the underpinnings so simply and powerfully told. The sequence with the firing squad is presented with such little dramatic flair so as not to soften the impact of the moviegoer's identification of it as the most barbaric act of all. If you watch Lakemeier's facial expressions, you will notice how he grows up from the boy you see at the beginning to a more mature young man beyond his teenage years. By the time the end credits roll, Winter In Wartime has left an indelible mark. June 10, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

WEST IS WEST (D FILMS, 2010)***

2011-06-07T20:23:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON This sequel to East Is East (2000)is set five years later. With almost the entire cast reunited, Wesot Is West is more serious in tone since it's emphasis is more on the British Muslim family. In his screenplay, Ayub Khan-Din wants you to experience up close the current problems in Pakistan when the patriarch, George (or Jahangir) returns home to see his first wife. The humour in the situations is naturally funny as if this were a situation comedy, but it is the caliber of acting by the unknown cast that makes it all work. Om Puri plays George as a man of wisdom and experience who is only human. When you learn he has a second wife, the story doesn't get bogged down in sentiment or political overtones. Instead, it is the sheer honesty of the cast that scores high marks in a deeply personal drama where the past and present merge in a conflict free setting. The conversations between family members holds your interest and, as a result, you learn that what they are going through is universal when you consider the North American experience. It is interesting to see this happen elsewhere and it opens up a discussion that is thought-provoking when it comes to the father and his influence on both the younger generation compared to a different time when tradition was held more sacred. Aquib Khan is Sajid, George's youngest son who is persuaded to learn his roots as a Pakistani but it is short-lived when his father's second wife, Ella (Linda Bassett) arrives. She sees her two sons from her marriage to George(Emil Marwa and Jimi Mistry)and, of course, her husband. Their meeting is strained at first until they both explain their separation. In Punjabi with sub-titles and in English, West Is West is an offbeat diversion for anyone who welcomes something different at the movies. It is rated 14A,with the warning: coarse language. June 3, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

X-MEN:FIRST CLASS (20TH, 2011)***

2011-06-07T16:22:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON In this prequel to the X-Men franchise, you learn how Charles Xavier and Magneto originated. Fans of the series so far have embraced it with positive results even if it didn't break box-office records when compared to the other films. Nevertheless, director Matthew Vaughn has impressed moviegoers with its superior way of bringing the origins of the X-Men into clearer focus. If you remember any of the other films at all, you will be ready for a decent prologue where your hearts will be racing to see what comes next in the order screenwriters Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz and Jane Goldman have come up with, along with Vaughn whose vision of the true events in the early history of the X-Men's beginnings have provided an eager escape to the movies this summer. James McAvoy is well cast as the younger Xavier whose knowledge of mutants conveys the tiniest of details that some moviegoers may still be wondering. When you compare him to Patrick Stewart, there is equal anticipation and excitement s you watch young Xavier work his way through the plot's delicate plot points. They inject the entire film with a much needed injection of surprise. By using the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, history informs us better of the time period and allows baby boomers who studied it in high school to relate to the fictional elements of the story on an equal plane with the fantasy and special effects that underscore each of the characters as you watch them develop. McAvoy's boyish and juvenile behaviour creates the right atmosphere since he cares about the mutants and it is from his standpoint that Xavier grows as the main hero, while Michael Fassbender's Magneto easily transforms into the evil counterpart that you have become accustomed to in the series so far. Jennifer Lawrence from Winter's Bone and The Fighter ably plays Raven/Mystique with an equal dose of fun and seriousness and it is here Vaughn adds something special if you really remember her from the other X-Men movies. The rest of the class serves as an introduction to the intriguing dimensions of the mutants as you watch them show off their unique abilities. Kevin Bacon almost steals the movie with his role as Sebastian Shaw who presents himself as a threat to world peace. He,too, has special powers which you can see for yourself. Bacon's strong acting adds to the impact of the story because he,alone, holds your attention right to the end. His sense of screen villainy has never impressed me as much as it does here. In other roles, January Jones is Emma Frost, Nicholas Hoult is Hank aka The Beast,and Rose Byrne is CIA Agent Moira McTaggert. There is a lot to appreciate and enjoy in X-Men: First Class. It is one of the better screen offerings during this summer's 3D explosion. Thankfully, this one is not in 3D. It is rated PG, with the warnings: not recommended for young children, violence and language may offend. June 5, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

THELMA &LOUISE (MGM, 1991)****

2011-06-05T17:40:00.000-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Twenty years ago this week, I reviewed Thelma and Louise in The Heritage newspaper on Wednesday, June 5, 1991. Here is my review. HEADLINE: THELMA AND LOUISE AN AMERICAN CLASSIC Thelma and Louise is an extraordinary comic snd offbeat look at two women whose humdrum lives suddenly change when they embark on a weekend vacation to the Grand Canyon. Set against the backdrop of the vanishing landscapes of America's southwest, director Ridley Scott has come up with a poignant character study. Written by Callie Khouri, Thelma Dickinson (Geena Davis) is a bored housewife. She is married to a chauvinistic husband named Darryl (Christopher Mscdonald)who treats her more like a child than a wife. Her life is restricted to the kitchen. Louise Sawyer (Susan Sarandon)is a coffee shop waitress whose life so far has been hectic. Although she is single, she has a musician boyfriend, Jimmy (Michael Madsen) who won't commit himself to marriage. Thelma and Louise are good friends and what they need is a weekend away from their stagnant lives. The two decide yo spend a weekend at a friend's cabin in the mountains. However,when they stop at a roadside honky tonk, something happens that will completely change their lives. Khouri has In Khouri's well crafted and original screenplay, she gives the plot the catalyst that sets the dramatic edge between Thelma and Louise underscored by comic undertones. You see them rejoice at their newfound freedom as they go on their vacation but as time moves on certain events spoil their enjoyment when their trip takes on new meaning. For the first time they realize it doesn't matter what happens to them. Fate plays a cruel hand when they go on the lam like a contemporary Bonnie and Clyde or Butch Sundance and the Sundance Kid. The chemisrry between Sarandon and Davis makes the film work from the very beginning as two innocent people caught up in a web of intrigue that is beyond their wildest imaginations. Cinematographer Adrian Biddle takes your breath away as he captures the nuances of the American Southwest like a master painter. The rolling highways and desolate areas symbolize the new way of life that Thelma and Louise are discovering. Their sang-froid expresses how pathetic has become until now and they are both determined to find their own peace. Thelma and Louise is an American classic. NOTE: Twenty years ago I forgot to mention Brad Pitt who played his first significant role as J.D., a young man whom Thelma likes. You learn later he has broken his parole. In another supporting role, Harvey Keitel plays Detective Hal Slocomb who tries to arrest the two women in a series of incidents that alert the authorities. This includes robbing a convenience store speeding to get away from a police cruiser. Called a female road movie by film critic Kenneth Turan, while Sheila Benson rejected this claim and called Thelma and Louse a movie that was preoccupied with revenge and violence than feminist values. Thelma and Louise opened at the Capitol Theatre (now the Empire) on May 24, 1991 and was rated R. Copyright Rick Jackson 1991, 2011

BANG BANG CLUB, E-ONE, 2010)****

2011-06-04T12:09:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON The role of the combat photographer is more apparent than ever when you think of how newspapers and magazines are able to get a first-hand look at the fighting wherever his job takes him. In The Bang Bang Club, director Steven Silver gives the moviegoer an incisive and penetrating look at a side of war rarely shown with such candor and respect. As you watch the reality of war in the comfort of your seat in a darkened theatre, you are easily shaken but not replused by the events that take place in South Africa when four combat photographers are sent to the final days of Apartheid. With unflinching courage, Kevin Carter, Greg Marinovich, Ken Oosterbroek and Joao Silva capture the atrocities they see and, as a result, stir up controversy about the situation they each face along with the innocence faces of those who can;t help be victims in a politically charged battle between idealism and the right to live. Two of the photographers earn Pulitzer Prizes for their work and it brings home the extremes of war. The reactions on the photographers' faces give you a lnee jolt without the uneasiness of the actual reality. The pictures they take tell the true story. I was reminded of David Janssen who played an American reporter in The Green Berets (1968) who was shocked by the atroticities of the Vietcong. In his coverage he says, "What can I do?" during an attack. As you watch the Bang Bang Club you are immersed in a story told in a documentary style that removes it from the unnecessary poilitical American propaganda that would have ruined its impact as an important story of how war is covered by Hollywood, save the documentaries made by real combat photographers who revealed verbatim their minute by minute accounts of actual warfare witnessed through the sharp lens and the smell of shells and the roar of gunfire surrounding his position safely intrenched not far away. Taylor Kitsch plays Carter with the same sense of innocence as if you were dropped by helicopter to do the same job. In another key role, Ryan Philippe plays Greg as your typical male protagonist whose sense of purpose removes him from the fray until shots are fired and his colleagues shout at him to hurry up. The chance to take great pictures is not always there and the job of the combat photographer is not as easy as you might think. It is something all four learn quickly. Their scenes of comaraderie and friendship help ease the pressures of war and the hellish existence they must live to do their job and remain safe from harm. In an excellent supporting role, Malin Akerman plays Robin Comley, the person in charge of seeing the pictures taken get published for the world to see. The actress plays her role with the right amount of duty, sincerity and responsibility that brings to the screen an essential part of the story that resonates boldly with each picture and story it tells along with it. Philip Miller's music score complements the action so well, it's as if you are right there and cinematographer Miroslaw Baszak recounts each minute with glaring detail and precision to match every second of feeling and excitement that the cameras record with each uncompromising position and movement. Under Silver's more thsn capable direction, The Bang Bang Club deserves to be seen. On a historical note, the real Oosterbroek was killed in Tokoza Township on April 18, 1994 during a clash between the National Peacekeeping Force and the African Congress supporters. During the same fight, the real Marinovich was seriously injured. In July 1994, the real Carter committed suicide. On October 23, 2010, Silva stepped on a landmine while on patrol with U.S. soldiers in Kandahar, Afghanistan and lost both legs below the knee. The Bang Bang Club is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language, violence, and disturbing content (occasional gory scenes). June 3, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

KUNG FU PANDA 2 (PAR/DREAMWORKS, 2011)***

2011-05-31T14:53:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON The story sets Kung Fu Panda 2 apart from other animated films, including the original Kung Fu Panda in 2008. What makes this sequel work is the animation and sharp colours that distinguish the simple story of Po's quest to save kung fu when Lord Shen, heir to the Peacock clan that ruled Gongmen City, threatens to rule China. However, as the story develops in earnest after a short prologue in case you haven't seen the original lately, you learn how Shen's ambitious plans include getting rid of Po because in a prophecy told to Shen he is told a warrior of black and white will defeat him. As you all know, a panda is comprised of both colours and this means trouble for Po and his mentor, Master Shifu. As you watch Shen's diabolical plan gain momentum, you fear for the worst and you hope Po can really stop him. The music score by Hans Zimmer and John Powell maintains the dramatic tension set in the original which they also scored and, within the tradition of good storytelling, you are entertained to the hilt by characters who capture your imagination as if you are reading a book to a child. This keeps the story at a level children can understand and adults, too. Even in 3D, despite the lack of 3D visual effects, the depth of the film can be appreciated and enjoyed as a worthy animated tale from the standpoint of the moviegoer's visual perception. The cast of voices maintains the kid-like superiority in its telling and this helps all moviegoers in leaving the theatre impressed enough to see the next installment of the kung fu series. Jack Black gives Po the right amount of child-like wonder with his intonation and behaviour as the eternal child in all of us who wants to fulfil all our ambitions to succeed. As Po realizes he must find inner peace by accepting his limitations as a panda bear, he begins to remember the lessons his master taught him when he was being trained to become a dragon warrior. As Po finds out, these lessons will prepare him for the rest of his life so he can never forget what he has learned. The other voices include Angelina Jolie as the tigress, Gary Oldman as Lord Shen, Michelle Yeoh as a soothsayer, and James Hong as Po's foster father, Mr. Ping. The excitement in Gongmen City elevates the story's fictional plane comparable to the real fighting in such real-life epics like 55 Days In Peking (1963). Kung Fu Panda 2 is a worthy sequel in both 2D and 3D, and on its own merit it remains totally enjoyable from beginning to end. It is rated PG, with the warning: cartoon animation action. May 29, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

CEDAR RAPIDS (FOX SEARCHLIGHT, 2011)***

2011-05-29T16:14:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON In Cedar Rapids, director Miguel Arteta takes aim at the corporations who hold annual conventions and the competitive spirit that the employees have when it comes to winning a coveted prize that is handed out to the deserving one who is willing to show how meritorous he can be toward the big boss of the company. In his screenplay, Phil Johnston counts on you to sit back and enjoy the antics of grown men behaving badly in a satirical comedy that is deliberately funny in embarrassing the characters in situations that they normally don't expect. It is all this and more that taps into our perception of businessmen and women who gather to share in some weekend fun. The model businessman in this comedy is Tim Lippe, who arrives at the town of the film's title where he tries to win the the Two Diamonds Award. Hailing from Brown Valley which is a reputable place where reputable people work for a decent living. However, underneath the innocence of the work ethic is plain humanity getting a workout because all men and women need to be sexually satisfied and it is here under the guise of the convention, the average businessman is exploited. As you watch Ed Helms personify Lippe, you are richly entertained by his sense of "oh by gosh" attitude and mentality, you can't help identify with his generous spirit of being honest and fair in being the best employee ever. In the spirit of comaraderie, you meet his roommates who are decidedly different but basically there to let loose and have fun no matter who is looking over them. John C. Reilly steals the film as Dean, who isn't afraid to speak his mind and do the unspeakable things which normally wouldn't be done. It is the earnestness of Reilly's character that diverts your attention to the satirical weight of Johnston's simple story of business people at a convention. There is genuine laughter in the way Dean, Tim, Joan (Ann Heche) and the others react with such cluenessness that they draw more attention to themselves as examples of humanity under scrutiny by the very company who is using them as arbiters of salesmanship. When Dean and company throw away rheir innocence and business salvos in a quest for the big award, they don't realize just how ridiculous rhey are and, as a result, you come away laughing at mwn and women who will sacrifice their humility and earnestness to be plainly boys underneath the seriousness of good business. Sigourney Weaver serves as the film's conscience as a mature schoolteacher whose excitement enjoying sex doesn't deter her from having the time of her life while fulfilling her responsibility to society as a pillar of the community. Her strong supporting role anchors the outrageous behaviour by the men and her own wilfulnesss to show off her human needs. This dichotomy of purpose throws the main plot into a unexpected whirlwind of drunkenness, tomfoolery and plain outlandish fun that Animal House did for fraternities in the late 1970s. In an ecellent supporting role, Kurtwood Smith plays Orin as the voice of authority and reason disguised under a veneer of temptation as the devil with a purpose that is not clearly defined. Howeveer, he serves his function as the overseer of rambunctiousness caused by his own amoral tendencies in seeing his employees show their naughty side and, at the same time, be present as the company's big brother. As you watch it all unfold with human nature being displayed for our own pleaasure, Cedar Rapids succeeds as a good time at the movies if you are prepared to see yourself laugh at something genuinely funny beside the embarrassment of unknown riches in seeing firsthand how we all need to share in something funny and dirty without the guilt. Don't be afraid to laugh. It's rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language, substance abuse and crude content. May 28, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

BRIDESMAIDS (UNIVERSAL, 2011)****

2011-05-23T20:56:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Among the crude comedies that have proliferated at theatres over the last several years, Bridesmaids succeeds in being one of the best of its kind because it is both funny and entertaining without trying to turn off the average moviegoer with its crude and sexual content. This is director Paul Feig's triumphant moment thanks, in large part, to the creative genius of screenwriters Annie Mumolo and Kristin Wiig who steals the film as Annie, one of the bridesmaids of the film's title whose penchant for making people laugh has gone beyond Saturday Night Live to the big screen. Although this is not Wiig's first screen comedy, those of yo who are not sure who she is will be by the time you leave the theatre. Her sense of comic timing and wit turns this so-called chick flick into a tour de force that rarely reaches the big screen with such a resounding round of cheers and laughter. Wiig's Annie serves as the central focus and you don't dare turn your eyes away from her for too long. Her comic timing from the moment she is arrested by a cop for a broken tail-light conveys the understated and peculiar sense of fun that makes the entire film a complete joy. Dressed in short shorts, her beautiful long legs attract as much attention as Claudette Colbert's in the 1934 Oscar-winning film, It Happened One Night. As you soon learn, she lives with a British brother and sister and once worked at a popular bakery that has since closed and left her in debt and another job at a jewelry store where the job had no prospects for the future. Her boyfriend, Ted (Jon Hamm) turns out to be the world's biggest heel. When she meets Rhodes (Chris O'Dowd), an Irish cop who secretly wants to go out with her, there are some funny moments. It is only the beginning of what is yet to come in the scheme of things the screenwriters have cooked up. In keeping with the film's title, all the bridesmaids a.k.a best friends have their share of hilarious fun from their Brazilian lunch and the subsequsnt food poisoning episode minutes later,to their trip on an airplane and the wedding itself. Some of it is crude, but it is not disgusting. All the female moviegoers around me were in state of hysterical laughter quite often and I myself was smiling and laughing, too. The rest of the cast features Maya Rudolph as Lillian, who is getting married and as other bridesmaids: Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey), Megan (Melissa McCarthy) and Helen (Rose Byrne). In her last role, the late Jill Clayburgh plays Annie's mother. It is great to see her again for she reminded me of some of her best work, notably An Unmarried Woman (1978) and Luna (1979). If you think I've left something out, I haven't. I want you to see Bridesmaids and have some real fun at the movies. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: crude content, sexual content and coarse language. May 23, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

PIRATES 4 (3D), WALT DISNEY, 2011)**

2011-05-22T15:55:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a lacklustre sequel and despite the overall spirit of adventure engendered by the cast and a great music score by Hans Zimmer, the poorly developed screenplay leaves you wondering why Walt Disney wanted to do a fourth movie, except to cash in on the 3D craze. It's too bad what you saw in the 3D trailer at Christmas didn't make it in the final print because it gave you much anticipation to see an outstanding film in 3D for a change. Depp's return as Capt. Jack Sparrow redeems the film for his portrayal of a pirate's life for him is creatively exciting to follow. Besides, anyone who has seen Depp's work can attest to his credibility and screen presence in a variety of roles. After a promising start where Sparrow masquerades as a British judge, the plot gets short shrift by its endless predictable turns. Depp is, albeit, better as the swashbuckling hero this time around and he's having a lot of fun, too. Sure, I'll admit that I was hooked into the story as innocently as any other moviegoer. Written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio suggested by the novel by Tim Powers which was inspired by the Disneyland theme park ride, the plot of this fourth Pirates adventure has Sparrow seeking the fountain of youth. As luck would have it, Blackbeard (Ian McShane) is after it as well and there are interesting scenes where Blackbeard and Sparrow compete but it is so elementary and rarely up to the standard of other Pirate movies of yesteryear. Zimmer's music score captures your attention right away and if you are impressed with it you will want to hear more. If you are watching closely, you will quickly realize there are three people after the fountain of youth. The third is Barbossa, well played by Geoffrey Rush who was last seen in the Oscar-winning The King's Speech. He, at least, plays the part of a real pirate and it is the closest you are going to get to Robert Newton's quintessential role in Disney's 1950 classic, Treasure Island. McShane is not nearly as nasty as he should be. Wearing a formidable costume with the right makeup is not enough. Still, you have to accept his shortcomings as a screen villain in order to appreciate the story's levels of simplicity and complex measures of grandeur thought up along Sparrow's ill-timed journey. What really matters is the inherent mischief and adventure presented by the sub plot when our hero must get a mermaid'a tear and this means there are going to be mermaids. One of them is called Syrena (Astrid Berges-Frisbey)and her wiles as a sea mermaid are as innocent as driven snow until you figure out that something is going to go wrong very quickly. At the same time, director Rob Marshall tries hard to be original in presenting something unique the other three movies didn't have. To be fair, it does offer some reward for your patience so far while wearing those 3D glasses. But wait, there aren't any special effects in 3D and this is a shame. The race for the fountain of youth is so tame, there is nary a decent pirate squabble or fight to remember. Penelope Cruz does show her mettle as a female action star when she plays with conviction Angelica, the daughter of a pirate I will not divulge. It adds some amusing scenes that help get rid of any real disappointment you may have by the film's lack of real adventure aboard a pirate ship. Here is one pirate film where you are left on the plank waiting to be saved from the next adventure Depp wants us to see. This latest trip is not worth taking no matter how pretty the mermaids are. It is rated PG, with the warnings: frightening scenes and violence. May 22, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

WIN WIN (FOX SEARCHLIGHT, 2011)****

2011-05-20T22:37:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Paul Giamatti's star rises with each role he takes on and in his latest, Win Win, is no exception. His strong ability to convey charm in a convincing way without being offensive has endeared him to moviegoers. Whether he is Harvey Pekar in American Splendor, Miles in Sideways, Inspector Uhl in The Illusionist (2006) or Barney Panofsky in Barney's Version or Mike in Win Win there is an unidentifiable quality that critics have also embraced in assessing him as an actor to watch on the big screen. Writer/director Tom McCarthy again concerns himself with the role of the individual in society today who is constantly being ignored by the growing concerns of money and power in the global village. The world has left him behind like a cog that in a wheel that has left him desperate to get out from undeer. Whether it is the enjoyment of life's little pleasures like playing with trains in The Station Agent (2003) or getting away to just find something to unwind like playing the drums in The Visitor (2007), Mike in Win Win wants to coach a high school team because he feels fulfilled as a human being, a family man who is under the constant pressures of work while trying to live a normal existence. When it is threatened by the boiler that needs to be replaced in the basement of his office and the tree that has to be cut down in front of his house, Mike becomes more frustrated and powerless. On top of all this, he has trouble making ends meet. When he is introduced to a client named Leo Poplar (Burt Young) he seizes the opportunity to solve all his problems. However, for Mike the moral implications are pending and as you watch him work, you are hoping he will realize what he is doing and save himself from making desperate situation appear worse. What is remarkable here is how McCarthy believes in the individual in sociery who will recover by his own faith in himself and, at the same time, restore his faith in humanity to deal better with the continuing series of crises, i.e. corrupting influences that test him daily. In the end, it is not the team that wins the today that Mike coaches or the immoral implications in the court case revolving around Leo's inheritance but in the resurrection of man as the hero from all his problems. This is what Win Win celebrates with a brilliant victory. Like the best of Frank Capra's films, the small town hero portrayed in Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Meet John Doe, and It's A Wonderful Life, the individual becomes the hero renewed by his faith from his friends and the common people who surround him. All of McCarthy's films to date are powerful examples of the social problem film in the 21st century. Win Win is rated 14A, with the warning: coarse language. May 20, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011

PRIEST 3D (SCREEN GEMS, 2011)****

2011-05-16T21:48:00.001-04:00

BY RICK JACKSON Priest is an American masterpiece. Based on the Korean comic book of the same name by Min-Woo Hyung, director Scott Stewart introduces you to a time and place when earth was comprised of a supernatural element where vampires were not human in origin and humans bitten by vampires became familiars. Unlike most vampire films where they are destroyed by sunlight, the computer generated creatures are photosensitive and live as albino cave dwellers. Inspired by the 1956 classic western, The Searchers, Cory Goodman in his screenplay, asks you to believe in the historicity of the original source where you were asked to believe in the fact that vampires fought humans for centuries. There existed a secret war between the followers of Temorzarela, an angel of blood fallen from heaven and those against him. One of the priests was Ivan Isaacs, whose soul belonged to the devil Belial who was using him to fight against Temozarela and his followers. However, Ivan had his own ideas and left in obscurity he has become human possessed and when you first see him in the film he is an ordinary priest who has aought refuge with other human priests who have been controlled by the traditions and rights of the Roman Catholic Church. When Ivan is told that his niece has been kidnapped by vsmpires, he abandons his sacred vows to search for her. At the same time he must fight the brutal leader of the vampires who sports a black hat and is unrelenting in exerting his influence to make those lost souls cross over to the dark side. Karl Urban plays Black Hat as the evil villain from a famous western who has returned to make his last stand and to turn the title character into an immortal ally in the service of all evil. Paul Bettany is well cast as the priest who comes between the Church and family when he decides to go after the vampires. Like Ethan in The Searchers who promised to kill Natalie Wood, the priest tells Hicks he he will kill his niece if she has been infected by the vampires. The comparison to the western ends there. I will not divulge any more, except to say that Priest offers an interesting and thought provoking conclusion that leaves open the possibility of a sequel. Filmed in Mexico, the terrain there works in recreating the western American myth that directors John Ford and others made so memorable. Priest offers decent 3D efffects comparable to the 3D western, Comin' At Ya(1981). Joining the priest in his journey are Hicks (Cam Gigandet), his niece's boyfriend a priestess (Maggie Q). While watching the plot develop you are entertained by the western influences from the black hat, the train motif, and the good guys versus the bad guys (vampires vs the triumvirate of friends. Bettany's titular role can be related to the jedi knights in the Star Wars movies because he possesses certain skills that enable him to kill the vampires. More importantly, they are feared by the vampires and it is Black Hat's duty to go after the priest. Their connection is explained early in the film and you must remember it later on as a key to your understanding in the second half. Unlike most vampire flicks, there is no gore. Stewart maintains the dramatic pace right from the animated prologue and you are given enough scenes to watch the priest fight with Black Hat is part of the film understated homage to the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone. Christopher Young's music score is not as good as any written by Elmer Bernstein or other western film composers, but it does justice in adding to the fun element of the plot like any good western. Priest deserves to be seen if only to be different from other 3D films and a chance to see more than one genre merge together to rank as a near-great film. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: violence and frightening scenes. May 13, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011