Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Starring: John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry
Director: Steve Pink
Plot: In an attempt to cheer up their suicidal friend, three failed forty-something buddies decide to spend a weekend in the mountain resort that brings back memories of their youth only to be transported in time to 1986 where they get to live it all over again.
Review: A mix of the teen sex comedies of the time like Hot Dog: The Movie with the "hey look how silly that era was" feel of Back to the Future for the fortysomething crowd, the latest in a series of crude dramedies, Hot Tub Time Machine (how's that for a title?) proves entertaining enough for its short running time but ends up feeling like a missed opportunity for something more memorable. Though the film does throw in a vast array of '80's iconic fluff (Reagan's on the news, spandex is in, Alf is funny and Poison is even doing a concert), and director Pink actually co-wrote some of Cusack's better films like Grosse Pointe Blank, the movie feels likes it's trying to channel the goofiness of Old School with the raunchy frat vibe of The Hangover but doesn't quite get what made those movies work. The situations go straight to the funny stuff, with multiple attempts at not-always-funny excess. The real downfall is that the script takes the short road to character development, and without interesting characters (or at least ones you can care an iota about) you can't get anything more than a snicker from its audience, and the occasional gross-out. With its ridiculous booze and drug use, cum joke, gross-out male-male blowjob gag and throwaway sex scenes it's clearly not for the whole family, but it just feels like the crude humor was thrown in for its own sake, without actually being funny on its own. Toss in those unconvincing stalwart of guy-movie themes like loyalty, friendship, etc and you've got a pretty derivative mess. Yet despite all that, the film is harmless enough and shows enough spurts of energy to keep our attention. And there are some high points, mostly in the zany comic energy of jackass Corddry who gets all the best lines and 90% of the laughs, and head-liner Cusack still shows an affable quality that's hard to resist, revisiting the rom-coms he used to star in 25 years back and playing to type as the sensitive, sympathetic, down-on-his-luck "nice guy". Lewd and crude with the odd flashes of smarts and heart, Hot Tub Time Machine is high-concept filmmaking that's fun enough for a short while, but doesn't have the legs to sustain itself to the end.
Comedy: 6/10

The Wolfman (2010)
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving
Director: Joe Johnston
Plot: A stage actor returns to England where his brother's wife begs him to return to the family manor to uncover the secret behind her husband's disappearance.
Review: From the film's pacing and shlocks, from the moon-filled forests and cobwebbed manor all the way down to the retro Universal logo, it's clear that dusting off the not-so-classic adaptation of The Wolfman wasn't intended to create a serious horror flick but a modern-day, tongue-somewhat-in-cheek homage to the 1940's horror genre. There's no denying that it does convey that sense of camp along with its chills and thrills, but director Johnston (who has had his share of hits and misses over his career, such as Jurassic Park III and Jumanji) seems to have struggled to find the right tone between the fantasy, dark humor, action and pathos. There are some father-son issues that would have anyone going into therapy, a run-in with gypsies, a stay in an asylum that goes as predicted, and a bewildering romance, all flailing about in the background of straight-laced 19th-century British society. As can be surmised, some of it works while some of it falls flat. Also of note, though the attention to detail is note-worthy, the were-wolf transformation gains little from the CGI and new makeup, even if legendary Rick Baker was involved - the one in An American Werewolf in London seems to have topped the genre for spectacle. The impeccable but wasted Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving come out of this unscratched, and Hopkins (hamming it up to ludicrous extremes) will be forgiven. Not so for Del Toro who is just horrible in the main role; he can't even seem to get Hamlet right, and forget providing a convincing performance, try as he might to convey any romanticism under that pained expression. There's still some fun at seeing this sumptuous production recreate the Victorian-era and throwing some grand B-movie-level camp into the mix, but expectations were for a better, more engaging film. The Wolfman is good-enough fun for those nostalgic for the old days of the monster movie, and it still make for some slick Hollywood entertainment.
Entertainment: 6/10

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
Starring: Conrad Veidt, Sabu, John Justin
Directors: Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim Whelan
Plot: Blinded and cast off as a beggar by his powerful vizier, the king of Bagdad teams up with a young thief in a series of adventures to overthrow the usurper and win the hand of the Sultan's daughter.
Review: An elaborate remake of the 1924 silent film of the same name, and often mentioned as one of the more influential fantasy / adventure films from Hollywood's golden era, The Thief of Bagdad was surely grand spectacle for its day. Though nowhere near as enchanting or as impressive as the other era fantasy The Wizard of Oz, one can see how this would have surprised and delighted audiences in the early 40's - there's a flying carpet and a flying horse, a genie, a dastardly wizard and a love-torn couple all inhabiting an exotic Middle-Eastern land out of The Arabian Nights. The film won an Oscar back when for its special effects, color cinematography (in bold, radiant Technicolor) and art direction, though modern movie-goers will balk at some of the camera tricks and matte backgrounds. Sparing no expense, the producers hired no less than three directors (rumors had it even more had their hands in it) and the best composer and effects people money could buy. The production and sets, built and filmed on location and then on British stages once the war broke out, convey the storybook quality that the filmmakers aspired to. The set-pieces are also visually impressive for the time, and hold some thrills, such as the confrontation with a not-so-friendly giant genie or the escape from a monster-spider's web; the static pacing, however, leaves something to be desired and spoils the moments. Though the sentimental prince and his paramour are Caucasian stars, the real hero is teenage star Sabu as the titular thief - he may not be much of an actor, but he's got a charisma and infectious smile that leave his co-stars in the dust. A lot of this will feel familiar for most audiences and it should - Disney's animated film Aladdin uses pretty much the same elements. Unfortunately, The Thief of Bagdad hasn't aged well and feels long-winded instead of sprightly. Still, if it can't quite compete against later Arabian adventures such as The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad or modern fare such as The Prince of Persia, but it does have its charms and will remain one of the classic adventure yarn from Hollywood's golden age.
Entertainment: 5/10

Millennium 2: The Girl Who Played With Fire (Sweden / Denmark - 2009)
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Sofia Ledarp
Director: Daniel Alfredson
Plot: The publisher of a news journal realizes his investigation into sex trafficking in Sweden has become quite dangerous when his researchers are killed and a previous lover - a bright but disturbed young woman - is framed for the murder.
Review: Shot in short succession for Swedish television, the film versions of Stieg Larsson's best-selling novels arrive in cinemas for an international audience. But as much as the first film was brilliant and surprising, this second installment shows all the signs of a poorly realized adaptation. Gone is the smart, engrossing script that made the first Millennium (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) such a hit. With a larger focus on finding the action and thrills instead of the psychological character study of the novel, the sequel does stay loyal to the book's plot but does so without conviction, losing that spark that made the first outing so special. Some of the novel's themes are obliquely addressed, such as the issues of human trade, feminism and women's rights, the state of state-run psychiatric health care and others, but never quite bubble up enough to feel like anything other than filler. Taking the reigns as director, Alfredson sticks to the tried-and-true cinematography and narrative that audiences expect from a slick TV show, but nothing more - it's capably paced, but it's also pretty bland. Even Rapace, the whip-smart young bi-sexual woman who had made such an impression, seems almost demure here by comparison, rarely letting show any of the spunk and intelligence of one of the most complex female protagonists seen in genre films. Meanwhile, as the investigative journalist, Nyqvist seems to be sleepwalking through the film, showing little sense of urgency by the threats around him. Compared to its Hollywood brethren, Millenium 2 is still an interesting, entertaining enough thriller, especially during its first hour, and the cliffhanger ending will have most of us looking forward to the series conclusion. Fans of the book series or of the first film, however, will be grossly disappointed by this clearly inferior, lack-luster adaptation.
Entertainment: 6/10

Amelia (2009)
Starring: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston
Director: Mira Nair
Plot: A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, from her history-making flight across the Atlantic to her disappearance in 1937 while flying over the Pacific Ocean.
Review: Despite the pedigree and expectations, the capable cinematography and productions values, there are no awards bound for Amelia, the beautiful but vapid biography of legendary 1930's American pilot Amelia Earhart. Director Nair has made a name for herself doing intimate, thought-provoking dramas such as Salaam Bombay and Monsoon Wedding, but it seems that the pressures of a big-budget Hollywood production has subdued all her spunk to satisfy mainstream expectations, and so dilutes her subject's remarkable achievements. The film is at its best in the quiet, contemplative moments, mostly during the sequences with Swank looking into the distance or the grand vistas of the countries she is flying over, reading from Earhart's own travel diaries. When it gets to the actual tale of its heroine, the flashback-filled narrative fails to gel, relying as it does on too much emphasis on melodrama and dull recreations of events. Despite clear efforts from the cast audiences will feel little emotional bond or interest to any of it.. One of the culprits is a script that lacks any personality and insight into its subject, putting too much emphasis on her paramour and her failings as a wife and not enough on her exploits outside her solo flying adventures. And even these are short-changed, save for a suspenseful, if long-winded, re-creation of her last, tragic attempt in 1937 at flying around the globe. Swank, all bones, smile and attitude sure does look the part and sure tries out the accent, but she surely won't win any accolades for her dry-but-earnest performance. Same for Gere who does his usual charming take as her husband, editor J.P. Putnam. McGregor and Eccleston, as the only real supporting cast, are also wasted. Earnest and well-intentioned but depressingly bland, Amelia simply misses the mark as feminist manifesto, biography and drama.
Drama: 4/10

Tidal Wave (Haeundae) (2009)
Starring: Kyung-gu Sol
Director: Je-gyun Yun
Plot: Following a series of seaquakes, a mega tsunami builds up threatening the south coast of Korea and its millions of unknowing vacationers.
Review: Made on a fraction of typical American budgets, Tidal Wave, Korea's answer to 2012 was made to please. Comparisons to the Hollywood blockbuster are inevitable but unlike the action-packed (and often silly) 2012, Tidal Wave relies solely on the disaster movie tropes that were the template for the American disaster films of the 1970's like Towering Inferno and Earthquake - and that's not a compliment, as these didn't make for exemplary movie-making even at the pinnacle of its genre success. There's the expected ensemble cast all loosely tied up in soap-opera level melodrama but and unlike the critically acclaimed monster movie The Host (a fine South Korean example of how strong characters and development can enhance the most unlikely scenario), none of the protagonists are interesting enough to care about, even as they're struggling for survival amidst a flood. There's some rather unnecessary goofy humor thrown in and lots of instances of popular Korean culture to make the point to international audiences - your enjoyment will depend on how much you get into these people's lives, and how much you can take involuntary camp. And the languid pace as the inevitable final act builds up sure doesn't help, either. Unlike usual disaster flicks, the actual catastrophe occurs quickly then disappears, leaving only death in its wake - the real suspense should be on how these characters struggle to survive their plight, and with less than a quarter of the film's running time actually focusing on the disaster itself, there's little opportunity for real tension and thrills. The climax, as the titular tidal wave(s) hit(s) the vacationer-packed Haeundae, are filled with the special effects and panoramic shots of city-wide destruction we've come to expect, though it is a first somewhat for Korean cinema - the spectacle is as capable as any US production and manages some impressive shots amid the less effective ones. Flashes of the tsunami that hit South East Asia a few years back add some context, and the filmmakers work on exploiting real fears, but it never rises to anything beyond late-night TV-viewing. In the end, though this was understandably popular in its home country, Tidal Wave is pretty much a typical mainstream disaster flick that's lame on plot and big on spectacle.
Entertainment: 5/10

Valentine's Day (2010)
Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Garner, Julia Roberts
Director: Garry Marshall
Plot: The lives of dozens of Los Angeles citizens, young and old, intertwine on Valentine's Day as couples hook up break apart and wonder about the meaning of Love.
Review: Let's get this straight from the get go: Valentine's Day is an unconcerned, unabashed romantic comedy that takes the "ensemble" idea to new heights. Anybody coming in to the film with expectations of drama, plot or a socially-relevant message is missing the point and the film's biggest attraction, and that's the incredible who's-who cast of Hollywood A- and B-actors amassed for our mainstream pleasure. Seeing the likes of Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Garner, Shirley MacLaine, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Ashton Kutcher (surprisingly sympathetic) and countless others clearly having fun under Pretty Woman director Marshall's assured direction makes for most of the amusement. There's a smorgasbord of intertwining plots and sub-plots, some funny, some sad, but there's something for every sucker, er, viewer who has a soft soft spot for the flower industry's most lucrative day. It's all zippy entertainment with no individual character getting anything but a perfunctory treatment, but that's OK. America's answer to Love Actually, Valentine's Day is a fluff piece, for sure, but like a chocolate the movie is a sweet concoction that that melts away quickly but is quite enjoyable while it lasts.
Entertainment: 7/10

The September Issue (2009)
Director: R.J. Cutler
Plot: A documentary team chronicles preparations for the massive, all-important fall-fashion issue of the 2007 season, the largest in the publication's 114 history.
Review: Audiences should be excused for coming into The September Issue with thoughts of the Hollywood fluff piece The Devil Wears Prada dancing in their heads. Quickly, though, one notes that the characters (from strutting models to effeminate designers) and locations (from fancy photo-shoots to sumptuous restaurants) that were the basis for the Merryl Streep comedy are much more exotic in real life. Sure, the fashions on display will make most of us commoners guffaw or cringe but the glamour, egos and fancy digs all hide the cut-throat $300 billion business at stake. Peeling this particular onion proves quite an interesting surprise; it's at times enthralling or startling, a window into the fashion world, the influential Vogue publication, and - most importantly - the "Pope" of the fashion industry and its star, the editor-in-chief of the American edition of Vogue, Anna Wintour. Her legendary temper and coldness seem to be toned down, but you can see the calculating intelligence in her eyes, even as she opens up on her personal life in an intimate interview. More importantly, it gives a portrait of the dynamics between journalists, photographers, publicists, type-setters, wardrobe specialists and more working under pressure (if not downright fear) to get the famed publication out on time. None is more insightful than the love / hate relationship between business-savvy Wintour and artistically-minded Grace Coddington, Vogue's creative director, whose dedication and sensitive down-to-earth personality clearly makes her the unsung hero of the magazine. There's no denying the impact of Vogue and Wintour on society, and The September Issue gives us all an eye-opening peek at a very strange sub-culture.
Documentary: 7/10

Storm Warriors (Hong Kong - 2009)
Starring: Aaron Kwok, Ekin Cheng, Simon Yam
Directors: Oxide Pang and Danny Pang
Plot: The warriors Wind and Cloud seek the help of two martials arts masters to increase their skills, enabling them to take on a powerful Lord bent on taking over China.
Review: Ten years after the original Storm Riders awed audiences and became a cult favorite production has finally been completed on its sequel Storm Warriors, a technically superior but utterly disappointing fantasy / adventure yarn. Once hailed as the saviors of the Asian genre film with their eye for camera shots and acumen in delivering shocks, the Pang Brothers (The Eye, The Messengers), have stumbled of late with Re-cycle and the American remake of their own Bangkok Dangerous, and this latest effort doesn't reverse the downward trend. Left in their hands, there's no denying that the film is visually impressive and colorful, with every shot carefully carried out to be faithful to the stylish drawings of the original manga graphic novels; if not quite to the level of 300, the CGI backgrounds look very pretty indeed, if not particularly detailed. On the plus side, when it gets to the magically-enhanced fights it's dazzling, as proven in the spectacular opening and closing sequences full of special effects powers - two scenes that are worth the price of admission. Alas, so much thought was taken to how the movie looks that the filmmakers completely forgot about those little things called script, characters, emotion and pacing. Between the far-in-between action set pieces are dreadfully dull heroes dispensing platitudes and getting into no-spark romances. There's also a convoluted, overly-complex background story here that encompasses dozens of characters and sub-plots, none of which is made clear for those un-initiated in the original tales. Returning stars Kwok and Chen get by with a bit of brooding and lots of fierce looks, and the supporting cast is pretty decent including fan-favorite actor Simon Yam as the unstoppable villain and Lam Suet as the comedy relief. The film ends on a cliff-hanger, promising another installment in the future. Let's just hope it comes out sooner - and better - than this.
Entertainment: 4/10

Crazy Heart (2009)
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell
Director: Scott Cooper
Plot: Moving from one small-town gig to another, an aging, boozing country star falls for a divorced local photo-journalist and her young son and tries to make amends for the last years of his life.
Review: Based on the novel by Thomas Cobb, Crazy Heart would probably not be worth noting if it weren't for the Oscar-winning performance by acting veteran Jeff Bridges. Actor-turned writer / director / producer Scott Cooper has an obvious appreciation for the soul of country music; it's all distilled into a single character. There's a feeling of authenticity to the proceedings captured by a slow, deliberate pacing that eases from despair into an amiable atmosphere, taking its characters through its tale of heartbreak and redemption with ease and limited melodrama. As the heart and soul of the picture, Bridges does a masterful, seemingly unforced turn as grizzled, down-on-his-luck country singer Bad Blake, a man who's past his prime, riding his beat-up pickup truck from bowling alley gig to bar, getting drunk, dying a slow death with nothing to show for his life but past successes. He makes even the most unlikable cad sympathetic. Gyllenhaal is down to earth as the local journalist and single mother whose love may make him a better man (or not), and Colin Farrell (cast way against type) impresses as the protege who has gone to bigger things - and he can sing, too. Oh, and there's some pretty good tunes on the soundtrack thanks to music by T-Bone Burnett, as one would expect. Audiences may not find anything particularly original in Crazy Heart, but it's clearly a loving tribute to troubadours everywhere and a nice, compelling character drama thanks to its leading man - and for that alone, it's worth a gander.
Drama: 6/10

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)
Voice Acting: Clancy Brown, Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly
Director: Sam Liu 
Plot: Elected President of the US, eveil mastermind Lex Luthor uses the threat if an oncoming kryptonite meteor striking Earth to frame Superman, leaving both Superman and ally Batman on the run from a super-heroes and villains alike.
Review: Sticking pretty close to the popular comic book mini-series by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness, the latest direct-to-video animated adaptation Public Enemies is another brief-but-fun cartoon from the DC Comics production house, following such successes as Green Lantern and The New Frontier. As expected, there's a plethora of villains and loads of super-powered battles in a surprisingly dense tale that makes creative use of the villains (the sequence with Metallo is a highlight). It's all brought to the screen in a stylish animation that's a step up from what's shown on TV. Teaming up DC's two most popular characters (and arguably the two most recognizable super-heroes) allows the story to also capture the unlikely friendship - and repartee - between the two polar-opposite heroes, giving the film an added interest beyond the action bits. Unfortunately, even if the dialogue and some sequences are clearly intended for an older audience, the plot gets too silly and the script loses steam in its last Act. Until then Public Enemies is a hoot for older kids and adults alike and, despite its faults, still ends up as an entertaining addition to the comic-book genre.
Entertainment: 6/10

Moon (2008)
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey
Director: Duncan Jones
Plot: Only weeks before the end of his three-year solitary stint on the Moon coordinating the shipment of materials to a resource-starved Earth, an astronaut starts doubting his sanity when he gets an unexpected visitor.
Review: True science fiction films are a rarity these days, the genre being more relegated to action-oriented sci-fi flicks out for mainstream bucks in the blockbuster season. So it's a breath of fresh air to get such an intimate, smart, well-acted gem like Moon. Working from a smart script and using some careful visual choices, director Jones manages to set up a convincing setting and situation despite (or perhaps because of) a limited budget, without the need for elaborate special effects. In fact, the production feels surprisingly retro in its appearance and story - 2001: A Space Odyssey comes to mind in its desolate, artificial surroundings, as does Silent Running in its psychological isolation. With deliberate pacing, Jones allows the stark conditions, isolation and routine to take its toll, and - right before things start getting complacent - slowly increases the sense of paranoia and dislocation until the film's final revelation. Some unexpected plot-twists seamlessly transforms the film from intimate drama to a suspense thriller but, in the best manner of the genre, the script never loses sight of its science-fiction set-up to explore the human condition. In such a character-driven piece, the lead performance (in fact the only one, if you discount Kevin Spacey's voice as the station's computer and only other inhabitant) is of utmost importance, and the film's real lynch-pin is the compelling dual-role by Rockwell; even viewers who see through the film's mystery will be engrossed in the downward spiral of its protagonist. Clearly, those expecting a futuristic action flick will find Moon slow-going and tedious, but anyone looking for a smart sci-fi flick will find the movie completely engrossing.
Drama: 8/10

Fever Pitch (2005)
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon
Directors: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Plot: A Red Sox fan most come to terms with his life choices and decide between his obsession for baseball and his relationship with his new girlfriend, an up-and-coming businesswoman.
Review: Taking its inspiration from (there is no way one could say it was based on) Nick Hornby's acerbic British novel about a fan's obsession with a losing UK soccer team, Fever Pitch has turned a vibrant work into sanitized and generic Hollywood mush. The Farrelly brothers are far away from the outrageous, dangerous and wildly funny excesses of There's Something About Mary - in fact this sticks so close to the romantic comedy tropes that it's almost shameful, considering the pedigree of the original material. Sure, there's lots of slapstick and poking fun at these extreme fans, but the wit and verve of Hornby's other adaptations like High Fidelity or About a Boy (terrific movies both) is nowhere to be found. Shame on veteran screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel who shoed a better understanding of baseball and relationships in A League of Their Own. Despite some bar-level philosophizing on the game of baseball and why "normal" people could end up obsessing over a dead-beat team, the script shies away from diving into the more interesting aspects of obsessive behavior over team sports. The movie took advantage of the unexpected turn in the Red Sox own luck, with it beating its decades-long losing streak during shooting, giving it an "underdog-wins-in-the-end" Hollywood ending, missing the point completely. What keeps the film from striking out (if one can pardon the pun) is the bubbly performance by Barrymore, a lady who could make a career in rom-coms. The chemistry is painfully lacking with her co-star, and there's no understanding the attraction, but she manages to even make a flat-footed Fallon seem somehow likeable by association. Sure, Fever Pitch has its moments and is no worse than most of the cookie-cutter comedies out there, but it could have been so much more effective if it actually had something to say.
Comedy / Entertainment: 4/10

Ninja Assassin (2009)
Starring: Rain, Naomie Harris
Director: James McTeigue
Plot: Having fallen out with his clan of assassins, a young man raised as a ninja from early childhood tries to take them down with the help of a feisty Interpol agent.
Review: A movie that would have been a god-send to teenagers everywhere if it had come out in the direct-to-video bubble of the 80's, Ninja Assassin mostly delivers the goods action-wise but can't really make it all interesting enough to care. Having come to his own following multiple assistant-director assignments with the Warchowski Bros director (they of The Matrix fame), McTiegue sure does the action justice, with some exciting, well-choreographed martial arts sequences freely enhanced by more CGI blood-letting that you can shake a stick at. Unlike his previous feature, V for Vendetta, there's really no sub-text or message here, just a straight-out homage to the genre - if you can even use the word to a sub-genre that brings back a bizarre sense of nostalgia the really terrible, B-movie martial action flicks of our childhood, movies that are better remembered than watched. Co-written by J. Michael Straczynski (the creator of Babylon 5), one would have expected a bit more intrigue and story, but this is pretty much a by-the-numbers effort, plot-wise. The addition of fan-favorite Sho Kosugi (star of such 1980's "classics" as Revenge of the Ninja and Nine Deaths of the Ninja) in his first appearance in years marks the most inspired casting choice of the film as the clan master; he's perfectly cast, and has lost none of his abilities or presence. Not so impressive is pretty much everyone else, from pretty-boy pop star Rain as the ninja prodigy to the supporting cast of throwaway characters. Still, for most of its running time Ninja Assassin does bring back that spirit of old school fun, and for that ninja geeks everywhere should be excited.
Entertainment / Action: 6/10

Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)
Director: Michael Moore
Plot: Filmmaker Michael Moore explores the impact of corporate dominance on working-class America, from repossessed homes in Middle America to the corridors of power in Washington, trying to find a reason for our continued reliance on a failed system - and how we got there.
Review: A documentary on the dangers and evils of the North American business model known as capitalism, Capitalism: A Love Story works - and fails - for the same reason savvy. rabble-rousing director Michael Moore's other films do: The choice arrangement of stock footage, eye-opening facts and soap-box rhetoric that made his work so palatable, entertaining and downright revealing in Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 get derailed by an over-the-head message, long-winded working-class portraits, some gonzo journalism and a fair bit of weak arguments, the same things that unraveled Sicko. Focusing on an evicted family's tribulations and frustrations is one thing, but his attacks on the Capitalist system - checking in on the Constitution, asking priests for advice, and other bland attempts - are just ill-conceived instead of enlightening, despite Moore's usual bravado and flair for theatrics. The problem isn't the seeming split between Democracy and Capitalism but the excesses that are allowed to go on in the corridors of power, in the corporate boardrooms and on our very streets. Moore tries to bubble up the outrage we all feel in the face of recent events and rightfully decries how Western society has been duped into allowing Big Business to take advantage of society, but making it a battle between the rich and the working-class is just too easy a target, masking the problem of failed government, greed and social injustice that is at the core of the problem. Thankfully the film, and Moore, gets its chutzpah back when trouncing the people and the system behind the 2008 economic debacle and its recovery, based on the obscene $700B package railroaded through Congress to help those financial entities that got us into trouble in the first place, an event billed as "a financial coup d'etat". All of it gets summed up in an in-your-face extract from president Carter's 1979 address to the nation to heed our own faults and greed: "Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns." If Moore had stuck to that, it would have been a much more worthwhile and potent effort. As it is, Capitalism doesn't have the teeth it should have had.
Note: The DVD includes an enlightening, scary interview with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hodges as well as the Jimmy Carter's complete address, both of which are worth the price of the disk.
Documentary: 6/10

Initial D (Hong Kong - 2005)
Starring: Shawn Yue, Edison Chen 
Director: Alan Mak, Ralph Rieckermann
Plot: An 18-year old tofu delivery boy’s drag-racing skills are found out after he bests a professional driver in the curved roads of the hills near his home, leading to inevitable challenges and a renewal with his ex-racing dad.
Review: Based on a popular Japanese comic book and anime series of the same name, Initial D proved to be a smash hit in Asia, but it’s hard to see why. A sort of “poor man’s” Tokyo Drift, the occasional racing – mostly focused on the art of “drifting” cards sideways across tight corners at ludicrous speeds - is ably executed and a sense of movement is portrayed via editing and choice placement of cameras (including the front and back bumpers). But don’t be fooled – there’s not enough material to carry the monicker of “action” flick. Instead, a banal father-son tale is branded about along with the usual coming-of-age shenanigans. The comedy factor is limited to an annoying, overweight pal whose the polar opposite of Chou, and the (unnecessary) romantic element drifts (pun intended) into unexpected, out-of-the-blue territory in the last act for no apparent reason, leaving viewers hanging – perhaps for a sequel? Co-directors Lau and Mak made their mark with the incredibly popular and influential crime thriller Infernal Affairs, but much of the energy brought to that series is lacking here, as is the intense characters and situations. There’s little at stake, apart from bragging rights, and so the suspense is limited to figuring how our hero will beat his next opponent. Taiwanese pop star Chou, as the young, mostly stoic hero, seems zoned out and lacks any noticeable charm, but then so does most of the cast. Thankfully a dependable Wong – even as a perpetually drunk, sleepwalking tofu maker - manages to lift the dramatic bits out of its doldrums. All this is not to say Initial D is a bad film – the elements gel well-enough together to make it watchable, and the production values solid enough to make for decent entertainment for less discriminate viewers, or for fans of the original series.
Entertainment: 6/10

The Men Who Stare At Goats (2009)
Starring: George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges
Director: Grant Heslov
Plot: While in Iraq looking for a story, a down-on-his-luck reporter stumbles upon a former U.S. military intelligence officer - a man who claims to be part of an Army division trained in New Age techniques and imbued with paranormal abilities - on a black-ops mission to stop a terrorist cell.
Review: Tongue firmly planted in cheek, The Men Who Stare At Goats is a strange satire indeed, and mainstream audiences will probably be scratching their heads at what the joke's about. Though the script and the direction is uneven - jumping around in time throughout the narrative and occasionally getting lost - there's still lots to enjoy here. For one, it's set in Iraq but isn't a commentary on that War or its soldiers - more, it's a bizarre portrait of men trying to find their true path in a complex world, and finding it in some absurd places. It's also a comic adventure as we follow soldiers trained in the art of New Age warfare dealing with real (and perceived) threats. And, as adapted from the bestselling non-fiction book by British journalist Jon Ronson, what's true and exaggerated is never made clear, making the military vs. the paranormal subject material all the more bizarre and unreal. Finally, it's buoyed by an A-list cast including an earnest Clooney (in his best Coen-brothers-comedy mode), a dopey-eyed McGregor, a far-out-and-groovy Bridges as the charismatic founder and a slimy Kevin Spacey, all of whom work up a lather (the frothing-at-the-mouth kind) and really give craziness a whirl. There's even an inside joke as Clooney's kooky character seriously describes McGregor's timid journalist as a "Jedi" in training. Alas, the film does lose steam in its final reel and in the end the story, jokes and surreal shenanigans don't really add up to a satisfying whole, but while it's going The Men Who Stare at Goats is amusing, off-the-wall entertainment.
Entertainment: 6/10

Astro Boy (2009)
Starring: Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell
Director: David Bowers
Plot: Created to replace his lost son, a scientist living in the futuristic Metro City rejects his creation forcing the young robot to search for his destiny among the polluted Earth surface and its abandoned denizens.
Review: The original '50s era comics by creator Osamu Tezuka are considered a classic of Japanese manga. The '60s cartoon show, adapted for Japanese tastes, bring fond memories to millions. Now Astro Boy gets a high-tech upgrade as a computer animated feature aimed squarely at American audiences. Die-hard fans will mope at the tale's inconsistencies with the original material, or on how long it takes for its diminutive hero to "become" the Astro Boy they know, but his awakening is all part of the fun. Sure, at face value it looks like any myriad of similar CGI tales, and its themes of destiny, family and social change are tired tropes, but something clicks here early on and helps things race along with infectious energy. Perhaps because it was produced outside the Hollywood system, or because... Whatever the reason, those of us who haven't been raised in its shadow, it's a mighty fine sci-fi adventure. There's pathos, humor and smarts on display in both the dramatic moments, be they of the father-robot-son relationship or our hero's crisis of identity, and the myriad of action sequences ranging from a flying chase through city buildings, gladiatorial battle between mechanized combatants or the epic climax where a Godzilla-sized robot smashes its way in city-wide destruction. The slick, vibrant animation, gorgeous backgrounds, the wit and slapstick, the engaging script all help director Bowers (Flushed Away) hide the fact that much of this Pinocchio-like tale does seem cobbled together from other CGI tales (Wall-E, Robots and Igor come immediately to mind). Highmore and Cage get top billing, but its the rest of the impressive voice cast, rounding out the package, that impresses including the likes of Donald Sutherland, Bill Nighy, Eugene Levy, Nathan Lane, Samuel L. Jackson - a casting coup if ever there was one. With lots of animated thrills and a whole lot of chutzpah, Astro Boy makes its mark in a cluttered family-aimed CGI market by ensuring both kids and adults will find something to enjoy.
Entertainment: 7/10

Dragonslayer (1981)
Starring: Peter MacNicol, Caitlin Clarke, Ralph Richardson
Director: Matthew Robbins
Plot: On the death of his mentor, a sorcerer's apprentice embarks on a trip to rid the kingdom of a fearsome dragon who has been feeding on virgins sacrificed through the king's lottery.
Review: A post-Star Wars fantasy, Dragonslayer's mix of comedy, adventure and special effects hasn't aged well - if it was even effective on its original early-80s release. The old adage that fantasy (and not comedy) is hard - as made obvious by multiple box-office bombs of the time - sure is relevant here. Like Excalibur, it provides the appropriate medieval setting and atmosphere, but the production values stop there. Director Robbins does a mostly pedestrian job in his first directing effort, but he does use the Welsh and Scottish locations to good effect. The real culprit is the hackneyed, cliched script; though there are a few interesting bits, it is slow going through a "magician apprentice" plot, damsel in distress set-up and lots of other non-relevant stuff to fill-in the time slot, all of which is only mildly entertaining until it's inevitable climax, when young apprentice meets age-old, pissed-off dragon in a fight to the death. In this final act, the movie soars way above the rest of the ho-hum adventure - just too little too late. As to the SFX, they were probably quite impressive in its day, but now it seems outrageously fake. The giant fire-breathing dragon itself, however, is still a great piece of work when it is finally revealed in all its glory. The cast is mostly second-rate, but that would be OK if it was not that MacNicol doesn't make for a convincing, or sympathetic, young hero - no matter how maladroit, naive and big-hearted he is supposed to be. Surprisingly, Dragonslayer has been deemed a fantasy cult classic, but most audiences will just find a passable late-night offering here.
Entertainment: 4/10

Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Andrei Arlovski
Director: John Hyams
Plot: When terrorists threaten to blow up a Russian nuclear power plant, the US Army re-commissions their original super-soldier to stop them and their hired help, a rogue scientist who has created a second-generation of unstoppable warriors.
Review: Like many of its ilk, Regeneration is a direct-to-DVD effort produced and shot in an Eastern block country to keep the budget small, starring a past-his-prime leading man whose hey-day was in the 80's, made with an eye to satisfy curiosity seekers, die-hard fans and late-night-TV watchers. The surprise, then, is that the movie not only surpasses low expectations but that it's a pretty darn good action flick on its own merit - it definitely bests the previous sequels and even the 1992 original. Of immediate note is how grittier this installment is: instead of the spectacular, explosive confrontations and stunts, the action is brutal, violent and very down-to-earth. The second is how able helmer John Hyams (son of genre director Peter Hyams, of Outland and Timecop fame, who here provides some excellent cinematography) is at the action set pieces. And there's a lot of action to enjoy, from small skirmishes of soldiers fighting against a new UniSol (played to the badass hilt by UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski), to the many engagements by Van Damme himself (and his stunt doubles). The main plot isn't anything to write home about - it plays on familiar tropes to get our hero into trouble. Where it gets good is how it draws its characters with short but sharp moments, and even Van Damme gets his chance at a poignant instance or two; in fact, the movie is better than it's got any right to be, even touching at themes of morality and free will, proving that care on a script (even on a B-movie) can make all the difference. Some might be disappointed that Van Damme is only present half the time, but the film manages to make it engaging even with a half-dozen other characters. Not surprisingly, the real highlight is the appearance Lundgren as the uncontrollable "back-up" - his interaction with Van Damme is as unnerving as they're fight is vicious. It's only a 15 minute scene, but it makes an impression. With oodles of action, strong script and engaging directing, Regeneration is a real treat, even for those who have never seen the previous installments.
Entertainment: 7/10

Gamer (2009)
Starring: Gerard Butler, Amber Valetta 
Directors: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Plot: In a future where humans can control others in massive, live online gaming environments, a death-row convict - star of a brutal combat game - strives to survive to his 30th battle while a gang of rebels try to entice his aid to bring down the powerful mogul behind the games.
Review: A different take on the Avatar idea of, well, avatars, Gamer's premise and trailer scream a promise of mindless action and carnage for video game enthusiasts. The surprising thing is that it delivers on that and manages to get some story in as well as some well-realized ideas in, too. First, there's the real-life The Sims game, where people actually take control of other people's bodies - for a price - and where almost anything non-violent goes. Then, of course, there's the bloody, violent affair where convicts get dismembered and killed for millions of people's entertainment - think Death Race without the cars. In fact, the main story is awfully similar to that B-movie flick, and the "surprise" revelations really aren't. Directors Neveldine and Taylor proved their attention-deficit type of filmmaking style with the two way-over-the-top, cult-friendly Crank films. Shockingly, they've cranked down a notch (pun intended) from their previous excesses in their latest effort, giving way to some kind of character development and plot along with the in-your-face, first-person-shooter cinematography. Unfortunately, they're actually enjoying the mayhem too much, focusing all their energies into making the events and scenes way too cool that any social message gets drowned out - if there really ever was one. And, yup, there's even a musical number with our villain in center stage, just in case you thought anyone was taking this too seriously, but by that time, the conventions have set in and the conclusion ends up in all-too-familiar territory. Still, if nobody should expect Citizen Kane there are enough interesting ideas, action set-pieces and verve to keep it engaging until the final act. A big part of the success also lies in the hands of leading-man Butler who seems to be in every other film these days, from rom-coms to thrillers. His films may not be high-brow, but at least they're fun, and Butler has enough charisma to make a difference, and it shows again here. Hall, as Bill Gates' evil twin, chews the scenery with gusto and never looks back but he ends up being a one-note maniac. For sure, there's nothing subtle to Neveldine and Taylor's works, but in Gamer at least it works as they probably intended and that's a good thing.
Entertainment: 7/10

The Blind Side (2009)
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron, Tim McGraw
Director: John Lee Hancock
Plot: A giant but gentle African American teenager, abandoned by an addict mother and with no family gets taken in by a wealthy white family and eventually wins a University football scholarship.
Review: Based on a surprising true story, The Blind Side is Oscar-bait material for a mainstream audience. Less a sports movie than a melodrama that aims at the heartstrings, its inspirational message and by-the-numbers approach fails to do this incredible tale justice. The decision to make it into a Bullock vehicle was probably the first mistake; as is, the story frisks the real story and gives it a thoroughly Hollywood approach, including the perfect family - wealthy, white, Conservative - taking in a hard case, the pint-sized younger "brother" thrown in for comic relief, the sappy moments, and the bite-sized anecdotes to make it all the more palatable. Heart clearly on his sleeve, director Hancock keeps the pacing required for any good popcorn flick but misses the deeper aspects of the situation and the many opportunities for social commentary. And though there's lots of quiet, reflective moments when it comes to explaining Oher's quiet, protective persona - and lots of flashbacks to his difficult childhood - we rarely get a sense of who he is. Even the football sequences - from typical Rocky-like training bits to the high school matches - are OK, but sports fans will be disappointed by the lack of action. The surprise, then, is that the movie is actually pretty engaging with its share of audience-pleasing moments and humorous touches, and Bullock (another surprise) is to thank for that in a tough-but-with-a-heart-of-gold motherly character. Playing the part to the hilt, Bullock does an admirable job with the Southern drawl and no-nonsense approach. Though the Christian Conservatives will love the message here, the filmmakers do the story a disservice by letting The Blind Side only scratch the surface issues and focusing so much on Bullock, leaving its main protagonist a secondary character and aiming for an easily-digestible film. An interesting double-feature with another Oscar nominee for 2010, Precious. 
Drama: 6/10

Fame (2009)
Starring: Kay Panabaker, Naturi Naughton, Charles S. Dutton
Director: Kevin Tancharoen
Plot: Talented students from different backgrounds and social status try to follow their dreams of fame at the New York Academy of Performing Arts.
Review: A out-and-out remake of the break-out 1980 film that inspired a generation of aspiring young artists, this version of Fame - updated for the times - is definitely more polished but also less affecting and less interesting. First-time movie director Tancharoen has had lots of experience on dance TV, and it shows - the moments of showmanship, dance, music and what have you are energetic and well staged - even the recreation of the cafeteria scene. The rest of the dramatic elements, not so much. Alan Parker, the director of the first flick, put the characters and their stories first, something that gave heft to the struggles and successes of its students. By denying them that, the new version just feels emotionally empty. The strong adult cast - including lots of famous faces from TV such as Kelsey Grammer, Debbie Allen and Charles S. Dutton - gets very little to do but play third-fiddle to the young talent and there's no doubt that these youngsters have lots of that - just not necessarily in the acting department. To be fair, the script doesn't do them any favors, sticking as it does to the usual clichés that were familiar even back whe the original was a hit. Unlike the original, few kids will see themselves in what amounts to a movie that's only inspirational fluff. As to the soundtrack, apart from a handful of re-tooled hits from the 80's, there's really nothing of note. Fame's muscial numbers are the real stars, but as a teen drama it gets a failing grade.
Entertainment: 5/10

Futurama: Bender's Game (2008)
Actors: David X. Cohen, Eric Kaplan, Michael Rowe
Director: Dwayne Carey-Hill
Plot: A quest to seek an alternate fuel source to replace anti-matter throws the hapless crew of an interstellar courier service ship into an alternate universe where dragons and centaurs inhabit a magical land.
Review: The lesser of the direct-to-DVD Futurama efforts (each meant to be played as a three-episode set of the animated show's adult-rated fifth season on Comedy Central), Bender's Game offers up a typically convoluted plot, some great zingers, slapstick and more giggles-a-minute than most comedy shows manage in a season. This time around, the minds behind the show have put their minds to skewering the Dungeons & Dragons phenomenon along with the typical fantasy movie clichés (The Lord of the Rings ends up getting the lion's share). The first third works wonders, possessing the same zany energy and inventiveness that has garnered many fans - a perfect example is the brilliantly animated opening Yellow Submarine sequence (priceless!). Unfortunately, when our hapless (and often inept) heroes find themselves in an alternate sword & sorcery universe for the second half of the film the humor and plot loses steam. Part of the problem is that making fun of elves, centaurs and shining knights has already been milked over the last 20 years, and it seems that this stone has little blood left in it, leaving viewers with the impression that a two-episode installment was stretched beyond its capabilities to accomodate three, but without the added laughs to go with the added running time - and no, lazy pop-reference gags don't always make it better. Still, fans of the show will be content to see more Futurama adventures and newbies will at least appreciate some of the more clever aspects.
Entertainment: 6/10

Surrogates (2009)
Starring: Bruce Willis, James Cromwell, Ving Rhames
Director: Jonathan Mostow
Plot: In a world where robot surrogates have become the only means for people to interact in society, a veteran cop is forced to leave the confines of his home for the first time in years to investigate an unprecedented series of murders.
Review: Surrogates attempts to be meaningful sci-fi wrapped in a procedural thriller and action movie, all in one. One can see how this would have worked better as a comic book, on which this is actually based, where fantastic concepts are easier to accept. As a movie (or at least as this movie) it comes off as cheap and not well realized, and not only because of limited production values. The script itself never manages to convince us of the viability of this society, never even trying to excuse its logic gaps, throwing in two plot twists that annoy more than surprise. Even its musings on humanity and how modern technology have made us isolated are half-hearted at best. It all comes off like a version edited for a zippier, action-only crowd, a version that neither satisfies as a thriller (not enough action, suspense or surprises) nor as science-fiction (not enough new ideas or conviction). For a director whose got U-571 and Terminator 3 under his belt, Mostow is definitely not at his best - actually, it's all quite underwhelming. That said, it's not a complete loss - even if Cromwell and Rhames are severely underused in supporting parts, Willis comes through, and often seems to be better than the action vehicles he's been strapped to, even in his caricatural cop-with-a-conscience roles. And Mostow does provide a few (too few) slam bang action sequences, including a manhunt between super-powered surrogate and two-bit killer in a human ghetto, and a car chase after a runaway surrogate that do entertain. This would have made for an interesting Twilight Zone or Outer Limits episode, but the limited ideas and pedestrian execution can't sustain a full-length film. Too bad - Surrogates could have been an intriguing, thought-provoking SF thriller if it wasn't so concerned with meeting lowest-denominator standards.
Entertainment: 5/10

Vexille (Japan - 2007)
Voices: Toshiyuki Morikawa, Romi Park 
Director: Fumihiko Sori 
Plot: In 2077, a special forces agent is sent undercover to discover the illegal cyborg operations of an international conglomerate that is hiding behind the digital veil hiding an isolated Japan.
Review: The sci-fi action thriller Vexille continues recent tradition in Japanese anime to combine CGI and cartoon-like figures captured in stop-motion, and it's clear that this is a good blend for this kind of storytelling. The opening sequence - a commando-style raid against a castle with mechanized suits and robots - is thrillingly choreographed and shows off the impressive, super-smooth animation. There's also some beautiful design work and general art direction, as one would expect from the same production house that created the rebooted Appleseed films. The action is for the most part well handled, including a few short-lived mecha battles and an extended climax involving a rebel attack against an industrial despot's stronghold that has shades of Star Wars and giant mechanized sandworms straight out of Dune. But there's just not enough action during the first hour to really satisfy adrenaline junkies, especially since the downtime (the extended exposition) and final revelation of the "mystery" behind the impenetrable wall of silence around Japan don't seem to gel as well as it could have. That said, you have to hand it to Japanese filmmakers: they do put in some cool, over-the-top sci-fi stuff that wouldn't be swallowed by US audiences or distributors. It's just too bad they often can't follow-through with their interesting premises to the end without resorting to a deus ex machina or easy resolution, as is the case here. Still, Vexille is a slick, engaging piece of work and for the most part that's good enough to have audiences forget about the script's faults.
Entertainment: 6/10

Street Kings (2008)
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker
Director: David Ayer
Plot: Demoted and inspected by Infernal Affairs when a former colleague-turned-informat is murdered, a brutal veteran detective - part of a task force that believes the ends justify the means - sets out to clear his name but only gets deeper into trouble.
Review: A surprisingly effective crime thriller, Street Kings takes you on a trip to the dark side of law enforcement where corruption, abuse and violence are all par for the course. Paranoia, fear, death are all around and you just never know who your friends, or enemies, are. It's a pretty darn bleak depiction of the men in blue from one of America's best crime novelists James Ellroy who provided both the orignal story and co-scripted. Ellroy delved into similar stuff in the more impressive, and more layered, L.A. Confidential but it's clear he hasn't had his last word on the matter. Audiences that are at all familiar with the crime genre will see the revelations coming waaaay before our "hero" does - in fact pretty much at the half hour mark. It's not so much that the film telegraphs its intentions as much as it doesn't really care to offer up any original (or substantial) view of the subject. What matters are the depictions of these men and their deeds, a place where morality is entangled in shades of gray. Director Ayer seems to have a fascination with the bad side of the police force, and its failed characters, having previously directed Harsh Times and written both Dark Blue and Training Day. Here he keeps things moving at break-neck speed, cranking up the intensity from the very first shot and inching further with each plot twist, from the taunt gunfights to the nerve-wracking stand-offs and through all the revelations in between. The cast works well, too: if Reeves doesn't stretch his acting much he seems just right for the role as an unpleasant guy doing unpleasant things - he is no hero; another pleasant surprise is Chris Evans as his partner of convenience. As the police captain heading the team, Whitacker, unfortunately, can't help but chew the scenery with wild abandon and his veering into what amounts to broad camp is keenly distracting. There's no denying that Street Kings is a stylish, effectively paced affair that provides all the hard-nosed thrills one would expect from its pedigree. If only it had gone more out on a limb it would have been somethign to behold.
Drama: 7/10

Black Belt (2007)
Starring: Akihito Yagi, Tatsuya Naka, Yuji Suzuki
Director: Shunichi Nagasaki 
Plot: In pre-War Japan, three Karate disciples go their separate ways after their dojo is taken over by the military police and eventually cross paths again to find out who is most worthy to be their dead master's successor.
Review: Black Belt's tagline is "Real Fight, Real Karate, Real Japan", and it sure lives up to that promise. Just don't expect a slam-bang action movie to come out of this, a rather slow going, introspective portrait of the popular martial arts discipline. Director Nagasaki's languid pacing and bland direction is in keeping with the theme of moral reflection in pre-War Japan and feels like it would be more at home as an homage to the 1970's era of filmmaking, with shades of Zatoichi for good measure (minus the fun factor). Too cliched and too one-dimensional to be memorable, the deliberate narrative does get the point across and delivers some interesting perception on the era but its real focus is in the moral tension of its protagonists. To keep the realism to a maximum, the leads were chosen for their skills, not their acting chops; in fact, these are real Karate masters, which is perhaps why their performances are somewhat lacking. There is power in their stance and grace in their movements that doesn't require the usual wirework, special effects or rapid editing. This is probably one of the more thruthful representations of the art and tradition of Karate to make it to the screen and for that at least it is commendable. That said, realism doesn't make for entertaining spectacle and the final battle, as the two antagonists end up grappling around in the mud, exhausted, shot in B&W, doesn't really make for great cinema. For those who have been raised on any type of martial arts flick this is slow-going stuff while the banal story, cardboard characters and simplistic message just don't help in taking Black Belt seriously as an exploration of the human condition.
Drama: 5/10

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium: Part 1 - Men Who Hate Women) (Män som hatar kvinnor) (Sweden - 
2009)
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Plot: A reclusive industry tycoon hires a veteran investigative reporter to find the murderer of his niece, a 16-year-old girl who disappeared almost 40 years before.
Review: Based on the first book in a trilogy of Swedish thrillers by writer Stieg Larsson, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was originally a made-for-TV mini-series that was later re-cut and edited for international release. And it still puts most recent so-called Hollywood crime thrillers to shame. For those who can only think of European cinema as static and boring, this will be a revelation. A surprisingly mature, smart feature, it is atypical for the genre in that - loyal to the source material - the characters are as important, and as interesting - if not more - than the actual mystery they're trying to solve. Case in point is the young female protagonist, a computer hacker and a smart, no-nonsense cookie who dresses and acts like a Goth punk and has a slew of dark psychological issues to deal with yet doesn't let anything get in her way. There's a sub-plot involving her case supervisor that's a horror onto itself. She's the film's most complex character, and it's a stunning performance from the otherwise unknown Rapace, who makes a strong counter-point to Nyqvist's defamed veteran investigative journalist. And the film makes no attempt to hide the ugliness of the novel; this is definitely R-rated, with its brutal depictions of rape, sexual deviances and ritualistic murders. Blending the gruesome nature of the events with the beauty and solitude of the snow-covered landscapes, director Oplev wisely avoids getting too fancy on the cinematography or directing, allowing the actors to take their place and the story to unfold with only a few necessary shortcuts from the source material. There's never a dead moment, even at almost two and a half hours, and the end comes too abruptly. In the end, the real suspense of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo comes as much from the dependable intrigue as it does from an attachment to the characters, and that's quite an achievement.
Entertainment: 8/10

Murderball (2005)
Starring: Joe Soares, Mark Zupan, Keith Cavill
Director: Dana Adam Shapiro, Henry Alex Rubin
Plot: The quadriplegic rugby players of Team USA prepare for competition at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Review: A look at "wheelchair rugby", or Murderball as the fans call it, this isn't your typical inspirational sport documentary, in large part because the athletes portrayed all have some level of disability in all four limbs - and many of them aren't very photogenic. The premise doesn't sound like a very exciting one, but once you've had a chance at seeing these dedicated, tough, swearing and - in some cases - scary-looking guys on the court, any thoughts of them being "crippled" or deserving pity getes abolished. Sporting steel plates and bumpers, their modified wheelchairs have become tanks, chariots in full-contact combat, and the games themselves can get vicious as the players slam into each other at full speed, even overturning their opponents. This is an international, competitive sport, and these players and their fans take it very seriously; as one of the players states: "this is war!", and the emotions run high. But if the games themselves show their competitive nature, the film itself allows a lot of time to uncover each one's story - how accident induced spinal chord injuries or childhood disease left them infirmed - and how each of them (and their families and friends) coped with their new disabilities. The most refreshing part is that the movie potrays these otherwise normal guys for what they are without ever condescending or getting into bloated sentimen: There's the fierce, tattooed but sympatheric Mark Zupan, the spokesperson of the American team, and the bad tempered Joe Soares, kicked off of team and now coaching for Team Canada against his former teammates; from interacting with friends and family, to frank discussions on the challenges of having sex, to how their peers now see them and how they manage to prove their independence, the camera captures them at their best and their worst, providing a depth that's rearely seen. The climactic game at the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, in 2004 - with all its score-board tension - is a bit of a let down, but then that wasn't the point; what Murderball so capably provides is a look past both the disabilities and the gruff jock behavior to find the real people underneath.
Documentary: 7/10

Bedtime Stories (2008)
Starring: Adam Sandler, Keri Russell
DIrector: Adam Shankman
Plot: A hotel handyman sees his life change when he has to take care of his young niece and nephew for a week, especially when he realizes that the bedtime stories they tell always seem to magically come true.
Review: A mix of Sandler's personal comedy, Disney's family sensibilities, and some fantastical elements rendered in CGI, Bedtime Stories must have sounded like a sure Christmas hit. Is it any surprise that our shmoe saves the day, gets the girl and manages to embarrass his rivals in the same fell swoop? Probably not, but all of it would be so much more palatable if it wasn't so by-the-numbers. The idea of the bedtime stories coming true had some huge potential; written as an excuse to have Sandler prancing around on Western, Roman and sci-fi sets, the make-believe sequences (and their implications in the real world) are fun enough but are too few and far between, with too much time spent on the banalities of the depressingly familiar main story. Perhaps the worst offender is the humour: spoon-fed jokes, little wit, a lowest denominator type high-concept comedy like Hollywood can't seem to get out of and worse, audiences still accept... add it all and it's clear that laughs aren't on the menu. Oh, there's the odd smirk to be had, and there's the typical commercial energy to keep us engaged, but it's all somehow harmless and too "vanilla", with nothing really surprising except for the talent involved. Director Shankman (Hairspray, The Pacifier) has spent too much time doing easily-digested cream-puff films and he hasn't stretched his abilities or that of Adam Sandler's, cruising with the same performance he plays in every film - he has a certain infantile charm, but his shtick is getting old and boring. Russell plays the female romantic prop with just the right touch, but the rest of the cast doesn't come off as well: Cox looks like she's had one Botox shot too many; Pearce is downright embarrassing as the wannabe hotel manager, slumming it as the butt of jokes; and Lucy Lawless (she of Xena fame) as his doting assistant is criminally ill used. Let's face it - the filmmakers wanted to make sure Sandler didn't have any competition for screen time. The only thing that does win over him is a bug-eyed CGI hamster. Bedtime Stories promised Disney's fairy-tale fantasy and only half delivers. But who are we kidding - this is another typical Sandler vehicle, playing up his infantile charm in pretty much the same trademark character he's made a career out of; his shtick is getting old and boring, but his myriad of fans will eat it up.
Entertainment: 4/10

Fatal Move (Hong Kong - 2008)
Starring: Sammo Hung, Simon Yam, Danny Lee, Jacky Wu
Director: Dennis Law
Plot: Outside pressures and internal double-crosses threaten the criminal operations of a local triad boss who must turn to violent measures to avoid having his territory overtaken by rivals and his secrets handed over to the police.
Review: On the heels of the recent upswing in crime action dramas out of Hong Kong like SPL, Fatal Move baits audiences with strong production values, an impressive cast and what must have been a killer trailer. Alas, the end product is anything but memorable. Writer / director Law is clearly at ease with the action sequences, some of which are to the level we've come to expect from more recent high-minded productions out of HK, including one (and yes, only one) with legendary star Sammo Hung. The sword fights are vicious, with an uncommon ardour of showing off computerized spurts of blood-letting and body parts chopped with wild abandon; it's in these that martial arts star Jacky Wu stands out, as he does in the more tense dramatic moments, even if he's been given limited dialogue. Where the film fails is in the story and the telling - it's long-winded, convoluted, unconvincing and - worse of all for a HK flick - boring. It's a bloated parody of past crime flicks where everyone character is out to get ahead, where double-crosses are common and there's simply no loyalty among thieves. It's a bad use of a strong cast that also counts Simon Yam and Danny Lee amongst the many (too many) players. Yet even all this wouldn't be so bad if it all didn't come off so pretentious in swagger and execution. In the end, the action is good enough to make Fatal Move watchable, but it's a disappointment after a bevy of strong contenders in the genre.
Entertainment: 5/10

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)
Starring: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Hank Azaria
Director: Shawnn Levy
Plot: A former security guard must infiltrate the Smithsonian Institute to rescue New York Museum exhibits that have been shipped out along with the ancient magical tablet that brings them to life.
Review: There was no doubt that the popularity of Night at the Museum was going to produce a sequel - the idea of a museum's exhibits coming to life was ripe for an upgrade with more special effects and a larger museum setting (aka, the Smithsonian, the world's largest). Unfortunately, the film smacks of sequel-itis, and is neither as original nor as amusing as its progenitor. The Smithsonian's pieces are put to good use (especially the Air & Space museum) to provide some needed thrills, but the jokes and slapstick humour don't have the same effect the second time around. The shallow script tries to divert attention from its failings by barreling from one set-piece to another and bringing in a half-dozen new personalities, from Abe Lincoln to Ivan the Terrible - none of whom make any real impression or bring any real humor to the chaotic party. On the plus side, director Levy gives the movie the required sense of urgency and movement, for the most part, and it's rarely dull. Stiller is still the main attraction as he battles extinct creatures, historical villains and gets into general trouble, and his welcome trademark shtick is just as evident. With all the characters thrown around, though, he's no longer the center of attention. As the pharaoh brought to life and looking to take over the world, Azaria gets to perform at his campy best, but the dialogue - especially in some tired repartee with Stiller - is un-funny at best. The rest of the gang make what amount to cameo appearances, including Owen Wilson, Robin Williams and Steve Coogan, but it's more to see their faces again than for any actual plot purposes. Thankfully the presence of Adams, as Amelia Earhart's wax figure come to life, brings a much-needed spark to the proceedings, and there's some nice chemistry between her and Stiller. An unfortunately lower-tier sequel to an amusing film, Battle of the Smithsonian has lots of sound and bluster but isn't nearly as entertaining as it should have been.
Entertaining: 5/10

Legendary Assassin (Hong Kong - 2008)
Starring: Jacky Wu, Celina Jade, Suet Lam
Director: Chung Chi Li, Jacky Wu
Plot: A young female cop befriends a mysterious martial arts drifter stuck on an island waiting for the next ferry, little doubting that he is a deadly assassin on the run from a gang of criminals out to retrieve their boss' severed head.
Review: Created as a starring vehicle for it's wannabe-leading man, Legendary Assassin is a decent enough action flick that has some solid fighting blended into a vapid tale. This is an action flick first and foremost - despite the attempts at some cute romantic fluff and broad comedy involving the often-blundering local cops and crooks, this film pretty much only works when the story finds its way to the next action sequence. Thankfully, there are quite a few opportunities for some brutal butt-kicking fights involving some varied foes - all of which are competently executed, wire-assisted or not - ending in an impressive 100-to-1 brawl under a downpour that feels straight out of a scene from The Matrix Reloaded (minus the terrible CGI). Doing double-duty both in front and behind the camera (along with fight choreographer Chiung Chi Li), Jacky Wu has the athletic chops and the look to be a martial arts super-star for a newer generation, but this isn't the movie that will get him there. Still, he's got modest charm and, along with the lively and winning presence from female lead Jade, it makes the story's filler at least slightly less annoying. A solid if unimaginative flick for those in need of a Hong Kong action flick fix.
Entertainment: 6/10

Blood: The Last Vampire (2009)
Starring: Gianna Jun, Allison Miller
Director: Chris Nahon
Plot: In post-war Japan, an age-old half-vampire warrior who still looks like a young girl goes undercover in an American military high-school to get rid of the demons that have disguised themselves among the soldiers.
Review: A live-action adaptation of Hiroyuki Kitakuboís popular anime of the same name, Blood: The Last Vampire oozes style but little substance - it's twice as long and half as smart as the 48-minute material it is based on. The film does start off great, the color palette and noir feel distinctly recreating the feel of the original anime. For sure, there's lots of blood-letting, sword-fighting, and over-the-top wire-fu sequences against a myriad of demonically-possessed people, but many of these feel lifeless. The filmmakers may have wanted to channel Azumi, but it ain't. An exception is a very Hong Kong-fantasy influenced flashback sequence where our heroine's mentor battles an army of ninjas in a bamboo forest - the scenes are effective and fun, but only make the rest of the film pale by comparison. Even the climax against the supreme villain, a female demon with incredible supernatural powers only provides a sequence that's short-lived and leaves us short-changed. Director Nahon proved his action chops directing Jet Li in Kiss of the Dragon (one of Li's best non-Hong Kong flicks), and here he's taken a step back. Perhaps its the fantasy element, or it's the pressure of adapting an animated film too literally, or it's just that he wasn't up to the task. Whatever the reason is, it sure doesn't help that the computer effects just look unfinished, from the spurting blood to the roughly animated demon beings. An international cast and production can't help things, either. The sole bright spot in the film is Korean actress Gianna Jun who plays the heroine, the half-breed vampire Saya - she livens up the screen when she's given half a chance, and she definitely looks the part, even if she looks a little too old to be wearing a Japanese school-girl outfit. In the end, Blood: The Last Vampire isn't completely lifeless and does have its moments, but for the most part it's a joyless exercise that can't hold a candle to the original animated film.
Entertainment: 4/10

Nosferatu: The Vampyre (Phantom Der Nacht) (Germany - 1979)
Starring: Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz
Director: Werner Herzog
Plot: A German businessman travels to Transylvania to advise Count Dracula on moving to his hometown, little suspecting the horrors that await him, his wife and the entire town.
Review: Director Herzog's remake of F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, the classic silent-era adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, ends up being both a tribute to the 1922 version and a very personal vision all its own. Hailed as one of Europe's foremost directors, Herzog (Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo) consciously creates a link to the German cinema of the 20's, creating a very stylized, very theatrical adaptation where symbolism and aesthetics reign. He even allows for some nice cinematic flourishes with light and shadow that enliven the film and harkens back to silent-era inventiveness. Unfortunately, made on a relatively low budget, the production values aren't what they should be and it doesn't look as lush or convincing as Hollywood's stylish Bram Stoker's Dracula, or even as atmospheric as the original silent-era version, where limited technology actually helped create a proper sense of gloom and doom. Still, it is an interesting take on the legend, with the Vampire a metaphor for the end of civilization, as the idyllic village is hit by an infestation of rats bringing the plague. And those scenes are impressive, considering the lack of special effects - as the vermin roam the streets by the thousands, undeterred, crawling into houses, festering over a banquet left out in the open. The combination of Ganz, a very young and ethereally beautiful Adjani, along with Herzog's favorite fiend Kinski makes for a terrific casting choice. As the titular vampire, Kinski is a bizarre actor, and that weirdness is perfectly suited for the role - he has few lines but his presence alone speaks oodles, bringing the hideousness and the melancholy of the character to bear on screen. Alas, there's little of the sexual tension we've come to expect from the genre except for a short, intense moment between Adjani and Kinski that reveals the potential of the Herzog's version, and the silent, erotic but chaste climactic scene where Adjani sacrifices herself to save them all. She ends up being the real hero, as the tale relegates Van Helsing as the man of science who refutes the supernatural - an interesting twist to the tale, where all the men are pretty much useless in the face of the mystifying terror. Modern American audiences will find this plodding stuff, especially in the first half as it takes too long setting up the stakes for little payoff. In the end, Nosferatu is very much an auteur film, and those willing to give have their horror served up with his own European flavor won't be disappointed with Herzog's take.
Drama / Horror: 6/10

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
Starring: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary
Director: Carlos Saldanha, Mike Thurmeier
Plot: When Sid the sloth tries to adopt three baby dinosaurs he gets abducted by their none-too-happy T-Rex mother and its up to his friends to rescue him from a lost prehistoric land.
Review: Milking the successful CGI franchise for all its worth, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is another successful (if average) entry in the lucrative computer animated genre. The by-the-numbers script doesn't bring anything too original here, but on this, the third installment, the filmmakers have gotten the formula, pacing, character interactions and comic quotient down pat - it's mainstream, market-driven, audience-pleasing fare for sure, but it's also quite effective as packaged entertainment. Many of the scenes are clearly meant for 3D viewing but still make for some effective thrill-rides on TV, from monster chases through the blazingly colorful jungle setting to the dive-bombing of flying pterodactyls the un-missable lava-flow cliff-hanger, and a repeat of the tumbling-rocks sequence of the previous chapter. Throw in some themes of parenthood, friendship and loyalty, a boatload of clever sight-gags and slapstick, the return of the capable voice cast including Romano, Leguizamo, Leary and Queen Latifah and you've got a recipe for nice box-office returns. The Land of the Lost premise also gets a boost with the introduction of a deranged, Crocodile Dundee-inspired Tarzan-like weasel superbly voiced by Simon Pegg who gets not only the best lines, but also outshines all the original characters. Not to be forgotten is that rotten squirrel is still after his acorn, but now he's got some real competition in a foxy female; those scenes are still pretty imaginative but no longer as funny, which is something that can be said of the entire film - the familiarity makes it comfortable, but the charm is starting to thin. An amusing, sugar-coated affair, Dawn of the Dinosaurs main aim is to entertain - and it does.
Entertainment: 7/10

Battle for Terra (2007)
Starring: Brian Cox, Chris Evans, David Cross
Director: Aristomenis Tsirbas
Plot: A peaceful alien civilization is threatened with extinction when the survivors of the Human race sets their sites on conquering their world and terraforming it to suit their needs.
Review: A second-rate, teeny-bopper amalgam of Star Wars and Wall-E, Battle for Terra may arguably keep the kids entertained, but it sure won't keep their parents in their seats. The premise is alien invasion, but in this case, the aliens are us, and we're the villains to boot. As a downed human pilot and rogue alien teen come to terms with each other and the story of Earth's demise comes to light, it's clear that this is all done to ram an environmental and social "can't we all just get along?" message down our throats. The rest of the story - as the pair attempts to save the kidnapped inhabitants, being used for science experiments and end up being on different sides of a Death Star-like dogfight - is utterly predictable and clichéd. Even these thrills, when they finally come, are tiring after a few minutes. One short-lived exception is a nice scene as we follow the paraglider-like flying contraptions through the exotic world's landscape. Too bad it didn't stick to that. A more obvious offender is the choice of the visuals: The alien society isn't very appealingly rendered and the CGI animation feels years out of date - the machinery is slick, as are the off space sequences, but when it comes to the human and alien depictions it fails miserably. A surprising smorgasbord of talent lends its voice to the film, including Brian Cox, Chris Evans, Rosanna Arquette, Mark Hamill, Dennis Quaid, Luke Wilson, Evan Rachel Wood and Amanda Peet, to name but a few. What they saw in the script to make such a commitment is not clear (unless it was an easy paycheck), but they do a decent - if unceremonious - job. Clearly aimed at younger kids, despite some of the violence, Battle for Terra is too drab to be entertaining and too awkward to be a decent message-movie, only ending as another coaster to be left on the video store shelf.
Entertainment: 3/10

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, John Turturro
Director: Michael Bay
Plot: The evil alien Decepticons return to Earth in search of a mythical icon that will destroy all life on the planet, and it's up to two teenagers and their Autobot allies to stop them.
Review: For those that enjoyed the mix of spectacular CGI machinery, massive destruction, and overall human silliness that was Transformers, the good news is that Revenge of the Fallen is better in every way to its predecessor. With generous dollops of giant robot-pummeling action, more sexy military hardware, a lowered dose of human shenanigans, more Autobots, more Decepticons... this is all-out war - what can boys ask for more? Is it a "good", drama-driven film? Heck, no. Is it an entertaining one? Hell, yes. This is a perfect example of all that is wrong with Hollywood: the poor attention to story, the lazy scripting, the one-dimensional characters; and all that is right: the epic scope, the stupendous special effects, the stellar production values, and the best technical expertise money can buy. And in many ways this is the ultimate summer movie: big, loud, splashy and super-slick, with no redeeming social value whatsoever. With Armageddon, Pearl Harbor and many others, director Bay has become synonymous with high concept, big budget action films, and this is his "masterpiece". It isn't great cinema, but one can't fault the choreography of the many battle sequences, the computer animation or the impeccable technical skill that went into each shot; the visuals are indeed spectacular. Though it never gets boring, the one downside is that it could have been edited to a more reasonable running length and most of the human back-story could have been eliminated. Indeed, the human cast is secondary, only there to bring about some levity to the proceedings, but at least LaBeouf is a bit less flaky this time around and Megan Fox just adds to the eye-candy. For those of us who still remember playing with toy robots when we were kids, Revenge of the Fallen is all our most loopy imagination put to the screen - and it couldn't have been better. Transformers won't win any Oscars, but it sure is the apex of the popcorn blockbuster and it's this year's biggest guilty pleasure. Serious moviegoers should stay clear.
Entertainment: 8/10

Disney Nature's Earth (2009)
Narrator: James Earl Jones
Directors: Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
Plot: Documentary follows a family of arctic polar bears, African elephants, and humpback whales - as well as migratory birds, and more - for an entire year.
Review: A repackaging of the 2007 British film, itself culled from the vast footage available from BBC's award-winning 2006 TV-series Planet Earth, Disney's latest theatrical foray into nature documentary territory is a hit and miss affair. For sure, the visuals of humpback whales feeding, of thousands of migratory birds swirling in the air, and of young polar bear cubs taking their first steps in the snowy deserts of the Arctic are stunning, and the captured wildlife astonishing. but most audiences have already had the chance to experience the entire original, more enthralling and better narrated series on video. It's nice to see some of these scenes on the big screen, but condensed into 90 minutes it limits the depth of its exploration into our planet's various animal inhabitants and barely touches on the environmental issues facing our world. The narration from James Earl Jones is always good and lively, but the film's cloying plot device of following three "families" to make it more palatable for young audiences ultimately does the enterprise a disservice. As an easy, family primer to the epic BBC / Discovery series, Earth is a success, though its limited appeal to most movie-goers looking for some original material will undoubtedly play against it.
Documentary: 7/10

Polytechnique (Quebec - 2009)
Starring: Karine Vanasse, Maxim Gaudette
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Plot: A true-life recreation of events portraying the cold-blooded, murderous rampage of an unstable student who murdered 14 female engineering students in a misogynistic rage.
Review: A dramatization of the Polytechnique Massacre of Dec 3, 1989 in Montreal, Canada which occurred in an engineering university and shocked a nation that thought itself immune from such senseless violence, Polytechnique is as gut wrenching as it is mesmerizing. Director Gus Van Sant did a similar exercise in minimalism and dialogue-thin approach with Elephant, based on the events of Columbine; it would be almost impossible for critics not to make a comparison, but Elephant was nowhere near as powerful in execution or in its message. Director Villeneuve (who impressed with the stylish local flick Maelstrom) has taken a very different track from his previous works to depict events in an anxiety-filled, no-nonsense, black-and-white recreation using eye-witness accounts. He methodically recreates Mark Lepine's rampage as he targeted women who he deemed were despicable "feminists", women whose sole crime studying to become engineers. The clear misogyny of the man, the violence of his acts, will ensure Mark Lepine's name lives on in infamy, and the film never tries to depict him as anything other than a "normal" student, nor make any judgments as to the events; only the voice-overs, as the actor reads out his various media-publicized suicide notes, allow for an understanding of how calculating (and deranged) he really was. In focusing instead on the survivors of the tragedy, the film gives a voice to the unspoken victims, those who had to live with the consequences of his acts. Starting from the killer's perspective, the narrative diverges to follow the events as witnessed by two (fictional) students, one male one female (both ably portrayed by Vanasse and Gaudette), and the story choices taken are brilliant, implying that despite the killer's targeting of women, everyone - from both genders - was deeply affected by this unveiling of society's dark side. For those who lived through the grief and rage of that fateful day, and the days that followed it, the killings burn in our collective memory even after 20 years. A contemplative, thought-provoking tribute, Polytechnique ensures that the reason those women died - and the courage of the survivors - will not be forgotten by future generations.
Drama: 8/10 

Drag Me to Hell (2009)
Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long 
Director: Sam Raimi
Plot: A young loan officer evicts an old gypsy woman from her home to prove her worth to her manager only to find herself the recipient of a supernatural curse that will lead evil forces to drag her to Hell.
Review: Genre fans won't help but be excited by Drag Me to Hell, the Evil Dead writer / director's return to his genre roots after more "serious" mainstream fare such as A Simple Plan and the Spider-Man series. There's a few new-fangled CGI effects on display but the movie's spirit, narration and jolt-a-minute pacing is very much that of '80's "old school", something that feels like a breath of fresh air after the grim slew of current horror fare. The story is your basic morality tale and our heroine (aptly portrayed with dewy-eyed innocence by Lohman) should have known better than to screw with a gypsy. The gross-out factor is still there, what with the film taking great lengths to get her to open her mouth to gobs of worms, vomit, blood, and other bodily fluids. The trademark loopy camera shots are back, and the film does provide some decent tension and laughs amid its horrific moments - not too many directors can ably mix scares and cartoon slapstick in the same movie. Clearly, this is all made in good, unbridled fun as an homage of sorts to Raimi's own brand of horror, and much more enjoyable than many of the recent teen-slasher and torture-porn - heck, the movie has a PG-13 rating! Yet for all its comfortable, familiar elements, it lacks the crazy creativeness of Raimi's Evil Dead series, as if the big budget has limited the filmmakers' creativity on-screen. It's slick, silly and over-the-top, for sure, but something's missing in this stew. In sticking too close to the standard era fare Drag Me to Hell disappoints based on its pedigree and expectations, but it does what it was meant to do: to be an amusing roller-coaster ride of a horror flick, if only a forgettable one.
Entertainment / Horror: 6/10

The Proposal (2009)
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Betty White
Director: Anne Fletcher
Plot: To escape deportation to Canada, a tyrannical New York editor convinces her earnest assistant to marry her as a business proposition, but finds it might be harder than expected when she's forced to spend the weekend in an Alaskan town to meet his family.
Review: Cute, predictable and sappy, The Proposal is another high-concept "meet the parents" romantic comedy that sticks to the genre conventions and makes for a decent time-waster. Director Fletcher (Step Up, 28 Dresses) doesn't really add much visual pizzazz or flair to the screen or the narrative, but she knows to let her leads take over the scene. As a rom-com leading lady, Bullock isn't getting any younger (her age is butt of some of the jokes) but she's a veteran of the genre and ably manages both the tyrannical boss parts and the girl-with-a-heart-of-gold-deep-down. It helps that this is, in fact, pretty similar to her own Two Weeks Notice, except she's taking Hugh Grant's part as the boss. Paired with an irresistibly charming Ryan, who fleshes out his much more endearing character well with a few choice words and actions, the two make it work better than the movie deserves. Indeed, when they're bickering the movie hits its best comic moments. Predictably, though, they have to actually fall in love, and there's little to really redeem her in the eyes of the audience - or, one would think, to her assistant - even after the multiple sympathy cards are dealt (oh, she's an orphan, and she likes disco, therefore she must be OK). The cookie cutter script which throws in the usual ingredients including a dash of eccentric characters, fish-out-of-water situations (Big City girl in provincial town!), and many occasions of general embarrassment of its main characters (let's laugh at the awkwardness of the situation!). Still, despite some scenes that fall flat in the humor department, others are more successful and keep the movie afloat. If the ending gets to be a little too sappy, at least The Proposal goes down as one of Bullock's better comic vehicles.
Entertainment: 5/10

The Sniper (Hong Kong - 2009)
Starring: Richie Ren, Xiaoming Huang, Edison Chen
Director: Dante Lam
Plot: A decorated police officer and his elite sniper team face off against their former teammate, a champion marksman who has gone rogue after a stint in prison and is now out to exact his revenge.
Review: An effective action thriller from a long-time Hong Kong veteran is always a welcome event, and The Sniper is just that. A victim of the real-life fallout of one of its leads (a sex scandal, no less), the film was delayed and cut, leaving a stripped-down story that on one hand gives an efficient, no-nonsense action flick but also leaves a lot of plot points hanging. Despite this, it's clear that director Lam (Beast Cops) is back in form, even if the movie isn't quite up to par with his classic efforts from the 1990's. There's a lot of style but little substance to the thread-bare plot, what with all its hyper-macho posturing and clichéd melodrama, but there's also lots of cool, stylish (and bullet-ridden) action set-pieces, plus Lam's always effective take on personal tensions, to keep us engaged. Chen, as the up-and-coming young hero of the piece, is actually the least effective character, and actually the most annoying, especially with his over-the-top bravado and ego. Much more interesting is the rivalry between the two estranged marksmen, one that has gone from being a professional one to being a much more personal one, and both Ren and mainland star Huang (who makes for one of the better villains of recent HK memory) show an intensity that can be cut with a knife. As the villain's revenge plotting goes into high gear, so does the film, moving from sniper training sequences and impressive shoot-outs to a suspenseful climax in an abandoned warehouse. The Sniper is to be enjoyed for what it is - a fine example of the Hong Kong actioner where entertainment value beats out character development every time.
Entertainment: 6/10

State of Play (2009)
Starring: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams
Director: Kevin Macdonald 
Plot: A veteran Washington investigative reporter teams up with a young blog columnist to untangle the mystery behind the death of a Congressman's mistress, one that points to the dealings of a large security contractor.
Review: An Americanized adaptation of the well-received six-hour British miniseries, State of Play is a political thriller that has all the right elements but seems to flail in finding its own voice, or in being relevant enough to be anything other than an average entry in the genre. Not that the pedigree of the people involved isn't impressive: director Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) has a keen eye for bringing to the screen the dark corners of conspiracy filmmaking; writers Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Identity) and Billy Ray (Breach) have successful experience in the subject matter; and the cast led by an intense Crowe and including Affleck, Mirren and McAdams bring the right note to their characters. The main problem is that the script tries to cover too much ground - Washington conspiracies, a commentary on the evils of the media and the internet, a melodrama, an ode to a dying breed of journalism and the survival woes of newspapers, all mixed into an affair that wants to be part Zodiac, part All The President’s Men. By staying as close to mainstream conventions as possible, it ends up feeling like a dumbed-down version of a better movie. Not to say it's a bad film: the pace is brisk, the mystery intriguing enough to hold our attention, and the production is generally well rounded. It's just that with a bit more urgency and a bit higher stakes, State of Play could have been so much more.
Entertainment / Drama: 6/10

TMNT (2007)
Starring: Patrick Stewart, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Zhang Ziyi
Director: Kevin Munroe
Plot: With discord in their ranks, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles must find a way to save New York City from an evil industrialist bent on releasing terrifying monsters onto the world. 
Review: 15 years past their hey-day as a kids' pop phenomenon that included comics, three live-action movies, and a bevy of cartoons, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles return to the big screen in latest trend of computer-animated features. The production values make for a slick, cinematic effort, the animation is smooth if uninspiring, the tone darker than you'd remember, and the story... well, the story hasn't really changed much from its past heritage - bickering family dynamics, the ninja-on-ninja battles and the fantastic sci-fi / fantasy elements (you know, the monsters-of-the-week) are all on the menu. Meant for a slightly older crowd of pre-teens (this is a little too rough for family fare), there's ample opportunity for well-executed fights and intense, if bloodless, violence. With its straight-forward narrative and general seriousness, however, the film lacks the wit or winks to make it more palatable for adults who may quickly get bored of the repetitive nature of the conflicts and banality of the plot. Still, TMNT is ably done and makes for some above-average adolescent adventure fare that's finally on par with the original '80's-era comics by Eastman and Laird. And that's not bad.
Entertainment: 6/10

Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Kiefer Sutherland
Directors: Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon
Plot: After a strange meteorite turns her into a towering 50-ft giant on her wedding day, a young woman is forced into teaming up with other government-controlled monsters to take on an impending alien invasion. 
Review: A high-concept mash-up of '50s horror and sci-fi B-movies brought to the screen with cutting edge computer animation and "Tru 3D" effects, Monsters vs. Aliens has all the kitsch, low-brow humor and silliness you'd expect and yet comes out as a better-than-average CGI flick thanks to some lively comedy situations and excellent action set-pieces. For those in the know, the flick is riddled with geek references from things Godzilla to The War of the Worlds, none more so than from which its monstrous heroes have been taken: The Blob, The Fly, The Creature From The Black Lagoon and, of course, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman. If some of these obvious (or obscure) tid bits go way above most audiences' heads (especially the kids), that's OK, too - the movie relies more on a straight-forward plot to keep things moving along and engaging. The pacing isn't always balanced, but the script is for the most part pretty snappy, and the humor - both the in-jokes and the slapstick - as well as the loads of in-your-face action will keep both kids and parents thoroughly amused. And if the battle over the Golden Gate Bridge and on the alien spaceship are obviously meant to be appreciated in 3D, it's still quite a show even on TV. The voice acting is pretty good, too, with the likes of Witherspoon, Rogen, Sutherland and Will Arnet keeping the goofiness alive and kicking. Monsters vs. Aliens isn't nearly as memorable as its Pixar kin, perhaps, but within its lean running time it's both an appropriate thrill-ride and a decent comedy that's worth a gander.
Entertainment: 7/10

Born to Fight (Thailand - 2004)
Starring: Dan Chupong, Somrak Khamsing
Director: Panna Rittikrai
Plot: While visiting a local village, a special forces agent stumbles upon a terrorist plot to use a nuclear missile to destroy Bangkok and must pursuade the untrained villagers to rise up against their captors.
Review: Before the international popularity of Ong-Bak made American viewers take notice of Thai cinema, the action vehicle Born to Fight made its leading man Chupong a rising star. The opening sequence, as two undercover cops try to stop two eighteen wheelers from getting away, shows some impressive stunt work and decent ideas, but the execution is lackluster - there's little sense of peril or actual speed, even as it re-does the vehicle-through-a-shanty-town scene that was more effective in Police Story. From that semi-promising beginning, however, the movie screeches to a stop, pacing-wise, as audiences are force-fed an awkward, half-hour long lull to set-up the idyllic small-town life and its characters before it gets so violently invaded. The last act redeems the production somewhat, with a 30-minute non-stop series of stunts, gunfights and martial arts fighting exhibition. Most of it is just average fare, but there's enough impressive stuff on display - some of which really does look insane and life-threatening - to make for some decent Asian action entertainment. There's no doubt that the cast and crew were up to prove something here, and they've really tried to make an all-out showcase of local talent (leading man Chupong went on to Dynamite Warrior), but it's marred by somewhat poor post-production and an aggravating amount of jingoistic fervor that was once solely the mark of US filmmaking. Still, decent midnight fare for those ready to fast-forward the dull parts.
Entertainment: 5/10

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates
Director: Scott Derrickson 
Plot: As an alien ship lands in Manhattan creating a global upheaval, the alien representative escapes government capture thanks to a biologist and single-mom, and must decide if humanity is worth saving.
Review: A remake of the beloved classic 1951 SF film, The Day the Earth Stood Still was doomed to cause the ire of many a critic. What's surprising is that it's actually quite an acceptable update, and that it's a pretty good sci-fi flick in its own right. Where the message in the 50's was atomic annihilation, the modern theme here is environmental collapse, a neat way to engage modern audiences. The real marketed point of the film - and the film's strong points - are the epic sweep of alien invasion / presence, the familiar (but well-done) bits of armed confrontation with the US Army against a gigantic robot, and the superb special effects set-pieces including some impressive scenes of city-wide destruction by a swarm of mechanical locusts. Though his previous experience amounts to helming low-key horror flicks like The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Hellraiser: Inferno (!) director Derrickson ably captures the spirit of the original story and knows the right way to present these aspects of the material. But while the script does well in the first two acts to set up the film and tension, the biblical parallels become awkward - there's the idea of the ark, the flood, the second coming and the plague of locusts - and there's little positive message in terms of how anyone expects us to deal with the global issues presented. And though the focus of the tale wants to be on the intimate story of how a single human manages to convince the alien emissary to stop the impending human genocide, the more personal segments don't really hold enough weight to make it believable. Oh, Reeves and Connelly actually do a pretty good job with their roles; Reeves' limited acting ability actually benefits the part of the alien, and Connelly is always compelling, but there seems to be chucks of interaction missing, as if the film were edited to keep the pacing on the thrills and SFX instead of the story... Not that it's a surprise, of course, coming from Hollywood producers... One sour note on the casting is Smith, as the whining step-son: he's the kind of character you just want to see killed off at the earliest opportunity, which was probably not the intention. The original tale is still more compelling, but 50-plus years after its release this SFX-laden version of The Day the Earth Stood Still ably updates the story for a 21-st century audience.
Entertainment: 6/10

Arsene Lupin (France - 2004)
Starring: Romain Duris, Kristin Scott Thomas, Eva Green
Director: Jean-Paul Salome
Plot: A dashing young jewel thief who only steals from high society gets involved with a mysterious Countess and sucked into a secret French royalist conspiracy to find a long-lost treasure.
Review: Based on Maurica LeBlanc's much-adapted French series of the gentleman thief, and more specifically on the 1924 novel The Countess of Cagliostro, the simply titled Arsene Lupin has high ambitions to be a mix of fantasy, adventure, drama, all in a turn-of-the-century setting. It almost holds together - almost. Following a disastrous adaptation of another European pop / fantasy classic, Belphegor, director Salome tries his hand at another beloved French creation, with much better results. France's answer to Sherlock Holmes, Lupin provides a strong sense of adventure and derring-do, a double-dose of mystery bordering on the supernatural, and production values re-creating France of the turn of the century that are well above-average. Unfortunately, some things just don't click: For one, Duris as the titular hero, doesn't quite have the necessary charm; for two, the pacing is uneven and the story borders on the schizophrenic; three, there's an unnecessary epilogue (or two) that drags things in a completely new direction that could have been kept for future efforts. Thankfully the supporting cast is worthy of note, especially a vampish Kristin Scott Thomas who gives the affair a dollop of much-needed class, and the delightful Green in one of her first film roles. A disappointment considering the efforts involved, Arsene Lupin is still a nimble, decent adventure yarn that's well worth a gander for audiences ready for a European twist to the familiar big-budget Hollywood fare.
Entertainment: 6/10

RocknRolla (2008)
Starring: Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton
Director: Guy Ritchie
Plot: The relationship between a Russian magnate and a London crime boss goes sour when a payment gets robbed and an expensive painting goes missing, implicating a local gang of small-time criminals.
Review: An immensely enjoyable entry in the British stable of gangster flicks by one of its best directors, RocknRolla is a relief from the staid, formulaic crime dramas of late. Writer / director Ritchie made a splash with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and followed it up with the superior Snatch. Though his career has shown some ups and downs, any movie by Ritchie (save perhaps the comedy Swept Away with ex-wife Madonna) has action, humor, violence, wit and a convoluted set of disparate events all heading to a final confrontation that boils down to a terrific time. His latest proves he's lost none of his edge and is, perhaps, his best film yet. Yes, it's another tongue-in-cheek gangster flick that sticks to the director's tried-and-true trademarks of quickly-edited, fast-paced shenanigans, but with this much giddy energy, colorful characters, dark humor, viciousness, suspenseful twists and cracker-jack dialogue one can only ask for more. The ruggedly charming Butler continues to impress, here in the role of a cheeky thief, along with a slinky Newton as the femme fatale, with Wilkinson seemingly starting to make a career out of playing over-the-top crime bosses. The rest of the supporting cast is terrific, especially Tony Kebbell as the junkie rock-star son-in-law out for laughs and revenge. For fans of clever, fun crime flicks, you can't beat RocknRolla - it's gloriously entertaining stuff that will put a smile to anyone who enjoys this kind of cinema.
Entertainment: 8/10

Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008)
Voices: Alyson Court, Steven Blum
Director: Makoto Kamiya
Plot: After a plane full of zombies crashes into a crowded public airport, agents from different government bodies make their way to the source of the newly released virus, a research facility targeted by bio-terrorists that is storing a deadly, super-strong version of the virus.
Review: A proper mix of blood & guts and over-the-top action, the direct-to-DVD Degeneration is the first computer-animated feature based on the long-running Resident Evil video game franchise. Eschewing the live-action movies starring Mila Jovovich, the story involves a familiar tale of company greed, bio-engineering gone awry and lots of other needlessly convoluted plot elements that are more suited to video game cut-scenes than a film. Putting the silly notion of the target audience actually needing a plot, the film does add to the series' mythology and more than adequately delivers in bringing some larger-than-life zombie mayhem to the screen. Being a CGI affair, there's lots of grand set-pieces, from a plane full of zombies crashing into an airport, to the third-act showdown with a seemingly unkillable, monstrous zombie mutant that ends up destroying a well-detailed R&D facility. And there's no shortage of bullet-ridden gunfights, impossible escapes, and - all the stuff you'd expect from watching someone else play video games. The animation - from the plastic-faced characters to the epic-scale research facility - is actually quite good, adding to a trend also seen in the latest Appleseed flick. Too bad that too much time is taken away from the action for needless exposition and unnecessary sub-plots - when it tries for pathos or drama, the film's pacing just screeches to a halt with static, unconvincing dialogue and poor voice acting. Your enjoyment of Degeneration will likely depend on your appreciation of Japanese anime, zombie flicks, and video games - it's not quite memorable, but its paint-by-numbers approach still provides for some bloody fun.
Entertainment: 5/10

The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Starring: Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, John Cassavetes
Director: Robert Aldrich
Plot: A US Army officer is charged to draft, train and lead twelve convicted murderers on a suicide mission to kill German officers stationed in a French castle days before D-Day.
Review: A World War II action flick that launched a thousand imitations, The Dirty Dozen is a classic example of the genre. The usual three-act storyline works well here: there's the setup as we're introduced to the tough bunch of malcontents (with rough but effective portrayals by the cast of character actors) as they try to face off with the no-nonsense Major; there's the familiar rigorous (and sometimes brutal) training to get the conscripts into a efficient, cohesive fighting unit, as they develop respect for each other; and finally there's the mission itself with its dose of suspense and its bullet-and-explosion ridden climax as the they storm the French castle and its dozen of armed guards in a daring night raid. If there's nothing particularly original to be had, director Aldrich at least knows how to deal well with the ensemble cast, combining violence and humor in equal doses, and his sly, cynical approach to the military (the top brass, headed by Ernest Borgnigne, don't care for the lives of the men under their charge) gives an added dimension to the film. There's little character development, for sure, but the all-star cast still has much to do with the picture's success, with such famous faces as Lee Marvin as the tough-as-nails officer, John Cassavetes (nominated for an Oscar for his rebellious performance), Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland and Telly Savalas among others. A film that has stood the test of time, The Dirty Dozen isn't quite a classic, but as far as action flicks go it is just as enjoyable now as it was when it was first released.
Entertainment: 7/10

Tube (South Korea - 2003)
Starring: Seok-hun Kim, Sang-min Park
Director: Baek Woon-Hak
Plot: A lone detective takes on an ex-covert operative intent on exposing the truth hidden by government officials by taking control of a runaway subway train loaded with explosives.
Review: An undercooked smashup of Heat, Speed, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 and other familiar, better American flicks, Tube is big, dumb and loud. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but add the fact that it's hampered by a forced personal conflict, a narrative that has major pacing issues, and waaaay too long running time and you've got a flick that begs to be fast-forwarded. With the amount of twists and multiple endings (how much trouble can a subway get into? and don't they eventually run out of track?), the suspense turns into silliness. As for the action set pieces, the real selling point, they're are on par with Hollywood expectations, perhaps, but that doesn't mean they're good. For one, there's lots of gunfights but they're annoyingly one-sided for the bad guys - it wouldn't have taken much to make it at least somewhat believable. And there lies the main issue: in their obsession with making a "big" blockbuster, and the studio's risk-adverse policies keeping originality in check, the filmmakers have forgotten the main ingredient - a good script, one preferably that avoids logic pot-holes and groans from its audience. As for the actors, they do their best but they're hampered by the poor characterizations, posturing and forced melodrama. Still, Baek Woon-Hak is a capable director and the production values are as slick as we've come to expect from Korean cinema, and for some that might be enough. It's just too bad; with a bit more care into editing for length and with less intent on the dull human relationships, Tube could have been a cool, tight thriller.
Entertainment: 4/10

Tarzan II (2005)
Starring: Harrison Chad, George Carlin, Glenn Close, Ron Perlman
Director: Brian Smith
Plot: Having difficulty coping with the fact that he's different from his ape family, a young Tarzan tries runs away, meeting some excentric gorillas who help him learn that being different is not such a bad thing.
Review: Another direct-to-DVD sequel (or in this case prequel) effort from the B-team of Walt Disney's animation studio to cash in on the success of their theatrical releases, Tarzan II focuses on the growing pains of the young Tarzan. The TV-level animation reprises the original's style, and though it's not nearly as detailed or spectacular, it's decent enough; the soundtrack gets a small boost from a couple of new (though nowhere near as memorable) Phil Collins songs; the voice acting from the likes of Carlin, Close and Ron Perlman is effective; and there's enough adventure and slapstick humor to keep young ones entertained. Not so for adults, perhaps, who might get a few laughs from these mis-adventures, but will get tired on forced repeat viewings, even if the movie clocks at barely 70 minutes. Sure, there's lots of positive messages for the kids, but it's a formulaic effort that is quickly discarded. An amusing but ultimately wasted effort.
Entertainment: 4/10

House of Fury (Hong Kong - 2005)
Starring: Anthony Wong, Charlene Choi, Stephen Fung
Director: Stephen Fung
Plot: Two teens realize that their single father's bedtime stories of martial-arts and secret agents happen to be true when he's kidnapped and tortured by a rogue operative with a grudge, and it's up to them to stop him and his dangerous cohorts.
Review: Meant as a throwback to the Hong Kong action / comedies of the 80's, the bland, cartoon-like House of Fury is a continuing trend of forgettable bubble-gum entertainment. Despite fight sequences signed Yuen Woo Ping (the guy behind The Matrix and a slew of HK classics) the action is respectable but nothing to write home about, and the wire work is just plain shoddy - not to say it isn't fun, notably a sequence where Wong seems to embody the spirit of Bruce Lee, using a skeleton's arm as a nunchuck to dispose of four assailants, it's just for the most part unimpressive. At least there are enough of them to keep the movie running, and the combo of teen comedy and adventure is decent enough for an evening of low-brow entertainment. Where the pacing sputters is when the tale focuses too much on the sob story of single fatherhood; Wong is good, but even he's not good enough to keep these moments of fake pathos from being engaging. At least actor / writer / director Fung (Enter the Phoenix) doesn't embarrass himself in this, his sophomore effort, and - all things considered - manages a pretty decent, entertaining fluff piece. The cast itself is a mixed bag - Wong is invariably great, even when he's in trash like this; 30-year-old Fung, as his teen son looks goofy when required and is good enough in the kicking department; and Michael Wong, as the wheelchair-bound villain, has sunk to lower depths. The big surprise is the likable Choi as the sprightly teen heroine who really impresses with her fancy acrobatic skills and (albeit cinema-style) kung fu. Much like many such cookie-cutter products coming out of America, House of Fury has the occasional embellishment but for the most part is another average entertainment vehicle. Not exactly great stuff, but worth a look for undiscerning viewers.
Entertainment: 5/10

Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? (2008)
Starring: Morgan Spurlock
Director: Morgan Spurlock
Plot: Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock tours the Middle East searching for Osama Bin Laden, discussing local politics, America and the war on terror with the people he meets along the way.
Review: Documentary filmmaker Spurlock made an impression with the entertaining expose of the American diet in Super Size Me where he went on a 30-day McDonald's binge that nearly killed him. With his latest effort, he once again throws himself in harm's way, taking a trip to a dozen Middle East countries ranging from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Pakistan and even Afghanistan in search of the elusive terrorist leader. What starts off as silly comic schlock - including a video-game rendition of Spurlock fighting Bin Laden, Mortal Kombat-style - soon becomes a broader agenda: to get some understanding as to the Arab perceptions on Bin Laden, the War on Terror, America and their own governments. Despite its title, the movie really wants to lift the veil of behind mainstream perceptions of the Arab world, to show that despite cultural differences, these men and women really only want to live in peace, make sure their kids get a proper education and - for some - have some quiet time to watch some American wrestling. It's a worthy goal, entertainingly presented with the filmmakers hearts clearly on their sleeve. With repeated phrases in every country of "we like Americans, just not American foreign policy" and (sadly) hints only at more profound issues such as Palestinian's complaining that their cause has been used as an excuse for extremists' own agenda, the film rarely digs beyond the surface, despite some quick interviews with some local journalists and professors. Taking a hint from Michael Moore, Spurlock is as much part of the documentary as are his subjects, most of which are open, decent people - except perhaps the Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem; always trying to goad a reaction from the people he meets, Spurlock finally gets one from the most unlikely source, as they shove him and pelt him with verbal abuse. There's some other silliness, of course, like when Spurlock goes on a defensive training course before his trip, tries out a rocket launcher (screaming out "that's so cool!") or taking an armored expedition in Afghanistan to visit the cave where Bin Laden allegedly was hiding out, calling out for the terrorist to come out. Some will criticize this effort as edutainment, an low-brow Arab primer for the mainstream and miss the main point of the film - much like Everyman Spurlock, this is for general consumption, for those of us whose only impressions of Middle Eastern culture is the combat footage on CNN or the extremists chanting "death to America!". For those viewers, this will be an eye-opening look at the Arab people, far removed from the expectations set by Western media. And for that, at least, Where in the World...? is worth watching with family, friends and neighbors.
Documentary: 7/10

Sunshine (2007)
Starring: Chris Evans, Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh
Director: Danny Boyle
Plot: On their trip to re-ignite the dying Sun, a team of astronaut-scientists discovers the silent remains of the previous expedition, lost seven years before.
Review: On first glance, Sunshine's plot summary sounds like a mish-mash of sci-fi movie ideas from classic (and not-so-classic) films, but don't let that fool you - this is a beautiful, thrilling, superbly engaging affair. Though the premise feels like a retread of The Core, the script by novelist Alex Garland is (for a modern SF flick) well-written and well-structured, freely grabbing the mystery elements of Solaris, the sense of awe of 2001 and the environmental themes of Silent Running, and yet the plot still defies expectations. If the end feels a bit like a take on the sci-fi horror B-movie Event Horizon, it does provide a cool twist to the Alien theme (the Alien is alive and well and he is us). No matter how convoluted that might all sound, in the hands of director Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) it's all magic. Boyle can do no wrong, no matter the genre he undertakes, and he infuses this hard-SF adventure with all the disturbing elements you'd expect from the man behind Trainspotting and 28 Days Later, namely brooding camerawork, sharp cuts, intense close-ups and a visual splendor aided by some stunning special effects that all make for an exciting, vivid experience. Best of all, the astronauts and scientists aren't dopes - these are smart, dedicated people under incredible stress. As played by an eclectic cast including genre favorite Murphy as the demure physicist, martial-arts legend Yeoh (in a rare dramatic role) as the biologist and Cliff Curtis as the ship psychiatrist who seems to need some help himself. But the real actor of note is Evans who surprises in a great turn as the Jack Bauer-like, no-nonsense technician who gets the job done. A suspenseful, thinking-person's adventure film, Sunshine is a rarity, a mainstream adventure that will leave you enthralled and satisfied way past the credits.
Entertainment: 8/10

Invisible Target (2007)
Starring: Nicholas Tse, Jaycee Fong, Jacky Wu
Director: Benny Chan
Plot: Three young police detectives with different motives to bring a vicious band of thieves to justice team up and go rogue, but their quarry is far from easy to catch.
Review: Hong Kong cinema is in a clear funk - oh, the modern cinematic techniques and decent production values do apply, but it's clear that there are no new ideas to be had, and that all these movies are simply repeating the tried-and-tired formula. This is particularly true with Invisible Target, a film that aims to be a macho action flick worthy of both Hollywood and Hong Kong, yet feels too familiar despite providing the type of thrills that are getting rarer from HK productions. On the plus side, the film is a clear throwback to the region's silver age, taking every opportunity to provide action sequences that harkens back to better films from Police Story to Infernal Affairs. Though there's very little originality to be had it's a nice throwback to the stunt-heavy work of the past, delivering some solid martial arts choreography, spectacular explosions and some fine-looking set pieces (including a fight that quite literally takes place in fire, a kinetic chase over Kowloon rooftops and a showdown in a police station) - and true to 80's form, the actors actually do their own painful stunts. Now if only there was a little less broken glass to break the monotony: seems every time someone gets hit, they manage to drive through a pane of glass... Veteran action director Chan (Gen-X Cops, New Police Story) actually seems to be plundering his own cops & robber films, with the classic themes of brotherhood and loyalty thrown in, just in case you hadn't realized that the movie was an '80s homage. Giving the young cops a brief sob-story background doesn't much do for the audience, and the camaraderie between the three heroes is ill-defined though the young actors are decent enough. The real problem is that no HK thriller should clock at over 2 hours, as this one does - the pacing suffers and the plodding melodrama make one wonder what the whole point of it is. Clearly, a lot of effort, money and stunt time went into Invisible Target and as an action showpiece it's quite entertaining - with some effort on the script, this could have really stood out.
Entertainment: 6/10

Paths of Glory (1957)
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Plot: To cover his own faults after a failed attack on an impregnable German position during World War I, a French general demands the court-martial of three men - randomly chosen - for cowardly conduct.
Review: Based on the novel by Humphrey Cobb and (not-unexpectedly) banned in France until the 1970's, the searing Paths of Glory is unanimously accepted as one of the best anti-war films ever made, and for good reason. A prelude of sorts to Dr. Strangelove, legendary director Kubrick (who went on to do 2001: A Space Odyssey and Spartacus) followed-up The Killing with this, his first major studio effort and one that firmly put his name on the map. Touching on themes of courage and loyalty in wartime, the story is split into two main parts. The first half of the film is a harrowing depiction of the horrors and carnage of World War I's trench warfare. With production values that bellie its modest budget, impressive tracking shots, crisp B&W cinematography and efficient visual narration, the film brilliantly presents the stark contrast between the troops and their superiors: on one side, the soldiers' constant fear, dire living conditions and psychological breakdown, trapped in mud and death; on the other the officers' scheming for personal glory in their lavish palace headquarters, far removed from the reality of the War. The second half is the preparation to the trial, as the terrified scapegoats try to come to terms with their inevitable death by firing squad, and then the trial itself, a riveting sequence that's a mockery of justice. Apart from its technical expertise, where the film succeeds is in its humanity, ably represented by charismatic Hollywood leading man Douglas, here at the top of his form. If the characterizations of the supporting cast are rather minimal, in this case it dilutes them to their most most basic human core - for good and bad. Gripping and emotionally powerful, Paths of Glory is quite simply superb, straight-forward filmmaking that still enthralls will and whose condemnation of war will always be relevant.
Drama: 9/10

Direct Contact (2009)
Starring: Dolph Lundgren, Michael Pare
Director: Danny Lerner
Plot: An ex-Special Forces soldier is given a chance at freedom from a Russian prison if he can help rescue an American girl kidnapped by a local drug lord but soon realizes that things aren't as clear as they first appeared.
Review: Watching the generically-entitled action vehicle Direct Contact, one can't help but be amazed to see that some filmmakers are still doing cheapo B-movies like they did in the 1980's: get an Eastern European location where it's cheap to shoot then concoct a clichéd story filled with lame dialogue, plots, characters (luckily we can fast-forward these parts) and lots of low-grade pyrotechnics to keep its very addled late-night-watching audience entertained. The special effects team (those guys who rigged all the multitudinous explosions of cars, trucks, buildings, and one body-sized squib) did a great job - there's more stuff blowing up here than in any six-pack of Norris or Seagal films. With all the efforts that went into the film, you'd think that they could have found some half-decent screenwriters to make it more palatable. As it is, despite the many action scenes and the constant chasing around of cars, humvees, helicopters and trains, none of it is even remotely thrilling, and not for the lack of trying. Perhaps director Lerner, who's been doing this type of action vehicles for ages (many with Lundgren), should give it a rest, or at least get some lessons on directing better, tighter action sequences. Oh, Lundgren is still half-decent, but then he isn't asked to do any more than he's been doing for the last twenty-odd years; same goes for Pare whose made a career of playing boring villains for these direct-to-video flicks. Direct Contact has been hailed as an above-average effort for Lundgren and company, a return to form for the veteran action lead; sadly, this probably has more to do on how bad the rest of his oeuvre is than on how effective this one was.
Entertainment: 4/10

The City of Violence (South Korea - 2006)
Starring: Doo-hong Jung, Kil-Kang Ahn, Seung-wan Ryoo
Director: Seung-wan Ryoo
Plot: Returning to his hometown to attend a friend's funeral, a detective starts to investigate the murder and soon uncovers a connection with another childhood friend and his growing criminal activities.
Review: A throwback to the macho, action-packed films of the 70's and '80's with a very Korean polish, The City of Violence doesn't beat around the bush - it's exciting, bold and kicks a lot of butt. There are some terrific fight scenes, sword fights and bone-crunching battles pitting two against hundreds in what harkens back to Hong Kong's golden age with dizzying martial arts choreography that's impressive across the board. Highlights include a brawl straight out of The Warriors and a climactic confrontation through a myriad of toughs through a traditional restaurant-cum-fortress. There's a decent flashback sub-plot about the protagonists and their teen-age years, giving the otherwise straight-forward crime drama some necessary exposition beyond the usual fighting. Here charismatic actor \ director Ryoo shows off some solid storytelling filled with one-scene homage to past thrillers and dollops of humor along with his solid grasp of the action, propelling the film from one confrontation to another. Of course, it also helps that the slick esthetics common to Korean mainstream cinema are evident throughout, with excellent visuals and production values. Sure, the character development is somewhat non-existent and the acting settles for some grand theatrics, especially from the villain of the piece but it's part of the fun. So fans of action films rejoice - The City of Violence lives up to its name as superior action entertainment.
Entertainment: 7/10

Man on Wire (2008)
Starring: Philippe Petit
Director: James Marsh
Plot: Documentary on Frenchman Philippe Petit's preparations to his daring, historical 45 minute tightrope walk between the World Trade Center Towers in New York in the 1970's dubbed "the artistic crime of the century".
Review: Winner of the 2008 Oscar for Best Documentary, Man on Wire's premise may not seem to have enough substance to carry a whole 90-minute feature, but don't be mistaken - it's a suspenseful, engaging doc that will make you hunger for more. Using stock footage, home movies, interviews with the accomplices and dramatic recreations, the film plays out like a crime caper, but one that's better than any bank heist thriller Hollywood could have imagined. It's a tale about doing something extraordinary with daring, invention and courage bound with a naiveté, a conspiracy not to do terror or commit a crime, but to do something nobody else would dream of doing. After the collapse of the towers on 9/11, the subject matter is, perhaps, an homage to the great New York landmarks, to what it represented to a select few. At the center, of course, is Philippe, and it's clear the filmmakers obviously love this character - even after 35 years, he remains boundlessly energetic and charismatic, a fabulous story-teller and a dreamer ... one can easily see how in his younger years his ambitions could become so contagious, how he could compel so many people to help him realize his dream by the power of his personality alone. The biggest question, of course, is why? Why do it? Just like people climbing Mount Everest would say "because it's there" perhaps Petit saw it as a challenge, or as a personal need to confront the impossible. No matter, the event made him an instant celebrity, but the catharsis of accomplishment also meant that the companions' relationships could never go back to what it once was, and the friends split apart. In a final note, Philippe says he doesn't look back, but it's a sad end to a fantastic achievement. Fascinating, enthralling, suspenseful and all true, Man on Wire is an exhilarating documentary of a beautiful, once-in-a-lifetime event that should bring a sense of wonder to everyone.
Documentary: 8/10

Appleseed: Ex Machina (Japan - 2007)
Starring: Ai Kobayashi, Jurota Kosugi
Director: Shinji Aramaki
Plot: In a future utopia where humans, cyborgs and engineered beings co-exist, three battle-hardened Special Forces officers must face down a cyber-terrorist plot that has put most of the world's inhabitants under its destructive control.
Review: Based on the manga from renown creator Shirow Masamune, Ex Machina is a follow-up to the 2003 CGI Appleseed, introducing a new storyline, better action and more impressive animation. The story involving politics, cyber-terrorism and even some awkward emotional moments involving clones (or bioroids) starts off well but devolves in the last act to typical anime fluff, never quite following up on the potential of its set-up. But whereas the Ghost in the Shell sequels pertain to be more cerebral (but really are just more dull), the Appleseed films stick to the summer blockbuster expectations of sentimental human drama, babes with guns, explosions, and lots of mechanized mayhem - and in this it works wonders, with the script engaging enough to keep us focused during the downtime between the kinetically executed action set pieces. Director Aramaki returns, but the fingerprints of producer John Woo are evident, from the intense gunfights to the inevitable flight of doves. But the real highlight is the stylish motion-capture computer animation; it looks like a mix of airbrushed 2D models in a 3D world, but the accurate human movements of the models makes it feel more real than in just about any CGI flick out there. And the structures, armored suits, vehicles et al look splendid, too. A visually impressive, entertaining anime / sci-fi / action flick. Ex Machina comes close to being great, only missing a more satisfying final act. Still, fun stuff that's worth repeat viewing.
Entertainment: 7/10

*Classic* The Godfather, Part II (1974)
Starring: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Robert De Niro
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Plot: Having taken the reigns from his dying father in the 1950's, a Mafia boss expands his empire to Cuba to the detriment of his family and his own soul.
Review: Continuing in the great tradition of its Oscar-winning predecessor and itself winning Best Picture, the acclaimed sequel Godfather II surprised just about everyone by keeping the same level of quality in its storytelling, production values, and performances. Not only does it expand the original story from Mario Puzo's best-selling novel, but it's even more sweeping in scope. The film opens with an extended flashback to the beginnings of the family business, with a superb DeNiro (in one of his first roles, one that led to an Academy Award) as the young Don Corleone. It's a fantastic slice of Americana, with the superb production values truly giving a feel for early 20th century New York and specifically Little Italy. As we move forward to the events following The Godfather, we realize that this is not only a tale of the Mafia in America but one of America itself as well, one involving Cuban casinos, sibling revenge and the violent realities of living a life of crime, elevating the crime drama to almost mythical proportions. The script provides some intimate moments and stirring drama along with the intense characterizations, which provides a strong audience connection to this family. The feelings of loss and betrayal, when they come, are all the more powerful for having witnessed the bizarre code of fealty that has led many of them to self-destruction - and we can't help but be fascinated at their spiral into damnation. Much of the success of the film comes from the masterful direction by returning helmer Coppola (Apocalypse Now) easily one of the most influential Hollywood filmmakers of the 1970's. Most of the original's cast also returns and though they are all solid in their roles this is really Pacino's film, definitely at his peak in a meaty, chilling, career-making role. Intense, thrilling, with a tragic ending that is unforgettable, The Godfather Part II is what every sequel should be - more, it's classic American cinema in its own right.
Drama: 10/10

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)
Starring: Michael Sheen, Bill Nighy, Rhona Mitra
Director: Patrick Tatopoulos
Plot: Created to serve a clan of aristocratic vampires and kept in chains inside their castle, a human-werewolf leads them to rise up against their masters.
Review: A Middle-Ages-set prequel to the modern action fantasy series Underworld: Rise of the Lycans fleshes out the story told in flashback in the first film. This time, the werewolves take front seat, as does another doomed Romeo & Juliette romance, and it's actually (slightly) better than the previous installments. Special-effects maven-turned-director Tatopoulos actually does a pretty good job helming his first project, wisely steering away from The Matrix-type slow-mo action used by director (and now producer) Len Wiseman and concentrating on keeping the straightforward, clichéd story of forbidden love and battle for freedom chugging along. The production values are still high for this sort of fare especially the castle settings, and the special effects involving numerous werewolves are good enough. Fans of bloody fantasy mayhem will have a blast at the final vampire / werewolf confrontation, and there's some energy to the proceedings even if it feels rather familiar and un-inspired. The stylishness is toned down a bit giving way to a better pacing and a half-baked tale of the origin of the werewolf clan and their uprising - it's still rather banal and predictable, but at least it keep audience interest. A large part of that is thanks to the leads; for one, there's weirdly cast dramatic-actor Sheen who tries his hardest to make us forget his previous tie-and-suit roles with a wild-eyed, tussled hair and bare-chested look; Mitra playing both the damsel in distress and kick-ass vampire love interest; and returning, over-the-top thesp Nighy as the vampire patriarch. Not great stuff, perhaps, but a decent time-waster.
Entertainment: 5/10

Space Chimps (2008)
Starring: Andy Samberg, Patrick Warburton
Director: Kirk De Micco
Plot: Three astronaut chimps are blasted off to an uncharted planet where they must retrieve a lost NASA drone that has fallen into the tyrannical hands of a local bully. 
Review: Produced by the same company that made the disastrous Valiant and Happily N’Ever After and made on the cheap with a patronizing by-the-numbers script, the low-rent CGI-animated Space Chimps is barely up to the standards of Saturday-morning cartoon fare and as a theatrical release falls pretty flat from the get-go. How these films get green-lighted is beyond comprehension, unless it was as a tax shelter or planned to be distributed in cereal boxes. Oh, there's the pre-requisite fish-out-of-water jokes, pop-culture gags, monkey puns, daring adventures, and the poking fun at much better films from 2001 to The Right Stuff, but none of it comes together and the pacing is just awkward. For adults and kids alike, the jokes and thrills are few and far between. Worse, though its clearly aimed at kids it isn't at all kid-friendly, nor will it retain their attention. The main character, a circus chimp with all the charm of a cactus, is definitely not a role model even after he realizes that being a selfish jerk isn't going to get him the girl. On the upside, the voice acting is actually pretty good, and there are amusing sequences with the geek NASA scientists, but ultimately there's really nothing here that's worth a gander. Pass.
Entertainment: 3/10

Day Watch (Russia - 2006)
Starring: Konstantin Khabensky, Mariya Poroshina
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Plot: A guardian of Light who helps maintain the balance against the Dark forces living in Moscow attempts to steal an ancient device of great power in order to re-unite with his son, a teen with world-shattering supernatural abilities who has turned to Darkness.
Review: Based on the best-selling Russian dark fantasy series, Day Watch is the second of three chapters following the splendid, refreshing dark fantasy thriller Night Watch - and it's superior in just about every way: the stakes are higher, the plot more epic in scope, the imagination on display wilder, the effects more impressive, and the action more intense. From the gritty streets of Moscow to flights of fancy, the filmmakers have created a well-rendered epic fantasy world, where creatures of light and dark co-exist in an uneasy truce. The production values are superb, the cinematography slick, the direction dynamic, the visuals superb and the cast bang-on... and in terms of spectacle it rivals anything Hollywood could muster (including the destruction of Moscow). The many FX-laden action sequences (like a gravity-defying car race on the sides of buildings) would indeed put some of the latest US blockbusters to shame, but the action revolves around the story and thankfully not the other way around. Best of all, there's an added dimension to the characters - both heroes and villains - and though they all have set sides in the battle, each of them is tinged with grey, something that makes the confrontations all the more engaging because audiences feel there's something at stake. Perhaps it's that sense of fatalism that is pure Russian - even with the story's two romantic subplots and the father-son relationship - or the European knack for flawed characters, but there's a humor along with the oodles of melodrama that's a breath of fresh air in the genre. It's unfortunate, then, that this may well be director Bekmambetov's swan song to his Russian roots now that he's become a hit in Hollywood with Wanted, as we may never see him helming the last chapter of the series. Audiences expecting wall to wall action will be disappointed by the downtime between set pieces, but those willing to give this amalgam of Indiana Jones, The Lord of the Rings, vampire movies and Russian melodrama a go will be pleasantly surprised by the epic scope and delicious, smart goings-on. Highly recommended.
Entertainment: 8/10

Death Proof (2007)
Starring: Kurt Russell, Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Plot: A charming, sociopathic stuntman kills his young female victims using his modified muscle car, but the tables get turned when he picks on a group of no-nonsense women out for a joyride.
Review: Originally part of the Grindhouse double-bill with director Rodriguez' Planet Terror, the woman-empowerment-exploitation-revenge-flick Death Proof is a superb homage and throwback to the 70's car flicks. Written and directed by maverick helmer Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill) it's a showcase for what Tarantino does best - cool dialogue that feels real and makes you giddy at being in on the conversation (even when it's mostly small talk), badass characters doing badass things (especially in the strong, smart, sexy female characters part), a fun script full of events that makes you wonder what's coming next, and some vehicular mayhem that tries to up the bar. Apart from a spectacular, old-fashioned car crash, the action is relegated to the final act and it goes all out - taking cues from the '70s and early '80s car chases from Vanishing Point (a recurring reference) and The French Connection to Mad Max, the film relies on real cars doing real stunts real fast, and it works. The cinematography is clean and straight-forward, devoid of fancy camerawork or overt stylishness, which actually helps the film. Note that the theatrical cut had the occasional "missing reel", scratches and changes in film stock and color - all intentional in keeping with the film's exploitation premise. Serial-killer Stuntman Mike is a great creation, and Russell - at his charming, sleazy best - embodies him gloriously. The female victims - made up of some solid, familiar actresses like Dawson and Rose McGowan - are all also pretty good at giving Tarantino's written dialogue life. But the real attraction here is stunt-woman-and-first-time-actress Zoe Bell (who doubled both Lucy Lawless on Xena and Uma Thurman in Kill Bill) playing, well, herself and boy is she something. She's got a bubbly, down-to-earth personality that shines through and - surprisingly for an acting novice - she keeps her own among the more experienced actresses. The best part, of course - and the intention of the casting choice - is that she does her own stunts, something that really sells the part and ratchets up the tension, like when she's holding on to the hood of a muscle car doing 80 miles an hour and being rammed by another. Great stuff. All told, genre fans who lived through the B-movie period of the 70's and 80's, or anyone who enjoys good cinema no matter the genre, will get a kick at the fun, fast and take-no-prisoners attitude that is Death Proof. It's another feather in Tarantino's cap. 
Note: Extended from the 87 minute theatrical release to almost two hours for the DVD, the film adds additional dialogue and a "missing reel' in the form of a lascivious lap dance. The added stuff actually makes it less an exploitation flick than a Tarantino oeuvre and it does slow down the pacing, but it doesn't damage the film much.
Entertainment: 8/10

Kiki's Delivery Service (Japan - 1989)
Voices: Kirsten Dunst, Phil Hartman
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Plot: An enterprising 13-year-old witch decides to leave her home to do her one-year apprenticeship in a seaside town, where she opens a courier service using her flying broom.
Review: A somewhat meandering tale of one girl-witch finding her place in the world, Kiki's Delivery Service is not as full of imaginative ideas, dark fantasy elements or that sense of wonder that we're used to seeing from creator / director Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke) but it has an easy-going, deliberate pacing that ably captures the routine of everyday life. What has not changed is the superb classic animation, one filled with postcard-worthy backgrounds of the seaside town, as well as the director's careful attention to good old-fashioned narrative. Miyazaki is also a master at creating new worlds that make you feel right at home, and this city out of time is indeed a comfortable place. A nice change is that there is little in the sense of conflict, with no villains or scary moments to be had, if it's not of taking that big first step away from home. This is really just a coming-of-age story, a slice-of-life tale of how one little girl's good attitude and big heart ingratiates her to those around her. It may be a little too talky for some, and younger kids will be easily distracted, but there are a few thrilling sequences to shake things up on occasion. The climactic act of saving the boyfriend in distress whose being dragged away by a dirigible is a nice role-reversal, too. As for Kiki herself (as voiced by Kirsten Dunst in the American dub), she's a great character and strong pre-teen role model - she's vivacious, open, resourceful, determined and above all independent. Her familiar Gigi the cat provides much (if not all) of the comic relief, and he's pure trademark Miyazaki. In the end, Kiki's Delivery Service is slow going for younger kids, but pre-teens might be better able to click with the main character and situations. A nice, light drama that's a nice change of pace from more familiar family fare.
Entertainment: 6/10

A Prairie Home Companion (2006)
Starring: Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Garrison Keillor, Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan
Director: Robert Altman
Plot: As the last episode of a live radio variety show is being broadcast, the artists and technical staff reminisce backstage.
Review: Based on Garrison Keillor's own long-running "down home"-style radio show, A Prairie Home Companion is a fictional swansong to his unabashedly old-fashioned program (the real one is still going strong). As written by Keillor himself, the film brings the show to life and is a perfect homage to his special blend of wit and story-telling, a surprisingly nostalgic, light-hearted and easy-going affair that is rare in this day and age of multiplex entertainment. There's no real story here, apart from the long-standing camaraderie of the troupe and their presenting the last hurrah live in front of a studio audience, with songs, jokes and anecdotes the camera following their amusing performances on stage and their bittersweet tales in the dressing rooms. Best known for his brainy, social comedies like MASH and The Player, this was legendary director Altman's last film and his mastery at working with large casts and inter-twined stories - as is his love for his actors and characters - is clearly evident and as light-footed as ever. And what an ensemble cast it is - there's Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin as a singing sister act with their own family issues, John C. Reilly and Woody Harrelson as guitar-stringing cowboy comedians whose bad jokes are full of innuendo, Kevin Kline as a gumshoe stuck in a film noire mode, Lindsay Lohan in a performance that's actually good, Tommy Lee Jones, and more. The mood and pace isn't for everyone, and a ghostly entity that hovers over the playhouse seems misplaced - even if it's part of the mix of "fictional" characters that reside around the show - but for everyone ready for a change of pace, this is a treat. Even as the credits roll, A Prairie Home Companion lingers in the mind as an affectionate celebration of collaboration and home-grown talent.
Entertainment / Drama: 8/10

Punisher: War Zone (2008)
Starring: Ray Stevenson, Dominic West
Director: Lexi Alexander
Plot: An ex-cop-turned-vigilante waging a one-man war on New York's mafia becomes the target of a ruthless mob boss looking for revenge on the man who left him horribly disfigured.
Review: Hollywood's been trying to get this dark, violent Marvel character properly on screen since 1989's horrid effort starring Dolph Lundgren, rebooting in 2004 with The Punisher and now, just a scant few years later, rebooting again with War Zone. Clearly, Hollywood should give the guy a rest. It's a shame, really, because making a movie out of the simple, straight-forward anti-hero should have been an easy undertaking: bad-ass uses a plethora of weapons to eradicate the criminal element. Period. Perhaps that's the stumbling block - he's too iconic and one-dimensional, and it's hard for writers not to add some sentimentality to the character to try to get audiences to connect to him. It doesn't help that he's an unstoppable killing machine in the two main action sequences that bookend the film and yet manages to get caught off-guard every time it suits the plot. Nor does the horrible dialogue help any. Worse, it's all amateurishly directed, a fact glossed over by the slick cinematography and editing, creating a world of shadow and brightly colored neon lights. It's sad to think that helmer Alexander actually made his mark with the much more engaging action / drama Green Street Hooligans - with a bit more of that movie's grittiness and panache and less of this one's over-stylized, cartoon approach, it could have been a mildly successful comic-book adaptation. As it stands, much of the banal action - a flurry of uninteresting firefights - and situations feel like a throwback to the low-budget efforts of the 80's, with the added benefit of some outrageous brutality. Straight out of casting as a messed-up Roman soldier in HBO's Rome, Stevenson's Punisher is all pent-up tension and cold stoicism, and he does look the part. The disfigured Jigsaw and his psychopath brother are plainly boring villains, even if West and company play them as completely over-the-top. War Zone is just plain bad, but it's the kind of bad that one can enjoy laughing at, when it's not laughing at itself.
Entertainment: 3/10

Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005)
Starring: Tia Carrere, Dakota Fanning, Jason Scott Lee
Directors: Anthony Leondis, Michael LaBash
Plot: An unruly alien gets worried after prophetic visions that he will go on a rampage and hurt the Hawaiian family that has invited them into their lives.
Review: The straight-to-DVD sequel Lilo & Stitch 2 has many of the elements of its masterful theatrical precursor - the same characters, comparable themes, similar animation style and less-known Elvis songs - but somehow misses the mark. The good part is that there's a couple of laughs in the interaction between Lilo & Stitch, and the bond is still well in place. Also, at just barely over an hour, the film never gets boring even if the jokes are uneven and the drama pretty much focused on the young Lilo making it to her hula competition - not quite an attention grabber - and Stitch's programming getting faulty. The real downside is that the originality, verve and wit of the first film - ingredients that made it just as enjoyable to adults as it was to kids - has been abandoned for depressingly familiar kiddie-only fare. Still, as an on-the-cheap installment, Lilo & Stitch 2 is good enough to merit a view for anyone with small kids. Too bad us parents don't get a second helping of the original.
Entertainment: 5/10

*Classic* Night and Fog (Nuit et Brouillard) (France - 1955)
Narrator: Michel Bouquet
Director: Alain Resnais
Plot: A depiciton of the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps, shot ten years after the Liberation of 1945.
Review: Though many a film has been made on the Holocaust, the French essay Night and Fog is perhaps its most impressive and - at a brief 31 minutes - it is also startlingly efficient. The film relies on a stark contrast between the color footage taken in 1955 of the abandoned camps and the almost postcard-like stillness versus the horrific black-and-white newsreels, haunting stills and Nazi footage of rampant malnutrition, torture and death. The viewer isn't given time to put up any defenses as these scenes of sickening violence and brutality churn on, from the mountains of women's hair warehoused to be used as cloth, to the mutilated corpses piled high, as we are calmly told of the SS' ingenious depravity in first de-humanizing its victims and finally in exterminating them. The camps included inmates from 22 nations, from all religions, political parties and classes, and none were spared. Prior to his first success as a filmmaker with Hiroshima Mon Amour, noted French director Resnais was a short-subject documentarist, and none of his early pieces are as relevant or powerful as this, his reflections on the Holocaust. His screenwriter was novelist Jean Cayrol, a man who had actually been imprisoned in one of these camps, and his lyrical, dense, condemning text along with the horrific imagery speaks volumes of a true Hell of man's making. Even with the 60 years of documentaries and dramatizations that have come out from the Holocaust - from Shoah to Schindler's List - this remains one of the most powerful indictments of the Nazi atrocities perhaps because it doesn't pretend to understand or explain the reasons behind the genocide, or try to view events through the eyes of its victims. Instead, it is an unsentimental, almost clinical look at life in the camps with the narrator calmly, matter-of-factly pointing out all the otherwise indescribable atrocities that went on. A reflective, harrowing journey, Night and Fog is an unforgettable piece of filmmaking, lest we ever forget the Man's capability for inhumanity towards one another.
Documentary: 9/10 

The Spirit (2008)
Starring: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes
Director: Frank Miller
Plot: Having mysteriously returned from the dead, an ex-cop fights the criminal forces in his city as the vigilante The Spirit and sets his sights on a criminal mastermind The Octopus, a man who is just as hard to kill.
Review: As campy as it is confusing, the big-budget adaptation of legendary cartoonist' Will Eisner's seminal comic series of the '40s and '50s, The Spirit is an occasionally entertaining, occasionally dull mess. As a graphic novelist, Frank Miller has some classic works under his belt, from The Dark Knight Returns to Sin City and 300, the latter of which he had a hand in getting to the screen in superb adaptations. It's no surprise that being a creator in a paper medium he put more emphasis on the visuals in his first effort as director, and it smacks of the minimalist, overly-stylized approach of helmer Rodriguez's adaptation of Sin City - a far cry from the richly detailed, 4-color world of Will Eisner's creation. The tone is intentionally over-the-top, and it's surprisingly in line with the irreverent tone of the original strip. If you can get past the slapstick, there's a decent exercise in style over substance here, with the film noir caricatures and comic-book structure. It's clear though that what Eisner would have been able to do in a six-page story, Miller takes 100 minutes to tell - and it's not better. No matter how close he may have been to legendary cartoonist Eisner, there's no doubt that this rendition would have had the creator turning in his grave. On the plus side, the supporting cast is one of the biggest selling points: there's the bevy of sexy femme fatales, including Mendes and Johansson who give it their all (or almost) and have obvious fun with the lines, but no more than Jackson who - as the villainous Octopus wearing everything from a pimp getup to a Nazi outfit - plays it over-the-top with proper ham-fisted glee. Also of note is the guy playing the myriad copies of Octopus' simpleton henchmen - a hoot. The only real miss in the casting is Macht who's too handsome, too young, too straight-laced and way too bland as the title character. The Spirit amounts to a visually dazzling but improperly campy B-movie. One can perhaps understand the reason for the approach, and it's not as bad as some critics have claimed, but it doesn't make for a very satisfying experience, either.
Entertainment: 5/10

Bolt (2008)
Starring: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman
Directors: Byron Howard, Chris Williams
Plot: Accidentally shipped across the country, the canine star of an action TV show who believes he really does have superpowers embarks on a trip to return home and save his young co-star from what he thinks is a dastardly plot from his fictional nemesis.
Review: With a mix of different genre flicks, from a pets-trying-to-get-back-home flick, to the road movie, the summer blockbuster and the tinsel town self-loathing parody, Bolt promises to be packed to the brim. This is the first offering from DIsney's animation studio since ex-Pixar master John Lasseter got hired to run the place, and the Pixar pixie-dust seems to have been sprinkled all over it: the clean computer animation, the clever quips, the mix of high-flying action and down-to-earth sentiment and genial characters are all par for the road. Unfortunately, from the action-packed intro into the fictional world of super-dog Bolt (a family version of a Michael Bay movie) the movie creaks to a slower pace as it contends with Bolt's gung-ho attitude and delusions of super-powers. It occasionally gets it back in some fun sequences like a daring rescue in a pound or some of the interactions between alley cat and dog star, but there's something else missing: instead of that spark that should have made it all seem genuine it feels like a calculated product, from the eccentric animals to the climactic save, with all the character comedy and personal revelations in between. The story doesn't quite offer the same amount of witty moments or affecting drama as we'd hope from such a pedigree, and the pacing feels like too much was edited out - or edited in. Nonetheless, this is a fine addition to the growing list of CGI films and it captures a spirit of adventure and innocence that's been lost on many a production. With its simple tale of friendship, Hollywood ribbing and intense action scenes Bolt is a film that just about anyone can enjoy. And for that, at least, it's worth the rental.
Entertainment: 6/10

Let the Right One In (Sweden - 2008)
Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Plot: In Stockholm, 1982, as mysterious murders hit close to home, a fragile bullied boy finds a kindred spirit in his new neighbor, a strange young girl who just happens to be a vampire.
Review: An atmospheric, excitingly different take on the Vampire genre, Let the Right One In is a very different, very humane take on the vampire lore at opposite extreme from the silliness of Underworld, the teen-throb Twilight or the melodrama of Dracula. Devoid of flashy bits or anything but the most base of special effects, it's foremost a low-key drama of friendship, of growing up that is at times humorous, warm-hearted and sad. That it happens to be a budding relationship with a vampire, and all the pent-up violence that is associate to it, makes the usual controlled European naturalistic fare feel fresh and startling, and more often than not just a bit unsettling as well. Made outside the large studio systems meant that the integrity of John Ajvide Lindqvist's Swedish bestseller was kept intact, though it helped that he also penned the screenplay from his novel. With broad strokes and little dialogue, director Alfredson strikingly captures the confused emotions of his young protagonist. There's a sensitivity here, a down-to-earth reality that makes the story all the more compelling and affecting, and makes the fantastic elements seem completely in tune with the rest of the tale. And the horrific elements that is at the base of the vampire mythology are very much in evidence, as are the buckets of blood, but these are only outside affirmations to the real focus of the film, that of two alienated youths finding a kindred spirit in each other. The film would not be half as effective, of course, without the casting of the two superb child actors, the peculiar, fragile Hedebrant and most especially Leandersson, pretty but haunting as the age-old vampire trapped in a 12-year-old body. The end is either happy or tragic, depending on your perspective, but there's no doubt that Let the Right One In will linger in audience's minds long after the credits have passed.
Drama / Entertainment: 8/10

Twilight (2008)
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Plot: Moving to a small town with her divorced father, a teenage girl falls in love with a mysterious classmate who turns out to be part of a local vampire family.
Review: Based on the best-selling novel by Stephanie Meyer, Twilight is unabashedly aimed squarely at the teen girl demographic; and it's pure teen girl wish-fulfillment, a complex, platonic relationship with a brooding, handsome young man amidst a feeling of social alienation - how a monster may well be the only person who can understand what they're going through. No matter how well or how badly the film is, the series' fans would have gobbled it up. A pleasant surprise, then, that the filmmakers have managed to create a typically slick mainstream adaptation that's actually better than most teen romances of late, harkening back to some of the more entertaining Hollywood features of old, where foreplay was everything. As genre film, it's definitely not an original take on the subject of vampires in high school - think of it as a more dramatic (and chaste) version of TV's Buffy's relationship with Angel. There is, however, a lot of teen angst and lust on display, but little that's actually risqué apart from one kissing scene, and there's little blood or violence, apart from the climactic scene - most of the more horrible aspects are kept off-screen. Some highlights make up for a lot of the standard cliché stuff, like what must be one of the most awkward "meet the parents" situations in cinema history, a super-powered game of baseball, and hints at an interesting overall mythology. With her previous experience exploring the social lives of teen girls in Thirteen, director Hardwicke was a strong choice to direct the film. She brings a particular attention to a topic that includes straightforward dramatic bits of an estranged father-daughter dynamic and mixes some deliberate humor to the mix with workmanlike efficiency. There's no denying that the teen cast is bang-on for the tale: a rather cold, no-nonsense Stewart and the quirky, affable Brit Pattinson have a simmering chemistry between them and their growing relationship moves in appropriate fits and starts; there's a certain intensity in their performances that makes up for a lot and, as the real focus of the tale, it's also what works the best. It's way too talky for most horror and actions fans but for its dedicated fan base, Twilight is a vampire romance that definitely delivers the goods. For everyone else, this may well be a guilty pleasure.
Entertainment: 7/10

Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem
Director: Eric Brevig
Plot: With his estranged teen nephew in tow, a geology professor undertakes a trip to Iceland to find the whereabouts of his long-lost brother only to be trapped along with their mountain guide in a strange, lost world far beneath the Earth's surface.
Review: The latest adaptation of Jules Verne's classic sci-fi / adventure novel, Journey to the Center of the Earth, has really one gimmick up its sleeve - it's been shot in 3D, the latest rage (again) of CGI features. It's all very much in the spirit of the '50's 3D movies, too, where plot was minimal and purely revolved around getting objects to stick out to the audience. Oh, the effects are much more elaborate to be sure - the CGI backgrounds, virtual sets and creatures are nicely rendered but simplistic, there are lots of roller coaster-type sequences, including a mine-cart ride copied straight from Temple of Doom, the action (when applicable) is frenetic, and familiar tropes make their appearance, including carnivorous plants, sea monsters, a T-Rex, some perilous rock formations, etc. First-time feature director Brevig shows his roots as a visual effects supervisor, and character-driven performances are not his forte. The script plays it very tongue-in-cheek, the chacracters even using an annotated paperback copy of Verne's novel as a roadmap, but any wit or charm is quickly relegated to the back of the 3D band-wagon. The limits of the film as even popcorn entertainment are that much more obvious when watching it in standard "2D" on TV. Harkening back to the 1959 adaptation starring Pat Boone and James Mason, the previous outing had more wit and adventure than this one despite the smaller budget and primitive special effects. Perhaps the lack of any heart and soul comes from a feeling this was created by committee on order for an FX-driven family film rather than by any sense of creative input. As for the cast, Fraser contends with regurgitating a mix of his hero from the Mummy movies and his goofy demeanor that he brought to a slew of comic duds and Hutcherson and Briem are really only in for the ride. Of note, though it's clearly meant for family viewing, there are some pretty intense scenes for smaller kids but teens and adults won't find the thrills all that memorable. A rather bland and banal feature, better made for a theme park ride than a movie, Journey to the Center of the Earth was meant to be watched only in 3D to appreciate the filmmakers' technical - rather than cinematic - accomplishments.
Entertainment: 4/10

Transporter 3 (2008)
Starring: Jason Statham, Natalya Rudakova, Francois Berleand
Director: Olivier Megaton
Plot: A driver-for-hire is blackmailed into transporting the kidnapped daughter of a Ukrainian official to Odessa turning the table in short order against the evil mastermind pulling his strings.
Review: Continuing in the same dumb-but-fun vein as its predecessors, Transporter 3 is perhaps the least effective of the series but still pretty solid action entertainment. Upping the silliness quotient with some downright frivolous filler material and throwaway plot by series writers Luc Besson and co., it's all an excuse for some comic (or comic-book) relief between the ludicrous but thrilling set-pieces. It's unfortunate that director Megaton (no joke) isn't a better helmer and that the choppy editing doesn't allow for proper appreciation of the action choreography, but when it comes down to it the action is a blast, as inventive and over the top as its predecessors. Apart from the otherwise standard fight sequences (this time in a garage), of note is a furious bicycle chase after our hero's carjacked Audi through busy streets, warehouses and broken glass. Having made a name for himself as the go-to guy for this kind of action vehicle, Statham seems to be game for anything and he's in fine form here - baring his chest at the earliest opportunity and kicking heads with proper aplomb. As the necessary moll, Rudakova may have the pre-requisite look for the part but her personality has little wattage, playing the part as anchor to our hero more than effective romantic interest. Their banter is supposed to be romantic and their interaction sexy, but it just putters along to the next high-speed chase. Returning in supporting role, Berlean, as the friendly police chief, gets the brightest moments. In the end, Transporter 3 doesn't try to be anything other than light, punchy fun and in that it succeeds. It might be completely forgettable, but it does keep viewer interest while it lasts.
Entertainment: 6/10

Frost/Nixon (2008)
Starring: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Sam Rockwell, Kevin Bacon
Director: Ron Howard
Plot: A popular British talk show host with little journalistic background invests his own money to get ex-President Richard Nixon to talk about the Watergate scandal on camera.
Review: A dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews of 1977 between British talk show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon, all based on a play by Peter Morgan doesn't quite sound like riveting stuff, especially since the actual interviews weren't all that exciting or revelatory to begin with. Yet if Frost/Nixon sounds like a low-key battle of wits, a drama that would seem more suited to the stage than the screen, what comes out is a film that is much more suspenseful, entertaining and engaging than you'd expect. In the capable hands of director Howard (Apollo 13, The Da Vinci Code) what was a well-publicized, but eventually dull, journalistic media event takes on a grander scope as a clash of David and Goliath. The film stipulates that Frost and his team eventually set off to give Nixon an on-air trial, a last-ditch attempt at getting the ex-Commander in Chief to show some accountability for his involvement in the Watergate affair following the outright pardon granted him by his successor President Ford. For sure, the crimes Nixon was accused of seem tame by comparison more recent media revelations of political wrong-doing. As a society, we are far more cynical and accustomed to accept more than we once did, when we believed politicians had to have higher ideals than the common man. Whatever the case, with its talk of abuse of power, criminal wire-tapping, and more, it eerily parallels issues with the Bush administration, though one can't fathom Bush having the courage or the wherewithal to stand up to any kind of interview, or admission of guilt. Langella embodies Nixon with a superb physical characterization, finely-tuned by his many performances on stage; though he may not quite look the part, he has the mannerisms and brilliance of the man without ever diminishing him into caricature. Indeed, he brings a surprising sympathy to Nixon, one that always eluded the real-life persona. Sheen, another veteran of the stage version, tries to embody Frost as a more complex character than the man with just the playboy image, and he feels surprisingly genuine and amiable, if probably nothing like the actual personality. Even if a third of the film's runtime focused on these two men talking, the scenes together have some palpable tension. The strong supporting cast, including Oliver Platt and Sam Rockwell as two "crack" reporters, and Kevin Bacon as Nixon's aide, only make the whole deal that much sweeter. Frost/Nixon is expectedly dramatized, with many key events being complete fabrications but it does successfully provide a primer on the topic, and some great entertainment value, too. 
Drama: 7/10

JCVD (2008)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Francois Damiens
Director: Mabrouk El Mechri
Plot: After losing a custody battle for his young daughter, aging action star Jean-Claude van Damme returns to his native Belgium where he falls right into a post office heist while the local cops think he's the culprit.
Review: Titled for the initials of its international star, JCVD is unlike any movie you'd associate Van Damme with. It's a sort of post-modern take on, well, Jean-Claude Van Damme himself.  Unexpecting viewers looking for a low-grade action thriller will be miffed - indeed, apart from a solidly choreographed 3 minute single-take movie-within-a-movie action sequence that starts the movie (proving the "Muscles from Brussels" still has what it takes at 47, kicking and shooting his way through a military camp) there isn't any significant fighting to be found. What we get instead is a clever piece of auto-biography within fictional trappings, a "warts-and-all" look at the man behind the screen persona, without the limelight, the layers of his life peeled away to its raw center for popular consumption. Having been relegated to direct-to-DVD purgatory from his once-international Hollywood B-level movie fame, with his best years now behind him, it seemed like the right time for Van Damme to re-invent himself, or at least dust-off his image as a cocky charmer, and he does so with a surprisingly affable, self-deprecating way that completely disarms. For sure, it may not be an Oscar-wining performance, but all his past ham-fisted acting and hackneyed dialogue disappear from our minds in a single empathic soliloquy as he examines his own life and career. Though Van Damme does play himself, the rest of the characters are all actors (including his "parents", "daughter", etc) and you never know quite what is true, what is regurgitated tabloid trash, and what is pure fantasy. What we get is a look at what a day-in-the-life might be for a star who has fallen on hard times - movie parts are hard to come by, strangers met on the street have pre-conceived notions, and he just can't seem to get a break. Much of the kudos must also go to Belgian writer/ director El Mechri who managed to convince producers (and his star) to actually make such a clever, audacious film, all things considered. Oh, the film is by no means perfect, and even at a brief 90 minutes the film does slow down in the middle act, as if there wasn't quite enough material to make for a feature film. Thankfully, even in this dark, depressing take, Van Damme is an energetic, sympathetic presence on screen, and the European feel of the film - along with a healthy dose of dark humor - makes for a nice change to his filmography. A revealing look at a second-rate actor, and an intriguing film on its own merit, JCVD is not to be easily dismissed.
Drama: 8/10

W. (2008)
Starring: Josh Brolin, Richard Dreyfuss
Director: Oliver Stone
Plot: A review of the turning points in the adult life and controversial presidency of George W. Bush.
Review: Titled for the nickname George W. Bush was given by his wife, W. is not your standard political biography of the 41st President of the Unites States. Indeed, it's hard to think of a more irreverent, comic (if not to say nasty) view of a US presidency. The narrative goes back and forth from the present struggle with the Iraq war to Bush's younger days as he paved the road to becoming Commander in Chief all, if the screenwriters are to be believed, to gain the love and respect of his father. As depicted with sly amusement by famed director Oliver Stone (JFK, Wall Street, Platoon) one is never sure how seriously to take any of it; sure, the people around Bush himself are complete caricatures of themselves (or perhaps represented as Bush himself may view them?) and while some parts are factual, recounted events while others are clearly exaggerated. But even in its most grotesque moments - from his hard-drinking, womanizing days to his decision to invade Iraq - one somehow expects that the scariest part is that it's mostly pretty accurate. Indeed, culled from investigative accounts from the press, the internal meetings between Bush and his close advisers to preemptively strike at Saddam Hussein are said to be true, even if any sane person could only take this as farce. As characterized and caricaturized by an amazingly capable cast including Richard Dreyfuss as VP Dick Cheney, Scott Glenn as Donald Rumsfeld, James Cromwell as George Bush Sr., and an unrecognizable Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice, all the political players in Bush's entourage get what they deserve - this is as close as you can get to character assassination without getting into complete parody. Only one person comes out with his reputation unscathed: Colin Powell, as played by Jeffrey Wright, who was by all reports the only man with a conscience in the White House. As the leading man, Brolin plays Bush pretty much as Bush probably sees himself, a man of action and clear beliefs; what comes out though is that he was a man with limited experience, wit or knowledge who somehow - by influence and circumstance - managed to ingratiate himself to a nation. The final picture of the man isn't a good one, nailing the fact that the US had a born-again president who was disconnected from reality and whose pathetic attempts at leading the country failed us all. If this first film out of the gate is any indication, time is bound to see W.'s presidency as a shameful moment in US history.
Drama: 7/10

You Don't Mess With the Zohan (2008)
Starring: Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui
Director: Dennis Dugan
Plot: An expert Israeli counter-terrorist agent fakes his own death so that he can escape his reputation, move to New York and fill his dreams of becoming a hairdresser.
Review: A summer-comedy vehicle for popular funny-man Adam Sandler, You Don't Mess With the Zohan has the right stuff to make for an intriguing trailer, but runs out of real laughs too soon. The opening scenes, as our macho man walks the beach, beds women and catches terrorists single-handedly is amusing enough, but only lasts 10 minutes. When he reaches New York, tries to find a salon that will have him and ends up finding a job that requires him to shtup all the grannies whose hair he styles, well, the jokes get repetitive, though the running hummus gag does get the occasional giggle. When done right, silliness and over-the-top concepts can work wonders (such as in Tropic Thunder) but there needs to be a progression of new material and ideas to keep it interesting, something the film sorely lacks. Worse, the stereotyping of Israelis and Palestinians is cringe-worthy, especially comic Rob Schneider, doled-up in face-paint, hamming up the Arab caricature. There's no denying, however, that the buffed-up Sandler plays the part that is half Rambo and half Borat with almost embarrassing gusto, and veteran supporting actor Turturro hams it up as his nemesis, but there's little of their efforst that they'd put on a resume. Its heart is perhaps in the right place, with a final bonding between Israelis and Palestinians that we all hope could happen on a broader scale, but You Don't Mess With the Zohan is instantly forgettable fluff that only mildly entertains.
Comedy: 4/10

Dragon Tiger Gate (Hong Kong - 2006)
Starring: Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, Shawn Yue, Dong Jie
Director: Wilson Yip
Plot: Two long-lost brothers with superb martial-arts skills find themselves at odds when they are caught between two rival triads, each vying for the possession of a powerful magical amulet.
Review: To prove that Hollywood isn't the only one milking the printed page for ideas, the Hong Kong adaptation of the manga Dragon Tiger Gate comes out with fists flying. The comic-book inspired story, settings and characters all are up to the part, as is the bubble-gum decor, just don't expect any more than that to the plotting. To be safe, there's a vague Romeo and Juliette dual-romance thrown in to the tale of two warring gangs and a magical gate, some slow bits regarding the two lost brothers with a flashback to when they were bullied kids, and other filler that obviously worked better on the page than on the screen. Thankfully, these take up only a small portion of the film's running length. What director Yip (who met his first big success with Kill Zone, also starring his leading man) delivers is an effective live-action manga with lots of artfully prepared shots and camera work. Best of all, there's a splendid series of kinetic fantasy fight sequences (a massive close-quarter battle in a quiet Japanese restaurant is a highlight) that harkens back to Hong Kong's golden '80's hits, all served up with the latest in computer effects and slick production values. While heart-throb Tse and the other young stars posture, pout and look the part, perhaps the biggest stretch may be having forty-something martial arts guru and action choreographer Yen playing a twenty-something, but that's a quibble among all the other logic stretches required to enjoy this affair. For sure, no-one can deny that Yen is still in fine form, a fact showcased by the many splendidly executed wire-fu sequences in which he is center-stage. Dragon Tiger Gate adds up to nothing more than a commercially-driven action fix but it's been a dry spell for Hong Kong aficionados and, for now, this will have to do, and it still beats out most State-side fare.
Entertainment: 7/10

In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)
Director: David Sington
Plot: Through a series of interviews, the surviving astronauts from NASA's Apollo missions tell their story.
Review: Combining a mix of widely-seen and lesser-known archived NASA film footage with interviews of many of the surviving astronauts from the Apollo missions, In the Shadow of the Moon runs through a brief introduction to the space program of the 1960's to quickly focus on the Apollo flights. Between 1968 and 1972, there was a barrage of lunar expeditions tagged as Apollo 8 to Apollo 17. None, of course, were more famous than Apollo 11, the 1969 mission that first saw man step on another celestial body. The names are familiar to anyone who lived in the excitement of the young space age, or watched the superb Hollywood productions such as The Right Stuff and Apollo 13 - Jim Lovell, John Young, Buzz Aldrin - and their exploits are legend, their achievements larger-than-life. Yet through the relaxed discussions, the reminiscences and anecdotes, they come out as smart, funny, passionate, eloquent and very human - simple men who reached for the stars and, for the most part, made the dream a reality. The one obvious missing element is the reclusive Neil Armstrong who, unfortunately, couldn't be enticed to be a part of this. For anyone who has even a passing knowledge of the events, there is nothing new presented here save for the interviews, and perhaps a eerie look into president Nixon's un-aired "back-up" speech to the nation that was to be broadcast in the event of the death of the Apollo 11 crew. On the other hand, the film is very much an homage to these men, their bravery, their professionalism, and despite their age there's still a glint in their eyes, a giddy spirit of adventure that boils out as they talk. If there's a downside, it's that we only get a brief feel for the rich history of the American space program, or the thousands of people who so diligently worked to make it all a reality. If the film itself is only standard NASA documentary fare, these (possibly last) interviews with the Apollo astronauts is most definitely worth the effort.
Documentary: 6/10

Infernal Affairs II (Hong Kong - 2003)
Starring: Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Francis Ng
Directors: Siu Fai Mak, Wai-keung Lau
Plot: A young cop with ties to the Hong Kong crime syndicate goes undercover while a young triad member working for a rival crime boss joins the police department, both vying to bring down the new kingpin.
Review: A prequel to the acclaimed Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs (the basis for Martin Scorcese's Award-winning The Departed), Infernal Affairs II goes back in time before the hand-over of 1997 to tell the tale of how the protagonists got to where they are. Made hot-off the success of its predecessor, and forsaking its leads Andy Lau and Tony Leung for younger actors, returning directors Siu Fai Mak and Wai-keung Lau have produced a solid crime drama that's just as slick and well-shot as their previous effort. On the down side, it lacks the first's complexities and fine-tuned suspense, relegating the main actors to secondary-participant status in the main plot, one focusing on the rise of new crime boss (played with aplomb by Francis Ng). For those not familiar with the first installment, the character revelations won't mean anything; in either case, despite the attempts at depth and intricate plotting (and, yes, there's a lot going on here), the story is pretty straightforward stuff, acted out in the backdrop of the 1997 hand-over to China. On the up side, returning actors Eric Tsang and Anthony Wong get a chance to beef up their parts in the series, and the whole thing is engaging enough to satisfy both casual and more discerning viewers alike. Infernal Affairs II may not be quite the success of the first but it's a fine addition to setting up the mythology of the trilogy.
Entertainment / Drama: 6/10

Sukiyaki Western Django (Japan - 2007)
Starring: Hideaki Ito, Masanobu Ando, Koichi Sato
Director: Takashi Miike
Plot: A lone gunman finds his way into a small western town split by two warring clans, both looking for buried treasure.
Review: A crazy, blood-splattered homage to Kurosawa's Yojimbo and the Westerns like A Fistful of Dollars and the 1966 versio of Django that spewed from it, Sukiyaki Western Django is a hodge-podge of clichés, archetypes and anime sensibilities all brought to life as only visionary director Miike can. Best known in the West for the films Dead or Alive and Audition, Miike has been making strange, disturbing pictures in all genres since the early 90's and each one is an experience. Thankfully, this is a more approachable (i.e. less a mind-trip) than his stranger efforts, and all done for fun. Mixing the legendary 12th century battle of Dannoura with the War Of The Roses, the film is an irreverent mix of classic samurai storytelling played as over-the-top spaghetti Western. The film revels in its clash of genres and styles, joyfully exploiting expectations, filling the story with melodrama, strange revelations, bloody mayhem, self-aware quips and general zaniniess. Case in point: the mostly Japanese cast was asked to speak English, phonetically; the costumes would be more appropriate in a musical; there's a sheriff who's taken a cue from Dr. Strangelove; and director Quentin Tarantino, a long-time fan of Asian cinema, gets included in a bizarre cameo as a legendary gunfighter. And that's just for starters. All of this only adds to the enjoyment of an exciting, fast-paced production that delivers exactly where it counts - lots of well-staged gunfights climaxing in a formidable showdown, tongue-very-firmly-planted-in-cheek humor, and oodles of style. Sukiyaki will probably be relegated to the video shelves as another Japanese cult movie, and that's too bad; it's a dynamic, well-crafted parody that - when it gets even half-serious - puts most Westerns to shame.
Entertainment: 8/10

Rendition (2007)
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep
Director: Gavin Hood
Plot: When an Egyptian physicist gets arrested and taken to a secret detention facility in the Middle-East where a young CIA analyst is assigned to interrogate him, while the captive's pregnant American wife struggles in Washington, D.C. to find his whereabouts.
Review: One of a handful of Hollywood films focusing on the headline debates of US policies regarding torture in the aftermath of 9/11, Rendition clearly wears its heart on its sleeve. Taking on multiple points of view - from an engaged terrorist, a CIA agent, politicians, to a desperate housewife and many others in between - the film carefully weaves the narratives together in an attempt to personalize the issues faced by America's war on terror and the moral quagmire of freedoms vs. security. Director Hood, fresh off his Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for Tsotsi, here seems to be balancing the aspiration for a gritty, hard-hitting commentary and the pressures to deliver a palatable, politically correct Hollywood production for less discerning audiences. The camerawork is atmospheric, the topic examined on its many sides, but the story somehow never comes alive. A forced narrative twist right at the end feels like a cheat instead of a revelation, completely undermining the drama instead of making it more palatable. The impressive cast (including Alan Arkin and Peter Sarsgaard in supporting roles) isn't convincing in their roles, and even Streep - as a hard-nosed Homeland Security guru - can't quite make up for a ho-hum script. Part of the issue is that the characters are only cardboard cutouts, playing their parts to allow the film to give its all-too-clear message of the dangers and traps of the US's politic of rendition of suspected terrorists. Good intentions alone do not make a good movie; still, Rendition's message is an important one and for that it's worth a gander.
Drama: 6/10

Doomsday (2008)
Starring: Rhona Mitra, Bob Hoskins
Director: Neil Marshall
Plot: In search of a possible cure to a deadly virus threatening to devastate England, a team of special forces and scientists enter the quarantined territory of Scotland where they must face the brutal survivors.
Review: Completely, consciously derivative of a multitude of post-apocalyptic action flicks, Doomsday is a clear homage to the exploitation flicks of the 70's and 80's done with modern effects, camera techniques and a big budget. That it ends being such a lackluster effort is simply disappointing. The prognosis should have been different: Writer / director Marshall made his mark with two well-received low-budget genre films - the Werewolf flick Dog Soldiers and the claustrophobic spelunking nightmare The Descent - that established him as a talent to watch for. Here, he seems to have been given carte blanche to recreate his childhood fantasies of bad-ass mayhem all brought with loving visuals and appropriate art direction to the screen with a conscious sensibility of the narrative tropes (and occasional silliness) of the times. The archetype characters and usual cannon fodder types are also in place, of course, but the real hero is tough-as-nails commando Mitra, an amalgam of nihilist anti-hero Snake Plissken and Linda Hamilton's Terminator-killer. Unfortunately, something seems to have been lost in translation to current times: there's lots of movement and violence, yes, but it's rarely thrilling despite its attempts at visceral moments. By attempting to recreate the best sequences of cult classic films - from Romero's zombie flicks, to a plot straight out of Escape From New York, to a climactic chase inspired by The Road Warrior, to a bizarre shift into Middle-Age Robin Hood territory, along with other influences from a multitude of Z-movie copies - Marshall may have forgotten his roots and his own style, making this all feel like a hodge-podge of loosely related, un-inspired moments. Still, even if it's generic Doomsday is capably made and does deliver an entertaining-enough vehicle, especially for viewers not raised on the film's forebears.
Entertainment: 5/10

Futurama: Bender's Big Score (2007)
Starring: Billy West, John DiMaggio
Director: Dwayne Carey-Hill
Plot: When the entire Earth falls into the hands of nudist alien internet scammers, it's up to the Futurama crew to try to stop their takeover and their ensuing time crimes.
Review: After disappearing from the airwaves, Bender's Big Score revives the Fox TV cartoon sci-fi satire Futurama, bringing back the cast and crew in a full-length direct-to-video feature. And time hasn't dulled the edge of this Matt Groening (The Simpsons) creation; in fact, cutting loose from TV censors allows the writers, animators and voice cast to go all out with zingers, sight gags and general insanity. Better still, it's three times the length of a regular episode yet it's always light on its feet. The tale involving internet scams, nudist aliens, an evil Bender, time-traveling shenanigans, and a love triangle involving its one-eyed female protagonist (this among a slew of other sub-plots), is a zany, convoluted, clever, hilarious affair that has more smarts and a higher laughs-a-minute ratio than just about any sitcom or big-budget CGI comedy of late. Sure things get complicated, tons of characters appear for a quick laugh and disappear, but it's all in good fun. Add to this some slick, computer-enhanced cel-animation, the return of the familiar voice cast along with a slew of cameos (including ex-VP Al Gore) and Bender's Big Score is a surprisingly successful oddity: it's both a great gift for fans of the series (with its abundance of in-jokes), a great starting off point for newcomers, and a strong comic feature in its own right. For anyone with a funny bone, this is a must.
Entertainment: 8/10

The Great Debaters (2007)
Starring: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker
Director: Denzel Washington
Plot: In 1935, a determined literature professor at an African-American college in the deep south trains his team of brilliant students to ultimately challenge Harvard in the national debate championship.
Review: Based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at the all-black Wiley College Texas circa 1935, The Great Debaters sets up its story with all the right expectations. We've seen this kind of underdog movie countless times in sports films, all with the common theme of strong, courageous black men (and on rare occasions women) who defy the racial segregation and prejudice to gain their rightful place in society. Taking a very similar approach, actor-director Washington brings a decidedly more literate twist to the Civil Rights Movement while staying, unfortunately, too close to the other genre platitudes. To be sure Washington does create an effective mainstream melodrama, even adding an interesting sub-plot involving labor union politics that, unfortunately, never gets enough attention (though it does provide for the film's most powerful scene). The script also takes many liberties with events to ensure that audiences will have an easy time to root for them, especially as our heroic debate team always seems to have the politically correct side of any argument, so the white debaters can be easily reviled for their stances. A more even approach might have made this all the more interesting, instead of re-treading the same platitudes regarding race relations. Even being relegated to a supporting role, Washington the actor - as the inspiring professor, coach and moonlight labor organizer - is captivating as always but it's really Whitaker, as the college's Dean and preacher that really shines through, even if the capable young actors making the debate team are the real focus of the story. In the end, The Great Debaters is hard not to like but it's ultimately just another average, forgettable Hollywood social drama.
Drama: 6/10

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)
Starring: Anthony Head, Alexa Vega, Paul Sorvino
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Plot: In a future where organ replacements are financed and just as easily repossessed, the self-appointed king of an all-powerful biotech company discovers he's dying and puts plans in motion to set up a new heir, bypassing his distasteful offspring.
Review: With the recent revival of Hollywood movie musicals - from Chicago to Mamma Mia! - there was bound to be an attempt at bringing an off-Broadway adaptation of the Goth rock opera Repo! The Genetic Opera. It's a dark, wicked spectacle full of blood and guts (there's a ridiculous amount of organ removals), overblown family tragedies and hatreds, little character development, all meant to be high on style if not on content; who better, then, to adapt the stage musical than Bousman, the helmer of the visceral Saw sequels. Taking some tricks from Sweeney Todd et al and taking it to exploitation-horror extremes the filmmakers seem to have a clear ambition to be a 21st century Rocky Horror Show. For sure, there's lots of the right stuff to go around, from the cheesy settings and art direction, to the campy feel of the production, to the comic-book characters and events. Varying in quality from terrible to toe-tapping, the tunes and lyrics are a mixed bag from ballads to heavy-metal grunge, even allowing for a real opera number that grinds things to a halt. As for the cast, it's an interesting roster including Buffy's Anthony Head as the Repo Man, acting vet Paul Sorvino as the villainous CEO and Spy Kids' Alexa Vega as the innocent heroine. Of course singer Sarah Brightman comes off best voice-wise but the rest of them make do and don't embarrass themselves, including a perfectly cast Paris Hilton as the bitch heiress. With its silly get-ups, dance numbers, copious blood and surreal color scheme, it's destined to be a cult classic. So if high-camp, gore and music are all up your alley, Repo! will provide you with a delectable meal. Everyone else may be scratching their heads.
Entertainment: 6/10

Mulan II (2004)
Starring: Ming-Na Wen, Pat Morita
Director: Tony Bancroft
Plot: On the eve of their engagement, Shang's and Mulan's relationship is put to the test when they are sent on a secret mission to escort the emperor's three daughters to get married-off in a remote kingdom. 
Review: A direct-to-video sequel of Disney's superb Mulan, Mulan II continues on the "follow your heart" theme as our heroine must once again defeat adversity with courage and conviction. The effort was obviously produced by Disney's B-team, but it all moves along nicely and the stylish, semi-exotic touches are for the most part still present. Despite the apparent perils to the kingdom, the tale is drastically smaller in scale than its predecessor and there's far less drama (and little in the action department) this time around. Instead of going for the wide appeal of the original, the script opts instead for slapstick romance that's clearly directed at young girls. The laughs may be far between but there's a batch of catchy, well-executed songs that make up for the story's silliness, and a strong female role in the film that's worth something in this Barbie-filled market landscape. Along with new cast Lucy Liu and Sandra Oh, most of the original voice cast returns, with the most obvious exception being Eddie Murphy who's replaced by similar-acting Mark Moseley as the wise-cracking guardian dragon Mushu, the character who gets most of the laughs. As for the animation, it' superior to most direct-to-DVD fare with the occasional use of CGI to enhance the stylish cel drawings, but it doesn't compare to Disney's theatrical releases. Decent, unexceptional family entertainment.
Entertainment: 5/10

Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Ali Larter
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Plot: Travelling across the Nevada desert hoping to escape the zombies now inhabiting the world, survivors of a deadly plague meet up with a woman with superhuman powers who is being chased by corporate scientists. 
Review: With its mix of action, horror and sci-fi, the Resident Evil franchise is proving to be quite sturdy and this latest installment, Resident Evil: Extinction, is bloody great popcorn fun. Surprisingly enough, the sequels are proving to be more fun than the creaky original, and each has taken a very different take on the subject. Taking the video games on which its based on as a jumping off point, the script steals from The Road Warrior, Hitchcock's The Birds and other genre films to provide for some nasty entertainment. The expected elements are all here, too: the undead, the Evil Corporation still chasing after our heroine, bizarre plot twists, etc. For sure, there's none of the social commentary of more "profound" zombie flicks (like director Romero's works), nor (thankfully) is there the viciousness seen in recent fare. Of course, apart from the pretty, silky, tough-as-nails, ass-kicking Jovovich returning as Alice, the main attraction is the zombie-killing action of which there's much in evidence. If it gets a little repetitive despite some new monster types (zombie dogs and ravens make a mark), it's all done with great skill, strong pacing and good computer effects - and a strong focus on the things that matter to its audience, namely splattering brains. With his previous genre experience with the Highlander series and Resurrection, among others, director Mulcahy knows the drill and he does some capable, dynamic work here. Apart from Jovovich, the rest of the cast does OK, with TV's Heroes' Larter making the best impression as the leader of the rag-tag survivors, but none of them are really asked to do much in the acting department. Of note is the impeccable, gorgeous cinematography that gives the production an unexpected amount of polish; sure, it's mostly style over substance, but there's a lot to like here... if you're into zombie action flicks. Extinction ends on an open note, promising future installments. If they continue to be mindless fun like this one, then bring it on.
Entertainment: 6/10

Why We Fight (2005)
Starring: Gore Vidal, John McCain
Director: Eugene Jarecki
Plot: A view of the forces that shape America's decisions to go to war, from Dwight D. Eisenhower's words of warning in his farewell address to the current state of American foreign policy and invasion of Iraq.
Review: Though it's not as politically savvy as The Fog of War nor quite as entertaining (and manipulative) as Fahrenheit 9/11, Why We Fight has been hailed as one of the great documentaries on the subject of the invasion of Iraq and there's no doubting the relevance of its message on the dangers of the "military-industrial complex". The term was first coined by president Dwight D. Eisenhower in his prescient farewell address to the nation in 1961 where he warned Americans of the dangers faced by an association of power-hungry politicians, military and a too-profitable industry. Filmmaker Jarecki (The Trials of Henry Kissinger) has a penchant for the material and - despite a few failed attempts at cinematic tension and explosive finale in setting up the opening bombing salvo in Baghdad - he brings a journalist's view to the subject. The story that unfolds with facts, archival footage and some eye-opening interviews of Capitol and Pentagon insiders and critics alike is a country where foreigh policy is dictated by an association of forces that is determined not only to profit from war but to ensure wars continue to happen. The film does lag on occasion when it decides to interview a new recruit regarding his intentions to fight, or gather a father's rage at losing a son in 9/11 and being fooled to accept the country's entrance into another ill-fated war. But these are balanced with some scathing accounts of the goings-on in the corridors of power, or the damning news footage of Donald Rumsfeld himself, the instigator of the invasion, shaking hands with the one the US treated as an ally (and supported militarily) against Iran until 1990, none other than Saddam Hussein himself. There are many questions left unanswered, of course, and it would have been nice to see more of the historical implications of the film's treatise instead of its quick survey of military conflicts in the latter half of the 20th century. Focused as it is on the Bush administration - and specifically VP Dick Cheney and his entourage - it's still an eye-opener to anyone who still thinks the invasion of Iraq had anything to do with 9/11 instead of the imperialistic intentions - and greed - of a handful of Washington politicians and neo-con think-tanks. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
Documentary: 8/10

The Ruins (2008)
Starring: Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey
Director: Carter B. Smith
Plot: A group of friends vacationing in Mexico decide to explore a remote Mayan temple only to find there's more than meets the eye when they meet the unfriendly natives.
Review: Hollywood or teen audiences may not be quite tired of seeing young, vapid college types getting into stupid situations during their Mexican vacations, but most of us will be after The Ruins. The premise of an old Mayan temple, of modern Mayans protecting a "secret", could have amounted to something - surely something better than this, anyway. Forget the title; there's little temple exploring going on, and absolutely nothing related to Mayans or their culture - heck, there isn't even any nice local scenery. The cast of boring characters would usually mean that we could look forward to some inventive deaths, at least, but there's no even that here. What ensues after a banal set-up are much hysterics and self-mutilation, as the small group starts to lose their grip on sanity, but it's little fault of anything supernatural. The "monster" of the piece - and sorry for the spoiler - is a flesh-eating vine; gardeners may see the terror in its crawling on the ground, picking up pieces of dead flesh while its flowers sing eerily, but for the rest of us its pretty laughable. With such limited tension, lame dialogue and a silly monster, one can't fathom how this got green lit. Blame it on the script that removes any character development that may have been found in Scott Smith's novel on which it's based. Either way, director Carter B. Smith has little to work with and never captures the required atmosphere of foreboding or isolation required, dragging the tale on for longer than we care to watch. A dull, zero-thrill horror piece that would normally have been relegated to true B-movie status - and not in a good way. For a far superior take on what this should have been, see The Descent.
Horror: 3/10

Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (2008)
Starring: Jim Carrey, Steven Carell, Carol Burnett
Directors: Jim Hayward, Steve Martino
Plot: An elephant struggles to protect a microscopic town living on a speck of dust attached to a fragile flower from the other denizens of the jungle who refuse to accept that it exists and demand he destroy it.
Review: The beloved Dr. Seuss 1954 children's classic Horton Hears a Who! gets the big-budget CGI treatment, and - confounding expectations - it's actually pretty darn good. True, Dr. Seuss purists will be annoyed by the liberties taken by the filmmakers to "modernize" the dialogue and characters (especially when it comes to Carrey's interpretation of Horton), and they'll be scratching their heads at the necessity to add banal sequences full of pop culture references (the order of the day, it seems, for CGI movies) to pad the original story to feature length. But if the rhyming prose has been short-changed to only a sparse narration, the spirit of the work - with its themes of staying true to one's beliefs and persevering through adversity - is still intact, and most everyone will find much to enjoy in this rendition, if you've read the book a hundred times or not. For one, the colorful art direction, the sumptuous computer animation and the character renderings are all superb and stay true to the original, inimitable style of Seuss' works. For two, the added sequences fleshes out both the microscopic community and the Jungle of Nool's inhabitants, though it's clearly the imaginative rendering of the fantastic Whoville and the daily madcap life of its denizens that are really worth another visit. Despite some hesitation in seeing Carrey head-lining the cast, the voice acting is actually bang-on, with comedienne Burnett as the Kangaroo and self-proclaimed leader of the jungle, and Carell as the "boob" mayor of Whoville. One expects even Dr. Seuss would have approved; this Horton Hears a Who! is solid entertainment for the whole family. 
Entertainment: 8/10

Silk (Taiwan - 2006)
Starring: Chang Chen, Bo-lin Chen, Chun-Ning Chang
Director: Chao-Bin Su
Plot: After capturing a ghost child with the help of an anti-gravity device, a team of scientists enlist a cop to discover the mystery behind the boy's demise in the hope of achieving mastery of life after death.
Review: The popular and over-used Japanese horror tropes make more than just a passing appearance in Silk, a rare Taiwanese offering mixing ghost story, police thriller and sci-fi in equal measures. Audiences will probably see more than a passing resemblance to Ju-On: The Grudge, in fact, with the same type of monster, mayhem and even makeup on display. On the plus side, there's some verve in the action bits, the production values (and effects) are pretty decent, the capable cast seems to believe in the tale, and the entire affair goes down smoothly as our intrepid ghost hunter (eyes sprayed so that he can see the otherwise invisible ghosts) follows leads, including the ghost child himself, to the film's predictable revelations. On the down side, however, there are few scares or thrills to be had for all the filmmakers' efforts. If the script does try to bring up heady philosophical questions of life and death through its two main protagonist and their melodramatic existence - one keeping an ailing mother alive, the other crippled since birth looking for a way out of a disappointing life - it never attempts to answer them. It doesn't help either that the entire premise's plausibility hinges on a fantastic sci-fi device that seems to be too powerful to be exploited for such nonsense - in fact the device itself is far more interesting than the rest of the film. Despite its obvious attempts to give the J-horror genre a scientific twist, Silk only ends up relegated to the stack of other similar films, no less and no more than the average genre fare.
Entertainment / Horror: 5/10

The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008)
Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet
Director: Chris Carter
Plot: Two former agents who dealt with paranormal cases for the FBI are called back to duty when a fallen priest claims to be having psychic visions of a kidnapped 
Review: A long-in-the-making follow-up to the successful TV-to-big screen incursion The X-Files: Fight the Future (and six years after the end of pop-culture phenom series finale), I Want to Believe does an about-take to give a more somber, action-deficient (and thrill-deficient) film, to the detriment of just about everyone. Blame the story, which brings little of the spookiness and paranoia that we've come to expect, focusing on a more intimate tale that seems too small for a movie theater. For die-hard fans of the TV show, any excuse to see Mulder and Scully back in action (even in little action) is better than none. For everyone else, this is an unmemorable film experience despite the crisp Vancouver BC cinematography, the semi-intriguing concept and the return of two of TV-dom's most beloved characters. The error was to try to make the film a stand-along affair palatable to all; the tale still hits on the main concepts of belief, supernatural forces and strange science, but the story dismisses the real attraction, that of the series' core mythology, and gives rise to only a typical, hum-drum horror / thriller. In fact, it's more appropriate to a two-hour TV episode of the series, and not one of the better ones at that. There's no denying that Duchovny and Anderson have the roles down pat, but the movie finds them living life as an old married couple, something that leads to an interaction that is nowhere near as lively (or interesting) as it was in the past. In fact, the most interesting aspect are the dramatically underused Peet as an FBI agent who "wants to believe" and Connolly who plays a pedophile priest who may or may not be having visions. Not to say that it's a complete loss: there's a nice little mystery here, and anyone who has ever watched the show will get a twinge of nostalgia. Alas, like the title, we want to believe in the film, too, but if the elements are there, the spark is all but gone leaving us with little to hold on to.
Entertainment: 6/10

The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)
Starring: Freddie Highmore, Mary-Louise Parker, Sarah Bolger
Director: Mark Waters
Plot: After moving into a run-down country house with their mother, three siblings find themselves pulled into a conflict among fantastic creatures that live in the surrounding forest for their grand-father's magical book.
Review: Based on the five fantasy books that make up Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black's illustrated teen-novel series, The Spiderwick Chronicles doesn't quite hit a high-mark for movie magic. It's definitely got the right idea: throw into the fantasy mix some sibling rivalry, a nasty divorce, a strange spooky house, a secret book, a magical world of invisible creatures and you've got all the ingredients for what should be a successful affair. For those not too familiar with the novels, however, the film seems to have many slow spots even at a breezy 90 minutes. Despite some imaginative creature design and good effects, solid performances from the young cast - including an effective dual twin role by Highmore - and some decent adventure, the story has a feeling of been-there-done-that. Of course, any script that dilutes almost five books worth of story into a 90-minute adventure is bound to lose some of the beloved details for fans, but while it's for the most part engaging, it really doesn't get its stride until its final act, as the forest creatures make a move on the house - and the humans in it. Though clearly aimed at younger audiences, some of the scenes may not be suitable for kids under ten and the simplistic tale may be too shallow for adults. Nevertheless, there's some decent stuff in The Spiderwick Chronicles that will make for a nice escape for those into fantasy fare. Too bad it will probably be lost among other Harry Potter wannabes.
Entertainment: 6/10

Get Smart (2008)
Starring: Steven Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp
Director: Peter Segal
Plot: When an evil organization uncovers the identities of a secret agency's active members, it's up to a desk-bound intelligence operative with dreams of being a field agent - along with a more competent female colleague - to save the day.
Review: With Get Smart, yet another TV series gets the big-screen treatment bringing the (mis-) adventures of Maxwell Smart, agent for CONTROL, and his battles against KAOS with Agent 99 at his side. Nostalgic fans of the 60's TV show will get a kick out of seeing it all revamped, but it's a mitigated success as a summer action-comedy vehicle, for one because the film is never really as smart, slick, exciting or as funny as it probably wanted to be, or could have been. Sure, even the TV series itself was an often frivolous - but mostly amusing - spoof on James Bond and The Man from UNCLE, but a modern take with a larger budget should have given this effort some added oomph, and not only in the action sequences. The derivative script plays on some other spy comedies like the superior True Lies and the gags (both visual and dialogue-driven) are rarely laugh-out-loud funny, though at least they never fall flat. Bar none, the real attraction and highlight is by far the stellar cast assembled for the film; they're far better than the script deserves, and save the movie from being another hum-drum TV adaptation. Both charismatic in their own way the leads, funny-man Carell and the sublime Hathaway, have strong chemistry and great comic timing, and their interaction - from squabbling to final attraction - is quite enjoyable. Even the supporting cast impresses, with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as super-agent 23 and Alan Arkin as the ever-frowning Chief being the real highlights. In the end, Get Smart is worth a few chuckles and provides some nice escapist entertainment; let's just hope an inevitable sequel does right by its cast.
Entertainment: 6/10

The Last Man on Earth (1964)
Starring: Vincent Price, Franca Bettoia, Emma Danieli
Director: Sidney Salkow
Plot: Following a deadly plague that has turned the rest of the population into vampires, a lone human survivor methodically clears his city by killing the former citizens in the daylight and trying to survive the nights.
Review: A decent, if unexciting adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 sci-fi / horror novel I Am Legend, The Last Man on Earth holds one's interest throughout its somber tale. Though it is the first movie adaptation of the influential book, the later, more action-oriented adaptations are more popular (The Omega Man in the 70's and and I Am Legend more recently). Matheson himself refused to have his name attached to the finished film, yet it is still the version that most closely resembles the book. The film was also a clear influence on George Romero's Night of the Living Dead that came a few years later - what with the zombie / vampires, the death-throws of civilization, the bleak ending - though the latter proved to have more bite both in its social, satirical and fright departments than this one. In fact there's little excitement to be had here until the final act, mostly because the creatures are too dumb, too slow and too weak to be a real threat. But the film - and the book - are more concerned with conveying a sense of loneliness and despair, something director Salkow manages to do despite the obvious low budget. Though a non-character actor might have been more credible, horror and genre veteran Price gives a decent performance (and only occasional theatricality) as the scientist who may well be the only surviving human, and the script focuses a lot on his loneliness and mundane semi-existence, a life barely worth living, caught in his bereavement and loss of his wife and child. The final revelations may bring a Twilight Zone kind of chill but the rest of the affair - including a banal extended flashback of how we got here - is a little too pedestrian to make for The Last Man on Earth anything but late-night movie viewing.
Entertainment: 5/10

Disturbia (2007)
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, David Morse, Carrie-Anne Moss
Director: D.J. Caruso
Plot: After losing his father and punching his teacher, a troubled teen living under house arrest passes time peeping on his neighbors, soon becoming convinced his neighbor is a serial killer.
Review: A clever, modern, teen-centric remake of sorts of Alfred Hitchcock's classic Rear Window, Disturbia serves up a fitfully mainstream suburban thriller that actually ends up being pretty satisfying. The film's more tense moments don't get going, really, until mid-way but both halves of the film have something going for it; the first, the long-winded set-up that works thanks to new-leading-man LaBeouf's soulful, angst-ridden teen and other neighborly hi-jinks (including spying on the hot new neighbor), the second the more suspense-filled (and action-prone) act filled with the expected twists and scares as the sleuth and his two friends realize they're being watched, too. Sure, it's familiar stuff for those who have sat through the countless, cookie-cutter serial killer flicks of late (from Scream onwards) but one-time TV director Caruso (Salton Sea, Eagle Eye) manages to get the the most out of the confined spaces, young cast and smarter-than-average script that packs humor, romance and terror in equal doses. Added bonus, veteran bad-guy Morse who's perfectly creepy as the neighbor who may or may not be a killer. There's no genre-defining element here, but If you can avoid screaming at the clichéd ineptness of our heroes when things get serious ("aargh, why do they always do that!"), there's lots of fun to be had in Disturbia.
Entertainment: 7/10

The Bucket List (2007)
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes
Director: Rob Reiner
Plot: Having met while bunking in the same cancer ward room, two terminally-ill patients in their 70's - one an egotistical millionaire, the other a down-to-earth car mechanic - decide to escape their confines and take a trip around the world following their wish list.
Review: The dramatic comedy The Bucket List tackles some big issues like life, love, death and presents it in an easy-to-digest package headlined by two Hollywood veterans - how could it lose? Starting off as a medical melodrama, the movie throws out predictable comments on the treatment of the sick and the vagaries of life. The real focus, thankfully, is on the unlikely friendship between its two leads and the story doesn't rush their slow bonding, from grudging roommates to strong buddies. Its pretty cliché stuff, but just seeing those two old men grating on each other's nerves, raging at life and circumstances in their own way, provides the film's best parts. It's clear this is really just another vehicle for its two aging stars, and they at least hit the right notes - Nicholson, with his usual mischievous gleam in his eye, plays the role to the hilt while Freeman gives his performance all his trademark charm and wise-man poise, even in the face of death. When they finally escape mid-way through and go about their senior-citizen road-trip, crossing off such exciting, once-in-a-lifetime events from their wish list like skydiving, race-car driving, and visiting the world's most exotic wonders (the pyramids, the Taj Mahal, etc) before their time runs out, the movie loses steam. Director Reiner has done some fine dramatic comedies in the past (When Harry Met Sally..., The American President) and his easy, mainstream sensibilities are all over the movie. Unfortunately, the meandering, shallow script doesn't really offer up any real window into the lives of these characters or any lasting impression apart from some beautiful scenery and a handful of Zen-like moments. A low-brow crowd-pleaser, The Bucket List is an enjoyable, if forgettable, take on some heady issues. For some, that'll be enough.
Comedy / Drama: 6/10

Rambo III (1988)
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna
Director: Peter Macdonald
Plot: When his former commanding officer gets captured in Afghanistan by invading Russians, Rambo joins up with local freedom fighters to plan out a daring rescue.
Review: Though nowhere near as popular as its genre-initiating predecessor, Rambo 3 has as much, if not more, of the stuff that action fans crave without the unnecessary calories - or plot. In the 80`s, before 911, the Afghan struggle was ripe for film exploitation, a place to find allies in the fight against Soviet aggression. Surprisingly, the cinematography of the desolate landscapes and of the people is actually pretty good, though director MacDonald's preference for tight close-ups is distracting. Nevertheless, he's also got a good sense of the cinematic requirements for mindless action; even if this is just a repeat of the last installment in a different setting, replete with all the gunfire, explosions and other requisite violence we've come to expect (including more torture scenes than we'd care to see), the film does up the ante considerably. A veritable one-man army, Rambo takes on (almost) single-handedly not only hundreds of trained Soviet troops, jeeps, trucks and heavy machineguns but tanks and armored helicopters, too, all without batting an eye. Sure, there's nothing really new to be had in all this but the superior production values and non-stop mayhem in the second half of the film make up for the script and meandering, maudlin half-hour intro. Of course, none of this would make much of an impression if it weren't for the buff, toned, steely-gazed Stallone at the very center as the unstoppable uber-hero. The character may have become a caricature, but he does deliver the goods. And so does the movie. `Nuff said.
Entertainment: 7/10

Death Race (2008)
Starring: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Ian McShane
Director: Paul Anderson
Plot: In the not so distant future, an innocent man is forced by a brutal prison warden to compete in a series of brutal televised races where challengers ride armed cars and only the survivor gets his freedom.
Review: Forget the nihilistic, 70's low-budget Roger Corman-produced exploitation flick Death Race 2000 with its sly social commentary and cartoon-like violence. Death Race, the latest update, is a straight-up, cliché-ridden action flick devoid of any redeeming social values, but what it lacks in originality it more than makes up in high-budget brawn and pure mayhem. Mixing cars, high-caliber guns and gladiatorial combat isn't exactly high-concept and the prison drama is pretty much filler, and thankfully the film doesn't pay much attention to it. Sure, the plot, narrative, directing and editing are more akin to a latest-generation video game but that doesn't stop it from being an unabashedly efficient, visceral and downright entertaining. Though it may not be saying much, this is by far director Anderson's (Alien vs. Predator) most entertaining flick - even if the action does get repetitive at times, he's clearly taken a page from The Road Warrior film handbook; the sense of speed, the destruction as vehicles get perforated and blow up, the larger-than-life machismo (and the requisite babes) make it for one entertaining package. The leads - both action-star Statham and fish-out-of-water Allen - do their parts justice, but it's really the super-charged cars bristling with armor and weapons that are the real characters, and the real attraction. Death Race delivers exactly what you'd hope and expect from the film's action-movie premise and as long as that's what you're looking for, you won't be disappointed.
Entertainment: 7/10

Mémoires affectives (Looking for Alexander) (Quebec - 2004)
Starring: Roy Dupuis, Rosa Zacharie, Guy Thauvette
Director: Francis Leclerc
Plot: After emerging from a lengthy coma, a man suffering from complete amnesia tries to rebuild his past but disturbing memories of a childhood incident continue to haunt him.
Review: Winner of three Genies (Quebec film awards), Looking for Alexander has oodles of style, an intriguing premise and (possibly) supernatural mystery to boot. The driving theme is an ambitious one, that of personal and collective memory, of how they define who we are and how we are perceived in society. There are some affecting moments when the film stays within intimate confines, as our protagonist reconnects to his estranged wife, teenage daughter and his few friends. The high-concept idea of him regaining individual memories while those people around him forget those same memories of him may work at first, but it soon grows tiring in the repetition, just as it gets frustrating to our hero. Oh, the script wants to be clever and prove its smarts by creating a complex narrative that ends up being rather vapid, missing the mark with some ineffective twists and the occasional psycho-babble that doesn't help explain his condition. There's no blaming the cinematography, or the capable supporting cast, but unfortunately writer / director Leclerc takes on a too-languid pacing for his dramatic / existential exercise, leaving the narrative haphazard and the final act (where the incident behind his mental flashes are revealed) ultimately predictable and unsatisfying. Though awarded for his performance and always a charismatic presence on the screen, this isn't up to leading-man Dupuis' best efforts, relegated as he is to acting like a man in a daze, never allowing the audience to connect emotionally to his plight. Indeed, as the story progresses, it's hard not to compare the film to the much better executed - and much more thrilling - Memento, a movie that had a different take on the subject. To be fair, Looking for Alexander has enough going for it to merit a view but it could have been so much more.
Drama: 6/10

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Starring: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham
Director: Robert Mulligan
Plot: A widowed lawyer practicing in a Depression-era Alabama town balances raising his two children with defending a black man unjustly accused of raping a white woman.
Review: Based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird has long been considered a Hollywood classic. On the coat-tails of the Great Depression, the film tackles some strong dramatic elements and finds pointed social commentary as it superbly describes small-town American prejudice in its many forms. Small town racism may take the forefront, but its fear of the "different" isn't limited to racial context but encompasses social ones as well. The film revolves around a narrator recounting memories of her childhood during one fateful year and the various subplots gives a rounded impression of local life. For his best known work director Mulligan didn't venture far from this television roots, keeping the camera work and set-up down to earth in perfect accord with the necessities of the script. And in 1962, the subject - especially the idea of a father raising children on his own and the subject of the trial itself - were probably downright shocking and the narrative more effective. Alas, most of the film has not aged well; for modern tastes, it's pretty slow going, especially as it follows the village life and adventures of its young protagonists - there's seemingly little here to make for critically-acclaimed stuff. In truth, the film is probably best remembered as one of the best courtroom dramas - when the story finally gets there - and the closing remarks by Peck make up a highlight of Hollywood cinema. Sure, the child cast led by the precocious Badham is good, as is the rest of the supporting cast (check out a cameo by Robert Duvall in his screen debut), but this is lock, stock and barrel acting legend Gregory Peck's movie. Peck, a strong, sympathetic actor, gets one of his career highlights as the small town lawyer with a strong sense of honor and law. The issues and strong message of tolerance in To Kill a Mockingbird are just as resonant as they were back then, and those willing to slug through some small-town drama are sure to be rewarded.
Drama: 7/10

The Aristocats (1970)
Starring: Phil Harris, Eva Gabor, Sterling Holloway
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Plot: When a butler finds out his mistress is leaving her inheritance to her cat and kittens, he decides to strand her cat and kittens far from the mansion, leaving the felines to rely on an alley cat to lead them back home.
Review: One of Disney's better efforts of the 60`s and 70`s, The Aristocats has its charms but still remains one of the least interesting animated films from the Mouse House. Taking pretty much the same plot as The Lady and the Tramp, the filmmakers showed a lack of originality or inspiration. The narrative is also slow going, and kids will tune out until mid-way through. The adventures and animal animation is fine enough when it keeps up with the felines, but dawdles and loses steam when it shifts focus from the cats, such as when it goes off on a subplot regarding a pair of English ducks or the tribulations of the butler to remove the evidence of his deed from two dogs, a downright boring sequence. And except for one instance, the soundtrack is nothing to write home about, either. What keeps the film from being a banal entry in the Disney canon however is some decent visuals (using the unfinished-drawings style so effective in 101 Dalmatians), some strong cat characters (expertly voiced by Harris and star Gabor), and - easily the only memorable highlight of the film - an excellent musical number with Scat and his cool cats (presented with some hallucinogenic colors and era-influenced Jazzy tunes). The Aristocats is clearly not a classic but for younger audiences (and nostalgic adults) its few strengths may be enough to pass the time.
Entertainment: 5/10

Friday Night Lights (2004)
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund
Director: Peter Berg
Plot: A texas town ratchets the pressure on their new coach and his high school football team in the hopes of winning the state championship.
Review: Based on the nonfiction bestseller by H.G. Bissinger, Friday Night Lights is a fact-based story focusing on the 1988 football season of the Odessa-Permian high school in West Texas. It's the tale not only of a team and their couch, but also of the stultifying atmosphere of the economically depressed community, a community that only saw in them a chance to be raised from obscurity in the eyes of the State. For sure, director Berg (The Rundown, The Kingdom) knows a good thing or two as to what makes a sports drama tick, and the usual mainstream crowd-pleasers are in full force; the humor, the locker-room discord, the bone-crunching on-field plays, the fast edits making a game that is in reality boring and hard to follow into a thrilling, modern-day gladiatorial combat. Sure, we've seen much of this before in countless other films, where this one differs is in its underlying darkness as the town's obsession with winning at any cost translates to an insurmountable pressure on these high school kids; we soon realize that they are expendable fodder to the ideal of their fathers and peers. If the adaptation can't quite address the socially complex background inherent in life in small-town America, the script surprises as it ups the melodrama to push its underlying themes of desperation and duty, giving the impression that there's little enjoyment of the game from those involved. The cast is solid and likable, starting with a dependable Thornton as the inspirational coach and going through its young cast including Black and Derek Luke, making the film easier to swallow for fans and non-fans alike. At times a rousing football flick and at others a harrowing commentary on the state of the sport, Friday Night Lights is one of the better - and probably more accurate - films of its kind.
Drama: 7/10

Running Out of Time 2 (Hong Kong - 2001)
Starring: Ching Wan Lau, Ekin Cheng, Kelly Lin
Directors: Johnny To, Wing-cheong Law
Plot: An inspector desperately tries to catch a brilliant thief who taunts him into a game of cat-and-mouse for his amusement.
Review: For many, Running Out of Time was a perennial and critical favorite. Milking dry the very same cash cow for another go-around, Running Out of Time 2 doesn't bring anything new and clearly shows a lack of new ideas. It's only mildly entertaining as a caper-comedy, and nowhere near To's other films (Fulltime Killer, Needing You), in fact feeling more like a contractual obligation; one wonders if he actually had his hand in this at all, or if co-director Law took the reigns on his own. Maybe that's why some decent camerawork and easy pacing are in evidence, but gone is any semblance of inventiveness or energy. The cat-and-mouse game itself - the selling point of the film - is just plain silly, with lots of pointless running around and a handful of ridiculous set pieces thrown in. Of these, there's a 15 min chase after an eagle in downtown Hong Kong that's actually more boring than it sounds, though a foot-and-bicycle chase between inspector and thief does have its moments. But the main problem is that the film lacks any drama or suspense, having been made purely for laughs (hint: there are but few). It's made clear that the police are bumbling fools whereas the thief is a veritable Houdini, a master at illusions and acrobatics who can get out of any predicament, such as disappearing from a locked taxi, vanishing into thin air when dropping off a skyscraper, or any number of un-satisfyingly portrayed escapes. One good point is that the sympathetic Ching Wan Lau is back as the inspector, but his nemesis this time around is pretty-boy Cheng who plays the cocky, super thief who thinks himself a modern-day Robin Hood but who lacks any real charm - he just ain't no Andy Lau. And we're never quite sure what connection the two adversaries have, if any. Gone, too, is the back story (or the theme) that gave the first movie it's title. There's even a throwaway sub-plot involving HK supporting vet Suet Lam as a down-on-his-luck cop with a gambling problem that also goes nowhere and was clearly added as filler to get to a 90 min running time. So no, the disappointing Running Out of Time 2 is clearly not worth the effort to find at the video store, and that's just too bad. 
Entertainment: 4/10

Hancock (2008)
Starring: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman
Director: Peter Berg
Plot: A public relations consultant tries to revamp the image of a sloppy, accident-prone and alcoholic super-hero after the man saves his life.
Review: With the present popularity of super-hero films, it's no surprise that the time was ripe for a cynical take on the genre, and Hancock is the first big-budget, star-studded effort out of the gate. Actor-turned-director Berg has amassed an interesting resume, starting from the enjoyable actioner The Rundown and the effective sports drama Friday Night Lights to the political thriller The Kingdom. Here he's taken another turn with a gritty-looking effort that's just as much in-your-face (there are lots of close-ups, and shaky-camera shots) as his earlier efforts but with a clearly higher production allowance. It's a generally dynamic, entertaining effort that doesn't lack for either or laughs or action and the script (once tagged as the best un-produced script in Hollywood) is better than one would have expected from the premise. The propulsive super-powered sequences are well done with some effective use of both real-life stunts, special effects and CGI making the super-powered flights somewhat more believable than most. No doubt, Smith is the movie's biggest asset, selling the concept and the character by getting the comedy, pathos and action bits pitch perfect. The film does take some chances with the material (for good and bad) that we'd never see without the pull of its charming leading-man - there's a silly sex scene, lots of crude humor and lots of wince-worthy daring-do, and an unsympathetic protagonist. With him in the spotlight, it would be hard to believe Hancock-the-asshole would not turn into a sympathetic good guy by the end of the film. But perhaps the biggest (and most enjoyable) surprise is the stellar Charlize Theron who ends up being more than just the pleasant housewife. The final act switches the film from comedy to Shakespearean tragedy, yet somehow the change of tone only enhances our appreciation of the effort. Alas, the short running time short-changes the film's more interesting twists and character revelations. Still, Hancock does take the challenge of deconstructing the modern comic-book hero, and if doesn't quite live up to its full potential it makes the grade as a satisfying-enough popcorn film.
Entertainment: 7/10

War (2007)
Starring: Jet Li, Jason Statham, John Lone
Director: Philip G. Atwell
Plot: A cocky FBI agent seeks revenge on a mysterious Asian assassin who murdered his partner.
Review: Don't be fooled by the title or the leads' past experience in past high-octane actioners like The Transporter or dozens of HK flicks: War lacks the energy, smarts or down-and-dirty thrills to make it anything more than a tired retread of better, far more entertaining films. Typical of dozens of too-cool, overly slick cop action thrillers, the plot (stolen straight out of A Fistful of Dollars) seems to have come from a paint-by-numbers script that throws out fast cars in dull chases, loose women, gunfights, and lots of predictable clichés that all get lost in the shuffle. At least if there was some energy to the narrative, but it's all slow going, especially when it gets to the filler between action scenes (of which there's a lot); what we get instead of story is lots of posturing and testosterone, but little actual tension during the confrontations or face-offs. The routine action scenes are ably enough done but they are too few to be found, too quickly edited and downright disappointing to think they're from legendary fight choreographer Corey Yuen (The Matrix, Iron Monkey). The expectation throughout is to at least get a chance to see a balls-to-the-wall brawl between the two leads, but when it finally comes, it's a terrible disappointment - too short-lived, and nowhere near interesting enough. Even if the acting is uniformly second rate, Statham and Li come out of this relatively unscathed though they deserve better than this mindless effort. But if they come out of this intact, the filmmakers who produced this vapid effort may not. Of note are the two lousy surprise twists at the end that just make matters worse. Flashy, shallow and bland, War is one of those action films that didn't need to be made.
Entertainment: 3/10

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
Starring: James Arnold Taylor, Christopher Lee
Director: Dave Filoni
Plot: As Civil War sweeps through the galaxy, the Jedi Knights and their valiant clone army are charged to find the kidnapped son of Jabba the Hutt in the hopes of receiving free passage through their trade routes.
Review: Sitting between Episode II and Episode III, The Clone Wars presents additional background story to the events in the final chapter of the prequel trilogy, with all the familiar characters back for more action. Unfortunately, the film won't attract new fans. The theatrical release, in fact, was an afterthought to the launching of the new Cartoon Network TV series, and it's made obvious by a narrative that is quite episodic in nature (not surprisingly, like 3 TV episodes spliced together). It gets some decent notes as spectacle - some of the battle scenes, from space battles to light-saber duels, are as impressive as anything from the movies - but there's just too much monotony to the never-ending sequences to allow us to appreciate them. True, any movie called the Clone Wars can't avoid fights, explosions and the like, but too much of them - without enough variety - just becomes boring. It's a video game put to the big screen, with little narrative to enhance our appreciation of the Star Wars universe. There's no faulting the choice or execution of the animation, however: the stylistic, cartoon approach to the characters is nice and the CGI work is superb. The movie finally does hit its stride as a "movie" when it finally takes a breather in the last act (bizarrely enough), adding bits of story regarding the Dark Side's conspiracy to kidnap Jabba's son. Yet none of this ever comes close to either the interest of the live-action films, or even to the level of the splendid cel-animated Clone Wars TV series of 2003 by Genndy Tartakovsky. There's lots of movement but no spark to the proceedings, and it feels way too much like a generic product, something that isn't helped by the banal script that's aimed for audiences under 10. Sure, fans of the series will no doubt want to check it out, but there's little in The Clone Wars to impress anyone else.
Entertainment: 4/10

Revolver (2005)
Starring: Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Vincent Pastore, André Benjamin
Director: Guy Ritchie
Plot: After seven years in solitary confinement, a gangster gains riches and power, all the better to set his sights on the vicious casino owner that got him incarcerated, but soon finds himself over his head when two con men come calling.
Review: A veritable mind fuck of a British crime noir thriller, Revolver tries to give the age-old genre a different (if not completely original) metaphysical twist. If that goal doesn't quite succeed, it's not for lack of trying and no matter the outcome, it's quite a ride. Indeed, for much of the running time, it's an exhilarating ride from one of Britain's modern crime auteurs, proving that director Ritchie hasn't lost his touch in bringing this mesmerizing, super-cool and super-stylish crime drama (signed Luc Besson) to life. Mixing his knack for direction and editing of his earlier films like Snatch with a twisted psychological cat and mouse game that touches on ideas in Kabala, Nietzsche and other esoteric sources isn't your average fare, and that only makes it all the more intriguing. A failing for some, the final act will have some scratching their heads; it's a twisted, and eventually almost incomprehensible conclusion, what with its psychobabble regarding how the Ego sees itself as its own worst enemy and the like, replete with interview spots with specialists like Deepak Chopra during the closing credits. Nonetheless, it moves along so well and brings such delectable characters and situations, along with some trademark brilliant dialogue, that we're taken in by the game - and playing games, we're told, is all part of the plan. The casting helps greatly, with prolific genre actor Statham - sporting a mass of greasy hair instead of his usual baldness - leading this bunch of criminals including Vincent Pastore (of Sopranos fame) and André Benjamin as two mysterious, super criminals, plus an over-the-top Liotta back to form as the morally barren, but insecure, villain of the piece. Sure, it's a bizarre concoction that won't please all audiences, but those willing to give Revolver some leeway will have a blast.
Entertainment: 8/10

The Cat Returns (Japan - 2002)
Voices: Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle
Director: Hiroyuki Morita
Plot: After rescuing the life of a mysterious cat, a young girl finds herself lavished with strange gifts and whisked away to a magical world and involuntarily engaged to the King of Cats' son.
Review: The Cat Returns is another fine traditionally animated family adventure from the Japanese Studio Ghibli. It's a disservice to say that the film is not be as visually interesting or quite as imaginative as their better known works like the superb anime Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke; this is easily above the average big-studio fare. First time director Morita provides a feature that fulfills all the requirements for fine fantasy fare, imbuing the nice animation with charm, wistfulness and a nice dose of humor. Working from the popular manga, the Alice-in-Wonderland-like script is an enchanting change to the Hollywood fluff, giving us strong characters, bizarre situations and lively thrills (from a magical cat chase across night streets to the climax, as our heroes drop from the skies above Tokyo) that are sure to please young and old alike. Sure, there isn't the expected heady themes, but there's enough frantic action, comedy and light-hearted teen drama in its short 75 minutes to enliven any dull afternoon. The English dubbing is surprisingly effective, featuring the voice talents of Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle, Tim Curry, and Elliot Gould. So, The Cat Returns is good clean fun for the entire family that isn't hard to recommend - and if you're a cat lover, all the better.
Entertainment: 7/10

Goya's Ghost (2006)
Starring: Stellan Skarsgard, Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman
Director: Milos Forman
Plot: After his innocent muse is labeled a heretic by the Spanish Inquisition, famed painter Francisco Goya gets caught between the young woman's noble family and the Church.
Review: Meant as a searing historical commentary, or an exploration of heady moral arguments, or even a depiction of a great artist and his times, the pretty period drama and fictional account that is Goya's Ghost falls short. Oscar-winning director of Forman (One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus) has done some interesting, socially-conscious works in the past, and this is his first movie since the acclaimed Man on the Moon. Too bad, then, that despite some nice if unimpressive production values, fine performances and an interesting setting the film is unimpressive, coming off as just average drama, neither affecting enough despite the melodrama nor intriguing enough despite it's historical allure. Part of the blame lies in the script that spans from the Inquisition to Napoleon's invasion and consequent defeat, yet stays on shallow ground despite fertile territory, never allowing us to be close to the characters or the larger events. There's no blaming the cast, however - Bardem is superb as a foolhardy man of the cloth who is forced into a crisis of conscience, and Portman is entrancing in a dual role. If there's one hiccup it's Skarsgard, an odd choice to portray the subversive Spanish painter Goya; he plays the role as decent man, but it's an uninteresting depiction of the man. Part of the problem is that Goya himself is relegated to be but a witness to events among his acquaintances, his participation barely required for the story except as a historical figure that anchors events. It all ends in tragedy, of course, and the ending is pinged with sadness. Goya's Ghost does have some merit, but considering the pedigree of the talent involved, one would have expected a better film.
Drama: 5/10

Chocolate (Thailand - 2008)
Starring: JeeJa Yanin, Ammara Siripong, Hiroshi Abe
Director: Prachya Pinkaew
Plot: An autistic teen with an amazing ability for martial arts seeks to recover all the debts left open during her ailing mother's old gangster days, which brings the attention of her mom's ex-boss, a man looking to settle a score.
Review: Keeping it to the basics, Chocolate is a satisfying classic-styled martial-arts action effort that's sure to please - once it starts really moving. The first half hour plays out like a standard Asian crime drama, then delves into pure melodrama as the vicious gangster becomes a single mom to an autistic child who grows up in her own little world content until mom gets cancer, and the bad guys find them out. As slow going as this exposition may be for audiences looking for some quick action - and it does occasionally get tedious despite the bizarre offerings like a gang of killer transvestites - the second half offers proper payoff that's worth the wait, with a half-dozen expertly staged and executed sequences, each very different from the other in setting and fight choreography. The impressive martial arts display, the wince-inducing blows and superb set-pieces where our heroine battles knife-wielding butchers in a market, swordsmen in a dojo and finally expert fighters along window ledges are all spectacular. Having helped put Tony Jaa on the map with such fare as Ong-Bak and The Protector, director Pinkaew has made a name for himself in the action genre, and has become one of the most interesting new exports from Asia. Sure, the production isn't as slick as other Asian flicks, the plot and characters take second fiddle to the action, but let's be clear: the movie is really a showcase for the latest, soon-to-be-international star JeeJa. Young, cute and bad-ass when she gets into "the zone", she need not envy any of her older, male role models; she's an awesome, kick-ass combo of Jackie Chan's acrobatics and fellow-Thai star Tony Jaa's hard-hitting elbow hits and lightning kicks. If Chocolate doesn't quite break new ground it's still a crackling actioner that's a great introduction to a new, up-and-coming action star.
Entertainment: 8/10

1408 (2007)
Starring: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson
Director: Mikael Hafstrom
Plot: A skpectical writer specializing in books on real-life hauntings checks into an infamous New York hotel room that has been witness to many a strange suicide, only to discover the terror is real, and it's after him.
Review: Based on a short story by horror-meister Stephen King, 1408 takes the haunted house concept limits it to a single hotel room, with mixed results. The script does milk the material to decent effect and there are some effective passages as the room (or the poltergeist) comes to life, but it does get repetitive and silly. It's all in the cards for our poor writer who just can't come to terms with the death of his daughter from illness years back, but the room's intentions are more sinister than that. Piling on the pop psychology, melodrama and dream-like sequences, director Hafstrom (Derailed) delivers the requisite creepiness when the events stay low key, but by raising the ante on the horror aspect - from "boo!" like moments to bleeding walls and other special effects that turn the haunted house into more of a carnival fun house - the suspense becomes less effective. Thankfully, the entire film pretty much revolves around the affable, wise-cracking Cusack, slowly losing his grip on sanity as he realizes he's trapped in the room, or perhaps his own mind. He's always been an engaging actor and he doesn't disappoint here as the psychological terror takes the forefront. Jackson has the only other significant role as a somewhat sinister hotel manager who warns him of the eminent danger. 1408 may not very original perhaps and would have benefited from a shorter running time, but it's an effective enough horror piece for those who enjoy a genre piece that's not just slasher fare.
Horror: 6/10

Red Cliff (Part I of II) (Hong Kong - 2008)
Starring: Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen
Director: John Woo
Plot: As the ambitious Prime Minister goes to war with neighboring regions to consolidate his power over the empire, two of his rivals join forces to oppose him.
Review: Part one of a two-part film release, Red Cliff (alternately, and more appropriately, entitled The Battle of Red Cliff) is the first half of a 4 1/2 hour epic film based on the momentous historical battles and events during the end of the Han Dynasty in ancient China. Boasting the largest budget ever for an Asian film, it's clear no expense was spared to prove its "epic" stature: with massive deployments of armies, grand sets, high production values and a superb cast the film is large in scale in both narration and emotions. Famed director Woo, having made his name on brooding modern-day action thrillers like Face/Off and Hard Boiled, gets back to his early 80's roots after years in Hollywood. His trademark doves do appear, but fans will be surprised to discover that there's little else here to show off his sense of style and kinetic energy. Not to say there isn't any action or that any of it is dull; as historical epics go this one is satisfyingly grandiose, bringing a sense of Kurosawa's own Japanese samurai epics, and it even delves a step into more wire-fu fantasy from what is otherwise a straightforward historical drama by aggrandizing the figures to cinema-hero proportions, each facing and easily defeating dozens of opponents with their skills and courage. There's also a lot of painstaking detail on accurately presenting the strategies on these historically decisive battles, as soldiers confront each other as the strategists look from far away. Though the battles take up much of the running time, there's also some downtime for exploring the relationships between these historical characters. The cast, led by Leung and Kaneshiro, don't always seem to be comfortable but they do look good. Yet something is missing here; perhaps it's the necessary emotional attachment to any of these characters, despite their plotting, allegiances and strong friendships, or it may be that the historical relevance of the period is lost to non-Asian viewers. Or perhaps (surprisingly enough) it's the overlong battlefield sequences that are undeniably well executed and often engaging, but take their toll on viewer interest, especially when the same battle has waged for 20 minutes. Still, this is grand stuff and a nice return for Woo, with the most disappointing thing being the "to be continued" banner as things really get into high gear. There's no denying, however, that as pure spectacle this first part of Red Cliff delivers the goods. Here's hoping the second part is even better.
Entertainment: 7/10

The Bank Job (2008)
Starring: Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows
Director: Roger Donaldson
Plot: A small-time crook turned car dealer short on cash agrees to head up a bank heist for an old female acquaintance only to find himself and his crew the target of vicious mobsters and corrupt cops when they realize the safety deposit boxes contain some dirty secrets.
Review: Loosely based on the true-life 1971 robbery of a Lloyds Bank, The Bank Job is an energetic dramatization of the possible events behind the headlines. The film revels in its mix of corruption, scandals, undercover agents, and small-time gangsters - and hey, it's the 70's where sexual freedom, nudity and drug use are big as life on screen. The script does play fast and loose with some of the historical details, but it's all in the name of creating an energetic, fun heist film; that it has some basis in reality only makes it that more interesting. It's not the best fare that has come out of director Donaldson (No Way Out, Thirteen Days), but he creates a (mostly) light-hearted affair that actually feels at times like something out of 70's cinema - for good and bad. Following the daring (though surprisingly bland) robbery, the film gets progressively darker when the thieves get caught one by one by some very unsavory characters, giving the film's more harrowing, suspenseful instances. The least unsavory of these, of course, is Statham leading a bevy of colorful characters and crooks, played by some well-known faces of British TV. The occasional dollops of action and the assured pacing ensures there's never a dull moment, and the multiple story-lines and characters all get their time in the spotlight. In the end, The Bank Job is perhaps too reliant on getting standard mainstream thrills to truly shine - and it doesn't provide enough of these for action fans - but it's an easy-going affair that goes down easily.
Entertainment: 6/10

The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
Starring: Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Michael Angarano
Director: Rob Minkoff
Plot: A teen obsessed with kung fu films gets magically transported into a land of fantasy, joining a bad of adventurers hoping to return a powerful staff to an immortal hero, trapped by an evil emperor.
Review: An American attempt at capturing the magic of Hong Kong movies of old, The Forbidden Kingdom gets most things right, but it's real selling point is the first screen team-up of two martial arts legends - Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The movie itself isn't much above average: the plot is pretty darn familiar - a mix of Karate Kid and countless better HK flicks - the narrative, comedy and general adventuring isn't really that engaging, and the white teen hero (a misplaced Angarano) is just a distraction to the more interesting parts of the tale. Thankfully, there's no denying the giddy fun of seeing Chan (returning to the Drunken Master style that he made famous) and Li (playing the monk role that made his early career) battling it out, and fighting their many foes. Sure, the two veterans aren't always doing their own stunts and they're not as deft as in their heyday, but they still impress, especially with the solid (if sometimes unimpressive) choreography by Yuen Woo Ping, the man behind the stunts in Iron Monkey and The Matrix. In that respect, there's lots to enjoy and it's clear that director Minkoff (an odd choice from the director of Haunted House) appreciates the genre and knows how to milk it for all its worth. Add to that some good production values, a decent pace, and lots of genre tropes makes a heartening Hollywood effort. True, this is only average kung fu fare, meant primarily for kids at that, but the participation of its two famous leads elevate the film to a real pleasure when they're both onscreen.
Entertainment: 6/10

Shake Hands with the Devil (2007)
Starring: Roy Dupuis, Owen Sejake, James Gallanders 
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Plot: A Canadian general agrees to oversee the Unite Nations peace-keeping force in Rwanda, but must contend with uninterested politicians as the 1994 genocide ran its course.
Review: An adaptation of General Roméo Dallaire's personal account of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Shake Hands with the Devil is a powerful retelling of events that have slipped out of our collective minds. Hotel Rwanda may have opened the topic to a more mainstream audience, but this is a much more personal, more detailed, and so much more revealing account of the events that led to the civil war. As such, the script provides a highlight of the salient events, people and political complexities involved. The film has no qualms in putting the blame squarely on the Western politicians (including the UN) who refused to provide aid or support when event clearly turned to genocide, revealing the downright criminal negligence that allowed such atrocities to occur. Filmed on location in Rwanda with many of the actual local participants and a Canadian crew, director Spottiswoode (more familiar as the helmer of action flicks as Tomorrow Never Dies and The 6th Day) surprises by doing an admirable job at capturing the chaos and the horror of the day. With a limited budget and large aspirations, he has made an affecting, vivid, and approachable film on a difficult subject with a gritty, you-are-there feel that beats most fictional fare. As the focus point for the film, an extraordinary, mesmerizing Dupuis carries much of the movie, portraying the much older Dallaire with strength and courage, his eyes showing a sadness and an uncertain despair. If it portrays Dallaire as a true hero, a title he shuns to this day, the film's only misstep is being too earnest and too involved in its protagonist's inner turmoil, cutting back between events in Rwanda and Dallaire's therapy sessions. But this is a minor quibble; in the end, Shake Hands with the Devil is a harrowing cautionary tale - let us never forget it.
Drama: 8/10

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
Starring: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Plot: Superman decides to rid the Earth of all nuclear weapons, but Luthor and his cohorts create an energy being to stop him from cutting on their profits.
Review: For all those that thought it couldn't get any worse after Superman 3, well, Superman 4 came along to prove it actually could. A pet project for star Reeves who insisted on having a plot preaching for nuclear disarmament, the film ended up in the hands of hack producers Golan and Globus (the team behind some of the worst cinematic efforts of the '80's) who relegated Superman to a low-brow, low-budget parody of its original glory. There's just no redeeming quality to the film, period. The blue-screen special effects are just plain bad, even considering the era limitations. The tired, dreadful script is horrid, yet not laughable enough for actual humor (or even cult status), and it's painful to sit through to the end of the film. Having a super-powered villain could have been fun - it worked great for the second installment - but it's such a lame effort with action that is so badly conceived and executed, that there's little entertainment to be had. As for the cast, Reeves and Kidder get many chances to swap some dialogue, but gone is any chemistry they may have had. Even Hackman, returning as Luthor, can barely hide his contempt for the film. And the idea of Luthor's idiot nephew tagging along? Sheer drivel. Coming from a comic-book medium, there's often some leeway given to adapting to the screen, but Superman 4 has no logic, no heart, and was obviously crafted by people who had little understanding (or care) of the character. For Superman completists only.
Entertainment: 3/10

Cloverfield (2008)
Starring: T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David
Director: Matt Reeves
Plot: As a monstrous creature creates havoc on Manhattan, four yuppie friends escape an apartment party and try to find their way to save an ex-girlfriend.
Review: It's The Blair Witch Project meets Godzilla in Cloverfield, a solid attempt that brings a ground-eye view of the mayhem and terror to the generic giant-monster movie features - America has finally gotten the Hollywood Godzilla it deserves, courtesy of Lost creator / producer J.J. Abrams. Having a YouTube-like, first-person account of the events (via one poor bystander's camcorder account) is a clever concept, and at 75 minutes, the film manages to sustain itself without too much trouble. Aside from the first act of exposition that includes a rather vapid romantic tale and footage of partying 20-somethings to set the stage and characters, the pacing surprisingly fast-paced with well-coordinated long takes, with the intrepid friends facing one terror after another, and inevitable death one-by-one, among the urban chaos. Sure the actual human story of these one-dimensional characters is banal but casting unknown actors helps create the illusion of realism required. Best of all, the scares and post-9/11 subtext are cleverly set-up, and the usual genre clichés are given a neat twist. The street-level destruction is brutal and terrifying, and the effects blended to the digital video (including a great shot of the head of the Statue of Liberty crashing into the street) are excellent. The creature itself is a complete mystery, its goals are unclear, and it's appropriately rarely on display, making it all the more frightening and unpredictable. The addition of an Alien type menace, as our heroes brave the deserted subway tunnels, adds some scares and immediacy to the horror but it also seems to be an unnecessary, and un-original, subplot. That aside, with an original take to the material, a clever script, strong production values and some capable execution - especially considering the film's B-movie budget - Cloverfield makes for a swiftly-paced entertaining affair that has a great "you are there" feeling.
Entertainment: 7/10

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen
Director: Tim Burton
Plot: Returning from a forced exile, a master barber returns to London intent on revenge against the Judge who destroyed his life, opening up a sinister shop with the help of a not-so-lovely fellow tenant. 
Review: Based on Stephen Sondheim's landmark Broadway musical, Sweeney Todd is no song-and-dance type of affair. Instead, it's a black comedy, a twisted, tragic tale of love and vengeance with the dregs of humanity where people sing about longing and killing and do unspeakable acts. With his experience in bringing gothic fantasies like Batman and Sleepy Hollow to life, Burton is a natural to bring the musical's depiction of 19th century London to the big screen. Bringing his own visual style to the proceedings, and helped by some fabulous art direction, it comes off as an Oliver Twist type of world given the Burton treatment. The storyline is not for kids, what with the cannibalism, the growing pile of corpses, the never ending buckets of blood, and the dark themes. The problem lies in the fact that a play (or a musical) is inherently less dynamic than the cinematic medium, and we expect them to be different. True, this ain't Chicago, nor is it meant to be, but as it stands, the movie is slow going, and the songs - though clever and witty, with music performed by the original's orchestrator and conductor - aren't enough to keep our interest at all moments. Not to say it's all tedious: many of the horrific moments are also quite amusing and it's all superbly crafted, climaxing in an appropriately bloody crescendo. As the Barber, a brooding Depp keeps a constant frown on and barely emotes, though he does impress with his singing voice. At least Carter gets a more interesting role and does a fine job as the murderous Ms. Lovett. They're not singers, but they do rather well. The excellent supporting cast includes Alan Rickman as the villainous Judge, Timothy Spall as his mousy assistant and the over-the-top Sacha Baron Cohen as a rival barber. A macabre tale done in the best Grand Guignol manner, Sweeney Todd is undoubtedly a solid adaptation; fans of the original stage production may get a kick in seeing it done as a big-budget affair with an A-list cast but mainstream audiences will be left wondering what the fuss was about.
Entertainment: 6/10

Flash Point (Hong Kong - 2007)
Starring: Donnie Yen, Louis Koo, Collin Chou 
Director: Wilson Yip
Plot: A maverick, violent detective and an undercover cop do battle against three brothers of a powerful, vicious Vietnamese gang in the hopes of bringing them to justice.
Review: Flash Point won't win any points for originality, but it's a breezy crime thriller that keeps one's attention for its entire 90 min runtime. It's always nice to see Donnie Yen in top form, and the film is nothing if it's not a showcase for him as both fight choreographer and as star. Too bad, then, that the story isn't up to his potential; in fact, there's nothing new for the cops-and-robber genre, and there's little in the script but the most shallow of appreciation for the classic 80's and 90's genre fare which this tries to emulate. Still, once again teamed-up with director Yip (following the successful box-office effort Kill Point), the film boasts some vivid colors and solid cinematography that make it visually pleasing. What there is, however, is a a nice amount of vehicular, gun-toting and old-style, brutal martial-arts violence to please most Hong Kong action fans and Westerners looking for some straight thrills. And Yen's final confrontation with the gang (including a 15 minute man-to-man brawl that delivers an impossible amount of pain) is worth the price of admission. Co-star Koo, Hong Kong's latest go-to-guy, does a fine job as the undercover cop putting it all on the line, and the supporting cast fares pretty well in their otherwise one-dimensional role requirements. Sure, it's another ridiculously macho film with predictably banal romantic and melodramatic elements, but it's first and foremost an action flick and the well-paced, slick, good-looking production makes up for Flash Point's other short-comings.
Entertainment: 7/10

The Invasion (2007)
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Jackson Bond
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Plot: A psychiatrist begins to relaize that the world is slowly being possessed by an alien epidemic and that her son may hold the secret of stopping it.
Review: The fourth adaptation of Jack Finney's classic SF novella The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Invasion actually stands out for being the most ineffectual despite the A-list talent attached to it. Through the intriguing conversations on humanity and war, to the tired suspense moments, one can't help but wonder what director Hirschbiegel (who gave notice with the harrowing, character-driven Downfall) really had in mind with his first Hollywood production. One gets only a vague feel for the mature take that was originally intended before the Warshawski borthers (of The Matrix fame) and their colleague director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) were asked by studio executives to "spruce up" the film for more mainstream consumption. From an appropriately creepy beginning, the film devolves more often than not to what looks like an artsy zombie movie (minus much of the scares) with little actual sense of the original work's disturbing paranoia, unease and social commentary. A final car chase is pretty well done when taken on its own, but the scene destroys the careful, often even thoughtful tone that seemed to be strived for. Worse, the quick, easy, off-screen "resolution" - including a miraculous cure by a think-tank of scientists - makes for an upbeat but disheartening ending. How much was actually altered from the first cut probably won't be obvious until the eventual "director cut" on DVD. There's no blaming the cast, which does pretty well with the script, and especially Nicole Kidman who rises to the occasion as the archetype mother who will go to any extreme to find her kidnapped son - indeed, the mother-son relationship with young actor Bond is quite affecting. To be fair, The Invasion isn't a bad film: it's a slick, decently paced thriller that makes fine late-night watching, but ultimately the blend of disparate elements from the different filmmakers make for a production that's only average, forgettable fare.
Entertainment: 4/10

Election 2 (Triad Election) (Hong Kong - 2006)
Starring: Louis Koo, Simon Yam, Nick Cheung
Director: Johnny To
Plot: As the elections for the Triad crime syndicates nears, the current chairman faces competition from his former proteges, especially from one who wants to turn legitimate businessman at all costs.
Review: Election 2 follows two years after the events of Election, To's slick, smart tale of the politicking, maneuvering and violence in the criminal world to choose a leader, and the sequel - though it retreads some of the material of its predecessor - is a worthy effort of its own. The dispute between candidates and the influence they try to exert to get votes first follows the criminal underworld's code and process, but soon enough Machiavellian plotting and treachery are the order of the day. Though there's some rare instances of violence, these are all brutally real (there's a horrifying scene of hacked arms and legs), yet not a single gun fired; the true weapons, however, are cell phones, deception and lies. Throughout, the sharp script provides some well-observed scenes of criminals at play, all elbowing for a better position - it may be bloody, but it's all business. In the end, the film's theme stays the same, echoing the concerns of many societies, as tradition gets pushed aside by the modern world. The pacing is actually more dynamic than the first, and director To (PTU, The Mission) shows again a mastery of any genre he puts his mind to. Even if the final twist isn't as hard-hitting as the original, it's a fine effort that seethes tension. And the able, familiar Hong Kong cast is terrific: Yam is perfectly suited as an evil, greedy man hiding behind a composed, smiling face and Koo brings a fine dramatic performance, following his usual comic co-operations with To. His is the real focus this time around, and his descent from straight, well-meaning entrepreneur into pure barbarism to gain control of his "legitimate" business is scary. There isn't much new in terms of material or approach, but Election 2 is another fine crime drama, either as a sequel or a standalone.
Entertainment / Drama: 7/10

Recount (2008)
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Bob Balaban
Director: Jay Roach
Plot: A dramatization of the five weeks following the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election and the attempts by both parties to gain a legal foothold on the recounts in a handful of influential Florida districts.
Review: A made-for-HBO film, the docudrama Recount tries to bring some understanding to the events surrounding the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election of George W. Bush vs. Al Gore, and it does a bang-up job at creating a legal thriller to boot. Just trying to explain the intricacies of the U.S. election system, its flaws, and its complexities is a task on its own, and though the film doesn't quite tackle that monster, kudos go to the filmmakers for bringing the five weeks of legal battles by both parties to the mainstream in such a fascinating, engaging way. Not since The West Wing was on the air has there been such flair at capturing American politics. The amount of under-handed "politicking", strategizing, legal struggling and down-right nastiness over such previously-perceived minor things as hanging chad, dimpled ballots and confused older citizens is scary - all the more so because it's true. Director Jay Roach (he of Austin Powers fame) wouldn't seem to the first choice for the material, but he brings an energy to the clever, darkly comic script that are just what the doctor ordered. The standout cast, led by Spacey and including such luminaries as Laura Dern (frantic and bimbo-esque as the Florida Secretary of State), John Hurt, Denis Leary (as the foul-mouthed Dem lawyer) and Tom Wilkinson (as the lead of the Bush team), is impeccable. Sure, the Democratic characters get to be more sympathetic, but all the participants - be they Democrats or Republicans - are presented as being smart, dedicated and absolutely convinced that they're candidate is the right one for the country. In the end, the election was the tightest in American history, with only 300-odd votes separating the candidates in the hotly-contested Florida district. Recount provides a startling, eye-opening account of what truly happened behind the scenes and how easily the democratic process broke down.
Drama: 7/10

Superman III (1983)
Starring: Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Robert Vaughn
Director: Richard Lester
Plot: A criminal billionaire with dreams of controlling the world's oil supply entices a computer genius to recreate the only substance that can destroy Superman - Kryptonite - with mixed results.
Review: While the previous installments felt fresh and gave the ultimate super-hero some epic adventures, the third installment of the popular Superman franchise is slow and uninspired. Part of the blame lies on the fact that the producers insisted on a more campy tone to the series, which director Lester (with his experience in '60s The Beatles comedies) provided. The Donner Superman movies had their share of humor, but this one literally dives head-first into slapstick comedy, with one of the era's funnymen and series newcomer Pryor taking the spotlight to the detriment of plot, character and much of the fun. In many ways this is also a rehash of the first film, with Vaughn taking over the role of Gene Hackman, followed by his paralleled henchmen and women and his nefarious get-rich schemes - and none of them are half as interesting. Still, despite its drubbing from critics and box-office alike, there's some good stuff here: Clark's return to Smallville, the scenes with the Evil Superman (a blast) and his confrontation / battle with himself, as the Light and Dark sides of his personality clash. As for the special effects, they seem even more dated than the original's - forget the tagline "you'll believe a man can fly". But the action and super-heroics are still fun for those who can accept the lack of maturity and comic-book logic. Unfortunately, even these promising ideas can't help a production that feels like so much filler, taking every opportunity to milk a lame joke or another and staying an inordinate amount of time focused on Pryor's un-funny antics. Reeve does an admirable try at reprising the character, but really only gets to be second-fiddle. Missing is the chemistry with Margot Kidder, relegated to a cameo appearance. A disappointing turn to the franchise, Superman III just can't hold a candle to its predecessors - and especially the dark, action-heavy Superman II - and basically killed the franchise for the next 20 years until Director Bryan Singer's Superman Returns.
Entertainment: 4/10

Dragon Wars: D-War (2007)
Starring: Jason Behr, Amanda Brooks
Director: Hyung-rae Shim
Plot: An L.A. reporter finds himself helping a young woman who holds the secret to stoping a giant, evil snake of Korean legend from destroying Los Angeles, and the world.
Review: An inexplicably huge hit in local Korean cinemas, D-War is a smack of sci-fi, martial-arts, sword and sorcery - everything thrown in to make it a sure-fire hit at the box-office, or so you'd think, with US characters thrown in to make it more palatable to international audiences. No doubt, it's to be expected that a big-budget film about massive, mythical dragons attacking LA would be bad, but that it's also lame, flaccid and boring just makes it painful to watch. In fact, it starts off hokey and gets worse from there, like someone's bad idea of a pre-teen Korean version of a Godzilla movie, with all the worst aspects brought to bear. There's little of note in the first half, save a one-sided battle sequence with lumbering creatures that reminds one of Star Wars Episode I, and lots of silly situations. Thankfully, things pick up half way and there are a handful of decent scenes of destruction, of army-against-dragon-army action, and it's certainly cheesy fun when the war drags into the city streets, helicopter gun-ships dog-fighting with bus-sized winged reptiles, and tanks being blown apart by fiery meteors, climaxing in a giant serpent-against-serpent battle that's ably rendered, if uninteresting. And throughout, there's a childhood glee at seeing things blow-up (repeatedly) for no apparent reason. All this may not be well done, perhaps, despite some efforts in the CGI department, but it's entertaining enough while it lasts. Alas, like too many monster movies of this genre, the dumb characters, their lives and romances are just plain boring - the film would have been more engaging without it. A few familiar faces that have since their heyday lost favor with audiences do make an appearance, but it sure doesn't help to see such horrible performances from the American actors, something that probably comes off better with Korean subtitles. The fault undoubtedly lies with writer / director Hyung-rae Shim did himself (or his audience) no favors in wearing both hats: a staid plot, cardboard characters, horrid dialogue, inept attempts at humor and the bad pacing are all par for the course in a script and an execution devoid of any cleverness or creativity. Kids may get a kick out of all this, but most audiences will be wondering what the fuss was about. Forget B-movie-bad - D-War is just plain bad.
Entertainment: 3/10

Vantage Point (2008)
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker, William Hurt
Director: Pete Travis
Plot: A Secret Service agent has little time to untangle the mystery behind a presidential assassination attempt as witnessed by eight strangers.
Review: The political action thriller Vantage Point has a clever Rashomon-like concept at its core, and seems to promise to be both an engaging and smart effort - at least for its first half. The true story gets peeled away as the same twenty minutes get repeated from different viewpoints, each interconnecting to the same characters in what amounts to a clever, coordinated exercise to get the likes of TV's 24 to the big screen. The narrative gimmick gets old half-way through, though, and as the convoluted plot unfolds it gets more tangled up, ending up relying on logic gaps and unexplainable events as well as more typical thriller devices to wrap things up, making for a disappointing end to what was a promising thriller. Still, even if first time feature director Travis can't always shake off the small-screen dynamics, he's created a likable effort. For one, there's no denying that the film is well paced, throwing in explosions, gunfights, twists and double-crosses to keep things moving along. An exciting The Bourne Identity-inspired car chase across the city streets of an unnamed Spanish city, screeching tires, crushed cars and motion-cam all in play, is a real highlight. A capable international cast including the likes of Whitaker, Hurt, Sigourney Weaver and Matthew Fox gets little to do but follow an inadequate script, and they can't help but feel underused; the exception is perhaps Quaid, as the resolved Secret Service agent, who proves he can take on the action genre without batting an eye. Those expecting explanations as to why these events were set in motion or who is behind it will end up being disappointed, as there are no explanations to be had. In fact, the movie doesn't really care: the action thriller mechanics is really the main focus, and in that regards Vantage Point may end up being a loud and vapid effort, but it does keep the audience engaged.
Entertainment: 6/10

First Blood (1982)
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Plot: After being abused by a small town's police force, an unstable ex-Green Beret evades custody and ends up in a one-man war against his pursuers.
Review: A huge hit on its released, First Blood proved to be an amazingly effective action / adventure / thriller that is unfortunately mostly forgotten in the wake of its more violent sequels. Despite its minimalist plot, one that was somewhat toned down from the original 1972 novel by David Morrell, the strong pacing, tight narrative, solid cinematography, broad characterizations and tale grounded in the Vietnam veteran tragedy hit a chord with audiences. And the film had all the right ingredients for action films of the early 80's, while avoiding many of the clichés (or perhaps starting them all). The social climate of the late 70's and early 80's was one of defeat and dishonor for the vets returning home, and the film takes some pains to mirror the hostile reception, difficulties and resentment of those soldiers towards authority and the society that shun them. Unlike the later sequels of our hero making mince meat out of legions of bad guys, here it's Rambo as victim, what with the flashbacks of the war and the problems of re-integrating with a society that doesn't know what to do with him. What starts off as The Fugitive becomes much more as Rambo, that one-man army, turns the table on his pursuers (led by a strong performance by Dennehy as the town's sheriff) and attacks the town. It's also easier to believe here, if not always convincingly, that this one guy can get away from 200+ pursuers who are local cops and army reserves; guys who don't have a chance against a trained Green Beret. Surprisingly enough, the boy count is extremely low - just one death, and an accidental one at that, though the satisfying amount of property damage in its climax makes up for it. It's hard not find sympathy and even pity for the character, and his reversal from hunted to hunter is classic fantasy for everyone who's been pushed to the edge and are fighting back. Stallone's career found new life (and a new franchise) in the role of John Rambo, and here he's pretty good in the role, humanizing the psychotic warrior, even if he has little say until his breakdown in the last scenes before surrendering, a monologue that spews out all the contempt and anguish of the war. Sure, some parts don't work as well as others but First Blood makes up for some of its failings with a rawness, a grittiness (as least by Hollywood standards of the time) that makes it quite engaging and quite memorable.
Entertainment: 7/10

Rush Hour 3 (2007)
Starring: Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan, Max von Sydow
Director: Brett Ratner
Plot: A Chinese detective teams up with a an LA detective once again in an investigation that takes them to Paris to uncover the entity of the leader of the criminal triads.
Review: The unfortunate final sequel to a decent franchise, Rush Hour 3 shows the signs of a creative dead-end. It's quickly evident that the film clearly doesn't care about any kind of story; the vapid plot and character interactions are but an excuse for a comic setup or an action set piece. But that could be excusable - who comes to see this movie for story? If the action isn't up to par with the second installment - and nowhere near as exciting as Chan's Hong Kong efforts - Chan still demonstrates the acrobatic chops that made him famous, and some of the choreography is fun to watch. The comedy doesn't fare as well, what with Chan attempting to "talk black" or an annoying, unsympathetic Tucker making an ass of himself in front of a bevy of women. These forced attempts at humor may have worked once, but that shtick has grown old, and so has the brain-numbing dialogue. Even the Paris locale is poorly used. In fact most of the movie just creaks along until the next action scene, a surprise considering helmer Ratner has proven himself a competent commercial director both in the rest of the series and films like The Red Dragon and X-Men 3. Even the actors in supporting roles have embarrassing turns: director Roman Polanski gets to be an annoying French policeman and celebrated actor Max Von Sydow gets short-changed as a two-bit villain. The one redeeming value is Yvan Attal as a Parisian taxi driver who hates Americans, who gets all the best scenes. A lazy, inept sequel that is sure to put an end to the franchise, Rush Hour 3 is a great disappointment in what should have been an easy attempt at an action-comedy vehicle. Shame.
Entertainment: 4/10

Nitro (Quebec - 2007)
Starring: Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge, Lucie Laurier, Myriam Tallard
Director: Alain Desrochers
Plot: Desperate to find a heart for his terminal wife, a reformed car thief must delve back into the world of illegal drag racing and organized crime to get his hands on the requisite organ.
Review: A dramatic thriller with enough action to stand up to the summer Hollywood onslaught, Nitro proves that local French Canadian cinema can beat bigger-budgeted films at its own game. The back-story, told in flashback, tells the story of hard-and-fast-living bad-boy Max and his transformation into his present "new" self as loving husband and father - and how easily it is for him to cross back over to the "dark" side to save the only thing he holds dear. Surprisingly, these melodramatic moments are given as much care as the rest of the film and for the most part are quite effective in getting us engaged with the character and his predicament, making his choices all the more dire. But the film is never far from a more dynamic set-piece, and the action sequences are pretty thrilling, from a drag race in a parking lot and a parkour-type foot chase across Montreal streets. Throughout, Lemay-Thivierge (doing his own stunts) proving he's as capable an action star in a few quick, brutal fight scenes as he is an actor. But the real talk will be for in-vogue vixen Laurier as his old flame, a pole-dancer-turned-car-racer with an adrenaline craving - she may only have a one-dimensional role, but she's gloriously effective in it. As for the script, it has more smarts than most, as well as some clever twists that help it deviate from the familiar tropes. Alas, the film also seems stuck on occasion with the genre's conventions. There are also quick dips into the whole organ-donor controversy, into questions of morality and how far one is willing to go to save a loved-one's life, but these are pretty much glossed over. Still, even if these last points don't quite make the mark, just having them in an action film is impressive enough and TV-director Desrochers makes the most of it, providing a well thought-out, well-paced package that's sure to please the mainstream. With Nitro, Quebec cinema can chalk up another box-office success.
Entertainment / Drama: 7/10

Jumper (2008)
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson
Director: Doug Liman
Plot: A young man discovers he has the potential to teleport anywhere he visualizes and goes about stealing is way to a comfortable life, until his abilities catch the attention of an age-old secret society bent on eliminating his breed.
Review: Based on the sci-fi novel by Steven Gould, Jumper is an unassuming, entertaining pre-summer popcorn action flick that delivers the goods. Having The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith under his belt, one might have expected something more hard-hitting or adventurous from director Liman. but there's no doubt he knows how to make for a fast-paced, engaging affair that has all the right visual flair. And the special effects laden fights, when the film finally gets into gear half-way through, are pretty inventive and exciting, making clever use of the characters' teleporting abilities. The comic-book-level story is for the most part engaging; starting from a familiar tale of school underdog power fantasy, it slowly uncovers a subplot regarding a thousand-year war that has been raging between jumpers and paladins, along with a more intimate mystery involving our hero's mother (cameo by Diane Lane). It's all ripe for franchise material - alas, the lukewarm reception of this first installment has all but wiped the possibility of sequels uncovering more of the tale. Christensen seems to be getting more comfortable in his roles, and here he glides through both the intense action scenes and the more dramatic bits with ease. Jackson also excels here, chewing the scenery in his trademark manner as the self-righteous tracker and executioner, making for an interesting villain. Bell, as a veteran fellow jumper and altogether loose cannon with some very cool moves, is a highlight, but Rachel Bilson as the love interest barely manages to make a spark and the romantic angle with her almost bogs down the film. Despite falling short with this last, and an anti-climactic ending (clearly a set up for a next movie), Jumper has all the right stuff for a promising first chapter. Too bad it's also the last.
Entertainment: 7/10

The Golden Compass (2007)
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards
Director: Chris Weitz
Plot: In a world parallel to our own, a young girl comes into possession of a magical compass and travels to the frozen Pole to save a group of kidnapped children taken by a mysterious organization.
Review: Much like the first film in the Harry Potter series, the adaptation of The Golden Compass is a well conceived introduction to a new potential franchise. With a style and some fine special effects that convincingly portray a sense of place, the film creates an exciting new universe without the exposition that hampers many a fantasy. Director Weitz's first effects-laden film (he was well attuned to down to earthly characters in About a Boy) shows a quirky brand of characterization, making even the stereotypical players a little more interesting than the norm. The sense of adventure permeates and - if the narrative doesn't quite flow with perfect pacing - it's a film that has a very particular look and feel, making it stand out of the pack. Unfairly compared as the flip side of The Chronicles of Narnia in regards to its supposed atheistic tone (none of which seems evident here), the film is undeniably darker than most pre-teen genre films. Despite its target audience, the film is rightly set with a PG-13 rating for its scenes of terror, its more mature subject matter, and the stylized violence - especially in the climax of a fierce polar bear-to-bear fight to the death. As the young heroine, Richards is downright refreshing, playing a feisty, smart kid who has her own strong morals with attitude to spare, and who can stand her own against grown-ups. She faces two co-stars: Kidman is superb as a slightly deranged villainess, but Craig sadly has little more than a supporting role. The film, meant to capture the first part of author Phil Pullman's The Dark Materials trilogy, doesn't even complete the first book, leaving the tale hanging, unfinished. Alas, the lukewarm box-office reception to the film may have dashed any hope of seeing any continuing adventures. Still, even as a stand-alone, The Golden Compass is an entertaining fantasy film that's sure to please mainstream viewers.
Entertainment: 7/10

A Moment Of Romance (Hong Kong - 1990)
Director: Benny Chan
Starring: Andy Lau, Wu Chien-Lien, Ng Man Tat
Plot: When a robbery goes awry, a small-time getaway driver is forced to take a young woman hostage but can't face killing her as expected of him, starting a love affair between them that angers both his gangster colleagues and her parents.
Review: As the title implies, A Moment Of Romance is indeed a weepy, but nothing out of HK's hey days is as banal as that. Like many of the best Hong Kong films of the 80's and early 90's, the film is a hodgepodge of genres - bike culture exploitation film, overblown romance and bloody, violent triad crime drama rolled into one - all bent to the one golden rule, to entertain. The "bad boy meets good girl" storyline with decidedly Shakespearean tragic consequences is far from original and there's little restraint with the usual clichés of the genre. Yet though it treads familiar, predictable ground, there's an endearing, engaging quality to both the script and the way director Chan uses the HK cinema conventions that helps make it surprisingly appealing. It's hard to take any of the giddy melodrama and sentimentality seriously, of course, but cool, handsome leading man (and all around pop superstar) Andy Lau and the young, innocent Wu Chien-Lien do manage some decent chemistry together. The film has (for some reason) become a Hong Kong classic and has gained critical raves since its release. It may not be worth all the accolades, but it's a decent piece of cinematic bubblegum that's definitely worth a look.
Entertainment: 6/10

Evan Almighty (2007)
Starring: Steven Carell, Morgan Freeman, John Goodman
Director: Tom Shadyac
Plot: A junior congressman, fresh on the job, gets a visit from God and gets little choice to build an ark in his backyard to avoid a coming flood, much to the consternation of his family and colleagues.
Review: After playing a memorable bit part as news-reader Evan Baxter in Jim Carrey's Bruce Almighty, up-and-coming funnyman Carell returns as the lead in Evan Almighty, a family-friendly sequel in name only. Working on the adage that God works in mysterious ways, the movie offers up a straightforward plot involving a workaholic dad, a corrupt Congressman and impeding doom. Like many of the biblical characters, Evan is but a pawn in God's master plan, a plan that seems kind of petty once it all comes to fruition. As a modern-day Noah, gets to be the butt of jokes and overt skepticism; part of the joke is on the vain business-suit-and-tie Evan getting his outward appearance changed to the scruffy, robed look of old - hilarity at his expense is supposed to ensue. Alas, the humour is simplistic and sometimes crass (there's an animal-penis joke and a bird-shit joke or two) with a bevy of standard, predictable jokes that lack any form of subtlety. This would all have been destined for minor PG-rated amusement if it wasn't for the always sympathetic Carell's impetus and fine comic delivery. Oh, he's severely underused as he prances about with his animal co-stars but even with limited material he manages to make the film his own. When the flood actually happens (and it must) it gives the opportunity for a ludicrous, CGI-heavy but entertaining sequence as the ark gets launched into the waters and crosses Washington D.C. straight for Capital Hill. Director Shadyac at least knows who his demographic is, and keeps the pacing dynamic, even if the proceedings (and script) are rarely engaging. He also directs the blue-screen and effects well, something he got lots of practice on here with the film's excess of computer-created animals, giving rise to perhaps the best bits, scenes of the family unit and a whole bunch of real trained elephants building the ark. There's no faulting the cast, however: The charming Freeman is back as the good-natured God - and wouldn't we all like to think of the Divine as being just like him? John Michael Higgins, Wanda Sykes, and Jonah Hill make up Evan's loyal and wise0cracking staff, and Goodman rounds off the leads as the greedy politician in a throwaway bad guy role. All told, Evan Almighty is an agreeable but passionless, clichéd affair that producers hoped would swim on the coattails of its predecessor. Not so. Of note: The best, most energetic part of the film is the end-credit sing-along by cast and crew to "Everybody Do It Now". And someone needs to mention just how atrocious the product placement is - let's hope this is a trend that stops soon.
Entertainment: 5/10

Sicko (2007)
Director: Michael Moore
Plot: An exploration on the state of the health-care system in the US and how it compares with other civilized nations. 
Review: Based on his previous efforts like Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11, no one can expect provocateur Moore to be even-handed in his approach, and it's clear he has an axe to grind with the Health care system in his latest, and even more relevant, documentary Sicko. What's surprising, however, is the fact that his focus isn't on the 40-odd million Americans who don't have coverage, but on those who do, and how the US system (and the profit-centered approach of the HMO's) aren't protecting them the way it should - or they would expect. Moore's social, center-left leanings are clear, especially when it comes to the disenfranchised, but the most eye-popping accounts are when he turns to educated, well-off insurance owners and lets them tell their horror stories of spiraling health care costs and their insurers' Machiavellian schemes to prevent their rightful pay-outs. Harrowing testimonies from victims and whistle-blowers abound, but most of the film sees Moore and his crew visiting countries like Canada, France, England and even Cuba to see how their system of universal health-care works. The US government, he states, has been practicing a policy of scare-mongering on the so-called "socialist" system, and he's out to dispel the many myths Americans have on how well these systems work (cue lots of questions and forced exclamations with out-going patients like "So how much did you pay for all these services?" "Nothing." "Nothing?" "Nothing!" "Wow!"). That the picture is perhaps too one-sided (all these places have their own set of problems, too) doesn't seem to be a concern. Black humor, cynicism, commented news footage, exaggerated situations (sending 9/11 victims to be taken care of in Cuba smacks of propaganda and publicity stunt) and other underhanded methods are all fair game for Moore to get his point across: pharmaceutical companies and the health industry are making too much money off of the status quo for politicians (many of whom have become paid lobbyists) to change present policies. For sure, a film on the problems facing the US Care system has its work cut out for it, so it's all the more interesting that Moore takes a different approach to capturing the systems real faults and culprits. If Sicko barely touches the real intricacies of the problems, at least it brings forward in a very watchable way the issues to the mainstream - and there's no better man than Moore to make it so.
Documentary: 7/10

Hellboy Animated: Blood & Iron (2007)
Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, John Hurt
Directors: Victor Cook, Tad Stones
Plot: A team of paranormal investigators, led by an imposing demon fighting for good, are led to a millionaire's haunted mansion where evil forces are trying to resurrect an ages-old female vampire.
Review: Continuing the comic-book and live-action adventures of Hellboy, Blood & Iron marks the second direct-to-DVD outing. Unfortunately for fans and non-fans alike, though director Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy) and Mike Mignola (creator of the original comics) are noted as creative producers, there's little of the joyous pulp adventure and gothic horror one expects from the material. The movie cast is back doing the voice acting, but they're not helped by animation that is second-rate and barely on par with standard TV cartoons. The story itself feels like a half-hour show padded to "feature-length". The plot is typical gothic-horror stuff, but the vampire tale at its center is banal and (worse) the execution is bland, missing much of the pulp elements and wit of the original comic material. The "backward" flashback of Prof Bloom is an interesting narrative device, but little is truly revealed, making its use redundant. Even at a sparse 75 minutes, it's slow going when the gang isn't directly tackling the menagerie of ghosts, witches, wolves and the like. In fact, apart from some mild swearing, this is all decent pre-teen fare we'd expect from a direct to Cartoon Network production. That said, there is some definite redeeming value to be had: for one, this is Hellboy after all, and the sub-plot with the goddess Hecate trying to convince our hero to cast aside his good intentions and join the Old Gods is the kind of cool we expect - and the extended, ridiculous fight between the stalwart Hellboy and Hecate incarnated as a monstrous Iron Maiden is kinda fun. All said, however, this feels more like an attempt at family-friendly fare on par with the cartoon Ghostbusters than a "serious" attempt to add to the mythology of the character. Blood & Iron just doesn't do the franchise any favors. For a real taste of what Mignola's comic adventures could (and should) be as a cartoon adaptation, see The Adventures of the Fabulous Screw-On Head, available on DVD.
Entertainment: 4/10

Dark Star (1974)
Starring: Dan O'Bannon, Brian Narelle
Director: John Carpenter
Plot: A four-man crew on a 20-year mission into deep space to discover and destroy habitable planets starts being affected by boredom and cabin fever, and must face - among other issues - a sentient A-bomb that wants to blow up the ship.
Review: A certified cult classic, the campy, ultra-low-budget 70's-ear sci-fi comedy Dark Star proves to have more laughs and suspense than many more recent Hollywood fare. Directed by genre veteran Carpenter when he was still a film student (before going on to such classics as Halloween, Escape From New York and The Thing), the film was created to show the flip side of the optimism of the Star Trek TV series and of 2001's clean aesthetics. Originally made for under $5,000 (and later enhanced for theatrical release), the film boasts some imaginative garage-level special effects (there's some cool space effects and ship miniatures, as well as a trailer-truck bomb and a menacing beach-ball alien), wood and cardboard production design, and grainy video... but that's all part of the charm. To be sure, Carpenter's mastery of mood and pacing aren't quite evident yet - the first half, underlying the crew going stir-crazy from boredom, is pretty slow going and talky. But it all gets more exciting, funny and downright odd as things go progressively worse for our hapless crew. There's a hilarious sequence - complete with bizarre camera angles - where one of the guys, chasing an alien around the ship, ends up teetering over an elevator shaft, and can't get out. Then there's a talking computer run by defective lasers, and a climax as the captain tries to convince a sentient bomb no to detonate, with expected results. The disaffected crew, made up of fellow students and friends, aren't professional actors but make do with the requirements of the script. A stalwart of late-night movie viewings, Dark Star is a treat for low-key comedy and sci-fi buffs and a must for fans of its director.
Comedy: 6/10

Curious George (2006)
Starring: Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, David Cross
Director: Matthew O'Callaghan
Plot: To save the natural history museum in which he works, a young curator travels into the jungle to find an ancient idol only to befriend a lonely, mischievous monkey who follows him back to his New York apartment.
Review: A big-screen animated adaptation of the classic children's book by Margaret and H.A. Rey, Curious George is a charming adventure and a nostalgic throwback to pre-CGI features. In fact the animation, a blend of 2D cel drawings and some computer enhancements, is smooth and good-looking, with warm colors that would be perfectly situated in a children's book. Sure, the plot about saving the museum and that goes with it feels like a retread of many other kids flicks, but a pleasant surprise is that the story maintains the light-hearted spirit of the original work, eschewing the awkward modern sensibilities forced on many a children book adaptation (such as the sinking The Cat in the Hat or Horton Hears a Who). There's an adventure in the jungle, a daring escape on rooftops, a visit to the zoo, a balloon ride over the city, a virtual King Kong-like rampage through the streets, and more as George gets into his usal innocent troublemaking - and throughout a touching storyline of friendship. The soundtrack, a series of hum-worthy, kid-friendly Jack Johnson songs, sets the mood for the different scenes. The unexpected casting of Will Ferrell, starring as The Man in the Yellow Hat, actually works well, Barrymore plays the dowey-eyed, passive love interest effortlessly, and there's Joan Plowright and Dick Van Dyke in supporting roles. And stay for the closing credits, a nice, nostalgic montage of the original book drawings. Sure, some of it may be formulaic, but this big-screen adaptation of Curious George is a winner for young kids and their parents.
Entertainment: 7/10

Casino (1995)
Starring: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci
Director: Martin Scorsese
Plot: During the Las Vegas boom of the 1970's, a Mafia bookie gets on the fast-track to run one of the city's biggest casinos, but his success attracts an old mobster friend who wants in on the profits, no matter what it takes.
Review: Though not quite a modern classic, the sprawling crime drama Casino has a great epic drama feel to it, is packed with interesting characters and events, and proves to be another fine entry in the American gangster pantheon - it's another feather in director Scorsese's cap. Based on multiple influences, one of which is scriptwriter Pileggi's own true crime book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas, the story documents the rise and fall of Mafia influence in Las Vegas through the eyes of mobster Sam "Ace" Rothstein. Though not to the level of his own GoodFellas, director Scorsese (Taxi Driver, The Departed) is a master storyteller, one of America's masters, and any movie he does is worthy of attention. Yet, though the direction is up to his usual standards, the production is top-notch and there's a lot of good material to be found, it much of it seems done by rote; the casino scenes are great, and the era is well captured, but something seems to be amiss, perhaps because we've seen all this before. Still, if it doesn't provide that extra oomph to make it truly special - and if the 3-hour film does have its slow moments - the strong ensemble cast, sweeping story-line of greed, moral corruption and violence - making its way into eventual redemption - are indeed note-worthy. If the film doesn't quite reach the mythical level of its ambitions, it sure looks the part. But the film is perhaps at its best when it delves into the intricacies and workings of running a casino, and the complex combinations of how the Mafia managed to "skim" off the top. And one can't fault the cast between whom all the tragic drama takes place: though typecast in another criminal role, De Niro is just plain terrific as a man whose hubris and ego drive him to ruin, Stone does a surprising, effective dramatic turn (which garnered her an Oscar nomination) as his ambitious trophy wife, Pesci does his trademark crazy-ass psychopath - much as he's done in GoodFellas, and a solid supporting cast including James Woods, Don Rickles, Alan King and Kevin Pollak. Despite its long running time, Scorcese's latest epic gangster flick Casino has some terrific acting, strong story and potent drama - and for most audiences that should be enough.
Drama: 7/10

Beyond the Sea (2004)
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, John Goodman
Director: Kevin Spacey
Plot: The life and achievements of singer / movie actor Bobby Darin, how he met his wife Sandra Dee, and how his ambition helped him cheat death until the age of 37.
Review: Following the example of many an actor, Spacey tries his hand at what would normally have amounted as a perfect example of hubris - acting, writing, producing and directing the biopic Beyond the Sea. Though he shouldn't be quitting his acting stint, it's a surprisingly decent effort, a heartfelt, sweet homage to a not-quite-iconic crooner of the 50's, 60's and 70's from his rise from teen idol status to lounge singer. As a musical it's a success, full of color, dancing, and high-energy: The soundtrack including Spacey's rendition of Mack the Knife, among other era hits, is bubbly, the musical numbers are nicely choreographed and aptly shot giving them a nice '50s retro feel - and Spacey isn't too shabby in the singing department either. As a biography, however, it doesn't delve nearly enough into character to make us understand the man, or understand the real tragedy of his life and his ambitions, despite some nice narrative touches (such as Darin's internal monologue with his younger self) and some near-misses into melodrama and cliché. As his long-suffering wife, the sweet Bosworth gives a nice supporting role, as does Goodman. All in all, Beyond the Sea is colorful enough, giving a larger-than-life, rose-colored depiction of its subject, and Spacey is quite likable as Darin. There's just nothing to really make a lasting impression.
Review: 5/10

The Good Shepherd (2006)
Starring: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro
Director: Robert De Niro
Plot: At the dawn of World War II, a privileged Yale graduate starts a career in the US intelligence services and becomes an integral part of the creation and early history of the CIA, to the detriment of his family life.
Review: Forget the action credits of its leads: The Good Shepherd isn't your typical spy thriller. As seen through the eyes of one fictional agent, it's an intelligent, meticulously detailed, surprisingly subdued drama that is an always-intriguing look at the beginnings and early history of the Central Intelligence Agency. It's a film that feels like an adaptation of a complex LeCarré novel put to the screen - and that's a compliment. Set against the backdrop of the 1961 Bay of Pigs fiasco, the agent's tale (played with almost stoic seriousness by Damon) is told in flashback, highlighting his rise in the organization, a rise that is paralleled by his alienation to his trophy wife (a surprisingly demure Jolie) and son, and the personal cost of his own moral degradation for carrying such a heavy burden of secrets. Though this is only his second film behind the camera (his first was the sweet drama A Bronx Tale) DeNiro surprises by capably directing his cast and producing a visually distinctive atmosphere; here he's created a handsome, thoughtful indictment of the agency's WASP culture of self-righteousness and paranoia. At almost three hours it's a stretch for those needing a faster paced effort but for those willing to give in to the deliberate, effective narrative it's a spell-binding, harrowing trip into the dark heart of espionage and counter-intelligence. With all its twists, double-crosses, complex plots and conspiracies, there's the inevitable sale of one honorable man's soul. Much of the script by Eric Roth gives tidbits of impeccably researched information, mixed in with news footage, historical evidence and fabricated scenes and personalities to give a sweeping view of the first 20 years of the agency. The film is also crammed with interesting characters, played with panache by such actors as Alec Baldwin, Billy Crudup, Michael Gambon, William Hurt, Timothy Hutton, John Turturro and Joe Pesci, among others. Unfortunately, if all of them make do admirably, none of them really get a chance to make much of an impression, relegated to moving the epic story along. Not only an ambitious, well-executed film that manages to bring the enthralling real-life spy-game to the big screen, The Good Shepherd also provides a political message that is still relevant today.
Drama: 8/10

The Lion King (1994)
Starring: James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons
Directors: Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff
Plot: Blaming himself for the death of his father, the king of the animals, a young cub flees to a carefree life in the jungle but his responsibilities eventually force him to face his wicked uncle for the throne.
Review: One of the highlights of Disney's long animation career and a huge box-office hit at the time of its release, The Lion King has something for everyone. Following in the footsteps of previous critical successes like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast, this coming-of-age tale has all the expected Disney trademarks, yet seems to have been aimed more at adults than at kids. With events like fratricide, conspiracy for the throne and revenge, the tale is downright Shakespearean involving some darker scenes, such as a stylishly-presented, fascist-like military march of the hyenas or the death of the King, to name but two. Thankfully a prevalent sense of humor balances out the occasional "heavy" moments where the drama may be a little tough on younger kids. For the most part the hand-drawn (and occasionally computer-assisted) animation looks quite cinematic and in some instances rises to being quite impressive, none more so than in the opening sequence, as all the animals pay tribute to the new born lion cub. The dynamic narrative drives through the film, and the story is helped by colorful, warm visuals of the savannah. But it's really at its best during the joyous musical numbers that explode in finely choreographed sequences. Here the memorable score shines, filled with punchy, terrific tunes using African influences and mixing in modern pop style; a real coup was getting Sir Elton John to write the stirring opening. There's also a bevy of colorful characters, from Lane as the fast-talking meerkat to Zazou the royal aide, and all the lions and hyenas in between, all enhanced by some solid voice acting by the likes of James Earl Jones, Robert Guillaume and Whoopi Goldberg. But the one of real note must be the turn by Jeremy Irons as the villainous uncle Scar, usurper to the throne. More than most of Disney's offerings 1990's offerings, Lion King is really classic stuff for the whole family that will withstand multiple viewings.
Entertainment: 9/10

The Simpsons Movie (2007)
Starring: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright
Director: David Silverman
Plot: After Homer over-pollutes the town's river creating an environmental catastrophe, the EPA encases Springfield in a giant glass dome and pursues the fugitive Simpsons.
Review: Creator Matt Groening may not have expected the success and longevity of his adult-oriented series when it first aired on Fox TV, but almost 20 years since its first episode aired The Simpsons Movie is finally a reality. For long-time fans, and even for those who only caught short stints of the show during its long network run, there's a nice sense of familiarity to the proceedings, and that charm (if the word can be used) stays throughout. First, the good stuff: it all starts off with a insanely violent, Itchy & Scratchy skit; the classic animation has been bumped up a notch in terms of detail and computer modeling; there's some clever visual gags and plenty of jokes, and who can help but laugh at the hapless often clueless Homer trying to escape from his mistakes; and just about every (if not all) the supporting characters make an appearance, a fun way for fans to spend oodles of hours to count them all. Unfortunately, despite the years in development and the half-dozen writers who worked on the script, the film could never really live up to our high expectations and rarely rises above some of the better episodes of the series, a statement, perhaps, to the show's greatness than to the movie's quality. And while there's still some satirical bite left, it's clearly not to the level of its heyday. Still, if it's not the holy grail some expected, just for being "The Simpsons" and keeping the jabs and silliness we've come to expect, the movie automatically gets an easy recommendation as an above-average comedy that has more smarts than most of its peers.
Entertainment: 7/10

The Game (1997)
Starring: Michael Douglas, Deborah Unger, Sean Penn
Director: David Fincher
Plot: A wealthy but cold-hearted businessman accepts a gift from his brother for a live-action game, but things go awry when the game becomes a little too real and too dangerous.
Review: The apt thriller The Game has lots more going for it than what one would have expected from the premise. The main reason for this isn't the capable if only average script, but it's choice of helmer: At the hands of sophomore feature director Fincher (fresh off the disastrous Alien 3), the film exudes style and slick production values, showing a great visual flair and narrative pacing. Sure it's still Hollywood fluff that never quite reaches the expectations posed half-way through, but it does show those elements that made Fincher's future works like Seven and Panic Room such engrossing thrillers. The action scenes are ably executed, as is the suspense and growing feeling of paranoia. The mystery and the thrill of its premise, of course, is not knowing what is part of this dangerous "game" and what is reality, and just where the conspiracy ends. If the logic of the proceedings and actual workings of the game aren't fool-proof, especially during the disappointing "not-so-surprise" ending, the script does give some good twists and turns, and works just fine as a well-executed thriller. Perfectly suited for its off-again-on-again leading man, Douglas fits into the role like a glove as a man used to being in control breaking under the pressure of events outside his reckoning. Unger is an always-interesting choice as the troubled romantic interest who's more than what she seems, and a mousy Penn as his always-in-trouble younger brother is an added bonus. Sure, The Game is a slice of Hollywood hokum, but at least it's well-done hokum that's sure to please fans of the genre and fans of Douglas.
Entertainment: 7/10

Dune (1984)
Starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Patrick Stewart, Jose Ferrer
Director: David Lynch
Plot: After seeing his family slaughtered, the heir to a noble house becomes a messiah to the nomadic inhabitants of a desert world whose spice trade is at the center of a universe-spanning empire.
Review: Considered far and wide as an ambitious failure, Dune is ambitious, epic, stylish to a fault, and a convoluted mess that bordered on the hubris. Frank Herbert's classic, influential 1965 SF novel of the same name - considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time - is a complex story involving politics, religion, ecology and many other heady themes. While still in keeping with the bizarre vision of Lynch's other works (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet), the film has an impressive flair for show and grandiose epic adventure all its own, with its violent, disturbing world of tyrants, psychics, cults and drug fiends, showing certainly more courage than many of its Hollywood ilk. There's no denying that his was a grandiose, opulent vision helped by superb production values, lavish sets and costumes, solid SFX (for the time, at least - the giant sand worms are spectacular) and a serious approach to the dense material, even if there's some intentional and unintentional camp to be had. The film's emphasis is as much on the adventure as it was on the politics, the complex social interactions, the almost Shakespearian drama and conspiracies, with the obvious religious overtones and controversial drug use kept intact from the book. Alas, trying so hard to be a literate translation of the book meant losing many of the intricacies of the novel along the way, a detriment to having a cohesive film for the mainstream audience. Though the characters themselves are sometimes lost in the pageantry and events, it's important to note the international ensemble cast: Apart from earnest first-timer MacLachlan as the Messiah, there are well-known actors in supporting parts, such as Jose Ferrer, Patrick Stewart, Max von Sydow and Sting in a minor role as a vicious killer. A notorious, resounding critical and box-office flop on its release, the film has since gained cult status, and for good reason: after all is said and done, Dune is an ambitious failure, a SF film with its own sensibilities and particular look, and a valiant attempt at capturing a difficult book for a wider audience. (See extended review)
Entertainment: 7/10

American Pie 2 (2001)
Starring: Jason Biggs, Shannon Elizabeth, Alyson Hannigan
Director: J.B. Rogers
Plot: After their freshman year at different colleges, five high school friends reunite during the summer holidays and rent a beach house hoping to throw wild parties only to realize that their relationship problems are just starting.
Review: As comedy sequels go, American Pie 2 is the best kind of follow-up - for those who liked the shameless and downright embarrassing sex-based shenanigans of its endearing teenage cast, what you get is more of the same... and that's a good thing. The story starts off with our hapless hero's parents bursting in his dorm room to surprise him naked in bed with a girl, and then being forced to make introductions while her parents come in - and it goes downhill from there, proving that they may be older, but not so much wiser. The reason the film works is that the script doesn't make fun of its characters but really believes in them, in all their geeky ways and slights, despite all the harrowing (and often just as touching) moments; the fun is in putting them in bad situations (scenes involving superglue and a camp band are highlights) and letting the cards fall in the most inopportune way. What follows is lots of goofy, slapstick-level bumbling about, but the characters do grow on you and the returning cast (led by a goofy Biggs trying to get into the pants of a very hot Elizabeth, and supported by the likes of Eugene Levy as his dad and Scott Thomas' Stifler) is earnest enough to win almost anyone over. If the surprise of the original is gone, the laughs and heart are still aplenty in the good-natured American Pie 2, and fans of the first will surely dig the sequel.
Comedy / Entertainment: 7/10

Justice League - The New Frontier (2008)
Starring: Phil Morris, Neil Patrick Harris, Lucy Lawless, Miguel Ferrer, David Boreanaz 
Directors: Dave Bullock
Plot: The world's greatest super-heroes must overcome their differences and combine their efforts to defeat a gargantuan alien entity bent on cleansing the world of humanity.
Review: Based on the best-selling, critically-acclaimed graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke, The New Frontier is a '50's era re-invention of the founding of the Justice League of America - the stalwart team of DC Comics super-heroes including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern and others. Cooke's nostalgic, loving homage to the Silver Age of comics didn't so much alter as bring out the iconic images of these heroes and made them face real slice-of-'50s issues, like feeling the weight of McCarthy-spread suspicion, the intolerance and prejudices of the era, the horrors of the Korean war, the Cold War paranoia, the decline of post-War optimism... and society's the fear of their own heroes. The film captures many of these and does many other things right: the style is distinctive, the jet-age retro-look is superb, the animation is at times very slick and cool-looking, the voice acting is top-notch by the likes of Lawless (perfectly cast as Wonder Woman) and Jeremy Sisto as Batman, and the tale retains its very PG-13 attitude - indeed, the violence means it's not recommended for younger kids. Alas, the rich texture of the 400-odd page books gets short-changed due to the limits of similar direct-to-DVD animated features and their short running times (in this case 75 minutes with credits); each one of the large cast of characters are given only a broad treatment (Green Lantern being the unfortunate exception - unfortunate because his origin story bogs everything down) before having to team-up to save the world from a dinosaur-spewing, island-sized monstrosity in an over-long, almost juvenile climax. Still, as a trimmed version of the original material The New Frontier conveys its sentiment of idealism while giving in to the giddy excitement of a fine, mature comic-book, and it does it with style and verve. And for that, it's worthy of attention by super-hero fans everywhere.
Entertainment: 6/10

Casino Royale (1967)
Starring: Peter Sellers, David Niven, Ursula Andress, Orson Welles, Woody Allen, Deborah Kerr, 
Directors: John Huston, Ken Hughes
Plot: The aging secret agent 007, Sir James Bond, comes out of retirement to organize a bevy of Brits to battle an international terrorist organization, hoping to pass on his mantle to a younger man. 
Review: Ian Fleming's original James Bond adventure Casino Royale was one of only two films of the franchise not owned by the Broccolis. Seeing a chance to amke their own mark, the producers decided (perhaps remembering the success of extravaganzas like Around the World in 80 Days) to avoid the more "serious" style of the popular franchise and go for a spoof of the genre... with disastrous results. Fron the get-go it's clear that the biggest problem is that the whole affair is a hodge-podge of badly edited, painfully inconsistent shorts glued together, no surprise considering the various helmers (five of them, at least) for the different segments, all of whom seem to have had a little too much "artistic" liberties. Indeed, everything about it screams "excess!", proving that even with some legendary directors like John Houston on the payroll, a huge budget, lavish productions and an all-star ensemble cast (a veritable who's-who of 60's-era actors from Niven, Sellers, Allen, Andrews and even Orson Welles as Le Chiffre) things can go awry pretty fast. The film delivers its "everything but the kitchen sink" craziness in a shotgun approach, and for the most part misses the mark. There are some clever, sometimes humorous bits of delirious invention to be had on rare occasions - Woody Allen as Bond's hapless nephew and Blofeld-inspired "master" villain is almost worth the admission, and the infiltration of a German school for spies that's shot as an homage to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is brilliant - but most of is downright tedious, with each segment over-staying its welcome. For those looking for a more palatable Bond parody, check the recent Austin Powers series, and even the Our Man Flint series of the 60's. For those forewarned, Casino Royale may garner a few giggles all others beware: it's a long, bloated mess that delivers few laughs and limited entertainment.
Entertainment: 4/10

Next (2007)
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel
Director: Lee Tamahori
Plot: A second-rate Las Vegas magician who can see a few minutes into the future is pursued by FBI agents who believe he can help them prevent a nuclear terrorist attack.
Review: SF writer Philip K. Dick seems to be cursed when it comes to Hollywood productions: his searing social stories have mostly been relegated to action-prone adaptations (like Total Recall and Paycheck) with little of the actual tale making the transition. The same is true for Next, the latest big budget effort to make the leap from the written page. Oh, there's some potentially intriguing stuff along with a terrific first act, as Cage makes a daring escape from casino security, using his precog powers to check all the future permutations and know where his pursuers will be. But the film only touches the surface of its theme of destiny versus free will, and is only brought up in what amounts to throwaway dialogue. The problem is that the film is schizophrenic: at its heart, it's a low-key boy-meets-girl film with a small-time loser trying to make ends meet, but thrown in is a parallel tale of Euro-trash terrorists, a race to stop a nuclear bomb, and some Fugitive-like chases. In fact the two major action set-pieces - one, a thrilling escape in an avalanche of logs and motorized equipment, the other a climactic gun battle to "save the girl" - seem at odds with the slower, more intimate moments. And this dynamic climax is nothing but an overlong, bullet-strewn affair that feels tacked on, with Cage imitating The Matrix's Neo in his super-heroics. Surprisingly, even the money-shots aren't very convincing, mostly due to some iffy CGI. Kiwi director Tamahori (Die Another Day) won't win any fans with this film, but it's really the script that's at fault. Indeed, the story is rife with plot holes, logical gaps and unanswered questions, something that usually happens in a script written by committee. Why do the bad guys want to detonate an A-bomb? why they are so dead-set on killing our hero? how did they even discover fo his existence? Audiences just have to accept all this stuff and go with the flow - sometimes, that's enough especially when sympathetic-loser Cage is trying to use his abilities to woo the beautiful Biel, but at others it's plain frustrating. And the leads - Cage, Moore and Biel - do a good effort to keep the human side of things engaging, but it's not enough. Perhaps the worst fault is the ending, a cheat that doesn't resolve much and makes for a rather unsatisfying end, especially for a mainstream action flick. Taken on its own, Next isn't such a bad piece of entertainment, but one can't avoid feeling that it's another fine concept that lost its direction.
Entertainment: 5/10

The Ring (2002)
Starring: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman
Director: Gore Verbinski
Plot: An investigative reporter tries to track down the source of a videotape that seems to kill anyone who watches it.
Review: Based on the modern J-Horror classic Ringu that spawned a new horror genre (and more than a few nightmares), the US remake of The Ring is a rarity, a well-made, big-budget Hollywood affair that actually keeps the original's premise and out-does it for pure chills. Made for TV, the original masterpiece was a ghost story with limited special effects but superbly-maintained tension. With its mainstream US-market intentions, director Verbinski (The Pirates of the Caribbean) has still kept the essence and suspense that made the original so frightening and downright unsettling added his own brand of slick filmmaking to the mix. The eerie, green-tinged visuals add a lot to the constant feeling of dread and allow for some darn effective scenes: victims' faces grotesquely twisted out of shape, the walk of the dark-haired girl (one of modern cinema's scariest inventions), the titular "ring" and the videotape itself, all are well-composed visions of terror. But all this would be moot without an effective script, and here we're in luck; smarter than most, this a serious adaptation of the material (no winks, camp or humor here), relying on the fear of the unknown and unknowable to give it a sense of tension and unease. Even if the story is familiar to those who have seen the Japanese version, the writers have added some background and thrills to make it more palatable to its core audience yet also giving connoisseurs of the genre much to much on such as the age-old genre themes of alienation, the destruction of the family unit, and other fine subtext. Hats off as well to the superb Naomi Watts who, leading a professional cast, is the real heart of the film and really gives it that extra boost of believability. Strong in both substance and production values, The Ring is a top-notch, well-crafted horror tale that's a modern genre highlight - it deserves wide attention on its own merits.
Horror / Entertainment: 8/10

DOA: Dead or Alive (2006)
Starring: Natassia Malthe, Jaime Pressly, Eric Roberts
Director: Corey Yuen
Plot: After being invited to a tropical island to fight against the most fearsome martial artists in the world, four beautiful, but deadly, women find out that there's a nefarious plot behind the competition.
Review: Based on the popular video game of the same name, the film DOA: Dead or Alive is anchored by a critic-friendly moniker, but won't stop fans of inane plots, bad acting, silly (but energetic) action and generally major cheese from gobbling this up. Think of it as Charlie's Angels Light, just without the laughs. This is a pedestrian effort from Hong Kong director Yuen, who had much better success in the kick-ass-women genre with So Close, without mentioning his other successes like The Transporter, Enter the Eagles, and a series of solid Jet Li associations (The Enforcer, The Bodyguard from Beijing, etc). The plot is vague and video-game worthy (i.e. nil), and it's clearly made for pubescent Gen Y gamers in mind what with all the nubile flesh at hand and the many gratuitous ass shots. Still, even if he's not in top form (it's clear this was made for a fat paycheck) and there's an obvious silliness, childishness in the character interactions and keen lack of originality, there's still enough spunk, hard-hitting (and utterly bloodless) wire-fu and scantily clad babes to make up for its other shortcomings. And to be fair the gals are pretty darn good fighters (or at least they fake it real well). DOA is not a good film by any means (and it's impossible to resist calling it "Dead On Arrival") but it's one that delivers on its premise - just don't expect any more than that.
Entertainment: 4/10

*Classic* The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Shaolin Master Killer) (1978)
Starring: Gordon Liu, Wilson Tong
Director: Chia-Liang Liu
Plot: Escaping the ruthless warlord who killed his parents and keeps his village under iron rule, a young student enters a Shaolin Temple and spends years training to be a kung-fu master, all to return home to seek revenge.
Review: One of the handful of true classic old-school martial arts films, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is a rousing, oft-repeated tale of real-life kung-fu master San Te who opened China's first public Shaolin-style school. Surprisingly action-packed and well-paced, the film belies its more popular peers and the humor, thankfully, stays good-natured and never campy (also unlike many popular features of the era) keeping a strong tone throughout. Even if the actual fighting comes off more as an intricate dance than violent battles, the choreography is superb, making it a fine example of kung-fu-era style without the use of wires or effects. The real appeal of the film, however - and the main reason it hasd been given such elevated status - is the hour-long training sequence as our hero learns the secrets and skills required to pass the torturous, inventive 35 chambers, challenges that teach him the agility, skills and patience required to become a Master. Despite the cinematic flourishes, zooms and slow-mo's, director Chia-Liang Liu, himself a performer prior to being behind the camera, knows to focus the attention on his cast's ample martial arts skills. As his leading man, 70's action star Liu gets many a chance to exercise his abilities and this may well be his ultimate showcase. Entertaining, classic fare for old-style kung fu fans, and a good primer for everyone else.
Entertainment: 8/10

Blades of Glory (2007)
Starring: Will Ferrell, Jon Heder
Directors: Josh Gordon, Will Speck
Plot: After being barred from men's skating for fighting on the medals podium, two fierce rivals team up to enter the Olympic competition together in the pairs category as a male-male team.
Review: Like many of its ilk, the high-concept skating spoof Blades of Glory isn't going to win gold, but it sure is an amusing contender. Anyone who has watched skating competitions knows its just ripe for satire, and the film offers up some good ribbing at the sport without being (too) crass or (too) stupid. Ludicrous, far-fetched, and sometime plain dumb, Will Ferrell comedies manage to provoke laughter thanks to (and often despite) its tried-and-true formula and this one is no different. As expected, the "male-on-male" jokes are a-plenty, but the film doesn't spend its time reflecting on that, diving right into making its concept work. And it's the zany, energetic, wire-and-CGI enhanced dance routines that are the key moments of the film - you're sure never to see any of these at the Olympics! But much of the premise relies on the two leads making a go at it (and each other) and, as the two rivals try to set aside their many differences, the results make for some predictable, and funny, moments. First and foremost, of course, is Ferrell himself who plays a pretentious, obnoxious, womanizing moron who somehow is the idol of millions (see Taladega Nights, Semi-Pro, etc) - he may have become stereotyped in the role, but he still manages to make it funny. Heder makes for a great "straight-man" to Ferrell's dim-wit, and manages to keep his own - the role is very much a stereotyped version of his own Napoleon Dynamite, perhaps, but he's note perfect. Their comic chemistry is surprisingly good, and helps make the film more palatable than it has a right to be. And check out the cameo appearances by real-life skating champs like Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, Dorothy Hamill and Nancy Kerrigan - all of whom must have a good sense of humor to participate in this affair. Poking broad fun at the skating world and keeping the gags coming at a decent pace, Blades of Glory is one of the better Will Ferrell vehicles; a fun - if forgettable - comedy.
Comedy: 7/10

Hollywoodland (2006)
Starring: Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck
Director: Allen Coulter
Plot: A small-time Hollywood private detective gets in over his head when he gets hired by a distraught mother to investigate the mysterious death of actor George Reeves, TV's first Superman.
Review: The '50s-era Hollywoodland is an intriguing, low-key affair that combines true-crime drama, biopic and a look at the not-so-glittering golden-age of Hollywood, and for the most part comes off rather well. Though police on the scene deemed his death a suicide when they found him dead from a gunshot wound to the head on June 16, 1959, Reeve's death remains one of those infamous inconclusive Hollywood deaths. From that starting point, the film retraces Reeves' life and career in flashbacks, from the late 1930s, starting with a small role in Gone with the Wind his most famous (and career-ending) role in television's Adventures of Superman. The story does take some liberties with actual historical events to enhance the drama, all the more to allow the fictitious down-on-his-luck private eye's own story to intertwine and parallel his subject's as the detective (and the audience) gets deeper into the sad realities of Reeve's off-stage life. The film presents several possible scenarios for Reeves' death - there were opportunities for murder as well as suicide - without actually focusing on any single one or, thankfully, trying to resolve it. With winks to such films as Chinatown and Sunset Boulevard, TV alumni Allen Coulter directs his first feature film with an eye to uncovering the dark side of Hollywood, showing that Tinseltown itself has all the elements for a film noir. He also brings a good feel for the era and the characters, especially when it comes to the two leads, both searching for that unattainable Hollywood glory in their own way. Affleck, putting on some weight for the occasion, impresses in the role of Reeve's and plays him with the gumption and charm that he lends most of his roles but allows a melancholy to seep in - it's easily his most successful, dramatic role to date. Brody, as the low-rent gumshoe looking for "an angle" to raise his own status - his character is a composite of real-life journalists, cops, and detectives who worked on the case - has the right wherewithal to be both sleazy manipulator and pitiful victim depending on the occasion, though his ultimate "moral awakening" seems rather forced. Reeve's story is a descent into a Hollywood nightmare - typecast as a children's TV show hero, relying on his rich mistress to keep his status and hating himself for it, the film evokes how the studios and their moguls controlled their actors' private lives. The whole thing may not be as cohesive as it could have been, but Hollywoodland has the right elements to be both tragic cautionary and effective film noir.
Drama: 6/10

Brother (Russia - 1997)
Starring: Sergei Bodrov, Jr., Victor Sukhorukov
Director: Alexei Balabanov
Plot: A young man fresh from the army travels to St Petersburg to visit his older brother, a local gangster working as a contract killer, and easily slips into the criminal life.
Review: A sensation when it was released in its native Russia, it's clear why the crime drama Brother made such an impression. At times gritty, violent, and unforgiving and at others sad, melancholic and tender (most often during the most unlikely of times) it represented the reality of post-perestroika Soviet society. As such, it is very much a product of the new, anarchic Russia and provides North Americans with an eye-opening view of its disaffected youth, one that - in many ways - is uncannily similar to its American counterpart in attitude, contempt at the status quo and general aimlessness. The film plays out more like a tough-minded drama at first, with its rough, nonchalant "hero" - played by a stoic, brooding Brodov in a career-making role - making his way through the world as best he can, ending with a brazen bloodbath of retribution. This is a place where money, casual violence and despair meet. Bellying its low budget and amateur production values, first time writer / director Balabanov puts his characters into morally ambiguous situations amongst the ruined and dangerous streets of St-Petersburg, taking just the right elements of the Hollywood films to make it work as mainstream fare. And he's created a crime drama with balls that's just plain angry, angry to be part of a broken system, angry at the lack of opportunities, angry at the lost hopes and failed promises of a worn-out society. Helped by a hard-core soundtrack by local bands, Brother provides a surprising, violent portrait of early 90's Russia.
Drama: 7/10

M. Butterfly (1993)
Starring: Jeremy Irons, John Lone
Director: David Cronenberg
Plot: In 1960's China, a French diplomat carries on a scandalous affair with a Chinese with someone he believes is the female star in the Beijing Opera but actually is a male spy.
Review: Based on the true story of French diplomat Rene Gallimard and the Tony Award-winning play inspired by these events, M. Butterfly is a sumptuous-looking but ultimately disappointing drama. Director Cronenberg (A History of Violence, The Fly) knows how to bring out the weirdness out of any text, and his pet themes of sexual confusion and mental delusion are very much present here; add to that his grasp of the medium (the scenes of Chinese Opera are beautifully staged) and we get a visually stylish, and often affecting effort that captures the real sexual tension of its leads. Though there isn't any of the truly bizarre and disturbing imagery that Cronenberg is so famous for, it remains a disconcerting drama and a successful, if not masterful, interpretation of the story that more often than not lures us into this strange tale. The real mystery is if this is a game from the beginning, or a sinister spy plot, or a true romance, elements of which are only slowly revealed among the commentary of Western "imperialism" and its naiveté of Eastern culture. Unfortunately, though the material is perfectly suited for Cronenberg's touch, the film moves too slowly, Iron's is a wholly unsympathetic character, and the suspense - and romance - aren't given the necessary energy. Even the "surprise" revelation just isn't, especially to anyone who's seen The Crying Game. There's no faulting the performances, however: Irons is at his acting peak here, and is perfectly suited in the role of the diplomat seduced by the exotic persona of the Opera star, and Lone makes that character completely convincing as the target of affection. And, indeed, a lot of the screen time is spent on peeling away Iron's character and revealing the man he is, obsessed with his new acquaintance, all the while setting him for the inevitable fall. In the end, M. Butterfly is an elegant but perhaps too deliberate an examination of love and self-deception to truly be revealing or engaging.
Drama: 5/10

Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Starring: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst
Director: Neil Jordan
Plot: Having a hard time dealing with being a vampire, an 18-th century plantation owner who has lost the will to live tries to escape his more-experienced progenitor by fleeing to Paris.
Review: Based on the huge horror bestseller by Anne Rice, Interview with a Vampire is a magnificent, bold and splendid film that brings horror and vampirism into the level of true cinematic art. In the capable hands of director Jordan (The Crying Game), the film is a stylish, efficient and wholly accomplished affair that provokes a strong emotional response, be it dread or awe, as well as the pathos, the drama, the sadness that teems in Rice's work. With his cinematographer, he also brings the intoxicating night world to vivid life, a world that always provides further curiosities and terrors around every corner (a sequence of the Parisian Theatre des Vampyres is a standout). The magnificent, gorgeous production and lavish art direction provide the required visual splendor. With never a whiff of camp (or, admittedly, almost never), the film delivers a good amount of thrills, chills and bloodletting as well, while keeping a focus on the philosophical implications of their fate, the longings and lost humanity of its main protagonist. And, indeed, the most important aspect is that the characters from Anne Rice's novel jump off the page - no surprise, perhaps, as Rice wrote the script herself. As the vampire "couple" Pitt and Cruise are at the top of their game and play their parts with the perfect amount of seriousness and "vamp", insinuating a homoerotic sexual tension; but while Pitt is the soul and conscience of the film, Cruise is given free reign to create a deliciously evil Lestat, giving one of his best performances. It's also a stunning debut for a very young Dunst who is darn impressive as the at-first-innocent, then-vicious vampire stuck in the seemingly-precocious body of a girl forever. Add a sublime Banderas, as an enigmatic older vampire, to the mix and you've got a tour-de-force cast. A classic tale simply brilliantly realized, the seductive Interview with the Vampire is another cornerstone for the horror genre, one that has rightfully garnered both critical and mainstream success.
Entertainment: 8/10

13 Tzameti (2005)
Starring: George Babluani, Philippe Passon
Director: Gela Babluani
Plot: A young roofer trying to make ends meet stumbles on an opportunity to make a lot of quick cash, realizing too late that the anonymous instructions lead to a game that will put his life on the line.
Review: 13 Tzameti is one of those nice little genre surprises: what starts off as a seemingly caricature of a typical artsy French flick, stylized even more by the use of stark B&W photography, slowly becomes an intriguing mystery, and then switches to a nerve wracking game of Russian roulette - with a twist. The French have long forgotten how to do tightly-knit, small-scale suspense thrillers even if some, like Caché, have re-awaken the genre, but this film puts all doubts aside: a new breed of European filmmakers have definitely not lost the touch. Helmer Babluani, directing his brother, shows a surprisingly masterful display of direction and effective story-telling, considering this is his first feature. There's a calculating manner in the deliberate pacing, even a sense of neo-realism in its casual set-up and slow turn into nightmare, as our protagonist finds himself in unfamiliar territory and forced to play a game for his very survival. There are no chases, no good guys, nor is this a crime drama; it's a Hitchcock-like suspense film, and it's clear that the director has taken notes on what really works. The tension is palpable, the violence so sudden and matter-of-fact that it makes the sequences all the more harrowing. For an hour, as the savage, cold-blooded game unfolds, your eyes will stay glued to the screen and your palms will sweat. And the cast of unknowns, and especially its hero, makes this feel all the more believable. Indeed, the thin, naive-looking Babluani turns a deceptively impressive performance as a young man who has gotten in way over his head, and his gradual (but quick) loss of innocence, as so verily shown on his face, is terrifying. The film finishes in a way that is totally appropriate, a manner that Hollywood wouldn't dare even consider, making it all the more refreshing. A psychological thriller that really lives up to expectations and critical hype, 13 Tzameti is an unfortunately still undiscovered gem that's well worth seeking out.
Suspense: 8/10

Bobby (2006)
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore
Director: Emilio Estevez
Plot: A day in the lives of a large cast of different characters interesects at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, in the hours before U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated on June 5, 1968.
Review: Though it carries his name, Bobby isn't so much a film on Bob Kennedy as it is a film on how his ideas affected America. Focusing on a single defining moment - and the 24 hour that precedes it - the film valiantly attempts to capture the essence of the '60s era, the hopes, the aspirations, the issues, and the social context surrounding the decisions to elect the next president, and the dashed hopes of a country for a better future. It's a very complex film, in terms of the logistics, what with so many things, events and characters going on at the same time, and actor / director Estevez pulls it off. From the young friends willing to get married to avoid having him go off to Vietnam, to the old concierge seeing his life fly by, to the drunk has-been singer, and many more, we get a glimpse of varied life. And what a surprisingly diverse, and impressive, ensemble cast he's managed to come up with including Laurence Fishburne, Heather Graham, Anthony Hopkins, William H. Macy, Elijah Wood and some familiar faces we haven't seen in a while like Helen Hunt, Sharon Stone and Demi Moore. That Estevez gets some of their best performances out of this is proof he's also a very capable actor's director. Unfortunately the drama itself can really only be pretty shallow because the script and film's length (no matter how long it could be) doesn't allow much time to delve into any one of its dozens of characters. The quality of the writing isn't always on the same level, either: while some moments are well captured and examined, other seem thrown in, creating too vast a canvas to conveniently bring to a close. Of course, all the characters and events are wholly fabricated - save for the assassination itself. Still, in broad strokes he recreates the semblance of the social conscience in the late '60's with fine aplomb. At its worse Bobby is a well conceived if failed experiment; at its best it's a solid ensemble drama - either way, it's worthy of note.
Drama: 6/10

Renaissance (France - 2006)
Starring: Daniel Craig, Catherine McCormack, Jonathan Pryce
Director: Christian Volckman
Plot: In a Paris of the future where youth and beauty are prized above all, a maverick detective tries to find a kidnapped scientist who has uncovered a terrible secret which the state's largest corporation - a power unto itself - is desperately trying to uncover.
Review: A superbly represented future dystopia, replete with retro-future cars and lots of smoky visuals, Renaissance will be remembered for its arresting visuals, if not for its insubstantial plot. A film noir in every sense - the perpetual rain and darkness make for a constantly shadowy atmosphere - the tale and visuals owe as much to Blade Runner (a movie it won't escape being compared to) as it does to thrillers like The Third Man, European comics and Miller's Sin City graphic novels. The film boldly uses stark contrasts to give it its individuality, making a superb use of black & white computer animation (there are no grays) that feels fresh and startling. Indeed, the stylish animation actually looks and feels more impressive than some of the latest CGI blockbusters thanks to an appropriate use of motion capture techniques and minimal lines that capture the essence of characters and locations while limiting actual details. The mentioned influences also make for a very slick, well conceived sci-fi thriller. Alas, the story and characters aren't quite up to par with the execution. Oh, here's some interesting stuff, to be sure - and a nice array of effective action sequences, including a handful of shoot outs and a car chase - but the theme of the villainous Big Corporation, of the on-the-run scientists, of the honorable cop, all seem derivative and for the most part quite predictable. As for the voice acting by the likes of Craig and McCormack, it's solid if unimpressive. Despite some failings in the narrative department, the amazing visuals and solid pacing of Renaissance will keep one absorbed throughout the proceedings. And sometimes, that's enough for a recommendation.
Entertainment: 7/10

Dick Tracy (1990)
Starring: Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, Madonna
Director: Warren Beatty
Plot: Super-detective Dick Tracy finds his hands are full when he must battle a ruthless mob boss who has manages to unite the cities worst criminals while splitting his affections between his loyal girl-Friday and a sultry cabaret star.
Review: Based on the popular comic-strip detective created by Chester Gould back in in the 1930's, who was as famous for his radio watch as he was for the colorful denizens / criminals inhabiting his city, Dick Tracy is un unfortunate example of style over substance. As director, Beatty hits all the right notes in the visual department, capturing the cool factor of the classic strip to a T. Using a Sunday newspaper-strip styled 4-color palette, there's a wonderful art direction that's present in every aspect of the film from the vibrant cinematography, to the boldly stylized sets, the square shouldered costumes and the dollops of character makeup effects, all of which make the 2-D world of Dick Tracy come to brilliant life. If the ineffectual-seeming Beatty can't quite do justice to the forceful, square-jawed title character as an actor, the rest of the supporting cast is bang-on, and it's a joy to see them interpret some of Tracy's most notorious / infamous villains. Of prime note is main bad guy de Niro who is in fine over-the-top form as Big Boy Caprice and Madonna (in her best film performance to date), perfectly cast as the sultry femme fatale. Add to these a bevy of other denizens including the superbly-realized The Rodent, The Brow, Flattop, and Mumbles (a perfectly understated Dustin Hoffman) played by a great ensemble cast with the likes of Kathy Bates, Colm Meaney, James Caan, Dick Van Dyke and Paul Sorvino and its clear that no expense or effort was spared. Add to this a strong score, some song-and-dance routines (including the Oscar-winning Sooner or Later), and a good dose of comic-book humor - how can it go wrong? Unfortunately, despite all these efforts, and despite getting all the right elements in place, the end product just isn't up to the sum of its well-executed parts. Sure, there are some terrific set pieces, with shootouts, cliff-hangers, et al as Tracy battles it out on the streets but as a whole the film fails to generate any real excitement, and the pacing alters from action-packed to slow-as-molasses. At least the story, while minimal, is for the most part above-average for the course, especially in the hit-and-miss era of 1990's comic adaptations. As a stylish, beautiful-looking adaptation, Dick Tracy wins big. Too bad it's not consistent enough to warrant repeat viewings.
Entertainment: 6/10

My Architect (2003)
Director: Nathaniel Kahn
Plot: The life and work of famed Philadelphia architect Louis I. Kahn, who died penniless and alone in a Penn Station bathroom in 1974, is reviewed from the perspective of his illegitimate son who takes a journey to understand his father.
Review: A tale of a son's affection for a father he never knew, My Architect is both and exploration of modern architecture and a personal globe-trotting journey to seek answers to one's own identity. What follows for two hours is an intriguing - if long-winded - series of observations on art, family and spirituality. The late, celebrated Louis I. Kahn is considered to have been one of the most important architects of the twentieth century. His works, visited and explored in more or less chronological order and expertly reviewed by various professionals for the camera, are studies in clarity. His personal life, however - leaving behind three families following his mysterious death - was a far cry from his professional one. Kahn's illegitimate son's personal journey to meet his father's "extended" family - not an easy, or often comfortable task - and attempts at better understanding a father he saw only part-time until the age of 11, at discovering part of his own identity, touches a universal chord. How many of us have wanted, as adults, to really understand our parents and who they are / were? Can a man's life be explained by his personal struggles, his artistic legacy? Though the conversations often seem to surround the seemingly self-centered son more than his father, a fascinating portrait of Kahn does coalesce through the various interviews of family members and professional peers, a portrait of a passionate, caring man who seeked truth in steel and concrete but who was so obsessed with leaving a mark that he did not have time for any of his families - or that he could not find a way to combine the two. The film ends with keen observations on his final, massive project, the Capital Complex at Dhaka, Bangladesh, a sprawling series of monumental buildings. As My Architect finally meanders to a close, there is a sense that one will never really know Kohn, but that for now at least, he is less of a mystery.
Documentary: 7/10

Bridge to Terabithia (2007)
Starring: Annasophia Robb, Josh Hutcherson, Zooey Deschanel, Robert Patrick
Director: Gabor Csupo
Plot: A shy fifth grader befriends a new girl in his class and together they create a fantasy world in the woods where creatures and adventures await at every turn.
Review: Previously adapted as a made-for-TV movie in 1985, Bridge to Terabithia is the latest adaptation of Katherine Paterson's beloved young-adult novel about the pains of growing up, and fans of the original material are bound to be pleased. Though marketed as a fantasy film akin to The Chronicles of Narnia, this is really more of a children's drama than an adventure / fantasy film, so parents beware. Once the disappointment of this being a "standard" drama is passed, pre-teens will probably get into the film while adults will appreciate, if not quite enjoy, this story of friendship, a tale that supposes that things are always better when imagination can takes flight, and where fantasy makes even the most difficult aspects of real life better by the sharing of it. Think of this as an after-school TV special, but with better production values. Kudos also for keeping the more difficult aspects of the book: An unexpected, tragic twist towards the end may make this one a bit of a downer for younger audiences, but it's an important aspect of the story, and it's a situation that's well handled. Bringing the setting from the 70's to the present, helmer Csupo (better known for the animated Rugrats) capably directs his child actors, has a good sensibility to the pressures of childhood and school life, keeps the right tone throughout (neither light nor heavy handed), and knows to keep his real focus on the friendship between Robb and Hutcherson. It helps that the two leads are sympathetic, and the adult cast do good supporting turns. The few special effects sequences are ably handled, especially its parting shot, adding just the right amount of the fantastic during the few adventure-like sequences of the film. An ode to creativity and imagination, Bridge to Terabithia is a capable, honest look at grief and friendship, one that parents will be pleased to share with their kids.
Drama: 6/10