Skip the Concessions

Looking for a great buddy movie? Don't miss this one!

2009-05-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

We got word of the "The Hangover" a few months ago and the release date is fast approaching on this one. If you've been looking for a great buddy comedy movie like "Old School" but felt that while "Wedding Crashers" was good, it just wasn't close enough, this may be your movie.

On June 5th you can bet we'll be in the audience for this one. Feel free to join us, just stay away from the dark corner and the guy in the trench coat.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

Whadd'ya know? It's "That" time of year again.

2009-05-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

As you well know, May officially starts the “movie viewing season.” As these movies start to arrive in theaters the public begins to look at the openings and gets excited for favorite franchise releases or an adaptation that they’ve been waiting years to see transformed to a movie.

It’s around this time of year that we see our influence wane a bit as you pick the movies you’re going to see. The fact of the matter is, you’ve picked your movies to see back in January or February, and you’ve been gearing up to finally see them for months.

For this reason we’re going to scale back our reviews on the big movies. Last year we disappeared until the season was over. We’re not going full radio silent this year; we’ll just give a few quick paragraphs and our overall ratings. These movies and their subsequent water cooler talk have the potential to get peoples blood to boil, so we are looking forward to commentary.

Our true strength lies in taking a look at films that are just off the radar, or maybe you wouldn’t normally make time to catch that unfamiliar title. We’re going to stick with those movies that interest us but may escape your attention.

Look for smaller posts from us in the next few months before the September/October dramas begin again, but always look here for the sneaker film that you may have missed.

I’m just saying,

Elijah

Star Trek: The New, New Generation

2009-05-12T06:11:00.000-07:00

Blockbuster season may have began with "Wolverine" last weekend, but it got off to a roaring start this weekend with the reimagining of Star Trek. I saw this film on opening day, and immediately knew this was a winner, but I had know idea if word of mouth would carry this movie to the success it probably deserved.

Then I came to work on Monday. While waiting for an elevator at about midday, I happened to overhear 4 ladies from one of the law firms in our building having a lively discussion of the film. Now, these women looked like any other women you'd run into in an office building. I didn't notice any of them wearing fake pointy ears or a Klingon headpiece, so I assume that they were dragged to this film by a significant other. Not a one of them said a bad word while I waited and consequently rode the elevator down with them. That's when I realized that this movie may have some serious crossover and even better staying power through this week and into the coming weekend. At least until "Terminator: Salvation" hits on the 21st.

Personally, I found Star Trek to be a fun and exciting Sci-Fi adventure flick. Did it have it's plot holes? Sure, plenty of them, but not enough to distract the viewing at the time. The movie is a mile-a-minute romp and only slows down to throw a little levity at you. I caught so many nods to the past iterations of the series that it blew my mind. I wonder how many I didn't catch as I now know for certain that there was a tribble in there that I didn't see!

As for the new cast members, I loved the fit for many of them. Oddly, the two new actors I didn't immediately warm too were the Kirk and Spock actors, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto respectively. Chris Pine makes a fine, brash, young James T. Kirk with just enough desire to get himself into all kinds of trouble. The thing that creeped up on me about him was this little twang in his voice that reminded me of Christian Slater and kept taking me out of the movie. Side note: Slater is a trek fan and was given a cameo in Star Trek VI. Quinto on the other hand looks so much the part that it's nearly impossible to separate him from the role. For me the only problem was the fact that it wasn't Leonard Nimoy. I think that was compounded by the fact that Nimoy makes an appearance in this film.

The two that stood out the most for me were Dr. McCoy and Scottie. With very little screen time dedicated to those characters, Karl Urban and Simon Pegg made a big impression. Hilarious, and absolutely spot on. I can only hope that future sequels will highlight those two a bit more.

The Star Trek reboot gets 4 Green Chicks in Lingerie out of a possible 5 Green Chicks in Lingerie. For pure fun and adrenaline, this movie should be seen if you like science-fiction at all. Of course, there are some big plot holes, but if you're going to this movie and letting that trouble you, then why bother seeing it at all? But if there is one thing that you shake your head at and it just seems like pandering to "Star Wars" fans, well, I'll let that go. I'm looking at you, giant ice planet creatures.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

X-men Origins: Wolverine. A Wolverine for a kinder, more emotional generation.

2009-05-04T05:57:00.000-07:00

Why, you ask, do we head the post with a picture not of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine character? Rather, we are showing you someone who the comic book geeks (I include myself) will instantly recognize, but a person whom the public in general would scratch their collective heads at? Even after watching, they're still saying, "Who?"

The point is to illustrate the reason why this film is going to be watched despite the horrible reviews it received from the critics. There are two reasons, really. One, it's the first real "blockbuster" film to be released of the season. Secondly and more importantly, this film has the promise of showing a huge amount of never-before-seen reader favorites. That's right. The people who are going to put this film into the right money range are the people who have every hope that their favorite mutant from their childhood will make an appearance. Maybe not even childhood, maybe they are in their 30's and they have the coveted "disposable income." Geeks. God love us.

X-men Origins is the film version of the popular Marvel comic book that does just what the title suggests: it fills in the background we and indeed, he, himself never knew before Wolverine sauntered on to the screen 9 years ago, chomping a cigar with amnesia fully intact.

Hugh Jackman hits the sound stage for his 4th turn as the antihero Logan, codename: Wolverine. At this point is there a person alive who thinks anybody else could do a better job than Hugh Jackman in this role? It's gotten to the point for this reviewer, that when I see any other film starring Mr. Jackman, I can't help but think, "Hey, Wolverine is a magician too!" or "Hey, Wolverine kills vampires too!" In my opinion, Jackman is infallible in this role/film as an actor. He inhabits the role and we have no idea what else could be done because he has convinced us that this is Wolverine, take or leave it. Much like the people who refuse to acknowledge anyone other than Sean Connery as "Bond," no one could come in and change Wolverine. The public wouldn't allow it.

On the other hand, Liev Schreiber comes in and takes over the role of Victor Creed, a.k.a. Sabretooth. The original X-Men movie provided our first glimpse of the hulking Sabretooth, though that was a much more beastly, growling version played by wrestler turned actor Tyler Mane. Here we have a much more fleshed out Victor. In discovering the background of the most popular mutant, we also learn the influences and history of his arch nemesis. The reason for the differences in their personalities and what ultimately drives them. Schreiber is wonderful here and makes this character his own as well. His Sabretooth is much more evil and malevolent in intent; you feel that he could really be the death threat that you never saw in the hulked up, dumbed down version we saw previously. Liev Schrieber is a wonderfully capable actor and was the perfect choice to help hold this film together along side Jackman.

Like all summer popcorn films, there are problems with a couple plot holes and dialog for the sake of trying to be funny or witty. I always used to turn a blind eye to these moments in films; now that I write about them I find myself wincing when it occurs. I know I'm going to have to allude to them at some point. The fact of the matter is, these movies try to be fun and exciting. In doing so, sometimes the cheap lines are the easiest to go with, I acknowledge that. I don't always like it, but I understand. What really gets me though, is action for no conceivable reason. There is an action taken by one of the most anticipated characters that just begs for an explanation. We don't and won't get one. It is now three days later and it's still driving me insane. One inserted line of dialog could have changed my feelings, but they let it go. I know the real reason (the writers had painted themselves in a corner during a fight scene and needed a way out), but it is so suddenly inexplicable that I honestly dropped my popcorn on the floor when it happened.

As I said in my opening points, the factor that is going to bring the fans back to the theater for a second showing is the possibility of seeing their favorite mutant. This movie is just as full of them as the last entry in the franchise. Click on the links to see who played each. For me personally, seeing Emma Frost on the screen was enough to bring me to the theater. But how about some of the others that you readers may remember from your childhood? Silverfox? Yeah. Kestrel? Oh yeah. True fan favorites, Deadpool and Gambit? You better believe it! What about Bolt, The Blob, Zero, Cyclops? All there! Even Weapon XI, though with a different twist then in the books, but still fairly cool.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine garners 3.5 diamond hardened bodies out of a possible 5 diamond hardened bodies from me. Sure it's got it's weak points, but that's no reason to miss a fun, adventurous popcorn flick that just might take you back to your childhood again. Besides, did I mention Emma Frost?

I'm just saying,

Elijah

Monsters vs. Aliens. I have a feeling this was a really fun movie...

2009-04-22T15:51:00.000-07:00

Yep, you read that correctly. I honestly believe that had I been able to see the complete movie, I would have loved it.

Here is the synopsis for "Monsters vs. Aliens," provided by IMDB.com: When a meteorite from outer space hits a young lady and turns her into a giant monster, she is taken to a secret government compound where she meets a ragtag group of monsters also rounded up over the years.

First, I'm a sucker for animated movies. I love them. My oldest daughter and I go to every one. More on that later. Throw in the 3-d and we are excited to get there. This also happens to be one of the few times that I head straight for the concessions, you can't not get the popcorn for the kiddies, right?

This flick starts off with the classic "Attack of the 50 ft. woman" premise. You've got to love the classic references! At this point I started to see the signs that this might not be going well for the 6 year old though. Something about a meteorite landing on a girl might have put a little tremor in the kid.

Next we get the inevitable military interference. Capture the 50 ft. woman and secure her back to the secret military installation! Now my darling child is sitting on my lap holding MY arms around her, but I'm definitely digging this flick as we get the comedy sequences that introduce us to the supporting cast of monsters. She buries her face in my chest.

Third we have the introduction of the Alien antagonists who launch a giant robot probe to track down the landing of the meteorite and acquire the precious mineral inside. Off come the 3-d glasses; she's now staring at a blurry screen. Honestly, I'm kind of digging the design and intro to our space enemies.

Finally, we have what I "assume" is the first battle of "Monsters vs. Aliens." This was filled with great comedy pieces, spectacular graphics and wondrous 3-d effects. The monsters are getting their asses handed to them, but we're starting to see a turn-around in the battle...and we're leaving. My daughter is seconds away from crying, I'm out $60 total. Screw those recycling boxes for the glasses; I'm getting something out of this. Even if I can't use them anywhere else.

Based on what I saw of "Monsters vs. Aliens," I'm giving this film 4.5 emotionally scarred little girls out of a possible 5 emotionally scarred little girls. So, when the dvd comes out in 6 months, I'll finally get to see the film and hope that I don't have to eat my words.

For those of you wondering how the kid made out, I leave you with this: after leaving the theater we promptly went across the street to the bookstore to pick out somethings to calm the nerves and return to a happy place. We enter the kids' section and the first thing my child sees is the book version of "Monsters vs. Aliens." At least I have that book to read to my child before bedtime for the next six months while I wait for the dvd.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

Sunshine Cleaning. I think you missed a spot.

2009-04-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

Remember "Little Miss Sunshine?" It was the little independent comedy that carried Alan Arkin to the promised land of Oscar winners. The people responsible for that surprise hit are back with another serving and they've brought Mr. Arkin with them.

As not to spoil the overall story, here is a brief synopsis from IMDB.com: In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school, a mom starts an unusual business -- a bio hazard removal/crime scene clean-up service -- with her unreliable sister.

The potential in this movie for hilarity is off the charts...but if you've seen the previously referenced "Little Miss Sunshine," then you know that the humor will be inferred or the predicament itself will be inherently funny. In fact, this film plumbs the same depths and emotions but fails to deliver where the little differences occur.

I may be the worst person to review "Sunshine Cleaning" for the simple fact that the two movies are so alike in structure and circumstance, I can't separate one from the other.

I will say that the acting in this film is very good! The main cast all shine in their respective roles. Amy Adams continues her successful string of good roles here as the main character, "Rose." You can sense her desperately searching for a foothold throughout the film; a way to regain past glory, to be the good parent, to keep the family afloat. All the while, life gets in the way. What can happen, does happen. Unfortunately, everything is so telegraphed that you know it's inevitable and there is no way for the audience to jump into the screen and stop just one little event from befalling our champion. The spectacular thing about Amy Adams is the way her acting helps you to feel every emotion her characters encounter. Whether it's glee, embarrassment, jealousy, disgust or just plain sadness, you absolutely know and feel what the character is feeling. That's a direct credit to the actress.

Emily Blunt turns in the equally fun and self-destructive little sister, Norah. We learn so much as her story unfolds throughout the film. We learn not just about why this woman is the way she is, but why the family in it's entirety is in fervent need of a caretaker. Older siblings everywhere will quickly identify the slightly off younger sibling, that can't seem to get it together as a lack of common sense and perpetual bad luck go hand-in-hand. Her journey seems so disjointed, until we see the answers slowly unfold in a series of flashbacks as the movie progresses. It's through these interludes that we begin to see insight into everything that this family does; a brief glimpse into the missing heart, if you will. Emily Blunt's turn here is so far from her role in "The Devil wore Prada," that I had a hard time seeing the actress at all. That is an accomplishment.

Alan Arkin virtually reprises the role that won him an Oscar just two years ago. He's good. I won't say he's not. This time the quirks are taken up a notch, but this is where the film loses it's appeal. He isn't given a cute little girl as his "straight man." The entire reason the last film held together so well, was the connection between Arkin and Abigail Breslin. This time around, the child in the film is his grandson, Oscar. Jason Spevack steps in to fill the role as Amy Adams son here, but the character is written as a equally quirky boy, perhaps too smart for everyone around him, but unrecognized for a dolt. Frankly, where the story of a little girl's adorable relationship with her grandfather and pursuit of a dream carried the last movie, the loss of that connection hurts here. We are left with only despair, loss and craziness. There's no occasional respite; the actual laughs are few and far between.

The one shining knight in the film comes from an unlikely source in the form of a store owner. Clifton Collins, Jr. plays Winston, the one person who goes out of his way to offer assistance to our heroines, whether he likes it or not. Steve Zahn makes an appearance in the film and turns in another solid performance. That is what Mr. Zahn does; shows up and does the work.

To sum up: "Sunshine Cleaning" had the potential to match the success of "Little Miss Sunshine." In order to do that it had to replicate the lovable draw between Grandfather and Grandson, but that attempt ended up in a disjointed mish-mash. Further, had that succeeded then it would have just been a remake of the previous film (and let's face it, it pretty much is anyway).

I'm giving "Sunshine Cleaning" 2 Trunks full of Bay Shrimp out of a possible 5 Trunks full of Bay Shrimp. Despite the desperate attempt at the end of the movie to pull me out of the depression it had actually inflicted on me, I just couldn't walk away from this film without wishing that I had just rewatched "Little Miss Sunshine."

I'm just saying,

Elijah

In search of companionship, Jake takes on "I Love You Man."

2009-03-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

It’s Friday night and I am single. Both of my roommates, one male (my best friend), and one female, have to work in the morning and are refusing the mighty sword of peer pressure to drink. My other good friend is about to be a baby daddy, which has changed his social drinking habits considerably. Sometimes I wish that I knew how to push through the wall of embarrassment and drink alone, but I can’t. I have too much self-respect. Though, I hear Elijah has no self-respect and consequently, no problem drinking alone.

(Editor’s note: This is true; no problem, but I prefer to think of it as being self-assured.)

I need a new wingman, a drinking buddy, someone to shoot the sh*t with, to check out and hit on women with reckless abandon, a friend. This is a massive dilemma for any straight man: How to find and audition a new friend without coming across as gay. My solution was to ditch the idea of drinks at the door, skip the concessions and find out how Peter Klaven, the main character in "I Love You Man," found his best man.

To be honest, I was a little skeptical when I first started entertaining the notion of meeting up with Peter and "I Love You Man." The cast of characters that he rolled with were primarily part of Judd Apatow’s crew, whom I have a deep comedic respect for, but his name was no where to be found. Comedy is a strange beast. Either you have the ability to write it or you don’t. Before I dropped my $10.50 for a first-runner, I needed to know what kind of relationship I was getting myself into. Three or four clicks later, I was staring at John Hamburg’s IMDB page. I knew at that moment that for this night and the next two hours, I was going to be in good hands. Back in 2001, Hamburg had written one of my favorite movies of all time. Based on my previous posts, you will never guess, so, I’ll just tell you. It was "Zoolander." I’ve watched it at least a half dozen times. It’s one of those once-a-year flicks that won’t get old.

Peter Klaven, embodied by Paul Rudd, is a real-estate developer in L.A. who has just proposed to his girlfriend Zooey, played by Rashida Jones. Zooey has a wide circle of friends (including Jaime Pressly and Sarah Burns) who she hangs out with and over-shares relationship details on a regular basis. Peter has a circle of none. After overhearing a conversation between Zooey and her friends about how men with few friends can become clingy, Peter embarks on a journey to find a best friend. He enlists the help of his younger, gay brother Robbie, played by SNL’s Andy Sandberg, to set up man-dates with straight men. After going through a series of comedic failures, Pistol-Pete stumbles upon Sydney Fife, played by Apatow stalwart Jason Segel, at an open-house for Lou Ferrigno. The two have an instant chemistry and the rest of the movie becomes a delightful balancing act between maintaining his relationship with his fiancée and building a man bond with Syd.

While Apatow and Hamburg both write in the same vein of comedy, Apatow’s aorta is intelligent d*ck-and-fart jokes and Hamburg’s is quirky character work. Peter is well written and well acted. Rudd is in his zone playing the challenged lover and Segel is solid. I felt that Sydney, as a character, had a lot more to offer than what was given in the editing room or from a directorial standpoint. He had a lot of baggage that was only hinted at during the film. Yet, this is a light-hearted comedy and Syd’s darkness would not have had the mass appeal. I am just a sadist and like the deep end of the pool.

Outside of Rudd, Segel and Jones, all of the characters in this film were well written character archetypes; nothing serious, just funny interludes to move the plot along and add depth to the film. There were one or two of Peter’s man-dates that I thought were caricatures but they didn’t bother me.

When you have a good script and good actors, your job as a director is to not f*ck it up by pulling it with a heavy hand. It doesn’t need to be stylized. It doesn’t need to be overly dramatic. It doesn’t need anything accept to flow its natural course. As the writer and director, Hamburg knew what he had and checked all of those boxes, nurtured what was already there and brought to life a very entertaining film.

The heart of this movie is in Peter’s journey. Awkwardness around new people, love and relationships and the desire to be successful are universal themes that one can easily relate to. The real genius behind good comedy is the ability to write outlandish characters and ground them in real human emotion. "I Love You Man" was a resounding success in my mind. I am actually surprised that this movie hasn’t had more pre-open promotion. I am guessing that the studio thought that the list of stars gracing the silver-screen would be able to attract the masses in short order. I was at a 10:20pm showing and the theater was packed. I guess that means they succeeded too.

My rating for this movie is 4 man-dates out of 5 man-dates. It was no "Zoolander," but it was right on par with "Knocked Up," "Super Bad," "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "40-year Old Virgin." It was worth every bit of the $10.50 for the ticket and the $3.50 for the Reece’s Pieces. So I lied earlier about the concessions. So what? But, I still didn’t find a new friend. In the words of Fred Rogers, “Won’t you be mine?”

Jake

Who's on your list?

2009-03-13T06:10:00.001-07:00

Recently, I was watching the movie "Definitely, Maybe" again (review here) and it reminded me why I entered Isla Fisher on my "List of 5."

Then I started thinking, "We've mentioned our 'lists' in some of our reviews, but have we ever applied pen to paper?"

What I'm saying is this: in your group of friends, haven't you had this conversation? Maybe it's a conversation that guys have more than girls, but ever since that episode it's much more common. People have always fantasized about celebrities, but that Friends episode made it funny and socially acceptable to talk about hooking up with a highly improbable partner and suffering no repercussions from your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend. That would work in real life, right?

Well, this thought led me to ask Jake and one of our long time woman readers to put THEIR list of 5 together. Together with my list, we're going to put them up for your scrutiny, approval and bewilderment.

Then we're going to ask you, who's on your list? You can email it to us at the link on the top left, or enter it in the comments at the bottom of this link. Additionally, if you know where you can find Jake or myself in real life, email us at those spots or on Facebook. We'd love to put an article together with every one's various picks, then rank the most popular.

Without further ado, here's Jake's:

1. Jennifer Connelly - film actress

2. Evangeline Lilly - Lost

3. Kate Beckinsale - film actress

4. Rosario Dawson - film actress

5. Carla Gugino - Film actress

Our Reader's picks, we'll call her Mac:

1. Eddie Veder - Pearl Jam

2. Matt Damon - film actor

3. Ryan Reynolds - t.v./film actor

4. Daniel Craig - film actor

5. Denzel Washington - film actor

Finally, Elijah's unlaminated list of 5:

1. Isla Fisher - t.v./film actress

2. Sara Evans - Country singer

3. Julianne Moore - film actress

4. Emma Stone - film actress

5. Lindy Booth - Canadian t.v./film actress

What can I say? I like the redheads...

So Who's on your list?

Elijah

Who's watching the Watchmen? Me and every other geek in America; sadly not many others.

2009-03-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

The most anticipated comic book adaptation this side of "The Dark Knight" took place this weekend. I was there in all my geek glory, not the midnight Thursday show mind you. There was no way I was going to miss the Friday show though. So, was I disappointed, content or exuberant? We'll get into that in a moment...

For those of you uninitiated in Watchmen lore, here is your brief synopsis from IMDB.com: "Watchmen" is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the "Doomsday Clock" - which charts the USA's tension with the Soviet Union - is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes.

After directing 2006's surprise hit "300", Zach Snyder was given the opportunity to tackle another Alan Moore story. The good news about that fact is that this man is dedicated to bringing the pages and panels to life on the screen. Viewers familiar with the graphic novel will see the main focus of the story practically painted on the screen as if a panel from the book. That geeks me out the most. The level of dedication to the source is absolutely amazing. I don't know if it's a detriment that he sticks so faithfully, it is a bit hard for me to step back and look at it from a newbies perspective.

The world that is created for the movie is a grey, brink of war place. As it should be. This is not a light hearted movie. The blood and gore is there for all to see. It is a gritty, rainy, end of world time and the various flash backs bring us up-to-date as the current mystery unravels before us. I was worried that it would all be very overwhelming and hard to follow, but it was done masterfully through each characters perspective. It was very easy to follow the plot lines as they unraveled to the conclusion, something I feared layman's might not catch easily. Well, fear not reader, you may not catch every nuance that a fan of the book may pick up on, but you certainly won't be foundering in a sea of incomprehensible material.

The main cast of characters is extensive, so I'll just list the main actors here:

The Comedian - Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Rorschach - Jackie Earle Haley

Dr. Manhattan - Billy Crudup

Silk Spectre II - Malin Ackerman

Nite Owl II - Patrick Wilson

Adrian Veidt - Matthew Goode

Sally Jupiter - Carla Gugino

When we get into the acting performances, I see an average score across the board when you lump the performances together. Of course, every group has it's standouts and laggards so let's start with Jackie Earle Haley. Rorschach is the standout character of the book and it's no less evident in the movie. Haley turns in an outstanding performance with the mask on, but somehow manages to take it to the next level when the mask is removed. Carla Gugino as the first Silk Spectre, Sally Jupiter, gives a campy performance but I'm convinced that she was directed to be over the top and living as close to the line as possible without falling over the edge. Lastly, I'll point out Malin Ackerman's turn as the Silk Spectre 2. Her lines fall a little flat during scenes you would expect to be a bit more emotional. Then again, perhaps it's directed that way to reflect the personality of her counterpart in Dr. Manhattan, maybe to show that she's given up a little inside. When we see her step up to the plate and enter the fray that's when we begin to see the fighter inside.

The one idea I want to convey in regards to the casting is, that every actor/actress filled the role well. There wasn't one instance that brought a feeling of regret as to the assigned job. As a fan, that adds something to the overall film.

I don't want to sugar-coat the story in anyway. I stated above that the story is focused on nuclear armageddon and the brinkmanship between the two great superpowers of the age, but it's also centered on a brutal murder that gets the ball rolling. This is an "R" rated movie, with plenty of blood, gore, nudity, sex and more blood. The story takes us to all corners of the world and time to bring us a murder mystery that may in fact harbor the very answer to survival. It's arguably the most celebrated comic of all time, so if you're not too squeamish and you want a little escapism, go spend three hours at your local theater. Enjoy some popcorn, because that's what this movie is all about.

Let's see if you can follow this: "Watchmen" gets 4 genetically altered blue tigers out of a possible 5 genetically altered blue tigers. We started with 4.5 but had to take away .5 for removing the giant squid storyline and .5 for removing "Tales of the Black Freighter." Then we added .5 back for maintaining Rorschach as the coolest vigilante superhero of all time and showing us what The Joker would be like if he were on the other side.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

P.S. Look for an animated DVD of "Tales of the Black Freighter" to be released in the next two weeks.

Laurel Canyon: Jake reviews his latest Netflix find!

2009-03-03T04:24:00.000-08:00

Where do love..sex..music..sex and temptation come together? Laurel Canyon.

Obviously! I know, I was thinking my bedroom too. Lisa Cholodenko, who wrote and directed this gripping, heartfelt drama, must have been my personal voyeur while I was attending college and put it on film…all the way back in 2002. I am currently on a bit of a Christian Bale binge on Netflix and I thought that I might share this one with you. Elijah goes for the bigger picture; I like to focus on the details, i.e. the Indies.

The story follows Sam, a new resident at an L.A. hospital played by Mr. Bale, and Alex, his lover and medical student writing her dissertation played by Kate Beckinsale. Having left their East-coast med-school lives behind without having found housing in L.A., the couple is forced to move back into Sam’s mother’s home in Laurel Canyon. Sam’s mother, played by Frances McDormand, happens to be a successful record producer who had just broken up with a long-term boyfriend, gave him the beach house and moved back into her Laurel Canyon home. Sam, expecting the house to be an empty, quiet spot for Alex to finish her paper, is confronted with the very same world of drugs, music and compromised morals that he had purposefully left behind. While Sam struggles to cope with the realities of his mother’s twisted world and its affect on Alex at home, his hospital residency provides an equally tempting situation in the form of a sultry and innocent second year resident name Sara, played by “Californication” star Natascha McElhone.

I hope that I didn’t go too far with the plot synopsis. It’s juicy and I didn’t want to squeeze it all out but I still had to get at some of the pulp because I liked the story that much. The rest is for you to drink up.

As a writer and director, the success or failure of a movie is really in your hands. That can be stressful. For the most part, Cholodenko pulled it off and I applaud her for that. However, at the climax of this movie she took a potentially fierce scene, two strong actors and made “poop.” Sometimes it just happens; at least that is what they said in “Forrest Gump.” She did, in general, get a lot out of her actors and the cream did rise to the top. Bale and McDormand were fantastic, as I expected coming in. I was not disappointed. Beckinsale is in my guilt-free Top 5 and definitely looks great on camera, but she didn’t deliver the performance I was hoping for. Her journey is a long one but the internal conflict that had to have been boiling just didn’t translate. I wanted more.

To be brutally honest, Frances McDormand, in my opinion, may be one of the most asexual leading ladies in Hollywood but I found her strangely attractive in this movie. Her character, Jane, had this Sheryl Crow vibe going on and it worked well. It could just be that everyone loves the rock star syndrome. The real rock star in the movie is Ian McKnight, a Brit pop-rocker and Jane’s current love interest, played brilliantly by the talented character actor Alessandro Nivola.

In the end…Bale and McDormand stole the show and it made for a good if not great rental. The movie is in the same vein as “Almost Famous” with the rigid world of the collegiate professor or medical practitioner juxtaposed with the loose, free-love and zero consequences of rock-and-mother-f*n-rollers. For a rating, I’m strumming this film with 3.5 Stratocasters out of 5 Stratocasters. Whatever happened to zero-consequences and free popcorn? Oh yeah, we skipped the concessions. I forgot.

Jake

2009 Oscars: Change was in the air, but no surprises among the winners.

2009-02-23T04:02:00.000-08:00

Ben Stiller's lampoon of Joaquin Phoenix was, for me, the best and funniest moment of the night. Anyone who's seen the actual Letterman interview would surely agree that was strange moment and Stiller's take on stage brought down the house.

With new producers, we saw a new format for the show. A great many set changes were interesting and the seating in a semi-circle around the stage was an interesting way to involve the audience. My favorite change to the program was the introduction of the acting categories which saw 5 previous winners come to the stage and introduce each nominee. It was a fantastically personal touch that everyone enjoyed, particularly as in almost every case it was a hardened veteran or legend that spoke to a younger generation. Of course each group of 5 included the previous years winner, so keeping that tradition alive was good to see.

As I stated in the title, the actual winners of the Oscars were largely expected. So no real surprises anywhere. I managed to get 78% of the winners correct but Jake squeaked out the win by picking up one more win for 83% on the night. Penelope Cruz's win for Supporting Actress was his ace in the hole. In my defence, I had picked her as my sneaker win.

For those of you who didn't watch or didn't catch all the categories, here is your complete list of winners:

Original Screenplay: Milk

Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire

Sound Editing: The Dark Knight

Original Song: "Jai Ho" - Slumdog Millionaire

Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire

Make-up: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Editing: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director: Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

Costume Design: The Duchess

Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire

Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Animated Film: Wall-E

Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Actress: Kate Winslet - The Reader

Actor: Sean Penn - Milk

Best Motion Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Lastly, the acceptance of supporting actor by the Ledger family was short and sweet and while the win was practically a foregone conclusion, it's nice to see the academy get it right. It will always be debated if it was the performance or the emotion that garnered the win. For my money, his work in The Dark Knight was one of the most unexpected and inspired pieces of acting I saw in 2008. Frankly, he deserved it.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

2009 Oscar Predictions

2009-02-18T12:30:00.000-08:00

We are coming up on the 81st Academy Awards this Sunday and like last year I'm throwing my predictions in the ring for your perusal or debate if you so choose. I'm throwing out the Documentary, Short, and Foreign film categories this year because frankly, I didn't see any of them. Feel free to comment by clicking the button at the bottom of the post or sending an email from the link on the top right above the video bar. If you'd like to follow along or challenge me, you can get a nominations sheet here.

Jake's picks are in blue.

To quote a line from one of this years Supporting Actor Nominees, "Here we go..."

Original Screenplay:

Want to win: Don't care

Will win: Milk

Might sneak in: Wall-E or Happy-Go-Lucky

Want to win: In Bruges

Will win: Milk

Might sneak in: In Bruges or Wall-E

Adapted Screenplay:

Want to win: Frost/Nixon or The Reader

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire

Might sneak in: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Want to win: Don't care

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire

Might sneak in: Frost/Nixon

Visual Effects:

Want to win: The Dark Knight

Will win: Iron Man

Might sneak in: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Want to win: The Dark Knight

Will win: The Dark Knight

Might sneak in: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Sound Editing:

Want to win: The Dark Knight

Will win: The Dark Knight

Might sneak in: Iron Man

Want to win: The Dark Knight

Will win: The Dark Knight

Might sneak in: Iron Man

Original Song:

Want to win: Don't care

Will win: Jai Ho - Slumdog Millionaire

Might sneak in: Down to Earth - Wall-E

Want to win: Don't care

Will win: Jai Ho - Slumdog Millionaire

Might sneak in: Down to Earth - Wall-E

Original Score:

Want to win: Don't care

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire

Might sneak in: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Want to win: Slumdog Millionaire

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire

Might sneak in: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Makeup:

Want to win: The Dark Knight

Will win: The Dark Knight

Might sneak in: Hellboy 2

Want to win: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Will win: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Might sneak in: The Dark Knight

Film Editing:

Want to win: The Dark Knight

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire

Might sneak in: Frost/Nixon

Want to win: The Dark Knight

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire

Might sneak in: Frost/Nixon

Director:

Want to win: Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

Will win: Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

Might sneak in: Stephen Daldry - The Reader

Want to win: Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

Will win: Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

Might sneak in: Gus Van Sant - Milk

Costume Design:

Want to win: Don't care

Will win: The Duchess

Might sneak in: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Want to win: Don't care

Will win: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Might sneak in: The Duchess

Cinematography:

Want to win: The Reader

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire

Might sneak in: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Want to win: Slumdog Millionaire

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire

Might sneak in: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Art Direction:

Want to win: Don't care

Will win: The Duchess

Might sneak in: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Want to win: Don't Care

Will win: The Duchess

Might sneak in: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Animated Feature:

Want to win: Kung-Fu Panda

Will win: Wall-E

Might sneak in: No chance, Wall-E a lock.

Want to win: Wall-E

Will win: Wall-E

Might sneak in: No chance, Wall-E a lock.

Supporting Actress:

Want to win: Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Will win: Viola Davis - Doubt

Might sneak in: Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Want to win: Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Will win: Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Might sneak in: Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

Supporting Actor:

Want to win: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Will win: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Might sneak in: Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt

Want to win: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Will win: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Might sneak in: Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt

Actress:

Want to win: Kate Winslet - The Reader

Will win: Kate Winslet - The Reader

Might sneak in: Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married

Want to win: Kate Winslet - The Reader

Will win: Kate Winslet - The Reader

Might sneak in: Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married

Actor:

Want to win: Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon

Will win: Sean Penn - Milk

Might sneak in: Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Want to win: Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Will win: Sean Penn - Milk

Might sneak in: Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon

Best Picture:

Want to win: Frost/Nixon

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire

Might sneak in: The Reader

Want to win: Wall-E (political statement, not eligible) or The Wrestler

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire

Might sneak in: The Reader

There you have it kids. Now, what do you think?

Elijah and Jake

Slumdog Millionaire. A 2 hour tutorial on the caste system.

2009-02-17T14:26:00.000-08:00

Here we are. We've reached the last of the Best Picture nominees and the odds on favorite to win the Oscar. "Slumdog Millionaire" has basically swept the top spot in nearly every awards program this season and all of it leads to this Saturday night where the film is poised to walk away with the little, gold, bald man. Let's take a look at the film and discover why this particular Bollywood production has been able to climb the mountain and plant it's flag at the top.

From IMDB.com, a brief synopsis: A Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated, events from his life history are shown which explain why he knows the answers.

The above entry is the basic outline of the film and we end up following the main character Jamal Malik from early childhood to early manhood. Throughout each flashback montage Jamal is joined by his older brother Salim who wishes to take care of his wiser younger brother in any manner, but is pushed farther to the dark side as he realizes that though he needs this self-validation, his brother may not need his help to survive.

The drive of the film is centered around a young girl named Latika that survived the slums with Jamal and Salim. It is the obsession Jamal feels to keep the group together that leads the boys into each adventure. As each flashback is told, we get closer to real-time events where Jamal is being interrogated in one scene and in another participating in the game show. Eventually, we reach the convergence of flashbacks and real-time that propels the story to it's climax: can and more importantly how will Jamal find Latika, is it possible for Salim to turn from the dark side in redemption, has Latika resigned to her fate or will she seek the sun and Jamal?

Let me start the performance section by saying that the best acting in this movie comes from the boys who portray Jamal and Salim at the various ages. Everyone of these young actors pulls off great performances. Obviously, natural talent has much to do with this, but I would also heap a lot of credit on director Danny Boyle for getting the right emotions and actions out of his actors. Thankfully, the majority of this film is spent watching these children grow up.

The last third is where I find the performances slump as we encounter the three leads on the verge of adulthood. Dev Patel has been garnering much attention as the older version of Jamal, and I confess that his performance during the torture and interrogation scenes are well done, but he is little more than a slack-jawed boy during the rest of his scenes. I found myself staring at him during the game show scenes wanting to yell at the screen to "DO SOMETHING!" That for me brought the whole thing down a notch. How can you believe the emotion of the story if your lead actor doesn't know how to show little more than sarcasm and a constant look of being dumbfound?

The elder actors playing Salim and Latika, Mudhar Mittal and Freida Pinto respectively, do a slightly better job but still don't rise to the level that their younger counterparts show us. Mittal as Salim reminds me vaguely of Al Pacino's character in "Scarface." That's obviously a stretch, but it may have been character arc and a more visual aspect than anything else. Freida Pinto's screen time is spent largely in a frightened state and to the actress' credit we do feel her peril as we watch events unfold. The problem is, the other emotion she's supposed to feel. I'll get into that little later, but my main concern is this: where is it coming from? I believe it's false and I'll speak to that at the end.

The supporting actors are strong in their roles here. We have Iirfan Khan as the police inspector who turns in a convincing role akin to his counterpart in the movie "The Usual Suspects." A slumlord mobster invoking "Miami Vice" played by Mahesh Manjrekar is a convincing dirtbag and Ankur Vikal turns in a diabolical role as king of the beggars completely channeling classic Dickens character Fagin. Finally, we have Anil Kapoor in the role of Prem, the host of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." I swear to you, dear reader, there was actual cheese flowing from the screen. I had to physically pick my feet from the floor as not to mess my shoes. The supporting cast in general fulfilled their role nicely and the only thing I would tell you is to watch for outward changes in attitude as the story evolves.

In the end, the story is fantastic and the framing of the narrative is great with the interrogation and game show scenes. Given that alone, I understand every award win and know that the Academy will award this film with a Best Picture Oscar. Now I'll tell you why I can't give this film a full score. Love. Love is given as the driving feeling for Jamal to pursue Latika throughout this picture. How can that be? We are never given any scenes where this is shown to bud. Love must be alluded to at least in a film, realized, nurtured, longed for. How can you love someone when you've spent your entire life trying to find them? I couldn't buy it in the end. Loyalty I would understand. A kinship certainly. Lust even. "Slumdog Millionaire" receives 4.5 lifelines out of a possible 5 lifelines from this reviewer. If this were California they'd be divorced in three years, he'd be splitting any winnings and kicked out of the house.

I'm not even going to go into the spectacle of the "Thrilleresque" song and dance routine at the end.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

Towelhead. Jake's latest dvd review, please don't drip on the floor.

2009-02-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

I’m dipping into the DVD vault for "Towelhead," an independent film chronicling the coming-of-age story of a Lebanese-American girl living in Texas during the first Gulf War. It premiered in September at the Toronto Film Festival but failed to make it to the major cineplexes. The film raked in a whopping $371,000 at the box office, but not because the movie is bad. Much like everyone’s early teen years and their own battle with the puberty monster, this film is just awkward. If it were truly a bad movie, I wouldn’t review it.

The title of the movie is somewhat misleading. “Towelhead” invokes a racist undertone that would suggest that the movie is about the difficulties of a multi-race girl in an unforgiving and racist backdrop of the American South. It isn’t. Sorry to burst your, “I want to hate Texas even more” bubble, and I’m sorry to all you Texas readers (if there are any) to whom I have just alienated. If you notice, the IMDB title has been changed for just that reason.

If you are familiar with Alan Ball’s work as a writer, director and producer, you know that he is sexually driven; sometimes in a tantalizingly good way and other times, abrasive. I really enjoyed the first season of his new HBO series “True Blood” but that is a story for a blog of another color. The story, based on Alicia Erian's novel of the same name, follows Jasira, a thirteen-year-old who is the daughter of a broken home. Living with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend, she is sent to live with her father in Houston, Texas after the boyfriend makes a sexual advance. After the move she is confronted with an emotionally abusive father, a sexually-frustrated-middle-aged-redneck neighbor, her own internal identity battle and desperate attempts at real love.

Sounds like a lot to tackle. It was and that’s why this film failed. There is beauty in simplicity. There was just too much going on in this film that it couldn’t get out of its own way. There were moments of brilliance and there were moments that were flat. It was like a 2,000 piece jigsaw puzzle that sounds so enticing that you actually start it, get the edges finished, decide to come back tomorrow, but it never gets finished because you can never get all the sky pieces to fit together.

The two redeeming elements of this film were Summer Bishil and Aaron Eckhart, who played Jasira and the middle-aged neighbor, respectively. As if you needed that; although Eckhart as a 13-year-old half Lebanese girl might be funny. Bishil gives a solid performance and conveys the confusion of an unguided kitten quite charmingly. She is an up-and-coming actress that I would keep an eye on. However, the fact that she was 18/19 during the production eroded some of the innocence that I would have liked to have seen in the earlier scenes of the movie.

Eckhart, God save him, played the creepy guy roll to a “T”. The fact that this movie didn’t go mainstream was probably good for Eckhart’s career. He has made a nice name for himself over the past few years and this character would definitely jar loose his position in many moviegoers’ hearts. There were a few scenes between Bishil and Eckhart that I felt uncomfortable watching, which is likely what the director was aiming at, but no one likes to hear nails on a chalkboard.

Overall, I give this movie 2 1/2 God Bless Texas's out of 5 God Bless Texas's. There was a lot of potential with a cast that includes the aforementioned actors as well as Toni Collette but the plot needed to get hacked into two or three separate movies. It’s worth a watch if you see it on the IFC channel or if you have Netflix but there are better movies to see on DVD before renting this one.

Jake

Frost/Nixon: 70's clothes and hair, couldn't possibly get better than this, right?

2009-02-16T09:44:00.000-08:00

How do you make a slam dunk, award nominated film? It can't be easy. Many try and fail every year; people whose names we may never know fail, not for lack of trying.

What if your name is Ron Howard? The world has known your name since you tied up your first sneakers and now they expect great pictures from you time and again. I suspect Mr. Howard would say that he makes pictures that interest him and let's the celluloid fall where it may. I respect that and would wholeheartedly believe that to be a very true statement coming from him.

I have a better route to nomination. Let me throw this on the page and see if you, the reader, agree. Why not take a Tony award winning Broadway play and see if it works on the big screen? It worked tremendously well for "Chicago," not to mention countless others through the decades. It seems to me that you may not get the big box office numbers on a project like this, but the character drama and subject matter alone will garner Academy attention. Now, match top notch director Ron Howard with the one thing he loves in a story: great character drama. The result, I'm happy to say, is an entertaining and gripping film. Gripping.

The brief plot summary of Frost/Nixon brought to us by IMDB.com: For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent. But in summer 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency. Nixon surprised everyone in selecting Frost as his televised confessor, intending to easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans. Over the course of their encounter, each man would reveal his own insecurities, ego and reserves of dignity--ultimately setting aside posturing in a stunning display of unvarnished truth.

Perhaps the best move in creating this film started in the casting room: bring in the two lead actors who have made these characters come to life on stage. First, Michael Sheen playing the part of television host David Frost. I have never seen a brighter smile or more natural smarm ooze from a character like I did watching this film. Well, other than myself, at midnight in a pub after more than my share of gin and tonics. Indeed, during the first third of the film I found myself thinking of a slightly reserved Austin Powers. Once we get to the meat of the film we discover that the masked insecurity and self-doubt can only be challenged by the intense desire to reclaim his spot in the world and the respect that he feels he's lost somewhere along the way. Mr. Sheen pulls off this character as if he were born to play it. In facing one of the most infamous world leaders Sheen lets us feel the imposing figure before him. We shrink with him as he sits face to face with cunning skill. Can this be turned around, can he master the challenge? If you know your history, you already know.

Character actor Frank Langella recreates his Broadway turn as Richard Nixon here for our viewing pleasure. My God, what a commanding performance. When the character appears on the screen you cannot take your eyes off him. This may be one of the best jobs of becoming the role that this writer has ever seen. His Nixon is utterly Presidential. This epitomizes the feeling that when a person walks into a room and before saying a single word, that person dominates the attention of all present. Langella shows us the fire of a competitor, the wilyness of a conspiritor, the loss through time and circumstance, and a peek into the soul of someone you might have thought no longer possessed one. Were I in a position to do it, I would have handed the Oscar for best actor to Frank Langella the moment I left the theater.

The supporting cast top off the picture. Each gets to enjoy great scenes and more than one funny line is thrown about to lighten the picture when it needs it. One of my favorite scene stealers shows up here in the form of Oliver Platt. His timing in delivery is fantastic, and we haven't see enough of him in general lately. Sam Rockwell comes aboard to inhabit the form of "hate" that the American public exudes, bringing this picture to your house, where you live, so that you can feel the spirit of the time. Kevin Bacon shows us his tight, authoritative side again as the chief of staff for Nixon. When Bacon is on the screen you know you're going to get tension and he doesn't disappoint here. Finally, one of my favorite British actors, Matthew Macfadyen appears in a strong supporting role alongside the Frost character. Of course, who could forget Clint Howard, who makes his signature appearance in every Ron Howard film.

Frost/Nixon had me skeptically watching in the beginning. Laughing along in the middle. Then finally unable to move from my seat in the last third as we reach the actual interview. This is what every moviegoer wants: an experience at the theater that grabs them and doesn't let go until the credits and perhaps after. I am giving Frost/Nixon 5 italian loafers out of a possible 5. If you're not interested in history or political dramas, this may not be a film for you, but I can find no fault in this movie.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

Coraline! Go see it and support Claire, a LOCAL budding actress.

2009-02-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

For those of you not paying attention to the commercials between your kids t.v. programs, "Coraline" is the most hyped stop-motion 3-D movie to come out of Hollywood since "The Nightmare Before Christmas." The good news is that the same director (Henry Selick) of that innovative movie is at the helm of this Neil Gaiman graphic novel, "Coraline." Clocking in at a running time of 1:40, this is also the longest stop-motion film to come out of Hollywood.

The thing is, this film is not being released from there, but rather Portland, Oregon. If you live in the area and have read the business section from any local paper you know that this is the first film to come out of Laika Studios. The company is the brainchild of Travis Knight, but perhaps more importantly is backed by his father Phil Knight of Nike fame.

Generally, when a person hears of an animated or stop-motion movie being released they immediately wonder who provides the leading characters voices. Let me tell you people, the movie-making process on this type of film starts long before you learn the starring voices. From the beginning, one of our own, 14 year old Claire was cast to provide the reference motion and body style of the lead puppet, "Coraline."

The daughter of a friend and coworker with the guys here at Skip the Concessions, Claire already possesses a sparkling singing voice, certain stage presence and the ambition to carry her where ever she decides to go. A veteran of local stage productions already at the age of 14, we here at STC wish continued success and all the FUN in the world for Claire.

When you're looking at the movie listings this weekend or trying to find something to do with the kids, remember the 3-D experience, "Coraline." You'll be supporting not only Claire, but the hundreds of talented artists and film-makers living here in your own backyard.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

The Reader, our third Best Picture Nominee review. The wit, it does escape me.

2009-02-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

Finally.

Finally, I have seen a movie that deserves to be nominated in the category for Best Motion Picture that is actually nominated in the category. It took some reflection and not too many viewings of the trailer to bring me to the point I needed in order to write this column today. My first thought on the film was that I could understand why it was nominated: dark subject matter, edgy relationships, period piece, first rate talent, post Nazi Germany. It fits naturally into the mold that The Academy has set as it's standards in the most recent decades. A natural fit does not necessarily achieve a little golden man, and for the moment I wasn't sold on the idea.

Here then is your brief synopsis brought to you by IMDB.com: THE READER opens in post-WWII Germany when teenager Michael Berg becomes ill and is helped home by Hanna, a stranger twice his age. Michael recovers from scarlet fever and seeks out Hanna to thank her. The two are quickly drawn into a passionate but secretive affair. Michael discovers that Hanna loves being read to and their physical relationship deepens. Despite their intense bond, Hanna mysteriously disappears one day and Michael is left confused and heartbroken.

For those of you who have not read the book, I fear that the above entry already says too much and I can't bring myself to add anymore spoilers. If you need more, they are certainly out there to find. The trailer at the right would be a good place to start.

The movie itself is a flashback of sorts and we do jump around between the years 1958 and 1995 throughout. Each time period is brilliantly displayed. From the rebuilding of Germany in the 1950s to 1995 separated West Berlin and even 1985 New York City. Directing and cinematography are top notch. Director Stephen Daldry had a vision of the world within this screenplay and his crew found a way to breathe life into each setting. Truly, the individual room associated with each phase of life dictates the scene and is a character all it's own. The '50s German country side versus the "free" West Berlin of the '80s and '90s. The desolate, grey interior of a concentration camp in comparison to an antiseptic one bedroom flat. The starkness of a college dorm alongside a decorated jail cell. Brilliant.

Kate Winslett is going to win the Oscar for Best Actress. There I've said it. It's really not a stretch considering she's won the Golden Globe and the SAG. I guess I'm not putting anything out there that you don't already suspect. Her portrayal of a "Strong German Woman", resolute in her duties, staunch, dedicated, unwavering (nearly), is in a word: intense. The transformation she goes through as she ages is an amazing acting job, and not just physically. We see this woman begin to let things in, just a bit. But is it too late? This is the role Winslett needed to push her over the top. Sorry Missus Hathaway and Streep.

The young Michael Berg is played by David Kross. This young man finds a way to show every emotion across the board and play it well. From a 15 year old discovering a secret obsession, anger at perceived selfishness, heartbreak of loss, confusion from abandonment, and the catalyst that spurs the plot brings the impossible choice of loyalty versus duty. You can see how the character changes from start to finish, as he pulls away and withdraws into himself. Trying to protect himself from further injury only to unwittingly do more harm than good. If a way could have been found for Kross to play the character all the way through, there would be no doubt in my mind that he would be nominated for Best Actor.

That job of playing the elder Michael Berg falls to Ralph Fiennes, who for a major portion of the film is given little to do other then project pain and reflection. The final quarter of the film we catch up a bit with Berg and we truly see the impact that this relationship from nearly 30 years earlier has taken on Michael's relation to the people around him. Had not the tragic turn been taken, what sort of a man would he have become. We will never know because Ralph Fiennes is only given a painful version of love to show us. If you have seen The Constant Gardener, then you know that Ralph Fiennes is superbly suited for this role. His face to face scene near the end of "The Reader" is the payoff I needed as we see a subtle change take place, we can only hope it is not too late for Michael.

The Reader was, for me, the story of redemption. Redemption of ones soul, not the one who could never have it back, the one who needed it desperately. I'm giving "The Reader "4 little tea tins out of 5 little tea tins for a well told story that navigates multiple emotional pitfalls. Had this film been based on a true story I believe I would have picked up the book to get all the details. Having been a work of fiction, I get the feeling that I've seen all I really need to enjoy the story. With that, this movie becomes my favorite for an Oscar, but we've still got two more nominees to go.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

The Wrestler or The Return of Jake. Take your pick.

2009-01-27T14:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, Okay. It’s been a long time, but since Elijah is back on the black reel again, I might as well contribute a couple of cents.

Is it "MILK" money paying off the academy or with this RING, I thee wed? The Academy has to hitch their wagon to one of these goliaths for Best Actor. It's either Sean Penn’s brilliant portrayal of the inspiring city commissioner Harvey Milk in "MILK" or Micky Rourke’s fierce performance as Randy “The Ram” Robinson, an against-the-ropes wrester in his twilight years, in "The Wrestler."

The other nominees, while all good in their own right (I’ve seen The Visitor, which is a charming movie driven by Richard Jenkins’ performance) are all fillers in this category.

Since the other Mr. Robinson has so neatly detailed the outriggers of "MILK", I will jump into the ring with Micky. Talk about the comeback story of the new millennium. Rourke’s recent triumphs in "Sin City" and now "The Wrestler" were nearly precluded by his well-publicized bout with drug addition. His acceptance speech (http://video.aol.com/video/mickey-rourke-acceptance-speech-golden-globe-awards/2385676) at the Golden Globes (Best Actor) was as touching as it was a truthful detail of his personal aguish and humility, of which he brought both to the screen in this picture.

Twenty years removed from his peak in the 1980’s, The Ram, is now the featured talent on Saturday night cards at your local high school gymnasium and signing autographs at the Elks for $20 a throw. He has been estranged from his only family, his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) and lives as a trailer-park king who can barely afford to keep open the doors of his single-wide palace. A forced retirement from the only he thing he loves causes Randy to reflect on his life, attempt to reconnect with his daughter and develop a fictitious relationship with an exotic dancer named Pam (Marisa Tomei). While he tries to resurrect himself, the allure of the ring is an ever-threatening presence, promising only to destroy any foundation of his fresh new reality.

First and foremost, this film is not a WWE spoof movie. The storyline could have easily been directed into an over-dramatized, self-indulgent piece of mainstream Hollywood garbage but the beauty of this movie is its simplicity. Mr. Darren Aronofsky found a way to capture a very surreal, larger-than-life character driven screenplay with a lens focused on the truths that built the block of a man that is Randy Robinson, not just his weathered skin. One has to keep in mind that "The Wrestler" is an independent film, as zero studios would back a picture with Micky as the lead. I am actually thankful because it gave Aronofksy the liberty and the balls to take the risks that he did, especially the dramatic climax and ending. Too many movies are drawn out into Hollywood endings, where I left the theater wanting more.

Rourke takes some bold steps in the Ram’s shoes, where his physical strength is wonderfully juxtaposed against his sincere vulnerability. Throughout the film his transformation is vividly real. His grip on desperation and collection of bad habits cannot prevent a viewer from folding their own arms and heart around The Ram’s barrel chest in empathy. Evan Rachel Wood, though not a huge role as Stephanie Robinson, was on par with Rourke and the moment that they shared together walking along the Jersey boardwalk was cinema gold. As I mentioned in a previous post, Marisa Tomei was and still is a fox, and she showed herself off again! Tight! Her performance on the other hand was not quite as tight but still very nice. Her character wasn’t as challenging as Rourke or Wood’s but I felt there were areas she could have explored further in the development of Pam.

This movie is a slice of life; the reality of an interesting character given an interesting set of circumstances. It’s a body-slam dosage of a man coming to terms with what he has been given.

However, I don’t think that the academy is going to recognize the movie and Micky Rourke’s brilliance with a gold statue. That honor will go to Sean Penn in "MILK". As of late, The Academy has chosen to dote on pictures, portrayals and the like that deal with social issues; case in point being Crash a couple of years ago when it was, in my mind, not close to being the best picture. With the arrival and passage of Proposition 8 in California, the issues that homosexuals face are front and center. If Penn wins the award, I won’t criticize their choice because his depiction of Milk as far as his choices, depth and delivery go, were good enough to stand alone regardless of how close he was to the real Harvey Milk. However, as far as just knocking my socks off, he fell short of what Rourke gave me.

I am going to give this movie 4.5 nelsons out of 5, knocking a full nelson off for Tomei’s performance and then adding back a half nelson for her showing off her body. "The Wrestler" is now in wide release and as far as dramas go, it is right up there with June Bug, The Squid and The Whale and a few others that I can’t readily remember off the top of my head.

Your King of the Ring,

Jake

Milk...certainly a lot of moustaches in this one.

2009-01-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

Back from the weekend with our review of another best picture nominee: MILK. The film is a biopic and for that reason we're not going to hold back on the summary for this movie, which, per usual is brought to us by IMDB.com: The 1970's story of California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, a San Francisco supervisor who was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone by fellow San Francisco Supervisor Dan White.

MILK was not on my list of must see movies this year, until it made the short list for an Oscar. That has to do with my overall bias against Sean Penn. I believe the man is a great actor; I find his personal politics to be a bit over the edge for my tastes, but this is America where anyone can think and do anything within the letter of the law. I'm glad it ended up on my radar, because it fed my two interests in film (no Ted, not naked wrestling): historical significance and great acting.

The film itself is nominated for 8 Oscars. One of which, I'm happy to say, is Best Director nominee Gus Van Sant, a Portland resident. This marks his second nomination in the category, the first for 1997's "Good Will Hunting." He does a good job of getting the story across, setting the mood of the film and the emotions that boil to the inevitable.

I don't usually comment on technical aspects of the movies I write about, but I will say that if any nominations should have been deserved for this film it would have been cinematography. The camera work: angles, grain, sweeping shots...it was the number one thing that jumped out at me while I watched this film. Alas, that was the one category with no mention. I'm just a lowly desk jockey, but I for one think that Mr. Harry Savides should be congratulated on a fantastic job. Take a look at his credits at the above link.

Sean Penn turns in another great performance if not a bit exaggerated. I have never seen footage of the real Harvey Milk and can't say if this is spot on or over the top, so I give the benefit of the doubt. You really go through a lot of emotions watching this character: pity, anger, incredulity, shock, sadness. Pick your order.

The supporting cast is a who's who of young and well known independent actors all led by Josh Brolin who throws in a (overall) small but vastly important character in Dan White. Each of the various actors: Emile Hirsch, James Franco, Diego Luna, Joseph Cross and Alison Pill provide wonderful color to the time and place of the film and are great pieces to complete the group that catapults the events of the age. Particularly Diego Luna, who's tragic character you really just want to slap the shit out of. Is this a family blog?

The film is framed fantastically by a narration from the character of Harvey Milk leaving an audio cassette which chronicles his life in the event of his assassination. An interesting point here is that the tape itself was, in fact, a real artifact discovered after Milk's death. This, I discovered after following up after my screening.

In the end, I did like the movie. It provides a snapshot of life for a group of individuals in a time that I would not have known without this film. Perhaps through design, perhaps by coincidence, it is highlighting the fight for family rights that the Gay and Lesbian community is now embroiled in by showing us that just 30 years earlier the fight for civil rights was alive and well and fought more vigorously.

We are giving MILK 3.5 1970's cassette recorders out of 5 1970's cassette recorders and would like to highlight that this is our second review of Oscar nominated films that in any other year might not have been nominated. Good though it may be, it is not great in our opinion. Unfortunately, any inspiration that this film may have hoped to give a new generation is immediately stricken when we reach the climax of the story and the sorrow that follows.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

The nominations are out...is your favorite represented?

2009-01-22T05:38:00.000-08:00

Having just watched the live nominations, I must confess a sort of overall ambivalence to the names as a whole. Partly because I've only actually seen one of the Best Picture nominees, partly because I never really felt any drive to see the rest of the films, save for 'Slumdog Millionaire'. Obviously, a lot of that comes from personal preferences/feelings towards one subject matter or a certain actor. Of course, I have some sentimental favorites and Heath Ledger's nomination is very welcomed. As is Kate Winslet's. Frankly, I'm only slightly surprised at the nomination of 'The Curious Case of Forrest Gump'. It a very big, storytelling movie that The Academy loves, but as I stated in my review, while told a bit differently it is really a retelling of the same story.

Now that we have the official list, we'll get up-to-date and have those reviews for you in the coming weeks. Following the reviews and despite being inundated with media comments and reactions, we'll have our predictions for you to pick apart. Now here is your list of nominees in the top 7 categories:

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

Wall-E

BEST DIRECTOR

David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon

Gus Van Sant - Milk

Stephen Daldry - The Reader

Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Josh Brolin - Milk

Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder

Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt

Heath Ledger - Dark Knight

Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams - Doubt

Penelope Cruz - Vicky Christina Barcelona

Viola Davis - Doubt

Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

BEST ACTOR

Richard Jenkins - The Visitor

Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn - Milk

Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

BEST ACTRESS

Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie - Changeling

Melissa Leo - Frozen River

Meryl Streep - Doubt

Kate Winslet - The Reader

BEST MOTION PICTURE

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

There you go. Let the complaining and moaning begin. Likely you're going to hear from the media how the Academy continues to ignore the masses and mainstream films. A number of publications have been harping lately on the fact that "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man", will largely go unrewarded in the more coveted categories despite being the two biggest movies of the year. As it turns out, "Iron Man" received 2 noms and "The Dark Knight" was amongst the top with 8 total. Save for Supporting Actor, the press was largely correct. In light of that fact, get ready for 31 days of bitching.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

For a change, let's take a look at a few dvds.

2009-01-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

I was able to watch a few rentals during the past week and I thought it would be fun to write a couple of paragraphs on each. On the plus side you, the reader, may have seen one or more of these and probably have formed opinions on the film or films. If after reading you agree or disagree, we love to know what other people think, so please feel free to comment by clicking the button at the bottom of the article. With that, let us begin!

We begin our list with a French foreign film: Priceless. The movie stars one of my favorite actresses Audrey Tautou of 'Amelie' and 'Da Vinci Code' fame, so now you know why I was drawn to it. Gad Elmaleh played in the male lead, and while he's a fresh face to me, there is no doubt he is quite popular in France. His resume is quite extensive.

The quick plot on this is as follows: Through a set of circumstances, a young gold digger mistakenly woos a mild-mannered bartender thinking he's a wealthy suitor. He doesn't dissuade her until the ruse is uncovered and she decides to teach him a lesson following his repeated advances.

Overall, this romantic comedy comes in right in the middle of the pack. Admittedly, I was a bit turned off with Tautou as a really despicable character. Sure, she thinks she's doing this guy a favor by teaching him a lesson, but overall, she's not the adorable pixie or unwitting victim that I've come to love and I just couldn't see the other side. Perhaps if there had been more comedy than unfortunate circumstances, it might have warmed me. Alas, no.

I'm giving 'Priceless' 2.25 Royal Suites out of 5 Royal Suites. While you feel for the "hero" of the film, I couldn't help but feel sad for just about everybody involved in the plot. If it's a very rainy Sunday, you don't mind subtitles, and you just can't watch 'You've Got Mail' on cable one more time, then give this a spin. Otherwise, go watch 'Love, Actually' and call it a day. On a personal note: sorry Jen Ren.

Next on the list is 'Eagle Eye'. This was a September entry to the theaters in 2008. That generally signals bad news for any movie, but when the film is billed as a thriller you can almost see the plot holes before you get in the car to drive to the theater.

That said, This movie which stars Shia Labeouf and Michelle Monaghan was actually able to hold my attention. Here's a brief plot summary from IMDB.com: Jerry and Rachel are two strangers thrown together by a mysterious phone call from a woman they have never met. Threatening their lives and family, she pushes Jerry and Rachel into a series of increasingly dangerous situations, using the technology of everyday life to track and control their every move.

This was standard popcorn fare and every situation is impossible to believe. That is what you should expect from a film like this and if you just let it go and enjoy the pace and increasingly difficult situations that they get in and out of then you won't be disappointed. Don't look for brilliance in this movie, it's not going to win awards. We're giving 'Eagle Eye' 3 scrap yard cranes out of 5 scrap yard cranes. Enjoy this film when the wife isn't around, I can't imagine her going for it. Unless she's a closet Shia fan.

Third, we have 'Ghost Town'. I was really looking forward to enjoying this movie. With Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, and Tea Leoni plus Kristin Wiig in a small supporting role... I really wanted to laugh along with this movie.

The IMDB.com plot: Bertram Pincus, is a man whose people skills leave much to be desired. When Pincus dies unexpectedly, but is miraculously revived after seven minutes, he wakes up to discover that he now has the annoying ability to see ghosts.

So, did I laugh? Yeah, for about the first half of the movie. I mean come on! Ricky Gervais is one of the funniest human beings on the planet right now; in short doses. The problem is that he's a one trick pony, everything he does is the same stammering and short sentences. He doesn't have anything else.

As it turned out, this actually ended up being a romantic comedy too. So look at Gervais and tell me if you can see that guy leading a romantic comedy with Tea Leoni. Maybe it's just my hang up, but I was stumped. I'm giving 'Ghost Town' 2.75 Egyptian mummies out of 5 Egyptian mummies. The actor I most wanted to watch ended up grinding me into a hole and the plot wasn't good enough to pull me out in the second half. I did love the first half and coincidentally, Kristin Wiig kept me laughing in all her scenes. She is just terrific. I can't really decide if you should see it or not. I'm leaving you to make your own decision on this one.

Finally, I give you 'The House Bunny'. It's exactly what you think it is. Stupid comedy with a lot of naked skin, but no nudity. There is a reason why I waited to see this list of movies as rentals, but let me assure you that I did actually enjoy this movie. I'm a guy, so that probably comes to no surprise to anyone out there, but I honestly did find myself chuckling throughout the film. Certainly not guffawing, but definitely chuckling.

Our plot from IMDB.com (as if you need one): When Shelly, a Playboy bunny, is tossed out of the mansion, she has nowhere to go until she falls in with the sorority girls from Zeta Alpha Zeta. The members of the sorority - who also have got to be the seven most socially clueless women on the planet - are about to lose their house. They need a dose of what only the eternally bubbly Shelley can provide.

Anna Faris has become the #1 slapstick movie comedienne in the business the last 5 years or so all starting with the 'Scary Movie' franchise. What did surprise me in this film is that the idea for the story was Faris', with her serving as a producer on the film as well. Teaming up with Adam Sandler's production company helps as well. They add their experience and we get to see a bunch of cameo's from that crew. I haven't even mentioned the cameo's by Hugh Hefner and the cast of 'The Girls Next Door', who must be included to add any credence to the story, right?

The person who put it over the top for me was Emma Stone. She's a relative new-comer to Hollywood with parts in the canceled tv show 'Drive', and a supporting role in last year's comedy 'Superbad', but I really like what she does here. As the leader of the sorority of misfits, she plays a great naive girl next door. I'm giving 'The House Bunny' 3.50 sequined back braces out of 5 sequined back braces. The cast really enhances the story and we get to see every female name that has graced a Hollywood gossip page in the last year. Except Paris Hilton. Thank God.

I'm just saying,

Elijah.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or was that a Forrest Gump Look-A-Like?

2008-12-29T16:47:00.000-08:00

Well now, we've gotten the first article out in quite some time. Alas, it was full of vinegar for the media and pleading for people to go see the movie. It never really...examined the movie. I guess it just takes a minute to settle in again. Let's see if we can't get back on track with our next entry: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

As always, we thank IMDB.com for the brief synopsis with as little a spoiler as possible: 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,' adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918 to the 21st century.

Truth be told, I am finding it hard to write about this movie. Certainly there are a million little things that happen during the near 3 hour run time of this film. That's not the problem. The problem is, which thread to hold on to and grasp firmly. It would seem obvious to write about the road that our main character takes through life and all the events that transpire around him. But then I would be holding back. Because, while this is Benjamin's story seemingly, it is also the life story of countless other people. This is the life story of everyone around him and without their stories we wouldn't get Benjamin Button's.

When you write a character like Benjamin, one born with such an obvious difference, people will tend to gravitate there attention solely to that oddity. That would be a mistake, as I sat through this movie I realized that Benjamin's birth was merely a window for us to look through. He is our guide on the journey that the movie takes and while he is certainly front and center, I believe that we are meant to take in everything around him. From the moment his father abandons him, to the kindly women that accepts a strange baby on the step, to the loves of his life, to the places he travels, to the men he travels with, and finally the place he finds in this world for himself. All of it. We are meant to examine all of it through his experiences, all the while not forgetting what brought us to this tale: the sad story of a man born the wrong way.

I alluded to the movie Forrest Gump in the title, but there is one difference that I now see. Gump's life was also one of travel and history before our eyes, but there is one glaring difference. Forrest had an active influence on every event he witnessed. He affected in some manner history while it happened, thus making his an improbable but highly exciting life. In our movie, rarely does Benjamin act in any manner that would influence events. He is merely one of the currents in the river. On the occasions where he consciously takes action, it never works the way he hopes and certainly causes some sort of pain to someone else, if not himself. The epic in both films is there, the road is much, much different.

The bright shining spot in this movie is all the supporting cast. Every one of the characters shines in some fantastic way. You'll laugh all the way through at Benjamin's surrogate mother, enjoy all the various elderly people that Benjamin grows up with, agonize as the love of his life slips through his life again and again, and feel just a little bit sad as we are simultaneously read the story of his life through a journal and experience the life of Daisy, the one he just couldn't or wouldn't hold on to. I almost didn't the mention the highly eccentric tugboat crew that Benjamin meets, but I don't want to spoil you now, do I?

Brad Pitt puts forth an excellent performance in this role, and while I could see many other actors pulling this character off well, he was suited for it. I see a lot of naivety in this character, much like his character of Death in the film Meet Joe Black. His transformation is amazing throughout the film and while he doesn't physically play every moment of his character life, his face and voice are there throughout. Kudos to the special effects team on a wonderful job. No doubt there is at least an Oscar nomination for costume and makeup in the near future.

Cate Blanchett plays the second main character of Daisy as we see her life unfold in front of us in tandem with Benjamin's. I love watching Cate Blachett on screen. I can't pinpoint any one thing, I just know that she entertains and I must chalk it up to her being an excellent actress. She certainly doesn't disappoint in this film either. Her trials are just as eye opening to the main plot as Daisy narrates us through a second plot of the film; her entirely separate life away from the man she could apparently love, would she only give herself the chance.

I have to mention two other performances before I close out. First, the job done by Taraji P. Henson is top notch. Her portrayal of Benjamin's surrogate mother Queenie is heartwarming and hilarious throughout the film and she does a fantastic job bringing that character to the screen for the audience to love. Second, Jared Harris brings the character of Captain Mike the tugboat man to life in this film and he's just another odd, eccentric man for the audience to laugh with and at. Both characters add spice to the film and it would be noted if they were played any differently.

Of final note, Julia Ormond makes an appearance in this film. She is the catalyst for the story in one sense, as Daisy is recalling her life to Julia's character Caroline, while at the same time discovering the story of a man named Benjamin Button. Ms. Ormond has been very active in European cinema the past few years, and it was a pleasant surprise to see her pop up here in an American film after so long. I assume her association with Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall must have had something to do with it, and I wish we could see much more of her in the future. She knows her craft well.

Lastly, we are giving The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 3.5 backward moving clocks out of 5. This is a perfect movie for a rainy afternoon on a Saturday or Sunday. I didn't mind paying matinee prices and I would also recommend it for a slow afternoon on the couch as a dvd rental. In fact, you can thank a rainy Saturday in Portland for this review, otherwise I might have skipped right over this movie. I'm glad I didn't.

I'm just saying,

Elijah.

Welcome Back...

2008-12-29T13:19:00.001-08:00

Your favorite movie review blogger returns! After being bombarded by summer blockbusters and sub par fall fare, we've finally seen a couple of movies that demanded a return to the keyboard. God knows you don't need our input when it comes to summer movies; you're going to see what you are going to see and nothing I can do will stop it. But, if there is a film come Oscar season that you might not see if I don't persuade, prod, or poke you...then damn it, you need me. So we are back.

Enjoy our first review below: Valkyrie. Then, if you are new to the site and haven't read any of our stuff, then keep going! If you're a return reader, feel free to go back and compare your feelings with ours. I'd love to have comments on anything.

We expect to have our next review up tomorrow, so look back for "The Mysterious Case of Benjamin Button" as soon as you can!

This is Jake and Elijah and we're just saying!

Valkyrie: I'm sorry, did you say that was a Tom Cruise movie?

2008-12-29T09:24:00.000-08:00

As always, here is your spoiler free plot summary (which is ironic, since history itself has spoiled ending for you), brought to you by IMDB.com: At the height of WW2, a group of high-ranking German officers hatched a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, and seize power of the military command in order to end the war.

I have a real problem with media outlets when it comes to this movie. The only noise being made in regards to this film have been and continue to be negative on the whole. It started two years ago with production problems in Germany related to Scientology's negative reputation and then tumbled to Tom Cruise's personal media problems. Finally, with the movie approaching, the headlines of the reviews have been mostly negative. If you investigated a bit you'd actually see that the majority of reviews, admittedly a smaller majority than I'd prefer, have come down on the plus side. Where are those headlines? Is it really easier to sell the story by bashing Mr Cruise after all this time?

I must admit that I had acquired the communicable disease known as ThomasCruisitis during the last few years as many of you did. Thankfully, we have been given a cure. If not a cure, at least a chance for remission. This film is just the shot in the arm we need to give us the courage to peek around the corner and see if any couch jumping or psychology attacking is taking place. I'm happy to say there are no shenanigan's taking place.

People, there is a reason why practically every British "A list" actor signed on for this film. It is well written and well directed. It is driven. By plot. By deeds. By necessity.

In the past I've written first about the actors, this time I'd like to start by mentioning the writers Nathan Alexander, Christopher McQuarrie and director Bryan Singer. The latter two are the fantastic team that brought us The Usual Suspects and this is their first collaboration since. I am happy to say that they still have the gene for suspense, despite the ending you already know. This screenplay is amazingly well researched and through my own investigating I've determined that very little was changed for the film. A substitute character fulfilling an action or two is the only discrepancy I can find. While a living relative may find fault with their father/uncle/grandfather not being credited correctly with an action, you won't notice and nothing detracts from the film.

I find absolutely no fault with the acting. This film is chalk full of first class actors; most British, some Germans, and a few Americans. You may not recognize the names, but you most certainly will recognize the faces. A short list of them follows, and let me say the the first man on the list has, to my mind, turned in some of the best work going in the last 10 years:

Last would be Tom Cruise. You've seen him in practically every movie he's made and you've seen this type of role from him before. But you've never seen this before. This marks the first time that grim determination and moral righteousness are not just part of a sci-fi or fictional movie, but are by necessity required by history and fact. It's not a bi product of the characters psyche, it's a plot point that moves the movie forward. Mr. Cruise pulls it off. You've seen his character defiant of authority before. Now you see him take authority and turn it around to become authority. You see greater men bow to his unwavering determination and you believe it.

I for one am quite happy to be able to enjoy a Tom Cruise film again.

I fought myself over the decision to see this movie. In the end the craving for historical knowledge won, and I am better for it. I never knew any of this German history or the fact that this was one of 15 different assassination plots that failed against Hitler. I am giving Valkyrie 4 explosive bricks of plastique out of 5 explosive bricks of plastique. You do yourself and history in general a disservice if you miss this film. Some movies should inspire something in you; I immediately walked from the theater to the bookstore and purchased a copy of "The Men Who Tried to Kill Hitler". I hope that some film, somewhere inspires something in you the way this one caused me to want to learn more.

I'm just saying,

Elijah.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall was easy...the rest of the cast, not so much.

2008-04-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend afforded the time to finally make it out to the theater and hopefully this will be the start of a string of good movies hitting. With May just around the corner, expect the big movies to start appearing in two weeks. However, this weekend saw a couple of smaller movies leading the way. Though it wasn't the leader at the box office over the weekend, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" held up incredibly well and I'm still laughing as I refer back to a couple of scenes in my mind.

From IMDB.com, here is your spoiler free plot outline: Devastated Peter takes a Hawaii vacation in order to deal with recent break-up with his TV star girlfriend, Sarah. Little does he know Sarah's traveling to the same resort as her ex ... and she's bringing along her new boyfriend. Classic tale, done just a little bit over the top.

With any feature that has the name Judd Apatow attached to it in any form, you can expect an "R" rating, and this doesn't disappoint my friends. Although Mr. Apatow is only credited with a producer tag, some of the gang comes along for the ride. Jason Segel returns from his minor roll in "Knocked Up" to not only star in this film, but as the writer of the pic. The great thing about this film is that some of the more outrageous moments are based on actual events in Mr. Segel's life.

Returning from recent turns in Superbad are Jonah Hill and Bill Hader for minor supporting roles. Just seeing Jonah Hill makes me crack up before he utters a word, and Bill Hader's straight man gig provides great comic moments to boot. Paul Rudd pops up as the classic surf instructor, whom one would think would offer the life outlook; you'd be partly wrong. But I'm neglecting the three other leads: Kristen Bell in the namesake roll, Russell Brand as the new boyfriend and Mila Kunis as the hotel employee that takes Jason Segel's character under her wing.

Oh Miss Veronica Mars, how I've been waiting to see you on the screen in more than just the vignettes we see of you on Heroes. Of course, Kristen Bell as Sarah Marshall is not to be admired or sympathized with from the outset of the movie. You definitely get to see some of that bitchiness that made Kristen Bell famous on Veronica Mars. You also get to see a little regret and jealousy seep in during the film and she handles these emotional changes so well that you actually have to question if she's really feeling any of this or is the character disguising a malicious intent. One scene I've been debating on talking about here actually lets us see her side of the relationship and this, while allowing a little sympathy for Sarah, actually adds a dimension to Jason Segel's character, Paul Bretter.

Paul Bretter as played by Jason Segel is our hero, but in a way, an anti-hero that you want to slap a few times. Our hero has to spend most the movie wallowing in sorrow and trying to rediscover himself; one of the more oft used rom-com plots out there actually. If you are familiar at all with Jason Segel from "How I Met Your Mother", than you won't see a new character in this movie, it's almost the same character, just taken up a notch. Now that I think back, it seems like this guy plays pretty much the same type of character in all his major roles. Back all the way from "Freaks and Geeks" to "Undeclared" to this. Doesn't matter, because it works. I've got nothing to complain about, except perhaps the numerous flashes of his full frontal nude scenes.

I love Mila Kunis in this movie. It's something we haven't seen from her really and I sat there thinking that this may be close to what she's like. It's a nice, real world departure from Jackie on "That 70's Show" and obviously nowhere near her voice acting on "Family Guy". She provides a lot of grounding in this movie, where the goofy hotel staff is just that: goofy. Not to mention the three other leads that are clearly above and beyond in their roles, but her Rachel Jansen offset's their personalities by being human and vulnerable. Kudos Ms. Kunis.

The final leading role of Aldous Snow is played by Britain's Russell Brand. Let me begin by saying that his character really steals the spotlight nearly every time he opens his mouth. He was an absolute perfect choice for the character and I hope that it's not a once and done for American audiences. If you can cut through the English accent and his mutterings you will have a real treat. Pay attention, because sometimes it's a bit hard to understand. That might just have been the fact that I couldn't hear over the audience laughter.

Overall the movie really gave me the feeling of a lot of Adam Sandler's recent films. For example, "Mr. Deeds" and certainly "50 first dates". First you've got the revolving cast, much like all of Sandler's films and secondly, the background characters are the ones that are providing the majority of the laugh out loud lines and moments. Which I love! The reason being, you can center the plot on the four leads and then break away for a good shot at laughter without breaking the feelings and story that is going on. Additionally, the peripheral characters are allowed to be completely insane, ridiculous characters that are/do completely unsocial, crazy feats. You'll know what I mean when you are introduced to the honeymooning couple at the resort and all the resort employees.

To sum up, I really enjoyed "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and would recommend the movie to any person out there that doesn't mind over-the-top comedy and a little heart thrown in. Apatow fans shouldn't and probably haven't missed this film. I'm rating "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" with 4 dracula puppet shows out of 5 dracula puppet shows. It's worth paying for a weekend matinee.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

Stopping by your local video store today?

2008-04-17T04:30:00.000-07:00

I don't post on dvd releases too often, but if you weren't paying attention this week you may not have realized that three great movies were added to the shelves this week! Of course, here at Skip The Concessions, we've got the reviews for you on all three and you can click on the links below to read them.

Lars and the Real Girl ended up being a bit of a sleeper and didn't get the best actor nomination I was hoping for. Nonetheless, this is a terrific movie and you'd be remiss if you didn't watch it. you can read our review here.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead was another sleeper at the box office. Once again, our reviewer Jake loved the movie and you can read his article here.

Juno. The darling of the award season; the little movie that did. Still love it. You probably don't need to read our review on this one, but go do it anyway. Find it here.

If you didn't buy these movies on Tuesday when they were released, then make sure you rent them this weekend or the next. No excuses, check them out.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

What would you do with 88 Minutes?

2008-04-15T05:49:00.000-07:00

Nobody held a gun to my head to watch this movie. In fact, I was jazzed to get the advanced copy before this Friday's release, but the more I watched, the more I felt like Al Pacino in the picture above.

Here is a spoiler free plot synopsis from our friends at IMDB.com: A thriller about a college professor who, while moonlighting as a forensic psychiatrist for the FBI, receives a death threat telling him that he has only 88 minutes to live. In narrowing down possible suspects, he frantically seeks to communicate with a problem student, an ex-girlfriend, and a serial killer on death row.

That's a fairly good description while leaving out some key points. I was half expecting this movie to be akin to Colin Farrell's "Phone Booth" from 2002. You know, waiting around for an hour and a half to see if the guy would live or die. Which in the end that's pretty much how it felt.

As I was actually watching the movie though, I was constantly reminded of the last Pacino movie I saw, "Insomnia", also from 2002. The whole thing must have been filmed with a blue lens, because the whole film was completely washed out, much like what they did to make the Alaska town seemed washed out in constant daylight for "Insomnia." The difference of course being that I did actually like that film.

The overall problem that plagues this film is the actual screenplay and to point a more direct finger, the dialogue. This was clearly written by an unpolished writer or perhaps it was unable to be edited because of the writer's strike last fall. I don't know, so I won't name the offending party. But God, was it horrible. It would show up in the worst places and absolutely stop the movie's suspense for me, ripping me out of the story to wonder who in the hell thought that would be a good line or plot point to throw in there.

Overall the acting wasn't bad considering what they had to work with. Given that handicap, I'd say it was fairly good actually. Al Pacino does a good job and finds a way to make the most of his role. I do find myself wondering why he tied himself to this movie, but in the end, he finds a way to rise above the dialogue and the horrible plot devices.

Alicia Witt as the professor's assistant turns in a passable performance, but right in the worst spot possible the writer gives us a totally unnecessary, and frankly, very awkward scene. Some may argue that the scene is meant to be awkward. I get that. I'm just trying to remember the last time someone came on to me, while we were desperately looking for a murderer and fighting against the clock as I was only given 30 more minutes to live. I'm just saying. But by all means, please remove your shirt to reveal your undergarments, I'm just going to continue sifting through this possible evidence.

Leelee Sobieski. Why do you do this to yourself? Why can't you get hired on a top shelf movie? Sure, if someone offered me a part and told me Pacino was doing the film I'd jump at it too, no matter if it was a remake of Pee Wee's Big Adventure. You've got potential though! We saw it in the Joan of Arc miniseries you starred in, then again briefly in "Eyes Wide Shut." You've grown into a beautiful young women and not a bad actress; why aren't you in more A and B movies? If you do more of these films you're not going to get where I, personally would like to see you get to.

Amy Brenneman shows up as Pacino's professional assistant for his practice, and she performs well too. It's just that the things they are given to say and do are so ridiculous at times that I actually laughed out loud incredulously.

To sum up: 88 Minutes failed before the cameras even started rolling. The actors did their best and some of them managed to shine, but the cast is peppered with B and C level actors that don't help the movie rise above the written page. My advice to you: don't bother seeing this film, unless it's coming on HBO and you've already paid your monthly bill. I am giving this movie 1 1/2 serial murders out of 5 serial murders, because the overall premise of the film could have been killer, and Al Pacino adds something.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

Death of a Legend, Charlton Heston

2008-04-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

The following is the Associated Press' release, though I note that it mentions nothing of Mr. Heston's ill-fated appearance in the Michael Moore film, "Bowling for Columbine."

LOS ANGELES - Charlton Heston, who won the 1959 best actor Oscar as the chariot-racing "Ben-Hur" and portrayed Moses, Michelangelo, El Cid and other heroic figures in movie epics of the '50s and '60s, has died. He was 84.

The actor died Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife Lydia at his side, family spokesman Bill Powers said.

Powers declined to comment on the cause of death or provide further details.

"Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life. He was known for his chiseled jaw, broad shoulders and resonating voice, and, of course, for the roles he played," Heston's family said in a statement. "No one could ask for a fuller life than his. No man could have given more to his family, to his profession, and to his country."

Heston revealed in 2002 that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease, saying, "I must reconcile courage and surrender in equal measure."

With his large, muscular build, well-boned face and sonorous voice, Heston proved the ideal star during the period when Hollywood was filling movie screens with panoramas depicting the religious and historical past. "I have a face that belongs in another century," he often remarked.

Publicist Michael Levine, who represented Heston for about 20 years, said the actor's passing represented the end of an iconic era for cinema.

"If Hollywood had a Mt. Rushmore, Heston's face would be on it," Levine said. "He was a heroic figure that I don't think exists to the same degree in Hollywood today."

The actor assumed the role of leader offscreen as well. He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and chairman of the American Film Institute and marched in the civil rights movement of the 1950s. With age, he grew more conservative and campaigned for conservative candidates.

In June 1998, Heston was elected president of the National Rifle Association, for which he had posed for ads holding a rifle. He delivered a jab at then-President Clinton, saying, "America doesn't trust you with our 21-year-old daughters, and we sure, Lord, don't trust you with our guns."

Heston stepped down as NRA president in April 2003, telling members his five years in office were "quite a ride. ... I loved every minute of it."

Later that year, Heston was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. "The largeness of character that comes across the screen has also been seen throughout his life," President Bush said at the time.

He engaged in a lengthy feud with liberal Ed Asner during the latter's tenure as president of the Screen Actors Guild. His latter-day activism almost overshadowed his achievements as an actor, which were considerable.

Heston lent his strong presence to some of the most acclaimed and successful films of the midcentury. "Ben-Hur" won 11 Academy Awards, tying it for the record with the more recent "Titanic" (1997) and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003). Heston's other hits include: "The Ten Commandments," "El Cid," "55 Days at Peking," "Planet of the Apes" and "Earthquake."

He liked to the cite the number of historical figures he had portrayed:

Andrew Jackson ("The President's Lady," "The Buccaneer"), Moses ("The Ten Commandments"), title role of "El Cid," John the Baptist ("The Greatest Story Ever Told"), Michelangelo ("The Agony and the Ecstasy"), General Gordon ("Khartoum"), Marc Antony ("Julius Caesar," "Antony and Cleopatra"), Cardinal Richelieu ("The Three Musketeers"), Henry VIII ("The Prince and the Pauper").

Heston made his movie debut in the 1940s in two independent films by a college classmate, David Bradley, who later became a noted film archivist. He had the title role in "Peer Gynt" in 1942 and was Marc Antony in Bradley's 1949 version of "Julius Caesar," for which Heston was paid $50 a week.

Film producer Hal B. Wallis ("Casablanca") spotted Heston in a 1950 television production of "Wuthering Heights" and offered him a contract. When his wife reminded him that they had decided to pursue theater and television, he replied, "Well, maybe just for one film to see what it's like."

Heston earned star billing from his first Hollywood movie, "Dark City," a 1950 film noir. Cecil B. DeMille next cast him as the circus manager in the all-star "The Greatest Show On Earth," named by the Motion Picture Academy as the best picture of 1952. More movies followed:

"The Savage," "Ruby Gentry," "The President's Lady," "Pony Express" (as Buffalo Bill Cody), "Arrowhead," "Bad for Each Other," "The Naked Jungle," "Secret of the Incas," "The Far Horizons" (as Clark of the Lewis and Clark trek), "The Private War of Major Benson," "Lucy Gallant."

Most were forgettable low-budget films, and Heston seemed destined to remain an undistinguished action star. His old boss DeMille rescued him.

The director had long planned a new version of "The Ten Commandments," which he had made as a silent in 1923 with a radically different approach that combined biblical and modern stories. He was struck by Heston's facial resemblance to Michelangelo's sculpture of Moses, especially the similar broken nose, and put the actor through a long series of tests before giving him the role.

The Hestons' newborn, Fraser Clarke Heston, played the role of the infant Moses in the film.

More films followed: the eccentric thriller "Touch of Evil," directed by Orson Welles; William Wyler's "The Big Country," costarring with Gregory Peck; a sea saga, "The Wreck of the Mary Deare" with Gary Cooper.

Then his greatest role: "Ben-Hur."

Heston wasn't the first to be considered for the remake of 1925 biblical epic. Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster and Rock Hudson had declined the film. Heston plunged into the role, rehearsing two months for the furious chariot race.

He railed at suggestions the race had been shot with a double: "I couldn't drive it well, but that wasn't necessary. All I had to do was stay on board so they could shoot me there. I didn't have to worry; MGM guaranteed I would win the race."

The huge success of "Ben-Hur" and Heston's Oscar made him one of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood. He combined big-screen epics like "El Cid" and "55 Days at Peking" with lesser ones such as "Diamond Head," "Will Penny" and "Airport 1975." In his later years he played cameos in such films as "Wayne's World 2" and "Tombstone."

He often returned to the theater, appearing in such plays as "A Long Day's Journey into Night" and "A Man for All Seasons." He starred as a tycoon in the prime-time soap opera, "The Colbys," a two-season spinoff of "Dynasty."

At his birth in a Chicago suburb on Oct. 4, 1923, his name was Charles Carter. His parents moved to St. Helen, Mich., where his father, Russell Carter, operated a lumber mill. Growing up in the Michigan woods with almost no playmates, young Charles read books of adventure and devised his own games while wandering the countryside with his rifle.

Charles's parents divorced, and she married Chester Heston, a factory plant superintendent in Wilmette, Ill., an upscale north Chicago suburb. Shy and feeling displaced in the big city, the boy had trouble adjusting to the new high school. He took refuge in the drama department.

"What acting offered me was the chance to be many other people," he said in a 1986 interview. "In those days I wasn't satisfied with being me."

Calling himself Charlton Heston from his mother's maiden name and his stepfather's last name, he won an acting scholarship to Northwestern University in 1941. He excelled in campus plays and appeared on Chicago radio. In 1943, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and served as a radio-gunner in the Aleutians.

In 1944 he married another Northwestern drama student, Lydia Clarke, and after his army discharge in 1947, they moved to New York to seek acting jobs. Finding none, they hired on as codirectors and principal actors at a summer theater in Asheville, N.C.

Back in New York, both Hestons began finding work. With his strong 6-feet-2 build and craggily handsome face, Heston won roles in TV soap operas, plays ("Antony and Cleopatra" with Katherine Cornell) and live TV dramas such as "Julius Caesar," "Macbeth," "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Of Human Bondage."

Heston wrote several books: "The Actor's Life: Journals 1956-1976," published in 1978; "Beijing Diary: 1990," concerning his direction of the play "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" in Chinese; "In the Arena: An Autobiography," 1995; and "Charlton Heston's Hollywood: 50 Years of American Filmmaking," 1998.

Besides Fraser, who directed his father in an adventure film, "Mother Lode," the Hestons had a daughter, Holly Ann, born Aug. 2, 1961. The couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1994 at a party with Hollywood and political friends. They had been married 64 years when he died.

In late years, Heston drew as much publicity for his crusades as for his performances. In addition to his NRA work, he campaigned for Republican presidential and congressional candidates and against affirmative action.

He resigned from Actors Equity, claiming the union's refusal to allow a white actor to play a Eurasian role in "Miss Saigon" was "obscenely racist." He attacked CNN's telecasts from Baghdad as "sowing doubts" about the allied effort in the 1990-91 Gulf War.

At a Time Warner stockholders meeting, he castigated the company for releasing an Ice-T album that purportedly encouraged cop killing.

Heston wrote in "In the Arena" that he was proud of what he did "though now I'll surely never be offered another film by Warners, nor get a good review in Time. On the other hand, I doubt I'll get a traffic ticket very soon."

It is with regret that I say to you Mr. Heston, "At least now those Apes will keep their Damn, Dirty Hands off of you"."

I'm just saying,

Elijah

'HORTON HEARS A WHO!' MOVIE TRAILER

2008-03-18T09:05:00.001-07:00

Used my 5 year old as an excuse to see this over the weekend. Look for the review to hit overnight, with childish commentary. My daughter might have something to say as well...

I'm just saying,

Elijah

Anthony Minghella, Oscar Winner, Serious Director Passes

2008-03-18T05:05:00.000-07:00

The celebrated director of "The Enlish Patient", "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Cold Mountain" died Sunday. He was most recently associated with the Oscar nominated "Michael Clayton" as an executive producer. The following is today Associated Press article:

LONDON - Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella, who turned such literary works as “The English Patient,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Cold Mountain” into acclaimed movies, has died. He was 54.

Minghella’s death was confirmed Tuesday by his agent, Judy Daish. No other details were immediately available.

“The English Patient,” the 1996 World War II drama, won nine Academy Awards, including best director for Minghella, best picture and best supporting actress for Juliette Binoche.

Based on the celebrated novel by Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje, the movie tells of a burn victim’s tortured recollections of his misdeeds in time of war.

Minghella (pronounced min-GELL’-ah) also was nominated for an Oscar for best screenplay for the movie and for his screenplay for “The Talented Mr. Ripley.”

His 2003 “Cold Mountain,” based on Charles Frazier’s novel of the U.S. Civil War, brought a best supporting actress Oscar for Renee Zellweger.

The 1999 "The Talented Mr. Ripley," starring Matt Damon as a murderous social climber, was based on a nomve by Patricia Highsmith. It earned five Oscar nominations.

Among his other films were “Truly, Madly, Deeply” (1990), and last year’s Oscar-nominated “Michael Clayton,” on which he was executive producer.

Minghella was recently in Botswana filming an adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith’s novel “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.” It is due to air on British television this week.

The book is the first in a series about the adventures of Botswanan private eye Precious Ramotswe; a 13-part television series was recently commission by U.S. network HBO.

Producer David Puttnam said Minghella was “a very special person.”

“He wasn’t just a writer, or a writer-director, he was someone who was very well-known and very well-loved within the film community,” Puttnam told the BBC. “Frankly he was far too young to have gone.”

Minghella also turned his talents to opera. In 2005, he directed a highly successful staging of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” at the English National Opera in London. The following year, he staged it for the season opener of New York’s Metropolitan Opera. It was the first performance of the Met’s new era under general manager Peter Gelb.

Jeff Ramsay, press secretary to Botswanan President Festus Mogae, called Minghella’s death a “shock and an utter loss.”

He said the director had been coming to the country ahead of the detective film and learning about Botswana.

Ramsay said Minghella had told him how he had been forced to shoot “Cold Mountain” in Romania and that it had “seemed wrong.” He said this made the director “more sure that the film could only be shot in Botswana.”

Born the second of five children to southern Italian emigrants, Minghella came to moviemaking from a flourishing playwriting career on the London “fringe” and, in 1986, on the West End with the play, “Made in Bangkok,” a hard-hitting look at the sexual mores of a British tour group in Thailand.

He worked as a television script editor before making his directing debut with “Truly, Madly, Deeply,” a comedy about love and grief starring Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman.

In a 1996 interview with The Associated Press, Minghella said “English Patient,” which starred Binoche, Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas, was the pinnacle of his career at the time.

“I feel more naked and more exposed by this piece of work than anything I’ve ever been involved with,” Minghella said.

He said too many modern films let the audience be passive, as if they were saying, “We’re going to rock you and thrill you. We’ll do everything for you.”

“This film goes absolutely against that grain,” he said. “It says, ‘I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to make some connections. There are some puzzles here. The story will constantly rethread itself and it will be elliptical, but there are enormous rewards in that.”’

I'm F***cking Matt Damon

2008-03-04T11:23:00.001-08:00

The one that started it all...

I wanted to put the Seth Rogen/Elizabeth Banks version on here, but felt that it was out of context. So here are all three vids in the order that they dropped.

Enjoy

I'm F***cking Ben Affleck

2008-03-04T11:20:00.001-08:00

Jimmy's great response to Sarah and Matt's video.

I'm F***cking Seth Rogen

2008-03-04T11:15:00.001-08:00

This was pretty obscure, but it ties in fairly well with the Matt Damon and Ben Affleck video's above.

1. Kevin Smith produced it, which keeps it in the family, because Matt, Ben and Kevin came up together in hollywood making Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma before they were all really famous.

2. The featured Actors (Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen are currently filming Kevin Smiths new movie "Zack and Miri make a porno."

3. Elizabeth Banks is one of the main actors in the movie I just reviewed below, "Definitely, Maybe".

Definitely, Maybe...Sure, why not?

2008-03-04T05:01:00.000-08:00

Once again, Thanks go out to IMDB.com for the following spoiler free synopsis of "Definitely, Maybe": Will Hayes, a 30-something Manhattan dad is in the midst of a divorce when his 10 year old daughter, Maya, starts to question him about his life before marriage. Maya wants to know absolutely everything about how her parents met and fell in love. Will recounts the history of his romantic relationships with three very different women. The twist? He changes the names and forces Maya to figure out which woman ultimately became his wife and her mother.

This movie was just what the doctor ordered. That said, I'm not going to turn this movie into something it's not. What I mean is, I spend 2 - 3 months during Oscar season watching considerably heavy, probably dark, mostly depressing, sometimes suffocating, theater fare. If you're lucky, you may catch a light-hearted movie around Christmas time that doesn't totally suck. Unfortunately, I never made it to the theater to catch National Treasure 2, so it was a very long, dark winter. The one spot of sun being Juno; even that was a bit heavy in a fun quirky way. Read that review here.

Flash forward to Valentine's day and you are generally guaranteed something that will lift that cloud a little bit, if it's not all crap. Thankfully, "Definitely, Maybe" is not all crap. It helps that I've been a big fan of Ryan Reynolds since the "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" days. Throw in Isla Fisher and I'm first in line at the box office. Isla Fisher, with this movie, cemented herself on my list of 5, which the sitcom "Friends" made popular, and our fellow reviewer, Jake, made reference to in his "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" review found here.

With Elizabeth Banks (who's not universally known, but has been around for about 10 years) and Rachel Weisz to complete the womanly trio, you've got a good core group to build around. Let us not forget young Abigail Breslin who was made famous by the movie "Little Miss Sunshine" just over a year ago and you've really got some good actors to work with. Thank God, because with lesser actors, this truly could have fell flat. The result, however, is a delightful romantic comedy, with a bit of mystery thrown in to string the viewers along.

Adam Brooks wrote and directed this film and, I gather, really was able to shape the story into what he wanted. He hits all the right beats and knows just when to break the tension with a little levity. He knows when the action might be getting a little heavy for an 11 year old and finds a way out of it, with a quip or a break in the action for Abigal Breslin's character Maya. All done with a wink at the audience to remind them that this is a comedy and a story within a story.

I can think of a few leading men out there that could have pulled this movie off fairly well, but Ryan Reynolds is perfectly suited to this role and this was probably just what he needed after some heavy turns in "Smokin' Aces" and "The Nines". He doesn't knock this role out of the park, but like I said, this role suits him. It returns Reynolds to that happy place of "Two Guys and a Girl" that helped him stand out. The fact of the matter is I like Ryan Reynolds in just about everything he does and he really is becoming an everyman. I'll follow his film career anywhere, except Amityville. I'm never going back there again, no matter how many times it's remade.

Abigail Breslin's portrayal of Maya is also not a stretch for her. She really has little screen time, but her scenes set up the whole movie and we do get some comic moments when she's on screen. What really happens is that you begin to see how Maya becomes Jiminy Cricket to her father Will. Whether you agree with that comment or not, you can't deny that she grounds the film and becomes the emotional avatar for the audience. Kudos to Ms. Breslin's parents who must have approved the language and insinuations that she gets to vocalize in her opening lines. These are truly some of the funniest moments and I couldn't help inserting myself and my daughter in that conversation that will undoubtedly occur in about another 6 years.

Elizabeth Banks is solid as the first of the three women we meet in the tale. Her Emily is sweet and portrays the down-to-earth, girl-next-door character well. It strikes me that, for all her screen time, I didn't get any depth in the character. You don't really notice it and it doesn't hurt the movie, but I didn't realize that until I thought about Emily's impact on the overall story.

The second woman to enter the picture is Isla Fisher as April. She pops in and out of the movie at random intervals. Every time she comes on screen it's like a breath of fresh air. But that's probably just me. Ever since "Wedding Crashers" I'm probably a hairs breadth away from packing up the tent, moving to L.A. and joining the stalkarazzi when it comes to Ms. Fisher. I digress. Her character is fun, completely the opposite of Will in every way and truly is a free spirit. You can see every emotion that April feels coming through her eyes. This is the perfect balance to the uptight, hometown girl that we see in Emily and the goal-oriented, focused, and "experienced" third woman named...

Summer. As played by Rachel Weisz, whom most people will recognize. If not for 2005's "The Constant Gardner", then certainly for the first two "Mummy" movies. I love Rachel for this movie. Fact is I love her in almost every movie, but her Summer Hartley here is a perfect foil for Will's emotional balance. The whole time I watched this, I just felt like she was going to eat his soul and ruin him. If not with her personal drive, then by the mere fact the Will seems like a child next to her. She lights up the screen in her own way and her Manhattan, been there done that, way of living adds some life to the story.

As the story plays out and the mystery deepens, then twists, turns and the main players continue to pop in and out of Will's life, you wonder how it's all going to end. You feel it coming, you have your choice in your mind, Maya has her feelings, you want it all to end happily but you already know that it ends in divorce! This movie has a lot of cohones messing with you. But it all works! You want to know, and when you do...well, that would be telling. Let me just say that it doesn't end where you think it will.

In the end I'll give "Definitely, Maybe" 3.25 packs of Marlboro Lights out 5 packs Marlboro lights. I mean come on, it is a chick flick. That said, it's a great movie to take a date or your wife/girlfriend, or all three if that's how you roll. Personally, I didn't mind paying matinee prices to catch it. This movie isn't going to change your life, but it's great escapism that might let you forget about your life for a couple of hours. If nothing else, you get to see Isla Fisher, and that's good cinema.

I'm just saying.

Elijah

52.9%? I've seen better...

2008-03-04T04:59:00.000-08:00

I blame it on the women. yeah that's right, the women. I must admit, even a week later I'm still baffled at the winners in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress Categories.

In all fairness, I never did see Le Vie En Rose, so Marion Cotillard may very well have been the most deserving actress. But I can't remember the last time someone had so much press and soooo many people saying it was a lock as Julie Christie had, including this site. You know, because we pull so much weight.

As a matter of interest, in our pole on this site, 62% of respondents chose Ellen Page who had been predicted as a strong second in the media. Julie Christie had one vote and the winner Marion Cotillard garnered 0% of the vote.

Taking a look at our two other polls, the results tended to be a bit more in line. Best Picture nominee "There Will Be Blood" took the biggest percentage of votes at 37%. While the winner, "No Country for Old Men" took only 25%. Finally, Best Actor Winner Daniel Day-Lewis received 62% of your votes with a smattering of votes amongst the remaining nominees.

Another interesting point in this years results is that for the first time since 1965, all four acting honors went to Europeans.

Congratulations to "Ratatouille" for it's best animation win! I really wanted that film to win but had picked "Persepolis" because the academy is known for it's artistic picks rather than it's penchant for the "popular". The wild card I didn't figure in my actual pick was Brad Bird. That guy is very well respected in Hollywood circles as a great writer and director.

I'm not going to go through all of the picks, I'll just say that in the end I was 9 out of 17 picks with a bunch of dark horses pulling through this year.

I'll end with the following congratulations to "The Bourne Ultimatum": nominated for three Oscars and picked them all up. That film has a special place in my heart as the first film I reviewed for this site and my first 5 star pick.

This is Elijah, and I'm just saying.

2008 Oscar Predictions

2008-02-20T06:04:00.000-08:00

With 5 days left until the 80th Academy Awards presentation, I thought I'd just run down my predictions for the major categories. Traditionally I have picked through the nominations in two distinct ways: Who I expect to win and who I want to win. Sometimes these picks are the same. Other times emotion and an unbending stubbornness overrule common sense. What can I say? I'm still pissed about the lack of nominations for Gone, Baby Gone. But, you've read all that before. If not, click here.

If you need a rundown of the full nominees go here, and if you'd like a printable ballot to keep track for yourself, click here. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's proceed to the picks:

Best Actor:

Want: Daniel Day Lewis. This guy is just amazing. He becomes his characters more than any actor alive.

Winner: Daniel Day Lewis. See above.

Best Supporting Actor:

Want: Casey Affleck. Just can't believe he wasn't nominated for best actor and this is a make-up nom.

Winner: Javier Bardem. Wow, another guy who sells crazy like it's his job.

Best Actress:

Want: Ellen Page. C'mon, have you seen this girl act? First of many nominations I hope.

Winner: Julie Christie. Shoe in. The academy loves mental illness and tons of anguish.

Best Supporting Actress:

Want: Amy Ryan. She absolutely transformed herself to become this deplorable woman.

Winner: Amy Ryan. The competition just wasn't as strong, but Cate Blanchett is dark horse for playing a man.

Animated Film:

Want: Ratatouille. Have you seen this film? it's all heart.

Winner: Persepolis. The buzz on this movie is still high, and it's still playing in theaters.

Art Direction:

Want: There will be Blood/No Country for Old Men. Both are beautiful movies.

Winner: There will be Blood. Dark horse to Sweeney Todd, it is a musical you know.

Cinematography:

Want: There will be Blood. The camera shots in this film are intense, amazing angles

Winner: Atonement. If this film wins in this category, it will be for the one 5 minute long tracking shot.

Costume Design:

Want: Elizabeth: The Golden Age. This film was shot in order to emphasize the costumes.

Winner: Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Period pieces Atonement, and Le Vie en Rose are the dark horses.

Editing:

Want: The Bourne Ultimatum. You've never seen film cuts like this.

Winner: The Bourne Ultimatum.

Makeup:

Want: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Those artists worked 24/7.

Winner: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Dark horse - Norbit, pirates did have a lot of CGI.

Original Score:

Want: Ratatouille. I just really like that movie.

Winner: Atonement. yeah, that's a typewriter incorporated into the music.

Original Song:

Want: I don't care.

Winner: "Falling Slowly" - Once. The Academy just loves this type of movie.

Visual Effects:

Want: Transformers. It's the frickin' Transformers man!

Winner: Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End. Tons of action, and don't forget all those little crabs.

Adapted Screenplay:

Want: No Country for Old Men.

Winner: There Will be Blood. A lot of work went into this and pullling from different sources.

Original Screenplay:

Want: Juno. With a pen name like Diablo Cody, you can't go wrong.

Winner: Juno. Two words: Diablo Cody.

Best Director:

Want: There Will Be Blood. Paul Thomas Anderson put a lot of sweat and blood in, but it Does plod in places.

Winner: No Country for Old Men. It's the Coen's, and the media loves them. No plodding in this film.

Best Picture:

Want: Juno. It's just the little film that could and I love it for that. Plus, Ellen Page. Can't do anything wrong.

Winner: No Country for Old Men. This one is a coin toss with There Will Be Blood, my money's on Old Men.

Well there you have it. I didn't put the Sound Categories in, but I predict that Transformers will sweep. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any of the shorts, despite the neighborhood theater showing all of them currently. Also, for the first time in years, I've not seen any of the foreign films nominees, and they aren't garnering any buzz in the media. I skipped all the Documentaries this year, even "Sicko", though I think it will win.

If anyone would like to go Head-to-Head with me on winning picks, send in an e-mail and we'll post the results next week.

This is Elijah, and I'm just saying.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Trailer

2008-02-14T09:45:00.001-08:00

It doesn't get any better than this kids! Grabbed from the world premier of the trailer on Good Morning America today.

The Second Wind: The Devil Loves Phillip Seymour Hoffman

2008-02-13T14:21:00.001-08:00

WARNING: Rated MA. There is no foul language but strong sexual underpinnings.

Before The Devil Knows Your Dead (heretofore referenced as BTD) is a little known crime drama that is every bit as good as the Oscar winning Capote (Best Actor, PSH, 2006) but hasn’t received near the accolades. Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays the leading roll of Andy Hanson, a near-midlife crises real-estate accountant who is struggling to maintain the comfortable upper-middle class lifestyle he has created for himself and his wife Gina.

Juxtaposed to the old-Irish saying behind the title “May you be in heaven half an hour before the Devil knows your dead,” is every plot element in this film. It’s a suspense-filled seat gripper folks. From the opening moments of sexual exhilaration to the sickening climax of this picture, my stomach was knotted and eyes glued.

One of the intricacies that I felt made Capote such a special project was that as an audience member the actors were able to draw you in to their characters lives and make you care about them, despite all of their fatal flaws. Andy for the most part leads a normal life, works a good job and has the doubts and fears of every man. Yet, in instances where you and I have a conscious to preclude any ill-tainted thoughts from becoming reality, Andy’s desperation outweighs all righteous judgment. What makes for great film is that Andy didn’t just put the last straw on the camel; he slammed down a lead pipe on that dromedary.

Marisa Tomei, a much underrated Hollywood talent, plays PSH’s wife Gina. For a woman of 43 and unlike PSH, she has kept herself in shape and it shows. But who knows with modern medicine. Her beauty could be as timeless as Joan Rivers. Rounding out (whom I am going to call the big four) are Ethan Hawke as Andy’s down-and-out brother Hank and Albert Finney as the stoic Hanson patriarch.

In my opinion, PSH deserved to get another best actor nod for this film but unfortunately I forgot to pay my annual dues to the academy this year. My bad. But, if you do watch this movie, there is a scene that takes place with Marisa in a parked car at the side of the road that will make you sit back in your chair and let out an audible, “wow,” in appreciation of his talent.

Everyone has a list of their five favorite actors and actresses in Hollywood as well as a list of 5 or so famous persons that it’s “ok” to have a fantasy one-night-stand with when you’re already in a relationship. The later really only exists because both of the involved parties know it’s never going to happen, much like fantasizing over what you’re going to do with the $150 million you won playing Powerball. Topping both of my lists is Philip Seymour Hoffman. There is nothing I find sexier than a slightly overweight Irish Catholic man that isn’t afraid to bare it all. That’s probably the reason I have a bit of a man crush on Elijah, but I digress. PSH along with Johnny Depp sit atop my list of favorite actors but the only crush I have is on their range as actors. The whole Elijah thing is not true either, sorry to disappoint big guy. If you haven’t seen much of PSH’s work, I suggest you go to Blockbuster, sit down for a weekend marathon with a few bags for microwave popcorn and let your eyes do the walking.

Hank is somewhat of a departure from the Boy Scout cop roles that Hawke has been taking as of late but if you’ve seen the cult sci-fi flick Gattaca, you know he does have some range. Like Andy, both brothers are in dire straights financially and the women in their lives are really pressing the pennies. Yet, Hank doesn’t know how to act on his feet and where Andy is strong, Hank is weak and at his brother’s coat tails until the bitter end.

TMZ timeout: Whoever leaves Uma Thurman for a very average looking nanny has some serious character flaws of their own.

Tomei and Finney give strong supporting roles, something both have become known for. Even though each character was intense and created the potential for one to dominate over the others in a given scene, I thought the entire cast really gelled nicely together and as whole found a nice balance. My hat’s off to the casting agency.

Not to be left out of this collection of creative contributors, Sidney Lumet provides BTD’s direction. While Mr. Lumet isn’t a household name, he has been around since the Golden Age of Hollywood and has directed such notable films as 12 Angry Men and Dog Day Afternoon. One of the finer elements of BTD is that Lumet makes great use of sequencing. Every major event that takes place is relived through the eyes of those that are affected and, in my opinion, is the enabling factor behind the audience’s ability to connect with each individual character.

A few weeks after watching the movie, I stumbled upon an episode of Inside the Actor’s Studio discussing BTD with Lumet, PSH and Hawke. It was really interesting to get each actor’s off-screen perspective on their onscreen performance. All three raved about working with each other but they gave a lot of praise to Finney, who I have never seen as a major contributor in Hollywood but he has always been there delivery good, if not great performances. You may remember him as the memorable lawyer Ed Masry in Erin Brockovich. As a closet thespian, I always enjoy hearing actors talking about acting.

Side note: I actually watched this movie a few months ago but with its lack of notoriety during the awards season has prompted me to dust off the keyboard.

There are still a few theaters that are carrying this movie, most notably the McMennamin’s Mission Theater on NW Glisan and 16th, but it is definitely worth a rental. If the kids are around, make sure they close their eyes for the opening scene. Especially if you are in Elijah’s house, you don’t want the kids thinking dad is on TV making love to another woman.

Jake

Editor's note: First, the opinions of individual reviewers on the choice of personal consort that a person may be with or not be with are purely that reviewers opinion and may not reflect the board of directors of Skip the Concessions. We do however respect the right of free speech on this page. Second, the editor also respects the rights of reviewers to have a "man-crush". But it will henceforthe be ignored and noted that I have slightly more hair than Mr Hoffman, but only slightly; and I squint less.

Elijah

Gone Baby Gone, back again. On dvd.

2008-02-12T13:30:00.000-08:00

I can cite a few Oscar tragedies in recent years, but for this writers money, none beats the atrocity committed this year as Gone, Baby Gone is absolutely shunned in 4 out of 5 catergories that truly count.

The lone nomination this year is Amy Ryan in the Best Supporting Actress group. While she's not a lock on the gold, I give her a 80% chance of standing at the podium. Scroll down three articles and take a look at her competition in the category. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Her real competition to my mind is Cate Blanchett portraying Bob Dylan. First, the Academy loves that kind of portrayal and second, who doesn't love Cate Blanchett. But the Academy truly loves drug addled moms, and this one is a humdinger. Yeah, that's right, humdinger.

My question to the Academy: Did you actually watch Atonement? Did you just see that it was a period piece and throw it on the list? What about Michael Clayton? Are you that much in love with George Clooney that you can no longer see through the sculpted hair?

I'm just a lowly reviewer, deserving of little respect as it's not even my job. Just a passion. I dare you to watch those three movies and not be moved more by Gone, Baby Gone. Gut-wrenched in fact, as the story plays out on the screen. Will Atonement move you? Sure. But not like this. Michael Clayton? Perhaps, after you figure the plot out.

It's a damn crime that Casey Affleck isn't nominated for a Best Actor award. The field is crowded this year with well known names and in fairness, I haven't seen all the movies. So they find a way to make it up to him with the Supporting Actor nom in "The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." Which is fine, but doesn't do him justice.

If Ben Affleck is still in the hole with the Hollywood bodies who "count", then he is being done a cruel injustice. Sure he was tabloid fodder and cranked out a couple of horrendous examples of acting in the last few years, but that has no bearing on his directing skills. This man made a remarkable movie. As far as grit goes, this movie ranks up there with an Eastwood directed film. Not that he is "Clint-like", but the dirt is there. The feeling of a true society. You believe the world. It's hard to knock someone off the directing list, but I'd have left Tony Gilroy off the list and let Michael Clayton age on the shelf a bit.

To sum up, "Gone, Baby Gone" was screwed in the following categories:

Best Picture

Best Actor

Best Director

Best Adapted Screenplay

My point? The film is being released on dvd today, Tuesday, February 12. If you missed it in the theater, don't hesitate to pick it up this weekend.

To read my reviews click the following links:

Gone, Baby Gone: http://skiptheconsessions.blogspot.com/2007/11/gone-baby-gone-but-i-may-be-coming-back.html

Michael Clayton: http://skiptheconsessions.blogspot.com/2007/12/michael-clayton-or-is-that-just-really.html

Atonement: http://skiptheconsessions.blogspot.com/2007/12/atonementive-got-nothing-funny-here.html

Oh, and Atonement, you want to talk about a good period piece? Don't even get me started on 3:10 to Yuma. http://skiptheconsessions.blogspot.com/2007/09/go-west-young-man-catch-310-to-yuma.html

I'm just saying.

Elijah

Roy, I hope you're sailing on a bigger boat now...

2008-02-11T07:23:00.000-08:00

Acting great Roy Scheider passed over the weekend, he is remembered in the following A.P. article:

Roy Scheider, a two-time Oscar nominee best known for his role as a police chief in the blockbuster movie “Jaws,” died Sunday. He was 75.

Scheider died at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock, hospital spokesman David Robinson said. The hospital did not release a cause of death.

However, hospital spokeswoman Leslie Taylor said Scheider had been treated for multiple myeloma at the hospital’s Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy for the past two years.

He was nominated for a best-supporting actor Oscar in 1971’s “The French Connection” in which he played the police partner of Oscar winner Gene Hackman and for best-actor for 1979’s “All That Jazz,” the autobiographical Bob Fosse film.

However, he was best known for his role in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 film, “Jaws,” the enduring classic about a killer shark terrorizing beachgoers and well as millions of moviegoers.

Widely hailed as the film that launched the era of the Hollywood blockbuster, it was also the first movie to earn $100 million at the box office. Scheider starred with Richard Dreyfuss, who played an oceanographer.

“He was a wonderful guy. He was what I call ’a knockaround actor,”’ Dreyfuss told The Associated Press on Sunday.

“A ’knockaround actor’ to me is a compliment that means a professional that lives the life of a professional actor and doesn’t’ yell and scream at the fates and does his job and does it as well as he can,” he said.

In 2005, one of Scheider’s most famous lines in the movie — “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” — was voted No. 35 on the American Film Institute’s list of best quotes from U.S. movies.

That year, some 30 years after “Jaws” premiered, hundreds of movie buffs flocked to Martha’s Vineyard, off the southeastern coast of Massachusetts, to celebrate the great white shark.

The island’s JawsFest ’05 also brought back some of the cast and crew, including screenwriter Carl Gottlieb and Peter Benchley, who wrote the novel that inspired Spielberg’s classic. Spielberg, Scheider and Dreyfuss were absent.

Dreyfuss recalled Sunday a time during the filming of ’Jaws’ when Scheider disappeared from the set. As the filming was on hold because of the weather, Scheider “called me up and said, ’You don’t know where I am if they call.’

“He’d gone to get a tan. He was really very tan-addicted. That was due to a childhood affliction where he was in bed for a long time. For him being tan was being healthy,” Dreyfuss said.

He added that Scheider “was a pretty civilized human being — you can’t ask for much more than that.”

I recently caught JAWS on cable just last week; say what you will about clothing and hairstyles, that movie still holds up to this day.

Also, if I can get my wife to stop throwing the children's toys at me, I'm going to keep rewinding the boat scene until my dvr and/or my dvd starts smoking.

Elijah

River Phoenix all over again...

2008-01-22T14:16:00.000-08:00

TMZ has learned that 2006 Academy Award nominee Heath Ledger has died in NY.

He was found dead in his bed in one of his residences in Soho by his housekeeper at 3:35 PM ET today. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ they believe it was not a crime, adding prescription pills were found near his body.

The 28-year-old actor has a two year old daughter with former fiancee Michelle Williams -- they separated in September, 2007.

He plays The Joker in the upcoming Batman film, "The Dark Knight."

According to NYPD a masseuse arrived at Ledger's apartment and was let in by a housekeeper. When Ledger didn't answer his bedroom door, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened it and found him unconscious. They attempted to wake him; when they couldn't, they called 911.

We're told when paramedics responded, the actor was in full cardiac arrest. They attempted to perform CPR on him, but were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ledger may be best known for his groundbreaking role as Ennis in "Brokeback Mountain".

The above was taken from TMZ.com, let me just say, who among you doesn't stop to watch "10 Things I Hate About You" every time it's on cable.

Whether it happens or not, here are your nominations:

2008-01-22T07:22:00.000-08:00

We will take a deeper look at these catergories and individuals in a little while. Until then, here is your preliminary look at the nominees:

Performance by an actor in a leading role

George Clooney in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)

Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)

Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah” (Warner Independent)

Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises” (Focus Features)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.)

Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)

Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War” (Universal)

Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)

Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal)

Julie Christie in “Away from Her” (Lionsgate)

Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse)

Laura Linney in “The Savages” (Fox Searchlight)

Ellen Page in “Juno” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There” (The Weinstein Company)

Ruby Dee in “American Gangster” (Universal)

Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement” (Focus Features)

Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone” (Miramax)

Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

Best animated feature film of the year

“Persepolis” (Sony Pictures Classics) Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud

“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Brad Bird

“Surf's Up” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Ash Brannon and Chris Buck

Achievement in art direction

“American Gangster” (Universal)Art Direction: Arthur MaxSet Decoration: Beth A. Rubino

“Atonement” (Focus Features)Art Direction: Sarah GreenwoodSet Decoration: Katie Spencer

“The Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners)Art Direction: Dennis GassnerSet Decoration: Anna Pinnock

“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)Art Direction: Dante FerrettiSet Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)Art Direction: Jack FiskSet Decoration: Jim Erickson

Achievement in cinematography

“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.) Roger Deakins

“Atonement” (Focus Features) Seamus McGarvey

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Janusz Kaminski

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roger Deakins

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Robert Elswit

Achievement in costume design

“Across the Universe” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Albert Wolsky

“Atonement” (Focus Features) Jacqueline Durran

“Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal) Alexandra Byrne

“La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Marit Allen

“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Colleen Atwood

Achievement in directing

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Julian Schnabel

“Juno” (Fox Searchlight) Jason Reitman

“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) Tony Gilroy

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Paul Thomas Anderson

Best documentary feature

“No End in Sight” (Magnolia Pictures)A Representational Pictures ProductionCharles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

“Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience” (The Documentary Group)A Documentary Group Production Richard E. Robbins

“Sicko” (Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company)A Dog Eat Dog Films ProductionMichael Moore and Meghan O’Hara

“Taxi to the Dark Side” (THINKFilm)An X-Ray ProductionAlex Gibney and Eva Orner

“War/Dance” (THINKFilm)A Shine Global and Fine Films ProductionAndrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine

Best documentary short subject

“Freeheld”A Lieutenant Films ProductionCynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth

“La Corona (The Crown)”A Runaway Films and Vega Films ProductionAmanda Micheli and Isabel Vega

“Salim Baba”A Ropa Vieja Films and Paradox Smoke ProductionTim Sternberg and Francisco Bello

“Sari’s Mother” (Cinema Guild)A Daylight Factory ProductionJames Longley

Achievement in film editing

“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal) Christopher Rouse

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Juliette Welfling

“Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment) Jay Cassidy

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roderick Jaynes

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Dylan Tichenor

Best foreign language film of the year

“Beaufort” A Metro Communications, Movie Plus ProductionIsrael

“The Counterfeiters” An Aichholzer Filmproduktion, Magnolia Filmproduktion ProductionAustria

“Katyń” An Akson Studio Production Poland

“Mongol” A Eurasia Film ProductionKazakhstan

“12” A Three T ProductionRussia

Achievement in makeup

“La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald

“Norbit” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount) Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji

“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Walt Disney) Ve Neill and Martin Samuel

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“Atonement” (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli

“The Kite Runner” (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics) Alberto Iglesias

“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard

“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino

“3:10 to Yuma” (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“Falling Slowly” from “Once”(Fox Searchlight)Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

“Happy Working Song” from “Enchanted”(Walt Disney) Music by Alan MenkenLyric by Stephen Schwartz

“Raise It Up” from “August Rush”(Warner Bros.)Nominees to be determined

“So Close” from “Enchanted”(Walt Disney)Music by Alan MenkenLyric by Stephen Schwartz

“That’s How You Know” from “Enchanted”(Walt Disney)Music by Alan MenkenLyric by Stephen Schwartz

Best motion picture of the year

“Atonement” (Focus Features) A Working Title Production Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers

“Juno” (Fox Searchlight)A Dancing Elk Pictures, LLC ProductionLianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers

“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)A Clayton Productions, LLC ProductionSydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss ProductionScott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company ProductionJoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers

Best animated short film

“I Met the Walrus” A Kids & Explosions Production Josh Raskin

“Madame Tutli-Putli” (National Film Board of Canada)A National Film Board of Canada ProductionChris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski

“Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)” (Premium Films)A BUF Compagnie ProductionSamuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse

“My Love (Moya Lyubov)” (Channel One Russia)A Dago-Film Studio, Channel One Russia and Dentsu Tec ProductionAlexander Petrov

“Peter & the Wolf” (BreakThru Films)A BreakThru Films/Se-ma-for Studios ProductionSuzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman

Best live action short film

“At Night”A Zentropa Entertainments 10 ProductionChristian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth

“Il Supplente (The Substitute)” (Sky Cinema Italia)A Frame by Frame Italia ProductionAndrea Jublin

“Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)” (Premium Films)A Karé Production Philippe Pollet-Villard

“Tanghi Argentini” (Premium Films)An Another Dimension of an Idea ProductionGuido Thys and Anja Daelemans

“The Tonto Woman” A Knucklehead, Little Mo and Rose Hackney Barber ProductionDaniel Barber and Matthew Brown

Achievement in sound editing

“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal)Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)Skip Lievsay

“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Randy Thom and Michael Silvers

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)Matthew Wood

“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro)Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins

Achievement in sound mixing

“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal)Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland

“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney)Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane

“3:10 to Yuma” (Lionsgate)Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe

“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro) Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin

Achievement in visual effects

“The Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners)Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood

“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Walt Disney)John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier

“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro)Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier

Adapted screenplay

“Atonement” (Focus Features)Screenplay by Christopher Hampton

“Away from Her” (Lionsgate)Written by Sarah Polley

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn)Screenplay by Ronald Harwood

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson

Original screenplay

“Juno” (Fox Searchlight)Written by Diablo Cody

“Lars and the Real Girl” (MGM) Written by Nancy Oliver

“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)Written by Tony Gilroy

“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney)Screenplay by Brad BirdStory by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird

“The Savages” (Fox Searchlight) Written by Tamara Jenkins

Atonement...I've got nothing funny here.

2007-12-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

Just a quick overview of Atonement: Fledgling writer Briony Tallis, as a 13-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.

Think you've got the movie in a nutshell now? Yes and no. Special warning: In this review I may give too much up. I'm sorry, this time it can't be helped. I will dutifully stay away from the ending and any major points.

This film has garnered seven Golden Globe Nominations. 7. With a capital S, friends. Now, before you become amazed at that number let us remember that the Golden Globe awards are governed by the Hollywood Foreign Press. What am I saying? Let's save that for the final paragraph.

For Atonement we have director Joe Wright teaming up again with Keira Knightley for their second period piece. Just a few years ago this duo gave us the latest version of Pride and Prejudice, which for my money is the best version to date. Personally, I think Wright should have been nominated for a Best Director Oscar in 2005.

In this newest offering we tackle the issues of class, money, jealousy, love, lust, rape, morality...I could keep going but this is only a short column. This movie has all these things in spades, there is no subtlety anywhere; the emotions are on the surface. There is no denying anything, the director wants you to feel everything. He wants you to feel the selfishness and petty jealousy of youth. Feel the lust and desperate craving of blooming adulthood, separated by generations of social class. Feel the crush of broken dreams, broken hearts...hope.

But, it's not enough.

We are bombarded with all this emotion, we get layers upon layers of setup. Then, just as we are getting to the meat of the story, the emotion melts away. We are left with interludes. The layers disappear. Now each character has one purpose that drives them, it's the means to an ending. Some may say, "That's just right, that's just what you are supposed see and feel." Fine. But I felt that it wasn't enough. I wanted each of them to show me more suffering, more despair. More adversity to be overcome, instead of just going through the motions.

I just needed more substance. Now, to the performances:

I find no fault with any body of work from the actors and Keira Knightley is once again poised to get an Academy nomination. I don't feel like she stretched to do much in this movie, it was all well within her grasp, but it didn't disappoint in any way. Her snobbery knows no bounds and the collapse of her wall was well acted. Much like her brilliant performance in Pride and Prejudice, but just shy of that level overall. When we reach the second half of the film, I feel like we lose her. This is what I was pointing to previously. In turning from her disapproving and accusing family to pine for her lost love, she just goes through the motions. Is this what the writers and directors want? Possibly, for the audience to feel the solitude and forlorn, but why must the story suffer for it? In my humble opinion, it does suffer.

Well. James McAvoy certainly has a nice healthy string of movies going his way recently. It's easy to see why. Click on his name back there to see his IMDB.com page. His Robbie Turner in this film is a spectacular role for him, with great range. Bold and assertive, despite being the son of the hired help. Perhaps needing to be put in his place, but knowing when to find that place. Accepted on some level, but just shy of real "class". With a bright future supplied by the head of the house as benefactor, you get the impression that perhaps he has overstepped slightly. Which makes it all the worse as it is pulled from his grasp by a misunderstanding and jealous 13 year old girl. You feel his life slip away as he is taken from his future; His own boldness partly responsible. James McAvoy deserves his forthcoming nomination. Robbie Turner's story does not. Because, as we see him released on condition of serving in the war, we lose the fight. We see a man trudging across France to rejoin his lost love. The problem remains; walking through the motions. I miss the adversity that was shown us in Saving Private Ryan. We see a man walking back to his love, we don't see what it takes to get there.

Finally the part of Briony, portrayed by three separate actresses. Saoirse Ronan plays age 13, Romola Garai age 18 and Vanessa Redgrave the elder Briony. This is the one character that on every level is perfection. All the way through we see how this girl suffers from her mistake. This one facet is completely fleshed out. Nothing is left behind and we have this one example of what the rest should have been. In reality, the story isn't about two lovers as we have been led to believe but rather this one little girl. The movie is titled Atonement. Here is your story. Not the above trappings. Follow her story, feel her pain; though she doesn't want your pity. Saoirse has been nominated for a supporting actress golden globe. She deserves it. Vanessa Redgrave is wonderful in her few moments on screen. We see too little of Ms. Redgrave these days.

As a final parting shot, take heed of the "R" rating on this one. The gore is not as plentiful as was in Saving Private Ryan, but it is as shocking. Also be warned that a certain word, the worst thing a woman can be called, is used. Insanely used. In 10 foot letters across the screen. You are warned.

Deserving special mention is this: pay special attention to the scene on the beach at Dunkirk. This is done in one nonstop, 5 1/2 minute tracking shot. Absolutely stunning, imagine what it must have taken to plan and master this long shot with a thousand extras, on sand, and the choreography of it all. I'm just saying.

When I sat down to write this I was determined to give it a mid-range score. I've talked myself into giving it 3.25 four letter words out of 5 four letter words. On a good day I might throw on another half point. It's not a bad movie, it's a good movie and the ending is worth catching a weekend matinee showing. The problem is, I just don't think it's heads above anything else out there right now. As for the 7 Golden Globe nominations, it's the Hollywood Foreign Press and this is the only foreign film showing in big release right now.

I'm just saying.

Elijah

Lars and the Real Girl. Sure, but can she hold a conversation?

2007-12-20T09:57:00.000-08:00

How do you write a review about a man in love with a sex doll? I guess you start with the description of Lars and the Real Girl: Lars Lindstrom an awkwardly shy young man in a small northern town who finally brings home the girl of his dreams to his brother and sister-in-law's home. The only problem is that she's not real.

When I sit down and think about this movie, I want to say that it has almost has a "Rain Man" quality to it as films go. But that is a disservice. Lars is no Raymond Babbit. In fact, he is a fully functioning person. He's just suffering extreme emotional and social problems that keep him leading a lonely and solitary life until one fateful day at work leads him to make a unique decision.

Think of a family trying to make the mental and physical adjustments to a situation like this. Take a second. Now think of a small town; a town where everyone knows each other and some may have some backwards views on something like this. The upshot of this movie is that there are some heart-warming moments. And a few heart-breaking ones.

Ryan Gosling turns in another Oscar worthy performance as Lars, the man who met his visiting "friend" on the Internet and invited her to visit him. The man who eventually falls in love with a sex doll, but respects his own, and "her" religious beliefs to ask his brother and sister-in-law to use their extra room for "Bianca". This is where the whole plot takes off. I'll be honest when I say that I don't usually see Goslings films, the subject matter generally not catering to my tastes. I had to see this movie though. I just love offbeat stuff and this doesn't disappoint. Neither does Gosling. I laughed when I was supposed to and believe me when I say they give you the opportunities. I felt pain for Lars when it was called for, and there is plenty of opportunity for that as well. The thing is, Gosling as Lars helps you believe that "Bianca" is truly a real person to him.

Paul Schneider plays Gus Lindstrom, the brother that charges himself with looking after and worrying about Lars. As Gus begins freaking out we don't know if it's concern for Lars or his concern for what people will think of this development. It's hard to do anything but laugh at Gus in the beginning, but as the film goes on I started to feel a bit sad at his reactions to the adjustments the family has to make. Bottom line is, I felt that I probably would have reacted in a lot of the same manners, and that just lends credibility to the movie.

Emily Mortimer shines in this movie as the pregnant sister-in-law that really tries. Tries to immediately incorporate this predicament and make the best out of the situation. You feel the love this woman has for her family, and the lengths she will go to in order to protect everyone. You wonder how long this woman can endure, with this stress filled time and the impending birth of a child. Will she break, can she keep the family together?

Patricia Clarkson turns in a great performance as the doctor who tries to get to the bottom of this situation and convinces all involved (including the entire town) to go along with this in order to prevent a real psychological break.

This decision actually provides the meat of the story as we witness the town come together and support this outrageous situation. You'll laugh and feel incredibly uncomfortable at the same time as every member of this town interacts with Bianca. From the church services to holiday parties, this doesn't get anymore bizarre. At the same time, you love it.

Just for more spice, throw in a young blond played by Kelli Garner who, for inexplicable reason is drawn to Lars. I don't know if I really fell for this storyline, but it adds more heart and certain complications that make for good story, so I'll take it.

For the second review in a row I give Lars and the Real Girl 5 fake flower bouquets out of 5 fake flower bouquets. This movie is Rain Man meets Mayberry and I, for one, love it. It's all heart. It's a quirky drama with enough laughs to keep you going, despite the serious subject. Give Ryan Gosling an Oscar Nomination. He's earned it. Again.

Elijah

Juno - If only little Jamie Lynn could have seen this first.

2007-12-20T09:49:00.000-08:00

Yes, that is a baby bump discreetly implanted in the photo. Here's Juno's description: Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.

I first saw the previews for this movie back in the summer, in front of Superbad. Not a coincidence that the star of that movie would also figure prominently in this one. I immediately put this down on my must see list. Sure the previews told me that this was my kind of funny, but the real draw for me: Ellen Page.

This 20 year old Canadian born actress has done a lot of t.v. that we in the states haven't seen, so she's actually been around awhile. I first saw her a couple of years ago in Hard Candy, a very dark, frightening drama. One that you could actually put alongside Robin Williams' stalker film, One Hour Photo. If you haven't seen Hard Candy, and you have children between 10 and 16 years old, rent this movie. Right away. I had a feeling that Ms. Page would do things after seeing that film, and after watching Juno, I'm convinced that she is the next Christina Ricci. Making good movies that mean something.

Back to our snarky comedy. Sure Juno is about a 16 year old girl who gets pregnant on her first sexual foray, but I'll be damned if this movie doesn't do it with a lot of heart and a lot of laughter. The writing on this movie is fantastic. Not just the plot, the dialogue is first rate. Quick, smart, jabbing, funny. Joss Whedon fans will absolutely appreciate this film. The one knock is that as I watched this film I was reminded that there are no high schoolers anywhere who actually think on this high of a level. At least, I hope not, because if that's true, I am doomed as a father of two girls.

As we follow Juno on her journey to self-discovery, we watch as she struggles with the decisions that we've seen time and time again. Do you keep the child? If not, is abortion an option, or adoption? The thing is, every one of these moments has a quirky twist to it that defines this movie. When faced with a serious subject, it's impossible not to laugh or gape as every scene is infused with poignant moments.

The other thing we see is a supporting cast that absolutely sells this movie. There may be other actors and actresses that could fill these rolls, but we don't need them. The ones we are given are perfect for this movie and I highlight Allison Janney, J.K. Simmons, and Jason Bateman in particular.

Janney and Simmons play the surprised parents in this film and they are perfect for what they are asked to do in this film. Generally, when you see Simmons in a film he is yelling at the top of his lungs or barking orders to someone. This time around you get a quiet man, trying to be supportive, but a bit heart-broken. He is the heart of the movie here, and it's definitely a good thing. Allison Janney is one of those actresses that you know, but don't readily think of. She makes the actors around her better and every award season she makes it to the podium. In this movie she provides the "Hell, Yeah!" moments.

Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman play the "perfect" couple that may be potential adopters. These two eschew the perfect suburban couple with their cookie cutter house in its' cookie cutter neighborhood. As I said earlier, Bateman is great. He really is good and you feel his thoughts even though he's not saying what is on his mind. He does get a scene that unwittingly provides a creepy feeling. Now, I've read an interview with the woman who wrote this film and she categorically denies that it was intended that way, but believe me when I say that this scene didn't come across as a heart to heart as it was supposed to play out. So take that with you when you see the movie. As for Jennifer Garner, she does her job. I don't have anything bad to say about her. The problem is that I have never warmed up to her. I've never seen her in anything that made me say she's fantastic. I can't pinpoint anything, and I feel bad writing this, but the fact is, she just grates on me. She does help provide a terrific scene, I just wish I didn't feel so blah about her.

Olivia Thirlby plays the best friend, whom you would just want to reach out and slap if you weren't laughing every time she opened her mouth. She's annoyingly funny and the she adds to the film with her just being in it. I look forward to the movie Jack and Diane, where once again, Thirlby and Page will be on screen together.

Finally, Michael Cera. The underused Michael Cera in this film. What he is given is great. He has absolutely mastered the role of intelligent, slightly naive, quiet guys. I just hope he's not pigeon-holed in Hollywood already, but if he is, I'll still watch.

One last note. Jason Reitman directed this film brilliantly, and if you missed his last film, Thank You For Smoking, then add it to your rental list and and pick it up with Hard Candy today.

If you haven't figured it out, I loved this movie. I'm giving it 5 orange tic-tacs out of 5 orange tic-tacs. I believe that's only the second full rating since I started the actual rating system, though I have loved quite a few of my earlier reviewed films. This is one of those films that is only going to play in select theaters, so if you're fortunate to live near one, see the movie. Don't worry though, you won't miss anything by waiting for dvd, just don't forget to add it to your list.

Elijah

Michael Clayton, or is that just a really pissed off George Clooney?

2007-12-11T06:07:00.000-08:00

Here's a brief description: An attorney known as the "fixer" in his law firm, comes across the biggest case of his career that could produce disastrous results for those involved.

When was the last time a George Clooney film slid through your town and you didn't know or weren't aware that it was happening? About two months ago that actually occurred. In the last week or so, you may have actually been hearing more about this film as the various nominations have been lighting up the entertainment news wires.

I did see this film during that quiet run, and going in I knew nothing. It wasn't until about halfway through the film that I started putting the various threads of the movie together. A month later and I'm still not sure that I would have gotten it faster or followed it better if I'd read the promo sheets on this one.

The film opens darkly. Very darkly. For about 10 minutes we are introduced to a late night, frantic, desperate work session at a law firm that isn't explained. From there we meet a depressed lawyer, Michael Clayton (Clooney), who you quickly realize is very nearly at the end of his rope, if not already dangling. You'd expect to see something significant come out of this interlude, considering the movie is named for this character. For about 5 minutes, all I was thinking was that this is going to be another Leaving Las Vegas depression film. Then we get the Event. The Event that sends this film into action. The Event that I didn't see coming, and if I'd known about would have ruined the moment, so now that you've read this you're probably screwed. But maybe not, because this film is all about how did we get to this desperation and scrambling.

Over the course, the film is going to get darker. We are going to meet the head of the law firm, a corporate big wig, a man who has seemingly lost his mind, a cop, a ruined man, and a cleaner. I'm not talking about a maid service.

Each of these parts is played by faces you should recognize, but names that may just be on the tip of your tongue. That doesn't matter. It's all about the stories and the strings that you can't see, but will eventually become entwined to form the rope that Michael Clayton, the person, is clinging on to.

Sidney Pollack, one of the celebrated directors and actors of our time returns to the front of the camera to play Marty Bach, the head of our contentious law firm. He plays the role perfectly as a man who dedicates his life to his firm and the bottom line, but still realizes that it's actual people that work for him and finds the balance to manage both. When ever I have the opportunity to see a Pollack film, (whether acted or directed) I see it. Of mention is his remake of Sabrina, in which he directed Harrison Ford, Greg Kinnear and Julia Ormond. One of my favorites to this day.

Tilda Swinton plays the corporate player trying to save 1. her company from litigation and 2. public opinion of the company and by extension her job and lifestyle. Will she breakdown under pressure? What lengths will one persons dedication drive them too? You've seen Swinton in many things, but you probably never realized it. People in the states will most remember her for her part in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Finally, Tom Wilkinson plays the man whom the whole plot revolves around. His descent into crazy brings it all crashing down around everybody and while you're told that the movie is about Michael Clayton, if you can pay attention to the character Arthur Edens, you may get a firm grip on the confusing plot.

You're going to see a lot of Clayton's life thrashed about on the screen and it all plays little parts in the film as it all becomes a part of the overall story. From the dysfunctional family to the personal conflicts to the interoffice relationships. This is all going to flash on the screen and you may be wondering where it's all going, but trust me when I tell you that the pay-off is worth it.

It was one of the few films that I have sat through the credits as they rolled. If you see the movie you'll understand, and you might just sit there too.

In the end, I'm giving Michael Clayton 3.5 loaves of french bread out of 5 loaves of french bread. The acting was a 5, but the convoluted storyline that didn't come together until late pulled it down for me. This could be chalked up to me walking in blind, but shouldn't we all walk in that way? With nothing spoiled? I'm just saying.

Elijah

Watching: Angel the complete series, season 4.

On deck: Oceans 13 dvd.

Gone Baby Gone. But, I may be coming back with a gold statue.

2007-11-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

Based on the Dennis Lehane novel about two Boston area detectives investigating a little girl's kidnapping, which ultimately turns into a crisis both professionally and personally.

This guy I know, let's call him Flanders (hopefully you get the reference), commented to me that he found this movie tough to watch. As the father of two young girls, I don't disagree. Considering the subject matter, it should be. If it's not for you, see a professional.

The thing I didn't expect was the way it unfolded. Pretty quickly you realize that this isn't about a upper middle class family being robbed of a loved one in the middle of the night. In fact, it couldn't be any more opposite to that scenario. This is the story of a single mother completely entrenched in the world of drugs that she has no concept of responsibility to herself, let alone the 5 year old daughter that she abandons to shape the plot.

As the opening credits roll you are introduced to private detective Patrick Kenzie, played by more than able Casey Affleck and his partner/girlfriend Angie Gennaro, played by Michelle Monaghan. Concurrently, you are brought up to date via news briefings on the state of the child abduction, now a couple days old.

The catalyst that gets the film rolling is the arrival of the child's Aunt and Uncle, played by Amy Madigan and Titus Welliver, to the detective's apartment/office and the pleading of help based on their knowledge of the neighborhood and people.

As I stated, we are quickly thrown into a world that has given up. A world that has surrendered to violence and drugs. People who are apathetic at best and believably horrid at their worst. During this introduction, we meet the authorities that are charged with solving this abduction: Morgan Freeman as Captain Jack Doyle, Ed Harris as Detective Remy Bressant and John Ashton as Detective Nick Poole. Not happy about being outsourced, but not too abrasive as you normally see in these movie situations.

True to form, as the sleuths begin to press, they start to uncover some unknown truths that set off the fireworks and delve you deeper than you'd rather go.

First off, let me say that there is no doubt in my mind that this will be up for best picture come February. I don't see much else out there between now and December 31 with this emotional impact, But we will see.

I've been saying it for years, Casey Affleck is the more talented actor of the two Afflecks. After seeing him in the farce Drowning Mona, I knew he could be the real deal. The Ocean movies showed off his comic ability, but with his recent Jesse James film and now this big time role, he has arrived.

I actually would not be surprised to see a triple whammy here: nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor, and you're reading it here first kids, Best Director. I'm probably being optimistic, because the film didn't suck. Anytime Ben Affleck doesn't suck, people tend to go so hard the other way with praise. I'm jumping on that bandwagon today, because he made a gritty, dark, emotional movie.

Michelle Monaghan lends a little grounding to the film. Though we don't see much of the movie through her eyes as it moves along, she turns an excellent performance on two seperate occasions when the film truly needs it to provide the emotional dilema.

Ed Harris and John Ashton don't truly veer much farther than previous roles they have played, but they are just what the movie asks for and needs in the detective roles. Morgan Freeman, plays a cop that's been through it all before and has become hard and jaded. Remember that as you watch the movie, it may help you.

Finally, Amy Ryan plays the embattled mother that can't pull it together, won't pull it together because there is no problem here. When someone potrays a character so well that you have no idea that she might be anything other than that role, you have a show. Now that I think about it, don't be surprised to get a Supporting Actress Nomination here. The Academy loves drug addled moms.

To sum up, see this movie for it's gritty realism, and it's story. It's more than what you think it is. The story will shock you, offend you, maybe hurt you; it's worth it and the closing scene is the most poignant I've seen in years. Be prepared for very strong language and situations. Once again, Rated R for a reason folks.

I give Gone Baby Gone 4.5 patron saint medallions out of 5 for a solid performance by everybody involved.

Elijah

Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Lookin' a bit tarnished there kiddo.

2007-11-15T04:27:00.000-08:00

Seven Academy Award nominations. 10 years ago Elizabeth garnered seven nominations. Apparently, a lot changes in that gap.

Take this review with a grain of salt. Not because I was at a Mcmenniman's theater and swilling beer while watching, but rather because I was seething with anger when I exited that theater. Seeing red. Pissed off.

The first movie was full of history, intrigue, crazy french persons, assassins, the pope, a cold-blooded bodyguard, and overheated politicians. It actually inspired me to read everything I could get my hands on to learn more about this time frame and people involved. That was my downfall.

I quickly realized that dramatic interpretation was abundant in that film, but I was willing to forgive it and move on, because it was a GOOD movie. I liked it originally and was able to move past my new-found knowledge.

Then this was announced. A new chapter. The movement of Spain against England, the continued wooing by heads of state, the intrigue, imprisonment and execution of Mary Stuart, queen of Scotland. Wait a minute...they killed her off in the first movie. What are they going to do? How will they bring about the Spanish attack?

Regardless, I was still pumped to see this movie. They are adding Clive Owen, and Samantha Morton. Two actors I love. This couldn't be better! Then I saw it. Never again Shekhar Kapur, never again will I watch a film directed by you. First, Four Feathers and now this. I'm done with you.

It's like Mr. Kapur got the outline from the writers and returned it to them covered in red ink, demanding to know where the tragic love story was, where was the over-the-top, smarmy dialogue, where was the insane villain? Try again boys. In the end, he got what he wanted, and it's all in there. Of course, I'm just throwing stuff out there for your entertainment, but I do really feel this way in my gut.

In spite of the hate I'm spewing forth, I did find a few things to enjoy about this movie. The visuals are stunning! This director absolutely knows how to make a beautiful movie. Sets were large and open for the massive feel of palaces and churches. Colors were almost a character in this film. They helped describe the mood, the people surrounded by them. No doubt the cinematographer knows his stuff and what he/she wants to convey.

Despite the commentary on the colors, I did notice that the walls and some settings were stark white. Which brings me to the other thing I liked. This film will definitely win an Oscar come February...in costume design. As I was leaving to see this movie, someone made a statement to me. Someone with knowledge as a seamstress, and she only uttered two words: "Fabric Porn." After laughing at that term for about 30 minutes, I determined she was absolutely correct. Everything was elaborate. Clearly the settings were overly white for one reason: to highlight the costumes.

A major victory for this film in my mind was that they found a way to bring back Mary, Queen of Scots. How did they do this you ask? How about by completely ignoring that fact that they killed her in the first movie. Yeah, that's right. Didn't happen apparently. The closest thing I found to true history in this film was everything involving Mary Stuart. Her collusion in the assassination planning on Elizabeth and her execution were very close to what history records. Though, they did leave out a couple of horrible details in regards to the actual execution.

Finally, the actors/actresses all did their job, despite the contrived script. Cate Blanchett remains a favorite of mine and what she did was good. Her fury, her wit. All there and very commendable. You can not fault the actors in this film, Geoffrey Rush made the film for me in this and the previous film. I love his Walsingham. Samantha Morton played Queen Mary, and her brief loss of control is spectacular. Clive Owens was given crap to work with, but he did his best. He's not bad, everybody knows he is not a bad actor. I pity him, this role.

Bottom line, I'm biased, I know that. If this column suffers it's my fault, but I really hated what they did to the story here. I say to you, Mr. Kapur, inserting drama for drama's sake is not always necessary and can ruin a film. I will never forgive the stupid love story you threw into this film.

If you want to see a truer story of Elizabeth I, rent or purchase the HBO version starring Helen Mirren and titled, "Elizabeth I." In that version you will be told what occurred at the execution of Queen Mary. You will also see and hear the true speech that Elizabeth gave on the battlefield prior to the sea battle with Spain.

I give Elizabeth: The Golden Years 2 red wigs out of 5 red wigs. Wait for it to play repeatedly on cable.

Busy weekend

2007-11-12T21:10:00.000-08:00

Well we've got two new reviews for you today here at the Concession Stand:

American Gangster
Dan in Real Life

That's not the end of it though. Over the next few days we'll have at least four more so keep checking back to read the following posts:

Elizabeth: The Golden Years
Michael Clayton
Gone Baby Gone
Lars and the Real Girl

Thanks for your support and if you have a request for a movie please leave a comment at the bottom of a post. Or, if you just have a comment or don't agree with an opinion please leave a comment. this column can be shaped by the readers, if you need to see something different let us know.

As always vote in the weekly poll on the right hand side!

The results of our last poll, favorite Nicole Kidman Movie ended in a three way tie with 3 votes each for Days of Thunder, Cold Mountain, and Yeah, Riiiiight. We did have a smattering of other choices but these three took the majority.

Thank you,

Your concession staff.

American Gangster. Or Heat: The Prequel.

2007-11-12T20:09:00.000-08:00

Many pictures I could have chosen for this post. This one feels right. A family portrait. Reminiscent of the family portraits in the Godfather Films. After all, this is the story of the rise and fall of a man and his family. A true story. The story of a family that grew bigger than the mafia, if for only a short time. So this picture feels right.

This one sets a better mood though, and tells the story right there in it's frame:

Frank Lucas. Born September 9, 1930 in Lenoir County, North Carolina. From meager beginnings became the biggest African Amercan drug lord in the history of the United States.

This movie tells the story of Frank and on the other side, Richie Roberts the New Jersey detective that ran the operation to bring him down. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe bring these two historic figures to life and the movie doesn't let up for nearly three hours as we see the beginning of Frank's rise and Richie's ideals that force the impending collision. The movie also showcases Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and even Cuba Gooding Jr. shows us why he got that Oscar soooo long ago.

In 1995, the movie Heat was released. The modern day tale of a master bank robber, his men and the lawmen that brought them down. See the similarities? I'm betting Universal Pictures wants you to focus on the history so that you don't realize you watched this movie 12 years ago with The Godfathers themselves in the leads. Really, who can forget Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in arguably the biggest movie of that year?

What really matters is that none of that matters. This movie holds it's own and won't let you out of the seat to go to the restroom. If you do actually leave the theater to go to the restroom during a movie then get off this site, you're no fan.

This movie has it's own story to tell and that's what helps it differ from Heat. The fact that Frank Lucas was wise enough to go to the source. Cut out the middleman and sell his pure product on the streets of Harlem at a discount to the other hustlers tells you the genius. A man that nobody suspected because he appeared so clean that everybody knew him but the people who should have. This movie doesn't back down from the facts and shows the rough, but intelligent criminal genius in all it's glory.

You've seen Denzel's fury in Training day. Animal fury. This is different. This is cold, calculating, determined fury. Chilling. In every scene you know who's in charge. Clean the mantle Mr. Washington, you may need room for another gold statue.

On the other side of the coin is our hero. The incorruptible Richie Roberts as played by Russell Crowe. Flawed certainly, and that side is played up to show some form of vice in an otherwise saintly figure. For a long time, I preferred to skip Mr Crowe's movies. That all changed when he brought one of my greatest heroes from literature to life in Master and Commander. He did my imagination justice and I will pay attention to his movies for the remainder of his career.

In this movie, Russell plays the part perfect. With the smarts to figure it out, the naivety to show he is perhaps over his head, and the spirit to do the right thing. No matter what. You don't know who to root for in this film. You know how it's going to end, you know one of these men is a vicious killer in more than one way, but you almost want to root for both characters.

The movie moves at a perfect pace, keeping all the danger present. The intrigue sweeping along to a fantastic conclusion, once again reminiscent of the Godfather films. When Russell seems to be on to the operation you want him to succeed, you're right there with him wishing him to expose all the corruption. When Denzel seems to make a last huge attempt to keep the family alive, you want him to prevail, to keep the cops at the door sniffing for a trail they'll never piece together.

In my mind, I want to slight this movie a little bit. But I can't come up with a reason to do that. So this movie is my first full rating with 5 pure bricks out of 5 pure bricks. Don't kid yourself, this movie is very violent. See it in the theater, but be prepared, American Gangster doesn't &*%# around!

Elijah

Dan in Real Life. Really?

2007-11-12T18:17:00.000-08:00

Steve Carell is a funny man. Few people would outright deny that. I can actually think of one person who would stand up and defy that statement, and when he reads this he'll know it's him. Let's call him Bizzaro Elijah. I believe Bizzaro actually does like Mr. Carell, but it's in his nature to take the opposite tack to me. Point is: people like Steve. Can I call you Steve, Steve?

Steve Carell has truly come into his own in the last few years. Everybody loved him in the movie that made his name more well known: The 40 Year Old Virgin. What about his nearly 6 year stint as a news correspondent on The Daily Show? Perhaps the funniest stuff I've ever seen from him, and a fantastic showcase for his talent. Of course, the dimwitted co-star of Anchorman: The legend of Ron Burgandy. "I once ate a bowl of Legos." Finally, the star of America's version of The Office. Can't be stopped, this guy. He may be at the top right now. This very moment.

Let us turn to Little Miss Sunshine. A very dark independent comedy, in which Steve played a suicidal gay college professor. A bit of a departure. But, tragically funny. Take the tragically funny essence of that movie and cross it with Sleepless in Seattle. Somewhere in that soup you'll find Dan in Real Life. Disturbed now? Don't be.

In the movie Steve plays Dan Burns. Dan Burns is a widower who dedicates his life to his children, but one day he meets Marie at a bookstore. They get to know each other, but then Dan finds out that Marie is....

But that would be telling. Dan is an apparently gifted, intuitive newspaper advice columnist. As the movie progresses, you wonder how a man who is still obviously depressed can have the emotional grounding to give wonderful advice. Particularly when he doesn't appear to heed any of that wisdom himself. His soul care in the world is to protect his children and keep them just that. Children.

What happens when a man so deep inside himself and his kids finally wakes up and sees a wonderful woman directly in front of him? Well that is what this movie explores. In the background. Because the conflict in this movie is actually an in your face, on the surface, different problem. Which if you choose to watch a preview, you'll know right away.

Believe me when I tell you that this movie is a romantic comedy. Up until this point you thought I was writing a review about a dark tragedy. The funny does come. In fact, the movie starts off with plenty of funny. Enough to pull you in. Nothing gets things going in a family comedy like a rebellious teenager, a wiser than her age child, and an overprotective father. Throw that mix into a larger than life family gathering and you've got a good recipe. Or you should have.

Steve plays the way I like him to play: confused, distraught, depressed, defiant. Throw fantastic actors like John Mahoney, Juliette Binoche, and Dane Cook in the there to play off of and everybody should have a good time. But when the main plot takes over and you are supposed to find the difficult situations funny, I started to find them stressful and sad. Maybe that's what made this film worth watching for me. I didn't just sit in the audience and laugh, I truly felt what Dan Burns was feeling.

My first reaction was to not want to write a positive review for this movie based on the uncomfortable feeling the second act gave me. Now I realize that's what this movie needs from you. Because the third act pulls you back. Takes you off the ledge. Saves you.

This is a formulaic movie. You've seen it many times over the years, but not this way. You know how it ends, but getting there is journey. Carell fans see it for the laughs. There are plenty, but take your wife. This is the one Steve Carell movie she'll appreciate.

Dan in Real Life gets 3.25 pancakes out of 5 pancakes from me this week. It's a perfect Sunday matinee movie. If that can't happen, wait for the rental and a quiet evening at home.

Elijah

Watching: Transformers and Veronica Mars, season 3

On deck: Angel, the complete series

Bee Movie: B- movie

2007-11-06T06:19:00.000-08:00

So it begins. My movie week commences and the list is long my friends. So let's start off with the easiest movie to talk about: Bee Movie. The advertising whizzes are telling us that this is Jerry Seinfeld's baby and come hell or high water you have to see this movie and use your children as a beard to get in there. And they have been telling us to see this movie for a year. A YEAR people. So was this movie over hyped? I'll give you my comments and you can decide.

I took my 4 year old daughter, who loves to go to the cineplex, and if there happens to be a movie playing so much the better. I'll add her commentary at the end.

Here is your basic description: Barry B. Benson, a bee who has just graduated from college, is disillusioned at his lone career choice: making honey. On a special trip outside the hive, Barry's life is saved by Vanessa, a florist in New York City.

Sure, there is a lot more to this movie. In fact, that description doesn't even center on the major plot, but that is the section I'm going to focus on, because when it moves toward it's focus, that's when it lost my focus.

If you loved Seinfeld, even liked Seinfeld, then you will enjoy the first 30 - 40 minutes of this movie. The way it explores the world, gliding from one scene to another with the classic Seinfeld observations. I chuckled along merrily with the characters while my daughter joined me as our champion bee was involuntarily inserted into a sporting event. This is where we meet the movie's costar Renee Zellweger. The way she speaks is a little off though, and I could say something politically incorrect here and it would probably be upheld in a court of law, but I'll just leave it at: a little off.

When you look at the IMDB.com page for Bee Movie you will see a who's who list of actors that threw their voices in. It's amazing how many names signed up for this. Matthew Broderick was the straight-laced best friend who wants to do the bee thing and live his life, but is pulled in by Barry. And Seinfeld's main man Patrick Warburton, the man who brought The Tick to the small screen and played Elaine's off and on boyfriend Puddy in the show Seinfeld gives an over the top, mildly entertaining performance here. It's meant to be over the top, but I'm not sure that it actually works. I don't mind over the top, but this just seemed off as well.

It's so hard not to draw a comparison to the Seinfeld program, but this applies to both the sitcom and Bee Movie. When the over-arcing plot takes control, we lose the funny. That's not good for anybody. I cite the series finale as an example. The last few laughing moments are seen as the catalyst for the plot takes place. It's these scenes that introduce us to Chris Rock's few moments and they rock, no pun intended.

It was during the middle of the of the second act that my daughter asked me if we could go home. A four year old asked me to go home in the middle of a cartoon. My devotion to the readers and my faith in Jerry staid my retreat. I did finish the movie.

The conversation with my daughter transpired thusly:

"Did you like the movie?"

"Yes."

"What was your favorite part?"

"When the bees were flying around the park."

"Did you think it was funny?"

"A little bit, I liked it when the bee had a sword on his butt."

"Why did you want to leave?"

"I was scared."

"What scared you?"

"When the man was going to get stung."

Then I lost her to mom serving cookies at snack time.

As far as a rating goes, I give it 2.5 honey combs out of 5 honey combs. The laughs for me were all in the first third/half of the movie. Kudos for the talented voices, but I'm taking half away for scaring my child and losing my interest at about the 3/4 mark.

Elijah

Watching: Veronica Mars, season 3

On deck: Angel complete series

Halloween Dvd Review: The Others

2007-10-30T05:47:00.000-07:00

In our recent Halloween movie list post, I indicated that I would review a movie choice for you that was not on the list. There were two reasons for that decision. First, I really wanted to highlight the movie as the sneaker rental you should grab for Wednesday night. Second, just by inserting The Others into a category, I would have possibly given the entire plot away. Yeah, it's that transparent and would ruin the movie if you put 2 + 2 together too soon. Unspoiled though, this movie will creep the *&%$ out of you.

The entire movie takes place inside and on the grounds of a large manor house located on a British island shortly after World War 2 and the German occupation of said island. You know you really can't beat a manor house as a location for either an English murder mystery or an old school ghost story. Nicole Kidman heads up the cast as Grace Stewart, the mother of two young children with a serious illness left behind as their father went away to war.

It becomes readily apparent as we are introduced to the house, the new house staff, and the children that there is something very strange about it all. When we first hear the disembodied voice, and see the disembodied hand we realize this is a real ghost story. Usually the children in these sorts of movies always know more than the adults and this doesn't veer from that formula, but thankfully it adds all the necessary chills.

Kidman plays the lonely mother barely holding it together quite well. You truly believe that any moment she's going to absolutely loose it, and that's part of the pull. The children are excellent in their roles, alternately knowing and terrified when called on. Kudos to Alakina Mann as daughter Anne Stewart. She speaks with confidence and sass as she's the only one that seems to have a handle on things, but I want to go through the t.v. at times and slap her smart mouth. Sue me.

On the other side of that, James Bentley plays the young son Nicholas Stewart. He spends the film terrorized by his sister and the things she says. He resembles the boy who played Damien in the recent Omen remake, and frankly that just makes this movie more freaky.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the three new additions to the home which we meet at the beginning of the film. The staff which knocks on the door and sends the picture into drive. The cook, housemaid and gardener, who seem to have an alternative agenda, and are clearly aware of something that nobody else is privy too. This trio completes the package of a well done thriller.

In the end you may slap your head and say, oooooohhhhh! Believe me when I tell you that there could be worse ways to get to a climax. The last scene is haunting and when the last frame plays I want the film to keep going. What happens next? Give me some more, I want to see the next interaction.

Pick it up from the rental store on your way home today or tomorrow before the kids head off to raid the neighborhood. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Elijah

Look for a slew of reviews next week as the family goes out of town for a week. We'll try to mix the genre's around a little to keep you entertained.

Great response in last weeks poll! Rushmore took the win with 4 votes to Royal Tenenbaums 3, some scattered votes for other Wes Anderson films, and 2 votes asking who the hell is Wes Anderson.

STC’s Second Wind v1.0, The Rise of Jake: All Aboard The Darjeeling Limited

2007-10-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone (Elijah and three others that read this blog), my name is Jake and I dig movies. Elijah, with his numerous commitments, can not find the time to post as much content as he would like and I’m here to fill the void. I try to get to about a movie a week, but as Elijah can attest, our work week (I unfortunately have to work with him, but thankfully we’re on opposite sides of the office) sometimes can dictate ungodly hours and the time available to catch a flick can be limited. However, I also have a Netflix account, HBO and Showtime, which can provide an awesome array of rental entertainment. So, prepare for Skip the Concessions’ Second Wind.

Last Friday afternoon, I popped over to the Fox Tower to catch an early afternoon showing of The Darjeeling Limited, Wes Anderson’s latest comedy installment starring Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody and Jason Schwartzman. I’ve been a fan of Anderson’s work since first seeing Rushmore and Darjeeling Limited did not disappoint.

The movie opens with a montage scene of Bill Murray in an Indian taxi, the movie takes place in India, precipitously navigating through a maze of traffic, merchant carts and the odd assortment of farm animals in order to catch the afternoon departure of the Darjeeling Limited. At the station, to Murray’s dismay, the train is just pulling out of the dock and he darts after the caboose to jump aboard. Murray can only muster a light jog and is surpassed by the far more youthful Brody, who, in spectacular slow motion Technicolor, leaps aboard. Unwilling to let go of his baggage (the underlying theme for pretty much the entire movie), Murray misses the train and is not to be seen again...

After a life threatening motorcycle accident, Francis portrayed by Wilson (we don’t get to see Luke in this movie) has an awakening and calls an emergency family meeting, asking his two brothers, Peter (Brody) and Jack (Schwartzman), to join him on a trip across India aboard the Darjeeling Limited. Up until their encounter on the train, it had been a year since either had seen or talked to one another at their father’s funeral. The lack of intimacy and trust creates an amusing backdrop as the train rumbles through central India. For their journey, the brothers have packed their belongings in various pieces of animal print luggage, all of which had belonged to their father.

Owen Wilson is fantastic as the eldest brother in a somewhat of stereotypical maniacal role but he’s much more subdued and quirky. Jason Schwartzman is a very under-rated actor, in my mind. Every project that he’s worked on, save for Sophia Coppola’s wallpaper piece Marie Antoinette, has turned to gold. He is also a talented musician, playing the drums for the now debunked Phantom Planet (Theme song from the O.C. – I watched it for the first three seasons then it turned into Beverly Hillbillies meets As The World Turns or just about any other day time soap you want to throw in) but his first solo project called Coconut Records is awesome. Of the three brothers, he is the most grounded but he has his interesting character traits as well. If you watch the film, pay attention to his feet throughout the movie; interesting imagery. Adam Brody’s character is the most complex but his performance was somewhat brushed aside by the strength of the other two.

Wes Anderson has a taste for spaces, a high school campus in Rushmore, a house in The Royal Tenenbaums, a submarine in Life Aquatic and for 80% of this film, the action takes place on…you guessed it, a train.

If you enjoyed Anderson’s previous films, you can add this one to the collection or if you feeling like heading out, it’s worth a trip to the theater, just don’t bring your kids. There are some sexual underpinnings but nothing overly graphic.

The odors coming from v1.0 of the STC’s Second Wind on The Darjeeling Limited are unsurprisingly pleasant, with a slight hint of green curry chicken and sweet tea.

Next in the Netflix queue is Letters From Iwo Jima and in the theaters, Noah Baumbach’s new flick Margot at the Wedding

Jake

Note from the editor:

I'm absolutely thrilled to have another reviewer join us behind the Concession Stand. More content on the site hopefully means a more enjoyable experience for the the three readers that Jake referenced above. I do have one other person on the fence that would cover direct to dvd and under the radar releases. Hopefully I can convince him to come on board, because he would have you in stitches constantly.

The Shining won our Halloween movie contest at 5 votes with a good showing by Poltergeist and Halloween tied for second with 3 votes each. The rest of the votes were scattered around the choices. Thanks for voting and make sure you hit today's new poll. As always, leave comments for our new reviewer at the bottom of this post.

Elijah