MAINSTREAM & INDIE FILMS TO SEE IN 2013

FILM REVIEWS AND COMMENTARIES 

By Gerald Wright
*More film reviews by Gerald Wright on http://www.HDfest.com/ (Movie Reviews), http://www.CriticalWomen.Blogspot.com/ (He Said-She Said Reviews), http://www.FilmShowcase.Webs.com (Film Reviews/Commentaries).

FILM RATINGS ranging from "A" - "D"







MURPH: The Protector

Directed by: Scott MacIntavish
Running time: 82 min.
Release date: March 22, 2013
Genre: Documentary
Distributor: MacIntavish Pictures
MPAA Rating: Not rated


A man is judged by his actions or lack of and this documentary is based on such a man's action.  MURPH: The Protector is a film based on the honor, courage and commitment of Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy, who gave his life for his men in 2005.  He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2007 for his deeds.

We define heroism as heroic conduct and/or behavior (selfless courage).  Michael P. Murphy of Suffolk County, Long Island, New York died in Afghanistan in 2005 while performing his duty a Naval Officer in wartime.

As this film examines his life in a ceremonial testimony from his spouse, parents, younger brother, cousins, schoolmates and military colleagues the viewer gets a clear understanding of a man who was determined to make a difference in the world.   It is refreshing how the filmmaker can be honest, even humorously honest, about examining this man.  If painful recollections, thoughts or memories come into mind in the documentary, they cannot spoil the outcome of what is being viewed.

MURPH: The Protector, is filmed using all of the elements needed in a documentary.  The interviews are detail and specific; the cutaway shots are used in the most impressive moments; the 'chill footage' also known Cinema verite or Live Action give the viewer the actual moment of revealing the character as himself on film as it occurs; the process footage gives the combination of the behind the scenes footage with the documentary itself (like the guy in Super Size Me or a Michael Moore style of shooting); and last of all the archival shots such as, old video and photographs.  

Yet, being that this film honors a military person during wartime there is an impending and ongoing atmosphere of disaster.  However, the filmmaker stayed away from saturating the film with spectacular chaotic events surrounding war and efforts for survival.  

Michael P. Murphy, thank you for your service!!

FILM RATING (B+)






LORE

Directed by: Cate Shortland
Running time: 109 min.
Release date: February 5, 2013
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Coming-of-Age, and Adaptation in German with English subtitles.
Distributor: Music Box Films
MPAA Rating: Not rated

Based on Rachel Seiffert's 2002 novel The Dark Room is this film adaptation displaying images of the vivid experiences of five destitute siblings led by a fourteen year sister during the end of World War II.

Left to fend for herself when her SS officer father and mother who is a staunch Nazi believer, are captured by the victorious Alled Forces at the end of World War II, fourteen year old Lore (a striking newcomer Saskia Rosendahl) must lead her four siblings 900 km on a harrowing journey to their grandmother's Husum Bay home across a devastated and dangerous country

Lore the film transforms itself into a psychological thriller when Lore the main character meets a charismatic and young mysterious Jewish refugee Thomas (Kai Malina, The White Ribbon).  Lore finds herself moved emotionally and finds her world shattered by feelings of hatred and desire as she must put her trust in the very person she was always taught to hate in order to survive.  These two young actors complement each other on screen as they form an 'on and off ' trust and romantic attachment.

The supporting characters Nele Trebs, Ursina Lardi, Andre Frid, Mika Siedel, Nick Holaschke, Hans-Jochen Wagner, Sven Pippig, and Philip Wiegratz are not just fill-ins for a great story but a excellent addition to war drama of violence and adventure exposing adult situations children must endure.

This is a challenging movie to digest because it is poignant as well as ultimately optimistic as it explores the experience of ordinary Germans at the end of World War II.  Descendants of Nazi and Nazi sympathizers who were left in the dark as to the truth of the genocide of Jews are given the facts which poses questions about the country's psychological and political inheritance with rare insight and humanity.

FILM RATING (A+)









GANGSTER SQUAD

Directed by: Ruben Fleischer
Running time: 113 min.
Release date: January 11, 2013
Genre: Drama, Crime, Gangster and Adaptation
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: R

Based on the book Gangster Squad by Paul Lieberman and under the direction of Ruben Fleischer, "Tales of the Gangster Squad" is a stylish retelling of events surrounding the LAPD's efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time, Mickey Cohen.

This movie is a chronicle of the LAPD's fight to keep East Coast Mafia types out of Los Angeles in the 1940s and 1950s as six police officers and detectives must protect the law by breaking it by on Mickey Cohen and his gang.  It is inspired by these true events, despicts the height of Hollywood's glamorous Golden Age in 1949, and also a time of great turmoil in L.A.  Cohen brilliantly portrayed by Academy Award winner Sean Penn ran the town and had local government officials at the highest levels in his pocket.  It's enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop...except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O'Mara fiercely played by osh Brolin of Milk and True Grit and Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling of Half Nelson and Drive).

The film also stars Oscar nominee Nick Nolte (Warrior and Affliction), Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Pena, Robert Patrick and Mireile Enos and Emma Stone, who shines as a  wannabe actress-turned-moll and she shows her talent in a romantic and smoky and nostalgic intense action suspense thriller.

Gangster Squad can very well be categorized as film noir, however it is a predictably solid detective mystery film because of the underlying similarities between these cinematic forms.  

This is a must see film for the new year!


FILM RATING (B) 



 


THE MYSTICAL LAWS
(Shinpi no ho)

Directed by: Isamu Imakake
Running time: 119 min.
Release date: November 23, 2012 (USA) and December 13, 2012 (limited NYC screening)
Genre: Animation (Anime) and Fantasy
Distributor: CAVU Pictures
MPAA Rating: Not rated

Director Isamu Imakake, who is known for the well received feature film Cowboy Bebop (2001) and writer Ryuho Okawa for this original story, brings to life a magical movie full of colorful anime characters who are representing world society and perhaps things from out of this world.  It is one of the Japanese imports submitted for possible Oscar nominations in the Best Animated Feature Film category of the 85th Academy Awards.

The Happy Science religious influence has cinematically crafted a Buddhist/Christian-ploitation film.  From its beginning, The Mystical Laws takes the audience to netherworld places from another dimension where events are unlikely to occur in real life, such as, an opening scene of a flag waving Nazi swastika organization storming in on the U.S.A., Japan and Taiwan.  Only to have a small medical group of resistance to spoil their invasion.   The characters and settings are reminiscent as they transcend the bounds of human possibility and physical laws.

Its theme is to focus on how life should not live on 'hate' - but love, respect and tolerance.  As the film uses suspenseful action and impending crisis (man-made and natural) in various locales and situations, such as, in towering burning buildings, wrecked and sinking ocean-liners, and imperiled airliners the fear factor is imposed early on.  This is to set-up the overall goodness triumphing over evil.

However, the film becomes too busy in its pacing and focus by introducing the supernatural sub-genre which combines sci-fi, fantasy and horror.  The themes including gods and goddesses, ghosts, apparitions, spirits, miracles, and other similar ideas and depictions of extraordinary phenomena are randomly placed into the narrative.

I was fortunate to speak to Executive Producer Koji Matsumoto and asked him; "how long was the process of making this film, from its idea to the final cut of editing?"  He replied, "It began with the idea in 2006 and we began production in 2009."  I also asked him, "what do you want the audience to take away after watching this film?"  His answer was, "to see themselves and each other with different eyes .... to have belief in possibilities."  He continued by saying, "if you have this love, you can change the world....just knowing everyone is a child of god -- even if they are not religious." 

One can only assume that The Happy Science fan-base wants to recruit in this campy movie.  With an unexpected invasion of beings from outer-space added to the sequence of events, the film became improbable with the havoc these villains imposed on the beings of earth.  One could only assume this is added excitement for the viewers.  The premise of peace and love is undeniably encouraging.  Yet,the religious dialogue does become overbearing although it does preach a good moral doctrine.

This may not be the best movie I have seen, but it has merit!


FILM RATING (C+)    


TALAASH

Directed by: Reema Kagti
Running time: 139 min.
Release date: November 30, 2012
Genre: Drama, Crime, and Thriller in Hindi with English subtitles
Distributor: Reliance Big Pictures


The theme of this film is of a detective and mystery and is considered a sub-typeor sub-genre of crime/gangster films (or film noir), or suspense or thriller films that focus on the unsolved crime (usually the murder or disappearance of one or more of the characters and/or a theft) and on the central character  the hard-boiled detective hero, as he meets various adventures and challenges in the cold and methodical pursuit of the criminal or the solution to the crime.

Talaash, is such a film that engages all the above characteristics plus secures a crime and gangster genre.  The story takes the audience to see reflections of Mumbai under the red light district.  It is a tale of love lost, fatal attraction and above all the quest to solve a perfect crime.  Suspense at its core, Talaash explores Mumbai's underbelly sex culture.  Amir Khan plays an investigative police officer, Inspector Shekhawat who receives a phone call arly in the morning informing him about death and a bizarre car accident.  The case turns into a life-ltering chase for Inspector Shekhawat when he is forced to reel under the repercussions of a broken married life with his wife Roshni portrayed by Rani Mukherji and come face to face with his suppressed grief.  Being on his investigative quest and fighting it out with personal struggle, Inspector Shekhawat meets a sex worker Rosie brilliantly portrayed by Kareena Kapoor who further adds shades of mystery to the puzzle of the car accident crime.  What looks like a simple car accident investigation turns into a haunting mystery and a possible ghostly fantasy as further investigations show many anomalties to the death of the victim.

The melodramatic theme is very visible because it uses plots that appeal to the heightened emotions of the audience.  Often dealing with 'crisis of human emotion', failed romance and friendship, strained familial situations, tragedy, illness,, neuroses along with emotional and physical hardship.  Connoting an unrealistic, pathos-filled scenario.  At times, the film added campy tales of romance and domestic situations with stereotypical characters (often including a central female character) that would directly appeal to the female audience.  Also called "weepers" and tearjerkers".  However, when he male protagonist is given the focus, it sways towards a "guy flick.

This highly stimulating movie is a plot-driven presentation portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction.  This emerging narrative is riverting and left me appreciative of a good movie from India.

FILM RATING (A-)    







THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS

Directed by: RZA
Running time: 96 min.
Release date: November 2, 2012
Genre: Action/Adventure, Martial Arts and Period Piece
Distributor: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: R


In the realm of the 'Kung Fu' craze in motion pictures from years past accompanied by an influence of a Quentin Tarantino presentation, "The Man With The Iron Fists", co-written byEli Roth and debut director RZA, is categorized as 'The Hood' comes to China.

Set in 19th century China, the story follows The Blacksmith (RZA) who is forced to come to the defense of his fellow Jungle Village inhabitants and his love interest Lady Silk (Jammie Chung).  The Blacksmith is forced to create elaborate weapons of death for a man known as Jack Knife played by Russell Crowe who wheels around knife that shoot deadly fireworks like an AK-47.  Among the list of characters is Lucy Liu who portrays a madam whose prostitutes are equally seductive as they are as a female army.  This is a story of warriors, assassins and a lone outsider hero who all descend in this tiny village for a winner-take-all battle for a fortune of gold.

The gold is used as the material in the plot for the chase and capture sequences.  With people such as Silver Lion (Bruce Mann) and Brass Body (David Bautista) the pace of the film is fast and furious.  Blending astonishing martial-arts sequences from some of the masters of this world with the signature vision he brings as the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan and as one of hip-hop's most dominant figures of the past two decades, RZA embarks upon his most ambitious, stylized and thrilling project to date.

The key to this film's success comes down to characters and how they are portrayed.  They are the good and righteous, always ready to do the right thing, which make them very attractive.  When we talk about big kung fu stars such as Bruce Lee, what first comes to mind is that he is a very dignified person with strong personal charm.

The cast also includes Pam Greer as The Blacksmith's mother, a slave who sacrifices her freedom for her son's, Jin Au-Yeting as Chan, and Gordon Lui plays The Abbott.

With contemporary street slang used by RZA as dialogue mixed with 19th century language by supporting Chinese characters, this film was unique in its delivery as well as its development of its logic.  Yet, in my opinion this movie is not to be biography or historical, only somewhat enjoyable to watch.  And that is all it is!! 


FILM RATING (C+)  









ABOUT CHERRY

Directed by: Stephen Elliot
Running Time: 102 min.
Release date: September 21, 2012
Genre: Drama
Distributor: IFC Films
MPAA Rating: R


Filmmaker Stephen Elliot co-writes with Lorelei Lee a story of a young woman who wants a better life of what her dysfunctional home offers her.  However, About Cherry challenges assumptions about sexuality and pornography that is easily obtainable, while addressing the common struggle of a young woman's identity in finding her role in life.

This is a plot that has been tackled many times and usually finds the same resolution of being negative.   In this storyline Angelina played brilliantly by Ashley Hinshaw is an 18 year old woman on the verge of finishing high school, while rushing to escape her broken family life consisting of drunkard parents and a younger naive sister.  The threat of sexual abuse from their father is ever lurching over the two daughters.  Angelina's outlet is her hard rock musician boyfriend (Jonny Weston) who pimps her off into the nude photo world to subsidize her income from a fast food job she holds.  As she saves her new found income, she takes the cash to skip town with her best friend Andrew (Dev Patel) to San Francisco.

The plot strengthens itself as this drama becomes more serious.  This plot-driven presentation portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations shows how Angelina gets a job cocktailing in a San Francisco strip club where she meets an affluent lawyer Frances (James Franco) who introduces her to cocaine and a high-class world beyond her dreams.  Yet, at the same time, Anglina begins exploring San Francisco's porn industry using the call-name of Cherry under the tutoring and direction of a former sex performer Margaret (Heather Graham).  

The two major credited actors James Franco and Heather Graham give less than solid performances in this less than stimulating story which leaves the protagonist/antagonist Ashley Hinshaw to carry this movie on her back.  Ms. Hinshaw sharply portrays a confused young woman.   Her performance shows intense character development and interaction.  As she projects affairs of the heart that is centered on passion, emotion, romance, affectionate involvement of Frances and Andrew, the romantic journey predictably turns negative as her newfound lifestyle dominate her personality.

Perhaps, this is a spoiler in its review of the film, but this is a very familiar plot.  With the supporting cast members of Lili Taylor, Diane Farr, Veronica Valencia and Megan Boone, the film is penalized for poor execution and lack of genuine emotion.


FILM RATING (C)   

      


KATY PERRY: Part of Me The Movie (3D)

Directed by: Dan Cutforth & Jane Lipsitz
Running time: 96 min.
Release date: July 5, 2012
Genre: Documentary
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG

An examination or a get to know the woman the pop icon known as Katy Perry.  The first woman in music history to produce five number one singles off of one album.

In this film, she invited two young filmmakers to tag along as she circled the globe on her record-breaking "California Dreams Tour". The idea was to capture something of interest to her legions of fans.

The genesis of the 3D project lies with the artist herself; born in Santa Barbara, California in a Evangelists Born Again religious family.  From her early teenage years first signing with Island Def Jam Music Group to Columbia Records to her current record label with EMI/Capital where her career exploded to an international superstar.

In perhaps, a pretentious and self marketing intimate and reverent tone, this special interest documentary takes the viewer on a yearlong world tour journey.  Yet, selling out 124 arena shows across the U.S., Europe, South America and the Far East, the cameras were able to not only capture the palpable excitement and fun of her live concerts, but also to follow Perry back to the reality of her day-to-day life, away from the stage lights and candy-colored costumes.  Frank interviews with those who know the real Katy (her family and her assembled family of "Team Perry") offer glimpses into her background, as well as create a picture of a woman giving her all onstage...while pressing personal challenges (one being married to now ex-husband Russell Brand) that await offstage.

As a musical documentary or a documentary exploiting musical numbers, this is a fun loving, toe-tapping cinema feast.  However, as a 3D extravaganza, KATY PERRY: Part of Me 3D is not.  For that "Pepsi Generation/MTV" fanbase, this is a wonderment, but for the general public, it is just a self-promoting movie to further a talented singer's career!!

FILM RATING (C+)




MADAGASCAR 3: Europe's Most Wanted
                                 in 3D

Directed by: Eric Darnell, Conrad, & Tom McGrath
Running time: 95 min.
Release date: June 8, 2012
Genre: Animation, Action/Adventure, Comedy and Sequel
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG

The global success of 2005's Madagascar and its lively 2008 sequel Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa proved that the films were broad comedies with plenty of action and comedy, they were, above all, well told stories with universal themes audiences related to.  For the filmmakers, it was never enough to just go for the laughs.

The filmmakers' desire to take the characters to new places - literally and figuratively - and so it does with this new addition to the DreamWorks franchise.  In the third installment, Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty (Chris Rock), Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melman (David Schwimmer) are determined to make their way back to The Cantral Park Zoo in New York City.  Leaving Africa behind, they've taken a detour and surfaced, quite literally, in Europe - on a hunt for the penquins and chimps who have managed to break the bank of a Monte Carlo casino.  Soon the animals are discovered by dogged French animal control officer Capitaine Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand) who does not appreciate zoo animals running wild in her city and is thrilled by the idea of hunting her first lion.  The Zoosters find the perfect cover in a down-and-out traveling circus where they hatch a plan to reinvent the circus, discover a few new talents and make it home to New York alive.  For the first time in 3D, the Zoosters of Madagascar are on the run, hiding out with the circus, doing death defying tricks and making new friends.  

These new friends are featured with voices of Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric The Entertainer, Andy Richter, Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston and Martin Short.  Their talent of comedy is designed to amuse and provide laughter (with one-liners) by exaggerating situations, the language, action, relationships and characters.  In the tradition of the series' standard of good humor, Madagascar 3:Europe's Most Wanted is a breath of fresh air of fun.

FILM RATING (B+)



MARLEY
Directed by: Kevin Macdonald
Running time: 145 min.
Release date: April 20, 2012
Genre: Documentary, Biography and Music
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
MPAA Rating: N/R


Bob Marley's universal appeal, impact on music history and role as a social and political phophet is both unique and paralleled.

For nearly half a century, Bob Marley - the musician, the revolutionary, the legend - has infuenced various populations at a global leel that remains unparallel.  Marley's passing in May 1981 not only left a huge void in what is perhaps modern music's most spiritual and yet accessible genre, reggae, but also, as a testament to the star's power, set the stage for the unprecendented, poshumous growth of his fan base.

The enduring nature of Bob Marley's fame is anything but a simple pop music phenomenon.  From his his first 45rpm "Judge Not" (1962) and "Summer Down" (1964) with The Walers with Peter Tosh, he was destined to be heard.  Just one index of it is the success of the Marley compilation album "legend", which is one of only 17 albums pass the 10-million mark in sales in 2009, continues to sell at the rate of about 250,000 albums per year.

More than 30 years later, this film examines and takes a close look at the underlying messages that go beyond his music.  This cinematic biographical shows why Marley is still a cultural force to be reckoned with.  His way of living was in many ways a political aact on the world stage, across the world's continents.  Now, with combined efforts of the Marley family, Oscar-winning master filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) answers many questions that have been given no answers, and many of those mysteries that many found not to be solved concerning his life.  Questions and answers was embraced by a variety of sources and speakers who have previously gone unheard.

Beyond the joyous and upbeat quality of many of the film's sequences (Bob's music was uplifting even in its darkest moments), the film delivers a depth of information and insights that would have been impossible without the kind of cooperation the Marley family have offered.  Bob's wife Rita and his children, friends and musical colleagues have opened their minds and memories (not always in a pleasant manner) to share on film about a definitive Bob Marley legacy.  With archival footage when he was a pre-teen in 'Trenchtown' Kingston, Jamaica to his arrival to Baltimore, Maryland with his mother, to London, England to find and get validation of birth from his white father (who refused paternity acknowledgement), to his return to Kingston as the Michael Manley political adminsistration relied on his presence to settle the civil unrest this documentary left nothing untold.

This is the most complete story to date of Bob Marley!


FILM RATING (B+)


TURN ME ON, DAMMIT! (Fa meg pa, for faen)
Directed by: Jannicke Systad Jacobson
Running time: 76 min.
Release date: March 30, 2012
Genre: Comedy and Adaptation in Norwegian with English subtitles
Distributor: New Yorker Films
MPAA Rating: Not rated

Adapted for the screen, Jannicke Systad Jacobson makes her feature film debut from the novel by Olaug  Nillsen.  Laced with warmth and quirky humor Turn Me On, Dammit! is a light-hearted take on a coming-of-age story that is told so often about boys and so rarely about teenage girls.

This is a whimsical and refreshingly honest story about the blossoming sexuality of a teenage girl named Alma (Helene Bergsholm).  She is at the tender age of 15 years old when hormones are running wild.  Consumed by her out-of-control hormones and fantasies that range from sweetly romantic images of the boy down the road Artur (Matias Myren), the boyfriend she yearns for, to down-and-dirty sexual daydreams about about she lays her eyes on, to an ongoing personal relationship with a phone sex companion.  Alma and her best friends Sara (Malin Bjorhovde) and Ingrid (Beate Stofring) live in an insufferably boring little town in the hinterlands of Norway called Skoddeheimen, a place they loathe so much that every time their school bus passes the sign that names it, they routinely flip their finger at it.  After Alma has a sexually stimulating yet awkward encounter with Artur, she makes the mistake of telling her incredulous friends, who ostracize her at school, until Sara and Ingrid can't even be seen with her.  

At home, Alma's single mother (Henriette Steenstrup) is overwhelmed and embarrassed by her daughter's extravagant phone sex bills and wears earplugs to muffle Alma's round-the-clock acts and sounds of self-gratification.

In this coming-of-age plot the story whose central struggle is about the protagonist finding her place in the world.  Yet, it gives life to the comedic story whose central struggle causes hilarious results.  However, these a love stories, or affairs of the heart that center on young at heart passion, emotion, and the romantic, affectionate involvement of the main characters, and the journey that the love takes through courtship.

Throughout, the complexities of Alma's burgeoning sexuality played so brilliantly by young Helene Bergsholm, are compassionately rendered by Systad Jacobsen with a frankness that always rings true, as does first-time actress Helene Bergsholm's funny and moving performance as Alma.

Turn Me On, Dammit! is sweet and funny.  It's a very good Indie!

FILM RATING (B+) 



SILENT HOUSE
Directed by: Chris Kentis & Laura Lau
Running time: 88 min.
Release date: March 9, 2012
Genre: Horror and Remake
Distributor: Open Road Films/Liddell Entertainment
MPAA Rating: R

Based on the film by Gustavo Hernandez (2010), this remake stars  Elizabeth Olsen is her second feature film.

SILENT HOUSE is a uniquely unsettling horror chiller thriller starring Elizabeth Olsen as Sarah, a young woman who finds herself seald inside her family's secluded lake house.  With no contact to the outside world, and no way out, panic turns to terror as events become increasingly ominous in and around the house.

This film uses  meticulous camera choreography to take the audience on a tension-filled real time journey, experienced in a single uninterrupted shot.  With creepy sound design and an eerie score heighten the tension even when not much is happening: sharp cinematography makes the most out of a movie largely lit by dim settings.

Elizabeth Olsen delivers a solid performance in this thriller, but plot really doesn't.  In this genre we are to expect the film to frighten and invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking manner while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience.  Yet, this film drag in many scenes which exasperated me.  It lacked any sort of intense excitement or suspense.

This is not a film I would recommend because the level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, tension was not experience.  The movie is penalized for poor execution.

Purportedly based on actual events, SILENT HOUSE plays out like an uneffective survival horror flick. 


FILM RATING (C)





KILL LIST
Directed by: Ben Wheatley
Running time: 92 minutes
Release date: February 3, 2012
Genre: Drama and Horror
Distributor: IFC Films
MPAA Rating: Not Rated

In the realm of the 1970s in nature is a classic thriller starring Neil Maskell, Michael Smiley and MyAnna Buring.

Eight months after a botched heist British soldier and out-of-work hitman with no job Jay (Maskell) returns home from Kiev.  He joins an old friend Gal (Smiley) as contract killers.  His wife Shel (Buring) is constantly on his back about an income, so it is very easy for Jay to be convinced to get back into the game.

The flow of the pace is fast and loose yet intriguing.  Although the contract hits start off without incident, soon things begin to unravel and Jay's paranoia reveals itself as he is plunged into the heart of darkness.

This drama is a serious, plot-driven presentation portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and a story involving intense character development and interaction.  Yet, the criminal intent is developed around the sinister actions of these mobsters and ruthless hoodlums who operate outside of the law.

However, the film features incredible natural rich performances, dark humor and nail-biting suspense that work to keep the audience always off-guard.  Moving from kitchen-sink drama to character study to crime thriller, Kill List ends up at something more fundamentally profound and wonderfully disturbing.

FILM RATING (B)



WATCHING TV WITH THE RED CHINESE
Directed by: Shimon Dotan
Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Release date: January 20, 2012
Genre: Drama, Comedy and Adaptation
Distributor: Roam Films
MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Based on a novel by Luke Whisnant of the same title is a film adaptation set in the summer of 1980 New York City.  This is an small budget indie focusing on cultural critiques within the melting pot of America.

Three Chinese students, Tzu (james Chen, Wa (Keong Sim) and Chen (Leonardo Nam) come to study in the U.S.  They settle with the urban world of New York City where every culture and nationality is living side by side.  The three young men from the People's Republic of China move next door to a white graduate film student/actor Dexter (Ryan O'Nan) whose mild mannerism enlightens them as they are amazed as they watch and question American television.  Between the soap-box operas and exaggerated contents of commercials they question the morals of Americans.  Dexter attempts to clarify the mystique of television as to what is real and what is fake or fantasy.

Dexter becomes very close with the three exchange students and tries to explain some of the neighbors in the building such as a militant black man named Mr. Little played by Ron Cephas Jones and his mischievous children.  Along the way, Dexter introduces the Asian trio to his sexually adventurous fickle-minded occasional girlfriend Suzanne (Gillian Jacobs) and Billy (Michael Esper), a struggling filmmaker.  Meanwhile, Suzanne has an ex-boyfriend named Zap (Peter Scanavino) who stalks her and threatens anyone she begins to have an affair with which included Dexter.  

This intimate plot also includes the documentary project Billy begins. The three exchange students and how they are fascinated with American television is the subject matter.  In order to make this documentary work, Billy must enlist Dexter to befriend the young men and unknowingly capture them on film.  Yet problems arrive in the form of a female named Suzanne when she sexually takes up with naive Chen behind Dexter's back.

The film which was once upbeat and often hilarious, now turns dark.  Emotional complexities are somewhat emotionally gimmicky and does not seem structurally realistic.      

When tragedy turns on December 8, 1980, John Lennon is murdered, and one of the Asian trio is recently robbed on the street by neighborhood thugs, the Chinese students decide to by a gun.  Leonardo Nam's performance is beguilingly innocent and yet frighteningly perceptive as Chen in the pre-Reagan America.  Sparks fly when Zap begins to threatens the Chinese young men.  The plot turns to irony as the television observations  become quite sobering as the characters become increasingly aware of the underlying hatred they perceive around them.

The storyline moves a bit slowly at this point, but does not drag, and the build up to the denouncement is logical, predictable and inevitable.   

This is the little indie that does!

FILM RATING (B-)    





SHERLOCK HOLMES: A Game of Shadows
Directed by: Guy Richie
Running time: 128 min.
Release date: December 16, 2011
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adaptation and Sequel
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG

Based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is a sequel to the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downing Jr. as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. John Watson.  The duo once again join forces to outwit and bring down the cunning adversary, Professor  Moriarty (Jared Harris).

In this newly successful film series Sherlock Holmes and his 'best-bud' are well known as the brightest men regarding crime puzzle remedies, until they come against an equally as smart person name Professor James Moriarty.  This intellectual (Moriarty) has the uncanny ability to weave evil as he goes through life.  Detectives Holmes and Watson seem to have met their match in this super-action/adventure flick.

The plot is set when the Crown Prince of Austria is found dead by suicide, deduced by Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan).  However, Holmes finds out that this is a murder.  As Sherlock and his brother Mycroft Holmes played by Stephen Fry are toasting Watson on his last day of bachelorhood, the clues of foul play of the late Crown Prince come to life.

Holmes' investigation into Moriarty's plot becomes ever more dangerous as it leads him and Watson out of London and across Europe, to France, Germany and finally to Switzerland.  This is the meat of the movie where the viewer gets caught up into this exciting story.  The storyline takes the audience to new experiences in exotic locales accompanied by historical spectacles, searches and expeditions.  

The ensemble includes a great performance by Noomi Papace as Sim, a Gypsy Fortune teller, who sees more than she is telling and whose unwitting involvement in the Crown Prince's death makes her the killer's next target.  Other fine performances is given by Kelly Reilly as Mary Morstan Watson, Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler and Geraldine James as Mrs. Hudson.

As always, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are a perfect duo on screen. Their performances are fantastic.  With the added portraying of the sinister Professor James Moriarty brilliantly played by Jared Harris, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows proves to be just as entertaining as its 2009 predecessor, if not more.

FILM RATING (B+)




KING OF DEVIL'S ISLAND
Directed by: Marius Holst
Running time: 115 min.
Release date: November 18, 2011
Genre: Drama and Action in Norwegian
Distributor: Film Movement
MPAA Rating: Not rated

This edge of your seat thriller is based on the real life story of a notorious reform school uprising in 1915 that forever altered the way juvenile delinquents are thought of and treated in Scandinavia.  Filmmaker Holtst was inspired in making this epic film after speaking to a man who had been one of the boys on the island during the uprising.

This true story of the infamous Bastoy Boys Home correctional facility in the early 20th century Norway begins with the arrival of 17 year old Erling (Benjamin Helstad), a rumored murderer.  This facility houses young boys from the ages of 11-18.  He immediately clashes with the island facility's governor Haken Bestyreren (Stellan Skarsgard), who believes manual labor, rigid discipline, and harsh punishment are the only methods that can turn the boys into honorable members of society.  Refusing to accept the constant abuse, Erling and now prisoner C-19 slowly rouses the rest of the boys, led by Olav/C-1 (Trond Nilssen), out of their resigned existence, and encourages them to fight to lift up their spirits.  When tragedy finally falls at the hand of the sadistic pedophile dorm master Braaten (Kristoffer Joner), Erling leads his comrades in a courageous and vicious rebellion that will bring them head to head with no less than the Norwegian Army.

This serious, plot-driven period piece presentation portrays realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction.  The film is a thriller and a suspenseful movie with a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension.  Yet, the social drama is a story whose central struggle is between a 'champion' and a problem and injustice in society.  In this case the protagonist Erling and his followers' personal stake is detrimental to the outcome of the struggle.

The open conflict plot of King of Devil's Island successfully unravels relying on the suspense of a struggle in which the boys, through a fight against all odds, is not doomed.

FILM RATING (A)



COWBOYS & ALIENS
Directed by:Jon Favreau
Running time: 118 min.
Release date: July 29, 2011
Genre: Western, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Fantasy, and Adaptation
Distributor: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Blockbuster filmmaker Jon Favreau directs Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford in an event film for summer 2011 that crosses the classic western with the alien-invasion movie in a bold and blazingly original way.   This film is based on the 2006 graphic novel of the same name created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.  Joined by an arsenal of top moviemakers turn producers, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci add their influence to this action-thriller.

Set in 1873 Arizona, a loner Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) awakens with no memory of his past and a mysterious shackle around his wrist.  He enters the town of Absolution when he learns that he is a notorious criminal wanted by many people, including Col. Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), who rules the town with an iron fist.  Absolution soon faces an even greater threat when alien spaceships attack the town.  While his shackle holds the key to defeating the aliens.

Now, the stranger Jake who at first is rejected by the townspeople, is now their only hope for salvation from the marauders from the sky.  With the help of an elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together an unlikely posse for an epic showdown for survival against the space demons.

Westerns are the major defining genre of the American film industry.  It is a eulogy to the early days of the expansive American frontier.  Cowboys & Aliens, gives the audience all the elements and characters (six-guns, horses, dusty towns and trails, cowboys, Indians, etc.) of the old west.  With the mixture of the science fiction included the film takes on visionary and imaginative elements complete with heroes, aliens, distant planets, impossible quest, improbable  settings, fantastic places, great dark and shadowy villains, futuristic technology and CGI, unknown and unknowable forces, and extraordinary monsters (things and creatures from space).

Daniel Craig gives a certain virtuosity to his part.  He portrays a leading man who is a lethal character, but on the other hand, he displays a lot of humanity and vulnerability.  With Harrison Ford alongside Craig, the two are suited for the action-adventure roles.  Harrison Ford gives a John Wayne figure to the film to avoid him being associated with his Indiana Jones character that the audience could relate to.  The supporting cast members Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Paul Dano, Adam Beach, Keith Carradine and Abigail Spencer give the film solid performances.  However, with good action scenes throughout the major part of the movie, the final scenes falls short of its mark, with our protagonist riding back home into the sunset.

FILM RATING (B)




WINNIE THE POOH
Directed by: Stephen Anderson & Don Hall
Running time: 69 min.
Release date: July 15, 2011
Genre: Animation, Live Action and Adaptation
Distribution: Walt Disney Pictures
MPAA Rating: G

Inspired by A.A. Milne stories, Winnie the Pooh makes it back on the silver screen, since the 2005 film Pooh's Heffahump Movie.

Narrated by John Cleese and the voices are Jim Cummings, Craig Ferguson, Tom Kenny, Travis Oates, Bud Luckey, Jack Boulter, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Wyatt Hall and Huell Howser.

In the film Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Eeyore, Kanga, and Roo embark on a quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit.  The adventure takes place as Pooh finds out he's out of honey,  During this time Pooh has company in sharing his misery, because Eeyore has lost his tail.  So, Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Roo decide to combine searches (tail and honey).  Even Christopher adds incentive by holding a contest to see who can find Eeyore's tail.  The prize is a fresh pot of honey.

The excitement is sparked when the gang finds out the big bad monster named Backson has kidnapped Christopher.  As the adventure of searching for Christopher, Eeyore's tail, and honey the group finds themselves in scary situations that can help Christopher, as well as, Eeyore.

As fantasy films are usually considered sub-genre, they are distinct in the fact that the central struggle plays out of two worlds - the "real" world and a make believe world.  They take the audience to another dimension where the imagination can run wild.  Winnie The Pooh is clever in its make-up and plot development.  It gives an element of magic, myth, wonder, and the extraordinary.  It sparkles with simplicity, yet adds a sense of mystique. I found this flick to be an episodic string of adventures by the heroes who move from place to place and sends a message of being a 'buddy' movie.  A 'buddy' movie that really describes a vehicle for friends of relatively equal importance, although one of them who happens to be Pooh is usually the main character.

For pure healthy entertainment on a family level, Winnie The Pooh is a winner!

FILM RATING (B+) 



EMPIRE OF SILVER (Baiyin diguo)
Directed by: Christina Yao
Running time: 113 min.
Release date: June 3, 2011
Genre: Drama and Biography
Distributor: NeoClassics Films
MPAA Rating: Not rated

Inspired by historical events, Empire of Silver features a "piaohao".  Chinese precursor to the modern-day bank.  Like a group of merchants in Empire of Silver, piaohao controlled the whole nation's finances, concurrently monopolizing the money transfer business )the equivalent of wiring funds today) and managing funds on loan and deposit.  

In this film the fictitious group is representative of the piaohao of the time, with numerous branches all over China and also in nearby countries such as Russia, Mongolia and Japan.  The time and location setting is China, 1899.  A hedonistic young man must assume the role of heir to a banking empire he cares little amount.  Following the tragic kidnapping of his brother's wife, "Third Master" (Aaron Kwok)  reluctantly submits to pressure from his overbearing father Master Kang (Tielin Zhang).  Molding Third Master in his own image, Master (aka Lord) Kang is a ruthless businessman.

The tense relationship is further complicated by Third Master's undying love for his beautiful young stepmother Madam Kang played by Hao Lei (his childhood love interest stolen by his own father), is only overshadowed by the great performances by a large ensemble.

Embarking on a metaphysical journey, Third Master must decide whether to follow his father's path or find his own.  The plot is thick in greed, deception and jealousy with the backdrop of the pressures of war and impending change from silver to paper bills.

This is a good period piece costume drama that covers a large expanse of time set against a vast panoramic backdrop with elaborate adventurous scopes.

FILM RATING (B+)



THE TREE OF LIFE
Directed by: Terrence Malik
Running time: 138 min.
Release date: May 27, 2011
Genre: Drama, Period Piece, Coming of Age, and Science
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13

From noted director Terrence Malick (BADLANDS, DAYS OF HEAVEN, THE THIN RED LINE, THE NEW WORLD) comes a thought provoking film experience in his fifth project.

This film is a hymn to life, excavating answers to the most haunting and personal human questions through a kaleidoscope of the intimate and the cosmic, from the raw emotions of a family in a small Texas town to the wildest, infinite edges of space and time, from a boy's loss of innocence to a man's transforming encounters with awe, wonder and transcendence.

In this multi-genre film, in opens in the 1950s in a thematic summary of a Texas boy Jack's (Hunter McCracken) journey from the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult (Sean Penn) years as a lost soul in the modern world, and his quest to regain meaning in life.  Yet, on the other level of this diverse plot, the story traces the evolution of this 11 year old Jack (one of three brothers) and how he sees life in the eyes of his mother that represents love and mercy.  On another level of this plot Brad Pitt portrays Mr. O'Brien, the stern father of Jack who has an estrange father/son relationship. When he sees all that has gone into our world's preparation which is shown in a 40 minute non-dialogue scene of the world's preparation, each thing appears as a precious and incomparable miracle.  Jack, with his new understanding is able to forgive his father and take his first steps on the path of life.

This elaborate and often quasi-scientific and spiritual film is visionary and imaginative.  However, it lacks texture and continuity in its delivery.  As a narrative, the performances are solid, but that is all.  The story ends in the theme of hope, acknowledging the beauty and joy in all things in everyday and in the nature of the family unit.

FILM RATING (C) 





DIARY of a WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES
Directed by: David Bowers
Running time: 97 min.
Release date: March 25, 2011
Genre: Comedy, Kids/Family, Coming of Age, Adaptation, Animation, and Sequel.
Distributor: 20th Century Fox/Fox 2000
MPAA Rating: PG

Based on the book by Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules is a film from the screenplay by Jeff Filgo, Jeff Judah, and Gabe Sachs.



The first film of the series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010) is the setup for this story of a pre-teen Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon), his relationship with his rebellious older teenage brother Rodrick (Devon Bostick), and his mischievious little brother Manny (Connor and Owen Fielding).  As 12 year old Greg enters into the seventh grade, he and his older must deal with their parents' Frank (Steve Zhan) and Susan (Rachel Harris) misguided attempts to have them bond.  All the while Greg tries every attempt to impress the new girl Holly Hills (Peyton R. List).


The meat of the plot is about how Greg must keep a party Rodrick threw in their parents' absence a secret from them to avoid getting in trouble.  The more Greg covers for Rodrick, the more Rodrick threatens to expose Greg's "diary" secret.  Only light dialogue is reflected on in the original backstory of the first film's "cheese tag game" that struck authentic amusement to its audience.

A few cast members return such as Greg's best friend Rowley (Robert Capron), Fregley (Grayson Russell), Chirag (Karan Brar), and Andrew McNee as Coach Malone.  However, this addition to the film series fails to engage as its 2010 predecessor.   Frankly, it just did not show any real or genuine family humor.   The comic relief is more suited for a television movie or dvd distribution.  

Though the comedy is light-hearted and deliberately designed to amuse and provoke laughter by exaggerating the situation, it seem to fall short of its mark.  While puppy-love is a subplot for the most part, this category of this sub-genre shares the affairs of the heart that center the romantic and affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their puppy-love takes through courtship.  This is the only part of the film's story whose central struggle is between Greg and Holly the two people who each want to win or keep the affection of the other by many awkward ways.

This Wimpy Kid flick is whimsical.

FILM RATING (C+)

 

HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE
Directed by: Josh Radnor
Running time: 98 min.
Release date: March 4, 2011 (NY/LA) & March 11, 2011 (Wide)
Genre: Drama and Comedy
Distributor: Anchor Bay Films
MPAA Rating: R

In his directorial debut Josh Radnor creates as the screenplay writer a dramedy that weaves a story of relationships dealing with the struggles facing several pairs of 20 somethins' trying to find their way.  

The film centers on bachelor Sam Wexler (Josh Radnor) a writer and Rasheen (Michael Algieri) a foster care child who Sam meets when abandoned on a NYC subway.  Their are many character interactions of Sam's self-image style best friend Annie (Maline Akerman) who is an Alopecia patient trying to find reason to be loved while continually finding the wrong men, along with his cousin Mary Catherine (Zoe Kazan) and her boyfriend Charlie (Pablo Schreiber), a couple facing the prospect of leaving New York.  When the young Rasheen refuses to be left with social services, Sam learns the boy has already been placed in prior foster homes and impulsively agrees to let the boy stay with him for a couple of days. Dropped into Sam's chaotic single lifestyle, Rasheen is introduced to Sam's circle of friends.  Adding more to the confusion of Sam's life is  the introduction of an aspiring singer/waitress known as Mississippi (Kate Mara) who tests Sam's fear of commitment as a love interest while she tries to make it in NYC.

All the characters in this film are easily cast for this production. They all at some time worked in situation comedy/drama projects.   Josh Radnor is best known for his role as Ted, the central character on CBS' comedy "How I Met Your Mother". Malin Akerman starred in the 2009 hit comedy Couples Retreat opposite Vince Vaughn and in the same year she co-starred as Laurie/silk Spectre in the box office smash hit Watchmen.  Kate Mara past film roles include Brokeback Mountain, Transsiberean, We Are Marshall, and 127 Hours.  Zoe Kazan received high praises for her breakout role as Maureen Grube in Revolutionary Road and later followed success in the thriller In The Valley of Elah.  Pablo Schreiber is best known for his role as Nick Sobotka on HBO's critically acclaimed series "The Wire", along with diverse roles in theater and film.  Additonal supporting cast members include Tony Hale, Peter Scanavino, and a small part for Academy Award nominee Richard Jenkins.  This combination of great dialogue and fine actors create a good ensemble production.

The film takes on a trendy setting when Sam's unexpected friendship with Rasheen develops, he realizes adulthood is not about waiting for the right answers to get the life you want, but simply stumbling ahead and figuring them out is the true process.  

HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE is a good solid sharp film.

FILM RATING (B+)


CARANCHO
Directed by: PabloTrapero
Running time: 107 min.
Release date: February 11, 2011
Genre: Drama, Thriller, and Art/Foreign in Spanish with English subtitles.
Distributor: Strand Releasing
MPAA Rating: Not rated

The setting is in the Buenos Aires district of La Matanza, where this black thriller takes place.  As the the director Pablo Trapero describes Carancho, it is "Like those in the 40s or 50s, in which the detective-like plot is silently shaped into the portrait of a complex social pattern.  It is also about the private lives of two characters trying to live through an unstable world, where a seemingly minor act may well trigger a series of fatal outcomes.  It is, in its own way, a love story between a man and a women, immersed in a market where disgrace is the currency."


In Argentina, more than eight thousand people die every year in road accidents at a daily average of twenty-two.  More than a hundred and twenty thousand are injured.  The millions of pesos that every victim represents in medical and legal expenses produces an enormous market, supported by the compensations of insurance companies and the weakness of the law.  In this situation, behind every tragedy, there is a lucrative industry.

Sosa (Ricardo Darin) is a lawyer who specializes in road accidents and is close to recovering his license as a personal injury attorney.  As an ambulance chaser with questionable ethics he comes under the umbrella of a illegal syndicated society.  Lujan (Martina Gusman) is a young, idealistic country doctor new to the city and is trying to make a living out of many jobs: ambulance medic, hospital ER doctor, emergency services clerk.  Alone, with a work rhythm that barely allows her to sleep, she tries to establish herself.  After Lujan and Sosa's paths repeatedly cross, the two form an unlikely romance that is threatened by Sosa's turbulent past.  With traffics accidents as the number one cause of death in Argentina, bodies are currency and a black market strives to get rich.

I found the rich romantic plot is a strong point that maximizes an already strong plot.  The crime drama is developed around the sinister actions of these criminals and mobsters, particularly underworld figures and ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way through life. I found the atmosphere to fall under the category as film noir.  With exceptionally good performances by this ensemble, it is a natural pick as Argentina's selection for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards.

FILM RATING (A)




AMERICAN GRINDHOUSE
Directed by: John Landis
Running time: 82 min.
Release date: February 4, 2011
Genre: Documentary
Distributor: Lorber Film Release
MPAA Rating: Not rated

The feature-length documentary American Grindhouse explores  the hidden history of the American Exploitation Film.  The movie digs deep into this often overlooked category of U.S. cinema and unearths the shameless and occasionally shocking origins of this popular entertainment.  Exploitation Cinema has left an indelible marks on American culture, and this informative and amusing documentary proves that its principles-popularity-endure to this day.


Starting at the turn of the 20th century this type of film category emerged from the tents of carnival sideshows, showing the true first Exploitation features like Traffic in Souls and Freaks.  Soon after these types of films brushed shoulders with hard-boiled Film Noir in the 1940s, came to age with the teen flicks of the 1950s, razzed Hollywood's stodgy Production Code with innumerable "Nudies Cuties" and "Roughies".  Along with these sub-genres came biker pictures of the 1960s and Blaxploitation boom of the 1970s.  In the 21st century the focus is now on the Vampire Pix and Reality Films, which has made a big impression at the box offices.  

Narrated by actor Robert Forster, this documentary boasts exclusive interviews with actors and filmmakers: Herschell Gordan Lewis, Joe Dante, Larry Cohen, Jack Hill, Fred "The Hammer" Williamsom, Allison Anders, Judy Browne, and David Hess.  Many film clips and scenes from more than 200 of the most jaw-dropping movies ever screened are shown in this highly informative film.  

I found this to be the best documentary ever made on this subject matter.

FILM RATING (A)





SANCTUM 3D
Directed by: Alister Grierson
Running time: 103 min.
Release date: February 4, 2011
Genre: Drama, Action/Adventure and Thriller
Distributor: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: R

From the executive producer James Cameron (Avatar), comes a 3D action-thriller that follows a team of underwater cave divers on a treacherous expedition to the largest, most beautiful and least accessible cave system on this planet. 

Richard Roxburg plays master diver Frank McGuire, a man who has explored the South Pacific's Esa-ala Caves for several months.  However, when his 17 year-old son Josh (Rhys Wakefield), financier Carl Hurley (Ioan Grunffold) and girlfriend (Alice Parkinson) show-up, they are find themselves in the mist of a flash flood swindling down into the enormous cave. 

The cinematography is spectacular, but that does not mean the story is the same.  Sanctum employs 3-D photography techniques Cameron developed to lens Avatar, designed to operate in extreme environment settings.  Yet, it does not engage its audience into this lackless action thriller. 

The so-call breathless journey is not exciting and I find it to be hoaky.  Where I was expecting high energy for a big budget physical flick with stunts and chases with rescues, fights, escapes, natural disasters, etc., I was left with a whimsical troublesome movie.  The performances by the characters were without any real substance and lacking any genuine plot-driven presentations.

When a tropical storm forces these characters deep into caverns, they must fight raging water, deadly terrain and major panic attacks.  This is a good setting for a serious plot, yet the execution of them surviving or being trapped forever does not come across in its delivery.

Sanctum is trapped in its own misgivings and is penalized for for not saving itself from its own demise.

FILM RATING (C+)




HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER
Directed by: Aleksel Popogrebsky
Running time: 124 min.
Release date: February 4, 2011
Genre: Drama, Thriller and Art/Foreign (In Russian with English Subtitles)
Distributor: Film Movement
MPAA Rating: Not rated

This is Popogrebsky's second film to be distributed in the U.S. by this distributor, which originally released his debut feature, Roads To Koktebel, in 2006.

In this film filmmaker Popogrebsky merges his background studying psychology with a childhood fascination with Artic exploration to craft a psychologically thrilling depiction of two men as they struggle against the elements, time, and each other in an Artic wasteland.

On a desolate island in the Artic Circle, two men work at a small meteorolical station where they take readings from their radioactive surroundings and relay the data to headquarters.  Sergei (Sergei Puskepalis) is a seasoned meteorologist, and Pavel (Grigorly Dobryoin) a recent college graduate are spending months in complete isolation on the once strategic research base.

The theme of the story falls under a melodramatic thriller plot.  The performances from these two actors gradually escalate when Pavel receives an important radio message and is still trying to find the right moment to tell Sergei.  When the terrifying truth finally emerges, its inevitable consequences play out against a chilling backdrop of the thick fog, sharp rocks, and the merciless Artic Sea.  The atmosphere is set when fear, lies and suspicions start poisoning their work relationship.

This dramatic film characterized by a plot to appeal to the emotions of the audience is excellently crafted.  This pathos-filled tale of suspense of stereotypical characters lends virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations.  The movie promoted intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension.

FILM RATING (B+)







PHIL OCHS: There But For Fortune
Directed by:  Kenneth Bowser
Running time: 98 min.
Release date: Jan. 5, 2011
Genre: Documentary
Distributor: First Run Features
MPAA Rating: Not rated

From acclaimed filmmaker Kenneth Bowser (Easy Riders, Raging Bulls & Live From New York, SNL in the 1970s) brings a new film to the silver screen about one of the most iconic folk music heroes and political agitators in U.S. history.

This is an examination and tribute of a man who was an unlikely 1960s American hero whose life during the Vietnam War era is relevant to the contemporary foreign war protestors of today.  Och's, a folk singing legend in the time Bob Dylan began his career, was moved by the conviction that he and his music would change the world.  He loved his country and fought to honor it, in both song and action.  He tirelessly fought the good fight for peace and justice throughout his short life only hampered by suicidal tendacies. 


In several interviews with folk singer/song writer Joan Baez, Tom Hayden, Tom Hayden, Sean Penn, Pete Seeger, and archival footage of Phil Ochs himself, filmmaker Kenneth Bowser weaves together photos, film clips, and historic live performances to depict his complexities.


Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune, reveals the biography of a conflicted truth seeking troubadour who, with a guitar in hand, stood up for what he believed in and challenged everyone he came in contact with to do the same.

FILM RATING (B+)




YOGI BEAR 3D
Directed by: Eric Brvig
Running time: 80 min.
Release date: December 17, 2010
Genre: 3D Live-Action Animation and Adaptation
Distributor: Warner Bros.
MPAA Rating: PG

In this 3D live-action/CGI film adaptation of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series The Yogi Bear Show, will be the first movie developed of a Hanna-Barbera property produced without the assistance of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, who died in 2001 and 2006 respectively.

When Jellystone Park starts losing visitors, the conniving Mayor Brown (Andrew Daly) decides to shut it down.  That would mean everyone will lose the joy of the outdoors, and worst all, Yogi (voice of Dan Aykroyd) and Boo-Boo (Justin Timberlake) must team up with their archenemy, diligent Ranger Smith (Tom Cavanagh) to save the park.

Luckily, Ranger Smith has the help from his love interest Rachel Johnson (Anna Faris) a nature documentary filmmaker.  However, over-enthusiastic Deputy Ranger Jones (T.J. Miller) is sabotaging everything.  This is dampening Yogi and Boo-Boo's continual quest for pic-a-nic basket stealing.

This is not the best made film, but the young audience loved it!

FILM RATING (B+)



BREAK KE BAAD (After the Break)
Directed by: Danish Aslan
Running time: 113 min.
Release date: November 23, 2010
Genre: Drama, Romance and Comedy in Hindi with English subtitles.
Distributor: Reliance Big Pictures
MPAA Rating: N/R

Deepika Padukone (Om Shanti Om) and Imran Khan (I Hate Luv Stories) are in the lead roles as Aaliya "Al" Khan and Abhay Gulati, respectively.  

Filmmaker Aslan takes a different route in orchestrating romantic a coming-of-age dramedy.  It begins when our two lead characters as four year olds playing together and progressing to their early teenage years when "solid-as-a rock" and predictable Abhay decides that free-spirited Al is the girl for him.  This offbeat romance carries into their college years when free-spirited Al decides she needs a "break" from their relationship.

As in most Bollywood films or as some call these flicks Masala films (Masala meaning spice in Hindi), the plot uses higher levels of sex, revenge, contrasts of rich and poor in its contents.  Break Ke Baad delivers a zesty amount music with catchy tunes.  The excellent song-and-dance numbers are woven neatly into the script written by Danish Aslan and Renuka Kunzru.  

The actors or generally referred to as paisa vasool, this is in its meaning as, money's worth.  In this case, I found this to be absolutely true.  The cast displays a mixture of love triangles, comedy and dare-devil thrills.  With the added theme of melodramatics used as the stock elements, such as, star-crossed lovers versus angry parents and the reversals of fortune with convenient coincidences, the predictable Abhay has his hands filled with the burning desire of Al becoming an actress.  As they make mistakes, deal with disappointments and find their own place in life, they become stronger individuals and truly test their love for each other.


Supporting cast members Sharmila Tagore, Shahana Goswami, Yudhishtra Urs, Lilett Dubey and Naveen Nischol are appealing and give solid performances to a funny and fickle story of two people growing up together.  

This is an affectionately good flick!

FILM RATING (B)



TWO-MINUTE HEIST
Directed by: Kris Arnold & Dan DeLuca
Running time:  95 min.
Genre: Comedy

Many films are funny and some are quirky, but there are very few that are brilliantly funny and quirky.  Debut directors Kris Arnold and Dan DeLuca created this clever satire of the film industry's casting profession.  In this case, it is considered a dysfunctional casting business that finds itself on the brink of going out of business.

Dino Rado and Steve Scheere (Dan DeLuca and Kris Arnold) are two misfits who run a casting office whose last picture was a major flop.  It's not too hard to take a failure in the movie business, however this flop was financed by the Jamaica Mob, who are in the "weed" business and desperately want their investment money returned to them.  The mob goes as far as kidnapping the dip-witted goodie two shoes office manager Ryan (Brian Sherman) as a means of collection.

While watching this film, my first thoughts was of the silly humor that the "B" movies showcased during the 1940s and 1950s.  Yet, the well crafted script kept the theme in a contemporary setting, giving the audience a real since of connection.

This plot driven presentation adds quirky drama when the two protagonists quickly devise a plan to conduct a casting call for a heist on the Jamaican mob's casino.  At this time, the story introduces the love interest of Dino who is a gun-toting street smart Claudia Brit brilliantly portrayed by Natalie Diorio.  Dino auditions Claudia for the heist after viewing her martial arts demo tape and finds his attractions to her growing.     

Other hilarious characters shine in this crisp paced film , such as, the misguided actors who go for the try-outs for the various parts in the soap box parody.  They are zany individuals who had me holding my stomach from laughter.  This is not to forget the humorously frustrated Jamaica Mob who seem to stumble constantly on their recovery of their money.  Not to be a spoiler, but the plot of the soap box parody is to rob the Jamaicans of their drugs and money.

This film includes high energy pacing with plots deliberately designed to amuse and provoke laughter (with one-liners and jokes) by exaggerating the situations, language, action, relationships and characters.  

Additional fine performances are from Kate Debelack, Allana Kirk, Carlyncia S. Peck, Menchu Estaban, David Herscheld, Charles Winter, Michael Trott, Pam Gingsberg, David J. Kenney, Joe Sampson and Edward Willson who make this a complete funny cinematic package.

FILM RATING (B+) 



COOL IT
Directed by: Ondi Timoner
Running time: 88 min.
Release date: November 12, 2010
Genre: Documentary
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
MPAA Rating: Not rated

This is a cinematic examination on the global warming situation in the world and the politics of science.

Acclaimed award-winning filmmaker Ondi Timoner of documentaries Dig and Join Us along with the world-wide controversial author/scientist/professor Bjorn Lomborg travel the world exploring real facts and true science of global warming and its impact.  Lomborg is the founder and director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, a globally respected think-tank that brings together the world's leading economists to prioritize major global problems.  

Cool It follows Lomborg on his mission to bring the smartest solutions to climate change, environment pollution, and other major problems in the world.

Director Timoner has long been acclaimed for her challenging and innovative filmwork.  As an emerging artist, she has change the nature of artistic production.  Freed from the traditional pedestal or base of filming, she offers a new relationship to her documentaries for the spectator.

FILM RATING (B+)
 

RACHEL
Directed by: Simone Bitton
Running time: 100 min.
Release date: October 8, 2010
Distributor: Women Make Movies Release
MPAA Rating: Not Rated

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an ongoing problem that fails to find recovery.  Born in Morocco, filmmaker Simone Bitton is an Arabian Jew who a citizen of both Israel and France.  She takes on a film project that depicts the life of Rachel Aliene Corrie.  This documentary focuses on Rachel's activist work as an American member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and her horrific death in the Gaza Strip.

Few areas on earth have more history, ancient and present, per inch of the territory than the Gaza Strip.  In antiquity Gaza was a horn of plenty, the hub of fabulous networks of desert and maritime trade.  Egyptian, Persian and Assyrian emperors fought over it, and so did Alexander the Great, Richard the Lionheart, Saladdin and Napolean.  More recently Gaza's fame has been of quite a different kind - a place of crisis, anquish and misery.  Since 170,00 Palestian refugees arrived there in 1948, and the Strip became one more piece in the intractable Middle Eastern puzzle, it has gone through a succcession of bloody upheavals; passing from Egyptian to Israel to PLO to Humas rule - all the while remaining a volatile geographical flashpoint.  Apart from separating between Israel and refugees in the southwestern corner of Palestine, the Strip's borders coincide with other momentous faultliness such as Islamiism and secularism, tradition and modernity, East and West - and between the comfortable first and the wretched third world.  The turmoil has made the Gaza Strip a permanent item of news for sixty years.

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM), is a Palestian led organization focused on assisting the Palestinian side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict using nonviolent protests.  It was founded in 2001 by Ghassan Andoni, a Palestinian activist; Neta Golan, an Israeli activist; Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian-American; and George N. Rishmawi, a Palestinian activist.  The organization calls on civilians from around the world to participate in acts of nonviolent protests against the Israeli military in the West Bank (the Gaza Strip).

One such volunteer was Rachel Corrie (b. April 10, 1979 - d.March 16, 2003) from Olympia, Washington.  She was the youngest of three children of middle-class Craig and Cindy Corrie.  While attending a state college in her home town, she decided to take off a year to work as a volunteer in different endeavors.  In her senior year, she proposed an independent study program in which she would travel to Gaza, join protestors ISM.  In 2003, Rachel took a two-day training course at ISM West Bank headquarters, which incorporated rules about avoiding harm such as; wearing fluorescent jackets - not to run - not to frighten the army.  This is before heading to Rafah to participate in ISM demonstrations.

Filmmaker Bitton visually captures Rachel interacting with Rafah locals and assisting them in their everyday lives.  Rachel's mission was to bring peace in an area where people and children lived, worked and attended school.  She acted as a human shield in attempt to impede house demolitions carried out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) driving Caterpillar D9 bulldozers.  These same forces would fire live ammunition at and around the civilian population to harass and scare they people away from their homes.  As a result of the aggressive means of the IDF, Rachel was crushed to death in the Gaza Strip by an IDF bulldozer when she was kneeling in front of a local Palestian's home while acting as a human shield attempting to prevent its demolising.  The IDF stated that the death was due to the restricted angle of view the bulldozer driver was driving and classified as an accident.  However, ISM and local eyewitnesse accounts dispute this, thus making Rachel's death controversial.

The film uses extremely good archival material, interviews, cutaways and "chill footage" to reveal the emotional theme of our subject.  The reactions from political sources and human right's organizations are examined.  The autopsy and investigation reports that are thoughtfully placed on display for the viewing audience to draw their own conclusion.  

This film studies the criticism of this death and the collateral damage it brought such as the 2005 Human Rights Watch report titled Promoting Impunity: The Israeli Military's Failure to Investigate Wrongdoing.  Thus, raising several issues related to the impartiality and professionalism with which the Military Police investigation was conducted.  The Watch describes the investigators' lack of preparation as being hostile, inappropriate and mostly accusatory.  Making this a very well crafted documentary that lays out all the facts.

FILM RATING (A)



MACHETE
Directed by: Robert Rodriquez & Ethan Maniquis
Running time: 1 hr. 45 min.
Genre: Action/Drama
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
MPAA Rating: R

This action-exploitation film is an expansion of a fake trailer that was released by Rodriquez and Quentin Taratino's 2007 film, Grindhouse.  The film continues the same B movie or exploitation style and footage.  This movie stars Danny Trejo in his first lead role as the lead role of Machete.

After a violent shakedown from a notorious drug lord Torrez (Steven Seagal) nearly kills him, Machete, a renegade Mexican Federale and tough as nails vigilante for justice roams the streets of Texas, working as a day laborer.  When Machete is hired by a crooked US Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro)  to execute a covert hit.  Michelle Rodriquez portrays "She" a rebellious spirit and revolutionary leader and Jessica Alba plays a beautiful Immigration Officer torn between enforcing the law and doing the right thing.  Cheech Marin as Padre, a priest who's good with blessing, but better with guns.  Don Johnson as Von, a twisted border vigilante leading a small army and Lindsay Lohan as April Benz, a socialite with a penchant for guns and the daughter of Michael Benz (Jeff Fahey) a ruthless businessman with an endless payroll of killers.

I was entralled to see all the elements available of this multi-genre movie on showcase.  From the high energy, physical stunts and chases, the necessary rescues, fights, escapes, disaster moments, and non-stop motion on camera.  The crime and gangster plot or film noir gives a full development of sinister actions of many criminals and mobsters, particularly ruthless underworld hoodlums who operate outside the law.  This is not to overlook the women in this film who really held their own and more.  Men love when a woman isn't too proper and can be crude.  In today's society raunchy stereotypes and sexploits is in.  I feel that the Victoria Secret model types and Latin American bombshells who want to get funky, should be able to.  I for one welcome the puffery style dialogue and the quick tongue that pushes the envelope in today's women.   

This movie is action-packed and makes a great "popcorn flick".

FILM RATING (B+)







EAT, PRAY, LOVE
Directed by: Ryan Murphy
Running time: 133 min.
Release date: August 13, 2010
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance, and Adaptation
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Based on the memoir content for Elizabeth Gilbert's best seller novel "Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia" is a story of a woman who has set out to find herself.  The life journey is constructed for the cinema by screenplay writers Jennifer Salt, Ryan Murphy, and Elizabeth Gilbert. 

The 20 million dollar actress Julia Robert is Liz Gilbert, a New York City 30-somethin' successfully published author and writer who in the prime-time of her life wishes to have a child.  However, her not so successful husband Stephen (Billy Crudup) lacks stability and leads her to find solutions to her unfulfilled life.  The lack of chemistry on screen between these two fine thespians portray the natural fact that they don't belong together.  I doubt that they purposely wanted this miscasting to portray so well on screen - but it did.  Plagued with despair after a nasty divorce, she plans her global road trip.

Julia's Elizabeth character tells her publisher Delia (Viola Davis) she must find herself once again in Italy, where the eat scenario of this film is mouth watering.  But our protagonist can't eat throughout the movie - especially not on a 2 hour plus flick. The cinematic marvels and tantalizing foods of Italy is a delight to see.  While in Italy she explores the fun-filled lifestyles with companion Sofi, brilliantly portrayed by Tuva Novotny, who share her beliefs life becomes lifeless.  Actually, spiritual guidance is watch Liz is seeking.  Her brief visit to India is where she encounters Wayan, Nyomo and Ketul Llyer (Christine Hakim, I. Gusti Ayu Puspawali and Hadi Subiyanto) who give her insight on what life has in store for her.  These two actors are just marvelous in their performances.  Yet, she must return home to New York and continue her literary work.

While Liz rejoins her New York urban friends she takes on a relationships with a free spirited David Piccolo (James Franco).  I welcomed this part of the film because Julia Roberts and James Franco light up the screen with energy.  Their great smiles, witty dialogue, and lively romantic activities are sparkling.  Yet, this isn't enough for our protagonist to feel comfortable with her life. 

At this point of the movie, I'm becoming bored because the plot is becoming tedious.  For lack of real substance, the storyline just plays on and on.   

Once again, Liz gets another calling for life searching.  She off to Indonesia where Julia Roberts' character Liz is miscast with another love interest named Felipe (Javier Bardem).  It is a shame that another great actor is placed in a bad situation of no chemistry on screen.

In limited time on screen, Richard Jenkins gives a solid portrayal of Richard the guy from Texas whom Liz befriends at an Indian ashram.  Yet, I can only find that Julia Robert's professionalism as an actress holds this lengthy troublesome movie together.

For those men and women who read and enjoyed the book, perhaps they can find this film worthwhile.  However, I find this movie to be whimsical at best.

FILM RATING (C)






HATCHET II
Directed by: Adam Green
Running time: 79 min.
Release date: October 1, 2010
Genre: Horror, Thriller and Sequel
Distributor: Dark Sky Films
MPAA Rating: R

Picking up right where the original ended (Hatchet, 2006), when a motley crew of tourists are terrorized by a lengendary ghost/story turn real of 'Victor Crowley".

In this addition to the series, Marybeth (Danielle Harris) escapes the clutches of the deformed, swamp-dwelling iconic killer Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder).  After learning the truth about her family's connection to the hatchet-weilding madman, she returns to Louisiana.  In the swamps she accompanied by hunters who are on a revenge mission.

This movie is thoroughly designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating us at the same time.

Although this flick is campy in content, the final scenes gives the bloodiest revenge against the bayou butcher.

FILM RATING (C+)





LEAVING (Partir)
Directed by: Catherine Corsini
Running time: 85 min.
Release date: October 1, 2010
Genre: Drama and Romance in French with English subtitles
Distributor: IFC Films
MPAA Rating: Not Rated

This is a sensual story of a woman willing to risk everything for love.

Suzanne (Kristin Scott Thomas) plays a devoted doctor's wife and mother of two teenagers living in the South of France.  Although she seems to have it all, abeautiful home, all the material possessions a woman could want and a family, she has put her own life as a psychiatrist on hold for fifteen years and doing so she unknowingly lost herself.

When her surgion husband Samuel (Yvan Attal) hires a Spanish contractor Ivan (Sergi Lopez), who was recently released from prison, to fix up an office for her, she instantly falls for him.  The mutual attraction is immediate and intense.  Overwhelming with a passion she never felt before, Suzanne must make a life alterating decision. 

As a drama this story involves intense character development and interactions.  The romantic theme stresses the affairs of the heart that centers on passion and the journey that their love takes them through.   At times this emerging narrative takes on a melodramatic scope on the audience's emotions.  It took me on a study of criticism of the domestic situations with stereotypical characters that would directly appeal to feminine audiences as a weeper flick. 

However, the brilliant performance by Academy Award nominee Kristin Scott Thomas is the tool in this stimulating plot.

FILM RATING (B+)





NEVER LET ME GO
Directed by: Mark Romanek
Running time: 103 min.
Release date: September 15, 2010
Genre: Drama, Romance, SciFi/Fantasy, Thriller and Adaptation
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
MPAA Rating: R

In this dystopian drama film based on the novel of the same name written by Kazuo Ishiguro is a story of love, loss and hidden truths.  This movie poses the fundamental question: What is human? 

This is a hauntingly poignant and emotional story of Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightley) live in a world and time that look and feel familiar to us, but not like anything we really know.  They spent their childhood at Hailsham, a seemingly idyllic English boarding school.  However, when they leave the facility at the age of young adulthood, the truth of what their purpose in life is less than humane.  They also must confront the deep feelings of love, jealousy and betrayal that threatens to pull them apart.

This emerging narrative expresses the potential of technology to destroy humankind and easily overlaps with the horror/thriller genre.  With brilliant performances by these three young actors, this film delivers a stimulating plot.

FILM RATING (B)




WALL STREET
Directed by: Oliver Stone
Running time: 133 min.
Release date: September 24, 2010
Genre: Drama, Romance, and Sequel
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
MPAA Rating: PG-13

The film is set 23 years after the first film (2008), and Gordan Gekko (Michael Douglas reprising his role) has recently been released from prison and, after a failed attempt to warn business leaders of the immeinent economic downturn, he decides to try to rebuild a relationship with his estranged daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan).  She has not spoken to her father since he was in prison and the suicide of her brother Rudy, who she blames him for.  Winnie is engaged to Jacob "Jake" Moore (Shia LaBeof), an ambitious propeity trader who works for Keller Zabel (Frank Langella), the film's fictionalized fusion of Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers.  Zabel's arch-rival in the money-market world is Bretton James played by Josh Brolin.  Bretton James is a hedge fund manager, who Jake suspects is involved in the suicide death of his mentor Zabel.

Revenge and romance is the heart of this serious story that is plot-driven portraying realistic characters, settings, and life situations.  The theme of the plot involves intense character development and interaction, and allows solid performances by an all-star cast.

The ensemble includes, Susan Saradon, Eli Wallch, Vanessa Ferlito, John Buffalo Mailer and Jim Cramer who are brilliant in their supporting roles.  However, I can only say that Shia LaBeouf is kept afloat in his role because of the surrounding stimulating talent.

FILM RATING (B)







THE TOWN
Directed by: Ben Affleck
Running time: 124 minutes
Release date: September 17, 2010
Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller and Adaptation
Distributor: Warner Bros.
MPAA Rating: R

Based on Chuck Hogan's novel Prince of Thieves, is director/writer/star Ben Afflecks' film adaptation of the Boston crime underworld.

This is a dual plot that anchors on Doug MacRay(Ben Affleck), a Boston-based career criminal, who comes from nearby Charleston.  Charleston is a breeding ground for bank and armored care robbers.  Doug is part of a crew of Irish-American thieves consisting of loose-cannon Jem Coughlin (Jeremy Renner) and Gloansy (Slaine).  Along with the list of characters in this resonant thriller that cleverly begins and ends in the same place is Dez a member of the crime crew and Krista Couglain (Blake Lively) the sister of Jem, and Doug's ex-girlfriend who has a young pre-school daughter.  Like his imprisoned father Mac (Chris Cooper), Doug is planning ever more sophisticated jobs for his buddies. 

The film follows the action of these criminals as they are pursued by law enforcement officers Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) and Dino (Titus Welliver).  During a bank heist Doug falls for a bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) and this releases new feelings of redemption for him.  He struggles with his newfound relationship while evading the law looking to catch him and his group before they rob again.

As Doug spends much of his time with Claire it undermines the suspense that a crime film narrative requires.  Although some characters are quite lively, most are not very sympathic, and the end brings tragedy for many of them.  The cinematic quality and grittily realistic action sequences bode well on screen.  Giving the ability to blend emotions with riverting shoot-outs as the movie depicts a complicated man trapped in a life he desperately wants to change.

This moody action crime thriller is solid.

FILM RATING (B)   

  


FLIPPED
Directed by: Rob Reiner
Running time: 90 min.
Release date: August 27, 2010
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, and Coming of Age
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG

This is a period piece coming of age flick and is a film adaptation of the novel by Wendelin Van Draamen by the same title.

Enduring comes to mind, while watching this film.  The story is about Juli (short for Julianne) portrayed by Madeline Carroll and Bryce (Callan McAuliffe) as they meet when he moves into the neighborhood.  As second-graders Juli knows she is in love with him, but Bryce is girl-phobic.  He keeps her at arm's length distance for the next 6 years.  These two attend the same schools (Grade to Junior High School), same classes, and live across the street from each other.  As the young protagonist Juli is in romantic pursuit and desperately tries to win Bryce's heart she has obstacles in her young life to overcome.  One such problem is another girl and a favorite old tree that is doomed to be cut down.

However, life has its ups and downs along with many twists.  This sets the plot for how the story is centered around young people on the verge of their maturity process.  Yet these two fine young actors display a driving motivation in their conflicts and the how they overreact their situations.

Supporting cast members Rebecca DeMornay, Anthony Edwards, John Mahoney, Penelope Ann Miller, and Aidan Quinn complete this wonderful film.

FILM RATING (A)  




STEP UP 3D
Directed by: Jon Cho
Running time: 105 min.
Release date: August 6, 2010
Genre: Drama, Musical/Performing Arts, Sequel and Dance
Distributor: Touchstone Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13

In this third story of the Step Up series, preceded by Step Up: The Streets, a tight knit group of dancers led by Luke Capoiers (Rick Malabri) team up with NYU freshman Moose (Adam Sevani) to compete against the world's best hip hop dancers in a high-stakes showdown.

In a predictable plot Luke finds his romantic interest in a mysterious girl named Natalie (Sharni Vinson) who dances in and out of his life. And NYU freshman Moose finds he is more than just friends with his childhood friend and classmate Camille (Alyson Stoner reprising her role from Step Up). 

What makes this fun-filled song and dance flick work is the great choreography and the brilliant dance routines.  The dialogue is somewhat banal yet it is overshadowed by fantastic B-dancers such as Ally Maki as Jenny Kido, Harry Shum Jr. as Cable, Joe Slaughter as Julian (the bad guy and Natalie's brother), Ruby Felici as Mimi, Harriet Macan as Lil' Rogue, Lil' Demon and many other well known B-dancers who dazzle the audience on screen.

This is fun to watch!

Film Rating: B



THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF PHIL SPECTOR
Directed by: Vikram Jayanti
Running time: 102 min.
Release date: June 30, 2010
Genre: Documentary
Distributor: BBC Arena/VIXPIX Films (UK)
MPAA Rating: Not Rated

This is an intimate look at the controversial, now imprisoned musical genius Phil Spector and giving a fascinating portrait of the legendary pop music icon/record producer who created "the wall of sound", a unique musical soundscape that defined some of the greatest hits of the 1960s. These songs are forever imprinted on the brains of everyone whose teenage years spanned that turmultuous decade: Be My Baby, He's a Rebel, Da Doo Ron Ron, You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, to name a few. Today he's imprisoned for 19 years to life for the murder of B-movie actress Lana Clarkson.

The film shows archive clips of rock 'n' roll when The Teddy Bears with 17 year old Spector on guitar and singing the song he wrote, To Know Him is to Love Him (1958) and songs sung by Ike & Tina Turner, the Ronettes, the Righteous Brothers, and more.

However, his dark secrets are slowly unvailed in this film starting with his father's suicide when he was a child to his lonely and unpopular persona as a high school student to his friendship with John Lennon as he salvaged the Beatles album Let It Be. Then there is Spector's curious enmity toward Tony Bennett, Martin Scorsese, and the late Buddy Holly (he's got a postage stamp even though he was only in rock 'n' roll for three years), and the self-praising of his life-likeness to Bach, de Vinci, Michelangelo and Galileo. And not to forget the odd hairstyles Phil Spector sported over the years.

Filmmaker Vikram Jayanti was given unprecedented access to film Spector in his home (more like his castle) where they discuss his 50 year music career. The talks also include his troubled personal life, his sense of being hounded, his anger and rage which helped him to develop his art long before it was recognized as anything other than a mere pop music. This is interwoven with the court recording of his trial and examining what brought him to this point in his life.

This is a fascinating film, however it brightens a dark person.

FILM RATING (B)


RAAVAN
Directed by: Mani Ratnam
Running time: 138 min.
Release date: June 18, 2010
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Fantasy in Hindi with English subtitles
Distributor: Reliance Big Pictures
MPAA Rating: Not rated

In this loose adaptation of Ramayana, the poem traditionally divided into several major kandas or books, that deal chronologically with the major events in the life of Rama.

This modern-day version, that stars Abhishek Bachchan as Beera Munda the terrorist who kidnaps Ragini Sharma (Aishwarya Rai). Ragini is the wife of police inspector Dev Pratap Sharma (Vikram) and an all-out search to rescue her has begun. This search takes the police force to the mountainous jungle outside of Lal Maati, a small town in northern India.

The cinemography of the beautiful landscape is a major contributing factor of this film. Adventure and action is in abundance as the search for Ragini is the vehicle for the plot. A reckoning of Ragini to understand the reason for the feud between Dev and Beera is very well developed as the story opens up into a blaze of battle sequences.

With choreography added and blended perfectly into the theme of this fine film, I was glued to my seat. Each scenario gives more of a good solid narrative. I was extremely impressed by the exceptionally talented performances by the three main characters.

This story of revenge, redemption and love is a movie well worth two-hours and eighteen minutes.

FILM RATING (B+)




8th CINE FEST PETROBAS BRASIL-NY
(NY BRAZILIAN FILM FESTIVAL)
June 5th - June 12th, 2010

This is the celebration of the best of current Brazilian cinema which will also honor the 50th anniversary of the founding of the country's capital city, Brasilia.

The CINE FEST PETROBRAS is back for its eighth edition this year and will kick off with the Opening Night film The Well Beloved One (O Bem Amado), a comedy (2010) directed by Guel Arraes, featuring Marco Nanni, Matheus Nachtergaele, Jose Wilker, and others. Based on the literary work of Dias Gomes, O Bem Amado tells a humorous story of the mayor of Sucupira, Odorico Paraquacu, who has as his main aim in his administration of the inauguration of a cemetery. On one side is the Cajazeiras sisters who support and have the "hots" for him. On the other side is his opposition led by Neco Pedreira, the owner of the town's gazette and whose son is in love with Mayor's rebellious daughter.

Some exceptionally fine films showcased are; TIME OF PEACE (Tempos De Paz), an excellent period piece drama by Daniel Filho, BLUE EYES (Olhos Azuis), a powerful action based contemporary drama by Jose Joffly, HEAD ON A PLATTER (Cabeca a Premio), a suspensefully decadent story concerning smuggling by Marco Ricca, and LOVE STORIES LAST ONLY 90 MINUTES (Historias De Amor) a romantic narrative about a three peoples' lack of trust and deceit by Paulo Halm.

The Closing Night film presented outdoors in Central Park at Summerstage, will be the documentary OSCAR NEIMEYER - LIFE IS A BREATH OF AIR, telling a story of a nation through its architecture. It has been said that the most important aspect of a building is the legacy that it represents for the society that built it. This is a movie that without trying to imitate the uniqueness of its subject relies on the precision of his lines and poetry of his forms, in order to construct the history of the greatest icon of Brazil's Modern Architecture.

Coverage by Gerald Wright


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WAH DO DEM (What They Do)
Directed by: Ben Chace & Sam Fleischner
Running time: 76 min.
Release date: June 15, 2010 (NY-BAMcinemaFest), June 25, 2010 (Boston)
Genre: Drama in English and Jamaican Patrois language
Distributor: Wah Do Dem LLC release
MPAA Rating: Not rated




In the sense of what could go wrong will go wrong, is a page from "Murphy's Law" in Wah Do Dem. Young skateboarding Max (musician Sean Bones) finds his life in Brooklyn pensive and decides to add spice to his world. He is the lucky winner of a cruise to Jamaica and wants to share his prize with his girlfriend Willow (Norah Jones). How was he to know that she has plans to dump him? Now without a girlfriend and feeling bad, he decides this vacation would be the remedy for his depression. Or would it?
The cruise proves to be his "fish out of water" environment. Surrounded by an older population aboard the ship, Max spends his time playing slot machines, hitting the dance floors with older women, gazing out of his porthole, and getting drunk. All the while Willow is still on his mind.
Once the ship docks in Jamaica, Max goes ashore by himself and takes in the "real Jamaica". From the local places that I'm familiar with I can see that Max is at the port of Montego Bay, which is a tour-friendly port. However, Max ventures off and is picked-off by a local scammer. The scammer and girlfriend take Max some 5 miles away to the parish Ocho Rios and takes his belongings (including cash and passport). To add to his problems, he returns late to his ship as it sails away. His only recourse is to get across the island of Jamaica and go the the American Embassy in Kingston.
Getting across the island is not the usual roadtrip. He must walk bare footed, hitch-hike, and take mini-buses that breakdown along the way. Much to his surprise, Max becomes acquainted with a ganja smoking and mind tripping Rasta prophet (veteran actor Carl Bradshaw, The Harder They Fall). Threw a fantasy scene of music and a full moon celebration Max is the audience of the legendary reggae group The Congos. Once he is awakened the next day, he finds fun, peace of mind, and a pair of sneakers for his feet in a soccer game with local inhabitants of a small town. His luck (good/bad) gets him a ride on a motorbike, only to be discharge on a road that is washed out due to flooding. Max is a determined Brookynite who will get to Kingston or bust. It almost became a "bust" when Max encounters a bike riding and knife wheeling hardnose (Mark Gibbs). As Max defuses the situation, the two create a bond through the streets of Kingston.
The film is in a documentary format in most of its scenes and uses a guerrilla style shooting throughout the island. Performances do not display the most impressive dramatic acting it possibly could, but it is effective overall. And in all reality, Jamaica is known for its extreme mountainous regions, however we mainly see Max on lowlands. Believe me, walking those hills and mountains is tiring (I've personally done it). I must admit, this film is filled with constantly new adventures on every horizon and that kept my interest. As an adventurous narrative, our protagonist is a solid lead character only because of the backdrop of Jamaica and its inhabitants who are good support. Another plus for this movie is the improv dialogue used in many scenes. It seems to add the feeling of authenticity in the delivery and communication between the characters.
This is a fun-filled and sometimes heartbreaking flick that I enjoyed.
FILM RATING (B)



THE FATHER OF MY CHILDREN (Le Pere De Mes Enfants)
Directed by: Mia Hansen-Love
Running time: 110 min.
Release date: May 28, 2010
Genre: Drama (French with English subtitltes)
Distributor: IFC Films
Film Rating: Not Rated

This thought-provoking film of a family dealing with a suicidal death of its patriarch is a heart wrenching movie to endure.

Film producer Gregoire Canvel (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) of Moon Films seems to have everything a husband and father of three girls could want. His job is a stimulating one as he produces and makes films. He discovers talented filmmakers and develops their work to fit his conception of the cinema. All of his time is divided between his lovely wife Sylvia (Chiara Caselli), his children, and work. On weekends he escapes to his home in the country where the family and he enjoy each other. With this great life, he manages to put too many films in his production and finds himself with too many debts. Creditors are all over him and he seems overwhelmed.

Despair takes hold and he commits suicide. This is the story's breaking point in more ways than one.

The story seems to take on another plot. Where as, the first 60 minutes was primarily the backstory of this film and very much could have been the main theme, is now a reference point for the audience to reflect on. The main character is dead and now the spouse and siblings are the focus point. However, so is the film because the film has really no main character(s) to take the lead. Supporting characters Alice de Lencquesaing, Alice Gaute, Manelle Driss, Eric Elmosnino, Sandrine Dumas, and Dominique Frot can't help this movie, although they hand in solid performances.

What starts off as an intelligent film, unfortunately becomes troublesome in its development and falls flat.


FILM RATING (C)





SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD
Directed by: George Romero
Running time: 90 min.
Release date: May 28, 2010
Genre: Horror and Thriller
Distributor: Magnet (Magnolia Pictures Release)
MPAA Rating: R

Immediately following the events of Diary of the Dead, George Romero launches his 6th DEAD series episode where human are the minority and the zombies are in charge.

Off the the coast of Delaware is a small place called Plum Island where two families are feuding over power and territory. The O'Flynn's headed by Patrick O'Flynn (Kenneth Welsh) whose approach to the zombie plague is to shoot-to-kill. The Muldoons' patriarch Shamus Muldoon attitude is to quarantine the zombies with hopes that a solution will someday be found. However, the O'Flynns are outnumbered and Patrick is forced into exile to the mainland. Patrick will make his return when he hooks up with a rebel buch of soldiers headed by Sarge (Alan Van Sprang) who is on a "kill the zombie" mission.

The battle begins on Plum Island between the humans when the zombie population increases.

George Romero horror films are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining his audience at the same time in a cathartic experience. Yet he manges to stir everyone up with wicked humor and a pointed social commentary.

FILM RATING (A)






Lbs.
Directed by: Matthew Bonifacio
Running time: 100 minutes
Release date: March 26, 2010
Genre: Drama and Comedy
Distributor: Trulie Indie
MPAA Rating: Not rated

A film co-written by filmmaker Bonifacio and Carmine Famiglietti, the two spin a yarn that is close to their own hearts. The subject matter is dealing with obesity, food eating addiction, and its ramifications such as heart problems. Matthew Bonifacio who admits to having a weight problem and an experience with food addiction, actually played Russian Roulette with his own well-being by losing and gaining weight in order to receive funding for his film project. The fact that writer Famiglietti plays the lead character Neil Perota a 315-pound obsessed with food and is struggling to overcome it, is important and reckless on his behalf to prove his point for cash.

I personally think that the extreme measure of risking a life in recovery of an addiction is pointless. Many of the scenes are taken from the filmmakers life and exxagerated a bit to add substance. That brings me to the film itself and how it sets with me.

In this dramedy the protagonist Neil is a character in a downfall caused by his flaw and major error in judgment concerning his consumption of food. The elements that involve drama are serious, projecting plot driven presentations, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and some stories involving intense character development and interaction. The elements of comedy show the surprises that startles and shock which delights beyond the ordinary, dull and the familiar.

All of this was displayed fine in the opening of this film. However, the plot falls flat in the final scenes. As it opens as Neil is portrayed by Carmine Famiglietti masterfully given a geniune comedic relief to an almost good plot of an overweight man who decides to kick his food addiction by moving to the country. Prior to his major decision, he encounters many obscacles to and from his favorite pizza eatery. He enlist the help of his best friend Sacco Valenzia (Michael Aranov) who is an enabler. The weight problem becomes a family problem as Neil's loving sister Theresa (Sharon Angela) weighs him daily without any progress in his weight loss. His mother Connie gracefully played by Susan Varon gives her best effort by cooking healthy meals for him to be overcome by Sacco sneaking in twinkies and chocolate bars to him. The turning point comes after his sister's wedding when his not so friendly brother-in-law (Lou Martini, Jr.) aires his disgust that Neil is not sticking to his diet and causing chaos within the family. So Neil decides to leave his environment and seek seclusion.

This is when the plot and storyline loses its substance and becomes abstract. It is ethically correct for a person suffering from an addiction to remove him/herself from the people, places and things that encourage relapsing. However, the plot sends the protagonist to a secluded area to live in a broken-down trailer where he bicycles daily and goes "cold turkey" on fatty foods. The story dives into a strange pitfall which finds him in a romantic situation with a married woman named Lara (Miriam Shor) who introduces Neil to the world of sex. The performances in this part of the film are extremely weak and shallow. Our hero of this flick is suppose to be enduring as he is involved in a sexual and romantic pursuit. It is very difficult to feel any connection or identify with the Neil character who now wants to show a compelling and visible desire for Lara. The other visible desire in abstaining from food is achieved on screen through a realistic visual driving motivation only to be washed away by a water-soaked final scenes of his returning home in a happy-go-lucky scenario. I tend to wonder how this could be when we see the protagonist having a relapse and returning to bad eating habits. In my eyes he becomes the antagonist and not my hero.

In some opening parts of this film the chemistry works well as we see compromise, however in the latter parts of this film everything spoils in the love and surviving scenes.

FILM RATING (C)




HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON in 3D & IMAX
Directed by: Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
Running time: 98 minutes
Genre: Animation, Action/Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Adaptation
Release date: March 26, 2010
Distributor: Paramount Pictures (DreamWorks Animation)
MPAA Rating: PG

In this computer-animated fantasy set in the mythical world of burly Vikings and wild flying dragons, and based on the book by Cressida Cowell is an action comedy.

The story tells of Hiccup (voice of Jay Baruchel) a teenage Viking living in a village where they are trained to become dragon slayers. When a herd of dragons attack, the viking community fight back under the leadership of their cheif and Hiccup's dad Stoick the Vast (voice of Gerard Butler). Hiccup is not strong like his father, however he is smart and has the knack for engineering. He has a weird sense of humor with sarcasm and thinks every situation through. However, he must prove himself and decides to capture a dragon. In his dumb luck or enginuity he shoots down the elusive Night Fury Dragon. It seems Hiccup crippled the Night Fury's wing and nurses the dragon back to health by constructing an artificial wing. The two become master and pet yet build a great bond. All this is done in secrecy of the community.

Hiccup is also enrolled in a dragon school where fighting is taught by Gobber the Belch (voice of Craig Ferguson), whom he is apprentice to with other teenage vikings, Astrid (voice of America Ferrera) his eventual love interest, Snoltland (voice of Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and Ruffnut and Tuffnut (Kristen Wigg and T.J. Miller). Meanwhile, his dad Stoick takes a search party out to sea to locate the dragon's nest.

In the eyes of kids and grown-ups alike, I found this a fun film. Animations are not a strickly defined genre category, but rather a film technique, although they often contain genre-like elements. Animation, fairy-tales and stop-motion films often appeal children, but it would marginalize animations to view them only as "children's entertainment." Animated films are often directed to, or appeal most to the kiddy audience, but in this case it can be enjoyed by all.

FILM RATING (B)





ALICE IN WONDERLAND 3-D & IMAX 3-D
Directed by: Tim Burton
Running time: 109 minutes
Release date: March 5, 2010
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fantasy, Animation, Thriller and Remake
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG

In this adaptation extension of the Lewis Carroll novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, master filmmaker Tim Burton takes a dark look at the classic story.

In the film, Alice is a 19 year old and accidently returns to the Underland, a place she previously visited 10 years prior. The setting is where Alice Kingsley (Mia Wasikowski) is attending a party at a Victorian estate shortly after her beloved father's death. She is fascinated by a white rabbit (voice of Michael Sheen) wearing a waistcoat and pocket watch. She is amazed and follows the rabbit into the woods . She evntually tumbles down a rabbit hole into the Underland, or more commonly known as "Wonderland" by its inhabitants. Unfortunately, she does not remember her previous visit 10 years ago. She is also told that she is the only one who can slay the Jabberwock dragon who terrorizes the inhabitants of Wonderland under the rule of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter).

There are fantasy and satirical elements performed by characters, such as, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway as Mirana the White Queen, Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, Alan Rickman as the Blue Caterpillar, Matt Lucas as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and veteran actor Christopher Lee as the Jabberwocky that are to amaze the audience.

Though this is an engaging movie, it relies on the thriller genre to entice its audience. The film is characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must hinder the plans of more powerful and better equipped villians. Literary devices such as suspense, red herings and cliffhangers are used extensively. Unfortunately, Tim Burton's technique of combining live action and animation does not work for this classic story. Performances are superficial at best, such as, Johhny Depp using a combination of his Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Carribean) and Ed Wood (Ed Wood) characters to make his Mad Hatter. Anne Hathaway's White Queen is so sweet-sickening, it can bring a person to throw-up. I never really felt any real emotion in this production.

This film will be a marvel to some, however it lacks any real substance in its content.

FILM RATING (C+)










TERRIBLY HAPPY (Frygtelig lykkelig)
Directed by: Henrig Ruben Genz
Running time: 90 minutes
Release date: February 19, 2010
Genre: Drama, Crime and Art/Foreign in Danish with English subtitles
Distributor: Oscilloscope Laboratories
MPAA Rating: Not Rated

This is Denmarks's official submission to the 82nd Academy Awards' Best Foreign Language Film Awards in 2010. Based on true accounts is a thriller about a Copenhagen cop who moves to a small town after having a nervous breakdown.

Robert Hanson (Jakob Cedergren) is a Danish police officer who, following psychological problems, is transferred to a small provincial town to take on the mysteriously vacated Marshall position and subsequently gets mixed up with a married femme fatale named Ingerline portrayed by Lena Maria Christensen. The crazed husband Jergen (Kim Bodnia) is the town's bully which is Robert's main crime offender, which makes the plot more suspenseful.

Robert's big city temperament makes it impossible for him to fit in, or understand the uncivilized, bizarre behavior displayed by the townspeople. With scenes of brutal beatings, murder, and blackmail this thrilling mystery entices the audience. Quickly spiraling downward into an intense fable blending cutting edge dark humor with classic noir elements, I was on the edge of my seat.

This movie is a unique and often macabre vision of the darkest depths to which people will go to achieve a sense of security and belonging.

FILM RATING (A)


VALENTINE'S DAY
Directed by: Gary Marshall
Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes
Release date: February 12, 2010
Genre: Drama and Romance
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13

An all-star cast comes together which follows the interwining storylines of a diverse group of Los Angelinos as they navigate their way through romance and heartbreak over the course of one Valentine's Day. Couples and singles experience the pinnacles and pitfalls of finding, keeping or ending relationships in a day in the life of love.

The plot revolves around an owner of a flowist shop, Reed (Ashton Kutcher) proposes to his girlfriend, Morley (Jessica Alba), while learning his best friend Julia (Jennifer Garner) has a boyfriend named Harrison (Patrick Dempsey) who turns out to be married. Other stories involving Kate (Julia Roberts) as an army officer on leave on a flight from Iraq to Los Angeles, and Anne Hathaway as a telephone sex operator named Liz who is in love with a mailroom clerk named Jason (Topher Grace) while she is working in talent agency ran by Erin (Queen Latifah). Subplots include cast members Shirley MacLaine, Hector Elizondo, Emma Roberts, Jessica Biel, Taylor Lautner, Kathy Bates, George Lopex, Carter Jenkins, and Jamie Foxx.

This is the perfect date flick for the Valentine holiday.

FILM RATING (B)


DEAR JOHN
Directed by: Lasse Hallstrom
Running time: 107 minutes
Release date: February 5, 2010
Genre: Drama, Romance and War
Distributor: Screen Gems
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Based on the novel by best-seller author Nicholas Sparks, Dear John tells the story of John Tyree (Channing Tatum), a young soldier home on leave, and Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried), the idealistic college student he falls in love with during her spring vacation.

The subplot deals with autism of a close friend of Savannah's named Tim Whedden (Henry Thomas) and John's father brilliantly played by Richard Jenkins. However, the main theme of the film is on romance.

A story of conflict and change enters into the plot of a romantic tragedy. Revealing different attitudes and values the couple's relationship goes south while the subplot of September 11th Disaster is relevent to their drifting apart.

The main plot concerns two people falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. Based on the idea of an innate emotional justice--the lovers who risk and struggle for each other and their relationship are rewarded with emotional justice and unconditional love. Thus giving an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.

FILM RATING (C+)


DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM
DIRECTED BY: Patrick Alessandrin
Running time: 100 minutes
Release date: February 5, 2010
Genre: Drama, Action/Adventure, Crime, Martial Arts and Sequel in French with English subtitles.
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
MPAA Rating: R

In this sequel to District 13 (2004), Ultimatum set in Paris 2013 - 2016 has had two years passed since the elite police officer Damien Tomasso (Cyril Raffaelli) teamed up with reformed vigilante Leito (David Belle, the parkour originator) to save the notoriously cime ridden Distric 13, a racially charged ghetto populated by violent drug dealing gangs and viscous killers.

Despite government promises to maintain order, the state of the district has deteriorated, and a group of corrupt cops and elected officials are conspiring to cause civil unrest in District 13, looking for an excuse to raise the level and capitalize on its redevelopment. In the original movie the outcome was a peaceful D13 and now the drug lords returned and D13 has reverted back to turf wars setup by nationalities and races.

The plot is formula in its structure of good overcoming evil as Damien and Leito join forces again, while using martial arts fight sequencs and chase scenes to rid the neighborhood of the bad guys who propose a nuclear air-strike to wipe out the ghetto.

This is an adrenaline charged flick!

FILM RATING (C)


THE SPY NEXT DOOR
Directed by: Brian Levant
Running time: 89 minutes
Release date: January 15, 2010
Genre: Martial Arts, Action and Comedy
Distributor: Lionsgate
MPAA Rating: PG

Jackie Chan is back with a familia persona while still using his action sequences. While baby sitting his neighbor and love interest Gillian's (Amber Valletta) kids, a mild mannered Bob Ho (Jackie Chan) winds up having to fight off eastern Europe secret agents after one of the kids inadvertently downloads a secret code.

Bob Ho is a Chinese secret agent on loan to the U.S. working with his partner Coltan James played by Billy Ray Cyrus. These two agents report to the chief played by comedy celebrity George Lopez. However Bob is scheduled to retire and has plans to pop the question on Gillian and live blissfully in suburbia. Gillian has three children Farren (Madeline Carroll), Ian (Will Shadley), and Nora (Alina Foley). Obviously, the kids are apprehensive about their mother's relationship and the comedic performances from these fine children actors are superb. I wish I could say the same for the adults in this film.

While action, violence and some mild rude humor rules the theme of the movie, it is suitable for the young at heart and mind to enjoy. The setting is the Holloween season in this spy caper and gives the young audience exactly what they want. My favorite scene is the opening, as the 1964 song by Johnnie Rivers "Secret Agent Man" is playing.

Supporting cast members Magnus Scheving, Katherine Boecher and Lucas Till are entertaining. I'm sure the kids will have fun watching this fun film.

FILM RATING (C+)




MY NEIGHBOR, MY KILLER
Directed By: Anne Aghion
Running time: 80 minutes
Release date: January 12, 2010 (limited)
Genre: Documentary
Distributor: Kahn Media Strategies
Language: Kinyarwanda with English subtitles

Rwanda was bloodied, scarred and nearly destroyed by the 1994 brutality of the Hutu genocide of Tutsis. Can a country known for its brutality become known for an even more radical forgiveness? More than a decade after the 1994 genocide, the Rwandan government has released tens of thousands of murderers back into the communities they ravaged and amends must be made. In 2001 and ending in 2009, the government put in place the Gacaca Tribunals. These were open-air hearings with citizen judges meant to try their neighbors and rebuild the nation.

Filmmaker Anne Aghion along with cinematographers Claire Baily du Bois and Mathieu Hagnery capture survivors and perpetrators in an experiment in reconciliation. Traumatized survivors are asked to forgive their once oppressors and live side-by-side in peace.

The interview frames shot in this film explore the pain, the mystery, and the hope through several compelling stories as victims, orphans, widows and perpetrators journey toward healing. The cutaway scenes construct emotional sequences and add "chill footage" which build basic elements of characters and revealing their true emotions.

My Neighbor, My Killer gives a thorough examination on how living in forgiveness, traditional justice and post-conflict reconstruction actually works. The transformation is captured completely. This is a must see film.

FILM RATING (A)



















A CHRISTMAS CAROL in 3D & IMAX 3D
Directed by: Robert Zemeckiis
Running time: 94 minutess
Release date: November 6, 2009
Genre: Animation, Fantasy and Adaptation
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG

This film adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 story of the same gives Jim Carey a multitude of roles as Ebenezer Scrooge as a young, middle-age, and old man. He also takes on the character voices of the three ghost who haunt Scrooge.

The Victorian morality of an old bitter and miserable man named Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carey) undergoes a morality check. In this version the 3D adds little and no excitement by the Disney people and Carey. But you can not hurt a Charles Dickens classic. Although the screaming antics of Carey and the lack-lustered animation, there is some enjoyment for those who love the classic work of Dickens.

Rather than seeking a magical encounter, I settled for a Baa-Humbug!

FILM RATING (C+)

LA DANSE: THE PARIS OPERA BALLET
Directed by: Frederick Wiseman
Running time: 158 minutes
Release date: November 4, 2009
Genre: Documentary
Distributor: Zipporah Films
MPAA Rating: Not rated

Documentary master Wiseman completes his 38th film in a career that spanned over 40 years. He turns his attention to the world's greatest ballet companies, the Paris Opera Ballet.

The camera roams the vast Palais Garnier, an opulent 19th century building: from its crystal chandelier lit corridors to its labyrinthine undrground chambers, from its brightly lighted filled rehearsal studios to its luxurious 2,200 seated theater and Marc Chagall ceiling.

The focus is on the young men and women rehearsing and performing seven ballets. It is a marvel to behold.

FILM RATING (A)




THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL
Directed by: Ti West
Running time: 93 minutes
Release date: October 30, 2009 (limited), November, 2009 (wide)
Genre: Science fiction/Fantasy and Suspense/Horror
Distributor: Magnet Releasing

From writer/director Ti West (fourth feature film), a satanic thriller set in the 1960's a pretty college sophomore Sam, short for Samatha (Jocelin Donahue), is desperate to earn cash for a deposit on an apartment off campus. Her sexually active female roommate has the habit of locking her out of their room due to her male over-night visitors.

Sam accepts a babysitting job even after she finds out there is no baby. Mr. and Mrs. Ulman played by cult actors Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov, are an older couple who lure Sam out to their creeky Victorian mansion deep in the woods, just in time for a lunar eclipse.

Megan (Greta Gerwig) is Sam's bestfriend, gives her a ride out to the house, and reluctantly leaves her there despite suspecting something wrong. A strange man named Victor (AJ Bowen) lurks around the house and becomes a creepy problem for the girls.

As in most horror genres, this formula thriller is no different in its make-up with blood and gore. Generally the cinematography, special effects, plot, narrative drive and characters are set up to employ a catastrophic tragedy. Successfully, this film delivers a classic theme that is familiar to the creation horror.

FILM RATING (B)







ONG BAK 2: The Beginning
Directed by: "Tony Jaa" Panow Yeerum & Panna Rittikrai
Running time: 115 minutes
Release date: October 23, 2009
Genre: Art/Foreign, Action/Adventure, Drama, Martial Arts and Sequel
Language: Thai with English subtitles
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures/Magnet Releasing
MPAA Rating: R

This is an epic tale of revenge set hundreds of years in the past. An orphan boy Tien (Tony Jaa) raised by bandits known as Garuda's Wing led by Chernung (Sorapong Chatree) is trained to be a killer and prophesized to be the conqueror of an empire. Trained in countless styles of weaponry and martial arts, he is a one-man-army hell bent on avenging the murder of his parents. While finding a love interest in a childhood girlfriend named Pim played by Primrata Dej-Udom, this is a multi-genre flick full of enjoyment.

Featuring a huge cast and hordes of elephants Jaas martial arts skills are taken to the next level. ONG BAK 2: The Beginning is based on the key concepts - the fusion of martial arts from all over the world in one man, the introduction of the newly invented "Natayuth" martial arts style, and origin of the scar-faced Buddha.

One could say that this is a story of love, greed, anger, being misguided, desires, vice and virtue. As the hero of the film, Tein portrayed by Tony Jaa shows he has a bright side and a dark side. However, the core of the film is the concept that the greatest fight is one which does not overcome anyone but one's mind. This is presented by the fusion of mind and action through "Natayuth" fighting.

For a fun filled thrill, don't miss this flick.

FILM RATING (A)



THE INFORMANT
Directed by: Steven Soderberg
Running time: 1 hr. 48 mins.
Release date: September 18, 2009
Genre: Comedy and Adaptation
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: R

In this adaptation based on the book by the same title written by Kurt Eichenwald is a dark comedy about corporate espionage, multinational price fixing, wiretapping, embezzelement, FBI investigations and a high level company whistleblower.

This is the strange and unpredictable fictionalized true story of Mark Whitacre who goes from corporate golden boy to FBI informant in the years form 1992 to 1996. Matt Damon stars in the role of this man who is a rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). His whistleblowing testimony and taped admissions of guilt by heads of national and international corporations turn out to be misleading. He imagines himself a secret agent, however the FBI agents (Scott Bakula and Joel McHale) soon find that Mark ever-changes his story which frustrates the agents and threatens the case against ADM. Clever as this movie should doesn't always deliver the impact it could. However, the cast bails out the lifeless plot with good acting. This turns out to be a Mattn Damon vehicle and he does his job by giving a stand-out comedic performance.

The film is a mildly entertaining movie and has many funny twists to a bizaare story. It gets standard performances by good actors, but the overall feel of the plot is saturated with whimsical humor that was lacking maximum comic relief. The book would be better.

FILM RATING (C+)




CONFESSIONSOFA EX-DOOFUS-ICHYFOOTED MUTHA
Directed by: Melvin Van Peebles
Running time: 90 minutes
Release date: August 21, 2009
Genre: Drama
Distributor: YEAH Inc.
MPAA Rating: R

Narrated by Melvin Van Peebles comes a universal portrait of an African-American man who travels through life's ups and downs. In the theme of his past innovated films such as Ain't Supposed to Die A Natural Death and Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song the godfather of independent film and modern black cinema stars and directs a funky picaresque comedy.

Mixed with intimate, wily, urban ruminations the protagonist goes on a pilgrimage. He stumbles his way through life with 14 years in a Chicago library hiding out from being beaten up by bigger kids and falling in love in travel books. The plot winds up in New York City where he learns the street hustle and finds romance along with domestic bliss with Rita (Stephanie Weeks). His eye for adventure takes him to Africa for 15 years as a merchant seaman and back to New York, only to see if Rita will take him back.

This film is the typical Van Peebles movie that takes the audience on a cinematic ride through the perils of life.

FILM RATING (B)



HARRY POTTER and The Half-Blood Prince
Directed by: David Yates
Running time: 2 hours, 33 minutes
Release date: July 16, 2009
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure and Adaptation
Distributor: Warner Bros.
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Based on the novel of the same name by J.K. Rowling, this sixth film in the popular Harry Potter film series the plot is emboldened by the return of Lord Voldmort and the Death Eaters wreaking havoc in both the Muggle and wizardling worlds. This leaves the Hogwarts unsafe and Harry suspects that new dangers lie within the castle.

What makes this a different looking film from the prior movies is how the students are using their hormones as an adversary more so than demons. Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) long friendship with Ron Weasely's (Rupert Grint) younger sister Ginny (Bonnie Wright) is growing into something deeper, but standing in the way is Ginny's "jock" boyfriend Dean Thomas. Meanwhile, Ron Weasely is romantically involved with Lavender Brown who is lavishing her affections on him, leaving Hermione (Emma Watson) simmering with jealousy yet determined not to show her feelings.

This is the lesser movie of the series that brings back Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Tom Felton, Jim Broadbent, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane. Added cast members include Michael Gambon, Jessie Cave, Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Frank Dillane.

If you're looking for super-fantasy scenes there will be an ample amount, however love is in the air in this episode.

FILM RATING (B-)


HOMECOMING
Directed by: Morgan J. Freeman
Running time: 88 minutes
Release date: July 17, 2009
Genre: Horror, Thriller and Romance
Distributor: Paper Street Films and Animus Films
MPAA Rating: N/R

The film's plot follows a former small-town golden boy and his new girlfriend who return to his hometown for a visit and reunion.

Mike (Matt Long) was a superstar quarterback in a blue-collar small town where football is everything. After receiving a scholarship to Northwestern University, he returns home over Christmas break with his new girlfriend Elizabeth (Jessica Stroup) from Chicago. Everyone he left behind in the small town is surprised to see him with his new girlfriend especially Mike's homecoming queen ex-girlfriend Shelby (Mischa Barton). Obsessed Shelby plots to get rid of Elizabeth by any means possible and regain her old boyfriend Mike. The story takes on a macabre twist as a woman who feels scorned turns vengeful.

This is a formula structured thriller with no surprises and best suited for the Sci-Fi cable station.

FILM RATING (C)



"BRUNO"
Directed by: Dan Mazer
Running time: 83 minutes
Release date: July, 10, 2009
Genre: Comedy
Distributor: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: R

Sacha Baron Cohen portrays Bruno, a gay fashionista from a German speaking country. His mission is to become the biggest Austrian celebrity since Adolf Hitler. His strategy is to crisscross the globe in the hopes of finding fame and love.

This is another stinging dose of sociopolitical satire in this comedy that finds him assumming the persona of gay fashionmonger Bruno, the self-proclaimed "voice of the gay Austrian fashionable youth".

This film is to push the limits of humor, however the majority of the jokes fall flat. Cohen's character Bruno takes on interviews with celebrities to place them in uncomfortable situations. In some cases the pranks did raise a laugh, however in other scenes I found it to be banal.

His sidekick in this farce is Lutz (Gustaf Hammarsten) who is the straight-man in the joke sequences and a gay admirer of Bruno. Hammarsten and Cohen lack comedic timing in many scenes which prevents this movie to take an upward direction. Unfortunately, the plot tumbles downhill in too many scenes.

This is a film to see the flamboyant Bruno take his show to America, however he missed his landing by a few miles.

FILM RATING (C)







"DEAD SNOW"
Directed by: Tommy Wirkola
Running time: 91 minutes
Release date: June 19, 2009 (NY), June 26, 2009 (LA)
Genre: Art Foreign, Horror and Thriller in Norwegian with English subtitles
Distributor: IFC Films
MPAA Rating: N/R

Co-writer Tommy Wirkola puts emphysis on the good old slasher flicks where the viewers are prompt to jump in their seats and scream.

In this gore fest flick a group of friends are off on a Easter vacation to a cabin with skis, snowmobile, tobaggan, copious amounts of beer and a fertile mix of sexes. Martin, Roy, Hanna, Vegard, Liv, Erland and Chris certainly had anticipated not returning home live. However, the Nazi-zombie battalion is haunting the snowy mountains and in an old concentration camp named Oksfjord they are lurking and waiting for humans.

A shady wanderer tells the vacationers the story of how in 1945 the townspeople were attacked by the German soldiers. The soldiers raped and pillaged with sadistic zeal, until the people got tired of it and armed themselves and rid the Germans from their homes. All but, Colonel Herzog and some of his men who escape into the mountains where they became the frozen death or in this case frozen living dead.

This is classic gore gallore and chiller thrills.

FILM RATING (B)

"UP"
Directed by: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson (co-director)
Running time: 104 minutes
Release date: May 29, 2009
Genre: Computer-animated 3D
Distributor: Pixar/Walt Disney Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG

Carl Fredrickson (voice of Edward Asner) spent his entire life dreaming of exploring along with his wife Ellie (voice of Elizabeth Doctor - director's daughter). Now retired and living with the death of his wife the 78 year old retired balloon salesman sees life passing him by. Until one day he meets a persistent 8 year old Junior Wilderness Explorer named Russell (voice of Jordan Nagai). He accompanies Carl in a flying house in order to assist the ederly to earn his merit badge.

The two are the most unlikely companions, however in this spectacular animated film in the family of Pixar's movie hits of Ratatouille, Wall E, Cars and Toy Story, the Pixar's first feature 3D Carl and Russell go on a action adventure that is a marvel to the eyes. Supporting cast voices include Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger, Delroy Lindo and Jerome Rauft.

This is a possible early Oscar nominee.

FILM RATING (A+)


"DRAG ME TO HELL"
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Running time: 96 minutes
Release date: May 29, 2009
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Thriller
Distributor: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director Raimi best known for the Spider-Man triology and the Evil Dead series brings a disturbingly scary tale of a woman's desperate quest to break an evil curse.

Christine Brown played brilliantly by Alison Lohman is an ambitious L.A. loan officer at a local bank where she competes feverously for an assistant manager position. She finds comfort with her charming boyfriend, professor Clay Dalton (Justin Long). Life is good until the mysterious Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) arrives at the bank to beg for an extension on her home loan. Christine wanting to impress her boss Mr. Jacks (David Paymer) denies the loan and shames the bizarre Mrs. Ganush.

In retaliation the old woman places a powerful curse of the Lamia on Christine, transforming her life into a living hell. The rest of the plot is a great amount eerie sequences that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. With the addition of a mystical psychic named Rham Jas (Dileep Rao) the film takes on a venture of evil forces and a path of breaking free of the curse.

This is good stuff.

FILM RATNG (B+)






"BIG MAN JAPAN"
Directed by: Hitoshi Matsumoto
Running time: 113 minutes
Release date: May 15, 2009
Genre: Art/Foreign, Comedy, Action/Adventure, Horror, Science Fiction, Animation and Fantasy (Japanese with English subtitles)
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13

In this alternative comedy with a mixture of horror, science fiction, horror and animation Magnet Releasing's Six Shooter Film Series is from the vanguard of quality Asian cinema.

As a spoof with throwback scenes of the 1950's giant monster flicks, this story is about a middle-aged slacker living in a rundown, graffiti-ridden slum, Daisata's (Hitoshi Matsumoto) job involves being shocked by bolts of electricity that transform him into a stocky, stick-weilding giant several stories high who is entrusted with defending Japan from a host of bizarre monsters. while his predecessors were national heroes, he is a pariah among the citizens he protects, who bitterly complain about the noise and destruction of property he causes.

What adds the silliness to this spoof is the problems Daisato has with an media agent sponsoring him with advertisements, an Alzheimer afflicted grandfather who transforms into a giant superhero (in dirty underwear) and a family who is embarrassed by his often cowardly exploits.

When thinking of "off the hook" movies - this is it.

FILM RATING (B+)


"JERICHOW"
Directed by: Christian Petzold
Running time: 89 minutes
Release date: May 15, 2009 (NYC & LA)
Genre: Art/Foreign, Drama and Romance (German with English subtitles)
Distributor: The Cinema Guild
MPAA Rating: Not rated

This is a subtle yet poignant film with opening scenes that resemble a character study. However the story develops into a strong ensemble plot of three characters.

Jerichow is a small town in northeastern Germany. It is an impoverished region where few jobs are to be had, an area of crisscrossing highways, deep forests, and cliffs that fall sharply into the sea.

Following his mother's death, Thomas (Benno Furmann), a former soldier who has been dishonorably discharged from the army, returns to his hometown. He has inherited his mother's house and plans to renovate it and look for a job.

One night, Thomas meets Ali (Hilmi Sozer), a Turkish immigrant who owns a chain of snackbars in the area. Ali is suspicious of the people who work for him, however he takes an unusual liking to Thomas. Ali offers Thomas as job as his driver and assistant. The problem is Ali's attractive German wife, Laura (Nina Hoss) who treats Thomas with disdain. Thomas notices the strained relationship of Ali and Laura and predictably a situation arises when Thomas and Laura begin an affair.

This may sound like a simple story of adultery, but it is not. The brilliant performances by the ensemble masterfully puts together an intriguing story that has a challenging finale.

FILM RATING (A)







"THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT"
Directed by: Peter Cornwell
Running time: 92 minutes
Release date: March 27, 2009
Genre: Horror and Thriller
Distributor: Lionsgate/Gold Circle Films
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Reminiscent of the Elm Street film series The Haunting in Connecticut is based on a a chilling true story that charts one's family's terrifying, real-life encounter with dark forces of the supernatural.

When the Campbell family to an upstate Connecticut home, they soon learn that their Victorian house has a disturbing history. The Campbells consist of the father Peter (Martin Donovan) a recovering alcoholic, Sara (Virginia Madsen) the mother, Matt (Kyle Gallner) a teenage son suffering from cancer, younger son Billy (Ty Wood), older teenage cousin Wendy (Amanda Crew) and her younger sister Mary (Sophi Knight).

The family finds out that this house is a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred such as meetings of the owner's clairvoyant son Jonah (Erik Berg) served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover. However, ghostly Jonah now wants to communicate with the unsuspecting Campbells.

With slow plot development and a standard horror theme Virginia Madsen should have turned this part down. The scare scenes barely gave any shocks or chills, however it is just a horror film that is what an immature audience would enjoy. I found it predictable and boring.

FILM RATING (D)


"MADEA GOES TO JAIL"
Directed by: Tyler Perrry
Running time: 103 minutes
Release date: February 20, 2009
Genre: Comedy and Drama
Distributor: LionsGate Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13

In this multi-genre movie Tyler Perry portrays three characters (Madea, Joe and Brian). In the episode of the irreverent hell raising grandma gets arrested and must take anger management classes. After failing her class she is placed in jail and lobbies for her freedom.

The dramatic plot is led by Derek Luke as an A.D.A. Hardaway (asst. district atty.) who is on the fast track to career success. But Hardaway lands a case too personal to handle - defending a prostitute and former drug addict Candance Washington (Keshia Knight Pulliam) - and asks his fiancee' and fellow ADA Linda Holmes (Ion Overman) to fill in on his behalf. However, jealousy falls into play and Candance goes to jail and meets Madea.

With the unrealistic scenarios along with the substandard humor and dialogue this movie isn't worth the price of a ticket. The lame predictable plot lacked any sort of developement which left me watching a bad film.

This troublesome and thoughtless flick is not worth the time.

FILM RATING (C)



"PUSH"
Directed by: Paul McGuigan
Running time: 111 minutes
Release date: February 6, 2009
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Thriller
Distributor: Summit Entertainment
MPAA Rating: PG-13

The premise of PUSH is a world in which ordinary people capable of astonishing acts of clairvoyance, telekinesis and telepathy are teted and controlled by a secretive government agency.

The Division, a shadowy government agecy, is genetically transforming citizens into an army of psychic warriors and disposing of those unwilling to participate. The film gives a backstory of this originating during 1945 Nazi Germany's experiment camps to develop psychic warriors to beat the Americans and Soviets. Soon after the CIA picked up where the Nazis left off.

One young man Nick Grant (Chris Evans) is a second generation "mover" who could transport objects through space with his mind. He is hiding out in Hong Kong from the Division since the murder of his father more than a decade earlier. He has found sanctuary in this city where many possessing psychic talents, until he is found by 13 year old Cassie (Dakota Fanning) a "watcher" who has the ability to see the future. She details her visions on drawing pads and seeks help in finding Kira (Camilla Belle) an escaped "pusher" who is far more advanced than mere telepaths. Kira can plant ideas so powerful in a subjects mind that it is impossible to distinguishfrom actual thoughts and memories. However Kira is being sought by the Division's villianous super agent Carver (Djimon Honsou), who the man who killed Nick's father. This problem of everyone looking for Kira causes Nick and Cassie to go on the run.

The film is a basic chase thriller with rogue psychics helping Nick and Cassie while Carver and his band of agents close behind them. While in Hong Kong the Asian Mob want a piece of the action which gives the movie some flare. However, I could not get past the fact that Dakota Fanning who is a gifted actress seemed awkward at this age in her career. Similar to Shirley Temple making her transition from child star to teenage actress.

The intense sequences gave the film little excitement, but as a whole it is has a minimal amount of substance to entertain.

FILM RATING (C)




"MEMORIAL DAY"
Directed by: Josh Fox
Running time: 94 minutes
Release date: February 4, 2009
Genre: Documentary
Distributor: Artist Public Domain/International WOW Company
MPAA Rating: Not rated

This a film shot in an experimental format exposing those service people who pride themselves as "being all they could be". U.S. Army personnel (soldiers) who are a disgrace to their uniforms on and off duty during the War in Iraq.

A wild Memorial Day weekend takes an unexpected turn in this brutally thrilling roller coaster ride through over-exposed national obsessions. Watching this ferocious ensemble is reminiscent of a Spring Break.

Beginning as a rowdy beach weekend video, this weekend's twists and turns find the dark hearts of young Americans who live to tape their most debauched adventures. The characters are caught on camera as they create a sphere of provocation wherever they go. The 8 men and 3 women soldiers take on wild motel parties and disgraceful sexual acts. Intimidation of female soldiers to provoke sex with male counterparts is a norm.

When the group of soldiers return to duty in Iraq as Military Police, the film examines the cruel and demeaning treatment that they enjoyed placing on the so-call Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib.

This is an incredibly compelling film experience, however not making a statement, but more of a portrait of American soldiers displaying deplorable acts against themselves and humanity.

FILM RATING (C+)



"THE UNINVITED"
Directed by: The Guard Brothers
Running time: 87 minutes
Release date: January 30, 2009
Genre: Suspense/Horror and Remake
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13

In this remake of the 2003 Korean horror thriller Changhwa Hongryon by Kim Jee-woon, Hollywood gives a superficial version of a young suffering from psychological problems and the death of her mother.

This film also known as, "A Tale of Two Sisters", Anna (Emily Browning) returns home after spending time in a psychiatric facility following the horrific fire caused death of her mother. All is not pleasant with her return home when she finds out that her mother's former nurse Rachel (Elizabeth Banks) is her father's fiancee'. Anna's father Steven (David Stratham) tries to be a good father, however it's difficult when his older daughter Alex (Arielle Kebbel) shows a dislike for Rachel. When Rachel tries to connect with the girls, the resentment turns to hate as Rachel tries to erase all traces of the family's past life. Past life brings out the ghost of Anna's mother who haunts her concerning the issues of her fire related death.

The subplot in this generic scare flick is the premise that everything is not want it appears to be, however the lack of inventiveness in this remake doesn't measure up to the original. Veteran actor David Stratham gives his all in this movie, but the ensemble's performances are as good as a Sci-Fi cable movie's calibre of performance.

I find it disgraceful for Hollywood to take good Asian Horror genre films and turn them into formula type "scare flicks". If it isn't broken - don't fix it. Please leave well enough alone.

FILM RATING (C-)



"TAKEN"
Directed by: Pierre Morel
Running time: 90 minutes
Release date: January 30, 2009
Genre: Drama, Action/Adventure, Art/Foreign and Thriller
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Espionage and the spy game is the plot in this emerging narrative. In the contemporary setting of the world, former government operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) begins the longest 96 hours of his life - - and hunts for the fearsome sex trade organization that has taken his daughter.

Mills had only given up his spy career to be near his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) who lives with his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and her new wealthy husband. Reconnecting with his daughter is difficult, however he's determined to win the affection of his now 17 year old little girl. However, Kim doesn't consider herself a little girl when plans a Paris vacation with her best friend Amanda Katie Cassidy). Mills is reluctant to give his permission to a minor to travel abroad, but gives in to her wishes with certain restrictions.

This film turns instantly turns into a Liam Neeson action vehicle as he hears by cell phone the abduction of his daughter from a Parisian hotel room by sex slavers. I could not get enough of the "over the top" car chase, martial arts, pistol shoot-out action scenes he goes through in retrieving his daughter. It is as if I was watching an older Jason Bourne's using all of his black ops training.

Supporting cast members Leland Orser, Jon Gries and Holly Valance seemed to be just added as background props in this film. They performed well in their limited roles, but the plot only allowed Liam Neeson's character to dominate the screen. His portrayal of a once special ops agent is a challenging role and he gives a terrific performance, however it's hard to grasp the idea that this older man can kick a much younger man's butt - or in this case many young men's butts at the same time. But that's Hollywood.

FILM RATING (C+)


FOR MORE FILM REVIEWS by Gerald Wright go to HDFest.com - Movie Reviews(http://www.hdfest.com/) & Critical Women - He Said/She Said Reviews (http://www.criticalwomen.net/)