BY RICK JACKSON
Cars 2 (in 3D)lacks the charm of the 2006 original. Despite the anticipation of revisiting Lightning McQueen and Mater, the screenplay by Ben McQueen suffers from a weak story from John Lasseter, Brad Lewis and Dan Fogelman who go over the top in creating an interesting plot for kids of all ages. The addition of 3D doesn't fo anything but make the young set under 7 wear the glasses when there is nothing special for them to see. In other words, there aren't any special effects to hold their attention.
Owen Wilson returns as the voice of Lightning McQueen but this time the car doesn't get to do anything like the role in the original.
The homespun quality of the film gets lost in a James Bondish sub plot that wears a bit thin beause the screenplay takes too long for the cars involved to get to the heart of the story or lack of. The weak link is the idea of turning the quaint cars into a serious themed affair about a new fuel and the foreign cars that are suspect in a meandering series of sequences that serve nothing but to prolong everything until the inevitable conclusion. As you watch the first World Grand Prix event, you can feel the adrenalin and the excitement of the cars but it doesn't add up to much. Axelrod is the car villain and Eddie Izzard creates your average bad guy image but the screenplay leaves little room for it to be hated.
Younger moviegoers (under age 7) may not understand the significance of the new fuel called Allinol and what it means to the other cars. The other car races that comprise the Grand Prix is inferior to John Frankenheimer's 1966 classic, but this is an animated film and the opportunity to make it a great flick is lost in the grandiose scheme to outdo the original and the Pixar arm of Disney.
Cars 2 in 3D is a major disappointment.
It is rated G.
June 26, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Michael Caine does add credence to Finn McMissile but his contribution is given short shrift by the thinnest of cartoon plots ever written.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
IN A BETTER WORLD (MONGREL, 2010)***
BY RICK JACKSON
In A Better World, this year's Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film, is a profound character study about the human capacity for compassion and understanding and how little it takes to test it. On a more superficial level, it is the story of two sons and their fathers.
Written by Danish director Susanne Biers and Anders Thomas Jensen, it is told like a documentary when the cameras show the picturesque landscape of Kenya substituting for the Sudanese refugee camp where Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) works as a Swedish doctor. It is there you see the plight of the natives and learn of their tfate at the hands of a sadistic warlord. English is spoken with sub-titles off and on to give authority to the dramatic dimensions of the plot.
After introducing us to Anton you then meet the two sons who figure prominently as the innocent voices of Denmark, a place the director wanted to know what would happen if a blissful country like this was disrupted.
What makes the film work is the cast who makes each subtle nuance symbolize the rude awakening that follows when the silence of domesticity is suddenly broken beginning with Anton's crumbling marriage to Marianne (Trine Dyrrholm). Their arguments which are not shown are related through the reaction by their older son, Elias, who doesn't understand why his parents may be separating.
When Elias befriends Christian (Johnk Nielsen), a new boy who has moved from London with his father Claus (Ulrich Thomsen) you also learn of his emotional hurt since his mother died of cancer prior to their move. The loss troubles him more than he is able to comprehend, and when he meets Elias they are able to share in their deeply troubled lives. At school Elias is bullied until Christian defends him with a knife. It creates the requisite accident to bring into focus Bier's main theme of the interruption of peace.
Without spending a lot of time on the incidents, you are left discern the motives of each, including the fight between the father of one child, a mechanic, and Anton. This is the second example that draws you closer to the main theme and it may offend moviegoers because of the violence that erupts without warning.
What is even more disturbing is Elias' determination to settle what Anton is not able to do, but this only compounds the problem.
Bier seems to be saying that Denmark is only solving its ills by bandaid solutions rather than dealing with them more directly like the boys.
However, Bier fails to push the proverbial button far enough and the story loses its sense od urgency as fast as it begins. The emotional weight of the characters reveal more, but it, too, fails to impress beyond the actual realities it conveys in spurts.
When the story returns to the refugee camp, you see the warlord wounded with demands to be taken care of immediately. His demeanor is not as dangerous as it should have been compared to Forrest Whitaker's Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland (2006).
Had Biers not intercut between stories and focused more on one of them, it might have made a more powerful film. Still, it does cover the profound and unstable influences of a country that can easily be ripped apart by tragedy and within this context there is meaning to the film's title beyond the obvious that being dead you are better off.
Christian and Elias symbolize the hope they need to carry on and Bier suggests this indirectly in an awkward fashion that is not entirely convincing but it will have to do.
In A Better World is not the strongest Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film, but it is still worth seeing for the enigmatic realties it brings across within its simplistic theme.
It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and disturbing content.
June 27, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
In A Better World, this year's Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film, is a profound character study about the human capacity for compassion and understanding and how little it takes to test it. On a more superficial level, it is the story of two sons and their fathers.
Written by Danish director Susanne Biers and Anders Thomas Jensen, it is told like a documentary when the cameras show the picturesque landscape of Kenya substituting for the Sudanese refugee camp where Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) works as a Swedish doctor. It is there you see the plight of the natives and learn of their tfate at the hands of a sadistic warlord. English is spoken with sub-titles off and on to give authority to the dramatic dimensions of the plot.
After introducing us to Anton you then meet the two sons who figure prominently as the innocent voices of Denmark, a place the director wanted to know what would happen if a blissful country like this was disrupted.
What makes the film work is the cast who makes each subtle nuance symbolize the rude awakening that follows when the silence of domesticity is suddenly broken beginning with Anton's crumbling marriage to Marianne (Trine Dyrrholm). Their arguments which are not shown are related through the reaction by their older son, Elias, who doesn't understand why his parents may be separating.
When Elias befriends Christian (Johnk Nielsen), a new boy who has moved from London with his father Claus (Ulrich Thomsen) you also learn of his emotional hurt since his mother died of cancer prior to their move. The loss troubles him more than he is able to comprehend, and when he meets Elias they are able to share in their deeply troubled lives. At school Elias is bullied until Christian defends him with a knife. It creates the requisite accident to bring into focus Bier's main theme of the interruption of peace.
Without spending a lot of time on the incidents, you are left discern the motives of each, including the fight between the father of one child, a mechanic, and Anton. This is the second example that draws you closer to the main theme and it may offend moviegoers because of the violence that erupts without warning.
What is even more disturbing is Elias' determination to settle what Anton is not able to do, but this only compounds the problem.
Bier seems to be saying that Denmark is only solving its ills by bandaid solutions rather than dealing with them more directly like the boys.
However, Bier fails to push the proverbial button far enough and the story loses its sense od urgency as fast as it begins. The emotional weight of the characters reveal more, but it, too, fails to impress beyond the actual realities it conveys in spurts.
When the story returns to the refugee camp, you see the warlord wounded with demands to be taken care of immediately. His demeanor is not as dangerous as it should have been compared to Forrest Whitaker's Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland (2006).
Had Biers not intercut between stories and focused more on one of them, it might have made a more powerful film. Still, it does cover the profound and unstable influences of a country that can easily be ripped apart by tragedy and within this context there is meaning to the film's title beyond the obvious that being dead you are better off.
Christian and Elias symbolize the hope they need to carry on and Bier suggests this indirectly in an awkward fashion that is not entirely convincing but it will have to do.
In A Better World is not the strongest Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film, but it is still worth seeing for the enigmatic realties it brings across within its simplistic theme.
It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and disturbing content.
June 27, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (MONGREL, 2011)****
BY RICK JACKSON
From the vivid imagination of writer/director comes an inspiring and thoroughly enjoyable comedy called Midnight In Paris. Like the chimes that herald the midnight hour, there is nothing but sheer movie magic to behold every innocent moviegoer who is ready to laugh at something genuinely funny. What is even better, if you are a fan of Woody Allen's work, you will be enthralled by the way the story ofGil, a frustrated American writer whose novel about a nostalgia shop holds promise but right now he is lonely and aching for something that will solve his perplexing human problems. With the stroke of midnight, Allen makes you wait to see where the taxi takes him and like Gil you,too,are invited to believe in a tale where the impossible can be possible if you have the right faith and mindset to let your wandering spirit have the chance to live a dream, a fantasy of inordinate and wonderful imaginings beyond as if you were Alice in the looking glass and all you have to do is be patient and let yourself go long enough to appreciate where Allen wants to take you.
Just like he asked you to believe that fictional characters could leap off the screen in The Purple Rose of Cairo in 1985, you can, once again, relate to the people Gil meets in a club where Cole Porter is singing "Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love." It is there he casually meets F.Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, Ernest Hemingway,and William Faulkner. Their idle banter and conversation create such movie magic you hope you won't wake jup in your theatre seat and wonder if you have dozed off and dreamed it all. This is the way Gil feels in his attitude and Owen Wilson personifies an author's biggest fan who seizes an opportunity to get one of them to read it.
At various times throughout the film you aren't sure if Gil is dreaming this or Allen. The answer is both. It is simply fantastic to be able to sit back quietly and take it all in as an observer and the best part is you can laugh and smile from beginning to end.
Other famous people Gil meets are Salvador Dali, film director Luis Bunuel, and T.S. Eliot.I'll let you find your favourites when you see the film.
Jazz plays a large part in Allen's body of work and like he did with Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue in Manhattan (1979), he uses Sidney Bechet's "Si tu vois ma mere to evoke the mystery and life on the streets of Paris in an effective montage that sets the tone for what happens next. It may remind you of two earlier comedies set in France: Billy Wilder's Irma La Douce (1963) and Blake Edwards' Victor/Victoria (1982).
As your mind wanders through Allen's latest funny (remember Humphrey Bogart in Play It Again Sam in 1972), your eyes will capture a slice of life only the movies allows you to do.
The cast assembled to play everybody is one of the best in a Woody Allen film with Marion Cotillard playing Adriana the inspiration for a great painting Gil sees in a museum later.
Kathy Bates is wonderful as Gertrude Stein and Adrien Brody is sensational as Dali.
The main star is Wilson whose enthusiasm helps make you feel like him and as he visits the ghosts of literature at midnight, you are envious. Yet, at the same time, you are entertained to the hilt by what is real and/or imaginary.
Rachel McAdams is perfect as Inez, Gil's sexually repressed wife who has trouble believing in Gil's late night adventures. Her father is suspicious and hires a private detective to see where Gil goes.
How Allen ties reality and fantasy together with a surprise or two along the way is the true genius of Woody Allen's ability to make comedies for all of us to enjoy. Here's to more laughs from him. Meanwhile, there is Midnight In Paris, one of the year's smartest and brightest movies.
It is rated PG, with the warning: mature theme.
June 26, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
From the vivid imagination of writer/director comes an inspiring and thoroughly enjoyable comedy called Midnight In Paris. Like the chimes that herald the midnight hour, there is nothing but sheer movie magic to behold every innocent moviegoer who is ready to laugh at something genuinely funny. What is even better, if you are a fan of Woody Allen's work, you will be enthralled by the way the story ofGil, a frustrated American writer whose novel about a nostalgia shop holds promise but right now he is lonely and aching for something that will solve his perplexing human problems. With the stroke of midnight, Allen makes you wait to see where the taxi takes him and like Gil you,too,are invited to believe in a tale where the impossible can be possible if you have the right faith and mindset to let your wandering spirit have the chance to live a dream, a fantasy of inordinate and wonderful imaginings beyond as if you were Alice in the looking glass and all you have to do is be patient and let yourself go long enough to appreciate where Allen wants to take you.
Just like he asked you to believe that fictional characters could leap off the screen in The Purple Rose of Cairo in 1985, you can, once again, relate to the people Gil meets in a club where Cole Porter is singing "Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love." It is there he casually meets F.Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, Ernest Hemingway,and William Faulkner. Their idle banter and conversation create such movie magic you hope you won't wake jup in your theatre seat and wonder if you have dozed off and dreamed it all. This is the way Gil feels in his attitude and Owen Wilson personifies an author's biggest fan who seizes an opportunity to get one of them to read it.
At various times throughout the film you aren't sure if Gil is dreaming this or Allen. The answer is both. It is simply fantastic to be able to sit back quietly and take it all in as an observer and the best part is you can laugh and smile from beginning to end.
Other famous people Gil meets are Salvador Dali, film director Luis Bunuel, and T.S. Eliot.I'll let you find your favourites when you see the film.
Jazz plays a large part in Allen's body of work and like he did with Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue in Manhattan (1979), he uses Sidney Bechet's "Si tu vois ma mere to evoke the mystery and life on the streets of Paris in an effective montage that sets the tone for what happens next. It may remind you of two earlier comedies set in France: Billy Wilder's Irma La Douce (1963) and Blake Edwards' Victor/Victoria (1982).
As your mind wanders through Allen's latest funny (remember Humphrey Bogart in Play It Again Sam in 1972), your eyes will capture a slice of life only the movies allows you to do.
The cast assembled to play everybody is one of the best in a Woody Allen film with Marion Cotillard playing Adriana the inspiration for a great painting Gil sees in a museum later.
Kathy Bates is wonderful as Gertrude Stein and Adrien Brody is sensational as Dali.
The main star is Wilson whose enthusiasm helps make you feel like him and as he visits the ghosts of literature at midnight, you are envious. Yet, at the same time, you are entertained to the hilt by what is real and/or imaginary.
Rachel McAdams is perfect as Inez, Gil's sexually repressed wife who has trouble believing in Gil's late night adventures. Her father is suspicious and hires a private detective to see where Gil goes.
How Allen ties reality and fantasy together with a surprise or two along the way is the true genius of Woody Allen's ability to make comedies for all of us to enjoy. Here's to more laughs from him. Meanwhile, there is Midnight In Paris, one of the year's smartest and brightest movies.
It is rated PG, with the warning: mature theme.
June 26, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
THE CONSPIRATOR (ALLIANCE, 2011)****
BY RICK JACKSON
from director Robert Redford comes an incisive and well acted historical drama about a little known fact about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Set in Savannah, Georgia on April 14, 1865, screenwriter James Solomon revists the day Lincoln was shot before details of the film's titular character reveal an interesting footnote in American history.
Robin Wright plays Mary Surratt, the civilian accused of knowing about the assassination because John Wilkes Booth stayed at her boarding house in Washington, D.C. with the other perpetrators who stand on trial before a military tribunal.
What makes the film work are the dramatic sounds of procedural justice echoing through the characters as you watch this re-enactment play out as if you had stepped in a time machine. Wright's calm demeanor and quiet manner of speaking speaks volumes as the woman who has been convicted long before her sentence and Redford allows justice to take place without long speeches and political rhetoric. What appears to be a long road is delivered by a distinguished supporting cast who brings the entire proceedings across with equal brevity and temerity.
James McAvoy plays Surratt's attorney, Frederick Aiken, with authority and your eyes are focused on him as he presents his case and free Surratt. Despite priot knowledge within the framework of history, it is not as predictable but it is more precisely, in its telling, an amazing story where the acting ensemble is absorbing in its delivery of their dialogue and conversations to inject a sense of importance that is more generally expected in a documentary.
In his defence, McAvoy is well suited as the boyish and inexperienced boy who you see lying wounded on the field of battle during the Civil War. When it ends, the boy has become a man and it is within this context, there is the the utter innocence of the soldier up against the more experienced and more powerful halls of justice in where Aiken must overcome in order to provide a decent defence.
The literate script gives a perfect eye witness to history through the voice of Kevin Kline as Secretary of War Edwin M.Stanton, and in his presence he stands for the ultimate justice in seeing Surratt tried and convicted as part of the political wave of thinking for the time because most of the key politicians were appointed by Lincoln and in his memory there has to be proper deliberation.
As you watch the courtroom antics you can't help notice the effective arguments that made Lincoln's presidency so popular and crucial in the minds of Americans.
Helping Aiken is defense attorney Reverdy Johnson well played by Tom Wilkinson and through his strong performance, the echoes of justice ring loud and clear as he discusses the case with Aiken with usual aplomb. McAvoy and Wilkinson act as a great team and they pull off a defense equally as exciting as one may see today.
The other notable cast features Colm Meaney as General Hunter, Danny Huston as Joseph Holt and Justin Long as Nicholas Baker.
The assassination of Lincoln early in the film reminded me of the unforgettable assasination sequence in D.W. Griffith's silent classic, The Birth Of A Nation(1915)which starred Raoul Walsh as Booth and Joseph Henabery as Lincoln. The visual relationship among Lincoln, Booth, and the audience is as shocking as it is in Redford's latest.
The Conspirator is a timeless piece of cinema.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: violence and not recommended for children.
June 25, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
from director Robert Redford comes an incisive and well acted historical drama about a little known fact about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Set in Savannah, Georgia on April 14, 1865, screenwriter James Solomon revists the day Lincoln was shot before details of the film's titular character reveal an interesting footnote in American history.
Robin Wright plays Mary Surratt, the civilian accused of knowing about the assassination because John Wilkes Booth stayed at her boarding house in Washington, D.C. with the other perpetrators who stand on trial before a military tribunal.
What makes the film work are the dramatic sounds of procedural justice echoing through the characters as you watch this re-enactment play out as if you had stepped in a time machine. Wright's calm demeanor and quiet manner of speaking speaks volumes as the woman who has been convicted long before her sentence and Redford allows justice to take place without long speeches and political rhetoric. What appears to be a long road is delivered by a distinguished supporting cast who brings the entire proceedings across with equal brevity and temerity.
James McAvoy plays Surratt's attorney, Frederick Aiken, with authority and your eyes are focused on him as he presents his case and free Surratt. Despite priot knowledge within the framework of history, it is not as predictable but it is more precisely, in its telling, an amazing story where the acting ensemble is absorbing in its delivery of their dialogue and conversations to inject a sense of importance that is more generally expected in a documentary.
In his defence, McAvoy is well suited as the boyish and inexperienced boy who you see lying wounded on the field of battle during the Civil War. When it ends, the boy has become a man and it is within this context, there is the the utter innocence of the soldier up against the more experienced and more powerful halls of justice in where Aiken must overcome in order to provide a decent defence.
The literate script gives a perfect eye witness to history through the voice of Kevin Kline as Secretary of War Edwin M.Stanton, and in his presence he stands for the ultimate justice in seeing Surratt tried and convicted as part of the political wave of thinking for the time because most of the key politicians were appointed by Lincoln and in his memory there has to be proper deliberation.
As you watch the courtroom antics you can't help notice the effective arguments that made Lincoln's presidency so popular and crucial in the minds of Americans.
Helping Aiken is defense attorney Reverdy Johnson well played by Tom Wilkinson and through his strong performance, the echoes of justice ring loud and clear as he discusses the case with Aiken with usual aplomb. McAvoy and Wilkinson act as a great team and they pull off a defense equally as exciting as one may see today.
The other notable cast features Colm Meaney as General Hunter, Danny Huston as Joseph Holt and Justin Long as Nicholas Baker.
The assassination of Lincoln early in the film reminded me of the unforgettable assasination sequence in D.W. Griffith's silent classic, The Birth Of A Nation(1915)which starred Raoul Walsh as Booth and Joseph Henabery as Lincoln. The visual relationship among Lincoln, Booth, and the audience is as shocking as it is in Redford's latest.
The Conspirator is a timeless piece of cinema.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: violence and not recommended for children.
June 25, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD (MONGREL, 2011)***
BY RICK JACKSON
In his latest documentary producer/director Morgan Spurlock succeeds in attracting your interest in how companies market their brands and products in various ways. Unlike Super Size Me which was more effective in pointing out what happens if you eat at fast food restaurants a lot, you don't get to see how much revenue there is as result of the executive decisions to market and distribute what a xompany wants to sell. However, Spurlock brings to the screen an insightful and entertaining doc which many moviegoers are enjoying.
Spurlock's technique in getting answers to important questions in the global world of advertising is irreverent at times, and he has the uncany ability to draw fire and catch his breath without infuriating anyone. If anything, there is an unusual sense of undertaking that is more amusing than you might expect even if the people he interviews are not always honest with their replies.
When he goes out to promote this documentary, Spurlock shows enough nerve and ambition that you hope moviegoers will see The Greatest Movie Ever Sold will,out of sheer curiosity, see what there is to marketing your own film in a tough market.
Originally called POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Spurlock spent 60 days in Altoona, Pennsylvania to promote it and one of the sponsors he contacted, Mane 'n Tail did not give their approval.
Like his contemporary, Michael Moore, Spurlock uses his contacts to ask probing questions in such an arbitrary way, you can't help laugh at the responses and graphics that go along with them.
The music for the film was supplied by Matt and Kim, a dance-punk duo from Brooklyn, and the rock band OK Go sings the theme song, The Greatest Song I Ever Heard over the end credits.
The list of company names who agreed to give their permission include Amy's Kitchen,The Aruba Tourism Authority,Ban, Carrera Sunglasses, JetBlue, Merrell, and Old Navy.
You will recognize director Quentin Tarantino, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, and Noam Chomsky, professor emeritus from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold offers you something different and it is worth seeing.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: language may offend and not recommended for young children.
June 20, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
In his latest documentary producer/director Morgan Spurlock succeeds in attracting your interest in how companies market their brands and products in various ways. Unlike Super Size Me which was more effective in pointing out what happens if you eat at fast food restaurants a lot, you don't get to see how much revenue there is as result of the executive decisions to market and distribute what a xompany wants to sell. However, Spurlock brings to the screen an insightful and entertaining doc which many moviegoers are enjoying.
Spurlock's technique in getting answers to important questions in the global world of advertising is irreverent at times, and he has the uncany ability to draw fire and catch his breath without infuriating anyone. If anything, there is an unusual sense of undertaking that is more amusing than you might expect even if the people he interviews are not always honest with their replies.
When he goes out to promote this documentary, Spurlock shows enough nerve and ambition that you hope moviegoers will see The Greatest Movie Ever Sold will,out of sheer curiosity, see what there is to marketing your own film in a tough market.
Originally called POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Spurlock spent 60 days in Altoona, Pennsylvania to promote it and one of the sponsors he contacted, Mane 'n Tail did not give their approval.
Like his contemporary, Michael Moore, Spurlock uses his contacts to ask probing questions in such an arbitrary way, you can't help laugh at the responses and graphics that go along with them.
The music for the film was supplied by Matt and Kim, a dance-punk duo from Brooklyn, and the rock band OK Go sings the theme song, The Greatest Song I Ever Heard over the end credits.
The list of company names who agreed to give their permission include Amy's Kitchen,The Aruba Tourism Authority,Ban, Carrera Sunglasses, JetBlue, Merrell, and Old Navy.
You will recognize director Quentin Tarantino, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, and Noam Chomsky, professor emeritus from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold offers you something different and it is worth seeing.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: language may offend and not recommended for young children.
June 20, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
GREEN LANTERN (WARNER BROTHERS, 2011)***
BY RICK JACKSON
Based on the character in DC Comics, The Green Lantern is the latest superhero to reach the big screen. The creation of Bill Finger, Martin Nodell, John Broome and Gil Kane is similar to Superman and this first part of a planned trilogy is albeit predictable but filled with action from beginning to end. Ryan Reynolds is well cast in the title role who is also known as Hal Jordan, a cocky test pilot who is in love with fellow pilot Carol Ferris (Blake Lively.
In their screenplay, Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg waste no time in introducing Green Lantern's nemesis, Hector Hammond and the origins of the Green Lantern Corps, and how the he gets his power. What is interesting is his connection to humans in a well conceived prologue where the Green Lanterns have to deal with a formidable enemycalled the Parallax who plans to destroy the balance of power in the universe and is headed for earth where it can easily build up more power at the expense of our weakness of being easily afraid. Unbeknownst to us, the Parallax has hired an inside man to prepare for his inevitable appearance.
Reynolds instils Jordan with the requisite courage and determination to succeed as a pilot and as he tries to fill his late father's shoes as a capable pilot who fears nothing, Hal is a worthy adversary for the good side as the truth about his qualities of fighting against the Parallax quickly become clear. When he is chosen to wear the green ring with special powers, it is in true storytelling fashion a predictable turn that helps keep you absorbed right from the start. plot develops, you learn how important the Green Lantern's place is in the order of things when he is there to serve as a galactic saviour who can keep intergalactic order by his sheer will that will ultimately win over evil. How it also relates to human beings as a gentle race of people prone to fail out of fear proves through Jordan's fallibility, the point in which humanity has the ability to muster the strength to conquer our fears and save the day. Any notions of humans being perfect are quickly dismissed by Hector's innate ability to be a futuristic Dr. Frankenstein in creating his own monster as a way to get back at what he sees as a major flaw in humans. However, the screenwriters point out with more certainty the all more powerful concept of our downfall as humans when we believe we can rule the world if given the chance and Peter Sarsgaard fills the role with equal relish and villainy. Lively plays Carol as the undisputed rival between Hal and Hector, with Tim Robbins supplying a worthy anchor for support on the human side as Hector's father. There is plenty of action and director Martin Campbell maintains a steady pace.
James Newton Howard's music score is kept in the background until it is necessary to underscore the action with enough pulse pounding thrills.
The rest of the cast features Mark Strong as Sinestro, Hal's mentor;Angela Bassett as Dr. Amanda Walker; Temeura Morrison as Abin Sur, and Michael Clarke Duncan lends his voice for Kilowog, who teaches Hal Jordan how to be the Green Lantern.
As a film in 3D, Green Lantern succeeds in presenting something different and a step in the right direction in proving that maybe 3D is not altogether a gimmick to entice moviegoers. There are ample scenes to keep you glued, including the end credits. It is rated PG, with the warnings: not recommended for young children and violence.
June 19, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Based on the character in DC Comics, The Green Lantern is the latest superhero to reach the big screen. The creation of Bill Finger, Martin Nodell, John Broome and Gil Kane is similar to Superman and this first part of a planned trilogy is albeit predictable but filled with action from beginning to end. Ryan Reynolds is well cast in the title role who is also known as Hal Jordan, a cocky test pilot who is in love with fellow pilot Carol Ferris (Blake Lively.
In their screenplay, Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg waste no time in introducing Green Lantern's nemesis, Hector Hammond and the origins of the Green Lantern Corps, and how the he gets his power. What is interesting is his connection to humans in a well conceived prologue where the Green Lanterns have to deal with a formidable enemycalled the Parallax who plans to destroy the balance of power in the universe and is headed for earth where it can easily build up more power at the expense of our weakness of being easily afraid. Unbeknownst to us, the Parallax has hired an inside man to prepare for his inevitable appearance.
Reynolds instils Jordan with the requisite courage and determination to succeed as a pilot and as he tries to fill his late father's shoes as a capable pilot who fears nothing, Hal is a worthy adversary for the good side as the truth about his qualities of fighting against the Parallax quickly become clear. When he is chosen to wear the green ring with special powers, it is in true storytelling fashion a predictable turn that helps keep you absorbed right from the start. plot develops, you learn how important the Green Lantern's place is in the order of things when he is there to serve as a galactic saviour who can keep intergalactic order by his sheer will that will ultimately win over evil. How it also relates to human beings as a gentle race of people prone to fail out of fear proves through Jordan's fallibility, the point in which humanity has the ability to muster the strength to conquer our fears and save the day. Any notions of humans being perfect are quickly dismissed by Hector's innate ability to be a futuristic Dr. Frankenstein in creating his own monster as a way to get back at what he sees as a major flaw in humans. However, the screenwriters point out with more certainty the all more powerful concept of our downfall as humans when we believe we can rule the world if given the chance and Peter Sarsgaard fills the role with equal relish and villainy. Lively plays Carol as the undisputed rival between Hal and Hector, with Tim Robbins supplying a worthy anchor for support on the human side as Hector's father. There is plenty of action and director Martin Campbell maintains a steady pace.
James Newton Howard's music score is kept in the background until it is necessary to underscore the action with enough pulse pounding thrills.
The rest of the cast features Mark Strong as Sinestro, Hal's mentor;Angela Bassett as Dr. Amanda Walker; Temeura Morrison as Abin Sur, and Michael Clarke Duncan lends his voice for Kilowog, who teaches Hal Jordan how to be the Green Lantern.
As a film in 3D, Green Lantern succeeds in presenting something different and a step in the right direction in proving that maybe 3D is not altogether a gimmick to entice moviegoers. There are ample scenes to keep you glued, including the end credits. It is rated PG, with the warnings: not recommended for young children and violence.
June 19, 2011 Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
LITTLE WHITE LIES (MAPLE, 2011)****
BY RICK JACKSON
From writer/director Guillaume Canet (Tell No One) comes a funny and audacious character study of a close knit group of friends who meet every year at Max and Veronique's cottage by the sea every summer. This year, their time together is met by tragedy when their beloved friend, Ludo is hit by a truck while going home one night on his scooter. It is clear that fate will change this close knit group because this year their get-together will be tested by a shocking confession by one of them, osteopath Vincent (Benoit Magimel) who tells Max, his male host, restauranteur Max (Francois Cluzet) that he has strong feelings for him. Their reaction to this is comical and it starts the film off on a lighter note that remains consistent until the end.
In his screenplay, Canet wisely avoids arguments that would ruin the comic flow as the story slowly develops into a nostalgic trip via home movies. It all helps relieve the stress of facing Ludo's medical condition during a time they should be enjoying themselves. When one of them learns about his medical condition it proves how human nature takes over when they spend the majority of their time laughing and having fun on Max's boat. Their frolic is innocent enough and as you watch each of them interact with a range of different emotions, you are brought closer to the real news about Ludo. There isn't one dominating character and Canet allows you to get to know each supporting character because of their importance along the way in the narrative.
Cluzet demonstrates, once again, his ability to handle a role as an actor familiar with comedy and drama. The intimate details of Max provide the catalyst for much of the fun, including destroying a wall to find the weasels that have kept him awake all night.
The film's title becomes clear in the last half-hour when Canet uses our basic human character flaws as an excuse for our behaviour. To avoid facing the truth you tell little white lies because you believe you can escape the truth when, in actual fact, your guilt rears its ugly head out of the pent up emotions that have lasted for too long.
Cluzet is perfectly at home as a genial host whose bursts of temper reveal his humanity as a decent person, especially in the scene he apologizes to a friend's son for admonishing him.
In an excellent supporting role, Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose) conveys the inner strength of a once rebellious youth as the pot-smoking Marie. Gilles Lellouche and Laurent Lafitte round out the cast as two lovesick actors named Eric and Antoine.
All of the characters comprise a first-rate ensemble cast reminiscent of the theatrical tendency of Jean Renoir's art in the 1939 classic, The Rules of the Game where the function of the film was to express significantly the dramatic thrust of the story by allowing the individual cast members to articulate their lively riposte. The overall meaning of the film lies within the sphere of reflection in the present when each of the friends in Little White Lies interprets their feelings and emotions to such a degree, you can see them returning again next year.
Not content to leave things hanging, Canet poignantly reminds you why they are there together and in an episode that may remind you of 1983's The Big Chill, there is one final sequence to connect all their futures as you watch their facial expressions reveal just how fallible they are and how their lives Can be cut short by an equally similar accident or worse.
Little White Lies tells in its own arguments about how fragile our lives are within this compelling story of love, life and friendship. You also leave the theatre enriched by something apparently so complex that it resonates by the utter simplicity of the definitions of love, life and friendship.
It is rated 14A, with the warning: coarse language.
June 17, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
From writer/director Guillaume Canet (Tell No One) comes a funny and audacious character study of a close knit group of friends who meet every year at Max and Veronique's cottage by the sea every summer. This year, their time together is met by tragedy when their beloved friend, Ludo is hit by a truck while going home one night on his scooter. It is clear that fate will change this close knit group because this year their get-together will be tested by a shocking confession by one of them, osteopath Vincent (Benoit Magimel) who tells Max, his male host, restauranteur Max (Francois Cluzet) that he has strong feelings for him. Their reaction to this is comical and it starts the film off on a lighter note that remains consistent until the end.
In his screenplay, Canet wisely avoids arguments that would ruin the comic flow as the story slowly develops into a nostalgic trip via home movies. It all helps relieve the stress of facing Ludo's medical condition during a time they should be enjoying themselves. When one of them learns about his medical condition it proves how human nature takes over when they spend the majority of their time laughing and having fun on Max's boat. Their frolic is innocent enough and as you watch each of them interact with a range of different emotions, you are brought closer to the real news about Ludo. There isn't one dominating character and Canet allows you to get to know each supporting character because of their importance along the way in the narrative.
Cluzet demonstrates, once again, his ability to handle a role as an actor familiar with comedy and drama. The intimate details of Max provide the catalyst for much of the fun, including destroying a wall to find the weasels that have kept him awake all night.
The film's title becomes clear in the last half-hour when Canet uses our basic human character flaws as an excuse for our behaviour. To avoid facing the truth you tell little white lies because you believe you can escape the truth when, in actual fact, your guilt rears its ugly head out of the pent up emotions that have lasted for too long.
Cluzet is perfectly at home as a genial host whose bursts of temper reveal his humanity as a decent person, especially in the scene he apologizes to a friend's son for admonishing him.
In an excellent supporting role, Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose) conveys the inner strength of a once rebellious youth as the pot-smoking Marie. Gilles Lellouche and Laurent Lafitte round out the cast as two lovesick actors named Eric and Antoine.
All of the characters comprise a first-rate ensemble cast reminiscent of the theatrical tendency of Jean Renoir's art in the 1939 classic, The Rules of the Game where the function of the film was to express significantly the dramatic thrust of the story by allowing the individual cast members to articulate their lively riposte. The overall meaning of the film lies within the sphere of reflection in the present when each of the friends in Little White Lies interprets their feelings and emotions to such a degree, you can see them returning again next year.
Not content to leave things hanging, Canet poignantly reminds you why they are there together and in an episode that may remind you of 1983's The Big Chill, there is one final sequence to connect all their futures as you watch their facial expressions reveal just how fallible they are and how their lives Can be cut short by an equally similar accident or worse.
Little White Lies tells in its own arguments about how fragile our lives are within this compelling story of love, life and friendship. You also leave the theatre enriched by something apparently so complex that it resonates by the utter simplicity of the definitions of love, life and friendship.
It is rated 14A, with the warning: coarse language.
June 17, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
SUPER 8 (PARAMOUNT, 2011)****
BY RICK JACKSON
With Steven Spielberg's name listed as producer, it's too easy to dismiss Super 8 as another movie about aliens by the director of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977) and E.T. --The -Extra-Terrestrial(1982). Critics in both Canada and the United States have whined about Super 8's affinity to be nostalgic for early Spielberg without understanding his genius and ability to make films that remain popular.
In Clelia Cohen's book, Steven Spielberg published as part of a series of film books in Cahiers du Cinema calls the Masters of Cinema, Spielberg describes himself as a filmmaker who likes to make the same kind of movies he saw as a boy growing up. He compares himself to Woody Allen who is worshipped primarily for his early films as an inspiration. The scene is acted out in Allen's 1980 film, Stardust Memories and as Spielberg,too, feels a certain connection with his early work, it remains nearly enigmatic for the director of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan to continue to make movies that move kids from 8 to 80 if they are prepared for the magic of the cinema that grew up in the 1960s but remains at the heart of moviegoers everywhere, an opportunity to feel like a kid watching Spielberg impress you once more with ideas that Spielberg has become an expert and bvecause of his success, he has been rewarded mostly by his adoring public for they have continued to support his movies regardless of any familiarity you may find.
Super 8 which is written and directed by J.J. Abrams, is a perfect example of the summer flick of a previous generation and there is nothing wrong about the story's consistency to return to one's youth when movies were more entertaining and gentler to appreciate and enjoy. For those critics and moviegoers who have grown tired of Spielberg's penchant to act like a kid again is a testament more to his inspiration to keep movies within the collective sphere of his imagination for where would good movies be without it.
Set in a small town much where a group of young friends are busy working on what Spielberg wanted to do after seeing David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, close to the same ages of the kids in Super 8. Spielberg knew then he wanted to make movies and it became a passion for him just like Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney),Alice (Elle Fanning), and Charles (Riley Griffiths)who are making a zombie film when you meet them. They are enjoying themselves like most young teenagers and you are entertained by their energetic and fun times behind the cameras as they try to work an important scene that doesn't work right away until a train comes down the track and their sense of injecting realism in their small film becomes a distinct reality.
For Abrams,here is his opportunity to convey a magic time mixed with a story on more than one level when something happens on the tracks moments before the kids see a car driven by a black man stops and warns them. Like them, you are curious as to the meaning of what he said because there is no prologue to set it up.
In his screenplay, Abrams is content to revive the science fiction films of the 1950s when movies were made in the wake of the Cold War. Without copying the Grindhouse movies of the same decade that Quentin Tarantino did with Grindhouse, Abrams succeeds in making an awesome movie about passionate kids who get involved in a mystery as if they were all like Joe and Frank Hardy for my generation who loved to get inside a book and let your imagination take over.
To keep the story grounded in reality, there is the father/son relationship between Joe and his father Deputy Sheriff Jack (Kyle Chandler) who has become more obsessed with his job since the death of his wife who died in an accident at the local steel mill. The effective manner Abrams brings to the plot's tender side is notwithstanding entirely welcome and it contributes a sense of depth you don't expect right away.
The kids in Super 8 with their furtive imaginations hold your attention as they become involved in what may be a government secret operation. You are not sure, but this forces you to keep watching.
If you are wondering about the much talked about aliens, I will say they are there but Spielberg's hand gives everything the same suspense he gave Duel (1971) and Jaws (1975). Older moviegoers who are science fiction fans will recognize the influence of such classics asThe Thing (1951) and Alien (1979), but it is his predilection for creating entertainment that primarily sticks with you as the plot develops further along until the fitting conclusion.
As for the influence of E.T. you will have to wait and see if it is different from Close Encounters:Special Edition (1980) and E.T.
Under Abrams' capable direction, Super 8 is your perfect summer movie matinee for the entire family.
It is rated PG.
June 12, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
With Steven Spielberg's name listed as producer, it's too easy to dismiss Super 8 as another movie about aliens by the director of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977) and E.T. --The -Extra-Terrestrial(1982). Critics in both Canada and the United States have whined about Super 8's affinity to be nostalgic for early Spielberg without understanding his genius and ability to make films that remain popular.
In Clelia Cohen's book, Steven Spielberg published as part of a series of film books in Cahiers du Cinema calls the Masters of Cinema, Spielberg describes himself as a filmmaker who likes to make the same kind of movies he saw as a boy growing up. He compares himself to Woody Allen who is worshipped primarily for his early films as an inspiration. The scene is acted out in Allen's 1980 film, Stardust Memories and as Spielberg,too, feels a certain connection with his early work, it remains nearly enigmatic for the director of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan to continue to make movies that move kids from 8 to 80 if they are prepared for the magic of the cinema that grew up in the 1960s but remains at the heart of moviegoers everywhere, an opportunity to feel like a kid watching Spielberg impress you once more with ideas that Spielberg has become an expert and bvecause of his success, he has been rewarded mostly by his adoring public for they have continued to support his movies regardless of any familiarity you may find.
Super 8 which is written and directed by J.J. Abrams, is a perfect example of the summer flick of a previous generation and there is nothing wrong about the story's consistency to return to one's youth when movies were more entertaining and gentler to appreciate and enjoy. For those critics and moviegoers who have grown tired of Spielberg's penchant to act like a kid again is a testament more to his inspiration to keep movies within the collective sphere of his imagination for where would good movies be without it.
Set in a small town much where a group of young friends are busy working on what Spielberg wanted to do after seeing David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, close to the same ages of the kids in Super 8. Spielberg knew then he wanted to make movies and it became a passion for him just like Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney),Alice (Elle Fanning), and Charles (Riley Griffiths)who are making a zombie film when you meet them. They are enjoying themselves like most young teenagers and you are entertained by their energetic and fun times behind the cameras as they try to work an important scene that doesn't work right away until a train comes down the track and their sense of injecting realism in their small film becomes a distinct reality.
For Abrams,here is his opportunity to convey a magic time mixed with a story on more than one level when something happens on the tracks moments before the kids see a car driven by a black man stops and warns them. Like them, you are curious as to the meaning of what he said because there is no prologue to set it up.
In his screenplay, Abrams is content to revive the science fiction films of the 1950s when movies were made in the wake of the Cold War. Without copying the Grindhouse movies of the same decade that Quentin Tarantino did with Grindhouse, Abrams succeeds in making an awesome movie about passionate kids who get involved in a mystery as if they were all like Joe and Frank Hardy for my generation who loved to get inside a book and let your imagination take over.
To keep the story grounded in reality, there is the father/son relationship between Joe and his father Deputy Sheriff Jack (Kyle Chandler) who has become more obsessed with his job since the death of his wife who died in an accident at the local steel mill. The effective manner Abrams brings to the plot's tender side is notwithstanding entirely welcome and it contributes a sense of depth you don't expect right away.
The kids in Super 8 with their furtive imaginations hold your attention as they become involved in what may be a government secret operation. You are not sure, but this forces you to keep watching.
If you are wondering about the much talked about aliens, I will say they are there but Spielberg's hand gives everything the same suspense he gave Duel (1971) and Jaws (1975). Older moviegoers who are science fiction fans will recognize the influence of such classics asThe Thing (1951) and Alien (1979), but it is his predilection for creating entertainment that primarily sticks with you as the plot develops further along until the fitting conclusion.
As for the influence of E.T. you will have to wait and see if it is different from Close Encounters:Special Edition (1980) and E.T.
Under Abrams' capable direction, Super 8 is your perfect summer movie matinee for the entire family.
It is rated PG.
June 12, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
SUPER SIZE ME (ODEON FILMS, 2004)****
BY RICK JACKSON
Written and directed by Morgan Spurlock, Super Size Me is a revealing and thought provoking documentary about the overall harmful effects of eating fast foods. In the United States there is an epidemic of obesity attributed to eating in places like McDonalds, Burger King and Wendys. It also exists in Canada but Spurlock focuses his attention in the United States where the population is much bigger. He narrows his focus to McDonalds because he believes they are the worst culprit when it comes to putting on the weight and the health problems that are a direct consequence. What he doesn't realize when he starts his own binging at McDonalds are the dire effects his doctor tells him.
Before he begins his 30-day binge he sees a team of three doctors and two fitness instructors who make sure he is healthy enough to go through it. Just ;like McDonalds where they promise the real deal, Spurlock gives you a closeup look at before, during and after the 30 days.
After eating one last good meal with his wife, he starts his 30 days by eating nothing but the food at McDonalds. At first, he discovers the taste of it to be great and after two weeks he returns to his doctor who advises him to stop going to McDonalds. He not only gains weight but his cholesterol is dangerously high and his liver is compared to an alcoholic's. For someone who is a teetotaller and a reformed smoker, this is bad news.
What else is shocking is the report of two obese women who sued McDonalds and lost because the judge ruled that they didn't prove eating there was the root cause for their weight gain.
Spurlock definitely proves that eating fast food is bad for your health no matter where you go or how frequently and you already know before you see this documentary that too much of anything bad for you is a no-no in the first place.
Odeon Films distributed a flyer to reinforce Spurlock's film with these facts about fast food in general:
Each day one in four Americans eats fast food.
McDonalds feeds more than 46 million people a day which is more than the population of Spain.
French fries are the most eaten vegetable in America.
Sixty per cent of all Americans are either overweight or obese.
You'd have to walk seven hours to burn off a Super Size coke, fries and a Big Mac.
The average child sees 10,000 TV advertisements a year.
Willard Scott, the weatherman on NBC's Today Show, was the first Ronald McDonald. He was fired for being too fat.
McDonalds distributes more toys than Toys R Us.
The World Health Organization (WHO)has declared obesity a global epidemic.
McDonalds calls anyone who eats a lot of their food "heavy users."
Before most children can speak, they can recognize McDonalds.
40% of Americans eat outside the home.
McDonalds represents 43% of the total U.S. fast food market.
More Americans know the ingredients in a Big Mac than the Pledge of Allegiance.
Spurlock gives you a persuasive and inside look at fast food and he backs up everything with facts and figures that may be disturbing.
To be fair, there is some credence to eating fast food if you eat it in moderation with regular exercise.
Super Size Me is one of the best documentaries of the year. Whether or not it serves as a wake-up call will be up to the individual moviegoer. It won the Best Director's Award at the Sundance Film Festival. In the ads for the film there is added this disclaimer: "this film is not affiliated or endorsed by the McDonalds Corporation.
Super Size Me is rated PG/Parental Guidance with the warning: coarse language.
June 5, 2004
Copyright Rick Jackson 2004
Note: Morgan Spurlock's latesr film, The Greatest Film Ever Sold opens at The Screening Room in Kingston, Ontario on Friday, June 17. Super Size Me was in its second week at the Screening Room seven years ago this week.
Written and directed by Morgan Spurlock, Super Size Me is a revealing and thought provoking documentary about the overall harmful effects of eating fast foods. In the United States there is an epidemic of obesity attributed to eating in places like McDonalds, Burger King and Wendys. It also exists in Canada but Spurlock focuses his attention in the United States where the population is much bigger. He narrows his focus to McDonalds because he believes they are the worst culprit when it comes to putting on the weight and the health problems that are a direct consequence. What he doesn't realize when he starts his own binging at McDonalds are the dire effects his doctor tells him.
Before he begins his 30-day binge he sees a team of three doctors and two fitness instructors who make sure he is healthy enough to go through it. Just ;like McDonalds where they promise the real deal, Spurlock gives you a closeup look at before, during and after the 30 days.
After eating one last good meal with his wife, he starts his 30 days by eating nothing but the food at McDonalds. At first, he discovers the taste of it to be great and after two weeks he returns to his doctor who advises him to stop going to McDonalds. He not only gains weight but his cholesterol is dangerously high and his liver is compared to an alcoholic's. For someone who is a teetotaller and a reformed smoker, this is bad news.
What else is shocking is the report of two obese women who sued McDonalds and lost because the judge ruled that they didn't prove eating there was the root cause for their weight gain.
Spurlock definitely proves that eating fast food is bad for your health no matter where you go or how frequently and you already know before you see this documentary that too much of anything bad for you is a no-no in the first place.
Odeon Films distributed a flyer to reinforce Spurlock's film with these facts about fast food in general:
Each day one in four Americans eats fast food.
McDonalds feeds more than 46 million people a day which is more than the population of Spain.
French fries are the most eaten vegetable in America.
Sixty per cent of all Americans are either overweight or obese.
You'd have to walk seven hours to burn off a Super Size coke, fries and a Big Mac.
The average child sees 10,000 TV advertisements a year.
Willard Scott, the weatherman on NBC's Today Show, was the first Ronald McDonald. He was fired for being too fat.
McDonalds distributes more toys than Toys R Us.
The World Health Organization (WHO)has declared obesity a global epidemic.
McDonalds calls anyone who eats a lot of their food "heavy users."
Before most children can speak, they can recognize McDonalds.
40% of Americans eat outside the home.
McDonalds represents 43% of the total U.S. fast food market.
More Americans know the ingredients in a Big Mac than the Pledge of Allegiance.
Spurlock gives you a persuasive and inside look at fast food and he backs up everything with facts and figures that may be disturbing.
To be fair, there is some credence to eating fast food if you eat it in moderation with regular exercise.
Super Size Me is one of the best documentaries of the year. Whether or not it serves as a wake-up call will be up to the individual moviegoer. It won the Best Director's Award at the Sundance Film Festival. In the ads for the film there is added this disclaimer: "this film is not affiliated or endorsed by the McDonalds Corporation.
Super Size Me is rated PG/Parental Guidance with the warning: coarse language.
June 5, 2004
Copyright Rick Jackson 2004
Note: Morgan Spurlock's latesr film, The Greatest Film Ever Sold opens at The Screening Room in Kingston, Ontario on Friday, June 17. Super Size Me was in its second week at the Screening Room seven years ago this week.
BARAN (MIRAMAX, 2001)****
BY RICK JACKSON
Baran, an Iranian film written and directed by Majid Majidi, is a powerful story about a young woman who falls in love with a young man working on a construction site. His name is Lateef(Hossein Abedini), an illegal Afghan worker hired by Memar Mohammed (Amir Naji) who is building a multi-story building not far away from the border with Afghanistan.
Majidi is not so much concerned with the working conditions as he is with the differences between men and women who are treated differently by tradition. The diaguises they must put on are symbolic of their ever-changing modern-day world.
When Memar hires Rahmat, an injured Afghan worker's son, he does not meet the physical requirements of the job, so he becomes the cook and official tea maker for the rest of the labourers. As the story continues to unfold, you learn that Rahmat is really a girl disguised as a man when you see her drop a load of building materials to the consternation of a fellow worker.
As I watched Baran, I was reminded of director Herbert Biberman's 1954 film, Salt of the Earth, which dealt with the working conditions of Mexicans. Although Majidi focuses less on the plight of Afghan refugees, their working conditions are checked by officials who visit the construction site. These scenes give the film a harsh edge.
The director's latest is another fable told as an unforgettable life lesson with children and water serving as powerful motifs. In Baran, the title character becomes central to the plot as the object of beauty and romance, both romanticized by Lateef when he gets near to her. Water is symbolic of the love shared between Lateef and Baran when he picks up her shoe in the drenching rain near the end.
In two other recent films by the director, Children of Heaven (1998) and The Color of Paradise (1999), you can see a certain commonality. In the former, the two young children of a poor labourer bring a sense of hope and relief to their despairing family. When her brother(Mir Farrolch Hashemian)loses the pink shoes that you see being repaired at the very beginning, he finds a way to replace them. His sister(Bahare Seddiqi)has enough faith in his brother that he won't tell his parents. At a local race, he wins first prize instead of third. Majidi crosscuts between the boy's triumphant win and the father who has bought shoes for both of his children, securely tied on the back of his bicycle. At the end when he boy puts his feet in the pond, it is a reminder that the young in Iran may be the one hope for Iran's future, one that will have to wait until the young grow up.
In Color of Paradise, Majidi continued his true-to-life fables with a story about Mohammed, a blind boy who teaches his father throughhis sightlessness a basic understanding of life and how it can all end if you don't take the time to care, appreciate and enjoy. Early in the film, you see him chase a cat away from its prey, a tiny bird. Digging through the leaves,he picks it up and then climbs a tree to return to its nest. Although he is too young to understand why God has left him blind,he learns to triumph over his handicap when he meets a blind carpenter. The boy's father also learns almost too late how much the love for his son truly means when he drowns in the water.
Majidi's use of sunlight as a sign of hope and redemption for his country lifts your spirits by film's end because you feel the impact of the conclusion more.
Baran (which means rain in English)serves as another prime example of Iranian people's subtle power of overcoming diversity with humanity. The evil that surrounds them in the guise of cruelty and punishment are removed by the weight of their own beliefs, traditions and customs.
They are underscored by cinematographer Mohammad Davudi's extensive use of a green filter where you are allowed to feel the emotions of the characters as they slowly learn to realize their inner strength. The grayish snow scenes stand for their pain and displeasure as they try to deal with their discontent. As the rain comes down, you may notice Baran's clothes are no longer a dull shade of green but bright green to symbolize hope.
The last sequence in the three director's films I have discussed speaks volumes: the boy who is yet to grow up to be a man in Children of Heaven, the ray of light that shines on a boy's hand at the end of Color of Paradise, and the last shot of the young boy's smile at the footprint left in the rain by Baran's shoe. They represent the universality of life through hope and survival.
Baran stands alone as a powerful fable that deals in a subtle manner the themes Majidi started in Children of Heaven and The Color of Paradise.
It is rated PG/Parental Guidance.
June 14, 2002
Copyright Rick Jackson 2002
Baran, an Iranian film written and directed by Majid Majidi, is a powerful story about a young woman who falls in love with a young man working on a construction site. His name is Lateef(Hossein Abedini), an illegal Afghan worker hired by Memar Mohammed (Amir Naji) who is building a multi-story building not far away from the border with Afghanistan.
Majidi is not so much concerned with the working conditions as he is with the differences between men and women who are treated differently by tradition. The diaguises they must put on are symbolic of their ever-changing modern-day world.
When Memar hires Rahmat, an injured Afghan worker's son, he does not meet the physical requirements of the job, so he becomes the cook and official tea maker for the rest of the labourers. As the story continues to unfold, you learn that Rahmat is really a girl disguised as a man when you see her drop a load of building materials to the consternation of a fellow worker.
As I watched Baran, I was reminded of director Herbert Biberman's 1954 film, Salt of the Earth, which dealt with the working conditions of Mexicans. Although Majidi focuses less on the plight of Afghan refugees, their working conditions are checked by officials who visit the construction site. These scenes give the film a harsh edge.
The director's latest is another fable told as an unforgettable life lesson with children and water serving as powerful motifs. In Baran, the title character becomes central to the plot as the object of beauty and romance, both romanticized by Lateef when he gets near to her. Water is symbolic of the love shared between Lateef and Baran when he picks up her shoe in the drenching rain near the end.
In two other recent films by the director, Children of Heaven (1998) and The Color of Paradise (1999), you can see a certain commonality. In the former, the two young children of a poor labourer bring a sense of hope and relief to their despairing family. When her brother(Mir Farrolch Hashemian)loses the pink shoes that you see being repaired at the very beginning, he finds a way to replace them. His sister(Bahare Seddiqi)has enough faith in his brother that he won't tell his parents. At a local race, he wins first prize instead of third. Majidi crosscuts between the boy's triumphant win and the father who has bought shoes for both of his children, securely tied on the back of his bicycle. At the end when he boy puts his feet in the pond, it is a reminder that the young in Iran may be the one hope for Iran's future, one that will have to wait until the young grow up.
In Color of Paradise, Majidi continued his true-to-life fables with a story about Mohammed, a blind boy who teaches his father throughhis sightlessness a basic understanding of life and how it can all end if you don't take the time to care, appreciate and enjoy. Early in the film, you see him chase a cat away from its prey, a tiny bird. Digging through the leaves,he picks it up and then climbs a tree to return to its nest. Although he is too young to understand why God has left him blind,he learns to triumph over his handicap when he meets a blind carpenter. The boy's father also learns almost too late how much the love for his son truly means when he drowns in the water.
Majidi's use of sunlight as a sign of hope and redemption for his country lifts your spirits by film's end because you feel the impact of the conclusion more.
Baran (which means rain in English)serves as another prime example of Iranian people's subtle power of overcoming diversity with humanity. The evil that surrounds them in the guise of cruelty and punishment are removed by the weight of their own beliefs, traditions and customs.
They are underscored by cinematographer Mohammad Davudi's extensive use of a green filter where you are allowed to feel the emotions of the characters as they slowly learn to realize their inner strength. The grayish snow scenes stand for their pain and displeasure as they try to deal with their discontent. As the rain comes down, you may notice Baran's clothes are no longer a dull shade of green but bright green to symbolize hope.
The last sequence in the three director's films I have discussed speaks volumes: the boy who is yet to grow up to be a man in Children of Heaven, the ray of light that shines on a boy's hand at the end of Color of Paradise, and the last shot of the young boy's smile at the footprint left in the rain by Baran's shoe. They represent the universality of life through hope and survival.
Baran stands alone as a powerful fable that deals in a subtle manner the themes Majidi started in Children of Heaven and The Color of Paradise.
It is rated PG/Parental Guidance.
June 14, 2002
Copyright Rick Jackson 2002
Saturday, June 11, 2011
WINTER IN WARTIME (MONGREL, 2011)***
BY RICK JACKSON
This 2008 Winter In Wartime is a compelling war movie from the Netherlands where it was the highest grossing motion picture in December 2008. Not until March 2011 was it find its way into theatres in Canada and the United States.
Directed by Martin Koolhoven, you are immediately impressed by the closeup shots of the bleakness of winter and a small town invaded by the Germans. It is at this point you meet Michiel (Martijn Lakemeier), a young boy faced with a shocking truth about his Uncle Ben (Yorick van Wageningen)while helping a British pilot from being killed by the Germans. While you watch the cold literally close in as you watch the closeups of trees covered in snow and ice, the bleakness of winter metaphorically becomes a race for survival from the atrocities of the Nazis and their ways of persuading the local townspeople to expose the members of the Resistance who are determined to restore peace and harmony.
What is especially effective are the cold images that match the fears on the faces of the main characters as they deal with the constant threat of being exposed and shot by a German firing squad.
Based on the 1972 novel by Jan Terlouw, the screenplay by Mieke de Jong, Paul Jan Nelissen and Koolhoven allows you to empathize with the characters and their individual fates that appear, on the surface, to be predictable but it is in the undercurrent of events surrounding the three main characters (Michiel,Uncle Ben, and the downed pilot (Jamie Campbell Boer) that convey the film's quiet and powerful moments without being overly sentimental.
The director reminds you of the coldness of winter by the chilling reminders of the German presence. Whar is more disturbing is the innocent and persuasive way the story is told as a children's story with nightmarish results. It shares the intensity of those Hollywood war films where the traitor actually shocks you because you are unprepared for it.
The classical music score by Pino Donagio has a haunting quality it shareres with the minute details of the plot. Lush at times, it is also sonorous with its crrescendos as if to help you understand better the gravity and depth of the underpinnings so simply and powerfully told.
The sequence with the firing squad is presented with such little dramatic flair so as not to soften the impact of the moviegoer's identification of it as the most barbaric act of all.
If you watch Lakemeier's facial expressions, you will notice how he grows up from the boy you see at the beginning to a more mature young man beyond his teenage years.
By the time the end credits roll, Winter In Wartime has left an indelible mark.
June 10, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
This 2008 Winter In Wartime is a compelling war movie from the Netherlands where it was the highest grossing motion picture in December 2008. Not until March 2011 was it find its way into theatres in Canada and the United States.
Directed by Martin Koolhoven, you are immediately impressed by the closeup shots of the bleakness of winter and a small town invaded by the Germans. It is at this point you meet Michiel (Martijn Lakemeier), a young boy faced with a shocking truth about his Uncle Ben (Yorick van Wageningen)while helping a British pilot from being killed by the Germans. While you watch the cold literally close in as you watch the closeups of trees covered in snow and ice, the bleakness of winter metaphorically becomes a race for survival from the atrocities of the Nazis and their ways of persuading the local townspeople to expose the members of the Resistance who are determined to restore peace and harmony.
What is especially effective are the cold images that match the fears on the faces of the main characters as they deal with the constant threat of being exposed and shot by a German firing squad.
Based on the 1972 novel by Jan Terlouw, the screenplay by Mieke de Jong, Paul Jan Nelissen and Koolhoven allows you to empathize with the characters and their individual fates that appear, on the surface, to be predictable but it is in the undercurrent of events surrounding the three main characters (Michiel,Uncle Ben, and the downed pilot (Jamie Campbell Boer) that convey the film's quiet and powerful moments without being overly sentimental.
The director reminds you of the coldness of winter by the chilling reminders of the German presence. Whar is more disturbing is the innocent and persuasive way the story is told as a children's story with nightmarish results. It shares the intensity of those Hollywood war films where the traitor actually shocks you because you are unprepared for it.
The classical music score by Pino Donagio has a haunting quality it shareres with the minute details of the plot. Lush at times, it is also sonorous with its crrescendos as if to help you understand better the gravity and depth of the underpinnings so simply and powerfully told.
The sequence with the firing squad is presented with such little dramatic flair so as not to soften the impact of the moviegoer's identification of it as the most barbaric act of all.
If you watch Lakemeier's facial expressions, you will notice how he grows up from the boy you see at the beginning to a more mature young man beyond his teenage years.
By the time the end credits roll, Winter In Wartime has left an indelible mark.
June 10, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
WEST IS WEST (D FILMS, 2010)***
BY RICK JACKSON
This sequel to East Is East (2000)is set five years later. With almost the entire cast reunited, Wesot Is West is more serious in tone since it's emphasis is more on the British Muslim family. In his screenplay, Ayub Khan-Din wants you to experience up close the current problems in Pakistan when the patriarch, George (or Jahangir) returns home to see his first wife. The humour in the situations is naturally funny as if this were a situation comedy, but it is the caliber of acting by the unknown cast that makes it all work.
Om Puri plays George as a man of wisdom and experience who is only human. When you learn he has a second wife, the story doesn't get bogged down in sentiment or political overtones. Instead, it is the sheer honesty of the cast that scores high marks in a deeply personal drama where the past and present merge in a conflict free setting.
The conversations between family members holds your interest and, as a result, you learn that what they are going through is universal when you consider the North American experience. It is interesting to see this happen elsewhere and it opens up a discussion that is thought-provoking when it comes to the father and his influence on both the younger generation compared to a different time when tradition was held more sacred.
Aquib Khan is Sajid, George's youngest son who is persuaded to learn his roots as a Pakistani but it is short-lived when his father's second wife, Ella (Linda Bassett) arrives. She sees her two sons from her marriage to George(Emil Marwa and Jimi Mistry)and, of course, her husband. Their meeting is strained at first until they both explain their separation.
In Punjabi with sub-titles and in English, West Is West is an offbeat diversion for anyone who welcomes something different at the movies.
It is rated 14A,with the warning: coarse language.
June 3, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
This sequel to East Is East (2000)is set five years later. With almost the entire cast reunited, Wesot Is West is more serious in tone since it's emphasis is more on the British Muslim family. In his screenplay, Ayub Khan-Din wants you to experience up close the current problems in Pakistan when the patriarch, George (or Jahangir) returns home to see his first wife. The humour in the situations is naturally funny as if this were a situation comedy, but it is the caliber of acting by the unknown cast that makes it all work.
Om Puri plays George as a man of wisdom and experience who is only human. When you learn he has a second wife, the story doesn't get bogged down in sentiment or political overtones. Instead, it is the sheer honesty of the cast that scores high marks in a deeply personal drama where the past and present merge in a conflict free setting.
The conversations between family members holds your interest and, as a result, you learn that what they are going through is universal when you consider the North American experience. It is interesting to see this happen elsewhere and it opens up a discussion that is thought-provoking when it comes to the father and his influence on both the younger generation compared to a different time when tradition was held more sacred.
Aquib Khan is Sajid, George's youngest son who is persuaded to learn his roots as a Pakistani but it is short-lived when his father's second wife, Ella (Linda Bassett) arrives. She sees her two sons from her marriage to George(Emil Marwa and Jimi Mistry)and, of course, her husband. Their meeting is strained at first until they both explain their separation.
In Punjabi with sub-titles and in English, West Is West is an offbeat diversion for anyone who welcomes something different at the movies.
It is rated 14A,with the warning: coarse language.
June 3, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
X-MEN:FIRST CLASS (20TH, 2011)***
BY RICK JACKSON
In this prequel to the X-Men franchise, you learn how Charles Xavier and Magneto originated. Fans of the series so far have embraced it with positive results even if it didn't break box-office records when compared to the other films. Nevertheless, director Matthew Vaughn has impressed moviegoers with its superior way of bringing the origins of the X-Men into clearer focus. If you remember any of the other films at all, you will be ready for a decent prologue where your hearts will be racing to see what comes next in the order screenwriters Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz and Jane Goldman have come up with, along with Vaughn whose vision of the true events in the early history of the X-Men's beginnings have provided an eager escape to the movies this summer.
James McAvoy is well cast as the younger Xavier whose knowledge of mutants conveys the tiniest of details that some moviegoers may still be wondering. When you compare him to Patrick Stewart, there is equal anticipation and excitement s you watch young Xavier work his way through the plot's delicate plot points. They inject the entire film with a much needed injection of surprise.
By using the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, history informs us better of the time period and allows baby boomers who studied it in high school to relate to the fictional elements of the story on an equal plane with the fantasy and special effects that underscore each of the characters as you watch them develop.
McAvoy's boyish and juvenile behaviour creates the right atmosphere since he cares about the mutants and it is from his standpoint that Xavier grows as the main hero, while Michael Fassbender's Magneto easily transforms into the evil counterpart that you have become accustomed to in the series so far.
Jennifer Lawrence from Winter's Bone and The Fighter ably plays Raven/Mystique with an equal dose of fun and seriousness and it is here Vaughn adds something special if you really remember her from the other X-Men movies.
The rest of the class serves as an introduction to the intriguing dimensions of the mutants as you watch them show off their unique abilities.
Kevin Bacon almost steals the movie with his role as Sebastian Shaw who presents himself as a threat to world peace. He,too, has special powers which you can see for yourself. Bacon's strong acting adds to the impact of the story because he,alone, holds your attention right to the end. His sense of screen villainy has never impressed me as much as it does here.
In other roles, January Jones is Emma Frost, Nicholas Hoult is Hank aka The Beast,and Rose Byrne is CIA Agent Moira McTaggert.
There is a lot to appreciate and enjoy in X-Men: First Class. It is one of the better screen offerings during this summer's 3D explosion. Thankfully, this one is not in 3D.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: not recommended for young children, violence and language may offend.
June 5, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
In this prequel to the X-Men franchise, you learn how Charles Xavier and Magneto originated. Fans of the series so far have embraced it with positive results even if it didn't break box-office records when compared to the other films. Nevertheless, director Matthew Vaughn has impressed moviegoers with its superior way of bringing the origins of the X-Men into clearer focus. If you remember any of the other films at all, you will be ready for a decent prologue where your hearts will be racing to see what comes next in the order screenwriters Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz and Jane Goldman have come up with, along with Vaughn whose vision of the true events in the early history of the X-Men's beginnings have provided an eager escape to the movies this summer.
James McAvoy is well cast as the younger Xavier whose knowledge of mutants conveys the tiniest of details that some moviegoers may still be wondering. When you compare him to Patrick Stewart, there is equal anticipation and excitement s you watch young Xavier work his way through the plot's delicate plot points. They inject the entire film with a much needed injection of surprise.
By using the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, history informs us better of the time period and allows baby boomers who studied it in high school to relate to the fictional elements of the story on an equal plane with the fantasy and special effects that underscore each of the characters as you watch them develop.
McAvoy's boyish and juvenile behaviour creates the right atmosphere since he cares about the mutants and it is from his standpoint that Xavier grows as the main hero, while Michael Fassbender's Magneto easily transforms into the evil counterpart that you have become accustomed to in the series so far.
Jennifer Lawrence from Winter's Bone and The Fighter ably plays Raven/Mystique with an equal dose of fun and seriousness and it is here Vaughn adds something special if you really remember her from the other X-Men movies.
The rest of the class serves as an introduction to the intriguing dimensions of the mutants as you watch them show off their unique abilities.
Kevin Bacon almost steals the movie with his role as Sebastian Shaw who presents himself as a threat to world peace. He,too, has special powers which you can see for yourself. Bacon's strong acting adds to the impact of the story because he,alone, holds your attention right to the end. His sense of screen villainy has never impressed me as much as it does here.
In other roles, January Jones is Emma Frost, Nicholas Hoult is Hank aka The Beast,and Rose Byrne is CIA Agent Moira McTaggert.
There is a lot to appreciate and enjoy in X-Men: First Class. It is one of the better screen offerings during this summer's 3D explosion. Thankfully, this one is not in 3D.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: not recommended for young children, violence and language may offend.
June 5, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
THELMA &LOUISE (MGM, 1991)****
BY RICK JACKSON
Twenty years ago this week, I reviewed Thelma and Louise in The Heritage newspaper on Wednesday, June 5, 1991. Here is my review.
HEADLINE: THELMA AND LOUISE AN AMERICAN CLASSIC
Thelma and Louise is an extraordinary comic snd offbeat look at two women whose humdrum lives suddenly change when they embark on a weekend vacation to the Grand Canyon. Set against the backdrop of the vanishing landscapes of America's southwest, director Ridley Scott has come up with a poignant character study.
Written by Callie Khouri, Thelma Dickinson (Geena Davis) is a bored housewife. She is married to a chauvinistic husband named Darryl (Christopher Mscdonald)who treats her more like a child than a wife. Her life is restricted to the kitchen. Louise Sawyer (Susan Sarandon)is a coffee shop waitress whose life so far has been hectic. Although she is single, she has a musician boyfriend, Jimmy (Michael Madsen) who won't commit himself to marriage.
Thelma and Louise are good friends and what they need is a weekend away from their stagnant lives. The two decide yo spend a weekend at a friend's cabin in the mountains. However,when they stop at a roadside honky tonk, something happens that will completely change their lives.
Khouri has In Khouri's well crafted and original screenplay, she gives the plot the catalyst that sets the dramatic edge between Thelma and Louise underscored by comic undertones. You see them rejoice at their newfound freedom as they go on their vacation but as time moves on certain events spoil their enjoyment when their trip takes on new meaning. For the first time they realize it doesn't matter what happens to them. Fate plays a cruel hand when they go on the lam like a contemporary Bonnie and Clyde or Butch Sundance and the Sundance Kid.
The chemisrry between Sarandon and Davis makes the film work from the very beginning as two innocent people caught up in a web of intrigue that is beyond their wildest imaginations.
Cinematographer Adrian Biddle takes your breath away as he captures the nuances of the American Southwest like a master painter.
The rolling highways and desolate areas symbolize the new way of life that Thelma and Louise are discovering. Their sang-froid expresses how pathetic has become until now and they are both determined to find their own peace.
Thelma and Louise is an American classic.
NOTE: Twenty years ago I forgot to mention Brad Pitt who played his first significant role as J.D., a young man whom Thelma likes. You learn later he has broken his parole. In another supporting role, Harvey Keitel plays Detective Hal Slocomb who tries to arrest the two women in a series of incidents that alert the authorities. This includes robbing a convenience store speeding to get away from a police cruiser.
Called a female road movie by film critic Kenneth Turan, while Sheila Benson rejected this claim and called Thelma and Louse a movie that was preoccupied with revenge and violence than feminist values.
Thelma and Louise opened at the Capitol Theatre (now the Empire) on May 24, 1991 and was rated R.
Copyright Rick Jackson 1991, 2011
Twenty years ago this week, I reviewed Thelma and Louise in The Heritage newspaper on Wednesday, June 5, 1991. Here is my review.
HEADLINE: THELMA AND LOUISE AN AMERICAN CLASSIC
Thelma and Louise is an extraordinary comic snd offbeat look at two women whose humdrum lives suddenly change when they embark on a weekend vacation to the Grand Canyon. Set against the backdrop of the vanishing landscapes of America's southwest, director Ridley Scott has come up with a poignant character study.
Written by Callie Khouri, Thelma Dickinson (Geena Davis) is a bored housewife. She is married to a chauvinistic husband named Darryl (Christopher Mscdonald)who treats her more like a child than a wife. Her life is restricted to the kitchen. Louise Sawyer (Susan Sarandon)is a coffee shop waitress whose life so far has been hectic. Although she is single, she has a musician boyfriend, Jimmy (Michael Madsen) who won't commit himself to marriage.
Thelma and Louise are good friends and what they need is a weekend away from their stagnant lives. The two decide yo spend a weekend at a friend's cabin in the mountains. However,when they stop at a roadside honky tonk, something happens that will completely change their lives.
Khouri has In Khouri's well crafted and original screenplay, she gives the plot the catalyst that sets the dramatic edge between Thelma and Louise underscored by comic undertones. You see them rejoice at their newfound freedom as they go on their vacation but as time moves on certain events spoil their enjoyment when their trip takes on new meaning. For the first time they realize it doesn't matter what happens to them. Fate plays a cruel hand when they go on the lam like a contemporary Bonnie and Clyde or Butch Sundance and the Sundance Kid.
The chemisrry between Sarandon and Davis makes the film work from the very beginning as two innocent people caught up in a web of intrigue that is beyond their wildest imaginations.
Cinematographer Adrian Biddle takes your breath away as he captures the nuances of the American Southwest like a master painter.
The rolling highways and desolate areas symbolize the new way of life that Thelma and Louise are discovering. Their sang-froid expresses how pathetic has become until now and they are both determined to find their own peace.
Thelma and Louise is an American classic.
NOTE: Twenty years ago I forgot to mention Brad Pitt who played his first significant role as J.D., a young man whom Thelma likes. You learn later he has broken his parole. In another supporting role, Harvey Keitel plays Detective Hal Slocomb who tries to arrest the two women in a series of incidents that alert the authorities. This includes robbing a convenience store speeding to get away from a police cruiser.
Called a female road movie by film critic Kenneth Turan, while Sheila Benson rejected this claim and called Thelma and Louse a movie that was preoccupied with revenge and violence than feminist values.
Thelma and Louise opened at the Capitol Theatre (now the Empire) on May 24, 1991 and was rated R.
Copyright Rick Jackson 1991, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
BANG BANG CLUB, E-ONE, 2010)****
BY RICK JACKSON
The role of the combat photographer is more apparent than ever when you think of how newspapers and magazines are able to get a first-hand look at the fighting wherever his job takes him. In The Bang Bang Club, director Steven Silver gives the moviegoer an incisive and penetrating look at a side of war rarely shown with such candor and respect. As you watch the reality of war in the comfort of your seat in a darkened theatre, you are easily shaken but not replused by the events that take place in South Africa when four combat photographers are sent to the final days of Apartheid. With unflinching courage, Kevin Carter, Greg Marinovich, Ken Oosterbroek and Joao Silva capture the atrocities they see and, as a result, stir up controversy about the situation they each face along with the innocence faces of those who can;t help be victims in a politically charged battle between idealism and the right to live. Two of the photographers earn Pulitzer Prizes for their work and it brings home the extremes of war. The reactions on the photographers' faces give you a lnee jolt without the uneasiness of the actual reality. The pictures they take tell the true story.
I was reminded of David Janssen who played an American reporter in The Green Berets (1968) who was shocked by the atroticities of the Vietcong. In his coverage he says, "What can I do?" during an attack.
As you watch the Bang Bang Club you are immersed in a story told in a documentary style that removes it from the unnecessary poilitical American propaganda that would have ruined its impact as an important story of how war is covered by Hollywood, save the documentaries made by real combat photographers who revealed verbatim their minute by minute accounts of actual warfare witnessed through the sharp lens and the smell of shells and the roar of gunfire surrounding his position safely intrenched not far away.
Taylor Kitsch plays Carter with the same sense of innocence as if you were dropped by helicopter to do the same job.
In another key role, Ryan Philippe plays Greg as your typical male protagonist whose sense of purpose removes him from the fray until shots are fired and his colleagues shout at him to hurry up. The chance to take great pictures is not always there and the job of the combat photographer is not as easy as you might think. It is something all four learn quickly. Their scenes of comaraderie and friendship help ease the pressures of war and the hellish existence they must live to do their job and remain safe from harm.
In an excellent supporting role, Malin Akerman plays Robin Comley, the person in charge of seeing the pictures taken get published for the world to see. The actress plays her role with the right amount of duty, sincerity and responsibility that brings to the screen an essential part of the story that resonates boldly with each picture and story it tells along with it.
Philip Miller's music score complements the action so well, it's as if you are right there and cinematographer Miroslaw Baszak recounts each minute with glaring detail and precision to match every second of feeling and excitement that the cameras record with each uncompromising position and movement.
Under Silver's more thsn capable direction, The Bang Bang Club deserves to be seen.
On a historical note, the real Oosterbroek was killed in Tokoza Township on April 18, 1994 during a clash between the National Peacekeeping Force and the African Congress supporters. During the same fight, the real Marinovich was seriously injured. In July 1994, the real Carter committed suicide. On October 23, 2010, Silva stepped on a landmine while on patrol with U.S. soldiers in Kandahar, Afghanistan and lost both legs below the knee.
The Bang Bang Club is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language, violence, and disturbing content (occasional gory scenes).
June 3, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
The role of the combat photographer is more apparent than ever when you think of how newspapers and magazines are able to get a first-hand look at the fighting wherever his job takes him. In The Bang Bang Club, director Steven Silver gives the moviegoer an incisive and penetrating look at a side of war rarely shown with such candor and respect. As you watch the reality of war in the comfort of your seat in a darkened theatre, you are easily shaken but not replused by the events that take place in South Africa when four combat photographers are sent to the final days of Apartheid. With unflinching courage, Kevin Carter, Greg Marinovich, Ken Oosterbroek and Joao Silva capture the atrocities they see and, as a result, stir up controversy about the situation they each face along with the innocence faces of those who can;t help be victims in a politically charged battle between idealism and the right to live. Two of the photographers earn Pulitzer Prizes for their work and it brings home the extremes of war. The reactions on the photographers' faces give you a lnee jolt without the uneasiness of the actual reality. The pictures they take tell the true story.
I was reminded of David Janssen who played an American reporter in The Green Berets (1968) who was shocked by the atroticities of the Vietcong. In his coverage he says, "What can I do?" during an attack.
As you watch the Bang Bang Club you are immersed in a story told in a documentary style that removes it from the unnecessary poilitical American propaganda that would have ruined its impact as an important story of how war is covered by Hollywood, save the documentaries made by real combat photographers who revealed verbatim their minute by minute accounts of actual warfare witnessed through the sharp lens and the smell of shells and the roar of gunfire surrounding his position safely intrenched not far away.
Taylor Kitsch plays Carter with the same sense of innocence as if you were dropped by helicopter to do the same job.
In another key role, Ryan Philippe plays Greg as your typical male protagonist whose sense of purpose removes him from the fray until shots are fired and his colleagues shout at him to hurry up. The chance to take great pictures is not always there and the job of the combat photographer is not as easy as you might think. It is something all four learn quickly. Their scenes of comaraderie and friendship help ease the pressures of war and the hellish existence they must live to do their job and remain safe from harm.
In an excellent supporting role, Malin Akerman plays Robin Comley, the person in charge of seeing the pictures taken get published for the world to see. The actress plays her role with the right amount of duty, sincerity and responsibility that brings to the screen an essential part of the story that resonates boldly with each picture and story it tells along with it.
Philip Miller's music score complements the action so well, it's as if you are right there and cinematographer Miroslaw Baszak recounts each minute with glaring detail and precision to match every second of feeling and excitement that the cameras record with each uncompromising position and movement.
Under Silver's more thsn capable direction, The Bang Bang Club deserves to be seen.
On a historical note, the real Oosterbroek was killed in Tokoza Township on April 18, 1994 during a clash between the National Peacekeeping Force and the African Congress supporters. During the same fight, the real Marinovich was seriously injured. In July 1994, the real Carter committed suicide. On October 23, 2010, Silva stepped on a landmine while on patrol with U.S. soldiers in Kandahar, Afghanistan and lost both legs below the knee.
The Bang Bang Club is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language, violence, and disturbing content (occasional gory scenes).
June 3, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)