BY RICK JACKSON
The eyes are on the Wild Wild West in this fictional story about the time when cowboys fought against aliens in the late 19th century in Arizona. It may appear to be silly on the surface, but it is far more entertaining as a modern adult western with touches of welcome humour and a first-rate cast to make it the perfect matinee.
Matthew Libatique's cinematography immediately captures your attention in the opening sequence and there are your requisite western flourishes throughout to remind you that this is much better as an intentional entry in the western genre even if the spirit of one rides higher than anything else. What I liked about it is the manner in which it provides an equally satisfying escape without being too ridiculous a premise to follow.
Based on Platinum Studios' Cowboys and Aliensby Scott Michell Rosenberg, the screenplay by Roberto Orci,Alex Kurtzman,Damon Lindelof,Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby
generates the same kind of wistfulness and excitement as the classic western. Despite the fact that director Jon Favreau is not another John Ford or Howard Hawks, there is a lot to ruminate over and enjoy just the same.
Harrison Ford plays Woodrow Dollarhyde, a grizzled old cattle baron of the local town called Absolution. His gruff demeanor injects the western stereotype of yesteryear and it works because the role is perfect for him. He even has a chance to be mean and gentle and it is this dichotomy of feeling that never sentimentalizes the plot threads. If anything, it maintains the spirit of the western like it should.
Daniel Craig plays Jake Lonergan, a cowboy of a different sort. You are not sure if he is an alien and your curiosity holds your attention. Like him, you don't know any more about him and this sets the stage for what immediately follows.
The mystery and intrigue is reminiscent of Edward Dmytryk's Bad Day At Black Rock(1956) and Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo(1959) where the two main characters played by Spencer Tracy and John Wayne are a study in the complex nature of the cowboy.
Just as they must deal with what is good for their town, Ford's Dollarhyde is a contrast between what the man who is not governed totally by personal motives but by the more moral imperative of saving the town and restoring peace and harmony.
Instead of the usual gunfighter or cattle rustler, the bad guys are aliens who have come to earth to find all the gold they can for their survival.
what is more interesting than the usual aliens from outer space story is the introduction of supporting characters for the plot driven plot to really work.
They include Adam Beach as NatColorado, a native American whose knowledge and language serves as an interpreter when the tribes become involved in an attempt to save their people and animals from the aliens. Their plight becomes a universal one when the whites join them in eradicating their common problem.
Olivia Wilde plays Ella Swenson,a character who holds the key to solving the humans dilemma. It is nicely explained and in a courageous moment she contributes to the emotionally packed climax.
Sam Rockwell is Doc and Keith Carradine is Sheriff Taggert. They bring Absolution to life with their strong acting and conviction.
Harry Gregson-Williams has composed a fitting score to maintain your excitement from beginning to end. It keeps pace with the action and the underlying thematic undertones the screenwriters never thought of, such as man's survival regardless of creed, race or colour. It goes beyond the perimeters of the average western to keep the genre up-to-date and fresh for today's moviegoers.
It's also interesting how the townsfolk of Absolution are resolved to being stronger examples of humanity by film's end. They have each grown to respect each other more which only reinforces the film's underlying and simplistic point of view.
Craig plays Lonergan as a man without a name without relying on Eastwood's persona in the spaghetti westerns he did with Sergio Leone.
Unlike Rango earlier this year which parodied them, Clowboys And Aliens resists being nothing more than emblematic in bringing across Lonergan as a believable character and this allows you to sit back and enjoy everything with a smile.
Granted, the aliens are shown almost exactly like they did in Alien, there the comparison ends. Cowboys And Aliens deserves to be appreciated as pure entertainment which it is.
It is rated 14A,with the warnings: graphic violence and frightening scenes.
July 31, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS (SCREEN GEMS,2011)***
BY RICK JACKSON
Friends With Benefits is an uneven but funny comedy about two friends named Dylan and Jamie and how their views about falling in love, dating and having sex are,perhaps, just what today's moviegoers need to see. Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis aspire to be the perfect young couple and as you watch them interact and behave intimately and with other friends and relatives, there is an uneasy alliance slowly building to turn their modern trip of lust and desire into a cliche ridden plot that screenwriters Keith Merryman,David A.Newman and director Will Gluck feel will work its magic. It is worth mentioning that they think they are a modern Clark Gable and Claudete Colbert who are seen in a poster of the 1934 Academy Award winning film,It Happened One Night. The camera deliberately lets you see it at two diferent angles to juxtapose Dylan and Jamie's sexual trysts with some credibility.
It is,of course, up to the female moviegoers if they think Timberlake has the same charisma as Gable but, for the rest of us, it might be a stretch. You do see Timberlake and Kunis in the buff in more than one scene and this will certainly be one of your benefits in seeing the film.
All in all, how the story of these two lovebirds is written is a clearly done in good fun and without crude jokes and bad punch lines. There exists a modicum of good taste throughout and you are allowed to actually have fun whenever an actor sings,dances or just wants to be candid enough about his/her feelings to be equally frivolous and amusing.
The supporting cast includes a hilarious Woody Harrelson as Tommy,an erudite and gay sports editor who wants a little excitement in his humdrum life. He even commutes to work in a speed boat that may earn a few laughs thanks to his comic timing and a good script.
The usual formula of boy gets girl and boy loses girl is conveyed with a new meaning as you watch Timberlake and Kunis gain momentum as the twosome with enough courage and ambition to make you envious of them. It all works along with the emotions and dating tips that keep them together through one crisis after another in the second half. I said crisis but it is more a realistic look at dating from both the perspective of the male and female with a surprising touch of civility and respect for each other. This all contributes to the overall credibility of the film's title.
Before the final fade-out you are entertained by Jenna Elfman's knack at having fun in the dullest of situations as Annie, Richard Jenkins as Dylan's father who is suffering from Alzheimer's, and Patricia Clarkson as Jamie's old-fashioned mother.
One might want to accuse Friends With Benefits as a bad mistake and call it Fringe Benefits but that would negate the fun-loving and wonderful manner the entire cast manages to make everything such a joy to watch which is alright with me.
Here is the perfect summer diversion to keep you away from the heat and humidity.
It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and sexual content.
July 24,2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Friends With Benefits is an uneven but funny comedy about two friends named Dylan and Jamie and how their views about falling in love, dating and having sex are,perhaps, just what today's moviegoers need to see. Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis aspire to be the perfect young couple and as you watch them interact and behave intimately and with other friends and relatives, there is an uneasy alliance slowly building to turn their modern trip of lust and desire into a cliche ridden plot that screenwriters Keith Merryman,David A.Newman and director Will Gluck feel will work its magic. It is worth mentioning that they think they are a modern Clark Gable and Claudete Colbert who are seen in a poster of the 1934 Academy Award winning film,It Happened One Night. The camera deliberately lets you see it at two diferent angles to juxtapose Dylan and Jamie's sexual trysts with some credibility.
It is,of course, up to the female moviegoers if they think Timberlake has the same charisma as Gable but, for the rest of us, it might be a stretch. You do see Timberlake and Kunis in the buff in more than one scene and this will certainly be one of your benefits in seeing the film.
All in all, how the story of these two lovebirds is written is a clearly done in good fun and without crude jokes and bad punch lines. There exists a modicum of good taste throughout and you are allowed to actually have fun whenever an actor sings,dances or just wants to be candid enough about his/her feelings to be equally frivolous and amusing.
The supporting cast includes a hilarious Woody Harrelson as Tommy,an erudite and gay sports editor who wants a little excitement in his humdrum life. He even commutes to work in a speed boat that may earn a few laughs thanks to his comic timing and a good script.
The usual formula of boy gets girl and boy loses girl is conveyed with a new meaning as you watch Timberlake and Kunis gain momentum as the twosome with enough courage and ambition to make you envious of them. It all works along with the emotions and dating tips that keep them together through one crisis after another in the second half. I said crisis but it is more a realistic look at dating from both the perspective of the male and female with a surprising touch of civility and respect for each other. This all contributes to the overall credibility of the film's title.
Before the final fade-out you are entertained by Jenna Elfman's knack at having fun in the dullest of situations as Annie, Richard Jenkins as Dylan's father who is suffering from Alzheimer's, and Patricia Clarkson as Jamie's old-fashioned mother.
One might want to accuse Friends With Benefits as a bad mistake and call it Fringe Benefits but that would negate the fun-loving and wonderful manner the entire cast manages to make everything such a joy to watch which is alright with me.
Here is the perfect summer diversion to keep you away from the heat and humidity.
It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and sexual content.
July 24,2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
CAPTAIN AMERICA (PARAMOUNT, 2011)**
BY RICK JACKSON
Captain America:The First Avenger lacks the fun and excitement of the 1944 Republic serial because you didn't know who the villain was until the last of the 15 chapters.
Inspired by the Marvel Comic Book, the screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely lacks originality and the plot is bogged down in a plot reminiscent of Raiders Of The Lost Ark(1981). The whole idea of the Nazis controlling the world is old hat and the entire cast plays each character with utter seriousness, you can't help notice how they each are trying so hard not to laugh out loud. The opening sequence set in the arctic reminded me of The Thing From Another World 1951) with its spooky and mysterious atmosphere. I thought this might be interesting even if it was far afield.
What redeems the movie is the decent use of 3D, although I still haven't seen any fantastic effects in 3D yet.
Chris Evans plays the central role of Captain America aka Steve Rogers, a 90 pound weakling whose bad health prevents him from enlisting in the army to fight overseas. When he is spotted by a scientist named Erskine(Stanley Tucci)who convinces him to take part in a secret government project, you already know where the story is going.
Hugo Weaving almost steals the film with his performance as Johann Schmidt whose altar ego is Red Skull, an evil Nazi whose temperament doesn't quite match Christoph Waltz's in Inglorious Basterds. Still, he manages to hold your interest as the plot threads slowly unravel and your eyes stay glued to the big screen to see what is going to happen next.
As a major action summer flick, this one delivers it at full throttle and there are enough supporting characters to hold your attention, especially Tommy Lee Jones as the colourful Colonel Phillips, Toby Jones as Dr.Zola,Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Rogers' romantic interest, and Sebastian Stan as Rogers' sidekick, Bucky.
As with all stories based on comic books, it does peak your interest since the storyline ties in other characters, such as Thor, which is supposed to lead to one of next summer's big blockbusters, The Avengers.
I only wished I liked Captain America more,it just didn't impress me.
It is rated PG/Parental Guidance, with the warnings: violence and frightening scenes.
July 23,2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Captain America:The First Avenger lacks the fun and excitement of the 1944 Republic serial because you didn't know who the villain was until the last of the 15 chapters.
Inspired by the Marvel Comic Book, the screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely lacks originality and the plot is bogged down in a plot reminiscent of Raiders Of The Lost Ark(1981). The whole idea of the Nazis controlling the world is old hat and the entire cast plays each character with utter seriousness, you can't help notice how they each are trying so hard not to laugh out loud. The opening sequence set in the arctic reminded me of The Thing From Another World 1951) with its spooky and mysterious atmosphere. I thought this might be interesting even if it was far afield.
What redeems the movie is the decent use of 3D, although I still haven't seen any fantastic effects in 3D yet.
Chris Evans plays the central role of Captain America aka Steve Rogers, a 90 pound weakling whose bad health prevents him from enlisting in the army to fight overseas. When he is spotted by a scientist named Erskine(Stanley Tucci)who convinces him to take part in a secret government project, you already know where the story is going.
Hugo Weaving almost steals the film with his performance as Johann Schmidt whose altar ego is Red Skull, an evil Nazi whose temperament doesn't quite match Christoph Waltz's in Inglorious Basterds. Still, he manages to hold your interest as the plot threads slowly unravel and your eyes stay glued to the big screen to see what is going to happen next.
As a major action summer flick, this one delivers it at full throttle and there are enough supporting characters to hold your attention, especially Tommy Lee Jones as the colourful Colonel Phillips, Toby Jones as Dr.Zola,Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Rogers' romantic interest, and Sebastian Stan as Rogers' sidekick, Bucky.
As with all stories based on comic books, it does peak your interest since the storyline ties in other characters, such as Thor, which is supposed to lead to one of next summer's big blockbusters, The Avengers.
I only wished I liked Captain America more,it just didn't impress me.
It is rated PG/Parental Guidance, with the warnings: violence and frightening scenes.
July 23,2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
POTICHE (E-ONE, 2011)***
BY RICK JACKSON
From director Francois Ozon (8 Women,Swimming Pool) comes a sophisticated and breezy comedy called Potiche or Trophy Wife. Played by veteran French actress Catherine Deneuve, she is the picture of perfection with her slender figure and good looks that have endeared her to moviegoers since the 1960s when she catapulted to fame after directors Jacques Demy(Umbrellas of Cherbourg-1964) and Luis Bunuel (Belle de Jour-1966) saw a wonderful beauty who had the sbility to arouse even the most innocent male moviegoer with her smile and blond looks. Even today while watching her run in a red suit as the film opens, she remains as consistent in the way she can impress you. The actress has looked after herself and it is through this superficial veneer of loveliness and quiet intelligence that she can still make you laugh and smile by just being there.
One might come to expect Deneuve and co-star Gerard Depardieu to create the right chemistry to be the next comedy team but this is not a classic American comedy, but a reworking of a French play from 1980 that was originally intended for comic stage actress Jacqueline Maillan. In this film adaptation by Ozon based on the play by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy, Potiche aspires to be an escapist and conservative story set in the late 1970s when feminist struggles and labour unrest were capturing headlines. True in spirit to this time, Deneuve strikes the ultimate pose as the ultimate potiche which means literally, a vase. Her decorative appearance throughout the film is given several opportunities to break figuratively but it is as Suzanne, the undeclared heroine, that Deneuve boasts the attributes of feminism that may possibly have been evident in the director's thinking. How she conveys authority around the house,forces her husband Robert Pujol(Fabrice Luchini) to step down as head of an umbrella factory and provoke unrest there for better workers' rights is a testament to the power of the written word and the strong acting exemplified by the main cast.
Evident in the director's latest is the same carnal desires of the male when Robert seeks comfort in the arms of his secretary/mistress Nadege(Karin Viard). Swimming Pool the British mystery author Sarah Morten brushed off excited fans by saying she was not the type who sleeps with anyone.
As in 8 Women(2002) and Swimming Pool, Ozon directs each scene with painstaking care and this helps you enjoy the on-screen antics with equal visceral delight.
Deneuve is clearly the reason Potiche is a pure and simple delight from beginning to end. Her comic timing and singing hold your attention and there is an unexpected sense of fun in everything she does. She relishes Suzanne as much as you do if you are paying close attention to her character.
Lending excellent support are Judith Godreche and Jeremie Renier as Suzanne's grown daughter and son respectively.
As for Depardieu who is used to commanding the screen in such films as Return of Martin Guerre and Danton in the early 1980s and Cyrano de Bergerac a decade later, he remains the same charming man he played in Green Card, except this time excels as Suzanne's former admirer from afar as the local mayor.His scenes with Deneuve add an understated elegance and wit to the familiar plot threads and the undercurrent of humour is nicely timed and worth waiting for when it comes.
By film's end, Potiche is more than your average pretty story but an elegant and funny romp made enjoyable by the sense of sheer fun shown by the entire ensemble cast.
It is rated 14A,with the warnings: sexual content and language may offend.
July 22,2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
From director Francois Ozon (8 Women,Swimming Pool) comes a sophisticated and breezy comedy called Potiche or Trophy Wife. Played by veteran French actress Catherine Deneuve, she is the picture of perfection with her slender figure and good looks that have endeared her to moviegoers since the 1960s when she catapulted to fame after directors Jacques Demy(Umbrellas of Cherbourg-1964) and Luis Bunuel (Belle de Jour-1966) saw a wonderful beauty who had the sbility to arouse even the most innocent male moviegoer with her smile and blond looks. Even today while watching her run in a red suit as the film opens, she remains as consistent in the way she can impress you. The actress has looked after herself and it is through this superficial veneer of loveliness and quiet intelligence that she can still make you laugh and smile by just being there.
One might come to expect Deneuve and co-star Gerard Depardieu to create the right chemistry to be the next comedy team but this is not a classic American comedy, but a reworking of a French play from 1980 that was originally intended for comic stage actress Jacqueline Maillan. In this film adaptation by Ozon based on the play by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy, Potiche aspires to be an escapist and conservative story set in the late 1970s when feminist struggles and labour unrest were capturing headlines. True in spirit to this time, Deneuve strikes the ultimate pose as the ultimate potiche which means literally, a vase. Her decorative appearance throughout the film is given several opportunities to break figuratively but it is as Suzanne, the undeclared heroine, that Deneuve boasts the attributes of feminism that may possibly have been evident in the director's thinking. How she conveys authority around the house,forces her husband Robert Pujol(Fabrice Luchini) to step down as head of an umbrella factory and provoke unrest there for better workers' rights is a testament to the power of the written word and the strong acting exemplified by the main cast.
Evident in the director's latest is the same carnal desires of the male when Robert seeks comfort in the arms of his secretary/mistress Nadege(Karin Viard). Swimming Pool the British mystery author Sarah Morten brushed off excited fans by saying she was not the type who sleeps with anyone.
As in 8 Women(2002) and Swimming Pool, Ozon directs each scene with painstaking care and this helps you enjoy the on-screen antics with equal visceral delight.
Deneuve is clearly the reason Potiche is a pure and simple delight from beginning to end. Her comic timing and singing hold your attention and there is an unexpected sense of fun in everything she does. She relishes Suzanne as much as you do if you are paying close attention to her character.
Lending excellent support are Judith Godreche and Jeremie Renier as Suzanne's grown daughter and son respectively.
As for Depardieu who is used to commanding the screen in such films as Return of Martin Guerre and Danton in the early 1980s and Cyrano de Bergerac a decade later, he remains the same charming man he played in Green Card, except this time excels as Suzanne's former admirer from afar as the local mayor.His scenes with Deneuve add an understated elegance and wit to the familiar plot threads and the undercurrent of humour is nicely timed and worth waiting for when it comes.
By film's end, Potiche is more than your average pretty story but an elegant and funny romp made enjoyable by the sense of sheer fun shown by the entire ensemble cast.
It is rated 14A,with the warnings: sexual content and language may offend.
July 22,2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
SCREENING ROOM****
BY RICK JACKSON
With this entry on my blog, it is a list of all the four star movies I have reviewed at the Screening Room here in Kingston,Ontario. Since the fall of 2000 when I started going there,I have enjoyed thousands of hours watching quality movies and, although for years I didn't want to put stars on my reviews, they are important to moviegoers because they want to know how I rate them. Sticking to four stars, with no half-stars,I recently went back to do it. For me, an outstanding movie can only be described in words and as you read one of my reviews, you should be able to tell whether it's worth seeing.
It is my intention over the course of time to get them all on my blog which I started five years ago. This means you will be able to find all those reviews right now.
Here now is my list of all the four star movies from 2000-1010 in alphabetical order along with the date I reviewed them in brackets.
THE FOUR STAR MOVIES
Across The Universe (October 20,2007)
Adam (September 23,2009)
Adoration (June 28,2009)
Aimee & Jaquar (October 6,2001)
Akeelah And The Bee (May 13,2006)
Amal
Amazing Grace (April 21,2007)
Amelie (March 2,2002)
American Splendor (Nov 1,2003)
An Education (March 10,2010)
Animal Kingdom (Oct 2,2010)
Atanarjuat The Fast Runner (April 13,2002)
Away From Her (May 26,2007)
Band's Visit (April 26,2008)
Baran (June 14,2002)
Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (Apr 19,2008)
Before Sunset (August 28,2004)
Being Julia (February 26,2005)
Billy Elliot (Dec 16,2000)
Bollywood Hollywood (November 30,2002)
Born Into Brothels (May 21,2005)
Bran Nue Dae (Oct 9,2010)
Bright Young Things (Oct 23,2004)
Brothers Bloom (July 11,2009)
Caché (May 20,2006)
Capote (Dec 17,2005)
Capturing The Friedmans (Nov 8,2003)
Caramel (Apr 19,2008)
Cat's Meow (Aug 24,2002)
Cell, The (Aug 26,2000)
Charlie St.Cloud (Aug 8,2010)
Che-Part One (May 23,2009)
Che-Part Two (May 30,2009)
The Class (Apr 25,2009)
Coffee And Cigarettes (Jul 10,2004)
Closing The Ring (Aug 30,2008
Color of Paradise (Dec 2,2000)
Control Room (Sep 11,2004)
Conversations With Other Women (Nov 4,2006)
Corporation (February 14,2004)
Counterfeiters (Apr 26,2008)
C.R.A.Z.Y. (Feb 28,2006)
Cyrus (Aug 7,2010)
Dancer In The Dark (Nov 25,2000)
Dancer Upstairs (July 12,2003)
Descent,The (August 8,2006)
Dirty Pretty Things (Nov 29,2003)
Disappearance of Alice Creed (Oct 4,2010)
Divided We Fall (Jan 12,2002)
Diving Bell And The Butterfly (Feb 23,2008)
Door On The Floor (Aug 14,2004)
Downfall (Apr 30,2005)
Dying At Grace (Feb 21,2004)
Eastern Promises (Sep 22,2007)
Edge of Heaven (Aug 23,2008)
Elegy (Oct 11,2008)
EMPz 4 Life (Mar 1,2007)
End of Silence (Mar 11,2006)
Enfant (July 15,2006)
Evelyn (Feb 1,2003)
Far From Heaven (Mar 22,2003)
Fix: The Story Of An Addicted City (Oct 25,2003)
Flight Of The Red Balloon (Aug 9,2008)
Food Inc (Sep 5,2009)
Frida (Nov 23,2002)
Frozen River (Oct 4,2008)
Fugitive Pieces (June 14,2008)
Girlfight (Nov 4,2000)
Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest (Nov 20,2010)
Girl Who Played With Fire (Jul 30,2010)
Girl With A Pearl Earring (Apr 17,2004)
Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (May 7,2010)
Golden Bowl (Sept 1,2001)
Gomorrah (May 9,2009)
Goodbye Solo (July 18,2009)
Good Girl,The (Oct 12,2002)
Good Thief,The (Jun 7,2003)
Gosford Park (Jan 19,2002)
Grande Seduction,La (Feb 21,2004)
Half Nelson (Nov 4,2006)
Happy Go Lucky (Nov 22,2008)
Holy Girl (Sep 3,2005)
Homme du Train (Aug 16,2003)
House of Flying Daggers (Feb 5,2005)
House of Mirth (June 30,2001)
Human Stain (Dec 20,2003)
Hurt Locker (August 22,2009)
I Am Love (Aug 13,2010)
I Served The King Of England (Nov 22,2008)
In The Mood For Love (May 26,2001)
Iris (June 1,2002)
Is Anybody There (Jul 25,2009)
Journals of Knud Rasmussen (Sep 30,2006)
Junebug (Dec 10,2005)
Kamikaze Girls (Oct 8,2005)
Kid Stays In The Picture (Oct 12,2002)
Kinky Boots (June 3,2006)
Kinsey (Feb 19,2005)
La Moustache (Oct 28,2006)
La Vie En Rose (Jul 28,2007)
Last Round: Chuvalo Vs Ali (Feb 7,2004)
Lebanon (Nov 14,2010)
Let The Right One In (Jan 17,2009)
Lives of Others (May 19,2007)
Long Life,Happiness & Prosperity (Feb 22,2003)
Lost In La Mancha (Jun 1,2003)
Love Is Work (Mar 11,2006)
Lust,Caution (Dec 8,2007)
Man On Wire (Nov 8,2008)
Maria Full Of Grace (Oct 9,2004)
Me And Orson Welles (Feb 13,2010)
Me And You And Everyone We Know (Sept 24,2005
Merchant Of Venice (May 7,2005)
Mighty Wind,A (May 17/2003)
Millions (Jul 9,2005)
Monster (Feb 14,2004)
Monster's Ball (Apr 20,2002)
Motorcycle Diaries (Nov 6,2004)
Mulholland Drive (Dec 22,2001)
Nature of Nicholas (Feb 22,2003)
Necessities Of Life (Mar 14,2009)
Neil Young: Heart of Gold (May 20/06)
Never Let Me Go (Nov 27,2010)
Nobody Knows (May 21,2005)
Northfork (Oct 4,2003)
Nowhere Boy (Nov 6,2010)
Once (Jul 14,2007)
Orphanage,The (Mar 15,2008)
Owning Mahoney (Sep 27,2003)
Persepolis (Feb 16,2008)
Pollock (Apr 28,2001
Pool,The (Apr 25,2009)
Proposition,The (Aug 5,2006)
Rabbitt Proof-Fence (Mar 15,2003)
Raising Victor Vargas (Aug 30,2003)
Reader,The (Feb 9,2009)
Requiem For A Dream (Jan 13,2001
Restrepo (Sep 25,2010
Road To Quantanomo (Jul 29/06)
Rory O'Shea Was Here (Apr 16,2005)
Saddest Music In The World (Jun 19,2004)
Samsara (Oct 23,2004)
Savages,The (Jan 19,2008)
Sea Inside,The (Mar 19,2005)
Seraphine (Oct 17,2009)
Sexy Beast (Aug 11,2001)
Shake Hands With The Devil (both feature&documentary
(Sep 29& Oct 13,2007)
Silent Waters (Feb 19,2005)
Smart People (Apr 26,2008)
Smell of Camphor...(Oct 13,2001)
Snow Walker (May 1,2004)
Sophie Scholl:The Last Days (Jul 8,2006)
Standing In The Shadows (Feb 18,2003)
Stone Angel (May 31,2008)
Story Of The Weeping Camel (Nov 6,2004)
Summer Hours (Sep 5,2009)
Syrian Bride (Oct 19,2005)
Tell No One (Nov 29,2008)
Thank You For Smoking (Apr 22,2006)
Thirteen Converations About One Thing (Sep 21,2002
Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (May 13,2006
Time For Drunken Horses,A (Feb 3,2001)
Transamerica (Feb 4,2006)
Triage (Jan 3,2009)
Triplets of Belleville (Mar 6,2004)
Tristram Shandy (June 3,2006)
Trotsky,The (Jun 11,2010)
True Meaning Of Pictures (Feb 22,2003)
Tsotsi (Apr 29,2006)
Tulpan (May 23,2009)
Turtles Can Fly (Oct 1,2005)
21 Grams (Mar 6,2004)
Two Lovers (June 6,2009)
Under The Same Moon (May 10,2008)
Valet,The (Aug 25,2007
Vera Drake (Dec 11,2004
Visitor,The (May 17,2008)
Volver (Feb 3,2007)
Waitress (Jun 9,2007)
Waking Life (Dec 15,2001)
Wendy And Lucy (Apr 11,2009)
What Remains Of Us (Feb 5,2005)
Whatever Works (Aug 1,2009)
White Countess (Mar 25,2006)
White Masai (Apr 28,2007)
White Ribbon,The (Apr 9,2010)
Widow of Saint-Pierre (June 23,2001)
Wind That Shakes The Barley (May 12,2007)
Winged Migration (Oct 18,2003)
Winter's Bone (Aug 20,2010)
Women,The (Sep 27,2008)
Woodsman,The (Apr 2,2005)
Yi-Yi (Aug 18,2001)
Young At Heart (May 24,2008)
Youth Without Youth (Feb 9,2008)
July 22,2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
With this entry on my blog, it is a list of all the four star movies I have reviewed at the Screening Room here in Kingston,Ontario. Since the fall of 2000 when I started going there,I have enjoyed thousands of hours watching quality movies and, although for years I didn't want to put stars on my reviews, they are important to moviegoers because they want to know how I rate them. Sticking to four stars, with no half-stars,I recently went back to do it. For me, an outstanding movie can only be described in words and as you read one of my reviews, you should be able to tell whether it's worth seeing.
It is my intention over the course of time to get them all on my blog which I started five years ago. This means you will be able to find all those reviews right now.
Here now is my list of all the four star movies from 2000-1010 in alphabetical order along with the date I reviewed them in brackets.
THE FOUR STAR MOVIES
Across The Universe (October 20,2007)
Adam (September 23,2009)
Adoration (June 28,2009)
Aimee & Jaquar (October 6,2001)
Akeelah And The Bee (May 13,2006)
Amal
Amazing Grace (April 21,2007)
Amelie (March 2,2002)
American Splendor (Nov 1,2003)
An Education (March 10,2010)
Animal Kingdom (Oct 2,2010)
Atanarjuat The Fast Runner (April 13,2002)
Away From Her (May 26,2007)
Band's Visit (April 26,2008)
Baran (June 14,2002)
Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (Apr 19,2008)
Before Sunset (August 28,2004)
Being Julia (February 26,2005)
Billy Elliot (Dec 16,2000)
Bollywood Hollywood (November 30,2002)
Born Into Brothels (May 21,2005)
Bran Nue Dae (Oct 9,2010)
Bright Young Things (Oct 23,2004)
Brothers Bloom (July 11,2009)
Caché (May 20,2006)
Capote (Dec 17,2005)
Capturing The Friedmans (Nov 8,2003)
Caramel (Apr 19,2008)
Cat's Meow (Aug 24,2002)
Cell, The (Aug 26,2000)
Charlie St.Cloud (Aug 8,2010)
Che-Part One (May 23,2009)
Che-Part Two (May 30,2009)
The Class (Apr 25,2009)
Coffee And Cigarettes (Jul 10,2004)
Closing The Ring (Aug 30,2008
Color of Paradise (Dec 2,2000)
Control Room (Sep 11,2004)
Conversations With Other Women (Nov 4,2006)
Corporation (February 14,2004)
Counterfeiters (Apr 26,2008)
C.R.A.Z.Y. (Feb 28,2006)
Cyrus (Aug 7,2010)
Dancer In The Dark (Nov 25,2000)
Dancer Upstairs (July 12,2003)
Descent,The (August 8,2006)
Dirty Pretty Things (Nov 29,2003)
Disappearance of Alice Creed (Oct 4,2010)
Divided We Fall (Jan 12,2002)
Diving Bell And The Butterfly (Feb 23,2008)
Door On The Floor (Aug 14,2004)
Downfall (Apr 30,2005)
Dying At Grace (Feb 21,2004)
Eastern Promises (Sep 22,2007)
Edge of Heaven (Aug 23,2008)
Elegy (Oct 11,2008)
EMPz 4 Life (Mar 1,2007)
End of Silence (Mar 11,2006)
Enfant (July 15,2006)
Evelyn (Feb 1,2003)
Far From Heaven (Mar 22,2003)
Fix: The Story Of An Addicted City (Oct 25,2003)
Flight Of The Red Balloon (Aug 9,2008)
Food Inc (Sep 5,2009)
Frida (Nov 23,2002)
Frozen River (Oct 4,2008)
Fugitive Pieces (June 14,2008)
Girlfight (Nov 4,2000)
Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest (Nov 20,2010)
Girl Who Played With Fire (Jul 30,2010)
Girl With A Pearl Earring (Apr 17,2004)
Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (May 7,2010)
Golden Bowl (Sept 1,2001)
Gomorrah (May 9,2009)
Goodbye Solo (July 18,2009)
Good Girl,The (Oct 12,2002)
Good Thief,The (Jun 7,2003)
Gosford Park (Jan 19,2002)
Grande Seduction,La (Feb 21,2004)
Half Nelson (Nov 4,2006)
Happy Go Lucky (Nov 22,2008)
Holy Girl (Sep 3,2005)
Homme du Train (Aug 16,2003)
House of Flying Daggers (Feb 5,2005)
House of Mirth (June 30,2001)
Human Stain (Dec 20,2003)
Hurt Locker (August 22,2009)
I Am Love (Aug 13,2010)
I Served The King Of England (Nov 22,2008)
In The Mood For Love (May 26,2001)
Iris (June 1,2002)
Is Anybody There (Jul 25,2009)
Journals of Knud Rasmussen (Sep 30,2006)
Junebug (Dec 10,2005)
Kamikaze Girls (Oct 8,2005)
Kid Stays In The Picture (Oct 12,2002)
Kinky Boots (June 3,2006)
Kinsey (Feb 19,2005)
La Moustache (Oct 28,2006)
La Vie En Rose (Jul 28,2007)
Last Round: Chuvalo Vs Ali (Feb 7,2004)
Lebanon (Nov 14,2010)
Let The Right One In (Jan 17,2009)
Lives of Others (May 19,2007)
Long Life,Happiness & Prosperity (Feb 22,2003)
Lost In La Mancha (Jun 1,2003)
Love Is Work (Mar 11,2006)
Lust,Caution (Dec 8,2007)
Man On Wire (Nov 8,2008)
Maria Full Of Grace (Oct 9,2004)
Me And Orson Welles (Feb 13,2010)
Me And You And Everyone We Know (Sept 24,2005
Merchant Of Venice (May 7,2005)
Mighty Wind,A (May 17/2003)
Millions (Jul 9,2005)
Monster (Feb 14,2004)
Monster's Ball (Apr 20,2002)
Motorcycle Diaries (Nov 6,2004)
Mulholland Drive (Dec 22,2001)
Nature of Nicholas (Feb 22,2003)
Necessities Of Life (Mar 14,2009)
Neil Young: Heart of Gold (May 20/06)
Never Let Me Go (Nov 27,2010)
Nobody Knows (May 21,2005)
Northfork (Oct 4,2003)
Nowhere Boy (Nov 6,2010)
Once (Jul 14,2007)
Orphanage,The (Mar 15,2008)
Owning Mahoney (Sep 27,2003)
Persepolis (Feb 16,2008)
Pollock (Apr 28,2001
Pool,The (Apr 25,2009)
Proposition,The (Aug 5,2006)
Rabbitt Proof-Fence (Mar 15,2003)
Raising Victor Vargas (Aug 30,2003)
Reader,The (Feb 9,2009)
Requiem For A Dream (Jan 13,2001
Restrepo (Sep 25,2010
Road To Quantanomo (Jul 29/06)
Rory O'Shea Was Here (Apr 16,2005)
Saddest Music In The World (Jun 19,2004)
Samsara (Oct 23,2004)
Savages,The (Jan 19,2008)
Sea Inside,The (Mar 19,2005)
Seraphine (Oct 17,2009)
Sexy Beast (Aug 11,2001)
Shake Hands With The Devil (both feature&documentary
(Sep 29& Oct 13,2007)
Silent Waters (Feb 19,2005)
Smart People (Apr 26,2008)
Smell of Camphor...(Oct 13,2001)
Snow Walker (May 1,2004)
Sophie Scholl:The Last Days (Jul 8,2006)
Standing In The Shadows (Feb 18,2003)
Stone Angel (May 31,2008)
Story Of The Weeping Camel (Nov 6,2004)
Summer Hours (Sep 5,2009)
Syrian Bride (Oct 19,2005)
Tell No One (Nov 29,2008)
Thank You For Smoking (Apr 22,2006)
Thirteen Converations About One Thing (Sep 21,2002
Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (May 13,2006
Time For Drunken Horses,A (Feb 3,2001)
Transamerica (Feb 4,2006)
Triage (Jan 3,2009)
Triplets of Belleville (Mar 6,2004)
Tristram Shandy (June 3,2006)
Trotsky,The (Jun 11,2010)
True Meaning Of Pictures (Feb 22,2003)
Tsotsi (Apr 29,2006)
Tulpan (May 23,2009)
Turtles Can Fly (Oct 1,2005)
21 Grams (Mar 6,2004)
Two Lovers (June 6,2009)
Under The Same Moon (May 10,2008)
Valet,The (Aug 25,2007
Vera Drake (Dec 11,2004
Visitor,The (May 17,2008)
Volver (Feb 3,2007)
Waitress (Jun 9,2007)
Waking Life (Dec 15,2001)
Wendy And Lucy (Apr 11,2009)
What Remains Of Us (Feb 5,2005)
Whatever Works (Aug 1,2009)
White Countess (Mar 25,2006)
White Masai (Apr 28,2007)
White Ribbon,The (Apr 9,2010)
Widow of Saint-Pierre (June 23,2001)
Wind That Shakes The Barley (May 12,2007)
Winged Migration (Oct 18,2003)
Winter's Bone (Aug 20,2010)
Women,The (Sep 27,2008)
Woodsman,The (Apr 2,2005)
Yi-Yi (Aug 18,2001)
Young At Heart (May 24,2008)
Youth Without Youth (Feb 9,2008)
July 22,2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
LOOKING BACK #1
BY RICK JACKSON
This is the first in a series where I am going back over the 33 years that I have been a film critic in Kingston,Ontario, Canada. Happy reading and see you at the movies!
FULL METAL JACKET (WARNER BROTHERS, 1987)****
By Rick Jackson
Full Metal Jacket is one of the best war movies ever made. It is also a magnificent achievement from producer/director Stanley Kubrick (2001, A Clockwork Orange).
Based on the novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford, the screenplay by Kubrick,Michael Herr and Hasford is a searing depiction of Vietnam as seen through the eyes of Private Jocker (Matthew Modine).
The first 45 minutes are confined to the boot camp at Parris, Island, South Carolina where a group of raw recruits are deflowered by Gunnery Sgt. Hartman as he uses a barrage of endless insults to dehumanize the men. He even assigns pet names to the recruits. Besides Private Jocker, there is Cowboy(Arliss Howard) and Gomer Pyle (Vincent D'Onofrio), who becomes Hartman's whipping boy.
When the action switches to Vietnam, Joker, like Hasford in real-life, becomes a war correspondent for the marine newspaper. There he befriendsRafterman (Kevyn Major Howard),a combat photographer. The two join a small band of marines engaged in urban warfare in the wartorn city of Hue.
Kubrick ends the film with the 1968 Tet Offensive and in a gripping climax, the marines fight a single sniper whose identity comes as a surprise.
Hartman is well played by Lee Ermy, a former marine drill instructor. In the film he trains his platoon with an iron fist and adds a touch of realism. His black humour and screeching tirades are meant to break his men into killing machines. Kubrick gives him credit as the film's technical adviser.
The rest of the cast features Adam Baldwin as Animal Mother,Dorian Harewood as Eightball and Kieron Jecchins as Crazy Earl.
With help from sound man Edward Tise and cameraman Douglas Milsome, the director has made an intelligent war epic. As you watch it unfold, the action is not sentimentalized by a hymn-like music score like Platoon. Instead, it is kept in the background except for some 1960 pop hits such as Chapel of Love and Wooly Bully which can be heard intermittently. They are interrupted by the resounding noise of gunnfire and bombs to remind us of the reality of war.
The film's title refers to the type of bullet the Marines used. Full Metal Jacket is a must see.
It is rated R/Restricted, with the warning: brutal violence.
July 15,1987
Copyright Rick Jackson 1987
Full Metal Jacket played at the CAPITOL THEATRE. My review originally was published in The Heritage newspaper.
HONEYSUCKLE ROSE (WARNER BROTHERS, 1980)***
By Rick Jackson
Willie Nelson turns in a fine performance as Buck Bonham in Honeysuckle Rose. When you first see him, he is playing golf and taking it easy before his next concert appearance. For 20 years he has been travelling on the road and living the life style of a troubadour. The songs he has composed and sung about have made him more than just a country picker from Texas, but a bona fide star.
As you watch him perform you can see how his fans respond with enthusiastic applause wherever he goes and they love to shake his hand when the opportunity comes.
Like Willie Nelson in real life, Buck is a hero who can lift your spirits when you are feeling low, and warm your heart when you want to just listen.
Cast as Buck's wife Viv is Dyan Cannon,who is still attractive at 41. She first toured with him as part of his act and they continued to perform together after they were married. After the birth of their son, she found it wasn't easy on the road and felt it was time to settle down. At this point, the story begins.
Intercut with Buck's live performances is the long journey home after another road tour. When he arrives home,he stops at his mailbox. On it is the name of his ranch: HONEYSUCKLE ROSE BUCK BONHAM.
(Honeysuckle Rose is also the name of a famous song composed by Andy Razaf and Thomas "Fats" Waller. It is never heard in the film.
Buck's latest homecoming is greeted with mixed feelings by his wife and son who are glad to see him. After a nice dinner, they make some homemade ice cream. The closeness they share in this sequence symbolizes what happens next in a surprising moment for everyone. It comes after another quarrel between Buck and Viv, something they muat have had regularly lately when Buck came home. This time their spat leads to a reunion in song that lights up the screen and genuinely proves the love they have for each other is stronger than any argument or disagreement. Never has it been so expressed so well on screen like this.
Cannon does her own singing and does a beautiful job on the Kris Kristofferson song,"Loving You Is Easier."
Life on the road was lonely for Buck and he quietly confesses that he did kiss another woman. She is played by Amy Irving who you may recognize from Carrie (1976) and The Fury (1978). In Honeysuckle Rose, she plays the daughter of Buck's close friend,Garland (Lily Ramsey).
What makes the entire film enjoyable is Nelson's singing. These songs stand out: On The Road Again(the opening number) and Whiskey River.
Carol Sobieski, William D. Wittliff and John Binder originally wrote the screenplay with Gustav Stevens and Gustav Molander, two mutual friends who inspired them. Although the end result is a bit weak and very familiar, Nelson and Cannon carry the simplistic plot well and you feel for their characters right up to the end.
What makes the film work is its documentary feel as if it could be about any country singer on the road.
Emmylou Harris makes a cameo appearance with Willie as the girl dressed in a blue and white cowboy suit.
Honeysuckle Rose is produced by Gene Taft and directed by Jerry Schatzberg (The Seduction of Joe Tynan). It is one of the summer's welcome surprises. It is rated PG/Parental Guidance and is playing at the CAPITOL THEATRE.
July 18,1980
Copyright Rick Jackson 1980
This is the first in a series where I am going back over the 33 years that I have been a film critic in Kingston,Ontario, Canada. Happy reading and see you at the movies!
FULL METAL JACKET (WARNER BROTHERS, 1987)****
By Rick Jackson
Full Metal Jacket is one of the best war movies ever made. It is also a magnificent achievement from producer/director Stanley Kubrick (2001, A Clockwork Orange).
Based on the novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford, the screenplay by Kubrick,Michael Herr and Hasford is a searing depiction of Vietnam as seen through the eyes of Private Jocker (Matthew Modine).
The first 45 minutes are confined to the boot camp at Parris, Island, South Carolina where a group of raw recruits are deflowered by Gunnery Sgt. Hartman as he uses a barrage of endless insults to dehumanize the men. He even assigns pet names to the recruits. Besides Private Jocker, there is Cowboy(Arliss Howard) and Gomer Pyle (Vincent D'Onofrio), who becomes Hartman's whipping boy.
When the action switches to Vietnam, Joker, like Hasford in real-life, becomes a war correspondent for the marine newspaper. There he befriendsRafterman (Kevyn Major Howard),a combat photographer. The two join a small band of marines engaged in urban warfare in the wartorn city of Hue.
Kubrick ends the film with the 1968 Tet Offensive and in a gripping climax, the marines fight a single sniper whose identity comes as a surprise.
Hartman is well played by Lee Ermy, a former marine drill instructor. In the film he trains his platoon with an iron fist and adds a touch of realism. His black humour and screeching tirades are meant to break his men into killing machines. Kubrick gives him credit as the film's technical adviser.
The rest of the cast features Adam Baldwin as Animal Mother,Dorian Harewood as Eightball and Kieron Jecchins as Crazy Earl.
With help from sound man Edward Tise and cameraman Douglas Milsome, the director has made an intelligent war epic. As you watch it unfold, the action is not sentimentalized by a hymn-like music score like Platoon. Instead, it is kept in the background except for some 1960 pop hits such as Chapel of Love and Wooly Bully which can be heard intermittently. They are interrupted by the resounding noise of gunnfire and bombs to remind us of the reality of war.
The film's title refers to the type of bullet the Marines used. Full Metal Jacket is a must see.
It is rated R/Restricted, with the warning: brutal violence.
July 15,1987
Copyright Rick Jackson 1987
Full Metal Jacket played at the CAPITOL THEATRE. My review originally was published in The Heritage newspaper.
HONEYSUCKLE ROSE (WARNER BROTHERS, 1980)***
By Rick Jackson
Willie Nelson turns in a fine performance as Buck Bonham in Honeysuckle Rose. When you first see him, he is playing golf and taking it easy before his next concert appearance. For 20 years he has been travelling on the road and living the life style of a troubadour. The songs he has composed and sung about have made him more than just a country picker from Texas, but a bona fide star.
As you watch him perform you can see how his fans respond with enthusiastic applause wherever he goes and they love to shake his hand when the opportunity comes.
Like Willie Nelson in real life, Buck is a hero who can lift your spirits when you are feeling low, and warm your heart when you want to just listen.
Cast as Buck's wife Viv is Dyan Cannon,who is still attractive at 41. She first toured with him as part of his act and they continued to perform together after they were married. After the birth of their son, she found it wasn't easy on the road and felt it was time to settle down. At this point, the story begins.
Intercut with Buck's live performances is the long journey home after another road tour. When he arrives home,he stops at his mailbox. On it is the name of his ranch: HONEYSUCKLE ROSE BUCK BONHAM.
(Honeysuckle Rose is also the name of a famous song composed by Andy Razaf and Thomas "Fats" Waller. It is never heard in the film.
Buck's latest homecoming is greeted with mixed feelings by his wife and son who are glad to see him. After a nice dinner, they make some homemade ice cream. The closeness they share in this sequence symbolizes what happens next in a surprising moment for everyone. It comes after another quarrel between Buck and Viv, something they muat have had regularly lately when Buck came home. This time their spat leads to a reunion in song that lights up the screen and genuinely proves the love they have for each other is stronger than any argument or disagreement. Never has it been so expressed so well on screen like this.
Cannon does her own singing and does a beautiful job on the Kris Kristofferson song,"Loving You Is Easier."
Life on the road was lonely for Buck and he quietly confesses that he did kiss another woman. She is played by Amy Irving who you may recognize from Carrie (1976) and The Fury (1978). In Honeysuckle Rose, she plays the daughter of Buck's close friend,Garland (Lily Ramsey).
What makes the entire film enjoyable is Nelson's singing. These songs stand out: On The Road Again(the opening number) and Whiskey River.
Carol Sobieski, William D. Wittliff and John Binder originally wrote the screenplay with Gustav Stevens and Gustav Molander, two mutual friends who inspired them. Although the end result is a bit weak and very familiar, Nelson and Cannon carry the simplistic plot well and you feel for their characters right up to the end.
What makes the film work is its documentary feel as if it could be about any country singer on the road.
Emmylou Harris makes a cameo appearance with Willie as the girl dressed in a blue and white cowboy suit.
Honeysuckle Rose is produced by Gene Taft and directed by Jerry Schatzberg (The Seduction of Joe Tynan). It is one of the summer's welcome surprises. It is rated PG/Parental Guidance and is playing at the CAPITOL THEATRE.
July 18,1980
Copyright Rick Jackson 1980
Monday, July 18, 2011
DEATHLY HALLOWS 2 (WARNER BROTHERS, 2011)****
BY RICK JACKSON
Harry Potter fans worldwide have suddenly made their hero a cult figure and the box office figures for its first four days confirms it. Not being a big Harry Potter fan, I still have enjoyed the films and even read some of the books. With the opening of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, there is equal cause to expect a slam bang finish and audience expectations have been met. I,too, was elated and surprised by the literate script for this last and eighth entry and Alexandre Desplat has composed an unforgettable score to help you remember Harry as the latest incarnation of what a hero means. As you will see, even if you have read the book, there is a lot more to Harry than in previous films.
Written by Steve Kloves based on J.K. Rowling's best selling novel, Part Two picks up from Part One with an opening that is not totally unexpected. What makes the conclusion to this conclusion stand out is the way it ties together certain plot points by recalling key events in the story in order for you to properly gain a better understanding of what you are about to see by film's end.
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are noticeably older and their acting has contributed to the credibility of making their fictional counterparts arguably memorable beyond any fictional character you may have seen adapted to the screen.
The bevy of supporting characters has made the series of books come alive and apart from some moviegoers who lacked the patience to stick each film out or care about the Rowling's creative imagination which was clearly evident from the inordinate plot twists. Warner Brothers has clearly taken on the assignment in building up the author's enthusiasm by instilling with each frame the skills of many craftsmen to bring each of the book's many nuances and basic plots to life as if you were at home watching the books come to life in your living room.
Anyone who has read them will attest to the veracity in keeping the events true to their origins and, despite some scenes that were re-arranged or left out, moviegoers and readers have not been disappointed.
The gothic architecture and period of Harry Potter is not well defined for it may be in the future or not. Essentially as I have said it is all part of the creative magination of Miss Rowling and whether or not it stands next to Lewis Carroll's Aventures of Alice In Wonderland is, perhaps, too early to discuss. But it is no secret, Carroll's imagination created characters who have remained dear to both children and adults. You only have to remember last year's adaptation of Alice In Wonderland by Tim Burton which was well received.
As you watch Deathly Hallows Part Two unfold, you are first told to put on your 3D glasses and as many hearts and minds sit patiently through the trailers, the theatre is quiet save you might miss an important moment when the feature finally begins and there are many scenes in the first half that are meant to be cliffhangers because you can't wait to see where director David Yates is going to go and if Mr. Kloves has added or changed the book.
Desplat's music score enhances even the simplest sequence and as you hear each crescendo is meant to equal your heartbeat because you are right up there with Harry, Ron and Hermione. When each of them makes a move, you can almost feel them breath everything it takes to magically maintain your undivided attention for over two hours.
The mysteries hidden around each corner are greeted with equal excitement and anticipation and the special and visual effects departments have conjured up the right amount of solid entertainment.
The reognizable trappings of Potter and his suspicions are old hat but Daniel Radcliffe instills the boy inside the fully grown adult whispers of his youth when he encountered the evil Voldemort and his wicked ways. If you look closely, you will still see the young Harry at work for he hasn't changed in attitude or appearance so as not to spoil Rowling's characterization of him. Expectedly he has grown in the part and there is plenty of evidence here.
Grint and Watson have also brought to Ron and Hermione a chance to be as good as Harry for they are a threesome who have stayed together and complimented each other right up to the fitting conclusion.
It's nice to see the rest of the cast gain notoriety for their individual contributions in making each Harry Potter adventure larger than life: Michael Gambon as the kindly Dumbledore, Robbie Coltrane as the lovable and dependable Hagrid,Maggie Smith as Minerva, Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, and Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, who may well be remembered as one of the screen's best villains.
As you ruminate and discuss Harry Potter with friends and family, you can feel satisfied by this strong ending to one of the best loved series in film history.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: not recommended for young children, some scary scenes and violence.
July 17,2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Harry Potter fans worldwide have suddenly made their hero a cult figure and the box office figures for its first four days confirms it. Not being a big Harry Potter fan, I still have enjoyed the films and even read some of the books. With the opening of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, there is equal cause to expect a slam bang finish and audience expectations have been met. I,too, was elated and surprised by the literate script for this last and eighth entry and Alexandre Desplat has composed an unforgettable score to help you remember Harry as the latest incarnation of what a hero means. As you will see, even if you have read the book, there is a lot more to Harry than in previous films.
Written by Steve Kloves based on J.K. Rowling's best selling novel, Part Two picks up from Part One with an opening that is not totally unexpected. What makes the conclusion to this conclusion stand out is the way it ties together certain plot points by recalling key events in the story in order for you to properly gain a better understanding of what you are about to see by film's end.
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are noticeably older and their acting has contributed to the credibility of making their fictional counterparts arguably memorable beyond any fictional character you may have seen adapted to the screen.
The bevy of supporting characters has made the series of books come alive and apart from some moviegoers who lacked the patience to stick each film out or care about the Rowling's creative imagination which was clearly evident from the inordinate plot twists. Warner Brothers has clearly taken on the assignment in building up the author's enthusiasm by instilling with each frame the skills of many craftsmen to bring each of the book's many nuances and basic plots to life as if you were at home watching the books come to life in your living room.
Anyone who has read them will attest to the veracity in keeping the events true to their origins and, despite some scenes that were re-arranged or left out, moviegoers and readers have not been disappointed.
The gothic architecture and period of Harry Potter is not well defined for it may be in the future or not. Essentially as I have said it is all part of the creative magination of Miss Rowling and whether or not it stands next to Lewis Carroll's Aventures of Alice In Wonderland is, perhaps, too early to discuss. But it is no secret, Carroll's imagination created characters who have remained dear to both children and adults. You only have to remember last year's adaptation of Alice In Wonderland by Tim Burton which was well received.
As you watch Deathly Hallows Part Two unfold, you are first told to put on your 3D glasses and as many hearts and minds sit patiently through the trailers, the theatre is quiet save you might miss an important moment when the feature finally begins and there are many scenes in the first half that are meant to be cliffhangers because you can't wait to see where director David Yates is going to go and if Mr. Kloves has added or changed the book.
Desplat's music score enhances even the simplest sequence and as you hear each crescendo is meant to equal your heartbeat because you are right up there with Harry, Ron and Hermione. When each of them makes a move, you can almost feel them breath everything it takes to magically maintain your undivided attention for over two hours.
The mysteries hidden around each corner are greeted with equal excitement and anticipation and the special and visual effects departments have conjured up the right amount of solid entertainment.
The reognizable trappings of Potter and his suspicions are old hat but Daniel Radcliffe instills the boy inside the fully grown adult whispers of his youth when he encountered the evil Voldemort and his wicked ways. If you look closely, you will still see the young Harry at work for he hasn't changed in attitude or appearance so as not to spoil Rowling's characterization of him. Expectedly he has grown in the part and there is plenty of evidence here.
Grint and Watson have also brought to Ron and Hermione a chance to be as good as Harry for they are a threesome who have stayed together and complimented each other right up to the fitting conclusion.
It's nice to see the rest of the cast gain notoriety for their individual contributions in making each Harry Potter adventure larger than life: Michael Gambon as the kindly Dumbledore, Robbie Coltrane as the lovable and dependable Hagrid,Maggie Smith as Minerva, Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, and Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, who may well be remembered as one of the screen's best villains.
As you ruminate and discuss Harry Potter with friends and family, you can feel satisfied by this strong ending to one of the best loved series in film history.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: not recommended for young children, some scary scenes and violence.
July 17,2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
LAST NIGHT (E-ONE, 2010)****
BY RICK JACKSON
Written and directed by Massy Tadjedin, Last Night is an artistic triumph from beginning to end. Watching it is like listening to a torch song or, in particular, k.d. lang's Constant Craving because it builds up slowly to a climax which finishes on a climactic note that is haunting and unforgettable.
As you are slowly introduced to the four main characters: Joanna and Michael Reed(Keira Knightley and Sam Worthington), Laura (Eva Mendes) and Alex (Guillaume Canet), you become involved in a character study about human relationships and the behaviours of each of the four as they try to reconcile their past and present without going over the top emotionally.
Tadjedin, in her literate script, almost defines the way a couple reacts and behaves today as if she understands or has been through a similar situation described in her movie.
In a completely different context, Last Night could easily be a film directed by Mike Nichols, despite the fact the two may never have met. The four main characters in Last Night convey the attitudes of two men and women who have trouble communicating with each other but still have the ability to speak their minds in settings where they each have found a certain, if not small, comfort in discussing their innermost thoughts and feelings as you learn how their different paths have converged in the present.
Knightley's Joanna is a confused and sexually repressed woman who isn't sure where her marriage is going and her female intuition tells her to question her husband's fidelity rather than trust him. Her sense of humour and quiet demeanor reveals her true character as a woman in a difficult situation that might be a total figment of her imagination because there is no proof of her suspicions being true.
While you watch Worthington's Michael share a bed with Laura there is a definite feeling of wilful infidelity on his part as he tries to cover up his guilt by justifying his tryst as a matter of human lust. As the two of them talk, you are shown their weaknesses as characters who are easily persuaded to do what their minds want rather than exercise any normal restraint.
Later on you see Joanna test her infidelity which is recoiled by her own guilt that never really goes too far because she is smart enough to realize what is really going on even if her facial expressions and body language are exactly the opposite.
Canet's honesty in plating a man who may not be the definition of a gigolo is open to interpretation. His strong acting is convincing and you are left to think about him.
Mendes is equally swayed by her own emotions and her cocksure mentality only proves the wiles of a woman in love and what she will do to get what she wants.
By film's end, you are not shaken by any of the transgressions of these four but illuminated by the fact they are responsible adults who are prepared to accept the way things are in their current relationships and may be ready to move on. Still, you have to be aware of the way they are behaving when they are with each other to gauge the truth of their individual situations.
Tadjedin is careful not to give any pat solutions to the the problems inherent in any of their love lives and without the usual wars of emotions you are left with a more intelligent view of human decency and respect for both sexes.
Like Mike Nichols' Closer (2004) where the characters were all left to feel they were special, the four in Last Night remain same respectable persons they were at the very beginning. The conclusion ends on a more poignant note thanks to the quiet strains of Clint Mansell's music score that is also kept nicely in the background throughout the film.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: mature theme and sexual content.
July 15, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Written and directed by Massy Tadjedin, Last Night is an artistic triumph from beginning to end. Watching it is like listening to a torch song or, in particular, k.d. lang's Constant Craving because it builds up slowly to a climax which finishes on a climactic note that is haunting and unforgettable.
As you are slowly introduced to the four main characters: Joanna and Michael Reed(Keira Knightley and Sam Worthington), Laura (Eva Mendes) and Alex (Guillaume Canet), you become involved in a character study about human relationships and the behaviours of each of the four as they try to reconcile their past and present without going over the top emotionally.
Tadjedin, in her literate script, almost defines the way a couple reacts and behaves today as if she understands or has been through a similar situation described in her movie.
In a completely different context, Last Night could easily be a film directed by Mike Nichols, despite the fact the two may never have met. The four main characters in Last Night convey the attitudes of two men and women who have trouble communicating with each other but still have the ability to speak their minds in settings where they each have found a certain, if not small, comfort in discussing their innermost thoughts and feelings as you learn how their different paths have converged in the present.
Knightley's Joanna is a confused and sexually repressed woman who isn't sure where her marriage is going and her female intuition tells her to question her husband's fidelity rather than trust him. Her sense of humour and quiet demeanor reveals her true character as a woman in a difficult situation that might be a total figment of her imagination because there is no proof of her suspicions being true.
While you watch Worthington's Michael share a bed with Laura there is a definite feeling of wilful infidelity on his part as he tries to cover up his guilt by justifying his tryst as a matter of human lust. As the two of them talk, you are shown their weaknesses as characters who are easily persuaded to do what their minds want rather than exercise any normal restraint.
Later on you see Joanna test her infidelity which is recoiled by her own guilt that never really goes too far because she is smart enough to realize what is really going on even if her facial expressions and body language are exactly the opposite.
Canet's honesty in plating a man who may not be the definition of a gigolo is open to interpretation. His strong acting is convincing and you are left to think about him.
Mendes is equally swayed by her own emotions and her cocksure mentality only proves the wiles of a woman in love and what she will do to get what she wants.
By film's end, you are not shaken by any of the transgressions of these four but illuminated by the fact they are responsible adults who are prepared to accept the way things are in their current relationships and may be ready to move on. Still, you have to be aware of the way they are behaving when they are with each other to gauge the truth of their individual situations.
Tadjedin is careful not to give any pat solutions to the the problems inherent in any of their love lives and without the usual wars of emotions you are left with a more intelligent view of human decency and respect for both sexes.
Like Mike Nichols' Closer (2004) where the characters were all left to feel they were special, the four in Last Night remain same respectable persons they were at the very beginning. The conclusion ends on a more poignant note thanks to the quiet strains of Clint Mansell's music score that is also kept nicely in the background throughout the film.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: mature theme and sexual content.
July 15, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
THE BEAVER (E-ONE, 2011)**
BY RICK JACKSON
The Beaver is an unabashed failure. Despite a good cast starring Mel Gibson and Jdie Foster as parents Walter and Meredith, there is an abundance of mediocrity that is so consistent you are hoping at some point for a change when the story of a depressed family man and the puppet beaver literally takes over instead of being relegated to a secondary role as if Foster, who also directs, did not want her latest to be compared to previous movies about ventriloquism which The Beaver is not. Gibson uses his own voice as the Beaver and it ruins the mystery of the central character. It is never explained why he uses a Cockney accent.
In his screenplay, Kyle Killen mistakenly avoids the serious or real side of depression which it shouldn't have and this,too, brings across the tedious and tiresome tangents about family love with the kids of a depressed parent. The seriousness of the film's theme is left behind when it should have been addressed by a better developed plot and characters who are not always desperate and unconvincing.
Foster does give you an opportunity to see Gibson act again and he doesn't disappoint when he communicates the levels of depression he feels and the emotions that even he doesn't understand which is realistic to a point.
Anton Yelchin plays Porter, Gibson's resentful son, and Jennifer Lawrence is Norah.
Had the film tried to be more entertaining and been a film about ventroliquism instead of eschewing it, The Beaver might have impressed as more compelling entertainment.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: maturem theme, not recommended for children and language may offend.
July 14, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
The Beaver is an unabashed failure. Despite a good cast starring Mel Gibson and Jdie Foster as parents Walter and Meredith, there is an abundance of mediocrity that is so consistent you are hoping at some point for a change when the story of a depressed family man and the puppet beaver literally takes over instead of being relegated to a secondary role as if Foster, who also directs, did not want her latest to be compared to previous movies about ventriloquism which The Beaver is not. Gibson uses his own voice as the Beaver and it ruins the mystery of the central character. It is never explained why he uses a Cockney accent.
In his screenplay, Kyle Killen mistakenly avoids the serious or real side of depression which it shouldn't have and this,too, brings across the tedious and tiresome tangents about family love with the kids of a depressed parent. The seriousness of the film's theme is left behind when it should have been addressed by a better developed plot and characters who are not always desperate and unconvincing.
Foster does give you an opportunity to see Gibson act again and he doesn't disappoint when he communicates the levels of depression he feels and the emotions that even he doesn't understand which is realistic to a point.
Anton Yelchin plays Porter, Gibson's resentful son, and Jennifer Lawrence is Norah.
Had the film tried to be more entertaining and been a film about ventroliquism instead of eschewing it, The Beaver might have impressed as more compelling entertainment.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: maturem theme, not recommended for children and language may offend.
July 14, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
EVEN THE RAIN (2010)***
BY RICK JACKSON
The Spanish language film, Even The Rain(Tambien la Illuvia)is a compelling semi-documentary account of the water crisis in Bolivia that hampers a small cast and crew from making a film about Christopher Columbus.
Set in 2000, he lines between fiction and reality are the defining moments captured on film as the filmmakers use locals as actors and hope there will be time to finish their film before a major outbreak stops them.
Iciar Bollain directs each scene with an air of authority and concern, with each scene drawing on his infinite patience and human understanding shining through when Even The Rain calls for it.
I was reminded of the 1954 film, Salt Of The Earth which also dealt with a real strike and focused on the lives of the inhabitants who lived there.
Although the issues of the people were more defined in Salt of The Earth and went deeper, Even The Rain touches on the political and social consequences without straying from the initial reason the film crew is there.
Gael Garcia Bernal is well cast as Sebastian, the director while Luis Tosar plays Costa, the producer.
While watching the crew work, you will notice the collaborative efforts of both men and how different they are when it comes to their welfare and the sympathies of the low paid workers who are hired as extras.
It is clear they have never been in a film before and it is interesting now Bollain captures everything on both sides of the camera with the ultimate hope it will all be finished.
The locals are resilient and brave to a point even under the most trying circumstances when it looks as if the water strike will escalate at any moment. The drector cleverly takes advantage of the local media that ends up in the film and the opportunity to inform moviegoers of the growing need for water worldwide.
Like Salt of the Earth, the film within the film is a low budget independent effort and without stereotyping the underlying racist issues that are not raised for obvious reasons. The strikers are also equally militant and bitter and the violence typical of Hollywood.
What makes Even The Rain so absorbing is the meticulous way Bollain draws your sympathy and point of view of what is really going on while watching a real-life film crew at work. It is so real you almost forget this is not a documentary.
It is rated 14A, with the warning: coarse language.
July 10, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
The Spanish language film, Even The Rain(Tambien la Illuvia)is a compelling semi-documentary account of the water crisis in Bolivia that hampers a small cast and crew from making a film about Christopher Columbus.
Set in 2000, he lines between fiction and reality are the defining moments captured on film as the filmmakers use locals as actors and hope there will be time to finish their film before a major outbreak stops them.
Iciar Bollain directs each scene with an air of authority and concern, with each scene drawing on his infinite patience and human understanding shining through when Even The Rain calls for it.
I was reminded of the 1954 film, Salt Of The Earth which also dealt with a real strike and focused on the lives of the inhabitants who lived there.
Although the issues of the people were more defined in Salt of The Earth and went deeper, Even The Rain touches on the political and social consequences without straying from the initial reason the film crew is there.
Gael Garcia Bernal is well cast as Sebastian, the director while Luis Tosar plays Costa, the producer.
While watching the crew work, you will notice the collaborative efforts of both men and how different they are when it comes to their welfare and the sympathies of the low paid workers who are hired as extras.
It is clear they have never been in a film before and it is interesting now Bollain captures everything on both sides of the camera with the ultimate hope it will all be finished.
The locals are resilient and brave to a point even under the most trying circumstances when it looks as if the water strike will escalate at any moment. The drector cleverly takes advantage of the local media that ends up in the film and the opportunity to inform moviegoers of the growing need for water worldwide.
Like Salt of the Earth, the film within the film is a low budget independent effort and without stereotyping the underlying racist issues that are not raised for obvious reasons. The strikers are also equally militant and bitter and the violence typical of Hollywood.
What makes Even The Rain so absorbing is the meticulous way Bollain draws your sympathy and point of view of what is really going on while watching a real-life film crew at work. It is so real you almost forget this is not a documentary.
It is rated 14A, with the warning: coarse language.
July 10, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
TREE OF LIFE (E-ONE, 2011)****
BY RICK JACKSON
Written and directed by Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life is a bold, beautiful film where the moviegoer is taken on an unforgettable ride where you explore the meaning of your existence via the director's unique way of storytelling.
Winner of the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, critics are already comparing it to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 classic, 2001:A Space Odyssey. However, both films are quite different despite the fact they may be confusing at first to moviegoers used to seeing character driven plots and car chases.
Where 2001 had an epic structure and was a mythic vision of the relationship between humanity and technology, The Tree of Life examines more concisely on the value we place on family and our lives in general. In order for us to understand Malick's point of view we must be patient with the order of things he wants us to follow. Without going too deep like Kubrick did by using symbolism such as bones that turn into instruments of destruction, Malick prefers through a computer series of frames to convey what the public eye can perceive by a creation sequence that uses sub-atomic occurrences that atretch nanoseconds into cosmic events that condense time. Through the use of dyes, flares, carbon dioxide, paints chemicals and milk, the images you see are striking to the naked eye and your curiosity is awakened as if you are watching something extraordinary for the first time in years. Douglas Trumbull, whose work in the special effects field includes such films as The Andromeda Strain, KiClose Encouters of the Third, Blade Runner, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the short, To The Moon And Beyond that later evolved into Journey To The Stars and,later, 2001.
What Malick introduces first is the idea of the perfect family that has grown up to do what society has expected and the modern life adrift in the 1950s. The O'B fien family has suffered a deep loss with the death of one of the sons. Thr middle brother is Jack who is talking to his father on the phone about his dead brother and it is through this loss of innocence that is gently replaced by a tree being planted in front of a building. From this point on, the flashback in time is a fond reminiscence and the tone of the entire film is set with the voiceover narration and the whispers to draw you closer to the characters and their emotional state of mind.
Malick returns to the 1950s more than once to remind you of the nostalgic price we put on family and the values that have endured through thr generations as exemplified by the O'Briens.
In between there is a dramatization of the formation of the universe with Jack O'Brien's heard underneath as if it were a silent echo asking the questions that are normally asked in a typical family setting. When the sequence gets to the formation of earth, including volcanoes and microbes, the camera stops at a beach where there are dinosaurs.
As it fades, the O'Briens are back as a youger family starting out in the 1950s. Jack is a baby who is quickly followed by his two siblings. The growth of the family also shows you the parents, notably the father played by Brad Pitt. The overwhelming love shared here is mixed by generational attitudes of behaviour betweem the father and his sons which is more paternal and strict compared to the mother's more permissive attitude. It is in this decade, there is unemployment for the father when the plant where he works closes and the family must relocate.
Without too much dialogue and fanfare on the soundtrack, the film returns to the beginning when the adult Jack (Sean Penn) is waling on rocky terrain and his memories cloud his memory like a crowd in the streets.
The essential point in comprehending the entire film is not let it be overshadowed by 2001 but by the intrinsic qualities of life as shown throughout as a main overall focal point from Malick's insistence to attempt to make a profound study of man's deliberate lifestyle, as shown through the decades and, without pounding you over the head in weoghty symbolism, you are entertained by the inordinate sense of human feeling evoked from beginning to end.
The 1950s upbringing may have been inspired by the director's own teenage years and this gives The Tree of Life a far greater scope of reality and vision than most films about the same decade that rely more heavily on rock and roll as the main thematic stivking point (i.e. American Grafitti and its imitations.
Visual effects supervisor Dan Glass assaults the senses with a euphoric display that may define further films of its type. They are carefully placed and shown with equal meaning so as not to get carried away too soon.
The only comparison worth noting with 2001 is in the music score Alexandre Desplat has composed for Tree of Life. It is one of the best of the year because it brings across the various subtle nuances and documentary feel of the fictional elements to greater heights of meaning and comprehension, well beyond the literal as you watch the levels of simplicity and plaintive qualities as if the director demands their attention.
It is rated PG, with the warning: mature theme.
July 8,2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Written and directed by Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life is a bold, beautiful film where the moviegoer is taken on an unforgettable ride where you explore the meaning of your existence via the director's unique way of storytelling.
Winner of the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, critics are already comparing it to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 classic, 2001:A Space Odyssey. However, both films are quite different despite the fact they may be confusing at first to moviegoers used to seeing character driven plots and car chases.
Where 2001 had an epic structure and was a mythic vision of the relationship between humanity and technology, The Tree of Life examines more concisely on the value we place on family and our lives in general. In order for us to understand Malick's point of view we must be patient with the order of things he wants us to follow. Without going too deep like Kubrick did by using symbolism such as bones that turn into instruments of destruction, Malick prefers through a computer series of frames to convey what the public eye can perceive by a creation sequence that uses sub-atomic occurrences that atretch nanoseconds into cosmic events that condense time. Through the use of dyes, flares, carbon dioxide, paints chemicals and milk, the images you see are striking to the naked eye and your curiosity is awakened as if you are watching something extraordinary for the first time in years. Douglas Trumbull, whose work in the special effects field includes such films as The Andromeda Strain, KiClose Encouters of the Third, Blade Runner, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the short, To The Moon And Beyond that later evolved into Journey To The Stars and,later, 2001.
What Malick introduces first is the idea of the perfect family that has grown up to do what society has expected and the modern life adrift in the 1950s. The O'B fien family has suffered a deep loss with the death of one of the sons. Thr middle brother is Jack who is talking to his father on the phone about his dead brother and it is through this loss of innocence that is gently replaced by a tree being planted in front of a building. From this point on, the flashback in time is a fond reminiscence and the tone of the entire film is set with the voiceover narration and the whispers to draw you closer to the characters and their emotional state of mind.
Malick returns to the 1950s more than once to remind you of the nostalgic price we put on family and the values that have endured through thr generations as exemplified by the O'Briens.
In between there is a dramatization of the formation of the universe with Jack O'Brien's heard underneath as if it were a silent echo asking the questions that are normally asked in a typical family setting. When the sequence gets to the formation of earth, including volcanoes and microbes, the camera stops at a beach where there are dinosaurs.
As it fades, the O'Briens are back as a youger family starting out in the 1950s. Jack is a baby who is quickly followed by his two siblings. The growth of the family also shows you the parents, notably the father played by Brad Pitt. The overwhelming love shared here is mixed by generational attitudes of behaviour betweem the father and his sons which is more paternal and strict compared to the mother's more permissive attitude. It is in this decade, there is unemployment for the father when the plant where he works closes and the family must relocate.
Without too much dialogue and fanfare on the soundtrack, the film returns to the beginning when the adult Jack (Sean Penn) is waling on rocky terrain and his memories cloud his memory like a crowd in the streets.
The essential point in comprehending the entire film is not let it be overshadowed by 2001 but by the intrinsic qualities of life as shown throughout as a main overall focal point from Malick's insistence to attempt to make a profound study of man's deliberate lifestyle, as shown through the decades and, without pounding you over the head in weoghty symbolism, you are entertained by the inordinate sense of human feeling evoked from beginning to end.
The 1950s upbringing may have been inspired by the director's own teenage years and this gives The Tree of Life a far greater scope of reality and vision than most films about the same decade that rely more heavily on rock and roll as the main thematic stivking point (i.e. American Grafitti and its imitations.
Visual effects supervisor Dan Glass assaults the senses with a euphoric display that may define further films of its type. They are carefully placed and shown with equal meaning so as not to get carried away too soon.
The only comparison worth noting with 2001 is in the music score Alexandre Desplat has composed for Tree of Life. It is one of the best of the year because it brings across the various subtle nuances and documentary feel of the fictional elements to greater heights of meaning and comprehension, well beyond the literal as you watch the levels of simplicity and plaintive qualities as if the director demands their attention.
It is rated PG, with the warning: mature theme.
July 8,2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
LARRY CROWNE (ALLIANCE, 2011)**
BY RICK JACKSON
not even the star power of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts can save Larry Crowne from being a dismal comedy. Co-written and co-produced and directed by Hanks, this is a poorly developed story that rings so familiar you are almost shaking your head at the scenes that should have worked but are short-circuited by the lack of screenwriting skills at making a simple story refreshing and entertaining.
Roberts looks sensational as Mercedes Tainot, a teacher who follows the rules carefully and almost doesn't get to teach because regulations require classes must have a certain number of students. When she is one short, in comes Hanks as the title character.
In their screenplay, Hanks and Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) try too hard at creating an original work out of an old idea that didn't need to be recycled one more time.
After the requisite first scene between its two leading stars, your interest quickly gets lost in the long and boring niceties of the classroom where the students couldn't show any less interest than us watching from the comfort of our seats.
Crowne's neighbours back home are meant to save the film with Cedric the Entertainer as Lamar and B'Ella (Taraji P. Henson) but they are more annoying.
Larry Crowne fails to impress.
It is rated PG, with the warning: language may offend.
July 3, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
not even the star power of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts can save Larry Crowne from being a dismal comedy. Co-written and co-produced and directed by Hanks, this is a poorly developed story that rings so familiar you are almost shaking your head at the scenes that should have worked but are short-circuited by the lack of screenwriting skills at making a simple story refreshing and entertaining.
Roberts looks sensational as Mercedes Tainot, a teacher who follows the rules carefully and almost doesn't get to teach because regulations require classes must have a certain number of students. When she is one short, in comes Hanks as the title character.
In their screenplay, Hanks and Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) try too hard at creating an original work out of an old idea that didn't need to be recycled one more time.
After the requisite first scene between its two leading stars, your interest quickly gets lost in the long and boring niceties of the classroom where the students couldn't show any less interest than us watching from the comfort of our seats.
Crowne's neighbours back home are meant to save the film with Cedric the Entertainer as Lamar and B'Ella (Taraji P. Henson) but they are more annoying.
Larry Crowne fails to impress.
It is rated PG, with the warning: language may offend.
July 3, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS (FOX, 2011)**
BY RICK JACKSON
Written by Sean Anders, John and Jared Stern, based on the 1938 novel by Richard and Florence Atwater, Mr. Popper's Penguins is an uneven family film about the title character who inherits some penguins. After introducing you to Mr.Popper ably played by Jim Carrey, you soon learn the penguins are not a bad joke but a chance to laugh at some hilarious situations. If it weren't for thw utter predictability of the plot, it might have worked. The screenwriters are content to let Carrey carry the story with his comic timing and it quickly runs out of steam.
Granted, there are some moments worth a laugh but it doesn't help you in remembering the film as a whole as a memorable summer flick.
Had it been an animated film, it might have worked better.
The six penguins that Popper must look after are not cute enough and when they try to dance with Carrey it is entertaining. However, it is short-lived.
When Mr.Popper discovers the penguins will behave better when they watch Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush and others set in a cold climate, the story begins to take off but it,too, doesn't last.
The screenwriters add a subplot when they have Mr.Popper usee his skills in architecture and real estate to persuade a wealthy socialite named Mrs.Van Gundy (Angela Lansbury) to sell one of her buildings.
The whole thing becomes tedious as you wait for the inevitable and the hijinks that ensue serve as a mild diversion at best.
As for the penguins, you know beforehand that male and female penguins produce offspring and this only adds a bigger headache. Had the story been better developed as a charming fairy tale and retained the book's basic appeal for kids 8 to 80, there might have been a superior effort.
Mr.Popper's Penguins may appeal more to younger kids.
It is rated G.
July 3, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Written by Sean Anders, John and Jared Stern, based on the 1938 novel by Richard and Florence Atwater, Mr. Popper's Penguins is an uneven family film about the title character who inherits some penguins. After introducing you to Mr.Popper ably played by Jim Carrey, you soon learn the penguins are not a bad joke but a chance to laugh at some hilarious situations. If it weren't for thw utter predictability of the plot, it might have worked. The screenwriters are content to let Carrey carry the story with his comic timing and it quickly runs out of steam.
Granted, there are some moments worth a laugh but it doesn't help you in remembering the film as a whole as a memorable summer flick.
Had it been an animated film, it might have worked better.
The six penguins that Popper must look after are not cute enough and when they try to dance with Carrey it is entertaining. However, it is short-lived.
When Mr.Popper discovers the penguins will behave better when they watch Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush and others set in a cold climate, the story begins to take off but it,too, doesn't last.
The screenwriters add a subplot when they have Mr.Popper usee his skills in architecture and real estate to persuade a wealthy socialite named Mrs.Van Gundy (Angela Lansbury) to sell one of her buildings.
The whole thing becomes tedious as you wait for the inevitable and the hijinks that ensue serve as a mild diversion at best.
As for the penguins, you know beforehand that male and female penguins produce offspring and this only adds a bigger headache. Had the story been better developed as a charming fairy tale and retained the book's basic appeal for kids 8 to 80, there might have been a superior effort.
Mr.Popper's Penguins may appeal more to younger kids.
It is rated G.
July 3, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
OUTSIDE THE LAW (2011)****
BY RICK JACKSON
Outside The Law is a compelling and powerful account of Algeria's independence beginning in 1925 when they French authorities forced the people off their land and killed those who resisted. Told from the Algerian point of view, director Rachid Bouchareb (Days of Glory)focuses on three brothers and their mother who are determined to get their homeland back. As you watch each of the brothers (Messaoud,Said and Abdelkader) take a different path, they are reunited by their attempts to overthrow the insurgents.
Jamel Debbouze, Roschedy Zem and Sami Bouajila contribute to the film's collaborative plot threads by conveying the historical, though fictional, details with an air of authority and unity. Their individual convictions can be watched closely by their patriotic duty to their homeland and their respect toward their mother from whom they are instilled with their vision for Algeria along with the rest of the country as a powerful symbol of their determination to regain control of Algeria.
Time and the four seasons of the year figure prominently in the narrative as a point of historical reference in order to help you understand the political influences and sense of history that guided an entire country through right wing demonstrations and the formation of the FLN or resistance movement.
When the family moves to Paris, the story gains momentum and so does the collective futures of the three brothers as they grow up from boyhood to adults with the same vision. With each of their destinies there is a price to pay and it is in keeping with the personal and agonizing past they carry with them.
Said works as a pimp on the streets and later runs a boxing ring, while Messaoud fights for the French in Indochina where he learns a parallel between the French takeover of Algeria and the Viet Cong in Vietnam. The rise of socialism and the struggle for freedom is fueled by the individual brothers' aim thanks to their devotion to their mother who holds the family together through their years of tyranny. When one of the brothers dies, it is their respect for her they never forget.
An interesting character is Colonel Faivre (Bernard Blancan)who works for the French police and is determined to arrest the brothers and quell the resistance. They will do anything to get them and this increases the tensions and the efforts to fight back outside the law, which explains the film's title.
What makes the film resonate with equal purpose is the reality of the situation that is constant throughout. Never does the director abandon the overall point of the film by reducing it to a level in which sentiment ruins everything. In fact there is little emotion showed except at the beginning and near the end. The characters and stories parallel each other without the use of flashbacks so you can't lose sight of the bigger issue of why the brothers are reacting the way they do.
An interesting comparison to Outside The Law is The Battle of Algiers in 1965 which chronicled the country's road to independence. Filmed in black and white, it is more persuasive in tone since the entire country was involved in winning Algeria's independence. Still, Outside The Law remains a landmark film in its visual stlye that is arguably borrowed and influenced by the Hollywood gangster films and westerns as some critics have claimed.
It is rated 14A, with ther warning: violence.
July 1, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Outside The Law is a compelling and powerful account of Algeria's independence beginning in 1925 when they French authorities forced the people off their land and killed those who resisted. Told from the Algerian point of view, director Rachid Bouchareb (Days of Glory)focuses on three brothers and their mother who are determined to get their homeland back. As you watch each of the brothers (Messaoud,Said and Abdelkader) take a different path, they are reunited by their attempts to overthrow the insurgents.
Jamel Debbouze, Roschedy Zem and Sami Bouajila contribute to the film's collaborative plot threads by conveying the historical, though fictional, details with an air of authority and unity. Their individual convictions can be watched closely by their patriotic duty to their homeland and their respect toward their mother from whom they are instilled with their vision for Algeria along with the rest of the country as a powerful symbol of their determination to regain control of Algeria.
Time and the four seasons of the year figure prominently in the narrative as a point of historical reference in order to help you understand the political influences and sense of history that guided an entire country through right wing demonstrations and the formation of the FLN or resistance movement.
When the family moves to Paris, the story gains momentum and so does the collective futures of the three brothers as they grow up from boyhood to adults with the same vision. With each of their destinies there is a price to pay and it is in keeping with the personal and agonizing past they carry with them.
Said works as a pimp on the streets and later runs a boxing ring, while Messaoud fights for the French in Indochina where he learns a parallel between the French takeover of Algeria and the Viet Cong in Vietnam. The rise of socialism and the struggle for freedom is fueled by the individual brothers' aim thanks to their devotion to their mother who holds the family together through their years of tyranny. When one of the brothers dies, it is their respect for her they never forget.
An interesting character is Colonel Faivre (Bernard Blancan)who works for the French police and is determined to arrest the brothers and quell the resistance. They will do anything to get them and this increases the tensions and the efforts to fight back outside the law, which explains the film's title.
What makes the film resonate with equal purpose is the reality of the situation that is constant throughout. Never does the director abandon the overall point of the film by reducing it to a level in which sentiment ruins everything. In fact there is little emotion showed except at the beginning and near the end. The characters and stories parallel each other without the use of flashbacks so you can't lose sight of the bigger issue of why the brothers are reacting the way they do.
An interesting comparison to Outside The Law is The Battle of Algiers in 1965 which chronicled the country's road to independence. Filmed in black and white, it is more persuasive in tone since the entire country was involved in winning Algeria's independence. Still, Outside The Law remains a landmark film in its visual stlye that is arguably borrowed and influenced by the Hollywood gangster films and westerns as some critics have claimed.
It is rated 14A, with ther warning: violence.
July 1, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
TRANSFORMERS 3(3D) PARAMOUNT, 2011)**
BY RICK JACKSON
Transformers 3: Dark of The Moon has enough action to fill your weekly action fix. This second sequel to the 2007 original is in 3D and despite the absence of 3D effects, your heart will be racing with each futuristic minute. This time the Autobots must race to the moon to beat the Decepticons from getting a Cybertronian spacecraft and learn what secrets it holds.
Screenwriter Ehren Kruger almost loses your attention by focusing more on the dialogue. Unlike Revenge of the Fallen in 2009 which raised the bar in the battle sequences, you are left with a tedious subplot where the human cast of characters make the film less interesting by the insipid undercurrent of familiar emotions and unnecessary hijinks as if it was needed to fill the 154 minutes of screen time. after introducing the autobots and decepticons, there are too many characters to hold your attention. The wasted dialogue and requisite emotional undercurrent of mediocrity almost drags the film down and only when the robots appear is there enough action to keep you absorbed.
Shiahe LeBoeuf's return is almost an afterthought and this time he never gets to grow as the heroic figure Sam Witwicky should aspire to. Instead he is relegated to second string next to the transformers who have taken over. Throughout this sequel his vocal delivery is limited to more juvenile behaviour and, in the end,the actor fails to do the job he has been paid to do.
The action in the first half is reduced to comic book violence and you patiently wait for the moment when director Michael Bay is going to get the film energized enough to get your heartbeat racing with the action so you can sit back and really enjoy the entire moviegoing experience.
What ruins the flow of the action are the characters whose tongue in cheek humour is meant to relieve the tension that slowly builds up but takes too long to develop where it is supposed to lead. The screen erupts in spurts during the first hour and you are left with an empty void until the inevitable conclusion.
What Bay is hoping will work is Leonard Nimoy as the voice of Sentinel Prime. If it weren't for Kruger's insistence to borrow from Star Trek's book of tricks, you would be left with a shallow shell of an action flick. Granted, you are not cheated any great battle aequences, there is still little left that is memorable.
Steve Jablonsky doesn't disappoint with a music score to augment the action you do see and sound effects editor Tobias Poppe delivers with enough bone crunching noise to keep you from falling asleep.
More on the plus side is the use of documentary footage featuring John F.Kennedy and Richard Nixon acknowledging the contribution of the United States'participation in the space race. It helps set up the importance of the Autobots who must destroy the Decepticons which you already know must happen.
Thankfully, you are spared the political Russian/American attitudes and you are left to watch again Walter Cronkite's reactions that say it all.
Frances McDormand and John Malkovich appear as comic foils for the robots and try seriously to give the film some sound base of reality. The former plays Mearing like a staff sergeant at boot camp, while the latter is happy repeating part of the role he played in Burn After Reading.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is no substitute for Megan Fox. Her sexy role acts as Carly, LaBoeuf's girlfriend is a mere diversion only and she never gets to show off her mettle as an action star.
Although the action sequences are well done, Transformers3:Dark of the Moon fails to live up to the first two in the series.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: violence, language may offend and not recommended for young children.
June 30, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
Transformers 3: Dark of The Moon has enough action to fill your weekly action fix. This second sequel to the 2007 original is in 3D and despite the absence of 3D effects, your heart will be racing with each futuristic minute. This time the Autobots must race to the moon to beat the Decepticons from getting a Cybertronian spacecraft and learn what secrets it holds.
Screenwriter Ehren Kruger almost loses your attention by focusing more on the dialogue. Unlike Revenge of the Fallen in 2009 which raised the bar in the battle sequences, you are left with a tedious subplot where the human cast of characters make the film less interesting by the insipid undercurrent of familiar emotions and unnecessary hijinks as if it was needed to fill the 154 minutes of screen time. after introducing the autobots and decepticons, there are too many characters to hold your attention. The wasted dialogue and requisite emotional undercurrent of mediocrity almost drags the film down and only when the robots appear is there enough action to keep you absorbed.
Shiahe LeBoeuf's return is almost an afterthought and this time he never gets to grow as the heroic figure Sam Witwicky should aspire to. Instead he is relegated to second string next to the transformers who have taken over. Throughout this sequel his vocal delivery is limited to more juvenile behaviour and, in the end,the actor fails to do the job he has been paid to do.
The action in the first half is reduced to comic book violence and you patiently wait for the moment when director Michael Bay is going to get the film energized enough to get your heartbeat racing with the action so you can sit back and really enjoy the entire moviegoing experience.
What ruins the flow of the action are the characters whose tongue in cheek humour is meant to relieve the tension that slowly builds up but takes too long to develop where it is supposed to lead. The screen erupts in spurts during the first hour and you are left with an empty void until the inevitable conclusion.
What Bay is hoping will work is Leonard Nimoy as the voice of Sentinel Prime. If it weren't for Kruger's insistence to borrow from Star Trek's book of tricks, you would be left with a shallow shell of an action flick. Granted, you are not cheated any great battle aequences, there is still little left that is memorable.
Steve Jablonsky doesn't disappoint with a music score to augment the action you do see and sound effects editor Tobias Poppe delivers with enough bone crunching noise to keep you from falling asleep.
More on the plus side is the use of documentary footage featuring John F.Kennedy and Richard Nixon acknowledging the contribution of the United States'participation in the space race. It helps set up the importance of the Autobots who must destroy the Decepticons which you already know must happen.
Thankfully, you are spared the political Russian/American attitudes and you are left to watch again Walter Cronkite's reactions that say it all.
Frances McDormand and John Malkovich appear as comic foils for the robots and try seriously to give the film some sound base of reality. The former plays Mearing like a staff sergeant at boot camp, while the latter is happy repeating part of the role he played in Burn After Reading.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is no substitute for Megan Fox. Her sexy role acts as Carly, LaBoeuf's girlfriend is a mere diversion only and she never gets to show off her mettle as an action star.
Although the action sequences are well done, Transformers3:Dark of the Moon fails to live up to the first two in the series.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: violence, language may offend and not recommended for young children.
June 30, 2011
Copyright Rick Jackson 2011
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