Movie Review: Iron Man

Robert Downey Jr and Jon Favreau create a modern-day marvel that trumps all the other recent comic book heroes

I believe I can fly; whether by car, plane, or space-age superhero suit, Robert Downey Jr does indeed soar as Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man

Iron Man
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Gweneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Rated: PG-13 for violence, adult language and adult themes
Running Time: 2 hours, 6 minutes

What does the war in Iraq, a comic book legend, a former '80s star turned drug-addled has-been and a guy best known for making one of the most hilarious post-date phone calls in cinematic history have in common?

They all combine to form one of the best comic book big screen adaptations ever as Iron Man not only delivers as an action packed summer blockbuster but succeeds in doing something none of its predecessors has done before it - humanizing the main character.

And make no mistake about it the driving force behind this flick, directed by Jon Favreau, the actor (Swingers; Made) turned director (Elf; Zathura), is the main character.

Not Iron Man, but Robert Downey Jr.

Downey rose to fame with his ground breaking performance as a drug addict in Less Than Zero and then fell victim to life imitating art as his own troubles with substance abuse derailed his career and led to stints in jail and rehab.

But he carries this film as Tony Stark, a millionaire arms inventor who undergoes a crisis of conscious after being captured by rebels in Afghanistan.

To say Stark (and Downey) is not your typical action superhero would be akin to saying Paris Hilton likes media attention.

Like Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne Stark is a rich industrialist, but unlike Wayne Stark lives life to the extreme by bedding various women, blowing off appointments scheduled by his trusty assistant Pepper Potts (Paltrow), driving very fast in his Audi R8, and drinking scotch every chance he gets.

In other words he's just like we would all be if we were millionaires.

While he is drinking and driving (as a passenger in a 'fun-Vee') in the Afghan desert his convoy is attacked by terrorists, using his own weaponry no less, and Stark is taken prisoner by a group demanding that he build a version of his latest super missile system for them.

Every one knows the engineering genius is going to blast his way out of there, but of course there's a catch: Stark has shrapnel embedded in his body that would make a bee line for his heart if not for a magnetic device embedded in his chest, placed there by a friendly fellow captive, Yinsen.

What those of us not addicted to comics don't know is that not only does Stark blast his way out, he uses a crudely constructed metal suit to do his dirty work by blasting through his captors with an array of weapons, including a gnarly flamethrower, before escaping on the propulsion system intended for the rockets.

Thus a superhero is born.

Freed from his near death experience and disgusted by the knowledge that his weapons are not just being used to protect his country (evidently he's a bit naive, too), Tony decides to take Stark Enterprises in kinder, gentler direction, hoping to develop a larger version of the mini-reactor that allows him to live to provide an alternate power source for mass consumption.

Not so fast, metal man.

Stark's business partner and former confidante to his father, Obadiah Stane (a nearly unrecognizable and thoroughly menacing Bridges) doesn't quite agree with Tony's new agenda, especially since he's the one supplying the terrorists with Stark's weaponry, and Stane quickly moves to have Stark removed by the company's board before he ruins all the fun.

For us that's when the fun starts.

Stark sets to work on the technologically advanced version of his metal suit, which is when we get to witness the cool gadgets that line his workshop, not the least of which is his collection of exotic cars, as well as the complex boss-aide relationship he and Potts enjoy.

The rest of the movie is mostly by-the-books superhero stuff: with the iconic suit under his control Stark/Iron Man attempts to avenge his capture and defeat his new arch enemy Stane, who has now transformed into the mega machine Iron Monger, all while providing plenty of laughs with a little romance on the side.

Downey juggles all of these tasks with aplomb, switching from lothario to lovesick with ease while eradicating the bad guys without spilling his beloved scotch. He is at once simple and complex, predictable and erratic, loathsome and lovable.

However the one thing he never is is boring.

Be sure to stick around past the closing credits to get a sneak peak at what the future holds for Mr. Stark and this franchise-in-the making.

What you didn't think there'd be a sequel?

Mr Downey's magnetic performance made sure of that.

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Movie review: No Country for Old Men

"Don't ever make fun of my hairdo again"

Starring: Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald
Directed by: Joel & Ethan Coen
Rated: R for graphic violence, adult themes and language
Winner: Best Picture, Director(s), Supporting Actor (Bardem), Adapted Screenplay
Running Time: 2 hours

The Coen brothers' Oscar-winning masterpiece sends chills up the spine and keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat until the very (peculiar) end

Leave it to the Coen brothers, the masters of offbeat and off-putting modern cinema to craft a film so simple yet so complex, so tension-filled yet it seems to take longer to unspool than a Texas drawl, that the reviews run the gamut from "the best film of all time" to "possibly the most over-rated movie ever made" (actual IMDb comments).

And after finally viewing the 2008 Best Picture winner last night, I can see the arguments for both sides.

On the one hand, the story is so simple and straightforward -- a hunter stumbles upon a drug deal gone bad and absconds with the $2 million in cash as a psychotic killer hired by the druglord tracks him down -- and unfolds in such an unhurried, matter-of-fact way that some viewers could be lulled into thinking not much is going on, eliciting a "what's all the fuss about" mentality that always seems to follow slower-paced films.

But on the other hand there is much more to this adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's classic novel than meets the eye, as the lines between good & evil and right & wrong begin to blur, and the only reason the saga develops so slowly is because the pace mimics the setting, 1908s Texas, which apparently was about as laid back and backwater as you can get.

Josh Brolin plays the aforementioned hunter, Llewelyn Moss, who while out on the plains stalking game comes upon a scene of a bloody massacre in the middle of nowhere; vehicles and people riddled with bullets, a huge stash of heroin in the bed of a pickup, and a lone survivor who claims he has no idea where the last man standing has taken off to.

Moss tracks the man to a nearby tree, where he too has perished, but the case full of cash lay at his feet. Sensing the severity of the situation, Moss high tails it back to his home, where he hides the cash under his trailer while he thinks of a plan so he and his wife (Macdonald) can disappear and enjoy the fruits of his lucky find.

And that's where things start to get interesting.

Hot on the trail of the missing money is Anton Chigurh (Bardem), a monotone, mop-topped menace of a man whose weapons of choice include a air-compressed cattle gun and a shotgun with a silencer the size of a can of corn. Chigurh values life about as much as Paris Hilton values privacy, and at times the decision between killing someone and letting them live comes down to a mere flip of a coin for him.

Moss sends his wife to Odessa to stay with her mom, and he takes off for Del Rio with the cash in hand and Chigurh just a few beats behind him, thanks in part to an old-fashioned homing device placed in the case (gotta love these old-style gimmicks in this age of high-tech gadgetry.)

Meanwhile the small town sheriff, Tom Bell (Jones) stays home and tries to piece the perplexing puzzle together, neither particularly wanting to nor capable of figuring out how this whole mess of a situation ended up in his lap in the first place.

The hunted soon becomes the hunter as Moss transforms from a man running for his life to a man who will do anything to fight for what he believes is rightfully his, based on the old 'finders keepers' principal, and as the bodies pile up and the two man race to see who will come out on top, the viewer gets sucked in by the overwhelming feeling of depression and dread, knowing that no matter which man wins, the outcome will not be pleasant.

"No Country" is simply a mesmerizing film from start to finish. The acting is superb, from the always excellent Jones to the Oscar-winning Bardem. The Spaniard became the first from his country to win the Best Actor trophy, and it was rightfully deserved. Never has a man in such a foolish wig who spoke in such a soft, sensible manner inspired such fear and fascination as Bardem's beguiling bad man. His character is the stuff nightmares are made of, and Bardem's seemingly effortless portrayal is one that will go down in cinematic history.

Brolin, in my wife's & I's opinion, was criminally overlooked for a Best Supporting Actor nom; its amazing that he continues to do his best work now after 20+ years in the biz.

Macdonald, a little-known Irish lass, was terrific as Moss' naive-yet-supportive wife Carla Jean, and even the long lost Woody Harrelson turns in a fine performance as a hit man sent to stop the crazed killer Chigurh; he delivers some of the best lines in the film, especially this spot-on description of his rival: "You don't understand. You can't make a deal with him. Even if you gave him the money he'd still kill you. He's a peculiar man."

Aside from the acting, the cinematography, from the sweeping vistas of the Southwest to close quarters shots of hotel rooms and AC vents, is outstanding, and the score, as subtle and understated as most of the film, lets the sense of dread build without knocking you over the head with drama-signifying crescendos.

The one problem people who love the film might have is with the ending, but let it be known that the scene is taken directly from the final page of McCarthy's novel, thereby preserving the integrity of the story while possibly pissing off viewers who wanted a bit more...closure.

But in this film the only closure comes from knowing that evil works in mysterious ways and comes in many forms.

Therefore if you ever see a lumbering man in a Beatle haircut carrying an air canister and an eerie look, please run.

And whatever you do, don't take his money.

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Oscar Nominee Review: Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton
Directed by Tony Gilroy
Starring: George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack
Rated: R for adult language & themes

Running Time: 2 hours

Nominated for: Picture, Director, Actor,(Clooney), Supporting Actor (Wilkinson), Supporting Actress (Swinton), Original Score, Original Screenplay

George Clooney and Director Tony Gilroy shine in the feel-good "movie" of the year

First I want to preface this review by stating that I haven't had a chance to screen most of the major Oscar nominees this year. Whether it was a case of a lack of interesting contenders (Sweeney Todd, Atonement, La Vie en Rose, this means you), the late release of front runners such as There Will be Blood, or a lack of interest due to the possibility of the writer's strike cancelling the ceremony, my wife and I just weren't as into the whole process as much as in years past.

We were able to catch Viggo Mortensen's chilling portrayal of a sinister Russian killer with a conscience in Eastern Promises a few weeks ago, easily recognizing it as an Oscar-worthy performance before the nominees were announced, and we also witnessed Ruby Dee's heart wrenching turn as the mother of a corrupt American killer in American Gangster last summer, but that's about it as far as the major players go.

But thankfully we did watch 7-time nominee Michael Clayton last night, and as far as I'm concerned the quality of that film more than made up for the lack of quantity we suffered from missing most of the others.

That's because Michael Clayton is a true movie lover's movie, one devoid of shootouts, car chases, contrived plot twists and foul-mouthed dialog that's too witty for its own good.

No, Clayton is a stylish, subtle and understated legal thriller, one that doesn't spell out its agenda in the opening scenes, yet keeps the viewer engrossed enough to follow the narrative through all the way to the intense final frame. It's a thinking viewer's movie, one that relies on the powerful dramatic chops of the actors involved and the polished guidance of a first-time director to lead the viewer through a straightforward plot that manages to astound and impress without beating the audience over the head with what it's trying to accomplish.

Clooney plays the title character, a legal "fixer" at a large and prestigious law firm in New York who has suffered through numerous obstacles in his life while trying to navigate a road to riches & success, with just the right amount of gravitas and severity. He's a divorced father of a grade-school aged son with a gambling problem and an addict brother who convinced him to invest in a local restaurant that ended up going belly-up, leaving Michael with a $75,000 debt and facing the eternal question of "what am I doing with my life?"

When the chief litigator at his firm, Artur Edens (a superb Wilkinson) goes berserk at a deposition in a $3 billion dollar class action suit for agricultural giant U-North, Clayton, who has been a close friend of Edens for many years, is called in to handle the situation and bring the rogue lawyer back to reality. That's when the slow-starting film takes its turn into mesmerizing, memorable cinema.

Turns out Edens has not just suffered a relapse of his manic-depression caused by his failure to stay on his meds, but he has discovered, via a long-buried interdepartmental U-North memo, that the company knew it was pumping cancer-causing agents into the wells of unsuspecting farmers for years, choosing to bury the revelation at the risk of spending millions of dollars to rectify the problem.

At the urging of the firm's founder, Marty Bach (co-producer Pollack), Clayton is instructed to reign in the rogue partner or the company's proposed merger with a London-based firm could fall through, not to mention cost the firm millions in legal fees it is owed for the 6+ years of billable hours it has put in on behalf of U-North.

Trouble is Clayton has enough issues of his own on his plate, namely the $75k he owes for his failed business venture, which combined with his years of gambling losses has left him near penniless and on the verge of emotional collapse himself.

This conundrum faced by the lead character, who could have been portrayed as a suave, slick legal eagle with a Fortune 500 portfolio and a stable of sexy mistresses, combined with the laid-back direction of first-timer Gilroy, best known as a writer of the Bourne trilogy and producer of Proof of Life, makes for fascinating cinema, and witnessing how Clooney handles this crossroads in his character's life is what makes Clayton one of the most absorbing films to grace the screen in a long time.

There are two scenes that best exemplify the subtle yet powerful punch the actor and director provide, and although they are mere minutes in length and are not pivotal to the overall plot, they serve as crystal-clear reminders why this is one of the year's best films.

The first is a scene involving Clayton and a trio of wild horses, which we witness both in the beginning of the movie as well as later when the story comes back to where we joined it. Brilliantly shot with just the right amount of silence and background illumination, it leaves an indelible impression on the viewer's mind, and not because of the single explosive scene in the film that comes afterward.

The second is a quiet yet gut-punching monologue with Clayton and his young son in the car. After leaving a family function in which Michael's deadbeat brother shows up as they are leaving his sister's house, Michael tries to explain to his boy that not all men turn out to be drug-addled losers like his brother. Watching Clooney wrestle with emotions as his eyes well up and his brow twists in knots is by far one of the most heart-wrenching, emotional three minutes of film I've ever seen an actor produce, and I couldn't help but think as the scene ended that he could have won the Oscar based on that snippet of cinematic excellence alone, the rest of his brilliant performance aside.

Of course his is not the only great acting job turned in, as Wilkinson is at the top of his game as the hot shot lawyer who either has had a moment of epiphany after realizing that the people he has been fighting for all these years are really the true enemies in life, or he has just finally snapped following years of legal wrangling in which people's lives are destroyed, his own included.

Tilda Swinton also turns in a terrific performance as the chief litigator for U-North who has to appear calm and confident in front of the stuffed suit millionaires she represents, but underneath the facade she is merely an insecure woman on the verge of a breakdown herself. All the other roles are deftly handled as well, from Pollack as the money-grubbing chief partner, to Clayton's son Henry, played by Austin Williams with just the right mix of child-like naivete and grownup smarts.

All in all Michael Clayton is one of the most satisfying movies for fans of real movies ever made. The acting is top notch, the directing is first rate, the cinematography is attention-getting with out being over the top, and to top it all off it has an ending that will leave you with goose bumps and still smiling at the same time.

What more can you ask of a film?

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Quickie Movie Reviews

Just because I haven't posted any movie reviews recently doesn't mean I haven't watched any.

It just means that either A.) the movies I've seen weren't worth writing about or B.) I got lazy, errr busy, didn't do a review in a timely manner, then forgot about it.

So now I am going to present to you my quickie movie recaps, or QuickCaps if you will.

-The Good Shepherd Drama starring Matt Damon/Rated R/On video now
I just got finished viewing my copy of this (thanks Unc Tony) and I have to say I am torn by the complex, multi-layered film.

On the one hand the story, the cast, cinematography and overall appearance & presentation of the film are impeccable. Director Robert DeNiro has crafted a mesmerizing account of the early days of the CIA, and I was immediately drawn into the secretive life of intelligence officers and the isolated, paranoid lives they lead.

But on the other hand the film is hard to follow at times, either because of the low-talking agents or the highly complex storylines. Throw in the fact that it drags in parts (it has a runtime of nearly three hours) and flashes back & forth between decades, has few likable characters, and that I was unconvinced by fresh-faced Matt Damon playing the part of a grizzled agent and I came up with more than enough reasons not to recommend it.

Don't get me wrong, the film is excellent; but with a little bit of editing and an actor that could bring a bit more gravitas to the role, like Liam Neeson or Damon's buddy George Clooney, in the leading role, this historical spy flick
could have been a classic.

-Borat Comedy starring Sasha Baron Cohen/Rated R/On video now
I was in no hurry to see this raunchy comic adventure in the theaters, mainly because I had seen all of SBC's hilarious HBO episodes of Da Ali G Show, so I knew what to expect.

And when I finally got around to renting it, I was not disappointed. The movie, like the Borat segments of the series, is a stand-up act gone amok, where the comedian is actually taking his character to the next level and launching himself on unsuspecting Americans, usually with outrageous results.

If you're not a fan of anti-gay, anti-Jew and anti-woman humor, don't bother. But if you're the kind of person who loves to see two naked men 69 each other for fun, this movie is for you.

-Happy Feet Animated comedy/Rated PG/On Demand now
The first thing I said after I viewed this Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature was "am I missing something?"

Seriously, this little trifle of a film, with a too-cutesy-to-be-cute premise of a little odd penguin who just can't help himself when it comes to tapping his little flippered feet, was one of the worst, most uninteresting, unamusing and utterly unimaginative pieces of animated garbage I have ever seen.

And I know I'm not alone, because my wife, son and stepdaughter all thought the same thing, namely how the f--k did this beat out Cars for the Oscar?! Every five minutes the animals broke out in a song & dance number, and just in case anyone missed the premise of the "plot", the cute little penguin would do his silly little happy feet gag about every 10 minutes or so.

It just goes to show you what a huge marketing campaign, decent word of mouth, and hitting the theaters at the right time (holiday season) can do for a film.

You want to see a great little flick about talking penguins? Check out Farce of the Penguins, a raunchy retake with filthy voice work from Bob Saget and Tracy Morgan.

-Meet the Robinsons Animated comedy/PG/In theaters now
Another attempt by the folks at Disney to bring back the glorious days of yesteryear, you know, before Pixar and DreamWorks came along and stole the legendary studio's animation thunder.

How desperate are the Disney-ites to get people to believe in their product again? How about in place of trailers showing an ages-old Mickey Mouse cartoon, which left most of the Gen-XYZers in the audience staring at the screen in silence, like they'd just seen a dinosaur. Which they had.

The film itself is a forgettable bit of fluff, with ideas stolen from James Bond, Blade Runner, Wild Wild West, The Jetsons, Robots, Star Wars and Back to the Future and full of lame attempts at being another Shrek. Young Lewis is an orphan with a penchant for making incredible inventions that somehow always thwart his potential adoptions. One day he gets a visit from a villainous man named, originally enough, the Bowler Hat Guy, who wants to steal one of his inventions and use it for his own dastardly deeds.

If you've seen any of the aforementioned films, then you can see how this one is going to turn out. I won't spoil it, but the ending involves a special message from Walt Disney himself: Keep Moving Forward

If only the bottom-line loving suits running Walt's company now would follow that sage advice themselves.

-Saw III Horror/Rated R/ On demand now
After watching the latest installment in this shock-filled gore-fest, I wasn't sure if I had just seen Saw III or Hostel II.

Old friend Jigsaw is back for more bloody mayhem, but this time he's got help: former victim-turned-accomplice Amanda. Since Jiggy is laid up in a makeshift hospital room, slowly passing away from cancer, he's not able to construct his elaborate schemes of torture and death. So he has his new protege do the deeds for him. Trouble is, Amanda may be more ruthless than Jigsaw, and that could lead to both of their downfalls.

The problem I have here is that the makers of the series wanted to blend jump-from-your-seat scares with puke-your-guts-out gore. The result? A decent story about a guy who must work his way through a maze of tortuous puzzles in order to get to the ultimate finale is ruined by a non-stop stream of rib cages being ripped open, men drowning in shredded pig carcasses and power drills performing brain surgery.

Because since the original came out in 2004 we have been subjected to vile, bile-filled frightfests like Hostel and The Hills Have Eyes and now simply placing a man on a floor for 2 hours and then having him come to life is no longer good enough.

How I long for the days when a simple hacksaw to the ankle was sufficient.
(side note: this was one of those rare times I wished I didn't watch something in HD)

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MOVIE REVIEW: The Prestige

The Prestige

Rated: PG-13 for violence, profanity

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine, Piper Perabo, David Bowie, Rebecca Hall

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Running time: 2 hrs, 10 mins

The talented director of Memento comes up with another mind-bending, time-shifting thriller that takes the viewer on a fantastic voyage right up until a finale you'll either love or loathe

"Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called "The Pledge"; The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn"; The magician makes his ordinary some thing do something extraordinary. Now if you're looking for the secret... you won't find it, that's why there's a third act called, "The Prestige"; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before."

-Cutter (Michael Caine) to the audience at the beginning of the film

My only regret with watching The Prestige is that I did so on the final night we had it rented, because just as I had been told, after the climactic & controversial ending I immediately wanted to view it again.

I'm not sure why but it seems like most films I have seen recently have elicited extreme, polarizing reactions from critics and/or audiences, from Apocalypto to Babel and from 300 to Little Miss Sunshine; people either loved 'em or hated 'em, with very little opinion in between.

Christopher Nolan's latest mental masterpiece has that same kind of effect because many viewers don't enjoy (perhaps because they cannot follow) the director's preferred choice of non-linear storytelling, the same reason why many don't enjoy the work of Babel's Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu.

Nolan doesn't utilize the "front-is-back" method he employed in his groundbreaking 2000 American film debut Memento, but he does tell the tale of two Victorian-era magicians much like a magically constructed house of cards, each layer integral to forming the foundation of the object before they all come toppling down in a complex heap. At the end of the trick it's up to the viewer to sift through the pile and put the pieces back in correct order.

Hugh Jackman plays against his usual hunky, hairy type (although he does bare his chest, much to the delight of the wife) as turn-of-the-century London magician Robert Angier, who comes up through the ranks performing with a wily old veteran Cutter (Caine) and fellow protege Alfred Borden (Nolan fave Bale.) The two young hotshots are both excellent magicians but also are complete studies in contrast, with the methodical, married Angier preferring safe and satisfying illusions while his cunning and risk-taking partner prefers to go for gasp-inducing grandiosity.

Early on a the trio are performing their show-stopping Underwater Escape trick, in which Angier's wife Julia (Perabo in a peek-a-boo performance) is tied up and dropped in a huge glass tank, hidden behind a curtain, and emerges from the water chamber less than a minute later. But thanks to a disastrous last-second decision by Bordon tragedy strikes, causing a rift between the two men that will soon turn into a very unhealthy obsession.

The pair go their separate ways, with Cutter siding with Angier and Borden settling down with his own wife, Sarah, who soon have a young daughter, Jess. Both men move forward with their careers, playing local theaters and halls in hopes of mastering an elusive trick that will put them over the top, while trying to make the other look bad in the process. Thus begins a game of cutthroat one-upsmanship that features fingers being blown off, birds massacred onstage and a shift in loyalties that could decide the others fate.

Borden develops the elusive magnificent trick first, called the Transported Man, in which he steps into a doorframe on stage and reappears through another door on the opposite side of the stage seconds later. Angier soon becomes obsessed with learning the secret to Borden's trick, despite Cutter insistence that it cannot be done without a double, and he sends his new assistant/love interest Olivia (Johansson, once again serving as eye candy and little else) over to Borden to infiltrate his act and learn the secret to the illusion.

Needless to say the plan backfires, although Angier does gain possession of Borden's sacred notebook, a potentially useful tool if he can figure out the code that will unlock the secrets behind the man's tricks. As his obsession gets darker Angier travels to America to meet with revolutionary scientist and alternate power source pioneer Nickola Tesla (rocker Bowie in a terrific cameo) and begs him to construct a teleporter machine just like the one he believes Borden is using in his act.

To tell much more of the intricate plot would give away too many of the surprises that lay in store in the film's final 30 minutes. Let's just say that Angier returns to the big stage with his magical new machine and plays to packed houses during a limited engagement run. When Borden sees that Angier has returned to prominence he sets out to bring him down once again, but when each learns the other's true secret it will prove to be the downfall of many involved, except the one you think.

The ultimate result of how Angier and Borden out-smart each other has been the subject of much debate on the message boards since this film was released last winter and with good reason. A large number of viewers feel the scientific aspect in a story of two masters of mystery & magic was way out of place and sullied their ultimate opinion of the film. Still many others, like myself, thought that the sci-fi element just added to the whole mystical, unbelievable aura of the film and gave it an extra edge over your straight up, run-of-the-mill magician stories.

But love it or hate it there is no denying that Nolan's latest is another example of brilliant, dark, thought-provoking film making. Every thing about the film resonates, from the stellar performances of every cast member to the jaw-dropping cinematography and costumes, and there is no doubt that whether you love or hate the ending you have to respect and admire the ambition of the work.

This is a deep, multi-layered tale of greed, obsession, loyalty & betrayal, love and hate and oh yeah, magic. Be sure to follow the trail of clues along the way, especially when Cutter addresses the audience. Then replay the movie and go onto IMDb to look for all the red herrings and obvious hints you missed along the way.

Because there's one thing I can guarantee you about the Prestige, love it or hate it, when you think you've got it figured out, you don't.

"Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it because you're not really looking. You don't really want to know the secret... You want to be fooled."

-Cutter to audience

"Abracadabra."

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MOVIE REVIEW: Frank Miller's 300

300

Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Rodrigo Santoro

Directed by: Zack Snyder

Rated: R for language, violence, nudity and sexual situations

Running time: 2 hours

The tired 'sword & sandals' genre gets a Wachowski Bros-style update that has broken box office records and polarized the movie industry

Status: Now playing in theaters


"300", the CGI-heavy historical epic based on cult legend Frank Miller's graphic novel treatment of a famous Greek battle, is like American Idol, sushi and rap music- you either love it or you hate it.

The only way director Zack Snyder could get Warner to greenlight his effects-heavy, violent, stylized period flick was to make sure he could bring it in on budget, which was set at a paltry (for the genre)$60 million. How did Snyder propose to do what other directors have done with twice as much money to spend? By utilizing readily-available CGI technology for backgrounds and casting unknown actors in starring roles, cutting down on cost, time, and ultimately the bottom line.

The end result? 300 grossed an astonishing $70 million on its opening weekend, a figure that represents the biggest March opening ever and the third biggest opening for an R-rated film in history, trailing only The Passion of the Christ and The Matrix Reloaded; oh yeah, it was also the biggest IMAX debut ever.

So how did a "stupid little CGI movie" as Snyder himself calls it, go on to break records and capture the heartbeat of the American moviegoer, all while alienating critics and stunning industry execs? By taking a familiar story in a familiar genre and turning it on its ear.

The story of the Greek Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. is well-known to anyone who has taken a history class or watched The History Channel, not so much for the result of the three-day skirmish, but for how the results affected the future of modern civilization. Three hundred Spartan soldiers, led by King Leonidas, waged war against a massive army of Persian warriors, led by tyrannical King Xerxes. (In reality about 1,000 Greek volunteer soldiers joined the fight, but when you're going up against 200,000+, what's the difference? Besides, 300 sounds better.) Although all the soldiers perished, their struggle to defend Greece united the country, leading to the birth of democracy in the world.

In this retelling of the saga Snyder uses his CGI expertise to bring Miller's (Sin City) visual concepts to life; the only thing real in the film are the actors, but they all do a fine job of eliciting emotion and delivering their memorable one-liners. Scottish actor Gerard Butler (Tomb Raider:Cradle of Life) plays Leonidas with a smug machismo reminiscent of Daniel Craig's 007, and from the beginning we can see why his men are so willing to follow him to battle. Leonidas was born & raised to fight to the death in order to protect his homeland, and he lets everyone around him know they are to do the same.

"Are you staring at my six-pack?"

When the Spartans learn that Xerxes (Santoro, Lost) intends to attack Athens unless the citizens lay down their weapons and bow to Persia's dominance, Leonidas realizes that he will finally get to fulfill his destiny. After drop-kicking Xerxes' messenger into a bottomless pit and uttering the instant tagline "We. Are. SPARTA!", he has a final fling with his Q.I.L.F. of a wife, Queen Gorgo (Headey, The Cave) and takes his 300 finest to the Hot Gates, a bottleneck by the sea that will help to nullify the large Persian contingent.

What follows is a number of battles waged over three days between the Spartans and various forces from Xerxes' military. Each time a division of the Persians attempts to infiltrate the Spartan phalanx, Leonidas and his men shoulder up, cross shields, and inflict great bodily harm on their oncoming attackers. The best part of these conflicts is the poor sap sent to deliver Xerxes' latest message to Leonidas, who always meets an untimely, gruesome demise.

"Lay down your weapons" one such messenger pleads with the Spartans. "Come and get them" is the reply as a ginormous spear hurls through the sky and impales the man on the spot.

It is in these scenes that the film leaves its mark. The combination of muted, murky landscapes and swirling, twirling swordplay creates a combination of Gladiator meets the Matrix, with a little V for Vendetta thrown in as well. Indeed the Wachowski Bros. influence is certainly felt in these parts as blood spurts in slo-mo from severed limbs & heads while soldiers spin and mow down their targets with ballet-like grace; as we count the bodies drop you can almost feel the testosterone levels go up.

Ultimately Leonidas is betrayed by one of his own, a deformed Spartan whom he would not allow to fight with his highly-trained men. The traitor leads Xerxes to a hidden path behind the Hot Gates, and the Persians finally have Leonidas & his men trapped with no escape, left to gleefully face their deaths, all in the name of Sparta.

Is this Thermopylae, or Oz?

It's quite obvious that this film is not intended to be a fact-by-the-numbers historical recount; watch the excellent History Channel doc. if that's what you want to see. I'm sure there were no 8-ft tall, effeminate drag Kings, as Xerxes is portrayed to be, nor mutant rhinos and chained giants ready to be unleashed on unsuspecting enemies. That's the whole point of this version. It's taken from a COMIC BOOK-how real can it be?!

Everyone who is complaining that the film is a sterile, soulless sham needs to take a step back and examine what they are saying. The director made no pretensions about the film and the studio admitted they thought it would take in about $25-30 million in its opening because the director steadfastly stood by his vision of what Frank Miller's painted Spartan world would look like had it come to life on screen, gruesome creatures, sliced heads and all.

But critics are lining up to pan the film, as you can plainly read here, here and especially here, and I for one am not really sure why. Is it because the director & studio admit (refreshingly) that they wanted to use bluescreens instead of throwing money away on lavish sets with no guarantee that the film would turn a profit? Other bloody, bloated epics of this genre have gone the lavish route and ended up getting ripped for being too silly (Alexander), too pretentious (Kingdom of Heaven), and mostly too...un-Gladiator (Troy).

The thing about "300" is that it's exactly what it's creators intended it to be and nothing more: an inventive, fast-paced retelling of a legendary battle that wound up kick-starting a dying genre by appealing to & entertaining a wide demographic.

As the great Maximus himself would say "are you not entertained?"

My answer would be have to be a resounding "yes."

And that's all that matters.

As for all the haters/critics, I have one thing to say to you:

"Enjoy your breakfasts, for tonight you shall dine in HELL!"

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Oscar Nominee Review: Babel

Babel

Rated: R for violence, language, nudity, sexuality & drug use

Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Rinko Kikuchi, Adriana Barraza, Mohamed Akhazan

Directed by: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Running time: 2 hrs, 21 mins

Nominated for:

-Best Picture

-Best Director

-Best Supporting Actress (Kikuchi)

-Best Supporting Actress (Barraza)

-Best Original Screenplay

-Best Editing

-Best Original Score

Babel, another powerful drama from Inarritu, packs an emotional punch yet falls short of greatness

The way the critical accolades, Oscar noms and number of pre-Oscar awards had been raining down on this ensemble drama I thought Babel was going to be one of the greatest movies of the past 20 years.

Turns out it was merely one of the best films of the past year.

Not a bad thing, but with so much hype and praise lavished on the latest non-linear, interlocking tale from Spanish auteur Inarritu ("21 Grams"; "Amores Perros"), I guess I was just hoping for...something more.

There's no doubt that Inarritu, along with Oscar-nominated screenwriter/directing partner Guillermo Arriaga, have crafted a mesmerizing film, magnificently shot on four continents while wringing career-best work from a number of members of the cast. Yet somehow the sweeping epic fell short of delivering on the heavy debt created by incredible expectations.

The story unfolds in Inarritu's trademark non-linear style, i.e. one of the early scenes actually takes place after the rest of the events unfold, a method that doesn't particularly detract from the film but may confuse some viewers unaccustomed with this type of storytelling. There are four main plots involving three globe-spanning families: a Moroccan goat herder and his two young sons become entangled in an international incident with an American couple, Richard (Pitt) and Susan (Blanchett), vacationing there; the couple's Mexican nanny, Amelia (Barraza), travels from California to Mexico with their two young children illegally in tow; and a Japanese teen and her father try to cope with the suicide death of their mother/wife.

**MINOR SPOILERS (revealed early in the film)**

Tragedy strikes quickly after the herder purchases a high-powered rifle from a local man in order to protect his goats from predatory jackals. He teaches his two boys, Yussef & Ahmed, who are in charge of watching over the flock, how to use the rifle, although the younger Yussef appears to know more about firing the weapon than his father. As the boys sit idly watching the animals graze on the side of a mountain they begin toying with the gun, wondering if the sellers' claim that the bullets can travel great distances is true; unfortunately their only targets are a passing car and a large tour bus traversing the snaking road far below their perch. After Ahmed narrowly misses the car Yussef aims and fires a round at the bus, which at first appears to have no effect on the vehicle. However, as soon as the bus comes to an abrupt stop in the middle of the road and screams can be heard emanating from the windows, the boys realize something terrible has happened.

Thus the first connection is made. The person hit by the random shot was Susan, who was innocently resting her head on the bus window when the bullet pierced the glass and entered her collar bone. As Richard realizes what happened he frantically screams to stop the bus while blood pours from his wife's shoulder. Here the disturbing realization that these people are in the middle of nowhere with nary a city, never mind a hospital or doctor, in sight hits home with a sickening thud. Their only option for Susan's survival comes from a local man on the bus, who offers help of a family doctor in a nearby tiny village.

While Richard attempts to contact American Embassy officials regarding their situation, believing Susan's attack was perpetrated by terrorists, Amelia is faced with a dilemma back in California. She originally had been granted the weekend off in order to attend her son's wedding in Mexico, but when Richard informs her of what has happened and that he has no one else to watch the kids he insists she must watch them until he can return to the States. Faced with the prospect of missing her son's nuptials Amelia makes a risky decision to take the children to the ceremony and then return later that night without anyone the wiser.

Trouble is Amelia is an illegal immigrant, and when her drunk nephew Santiago (Inarritu favorite Gael Garcia Bernal), who is taking her back to the U.S., runs from the border cops and forces her and the kids out of the car, she finds herself stranded in the desolate Mexican countryside in the middle of the night with two petrified kids and no means to get home. The best part of these segments is the acting of Barraza, who brings a real sense of kindness and despair to her character.

The final thread concerns Chieko (Kikuchi), a deaf mute Japanese teenage girl who is dealing with a number of emotionally troubling issues: the inability to relate to the world around her due to her disability, the horror of discovering her mother after her suicide, and how the tragedy has negatively affected her relationship with her distraught father. Apparently the father had been a suspect in his wife's death at first, so when a policeman comes looking for the man Chieko assumes it has to do with her mother, but eventually we learn that the father has an indirect relationship to the Moroccan shooting.

The irony here is the connection to the other stories is nothing but a minor, seemingly insignificant coincidence, yet Chieko's storyline is the one that carries the majority of the emotional weight of the film. Kikuchi gives a riveting portrayal of a teenager on the verge of a nervous breakdown, so staved for attention that she flaunts her womanhood to any man within her reach, only to be rebuffed and humiliated time and time again.

It is during these Japanese scenes that Inarritu's brilliance is easily recognized; the way he and Kikuchi made the viewer feel what it must be like to be deaf in a world full of so many sounds was entrancing and deeply moving. The scene that best exemplifies this achievement comes when Chieko and her girlfriends meet a few scruffy-looking boys at a local hangout. The guys quickly have the girls chasing some pills with shots of whiskey, and then the tripping group heads to a thumping, strobe-lit disco for some substance-enhanced fun. As the Earth Wind & Fire classic "September" ramps up to club level in the background, we witness Chieko experience an overwhelming mix of sensations while she copes with only being able to see what others are hearing. Her wide-eyed awe at watching bodies writhe around in silence was amazingly captured by flipping the volume of the soundtrack on & off, and coupled with her sadness after she sees her friend kissing the boy she liked made for one of the most memorable scenes in recent memory. It clearly stood out as the high point of the film.

Unfortunately there was still plenty more to go through. Crawling along at nearly 2 1/2 hours we still must witness Richard and Susan waiting for a military helicopter to come pick them up after the bus leaves them stranded, Amelia suffer a crushing blow when her actions are discovered by American authorities, and the Moroccan boys learn the hard way that crime doesn't pay, even when the action is unintentional.

Despite the expectations of grandeur Babel fell short of the mark for me. Yes, the film is incredible in many ways, visually stunning, emotionally powerful and backed by a haunting score. The acting is first rate across the board, with the standout performances coming from the two nominated women as well as the four young children. While heavyweights Pitt and Blanchett give commendable efforts, there is a reason neither one was nominated here and it isn't because their roles were smaller than usual.

Perhaps it didn't work because the tiring practice of using interlocking stories & flash-backward narrative, traits common in films from Pulp Fiction to Memento to Traffic to Inarritu's own 21 Grams, holds this one back from attaining greatness. Inarritu wanted to tell a tale of communication, love and tragedy on a global scale, and while the messages and many of the images work at conveying the directors grand vision and laudable intentions, the snails pace development and anti-climatic, ambiguous ending conspire to hold this film back from the upper echelon of film greats.

In other words it's no Departed.

Or even Little Miss Sunshine for that matter.

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Oscar Nominee Review: The Departed

The Departed

Rated: R for graphic violence & language

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, Vera Farmiga,

Directed By: Martin Scorsese

Run time: 1 hr, 51 mins

Nominated for:
-Best Picture
-Best Director
-Best Supposting Actor (Wahlberg)
-Best Adapted Screenplay
-Achievement in Editing



Martin Scorsese takes a respected Asian thriller and turns it into an American crime classic

This is the year. Mark it down, book it, put it in the bank, count on it, 100% guaranteed. Scorsese will win his elusive first Oscar this Sunday for his work on this epic restyling of the Chinese cult classic Infernal Affairs.

How do I know this to be fact?

What better way to reward a director who not only coaxed an Academy Award-nominated performance from the man formerly known as Marky Mark but also elicited Oscar-caliber work from no less than four other members of his A-list cast? If Marty doesn't take home the golden statue for this effort then you can be sure he never will. He may even stop trying.

Scorsese and screenwriter William Monihan took the 2002 Hong Kong crime thriller and transported it to modern day Boston, utilizing the same storyline- moles inside both the police department and the mob- to craft a mesmerizing tale of loyalty, deceit and big city police politics that intertwines Hollywood fiction with urban crime lore.

The story centers around two young Massachusetts police officers: one an up-and-coming detective named Colin Sullivan (Damon) and the other a smart street kid named Billy Costigan (DiCaprio.) Both will end up being central figures in an investigation targeting Irish crime boss Frank Costello (Nicholson), but for very different reasons. Before I go any further I must say that Scorsese nailed it on the names; EVERYBODY in Beantown grows up knowing at least three Sullys and one Costigan, as well as a Fitzy, a Costello and five Murphs.

As Sullivan rises up the ranks he becomes the department's eyes and ears for their intense investigation of Costello, a legendary figure who rules the South Boston area with the looks of a grandfather and the ruthlessness of a Colombian cocaine baron. The Feds and local authorities can never nail him on the myriad charges they suspect him of, mainly because he always seems to be one step ahead of the law, and for good reason- Sullivan has been a confidante of the old man since 'back in the day', when Costello took care of little Colin and his mom after his father died.

Meanwhile Costigan has been targeted by the department's undercover unit and is approached, not so gracefully, by Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen) and Detective Dignan (Wahlberg), who go out of their way to persuade the wayward Costigan to turn into an undercover agent and infiltrate Costello's inner circle.

Queenan: "Five years from now you could be anything else in the world, but you will not be a Mass Sate Trooper."
Dignan: "You got a 1400 on your SAT; you're an astronaut, not a Statie."

In what could be considered an homage to the Godfather, they made him an offer he couldn't refuse: go undercover and bring down Costello or have his name erased from police records and booted out of the department forever.

Thus begins Costigan's new life as a delinquent local thug, complete with an arranged rap sheet, fresh jail term and just enough inside connections to get him in contact with the big man himself. Once a level of loyalty is established between Billy, Frank and Costello's right hand man, Mr. French (Ray Winstone, Sexy Beast) Billy becomes privy to a lot of the unseemly practices Costello has his hands in, namely extortion, murder and selling weapons-grade computer microprocessors to Chinese gangsters. The problem is, every time he tries to set up Costello and his gang for a bust "someone" on the inside of the department tips them off, and the game of cat & mouse between the government & the hoods continues with no end in sight.

It's in these scenes in the middle of the film, as Billy tries to stay one step ahead of Frank while Colin tries to keep Costello abreast of every upcoming raid that Scorsese's magic is realized. The story lines and characters co mingle and swirl around each other in such a way that you can't tell the good guys from the bad guys and vise versa. Any cop could turn out to be on the take and any criminal could turn out to be an undercover agent, and the dialogue and acting accurately depicts the incestuous relationships cops and criminals enjoyed in the hey day of the Mob in Boston. Up is down, down is up, good is bad- it all comes together to form a tangled web of duplicity.

Even the lone female in the film, Vera Farmiga's psychiatrist Madolyn, is playing both ends against the middle; she is shacking up with Colin in his tony condo overlooking the State House while seeing, professionally & otherwise, Billy. This aspect of their parallel relationships reminded me of the Michael Mann classic "Heat", where DiNiro's & Pacino's lives were always running parallel to each others and the viewer kept waiting for their paths to cross. And when they do, let's just say the sparks fly.

From this point on describing the film in further detail would spoil way too many things, and if there's one thing I'm not it's a spoiler. The cops learn they have a rat on the inside while Costigan frantically tries to escape his life in crime's inner circle before Costello wipes him off the face of the planet. It becomes a race to see which man discovers who the other is first, and the body count really rises towards the end as the nooses stars to tighten around everyone's collars. The last ten minutes of this film are filled with more "oh my god, did I just see that?" moments than a month's worth of American Karaoke auditions.

To quote my wife's reaction: "I think I'm gonna be sick."

After being snubbed five previous times in his quest for Oscar glory Martin Scorsese has come out guns blazing (no pun intended) with this first-rate adaptation of an already well-respected film. Easily his best work since "Casino" in 1995, the diminutive director did what many directors before him have failed to do: elicit career-best work from nearly every member of an all-star ensemble cast.

Many have debated/raged over why more of the actors weren't nominated, and with good reason. Nicholson gives a nuanced performance that truly carries the film. His fearless, foul-mouthed Frank is the emotional center of the movie, a fascinating ball of pensive planning and bloody execution whom the entire cast revolves like moons around a planet. Based on real life Boston underworld figure Whitey Bulger, Nicholson carries himself like the legendary Southie gangster, which makes him all the more creepy in the role.

Damon and DiCaprio both give the performances of their careers. Gone are the timid, unsure choir boys of their earlier roles replaced by slick, confident and cunning adults who think they control their own destinies until they realize it's too late. Wahlberg, the other Boston native along with Damon, makes the most of his small-but-vital role thanks to hilariously profane comments and an unexpected final appearance. Even the lesser characters played by Winstone, Sheen, and Baldwin (has he done anything bad in the last 5 years?) brought weight to the proceedings, although I must confess I was less-than-thrilled with Farmiga's performance.

But like I said to the wife, what can they do when nearly every member of the cast could have been nominated? The academy can't pick everyone (now I sound like an Oscar apologist.) Still, Nicholson should have and Damon or DiCaprio could have easliy have landed noms for their work.

Perhaps being from Boston made this movie a little more special to me. The scenes of Back Bay, the Fens and the State House combined with the (surprisingly decent) accents and Mass-related terminology (triple deckers, Rte 128, L Street and the Southie projects- a place I have frequented too many times for my liking) made me fell like I was back home again for a couple of hours. That and the constant swearing, senseless fighting, backstabbing and utter hypocrisy of the government and police forces all made me pine for the days of hitting Kelly's Roast Beef on Revere Beach while cruising around waiting for the next melee to break out.

Ah the good old days growing up in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

And all it took was a little Italian director from the New York telling a tale about an Irish mobster from Boston based on a story from a Hong Kong screenwriter to bring me back.

Enjoy your statue, Marty. You deserve it.

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Oscar Nominee Review: Apocalypto

Apocalypto
Rated: R for graphic violence (REALLY graphic)
Starring: Rudy Youngblood, Raul Trujillo, Jonathan Brewer
Directed by: Mel Gibson
Running time: 2 hrs, 18 mins

DVD Release Date: April

Nominated for:
- Achievement in Makeup
-Sound Editing
-Sound Mixing

First off, I'd like to start out by thanking my Uncle Tony for providing me with the screener of this film. Tony, I couldn't have crafted this masterpiece of a review without you. Thanks. Also I would like to thank my producer...

..sorry, too many awards shows this season!

Let me start off by saying that I wanted to dislike this film in a major way. Ever since Mad Mel went on his drunken, anti-Semitic tirade in Malibu last July, I lost all respect for the actor & filmmaker whom I had previously enjoyed very much. But like Michael Richards, Paris Hilton, and Isaiah Washington, once you cross that line into racial, homophobic, or anti-Semitic territory, you will never be viewed the same way again by a large section of the population.

That being said I was mildly disappointed when Apocalypto, Gibson's much-maligned, Mayan language labor of love, opened to rave reviews and decent box office ($15 million) last December. I thought "how can these people flock to a subtitled movie that's full of gore & bloodshed and directed by a drunken bigot?" I know after seeing the film that the answer is because the freakin' thing is really good! Yes, as much as I wanted to hate this movie, even hoping that it would tank at the box office and send Mad Mel, who financed the whole operation, into the Jew-filled world of debt consolidation., after viewing it, I can see why it not only reaped huge critical acclaim but also has grossed a respectable $50+ million in this country to date. Factoring in overseas revenue and DVD sales, not only will 'Sugar Tits' be able to once again say "I told you so", much like with his Passion of the Christ, but with a budget of $40 million he even made money from it. Amazing.

As soon as the film begins it immediately transports the viewer to 16th century Central America, when the Mayans ruled the land before the Spanish Conquistadors came and wiped out centuries of civilization. In the first scene, we witness a small group of tribesmen hunting in the thick Yucatan jungle. The party chases, traps and ingeniously kills a huge wild tapir, which resembles a giant rat. As they start to carve the animal up, young tribesman Jaguar Paw (Youngblood) hands out certain parts- the heart, liver, and ears- to the rest of the hunters as a reward for the kill. He then slices off the testicles of the beast and hands them to Blunted (Brewer), telling him that if he eats them it will cure his maddening case of impotence. As the naive young man chomps down on the large orbs, not only did I nearly lose my lunch but I thought to myself "I guess those male dysfunction drugs aren't that bad."

The group laugh it up at Blunted's expense after informing him they were kidding about the testes healing powers when a quiet stillness comes over the jungle, followed by the sudden appearance of a wandering tribe. Jaguar Paw's father, Flint Sky, informs the travelers that this is his jungle and they'd better have good reason for passing through. They present a gift of fresh fish and ask for passage through the territory on their way to search for "a new beginning." Flint Sky accepts the offering and allows them to pass, although after hesitating Jaguar Paw appears ready to kill the mysterious young leader of the group. His father holds him off, then upon returning to their village takes his son aside and tells him "fear is a sickness...that has tainted your peace already. I did not raise you to see, you live with fear. Strike it from your heart. Do not bring it into our village."

The warning from his father would prove prophetic because soon after returning to their village he would need to summon all his strength and courage to fight what fate has in store for them. Jaguar Paw has a disturbing dream in which he is back in the jungle and sees the wandering tribesman whom he wanted to slaughter earlier; the man is standing there with a terrified look on his face, breathing heavily. "What do you want?" Jaguar Paw asks him. As the camera pans out, we see why he is panting: his stomach is sliced open and he is holding his still-beating heart in his hand. "Run!" the figure pleads to him, and he awakens with a start. I get chills just remembering that eerie scene.

Upon awakening, Jaguar Paw discovers that his village is being invaded by marauders. Initially, I thought it was the tribe that Flint Sky had let pass coming back to haunt them, but it was actually a group of warriors from a distant Mayan city. As the soldiers set fire to the houses and drag the villagers into the open to be either brutally slain, tortured, raped or taken prisoner, Jaguar Paw hides his young son and pregnant wife Seven in a nearby pit. Soon, the entire village has been plundered and Jaguar Paw, Blunted, and the remaining men & women are secured by their necks to long poles and hauled off into the jungle, leaving a trail of frightened youngsters following behind and wondering what has happened to their tranquil family life.

The party traverses dense jungle, neck-deep waters and barren landscapes on their journey to whatever the invaders have in store for them. Along the way the leader of the warriors, Zero Wolf (Trujillo), asserts his superiority over his captives and charges, threatening to kill his top soldier, the ruthless Middle Eye, for throwing one of the wounded captives over a cliff. We also learn that Zero Wolf's son, Hanging Moss, is present with them, and an interesting parallel is drawn between the two separate father/son dynamics in the saga, wise Flint Sky & innocent Jaguar Paw and evil Zero Wolf & his equally naive protege, Hanging Moss.

Before the group enters the city they come across a creepy young girl in the middle of a desolate field; she is infected by a mysterious "sickness", thus ostracised from the rest of the community. The men are instructed to avoid the girl, but she issues an ominous warning nonetheless: "Would you like to know how you will die? The sacred time is near. Beware the blackness of the day. Beware the man who brings the jaguar...the one he takes you to will cancel the sky and scratch out the earth. Scratch you out. And end your world." Once again, chills.

Finally they arrive at the destination they have been travelling so many miles to reach- a large Mayan city filled with elaborate buildings, sewage-filled streets and thousands of inhabitants. It is a far cry from the quaint, leafy village existence the captives have known all their lives. Soon after arriving the prisoners learn what is to be their fate. Some are to be sold at auction, used as slaves to mine the salt that cakes the city and workers in a thick white powder, while others will be used as bloody human sacrifices to the tribes beloved sun gods.

The entire time Jaguar Paw can think of nothing but his wife and son stuck down in the pit with no way of escape, praying that it doesn't rain and fill the hole, drowning the only family he has left. The way Youngblood's facial expressions capture his emotions is one reason the viewer is so drawn into the film- we want badly for him to escape and save his family, a sure-fire mark of an excellent movie.

It is at this point that the movie changes direction and turns into an extremely gory, extremely tense, vengeance-filled adventure. The men who are to be sacrificed are painted blue and led up to the top of a steep Mayan temple, a shrine lined with many steps that are covered in thick layers of blood. As Jaguar Paw and the others are taken to what will be their final destination, objects bounce down the steps and are scooped up by the people at the bottom. We soon learn those objects are the decapitated heads of the sacrificees, lopped off and tossed downstairs after their hearts have been removed while the bodies are arched backwards over a bloody pedestal. Grim indeed.

After several subjects succumb to this gruesome fate, Jaguar Paw finds himself next in line, and although he is at a loss to figure out how he is going to extricate himself from this predicament, he knows he must find a way in order to keep his promise to return for his wife & son. Just as he is placed upon the pedestal, a strange thing begins to happen- the sky starts to darken as the moon passes over the sun. It is a solar eclipse, an event surely predicted by the sun-worshipping tribe and used by the elders as a way to prove to the commoners that their sacrifices have worked. ("...beware the blackness of the day...") The rest of the prisoners are then spared the more disgusting method of demise and are ordered to be executed by conventional means.

The final act of the film deals with Jaguar Paw's brilliant escape from his captors and subsequent journey to rescue his family before it's too late. It is interesting to witness how the hesitant young villager has turned into a cunning and lethal hunter, thanks to the words of his father, the love of his family and the hardening of his soul after seeing such devastation and bloodshed in the city. Jaguar Paw embarks on a what many have called a Rambo-esque jungle adventure, single-handedly taking out each of his pursuers with a silent savagery that can only come from deep-seeded feelings within, from being without fear in one's heart. His vengeance is filled with heart stopping leaps, vicious animal attacks, incredible escapes and the strategic use of toad toxin.

By the time he returns to his village, Jaguar Paw has grown from wide-eyed student to steely-eyed warrior, a man who met the difficult challenges that faced his society head-on and came out on top. Whether or not he rescued his wife & son, I won't divulge here (you know I don't do spoilers), but like most of the film it's not really about the end results, it's about the journey that gets you there and how it makes you grow as a person.

Upon conclusion of the film, all I could say was "wow", another sure-fire sign of a quality film. The cinematography is breathtakingly gorgeous, the makeup, sets and costumes are incredibly detailed & authentic, the soundtrack is haunting & mood-setting and the acting top-notch. With the use of both digital HD and traditional cameras, Gibson and cinematographer Dean Semler (who won an Oscar for his work on Dances with Wolves) create a staggeringly crisp, beautiful panorama of the era and the surroundings. What amazed me the most is that there are very few wide angle shots; most of the filming is done with tight shots at intimate angles, giving the viewer a real sense of being completely immersed in the tale.

Many have been critical of Mad Mel's liberal bending of the facts in order to get his story across. For instance, the murderous actions by the city dwellers are believed to have been typical of the Aztecs, not the Mayans, a culture that came to power many years after the Mayans were removed from the region. The murals in the city were not attributed to that time period either, and the buildings were also from different periods of history. Also, the Spanish Conquistadors ships that are seen arriving at the end of the film really wouldn't have been there for hundreds more years.

But to those nitpickers I say, get over it. This is a work of fiction, not a documentary, and every film in the history of cinema that depicts a real person or event skirts around some of the actual facts in order to make the story more compelling or entertaining- that's why movies are categorized as entertainment. If you want a straight facts history lesson, watch the History Channel or take a class; don't expect a film to teach everything there is to know about a subject. Many times the actual facts are quite boring and wouldn't keep the viewer interested for very long, a sure-fire sign of a bad film.

As for the excessive violence that has caused many to disregard the film as an overly bloody mess, it's true that the movie is incredibly graphic and gory. However, it is done with the depiction of a primitive culture of people who used savage techniques to get their points across and accomplish tasks. Apocalypto is no more gruesome than carnage-filled teen flicks like Hostel and the Saw franchise, but the setting and realism may make it seem more offensive to some.

All in all, this was a masterful picture that tells many different stories and Gibson himself has said is an allegory for the troubles facing modern society. Whatever reason you choose for watching and interpreting it, just remember that it is a stunning work of fiction, a blood-soaked romp through another era wrought with pain, suffering, tragedy, triumph and survival.

Oh, and tapir balls.

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Oscar Nominee Review: Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine
Rated: R
Starring: Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Abigail Breslin,
Steve Carell, Alan Arkin, Paul Dano
Directed By: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
Running time: 1 hour, 41 minutes

Nominated for:
-Best Picture
-Best Supporting Actor (Arkin)
-Best Supporting Actress (Breslin)
-Best Original Screenplay

What do you get when you cross a heroin-addicted grandfather, an angst-riddled teenage son, a perpetually peppy father, an emotionally burdened mother, a suicidal gay uncle and a precocious & preternaturally mature daughter and throw them in a dilapidated old VW Microbus?

The Magical Misery Tour that is Little Miss Sunshine.

The reviews on IMDb for this charming little indie fave run the gamut from "a pathetically boring and unimaginative film" to "simply perfect." Too many of the reviews, however, are along the lines of "how can a simple little film like that be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar?"
What those myopic morons don't realize is that the beauty & genius of this film is its simplicity as the members of the Hoover family take the viewers on a non-stop emotional roller coaster ride that leaves you feeling happy, sad, satisfied and wanting more all at the same time. Last time I checked those were all qualities of an Oscar-caliber film.

The story centers around young Olive (Breslin, at 10 the 4th youngest nominee ever), an 11-year old "normal" kid living in Albuquerque with her decidedly abnormal family. Olive entered a local beauty pageant and finished second, but when the winner was disqualified due to a diet drug scandal, Olive becomes the region's representative to the annual Little Miss Sunshine Pageant in Redondo Beach, CA. Olive's high-pitched reaction to learning that she has been selected is one of the film's best early moments and immediately endears lovable little Olive to the viewer.

In order to get to the pageant, the entire clan has to pile into the run-down old yellow bus and travel 800 miles in two days to reach the pageant on time. Sounds simple enough, right? It would be if the family wasn't comprised of enough social misfits and psychological basket cases to fill a month's worth of Dr. Phil episodes.

Mom Sheryl (Collette), the counterweight to the emotional pitfalls of each of her family mem-bers, is fearful that her husband Richard (Kinnear) has blown all of their savings on his cock-amamie "9 Steps" motivational program. Richard is an obnoxious preacher of over-achievement who is prone to spout pearls of wisdom like "sarcasm is for losers trying to bring winners down to their level," among other gems, yet he cannot get one person to believe in his nine step plan for a better life, including most of his family.

Sheryl's parenting skills are really put to the test when she is forced to take in her disturbed brother, Frank. Frank has got a couple of issues he's dealing with. He was fired from his prestigious teaching job (he was the No. 1 Proust scholar in the country) after his boyfriend left him for the one man in their field above Frank so he subsequently tried to kill himself. Now, he has become a card-carrying member of the Hoover brood where he must share a bedroom with 17-year-old Dwayne (Dano, The King) lest he try to 'off' himself again.

Dwayne is a typical teenager who mopes around the house looking like the world's about to end while trying to cope with the insanity that permeates his daily life. There's really only one strange thing about Dwayne--he has taken a vow of silence in honor of Friedrich Nietzsche until he achieves his ultimate dream of being accepted into the Air Force Academy to become a fighter pilot. We learn that Dwayne has been faithful to his vow for 9 months now, a feat that Richard truly respects for the monumental commitment Dwayne is making for something he believes in. In lieu of speaking, Dwayne writes all of his thoughts down on a notepad, a prop that provides a couple of classic tag lines for the movie.

Rounding out the crazy crew is Richard's irascible father, Edwin Hoover, better known as Grandpa (Arkin.) Grandpa has a few reprehensible tendencies, like the fact he loves to snort heroin, talk like a foul-mouthed sailor, and chase tail whenever possible ("f**k a lot of women" he tells Dwayne, "not just one, a lot"), but he loves Olive and has dedicated his days and nights to teaching her a routine for her pageant career.

Due to the lack of family funds (thanks to Richard) and Olive's usual pageant ride falling through, the entire family must travel to Redondo in order for Olive to be able to fulfill her dream of being crowned Little Miss Sunshine. The idea initially goes over like a lead balloon, especially with Dwayne who needs to be bribed by Sheryl with a paid trip to flight school in order to be persuaded, but quickly everyone agrees if for no other reason than their love of Olive. As soon as they climb into that little yellow bus, an adventure of Oscar-worthy pro-portions begins. One filled with plenty of side-splitting humor, tear-inducing pain, and real family bonding which is absent in so many of today's films and TV programs.

Needless to say, the road to Albuquerque is paved with many potholes; the first of which they encounter after stopping for breakfast. In the diner, we witness Richard's obsessive personality damaging Olive's psyche when he attempts to persuade her to forgo sweets like chocolate ice cream because "Miss America's aren't fat, are they?" Upon leaving, the bus suffers the first of many maladies--a stripped clutch. The garage worker tells them it will be five days until he can get a replacement part for the old vehicle because "it's the weekend" but also enlightens them to the fact that they can start it in 3rd gear if they can get a rolling start.

Thus, one of the most memorable and amusing "running" gags in all of cinema is born; the entire family push-starting the bus every time they need to get it started. The sight of 70-something Grandpa, lazy Dwayne, tiny Olive, weak Mom, and the "No. 1 Proust scholar in the country" running, pushing, and then hopping into the moving vehicle brought tears to my eyes. It is a sight that never gets tired, despite the numerous times we see it throughout the course of the film. It's no coincidence that the scene was chosen as the backdrop for the awesome theatrical poster depicted above.

Without giving too much away (you know I'm not into *spoilers*), other events transpire along the route; some tragic and others hilarious but often tied together with commingling tears of laughter & sadness. At some points, you will literally find yourself ready to cry one moment and then laugh hysterically the next. It takes a very special film to be able to authentically elicit those emotions as this film does, one of the many reasons why I am convinced it is undoubtedly Best Picture material.

By the time the family arrives in Redondo, I remarkably found myself not caring about the outcome of the trip. It was yet another surefire sign of a great film--I cared so much about the characters and the life journey they were on that I didn't care if the end result was a pageant crown or bitter disappointment. The only thing I cared about was seeing if this lovable collection of middle class losers could hold on to whatever sense of twisted family unity they had.

Obviously, I stayed with it until the conclusion and was very glad I did because I would have missed one of the best movie endings in recent memory. Olive and family make it to the pageant 5 minutes late and must plead with a bitchy official who is reluctant to let them enter. A sympathetic employee (terrific cameo by Wallace Langham ) allows Olive to enter but it doesn't take long for the family to discover what a freak show the pageant world really is.

As Richard and Dwayne try to convince Sheryl that allowing Olive to participate would only serve to embarrass & humiliate the chubby, bespectacled Olive, who they now realize is obviously not beauty queen material, Olive insists on following through on her dream. What ensues is a finale reminiscent of Napoleon Dynamite, only much more rewarding. Like that film's lead character's surprising expression of repressed talent, this is one that will stay with the viewer for a long time to come.

In summary, this is one of the best films I have seen in a long time, depicting fragments of a broken family unit held together by a spunky 11-year-old girl and her rose-colored view of the world. The actors involved all give superb performances. It is as easy to understand how Breslin & Arkin were nominated as it is confusing to understand why Carell and Kinnear were not.

The only thing left to say is that it is a shame that the Academy did not nominate the directing duo Dayton & Faris for their work because it took special guidance to guide this spunky little film down the road to success.

Anyone who believes Little Miss Sunshine doesn't belong with the Hollywood heavyweights has never laughed at the sight of a VW MicroBus beeping down the highway with a rag-tag family inside holding onto each other for dear life.

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