Talk to Me (2007)

The Review:

Talk to Me gets by on the flash of Don Cheadle's performance of Petey Greene, the Washington D.C. DJ who practically created talk radio, that when it it yields to the calm, control of Chiwetel Ejiofor's Duey Hughes in the last twenty minutes it runs out of chic.  What is suppose to play as an memoriam to a flamboyant life comes off as a talented director trying to stretch another twenty minutes out of a movie that has run out of steam. (Read in there a sly metaphor on the yielding of 60's stay within yourself idealism  to the 70's me generation grasping for the golden cow of success.) But that is a minor quibble.  Talk to Me at least gets the soul right, and great acting can paste over the minor anachronisms, the occasional nasty Afro rug, mutton chop, and dime store pimp moustache.  Cheadle and Ejiofor, two of the more talented black actors around, know how to do this rap. They jump on the opportunity to feed off each other's talent, and Talk to Me glides along on the comfortable vibes of perfect acting moments concealed in the smallest noisiest parts of life.   It doesn't pimp itself.  Talk to Me, Talked to Me.  It gets an A-. 

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

The true life story of Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene Jr. In the mid-to-late 1960s, in Washington, D.C., vibrant soul music and exploding social consciousness were combining to unique and powerful effect. It was the place and time for Petey to fully express himself - sometimes to outrageous effect - and "tell it like it is." With the support of his irrepressible and tempestuous girlfriend Vernell, the newly minted ex-con talks his way into an on-air radio gig. He forges a friendship and a partnership with fellow prison inmate Milo's brother Dewey Hughes. From the first wild morning on the air, Petey relies on the more straight-laced Dewey to run interference at WOL-AM, where Dewey is the program director. At the station, Petey becomes an iconic radio personality, surpassing even the established popularity of his fellow disc jockeys, Nighthawk and Sunny Jim. Combining biting humor with social commentary, Petey openly courts controversy for station owner E.G. Sonderling. Petey was determined to make not just himself but his community heard during an exciting and turbulent period in American history. As Petey's voice, humor, and spirit surge across the airwaves with the vitality of the era, listeners tune in to hear not only incredible music but also a man speaking directly to them about race and power in America like few people ever have. Through the years, Petey's "The truth just is" style --- on - and off-air - would redefine both Petey and Dewey, and empower each to become the man he would most like to be.

The Credits: (from The New York Times)

Directed by Kasi Lemmons; written by Michael Genet and Rick Famuyiwa, based on a story by Mr. Genet; director of photography, Stéphane Fontaine; edited by Terilyn A. Shropshire; music by Terence Blanchard; production designer, Warren Alan Young; produced by Mark Gordon, Sidney Kimmel, Joe Fries and Josh McLaughlin; released by Focus Features. Running time: 118 minutes.

WITH: Don Cheadle (Petey Greene), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dewey Hughes), Cedric the Entertainer (Bob Terry), Taraji P. Henson (Vernell Watson), Mike Epps (Milo Hughes), Vondie Curtis Hall (Sunny Jim Kelsey) and Martin Sheen (E. G. Sonderling).

Sweet Land (2006)

The Review:

If nostalgia is defined as "a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time" (see dictionary.com), than Sweet Land is its perfect filmic definition. This story about a German mail-order bride's struggle (a radiant and feisty Elizabeth Reaser) to marry a Norwegian immigrant farmer (a stolid and intense Tim Guinee) in rural 1920's Minnesota has echoes of the American immigrant dream.  The young couple must overcome small town bigotry and a codified distrust of all things socialist and German in order to marry.  Told in a flashback style that has one generation listening to the origin story of the first upon the death of the family patriarch, shot in a glorious 35 mm clarity that emphasizes the vastness of the sky and the land, and the singleness of action and thought-- Sweet Land glows with the sheen of gentle folklore.   It is a story content to be simply told and acted.  It succeeds wonderfully without ever tilting to sentiment.  It gets an A-.

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

A young Inge Alltenburg travels to Minnesota in the 1920's to marry Olaf Torvik, a Norwiegan man who lives there. It is Inge's story of not being able to marry Olaf due to there different citizenship's, and not being accepted because of the war with Germany. Over time she learns English and befriends Olaf, Frances, and Frances' family.

The credits: (from The New York Times)

Directed by Ali Selim; written by Mr. Selim, based on the short story "A Gravestone Made of Wheat," by Will Weaver; director of photography, David Tumblety; edited by James R. Stanger; music by Mark Orton; production designer, James R. Bakkom; produced by Jim Bigham, Alan Cumming and Mr. Selim; released by Libero.

WITH: Elizabeth Reaser (Inge Altenberg), Tim Guinee (Olaf Torvik), Alan Cumming (Frandsen), Alex Kingston (Brownie), Ned Beatty (Harmo), John Heard (Minister Sorrensen), Robert Hogan (Olaf Torvik as an older man), Karen Landry (Rose Torvik) and Lois Smith (Inge as an older woman).

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The Review:

The final chapter has arrived and it is marvelous.  Yes, You-know-who and Harry do have the final battle, but that is not what impresses me about my first entry in the Potter franchise-- no it is the absolute humanity of the whole thing.  Rowling  has created a great adventure yarn that doesn't stoop to stereotype for its main characters.   Harry is a hero that gropes fearfully towards greatness, and achieves it.  It is touching how Rowling battles for us muggles.  Without all these nagging flaws we would all be He Who Can Not Be Spoken Of.  Rolwing's prose often is serviceable and on occasion its straightforward simplicity can be beautiful and wonderfully moving.   Her tendency to rely too much on dialogue does have some awkward moments.  There are a few chapters towards the end where major plot points are revealed via talking heads that could have been handled with a little more literary imagination and application of dramatic action.  Still overall, this is a great read.  It gets an A. 

The Credits:

Written by J.K. Rowling

The Plot:

Read the novel guys. 

Hairspray (2007)

The. Review:

The "Divine"less Hairspray stripped down to its innocent nub is still a diverting movie.  This is the not naughty nice, radically weirdly comfortable version.   Who would have thought that John Waters would become the garnddaddy poster boy for a vanilla America bent on transforming the radical 60's into the quaint somnambulistic morality of the 50's.  Sure VICTORS get to rewrite the history books, but it doesn't mean LOSERS get to revise movies as a consolation prize. Divine gave the original some risque fun by playing off the idea that all really big mothers really are drag queens underneath.  John Travolta takes it to the reverse absurdity by trying to prove that all drag queens playing big mothers really are straight. Travolta-tina douses Hairspray with the ozone mist of "The Method". When the vapor settles and after everyone has stopped coughing, there could be an Oscar win in there somewhere. The original had the zaftig effervescence of the pre-tenderized Ricki Lake.  This Hairspray has the hefty charm of the much more talented, bubblier and sexier Nikki  Blonsky.  If there is a Playboy centerfold in the future (as she jokingly implied in an interview) I would definitely buy out the entire issue.   Nikki don't be a Ricki.  Don't lose those pounds!  Blonsky really is hairspray.  She makes it a winner. Adapted from the successful Broadway musical by movie veteran choreographer Adam Shankman, Hairspray 2007 has the great virtue of believability: everyone sings and dances their hearts out-- and in their own voices.  Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland couldn't have put on a better show.  Hairspray gets a B+. 

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky), an overweight teenager with all the right moves, is obsessed with the Corny Collins Show. Every day after school, she and her best friend Penny (Amanda Bynes)run home to watch the show and drool over the hot Link Larkin (Zac Efron), much to Tracy's mother Edna's (John Travolta) dismay. After one of the stars of the show leaves, Corny Collins (Jason Marsden) holds auditions to see who will be the next person on the Corny Collins show. With all of the help of her friend Seaweed (Elijah Kelly), Tracy makes it on the show, angering the evil dance queen Amber Von Tussle (Brittany Snow) and her mother Velma (Michelle Pfieffer). Tracy then decides that it's not fair that the black kids can only dance on the Corny Collins Show once a month, and with the help of Seaweed, Link, Penny, Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah), her father (Christopher Walken) and Edna, she's going to integrate the show.....without denting her 'do!

The Credits: (from The New York Times)

Directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman; written by Leslie Dixon, based on the screenplay by John Waters and the musical stage play, book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Mr. Shaiman; director of photography, Bojan Bazelli; edited by Michael Tronick; score by Mr. Shaiman; production designer, David Gropman; produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron; released by New Line Cinema. Running time: 107 minutes.

WITH: John Travolta (Edna Turnblad), Michelle Pfeiffer (Velma Von Tussle), Christopher Walken (Wilbur Turnblad), Amanda Bynes (Penny Pingleton), James Marsden (Corny Collins), Queen Latifah (Motormouth Maybelle), Brittany Snow (Amber Von Tussle), Zac Efron (Link Larkin), Elijah Kelley (Seaweed), Allison Janney (Prudy Pingleton), Jerry Stiller (Mr. Pinky), Paul Dooley (Mr. Spritzer) and Nikki Blonsky (Tracy Turnblad).

Live Free or Die Hard (2007)

The Review:

The Die Hard films take an almost anarchistic delight in the way Detective John McClane is able to disarm high tech villainy with an almost Neanderthal ferocity.  In Live Free or Die Hard, McClane needs a little more help-- the old body being a half-step slower now. So he recruits the Apple computer dude (an effective Matt Farrell) to counter program against a vindictive terrorist (a maniacally sniveling Timothy Olyphant ) determined to take down all the government traffic and control systems. For the fourth time, McClane, the ultimate blue collar warrior, must clean up the mess of the American paradox:  the anger of the unjustly screwed over American worker. To Bruce Willis' credit he has always managed to make McClane's discontent more human than creeping subtext.  It has always been about defending the wife, the daughter than  about blowing up the process in order to cure the American Dream gone sour.  Live Free or Die Hard, however, is all about the pain, the bombs and the cars.   The humanity doesn't come until the end.  The family hijack is a last attempt rather than a first response.  Even if Willis is more terminator than pissed off cop, there is still fun in watching McClane burn and blow up all those pretty toys.   I give it a B+.  

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

When someone hacks into the computers at the FBI's Cyber Crime Division; the Director decides to round up all the hackers who could have done this. When he's told that because it's the 4th of July most of their agents are not around so they might have trouble getting people to get the hackers. So he instructs them to get local PD'S to take care of it. And one of the cops they ask is John McClane who is tasked with bringing a hacker named Farrell to the FBI. But as soon as he gets there someone starts shooting at them. McClane manages to get them out but they're still being pursued. And it's just when McClane arrives in Washington that the whole system breaks down and chaos ensues.

The Credits: (from The New York Times)

Directed by Len Wiseman; written by Mark Bomback, based on a story by Mr. Bomback and David Marconi; director of photography, Simon Duggan; edited by Nicolas de Toth; music by Marco Beltrami; production designer, Patrick Tatopoulos; stunt coordinator, Brad Martin; produced by Michael Fottrell; released by 20th Century Fox. Running time: 130 minutes.

WITH: Bruce Willis (John McClane), Timothy Olyphant (Thomas Gabriel), Justin Long (Matt Farrell), Cliff Curtis (Bowman), Maggie Q (Mai) and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Lucy McClane).

Stay (2005)

The Credits: (from The New York Times)

The Review:

AAARgh! I hate movies that don't live up to their gimmicky endings.  Their meaning gets crushed in the light of the literal.  The trick ending reduces what could have been art to craft, reduces mystery to  an exercise in technique.  Memento, and maybe, The Sixth Sense are the only two movies that I recall that avoided the literal trap-- and that was because they were still mysterious after everything was revealed.  That is what art does-- it screws with your mind in the best kind of way.   Stay is neither. This story about a young man who declares his intention to snuff himself in three days right in front of his substitute psychiatrists gets lost trying to keep everything coherent for the big dive at the end.  A good cast, including a pre-Half-Nelson Ryan Gosling using this as a case study to refine his technique for his big Oscar push, manages to pull the deception off  for about half the movie before all the time reversals, replays, and personality switches start to lose their flavor.   At least, the director  Marc Foster (Finding Neverland, Monster's Ball, Stranger than Fiction) got the art-fart side of him over and done with early. Look at it as a tune-up to directing Bond Movie 22. It doesn't help him to direct The Kite Runner.  I give Stay a B-. 

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

After a car accident on a bridge, the psychiatrist Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor) assumes the case of the survivor Henry Letham (Ryan Gosling), who apparently torched and car and promises to commit suicide three days later. Sam decides to investigate deeper what happened with Henry, and feels that he is becoming detached from reality with his findings about the case. He asks his girlfriend Lila Culpepper (Naomi Watts) to help himself to stay lucid, while trying to solve the intriguing situation of Henry.

The Credits: (from The New York Times)

Directed by Marc Forster; written by David Benioff; director of photography, Roberto Schaefer; edited by Matt Chessé; music by Asche & Spencer; production designer, Kevin Thompson; produced by Arnon Milchan, Tom Lassally and Eric Kopeloff; released by 20th Century Fox. Running time: 98 minutes.

WITH: Ewan McGregor (Sam Foster), Ryan Gosling (Henry Letham), Kate Burton (Mrs. Letham), Naomi Watts (Lila Culpepper), Elizabeth Reaser (Athena), Bob Hoskins (Dr. Leon Patterson), Janeane Garofalo (Dr. Beth Levy) and B. D. Wong (Dr. Ren).

Transformers (2007)

The Review:

I wonder when the studios are going to get smart with all their blatant product placement.  In Transformers all the good Transformers morph into GM cars, while the bad boys just have to settle for being jets, tanks and attack helicopters.  Why couldn't the producers sell the rights to be the villains to the other car makers? Why can't it be the good GM cars versus those evil Japanese Toyotas or Honda, or those mean spirited BMW or Merecedes Benz demons?   It might be true that the bad boys get all the cool toys while the good ones get the cool wheels-- but in Hollywood the cool wheels get the chicks and, at least here, "He who gets the most chicks win."  Isn't America great? Which all goes to say that Transformers is a big, noisy summer movie edited to within a milli-second of its life.  Don't give them time to think and they won't notice it is dumb-- the motto for both GM and Hollywood.  All chrome, stainless steel glint, shiny wheels and Shia LaBeouf spitting out nervous nerdery at a 100 strokes a second, Transformers gets by on synaptic action alone.   Michael Bay has created another action movie that likes to keep its heart rate high but its brain waves low.   In America that is a good thing-- almost genius.  In Moya World that only gets you a B.  

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

High-school student Sam Witwicky buys his first car, who is actually the Autobot Bumblebee. Bumblebee defends Sam and his girlfriend Mikaela Banes from the Decepticon Barricade, before the other Autobots arrive on Earth. They are searching for the Allspark, and the war on Earth heats up as the Decepticons attack a United States military base in Qatar. Sam and Mikaela are taken by the top-secret agency Sector 7 to help stop the Decepticons, but when they learn the agency also intends to destroy the Autobots, they formulate their own plan to save the world

The Credits: (from The New York Times)

Directed by Michael Bay; written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, based on a story by John Rogers, Mr. Orci and Mr. Kurtzman and Hasbro’s Transformers action figures; director of photography, Mitchell Amundsen; edited by Paul Rubell, Glen Scantlebury and Thomas A. Muldoon; music by Steve Jablonsky; production designer, Jeff Mann; special visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic; produced by Don Murphy, Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce; released by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Running time: 144 minutes.

WITH: Shia LaBeouf (Sam Witwicky), Tyrese Gibson (Technical Sergeant Epps), Josh Duhamel (Captain Lennox), Anthony Anderson (Glen Whitmann), Megan Fox (Mikaela Banes), Rachael Taylor (Maggie Madsen), John Turturro (Agent Simmons) and Jon Voight (Defense Secretary John Keller).

WITH THE VOICES OF: Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime), Hugo Weaving (Megatron), Mark Ryan (Bumblebee), Jess Harnell (Ironhide/Barricade), Robert Foxworth (Ratchet), Jimmie Wood (Bonecrusher), Darius McCrary (Autobot Jazz), Charlie Adler (Starscream) and Reno Wilson (Decepticon Frenzy).

The Painted Veil (2006)

The Review:

Even though the title comes from a Shelley lyric, I like to think of the Painted Veil as the original Love in the Time of Cholera-- a two tone poem on love lost, regained, and then transcended. The Painted Veil is a story propelled along on the  revelations that come when humanity confronts the line that exists between life and death. In a China  swallowed in disease and on the verge of revolution-- the very English idea that good works can fend off the existential abyss doesn't  seem so dated a notion.   Edward Norton and Naomi Watts deliver performances of committed intensity and gentleness, and the director John Curran, keeps it all believable with a style that delivers a low level religious sheen to all the proceedings. This is Somerset Maughan done right.   The Painted Veil gets a B+.    

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

This love story has Kitty meeting young, intelligent, shy and somewhat dull Dr. Walter Fane, whose forte is the study of infectious diseases, and the convenient marriage that she finds herself committed too. It is in this web of intrigue that they head for China, only after Walter discover's Kitty's infidelity with one dashing and witty Diplomat Charlie Townsend. So much as to hide her from herself and to help thwart a cholera outbreak, this is a marriage more than on the rocks. This is a cold, indifferent and loveless partnership in a vast unknown and deadly environment that will test both these flightless lovebirds and with the hardships and tolerances more than any had ever anticipated. A visual delight amidst the pain and suffering of a dying people and failing marriage. Will a cure be found for both, before it's too late?

The Credits: (from The New York Times)

Directed by John Curran; written by Ron Nyswaner, based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham; director of photography, Stuart Dryburgh; edited by Alexandre de Franceschi; music by Alexandre Desplat; production designer, Tu Juhua; produced by Sara Colleton, Jean-François Fonlupt, Bob Yari, Edward Norton and Naomi Watts; released by Warner Independent Pictures. Running time: 125 minutes.

WITH: Naomi Watts (Kitty Fane) Edward Norton (Walter Fane), Liev Schreiber (Charlie Townsend), Toby Jones (Waddington) and Diana Rigg (Mother Superior).

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix (2007)

The Review:

After three teeny steps and one big leap forward the Harry Potter movie franchise starts to get down to business.  Wrapping up all the agony of teenage angst (the anger, the alienation, the rebellion against authority, the confusion) into the conventions of a political thriller is a brilliant stroke by new Potter scribe Michael Goldenberg (the previous where penned by the overly literal minded Steve Kloves) .  The growing awareness of Harry's real part in the world now is starting to take on tragic and almost Shakespearean dimensions.  And Daniel Radcliffe is growing into Potter: his face and body assuming a handsome nobility, a touch of grim majesty. For the first time in this series it begins to seem possible that Harry can pull this off. Stuck in the middle between childhood and looming adulthood, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, appropriately feels unfinished and rough, a work in progress like all the teen years are. It gets a B+. 

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

After returning to Hogwarts to begin his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry Potter discovers that much of the wizarding world, including the Ministry of Magic, is in denial about Lord Voldemort's return. The Order of the Phoenix, a group sworn against Voldemort, is using its vast array of wizards and witches magical abilities to combat Voldemort. Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, suspects that Dumbledore is using these claims of The Dark Lord's return as a means to over-throw Fudge as Minister. In retaliation, a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is appointed by the Ministry in order to keep an eye on Hogwarts. This new teacher, Professor Umbridge, implies strict new teachings and rules, forcing a group of students, under the tutelage of Harry, to form a club, by the name of Dumbledore's ArmyThe Credits (from The New York Times)

Directed by David Yates; written by Michael Goldenberg, based on the novel by J. K. Rowling; director of photography, Slawomir Idziak; edited by Mark Day; music by Nicholas Hooper; production designer, Stuart Craig; visual effects supervisor, Tim Burke; produced by David Heyman and David Barron; released by Warner Brothers Pictures. Running time: 138 minutes.

WITH: Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange), Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid), Warwick Davis (Filius Flitwick), Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort), Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore), Brendan Gleeson (Mad-Eye Moody), Richard Griffiths (Vernon Dursley), Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy), Gary Oldman (Sirius Black), Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Fiona Shaw (Petunia Dursley), Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall), Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge), David Thewlis (Remus Lupin), Emma Thompson (Sybill Trelawney), Julie Walters (Mrs. Weasley), Robert Hardy (Cornelius Fudge), David Bradley (Argus Filch), Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom), Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood), Katie Leung (Cho Chang) and Harry Melling (Dudley Dursley).

My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)

The Review:

Sometimes it takes silly, inane comedies like My Super Ex-Girlfriend for me to rethink the whole Superhero mythos.  What if deep down the enmity between Lex and Superman, the Joker and Batman, Spidey and J. Jonah Jameson is really a deep abiding love?  The whole damn Superhero shebang nothing but a repressed gay love fest? Oh, forget about it.  Except for that one unique idea that has the potential to shake the DC and Marvel comic book world to its core-- My Super Ex-Girlfriend is pretty much an exercise in passable comedy helped along by the amiable performances of Uma Thurman  and Luke Wilson. Uma is kept under wraps for the most part, and even her super costume is neither salacious nor overly form fitting-- a kind of Uma-lite.  Except for some fun with the idea of Supersex and a nice aerial cat fight between Uma  and Anna Faris most of My Super Ex-Girlfriend is cloaked in kryptonite.  It gets a C. 

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

In New York, when the shy and lonely project manager of a design firm Matt Saunders meets Jenny Johnson in the subway, he invites her to date and have dinner with him. Jenny immediately falls in love for him, they have sex and she discloses her true identity to him, telling that she is the powerful superhero G-Girl. After meeting his co-worker and friend Hannah Lewis, the needy Jenny becomes jealous, controlling and manipulative, and Matt follows the advice of his best friend Vaughn Haige and dumps her, breaking her heart. Jenny turns Matt's life into hell, while he has a romance with Hannah. However, the archenemy of G-Girl and former high school sweetheart of Jenny, Professor Bedlam, proposes Matt to lure Jenny to strip her superpowers.

The Credits: (from The New York Times)

Directed by Ivan Reitman; written by Don Payne; director of photography, Don Burgess; edited by Sheldon Kahn and Wendy Greene Bricmont; music by Teddy Castellucci; production designer, Jane Musky; produced by Gavin Polone and Arnon Milchan; released by 20th Century Fox. Running time: 110 minutes.

WITH: Uma Thurman (Jenny Johnson/G-Girl), Luke Wilson (Matt Saunders), Anna Faris (Hannah Lewis), Eddie Izzard (Professor Bedlam/Barry), Rainn Wilson (Vaughn Haige) and Wanda Sykes (Carla Dunkirk).

Half Nelson (2006)

Half Nelson (2006)

The Review:

Half Nelson is all show, all suggestion.  It takes to heart the mantra of screen writing at its best.  And Ryan Gosling absorbs it whole heartedly, in a performance that glides softly along showing the effects that crack has on not only the addicted but those on the sidelines.   But without the counter performance of the young Shareeka Epps it really wouldn't have the punch that it earns.  This inner city child used to having her dreams smothered, her inspirations and aspirations crushed by a brother doing drug related time, a family friend who is the amiable neighborhood pusher, and now this teacher who made her think a little bit, wish a little bit, inspired her a little and then turned out to be completely human when she stumbles on him smoking crack in a bathroom stall.  And that is just the beginning of the movie that finds the student inspiring the teacher to try to resurrect his more nobler self.  The Report card says this gets an A.   

The Plot: (from IMB.com)

Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is an eighth-grade history teacher in an inner-city school deep in the heart of Brooklyn. He eschews the provided curriculum in favor of off-the-cuff, but deeply heartfelt lectures about the importance of understanding history, rather than just memorizing it. He speaks primarily of dialectics, the tensions between two opposing forces. He is torn between his desire to change the world and his increasingly desperate realization that he can't, at least not in the grand, awe-inspiring ways that he envisioned as an eager, idealistic college student. He started using drugs as a way to escape the pain of life, and it has turned into a crutch that bears increasingly heavy loads of psychological weight. In his classroom, which is populated almost entirely by black and Hispanic students, Dan lectures about how the world is structured into opposing forces, illustrating it at one point by arm-wrestling one of his students. His unorthodox approach inspires them during class, but interestingly enough we don't see its effects outside the classroom. The film focuses on Dan and his relationship with Drey (Shareeka Epps), a 13-year-old student of his who catches him in the bathroom smoking crack after school one day. Drey understands Dan's frustrations with life; she is the child of an overworked single mother whom she barely sees, and spending so much time on her own has made her self-reliant, but also hard on the edges.

The Credits: (from The New York Times)

Directed by Ryan Fleck; written by Mr. Fleck and Anna Boden; director of photography, Andrij Parekh; edited by Ms. Boden; music by Broken Social Scene; production designer, Elizabeth Mickle; produced by Jamie Patricof, Alex Orlovsky, Lynette Howell, Ms. Boden and Rosanne Korenberg; released by ThinkFilm. Running time: 107 minutes.

WITH: Ryan Gosling (Dan Dunne), Shareeka Epps (Drey), Anthony Mackie (Frank), Monique Gabriela Curnen (Isabel), Karen Chilton (Karen) and Tina Holmes (Rachel).

Mrs. Harris (2005)

The Review:

First time directors should never attempt a real life murder story less they kill their tiny reputation.  In Mrs. Harris, the director Phyllis Nagy, never really finds a successful structure or tone.  Is Mrs. Harris a documentary, a domestic drama, a comedy of delusion?  Ultimately Nagy chooses comedy: deciding that this story about a philandering doctor who writes a wildly popular diet book  and the woman who wants his love deserves nothing but the contempt that a good social satire provides. So the last twenty minutes of Mrs. Harris are a perfect pitch spoof of marital discord- drunkenness, f***keness, calm and bewildering cuddly callousness so outrageous it could only be life.   Unfortunately, most of what came before is quite banal.   It deserves a C.

The Plot (from IMDB.com)

Fact-based story about Jean Harris (Annette Bening), a woman who was accused of murdering famed Scarsdale Diet Dr. Herman (Hi) Tarnower (Ben Kingsley) after being in a relationship with him for 14 years. Depicted as a womanizer, Dr. Tarnower had earlier asked Mrs. Harris, a divorced school teacher, to marry him. But when faced with upcoming nuptials, he backed out. The story depicts Mrs. Harris as a distraught and obsessive woman who may have been suffering from some mental illness and based on a note sent to the doctor, may have been suicidal at the time of the murder. She contended that Dr. Tarnower was shot while the two wrestled with a gun she was going to use to kill herself.

The Credits: (from The New York Times)

Type: Features
Distributor: HBO Films
Rating: NR
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Starring: Annette Bening, Ben Kingsley, Frances Fisher
Directed by: Phyllis Nagy

Brothers of the Head (2006)

The Review:

I suspect the Brian Aldiss novel about conjoined twins that become punk rock stars and flame out tragically is a freakishly better work of art than this disjointed faux documentary that suffers from miserable song writing.   Genius dying early is tragic; premature mediocrity is only pathetic.  Brothers of the Head is bathed in pathos.  It is full of unearned self-importance and posturing. In the novel, the genius of the music could be left to the reader's imagination only suggested metaphorically. The movie doesn't have that luxury.  The songs have to be damn good, and in Brothers of the Head,  the ballads suffer from infantile lyrics and routine melodies.  It doesn't punk and it doesn't rock. I found myself severing from these conjoined twins long before they decided to do it to themselves.  A C+. 

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

In the 1970s a music promoter plucks Siamese twins from obscurity and grooms them into a freakish rock'n'roll act. A dark tale of sex, strangeness and rock music.

The Credits: (from The New York Times)

Directed by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe; written by Tony Grisoni, based on the book by Brian Aldiss; director of photography, Anthony Dod Mantle; edited by Nick Gaster; music by Clive Langer; production designer, Jon Henson; produced by Simon Channing Williams and Gail Egan; released by IFC Films. At the IFC Center, 323 Avenue of the Americas at Third Street, Greenwich Village. Running time: 93 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Harry Treadaway (Tom Howe), Luke Treadaway (Barry Howe), Bryan Dick (Paul Day), Howard Attfield (Zak Bedderwick), Tom Bower (Eddie Pasquar), Ken Russell (himself), Tania Emery (Laura Ashworth) and Sean Harris (Nick Sidney).

Reeker (2005)

The Review:

Reeker is a horror film that earns its modest scares from some of the better creature features it imitates.  Witty parodies of Freaks, Jaws (which occurs in an outhouse), Psycho, even the Audrey Hepburn chiller Wait Until Dark abound in this tale of a monster that kills by an offensive odor.  Even a little Star Wars is thrown in. Because it isn't afraid to die, Reeker lives and can  delight in its low budget, straight to video roots.   It gets a stinkin' B-. 

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

Strangers trapped at an eerie travel oasis in the desert must unravel the mystery behind their visions of dying people while they are preyed upon by a decaying creature.

The Credits: (from The Hew York Times)

Dave Payne - Composer (Music Score), Screenwriter, Director, Producer, Musical Performer;  Michael Mickens - Cinematographer;  Daniel Barone - Editor;  Nicole Abel-Emery - Costume Designer;  Juniper Post - Sound/Sound Designer

WITH: Devon Gummersall - Jack, Derek Richardson - Nelson, Tina Illman - Gretchen, Tina Lllman - Gertchen, Scott Whyte - Trip, Arielle Kebbel - Cookie, Eric Maibus - Radford, Marcia Strassman - Rose, Michael Ironside - Henry, Eric Mabius - Radford, Les Jankey - half-a-trucker,  David Hadinger - Reeker,  Carol Ruggier - The Mom, Paul Greenstein - The Dad

The Benchwarmers (2006)

The Review:

Baseball redemption comedy played so overarched dramatically that it never gets a chance to come to the plate.  Heder, Schneider, Lovitz, and Spade indulge their worst comic instincts, proving why they always will remain second tier talents.  About as excruciating as eating stale hotdogs, warm beer and sitting on a bench with rusty nails popping out.  A C-.

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

Three guys, all their lives, have been living in the shadow of bullies and are determined not to take it anymore. Now they must train with the help of Mel to take on the most offensive and meanest Little League teams.

The credits:  (from The New York Times)

Directed by Dennis Dugan; written by Allen Covert and Nick Swardson; director of photography, Thomas Ackerman; edited by Peck Prior and Sandy Solowitz; music by Waddy Wachtel; production designer, Perry Andelin Blake; produced by Adam Sandler and Jack Giarraputo; released by Columbia Pictures. Running time: 95 minutes.

WITH: Rob Schneider (Gus), David Spade (Richie), Jon Heder (Clark), Jon Lovitz (Mel), Craig Kilborn (Jerry) and Molly Sims (Liz).

Down in the Valley (2006)

The Review:

Another case of a good movie gone bad that creates its own genre-- call it the Delusional Western.   I suppose there is some kind of warp comment about the death of the American Dream in this tale of a seemingly "nice" cowpoke (remember, this an Edward Norton switcheroo role-- madness just lurks beneath the surface) that takes the dip into the abyss of classic film Western archetypes  when his romance with a city  slicker teen goes south.  This is what happens when good cinematic minds watch too many bad independent films.  A B-.

The Plot: (from IMB.com)

Tobe is about 16, living with her dad and younger brother in LA's San Fernando Valley. She invites a gas station attendant named Harlan to come to the beach with her and her friends. He's from South Dakota, wears a cowboy hat, talks country, and has been a ranch hand. They have a great time, his simple expressions seem like wisdom, he's attentive and polite, and even though he's more than twice her age, she wants to spend time with him. When her father objects, she rebels. Harlan, meanwhile, thinks she's his soul mate, and he starts making plans to get her away from her father. Worlds are set to collide, but which ones?

The Credits (from The New York Times)

Written and directed by David Jacobson; director of photography, Enrique Chediak; edited by Lynzee Klingman; production designer, Franco Carbone; produced by Holly Wiersma, Edward Norton and Adam Rosenfelt; released by ThinkFilm. Running time: 114 minutes.

WITH: Edward Norton (Harlan), Evan Rachel Wood (Tobe), David Morse (Wade), Rory Culkin (Lonnie), John Diehl (Steve) and Bruce Dern (Charlie).

Days of Glory (Indigenes)  (2006)

The Review:

Days of Glory The French "Saving Private Ryan" is a nicely acted World War II drama about North African Muslim soldiers who fought for a country who mostly didn't want them or respect them. The director, Rachid Bouchareb has created a wonderful meditation on the meaning of patriotism and the need for great countries to extend their best slogans and banner to even their lowliest colonized citizens.  It provides a much needed new historical perspective in this messed up world.   An A.    

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

Algeria, 1943, through Italy and France, to Alsace in early 1945, with a coda years later. Arabs volunteer to fight Nazis to liberate France, their motherland. We follow Saïd, dirt poor, an orderly for a grizzled sergeant, Martinez, a pied noir with some willingness to speak up for his Arab troops; Messaoud, a crack shot, who in Province falls in love with a French woman who loves him back; and Abdelkader, a corporal, a budding intellectual with a keen sense of injustice. The men fight with courage against a backdrop of small and large indignities: French soldiers get better food, time for leave, and promotions. Is the promise of liberty, equality, and fraternity hollow?

The Credits: (from The New York Times)

Directed by Rachid Bouchareb; written (in French, with English subtitles) by Olivier Lorelle; director of photography, Patrick Blossier; edited by Yannick Kergoat; music by Armand Amar Khaled; art director, Dominique Douret; produced by Tessalit Productions; released by the Weinstein Company and IFC Films. At the Angelika Film Center, Mercer and Houston Streets, Greenwich Village. Running time: 120 minutes.

WITH: Jamel Debbouze (Saïd), Samy Nacéri (Yassir), Roschdy Zem (Messaoud), Sami Bouajila (Abdelkader), Bernard Blancan (Sergeant Martinez), Mathieu Simonet (Leroux), Benoît Giros (Captain Durieux), Mélanie Laurent (Marguerite), Antoine Chappey (the Colonel) and Aurélie Eltvedt (Irène).

Smokin' Aces (2007)

The Review:

Hit man drama that get so deep undercover it loses its identity.  Over stylized, ramped up beyond the point of nihilism, Smokin' Aces glides along on a carnage spree that is meant to satisfy the snuff desires of the action movie addict before it whacks itself on the head halfway through and plops down any semblance of a sympathetic character the rest of us can feel for.   Another one of those artsy movies in which everything is an exercise in cool without actually being cool.  A B-. 

The Plot: (from IMB.com)

In these interlocking tales of high stakes and low lifes, Mob boss Primo Sparazza has taken out a hefty contract on Buddy "Aces" Israel (Piven)--a sleazy magician who has agreed to turn state's evidence against the Vegas mob. The FBI, sensing a chance to use this small-time con to bring down big-target Sparazza, places Aces into protective custody-under the supervision of two agents (Reynolds and Liotta) dispatched to Aces' Lake Tahoe hideout. When word of the price on Aces' head spreads into the community of ex-cons and cons-to-be, it entices bounty hunters, thugs-for-hire, smokin' hot vixens and double-crossing mobsters to join in the hunt. With all eyes on Tahoe, this rogues' gallery collides in a comic race to hit the jackpot and rub out Aces.

Credits: (from The New York Times)

Written and directed by Joe Carnahan; director of photography, Mauro Fiore; edited by Robert Frazen; music by Clint Mansell; production designer, Martin Whist; produced by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner; released by Universal Pictures. Running time: 107 minutes.

WITH: Ben Affleck (Jack Dupree), Andy Garcia (Stanley Locke), Alicia Keys (Georgia Sykes), Ray Liotta (Donald Carruthers), Jeremy Piven (Buddy Israel), Ryan Reynolds (Richard Messner), Peter Berg (Pistol Pete Deeks), Taraji Henson (Sharice Watters), Chris Pine (Darwin Tremor), Martin Henderson (Hollis Elmore) and Jason Bateman (Rupert Rip Reed).

Once (2007)

The Review:

If life is an audition than Once would be the demo tape.  Once sings with the sad hopeful cadences of two people fated to the serenade of a friendship that just remains below the treble of true romance- that space where emotion yields to ache, ache to music, and music to song.  The rough faltering voices of the two leads actually singing songs they've written (Glen Hansard (the Guy) and Marketa Irglova (the Girl), the elemental story are all a ballad to the human need for melody in an imperfect world.  An A.

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

A modern-day musical about a busker and an immigrant and their eventful week, as they write, rehearse and record songs that tell their love story.

The Credits: (from The New York Times)

Written and directed by John Carney; director of photography, Tim Fleming; edited by Paul Mullen; music by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova; production designer, Tamara Conboy; produced by Martina Niland; released by Fox Searchlight Pictures. Running time: 88 minutes.

WITH: Glen Hansard (the Guy) and Marketa Irglova (the Girl).

The Nativity Story (2006)

The Review:

 A Christmas movie saved from the ashes of biblical literalness by the performances of Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary and Oscar Isaac as Joseph.  Castle-Hughes' Mary is a perfect reflection of a young girl following the path of God every wondrous, fearful and incredible step of the way-- countering the machinations of a fearful world with the quiet bravery of gentle revelation.  Isaac's Joseph is a portrait of a good and devout man that must overcome all earthly doubts and make the leap to the incredulous-- a man fearful of his place in God's kingdom yet ready to take the responsibility of divine ordination wherever it may call.  Slyly, it is revealed why they are God's perfect choice for the parents of the Messiah.  A B.

The Plot: (from IMDB.com)

A drama that focuses on the period in Mary and Joseph's life where they journeyed to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus.

The Credits: (from The New York Times)

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke; written by Mike Rich; director of photography, Elliot Davis; edited by Robert K. Lambert and Stuart Levy; music by Mychael Danna; production designer, Stefano Maria Ortolani; produced by Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen; released by New Line Cinema. Running time: 100 minutes.

WITH: Keisha Castle-Hughes (Mary); Oscar Isaac (Joseph); Hiam Abbass (Anna, Mary’s Mother); Shaun Toub (Joaquim, Mary’s Father); Alexander Siddig (the Archangel Gabriel); Nadim Sawalha (Melchior); Eriq Ebouaney (Balthasar); Stefan Kalipha (Gaspar); Said Amadis (Tero); Stanley Townsend (Zechariah); Ciaran Hinds (King Herod); and Shohreh Aghdashloo (Elizabeth).