On Sept. 10, I finally sat down to watch United 93, a raw journey into the confusion and surrealism of Sept. 11.
Paul Greengrass, in almost documentary style, paints a portrait of those moments before the planes hit the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, and it is a chilling one.
What hits you is how normal everything is. You see people yapping on the phones as they wait to board the plane. And while on the plane, you see them eating, working on their laptops and talking with each other. You see the two pilots, one who hopes to see his children and wife soon and another who can't wait for an upcoming vacation.
These were people who, like many of us on Sept. 11, were going about their day, never knowing that this would be the day that they died.
And as the plane finally takes off, you also see the news of the attacks come into focus slowly. One plane and then another suddenly veer off course, and you can hear someone saying something about a hijacking, but the message is garbled.
You see the disbelief in people's eyes as they see first one plane and then another crash into the Twin Towers.
You see the news begin, in bits, to make its way to the passengers on United 93, who have already watched four hijackers kill the pilots and take over the plane.
And as you watch, you wonder what you would do if you knew that the plane you were on was going to crash on purpose as part of some terrorist act. You wonder who you would call and what you would say in those last moments before your life ended.
You wonder if you would have the courage to do something to prevent the terrorists from succeeding in their plans, even if you knew that doing so would result in your death.
Greengrass is not interested in political sloganeering in this movie. What he does do is immerse you in the confounding reality of that day, where you couldn't quite believe what was happenening, when you were trying desperately to dig out of this tragedy some greater meaning.
This is a difficult movie to watch, precisely because it only happened five years ago. You still remember where you were and what you were doing when you learned about the attacks.
United 93 is a vivid reminder, a tale of both pain and awe-inspiring herorism.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Idlewild is indeed wild
Andre 3000 and Big Boi, who make up the rap duo OutKast, have always lived up to their group name, stretching what we consider hip-hop to far-out extremes. And here's the thing: they manage to sell millions of record by predictably being unpredictable.
Which brings us to their new movie, Idlewild, a brilliant mess of a movie.
Andre is Percival, a piano player who is a mortician by day, slaving away for his dad, played by an underused Ben Vereen. Big Boi plays his friend, Rooster, who spends his nights running "Church," the local jukejoint, cheating on his wife and drinking way too much hooch.
Into all this enters Trumpy played by the always mesmerizing and menacing Terrence Howard (a friend wondered how he is so good at playing bad) who is the film's villain.
Percival and Rooster now have to figure out how to keep from getting killed.
Now, all of this is set in the 1930s Prohibition era, though you may have a hard time believing that with all the rapping Big Boi does in the movie. Yes, there's rapping but again what else would you expect from an OutKast movie.
Horns blast, Big Boi raps, Andre gets drenched in rain and men and women jitterbug all over the place. And somehow, this movie works, with visual treats provided by first-time movie director Bryan Barber, who infuses his debut with all the tricks of the trade he learned while making music videos.
As my friend and I walked out of the theater, we had a hard time describing exactly what we saw. But we liked it. We were never bored.
Again, what else would you expect of OutKast?
Which brings us to their new movie, Idlewild, a brilliant mess of a movie.
Andre is Percival, a piano player who is a mortician by day, slaving away for his dad, played by an underused Ben Vereen. Big Boi plays his friend, Rooster, who spends his nights running "Church," the local jukejoint, cheating on his wife and drinking way too much hooch.
Into all this enters Trumpy played by the always mesmerizing and menacing Terrence Howard (a friend wondered how he is so good at playing bad) who is the film's villain.
Percival and Rooster now have to figure out how to keep from getting killed.
Now, all of this is set in the 1930s Prohibition era, though you may have a hard time believing that with all the rapping Big Boi does in the movie. Yes, there's rapping but again what else would you expect from an OutKast movie.
Horns blast, Big Boi raps, Andre gets drenched in rain and men and women jitterbug all over the place. And somehow, this movie works, with visual treats provided by first-time movie director Bryan Barber, who infuses his debut with all the tricks of the trade he learned while making music videos.
As my friend and I walked out of the theater, we had a hard time describing exactly what we saw. But we liked it. We were never bored.
Again, what else would you expect of OutKast?
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Snakes on a Plane
Snakes on a Plane was and is one of most hyped movies ever and even better, the movie actually lives up to the hype.
Of course with a movie in which the plot is summed up perfectly in the title, how could the movie not exceed expectations.
This is not Shakespeare -- not even close.
Snakes on a Plane is good, squirm-in-your-seat fun, the kind of movie made for screaming at the sceen while eating buttery popcorn.
Samuel L. Jackson does what he does best: exude cool. He's certain to be the coolest 57-year-old in the world who is blessed with the jealousy-inducing ability to say a particular profanity with a potent eloquence, one honed by years of practice.
The movie is cheesy, no doubt, with at least one scene of gratutuitous nudity and lots of gore and sight gags.
Yet, the movie works, mixing in humor with suspense.
And judging by the audience I saw the movie with recently, the fans loved every minute of the movie. They cheered when Samuel Jackson said that line everyone had waited with baited breath throughouth the movie: I've had enough of these mother(bleep) snakes on this mother(bleep) plane. That line, thanks to the power of the Internet, has become a cult classic long before the movie even came out.
Is this the future of moviemaking, where fans have the power to shape a movie? Don't know. But Snakes on a Plane works and it works well.
Of course with a movie in which the plot is summed up perfectly in the title, how could the movie not exceed expectations.
This is not Shakespeare -- not even close.
Snakes on a Plane is good, squirm-in-your-seat fun, the kind of movie made for screaming at the sceen while eating buttery popcorn.
Samuel L. Jackson does what he does best: exude cool. He's certain to be the coolest 57-year-old in the world who is blessed with the jealousy-inducing ability to say a particular profanity with a potent eloquence, one honed by years of practice.
The movie is cheesy, no doubt, with at least one scene of gratutuitous nudity and lots of gore and sight gags.
Yet, the movie works, mixing in humor with suspense.
And judging by the audience I saw the movie with recently, the fans loved every minute of the movie. They cheered when Samuel Jackson said that line everyone had waited with baited breath throughouth the movie: I've had enough of these mother(bleep) snakes on this mother(bleep) plane. That line, thanks to the power of the Internet, has become a cult classic long before the movie even came out.
Is this the future of moviemaking, where fans have the power to shape a movie? Don't know. But Snakes on a Plane works and it works well.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Descending into Vice
Miami Vice, the series, epitomized style. You may not remember the story lines but the pastel suits that Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas wore on this 1980s series were unforgettable.
Thankfully, Michael Mann, the mind behind that series, decided to do something too many directors don't do: He went about as far from remaking the series for the big screen as he could.
The movie of the same name might bear some outlines of similarity but that's about it.
Instead, Mann has created a dark world in which good and evil blur, where doing your job and living your life has little to separate them from each other.
A few critics have blasted the movie, but I found myself drawn into the world Mann is creating here.
Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx don't do much here, and you wish Naomie Harris, so good in Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man's Chest, had more time on screen. But the minimalism works, and the action set pieces have the power and the ability to shock you out of your senses.
And the mix of music and gorgeous cinematography puts you into the queasy underbelly of undercover police work, the compromises and sacrifices you make to get the job done.
It is a compelling piece of work, one I want to revisit soon.
And then there's The Descent, your basic horror flick. But it is also something more, thank goodness.
Here, we follow six women into the mountains after one has suffered a tragic loss. They go spelunking into the caves and find themselves trapped, squeezing themselves through small passageways as they look for a way out.
One by one, they fall victim to blind flesh-eating monsters.
Yet, as the movie slowly sets up in the beginning, the women are victim to much more than monsters. They have little pent-up demons of their own, secrets they have that will devastate them more than the monsters will.
And the slow beginning sets up for a psychologically tense finale, one you don't often seen in slasher flicks such as this.
What a sweet surprise.
Thankfully, Michael Mann, the mind behind that series, decided to do something too many directors don't do: He went about as far from remaking the series for the big screen as he could.
The movie of the same name might bear some outlines of similarity but that's about it.
Instead, Mann has created a dark world in which good and evil blur, where doing your job and living your life has little to separate them from each other.
A few critics have blasted the movie, but I found myself drawn into the world Mann is creating here.
Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx don't do much here, and you wish Naomie Harris, so good in Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man's Chest, had more time on screen. But the minimalism works, and the action set pieces have the power and the ability to shock you out of your senses.
And the mix of music and gorgeous cinematography puts you into the queasy underbelly of undercover police work, the compromises and sacrifices you make to get the job done.
It is a compelling piece of work, one I want to revisit soon.
And then there's The Descent, your basic horror flick. But it is also something more, thank goodness.
Here, we follow six women into the mountains after one has suffered a tragic loss. They go spelunking into the caves and find themselves trapped, squeezing themselves through small passageways as they look for a way out.
One by one, they fall victim to blind flesh-eating monsters.
Yet, as the movie slowly sets up in the beginning, the women are victim to much more than monsters. They have little pent-up demons of their own, secrets they have that will devastate them more than the monsters will.
And the slow beginning sets up for a psychologically tense finale, one you don't often seen in slasher flicks such as this.
What a sweet surprise.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Lady in the Water
M. Night Shyamalan is mystique personified, or at least that is what the acclaimed director sees himself as. His first major movie, The Sixth Sense, was a near masterpiece with one mind-bogging twist of an ending. And his second film, Unbreakable, contained a quiet, controlled beauty that revealed a director who had confidence in the narrative and didn't resort to little tricks of the Hollywood blockbuster trade.
This was a director who had vision and stuck stubbornly close to that vision at whatever costs. He never felt the need to condescend to his audience, who he felt was intelligent enough to get what he was trying to convey.
But soon, as Signs and The Village showed, Night became a slave to convention, even if he told himself he wasn't. Audiences came expecting the twist, and his latter movies lost a little bit of that magic found in his first.
He tries to capture some of that magic back with his latest offering, Lady in the Water, a movie based on a bedtime story he told his children.
Thankfully, there's no twist here, even if you do find yourself out of habit waiting for one.
But the problem this movie has is Night is trying to be too fanciful, too trusting in his audience to simply suspend belief.
In this movie, Paul Giamatti, who is always a dependable character actor, plays a superintendent of an apartment complex who finds a young woman swimming nude in the apartment pool. Turns out the woman, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, is a narf from the Blue World who has come to find a writer, who happens to be played by the director in the largest role he has carved out for himself in one of his movies. This writer is composing something that has the potential to change the world.
That's pretty heady stuff, right? And guess what, Giamatti's character and everyone else buys the whole story by Story, the name of the narf.
This is a little too easy, because even though there have always been supernatural elements in Night's movies, Night has always made way for some of that natural skepticism to creep in before the audience gives over to believing the unbelievable.
Not this time. We're expected to take the big leap of faith in the whole story, and though this is a fairy tale, there's no grounding for the audience.
The characters are barely fleshed out, though Giamatti does give a powerful performance. Howard hardly says a word; she just stares with those big beautiful eyes of hers as if that's acting.
Night doesn't give the audience anything to invest in, so we just don't care.
He does, however, gives us some good scares (those scrunts are just darn creepy with those red eyes and gnashing teeth), and there is a nice scene with the film critic played by Bob Balaban.
Yet, in the end, the movie just didn't deliver. It didn't move me; it didn't make me feel anything, not like that last scene in The Sixth Sense, with Haley Joel Osment and Toni Collette, where I admittedly choked up just a bit.
Instead, I left the movie theater hoping that Night comes back with something a lot better than this tepid fairy tale.
This was a director who had vision and stuck stubbornly close to that vision at whatever costs. He never felt the need to condescend to his audience, who he felt was intelligent enough to get what he was trying to convey.
But soon, as Signs and The Village showed, Night became a slave to convention, even if he told himself he wasn't. Audiences came expecting the twist, and his latter movies lost a little bit of that magic found in his first.
He tries to capture some of that magic back with his latest offering, Lady in the Water, a movie based on a bedtime story he told his children.
Thankfully, there's no twist here, even if you do find yourself out of habit waiting for one.
But the problem this movie has is Night is trying to be too fanciful, too trusting in his audience to simply suspend belief.
In this movie, Paul Giamatti, who is always a dependable character actor, plays a superintendent of an apartment complex who finds a young woman swimming nude in the apartment pool. Turns out the woman, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, is a narf from the Blue World who has come to find a writer, who happens to be played by the director in the largest role he has carved out for himself in one of his movies. This writer is composing something that has the potential to change the world.
That's pretty heady stuff, right? And guess what, Giamatti's character and everyone else buys the whole story by Story, the name of the narf.
This is a little too easy, because even though there have always been supernatural elements in Night's movies, Night has always made way for some of that natural skepticism to creep in before the audience gives over to believing the unbelievable.
Not this time. We're expected to take the big leap of faith in the whole story, and though this is a fairy tale, there's no grounding for the audience.
The characters are barely fleshed out, though Giamatti does give a powerful performance. Howard hardly says a word; she just stares with those big beautiful eyes of hers as if that's acting.
Night doesn't give the audience anything to invest in, so we just don't care.
He does, however, gives us some good scares (those scrunts are just darn creepy with those red eyes and gnashing teeth), and there is a nice scene with the film critic played by Bob Balaban.
Yet, in the end, the movie just didn't deliver. It didn't move me; it didn't make me feel anything, not like that last scene in The Sixth Sense, with Haley Joel Osment and Toni Collette, where I admittedly choked up just a bit.
Instead, I left the movie theater hoping that Night comes back with something a lot better than this tepid fairy tale.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Pirates of the Caribbean
The sole reason a female co-worker wanted to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was Johnny Depp. She wanted to wallow in the sheer irresistable hotness of Depp.
Now, I may not share in her drooling admiration of Johnny Depp but I will say this: The only reason to see this over-the-top sequel is to witness the nutty and brilliant performance of Mr. Depp, an actor known for his odd but critically acclaimed choices.
Many a critic has made note that Depp is not one to star in such an obvious summer blockbuster as this movie, with eye-popping special effects, swashbuckling action and the photogenic Orlando Bloom and the stunning Keira Knightley.
No, Depp has always zigged while others have zagged. And this movie, as surprising a move as it may appear, may be Depp's own way of zigging.
His performance is an uncompromising one. He switches with a feminine swagger and speaks with a drunken slur, his eyes a little crazed and a little sane all at the same time.
And it is his performance that saves this sequel from totally sucking, for whenever Depp is on the screen, the movie feels a bit fresher than the cog in the Hollywood machine that it really is.
That's truly an achievement.
And let's be honest. It's nice to see Depp kick loose and have fun as Jack Sparrow, throwing all notions of what a pirate should or should not be out of the proverbial window.
Okay, I'll say it. Johnny Depp is pretty hot.
Now, I may not share in her drooling admiration of Johnny Depp but I will say this: The only reason to see this over-the-top sequel is to witness the nutty and brilliant performance of Mr. Depp, an actor known for his odd but critically acclaimed choices.
Many a critic has made note that Depp is not one to star in such an obvious summer blockbuster as this movie, with eye-popping special effects, swashbuckling action and the photogenic Orlando Bloom and the stunning Keira Knightley.
No, Depp has always zigged while others have zagged. And this movie, as surprising a move as it may appear, may be Depp's own way of zigging.
His performance is an uncompromising one. He switches with a feminine swagger and speaks with a drunken slur, his eyes a little crazed and a little sane all at the same time.
And it is his performance that saves this sequel from totally sucking, for whenever Depp is on the screen, the movie feels a bit fresher than the cog in the Hollywood machine that it really is.
That's truly an achievement.
And let's be honest. It's nice to see Depp kick loose and have fun as Jack Sparrow, throwing all notions of what a pirate should or should not be out of the proverbial window.
Okay, I'll say it. Johnny Depp is pretty hot.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Superman Returns
For me, Christopher Reeve will always be Superman, his chest bearing the "S," that nice piece of curly hair fronting his forehead.
But more than 20 years later, Brandon Routh wears the blue and red suit, flying around saving the world in Superman Returns.
Routh is no Christopher Reeve, and you miss the chemistry Reeve had with Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane.
But Routh and Kate Bosworth, who has taken over as Lane, has none of the flirty fun Reeve and Kidder had in the original.
However, that's more than made up for in the eye-popping special effects and the bravura performance by Kevin Spacey, who portrays villain Lex Luthor.
This Lex Luthor is darker, more maniacal than the one Gene Hackman played. Luthor still has wit, but Spacey gives Luthor an edge, a cruel streak that is oblivious to having a conscience.
In a sense this is a movie that overall is darker, stripped away from the innocence of the 1978 version. We are not innocents anymore in a post-911 America, and the story picks up where Superman II left off, with the caped crusader disappearing for five years and returning to find Lois Lane with a five-year-old son and a fiancee who has won a Pulitzer for an editorial entitled "Why The World Doesn't Need Superman."
Here, the Superman as Christ-figure motif is impossible to miss, from the late Marlon Brando as Jor-El speaking of sending his son to save mankind to the crucifixion-like beating he gets near the end by Luthor's goons after he has been exposed to Kryptonite.
Sometimes, Bryan Singer, the director, lays that Christ symbolism on too thick, and the movie suffers for it, sucking the fun out of what Superman has always been.
And the movie is way too long for your typical action blockbuster, as if Singer doesn't know when to end.
But somehow, despite those flaws, you get caught up in the Superman saves the world wonder of it all, and you can see why people might want Superman to return...for real.
But more than 20 years later, Brandon Routh wears the blue and red suit, flying around saving the world in Superman Returns.
Routh is no Christopher Reeve, and you miss the chemistry Reeve had with Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane.
But Routh and Kate Bosworth, who has taken over as Lane, has none of the flirty fun Reeve and Kidder had in the original.
However, that's more than made up for in the eye-popping special effects and the bravura performance by Kevin Spacey, who portrays villain Lex Luthor.
This Lex Luthor is darker, more maniacal than the one Gene Hackman played. Luthor still has wit, but Spacey gives Luthor an edge, a cruel streak that is oblivious to having a conscience.
In a sense this is a movie that overall is darker, stripped away from the innocence of the 1978 version. We are not innocents anymore in a post-911 America, and the story picks up where Superman II left off, with the caped crusader disappearing for five years and returning to find Lois Lane with a five-year-old son and a fiancee who has won a Pulitzer for an editorial entitled "Why The World Doesn't Need Superman."
Here, the Superman as Christ-figure motif is impossible to miss, from the late Marlon Brando as Jor-El speaking of sending his son to save mankind to the crucifixion-like beating he gets near the end by Luthor's goons after he has been exposed to Kryptonite.
Sometimes, Bryan Singer, the director, lays that Christ symbolism on too thick, and the movie suffers for it, sucking the fun out of what Superman has always been.
And the movie is way too long for your typical action blockbuster, as if Singer doesn't know when to end.
But somehow, despite those flaws, you get caught up in the Superman saves the world wonder of it all, and you can see why people might want Superman to return...for real.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Do The Right Thing
Most films don't matter much beyond the first viewing. Instead, they begin to fade soon after the ending credits start.
But two films I saw this past weekend are as relevant today as they were when they opened more than a decade ago: Do The Right Thing and Boyz In Da Hood.
Both established the careers, resepectively, of Spike Lee and John Singleton. Singleton earned Oscar nominations for best director and best original screenplay, notable achievements considering Singleton was in his early '20s when the movie came out in 1991.
And no one ignored Lee's third film, Do The Right Thing, a searing exploration into race relations on a sweaty-hot summer day on a street corner in Bed-Stuy.
Each movie was a well-textured look at an aspect of black life full of unforgettable characters and poignant moments. Each also was a launching pad for a number of actors: Samuel L. Jackson, Martin Lawrence, Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnutt, Nia Long and of course, Ice Cube.
To see the trajectory of these people's career since these movies reveals what the eye for talent Singleton and Lee had.
Even more important, Lee and Singleton made Hollywood take notice and widened the doors for black people in the movie business.
But two films I saw this past weekend are as relevant today as they were when they opened more than a decade ago: Do The Right Thing and Boyz In Da Hood.
Both established the careers, resepectively, of Spike Lee and John Singleton. Singleton earned Oscar nominations for best director and best original screenplay, notable achievements considering Singleton was in his early '20s when the movie came out in 1991.
And no one ignored Lee's third film, Do The Right Thing, a searing exploration into race relations on a sweaty-hot summer day on a street corner in Bed-Stuy.
Each movie was a well-textured look at an aspect of black life full of unforgettable characters and poignant moments. Each also was a launching pad for a number of actors: Samuel L. Jackson, Martin Lawrence, Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnutt, Nia Long and of course, Ice Cube.
To see the trajectory of these people's career since these movies reveals what the eye for talent Singleton and Lee had.
Even more important, Lee and Singleton made Hollywood take notice and widened the doors for black people in the movie business.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
The Break-Up
Hate the romantic comedy where boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boys gets on his knees and begs for girl's forgiveness, and boy and girl kiss at the end?
The Break-Up, thankfully, isn't that romantic comedy.
And for a movie that centers on the aftermath of a couple ending their relationship, there's not much romance.
This might not be an easy date movie. The chemistry between Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughn is there. The movie is funny most of the times. But it is also unbearably painful.
No one likes to see two good people spend most of their time yelling at each other or doing awfully hurtful things to each other.
Here you laugh to keep from crying because oh boy, Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughn declare war, with Jennifer walking around nude as a way of getting Vince back, and Vince acting like a man and pretending he doesn't care.
Yes, it is juvenile, but sometimes, love, or the loss of it, causes us to revert back to children. We forget how to be mature because we don't want to be mature. We're just mad because so and so doesn't want to be with us anymore.
This is what this movie explores in a fairly realistic way. There's no magic moment at the end where all is forgiven because life doesn't work that way.
Sometimes, a relationship is too broken to repair, and this movie is not just about the pain of losing someone you love; it's also about the strength it takes to truly walk away and let go.
Yeah, breaking up is hard to do.
The Break-Up, thankfully, isn't that romantic comedy.
And for a movie that centers on the aftermath of a couple ending their relationship, there's not much romance.
This might not be an easy date movie. The chemistry between Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughn is there. The movie is funny most of the times. But it is also unbearably painful.
No one likes to see two good people spend most of their time yelling at each other or doing awfully hurtful things to each other.
Here you laugh to keep from crying because oh boy, Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughn declare war, with Jennifer walking around nude as a way of getting Vince back, and Vince acting like a man and pretending he doesn't care.
Yes, it is juvenile, but sometimes, love, or the loss of it, causes us to revert back to children. We forget how to be mature because we don't want to be mature. We're just mad because so and so doesn't want to be with us anymore.
This is what this movie explores in a fairly realistic way. There's no magic moment at the end where all is forgiven because life doesn't work that way.
Sometimes, a relationship is too broken to repair, and this movie is not just about the pain of losing someone you love; it's also about the strength it takes to truly walk away and let go.
Yeah, breaking up is hard to do.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
The Last Stand
The first movie my friend, Camille, and I saw was X-Men, so it was only fitting that we see X-Men 3: The Last Stand.
As we nestled in our seats, we ate buttery popcorn flavored by multi-colored M&M's. My friend has done this for years but, this was a taste adventure for me, one well worth having.
The movie: I gave it three stars out of four. I had worried that Brett "Rush Hour" Ratner would ruin this franchise. Bryan Singer had done such a good job with the first and second one that I didn't want Ratner to mess things up.
And to my pleasant surprise, Ratner didn't.
All your favorite characters are here: Wolverine, Jean Gray, Charles Xavier and Magneto (played deliciously by Ian MacKellan).
In this film, a mutant "cure" is introduced. So mutants have the choice of whether to keep their powers and continue to be discriminated against or lose their powers and live normal. As in the previous movies, this one raises some questions applicable to debates swirling around now on issues such as race and homosexuality.
Magneto, a Holocaust survivor, sees the cure as a way to exterminate mutants and rallies other mutants against it.
But there are some who more than think about it. Rogue, who has the power to absorb the life force out of anyone she touches, is one of them. After all, she can't make out with her boyfriend, and to be a teenage girl who can't get it on with her man has to be a real bummer.
Also, Jean Gray, who supposedly died in the last film, is back, only this time she's as nice. In fact, she can be downright destructive when her "Phoenix" personality takes over.
The action is cool and much more violent than the last two. And the film is darker, with some major characters getting killed off (you'll have to see the movie to find out).
Afterward, my friend and I debated whether this would really be the last stand. Considering how well the movie did at the box office and how Hollywood operates, I doubt it. I'm sure plans are being made for an X-Men 4, 5 and 6 in the near future.
As we nestled in our seats, we ate buttery popcorn flavored by multi-colored M&M's. My friend has done this for years but, this was a taste adventure for me, one well worth having.
The movie: I gave it three stars out of four. I had worried that Brett "Rush Hour" Ratner would ruin this franchise. Bryan Singer had done such a good job with the first and second one that I didn't want Ratner to mess things up.
And to my pleasant surprise, Ratner didn't.
All your favorite characters are here: Wolverine, Jean Gray, Charles Xavier and Magneto (played deliciously by Ian MacKellan).
In this film, a mutant "cure" is introduced. So mutants have the choice of whether to keep their powers and continue to be discriminated against or lose their powers and live normal. As in the previous movies, this one raises some questions applicable to debates swirling around now on issues such as race and homosexuality.
Magneto, a Holocaust survivor, sees the cure as a way to exterminate mutants and rallies other mutants against it.
But there are some who more than think about it. Rogue, who has the power to absorb the life force out of anyone she touches, is one of them. After all, she can't make out with her boyfriend, and to be a teenage girl who can't get it on with her man has to be a real bummer.
Also, Jean Gray, who supposedly died in the last film, is back, only this time she's as nice. In fact, she can be downright destructive when her "Phoenix" personality takes over.
The action is cool and much more violent than the last two. And the film is darker, with some major characters getting killed off (you'll have to see the movie to find out).
Afterward, my friend and I debated whether this would really be the last stand. Considering how well the movie did at the box office and how Hollywood operates, I doubt it. I'm sure plans are being made for an X-Men 4, 5 and 6 in the near future.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Tsotsi
With a friend, I ventured to see Tsotsi, not quite knowing what to expect. The movie, based on a novel by Athol Fugard, won an Oscar, and I had heard good things about Fugard from my friend, who had recently seen a play of his.
What I saw was a textured film about a young man finding humanity within himself and within others.
Tsotsi means thug, and in the film, the name is tied to a young man growing up in South Africa.
He roams the streets with a group of young men. Their existence is bleak and their moral code is corrupt. Their mode of survival is from taking, often brutally, from others.
That fact is established quickly in the first few minutes of the movie as we witness a simple mugging turn violent and bloody.
Then in a later scene, we see Tsotsi shoot a woman and steal her car. At that point, I wasn't sure whether I would ever sympathize with Tsotsi. I feared him to be a monster.
But behind even monsters is a human being, and slowly, Tsotsi's past of abandonment becomes clear. No one truly cared about him so he learned not to care about anyone else.
His world is changed, however, when he discovers that the backseat of the car he stole is not empty. It contains an infant. He ends up taking the infant home, struggling to figure out how to take care of someone so small.
His burgeoning relationship with the child transforms him. He begins to care. He begins to see another way.
And before you know it, you become invested in Tsotsi. You start to root for him to do the right thing, to be the man he was never taught to be.
The ending is a mixture of hope and bleakness, as is the rest of the movie. You don't quite know what might happen to Tsotsi after this experience. All you know is that he is not the same person you met at the beginning, and maybe there's hope in that.
What I saw was a textured film about a young man finding humanity within himself and within others.
Tsotsi means thug, and in the film, the name is tied to a young man growing up in South Africa.
He roams the streets with a group of young men. Their existence is bleak and their moral code is corrupt. Their mode of survival is from taking, often brutally, from others.
That fact is established quickly in the first few minutes of the movie as we witness a simple mugging turn violent and bloody.
Then in a later scene, we see Tsotsi shoot a woman and steal her car. At that point, I wasn't sure whether I would ever sympathize with Tsotsi. I feared him to be a monster.
But behind even monsters is a human being, and slowly, Tsotsi's past of abandonment becomes clear. No one truly cared about him so he learned not to care about anyone else.
His world is changed, however, when he discovers that the backseat of the car he stole is not empty. It contains an infant. He ends up taking the infant home, struggling to figure out how to take care of someone so small.
His burgeoning relationship with the child transforms him. He begins to care. He begins to see another way.
And before you know it, you become invested in Tsotsi. You start to root for him to do the right thing, to be the man he was never taught to be.
The ending is a mixture of hope and bleakness, as is the rest of the movie. You don't quite know what might happen to Tsotsi after this experience. All you know is that he is not the same person you met at the beginning, and maybe there's hope in that.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Tom Cruise: Mission Impossible Action Star
Tom Cruise isn't getting much love lately. He deserves it. From public spats with Matt Lauer and Brooke Shields to his overexposed love affair with Katie Holmes, Cruise has had a rocky ride with his fans the past year.
And the opening box-office take for Mission Impossible III doesn't bode well for his future movie star career.
So when I saw the movie recently, I had low expectations for how good the movie is. How pleased I was to find that during the course of the two-hour plus movie, I forgot about TomKat.
That is not necessarily due to Cruise. J.J. Abrams, creator of Alias and Lost, layers the non-stop action with some emotion. This movie felt more visceral and personal than the previous incarnations of Mission Impossible.
Granted, the story is a little cliched. Good guy's woman is in peril.
But, here's the thing. The set-up works.
With so many frenetic action sequences intermingled with lovey-dovey kiss-kiss scenes between Ethan Hunt and his beautiful girlfriend, you don't have much time to think about Tom Cruise and his troubled year.
Even more wonderful is the presence of Laurence Fishburne as the head guy. He's smart, menacing, the kind of guy you don't want to mess with. The dialogue is sharp and witty, and the pacing now slacks.
So, in a sense, the real mission impossible, forgetting Tom Cruise, ends up being accomplished in a very winning way.
And the opening box-office take for Mission Impossible III doesn't bode well for his future movie star career.
So when I saw the movie recently, I had low expectations for how good the movie is. How pleased I was to find that during the course of the two-hour plus movie, I forgot about TomKat.
That is not necessarily due to Cruise. J.J. Abrams, creator of Alias and Lost, layers the non-stop action with some emotion. This movie felt more visceral and personal than the previous incarnations of Mission Impossible.
Granted, the story is a little cliched. Good guy's woman is in peril.
But, here's the thing. The set-up works.
With so many frenetic action sequences intermingled with lovey-dovey kiss-kiss scenes between Ethan Hunt and his beautiful girlfriend, you don't have much time to think about Tom Cruise and his troubled year.
Even more wonderful is the presence of Laurence Fishburne as the head guy. He's smart, menacing, the kind of guy you don't want to mess with. The dialogue is sharp and witty, and the pacing now slacks.
So, in a sense, the real mission impossible, forgetting Tom Cruise, ends up being accomplished in a very winning way.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
United 93
9/11 was barely five years ago, but here we have United 93.
I haven't seen it. There are movies where you have to be in the right mood to see it.
Or maybe that's an excuse not to go through the emotions that will likely come from watching it.
United 93 is not going to be one of those romantic comedies where the two love birds kiss at the end.
In this movie, the heroes and the villains die at the end because that's what happened in real life when flight United 93 crashed in Pennsylvania.
I wonder how long you wait until you dramatize a tragic event such as 9/11 on the big screen. Is this too soon, or is it just the right time, if you approach everything with a seriousness and respect.
I feel I have to see this movie. I just wonder if I will get anything beyond the sadness organically comes from seeing the worst day in our country's history on the movie screen.
I haven't seen it. There are movies where you have to be in the right mood to see it.
Or maybe that's an excuse not to go through the emotions that will likely come from watching it.
United 93 is not going to be one of those romantic comedies where the two love birds kiss at the end.
In this movie, the heroes and the villains die at the end because that's what happened in real life when flight United 93 crashed in Pennsylvania.
I wonder how long you wait until you dramatize a tragic event such as 9/11 on the big screen. Is this too soon, or is it just the right time, if you approach everything with a seriousness and respect.
I feel I have to see this movie. I just wonder if I will get anything beyond the sadness organically comes from seeing the worst day in our country's history on the movie screen.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Akeelah and the Bee
This movie, Akeelah and the Bee, is a must-see.
Not just because Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett are in the movie, though that could be reason enough.
It's because this simple tale of a young black girl competing in the National Spelling Bee is a wonderfully different slice of black life than what we are used to seeing on the screen.
Rare is the movie in which the protagonist is a smart black girl. Her struggle and what I would presume eventual triumph are the core of this picture.
I haven't seen this movie yet, but what makes it compelling for me is that it appears that the movie recognizes that black life is richly complex and full of nuance.
The problem with movies about the lives of black people is the frustrating narrowness in which Hollywood sees us. We're either good or bad, black or white (metaphorically speaking).
But the truth is that we are human, that we come against not only the subtle pressures of race but also the every day pains of living life.
We are more than what Hollywood says we are, more than what some of us say we are (i.e. Soul Plane).
Movies such as Akeelah and the Bee and Eve's Bayou reveal that black people aren't here just to make white people laugh. And the problem with movies such as Soul Plane is that there aren't enough movies like Akeelah and the Bee to balance things out, to show the full range of black life in all its different forms and features.
The truth is we are flesh, and I want to see more of that flesh on screen.
Not just because Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett are in the movie, though that could be reason enough.
It's because this simple tale of a young black girl competing in the National Spelling Bee is a wonderfully different slice of black life than what we are used to seeing on the screen.
Rare is the movie in which the protagonist is a smart black girl. Her struggle and what I would presume eventual triumph are the core of this picture.
I haven't seen this movie yet, but what makes it compelling for me is that it appears that the movie recognizes that black life is richly complex and full of nuance.
The problem with movies about the lives of black people is the frustrating narrowness in which Hollywood sees us. We're either good or bad, black or white (metaphorically speaking).
But the truth is that we are human, that we come against not only the subtle pressures of race but also the every day pains of living life.
We are more than what Hollywood says we are, more than what some of us say we are (i.e. Soul Plane).
Movies such as Akeelah and the Bee and Eve's Bayou reveal that black people aren't here just to make white people laugh. And the problem with movies such as Soul Plane is that there aren't enough movies like Akeelah and the Bee to balance things out, to show the full range of black life in all its different forms and features.
The truth is we are flesh, and I want to see more of that flesh on screen.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
No Brokeback in Prison
This is like manna from heaven for comedians and late night talk show hosts. But seriously, if punishment is what is needed for these Massachussetts prisoners, show "Showgirls" by all means. Paul Verhoever sought to push the boundaries of how much sexual content you could throw on the screen and call it art. He ended up making a movie in which seeing Elizabeth Berkley naked became yawn-inducing. Who would have thunk?
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Sharon Stone's Basic Instinct
Sharon Stone's most famous performance was as Catherine Trammell in 1992's Basic Instinct, where she played a sociopathic bisexual novelist who was handy with an icepick. And of course, there's that interrogation scene.
Now, maybe we can assume Sharon Stone's basic instinct is getting paid. Why else would she reprise her role in a trashy sequel of a movie that didn't have much going for it to begin with?
Basic Instinct 2 is better than I thought, given the low expectations I had for it.
The plot is just an excuse for Sharon Stone to romp her way through a movie. Catherine Trammell is a woman Sharon Stone was born to play: a highly intelligent woman who manipulates men through the not-so-subtle art of seduction. Her sexuality is her weapon, and she uses it with a boldness and confidence that leaves men weak and confounded.
Trammell knows her power, and she walks with a swagger that leaves men such as the psychiatrist played by David Morrissey spellbound.
Unfortunatley, long stretches of this movie drag. You wonder where the movie is going, and as much as Stone talked in interviews about how she has no problem with nudity, Stone stays clothed through much of the movie. It is as if director Michael Caton-Jones pulled back instead of diving head on into the sheer trashiness and absurdity of the material.
If there is a sequel that really didn't need to be made, it is this one. Basic Instinct was a movie for its time, and this one doesn't add anything new.
Well, there's one thing. You can say what you want about Sharon Stone but for someone who's 48, she still looks good.
Now, maybe we can assume Sharon Stone's basic instinct is getting paid. Why else would she reprise her role in a trashy sequel of a movie that didn't have much going for it to begin with?
Basic Instinct 2 is better than I thought, given the low expectations I had for it.
The plot is just an excuse for Sharon Stone to romp her way through a movie. Catherine Trammell is a woman Sharon Stone was born to play: a highly intelligent woman who manipulates men through the not-so-subtle art of seduction. Her sexuality is her weapon, and she uses it with a boldness and confidence that leaves men weak and confounded.
Trammell knows her power, and she walks with a swagger that leaves men such as the psychiatrist played by David Morrissey spellbound.
Unfortunatley, long stretches of this movie drag. You wonder where the movie is going, and as much as Stone talked in interviews about how she has no problem with nudity, Stone stays clothed through much of the movie. It is as if director Michael Caton-Jones pulled back instead of diving head on into the sheer trashiness and absurdity of the material.
If there is a sequel that really didn't need to be made, it is this one. Basic Instinct was a movie for its time, and this one doesn't add anything new.
Well, there's one thing. You can say what you want about Sharon Stone but for someone who's 48, she still looks good.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Spike is Back
"Spike is back," my friend said as the credits to Inside Man came up.
Indeed, he was.
This is one of Lee's most commercial movies in years, one about a bank robbery heist in the spirit of Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon.
But it still retails that Spike Lee edge, those little touches that Lee sprinkles throughout his movie.
The movie draws you in from the beginning when we are introduced to Dalton Russell, played by Clive Owen. Russell introduces himself and says he is pulling off the perfect bank robbery.
And from there, you spend the rest of the movie figuring out how Russell does that. Denzel Washington plays a detective facing an Internal Affairs investigation and Jodie Foster is a powerful woman who specializes in "fixing" things, in this case the bank president played by Christopher Plummer who has a secret hiding in the bank vaults.
There's a lot of waiting around in this movie, but Lee never lets the pace slacken. Instead, he shows off multi-ethnic New York, and the dialogue is sharp and funny. Seeing Denzel Washington work is a treasure in itself.
And the payoff in the end is satisfying. Your face breaks into a smile as you discover the nice treats that Inside Man offers.
Is there a message? Isn't there always one in a Spike Lee Joint? But Lee doesn't let his need to make a point get in the way of telling a good story.
As my friend said, this film comes across as the work of a veteran director, as if all the lessons he has learned over his more than two decades of work came together on this movie.
Spike Lee is back. Thank God.
Indeed, he was.
This is one of Lee's most commercial movies in years, one about a bank robbery heist in the spirit of Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon.
But it still retails that Spike Lee edge, those little touches that Lee sprinkles throughout his movie.
The movie draws you in from the beginning when we are introduced to Dalton Russell, played by Clive Owen. Russell introduces himself and says he is pulling off the perfect bank robbery.
And from there, you spend the rest of the movie figuring out how Russell does that. Denzel Washington plays a detective facing an Internal Affairs investigation and Jodie Foster is a powerful woman who specializes in "fixing" things, in this case the bank president played by Christopher Plummer who has a secret hiding in the bank vaults.
There's a lot of waiting around in this movie, but Lee never lets the pace slacken. Instead, he shows off multi-ethnic New York, and the dialogue is sharp and funny. Seeing Denzel Washington work is a treasure in itself.
And the payoff in the end is satisfying. Your face breaks into a smile as you discover the nice treats that Inside Man offers.
Is there a message? Isn't there always one in a Spike Lee Joint? But Lee doesn't let his need to make a point get in the way of telling a good story.
As my friend said, this film comes across as the work of a veteran director, as if all the lessons he has learned over his more than two decades of work came together on this movie.
Spike Lee is back. Thank God.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Take The Lead, or Just Follow
Take The Lead, which made its premiere Friday night at the RiverRun International Film Festival, is an entertaining piece of crap.
Sounds harsh for a movie that was such a crowd pleaser. But Hollywood trots this treacle every few years, the often-told tale of an idealistic teacher who goes to the inner-city school determined to inspire the students and change things for the better.
Well, I saw that movie. It was called Lean on Me, starring Morgan Freeman. And there was that other movie of whose title I can't remember that starred Michelle Pfieffer and featured that Coolio song.
What bothers me is there's a condescending "oh, those poor ghetto kids" white liberal sentiment that runs through those movies. And unfortunately, this movie suffers from it.
The characters are flat, and you never understand the motivations of Antonio Banderas' ballroom dance teacher Pierre Dulane. You just assume he decided one day he wanted to teach the waltz and the tango to a bunch of inner-city kids.
I know, this is based on a true story, and I'm sure the true story is much more interesting and complex than what's portrayed in this movie.
And that's the problem. You could figure everything out before the first credits to the movie end.
There aren't any surprises, and you hardly learn anything about Banderas' character, just that his wife died five years ago and he may possibly have had a rough life.
As for the kids, well, you have the tough but sensitive girl (played convincingly enough by YaYa, who some may remember for America's Next Top Model) and the hard-headed punk who really is trying to do the right thing.
Oh, there's also the white guy who wants to be black, and the awkward white girl from the suburb who feels more comfortable with the ghetto kids than the stuck up rich kids from her ballroom dancing class.
Now, I know this movie will make money. There's dancing. There's Antonio Banderas. But Take The Lead is simplistic and lacks soul.
Sounds harsh for a movie that was such a crowd pleaser. But Hollywood trots this treacle every few years, the often-told tale of an idealistic teacher who goes to the inner-city school determined to inspire the students and change things for the better.
Well, I saw that movie. It was called Lean on Me, starring Morgan Freeman. And there was that other movie of whose title I can't remember that starred Michelle Pfieffer and featured that Coolio song.
What bothers me is there's a condescending "oh, those poor ghetto kids" white liberal sentiment that runs through those movies. And unfortunately, this movie suffers from it.
The characters are flat, and you never understand the motivations of Antonio Banderas' ballroom dance teacher Pierre Dulane. You just assume he decided one day he wanted to teach the waltz and the tango to a bunch of inner-city kids.
I know, this is based on a true story, and I'm sure the true story is much more interesting and complex than what's portrayed in this movie.
And that's the problem. You could figure everything out before the first credits to the movie end.
There aren't any surprises, and you hardly learn anything about Banderas' character, just that his wife died five years ago and he may possibly have had a rough life.
As for the kids, well, you have the tough but sensitive girl (played convincingly enough by YaYa, who some may remember for America's Next Top Model) and the hard-headed punk who really is trying to do the right thing.
Oh, there's also the white guy who wants to be black, and the awkward white girl from the suburb who feels more comfortable with the ghetto kids than the stuck up rich kids from her ballroom dancing class.
Now, I know this movie will make money. There's dancing. There's Antonio Banderas. But Take The Lead is simplistic and lacks soul.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Pimping Ain't Easy
For the past week, the Oscar win of rap group Three 6 Mafia for its song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" has been praised and panned. Praised because the win was a historic moment for hip-hop, the first all-black rap group to perform at the usually unhip Academy Awards and to win the golden statue.
Panned because some were embarrased that a song about pimping (i.e. the sexual exploitation of women by men) was rewarded.
Part of me did cringe when the winner was announced. Too much of mainstream rap music glorifies pimping; the music videos are filled with booty flesh and the lyrics are full of sexual boasting at the expense of women.
But another part of me was thrilled. It was a genuine surprise and an indication that hip-hop has truly entered the mainstream. The culture cannot be dismissed or ignored anymore.
That says to me a couple of things. Hip-hop has been and continues to be a powerful force in the world. And hip-hop artists have a responsibility to bring balance to the music.
See, I don't expect every song that comes out to be self-righteous and consciousness-raising. Not every rock-and-roll song is that all the time. Never has been.
What I do demand is that rap music doesn't become bogged down in monotony. Spoken-word artist Saul Williams said it best when he said he simply wants to hear something different. Enough with the ice and the women and the guns and the beef.
Rap about something real. Rap about you, not what the corporate suits think is you or what they think the public will buy.
But in the end, what Three 6 Mafia won is an award. That's all it is. Cuba Gooding Jr. won one of those golden statues for his performance in Jerry Maguire. What the hell happened to his career?
Adrien Brody won for The Pianist. You see he didn't get any nominations for his recent turn in King Kong.
Awards don't change anything. People do.
And one final thought. The song, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," fit the movie, Hustle & Flow. The movie is predictable, your basic Rocky formula, except that Rocky is a pimp. But Terrence Howard's performance elevated the movie a bit, made DJay human, complex and real when he could have easily turned that role into caricature.
Howard may not be a pimp in real life, but let's just say he really pimped that role, and it wasn't easy.
Panned because some were embarrased that a song about pimping (i.e. the sexual exploitation of women by men) was rewarded.
Part of me did cringe when the winner was announced. Too much of mainstream rap music glorifies pimping; the music videos are filled with booty flesh and the lyrics are full of sexual boasting at the expense of women.
But another part of me was thrilled. It was a genuine surprise and an indication that hip-hop has truly entered the mainstream. The culture cannot be dismissed or ignored anymore.
That says to me a couple of things. Hip-hop has been and continues to be a powerful force in the world. And hip-hop artists have a responsibility to bring balance to the music.
See, I don't expect every song that comes out to be self-righteous and consciousness-raising. Not every rock-and-roll song is that all the time. Never has been.
What I do demand is that rap music doesn't become bogged down in monotony. Spoken-word artist Saul Williams said it best when he said he simply wants to hear something different. Enough with the ice and the women and the guns and the beef.
Rap about something real. Rap about you, not what the corporate suits think is you or what they think the public will buy.
But in the end, what Three 6 Mafia won is an award. That's all it is. Cuba Gooding Jr. won one of those golden statues for his performance in Jerry Maguire. What the hell happened to his career?
Adrien Brody won for The Pianist. You see he didn't get any nominations for his recent turn in King Kong.
Awards don't change anything. People do.
And one final thought. The song, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," fit the movie, Hustle & Flow. The movie is predictable, your basic Rocky formula, except that Rocky is a pimp. But Terrence Howard's performance elevated the movie a bit, made DJay human, complex and real when he could have easily turned that role into caricature.
Howard may not be a pimp in real life, but let's just say he really pimped that role, and it wasn't easy.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Capote and Freedomland
Philip Seymour Hoffman deserves an Oscar. That was evident after seeing Capote recently.
The movie follows Truman Capote as he insinuates himself into the lives of people in a small town in Kansas to report on the brutal murder of a family of four in 1959.
Capote has a whiny voice but a big ego, and he sees his literary breakthrough in telling this sordid tale.
Hoffman shows a man who ever so slowly builds a trust between him and one of the convicted murderers over a number of years and who grows to care about him. But he never lets that get in the way of his ultimate ambition. He's using this man as a way to catapult himself into the success he has always pursued.
It's this tension between ambition and compassion that drives the movie as Hoffman peels away the layers of Capote, making you cringe in one instance and sad in another.
The performance also make Freedomland, a searing mediation on race based on the critically-acclaimed novel by Richard Price.
The book is better but the movie does a good job of getting the book's message across.
Julianne Moore plays Brenda, a mother who stumbles into a hospital with bloody hands. She says she has been carjacked. Det. Lorenzo Council, played by Samuel Jackson, waltzes in to interview her.
Only then does she allow that her 4-year-old son is in the backseat of that car.
Brenda is white. The neighborhood she says her son was kidnapped in is black.
Those facts set off a chain reaction, as the largely white police force of Gannon, a neighboring town, descends onto the predominantly black neighborhood of Armstrong.
Residents there are mistreated. Anger grows. And Council becomes increasingly doubtful about Brenda's story.
The script could have been better, but the chemistry between Jackson and Moore is palpable, and Edie Falco, as a parent of a missing child, gives a solid performance.
And the final few scenes with Moore are amazing. It's a performance that keeps your allegiances at bay, for you don't know whether to care for her or to hate her. But you always feel her. What better compliment is there?
The movie follows Truman Capote as he insinuates himself into the lives of people in a small town in Kansas to report on the brutal murder of a family of four in 1959.
Capote has a whiny voice but a big ego, and he sees his literary breakthrough in telling this sordid tale.
Hoffman shows a man who ever so slowly builds a trust between him and one of the convicted murderers over a number of years and who grows to care about him. But he never lets that get in the way of his ultimate ambition. He's using this man as a way to catapult himself into the success he has always pursued.
It's this tension between ambition and compassion that drives the movie as Hoffman peels away the layers of Capote, making you cringe in one instance and sad in another.
The performance also make Freedomland, a searing mediation on race based on the critically-acclaimed novel by Richard Price.
The book is better but the movie does a good job of getting the book's message across.
Julianne Moore plays Brenda, a mother who stumbles into a hospital with bloody hands. She says she has been carjacked. Det. Lorenzo Council, played by Samuel Jackson, waltzes in to interview her.
Only then does she allow that her 4-year-old son is in the backseat of that car.
Brenda is white. The neighborhood she says her son was kidnapped in is black.
Those facts set off a chain reaction, as the largely white police force of Gannon, a neighboring town, descends onto the predominantly black neighborhood of Armstrong.
Residents there are mistreated. Anger grows. And Council becomes increasingly doubtful about Brenda's story.
The script could have been better, but the chemistry between Jackson and Moore is palpable, and Edie Falco, as a parent of a missing child, gives a solid performance.
And the final few scenes with Moore are amazing. It's a performance that keeps your allegiances at bay, for you don't know whether to care for her or to hate her. But you always feel her. What better compliment is there?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
