Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

While everyone is talking about the release of the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men as being a huge 'return to form' for them, another director has released a brilliant film which calls back thirty years to his masterpieces of the '70s. Sidney Lumet is a director known for simply placing the camera in a courtroom or in front of a bank, wherever he pleases, stepping back and letting his actors explode. He's a man who's led a bounty of performers to Oscar fame, but has never put a solid stamp on his films. You don't know when you're watching a Lumet film. When you think of Dog Day Afternoon, your mind immediately goes to Al Pacino shouting 'Attica!' to the crowds gathered around his botched bank heist. When you think of Network, you recall the brutal social commentary in Paddy Chayefsky's flawless script or the Oscar-winning performances from Faye Dunaway and Peter Finch. You never imagine Lumet behind the camera choreographing every scene, because he just let's his actors due the talking. While that is definitely something to be admired, it never really leaves a permanent stamp on his work or embeds it with a particular style. In Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, the now 83-year old Lumet crafts a very unique style mainly through the exceptional editing and still manages to let his actors deliver some of the finest performances of the year.

Kelly Masterson's screenplay flows back and forth through a family full of insanely flawed individuals. We see a certain scene through the eyes of one character and then later we go back and see it through the eyes of someone else, and this opens us up to new knowledge of the character's and more layers to the story. Time after time, we revisit scenario's that we only thought we knew. On paper, this tactic seems like it would become rather tiresome and dull but it's the exact opposite. It becomes more and more engaging and when you witness a scene your mind begins to race thinking of what's happening on the other end of that phone call or why someone had to leave that room. It's a tactic that I can't recall seeing before, and it's surprising that no one had thought to use it sooner since it's purely brilliant.

To give away details of this multi-layered, powerful story would be a crime to those yet to see it, but it's safe to say that every character in this story goes through their fair share of turmoil, regret and unimaginably painful decisions. The core of the plot comes from brothers Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawke). Both are desperately in need of a large sum of money in a relatively short amount of time; Hank is extremely far behind on his child support and his ex-wife does nothing but break him down and Andy has made some poor business decisions that have put him in extreme danger when people decide to look through his books and he just wants to escape to Rio with his beautiful wife Gina (Marisa Tomei). Andy is the more intellectual of the two and devises a scheme to rob a small jewelry store (a 'mom and pop' situation, as he smugly coins it). Once Hank agrees to go along with the plan, it is revealed that the 'mom and pop' store is actually run by their own parents (Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris). From a criminal's eye it makes the most sense, and Andy sees this. They know the layout, the alarms and the quickest way to get the most amount of cash in the shortest amount of time. With Hank being the morally decent of the two, there is the predictable argument between the two of them but that is quickly put aside and the plan is set in motion. Within the first ten minutes of the film we see this plan gone horribly wrong, and we embark on a journey to find the character's motivation up to that scene and the gradual downfall of their lives afterward.

As I previously stated, Lumet's personal touch on the film still leaves way for brilliant performances out of the entire ensemble. I have no hesitation in calling it the most well-acted film of the entire year by a large margin. Philip Seymour Hoffman takes on the most complex role as the villanous, unforgivable Andy and he delivers one of the best and bravest performances of his career. As the film opens, we see Andy and Gina in an exceptionally accurate portrayal of 'doggie-style' and your mind can't help but wonder what this short, chubby man did to get the beautiful goddess of Marisa Tomei into his bed. Soon enough we see that this is the least complex aspect of his life. He's a drug-addicted, money throwing businessman who is merely trying to live up to the expectations of his high-maintenance wife and this only drives him further and further down the hole to the point of concocting this doomed-from-the-beginning heist. After everything goes terribly wrong, Philip creates the most quiet, memorable and simply unnerving trashing-the-room tantrum I've ever seen. Hawke delivers what is easily the best performance of his career; his demise into a fearful, whimpering wreck is almost unbearable to watch. Albert Finney certainly makes the most of his brief screentime and provides a completely shocking finale and Marisa Tomei is Oscar-worthy; she's absolutely flawless as the trophy wife who is much more than she seems.

While taking us a on a journey from dreary bars to the minimalistic jewelry store all the way up to a high-class heroin dealer's penthouse Lumet never gives us a moment to catch our breath and we are left sucking it all in as he hits us in the face with the most stunning situations that the brothers get themselves into on their fall to the bottom. He constantly gives us a sense of realism and this falls mainly through the characters. These men aren't high-class criminals who live their life on robbing banks and that's what makes the story so much more unnerving; the fact that these brothers could be us in a matter of days given the desperate circumstances. The unique editing of the film can be a bit off-putting at first but it really is one of the most original techniques I've seen in quite a while and keeps you on the edge of your feet. With a highly engaging, deeply layered plot and an entire ensemble of Oscar-worthy performers, Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is definitely more of a return to form than the Coens could dream of. 10.0/10.

Obsession by Beaupre.

What am I currently obsessing over? Simple:

Across the Universe: 2-Disc Deluxe Edition.

John Cusack.

Robert Downey Jr.

'Two and a Half Men' reruns.

'Friends' reruns.

'Alias'.

Hostel: Part II

3.5/10.

As someone who firmly believes that the original Hostel is the best straight-up horror picture in decades, it's pretty safe to say that I was massively disappointed by Part II. It's nothing more than a prime example of what I've deemed 'The Tarantino Effect'. I use this term to describe what happened to Quentin Tarantino back in the early 90s and it applies even better to what's happened to Eli Roth. A surprise hit takes on a cult following (QT's Reservoir Dogs, Roth's Hostel) and achieves massive success, so the director decides to make more money by creating the same exact thing again but they add more hip scenes/dialogue or more gore and outrageous situations thinking the fans will love it. But in doing so they lose their original zest, the element that created a big fan of their first work out of me (this applies only to Roth, since I'm not a fan of any of Tarantino's work). The term certainly has an extra sting when applied to Roth, though, since Quentin was the executive producer on both Hostel and Hostel: Part II.

Some call the original Hostel nothing more than 'torture porn', a phrase that the film itself originated and has been used constantly since then (or they just call it Eurotrip with gore). I however, felt it was much more than that. It's a film based in it's characters; Roth added a lot of depth and development to them (primarily Paxton) and gave a huge arch at the end. He made me care for these characters and actually grimace when the horrible tortures were being performed upon them. I wanted them to escape, I wanted them to get vengeance and when Paxton finally exacts his revenge I cheered my head off. For the first time in years I actually reacted strongly to a horror film and found myself completely involved in the story and journey that it's characters took. I heard a quote recently stating that 'Hostel did for backpacking what Jaws did for going to the beach.' Personally, I find that to be true and then some. The fact that I'm a child of the 90s and Jaws was already quite dated probably had a lot to do with it, but I could watch that film a dozen times and be perfectly fine taking a swim in the deep waters. Hostel chilled me to my core. From the creepiness of the citizens to the actualy torture/killing company, it ensured that I will never go backpacking in Europe as long as I live.

Hostel: Part II completely destroys any kind of love I held for the first one. Roth created exactly what everyone said he was good for; a mere piece of 'torture porn' though it doesn't even deserve that degrading title. It's a pile of utter filth in every sense of the word. I couldn't muster up any kind of concern or sympathy for these characters as I just sat idly by and watched them get tortured and placed in very dangerous situations that I had absolutely no interest in. It comes off as nothing more than a fetish picture of Roth getting his sick twist from seeing what kind of torture scenes he can create to gross out the audience the most and it's simply pathetic. It's an insult to all of those who fell in love with the first one. To those who knew it was more than just 'torture porn' and actually cared for Paxton and found so much satisfaction when he exacted the revenge that we so desperately needed at the end of the first film.

Part II's story actually starts off in a very interesting place. We see what has become of our triumphant escapee (the role reprised by Jay Hernandez) from the first feature and the result isn't so pleasant, as you could imagine from escaping a place like that. He's become a paranoid wreck who's constantly waking up screaming from horrific nightmares; we get to see one of these very graphic and haunting dreams as the film's opening scene. Soon it's made clear that he had good reason to be paranoid and with the only interesting segment of the film over, we fly across the globe to see three girls getting ready to take a vacation. I wonder where they'll end up. Quickly, I realized that the best part of Hostel: Part II had come and gone. The first ten minutes picked up the interesting character study of Paxton, but that is quickly ended. Then it's just the typical three girls getting hit on by gross guys, faux-suspense, being hot and flirty and then getting brutally tortured and mutilated. Great job, Roth. You sold out like the rest of them; and I thought what we had was special.

I can't say that it's all bad, though. In fact there is a massive amount of entertainment to be gained by the two main murderers in this one. Roth attempted to add some originality to this film by giving us the back-story on the people who pay to murder innocent girls for fun. Of course we can't see any kind of foreigners killing innocent girls, so the two men have to be rich Americans. It's alright though because these men provide the only entertaining parts of the film and huge amounts of comic relief. They are played admirably by Roger Bart and Richard Burgi and the two are the perfect match for one another. Burgi is wild, charismatic and frighteningly excited to go and torture some hot young girls while Bart gives the contrast; the shy, reserved guy who goes along with it but deep down believes it to not be such a good idea. Once they get their cute little play-things though, both of them have complete characters arches as Burgi gets disgusted when he chops up a girl's face and leaves here there, alive, and therefore is eaten by dogs. Bart, on the opposite side of the fence, initially tries to help the girl escape but then his resentment towards his wife kicks in so he tries to rape her before he murders her. Of course this turns out to be a bad idea. Overall the film is nothing special, but watching these two perform is certainly a blissfll treat. And the Ruggero Deodato (the director of one of my favorite films, Cannibal Holocaust) is a very nice touch.

Gone Baby Gone

9.5/10

After a decade of critically disgraced performances and brutal public humiliation year after year, Ben Affleck took a well deserved break from the Hollywood scene. This year he came back, but instead of taking the spotlight by starring in a film, he went behind the scenes and opted to direct his first feature film. Taking an example from another actor turned director, a little independent man named Clint Eastwood, he decided to adapt a novel written by Mystic River author Dennis Lehane. On the surface, Gone Baby Gone tells the story of a missing child and the two private investigators who are hired to find her. The story transforms into a highly disturbing tale of selfish, terrifying characters and the fact that no matter what people never change.

In deciding who to play the leading role of the intelligent, reserved, moral and slight naive Patrick Kenzie, Ben looked no further than his brother Casey. Initially this may seem like a bad idea with lots of sibling tension on the set, but the decision couldn't have been a better one. After years of under-the-radar brilliance, Casey gets to show his acting genius in the leading role of a powerful, emotionally drenching work. I love the fact that everyone is finally getting to see what a true wonder this young actor is, with talent greater than the majority of actors I've ever seen no matter what their age. He's getting a large amount of critical recognition for his flawless turn in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, but he is almost as exceptional in this one. Counterbalancing Kenzie is his mature and equally intelligent partner and lover, Angie Gennaro played by the beautiful Michelle Monaghan. The two of them grew up on the streets of Boston and therefore are pursued to use their relationships with the criminals involved to help find the men who kidnapped this little girl. This leads the audience on a highly engaging and very disturbing journey of the lowest forms of scum in the Boston population and a climax that is just as surprising as it is haunting.

The second half starts with another missing person's case and Kenzie discovers something that forces him to bring back Detective Remy Bressant (Ed Harris), a character who he didn't end on the best of terms with in the first act. In an act of high tension and in the face of an ultimate evil, Kenzie makes a decision that he immediately regrets and is the first time he really matures in the film and falls into a moral crisis as he witnesses the true personalities of those around him and re-evaluates everything in his life. A conversation with Bressant soon after this act provides a stage for Ed Harris' remarkable display of talent in one of his career best performances. However a revelation Kenzie makes during this conversation leads us into an even darker world of corruption within the police, back to the victims of the original crime and a lesson that sometimes the most morally righteous can people can do terrifying things if they believe it is for the greater good.

Another stirring revelation leads Affleck to the film's second big twist that I didn't see coming from a mile away. He finds moral corruption, again 'for the greater good', in the most unexpected place and is led to one of the most arduous and unimaginable decisions I've ever seen put on film. I won't spoil anything, but it's safe to say that this was the first and only time I've ever put myself in the shoes of a character on screen and wondered what I would do in his situation. It's a decision I don't think I could ever make, and one of the most painful scenes of the year. Watching Affleck's expression and the pain in his eyes is truly gutwrenching. In his decision we eventually see that even in the most emotionally straining situations and no matter how much they say they will, people never change. I found that to be the final moral of the film, and the ending was haunting, cathartic and emotionally painful as we see Kenzie living with the fact that maybe his decision was the wrong one but he still tries to do the morally just thing in the end.

Ben Affleck has come back strong to the Hollywood scene by avoiding public humiliation and realizing that the film would be miles superior if he directed instead of starred in it. There is one minor flaw in this feature, and that is that it felt to me like three different films. There are two clear cut endings, but the film picks back up afterwards on the road to the final conclusion. With each new story comes from depth and disturbance from the characters and overall plot, so one can easily ignore this very miniscule flaw. His casting was flawless from the stunning magnificence of Casey Affleck to the Oscar-worthy Ed Harris to the critically praise grieving mother Amy Ryan. Gone Baby Gone is certainly one of the best films so far this year, and I hope it's not forgotten come awards season, particularly in the form of it's reborn director and flawless leading man (as well as the rest of this multi-talented cast). A deeply disturbing and thoroughly engaging picture that is sure to stay on my mind for days.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

10/10

Despite some pointless narration (and irrelevantly blurred editing during the scenes with this narration) and the complete mistreatment of one of the finest actresses of the decade, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is easily one of the finest modern films around and certainly one of the best of the year. It plays as a Shakespearean tragedy instead of an outlandish, action-filled western that one would expect when hearing the name Jesse James. Featuring some of the best performances of the decade, the film is a wonderful mix of subtle and emotional heartache with biting realistic tension and a beautifully flawed character that everyone can relate to in some way. Slowly the film builds a tension and knowing descension towards the inevitable downfall of Mr. James. It's a heartbreaking story of one man trying to be remembered and another knowing a betrayal is quickly coming upon him.

A contrast between the main characters Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) is presented throughout and really shows the truth that Ford is exactly the same as James, just at an earlier stage in his life. Jesse was the youngest of three boys and rose above all of them to be the most renowned outlaw in American history. He murdered and stole, but gained nothing but respect and admiration from those who heard the stories of his crimes. Of course with all of this fame, and the bounty of men he's had work with him and in his trust, Jesse knew that a betrayal was soon coming. He averted one before, but he can see the end in sight and this time, he is welcoming it instead of trying to fight it.

This portrayal of James is one of the many things that make this film so brilliant. He's a melancholy, brooding, bipolar and enraged mess. A man who knows the end is approaching, but has come to a point in his life where he doesn't see any reason to try and stop it. We see him for how he truly was, instead of the gun-slinging charismatic outlaw that James is constantly portrayed as time and time again. This deeply heartbreaking man is perfectly personified by Pitt's award-worthy performance. We see a side of the light, breezy Brad Pitt that I personally could never have imagined. He presents so much pain and anguish behind those steely blues, that my heart stopped everytime he started intently with his eyes ever so lightly filling with tears.

I have no hesitation in calling Robert Ford the most tragic character in cinematic history. He is the youngest of five brothers, and all day he gets picked on and disrespected so when he sees another man who's the youngest of a number of brothers, he begins to idolize him. When he finally gets the chance to meet his hero, and work alongside him, his tendency to give a bad first impression (albeit he is a bit eerie with his strong admiration of the James boys) leads to more humiliation from the man he considered to be everything he wanted to grow up into. Obviously this leads the young man into spite and bitter insecurity. He becomes a wreck, but in this state of depression he is able to finally realize his true feelings and express them to the world. Due to this, Bob begins to get more respect and fear from those around him, and the Sheriff decides to capitalize on this bitterness by enlisting Bob in a sort-of undercover mission to arrest James, though everyone knows there is no way to arrest the man. It can only end in the death of one of the men.

Of course the title, and any kind of history book, reveals who the dead man is and Ford assumes that this will lead to him becoming a legend in the same way that Jesse was. An icon on the morally right side, instead of as a criminal. However he is gravely wrong and he's met with more disrespect and tales of him being the biggest coward in American history to match Jesse's status as the biggest and most respected criminal. James was an icon and Ford was just the snake in the grass who stabbed him in the back. This undoubtedly brings more depression to Robert; he killed his hero for fame and was forever remembered as a coward who betrayed an icon. And then another man gets the idea that Robert had; he was going to murder someone infamous in order to be remembered and with this second murder ends the tragedy that is Robert Ford's life. The man who wanted nothing more than to be Jesse James, and became his killer.

Casey Affleck's performance is the stuff of cinematic legend. His dynamic brilliance, deeply emotional strength and powerful absorption into this fatally flawed character combine to create what is easily one of the best performances I've ever seen and quite simply the best performance of the year so far. I've been a fan of this underrated genius for a long time now, and this performance is his best by far and is sure to get him a lot of attention come awards season; I could even see an Oscar in his future. He completely steals the show from Pitt, who still turns in an excellent portrayal, and perfectly embodies a character who just breaks my heart. Casey creates such a nice demeanor and personality for this dangerously awkward young man that makes him one of the most complex and, as I said before, easily the most tragic character in the history of film in my eyes. A true revelation to modern acting and proof that when you get the right role in the right film, you can take it all the way to the top.

Pitt and Affleck aren't the only actors in the film though, and each complex character is matched with a stunning performance from the entire cast. Paul Schneider gives one of my favorite performances of the year as Dick Liddil, the ladies man with a heart of gold. I'm sure his work will go completely unnoticed, but it deserves some serious recognition and I'm sure he'll remain on my awards ballot at the year's end (he's my supporting actor winner, currently). Sam Rockwell knocks the role of Charley Ford, Robert's older brother who is the main antagonizer for all of the bullying and mocking he receives, out of the park. His charismatic charm in the majority of the film is the perfect contrast for his completely gut-wrenching breakdown in the final act. His final two scenes are some of the most painful to watch that I can remember in a very long time. He literally transforms himself into the James that him and Robert saw in his final few moments, and it's tragic.

Even Jeremy Renner and Garret Dillahunt give some notable work in two other members of the James crew, Wood Hite and Ed Miller respectively, who meet with very unfortunate fates, ironically at the hands of the two title characters (Robert shoots Wood to protect Dick, and Jesse's weariness over Ed's nervous demeanor leads him to putting a bullet through him). Even Mary-Louise Parker, who's given a nothing role as Jesse's wife, Zee James, gives it her all and pours out some painfully heartfelt emotion as she cares about nothing more than the well-being of her family but is blind to the fact that nothing can end well. Then there's the mistreatment of one of the finest actresses around that I mentioned in the first paragraph; in which a perfect actress is wildly underused. This mistreatment belongs to Zooey Deschanel who portrays Robert's close friend and possible romantic interest, Dorothy Evans, after he kills James. She's given a bit part that lasts no longer than fifteen minutes but she completely nails the beauty and mysterious enchantment of the character and delivers one of my favorite performances of the year (a phrase I say quite often when discussing this film, but mean it dearly everytime).

For all of the beauty and astonishment that comes from the story and performances in this epic masterpiece, it's hard to forget the ingenuity of the technical aspects. The original score is one of the most haunting I've ever heard; easily the most haunting, monotonous and reoccurring sound since Taxi Driver. Everytime those chords sound and the beat begins, a familiar sense of dread looms over my entire being as if Robert Ford is behind my back about to put the bullet in me. It's a truly painful experience that is unlike anything I've ever felt, and the ability for a score to put that feeling in me is jaw dropping. While the set design and the editing are just as fantastic, Roger Deakins' cinematography absolutely took my breath away. He combines such beautiful scenery with some of the most hypnotic and terrifyingly ominous landscape shots I've ever seen. Certainly an aspect of the film that will stay fresh on my mind for days, and I pray that he won't be forgotten come awards season.

Through all of the technical genius, it is clear what The Assassination of Jesse James is about and that's it's characters. With a vast array of men both deadly and beautiful, there is something to relate to in each of these different people, something to fear, something to hate and something to respect. Each men is so unique, but each one is just as relatable and painfully flawed. These people are realistic and with realism comes tragedy, which is the center of this beautiful film. The tragedy of one man so determined to be great, to be legendary that he would stab his own hero in the back for merely the fame. And through this gut-wrenching, heart-breaking Shakespearean tragedy comes some of the finest performances of the decade and one that will not be soon to leave my mind in the form of Casey Affleck. His true genius shines through and through every second of this picture and it's his nuanced turned into quixotic portrayal that rips my heart to shreds everytime I think of it.

Three Highly Anticipated 2007 Releases.

In the last week, I have seen three of my very highly anticipated 2007 releases. One was a huge disappointment. One was expectantly wonderful. One was a perfect end to what may be my favorite franchise. Some brief thoughts on all three:

Sunshine

4/10

A pretty big disappointment. A lot of it was just unrealism that bugged me. The "5th member" twist near the end was, to be blunt, completely pathetic. I've rarely seen a more idiotic and illogical move in a film. I was sitting there for the entire last 30 minutes in stunned silence, the strong thought of "You've got to be kidding me." just racing through my head. But, no that's not where the unrealism ends. So we are in the future, the sun is dying and we need to revive it. So, what do we do? We send a shuttle of eight people who are absolute geniuses at one particular element that is vital to the mission. It doesn't matter if they can work as a team, and it certainly doesn't matter if these people are complete morons outside of their one particular job, which they are. Seriously, the entire mission is based on dropping the payload and only one person on the entire shuttle has the ability to do it? What a joke. The characters had no depth at all, in my opinion, except for maybe Capa and Cassie though they ignore the small chance of development for Cassie pretty early on. They were all just flat, generic characters that I've seen in 99% of all "epic crisis" films. The cinematography was very poor. All of the snappy cuts and blurs and tilts made me a thousand times more nauseas than impressed. Don't get me wrong though, it wasn't all bad. The visuals were absolutely breathtaking. Mainly through them, the film created an entrancing experience that completely drew me out of the real world. The acting from the entire cast was pretty great, though they didn't have much room to create depth with the shallow characters they were given. Cillian Murphy and Rose Byrne were definitely the highlights, as I expected since they were by far my favorites of the cast in general. So, while entertaining and superbly acted the film was a huge disappointment for me.

Talk to Me

9/10

A perfect blend of uproarious comedy and gut-wrenching drama. This film was a machine built to be driven by Don Cheadle. His performance is the stuff of legends. I don't think I've ever seen an actor become as immersed in a character as he was. It's impossible to describe how absorbed he is into this role. I simply could not believe it. Everything from the voice to the walk, to the facial expressions, Don Cheadle is Petey Greene. Chiwetel Ejiofor also delivers a very solid performance in a role that unfortunately takes the backseat to Cheadle's tour de force. They bounce off each other perfectly and deliver stellar performances, as does Taraji P. Henson. Much like the blend of comedy and drama, the film does a great job of spending as much time on the relationship between Petey and Dewey, the crisis of the nation at the time (MLK's death, the Chicago riots), and the public's reaction to Petey. The contrast between Petey and Dewey was phenomenal. Dewey was living vicariously through Petey, trying to get him to be a bigger and bigger star until he lived Dewey's dream of being on The Tonight Show. But in doing all of this, he ignores why Petey is Petey. He doesn't want to be the big star all over television. He just wants to be the badass motherfucker who speaks the truth and doesn't care who gets offended, but he just wants to do it on the radio. I really loved to see this progression throughout. The film is definitely one of the best of the year so far. I can easily see Cheadle winning the Golden Globe for his performance and hopefully he'll get his second, well deserved, Oscar nomination. I really can't decide whether him or Bale is my winner so far.

The Bourne Ultimatum

9/10

Continues with the tradition of the series so far. Once again, the series excels at being an intellectual, action-packed, edge-of-your-seat thriller that starts with a bang and never lets up. It's a gritty, stylized espionage thriller that is certainly one of the most exhilirating and visceral experiences I've had in recent memory. Greengrass implies the "in your face" techniques that he used in Supremacy which makes the action seem authentic and really puts you into the POV of Bourne, getting your pulse racing and your eyes completely attached to the screen. The cast is all great, as usual. Damon and Allen add the intellect and commanding power to the film. It was great to see Julia Stiles getting a more pivotal rule, since I felt she was pretty underused in the previous installments. The addition of David Straithairn and, more importantly, Albert Finney was absolutely brilliant. They just continued the tradition of brilliant, insanely commanding actors playing the generic "hunt him down" role. They certainly added a lot to what could have been very flat characters. The style used is gritty, suave and very authentic. However, it can become a bit too stylized at times. It can cut too quickly and zoom in and out and tilt all over the place, and the editing could be pretty sloppy from time to time. Other than that though, I don't really have much to complain about. If you liked the first two installments, you'll surely be pleased by this one. If you didn't, then this obviously isn't for you. I was a big fan.

The English Patient

10/10

A passionate tale of determination and romance. Like with all of Minghella's work, every single character is so layered and complex. He takes time and devotion to give each character a sufficient amount of intricacy that we truly feel like we know these people and when one of them feels pain, we do as well. When one of them is joyous (the rain scene, for instance) our faces light up with glee.

There's Hana, the caring nurse who is too afraid of love to let anyone near her since right from the start the two closest people to her are destroyed by the war. Slowly her friendship with Almasy becomes stronger and stronger and it gives her the courage and determination to pursue a sexual relationship with Kip, who is also a very complex character. On the surface we see him as a kind man, who is very spiritual and loving. But near the end he realizes how isolated he is and the fact that he barely even knew his best friend whom he worked side by side with for years sends him into a complete breakdown. This leads to a very emotional scene, where Binoche really shines. Next up there is David Caravaggio, a spy who eventually gets captured and loses his thumbs while being tortured for information. He sets out on a vengeance to murder everyone connected to his capture, which leads him to Almasy, his final target. But being around Almasy and realizing the pain and suffering that he has been through leads him to look deep inside himself and realize that he doesn't need his revenge. He relieves himself of all this pain and anguish and in the end we see him with a bright grin, just happy to be alive, thumbs or not.

Katharine Clifton is a character very similar to those in the past, but she has an extra spark that makes her very unique. As her husband spends less and less attention to her, she becomes involved in a tumultous love affair with Almasy which leads to some of the most beautifully romantic scenes ever brought to cinema. Minghella easily could have made her another whiny, confused housewife who just passed in and out of the film with no real connection the audience but he bestowed her with a certain grace and dignity which made us want her to have a happy ending and made us adore seeing her and Almasy enjoying each other's company. Even Geoffrey Clifton becomes a layered character when we learn that he isn't venturing off to do photographs, but is instead helping the army explore territory. So while he could have just been another ignorant husband to an adulterous wife, Minghella adds intricacy to him. And of course the entire story all revolves around Almasy, the man who would do anything, even sell out his country to the enemy, just to be with the woman he loved. A truly romantic and beautiful tale.

What I found very interesting, though, was how Minghella subtly displays the horrors and terrible effects that war has on the people that aren't even physically fighting it. Through Hana we see a woman who is permanently destroyed and almost unable to love due to the fact that this awful war took away everyone who became close to her. In Kip we see a man who is so blinded by his job and duty to his country that he never even takes the time to appreciate the man he considers his best friend. Caravaggio takes abuse after abuse, with unimaginable pain being inflicted on him as a result of the war. The Cliftons are a loving couple, who have no troubles whatsoever until the war starts and Geoffrey is off helping his country while Katharine becomes involved in an affair.

But the most horrific effect of war is shown constantly through Almasy's story. All he wanted was love and companionship, but the war wouldn't allow him that. He only gets his love because of the war, and due to it's changing seriousness his love is ripped away from him and he falls into complete heartache. Then we see him reclaim this love, and he does whatever he can to save her life. But, as Binoche mentions early on the film, when war times come even your name means a great deal. We see this terribly through Almasy who is beaten, dragged away and arrested merely due to his name when all he was trying to do was save the woman he loved. Of course we see the effect of war physically through Almasy in the horrific burning of his entire body. This film shows no huge war scenes and terrible travesties that blow off limbs and open chest cavities, but it manages to send an anti-war message stronger than I've ever seen before. No physical battle is shown, whatsoever, yet it makes me absolutely detest war due to the effect that it has on those who aren't even directly involved.

As always for a Minghella work, the performances are absolutely brilliant. Fiennes, Binoche, Thomas and Dafoe deliver some of the best work of the decade. Simply through their eyes we can see all of the pain and emotion searing through them. The right actors were definitely cast in this one. We never hear them shout or break down into a ten minute fit of crying and throwing objects across the room, but we see all of their anguish and torture simply through their eyes and facial expressions. It's a beautifully subtle way of showing emotion and really helped make the film the brilliant masterpiece that it is. I highly doubt that any other cast could have pulled it off so seamlessly.

Rescue Dawn

10/10

Exhilarating. It's a war film in the truest form. Herzog doesn't have to use a booming score and overdramatic sentimantality in order to highlight the horrors and effect that war has on the mind. He presents everything realistically and uses the actors to portray the effect on the mind rather than tricky sentimentality or bleak, scattered narration. The film does weaken a little bit during the scenes in the camp, but it still remains nothing short of brilliant. The beginning of the film beautifully displays a man's isolation and complete confusion and loneliness while the camp scene switches to men's desperation versus what they are willing (or not willing) to do to survive. Herzog does a fantastic job of putting us into Dieter's point of view, mainly through the lack of subtitles. We are just as confused as he is when they shout aggressively in what we can only assume are deadly threats.

The performances are all spectacular. Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies perfect the broken, defeated POWs who do whatever they are ordered to out of fear for their own life. Their conflicted views on Dieter's plan for escape is amazing to watch and the transgression of these characters only gets more stunning as the film progresses. Christian Bale delivers one of the greatest performances of the decade. Everything about him is flawless. His accent, his mannerisms, his neverending lust for freedom, absolutely everything. The score is exceptional and further brings us into the ambience of Dieter. The ending is a bit too sappy, yes, but I loved it all the less. A feel good picture of triumph through sheer determination. As of now it stands at a 10/10 and is my favorite picture of the year so far.

The Talented Mr. Ripley

10/10

Another masterpiece complete with a bounty of intricate layers from the genius mind of Anthony Minghella. The film is a noirish triller yet it is also a perfectly crafted character study. As with most of Minghella's work, the bulk of the film lies in contrasts between characters. First there is the contrast between Ripley and Dickie. Ripley is a poor man who has lived his entire life in isolation, and dreams of having a life like Dickie's. Dickie, though, takes his wonderful life for granted. On the surface he is a joyous man who basks in the magnificence of his life, and Ripley loves this. He does whatever he can to become best friends with Dickie.

But slowly, he realizes that Dickie isn't the perfect man he originally thought him to be. He takes everything for granted, and this is mainly displayed through Marge. She is the perfect woman in his eyes, and he is jealous that Dickie can be with such a flawless creation. However, he sees that Dickie doesn't care about her at all. He sleeps with other women, and doesn't appreciate Marge for the glorious woman she truly is. This begins Ripley's turn towards Dickie.

The arrival of Freddie is a catalyst for the complete shift of Ripley and Dickie's relationship. The contrast of Freddie and Ripley is also a very interesting one. Ripley is a relatively dull man who takes everything in and appreciates what he has. Freddie, on the other hand, is extremely charismatic yet, much like Dickie, takes his luxuries and good fortune for granted. He is an immature, disrespectful man and Ripley sees this from the start. But Dickie becomes more drawn to Freddie's charisma, as a result of being so close to Ripley's dullness for so long. This makes Ripley even more angry, and it also leads Dickie to the realization that his friendship with Ripley has really played itself out and he has nothing left to gain from it. So, when Dickie decides to end their friendship, all of the bottled up anger and thoughts between the two of them come out and it ultimately leads to Dickie's death.

Instead of being overwhelmed with guilt and pain, Ripley sees this as an opportunity to live the life that Dickie took for granted. He takes over his life and lives it to it's fullest. In this fake life that he has created for himself, he even finds his own Marge in the form of Meredith. The similarities between the two of them are overwhelming, through appearance, personality, even the fact that their first names start with an M. But living his life as Dickie becomes more and more difficult for Ripley. Marge becomes increasingly suspicious when she runs into Ripley at the opera and his stories become more and more unbelievable, especially to the whereabouts of Dickie.

This all comes to another climax when Freddie comes back into the picture and realizes that Ripley is leading a fake life as Dickie. This leads to another necessary death in order for Ripley to keep his perfect life alive. But with another death comes more complications, and as Marge continues to be suspicious, the police start to close in on the truth. Ripley takes an opportunity to pick up and leave, leaving behind a suicide note as Dickie which claims that he also killed Freddie. However, Dickie's father hires a private investigator to investigate these curious deaths.

Eventually, everything sorts itself out perfectly for Ripley as Dickie's past comes to haunt him and everything becomes cleaned up with everyone believing that Dickie committed suicide and was responsible for the murder of Freddie. Marge, however knows the truth and all of her initial thoughts on Ripley are completely shifted into sheer hatred. Ripley ignores this though, and starts a new life with Marge's friend Peter. But living a life of lies still haunts him as Meredith finds him, believing him to be Dickie, on a yacht vacation with Peter.

So, once again another murder must be committed to keep himself free from prosecution. This one proves to be the most emotionally painful for him yet because, since Meredith is with people who have already seen Ripley there, he has to kill the new love of his life Peter who has done absolutely nothing wrong. The abrupt ending is certainly one of my favorites. It shows that Ripley's life of pain and isolation will never end due to his greed and life of deceit. The mistakes of his past ensure that he will never find complete happiness and the final image is one of pain and absolute isolation.

I didn't even talk about the performances, which are all amazing seeing as it's one of the greatest casts of all time. From Damon all the way down to Philip Baker Hall, everyone knocks their part out of the park. Jude Law's charismatic, seductive portrayal is surely the highlight as we delve further and further into his ultimately dark and selfish character. Damon, Paltrow and Philip Seymour Hoffman also deliver very praise-worthy performances. One of my favorite films.

The Dead Girl

9/10

A truly phenomenal work. The film is seperated into five different stories, and each one is intricately detailed and each one is led by a poignant female performance. I can't rave about this enough. Every story is so beautiful in their own way. I must say that I greatly preferred the style of showing each story in it's entirety and then moving onto the next one, instead of continuing the tradition of the swarm of these ensemble films with very different characters linked by a small event that we've been seeing this decade. It showed some great originality to cut the stories into five different, linked short films instead of mashing them all together and just showing pits and pieces of each story.

The entire concept of the film is remarkable. How one, very unfortunate, death can be the new beginning of seven others. The end of one life leads to the reawakening, or liberation, of seven others. Such a phenomenal concept that was executed flawlessly. That alone makes it something brilliant, in my eyes, but then each story is filled with such strong symbolism and metaphors. One example of symbolism could be the color contrast in Leah's story. At the beginning there is just steely blues and greys to represent her dull, isolated life. But then, once she goes to Derek's party, there is life and vibrant color seen all around (the shining lights in the background and even the lights of the swingset). It's a truly beautiful scene.

Every character is so rich and deep and bring out every kind of sympathy I could ever feel. The ending of most stories is formed with a strong scene of liberation and change, that put a big smile to my face. Ruth's story isn't this way though in which we see a stunning scene of her realizing the horrible man that her husband is, but in almost an act of defiance, she shuts her eyes to his evil deeds. And of course Krista's ending has no liberation or freedom. Instead it's one of the most heartbreaking experiences of my life. We see this sweet adorable character light with joy, thinking that she is going to see her daughter on her birthday. But we know her eventual fate, and that she will never meet her daughter. It brought such tears to my eyes.

The performances really blew me away. I was expecting them to be good, but not some of the best of the year. Even Marcia Gay Harden, my least favorite actress, turns in a strong, subtle and emotional work compared to her usual whiny-annoying fare. James Franco really needs more chances to shine, because he is one of the most underrated actors around. He completely transforms his strong, hulky build into an adorable geeky character that makes it easy to see why he brings Leah out of her deep depression. I have to highlight the phenomenal work from Giovanni Ribisi and Rose Byrne in two of my absolute favorite performances of last year. Exceptional doesn't even begin to describe the brilliance of their work. They both get resounding nominations from me, and the film is one of the five best of last year.

The Good German

4/10

One of the biggest disappointments of my life. I was expecting this film to be a masterpiece, and it couldn't have been further from it. The film tries to be an homage to the 40's noirs but ends up being a carbon-copy of half and shitting all over the other half. None of the characters or actors even seem to belong in a noir, except for Blanchett who is absolutely exceptional. Her accent is pitch-perfect. I was very excited to see Tobey Maguire, who I feel is a very capable actor, in a role that will hopefully diversify himself from Spiderman. However, he couldn't have been more miscast. The film couldn't be less engaging, and it expects you to follow every tiny detail. Of course if you lose attention for a second, it can shine a bright light on a certain piece of paper so that you know what they're talking about when they bring it up a minute later. Speaking of minutes, there is no way to care for the characters when every two minutes it's switching to a completely different scene. Clooney, who I've always felt is a good actor, seems like he's as bored as the audience is. He just drags himself along the film, not caring if the audience hears him or knows what he's talking about. He's obviously going for a Bogart/Grant/Stewart mashup, but ends up falling into his charming, smug normal self half of the time he's on screen. As I said, the film couldn't be less engaging which leads to it being completely dull and just annoying. The cuts are contstant, and after the first ten minutes become tedious and unbearable. Before you even know what the film is talking about, one of the main characters dies, and you're apparently supposed to care about since they made the effort to dramatically pause on the character's face and throw in some ridiculously loud score piece. The quality of the film is incredibly poor, but that's because (since it was an homage to the 40's) they didn't use any equipment that was made after the 40's. I really never thought anyone could be more pretentious than Tarantino, but it looks like Soderbergh and Clooney have that covered. I guess it could have been an innovative idea, but it just came across as arrogant, showy and unecessary. However big of a disappointment the film was though, the lighting and cinematography are some of the best of the decade and Blanchett is absolutely brilliant in a role practically made for her. But still, one of the largest disappointments I've faced my entire life.

The Salton Sea

8/10

A very enjoyable film with phenomenal performances around. Sarsgaard was dynamic as always, and D'Onofrio is completely explosive. The score did a wonderful job of fitting the bleak tone. The plot itself was mostly excellent. It's full of twists and double-crosses, but doesn't become too convuluted like most films of this nature do. It does a good job of letting the audience catch up instead of throwing character after character after death after rat at you. Unforunately, the film was pretty one-dimensional and it seemed like it didn't know what it wanted to be in terms of genre. One second it was full of cops, rats and gunfire. The next it was a sentimental drama about a man trying to survive after watching his wife die. Then it was a revenge story about him destroying those who murdered his wife. Then it was a gimmicky comedy full of quirky, speedheads. Then it was a dark, noir with a trumpet player in a dark and dangerous world. I wish it would have picked one and stayed with it. I also wasn't a big fan of the trumpet playing scenes. They felt unecessary and really drew away from the plot. However they were nice to sound and I do understand what Caruso was trying to do with them, I just don't think he really succeeded.

My Official Oscar Predictions

Alright, here they are. My one and only Oscar predictions.


Best Picture: The Departed
Best Director: Martin Scorsese - The Departed
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland
Best Actress: Helen Mirren - The Queen
Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Best Foreign Language Film: Pan's Labyrinth
Best Cinematography: Children of Men
Best Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Departed
Best Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth
Best Documentary Short Subject: Two Hands
Best Live Action Short Film: Eramos Pocos
Best Film Editing: United 93
Best Makeup: Pan's Labyrinth
Best Art Direction: Dreamgirls
Best Sound Mixing: Dreamgirls
Best Sound Editing: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Best Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Best Costume Design: Marie Antoinette
Best Original Score: The Queen
Best Original Song: "Listen" - Dreamgirls
Best Animated Feature: Cars
Best Animated Short Film: The Little Matchgirl

Out on DVD Today.

Babel - 9/10

Best Picture nominee, won the Golden Globe for Best Picture, and the second best film of the year. Intense performances and the year's best direction lead this gripping emotional journey. Yours truly picked up the DVD, and will get the special edition once it gets released after the Oscar's.

The Prestige - 8/10

Great performances, notably from Bale. An interesting story, though severely flawed. The visuals are phenomenal, but the ending is unbelievably pretentious and just revolting really. It's obvious that Nolan felt the need to add a twist because of his "rep". Fuck that. Mitch Beaupre picked it up, that's for sure.

Some other releases that I care about:

For Your Consideration

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

**Haven't seen either of them, but want to, the latter mainly. Will probably rent them both soonish.

Testing.

1...2....3....motherfucker.