My favorite Capracorn

On a slow Saturday night like tonight for me, I'd like to take time and reflect on my favorite Hollywood director of all time Mr. Frank Capra. I wish Capra was better remembered today, for some reason his films aren't as discussed as highly as those by perhaps John Ford or Howard Hawks but I like him. Capra's films are ones I can watch again and again and never get tired of them. I grew up with Capra films pretty much, before I knew of him I had no idea what a director does. He might be pigeonholed now as a sentimental director hence the nickname Capracorn, maybe that's why his films are often overlooked in today's cynical world. In my opinion for anyone who is just getting into classic movies I would say Capra would be the guy to start with. What makes his films great is that they are all beloved. He was however able to dive into darker territory at times but he would always stay the hopeful optimist, where's today's Capra, we need him desperately. So if you're ever feeling down just watch your copy of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" or "It Happened One Night" or "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town", and come Christmas watch "It's a Wonderful Life" again and again no matter how many times you've seen it.

Here are my top ten Capra films that you should all see.

1. It's a Wonderful Life
2. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
3. Lost Horizon
4. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
5. You Can't Take it With You
6. Meet John Doe
7. It Happened One Night
8. American Madness
9. Arsenic and Old Lace
10. State of the Union

Tonights Double Feature: Two Bad Movies (Sigh)

To begin with I like going to the movies with my friends it's fun to hang out, we go to movies, we discuss, we talk about other stuff, it's a grand old time. The only down side to this is if you happen to be going into a bad movie which means the two hours of the time spent in the theatre when you're not talking to your friends are waisted. This happened to me tonight, but like a bad dream this happened twice. The three of us were ambitious tonight, we decided to have a double feature of new films that came out today: "Feast of Love" and "The Kingdom", and for me the highlight of the evening was the coffee we had in between shows. Here's a more in depth look at these two films.

Feast of Love: "Feast of Love" begins with a narration, it is not surprising that the narration is provided by Morgan Freeman who has become an expert on the art form. Freeman plays an old professor named Harry who seems to have nothing better to do with his time than hanging around at his coffee shop which is owned by his friend Bradley (Greg Kinnear). Bradley has troubles with relationships, when we first meet him he's married to Kathryn ( Selma Blair), Kathryn is playing baseball and is slapped on the butt by a female on the opposing team, the same woman sees Kathryn in a bar with Bradley and Harry and decides to flirt with her right in front of them. Bradley is blinded by love but Harry sees what's going on and knows better.

Kathryn decides (very quickly) she's a lesbian and for some reason decides to leave Bradley rather angrily...and that's the last we see of Selma Blair. No one seems to give Bradley a break even his sister for some reason is mean to him by not giving back his dog, "what kind of sister does that" you ask? I don't know I'm sure the actress playing her didn't know it was just in the script. But Bradley is a romantic and gets back on the horse falling for another woman (Radha Mitchell) who is carrying on an affair with a married man.

Meanwhile another story occurs between the young employees of Bradley's coffee shop they are Chloe and Oscar. They are a young couple deeply in love with each other, but Oscar has a very mean father (Fred Ward who is completely waisted) who makes their lives a living hell, on top of that Chloe has a very accurate psychic who gives her some bad news.

Meanwhile Harry and his wife (The wonderful Jane Alexander also waisted) are grieving over the death of their son all the while having to deal with the troubles of these younger dumber people.

I can't abide idiocy in films, and this may be the most idiotic movie I've seen all year. The characters make no lick of sense at all, I didn't get their motivations, I didn't get their problems, I didn't get their world. Worst of all it was just awful seeing all these talented people try to make sense in all this mess. Freeman here seems to struggle the most with the lines he must say. One of the most baffling scenes in the film is when Chloe asks Harry's advice about doing a porno movie for extra money, I thought I saw Freeman strain to understand what he was saying in the next scene when Harry tries to explain Chloe's predicament to his wife.

Kinnear came off the best for me, as Bradley he at least looked like he was trying to make what Bradley did look logical.

I suppose the film was trying to be some kind of existential parable about love and how we are not in control of our own destinies, but it fails miserably. Robert Benton who has made some great movies about flawed human beings before ("Kramer Vs. Kramer" "Nobody's Fool") seems to be lacking a good script. These people seemed to belong to some other dimension where psychics are 100% right, turning into a lesbian makes you mean, and Selma Blair leaves after 5 minutes.

The Kingdom: "The Kingdom" is about a crack FBI forensics team that come to Saudi Arabia to investigate a terrorist attack that killed many civilians including two of the team's colleagues. If you strip away all the important glossy camera movement and realistic violence what you get is an episode of "C.S.I. Saudi Arabia". The team is made up of Jaimie Fox playing the heroic team leader, Chris Cooper as the world weary veteran, Jennifer Garner as the no-nonsense doctor, and Jason Bateman as the wise-cracking guy who does something with computers (At least I think that's his job). I could tell you these character's real names but you've seen all stereotypes before in other mindless films it wouldn't really matter.

The team comes to Saudi Arabia and is assisted by a local policeman (Ashraf Barhom) who at first gives the team a hard time, but after a bit of bonding between him and Foxx, they are all on the same page.

I guess the biggest disappointment about this movie was missing the opportunity of being something more important than it was, but instead of creating real characters with real conflicts it's reduced to a mystery action yarn. I won't go on talking about what it isn't though. What it is is a sometimes loud, sometimes lazy action movie. I think this might have played better on t.v. as some kind of two hour pilot episode of a really exciting F.B.I. show, that way at least you could tune in next week and maybe get to know the characters a bit more. Cooper, Garner, and Bateman are pretty much wasted and are given superficial personalities that bring no color to the film. I guess what makes Foxx different is we know he has a family so he has something to live for. Barhom's character is also seen as family man fighting the evils of the world and there is a slight bonding moment between him and Foxx that in its most simple way shows their similarities.

The violence is put up a notch which kinda worked against the film. Most of the images become heavy handed as if we were watching CNN or Fox News exploiting the image rather than putting a human face on it.

One thing the film has going for it is it moves fast, there is always something that catches the eye and when director Peter Berg wants to he can create an exciting action sequence. But I was mostly bored through this movie, the story has been done better with more complexity before in films like "Syrianna" and "Munich".

I can see where movies like these fit today, much like John Wayne did with his mindless World War 2 movies, films like "The Kingdom" are meant to show off the heroes, too bad they just aren't that interesting.

And Now for Something Completely Different....

Living in central Alberta you can't always rely on your local theatre to deliver the goods art house wise so you gotta search to find things worthwhile. So I went to my local video store to scope out any new titles that might interest me and low and behold I was amazed to find the obscure film "Zoo" in. I hadn't heard anything about "Zoo" till I saw Jim Emmerson discuss it at his website, needless to say I was a bit hesitant about viewing a film which discusses bestiality and a tragedy surrounding its deep dark underbelly, but I decided to give it a chance.

"Zoo" will definitely not appeal to everyone I'm sure, there were times that I cringed even though no acts against animals are shown. The film is bizarre to say the least but in a good way, it takes us into a dark world that shook me it was something I was not used to and that's what made it intriguing. After the film I was a bit uneasy, I was definitely effected by it coming into contact with these bizarre characters, it reminded me of the dreamlike worlds of Stanley Kubrick or David Lynch. The film is very much a cinematic success in style and it has the power with its opening shot to draw you in, but the people they depict still remained a mystery to me, I felt nothing for these people who have this strange compulsion nor was I sure how I was supposed to feel about them, my empathy was more towards the animals that now seemed damaged from their experiences.

I do recommend "Zoo" for the visually mysterious atmosphere it evokes and the taboo subject matter it attempts to break, if you're in the mood for something different and bizarre check this out.

Great Minds....

Well it seems I have at least one following for this blog and as they say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. My good friend Matt Grue has created his own movie blog that you can visit here http://www.mattandthemovies.blogspot.com/. I suggest you go visit it, Matt and I often go to movie together (along with Steph but she may want to remain anonymous). I would say most of the time Matt and I do agree on what makes a good movie, but there have been times where we have differed very much on films. Like Matt states in his blog there is a certain kind of Ebert and Roeper quality to our debates (You can decide which one of us is more like Roeper). Despite our differences I think both Matt and I do have a great passion for movies. We try to have movie nights whenever we can (along with Steph but again...anonymous) where one person brings a movie the others haven't seen and afterwards we discuss. It gets interesting when we don't always like the movie that we viewed but again the discussion is part of the fun.

I would also add Matt has great movie themed ideas, for instance after going to see "Waitress" last week, Matt had the inspired idea of going for pie afterwards, and if you've seen the movie, you'd know why that was such a fitting thing to do.

Anyway it's nice to know I have an ally in the movie blog world and it's nice to know my blog has a following albeit a small one. I hope you enjoy Matt's blog and continue enjoying mine. Ciao for now.

Pride and Passionless

I'll admit right off the bat I haven't read much Jane Austin, in fact I have only read "Sense and Sensibility". I intend to dive right into Jane Austin as soon as possible but for those who know me know I have a back catalogue of bunches of books I must read through before I could possibly think of reading anything else. It's not anything against what I think about Jane Austin it's just really I have a lot of books I bought over the years that I really need to read.

Jane Austin has fascinated me, I have wanted to know much about her and I'm sure once I get to reading her books I will want to learn even more about her, unfortunately the new film "Becoming Jane" which sheds some light on mysterious love life doesn't really give me much insight into what she was other than a carbon copy of perhaps one of her literary characters.

"Becoming Jane" begins promising by introducing Jane as a writer and a very independent thinker, she's a bit of a misfit in a society where it becomes customary for a woman to marry a man for financial security. Jane's parents have her partnered with such a man who is sure to secure her for the rest of her life, but is someone Jane has no feelings towards. Jane is played with a very charismatic and winning personality by Anne Hathaway an actress who has shown just how good she can be in films that are beneath her. Hathaway indeed has the talent to carry this film but that can only go so far.

Jane meets a man (played by James McCavoy) with whom she grows to love but the problem being is he's not all that wealthy.

I suppose the film is trying to make a point by showing her real love story parallels her imagined one she wrote with "Pride and Prejudice". The problem I had with the film is it doesn't really have much fun with this idea. Unlike "Shakespeare in Love" which had the same idea, this film lacks the humour and colorful characters and the passion those lovers had.

I didn't really feel anything for Jane's predicament perhaps because I've seen this all before in other costume romances or other pieces of English literature.

This film has the chance to add a wonderful blend of colorful characters like Jane's mother and father played by Julie Walters and James Cromwell or the Aunt of one of Jane's suitors played by Maggie Smith, but these characters are forced into the background only to add a few funny touches into some scenes.

Even the cinematography seemed a bit dreary at times that wasn't crisp or clear sometimes even covering up actor's faces which lost me in some scenes.

I don't think this is a terrible film I did enjoy a few good parts in it and Hathaway and McCavoy make a credible couple but the love wasn't there, it's a routine picture and from what I hear about Jane Austin I think she deserves a better treatment.

How can I put this?

I really liked "Eastern Promises".....I think. After watching the film I felt it wasn't what I expected it to be. For those of you who have seen trailers and think they know what they are getting into are probably into a surprise. The ending was rather abrupt which made me wonder what was this film about.

But after the film I got to thinking more and more about it and the more I thought about it, the more I liked it, but just to be sure I want to see it for a second time.

The film is a masterful crime genre piece probably the most graphic yet entertaining crime film I've seen since "The Departed" last year. It would be a crime to give away the plot of this film but to give the bare essentials it involves a woman who dies giving birth, she is treated by a doctor (Played by Naomi Watts) who finds a diary the woman had.

The Russian mafia play an important part too when it turns out the diary contains contents involving some members.

The key character here is played by Viggo Mortensson who deserves an oscar nomination as an ice cold chauffeur for the mafia. Mortensson is able to find every shade of this character to make the audience wonder about who he is exactly and what side he's on.

There is an ambitious film in the background here where director David Cronenberg shows us the inner workings of the Russian mob ala "The Godfather", but he mostly stays on track to the core human element involving Watts, the baby, and the diary, the bigger story is only hinted at.

The violence is very graphic mostly involving a couple of cut throats and a killer knife fight in a bath house, what's interesting especially in a crime film such as this is I don't think I heard one gun shot fired.

The key to this movie is Mortensson, he makes the film intriguing to follow through. All I can say is don't come in expecting a regular mafia movie, there's something more than meets the eye but that's all I will say.

Edward Copeland on Film: The Ray Memorial 100

A new list to celebrate the top 100 foreign films ever made has been listed here.Edward Copeland on Film: The Ray Memorial 100. Read it discuss and debate but by all means watch them. My personal favorite "Tokyo Story" has been listed at number twelve. Kurasawa seems to be the director with the most films. This is a great intruction to those who have never seen a foreign film and don't know where to begin. It's also good for us film buffs who think they've seen everything.

How Sweet it is!!!

"Waitress" is the kind of movie where you know where it's headed and you kinda know the conclusion but it does it in such an enjoyable way you don't even care. I loved "Waitress", I saw flaws in it but it didn't seem to matter in the long run, the late director Adrienne Shelley has crafted a warm hearted comedy that is rarely made in today's world, there was something very comforting and almost old fashioned about it that's hard to resist.

Keri Russell stars in a career making performance as a hard luck waitress who is married to a no good insensitive brute but has a saving grace in creating very creative pie recipes. The pies kinda illustrate her feelings and sometimes current moods. The movie opens with Russell's character discovering she's pregnant, this happened one night when her husband got her drunk cause normally she detests sleeping with him. The fact that she's pregnant puts a damper on her plans, it's just another thing keeping her from leaving her husband and starting a new life.

Things begin to change for her when she meets the handsome new doctor in town (the underrated Nathan Fillion) who starts treating her nice. The two soon begin having an affair and for a moment it seems everything in her life is perfect, there is even a sequence where Russell is walking around with a bright happy smile on her face. But things start to fall apart when we are reminded that the handsome young doctor is married.

Adrienne Shelley has created one of those picture perfect worlds where people are all kind and understanding and no one (except maybe Russell's husband) is out to hurt anybody. Shelley herself and Cheryl Hines create great support has Russell's co-workers and best friends each of whom have their own subplot that are delightful. The scene stealer of the film is Any Griffith playing the cranky owner of the diner the girls work in but of course we learn isn't all that cranky after all.

This film is about finding happiness and a lot of the scenes I saw in it rang true. There is one scene where Russell asks someone if he is happy, and he honestly says back "happy enough". There is a lot of truth in the dialogue and a lot of warmth, this is a happy movie because it's about people trying to find happiness where ever it comes.

Sometimes it felt like these characters were too good to be true and the diner and Russell's pies weren't at all realistic. I could go on about how that bothered me but it didn't really, I love it when movies make up places that transport us and for a moment make us forget about our troubles and spend it with some really good decent people. Of course everyone knows the sadness about Shelley's death but we should be grateful that she was able to share this little piece of happiness with us, we should all be that lucky in our lives.

New to My Collection

I've had the opportunity this summer to add to my collection of films quite a bit. Some films I got were just classics that I could see countless times like Capra's classic dark comedy "Arsenic and Old Lace" or Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" or Truffaut's "Jules and Jim". Here are some new titles that I've watched for the first time and was for the most part pleased of my purchase.

1. Sansho The Balliff: I went into this film not knowing much about it, Jim Emmerson loves this movie and that was good enough for me. It is directed by Kenji Mizoguchi who is one of those filmmakers I have heard of but have never seen any of his work. It's one of those films you watch and afterwards you just have to say wow. It's one of those films I know I will revisit again and again and probably find something new every time I see it.

2. The Story of Floating Weeds/Floating Weeds: While we're on the subject of great japanese cinema why not talk about the master Yasujiro Ozu. I have made it known before that Ozu may very well be my favorite director of all time even though I've seen only 10 of his 50+ films. I couldn't be happier when I got this which are two Ozu films in one. The original is silent while the remake was made in beautiful color and I think it is one of the best color films I've seen. Even though both films tell the same story I found myself enjoying the remake better, it spends more time with the characters and is beautifully filmed. It's hard to express my feelings for Ozu and his films, just watch this film or "Tokyo Story", or "Late Spring" and begin the journey I started last year.

3. Ace in the Hole: This is Billy Wilder's film about a reporter who creates a media frenzy over a guy who's trapped in a cave struggling to live. Kirk Douglas is the only man alive who could've played this hard boiled reporter who seems to have no conscience. The film is a hard criticism of the media and is probably more timely today than when it was released. Wilder pulls no punches we need more guys like him making movies.

4. The Secret Life of Sherlock Holmes: Another Billy Wilder film I had not seen, this one deals with an untold story of Sherlock Holmes. I found it to be one of Wilder's most interesting films as he attempts to make the famous detective more human. The film is also outrageously funny at times with an ending you wouldn't expect.

5. High Plains Drifter: People really only thought of Clint Eastwood's gifts as a filmmaker after "Unforgiven" was released, but way back in the early 70s he made this western about a mysterious man out for revenge on a town that just stood by as their sheriff was whipped to death. It's dark and mysterious unlike any of the Oscar bait films Eastwood makes today.

6. The Burmese Harp: A very spiritual war movie about a japanese soldier who masqurades as a Buddhist Monk and decides to bury all the dead soldiers who are left on the ground. I've never seen a war movie quite like it, it's about redemption and spiritual awakening, it's quite moving.

7. All Quiet on the Western Front: This famous war movie which won the Oscar for Best Picture tells the story of young German boys who are so enthused about joining the army but become disillusioned with the horrors of war. This no doubt influenced modern war films like "Saving Private Ryan" or "Letters from Iwo Jima" in its depiction of young solidiers in combat.

8. Kiss of Death: Classic film noir about a criminal who becomes a mole for the police in order to protect his children. Richard Widmark plays one of the most memorable villains in history and Victor Mature has one of his best performances in the lead role.

That's all for now folks, any new titles you have in your collection you want to share that has enriched your movie collection?

And the Oscar should go to.

So I haven't seen all the movies premiering at the Toronto Film Festival that has all the oscar buzz surrounding them but after seeing Sarah Polly's poetic and lyrical "Away From Her" finally I just wanted to throw the hat in for Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsett for Best Actress and Actor nominations. If you haven't seen "Away From Her" yet, you should, one word would describe it and that is it's beautiful, just beautiful, and the two main actors help make it that.

Had I been young in the sixties I would probably be in love with Julie Christie, her face is the kind of face the camera makes love to and her performance as a woman suffering from Alzheimers is both tragic and touching. Gordon Pinsett is an old Canadian pro who gives a flawless performance but very subdued and quiet which I hope won't stop his chances of grabbing a nomination.

The relationship between Christie and Pinsett is the heart of this film, it's full of love but also disapointment and betrayal. The fact that these people survived over 40 years of marriage is the real testament to their love.

I may sound sappy when I describe this movie, but I wouldn't describe it as one, it's just beautiful that's all I can say, unlike many romance films, in this one you could really feel the love, the longing, and the loss. These are probably the two best performances I've seen all year by anyone and I hope they and this film are not lost in the fall shuffle of films.

I also saw "The Lookout" with Joseph-Gordon-Levitt which is a smart noirish type thriller which is worth seeing.

TIFF=Anticipation for those not there

Oh to be in Toronto right now. Some day I just really have to make a pilgrimage from my small humble Alberta home and see what all the fuss is about. For about 10 days in September Toronto Canada becomes the Northern Hollywood, where pretty much every single important movie of the oscar season is shown. I've been reading daily the reports of my favorite critic Roger Ebert, and my favorite retired critic turned blogger Jim Emerson as they both talk about the films they have seen. It's making my mouth water just talking about it. The moment I read Emerson's blog about The Coen Brothers' new film "No Country for Old Men" where he says "If you're not exhilerated by this piece of filmmaking, then I don't know what you could possibly like about movies." I don't remember the last time I heard anything like that when describing a recent movie.

It comes down to this: I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait. The great thing about reading these two guys is they not only see the movies everyone else sees, but also smaller films that peaks my interest. It's wonderful having these two men who I find differ very much on certain films but with a wonderful enthusiasm be my guides to what may be the most popular film festival on Earth. But anyway, here are some films I'm just dying to see

No Country for Old Men
Eastern Promises
Chop Shop
Into the Wild
Michael Clayton
Juno
Rendition
The Assassination of Jesse James...
Starting out Empty
Fugitive Pieces
I'm Not There

In the mean time I just have to catch up on films I haven't seen yet like "Waitress", "Once", and "Away from Her", but oh to be in Toronto.

Canadian New Wave?

How can a country that has perhaps the greatest and most popular film festival in the world (the the exception of say Cannes) not have a great film making reputation? Living in Canada myself I wish there were more significant films being made. I think the problem might be for a country capable of making such personal works of film art such as Atom Egoyan's "The Sweet Hereafter" or Deny Arcand's "The Barbarian Invasions", we choose more to celebrate mainstream Canadian movies like "Bon Cop, Bad Cop". For Americans who read this blog, "Bon Cop, Bad Cop" is a harmless action comedy where a french Canadian policemen from Montreal has to team up with an english speaking Canadian from Toronto to solve a case. The film plays like a Canuck's "Lethal Weapon". It might interest you American's to know that "Bon Cop, Bad Cop" has become the highest grossing Canadian film ever, before that I think it was "Porkys" (Yes "Porkys" is a Canadian film).

I'm frustrated with Canadian film because we have been able to produce some great talent with the likes of Atom Egoyan, Deny Arcands, David Cronenberg, Don McKeller, Sarah Polley, and that little indie film maker James Cameron. Thankfully most of these names still work in Canada and today are creating some great films, others like Cronenberg and Cameron have been beckoned to America perhaps never to return, but really who could blame them? Canada should be in the running for having the best produced film in the world, it has the potential of what Japanese cinema was in the fifties or France was in the sixties in my opinon, of course I'm a bit biased.

Here's hoping Canada will wake up to what the rest of the world already knows, we got some great film makers out there now lets take the next step.

Guns, Violence, and Carrots!!!

In the live action Warner Brothers cartoon "Shoot 'Em Up" Clive Owen is Bugs Bunny while Paul Giamatti is Elmer Fudd. This was a great time at the movies, it's an action movie with a sense of humour and never lets up. The action movies that came out this summer like "Live Free or Die Hard" aren't as refreshing or funny as this. The best action movies I've seen this year have been comedies. Before this there was "Hot Fuzz", maybe it's a sign of the times that action movies can't take themselves seriously anymore. That's not a bad thing, I find it more enjoyable and the actors seem to having more fun too. Clive Owen is probably my favorite action star at the moment, he's got that cynical Bogart type tough guy going for him, I think he should be the biggest star in Hollywood right now. Paul Giamatti is another guy who should be selling tickets.

This was a great movie, in fact when it was over I was hoping for a sequal, why not, if "The Transporter" could have a sequal, why can't this funnier and better film have one?

3:10 to Yuma better than the original

Don't you love it when you go into a movie with mixed feelings not expecting much but you leave completely satisfied? I went to "3:10 to Yuma" pretty much because of my love of westerns and the two stars of the film, I didn't really think I was going into a great movie, but I left feeling that way. I've seen the original Glenn Ford film about a farmer who must take a criminal to meet up with a train while battling it out with his gang before. I found it to be a very enjoyable film full of great suspense in the "High Noon" vein, but I probably wouldn't rank it among the greats. It was the perfect film to be remade in this day and age, and the makers put in everything I love about westerns.

The film follows the same basic plot as the original but has added a few original points to make it even more stronger. Christian Bale plays the penniless farmer who decides to take famed bank robber Ben Wade (Russel Crowe) on the 3:10 train to Yuma for money. Bale has a few helping hands along with him but Wade's posse are obviously too professional for them. In the end taking Wade on the train becomes less about money and more about honor.

What I think made westerns so great was how the best ones were always about men who followed a certain code. Westerns usually became morality plays and the heros were usually the moral compass in the wild west. In the beginning of the film neither Bale or Crowe could be considered the heroes of the film they are thinking only of money but they both come to realize something bigger out of this experience and in the end they rise above a lot to come out as men you respect.

The original film lacked a plausible ending which I thought was its greatest flaw, this film fixes that and it turns it into a film about sacrifice that redeems both men. Bale and Crowe are two of our strongest leading men and anyone who thinks there aren't any good action stars around today should take a look at their performances, they play off eachother so well and even though they are on separate sides of the law, they form a close bond.

It's refreshing to state that I think "3:10 to Yuma" is a great action film and probably better than all those special effect summer movies put together. It's also a character piece and the actors really make this one work so well. It's a great jump start to the fall season, I just hope all the movies are as this interesting and entertaining at the same time.

Rescue Dawn Review

(Trying to catch up with some movies I've missed talking about. I saw "Rescue Dawn" a few weeks ago but neglected to write anything about it.)

I live in Red Deer and when a film like Werner Herzog's "Rescue Dawn" comes to town, it's

a blessing because I would classify it as an arthouse film and we don't usually get arthouse films very often especially in the busy summer season. "Rescue Dawn" is the amazing true story about a vietnam airfighter named Dieter Dangler (Christian Bale who is fastly becoming one of my favorite actors) who is shot down during a secret mission, is captured and sent to a POW camp. There he meets other POW's most of whom seem to have gone a bit mad from being confined for so long. The two other main POWs are played by Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies. Zahn plays Duane who forms a close friendship with Dieter. Davies in his best Charles Manson impression plays Gene who believes they will be released anytime soon.

The other prisoners are far more pessimistic and Dieter soon becomes obsessed with escaping. The escaping seems to be the easy part, the hard part would be surviving in the jungle. You would have to be a bit mad to even think about escaping and since this is a Werner Herzog film Dieter would have to be.

I could not compare this film to any other film I saw this summer because it was so different, we are asked to spend two hours with people who have pretty much gone insane. But there's a kind of heroism in Dieter's madness which is probably what Herzog finds so fascinating. Bale is the kind of actor who dives right into his role so it's not surprising that he's really eating maggots in a kind of crazy glee or eating snake skin. We totally believe he's losing his mind particularily when he starts seeing a dead friend in his mind. Zahn is also very effective in what I think is the best role I've seen him in. Dieter and Duane make a good team and their off-beat friendship is very touching.

The film itself reminded sometimes of "Apocolypse Now" especially in its jungle scenes. It sometimes felt like a horror movie masquerading as a POW movie. Herzog has always been fascinated with mad characters his most famous being "Aguire: The Wrath of God" right up to his documentary "Grizzley Man". But in those cases the person's madness becomes more counter productive where Dieter's madness is what makes him survive. This was a great and unique movie experience.

Michael Myers: The Lost Years

Rob Zombie has created a pretty good remake to the classic "Halloween" probably better than anyone would have expected. I give Zombie props for trying to make psycho killer Michael Myers into a sympathetic character. A backstory is provided but doesn't really explain why Michael is the way he is, it's only there to show he's been like this from the very beginning. In the original we only see the aftermath of his bloody massacre of his family, but here we now see the famous slaying in all its bloody glory. Michael is then sent to a mental ward where he's treated by Sam Loomis (Malcolm McDowell). We see some of Loomis' sessions but I felt probably the same frustration he did, what makes Michael tick? When Michael grows up we see his escape from the mental ward and then it catches up with the original and we're back to where he's trying to track down his lone surviving sister.

What Zombie is doing is filling in the gaps the original film only alluded to and I don't think he had to do that. Michael Myers isn't really a complex character who needs much of a back story, he's a monster in a mask, a real life boogy man, you didn't need to know much more than that to make him scary.

That being said I must say this film does deliver a few doses of scare inducing scenes, I did jump out of my seat a few times, and the ending is quite effective. Credit should also be given to Zombie by not showing too much. Yes there is a lot of blood but a lot of it is left to our imaginations, I was surprised by the restraint of the film. I enjoyed the film, but I don't think it was necessary to be made, but I'm sure it will appeal to fans and I'm sure with the success it will spawn sort of a next generation of crappy sequals. Luckily Zombie is the kind of director with enough respect for the original John Carpenter film and the horror genre alone to make an entertaining remake.

Jeremy's Favorite Summer Movies

Well the Labour Day weekend is at an end, which means kids will be going back to school soon, leaves will start turning yellow, and movies will suddenly become a bit more serious and "Oscar Worthy". But it's been a fun summer while it lasted. If this summer has taught me anything it's that I think my tastes in movies are changing. There was a time when I probably would've counted "Spiderman 3" as one of the best movies of the summer. I actually forgot "Spiderman 3" existed till I saw the guys from "Knocked Up" talking about it. I've seen a lot of the summer movies and most of the big ones (With the exception of "The Bourne Ultimatum" which will have to wait a little longer.) Some of the films frustrated me, some I thought were brilliant, some were lost in the shuffle, and some I wish never existed. So won't you join me in celebrating the best and the worst of this flock of films?

The Best
These are the best of the bunch I've seen this year and I wouldn't mind owning some of them when they come out. As you'll notice all of them don't really depend on special effects (Unless you consider computer animation a special effect) What surprised me about this best of list is I think I enjoy animated movies more than I thought. But these movies represent why I love going to the movies, good stories, good characters, and a purpose. Here they are in no particular order.

"Knocked Up"
"The Simpsons Movie"
"Ratatoullie"
"Hairspray"
"Superbad"
"Rescue Dawn"

The Worst
This is self-expanitory, I didn't see a lot of movies that I thought were terrible, but this was the bottom of the barrel, as in light a match to all the nagatives and run like hell.

"Shrek the Third"
"I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry"

The "I liked them but didn't think they were all that special" movies
These are the throw away films, good for the first time but probably never again.

"Ocean's 13"
"Transformers"
"Live Free or Die Hard"
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
"Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End"
"Spiderman 3"

The Underrated
I saw a couple of movies that got lost in the shuffle and I hope will find new life on DVD. One is an animated movie that opened too soon after "Shrek the Third" even though it was supremely better, the other opened the same weekend after "Spiderman 3" and was unjustly criticized. If you see these titles floating anywhere around give them a shot I don't think you'd be disapointed.

"Surf's Up"
"Lucky You"

In closing I was hoping to see more of the smaller films of the summer like "Waitress" and "Once" but living here in Red Deer Alberta, one must wait for those to come our way. But till next time see ya soon.

At Long Last I've Seen it

I feel kinda guilty about finally seeing "Knocked Up" at the end of the summer. I guess it was one of those movies I knew I should see and wanted to see, but I just didn't for some reason. I even had the chance to go see it when it first came out but chose not to because "I just wasn't feeling like going to a movie."
Now that I have finally seen it I can now be in on what everyone else was raving about. This is not just laugh out loud funny, but one great "relationship" movie. Judd Apadow the writer/director has created some great, funny, and real characters in this film. I don't think there was one of the main characters I didn't sympathize with. Since I'm a guy I guess it would be easy for me to understand what men go through when expecting to be a father for the first time, or what it feels like to be married for ten years. (For the record I have so far experienced none of that, but I don't think you have to to understand how these guys are feeling.) What really got me was how much of the women's side I actually sympathized with. The bottom line whether you're having a baby or getting through a marriage it takes hard work and commitment and this movie is not afraid to be open and honest about it. It also helps to have a sense of humour. If this movie chose to be a drama I think it would be just as true and poignant, but then you wouldn't get the "Back to the Future" references or Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd experiencing Cirque Du Solei on mushrooms (And I love the scene in their hotel room with the chairs.) I was charmed by this movie, and kinda inspired by it too. Judd Apatow has made a comedy about real people facing real life and it's great you can laugh at it.

He's still the man

In my recent poll as I pit directors against eachother it seems that the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock came out on top, which just goes to show you some things never go out of style.