Reviews

Calvaire is surreal, harshly disturbing and horrifying in its portrayal of one mans ordeal after his van breaks down in the middle of nowhere, but is it his ordeal or those of his captor and the people of the village who see him embodied as a past figure in their lives? Singer Marc Stevens, seems to have a bizarre effect on everyone he interacts with, rendering them in a state of heartfelt pain and sadness, he is more of a mystery to us than his captor, the innkeeper Bartel, whose heart and pain is laid so simply before us, in fact all the other characters of this nightmare seem to be in the similar state of turmoil. Everyone in the village is affected, by who remains no mystery, but for some reason they see this person, or their lost dog, in Marc and in some strange way we feel we may relate and understand them more than the victim. The mood is very dreary, cold and dark. The music pitch perfect. The scenes set to a surreal nightmarish state, from Marc's opening performance to the very end. This is foreign horror at its best.

I just got back from an advanced screening of Wanted. I have to admit not being a fan of the Director, Tim Bekmambetov. Somewhat disappointed in his Russian Films Nightwatch and Daywatch. However, in his American directorial he delivers!! An abundance of profanities and over the top action sequences that are beyond xtreme fill the screen in a dizzying array of visual adrenaline. Holding you in a tight breathtaking grip with its interesting visual techniques, humor and acting. James McAvoy (the sweet faun from the Chronicles of Narnia) plays the loser we all know, Wesley Gibbon. The guy, who just trudges through life allowing himself to be walked upon, humiliated and has no desire to escape it, except in a bottle of anti-anxiety meds. Enter a beautiful Woman, Fox (Angelie Jolie), a mysterious wise man Sloan (Morgan Freeman) and his life instantly changes from Billing Reports to Gratuitous Violence, Mastering Weaponry Skills, and Assassination. Believe me when I say what the Matrix introduced, Wanted has mastered. The director is a skilled artist at using the camera in conveying visual emotions of Wesley like I have never seen before, wait I take that back, seen it in NightWatch. I definitely recommend this deliberately humorous, action packed, violent, profane, to-the-extreme film to be seen on the big screen - check this one out!!

I was fortunate to see this movie on a promotional pass. Fortunate, as I may have passed up this very moving film. I have seen the documentaries up for an Academy Award this year and this by far surpasses them. It has inspired me. For many, many years Uganda has been at war with rebels, a conflict that I had heard about in the past and thought was long over. I had heard in my youth, how children's families were killed and they were kidnapped, the boys to become soldiers in the rebellion and the girls sex slaves. I was horrified to hear that it is still currently going on. This is a story of a group of these children from Patongo who survived. Some saved from being rebels and some … not so lucky, being forced to kill their own at gunpoint. Sounds dismal and bleak, but this is a story of Hope, Redemption, Pride and Perseverance. With beautiful cinematography and the story of song, music and dance these children are the very image of Life and the strength of the Spirit. The documentary focuses on three students in the Patongo refugee camp, Rose, Dominic, and Nancy, as they prepare for their first National Music Competition in which over 20,000 schools will be competing. They tell their story of survival and trauma of the brutally violent effects of the rebellion. Haunting and disturbing, powerful and most important uplifting, this is the finest definition of Courage. A must see film.

BUG!! BUG!! BUG!! your skin will crawl! This is an excellent disturbing surprise that made me cringe, laugh and completely freak out. What succeeds in the movie is the unrestrained unsafe performances by the actors in this film. I was so overwhelmed with fear for their sanity and what actions they might take next that I squirmed in, twisted in my seat. Ashley Judd deserves an Oscar nod if not the Oscar for her performance and so does Michael Shannon. What starts for Agnes-Queen(Judd)as a random meeting with a creepy stranger-Drone(Michael Shannon)who senses "things", becomes a life of paranoia and hysteria as she invites him to stay. Perhaps because her life is lonely and painful due to a past tragedy she cannot let go of or the fear of her physically and emotionally abusive Ex(Harry Connick JR.), either way the two form a bond that is inseparable as the Bugs begin to arrive and no one can be trusted.

My fear in seeing this movie is that it would evoke a feeling of exploitation of a child and make for a very uncomfortable viewing, or a similar feeling of sickness I felt while watching Mysterious Skin, a painful film to watch yet an excellent film. However, I was surprised, this is a visual wonder into the mind of an outcast and his sexual awakening. In fact I found myself relating and remembering my awkwardness towards sex at that age and the gray emotions of trying to understand what I was feeling, emotions and confusion not limited to sexual preference or even gender, just the desire for another and not knowing how to correctly move forward or interpret. The director does a brilliant job and the cinematography creates the mood with music, natural images and hallucinatory visions into this teenagers mind. The young actor, Malcom Stumpf, gives a perfect performance as the outcast, who does not mind that he is not liked by others or uncomfortable with who he is becoming, I hope to see more rewarding work from him in the future. Fairuza Balk turns in a great performance as his frustrated mother trying to relate and get through to her son. At times it feels as if she harbors resentment towards him, but she truly loves him as we see in a very real moment as they lay in the grass. This film was a pleasant surprise and I am glad that I did not pass it by as planned.

This is an intelligent and thought provoking thriller. I was highly engaged and found this very suspenseful. I read other reviews and to my dismay I found that most people still feel, if you have to think with your head and characters have to wrestle with their hearts that a thriller cannot be engaging. They enjoy the shallowness of chases, hidden assassins, sex and explosions. You will not find that here, at least not in the excess most high grossing, mindless thrillers exploit.

A very intricate woven story of political power and unrest. It may feel complicated at times, but all you have to do is listen and the answers are there. The acting is perfection by all. The setting, mesmerizing. The details of the UN and the everyday going ons intriguing. I was surprised to learn that the UN and not a set was used. There is a very real feel to the story, that it could have really happened or could tomorrow. Nicole Kidman is flawless as the "interpreter", Silvia with a past "that is not her" and Sean Penn is moving as the "secret service agent", Keller in undeniable misery and pain in his personal life. It is this past and his personal life that awakens a sensitive bond between them, free of sexual tensions. When they connect physically, it is a very real and human moment.

Keller is assigned to the UN after Silvia over hears what may possibly be an assassination threat directed at African Dictator Zuwanie, he is not assigned to protect her as she first assumes, but to investigate her and the authenticity of her claim. It is in this that he discovers her past and how she may be a threat herself to the possible target of assassination. If you have any knowledge of world affairs you will notice the similarities of the real life political figure represented by Zuwanie, Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

There are many points in the story that could be argued as flawed, especially in regards to the surveillance of Silvia, but if one recalls she does make her call from a payphone, it is the call that comes to her home, not the one she makes … and once she realizes she is under surveillance, she does comply with Keller's requests.

I can only recommend this movie if you have a spark of intelligence, otherwise stick with the action thrillers of Nicolas Cage or Tom Cruise, where thinking or feeling is not required, just a quick rush of adrenaline.

First I am not sure if this film can contain any **spoilers** so I would not suggest that this comment contain any, but still feel I should acknowledge some storyline is revealed. Second, some directors just can't find a resolve to their movies and abruptly create an unexplainable end, if I were not familiar with the director I would say this was the case but knowing he directed such brilliant films such as the "Paino Teacher" and "Funny Games (1997)", soon to be remade by him for the USA, I know it to be a masterpiece of voyeurism, harassment and meltdown of man's restraint.

As far as psychological thrillers goes this one is top on my list. What appears to starts as a possible non threatening practical joke turns into a very calculated and creepy threat to the stability of the Laurent household.

Opening shot a street and the front of a home as credits roll, just everyday happenings taking place, then it begins to rewind and we begin the ominous disruption in the stability of Georges and Anne Laurent's (Daniel Auteuil & Juliette Binoche) relationship. We have been watching a video of the Laurents house that they have received by an unknown sender. Soon another video appears on their doorstep with a disturbing childlike drawing, a boyish face spewing blood. Postcards with the drawing appear at George's work and at his son Pierre's (Lester Makedonsky) school. Phone calls are received and more videos all revealing a little bit more.

You can't help but feel something terrible has happened and will soon happen. Secrets begin unraveling the family and possible questions are raised but never revealed, such as has Anne had an affair, although she denies this to her son as absurd, we hesitate to believe her however brief. What of Georges' mother? What does she know and is there any involvement on her part? The director, Michael Haneke brilliantly leaves these conclusions up to us. This movie is all about secrets & guilt and he places the unlimited possibilities out there leaving it very ambiguous, as in real life when there are many personal views for one occurrence. We have to process and think. There is no true resolution in this film and it can be annoying to some in a medium in which we are almost always given a path to go, closure and final answers or an "oh yeah, that's it", but I feel it is this that makes this film so attractive and sinister.

Events from the past are shown in flash backs, but in whose perspective do we see them? What event took place in the orphanage to break a child so much to cause him as an adult to take the action he does? Is Georges being honest with himself? Why was Pierre irresponsible in his actions, was it deliberate to provoke certain emotions? So many questions and very little answers…or are they answered? Closing Sequence: out front of Pierre's school-what appears to end as it began with a video-cam view two characters seem to be conversing in the lower left hand corner. Their conversation seems non threatening and almost natural as if they had met before. The question is how do they know each other? What is being said? Are they, too, being videotaped? ..THE END

This is not a film for everyone, unless they can completely release themselves and except that it will remain unresolved and they can create what they see to be the answer and debate it amongst others.

I rented this movie for one sole purpose, which I will not divulge. I expected to see a trashy unintelligent horror flick involving monsters in a cave. What I ended up with was a movie intelligently made, a great storyline and engaging.

I found the twists to Legends of Nightmare Lore and Biblical Tales of Demons from the depths of Hell meshed into scientific explanation fascinating and genuinely original. This movie requires paying attention. To those who will be confused by the story and just won't get it, I find either they will not have the intelligence, or the attention span to comprehend what was being told. This is a listen to what is being said and shown movie.

My only fault with this movie is the acting was not up to par and some corny interaction with characters, other than that this was a great "Surprise" in the horror genre if not science-fiction.

You either "Love" or "Hate" this film. The only thing I hated was, that a master such as Terry Gilliam offered this up to the audience in an unnecessary introduction to the film. Just allow the viewing audience to take the reigns and see where it takes them, even if they become afraid and feel the need to let go of them.

With that said, I loved this film. This disturbingly dark tale distantly akin to that of Alice in Wonderland lived through the life of the young Jeliza-Rose (brilliantly played by Jodelle Ferland), wise beyond her years, yet hides in fantasy to subconsciously escape the horrors of her life she knows to be painfully real. A life of prepping her Junkie parents(bravura performance by Jennifer Tilly and in a not so stretch of a performance, Jeff Bridges), a solitude life with doll heads as her playmates and the desperate quest for friends to replace them, enter Dell and Dickens(creepily played by Janet McTeer and sympathetically performed by Brendan Fletcher).

There are moments horrific, unsettling and uncomfortable, but I think of the few, I got this film. I laughed at the morbidity of it all, at certain points found myself cringing at the relationship developing between Dickens, the mentally challenged younger brother of Dell. I feared so much. The innocence of the relationship and where it could lead to . For me it raised a lot of controversial questions, the "what if" and legal ramifications. Who would be at fault? Would this be considered Pedophilia? Who could make that determination when the mind of the adult is truly that of a child?

In the end her resilience to the crumbling world around her is enduring, but does she survive this bizarre madness? You would have to see Jeliza-Rose as an adult or are we given that hint of her future fate amongst the amber fairies?

Jodelle has pretty much all of the screen time and holds strong in her performance. The life she breathes into Jeliza-Rose is unequivocal and has surpassed any child performance I have seen on screen other than that of Anna Paquin in the Piano or Jamie Bell in Billy Elliot This movie is not for everyone and yes it could be open for some interesting debates. Yes Gilliam, there are those who will love or hate it but I am sure some who will say its just OK and leave pondering without a strong opinion, just a confused one.

Oliver Stone brings to life the novel "Stray Dogs" and creates a movie that is both visually beautiful and darkly ominous in its disturbing humor. Down on his luck Bobby Cooper's(Sean Penn)luck is about to sink further to the bottom when his car breaks down and he is forced to head into a small desert town for repairs.

Here he meets a number of off their rocker, oddball characters. The creepy garage attendant,Darrell(Billy Bob Thornton). The sultry femme fatale, Grace McKenna(Jennifer Lopez) who smolders with sensuality while playing her dangerous game of seducing Bobby. The jealous husband, Jake(Nick Nolte)who would be happy to see her dead. Just the proposal Bobby would run from , however he lacks the cash (due to a series of misfortunes, one with a superb performance from Aida Linaires)to get his car and get out of this bizarre nightmare disguised as a town. Now the games and plot twists begin as Bobby seriously considers Jake's proposal to do the deed.

This movie is a full on ensemble of wacko characters, superbly played by everyone. Claire Danes as the skipping, bubbly, flirtatious, free-spirited Jenny. Joaquin Phoenix as her psychotic Toby N. Tucker, whose ready to explode at any given moment. John Voight as a blind Native American who delivers words of half-wisdom and carts his dead dog around. The Prize, however, goes to the two most memorable short performances by Julie Hagerty as FLO(yikes) and Laurie Metcalf as a Bus Station Agent, which if you don't like the movie Laurie's performance along with Sean Penn will be well worth the watch...