Star Wars

STAR WARS is easily the best film in the franchise. While THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK usually garners more recognition, there's something about this first film that's so compelling, it's sense of wonder carries us through five inferior follow-ups.

You know how it begins: "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ..." That's a great fairy tale setup, playing with our expectations by switching "galaxy" for "kingdom." But make no mistake: a fairy tale this is: you've got your farmboy who dreams of greatness, your princess in distress, your wizard, your pirate, even your trusty dog and heartless villain. You've got magic, swashbuckling, romance, even a little comedy relief, all wrapped up in a shiny sci-fi package to fool us into thinking we're actually seeing something new.

But even though we know better, we can still delight in the wonderful execution of this rightfully classic film. Its breathlessness and sense of adventure, its eager desire to please, and its genuinely likeable cast invite us along for the ride. And what a ride it is, filled with everything we could want from an adventure movie.

The film even ends with appropriate dash, jauntily saying that, yes, it has done everything it intended to do. What a delight, and what a pleasure to discover that, even after all these years, STAR WARS still delivers.

Seraphim Falls

I grew up in the Mountain West. I know how to track, ride, and shoot, and I know that hypothermia can be deadlier than bullets. When SERAPHIM FALLS began in the Mountain West with characters who track, ride, shoot, and nearly succumb to hypothermia, it earned my immediate and total buy-in. When able stars Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson enacted the line, "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed," it pegged my Cool Meter. When Anjelica Huston, in a great bit of stunt casting, intoned, "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," I thought, 'Now, there's a western!"

The story begins in the High Sierra, where Neeson and his henchmen attack an unsuspecting Brosnan, who barely escapes with his life. Wait a minute - it's Liam Neeson! He's usually a good guy! And so's Brosnan! What's going on here? Those questions provide much of the film's dramatic tension, as we try to figure out what, exactly, is going on and why. But there's no time for that, at first. At first, it's all running and sliding and nearly drowning or bleeding to death or dying of the aforementioned hypothermia, in addition to my beloved riding, tracking, and shooting. Brosnan does career-best work as he gives us desperation, determination, and bafflement. His portrayal of a man at the edge of death brough to mind Jack London's "To Build a Fire," and I completely bought that he was just moments away from feeling warm all over and laying down to sleep.

Cinematographer John Toll does absolutely brilliant work here, as well. He brings to life the mountains, the desert, and places in between with such care and clarity that I could almost smell the pine tar and juniper berries. He creates the mythic West by taking much of the myth out of it, and he made me feel homesick for the first time in years.

SERAPHIM FALLS isn't a big movie. It's a revenge picture, and a chase picture, and a personal picture. But it's also very much a western, and it felt true to the West as I understand it. I'm glad I saw it.

Born to Fight

I'm sweet on Thailand, which is weird because I've never been there. Nevertheless, everyone I know who has been there has raved about it. My father lived in Bangkok for a while and raves about the food and the incredibly friendly, easygoing nature of the people in the Land of Smiles. My sister-in-law went to Chiang Mai on a missions trip and liked it so much she moved there permanently. She raves about the food, the beautiful scenery in her part of the country, and (again) the incredibly friendly and easygoing nature of the people in the Land of Smiles. My friends in the Navy mostly rave about the cheap beer in Phu Ket; but hey, there's a lot to be said for cheap beer served with a smile!

After delighting through BORN TO FIGHT, I realized why Thais are known for being so friendly: since they can kick your butt three ways to Sunday, they don't need attitude. Further, I realized why their beer is so cheap: they need the alcohol to numb the pain that results from having a complete disregard for personal safety. BORN TO FIGHT is like an '80s-90's Hong Kong action-fest, only moreso. Where the masterpiece POLICE STORY features a car chase through (and I mean through!) a shantytown, BORN TO FIGHT drives its vehicles through a shantytown and adds explosions. Where HARD BOILED features Chow Yun Fat shooting it out and rappelling with a baby in one arm, BORN TO FIGHT features a guy doing gymkata with a baby strapped to his back. It's just plain awesome.

Let me run it down for you: this movie has Tae Kwon Do, Muy Thai, Gymkata, Gunkata, Little Girlkata, Old Mankata, Hot Chickkata, Soccerkata, Rugbykata, Motocrosskata, Semi Truckkata, and, oh, yeah, lots and lots of TNTkata. Didja like that CGI flaming motorcycle in GHOST RIDER? In BORN TO FIGHT, they light an actual motorcycle on fire, put an actual guy on that motorcycle, then have him drive up an actual ramp, crashing the motorcycle into the windshielf of a semi while the guy flies over the trailer and lands on what I can only hope are a couple of mattresses buried in the ground and covered with dirt. Didja like the ferry explosion that kicked off DEJA VU? In BORN TO FIGHT, they blow up an entire village real good. I mean, c'mon! What more do you need? Toss in a little Buddhism, a lot of Thai nationalism, even some actual character development, and you've got yourself an action picture that puts this summer's American pixelfests to shame.

If America had more movies like this, we'd be a Land of Smiles, too.

Road House

God help me, I actually liked ROAD HOUSE.

I'd been avoiding this movie for years, but it just wouldn't go away. By the looks of it, ROAD HOUSE had all the markings a lame action picture: GYMKATA with beer. So why didn't it die the quiet death of, say, BLACK DOG? My guess is that it's so awful that it's actually pretty good: Patrick Swayze dances his way to victory, Ben Gazzara intimidates townspeople with monster truck fu, Sam Elliott does his schtick with roughly half a moustache, and Kevin Tighe doesn't turn out to be the bad guy for perhaps the first time since "Emergency!"

Here's the setup: Tighe hires Swayze, a legendary bouncer, to clean up his road house and make it a going concern. Naturally, Swayze turns out to have a graduate degree in philosophy (What, you thought those guys got real jobs after graduation?), is a martial artist, and likes to do tai chi in the minimum possible clothing. Swayze's getting the bar staff under control is actually the most fun part of the movie: he's doing his best Louis Gosset Jr., shaping up the crew while intoning that "People don't want to come to a bloodbath." Before you know it, he's turned Tighe's funky little beer-and-a-shot joint into a soulless meat market, decorated in high '80s style. Then, of course, Swayze's butting heads with the local racketeer and monster truck fu afficionado, stuff is blowing up real good, Sam Elliott's providing guidance, and Kelly Lynch (aka the local ER doc) is swooning all over the new marshall in town.

Does that setup sound familiar to you? Yeah, it's basically half the westerns ever made, with the clever substitution of quasi-Asian philosophical mumbo jumbo and really bad synth music for stoicism and harmonicas. So, what's to like? The fights are a hoot, with all concerned appearing to be more concerned with not breaking a nail than putting the hurt on their opponents. The dialogue is corny and fun, the story beats comfortingly predictable, and the train clatters resolutely to its station, hitting every beat and and ending with a laugh.

Actually, the more I think about ROAD HOUSE, the less I find to like about it. But, there it is. Would I go out of my way to watch ROAD HOUSE again? No. Would I change the channel if I came across it in a hotel room somewhere? Probably not. It's cheesy, it's fun, it's kinda lame but, for whatever reason, it grew on me. Your mileage may vary.

Dragons Forever

Man oh man, I love me some old-school Jackie Chan movies.

DRAGONS FOREVER puts Chan, Samo Hung, and Biao Yuen together in a workmanlike story about three bad guys who must find their souls through kicking people in the face. Chan plays a slick defense attorney, Hung and Yuen play his gangster buddies, and that's the last you're going to hear from me about the story.

Because really, when you see that Samo Hung and Corey Yuen co-directed the picture, is your very next thought, "I hope the story is a penetrating exploration of the human condition"? No. It's, "How are the stunts?"

Well, let me tell you: the stunts are awesome, and Hung and Yuen know how to film them. Instead of quick cuts, we get takes that are long enough to confirm that real people are actually doing the things we see onscreen. Jackie does some found stuntwork involving chairs and stairs that will have you rewinding and stepping through in slow motion just so you can dig on it. Hung and Yuen do some slapstick fighting that's actually a marvel of tightly choreographed performance. Innumerable anonymous stuntment pull off falls that'll make you go, "Oof!"

You know what? See DRAGONS FOREVER with one finger on the fast-forward button. The story is disposable and uninteresting, but the stunts make it worth speeding through it. If you enjoy watching top athletes at the top of their game, this movie's for you.

The Fountain

THE FOUNTAIN swept me up and away. I loved it.

I took two runs at this movie. First, I tried watching it on the Metro, but its imagery and structure simply is not compatible with viewing on a tiny screen while bumping along at rush hour. Second, I woke up before dawn and watched it on the enormovision, in glorious surround sound. In this environment, THE FOUNTAIN enfolded me in its dream-like worlds, washing over me like a languorous wave. When it ended, I knew I'd been on a journey. It took me a day or two to figure out where, but I viscerally loved the experience even before reason kicked in.

This movie does something different: it challenges the viewer to work with both intuition and analysis, offering few easy answers, and it does so while playing very loosely with the classic three-act structure. We meet Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, lovers in different worlds and times, haunted by tragedies past and present and looking for ... something. In one construct, they're conquistador and queen; in another, scientist and patient; in a third, voyager and phantasm. In all three, we sense an overtone of sadness and defiance, acceptance and denial, enlightenment and desperation. The tales, one or more of which may be happening in the imagination or serving as an allegory of a state of mind, engage us in their own right and as part of a larger whole.

By the time THE FOUNTAIN climaxes in visions reminiscent of Dore's Paradiso illustrations, as well as Hindu and Mayan creation mythologies, we're carried away, outside of ourselves. Darren Aronofsky's doing something audaciously different here, and he succeeds wonderfully. This is a film worth seeing.

ADDENDUM

ecently, I've been subjected to repeated showings of the STAR WARS prequel trilogy. While watching it, I've been bothered by the utter lifelessness of Natalie Portman's Queen Amidala. While watching THE FOUNTAIN, I realized what was missing: gravitas. Portman's idea of Queenly bearing appears to be limited to having good posture and speaking in monotone. Rachel Weisz's Queen Isabella, on the other hand - now, there's a queen to inspire devotion and desire! Weisz's commanding, yet vulnerable, presence radiates monarchy: a personal state of being that lies beyond the powers of either Portman's talent or Lucas's direction.

For that matter, Weisz's entire performance in THE FOUNTAIN is simply brilliant. I've always respected the actress, who can bring class even to pulpy entertainments such as THE MUMMY RETURNS, but this picture takes her career to a whole different level.

Undertaking Betty

UNDERTAKING BETTY is a thoroughly inoffensive, moderately amusing, ultimately forgettable trifle of a romantic comedy. It rocks along pleasantly enough for an hour and a half, ends on an up note, succeeds in everything it tries to do.

The whole movie gets set up in the opening scene: a girl at a school dance attracts the notice of a shy young boy. Before the boy can work up the courage to ask her to dance, a more confident boy steps in and sweeps her away. Since Movie Law demands that whomever catches our eye in our preadolescence is destined to be our One True Love, she still pines for the boy, now all grown up and played by Alfred Molina. She (Brenda Blethyn) married the confident one, who grew up to be a jerk who's playing around with Naomi Watts. There's your romantic comedy framework, and here's your twist: Molina is the undertaker in their quiet Welsh town, and he's in dire competition with an evil American interloper who wants to "put the fun back in funeral." Christopher Walken plays the American, and he has great fun hamming it up.

And there really isn't much to say beyond that setup. UNDERTAKING BETTY never elicited so much as a chuckle, but it was reasonably nice, reasonably fun, and entirely pleasant. Should you go out of your way to see it? No. But you may enjoy having it on in the background while you're folding laundry.

Ratatouille

Production company strips are boring. What do I care if Amalgamated Media, Inc. produced the movie I'm about to see? Why should I watch its, and its fellow companies', animations when we could all just be getting on with the movie? What are they trying to do, build customer loyalty? "Boy, I sure do like those MGM movies. They're way better than Paramount's."

On second thought, there is one production company that has managed to build customer loyalty, and I don't mind sitting through its logo. When the Pixar animation flickers on the screen, I settle in, secure in the knowledge that I'm about to be entertained by people who care about the product they're putting onscreen. I may not be dazzled, but I can count on being well entertained, and I respect that.

RATATOUILLE, Pixar's latest, dazzles. Perhaps more importantly, it does so with an original story, excellent performances, and the kind of first-class animation we've come to expect from the folks with the desktop lamps. Here's the setup: Remy just wants to cook. He has extraordinary senses of smell and taste, he intuitively understands food, and he studies the works of Gusteau, the famous Parisian chef who declares that "Anyone can cook!" There's a problem, of course: Remy is too far down the social ladder to land a job at a restaurant, much less a slot in culinary school. In fact, he's a rat: he can't even get in the kitchen.

I like the idea of using a rat instead of a mouse. In the popular imagination, rats are evil while mice are cute. We in the audience shudder when we see a (flock? herd?) bunch of rats skittering across a floor, and the movie accepts that and works with it, artfully reproducing the biomechanics of rat movement (ok, there's some anthropomorphization, but that's to be expected). By accepting Remy's rat-ness, it challenges us to do what those in the film must learn to do: get over it and get on with the realization that this rat has a lot to offer. "Those in the film" includes Remy's rat family, which includes the disapproving father who doesn't understand why his son can't just eat garbage like everyone else; Linguini, the hapless janitor who stumbles into an alliance with the little chef; and, perhaps most dauntingly, the Paris gastronomical world. Further, I like the idea of setting an animated film in the world of food. Perhaps its because I recently saw and loved MOSTLY MARTHA; perhaps it's because I recently had relatives in for a visit, relatives who dragged my wife all over town looking for just the right lemon grater for our kitchen; perhaps it's because I've had a few meals in my life that have brought tears to my eyes (Aside: those meals were at Cantina Vecchia il Baroni and La Botta). Whatever the reasons, this is new territory for family pictures, it isn't intuitively obvious that kids would dig it, and I applaud Pixar's courage in going there.

Patton Oswalt, who did not impress me in THE COMEDIANS OF COMEDY, does fine work here as Remy, as do the rest of the cast of people whose names I recognize, but whose voices I did not. Particularly surprising was Peter O'Toole as cadaverous food critic Anton Ego: during this film, I though, "Wow. Jeremy Irons is doing great work here." O'Toole nails that Ironsesque menace and takes it to an entirely different level and, when his character develops, that development feels both organic and earned.

As for the animation, well, it's Pixar. You get about what you'd expect, which is remarkable excellence and attention to detail.

I saw RATAOUILLE in a theater filled with young children and their families. The film captivated the entire audience, who applauded the gorgeous final shot. That's saying a lot about a movie about rats in the kitchen, and it's yet another feather in the cap of Pixar and director Brad Bird. RATATOUILLE is destined to find a place in the heart - and on the shelf - of many, many people, and I'm one of them.

What a delight.

March of the Penguins

MARCH OF THE PENGUINS spends an hour and twenty minutes anthropomorphizing birds. It's bad science and it's bad film.

Sure, it looks great. Emperor penguins are cute and the Antarctic is beautiful, so it's pretty hard to screw up that element of the film. Nevertheless, I just couldn't get past the film's conceit that penguins are basically people with beaks. They aren't, and all of Morgan Freeman's protestations to the contrary can't make it so. I spent my viewing time utterly mystified as to why this documentary was such a huge hit.

Pan's Labyrinth

When you see at least three movies per week, you start to think of them differently. You begin to realize that there are a limited number of stories in circulation out there so, instead of giving stories themselves much consideration, you begin to focus on execution.

Then, a movie like PAN'S LABYRINTH comes along. Not only does it give us a unique, universal, engrossing, and thought-provoking story; but it also excels in its execution. Truly innovative, imaginative films such as this remind us of what thin gruel we often accept when we sit down for a movie.

PAN'S LABYRINTH takes place in a specific time and place - 1940s Spain, and in a place out of time - Faerie. Creator Guillermo del Toro circles between and among the two in a series of seamless transitions that leave us wondering what is real, what is imaginary, and what is more real than reality. He does it through the stories of Ofelia , an 11-yr-old girl, and Capitán Vidal, an officer in Franco's fascist army and Ofelia's new stepfather. When the film opens, Ofelia and her (pregnant) mother are enroute to join Vidal at his outpost in the Spanish woods. Once they get there, Ofelia discovers Pan, a creature out of myth who may be evil; and the nature of her stepfather, who is definitely evil. As the film progresses and the two characters find their fates, we begin to see how they fit into the movie's whole. It's not an easy fit, in that their journey and our journey with them can be profoundly uncomfortable, even horrifying. Further, their journeys aren't easily encapsulated or analyzed. I'm still working through several of the film's thematic elements, and I suspect I'll be chewing on this one for quite some time.

So, yes, PAN'S LABYRINTH boasts a complex, adult, and thought-provoking story. It also creates a fully-developed world, rich in detail, that offers visions both of profound beauty and staggering horror. Speaking of the latter, I thought that film had long since lost the ability to frighten me with monsters, but I was wrong. This film's Pale Man, a subterranean monster that feels like something from blackest nightmare, struck fear in my heart from the moment I saw him. Once he started moving, I wasn't just pleasantly scared at the movies - I was little boy in the dark scared. What brilliant setup, design, and execution of the character and his setting: everyone from conceptual designer William Stout to actor Doug Jones to del Toro himself united to create a masterpiece within a masterpiece, and it's horrifyingly wonderful. That's just one example, however. Be it the fascist outpost in the heart of the forest or the ancient pagan monuments nearby, everything about these
places and those who live therein feels both organic and elevated, mundane and mythic. It's great work.

Y'know, I can't think of anything PAN'S LABYRINTH did wrong. I only wish I hadn't sent it back to Netflix quite so quickly. As I write about it, it occurs to me that I'd like to see this movie a second time, and a third. This is a movie I could get lost in, again and again. Much as I enjoyed HELLBOY, I didn't think del Toro had a film like this in him. I'm so happy I was wrong.

Versus

Note to self: If I ever join the Yakuza, be sure not to bury my bodies in the Forest of Resurrection. They have this unpleasant way of ... resurrecting.

Such is the premise of the delightful VERSUS, an audacious Japanese picture that combines the delights of samurai, yakuza, zombies, warlocks, and karate in a bubbling, delicious stew of gory fun. This is the kind of movie that doesn't just have zombies, it has zombies with guns. It doesn't just have samurai, it has both classical swordsmen and modern guys with leather overcoats and techno-katanas. This is a movie that's so ridiculously over the top that I was willing to forgive it its many inconsistencies (and its antagonists' lack of skill with their blades) while I gaily tapped my foot along with its thumpin' electro-pop beats and watched the carnage ensue.

This picture is moving manga. Its characters are so over-the-top that not once will you confuse them with real people, but you will have fun seeing just how far they go. What a great time at the movies.

Appleseed

APPLESEED, a 2005 anime film from Shinji Aramaki, suffers from the malady of the tronhead: a focus on the technically achievable at the expense of the actually valuable.

Consequently, APPLESEED looks great. The animation is top-notch, the action sequences both organic and fantastic, the world reasonably complete. However, APPLESEED's story is derivative and uninteresting. Additionally, the voice work, particularly by stars Jennifer Proud and Mia Bradley (who appear to have no other credits), is so squeakily thin and bad that it detracts from the audience's ability to suspend its disbelief.

Here's the story: it's a dystopian future, blah blah blah. A super soldier fights against blah blah blah. She's recruited to join an elite unit that protects a utopian city where all is not what it blah blah blah. There's a Hallmark Card moral and a dull wrapup, and whenever the picture isn't blowing something up or shooting something to bits, it drags more than HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT. Frankly, I just didn't care about this world or the people in it, at least partially because I didn't find anything new there. How many dystopian futures have we seen already? How many betrayals by authority figures? How many generals gone mad?

If the filmmakers had followed the Pixar path of devoting at least as much time to story and character development as to technical execution, they may have had a winner on their hands. As it is, however, they merely have a series of pretty pictures, best viewed with the sound off. Too bad.

Mostly Martha

I loved MOSTLY MARTHA.

Martina Gedeck, from THE LIVES OF OTHERS, is Martha. She’s obsessed with food, is incredibly Teutonic in her entire approach to life, and could really use a good holiday in Italy. Her kitchen is her inviolable domain, and the restaurant in which she works is an elite destination in her gray North German industrial city. She has issues, however: her boss is just as German as she is, she can’t relate to anyone except through the medium of food, and, well, she’s lonely.

Then, the changes start rolling in. First, circumstances force her to take custody of her niece, a role for which she’s entirely unprepared. Then, an Italian enters her kitchen as an assistant chef. Oh, the horror! An Italian! And he’s good! From there, the movie takes us on the journey of Martha’s development into a functioning woman who, while still obsessed with food, is healthily obsessed with food. That in itself is a rewarding tale, particularly if you enjoy gently romantic comedies. But what really makes this movie special is the way it gently pokes fun at Germans and German-ness, particularly in contrast to Italian culture.

MOSTLY MARTHA is sad, it's funny, and it's a joy to watch. DB and I will trade quips about tasting the sugar the other didn't use for some time to come.

Ghost Rider

I never read the “Ghost Rider” comic when I was a kid. The idea of a flaming skeleton on a motorcycle struck me as silly and, even though I knew all the words to “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” nothing about the comic captured my imagination. That lack of predisposition, coupled with its generally poor critical reception, ensured that GHOST RIDER would never find a place on my Netflix queue. When a co-worker of mine put the DVD in my hand and told me she was sure I’d like it, a nodded and smiled and figured this would be 1.5 hours of service to the ideal of office harmony.

Imagine my surprise when GHOST RIDER turned out to be a hell of a lot of fun. In fact, there are very few things in this movie not to like, from the Nicolas Cage’s over-the-top performance as the titular Ghost Rider to Eva Mendez’s Wonderbra’s up-top performance to Sam Elliott’s incredibly realistic and believable performance as Sam Elliott and His Amazing Moustache. The set design and art direction are fantastic, creating a detailed fantasy Southwest that’s full of mythology, foreboding, and flaming devil-bikes. The villains are pleasantly silly, the story soaked in Gothic Latino Catholic mythology, and the whole adventure just a great time at the movies.

Nicolas Cage has so much fun with this role, I’m surprised they paid him to do it. When you need an actor to convey insanity, delight, and fear (but mostly insanity), Cage is your man. When he first catches fire and becomes the Ghost Rider, he works that Crazy Cage look and laugh so effectively that he brought a big, goofy smile to my face. In fact, Cage makes this movie. He’s so much fun that when the Ghost Rider takes over and the movie switches to an animation-fest for its big battles, I actually felt let down. ‘Enough of the flaming skull,’ I thought. ‘Let’s get back to the crazy eyes!’

Eva Mendez, as the love interest, has very little to do here other than wear a half-unbuttoned blouse and get imperiled; but she’s very good at wearing a half-unbuttoned blouse. Sam Elliott, whose shirt remains fully buttoned throughout, does a fine Sam Elliott, and his presence lends authenticity and a sense of the mythic Southwest to the film. Let’s face it: nobody mounts a horse like Sam Elliott, and when he and Cage team up to race across the desert in pursuit of evil (to the tones of a pumped-up version of the Johnny Cash classic), you can’t not dig the groove.

Certainly, GHOST RIDER has its flaws. Donal Logue isn't given enough to do. The villains, from Mephistopheles on down, just aren’t that menacing – the Big Boss, named Blackheart (Wes Bentley), reminded me more of Spider-Manero than an emissary from my darkest nightmares. The action set-pieces are kind of dull (unless you’re really into video game cut-scenes), and whole thing feels like product. Nevertheless, GHOST RIDER is fun product, from the Leone-like standoffs to the loopy dialogue to the brazenly ignored gaps in logic. This is a movie that just wants to show you a nutty good time, and it succeeds.

Who’da thunk it.

Valiant

VALIANT, the story of a british homing pigeon in WWII, retools the standard heroe's journey for a young bird trying to do his part in the war effort. The bird, voiced by Ewan McGregor, befriends a slovenly Trafalgar Square pigeon on his way to the recruiting depot, and before you know it they're in occupied France, working with the mice of the French Underground to get a vital message back to the allies.

It's standard stuff, but it's well-crafted stuff. The ocean work is so beautiful that it merits several pauses and rewinds, the chases and aerial stunts imaginative and visually exciting, and the whole enterprise serves as a good introduction to war movies for the younger set.

Would I recommend VALIANT to people without kids? Absolutely not - as I said, it's pretty standard stuff. For those with kids, however, this one is worth it for the eye candy alone. VALIANT makes me want to spring for an HD-DVD player.

Last Train from Gun Hill

John Sturges's LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL is worth watching for the title alone. I mean, how can you not dig a movie with a title like that?

Having said that, its title is the best thing about LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL. The story, which rips off HIGH NOON (but with a twist!), follows Kirk Douglas as a marshall who absolutely, positively will not compromise when it comes to getting his man. Unfortunately, in this case his man is the son of his best friend, played by Anthony Quinn. Quinn's the top dog in Gun Hill, a town several stops down the rail line from Douglas's territory, and, well, there's your conflict.

I like Kirk Douglas. I like Anthony Quinn. I like John Sturges. LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL only counts as a middling success, however, because it's premised upon the conflicting loyalties of both men but resolves that source of tension too early in the film. Once Quinn makes his choice, the movie's only about the countdown to the gunfight, and HIGH NOON did a better job of handling the material. The does look and sound great, and it has some cool stunts. It's a good rainy day Western, but I wouldn't peg it much more highly than that.

Jim Gaffigan: Beyond the Pale

JIM GAFFIGAN: BEYOND THE PALE is a concert film featuring, um, Jim Gaffigan, who was in SUPER TROOPERS but whom I did not recognize.

Gaffigan does standard standup stuff, and much of it is laugh-out-loud funny, but the unique thing about his act is his habit of breaking into a high-pitched whisper that apes the inner monologue of a notional audience member. As much fun as the stories and jokes are, it's Gaffigan's clear understanding of the possbile reactions to his humor that make this particular concert film worth watching. He understands that some of his bits will offend, some will creep people out, and some will make his audience draw connections between different parts of the act and parse out his themes and obsessions. It's interesting stuff, and it's the kind of stuff that you'll remember after you've forgotten the individual jokes.

JIM GAFFIGAN: BEYOND THE PALE works. If you like standup films, you'll like this one.

Photos from Iwo Jima

It was a rainy, cloudy day at Iwo Jima, and we didn't think we'd get much chance to site see. The weather lifted for a few moments as we made our final approach, so we asked for and got permission to fly a circuit around the island before we landed.

I am so glad I saw LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA before I came here. As we flew over the beach at which the Marines landed, looked down on Mt. Suribachi, and continued around to the north side of the island (where the Japanese were deeply dug in), I could see the battle in my mind's eye. When we landed and I walked to Base Operations to get a weather update, I felt that I knew the people who were commemorated with the stone monuments I saw there.

It was such an extraordinary experience, I thought I'd share my photos here. Enjoy.

The Natural

THE NATURAL is so archetypal that it borders on parody.

The story itself is rather simple: gifted but older man makes good in the world of professional sports, overcoming temptation and injury to step up to the plate for the crucial at-bat in the crucial moment of the crucial game. The magic is in the execution: Which bat does he swing on his way to the top? One he fashioned by hand from the wood of a tree struck by lightning. Who personifies temptation? Kim Basinger as the Call of the Big City. Who personifies redemption? Glenn Close as The Goodness of Rural America.

There's this scene toward the end, in which star Robert Redford tells manager Wilford Brimley that he'll play in the big game regardless of the risk to his health, that encapsulates everything the movie's about. As Redford pokes his head in Brimley's door to deliver the news that he'll play (and, by so doing, save the team, escape the temptations of the flesh and the pocketbook, and generally redeem America), he's backlit with a key light so intense that his blond hair forms a no-kidding halo. This is a movie that knows exactly what it is and exactly what it's about, and it's a movie that's gloriously, ridiculously shameless in the pursuit of those objectives.

This leaves the viewer with two options. One can either laugh with it or laugh at it. I chose to laugh with it, allowing it to take me on its magic carpet ride through the mythic landscape of an impossible America.

And I had a wholesome good time.

Smokin' Aces

Y'know what I liked best about the structure of SMOKIN' ACES? It finished act one during the opening credits, spent about ten minutes going through act two, then used the rest of the movie to give us one long third act. From the beginning of that third act, it's non-stop jokes, gunshots, and chain saws. What's not to like?

SMOKIN' ACES reminds me of SNATCH in that it isn't so much about story as execution. This movie tries to dazzle us with playful, snappy and memorable characters, and general quirkiness. Overall, it succeeds, though I agree that the film could have done without its twist and the ending is a bit of a letdown. Had I seen this one in a theater, I would have been disappointed. As a time-filler during a long overwater flight, it was just the thing.