The Reviewer Digs Bolt

I was skeptical about Bolt upon the first trailer, but it really is an adorable film and it is also funny. Mark Walton who plays the feisty hamster Rhino and he almost steals the film with his antics. John Travolta does a good job as Bolt, as does Miley Cyrus as Penny. I was taken aback by Mr. Actor Studio himself...James Lipton as the Director and Malcolm McDowell is always a good villain as Dr. Calico. Susie Essman, who is great in Curb Your Enthusiasm is squeaky clean but no less sassy as Mittens

As much as I enjoyed it...I still think Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E were the better animated films last year, but Bolt is a product Disney can be proud of. I give Bolt 4 out of 5 stars and is now available on dvd and blu-ray.

The Reviewer Sees "The Visitor"

I enjoyed The Visitor, the latest from Tom McCarthy and the team that brought us The Station Agent. It stars Richard Jenkins as Walter Vale. A disillusioned man, sleepwalking through life and quite lonely. He meets an illegal couple, Tarak and Zainab played very well by newcomers Haaz Sleiman and Denia Gurira. When Tarek is arrested and threatened with deportation, Walter steps in to help.

Richard Jenkins is such a good actor and he really plays Walter with an evocative isolation that is palpable. His unlikely relationship with Tarek is charming, it becomes more so as Tarek teaches him how to play the Djembe. However, I really enjoyed seeing Walter with Tarek's mother Mouna the talented Hiam Abbass (of Paradise Now) who has the strength and understated presence of the Syrian mother hoping for her son's release. The bond they form is quite endearing as two lost souls coming together in this common cause. Overall, the acting is quite natural and unforced. Everyone is playing things simply and honestly which one should expect from good acting. It is also a thought provoking piece about the state of our current immigration laws since 9/11. It can get a little preachy at times, but I would expect that with such a hot button issue. I do not question the issue surrounding some of the laws, but the circumstances that happen can be quite scary for the victims. I think this is the message that Mr. McCarthy is trying to convey.
I give The Visitor 3.5 stars.

Bidding Farewell to Battlestar Galactica

OK, I'm a little tardy in posting my thoughts on the finale of BSG, but here goes. I thought it was very well done. I don't have enough space to encapsulate the entire run of the series but I really liked it. I was wondering how the set up of a suicide mission to rescue Hera from the Cylon Colony would work out but the first hour is a dynamo of action and typical BSG type drama that I was riveted. Hera is rescued, Boomer does the right thing but Athena blows her away anyway. I guess that is justice. There is also justice finally for Callie as Galen discovers that Tory killed her and returns the favor. It is interesting that the time of peace is ushered in by murders. I LOVED seeing the new Cylons in hand to hand combat with the classic Cylons. That was great.
The second hour is more about the characters and how each of them meet their fates. To sum up,. I thought it was cool that they discovered "our" Earth and not the nuclear holocaust devastated one at the end of season 3. Hera does prove to have been very pivotal as it turns out she is our ancestor, we are all children of Hera, because the fleet lands in Africa 150,000 years ago and scientists discover the remains of Hera(supposedly). So, we are half human and half "toaster" afterall. So to sum up.
Roslin does die and Adama buries here near where he will build the cabin they both had talked about. That was touching. But it was sad that Adama leaves Lee behind. Speaking of Lee. He not only loses his father but Starbuck as well. After Starbuck plugged in the Jump coordinates, which was "Watchtower" all along, she senses she accomplished what she was meant to do and she vanishes. Very messianic like. Lots of people were irate about that, but I liked it. It keeps in with the spiritual aspects of the story from the start. Gaius and Caprica 6 start a new life and his last line about him being a farmer was pretty emotional, I liked how we acted that. He really had a feeling about that. It was sad seeing Galen head off on his own. Tigh and Ellen also ended up happily ever after, presumably.

I also liked how they incorporated all the flashbacks of each of the main characters lives on Caprica, prior to the war in the final 3 episodes where it showed the characters essentially staying true to their forms about how each of them tackled adversity and offered hints at where fate would ultimately take them. Overall, well done. This has been a great series. I only started watching it a couple of months ago, so I have been really late to the dance but am I ever glad I came at all. I think this will change sci-fi series going forward in a very substantial way. BSG gets 4.5 stars. So say we all!

The Reviewer Gets "Happy-Go-Lucky"

After watching Happy Go Lucky, I can’t help but say to myself that Mike Leigh has done it again. Mike Leigh time after time gives us films that leave indelible impressions in one form or another. Happy Go Lucky is a character piece about a seemingly devil may care, absent minded gal named Poppy, who never stops talking, is always smiling and joking around and you are feeling like this women just has no clue. She’s adorable but that’s all. That’s the genius of Mike Leigh. The film takes a while to ramp up, but we are all coming along for the ride with Poppy and we can’t help falling in live with her. The character reminds me of a female Ricky Gervais in overdrive. She is played by Sally Hawkins, who won the Golden Globe for her stunning performance. I really enjoyed watching her work. However, what we don’t realize is that as we see Poppy’s journey, we also see how compassionate, wise, joyous and balanced she really is. She is a Laughing Buddha.
One of the center pieces in the film is her relationship with her driver’s education instructor, Scott. Played creepily well by Eddie Marsan. Their scenes together as he teaches her to drive are both weird and funny. He is ultra serious, opinionated, a total curmudgeon with a paranoid streak and he just makes Poppy want to help him, like she does with everyone she encounters. She wants to make everyone happy. There is a poignant scene with a homeless man that is lyrical to watch and epitomizes the depth of Poppy. All of the acting in the film is well done and relaxed. Everyone feels real and the chemistry is definitely palpable. Especially between Poppy and her longtime roommate, Zoe played by Alexis Zegerman who also looks out for Poppy and she is endearing.
Happy Go Lucky is a film that sneaks up on you. Not much happens through the first half of the film as we are slowly being introduced to this ball of nice named Poppy. I was excited to learn that the scenes between Poppy and Scott were largely improvised and it shows, in a very good way. Happy Go Lucky may not be Mike Leigh’s best film, but the character of Poppy is certainly going to be his most beloved. Give it a try and you will not soon forget her. I give Happy Go Lucky 3 out of 5 stars and is out now on Blu Ray and DVD.

The Reviewer Pauses for "Elegy"

Elegy, is an apt title for this beautiful, although at times, labored story about an emotionally stunted aged gentleman who finally discovers a passion for life. The lyrically shot film by Spanish director Isabel Coixet is a sojourn into the very cultured and stand offish David Kepesh, played wonderfully by Ben Kingsley as a respected critic, author and professor who falls in love with a student, Consuela Castillo, (played terrifically by Penelope Cruz, who should be arrested for theft for stealing this film) and how she turns his once orderly and independent life upside down.
I really felt frustrated watching Ben Kingsley’s character, as a grown, distinguished gentleman, he was still a foolish teenager, until tragedies start to make him aware of his own mortality and just how important relationships are. He has a contentious relationship with his son, (played underwhelming by Peter Saarsgard) and a seemingly perfect (at least for him) friend with benefits relationship with his friend Carolyn, (played very well by Patricia Clarkson). I always like Miss Clarkson and she doesn’t disappoint again. The comic relief comes in the form of David’s best friend George, (played with fun and philosophical whimsy by Dennis Hopper) an accomplished poet but also a fellow immature man who betrays his wife, but who has a poignant idea about beautiful women and how men see (or not see) them. He seems to be David’s Jiminy Cricket.

Again, Penelope Cruz really takes the film away and the scenes she is not in, the film tends to bog down. I have been steadily impressed with Miss Cruz’s development as an actor and am finding myself more and more looking forward to seeing her work. Overall, I liked the acting and how the actors would work off of each other. Most seemed to be clear on how they felt, with the exception of Peter Saarsgard, who it seemed at first as if he did but it felt muddled later on. However, Elegy itself, is a good film but not memorable, except for one sobering beautiful scene between Ben and Penelope. I did enjoy seeing the development of David, but it doesn’t come as a surprise, you see it coming. A better film about a man coming to grips with age, in the comfort of a younger women is Venus, with Peter O’Toole in an Oscar nominated performance. I give Elegy 3 out of 5 stars and is currently available on dvd and blu-ray

The Reviewer Was Delighted to See Rachel Getting Married

Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married is a documentary style look into a dysfunctional family where one of the daughters...presumably the normal one is getting married. Anne Hathaway plays the black sheep of the family, as she comes home from rehab to attend her sister Rachel’s (played well by Rosemarie Dewitt, except for her chemistry with her betrothed, played by Tunde Adebimpe) wedding. This would be a great film as it is shot as if we are a guest at the wedding, in the subjective point of view style. However, what drags the film down are the countless scenes of just the wedding bands playing and it becomes more of a jam session than a film. When Demme focuses on the story, it and the acting is for the most part excellent.

Anne Hathaway definitely earned a Best Actress nomination for her role as Kym, a recovering drug addict who becomes a major disruptive force in her sister's life. Bill Irwin and Debra Winger play the parents and they also do a fantastic job. I like Debra Winger and it was good to see her again. There are some gut wrenching, awkward moments during the course of the film where the conversations were s personal and intimate, it seemed like I was watching a stage play instead of a film. The actors were really listening and responding well to one another. I enjoyed how they were taking each other personally. Demme also does a good job of making the audience wonder whether Kym will fall off the wagon or not by giving her difficult circumstances to confront.

The only other drawback in the film is too many speeches at the wedding and rehearsal dinner. I bore easily at weddings and unless I have a personal stake in it, I tend to tune out, which after speech after speech is what I was doing. Except for Rachel's, which made me want to squirm, in a good way. My favorite quote in the film is Rachel saying to the guests at one point…”I am Shiva the destroyer, your harbinger of doom this evening.” Not far from the truth.

I give Rachel Getting Married 3.5 out of 5 stars and is currently available on Blu-Ray and DVD.

The Reviewer Isn't Lactose Intolerant for Milk

It's hard not to watch Milk and think it is not a labor of love by Gus Van Sant. Great care and attention to detail was taken to make this film and it shows in every shot. But, that is not to say it is a great film but a good film nonetheless.
For those who are not aware (like myself), Milk is the biopic of the first openly gay City Supervisor of San Francisco, Harvey Milk. He was assassinated in November of 1978 in City Hall. The film shows his rise and tragic murder. Harvey Milk stood up for Gay Civil Rights and put himself on the firing line to make his voice and opinions heard and he became a martyr for his cause.

But, unlike great biopics of martyrs like Gandhi, Malcolm X (I am still waiting for a definitive look at Martin Luther King), Milk does not have a strong arc to make us become more engaged in his story. By all accounts, Harvey Milk was a regular, ordinary guy. But, like many at the time, he was closeted for presumably a long period of his life before he came out and at 40 started a whole new life to make a difference(as a new member of the 40 club, I took notice of that). Yet, we only hear a reference of him not wanting to come out and upset his family. There is a point in the film where he demands young gay men to come out to their parents and thrusts a phone in one of his friends face to call them immediately. At another point, he was arguing with his would be killer, Dan White about why this was personal and not just another issue for him. To make his arguments about why gays should come out would've made the film more compelling if they would've showed his struggles with secrecy in his early life. Instead, we see Milk, (played well by Sean Penn) having one note throughout the film. There is no arc to his character. Not many changes occur and as a film lover, I want to see those arcs. It makes for better story telling.

Harvey Milk was a politician and one of the main segments of the film was devoted to his being against Proposition 6 (the attempt to ban gay schoolteachers from public schools) which did not pass. It's hard not to be reminded of the current controversial passing of Prop 8(the restriction of marriage by same sex couples) as its backdrop. Sean Penn in his acceptance speech railed against it, but I found it odd that he was not in the dvd extras talking about playing Milk. And speaking of the acting.

Sean Penn in the lead role, certainly looked the part. His dialect seemed to go in and out at times into areas that reminded me of his character in I Am Sam. Overall, he did a good job but at times, it was hard to sense how he felt, as it seemed he was focused too much on mannerisms than emotions. I think Sean Penn is an excellent actor, but I did not find this to be one of his strongest roles and was saddened he lost the Oscar to Mickey Rourke. Others in the cast include James Franco who was solid as Scott Smith, Milks' long time lover and first campaign manager. However, Emilie Hirsch was sorely out of place as the great advocate Cleve Jones (who was the creator of the AIDS Quilt). I found his performance to be over his head and at times, he seemed to be play acting. I had no feeling about him at all. It was as if he didn't take the role seriously enough, at least to my perspective. Diego Luna plays Jack, the jilted, abandoned lover who goes over the edge when Harvey does not meet his excessively needy demands for attention. This role has been done many times in many films and nothing new was really added to this type of role. It seemed to have just been thrown together to add some form of angst but I didn't buy it. Josh Brolin does a decent job of Dan White (Milk and Mayor Moscone's assassin) but I did not find him to be utterly believable or his role as being clear either. However, I did find the character of State Senator Briggs, played by Denis O'Hare to be truthful and someone that exuded disgust which was palpable. I was expecting better performances from an Oscar Nominated Best Picture contender. Just makes me bitter that Synecdoche, NY was not given much consideration.

Gus Van Sant does a good job at directing. I still think his early works like Drugstore Cowboy and Good Will Hunting (my personal favorite of his work) to be much stronger films. But, Milk is a good film to watch. It always feels good about seeing someone fight for equality and basic civil rights that are guaranteed us all. The world is a better place for people like Harvey Milk to have been in it.

I give Milk 2.5 out of 5 stars and is currently available on Blu-Ray and DVD.

The Reviewer Visits "Synecdoche, New York"

I just finally got around to seeing Synecdoche, New York and like the complexity of the film, I am filled with a myriad of emotions and ways to express myself which include; beautiful, poignant, boring at times, self indulgent, philosophical, touching, comedic, tragic and lastly sorrow. Not unlike life itself which is the heart of the story.
This is the directorial debut of the famed eccentric writer Charlie Kaufman (of Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine...and Adaptation fame). He also wrote this vastly complex character drama of the life of a theater director Caden Cortard, (Philip Seymour Hoffman in another amazing performance) living and working in Schenectady, NY, who at the age of 40 is married with a child, his wife leaves him, taking his only child and with this, he is given the opportunity to create a work of art, which he takes on with full force and it becomes the all consuming piece of his life, which in turn becomes a reflection of his actual life. The film becomes a film, within a film, within a film and becomes even more convoluted and complex as it evolves. I do not want to expound more upon that any further, as it is a piece that needs to be experienced.

The incredible ensemble cast also features, Samantha Morton, Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, Tom Noonan, Emily Watson, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Dianne Wiest. No part is thrown away, every performance is visceral and truthful and I really got a sense that everyone knew how they felt about their particular characters and what that meant to them. All in all there are over 80 speaking roles.

As with other Kaufman works, the hero is a sullen, depressive who cannot seem to enjoy himself and he gets in his own way. His characters remind me of Woody Allen's characters, just without the laughs. However, there is a very tragicomic scene between Caden and his daughter, that is hysterical in all the wrong ways. It was brilliantly written. The character of Caden is a mess, who throughout the film thinks he is dying as he juggles his life, work and the many women who he loves. We are shown 50 years of his life and the way Kaufman goes through his 50 years, time is fluid and if you are not careful, you will miss many clues. I know I did and will have to see it a again to catch them all. And like many of Kaufman's stories, I found myself getting frustrated as it was moving along, yet as it neared its completion I recognized the genius and can only doff my cap to another profound and highly inventive story by one of the finest in the business today. Indeed Shakespeare was right when he said "All the world's a stage and we are merely players." Charlie Kaufman deftly shows us why.

I give Synecdoche, New York 3.5 out of 5 stars and it is currently available on blu-ray and dvd.

The Reviewer Watches The Watchmen

Spoiler Ahead. Zach Snyder's ambitious rendering of Alan Moore's brilliant graphic novel The Watchmen has a little something for everyone but left me ultimately dissatisfied. That isn't to say the film isn't visually stunning. It is, and considering Zach Snyder made 300, that aspect shouldn't surprise anyone. However, the film is not the sociopolitical, apocalyptic statement that I was hoping would bear some resemblance to the graphic novel on which it is based. There is a reason that Alan Moore refused to have his name associated with the film.

In a nutshell, the complex, multi layered stories-within-stories plot is about an ex superhero who is murdered and one of his ex partners, a masked inkblot named Rorschach sets out to track his killer by trying to enlist his former superhero friends, who were known as Watchmen. The film is enjoyable to watch for the first 2/3 and then it descends into camp and cliched dialogue and circumstance. Not unlike other comic book films. From an acting perspective, there are 2 standouts. Jeffrey Dean Morgan who plays the ironic and cruel Comedian and a really well portrayed sociopathic but justice bound Rorschach played by Jackie Earle Haley of Little Children. I found that the Rorschach character was the most short changed out of all of the em and he was my favorite. The cast also features: Malin Ackerman as the sexy but troubled Silk Spectre II (who is the unlucky girlfriend of Dr. Manhattan); Patrick Wilson as the awkward and shut in Night Owl II; Billy Crudup as the very Blue, time and space bending unemotional Dr. Manhattan; (excellent cgi on Doc, right down to being anatomically correct) and Matthew Goode as the smartest person in the world but at what cost, Ozymandias.

Each Watchmen's origin is explored, some more than others. They represent the anti-superhero. Completely distinct from Batman and Spider-Man. They are incredibly flawed and dispense justice as they see fit. Some Watchmen are no different from common vigilantes. The film, like the novel is set in an alternate reality in 1985. Where Richard Nixon is still president, the US wins the Vietnam War, with Dr. Manhattan's help and the threat of nuclear annihilation is close at hand with the Soviet Union. For the most part, this is one of the more faithful books to screen adaptations I have seen, but they made some major tweaks to the climax, which I didn't have too much trouble with but true fanboys will hate it. Some of the more memorable lines from the novel are featured which made me smile, especially from Rorschach. But the other characters appear wooden and their dialogue for the most part is uninteresting. Dr. Manhattan as in the novel for me is the most sympathetic character as he was a noted physicist who is turned into the blue doc, due to a experiment gone horribly wrong, where essentially his molecules are turned inside out, blown apart and then reassembled. But, along with the other Watchmen, I found I didn't have any feeling about any of them and their circumstances, as their stories were thrown together. Again, I can't fault Mr. Snyder or the screenwriter Alex Tse too much. This was a herculean feat that they pulled off, where many visionaries like Darren Aronofsky and Terry Gilliam failed. However, it plays too much to the crowd more interested in violence and sex than good characterization and even good acting. I can't count how many times I was asking the characters how they felt about their circumstance, particularly a scene involving Manhattan and Silk Spectre II on Mars. The only clarity came from Rorschach and Comedian. Kudos to Mr. Haley and Mr. Morgan in that regard.

Overall, fanboys, I predict will enjoy their long awaited masterpiece but will be ultimately disappointed. And for those who are unfamiliar with the novel will like it even less and will undoubtedly get lost in the intricacies of the plot. I give Watchmen 3 out of 5 stars. It is currently in theaters and Imax.