Review: CRAZY HEART * * 1/2

Amongst one of the many great songs in CRAZY HEART is one whose chorus says "Funny, I fall and it feels like flyin' for a little while".

I keep coming back to this lyric since the two sensations can indeed feel so close. In both cases the weight of the world gets lifted, and anything seems possible. However, in life one obviously shouldn't confuse the two since the end result of the two couldn't possibly be more different.

CRAZY HEART is the story of Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges). Blake was once a big country star but at 57 he's fallen on hard times. How hard? When the film opens we see Blake arriving to play tonight's gig...in a bowling alley. To say Blake is down on his luck would be putting it mildly. The man is driving from gig to gig alone in his 1980 Suburban. He has no family, is staying in seedy motels, playing for food money, and essentially bleeds whiskey. Bad Blake has become the embodiment of every sad country song you've ever heard.

At one tour stop in Santa Fe, he is introduced to Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal). She's a budding writer and asks Blake for an interview. when Blake agrees, her charm ends up disarming him, and he finds himself opening up far more than usual. As the interviews continue, the two develop a relationship, and soon enough Blake is finding reasons to double back to Santa Fe. Jean is enticed by the sudden life spark she can see in Blake, but wary since he isn't exactly walking the line...and she's a single mom who has witnessed such behaviour before.

In amongst all of this, Blake is having trouble dealing with the success of Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrel) - a hotshot star of new country who he mentored to fame. Sweet has all the fame and fortune that Blake doesn't, but not near the talent. Blake isn't quite seething with jealousy, but it's a bitter pill to swallow when your protege is playing amphitheatres and you're playing bars.

CRAZY HEART is a great performance in a good film. As Bad Blake, Jeff Bridges embraces the grizzle of a life lived hard. From his posture to his voice, he embodies a man who has accepted a particular lot in life...and really doesn't have the drive to make his own luck. It's amazing to watch him talk to fans and admirers, since he smiles politely and speaks with warmth...but always seems like he wants to cry from shame. Bridges has taken the roughest elements of Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard and rolls them into one character. It is indeed an award worthy performance.

The movie on the whole however is spotty. As the story went on, I felt by the final act that I was watching a Frankenstein of a few other movies. Indeed, CRAZY HEART has elements of WALK THE LINE, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, and THE WRESTLER. The music scene is full of people like Blake - people who played on songs we all know by heart, who are now playing a nightly gig at the Holiday Inn. crazy heart is unfortunately not their story. In fact Blake's performing and songwriting get packed up and set aside for a good long while, and the story instead focuses on his relationship with Jean and her son.

This is especially sad, since the music is one of the very best things about this movie. It's filled with original country songs created by Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett, all of which have the appropriate amount of built-in sadness ...even when they are up-tempo. Each one sums up Bad Blake in ways he can't seem to say himself. If you listen close enough, within the lyrics and chord changes, you'll hear the story to every single line on Blake's face. It's music you will want to download the moment the credits roll.

It saddens me that the waters of this story have been so muddied, since all the elements of a truly great film are there. Much like the character of Jean, this film leads with its heart instead of its head, and that's where it goes wrong. It wants us to fall for the weary legend like a groupie on the side of the stage...but it's one thing to fall for the star, and a whole other thing entirely to fall for a tribute band covering the star. CRAZY HEART comes close, and features one of the best performances of the year, but when it's all over the film doesn't fly. It falls.

What did you think? Feel free to leave comments with any thoughts or reactions on CRAZY HEART.

Strange Days

Today, I Feel Like This...

Everybody's Talkin' 1 - 29 (Chatter From Other Bloggers)

At the moment, I have no movie plans for the weekend. However, after the wealth of classic movie goodness I caught on dvd last weekend, I feel the urge to load up and keep the trend going. Any suggestions?

Of course, one of the most exciting parts of this coming weekend will be sitting down to record the next podcast...and given the amazing response I've had to episode five, I couldn't be more psyched about turning on the mic for episode six. I would like to make the 'cast a titch more interactive, so if you have any comments or questions please leave 'em in the comments section of this post or tomorrow's post and hopefully I can work 'em into the format somehow.

It seems like every week I am following more and more blogs, which makes these weekly lists harder and harder to compile. All the same it allows me to point y'all towards more and more grade A work.

So, for your reading fulfillment I give you...

Elgringo, who is down at Sundance and sends back his review of FROZEN.

The Kid in The Front Row had a bit of a rough afternoon when he sat down to watch BROTHERS.

Watching MANHATTAN last week got me in a very Woody Allen frame of mind. As if on cue, Aiden takes a look one of his best modern films - MATCH POINT.

Found another Toronto blogger! (yes, I am in fact collecting them like hockey cards). Check out Sasha at The Final Girl Project who highlights one of my favourite movie scenes ever.

With the Oscar nominations coming up next week, Number Six has taken a timely look at reassessing the last ten Best Picture races.

Finally, The Movie Moxie is working on a project this year to finally plow through all of her owned-but-unwatched dvd's. Does this happen to anyone else?

Enjoy!

Be Italian

While watching a mittful of DVD's for the latest series of 1001 posts, I decided to double back and also work in one from last month's cluster. Last month, one of the movies that was tapped for reaction pieces was Frederico Fellini's 8 1/2. I didn't write about it, but it wasn't for lack of desire - I swear, no video store in Toronto had that sucker in stock in December.

So finally last week I get to see it, and along with deeply loving it, it also causes me to have an epiphany!

In case you didn't know, this Italian classic is the ultimate source material for NINE. NINE is based on the broadway show, which is based on this film, which is based on Fellini's own experience of trying to make a movie (get all that?). When I saw NINE independent of 8 1/2, I called it "a mess". Now that I've seen 8 1/2, my position is slightly softened. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's a mess...but now I see it as a mess with a purpose.

8 1/2 is very surreal, introspective, and existential. On many occasions, the actual plot of the film stops dead in its tracks to allow the protagonist, Guido Anselmi, a few moments of his own memories, dreams, and fantasies. The problem is, the film doesn't really give you much of a tip-off that the maestro has retreated into the quixotic recesses of his own imagination. Thus, the whole story can be a tad hard to follow the first time around.

Here's where NINE comes in...

NINE tells almost exactly the same story, but with a few details tweaked. This time however, when the protagonist Guido Contini, retreats into his own brain, the results are marked by musical numbers. The overall plot is easier to follow - it's details dumbed down for the lowliest among us to understand (Guilty Your Honour).

What I mean to say is...NINE is the Cliff's Notes version of 8 1/2. It sums it all up into a quick little study guide, and allows us to fully understand the masterpiece before the final exam. 8 1/2 is much better, much more fully realized, and much more sublime...but if one were to go in blind, they might not be able to soak it all in while trying to keep up with it. Thus, I say it again - NINE is a mess with purpose.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to go back and tweak my review now...I just believe it's a little bit of credit the otherwise maligned film is due. It's like telling an english class to rent CLUELESS before beginning their Jane Austin unit. Kinda cool, donchathink?

Back to Basics - THE LAST PICTURE SHOW

At the risk of sounding stuck up, I've always maintained that I could spend several months in a small town, but couldn't ever live in one permanently. Growing up in a big city has afforded me too much opportunity, entertainment, and anonymity. The moments I have spent visiting people in small towns has proved to me how little of that is possible in a such places.

If anyone wants proof of this theory, I'd have to point them towards THE LAST PICTURE SHOW and rest my case....a movie, which incidentally, is the next title up in the 1001 Series. Take a gander at my thoughts after the jump.

To call THE LAST PICTURE SHOW a low boil would be sensationalistic...it's more like 'mildly simmering'. The story is set in Anarene, Texas in 1951. It's the sort of town that has one traffic light. A place where the only entertainment is a pool hall, a diner, and a picture show - all run by Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson). This is a community where not only does everybody know everybody else, but their parents and grandparents too. Perhaps it's no surprise that the town's greatest byproduct is restlessness.

One of the biggest examples of this is Jacy Farrow (Cybill Shepherd), who is likely the prettiest girl in school, but can't seem to get a grip on what effect that has on the men around her. What's worse, is that her mother Lois (Ellen Burstyn) is no help on the matter. She made the wrong choices in life, but isn't able to parlay that life experience into sound motherly advice. Instead she suggests her virtuous daughter get the whole 'virginity thing' over with so she can look for what really counts in a man (read: money).

It's easy to see this as bad parenting, but the truth is that there isn't a whole lot else to do in town that's nearly as exciting as screwin'. This might explain how it is that Lois has no qualms about getting something on the side from Abilene (Stu Jackson), how the boys in town seem so excited on getting young Billy laid, and how Ruth Popper (Cloris Leachman) can think nothing of taking a roll in the sack with high school senior Sonny (Timothy Bottoms). It might seem like they are less-than-proper, or sex-crazed...but what's probably more likely is that there isn't much on TV.

The problem with such a mentality is that it spills over from sexual activity into general mindset. Such communities are supposed to be the model of decency; however as apathy creeps in, the borderlines of decency slowly start to disappear. Fortunately, this doesn't sit well with everyone. Sam gets pushed past his breaking point, and yells in no uncertain terms "I've been around that trashy behavior all my life, I'm gettin' tired of puttin' up with it". Unfortunately, Sam is in the minority, and as the years pass the apathy will only increase.

What apathy doesn't upset, misguided possessiveness does. Take for instance Duane (Jeff Bridges) who, though dumped, still very much considers Jacy 'his girl'. Despite the fact that they broke up...despite the fact that he left town...despite the fact that he doesn't even talk to her. She's his, and that's that. So when she makes a move on Sonny (Duane's best friend), all hell breaks loose. How is it fair? It's not, but in an area where romantic options are limited, venturing into marked territory is a bad idea.

I realize that much of what I've said might make me seem prejudiced against small town life, but when the dust settles on this movie, it doesn't paint a very flattering picture of it. Perhaps this is why so many people who grow up in them ace to leave, and those that don't find themselves fighting off restlessness. I've met a lot of people like Sam in my trips to small towns - I've met a lot of people like Duane too. This movie is a ballad for them both. It should be seen as both a tribute, and a warning.

But Hatter, Is It List-Worthy?... It sure is. It's a character piece, and the greatest character of all is Anarene itself. In an era where movies seem to underestimate people's attention span, the slow and leisurely way this story unfolds is a breath of fresh air.

Back to Basics - MULHOLLAND DRIVE

How many times have you woken from a dream, only to find you can only remember fragments? The faces are familiar, and the places are real...but things don't makes sense and seconds after you've awoken, you find that details of the dream are already becoming hazy. That sensation, my friends, is akin to watching MULHOLLAND DRIVE. It's disjointed, it's brilliant, and it's the next film up for the 1001 Movies Club.

My thoughts on David Lynch's mind-fuck can be found after the jump.

I'm going to try and explain what the film is about, however I'm not entirely sure myself. What I can tell you is that half of the film is about a young film director named Adam (Justin Theroux) trying to get started on his latest project. I say "trying" because he is continually the target of a shake-down by some truly strange gangsters. They aren't trying to extort a nickle out of him; they are only trying to influence his casting decisions. They insist that he put an actress of their choosing in the lead role of his next film. Why? Don't know. Why does Adam refuse? Don't know that either.

The other half of the film - a largely unrelated half by the way - is about Betty (Naomi Watts). To say she arrives in L.A. bright-eyed is putting it mildly. She steps off the plane from Back Woods, Canada still exuding that new-car-smell. She's intent on becoming an actress you see, and has even talked her aunt into letting her crash at her aunt's empty apartment while she goes about auditioning.

However, when Betty arrives at her aunt's seemingly empty apartment, there's a surprise waiting. "Rita" (Laura Elena Harring) has snuck in and is seeking a bit of refuge. She's been in an accident and now can't even remember her name. Betty takes pity on her, takes her in, and takes her by the hand as they embark on a Nancy Drew-esque trek around Los Angeles in hopes of learning the truth.

These are the two cohesive plot lines. Seem pretty straight forward don't they? Well they are, however every ten minutes at least, the movie picks up the remote and changes the channel to "Weirdsville Hour presented by David Lynch". Sometimes it's amusing, and we happily go along with it...other times not so much. It was actually suggested that I make a post listing all of my unanswered questions, but I decided against that because my list just seemed to go on and on. I will ask this though - what's with the scary-ass elderly couple?

The first time I watched this film, I was left quite puzzled. In watching it again, I tried to look closer in the hopes of putting the puzzle together. What I finally noticed was that much of the film seems to have a deep undercurrent of dreaming. Betty calls Los Angeles "a dream place", and Rita later expresses that she'll be okay if she can just get some sleep. In an ironic twist, the film really takes a turn for the nutty when someone calls out "Hey Pretty Girl, time to wake up". There's even a moment which seems to be taking place in a dream of a dream of a dream.

Perhaps it's this thread of sleeping and dreaming that explains much of the film's absurdity. Sure it seems odd that Betty reaches into her purse and pulls out a curious blue box, but who hasn't had a dream where they are frantically trying to make a phone call using a salmon (...really...just me?...alrightee then...). It's in dreams and fantasies that our brains become unhinged, where the real and the surreal come together at will, and it's in this universe that MULHOLLAND DRIVE seems to exist.

Lynch isn't interested in telling a straight-up noir-esque L.A. story. He wants to set it in that place in the subconscious between sleep and terror; the place that allows him to swap items, names, and faces in and out of the tale at will. It's a decision that immediately widens his canvas and allows him to paint with colours not usually found on the palette. It allows him to create scenes of sublime beauty, such as the Silencio Club scene and the achingly moving performance of Llorando we witness. It also allows him to create scenes of unnerving terror, such as the film's finale which was so dark and hyperactive that I could barely keep up with it.

Allowing the film to exist in that fleeting moment we all experience when we first wake up makes it beautiful and strange. Lynch challenges us to put together a puzzle of identity, murder, and ambition, but hasn't been kind enough to include a picture on the box of puzzle pieces for us to work with. It's an extraordinary film...and I still don't completely understand it.

But Hatter, Is It List-Worthy?... Hard to say actually. It's a film that appeals to me both for what I can take from it, and for what I want to take from it but can't seem to wrestle out of its hand. However I fear the audience at large would just find it too weird.

Midnight Radio: The Matineecast Episode 5

Howdly-Ho listenerinos! Another podcast is ready for your listening fulfillment, and I'd especially like to welcome the influx of listeners I'm about to score from this week's guest telling so many of her friends about our antics.

This week we'll be talking about THE BOOK OF ELI, and for that I'd like to thank Rue Morgue for providing my guest and I with free passes to catch a screening. Likewise, if you've listened to the other four episodes you'll notice something a little different this time around, and for that I'd like to thank the Toronto band, Used for Glue.

But without further ado, may I present the Brooks Robinson episode



Here's what's in store in episode five...

Runtime
40 minutes, 10 seconds

Up for Discussion

1. My brief introduction (0:00)
2. Q & A with this episode's guest, Susie Q. (1:29)
3. News - Sony shifts Spidey-gears, a rigged audience loves The Karate Kid, and reaction to The Broadcast Critics Awards. (7:20)
4. Review and reaction of THE BOOK OF ELI (14:37)
5. Our Top Five Denzel Washington movies. (24:23)

Comments and feedback are welcome, and thanks very much for listening.

Enjoy!

Back to Basics - MANHATTAN

It's rare that a movie can be seen as both a love letter and a requiem, but that's precisely what Woody Allen's MANHATTAN is. Expressed so poetically by the one of the greatest opening sequences in film history, this movie wants to tell us about a story so precisely set in an unmistakable city. It just so happens, that it's also set in a city that no longer exists.

Like many of Woody Allen's early work, the story is about a neurotic protagonist (as usual, played by Allen himself), and his attempts at getting a grip on his relationships with women. This time out, our hero Isaac is divorced from Jill (Meryl Streep), dating young Tracey (Mariel Hemingway), and smitten with Mary (Diane Keaton). Challenges abound of course, namely in the fact that Jill is writing a tell-all about their marriage, Tracey is seventeen, and Mary is having an affair with his married best friend. Isaac doesn't live his life so much as he ricochets through it...but then again, such is the price to pay for being a New Yorker.

Life in a big city - and in New York most of all - means expressing your private thoughts in very public settings. People fall in love in subways, they break up on street corners. Friends catch up in crowded delis, and they argue on park benches. Woody Allen understands this and indeed sets more than half of the films most intimate moments in rather exposed sections of the city that never sleeps. However, while life in a metropolis means living it on-the-go, every once in a while a moment of serenity presents itself - and in MANHATTAN, the moment is a sunrise silhouette in front of The Queensboro Bridge.

The relationship between New York and New Yorkers is of course at the heart of the film, but it is first and foremost a film about the relationships between New Yorkers themselves...and it's here where the film is starting to show a bit of wear. For starters, at the core of the story is a story which is inappropriate at best, and downright icky for many. Isaac is 42 and Tracey is 17. Sure, many might have turned a blind eye to that in the 70's, but nowadays it doesn't play so well. It's a pity really, since much of the themes could have remained intact had Tracey been even 21.

The only other detail of the film I could have done without is the staging of the conversation between Isaac and Jill in the planetarium. The dialogue is enticing, honest, and alluring...but it's set against celestial murals, and shot to create rim-lit silhouettes. The effect is a scene that feels to self aware as to its importance, and as such I found it too obvious. It's a pity too since the conversation during these moments is sharp, and had it been shot any other way I would have been all over it.

Interestingly, most of the time when the characters of the film are trying to understand and sort out their lives, the camera hangs back and lets them talk it out...sometimes not even including everybody within the shot. Had this style not taken a coffee break for the planetarium sequence, the film would have won me over even more than it did.

Flaws and all, I did indeed love MANHATTAN...and I curse myself for taking so long to have seen it. Gloriously shot in black and white, with many moments scored by some of George Gershwin's finest work, it is a ballad dedicated to the heart and soul of Gotham...well to what Gotham once was, anyway.

Indeed, the city Woody Allen wrote about no longer exists. It has been gentrified, homogenized, sanitized, and Disneyfied. At one point in the film while watching a historic building get gutted, Isaac says that the city is really changing. Well if he thought that was change, I wonder what he'd even recognize the city to come sixteen years later.

New York was different animal in the days of the film. Tougher, dirtier, more dangerous, and more passionate. Nowadays, tourists rule the roost in Times Square and the crowd at Yankee Stadium doesn't cheer quite so loud. It might be more appealing for the population on the whole, but the cost in character would easily leave people like Isaac and Mary waxing poetic on the loss of their city's soul.

New York might still be around, but MANHATTAN is gone.

But Hatter, Is It List-Worthy?... Absolutely. The jokes are still funny, the photography is still inspiring, and it still makes you want to jump a Greyhound on the Hudson River Line. This is one of cinema's gems, and easily the greatest New York movie ever made.

Rest My Chemistry

Today, I Feel Like This...

Everybody's Talkin' 1 - 22 (Chatter From Other Bloggers)

How's it goin' folks? Workin' hard today?? I'm not. That's right, I'm chilling out at home, enjoying a well earned day off. Hell, as you read this I might not even be up and at 'em yet!

I've been soaking up movies like a sponge these days, both in the theatres and on dvd. And with Oscar nominations just two weeks off, I'm sure it's going to get even crazier soon when I attempt to catch up on what I haven't seen before the big night. For what it's worth, CRAZY HEART is on tap for this weekend.

Well as I contemplate whether I'm even going to bother changing out of sweatpants today, allow me to call your attention to bloggers who are busy going through their grind of a day right now, and deserve an extra read or two.

(BTW - The word you're looking for is "Jackass")

For your reading fulfillment, I give you...

Univarn, who wrote one of his best posts ever this week about a particular plot device that drives him batty.

For a few years now I've known about Black Sheep reviews...though strangely I've only recently started paying his blog the attention it deserves. I don't know why it's taken me so long, because his stuff is pretty badass - and he's a fellow Toronto blogger to boot! The last few weeks he's been summing up the decade that was. Here's his Top 20.

RTM at FlixChatter reminds us all of simpler times by taking us back a whole decade for 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU.

M.Carter is looking for crap. No, really.

In honour of what I think is the best film of the year (THE HURT LOCKER), The Evil Dead Junkie is having a Bigelow-Fest. So far he's tackled BLUE STEEL, POINT BREAK, and STRANGE DAYS.

And finally, Ross & Ross have found a YouTube clip that suggests 100 of the Cheesiest Lines ever spoken in a film. My only qualm is that they come back to BATMAN AND ROBIN a few times too many.

Enjoy!

The Book I Write

Tonight I re-watched MULHOLLAND DRIVE for the 1001 Movie Club.

I think I'd forgotten just how batshit crazy the movie is.

What you see below is a photo of the notebook I scribble in when I'm watching a movie I plan to write about...

Kicking Television ( THE A-TEAM Trailer )

Imagine if you will, young six year old Hatter. This young man had not yet fallen in love with the cinema, being taken by his guardians quite sparingly. He was however quite the little TV-watcher. After spending an hour or two outside, and dutifully eating every bit of his dinner...young Hatter would take to his favorite patch of living room floor and watch wide-eyed at the weekly exploits of The Dukes of Hazard, Knight Rider, and Magnum P.I.

However, every Tuesday night came his favorite show of all...

Crazy Train (A Golden Globe rant)

Just curious - did anyone out there notice/wonder the lack of Golden Globe coverage on my blog? Anyone...anyone...Beuller...?

The reason why this space has been primarily GG-Free, is because I have become increasingly disenchanted with the Globes year-after-year, to the point where they now seem as manufactured an occasion as Secretary's Day. (Sorry - Administrative Assistant's Day). My full rant is just beyond the jump

You see, about five years back, i watched a fascinating little documentary called THE GOLDEN GLOBES: HOLLYWOOD'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET. This piece of infotainment took a long hard look at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association - the voting body responsible for handing out those nifty bookends people like Sandra Bullock and Robert Downey Jr. were bequeathed Sunday night. See the HFPA aren't really all that savvy a governing body to be handing out awards. Many of these so-called "press" members have day jobs, and just do the entertainment coverage on the side. So in essence, imagine if they gave someone like me a vote on what is supposed to be a major industry award. It'd be wicked-awesome for me and all...but no.

Making matters worse, is the fact that these part-timers are an absolutely star-struck posse. They live to meet and schmooze with celebrities. Photo ops and autographs are the norm, and part of the reason why they hold these awards is so they can collect all these pretty people into one place. Not that this mattered much for the first fifty years or so of the Globes' existence.

Then around the early 90's a shift occurred. Dick Clark thought having all these pretty people in one place was a goldmine, and started getting the ceremony televised on NBC. That was about all she wrote - the Globes went from being a joke, to a major event on the calendar. problem is, the HFPA didn't realize that they were all growns up. They just kept on going along, handing out awards in a truly puzzling manner.

Just how crazy is the Globes history? Consider this - Meryl Streep (though admittedly talented) has the most Globe nominations with twenty five. Twenty five effin' times! Not convinced? What about the year there was a three-way-tie for Best Actress...yes, it actually happened (1988, Look it up). Still not convinced?? Then please recall that this is the awards ceremony that when faced with the WGA strike, cancelled the actual gala because it couldn't be televised and swapped it out for a press conference.

Dear friends, The Golden Globes grow increasingly meaningless. They are voted upon by one hundred or so anonymous star-fucker fans, and only hold any sort of merit because we continue to tune in. Thus I stand by my position. I no longer care one lick about who gets nominated or wins a Golden Globe. The only reason I have any interest in it at all, is to see what happens when you get that many celebreties in a room and let them drink during the ceremony.

Review: THE BOOK OF ELI * * *

Looking around the blogosphere, I'm about to stand squarely in the minority and try to convince y'all that BOOK OF ELI is a good movie. Maybe I think it's good because I expected it to suck...or maybe it's because I liked how it gave its action a moment or two of thoughtfulness. It's both actually, and more, that makes me one of the few who will try to convince you that this latest Denzel ass-kicker is worth your time and money. Allow me to present my argument...

Eli (Denzel Washington) used to be a K-Mart greeter. Yes, really. That was before the apocalypse. Nowadays he wanders what's left of America..."heading west" he says with a scary looking knife, some expensive-ass earbuds, and a large book in his bag. He is seldom shaken from his quest, in fact he has been known to kill people trying to keep him from staying on the path. He does however decide to stop in a human settlement when his iPod needs recharging. Yes, really.

The camp is run by Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a gangster who holds sway over all the townspeople's comings and goings since he controls the water. Carnegie is obsessed with finding a book. Which book? We're not quite sure. When Eli gets into a skirmish with fifteen of his thugs and comes out on top, Carnegie immediately wants Eli working for him. Too bad Eli has no interest in being under Carnegie's employ. Carnegie decides he might get further using his kept woman Claudia (Jennifer Beals)...or rather using her daughter Solara (Mila Kunis).

This turns out to be a great move, since Solara disarms Eli just enough to find out more about the large books he's hiding. Turns out it's a bible, and it turns out that it's exactly the book that Carnegie has been looking for. Carnegie makes his move to forcibly take it, but Eli seems to have a particular gift for protecting it. So much so, that he often seems unkillable. Yes, really.


Before I go on, I should say that the movie takes a turn in its final act. Your enjoyment of the film depends entirely on whether or not you want to take that turn with it. I went with the trick, even though I don't think it completely adds up. The plot device didn't bother me nearly as much as Denzel's pearly white teeth did. It's post apocalyptic America...you mean to tell me he's still happening upon Crest White Strips?

Surprisingly, THE BOOK OF ELI is pretty good...not great, but pretty good. Going past the action - which is fun without being excessive - the movie is particularly interested in telling us a story. It's a story that wants us to think about the role religion plays in our world's events. After all, religion has been the cause of some of humanity's worst attrocities...and religion has been a guiding light when humanity had seemingly nothing left. Both sides of this paradox get their due in this movie, and they have their moment without being corny or preachy. Not an easy trick for an action film to turn!

Another details that I liked about the movie, is it's brief nod towards how disposable and materialistic our society has become. During a quiet moment, Solara asks Eli about "the world before", and all Eli can answer with is how much mankind owned that they truly did not need. Conversely, he points out, we were wasteful. We would constantly throw away items that people now kill for. I can't help but gravitate towards this subtle warning. I mean, if the bomb were to drop somewhere right now, what would be more valuable: the computer I'm writing this blog on or the tube of Chapstick sitting on the desk with it? BOOK OF ELI gives this sort of question its due...not the sort of philosophy you'd expect in a shoot-em-up.

These details are what I believe make the film worthwhile. It strikes a delicate balance between style and statement...and it really didn't have to. It very easily could have played to its built-in audience of Denzel/action fans, taken its box office and called it a day. But this sort of movie working few theories into the script and try to give its audience something to take away is rare, and indeed something special.

What did you think? Feel free to leave comments with any thoughts or reactions on THE BOOK OF ELI.

Doubleback: PONTYPOOL

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I'm not in touch with Canadian cinema the way I should be. For this reason, brilliance like PONTYPOOL gets past me like a slow wobbling lob-in from the red line.

Already on DVD in Canada, and hitting DVD shelves Stateside later this month, PONTYPOOL is a thriller from director Bruce McDonald (HARD CORE LOGO, THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS). It tells the tale of a small town radio station - the sort of station so small that it's traffic chopper reporter sits in his Dodge Dart on a hilltop and uses sound effects. One blustery winter morning, DJ Grant Mazzy starts getting reports of riots and random acts of violence in this sleepy town. As the story unfolds, we slowly learn that these acts of violence all stem from a virus. Specifically, a virus triggered by the English language.

Like 28 DAYS LATER, the movie plays on zombie-like acts of violence coming from normal people who become infected. Where PONTYPOOL really gets to screw with us, is the Welles-ian way so much of the violence is off-screen. The terror comes from broken news feeds, haphazard telephone calls, and ominous sounds coming from outside the radio station doors.

The movie plays really well on DVD, and is a clinic on economic direction and writing. It knows that being uninformed can be one of the most terrifying things of all. Go looking for it on dvd...and be careful what you say after you've seen it.

Note: The crux of the story is that the infection is triggered by certain words in the English language being spoken aloud. What does that say about the fact that I've been using a still-image from this film for my podcast-promoting blog posts?

You Make My Dreams Come True

Today, I Feel Like This...

Everybody's Talkin' 1 - 15 ( Chatter From Fellow Bloggers )

I'm a tad out of sorts today (hence the later than usual posting time). As if it wasn't bad enough that I was under the weather this morning, making me an hour late for work, I got to the office only to start into a project that has thus far been making me its bitch.

Oh well, guess it's moments like this that retreating into a movie are for. So as I buckle down and try to make it through the next four hours, I'll have to let my mind drift to a happier place such as the fact that I've got my podcast woes with iTunes figured out (it's now listed as Mad Hatter's Matineecast btw), getting together with one of my favorite movie geeks tomorrow, or thinking back on to my screening of THE BOOK OF ELI last night (which didn't suck btw).

I have to believe things are happier elsewhere, thus allow me to point you towards some peppier folk.

For your reading fulfillment, I give you...

I'm just about done with 2009 but one of the limited releases that's finally hitting screens is CRAZY HEART, which Fletch has kindly reviewed.

CS, a fellow Toronto-based blogger hasn't quite closed the book on 2009 just yet. He takes a moment to remember some of the worst films the year had to offer.

Joel has finally discarded his mystical ticket stub, but his critique prowess remains. He moved his blog, lock, stock, and linkage, and has christened the new one with a review of a movie close to my heart, SUPERMAN.

I quite often respond to someone not liking a classic by saying "watch it again". Katie at The Stories That Really Matter has a few thoughts on repeat viewings.

The Movie Mistress has taken a moment to count off her top ten bio-pics.

And finally, Danny King sparked a pretty good conversation on his bulletin by asking whether or not it's apropos to describe a film as "boring".

Enjoy!

For the Faithful Departed (RED RIDING Trailer)

I must confess, I haven't been as on top of trailers as in the past...perhaps that's because I got tired of them letting me down. I mean I was, after all, the guy who posted the RIGHTEOUS KILL trailer in this space and asked "Doesn't this look cool?"

However, one thing I used to enjoy about digging for trailers was coming across something a little less-than-obvious. Take this morning for instance. I dug past THE GREEN ZONE, THE A-TEAM, THE KARATE KID (why???) and THE BOUNTY HUNTER. It was only after digging past all this shit, that I was able to find a clip of something that looks a bit daring, and very interesting.

It seems like the sort of movie you'd have to drive a little bit to find, but take a gander at something I think looks pretty good...an entire trilogy of films in factcheck out the trailer for RED RIDING...

Review: SHERLOCK HOLMES * * *

When one thinks of the legend that is Sherlock Holmes, what comes to mind? Probably hunting caps, magnifying glasses, and cries of "Elementary!", no? Well, if that's you're impression of the legendary sleuth, then lordy are you ever in for a surprise. These days, Holmes is a bare-knuckle boxer, a master of disguise, and an action hero...and none of that is a bad thing.

We are dropped into a ritual killing, one that is narrowly averted by private detective Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downie Jr) and Dr. Watson (Jude Law). The evil mastermind at work is Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), and for his misdeeds he is sentenced to death by hanging. Ever the worthy adversary, it would appear as though it will take more than a trip to the gallows to stop Blackwood. Indeed three days after his execution, his tomb has been broken open, and now sits empty.

Holmes and Watson begrudgingly follow the case, I say begrudgingly because both seem to have other things on their minds. Watson is in the process of branching off on his own and marrying Mary Morstan (Kelly Reilly). Holmes meanwhile tries to keep it together as he is called upon by Miss Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams); a young turtledove with whom he has a history. Specifically, she has conned/manipulated/royally screwed hiom twice already in the past.

Regardless, justice must be done. Thus Holmes and Watson work to solve the case which sets them squarely against a secret society in London's upper class. Together they try to prevent more murders at Blackwood's hand...but how can they bring him to justice, when they're led to believe that he'salready dead?


While nobody will be mentioning this in the same breath as Guy Ritchie's biggest films, it's still a welcome sight to see the Brit director bringing us worthy offerings. With SHERLOCK HOLMES, he manages to rise above 'hired gun' status, but doesn't give the movie the sort of vision he's capable of. Ask yourself, how much would you pay to watch Holmes and Watson trying to work their way through the world of LOCK STOCK or SNATCH? Then again, he's already signed on for the sequel, so perhaps it will serve as the good copy to this movie's rough draft.

What makes the movie work best is the relationship between Holmes and Watson, and the chemistry Downey and Law display. They have taken the partnership in a different direction, one more befitting of an old married couple than of crimestopping brilliance. It's a great touch - so much so that the case often feels like a distraction. Many a time I felt myself antsy at scenes designed to explain scientific CSI work. I wanted them to be over quickly so law and Downey could start bickering over who loaned who a shirt.

Then again, squabbles over testing anaesthetics may be swell, but it's hard to argue with many of the suspense scenes in the movie. Purists might argue, but I enjoyed watching Holmes perform feats of daring-do. Specifically, I think of scenes that feature duels on the under-construction London Bridge, or narrow escapes from slaughterhouse boobie traps. Were it not for these well-executed and tense moments, the whole movie might have only felt like a very special episode of "CSI: London".

I went into SHERLOCK HOLMES with very high hopes. To be clear, I enjoyed it, and do recommend it...but yet I couldn't shake the feeling that it was lacking something. Reflecting on it these last few days, it has dawned on me - the film doesn't allow itself to have any fun. None of the three principle actors come out to play in ways that they have in the past, despite the faintest of teases from scene to scene. The movie succeeds despite its stick-in-the-mud nature, but I can't help but wonder "what might have been"...

What did you think? Feel free to leave comments with any thoughts or reactions on SHERLOCK HOLMES.

I'll Stick Around (2010 WGA Nominations)

And then there were none...

The final set of award nominees before Oscar was announced today, and it was the Writer's Guild naming their shortlist of original and adapted screenplays.

Bit of a funny situation this year though. It would seem as though the WGA has become a club more exclusive than The Stonecutters, since the films deemed ineligible this year make for a lengthy list. For one reason or another (mostly because the writers weren't WGA members), the following films didn't qualify...

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

AN EDUCATION

A SINGLE MAN

THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX

IN THE LOOP

DISTRICT 9

THE ROAD

UP

Kinda seems like that could have been the full nominee list doesn't it? Well the WGA named the best of what was left over, and if you have to ask yourself how slim that left the pickins'...consider the second film down on the list.

Original Screenplay

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER

AVATAR

THE HANGOVER

THE HURT LOCKER

A SERIOUS MAN

Adapted Screenplay

CRAZY HEART

JULIE & JULIA

PRECIOUS

STAR TREK

UP IN THE AIR

Midnight Radio: The Matineecast Episode 4

Another episode comin at ya, but a bit of news first. GCast, the server that hosted my podcasts, seems to be closing up shop. Thus I have packed up the whole show and moved it to mypodcast.com. So if you're following me using iTunes or Google, please reset your feed so you don't miss out on any more podcasty goodness.

On to the Chris Bosh episode



Here's what's in store in episode four...

Runtime
44 minutes, 25 seconds

Up for Discussion

1. My brief introduction
2. Q & A with this episode's guest, The Cheshire Cat from the Untempered Schism.
3. Review and reaction of A SINGLE MAN
4. A brief look at movies we're looking forward to in 2010.
5. Our Top Five photographed films.

Seems as though each episode I get more feedback than the one before, and again - I can't thank you all enough.

Enjoy!

Review: A SINGLE MAN * * * 1/2

I once knew someone who dressed her best on the days she felt the worst. Days where many go to work unshaven, or wearing something grubbier than usual were the days she dressed to the nines. She felt lousy inside, but if she gussied herself up on the outside, it helped her to get through the hard part. I couldn't help but remember her as I watched A SINGLE MAN...since it too has decided to reach for the nicest clothes in the closet, to help get itself through a particularly trying day.

Based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood, A SINGLE MAN is a day in the life of George Falconer (Colin Firth). As the day begins, we learn that George's lover Jim has died suddenly in a car accident, leaving George despondent. Jim (Matthew Goode) has been gone for eight months, and in that time George has silently fallen deeper and deeper into despair. So much so, that on the day the film begins, George has decided to take his own life.

Under the spectre of The Cuban Missile Crisis, George begins to get his effects in order. Interestingly, he collects himself as calmly and studiously as a composer writing a symphony. However, as he plans his suicide, he still has to go through his day. He gives a lecture to his University english class, one that begins very solemn and astute, but quickly turns fiery and passionate when tipped in a particular direction. George's vigour seems to draw in Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), a student who suddenly sees that this single man might be more than his meek demeanour lets on.

Suicide awaits, but before he can pull the trigger, he spends an evening with his friend Charlotte (Julianne Moore). "Charley" is the sort of woman who sleeps with a martini shaker on her nightstand...and she is deeply devoted to her friend George. She holds on to the briefest of encounters they shared many moons ago, perhaps in the hopes that his homosexuality is some sort of phase he'll outgrow. Her passive aggressiveness gives George cause for his second outburst of the day...and seems to drive him closer to ending it all.


A SINGLE MAN is one of the more daring movies I've seen. It has no interest in spelling things out for its audience, trusting instead that we are intelligent enough to understand how broken up George is over losing the love of his life. Actually, the only device the film uses to underline this is actually a pretty original trick. When George has a momentary blip of happiness - or at least when he has to feign it - the colour quality of the movie increases in tone and saturation. When George is lost in his own sad thoughts, the colour tone and quality dips. It's a subtle touch, so subtle that many might only think they are watching a bad reel...if they even notice at all.

Colin Firth really steps outside of his comfort zone for this film. He moves through this tremendously eventful day carrying a wealth of emotions, any of which can be triggered at any moment. His performance has a darkness to it that we rarely see from him, and it's a side of him I hope we get to see again. His performance is one of true sorrow, and it's a state that he exudes in his every minute gesture. Now to be fair, playing a person who is straight-laced to the point of compulsion is nothing new. what sets Firth apart is the way he bursts with passion and sorrow...both in the face of explaining prejudice, and in defending what some see as a fleeting form of love.

For me, this movie sets itself apart by being one of elegant, extraordinary visuals. This is Tom Ford's directorial debut, and he hasn't wasted one iota of his creative talents. The film is a work of art that could easily seem at home as an instillation at The Museum of Modern Art...or accompanying a runway fashion show in Milan. Every frame is brimming with style. Ford has taken both sublime moments of happenstance, and simple moments of the everyday and treated them with brush of delicacy, intricacy, and sadness. Ford sees the beauty that our most menial tasks are filled with, and shows them to us with tremendous sophistication. This is a tremendous directorial debut, and I truly hope we don't have to wait too long for another helping.

All of this beauty is swell, but it wouldn't mean anything without the deep running waters of human emotion that carries the film. A SINGLE MAN is a story of overwhelming loss. It has been presented to us in a most fashionable manner, but that is only the spoonful of sugar to help the bitter medicine go down. The film wants us to remember that people aren't always who they appear to be. Indeed, they may seem unassuming, but that isn't to say that their lives aren't being turned upside down. It's a hard subject to endure...perhaps that's why Ford and Firth have given us those pretty pictures - only to help us withstand the pain.

What did you think? Feel free to leave comments with any thoughts or reactions on A SINGLE MAN.

Stuck in The Middle With You

Today, I Feel Like This...

All The Right Friends

What you see there is the first piece of actual mail I have received directed at what I do on this crazy little blog of mine. It was sent to me by Scott from HE SHOT CYRUS. Scott's been sitting on it for a little while (he told me he was sending it)...but in doing so, he created a happy little accident. He managed to make it arrive during the toughest point in the year for my day job. It's usually around now that I get grumpy, and snappy for a few weeks...so coming home to find such goodies really brings a smile to this blogger's face.

As you may or may not know, Fridays are usually the day I turn my space over to my fellow movie bloggers. On one hand today is no different, but at the same time it is. You see, two days ago The Evil Dead Junkie from Things That Don't Suck tapped me as a Kreativ Blogger. Along with the nod, he gave me this...


Cute eh? Evil gave it to me for the following reason...

(Hatter) writes well about a wide range of films. Giving each due consideration, and generously pointing the way to other works around the web. Though I often disagree, I can’t help but always want to hear the man out. And that’s a gift for a critic. And a reader.

Um...wow. Thank you...very much. I've said it before, I'll say it again...comments or not, I swear there are some days I feel like a pretty lonely guppy in this great big virtual pond. So to be reminded not only that someone is reading, but that someone who often disagrees with me is reading is something that really boosts my drive to keep writing. If I may repay the compliment EDJ, it's refreshing to find a blogger who can disagree while still being intelligent and polite about it.

It would seem though, that such a citation does not come without conditions. They go as follows:
1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award. (Check)
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog. (Check Check)
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award. (Triple Check)
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting. (Coming right up)
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers. (Ditto)
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate. (T'will be done)
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated. (Check x 4)

So let's tackle that fourth step, shall we?

1. Some might say I'm enthusiastic to a fault - I've even been called an apologist. Yes, it's true that I spend many a minute and many a word gushing over the movies I have seen. I do this because I believe more often than not, we as a film-going society enjoy taking the piss out of movies a bit too much...I'd rather just call a great film a great film.

2. Just yesterday morning I handed my boss a vacation request so that I can take time off work to take in The Toronto International Film Festival. It's January. TIFF is in September. Yes, I realize asking for something so geeky so amazingly early is kinda sad, but after missing much of it in 2009, I'm antsy.

3. I attend ten-to-twenty Toronto Blue Jay games a year, and have been at Opening Day for ten seasons running. I can usually be found by looking for the guy drinking a lemonade and scoring the game on a scoresheet. While I am old enough to remember the days of the back-to-back championships, there is little in the world that would give me greater joy than another World Series title. Oh, and while he is no longer on my team, Roy Halladay is the most dominant pitcher in baseball.

4. If you listen to my podcast and sometimes hear a "tink-tink" sound, that's the spoon rattling in my cup of tea.

5. I don't believe in wasting time on bad movies. I enjoy a Quarter Pounder as much as the next guy, but life is too short to waste eating McDonald's every night.

6. Every Friday I put up a post in my "Everybody's Talkin" series. The photos that accompany these posts are all photographs that I have shot myself. When I was younger, I dreamt of being a pro photographer. In a small way, I'm a little happy that didn't pan out because it allows me to still be able to shoot what I want to shoot, when I want to shoot it, if only to express myself.

7. Besides being a bloggerhead and a cinephile, i'm also a music nerd, a vinyl junkie, a foodie, a comic book geek, a baseball/basketball/hockey fan, a photographer, a foodie, and a bookworm. Suffice to say, I don't hear the words "You need a hobby" very often.

Now, for my partners in crime...

I must begin with SHANNON THE MOVIE MOXIE. When i started blogging, my readership was made up of people I knew...until she came along. She has introduced me to a lot of equally passionate moviegoers both online and around town. Her passion for film and specifically for The Toronto Film Scene is the stuff of legend, and I wouldn't have been blogging as long as I have been without her feedback and encouragement.

On the latest podcast, I referred to this guy as my BBF (Best Blogger Friend). His name is Univarn, and his blog is A LIFE IN EQUINOX. Univarn has a very distinctive voice in his writing, and knows always finds the sweet spot between entertainment and analysis. The only thing I value more than his writing is his encouraging spirit of community. The blogosphere needs more people like him.

Without a doubt, one of the most intelligent writers I know is Fandango from FANDANGO GROOVERS MOVIE BLOG (or as I have taken to calling him lately "Number Six"). If my writing is the little pink spoon, his is the whole delicious sundae. he always seems to express thoughts I can't and does so in ways I never could He has a rare wit about his posts that I always look forward to reading.

Sometimes it's more fun to have someone disagree with you, but as I mentioned earlier - there has to be intelligence to the argument. If there isn't, it's not conversation - it's just noise. Few disagree with me quite as much as Bob from ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF A LOGICAL MIND. His taste in movies is impeccable, and there are few people whose approval I seek more. Bob is an insightful movie goer, one whose cinematic appreciation seems limitless. He pushes me to be a better blogger and always does so with a smile on his face.

Another source of great encouragement has been Blake from BITCHIN' FILM REVIEWS. He has constantly pushed me to get more and more involved with activities over at the LAMB. I am a better blogger for it, and through it have found a lot of the writing that I enjoy reading most. The guy is a great writer, has a fantastic attitude, and might well be the blogger I most want to go for a beer with.

One blog I look most forward to reading is M.Carter's blog M.CARTER @ THE MOVIES. She mixes her ideas well, always has something intelligent to say, and seems to turn the comment section of every post into an amazingly long discussion forum. Such activity is only possible when a writer engages with their readers, and in this way few bloggers spark interaction better than Carter herself. Her blog is an absolute joy to read...now maybe one day I'll find out what the "M" stands for.

My last award winner is a bit of a special case. It goes to Cheshire Cat of THE UNTEMPERED SCHISM. TUS is a Dr. Who blog, which has actually just started up...seems like an odd award recepient, right? Well the truth is that Cheshire has been one of my very best friends since we were kids, and has always been one of my most devoted readers. He's been there for me through thick and thin, and has pushed me to keep going many times when I felt like giving up. TUS marks his beginning on a passion-dedicated blog of his own, and I plan on making it my mission to be as supportive of him as he has been of me.

That about wraps it up folks. have a great weekend, and as always - thanks for reading.

"5 " (DGA Nominations Announced)

The Oscar race is quickly coming into focus with today's announcement of the Director's Guild of America award nominees. The shortlist for the DGA prize is as follows...

Quentin Tarantino: INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
James Cameron: AVATAR
Kathryn Bigelow: THE HURT LOCKER
Jason Reitman: UP IN THE AIR
Lee Daniels: PRECIOUS

What does this mean? Well since before Christmas, it has seemed that PRECIOUS, UP IN THE AIR, and HURT LOCKER had Best Picture Oscar nominations sewn up. This more or less cements those three. Likewise, it would be a huge shock if INGLORIOUS BASTERDS and AVATAR miss out on the BP ten. Both have prettymuch run the gauntlet in the award precursors. As for what the back five are in the Best Picture race, it's anyone's guess.

One last thing - the most interesting part of the DGA nominations? Quentin Tarantino getting nominated. It's interesting, because QT is not a DGA member! Gotta dig a guild recognizing like that!

Police Story (COP OUT Trailer)

It feels like it's been forever since I posted a trailer on this blog! What can I say - year end lists just take priority.

So Kevin Smith, remember him? I'll wager many of you tuned out from his View Askewniverse after DOGMA...maybe even after CHASING AMY. But the guy is still out there makin' movies, and he's got a new one coming out soon, and it's a buddy cop flick in the spirit of LETHAL WEAPON. Personally, I'm disappointed that he couldn't get away with his original title, A COUPLE OF DICKS, especially considering the eventual winner of a title...

Come On Closer (PGA Nominations Announced)

Today, the Producers Guild of America announced their award nominees. It's one of the last few precursors before the Oscar nominees get announced in February - indeed, by Sunday evening we should have an even clearer picture of it all. For now however, here's who the producers have chosen as the class of 2009...

UP

AVATAR

DISTRICT 9

AN EDUCATION

THE HURT LOCKER

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

INVICTUS

PRECIOUS

STAR TREK

UP IN THE AIR

Watch for further clarity when the DGA nominations are announced tomorrow.

How Soon is Now? (Top Five for 2010)

I suppose it's no surprise that for the last five days I've had that Death Cab For Cutie song playing in my head. Y'know the one? It starts off by saying quite plainly "...So this is the new year / But I don't feel any different...".

That line couldn't sum me up any better right now. Perhaps it's because I haven't been one to drop mad loot and get screaming drunk on December 31st for a good few years now. Mental note - go to a huge bash next year and see if it makes a difference.

Then again, it could be that for now, and for the next week or two I'll be catching up on a few 2009 movies before I can truly start to embrace 2010 at the movies. While '10 might have to wait a week or three, I'm actually quite looking forward to getting into it. However, I have to smile to myself when I consider what I'm looking forward to. See, it was this time last year that I rhymed off five flicks that had me hot and bothered. Now here we are twelve months later...one of the five sucked, three fell short of what I'd hoped they'd be, and one I haven't even seen yet!

Can 2010 be better? Hard to say, but these five at least give me something to look forward to...

Top Five Movies Hatter's Excited About for 2010

#5. SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD... Admit it - you're shocked that my list is starting with a comic book flick. That may or may not be, but I'm surprised myself that my list is starting with a Michael Cera movie. Believe me gang, this tale of a hipster trying to win a young lass' affections video game style will win you over. 'Course for me it gets an insane amount of bonus hype points for being set in my hometown. (August)

#4. SHUTTER ISLAND... It's strange that a film on this list has already disappointed me, but that is indeed the case with the next offering coming up from Saint Scorsese. While I'm quite happy that a film on this list will be up in a matter of weeks, I'm slightly bummed that it was pushed back from its October release date. Usually a delay in opening is reason to be concerned, however if THE ROAD taught me anything it's that sometimes there's just no explaining why we have to wait for the good stuff. (February)

#3. ALICE IN WONDERLAND... Shocked again, right? Seems like I've been getting little nibbles of this one for a good long time, but alas, it was only August that we got the first moving glimpse at what Tim Burton was going to Lewis Carroll's classic. Still not crazy about the look of The Mad Hatter, but I'm hoping it's a minor detail. (March)

#2. IRON MAN 2... Really? You want me to comment on this choice?? Okay, well let me see...how about...It's IRON MAN Fuckin' Two!!!!! Moving on. (May)

#1. INCEPTION... As I looked back on the decade recently, it dawned on me that Christopher Nolan has never steered me wrong. Thus, I almost need no further sell than his name to drop down my hard-earned loot. That might sound like blindly drinking the directorial kool-aid, but what can I say? If Nolan's attachment wasn't enough, we've got two mindbending teasers thus far and an absolutely stellar cast. Right this moment I know nothing of the plot, and if I can help it - it'll stay that way until opening night. (July)

Did I miss one? Feel free to leave comments with your own choices for can't wait movies of 2010, along with suggestions for the next top five.

Review: IT'S COMPLICATED * * 1/2

When the credits rolled on IT'S COMPLICATED, a thought came to my mind. It's the same thought I've been having every Thursday night at 10pm for the last three and a half years...

When the hell did Alec Baldwin get so friggin' good???

IT'S COMPLICATED is the story of The Adlers, Jake (Baldwin) and Jane (Meryl Streep). They have been separated for ten years, and he has even gone on to re-marry a much younger woman, Annalise (Blanchard Ryan). Everybody is brought back together when jake and Jack's youngest son graduates from university. During a night alone, Jane and Jake find that somewhere down deep the embers are still burning and steal away for a romp in the sack.

When they all head back home, we're led to wonder if things will go back to normal. Jane is busy running her restaurant, building an amazingly unnecessary extension on to her gargantuan house, and taking a slow shining to her architect Adam (Steve Martin). Jake meanwhile goes about his lawyerly ways, is trying to be a stepdad to Annalise's son Pedro, and even going about fertility tests.

Nope - none of this is enough to satisfy the Adlers, and indeed their affair continues. They aren't together, they both have interests in other people, they're having fun while it's happening, though they're desperate for their three kids and future son-in-law (John Krasinski) not to find out. Indeed...it's complicated.
As I mentioned earlier, Alec Baldwin is really the reason to see this film. He might actually be the only reason to see this movie. He has perfected a manner of delivery that finds the sweet spot between sincere and sarcastic, and as Jake he gets to put that talent to use time and time again. There are precious few 51 year-old actors who could actually say "O-M-G" out loud and not seem silly. Baldwin is one of the few. Both in his facial expressions and the playfulness he gives his dialogue, Baldwin gives what is a rather pedestrian plot a fighting chance.

Speaking of that plot, it felt stale early on and only got worse as time went on. The idea of divorcées finding out that there's still a spark after being apart for ten years is a pretty good idea. I have to wonder if the movie focused on just that relationship, and didn't distract from it with Steve Martin this movie might have worked better. Jake and Jane have a palpable chemistry, and already have to work around their children and his wife to have their trists. Giving Jane a boyfriend really only seemed to distract from the excitement.

Making matters worse is the fact that a big turning point in this little love triangle is fuelled by a marijuana high.

Really? People acting goofy after a few tokes?? That's the best we could do??? Alright...

In many ways, it's all downhill from there, which is unfortunate given how much fun I was having early on. The movie wastes all the goodwill it builds on all the stellar acting, and pushes us somewhere boring, stale, and ... by the time it's all over.

All told, I did like the movie, but by the slimmest of margins. Baldwin won me over, as did John Krasinski and Meryl Streep - who can seemingly do no wrong these days. While it's true that movies like IT'S COMPLICATED aren't my first choice, I wouldn't say that I'm above them, especially when they are done well. This particular comedy, aimed at a very specific demographic, is done "well enough"...but could have been done so much better. When the dust settles, Baldwin really saves writer/director Nancy Meyers bacon.

I hope she bought him a car to say thanks.

What did you think? Feel free to leave comments with any thoughts or reactions on IT'S COMPLICATED.

The Last DJ

Today, I Feel Like This...

I'm recording the next podcast tonight, looking to make it a tad interactive. Anyone got any questions, comments, concerns, ideas, etc they'd like to hear me mention?

Decade pt. xi ( Top Five 00's Movies - Best of The Decade )

So it's 2010 huh? Pardon my surliness, but didn't ya think the world would be a bit more futuristic by now? I mean, according to BACK TO THE FUTURE our cars should fly in six years. Anyone else think that ain't ever gonna happen.

Still we're turning a page...not only on a year but on an entire decade.

Life on this rock might have taken a bit of a dip in the last ten years, but at the movies, it seemed like we were treated to some truly intelligent and captivating movies. So much so, that whittling what we saw down to just five was actually a tad challenging!

So as hangovers subside and new possibilities abound, allow me a moment to conclude my look back at the ten years that have just past. I give you the conclusion to the Decade Series I've been working on since April...

Hatter's Top Five Films of the 00's

#5. THE HURT LOCKER (2009)... Yes, I'm bold enough to say that a film from this year will stand as one of the very best of the decade. Here's why: It will be impossible for us to look back on this decade without thinking of the war that cast a shadow over seven years of it.

This was a war unlike anything we'd ever seen, one where the motive was cloudy, disproven, and ultimately changed. A war where frontlines disappeared in short order making the mission that much more deadly. And a war where the enemy took on a very different camoflauged form.

Hollywood tried to tell stories from this conflict, but seemed to fall flat time and time again (LIONS FOR LAMBS, RENDITION). Then came THE HURT LOCKER...a smaller film with lesser-known actors, pinning the audience with tension right off the top by setting off a real explosive. From then on in, the danger was palpable - and terrifying. It's a sad look at the war that has defined this generation, and an unflinching tribute at some of the best soldiers who fought it.


#4. PAN'S LABYRINTH (2006)... Very few movies exist in a class all their own - even the three films I ranked higher than PAN'S on this list. However, when it comes to Guillermo del Toro's fanciful opus, it is quite literally peerless. With nearly 100 years of films behind us, such originality is rare and reason to take note.

The film takes us down a truly astonishing rabbit hole, where indeed every new step on the journey becomes curiouser and curiouser. I could list off the moments of this film that stood out for me as marvels of imagination and filmmaking, but then this post would go on until 2011. Just as much as the fanciful world of Ofelia's imagination delights and engages us, the harsh reality of Captain Vidal's unit fighting with what rebels remain terrifies and deeply upsets us. As one world creeps more and more into the other, we're left wanting to cover our eyes...but never daring to do so for fear of what we might miss.

In a decade where some of the very best foreign films didn't win Oscars, or weren't even eligible, this film not winning Best Foreign Film stands as the strangest mis-step of them all.


#3. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007)... Speaking of Oscar, every once in a while they get one right, and in 2007 the Best Picture winner actually was the best picture. When it came time to adapt one of Cormac McCarthy's greatest books, The Coen Brothers knew exactly how to adapt it best - they included everything. Every act of violence, every moment of stress, every ounce of dark humour. Having read the book before seeing the film, it felt like I'd just read a screenplay and not a novel.

Of course it would have all fallen to pot had it not been for Javier Bardem. As a film from my youth says, he's so evil that he's eee-villll ("like the fru-its of the de-villl..."). The man is stone cold, and almost always seems to wear an expression of twisted apathy. His eyes look like those of a shark, especially as he draws you into a game of chance for your life - a game that seems fair but isn't fair in any way.

The fear in this movie is palpable, and the bleakness of it is as stark as the Texas flats on which much of its opening is set. It gained a lot of notoriety for an ambiguous ending, but what many fail to realize os the fact that by the time we get to that scene, the story is already over. Its violence, wit, and helplessness seemed to sum up a lot of what the past ten years have been about.


#2. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004)... Charlie Kaufman can't possibly be human. Really - what mere mortal could imagine the worlds that he can? Who amoung us lowly pleebs could concieve of not only such quirkiness, but make it so beautiful and so heartbreaking too?? And as if Kaufman's vivid imagintaion wasn't enough to delight us all, he took his ideas and handed them over to director Michel Gondry who also tends to colour his movies with every crayon in the box.

When ETERNAL SUNSHINE was released, it felt as though Hollywood didn't really know what to do with it. It hit theatres in late March, and as some of you might have noticed - springtime at the cineplex feels like a walk through cinematic limbo. It's a collection of leftovers and holdovers...essentially movies that studios aren't all that passionate about. But in 2004, in the midst of all this dullness we were treated to not only the best film of the year, but one of the best of all time. Who knew?

Jim Carrey deserves a lot of credit here. He proved that his earlier foray into drama was no fluke and moved us with some of his most melancholy acting yet. Likewise Kate Winslet, who took a character that seems like a flake and turns her into the girl you really want to ask to coffee. Together they take us by the hand and lead us through the preposterous concept of selectively wiping our memory, and wandering through our own subconcious...and never for a moment do we not believe in it.


#1. GOODNIGHT AND GOOD LUCK (2005)... Not the textbook choice, right? Allow me to explain.

Some might have already forgotten, but for a good few years there it seemed very fashionable to question loyalty. As our world went into war, those who dared disagree were quickly branded as traitors. Leading the charge were many in the media, who had long since dropped the notion of an impartial fifth estate, and instead taken to becoming mouthpieces for world powers.

In the middle of this surrealism came George Clooney. Without leading a rally, and yelling into a mic, he gave us a reminder of a bygone era when patriotism was questioned. Without any character ever raising their voice, he gave moviegoers a clear argument as to why it is important to ask the toughest questions in the toughest times. The film reminded us, as Edward Murrow so eloquently said, that it is deeply important not to confuse disloyalty with dissent.

Likewise, Clooney and a stellar nuanced cast took us back to a time when the press stood for something. They were only interested in facts, covered the same amount of news in lower amount of hours, and even had the integrity to engage a leader many could see was in the wrong.

The issue of loyalty and of media integrity are two things that will always stick with me when I look back on this strange decade, and truly, no film summed them up better or classier than GOODNIGHT AND GOOD LUCK. So while there might have been a movie or two that I personally liked better, this is the movie I think is the best.

Epilogue: As I was compiling this series, someone actually asked me to rank my top 25 films of the decade. If anyone's interested, this is what I came up with when I took the fifty films named in this series, cut the list in half, and then ranked the remaining 25...

25. SHREK
24. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
23. MILLION DOLLAR BABY
22. ONCE
21. ALMOST FAMOUS
20. ADAPTATION
19. MYSTIC RIVER (Best of 03)
18. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
17. THE DIVING BELL & THE BUTTERFLY
16. MEMENTO
15. THE DARK KNIGHT
14. CHILDREN OF MEN
13. LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
12. THE SEA INSIDE
11. Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN
10. REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
9. TALK TO HER (Best of 02)
8. TRAFFIC (Best of 00)
7. MOULIN ROUGE! (Best of 01)
6. WALL-E (Best of 08)
5. THE HURT LOCKER (Best of 09)
4. PAN'S LABYRINTH (Best of 06)
3. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Best of 07)
2. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Best of 04)
1. GOODNIGHT AND GOOD LUCK (Best of 05)

Did I miss one? Feel free to leave comments with your own favorite movies from 2000's, along with suggestions for the next top five.