Mary Poppins

Release date: 27 August 1964 (Los Angeles, California)

Any movie that can take a word like 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' and turn it into a song is a fine movie indeed (with thanks to the music writing duo Richard and Robert Sherman). Directed by Robert Stevenson, who must surely have been one of Disney's longest serving directors, this fantasy story stars Dick Van Dyck as Bert (the film's storyteller of sorts), Julie Andrews as the most practically perfect Nanny ever, and David Tomlinson as Mr. Banks, the father of Jane and Michael Banks. While a children's movie at heart, the movie's central message is really targeted to adults. In this case, George Bank's slow realisation that his children, not his job, are the most important thing in his life. Tomlinson is perfect in this film, and the spot-on acting of Van Dyck and Andrews (as a sterner version of Maria from Sound of Music), not to mention the special effects team who married live action with animation some fortyfive plus years ago, make the film beautiful and rich to watch.

My rating 7 out of 10.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Release date: 16 December 1968 (London, UK)

Released in 1968, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang remains to this day a children's 'cult classic'. The film stars Dick Van Dyck as Professor Potts and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious and is based on the book written by - of all people - Ian Fleming (of James Bond fame). The incredible Roald Dahl prepared the screenplay and brothers Richard and Robert Sherman did the music. The story is a fable of sorts guided through a story Professor Potts tells to the children whilst picnicking on the beach. Like the Wizard of Oz, where reality stops and starts is left up to the viewer, despite the wavy screen action that occurs when Baron Bomburst's ship appears in the harbour. While the film was wildly over-budget, it received good reviews from all corners (Hollywood excepted, but Hollywood rarely knows a good movie when it see it!). And while Chitty Chitty is not a great movie by any standards, the acting is solid, the music delightful and catchy (if difficult to actually sing - try singing "Me Ol' Bamboo" one day), and the pure joy it brings in watching it again, proves its staying power as a classic.

My rating 7 out of 10.

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

Release date: 25 April 2008 (USA)

John Cho and Kal Penn return to their Harold and Kumar roles in this lowbrow and tasteless comedy, directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. The problem with this road trip is its tastelessness. In particular, Guantanamo Bay is still too fresh a subject to be mocking, and using it as the basis for the film is just plain weak script writing. Cho and Penn are still as great as the potheads for sure but the film isn't as fresh as its original. Neil Patrick Harris plays himself and the adventures the lads take with him are the highlight of the film. The love story, such as it is, was well done and it's unfortunate there couldn't have be more love, and less rude and lewd.

My rating 5 out of 10.

Ironman

Release date: 2 May 2008 (Canada)

The latest Marvel Comics superhero to make his screen debut is "Ironman". Robert Downy Jr. makes a triumphant return to his (almost) derailed career starring as Tony Stark, the arms manufacturer who has a revelation (courtesy of some nasty Afghan warlords), and resolves to undo the harm his weapons have wreaked. It's a classic premise and in the hands of director Jon Favreau, it is brilliantly done. A bald Jeff Bridges is great as the bad guy and (sigh) Gwyneth Paltrow is as lovely as ever playing Stark's version of Batman's butler, Pepper Potts. The film is great thanks to a perfectly conceived script and writing that builds the story patiently. It is full of superhero action, a well tensioned romantic angle between Downy and Paltrow, and Downy's portrayal of Starck's transformation is just plain (and subtlety) gorgeous to watch. This film is winner on every level and will certainly birth many Ironman sequels.

My rating 9 out 10.

All Together Now

Release date: unknown

Adrian Wills directs what is essentially a 90 minute commercial for both the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil's newest show, LOVE. But even knowing that going in is fine as I'm a fan of Cirque, and their marriage of the Beatles music with their performance art makes for a joyous, sentimental ride. Along the way we get to see Yoko (who I suspect must be very challenging to work alongside), Paul, Ringo and George Harrison's widow collaborating on the project and the 5th Beatle, George Martin, continuing to work his magic. Sir George says it best: that each generation discovers the Beatles in their own way. Certainly LOVE will continue this tradition. All Together Now is beautiful and well worth seeing if you're a fan of either the Beatles or Cirque. I suspect it will bring a tear to your eye.

My rating 10 out of 10.

Carny

Release date: unknown

Based on the photographs of Virginia lee Hunter in her book, Carny: Americana on the Midway, director Alison Murray shows us the odd yet lyrical stories of carnies she captured after her year and a half on the road with them. The result immediately confirmed my long held view on these strange/scary people (take your pick) but did temper it with an understanding of their lives and choices. Carnies are, in a fashion, America's gypsies. Struggling day-to-day on next to nothing, and often fleeing something in their pasts, these unique people find acceptance in the company of similar souls. Carnies, while odd, are no different than the rest of us in seeking love and acceptance as they strive to live their version of the American dream.

My rating 7 out of 10.

Murphy's Law

Release date: 19 April 2008 (Toronto, Canada)

Chris Murphy, a York University film student, turned his camera on his own family in this short documentary about fathers and sons. Chris acts a voyeur filming his drug addicted/school dropout brother in conversations about life and responsibility with his father, who does a great job upholding the image of Canada Post workers as slightly, well, eccentric. The result is a good first film though, frankly, I don't believe it is a documentary. While I do subscribe to the Rimbaud philosophy that the only unbelievable thing is that nothing is unbelievable, this family dynamic is just too darn strange not to have had parts scripted.

My rating 6 out of 10.

Second Skin

Release date: 7 March 2008 (USA)

Directed by Juan Carlos Pineiro, Second Skin shows us the world of MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) games like World of Warcraft, Second Life and EverQuest and the addictions they can spawn. Eighty percent of players are between the ages of 20-35 and many are obese. The result of playing games in some cases for up to 13-15 hours a day! We see gamers who end up living commune-like so they can play. We see gamers who end up meeting and falling in love with other gamers they only ever met virtually. We see gamers who's passion has slipped into addiction to the point where they've lost everything. Along the way, we see college professors speak about what it means to the 'real' world when people retreat to a 'virtual' one to form friends and families. We see the 'gold' factories in China where young kids work for next to nothing to gain gold which is then traded for more status within the gaming world. MMOs are truly spawning a world within a world that we all will have to deal with as surely as we have to deal with gambling/alcohol addictions.

My rating 7 out of 10.

The Bourne Ultimatum

Release date: 25 July 2007 (Los Angeles, USA)

Paul Greengrass returns to direct part three of the Jason Bourne saga with Matt Damon in the starring role again. In this version, we see Jason going back to his roots, so to speak, to discover who birthed him into the covert killer he is. Turns out it is no one less then Albert Finney. Joan Allen, as Pamela Landy, is also back covertly helping Jason get to the root of his programming. This film is taunter and tighter than the lost-in-the-wilderness ride that was Bourne 2 and is a thoroughly good ride from its shakey-camera-action start to its neatly stitched-up conclusion, floating body and all.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Sicko

Release date: 19 May 2007 (Cannes Film Festival)

Michael Moore's latest opus concerns America's sad healthcare system and the crazy truth that American HMOs are more concerned with making money than in helping American's live healthy lives. Done in his usual one-man-strikes-up-a-conversation style, it is simultaneously funny and sad. Moore uses some great visuals to illustrate just how crazy the American system is. To note but two: 1) Moore shows us the list of medical exclusions insurance companies use to deny your claim as a rolling screen alla the opening of Star Wars, complete with music; and, 2) Moore's use of dollar figure bubbles that follow American politicians as they march into Congress to sign a new Seniors drug bill. These pieces are funny (in a sorrowful way) and very effective. In what is surely the most shocking note, Moore shows us the endgame of all American insurances companies, which is: to deny every claim. Such a culture is bred to the point where doctors and HMO staff actually get bonuses based on the number of denials they produce. Now that's sick.

For showing us both how lucky we are to be Canadians, and how important it is never to turn your head and cough while in America, my rating 8 out of 10.

Superbad

Release date: 17 August 2007 (Canada)

Directed by Greg Mottola, Superbad is a super funny look back at your teenage summer before college when it was all about booze and getting laid. Enter three misfit lads, geeky Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), joker Seth (Jonah Hill) and nice-boy-next-door Evan (the always great Michael Cera, most recently of Juno fame). When the threesome get an invite to a party where all three hope to hookup with the girls of their dreams (ideally, drunk) the fun begins, with Fogell's fake Hawaiian ID starting the adventure. More than an coming of age story, Superbad weaves a great story of friends and the nature of friendship when guys are teens and won't dare admit just how much they 'love' (in a nonsexual way) their best friends. Ripe with racy dialogue, a great performance (which he'll likely never top) by Fogell, and an embarrassing (if true?) portrayal of cops, Superbad is a rare teen sexploitation movie that is simultaneously funny and truly heartwarming.

My rating a solid 9 out of 10.

Shaolin Soccer

Release date: 12 July 2001 (Hong Kong)

Irreverent best describes this classic kung fu meets soccer meets the Matrix film, directed by (and starring) Stephen Chow. Shaolin Soccer won a slew of top honours at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2001, and deservedly so. The story is a way-over-the-top one of silliness involving a young shaolin kung fu student (Chow) looking to spread the kung fu philosophy. When he runs into a former soccer star (and his five buddies), a plot is set to reunite the now retired team and bring it to greatest against "Team Evil" and thus spread shaolin kung fu philosophy to people everywhere. While that sounds ridiculous - and it is - you'll just smile and laugh your way through all 2 hours. It's truly a kick.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Release date: 12 June 2007 (Lonodon, UK)

Not a quarter as good as the original, Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer brings together the same group of b-stars (Chris Evans, she-who-can't-act, Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd and Michael Chiklis) with director Tim Story. The premise is a silly story of a planet-eating evil entity that's heading to earth to chowdown. He's drawn there by the good-alien-caught-in-a-bad-situation known as the Silver Surfer, and more so by his supercharged silver surfboard. No, I am not making this up! Worse yet, Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic are getting married. Sigh. While director Story is still able to play the Fantastic Four genre with tongue-in-cheek fun, the story and we've-seen-it-all-before bits between Human Torch and The Thing and the reappearance of Dr. Doom, make this effort more tedious than terrific.

My rating 4 out of 10.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Release date: 19 March 2004 (USA)

The film won a deserved Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 2004 and tells the fascinating story of Joel Barish (played by Jim Carrey) as he undergoes a targeted memory erasure procedure to rid his mind of his girlfriend, Clementine (played by Kate Winslet) after they have a particularly nasty fight. As such, much of the movie plays in Joel's mind as Clementine is slowly excised from his memory. However, what makes the movie really connect is when Joel realizes - mid-procedure - just how much he truly loves Clementine and tries to stop her demise by taking her to fictitious locations they never visited in 'real' life in hopes of keeping her alive in some sense. Director Michel Gondry does a fabulous job portraying what might happen in our minds as memories are erased, and the supporting cast of Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, the ever brilliant Tom Wilkinson and Mark Ruffalo give us a believable, if wonky, story in the 'real' world while Joel fights the battle in his mind. That all said, the movie is ponderous, there is no real erotic connection between Carrey and Winslet to make you feel moved by what's happening, and the film is muddled (but perhaps that's the point when it comes to memory erasure?). While a great film from the 'what-if' point of view (i.e., what if we could erase the memories of those we love[d]), the film fails to deliver any emotional home-run ... and is, like its title riffed from Alexander Pope's poem, forgetful.

My rating for the 'what-if' factor solely, 5 out of 10.

Kizuna 1

Release date: 12 August 1994 (Japan)

This Japanese manga, originally written by Kazuma Kodaka back in 1994, is now ten volumes long (volumes 1-8 are available in English as of this year by Be Beautiful). Manga is often difficult to translate to film and Kizuna is no exception to this rule, simply because the richness of the comic and characters is hard to capture in a anime film of 35-odd minutes. The story - somewhat sensational originally due to its blatant homosexual content - concerns two gay lovers, Kei and Ranmaru who first meet in middle school. Lots of drama ensues: Ranmaru saves Kei's life, and ends his kendo career, by pushing him out of the way of a yakuza hitman's car; Kei's half brother, Kai, appears full of rage at Kei for being in love with Ranmaru, whom he idolizes; Kei discovers he is tied to a history of yakuza bosses, etc, etc. The series is well made in typical anime style, with some bullet time and black and white thrown in. While not for everyone, granted, and with a PG rating for the frank sexual scenes, Kizuna will appeal to manga fans and the large corps of folks out there who love Japanese anime culture.

My rating 6 out of 10.

Requiem for a Dream

Release date: 14 May 2000 (Cannes Film Festival)

Requiem for a Dream is a tome poem movie based on the theme of addiction in its various forms - drugs, television, family, fame, hope; most especially hope. Starring Ellen Burstyn (as Sara Goldfarb), Jared Leto (as Harry, her son) and Jennifer Connelly (as Marion Silver, Harry's cocaine addled girlfriend), the film is based on Hubert Selby, Jr's novel. Caught in a decaying Brighton Beach, these three - and Harry's friend Tyrone (played by Marlon Wayans) - quest after their American dreams while saddled by their addiction: diet pills, heroin and cocaine. What results is an excellent drug movie brutally showing the abyss addiction lead addicts to the edge of, and eventually into. It makes for tough viewing but director Darren's Aronofsky's use of what I call MTV directing (1000s of cuts) works well. Burstyn is simply excellent and received a deserved Oscar nomination for her role in 2001. While Aronofsky's six year break in film-making did not serve him well (witness his ridiculous, wandering tome on existence, The Fountain, in 2006), Requiem gives you an example of director in fine form and a very sobering look at the horror addiction wields over hope.

My rating 7 out of 10.

The Quiet American

Release date: 7 February 2003 (Canada)

Based on the Graham Greene novel and directed by Philip Noyce, The Quiet American is an excellent study of Vietnam and Saigon circa 1952 when the French were the colonial masters while the Americans played a covert game of cat and mouse in what was the prelude to the Vietnam War. London Times correspondent Thomas Fowler (played with Oscar-nominated panache by Michael Caine) reports on the day-to-day turmoil and intrigue until all is thrown into a tizzy with the arrival of the quiet American, Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser) who quickly challenges Fowler for his Vietnamese mistress Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen). In this mix, Fowler's eyes are opened to the real work of Pyle and faces the moral quagmire of having to chose a side which ultimately leads to murder. A super film to watch unfold with a great ending and one of a few rare examples of an excellent novel turned into as good a movie.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Transformers

Release date: 22 June 2007 (London)

Based on the wildly successful line of action figures, show and comic book series, Transformers is directed by Michael Bay and stars Shia LeBeouf (doing the formulamatic acting that is his style) Megan Fox and John Voight. It pits the good Autobots against the nasty Decepticons (a race of intelligent aliens who can morph into pretty much anything you want). I'll spare you the story here ... a convoluted adventure involving Shia's character's grandfather digging up bad Transformer Megatron and a hunt for the Allspark. Read the comics instead. As to the movie though, I liked this silly flick. And while it certainly is too long by 30 minutes, I had fun on the ride and laughed out loud several times. If you suspend reality going in, you'll enjoy the transformation.

My rating 7 out of 10.

1408

Release date: 22 June 2007 (USA)

Not all Stephen King's short stories translate well to the big screen and if you want one example, look no further than 1408. Directed by Mikael Hafstrom and starring John Cusack, it tells the story a skeptical haunted house chronicler's run-in with 'real' ghosts in the notorious Room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel in New York City. It's too smart by half and too long by, well, an hour (scary itself when it only runs 104 mins; 112 in the directors cut version). Noting I was actually watching this movie in a hotel (W-Montreal), I was neither scared nor entertained. That said, the film would have made a great Twilight Zone episode.

My rating 4 out of 10.

Evan Almighty

Release date: 22 June 2007 (USA)

Sure it starred Steve Carrol and Morgan Freemen (as God, for heaven's sake) but not even God could save this embarrassing example of Hollywood schlock. Miserably stupid and thoroughly bad, it is a waste of everyone's time and energy.

Being kind to God and the cutesy animals in the flick, my rating 1 out of 10.

The Painted Veil

Release date: 20 December 2006 (New York City, USA)

Directed by John Curran and starring uber-actor Edward Norton and Naomi Watts, The Painted Veil - based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham - tells the 'love' story of Walter Fane (Norton) and his cheating wife Kitty (Watts) as they battle cholera in China in the 1920s. When Fane discovers Kitty's infidelity, he accepts a position in a remote Chinese village and drags her along just to be spiteful. However, what ensues in the closeness of a cholera village and amid the dying bodies is a new understanding and love for each other. While the story seems a tad farfetched, the strong acting of Watts and Norton, and the breathtaking scenery (shot by cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh)) make this film worth a watch.

My rating 7 out of 10.

Zodiac

Release date: 2 March 2007 (Canada)

Directed by David Fincher and starring a post-Brokeback Mountain star, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downy Jr and Brian Cox, Zodiac is based on the true story of a serial killer who terrorised the San Francisco Bay area in the 1970s. Downy gives a great performance as an-over-the-top, drugged-out reporter. However, his performance is not enough to save this film from its ever so slow pacing and the fact it's too smart by half. A whack of editing may have helped certainly, as we didn't need to have every clue, every discovered rehashed in a movie that's trying to build some tension. I think ultimately where this film fails is not knowing its starting point: was Fincher trying to do a thriller? A bio-op alla In Cold Blood? Or something in between.

For failing to deliver on what could have been a very good film, my rating 5 out of 10.

There Will Be Blood

Release date: 10 December 2007 (New York City, USA)

Wow! Well, what can you say about this Oscar-nominated movie but, wow. The film is a 2:40 glimpse into the mind of a seemingly good guy oilman (played by Daniel Day Lewis), who, over the course of the film reveals his truly ugly, sickening colours and, in doing so, ends up a hollow, evil skeleton of a man. As you watch his descent over the movie into the pure evil creature he is, you're struck by the strangeness of it all, sure; but more by the knowledge - sadly - that people like Daniel Plainview exist even today. There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece for sure and kudos to Paul Thomas Anderson's directing and Lewis' bravado acting. The film's ending is appropriate for its sadness, sadism and leaving us all to wonder, why? With this and No Country for Old Men, I'm stumped on Best Picture this year.

My rating 10 out of 10.

Mongol

Release date: 10 August 2007 (Vyborg Russian Cinema Festival)

Sergei Bodrov directs this historical epic of Genghis Khan (the early years) starting way back in circa 1206 when the great khan was nothing more than a wee lad named Temudjin. Mongol is Russia's entry as Best Foreign Language Film in this year's Academy Awards, and, from the great, sweeping story (think Dr. Zhivago without the melodrama), simply gorgeous cinematography (with dibs to Rogier Stoffers and Sergei Trofimov) and perfect performances from Tadanobu Asano (as Temudjin, aka Genghis Kkan), Khulan Chuluun (as Borte, his wife), and especially Hong-lei Sun (as Temudjin's friend/nemesis, Jamukha), this film is definitely Oscar-worthy. And while a great, entertaining story, Genghis in this version is a little too zen, if you will, for my liking. In addition, the version I watched suffered from a Tower of Babel syndrome where I viewed english subtitles with mongolian and mandarin speaking-actors and a quieter Russian voice over that was thoroughly distracting.

All in all for showing us one man's glimpse at one of history's greatest conquerers, my rating of 8 out of 10.

Atonement

Release date: 29 August 2007 (Venice Film Festival)

As a story outlining the awful things that happen when we bear false witness, Atonement is brilliant. As a medium to giving Ian McEwan's masterful novel a visual context, Atonement is also brilliant. What I found most interesting about the film, however, is its 'craft'. Atonement is an over-directed film. Every scene is so competent and perfect; every 't' crossed, every 'i' dotted. And while that makes for a velvety, rich, beautiful movie, it also hinders its ability to come across as real. And that's where Atonement ultimately fails. Directed by Joe Wright and starring Keira Knightley as Celia and James McAvoy as her doomed lover, Robbie, Atonement plays like a good Masterpiece Theatre drama. Kudos to Christopher Hampton (Quiet American, Total Eclipse) for his excellent work taking a complex novel to a screenplay and to Dario Marionelli for his perfect original score.

For giving us an example of how to transition a novel from page to screen and for reinventing the Merchant-Ivory genre, my rating 7 out of 10.

Michael Clayton

Release date: 31 August 2007 (Venice Film Festival)

The ever-pretentious George Clooney stars as Michael Clayton, a gambling addicted lawyer who stumbles into the truth behind a multimillion dollar settlement his firm is negotiating after the lead lawyer, a manic-depressive Arthur Edens (played with over-the-top gusto by Tom Wilkinson), suffers a nervous breakdown. Caught between his duty to the firm and the truth Edens has uncovered, Clayton is forced to chose which truth to follow; all the while being tapped and hunted (and eventually targeted for assassination) by the litigator (Tilda Swinton) of the very company, U/North, his firm is working for. Michael Clayton is a soft thriller built in the Silkwood/Pelican Brief vein. Tony Gilroy of the Bourne films directs with a steady hand bringing just enough life to Clooney to actually make you want to know how it all ends. Oscar-worthy yes; for bringing us a thriller that is both tight and intelligent.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Juno

Release date: 1 Sept 2007 (Telluride Film Festival)

This film was written by a lass named Diablo Cody, which is an odd name granted but a perfect name for the writer of this quirky film built on the Little Miss Sunshine model. Directed by Jason Reitman and starting Ellen Page, it follows the pregnancy of 16-year-old Juno from conception to birth. While its all very well done, it is not certainly not Oscar-worthy. Juno is chock-a-block full of odd characters, living odd lives but remains real at its core - in a Ferris Bueller's Day Off sort of fashion. Page is hands-down the best thing in this movie (as she was in her debut film, Hard Candy, which is worth a watch if only to see a completely different side of her). The transition to the animated credits is also worth a shout-out.

For taking the delicate subject of teen pregnancy and casting it in a refreshing, non-moralistic light, my rating of 7 out of 10.

Breach

Release date: 16 February 2007

While Chris Cooper gives a great performance in this movie based on the true story of the American FBI computer guru, Robert Hanssen, who sold secrets to the Russians for years, I found this movie (yawn) boring. It is capably directed by Billy Ray in a tight, mechanical sort of way and co-stars Ryan Phillippe who's basically there to look pretty and provide some reason for a story. It's proof spy thrillers do need a dead body or three to make things interesting. Hanssen, apparently, in real life was as flat and boring as you see him in the movie, and that, coupled with Ray's decision to film everything in varying shades of greys, doesn't make for much excitement. All that aside, Cooper does a fine job showing us the eccentricity of a supposedly 'good' guy gone bad, even though Ray never let's us understand why he did it.

My rating 5 out of 10.

The Fountain

Release date:4 September 2006 (Venice Film Festival)

Oh boy. Where to start with director Darren Aronofsky's latest work? The films stars Aronofsky's fiance, Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman and moves amid three stories. In the first we have a 16th century Spanish conquistador named Tomas (Jackman) searching for the Tree of Life (that famous tree that Eve plucked the apple from only to have us all fall from Grace). In the second, Thomas (Jackman) is a modern-day scientist trying to find a cure for his terminally-ill wife, Izzy (Weisz) and doing all sorts of odd experiments on a monkey. And a third where Jackman is now a Buddha-like character living in a bubble containing the tree of life. Did I just type that?... In short, while the visuals in the film are gorgeous, the convoluted, pretentious story, ponderous dialogue, and frankly, stupid (yes, stupid) Zen-bit at the end where Aronofsky is trying to achieve his own screen immortality alla Stanley Kubrick in 2001: A Space Odyssey fails miserably. And that is probably the best buzzline for this plodding, sorry film: miserable.

My rating 2 out of 10.

No Country for Old Men

Release date: 19 May 2007 (Cannes Film Festival)

This is the Coen brothers latest opus based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. While many viewers will see the rather simple story (brilliantly told) of a rancher who stumbles across dead bodies, a stash of heroin and $2 million dollars in the vast spaces of Texas, the beneath-the-surface stories woven amid this main theme make No Country for Old Men one of the greatest American films in some time. Violent, vastly strange, funny and oh-so-subtle in its messaging about America in her current state, the film is as close to an American masterpiece as you can get. The film stars Javier Bardem (as Anton Chigurh, the creepiest serial killer you'll meet in sometime), Woody Harrelson, Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones, all perfectly cast; especially Bardem who should get an Oscar for his role. The Coen's editing and framing of each scene is, in a word, magnificent. In particular I was mesmerized by the scene at the motel in El Paso where Brolin chats to the sunbathing girl at the pool, and the encounter our villain Chigurh has with the gas station attendant near the beginning of the film. While many folks will see these two scenes as simple, and perhaps boring, they are two of the most perfect examples of perfect film-making in some time.

My rating 10 out of 10.

Blades of Glory

Release date: 30 March 2007 (Canada)

Will Ferrell and Jon Heder star in this irreverent tale of two single men's figure skating champions who team up as a couple in a pairs competition. Will Speck and Josh Gordon direct this madcap caper that has plenty of laugh-out-loud scenes. As a satire of the figure skating world in America is doesn't quite hit the mark, partly because the figure skating world in America is so befuddled and amusing in itself. That aside, the sheer silliness and zaniness of the film and Ferrell's subtle knack of knowing just how far to go with his usual shtick make this film an amusing ride for a Saturday night after one too many glasses of chardonnay.

My rating 7 out of 10.

3:10 To Yuma

Release date: 6 September 2007 (Russia)

Ah, westerns, gotta love them. Despite our perception this is a dying genre, it has been a big year for them with: 3:10 To Yuma, No Country for Old Men, Sukiyaki Western Django and The Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford. Initially, you would think casting an Englishman and a Kiwi in an American Western would be a recipe for disaster but with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in the saddles, damn, it works well. The film is based on the short story by Elmore Leonard, and is a remounting of the 1957 film. The 2007 version has James Mangold directing and it's a romp-roaring ride. Poor Dan Evans (Bale) sees himself caught up in escorting the mean and murderous outlaw Ben Wade (Crowe) with a ragtag group of marshals and deputies (and eventually his son) to the railway town of Contention so Wade can be put on the 3:10 train to Yuma for his hanging. That is essentially the plot but, of course, there's a whole lot more going on here ... all of it brilliantly done. This is Crowe's movie for sure and his self-deprecating approach to playing Ben Wade is a joy to watch. Long live the westerns!

My rating 9 out of 10.

Happy Together (aka Chun gwong cha sit)

Release date: 17 May 1997 (Cannes Film Festival)

While I do adore director Wong Kar-wai's work immensely, his 1997 'classic' Happy Together is more a miss than a hit for me. Gay lovers Lai Yiu-Fai (Tony Leung) and Ho Po-Wing (the late Leslie Cheng) head to Argentina from pre-reunion Hong Kong to try and rekindle their failing relationship by visiting the beautiful Iguaza Falls. On the ride there, however, the two argue and break-up setting the stage for the 2 hours that follow as the couple alternate between violent abuse of each other to reuniting to breaking apart again. On the surface, how two men who fight continually can possibly be 'happy together' remains a mystery. The deeper plotline though deals with the ties we create through intimacy with another human, and how those ties are challenged by the baggage, history and natural inclinations we bring as we enter and move through a relationship. Ho is destructive by his nature and adverse to commitment; Lai, nurturing, kind and forgiving. The themes are universal. Where Happy Together fails for me is not so much in the actors, but with the direction. Wong Kar-wai films the story as though it's a music video and while I get what he's trying to do contrasting the men and their histories with the heat and passion of Latin America, I found the juxtaposition too forced.

That said, for its visual feast and assault on the senses and the brilliant acting of two of China's greatest modern day actors, my rating of 7 out of 10.

Away From Her

Release date: 27 April 2007 (UK)

Based on Alice Munroe's short story, "The Bear Came Over The Mountain", this Sarah Polley directed film deals with the story of Fiona (played by the immortally beautiful Julie Christie) and her husband of 44 years, Grant (played oh-so-well by Canadian Gordon Pinsent) as they struggle with Fiona's slide into Alzheimers disease. Within 2 hours Polley reflects on two of life's greatest themes woven beautifully together on several levels. There is a story of loss: the loss of memory, of connections; of partners; and of love. And the greater story of the endurance of love in our golden years and what it means in letting go, in moving on, and in looking back. Olympia Dukakis (as Marian) and Michael Murphy (as Aubrey) give great supporting acting roles as well, and I suspect this film will see Oscar nominations in a month's time.

For perfect performances and showing us retirees as real people, my rating of 8 out of 10.

300

Release date: 9 March 2007 (Canada)

Bloody, sweeping, fascinating (from the motion picture making point of view), and, while historically inaccurate on several levels, 300 is one bold, beautiful movie. I loved it. Directed by Zack Synder and starring a beefed-up and digitally morphed cast of Gerard Butler (as King Leonidas), Domenic West (as Theron) and Lena Headey (as the movie's token female, Queen Gorgo), 300 is graphic novelist's Frank Miller's version of the Spartan's stand against the Persian King, Xerxes, at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE (as done by Hollywood). Shot entirely in bluescreen then digitally enhanced, the film is easily the most original thing - visually - seen this last year. And while it is an archetypal example of style over substance ... my-gawd, such style.

My rating 9 out of 10.

Vacancy

Release date: 20 April 2007 (USA)

This film was good. I say that to start as I wasn't expecting it to be good. I was expecting a horrid little horror full of torture and blood. What I got, instead, was a tongue-in-cheek thriller that was variously funny, suspenseful, engaging and - well - good. Whether or not Director Nimrod Antal planned that or not is another matter. Vacancy stars Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale as David and Amy Fox, a bickering couple who find themselves overnighting at a strange motel in the middle of nowhere when their car breaks down. When David turns on the TV in their motel room to watch a video, he realizes to his horror that the snuff/slasher video he is watching was filmed in the very room he's in. What ensures is a game of cat and mouse as David and Amy try to escape the motel with creepy frontdesk man, Mason (played brilliantly by Frank Whaley) in pursuit. Vacancy never takes itself too seriously, and is more fright and jump then slash and gore, and that's what makes it work.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Turistas

Release date: 1 December 2006 (USA)

An absolute wreck of a movie. Horrible in every sense: the "acting"; the horrific story (involving a sick Brazilian doctor who entraps western tourists in his remote jungle home only to harvest their organs for in-need Brazilians); the formalistic directing; and worse, the fact the film seems to take itself so seriously. I'm actually loathe to bother writing a review except to say avoid! This obscene film should be censored and every copy ever made burned.

My rating 0 out of 10.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Release date: 25 May 2007 (USA)

Well, here we have part three of this adventure. How writers Elliot and Rossio are able to squeeze yet one more story out of a storyline that was essentially done after movie one is beyond me. In this latest (and please Lord, final) installment of the Jack Sparrow adventure directed by Gore Verbinski, the usual crew of pirates and such (Depp, Bloom, Rush and Knightley) must face the combined forces of Davey Jones and Lord Cutler Beckett in a battle to end all battles (yeah, right). After releasing Sparrow from Davey Jone's Locker, the nine Pirate Lords meet to decide whether or not to release Calypso (who has been played ever-so-well by Naomie Harris) who may then aid their cause. All manner of this and that occurs as the Pirates gather and then all's well that ends well ... or gawd, I hope so. The first movie of this installment is still the best but bully on Disney for continuing to draw dollars out of our pockets .... that studio is the ultimate pirate ... and there's the rub on this franchise.

My rating 5 out of 10.

Fahrenheit 9/11

Release date: 17 May 2004 (Cannes Film Festival)

It's interesting to watch Michael Moore doing his usual shtick - this time with Geroge W Bush, September 11 and the invasion of Iraq on his mind - six years after the events and 3 years after its premiere at Cannes. He meticulously lays out Bush's illegal seizure of the Presidency thanks to corruption in Florida, his panache for holidaying, his connections to the Saudis and Bin Laden, and his inept ploys (which Americans for the most part swallowed) that led the US off the hunt for Bin Laden and on to a crusade against Iraq to keep his oil friends on side. Moore's obviously dislike of Bush aside, the film makes for compelling viewing, though feels dated now since much of what he alleged in 2004 is known to be fact today. The best part of Moore's film, simultaneously brilliant and disturbing, are the slow motion clips of Bush being told (in Sarasota) that America was under attack on the morning of September 11th. Never has a president looked more ridiculous then in those few minutes of film. Never has a president looked more dumb and useless.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Disturba

Release date: 4 April 2007 (USA)

D.J. Caruso directs this very good, very fun and occasionally very creepy homage to Hitchcock's Rear Window, updated to the suburbs and the world of 2007. Disturbia stars Shia LeBeouf as Kale, a messed up teenager confined to home via electronic monitoring after assaulting his Spanish teacher. When his mom (Carrie-Ann Moss) disconnects his Xbox, email and TV, Kale takes to watching his neighbours to pass his 3-month sentence. In the process of spying, he comes across new girl on the block, Ashley (Sarah Roemer) and a creepy neighbour Robert (played by David Morse), whom he starts to suspect is a serial killer. What makes this film interesting is despite the fact you know what's going to happen, you continue to watch, and more, feel a connection to the characters (Carrie-Anne Moss aside). Kudos to Caruso's direction and the acting for this. And while there's plenty of holes and leaps-of-faith in the storyline, the ride makes it all worth it. Caruso does a great job giving us a tongue-in-cheek updating of Hitchcock's classic and will make you take a look at the teenagers and neighbours in your own quiet suburbia in a different light.

My rating 8 out of 10.

The Kite Runner

Release date: 5 October 2007 (Scottsdale International Film Festival)

Based on the wildly popular novel by Khaled Hosseini that everyone in the world - save me - has read, The Kite Runner is one-third a remounting of Annie (set in Afghanistan), one-third an episode of 24, and one-third The Pianist. Unfortunately, collectively these thirds don't amount to much of a movie. At its core, The Kite Runner is a film about the ties that bind us all - ties of culture, of family, of duty. The strength in this movie is its opening third. The filming, the story and the acting of the boys Amir (Zekeria Ebrahimi) and his best friend, the son of his father's servant, Hassen (Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) are great. The story and acting slip however - moving from what could have been profound into mere sentimentality - as the movie moves to America and Amir realizes he has a debt to pay to his childhood friend and half-brother by returning to the Taliban-controlled Kabul to rescue his nephew. Homayon Ershadi, as Amir's father, is outstanding, especially when he moves to America. The real challenge with the film is that it suffers a 'you-can-see-it-all-coming-miles-away' problem. When Amir carves the letters in the pomegranate tree with Hassen as children, we just know we'll be revisiting that tree later in the film when Amir returns during the Taliban regime. So who's to blame? The writer or the director? ...

For showing us what Afghanistan used to be like (and hopefully will one day be again), and for conveying the hope all immigrants have when leaving what they know for any new country to start again, my rating 5 out of 10.

The Descent

Release date: 11 March 2005 (Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Films)

Neil Marshall, who directed the excellent, cheeky horror, Dog Soldiers, takes a stab (pardon the pun) at a gaggle of gals who meet gruesome ghouls while spelunking ... and doesn't quite pull it off. Marshall kicks off the film with the death of lead character Sarah's husband that is supposed to have us identify with her loss (it doesn't) and provide the thread on which to construct the caving story that ensues (it does ... though poorly). It also provides Sarah's daughter, little Jessica, some reason to constantly appear (dreamlike) wearing a pretty dress and blowing out birthday cake candles (like huh?!). While you have to give prompts to Marshall for the filming here (there's some great scenes in very tight corners), the ghouls when then finally arrive are just Nosferatu knockoffs. What floored me was Marshall's decision to have Sarah turn vigilante at the end. (Spoiler alert) ... the scene where Sarah hobbles Juno on suspicion she purposely stabbed Beth (or whoever it was ... I was beyond caring) comes out of the blue and is, in a word, stupid. This film is an hour of tiresome plot building that ends with thirty minutes of thrills and is not worth The Descent.

My rating 4 out of 10.

The Believer

Release date: 23 August 2001 (Russia)

Written and directed by Henry Bean, The Believer spins a - frankly - utterly unbelievable story (purportedly inspired by a true story) of a young Jew, Danny Balint (played by the latest 'it' guy - Ryan Gosling) who's turned his back on his jewish heritage and spun headlong into neo-Nazism. While Gosling is brilliant in this film, the supporting crew, and more so, the rather pieced together story riddled with long philosophic ramblings about race and religion, a foiled assassination attempt on a Jewish politician, a (sort of) love story, neo-Nazi training camps and a synagogue desecration just don't add up. What's worse, despite the fine, fine performance by Gosling, Bean ends the film with a redemptive afterthought ... almost as if he got so far in, he suddenly realized, 'oh my, how am I going to get out of this?'. All that said, however, the film is worth a viewing to watch Gosling's excellent performance as an antihero you simultaneously hate to love, and love to hate.

My rating 6 out of 10.

Music Within

Release date: 6 November 2007 (Toronto)

Last Thursday I attended the Toronto premier of Director Stephen Sawalich's film, Music Within, starring Ron Livingston and Michael Sheen. Music Within tells the story of Richard Pimentel, who while not well known in North America, can be credited with bringing people with disabilities, their cause and their issues into the mainstream. His seminal training program, based on his 1981 book Tilting at Windmills, was mandatory training for all bureaucrats in the US government, and his efforts led to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (something which shamefully, Canada has yet to legislate nationally). I wanted to like this movie and think it would have been better served had Sawalich focused less on Pimentel the man and more on what he accomplished. While I appreciated getting to know more about someone who's story rightly needs to be told, I think this film would have done better as a PBS documentary than the Sunday-Night-at-the-Movies plodding film (with plodding storyline and poor production values) it is. Worse, I felt I spent 90-odd minutes hammered by a public service announcement on an issue I already wholly support.

For raising awareness on this issue, my rating 3 out of 10.

Maria Full of Grace

Release date: 2 April 2004 (Columbia)

Directed by Joshua Marston, Maria Full of Grace shows us a sad side of the Columbia drug trafficking story - the use of young women as drug mules. Maria, a pregnant seventeen year-old, fed up with life in her small village supporting her mother and sister on a pittance of a wage de-thorning roses, ends up swallowed (pardon the pun) within the drug world. Soon, we see her and two friends ingesting large pellets of cocaine (in Maria's case sixty-two) then boarding a plane and heading to New York City. What was interesting about this film was how sorry you felt for Maria (played by Catalina Sandino Moreno, who garnered a rightful Oscar nomination for her role). The story get meaty as Maria and a surviving friend wander the streets of New York and become integrated into the world that is an illegal immigrant's lot. In the end, with the drugs returned to the dealers, Maria receives her epiphany... and perhaps her grace? Despite the topic and storyline, Maria Full of Grace is a very quiet movie that delivers on character development and plot and is well worth viewing for Moreno's performance and to understand the (warning: preachy moment) evil drugs continue to wreak on South America's poorest peoples.

My rating 7 out of 10.

Beowulf

Release date: 16 November 2007 (USA)

The master of digitalized actors, Robert Zemeckis, directs this retelling of one of the Western world's greatest poems, the Song of Beowulf. Like all good stories of long ago, Beowulf has heroes, monsters, a dragon and curses. If you want a full telling of the tale, visit McMaster University's good site here. The story is a great romping ride of exhilarating excitement on its own. However, what makes this film over-the-top fun is Zemeckis use of performance capture technology where filmed sequences and digitalized animation are woven together to give the film a rich, if creepy, look. Add to this, seeing it in IMAX 3-D and OMG, hold on to your fur-lined caps. I thoroughly loved this film despite its liberties with the story and the bigger-than-Graceland acting by everyone involved: Ray Winstone, John Malkovich, Angelina Jolie and Anthony Hopkins, to name but a few. Special mention to Brendan Gleeson as Wiglaf however. Beowulf is two hours of mossy, thick and rich film adrenaline and should not be missed by anyone who likes a good quest/monster adventure.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Apocalypto

Release date: 8 December 2006 (USA)

Mel, Mel, Mel ... Mel Gibson's latest films all seem to use the same tactics, namely, sickening violence and the focus on one man destined in some manner (usually religious) for 'greatness' within his community. I cite Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ as recent examples. In Apocalypto, Mel takes these two themes to their usual extremes following Jaguar Paw, a young man taken from his forest village and trekked to the Mayan capital to become a human sacrifice to the Gods. Destiny intervenes in the form of an eclipse and thereafter the film becomes the story of Jaguar Paw's odyssey back to save his wife and child, all the while being pursued by his Mayan captures. As a reflection of Mayan history at the time of the conquest, this story is aesthetically accurate and utterly breathtaking in its cinematography. As virtual history, it is hogwash and is simply a setting for the grander story Mel is filming. The violence in the film is horrific on many, many levels and I wonder if the film could have been a 10 out of 10 had Mel reduced it? ... That all said, I would still highly recommend Apocalypto for those of strong stomach who want a glimpse at a world long since gone.

My rating 9 out of 10.

Half Nelson

Release date: 11 August 2006 (USA)

Though Ryan Gosling's performance as the strung out junior high school teacher, Dan Dunne, won him an Academy Award nomination this year, the real star of this film is Shareeka Epps, who plays Drey. When Drey catches Dan smoking crack in the washroom one day a secret bond is formed between them. A bond and story which then carries the movie. Half Nelson is a film about the crash between reality and hope as seen through Teacher Dan's eyes. Caught between his hope to make the world better for the black and hispanic kids in his class and the reality he can't, Dan takes to drugs to find a new reality in which to cope. It is classic stuff and in the hands of director Ryan Fleck is all done quite well. My only problem with the film was Gosling's performance, but perhaps I just don't get the subtlety of his acting? Surely the Academy can't be wrong, right?! Half Nelson also seemed to me one of those films that just goes on and on and on ... and not in a good way.

My rating 5 out of 10.

Blood Diamond

Release date: 8 December 2006 (USA)

Two interlaced love stories masquerade as a hunt for a very rare pink diamond in this great film from director Edward Zwick. The stories centre on Archer (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) who realizes all his wrongs as a Zimbadweian ex-mercenary and diamond smuggler when he meets and falls for the lovely American reporter Maddy Bowen (played by Jennifer Connelly), and Solomon Vandy (the always exceptional Djimon Hounsou), who, kidnapped from his family and forced to work in the Sierra Leone diamond mines, uses the love of family to make his way home. Leonardo's laughable Zimbadweian accent and stiff acting aside, Blood Diamond spins a great story that will keep your interest throughout. Watching it made me realize how much I don't want to go to Africa any time soon, mind you.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Address Unknown

Release date: 2 June 2001 (South Korea)

Director Ki-duk Kim's Address Unknown essentially tells is all about the post-Korean War realities of the American presence. Taking place in 1970, it follows the story of three young misfits - the mixed race son of a Korean mother and black American GI, Chang-guk; Jihum, a frail, abused teenager who is fixated on Eunok, a teenage girl with a wonky eye. The lives of these three individuals intertwine as only Korean dramas can. In the end, the violence and discrimination each faces takes its toll, the result: tragedy for each. The problem with this film is its relentless despair ... there are no happy moments, not a one unless you count Eunok's implied masturbation scene with her puppy (which is something else altogether). The other problem is you see it all coming, Ki-duk Kim exercises no subtlety. Dog lovers will also recoil at the brutal scenes of dog cruelty (the film does note no dogs were harmed in the filming). What you're left with is an overwhelming malaise and a clear understanding that the American involvement in Korea has left deep societal scars.

My rating 6 out of 10.