Thumbs Up for This

No one does it better than Roger Ebert. He has a way with words and insight. Now you can find him in three spots.

There are the reviews and

The Great Movies reviews and now

Roger Ebert's Journal blog.

No, it's not possible to get too much of Roger Ebert.
--with a hat tip to Jeff at 52 Projects

A Stretch of Reality

Saw Indiana Jones and the Empire of the Crystal Skull yesterday. Yes I enjoyed it a lot. It was fun and it was good to see Indy again. But my first reaction was that it makes Ironman look like a reality show. But then the Indiana Jones series has never been based on facts or reality. Indy has always been in the middle of what we can call myth and fantasy in the best uses of those words.

Like all good comic book stories Indy turns an every day nerdy-type bookish professor into a swashbuckling action hero. Unlike the high-flying Krypton refugee or those who turn into a superman, Indy is everyman who is able to use what's around him to win his battles. Just because the things that are around him are a little hard to believe doesn't demean his heroic status. Hence the fantasy of so many nerdy, non-heroic types comes to life.

In this story it's 51 years ago (starting in Area 51?) and the midst of the anti-communist hysteria that was far more hysterical (so far) than the anti-terrorism hysteria of today. And suddenly the Russians are here and the KGB is active and well, Indy is in the middle of it along with some snot-nosed Marlon Brando wannabe and an old flame and... well, you get the picture.

The myth picks up on some fantastical ideas that have been around for a while- namely that some of the great and seemingly impossible inventions and developments of the ancient meso-American civilizations could only have happened with outside, extra-terrestrial help. Which is as far as I will take this. It's a lot of fun to watch it happen and unfold before your very eyes.

No, you aren't asked to believe it. You aren't asked to accept it. You are simply asked to sit back and go along for the ride. In that sense it is a different movie from the super-heroics of Ironman. It is simply to enjoy it.

Although I must admit that there was one undercurrent of a message that I personally liked. Throughout the first 2/3rds of the movie Mutt, the snot-nosed kid, is constantly referring to Indy's age as a detriment. Needless to say Indy proves him wrong over and over. At 65, Harrison Ford can still be an action hero. There may be hope for the rest of us.

Although as my daughter so unkindly pointed out, Ford had stunt men to do it for him.

Oh well. I told you it was fantasy.

A Line to Remember

Well, thanks to Mental Floss Blog I came across a listing of the great movie quotes from, I believe, the American Film Institute. Ah, yes. I would certainly agree with the top 6. I don't believe I am familiar with either # 7 or 9. Well here they are:

The 10 Best Movie Quotes of All Time

1. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Rhett Butler, played by Clark Gable, in Gone With the Wind.
2. “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” Vito Corleone, played by Marlon Brando, in the Godfather.
3. “You don’t understand! I coulda had class! I coulda been a contender! I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.” Terry Malloy, played by Marlon Brando, in On the Waterfront.
4. “Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Dorothy Gale, played by Judy Garland, in the Wizard of Oz.
5. “Here’s looking at you, kid.” Rick Blaine, played by Humphrey Bogart, in Casablanca.
6. “Go ahead. Make my day.” Harry Callahan, played by Clint Eastwood, in Sudden Impact.
7. “Alright, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.” Norma Desmond, played by Gloria Swanson, in Sunset Boulevard.
8. “May the Force be with you.” Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford, in Star Wars.
9. “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” Margo Channing, played by Bette Davis, in All About Eve.
10. “You talkin’ to me?” Travis Bickle, played by Robert DeNiro, in Taxi Driver.

At the Mental Floss blog many, many quotes were suggested, of course, most of which will probably not stand the test of time. But there were some mentioned that just might.

"Stupid is as Stupid does." or "Life is like a box of chocolates." -Forrest Gump

"I’ll be back" or "Hasta la vista, baby!"- Terminator

"You’ll shoot your eye out, kid." - A Christmas Story

"Rosebud.' - Citizen Kane

"One word…plastics." - The Graduate

"Truth? You can't handle the truth." - A Few Good Men

"I’m mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take this anymore!" - Network

Iron Man: Serious Fun

I just went to the movie for a good time and popcorn. I got that and more with the first big blockbuster of the summer, Iron Man. It gives Robert Downey, Jr., Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard,and Gwyneth Paltrow afun story, geek-friendly CGI, action, and even a message. Downey is back in top form which is great to see and Jeff Bridges makes a great villain. Paltrow underplays her role just right as the female assistant to Downey's Tony Stark.

But the message makes this movie darker and more serious than I expected. Tony Stark becomes Iron Man as the result of a terrorist attack on his trip to Afghanistan to sell a new, powerful weapon of destruction. But it raises the question of companies making such powerful weapons and becoming either heroes or "merchants of death." The international arms trade and black market is raised up for concern as well.

But under it all, as always in any comic book/graphic novel super hero, it is the story of good and evil in black and white with good winning, but only for the moment. The divide of good and evil is found within humans and you never know which ones. Which may be the only gray area in these stories.

My wife really liked this movie. She thought it was fun and a good way to spend a movie afternoon. I really liked the movie. It was fun and yet it raised questions to pnder. Obviously many others agree with this (it is 93% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer and it was a big #1 for two weeks.) But don't let the serious part scare you off from a fun movie. Enjoy.

And oh, yes. They had a trailer for Indiana Jones the next fun movie of the summer. Well, I'm reserving judgment on Prince Caspian. Although I'm looking forward to it, it is, by definition a more serious movie.

May 22 - The Adventure Continues

First it was Rocky reborn at 60.

Now it's Indy at 65.

Can you tell the Boomers are aging?

But I don't care- the trailers that I've seen make this a must-see.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull site for trailers 1 and 2.

Darwin, Christians, and Hitler

As I was surfing the web the other day I came across an article on Salon.com on novelist James Carroll's book Constantine's Sword and the new documentary made from it. It is a book about anti-Semitism and the Catholic Church's complicity in it for centuries (or even millennia.) The article by Andrew O'Hehir in his "Beyond the Multiplex" column said at one point:

Carroll believes that Christians, and especially his fellow Catholics, must come to grips with the past. They can't claim to be a force of morality and integrity until they face the church's painful history of anti-Jewish libel and persecution -- and face it in what he terms a spirit of "repentant change."

As one who has been a student of this issue for nigh unto 40 years now (and a Christian who was born Jewish and more than painfully aware that in the anti-Semitic world even my daughter, 1/4 Jewish, would be singled out for hatred. That in spite of my 44 years as a Christian and her lifetime as one.)

Then came the next paragraph:

The culmination of Christian anti-Semitism, of course, arrived under the Nazis, ...

That line made me want to break my silence on the recent anti-evolution film with Ben Stein, Expelled. What makes the film controversial, as I understand it, is linking evolution with the Nazis. Without Darwin and evolution the Holocaust would never have happened.

Wrong! Sadly and greatly wrong. It makes it sound like the genocidal mania of the Final Solution is based on some liberal, secular idea. Hitler may have been the ultimate secular, and he was anything but liberal but his whole approach was based on an idea that has been around almost as long as the church.

Anti-Semitism of the same virulent and homicidal approach was around long, long, long before Darwin. It was around long before Newtonian science. Long before Copernicus took the earth (and us) out of the center of the universe. To make such a silly and reductionist claim about evolution is nothing short of bad history and a gret big form of denial.

The article goes on:

Carroll's objects of contemplation are various and his approach is always sober and reflective. He finds the roots of anti-Semitic violence in the Emperor Constantine's sudden conversion to Christianity, which came in a vision as he was crossing a bridge over the Tiber.

Ben Stein couldn't say that without getting into trouble. James Carroll, a Catholic and former seminarian can say it.

I am not getting into any argument about creationism vs evolution. I find it a silly, reductionist waste of good energy. But when the argument seeks to change or worse ignore history it is in danger of losing the war to win the battle. Yes, I know that Hitler would have used anything and anyone to justify what he was doing. But he knew what he was doing when he is reported to have said that he was about the finish what the church had been trying to do for centuries- get rid of the Jews.

And much of the church was found wanting when it came to standing up and saying "No!" After all, the government is for our protection. Those Jews must have been doing something wrong or the government wouldn't have taken them away.

Oh how scary!

I hope that Carroll's documentary gets a far wider showing than it will. Anti-Semitism is one of those powerful core sins of western civilization, just as racism is our American core sin. Anti-Semitism is not dead and gone. It is not based on Darwinian evolution. Yes, the Nazis utilized evolutionary thought to justify what they were going to do. But that isn't what drove them. Historically, for six times the length of time since Darwin, the world that the Nazis built on has been driven by anti-Semitism.

A 40-Year Memory: 2001

No that's not bad math. It was on this date in 1968 that one of the great films of all time was released, Stanley Kubrick's amazing 2001: A Space Odyssey. As Star Wars would do 9 years later, 2001 was a radical departure from its day. It was either panned or praised at that time. Yet it has stood the test of time like only the great ones do. It is on everybody's Top 100 list. It is almost iconic.

Here's the now famous opening sequence:



And The Dawn of Man sequence:



And, just for fun (since I am a PC person), here's the Apple ad that proves how iconic HAL and 2001 have become:

Almost Forgot This Movie

U2 3D is the concert movie of what may be the greatest rock and roll band under 60. (The Rolling Stones movie by Martin Scorcese comes out in April.) It is also done in 3-dimensions. My word for the movie et. al....

Remarkable!

My first reaction was to the 3D. It uses the polarized glasses, not the old red/blue style. Same concept, different system. You started with the glasses for a couple of previews, including the Neil Gaiman adaptation- Coraline. That's the first "Awesome, dude." Things flying off the screen at you is amazing.

But then it gets to the concert and the directors have done a truly excellent job of utilizing the 3D putting people in front and back of others, superimposing, cross-fading, close-ups, titles- all in 3-dimensions. It is at first unnerving to see something out of the "corner of your eye" and then realize it is actually "on the screen" even though it appears to be next to you. A hand goes up or someone stands in the on-screen crowd and you want to tell the person in front of you to sit down. Realistic? It was better than being there because you stood next to The Edge or Bono. Or you looked down as the drummer did his thing. The words on the screens behind the band were super-imposed in front of them.

It made me think back to the first time I put a set of headphones on and listened to stereo way back in 1967. The music came alive. Well, this is the next big step- the whole thing came alive.

And what life!

There is no doubt that this is a spiritual movie. A U2 concert is a spiritual experience. The concert is clearly planned, developed, lived with purpose and direction. There is more than the music. There is an atmosphere. Some of it is political; some of it could be labeled religious. The band's spiritual roots help take you to new places. It was a new fangled revival meeting.

After all these years of playing together, the band is a finely tuned instrument! They meld and merge and separate and make music as a whole. Bono may stand out in front but they need each other to do what happens on that stage. Seeing it up-close, personal, and in 3D made it very alive.

If you like rock and roll music (even if you don't like U2) you should see this for the experience of music in 3D.

Academy Award Summary

I am not a movie critic. I only play one in the blogosphere. But it has become a tradition with my daughter to see all the Best Picture Nominees and reflect on them. So, here goes (in order seen, with Rotten Tomatoes (RT) score):

Michael Clayton (RT 90%) - The first movie out of the gates. It set a powerful and quality pace. It has great acting (3 acting nominations!) and a truly well-devised plot line. It is always fun to watch George Clooney downplay his good looks into a character that struggles. It raises some powerful messages as well. But this is not the year for message movies.

Juno (RT 93%) - Hooray for the small-budget movie. Unlike Little Miss Sunshine, this one is for real. It deals with naivaite and does it naively. Everyone is believeable in that special movie way. No, it is not "realistic" in the sense that it is not portraying a realistic view of what happens to most teen mothers. The "happy ending" style fits too easily. But hey- these are the movies, not a documentary.

No Country for Old Men (RT 94%) - The Coen Brothers. No more need be said. They have become the equals of Scorcese with this film. They have reached a new pinnacle of perfection. There is nothing wrong with this movie. It has no message. It has one of the greatest Evil Men in the history of cinema in Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem.) Everything fits and flows and faces down hope.

There Will Be Blood (RT 91%) - Nearly as perfect a cinema experience as No Country. This Daniel Day-Lewis vehicle does have a message. And it ain't a pretty one. It is the greed of American Oil in the early 20th Century. That is a paradigm for insanity and the downward spiral of a life lived in greed. It's emotionally violence is remarkable. And its struggle between greed and God is epic.

Atonement (RT 82%) - The "lowest" reviewed movie according to RT, but perhaps the most well-rounded movie of the bunch. It has been criticized for being too glib, not enough romance, too much war, too much romance. But unlike all of the movies but Juno it tends to tell the story of real people caught in webs they set-up for themselves- out of immaturity, vengeance, fear, ignorance- and how they spend the rest of their lives getting out of it- making atonement. As I walked from the theater I realized I had just witnessed what, for me, was the best picture of the year.

You see I realized that making a masterpiece- a GREAT FILM- is not the only criteria for Best Picture. No Country is unbeatable in that area- and will probably win. It is well-deserving. Best Picture is also not about getting good box office (since only Juno has done well there.)

I have a hunch that for me, the Best Picture is the one that causes the most resonance, the most reflection, the most challenge, the clearest picture of human life. Hence Crash over Brokeback Mountain (although that was a close one!) (I also know there are exceptions- The Lord of the Rings, for example wasn't about life as we know it.... or was it?)

Only Juno among the list had a "happy ending." Michael Clayton was an expected ending, basically good. All the others tear you up in one way or another. You become aware of evil and cunning and greed and loss of hope. You wonder where hope can come from after watching these other three movies. Perhaps they struggle with answering an age old question- what is the meaning of life if it ends in death? No Country and Blood don't give us any answer. Atonement, out of left-field gives us one. You just have to pay attention to get it.

In the end, for me, the movie that touched me most deeply and moved me into thoughts and directions I hadn't thought possible, was Atonement.

Other thoughts: We're all critics, of course, and we all have our favorites. Here are some of my favorites that I think are overlooked.

On actors:
I have not seen all the movies with the best actor nominees so I cannot make a definitive review there. Other than to say if someone I haven't seen does any better than Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood or Javier Bardem in No Country, they will have to have done the impossible!! (Having said that, I also know that there can be a nostalgia/career award in a case like Hal Holbrook. He may be the only one who can unseat Bardem from a truly deserved award.
They Shoulda Been Contenders:
.... Emile Hirsch, Sean Penn- Into the Wild.(RT 83%) Perhaps in another year these could have been in the finals. I still rank this as one of the great movies of the year. It does not have the larger than life characters of some of the movies, but it tells no less a powerful story. It needs to get a wider viewing. (This was a movie that resonated with the human soul, by the way.)

.... Denzel Washington- American Gangster (RT 79%) or Great Debaters. (RT 79%) Washington is one of our great American actors. He deserves better press and better understanding of his movies.

.... Gone Baby Gone (RT 93%) - Overall a great movie. Why it did so poorly is beyond me. It is another one that struggles with human existence on a personal level as all the characters wrestle within their flaws and hopes.

Music and Soundtracks:
Eddie Vedder (Into the Wild), Jonny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood). Come on- three songs from Enchanted? And a score that adds as much to a movie as does the score for There Will Be Blood shouldn't be shut out.

Spiritual Films

Over at Beliefnet they had a balloting for best spiritual films and performances. In the best spiritual film category the story of the banning of slavery in England under Wilberforces, Amazing Grace, was the winner. Not a surprise. I haven't seen it yet, but what I know of it sounds like it was a good spiritually based movie. The other nominees were:

• Atonement
• Away From Her
• Juno
• The Kite Runner

As I said yesterday I think highly of Atonement but I am not sure that I would call it a spiritual film. Just because it is about "atonement" or the attempt at making amends, it's premise is more about the spiritual failures we can all fall prey to. Yes, that is a spiritual issue, but I just don't look at it that way. Maybe with time I might. Anyway, I think the winner probably deserves the honor.

Then there's the best spiritual performance. And the winner according to the judges:
Emile Hirsch. Hooray!!! I was taken by his performance. It captures the awe and danger of the spiritual quest, the naivete that can inform it's outset and the peace that comes when one finds it- even by accident and an accident that brings an end to one's life. (No that's not a spoiler. It is a true story after all.) Hirsch was remarkable. The other nominees:

• Will Smith (I Am Legend) (People's choice)
• Ellen Page (Juno)
• Julie Christie (Away From Her)
• Angelina Jolie (Mighty Heart)

I have not seen any but Ellen Page but I am looking forward to seeing some of these others.

Now Christianity Today's excellent film review section on its site talks about "Redeeming Films." They say this about "redeeming films:"

They're all stories of redemption—sometimes blatantly, sometimes less so. Several of them literally have a character that represents a redeemer; all of them have characters who experience redemption to some degree—some quite clearly, some more subtly. Some are "feel-good" movies that leave a smile on your face; some are a bit more uncomfortable to watch. But the redemptive element is there in all of these films.

Their list is interesting. The top one is a documentary that also was the top spiritual documentary at Beliefenet- Into Great Silence.

From there it looks like this:
2. Lars and the Real Girl
3. Juno
4. Amazing Grace
5. Bella
6. Into the Wild
7. The Kite Runner
8. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
9. Ratatouille
10. Freedom Writers

Another good-looking list. After the biggies of this year- No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, a few of these films will go a long way as an antidote to the hopelessness that the other present. There is a need for redemption. That's what many of our journeys of faith are all about in one form or another. It is good to see that there are movies that can challenge us into those areas as well.

Well, it is only a couple days till the Oscars so tomorrow I will review the field and give my thoughts.

I've Seen All Five

Well, I made it. My wife and I saw the 5th of the best picture nominees on Tuesday. I am glad I got to see it before Sunday- and on the big screen.

It is a masterpiece of a movie. It does not have the overpowering violence at the heart of No Country for Old Men.Nor does it have the sweeping western epic of great greed that is in There Will Be Blood. Nor does it hook into all kinds of environmental and political themes so boldly and wonderfully portrayed in Michael Clayton. Like Juno it is a film about people trying to live with the consequences o f their actions.

It is awesome. Like the book it starts slowly but never stops. It builds through a remarkable middle of some of the best scenes and editing I have seen in ages. It captures the author's (Ian McEwen) truly rich language in pictures that is hard to beat. The actors are as rich in their character development as the language.

In short it is another example of great movie making and I am not in the least bit surprised that it is one of the five. I can only say that I was honored to sit and watch this movie. It touched me!

So having seen all five, what's my personal favorite. I'll talk more about that in the post on Saturday, the day before the awards. It is quite a year for film. Again.

There Will Be Blood

I am in awe! This movie is absolutely everything I heard about it- and a whole lot more. It is the story of oil and greed and intimidation and God and faith and greed and control and power and greed.

Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in what may be one of the greatest acting achievements in many years and ranks there with every one of the great ones. You see so much through his interpretation of the lead character whether it is in the voice and cadence of his speech or the extreme close-up that sees small yet profound changes happening. If Day-Lewis doesn't win, he should demand a recount- along with a survey asking if the voters really saw his performance.

Then there's Paul Dano (late of Little Miss Sunshine) as Eli Sunday, a young and ambitious preacher. (And also his twin brother seen only at the beginning.) The quiet passion of Sunday is no less powerful than Plainview's. But Sunday is ultimately outdone, overpowered, by the secular greed of Plainview. Perhaps there is a warning in that to the religious who try to ride the coattails of the secular. No less greedy, no less angry, no less controlled by deep passions, Sunday is no less a victim than Plainview.

Put this together with the plot element of Plainview's son, wrap it into awell edited and directed package and you have one great movie. Plainview is much more real than Javier Bardem's evil icon in No Country For Old Men, which adds to the horror of it. The scenery is the same as that movie- since they were both filmed in Marfa, Texas. But this is not the Coen brothers. There is no tinge of lightness or their humor. Nor is there is Tommy Lee Jones to give us a moral foundation. It spirals out of control into the depths of madness and death- spiritual and physical.

Don't miss the soundtrack, either. It is not your standard, run-of-the-mill background. Jonny Greenwood, famous as the guitarist for the British rock band Radiohead, is the composer and made a post-modern, contemporary sound fit what looks like a "period piece." It was as much a part of the power of the film as Day-Lewis. Unfortunately since Greenwood used music by Brahms and Arvo Part, it was ineligible to be nominated for soundtrack. There is an AMPAS rule that does not allow 'scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other pre-existing music.' Oh, to have more scores "diluted" so well.

Note: With this I have now seen four of the five Best Picture nominees. Only Atonement remains unseen. Sometime this week it will have to be viewed, although I am sure of which movie I would pick as Best Picture. But I will wait until later in the week.

No Country for Sane Men?

Karl Jung once wrote that we are a sick society because we have lost a valid myth to live by.

What a perfect quote to describe the society pictured in the Coen Brothers remarkable, powerful, perfect, and devastating movie, No Country for Old Men. I have been avoiding seeing it until I absolutely had to. The reviews all talked about the level of violence that was in the movie even while praising it as perhaps among the greatest movies ever made.

Well, I agree. And was surprised by it. Yes, it was violent. Terribly violent. But any more so than last year's winner, The Departed when blood splattered all over Boston- which is where it got its name? Any more so than this year's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead? No, I don't think so.

What made this movie so incredibly shocking as the story and direction and the whole package of the movie itself. The violence is so senseless. Even more so than in Before the Devil. It leaps at you, grabs you, reminds you what you don't want to be reminded of- that we humans are a violent species. We do things to others of our own for less than noble- or even instinctive- reasons.

That is Anton Chigurh's character. A robotic killing machine. Javier Bardem has added a new character to the classic evil character. Chigurh is right there with Norman Bates and Hannibal Lecter. He makes you want to invite Freddy Krueger and Darth Vader over for dinner. Cold, calculating, creepy- you name it, Bardem manages it with hardly a blink of an eye.

Josh Brolin plays the target of Bardem's evil after he finds drug money and wants it to better his life and his wife's. Under his rough exterior you get the sense that he really just wants out of the dead end street of life. But you don't get something for nothing. Not in this world. He and Bardem are hardly on the screen together but they play off each other quite well. Brolin's acting is superb.

Then there's the older, wizened sheriff of Tommy Lee Jones. What a treat to watch him on the screen. He's tired and worn out and overwhelmed by what has happened to his world in just the stretch of one lifetime. Chigurh is just the final straw to help him realize he is someplace he can't be anymore- this is no country for old men. If this isn't his best performance of the year, I can hardly wait to see him in The Valley of Elah for which he got the nomination. It is a deeper variation on his amazing turn in Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.

The sheriff is the voice of the soul in this bleak picture of humanity. There is no hope, there is no salvation to be found. You can have your dreams- but in the end you have to wake up.

The Coen Brothers have created their masterpiece. They have their odd-beat sense of humor. Yet you are afraid to laugh when it happens for fear that it will be just a trick and lead into something even more horrific than you have already seen. You are sure you are being mis-directed, set-up, for the kill. There is no music on the soundtrack but the use of sounds in that deafening silence is amazing. You know, you just know what is about to happen and you also know there is no way you will be ready for it when it happens.

Is this, then, a horror picture? Not in the sense of Elm Street or Friday the 13th. This is Hitchcockian- and then some. This uses the world around you, in its desolate aloneness to create the atmosphere. After the movie I stopped at a gas station to get some coffee for the ride home. As I walked out I had a moment of terror- what if....

If this doesn't win the best picture, nothing should. In terms of movie making, it is what movie making is all about. I only hope that it, along with Cormac McCarthy's book on which it is based, is not a picture of the truth of humanity. Sanity is lost; hope is lost and you only hang on to your humanity by the thinnest of threads.

Back to Jung's quote and the need for "valid" myths. Sadly this movie shows us that the myths we have often lived by are not "valid," i.e. don't give us health and hope. The myths we live by can be very violent and hopeless leading to death of body and soul. I am sure the sheriff's soul is not dead since he knows that something is very, very wrong. In that may lie the hope even if we do have to wake up and face the reality around us.

Wow! What a movie! But don't expect to be uplifted.

Coen Brothers on the Inside Track

Well, the Coen Brothers have taken the lead in the Oscar Race. They won the Director's Guild Award for their film No Country for Old Men. That is a fairly strong indicator of the Academy Award. My daughter and I haven't yet seen it. It is a movie we said we would see only if it got nominated since neither of us care that much for the over-the-top violence that this movie is said to have. Well, I guess we have to see it now.

The Oscars are Out

Well, here they are- The Nominations. So far, I have seen two of the nominated films. Not many surprises- although there are a few that are pleasant surprises- nominations you wanted to root for- and they got them. Any way, more on that in a moment. Here they are (with asterisks indicating movies/performances I have seen):

Best picture:
**"Michael Clayton,"
"No Country for Old Men,"
"There Will Be Blood,"
"Atonement" and
**"Juno."

Best actor:
Daniel Day-Lewis ("There Will Be Blood"),
**George Clooney "(Michael Clayton"),
**Johnny Depp ("Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"),
Tommy Lee Jones ("In the Valley of Elah") and
Viggo Mortensen ("Eastern Promises").

Best actress:
Marion Cotillard ("La Vie En Rose"),
**Ellen Page ("Juno"),
Julie Christie ("Away from Her"),
Cate Blanchett ("Elizabeth: The Golden Age") and
Laura Linney ("The Savages")

Best supporting actor:
Javier Bardem ("No Country for Old Men"),
**Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Charlie Wilson's War"),
Casey Affleck ("The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"),
**Hal Holbrook ("Into the Wild") and
**Tom Wilkinson ("Michael Clayton").

Best supporting actress:
**Ruby Dee ("American Gangster"),
Kate Blanchett ("I'm Not There"),
Saoirse Ronan ("Atonement"),
**Amy Ryan ("Gone Baby Gone") and
**Tilda Swinton ("Michael Clayton").

Best director:
Ethan and Joel Coen ("No Country for Old Men"),
Paul Thomas Anderson ("There Will Be Blood"),
Julian Schnabel ("The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"),
**Jason Reitman ("Juno") and
**Tony Gilroy ("Michael Clayton").

For me the big disappointment is that Sean Penn and "Into the Wild" were all bubt shut out. Not even the soundtrack by Eddie Vedder got in against three- count them- three songs nominated from "Enchanted." There ought to be a law. Even Juno's refreshing soundtrack and songs were overlooked. BUt "Into the Wild" is a beautiful movie. Oh well.

It has been a year of good movies. Fun movies. Serious movies. Great, great acting!

More as time goes on and we move closer to the awards. But for now...

Let's go to the movies.

-----------------------------------------------
And then came the sad news:
Heath Ledger Found Dead in New York City.

At age 28 a career cut very short. How sad. Perhaps his role in a couple films: Brokeback Mountain and this summer's coming Batman movie will end him in that sad but talented pantheon with James Dean. How very sad.

Link to story in the Washington Post.

Short Golden Reflections

Just some quick reactions and reflections on the Golden Globes kick-off to the Awards season (with or without the writers' guild.) First, here are the winners.

Best Drama
Atonement

Actor- Female- Drama
Julie Christie – Away From Her

Actor- Male- Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood

Best Musical or Comedy
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Actor- Female- Musical or Comedy
Marion Cotillard – La Vie En Rose

Actor- Male- Musical or Comedy
Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Supporting Actor- Female
Cate Blanchett – I'm Not There

Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem – No Country For Old Men

Best Director
Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
No Country For Old Men
Written by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

So, what does it mean for the Academy Awards? With this very unusual year that's what a lot of people have asked. I am certainly no pundit. I was surprised that Juno was completely shut out. I was surprised by the eclectic mix of the winners. Cate Blanchett playing Bob Dylan, Javier Bardem playing just plain mean, Sweeney Todd as best musical or comedy (it certainly wasn't a comedy!) Daniel Day-Lewis never surprises me. He is nothing short of remarkable, even though I haven't seen this year's movie. The odds are against Schnabel and Cotillard for Oscars. I think Johnny Depp gets edged out. I wouldn't be surprised to see Emile Hirsch from Into the Wild get a nod and maybe even Hal Holbrook. Sean Penn is a lock for a nomination for that movie as well.

Beyond that, I am scratching my head as well. There have been some remarkable acting performances, outstanding direction, unusual soundtracks, and screenplays to die for. In one week we will know what the Academy thinks. The bigger question is will there even be a show to watch or will Jon Stewart have to do an ad-lib monologue to no one. One way or another that's show business. And I will have some interesting movies to go see.

Juno- Again

I don't often see a movie twice within a couple or so weeks. But I took my wife to see Juno last weekend. I had already seen it with my daughter (who still lists it as her #1 movie of the year.) I had to take my wife. I knew she would enjoy it.

Like many others- she was overpowered by its story and meaning. It is a deep and riveting movie hidden inside humor and comedy and a "charming" story. But "charming" can hide a multitude of human emotions and concerns. June does that- and does it extremely well.

Perhaps the one thing that I hadn't noticed the first time through was how naive and trusting and, well, innocent Juno herself was. Even though she thinks she is the master of her own life and has life figured out, she is as clueless as most of us were at age 16. She believes people. She expects them to be believable. Bleecker, her boyfriend and father of her child, has some of the same cluelessness as he downs his orange TicTacs. But he may be a little less naive. It's just a hunch, but somehow or another he knows that things are not what they seem.

In the end as Juno discovers the painful side of life- as she feels betrayed- she also realizes that life is interesting in spite of the pain. At that moment she seems to step back and become who she really is- a fragile 16-year old in need of support and care from others. I didn't notice that the first time around. The movie is as good the second time as the first.

Who knows if it stands a chance to get nominated. The director's guild didn't nominate it which lowers its chances. But I have a hunch it is going to be one of those ongoing special, age-defining movies. Don't miss it. It deals with life on life's terms and makes no judgments. It simply places it before you and lets you decide.

The Great Debaters - An Important Reminder

We began the new year last week by heading to the theater to see Denzel Washington's latest movie- The Great Debaters. It is the story of the Wiley College debating team from the mid-1930s which went on to be the first black college debating team to debate and beat white college teams. Washington is the team coach and Forest Whitaker in another excellent role is one of the more conservative professors at the school whose son is also on the team.

In the process of developing the team several things happen including the team witnessing a lynching of a black man by a white mob. As such the strong and unforgettable undercurrent of the movie is the great racial chasm that has been the original sin of the American psyche. It was not that long ago- certainly not as far back as the 1930s- that the attitudes and events portrayed were still happening.

In one of the debates there is this line:

The state is currently spending five times more for the education for a white child than it is fitting to educate a colored child. That means better textbooks for that child than for that child. I say that's a shame, but my opponent says today is not the day for whites and coloreds to go to the same college. To share the same campus. To walk into the same classroom. Well, would you kindly tell me when that day is gonna come? Is it going to come tomorrow? Is it going to come next week? In a hundred years? Never? No, the time for justice, the time for freedom, and the time for equality is always, is always right now!

The film makes a powerful statement that this time is now as well. It has gotten very positive reviews with a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I hope it is not being ignored in the theaters as a racial movie. It is one that we all need to see and be reminded of. We have made progress, but the power and depth of racism still linger. Maybe, just maybe last week's Obama victory in Iowa is a sign that the progress is beginning to happen in ways that are more profound and deeper than we have seen before. Today in New Hampshire may give us more information.

As for the movie, go see it and celebrate our common humanity.

• Note: One of the debaters, the son of the professor, was James Farmer, Jr. Farmer would grow up to be one of the founders of the Congress of Racial Equality, one of the early influential civil rights organizations.

At The Movies- An Odd Duo

Well, made it to the movies two times this Christmas week. And what a contrast of differentness and oddness.

First we saw Sweeney Todd, the Tim Burton-Johnny Depp version of the Stephen Sondheim musical. My initial reaction was that Burton has made a movie that makes all his earlier ones look like Disney Family fare. Bloody, gory, dark, no, DARK is more like it. But it is not the blood and gore of a Scorcese film. There's a dark graphic novel style to it. The red being far too red and far too liquidy. It stands out against a much more dull and drab background.

Depp and Burton are magnificent together. They have given us what for now will have to be the ultimate Depp/Burton fantasy. You will be numbed by the violence. Though my daughter (and co-movie lover) felt that it wasn't as violent and bloody as she expected, it is so over the top that you soon just sit there stunned by it. But it wasn't the violence that caught my attention. It was what I best describe as a drab sameness to it. There are wonderful moments and excellent scenes and much to recommend it, but I found myself bored by the ongoing and deepening moroseness. It is clearly a movie about evil and its impact on people. But it is not in my top tier of movies for the year, though very worth seeing. Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and Sacha Baran Cohen give perfomances that add to Depp's outstanding work.

Then there's Charlie Wilson's War. With the trio of Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and the incredibly versatile Phillip Seymour Hoffman this movie is a guaranteed joy to watch. It also turns out to be the best movie about the war in Iraq and the war on terror that has come out this year. Because it doesn't look like it's about the current war. Based on true events of congressman Charlie Wilson, it is a painful reminder of a couple of things.

First that we often are so short-sighted that we don't do what needs to be done- and then when we do we fall short. The result of our arming the Afghan resistance helping them defeat the Soviets and bring down the Soviet Union- and then ignoring their needs- is nothing less than the rise of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. When all we have is a military solution in mind- well, everything that can't be solved by the military like food and schools, is missed.

But perhaps even more to the point is the ability of one lone, unknown congressman being able to pull it off with the help of the CIA and appropriations bills that no one knew what they were about. The ability of congress to do something- and be led from a few million to millions and millions of dollars is remarkable. And scary.

What is happening now, even as we sit here? With the assassination in Pakistan today what is happening tonight in the halls of the CIA, Defense Department, or Congress that we may never know? Who is pulling what strings to do what that commits us to something we don't know we are being committed to? What Charlie Wilson did was remarkable and helped change world history. But too many doing those kind of things could be downright dangerous.

But the movie is good. Go see it if only to see Tom Hanks as a boozing, womanizing congressman, Philip Seymour Hoffman in another Oscar-caliber performance as a foul-mouthed CIA agent and Julia Roberts as a right-wing organizer. It's worth the time.

The Best Movie??

This is not another Little Miss Sunshine. This is the real thing. It may well be the best movie of the year. But it probably can't win that because, well, because it's too real- and way too funny.

I'm talking about Juno, another in a string of teen pregnancy movies. HOWEVER, this one is nothing short of remarkable. Every actor is perfect. Every line is delivered just as it should be. Every emotion is presented with reality. You have to remind yourself that this is a movie. It has already received rave reviews. I can add only that having seen some excellent movies, this one is the best of the year so far. I hope it doesn't get short-changed like many comedies because it doesn't have enough violence. And it certainly isn't an Epic movie. It's just excellent film making!

Of course the award season has begun. The race to the Academy Awards is on. This year is truly one remarkable year. (Well, maybe they all are, but this one seems overloaded with excellence and power. After all, the Golden Globes even had a tie and had to have seven nominees in the best dramatic movie category.)

Here's the American Film Institutes's Top 10 of the year (>Indicates ones I have already seen.):

AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR--OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

>BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
>INTO THE WILD
>JUNO
KNOCKED UP
>MICHAEL CLAYTON
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
RATATOUILLE
THE SAVAGES
THERE WILL BE BLOOD

And this list doesn't include other front-runners like American Gangster, Gone Baby Gone, or the upcoming Charlie Wilson's War and Sweeney Todd, among others. What a year!! What a year. My daughter and I will have to work hard to see all the great ones this year before the Academy Awards.