Ghost Town

(2008, 102 min) While screenwriter David Koepp has built a solid reputation as a reliable hitmaker (Jurassic Park, Spider-Man), he has built an equally solid reputation as a director who consistently fails to live up to his ideas (The Trigger Effect, Secret Window). Even while demonstrating a rarely-seen lighter side in Ghost Town, this film winds up as weak-kneed and cliched as any other middle-of-the-road romantic comedy.

At least he had the good sense to cast three fascinating leads, even if they don't belong all in the same movie. Greg Kinnear plays the straight man, or straight ghost at least, wandering the Earth in a sort of high-concept purgatory. After a near-death experience, the insufferably antisocial dentist played by Ricky Gervais finds (much to his chagrin) that he can see these ghosts, all of whom seem to want something. Kinnear wants him to stop the pending marriage of his ex-wife (Téa Leoni), leading to the usual romantic comedy complications, of course.

Yes, you'd think that with all this fantasy floating about, that it would be used for more than setting up a series of misunderstandings and betrayals that ultimately lead to some sort of offbeat fuzzy ending. With those expectations now dashed, however, Ghost Town at least reveals itself to be an amiable timewaster. It's always a pleasure to see Leoni let loose in a screwball role, displaying talents that have been on the back burner since the days of Flirting with Disaster and "The Naked Truth." And it's oddly rewarding to see Gervais start out in his sardonic "Extras" mode and wind up believably warm and cuddly. The two together, of course, are severely lacking in chemistry, and Kinnear's usual ironic detachment isn't helped by his physical detachment to the other characters. Finally, while I won't spoil Kristen Wiig's part, which seems to have been lifted out of a whole other universe, I will plead for her to leave the stagnant SNL and become a big-screen star like she deserves.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

Tropic Thunder

(2008, 110 min) While Friedberg and Seltzer are off making yet another shallow Hollywood movie, Ben Stiller steps up to the plate and reminds us all just how funny a good parody can be. Equal parts Hearts of Darkness and Rambo, with the plot of The Three Amigos thrown in for cohesion, Tropic Thunder demonstrates remarkable maturity by Stiller, especially in his enthusiasm to let the spotlight shine on his terrific costars.

That's not to say that, as meatheaded action star Tugg Speedman, Stiller doesn't give it his all. He's remarkably ripped, and Tugg is ready to create his masterpiece: An epic Vietnam movie that will leave men cheering and women weeping. His last movie, Simple Jack, was an epic failure despite his immersive performance. As multiple-award-winning Australian actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.) points out, "You went full-on retarded," and you have to only be kinda retarded like Forrest Gump to win Oscars.

Lazarus would know about great acting. He's so far into his character that he's sporting full-on blackface and won't stop talking like Shaft even when the camera is off. The joke of an American playing an Australian playing an African American is perfect enough, but the great Downey, Jr. not only pulls it off on a comic level but also an artistic level. No wonder he gets the most screen time.

The third amigo actor is Fats Portnoy (Jack Black), popular among kids but attempting his adult breakthrough despite his crippling heroin habit. Thrust into the jungle for their epic, things go so badly that they end up battling druglords and don't realize that it's not part of the script. Black has a grand time as heroin addict facing a mountainous raw supply, with typical comic demons in tow.

Remarkably, Stiller also finds plenty of time for Matthew McConaughey to satirize Jerry Maguire, playing Speedman's protective agent (complete with a kinetic Simple Jack standee in his office). Last but not least, the great (yes I said "great") Tom Cruise one-upping his performance in Magnolia as a vile, balding, fat studio head who at one point tells one of the druglords to "take a giant step back and FUCK your FACE!!!" Hollywood has plenty of room for creative vulgarity, and Cruise delivers.

No scattershot comedy is perfect, however, and there are weaknesses: Steve Coogan seems lost as the snivelling director, and Brandon T. Jackson wastes space as the moral compass, seemingly an apologia for the intentionally offensive blackface (and his closeted gay subplot doesn't ring true either). But there's so much good stuff (I didn't even get to Nick Nolte as the hypocritical inspiration for the movie, or Danny McBride as the too-eager munitions expert, or the legitimately frightening druglord played by 11-year-old Brandon Soo Hoo) that you will probably laugh harder than at any other movie this year. And seriously, look for Downey, Jr. at the Oscars this year... for real.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

Get Smart

(2008, 110 min) Given the history of TV-to-Movies adaptations, it would entirely reasonable for discerning viewers to dismiss this big screen remake of Mel Brooks' and Buck Henry's classic spy spoof as yet another unpalatable slice of Hollywood junk heaped onto a pile of unoriginal garbage. It would be reasonable, that is, until one remembers that Steve Carell is currently the most likable comedic actor working. His charm alone lifts Get Smart far above most of its inferior counterparts. Carell's Maxwell Smart is slightly less arrogant and slightly more self-aware than Don Adams' was, but this, if anything, simply establishes the film as its own entity and not a cheap carbon copy knockoff. Carell begins as an analyst for CONTROL who'd recently lost weight and desperately wants to be promoted to agent, a promotion that no one who isn't named Maxwell Smart thinks he is qualified for. However, KAOS strikes and strikes hard and soon enough Max is tagging along with Agent 99 (a competent Anne Hathaway) on a mission to locate the nuclear devices that the villains have stashed in Russia.

The main strength of the film (outside of Carell's unparalleled likability) is its pacing. It never gets bogged down too much in character development or over-the-top action sequences and keeps things moving at a very sharp (but never overly frenetic) clip. Adding to the fun are the consistently funny jokes. None stick out as moments of sheer, side-splitting hilarity, but very few fall flat and most provoke laugh-out-loud (but not too loud) reactions. Additionally, the action sequences, while never overdone, all entertain and few exceed the normal standards of believability expected from a Hollywood action movie. Adding supporting charm to the mix are Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who has nearly perfected affable, acutely masculine self-mockery, and Alan Arkin who plays the put-upon chief to perfection. Even Bill Murray has an amusing cameo as the always-hiding Agent 13 that will cheer up anyone longing for the days when Murray condescended to do broad comedies.

One notable drawback is the relative lack of romantic chemistry between Carell and Hathaway. They can bicker and banter perfectly adequately, but the deeper connection between them is seldom clear. Another drawback comes when the film inexplicably resorts to using flashbacks to demonstrate what the characters are thinking. This classic cheap trick has almost never worked in any film and this one is no exception. These minor flaws don't, however, cripple what proves to be an immensely likable film that instantly leaps to near the top of Hollywood's TV recycling bin.

– Daniel Reed

© TLA Entertainment Group

10,000 B.C.

(2008, 109 min) There's no doubt that Roland Emmerich knows how to deliver a spectacle. Independence Day brings massive destruction, neat aliens and snappy wisecracking together so skillfully that, over a decade later, we take its craftsmanship for granted. Maybe Emmerich takes it for granted too, as he now seems to be running on fumes, cribbing liberally from past epics and slapping it together in a most perfunctory way. It's enough to remind you that Emmerich also brought us the remake of Godzilla.

Our reluctant hero is D'Leh (Steven Strait), an orphaned mountain tribesman who falls for a blue-eyed girl (Camilla Belle). She tells of four-legged demons who ransacked her town, and are eventually coming to get them as well. Unfortunately for us, these demons are merely Mongol-shaded despots, enslaving people to create a prototypical Mayan empire. For an ad campaign that focuses on wooly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers and vicious giant emus, it's distressing that not only are these the only creatures who appear in the movie, but their total screen time is somewhere under 10 minutes. That leaves a lot of time to think about other films that did this stuff better, from Mayan adventure (Apocalypto) to slave rebellions (Ben-Hur) to tribal war (Braveheart). Emmerich may think he's being clever by including specific visual references to these films (as well as Alien), but he's only making 10,000 B.C. look even more like a B-movie in comparison.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

No Country for Old Men

(2007, 122 min) Despite having four other 4-star reviews on this site, this review has never before been moved to bestow that lofty designation on a Coen Brothers movie. They always seemed a little too pleased with their dialogue, a little too amused at their own cleverness, and a little too condescending toward their characters. Well, they've finally grown up, and with the help of Cormac McCarthy's indelible voice, they've created their masterpiece.

On its surface, No Country for Old Men is a relentless thriller concerning the pursuit of $2 million dollars in cold hard drug money. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is an old-school Texan who stumbles across the carnage of a deal gone bad; after tracking down the (former) last man standing, he stashes the dough and prepares his beloved (Kelly MacDonald) for a new life. But that kind of dough doesn't disappear quietly, as a bevy of bounty hunters is after him, most menacingly Anton Chigurh (rhymes with "sugar"). As chillingly portrayed by Oscar® shoo-in Javier Bardem, he recalls Michael Meyers crossed with Bobby Fischer, a methodically merciless and unfortunately principled killer armed with a cattle stungun.

While their chase involves some of the most exciting action sequences you'll ever see, the movie's heart (including the movie's title) belongs to sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones). Trying to solve this mess with a minimum of mayhem, he's instead always a step behind, leading to a poetic ending that is so perfect, I'm shocked that anyone found it controversial. Additional kudos to the amazing Marfa, TX, the most cinematic American location since Monument Valley.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

Cloverfield

(2008, about 80 min) The highest of high-concept monster movies, Cloverfield purports to be just one video in the Department of Defense's library chronicling an unspecified disaster. The film starts out as a homemade video made by a gang of well-to-do and good looking late-twentysomethings of a friend's going away party. But, anyone who has seen the trailer knows that this video doesn't remain a birthday party for long. The ravaging of New York by an unexplained (and until late in the film unseen) monster is seen entirely through the eyes of a small group of people struggling to save themselves and each other from the sudden onset of total destruction. Credit is due to director Matt Reeves for never straying from this singular concept and, for the most part, maintaining its believability.

Certainly, there are moments when the boundaries of "suspension of disbelief" are stretched, perhaps even crossed. But Reeves overcomes these flaws from Drew Goddard's script by never relenting from the sheer terror and from his central premise. The shaky camera work and the limited information that the audience is given access to only serve to create a sense of panic not only on the screen but throughout the audience as well. Those with weak stomachs might do best to wait for the DVD, not for any excess of gore, but the combination of a nauseating camera with the emotional terror that the film serves up relentlessly would be likely to make one physically ill. Following in the footsteps of last year's The Host, Reeves has created a truly horrifying monster movie, one that cuts right to the core of contemporary political and environmental fears. It just might be the best American monster movie in many, many years.

– Daniel Reed

© TLA Entertainment Group

The Bucket List

(2007, 97 min) Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are going to die sometime in the next few decades. It's the closest thing to a statistical lock: both are age 70 as of this writing (shortly after seeing The Bucket List) and I'm sitting in the theater welling up in tears as I picture a eulogy for Freeman, one of the great actors of his generation, and knowing that someday soon, there will be no more movies from Easy Reader. There's nothing I hate more than an unnecessary voiceover, and yet he's able to pacify me with that smooth voice and quiet dignity. And what of fast-living Nicholson, always fascinating to watch on-screen, with that devilish twinkle dancing in his eyes? It's beautiful to watch him act his age and reveal another layer of himself, but how long will he last? Again, tears form as the music swells.

It's doubly tragic that none of these emotions were actually triggered by the characters in this supremely manipulative, aggressively formulaic movie. In fact, nearly every line that fell like dead weight out of their mouths only served to heighten the artifice and deaden the emotions. Occasionally, Jack would have one of those Jack moments to suck me back in, like his (possibly ad-libbed) rules about getting old: "Never pass up a bathroom, never waste a hard-on, and never trust a fart." But anyone owning a passing familiarity with Save the Cat and other screenwriting-by-numbers instruction books will feel the machinations nearly immediately, with ruthlessly efficient (and glaringly unnatural) dialogue... when Freeman mentions his love of a certain car, is there any question that he'll be driving it within 20 minutes? Actually, with his "Jeopardy!" obsession, I was shocked that he didn't end up appearing on the show during Cancer Week.

Oh yes, the high-concept plot: Two men from different walks of life find themselves both terminally ill in the same hospital room, and decide to fulfill a list of things to do before they kick the bucket. And thanks to sprightly direction by Reiner and the always-able actors, the film does kick into gear when they episodically start tackling the things on the list, including skydiving and mountain climbing. (For those who think this unrealistic, I tend to believe that anyone who has been through the draining process of chemotherapy could be capable of this when they stop treatment, much like having a weight lifted off your back. Then again, my capacity for suspension of disbelief is legendary, which explains why I enjoyed Message in a Bottle).

Like clockwork, though, the script would clank and whirr and drive everything to a halt, until eventually the little twist ending arrives (thanks to an unreliable narrator) and the atrocious John Mayer song kicks in. After a long dry spell for director Rob Reiner, he at least shows signs of life here, along with his primary actors. But please, guys, pick better material next time. This script isn't terminal, it's DOA.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

Superbad

(2007, 113 min) I've spent five years now trying to convince my wife that, though possessing a sometimes juvenile sense of humor, I am indeed a mature, responsible, caring, sensitive, romantic and giving guy. All that work went down the shitter when, leaving the theater, I remarked that Superbad may well be the most honest film about the mind of an adolescent male. Good thing the film came out in August, because trust me, that doghouse gets mighty cold in the winter.

In a word, "dick." Seth (Jonah Hill) is obsessed with dick. He claims to be obsessed with pussy, but of course, since he's never actually seen one, he's concentrated on what he knows. His total BFF Evan (Michael Cera) seems to have matured in the years between puberty and high school, and with precious little time before graduation, has his sights set on college... a college from which Seth was rejected.

Enter into this scene a golden opportunity: A popular girl throwing a party, and inviting these outcasts... as long as they can bring the booze. Seconds later, they scramble, finding Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), an outcast among outcasts, who happens to be wielding a fake ID, famously emblazened with a single word: McLovin. The day sets forth Ferris Bueller style, a series of vulgar misadventures, sex on the brain, and realistically marginal character growth.

Though capably directed by Greg Mottola (his first feature since The Daytrippers), there is no mistaking that this is a Judd Apatow movie. Unfortunately, it seems more bloated than his previous productions, especially surrounding an out-of-place subplot concerning McLovin and two immature police officers. One of those officers is played by Seth Rogen, who cowrote the screenplay with Evan Goldberg while they were in high school, and any guesses about the autobiographical nature of the characters can be answered by looking again at their names.

Yet the outrageous situations are grounded by these very real, very flawed and very open protagonists, with reams of quotable lines such as "You know how many foods are shaped like dicks? The best kinds" and "Nobody has gotten a BJ in cargo shorts since 'nam." As a bonus, the two-disc DVD promises to have even more outtakes that they couldn't cram into the movie. Sure, the movie is too long as it is, but I wouldn't want to miss any of the jokes from this immensely talented team.

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

Fracture

(2007, 98 min) Anthony Hopkins plays his “I’m smarter than you, but psychopathic” role, kind of a modified Hannibal Lecter, in Fracture, costarring Ryan Gosling. Ted Crawford (Hopkins) is a fabulously wealthy engineer who catches his wife (Embeth Davidtz) in an affair with a cop (Billy Burke). After confirming his suspicions by shadowing the lovers, he sets a trap for wifey at their fabulously swanky So Cal estate. After shooting her in the face, she is sent to the hospital in a deep coma. Confessing to the crime in front of the cop-turned adulterer, Crawford is sent to jail to await trial, and to argue his own defense. Willy Beachum (Gosling), an up and coming public prosecutor is tapped for what seems to be an open and shut case. Yet Crawford, sly and smart, starts to trip him up at every turn. Firstly, the gun found at the scene, hadn’t even been fired. This gun, and the search for the fired weapon, is the lynchpin of the plot, without it there would be no dramatic development.

Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear, Fallen, Frequency) polishes what could otherwise be a "Law and Order" episode into a high sheen of beautiful locations and smart camera angles. His ace in the hole is the ramped up acting of Hopkins and Gosling. Hopkins imbues his character with fierce defiance and intelligence, which in the hands of a lesser talent could appear flat and one-dimensional. Gosling is able to coax multiple reactions from his character, avoiding stereotyping his emotional responses. In other words, the acting saves the screenplay. David Strathairn plays the top district attorney, at once Beachum’s mentor and critic, in a role that somewhat wastes his considerable talent. Billy Burke, in his underrated role as the cop, plays it smart, all mean and increasingly despondent.

What is somewhat less satisfying is the number of plot devices upon which the whole logic of the script hangs. These devices are cloaked initially, so as not to give away clues to how Crawford did it. Near the end, the obscurations are whisked away, eliciting the much valued “aha!” experience. Entertaining throughout, but not deep, Fracture will hold the attention of all but the most ADD'd of viewers.

– Max Brinck

© TLA Entertainment Group

3:10 to Yuma

(2007, approx. 120 min) The 1950s may have been politically and socially repressive, but the era saw a rebirth in the American western thanks to the likes of such stars as James Stewart and Glenn Ford and directors such as Anthony Mann and Delmer Daves. Daves, in fact, in 1957 directed Ford in a now-little known film based on an Elmore Leonard novel, 3:10 to Yuma, which at the time was a critical and commercial hit. For decades it’s been one of the best kept secrets of that time… that is, until now.

James Mangold, whose last film Walk the Line put the director on the A-list, brings this terrific story of heroism and villainy – but not always about heroes and villains – to the screen for a new generation who will revel in the film’s gritty dramatics, high adventure and cutthroat action. Add to that a great cast and a challenging, intelligent story line, and 3:10 to Yuma is possibly the best reinterpretation of an American film to hit theaters since Philip Kaufman’s incredible update of another ‘50s classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Christian Bale, whose year is already in high gear with his dynamic portrayal of a POW during the Vietnam War, stars as Dan Evans, an idealistic Arizona rancher and Civil War vet who is in danger of losing his ranch. He owes money on the land and is being targeted by a local landowner who is not beyond using violence to obtain Dan’s property. In his own eyes, and possibly those of his eldest son as well, Dan’s self-image as a provider and protector for his family is in disrepair, and there doesn’t seem to be any quick fix for self-redemption or answers for their financial worries.

That is, until the notorious gunfighter Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) arrives in town. Ben’s gang, including his loyal right arm Charlie Prince (Ben Foster), have been robbing the Southern Railroad with great regularity and success, and a determined marshal (Peter Fonda) is hot on Wade’s trail. When they finally catch Wade, with a little help from Evans, Dan is offered the dangerous mission to help escort Wade across a hostile terrain to catch the 3:10 train to Yuma and eventual justice. Knowing that Wade’s vicious gang will be in hot pursuit, Dan accepts the mission whose reward should solve his financial problems.

Thus begins a perilous journey that takes its place among the best chase films westerns have to offer. On the trek, Ben and Sam, two opposites morally and often pitted against each other, come to learn to respect the other, each ultimately offering a sacrifice that comes with a price. There are good guys and bad guys here, to be sure, but like Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven, it’s the gray areas that really make the characters and the story soar.

Mangold has assembled a first-rate ensemble, with Bale and Crowe firmly in their element. Bale in constant search for redemption through acts of bravery; Crowe certainly enjoying his bit of villainy that is shaded with just the right tinge of civility and equal parts brio and malevolence. But the performance of the film is given by Ben Foster, who shatters any and all expectations as Charlie Prince, Wade’s ruthless but loyal henchman. Never over the top, Foster brings a startling absence of morality to Prince, whose acts of vengeance and violence are merely part of the job rather than a sociopath seeking pleasure in his actions. It’s at once brutal, subtle and revelatory.

3:10 to Yuma is that rarity, a western of the highest order. Clint Eastwood is second to none among contemporary directors in the genre, and Kevin Costner has demonstrated a serviceable knowledge as well. Director Mangold, whose eye and ear for atmosphere and pacing and whose ability to exploit maximum tension gives the film its remarkable punch, now joins a select group that – like Ben Wade and Dan Evans and their respective posses – is good company indeed.

– David Bleiler

© TLA Entertainment Group

Ratatouille

(2007, 110 min) Now this is what filmmaking is all about. One of the most romantic visions of Paris, and one of the most passionate statements about the joy of creating (and critiquing) art, comes in the guise of a computer-animated movie about a rat.

Yes, a rat. Where Disney did everything possible to disassociate Mickey Mouse from his rodent roots, director Brad Bird and Pixar make their hero Remy (voiced by stand-up comedian Patton Oswalt) as ratlike as possible. Remy and his family live in sewers, eat trash, and speak only in squeaks. Well, that's not entirely true... in this anthropomorphic universe, they also understand English and communicate in English, but only to each other. As if that wasn't evolutionary enough, Remy has developed a taste for haute cuisine, demonstrated in abstract animation reminiscent of Fantasia with each flavor hitting a particular color and note.

Remy gets his big break after he's flushed away to Paris (in the type of riveting action scene that Pixar excels at), and finds himself near the kitchen of his favorite deceased gourmand. It so happens another frustrated chef, young Linguini, is also messing around with the soup. These kindred spirits forge an unlikely alliance, leading up to the big night when feared food critic Anton Ego (voiced majestically by Peter O'Toole) sidles up to the table.

In an age when we perhaps take Pixar for granted, Brad Bird seems to be working on an entirely different level. As good as The Iron Giant and The Incredibles are, Ratatouille is his crowning achievement, simultaneously extolling and demonstrating the joy of creation. The climactic kitchen scene, set on a scale of both Griffithian and Lilliputian proportions, will have your mouth salivating at the food and your eyes watering at the technical achievement. And when Ego tastes the ratatouille, you will see one of the greatest, most unforgettable shots in cinematic history. Man, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Anyone know a good place in Philadelphia with rats in the kitchen?

– David Gorgos

© TLA Entertainment Group

Spider-Man 3

(2007, 139 min) Your Spidey senses won’t be exactly kicking in high gear, but they’ll definitely be tingling thanks to the flavorful action and still-potent story line on display in the third Spider-Man film that fails to reach the glorious heights of Spider-Man 2... but then, did we really expect it to?

Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and the rest of the gang all return for more superhero action, as Spider-Man, who’s been a busy boy, is enjoying the fruits of his crime-fighting labor – a relatively safe New York. His alter ego, Peter Parker, is, well, still Peter Parker, nerdy college kid now in a relationship with the girl of his dreams, Mary Jane Watson, who is set to star in a new musical on Broadway. Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) continues to dispense homespun advice, and they all miss Uncle Ben. Their old friend, Harry Osborn (James Franco), still blames Spider-Man for his father’s death and is planning his revenge, though Peter is trying his best to mend their friendship.

This is the rather familiar set-up that thankfully gets sucker-punched when Spider-Man’s newest nemesis, Sandman, arrives in town. An escaped convict played with relish by Thomas Hayden Church, Flint Marko is actually the one responsible for Uncle Ben’s death. On the run, he becomes exposed to radiation and gains the power to change into a body of sand. He heads to New York to reconcile a family matter and thus begins the battle between him and Spider-Man.

Peter Parker, meanwhile, is having his own problems. Mary Jane has been fired from her acting job and is difficult to deal with, and he’s now in competition for the new job opening at the Daily Bugle with an upstart named Eddie Brock (Topher Grace). Eddie’s a suitably sleazy adversary for Peter, and when he is bitten by an alien being, Eddie turns into Venom, yet another villain for Spider-Man to battle.

Though Grace is actually quite good as both Eddie and Venom, it may be too much of a good thing as there’s quite a lot of story here, maybe a little too much to fit into the film’s 139-minute running time. This part seems a little forced, and Sandman’s story line seems a little short-changed. This all would have worked just fine with one villain. Nevertheless, what’s on the screen is enjoyable and the fight scenes are one good battle after another.

The technical aspects of the film, as would be expected, are first-rate, with great special effects, cinematography and editing. Spider-Man flying between the buildings of New York City is still a cause to celebrate – you can’t but marvel at how good it looks. It doesn’t appear that anyone involved is resting on their laurels.

That includes the cast. Maguire may overplay the dork side with Peter, but he is still having fun, especially when he gets to dabble on Spider-Man and Peter’s dark sides. One of the film’s best scenes has Peter’s ego taking over and performing at a night club as if Jim Carrey’s mask had taken control of him. It’s unexpected, maybe a little out of place but thoroughly delectable.

The excitement of the first two film’s spontaneity may be a little diminished, but there’s enough adventure and humor and story in Spider-Man 3 to compensate for the film’s few flaws. It’s still fun to watch Spidey in action, and see some loose ends tied up. As long as you’re not expecting the accomplishment that was Spider-Man 2, this is quite a good time.

– David Bleiler

© TLA Entertainment Group

The Bourne Ultimatum

(2007, 114 min) Hold on to your beanies, boys and girls, this is gonna be one helluva ride. Make sure trays and seats are in the upright position and all seatbelts are fastened for there’s no guarantee by the end of the excruciatingly exciting third chapter in the Bourne films, The Bourne Ultimatum, that you’ll still be standing, in your seat, breathing or conscious by the film’s end. It’s that pulse-pounding, and it’s that good.

After winning an Oscar® for writing Good Will Hunting and starring in a series of commercially viable and then unreliable projects, Matt Damon turned the next corner in his career by starring in 2002’s gritty thriller The Bourne Identity, based on the Robert Ludlum novel. It was so successful both artistically and financially that a sequel was in order, The Bourne Supremacy in 2004, and it was an even bigger hit with critics and the public. Three years later, Damon and the director of Supremacy, Paul Greengrass, fresh off his Oscar® nom for the terrific United 93, reteam for what is the best of the trilogy. Whatever else Matt Damon does, no matter what direction his career takes, it will be a tough act to follow as to be as completely satisfying on-screen as he is in this career-defining role of Jason Bourne.

Featured in almost every scene of this edge-of-your-seat thriller that elevates chase and fight set pieces to new heights, Damon brings a maturity and immediacy that, though not lacking in either of the first two films, has been amped up for this final go-round. And it’s fitting to the quest that Jason Bourne is now on, for with his memory mostly intact, he attempts to return home to fill in the last missing pieces and have answered the questions that have been gnawing at him for years.

Bourne’s journey begins in Moscow, and the roller-coaster ride doesn’t stop until the final credits. Escaping the Russian police in a chase scene that neatly opens the film, Greengrass ups the ante with Bourne’s next destination, London, as the agent – still on the run from various local police departments and the CIA which still is out to terminate him – makes contact with a newspaper reporter who has discovered one of the pieces of Bourne’s puzzle from a well-placed source. Thus is set in motion an amazing cat-and-mouse game within the confines of Waterloo Station. The sequence must last almost ten minutes, and every single second is hold-your-breath exciting.

Back home, CIA operative Pam Landy (the always great Joan Allen) is reintroduced as she and newcomer to the series, section chief Noah Vosen (David Strathairn in a terrific turn), bicker as to what is to be done about the renegade agent. It is clear from the start that Bourne may have an ally in Landy, but Vosen, for reasons that are initially unclear, sees Bourne as a national security threat and demands his immediate execution.

Now in Spain to track down the source of the article, Bourne and the mysterious insider are both the target of CIA assassins. This operation, as was the London escapade, is under the watchful eye of Vosen as he safely gives orders from his New York office all the while watching pinpoint satellite coverage that would have George Orwell cringing. It’s a new era in espionage and from this vantage point, the agency seems ready. (So why haven’t they yet captured Bin Laden? That’s another movie.)

From here, the locales include Paris, Tangier, Morocco and, in the final set piece, New York City. Each location is particularly good, as both a backdrop for the story and as a dressing for the non-stop action. Oliver Wood’s extraordinary camerawork captures the flavor of each city while maintaining a tension that is almost unbearable. All the technical aspects of the film, under the skillful eye of director Greengrass, are exemplary, each contributing in making this an enthralling viewing experience.

But it’s that cast too that keeps you pinned to your seat. Thanks to the superior text by writers Tony Gilroy, Scott Z. Burns and George Nolfi, the ensemble recites first-rate dialogue and finds themselves in totally believable situations, not a mean feat in thrillers such as these. Damon, Allen, Julia Stiles (who makes her best impression as CIA op Nicky Parsons) all return in top form, with Strathairn, Scott Glenn and Albert Finney bringing an air of duplicity masked in patriotism to their roles. They all make great adversaries.

The Cold War has long been dead, but the post-9/11 international espionage film is alive and well and has hit its zenith with The Bourne Ultimatum. As director Doug Liman did with the first Bourne film, the bar has been raised, and Greengrass has risen to the challenge in remarkable ways, making it an almost mission impossible for the next globe-trotting secret agent to follow this job well done.

– David Bleiler

© TLA Entertainment Group

Premonition

(2007, 96 min) Sandra Bullock lures the audiences with her starring role in this mind-twisting thriller. With the tone of countless "Twilight Zone" episodes, this film tries and sometimes entertains with healthy doses of supernatural dream logic peppered with confusing time-shifting. Married to successful businessman and father, Jim (Julian McMahon, better known as Victor Von Doom from the Fantastic Four franchise), Linda (Bullock) goes about her daily routine until a sheriff’s knock on her door signals the beginning of a descent into a strangely sterile mind warp as he proclaims her husband’s death the day before. As she gathers her willpower to carry on and survive, along with her two small daughters, she finally sleeps that night. In the morning she wakes to discover her husband very much alive. The audience soon becomes witnesses to the cinematic fact that Linda is living day to day, yet the days are non-sequential. She sleeps, her husband is alive, she sleeps, he is dead again. This creaky plot device allows her to peer into the future, at times trying to prevent her husband’s demise, and at times to be neutrally resigned to her fate.

Various other “facts” appear as the film moves forward, yet in the long run they neither support nor detract from the underlying message of the script. It is extremely difficult to pull off a nonlinear narration without turning off the majority of your audience. For instance, Atom Egoyan has perfected this form in films like The Sweet Hereafter and Exotica, time lines shifting from present to past to present in order to build a rich composite of motive and character. This film employs this tact for a completely different purpose, supposedly to build suspense and ambiguity. So, at times it sometimes works and at other moments it’s simply confusing.

Bullock does manage to pull off a decent performance, in spite of mounting illogic and plot holes. When she discovers that indeed she can shift events ever so slightly in order to make her present/future more palatable, the narrative’s plausibility is enhanced. Suffice to say, there is a positive outcome achieved by the end that is not easily arrived at.

– Max Brinck

© TLA Entertainment Group

Hairspray

(2007, 117 min) You can’t stop the beat, indeed. As the title of the closing song suggests, the beat goes on and on in this deliriously entertaining screen adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway hit. From the opening number, a sly, “affectionate” tribute to Baltimore (complete with cameo from John Waters who created the first film that all this is based upon) to the toe-tapping, wanna-get-out-of-your-seat-and-join-the-fun finale, Hairspray is an old-fashioned joyride down memory lane to when Jackie Kennedy was the final word in fashion, big hair was all the rage and social protest could actually make a difference.

This journey all started when cinematic provocateur John Waters made Hairspray in 1988, his most accessible film to date, about Tracy Turnblad, an overweight high school girl (Ricki Lake) who lives to dance. It also had the audacity to star transvestite Divine as a housewife, playing it “straight” as laundry woman and loving wife and mother Edna. In 2002, it was adapted into a stage musical starring one-time drag performer Harvey Fierstein as Edna (who was an absolute knockout on stage). Keeping with the theme, a male performer once again dons Edna’s wigs and dresses, and his appearance here in no small way helps make the film musical Hairspray such a rousing success.

That would be John Travolta, the macho star of the ‘70s who reinvented himself in the ‘90s thanks to Pulp Fiction, and now throws caution, hell, everything but the kitchen sink to the wind to give a performance of such charm as to beguile any and all in his path. This isn’t camp. Just as Divine and Fierstein weren’t camp in the role (Divine in Pink Flamingos is camp; Fierstein in Mrs. Doubtfire is camp; Travolta in Two of a Kind is camp). This is a male actor seriously portraying a comedic woman’s role, and why it’s worked all three times.

Faithfully following the stage musical, minus a song or two and one particularly memorable prison sequence, Hairspray joyously sets the story of being true to one’s self at the time of the birth of the civil rights movement, and here they go hand in hand.

Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky in a wonderful film debut), a plump high school senior whose sweet disposition is matched only by her love of dancing, anguishes through classes each day with her best friend Penny (Amanda Bynes) waiting to rush home to watch her favorite TV show, “The Corny Collins Show,” a local Baltimore version of “American Bandstand.” It features the nicest kids in town, “nice white kids who like to lead the way, and once a month, (they have) Negro day.” This show’s Frankie and Annette are Linc (Zac Efron) and Amber (Brittany Snow), and like most all the girls, Tracy harbors a crush on Linc.

When one of the regular girls must leave the show (just for nine months), Tracy defies the odds and wins the coveted spot, becoming overnight one of the most popular dancers on the show. This sets her in direct competition with Amber, who doesn’t like the new girl, and an overweight one at that, taking the spotlight away from her. Nor does Amber’s mother (Michelle Pfeiffer as a former beauty queen and now station manager). And to make matters worse, Tracy is now trying to integrate the all-white program. To the establishment, Tracy has to go.

This all leads to more rousing musical numbers, sprightly directed comedy and towering hair-dos. The infectious musical score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman defies you not to swing and sway to the beat, and director Adam Shankman (whose work on Bringing Down the House and Cheaper by the Dozen 2 gave no clue as to the talent demonstrated here) opens up the play to great effect and his choreography befits the snappy, lively tunes.

You gotta love the cameos: Jerry Stiller (Edna’s husband in the '88 version that’s nicely played by Christopher Walken here), Lake, Waters, Paul Dooley – they’re all having fun, as is the ensemble, highlighted by Queen Latifah as Motormouth Maybelle, the hostess for Negro Day, newcomer Elijah Kelly who brings down the house in “Run and Tell That” and James Marsden, who displays a wicked grin, a hilariously cynical streak and surprisingly good pipes as Corny Collins.

By the time this all ends, and Tracy has found her dream, and Edna takes center stage (as she should), and all the outcasts have had their day, it’ll be hard to say goodbye to these delightful characters. They were right: You can’t stop the beat. And the way they sing and dance and carry on, you would never want them to.

– David Bleiler

© TLA Entertainment Group

1408

(2007, 94 min) Based on a short novella by horror icon Stephen King, 1408 follows Michael Enslin (John Cusack), an alcoholic writer recovering from a devastating family tragedy. Having authored several books promoting haunted tourist destinations, he works primarily as a paranormal investigator. He has, however, been greatly disappointed by previous findings and suspects that he will never make contact with an otherworldly being.

Enslin becomes determined to stay in room 1408 of New York City’s Dolphin Hotel after receiving a mysterious postcard warning him against it. Upon his arrival, he is further warned by Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson), the Dolphin’s hotel manager. Olin informs that the room has played host to a total of 56 deaths. In addition to seven window jumpers, a man who drowned in a bowl of chicken soup, numerous overdoses, hangings, stranglings and mutilations, 22 people have died natural deaths from heart attacks and strokes. According to Olin, the room itself is evil. No one person has survived inside for more than one hour.

Enslin still insists upon visiting 1408 and, shortly after his arrival, becomes much less skeptical. A clock radio counts down the last hour of his life while blaring “We’ve Only Just Begun” by The Carpenters. Toilet paper folds itself, the thermostat switches back and forth between polar extreme temperatures, ominous paintings seem to come to life, and the television displays highlights of his most painful memories. Malevolent forces deliver Enslin to the brink of insanity as he attempts survive the entire hour in what seems to be the portal to hell.

Carrying the larger majority of the film by himself, Cusack offers his most engaging performance in years. His animated reactions add an appropriate mix of both humor and tension to the largely clichéd but highly effective scares offered in the promising first half of the feature. Unfortunately, Hollywood-happy Swedish filmmaker Mikael Håfström – director of the equally illogical Derailed – squanders his promising exposition. Shocks and suspense are eventually abandoned in favor of unnecessary special effects and an overly dramatic, audience-tested climax and denouement that seem implausible even within the confines of a supernatural thriller.

For many discerning horror fans, the ending is likely to stigmatize the film as a whole. Still, the eerie production design and spooky initial occurrences should prove enjoyable enough to warrant a stormy night home viewing with the lights out.

– Robert O'Neill

© TLA Entertainment Group

The Astronaut Farmer

(2007, 104 min) What happens when you take a premise with a forgone conclusion and fashion a shooting script around it? You might get something resembling The Astronaut Farmer. Filled with good old cornpone platitudes and cliched soliloquies, the monologues and dialogues feel somewhat forced and prefabricated. Michael Polish, along with brother Mark, more known for quirky, indie films like Twin Falls Idaho and Northfork, are here turned into the typical Hollywood generic director and writer, why they were given this project or why they bid for it, is anybody’s guess.

Billy Bob Thornton, playing the would-be astronaut, Charles Farmer, displays his typical characterization of the troubled individual loner, smoothly taking the lead. Virginia Madsen plays a strong supporting role as his wife, investing as much emotion as possible. Farmer comes up hard against the FAA when his plans to launch himself into space make him a celebrity in his small Texas town. Redeeming qualities of the film include an above average eye for compositional framing and a wide, cinematic approach to the country landscape.

The world seems to be against Farmer, making him automatically the heir apparent for the title of bona fide “American Hero.” Constantly painting with wide strokes, leaving no room for much needed character development, the script is almost always sinking into oblivion. The centerpiece is a spectacular misfire as Farmer prematurely launches himself horizontally across the ranch lands, seriously injuring himself. This turns the film into a greater illustration of a personal struggle, pitting a man and his vision against reality. This failure leads to the third act, a second attempt to launch with a rocket dubbed, “The Dreamer.” These final minutes are the most satisfying, developing a contemplative tone with realistic special effects. Still, one leaves the film wishing much more had transpired.

– Max Brinck

© TLA Entertainment Group

The Last Mimzy

(2007, 97 min) Robert Shaye, founder of New Line Cinema, returns to directing with the help of screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin (Deep Impact, Jacob’s Ladder), crafting an interesting new age young person’s film, The Last Mimzy. Newcomers Chris O’Neil and Rhiannon Leigh Wryn play the children who find a mysterious box washed ashore near their Seattle beach-house. It contains a stuffed bunny and other inscrutable objects that soon will become the centerpiece of a science fiction fantasy with many current ideas on spirituality thrown into the mix. Timothy Hutton and Joely Richardson play the increasingly befuddled parents as their kids start to exhibit signs of genius and paranormal activity. Emma (Wryn) maintains her childlike wonder throughout the film as her only concern is her attachment to Mimzy (the bunny rabbit).

There are many interesting concepts presented throughout the film including Tibetan Buddhist mandalas, clairvoyance and clairaudience, levitation and nano technology. The special effects are spectacular in an understated manner, such as when Noah (O’Neil) begins to see the underlying geometric perfection in the world around him after activating a mysterious slab from the magic box.

Issues of national security are also raised when an agent (Michael Clarke Duncan) investigates a city-wide blackout caused by Noah’s manipulation of a generator formed from elements of the box.

At times, there seems almost too much information is presented, clouding the natural unfoldment of the plotline. This is a minor quibble however as the film reveals a future time where scientists still grappling with world dilemmas, await the return from the past of Mimzy, who is really an amazing feat of nanotechnology manufactured by Intel.

Adults will be interested to learn that The Last Mimzy is not a lowest common denominator kid flick but a thoughtful rumination related to E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind and What the Bleep Do We Know?

– Max Brinck

© TLA Entertainment Group

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

(2007, 138 min) There’s no doubt about it – Harry Potter has grown up. The only question is how much has he matured? That’s at the heart of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth, entertaining entry in the vastly popular series based on the J.K. Rowling novels. In the hands of yet another director, this time British helmer David Yates, whose last film for HBO, The Girl in the Café received good notices (and whose critically acclaimed mini-series Sex Traffic has yet to play in the U.S.), the film is a lot more talk than action. But the characters have matured so well over the years, and Yates gives such attention to the big and small things, you can’t help but enjoy sitting through what is basically a build-up for the final confrontation between Harry and the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) in the next two chapters.

It’s like waiting to see Anakin Skywalker turn to the Dark Side in Revenge of the Sith – you know it’s coming. You know it’s inevitable. It’s the how that you want to see. Only this is more satisfying.

Ready to begin his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry has just been expelled for using magic in front of a muggle. From the start, it appears that the suspension, spearheaded by the Minister of Magic, is acting upon his own agenda. And the court is clearly divided between those who believe Harry’s story that Voldemort has returned, and those who don’t and who are quite ready to silence the young wizard any way they can. This sorcerous congress could very well be taking sides on the Iraq war or whether there were weapons of mass destruction. Torture of suspected plotters, violations of long-standing civil rights (or in this case wizardry rights) – there are many shadings of George W.'s administration in this Ministry.

And their Cheney is marvelously played by Imelda Staunton, who gives what may be the best performance in any of the Harry Potter films to date. Her Dolores Umbridge is a classic creation of contradictions: a superficial mouthpiece who speaks in homespun certainties but whose smiling façade masks sinister intent. And when Dolores comes to Hogwarts to take over the department of Defense Against the Dark Arts, the smell of napalm is in the air as she gets ready to battle both Harry and Hogwarts Headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon).

She is only one foe that Harry must face. For Lord Voldemort is an ever-present danger, and Harry is plagued by dreams of the dark wizard that are threatening his own sanity. How he handles these and other obstacles clears the path for the showdown to come, and comments on how far Harry has come over the last five years. This includes the student becoming the teacher, as Harry commands a covert team of witches and wizards called “Dumbledore’s Army” in preparation for Voldemort. And, yes, Harry also receives his first kiss, though it's a minor affair.

A great majority of the characters from the last four films are here, as are the quirky and charming magical antics that have long characterized Hogwarts and the series. Director Yates brings back a lot of the humor that the first two films featured, while not ignoring the darker, more fearful story aspects that made the third and fourth films stand out. For the first time, a regular character will die, and the safety of others will be in great doubt.

Being a smattering of all the films, Order of the Phoenix doesn’t quite have the identity and velocity of the two best films, Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire. But between the laughs and the thrills, the plot developments and the wicked scene-stealing of Staunton, this lively fifth entry goes to some lengths to ensure that Harry Potter is, and remains, one of the best film series of all time.

Has Harry matured? You bet he has. Just as Daniel Radcliffe now wears his role with a regal authority and seemingly unflappable verve. Just as Hermione and Ron and their counterparts Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are integral parts to the whole, and act every bit the troubleshooter and best friend. And now the promise of adulthood and the next chapter – bring on the next course.

– David Bleiler

© TLA Entertainment Group

Transformers

(2007, 144 min) It’s becoming somewhat of a tradition: Since Independence Day, movie audiences are treated to alien attacks at our nation’s theaters on July 4. War of the Worlds, the two Men in Black films, even Terminator 3 all had heroes fighting villains from beyond time or space to celebrate the fourth with a bang. 2007’s entry is Transformers, a loud, slick, silly, exciting popcorn movie that isn’t nearly as accomplished as any of those other films, but you certainly do get a bang for your buck. And from all the fireworks on the screen, this is gonna make a lot of bucks.

Director Michael Bay (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor) isn’t exactly known for his subtlety, and subtle Transformers isn’t. But someone had the good sense to bring on Steven Spielberg as Executive Producer, for the production values are outstanding, all you would expect from probably the most successful director/producer of all time. Throughout most of his career, Spielberg could always be counted on for bringing out the inner child in all of us, and at its best, Transformers does exactly that.

The Everychild in this instance is Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), a nerdy but cute high school 11th grader who, like most boys his age, pines for the local beauty (Megan Fox), worries to excess about everything and is looking forward to his first car. It is the latter that sets the story in motion when Sam and his father (Kevin Dunn in a nice turn) go to Bobby Bolivia’s used car lot (Bernie Mac in a neat cameo as Bobby) and buy a beat-up yellow Camaro. When Bobby says that the car picks the owner, he isn’t kidding.

As it turns out, the car is one of several robot soldiers called Autobots from the dying planet Cybertron. They can transform at will back and forth from a mechanical being (car, plane, cell phone, portable CD player) into their real selves: giant robots with Edward Scissorhands appendages. Sam’s great-grandfather had made a discovery of the Autobots’ archenemy, Megatron, leader of the evil Decepticons, and now Sam is unknowingly in possession of a map that both the Autobots and Decepticons are after.

Throw in the standard cast of characters – a secret government organization, so secret that even the Secretary of Defense (Jon Voight) doesn’t know about it; a gung-ho group of grunts who escape the film’s opening carnage of a U.S. military base in the Middle East by the Decepticons; and a couple of youthful computer geeks – and there’s the making of a by-the-book, color-inside-the-lines military adventure that plays more like a recruiting film rather than CGI magic show.

But the effects are just that: magical. The semi-destruction of Los Angeles, the couple of lengthy battle sequences and, of course, the Transformers themselves are all remarkably done. The latter are the raison d’etre of the film, and do not disappoint.

The state-of-the-arts effects are not even the best thing in Transformers; that belongs to LaBeouf as Sam. The young actor has such a genuinely appealing quality to him, it’s difficult to imagine that Transformers, effects and all, would have worked half as well without him. It’s not an award-caliber performance per se, but it’s one of great heart and personality. The supporting cast ranges from good to barely bearable, with Voight giving much more conviction than the one-dimensional role deserves.

It’s probably safe to say that if loud explosions (a lot of them actually), a juvenile script and cardboard-cut-out characters can’t be overlooked for the sake of effects, Transformers is definitely not for you. But for the kid looking for pure visceral excitement, this will suffice until the next big-budget Hollywood formulaic epic – or at least the latest alien invasion come next July 4th.

– David Bleiler

© TLA Entertainment Group