INDIANA JONES CAST PHOTO!

It is barely even August yet I find myself yearning for next May already. Not only will we be getting IRONMAN starring Robert Downey Jr., THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN, but the supreme event being the release of INDIANA JONES 4. The thought of another adventure alongside Indiana sends chills down my spine, and a smile to my face. Indiana Jones is one of the greatest American icons of film history, and there is something special about the fact that he will be gracing the silver screen yet again. The following photo comes to us from Comic Con 2007 in San Diego, and could not make this INDIANA fanatic more giddy. The fact that Karen Allen is returning to her role as Marian Ravenwood only makes it that more momentous. Karen Allen will join Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone, Shia Lebouf, and of course Harrison Ford in an all-star cast (I am hoping for at least a cameo with John Rys Davis). Here is the photo to wet your appetite...

REVIEW: Transformers

Summer 2007 is becoming quite dismal at the cinema with its pop and circumstance of anticipation, and its lack-luster ability to actually turn out anything worthy of such anticipation, or the audiences $11. Director Michael Bay continues the trend of disappointing summer fair by delivering a somewhat solid summer popcorn flick with his much anticipated TRANSFORMERS.The story is somewhat simple, aliens both good (Autobots) and evil (Deceptacons) come from their desolate world to Earth in search of a galactic energy source known as the Allspark. This energy source governs power over all mechanical life in the universe and can be used to both create and destroy such life depending on whose hands it falls into. The aliens come to our planet in the form of TRANSFORMERS, larger than life robots with ultra strength and power that can morph into a variety of technical machinery such as cars, trucks, helicopters, jets, cell phones, even boom boxes. The Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, and voiced perfectly by Peter Cullen, find there only hope in a young man named Sam (Shia Lebouf), who holds the secret to finding the Allspark, though he doesn’t know it. Sam’s initial introduction to the transformers is through Bumblebee, a transformer that happens to be his newly purchased used Chevy. The Autobot's mission soon becomes one desperation and survival as they search the world for the Allspark, at the same time protecting Sam from the Deceptacons who will destroy anything in their path to achieve their ultamate mission of carnage and destruction.

While I did find Bay's film fairly enjoyable, it was defiantly not without its major problems, the biggest being the director himself. I simply have never been much of a fan of his films which include ARMEGEDDON, THE ROCK, BAD BOYS, and THE ISLAND. For me, Bay simply places a higher regard for style over substance. He would rather have blistering explosions, pervasive language, non-stop action, and card board characters over a story with any real sense of meaning, inspiration, or value. Not to say that pure entertainment doesn’t have its place in American Cinema, I think the first PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN played the role of pure popcorn entertainment excellently. However, the difference being that PIRATES was not without its charm, intelligence, and comical whimsy, all while telling a fun and family-friendly tale that fit perfectly within the scope and nature of its source material, which happened to be an amusement park ride. While PIRATES brought its ride to life clearly and effectively, TRANSFORMERS takes its humble beginnings as a Japanese inspired action figure which was later picked up by Hasbro, a major action figure manufacturer, and befuddles itself with mediocre characters, an action centered plot, and the director’s trade mark egoistic flurries.

Also, the quick-cut editing in the film, which kept a lot of action scenes unclear as the viewers are thrown into countless skirmishes of Autobots fighting Deceptacons where only hunks of twisted metal can be seen thrashing around, was at times headache inducing. Throw in several moments of cheesy dialogue, and an overall lack of character development in which I found myself not really caring about the humans or the transformers, and you get muddled action with little emotional resonance. Furthermore, Bays lack of sincerity with the horrific subject matter by choosing cheap laughs over more gritty and heart warming drama only cheapens the overall sense of the characters, making them more like cardboard cut-outs then real people, and lessons the audience’s ability to invest. The transformers themselves, which should have inspired us with breathtaking awe at every on-screen appearance, seem more like politically correct pop icons then towering symbols of heroism. And did anyone sense the similarities between TRANSFORMERS and INDEPENDENCE DAY? Secret bases that the Secretary of Defense (Jon Voight) doesn’t know about, a frozen transformer that crash landed years ago, embedded codes in the transformer signals to each other, and the fact that the government is so deeply involved in the plot.

One element that is hard to miss is the overwhelming amount of product placement seen throughout the film. GM especially makes its mark in that all of the featured Autobots are GM models. I am willing to cut the filmmakers a little slack in that a movie which so adamantly involvs cars and trucks is bound to have some product placement, but it is at times embellished beyond what's reasonable.

Shia LeBouf (HOLES, DISTURBIA) does a fine job as the films central human character, but his co-star Megan Fox, in her tight miniskirt, perfectly tanned body, and skimpy outfit, doesn't quite fit Shia's more ordinary, yet dorky personality and is simply there for looks and sex appeal, another common trait of Bay’s films. I will say that the films strength does lay in that it boasts some of the best visuals yet to be seen this year, expect ILM to win the BEST VISUAL EFFECTS Oscar for this film. However, have we come to the point in cinematic history when visuals out way story? The magnificence of TITANTIC and LORD OF THE RINGS was that they boasted exhaustive visuals, but never at the expense of the story being told. But it seems that directors these days feel that pushing the limits of CGI effects, and the number of actions sequences are more important then the characters being enveloped by them, or the story being told. What has happened to story, or is it itself in danger of becoming a thing of the past. The most discouraging factor is that audiences eat it up left and right. We have become a society that purely wants to be entertained, and could care less about substance, sophistication, or excellent art.

Overall, TRANSFORMERS is a decent summer film which is lacking in many areas, but still contains a mostly enjoyable ride. Do I smell sequels or a FRANCHISE in its future? Imagine that... One thing I still ponder is what this film would have been like in the hands of Executive Producer Steven Spielberg? I guess we will just have to hope and pray for great things to come next may, when Indiana Jones 4 takes the big screen by storm.

GRADE: C+

RECOMMENDATION: See it for its sheer visual splendor, but don't expect much story.

REVIEW: Evan Almighty

In EVAN ALMIGHTY, a spin-off of 2003’s BRUCE ALMIGHTY, Steve Carrel plays Evan Baxter, a former Buffalo newscaster who has just become a newly appointed congressman. After moving his family to the D.C. suburbs, and getting settled into his new lifestyle complete with the family Hummer, a monstrous home, and a stray dog that likes to bite him in the privates, Evan gets a special visitation from God, played once again by Morgan Freeman. God tells Evan that a flood is coming, and that he must build an ark in order to save his family. Evan dismisses what God is saying until all different types of animals, in pairs, start following him around the D.C. area, from lions to lamas, and toucans to tarantulas. Birds fly into his capital hill office, sheep show up in the back seat of his car, and people in Washington are beginning to take notice. He even starts growing an unstoppable beard, and finds the ancient robe that keeps showing up in his closest quite comfortable. Evan eventually decides to build the ark with the help of his family, and in the end God will use Evan to save them from a man-made disaster, as well as national parks from being taken over by a greedy politician (John Goodman) who wishes only to suburbanize them.

Steve Carell (40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) plays an everyman Evan Baxter but never really feels completely secure in his role. His physical comedy is humorous, but at times feels forced. Carell’s strength here lies more in his restrained side which is stronger when he shares the screen with Morgan Freeman, who shines with a particular grace as the ACTUAL ALMIGHTY. Each scene between God and Baxter is done with a special sweetness and charm. You can almost sense Director Tom Shadyac’s admiration for the subject matter through the way in which he instructs Freeman to recite his lines. Lauren Graham as Joan, the wife of Evan, is both forgettable and flat, and is given no other objective than to whine and complain about Evan’s Other comic actors such as Wanda Sykes, playing Evan Baxter’s assistant, have some great bits of comedy, but are there purely to make us laugh, instead of making us laugh while moving the story along.

This movie is in essence flawed on many levels. Where is the real tension, or drama in this story? In BRUCE ALMIGHTY, Bruce (Jim Carrey) has to contend with his selfishness, his pride, and the fact that he fails at being God. In EVAN ALMIGHTY, Evan has to contend with non-stop shaving fits, building a boat, and people at work laughing at him. How is it that everyone could possibly dismiss Baxter as being crazy about his Ark ranting when exotic animals (lions, ostriches, etc) are following him around town, and when he doesn’t even bother to actually show people that his beard is instantaneously growing back? What are these EXOTIC animals really in danger from in the first palce? Why would God bring them to Washington D.C. in the first place when the flood only threatened a small area in the first place? Also, in the flood, which is not by the way, a “global” flood, wouldn’t people be drowned? The film makes not mention of the flood affecting anyone else but the main characters who are riding down it like an inner tube on the ark, though it forces its way down the streets and waterways of Washington D.C. One a theological level, how is Evan’s faith really tested when God keeps making himself known to Evan in blatantly obvious ways. Loads of building materials arrive from a mysterious company 1-800-GO-4-WOOD, acres of land suddenly become available across the street from Evan’s house, and did I already mention the hoards of animals that keep showing up at Evan’s front door. In the films final moments God tells Evan that the purpose of ARK was to spread Acts of Random Kindness which have the power to change the world. I give the film kudos for explaining how loving God is, but the filmmakers tend to skirt around the fact that God is also wrathful, jealous, and vengeful. I also understand that their intentions were to make a family-friendly movie that anyone could enjoy, and I think to some degree they achieved that. EVAN ALMIGHTY is void of the sex, violence, and language that tend to comedy films these days. It is always refreshing to see a comedy that is willing to just have a great time, yet not fall into the abyss of fart jokes, and sex humor, it is the formula that made NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM nearly $573 million at the worldwide box-office this past year, and for that, I give Shadyac major accolades.

In the end, EVAN ALMIGHTY is an over the top, ridiculous, nonsensical comedy that has instances of sweetness and sprinkles of theological truth rapped up in a warm-hearted family comedy filled to the brim with good intentions. Unfortunately, good intentions don’t always make the best movies.

GRADE: C

RECOMMENDATION: For those that don’t mind some cheap laughs, a flawed story, and some absurdities amongst some truly good-intentions.

My Blog Rating

First Pic of INDIANA JONES!

It has been almost 19 years since Harrison Ford was seen on a film set wearing one of the most recognizable costumes in film history, and today we finally get another look at him in it. Could May, 2008 come any sooner! Behold, Harrison Ford returns to the silver screen as INDIANA JONES, in the fourth installment of the beloved series which started filming last week...

3:10 to Yuma Trailer Hits!!!

Christian Bale takes on Russel Crowe in James Mangold's (Walk The Line) latest film!

American Gangster Trailer

Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Director Ridley Scott, and the writer of SCHINDLER'S LIST, do I smell a winner? It has a very FRENCH CONNECTION kind of feel to it, and if they pull it off it could very well be this years THE DEPARTED. It could also be a flop like Zaillan's remake of ALL THE KINGS MEN, but we will have to wait for November in order to find out. Can't wait for this one!

REVIEW: Pirates of the Carribean - At World's End

When PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL came out in 2003, no one thought that it would last one week at the box-office, let alone gross nearly 700 million dollars worldwide. Especially a cornball pop-corn action flick based on a theme park ride at Disneyland. Who could have guessed that it would soon become a phenomenon that would spawn a franchise of films, loads of merchandise, video games, and action figures? But what made our first visit to the Caribbean so enthralling was the whimsical, almost Charlie Chaplin meets slapstick western, nature of it. It had everything that an audience wanted out of a summer blockbuster: cursed pirates, high sea battles, sword fights, large set pieces, witty writing, and the foundation that held it all together, the creation of Captain Jack Sparrow played in every sense with freshness an energy by Johnny Depp. Depp brought so much to the role as to make Sparrow clearly one of the most original film characters since Indian Jones, or Han Solo, and it even earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. In PIRATES, Sparrow is a total scoundrel, but we love him anyway because underneath all of his selfishness and egoism's, he struggles to make the right decisions, and in the end he does so by helping to thwart the plans of Captain Barbossa, but never without a sense of outlandish flair. What PIRATES created was a sense of newness to high-seas adventures after a string of box-office blunders (CUTTHROAT ISLAND, WATERWORLD), and as soon as Disney saw the dollars roll in, they ordered-up two more installments to be filmed back-to-back. It was a move ala THE MATRIX trilogy of sorts, though even THE MATRIX films got the idea from the first trilogy to use this method - BACK TO THE FUTURE.

In PIRATES 2, we find ourselves surrounded again by a world of slapstick silliness, hungry cannibals, outlandish battles with a giant sea monster, more cursed pirates lead by the tyrannical and squid-faced Davy Jones, and at the core, Captain Jack Sparrow. Depp continues to ignite his performance in this installment with enough eccentric showmanship that we marvel at his ability to make meandering about as a drunken dimwit look easy, and showing just how much fun he has at playing this role. PIRATES 2 takes on a quite a darker tone than its predecessor, and the plot starts to get quite vexing and complicated, but it still remains a fantastical romp of a film from beginning to end. After all, it is a movie based on a theme part ride, can you really expect much more? The biggest fault in PIRATES 2 is that it leaves things completely open ended: Sparrow sacrifices himself to the Kraken, in which he is plunged into the metaphysical pirate purgatory known as "Davy Jones Locker"; Will Turner rallies to save his father Bootstrap-Bill Turner from his life debt to Davy Jones; Colonel Beckett, now possessing the heart of Jones as well as Jones's allegiance, wants to rid the world of pirates altogether; Elizabeth Swan wants to somehow make sense of everything that's going on, even after sentencing Sparrow to his fate; and in the end, Turner, Swan, and Sparrow's faithful shipmates set out on a voyage to save Sparrow from pirate hell, but not without the help of the recently resurrected Captain Barbosa.

And that leads us to PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END...

If you thought it was hard keeping track of all the plot lines, last minute betrayals, and twists of PIRATES 2, then you are in for an even greater treat with the latest installment of the franchise, which shows no signs of slowly down the production of future installments. That fact became almost certain when PIRATES 3 broke the worldwide opening weekend record with an estimated box-office gross of nearly $400 million, an impressive achievement. But there is only one way to truly describe PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END: an overstuffed turkey on the brink of bursting. For all its meandering, absurdities, and fatty excess, it remains no more than a pile of action sequences sewn together by unintelligible dialogue, cardboard characters, and a plot so absurd that it makes Terry Gilliam's THE BROTHER'S GRIMM a harrowing achievement of substance, heart, and meaning. The only meaning that I got out of PIRATES 3, with its constant tendency for characters to betray each other, lie, cheat, back stab, and steal, was how glorious it must have been to be a pirate, and to get away with such self-less behavior. The films tendency is to almost glamorize the act of piracy by painting a somewhat tyrannical picture of the British soldiers, and showing little sense of morality or conscience within the bub of main characters, who are suppose to represent heroism, but instead represent that which they have become, bumbling idiots. Hardly a moment passes by where characters actually have any type of moral dilemma about what they are doing, and why. They purely act out of their own self-righteous and self-loathing ideals from beginning to end, flaunting their prideful attitudes.

Another major issue I had with PIRATES 3, was its complete departure from the energy and liveliness of the first two films. Gone is the whimsical fun of the first films, and in its place is a plot that tends to revel in torment, violence, and making the audience feel utterly depressed. Throughout the whole film, I can hardly remember the moments that I actually laughed, or even smiled. Not only was this film stretched to an abhorrent length of nearly three hours, but it left me physically exhausted, and wanting nothing more than for the credits to role. It quickly lost its sense of entertainment, and became an exercise of pure endurance. The opening scene of the film involves the hanging of a slew of people, all condemned for their connection to piracy. The scene even features a young boy being hanged, his feet shown dangling in mid-air. Before the films end the audience must experience scenes of digits being snapped off, characters being impaled, a brain being licked, what many would consider an attempted rape, and what I would consider the most grotesque image, Davy Jones killing someone by shoving his tentacles down their throat. Where the first two PIRATES films left the violence between our hero's and immortal pirates comic swordplay, the third film takes it to a whole new level by making the it more realistic, more harrowing, and much more brutal.

From a filmmaker standpoint, what Director Gore Verbinski has crafted is a film of impeccable quality. His use of colors, cinematography, costumes, editing, and visual effects are impeccable. I think the only threat to PIRATES 3 winning the Oscar for Best Visual Effects film to be TRANSFORMERS, which has seemed so flawless in all of the previews. Also, the production design is both haunting, beautiful, and unique, most notably for the extreme details placed into the sets featuring Singapore. But in the end, the film remains void of a memorable story, heroic characters, or without the fun and whimsical soul which the first two PIRATES films reflected so masterfully.

GRADE: C-

RECOMMENDATION: Only if you can stomach storytelling on steroids, horrible dialogue, and complete buffoonery.

THE JOKER!!!

I could not be more excited about THE DARK KNIGHT, the sequel to 2005 hit BATMAN BEGINS. Also, it seems as if the marketing campaign has already begun even though the film doesn't hit the screen until next June. The photo above is a glimpse of Heath Ledger in his full-on JOKER make-up. I absolutely love the approach the filmmakers are taking with this character. They are returning to the comic book by making JOKER less clown, and more psychotic maniac, and in the picture you can see for yourself how they will achieve this. I was not all that excited when I heard that Heath Ledger would be playing one of, if not the, greatest comic book villains in history, but this picture defiantly gives me more confidence. Christopher Nolan (MOMENTO, THE PRESTIGE) continues to give us glimpses into the male psyche and I trust that he will take us to dark places as we see what it is that makes the JOKER truly tick.

Can JUNE 2008 get here any sooner!!!

REVIEW: SPIDER-MAN 3

With the opening of SPIDER-MAN 3, SUMMER 2007 has officially arrived! Will it be the most successful summer in box-office history, who can really say? But what we do know is that having a film based on one of the most successful and beloved comic book franchises in history is not a bad way to start things off, even if the third entry in the series falls short from the previous two entries in the series. SPIDER-MAN 3 has already broken single-day, and single-week records all over the world, and it is a sure bet that Sony is already dreaming up SPIDER-MAN 4, 5, 6, and beyond. Weather or not they should make those sequels is another question altogether as Tobey McGuire, Kirsten Dunst, and director Sam Raimi have all stated that it may be time for them to step down, or at least take a break from this franchise.

The first SPIDER-MAN took us into the origins and life of an ordinary nerd named Peter Parker, a simple-minded guy with nothing too attractive about his life. He is a class clown, a dork, constantly bullied, lives with his elderly aunt and uncle, but underneath it all he is no different then any of us. He longs for a girl he is almost destined to never have, he struggles with being content for the blessings that he does have, and he never feels adequate enough, sound familiar? Then one day he is bitten by a radioactive spider and becomes SPIDER-MAN, a web-slinger that fights crime in order to ease the guilt he suffered for his role in the death of his uncle Ben Parker, the closest father figure that he ever had. We are all like Peter Parker is some way or another, and that is the core and beauty of what SPIDER-MAN represents, he is an ordinary person who is endowed with extraordinary responsibilities, and it is how he reacts to real-life challenges, and how he faces the consequences of his actions that makes his story relevant to all our lives.

In SPIDER-MAN 2, we find Peter Parker facing a lot of new problems. He is constantly late to work, he can never commit to seeing Mary Jane in her latest acting role, he can barely get the rent in on time for his shabby apartment, he is falling behind in his school work, and while juggling all these things, he is still a crime fighting web-slinger on the side. If SPIDER-MAN was about the origins of our hero and the responsibilities that having such powers bring, SPIDER-MAN 2 is about whether or not Peter Parker really wants such responsibilities to begin with. He can't juggle being a hero and leading a normal life at the same time, so he gives up the hero, and wants none of it. In the end Peter realizes that no matter the hardships that life brings, he is both Peter Parker and Spider-man, and they are one in the same.

In SPIDER-MAN 3, we find Peter Parker in a quite a different predicament. Peter's life is shaping up quite nicely as he is getting ready to propose to Mary Jane, he is at the top of his college class, and all of New York is in love with spider-man, things could not be going better for him. But when a alien symbiote crash lands on earth and attaches itself to Peter's spidey-suit, things start to get interesting. The longer that Peter wears the suit the more his aggressive and selfish tendencies come out. He is more proned to acts of deliberate mockery, lust, egoism, and anger. This then becomes the core of Peter's newest enemy, himself. Many criticisms have been made of the way in which director Sam Raimi showcases Parker's more "malicious" side as being cheesy, laughable, or just plain awkward. Personally, I found it to be not only very whimsical but also humorous, artistically satisfying, and quite entertaining. Furthermore, Tobey MacGuire is allowed to fully let loose, continuing to give us a character depiction that is filled with energy, class, and substance. If SPIDER-MAN was about dealing with new responsibilities, and SPIDER-MAN 2 was about facing the temptation to throw ones responsibilities away, then SPIDER-MAN 3 is about pride and how it corrupts and destroys everyone in its path. That story sounds simple enough but throw in a plot about Harry's continued revenge attempts for the death of his Father (The Green Goblin), a new photographer in town named Eddie Brock who wants Parker's job and later becomes the villain VENOM, an escaped conman who becomes THE SANDMAN and is the actual killer of Uncle Ben, and a new gal in Parker's life named Gwen Stacey and you get SPIDER-MAN 3, a movie with so many plots that each one would be a fitting film of its own, and you know that the audiences would gladly show up.

In the end, what suffers the most from SPIDER-MAN 3's bloated script is the character development. Thomas Haiden Church plays a masterful SAND MAN, but he might as well have been a cardboard cutout because I just didn't care about his character, or really know or understand anything about him. I do give major accolades to the special effects wizards for giving the effects of the film an almost seamless feel, especially for a scene in which the SAND-MAN is created, it is both beautiful and breathtaking to watch. You could tell how much director Sam Raimi truly loved the character of SAND-MAN, and to think if only the whole film had been centered around this deeply conflicted character, his motivation's behind uncle Ben's murder, and Peter's struggle to avenge the actual man who killed his uncle.

Another problem I had with SPIDER-MAN 3 was the many contrivances seen throughout the story. The asteroid with the black symbiote goo lands right next to the web which Peter and Mary Jane are lying on the park, is immediately attracted to Peter, latches itself onto his scooter, and manages to wind up unnoticed in his bedroom where it finally overtakes him. Other such contrivances include a scene where Harry learns the truth about his father's death from a butler that we have never before seen or been introduced too. Not that the other movies didn't have their own share of implausibilities as well, like the likelihood of spider-man being friends with the very guy whose father ends up being the GREEN GOBLIN. This is a minor quibble but I did find myself being bothered by it, which never occurred during the other two films. In the end you just have to assume that their is going to be some sense of unbelievability in a story which is founded in a comic world. However, I do think that it has a lot to do with strength of the story itself. The filmmakers obviously had so much they had to say and tell, that they had to make shortcuts in order for the storytelling to progress more quickly so that all the threads could be completed by the end, and unfortunate that led to contrivances, a bloated plot, and moments of sloppy storytelling.

When all is send and done, SPIDER-MAN 3 is still an extremely solid entry into the world of comic book film adaptations, their is only hesitation their because the first two entries into this universe were done so carefully, so wonderfully, and were so meticulous to the story being told. The themes of overcoming pride, dealing with selfishness, and asking for forgiveness or so prevalent in the film that the films climax had me in tears. Their are moments of extreme beauty, and such grand filmmaking in this film, that at moments all of my criticisms melted away, and I was just sitting their in awe with the biggest grin on my face as I watched spider-man swing with an almost perfect grace through the shimmering high rises of upper and lower Manhattan. Spider-man continues to teach us that "with great power comes great responsibility," that suffering and pain is a part of daily life, that even heroes are in need of a savior, and that we all have the choice of doing what we know is right. For that, thanks go out to the filmmakers for making a terrific set of films.

GRADE: B

RECOMMENDED: See it on the big screen!

FAVORITE FILMS OF 2007

Friday morning I will embark on a 12:01 AM viewing of SPIDER MAN 3, the film that will jump start what could potentially be the most successful summer in box-office history. But before we get into summer movie mania, it is time to finally put 2006 to bed.

2006 was a year chalked full of blockbusters that were successful yet lacked much depth or critical interest (PIRATES 2, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3, DA VINCI CODE, SUPERMAN RETURNS, etc...), and films that challenged commonly held social beliefs towards issues such as the environment (AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH), the African diamond trade (BLOOD DIAMOND), tradition vs. modernism (THE QUEEN), even the very nature of heroism itself (FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, LETTERS FROM IWA JIMA). All in all, 2006 was a great year at the movies; a far cry from years past, but a leap forward in comparison to a dismal 2005.

It still saddens me though that Hollywood still favors objective and cynical storytelling over stories that don't beat you over the head with their blatant agendas. CHILDREN OF MEN was a powerful film about hope, yet the filmmakers kept making references to the cruelty of "Homeland Security," and how awful the (our) government really is; I even felt at times that the film was mocking the obvious allegorical reference that it made to a messianic child that would be born and ultimately change the world, even though that is what the film hinges itself upon. HAPPY FEET was an exercise in how manipulative children's movies are becoming with its fickled social commentary on how awful humans are treating the planet, and its contorted view of the dominance of religion in the world. What would we do without PIXAR?

Even though 2006 was a much better year at the movies, I still look back and find myself having not been wildly entertained by many of the films that were released. Most of the films on my top ten list I most likely will not buy on DVD because they just aren't the kind of films you really want to submit yourself too on an ongoing basis. Even though they have very powerful messages at their core, they frankly just hit too close to home, and sometimes taking a trip out of the reality of our daily lives gives us the chance to hope that somewhere out there one will find the opportunity for a greater life. In short, the reason why PIRATES 2 was the biggest blockbuster of the year is simple, it was a great time at the movies, and it doesn't hurt that every female on the planet goes bananas over Jonny Depp, that teenage guys salivate over Keira Knightley, or that Orlando Bloom is pure teen girl eye candy! Yes, some people still want to have a good time at the movies these days, and can we blame them when all they see on the news is one dreadful thing after another? Must the cinema reflect such a negative outlook on life when there are so many things to be thankful for? Frank Capra, where are you when we desperately need you?

Here are my top 10 movie picks of 2006:

#10: APOCALYPTO
Mel Gibson has proven once again that he is a fantastic director. Some continue to think that he is flat out crazy, shooting another film in a dead language about an ancient culture, with his own money, and using all no-name actors, sounds pretty crazy to me. However, the result is a wild ride that sucks you in and won't let you go until the credits role. This film was the most exhilarating movie going experience of the year, and aside from his personal life, Gibson continues to make a believer out of me.

(Caution: This film has scenes of extreme brutality.)

#9: THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Will Smith gives one of the best performances of the year, and one of the best performances of his career. Also, you can't deny the magical charisma going on between real life father and son. This is a film abut persevering through the toughest trials in life, and realizing that you just can't make it on your own. It is not a perfect film, but it is a film that will touch your heart, and inspire you to discover where happiness truly lies.

#8: CARS
Can PIXAR ever go wrong? They just get it, they get story, they understand what memorable characters really are, and they are never afraid to take us to a place that we would never imagine, but that fits the mold of their characters so perfectly. On the surface this is a film about cars and a love letter to an age in which a road trip down old Route 66 couldn't be beat, but underneath it all is parable about friendship, forgiveness, selfishness, and how life isn't just about the destination, but the journey that it takes to get there.

#7: STRANGER THAN FICTION
Harold Crick may be the world's most boring person, but the moment he realizes that his life is being written by an author who he can hear in his head he finds himself, and he begins to come alive. This is a film about cherishing every moment that you have, about finding fulfillment in the smallest of things, and realizing that sometimes it takes facing death to bring out the greatest qualities in each of us.

#6: CASINO ROYALE
What, a bond that bleeds, who questions the kind of life that he should lead, who actually has a soul. Every one thought that Daniel Craig would be the worst Bond of all, with his blond hair and short resume, but in CASINO ROYALE he forever silenced all those who denied him. Daniel Craig has brought a new gravitas to the character of James Bond that makes CASINO ROYALE the most real and gritty bond of all them all. The cheesy one-liners are gone, the contrived gadgets that get bond out of every sticky situation are gone, and the ditsy seductress Bond Girl is gone, leaving a film that is riveting to behold, with a sense of charm and whimsy that leaves its viewers fulfilled, even in the face of tragedy. CASINO ROYALE just might rival GOLDENEYE and GOLDFINGER as one of the best Bond movies ever, and Daniel Craig may even rival Connery as one of the best actors to ever suit up in the famed black tux, or to drink his martini's shaken and not stirred.

#5: PANS LABYRINTH
In the vein of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, Guimero Del Toro, the director of BLADE 2 and HELLBOY has given us the best foray into the fantasy genre since LORD OF THE RINGS. PANS LABYRINTH is the story of a little girl name Ofelia who discovers a ancient labyrinth where a faun gives her three tasks to perform. Not only must Ofelia face the horrors of the fantasy world that she has stumbled into, she must also face the horrors of her tyrant stepfather who is a man of unmistakable evil. Underneath the films adult content, for this is no children's tale, there is story about facing your fears, hope for a better world, and self-sacrifice.

(CAUTION: This film contains some intense moments of brutality.)

#4 CHARLOTTES WEB
What is it about farm animal stories that is so enduring. First there was BABE and now EB White's classic tale of friendship comes to life in a vivid realism. The film follows the story of Wilbur, a runt pig that was rescued from the slaughter house by a little girl that saw something wonderful in him. Wilbur soon befriends a spider named Charlotte and the adventure begins to save the Christmas dinner fate that awaits Wilbur. Walden Media, the makers of NARNIA, BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, and HOLES, have presented themselves as the premiere producers of enduring family entertainment, and CHARLOTTE'S WEB is no detractor.

#3: LITTLE CHILDREN
Two small town stay-at-home parents find themselves trapped in an adulterous love affair they they willfully condoned. Both come from marriages that are for the most part non-existent. The title says it all, we may find that our children do childish things, but in reality adults can be just as selfish, just as feisty, and just as manipulative as "little children." In the end this is a film about how the fulfillment of lustful desires can only leave you empty, and how it can only hurt the ones that truly need you attention, your commitment, and you love.

(CAUTION: This movie contains some brief moments of intense sexuality, and some nudity.)

#2: WORLD TRADE CENTER
Two port authority police officers find themselves trapped under the debris of the collapsed World Trade Center buildings. Oliver Stone brings all the elements of his 30 year film career to showcase this story of true courage, hope, and bravery. The surprising part of this film is Oliver Stone himself. For years he has been consistently labeled as one of films most controversial directors. His Vietnam trilogy (PLATOON, BORNE ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, HEAVEN AND EARTH) gave us plenty of reasons why the Vietnam War was one of the biggest mistakes our country ever made, JFK explores the conspiracy theories behind the assassination of President Kennedy, and ANY GIVEN SUNDAY is an exploration of the power struggles that plague professional sports, specifically football. But with WOLRD TRADE CENTER, Stone has set his ego and his agenda aside to present us with a story about enduring the most horrific obstacles, and how faith, family, and hope can conquer any act done out of hate and evil. This film is nothing short of a triumph in a time when their are little triumphs to be seen.

#1: UNITED 93

When word that Hollywood would be adapting stories from 9/11 to the big screen, I thought to myself that it was just too soon to do so. We are still a nation trying to cope with the continuing pain and despair of that monumental day in history, but as it turns out, the timing could not have been better. UNITED 93 is a story about loss, pain, and terror, but it is also a story about courage, strength, hope, and ultimately self-sacrifice. How many more lives would have been lost if the folks on UNITED 93 had not banded together, risked their own lives, and given them willfully away? This is a film that is shot so real that it feels like you are actually seeing the events unfold before you, and the images still haunt my thoughts to this day. This film is not about the government, it is not about the terrorists, it is about a day when a group of strangers gave there lives in order to stop hate, in order to stop evil, and in order to stop destruction. It is a moment in history that will never be forgotten, and never should be.

NOTABLE MENTIONS (In no particular order):

• The Queen
• Blood Diamond
• The Prestige
• The Illusionist
• Letters From Iwa Jima
• Dreamgirls
• Little Miss Sunshine
• The Painted Veil
• Pirates 2
• Over The Hedge

Aronofsky's Next: NOAH

It looks like the director of such intense films as PI, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, and last years THE FOUNTAIN is currently writing the screenplay to his next feature length film, an adaptation of the Biblical account of NOAH. The details of the project are pretty vague at this point, but Aronofsky does share part of his inspiration for bringing such an adaptation to life during an interview with a paper called The Guardian. Here is a sampling from the article:

Aronofsky and Noah go way back. When the writer-director was 13, he won a United Nations competition at his school in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn; it was for his first poem, a little effort about the end of the world as seen through Noah's eyes. "That story has interested me ever since," he says, squinting through his yellow-tinted shades and pulling a striped woolly hat on to his head. We are on the decking in front of his hotel, with the snow-dusted mountains spread out before us. Henry, Aronofsky and Weisz's 10-month-old son has just been whisked off on a sightseeing trip with his nanny, and all is tranquil.
The script, Aronofsky tells me, is no conventional biblical epic. "Noah was the first person to plant vineyards and drink wine and get drunk," he says admiringly. "It's there in the Bible - it was one of the first things he did when he reached land. There was some real survivor's guilt going on there. He's a dark, complicated character."

The full article can be read at http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2065823,00.html.

SUMMER 2007 LINE-UP!!!

When 12:01 AM hits next Friday, SUMMER 2007 will officially begin, and what a summer to behold!!! Last year was full of box-office blunders (Poseidon), critical disappointments (The Da Vinci Code, X-Men 3, Fantastic Four), and plenty of folks just wondering what had happened to the real SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER. X-Men 3, Da Vinci Code, and Pirates 2 all carried away huge box-office receipts, but none completely captured the hearts of both critics and movie-goers as in past years, accept for maybe Cars, but even its reception was not as warm as past Pixar films. So what will happen when three of the highest grossing film franchises of all time (Spider-Man, Shrek, Pirates) bring out their third installments within the same month? Expect one of the biggest box-office battles in history, and don't forget that there are plenty of other films just waiting to take their share of the box-office booty that awaits. Some are already hedging their bets for this to be the most successful summer at the movies in history, and here are the films that have the potential to make it happen:

MAY 4 - SPIDER MAN 4

MAY 18 - SHREK 3

MAY 25 - PIRATES 3

JUNE 15 - RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER

JUNE 22 - EVAN ALMIGHTY

JUNE 27 - LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD

JUNE 29 - RATATOUILLE

JULY 4 - TRANSFORMERS

JULY 13 - HARRY POTTER 5

JULY 27 - THE SIMPSONS

AUGUST 3 - THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

AUGUST 10 - RUSH HOUR 3

Hopefully this will be a summer to remember, hopefully. Will Transformer's totally stink, will Pirates take box-office glory for a second year in a row, and will Evan Almighty, the MOST EXPENSIVE COMEDY EVER MADE, drown? Only time and box-office #'s will tell!!!

Elizabeth The Golden Age Trailer

This is going to be one of the greatest films of the year. I know becuase I have already seen a rough cut of it, and that rough cut was one of the most satisfying movie going experiences I have had in the past couple of years. Also, Cate Blanchett proves once again, even in this 3 minute clip, that she is one of the greatest actresses of our time, if not the greatest!

Check it out!

Pirates 3 Trailer

May is looking better and better!

Final Spider-Man 3 Trailer

Can we wait for this film or what!!!

CATE BLANCHETT Joins Cast of INDY IV

I can think of no greater actress working in Hollywood these days, accept for maybe Meryl Streep, than Cate Blanchett. She has a rawness and a vitality about every performance that beckons the audience's attention even through the blandest of stories. She was shrewd and electrifying as Kathryn Hepburn in THE AVIATOR, defiant and strong in VERONICA GUERIN, beautiful and terrifying as Galadriel in THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and in notably her greatest role to date, her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in ELIZABETH and the upcoming ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE, she is haunting, powerful, yet riddled with fear of failure and vulnerability. She fills the screen with so much veracity that even the real Kathryn Hepburn, who many consider the greatest film actress of all time, might take some notice.

The Hollywood Reporter has just released news that Cate will next be joining the cast of the upcoming May 22, 2008 release of Indiana Jones 4. News regarding the films plot has been kept a very tight lipped secret. Rumors pin Blanchett as playing everything from Indiana's current love interest, to the very mother of his son. Nothing is certifiable, but one thing is certain, that Cate will have a leading role in the film alongside Harrison Ford.

INDIANA JONES 4 begins principal photography this coming June!!!

You can read the original article at the following site:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i880911115a741b419d43044f92423110

Derickson To Direct PARADISE LOST

It seems as if Scott Derickson is about to have his hands very full for the next few years as he takes on a cinematic version of PARADISE LOST. PARADISE LOST is the 500 page epic poem written by John Milton in the 1700 which tells of the angelic rebellion in Heaven led by the arch angel Lucifer, his impending fall along with 1/3 of God's own angels, as well as the inevitable fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Milton's poem is based on the story of the fall of man, which can be found in the Bible's Old Testament book of Genesis, along with stories of the angelic rebellion being found in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, and the New Testament book of Revelations among other places. Both Derickson and his producers feel determined to do the story justice as it is part of the most pivotal beliefs in 3 of the worlds largest belief systems: CHRISTIANITY, JUDAISM, and ISLAM. The fall represents the exact point in history in which man lost its perfect communion with God through the entrance of sin into the very nature of humanity, necessitating that God himself would have to redeem mankind through the sending of the messiah. The producers already feel like the film has the potential to be equal or greater in scale to that of LORD OF THE RINGS. Let's all keep are fingers crossed on this one!

In order to read the whole NEW YORK TIMES article, please visit the following link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/movies/04gross.html?_r=4&ref=movies&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

M. Night Shayamalan's Next: THE HAPPENING

It looks like M. Night Shayamalan will be returning to the director's chair once more on the Fox released THE HAPPENING, opening June 2008. Word of this comes even after Night's first commercial failure with LADY IN THE WATER, and his messy parting from Disney. I did not think LADY deserved the immense beating that it got from critics, but I definately felt that it was his weekest film thus far. Too much of the film felt like a commentary on how Night had been wronged by his critics on his past films, especially THE VILLAGE. For me, LADY came off more as ego driven melodrama than the lighthearted bedtime fantasy story that it yearned to be. Don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE M. Night fan. I believe that he is one of the most original and inventive directors to date. His use of sound, score, and camera set-ups only add to his indistinguishable style of filmmaking, besides the fact that he has one of the greatest senses for casting in the business, you might even call it his sixth sense.

Anyway, I have included the article from VARIETY below:

"M. Night Shyamalan's next film will be a happening at 20th Century Fox.
Studio has pledged a green light for "The Happening," a spec script thriller that Shyamalan wrote and will direct in Philadelphia this August. Fox has earmarked the film for a June, 2008 release.
The Fox deal, which was spearheaded by Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman/CEO Tom Rothman, ends an unusually complex and public process for Shyamalan, who, since "The Sixth Sense," had made all his films for Disney. That was until a falling out over "Lady in the Water" which led him to make that picture for Warner Bros.
Shyamalan will produce with Sam Mercer. He also reunites with "Munich" producer Barry Mendel, who produced the Shyamalan-directed "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable."
Pic, which will mark Shyamalan's first R-rated effort, is a paranoid thriller about a family on the run from a natural crisis that presents a large-scale threat to humanity. The pic is expected to carry a budget of around $57 million, and Shyamalan told Daily Variety he expects to cast a big male star for the lead.
Shyamalan will prep and shoot "The Happening" as he continues to write the script for "Avatar: The Last Airbender." Shyamalan will follow with that live action film for Paramount.
When he visited Hollywood to seal his "Avatar" deal, Shyamalan and his new CAA reps met with execs atop almost every studio. Each read an early draft of "The Happening," which at the time was titled "The Green Effect." The buzz around Hollywood was that no studio loved the draft enough to make a deal.
Shyamalan said he wasn't at all bothered by that. Though he didn't return to Philadelphia with a deal, he got strong notes and observations from several top studio execs like Rothman that helped him hone his vision.
Shyamalan, who by then reunited with Mendel, then rewrote the film.
By the time he was done six weeks later, several studios offered to green light it, Shyamalan said. He landed at Fox partly because of Rothman's enthusiasm, and also, he said, because the studio has demonstrated acumen in marketing similar apocalyptic fare like "Independence Day" and "The Day After Tomorrow."
"Because I'd been so lucky in making successful movies in the past, I was in monogamous relationships with a few studios and the isolation meant I'd never really met anybody," Shyamalan said. "Instead of me just being a name, I was a guy in a room. The thing that's different about me is, when I go out with a script, I am looking for a green light, not some deal where they will develop for two years and then maybe make it."One palpable change in the film, Shyamalan said, was the decision to dial up the scare factor, thus inviting the R rating.
Rothman also craved an edgier version, which made Fox enticing to the director.
"Tom felt strongly about making this my first R-rated picture," Shyamalan said. "We talked about trying to get the kind of intensity that is present in 'Silence of the Lambs,' and the kind that Guillermo del Toro got in `Pan's Labyrinth.' The impact of the beautiful things in that movie wouldn't have landed as strongly if the film had not been R rated."
The failure of "Lady in the Water," and a making-of book that detailed Disney's rejection of the project, gave the impression that Shyamalan was not changeable. His decision to broaden his studio relationships was a step toward dispelling that.
"That is a misconception, and people who work with me know that I'm collaborative," Shyamalan said. "If you can give me a good idea that can help me to make a better movie, then there is no ego issue in taking that advice. Ultimately, this was a very positive process, and one that will ultimately help in making this movie the best it can be."
The deal gives Fox another piece for summer, 2008. The studio has so far earmarked the Eddie Murphy-starrer "Starship Dave" for a likely May 30 release. "

You can read the article for yourself at http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117960659.html?categoryId=13&cs=1!

New SPIDER-MAN 3 Poster!

I can't wait for May! This is the month that SPIDEY, CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW, and SHREK fight it out for box-office glory as their films are released only weeks apart. From everything that I have seen so far, SPIDER-MAN seams to have all the elements of the must see movie of May, maybe even the entire summer. I guess Disney seems to think that holding everyone in suspense over any material related to PIRATES 3 will make its buzz even greater when it finally hits the public scene, or they just dont want to stomp out their hope that MEET THE ROBINSONS (Disney feature animations newest non-Pixar related film) will find any sort of success. In the meantime, enjoy this NEW poster featuring everyones favorite web-slinger.

SPIDER-MAN 3 opens everywhere May 4th!