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Can they really put this pull quote at the bottom of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory DVD and maintain a straight face?

Well I guess that clears that up

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Jarhead Review

Sam Mendes’ Jarhead does not tell a new story. Countless other films have shown how war affects soldiers. Mendes is savvy enough to know this and goes so far as to reference Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now early in the film almost as a way of admitting how pedestrian his basic story is. What sets this film apart is that although the story is old, the characters are new. The characters played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard become real people over the course of the film, making their experiences all the more compelling to an audience. In addition to developing a pair of specific characters, the film smartly teaches the audience more than a few aspects of what daily life was like during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The film demonstrates the pent-up energy of young men not allowed the release of either sex or war. The soldier’s unique war experience is expressed beautifully in the film’s final act when, once the men actually get close to real combat, cinematographer Roger Deakins lights the film by the shifting light from fires that burn in sabotaged oil fields. There has never been a film sequence that looks like that one does, just as there has never been a war film quite like Jarhead. The film lacks profundity, but it does contain a specificity that makes it a compelling experience.

Walk the Line Review

Walk the Line is first and foremost a love story. Director James Mangold touches on most of the standard scenes people have come to expect from movies about real-life musicians, but the material is infused with energy by two outstanding lead performances. Joaquin Phoenix passes the test that buries most performers who play famous musicians; one never doubts that he is playing a person capable of creating these fantastic songs. That he handles his own singing in the film is simply a bonus. Even if he does not sound exactly like Cash, he is close enough that - when augmented by the film’s outstanding editing and the emotional thrust of the story - the illusion is complete. As good as he is, Reese Witherspoon matches him perfectly, registering every contradictory feeling in a smart woman forced to play the fool in public. The scenes where they duet, particularly a scorching version of ”It Ain’t Me Babe,” display an emotional connection between the two that can rival any movie love story. That connection carries over when the couple is off stage, particularly in a wonderful scene early in a diner where one begins to sense the spark the two feel between each other. Walk the Line is an outstanding love story, a highly entertaining look at life of a young rock star on tour, and a showcase for two strong young actors to give great performances.

The First Award Rant of the Award Season

So the Academy released its short list of the fifteen films that can be nominated for the best documentary award. As usual they have left off some of the best reviewed and simply best films from this category. I'm still not entirely clear on if No Direction Home was eligible but if it was it most certainly should have been on this list. Both The Aristocrats and Grizzly Man were most certainly eligible and should be there.

Shopgirl Review

Claire Danes gives an interesting performance in Shopgirl. Her character is looking for happiness and fulfillment, but she suffers from depression and takes medication that flattens out her moods. Her Mirabelle Buttersfield has a pretty good clue as to what she wants out of life, she is simply having trouble finding it. Ray Porter, the older man who romances her, sees her as a delicate, elegant, fragile creature. Those adjectives are all accurate descriptions of her, but they certainly do not describe her completely. Steve Martin} mbues Ray with an inherent coldness that never thaws, even as he gets himself more involved with her than he ever intended to. One of the best aspects of the film is the cinematography by regular David Cronenberg DP Peter Suschitzky. The stylish look of the film also has a fragile beauty that encourages the audience to see Mirabelle exactly as Ray does, something that makes her performance all the more interesting. The audience begins to see more in her than Ray does. The love triangle involving the two of them and Jason Schwartman’s twenty-something Jeremy plays out with a simple straightforwardness that suffers mostly because one of these three characters does not grow up - anyone should figure out early on who will end up with who. The film moves at a deliberate pace that allows the viewer to understand and appreciate Mirabelle’s many wonderful qualities, but neither of the men seem particularly worthy of her even if one does become an obviously better choice. As a romance Shopgirl comes up short, but as a portrait of a young woman at an early crossroads in her life the film offers a mix of emotional truth and non-judgmental observation that makes it a worthy character study.

I Hate Sharing Bad News

So please don't kill the messenger.

Capote Review

Bennett Miller shows with Capote that he is a director comfortable working in close-ups. Not every director has enough faith in the actors or the material to let the camera simply gaze at the characters for long periods of time. Jonathan Demme uses close-ups better than anybody, but where his close-ups reveal affection for the characters Miller utilizes them in Capote to make the viewer get inside the protagonist's head. Truman Capote was, among other things, an outstanding observer. He was able to retain and ascertain many details about people and places just from interacting with them. A viewer of this film begins to see the world of the film exactly as Capote would have observed them. The performers come through with riveting, subtle performances. Philip Seymour Hoffman is arguably the best actor at this moment (a post on that later) and he is flawless as Capote. Getting the distinct voice right was simply half the battle. Hoffman gets at the psychological truth of this deeply flawed man, and plays every aspect of his outsized personality. He is matched subtlety for subtlety by Catherine Keener who is given the moral authority in the film. It has been a pleasure this year to watch her play roles (The Interpreter, The 40 Year Old Virgin) that allow her to get away from the stereotypical Keener part. Capote is the kind of movie that steadily and totally gets the viewer inside the head of its protagonist, but remarkably it simultaneously lets the viewer keep a sense of perspective that never makes his worse aspects at all sympathetic.

Best Television News of the Young Season

The best satire on TV has been given the love.