Fletch's Film Review: Charlotte's Web

I recently wrote about a number of films that I'm looking forward to in the near future. Unfortunately, the present hasn't been so kind. Aside from the likes of Eragon, my film-viewing partner (aka my first wife) and I tend to get a bit desperate at times and will see just about anything if we are really in the mood to go see a movie, which we often are. 2007 - please be kinder than 2006.

Mix the above with my wife's love of animals (and to an extent, animal movies) and what you end up with is us in the theater with a number of rugrats watching a movie about a talking pig and spider (amongst other animals). Oh, and Dakota Fanning, too.

All that said, Charlotte's Web is a fine film, not just a fine "children's film." Though it may not break new ground like the Disney-Pixar's of the world, it makes for a pleasant 90 minutes or so. The voice talent amassed is diverse and excellent, not to mention pretty star-studded. I can't think of any other times that Robert Redford has lent his voice to an animal. Also on board in the talking animal department are Steve Buscemi (as a rat), Oprah Winfrey and Cedric the Entertainer (ducks), Kathy Bates and Reba McEntire (cows), Thomas Haden Church and Andre Benjamin (crows), John Cleese (sheep), with 10 year-old Dominic Scott Kay as Wilbur the pig and Julia Roberts as Charlotte herself.

If you don't know the story, I won't bother rehashing it here. I would suggest either reading the book or seeing one of the two film adaptations - this one or the fully animated 1973 original. Though I haven't seen the 1973 version since probably around 1982, I think it's safe to say that the technologies available today alone are more than enough to merit the value in this update.

Specifically, I'm referring to a couple scenes that show Charlotte making her magical web(s). Combining the beauty of web-spinning with effects reminiscent of The Matrix, the scenes should awe kids and parents alike. As for seeing closeups of an (albeit) animated spider on a 50 foot screen, this big baby still had some issues.

However, in fitting with one of the main themes of the story (acceptance), I came around and was able to (more or less) look Charlotte in the face without cringing. And we lived happily ever after.

80 out of 100

And then...

Movies I'm looking forward to seeing during the next 370 days or so

In no particular order.

Pan's Labyrinth: directed by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Blade II), Pan looks to be one of the more visually stimulating films of 2007. It also looks depressing as hell. Should be great!

300: Did I say "visually stimulating?" This one takes the cake. Gladiator meets Sin City meets The Matrix? Something like that...

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Though I can't necessarily say that this series keeps getting better and better (as the third, Prisoner of Azkaban, was the best yet), I also can't say that they're getting any worse. I'll be there for all of them, I'm sure.

Spider-man 3: Ditto, pretty much. The only thing that worries me about this one is that it appears to be heading in the direction that the original Batman series headed, which is "if we pile more and more stars into the movie, it will seem even better!!" We all know how that turned out. Granted, I trust Sam Raimi a hell of a lot more than I would ever trust Joel Schumacher, but when I see the trailer, I still can't help but worry.

Zodiac: Two words here: David. Fincher. He has a Season Pass from me until further notice. Oh, and this one looks pretty good, anyway.

Fahrenheit 451: This appears to just be in development, but I'm on board with the story already, and adding Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) on as director sure doesn't make it look any worse.

Blades of Glory: The next Will Ferrell comedy. This one tackles figure skating. Need I say more?

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: For the most part, I didn't like the second one...but their evil ploy worked. I have to see how it ends for some reason. Perhaps this can wait and be a "rental."

Ocean's Thirteen: Hmmm...take an amzing cast, add Al Pacino (and Ellen Barkin) and subtract Julia Roberts (who looked like warmed-over death in the last one; mean, yes, but true)? Sure, I'm in. Oh, I'm also one of the few that has grown to like 12, though I didn't in the theater; on repeated HBO viewings, however, I've come to enjoy it quite a bit. Great soundtracks in this series, too (thank you, David Holmes).

The Bourne Ultimatum: Another series where the second couldn't match the first (and the super-shaky cinematography didn't help, thank you very much). However, I'm a Matt Damon fan, a spy movie fan, and a fan of the Bourne character, so I'm on board again.

Knocked Up: The people whp brought you The 40 Year Old Virgin are back with this movie starring Seth Rogen (Cal from TFYOV). Rogen was probably the best part about The 40 Year Old Virgin, and it was pretty good. you do the math.

Grindhouse: Unfortunately, I think this looks awful, but it is a QT flick, and much like Fincher, I still have the Season Pass for his movies.

Smokin' Aces: The trailer for this looks like an over-stylized Tony Scott-wannabe movie (which is saying something, considering Scott's resume - Man on Fire, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Crimson Tide, etc), but the cast is interesting, to say the least: Jeremy Piven, Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Peter Berg, Ray Liotta, Ben Affleck, Common, Alicia Keys and Andy Garcia among the largest names. We'll see.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: So, um, when is this supposed to come out? According to imdb.com, it's finally coming out in February aka "The Film Graveyard." Not a good sign.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Movie: How to convince the wife to go see this with me? Gotta work on that...

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Ok, I'm cheating for this last one, as it doesn't come out until May 2008 according to imdb. But it's Fincher and Pitt, two of my favorites together again.

Now, about those other 30-40 movies I'll be seeing in 2007...

And then...

Fletch's Film Review: Volver

Why do you have to go to Europe to get films made about women that don't qualify as "chick flicks?" That may not be a hard and fast rule, but just think of some of the recent examples from Europe versus their American counterparts. In one corner, I present to you the ouevre of films made by American stars Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts and selected works by Reese Witherspoon, Ashley Judd and Cameron Diaz. In the other corner, we have Amelie, Run Lola Run and the collected works of Spain's Pedro Almodovar, the most recent of which is Volver.

Volver is engaging, interesting, different (to these American eyes, anyway) and refreshing, though not tremendous at any point. There are almost no men in the cast, and while some men either seen or referred to happened to be "evil" or "bad," the film does not spend time doing much male-bashing. Though it deals with some pretty harsh themes (incest, rape, murder, etc), it is typically a light, airy movie. While not being a black comedy either, it's quite funny at times, regardless of the language/subtitles, with universal family themes the focal point of the comedy.

Penelope Cruz carries the film from start to finsh, though she has ample help along the way, from a bunch of actresses that most in America have never heard of (myself included): Carmen Maura, Lola Duenas and Blanca Portillo being the main assistants.

80 out of 100

And then...

Fletch's Film Review: Eragon

In Eragon, the phrase "one part brave, three parts fool" is uttered on multiple occasions. It's funny, because as I sat through the film, all I could think to myself was that this was "one part Star Wars, three parts Lord of the Rings" and that the quality could be described as "one part boring, three parts unoriginal."

As an audience member who indeed has seen other films during the past thirty years, it almost gets to be insulting while watching Eragon. I've not read the book, but I have to imagine that the book's author is the real thief here, and not the filmmakers adapting it. That said, could the filmmakers not have "dressed up" the thievery so as to make it not so obvious? There are shots that seem almost literally cut from LOTR and pasted here.

Characters and actors can't escape the similarities, either. Remember Liv Tyler's "Arwen" from LOTR? Well, Sienna Guillory's "Arya" sure does resemble her a lot in this movie; she may or may not be an elf as well - it's possible that I may have nodded off, but it's also possible that the audience wasn't told one way or another. Robert Carlyle's "Durza" might as well be named "Saruman, Jr.", John Malkovich's "King Galbatorix"? "Sauron" in human form. Garret Hedlund's "Murtagh"? "Aragorn's little brother," right down to his key flaw. Finally, Edward Speleers title character is "Luke Skywalker," medieval style. I think (or at least hope) you get the point. Throw in some orcs and ringwraiths - oops, I mean goons and razacs, mix with a dragon and some swordplay, and you pretty much get the picture.

I actually felt bad for Malkovich, who's stuck with a non-role, conversing only with Robert Carlyle (who gets what little meat there is in the Villain department). Jeremy Irons plays "Liam Neeson playing the Mentor," and he does an admirable job - it's just that his role is so far beyond a cliche these days that it's almost embarrassing. Djimon Hounsou appears ever so briefly as the leader of some troupe of good guys or something; by then, I really couldn't have cared less. And though Speleers does an admirable job playing the farm boy/hero, I couldn't help but be pissed/amazed/awed/curious that he was so damn clean the whole time, and without a cut, scratch, scrape or bruise to show for any of his fighting, rugged travels, etc.

I could go on, but I don't want to emulate the movie. Enough is enough.

43 out of 100

And then...

Land of the Comedy

Some coworkers and I were discussing some inane pop culture recently (as we often do, as you might guess) and somehow the topic of the mid-70s TV show Land of the Lost came up. In case you're too young or just unlucky enough to have never seen the show, it originally aired from 1974-77, with a run of 43 episodes.

I implore you to go here and make your way around (specifically to the Sounds section). How this show was ever popular is a mystery to me, but I'm glad that it was so that it could be an unintentional comedy goldmine some 30 years later. Additionally, YouTube has some tremendous videos from the show (though not nearly enough). Word from the LOTL website is that there will even be a movie version (possibly starring Will Ferrell) in 2008.

Here is a snippet of the show, courtesy of YouTube:



If you aren't down with the comedic stylings of Chaka, Grumpy and the Sleestaks, then I just don't know if I can be friends with you.

And then...

You call these "Game Shows"?

I'll admit it - I'm making an uninformed, biased guess here: Identity, the new game show starring Penn Jiillette, is a heaping pile of excrement. From the looks of it, it's a weak To Tell the Truth ripoff. True, I should watch it before passing such judgment, but it's really not the target of my vitriol.

The larger point here (hopefully) is: what the hell happened to game shows? Look at the more successful game shows of the last, say, 50 years - Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, The Price is Right. These shows have one big thing in common: their premise is surprisingly simple.

Jeopardy!? A straightforward general trivia show, with the only twist being the delivery of the answers and questions (or vice-versa). The Wheel? It's just hangman, for chrissakes. Millionaire? Trivia again, but solo and a sprint instead of the marathon that Jeopardy! is. Price is Right? A guessing game - whoever guesses better wins.

Now look at the current landscape. Deal or No Deal starts off with a bunch of cases and plays out somewhat like Russian Roulette, only throws in some "mysterious" banker concept and a bald-headed white guy to host. Not as bad as it sounds, actually, but NBC kills it for no good reason by showing waaaayyy too much into the promos for the show. Bizarre, considering the show has little actual drama to begin with. 1 vs. 100 takes a decent concept (run the table of trivia questions longer than the "mob," but gimmicks it up and tries (via Bob Saget) to throw too many jokes into the mix.

Some recent successes? Not surprisingly, VH1's Rock 'n' Roll Jeopardy! (hosted by future host king Jeff Probst) was excellent, but it had good source material. Staying on VH1, the below-mentioned World Series of Pop Culture is compelling, has a staid, solid host and a noticeable lack of schtick.

In the end, here are my suggestions:

Keep it simple, stupid. Stop trying to wow us with crazy sets and fancy lights and give us good content and good concepts.

Leave the jokes to the sitcoms. How many jokes does Alex Trebek throw out in your average Jeopardy! episode.? I'll set the over/under at 3 - what's your bet? Pat Sajak tries every now and then, but look where his late night show got him...

Bring back some classics. Name...that...tune. Need I say more? VH1, I'm looking at you to pick this one up again.

Ben Stein, the world needs you back. Buehler? Buehler? Buehler?

And then...

Fletch's Film Review: The Pursuit of Happyness

The good news is that there's not a lot of bad news to deliver regarding The Pursuit of Happyness. The bad news is that if you've seen a commercial or trailer for it, you've see just about all that you need to see.

Though I'd like to blame the filmmakers for this, in the end the blame must be laid upon the marketing division for Sony/Columbia Pictures. Anyone who was putting together marketing pieces had (supposedly) seen the movie, and as such, (undoubtedly) knew that they were working with a wildly predictable film. Nonetheless, they put together advertisements that tell the potential audience everything that they need to know in about 30 seconds.

Lost in the story's lack of surprise and well, story, are great performances by actors both in and out of the Smith family. Will Smith is flawless and is yet nearly upstaged by his son Jaden, in his first film role. Expect more to come. Aside from being adorable, the younger Smith is a natural in the family business. Thandie Newton, in a thankless role, contributes as well, as does Homer Simpson, er, Dan Castellaneta in a small role.

Suffice it to say that the performances of the actors do, in the end, provide enough to make this a "successful" film. It is sad, "happi," uplifting and all of the other qualities that inspiring movies should be.

71 out of 100

And then...

Golden Globe Prediction Quick Picks

The nominations, from USA Today. Predicted winners in bold red...

Picture, Drama:Babel,Bobby,The Departed,Little Children,The Queen

Actress, Drama: Penelope Cruz, Volver ; Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal ; Maggie Gyllenhaal, Sherrybaby ; Helen Mirren, The Queen ; Kate Winslet, Little Children

Actor, Drama: Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond ; Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed ; Peter O'Toole, Venus ; Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness ; Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Picture, Musical or Comedy: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,The Devil Wears Prada,Dreamgirls,Little Miss Sunshine,Thank You for Smoking

Actress, Musical or Comedy: Annette Bening, Running With Scissors ; Toni Collette, Little Miss Sunshine ; Beyonce Knowles, Dreamgirls ; Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada ; Renee Zellweger, Miss Potter

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan ; Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ; Aaron Eckhart,Thank You for Smoking ; Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kinky Boots ; Will Ferrell, Stranger than Fiction

Supporting Actress: Adriana Barraza, Babel ; Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal ; Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada ; Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls ; Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

Supporting Actor: Ben Affleck, Hollywoodland ; Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls ; Jack Nicholson, The Departed ; Brad Pitt, Babel ; Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

Director: Clint Eastwood, Flags of Our Fathers ; Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima ; Steven Frears, The Queen ; Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel ; Martin Scorsese, The Departed

Screenplay: Guillermo Arriaga, Babel ; Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, Little Children ; Patrick Marber, Notes on a Scandal ; William Monahan, The Departed ; Peter Morgan, The Queen

Foreign Language: Apocalypto, USA; Letters from Iwo Jima, USA/Japan; The Lives of Others, Germany; Pan's Labyrinth, Mexico; Volver Spain

Animated Film: Cars,Happy Feet,Monster House

Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, The Painted Veil ; Clint Mansell, The Fountain ; Gustavo Santaolalla, Babel ; Carlo Siliotto, Nomad ; Hans Zimmer, The Da Vinci Code

Original Song: A Father's Way from The Pursuit of Happyness ; Listen from Dreamgirls ; Never Gonna Break My Faith from Bobby ; The Song of the Heart from Happy Feet ; Try Not to Remember from Home of the Brave

And then...

The top 9 films of the year (because it wasn't good enough for 10)

I can't even recall when the last GREAT film came out. Though many would disagree, in these eyes, it's probably Fight Club, which was released in 1999. Yes, there have been many "excellent" films that have come out since then, and many more "very good" ones, but few that belong on a level above all the rest.

2006 was no different. It was another year full of many bad, bad movies (some of which I saw - I'm looking at you, Lady in the Water, Mission: Impossible III, and The Last Kiss!) and many above average-good films (Babel, The Fountain, Thank You for Smoking). But nothing terribly groundbreaking, earth-shattering, or anything else that ends in -ing (save for perhaps bor-ing).

With that mountain of positivity in mind, my Top 9 films of 2006. (Note: The tastes of myself and Mrs. Fletch run the gamut from quasi-political documentaries like An Inconvenient Truth to popcorn flicks like X:Men - The Last Stand to dramas like the aformentioned Babel. Though we generally try to avoid bottom-feeder movies such as RV (full disclosure: I saw this on a trip to Washington. I was dragged into it, I swear.) or horror schlock such as Pulse, the fact is, we love going to the theater and are sometimes desperate for something to see. In other words - our tastes run the gamut of genres, and so does this list.)

9. The Departed
This was a good-to-great movie before they even started filming. Adapted from Infernal Affairs, a respected Hong Kong thriller from 2002? Check. Starring a murderer's row of A-list talent? Check. Directed by the American king of mob movies? Check.
Sleek, well-executed, well-paced, and well-acted, Departed delivered the goods. In the end, I was left feeling that it was missing "something," but I still can't put my finger on it.

8. A Scanner Darkly
Under normal circumstances, the rotoscoping method that they used to create the animation for A Scanner Darkly would get mind-numbingly annoying after a few minutes. For a 30-second commercial, it's great; for a 90-minute movie, you might think it would be torture, but I'd say that that is based more on the subject matter and tone than anything else. Suffice it to say that the subject matter and tone of this particular movie work in perfect symmetry with the film style. A terrific, if somewhat underdeveloped, story from Phillip K. Dick provides the style and Linklater's intellectual modus operandi provides the substance, with Robert Downey, Jr. and Woody Harrelson providing the bulk of the acting chops.


7. Little Miss Sunshine
Though not the most original setup in history (dysfunctional family takes road trip; wackiness ensues), music video veteran directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris manage to turn this "little indie comedy" into a legitimate Best Film contender. No small task there. A solid cast (Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, Steve Carell, Paul Dano and Abigail Breslin), a DeVotchka-led sountrack and a crappy VW bus also contribute along the way.


6. Dave Chappelle's Block Party
The words "fresh" and "organic" are probably the best ways to describe this party of a movie directed by Michel Gondry. Chappelle wants to throw a party in Brooklyn, and he's pulling out no stops in doing so. Many of the top names in (indie) hip-hop come out in support, and despite obstacles being thrown left and right (pouring rain, anyone?), the result is sublime. You'll feel like you were at the concert, or at the least, you'll wish you were.

5. Borat
The funniest movie of the year, hands down, but probably the most biting as well. You could argue all day whether or not Sacha Baron Cohen wants to make fun of red or blue staters more, but one thing is clear - he's holding up a big mirror to America and saying "Look at yourself!" The results are depressing and hysterical all at the same time.

4. Stranger Than Fiction
It's a shame that this has been somewhat pushed aside by reviewers who have merely called it "Charlie Kauffman-lite." Though the meta-structure similarities cannot be denied, this belongs right up there with Kauffman's films and David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabees as dramedy successes. Ferrell and Gyllenhaal give terrific performances, and the direction (and special effects) are subtle and winning.

3. The Science of Sleep
Though not the funniest, this was the "most fun" movie I saw this year. Gael Garcia Bernal plays a childlike man returning to Paris from Mexico to help out his mother and ends up falling for the woman that lives across the hall from him. A simple setup, but with Gondry's dreamlike direction anyway, the director and subject couldn't be better matched. The use of language is excellent as well, with about 50% English, 40% French and 10% Spanish.

2. The Illusionist
It's a shame there were "2 magic movies" this year (The Prestige being the other), because this one is worlds better. Despite a disappointingly low amount of screen time (considering his "lead" status), Edward Norton owns the screen whenever he is on it. Paul Giamatti, Rufus Sewell and Jessica Biel all assist, but the show belongs to Norton.

1. V for Vendetta
Who'da thunk it? An action movie is the most effectively political film of the year? A mixture of Fahrenheit 451, The Matrix and Fahrenheit 9/11, Vendetta tells the story of V, a freedom fighter who has had enough of the "current administration," to put it nicely. Taking place in Britain (approximately 10-15 years from now), though effectively about the current US political climate, Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman and Stephen Rea carry the film through to it's explosive finale.

And then...

I'm going to Dizz Knee Land!

Well, that may be jumping the gun a bit. But I actually may go there, en route to another meeting that I have.

In late January, two friends of mine and I will be making a pilgrimage to the City of Angels to audition for a game show on VH1 called the "World Series of Pop Culture." The show, which is screening for participants for its second season, is exactly as its name describes. 16 teams of three members each participate in a tournament to decide who knows the most useless trivia from the worlds of music, movies and other general entertainment-y stuff. Last year's winning team took home a $250,000 prize (!).

Out team, on the other hand, would just like to end up as one of the 16 teams and make it to NYC for the taping in March. Not only will the competition be stiff, but being a group of three males sure won't help, as I imagine that's the demographic of, oh, 95% of the teams. Wish us luck. Oh, and since we'll be in Los Angeles for a whole weekend, we just might make that trip to Disneyland after all...

And then...

America, you disappoint me.

Though it was close ($15 million to $12 million), Mel Gibson's Apocalypto was the number one film in America over the weekend, besting Happy Feet.

Aside from my being generally shocked that an ultraviolent (not that I have a problem with violence, mind you), Mayan-tongued film (or Mayans) starring a bunch of no-names and directed by a publicist's nightmare took the top spot, I am more just disappointed. From all angles, this looks like an awful movie, and on top of that, it was an excellent opportunity to send a message to Mr. Gibson that he's no longer wanted. For shame. Here's hoping that the b.o. falls off dramatically and the film ends up with less than $30 million gross.

If you're going to see one film this year with a Mayan pyramid in it, make it The Fountain. And if you're going to see one film with a lot of subtitles in it, make it Babel.

And then...

How many films have I seen this year?!

By my count, I have seen 42 films in theaters this year. Almost one a week, though mysteriously, in looking at a list of the films released this year, my wife and I saw none that were released in January or February. While it is the case that the studios generally put out their "leftovers" in these months (specifically February and August), I'm still shocked by this fact. Perhaps we were just finishing off the 2005 films we had yet to see in the first two months of 2006. That, or we have really good taste, I suppose. For evidence of this, look again at the movies that were released in January and February. Not a ton of quality there.

Here are the movies we have seen, in order by release month:

V for Vendetta, Dave Chappelle's Block Party, Thank You for Smoking, Brick, Art School Confidential, Friends with Money, RV, X-Men: The Last Stand, An Inconvenient Truth, The DaVinci Code, The Devil Wears Prada, Superman Returns, The Omen, Nacho Libre, Mission: Impossible III, Down in the Valley, Little Miss Sunshine, A Scanner Darkly, Miami Vice, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Scoop, Lady in the Water, The Illusionist, Talledaga Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Pulse, The Science of Sleep, The Last Kiss, The Departed, Flags of Our Fathers, The Last King of Scotland, The Prestige, Marie-Antoinette, Man of the Year, Stranger Than Fiction, Borat (2), The Fountain, Babel, For Your Consideration, Bobby, Casino Royale, Let's Go To Prison, Blood Diamond

(The "(2)" for Borat is because I saw it twice in the theater.)

I'll wait for my top 10 until the year is actually over, but I have some awards to hand out based on what I've seen so far:

Biggest Letdown: The Prestige
Throw together the director of Memento and Batman Begins, with a cast that includes such names as Bale, Jackman, Caine and Johansson, and what do you get? Not much apparently. See The Illusionist instead.

Biggest Surprise (negative edition): The Last Kiss
The Prestige was a letdown because I expected it to be good. The surprise here is that The Last Kiss was just so bad. I didn't go in expecting Oscar to come calling, or for Braff to even come close to replicating the "magic" of Garden State, but Kiss was dreadful - probably the worst film I saw in a theater this year.

Biggest Surprise (positive edition): Dave Chappelle's Block Party
Kind of the opposite of The Last Kiss. This wasn't something that I thought would be bad that turned out to be good, but something that I thought would be ok that turned out to be excellent. Michel Gondry is quickly earning "must see" status (along with The Science of Sleep, he directed two of the best films of the year) and, despite it's being filmed prior to Chappelle's "trip," this movie earned him some good press at a good time. Oh, and the music in the film is TREE-mendous (Kanye West, Common, Fugees, Erykah Badu, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, etc, etc).

More to come...

And then...

Fletch's Film Review: Blood Diamond

Saw Blood Diamond Friday night. 10:20 pm show, theater mostly empty. Odd sight of the night for Mrs. Fletch and I was a pair of women (girls?). Despite the 50-60 degree temperature outside (and not entirely much warmer inside), one of them was apparently wearing a bustier. Either that, or a halter top. Breasts were flowing forth, noticeable from some 40 feet away. Strange sight, and to boot, upon the roll of the credits, she put on a sweater. Aren't most people cold in movie theaters?

Anyhow...on to the film. DiCaprio. Hounsou. Connelly. Vosloo. Yeah, it was nice to see "the Mummy" again. The film, however, wasn't so nice to see. "Requiem for a Dream" seems somewhat cheery in comparison.

Djimon Hounsou plays a fisherman from Sierra Leone whose life is literally turned upside down. Diamond mining and smuggling are intermingled with civil war with tragic results. Hounsou is seperated from his family and forced to work in a mining camp; meanwhile, his wife and children become refugees, with his son later being kidnapped by the same type of revolutionaries that have imprisoned him.

Toss in myriad scenes of his son being brainwashed and forced to kill innocents like his family, mix in DiCaprio's smuggler and Connelly's journalist and you get a quasi-political action thriller that can't make up it's mind as to whether or not it wants to be a serious drama, a "Jewel of the Nile" style chase flick, or "Rambo" with diamonds. Oh, and 10 year-old, crack smoking, machine-gun toting children. Fun stuff.

Edward Zwick, of Glory, Legends of the Fall, and The Last Samurai fame, directs. And he does a good job with DiCaprio, whose stuck with a morally vague role, playing both the evil smuggler and the white knight at the same time. Throw in a South African accent and you've got some tough shoes to wear. Connelly's role is pretty thankless and her talents are pretty much wasted. Hounsou is good as usual, though I'd really like to see him in a comedy for god's sake - with his model looks, sad eyes, heavy accent and dark complexion, he can't seem to get out of these martyr roles. Even drivel like The Island is a step in the right direction. As usual, he does a solid job and I hope to see more of him in the future.

But the actors can't save what ultimately is a flawed, if earnest, movie. The anti-diamond industry message is made loud and clear, with everyone from Tony Blair lookalikes to American consumers to DiCaprio himself painted as evildoers. I just wish it could have picked a genre (or two) and stuck with it.

68 out of 100

And then...