King of California (USA 2007)
Director: Mike Cahill

Review by Widar Wendt

Imagine a group of boat people, illegal Asian immigrants, arriving half-naked somewhere on the California coast. That’s the image Charlie (Michael Douglas) has in mind after leaving a mental institution for the first time in two years. Now add the search for a lost treasure and a nightly adventure at a Costco store to the mix, and you have one of the finest comedies of the last year, called "King of California".

Charlie's daughter Miranda (Evan Rachel Wood), a 16 year old emancipated teenager, is used to living alone in an old house. After her father left, she skipped school, bought an old car and started to work at a fast food restaurant. It’s not a perfect life, but one that just follows her rules. When a halfway mentally healed Charlie comes back, he re-organizes everything at home and drives his daughter crazy with his weird ideas. The only thing Charlie cares about is the hunt for an old treasure – Spanish gold, buried somewhere in suburban California.

That’s where the adventure begins. After getting mad about Charlie’s plans in the first place, Miranda realizes that her father needs something to hang on to, even if it’s a time-wasting, hopeless treasure hunt. While they search together for the lost gold, father and daughter redefine their relationship. Mistrust and frustration fade away, while the hunt for the treasure leads them to a local Costco store and a surprising conclusion.

To sum it up, "King of California" is about growing up in the modern American family. One might criticize that the main theme is overused in recent independent productions. While that might be true, the way writer and director Mike Cahill presents that theme here makes this film unique. Wrapping it up into a slightly naïve and playful adventure story, with a fantastic Evan Rachel Wood and Michael Douglas in one of his finest roles, "King of California" manages to let the audience be part of the story, following this odd couple on their quest.

Cahill’s film is charming, down to earth and very honest. Life comes full circle in this thoughtful, but never sentimental dramedy, and dreams actually come true. While we may never find out if they really find the Spanish gold, we do see a group of Asian boat people stranded on the coast. I personally can’t wait to see Cahill’s next feature.

Michael Douglas: Charlie
Evan Rachel Wood: Miranda
Willis Burks II: Pepper
Laura Kachergus: Rita
Paul Lieber: Doug
Kathleen Wilhoite: Kelly

Simpsons - The Movie (USA 2007)
Director: David Silverman

Finally, the most successful television cartoon ever turns its attention to the big screen. The result is not spectacular but it’s still the Simpsons. Occasionally touching on the big issues of our time such as global warning and government spying, it would not be out of place to say that the film is basically a vehicle for Homer’s stupidity. The bungling selfish imbecile has become dumber and dumber as the TV series has gone on and "Simpsons – the Movie" is far more centered around him than some expected. In addition, as every other character from the TV series is given at least a small appearance, there is even less room to develop anything worthwhile from Bart, Lisa, Marge, Ned Flanders, Moe, Milhouse or Officer Wiggum. So if anyone but Homer is your favorite character, you are going to be a little disappointed.

His ineptitude begins with the poisoning of Springfield Lake after he dumps several weeks’ worth of pig dung in it. (Of course, Homer has for no apparent reason adopted a pig and tried to domesticate it.) The federal authorities react with horror at the resulting pollution and decide to quarantine Springfield.

The rest is classic Simpsons although critics may say that rather than make a feature film, they have just strung three loosely connected episodes together. Certainly, this is nothing like the movie joy that South Park’s creators made. However, no matter what Prost Amerika says, we know you’re going to watch this anyway. And so you should!

Dan Castellaneta: Homer / Itchy / Barney / Grampa / Stage Manager / Krusty the Clown / Mayor Quimby
Julie Kavner: Marge
Nancy Cartwright: Bart / Maggie / Ralph / Nelson / Todd Flanders
Yeardley Smith: Lisa
Hank Azaria: Professor Frink / Comic Book Guy / Moe / Chief Wiggum / Lou / Carl / Cletus / Bumblebee Man
Harry Shearer: Scratchy / Mr. Burns / Rev. Lovejoy / Ned Flanders / Lenny / Skull / President Arnold Schwarzenegger / Kent Brockman / Principal Skinner / Dr. Hibbert / Smithers
Pamela Hayden: Milhouse / Rod Flanders
Tress MacNeille: Colin / Mrs. Skinner / Nelson's Mother / Homer's Pig / G.P.S. Woman / Cookie Kwan / Lindsey Naegle
Albert Brooks: Russ Cargill
Marcia Wallace: Mrs. Krabappel (voice)
Russi Taylor: Martin (voice)
Maggie Roswell: Helen Lovejoy
Billie Joe Armstrong: Himself

In the Valley of Elah (USA 2007)
Director: Paul Haggis

The tragic events of the 60s and 70s spawned many Vietnam films and it is beginning to look as if the Iraq War may do the same. The Valley of Elah is a biblical reference to the location of David and Goliath’s battle. Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones) has travelled from his Munro, Tennessee home to Fort Rudd, New Mexico. His son, Mike, has not reappeared since returning from Iraq and as a former Military Policeman, he wants to find out why. The Army are not being especially helpful so Hank gets into his car and heads for the fort. There he finds a wall of denial, obfuscation and dishonesty. Everyone he meets is unhelpful, and when some human remains are found just inside the army compound, a more complete cover up seems to set in. No one seems prepared to help Deerfield except Detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron), a civilian police officer and single mother.

From then on, it becomes a battle of wits. The police and the army fight over whose case it is. Deerfield is determined to find out what happened to his son and mounts a dogged investigation, frequently crossing the line into the jurisdiction of both authorities. However, despite the large amount of screen time Jones is given, we are not really permitted much insight into Hank Deerfield. The character begins as a stilted stereotype of a former army man who still believes in his country, his god and his army. As the facts begin to destabilize those beliefs, we would have expected to see some gradual trace of doubt in his eyes, but Jones’ expression rarely changes.

Susanne Sarandon as his wife Joanie and Jason Patric as Lt. Kirklander provide a strong supporting cast, but there is not much scope in their parts for them to do more than return a competent performance. Perhaps the most notable feature of “In the Valley of Elah” may turn out to be the use of video imagery taken on Mike Deerfield’s cell phone in Iraq. It is cleverly inserted into the plot to illustrate just how unpleasant a war this has been (in case we didn’t already know). The story itself is based on the real life tragedy of Richard Davis, who after returning from a tour in Iraq, just disappeared. His father, an army veteran, began an investigation. The outcome of that investigation is mirrored in the film.

Paul Haggis won an Oscar for Crash but is unlikely to repeat it with this. His anti-war point is telegraphed from a distance, but the ending is a little too weak to leave us storming out of the theater either overtly sad or overtly angry. Nevertheless, this film is not without its merits.

Tommy Lee Jones: Hank Deerfield
Charlize Theron: Det. Emily Sanders
Jason Patric: Lt. Kirklander
Susan Sarandon: Joan Deerfield
James Franco: Sgt. Dan Carnelli
Barry Corbin: Arnold Bickman
Josh Brolin: Chief Buchwald
Frances Fisher: Evie
Wes Chatham: Corporal Steve Penning
Jake McLaughlin: Spc. Gordon Bonner
Mehcad Brooks: Spc. Ennis Long
Jonathan Tucker: Mike Deerfield
Wayne Duval: Detective Nugent
Victor Wolf: Private Robert Ortiez
Brent Briscoe: Detective Hodge

Michael Clayton (USA 2007)
Director: Tony Gilroy

Readers of this site will know that a certain amount of savagery accompanied our review of producer, Steven Soderbergh’s, last project with Clooney, "The Good German". Michael Clayton is slightly better and Clooney returns to what he does best, being a modern-day Sean Connery, but not as good. However, if Clooney is present to sell the film, it is Tom Wilkinson who makes it worth watching. The Yorkshireman stars as the brilliant but unpredictable attorney Arthur Edens, and illustrates why English actors of his caliber are in high demand. A troubled man, Edens works for top Manhattan law firm, Kenner, Bach and Ledeen. They in turn represent the villains of this film, U/North, an agrochemical conglomerate which is alleged to have polluted the environment and caused illness to a rural population. So there you have four of the five main protagonists, a bad guy polluter, its law firm, their unpredictable employee and of course the plaintiffs, the affected families. Somehow a fifth protagonist, Michael Clayton, has to be added into a pretty full roster.

On the cusp of settling the lawsuit at a fraction of its real value, Edens begins to have doubts. After he forgets to take some medication, his sanity and his commitment to U/North begin to unravel. What had looked like a cheap settlement situation for U/North now totters on the brink of a disaster, as Edens threatens to reveal some information which would destroy his client. Their executives are getting edgy and they ask, law firm partner, Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack) to fix everything. He naturally turns to Michael Clayton. Whether his job is called a bagman or a corporate fixer, his role at the law firm is to clean up unfortunate situations. (Perhaps that a leading law firm even has such an employee should be grounds for dubiety in the first place, but we can let that go for now.) Clayton refers to himself as a janitor but Clooney’s character neither seems devious nor unprincipled enough to be believable in this ‘fixer’ role. Nevertheless Clayton is charged with reining Edens in. This task becomes more difficult after he completes his full turn to the victims and their families’ cause.

From that point onwards, it becomes a good and evil romp with Clayton trying to steer a middle course. Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) stars as U/North’s in-house counsel and brings a steely performance as the powerful career woman who overcomes her natural tendencies to manipulatively drive U/North’s corporate interests. Where the plot thickens, her hand is invariably on the tiller. She is to be commended for her performance and we don’t see enough of her in Michael Clayton. If anyone bridges the gap between the rest of the cast and Wilkinson, it is her. It is the latter, however, whose strong performance forces the audience to see the drama through his eyes. Whether intended or not, it’s Arthur Edens not Michael Clayton whose fate you care about. Tony Gilroy, the writer, makes his directing debut here. Let’s assume that this was his intention and look forward to his next project.

George Clooney: Michael Clayton
Tom Wilkinson: Arthur Edens
Michael O'Keefe: Barry Grissom
Sydney Pollack: Marty Bach
Danielle Skraastad: Bridget Klein (voice)
Tilda Swinton: Karen Crowder
Wai Chan: Chinese Dealer
Alberto Vazquez: Player #1
Brian Koppelman: Player #2
Thomas McCarthy: Walter (voice) (as Tom McCarthy)
Denis O'Hare: Mr. Greer
Julie White: Mrs. Greer
Austin Williams: Henry Clayton
Jennifer Van Dyck: Ivy
Frank Wood: Gerald

We Own the Night (USA 2007)
Director: James Gray

This film will hope to be judged by its action sequences rather than its plot, which is predictable. The lone wolf of a law enforcement family, Robert 'Bobby' Green, (Joaquin Phoenix), sees the error of his ways after some earth shattering event, in which he finally sees the value of good over evil.

Needless to say, his former accomplices don’t take too kindly to this ‘betrayal’. Other than the predictability of the cops v villains backdrop, everything is else fairly good. Robert Duvall as the father, Deputy Chief Albert 'Bert' Grusinsky, is one of the best still making film and carries the rest of the cast. Bobby’s brother and Albert’s son is Capt. Joseph 'Joe' Grusinsky (Mark Wahlberg) and is less than gripping as a character until the latter part of the film.

The premise of the film is somewhat hard to grasp in the first place. Bobby works as a manager at a nightclub, El Caribe, populated by drug dealers and criminals in New York. His father appears to be Chief of Police yet nobody at the club seems to know this. This is blithely explained away by the use of his mother’s maiden name. After that, it was hard to believe anything without suspending your connection to reality. Elsewhere, the villains aren’t that scary and none of the other roles give the characters much leeway. This film is more reminiscent of an overlong episode of Kojak than anything else and it seems to be set in 1988 for no discernible reason.

Without giving away the plot, there’s not a great deal else to say. Eva Mendes is quite sexy, the final showdown is as artificial an ending as I’ve seen since the Good German, the car chase is quite good and there’s probably a little too much graphic violence to take young children.

If you’re a fan of Duvall, you should definitely add this to your collection, but the best I can say about his performance is that he rescues this film from the slightly above average.

Joaquin Phoenix: Robert 'Bobby' Green
Eva Mendes: Amada Juarez
Mark Wahlberg: Capt. Joseph 'Joe' Grusinsky
Robert Duvall: Deputy Chief Albert 'Bert' Grusinsky
Alex Veadov: Vadim Nezhinski
Dominic Colon: Freddie
Danny Hoch: Jumbo Falsetti
Oleg Taktarov: Pavel Lubyarsky
Moni Moshonov: Marat Buzhayev
Antoni Corone: Michael Solo
Craig Walker: Russell De Keifer
Tony Musante: Capt. Jack Shapiro
Joe D'Onofrio: Bloodied Patron
Yelena Solovey: Kalina Buzhayev (as Elena Solovey)
Maggie Kiley: Sandra Grusinsky

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (UK/France/Germany 2007)
Director: Shekhar Kapur

Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett takes the lead role as Queen Elizabeth and is well supported by the consistently excellent Geoffrey Rush who reprises the role of Sir Frances Walsingham he took in the 1998 original. The Queensland native has a resume of extraordinary length from the recent, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, all the way back to decades of television both in his native Australia and in England.

Elizabeth the Golden Age resumes the story of the 1998 original but it is the presence of Sir Walter Raleigh, almost comically played by Clive Owen, that begins to dominate the film. He is neither believable nor worthy of the attention as an Elizabethan Errol Flynn. In reality, Raleigh was a religious fanatic who took part in two massacres of civilians at Rathlin Island and Smerwick. However, here he is portrayed as a cross between Blackadder's Captain Flashheart and Casanova. It is Elizabeth's sexual fascination with him which becomes the center point of the film. At times, she appears to regard the impending Spanish invasion as an unwelcome distraction from her flirtation. Why bother with a historical drama at all if it merely to provide the backdrop to a love story? Finally her lady-in-waiting Bess Throckmorton (Abbie Cornish) gets involved and the film returns to a better purpose.

The relationship between the Queen and her closest maid is well done. Elizabeth seems to waver. Sometimes she lets the constraints of office restrict her behaviour, living life vicariously though Bess. However, on occasions Raleigh seems to be tempting her to let her true passion show. When she finally distances herself from Bess, the carrier of her emotional self, she rises to the divine warrior status, and leads her people to victory.

The loss of the Armada was the most humiliating loss in Spanish military history. Kapur notes that had the wind being blowing in a different direction, we would all be speaking Spanish now. He may be right but the portrayal of such monumental historical events probably deserves more than a supporting role to an unlikely romantic storyline.

Cate Blanchett: Queen Elizabeth I
Geoffrey Rush: Sir Francis Walsingham
Clive Owen: Sir Walter Raleigh
Jordi Mollà: King Philip ll of Spain
John Shrapnel: Lord Howard
Aimee King: Infanta
Susan Lynch: Annette
Elise McCave: Laundry Woman
Samantha Morton : Mary Stuart
Abbie Cornish: Elizabeth Throckmorton
Penelope McGhie: Margaret
Rhys Ifans: Robert Reston
Eddie Redmayne: Thomas Babington
Stuart McLoughlin: Savage
Adrian Scarborough: Calley

Interview (USA/Canada/Netherlands 2007)
Director: Steve Buscemi

Sienna Miller

Buscemi is the film’s director and co-writer but also stars as Pierre Peders, a political journalist who has been downgraded to celebrity gossip, and has been dispatched to interview soap opera actress Katya (Sienna Miller). The interview is a disaster, but a series of events lead to them being brought together again. A game of verbal chess in the form of seduction begins, with most of the action set in her well-proportioned loft apartment. The film relies heavily on its dialogue but Buscemi and Miller don’t quite gel together, although there is a surprising ending which Buscemi builds up to relatively well. The lack of any obvious on-screen chemistry between the two hampers the film throughout, and Katya’s sudden changes between vacuous party girl and haunted and philosophical thinker demand a little suspension of disbelief.

However, the film is short for a feature and by the time you’ve run out of the will or energy to indulge its shortcomings, it will be over and you probably will have been entertained.

Sienna Miller: Katya
Steve Buscemi: Pierre Peders
Michael Buscemi: Robert Peders
Tara Elders: Maggie
David Schecter: Maitre'd
Molly Griffith: Waitress
Elizabeth Bracco: Woman at Restaurant
James Villemaire: Man at Restaurant
Jackson Loo: Fan at Restaurant
muMs da Schemer: Cab Driver (as muMs)
Doc Dougherty: Other Driver
Donna Hanover: Commentator
Wayne Wilcox: Hunky Actor
Danny Schechter: Political Pundit
Philippe Vonlanthen: Autograph Seeker #1

Hostel 2 (USA/Slovakia/Italy 2007)
Director: Eli Roth

Hostel was the highly successful horror movie set in a youth hostel in Slovakia where the residents were often kidnapped for brutal torture. It was controversial but quickly became a cult. Cult movies being often hard to follow up, it was never going to be easy to find a new angle for the sequel. They did. They tool the film from the point of view not of the victims, but the torturers themselves. Roth therefore asked himself what kind of people would want to do the torturing. How would they be found? What are the mechanics?

This proves to be the key to the success of the film in that Roth successfully manages to chop and change the character through whose eyes we see the ghoulish proceedings unfold. It also had the advantage of allowing Roth to explore another theme - the financial value which we put on human life if called upon to do so. In one of the early scenes, potential torturers bid on each new victim. Roth claims that this was inspired by his disgust at the Bush/Cheney regime which sent young men to die so that they and their business friends to profit. Whether we would all necessarily agree with that assessment is irrelevant, it is a valid question that he is entitled to ask although perhaps referring to the upturn in the business of human trafficking might have been a more apt comparison.

However beyond the politics, the technique allows for numerous changes of pace and prevents the viewer from getting too comfortable. In a sequel, we are far more certain that we know what’s going to happen and this can of course reduce the shock value. Roth’s new perspective prevents this and in fact two of our heroes, (and I use that word somewhat loosely), Stuart (Roger Bart) and Todd (Richard Burgi) are not in fact victims, but potential torturers. Other characters including of course victims Beth (Laura German), Lorna (Heather Matarazzo) and Whitney (Bijou Phillips) also take their time in the spotlight, and the film switches our attention cleverly.

Indeed it may be Matarazzo’s performance that critics and filmgoers remember for time to come in what will inevitably become known as the Bathory scene after Countess Elizabeth Báthory, remembered as the Bloody Lady of Čachtice. She was reputed to bathe in the blood of virginal girls in order to retain her youth in the 16th Century. The film is worth seeing for this scene alone and Matarazzos’ preparation for it was said to have been meticulous including yoga classes and hanging upside down for minutes on end.

We should also not forget the part the Slovaks themselves play in the movie. The Hostel team returns to picturesque setting of Cesky Krumlov and because Hostel 2 was not filmed in winter like Hostel, there are new parts of the village for them to explore. Former Slovak Minister of Culture, Milan Knazko, stars as Sasha, an Anthony Hopkins like leader of the cartel which organizes the torture. A very capable performance he gives too, both when speaking and not speaking such as in one chilling scene where he brings out the best from the Bubblegum Gang, a gang of local kids who seem to act independently of the all powerful cartel. It’s a strange dynamic as this cartel can find out minute details both on its clients and victims, and carry out acts of appalling savagery all over the globe but somehow cannot control a gang of homeless children on its own doorstep. Perhaps a theme for Hostel 3?

As the very successful Hostel was influenced by Asian cinema, director Eli Roth says this very watchable sequel was shaped by 70s Italian Giallo cinema. He has managed to make it different enough to the original so that we are never sitting comfortably with that degree of blasé that often accompanies watching a sequel. If you liked the first, you’ll probably like this one.

Lauren German : Beth
Roger Bart: Stuart
Heather Matarazzo: Lorna
Bijou Phillips: Whitney
Richard Burgi: Todd
Vera Jordanova: Axelle
Jay Hernandez: Paxton
Jordan Ladd: Stephanie
Milan Knazko: Sasha
Edwige Fenech: Art Class Professor
Monika Malacova: Mrs. Bathory
Stanislav Ianevski: Miroslav
Patrik Zigo: Bubblegum Gang Leader
Zuzana Geislerová: Inya
Ivan Furak: Big Guard

3:10 to Yuma (USA 2007)
Director: James Mangold

Christian Bale

There are some outstanding individual performances here. Haverfordwest (Pembrokeshire) born Christian Bale, is rapidly ensuring that the legacy of Welsh greats will not end with Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins. He plays Dan Evans, a wounded Civil War veteran who has become a rancher after the war, and to be frank, hasn’t proven terribly adept at either. With a young son ailing from tuberculosis, property barons trying to force him off his land, a drought blighting his crop, a missing foot, and the imminent arrival of the railway about to change his town of Bisbee for good, Evans doesn’t have his troubles to seek. Furthermore, his eldest son, William (Logan Lerman) is becoming a man and is increasingly voicing his lack of respect for his father. Almost by accident, he gets involved in the ongoing and violent battle between the Southern Pacific Railroad as it inches into Arizona and Ben Wade’s (Russell Crowe) gang.

Wade leads a gang of killers for whom robbery and murder are job descriptions rather than criminal acts. Wade himself, however, though unarguably evil, often seems to remain aloof from the activities, and Crowe cleverly portrays him as a kind of bored king, more amused than in charge of his errant flock. The adventure rather than the profit seems to be his motivation, but he commands exceptional loyalty, especially from his psychotic sidekick Charlie Prince (Ben Foster). Foster’s performance has already sparked some ferocious debate and we are not going to baulk from taking sides. His loyalty and fanaticism for the cause reminded me of the portrayal of bitter-ender Nazis in war films, still devoted to the cause despite the lack of leadership and the increasing senselessness of the battle. You can look deep into Charlie Prince’s eyes and only see madness and if this indeed is what Mangold asked of him, then Foster delivers. His violence and fury are controlled and give the impression of being his method of release of something deeper simmering inside.

Crowe himself masterfully displays just why this Ben Wade commands such reactions. Even in short dialogues, you can sense Wade start to build relationships with the other characters by pushing their buttons. Often they are short lived and he drops the project as quickly as he started it, but in his brief dialogues with barmaid Emmy Nelson (Vinessa Shaw), lawman Tucker (Kevin Durand) and Evan’s wife Alice (Gretchen Mol), you can detect how Wade’s presence affects those around him. His charm is as unarguable as his evil.

But this is not a classic good guys and bad guys western. Certainly there are protagonists and antagonists. One set of characters is determined to get Ben Wade on that 3:10 prison train to Yuma and one set is determined to stop him. But Mangold eschews the temptation to make the characters all good or all bad. Others will discuss with passion the realism of the ending of the movie. But what is not in doubt is that "3:10 to Yuma" resurrects the status of the western in our decade and continues to enhance Crowe’s reputation as a lead actor.

Russell Crowe: Ben Wade
Christian Bale: Dan Evans
Ben Foster: Charlie Prince
Logan Lerman: William Evans
Peter Fonda: Byron McElroy
Dallas Roberts: Grayson Butterfield
Vinessa Shaw: Emmy Nelson
Alan Tudyk: Doc Potter
Luce Rains: Marshal Weathers
Gretchen Mol: Alice Evans
Lennie Loftin: Glen Hollander
Rio Alexander: Campos
Johnny Whitworth: Tommy Darden
Shawn Howell: Jackson
Pat Ricotti: Jorgensen

Evening (USA/Germany 2007)
Director: Lajos Koltai

Clare Danes

The story of that fateful weekend is told in long flashbacks. The young Ann (Clare Danes) arrives at the Wittenborn summer mansion, to be a bridesmaid for her best friend Lila (Mamie Gummer), a society girl whose other bridesmaids look down their noses at aspiring singer Ann. Lila's heavy-drinking younger brother Buddy (Hugh Dancy), who has a long-term crush on Ann, introduces her to Harris (Patrick Wilson), son of their former housekeeper and now a local doctor. Harris is charming and enigmatic, rejecting one woman and seducing another without ever giving much of himself away.

As the movie moves back and forth in time, the older Ann drifts deeper and deeper into the past, called out only by the need of her daughters, one of whom is still struggling with her own life in a way that sometimes parallels her mother. Both stories slowly approach their crisis, moving at a pace that neither hurries the climax nor lingers too long on the details.

There are many great performances here. Clare Danes and Vanessa Redgrave have both similar bone structure and the ability to bring intensity to their parts without ever overplaying it, and the sense that they are truly the same person 50 years apart is much stronger than in many similar movies. Meryl Streep also carries conviction as the older Lila, with the same calmness and resignation as her younger counterpart. Glenn Close does a fine job as Lila and Buddy's mother, the tightly-wound society hostess.

The male characters are not always as strongly drawn. Hugh Dancy as Buddy is sometimes overdone, and Patrick Wilson's Harris doesn't quite seem powerful enough to be the defining man in so many women's lives. In the present story, Toni Collette's Nina also somewhat overshadows her partner Luc (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). Whether this is actually an integral part of the film, where women's lives are on center stage and men only the supporting players, or simply an artifact of casting so many amazing female performers, in the end it doesn't really make a difference, though it may make this somewhat more of a women's movie than one with a wider appeal.

Claire Danes: Young Ann
Toni Collette: Nina
Vanessa Redgrave: Ann Lord
Patrick Wilson: Harris Arden
Hugh Dancy: Buddy Wittenborn
Natasha Richardson: Constance Lord
Mamie Gummer: Lila Wittenborn
Eileen Atkins: The Night Nurse
Meryl Streep: Lila Wittenborn
Glenn Close: Mrs. Wittenborn
Ebon Moss-Bachrach: Luc
Barry Bostwick: Mr. Wittenborn
David Furr: Ralph Haverford
Sarah Viccellio: Lizzie Tull
Cheryl Lynn Bowers: Peach Howze

La Vie en Rose (France/UK/Czech Republic 2007)
Director: Olivier Dahan
Original Title: La Môme

No one should take this as a factually accurate portrayal of Piaf’s life. Several things are blurred or diminished, such as her death being from cancer as opposed to her lifestyle and a series of automobile accidents. Cotillard by her own admission did not attempt to mimic Piaf and her performance is better for this. Some viewers may find the frequent change of year irritating, and indeed it does hop from her childhood to her adulthood to her last days and back again. Makeup artist Didier Lavergne does a fabulous job making Cotillard resemble a 45-year-old who looks two decades older due to her health. Another critic confessed to being originally under the impression that two actresses had portrayed Piaf at each of those two periods of her life. Cotillard herself takes more credit for her physical portrayal of the rheumatism and frailty which bedeviled Piaf’s later life.

Almost all the songs ("Heaven Have Mercy", "Milord", "La foule", "Cri du cœur", "La vie en rose", "Padam Padam", "Mon Dieu", "Hymne à l'amour", "Mon manège à moi", and the classic "Non, je ne regrette rien") are Piaf’s herself, with "Parigote" singer Jil Aigrot performing another four ("Mon Homme", "Les Mômes de la Cloche", "Mon Légionnaire", "Les Hiboux"). Digitally remasterd, they remain as powerful today as they were in her day. One notable exception is of course La Marseillaise. La Vie en Rose joins those other classic films Casablanca, Napoléon, Escape to Victory, and Jean Renoir’s superb La Grande Illusion in their use of an emotive rendering of France’s National anthem. In La Vie en Rose, it is performed by the young singer Cassandre Berger.

Though many of the themes of tragic death, illness, a cruel childhood and the self-destructive streak that seem to be prerequisites for any biopic have been done before, and the plot and dialogue are sometimes weak, Cotillard’s performance makes this a film worth treasuring.

Marion Cotillard: Edith Piaf
Sylvie Testud: Mômone
Pascal Greggory: Louis Barrier
Emmanuelle Seigner: Titine
Jean-Paul Rouve: Louis Gassion
Gérard Depardieu: Louis Leplée
Clotilde Courau: Anetta
Jean-Pierre Martins: Marcel Cerdan
Catherine Allégret: Louise
Marc Barbé: Raymond Asso
Caroline Sihol: Marlene Dietrich (as Caroline Silhol)
Manon Chevallier: Edith - 5 years old
Pauline Burlet: Edith - 10 years old
Elisabeth Commelin: Danielle Bonel
Marc Gannot: Marc Bonel

Talk to Me (USA 2007)
Director: Kasi Lemmons

Don Cheadle

Soul, funk and R&B were popular on the streets of DC at the time, but added to the mix was an increasing sense that the black community did not need to tolerate the treatment that they suffered from the authorities, and that their musical tastes were being ignored by the mainstream media. With his determination to "tell it like it is", Greene, assisted by radio station program director Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor), charms and hoodwinks his way onto the airwaves at station WOL-AM.

Dewey Hughes is visiting his brother Milo (Mike Epps) in Lorton Prison when he first meets Greene, who is working on prison radio. Greene manages to cajole a promise of future employment from Hughes, and then finds his way out of jail much earlier than anticipated to take up the promised job. This is the beginning of a long and unusual relationship between the two. Both bring something new to the friendship/business partnership, something that the other lacks or perhaps fears.

The station's existing black DJs, Nighthawk (Cedric the Entertainer) and Sunny Jim (Vondie Curtis-Hall), are soon eclipsed as Greene brings his effervescence and disarming honesty to the airwaves. However, his façade of doing what he wants when he wants, which so infuriates station owner E G Sonderling (Martin Sheen), is challenged when external events end his disconnection from the outside world. The film is essentially about how he and Hughes deal with the exposure to life outside one's comfort level. As Hughes’ ambitions for his protégé increase, so does Greene’s obvious discomfort which reaches its peak when network television comes calling. He was a big name inside the smaller world of African-Americans in Washington DC, but couldn’t cope, or perhaps didn’t want to, when Hughes tried to drag him into a wider world.

The interplay between Cheadle and Ejiofor is interesting and on occasions electric, especially when Cheadle’s character “Petey” Greene challenges Hughes’ black credentials. Greene, although a somewhat repulsive and dishonest individual, is hard not to love, and you do find yourself rooting for him to succeed, despite the fact that his views on life may not be yours. Nowadays we would call him a shock-jock; perhaps he was one of the first.

Greene died of cancer in 1984, not before being welcomed into Jimmy Carter’s White House and having the ear of the powerful for a moment. Dewey Hughes went on to become a major figure in Radio One and gave the movie his personal stamp of approval when he attended its opening. Greene’s family were less pleased, and elicited a reaction from Kasi Lemmons, who said she wanted a movie not a biopic in answer to criticisms from Greene’s family about his portrayal as an alcoholic womanizer.

So we'll call it a movie - and not a bad one at that. I look forward to seeing what Ejiofor in particular does next.

Don Cheadle: Ralph Waldo 'Petey' Greene
Chiwetel Ejiofor: Dewey Hughes
Bruce McFee: Prison Sign-In Guard
Mike Epps: Milo Hughes
Peter MacNeill: Warden Cecil Smithers
Adam Gaudreau: Escorting Guard
Taraji P. Henson: Vernell Watson
Cedric the Entertainer: 'Nighthawk' Bob Terry
Martin Sheen: E.G. Sonderling
J. Miles Dale: Program Director
Sean MacMahon: Ronnie Simmons
Richard Chevolleau: Poochie Braxton
Martin Randez: Hadley
Todd Schroeder: Guard Captain (as Todd William Schroeder)
Vondie Curtis-Hall: Sunny Jim Kelsey

Norman Waiting (USA 2007)
Director: Travis Swartz

Travis Swartz and Vanessa Hopkins

Unusually for this genre, the male is more of a true romantic than the female and for that alone, the film is worth a recommendation. The dialogue is witty in places and Dan Peterson's cameo as the bride's father provides some 'down home' comic relief. A nice effort.

Travis Swartz: Norman Taylor
Vanessa Hopkins: Kristie White
Dana Perry: Jennifer, The Waitress
Dan Peterson: Steve, The Dad
Travis Ward: Musician

I Know Who Killed Me (USA 2007)
Director: Chris Sivertson

As an art form, the horror or suspense thriller can be done very well in one of two ways. You can either use a good script, a good plot and great actors to make a classic, or if you have one of those pieces missing, make a spoof and have a laugh along with the audience. If you choose the latter, you can avail yourself of every cinematic cliché known to man and still get away with it because you are satirizing the genre.

However, Chris Sivertson’s film falls between these two possibilities. Despite deploying several horror film staples some of which risk telegraphing the plot, the viewer is never given the impression that the film is doing anything less than taking itself completely seriously. It may be fashionable to knock Lindsay Lohan’s acting skills but she isn’t bad at all in this and none of the cast put in bad performances. The angst of Daniel Fleming (Neal McDonough), father of the kidnapped Aubrey, is played pretty well in the early stages as news of her kidnapping is relayed to him. Other members of the cast make sterling efforts not to over-dramatise their roles, and this is to their credit, especially Spencer Garrett and Garcelle Beauvais as detectives Phil Lazarus and Julie Bascome.

Lohan herself plays two characters, the angelic Aubrey and her alter-ego, the temptress stripper Dakota Moss who tries to convince her family and the police that she is not Aubrey while hopping about on one leg and using an artificial hand. Readers should be warned that this is macabre in places and there are graphic scenes of dismemberment which do not spare the viewer any details.

The number of plot deficiencies and non-sequiturs will irritate the more serious filmgoer and you may find yourself yelling "For god’s sake, phone the police before you go there!" several times. However, despite the predictability of it all, there are some fairly scary scenes so, although Lohan will surely find better vehicles in the future, the project was not a total failure.

Lindsay Lohan: Aubrey Fleming / Dakota Moss
Julia Ormond: Susan Fleming
Neal McDonough: Daniel Fleming
Brian Geraghty: Jerrod Pointer
Garcelle Beauvais: Agent Julie Bascome (as Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon)
Spencer Garrett: Agent Phil Lazarus
Gregory Itzin: Dr. Greg Jameson
Bonnie Aarons: Fat Teena
Kenya Moore: Jazmin
Thomas Tofel: Douglas Norquist
Rodney Rowland: Kenny Scaife
David Figlioli: Lanny Rierden
Jessica Rose: Marcia (as Jessica Lee Rose)
Megan Henning: Anya

One Day Like Rain (USA 2007)
Director: Paul Todisco

Samantha Figura

There are a few awkward moments, and the transitions between Gina's mundane reality and her new mission are sometimes uneasy, but overall this is an impressive film, and one that grows with repeated viewing. The cinematography is precise and beautiful, perfectly accompanied by a powerful musical score with Lavender Diamond's "You Broke My Heart" at the center. Strong performances by both female leads, especially Marina Resa as Jennifer, also help to carry the film over any rough spots.

Samantha Figura: Gina
Marina Resa: Jennifer
Jesse Eisenberg: Mark
Trevor Zacharias: Stefan
Dylan Kussman: Mick
Marisa Petroro: Tatiana
Dalton Leeb: Jeremy
William Benz: Ian
Steven Sprung: Pete

A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory (USA 2007)
Director: Esther Robinson

Danny Williams

Those interviewed deserve a great deal of credit for their honesty, especially filmmaker Paul Morrissey who clearly did not get along that well with Williams. The emotional superficiality of all their interpersonal relationships is not hidden by Robinson, and the honesty of John Cale adds to this when he coins the term "incomplete people". To describe the interviews with remaining Warhol Factory members as intimate would do them and Esther a disservice.

It is notable that none of those interviewed feel inclined to glorify Warhol. Unquestioning fans of his may regret this, but it makes for a better film.

Callie Angell
Brigid Berlin
John Cale
Nat Finkelstein
Gerard Malanga
Albert Maysles
Paul Morrissey
Billy Name (Archivmaterial)
Julia Robinson
Nadia Williams
Chuck Wein
Danny Fields
Ron Nameth
Jeff Scher
Harold Stevenson
David Williams

Eastern Promises (England 2007)
Director: David Cronenberg

Viggo Mortensen

The film follows a tried and tested formula for success. It has a good storyline, good performances, and a good cast. West Wing veteran, Armin Mueller-Stahl, is outstanding as the outwardly charming Semyon, owner of the upscale Trans-Siberian restaurant and Anna’s problems begin when she goes to him to have the diary translated after her uncle Stepan (Jerzy Skolimowski) refuses to get involved. Mueller-Strahl is both steely and believable, demonstrating an ability to use the slightest of gestures to convey thoughts as would befit a cautious mobster masquerading as a genuine businessman. However it is Viggo Mortensen, working with Cronenberg for a second time, History of Violence being the first, who steals the show as Nikolai. Ostensibly Nikolai is a Vory v Zakone chauffeur to whom Semyon entrusts the safety of his wayward drunk of a son, Kirill, played oddly by a Frenchman, Vincent Cassel. However he, the Danish Mortensen, the Pole Skolimowski and the German Strahl all make passable Russians, with Mortensen especially said to have researched the part heavily by traveling to the distant part of Russia from which his character comes.

Cronenberg’s film does not avoid or embroider the brutality of mobsterism. There are some very graphic scenes of violence; blades and axes are in evidence as members of the mob are dismembered. But his film is unpretentious in the extreme and even when it examines themes such as how far the loyalty between father and son outweighs that between right and wrong, he keeps it at a level that we can all relate to and that doesn’t distract from the plot.

Viggo Mortensen: Nikolai
Naomi Watts: Anna
Vincent Cassel: Kirill
Armin Mueller-Stahl: Semyon
Sinéad Cusack: Helen
Mina E. Mina: Azim
Jerzy Skolimowski: Stepan
Donald Sumpter: Yuri
Josef Altin: Ekrem
Aleksandar Mikic: Soyka
Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse: Tatiana
Lalita Ahmed: Customer
Badi Uzzaman: Chemist
Doña Croll: Nurse (as Dona Croll)
Raza Jaffrey: Doctor Aziz

For the Bible Tells Me So (USA 2007)
Director: Daniel G. Karslake

The Gephardt Family

The theology, thin as it is, behind using the bible to persecute homosexuals is also examined and both Jewish and Christian scholars offer alternative interpretations. But this documentary is far from anti-family. The strength and love of the family unit is demonstrated by the reaction of Congressman Richard Gephardt (Missouri) to his daughter Chrissie. When Chrissie describes her father saying “You are my daughter and I will love you always” in a café, the power of the moment was incredible. Having devoted all his life to a political career, Gephardt still put love of his family before it. If Dr Dobson wants to focus on the family, he could do worse than focusing on the Gephardts.

Most of the people who end up watching this will start off sympathetic to its central point. What may surprise them, as it did this reviewer, is that fundamentalist bigots are more than a source of laughter. They are also responsible for a great deal of pain.

Chrissy Gephardt
Mary Lou Wallner
Tonia Poteat
Richard Gephardt
Gene Robinson
Desmond Tutu

Purchase "For the Bible Tells Me So"

The Church on Dauphine Street (USA 2007)
Directors: Ann Hedreen/Rustin Thompson

Jack van Hartesvelt

Father Joe Benson is a Belfast man who had lived through the Troubles there. This experience hardened him to cope with the grief and loss of the parishioners in his Blessed Seelos Church, situated in one of the worst hit areas and home to the city's deaf Catholics and to many Hispanics and African-Americans. Arthine Vicks is one of those parishioners and her humanity is one of the shining threads running through the film. There is a Seattle connection too when a group of volunteers, led by Jack van Hartesvelt, arrive from Seattle to assist with the rebuilding of the church.

Seattleite directors Hedreen and Thompson are a husband and wife team and they do a good job in avoiding being too judgmental of our government's failure to defend these people, but they do not prevent the victims, especially local plumber Dana Colombo expressing their real anger. He does so with incredible dignity but the anguish at his inability to protect his family and community is palpable.

Susan for Now (USA 2007)
Director: Robin Franzi

Robin Franzi’s documentary into Seattle’s BDSM community will shock some people -- not because the people she interviews are wild and out of control, but because they seem to be relatively well balanced and coherent about who they are. Her own journey into investigating the scene followed a divorce, frustration at the intricacies of the middle-aged dating game, and a desire after a prolonged period of celibacy to investigate the Seattle sex scene. One thing led to another, and that led her to this once outcast but now increasingly mainstream community.

Franzi possess an ability to put the interviewees at their ease, and although many claimed that they keep their lifestyle away from family and work colleagues, they are mostly happy to appear on camera without disguise. There are some bondage scenes but nothing too offensive and the hardest to watch concerns, not whips, but a rather enthusiastic body piercer taking his needles to a willing victim. Additional input from a legally trained participant whose contribution further removes the edginess of it, and Allena, the Director of the Seattle Sex Positive Community Center, almost sanitizes the whole activity. Certainly I’ve seen documentaries about far less likable people than these and whether BDSM is for you or not, you can’t help but slightly admire the ease with their sexuality which most of the interviewees exude.