There is a point, early on

in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire where Potter, now 14, exclaims "I love magic" and for the first time in the series, I could understand why.

Since I'm a few weeks late in reviewing the movie, and it has grossed well over $250 million in North America, everyone knows the story. It's the fourth year at Hogwart's, and Potter and the gang now have to not only deal with their studies, they also have to deal with something else, their hormones. Potter also has to compete in the Tri-Wizards Tournament, a collection of 3 tasks which will determine the greatest wizard.

Director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Donnie Brasco) has helmed this latest installment of the series with a steady hand, and has given us the darkest Potter yet. So dark in fact, that the film is rated PG-13 in the states.

When I was sitting in the theatre waiting for the movie to start, I was surrounded by a LOT of Potter fans and they were discussing the fact that maybe this movie should have been made in 2 parts, so everything in the book could have been shown. I can't really comment about that, as I haven't read the book so I can only judge the film on what appears on the screen, not the translation from page to screen. I've been told that J.K. Rowling has a a lot of input into the screenplay so I would assume that the movie doesn't disappoint her.

I went to the first Potter movie just to see what the commotion was all about, and sucked into the whole premise and world of Harry Potter. It's rare for that to happen to me, but what's even more rare is having it happen through 4 movies. I'm NOT going to the opening night of the Potter movies dressed up as a Wizard, and "casting spells" on the other "wizards" standing in line, but I do find myself enjoying the 2 hour+ visits (Goblet of Fire is 2.5 hours, with about 13 minutes devoted to credits) when they come around and almost always a few days AFTER the opening. B




GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK

So, I'm sitting in the theatre, waiting for this movie (any frequest readers of this blog know how long I've been waiting for this movie), and notice 2 things: 1) It isn't that full, and 2) There's NO ONE under the age of 30 in the theatre. Two very good signs for me.

I come home and look over my past blog posts and see how MUCH I've been waxing poetic over this movie before I saw it. All I can think is "How can I do a review that doesn't smack of bias after all the hype?"

Good night, and Good Luck looks at legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow's battle against the injustice known as the McCarthy hearings. Like the pioneering TV newsman it depicts, Good Night, and Good Luck, achieves something beyond entertainment. Like Edward R. Murrow, this drama is relentless in achieving its goals.

Last year Jamie Foxx became Ray Charles in the biopic Ray. This year David Strathairn becomes Murrow His performance, so focused and illustrative of Murrow's courage and idealism, is worthy of an Academy Award nomination, and he probably will get one.

This is the second outing for Clooney as a director, and he's picked some interesting subjects. I'm looking forward to the next film. B+

I'd like to take this time

to wish all my American Friends a happy thanksgiving!

Today as well, I'm wondering where everyone is from that reads my blog. Feel free to make your mark on my new map.

I'll be back tomorrow with a review of Harry Potter.

Here's a question for everyone,

and I'd like your input:

You are given a movie theatre for 24 hours. You want to show 12 movies. Which movies would you show? They can be any length, but you only have the theatre for 24 hours.

I'm interested in hearing your comments.

One movie that would be shown is Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense

Which ones would you show?

I got an email today that simply said

"Walk The Line looks good, I think... hmmm"

and I replied with "It does look good.. it's on my 'Oscar Watch/fall movie viewing' list for the fall. It's true, it is on the list.. Most of the movies on my list are no doubt going to get TONS of Oscar buzz, so here are some of the other movies that are on my "Oscar Watch/fall movie viewing" list(in no particular order):

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - easily the darkest of the Potter films so far, proving why the series has a strong adult following.

Walk the Line - about country music icons Johnny Cash and June Carter starring Joaquin Phoenix, who plays Cash, and Reese Witherspoon, who co-stars as Carter, is already on quite a few lists of films to watch for when nominations are announced.

Syriana - Writer-director Stephen Gaghan, who wrote 2000's drug war movie "Traffic," brings a contemporary story of the Middle East to movie screens. starring George Clooney and Matt Damon.

Brokeback Mountain - filmed in my hometown, and tells of the overwhelming power of love in a romance between two cowboys, played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger.

There are a couple of other movies that are just starting to show up in screening rooms to get their oscar buzz going:

The Woody Allen romance Match Point

Steven Spielberg's Munich, about the aftermath of the Palestinian attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Those movies join a list of films I already think have a chance come Oscar time: Good Night, and Good Luck, Shopgirl, and Capote, which are now playing in theaters and have award ambitions for their actors -- David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow in "Good Night, and Good Luck," Claire Danes in "Shopgirl" and Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Capote."

Besides the usual films trying for Oscar considerations, there are a couple of others, both of which are no-brainers for being on the "must see list" this christmas season:

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - based on the children's books by C.S. Lewis that are populated by talking animals and tell of epic battles between good and evil that have a strong Christian slant.

And last but CERTAINLY not least:

KING KONG - Peter Jackson's remake of the 1933 classic telling of the Monkey that goes out on a wild night on the town with his date (Naomi Watts), and ends up taking a trip up (and down) the Empire State building. THIS movie more than any OTHER this Fall season I have high hopes for!

anyways, that's my lineup for the fall/Christmas Season. As you can see, I'm going to be quite busy, and I'll do my best to post reviews of all the films I see.

I never can understand how

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expects people to pick films for Oscar Consideration. I mean, in 2002, there were 279 Feature Films eligible for consideration for an Oscar.

The race for documentary films is even broader, this year, there were 82 documentaries eligible for consideration, and the Academy has narrowed the list down to 15. Normally, the documentary film categories just has people staring blankly at their Oscar Pool ballots, trying to make a pick from films that most people have never heard of.

This year, however, there are a few films that have made the first cut. Most notably is MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, which I reviewed a while back on this blog. Other notable films that made the cut are: Mad Hot Ballroom, which followed New York City school children learning and competing in a ballroom dancing competition, along with Murderball, which detailed the lives of quadriplegics who play a form of wheelchair rugby, and Rize, photographer and video director David LaChapelle's look into the dance world of krumping.

This list of 15 films will be narrowed down to 5, when the final nominations are announced January 31.

The story in my last post is still open. Anyone can contribute.

Everyone says they can

write a better story than most screenwriters, let's see how we can do:

"What a night" he thought laying in bed. I can't remember a thing. He looks at the alarm clock, 4am. The throbbing in his head matches the pounding at the door. "I'm coming!" he yells as he grabs a robe and wanders out of the bedroom.

The pounding gets louder at the door, until he opens it. "What do you.."

The Blast from the shotgun hits him square in the chest. He falls back into the room and hits the wall.

"There. I've done it. Time to..."

This is an open story. Now it's your turn. You can add to it in the comments section, and let's see where it goes.

Research shows that

Video Games make more money these days than movies. So, in a move that makes sense to someone in the Studio Chain, they want to tap into that market, and make movies based on them. For some strange reason, they think people will want to stop playing their games, and go see a movie BASED on the game they want to lure these people away from playing for 2 hours.

Let's suppose that the people playing the game can borrow their parent's car (or GET their parents to lend them the 10 bucks to go to a a movie and drop them off at the theatre), and remember how to get out of their parent's basement to actually FIND outside. What do they do when they get to the theatre? They aren't going to learn any Top Secret "exclusive moves to blast away aliens" or such. They'll sit wishing they were back playing the game.

And the other people that actually HAVE jobs, and don't have time for Video Games in their lives, what with knowing the secrets and pleasures of "outdoors"? Well they won't care about the movie.

DOOM will be Number one at the Box Office this weekend. I know this, and yet it doesn't change my opinion. Video Games are Interactive. Movies about video games aren't. The core audience eventually will realize that they could be at home BLASTING aliens, instead of watching other people blast them.

Or, maybe it will be a way to coax the gamers Outside and meet others of their kind.

I have to admit I never was

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER fan, I just couldn't get into it. However I do know people that watched the show religiously, and think that writer JOSS WHEDON is something of a genius.

So, most everyone I know was anxiously awaiting SERENITY, Whedon's big screen debut. I was busy the week that it came out, and couldn't make the group outing to see it. So, last night, driving home from my parents place, I decided on a whim to do 2 things... purchase a plunger, and finally go see SERENITY. I got my ticket, and walked into the small auditorium, which was 2 thirds... FULL

Fans of science fiction and fantasy are a special breed. They are, if anything, devoted to whichever writer/director they fancy. I got my seat, and tried to get comfortable. Then I listened to the conversations around me. I'm pretty sure I got enough of the backstory and Bios of all the characters in the movie that way. I gather that the major characters were from a short-lived television show, which put me at a disadvantage right away, since I had not seen this TV show.

The movie started, and there I sat. I stared at the screen, and tried to get absorbed into the story, which appeared to be about a crew of a ship named SERENITY.. whos crew was protecting their doctor and his traumatized sister from the alliance (whatever that is.. I think it's an offshoot of the Empire from Star Wars.) These "Rebels" are trying to find jobs, while the Alliance is looking for this traumatized girl. That's what I gathered, anyway.

I did notice a few things:

1) I saw a coffee maker in Serenity's dining room/kitchen that is an F.A. Porsche Design coffee maker made by Bosch

2) The first scene in the movie looks like a single camera move that moves through various locations in the ship. The whole "shot" must have lasted at least 4 minutes. This in fact had to have been 2 shots, since I think I saw a quick transition when someone was walking down some stairs, and the camera turned to show someone following him. I don't know for sure.

I just couldn't get into the movie. Everyone around me was laughing, but then again they already had a connection in some way to the characters via the TV show. I sat there, and I felt like I was missing listening to a lot of in jokes, and wasn't a part of it. After 70 minutes, I couldn't connect with the movie, and finally did something I haven't done in quite a while. I went to get some popcorn, and never went back in to the theatre. I walked past the popcorn stand, and straight to my car, and drove home.

Did I waste my money? Not really. In my mind, I went to see something that I wasn't sure I was my cup of tea, discovered it wasn't, and decided to leave. If I felt any connection to the movie, or sympathy towards the characters, I would have at least stayed to see the outcome.

Last night, I felt like I was invited to a party where I knew no one. Everyone else was enjoying the party, but I decided it was prudent that I leave, because I just wasn't having a good time. No harm, no foul.

Have you ever walked out of a movie? If so which one, and why?

I have discovered that

during a film festival, time goes by quickly. Between work, and then heading to movies, you run out of time for other things, like.. blog entries. For the duration of the Calgary film fest, My life consisted of: getting up, going to work, seeing 3 movies, and repeat. In total I saw 22 movies, and after the first 15 or so, they begin to blur together. Next year, I'll be more prepared, and bring a notepad.

Some of the movies I saw were short features, and I did try to see films from different countries, but a preference was given to Canadian features. The one Canadian movie that did stand out was EVE AND THE FIREHORSE, which also won the award for Best First Canadian Feature at the Festival.

There were others... CAPOTE was everything I dreamt it would be, and more.. I'm thinking this year the Best Actor Oscar is between Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Bill Murray (so far).

Ingmar Bergman's latest movie.. SARABAND was also a standout for me.

There was also a film shown from Singapore called 15 (Shiwu). It is the first work by Royston Tan and explores the adolescent world in a way that is dramatically marked with shots of a conflicted subculture and how a teenage boy can fall into a complete addiction to video clips and videogame aesthetics. 15 showed a side of Singapore most people never see. The visually dramatic film gives a haunting look into the lives of these five teenagers and emphasizes how people on the fringes of society desire the same love and companionship as anyone else. The boys of 15 only have each other, and their friendship is enough to get them through.

The Closing Gala was Beowulf & Grendel, a film by director Sturla Gunnarsson, had one of the more lively Q&As I saw all Festival

I learned a lot from this Film Festival, and next year I'll plan more carefully. A Notepad is a MUST, and I'll go for QUALITY, not QUANTITY, because I also learned that your bum gets quite numb after the 13th or so film.

One of the highlights of

the Film Festival is the chance to see locally produced films. Calgary has a great crop of talented filmmmakers, and this is a great time for them to show off their talents.

Today, I caught 2 films... one local, and one by Director Werner Herzog.

The local film is called REVERB, and is directed by Mark Edward Lewis, which screened to a sold out theatre..
REVERB is the story of Jeff Timmens (Played by local TV Host Dave Kelly), who's sent out by his boss at the Central Music Network (CMN), to Iopa, Iowa to cover the National Karaoke Competition. Hating the assignment at first, Jeff finds that the life of "Kroakers" is far more interesting and eccentric than he could have ever imagined.. and aloong the way Jeff finds himself with a story that combines divas and domestic disturbances, baptizing and backstabbing, winners and wineos.
The movie reminded me a lot of BEST OF SHOW, and it does a pretty good job of creating a mocumentary about the world of Karaoke. The Characters range from a choir members who sneak out early to Karaoke, to one girl who walks dogs and delivers singing telegrams for a living, The cast gives first rate performances. All in All, an enjoyable sitting. The screenplay never has any REAL surprises, but it has laughs. If you get a chance to see it.. make sure to sit through the credits. REVERB gets a solid C+

The second film was Werner Herzog's GRIZZLY MAN, which tells the story of Timothy Treadwell, a man who spent 13 summers up in Alaska studying and protecting the Bears, until he and his girlfriend were killed by a rogue bear in october 2003.
The docudrama uses footage from Treadwell's videos he shot up there, and during the entire film you start to get a sense of a man losing his grip on reality. Treadwell began to believe that he had more in common with the bears that humans, and you see a man that doesn't treat the bears with respect, but as equals which everyone knows, except Treadwell apparantly. It was funny, and wrenching to watch some of the video Treadwell shot of himself wandering around with bears, calling them by the Cutesy names he gave them. Towards the end, you can see Treadwell's distaste for humans grow, and his dellusion that he had a spiritual connection with the bears, and from the footage we see, the bears just mostly ignore him.
GRIZZLY MAN is one of those movies that could have EASILY gone over the edge. There is an audio tape that records the last moments of Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard as they're killed by the grizzly bear, but it is never used. There is one scene in the movie where Herzog is LISTENING to the tape, but all we see is his distraught face. GRIZZLY MAN was definately a must-see for me, and I glad I saw it. B+

REVERB! C+
GRIZZLY MAN B+

Day 1 went from one extreme

to another at the Calgary International Film Festival for my screening schedule.

First up was the Opening Gala:

Deepa Mehta's (Bollywood/Hollywood) WATER.
Set in 1938 Colonial India, against Mahatma Gandhi's rise to power, the story begins when
eight-year-old Chuyia is widowed and sent to a home where Hindu widows must live in penitence. Chuyia’s feisty presence affects the lives of the other residents, including a young widow, who falls for a Gandhian idealist.

WATER completes Deepa Mehta's elemental trilogy (Fire, 1996, Earth, 1998), and the production was not without controversy. In 2000, the project was temporarily abandoned as controversy surrounded the production when Hindu protestors in the holy city of Varanasi disrupted location shootings and vandalized sets. Some Hindu fundamentalists got a copy of the script, and decided that the story was anti-hindu. In 2004, the film was re-cast, filming began, and Water was completed in Sri Lanka.

The story unwinds in a leisurely fashion, but I found the movie to be fascinating to watch. The 8 year old actress that plays Chuyia, we discovered during the Q&A after the movie with the director, could not speak Hindu and learned all her lines phonetically. All in all, a great way to start the Festival off.

No sooner was the opening film over, than it was time for the second screening of the night, a Documentary called Put the Needle on the Record.

Put the Needle on the Record explores the world of dance music and the DJ's that bring it to life. The film features over 50 songs from top artists in the world of electronic music and over 40 interviews with electronic artists. Filmed primarily at the Winter Music Conference, a 5-day, non-stop party held annually in Miami, the film takes a look behind the scenes where the biggest DJ talents in the world come to see and be seen. It features interviews with artists such as Dirty Vegas, Paul Oakenfeld, The Crystal Method and Junior Sanchez.

Put the Needle on the Record has an interesting premise, but is about 23 minutes too long. The movie felt like a PG rated version of a GIRLS GONE WILD video, and I was getting a little bored.

What made tonight's screenings interesting, was the extremes of the Audiences. The opening gala had a rather formal feel to it, where the second screening was a 180 degree turn from that. Going from the red-carpet arrivals of Deepa Mehta and the star Lisa Ray, then entering the auditorium for the second movie with Dance Music blaring, reminded me the array of films I have to look forward to over the next week.

It only happens

once a year... and it begins tonight..

Lots more to come over the next week.

As I sit here in front of my computer,

safe and comfortable in my place of residence, I can't help but be haunted by all the images coming from New Orleans, as the residents there try and recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Now is the time for everyone to do what they can to help out. This effort won't take DAYS to fix, it will take MONTHS, if not YEARS to help the people of New Orleans get back to normal. I thank god that there are organizations like the RED CROSS, and others that are around to spearhead the effort. I pray that the looters will stop, and relief efforts can begin in earnest. This is not a time for lawlessness, it's a time of healing, and each person lending a helping hand. We did it for Tsunami, now we can do it for something closer to home.

Today has been labelled "International Blogging for Disaster Relief Day". If you peruse blogs today, you may notice that many of them may have changed the focus of their blogs to help raise awareness and help for the Hurricane Victims. This is my part.

You can check out this link for the Wikipedia on the hurricane, which is a fantastic resource on what happened, and what's going on. The Wikipedia is an open source encyclopedia, and is being added to on an ongoing basis.

You can make a Donation to the Red Cross, or the Salvation Army

Check out the following International%20Blogging%20for%20Disaster%20Relief%20Day'>Link, to learn more, and to track all the blogs covering the event today.

This is a time for everyone to band together and help out. It would be really cool if all Movie Theatres in Canada and the United States took $1 from every $5 pop they sell, and put it toward Hurricane recovery. That way everyone would make a difference in some small way.

This Labour Day Long

Weekend marks not just another Jerry Lewis Telethon, but the end of the summer movie season. This year, hollywood types are lamenting that boxoffice receipts are will be down 10% from last year. I've gone over this in many posts, so I'm going to let it slide. They know what's wrong.

With the end of summer movies, this also means that this is also the start of the Fall Slate and movie geared towards trying to win awards, and therefore geared towards adults. I think that this is my favourite time of year, because this is when I can sit in a theater for days on end and get impressed time and time again. Yes, there will be Turds in pile, but you can spot them quite easily, unlike this summer where you had to slog through shit to find a movie like BROKEN FLOWERS, which in my mind is the first movie that could be up for awards.

a couple of posts back I mentioned CAPOTE, which is starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote during his "In Cold Blood Period".

This post, is a look at George Clooney's new movie GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK, which tells the story of Broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow's look to bring down Senator Joseph McCarthy. This movie has a great cast, including Jeff Daniels, David Strathairn, and Robert Downey Jr. The movie is in shot in Black and White, and from the trailer, looks to be quite interesting.

The summer was for kids, and it disappointed. Now comes the fall, and we'll see if Hollywood can please the adults.

I am from the

Drive-In generation. I remember as a child waiting for my dad to come home, so we could all get in the car to see a movie at the Drive-In. There are so many memories.. The first movie I remember seeing at a drive -in was KING SOLOMON'S MINES, Then PETER PAN.

For a time I moved to a small town, and I loved going to the Drive-In. A group of people, gathering together to watch a movie, and make-out. Now, the Drive-In is all but extinct where I live, just a distant memory now, one that is lost to future generations.

I'm reminded of the Drive-In experience because this weekend, I went to a MOVIE IN THE PARK, which brought back all the memories of going to the drive-in.

Funny what triggers memories.

I saw the 40 year old

Virgin many times back in May when I walked by the line-up for the midnight showing of REVENGE OF THE SITH. Imagine my surprise when I found out that they had made a MOVIE with the same title!

The story is pretty simple. Steve Carell plays a guy that hasn't had sex yet. He tried in high school, but failed. After he admits to some guys he works with at a poker game that he "hasn't done the deed", his new friends make it their mission to get him laid.

The movie has its moments, but like the majority of the films that have come out this summer, it begins to lose steam near the end. The movie succeeds because of Steve Carrell, who should have a pretty good career lined up, if he doesn't screw it up somehow. He's already pegged to play Maxwell Smart in the Big Screen version of Get Smart, and recently signed up to star in the sequel to BRUCE ALMIGHTY, tentativly called EVAN ALMIGHTY.

40 Year Old Virgin - C

The Trailer for the first movie I'm looking forward to finally has a trailer. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is playing Truman Capote in a Biopic of Capote while he was writing IN COLD BLOOD. The cast is solid, and I thought I'd close the blog with a link to the trailer, so you can see the first nominee for this year's oscar's race in action.

In my neck of the woods, there is a

Local site that gives show times for all the theatres in town. It's easy enough to use, and I find it quite handy.

The site doesn't ask the theatre chains to advertise, it just lists the show times for the theatres, and it gets its advertising revenue in other ways. One of the major theatre chains got quite upset at this site, and asked that they stop using their logo on it. The situation got quite ugly, and finally the logo was removed under threat of legal action.

The theatre chain, which shall remain nameless, contended that this local site was taking traffic away from their official site, and stopping people from getting showtimes from there. They had spent a lot of time developing their website, and have advertising agreements with other venues as well. A site that gave away the information for FREE was bad.

Now, I'm not gonna take sides either way. I'm sure both sides have their reasons, and well, that's what freedom of thought etc. is all about. It does however have me want to ask a question. Since I've just learned HOW to do this, I think I'll make it a Poll...

So, here is the FIRST poll for my blog:

Where do you get your movie listings from?
	Local Movie Times Website
	Theatre Chains official website
	Newspaper
	Other
Free polls from Pollhost.com

This is totally unscientific, but it's a question I've been pondering lately.

There have been some

interesting developments in Digital Cinema, and some things never change:

1) Hollywood's top film studios have agreed on a long-awaited and crucial technical standard that clears the way for a new era of digital film distribution. reached after three years of bitter wrangling within the film industry, marks a crucial milestone in the evolution of cinema from celluloid reels to high-definition digital movies that can be piped directly into theatres.The agreement sets uniform specifications for projectors that film theatres would use to show high-quality digital films in neighbourhood film theatres, allowing the new medium to flourish.

2) Ireland is set to become the world's first country to have digital film in every cinema.
All movie houses in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are to have their traditional 35mm film projectors replaced. Irish movie lovers have the second highest level of cinema attendance in Europe.

3) In collaboration with Disney, Dolby Laboratories plans to install its Dolby Digital Cinema systems in approximately 100 specially-selected, high-profile theatres in 25 top markets that will present the 3D film Chicken Little to be released on November 4, 2005.

So, Hollywood has a TECHNICAL standard, Ireland is going digital, and Disney is installing digital projectors in specially selected theatres for a movie release.

There have been comments about how George Lucas has said he's a little disappointed in how Digital Cinema has been deployed. He was wishing more theatres would have been digital for the last Star Wars movies, and how there would have to be more theatres digital to make a 3D release of all 6 Star Wars movies viable. Hmm...

What does Disney have figured out, that Lucas didn't? If ANYONE in the industry could have pushed the envelope in regards to Digital Cinema, it would have been someone with the POWER to say to 20th Century Fox.. "Why don't WE figure out a way to help get theatres to go digital, so the most number of people can see them" Instead, Lucas decided to stay out of the debate, and let things develop slowly. He lost out as a result.

In the long run, Digital will be a cost savings for everyone.
Producing a print costs over $4,000 per print. Hollywood would SAVE a bundle..
Let's look at the Chicken Little project. Disney will save $400,000 on print costs.
Depending on what happens after the movie finishes playing (Will Disney and Dolby take away the projectors after the run?) Disney can save another $400 thousand dollars on subsequent releases, if they keep the digital theatres, and book more movies into them. 4 more movies over 2 years will save Disney.. Well, you get the idea.

This doesn't even start to cover the filmmakers that can't afford to shoot on film, and use video instead. Digital cinema will open doors to distribution that have never existed before, and bring product that wouldn't normally get to bee seen to the masses.

I'm excited over digital cinema for that reason alone.

2 months ago, I helped arrange

a screening of a movie for a group of friends. This tradition started new years eve, when I had arranged a screening of movie that hadn't opened in our area, and I felt a select few would enjoy. The movie at that time was MILLION DOLLAR BABY, and thus, the tradition of impromptu screenings was born.

This past while, the movie that we screened was BROKEN FLOWERS, and it got a good reception at the screening. Now that it's opened, I thought I'd go revisit it and see it with a paying audience.

The movie stars Bill Murray as Don Johnston (that's with a T), a guy who as the movie opens is being dumped by his latest girlfriend. He goes through the motions trying to beg her to stay, but you can see in his eyes that his heart really isn't in it, he's been down this road before. She leaves, and he just sits on his couch, watching TV, getting back into his life.
We don't know much about Don, just that he's made his money from working with computers. Strangely enough Don doesn't have a computer anywhere in his house. His next door neighbour and best friend Winston (played brilliantly by Jeffrey Wright) gives Don the occassional distant, safe glimpse into family life, which makes suits him fine.
One day, Don gets a letter informing him that he has a son, and that he may get a visit from him very soon. The letter is typed, and there is no return address on the envelope.

Winston, eyes the letter with great interest. He loves mystery novels, and sees the letter as a mystery to solve. Don sees the letter as a question he doesn't want the answer to, and a disruption to his comfortable lifestyle. Winston soon has Don make a list of girlfriends from that time. Winston takes the list, tracks the women down, and creates an itineray and tells Don to go visit each girl and talk to them. Don realizes that it would be easier to go, than argue with Winston. When Don does agree to go, we start see cracks in his front and begin to see what he's really feeling underneath.

The film is more about self-exploration than the trip itself. What gets me about the movie is how you never get any backstory about the characters, especially Don. There are questions: How did he get his money? what did he do to these women? how did he get the way he is? After about 10 minutes into the movie, you suddenly don't CARE about those questions, you just accept them. The past doesn't matter.

Its said that director Jim Jarmusch wrote this movie with Bill Murray in mind for the role. It was a perfect choice. Murray gives his best performance since Lost in Translation, and this should finally give him the Oscar he deserves. His performance is low key, and draws you in to the movie. The one scene that stands out in my mind, even after all this time is when Murray goes to a cemetary to visit the grave of one of the women, and suddenly, all the emotions he's kept in check all these years just wells up and finally comes to the surface. The shot of Murray, just sitting in the rain, having tears rolling down his face, along with the raindrops will be one of the most memorable movie scenes I'll remember from 2005.

Hollywood has shovelled out a lot of shit this year, and it gets tiring trying to slog through it all to find something that is worth seeing. BROKEN FLOWERS is the diamond in the mountain of shit, and is the only other movie since Crash that I feel I got my money's worth. Hunt this movie down, and see it.

Broken Flowers (A)

Ever work so hard

that you don't have time for the simple pleasures in life? It's been a VERY hectic couple of weeks for me, and I haven't had much time to see any movies. I tried to catch up, and saw 2.. so here's my first attempt at short reviews:

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory:
Johnny Depp plays Willy Wonka, and Tim Burton violently RAPES the memories of ANYONE who's seen the 1971 movie version starring Gene Wilder. Burton tosses in trademark over the top look and feel, with a score by Danny Elfman thrown in for good measure.


March Of The Penguins:
This production from National Geographic Films follows the Emperor Penguin on its 70 MILE trek to their breeding grounds. I don't know what's more INCREDIBLE about this film: The story about the penguins 70 mile trek from where they feed to their breeding grounds, or knowing that in the -50F weather THEY endure, knowing that a camera crew was FOLLOWING them. If you don't know the basic plot of the documentary.. Emperor Penguins march 20 days and night to get to their breeding grounds. There, they pick a mate, lay eggs, and life continues. This 80 minute documentary follws them on their march.
Now, I know that eventually March Of The Penguins will end up on TV, but for now this makes for an amazing 80 minute diversion from the hectic pace known as my life.

so to Summarize:

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory: D+, unless you LIKE having your Childhood memories of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory RAPED over and over again, then this is a C

March Of The Penguins: B, Yes, this is pretty much a National Geographic special on the Big Screen, and it WILL be on the National Geographic Channel in a few months, however, the camerawork and the great narration by Morgan Freeman makes this a fascinating look into something that most people wouldn't normally go see.