AWCH Film Reviews -- November 2005

(Alyssa C) Opening November 3, 2005

Drew Baylor’s (Orlando Bloom) world is shattered when he is fired for losing his company a billion dollars. Later that day he learns that his father has unexpectedly died. En route to Kentucky where he must collect his father’s body, Drew meets an undyingly optimistic flight attendant, Claire (Kirsten Dunst), who decides to make a project out of him. In Elizabethtown, Drew is offered a glimpse into the life of the completely foreign Kentucky Baylors and insight into a previously unseen side of his father. Parenting problems, food obsessions, wannabe musicians, military pride, small town traditions, third nipples and deep seeded grudges – this family has it all, and they want to celebrate the life of Drew’s father in a big way. In juxtaposition to the family’s grief, the event of the century is ongoing at Drew’s hotel, "Chuck & Cindy: The Wedding". In the midst of all of these human experiences and with Claire’s guidance, Drew begins to learn that life is not about a destination, but instead about a journey. For the inspiring climax of the film, Drew takes a long awaited and symbolic road trip with his father (albeit postmortem), and like Jerry Maguire before him, finds himself along the way.

With the likes of Tom Cruise and John Cusack as the leading men in other Cameron Crowe films (Say Anything, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous), Bloom had big shoes to fill, and fill them he does. Like his predecessors, he masters his character’s vulnerability with honesty and grace, and in spite of being a Brit, he is somehow very American. The star-studded supporting cast, including Susan Sarandon and Alec Baldwin, is a credit to the story-telling genius of this director.

Together with his wife, rocker and composer Nancy Wilson, Crowe has chosen a soundtrack which he calls "The Great American Radio Station", featuring among others Tom Petty and Elton John, and original music written by Wilson. The movie was filmed on location, and between the music and the scenery, one cannot help but be touched by the Heartland.

In typical Cameron Crowe fashion, Elizabethtown is a tribute to the mportant things and people in our lives. While the story at times gets muddled in some subplots, the details, in retrospect, add to the film’s charm. Admittedly there are several moments when the ridiculous-meter boarders on overload, but on the other hand, Drew’s mother’s (Sarandon) tap-dance serenade scene was "just precious", as they would say in Kentucky, in spite of being a bit silly. It would have been a shame for that to have ended up on the cutting room floor.

(Thelma F) Opening November 3, 2005

Remember L'Auberge Espagnole – Barcelona für ein Jahr? The sequel from Cédric Klapisch has arrived! Five years have gone by since Xavier (Romain Duris) shared an apartment in Barcelona with an endearing bunch of foreign students. Now he is back in Paris facing real life – 30 years old and writing scripts for soap operas. Asked by his grandfather why he's not working on his novel, he answers that the soaps pay his rent. This is not actually true since he floats from one friend's place to the next. Complicating matters, Xavier is shared by his ex-girlfriend Martine (Audrey Tautou), his mother, his lesbian pal Isabelle (Cécile de France) and one romantic attachment after another. He can't seem to "find himself" or commit to a relationship and settle down.

But finally he gets a big break – an offer to co-write an English script. The big surprise is that his co-writer is none other than Wendy (Kelly Reilly) from the Barcelona group. Shortly after starting, he has another great offer – writing the memoirs of model Celia (Lucy Gordon) in Paris. Commuting between London and Paris and consequently becoming close to both young women, he has to examine his feelings. When the whole Barcelona bunch all travel to a wedding in St. Petersburg, Xavier finally has the chance to discover what life is all about and who is definitely meant for him.

(Rita PS) Opening November 3, 2005

Something old, something new, something borrowed and many things blue and all good. Tim Burton returns to form after the self-indulgence of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This stop-motion animation film is a fairy tale in the grand tradition of the Bros. Grimm. Burton has a monopoly on making all things un-dead and macabre easy on the eye and appealing to the mind. Whether it is the characters’ Victorian faces, bodies or preoccupations or Danny Elfmann’s jamming soundtrack, especially when the skeletons hit the floor, but despite the subject matter, there is not a hint of the dread, muck and gore one normally associates with necrophilia, maggots, oozing body parts, bloody hatchets and knocking bones. The characters’ neo-expressionist faces coupled with the fragility of their bodies makes them into prize distillations of different kinds of people whose spirit informs their outward appearance, at least in their faces.

In an interesting amalgam of the stories of Undine and Orpheum, we meet two dead brides, albeit on different sides of the time continuum. Bride number one is Victoria. As her name implies, she represents every well-born woman of that age where girls went from daddy’s manor to their husband’s without ever really existing as their own person. It is her duty to marry the first bachelor, titled or not, handsome or not, nice or not, human or not, that comes along with enough hard cash to keep the Everglots out of the ultimate social shame: bankruptcy. Even if Victoria is for all intents and purposes “alive,” her funereal attire and wan expression, her sepulchral home and lack of purpose confirm her entombment among the living. Bride number two is Emily. She represents what happens when greedy merchant class parents marry off their daughters to the first lord that comes around, no questions asked; all in the name of turning their daughter into a lady. Emily was robbed of her dowry and murdered by her scoundrel fiancé on the eve of their planned elopement. Yet her world of the un-dead underground is full of joy and laughter. Ghouls with scars and other vestiges of their respective deaths are friendly, considerate and talented. Enter the groom. Victor is a talented and sentimental young man who is misunderstood by his parents, if acknowledged at all. A victim of his parents’ success, he is about to be married off to a lady he has not met. Victor is silent until he meets the brides. In his struggle between the dead world of Victoria and the colorful world of Emily, we meet a concerned maggot, a body-less French waiter, mutilated veteran gentlemen and even a gored Napoleon. As Victor comes into his own, one bride will discover love and the other will discover freedom, though not exactly as they may have imagined. And all of us can rest assured that at least through the prism of the 21st century, love may in fact conquer all.

(Becky T) Opening November 10, 2005

Sarah (Shauna Macdonald), Juno (Natalie Mendoza), Jessica, Rebecca, Holly, and Beth are athletic young women interested in strenuous sports such as white water rafting. They meet in an isolated cabin in the Appalachian Mountains, USA (actually Scotland), for a little sorority-like pyjama party to kick-off their next undertaking: exploring a cave. The remainder of the film takes place inside the dark, narrow cave, where the girls find cave markings on the wall and an old miner’s hat. They squeeze into small openings, lose their lights, fall down crevices, and scream and cry a lot. This builds up to the final confrontation with the Creepy Crawlers who remind me of Gollum, that bald, naked, evil figure who led Frodo and Sam to Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings. Here, however, there are several Gollum-look-alikes and all of them are deadly. This danger causes more confusion, screaming, attempts to escape up a ladder of bones and so on as death takes its toll.

The claustrophobia (which sensitive people might physically experience while viewing this film) is already evident in the opening credits, which you can read only bit by bit as if reading through a knothole in a fence. The girls make acting look like hard work in The Descent, although you never know if they really are emerging from muddy water, or pretending to do so in a set surrounded by green screens for post-production digital tweaking. They are sometimes difficult to tell apart, especially towards the end when they all have lank hair, muddy faces, and hysterical, dull, hopeless expressions in their eyes after they realize that they are trapped. They scramble over each other like rats in a small cage. Director/writer Neil Marshall thinks viewers might ponder some deep symbolism in the ending. Was Sarah the real enemy? Was someone taking revenge or even crazy? Was it all a dream? Did we fall asleep from boredom? Will it make a good basis for the next Scary Movie parody? One star for undifferentiating horror film freaks.

(Osanna V) Opening November 10, 2005

A ruthless and bloody tale of revenge directed by John Singleton (2 Fast 2 Furious) and starring Mark Wahlberg, Garrett Hedlund, Andre Benjamin and Tyrese Gibson.

The Mercer brothers, Bobby (Wahlberg), Jeremiah (Benjamin), Angel (Gibson) and Jack (Hedlund) are back in town for their mother's funeral. They were Evelyn Mercer's (Fionnula Flanagan) foster children, the cases that no one else would take, and grew up together under her strict but loving hand. At first, Evelyn's death was taken to be a tragic case of being in the wrong place – a drugstore – at the wrong time – during an armed robbery; even so, as the four brothers reckon that the police are not reacting fast enough, they decide to take things in their own hands, soon discovering that nothing is as it seems. The unraveling threads lead all the way to one of the city's biggest gangsters.

The strongest point of Four Brothers is, undoubtedly, the relationship between the siblings. Bobby is an ex-convict who gives little thought to the consequences of his actions; Jeremiah has built up a respectable life and has big plans; Angel is an ex-soldier who loves his women; and Jack is a wanna-be rock star. However different they are (including the colour of their skins), they manage to convince us that they grew up as one family and are held together by a very strong bond. The bantering dialogue between them is very credible, as is, unfortunately, the harsh violence and apparent need for revenge that quickly becomes the main feature of the movie.

Four Brothers is not a film for the faint-hearted, but rather for those who enjoy raw, tough movies like Fargo.

(Patricia R) Opening November 10, 2005

Philip Gröning filmed the Carthusian monks in their lives of solitary prayer and contemplation in the monastery Le Grande Chartreux. There are no interviews, no music, no commentary – it is indeed a personal challenge to commit oneself to a life of silence – if even for just a few hours. They claim that they are not simply reclusive nor are they merely escaping the world – it is a duty called by God to dedicate their lives to listening in silence to him. Details about the order are on www.chartreux.org. For example, there is a very colorful story about the monks’ production of an ancient “Elixir of Long Life,” that they sell to allow them to continue their lives of dedicated prayer. In 1605 Francois Hannibal d’Estrees – Marshall of artillery for King Henry IV – gave the Chartreuse monks the ancient recipe, which, today, three monks follow, combining over 130 plants and herbs to distil in a wine-based alcohol. In 2005 the Compagnie Francaise de Chartreuse, the company that exports the Carthusian liquor throughout the world, celebrates the 400th anniversary of the liquor.

The story of Le Grande Chartreux is an interesting blend of spirits and spirituality; however, to watch this film in its entirety is truly a test of faith. It might be easier to enjoy the slow passing of time with a drink of the magic elixir – that should come with the price of admission.

(Becky T) Opening November 10, 2005

In this sweet-and-sour family drama, the Travis family: mother Sandy (Sigourney Weaver), father Ben, two sons Matt and Tim (Emile Hirsch) and daughter Penny live comfortably in the suburbs of the USA. The oldest son Matt, a champion swimmer and his father’s pride and joy, takes his own life. This tragedy causes the family to fall apart. Each member wallows in cozy niches of sorrow interwoven with self-absorption, drugs, cigarettes, sex, violence and alcohol. This condition is on-going and often boring; how nice to have enough time and money to nourish long-term depressions. Enough is enough for just one small suicide. In the end, however, as more family history comes to light, it’s a miracle that the entire family hasn’t annihilated itself. The real tragedy is one of Ancient Greek or Old Testament proportions. Thankfully, the emotional flagellations bear fruit and there is an optimistic ending.

The film is a good attempt by twenty-six-year-old Dan Harris, who directed and wrote the screenplay, in spite of clichés such as dividing the film into segments of fall, winter, spring, and summer, reading a child’s diary or setting a place at the table for a deceased person. The message is: “Heroes are either just like you or they are assholes.” Weaver and Hirsch deliver especially strong performances and provide the tension which keeps viewers in their seats. Ryan Donowho, a drummer in Re-Percussionists as well as an actor, is fine as the boy next door. He and Hirsch receive credit for singing on the soundtrack.

(Nancy T) Opening November 10, 2005

Two sisters, Rose (Toni Collette) and Maggie (Cameron Diaz), seem to have only their shoe size in common. Rose, a wallflower with a penchant for sexy shoes, works in a prestigious law firm. Maggie, an unemployed partier who can barely read, moves into Rose's apartment where she inadvertently steals Rose's sweetheart (who is also her boss). When Rose kicks her out of the apartment, Maggie, at her lowest while riffling through her parents\' belongings looking for money, finds letters from her grandma Ella (Shirley MacLaine), whom she decides to visit at her Florida retirement village. Then the epiphanies begin.

To quote Jennifer Weiner, the author of the best selling novel In Her Shoes (Zwei Schwestern und ein Hochzeitkleid), on which the film was based: "Rose gets the guy, but Maggie, the irresponsible sex kitten, gets an education. She gets herself. Her happy ending has nothing to do with an engagement ing or a poufy white dress." A chick-flick with interesting twists. For chick-lit, go to www.jenniferweiner.com/forthewriters.htm.

(Jenny M) Opening November 10, 2005

The Danish production company responsible for this movie, Zentropa, has won this year’s Hamburg Douglas Sirk Award, but I don’t know why. Manderlay is the second instalment of a trilogy which began with Dogville and which apparently “took the world by storm.” The Danish director Lars von Trier now has the largest production company in Scandinavia but has an international outlook and cast for his movie. The story concerns racism in the USA and is set in the town of Manderlay in Alabama in the 1930s. The movie has a theatrical feel, and the town is depicted by a few stage props which the actors keep moving about. Why? I ask myself. It begins with a whipping and ends with a whipping and asks many questions in between, none of which are answered though most are thought provoking. The movie is packed with famous stars, such as Danny Glover, William Dafoe and Lauren Bacall who presumably were lured by the avant garde style of the director. They had to make up for the lack of a musical soundtrack by non-stop talking and a monotonous narrative given Mr. Glover. There are scenes of such appalling brutality in this movie that you leave the cinema feeling depressed and upset, which is probably what the director intended.

(Becky T) Opening November 10, 2005

Willy Brandt resigned as German chancellor on May 7, 1974, due to his personal aide, Günther Guillaume, and his wife, Christel, being arrested for espionage. This event marked the fall of post-Germany’s first Nobel Peace prize recipient and social-democrat chancellor as well as the fall of two successful East German spies living in Bonn for 17 years. In the wreckage of these careers stood their sons Mathias Brandt and Pierre Guillaume, then 12 and 17 years old, respectively. Mathias became an actor and Pierre a photo journalist and author. In this documentary, film director Doris Metz accompanies Mathias Brandt to his old home in Bonn (“this is where the pool used to be, my father was a terrible swimmer; this is the garden where my father crashed his bicycle when bike riding with a Bavarian politician; this is the closet where we kept all the casting rods that the boot-lickers sent my father as presents, thinking he liked to fish”). She accompanies Pierre to his old apartment in East Germany where he moved to live alone. Party members watched over him. For years he waited for his father to discuss the events which led to his arrest; this discussion never came. The final break occurred when Pierre, his wife and two children crossed the border into the West just a year before the wall fell and took on his mother’s maiden name of Boom. Both boys identified with their mothers: Pierre visited his mother regularly in her Cologne jail before both parents were exchanged into East Germany where they divorced. Mathias said, “It’s is amazing how smoothly my father got rid of my mother when her usefulness was over.”

The topic is fascinating of two men growing up in the “shadows” or Schatten of their fathers. Mathias Brandt said, “Others summed me up in relation to a man who was a stranger to me; how could I know myself, if I didn’t know him?” Sadly, photographer Sophie Maintigneux should have made an art film about architecture, considering the time we wasted watching stone walls, train tracks, and buildings. This, as well as the grating music (Markus Stockhausen is in love with his own trumpeting) makes watching the film difficult for anyone who isn’t dedicated to the topic, which is too bad, because it is a disservice to two interesting men, now in their forties.

(Adele R) Opening November 17, 2005

German director Dagmar Knöpfel’s film concerns the last few days in the life of a famous Czech author and poet, Bozena Nemocová, whose works include a novel called The Grandmother which has been translated in 30 languages and, according to the movie, is in its 400th printing.

The film opens with Nemocová’s funeral and the author’s voice describing the grief-stricken mourners with considerable irony. Most of the film takes place in a room where Nemcová (admirably portrayed by Corinna Harfouch), suffering from severe bleeding and in great pain, is desperately penning a few pages of a letter to a close friend and former lover. The letter was discovered years later and is the basis for the script. From the text of the letter and flashbacks, we learn of the writer’s harrowing life with an alcoholic husband who terrorized his family and tried to harness his bohemian wife. Nemocová, however, was determined to live her life as she saw fit, including having lovers and putting her writing before her wifely responsibilities.

The film is interminably slow. And not knowing Nemocová’s work limits one’s appreciation even more. I’d give it a miss despite the lyrical title (which roughly translates to Throughout the Night, Not a Single Star in English).

(Osanna V) Opening November 17, 2005

Directed by Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral), with screenplay by Steve Kloves, the latest movie in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series introduces Ralph Fiennes (as Lord Voldemort) and Brendan Gleeson (as "Mad Eye“ Moody) to the growing cast of heavyweights involved in this project.

The new school year at Hogwarts brings a completely new experience for Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermoine (Emma Watson). The school has been chosen to host the international Triwizard Tournament, including students from two other wizarding schools: Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Unfortunately, the event is overshadowed by dark omens in the sky and nightmares disturbing Harry's sleep, seeming to warn of the imminent return of the young wizard's ultimate enemy: Lord Voldemort.

Because of the dangerous tasks involved in the Triwizard Tournament, participants (one champion from each of the three schools) have to be seventeen or over. This automatically excludes the fourteen-year-old Harry and his friends; that is until the Goblet of Fire unexpectedly spits out the name of a fourth contestant: Harry Potter. Shock, claims of cheating, anger, fear of foul play and confusion fly through the Great Hall, but the rules can not be challenged. The Goblet of Fire's selection is final.

Harry must face a dragon, save Ron from the clutches of the merpeople who live in the lake below the school and navigate the dangerous maze where the Triwizard trophy has been hidden. Along the way, the new teacher of the dark arts and auror (specialised in searching out Voldemort's death eaters), "Mad Eye“ Moody, is bent on giving Harry as much guidance and help as he can; yet, in spite of all the efforts made to keep the tournament safe, the contest for a trophy becomes a contest for Harry's life, as he faces his nemesis for yet another dramatic showdown.

The newest Harry Potter movie is probably the tightest of all four so far. The exceptional length of the book obviously forced the filmmakers into careful choices, leaving no space for surperflous footage. Some readers may be disappointed, but most fans will probably be delighted with the two and a half hour extravaganza. In spite of its sepia overtones (there is not one sunny day in the whole experience) and loss of innocence (more than just peripheral deaths), the film did give space to some measure of humour.

(Becky T) Opening November 17, 2005

The film opens with DJay (Terrence Howard) reciting a long monologue to Nola (Taryn Manning). Both are sitting in his broken-down car, a type of jalopy which is prevalent on the streets of Memphis, Tennessee. He is a talker, who spouts such manifestations as “Dogs don’t know about Easter bunnies and death.” Drivers stop occasionally to inquire about the price of the girl, and soon Nola drives off with another man. Black DJay is a pimp, and he hustles his white prostitute. He lives in a run-down neighborhood with two more women, both black: pregnant Shug and Lexus, mother of a small son. DJay dreams of a better life for his patchwork family. He sees the future in rap music and, as he says, “I got this flow, and I need to spit.” Some funny scenes arise when he and his old buddy Key set up a recording studio at home with the technical help of Shelby (a very funny DJ Qualls) and Shug (background vocals). He raps his original poetry. The only hindrance between DJay and fame is the opportunity to put his CD into the right promotional hands. That opportunity appears when successful singer Skinny Black (Chris Ludacris Bridges) comes to town.

Much has been made of the fact that Craig Brewer, though white, could write and direct a film about Memphis black rap called crunk. I pity the poor people who will be called upon for an impossible job: to translate for the subtitles or synchronization. I probably understood half of the dialog which was, supposedly, in English. That should not deter you from this recommended film about very real and human people; they are a mess, but never indifferent. Especially the women shine in spite of their poverty and dependence. Lexus dares to confront DJay and is thrown out on the street to fend for herself. In time of need, Nola rises to the occasion and soon surprises herself by acquiring a power suit, a briefcase and an enormous amount of self-confidence. Key’s wife Yevette (Elise Neal), a proper black, church-going lady with a real job and a nice home, reaches out to the low-class, scummy friends of her husband. The ending leaves room for hope. Naturally, the music plays a central part and is worth your time, even for non-rappers. Hustle and Flow won the audience prize at the 2005 Sundance festival.

(Thelma F) Opening November 17, 2005

In a small industrial city in Belgium, 20-year-old Bruno (Jérémie Renier) lives a hand-to-mouth existence, never stooping to legal employment. When his girlfriend Sonia (Déborah François) is released from the hospital with newborn Jimmy, he realizes this could be a money-making opportunity and, while Sonia stands in the long line at the welfare office, he sells the baby to an illegal adoption outfit. Upon hearing this news, Sonia has a breakdown and must be hospitalized. At this point Bruno realizes what harm he has caused and strives to get Jimmy back.

L'Enfant, which won the Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival this year, was produced by the Dardennes brothers, who specialize in portraits of working-class Belgians. Bruno and Sonia are clearly products of this milieu with its unemployment, broken families and triste conditions. The story of two almost-children who themselves produce a child is told in a brisk, matter-of-fact style that never stoops to sentimentality or pretends to moralize. It is a film of our time.

(Kirsten G) Opening November 17, 2005

For his first feature-length film after several shorts, director Nicolai Albrecht chose a subject close to his heart – ride-sharing. Mitfahrer presents three cars of people, all heading for Berlin on a hot Friday evening. One car is owned by Peter, a swimwear salesman who is always on the road and who often offers his car to car-sharing agencies. On this evening the agency places Carolin, a quiet student, and Hilal, an African immigrant, with him for the drive to Berlin. The second car is owned by Katharina, who is traveling to Berlin to audition for acting school. The car-sharing agency places Fabian, a teenager looking to party in Berlin for the weekend, and Sylvester, a drifter who owes money to someone in Berlin, with her. The final car contains Loubelle and her daughter, who are driving to Berlin to return the car to Loubelle’s boyfriend. As the night progresses, all three cars cross paths, and by the end of the weekend, surprising pairings end up making the trip back together . . .

Director Albrecht chose this subject because he often hitchhiked or participated in car shares between his hometown of Munich and Berlin, where he studied. He found that these long drives can be quite exciting and intimate because total strangers are thrown together in such close quarters for such long periods of time. Because they know they will never see each other again, they often reveal very private details about themselves – making the ride a bit like being in a confessional. He tried to capture that phenomenon in Mitfahrer by having the three separate stories all written by different authors, who then came together to mix and match their characters. I think he succeeded to a certain extent – throughout the film, you do feel like you’re listening in on very private conversations. However, many of the characters were quite unlikeable, making it difficult for the audience to get engaged in their problems. And I would have liked a bit more resolution at the end of the story – almost all of the plotlines are left open-ended. Perhaps Albrecht is hoping to make a sequel!

(Patricia R) Opening November 24, 2005

In this blue border – the hazy line between the living and the dead – director Til Franzen weaves together two love stories that are aided by a mysterious and unseen force. The subject of “spiritism” is often sceptically brushed aside as mere nonsense, but many people can share a story of a close call, a near miss or a strange coincidence where they felt that someone was watching over them. The Russian mothers of the slain children in Breslau are being criticised for working with a spiritist; however, they have all shared the same dream where their children have talked to them. Communicating with the dead is not nonsense when you have been privileged to a personal experience. In the film, Momme’s father unexpectedly passes away, and he travels to bring the news to his grandfather in Flensburg. There he meets Lena, who touches his heart but quickly leaves to take care of her aging grandmother in Denmark, thus beginning the lost-and-found search for one another. However, not even the guards at the Danish border nor an accidental fall into the cold and deep sea can keep these two souls apart, with help from Lena’s grandmother and Momme’s dead father.

The second love story involves the chief of police Poulsen, who believes himself to be a master communicator and friend to all, while actually being pathetically lonely. A move to a new house introduces a new neighbor into his life, the widowed Frau Marx (Hanna Schygulla), and a mysterious coincidence brings them closer together.

Mr. Franzen states that, “The things that arouse my interest are mostly those stories that are rich in mystery and whose own magic emanates more from the pauses than from what is actually said.” He has created a beautiful and haunting story of love and belief. If we can open our heart and mind to the possibility that the dead still have some influence in this world, then our lives become all the more interesting.

(Karen P) Opening November 24, 2005

In the 26th Century, one would think that the people of the world would have used their ancestors' wisdom and experience to make their environment a better place to live. While some people would strive for this utopia, others would still desire greed and power to conquer or control – often not being able to decipher who is good and who is evil. The only change, in all these past centuries, is that of outward esthetics to their world because the problems dealing with the personal, political and ethical of the ancient days still reside.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), and his family-like crew: second-in-command Zoe (Gina Torres); her pilot husband Wash (Alan Tudyk); the mercenary Jayne (Adam Baldwin); and the ship’s mechanic Kaylee (Jewel Staite) run an out-for-hire transport space ship, Serenity. They pull-off small crimes in order to make a living. These futuristic Robin Hood outlaws find themselves drawn to participate in the existing space war. The war is between this new world order called the Universal Alliance who want peace among the planets, against cannibal savages called the Reavers who hang out in the edges of space, who live for chaos and destruction. Going in and out of the war zones on business is hard enough, but to make matters worse, Reynolds realizes that the hitchhikers, Simon (Sean Maher) and his sister River (Summer Glau), that he took on board carry with them dark secrets which the Universal Alliance is after and now pose grave danger to their very existence. Serenity is their hope for survival, but is she up to the challenge?

This complicated outer space narrative finally accomplished its goal: to continue to solidify with its fans and hold on to the public eye. Universal studios and their special effects department have "pushed open the envelope or vault" to give the once-dying made-for-television series, firefly, become what it was meant to be – a full-feature film. Forget this made-for-television stuff because the storyline is too long and complicated for a television show with commercial interruptions without end. Instead keep the Star Wars, Trekkie, and sci-fi enthusiasts happy, not to mention returning to the theaters many times over. This could be another Rocky Horror Picture Show mania, and it could be a new beginning for the sci-fi conference attendees who will have yet another medium for conversation and dress-up.

(Becky T) Opening November 24, 2005

Once again Coach Roy (Martin Lawrence) fails to attend his team’s big game. The members of Ohio Polytech’s basketball team have to make do with a few rah-rahs from their coach via tape recorder while Roy tends to his second job where the real money is: product promotion. His backers soon throw him out of the big leagues. For a second chance, he must prove that he can be successful somewhere else, but nobody wants him. Finally, he accepts (with the encouragement of his manager Tim Fink, played by Breckin Meyer) an offer to coach the Smelters from his own alma mater Mount Vernon Junior High School. They lose their first game, 0-109. Roy introduces the players Keith, One Love, Goggles, Fuzzy, and Ralph to their new team mates: Big Mac, a tank of a girl; and Wes, whose only talent is being tall. By the end of the film they have learned to work together, play basketball, and win. Preacher Don (Lawrence in a double role, copied from the Blues Brothers) inspires the team and Ralph’s mother Jeanie Ellis (Wendy Raquel Robinson) inspires Roy. Naturally, Roy matures, falls in love with Jeanie, and moves mountains in order to be present at an important Smelters’ game, which, of course, they win.

This film puts forth the typical American positive reinforcement message about overcoming insurmountable hurdles. It’s not original, but there is no harm in it; sometimes it’s even uplifting as we’ve already seen in School of Rock or Mad Hot Ballroom. Keith learns to pass the ball. All agree that they no longer want to embarrass themselves, and definitely not their coach. Roy says, “There is no ‘I’ in the word ‘team,’ and “Real power means showing respect,” and, “No matter what the scoreboard says, you are all winners.” This is a film for the whole family, especially children and teenagers, and anyone else who might be homesick for some old-fashioned American kitsch. Directed by Steve Carr.

(Kirsten G) Opening November 24, 2005

“An unfinished life…”: three simple words written on the tombstone of Griff Gilkyson, the son of Wyoming rancher Einar (Robert Redford). Griff died in a car accident ten years earlier, which Einar blames on Griff’s wife, Jean (Jennifer Lopez). Neither Einar nor Jean has ever healed, and each barely exists – Einer lives out a lonely life on his farm, accompanied only by his faithful ranch hand Mitch (Morgan Freeman); Jean moves from one abusive relationship to another. When one boyfriend goes too far, Jean flees to Wyoming as a last resort, bringing her daughter (who is also Einar’s granddaughter, unbeknownst to him) with her.

An Unfinished Life is a rare type of film: one with an unhurried plot and simple themes that still manages to touch audiences deeply. Directed by Lasse Hallström (The Cider House Rules, Chocolat), Life is not particularly original (in fact, it has a lot in common with one of Redford’s past box office hits: The Horse Whisperer), but even though the audience can guess where the film is going, it is still a pleasant journey. The acting is good, especially by newcomer Becca Gardner as Jean’s daughter Griff, and the landscapes and soundtrack are lovely to watch and listen to. Overall, while this may not be an extraordinary Life, it is well-worth experiencing.

(Becky T) Opening November 24, 2005

It’s perhaps symbolic that movie star Marlee Matlin guides us through this film. She is deaf and communicates either in sign language or in computer-like speech. Experts from universities like Columbia, Oregon, Ireland, Thomas Jefferson, Pennsylvania, Georgetown, Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, etc., are similarly difficult to understand. Their topic is quantum physics. They go from “What is reality?” to “What’s happening outside of us?” to “Being in several places at one time.” They claim that words can change the molecules of water and that four thousand people meditating simultaneously lowered crime by 25% in Washington D.C. They want to know why we can affect the future, but not the past. The Matrix seems real to them. Organized religion is humbug, created to give people guilty consciences, something which God would never do because there is no right or wrong. Key words in the film are addiction, spirituality, channelling, existentialism, neurology, philosophy, memory, emotion, and new wave. It’s a fascinating topic, but I was happy when the Polish band broke into a polka and played “You can have her, I don’t want her; she’s too fat for me.” At last something I could relate to. I was relieved when they closed with “agreement is not necessary, but thinking for one’s self is.” This film is a series of interviews among a dozen people who throw out ideas in the hopes that you will catch one and “go down the rabbit hole” with it. How far is up to you.