Terrell Owens is a Douchebag

Seriously, I hate this guy. He's the biggest pain in the ass of a great player in the last fifteen years in sports. There's no question that he is great when he's healthy. He just isn't. He hasn't played a full season since 2001, when he caught (a good, but not mind-blowing) 93 passes for the 49ers. Since then he has played 14, 15, 14, 7, and 2 (out of 3) games in each season. He's never even been the best wide receiever in the league at any time really, but he bitches like he is. He was once traded from San Francisco to Baltimore in the off-season I believe, but then complained so much that the Ravens shipped him straight to Philadelphia, where he bitched some more.

Anyways, its been about three weeks of quietness, and now he's back in the news. He missed two weeks of training camp for a pulled hamstring and that got Bill Parcells just a little TO'd (get it? tehe). A few days ago he broke a finger and was put on pain killers. That's not enough news for TO though. He reportedly had an 'adverse reaction' to them and needed to be rushed to the emergency room. Maybe its genuine, maybe its a call for attention, maybe its a call for help. Maybe he's just a douchebag.
















Mega-douche!

RASHOMON

"Maybe goodness is just make-believe."

As Roger Ebert put it, "RASHOMON struck the world of film like a thunderbolt". It is easy to see why. Akira Kurosawa did not have the name credibility that he now has fifty-six years after making it; he was really a no-name in world cinema when it was released. It is a force of a film though, with an impact on how the art is seen and understood no matter what language it is presented in. It is often credited with opening America's eyes to Japanese film making (it was the first Japanese movie to premiere in New York City since before World War II), and is the reason there is an Oscar category for Best Foreign Film.

On the surface RASHOMON is a story of a crime; one where it is certain only that a man was killed. Four different people who were involved in the crime tell their own stories of how they saw it unfold, and as the stories become more and more distinct in their content, the more interesting the film gets. Deeper though it is a film about the common nature of all people, and the bond they all share with each other despite whatever actions they may do. It is also a moving, thought-provoking look at how we as individual people look at events in our lives.

While this is the first Kurosawa movie I have ever seen, I already have an idea of why he is held in such high esteem. His directorial style is remarkable, using long, winding takes mixed with quick-edit takes to create an even more jarring take on the events that unfold over the running time. The narrative is expertly edited as well, cutting back and forth chronologically from one character to another, and while it all isn't completely coherent until the end (I think this may have been me unable to keep up rather than Kurosawa's idea or intention), it is fascinating. Like CITIZEN KANE, when all of these individual parts are added together, the sum total is even greater.

A

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The 10 DVDs You Need to Get for Christmas

10. AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
Just what is AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH? It's really just a PowerPoint presentation. It could be said though that it is the single most effective slide-show ever made. It was made by Al Gore, who it seems came out of hiding in the summer of 2006 to market his documentary, which went on to become the third-highest grossing documentary of all-time. AIT is a warning about global warming, and what will, not may, happen if the world's community refuses to acknowledge the problem at hand. It will definitely open your eyes.

09. WORLD TRADE CENTER
While this movie has the burden of being the second best movie about the events of 9/11 to be released this year, it still stands on its own as a solid, well-made picture. Director Oliver Stone leaves behind his signature blend of fuzzy facts and conspiracy theories, instead opting for the truth, for the most part. WORLD TRADE CENTER tells the tale of the last two Port Authority policemen (played by Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena) to be pulled out of the rubble that became the two towers. The film is about the darkest day of this generation, but it is one of undeniable inspiration.

08. TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY
Face it, when Will Ferrel plays dumb, you laugh. You laugh a lot. TALLADEGA NIGHTS may just be the funniest movie you've seen since ANCHORMAN, back in the summer of 2004. Ferrel is basically playing the same role this time around, the clueless, happily dumb man-child that goes from zero to hero, only this time he drives a race car. He plays it so well though. He knows not to take himself seriously, but that if he winks at the camera too often it loses the effect. Make no mistake, you won't laugh harder at any movie this year than you will at TALLADEGA NIGHTS.

07. LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
A disfunctional family takes a road trip in a beat-up yellow VW Bus to get their young daughter to a beauty pageant. Sounds nauseating, doesn't it? Well, its not. There are few moments that don't feel utterly heartfelt and at the same time darkly funny. If TALLADEGA has you laughing at its stupidity, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE will have you laughing at its intelligence, and yes, its absurdity.

06. X-MEN: THE LAST STAND
Whiel X3 is not as good as its predecessor (director Bryan Singer left the project to work on movie about SUPERMAN, I forget the name of it though), it stills packs a lot of wallop. Over $200 million was supposedly spent on the project, and the money is well-spent when one gets to see the Golden Gate Bridge ripped from its hinges and moved to Alcatraz (Magneto doesn't even use his hands). Its only an hour and forty-three minutes long, and I doubt you'll ever see more quality-made action scenes in under two hours.

05. A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION
I doubt you have heard of Robert Altman. He has never made an action movie, or a slasher movie, or a romantic teen movie. He has, however, been making movies since the Truman administration. This is one of his best, and quite possibly his last (he is eighty-one years old, and for insurance purposes an additional director needed to be with him at all times, in case of injury or death). Its a movie without a point or purpose, other than to tell the fictional story of the last broadcast of a radio show. Its sad, its hilarious, its well-written, well-acted, and most of all, directed like a man who has been doing it for most of his life.

04. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3
M:I 3 is, quite simply, the best MISSION yet. It is the third film in the series, and features the third different director (JJ Abrams, creator of LOST, who was given the largest directorial debut budget of all time-$150 million). There is an intensity in every minute of M:I 3, as Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) racing from continent to continent in search of his wife, kidnapped by ruthless arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman, last year's Best Actor winner for CAPOTE).

03. CARS
TOY STORY. THE INCREDIBLES. FINDING NEMO. MONSTERS'S INC. What do they have in common? They're all made by animation geniuses Pixar, and they're all great. CARS is no exception to what has almost become a rule in Hollywood. The animation is extraordinary in its attention to detail and flash, and the story is meaningful and surprisingly deep for an animated movie. Make no mistake, this isn't a 'kid' movie. CARS should be seen by everyone.

02. MIAMI VICE
Where CARS should be seen by everyone, MIAMI VICE really shouldn't. It truly is a great movie, one of the best crime films of this generation, but it doesn't slow down for its audience and it doesn't tread softly. It is Michael Mann's opus, his truest, purest artistic vision; featuring a look at the drug trade between the United States and South America and the effects that trade has on the cops working to try and stop it. There are almost no connections to the campy '80s show, save the title and the two leads (played by Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrel). MIAMI VICE is dark, sexy, lightning-paced, and complicated. Its also a great movie.

01. SUPERMAN RETURNS
Other than UNITED 93, Bryan Singer's SUPERMAN RETURNS is clearly the best movie of 2006 so far in my mind. It is an epic, gorgeous adventure, with Oscar-worthy special effects and awe-inspring scenes throughout. It is a continuation of the SUPERMAN series, starting five years after the events of SUPERMAN II. Superman (Brandon Routh) returns to Earth after searching throughout the universe for years for the remains of his home planet, but coming back empty-handed. He returns to a planet that doesn't want him, and an ex-flame (Lois Lane, played by Kate Bosworth) who has moved on and now has a fiance and a kid. When Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) threatens the human race yet again, the world turns to Superman for protection. Clearly the best movie of the summer, SUPERMAN RETURNS deserves a larger audience on DVD than it received in theaters (it was a box office disappointment, making less than half of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN's total gross). It arrives November 28th.

STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP

I thought I was in for a trainwreck before watching the new NBC drama STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP, writer Aaron Sorkin's follow-up to THE WEST WING. Well, the pilot proved me wrong.

Now this is only the pilot, so things could get better or worse, but STUDIO 60 is something fresh. Its a television show with guts, brains, and exceptional dialogue. This could have been (and was) expected from Sorkin, who won five Emmys and was nominated for another four before leaving THE WEST WING.

Above all else, 60's pilot was a wake-up call to the TV business. The story is about an SNL-like variety show on the fictional NBS network. STUDIO 60 is NBS's biggest show, but these days its crappy, good-for-nothing, set-it-and-forget it comedy, and nobody knows it more than producer Wes Mendell (Judd Hirsch). He pulls a NETWORK to the surprise of everyone, and goes on an improvised rant about the 'pornographization' of network television these days, and calls for America to turn off their TVs. How ballsy was it for Sorkin to indict the real world's standards for television, and blast the producers who are financing his show by including 'worm eating' (FEAR FACTOR) and 'who wants to screw my sister' (WHO WANTS TO MARRY MY DAD) in his fulminations.

Writer/director team Matt Albie (Mattew Perry) and Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford) are hired to take over the show in a scramble by the new president of the NBS (Amanda Peet, who is suprisingly good in a role that requires a lot of confidence). Art imitates life here, as Danny is a cocaine addict, and in a way is forced into taking the job (Sorkin's long-time directing partner Thomas Schlamme is a recovering drug addict himself).

Even when the show starts to slide off the rails a bit (Perry was a little too lackadasical and loosy-goosy at times), STUDIO 60 hits its target through great writing and acting by a terrific, sprawling ensemble cast (D. L. Hughley, Sarah Paulson, Steven Weber, Timothy Busfield, and Nathan Corddry are also along for the ride). Again, there has only been one episode, but as pilots go, this is the best of the season, and the best overall since LOST.

Do It or Screw It, September 15th-17th

It's been a while since I did one of these. Get ready.

Brian De Palma (the director of SCARFACE and THE UNTOUCHABLES) knows crime. As does Josh Hartnett in my opinion (LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN, SIN CITY), even for all the shit he gets. Add those two with a story like THE BLACK DAHLIA, and you've got quite a concept. They weren't lieing in the trailer when they called the murder of 22-year-old actress Elizabeth Short the most notorious murder in California history. She was raped, tortured, and then murdered, but this wasn't the sickest part. Her face was cut from ear to ear in an eery grin or blood to mess with the cops' minds, and all of her internal organs were taken out of her body. Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart play the cops on the case, Scarlett Johannson plays Hartnett's girl, and Hilary Swank is a woman connected with the case because of her remarkable resemblence to the girl. Watch the trailer to soak up the style of the film.

Final Judgment: DO IT

There are a lot of messed up kids in Juvenile Hall in America. 120,000 kids go there every year, and 3/4 of them end up in prison later on down the line. GRIDIRON GANG is the true story of correction officer Sean Porter (played by The Rock), who in 1993 decided to start a football team in his facility to try and re-hab a group of kids. It worked out I guess, and they made a movie. I think this looks a lot better than INVINCIBLE, pretty much because of The Rock. He's actually not a bad actor, and made THE RUNDOWN a ton of fun, and BE COOL not completely devoid of fun (although it was still a crappy movie with him). While he's not the most badass actor of all-time (he smiles too much, and wrestling is the opposite of badass), he can hold his own.

Final Judgment: DO IT

Zach Braff was sullen in GARDEN STATE, but he was complemented by a great story and a beam-of-light performance by Natalie Portman. In THE LAST KISS (the title refers to marriage, and after which you won't be able to kiss another person again, innocently anyway) he just looks emo. And dull. And unbearable. He plays a 30-year-old engaged man who in the light of his parents' (Tom Wilkonson and Blythe Danner) divorce begins re-evaluating his life. He can either go with 'the perfect girl', a woman who he loves, a sexy, beautiful, smart woman that makes him laugh, or some other chick. Uhhhh, I know what I'd pick in about 2/5 of a second. Apparently it takes Braff 104 minutes and $20 million of Dreamworks' money to do it. Plus, it's written by Paul Hackis, pardon me, Haggis, now an Academy Award winner for CRASH. Whatever.

Final Judgment: SCREW IT

The last movie, EVERYONE'S HERO, only gets two sentences and no poster, it looks so bad. It's about a magic baseball bat or something, and it's the 10th CGI kids movie this year, and in all likelihood the 7th animated piece of shit.

Final Judgment: SCREW IT

CITIZEN KANE

I only said a couple of words about my 50 Movies in 50 Weeks project that I'm doing. I'm basically watching 50 great movies in the next 50 weeks, and I'm documenting my progress in this Rotten Tomatoes thread. Whenever I watch one of these movies and review them, I'll just put the RT link in a post, and the review will be there.

"I don't think any word can explain a man's life."

Well this is certainly one way to start the list off.

After seeing CITIZEN KANE for the first time, with all of the buzz it has received, all the prizes it has won, and all the mystique it holds fresh on my mind, I can say with all honesty that in my opinion, it is a masterpiece. Its genius is undeniable, as are the repercussions it has had on cinema to this day. As a film on its own, it is a remarkable story of the downfall of a larger-than-life man. As a notable accomplishment in the art of film, with its reputation of being the single most important movie ever made, it is eternal.

The story of CITIZEN KANE is well-known. At its simplest form it is the biography of one of America’s wealthiest and most important tycoons, Charles Kane ( a conglomeration of the real life Howard Hughes and William Randolph Hearst), wrapped in the investigation of a reporter who is looking to find out what Kane’s dying word, ‘Rosebud’, meant. Orson Welles, in only his third role, plays Kane uncannily well. His performance could be considered the true birth of method acting, as he dives into the role headfirst, completely losing himself in the skin and emotional feel of the character. He is always convincing as a man who ages over thirty years, which is a testament to not only him, but the makeup crew as well as other personnel working on the technical aspects of the film.

I can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said about the technicalities of the film, only what I got out of them. Not only is the low-angle camera work, an angle which glorifies its shot as well as giving it a godly aspect to it, brilliant, it is not overused, which surprised me the most. Before watching the film I had read that CITIZEN KANE was the birthplace of the low-angle camera, so I assumed it would be used in every shot. It isn’t, Welles (who directed the film as well as starring in it), which could be one of the best compliments I could give the camerawork. Welles and cinematographer Gregg Toland don’t overindulge their work by making everyone and every location seem as important as life itself through the angle; they opt rather to use the appropriate angle at the appropriate time.

While CITIZEN KANE is an exemplary example of the importance of technical aspects in film, no film can reach the level of praise that KANE has received without a story. As is the camerawork, CITIZEN KANE’s story and the effects it has had in the film community are undeniable, and brilliant. From his raising as a child to his expulsion from every college he attended, from the purchase of his first newspaper firm to both of his terminated marriages, the story of CITIZEN KANE deconstructs its main character with a ferocity and depth unknown in film before its release. Welles lays all the emotions of his character on the table as they would have been seen in life, and the repercussions of his actions can be seen in Kane’s face as well as in the scenery around him, as his dream slowly unravels day-by-day, until the day he finally dies in his empty mansion, alone.

Although there are obviously other actors in the film, who play their roles well for the time in which CITIZEN KANE was made, this is Welles’ show. He directed it, he wrote it, he produced it, and he is Kane. He is the reason why the film is as great as it is, both technically and story-wise. In my opinion, this is one of the truly greatest films ever made.

A+

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OK...

I haven't updated the blog in a while. In my fairness, I've been busy, with summer winding down, school and XC starting, and going to Pilgrim Lodge. Fear not though, because I'm about to lay on you an entry with reviews, rantings, James Bond, a list of 50 movies that will blow you away, rock gods, Yankee domination, God, and illegal amounts of awesomeness. If you can't handle that, look away. First up, the twenty-five 2006 releases you should see.

25. THE NATIVITY STORY
Most of us know it, but hey, that didn't stop THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST from being interesting. This won't have as much blood (PG rating) as THE PASSION, nor the presence of Mel Gibson, but it does have Keisha Castle-Hughes (the chick from WHALE RIDER) playing the Virgin Mary. I smell a surprise Oscar nomination.

24. ROCKY BALBOA
Rocky really hasn’t been good since well, ROCKY (which is now thirty years old), but the fact that Sly Stallone was able to get his dream film (sixth dream film, I guess) off the ground after a decade of pleading and groveling, as well as mostly critical and financial failure, indicates to me that either A) the executives at MGM finally gave in, or the much more optimistic B) there was actually a solid screenplay pitched, and that the movie will be a success. Although the four sequels, all of which were bad and culminated in their badness in ROCKY V, left a bad taste in my mouth, I think I’ll give the Italian Stallion one last go if the film is as good as the trailer.

23. THE BLOOD DIAMOND
This one may or may not make its end-of-2006 release date, which is a shame, because if it gets bumped back a few months it will in all likelihood lose out on any award hopes as well as a large chunk of its audience. The rushed scheduling reportedly has to do with Leo DiCaprio having to perform re-shoots for the upcoming THE DEPARTED, which has set things back quite a bit. THE BLOOD DIAMOND, whenever it will be released, will revolve around DiCaprio, Jennifer Connoly, and Djimoun Hounsou searching for a precious, very valuable conflict diamond in the Sierra Leone region. Moral judgments start getting in the way of their initial hunger for the diamond as the realization of the horror that is going on around them starts to sink in.

22. RENO 911: MIAMI
I think this would have been the perfect summer movie companion piece to MIAMI VICE, which while absolutely excellent, was dead serious. Instead, RENO's been pushed back to winter. The trailer was leaked on YouTube a few months ago and made me laugh very, very hard, being a carbon copy of VICE. But funny. I haven't heard much news other than the release date since, except for the whole cast being back.

21. BREAKING AND ENTERING
I watched Steven Spielberg’s ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE a few days ago, which starred Jude Law in a rather small role. I got to thinking that when I look deeper than his boyish looks and all the guff he gets about them, he’s probably one of the ten best young actors in Hollywood today. He was great in AI, ROAD TO PERDITION, CLOSER, and in small roles such as his cameo portrayal as Errol Flynn in THE AVIATOR. Through a little research I found out that he has been nominated for two Oscars in his career, as Best Supporting Actor in THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY and Best Actor in COLD MOUNTAIN. Both, interestingly enough, are directed by Anthony Minghella. This is only his fourth film in the last decade, after RIPLEY, MOUNTAIN, and THE ENGLISH PATIENT, where he took home 9 Oscars, Best Picture and Director included. That sounds like two pretty good track records for me. I don’t even need to know what the film is about (and rest assured, I don’t), to be anticipating this one.

20. APOCALYPTO
Mel Gibson's drunken tirade a monthish ago back is good enough to merit two appearances in an entry like this. Other than said tirade, Mel's been pretty quiet since the mega-successful PASSION, working on his next pet project in South America. He's now bringing to the big screen the epic Mayan adventure film you've always wanted to see, you just didn't know it. Hurricanes and drunk tirades (Sorry, I love saying that) have pushed APOCALYPTO's production and release date back (December 8th from mid-August), as well as its budget, which has reportedly cleared $80 million (THE PASSION was made from $30 million of Mel's money).

19. THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
I like sentimental movies, and I like Will Smith. A lot of film snobs will say he can't act, which he can, or that his movies suck because they're always marketed to mass audiences. I can definitely accept it. He's a mega-star with enough clout in Hollywood to be able to sandwich this story of a jobless father trying to take care of his son (played by his actual son) between his $100 million+ projects. Prepare to be teary-eyed from the story and the incorrect spelling of "Happiness" December 15th.

18. FUCK
It's a documentary about the word 'fuck'. Yeah, that's about it. Fuck.

17. CHILDREN OF MEN
Alfonso Cuaron jump-started the Harry Potter franchise as well as making the absolutely sexy Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN. He knows how to direct, and he definitely has some material to work with in CHILDREN OF MEN. It's 2029 on Earth, and women have been infertile for over twenty years. Nobody knows why, and nobody can fix the problen. Clive Owen and Julianne Moore play two liberationists or something who find a woman who guess what, has a baby in the oven. A lot of people think this year will be the one to break the Sci-Fi-Oscar curse that has been present since Star Wars took over the world in 1977. This and another film on the list are two of the biggest reasons for this argument.

16. STRANGER THAN FICTION
It looks like Charlie Kauffman light and not as deep, but it looks almost as funny as any other movie this winter. Will Ferrel plays a tax collector who figures out his life has a narrator, and that actually he is the main character of a book written by a writer known for her tragic endings (Emma Thompson). Along for the ride are a very tattooed Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, and Queen Latifah.

15. DREAMGIRLS
Every bit of buzz I've heard about DREAMGIRLS has been great. A twenty-minute clip got a standing ovation at Cannes, the reviews have said it has re-vitalized Eddie Murphey's career and will catapult Beyoncé Knowles' film career into the stratosphere, and the USA Today even gave it a front-page story on the wardrobe. Not the movie, just the friggin wardrobe. If something so technical can get so much attention, I'm wondering what director Bill Condon's (the writer of CHICAGO) final project will look like.

14. HOLLYWOODLAND
Technically it was released yesterday, but HOLLYWOODLAND looks good enough to get a spot. It's the story of he unsolved mystery of the death of former Superman actor Christopher Reeves, as played by Ben Affleck. A gumshoe investigator is hired to dig up some dirt (Adrien Brody), and what he finds shakes the town. Diane Lane plays the woman who was having an affair with Reeves while married to one of the most notorious and powerful of producers in Hollywood (Bob Hoskins). The most surprising thing to me is the acclaim Affleck has gotten so far. Some are saying its fatherhood that has made him change a corner and give a tragic, beautiful, intelligent performance as the man who doesn't want to be known as the Man of Steel. Jonathon Freeman's bleached-out, beautiful, and time-transcending cinematography is another reason to pay the price of admission.

13. THE GOOD SHEPERD
Before Robert de Niro sold out, he made some damn great epic crime dramas. Here he's starring and directing the story of one of the CIA's first agent's life (played by Matt Damon). The film supposedly spans four decades, has a price tag of over $100 million, and has Joe Pesci in it. Yes, Joe Pesci is alive.

12. LITTLE CHILDREN
I still haven't seen 2001's IN THE BEDROOM, but it has been said that director Todd Field's first film is blistering, affecting, and beautiful. The same goes for the look of his follow-up, LITTLE CHILDREN. Kate Winslet does her flawless American accent again, and like always looks Oscar-worthy. The trailer uses the sound of a train coming closer and closer and getting louder and louder as a metaphor to represent the building pressure between the three main characters, a married couple and a woman in their neighborhood who is having a relationship with the husband, played by Jennifer Connoly, Patrick Wilson, and Winslet. Does anyone else smell Oscars?

11. THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP
Michel Gondry is using the same broken-style narrative form he used in his directorial debut ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND in his follow-up, starring Gael Garciá Bernal. Bernal is one of the best young actors in Hollywood today, and providing that ETERNAL SUNSHINE wasn't just a fluke, Gondry is a terrific director. Bernal plays a man who sometimes can't decipher whether he is dreaming or awake, and all the while is trying to hold on to the girl of his dreams (ETERNAL SUNSHINE, anyone?) Click here to see the trippy trailer.

10. BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION KAZAHKSTAN
Sacah Baron Cohen is a hot commodity right now, especially coming off of TALLADEGA NIGHTS. I don't want to say that BORAT looks any smarter than TALLADEGA, because it really doesn't, but it looks better. It's not just an exhibition to see how stupid Will Ferrel can make his character, but a movie with some real creativity and a stretch of a character, by the looks of it. Words can't really do it any justice. Just watch the trailer.

9. THE GOOD GERMAN
George Clooney had a lot of success in a spy movie last year and a lot of success in a black-and-white movie. THE GOOD GERMAN is both, and Steven Soderberg's latest, from the pictures and plot only, looks as good as both of Clooney's movies were last year (they were GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK and SYRIANA, by the way). It's got Clooney globe-hoppiong again as a reporter in WWII-era Berlin searching for an ex-flame's (Cate Blanchett) missing husband, along with an American soldier with black market connections (Tobey Maguire, who's getting a lot of buzz).

8. THE DEPARTED
TAXI DRIVER, GOODFELLAS, CASINO, GANGS OF NEW YORK, and MEAN STREETS aside, Martin Scorsese doesn't know how to make a crime drama. He's supposedly giving it a try though, with some guys named Leo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Jack Nichlaus. Or something.

7. THE BLACK DAHLIA
One thing I've noticed over the past year and a half, with SIN CITY, BRICK, HOLLYWOODLAND, and LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN to some extent, is that crime noir is back. THE BLACK DAHLIA is the story of the most brutal and most famous of Hollywood murders, that of a young actress who was murdered, disembowled, and then slashed with a knife from ear to ear in an eerie grin to shake up the cops. Brian De Palma, who actually does know how to make a crime drama (SCARFACE, THE UNTOUCHABLES) directs Josh Hartnett (who was in SIN CITY and SLEVIN) and Aaron Eckhart as the two cops assigned to the investigation, with Scarlett Johannson and Hilary Swank playing the love interests.

6. BOBBY
I haven't seen a trailer yet. I haven't seen a poster. Hell, I haven't even since one picture for BOBBY yet. Why is it my sixth most anticipated movie out of the hundreds of others that will be released this year? The monumental cast who headlines Emilio Estevez's very interesting take on the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968. The film doesn't revolve around him, but rather the stories of the people working at the hotel he was at when he was shot. When I think of this, I picture Altman's SHORT CUTS. If it turns out like that did, it will have earned its spot on the list.

5. FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS/LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
I've given up about trying to figure out whether or not Clint Eastwood wants to release LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, his film about the raising of the American flag at Iwo Jima from the Japanese standpoint, at the beginning of next year or if he's really gunning for an Oscar and wants to release it simultaneously (or within a few weeks of) with FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS. Either way, his extremely ambitious project looks to be the next great epic war film, and it'd really be the first great straight war film since SAVING PRIVATE RYAN eight years ago (THE THIN RED LINE doesn't count).

4. CASINO ROYALE
I'm torn over CASINO ROYALE. On one hand, it looks flat out great. Daniel Craig looks right at home in the role that had fans screaming over, and he looks like he's going to bring the dark, edgy version of Bond back to the big screen, and bring it back well. On the other hand, this is not the Bond of old, by the looks of things. Whether its a good thing or not this film won't be in the same vein as GOLDFINGER, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, DR. NO, and other classic 007 films, where James beats up hundreds of anonymous bad guys, seduces several women, and blows up buildings, and at the end straightens his tie with a nod and a wink to the camera at the absurdity of it all. Times change, and nobody realizes better that better than me, I often feel (MIAMI VICE didn't have enough color blah blah blah say the purists). As radical a change as CASINO ROYALE will be from say FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, I have a feeling I'll be nuts over it if its as good as the trailer.

3. RENAISSANCE
Back-to-back Daniel Craig, this time with him being seen through rotoscoping (the same process used in WAKING LIFE and A SCANNER DARKLY). He plays a detective in 2054 Paris who investigates the murder of a woman who works at a pharmaseuticals plant. Like most stories similar to this, he uncovers a massive conspiracy. The story isn't what I'm interested in, the visual style is. Imagine SIN CITY, but more polished, distinct, eye-popping, and asthetically beautiful, that's what RENAISSANCE looks like. I also can't say I've been more captivated by a trailer and its score since the first glimpse I saw of REVENGE OF THE SITH about a year and a half ago.

2. BABEL
I have only seen about twenty minutes of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 21 GRAMS, but what I got out of that twenty minutes was great acting and brilliant, crushing emotional power. BABEL is his follow-up, an ensemble piece with Brad Pitt highlighting a stellar cast featuring Cate Blanchett as his wife and Gael Garcia Bernal as an illegal immigrant crossing the American/Mexican border. The film looks as raw and emotionally draining as any other this year, and if the reports from the Venice Film Festival are true, BABEL will be something special.

1. THE FOUNTAIN
And now we arrive at the top of the pig-pile. A year ago the teaser was released for Darren Aronofsky's THE FOUNTAIN, and the first thing I thought of after the 30-second spot was done with was '2001'? That's how damn good it looks. Its about thre parallel stories spanning one thousand years, all three about the same man trying to find the cure for his dying wife's illness, and along the way discovers the Foutain of Youth. Not only does it sound conceptually mind-blowing, but I've read that the script is one of the most surprisingly touching and emotional of recent romances. While having hopes that it would match 2001 in quality is unrealistic, I truthfully wouldn't be all that surprised at this point.

And now back to real life...

The past two weeks have been pretty damn good I have to say. School has started and I'm actually not dreading waking up before 7 this year, and my classes have actually been fun. It was great to see everybody on the first day and its been a very smooth and easy transition into the full routine. Before it started I was questioning whether or not I really wanted to run cross country, for one because I was feeling particularly lazy (and getting fat from working at Rick's all summer), and also because I've never really been able to stay healthy and dread having to leave the team again because I physically can't run. To say that I've stayed off the DL over the first four weeks would be a stretch, but it wouldn't be one to say that I'm feeling great from running. I'm not experiencing the same head-and-shoulder improvements I had at the beginning of the season last year, but I wasn't expecting too. The people are the real reason its been such a fun ride so far. We lost Miles and Kevin last year, and while it would devastate most teams to lose two top-ten runners, we haven't really been. We just got back one of our fastest, most naturally gifted runners, and if we can stay healthy we will definitely be back at States. We've also added some pretty awesome girls to the team, Molly, Erin, Jesse, and Nora especially. It's been a lot of fun. And I can't recap the last two weeks without mentioning PL.

That's Pilgrim Lodge to you.

What is PL? At its simplest form its christian camp. We have Chapel and Vespers, and we talk about God and who/what he is, and we sing graces before our meals. I've been going to PL for eight years now, and four at Family Camp (which was what was going on over the weekend). When you go out of your way to be somewhere for the long, you make a connection with the people you're with. School is one thing, but I'd say only 1/4 of the people at my school would be going if they weren't forced to. At PL, it's all your choice. I've known Alex McLeod since we were both in third or fourth grade, and we've been going to the same camps for that period. Whenever we see each other for the first time of the week, it's like nothing has changed. We are who we are, not what the people around us has molded us into. At this place cynicism goes out the window, and stays out for the weekend. I've only known Kegan Zema for two years, having gone to Moosehead (which in itself is like living another lifetime) over the past two July's as well as Family Camp with him. Really, we've only seen each other for something like 20 days. But its that connection that we have, that's what fuels our friendship. That's how there isn't any tension or awkwardness at the beginning of the weekend. We jumped into each other's arms like a couple of schoolgirls, and I don't feel gay or stupid or childish for saying it how it was. Camp is a three-day high for me, and the one of the best parts about it is the way I feel afterward. I don't feel overwhelming sadness. I feel hopeful. I know this year is going to be different because we'll be able to see each other outside of camp, and that will make our friendship even stronger next summer, which will probably be the last we ever share with each other.

That whole rant right there might seem like I've got some sort of gay for Kegan, but I don't. I'd say that I got carried away there, but I didn't. I'm rarely able to convey how I feel about PL to people who haven't experienced it first-hand, and since I feel that I convey my thoughts best through writing, it makes sense. As awesome as they were, Kegan and Alex weren't what Family Camp was all about. Even with Nick Solloway out for the year (which really sucked) as well as Beka being in college, we had a tight, tight group. I've known Elsie and Jimmy for a long time, but I really only got to really know them and chill with them this year. I'd always kind of felt the were a little bit on the outside looking in at camp, because they really stuck with each other (how many teenage siblings do that?). This year I think they opened up a bit, and it paid off. I can now say I'm really friends with both of them, which is great because it could be the last time I ever see them. We all slept in the lodge and drove the parents crazy until the wee hours of the morning, we walked the Labyrinth, we sang Johnny Appleseed, and we watched Alex and Kego transform into rock gods. Whatever it was that we were doing though, we did it together, which is what PL is really about. I wish everyone could experience it. Click here to see pictures of the weekend. If I'm counting right, I took thirteen of them.

As we disconnected for the world and connected with each other, stuff happened on Planet Earth. Mainly Steve Irwin died and the Yankees continued dominating. They've really got what it takes to go all the way this year, I believe. Over the past two months the Yankees have gone from three behind the Sox in the AL East race to ten up on them. It pains me to say it now, but I didn't write an entry after we swept the five game series we had with Sox, probably because I was too ecstatic to. It was the most fun I've had experiencing baseball since Aaron Boone hit the walk-off homer off Tim Wakefield in the '03 ALCS. Since then the Sox have really given up, trading away Boomer, who was really their best starter at that point, for a prospect. I'd like to add that Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield still are not back, and that those thirteen games we've made up have all been played without them. How many other teams could compete without two All-Star outfielders? None too many. In other sports news, Team USA lost out on its quest to win the World Basketball Tourney. It sucks, but I don't see the same outcome for the Olympics in '08. Keep the faith.

And now, for some quick reviews.

CHUNGKING EXPRESS
CHUNGKING EXPRESS was a frustrating experience. I went into it expecting nothing. I really didn't know anything about it, other than a person who I consider to be one of the finest students of films alive considers it to be the best film of the 90s. After finishing the film I had the same thought process running through my had as I did before starting it: 'What is this film about?"

What I got out of it was a supposed romance that goes nowhere, and takes its time doing so. Director/writer Kar Wai Wong uses a dizzying, nauseating handheld camera to try to get a raw feel for the Hong Kong life, and fails miserably. The story features a Hong Kong man only known as Cop No. 633, who is dumped by the girlfriend he loves on April Fool's Day. Thinking it is a joke, he waits thirty days to see if she will take him back. She doesn't.

Two more women come into play; a hitwoman of some kind who has no purpose to the story and a woman whom 633 meets while in a marketplace. There is no connection or emotion shared between them, least of all in a romantic way, although Wong's script wants to force the point that there actually is a connection on to its audience. I didn't feel anything towards the characters and didn't feel they felt anything for each other besides feelings of awkwardness.

Overall CHUNGKING EXPRESS is a muddled mess, with its boring, uninteresting characters and performances providing no artistic or entertainment value to its name.

C-


MYSTIC RIVER

When MILLION DOLLAR BABY was released, most everyone said Clint Eastwood was on a torrent two-film winning streak. He won the Best Director Oscar for MILLION DOLLAR BABY, and the year before was nominated for MYSTIC RIVER. I for one can not see why this happened. If any glaring miscalculation is most visbile in this film, it is Eastwood's direction.

At its core, MYSTIC RIVER is a character study about four people. Three are long-time friends, played by Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Kevin Bacon. The fourth is the wife of Robbins' character, played by Marcia Gay Harden. Similar to last year's CRASH, the actors go for broke, but ultimately the overall film is not reflective of the gutsy, emotional performances.

Penn's character is Jimmy Markum, an ex-con who has moved on with his life and is now married to a good woman (Laura Linney, in a thankless, curiously small and unimportant role) and has three daughters he loves, including his eighteen-year-old Katie (Emmy Rossum). When she is found murdered, Markum finds himself connected to Dave Boyle (Robbins) and Sean Devine (Bacon), the friends who he has not associated with since a haunting childhood event. Boyle is now considered a prime suspect in the case, and Devine is the detective investigating the murder at Markum's request.

As I said, MYSTIC RIVER is a character study at its core. Where Eastwood goes wrong in his direction is turning the film into a by-the-numbers, emotionless police procedural. There is little suspense, and there really doesn't need to be. Eastwood , though, attempts to stretch what little suspense there is into a full-fledged mystery, which the film really is not meant to be. Penn and Robbins won Oscars for their roles, and I can see the argument for each of them (I don't necessarily, but), as each of them pours their souls into their complex characters, and the result is gripping. That makes the overall messy feel of the film all the more frustrating.

B-

And last but not least, my list. While I was at PL I came up with a list of 50 movies that I want to watch in the next 50 weeks. You can see the whole list plus watch as I track my progression through the list over the next year, with reviews and commentary, right here.

Until next time, stay classy Planet Earth.