Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris,
Director: Ben Affleck
Release Date: October 19, 2007
Running time: 115 min
MPAA Rating: R
Distributors: Miramax

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Review by: Jeremy Welsch

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“I am going to ask questions. If you don't answer fully and truthfully, you will suffer much more than you have to.” - Creasy, Man on Fire

“He lied to me. Now I can't think of one reason big enough for him to lie about that's small enough not to matter.” - Patrick Kenzie, Gone Baby Gone

The Skinny: Ben Affleck directs and co-writes the script adapted from the author of Mystic River.

The Review: Amanda, a 4-year-old girl goes missing in the south Boston neighborhood of Dorchester. Private investigators Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and his girlfriend and partner Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) are hired by the missing girl’s aunt to assist Police Chief Doyle (Morgan Freeman) in talking to a neighborhood reluctant to discuss anything with the cops. Amanda’s mother, Helene (Amy Ryan), is a strung out drug-addled alcoholic. That she acts like she could give a rat’s ass less and could easily be a prime suspect is the exact reason to decide that she isn’t.

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Review by: Jeremy Welsch

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“You all spared no expense this time, Byron. I gotta say, though, it's probably cheaper just to let me rob the damn thing.”
- Ben Wade in 3:10 to Yuma

“If it's between you and some poor guy whose wife you're gonna make a widow... brother, you are going down.”
- Vincent Hanna in Heat

I don’t see that many Westerns. When you say it out loud it’s kind of appalling considering that most of the ones I have seen (and my experience is embarrassingly limited) have generally been pretty good. They appeal because of basic thematic fundamentals: enforcement of the law, honor and cowardice, and the old-fashioned good guys vs. bad guys scenario. The good ones are more than just cowboys and Indians; they are character studies that take place in a simpler time. Well, maybe not simpler, but definitely a time that is more uniquely American than any other film period.

I don’t know about you, but when it comes to watching coming-of-age films, I tend to compare current features with two I have come to love- Monsieur Ibrahim and The Man without a Face.

‘Ibrahim’ one of the more recent films of Omar Sharif explores the relationship between an old Arab store owner and a young abandoned Jew. The film was directed by François Dupeyron. Synopsis follows:

"During the early 1960's, Paris, like the much of Europe, was an explosion of life. As the old gave way to the new, everything was in flux and the city was filled with a energy that promised cultural shifts and social change. Against this background, in a working class neighborhood, two unlikely characters—a young Jew and an elderly Muslim—begin a friendship. When we meet Momo (Pierre Boulanger), he is in effect an orphan even though he lives with his father, a man slowly retreating into a crippling depression. His only friends are the street whores who treat him with genuine affection. Momo buys his groceries at the neighborhood shop, a crowded dark space owned and run by Ibrahim (Omar Sharif), a silent exotic looking man who sees and knows more than he lets on. After Momo is abandoned by his father, Ibrahim becomes the one grownup in Momo's life. Together they begin a journey that will change their lives forever. "

‘Man Without a Face’, the first directorial effort of Mel Gibson, tells the story of a disfigured, idealistic teacher who has a dark secret. Critic Roger Ebert has this to say about the movie:

"One of the special qualities of the film is the performance by Nick Stahl, as the boy. The screenplay by Malcolm MacRury, based on the novel by Isabelle Holland, makes him into a smart, bold kid - one with enough self-confidence that we can guess he'll turn out well in life.

His early meetings with McLeod are interesting because he stands up to this apparently fearsome man, speaks firmly, lets him know what's on his mind. Stahl is much more interesting than most actors his age, because he knows what many actors never learn, how to do no more than necessary. He doesn't believe that his face has to mirror every emotion; he takes a no-nonsense approach to the material that's fresh and interesting."

In addition to technical excellence, both films were successful mainly because of the chemistry between the lead actors. Nick Stahl who played the young student tutored by Justin McLeod (Gibson’s character) was exceptional, while Ibrahim’s Pierre Boulanger (Momo) was a delight in his first feature film, playing the young Jew who was befriended by Sharif.

Some of the more recent films with similar theme failed quite miserably, including Peaceful Warrior and Off the Black. But there are a couple of new films begging for the same critical acclaim and appreciative audience…

We've been impressed by the reviews and reports of two film reviewers we've come to admire regarding one film - In the City of Sylvia. Written and directed by José Luis Guerin, this film is simply extraordinary.

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Says Daniel Kasman:

"A loose theme of the best films seen thus far from this year’s New York Film Festival are films that do so much with so little. Resting on slim stories and minimal dialog, films like Flight of the Red Balloon, The Man From London, and Paranoid Park put aesthetics above script and in turn emphasize ambiance and abstractions over concrete meanings and narrative progression. José Luis Guerin’s stunningly lovely In the City of Sylvia more than belongs in the company of these tremendous auteurs, all the more so because his film seems to work with the slightest of all scenarios: a man (Xavier Lafitte) arrives in a foreign city and proceeds to look for a woman named “Sylvie.”

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One of the films we are most looking forward to next year is Twilight, even though some of the young actors we'd wished to see in the cast are now out of the running. Gaspard Ulliel, one of contenders to play the male lead, is no longer available and French male model Jeremy Dufour is also no longer being considered. But one great piece of news that we recently heard is good enough for a celebration on its own. It's about an actress reported to be part of Twilight, Kristen Stewart!

Says cinematical:

"She has comforted herself in The Safety of Objects, she has struggled for life in the Panic Room while Jared Leto terrorized her with really, really terrible cornrows, she visited Cold Creek Manor,* and that was only her first three features. Now Variety reports that Kristen Stewart, fresh from Sean Penn's Into the Wild, has been tapped for another starring role. She'll take the lead in Thirteen writer/director Catherine Hardwicke's next movie, the young adult thriller/romance called Twilight, which I first told you about in October. Sorry Emily Browning, who was once rumored to star.

Based on the YA series by Stephenie Meyer, Twilight focuses on a 17-year-old named Bella who moves to a small town to live with her dad. Unfortunately, she falls for a pale and mysterious classmate, which can only mean one thing -- he's a bloodsucking vampire." [ read more ]

Kristen Stewart was first introduced to worldwide audiences in her outstanding performance alongside Jodie Foster in Panic Room. She will follow Into the Wild with a starring role in the independent film The Cake Eaters for director Mary Stuart Masterson, the independent film Yellow Handkerchief alongside William Hurt and Maria Bello, and a supporting role in What Just Happened alongside Robert De Niro and Sean Penn for director Barry Levinson. [ read an interview of Kristen @moviesonline ]

Starring: Steve Carrell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, John Mahoney, Dianne West
Director: Peter Hedges
Release Date: October 26, 2007
Running time: 95 min
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Distributors: Touchstone Pictures

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Review by:  Jeremy Welsch

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“Honey if you call and I'm not home I'll be at the gym or the gun club.” - Jack Butler, Mr. Mom

The Skinny: Steve Carrell is a single father of three girls who tries to pick up a woman who ends up being his brother’s girlfriend he was planning to introduce during a family function. Now they all have to spend the weekend together.

The Review: It’s funny how differently things hit you on different days. Depending on the day or week you are having, a movie can either sit well with you or sit like a ton of bricks. I wasn’t really expecting too much from this film, but I guess a funny thing happened on the way to the forum…

This film is basically the antithesis of what we have been told over and over about health care in this country by our government and media.

Some of today's most exciting young talents are reported to be joining the cast of the new Oliver Stone film called Pinkville. Says the Hollywood Reporter:

Included in the line-up are Channing Tatum, Michael Pena, Michael Pitt, Jason Behr and Cam Gigandet.

Of these young actors, Channing Tatum seems to be getting the biggest buzz. The former top male model is doing a number of high-profile projects including a leading role in the new Kimberly Peirce film, Stop Loss. He is also part of The Stanford Prison Experiment remake.

Tatum, who had a very successful modeling career, worked hard to prove himself. After receiving acclaim for his role in Dito Montiel's A Guide to Recognizing your Saint, his acting career seems to be picking up. While some may regard the young actor as potential leading man, Tatum is quite particular with the kind of roles he wish to portray. Says the actor:

"Nowadays I think that people and actors are getting too soft in general. Audiences and critics they don’t like seeing what happens in real life. Why do you think comedies make all the money at the box office?

People want to go and laugh. I can understand that. In a time of war people want to see Will Ferrell, which is what I do. I do the same thing. I want to go see him run around and go crazy. Who wants to go see someone beat the hell out of a woman, because it’s kind of forbidden and a little bit scary. I don’t know. I like intense stuff. I really do. "

That's quite impressive! More of Channing Tatum coming up in our exclusive spotlight!

You might remember Michael Angarano in the film Lords of Dogtown where he played Sid, one of the legendary Z-Boys who pioneered the revival of skateboarding in the 1980s. Angarano, together with Emile Hirsch, Victor Rasuk and Heath Ledger, received acclaim for this movie directed by Catherine Hardwicke.

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But Angarano has been in the limelight since he was just 12 years old.

His critically acclaimed performances include being Meryl Streep's son Nick in Music of the Heart and young Red Pollard in Seabiscuit. In Almost Famous, he playd the younger version of the main character, William Miller, a teenage music fan who is inspired by the bands of the time and lands himself a magazine assignment to interview and follow a new band. A string of diverse roles followed including Disney's Sky High, where Michael finds himself the son of two superheroes, but mysteriously without any powers of his own. [ click for more ]

Maintaining his momentum as one of today's most sought-after young actors, Angarano will be soon seen in three upcoming films, including Black Irish, The Bondage and Snow Angels.

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The much-awaited trailer for The Other Boleyn Girl is here! (scoop courtesy of Firstshowing.net) [ click to see the trailer ]

About the movie: The Other Boleyn Girl is a movie adaptation of the novel of the same title by British author Philippa Gregory. It is a romanticised account of the life of the 16th-century aristocrat, Lady Mary Boleyn, who was the sister of Queen Anne Boleyn and one-time mistress of King Henry VIII of England. Scarlett Johansson has been cast as Lady Mary Boleyn, while Eric Bana is Henry VIII and Natalie Portman playing Anne Boleyn. The supporting cast includes Eddie Redmayne as Mary's second husband William Stafford, Kristin Scott Thomas as Lady Elizabeth Boleyn (Mary and Anne's mother).

Aint it cool was brutally frank about their take on the film:

"Thankfully, even the most suffocating of yellows cannot undo the radiance of Ms. Portman who is, by far, the best part of this trashy, flawed yet entrancing spectacle. "

We've been big fans of Natalie Portman since she played the young girl opposite Jean Reno in Leon, and while her recent film Goya's Ghost was not quite successful, we just think Portman is one of today's most talented young stars.