Directed by Brett Ratner
Written by Simon Kinberg, Zak Penn
Starring Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer, Rebecca Romjin, James Marsden, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones, Patrick Stewart, Ben Foster, Dania Ramirez, Ellen Page
Genre: Action / Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Country: USA
Runtime: 104 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated PG for violence

Evaluation: 7/10
by Greg Ferguson





The universe of the X-Men Mutants is the most fascinating of the comic book settings but also the most complex and problematic for the purposes of the cinema. A world where a class of people with potentially harmful super-powers coexists with average humans with relative acceptance and harmony is entirely unrealistic if not absurd for the vast political, religious, and criminal implications alone, yet there's an element of optimism and excitement to it that appeals to those of us who have ever felt the powerlessness of being an outsider. Balancing the fantasy with all of the social intricacies of such a reality is a delicate undertaking but necessary considering the story the creators of the series want to tell, and thanks to the direction of Bryan Singer, the first two films in the franchise handled both aspects quite capably. Having since jumped ship to helm Superman Returns, however, affable Hollywood meathead Brett Ratner (the Rush Hour films, Red Dragon) was enlisted for X-Men: The Last Stand, the third and probably final entry. Longtime fans and followers - myself included - grew concerned over the months following the news of the switch, worried that he would derail the momentum that had been building from the start with his notably less sophisticated approach to filmmaking. Going in, my expectations were pro-actively lowered, and I think this helped me enjoy it for what it was almost inevitably bound to be: an overreaching effort that's stretched thin and too eager to please, yet affectionate enough toward the characters and their lore to inspire goodwill among viewers.

Yes, The Last Stand is a mixed success, boasting a fairly hefty screenplay with a pivotal crisis in the history of Mutancy which centres around the discovery of a young Mutant boy named Leech (Cameron Bright, a dry displeasure who should have availed himself of the opportunity to take pointers from fellow castmate, and former child actor-cum-Oscar winner, Anna Paquin). His power has the unique quality of being able to permanently suppress other Mutants' X-genes, effectively "curing" them of their respective conditions. This prospect appeals at once to those Mutants who would rather blend in with regular people (like teenage misanthrope Rogue, a de-facto Grim Reaper to anyone she touches), and repulses others, who resent their powers being likened to an illness and fear such a cure is the first stage of their eventual eradication. As it turns out, this may not be far from the truth as anti-Mutant politician Warren Worthington II (Michael Murphy) has restricted Leech to a research facility on Alcatraz Island and begun replicating his nullifying agent to secretly arm police with guns that fire off doses of it.

No less important is the timely discovery of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), thought to be dead at the end of X2 but revived as Phoenix, a subconscious personality of hers that unpredictably unlocks and wields enormous destructive power capable of annihilating people and buildings. (That she resembles an ex-girlfriend of mine was truly terrifying beyond anything you'll see here or in the forthcoming comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend. I'm sure some of you will understand.) She becomes a key player in the rift that develops in the Mutant community between Dr. Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and with his X-Men, who want to control Jean's psyche and mentally block Phoenix from posing a threat as they continue their activism for Mutant/Human homogeny, and Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen), who assembles a band of followers to wage war against the Alcatraz Island in vehement and resolute protest. In either scenario, the fate of Mutants seems to be sealed, and the question of where will one stand when the end comes is a matter of controversy over defending one's ideals and "by any means necessary" self-preservation tactics. Asked to align myself with one side, I'm not sure I'd have a ready answer.

None part of this wonderful set-up should suggest that Ratner be completely off the hook where this film's merits are concerned, though. In his hands, The Last Stand spends a token amount of time sketching out the many provocative issues the writers raise then sacrifices them wholesale in a mad dash toward the final extravagant action setpiece, after which the plot's several loopholes are sloughed aside like a bachelor's dirty laundry before a third date. Of course, figuring that the film's more contemplative side would be abandoned for the slick cartoonish action was a no-brainer considering his pedigree, so it's really only half a disappointment. I can't be too upset with him. Ratner fumbles with his direction like an over-zealous and unpretentious tyke who hasn't learned how to string a coherent story together yet. We get the basic idea and smile at him for trying, so there's no harm done, but there must come a time soon when we have to stop humouring him for not knowing any better. Otherwise, he'll turn out weird when he grows up.

(X-Men: The Last Stand is currently playing at the Crystal Palace 8 Cinemas, located at 499 Paul St. in Dieppe, and at the Empire 8, Trinity Drive cinema, located at 125 Trinity Drive in Moncton.)

Directed by Takashi Miike
Written by Ryu Murakami (novel); Daisuke Tengan (screenplay)
Starring Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura, Renji Ishibashi, Miyuki Matsuda
Genre: Drama / Horror / Romance / Thriller
Country: Japan
Runtime: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated R

Evaluation: 9.5/10
by Greg Ferguson







How times have changed. I've just finished watching Robert Bresson's 1945 classic drama Les dames du Bois de Boulogne in which a man is duped by his vindictive ex-girlfriend into marrying an attractive acquaintance of hers with a devastating secret - she's a former showgirl whose great shame is having bedded a few lovers. His dilemma, and his ex's glee, is agonizing over whether or not she's still worthy of his love after her secret is revealed. While I appreciated the acute, relative tragedy of the film's characters, I kept thinking what I'm sure many of you are saying to yourselves now: it could have been worse. Having seen cult Japanese director Takashi Miike's modern thinkpiece shocker Audition, a loose version of these events, I assure you it can. Today we're more open to our partners having previous love lives, yet there remains a raw nerve of insecurity and apprehension each time we meet a new romantic interest. For Miike, exposing this nerve is a source of almost infinite possibility for terror, and he devotes equal glee to cranking up the carnage and pushing the boundaries of our tolerance. With a sure hand and a fiendish vision, Miike pulls us in, locks the door, shuts off the lights, slaps us around, then shoves us back into daylight to wonder what just happened. It is an enthralling, multi-layered masterwork.

Many viewers are likely to feel something akin to intense violation, and it's no wonder. For the first ninety minutes, Audition plays like a straightforward romantic dramedy. Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) is a recently widowed father of one when we first meet him. Seven years pass and he has not remarried or even begun looking, but with the help of his son (Tetsu Sawaki) he realizes how lonely he is. Thankfully, his good friend Yasuhisa (Jun Kunimura) is a movie producer and offers to set up a phony casting call for a bogus movie so lovely and comely hopefuls can audition for the role of his new girlfriend. It's a skeevy tactic, but it works; among the many women who respond, Aoyama picks the alluringly quiet and composed Asami (Eihi Shiina). Almost too good to be true, she has him flummoxed and giddy, and soon enough he is calling her about matters outside of their project. As luck would have it, she seems won over by his advances, and it begins to look like the entire affair has worked out smoothly and happily.

Suddenly, at a very unexpected moment deep into the film, Miike brilliantly subverts everything we've just seen by playing up the couple's anxieties about intimacy and toying with our own. At this point the tone shifts about as starkly as if you'd reached the top of a flight of stairs only to be sucker-punched and hurled back to the bottom. When it happens, though, it sort of makes sense to us because we know about Aoyama's dishonesty and, as Yasuhisa discovers, Asami may not be entirely truthful about her past either. Nevertheless, the change is deliberately uncomfortable. For a brief while, Aoyama is thrust into a state of bewilderment where all of his worst worries and fears bubble to the surface and appear to come true until, finally, Miike unleashes hyperbolic torment so gruesome that at its screening at the Cannes Film Festival in France, Audition set a record for the highest number of patron walk-outs.

We already know from the film's poster that Asami is the assailant, and it's crucial to our acceptance of the film that we scrutinize her actions and reflect on her motivations. In a way, Aoyama's response to his brutal torture at the end of the film is his own audition for her, and what Miike gets at with this extreme portrayal of horror is a sort of moral provocation tempered by love. Will we still embrace the ones we love, or even ourselves, if we are able to glimpse the dark secrets that lurk? And, beyond the scope of the characters and story, can we embrace Miike the artist having seen into his sick and deranged imagination? Our answers to these open-ended questions posed by Audition are far more disturbing than the simple issues of promiscuity and fidelity.

(Audition is available on DVD and may be rented from Spit It Video located at 15 Lewis St., Moncton.)

Directed by George Lucas
Written by George Lucas (story); George Lucas, Walter Murch (screenplay)
Starring Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Don Pedro Colley, Maggie McOmie, Ian Wolfe, Marshall Efron, Sid Haig, Irene Forrest
Genre: Sci-Fi / Drama
Country: USA
Runtime: 88 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated R for some sexuality and nudity

Evaluation: 5/10
by Greg Ferguson






Looking back at famous and established directors' first features can be a gamble as it's expected that even the best of them start out rather unpolished and inexperienced. Considering venerable sci-fi pioneer George Lucas's monumental creative success with his Star Wars franchise, though, I anticipated a certain quality or charm from his debut, also a sci-fi story. Well, now that I've seen it, the ordeal taught me two things: 1) My sense of optimism needs an overhaul, and 2) Lucas should stop wasting his time and money digitally tinkering with the original Star Wars trilogy and pour all of his financial resources into fixing this embarrassment of a film.

Watching THX 1138 is like looking at a blank canvas in an art gallery and having a clever 8-year-old tell you it's a picture of a cow in a snowstorm. This is a film that says little and means less, whose nearly every scene requires a concentrated effort on the part of the viewer to imbue it with substance. You would scarcely know it to watch the film, but it is set in the 25th century in a strictly enclosed underground compound where a solitary man decides to rebel against his oppressors and liberate himself.

Now, while one may rightfully wonder how the blank canvas found itself in the art gallery, it is readily apparent how this film has earned its regard over the years. THX 1138, in spite of its pallid story and stock sci-fi totalitarian hooey, boasts arresting visual techniques and avant-garde special effects. Lucas achieves a polished and convincing sci-fi look and feel in a very austere and minimalist manner which was remarkable for its time and remains impressive by virtue of its sheer movie-making innovation. So sad, then, that the flashy visuals function as little more than a decorative frame for the blank canvas. Only adventurous Lucas hobbyists and those interested in seeing what it would look like to have Daft Punk beat up Moby will want to check this one out.

(THX 1138 is available on DVD and may be rented from Spit It Video located at 15 Lewis St., Moncton.)

Directed by Adrian Lyne
Written by Bruce Joel Rubin
Starring Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Danny Aiello, Matt Craven, Jason Alexander, Eriq La Salle, Ving Rhames, Macaulay Culkin
Genre: Drama / Fantasy / Horror / Mystery / Thriller
Country: USA
Runtime: 115 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated R

Evaluation: 10/10
by Greg Ferguson







Visions of Heaven and Hell in films have always intrigued me largely because I'm so unmoved by the traditionally accepted beliefs of pearly gates and fire and brimstone. The promise of each is so rich in possibility, but the finality of an eternity in either domain strikes me as boring at best and cruel at worst, allowing no room for growth or redemption. Ingmar Bergman has famously grappled with these two realms with great unease (see The Seventh Seal and Cries And Whispers), and Hirokazu Koreeda made one of my favourite films on the subject (After Life) that was as hopeful as it was bleak, but the one that perhaps presents the most accurate picture of my particular anxieties and desires is Adrian Lyne's hallucinatory howl Jacob's Ladder. Here, the question of Heaven and Hell is left without a solid answer, evenly fluctuating between further stages of existence and discordant states of mind and prompting us to wonder whether we can ever really know that we're dead or alive - if not both. That's a thought certain to be unsettling and scary to many, but one I have always suspected and feared might be true.

Jacob's Ladder is rife with disorienting moments (it's a telling characteristic that you're more likely to exclaim "What the Hell?!" than anything else), but the first one is all-important. In a jungle clearing during the Vietnam War, a band of American soldiers is overtaken in a flurry of violence. There are casualties, and they seem real. The man at the centre of this story, Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins), looks like he is fatally impaled by a bayonet-wielding enemy, though we see him years after riding an underground subway in New York City which is eerily occupied by what he can only describe as "demons." Of course, he could just be seeing things. Now a US postal worker, he has just put in overtime and is understandably exhausted. Mildly shaken, he thinks little of it until more strange episodes start recurring at any increasing rate (my favourite: a frenzied dancefloor sequence at a party turned suddenly ghoulish). Everything finally culminates in a dizzying series of cracks in his reality that jerk him around and hurtle him back to that moment in Vietnam when he was attacked.

Astute observers will likely predict the film's outcome ahead of time, but Lyne's direction is wise enough to avoid hinging its merit on any revelatory surprise (unlike that chintzy apparition knock-off The Sixth Sense). What truly counts is the mood created out of its mounting paranoia and the suggestion that the line separating Heaven and Hell is a lot less firm than we'd like to believe. Naturally, this is made all the more possible by the gallery of fine performances, the best being Robbins, who bears the brunt of the film's psychological torment well and convincingly gives us a sincere man slowly unraveling and spiraling into an abyss of his own primal distress. Elizabeth Peña is also notable for her shifty turn as Jacob's live-in girlfriend, Jezzie (short for Jezebel, with all the obvious implications). With a screenplay as tricky and ambiguous as this one, it is to their credit that they found the right tone to lend their characters credibility throughout.

Though it may come off as relentlessly chaotic and grim, the film has a pensive and spiritual upside. Lyne is a director interested in drawing audiences into his material, usually by asking us to consider our values pertaining to sexual responsibility (9½ Weeks, Lolita) and fidelity (Indecent Proposal, Unfaithul), but with Jacob's Ladder he is daring us to confront our attachments and priorities and consider how the way we choose to live relates to our sense of peace and harmony. It is a work of bravery and great power.

(Jacob's Ladder is available on DVD and may be rented from Spit It Video located at 15 Lewis St., Moncton.)

Directed by J.J. Abrams
Written by Bruce Geller (television series); J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci
Starring Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Keri Russell, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laurence Fishburne, Billy Crudup, Simon Pegg, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Maggie Q
Genre: Action / Adventure / Thriller
Country: USA
Runtime: 126 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated 14A for violence

Evaluation: 8/10
by Greg Ferguson





Some people are married to their jobs; Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is so deeply committed to his that his life is secondary. As an agent with the IMF (Impossible Missions Force), he courts danger as a servant to national security, but the allure of a life of his own with the woman he loves is too tempting to deny, even if he cannot breathe a word of his classified identity. Can he faithfully balance both worlds or is this task, well, impossible? That's the central question posed by Mission: Impossible III, and considering Hunt's mandate to make the impossible happen, you know that he's going to try. Of course, the film's primary objective is to deliver fast-paced action and hair-raising stunts, which it does adroitly, but what gives it an extra charge is the allowance for emotion afforded by director J.J. Abrams of television's Alias and Lost (and Felicity, which coincidentally starred a former Power Ranger and jumpstarted the career of bit player Keri Russell, here turned into a Power Spy), some of the most captivating small-screen programming in years. He's a fresh surge of energy in a franchise whose last entry threatened to careen it into Transporter-esque absurdity.

From the very first scene it appears that Abrams is slitting his throat with his own tongue, giving us the film's climactic confrontation upfront like a lustful young boy minutes after senior prom. In a murky room we see Hunt and his girlfriend Julia (Michelle Monaghan) strapped into big metal chairs, captives of resident villain Owen Davian (played to sinister perfection by Philip Seymour Hoffman). Davian wants a mysterious object known only as the Rabbit's Foot, giving Hunt to the count of ten to tell him its whereabouts before he murders Julia in front of him. He cocks his gun and will puncture flesh. As Julia anguishes, Hunt wastes time, sweaty and, at last, tearful. A bullet is fired off-screen and then the show begins, circling back to the start of the story so we can come to understand how every character factors into that deceptively revealing cliffhanger. It's an audacious move and a key element of the film that, on one level, is part of the gleeful foreplay before the eventual payoff, and on another puts us in Julia's shoes as she - and we - try to figure out just who Ethan Hunt the man really is by examining everything that has transpired up to this point.

Abrams skillfully caters to both sensibilities throughout M:I 3, giving action fans some truly spectacular sequences and surrounding them with enough intrigue and drama to appeal to more thoughtful audiences. Sure to affect most everyone, however, is the palpable sense of dread that builds with each chase and explosion as the question of Julia's fate looms larger. Following the present trend in television of killing off significant characters for the sake of gritty realism, there is no guarantee that anyone we feel the remotest fondness for will survive, save for perhaps Hunt as he's the series' hero. Though he may live on by the end, what matters is that, if nothing else, he's learned that it's truly impossible to divorce himself from his feelings. Yes, some of the greatest heroics in the film involve personal discovery and growth.

Behind everything, I could sense how much Abrams was loving each moment - a quality missing in many filmmakers which would otherwise help make their films much more enjoyable. A self-confessed spy geek (Alias), mystery lover (Lost), and coming-of-age sentimentalist (Felicity), his creative talent caught the attention of Cruise, who hand-picked him to direct the film after marveling at the possibilities of bringing him on board. This was a wise decision. Without his passion and drive, M:I 3 could very well have been another in a long series of soulless summer blockbusters.

(Mission: Impossible III is currently playing at the Crystal Palace 8 Cinemas, located at 499 Paul St. in Dieppe, and at the Empire 8, Trinity Drive cinema, located at 125 Trinity Drive in Moncton.)

Directed by Doug Atchison
Written by Doug Atchison
Starring Keke Parker, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Curtis Armstrong, J.R. Villarreal, Sean Michael
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Runtime: 112 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated G

Evaluation: 10/10
by Greg Ferguson







Every school-aged child should see Akeelah And The Bee. For that matter, many adults would do well to watch it too. Here is a film centred around an unusually bright 11-year-old girl and about a subject as narrow and uncinematic as spelling bees that reaches deep to reveal truths about confidence and self-improvement shared by all of us in every walk of life. It is a family film in the best sense, reserving its pleasures neither for young or old but both. As great as that sounds, though, I know what some of you are thinking: yet another preachy, sugar-coated, feel-good message movie to pass on. To that, I say writer/director Doug Atchison gets it, wisely trading such ineffective banalities for a useful and realistic portrayal of the emotional and socioeconomic hurdles that exist for those who desire to pursue their talents. Yet, Akeelah is feel-good in that it rightfully values learning and celebrates personal excellence. It ranks among the greatest family films I have ever seen.

Context is established early on. Akeelah (Keke Parker) attends an impoverished inner-city middle school in Los Angeles where the urban decay of gang violence and other crime has ravaged her neighbourhood and robbed her of her father, leaving her weary mother (Angela Bassett) alone to provide for her four children. The climate is a depressing one, and it is of little comfort to her that she possesses a greater vocabulary than most when this fact only draws negative attention. Still, she is secretly tantalized by the thought of participating in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, though she holds back, prisoner to her insecurities. It isn't until her principal (Curtis Armstrong) recommends she give it a shot and she wins her school's inaugural bee that Akeelah finally begins to see her dreams materialize and awakens to a world where others like her exist.

Atchison's strongest material comes from Akeelah's sustained relationship with her coach and surrogate father-figure, Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne). A UCLA professor and former Scripps participant himself, Larabee instructs Akeelah on specific mental strategies and tricks, but moreover instills an added appreciation for the words being taught because she will remember them better if they mean something to her. Their entire season together is rigorous in discipline but ultimately endearing and character-building. How fortunate that he should come along when she most needs mentoring, intent on seeing her develop not just as an exceptional speller but as an empowered young person in control of her own destiny - a sentiment at the root of all education, at every stage of life, but often lost amidst the many demands of modern society.

What makes Akeelah so marvelous is that it recognizes intelligence in children and has hope for adults, challenging us all to take ownership of our lives and find meaning and purpose in it. Part of this purpose is mutual support and, yes, love for one another - nicely embodied by the allowance for co-champions at the Scripps Bee, which helps downplay adversarial hostility, but evident throughout the film. Though it may strike many as gentle and fantastical fluff, Akeelah is a sincerely resonant work of heedless optimism. That Akeelah's journey inspires the people she encounters in her neighbourhood to support her, and in turn make the most of their own lives, is a glorious affirmation of faith sorely in need of being spread. "Fifty-thousand people willing to help," she says; I suspect in reality she would not be far off the mark.

(The 79th Scripps National Spelling Bee will once again be held in Washington, DC, on May 31 and June 1, 2006. 275 spellers will participate in this competition. For the first time in the NSB's history, ABC will broadcast the championship rounds during primetime from 9-11pm AST.)

(Akeelah And The Bee is currently playing at the Empire 8, Trinity Drive cinema, located at 125 Trinity Drive in Moncton.)