The Tracey Fragments

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Ellen Page Plays Another Troubled Teen in Dysfunctional Family Drama

When we last saw Ellen Page, she was delivering her Oscar-nominated performance as Juno, a terminally-hip smart aleck who frustrated her parents by making light of her pregnancy after being knocked-up by a boy she barely knew. Now the talented young actress is back in another title role as another troubled teen from another dysfunctional nuclear family, except she’s not cracking any jokes.
As Tracey Berkowitz, she plays a clinically-depressed 15 year-old in crisis who hates herself, wants to be raped and murdered, and suspects that she might be going insane to boot. The source of her despair starts with her emotionally-distant mother (Erin McMurtry), a chain-smoking, substance-abusing couch potato who “it takes a surgical procedure to get away from the television.” Her failure of a father (Ari Cohen) isn’t any better, as he takes his daughter to a drag queen psychiatrist (Julian Richings) only to show impatience when the cross-dressing shrink doesn’t instantly produce improvements in his deeply disturbed daughter.
Life is just as bad for socially-isolated Tracey at school where her cruel classmates are calling her everything from “Geek Girl” to “Moon Face” to “Slutty Pants” to “Shirt Lifter” to “Unnecessary” and worse. Given all of the above, it’s not much of a surprise that at the point of departure we’d find her wrapped naked in a shower curtain and riding around Toronto on the back seat of a bus, claiming to be looking for the little brother (Zie Souwand) she’s hypnotized into believing he’s a dog.
But because The Tracey Fragments is a flashback flick, most of the movie is devoted to showing exactly why the waifish Ms. Berkowitz went this berserk. So, as she meanders about the metropolis mumbling to herself in a rage, she recounts in graphic fashion traumatic incidents like her being teased for having a flat chest, losing her innocence at the hands of a less than sensitive guy interested in only one thing, and being sexually assaulted by a Jamaican drug dealer.
Director Bruce McDonald deserves high praise for the chance he takes, here, departing from convention by experimenting with split screens for the duration of the claustrophobic psychodrama. He divides the picture into two, three or even four boxes at a time in order to convey the feeling that we’re dealing with a head case whose mind is clearly fragmented. The sometimes dizzying cinematic technique works, making for a viewing experience that is as convincing as it is unsettling.
Juno’s crazy twin sister!

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 78 minutes
Studio: THINKfilm Company

Viva

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Sixties Revisited in Steamy Satire of Sleazy Sexploits

The Sixties gave rise to a practically plot-free form of sexploitation film which amounted to little more than a lame excuse to have curvy coeds cavort across the screen in assorted states of undress. Perhaps the king of this sleazy genre was Russ Meyer a purveyor of low-budget smut with suggestive titles such as “Eve and the Handyman,” “Naked Camera,” “Erotica,” “Wild Gals of the Naked West,” “Europe in the Raw,” “Heavenly Bodies,” “Skyscrapers and Brassieres,” and “Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!”
Viva pays homage to that sordid chapter in the annals of cinema in much the same way that Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez recently tipped their director’s caps to cheapo scary movies from the Fifties with their nostalgic double feature “Grindhouse.” The picture is the brainchild of Anna Biller, who not only wrote and directed her alternately hilarious and hedonistic adventure, but stars in it as well.
The story is set in Los Angeles in 1972, which is where we find perky best friends Barbi (Biller) and Sheila (Bridget Brno), bored suburban housewives stuck in stale, unsatisfying marriages. Not long past the point of departure, the former is left by her husband, Rick (Chad England), while the latter and her hubby (Jared Sanford) agree to go their separate ways.
This gives the curious girls free rein to indulge their every sexual fantasy, from swinging to orgies to nudism to free love to prostitution. What’s best about Viva is the way in which the production faithfully conforms to the sensibilities of the aforementioned skin flicks, except perhaps for adding an anachronistic dash of refreshing female empowerment to the mix.
Otherwise, our exhibitionistic heroines incessantly involve themselves in nearly naked antics against a campy backdrop of appropriately gaudy color schemes reminiscent of the period. With the kinky action underscored by an appropriately seedy, soft-porn soundtrack, it all adds up to a trippy, tongue-in-cheek peep show.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 120 minutes
Studio: Anna Biller Productions

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le Papillon) DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams



Headline: DVD Features Adaptation of Stroke Victim’s Memoir



On December 9, 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby (1952-1997) suffered a massive stroke which left him in a coma for three weeks. When he regained consciousness, he was completely paralyzed except for being able to blink his left eye.

At the time of the devastating disaster, the freewheeling, 43 year-old editor-in-chief of Elle Magazine (played by Mathieu Amalric) had left his wife (Emmanuelle Seigner) and three kids for the arms of a mistress (Agatha de la Fontaine) who would abandon him soon after his accident. So, it’s no surprise, then, that this unfortunate soul would soon be consumed by both self pity and overwhelming regret.

This is the dire point of departure of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a bittersweet bio-pic based on Bauby’s inspirational memoir of the same name. We see that with the support of very dedicated physical (Olatz Lopez Garmendia) and speech (Marie-Josee Croze) therapists, and the encouragement of Claude (Anne Consigny), the woman who dutifully recorded his dictation, he was helped to transcend his seemingly hopelessly straits and to write a best seller about his feelings and fantasies.

To convey Bauby’s mental metamorphosis cinematically, the movie cleverly widens its visual perspective from narrowly reflecting his physical limitations to one allowing for an assortment of conventional camera angles.

By initially relying on this cinematic device, director Julian Schnabel conveys all the more effectively the plight of the protagonist post-transformation.

Recalled by life, and egged on by his support team, Jean-Dominique discovers that he still has access to cherished memories and a boundless imagination, and so he pours himself into the project with abandon. Unfortunately, he only lived just long enough to see the book published, as he passed away a few days after its release.

The Sea Inside meets My Left Foot.



Excellent (3.5 stars)

Rated PG-13 for nudity, sexuality and some profanity.

In French and English with subtitles.

Running time: 112 minutes

Studio: Buena Visa Home Entertainment

DVD Extras: Director Julian Schnabel’s commentary and interview with Charlie Rose, “The Making of” featurette and more.

Wetlands Preserved DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams



Headline: Rockumentary about Green NYC Nightclub Released on DVD



In 1989, Larry and Laura Bloch opened Wetlands Preserve in a rat-infested dive on Hudson Street in lower Manhattan. What made the groundbreaking nightclub different from others in the seedy section of the city was its eco-friendly orientation and commitment to activist causes ranging from the environment to animal rights. Reviving the spirit of the Sixties’ Woodstock Generation, the Blochs set an anti-corporate social agenda which put people and the planet before profits.

As a result of the owners seeing humans as more than objects to be exploited, the unorthodox rock club cultivated a counter-cultural clientele while also attracting an eclectic array of performers. Regulars included Blues Traveler, Macy Gray, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Erykah Badu, Branford Marsalis, Pearl Jam, Hootie & the Blowfish, Jill Scott, Spin Doctors and The Roots. In addition, Wetlands served as a proving ground for up-and-coming unknown bands like Screaming Headless Torsos and The Murder Junkies.

Over the dozen years the place was in business, a portion of its nightly proceeds were donated to various groups aligned with its progressive ideas. Unfortunately, the popular haunt began to slide into a decline when it was targeted for harassment by the Giuliani Administration. During that reign of terror known as “zero tolerance,” the club was ticketed for the slightest of transgressions, even receiving a $50 summons for each poster placed around town by acts booked to appear.

The coup de grace was delivered on 9/11, when the terrorist attack on the nearby World Trade Center altered the landscape of and access to the neighborhood. Part nostalgic remembrance, part rebellious rallying cry, Wetlands Preserved is a fitting tribute to those intrepid souls who dared to try to carve out an altruistic utopian escape right in the midst of the hustle and bustle of a most materialistic metropolis.



Excellent (3.5 stars)

Unrated

Running time: 97 minutes

Studio: First Run Features

DVD Extras: Outtakes, two live jam performances at the club, photo gallery and a list of everyone who ever played at the club.

Charlie Wilson's War DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: DVD Revisits Exploits of Texas Congressman Who Single-Handedly Toppled the Soviet Union

Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks), who served from 1973 to 1996, is apparently an unsung hero responsible for toppling the Soviet Union virtually single-handedly. For it was through his funding of a covert CIA operation in response to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan that the mujahedeen managed to defend themselves successfully while simultaneously bankrupting the U.S.S.R.
What is ironic is that Wilson, the architect of the operation, was not only a liberal Democrat, but a loose cannon who didn’t let the fact that he was married get in he way of his flagrant boozing and womanizing. Among his many mistresses was a wealthy socialite named Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts), and their lustful liaison was proof of the age-old maxim that politics makes strange bedfellows, literally and figuratively.
She was a conservative, Christian fundamentalist who pressured her boy-toy to get the CIA to intervene in the conflict in the name of freedom of religion. What neither of them anticipated, however, was that in the process of sending the Soviets to defeat they would be creating a new monster, a militarily-equipped radical Islam.
This is the arc of Charlie Wilson's War, a relatively lighthearted romp about a real-life James Bond. The movie was adapted from the best-selling biography of the same name by legendary director Mike Nichols who had no reservations about depicting his protagonist’s depraved side, such as an occasion when we find Charlie cavorting naked in a hot tub with coke-snorting strippers.
Unless somebody’s taking liberties with the truth here, history will one day confirm that all it took to bring an end to the Cold War was the valiant efforts of a party animal who knew his way around Washington well-enough to be unburdened by red tape, bureaucrats or democracy. Charlie Wilson, a real American hero, belatedly revealed.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated R for profanity, nudity, sexuality and drug use.
Running time: 102 minutes
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: “The Making of” and “Who Is Charlie Wilson?” featurettes

War Dance UGANDAN DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: DVD Examines Drive to Dance in the Midst of Ugandan Civil War

In much the way that Amandla! (2002) paid tribute to the freedom songs that helped inspire black South Africans topple the oppressive Apartheid regime, War Dance is a documentary about how the children of Uganda have turned to music and dance to take their minds off the intractable civil war which has ravaged the divided African nation for close to 20 years.
Directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix, this emotionally-engaging testament to the indomitability of the human spirit specifically focuses on the dreams of a trio of orphans living in a refugee camp near the Northern border. The kids, Dominic and Nancy, both 14, and Rose, 13, all wish to participate in the annual National Music Competition being staged in the country’s capital, Kampala.
Though scarred by the conflict and living in squalor, they remain optimistic about their prospects of winning, provided they can arrive at the event safely. The picture is evenly divided between uplifting scenes of teams practicing and heartbreaking interludes during which the three protagonists reflect about their loss of innocence in the wake of all the unspeakable horrors they’ve witnessed.
Xylophonist Dominic talks about having been recruited by the rebels and then forced to hack a family of innocent farmers to death. Rose, a singer, wistfully recounts how her parents were slaughtered right in front of her, while Nancy describes what it’s like to be raising her siblings since the death of her father.
The Oscar-nominated picture’s only flaw rests in that some of these earnest eyewitness accounts come across as having been rehearsed. This doesn’t mean that they’re not true, just possibly practiced to a point where they’ve lost their spontaneity. Still, given the breathtaking cinematography, the undulating rhythms, the enchanting choreography and soul-piercing refrains, War Dance is worthwhile as an affirmation of the human potential to be reborn and begin again even in the midst of most dire of circumstances.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated PG-13 for mature themes and descriptions of atrocities.
Running time: 107 minutes
Studio: ThinkFilm/Image Entertainment
DVD Extras: Deleted and extended scenes, theatrical trailer and trailer gallery.

I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: DVD Features Offbeat Romantic Comedy about Overweight Actor Looking for Love and Lead Role

James Aaron (Jeff Garlin) seems to be bottoming-out. Not only is the aging actor overweight and unemployed, but he has just been dumped by both his girlfriend and his agent. Furthermore, because he still lives at home with his mother (Mina Kolb), the prospects for his social life improving aren’t very promising. On the job front, he’s been very picky about what parts he’ll consider, yet he gets upset when denied an opportunity to audition for a role awarded to an up-and-coming teenager (Aaron Carter).
Desperate to turn his fortunes around, the rudderless thespian joins Overeaters Anonymous to deal with his binge eating. But that effort backfires when he goes directly from the support group to the familiar comfort offered by his favorite ice cream parlor. There, he’s flattered when the attractive, young cashier (Sarah Silverman) behind the counter starts to flirtswith him shamelessly.
Although, at first, James finds it hard to take Beth’s impulsive overture seriously, the two do forge an unlikely liaison reminiscent of Woody Allen’s classic mismatches opposite Diane Keaton (Annie Hall), Mariel Hemingway (Manhattan) and other relatively-striking leading ladies. In fact, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With might best be thought of as a romantic comedy generally trading on Woody’s trademark themes, except substituting Chicago for New York as a backdrop and cinematic source of inspiration.
Written and directed by and starring Second City native Jeff Garlin, this flip farce revolves around his winning performance as the picture’s introspective, highly neurotic protagonist. Fortunately, he exhibits an endearing enough vulnerability to pull off the Woody Allen imitation, and with the help of a stellar supporting cast which includes Bonnie Hunt, Sarah Silverman, Amy Sedaris, Tim Kazurinsky, Elle Fanning and Dan Castellaneta.
Too bad comedienne Sarah Silverman simply is no Diane Keaton. La-di-da… la-di-da…

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 80 minutes
Studio: Genius Products
DVD Extras: Deleted scene and a director’s commentary.

There Will Be Blood DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Turn of the Century Saga Features Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar-Winning Performance as Self-Made Oil Baron

I’m not sure whether audiences love watching anything as much as a good Horatio Alger tale chronicling the triumphant struggle of an underdog who overcomes the humblest of circumstances to amass wealth beyond his or her wildest imagination. Fans of the American Dream genre will undoubtedly salivate over There Will Be Blood, a turn of the century saga ostensibly-inspired by Oil!, the class-conscious novel published by Upton Sinclair back in 1927.
This screen adaptation led the Academy Award hopefuls with eight nominations including Best Picture and Director (Paul Thomas Anderson), although it ultimately only won in the Actor and Cinematography categories. Despite clocking in at a patience-testing 2½ hours, the tortoise-paced picture is nonetheless worthwhile for the latest spellbinding performance by Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis alone.
From My Beautiful Launderette to My Left Foot to In the Name of the Father to Gangs of New York, the very versatile thespian has proven himself capable of adapting imperceptibly to any era and setting, and of adopting the requisite accent and mannerisms. Here, it is 1898, and he plays Daniel Plainview, a struggling silver prospector barely eking out a living in Texas, who decides to strike out for California with his son (Dillon Freasier) in tow, based on a tip that there’s oil in them thar hills.
Sure enough, the pair soon find plenty of petroleum, however, gaining the rights to the land to extract the black gold calls for a combination of ruthless manipulation and unalloyed greed that is most unbecoming. For not only do they sell their souls on the way to fortune, but even their familial bonds end up being sorely tested.
Exploring a plethora of themes of Shakespearean dimensions (ambition, faith, loyalty and love to name a few), this grand production inexorably builds to a showdown between the despicable Plainview and an equally-corrupt, Bible-thumping preacher (Paul Dano) who only wants his cut of the action. A curious morality play which hints at a tawdry connection between capitalism and Christianity.
The Beverly Hillbillies, sans the cement pond.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated R for violence.
Running time: 158 minutes
Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
2-Disc DVD Extras: “Dailies Gone Wild,” “The Story of Petroleum” (a black & white silent film chronicling the oil business in the 1920s), trailers, “Fishing” sequence, “15 Minutes” (pictures, research, etcetera for the making of the film), and Haircut/Interrupted Hymn.

Sex and Death 101

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Arrival of Mysterious Email Interrupts Reformed Womanizer’s Wedding Plans in Romantic Comedy

Roderick Blank (Simon Baker) never expected to settle down. The confirmed bachelor had been content to parlay his good looks into a neverending string of sexual conquests. But that was before he fell in love with Fiona (Julie Bowen), a beauty for whom he’s willing to end his career as a player.
Then, just when they’re on the verge of marital bliss and set to tie the knot in a week, Rod’s secretary, Trixie (Mindy Cohn), opens up a mysterious email at work addressed to her boss. The letter contains a chronological list of the 101 names of every female he has ever slept with, or will ever sleep with.
After verifying that the first 29 are correct, right up to his fiancée, the handsome executive finds himself in quandary. Is this just an April Fool’s day joke being played on him by his best friend, Lester (Dash Mihok)? If not, who was the clairvoyant that compiled the incriminating scorecard?
Curious, Rod decides to postpone the wedding, sensing that otherwise he might be about to cheat on his bride with 72 different strangers. And sure enough, he suddenly finds himself enjoying “an embarrassment of bitches” in a dizzying string of one-night stands. “The sort of thing only happens in the movies,’ he observes in a distracting self-reference.
But don’t be duped into thinking Sex and Death 101 is just one of those predictable romantic comedies where the guy gets to sow his wild oats before finally wising up to ride off into the sunset with the girl who was meant for him all along. For writer/director Daniel Waters (Happy Campers) has a trick up his sleeve in the form of a fetching femme fatale who goes by the alias Death Nell (Winona Ryder).
The plot thickens when we learn that Nell is an avenging feminist assassin, a self-appointed vigilante who roams around town seducing and slaying known womanizers. The only clues she leaves behind can be found in the cryptic messages (like “Your wounds are deeper than your desires!”) she spray-paints in red on the wall next to the bodies.
What Rod doesn’t know is that Death Nell is somewhere on his list, but under her real name. But so are lesbians, strippers, an 88 year-old grandmother, and a busload of Christian schoolgirls and their driver. So the question becomes, will he cross paths with this sadistic serial killer while working his way towards number 101, or will he abandon his hedonistic indulgence and return to Fiona before disaster strikes?
That is the burning question threaded through Sex and Death 101, a kinky dramedy that is every bit as eerily chilling as it is irreverently funny. Australian-born Simon Baker, who made a big splash as the dashing chap who charmed Sanaa Lathan in Something New, is almost as effective here, narrating the play-by-play as a far less likable leading man. And Winona Ryder, though under gobs of war paint, does a decent job as a vindictive villainess fed up with being the victim of abuse.
A latter-day Casanova meets his match in the reincarnation of Lorena Bobbitt.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated R for profanity and graphic sexuality.
Running time: 116 minutes
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Stop-Loss

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Postwar Drama Examines Emotional Toll Exacted by Service in Iraq

After serving tours of duty both over in Afghanistan and Iraq, Staff Sergeant Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) returned from the Middle East a decorated war hero deemed worthy of a welcoming parade. So, immediately upon arriving in his tiny hometown of Brazos, Texas, he was awarded a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star by his Senator (Josef Worrell) in front of his squad and appreciative family and neighbors.
However, all the photo-ops and accolades did next to nothing to ameliorate the deep emotional toll being invisibly exacted on King’s psyche by the months on end spent engaged in deadly battle. Later, when the patriotic hoopla died down, King finds himself plagued by flashbacks of hand-to-hand combat and the faces of the members of his company who perished while under his command.
And while his well-meaning parents (Ciaran Hinds and Linda Emond) might be happy to have their son back seemingly whole, they simply aren’t equipped to recognize the signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Fortunately, the about to be honorably discharged soldier does have several sympathetic shoulders to lean on in his best friend, Sergeant Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum), and others from their squad also trying to make the challenging adjustment back to civilian life.
Perhaps prophetically, their clairvoyant commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Boot Miller (Timothy Oliphant), prior to dismissing his men, had warned them not to drive drunk, physically abuse women, or sleep with underage girls while on furlough. Wouldn’t you know that these are among the host of misbehaviors they subsequently suddenly start exhibiting?
First, we find Eyeball (Rob Brown) ogling jail bait. Then, Tommy (Joseph Gordon Levitt) hits a telephone pole while driving under the influence after sucker-punching the barfly who asked his wife to dance at a nightclub. Next, Steve digs a foxhole in his front yard to sleep in after inexplicably beating his beautiful girlfriend, Michelle (Abbie Cornish).
Whether designed with a pacifist agenda or simply intended to make the case for a return of the draft, Stop-Loss is a compelling saga which compassionately establishes that veterans of the Iraq conflict shouldn’t have to be wounded physically to be considered damaged goods. And as we find ourselves empathizing with the aforementioned GIs because of the absence of treatment for their psychological trauma, director Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry) ups the ante by having Brandon informed that he’s just been stop-lossed, and must head back to the frontlines in Iraq because the military is shorthanded.
Understandably, he takes this news badly, given that he’s already served his country and has plans to move on with the next phase of his life. Consulting his parents and pals proves to be no help, since they feel he has no choice but to follow the orders of his superiors.
Instead of reporting back to the base, Brandon impulsively goes AWOL accompanied by his buddy’s girl, Michelle, knowing full well he’s risking both a friendship and a bad conduct discharge. Searching for an avenue of escape to Canada or Mexico, the two descend into an unknown world of Army deserters, a modern Underground Railroad whose murky waters are muddied by black market hustlers with questionable intentions making promises of deliverance they might not be able to deliver.
Will the once-admirable patriot really abandon the US, ostensibly forever, or will he bite the bullet and re-up for another tour of duty in the name of God, mom and apple pie? Well-scripted and convincingly executed, this raw, super-realistic thriller is made all the more riveting by the sense you get that very similar scenarios are likely currently unfolding all across America.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated R for graphic violence and pervasive profanity.
Running time: 113 minutes
Studio: Paramount Pictures

Flawless

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Michael Caine and Demi Moore Team for Multi-Layered Whodunit

Laura Quinn (Demi Moore) is the first female executive at the London Diamond Corporation, England’s leading importer of precious gems. Despite being one of the firm’s most deserving employees, the ambitious, 38 year-old American has repeatedly been passed over for a promotion to managing director in favor of lesser-qualified male colleagues.
This slight has not been lost on Mr. Hobbs (Michael Caine), the close to retiring janitor at the company’s headquarters. Because she reminds him of his dearly-departed wife, the elderly widower approaches Laura with felonious intentions, hoping she’s disgruntled enough about hitting the glass ceiling to help him hatch a heist of the vault in the business’ basement.
Although she initially threatens to report the old codger, she cools down sufficiently to entertain the idea. The seemingly foolproof plan sounds simple enough. All she has to do is first find the out the combination, and Hobbs will crack the safe during his overnight shift. And he promises to purloin only a tiny pouchful of priceless stones, so no one will even notice the theft.
But the best laid plans often go awry, especially in as complex a crime caper as Flawless. Directed by Oscar-nominee Michael Radford (for Il Postino), this multi-layered whodunit is masterfully-constructed to keep you confounded and guessing about the next bizarre twist from start to finish.
Set in 1960, the film pairs the gracefully-aging Demi Moore in her best role in recent memory opposite the ever-reliable Michael Caine in an intriguing a cat-and-mouse thriller reminiscent of Sleuth, the 1972 battle-of-wits for which he earned an Academy Award nomination. Here, Quinn hands over the combination to the lock, only to have second thoughts because of a recently installed surveillance system. However, Hobbs says he has already figured out how to defeat it, and ignores her pleas to back out of the conspiracy, determined to proceed regardless.
The plot thickens the morning after the robbery, when it is discovered that the vault has been cleaned out, and the company announces losses in the hundreds of millions. Why did Hobbs change his mind and steal more than agreed upon amount of stones? Did greed get the better of him or did he have a massive robbery in mind all along?
And with the case having all the earmarks of an inside job, how long will he and Laura keep from arousing the suspicion of the investigating detectives? These are just a few of the questions raised en route to the surprising resolution of as intriguing a psychological mindbender as you could hope to wrap your head around.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated PG-13 for brief profanity.
Running time: 110 minutes
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

Run, Fatboy, Run

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Groom with Cold Feet Seeks Second Chance in British Sitcom

On what was supposed to have been their wedding day, Dennis (Simon Pegg) bolted from the church at the last minute, leaving his pregnant fiancée, Libby (Thandie Newton), standing at the altar. It seems that the reluctant groom had developed cold feet because he didn’t think he deserved a girl that gorgeous, given that he’s an overweight, chain-smoking slacker.
But now, five years later, he wants a second chance because he’s still in love with Libby and realizes the error of his ways. However, that will be easier said than done, since she’s presently involved with Whit (Hank Azaria), a filthy rich hedge fund manager who wants to marry her, too.
What’s worse, the debonair American has plans to whisk his ex away from London to Chicago which means Dennis won’t get to see much of their four year-old son, Jake (Matthew Fenton). Furthermore, there are signs that the boy has already begun to bond with his father’s competitor who has a more easygoing nature.
So, in his mind, Dennis feels that he has to prove himself Whit’s equal both to win Libby’s heart and the admiration of his child. Trouble is, he can’t begin compete in terms of money and career, since he’s a lowly-paid security guard at a lowly clothing store and is behind on paying the rent on his modest basement apartment.
Then, when he learns at Libby’s birthday party that Whit will be running in the upcoming London Marathon, Dennis impulsively announces that he’ll be entering the race as well. Woefully out of shape, he knows he’ll have to adopt a rigorous training regimen just to finish, let alone prevail.
Will Dennis beat Whit in the Nike River Run along the Thames River? And if so, will that feat be enough to impress Libby and little Jake? Those are the questions posed by the premise of Run, Fatboy, Run, a romantic comedy which marks the impressive directorial debut of David Schwimmer, best known as Ross from the long-running NBC series “Friends.”
His hard to pigeonhole picture pairs the delightful Thandie Newton with cult favorite Simon Pegg, star of such offbeat adventures as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Most of the jokes come at the expense of Pegg’s character via a combination of the comedian’s trademark slapstick, sight gags and self-effacing humor. But like the best of British sitcoms, ala Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral, the film also features inspired performances by members of the ensemble’s talented supporting cast, most notably, Dylan Moran as Dennis’ loyal buddy, Gordon, and Harish Patel as his meddlesome landlord, Mr. Ghoshdashtidar.
Dividing its attention equally between the love triangle and overcoming-the-odds theme, Run, Fatboy, Run is well enough crafted to keep you in stitches while on the edge of your seat for the duration, even if this laff-a-minute escape is more mindless than cerebral. Does Dennis get Libby and his son in the end? That would be unfair to divulge, given the completely unpredictable resolutions of some of Mr. Pegg’s prior productions.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated PG-13 for crude humor, profanity, sexuality, nudity and smoking.
Running time: 97 minutes
Studio: Picturehouse

Planet B-Boy

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Evolution of Breakdancing Examined by Electrifying Documentary

Back in the Seventies, when black and Latino teenagers from the Bronx first began gyrating wildly and spinning on their heads on pieces of cardboard to hip-hop beats emanating from thudding boom-boxes, I doubt if anybody expected the street fad to last. But breakdancing has not only flourished, but it has spread around the planet like wildfire, finding even greater acceptance in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East than in its birthplace.
Over the years, the mesmerizing choreography has become increasingly complex, incorporating eye-popping acrobat feats into its gravity-defying routines. Today, it really ought to be an Olympic sport, since it has spawned numerous competitions, most notably, the “Battle of the Year” which features elimination rounds in 23 countries en route to the big finale.
With breakdancing now mainstream, it only makes sense for it to be the subject of its own documentary, rather than remain a cinematic sidebar seen in snippets the way it was briefly featured in flicks such as Flashdance or Zoolander.. Directed by Asian-American Benson Lee, Planet B-Boy is a joyous celebration which traces the history of freestyling while simultaneously showcasing the talents and personal lives of some modern-day practitioners coming from places as diverse as Korea, France, Germany and Japan.
An exhilarating homage which deservedly elevates the rubber-limbed performers to the level of world-class gymnasts. And to think that this internationally-embraced dance form was started somewhere in the ghetto by a poor kid with nothing more than a radio and an unbridled passion for self-expression.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 95 minutes
Studio: Elephant Eye Films

Wetlands Preserved

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Rockumentary Recounts Rise and Fall of Earth-Friendly NYC Nightclub

In 1989, Larry and Laura Bloch opened Wetlands Preserve in a rat and roach-infested dive at 161 Hudson Street in lower Manhattan. What made the groundbreaking nightclub different from others located in the seedy section of the city was its eco-friendly orientation, evidenced by a commitment to activist causes ranging from the environment to animal rights. Reviving the spirit of the Sixties’ Woodstock Generation, the Blochs set an anti-corporate social agenda which put humanity and the rest of the planet ahead of profits.
As a result of their seeing people as more than objects to be exploited for contributions to an economic bottom-line, their unorthodox rock club cultivated a counter-cultural clientele while also attracting an eclectic array of performers. Regulars included Blues Traveler, Macy Gray, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Erykah Badu, Branford Marsalis, Pearl Jam, Hootie & the Blowfish, Jill Scott, Spin Doctors and The Roots. In addition, Wetlands served as a proving ground for up-and-coming unknown bands like Screaming Headless Torsos and The Murder Junkies.
Over the dozen years the place was in business, a portion of its nightly proceeds were donated to various groups aligned with its progressive ideas. Unfortunately, the popular haunt began to slide into a decline when it was targeted for harassment by the Giuliani Administration. During that reign of terror known as “zero tolerance,” the club was ticketed for the slightest of transgressions, even receiving a $50 summons for each poster placed around town by acts booked to appear.
The coup de grace was delivered on 9/11, when the terrorist attack on the nearby World Trade Center altered the landscape of and access to the neighborhood. Part nostalgic remembrance, part rebellious rallying cry, Wetlands Preserved is a fitting tribute to those intrepid souls who dared to try to carve out an altruistic utopian escape right in the midst of the hustle and bustle of a most materialistic metropolis.

Excellent Good (3.5 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 97 minutes
Studio: First Run Features

Never Back Down

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: New Karate Kid in Town Learns to “Never Back Down”

After her husband dies in a car accident while driving under the influence, Margot Tyler (Leslie Hope) decides to relocate from Iowa to Orlando, Florida for a fresh start with her two teenage sons. Plus, there’s the added incentive of enrolling her younger one, Charlie (Wyatt Smith), in a tennis camp catering to promising prodigies.
Unfortunately, the grieving widow failed to factor in the toll the move might take on her elder boy, Jake (Sean Faris), a sensitive soul who has been beset by unaddressed anger management issues ever since the tragedy. Jake is easily upset about the subject because he was sitting in the passenger seat that fateful night. So, he’s hard on himself, always agonizing over why he hadn’t intervened. Consequently, all it takes is for some mean kid to say, “You’re dead dad was a drunk,” for him to fly into a rage the same way the Three Stooges were triggered by the words “Niagara Falls” in their classic comedy skit.
You would expect, then, that with a change of scenery he’d be able to leave all the teasing and his painful memories behind. However, in this age of the internet, a person’s past is just a Google search away. So, it isn’t long before Jake’s story reaches the ears of Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet), the ringleader of a sadistic gang of ne’er-do-wells at his new school who like to fight for fighting’s sake.
Next, Ryan’s girlfriend, Baja (Amber Heard), feigns a romantic interest in Jake, seductively inviting him to a party, never letting on that he’s coming over just to take a bloody beat down. Soon after he arrives, Ryan callously plays the “Your dead dad was a drunk” card, and Jake predictably pops his cork, unaware that his opponent has a black belt in brawling.
A rescue squad arrives in the person of 98-pound weakling Max Cooperman (Evan Peters). He who peels Jake off the floor and directs him to the Combat Club, a mixed martial arts dojo run out of a rundown warehouse by Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou), a spiritually-oriented sensei from Senegal. Like a latter-day Mr. Miyagi allows the lad to enroll with the understanding, “No fighting outside of the gym, no matter what” because “people who come here for the wrong reasons never last.”
What disciplinarian Mr. Roqua doesn’t know is that Jake’s ulterior motive is to even the score with Ryan in an upcoming streetfighting tournament. He simultaneously plans to steal the heart of Baja who suddenly has second thoughts about allowing herself to be manipulated by her bully of a boyfriend.
While Never Back Down offers few surprises, at least plot-wise, for anyone already familiar with The Karate Kid (austere training regimen), Fight Club (wanton nihilism), Kung Fu (“Grasshopper”), Rocky (drinking raw eggs) and the rest of the mano-a-mano genre, it does add several 21st Century elements to the mix (like the use of YouTube) which serve to make the familiar formula feel refreshed.
The film is grounded by another powerful performance by two-time Oscar-nominee Djimon Hounsou (In America and Blood Diamond) who again manages to elevate what might have otherwise merely been a mediocre movie by imbuing his every scene with that trademark gravitas. And the rest of the cast members are talented, too, though they tend to be at their best during the highly-stylized, state-of-the-art fight sequences.
The Karate Kid joins the Fight Club and kicks butt!

Excellent (3.5 stars) Rated PG-13 for mature themes, intense violence, profanity, teen partying and premarital sexuality.
Running time: 112 minutes
Studio: Summit Entertainment

Vivere (GERMAN)

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Drive, Lola Drive

Ten years ago, Germany gave us Run Lola Run, a multi-angled, high-octane adventure about a girl on the go who has less than an hour to find a bag containing $100,000 in drug money before her boyfriend will be killed by mobsters. Now, also from Deutschland, we have Vivere, an equally-urgent, if less frenetically-executed, road trip revolving around dysfunctional family drama.
The saga starts on Christmas Eve in the city of Cologne where we find cab driver Francesca (Esther Zimmering) trying to convince her younger sister, Antoinetta (Kim Schnitzer), not to run off to Rotterdam. Her plan is to ride in a van with the band of her boyfriend, Snickers (Egbert Jan Weeber), an irresponsible rock musician who looks a little long-in-the-tooth to be still trying to make it.
But there’s to be no discouraging the thoroughly smitten teen from following her Peter Pan, especially since she’s just discovered that she’s pregnant. And when their overprotective father (Aykut Kayacik) finds out that his impressionable, favored daughter has flown the coop, he goes ballistic and sends her elder sibling after her in hot pursuit.
Francesca doesn’t get far in her Mercedes taxi, however, when she comes upon the scene of a one-car accident. Inside the damaged vehicle, she finds Gertrude (Hannelore Elsner), an elderly lesbian at the end of her rope who wrecked the auto right after just being dumped by her married lover.
The empathetic cabbie decides to take the groggy dyke along to Rotterdam as a passenger, and sexual tensions soon arise between the two en route. Still, job one remains finding Antoinetta, even if the plans might be temporarily waylaid.
Written and directed by Angela Maccarone, Vivere is a surrealistic triskellion of interlocking and overlapping tales unfolding from the slightly different perspectives of our three leading ladies. The film is likely to prove infuriating to anyone impatient for grounding via such familiar cinematic staples as resort to violence or sex. Yet, this ethereal escape has a legitimate feminist statement to make to those willing to allow women to resolve relationship issues on their own enigmatic terms.
Run, Lola Run meets Thelma and Louise!

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated R for sexuality, profanity, female frontal nudity and drug use.
In German, Dutch, Italian and English with subtitles.
Running time: 91 minutes
Studio: Regent Entertainment

Chop Shop

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: End of Innocence Flick Features Orphans Surviving on a Vast Industrial Wasteland

Siblings Ale (Alejandro Polanco) and Isamar (Isamar Gonzales) are orphans forced by circumstances to fend for themselves around a vast, 75-acre wasteland in an industrial section of New York City known as the Iron Triangle. Located in the shadow of Shea Stadium, this sprawling Queens neighborhood is comprised of nothing but acre after acre of junkyards, scrap heaps, garbage dumps and auto-body repair garages.
Kids grow up fast and living in such a godforsaken environment and, even though he’s only 12, Ale works full-time in a chop-shop, a front where stolen cars are purchased, quickly disassembled to be sold for parts. He’s also sees himself as the man of the family, and is very protective of his 16 year-old big sister.
Not long past the point of departure, he secures a place for them to live from his boss, shady Rob Sowulski. The one-room dive sits above the shop where he’s employed. It ain’t much, but it’s home. He even finds a job for Isamar as a cook in a mobile food canteen catering to folks employed in the area.
Despite their dire circumstances, Ale still has a dream, namely, to save up enough cash to go into business with his sis as the owners of their own deli van. However, Isamar, a budding beauty, is already attracting men interested in her for the wrong reasons. She discovers a way to make some fast money, although Ale is unprepared to handle it emotionally when he and his pal, Carlos (Carlos Zapata), catch her in a compromising position.
So unfolds Chop Shop, an engaging end-of-innocence flick directed by Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart). What makes this film fascinating is that it’s hard to know whether what you’re watching is acting or just a slice-of-life documentary. Turns out the cast members all use their real names and that Rob Sowulski is the actual proprietor of the auto garage where most of the action unfolds.
Warning: the language stays pretty salty from start to finish and the subject-matter turns fairly mature as the plot thickens around this seamy underbelly of the Big Apple. Thus, it doesn’t take long before you might start to feel uncomfortable to see children with such a hard knock life involved in so much antisocial and immoral adult behavior, whether they be thespians or hooligans.
Little Orphan Annie Latino-style, with an Oliver Twist.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 84 minutes
Studio: Koch Lorber Films

Definitely, Maybe

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Dad Shares Checkered Past with Daughter in “Who’s Your Mama?” Melodrama

The midst of a divorce probably isn’t the best time for a father to share the intimate details of his messy love life with a pre-pubescent daughter. In fact, there might never be an appropriate moment for such a confession of one’s checkered past. But that doesn’t prevent Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) from spilling the beans to 11 year-old Maya (Abigail Breslin) in Definitely, Maybe right after the little girl’s curiosity has been whetted by her first sex education class.
When he picks her up from school that day, she greets him with “We need to talk,” demanding, “Tell me the story of how you and my mother met.” However, rather than restrict his ensuing narrative to his soon-to-be ex, divulging daddy decides to reminisce about all three of his great romances, only changing their names to keep Maya intrigued and trying to guess which one was with her mom.
This flashback flick shifts back to Madison, Wisconsin in 1992 which is where we find Will already involved with one of the trio, Emily Jones (Elizabeth Banks), his college sweetheart. He soon leaves the blonde in the care of his best friend Charlie (Daniel Eric Gold) in order to movie to New York City for a few months to work on Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Emily asks Will to deliver a diary to her best friend, Summer Hartley (Rachel Weisz), a brunette beauty living on University Place in Greenwich Village with Hampton Roth (Kevin Kline) a very open-minded professor. Before returning the journal, he peeks inside and learns that the girls once had a steamy lesbian liaison. Then, to complicate matters, Summer pounces on him they day they meet, explaining that it’s all with Hampton’s approval.
Does any of this sound appropriate for an adolescent’s ears? Wait it gets better. At Clinton campaign headquarters, Will develops a crush on co-worker April Hoffman (Isla Fisher), a ravishing redhead who is apolitical and could care less about the candidate. Trouble is, she’s already in a relationship.
So, Will takes to confiding in his roommate, Russell McCormack (Derek Luke), a black guy worried that his dating a white woman (Liane Balaban) might deleteriously effect his presidential aspirations. Luckily, Russell is a brother who can be counted on to cover for a buddy if his girlfriend should show up unexpectedly.
Needless to say, there’s quite a bit of kinky coupling and uncoupling over the course of Definitely, Maybe, a “Who’s Your Mama?” melodrama written and directed by Adam Brooks. Brooks is previously best known for having adapted best sellers Practical Magic and Beloved to the big screen with scripts which were strikingly similar to each other in certain salient respects. This was embarrassing because the movies ended up being released in theaters on the same weekend in the fall of 1998, one almost the blackface version of the other.
The only thing embarrassing this go-round is that the tawdry tale is being recounted for the benefit of a suddenly-spousified 11 year-old who understandably interrupts her father to complain, periodically, saying things like, “I can’t believe you smoked and drank and were such a slut.” Provided you can ignore the inappropriateness of that underlying aspect of the narrative, you’re apt to enjoy the unpredictable hijinks along the path to this implausible romp’s carefully-concealed resolution.
Who’s Maya’s mommy? Who cares, when her daddy’s a playboy dating up a storm.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, sexuality, smoking and frank dialogue.
Running time: 110 minutes
Studio: Universal Pictures

Excellent Cadavers DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Gruesome DVD Documentary Replays Mafia’s Greatest Hits

If you happen to be one of those people who considers Godfather 1 and 2 the best movies ever made, then you’re likely also to deem Excellent Cadavers the best documentary ever made. This very informative flick, set primarily around the Sicilian city of Palermo in the Seventies and Eighties, carefully chronicles the history of the Cosa Nostra, revealing it to have been a savage crime syndicate which had infected the Italian political infrastructure.
The film focuses on the ill-fated efforts of a couple of prosecutors, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, to end the mob’s stranglehold by bringing hundreds of mobsters to justice. At the time that Falcone and Borsellino began their highly-publicized trials, hits for hire were transpiring about once every three days. And the deadly attacks continued during the court proceedings, because many a defendant had an interest in eliminating judges, prosecutors and eyewitnesses.
Nonetheless, 344 crooks were eventually convicted of crimes, although this development did not sit well with mob bosses who were determined to get even with the two attorneys who had decimated their ranks. Sadly, despite a round-the-clock escort of armed bodyguards, the clearing of streets plus a police helicopter overhead wherever they traveled, and living 16 hours a day in a steel bunker reinforced with concrete capable of withstanding a missile attack, the Mafia finally figured out how to get to this pair of intrepid national heroes.
Besides the ill-fated front story, Excellent Cadavers also features actual crime scene photos shot by Letizia Battaglia, a journalist assigned to cover the killings by her newspaper. Though not a feelgood flick by any means, this bittersweet biopic does pay tribute to two a couple of dudes crazy enough not only to take on the mob, but to win for a while, even if they were finally taken out in 1992.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Unrated
In English and Italian with subtitles
Running time: 92 minutes
Studio: First Run Icarus

Gone Baby Gone DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Ben Affleck’s Boston-Based Directorial Debut Out on DVD

Adapted from another Boston-based whodunit by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River), this intriguing, multi-layered mystery marks the promising directorial debut of Ben Affleck. Ben cast his baby-faced brother Casey in the lead role as private eye Patrick Kenzie opposite doe-eyed Michelle Monaghan as the sidekick/girlfriend, Angie Gennaro.
At the point of departure, we learn that four year-old Amanda McCready (Madeline O’Brien) is missing from the rundown row house she shares on a seedy side of Dorchester with her drug-addicted single-mom, Helene (Amy Ryan). Aware that time is of the essence in any child kidnapping, the little girl’s Aunt Beatrice (Amy Madigan) and Uncle Lionel (Titus Welliver) intervene swiftly on her behalf by hiring local detectives Kenzie and Gennaro, anticipating that witnesses will be more willing to speak to them than to cooperate with the cops.
This unorthodox approach does not sit well with Amanda’s mother, but the narcissistic crackhead is too worried about where her next high is coming from to protest. So, Police Chief Doyle (Morgan Freeman) reluctantly agrees to let them work in tandem with his officers already assigned to handle the search, Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (John Ashton).
Laced with an abundance of logical red herrings, Gone Baby Gone is a meticulously-twisted thriller guaranteed to keep you on edge and guessing right up to its shocking conclusion. Accolades are in order for Ben Affleck for coaxing an Oscar-nominated performance out of Amy Ryan, along with some stellar work from his sibling Casey and Titus Welliver, as well as from old reliables Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris.
After a string of groan-inducing outings from Daredevil to Gigli to Jersey Girl, it looks like Ben has stepped to the other side of the camera and finally found his true calling.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated R for pervasive profanity, ethnic and sexual preference slurs, drug use and violence.
Running time: 114 minutes
Studio: Miramax Home Eentertainment
DVD Extras: Deleted scenes with optional commentary, extended ending, audio commentary by director Ben Affleck, “Behind-the-Scenes” and “Casting Gone Baby Gone” featurettes, sneak peeks and more.