Your Entertainment Ticket.net

Reviewing The Dark Knight.

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin and Debra Winger

Directed by: Jonathan Demme

R for language and brief sexuality

By John Delia

Jonathan Demme takes a long look at a dysfunctional situation and slowly spools it out for all to see. That is my take on Rachel Getting Married, a movie with powerful acting that should garner attention for a major award. The film however, is solely a film buff’s delight and not for the mainstream moviegoer; unless you like your movies with a lot of family drama.
The movie centers on Kym (Hathaway), the sister of the bride to be Rachel (DeWitt), who by chance has been released from rehab where she has been incarcerated for drug abuse. Returning home Kym jumps into the frail, letting her sister know that she is there for her in spite of the problems she has had. The family is leery of Kym’s intentions and makes little attempt to make her fell wanted. In the meantime, although Kym has tried to nose in on the procedures, Rachel goes through all the motions of finishing plans including fitting the dresses as if Kym were not a problem. When Kym starts loosing her ability to cope, the family waits for the bomb to drop.
The acting in the film is some of the best I’ve seen in a drama this year. Hathaway’s performance is outstanding as the on the edge Kym, exuding a feeling of unease every time she gets brazen with someone or deliberately tries to take over a conversation. Her intensity is shown when she confronts her mother (Winger) about a tragedy that she could have avoided. From delightful to devilish, Hathaway’s performance is amazing and right on the money.
In support DeWitt, as Rachel, does a superb job of holding back while her sister tries to tear her most important day apart. When push comes to shove however, Rachel lets her sister know where she stands. The film would not have worked, however if it weren’t for the wonderful sets, the supporting cast and the great house for the wedding.
On the downside, some of the cinematography from the hand held home camera is to often and bothersome. In addition, the constant band music tended to make me wary and unsettled. Although Demme seemed to want us to see a complete wedding, he could have held back on the length of time it too to go through the pre wedding party. On a good note, however, the scene at the beauty parlor was brilliant.
The film contains language and brief sexuality. It is best seen with a group of friends, mainly female.

FINAL ANALYSIS: Rachel Getting Married should play well to females and film buffs. ( 2 ½ of 5 stars)

BODY OF LIES

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Golshifteh Farahani and Mark Strong

Directed By: Ridley Scott

R for strong violence including some torture, and for language throughout

By John Delia

Body of Lies starts with a bang and keeps the excitement going to the very end. Think James Bond fighting terrorism in the Middle East. For those who like their action mixed with a good storyline and a reasonably good ending, this film should be on your list to see on the big screen.
The movie follows Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) the best man U.S. Intelligence has on the ground, in places where human life is worth no more than the information it can get you. In operations that take him around the globe, Ferris' next breath often depends on the voice at the other end of a secure phone line, CIA veteran Ed Hoffman (Crowe). Strategizing from a laptop in the suburbs, Hoffman is on the trail of an emerging terrorist leader who has orchestrated a campaign of bombings while eluding the most sophisticated intelligence network in the world. To lure the terrorist out into the open, Ferris will have to penetrate his murky world, but the closer Ferris gets to the target, the more he discovers that trust is both a dangerous commodity and the only one that will get him out alive. When he starts an affair with Aisha (Farahani) however, mixing business with pleasure takes on a whole new meaning.
I liked DiCaprio in the role of the CIA agent being dangled as bait at times while his boss (Crowe) oversees the operation thousands of miles from the danger. Still the consummate actor, DiCaprio here reminds me of his performance in Blood Diamond, which turned out to be one of his best performances. With Body of Lies he commands the screen and makes his character a standout.
As for Crowe, however, I believe his talent was wasted in the film. Pictured as a frumpy, overweight CIA chief with little to do than pressure DiCaprio’s character from most times miles away, Crowe’s Hoffman could have been played by any B list actor who probably would have put a lot more vigor into the role.
Scott’s direction continues to be great with total command of each scene making the film a winner. Although I did not agree with the ending, the energy Scott puts into the film keeps the film entertaining.
Body of Lies contains some harsh language and horrifying scenes of terrorist bombings and should be considered when deciding whether to take youngsters to see the film.

FINAL ALALYSIS: With Body of Lies, Scott brings an explosive film to the screen. (3 ½ of 5 stars) 


CITY OF EMBER

Starring: Tim Robbins, Bill Murray, Toby Jones, Martin Landau, Saoirse Ronan,
Harry Treadaway, Mary Kay Place and Liz Smith

Directed By: Gil Kenan

PG for mild peril and some thematic elements

By John Delia

City of Ember is a very good family film with a lot of challenging situations, enjoyable characters and a lot of excitement. The film is based on a series of novels for young people called “The Books of Ember” by Jeanne DuPrau with “The City of Ember” being the first of four. In the crowded PG-13 to R rated movie market, City of Ember is a welcome breath of fresh air for the adults that have youngsters.
It is very hard to put the story into a synopsis without giving away too much, but what follows should protect you from any spoilers of the surprises and adventure in the film. Humanity has built an underground city called Ember due to a prophecy that the earth was doomed. Over 200 years have passed and deep down in the earth the descendents of the people are now running out of food and resources to sustain their lives. But life goes on as usual even though a missing secret box that contains a map to the surface should have been opened during their 200th year.
Teenage friends Doon (Treadaway) and Lina (Ronan) have just graduated from school and are now old enough to have appointed jobs in the tiny city where everyone works for the common good. Doon gets a job as plumbing worker while Lina on the other hand gets just what she wanted, to be able to use her fleetness as a messenger girl. Little do they know that their chosen professions would help them uncover answers to a mystery kept secret for over 200 years? We follow Doon and Lina as they start a race against the clock, following clues and avoiding danger, trying to solve the unknown and save humanity.
The film kept me totally engrossed in the storyline much like National Treasure did with their map of clues that lead them to a different kind of riches. Ronan (the young girl who plays Briony in Atonement) is marvelous as Lina the feisty young girl who stirs up trouble in the underground world of Ember. Her wistful manner and effervescent personality make the young girl among director Kenan’s brilliant players. Treadway adds his fine talent that’s needed to make Doon the instrument that allows Lina to complete her adventure. Robbins, Murray and Landau are cunningly inserted into film completing the excellent cast of unusual characters.
Directing, cinematography and sets are all amazing in the film. I loved the old city and the monstrous generator that flickers and groans from age. I’m hoping that City of Ember does well at the box-office so there will be depictions of book two through the final chapter in book four.
The PG rated film does contain mild peril and some thematic elements such as a huge mole that may be a little scary for the very young.

FINAL ANALYSIS: City of Ember is a terrific film for the whole family. (4 of 5 stars)

THE EXPRESS

Starring: Denis Quaid, Rob Brown, Kris Wolff, and Darrin Dewitt Henson

Directed By: Gary Fleder

PG for thematic content, violence and language involving racism, and for brief sensuality

By John Delia

One of the most inspirational movies to come out of Hollywood, The Express delivers a strong message of determination in the face of racism. Outstanding acting on the parts of Rob Brown and Denis Quaid make this strong willed movie a winner. And, you don’t have to like football to enjoy this absorbing motion picture.
The movie is a docudrama on the life of African-American college football player Ernie Davis (Brown) who captured America’s heart in the early 60’s while leading his team to a national championship. Davis was the first black man to win college football’s highest award, the Heisman Trophy. But it wasn’t a smooth road for Davis as his life coincided with the era of racial prejudice and segregation that kept most black men who could have been great athletes out of most all Colleges, especially in the South.
Playing for northern Syracuse University, Davis followed in the shadow of the great Jim Brown (Henson) who became one of the NFL’s greatest players. Although Brown helped pave the way into pro football, in college when northern teams played southern colleges, the racial tension ran high. Faced with this race factor when he was recruited by Syracuse, Davis never gave up on his way to helping his team. When a major illness stood in his way of profession greatness however, his fight was even greater.
It’s true stories like The Express that make filmmaking worthwhile as it goes beyond entertainment and provides lessons and inspiration for others. Much like Glory Road, The Rookie, The Greatest Game, Miracle, Remember the Titans, The Final Season, and other great true sports films, the fight and determination against all odds is what makes America great.
Outstanding direction by Fleder provides a seamless account getting the best performances out of his players while he drives the story home. Quaid hits the target as the great Ben Schwartzwalder a college coach determined to bring home a national football championship to Syracuse University. Nothing stood in his way, not even racial prejudice.
But the standout performance comes from Rob Brown as Davis. Determined, agile, focused and without fear, Brown provides these elements in the creation of his character. Ernie Davis was a man who would not back down even in the face of possible racial violence on and off the field, and Brown connects.
The film contains football violence and language involving racism, and for brief sensuality.

FINAL ANALYSIS: The Express is a true winner and an inspiration for everyone. (4 of 5 stars)

BLINDNESS (Running Time: 120 min; Rated: R)
Reviewed by Denise Castillón

MURKY “BLINDNESS”, THRILLING TO BEHOLD

In the powerful and disturbing dramatic thriller, BLINDNESS, quarantined victims of contagious blindness form their own society. When circumstances become dire, the imprisoned citizen’s will to survive overtakes the significance of morality and humanity. One woman (JULIANNE MOORE), with “true vision”, leads a small group out of the chaos.

Do not seek realism in this fantastical political parable. Instead, allow your imagination to accept the story’s nameless characters portrayed by multi-national actors speaking a common language -English, and its environment set in an unidentified, non-North American city.

Julianne Moore heads this notable ensemble cast composed of Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal as the ruthless, self-proclaimed “King of Ward Three”.

Directed by Brazilian filmmaker and Oscar-nominee Fernando Meirelles, (“The Constant Gardener”, “City of God”). Screenplay written by Tony Award winner Don McKellar, (who has an acting role in the film as the “Thief”). The screenplay for BLINDNESS is based on the bestselling novel "Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira" by the Portuguese novelist and Nobel Prize-winner José Saramago.

Cinematography by César Charlone. Film Editing by Daniel Rezende. Production Design by Matthew Davies and Tulé Peak. Art Direction by Joshu de Cartier. Set Decoration by Erica Milo. Original Music by Marco Antônio Guimarães.

Produced by Andrea Barata Ribeiro, Niv Fichman, Sonoko Sakai. Executive producers are Simon Channing-Williams, Akira Ishii, Victor Loewy and Tom Yoda. Released by Miramax.

Alyn’s Movie Picks Of The Week

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

Reviewed By Alyn Darnay

The Hilarious Simon Pegg (Shawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) is back again, this time in a true “fish out of water story” as bumbling celebrity journalist Sidney Young.

Hired away from his own little British Magazine by Jeff Bridges, head of the leading upscale celebrity rag “Sharps Magazine” in New York City, Sydney tries to maintain his integrity while everyone around him throws theirs out the window. It’s the stuff true comedy is honed from and this is a very funny film.

Watching Sydneys decent into success is a true joy rife with tons of miscommunications, poor taste, boorishness, and lucky accidents. Example: He walks into work the first day wearing a bright red tee shirt reading “Young, Dumb, & Full of Come”, and proceeds to offer a like one to his new boss.

Along for the ride are, or maybe being ridden are, Kirsten Dunst as Sydney’s only friend in the office, Megan Fox as the starlet that’s his love interest, and Gillian Anderson, almost unrecognizable and wonderful as a powerful press agent.

If you want to laugh hard for and hour and half, this is the film for you.

4 Stars

BLINDNESS

Reviewed By Alyn Darnay

 “Blindness” is the latest film from talented director Fernando Meirelles, who gave us the fantastic ‘City of God” back in 2002. Unfortunately this time around he gives us a bleak and brutal portrayal of the collapse of civilization through an epidemic of blindness.

Visually stunning, it takes place in an unnamed metropolitan city and charts the course of the epidemic from its very first patient through a mass quarantine and beyond.

As the quarantine facility fills up, the outside world begins to take less and less care of the inmates until a new society is created inside the facility. A society based upon survival of the fittest where inmates are forced to trade their valuables and then their bodies for food.

Based on a 1995 novel by the Portuguese Nobel Prize winning writer José Saramago, “Blindness” stars Mark Ruffalo as an ophthalmologist stricken early with the disease, Julianne Moore as his wife who joins him in quarantine though she’s actually sighted, and it features Danny Glover and Gael García Bernal among the patients.

 “Blindness” is not an easy film to watch and you should pay heed to its R-rating.

3.5 Stars

Eagle Eye

Reviewed By Alyn Darnay

Eagle Eye is a terrorist thriller revved up and set into non-stop action. It’s the big screen used to it’s state-of-the-art visual potential to lay you back in your seat and take you on a trip through the imaginary landscape of today’s governmental and military plot contortions.

Shia LaBeouf plays Jerry Shaw, a Chicago copy clerk whose life is turned inside out by an anonymous female voice on his cell phone. Joining him on this intricate and confusing quest is single mom Rachel (Michelle Monaghan) and together they manage to become the most wanted fugitives in the country after the voice informs that they’ve been “activated."

Chasing them are two government agents, Billy Bob Thornton playing a by-the-book FBI agent, and Rosario Dawson, beautiful as a hard edged Air Force investigator. Along for the ride in a wonderfully underplayed role is Michael Chiklis ("The Shield") as the straight-laced secretary of defense.

The film is reminiscent of a number of Hitchcock films, most notably “North By Northwest” with it’s wrongfully accused person on the run, and the omnipresent 2001: A Space Odyssey undertone is hard to ignore as well.

Don’t try to make sense of this movie, just go enjoy it, it’s a fun ride all the way through. Eagle Eye is also playing in IMAX, and I highly recommend you spend the extra $2 to see it in this format; it’s well worth money for the experience.

4.5 Stars

Reviewer Alyn Darnay is a multi-award winning Writer/Director and Scriptwriting Guru whose latest book is  “The Script…A Breakthrough Guide To Scriptwriting.” It is available at www.ScriptWritingBook.com