idlewild

There is a reason why this film was released minimally in its first weekend (only 973 theaters), and its not because it stars two hip hop artists. it's because for all of its over the top dance scenes and outkast insurged funk, the story is weak and unnatractive. Though it does boast a strong cast (Terrence Howard, Ben Vereen, and Outkast), there is no real point where you feel a relationship with any of the characters, this is not to say that they werent brought to life (Big Boi was spectacular as the hustler/nightclub owner Rooster). Like on "speakerboxx" and "The Love Below", Andre and Big Boi do a good job of individually contributing to a larger picture, however there is no moment in idlewild where the bigger picture lures you in. i was expecting more from this one.

The Departed

Yesterday I was lucky enough to go to a screening of Martin Scorsese's new film "The Departed". For those of you not in the know, this is probably going to be Scorcese's biggest movie of the decade, it stars Leonardo Dicaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin, Marc Whalberg, Martin Sheen and many, many others. I had heard that the film was a suspenseful crime drama about the Boston police and the Irish mafia and although this description sounds fairly cliche, the film does not play out as stock as this. In fact it really is the best movie he's done since Casino (This says a lot because both Bringing out the Dead and the Aviator are very good flicks). The Departed, a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong classic Wu jian dao, follows two men from opposite sides of the law, one trying to infiltrate the Irish mafia (Leonardo Dicaprio), the other trying to infiltrate the Boston police (Matt damon). The story follows them as they try to find out who the other one is, traveling down the same hallways and seeing the same faces, both living in completely different worlds. The cast of supporting characters is terrific, led by Jack Nicholson as the head of the Irish mafia and Alec baldwin, the head of the Boston PD (They will get nods for best supporting actor). Towards the end of the screening I looked to my right and saw Scorsese sitting a few seats to my left. He looked content and he actually smiled at one of the jokes. For some reason this made me happy. I have no doubt that this will be lauded as one of 2006's best and will for sure be one of the leading oscar nominated movies. check this one out.

The Night Listener

it'd be tough to follow up RV with something worse then RV, i believe that is something we can all agree on. the night listener, robin williams most recent project, is a film that resembles the J.T. Leroy saga. author writes memoir of abused childhood, author is revered, public finds out that author doesnt exist, public then finds out that author is someone else completely. This is basically the night listener. Robin Williams plays a gay radio show host who becomes friends with the young author after reading his memoirs, things start to seem a little fishy so williams investigates, finally finding out that the author is actually the authors step mom. There are some scenes in this movie that are very well constructed, i was genuinely freaked out a few times (I caught myself wanting to say "look behind you!" and "don't go in there man!"). all in all this was a good 82 minute effort.

world trade center

its been six years since Oliver Stone had made a good film (any given sunday), and he was long overdue (i can still taste the sickness that "Alexander" left me with). World Trade Center, though a little sappy at points, is a strong movie that carries itself through a tough story. the standouts in this one are delivered by Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena who play the two port authority police officers that the story is based on. trapped in the rubble, they keep each other alive with stories of their families and past. Another great performance was delivered by Steven Dorff who plays the officer that goes in to save them. i cant remember the last time i enjoyed anything he was in. any movie that covers this subject is going to have a tough time in the court of public opinion, but because this film is about character relationships and not historical facts, i think it will be respected.

miami vice=bad movie

it takes a lot for me to walk out of a film, but then again i wouldnt even call miami vice a film. i was so uninterested in this movie from the moment it started. To discuss this, I think we should look at three aspects, and we'll begin with the lowest one, the big star. collin farrell, who i've only been impressed by once (Tigerland) was at his usual low, he made Don Johnson seem like sidney potier. Next we'll look at the partner,Jamie Foxx who seems to play the same character in every movie, this reminds of what happened to cuba gooding jr after he won his oscar! finally we'll look at michael mann, a director who i used to love (Heat was soo good). I like how he shoots his films, but i didn't love collateral and i really hated this. what happened mann. so disapointing.