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Men of Honor Reviewed By Erik Childress Posted 11/10/00 18:21:45

"Apparently All Men…Are…Created Equal" (Pretty Bad)

Here?s something I wasn?t aware of. Apparently everyone who has their life story made into a movie has shared the exact same experiences with every other true-to-life character ever brought to the screen. Is this true or do filmmakers just look for any story about a guy fighting against the odds against people who think who doesn?t belong? Guys who are able to make one friend who is more enlightened or color blind, one who usually dies or is severely maimed? Guys who must fight than embrace their leader while a more powerful, one-dimensional villain holds their fate in their hand in a final courtroom battle? Men of Honor is a film that joins those ranks.Our latest underdog seeks to gain acceptance into the Navy?s diving training program. Have no fear because Carl Brashear is here. The son of a poor sharecropper, Carl (Cuba Gooding Jr.) takes to the white man?s Navy to make his father proud. Reduced to being nothing more than a cook, we meet Carl?s future diving instructor, Billy Sunday (Robert DeNiro) disobeying the orders of his future lifelong adversary, Capt. Hanks (David Conrad), in going after the members of a downed helicopter. Sunday is then, himself, reduced to teaching the new recruits of deep sea diving bringing him face-to-face with determined Carl.?Careful what you wish for,? he tells Brashear. I wish the film could have a better script, but this is not my movie. It?s Carl?s. And, as par for the course in these kinds of movies, no white man will bunk with a black. Except for one, Private Snowhill (Michael Rapaport). He?s colorblind and a stutterer to boot, so he knows about being an outcast, I assume. No, he doesn?t die, but he might as well as he disappears almost as quickly as he?s introduced. Thus begins the standard underdog life story treatment as Carl is ignored by one-dimensional racists. He saves a guy during a training mission, and gains a little respect, but not enough. He bests his Master Chief, gaining a little more respect, but still not enough. At least not enough to appease Mr. Pappy (Hal Holbrook), the diving school head who spends more time in his little hut than the Unabomber. His whole purpose is to play the ultimate white devil that must tempt Sunday to keep the chains on Carl, leading to more questions as to where Sunday?s racism stems from. He doesn?t act like a racist initially and actually seems to somewhat admire the spunk of this young kid who breaks the color barrier to race Mark Spitz-style to a buoy. DeNiro calls Gooding ?Cookie? so many times that I kept waiting for Bozo the Clown to show up with the Grand Prize Game. So why can?t they just get along? Because the script says its not time yet.Even if the saccharin level is raised to gargantuan heights, the diving scenes are exciting, right? Wrong. The one thing that should be preventing people from dozing off during this long, drawn-out, leisurely-paced, been there/done that story, is the diving footage. Sorry to break the hearts of those looking for a career in diving, but apparently all the Navy divers do are reassemble machine parts on the ocean floor. The real Brashear recovered a batch of hydrogen bombs, as we see in the film, but nothing we see during the training process gives us an understanding of how any of these officers would be prepared for such a daunting task.This is one of the too-numerous-to-count areas of the screenplay that sacrifices depth for composition. Any film labeled with the ?based on a true story? stamp is bound to fictionalize or condense moments and characters for dramatic purpose, but c?mon. Showing Carl as a young boy who likes to swim is a little too simplified for a profession that isn?t about swimming. How can you in suits that weigh over 200 pounds with a giant umbilical cord attached? Billy Sunday is a composite of a couple of Carl?s superiors. So which one had the beautiful wife (Charlize Theron) young enough to be mistaken for his daughter? Theron?s character only shows up sporadically to hate how her husband acts and then leave the scene crying. A decent speech she gives to DeNiro towards the end suggests a deeper history and deserved its day in court. It will likely appear back on the DVD in a deleted scenes section, but isn?t it too late then.Carl?s relationship with his girlfriend/future wife is never developed beyond the getting-to-know-you and concerned stick-by-your-man phases. And was the real-life nuke recovery (only a few years after the Bay of Pigs) broadcast on live TV during the middle of a Cold War? It?s an interesting way to open a film, as a non-existent composite character watches his ex-student, all grown up, on a televised event that I would never believe be broadcast even if you told me. And why is Billy Sunday sitting there with his face beaten charged with desertion. He gets into a lot of fights, sure. A lot of fights. But when does he desert? And why? And why is allowed back in? We?re never told in what?s just another chapter in the series of disjointed movie timelines.So many questions and so few answers in a film that amounts to nothing more than a showcase of two fine talents in DeNiro and Gooding. DeNiro?s performance doesn?t quite match his scary portrayal of a family-abusing dad in This Boy?s Life, a role that he pulled off the stratosphere of hateful characters and still managed to edge out a snag of sympathy in the end. But DeNiro (who may be the greatest actor who ever lived) makes it watchable even as we can see the script controlling his mood swings more than he can. And Gooding is equal to the game turning Carl into just the kind of hero we want to see triumph in the end.Every other performance in the film is shortchanged. Poor Charlize Theron is wasted once again. No other member of the training corps is given any chance to develop more than a half-note character, including Rapaport. And does David Keith have to be in every movie dealing with the Navy? An Officer and a Gentleman, U-571 and now here as the officer who gets to look concerned as Carl is dragged by a Russian submarine.Perhaps my cynicism flows more freely than a Democrat in Florida, but I can forgive thin characterizations and a by-the-numbers plot if the film affects me in some way. Remember the Titans is a perfect example of a film that used its audience-pleasing ?true? football story as a metaphor for creating characters in various shades of gray on both sides of the color fence. Men of Honor is full of the kind of uplifting underdog syndrome that audiences not expecting much tend to applaud out of a knee-jerk response to their sweet tooth. But shouldn?t we be getting more than just the parsley? Where?s the meat and potatoes in-between the tasty dessert? This film is on such a collision course with a screenplay 100 class (it hasn?t quite graduated to 101 yet) that I kept expecting the little kids from Patch Adams to show up in the final courtroom scene with their red clown noses. Filmmakers in Hollywood have continually been accused of being too liberal and unaware of the true hardships that real people in the world experience on a daily basis. That may be an arguable point, but with the way screenwriters and directors continue to churn out standard, predictable messes like Men of Honor, the movies may be the only place you can go that puts forth the idea that all men are created equal.
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DOWNLOAD MOVIE Fist of Fury Just $2.99 for a complete movie! No additional software or browser plug-ins required! You can play them for unlimited number of times whenever you want. Downloaded movies will work perfectly on any PC, DVD player, PDA etc.
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Remakes are probably one of the hardest things to do in cinema. A precedent is already set, and in Fist of Fury’s case, it was first done by a legend, Bruce Lee, then successfully retold by Jet Li. So Donnie Yen’s 1995 attempt makes a third stab at telling the story.

Since it is such an already well known story, I wont go into much detail about it. Suffice to say, if you are reading this and haven’t seen either the Bruce Lee or Jet Li versions of this story (Fist if Fury, aka. in the US Chinese Connection and Fist of Legend, respectively), then please see them first. But, for those that don’t know or need a refresher, the basic story is- 1930’s Shanghai. Martial arts student Jun Chen returns home to find turmoil. The Japanese are in control and their martial schools have begun to usurp the Chinese schools. Jun Chens’s master tries to rally the Chinese schools together, and in his efforts to prove Chinese styles superiority (the Japanese call them the “Sick Men of Asia”), he is poisoned and killed by the Japanese. As they further plot to dominate the Chinese martial world and destroy the spirit of his people, divided by his love for a Japanese girl, Yumi, and his hatred for the atrocities committed against his culture, Jun Chen soon wages an almost one man war against the Japanese.

Now, with two legendary films of the same story already existing, how do you make it different, justify telling the same story again? Previously, I thought Jet Li was crazy for remaking a Bruce Lee film, but of course, he triumphed in making one of the greatest modern martial arts films, Fist of Legend. So, it is a mammoth uphill battle to try for a third time. In this versions case, they took the idea and decided to do it as a 30 hour tv series, the first half dealing with the backstory we never saw, and the last part being a retelling of the film version we kung fu fans know so well. However, that is the crux of one of the problems I have with this edition. This edition is a 2 hour cut, condensing the last half of the series, the story we already know, so we don’t get that unique glimpse into the characters backstory. Releasing a condensed version is smart, because, in America at least, not many people are going to want to pay for and sit through 30 hours of low budget tv. But for the cult audience of Asian afficianados, its may be annoying that with this version you only get a small hint of the changes and know you are missing out on the whole story. I was just hoping for a little more backstory, and would probably like and extra 30 mins added at the beginning so I could see some of it.

Quite frankly, the problems hinge on the fact that the series was made in a fourth of the time and probably 1/25th of the budget that American tv viewers are accustomed to. It is that culture shock problem, if I wasnt raised in the US with US tv standards in production and acting, I may love this series. The cast is all solid, and (at least in this version) the editing is kept at a brisk pace, keeping the story moving. But, it is all so cheap. Despite some good sets, locations, and occasional scenes of atmospheric shots, it is hindered by the limited scope of the production. No doubt stretched to its fullest extent, the lack of true time and budget for the action, actors, and filming makes this production nothing more than of novelty interest to really die hard kung fu/martial afficianados.

The thing about being a Donnie Yen fan, no matter how much you love him (like I do), the sour fact is that he never really took off as a huge star or solo talent. In the industry and with fans, he has respect, has charisma, and certainly has talent on par with any of the top names in martial films, from Jet Li, to Yuen Biao, to Jackie. But, I think getting his start in the age when martial films were dying, when the true martial stars began to fade and fighting just became an element in any kind of action film, as opposed to a genre in and of itself, he never saw the chance to be a huge star. His resume is a nice blend of genres, from one of the last old school films- Drunken Tai Chi, to cop action- In the Line of Duty 4, Tiger Cage, to fantasy swordplay- Dragon Inn, Comet Butterfly and Sword to new wave, wire fu period fighting- Wing Chun, Once Upon a Time In China 2, Iron Monkey, but in these films, his best work, he was usually a co-star or shared billing with other stars. And, his directorial efforts like Legend of the Wolf and Ballistic Kiss are really nothing more than entertaining b-pictures. Likewise, this Fists of Fury tv series really does fall short as a Donnie Yen showcase. Although he did the fight choreography, the limited budget never allows him to do much, sometimes having to choreograph and shoot an elaborate fight scene in one night, with non martial actors and limited stuntmen. The fights are so sped up and awkwardly shot, it is often very laughable, and not the best example of this talents. While he does try to pay more of tribute to Lee than Jet Li did, aping Lee’s stances, vocalizations, and some dialogue, it is admirable but still not enough to save the show from its overall clumsiness- no doubt all the more clumsy due to this version being an edited one.

The DVD- Tai Seng DVD. Not a terrific adaptation, but the DVD is actually a surprising treat due to a great commentary track.

The Picture- Basically fullscreen, tape (BETA, thank you D Yen commentary). The transfer does fine with the materials provided, but what is provided just doesn’t look that great. I think it is safe to say, mid 90’s HK television is on par/worse than an early 1970’s Doctor Who episode. We have infomercails that look better. Hell, I’ve got home videos that look better. But, as far as I could tell, the transfer is glitch and artifact free, gaining it major points. Just be forewarned, it looks as good as it can but HK tv is pretty darn cheap.

Sound- Dolby Digital 5.1 Cantonese or English dub tracks with optional yellow English subtitles. Very good audio tracks. While pretty straightforward and a little hollow, what they lack in dynamics they make up for in simple clarity. The sound fx is pretty generic and one assumes most of the dialouge was dubbed. Its fine but, once again, it is a low budget tv production, so don’t expect outstanding score or fx.

Extras- Chapter selections— Tai Seng Trailers for Bullets of Love, Assassin, The Duel, Cop on a Mission, Fist Power, Deadful Melody, Dragon Inn, and Fists of Fury— Donnie Yen Filmography— Making Of behind the scenes featurette. This 21 ? min promo for the series features various soundbites from the production crew, and Yen in the gym, but mainly it has several scenes from the film and montages that let us see some of what we have missed in this condensed version, including early plotting and fight scenes. As a matter of fact, the fight scenes in this featurette look better than the scenes in the movie, so it is a welcome addition.— Commentary tracks. Track one) Donnie Yen and Dr. Craig Reed. Donnie Yen commentary is immense fun. He is extremely affable and very easily slides into talking about the project and is upfront about its limitations. He discusses the pressure and time constraint he was under, having to choreograph a fights on the spot, with so-so stuntmen, and finish it in a matter of hours (which leads to a great anecdote about the infamous padded down Bey Logan fight we see in the film). He even mentions how it was an oversight on his part, not realizing the undercranking/speeding up of BETA would be different form film undercranking and would make the fights look too fast. And, no one is spared as Donnie amusingly points out the melodrama, bad acting in scenes of co-stars as well as himself. At the end of the track, he jokes that maybe the commentary will be the DVDs main selling point, but, no joke, with his laid back yet informative, fun comments, he is right. Track 2) features Dr. Craig Reed again (who is this guy?), Tai Seng product manager Frank Djeng, and martial artist film star Robin Shou. While Donnie’s track is mainly anecdotes about the production and thoughts on Bruce Lee, this track delves into the stars and the history behind the story. It too, is lighthearted and fun, but unfortunately is hampered by technical difficulties, the track is full of hiss, and the low volume commentary struggles against the film soundtrack. It is a good thing there are two tracks, because, although still listenable, the second commentary is so annoyingly distorted it was a struggle to sit through.

Conclusion- Well, this version of Fists of Fury while ambitious in its scope, is hampered by limited HK tv budget and general melodrama. A curiosity for HK and Donnie Yen fans, luckily the DVD, although a condensed version of the series, does offer good extras, particularly the featurette and the Donnie Yen commentary that make it worthwhile for those die-hard completists out there. Otherwise, I would say it is best to approach with caution and maybe give it a rental first.
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DOWNLOAD MOVIE White Noise Just $2.99 for a complete movie! No additional software or browser plug-ins required! You can play them for unlimited number of times whenever you want. Downloaded movies will work perfectly on any PC, DVD player, PDA etc.
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The Movie

What is E.V.P.? Well, the definition is Electronic Voice Phenomenon, but even that doesn’t tell a person much about what it really is. Boiled down to simple terms, E.V.P. is the result of taking a cassette recorder (or some other such recording device) and getting communications from the spirit realm, which are not audible to the ear when the words or sentences are initially spoken, but are only heard after listening to the device that the event was recorded on. Now the voices that are heard are usually distorted somewhat by background noise, or more specifically White Noise.

White Noise stars Michael Keaton as Jonathan Winters, a man whose life takes a nosedive one fine day when he realizes that his wife Anna, briefly played by Chandra West, disappears and all signs lead towards her being dead from some freak accident.

Soon after Winters’ wife is reported missing, he notices a man named Raymond watching his every move, and unlike what was expected this man was not part of a police force looking to take Winters down, but a father who lost his own son years in the past but has been able to communicate with him as well as a host of other people who had died, including Anna.

Winters of course refuses to believe that this man can in fact speak with the dead, and time goes by and he starts to begin the process of healing after the loss. Things then start happening to him that creep him out, such as messages left on his answering machine that are white noise with some nearly intelligible audio on it, and radios randomly turning themselves on. Winters then contacts the man seen earlier in the movie about the E.V.P, and then receives a lesson in the ins and outs of dealing with the speaking dead.

Not all things are meant to be played with however, and soon Raymond falls prey to someone or something that didn’t like him dabbling with the voices of the dead. Winters interest in the subject matter was whet just enough to think that he could speak to his wife once more, and he falls face first into obsession with E.V.P.

Not a fantastic movie, White Noise relies far too often on jump scares that are very out of place for a movie such as this. Even during the commentary, the director comments and says “Here’s one of the jump scares we did”, they didn’t enhance my movie experience in this case, it detracted from it. Even with the oddly placed jumps and other items that were meant to shock and keep the viewer interested, I found White Noise to be a fairly boring movie that based on the subject matter could have been much better.

The DVD

How’s it Look:

White Noise is has a very nice crisp presentation, and that is a welcome thing for a movie that has a lot of scenes taking place in low light conditions. Because of the low light, the colors are all quite muted and a large number of scenes are lit with the noise on a TV screen or a computer monitor, but it works well for the topic at hand.

The movie is presented in an anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 presentation, and should look quite nice for those who’ve managed to secure a widescreen television.

How’s it Sound:

Two Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks are included on White Noise, one in English and the other in Spanish. The audio is quite clear and does pack the punch when the unnecessary jump scares are used. The surround usage was actually quite sparse, and really only used to indicate direction, and not for ambient sound effects, and that actually was a distraction because I felt like more ambience would have been nice.

Extras:

The DVD says that included are “Terrifying” deleted scenes, I for one didn’t find the terrifying ones, but I did see a collection of scenes that were omitted from the movie, with optional director commentary.

A commentary with director Geoffrey Sax and Michael Keaton is included, although they were not in the same room when recording this commentary, they were watching the movie at the same time and spoke to one another throughout the feature. This experiment in conference calling technology was a success! During the commentary Keaton himself even mentions that he essentially phoned in some a scene, and said to the director “I owe you one”, which was a surprising display of honesty on his part. Overall however, the commentary was not overly exciting or informative like some have proven to be.

Three separate featurettes are included that deal with E.V.P.

Hearing is Believing: Actual E.V.P sessions (14 minutes) ? follow Tom and Lisa Butler as they visit two locations and try to record E.V.P. and then share their findings with the viewer.

Making Contact: E.V.P Experts (8 minutes) ? a short featurette which includes a fair number of actual E.V.P.s and discussions with the Butlers as well as other experts in the field.

Recording E.V.P at Home (4 minutes) ? a short how to segment from the Butlers.

Closing:

White Noise had the potential to be something good, with a strong cast lead by Keaton, and a topic that could be interesting enough to make a very fun movie; it disappointed this viewer as well as thousands of other viewers, as proven by the box office when it was theatrically released. As a DVD it does contain some relatively interesting extras in the form of the featurettes, but the commentary is not really worth listening to if you’re interested in either E.V.P. or the movie itself. Rent it.

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DOWNLOAD MOVIE True Lies Just $2.99 for a complete movie! No additional software or browser plug-ins required! You can play them for unlimited number of times whenever you want. Downloaded movies will work perfectly on any PC, DVD player, PDA etc.
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True Lies ***1/2 (out of 5) (1994)

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Tia Carrere

Directed by James Cameron

  Harry Tasker is a world class spy and also loving father and husband. He tells his family he’s really a boring computer salesman, all the while protecting his country in breathtakingly amazing ways. His current mission leads him to try to bust an Arab terrorist group who have come into possession of some nuclear bombs and vow to nuke various US cities. In a subplot, Harry begins to suspect his wife is having an affair while he is away because she wants adventure in her life, and now Harry is about to give her some.

A film with many great moments, with terrific stunts, outstanding special effects, and some truly funny lines. It isn’t a perfect film. It is overlong, uneven and probably could have been better with a different cast. Arnold is probably miscast, but does his thing with style while Curtis is terrific in probably her best performance in years. The supporting cast of Arnold, Carrere and Charlton Heston merely distract rather than enhance the story. Lots of funny moments and thrilling action more than make up for it’s flaws, but it’s still a shame to think that with a bit of trimming and tightening this could have been an all-time action classic.

Back to Qwipster’s Movie Reviews

 

 

 

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DOWNLOAD MOVIE Little Black Book Just $2.99 for a complete movie! No additional software or browser plug-ins required! You can play them for unlimited number of times whenever you want. Downloaded movies will work perfectly on any PC, DVD player, PDA etc.
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The following review may contain spoilers, but if you don’t read this, this film just may spoil your evening.  Spoiled movie or spoiled evening — it’s your choice.

Just when you think that a Brittany Murphy (Just Married, 8 Mile) movie couldn?t possibly be any worse than the horrendous Uptown Girls, along comes Little Black Book to have you thinking she has carved a mini-genre of moronic and manipulative romantic comedies all to herself.  I don?t know what the next Brittany Murphy movie will be called, but based on her track record of scripts she picks, here?s my prediction on her next flick to make us sick:  

THE NEXT GENERIC BRITTANY MURPHY MOVIE

1.      Brittany will be in a new town, will be a fish out of water, and in need of a job. 2.      Brittany will land a job, but that job will be more difficult than she imagined. 3.      Brittany will also find the man of her dreams, but keeping that man, like her job, will be more difficult than she imagined.  4.      Musical interludes will emerge involving Brittany sad at the state of her existence. During these interludes, Brittany will:         a.  Walk around the city, usually at night, and usually when it?s raining.         b.  Stare out of her apartment window at the city, usually at night, and usually when it?s raining.         c. Stare at a wall, usually crying or just making a dopey sad face.         d.   Put on progressively skimpier outfits, usually tacky. 5.      Musical interludes will emerge involving Brittany elated by an upswing in the state of her affairs. During these interludes, Brittany will:         a.  Walk around the city, usually during the day, and usually grinning and twirling         b.  Dance around her apartment, usually grinning and twirling         c.  Dance around at work, usually with others who share in her elation, all of whom                begin grinning and twirling.         d.   Put on progressively skimpier outfits, usually tacky. 6.      It all falls apart again. Repeat step #4. 7.      Brittany finds that to not be a victim, she must be stronger, so she finally musters up some inner strength, leaving her job, boyfriend, and anything else that has been interfering with her abilities to unabashedly dance, grin, and twirl around. 8.      With newfound inner strength, she finally finds happiness comes her way again. Non-stop giddiness and twirling ensues, probably to an already overused song in the movie.

So, that?s the next movie.  Here?s the plot of this one:  Brittany Murphy stars as Stacy, who lands a job as an associate producer for a prurient daytime talks show which is always looking for increasingly scandalous and provocative material to put out for its undiscriminating viewing audience.  One of the subjects kicked around happens to be ?little black books?, and the secrets men keep in them, unbeknownst to their significant others.  It just so happens that Stacy gets a hold of a Palm Pilot belonging to her new beau, Derek (Livingston, The Cooler), and finds the numbers of former girlfriends, some of whom seem to still be in contact with him, although he never tells Stacy about any of them.  Her new best friend and co-worker, Barb (Hunter, Moonlight Mile), urges her to try to dig up more information, getting Stacy to meet these mystery women, in order to get to the bottom of this jealousy that is consuming her.  Perhaps the biggest problem with Little Black Book that I have is that the makers of it somehow make the antagonist of the film the victim.  Now, you may be thinking that Stacy?s supposedly philandering beau, Derek, is the bad guy, but no!  The bad guy is none other than Stacy herself, who is so blinded by jealousy that she does everything within her power to destroy Derek?s relationships with any other female other than herself.  She masquerades as different people in order to meet these women, using guile to extract information on them, and manipulates them into more bad feelings toward Derek.

 She pries through Derek?s most private belongings, and is especially keen on a box clearly marked ?Private Stuff?, which she insatiably tears through for more evidence to accuse him with.  She even smashes his up his answering machine for fear that Derek would hear a message from his ex that she doesn?t want him to hear.  Although she had no idea her behavior would be fodder for the daytime talk show, instead of showing some backbone and backing out of the show that seeks to ruin the lives of four probably innocent people, she goes through with it, raking them over the hot coals like a good little soldier.  The fact that she later turns the mirror on the makers of the show is only in the aftermath of completely decimating the psyche of victimized people who deserve much better. 

Yet, through all of this, director Nick Hurran seems to feel it is Stacy that is the one who suffers, and not any of the people she destroys.  Stacy is the one who feels pain, walks around in anguish, and mopes about in shattered pieces.  What?s laughable is that she absolutely has no reason to, since she is the catalyst for everyone?s depression.  So, when she realizes that she has used, abused, and torn apart her relationship with these four people, no apologies are given.  It is SHE who is the one who must overcome these things.  Even though she is the jealous, scheming, manipulative witch, Stacy is just a victim.  Poor, poor Stacy! Perhaps just as offensive as the twisted themes is the half hour commercial for Palm Pilots that exists within the construct of the movie.  The Palm Pilot isn?t just used as a device for Stacy to find the names, number and addresses of former girlfriends  NO!  Almost every conceivable cool feature of the device must come into play, so that everyone in the audience who doesn?t own one will say, ?Hey, that contraption is pretty damn cool!  I gotta get me one of them Palm Pilots!?  Such out and out whoring to sell a product grows progressively worse as the film proceeds, where we watch all of the bells and whistles come into play.  Linking up, sending photos, wireless interactions, synching with desktop computers, and almost every other neat idea must be shown for us all to see, most of which have no real relevance to the story at large.  Is this a romantic comedy with a product placement tie-in, or is this really a commercial disguised as a movie?  I would bet my bottom dollar that this film?s foundation started as the latter and they built a movie around it. A lesser offense, but one which merits mentioning, is the additionally obnoxious perversion for all things Mike Nichols.  There are incessant allusions to Nichols’ much better film covering similar territory, Working Girl, from the poster Stacy keeps at her desk to its theme song played repeatedly, if anything, it only makes you want to wish you had put that one in your DVD player.  Just by sheer coincidence, Stacy is also a fan of newswoman Diane Sawyer, alluding to wanting to meet her a dozen times.  No coincidence that Sawyer just so happens to be married to none other than – Mike Nichols! 

Finally, completing the trifecta is the lovefest that Stacy and her mother have for Carly Simon and her music, which is featured in nearly every damn scene of Little Black Book, including an ill-advised cameo appearance by the actual singer, which is supposed to make for a happy ending.  Thankfully, she introduces herself as Carly Simon, because audiences everywhere probably would have wondered what was so significant about Stacy meeting Steven Tyler.  And just what is the tie-in to Mike Nichols?  Carly sings, ?Let the River Run?, which happens to be the theme song from Nichols? aforementioned Working Girl.  Just what does any of this have to do with a woman trying to find out if her boyfriend is seeing his ex-girlfriends?  Oh joy! It?s absolutely nothing!  It pleases only the makers of this film, and that?s all that counts! Little Black Book is an astonishing example of just what is wrong with most Hollywood romantic comedies.  It?s the kind of movie where the producers read marketing reports to find out just what will click with target audiences, and they do their very best to include all of these things in the movie, regardless of how contrived they must make the plot to include them.  Marketing reports suggest these audiences like Brittany Murphy (Oh, she?s so silly!), Ron Livingston (Yay! It?s the guy from Office Space!), guys with dogs (That Bob is soooo cute!), daytime talk shows (Ricki Lake is a goddess!), and gossip (Ooh!  Girlfriend, you better hold on to that man!). 

Complete adherence to sights and sounds created strictly to illicit emotion in the audience, regardless of whether or not it has anything to do with the story at hand, is all that is on the agenda.  Just like the ?think tank? that is responsible for the crass licentiousness that are daytime talk shows, the group that cobbled this patchwork of contriving commercialism and brand tested pabulum commit sins just as nefarious as the ones they rail against.  Don’t get suckered in.

 Qwipster’s rating:
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DOWNLOAD MOVIE Desperate Hours Just $2.99 for a complete movie! No additional software or browser plug-ins required! You can play them for unlimited number of times whenever you want. Downloaded movies will work perfectly on any PC, DVD player, PDA etc.
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Desperate Hours
I noticed one reviewer say "Bogey does it again". While I would agree
that Bogart did a great job in the picture, I really feel the
outstanding role was actually played by Frederick March. Bogey was
menacing and that’s certainly nothing new. But March, playing a sort of
"every man" role who unexpectedly rises to the occasion in the end
really stood out for me. It was a sort of metaphor for the capacity
within us all to stand up to injustice and look for our own inner
strength.

The plot is VERY simple. An evil gang takes a family hostage while
hiding from the police. However, what makes the film stand out is the
exquisite writing and acting that follows. This film really gives you a
lot from such a simple plot.

Be sure to watch the ending–it really delivers!

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Little Mermaid, The Reviewed By Tony Hansen Posted 11/09/07 09:48:39

"The Little Mermaid" is Rotten Sushi" (Pretty Bad)

It?s been all of 18 years since the theatrical release of "The Little Mermaid," and finally, now that the dust has settled, the mermaid fever has subsided, and its substantial audience has had a bit of a chance to digest the film, it seems clear that what the world really needs right now is to read another review of this 1989 Disney offering. People are clamoring for a well researched, incisively written, and amazingly thought-provoking piece of criticism. Humankind needs the truth, the real truth, raw and unfettered by fuzzy feelings and soggy nostalgia. Unfortunately, this is not such a review. On the contrary, this is an examination full of hunches, uneducated guesses, and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants intuition. Concepts like ?logic? will not be used, and the original Hans Christian Anderson text will not be considered. But does Ariel deserve any better? "The Little Mermaid," with all its magic and pluck, presents its fish princess as nothing more than a socially irresponsible and destructively inconsiderate brat. And all of us, filled with enchantment, sat and smiled.It has been stated that this film was the beginning of a new Disney renaissance. Following the success of The Little Mermaid, Disney produced such films as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Tarzan. With these filmic accomplishments, Disney, once again, became relevant. After the creative nadir of the 1980s, the studio began to make something greater than simple animated films ? they created event pictures. The result was a decade in which palpable excitement existed for each Disney release. And while this sense of anticipation has eroded with the rise of so many exceptional competitors, Disney remains a name that you can trust . . . mostly.Writing, specifically, from a purely scientific viewpoint, it seems impossible that such an objectionable film create such offspring. How does a bad tree produce good fruit? Perhaps, this question is best left to our pop culture theorists. Perhaps, we may never know. Some might hypothesize that the answers rest with the clever marketing of the film or, maybe with the perky, hummable soundtrack. Whatever the reasons, the simple unavoidable truth is this: people like the movie. They do.But they shouldn?t. The Little Mermaid is an animated feature that carries with it a protagonist who is completely odious and, perhaps, irredeemable. Ariel lives her life as a mermaid princess with no respect for the feelings of others. She is selfish and irresponsible. Even in the first few scenes of the film, Ariel demonstrates her flair for heedlessness. As the central figure of an underwater Broadway-like production that is meant to showcase her budding talents, Ariel fails to take part in the rehearsals. She also fails to take part in the performance itself, leaving her sisters in quite an embarrassing situation. Certainly, they have practiced a great deal in an attempt to please their father. Their singing and choreography demonstrates this. But, the practice is wasted. Undoubtedly, the pain of this moment for Ariel?s sisters must cut deeper because of the fact that Ariel seems inexplicably to be King Triton?s favorite. One can only speculate as to why this is the case. Ariel doesn?t have a mother and, maybe, as the youngest child, she reminds her father of the married life that he once had. Also, and unfortunately, there is the chance that King Triton respects Ariel?s essential joie de vivre. While caring for her well-being, he secretly admires her freedom and youth. Not knowing the intricacies of mermaid mores, it is difficult to ascertain with certainty any type of truth on these issues.However, we know what we see, and what we see is an incredible disrespect, not only for Ariel?s father/king, but also for those whom she calls friends. Again, early in the film Ariel is instructed by her father not to go to the surface. It?s dangerous and, as a loving parent, he cares for her safety. But, to put it frankly, Ariel doesn?t care about her father?s wishes. She only cares for herself and nothing will stop her in her pursuit for human contact. In chasing this dream, Ariel also puts her friends in danger. She takes Flounder through shark-infested waters in an attempt to get closer to humans, whose garbage she is hording in an underwater cave. After Sebastian enters her life as a chaperone, she continues on her decadent ways without caring how her choices will affect Sebastian?s standing with the king. While King Triton loves his daughter, he also proves to be vengeful and impetuous, which are not exactly the ideal traits to work under for Sebastian, especially if you are doomed to fail.In a jarringly ironic scene, Sebastian pleads with Ariel to change her ways. His entreaty comes in the form of a song. ?The seaweed is always greener in somebody else?s lake,? Sebastian opines. ?You dream about going up there, but that is a big mistake. Just look at the world around you, right here on the ocean floor. Such wonderful things surround you. What more are you looking for?? It?s truly a lively, plucky tune, and Sebastian attempts to amplify its affect by arranging it as an accompaniment to a dynamic dance sequence, featuring a diverse group of undersea life. But it has no affect on the selfish princess. In fact, she leaves in the middle of the song. Here is the irony. During a sparkling performance that makes the human viewer want to join the sea, Ariel?s resolve becomes greater ? she will ?be where the people are.? The affect that this decision must have had on Sebastian and the other sea creatures cannot be overstated. What?s wrong with their lives? Are they not good enough for Ariel? Clearly, to Ariel, there is something wrong with their lives. Clearly, they are not good enough. And so it goes that Ariel essentially chooses the prince over her father. Her infatuation with humans usurps any type of feelings that she has for her home. It should be stated now that Ariel is only sixteen years old. The repercussions of this fact are immense. In contemporary terms, she is, after all, underage. It might be legal for her to marry the prince in his culture, but is it right? Is she emotionally prepared to commit to an adult male of a different species? Of course, Ariel is quite precocious, but the film gives no indication that she will have the maturity to handle this change. Interestingly, by following through with these morally questionable actions, Ariel shows as much disdain for contemporary culture as she does for her own culture. She breaks the acceptable standards of King Triton?s laws and does likewise with the elementary values of the viewer. Surely, this should alienate Ariel from all who know her. Yet, somehow, it doesn?t. Apologists may surmise that Ariel?s age explains her impetuous behavior and even justifies it, but it?s certainly undeniable that her actions throughout the film are negative and hurtful. Ariel?s deeds might be understandable, but they are not acceptable. Most shameful of all is Ariel?s insistence on fraternizing and even desiring to become part of a society that is certainly the mortal enemy of her own. After all, the humans eat fish. In fact, as the human society rests on the seashore, it?s clear that the inhabitants of this township depend on shipping and fishing for their livelihood. What could be worse than a sea princess desiring to become part of a civilization that must destroy her own civilization to survive? Ariel, for whatever reason, cannot see the moral and mortal implications of her choices. Surely, a love affair between Anne Frank and Adolf Hitler would be a fair comparison to the deleterious decisions of Ariel. When she receives her legs, Ariel is ethically and literally a fish-out-of-water. She?s sleeping with the enemy. She?s endorsing the genocide that is taking place everyday in the home of her family and friends. To make matters worse, there is always the possibility, and maybe probability, that Ariel will ask the humans to stop eating fish, a request that is both laughable and misguided. What will happen to the human?s economy? How will they survive without their chief source of food? Even after choosing to reject her own civilization, Ariel must make another choice: will she allow the humans to continue to eat her old friends or will she destroy the livelihood of her new friends? Perhaps, the answer comes in a scene late in the film. After Ariel receives her legs, she dines with the prince. In a remarkably horrifying sequence, a food-crazed Frenchman chases Ariel?s friend Sebastian around a kitchen. Sebastian flees onto a plate that is meant for Ariel?s dining party. Following a bit of funny business, Sebastian escapes, but Ariel is left with a quandary. Does she eat the fish that must have been prepared for her or does she refuse to eat someone who could possibly be one of her friends? Later, Ariel?s subsequent choice is made clear, as the prince never mentions any difficulty that Ariel has had living in his kingdom. She must have eaten the fish. Thus, Ariel must have made the conscious choice to become a cannibal. While it?s questionable whether Ariel had difficulty swallowing her friends, it?s clear that fans of The Little Mermaid had no difficulty in swallowing Ariel?s choice. As the main architects of this film, directors Ron Clements and John Musker, as well as screenwriter Roger Allers, have given the people what they wanted. They have created a world where the Anglo-Saxon hegemony rules. To truly live, one must be a European descended white person. This is what Ariel believes. Thus, some viewers might find Ariel?s desires reasonable and tolerable because they are themselves European descended white people. ?Obviously, Ariel would want to be one of us,? these people might assume. ?Why wouldn?t she want to a part of my culture?? Hence, The Little Mermaid succeeded at the box office. This fact produces a grim portrait of modern-day society. Many can?t understand the value of other cultures ? in this case, the world under the sea. With this in mind, clearly, each person who saw the film and left with a smile on his or her face must have felt the inherent acceptability of Ariel?s actions. People need others to want them. Ariel fulfills this need. She wants to be like the culturally dominant majority in America. Yet, the value of this is arguable. What about the richness of difference? What about distinctiveness? To be sure, in a more progressive version of this film the prince might have ended up in the sea or Ariel might have remained among her people after realizing the uniqueness and greatness of her own culture. Interestingly, Ariel?s journey becomes, expectedly, a lateral move. She goes from being a princess to being a princess. For the filmmakers, it would be horrific to imagine Ariel falling in love with, say, a peasant or a lowly farmer. However touching this sacrifice of status would be, it?s not what the audience, this movie?s audience, wants to see. Certainly, these things would have given the film a message and an inimitability one could more fully respect. But Clements, Musker, and Allers didn?t see it that way, and their blindness guided them right into the hearts of millions. Some have said that the process of watching a film (or, in this case, a movie) is less demanding than the process of partaking in any other form of art. Movies envelop us. They require so very little. They give and give, never asking us to take. The Little Mermaid, then, seems like a most gracious philanthropist. It offers cotton candy for the soul, and it does so without any sense of its own shortcomings. Accordingly, we eat, never considering that we are being made fat with the unfathomable, selfish yearnings of a fish. Maybe moral constructs should not be placed on a fictional cartoon character such as Ariel. Maybe successful family movies don?t deserve harangues from not-so-successful film critics. But, it is my belief that, with Ariel?s desire to walk, she is, in fact, standing for something. She represents the lazy and misguided efforts of filmmakers everywhere who believe that frolicking magic, whether it is special effects or dancing, singing anthropomorphized animals, can replace thoughtful excellence. Attentive decency isn?t required. I just don?t want to watch any more whining brats passed off as heroines.Thus, our favorite little mermaid proves to be a self-centered, inconsiderate, possibly racist, cannibalistic, wasted piece of fish flesh. That?s my opinion. And my opinion isn?t wrong.
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DOWNLOAD MOVIE Hostel Just $2.99 for a complete movie! No additional software or browser plug-ins required! You can play them for unlimited number of times whenever you want. Downloaded movies will work perfectly on any PC, DVD player, PDA etc.
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Hostel is screening as part of the Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival. While its “official” premiere is midnight tonight (if you can get to Toronto drop everything and go), its actual premiere was this afternoon. Roth and some of the actors were on hand, screening an early cut of the film which looked like a final cut, with the exception of some minor visual effects which have yet to be completed, and a temporary music score.

Hostel is sick, twisted, disgusting and absolutely brilliant! This is a horror fan’s horror movie. Whatever your tastes are in the genre, this movie delivers.

Hostel tells the story of two Americans backpacking through Europe along with an Icelandic backpacker they picked up in their journeys. The film begins with the trio in Amsterdam, indulging in drugs, drugs, drugs and of course the red light district. Hungry for women and a good time, they meet a Russian backpacker who recommends a hostel in Slovakia. Taken in by the promise of stunning women who love Americans, they trek off to a small town outside of Bratislava. They find the beautiful women as promised but when one of them disappears, they uncover a shocking underground of torture and sadism preying on foreigners staying at the hostel.

Roth quickly rose to horror super-stardom with the release of Cabin Fever, which had its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival four years ago. The movie was picked up by Lions Gate, and went on to earn tens of millions of dollars in its theatrical release, quickly earning Roth praise as the next Carpenter, Craven, etc.

Hostel firmly establishes Roth’s place amongst the elite of the genre. I went into the film uncertain of whether Roth could make lightning strike twice. It is one thing to make a good first feature, but the true test of a filmmaker’s ability is whether he/she can make a quality second feature. Roth not only makes lightning strike twice, but he creates a film that is superior to Cabin Fever.

You need some patience with the film. It takes its time following the characters before they find themselves in the midst of terrifying torture. If you were not familiar with Roth’s prior film, you might think you were watching a youth sex comedy given the Amsterdam scenes of the film. Once the characters get the sex, drugs, etc. out of the way, they go through some of the most terrifying sequences ever captured on film.

The film is brilliant from its most basic concept. Horror thrives in isolation. From the depths of space to a cabin in the woods, horror is at its best when the characters have little chance for escape. This movie creates isolation by putting Americans thousands of kilometers away in another country. Anyone who has ever traveled in foreign countries will relate to the feeling – so far away from home, in a country where people speak another language. If trouble arises, help is not a simple “911” away.

The acting in this movie is very good. The scenes of torture are gruesome, but what makes them so hard to watch is the performance of the actors - tied to a chair as someone comes at them with various sharp instruments. The actors sell the fear. Their screams are unnerving, and the performances will stay with you when the film is over. You may not recognize the actors, but that adds to the film. You don’t immediately know who the main character will be.

The torture scenes are also gory as hell. Wes Craven once said that in order to fear the film, you have to fear the filmmaker. This definitely applies to Roth, who is not afraid to show graphic, disturbing images and enough blood and appendages to satisfy any gore-hound. The screening I attended today, however, is the unedited director’s cut. It will be interesting to see how much of the scenes survive once the MPAA takes a look at it (apparently they will be screening it tomorrow).

If you are a fan of horror you must go see this movie. Send the message to the studios that sick, twisted horror is not just for direct to DVD releases. Horror like this belongs on the big screen.

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DOWNLOAD MOVIE Flags of Our Fathers Just $2.99 for a complete movie! No additional software or browser plug-ins required! You can play them for unlimited number of times whenever you want. Downloaded movies will work perfectly on any PC, DVD player, PDA etc.
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“The right picture can win or lose a war.”

The Movie:
There’s no denying the impressive breadth of Clint Eastwood’s ambition in making two back-to-back WWII films, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, each telling the story of the same infamous battle but from different perspectives. It’s a conceit that had been attempted previously within individual movies, notably 1970’s Tora! Tora! Tora! about the Pearl Harbor attack, but dividing the two sides into their own separate films enhances the purity of vision of each, presenting each viewpoint in its entirety without having to constantly switch back and forth between them. Unfortunately, anyone who’s seen the two will tell you that the American half of this diptych, Flags of Our Fathers, is certainly the weaker of the pictures artistically. While that’s true, it’s the combination of the two halves that make a unified whole stronger than either piece individually. Watching Flags of Our Fathers first makes Letters from Iwo Jima a richer, more involving experience.

Based on the non-fiction book by James Bradley, whose father participated in the famous flag-raising on Mt. Suribachi captured in the iconic photograph, Flags portrays a generation of young American men eager to fight for their country and save the world, unsure and unprepared for the horrific conflict in front of them. What seemed surely to be an overwhelming force of American might and technological superiority invaded the tiny Pacific island of Iwo Jima to face 12,000 Japanese defenders packed into an 8 square mile area, dug in, fortified, and proud to die protecting their sacred homeland. The battle was prolonged and bloody, thousands of men on each side torn to pieces in grisly combat. Eastwood stages the assault with imposing passion and realism. The extensive visual effects convincingly recreate the scale of the invasion, and the director never shies away from the grittier aspects of war.

But this isn’t just a combat picture. The movie also attempts to tell the story of the flag-raising itself, or rather flag-raisings, and the implications and aftermath of their public exposure. The initial squad of soldiers sent to mount a flag on the mountaintop did so as ordered, only to have it taken down and replaced with a larger flag set up by another squad. It was this second flag that was caught on film by photographer Joe Rosenthal and distributed worldwide as a symbol of American victory and hope. Three of the soldiers in the photo (the three not killed in subsequent fighting) were promptly shipped back home to America to go on a promotional tour to sell government bonds and raise money for the war effort. Faced with sudden fame and labeled heroes by a grateful public eager to shake their hands, these young boys were paraded around the country as mascots, ordered to sell a story written for them regardless of the truth. On the one hand, their performances did genuine good in raising money desperately needed by the military, but on the other hand they also trivialized the real tragedy of the war at a time while their brothers were still being killed in vicious combat. Each man faced this moral quandary in his own way: one with stoic conviction, one with enthusiastic attention hogging, and one wracked with guilt.

It’s juicy material, and the movie has very noble intentions in tackling it. The problem is that the screenplay by William Broyles Jr. (Jarhead) and Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby) is basically a mess. The picture begins and ends with sequences set in contemporary times where the elderly soldiers recount their stories, the war a giant flashback between these bookends. Within this are a further series of flashbacks and flash-forwards to various points during the invasion, before the men shipped out, during the bond tour, and at many other times throughout their lives. The structure is needlessly complicated and confusing, the constant jumping around making it hard to get a handle on who the characters are. Worse, the characters themselves are thinly sketched stereotypes with only the faintest hints of depth or complexity. Though the performances by the likes of Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, Barry Pepper, and others are solid, we barely get to know who these men are, and often have trouble telling them apart from one another. Phillippe’s character, “Doc” Bradley, is the least defined of all, which is strange considering that he’s meant to be author James Bradley’s father so you’d expect him to play the most important role in the picture. The dialogue in non-combat scenes is clunky and unconvincing. Eastwood’s direction throughout the movie is assured, but too many of the domestic scenes are uncharacteristically melodramatic, especially the grating voiceover and cloying flash-forwards to the present day, which foist on us a tedious subplot about author Bradley writing the book and some really drippy father/son bonding crap that just has no place in this film. At a little over two hours in length, the movie also feels at least half an hour too long.

On its own, Flags of Our Fathers is a well-intentioned but deeply flawed war film. It has some terrific sequences, but is burdened with a problematic script and lack of focus. As the first half of an important pairing with the superior Letters from Iwo Jima, however, it takes on greater meaning and resonance. Put together, the two works form a fascinating portrait of an important moment in world history.

The HD DVD:
Flags of Our Fathers has been released on the HD DVD format as a 2-Disc Special Edition by Dreamworks Home Entertainment (distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment). A comparable Blu-ray edition is also available. Due to complicated financing arrangements, the movie’s Japanese counterpart Letters from Iwo Jima is distributed by Warner Home Video, who have released that film on both High Definition formats on the same day that Dreamworks released Flags.

The Flags disc automatically opens with a lengthy HD DVD promo that can fortunately be skipped but is a nuisance. If you should pause or fast-forward/rewind the movie during playback, a timeline meter will appear on screen to tell you how far along you are.

HD DVD discs are only playable in a compatible HD DVD player. They will not function in a standard DVD player (unless the disc is a Combo release that specifically includes a secondary DVD version) or in a Blu-Ray player. Please note that the star rating scales for video and audio are relative to other High Definition disc content, not to traditional DVD.

Video:
The Flags of Our Fathers HD DVD is encoded on disc in High Definition 1080p format using VC-1 compression. The movie is presented in its theatrical aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 with letterbox bars at the top and bottom of the 16:9 frame.

Paramount and Dreamworks deliver a truly stunning High-Def transfer for Flags. The picture is razor sharp with a terrific amount of detail. The movie has an intentionally bleached photographic style, largely desaturated but with tightly controlled use of colors, which is captured on disc with the utmost precision. Black levels and shadow details are richly defined, lending a solid sense of depth. The minimal presence of film grain is well compressed and never noisy. There’s not a sign of edge enhancement or digital compression artifacting anywhere to be found. The video on this HD DVD is simply perfect.

The Flags of Our Fathers HD DVD is not flagged with an Image Constraint Token and will play in full High Definition quality over an HD DVD player’s analog Component Video outputs.

Audio:
The movie’s soundtrack is provided in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 format. Paramount has yet to support the lossless Dolby TrueHD format (as Warner offers on the Letters from Iwo Jima HD DVD), but even so there’s no faulting the quality of the sound mix here. War movies like this offer a virtual playground for sound designers, and the battle scenes in Flags create an incredibly directional and immersive soundfield. Planes swoop from speaker to speaker, rifles crack, and explosions rock the subwoofer. Sound effects are crisply recorded and delivered with excellent fidelity. Dialogue is perhaps a little low in the mix and the non-combat scenes are much quieter than those during the invasion, thus making the action scenes almost deafeningly loud in comparison, but I’m sure that was intentional. This is a very impressive audio track.

Subs & Dubs:
Optional subtitles - English, English captions for the hearing impaired, French, or Spanish.
Alternate language tracks - French DD+ 5.1.

The bonus features on Disc 2 offer the same subtitling options as the feature on Disc 1.

Extras:
The bonus features on this HD DVD title are duplicated from the DVD edition, though all are presented here in true High Definition video using VC-1 compression. All of the supplements from the 2-Disc Special Edition DVD have carried over.

There are no supplements on Disc 1. Aside from the movie itself, everything else is found on Disc 2.

• An Introduction by Clint Eastwood (5 min., HD) - The director explains how he was affected by the book, some of the background of the story, his attempt to capture a generation, and what it was like visiting Iwo Jima (”It’s not a place for sissies”, Eastwood declares).
• Words on the Page (17 min., HD) - Author James Bradley talks about his father and his inspirations for writing the book. His father never once discussed the war or the flag-raising: “My dad had a lot not to talk about”. Screenwriters William Broyles Jr. and Paul Haggis are also interviewed.
• Six Brave Men (20 min., HD) - Profiles of the real men the story is based on.
• The Making of an Epic (30 min., HD) - A fairly good overview of the project’s origins, Spielberg’s role as producer, working with Eastwood on set, casting, costumes, production design, editing, military technical advisors, staging the battle sequences, and shooting in Iceland.
• Raising the Flag (3 min., HD) - The historical accuracy of the re-creation is analyzed.
• Visual Effects (15 min., HD) - Effects artists from Digital Domain stress their emphasis on photorealism for this project. Many before-and-after comparisons are shown. The scale of the visual effects work in the finished film is quite amazing.
• Looking into the Past (9 min., HD) - Vintage newsreel footage of the battle on Iwo Jima and the war bond tour.
• Theatrical Trailer (2 min., HD).

Note that Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima were also released together on DVD in a 5-Disc Commemorative Collector’s Edition box set that contained an exclusive “Heroes of Iwo Jima” bonus disc. The contents of that extra DVD (an A&E Channel documentary) are not included in the HD DVD edition of either film.

Final Thoughts:
Although I had some issues with Flags of Our Fathers as a movie, the HD DVD edition has sterling picture and sound quality, as well as an impressive selection of bonus features in true HD video. Even with its flaws, the movie is an essential preamble for the superior Letters from Iwo Jima, and the combination of the two together make an indispensable package. For that reason, Flags comes highly recommended.

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Million Dollar Baby (HD DVD) - Clint Eastwood, Paul Haggis
We Were Soldiers (HD DVD) - Barry Pepper, war
HD Review Index
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“Catch a Fire” sounds like an awfully familiar story, and in some ways it is. Movies on the nightmare that was South Africa under the apartheid system and the heroic efforts made to resist it are hardly new, and it is difficult to avoid a sight-unseen dismissal of this latest example as too familiar and too late. Which would be a mistake. What that analysis doesn’t count on, though this story is way more than twice told, is that it has never been told by Derek Luke. The young American actor gives such an intense, passionate performance as South African Patrick Chamusso that he just about dares you not to be involved with the tale he is telling. ADVERTISEMENT Also true is that stories of South African resistance, like stories about the Holocaust, are so various and so simultaneously disturbing and heartening that they bring a built-in viewing interest with them. Yes, as written by Shawn Slovo, some elements of Chamusso’s story feel facile, even schematic. But despite the occasional blip, when Luke’s performance is joined to the confident direction of veteran Phillip Noyce (”Rabbit-Proof Fence,” “The Quiet American”), “Catch a Fire” does not fail to ignite. More than that, this story set in South Africa a quarter of a century in the past turns out to have pointed parallels to the world situation today. The use and value of questionable interrogation techniques, the arrogance of those in power and how those elements combine to politicize innocents and create opposition where none existed before are all touched on here. After a brief prologue set in 1991, “Catch a Fire” spends most of its time in 1980, when Patrick was a cheerful young South African who gave the political situation in his country not so much as a second thought. Happily married to the beautiful Precious (Bonnie Henna), with two young daughters and his mother to support, Patrick is a classic go-along-to-get-along guy, fully engaged by his family, his love of soccer and his job as a foreman at the critical Secunda oil refinery. In fact, Patrick is shown having such a good time at a wedding that it’s clear something bad is going to happen. Driving home, he is stopped at a police roadblock set up after a bombing and needlessly humiliated in front of his family. Intercut with scenes of Patrick’s life and work are glimpses of the public and private Col. Nic Vos (Tim Robbins), a member of the Police Security Branch’s anti-terrorism squad. The colonel, who considers his country and his family to be in immediate danger from the Moscow communists he is sure are running the African National Congress, is both proud of his job and quite good at it. In movie terms it’s inevitable that the paths of the these two men will cross, and that is what happens when a bomb goes off at the Secunda refinery and Patrick is arrested as the terrorist who did the deed. “Catch a Fire” has taken pains to show that Patrick is innocent and also to reveal the glitch in his personal life that compromises his alibi. The colonel, a specialist in mind games who treats suspects like lab animals to be manipulated, is sure he’s got his man and acts accordingly. Robbins does as well as anyone could playing the equivalent of the sympathetic Nazi, but despite obvious attempts to humanize him, the colonel’s emotional range as a man firmly on the wrong side of history is finally too narrow to allow for a fully realized character. Derek Luke, on the other hand, best known for his Independent Spirit Award-winning lead performance in “Antwone Fisher,” brings a maturity, gravity and even fury to his richest role to date. It is difficult to say whether it was intentional or not, but to see how the techniques of state-sanctioned torture turn this innocent into a revolutionary activist surely has a message for those in power today. Adding this to Forest Whitaker’s marvelous performance as Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland,” fall 2006 has turned into a season of African American actors doing great work in African roles. We should all be grateful it has. kenneth.turan@latimes.com ‘Catch a Fire‘ MPAA rating: PG-13 for thematic material involving torture and abuse, violence and brief language. A Focus Features release. Director Phillip Noyce. Writer Shawn Slovo. Producers Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Anthony Minghella, Robyn Slovo. Cinematography Ron Fortunato, Garry Phillips. Editor Jill Bilcock. Running time: 1 hour, 42 minutes. In general release.
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