Fourth Row Center

We find it interesting this year that we agreed on so many of the nominations, considering we diverged on so many of our picks last year. That said, we appear to be back in old form with many of the same opinions on the 2007 crop of films ( The Mist being the one big exception). And our picks weren't way off, either. Here, them, our picks and the results for the 80th Academy Awards: BEST ACTOR Chuck & James: Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood (winner) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Chuck & James: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men (winner) BEST ACTRESS Chuck: & James: Ellen Page, Juno Winner: Marion Cotillard , Le Vie en Rose BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Chuck & James: Tilda Swenton, Michael Clayton (winner) BEST SCORE Chuck: Atonement (winner) James: 3:10 to Yuma BEST EDITING Chuck & James: Roderick Jaynes, No Country for Old Men Note: Roderick Jaynes is a pseudonym for Joel and Ethan Coen Winner: The Bourne Ultimatum BEST ART DIRECTION Chuck & James: Sweeny ...

If you have seen the trailers for this film, which have been around since Transformers , then you really have the complete gist of the film: Blair Witch meets Godzilla. Cloverfield documents the story of a gargantuan monster that attacks New York City and is told from first person pov of a single video camera. The camera operator, and his friends, are trying to rescue a girl, which means they have to go deeper into the city, right to the monster. So, without giving too much more away, the question is, does it work? I believe it did. Ultimately, it wasn't as satisfying as I was hoping, and the very nature of this style of story telling tends to feel "forced." But, I think it works because had this been a simple giant monster movie, who would go see it? Remember Godzilla a few years back? Ultimately, it did not work because the story was all about the monster. With Cloverfield the monster serves to direct where the characters go, and to make that journey difficult....

I saw Sweeney Todd on Broadway in 2005 and was surprised to learn earlier this year that Tim Burton was bringing the Stephen Sondheim musical to the screen with Johnny Depp. This is one review that I fully concur with Chuck on. Like Chuck, I was surprised that Depp can sing but he more than does justice to Sondheim's beautiful songs. Sweeney Todd is indeed quite grisly, yet imaginatively staged with with terrific performances from the entire cast. Alan Rickman, perhaps my favorite villainous actor (Hans Gruber in Die Hard and the sheriff in Robin Hood ) turns in a satisfying performance as the hated Judge Turpin. Not one for the family, nor for the faint of heart. But despite the grim subject matter and gruesome murders, Sweeney Todd is one of my favorite films of 2007. ***** out of 5

Please know two things prior to seeing Sweeney Todd, starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman. First, this is a cinematic adaptation of the 1979 musical of the same name, so, there is very little dialogue that is not sung. Second, there is a lot of squirting blood. And, by a lot, I mean "a lot." With that said, it is a fabulous adaptation. I did not think that Burton and Depp would pull it off. And Burton has embedded his own visual style into the story and it works. The movie opens with Todd's return to London after being imprisoned in Australia by the local Judge Turpin. Turpin, it is told, desired to have Todd's wife, Lucy. With Todd out of the picture, Turpin could seduce Lucy. However, even that goes wrong, and Lucy commits suicide by taking arsenic. Todd discovers that Turpin has taken his daughter, Johanna, as his ward. But, Turpin's true motives are less than noble. Todd determines to take revenge by slitting the judge's throat with...

Frankly, I have not seen a creepier film in a long time. The Mist is the story of a group of people who are entrapped in a grocery store when an unexplained mist settles on the town. And, there are creatures in the mist. What I noticed was the absence of music: there is very little to be found. As the characters begin to understand their predicament, they form off into two groups. One group is led an over the top religious zealot. At first, no one listens to her, but she gradually gathers a following. The second group, the “hero” group, attempts to escape the store and hopefully the mist. The ending was unexpected. This makes three movies from Frank Darabont that I have enjoyed. And, recommend (but not for the squeamish). edit: James and I disagree with this film. Which is ok. I think that in general, horror is really hard to do without falling down into what you usually get in a horror film. I would give the film *** out of five stars. But, check out my comment on James' post.

One cannot help but make comparisons with the two films Darabont adapted from Stephen King’s work, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile . Both are great films, and neither wears the horror badge one usually associates with King. The Mist is a B-movie creature feature that brings to mind some of the best of the genre from the mid-20th century. As a character-driven monster flick, the film works on a B-movie level. Yes, there are plenty of thrills and chills, but The Mist tries hard to be more than it is, and one expects such from a writer/director like Darabont. The film suffers from something of a forced comment on the human condition, on society and religion, a difficult feat to accomplish, what with all the wonderful camp and the nail-biting, scream-inducing chills. To Darabont’s credit, he loses no time revving things up right off the bat, and he sustains the suspense to the last, horrific moment. But it’s that moment, for me, that brings this flawed but creepily entertain...

This year's thanksgiving movie was Beowulf. Or, as I care to think of it: sweet revenge for having to sit through Sense and Sensibility two years ago. I saw the movie with my still blushing bride at the Colonial Mall Cinema in Myrtle Beach. This theater had removed all but two of their 35mm projectors and had them replaced with DLP projectors. Beowulf was also shown in 3D, making this the first full length, non kiddie, 3D film that I have seen. The film is also animated in the style of Polar Express and Monster House. Robert Zemekis directs and bring long time collaborator Alan Silvestri along to compsose the film's soundtrack. Other than the story of ridding King Hrothgar of Grendel the troll, I had no idea of the story. To be honest, it took a long time for me to get into the story. The movie almost took a turn for some unintentional humor as Beowulf slays Grendal without the help of any clothing. It reminded me of the closing scene in Austin Powers where he uses strategicall...

American Gangster is directed by Ridley Scott and stars Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas and Russell Crowe as Richie Roberts. The film is a seventies period piece that tells the story of the rise and fall of Frank Lucas, the American Gangster. Richie Roberts is a New Jersey detective who is placed in charge of a special task force that is trying to discover the source of high quality heroine known as Blue Magic. Lucas, a driver for the Harlem Kingpin, takes over when his boss dies. He brings family members up from North Carolina to distribute the heroine, which he has obtained from a source in Vietnam. Using military transports, he is able to baffle the police, and remain an anonymous figure in the crime world. Robert's task force is unaware of Lucas, and is focusing on the usual suspects, until Lucas makes a simple mistake: he draws attention to himself. Excellent film and highly recommended to catch while it still plays on the big screen.

No Country for Old Men is a riveting and powerful thriller that recalls two the Coens’ best, Fargo and Blood Simple. It is as compelling and suspenseful a thriller as I have seen in a long time. It is near perfect as a Coen film can be, as any film can be, regardless of what viewers think about film's unexpected ending. Josh Brolin is Llewellyn Moss, a hunter who stumbles upon the bloody remains of a drug transaction gone bad, and makes off with a case full of money. He doesn't get far before Anton, a ruthless killer played to chilling effect by Javier Bardem, is hot on his trail. Moss packs his wife off to her mother’s, absconds with the cash, and that’s when things get interesting. And go terribly wrong for just about everyone in this film. The local sheriff, played by Tommy Lee Jones, is pressed with finding both Moss and Anton, following the bloody trail of murder, death and destruction left in Anton’s wake. Jones stands out in this film, delivering a strong, even-handed ...

Funny that James should post about the Russell House Theater. While in college, I worked at the Bush River Mall Cinema, a mall that died and has been replaced with a Walmart. I started working there shortly after my graduation in May of 1986 until the time that I quit for the second time (circa 1989). Besides kicking James out once for sneaking into a Theater (under the influence and guise of Stanley), the best part of working there was changing the marquees on thursday night. I nearly lost a finger on that sign, and I still bear the scar. I changed the sign while Hurricane Hugo was bearing down on South Carolina. And this sign was the inspiration for my first Computer program, ultimately leading to my current career. And, btw, I more than made it up to James who got his free share of movies during this stint, and my next one at Blockbuster Video.

I saw many great flicks at the University of South Carolina's Russell House Theater back in the 1980s. Though it was my number three venue behind the Nickelodeon and the long-defunct Bijou, there were memorable screenings there, including the work print of Blade Runner and my favorite film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid . The marquee for the Russell House Theater was discovered in a pile of junk at the government surplus store on Boston Avenue in West Columbia. Photo by Tim Hill .

Blade Runner: The Final Cut, with Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah, Joanna Cassidy. (1982) How many versions of Blade Runner are there? Anywhere between five and seven, depending on how you’re counting and who you’re reading. It was released theatrically in 1982, and afterward rumor had it that the studio had taken final cut away from director Ridley Scott and made changes. By the late 1980s there was what was then called a “director’s cut” of the film floating around, now known as the “workprint version,” which I managed to see screened back in college. It was different from the theatrical version. It contained no titles, lacked the Harrison Ford voice over, and it there was no Vangelis soundtrack. Instead, this cut of the film had a mish-mash of sampled music which was presumably added by the director to set the mood and tone of his version of the film. I seem to recall numerous differences in how many of the scenes were cut, but it’s been ...

Rendition (2007) Starring Jake Gyllenhaal , Reese Witherspoon , Meryl Streep , Peter Sarsgaard , J.K. Simmons; directed by Gavin Hood. Witherspoon ’s Egyptian-born husband finds himself a suspect in a terrorist bombing and CIA-head Streep orders him nabbed off a commercial airline flight and shipped off to North Africa for some American-style torture. Gyllenhaal is a first-time CIA interrogation observer who comes to realize that the prisoner is innocent of any wrongdoing and acts to make amends. Witherspoon is passable as the grieving angry wife, but she has little to do. Streep dials in a terrific performance, as expected. But the real support comes from Peter Sarsgaard as a senator’s aid who tries to intervene, and Alan Arkin as the politician Sarsgaard works for. The movie stretches a bit in the middle and manages to circle itself once too often (if you see it you'll know what I mean), and I could tick off another half-dozen faults in 12 words or less. Like Gone Baby Gon...

Gone Baby Gone (2007) Starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris; co-written and directed by Ben Affleck. Ben’s brother proves to be the real actor in the family, and manages a performance with some depth which holds its own against performances by Morgan Freeman as a revered Boston police legend and terrific Ed Harris as a tough Boston cop with questionable ethics. Affleck is private missing persons investigator Patrick Kenzie, affable but tough, with plenty of street contacts from whom he gathers his information. He is hired by a grieving family to assist the police in finding a missing, presumed kidnapped, child, and he and his girlfriend-slash-associate take the case, finding themselves up against more than they bargained for. The film moves forward through the first and for most of the second act with smooth predictability -- the likely suspect is introduced, a tough streetwise cop gets angry, time is running out on the missing little girl. Can she still...

Points deducted for a lazy posting last evening. Several years ago, the Ain't It Cool News web site pointed out a sound effect that was used over in over in movies. It was called the Wilhelm Scream (or just the Wilhelm), so named after the character who first had the scream applied to him. Once you see the video below, you will pick it up everytime you hear it. ABC News has a feature article on the Wilhelm.

The Star Trek 5 Effect (ST5E, for those of you in the know) is where watching parts of a movie is better than the whole film put together. So named because I hated Star Trek V when it came out, but came to like certain set pieces of the film. I have, since starting to rent movies from one of many redbox kiosks, now created what I call the Redbox Effect (RBE, again, for those of you in the know). This is when a bad movie, is not so bad, because you only paid a buck for it, and it is not due back until nine tomorrow night. Evan Almighty was influenced by the RBE, and wasn't as bad as I had thought it was going to be. The film stars Steve Carell as a newly elected congressman from Buffalo, NY. He quickly is courted to be a junior sponsor on a bill by congressman Long, played by John Goodman. We come to find out that perhaps Evan's election was somewhat rigged by Long, but that would give too much of the plot away. Besides, we don't want to see Evan the Congressman, no we wan...

Lois Maxwell, 1927-2007. Her credits include: Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy and A View to a Kill.

Halfway into Death Sentence , grieving father Nick Hume, played by Kevin Bacon, leads a group of gang bangers on a rather uninspired foot chase though city streets, alleyways and a parking garage. The scene was shot in downtown Columbia, South Carolina, the location where I once shot a student film, and this was the sole reason I saw this sometimes thrilling but mostly uneven mess. Death Sentence is a riff on the Charles Bronson thriller Death Wish , but this time it’s Kevin Bacon seeking revenge against an urban drug gang for the murder of his favorite son. There are some nice moments here, and theme of what an everyman is prepared to do to avenge the brutal murder of someone he loves is worth exploring on film. But it is never completely clear how Bacon transforms himself from a white collar executive into a gun-toting vigilante. We understand his motivation is simple revenge, but this is thin and leaves more questions than it answers. There is also the problem of the police detecti...

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room! So said President Merkin Muffley to General Buck Turgidson and the Russian ambassador as they scuffled on the floor of the Pentagon War Room in Stanley Kubrick's blackly comic Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb . I never tire of seeing this twisted apocalyptic film, this cautionary tale about the absurdity of war, and I jumped at the chance to see it again on the big screen at Seattle Center as part of a Kubrick retrospective. This is one movie that leaves me not only laughing out loud in places, but giggling like a school girl in others. Peter Sellers' triple performance as Group Captain Mandrake, President Muffley (above, with the Russian ambassador), and the mysterious Dr. Strangelove (top) is among his best work on screen, but it's George C. Scott as General Buck Turgidson who walks away with the big laughs. Scott (famous for his portrayal as Patton) is not widely known as a ...

Following on the heels of his successful Broadway hit "The Producers," Mel Brooks has brought his 1974 comedy "Young Frankenstein" to the stage. "Young Frankenstein" opens on Broadway in November, but we had the opportunity to see the show previewed in Seattle this week. Brooks, who picked up three Tony awards for his stage version of "The Producers," was in town for the world premiere of this latest musical extravaganza. (He is a small man, I was pleased to discover). Brooks, who wrote the songs and co-wrote the book for this show, stays close to the screenplay he and Gene Wilder crafted for the '74 film. The sets and staging are spectacular, and the show brings enough cinematic flair to the stage to make it visually arresting while at the same time "Young Frankenstein" is still very much a stage musical." Together Again for the First Time," "He Vas My Boyfriend," "Transylvania Mania," and the crowd-p...