Fourth Row Center

It’s Memorial Day Weekend, which means the Seattle International Film Festival has come around again. I am settling in for four weeks of new, foreign, documentary and independent film. This first weekend saw the SIFF tribute to Sir Ben Kingsley, the Shakespearean stage actor turned film star whose work includes Schindler’s List , Searching for Bobby Fisher , Bugsy , House of Sand and Fog , Dave , and the Oscar-winning Gandhi . The actor spoke of his craft and many of his roles, providing insight into his work and artistic experiences. Thus far this weekend we have had the opportunity to screen two of the seven (!) new films Kingsley has coming out this year: Elegy and Transsiberian . Today’s program included the North American premiere of Elegy , with Penelope Cruz, Dennis Hopper, Patricia Clarkson and Peter Sarsgaard . Based on a novel by Philip Roth, Elegy is the story of David Kepesh , a writer coming to terms with his inability experience intimacy. Long estranged from his ex-wi...

My friends and I are children of the eighties: we were born much earlier but our formative teenage years occurred during that decade. We had MTV, Thriller and many really cool films, most coming out prior to 1985. The Empire Strikes Back, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark , Return of the Jedi and Temple of Doom. I could name other films, such as Romancing the Stone, Goonies, or Ghostbusters , but they did not hold up in the same way. During the next decade, my friends and I would embark on our next stage of life, and become separated not only by distances but by shared experiences. Perhaps it was fitting that, in 1989, when Last Crusade finished, our childhood hero was riding off into the sunset. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is not a perfect movie. It has scenes that will make you wince, but, as I said over on Creative Loafing , the other three films have a bit of whimsy, and ultimately, you have to allow the films to exist in a world where over the top action ex...

The Seattle Film Festival opened tonight with a premiere of the film Battle in Seattle , starring Charleze Theron, Ray Liotta and Woody Harrleson . The film, about the WTO riots here, opens in September, and represents the first big American movie premiere in at the Seattle Festival since " Braveheart ." They did the whole red carpet thing with Theron, director Stuart Townsend and other cast members, but I decided to skip it. Though a pass holder for the entire festival (I have many, many movies to see over the next four weeks), I elected to take in Indiana Jones with some present and former office cronies at Seattle's Cinerama. What can I say? Harrison Ford is back, and the action never stops. And seeing Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen, the best of the Indy dames) back with Ford again was sheer pleasure. It's a pot luck of elements that have worked well in the first three Indiana Jones flicks, so it often seems familiar. But the lack of freshness and the deja vou...

I post this in honor of the time I tried to introduce Jay to the world of George A. Romero, and it fell flat. In this world, the dead do not stay dead. They rise. They attack. They eat. Romero's first film, Night of the Living Dead , never identified the dead as zombies. Romero even thought of them more as ghouls, but that doesn't matter. The first film crossed social boundaries and began a theme that permeates all of his movies: the dead are just a reflection of the living. In all of his movies, there are a group of heroes trying to survive, only to have the efforts ultimately ruined by the living. Sure, the dead always pose the threat, but it is the living that is the bigger threat. The dead physically prey on the living in the same way that the living preys on each other. Well, perhaps not quite the same – in the case of the dead, when I say prey, I mean eat. The only way to re-kill the dead is to destroy the brain (that's Romero's rule…many have copied it). Dawn of ...

The summer 2008 movie season officially started today with the release of Ironman. I had been planning to see it on opening day, and I took an extended lunch along with one of my employees to see if the coolness of the trailers lived up to the film. It did. In fact, Robert Downey's Tony Stark is possibly one of the best "alter egos" of any of the super hero flicks out since Toby McGuire spun out as Peter Parker a few years back. But I wasn't sure if Robert would sell Tony. Sure, he was perfect as the self-absorbed Tony, but I knew at some point he has to become a hero, and I honestly did not think I was going to buy it. Not quite as big of a gamble as Michael Keaton's Batman, but that was in the back of my mind. I remember reading Ironman, but I do not believe that I had ever caught his origin story. I liked this story. And, with the state of the world, it was very timely. I was never really sure about the circle on his chest and what it was for (beyond giving him...

Tuesday night has somehow become date night round here. The choice of date was to use a free, one day membership to the YMCA, or, go see a movie. Why not combine that movie with dinner and yourself the full package. I hadn't been to the Commodore Theater since Phantom of the Opera , and Cindy was keen to go back again. The Commodore Theater is a restored 1945 Art Deco style motion picture theater says the web site. It also claims fine dining, but I do not think that I have ever had a meal there that could be categorized as "fine." Fried? Yes. Greasy? No Argument. But Fine? Not so much. The only potential downside was that Leatherheads, the George Clooney, Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski, was playing. I saw warning flags when I visited the Leatherheads web site to check the trailer and the site has to explain that John Krasinski is from the hit comedy series "The Office." That's got to hurt, you are the star of a hit show, and no one knows your name. Oh y...

Horton Hears a Who I saw this film with my seven-year-old daughter last night at the old Des Moines Theater. We received a tour of the projection booth prior to the start of the film, which managed to clear up a few things about film projection for my daughter, who was raised in the celluloid-less era of video and DVD. I wouldn ’t say that this film is a perfect adaptation of the Dr. Seuss children’s classic, but it does the job and then some. While Jim Carrey and Steve Carell amount to good casting, and perform well ( Carrey as the speck-protecting elephant Horton while Carell plays the mayor of Whoville ), the inspired casting is Carol Burnett as the vindictive Kangaroo and CBS Sunday Morning ’s Charles Osgood as the narrator. Horton is one of those films that will delight the little ones while at the same time providing some enjoyment for the grown-ups as well. ***½ out of 5

Die Falscher ( The Counterfeiters ), the recent Oscar winner for best foreign film, asks many questions in its hour and forty minute running time, and inspires discussion upon viewing. In what Steve Ritter calls "a good movie," a group of artistic Jews led by Sally Sorowitsch are removed from their respective concentration camps and taken to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp to work in a shop dedicated to the forgery of foreign currency. As the war winds down and Germany lacks funds, they are on a race to copy the American dollar so that Germany can help finance its war effort against the Allies. While others in the camp die around them, the counterfeiters are given regular meals, soft beds, music and treated relatively well. Is their participation in aiding Germany in the war justifiable in order to save themselves from torture and death by gunshot or gassing? One of the counterfeiters doesn't think so, and puts his colleagues at risk when he elects to sabotage the c...

Director Roger Donaldson's The Bank Job is one of the best caper films to come along in a long time. A cunning woman recruits a group of two-bit hustlers to tunnel into a London bank vault, where they hope to score big by emptying the safe deposit boxes. It seems a simple set-up, but The Bank Job is a complex story with a twisting, interconnected plot in which numerous dirty little secrets are tucked away in this same vault and suddenly the robbers have not only the police after them, but the government suits, white collar officials, a crafty madame, crooked cops, a Malcolm X wanna-be and a seedy crime boss. As the plot weaves itself into a tight, well-plotted mesh, the audience finds itself pulling for the bank robbers all the way. Even more astonishing is that the film is based on an actual caper, the details of which were sealed by the British government because of the officials involved with the vaults numerous dirty little secrets. ***1/2 out of 5.

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 .