2007, from best to worst

Note: This is a running list, and is not to be considered completed yet.

300 [9-March-07]

Superbad

Enchanted

Charlie Wilson's War [23-Dec-07]

Hairspray

Waitress

Sicko

Ratatouille

The Hoax

Live Free or Die Hard [30-June-07]

Reign Over Me

The Simpsons Movie

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix [18-July-07]
Knocked Up [10-June-07]

Black Snake Moan [26-Feb-07]

Ocean's Thirteen [8-June-07]

Music and Lyrics

Transformers

Surf's Up

Talk to Me

Rendition

Fracture [12-April-07]

Bridge to Terabithia

Meet the Robinsons

Blades of Glory [14-Oct-07]

Evan Almighty

Catch and Release [5-Aug-07]

The Nanny Diaries

Because I Said So

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry

Smokin' Aces [2-Aug-07]

License to Wed [4-July-07]

Wild Hogs

Mortensen digs deep in new role

A CHAT WITH VIGGO: Violence, reality -- and the nude scene everyone's talking about

It was Tuesday - but more to the point, Sept. 11 - when Viggo Mortensen called from New York City to discuss "Eastern Promises," the new David Cronenberg thriller he stars in.

"It's strange to be talking about movies," said Mr. Mortensen. "It seems on one level to be quite frivolous. It should be a day to be quiet and reflective, I suppose."The former Watertown resident, who graduated from Watertown High School in 1976 and from St. Lawrence University, Canton, in 1980, said he's been thinking about how New Yorkers persevered in the six years since the World Trade Center attacks and how they're "thinking a little more about family and friends and valuing life a little more."

"Sometimes there are tragic events that happen to us," he said. "The main thing is to keep on, not to ignore what's happening, to learn from it."

Mr. Mortensen, who starred in Mr. Cronenberg's 2005 Oscar-nominated "A History of Violence," said the Canadian director's work is being labeled as gratuitously brutal by some critics, perhaps because of ongoing sensitivities following 9-11.

But Mr. Mortensen disagrees, saying that the reviewers are reacting to Mr. Cronenberg's skill at depicting "the emotional consequences" of the violence.

"In reality, when you look at 'History of Violence' or 'Eastern Promises' in the context of other movies," Mr. Mortensen said - reciting a list that includes "The Departed" and the "Bourne" triptych - "those movies have a much higher body count and much more screen time devoted to violence. It's because of the way they (the Cronenberg films) are shot that they seem so realistic."

The conversation has circled back to Sept. 11 reflections, in a way.

The violent scenes are "not a gratuitous part of the story," said Mr. Mortensen. "Life is that way. To not show it honestly is irresponsible."

In "Eastern Promises," Mr. Mortensen portrays Nikolai, a Russian-born chauffeur serving an oppressive Eastern European crime family working in London. Nikolai crosses paths with Anna (Naomi Watts), a midwife looking for information about a Russian Jane Doe who died while giving birth at her hospital.

The deeper Anna digs into the mystery girl's diary, the more she unknowingly rankles the unseemly criminal syndicate that Nikolai works for.

Mr. Mortensen said Nikolai is a character with secrets, which creates intrigue for the actor.

"I try to find out what's not written in the script," he said. "There must be reasons for the character's behavior."

For Mr. Mortensen, research involved traveling for weeks in Russia, reading Russian books and poetry and listening to Russian music.

"That's the part of being an actor that I enjoy the most - the preparation," he said. "It's like going to the college of the world: languages, cultures, points of view. And getting paid for it. It's really a luxury."

Although Mr. Mortensen demurred on details, he noted that he arranged visits with "the kind of Russians that are more or less from that world where my character comes from."

Mr. Mortensen said he noticed that the criminal class spoke a unique Russian, peppered with slang, which he tried to incorporate into the film. The actor became fascinated by their tattoos, "this old school criminal symbology," which offered coded details about their underworld status.

Mr. Mortensen said he sent a copy of "The Mark of Cain," an Alix Lambert documentary about tattooing in Russian prisons, to Mr. Cronenberg and encouraged "Promises" writer Steven Knight to incorporate tattooing into the script. That element is now a major aspect of the finished film.

Nikolai is inked from head to toe, which is never more apparent than in a four-minute scene in which he is attacked in a steam room. The scene has generated advance buzz for its candid displays of Mr. Mortensen nude.

"I guess it helps when there's something that gets people's attention," Mr. Mortensen said. "Once they get in there (to see the movie), they're going to see a lot more. They're going to be highly entertained. It's exciting, it's entertaining. It's thought-provoking. At the end, you've gone on a heck of a ride and you want to know more. It's very layered. I'm very proud to be in the movie because it's a very good movie."

Up next for Mr. Mortensen is "Appaloosa," a buddy Western directed by and co-starring Ed Harris, who partnered with Mr. Mortensen on "A History of Violence." Shooting starts next month in New Mexico.

Exuberant musical 'Hairspray' hits all the right notes

HAIRSPRAY
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
CAST: John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nikki Blonsky, Christopher Walken
DIRECTOR: Adam Shankman
RUNNING TIME: 1 hour, 47 minutes
INDUSTRY RATING: PG for language, some suggestive content and momentary teen smoking.

Exorbitance is always fashionable in summer films, so it shouldn't be surprising that a colorful, campy musical like "Hairspray" could appeal to an audience as much as the computer effects-laden action blockbusters that have saturated theaters recently.What may come as a small shock, however, is that this counterprogramming is a toe-tapping delight worthy of accolades usually reserved for films that come out during more traditionally serious months.

"Hairspray" looks fondly at America's naivete through the eyes of Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky), a plump teenager living a near-invisible existence in 1960s Baltimore. Tracy, sporting a Jackie Kennedy-esque bouffant hairdo, is undaunted by the petty comments of slimmer girls that often derail the self-esteem of girls her size these days.

Her aspirations are to dance and sing on "The Corny Collins Show," a local after-school variety program that features teenagers who look like Aryan models.

Tracy's fantasy is supported by her wimpy father, Wilbur (Christopher Walken), but terrifies her agoraphobic mother, Edna (John Travolta). When she tries out for the dance program, she's immediately marginalized by Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer), the Cruella de Vil who manages the show and is grooming her own diva daughter (Brittany Snow) for the spotlight.

But Tracy impresses the younger contingent, including her not-so-secret crush, Link Larkin (Zac Efron), when she borrows the dance moves of her black school friends at a post-tryout bash.

Tracy becomes a local sensation, which emboldens her to challenge Velma's bigotry by organizing a pro-integration march with Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah), the hostess of the defunct "Negro Day," which was formerly featured monthly on the "Corny Collins Show."

This story, of one girl refusing to bend to the will of a myopic authority, is mainly the brainchild of director John Waters, who wrote and directed the original 1988 film. The controversial filmmaker probably saw his version of "Hairspray" as a satire of those teenage movies that ramrod their social messages.

Adapting the original "Hairspray" into a Broadway musical and then back into a mainstream film likely diluted Mr. Waters's original intent. Before "Hairspray," the filmmaker had challenged the decency of almost everyone - and everything - with his NC-17 rated camp/trash classics like "Pink Flamingos."

"Hairspray" was the con job that Mr. Waters pulled on the mainstream by continuing to be subversive, only this time in a PG setting.

Mr. Waters cast the transsexual Divine as his Edna, whereas Adam Shankman opted for John Travolta. Mr. Travolta will elicit a lot fewer questions about gender roles from the younger audience, which is just one of the ways this version of "Hairspray" is more homogenized than the original.

I'm not faulting Mr. Travolta for not being any more androgynous than he can possibly make himself. He gives cross-dressing his best effort and wholeheartedly embraces his return to musicals, latex fat suit and all.

Edna is either the most courageous - or most embarrassing - thing Mr. Travolta has ever done. The verdict may be out for a while, although I'm inclined to favor courage if only because I've watched him in calamities like "Battlefield Earth" and "Lucky Numbers."

Mr. Travolta is partly responsible, however, for the only musical dud in the film, "(You're) Timeless to Me," a chaste duet with Mr. Walken. While it appears Mr. Travolta was forced to warble his lines because of his 30 pounds of padding, I'll blame the big-band arrangement, which strays more toward chintzy than electrifying.

It is Ms. Blonsky, a newcomer to both stage and screen, who makes the best impression during the remaining tunes. She isn't a manic diva subjecting audiences to the kinds of caterwauling we endured in "Dreamgirls." Instead, her character's boundless optimism translates well into charming solos like "Good Morning Baltimore" and "I Can Hear the Bells."

At the risk of offending the sensibilities of a "Hairspray" purist, who will believe that any new songs are automatically inferior, I'd say "Ladies' Choice," with its Bo Diddley beat, had my feet tapping the most.

The "Hairspray" songs are not only catchy, they're sprinkled with humor. The advance screening audience was howling with laughter over little nuggets like Penny Pingleton's (Amanda Bynes) vow of love for her new black boyfriend. "Now that I've tasted chocolate," the pigtailed girl sings straight-faced, "I'm never going back."

If that suggestive reference sails right by your children, I'd wholeheartedly recommend this film for the whole family.

Hopkins, Gosling give their all to ‘Fracture’ and its iffy plot

FRACTURE
2 stars out of 5
CAST: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, David Strathairn
DIRECTOR: Gregory Hoblit
RUNNING TIME: 1 hour, 52 minutes
INDUSTRY RATING: R for language and violent content

Gregory Hoblit’s “Fracture” is a nauseating thriller with a “world-gone-crazy” plot in which our hero is unable to convince anyone important of the villain’s treachery until he outsmarts the evildoer at his own sick game. It’s the plot that makes the true getaway at the end, leaving head-scratching holes in its wake.
“Fracture” could be considered the clumsily crafted retread of Hoblit’s own “Primal Fear” but with the roles reversed. We root this time for Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling), a slick, ambitious deputy district attorney who looks and sounds as if he’s just descended from a John Grisham novel.
Willy is just days removed from joining a high-powered corporate law firm when he agrees to prosecute one final case for the Los Angeles bureau. It’s an attempted-murder case with a seemingly open-and-shut conclusion: a weapon has been recovered at the scene and the prime suspect has offered two confessions.
Anthony Hopkins, no stranger to inhabiting murderous personas, is the defendant, Ted Crawford, an aeronautics expert who shoots his wife (Embeth Davidtz) mere hours after discovering himself to be a cuckold.
As is often the case in the movies, things are not exactly as they initially appear. Ballistics reports indicate the weapon recovered by police was not fired, casting a pall of doubt over the prosecution’s theory.
“Be careful with this guy. There’s something not right about him,” Detective Nunally (Billy Burke) tells the cocksure attorney. Sure enough, it’s the once-meek defendant who unexpectedly drops the trial’s biggest bomb: Nunally, the agent who took his confessions, was also the one diddling his wife.
Beachum, we have a problem.
This cat-and-mouse execution of the film is tantalizing, because it plays to the strengths of Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Gosling. Septuagenarian actor Hopkins raised the neck hairs of many with his chilling portrayal of Hannibal Lector, obscuring his nefarious intent with a deceptively placid persona and a belittling smile.
Consider Ted Crawford to be Hannibal’s less psychotic brother. To both, Mr. Hopkins brings a revelment in surgically deconstructing adversaries and preying upon their unexpressed fears.
Despite his stature in the pictures, Mr. Hopkins does not trample his co-star. Mr. Gosling is a charmer who helps audiences look past his characters’ youthful arrogances, as he did in “Half Nelson.” Ironically, it was those same arrogances that got Mr. Gosling his comeuppance in “Murder by Numbers,” a film in which he executed, not prosecuted, the perfect murder.
If Mr. Hopkins is indicative of our cinema’s rich history, Mr. Gosling undoubtedly represents its promising future. When these two colossi lock horns during their few scenes together, the results are often powerful.
Mr. Hopkins launches the first salvo during a tense jailhouse interview with his younger rival. He offers an unnerving account of his predilection for fracture mechanics, the exploration and understanding of flaws inherent in human design.
“You look closely enough,” Crawford sneers at Beachum, “you’ll find everything has a big spot when it can break sooner or later.”
That would be a good observation about this story line as well. We tend to overlook the leaps of logic necessary as the narrative builds toward a climax. But the ending requires us to reconsider the entire plot, including what specific events would have needed to occur in order for Crawford to have his perfect defense.
I recall what Roger Ebert wrote about “Arlington Road,” a conspiratorial thriller that also hinged heavily on several random events occurring for the proper payoff.
“(It) is a thriller that contains ideas,” the critic noted. “Any movie with ideas is likely to attract audiences who have ideas of their own. But to think for a second about the logic of this plot is fatal.”

2006, from best to worst

Note: This is a running list, and is not to be considered completed yet. (But we are almost done!)

Little Miss Sunshine [19-Aug-06]
The Departed [15-Feb-07]
Notes on a Scandal [21-April-07]
World Trade Center [10-Aug-06]
United 93 [26-Jan-07]
Babel [22-Feb-07]
Scoop [30-July-06]
Thank You For Smoking [15-April-06]
Mission: Impossible III [6-May-06]
Letters from Iwo Jima [3-Feb-07]
Children of Men [11-Feb-07]
Volver [15-April-07]
Stranger Than Fiction [7-March-07]
An Inconvenient Truth [8-Dec-06]
The Pursuit of Happyness [14-Jan-07]
Superman Returns [2-July-06]
Dreamgirls [21-Jan-07]
Marie Antoinette [22-Feb-07]
Flags of Our Fathers [18-March-07]
Crank [1-Sept-06]
Casino Royale [10-Dec-06]
The Science of Sleep [15-Feb-07]
Sherrybaby [30-Jan-07]
This Film is Not Yet Rated [1-April-07]
X-Men: The Last Stand [29-May-06]
The Prestige [16-April-07]
Rocky Balboa [15-April-07]
Blood Diamond [29-March-07]
The New World [?-Jan-07]
A Prairie Home Companion
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest [10-July-06]
Click [25-June-06]
Inside Man [26-March-06]
Fast Food Nation [6-March-07]
The Illusionist [5-March-07]
Hoodwinked [22-Jan-06]
------------------------------RECOMMEND LINE------------------------------
The Black Dahlia [18-March-07]
Who Killed the Electric Car?
The Holiday [29-March-07]
Miami Vice [19-Jan-07]
Game 6 [31-Jan-07]
The Good Shepherd [5-April-07]
The Last Kiss
The Breakup [03-June-06]
The Da Vinci Code [23-May-06]
The Devil Wears Prada
Shut Up & Sing [8-April-07]
Idiocracy [30-March-07]
Find Me Guilty
Man of the Year [14-Oct-06]
The Lake House [19-June-06]
The Notorious Bettie Page [13-April-07]
Trust the Man [22-Feb-07]
Invincible [26-Aug-06]
Friends with Money
Borat [11-Nov-06]
Mini's First Time
For Your Consideration [8-March-07]
Clerks II [6-Jan-07]
Poseidon [13-May-06]
The Sentinel [21-Apr-06]
Snakes on a Plane [XX-Feb-07]
Art School Confidential [4-April-07]
School for Scoundrels
Over the Hedge
The Zodiac [10-March-07]
My Super Ex-Girlfriend [21-July-06]
You, Me and Dupree [16-July-06]
The Benchwarmers
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby [4-Aug-06]
Employee of the Month [18-March-07]
Nacho Libre [1-July-06]
RV [28-April-06]
The OH in Ohio
Date Movie [19-Feb-06]
Failure to Launch [12-March-06]
Running With Scissors [10-Feb-07]
The Pink Panther [12-Feb-06]
Grandma's Boy [7-Jan-06]
Farce of the Penguins [28-March-07]