THE PRESTIGE

Drama

BACKGROUND
Nikola Tesla (b. July 1856) was a world-renowned Serbian-American inventor, physicist, and electrical engineer. He is regarded as one of the most important inventors in history and is well known for his contributions to the discipline of electricity and magnetism in the late 19th and early 20th century. In the United States, Tesla's fame rivalled that of any other inventor or scientist.
During the initial years of electricity, Thomas Edison's direct current was the standard used in the United States. Tesla devised a system for the generation, transmission, and use of alternating current and he partnered with Westinghouse to commercialise this system. As such, in the "War of Currents" era in the late 1880’s, Tesla and Edison became adversaries.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Hugh Jackman: Rupert Angier, assistant to a well-known magician
Piper Perabo: Rupert's wife Julia
Christian Bale: Alfred Borden, the third assistant in the act
Michael Caine: Cutter, designer of illusions
Rebecca Hall: Alfred’s wife Sarah
Scarlett Johansson: Olivia, assistant to The Great Danton
David Bowie: scientist Nicola Tesla

REVIEW
A well crafted movie but a bit too long. The acting is first rate and the story a good one but definitely more convoluted than necessary.

CLASSIFICATION
for violence and disturbing images.

MARIE ANTOINETTE

Historical drama

BACKGROUND
Since the 14th century, the future king of France has been given the title of le Dauphin until such time as he ascends to the throne. His wife is known as la Dauphine.

1643 Louis XIV becomes King of France (nicknamed the Sun King)
1682 completion of the Château de Versailles (Palace of Versailles)
1715 death of Louis XIV; Louis XV becomes King of France (nicknamed the Beloved)
1729 birth of Louis XV’s first son, Louis-Ferdinand, heir apparent of France
1754 birth of Louis-Ferdinand’s first son, Louis-Auguste
1755
 birth of Maria Antonia at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna as Archduchess of Austria
 she was the fifteenth child and the youngest daughter of Francis I of Austria and Empress Maria Theresa
 later she became known to history as Marie Antoinette, the French version of her given names
1756 Austria and France became allies in the Seven Years’ War
1765 death of Louis-Ferdinand from tuberculosis; Louis-Auguste becomes heir apparent
1769 in an effort to preserve the fragile Austria/France alliance, it was proposed that Louis XV’s grandson Louis-Auguste marry one of Empress Maria Theresa's daughters
1770 the marriage of Marie Antoinette and Louis-Auguste
1774 death of Louis XV; Louis-Auguste becomes King Louis XVI
1775 –1783 The American Revolutionary War
1787 - 1793 The French Revolution

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Kirstin Dunst: 14-year old Austrian princess Marie Antoinette
Judy Davis: Comtesse de Noailles, Marie’s chief attendant
Rip Torn: King Louis XV
Jason Schwartzman: his grandson, 15-year old dauphin Louis Auguste
Steve Coogan: the Austrian ambassador to France
Asia Argento: Louis XV’s second mistress, Madame du Barry

REVIEW
As the opening credits appeared a contemporary song accompanied them. My first reaction was “Oops, I’m in the wrong theatre” since I expected classical music from the period, baroque or opera perhaps, but not some modern pop tune. But you should hang in because it’s just the Director’s odd choice of music that doesn’t feel right and things return to normal with the opening scenes.

The movie captures the period beautifully with lovely costumes and elaborate sets. Most of the action takes place at the magnificent Palace of Versailles (the “benchmark” for others wishing to build a château) which showcases the opulence of the monarchy of those days.

It’s too bad some more editing was not done; it would have kept the movie to less than two hours. For example, from the time of the Sun King, elaborate rituals were part of palace life including the daily morning dressing of the King and the Queen. This is an interesting footnote to history but becomes a bit of a bore when it’s shown a half dozen times. Similarly meals were served in a prescribed manner but we don’t need to see so many of them to get the idea.

Unlike most movies where the dialogue is a key component to the telling of the story, in this movie it is more often from snatched murmurs that we find out what is going on. It is in a sense like “being a fly on the wall”.

However the overall impression is a good one and well worth putting up with these shortcomings.

CLASSIFICATION
for sexual content, partial nudity and innuendo.

FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS

War

BACKGROUND
Corpsmen are members of the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps. They serve as enlisted medical personnel in a wide variety of capacities and locations, including shore establishments such as naval hospitals and clinics, aboard ships as the primary medical caregiver for sailors while underway, and with the Marine Corps units as battlefield corpsmen.

A runner is an enlisted man given the rather lowly job of being a messenger rather than participating in the battle.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Ryan Phillippe: John “Doc” Bradley, U.S. Navy corpsman
Jesse Bradford: Marine Private First Class Rene Gagnon, company runner
Adam Beach: Marine Private First Class Ira Hayes, an American Indian from the Pima tribe
Jamie Bell: Marine Private Ralph “Iggy” Ignatowski
Benjamin Walker: Marine Private Harlon Block
Paul Walker: Marine Private Hank Hansen

REVIEW
One of the most famous war photographs ever taken, the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima by five United States Marines and one Navy corpsman, is brought into sharp focus (sorry about that) in this epic movie replete with realistic action and moments of insight.

It covers a lot of ground and hits upon one of my pet peeves in movies: the use of flashbacks. Too often it’s impossible to tell which time line we are viewing. In this movie, flashbacks are used frequently (and often unexpectedly) and at times there are flashbacks within flashbacks. This jumping back and forth becomes very confusing unless you take note of the colour rendition:
 the Iwo Jima scenes are monochromatic, almost black and white
 the Stateside scenes have some colour in them
 the post-war scenes are in full colour

Despite the fact it runs over two hours, it does not seem that long which is a credit to the director as there are few (if any) dull moments.

CLASSIFICATION
for sequences of graphic war violence and carnage, and for language.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
High-ranking United States military officers can be readily identified because of the yellow braid worn on the visor of their hats. The common derisive term for these embellishments is “scrambled eggs”. Although great attention to detail is evident throughout the movie, one lapse is evident during a planning session when a low ranking officer slams down the telephone and utters to no one in particular “those damn officers, just because they have scrambled eggs on their chest…” the point being it's not on their chests.

Prior to being introduced to the crowd, the group is waiting below the stands just outside the locker room of the Washington Senators, the American League baseball team. The problem is the team played from 1961 to 1971, some 20 years later.

Immediately before (or just after?) the photograph is taken, the photographer looks up and I think we see the flag from his perspective to be on the left hand side of the men, not the right hand side as published.

P.S.
After taking the flag-raising photograph, Joe Rosenthal took a second one with the group standing at the foot of the raised flag. When later asked if he had staged the photo, Rosenthal not knowing how the first one had turned out, assumed they were inquiring about the second one which he knew he had. “Sure”, he replied and inadvertently began the false rumour that the flag-raising photo had been staged.

Stick around for the end credits to see a collection of still photographs of the real battle. It is worth noting how the movie very closely approximates these.

LOVES ABIDING JOY

Western drama

BACKGROUND
From the Hallmark Channel:
“This made-for-TV film will be presented during the upcoming Christmas season. It is the fourth installment of Janette Oke's award-winning, best-selling, faith-based Western novel of Missie and Willie LeHaye and their journey of faith and survival in the frontier.”

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Logan Bartholomew: Willie LaHaye, homesteader
Erin Cottrell: his wife Missie
Dale Midkiff: her father Clark
John Laughlin: the town mayor and land baron Horace
James Tupper: former preacher Henry
Brianna Brown: his wife Melinda

REVIEW
The first thing that strikes you as unnatural is how everyone so carefully enunciates each word of dialog. However it is the dawdling pace of the movie that makes it seem like it goes on forever. Coupled with some really bad acting (Missie’s dad being the worst) and the very predictable story line, it soon becomes apparent that this is going to be one long haul. Especially when there is a bible-quoting-former preacher around.

I should’ve got up and left at that point and then waited for it to be shown on tv. Then I could change the channel real quickly!

CLASSIFICATION
for mild thematic elements.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
1. At one point Missie is in bed because she is not feeling well. Her father brings her a bowl of soup. Just before the end of the scene, in the mirror behind them you can see someone wave his or her hand, probably signifying “cut”.
2. When Missie goes into the General Store the storefront is in dark shadow but while she’s talking with the owner you can see behind her that the storefront is now in bright sunshine.
3. While talking about the difficulties the family has had to face, Clark says they are “between a rock and a hard place”. This expression was first used in 1917, some 32 years after the movie setting of 1885.

P.S.
Once again a movie seems to suffer in terms of quality when someone is responsible for more than one key position. In this case it was written and directed by Michael Landon Jr.

MAN OF THE YEAR

Comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Christopher Walken: Dobbs' manager
Robin Williams: Tom Dobbs, talk show host
Lewis Black: Dobbs’ speech writer Eddie Langston
Laura Linney: Eleanor Green, an employee of Delacroy Voting Systems
David Alpay: her friend Danny
Rick Roberts: Hemmings CEO of Delacroy
Jeff Goldblum: his legal council, Stewart

REVIEW
This is a bit of a mixed bag. Robin Williams is at his best when given a chance to do his own thing but falters badly when having to deliver some lines written by someone else. Some of the comments/jibes are right on but others are unfunny, having been around for ages or simply in poor taste pandering to the pre-teen crowd I guess.
The supporting cast does a fine job but the editing needs to be addressed: the movie runs almost 2 hours which is far too long as a lot of the dialogue we could do without.

CLASSIFICATION
for language including some crude sexual references, drug-related material and brief violence.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
Eleanor walks past her car which is parked facing the motel unit and gets change from the front desk. She then gets in the car and drives off without first backing up to get turned around.

P.S.
Election of the President and Vice President of the United States is indirect. Although ballots list the names of the candidates, voters are actually choosing Electors when they cast their vote. These Electors, who have pledged to vote for a specific candidate, then cast the official (electoral) votes for those positions. There are currently 538 Electors. Therefore, in order to win the Presidency, it is necessary for the successful candidate to gain 270 electoral votes (a majority of 538).

THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

Drama

BACKGROUND
Milton Obote was a Ugandan political leader who led the country to independence from the British colonial adminstration in 1962. He was overthrown by Idi Amin Dada in 1971.

On June 27, 1976 Air France Flight 139, originating in Tel Aviv, Israel carrying 248 passengers and a crew of 12 took off from Athens, Greece heading for Paris, France. Shortly after takeoff, the flight was hijacked by four terrorists, two from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The flight was diverted to Libya for refuelling then flew on to Entebbe International Airport, about 35 km. from the Uganda capital of Kampala.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
James McAvoy: recent graduate Dr. Nicholas Garrigan
Adam Kotz: Dr. David Merrit physician at the Mogambo mission
Gillian Anderson: his wife Sara
Forest Whitaker: Ugandan dictator General Idi Amin
Kerry Washington: Amin's third wife Kay
Simon McBurney: Foreign Service Officer Nigel Stone

REVIEW
Idi Amin was such a complex man prone to fits of anger one minute then could quickly become the most charming person in the room. His moods changed so rapidly it is a wonder anybody can portray him. But Forest Whitaker gives one of the most riveting performances seen in years. The supporting cast does an excellent job too, but my vote goes for Whitaker.

Based on historical fact, it is inevitable that some of the awful things that took place during Amin’s reign come to light. Several scenes make for unpleasant viewing but if you can handle it, this is one terrific movie.

CLASSIFICATION
for some graphic violence and several gruesome images, brief sexual content and language.

P.S.
The title is so misleading some would write it off and not bother going to see it simply because they have no interest in Scottish history. But the movie has little to do about Scotland other than the fact the young doctor comes from there and Idi Amin has a passing interest in things Scottish.

THE JOURNALS OF KNUD RASMUSSEN

Drama
In Inuit and Danish, with English sub-titles

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Pakak Innuksuk: Avva, tribal elder
Jens Jorn Spottag: anthropologist Knud Rasmussen
and lots of others

REVIEW
After one-half hour all that had transpired was the group sat around in the igloo, had several cups of tea, smoked a pipe or two, someone sang a couple of songs and that’s it.

I simply could not bring myself to spending another hour and half of that stultifying action while peering at the screen trying to read the sub-titles (white letters in a white winter snowscape is not the best choice) so I left.

CLASSIFICATION