Two things really bother me, the first being a heck of a lot of voice-over narration. Be brave guys. Film is a visual medium first. Otherwise we'd all be listening to the radio rather than watching film. Try to substitute acting or camera work for some of the narration.

The other problem is the word "assassination." It's one I associate with important positive figures, such as JFK or Martin Luther King. When a cold-blooded killer finally receives his or her due, albeit getting shot from behind by a true coward, the idea of assassination does not leap to mind. I call it being murdered, or simply being killed. Seriously, think about this. If you'd lived in that time and known James, you'd have thought he was an SOB. How'd you like to be around a guy all the time who might rob you or even kill you at the drop of a hat? I'd have thought twice about the title here.

Overall, however, no cold-blooded killer and thief with such a deep-seated death wish has ever been more masterfully portrayed. I've seen all the 2007 lead actor nominees in their various nominated performances. If I'd had a vote, Brad Pitt would have won by write-in, with Johnny Depp coming in a close second.

Charlie Wilson's War is a kind of important idea that doesn't end up very important. Strangely enough, I have a hunch that its being based on the "true story" of how America came to train and back Afghan freedom fighters against the Soviet Union is actually the movie's downfall.

We are taken on a very superficial tour of this strange history of how the US came to actually bolster the efforts of the future terrorists who would ultimately engineer 9-11, and we see -- good -- how we helped undo the Soviets while simultaneously fostering an Afghan friction with the US -- bad -- we abandon them in their recovery.

This glossing over of a tremendously complex historical relationship is, at best, irritating. And being a light slave to the facts brings about the bog-down of dealing with some very unappealing characters, such as Julia Roberts' Joanne Herring, which just makes the whole entertainment value even less.

This really isn't very good, and I surely cannot even recommend one viewing for any fans of Tom Hanks, Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, or, especially, Julia Roberts.

Maybe like me, you listen to music in the car and on your iPod. I sing in the shower -- yes, I do, loudly : ) I whistle a lot when I'm walking around and sometimes hum. I watch MTV, VH1, and all of that. I used to play in a band. Music has been, and still is, a fairly large part of my life, and I'm sure it's a part, even if a small part, of yours.

That's the kind of "musical" Once is: the musical that all our lives are -- music is all around us. And it's a beautiful musical and a wonderful love story. From a scripting standpoint, it's very well-written, running a perfect line between tragedy and comedy. They cast musicians who could act over actors who could do a decent job of singing. Bravo! A brilliant concept -- a very smart choice. This is a must-see, friends, I give you my flixster word.

Just watched this darkly clever twist on the Mary Poppins story twice, and I've plenty to say, in no particular rank order.

1. Kristin Scott-Thomas fans will not want to miss this; it's some of her best work ever.

2. I got into an extended discussion last week with some friends about Rowan Atkinson. I was actively recruiting potential viewers for one of my newly discovered favorites, Mr. Bean's Holiday -- I found I was not exactly preaching to the choir. We agreed on one thing, however, I think: Atkinson, especially as the Bean character, may finally be an acquired taste. I must say that seeing him play the straight man in this movie is quite a different experience than seeing him play the "straight man" as Bean. This character is a little more of this world, if you know what I mean. Thinking about him way back in the Black Adder BBC series days, I remember that there were times, especially toward the end of the series, where he played a character who was more couched in the dramatic than in the comic arena. There are times in this movie even, as when he gives his speech to the convention of ministers, that the tone shifts decidedly from comic to dramatic. I would love, if it exists, to see Atkinson in a pure dramatic role. Know of any? Please suggest one. If no such film does in fact exist, then I would love for him to do one. He really is a consummate actor. Flixsters, it takes a lot for me to put a living actor on my all-time favorite list, but I'm going to do it with Atkinson -- on faith. What a talent.

3. And since I'm doing it with Atkinson, I must say that I'm going to take the plunge and put Maggie Smith on that list as well. Over the past few years I've become so used to seeing her in the Harry Potter movies that it's almost Twilight Zone strange to see her in anything else. Seeing her here, I'm reminded of how great she is and how she has proved her amazing ability and range time and again over the years.

If you're at all drawn to British humor or to dark comedy in general, this one may be a good choice. There are no fireworks, but there is plenty of just plain great actor-to-actor interaction amidst the mayhem.

Have you ever seen a movie so ugly that you wholeheartedly hoped, since cast members were being knocked off left and right anyway, that every single character was killed? Why did Finney and Hawke, or even Tomei get to live? I was very disappointed to see this movie end. I mean it. I wanted at least for Finney and Hawke to die as well. They all earned it. And then, in a touch of brilliant meta-cinema, the gun -- or the pillow -- or the gun and the pillow is / are turned on the director and and the writer.

Note to self: Remember to write suggestion letter to Hollywood regarding the pros and cons of opening with a naked Philip Seymour Hoffman going hot and heavy. Gotta rack my brain for some pros before I can send that letter in though.

Arrgh . . .

"What?" Sorry, friends, Elmo is trying to tell me something. Hold on.

"Say what? . . . Really? Bob Dylan. Shoots. I thought this one was about Dylan Thomas. . . . What do you mean you don't know who that is. Dylan Thomas, the great Welsh poet. What do they teach you guys over there on Sesame Street? . . . Well, no, I guess I wasn't paying too much attention to the movie. Bob Dylan, huh? Now that you mention it, the music did sound familiar. I have to try to pay attention. I'm no multi-tasker. I think I'd better watch it again, Elmo. Fire up the DVD player."

Sorry, flixsters, before I write my review, I have to watch the movie again. I didn't know it was about that Dylan, but that's okay, I'm a big fan of his too. I'll be back.

Update: That's what I get for working on Facebook while a movie is running. Okay, so now I can clearly see that this one is about Bob Dylan, not Dylan Thomas. If there's one thing I appreciate more than anything about I'm not There, it's the soundtrack -- even when other folks are covering The Bob. This is definitely worth one watch for Cate Blanchette's amazing performance. She really does out-Bob Bob. Other than that, we'll it's . . . uh . . . how about . . . hmmm . . . intellectually stimulating. Ah, well, not really. It's clever. See it for Blanchette, and then see Bob in concert to see the currently "real" Bob, or music and concert videos from his past incarnations to see the "real" Bob of that particular moment in time. Yes, Bob Dylan evolves. So do we all.

Enough. Julie Christie pulls off one of her better performances here, but if you want to see a truly moving film about the devastating effects of Alzheimer's, you must see Memories of Tomorrow (Ashita no kioku) with Ken Watanabe.

But tonight (05/19/08) I watched the documentary of the downfall of these writer/director/musician folks behind this project, and well, if I had a recipe, I'd bake it, but it took so long . . . Very sad.

Really, flixsters, the movie still does not . . . make for a . . . worthwhile way to spend your time watching it . . . But what a totally watchable documentary.

In December '06, I gave it one star, but with the additional input of the documentary, darn, I gotta dock it 1/2 star. Really, a project about a-holes by a-holes. And I never give less than one star -- well, almost never . . . But I really need to for this piece of borat, no joke . . .

First, if you are as big a fan of the mass hysteria -- or as Robert Preston might say, massteryia -- hand-held camera movement as I am

: (

then you will appreciate how perfectly Mr. Bean's enthusiastic video camera work warps its way into the whole fabric of this movie. Not only is it very fancifully woven throughout, but it actually works masterfully into the finish with the film premiere at Cannes. Very nifty : ) Atkinson's playing with that video camera all the way through is a brilliant concept.

I'm a big fan of Rowan Atkinson from the Black Adder series days. I also love the first Mr. Bean movie. I cannot see or think of the Mona Lisa without smiling, at least. So please bear with me.

I have not laughed so hard in recent memory as I did in the hitchhiking sequence here, and I caught a chest cramp laughing at the suicide bit. Sorry, now you know two (more) things about me:

1. I may be a very low-brow, low-IQ humor kind of guy, and

2. I may not be a very well person, mentally speaking. I guess you could even conclude that I'm a bit sick, if you like -- yes, I can, sadly, laugh at suicide from time to time.

So be it. I absolutely love this movie. It is the most perfect Atkinson project I've yet seen, and one of the most perfectly executed movies I've seen in some time.

Normally, I would knock off stars for the three flaws I find here. I do not like the lack of concern for others that is foregrounded in Bean's coffee-on-the-laptop accident, nor do I enjoy the intentionality in his oyster-dumping-in-purse move, and I especially dislike the knocking out of the Cannes security guard with the purse. These three incidents are indicative of character flaws that are not acceptable. This is not what Mr. Bean is about, people. Mr. Bean is much more about the man who steps off the train to offer protection to the boy -- and in the grand Everyman tradition that is Mr. Bean, no good deed ever goes unpunished. Had I been in on the editing, I'd have left those three glaring characterization gaffs on the cutting room floor. Give us more of the operatic lip-synch money-raising scheme Bean -- stunning writing and direction.

But I can't deduct stars for these problems. The overall film is superb comedy. It is comedy so finely wrought that it moves beyond Hollywood-esque churned out run-of-the-mill comedy into the realm of first-rate dramatic comedy with a bullet.

You might have heard of the life of quiet desperation. I think I've heard that it could quite possibly be the life many, if not most, of us lead. It is surely Bean's life, and it is the life that those of us who may lead it, might well long to escape. That very end with Bean's seeing the actual ocean -- his one dream -- leading to his romping in the water, finishing with the whole cast singing together in celebration of community -- I kid you not, it brings tears to my eyes just thinking of it.

This, by the way, is the best work Willem Dafoe has managed in a very, very long time, and even his character is "saved," if you will, transcending the mundane, that rut, the sadness of his entrapped small sameness, to celebrate participation in the grand festival that is life shared with others. And who is Emma de Caunes? We must see more of this actress asap.

What a beautifully near-perfect work of art. I gotta put it on my Top 100 list right now.