StaisilD

by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

UPDATE - I SAW THIS A SECOND TIME WITH A BETTER ENDING AND I HAVE UPPED MY GAME FOR THIS NEW INDI 2008 SKULL Flick.

The Ending in the new cut i saw today uses a non Hollywood ending that I truly hope Steven keeps it the final cut you see next weekend.

and no he doesn't die? or um? Lets just say this new ending does not follow the reagan formula - and for that reason I have upped the star factor.



I saw Shia Labeouf last sat night at the dress for SNL - and he told us there would be this secret screening that night. Of course we all ran the screeing on 40th street and saw the bone.

With the franchise and Spielberg not shying away from the original subtext of the franchise (the Reagan conquest) - Indi and his boy make for a fun play on the same metaphor this time around.

Dr. Jack Wheeler is a legend. he was the inspiration for the famed movie character.

While Jack has often been called a "real life Indiana Jones" and is part of the mix of historical figures Stephen Spielberg used (along with his own imagination) to create his fictional hero -- "Jones" is cartoon fiction and Wheeler is real.

In the 1980s he conducted a series of extensive visits to anti-Soviet guerrilla insurgencies in Nicaragua, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Laos, and Afghanistan, and to democracy movements in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, becoming an unofficial liaison between them and the Reagan White House. Based on his experiences with anti-Soviet insurgencies, he developed the strategy for dismantling the Soviet Empire adopted by the White House known as the "Reagan Doctrine. " It worked.

Dr. Jack Wheeler is virtually immeasurable as the architect of the Reagan Doctrine, he is one of the handful of men most responsible for the defeat of the Soviet Empire in the 1980s. He served his country as an "unofficial" liaison between the Reagan White House and anti-Soviet insurgents, pro-democracy activists and freedom fighters around the world, in Nicaragua, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Laos, Afghanistan, throughout Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union itself.

With this in mind this new romp with Indi and the kid sticks to that path.

'Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again." says Ronald Reagan

This Reagan Romp is fun - thick with 2008 Republican pride and will take the box office for the next 3 weekends.

Bye George Bush -
hello Mr McCain

Vince
Vmedia UCB

by Dan

If I had to compare this to another movie, i'd have to say American Beauty in the fact that picturesque suburbia is not always what it seems. Beautifully shot, great cast, interesting plot twists. Some people have mentioned the humour. I personally didn't find it funny, at times I even found it quite uncomfortable to watch. Jackie Earle Haley was brilliant as the creepy, self loathing sex offender. One scene in particular in which he goes on a date was very shocking. It seemed most of the characters in the movie were looking for some kind of redemption. A very good movie.

by Dan

A very touching movie with great, realistic performances and very real humour. The death of a hitchiker leads Alex, a man with his own demons to the victims mother, Linda. She is autistic and grieves in a very different way to Alex. Linda insists Alex stays with her at least until 'trash day', because she doesn't like to touch trash. A wonderful relationship blossoms between them, and also between Alex and Linda's neighbour Maggie. Between them, they help Alex come to terms with his past. An incredible movie!

by Dean

A very cool modern take on the werewolf genre. Mixing in a lot of teenage angst as well, the young cast do very well and the werewolf effects are very good.

by scott

williams plays a tv talk show host, very similer to jon stewert, who after bringing up, maybe i should run for president,,, he does, he secures his nomination and goes to work, using his razor sharpe wit to woo the tv audiance and anyone who will listen,but the new polling booth computer voting system is faulty and maybe rigged, so if he wins and ecomes president is it a genuin win, a worker for that company speaks out, and her life is targeted for ruin, wyes this oviously is based on events in u.s when bush came from nowhere and won, as some say due to balled voting fixing, so a interesting concept, williams is great also, doing some great scenes of stand up, to get him self noticed, williams does this perfectly, and is a joy to watch, its never clear wether he will win and take up office, as story is told well and not predictable, and final outcome may be a little mushy for some, but it gets its message across well, a relevent for whats happend in recent past, and great to see williamsfinding great roles again

by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

Indiana Jones does not compare to the character study of the same topics explores in the Spielberg epic, yet done so quietly prefect here in a real Indiana Jones film called THE VIOLIN.

Life-or-death matters are handled with compelling gravity in Francisco Vargas' "The Violin," one of the most powerful movies screened at last year's Seattle International Film Festival.

this Mexican drama takes the peasants' side in dramatizing a 1970s revolt. The script vividly explores the impact of government oppression on three generations of one rebellious family.

Plutarco, perfectly played by 81-year-old Don Ángel Tavira, is never the frail grandfather he appears to be. Managing to play the violin even though his right hand is a stump, he just gets by as a traveling musician, using his practiced performer's charm to smother guards' suspicions and get past checkpoints. (Tavira deservedly won an acting award at the 2006 Cannes festival for this performance.)

After raiding an ammunition dump in a cornfield, Plutarco supplies his son, Genaro, with handfuls of bullets. Distraught by the news that his wife has been captured, Genaro and his son, Lucio, seem increasingly helpless in a situation that only the old man can effectively manipulate.

At first, even Plutarco seems to be getting nowhere. When he discovers a guard captain who loves music and wants to take violin lessons, the ice begins to break ? just enough to allow each man's humanity to become briefly evident. But as the uncompromising finale makes clear, this film is not any kind of heart warmer.

Although it begins with a graphic torture scene that suggests more of the same is coming, "The Violin" becomes increasingly restrained in its use of violence. First-time writer-director Vargas makes a point about brutality, then refuses to dwell on it. The most shattering moment is one character's silent reading of a list of casualties; his changing expressions tell us all we need to know.

Working in black-and-white with a gifted cinematographer, Martin Boege, Vargas creates a darkened fairy-tale atmosphere, especially as campfires light up the faces of the actors and smoke drifts photogenically through forests. Glimpses of village life suggest a timeless quality, especially when the grandfather recites a legend about the origins of war.

Don't leave before the final credits of "The Violin," which briefly goes dark, apparently for emphasis, before it really ends with an expressive coda. The blank moment throws in a touch of mystery. Most likely it's meant as a tribute to Tavira, without whom the movie would be unimaginable.

Move over Indiana Jone THE VIOLIN is the read thing - look for it on DVD ,

Vince UCB
Berkeley Ca Vmedia

by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

Indiana Jones does not compare to the character study of the same topics explores in the Spielberg epic, yet done so quietly prefect here in a real Indiana Jones film called THE VIOLIN.

Life-or-death matters are handled with compelling gravity in Francisco Vargas' "The Violin," one of the most powerful movies screened at last year's Seattle International Film Festival.

this Mexican drama takes the peasants' side in dramatizing a 1970s revolt. The script vividly explores the impact of government oppression on three generations of one rebellious family.

Plutarco, perfectly played by 81-year-old Don Ángel Tavira, is never the frail grandfather he appears to be. Managing to play the violin even though his right hand is a stump, he just gets by as a traveling musician, using his practiced performer's charm to smother guards' suspicions and get past checkpoints. (Tavira deservedly won an acting award at the 2006 Cannes festival for this performance.)

After raiding an ammunition dump in a cornfield, Plutarco supplies his son, Genaro, with handfuls of bullets. Distraught by the news that his wife has been captured, Genaro and his son, Lucio, seem increasingly helpless in a situation that only the old man can effectively manipulate.

At first, even Plutarco seems to be getting nowhere. When he discovers a guard captain who loves music and wants to take violin lessons, the ice begins to break ? just enough to allow each man's humanity to become briefly evident. But as the uncompromising finale makes clear, this film is not any kind of heart warmer.

Although it begins with a graphic torture scene that suggests more of the same is coming, "The Violin" becomes increasingly restrained in its use of violence. First-time writer-director Vargas makes a point about brutality, then refuses to dwell on it. The most shattering moment is one character's silent reading of a list of casualties; his changing expressions tell us all we need to know.

Working in black-and-white with a gifted cinematographer, Martin Boege, Vargas creates a darkened fairy-tale atmosphere, especially as campfires light up the faces of the actors and smoke drifts photogenically through forests. Glimpses of village life suggest a timeless quality, especially when the grandfather recites a legend about the origins of war.

Don't leave before the final credits of "The Violin," which briefly goes dark, apparently for emphasis, before it really ends with an expressive coda. The blank moment throws in a touch of mystery. Most likely it's meant as a tribute to Tavira, without whom the movie would be unimaginable.

Move over Indiana Jone THE VIOLIN is the read thing - look for it on DVD ,

Vince UCB
Berkeley Ca Vmedia

by edwin

An early Bela Tarr film, showing some of what was to come, but overall feeling more like Cassavetes than the Tarr we know today. Shot in characteristic long takes and black and white, Prefab People is far more raw and documentary like than stately.
The film revolves around the lives of a married couple with a young baby and a child. The film begins with as Robi, the husband, is packing up and leaving his wife. He seems to be the obvious bad guy here. The film then moves and they are back together, presumably a flashback to happier times. They are celebrating their 9th anniversary, but happiness soon turns to the wife's tears as she presses him about a job and complains about him having to watch him walk away each day. Scenes continue in this way - he's obviously not a perfect husband; he enjoys his beer, his friends, and wants more from his career. She is a caring mother, but perhaps a nagging and extremely needy wife. She complains to friends that he never sees when they are out that she feels the need to dance, and reminices about her youth. At a dance hall (a trademark Bela Tarr sequence) people dance, while the couple and their friends chat. One of the friends wive's invites Robi to dance, and he does. Meanwhile, the wife is agitated and upset that she was never asked by her husband, despite never making any notion that she would like to do so. In another instance he tells her he's been offered a job abroad in Romania for 2 years that will give him double the pay - they can buy a car and a house. She tells him that she doesn't care about those things and would rather they be together all the time without them than be apart. He's upset, but seeing that she won't budge, says that he will tell his employers no thanks.
It becomes obvious that neither party is perfect, and both are in one way or another at fault for their situation. Finally we return to the opening scene, only this time the camera moves differently and the dialogue is different in parts. Have we come full circle? Was what we saw a flash back? is this a new breakup? Its a clever trick by Tarr to mix things up. The final scene involves the couple buying a washing machine, leaving us to wonder if they are back together again, or if it is another memory.
While this film isn't as assured or stately as the film's he is famous for today, Tarr shows that he really is a masterful director, able to work at any length (the film runs a minute 75 minuets compared to the 7.5 hour Satantango). Prefab People is a very good film, though I'm not necessarily sure its a great one. On its own, it certainly stands above the cut for its raw and realistic emotional punch (The wife cries (numerous times) perhaps the most sincere tears I've seen on film. Her nagging is annoying to us at times, and understood at others. The acting overall is very good all around, especially the husband.
The film certainly can't be said to be enjoyable - it's painful subject matter, and what happy scenes there are are few and far between and short in duration. It's nevertheless a very solid, and nothing if not interesting effort from early Bela Tarr.

by Channelia

Extremely special , entertaining and beautiful . It really inspiring , this movie is something i can't describe a lot and this movie was giving me a 'special' feeling when i watched it , is it from book?I really my type of novel story..

by Ovi

this is a pretty funny comedy with two of the great actors i personally like. Samuel L Jackson and Eugene Levy make a white guy - black guy team based on respect and trust....YEEAH RIIIGHT. It ain't nothing like that. I'd recommend it, since i really liked it.

by Veronique

"china seas" is directed by tay garnett who also helms the classic noir "the postman always rings twice"...it has every gable/harlow formulic element adopted from their former collaboration "red dust": oriental background, racist insinuation, sexist inequality, man's madonna complex with sensual blonde and prim brunette, luscious harlow swoons over reluctant gable whose heart is taken by the demure brown-haired lady, then eventually harlow captures gable back with a twist.

clark gable is gallant captain alan gaskell who discards aside his former flame ,showgirl chinadoll (harlow) with a foul humor, while he re-encounters his long-lost crush for years, refined British dame sybil (rosalind russel). chinadoll attempts to entince gaskell's attention again while she finds him enamour of his english girlfriend who he plans to marry. harlow pulls it off clumsily by insinuating gable's crude disdemeanors at the past on the dinner table, growling about her wretched heart in his cabin, making excuses to approach him by putting her cigarettes in his drawer. she tries everything she could but gaskell still dismisses her as obnoxious, a desperate girl who could hook up with any sailor. while rosalind russuel behaves tastefully as a obedient love interest who withdraws wisely at their confrontation. as harlow groans "i ain't like that english dame who gets brought up to say the right thing, i speak whatever inside my mind"

meanwhile wallace beery is jamesey, chinadoll's courting admirer who schemes to backstab captain gaskell with chinese piracy then captures chinadoll as his own since she has been frequently demeaned by gaskell. infuriated by gaskell's insult when she sneaks to his cabin to warn him, chinadoll steals the key of arsenils for jamesey. then the ship gets robbed for the first time after the trainwreck of typhoon. gaskell's foot also gets swayed tightly by oriental turturer. the villain commits suicide while the blonde bashes out her agony of love as treason confession "yes! i steal your key and give it to jamesey, i would have stood backward back with you, figure it out yourself why i don't, you teach me something i have never known about myself, when a woman can love a man right down her fingertips, she could hate him the same way as well...go call your cop, if you could ditch it out then i could take it!!!!"...then the fabulous line of wallace beery in his last breath would be "loving you is the only decent thing i have ever done in my whole life, even it's obviously a mistake."

"china seas" is more clever than "red dust"..."red dust" is more of gable's concession to the bourgeois values by giving mary astor away to gratify her husband's dreams of marital happiness, and harlow is more like a trophy of solace, a substitute of ease, a woman closer to his proteriat upbringing would make a better spouse as he shamelessly cheers "we're all rotten people in this stinky country". additionally astor's role seems like a pretentious closet bitch who likes to pose goody-goody, and that role has been brought back to life by grace kelly again in its remake "mogaboo"

but "china seas" is a recuperated love of pathos, it is harlow's ignited hatred which hunts gable back as avengeful betrayl is somehow an intensified way to express affections. when he utters sympathetically "you hard-headed crazy little fool", he's hers. so he decides to resign his position in court to rescue harlow from hanging, and also nullifies the chance of entrance into a higher society, "yes! i love her!! but not the way i do you"...as he glances her being sent to the police, she looks up to wave farewell, he smiles warmly then the movies closes.

"china seas" has engrossing melodramaticity, gut-wrenching villainy and the enchanting oriental backset to gloss the scenes. the first shoot of panoramic view of a thousand ships in the china seas is impressing, and the picturesque set of hong kong dock is turbulently prosperous. it has kaleiscopic scenes of orient despite the usage of its disdains to its people, such as the bitter-tongued annoying oriental lady as the stereotyped asian cosmopolitan who humuliates harlow by calling her the cheap liquor before the delicate wine, the lives costed by typhoon catastrophe are all asians who get run over by the giant machine and gable sneers at the chinese pirates who are also the negative oritental stereotype as insidiously inscrutable. put racism and sexism aside, "china seas" is vivid and vibrant with enough dramaticities and exotica to pay audience's interests. and this time, gable/harlow romance is managed in a more chivalric way, and the script does come up with a more proper twist to nobilize clark gable, and more "romantic" in its partriachic pattern.

the wardrobe of jean harlow's is also another fashion accomplishment by adrian, and some dresses harlow wears in "china seas" should have become stylistic milestone. adrian pastiches the styles of occident and orient well in several night gowns with dragon and pheonix upon the backside. except the one dress which bares harlow right breast(a blatant gratitude for male audience), all the other brightful suits are sorta neat and lovely. besides, clark gable also looks very dashing in white navy suit of captain when his "diamond in the raw" phallic image mellows.

by El Hombre

What does an office worker living a dull, routine life without friends or a woman do? Orders one of the life-like silicone love dolls and models it after a female co-worker. More of a hilariously dark psychological thriller than straight-out horror, this is one interesting and deranged film that's unsettling, especially when the main character Kenneth begins to suspect his love-doll "Nikki" is becoming jealous. The addition of a manipulating sex doll always turns the fun level up in any film. Funny and gory.

by Dan

The main point of the documentary was NOT to find Osama Bin Laden, i'm sure many of you gathered that. As a friend of mine said, if the heavy numbered military can't find him how can one man? What this docu-movie does go out to find (and show) is that the majority of people in the Middle East are just like you and me. Parts of the movie were sadening, parts were shocking, but much of it was funny and humane. It has unique elements that make it feel slightly different to a standard documentary without straying from the subject matter. It also opens your eyes to how the citizens of the Middle East view the USA. Morgan Spurlock is an entertaining documentarian. He comes across as incredibly down to earth and is very likable.

by Sancar

The last one by Martin Mc Donagh

by Sancar

the second one by W.ALLEN

by Chuck

Much better than I expected it to be...actually enjoyed it more than the first one! In this one, the kids are summoned back to Narnia - inadvertantly - and discover 1300 years have passed since their last visit and reign as kings and queens of the land. Now Narnia has been decimated by war and the citizens of the land are believed to be extinct. Prince Caspian finds himself on the run from his uncle, who believes his newborn son is the rightful heir to Caspian's throne. When he comes across some real, live Narnians and the legendary rulers of the land, he joins forces with them to overthrow his tryannical uncle and restore the land to its rightful residents. PRINCE CASPIAN is a bit darker in tone than the first film, and is also more violent. I certainly wouldn't recommend taking small children to this one. The talking animals are kept to a minimum, and don't expect to see much of Aslan either (even though he his featured prominently on the poster). Also MIA but for one small but terrific scene is Tilda Swinton's White Witch. The film is full og terrific performances and the film benefits greatly from a largely unknown cast. If a "star" had played Caspian, you would have been too distracted by the actor and not be invested in the character's fate. The special effects are truly spectacular with the blending of live action and animal characters, and the battlefield scenes - while overly familiar by this time - still pack a wallop (though the castle siege is pretty amazing and emotionally upsetting). A very, very good follow-up to THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. Not as cutesy, more depth, more action, more emotion and really light on the religious overtones.

by edwin

Tragic. Hilarious. Absurd. Those three words fit Roy Andersson's Songs from the Second Floor to a 't.' The film was a success at the 2000 Cannes film festival, winning the Jury Prize and gaining critical accolades internationally. The film is entirely unique, and magical creation of Andersson's mind.
The film follows a number of individuals, some of whom are loosely tied together through personal connections, all of whom share in the existential dread and tragedy of life. We have a magician who nearly saws in half a volunteer, a fired employee, a businessman specializing in crucifixes, and another man who has lost his business to a fire (a fire which he admits he started), his family (including a son who has gone mad from writing poetry), and a series of other characters, not least of which a large congregation of businessmen who walk the streets amid a neverending traffic jam whipping themselves with chains. The storey flows through a vignettes, all captured in long shots by a camera that only moves once throughout the film. The city appears abandoned - save for the traffic jam and roaming flagellants. It's grey and dingy, as abstract a city as could ever be imagined. The people who inhabit it are drab and deathly pale - that the film opens with a man in a tanning bed becomes utterly hilarious in its irony as the film progresses.
There are so many scenes of extraordinary surrealist absurdity that if one was to talk about them all they would need many more pages than available here. Let's consider a few of the most memorable though. In one scene, a woman uses a telephone to explain to someone on the other end that she is stuck in traffic, and cannot get out. She is in a bar; outside we see the line of traffic, moving only as slowly as conceivable without standing still. Everything appears grey, totally abstract as from some world where colours have never been invented. The atmosphere is surreal, and I realize as I describe it I do it no justice at all.
Another brilliant scene involves what appears to be the cities entire population as they gather - businessmen and clergymen alike - to carry out the ritual sacrifice of a young girl, meant to stimulate the stagnating economy. Another excellent scene involves the man who has burned down his store, trying to explain to investigators what he's lost, only to be distracted by the passing hoard of businessmen whipping themselves.
For me however the most amazing scene comes last. In a very long take, we see the crucifix man discard a truckload of his inventory in front of the arsonist. He leaves, and the arsonist takes out his large crucifix and sets it down. We realize that 4 or so individuals have been slowly walking down the road in the background throughout the scene. They've been following the arsonist earlier in the film asking for help. This time he throws a can at them to scare them off. To his and our suprise, dozens of other people seem to pop up out of nowhere from the ground in the surrounding feild. What a shot; it's one of the best I've ever seen, and the camera never moves once throughout its duration.
But I digress. What does it all mean? A quick search of movie message boards will lead you to a number of queries; the dvd also apparantly has a commentary track by Andersson himself discussing and deconstructing the sybolism in the film (I have not seen this yet, and as of now am still unsure if I really want to). The film, I think, a scathing satire of modern society and capitalist realism. It's also about the dangers of mixing superstition and reality. Consider the flaggellating businessmen, self-inflicting pain to stimulate the economy. The sacrifice of the young girl for the same purpose; this also simultaneously highlights how corporations expect us to march towards our deaths each day (ie cigarrettes and alcohol, and so on). The man who burns down his business is shown to be greedy throughout, happy he doesn't have to repay a friend when he commits suicide; yelling at his institutionalized son for not understanding that the purpose of life is to buy something and sell it with one or two extra zeroes.
The paleness of the film often suggests that the city is purgatory, and everyone is actually dead. No one seems to listen, and no one seems to no how to get out. People repeat questions and musings again and again without response.
Andersson has been called the slapstick Bergman, and surely is one of the most interesting products of Sweden. He had pulled a Malick like move prior to Songs from the Second Floor, not making a feature film for 20 some years (although he was active in directing shorts, docs, and commercials). His return was a glorious one though, and one that was entirely original, and entirely inspiring. This is a dark and tragic film, but one that is also funny in that darkest of dark, and absurdest of absurd ways.

by xGary

Stanley Kubrick's black comic masterpiece begins as a pseudo documentary describing the numerous nuclear safeguards in place to "defend" the US against attack. In fact, the film was originally intended to be a straight cold war thriller based on the novel Red Alert as Kubrick had become obsessed with the idea of nuclear annihilation after the Cuban missile crisis which occurred the previous year. But upon commencing filming, Kubrick realised it was actually impossible to capture the scale of such an unimaginable situation if played straight and instead concentrated on the inherent absurdities, and it is that inspired decision that is one of the examples of his true genius. Dr. Strangelove himself is rather a peripheral character, sticking only in the memory because of his silly accent and (somewhat overplayed) slapstick. For me the real laughs come in the more deadpan scenes, particularly those involving Sellers' bumbling, stiff upper-lipped voice of reason, Group Captain Mandrake and Sterling Hayden's loopy base commander, and George C. Scott's child-like philandering general. Some may not see the funny side of mutual annihilation, but it's an enduring and classic piece of political satire.