Into The Wild

Here we have a subject that must be close to the heart of the movie's director Sean Penn – an angry young rebel sets out alone, to do his own thing. Emile Hirsch gives a convincing performance as a fresh faced college grad who seemed a perfect candidate for Harvard Law School. Instead, he defies his parents by rejecting the money, the new car, the whole thing, and sets off on a grand adventure of going up to Alaska and living off the land. On the way he abandons his old car, literally burns what money he had, and goes on to a series of experiences that were to prepare him for the hardships of a solitary existence in Alaska. He gets there alright -- but one wonders what would drive anyone to do this. It has to be a lot more than the appreciation of the beauty of being fully within nature. It has to be more than the rejection of our materialistic society which was the motive of the old hippies he met along the way. The film does make it clear that it was largely centered on having cruel, ambitious and hypercritical parents. Even the friendship of an old guy who's seen it all, (great cameo by Hal Holbrook), could not deter him from this Alaska thing.

The dominant message is that rejection of human relationships is not the answer. Though it's not much of a stretch to contemplate a future in today's world and find it wanting. It's very understandable if you really look at it. So I'm sure that most people just starting out in the working world will identify with this brave young guy and his sense of adventure. To opt-out of the system may not be any worse than becoming yet another cog in an absurd, rudderless ship. But this is just as much a waste.

Screenplay and Direction by Sean Penn, 2007 USA 8/10

Edward Burtynsky: Manufactured Landscapes

Director Baichwal shows us the work of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky who's big, detailed images are an excellent example of the artist finding beauty in what others see as uglyness and squaller. From China's massive Three Gorges dam project to rusting ships oozing oil on the muddy sea banks of Bangladesh this is a humbling film about the impact of man on the environment. There is a large political statement here yet it is left only to the camera to relay the message. Don't miss the unusual opening sequence, though tedious it strongly convays the size of this new Chinese industrialization.

Directed by Jennifer Baichwal 2006, Canada, 90 mins. 8/10

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

9/10 I didn't know about this movie which was the winner of the PALME D'OR at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. It's a great lesson in Irish spunk. To me this movie begs the question: If we are to achieve greatness as a country, do we need to undergo hardship? After seeing this I can't help but view Canadians as complacent whimps by not standing up to American atrocities in the world. This movie gets the difficult messages across better than the "Michael Collins" movie of ten years ago, despite the difficulty I had with understanding much of the dialogue. I almost wished for subtitles.

Directed by Ken Loach, Ireland, 2006

The Bourne Ultimatum

Matt Damon is a busy guy. And he's perfectly cast as the central character in the "Bourne" series. This trilogy completing installment is just as good as the other two. The high pitched action is directed by Paul Greengrass who also did "Bourne Supremacy".

The nearly seamless action is beautifly shot, too. Comparison could be made to James Bond, but 007 was always fighting foreigners. Here the villain is the CIA. Conservatives will see the movie as: "there's those Hollywood liberals again making Americans out to be 'the bad guys', even if it's just "a few bad apples" . . . it's all pretty familiar stuff. Remember "Seven Days Of The Condor" had Robert Redford being hunted by the CIA because he was onto something that might threaten "the American way of life", like screwing with the world oil supply. Cliff Robertson laid it out perfectly in a rant at the end of that movie.

It is a hackneyed theme, alright. The way the movie ended it certainly looked that more "Bourne" will be coming along. But there will have to be a totally different plot-line.

Directed by Paul Greengrass, USA 2007 8/10

The Queen

What really seemed obvious in "The Queen" was that there was no intention to make anyone look bad. Even Prince Charles comes off as a well-meaning fellow, if somewhat paranoid. Helen Mirren is very much the queen as she indeed delivers an Oscar winning performance, stiff upper lip and all. Quite amazing. It was all about the royals' reluctant reaction to the untimely death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Directed by Stephen Frears, UK 2006 9/10