Community

Bait an Oscar!

Can you write a project our Academy won't resist? Then, share your wit and creativity with our community!

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Author(s): Eyal (N/A)
Filmography

Directed and Written by- David Cronenberg

Cast:

Father: Viggo Mortensen
Old Mother: Meryl Streep
Man: Jake Gyllenhaal
Young Mother (voice and hitting sequence)- Nadia Bell

Tagline: N/A

Plot:

-The movie is filmed as a 'home made' tape-

A family of five, gather round in a child's bedroom. its decorated with balloon's and 'happy birthday' signs. The youngest, is opening his presents, his sisters are looking at him with jealousy. this is the perfect American family.

the family is skiing. The mother is video-taping. the children are a bit older. they ride the same slope many times, they are having a lot of fun.

The father comes home while the two young children (now aged 4 and 6) are acting in a play they set up for themselves. The mother keeps taping the play until it ends, then she goes to the father, accidentally leaving the video camera on. She gets angry at him for being late. The father yells. She tells him to be quiet, she doesn't want the kids to hear. he slaps her.

The Family sits down for a thanksgiving dinner, they pray. Everyone is very quit.

The family enters Disney World. The kids are now aged 9,11 and 15. they ride on all the rides with their father, the mother doesn't ride the rides. she video-tapes the children and father having a great time on the ride. she cries softly.

The Father enters the house with his father. The kids are very happy to see him. he looks very sick and is taken right to bed.

The biggest daughter graduates, the whole family is very excited, but the mother (behind the camera) is very quite.

The mother is sitting in front of the camera, this is the first time she is seen in the movie. Shes crying. She looks old. "My darling children. For years I taped every step of each one of you, the downs and the ups, the good and the bad. I taped everything so you could see it one day and remember what a perfect family we were. I was hidden behind the camera, hoping no one will sense my sorrow, my disappointment from my family, from my life. but now its time to admit the truth."

The film cuts suddenly. Their are a couple seconds of black

A series of video tapings in which the father is hitting the mother, throwing her on the floor, yelling at her.

the mother is sitting in front of the camera again. "I am not mad. I didn't expect you to help me. I didn't expect you to know. and what I'm going to do now is not to punish you. I just cant go on. good bye my beloved children. God bless you with the perfect family I always wanted. And if he does, please, film it for me."

-from this point on, the movie is not filmed as a home made tape-

A man aged 30 is sitting in front of a television. Crying. He rewinds a video tape and then plays it. A family of five, gather round in a child's bedroom. its decorated with balloon's and 'happy birthday' signs. The youngest child, is opening his presents.

The man is that child.

He puts in a different tape. in the tape, He is pulling some children on a sled in a snowy backyard. his wife is filming. next to her stands an old lady, his mother, she looks younger then in the other tape, she is filming.

What the press would say:

"Filmography", David Cronenberg's new film has undoubtedly outdone any of his earlier films. The film, about a "perfect" American family, is filmed mostly as a home-made video.

many, including myself, believed the concept, that started with "The Blair Witch Project", was getting old. but Cronenberg is able to take this concept to a whole new level, from a cool concept for fun movies, to much more than that.

The script, written by Cronenberg, is also wonderful. not many movies can make their audience interested in a movie with a seven minute One-Shot of a family praying and eating. But "Filmography" is able to do it with great directing, a wonderful cast, and its sensitive script. The exposition of the movie makes you feel a part of the family and thats what makes a seven minute dinner scene, interesting to the audience.

Cronenberg doesn't miss a chance to cast Viggo Mortensen, and Mortensen doesn't miss a chance to amaze you, once again, with his wonderful acting. Meryl Streep is able to make her scenes into unforgettable ones.

FYC:

best picture
best director
best original screenplay
Best Actor- Viggo Mortensen
Best Supporting Actor- Jake Gyllenhaal
Best Supporting Actress- Meryl Streep
Best Supporting Actress- Nadia Bell

Author(s): Bryce (CA)
The Hopeless Romantic

Directed by: Barry Levinson
Written by: Simon Beaufoy and Zach Braff
Produced by: Barry Levinson, Greg Daniels, and Ann Ruark

Principle Cast

Zach Braff as Mark Mitchell
Mila Kunis as Anna Dixon
Elizabeth Banks as Dr. Greenwood
Kristen Bell as Amy
Jenna Fischer as Cymone
Jaime Pressly as Shannon

Tagline: "There's no hope in love...just romance"

Synopsis: Meet Mark Mitchell. The timid bipolar failing talent agent who has been chasing after the same girl his whole life. Through elementary, through high school, and through college, Shannon has been the girl Mark dreams about, and the girl he is too afraid to talk to. Mark idolizes the day he can wake up and feel confident enough to ask her out on a date. That day has come. After endlessly searching for her he finally finds her and tells her everything. He tells her about the fantasies, about the "long" nights without her, and the history of his love for her. Mark wakes up the next day, with the image of Shannon's confused and disgusted look as she introduced Mark to her hand, slapping and humiliating Mark in front of a crowd, an image he couldn't imagine forgetting.

Mark's depression becomes more and more out of touch with reality. His psychiatrist, Dr. Greenwood, gets more scared of what Mark might do to himself each time he visits. Mark's infatuation with Shannon leads to stalking her, which leads him to Club Zane, where Shannon is hosting a party with friends. Drowned in obsession, Mark sneaks into the club and easily crashes the party, causing a vibrant uproar as he tries to forcibly kiss Shannon. He's kicked out of the club where he meets the obnoxious lesbian singer Anna Dixon. Anna, intrigued by Mark's wild outburst inside the club, hears out Mark's inner most desires and offers him a unique deal. If Mark helps get her band some respectful gigs she will help him find a new love to replace Shannon. Mark, concluding this could be his last attempt at love, accepts her offer, contemplating suicide in his head if this fails.

Throughout the next few weeks Mark goes through many failing dates. From almost drowning Amy in puke after a tilt-a-whirl incident, or stepping on the toes of Cymone as they dance, each of Marks dates have been going terribly wrong. His depression deepens, and not even his close relationship with Dr. Greenwood can help him. Meanwhile Anna's band has been benefiting a lot from this deal, getting much exposure and great opportunities at stardom. Mark impatiently waits for Anna for the next date setup, but soon learns Anna has called the deal off, leaving Mark to think he will never find that special someone. With the depression flowing through his veins, Mark cuts his wrist, and falls to the floor in a pool of his own blood.

The world fades to a mysterious darkness......But the light eventually shines in his eye as he realizes he is at a hospital. He hears sounds of cheer and joy, and realizes he is being hugged by a crying Dr. Greenwood...A feeling is introduced to Mark. A feeling of satisfaction, a feeling of being calm, a feeling he may have been searching for.

What The Press Would Say

The romantic comedy. A genre that is slowly being withered down by the modern generic romantic comedies that come out today. However, what those films lack is something that Levinson's new film, "The Hopeless Romantic", proves to have. It's a comedy that has the laughs as well as the emotions, and looks at characters that we encounter everyday, rather than characters that feel superficial and consequential. Written by screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty, Slumdog Millionaire), the script is equally parts emotional and endearing. The touch up of the script by it's lead Zach Braff helps make the script's theme more prominent and more comically visual, two things that can be seen in Braff's film "Garden State". This is definitely a come back of sorts for Barry Levinson, crafting one of his finest films since "Rain Man" and "Good Morning, Vietnam". The film is quirky at times, as well as surreal, but I'm guessing these are elements picked up from "Amelie", a film that was an obvious inspiration for the writer.

Zach Braff has been known for his more goofy role as J.D. on the television series "Scrubs", but luckily Braff drew more inspiration from his character in Garden State than his over-the-top Scrubs persona. As Mark Mitchell, he's charming but in a very hopeless way, in a "feeling sorry for him" kind of way. While Mark is a disturbing individual, and the scenes involving his depression are emotional, Braff doesn't overplay this aspect, something that could've made the film feel too depressing. While Elizabeth Banks is ultimately the love interest of the movie, and she plays her role quite nicely as the overly serious psychiatrist, it's Mila Kunis who stands out the most. She plays the lesbian "buddy" of Mark who tries to help him find his love. Kunis' character always appears to have a hidden agenda, even when she makes the deal, making her character mysterious and interesting to watch.

Levinson has crafted a charming, unique, funny, and lovable film, that walks on the borderline of tragic but still manages to give us a vibrant and colorful atmosphere. It's a fun time, and a film that's hard not to enjoy.

Best Picture
Best Director- Barry Levinson
Best Actor- Zach Braff
Best Supporting Actress- Mila Kunis (Lead for Globes C/M)
Best Supporting Actress- Elizabeth Banks
Best Original Screenplay- Simon Beaufoy and Zach Braff

Author(s): Jeffrey (Long Island)
Chasing the Storm

Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz
Written by Mathieu Kassovitz

Mia Kirshner as Olivia
Romain Duris as André
Audrey Tautou as Sylvie
Kate Ashfield as Bethany
and Gérard Depardieu as Laurent

Tagline: It only gets worse when you deny, deny, deny.

Synopsis:

Olivia (Kirshner) decided one day that she was fed up with her job, her life, and her family. She was moving to France. She arrived in Paris with a smile on her face and a giant weight lifted off her shoulders. Her first night there she met Sylvie (Tautou) and Bethany (Ashfield), the former being a raunchy French socialite and the latter being a British tourist. Olivia and Sylvie immediately got along, although Sylvie did not take much of a liking to whiney, anxious Bethany.

The next night was when Olivia met André (Duris) at the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. André was charming, good looking, and funny. The perfect man for her. They quickly developed a relationship together and decided one night to go clubbing with Sylvie and Bethany for Olivia's birthday. While at the club, Sylvie wandered off to dance with a considerably older man, while Bethany drank more than she ever had in her life. Olivia encouraged André to dance with Bethany, who most of the men in the club were staying far away from. He complied, and when he finished he left early to go to work.

Olivia, Bethany, and Sylvie left the club long after midnight. The streets were quiet and barely illuminated. Olivia could tell that they were being followed, but it was too late for her to do anything because Bethany screamed when a gun was pointed at her back. A man's voice hissed at her, "ta geule", but her screaming didn't cease. He shot her dead. He then proceeded to rob Olivia and Sylvie, and gave a sly wink at Sylvie who winced at the gesture. Sylvie asked if Olivia was going to call the police, but Olivia explained that she feared the man coming after her because she gave him all of her identification. Sylvia agreed.

When Olivia came home, she called up André and told him about what happened. André agreed to vouch for her and provide her with an alibi via an acquaintance. She woke up the next morning to a phone call from André. He was in the custody of the police. He explained when Olivia came to see him that after he left the club, he didn't go to work: he went home to plan a surprise birthday party for her. Witnesses had connected him to Bethany when they saw the pair dancing at the club. Olivia knew that she had to become more courageous and went to tell Sylvie that they needed to explain to the authorities what had happened.

Sylvie refused. Olivia thought she she still was nervous about the murderer having their identification, but Sylvie explained that there is a law in France called "duty to rescue". If they are found to have not reported the crime, they could face jail time. Olivia begged Sylvie to help her help André, but Sylvie kicked Olivia out of her home. Sylvie was gone the next day. Not only that, but she had frightened Olivia into remaining silent about the murder. Olivia convinced herself that there was not enough evidence to convict André. Except there was. While dancing with André, Bethany had evidently managed to steal his wallet and phone. His driver's license and cellphone were found at the scene of the crime.

André was locked up for murder. Olivia was devastated and promised him that she would help get him out. She tracked Sylvie down in the south of France, where she told her that if she refused to join her in the confession to the police, that Olivia would just bring Sylvie down with her. Sylvie then reluctantly revealed a secret to Olivia: the man who had robbed and murdered them was her cousin, and he had made numerous threats against her life following their run-in. Meanwhile, in jail, André acquainted himself with the sociopathic Laurent (Depardieu) who let him in on a plan to break out of jail and get revenge on those who had wronged him. When Olivia arrived and told André that Sylvie still could not confess, he decided to go along with Laurent's plan.

Whoever Sylvie's cousin was, he was getting weary of Olivia's wishy-washiness. One night, he broke into her home and attempted to kill her. She fought back, but the man's strength was too much and she was thrown out of the window of her apartment and landed on the street. She died on the way to the hospital. The news hurt André worse than his own conviction.

The two men broke out two years after Olivia's death, and Laurent accompanied André to the south of France where he confronted Sylvie. Sylvie was shocked to learn of her former friend's death, and assured André that she felt guilty that she had indirectly caused it. Laurent hissed in André's ear that he had to kill Sylvie for making him stay in jail for two years. Sylvie pleaded with André to forgive her, against the numbing persuasion of Laurent's manipulation. André pushed Sylvie against the wall and shouted at her, demanding that she apologize for what happened to Olivia. She did, profusely, but André didn't truly care. He threw her out of the window of her apartment just as Olivia had been thrown from hers, and Sylvie died the moment she hit the ground.

Laurent patted André on the back and told him that they had more vengeance to seek.

What the Press Would Say:

Tragedy strikes, but everybody lacks the courage to remedy it. They deny and chase a brewing storm, just waiting to be tossed into a hub of debris. That is a description of the fate of the characters in the Mathieu Kassovitz film, "Chasing the Storm", a story about a woman whose emigration to France takes an unexpected turn with the death of a friend and her reluctance to do anything about it. Her fears only grow in the midst of her personal maelstrom, as complications and poorly constructed evidence places her boyfriend in prison for a crime that she refused to report.

Mia Kirshner, of "The Black Dahlia" and "The L Word" fame, stars as the naïve protagonist who moves to France to escape her monotonous life and gets torn apart by the repercussions of an unreported crime. Kirshner is an underrated actress in general; she will have propelled into stardom overnight after the release of "Chasing the Storm". Kirshner plays her role with casual innocence and poised realism. Kirshner will stun audiences in scenes where she fervently berates her co-star, Audrey Tautou, and she'll win their hearts in her subtle, compassionate relationship with her wrongly accused love interest.

The male lead, Romain Duris, is equally as captivating. Duris' transformation from well-meaning and supportive boyfriend to cold, vengeful cellmate is haunting and memorable. Once of France's most popular performers, Duris is an undeniably dynamic force on the big screen. Another popular French celebrity tackling a demanding role in "Chasing the Storm" is Audrey Tautou. Tautou plays Kirshner's catty, snooty socialite acquaintance whose personal connection with Bethany's murderer forces her to manipulate Kirshner into keeping quiet about the crime committed. Tautou's Sylvie is not a likable character, but she is charismatic and engaging (and she gets what's coming to her in the final act).

Gérard Depardieu is introduced in the final act as a prisoner who corrupts André and molds him into a vengeful machine. Depardieu's character is mentally disturbed and socially detached from the world, making him bitter and dangerous. His past is a mystery, but his motives are well defined and his desires are chillingly executed.

"Chasing the Storm"'s biggest asset is in its revolutionary writer/director, Mathieu Kassovitz, who has already had critically lauded films released such as "La Haine". Kassovitz's screenplay is suspenseful and clever; dialogue is not cheesy, but engaging. Much attention is paid to detail and scenery, particularly to the gritty and horrifying conditions of the prison that eats away at the mind of André. The film is a pleasure to view aesthetically and keeps even those with the shortest of attention spans at the edge of their seats with the help of a talented director and an awe-inspiring cast. "Chasing the Storm" is the film to beat this year come awards consideration time.

For Your Consideration:

Best Picture
Best Director - Mathieu Kassovitz
Best Actress - Mia Kirshner
Best Actor - Romain Duris
Best Supporting Actress - Audrey Tautou
Best Supporting Actor - Gérard Depardieu
Best Original Screenplay

Author(s): Jeffrey (Long Island)
Welcome to Mumbai

Directed by Gurinder Chadha
Written by Gurinder Chadha & Paul Mayeda Berges

Archie Panjabi as Nadine Matondkar
Kal Penn as Ryan Jitesh
Shilpa Shetty as Ramya Matondkar
Matthew Goode as Liam Walker
and Maggie Smith as Margaret Walker

Tagline: Who needs an air conditioner when you can eat Jalfrezi every night?

Synopsis:

Nadine and Ramya are two Indian cousins who are polar opposites. Nadine is timid, successful, Hindu, and ingratiated into British society. Ramya is a confident Sikh and speaks with a thick Indian accent; she also refuses to eat meat. Ramya does not speak English very well and relies on her cousin to provide her with a home and financial support.

Nadine's wedding to her fiancé Liam is just months away, however, and Nadine hasn't had the heart to tell her cousin that she can no longer live with her. Liam is constantly pressuring Nadine to kick Ramya out, and Ramya is not blind to his disapproval of her. In an attempt to mend their relationship, Ramya uses Nadine's credit card to book a trip to her birthplace for herself, Liam, Nadine, and Liam's mother Margaret, a recent widow. Liam initially refuses to go, but once he and Nadine find out that Ramya used Nadine's credit card, he decides that he will go.

The plane ride is an embarrassing experience for Nadine. Margaret insists on arguing with the flight attendants over trivial things such as the thickness of her pillow, and Liam and Ramya argue over what and where to eat in India (Ramya refuses to eat anywhere that condones the consumption of meat). Tired of the bickering, Nadine retreats to the bathroom and meets Ryan Jitesh, who introduces himself as an American doctor volunteering in India. Intrigued by her new acquaintance, Nadine slips away from her own family to sit near him and learn more about what he does.

After the plane lands, Liam and Ramya berate Nadine for abandoning them and interrogate her on where she was hiding. Nadine begins to introduce them to Ryan, but stops midsentence when it occurs to her that Margaret is missing. Liam and Ramya play the blame game with one another, leaving Nadine to search the streets of India for her future mother-in-law (with Ryan, who agrees to help her look). Eventually Nadine finds her a few blocks away from the airport engaged in a traditional Hindu dance with a group of young, encouraging Indians.

This, of course, is just the start of their vacation. Two weeks in India turns into two weeks of hell with non-stop arguing and babysitting a livened Margaret. Luckily for Nadine, however, she has found the perfect way to escape from the pressures of her hostile family, and it's one of the last things she ever though she would be interested in: the culture of India. Accompanied by Ryan, she begins to fall in love with her heritage and even starts to find herself falling a little bit in love with Dr. Jitesh himself.

What The Press Would Say:

Only Gurinder Chadha could make us laugh this much in what is essentially a cultural study: "Welcome to Mumbai"'s plot revolves mostly around one woman's struggle between family, love, and who she truly is. When her cousin books a trip to India, she is thrown into a place that she has tried to disassociate herself from her entire life. Chadha is known for these types of tales: she was the brains behind "Bend It Like Beckham", "Bride and Prejudice", and most recently, the British hit film "Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging". Her newest venture, however, is her most charming, hysterical, and enjoyable achievement thus far.

The film's star, Archie Panjabi, is the breakthrough star of the year (but you may know her for memorable appearances in "Bend It Like Beckham", "The Constant Gardener", "A Mighty Heart", and "A Good Year"; she is most recently seen in "Traitor"). Panjabi is everything that a striking actress-comedienne should be: funny, beautiful, and natural. Panjabi's acting is subtle and she allows her character to evolve from a quiet background figure to a likable and complex friend, cousin, and daughter. The character of Nadine is one of the most likable of the year and that appeal will only help Panjabi's award chances this year.

Shilpa Shetty manages to display a different type of range in her role as Nadine's cousin, Ramya. Shilpa Shetty, one of the most famous Bollywood actresses ever, has a charming role as one of the film's most comedic character and the most dynamic as well. Ramya faces discrimination every day of her life: whether it be for her accent, her religion, or the fact that her cousin's fiancé can't stand the sight of her. In spite of this, Shilpa Shetty maintains a strong composure for her character and takes command of every scene she's in. It's a difficult task to shine as brightly as Archie Panjabi or Maggie Smith, but Shetty certainly holds her own.

Panjabi's quasi-love interest in the film is Kal Penn, who plays Dr. Ryan Jitesh, an American volunteer doctor. Penn has shown both his comedic talent as Kumar in the "Harold and Kumar" series and his true acting chops in "The Namesake". The script and Penn's charm make it obvious as to why an engaged woman would find herself falling for Dr. Jitesh; it's hard to turn away from somebody so captivating and personable. Unfortunately, some things are too good to be true, as the climax of the film reveals that "Dr. Jitesh" is actually no doctor at all (he's just visiting his grandmother!), and thus Nadine is faced with a moral dilemma. Penn plays these types of plot twists off flawlessly. His body language can speak louder than most actors' actual words.

Oblivious to his on-screen wife's rendez-vous with a faux-doctor, Matthew Goode (from "Match Point" and "The Lookout") plays Nadine's British fiancé, Liam Walker. Liam is a wealthy young man who normally would never find himself in India if not for the circumstances presented by Ramya. He's very arrogant and a bit stuck up in the beginning but loosens up as he's forced to wander the streets of India with Ramya many times a day to search for his free-spirited mother, Margaret.

Margaret is played by Maggie Smith, a legendary actress who surprisingly signed on to do a low budget independent Bollywood-style film. Of course, it should come to no surprise considering the impact the script can have on you. Smith is absolutely lovely in her role as the eccentric, carefree, and opinionated mother of Liam. She falls in love with India and its people, participating in local street performances and chatting up whoever happens to pass by. Her performance is reminiscent of her hilarious role in Gosford Park. She adds a touch of humour to scenes that might go off in a more dramatic direction to keep the feel good factor going for the film.

"Welcome to Mumbai" is a light, fresh film that has a sincere mix of humour, family, and love. Chadha has crafted a film for people of all walks of life; whether they are Indian, American, or British, or they're Hindu or Sikh or Christian. Everyone is welcomed in Mumbai.

For Your Consideration:

Best Picture
Best Director - Gurinder Chadha
Best Actress - Archie Panjabi
Best Actor - Kal Penn
Best Supporting Actress - Shilpa Shetty
Best Supporting Actress - Maggie Smith
Best Supporting Actor - Matthew Goode
Best Original Screenplay

Author(s): Al (NY)
Urinetown

Directed by Jay Roach
Written by Greg Kotis and Dan Mazer
Art Directed by Dante Ferretti
Cinematography by Jim Denault
Costume Design by William Ivey Long

Bobby Strong: Zach Braff
Hope Cladwell: Amy Adams
Caldwell B. Caldwell: Richard Gere
Penelope Pennywise: Patti LuPone
Officer Lockstock: Will Arnett
Little Sally: Sarah Silverman
Officer Barrel: Neil Patrick Harris
Hot Blades Harry: Fred Armisen
Becky Two-Shoes: Kirsten Wiig

TAGLINE: "Here, it's not free to pee."

Well, hello there folks. And welcome to Urinetown. Not the place, of course, the feature film! Well, the synopsis of the feature film. What is Urinetown the place, you ask? Well, let's just say it's filled with symbolism and things like that. It's a bad place, a place you won't see until about, say, two-thirds through the movie. This movie's cagey like that. My name is Officer Lockstock, and I'll be your narrator for both this synopsis and the film. But I'm also a main character. Me and my small friend Little Sally will be speaking to you throughout the film. This is called "breaking the fourth wall", and it's a device employed by lazy filmmakers.

But on to the point. See, many years ago, there was a huge drought throughout our fair city. It was horrible. People dying everywhere - made a terrible mess and decreased morale. So an obscenely man named Mr. Cladwell formed a private company called UGC, or "Urine Good Company", that promised to fix the drought by charging the public money to use the bathroom, conserving water. Anyone found violating the "yellow laws" was arrested and sent to Urinetown (the place). It kept things going, but made everyone pretty unhappy. At Public Amenity #9, in the poorest part of the city, things were going the worst. Penelope Pennywise, a very conflicted and three-dimensional character, ruled over it with an iron fist. That is, until her young assistant Bobby Strong witnessed a great tragedy. See, his dad didn't want to pay for his pee, so me and my partner Barrel had to ship him off to Urinetown, the place. What is Urinetown, the place, you ask? You already asked that. Well, he decided to overthrow Pennywise and join together the poor into one rebel force.

Seems Mr. Cladwell didn't take to that real well. He sent out his forces (Barrel and I) to murder Strong's forces. He's a pretty cold-hearted guy. In fact, the only thing known to be able to warm his heart is his beautiful, big-hearted daughter Hope, fresh out of The Most Expensive University In The World. All her life she' s believed what her father told her, but now she might be rebelling. I even heard rumor of a love affair between her and the Strong boy. Unfortunately, Strong and his rebel army kidnapped her from her father to keep their little cause going. Will their love be able to blossom nonetheless? Will Bobby's revolution prevail? What exactly is Urinetown? You'll find out the answers to these and other questions in Urinetown, the movie filled with beginnings, middles, ends, protagonists, antagonists, conflicts, resolutions, and much, much, more.

Awards Campaign: The golden age of movie musicals has passed. It's undeniable. The movie musicals released today are either excessively campy (Hairspray), based on existing properties (Mamma Mia!) or total flops (The Producers, Rent, Phantom of the Opera). But my hope has been restored by the brand-new film musical Urinetown, based on the Tony Award-winning show. It dares to spoof (shock!) well...pretty much everything. I don't have the space to go into the plot, but it involves a people's rebellion against a monolithic corporation that controls every toilet in the city. Yeah, it's not "My Fair Lady". In this day and age, with increasing talk of water shortages and "sustainability", it's even more prescient. Greg Kotis, the musical's original bookwriter, has updated his masterpiece for the silver screen with the help of Sacha Baron Cohen's partner-in-crime Dan Mazer, and it's funnier than ever. Expect to be spitting out your popcorn on the bald man in front of you quite frequently. It really makes those who doubted whether this musical could make the transition believe. The dialogue is masterfully ironic and biting. The sets and costumes are very appropriate as well. The whole thing really comes together under Jay Roach's skillful direction. The blend of Broadway bombast with film precision really makes this movie great.

They really couldn't have picked a better cast, either. I was at first dismayed by the casting of Zach Braff as Bobby Strong, an idealistic rabble-rouser usually played on stage by a handsome type with a mean belt. But Braff really proves himself as more than "than guy from Scrubs", oozing confidence and spirit. He makes you want to get up and protest. And yes, he isn't too shabby a singer. Amy Adams was an obvious but good choice as well for Hope, the innocent ingenue who comes to doubt everything that's been told to her and who carries on a star-crossed romance with Bobby. The entire production is placed directly on her shoulders two-thirds through the movie, and she shines. Richard Gere has a meaty role to sink his teeth into as her gruff father, who just happens to own the very company Bobby crusades against. Will Arnett is a real scene-stealer as the corrupt cop who helpfully narrates the story. His opening monologue is priceless, and he was basically made for this role. Alongside him narrating is Little Sally, a sweet little street girl who is inexplicably played by the foul-mouthed Sarah Silverman. Is Little Sally supposed to be a young girl or a very deluded young woman Silverman's age? It's never made clear, although Silverman provides plenty of laughs. Neil Patrick Harris also shines as Lockstock's sidekick, who harbors the biggest man-crush in the history of American cinema for his old buddy. Fred Armisen and Kirsten Wiig are scene-stealers as Bobby's murderous, power-drunk second-in-commands. The standout among the supporters, however, is Broadway veteran Patti LuPone as the cold Miss Pennywise. Her will-they-or-won't-they thing with Cladwell is priceless, and can I just say that the GIRL CAN BELT. She gets a great solo number, "It's a Privelige to Pee" that actually makes us sympathize with her. Like so many others in the film, she just wants to do her job, get on with her life and just be loved. She is not a bad or mean woman, she is only following the law. Expect this diva in a rare screen performance to get her first Oscar nomination.

Like so many others, I had doubts about this movie, and they pretty much began with the title. But just like the title, the film makes a lot more sense as you get into it, and you'll be a believer in this scrappy little movie-that-could too. We could even see it in the running for a couple gold statuettes, if the Academy's in the mood. Plus, I have the feeling many will vote for it just to hear that title read at the Oscars. Who wouldn't pay to hear the sentence "and the Oscar goes to Urinetown"?

Best Picture (AMPAS)
Best Picture - Musical/Comedy (HFPA)
Best Ensemble (SAG)
Best Director: Jay Roach
Best Adapted Screenplay: Greg Kotis and Dan Mazer
Best Actor: Zach Braff
Best Actor: Richard Gere
Best Actress: Amy Adams
Best Supporting Actor: Will Arnett
Best Supporting Actor: Neil Patrick Harris
Best Supporting Actress: Patti LuPone
Best Supporting Actress: Sarah Silverman

Author(s): Al (NY)
Boomsday

Directed by Jason Reitman
Written by Christopher Buckley

Cassandra Morgan: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Randolph Jepperson III: Aaron Eckhart
Terry Tucker: Christopher Walken
Gideon Payne: John Goodman
Frank Cohane: William H. Macy
President Riley Peacham: J.K. Simmons
Buckminister Trumble: Richard Jenkins

Cassandra Morgan worked herself to the bone every agonizing day of high school to work towards that one goal: Yale University. When she receives a thick envelope, she knows she's got it made. But her opportunistic father Frank, trying in vain to get his dot-com start up off the ground, invests her college fund into his business. Thankfully, he has a solution for her; the Army. Just four simple years and then they'll pay her way into college. But when ambitious Congressman Randolph Jepperson III, the next in a long line of powerful (and pretty screwed-up) Jeppersons, comes in on a fact-finding mission, things quickly go wrong. How wrong? He takes control of the jeep and accidentally drives them into a minefield. Jepperson loses his leg and Cass her chance at Yale. Feeling awful and wanting to keep the incident from getting blown out of proportion, Randy gets Cass a job working under Terry Tucker, the best spin doctor in Washington.

Five years later, Cass has become Terry's protege, learning the ways of P.R. under him. By night, however, she runs an underground blog that crusades against what she feels is a raping of her generation by the Baby Boomers. The boomers lounged around their entire young lives and screwed up their children, and now their kids have to pay for their Social Security. Her blog's viewership is increasing by the day. But after a botched call to arms leads to riots and looting at over six Florida retirement homes and lands her in jail, Cass realizes she can't work alone anymore. So she enlists the help of Terry and Randy, now an even more ambitious Senator angling for a presidential run. With their help, she pushes a crazy new idea into the mainstream; "Voluntary Transitioning", encouragement for lazy boomers to commit assisted suicide, with tax breaks galore. They mean it to be a jumping-off point, to have it start a national discussion, but it unknowingly begins a culture war as people begin to take it seriously.

Evangelical blowhard Gideon Payne crusades against the suggestion publicly, while privately harboring a serious crush on Cass. He also accidentally gets his cardinal friend embroiled in a scandal involving Russian prostitutes and a priceless heirloom. Oh, and he might have killed his mother. President Peacham and his chief of staff Bucky are simply baffled by the response, and consider buying off Randy with a coveted VP slot when he runs for a second term. And Cass' now-estranged, divorced, remarried, and extremely rich father looks to distance himself from her as much as possible now that he is a prominent Peacham donor. And under all this pressure, Cass and Randy finally consumate their sexual tension. How can Cass, Randy and Terry continue to fight the good fight under so much scrutiny? And are they right or are their opponents?

Awards Campaign : Let's just get this out of the way; "Boomsday", the new film based on a book by the author of "Thank You for Smoking", is not for everyone. Just like the proposition the film is based around, it definitely won't go over with boomers. And I highly doubt a film about government-endorsed assisted suicide will go over well in the Bible Belt. But "Juno" director Jason Reitman, (who's quite comfortable with Buckley's work, having directed "Thank You for Smoking") has crafted a tightly-wound film, precise and perfect like the inner workings of a clock. That isn't to say it's robotic. Original author Christopher Buckley's script snaps, crackles, and pops with wit and cleverness, and flows easily from one scene into the next. It retains the satirical genius of the original work while successfully translating it to film.

In one of her first female leading roles in a major studio film, Maggie Gyllenhaal kills it as the rabble-rousing Cass. She really seems to believe in what she's saying, but even the boomers in the audience can sympathize with her. Her performance as Cass in her army days is spot-on and slightly heartbreaking, and later on she transforms into the liberal jezebel we grow to love. Aaron Eckhart, as the Kennedy-esque Senator who becomes her boyfriend, is hilarious and biting, with his constant stream of one-liners and disdain for the weight of his last name. He's at his best here. Christopher Walken is delicious as usual as Cass' father figure. J.K. Simmons and Richard Jenkins shine as the ultimate Washington insiders, and William H. Macy's hand-wringing deadbeat dad becomes pivotal to the story later on. The standout performer, however, is John Goodman, as Gideon Payne. Payne is the love child of Rush Limbaugh and Jerry Fallwell (not literally, of course), and boy, does he have issues. He's madly in love with the very woman he crusades against, and may have murdered his mother as a teenager. He's absolutely disgusting and unlikable on the surface, but somehow he makes the audience discover his soft center and inexplicably love him. He's at his best here.

The perfect cast is tied together with a precise, biting script and conducted by one of the most skilled directors in the business. No, it's not for everyone, but it will definitely be, well, a boom among Gen-X moviegoers. It could even pick up an Oscar nomination or two, definitely for the screenplay and for John Goodman's gut-busitng performance. Just don't take your parents to see it.

Best Picture (AMPAS)
Best Picture - Musical/Comedy (HFPA)
Best Ensemble (SAG)
Best Director - Jason Reitman
Best Adapted Screenplay - Christopher Buckley
Best Actress - Maggie Gyllenhaal
Best Actor - Aaron Eckhart
Best Supporting Actor - John Goodman
Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Walken

Author(s): James Somerton (Canada)
Surge

Directed By Oliver Stone
Written By Oliver Stone

Cast...
Lewis Alsamari as Borok Al-Radali
Kais Nashef as Rassim Al-Radali
Noor Shic as Nahida Al-Radali
Ghassan Massoud as Hatem Masry
Michael Shannon as Sgt. Hank Edwards

Tagline...
"The Sands of The Desert Conceal Many Stories"

Synopsis...
On March 20th, 2003 the nation of Iraq was invaded by the United States Military in order to stimulate a regime change from the tyrant Sadam Hussein, and they succeeded. Five years later they were still there.

Angry and dejected, Borok and Rassim Al-Radali, brothers from a very well off family, plan to join their fellow freedom fighters against the Western menace. Their father has already gone off to defend their land but they have not heard from him in many weeks. Nahida, his wife, is terrified that he has been killed but his sons aren't nearly as scared. If he has died defending his nation, then there could be no better way for him to leave this world. This feeling permeates the small town in which they live. Most people now look at death as an honor, but a very few think of it as nothing but an exercise in futility. Nahida is an educated woman and knows the history of the world. The western Americans have fought many wars and, for the most part, have never really lost. She sees the sacrifices of her people as pointless.

Borok and Rassim will be leaving for Baghdad in only a few days and they seek religious council before departing. Hatem Masry, a well respected Mujtahid, praises the boys for their courage and willingness to sacrifice all for their land and religion. But he warns them that the Western invaders have weapons they do not, and will use Iraqi children as human shields if need be. And the brothers must promise Allah that death will not deter them from their duty. They make the holy pact and begin their journey to Baghdad.

Sgt. Hank Edwards arrives in Iraq after a long tour of duty in Afghanistan. He is highly a accomplished soldier and is one the best guerrilla warfare commandos in the world. As he trains his team to combat the terrorist scum on their own turf, he fights his own battle against the upper brass. His methods of winning these battles goes against everything the United States of America stands for. But he wins, and thats all that really matters at this point in the war.

Nahida sits alone at home, furious at herself for allowing her sons to go off and get killed. She speaks to one of her friends about her feelings and receives a horrified reaction. Angered by her friend's naive religious reaction, Nahida goes home and locks herself in her room, refusing to speak to anyone who thinks that religion is any way to justify death. But after only a few hours her silence is broken by the sound of her door being blown in.

Borok and Rassim storm into Baghdad with a large group of fellow freedom fighters. The Americans dot the streets as they patrol the area. The boys sneak in the back way of a house and run up to the second floor. The room is already peppered with other fighters, all ready and aiming out the windows. Borok goes into a different room, one that is less crowded. He takes aim at a cluster of Americans not far down the street. And then...

Nahida screams in pain as she is torn up the rickety wooden stairs in the middle of town. People surround her and cheer as the man throws her down onto the ground. The hot sun beats down on her black-clad frame. The man grabs her by the hair and pulls her upright, and then the bright sun disappears. She's being pulled by two men now, and stood in place. Somethings around her neck. A loud cheer goes up from the crowd as she feels the ground giving out beneath her. Falling forever in an instant and then nothing.

Rassim rushes into the room to find his brother dead on the ground. A freedom fighter had killed him. But his weapon is different. Its new. The freedom fighter aims at Rassim and he narrowly dodges the barrage of bullets. An American in disguise. Rassim runs into the other room only to find eleven dead bodies on the ground and the remaining four with their weapons aimed at him.

What The Press Would Say...
In Oliver Stone's "Serge", we're treated to a different side of the Iraq War than we are used to seeing. Switching perspectives, we look at the war through the eyes of two young Iraqi men preparing, both physically and spiritually, to defend their nation against invaders. These young men, played by Lewis Alsamari and Kais Nashef, greatly resemble the young American men who were initially swept up in the fervor of the war on terrorism. Most likely half-orphaned, they feel it's their duty to God to defend their nation. Both actors give very powerful performances but Kais Nashef shines as the older of the two brothers. It is his initial decision to go to Baghdad that drives his younger brother to do the same. His mission in life is to protect his mother, who thinks that fighting the Americans is pointless. Nashef's performance is stunning in the final scenes, where he is confronted by American soldiers disguised as Iraqis. With his younger brother dead at his feet, he is forced to kill or be killed; leading to an explosive ending that leaves the audience in shock. Noor Shic plays the Boys' mother and gives a heartbreaking, and ultimately gut-wrenching performance as an educated Iraqi woman whose opinions of the war differ greatly from her fellow Iraqis. She appears to be such a strong woman and refuses to be held down by the men of her town. Her final moments are some of the most terrifying ever seen on screen. As the audience is tortured by blurred vision and finally darkness before finding out what the poor woman's fate is. Michael Shannon is the sole American in the cast, playing Sgt. Hank Edwards, a military commander whose unorthodox methods are simultaneously cruel and brilliant. However, he is far from a sympathetic character. Or even a likable one. He's harsh, rude, and often inhuman as he works over an Iraqi prisoner for information. This scene is highly disturbing as Edwards seems to be getting a perverse pleasure from the Iraqi's pain.

Oliver Stone writes and directs this vision of war and cruelty with a fast paced style that keeps the tension going throughout. His characters feel real, and not like cardboard cutouts. They're three dimensional people with conflicting emotions and so many levels. He uses the sands of the desert almost like the sounds in an hour glass. They stand still as the movie begins and start to whip around as the tension rises. Finally creating dust storms by the end. The violence in the film is far from being stylized. In fact it is horribly brutal at times. No act of violence is without consequence. Whether it be a gunshot, a hanging, or an explosion. No one ever walks away unharmed. Oliver Stone exhibits talent here that rarely is seen. His vision is brutally realistic, and yet cinematic. With "Serge" he reflects the Iraq War back at us through a different mirror, and forces us to look at things from the other side. "Serge" is a powerful, brutal, and brilliant film that will surely leave people talking.

Possible Nominations...
Best Picture
Best Director - Oliver Stone
Best Actor - Kais Nashef
Best Supporting Actress - Noor Shic
Best Supporting Actor - Michael Shannon
Best Original Screenplay

Author(s): T.D. (TX)
A Piece of Happiness

Directed by Alexander Payne
Written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
Produced by David Gale, Michael London and George Parra
Distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures

Cinematography by James Glennon
Editing by Kevin Tent
Music by Rolfe Kent

Principal Cast

Sam Rockwell as Joe McDonnell
Rinko Kikuchi as Miki Yoshinaga
Robert Downey, Jr. as Charlie Richmond
Mieko Harada as Hiroko Yoshinaga

Tagline: How far would you go to get a little bit of happiness?

Synopsis: Joe McDonnell is, for lack of a better word, an unhappy man living an unhappy life. He lives in an apartment with his best but obnoxious party-loving friend Charlie in Omaha, Nebraska. One day, Charlie finally realizes that Joe is very unhappy with his dull and boring life. Charlie convinces him to come to a Girls Gone Wild party in the downtown section. Joe refuses to come at first, but after a lot of begging from Charlie he finally agrees to come and leaves the apartment for the first time in almost four months. When they arrived the party was already in full blast. Men and women were laughing, dancing, getting drunk and making lust on the couches in the small rooms. Excited by what he sees, Charlie quickly grabs a drink and begins to lust at one of the single ladies. Joe, however, sits at a chair all by himself and stares at the surroundings. Suddenly, a woman comes up and tries to kiss him but he pushes her away and leaves the party. Joe, all alone and depress, walks through the streets of downtown looking for something to eat and calm his nerves. He finally comes across a Japanese sushi restaurant across the street and decides to go in and get some sushi.

He goes in and sees that the entire restaurant is empty and only a young woman is there cleaning the tables. He asks her for something to eat, but she tells him the store is closed for the night. He looks around and sees a container of sushi opened and he asks her if he can join her in finishing the sushi. She smiles and said yes. As the two sat down she introduces herself as Miki, and he does the same to her. The two talked about their day and eventually their lives and they manage to come across the fact that they are both unhappy with their lives. As they went on, an older woman comes from the back and scolds at Miki at not finishing her work. The woman then notices Joe and asked Miki who he was. Miki tells the woman that this is Joe and she tells him that the woman is Hiroko, her mother. Hiroko sends Joe out of the store and quickly locks the door after he went out. As Joe walked back to the party he couldn't stop thinking about Miki. His whole body was giving off a sense of feeling her never had before, a feeling of love.

As the next couple of weeks went by, Joe would repeatedly come by the restaurant to see Miki. The two enjoyed each other's company, but Hiroko didn't approve their time together at all. One day, Hiroko saw Joe coming by and went outside to stop him from coming in. She tells him that if you're not here to eat anything then you must leave. Joe tells her he'll buy something when he gets inside, but Hiroko stops him again and finally tells him the truth. She tells him that he is not allowed to see her daughter ever and that he is banned from coming to the restaurant. Joe refuses to leave, and Hiroko threatens to call the police if he doesn't leave. He eventually leaves and goes back to the apartment. Joe sits on the couch and thinks of a way to see Miki again, and while doing so Charlie comes in all drunk. Joe helps him onto the couch, and then asks him if he can be able to talk to Miki for him. He agrees, and he goes to sleep.

Later that evening, Charlie goes to the restaurant and sees Miki serving a couple. He goes up to her and tells her that Joe is outside waiting to see her. Miki runs to her mother and asks her if she can go on her break. She says yes and Miki takes off. Hiroko runs after her, but Charlie stops her and asks for his order. Miki meets Joe outside and the two run off into the nightlife where they went out to eat, sang at a karaoke bar and even walked through the park. As all this was happening, Miki was falling in love with Joe. At the park she confesses her love for him but she can't be with him because of a secret she can tell. The two head back after their chat and as soon as they arrived back at the restaurant Charlie was being thrown out by Hiroko. She soon sees the two and leaves Charlie on the ground. She tells Miki to go into the store and wait for her. Hiroko then tells Joe that she can't be with him and that's final. She goes into the restaurant and Joe helps Charlie up on his feet and the two head back to the apartment. As soon as they got home Charlie tells Joe that he got their number and gives it to Joe.

Late that night Joe calls Miki and she tells him that she can't stay long on the phone long for she must finish packing. She tells him that she and her mother are moving back to Japan due to the lost of the business. She also tells Joe about her secret. She tells him that she's in an arranged marriage with a wealthy young man back in Japan, and that's another reason why they are leaving. Joe is saddened by this and said he wants to visit her, but she said that's not possible and that he can't follow her to the airport or to Japan. Joe nods and confesses his love for her and so does Miki. After their confessions they said goodbye to each other and promise to think of each other and hope that one day they'll see each other again. They both hang up, and Joe rises from the couch and stands on the balcony of the apartment. Charlie comes out and pats him on the back to show comfort. The two friends stood outside that night gazing at the sky, and Joe had, for once in a long time, smiled and believes he can now live a happy life thanks to Miki, a woman he calls "a piece of happiness".

What the Press would say: A Piece of Happiness is a beautiful comedy-drama film that delivers in spellbinding ways. Alexander Payne, director of the acclaimed films Election and Sideways, has given us another crowning achievement with his witty directing ability that helps create a soft and touching look at life if we all could have that little bit of happiness. However, this is unlike any romantic comedy we've seen. Instead of ending it with a happy ending, the two lovers never end up with each other due to one's cultural difference. This funny but beautiful film is delivered greatly due to Payne and Jim Taylor's marvelous script. Their script incorporates the characters in scenes where they are impressive on their own, and the actors give wonderful performances that help make these characters very memorable. Of course great writing has to come great casting with some of the actors and actresses working in the business. Joining the hard working crew is Sam Rockwell, who takes the lead as our unhappy and careless main character Joe McDonnell. Rockwell takes on Joe McDonnell is what we'd expect if he were a real person, completely believable and natural. Everything from Rockwell's comedic timing, character personality and mouth gestures helps him deliver an Oscar-worthy performance. Aside from being our brilliant leading man, Rockwell also delivers greatly with his co-star Rinko Kikuchi. The role Kikuchi plays is Miki Yoshinaga, a young Japanese woman who's shy, curious and knows some English. Kikuchi does an immense portrayal of Miki, who is just like Joe and needs some happiness in her life, and she delivers so well that the performance is strong and memorable enough to be considered a lead.

Now we mustn't forget the other two stars of this marvelous film: Robert Downey, Jr. and Mieko Harada. Downey is in a role that is funny to laugh at, but it's also a caring role and at the end of day we admire it. His character Charlie is like a sidekick and an opposite to Joe, and his final scene in which he comforts Joe shows a human side of him and it's quite an well-crafted scene. Mieko Harada, a well known Japanese actress, plays Miki's mother Hiroko, a woman who stands by her Japanese roots and makes absolutely sure her daughter doesn't get involved in any relationship that would ruin the arranged marriage made by a friend of hers back in Japan. Harada gives a great supporting performance, and she manages to steal every scene she's in. A Piece of Happiness is the unique feel good comedy of the year. It's a different aspect on finding someone you might end up loving and not letting people stop you from loving that person, no matter how strong the obstacle can be. This film will be the Annie Hall of this generation, and will be remembered by all who see it.

For Your Consideration

Best Picture (Comedy/Musical)
Best Director - Alexander Payne
Best Actor - Sam Rockwell
Best Actress - Rinko Kikuchi
Best Supporting Actor - Robert Downey, Jr.
Best Supporting Actress - Mieko Harada
Best Original Screenplay

Author(s): T.D. (TX)
Roanoke

Directed by Terrence Malick
Written by Michael Hirst
Produced by Sarah Green, Grant Hill and Terrence Malick
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Art Direction by David Crank
Set Decoration by Jim Erickson
Cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki
Costumes by Alexandra Byrne
Makeup by Jenny Shircore
Editing by Tariq Anwar
Music by Hans Zimmer

Principal Cast

Toby Kebbell as Ananias Dare
Keira Knightley as Eleanor Dare
Stephen Dillane as Governor John White
Michael Gambon as Dyonis Harvie
Helen Mirren as Margery Harvie
Adam Beach as Manteo
Raoul Trujillo as Chief Askook
Irene Bedard as Sokanon

Tagline: August 18, 1590 The day where they vanished without a trace

Synopsis: On July 22, 1587, a group of English settlers had landed on the island of Roanoke. These settlers, led by Governor John White, were the second group of settlers sent to live on the island and try to re-establish the first English colony of the New World. These are the journal and diary entries by a few of the Roanoke colonists found on the island a few months ago.

July 29, 1587

Dear Journal,

It has been a week since we've arrived on the island. Governor White had appointed a selected few to be his assistants, and I happened to be one of them since I was married to his daughter. Upon our arrival, the land was wet, marshy and full of insects and trees full of moss. We didn't know where to start at first, but I knew it was important to care for Eleanor first. Dyonis and a few others wanted to search for gold first, but the others and I felt that building the town was more important. John took our side, and by his order we began to build our new home. After a week's work we've managed to build a running colony with good workers and families. The people seem to be getting along just fine. Today the colony had a celebration for our first week in the New World, but Eleanor and I didn't attend. Instead, she stayed in bed and I remained on her side watching her. Living here in Virginia is quite difficult so far, and I do miss England, but this here is an opportunity I just couldn't resist. God has a plan for Eleanor and I, and we both feel that it starts here in this colony and that it'll continue from there. I hope we all live well, and that God will continue to watch over us and keep us safe and together.

Ananias Dare

August 20, 1588

Dear Diary,

Father left for England today, and I?m glad he decided to leave just now. He was supposed to leave a bit earlier but he wanted to stay and celebrate the one year birth of his granddaughter. Luckily he did, and the other day we celebrated young Virginia?s first birthday. After being in the house for a long time Ananias told me to take a walk through the woods with Virginia to get some fresh air. During my walk I ran into a Savage today. He was a tall, dark skin man, probably a Croatan I assumed, and he was half naked and full of body markings. At first I was going to retreat back to the settlement but he spoke and said, ?Do not run away from me.? I was surprise that he spoke English and from that account I didn?t fear him no more. He addressed me as Manteo, and he told me that he once went to England with Sir Raleigh and Father, and that he learned our language and culture while he was there. Father never told me about Manteo, but then again he never told me or Mother much about his journeys anyway. After our walk Manteo invited me to visit the Croatan village but I told him I will come tomorrow with Ananias, and with that we agreed and went our separate ways. When I got back I told Ananias all about Manteo, and he was intrigued by this and said that we will visit them tomorrow with the other settlers. I hope tomorrow will all go well and hopefully we won?t have trouble at all. God, please watch over us.

Love,

Eleanor

July 22, 1589

Dear Journal,

Today was the same as always. Ever since the Dares introduce us to Askook and the Croatans they kept coming back like cockroaches unable to die! The Croatans, who are nothing but disgusting and filthy heathens, keep visiting us every day to show us ways to ?survive? and these fools take them seriously. Father told me never to trust the Savages, for all they want to do is kill you and use your head as decorations. I don't why the people admire them, but it seems everyone talks to them but me, and even my wife is bonding with Sokanon. After I?d discovered this I told her to stay away from her and the other Savages. She told me no and I was shocked at the fact that I heard something like that come from her mouth. I slapped her onto the ground, and I didn't feel ashamed at all. She looked at me with a bloody nose, and walked out of the house without speaking to me. I was surprised at this behavior. She is a woman, and she's knows that it's unethical for a woman to disobey her husband. I know the Savages are teaching her this behavior, I know for sure. God, I hope you'll make a way for us to retain our culture and values and not let the Savages continue to come into our lives. They've been seeing us for almost a year now, and I'm not sure why you keep tormenting me, Lord. I've been faithful towards you, and all I ask of you is for a way to let us be away from them; a miracle of some sort, God, and if you do I will honor you dearly for respecting my wishes and prayers.

With Honor and Praise,

Dyonis

August 17, 1590

Dear Diary,

These past few weeks have been dreadful. The Croatans had stopped visiting us for some reason I'm not sure of, some of our settlers are dying of starvation and disease, and we are low on supplies. Governor White sent a letter saying he would return home shortly with food and supplies for us, but we've been waiting too long and we are in need of the essentials. After my husband and the assistants had a meeting, they decided that we must leave Roanoke for good. After the announcement was made Dyonis and I took a walk on the shore and I asked him where would we all go? He told me that he and the others weren't sure where can we go to but he knew that staying here wasn't going to do us no good. I understood him, and we both went back to the house and began to pack our belongings. When I took my chest outside I saw Ananias engraved something into the tree. I'm not sure what he wrote, but that wasn't important to me at the moment. An hour had passed and everyone was ready to leave. I left everyone and went to the tree to see what Ananias wrote, but Eleanor took my hand and told me it was time to go. I looked at the tree, then her, and both of us went to the boats. As of now, I'm not sure where we're going or what was engraved on the tree, but I pray to God that something good can come out of this, and that I ask Him to watch over us and keep us safe.

Sincerely,

Margery

On August 18, Governor White and his crew returned to Roanoke only to find the entire colony lifeless and empty. As he and the others searched for signs of the settlers, one man finds the word Croatan on a tree and White told the men that they must head over to the Croatan village or the nearby island and find them. However, a violent storm brewed that day and the men wanted to leave for England and forget about the settlers. White refuses to, but after much deliberation he agrees and they all headed back without ever finding them...ever.

What the Press would say: Although this is only a fictional account of what might had happened to the Roanoke settlers, Terrence Malick's new film Roanoke captures the sheer genius of how it could've went and the outcome of it all. Combining the fantastic imagery of the old Virginia marshes, exquisite costumes, beautiful sets, accurate makeup and well done editing, Malick and his crew created a visual style that is able to captivate the audience without being a distraction at all. The score by Hans Zimmer is haunting but epic, and it gives you that feel as if you were there in old Virginia. The script, which was written by Michael Hirst (Elizabeth), is flawless and imaginative. Hirst has by far written his most powerful script to date. And to top this film off is Malick?s direction, which is his best to date. His direction in this film is breathtaking and leaves many memorable scenes such as the boat landing, the walk through the marshes and the entrance of the Croatans into the Roanoke colony. There is no doubt that this is Malick?s best film ever.

In the opening scene, a group of present day archaeologists found a chest full of books and papers. As they began to read one entry, the film beautifully changes from modern day to the year 1587, and the first person we see is Ananias Dare. Ananias Dare is a young, handsome religious man wanting to start a new life with his pregnant wife in the New World and throughout the entire course of the film he manage to grow from a silent young man to a strong and wise leader in the eyes of some settlers as he guides them and makes peace with the natives. The young rising star Toby Kebbell (Control) plays Ananias, and from the beginning to the end you can see why he's a rising star. Kebbell gives an outstanding breakthrough performance as Ananias and will be a strong contender in the Oscar race. Keira Knightley (Atonement, Pride and Prejudice), who co-stars in the film as Ananias? wife Eleanor, delivers an amazing performance as a woman who, at first, was excited to be in the New World, but after the years went by and the supplies ran low she grew into a pale, sickly woman trying to raise her child and was the first to tell Ananias that they must all leave the colony in order to survive. Knightley is a familiar face to audiences and critics, and she?ll be remembered for this performance come Oscar time and throughout the rest of the year.

The rest of the cast doesn't disappoint at all, and their performances are among the best of their career. Though he's only in the first and last half of the film, Stephen Dillane (The Hours) plays Eleanor's wise and courageous father John White brilliantly, and he does an amazing job in a scene where he breaks down in tears once he saw the colony empty and his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter gone. Michael Gambon, who is well known for playing Albus Dumbledore in the new Harry Potter films, plays the cold, ruthless, Indian-fearing colony assistant Dyonis Harvie. It's obvious that Gambon studied his character real well because he pulls it off magnificently and he steals almost every scene he?s in, but his big scene is the one where he confronts his wife about her friendship with Sokanon and beats her to make sure she stays away from them and their ?evil ways,? but he fails at trying to. Speaking of his wife, Helen Mirren (The Queen, Gosford Park) stands out in this film as the quiet, weak and simple Margery Harvie. She is a woman who doesn't trust the Croatans at first, but after she befriends Sokanon and secretly visits the Croatans she starts to see the errors of her ways and tries her best to change her husband's attitude towards them but she fails, thus leaving her a strong decision near the end if she should leave her husband or stay and be faithful.

Adam Beach (Flags of our Fathers) plays a middle aged, intelligent man named Manteo. Manteo served as the translator between the Croatans and the settlers during the entire run of the film. Not only was he a translator, but he was also the Dares? truly good friend. He would visit them every day to talk and teach them survival skills. Beach does an amazing job in his scene where he and Eleanor are in the garden and he tells her his time in England and how he was persecuted, treated badly and was almost beaten by a group of men when he was out on the streets without her father. The last two characters of the film were not real life individuals but they play a significant role in this film so it makes them feel as if they really existed. Chief Askook, who is played by Raoul Trujillo (The New World), is a very wise and stern man who leads the Croatan tribe, and Trujillo does a wonderful job in his performance. Finally, there's Irene Bedard (The New World). Bedard plays Sokanon, a caring woman who is married to Askook and served as a teacher to the Englishwomen on how to do the stuff her tribe women would do. Throughout the film she becomes very close with Margery, and after she sees her becoming unhappy with Dyonis she helps her become a strong woman and encourages her to stay with him.

Roanoke is indeed a powerful epic that'll go down as Malick's finest cinematic achievement. This film will encourage many to imagine more, and that they do can come up with their own ideas of what became of the Roanoke settlers, or as we call them, ?The Lost Colony?.

For Your Consideration

Best Picture (Drama)
Best Director - Terrence Malick
Best Actor - Toby Kebbell
Best Actress - Keira Knightley
Best Supporting Actor - Stephen Dillane
Best Supporting Actor - Michael Gambon
Best Supporting Actor - Adam Beach
Best Supporting Actress - Helen Mirren
Best Supporting Actress - Irene Bedard
Best Original Screenplay

Author(s): Zgamer (ID)
Once Upon a Time in Africa

Directed by Andrew Dominick
Written by Andrew Dominick
Cinematography by Roger Deakins
Edited by Dylan Tichenor
Original Score by Nick Cave and Waren Ellis

Cast

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Iniko
Vin Diesel as Christopher “Boss” Parker
Julianne Moore as Miranda Waters
Adetokumboh M'Cormack as Amadi
Kevin Durand as Mark Quinn

Synopsis

The calm of the African Sahel has given way to chaos. As a calm breeze swept over the land, a mosaic of death entrenched itself into a once peaceful place. Vehicle parts and weapons lay broken and spent amongst the grass. Bodies upon bodies of refugees, mercenaries and rebels alike caked with dirt and blood. Throughout the course of this genocide, there had never been such an unprovoked massacre like this. Yet, to three groups of people, none of this mattered. The only real concern was a helicopter shot down in the conflict. For inside this copter, sealed in an armored box, lay a fortune that could help the poorest of people survive for a lifetime. There, waiting to be claimed, lay a grand total of $42 million dollars…

$42 million dollars. That much money only belonged to those who deserved it. “Boss” took his time walking out of his vehicle to meet with his six teammates. As he strode, he casually kicked aside the corpses of the villagers he ordered his men to execute. “Boss” knew that what he wanted wasn’t in this village but he was never one to take chances. If he had to have his boys kill every person in Africa to get what he wanted, he would do it. He didn’t build his reputation as one of the most desired soldier for hire by cutting corners. His attention refocused to the scene at hand as he saw the logos for his Private Military Company, Southpaw, on his team’s shoulders. He looked down at the one villager his team left alive. The man as old, weak, wounded and obviously shaken by the violence that occurred. There would likely be no resistance to interrogation. “Boss” felt the diagonal scar across his face swim as he growled, “Where is the map now?”…

$42 million dollars. It’s enough money for a man to forget his troubles. Iniko followed Amadi through the city as they followed the map’s route. Iniko held a heavy heart for leading the “Boss” to the village he was hiding at, but it was just one more tragedy he hoped to bury in his mind. He knew doesn’t provide happiness, but then happiness was never his reason for going on this goose chase. All around him, memories resurfaced in the commotion erupting amongst the people. Refugees moved in herds across the city looking for loved ones. Mercenaries walked around with expensive equipment as they waited for more work. Rebel sympathizers shouted propaganda condemning the recent U.N. decision to send peacekeepers into Niger. It was a chaos that knew no bounds. Through this, Iniko took some pride in knowing no matter what the occasion, he had Amadi to trust. Sure, Amadi was not a very fit man or particularly adventurous, but he was always there when Iniko needed him. That, and he was the only person Iniko knew who could read English…

$42 million dollars. Too much money for any one person to own. Miranda surveyed with her binoculars as her hired escort Quinn returned from the arms dealer’s truck. All she could see was lots and lots of nothing. She had seen this sight too many times since she was denied passage home once the genocide started. She lowered the binoculars as Quinn unloaded four Glocks, two assault rifles, a sniper rifle and a SMG into their jeep’s trunk. Quinn had said he was always prepared for a situation but this would seem ridiculous if Miranda didn’t know better. If the informant Quinn had bribed was correct, the villager with the map was going directly into the heart of Niger. Unfortunately, Niger was the hotspot of the entire genocide. For all she knew, any of them could walk directly into a rebel camp or run into a Peacekeeper force. Along with that, the “Boss” was likely to be tracking the villager with his Southpaws. However, Miranda was not going to let either of them get the money. She would make sure that no one would ever find it…after she got some money for herself of course. So, as Quinn started the engine, Miranda braced herself for what would likely be a long ordeal…

What the Press Would Say

The Western has definitely gone through quite a few changes since the days of Leone and Ford. As the genre’s popularity has fallen, filmmakers have had to find ways to evolve the classic format. With “Unforgiven”, Eastwood showed a Western that dispelled the tales of glory previous films had depicted. The new “3:10 to Yuma” brought back the thrills the classics used to evoke in its audience. And with “Assassination of Jesse James”, we were given a Western that dared to return to the epic fashion Leone perfected in the 60’s. Now, the rug has been pulled from underneath the genre’s legs and we are given a bold new interpretation with “Once Upon a Time In Africa”.

What “Africa” does is not reinventing the wheel, as many of the classic standards of Western films remain intact. There are characters with a common goal, they must travel across great distances and there’s a shootout or two that bring tension to a new high. However, “Africa” challenges the audience by asking them to accept that Westerns are not an America only genre. Westerns, in their roots, are supposed to convey the idea of a world struggling to change. Chaos is a way of life in these worlds and “Africa” doesn’t pull punches in showing this. And yes, there are definitely themes of greed, the ethics of violence, trust and obsession touched upon these moments. However, the real theme “Africa” attempts to cover is one we usually do not get a full perspective of in Westerns: the reality of cause and effect. As each group makes their way to Niger, the challenges and events they face (including meeting up more often than they would like) test their knowledge of their resources and instincts while tying each result with a punishment or benefit. This is not a story where convenient plot points change the course of the action. This is character driven storytelling and Dominik does a superb job tying every detail together into one organic narrative. By the time the final climatic showdown commences at the eventual goal (a thrilling homage to Leone’s “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly climax), we feel like every twist and turn has happened exactly as it needed to.

As far as filmmaking terms, “Africa” is a beast of a movie. However, all of the reported troubles that bogged the production down seem to have paid off in capturing the essence of both the genre and the setting. Deacon’s crisp cinematography is enhanced with a sun-baked color palette and fantastic lighting that recreates time and location with an eye for detail. The location shooting and costume design, filmed on stages and recreations of African areas, dodges any fallacies in establishing the setting. Tichenor’s editing aids the film in the way it aided “There Will Be Blood” by allowing the action to flow naturally while making strategic cuts at the right times. To top it off, the superb sound design is enhanced by Cave and Ellis’s stylistic score, which combines African beats and rhythms with a sweeping Western style. Pretty much, this is one well-put together package.

Once again, Dominik has assembled a great cast of knowns and unknowns to bring out the best of these characters. Akinnuoye-Agbaje, best known for his role as Mr. Eco in “Lost”, gives the film its emotional core as the troubled Iniko. By nicely contrasting his intimidating stature and establishing a great chemistry with fellow “Lost” co-star M’Cormack, Iniko is a great character to watch develop. Moore, looking very comfortable in her role, brings life into a character that could easily be one-dimensional. By adding a flawed logic to the character’s sense of self-righteousness, she brings a Man With No Name vibe that the film desperately needs. However, the real surprise here is Diesel in what may well be his strongest role to date. While he may not be the best performance of the year, Diesel shows that we can’t write him off as the dude from “The Pacifier” anymore. By using little dialogue, Diesel lets his body language convey his emotions with an almost Anton Chigurgh level of intimidation. He is the kind of villain you love to despise and it’s a career reviving role for the hulking actor.

“Once Upon a Time In Africa” may not have the box-office appeal of “3:10 to Yuma” or the basics of “Assassination”, but it is destined to become a critical darling for just being a bold exercise in experimentation. Packed with the right amounts of art, drama and action, this may well be the dark horse of the Oscars.

Award Possibilities

Best Picture
Best Director (Andrew Dominik)
Best Actor (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje)
Best Supporting Actor (Vin Diesel)
Best Supporting Actress (Julianne Moore)
Best Original Screenplay (Andrew Dominik)

Author(s): James Somerton (Canada)
Oleander Empire

Directed By Satoshi Kon
Written By Satoshi Kon

Cast
Tom Hanks as General Edward Smith
Takashi Hagino as Senshi
Yusuke Iseya as Kakuto
Aki Maeda as Taroki
Mary-Louise Parker as Anna Smith
Takeshi Kitano as General Adachi Ken

Tagline: "Wars End. But The Spirit Lives On"

Synopsis:
General Edward Smith's plane touches down just outside of Tokyo in the summer of 1949. He has been selected by the American government to be their representative for the rebuilding of the ruined city of Hiroshima. It has been four years since the atomic nightmare destroyed the city and reconstruction has finally begun to take place.

As General Smith and his wife, Anna, begin to settle in to their small home on the outskirts of Hiroshima,the general begins to see things at night. When the lights are out and only the moon remains, he can see people walking around his home. Speaking to each other. Always ignoring him and always leaving as soon as the sun cuts across the horizon.

Anna can't believe her husbands claims that people enter their house at night. She thinks his home sickness for America is starting to take hold. But what really terrifies her is that she can hear him talking to them sometimes during the night. Just his side of the conversation though, which puts her somewhat as ease.

Edward is talking to the people now. And they reveal something to him that terrifies him immensely. These are the ghosts of Hiroshima; the men, women, and children who were annihilated by America's atomic nightmare. But they do not want revenge. They want explanations. They want to know why they had to die instead of just trying to come up with a diplomatic end to the war. Questions that General Edward Smith is unable to answer.

Anna Smith is growing increasingly uneasy, as dreams of great destruction begin to haunt her nightly. Edward is growing distant and never seems to be in bed when she wakes up from this nightmares. And then, one night, hes not even in the house.

General Edward Smith is being taken to the locations of the ghost houses, places where these people used to live before their demise. Places they wanted their children to grow up. And soon they will be forgotten as new structures are built over their mass grave. They want Edward to stop this from happening. They never want the world to forget what happened that morning in 1945.

Anna lies silently in bed when she hears Edward return home. She frantically runs out of the bedroom and into the living area to find Edward standing at the door, his face lost in sadness. It breaks her heart and she wants to know why he feels so horrible. But before he can speak, the room is filled with other people. People Anna had never seen before.

What The Press Would Say...
"Oleander Empire", the new animated film from Satoshi Kon, goes places most animated films dare not go. It's the story of an American military general who is haunted by the ghosts of Hiroshima. When he is made the American ambassador to the reconstruction of the city, years after the atomic bomb, he is forced to see what his countries horrifying actions did to an entire populace. Tom Hanks voices General Edward Smith and manages to convey a layer of psychological depth rarely seen in animated films. His most moving moments coming from his interactions with the ghosts of the children killed by the attack. As one of only two english speaking characters in the film, Hanks has the unenviable task of being the audience's gateway into a foreign land. His wife, Anna, is molded by the voice of Mary Louis Parker, whose stunningly powerful performance resonates with you just as long as any of her live action counterparts, if not longer. Her emotionally lost housewife tries desperately to reconnect with her husband after he seems to have lost touch with reality, but to no avail. Unable to see the ghosts at first, everything seems to be spiraling out of her control until the moment of her breakdown when the ghosts become real to her as well. The Japanese cast is also well above par, with Takeshi Kitano standing above all the rest. He plays the ghost of Japanese army general Adachi Ken, a man whose family was killed in Hiroshima and who killed himself after returning home and seeing the devastation. He is a greatly embittered character that, unlike the other ghosts, doesn't want simple explanations, but revenge. His anger is emphasized by his ability to haunt General Edward Smith and his wife with images of the blast, a memory no ghost present during the attack is able to remember. Satoshi Kon creates an eerie, tense atmosphere throughout the film that fits perfectly. His use of cold color, such as grey and blue, contribute to the chilling feel of the film. His ability to create psychological depth in animated characters has never before been so well exploited. General Smith is forced to face the terrible things his home country has done, his wife must learn to cope with this supernatural presence. And General Takeshi Kitano is faced with the prospect that his family may have been killed for the greater good of mankind. His screenplay, a mix of Japanese and English dialogue, is so well crafted and the story so riveting, that even the most jaded movie goer doesn't mind reading subtitles. "Oleander Empire" is a haunting, powerful work of storytelling that bridges the gap between animated and live action films. A true work of art.

Possible Nominations...
Best Picture
Best Director - Satoshi Kon
Best Original Screenplay

Author(s): Chris M. (NJ)
4 Years Out

Produced by Robert Redford
Written by David Mamet
Directed by Robert Redford
Cinematography by Edward Lachman
Editing by Stephen Mirrione
Costumes by Mary Zophres
Art / Set Direction by Leslie Pope
Music by Mark Isham

Cast:
Tom Wilkinson as President Warren Mills
Jessica Lange as First Lady Arianna Mills
Robert John Burke as Vice President Norman Carol
Hector Elizondo as Lincoln Diaz
Richard Jenkins as Buddy Dean

Tagline: It’s histories time to judge him

Synopsis:

President Warren Mills (Wilkinson) is on his way to address the nation for the last time. The leader once referred to as “the Great Reformer” has been voted out of office in what has been the most divisive and contentious elections in United States history, which effectively ended his political career. The political ascension of Warren Mills is quite fascinating and plays through his mind as walks down that long corridor.

Where he lacked political experience he made up with his intelligence. He was bright, lively, forthright, and articulate, and also had a homespun air about him that appealed to many people, enough to take this small town lawyer turned local politician, all the way to the governor’s mansion, and eventually the white house. The luck of President Mills quickly came to an end. Early on, corruption and scandals plagued the Vice President Norman Carol (Burke) which damaged the “Reformer” image beyond repair. The economy entered recession and the President failed to respond quickly enough or to reassure the nation. The First Lady Adriana Mills (Lange) cool demeanor and off the cuff remarks didn’t help the dwindling poll numbers either, famously saying that “It’s not the economy that is slacking, it’s the American People”. One thing was clear, Mills faced a tough reelection. The opposition came from a seasoned politician, Lincoln Diaz (Elizondo) the former Secretary of State, and an eccentric steel tycoon Buddy Dean (Jenkins). Americans were captivated by the campaign which pundits called the most important election in United States history. As the election approached it was generally predicted that President Mills would win reelection, but by the slimmest of margins. During the final debate, the dynamic, straightforward Mills was missing, in his place a tired man who looked as if he had lost his passion. Election night, one hundred and seventy million votes cast, Warren Mills political career had come to an end.

Collecting his thoughts, Mills sat down in the oval office one last time to address the nation in what would forever be known as the “Wake up America” speech. Controversial, hard hitting, powerful, Mills confronted and attacked the political process and the path America was heading. It was now histories time to judge him.

What the Press Would Say:

Academy Award winner Robert Redford delivers a powerful character study in his latest film, 4 Years Out. The film explores Warren Mills and his fall from grace. Redford directs with a more subtle and subdued approach and succeeds in taking a political figure and successfully humanizing him, showing him as more than just a politician, but the man behind the office. David Mamet was able to accomplish this feat with the idea of introducing us to the character with moments of this mans life, we see him at his best and at the most vulnerable. One of the most powerful scenes in recent memory is one of the simplest, President Mills is sitting at his Victory Headquarters with family, friends, and supporters, the results are coming in, and he has just lost Ohio. The once boisterous crowd is now silent; all eyes are on President Mills, without Ohio he has surely lost the election. The President takes a moment but gets up and gives an awkward smile, possibly trying to reassure the crowd that “hey, it’s not over yet” but it is, his political career is over, and we see sadness in him at this very moment.

Tom Wilkinson is the heart and soul of 4 Years Out, playing President Warren Mills. He is mesmerizing as this embattled politician. Wilkinson has made incredible choices, where many actors would go for the explosiveness, for the big dramatic punch, Wilkinson is restrained and says his words with such meaning that you believe he is President Warren Mills. The final scene of the film, the “Wake up America” speech, Wilkinson attacks America and its political process, warning a nation of the dangerous path it is on, blaming conservative and liberal ideologues for their lack of taking responsibility for their reckless decisions, yet the audience finds itself rooting for him. It takes expertise to make something unlikeable, likeable. Jessica Lange compliments Tom Wilkinson and is captivating as his wife, Arianna Mills, the First Lady the public loves to hate. Lange allows her character to go through a subtle transformation and relishes in the role, exploring the coldness that can be found in the all American girl. Lange demonstrates this in a small scene, a political fundraiser, Arianna is asked to take a photo. She is outwardly smiling, but the smile is emotionless. Noted character actor Richard Jenkins is terrific in his portrayal of Buddy Dean, an eccentric steel tycoon turned third party candidate. Jenkins manages to give the character such depth that the audience gets a grasp of who he is in such a limited time. Jenkins accomplishes this during his knock out scene during the Debate. Jenkins provides a performance only a skilled actor could provide.

FYC
Best Picture
Best Director – Robert Redford
Best Actor – Tom Wilkinson
Best Supporting Actor – Richard Jenkins
Best Supporting Actress – Jessica Lange
Best Original Screenplay – David Mamet

Author(s): Evan (NY)
Passing Strange

Directed By: Spike Jonze
Written By: Stew and Heidi Rodewall

Cast
Narrator - Stew
Youth - Daniel Breaker
Edwina/Marianna/Sudabey - De'Adre Aziza
Mother – Viola Davis
Mr. Franklin/Joop/Mr. Venus - Colman Domingo
Terry/Christophe/Hugo – Elijah Kelley
Sherry/Renata/Desi - Rebecca Naomi Jones

Tagline: “Right when it was starting to feel real.”

Synopsis

I don’t know you, and you don’t know me. But lets cut to the chase, my name is Stew. I’ll be narrating our little gig, so just sit tight, we might play all night…

SOUTH CENTRAL Baptist fashion show

In the late 1970’s, a youth had a dream. He wanted to be a musician. He lived in South Central, L.A. in a high middle class home. One day his mother told him that he had to go to church. The youth refused, rebelling against the bourgeois nature of church. All church was to him was a phony Baptist fashion show. He was 17 and still hadn’t been baptized. His mother is worried about his soul, and forces him to attend special Sunday classes with Mr. Franklin. The class was just the youth, twins Sherry and Terry, and the seductress of his church, Edwina. The class consisted of sitting at the top of Arlington hill in Mr. Franklins beat up buggy, and smoking pot, hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder with the twins. The youth realized, in that smoke filled car, listening to rock music, chocking on the smoke, and trying to be cool, that he suddenly found a meaning, and Arlington hill had helped him see everything. So he started an alternative rock band with Terry and Sherry, called the “Scaryotypes,” which recorded anti-middle class, which he was a part of, songs. The band breaks up, though, after a fight about what the band was turning into. And the youth decides that he has to search for “the real.”

AMSTERDAM Spring Sunshine
He then runs away from home, in search of the real, which apparently doesn’t exist in L.A. he flies to Amsterdam, and sees things he never has before. Naked girls at café tables, hashish brownies, and a flight non-stop: to the real. After wandering the city, he wanders into a small café. He meets Joop, a stripper with a dirty sense of humor, Christoph, the owner of the café, and Renata, an artist who, works half time at the café for some extra cash. Then he sees Marianna, a bombshell who offers for him to stay at her flat. He receives her keys. The next morning, he wakes up, groggy and in bed with Renata and Marianna. He realizes that he has lost his virginity to two beautiful girls. He measured time passing in hits from his bong, all day at the café, and unfinished songs. He tried to write Marianna a song, but he didn’t think she would understand. He was trying to write a song but it was writing him. It was song about paradise growing thin, and “the real” becoming routine. So he leaves Amsterdam for a black hole…

BERLIN, a black hole with taxi’s
Arriving in Berlin, he walks into a huge riot. In the throngs of people he meets Hugo, an emo artist, and Mr. Venus, a performing artist, who is against all things that society thinks are right. He believes emotions are
expendable, because they aren’t unique. He thinks culture is cosmetic. Henreturns with them to a hostel for lower class artists. There he meets Desi, a singer, and the beautiful Sudabey, who seduces him. It’s Christmas, and the youths mother calls and asks for him to come home, at least for the holidays. He refuses though, to stay with his friends in Berlin. He creates a fake, poor identity to fit in, making it seem that he has been subject to prejudice at home, in L.A, when in fact he had been rich. But then Sudabey tells him she is going to see her family for Christmas, as is everyone else, he doesn’t understand. Why would these individuals conform for a few weeks each year? Sudabey says she needs to go home, to stay sane. She says she’s always running from something, and her home is always a comfortable place. She tries to convince him that her love for him is more real than all his dreams. She tells him she has been thinking about moving back into her hometown permanently. She asks him to remove his mask, and come down to her level, and understand what she is saying, and come with her. He says nothing and stalks off, leaving her standing in the cold. Right when it was starting to feel real. The youth sits alone and tries to find the real again, which is once again starting too turn routine. A few weeks later he receives a phone call from his mother’s best friend. She informs him his mother had passed away. He tries to fill the void with music, but it is just a passing phase. He succumbs to the real—the truth that he has left his mother, and she has died without seeing him again. He remembers when he thought he owned everything, when he was invincible. But now he sees that no love is ever like the love of a mother. The youth realizes that love is more than real. The real is a personal horizon that we must drive off into, alone.

Press Section
When “Passing Strange” opened on Broadway, it was met with a glowing critical reception. It was called the best musical of the year, a breath of fresh air, and the beginning of a new age on Broadway. The new film adaptation of the musical, directed by Spike Jonze, is as exhilarating, touching, and intelligent as the musical. Lee was a huge fan of the musical, and stayed completely honest to what the show was trying to portray. Keeping almost the entire cast. Mr. Jonze has created a seamless melody of a film about how finding yourself doesn’t require running from your past, but going back to it. and cherishing it for what it has
done to make you, well, you. Following an unnamed youth through his troubled early years as an adult, “Passing Strange” makes you feel the music with it’s rock and roll score, and the gritty voice of Stew, who is an indie recording artist. Stew wrote all the music for the show, and was at its heart, narrating the show. In the movie, he is almost unseen, as a shadowed figure in a bowler hat on an empty stage narrating the story of his own youth. Daniel Breaker, who plays the youth, reprises his Tony nominated role, using raw energy, and a powerful presence to bring the heartfelt center of the story to the audience. De'Adre Aziza also gives an incredible performance as a churchgoing tease, a sexy Amsterdam native, and an individual minded woman from Germany who still sees the importance of family. Also in her Tony nominated role, Aziza gives the powerhouse performance in the film, playing three separate roles, but keeping her likeability throughout each, tying them together, and showing why the casting was necessary. Viola Davis and Colman Domingo are also fantastic in their respective roles, Domingo using his sense of humor to lighten up the dark nature of the film, and Davis for creating a caring, motherly character who has raised her son one way, and seen him go in the opposite direction, and blames herself. “Passing Strange” is an incredible film, which succeeds at being a fun, meaningful musical adaptation, and at being the showcase for many promising newcomers to the silver screen.

For Your Consideration
Best Picture
Best Director – Spike Jonze
Best Actor – Daniel Breaker
Best Actor – Stew
Best Supporting Actress - De'Adre Aziza
Best Supporting Actress – Viola Davis
Best Supporting Actor – Colman Domingo
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Tagline
Best Cult Bait

Author(s): Evan (NY)
Can't Stop, Won't Stop

Written and Directed By: Gus Van Sant

Cast
Jeremy – Dillon Freasier
Dave Lucas – Nathan Fillion
Antonio Lucas– Nathan Gamble
Troy Lucas– Ezra Miller
Victoria Lucas– Laura Linney

Tagline: “ if you could change to keep away the rain, would you?”

Synopsis:
I never want to understand. I don’t see why I need to. There is nothing really to understand. He died, and I’m alive. It happened so quickly. A fire is burning me up. I just want to forget. But I sort of don’t want to…it’s complicated.

Before the younger cousin saw himself, he saw his older cousin. For years they had been growing up together, witnessing the same things, and learning from each other’s mistakes. They had, together, witnessed the divorce of the older cousins parents, and had both cried when the Mets didn’t make the playoffs – year after year after year. They were the glue that caused two sides of a family to stick together. In their hardest times, they were each other’s umbrella, and slipped off together into a separate world when they had no pain.

But on August 2nd, 2006, something terrible happened. The older cousin,nofn14, and his younger cousin, of 12, decided to have a contest in the pool behind their house during a family barbeque. It was a game that all boys play: seeing which of them could hold their breath underwater the longest. They counted to three and plunged their heads beneath the surface. The younger boy surfaced, but the older boy did not. Then, his body floated upwards, so he was lying down face. The younger boy laughed and poked his side, but he didn’t budge. The boy’s laughter stopped and he called out to the adults who were conversing around a barbeque. He dropped his drink and ran over, pulling his son out of the pool. The younger boy was shocked, and he began to cry, his mother pulled him out of the pool and pulled his soaking, shaking body to her chest. She tried to cover his eyes, but he saw his cousin vomiting onto himself as his father pumped his chest.

The ambulance came screeching to a halt in front of the Lucas house, and Troy was put onto a stretcher and wheeled into the ambulance. Later that night, the family was informed that Troy had died. Nobody knew why, and everyone was in so much shock that they hardly knew how to react. The younger boy began to cry again. And his mother and cousins comforted him. He was wrapped in their sorrow. It protected him.

They all tried to deal with how fast the clocks had begun to turn, but it was hard. The younger cousin tried to occupy himself, playing alone in the backyard, or drawing in his bedroom. But the house was filled with stress, and the boy felt isolated from everyone else, behind a glass, soundproof door as they talked about important maters. And the door was locked.

The boy’s aunt and uncle were devastated, and had to be watched at all times. The older cousins younger brother wouldn’t come out to play with the boy. He sat up in his room all day, refusing to come out, and
trying to drown himself in his own tears. Sometimes he began to punch the wall. He would attack it silently, the rough wall tearing at his skin. He bled. His parents had no idea what to do.

A week later, the phone rang. We were all told that Troy had had a heart condition that both his father and younger brother Antonio also have. His heart had just given out. The family hade a lot to cope with, and it
all came at the same time. Everyone told the boy that it was bound to happen eventually, but the younger boy thought he had created death.

I am that younger cousin. I am Jeremy. I was the last one to see my cousins smile, or to come in contact with his living flesh. I was the constant reminder to my family about what had been lost. In a perfect world, my cousin would still be alive, but this isn’t a perfect world. This is a world with innumerable problems, but my cousin was not one of them. He was a young man who loved his family, school, camp and friends.

He never gave up in all he pursued, and god should feel shame for taking him away from the earth. He was superman. He was my cousin, and I can’t stop remembering him. And I never will.

What The Press Would Say
There is no argument that “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop” is a small film. It is. It has a small scope, where a world of grief and guilt are seen through the eyes of a child. But this movie is really about family. In the hardest time in his life, a kid must cope with being the last person to ever see his cousin alive. In the role of Jeremy, “There Will Be blood” cast member Dillon Freasier holds his own among such great presences as Laura Linney (as his aunt, in fantastic role) and Nathan Fillion (in a subtle, heartbreaking portrayal of the dead boys father). In a small roll, Ezra Miller (star of the festival circuit hit “Afterschool”) gives a great performance as the most positive example of a great older cousin. Based on a true story, “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop” is a study on how a lot of things are out of our control. It doesn’t try to be a groundbreaking film. It’s a simple story, that is devastating and intelligent. The film was made to get the story out there. Now everyone can know about one example of a great person dying when they have done nothing but bring happiness to everyone they touch. “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop” is a heartbreaking film, and a portrayal of a family in a time of crisis through the eyes of a child, untouched by the hardships of the world.