Snob Movie Review: The Reader

The film directed by Stephen Daldry (The Hours, Billy Elliot) opens December 10th, 2008 in limited release and wide Jan 9th, 2009.

The film is an adaptation of the novel by Berhard Schlink and stars Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes and David Cross. The story is a very complex tale of guilt, secrets and dealing with the horrors of the past.

David Cross is a 15 year old boy in post-WWII Germany, who encounters an older woman (Kate Winslet) who works as a conductor on trams. The two begin a torrid love affair that involves the boy reading books to the older woman followed by a lot of sex.

Eventually, they break up and the young man continues with his studies. In law school his Professor takes them to a trial. It's one of the trials for employees at Nazi Concentration camps. One of the defendants is the older woman. The woman does not reveal a piece of information about herself that could easily deflect some of the accusations meant against her. The boy also keeps her secret.

Ralph Fiennes plays the boy, now a middle aged man who has a distant relationship with his own daughter. He is forced to reconcile his past with Kate Winslet in order to save his relationship with his daughter.

There are some serious flaws with this movie: the fact that the actors don't speak German (they speak English with German accents), the constant changing of time periods and the montage-like feeling of many scenes.

With that being said, the movie is still fascinating. Great performances, a story that really explores German attitudes towards its past and a morally ambiguous slant on everything makes this an ineresting watch.

Snob Movie Review: Gran Torino

Directed and starring Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino opens December 12th in limited release and wider January 16th, 2009.

Clint plays a Korean War vet who is recently a widower. He is left alone in his home in a neighborhood that is quickly being populated with immigrants.

His family is completely self-absorbed and pay no attention to him. His asian neighbors stick to themselves and their community. Their children played by newcomes Bee Vang and Ahney Her are brother and sister. They are constantly being harassed and recruited by a gang that is up to no good.

Clint's character is a bigot that spews ignorant and racist talk in every sentence. He is very much the crotchety old man.

When the neighbor boy is caught trying to steal Clint's prized Gran Torino car from the garage, the boy is sent to work for Clint to restore honor to his family. Unwillingly, Clint accepts and begins to give the boy tasks around the neighborhood. Soon, Clint is seen as a hero in the neighborhood for cleaning things up and standing up to the gang. Clint takes a liking to the hardworking neighbor boy, but Clint realizes the gang must be stopped or they will take the boy and turn him to a life of crime.

This story is a coming of age story, and an unconventional buddy picture about clashing cultures. It's heart is in the right place, but it just boils down to a Dirty Harry grown old movie.

Although Clint gives a good performance (although a bit one note, especially for the first half of the movie), the rest of the cast is spotty at best. In fact, some of the characters are just so one dimensional such as the old man's family. Also, the film falls prey to so many of the stereotypes that it is in the position to challenge. It is for these reasons that we can't recommend this one from good ole Clint.

Snob Movie Review: Valkyrie

Directed by Bryan Singer (at one point, he was one of our favourite directors), this picture opens Christmas Day.

Tom Cruise stars as von Stauffenberg a member of the German Army who plans to kill Hitler in WWII. At the beginning of the movie, he is wounded in Africa leaving him without an eye and a hand.

The good thing about this movie is the unprecedented supporting cast which includes: Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp, Eddie Izzard, Tom Wilkinson and more. All deliver interesting performances.

However, the same can not be said for Tom Cruise. Personally, I think he is an interesting actor, but in Valkyrie we see none of it.

We all know the outcome of the movie, but it still lacks the suspense and drama that is demanded in a movie of this. All of the characters are uni-dimensional (especially Cruise). There is a lot of talking and very little action, the movie becomes pretty boring.

Although I appreciated the interesting transition from German to English, it's a very strong choice to have your actors perform with their native English and American accents. It's a weird decision that I'm sure will get some attention.

Above all, the directing, acting and editing becomes robotic. It's adequate, but there's something missing. No surprises. No emotional content. Thi is especially tragic since this is one of the most interesting stories of our time.

Snob Movie Review: Los Cronocrimenes (Timecrimes)

After making the festival rounds, this movie opens in limited release on December 12, 2008 and was written and directed by Spaniard Nacho Vigalondo. He also plays one of the four cast members.

A husband and wife are hanging out by their isolated home. The husband looks into the woods and sees a young woman behaving suspiciously. He sees her take her top off. With his wife gone, he decides to go investigate the woods. He comes across the completely nude woman and is quickly attacked with a pair of scissors by a trench-coated, and face bandaged lunatic.

The husband flees and is led to lab where a seemingly friendly scientist tells him to hide in pod-like device. The pod closes. When it reopens, the man is transported many hours back in time.

This sets off an interesting entry into the Time Travel genre, which has echoes of Primer, Deja Vu and Memento. One that involves an extremely small cast and very few locations. However, they all work with an interesting script that is constantly turning in on itself.

Perhaps not the best time travel movie, but Los Cronocrimenes is enjoyable and very well made.
Watch out for the Hollywood remake in a couple of years.

Snob Movie Review: Milk

This biopic directed by Gus Van Sant opens today (November 26th, 2008) in limited release and wider next Friday (December 5th, 2008).

Sean Penn stars as Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California. Josh Brolin plays a colleague of Milk and Emile Hirsch and James Franco play his friends.

The film opens with an astounding montage of newsreel and newspaper clippings of homosexual raids across the USA in the past. Milk meets up with Franco in NYC and they end up moving to San Francisco's Castro neighborhood. Starting up a camera store, Milk decides to organize the gay community to have financial and political clout.

He decides to run for city office and loses. A couple of times. Not discouraged, he gets more and more folks to volunteer their time and expertize to his cause. Eventually, he gets elected and gets involved in the national debate over gay rights. More specifically Proposition 6, the law that would make it illegal for homosexuals to be teachers in California.

Gus van Sant has taken a lot of jeers (and cheers) for his storytelling style (long takes, relaxed narrative structure, if any at all) but with Milk, he's made a fairly conventional film. It's also one of his best. He tackles a huge story and seamlessly blends in real footage, real people and original locations to create a cohesive film of undenying power.

The performances on display are fantastic. Sean Penn finally plays a character with a broad range of emotions and he's inspiring.

After a year of mediocre fare, Milk sets the bar for American films in 2008.

Snob Movie Review: Australia

This film opens today (November 26, 2008) and is directed by Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet), and stars Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and young Brandon Walters.

There is no doubt that this film is a labor of love for everyone evolved. The plot involves the WWII bombings in Northern Australia as well as the mistreatment of mixed children by the government. Mixed in there is a sweeping romance.

Kidman plays an English aristocrat that comes to Australia only to find her husband dead, and his ranch being run into the ground by a rival rancher. Jackman plays a cowboy that leads cattle across the country to be sold. Mixed into all of this is a bi-racial kid (Brandon Walters) that is torn between his Aboriginal grandfather's mysticism and Nicole Kidman's maternal modern love.

I could continue on with the plot, but that should give an indication of the convoluted mess that Australia is. The first 20 minutes of this film should have ended up on the cutting room floor. It has a bizzarro goofball tone that doesn't go anywhere, and Nicole Kidman has as much personality as the sponge in my sink.

The rest of the film is part romance, part war film and part comedy in the vein of Gone with the Wind. Unfortunately, that's where the comparison ends.

The script is uncompromisingly corny and downright ridiculous at moments. There is far too much CGI effects. It's not so much that we don't think it's real, it's more that I don't believe it. And of course, there's the whole White Saviour undertone.

A massive bloated missfire, Australia deserves more.

Snob Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

This film directed by Danny Boyle opened today (November 12, 2008), and is garnering a lot of attention. Early reviews are touting it as a Best Picture underdog. In a year where most films thus far have sucked, that could be a good prediction.

In my books, Danny Boyle has built one of the best bodies of work this generation. Everything he does is somehow interesting, but still has his trademark audacious aesthetic. Slumdog is no exception.

The film is shot mostly digital and entirely in India. The protagonist, Jamal, is on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and is about to be given his final question, when he is accused of cheating. He is interrogated by a cop played by Irrfan Khan (this guy can do no wrong) trying to figure out how this uneducated kid from the slums could answer all of the questions correctly and even get on the show. The answer to a question triggers off a flashbacks to how Jamal knew the answer to the difficult question. It's an interesting narrative device.

Through the flashbacks we learn of Jamal's almost Dickensian youth with his tough brother Salim and a girl he loves Latika. These characters are played by three different actors at various ages, however, the transitions are not jarring. If anything, the performances of the younger cast eclipse those of the older actors.

There are several problems with this film, mostly with the far reaching storylines and the supposed love story at its core. To be honest, I just didn't buy it. The peripheral characters, although interesting, have no real depth and make some weird decisions.

With that being said, the look and feel of the film, shot by Anthony Dod Mantel, propel this average 'rags to the riches' tale into another league. There is so much visual energy in the shots and editing that it exudes real beauty.

Snob Movie Review: Changeling

Clint Eastwood directs this period-piece set in 1920's Los Angeles (not to be confused with the cult favourite The Changeling, the Canadian horror movie). It opens in wide release on October 31st, just in time for awards season.

It stars Angelina Jolie as a young single mother who leaves her child alone at home one day to go to work. When she returns, she finds the boy gone. The police eventually return a boy to her - but it's not her son. What then occurs is an unbelievable set of circumstances and situations that show the level of corruption and politics within the police. The problem is that it's all true. The film is a true story.

There are some problems with the storytelling: it lags at some points, and it doesn't really have a satisfying ending. Perhaps if the movie ended 30 minutes before it actually does, I would have been happier.

However, the good things outweigh the bad. Jolie's performance, although bordering on the same thing over and over (it would be fun to count how many times she says 'I want my son back!' or how many times she cries) is still believable and heart-wrenching at times. John Malkovich as a Presbyterian reverend that comes to the woman's aid is incredible. I never thought I'd see him in a role like this, but he does it well. By and large, the supporting cast (Jeffrey Donovan as a corrupt captain, Colm Feore as the chief and Jason Butler Harner as a killer) is what makes this movie work. They will all be overlooked.

Snob Movie Review: Religulous

Larry Charles (Of Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Borat fame) brings us another run-and-gun style documentary about America. It opened last night (October 3rd).

The film consists of Bill Maher questioning every facet of the three 'major' religions in America: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It is definitely the most damning critiques about religion since Monty Python's The Life of Brian.

In Maher's quest to learn about why religion is still such a major force in America despite the overwhelming evidence against it, Maher interviews devout followers and religous leaders. He travels the world and also delves into his family history with faith.

Some of the interviews work, some of them don't. The most interesting ones are with the folks associated with the Vatican. Their answers are shocking in their candidness and their progressiveness.

Content aside, the movie is quite slick and amounts to just being a travelogue with several sound bites. I feel that some scenes scenes needed to be played out a bit more, others should have been cut down. Although the pace and tone of the movie don't exactly work, the filmmaker's thesis is clear and never deviates from it.

Right before the credits, Bill Maher sums up the entire film in one 'straight for the jugular' angry rant while epic orchestrations play. It's equal parts comedy, satire and insight.

Perhaps not the greatest documentary ever made, Religulous does have some genuine laughs and is entertaining. That's a lot to say for a movie that tackles a taboo topic. It also proves that Larry Charles is one of the great comedic directors of our time.

Snob Movie Review: Blindness

This film directed by Fernando Meirelles and written by Canadian Don McKellar opens in wide release on October 3rd, 2008.

The film is an adaptation of the famous novel, which I have not read and has a pretty good cast: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, Alice Braga and even Gael Garcia Bernal.

The story begins when people in a non-descript large city begin to go blind. The isolated incidences become an epidemic.

Julianna Moore and Mark Ruffalo (he plays an eye doctor) are a husband and wife team. The husband becomes blind, whereas the wife doesn't. She pretends to be blind so that she can be with him as he gets put into an asylum with other blind folks.

The movie then goes the way of The Lord of Flies, where cliques are created, and food becomes more scarce. Tensions rise. Little to no help from the outside the outside city. It seems that the entire city has been abandoned after a while.

Anyways, the story goes on and there is a hopeful ending. Unfortunately, this movie is just so damn bleak and dark, it's hard to get into it. It's dreary color pallette even make the film boring to look at.

Essentially, this movie is not about everyone going blind, but rather it's about the one woman that can see. We're used to seeing Julianne Moore give so much of herself to other roles, but I just didn't buy her performance here. Perhaps it's the fault of the writing, but I didn't believe her actions, and when she took them.

This film was made by the same guy that did City of God and The Constant Gardener, both of which we love. What makes those stories so interesting is that they are about characters put into horrible situations. They then go on to make larger socio-political points.

Unfortunately, Blindness is more about a horrible situation with some characters in it. As a result, the film ends up being cold and trite.

Snob Movie Review: Ghost Town

The picture directed by Hollywood writer David Koepp, opened September 19, 2008.

Ricky Gervais plays a curmudgeonly dentist that accidentally dies for a short period of time during a routine medical procedure. He is brought back to life with the ability to see all of the ghosts in New York City. In fact, the ghosts are able to talk with him, but no one else in society. One of these ghosts is played by Greg Kinnear a philandering husband that was never good enough for his wife (Tea Leoni) when he was alive. Tea Leoni is an archeologist that has taken up with a great and smart man, whom she wants to marry. Gregg Kinnear hates the idea so he strikes a deal with the dentist to break up the wife's new relationship.

What happens with the rest of the movie is quite predictable, but somehow I was charmed. Perhaps it was Ricky Gervais playing an unlikely leading man. Or maybe it was how beautiful NYC looks.

Either way, by the end of the movie, the script has played all of its cards. However, there's still some heartwarming and emotional truth within the story. Then you realize that Ricky Gervais isn't so bad afterall, and he totally could get in there with Tea Leoni.

Aside from a questionable joke about Chinese folks, Ghost Town is a surprisingly satisfying and heartfelt romantic comedy.

Snob Movie Review: The Lucky Ones

This film opens September 26th, 2008. It was co-written and directed by Neil Burger, who was responsible for the under-appreciated The Illusionist.

Three soldiers (Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins and Michael Pena) return from Iraq to try to move forward with their lives. Immediately after landing at JFK, everything seems to go wrong for them. Michael Pena's character (who was wounded in the 'private parts') plans to get to Vegas to find a professional to cure him of his sexual problem. Rachel McAdams, estranged from her family, decides to go to Vegas to give a guitar to a fallen soldier's family. She hopes that the family will then take her in.

Worse, Tim Robbins comes home to a wife that wants a divorce and a Son that needs tens of thousands of dollars to attend Stanford. Somehow this became a big deal; why couldn't the kid just take out a loan, like most students?!?!

Anyways, the film doesn't exactly work for a number of reasons. Most of them have to do with the odd number of coincidences that occur, and the strange situations that the characters are placed in. Not to give anything away, but I was kind of indifferent towards the picture until the scene with the tornado. Seriously, there's a tornado. That scene ruined the rest of the movie.

Rachel McAdams is kind of iffy with her accent, and Tim Robbins doesn't really do much. Michael Pena gives the strongest performance, actually showing some depth to his character.

All in all, the subject matter, the re-adjustment of soldiers to civilian life, is something serious and deserves better treatment and inquiry.

Snob Movie Review: Ballast

This film opens in NYC October 1st 2008, and much wider later on. It was written and directed by Lance Hammer, and has won a slew of awards (most notably the directing and cinematography awards at Sundance).

It's hard to give an opinion on a film like this, which admittedly is not concerned with plot, or storytelling. Rather, its sole intent is to create a mood or tone. This tone, quite overtly is grey and gloomy.

The plot involves rural Mississippi, where a man has committed suicide. His estranged son and the son's mother are left to deal with the man's twin brother. The plot is a bit more complicated, but honestly, plot is irrelevant.

The film begins with a beautiful sequence, and introduces us to interesting places and people, but then it doesn't deliver much of a story. This gets incredibly frustrating as provoking situations lead to empty questions and an unfulfilled feeling. I began to feel misled by the director.

The film seems to be in search of some greater truth, or realness in it's characters, but I stopped believing in the characters and got bored by the constant gloom. There is something inherently false about cinema, and trying to create something otherwise is futile.

The film also does away with any traditional soundtrack, with no score, or obvious sound design. I believe that a nice soundtrack does not have to be heavy-handed or 'telling the audience what to feel'. Rather, the creative use of sound is just another tool in a director's arsenal.

With all of this being said, Ballast is incredibly well crafted, well shot and clearly means a lot to the eloquent Lance Hammer. I'm glad that there are people like him crafting films like this, it's just not my cup of tea.

Snob Movie Review: Entre Les Murs (The Class)

This film, directed by Laurent Cantet, opens the New York Film Festival on Sept 26, 2008 and probably wider later on. It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year.

The film chronicles a French teacher's (played convincingly by François Bégaudeau) year at a struggling inner-city school in Paris.

The class takes place mostly in a classroom with non-professional actors of all stripes, from all corners of the world, which is a refreshing change. There is also a lot of time spent in meetings with other teachers during various committee meetings and such. Stuff like this has never really been explored in film.

There is much to say about it's verite and incredibly natural performances. The problem with films of this style, is that they quickly become boring. There is just so much talking, monotonous speeches and confrontational exchanges between the teacher and the students, that the genuiness of the performances begin to be overshadowed by the boringness that sets in.

The film does address many of the problems afflicting education in modern France (and North America, for that matter) such as assimilation, letting people fall through the cracks, fostering the brighter students etc... However, no real stance is taken and there is no serious discussion.

Perhaps besides the point, but I would have loved to have seen the students in their home life, or the teacher's life away from school.

I like the idea of being able to put a camera on every day situations and being able to find a story. Unfortunately, in real life, there is seldom any cinematic drama that occurs. Much like this film.

Snob Movie Review: Appaloosa

This movie is co-written, directed and stars Ed Harris. It opens in limited release on September 19th, and then wider October 3rd, 2008.

In a nutshell, Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen plays hired cop-buddies that are paid to clean up a town that is being ruled by a rancher (played by Jeremy Irons), who also killed a bunch of other lawmen at the beginning of the movie. A lady comes to town and complicates stuff.

I guess Ed Harris was thinking of making a straight up Western genre movie, as opposed to the more interesting Revisionist Western. He really made a mistake.

There is just so much wrong with this picture, that it's hard to understand what all of the buzz is about. Perhaps the main problem is that the lady, played by a horribly looking Renee Zelwegger, doesn't really complicate issues too much. No real love triangle develops, and Renee plays it completely melodramatic. I just don't understand the real purpose of this character.

Jeremy Irons tries his best as an evil Rancher, but ends up playing a caricature of Daniel Plainview. Ed Harris is also unconvincing as a strict law man. It's painful to watch him trying to convince the audience that he's actually enjoying this.

Did I mention that there's a band of Native Americans? I mean, INJUNS! Another calamity is the lone Asian guy in the cafe. I believe the direction must have been "Play the most stereotypical Chinese guy you can think of!".

At the end of the day, this is one of the most indulgent, directionless and pointless pictures of late. Neither tribute or critique of the Western genre, Appaloosa takes the worst parts of the genre and makes them even worse.

Snob Movie Review: Tropic Thunder

An early review, this film co-written and directed by Ben Stiller opens August 13th, 2008.

This movie is about the making of a big-budget war-movie, where the actors get involved with real guerrillas. It's an interesting premise, and it delivers.

The funny faux-trailers at the beginning set the tone for a hilarious, but well made picture. Jack Black plays a horrible comedy actor, Ben Stiller is the action movie actor, Jay Baruchel is the young college-educated actor, Matthew McConaughey is Stiller's greasy agent and an unrecognizable Tom Cruise plays a big producer. Brandon T Jackson is the rapper turned actor. The most controversial character is Robert Downey Jr's method actor, who undergoes a skin pigment operation to appear African-American. There is an argument that could be made about racism, but I personally don't agree. I believe this character is more of a satire on method actors than on black people. Also, Brandon T Jackson's character (who is really African-American) gives him tons of hell throughout the movie.

Needless to say, this movie had me laughing (out loud, which is very hard to do considering I am a snob) for most of the running time. The plot is slim, but there's enough homage to the war-film genre without becoming a straight-up satire. The movie looks great too, which should come as no surprise since John Toll was the Director of Photography (he shot the war-film masterpiece The Thin Red Line).

Enough can't be said about Tom Cruise's performance. He steals every single scene he's in, and it's quite refreshing to see him do a good job in a supporting role. Nick Nolte is his grizzly self and Danny McBride just keeps turning out good supporting work.

So, all in all, a great starring cast, a great supporting cast and a pretty funny script makes this movie the most fun I've had in a theatre since Knocked Up.

Snob Movie Review: The X-Files: I Want to Believe

The movie, directed by Chris Carter opened today July 25, 2008.

We get caught up with Mulder & Scully several years after the X-Files has been disbanded. Scully is working as a doctor at a Catholic hospital and Mulder is down in the dumps away from society, caverned in a room.

Mulder is summoned to help in an FBI serial-murder case in which a pedophile priest (played very nicely by lovable Billy Connolly) is having visions that are helping the case.

Needless to say, much is made about the 'I want to believe' tagline by all. It's banged into our heads, over and over again.

Unfortunately, the best parts of the TV-series are not put into use in this movie. The economical and tight storytelling is thrown out the window to a meandering and thinly connected plot. All of the sexual tension between Mulder and Scully is let out, as we see the two of them in bed with horribly written pillow talk. The action is boring and predictable with unintelligible editing and cheesy attempts at humor.

The plot contains more horror elements and murderers (Callum Keith Rennie is completely wasted with a horrible Russian accent) than wide-scale government conspiracies and alien contact, which were the stories that made the series so intriguing.

The writing seems to have several nods for the rabid fanbase by including so many weird references and bringing in characters that are not relevant to the narrative. By trying to appease their fans (myself included) the filmmakers have made a film that no true X-Phile could enjoy. A massive disappointment.

Snob Movie Review: Mama Mia!

Phyllida Lloyd (who also directed the stage version) directed and Catherine Johnson wrote this adaptation of the Broadway musical based on ABBA songs which opens on 7/18/2008.

A great cast including Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Amanda Seyfried (from Big Love) sing and dance in this regrettable mess. We all know that this snob doesn't like musicals (but we enjoyed Sweeney Todd), and after watching this hunk of junk, I remember why.

Basically, 20 years ago, Meryl Streep jammed three dudes (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard) in a short amount of time. 20 years later, the love child is ready to be married but wants her father to give her away at the wedding on a Greek Island that the mom runs a villa on. The rest of the movie is basically 'whose the daddy?'.

I'm a closet ABBA fan, so my gripe is not with the music. Meryl Streep gives her usual grand performance as does Amanda Seyfried. Gosh darnit, it looks like they're having fun!

Unfortunately, the direction and writing are so boring with superficial one-note characters and ridiculous shot choices. Worse yet, are the large production songs. They just come out of nowhere, with no logical beginning or end. The overdone musical numbers involve a huge cast with some bizarre costumes and choreography. I started to become really annoyed by the movie. In between the boring and obnoxiously arranged songs are melodramatic scenes that offer no real character insight. I just can't believe how tired this movie made me feel.

Skip this movie and put in ABBA Gold instead.

Snob Movie Review: The Wackness

The Wackness opens July 3rd, 2008 and is written & directed by AFI alum Jonathan Levine. It's his second feature, and some parts of this story are auto-biographical.

The story takes place in 1994 NYC, the year that Luke Shapiro graduates from highschool. He is a weed-dealer, with eclectic clientele, including a psychologist named Dr. Squires (Ben Kingsley - he's doing interesting work these days). The psychologist has a pretty step-daughter, whom Luke wants to get with. Unfortunately, Dr. Squires is having a mid-life crisis and is just down in the dumps.

Eventually, Luke falls in and out of love with the daughter, Dr Squires' marriage falls apart, Luke's family is forced to move, all while he sells his dope out of a modified ice cream pushcart. Essentially we are dealing with a coming of age story, with some buddy moments.

The script is actually quite nice, but there's something that just doesn't feel right. It's definitely not the beautiful cinematography by Petra Korner, or the nostalgic soundtrack featuring classics by Biggie and Nas. However, it could be the horrible scenes involving Mary-Kate Olsen (although, I think she's getting better as an actor) and Method Man (his Jamaican accent is purely Ja-Faken). Or it could be in the tone and editing. The movie drags during spots, but at the same time it leaves some of the side-stories completely underdeveloped. It just felt like Upper East Siders behaving badly and I'm tired of films portraying the horrors of upper-middle class life.

Johnathan Levine is clearly a talented writer, and has tons of promise as a director. I hope he gets another chance, because The Wackness is just straight up wack. Sorry, that was too obvious.

Snob Movie Review: American Teen

Nanette Burstein directed this documentary, which opens July 25th. She won the doc-directing award at this year's Sundance Festival.

The filmmakers shot for about a year at a highschool in Warsaw, Indiana. What results is very nice and current portrait of American youth.

The story focuses on the senior year of five students that represent the 'caste' of any typical highschool: the jock, the princess, the dork, the artsy girl, and the all American guy. We get to follow the students through all of their dramas, from drinking way too much, heart-wrenching breakups, depression, big games, pranks and college admissions.

What Burstein (whose other non-fiction work involves young people) is great at, is getting her subjects to bare their souls to the camera. Everyone is so comfortable in front of the camera they they seem to lose any awareness of the camera. One can't deny the amount of pure emotion on the screen. It's something to behold.

Considering that this type of doc has been done before, American Teen is able to remain relevant because of the genuineness of the characters, and our ability to see a bit of each of us in all of them.

It's only flaw is that it lags a bit in the middle, and at times becomes melodramatic and a bit too constructed. With that being said, American Teen is worth your time, despite a terrible movie poster,.

Snob Movie Review: The Love Guru

This film opened yesterday (June 20th), and was directed by Marco Schnabel. Mike Myers shares writing credit with Graham Gordy.

To be honest, I had pretty low expectations for this picture, considering Mike Myers recent projects. However, I was pleasantly surprised that this movie is actually pretty damn enjoyable!

Mike Myers plays an American child that grew up in India. At a young age, he studied with Deepak Chopra under another guru, played by Ben Kingsley (yeah, the dude that played Ghandi!). So, Mike Myers grows up to be a new-age self-help guru, who wants to be recognized just as much as Deepak Chopra. He gets hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs owner (played by Jessica 'I'm not Latina' Alba) to help cure the love problems of their star player Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco, Trini Massive!). The hockey star's girlfriend has been stolen by a great goalie nicknamed 'le Grande Coq' (an almost unrecognizable, Justin Timberlake). Unfortunately, the Leafs captain can't seem to focus on the game, and they are in the Stanley Cup finals. The Leafs in the finals? Only in Hollywood, kids. Only in Hollywood.

The humour plays lowbrow, but with a decided highbrow mentality. There are tons of fart jokes, balls jokes and even little people jokes. However, none of them are disrespectful. The gags are also dependent on clever word play, and silly puns. Somehow it all works out, with smart nods to Bollywood, Extreme's 'More Than Words' video, Maple Leafs history and Les Quebecois (I don't think anyone in the theatre I screened it in got the humour in JT screaming 'Tabernac!' whenever he was angry).

What I also found pleasing, was that the filmmakers didn't try to hide the fact that this was a story that mostly takes place in Toronto. It's the real Toronto Maple Leafs, playing at the Air Canada Centre with Tim Horton's and Sportchek ads along the rink boards.

Another reason to check this movie out are the incredible cameos. I don't want to give too many of them away, but clearly Mike Myers went through his rolodex and called in several favours. It's worth it.

Not the stink bomb that I was expecting, The Love Guru actually delivers some good laughs while waving the Canadian and Maple Leafs flags unashamedly.

Snob Movie Review: Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

This documentary, directed by Chris Bell, is currently playing in limited release. Hopefully, it's playing near you, because it's one of the best films of the year.

The director turns the camera on himself (a former body builder) and his family (his two brothers used steroids) a la Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore and asks some serious questions about America.

On it's surface, the film is an incredibly well researched treatment on the dis-information about performance enhancing drugs in America. However, he digs deeper to illuminate the contradictory messages America seems to have on the topic and it's incredible desire for it to be the best.

What's even more interesting is that Chris Bell doesn't seem to side on the pro- or anti- steroid side. He provides incredible proof contradicting the 'steroids will kill you' message of the media, and incredible interviews with high-profile athletes admitting to steroids use. He almost has us convinced that steroids are completely safe, until the story of his brothers starts to develop. He see one of his brothers still jacked up, still trying to get into the WWE despite years and years of rejection, and still has his marriage hanging on a thread. Bell asks some tough questions of American Society, and of ourselves, in how far is it ok to go in order to be the best.

A graduate of USC's film school, Bell has crafted an incredibly thought provoking, but still fun documentary.

Snob Movie Review: The Happening

The new picture from M. Night Shyamalan opened yesterday (Friday the 13th....scary!).

Mark Wahlberg plays a Philly science teacher, Zooey Deschanel plays his wife and John Leguizamo is a math teacher. The three of them get caught up in a bizarre situation that has people all across the North East committing suicide. In an attempt to flee the danger, they head to rural Pennsylvania and meet up with other individuals that are trying to understand the phenomena.

The story is quite simply, man vs. nature, but taken to an extreme. No one seems to understand how or why the plants and trees are allowing people to kill themselves.

One thing's for sure, the story/premise itself is pretty good. However, it's all downhill from there. The script is absolutely ridiculous. The characters are poorly sketched, with no real objectives, or desires. There are so many red herrings, like the wife's supposed philandering, the math teacher's wife, a crazy old lady, all with no real weight to the story.

Worst of all is the directing. The performances that Shyamalan gets from his actors are so odd and inconsistent. The choices he's made in the editing room leave me wondering about his original idea for this picture. Was it supposed to be a tribute to 1950's horror/sci-fi? A tongue-in-cheek satire? Or a straight-faced attempt to scare us? Depending on the scene, you could say it's one of these, but at the end of the day, it's none of them. What it really is though, is a complete waste of time.

Snob Movie Review: The Incredible Hulk

Louis Leterrier directs this juggernaut that opens tomorrow (Friday June 13th).

First let me say, that I'm not a comic-book fan, and I've never seen any of the previous TV-shows or films about The Hulk.

A great cast led by Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/The Hulk and Liv Tyler as Betty try their best to reclaim this movie from CGI wretchedness.

Bruce Banner leads a secret life, trying to control his anger and find a cure for him going ape-shit and wrecking everything. Turns out, he was a specimen gone wrong and the army wants him back. Along the way, a soldier, played by Tim Roth (perhaps the best character in the movie), gets injected with the same 'monster-juice' and turns into an even crazier beast. The Hulk must fight the Evil Hulk and save NYC from mass destruction.

I feel that this film was trying to attempt what Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale did with Batman: a more psychological character that has emotions and is torn by their own powers. Unfortunately, it doesn't work in this case.

I just didn't get more to Bruce Banner other than his wanting not to get angry and tear the place up. We just don't get the opportunity to identify, or know what it feels like to feel the strain of this guy. The characters are all merely caricatures of people in a totally humdrum, recycled plot.

Let's be honest though, most people are not going to see this movie for Edward Norton's acting, they want to see the spectacle. The effects are crappy though! I still don't fully understand the true proportions of The Hulk. Also, I'm not sure if Toronto can still be passed off as NYC (isn't that the 'Sam The Record Man' and 'Swiss Chalet' signs a dead giveaway?!). Maybe it's just me, but the CGI just isn't that good, the movements of The Hulk are not fluid enough, and his constant roaring gets me infuriated. It's just so obvious when something has been CGI'd.

Either way, you're better off reading the comic books, because this movie is just so damn awful!
Worst movie of the year (so far....).

Snob Movie Review: Pineapple Express

An early review: Pineapple Express opens August 8, 2008.

Indie-wunderkind David Gordon Green (DGG) directs Seth Rogen and James Franco in this stoner action-comedy. I did a double take when I heard that DGG was attached to this project. Seriously, his first two films George Washington and All the Real Girls are some of the best films of the early 2000's.
He lost some cache with me with his later films, but it's always nice to see directors challenging themselves, or at least taking chances with different material.

Seth Rogen plays a subpoena server, with a high-school girlfriend, who just happens to witness a murder. Unfortunately, the bad-folks are able to track him and his dealer (James Franco) because of the weed that Rogen was smoking when he saw what he saw. The rare weed is called Pineapple Express.

So basically, the movie is Rogen and Franco running from the bad guys (which includes a funny performance by Rosie Perez) and trying to get high along the way.

There's alot of good things with the movie: Seth Rogen is still able to keep himself fresh and endearing, even though he's pretty much playing the same character over and over. James Franco is a likeable stoner. The supporting cast is topnotch, with a wonderful array of bizarre characters. In many ways though, the supporting cast is far more interesting than the two lead characters. The best moments are during the wacky chases, or when things go completely haywire. This is probably to DGG credit.

Like I said, there are a lot of good things. Unfortunately, there are far more bad things. The script is just too safe. It's not satirical enough. It's not homage-ish enough. It's not deconstructive enough. Quite frankly, it's just not funny enough. A lot of the jokes we've seen/heard before, and gets a bit repetitive.

So, all in all, there are a few chuckles, and a few laugh out loud moments, but they are too far apart for me to recommend this picture. But, I have no doubt it will be one of this summer's blockbusters.

Snob Movie Review: Take

Charles Oliver wrote and directed this film, which opens July 18th, 2008.


Minnie Driver gives a very worthy performance in this story of the death penalty, revenge and redemption. Sadly, the film doesn't add up to it's wonderful aspirations.

Driver plays a working class mother (unfortunately, her American accent goes in and out, which is a bit distracting), who has a rambunctious young son. A loving husband who is a school teacher seems to be fairly loving and caring.


Jeremy Renner plays a down and out dude, with nothing much going for him aside a huge debt owed to some goons. Due to some weird circumstances, he ends up with a gun, and decides to hold up a grocery. No spoilers here, but the two leads cross paths during the hold up, with tragic results. Adam Rodriguez (the dude from CSI: Miami) plays a prison chaplain trying to get the incarcerated Jeremy Renner to accept god before his execution.

Unfortunately, the film is told non-linearly, which I feel takes away the gravity of it's final scenes. In fact, the movie is a huge bore for the first hour. I felt frustrated, because I knew exactly where the movie was going, but I kept being told more and more unnecessary back story, and I'm beginning to believe what David Mamet says ("Back story is total bullshit").

There is some interesting work by Minnie Driver and Renner, especially during the holdup scene, but the rest of the movie is no where near as engaging. The character's just don't seem to add up, whether it be inconsistent actions, or just inconsistent acting.

Snob Movie Review: Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

This film is making the festival circuit, and is also airing on HBO starting on June 9th.

This doc, directed by Marina Zenovich, won the editing award at this years Sundance Festival. It takes a detailed look at the events, and legal drama surrounding the Roman Polanski child-rape case of late 70's, which effectively left the legendary director away from America ever since.

To be honest, I didn't know much about this story, aside from the sensational headlines. Needless to say, everything I pretty much thought about Polanski, and this case were wrong.

The movie features beautiful candid films of Polanski with his beautiful wife, Sharon Tate, before she was tragically murdered by Charles Manson's Family. Then the focus shifts to archival footage, mixed with new interviews from everyone involved in the infamous case: the defense and prosecution lawyers, Polanski's friends, cops and even the young girl (now growned up) who accused him. The film's thesis is that Polanski's case was mired by a fame-hungry judge, who skewered the law for public notoriety. It's a fairly strong case, as everyone involved agrees that the judge screwed up. In fact, everyone doesn't blame Polanski for gettin' out of dodge.

The problems with the film, and perhaps it's greatest flaw, is that there are no current interviews with Polanski. As a result, I was left a bit unfulfilled and unsatisfied. Also, I'm a bit wary of putting Polanski in a sympathetic light, because everyone agrees he, in fact, did rape the 13-year old girl (granted, he plead guilty to a lesser charge). He did not get a fair trial, but he still served his sentence. Whether he's paid his debt to society, that's another question.

Regardless, the movie is definitely interesting, and changed my perspective on the topic.

Snob Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda

This small little indie picture (I hope the marketing department can give it a little promotion), was directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson. It opens really big on Friday June 6th.

It features a voice cast that could never exist together if it were a live-action picture. It's basically about a Panda that works at his father's noodle house, that somehow gets chosen by some grandmaster as the next Kung Fu master, who will save the town from some ex- Kung Fu master who is now evil. The Panda must train to achieve his destiny and fight the evil guy.

Unfortunately, this picture is horrible. The characters are so charmless, and inconsistent that I couldn't care less about all of them. The dialogue is so boring and trite that I somehow fell asleep several times. I guess, I just didn't get what the big deal was, or what was really at stake. The fight scenes got extremely boring and were repetitive, despite the economical 88min running time.

As people know, I love the action/martial arts genre, but it's just somewhat ridiculous to see computer characters doing them over real people; it loses the natural motion of the human form.

Hopefully, someone at Dreamworks pays for this, because if I had the chance, I would karate chop this complete waste of time.

Snob Movie Review: Mongol

Sergei Bodrov directs this Oscar-nominated film, which opens in limited release on June 6th.

This remarkable film tracks Genghis Khan's early years in the 11th and 12th centuries. We meet him as a young boy who must choose a wife to please his father. The girl he chooses, Borte, turns out to be his life-long love, for whom he will sacrifice a lot for. He is separated from his family and wife several times, escapes several times, and enslaved again several times. In between these episodes, he leads small armies against opposing tribes.

The performances, from a largely Mongol cast, are absolutely riveting and true. The younger actors are especially natural and fun to watch.

The film is breathtakingly shot by Rogier Stoffers and Sergei Trofimov. The landscapes are captured so whimsically, it reminded me of Eisenstein and Malick. The battle scenes are incredibly well done, and so unique, they never get tired.

All in all, this is probably the best historical/war/romance/biopic since Braveheart. It's also great to see a foreign-language film of this ilk.
During the Q&A, the director Bodrov mentioned the many hardships that they encountered during production (I can't even making a movie on this scale) and securing funds from many different countries. A figure like Khan is treated like a hero in some cultures, and a scoundrel in others.

Snob Movie Review: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

An early review, Sweeney Todd opens Dec 21st.

Tim Burton reunites with Johnny Depp for this adaptation of Sondheim's macabre musical. Make no mistake, this is a musical, one of which I've never seen done like this.

There is blood. Lots of graphic violence and geysers of blood. Did I mention that there's blood? The good thing is that the first killing is just so graphic, but it sets the rules for what we are going to see. Also, the violence and blood itself is so removed from reality and over the top that you don't become offended.

A young man with a wife and daughter is sent to prison unjustly by a crazy judge for fifteen years. After 15 years of hard time, he comes out, changes his name to Sweeney Todd and returns to London for revenge. He meets up with a terrible baker (Helena Bonham Carter) and begins his quest to kill the judge. In doing so, he offs plenty of victims and the baker turns their meat into the meat pies that have become the toast of the town.

The film itself looks like a black and white film shot on colour. Dariusz Wolski has such a drab colour palette that the few bright instances of colour become extremely beautiful. The songs are wonderfully bleak and catchy. Johnny Depp and Carter sing their parts wonderfully. Perhaps not great singers, but they sound like the characters singing, which adds a sense of realism not heard on a lot of other musicals.

Sacha Baron Cohen even shows up and has a funny supporting character role. Alan Rickman and Jayne Wisener (newcomer) play their characters with such enthusiasm, it's clear they are having fun. Of course Johnny Depp is able to summon both Edward Scissorhands and Pirate Jack Sparrow to create a wholly original but real character.

Definitely one of the best of the year.

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp (who looked homeless) came for the Q&A and spoke so passionately about the experience. It's nice to see mega-stars actually have something important to say.

Snob Movie Review: Youth Without Youth

Another early review, Youth Without Youth opens 12/14/2007.

The film also ends the 10 year directing hiatus for Francis Ford Coppola. Tim Roth stars in this adaptation of Mircea Eliade's novel and genius editor/sound designer Walter Murch worked on this too.

I'm not going to lie, I didn't get this movie. It's a difficult movie to get through as the concepts of plot, narrative, time and character are completely done away with.

Basically, Tim Roth's character is an old man at the beginning who gets struck by lightening. He physically becomes younger, but his mind becomes filled with knowledge beyond his years. Also, his personality splits and Roth plays them all, sometimes all three of them are on screen simultaneously.

He falls in love with this woman played by Alexandra Maria Lara, who plays different characters. Or maybe it's supposed to be the same character. I'm not sure. The woman becomes older, but she also begins to speak in ancient languages all the way back to primitive sounds.

That's as much as I got from it. With my problems notwithstanding, the film doesn't deliver with tone or with writing. Both are incredible inconsistent to the point of frustration. The supporting actors are also spotty and ruin several scenes.

Coppola is one of my heroes, so this was a massive disappointment. The good news is that Murch and Coppola were awesome during the Q&A. Coppola talked alot about how it's nearly impossible for him to make a film in the US nowadays and a lot about the rehearsal and auditioning process. He seems to have a great big respect for youth and helping young people in the business. For example, the DP Mihai Malaimare is a 29 year old Romanian film school guy.

Snob Movie Review: Juno

Juno opened yesterday in New York and goes wider next week, I think.

Directed by Jason Reitman, a script by ex-peeler Diablo Cody and starring Ellen Page as the title character, Michael Cera as her boyfriend, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman as prospective parents.
Basically, Juno gets pregnant and when the baby is born she will give the baby up for adoption to a young couple (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman).
Superficially, the plot sounds like Knocked Up (the other unwanted pregnancy movie), but the films are just so different in style and tone that the comparisons are completely unwarranted.

Personally, I felt the writing to be a bit boring and contrived. It sounds like when 40 year olds try to talk as if they were 16. Weird, considering the actors are quite young. I guess what I'm saying is that the dialogue seems written, and not spoken by the characters.

The performances are great, Michael Cera is great (as usual), Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman is a wonderful grup, but I just couldn't believe Ellen Page's performance. There is something inherently annoying and obnoxious about the character Juno that I just stopped caring about her.

One great thing about the movie is the absolutely wonderful soundtrack of low-fi indie rock with many songs by Kimya Dawson of the Moldy Peaches.
Whereas Knocked Up gave us a myriad of wonderful characters and silly banter all in service of an investigation into relationships, Juno just falls flat.

Snob Movie Review: Charlie Wilson's War

Big time filmmakers (Aaron Sorkin, Mike Nichols) and Big time actors (Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman) come together nicely in this adaptation/bio of Charles Wilson a Texan and politician, who had the power (and access to money) to change America in the 80's.

Playboy Wilson spends his time in Vegas with strippers and coke heads, only to find himself in Pakistan talking with their president about the plight of Afghani refugees. Wilson goes to the camps and is so moved, he secures money and friends with influence (Julia Roberts) and know-how (PSH).

In effect, he is able to fund the resisting Afghani's with weapons to defeat the insurging Russians. All of this is done covertly, as the Cold War is in everyone's minds.

The performances are top notch, delivered with great gusto. The writing is lean (as expected from Sorkin) with no extra words or scenes to spare. Personally, I didn't like the bookending of the opening scene with the ending, it cheapens the story.

Perhaps not the greatest movie ever, but as far as tight filmmaking and strong performances go, you could do worse.

Snob Movie Review: Control

Mr. Music Video himself, Anton Corbijn directs this biopic of Ian Curtis, lead singer of the seminal post-punk band Joy Division.

Sam Riley stars as Curtis, Samantha Morton plays his wife Deborah, and Alexandra Maria Lara plays his mistress Annik. All of them give terrific performances, but Sam Riley is exceptional. A relative unknown, this guy is magnetic on screen, especially during the performance scenes.

Corbijn works wonderfully with cinematographer Martin Ruhe to create striking black and white compositions in every frame. In fact, every shot looks to be a photo taken by Corbijn. The story tracks Curtis from his early school years, his young marriage to Deborah, his battle with epilepsy, forming the band, his infidelity and his eventual suicide.

What sets this film apart from the usual rockstar biopic, is it's lack of judgment. The film gives no reason for his great unhappiness, no deification of the rock n' roll lifestyle, no uplifiting themes, and definitely no happy ending. It's just the story.

Just for Sam Riley's performance alone, this is one of the best.

Snob Movie Review: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Let's be honest folks, veteran director Sidney Lumet hasn't made a decent movie in well over a decade, but Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is a return to form.

Philip Seymour Hofman (PSH!), Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney and a largely topless Marisa Tomei star in this smart family/heist/revenge movie.

PSH and Ethan Hawke go ahead with an ill-conceived and even worse executed plan to rob their parents jewelry store. Things go awry, and Albert Finney hunts down the folks behind the robbery. Of course he doesn't know it was his own kids.

The performances are great, PSH as a cash hungry executive and Hawke as a dead-beat dad. Tomei almost wears out her welcome as the siren, but her role becomes increasingly complex as the story continues.

Perhaps it's greatest strength, is in the storytelling. Told in a non-linear fashion from differnt perspectives, giving us just enough information, and more importantly, with-holding information from us until absolutely necessary, this is the work of virtuoso writing by Kelly Masterson.

Flying relatively under the radar, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead should not be missed.

Snob Movie Review: La Vie En Rose

There has been much talk about this film directed by Oliver Dahan and the performance Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf. Don't believe the hype.

The film is non-linear as it points out the milestones in Edith Piaf's life, from the start as a young girl living in brothels all the way to her death.
The unconventional structure really doesn't add much to the narrative, other than to remove any emotional attachment that the audience gains. In fact, once a period starts to gain momentum, the director cuts to a different time period. The problem is that it almost seems random; the scenes don't inform one another. Instead of getting to know a character, we are left with a compilation of scenes spread throughout her life.

My biggest gripe however, is the lip-synching. It ruined the entire experience for me. It's a touch call in a musical bio-pic if one should resort to the original tracks, or let the actor sing. Obviously, Cotillard would sound nothing like Edith Piaf, but to me, that's besides the point. We need a performance that has the spirit of the original person, not necessarily the same look or sound. It is for this reason that Control, The Doors and even Ray are far more succesful films.

Snob Movie Review: The King of Kong - A Fistful of Quarters

This doc went virtually under the radar during it's brief theatrical release in the summer, but hopefully it will find it's audience on DVD. Quite frankly, this is the best documentary that I saw all year.

Almost trivial in concept: a suburban dad gets laid off and decides to break the Donkey Kong record, the classic arcade game. However, what unfolds is an epic tale of the American Dream, good vs. evil and subcultures.

Steve Wiebe got so darn good at the game, he submitted a tape of him breaking the game's record setting off a chain of events so bizarre and heart breaking, you just can't help but get emotionally attached to the guy. After all, he is the epitome of America: a good person that wants to be recognized as the best. Better than anyone else in the world at something - anything.

Then there's Billy Mitchell, the proclaimed high scorer of the game that rests on his laurels from 25 years ago. What makes him worse, is that his ego is as big as his scores. He'll grasp onto anything that will keep him in the limelight. We hate attention seekers.

Anyways, the filmmaking here is wonderful. Great interviews, great observational stuff and great storytelling. Incredibly tight & lean, each scene, each sound bite, each shot gives so much insight into the odd characters, the 79 minute running time is perfect. Not just for gamers, The King of Kong can be enjoyed by anyone for it's fun and insight into the human condition. Like I said before, this is the best documentary that I saw all year.

Snob Movie Review: Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

An early review, Harold and Kumar 2 opens April 25, 2008.

Given that this was my most anticipated movie for this year, I regret to inform you, it doesn't live up to my hype.

We pick up our hapless heroes, a few hours after the first one ended. Within the first scene there's a fart joke, which sets the tone for the rest of the jokes to follow.

Written/directed by Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg (the same team that wrote the first one), everything just seems so run of the mill. All of the gags and performances are so single layered, with no depth.

Kumar just can't wait to get high in Amsterdam, so he decides to sneak a bong on board and light up in flight. The bong gets mistaken for a bomb (get it, they sound the same too!), and they get sent to Guantanamo Bay. The problem is how to make a comedy about Guantanamo? You can't. So Harold & Kumar escape (never mind the details) and go on a journey through the south to Texas, where a friend will be able to exonerate them. Along the way, they hook up with the President, Neil Patrick Harris, whores and a lot of pot. Everything gets thrown in. There's a bit of sending up stereotypes, but it's all rather predictable.

The first H&K had characters that we'd never seen before and were able to identify with their underdog qualities. This new edition has the two friends with an awkward confidence, illustrating their new found ease of getting out of ridiculous situations. Unfortunately, the characters and this movie are now just run of the mill, American-teen movie pap.

Snob Movie Review: Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?

The new film from Morgan Spurlock (he directed the monster-hit Super Size Me) opens tomorrow in New York, and possibly wider.

The film is based on the premise of Morgan going to find Osama bin Laden somewhere in the Mideast. He reckons that it shouldn't be too difficult. What occurs is a travelogue through the Middle East, where Spurlock interviews everyday folks about their ideas on America, the Taliban, the war in Iraq. The problem is that I'm not sure Spurlock has crafted a good film.

I think one of the appeals of Spurlock is his "everyman" quality, and we can identify with him through his personal stories. With WITWIOBL, he tries to tackle subjects incredibly large, complex with no real answers/solutions. Sure, it's his personal voyage through these dangerous lands, but I didn't feel personally with him.

We understand that he has left his pregnant wife to go on this voyage, but we just don't see the issues involved, other than the odd phone call home to his wife.

Also, the opening to the film, which is animated, seems a bit too slick and over written. At times, the humor inflected falls flat.

Undoubtedly, the filmmaker is genuinely affected by his encounters and his thesis is clear. The ending on the other hand, is somewhat anti-climactic and muddled. It makes sense for Morgan Spurlock (the real life person/husband) to end the story with the decision he makes. Unfortunately, as a filmmaker, he leaves the audience ultimately, unsatisfied.

David Mamet's latest offering, plays the Tribeca Film Festival tomorrow, and then opens wider on May 9.

Chiwetel Ejiofor stars (along with a superb supporting cast) as a mixed martial arts instructor, whom reluctantly must enter a tournament that will net him some much needed money and honour.

I'll be honest, I'm a huge fan of this genre. Watching Bloodsport, Busted Up, etc... are pretty much how I spent my youth. When a giant like Mamet takes on this genre, you have high hopes. The problem is that, this movie is just a mess.

The first 30 minutes are so boring and uninteresting. However, once the story picks up, it becomes only moderately interesting.

My biggest gripe is not with the writing (obviously great), but with the directing, and the actor's performances. I'm unsure if the actors are playing it satirically or sincerely. The ending is just so ridiculously cheesy, that I can't believe it was meant to play straight. But, there is not enough indication that this movie is clever enough to not be that