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