Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor)
Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov
Written by:Timur Bekmambetov, Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay), Sergei Lukyanenko (novel)
Starring: Konstantin Khabensky, Vladimir Menshov, Valeri Zolotukhin, Mariya Poroshina

I can probably count the number of Russian films I have seen on both hands. In fact, I embarrassingly had to log on to the internet and search for titles as just two came to my immediate recollection.

The fact that I had not viewed many from this vast Eastern country probably led to my lack of excitement over Timur Bekmambetov’s flick, Nochnoy dozor (or Night Watch to those that don’t have a Russian to English translation book at the ready). I had seen the trailer and was mildly intrigued, but I didn’t hang on to any notion of the film satisfying my Saturday night void.

The first 15 minutes didn’t help either. Not since Gaspar Noé ’s Irreversible have I spent the opening sequences in a dizzying frenzy trying to figure out what the hell I was watching.

But then things started to get interesting. Vampires, shape shifters and a battle of good versus evil began to become more evident. The characters, lead by Konstantin Khabensky as Anton, are thrown at us quicker than Clint Eastwood’s draw hand back in the spaghetti western day and the special effects are edited with split second visuals that would put Michael Bay films to shame.

The story is actually a trilogy with parts two and three expected out over the next two years and involves a battle between the night and light watchers who have been battling for years waiting for the birth of the chosen one that will pick a side thus declaring a winner (have enough religious overtones for you?). So while we wait for the decision that will ultimately come in the later parts of the second or third chapter, Anton hunts down vampires, saves the world from something called a funnel and befriends a child that may just be the lucky person that gets to inny-minny-miney-moe a side.

While watching Night Watch I couldn’t help but think of how The Matrix must have translated and looked to people of other languages. Even in English, The Matrix was difficult to figure out and Night Watch did many things to remind me of the Wachowski Brothers’ trilogy. It has a complex plot, too many characters with too many quirks to keep track of and enough special effects to keep those sensory buttons in the old noggin firing every few minutes. But maybe the biggest comparison between the two films are the religious suggestions in the films, specifically being the fact that ‘The One’ will be sent to save or condemn us all.

I will not go as far as commenting that Night Watch is a great film, but it is very good. You won’t be bored and I bet that you watch it again just to try and figure the whole thing out. Besides, isn’t that what had us going back and a second and third time to see Matrix: Revolutions for? — Greg Roberts

Running Scared
Written and Directed by: Wayne Kramer
Starring: Paul Walker, Cameron Bright, Vera Farmiga

As the week-end approached, I had my choice of going to the dentist or seeing a Paul Walker film. I picked the dentist.

But as the day wore on, I began to break down. Maybe it was my yearning to find myself in a darkened theatre with a group of strangers and a big tub of popcorn that I in no way needed (just ask last years golf pants). But more likely, it was the drugs I was on thanks to all the dentist pulling and tugging that had my judgment impaired just long enough to throw down a couple of bucks to see Mr. 2 Fast 2 Furious.

Well, luckily, my impairment wasn’t so bad that I bought a ticket for 8 Below, but rather I found myself staggering to my seat to see Running Scared, a movie title that showcased Billy Crystal and the late Gregory Hines some 20 years ago.

Running Scared stars Paul Walker as Joey Gazelle, and Joey isn’t having a good day. Starting with a drug deal that goes south, Joey finds himself in a dramatic shoot-out between the sellers, the buyers and the masked men who bring their shotguns to crash the party. After the bullets are spread and bodies are piled up on top of each other, Joey is given the easy task to disposing of the firearms that were used in the apartment gunfight equivalent to the O.K. Corral.

But Joey seems to have another agenda and takes the gun home only to store it away downstairs while he attends to his wife and his overly active libido. Mistake. Big mistake. For later that same evening, the same gun is used in a shooting next door and Joey will now spend the rest of the movie trying to figure out who has the gun, how they got the gun, and most importantly as it is one of the larger pieces of evidence that links the events of the opening scene to the mobsters he associates, how to get the gun back.

Running Scared really tested my memory. I cannot recall an action film that had every character as a sleazy, violent prick. No exceptions. From the gangsters, to the corrupt cops to even the children that play such a pivotal part to the overall plot, everyone is about as likeable as the racism in Crash. There is not one likeable character amongst them, which is daring. For if you can’t have someone to root for during the movie, then why would you care if everyone dies?

The answer is, you don’t. In fact, that is part of Running Scared’s charm. It piles one despicable character on top of another as if to test the audience’s resolve. And each new introduction makes you want to jump into the scene and strangle the person yourself. These emotions culminate and fester until a very awkward scene with two child pornographers that is about as unsettling a moment as I can recall in some time.

Outside of all the negative character developments are the action scenes that couple as much violence and coarse language as Sarah Silverman’s routine in The Aristocrats. As we follow the gun from person to person, we get entertained with stabbings, shootings, ears being bitten off and the piece de resistance, Joey’s face being pummeled by slap shots from a Russian hockey player.

All this lead to my sheer exhaustion by the time the 122 minutes – and by the way, did it really have to be over two hours of my afternoon? – took me from credit to credit.

And when it was all completed and I could get back to the non-violent world that I inhabit on a daily basis, I was neither appreciative of what I just saw nor was I completely disappointed in the effort. Running Scared is in no way a film that I would pay to see again, but it was entertaining and did keep a pace that kept me interested during the experience. Paul Walker gives his best acting performance to date (although that is like comparing vomit and poo), but it is an improvement over anything he has thrown out at us in the past four years.

So there you have it. Can’t sit on the fence any more than a two and a half stars out of five. I would recommend then that you wait for the DVD release. That way you are closer to a shower and at the end of the film and you can lather off the dirty feeling you will have after seeing such deplorable characters being put out in front of you one after another. — Greg Roberts

Freedomland
Directed by: Joe Roth
Written by: Richard Price
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore, Edie Falco, William Forsythe

Thanks to the last couple of years in moviedom, I can assure you that Julianne Moore is about as apt a choice to babysit your child as is say… Freddy Krueger.

It was just months ago that Ms. Moore lost her child to aliens in The Forgotten and now – based more in a script of reality – she loses yet another youngin in the new mixed up drama/thriller Freedomland.

Freedomland stars Julianne Moore as Brenda Martin. Brenda is about as mixed up as cake batter. We first get introduced to her as she walks blocks to the nearest hospital and wastes copious amounts of time before revealing that she was carjacked and that her young son was in the backseat of the vehicle and is now somewhere in the hands of the black man who pulled her out of her car.

Enter one Lorenzo Council (the usually reliable Samuel L. Jackson). Lorenzo is the detective that gets assigned Brenda in the hospital and he stumbles when he hears the news about the missing child. In fact, his actions would be how Benny Hill might react to the same situation. He asks the same questions twice over and gets so excited that he needs a shot in order to calm him down and regulate his breathing. If this wasn’t sign enough that Brenda just got assigned the most inept cop to try and find son, just wait a couple of scenes and watch how Lorenzo doesn’t notice that there is a large red truck following him around – that is until such time as the plot requires the reveal.

So with the blind leading the blind, the story takes on many avenues. First, we get introduced to Danny Martin (Ron Eldard) who is both a cop and the uncle of the missing child. He quickly gets the men in uniform to scour the black neighborhood and has the power to set up barricades to ensure that the poor and impoverished are in a modern day lock-down. He beats up potential witnesses and runs interference to Lorenzo’s more tranquil and relaxed investigation.

Next, we get introduced to Edie Falco as Karen Collucci, a mother who lost a child herself and offers her counseling and organization skills to help in the search for the young boy. Her keen acumen leads a group of searchers to Freedomland – a forest on the outside of town – which in turn provides us with the pivotal reveal of the film.

I could ruin the reveal to you – and I should just to spare you from wasting your time and money on this dud – but what the hell, knock yourself out with the rental when it becomes available in about 5 weeks.

What I can reveal is that Freedomland is awful. A movie with Moore, Jackson and Falco directed by one-time studio boss Joe Roth (who comes off one of last years worst in Christmas with the Kranks), should have been on the must-see list. Instead, we have a movie that is so convoluted and disorganized that it is hard to believe that Richard Price took his own novel to produce this mess of a screenplay.

Hmmmmm. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe the novel had so many characters and ideas that as screenwriter, Price didn’t know what to leave off while keeping himself happy while maintaining the integrity of the chapters. Who knows. All I know is that I don’t care.

Freedomland is a disaster. From beginning to end, it plays the race card unconvincingly whenever it wants and the big showdown between Moore and Jackson went on so long that I kept looking on the armrest for the converter to fast forward the scene.

Look for Freedomland to hit my Worst of List at the conclusion of the year. In the meantime, avoid at all costs. — Greg Roberts

Zathura
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Written by: Chris Van Allsburg (book), David Koepp, John Kamps (screenplay)
Starring: Tim Robbins, Jonah Bobo, Josh Hutcherson, Kristen Stewart

It’s hard to make movies that can appeal to young audiences while not completely alienating and dis-interesting their adult accompaniment. Pixar has all but perfected the experience with its computer animated fare like The Incredibles, Toy Story and Finding Nemo. These films had the animated characters that had the young’ins pulling at our pant legs, but it also had enough pop culture and adult referenced humor to ensure that adults stayed awake during the films running time.

Live action films however are a different breed. Stop even the most fervent of filmgoers and ask them to name a successful, critically well received and popular film geared towards kids but fun for the whole family and my guess is you will get a few hmmmms and hawwwws before a title slips off the tongue. That’s not to say that there aren’t any. E.T. and The Wizard of Oz are two good examples, but even this reviewer had to go to the internet to aid in his search for titles.

Another good example might be the Christmas film Elf that was released in 2003. The perfect casting of Will Ferrell in the lead role when he was at the top of his game allowed for adult enjoyment in a movie that was definitely geared towards those who still walk to school with lunchboxes every day. Elf was directed by Jon Favreau (Swingers, Made) and maybe he found his niche as he is back behind the camera for Zathura, an action adventure film that is sure to please both old and young alike with its humor, special effects and story that is straight forward and well paced.

Zathura is a story about two brothers, one of whom finds a game called Zathura in the basement of their new home while trying to hide from his older tyrant. The game looks like a throwback to the old 60’s and 70’s games that those of us too embarrassed to reveal our ages know all too well. It has poorly drawn graphics on the box and the game board itself is has the faint glimmer of what was probably a vibrantly painted board at the time of original purchase. But this is no ordinary game. The objective is as simple as any other – take a turn and move spaces, first one to the finish wins.

But Zathura has more to offer than your average game of Trouble. Upon each turn, a card is released and in true Jumanji fashion, the words on the card bring the brothers (not to mention, the house and their sleeping sister upstairs) into another world completely. The first card reveals that they are about to experience a meteor shower forcing them to take evasive action. Meteors ranging in size from that of golf balls to that of television sets come crashing through the roof and with that turn, the adventure begins. As the younger of the two children opens the door revealing they are no longer in suburbia, but rather adrift in their home among the stars and the plants of the universe. For the next hour or so, the two boys realize that they must finish the game for any hope of returning to the world and life they had taken for granted. But with each visit to the board, more and more obstacles make even their survival a troubled proposition. As their voyage continues, they are confronted by lizard-like aliens called Zorons that completely destroy most of the house, a malfunctioning robot and a stranded astronaut the comes with both a knowledge of the game that will prove to be invaluable.

The story is based on the book Zathura by children’s author Chris Van Allsburg who also penned Jumanji, a similar themed book and film adaptation that had a game as the centerpiece and catalyst to all the chaos that ensues. Even as I watched the trailers which began surfacing online some months ago, the Jumanji connection was all too clear and the fact the story seemed to play out like the previous film’s clone didn’t exactly have me chomping at the bit. But hats off to director Favreau who makes any connection to Jumanji forgettable with this fun ride filled with laughs aplenty and enough top rate special effects to have George Lucas dibbling his soft drink in admiration. And unlike Jumanji that had a theme or moral that was all but lost in the stampeding animals and manic persona that is Robin Williams, Zathura instead has strong characters in the two brother leads (Josh Hutcherson and a wide eyed Jonah Bobo) and a moral that even my seven year old nephew was able to comprehend.

Zathura is being released a week after Disney’s inferior Chicken Little and I hope that audiences recognize the better of the two films even if Walt’s name is not attached to the former. Zathura is the thrill ride that The Polar Express was last year (also penned by Van Allsburg ironically enough) and if you are looking for a family film that might teach children a thing or two about being nice to their siblings by using aliens and explosions to do it, well, you can’t do much better. — Greg Roberts

Layer Cake
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Written by: J.J. Connolly
Starring: Daniel Craig, Tom Hardy, Kenneth Cranham, Colm Meaney

Seven years ago, I sat in a movie theatre with little to no expectations for the viewing of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, a British crime/comedy/drama from producer Michael Vaughn. I had never heard of the director (the future Mr. Madonna, Guy Ritchie) and there wasn’t a single cast member that I could say I had seen before.

A few years later, Vaughn was back producing another Guy Ritchie film that put American actors Brad Pitt, Benicio Del Toro and Dennis Farnia amongst all the chaos in the British underground in Snatch.

Despite the low fanfare (they have since become cult hits), both movies were refreshingly fun flicks that ended up on my top ten lists in their respective years of release.

Now, five years since Snatch made a splash on North American soil, producer Michael Vaughn is back, this time behind the lens, for the new crime thriller, Layer Cake.

Layer Cake follows a cocaine dealer without a name played by Daniel Craig who is working towards his retirement from the underground biz. He doesn’t see himself as a bad man. In fact, his voice over reveals that he is not a gangster. He’s a business man. However, if Carlito’s Way taught us anything it is that escape from a lifetime in the seedy crime world is not easy to dissolve oneself of.

And things start to go amok immediately when crime boss Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) forcefully delegates the task of finding the lost daughter of an old powerful friend to our protagonist. Reluctantly, but without option, the job is accepted and this begins the wicked spiral deeper into the drug and criminal underworld than he had ever hoped to venture.

Soon, there will be a drug trade gone bad, an introduction to a character named Dragon who lops off the heads of his victims, friends who will both have a drink with you and kick the living life out of your body in the same afternoon and enough crosses, double crosses and screw-you’s to keep you riveted to the screen.

Much like Lock, Stock and Snatch, there are enough characters in Layer Cake to keep your head spinning. Vaughn doesn’t try and spell things out for the audience and throws the kitchen sink at our small brains leaving it up the viewer to try and keep pace. Probably requiring a repeat viewing (if for no other reason that to try and understand what is being said under the cover of some very strong English accents), Layer Cake veers from the traditional cookie cutter type drug/crime caper by delivering a complex mix of violence and drama that is anything but packaged with a bow on top.

By the time we are introduced to yet another group of players, headed brilliantly by the always-reliable Michael Gambon, you may need a second to collect your senses and figure out which end is up. It was like watching Memento except with more lively characters and a story that’s actually worth your involvement.

I was surprised to learn that this was Michael Vaughn’s directorial debut. As a novice he was able to weave a complex web of multiple stories like a seasoned veteran in what I can only suspect to be a more realistic depiction of hit men and drug lords than anything Bad Boys waved in our faces a few years back.

Lacking the dark humor of Lock, Stock and Snatch, Layer Cake is more like Goodfellas and to some extent Reservoir Dogs than its two closest relatives (an ass kicking scene to Duran Duran’s Ordinary World was reminiscent of Dogs’ Stuck in the Middle With You). It’s a film composed with characters that are so unique and interesting, yet violent and criminal that you don’t know who to root for. Case in point, Gene played by Star Trek veteran Colm Meany. As Jimmy Price’s right hand man, Gene is a gangster that wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in your brain if so ordered, but portrayed as a human being who is just doing what he is told to survive in a world to which he is too accustomed. He is maybe the most charismatic bad guy since Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction.

Rumor in selected Trades is that Daniel Craig is the frontrunner for the Bond franchise if Pierce Brosnan decides to jump ship, and his performance in Layer Cake proves that he is up to the task. His steely blue eyes and Steve McQueen type looks can ensure that we haven’t seen the last of him, and if we are lucky, in his next film his character will get a name.

Layer Cake is definitely not for all types. If you have problems following CSI, then this movie is not for you. But for those of you who do stick around through the reveals and character developments, I can assure you that the payoff is worth the investment. Layer Cake will be one of those films that in a few years, men will be talking about around the work watercooler, using words like ‘ultra-cool’ and maybe even ‘classic’. — Greg Roberts

High Tension
Directed by: Alexandre Aja
Written by: Alexandre Aja, Grégory Levasseur
Starring: Cécile De France, Maïwenn Le Besco, Philippe Nahon, Franck Khalfoun

After watching Alexandre Aja’s French thriller/horror High Tension, I wondered what it would take to get me scared again. You know, really scared. Exorcist when I was 14 scared. Alien when I was 16 scared. Hell, I’d even settle for the shifting in my seat with the original Friday the 13th scared. Maybe I am just desensitized from all the violence that I have seen over the years on the evening news or maybe the horror of coming late and facing the wife’s wrath is scarier than anything Freddy or Jason could throw at me, but I just don’t seem to get the heebie jeebies anymore. But I can’t blame Aja for not trying. He sure does his best in trying to scare the bejesus out of us in the soon to be released serial-killer-on-a-rampage film, High Tension.

Starring Cécile De France and Maïwenn Le Besco as Marie and Alex, High Tension starts with the two young females escaping to the backwoods to spend a few days with Alex’s family at the country farmhouse. But this won’t be a relaxing trip. Outside, lurking in the wilderness and driving an old truck that looks like it was stolen from the set of Jeepers Creepers, is a psychopath who kills without any revealed motive.

The set-up is textbook horror. Victims secluded in an old house without any visible neighbors, alone with a family whose sole purpose in the film is to help up the body count. Textbook.

The next ingredient would be the presence of the killer, and we are introduced to him as he sits in his truck seeking sexual gratification in a scene that I will have to admit caught me a little off guard and required a pat on the back to release a sucked in kernel of popcorn. I won’t spoil the surprise.

The terrorizing of the girls and family occurs through what seems to be a random house invasion. Mr. Bloodsplatter just shows up at the door, rings the bell and then proceeds to slice and shoot his way through the family, but taking Alex as his prisoner in the back of the truck. It is here that the movie follows more of a formulaic pattern as Marie is able to hide her presence from the killer and proceeds to try and rescue her friend.

One of the good things about High Tension is that it never tries to be more than what it ends up. Aja sets out to make a scary film and does so admirably. He provides a very creepy eradicator and has fun showing us more blood than a crashed Red Cross van. His killer is a jack of all trades and can use everything from a straight razor to household furniture to ensure maximum carnage.

The result of keeping it simple is a feeling like you are watching Prom Night for the first time. You are a bit scared, but mostly just engaged in the chase. You are on the edge of your seat as the hunter goes through the house room by room in search of his next victim, and you appreciate the cleverness of having the roles constantly reversed whereas the killer and Alex seem to take turns chasing each other.

But High Tension looses a bit of steam towards the end and then falls off the cliff in the final act. I am sure many a review will read for you to leave before you see the very illogical and (alright, I’ll say it), ridiculous ending. It is so outlandish that it ruins what was probably going to be a well received thrill ride up to that point. I felt as if Aja took off his French glove and slapped me across the face and quite truthfully, I want to slap him back.

But sans les dix dernières minutes, I am sure that if watched alone at home at 2AM in the morning, you might find yourself clutching the throw pillows. It was creepy and gory, and what else do you want from a movie who’s poster has a girl with a blood soaked shirt holding some kind of metal buzz saw.

One writers note: The version viewed was the Uncut European edition. I am sure that the blood and violence scenes will be pared down to ensure an R-Rating for Western audiences. — Greg Roberts

Crash
Directed by: Paul Haggis
Written by: Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, Brendan Fraser, Ryan Phillippe, Ludacris, Tony Danza

It might be too early to being talking about one of the best films of the year, but if the shoe fits, then Paul Haggis’ new film Crash feels like that pair of shoes at the back of the closet too comfortable to throw away. Ironically, comfortable is about the last thing you are going to feel by the time the end credits roll.

In the vein of P.T. Anderson’s Magnolia, Crash follows multiple characters through various story lines that intercept during the course of two days in Los Angeles. The common thread between all the players is the deep rooted bigotry and racism that each person exhibits. Whether it is the L.A.P.D. cop who’s frustration with a black medical center clerk leads him to take out his anger on a black couple during a routine stop or the white socialite who reveals her distrust with the Hispanic locksmith, Haggis weaves an angry tale of people of all races that are have stereotype opinions on nationalities not their own.

Although there is no particular plot line that is at the epicenter of the film, Don Chedale as Detective Graham does get the most screen time. Starting the film investigating the murder of a young man dumped at the side of the road, we follow Graham through his arms length relationship with partner Ria (Jennifer Esposito), his involvement with a white police officer that has shot and killed a corrupt black cop and his rise through the department thanks to the Assistant District Attorney, Rick (Brandon Fraser) who extends an offer of title to Graham more for the color of his skin rather than his achievements in the field.

But maybe most interesting is the storyline with Matt Dillon resurrecting his career as Officer Ryan. Responsible for his aging and ailing father, Ryan follows a path of self destruction and ends up violating the rights of a young black woman (Thandie Newton in one of the many standout performances in the film) only to later have to come to the aide of the same woman after a traffic accident the following day. Ryan is a man in conflict. His lack of understanding why the world could be so unfair leads him to lash out at other cultures. But his duty to serve and protect in the time of need reveals a man who sees no color only a responsibility based on his oath of uniform.

No nationality is really let off easy in Crash. Whites, blacks, Middle Easterners and even Asians are seen as cultures that would seem to prefer to live in a world that consisted only of their own kind. They argue amongst themselves about how they are perceived by different races, and do not relent in their bias towards anything different.

Crash is, in a word, provocative. You can’t help but want to talk about the film at its conclusion, and that is probably the best compliment that Paul Haggis would want to receive. As ugly as each character is portrayed for their hatred, each situation is explained without being condoned. Like the black television director that is bombarded with comments on his loss of blackness his wife through to the producer of the show. Of all the characters he has the biggest change of view from beginning to end as he forgoes his own life of harmony mentality to take on the police and other blacks who try to rob him of his dignity.

No easy task for a first time director, but Haggis gets the best out of his ensemble. Sandra Bullock in her small role as the ADA’s wife is the best she has ever been and rapper Ludicrous and Larenz Tate as the two car jackers show great range and offer the few lightened moments in a film heavy on theme.

Movies released in the first half of the year, rarely get noticed come golden statue hand-out time, but Crash should follow in the footsteps of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind and at very least get a best screenplay nod.

But in lieu of any formal recognition, one thing is certain. Paul Haggis on the heels of his writing of last years best film Million Dollar Baby and now with Crash in his directing debut, is the new hot ticket in Hollywood and we will be hearing about him for a long time to come. — Greg Roberts