Rick's Flicks Picks on AWN

The epic Oscar-winning blockbuster that captured the hearts of teenage girls for months upon its initial release, making Leonardo DiCaprio a modern-day matinee idol. James Cameron's passion project paid off to the tune of $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office. No film since has come close to its success. Mixing a love story with a disaster tale attracted both women and men. It's beautiful young stars brought in the young viewers, while the historic true-life disaster tale brought in older movie watchers. It was a spectacle that truly had something for everyone.

Against an epic backdrop, the story is simple. Rose Bukater (Kate Winslet, LITTLE CHILDREN) is a 17-year-old girl engaged to the wealthy heir Cal Hockley (Billy Zane, SILVER CITY). She doesn't love him, feeling trapped in a life that was not of her choosing. Her mother Ruth (Frances Fisher, L.A. STORY) needs her to marry rich so that their future is secure, since her husband left them with nothing but debt upon his death. In total desperation, she decides to jump off the back of the ship. But third-class passenger Jack Dawson (DiCaprio, THE DEPARTED) convinces her to rethink her decision. This begins a whirlwind romance much like Romeo and Juliet, however the sinking ship will put their happily ever after in jeopardy.

Warner Bros. Animation successfully moved into making more mature animated direct-to-videos with SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY. Their latest effort — an anime infused BATMAN production made up of six distinct, but interlocking, chapters — is another step in the right direction. Six different writers and six different directors handled each section, which was brought together as a whole by the guiding hands of exec producer Bruce Timm and story man Jordan Goldberg, a producer on THE DARK KNIGHT. The distinct visual styles keep the material interesting as we watch the unfolding episodes chronicling the early adventures for the Dark Knight.

The first segment, "Have I Got a Story For You," is a wonderful tale to start with, following the wild and wildly different impressions of Batman from four kids. In one tall tale he is a shadowy apparition then in the next he becomes a flying, savage creature. The next tale paints him as a weapon-filled machine. In reality, he turns out to be a mere man. With a screenplay from Josh Olson (A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE) and directed by Shouijirou Nishimi (animation director on TEKKON KINKREET), the raw style of the animation makes for a gritty start and a fitting look for what amounts to various legends about Batman.

Recently named by Entertainment Weekly as the best film of the past 25 years and by the American Film Institute as the 7th best gangster film of all time, director Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece, PULP FICTION, is not unaccustomed to accolades. Tarantino and co-writer Roger Avary won an Oscar for their innovative screenplay. Stars John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman were all nominated for acting by the Academy, which also gave nods to Tarantino as director, editor Sally Menke and producer Lawrence Bender for Best Picture. To say PULP FICTION is beloved is truly accurate, ranked near the top among movie fans on IMDB. But for filmmakers, the most important distinction is its influence. No film since has been more influential to the world of cinema.

While the lives of the Tutors are sudsy, this soup opera is like chewing on a bar of Dove. The silky costumes and the refined accents don't hide the melodramatic theatrics of something straight out of 1980's DALLAS, not 16th century England. Anne Boleyn — or as my Anglophile aunt always refers to her, the Whore Queen — has never been more scheming as depicted in this affair. However, with the name THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL, shouldn't this film have been about, well, the other Boleyn girl?

Word has trickled down that King Henry VIII (Eric Bana, THE HULK) is disgruntled with his wife Katherine's inability to produce a male heir. Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk (David Morrissey, BASIC INSTINCT 2) sees an opportunity to put a female relative into the view of the king's wandering eye, enlisting his brother Sir Thomas Boleyn (Mark Rylance, ANGELS AND INSECTS) to pimp out one of his girls for the greater good of the family. Anne (Natalie Portman, CLOSER) is chosen to be the bait, but when she makes some errors in dealing with the king, Henry's eye falls on her married sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson, GHOST WORLD). Soon the family has riches from the king, but Sir Thomas' wife Elizabeth (Kristin Scott Thomas, THE ENGLISH PATIENT) wonders how long it will last before the king tires of his new conquest.

More times than not a trailer informs the general audience about whether a film is something they want to see. The trailers for HANCOCK (which I've always felt was a terrible title) seemed like a mildly amusing superhero spoof. In the trailer, one feels it's a one-note story. Will Smith's superhero lead is a jerk and learns to not be a jerk – the end. But I must give it to Columbia Pictures that they left many of the secrets for the audience to discover during the movie watching experience instead of give it to us in the press ahead of time. There's an interesting twist that takes the story a nice new direction (even if it's not handled perfectly) and, gasp, real characters that we care about.

Wes Anderson's quirky films deal with the strains that occur in close relationships (or better, relationship that are supposed to be close). Here he deals with three brothers who have grown apart since the death of their father. They come together to find enlightenment through a meandering journey in India. The trip in this character study is not really the point.

Francis Whitman (Owen Wilson, BOTTLE ROCKET) is the eldest of the three brothers and organizer of the trip. He has his assistant Brendan (Wallace Wolodarsky, SEEING OTHER PEOPLE) en tow printing out daily itineraries and laminating them with the laminating machine he has en tow. His head is in bandages due to a recent motorcycle accident, which caused him nasty bruises and the desire to find enlightenment. En tow on his spiritual journey he has his brothers Peter (Adrien Brody, THE PIANIST) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman, RUSHMORE). Peter is in a bad marriage, which has gotten more frightening now that his wife revealed she is pregnant. Jack is a writer who calls his ex-girlfriend's house to spy on her answering machine.

With the fire of a classic Greek tragedy, but with an attune eye for the real world, Jeff Nichols' debut feature is a rare film that keeps you guessing and marveling from beginning to end. Great drama can move you to the edge of your seat just like a thriller and SHOTGUN STORIES does just that. The brother-against-brother feud at the center allows us to see the nature of its characters, while giving us a peek into their dark pasts and hopefully a potential future better than the current state they are in.

Sonny Hayes (Michael Shannon, WORLD TRADE CENTER) has a quiet emotionless demeanor even when he is about to beat someone. He sees things in his life very clearly and matter-of-fact, sometimes to a fault, putting up blinders to the harm he may be causing. His wife Annie (Glenda Pannell, JUST THE TWO OF US) has moved out with his young son, Carter (Cole Hendrixson), because he lost $200 gambling again. To him it's not gambling, because he has a system. This allows Sonny to invite his younger brothers to move back in with him. The youngest Kid (Barlow Jacobs, GREAT WORLD OF SOUND) has been living in a tent in Sonny's backyard, while Boy (Douglas Ligon, film debut) literally lives in a van down by the river.

Pixar's latest short film, PRESTO, from director Doug Sweetland, is an ode to classic Warner Bros. and MGM shorts. And it's as hilarious as some of their best. A cute white bunny is a prop in the act of master magician Presto. The white rabbit longs for a carrot that is just out of his reach. Rushing out on stage, Presto forgets to feed his pet. During his performance he uses two magical hats to pulled the rabbit from one and out the other. However, this time around the bunny has some surprises for Presto on the other side.

What a crowd pleaser this short is. Sweetland times his gags effortlessly with some great animation acting. Making the gags work all the more is their believability within the world of the theater. When Presto pulls random things out of the hat they aren't really random. Because this is mainly a gag and performance piece, Sweetland keeps jokes flying at the audience, shifting the context and reaction of his gags just enough to make the next bit of physical humor just as funny as the one preceding it. Mixing humor and charm, this is the kind of animated short that many people think of when they think of animated shorts. Playing along with WALL•E, movie fans are getting two of Pixar's best.

With the brilliant animated film PERSEPOLIS hitting DVD this week, I was inspired to take a look at the rich history of cinema from Iranian filmmakers. We not only have animation, but neo-realism, minimalism, family and melodrama all represented. Some of the films deal with conditions in Iran, while others are just about the human condition. They all hold key roles in the history of Iranian cinema, but as all great movies they hold a universal appeal that touches people from all walks of life. This is a wonderful lineup of films that I hope inspires viewers to check out other films from Iran, a country with a unique and powerful cinematic eye.

If it were not for the opening night film, THE COW, there would probably not be a modern film industry in Iran. Partially funded by the government of the Shah, the simple neo-realistic film was liked by Ayatollah Khomeini and was allowed to screen across the country. In 1971, it was smuggled to the Venice Film Festival where it was lauded as a masterpiece and moved its director Dariush Mehrjui into the upper echelons of world cinema. Masht Hassan lives in a small village where he holds a key role as the only owner of a cow. He loves his animal more than anything in the world. But upon returning from a trip, the townsfolk tell him that the cow has run away when in reality it has died. Grief-stricken, Hassan slowly goes insane, assuming the role of his cow himself. Mehrjui is a master of the film language, utilizing imagery and sound perfectly in service of the mood of his story. The stark poetry of the cinematography is beautiful to look at while it underlines the tough living conditions of the superstitious villagers. While Khomeini liked the film, a warning was added to the end stating that the film's action took place long in the past, freeing the current government of any guilt for the impoverished. As I said in my original review, "On the simplest level, the film is about… a proud man who loses everything in one day, which mentally breaks him… But in a universal way, the film is also about the cycle of life and accepting it." Lead by a powerful lead performance from Ezzatolah Entezami, this is a film that pulses with great drama and inspires the imagination with its attention to the details of life.

Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's minimalist work has been lauded at film festivals around the world. TASTE OF CHERRY won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. This deliberately paced film leaves much up to the imagination of the audience. However, the filmmaker leaves signposts along the way, which lead you to conjure up images of the lonely lead character's past and present feelings. Mostly filmed inside a car or from a distance as the car winds through desolate dirt roads, this is a film that gripped me with curiosity, had me anxious with anticipation and touched my heart and moved my brain with flashes of visual poetry.

Mr. Badii (Homayoun Ershadi, THE KITE RUNNER) is a middle-aged man on a mission. He drives along the outskirts of Tehran looking for some help with a job. After some strange looks for several men, he picks up a young soldier (Safar Ali Moradi), who quickly becomes uncomfortable with this sad faced man. What is he up to? What is this job? Is it sexual? Is it illegal? Along the way looking for help, Mr. Badii will talk with a vacationing Afghan seminarian (Mir Hossein Noori) and a kind taxidermist named Mr. Bagheri (Abdolrahman Bagheri).

Director Frank Darabont previously made two good adaptations from Stephen King stories, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and THE GREEN MILE. Now he makes it a third, however this is the first time he tackles a King horror story. Like many of King's more haunting tales, this film doesn't force us into pleasant messages about humanity. This is horror done darkly, but not sadistically like recent torture porn where gore is the main subject. Like a great B-movie, Darabont taps into primordial human fears, allowing the real monsters to be the humans.

David Drayton (Thomas Jane, THE PUNISHER) paints movie posters in a small New England town. After a storm destroys parts of his house, he heads into town for supplies with his young son Billy (Nathan Gamble, BABEL) and his next-door neighbor Brent Norton (Andre Braugher, FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER), who he hasn't gotten along with previously. While they're at the supermarket, a strange fog rolls in from which Dan Miller (Jeffrey DeMunn, THE MAJESTIC) comes running, screaming that there is something in the mist. When David sees something push against the loading dock doors, he gets frightened, but hick Jim (William Sadler, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) doesn't believe until it's too late. As things gets worse, Bible-thumping Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden, MYSTIC RIVER) starts stirring up fire and brimstone. This makes the situation even more dangerous for the non-true-believers like David, his son, Dan, school teacher Amanda Dumfries (Laurie Holden, SILENT HILL), sure-shot grocery clerk Ollie Weeks (Toby Jones, THE PAINTED VEIL), sassy senior citizen Irene Reppler (Frances Sternhagen, MISERY), pretty check-out girl Sally (Alexa Davalos, THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK) and army private Jessup (Sam Witwer, TV's BATTLESTAR GALACTICA).

This past January two horror films were released using a hand-held documentary style. The faux doc style has been used in many genres for years, including dramas like LENNY and crime tales like GANG TAPES. Horror films, particularly, have used the "found footage" approach ever since Ruggero Deodato's controversial cult gore fest CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. In recent years, the mockumentary has grown in favor due to the wonderful work of Christopher Guest. So this edition of This Weekend's Film Festival cuts between the terrifying and the humorous to look at how faux docs help bring realism to their productions when the technique is used effectively.

When it comes to found footage horror films, the most well known example is THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. Three student filmmakers get lost in the Maryland woods while filming a documentary on a local legend, the Blair witch. The footage begins with typical interviews and information about the legend, but as the day progresses into evening, the nerves of the students become frayed due to strange occurrences in the woods, which they find themselves hopelessly trapped in. The raw, black & white, first-person cinematography transports the viewer into the harrowing experience of these young people. Directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez play on common fears that everyone has experienced, creating a growing and relentless tension. Driven by raw performances and the eeriness of the half and not seen, this simple story provides continued chills because it taps into primordial emotions. As I said in my original review, "[BLAIR WITCH] has me on the edge of my seat every time, because it's not what we see on the screen that necessarily scares us, it’s what the film conjures vividly in the viewer’s mind that has us gripped with fear."