When Albert C. Barnes died in 1951, he left behind an extraordinary collection of almost 800 paintings, including 181 Renoirs, 69 Cézannes, 59 Matisses, as well as several Van Goghs. Today, the collection is valued in the billions, as many of the paintings are invaluable pieces of modern art. During his lifetime, the Barnes Collection rested in a building in Lower Merion, PA. However, after his death the art has been mired in controversy.

The Art of the Steal, which plays this weekend at Theatre N in Wilmington (click here for showtimes), is a documentary about the fight to prevent the Barnes from being transported to Center City, Philadelphia, a mere 15-minute drive away.

The film touches on the politics, corruption, and greed which accompanied the move. The problem is that in Mr. Barnes’ will he expressly forbade his collection from moving from where he placed it. He had carefully constructed an intimate place for his art to reside and wished to preserve that aspect of learning and culture which he had established. However, in the 1990s, many powerful people desired to move the precious artwork into Philadelphia.

Going into more detail would only diminish the film’s effect. The Art of the Steal is an extremely well-crafted documentary. It takes a seemingly dull, legally confusing tale and engages the audience by telling a story.

That is the heart of filmmaking – storytelling. Although traditionally documentaries have remained dull and purely informative, they can also become great films by telling a story. We have seen this more and more often in recent years, with movies such as An Inconvenient Truth and this year’s The Cove.

Director Don Argott skillfully tells a story through old-fashioned ways (interviews, archival pictures, you know – typical documentary fare) but his skill really shines through. Rather than being dull talking heads, the interviews are framed excellently, but it isn’t distracting, and other visual cues (such as scene titles every once-in-a-while) pull you into the story.

Now, some have argued that the film is too subjective, including Bernard C. Watson, head of the Barnes Foundation, who wrote a scathing editorial on the film. The film definitely has a stance, but the facts are represented truthfully, and much effort was made to keep the movie from becoming too one-sided. The fact remains that most of the opposition to the film declined to be interviewed for it.

As a film, The Art of the Steal succeeds both in telling a story and defending an argument. I had never heard of the Barnes Collection, but I came out of the film with strong feelings about the film’s subject matter. Whether you have a personal investment in the story or not, this is a fantastic documentary.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

War changes everything. Especially on network television. And after untold countless skirmishes and minor battles, the real conflict of Lost–the one that has been hiding behind everything–finally broke loose with a vengeance last night. And by my estimate, the good guys are not in the lead.

The vehicle for this darker-than-usual storyline is the one man on the island who knows war better than anyone; Sayid Jarrah. Weeks ago, in the supposed throes of death, he wondered where exactly his soul would go when he died. Surely, he wasn’t bound for any kind of peaceful rest.

Although he remains alive, Sayid was on the right track. In both the island reality and the sideways universe, Sayid found himself fighting his murderous background and coming up in the negative. His is an interesting journey, and although I’m sure it’s far from over, it reaches a kind of cyclical crescendo. For this man, violence has always beget violence, and when justice or revenge needs a hired gun, Sayid has always been there to aid it. Last night, with his story front and center, Lost drove home just how important his character arc–the man who can never escape the shadow of the sword–is to the bigger picture.

Evil is running loose and full tilt on the island, and although we don’t have a definite identity to go with the snake in the Lockeskin suit, we can guess his name even if we are puzzled by the nature of his game. The writers are staging a knock-down drag-out battle between GOOD and EVIL, with oversize archetypes wandering the underbrush and recruiting. I’m not identifying Jacob as God and Flocke as the devil, persay, but their roles  suggest the allegory, which makes the island a kind of prison and haunted paradise–maybe the first paradise. One by one, names are getting crossed off the cave wall and rendered void on the navigational coordinates of the lighthouse. What then, of a man trained as a weapon? What place could he have in ‘paradise’? I don’t think Sayid was ever meant to know.

The cosmos has been kicking Jarrah since day one on the island and it wasn’t much comfort to learn that he had done plenty to deserve it. Even after committing himself to the survivors and striving to help them, he couldn’t escape the opportunities that called out for a man of action and violence. Each time the call came, he answered. And each time peace or happiness lay within his grasp (Shannon, Nadia, etc.) it was snatched away from him. Even in sideways world, where things are usually better, Sayid doesn’t have Nadia as his own. Instead, she’s his brother’s wife and his bro is in over his head with loan sharks. In another absurd bit of coincidence, Martin Keamy, once stabbed by Sayid on the island, is shot to death by the same man in a seedy kitchen in sideways world.  Sayid has been fashioned as a vessel of retribution since the very beginning. I honestly thought it was for the purposes of Jacob. Looks like I was wrong there.

As far as I can accurately infer, the Man in Black circumvented those purposes by ‘infecting’ Sayid and causing him to kill Dogen and Baby John Lennon. Why seduce him then with the promise of Nadia being returned to him (I assume that’s who we are talking about, although with Maggie Grace due to return to the island, maybe it’s Shannon) if Flocke always planned to use his dark infestation to turn Sayid? Maybe, he still requires a willing supplicant, and pushing Sayid to warn the others might have cracked the door far enough that he could ransack the whole house. All I know is that we lost Dogen, another interesting character, after only a handful of episodes.

Helpful tidbit regarding Dogen: another father/son relationship damaged to the point that it drives the course of the man’s destiny. And he wasn’t just inserted willy-nilly into last week’s ep. He too had what he wanted, a healthy son whom he could see and spend time with. I find that most frustrating; that they would develop him only to kill him.

More and more, it feels like the sideways universe is where the payoff will come. Sayid, Locke, Claire, and possibly Kate (although I think she’s just faking it, like always) have their story arcs hijacked by the Black Smoke’s body snatching campaign. I imagine we will see them marching about like the minions in a bad science fiction movie for the better part of the remaining ten episodes. With Ben’s fate up in the air next week, we might be poised to lose the free will of one of the last interesting characters left on the show.

What’s going down on the island feels like something dreamed up in the Marvel universe: evil doppelgangers vs. the warriors of good. What if, though, the point is for ‘good’ to lose on this strain of reality, while all the same players are being assembled somewhere else to fight the same war? Sayid found Jin locked in a freezer, and Ben and Locke are somewhere schmoozing it in the teacher’s lounge over discussions of Earl Gray. All of them are seemingly right there in the same city together. Sayid sees Jack in the hallway and last week Jack met Dogen at a concert recital.

Or is it simpler than that, and this is all a cosmic game of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with only one kid getting the golden ticket and everyone else getting blueberried or stretched or vaporized? Does this make Jacob Willy Wonka and Ben an Oompa Loompa?

How else can they possibly hope to really pay-off all the character investment of five previous years, if not in the sideways universe? Let’s face it, we may fool ourselves every Wednesday when we sit down to muddle through the details, but no one is still in Lost for the answers. We want to see what happens to the characters. If all of them are cosmically compromised, just to be rescued or revived near or at the end, it will be a bitter disappointment. The answer is there somewhere in sideways world, and I think it has an awful lot to do with Sayid’s inability to escape his nature. That feels like a key that just hasn’t found the right locke (pun intended) yet.

Remember, Jacob and Esau and their respective places in biblical scripture; vessels of honor and dishonor that were seemingly designed or destined to be that way before their birth. What is Lost’s ultimate commentary on that idea?

We also know now that Flocke/Esau can’t be killed by anything as mundane as a knife. I’m not sure ‘killing’ him is even feasible.

That’s all I’ve got to say this week, other than the fact that tonight’s episode made me a bit nervous. Lost has been up and down since its inception but it’s always handled its thematic content with a near literary heft. Right now, everything is more Sy-FyChannel than Joseph Campbell.

What did all of you think about last night’s episode? Specifically, where do you see Sayid going from here, and what were your perceptions of that final scene, with Locke’s army marching off into the woods–echoes of the opening of season 4?

Check out the rest of my recaps  and see what questions the producers plan to address and the ones they are leaving by the wayside in our Paley Fest coverage of the Lost panel. Find all of those articles below:

Lost 6.1 & 6.2: “LAX ”

Lost 6.3 “What Kate Does”

Lost 6.4 “The Substitute”

Lost 6.5 “The Lighthouse”

Lost Producers hint at final season spoilers and answers

I was part of the lucky generation of moviegoers that were privy to some of the biggest Disney hits. One of the first movies I remember seeing in the theater was The Little Mermaid, and from that point on I was hooked on Disney movies. Even at 22 years old, I’m still a sucker for anything Disney. Thus, I was really excited about the release of Disney’s newest film, The Princess and the Frog.

There was a lot about The Princess and the Frog that had me enthused about the movie’s release. First off, I’ve always been–and probably always will be–a much bigger fan of the classic 2D style of animation than the CGI animation with which Hollywood has decided to bombard us in recent years.

Don’t get me wrong, I think CGI animation can have an awesome cinematic effect, and since the release of Toy Story in 1995, CGI technology has seen significant development. However, with CGI animation there’s sometimes the feeling of sensory overload, that there’s just too much going on. Or, maybe, it’s just the nostalgia and reminiscence of some of my favorite movies that makes me prefer 2D animation to CGI.

Regardless of the reason why I prefer 2D animation, the fact that I do is part of the reason I was interested in The Princess and the Frog. With the release of 2004′s Home on the Range, Walt Disney Animation Studios announced that all future films would be done with CGI animation. Thus, I was both surprised and excited when I discovered that The Princess and the Frog would be a return to 2D animation.

Another aspect of The Princess and the Frog that piqued my interest in the film was the triumphant return of the Disney Princess. Disney started their animated tradition with the story of the princess despised by her stepmother with 1937′s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This set a standard for the role of the princess–or at least a central female character–for all subsequent animated Disney films.

Even before Disney made the turn toward CGI, that character started disappearing. In fact, the last Disney princess was Mulan, back in 1998, and technically she was a warrior, not a princess. Having grown up with the characters of Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, and Pocahontas as the stars of my generation’s Disney movies, and having had early exposure to Aurora/Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Snow White, it was a tragedy to see Disney moving away from the princesses.

With The Princess and the Frog, it seems like Disney is trying to make a return to the type of story that helped the studio’s animated flicks as beloved as they are. 2007′s Enchanted seemed like the first effort towards that return, but going back to 2D animation seems like a final push towards that.

The biggest thing that has always kept me attached to Disney films, though, is the soundtracks. Music makes a huge difference in the overall tone and effect of a movie, and Disney has always had great success tying musical scores to their films. Aladdin, Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid all earned the Academy Award for Best Original Score, and numerous Disney songs have been nominated for and won Grammys and the Academy Award for Best Song.

Honestly, I would wager that if I were to throw out the name of a Disney movie right now, the first thing that would spring to mind wouldn’t be the plot or even a character from the movie–more than likely, a song from the film would pop into your head. Part of what has defined Disney animated films are the songs that accompany them. They’re the type of songs that, no matter who you’re with, if you turn them on the majority of people will not only know the songs, but start singing along to them.

That is what I’ve always loved most about Disney films–their musicality. Consequently, when I found out that The Princess and the Frog was to go back to the days when Disney soundtracks actually featured the characters singing, rather than having the music simply set the tone.

I actually had the soundtrack for The Princess and the Frog before seeing the movie, and have been listening to it fairly regularly in order to give my best possible analysis.

I’m a little conflicted about The Princess and the Frog‘s soundtrack. I really enjoy the songs, but overall the soundtrack just doesn’t feel like a Disney soundtrack. Allow me to clarify.

Taken on its own, the soundtrack is a lot of fun. The movie takes place in New Orleans, and the songs have a definite Cajun and jazz vibe to them. For the most part, the songs are very upbeat, but the slower songs add a nice balance to the mix. One of my personal favorites from the soundtrack is Ma Belle Evangeline, which can be classified as the ballad of the bunch. It’s much more mellow than the rest of the soundtrack, yet has a very sweet, romantic silliness to it.

Disney always does well finding vocalists for films, and The Princess and the Frog is no exception. Every vocalist on the album sounds like they would have fit in perfectly in the jazz age in which the movie takes place. They sing with soul, sass, and spunk, and an overall vocal quality that’s very pleasant on the ears.

Just as well done as the vocal tracks are the instrumental tracks. The score was written and performed by Randy Newman, so going into it you can expect it’s going to be pretty good, and listening to it doesn’t disappoint. The instrumentals are beautiful, and go back and forth nicely between upbeat, jazzy, and whimsical.

What’s interesting about the score is the style of it. Randy Newman has a very distinct style, and his music can generally be picked out as his fairly easily. His score for The Princess and the Frog, however, doesn’t quite stick to his usual style, and I actually think that works well for the score.

Now, as I said, taken on its own the soundtrack is very good. However, when put in the context of being a Disney soundtrack, The Princess and the Frog doesn’t quite fill the bill.

The songs are fun and catchy, but they lack the sing-along quality that is usually associated with Disney songs. It’s difficult to understand the words to some of the lyrics, and the overall style of the songs doesn’t really give much in the way of engaging the listener.

Instead, listening to The Princess and the Frog is a pretty passive experience. Rather than being drawn into the songs and wanting to belt them out at the top of your lungs, there’s a bit of a distance between the songs and the listener. They’re enjoyable to listen to and dance along with a little, but they just don’t have the same all-encompassing vibe that most Disney songs possess. The songs can be listened to, and that’s about it.

I would definitely recommend checking out The Princess and the Frog soundtrack, just don’t expect it to fit the usual mold of a Disney soundtrack. Do expect, though, to hear some good music that will have you boogie-ing in your seat.

Overall rating of this soundtrack? I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Main Feature (1H 58M 37S)

I have seen this film quite a few times and each time I am left with a different overall opinion. I am always left feeling impressed with Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter but that I prefer the more openly psychotic portrayal from Brian Cox in Manhunter. Jodie Foster, fresh from her Oscar-winning performance in The Accused, puts in a good performance as the gifted FBI cadet Clarice who finds the strength to overcome her fears. I can’t put my finger on why my opinion on this film has differed so much in the past because watching it again, noticing how each performance fits so well into the picture as a whole, it’s clear to me now that everything is so well balanced. Ted Levine’s performance, as Buffalo Bill, is much ignored in favour of Hopkins and Foster due to a lack of on-screen character development but he did a wonderful job with with such few lines and for me is the equal of Hopkins.

Director Jonathan Demme was an odd choice at the time as his less than glittering career was based on comedies but he stepped up to the plate and when presented with the opportunity to prove his talents he grabbed it with both hands. Demme did a great job but it could be argued that his greatest achievement was working with this cast which had its doubters and getting the most out of them as a team.

It’s little surprise now that this swept the Oscars but at the time no-one expected that from a thriller about serial killers but it’s clear the success is down to the cast and crew pulling together and clicking so well. This stands as one of the most critically acclaimed films based on a novel and is certainly one of the best American psychological horror films of all time.

One of the most important aspects of any psychological thriller or horror is the use of music and this film is blessed with the genius of composer Howard Shore. It is easy to forget that Shore worked on films such as Silence of the Lambs before his work on recent successes such as The Departed, Gangs of New York, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Silence of the Lambs isn’t as violent or gruesome as I remembered but I accept that, being a fan of Takashi Miike, my current threshold on violence might be abnormal. Apart from less than impressive video quality this is still an enjoyable watch and is at least the equal of any psychological thriller in more recent years.

Extras

Deleted Scenes (20M 29S) – Many of these “scenes” aren’t proper scenes at all and consist of only a few seconds here and there. The clips which are longer, a good example is the drawn out Clarice target practice scene, don’t add anything to the story and were understandably removed. The clips are of a really poor quality and there’s a lot of visual and audio distortion.

Out-takes Reel (1M 46S) – The first out-take is quite funny and has the Coroner using up 30 seconds as he struggles to pull on a pair of rubber gloves while trying to maintain a serious expression on his face. There is also a nice moment where Anthony Hopkins does a funny impression of Rocky.

Breaking the Silence (1H 58M 37S) – This is a Standard Definition version of the film interspersed with occasional video of the cast and screenwriter in a picture-in-picture style plus additional facts and figures in text form. This is the closest thing the Blu-ray edition has to a Commentary and I don’t think it works as well due to the gaps between each comment and I’m confused as to why this is SD and not HD. There is one comment I found very interesting and that is when the Screenwriter, Ted Tally, admits that his film version of the “Buffalo Bill” character isn’t as rich as he appears in the book.

Understanding the Madness (19M 35S) – This is a very interesting documentary in which FBI agents describe psychological profiling and how useful such information can be. The agents also go into some detail on real-life serial killers and what aspects of their personality and actions can be found in the Hannibal and Buffalo Bill characters.

Inside the Labyrinth: Making of The Silence of the Lambs (1H 6M 28S) – Is a substantial documentary which is packed full of information and a must-see for fans of the film and anyone interested in the creative side of film-making.

The Silence of the Lambs: Page to Screen (41M 17S) – For one reason or another I’ve not yet read the novel but this documentary makes me want to rush out and purchase it. This gives us an insight into the author Thomas Harris and the level of detail and precision he went into when creating this story.

Scoring the Silence (16M) – Howard Shore talks about his love of film music and the choices he made in order to create the soundtrack for this particular film. Shore comes across as an exceptionally thoughtful composer and his explanations for the choices he made really add to the film as whole.

Original 1991 “Making of” Featurette (8M 7S) – This is a nice extra because it takes you back to an old fashioned style of documentary film-making, complete with trailer style voice-over, found in the Eighties and early Nineties.

TV Spots (5M 55S) – This, similar to the above Featurette, is great because it’s like watching an old VHS tape and reliving all the old trailers complete with some entirely inappropriate Blade Runner and Halloween style music.

Theatrical Trailer (1M 49S) – Once again this is a great addition as it takes you back to a different era in film trailers.

Teaser Trailer (1M 5S) – Like above but shorter, more fast-paced, and minus the voice-over.

Anthony Hopkins Phone Message (34S) – This is a cute little message, from Hopkins as Lecter, which probably won’t be used in reality but is an interesting addition.

Summary

After watching the main feature I wasn’t sure how I felt because while I certainly enjoyed the film the visual quality understandably comes into question when compared with more recent motion pictures filmed in HD.

As this is a review of the Blu-ray edition and not merely of the main feature I reserved my judgement until I had viewed the extra features and I must say that the quality of the documentaries alone are enough to earn this Blu-ray top marks.

Rating *****

Main Feature (1H 49M 6S)

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines had the unenviable task of following two of the most successful and critically acclaimed Sci-Fi films of all time. Regardless of what this had to offer it was on to a beating from the point of its conception. This is a special effects playground and was always destined for a Blu-ray release but there’s no doubt in my mind this has been timed to cash in on the expectations surrounding Terminator Salvation.

If you’ve already seen this film, and most of you will have, you’ll know that this completely fails to live up to the standards set in the first and second films in the series. For those who have somehow managed to avoid watching this film I will do my best to explain the many problems I have with this failed attempt at progressing the franchise.

The T-X, the female Terminator played by Kristanna Loken, is undeniably attractive but any idea that her inclusion is in support of the narrative rather than a cheap gimmick is thrown aside in her first few moments on screen. She increases the size of her breasts in order to seduce a police officer, or so the script would lead us to believe, and then instantly forgets that plan in favour of killing him. This indicates that the breast enlargement ability isn’t part of a cunning plan and is actually little more than pointless titillation.

The level of corniness is then increased by Katherine Brewster, played by the lovely Claire Danes, with the line “I hate machines” as she struggles to use a hand-held item scanner. The father of this Bride-to-be then informs us in a phone conversation that he has complete confidence in her and states that she has always done the right thing in her life. I can’t speak for anyone who reads this but I certainly don’t appreciate being dragged through a story by the hand as though I’m incapable of working through the narrative on my own. The corny moments come thick and fast and it really is quite painful to watch. A homosexual stripper tells a naked Arnie to “talk to the hand” who then takes this direction literally. This pales in comparison to Arnie delivering one of the most ridiculous lines in cinematic history, “she’ll be back”, and no writer wants to admit this but words fail me.

The chemistry between John Connor, played by Nick Stahl, and Katherine left a lot to be desired but this wasn’t helped by lines such as “you’re not exactly my type” which left me wondering if John Connor had something against beautiful girls. While I’m on the subject, here’s a helpful tip to any guys reading this, telling a girl “you remind me of my mother” won’t exactly melt their hearts or help in the underwear removal department.

It’s strange to sit through an entire film which failed to impress only to realise that the last few moments are actually pretty good. The moment John Connor announces he is in charge signals his transition from emo layabout to leader of men and this reminded me of how excited I am about Christian Bale stepping into the character for Terminator Salvation. I shouldn’t be glad when a film finishes but, being a huge fan of The Terminator and its sequel, I can only describe this attempt as an unfortunate mess.

Extras

Two Commentaries (Each 1H 49M 6S) – The first by Director Jonathan Mostow, Arnold Swarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes and Kristanna Loken. The second by Director Jonathan Mostow on his own. On paper the first commentary looks very impressive as it features the Director plus all the main cast but in reality each commentary was recorded separately and it’s a shame you don’t get to hear them interacting. The second commentary has Mostow ever so slightly blowing his own trumpet, when he has little reason to, with lines such as “I found myself being challenged and excited…to essentially reinvent, reinvigorate, and revitalize” the Terminator story.

Terminator Vision: Picture in Picture Experience (1H 49M 6S) – This is pretty self explanatory but it’s the entire feature and on occasion a box will pop up and someone involved in the films creation will offer a retrospective view. I found myself constantly frustrated with statements from the Director, Jonathan Mostow, about how great he thinks his creation is and as he claims to be a fan of the original films I wonder if he’s actually watched this since he stopped filming.

Documentary (13M 2S) – Other than a couple of minutes on special effects and stunt-work this is filled with the cast and crew stating the obvious when it comes to the film’s story making this pretty pointless.

Storyboards (3M 55S) – This feature, as with similar Storyboard extras for other films, is nowhere near as interesting as the producers seem to believe.

Dressed to Kill (2M 11S) – This is about as short as “behind the scenes” extras get and there’s really not much on offer here, they talk about a few costumes, nothing exciting, the end.

Toys in Action (7M 4S) – This is an interesting documentary on the T3 action figures in which Todd McFarlane, comic-book maestro and founder of McFarlane Toys, talks us through the creation process.

Sgt. Candy Deleted Scene (1M 51S) – This explains how the T-101 came to have its appearance and while I understand why this silly scene was cut it is quite interesting and pretty funny.

Terminal Flaws: Gag Reel (3M 2S) – Actors messing up slightly and giggling. You know the drill.

Making of the Videogame (8M 57S) – A documentary with actors describing how incredible the graphics are when the only thing incredible here is how outdated the graphics look in what was a less than impressive videogame.

Trailers – No explanation required. Trailers for The Da Vinci Code and Terminator Salvation.

Summary

The long wait after Terminator 2: Judgement Day ended in disappointment when this first hit the big screen and this Blu-ray edition is pretty but lacks substance. The disappointment of the main feature is repeated in lacklustre features. Todd McFarlane talking to us about toys shouldn’t be the most interesting extra on a Terminator film but for me that seven minute feature was head and shoulders above everything else on offer. Unless you feel the need to own everything related to The Terminator I would avoid this Blu-ray release. Purchase the first and second films, wait for Terminator Salvation, read the Robocop versus The Terminator comics, play the Robocop versus The Terminator videogame, but please avoid this as it may spoil your love of what is otherwise a fantastic franchise.

Rating *

Standard Operating Procedure Bluray Review

Main Feature

Standard Operating Procedure, directed by Errol Morris, is a documentary film which covers the events surrounding the widely publicized mistreatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Morris is no stranger to controversy as evident by two of his previous films, The Fog of War and The Thin Blue Line, with the latter being one of my favorites in the genre.

The much loved Hollywood composer Danny Elfman created the score and as usual his haunting music manages to be both melancholy and beautiful at the same time. I am more than happy to sit on the Main Menu and listen to the Elfman penned theme tune on loop and this is testament to how talented he is as a composer.

I’ll be looking at the Extras in more detail but there’s something I feel is worth bringing up in relation to the documentary itself. There is a video of a press conference and one of the questions asked of Morris is “The people interviewed seem to portray themselves as victims and don’t take responsibility for their actions. Do you feel that after the interviews they felt more responsible?”. The lack of responsibility taken by individuals for their actions is something which struck me while watching and I’m still unsure how I feel about that. My cynical side is convinced that these people are simply no good while a small part of me believes their denial to be little more than a coping mechanism after a traumatic situation.

The one thing the viewer must keep in mind when watching a documentary is that editing plays an enormous role in how the story turns out. This is obviously true of fictional films and the cutting room floor has claimed many a wonderful moment over the years but when you’re playing around with real events this takes on a whole new level of importance.

Extras

It is in the Extras where this documentary really comes alive. The extended interviews and additional scenes reveal a great deal about the interviewees and in some cases made me re-evaluate my feelings toward certain individuals.

The premiere Q&A session, director’s commentary, and press conference offer an insight into what Morris thinks of the events and those who were involved with the latter being the more detailed of the two. When asked, at the press conference, why he included “fictional” footage in the documentary Morris rightfully described the notion as “nonsense” and explains why the occasional re-enactment is important in depicting the truth of the events.

‘Diplomacy in the Age of Terror’ is a 45 minute debate on the events at Abu Ghraib, how the treatment of prisoners went against the Geneva Convention, and the effects this had on the US and the rest of the world.

Summary

As far as I’m concerned Errol Morris is one of the greatest documentary film-makers of all time. There are two things which I feel a documentary can provide the viewer. If you approach a the film having already made up your mind on the subject matter it will enable you to strengthen your beliefs. Documentaries also have the ability to educate the viewer in whatever subject area it is dealing with. I am happy to say that Standard Operating Procedure managed to do both these things for me. I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in the events at Abu Ghraib, the war in Iraq, human atrocities and it’s especially relevant to anyone studying film and documentaries.

Rating * * * * *

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Pineapple Express Bluray Review

Main Feature

Two stoners find themselves on the run after one of them witnesses a drug-lord murdering a business rival. James Franco plays drug-dealer Saul Silver and Seth Rogen pretty much plays himself but for the sake of this review his character is named Dale Denton. I must point out that I believe there’s a difference between articulate and reasonably intelligent stoners who do silly things, a prime example is the wonderful The Big Lebowski, and the absolute morons of the highest order in Pineapple Express.

I’m not known for holding my cards close to my chest and I’ll tell you right now that I don’t find this very funny. This film drops so low that it turns to an overweight black female character for comedic value but I may well be on my own here as apparently many people find the inclusion alone to be hilarious. I have an admission to make, and I fully accept that it’s deemed sacrilegious to mention this fact, I happen to believe that Seth Rogen is quickly turning into a one-trick pony who plays exactly the same character in every film. James Franco was at one point touted as the “next big thing” in Hollywood and I must say that his performance in this is one of the few laughable things about the film. I find it difficult to watch any film starring Rosie Perez as in my mind her mediocre acting ability has always been ruined by her annoying screechy voice. Gary Cole who plays the drug-lord Ted Jones is a genuinely good actor but his talents are completely wasted here and this sadly reminds me of Christopher Walken’s career being littered with many unfortunate second fiddle roles.

The only bit I “laughed out loud” at is near the beginning when Dale is reacting to a conversation between his girlfriend and a handsome high-school Jock. Apparently Judd Apatow came up with the idea for this film while watching Brad Pitt’s short cameo performance in True Romance. It’s a damn shame he failed to take any inspiration from the Tarantino-penned script in that film because Pineapple Express would have been a lot better for it.

Extras

No matter how wonderful Extras are they will never result in a poor film having an excellent overall rating but they can definitely help. I genuinely hoped that the Extras on this disc would be so fantastic that I couldn’t avoid giving this a higher rating but that’s not the case at all.

The disc contains the Theatrical and Extended versions of the film but the difference is only five minutes and the additional footage doesn’t affect the narrative in any way.

The commentary seemed to be one big circle jerk from start to finish and everyone involved may as well have sat there and screamed “no, you’re the greatest” back and forth. I couldn’t find anything interesting in the deleted scenes which was disappointing as I always hope to find a gem amongst the understandably cut scenes.

A couple of Extras focus on snippets of dialogue which were tested and discarded in favour of slightly different and equally unfunny alternatives and this feels like a desperate attempt to pad out the disc.

Summary

I did not enjoy this film and at the end of the day I feel this is a poor imitation of Dumb and Dumber with added marijuana. Two bumbling fools somehow manage to be confused for Hitmen when all they’re capable of is bringing new meaning to the word incompetence. Most films of this ilk involve silly incidents which border on the plausible and at least have a noticeable structure but this strings together an absolutely ridiculous series of events in the hope that people will confuse dumb for funny. If part of the plan was to make the audience care about the characters I must be immune to their tactics as I don’t believe I could care less about any character in the entire film. I think it was very decent of the film-makers to include a disclaimer within the first five minutes of Pineapple Express – “(weed) makes shitty movies better”. Don’t believe the hype.

Rating **

Daniel Craig in Defiance

2008 finished with three WWII films (Miracle at St. Anna, Boy in the Striped Pajamas, and Valkyrie), and 2009 continues the trend with Defiance. Even though Striped Pajamas had the least amount of action, I would say it was by far the strongest of the four films with Defiance coming in a close 2nd. But I wonder where this fad is coming from, and how much more Hollywood thinks they can wring out of us before people stop watching.

I enjoyed Defiance, and the true-story aspect of the film. In fact, if it hadn’t been based on a true story, I don’t think it would have had so great an impact as it did. But the weight of the atrocities of this war, as well as the heroic efforts of those who refused to be mere victims, certainly came through in a story worth being told.

Focusing in on the three Bielski brothers,  Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber) and Azael (Jamie Bell), the plot unfolds as the band of brothers hide out in the woods from the Germans who are systematically killing off Jews in the region. The growth of the resistance the real story of the movie. As more and more people take refuge in the area, it begins as a matter of survival for them all to band together. From a means of support and survival to the development of intentional resistance, the leadership in the brothers’ lives is mirrored in the larger group – growing, straining, coming undone and finding redemption.

There are certainly other bit players in the film, but they merely orbit the stars. And while it’s a powerful story, it does seem to try to stretch itself onto more film than was needed. Half an hour less would have sufficed and still been true to the plot and characters. Much of the time spent in the forest seemed like filler and could have been cut. And while that time may have been included to bring into sharper focus the harsh and bleak conditions, it never seems that bleak. Yes, we see a scarcity of food, and people beginning to fight among themselves, but then it moves on to other things. You never really feel that bleakness in your gut.

You do feel, however, the evil that prompts the story. And as long as we deal with evil in our world, movies like this need to be made. Attempted genocide must not be forgotten or turned away from. Remembering it in films like this and Hotel Rwanda serve to honor the fallen and to prompt good people to live out what’s right. Celebrating what was right about the Bielski brothers is worth your time.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆