The Moving Picture

“The Fountain,” director Darren Aronofsky’s first film in six years, will not achieve the critical success his earlier films “Pi” (1998) and “Requiem for a Dream” (2000) did. However, as a failure it is more interesting than most of this year’s successes.
“The Fountain” chronicles three different storylines set in three different time periods. It begins in the 21st century with drug researcher Tommy Creo (Hugh Jackman) who is desperately seeking a cure for the inoperable brain tumor killing his wife Izzy Creo (Rachel Weisz). As part of her preparation for her impending death, Izzy is writing a novel about the search for the Tree of Life. Set in the 16th century, Queen Isabella sends a conquistador to New Spain in search of it. The film also jumps ahead 1000 years to the 26th century where Tommy is a Zen astronaut flying in a bubble with a dying tree on his way to a nebula.
The plot of this science-fiction historical adventure-fantasy seems silly and in every film festival from Toronto to Venice — where it was booed — “The Fountain” has been called ridiculous, as well as audacious.
However, there is nothing silly about the film’s earnestness and intensity. The film does overreach, trying to cram all of the director’s thoughts and feelings about life, death and filmmaking into a single 90-minute epic. But even when you fall short reaching for the stars, the outcome can still be spectacular.
Though “The Fountain’s” complexity makes for muddled viewing at best, it is more fun to watch a director reach for the stars than it is to see him sit back and play it safe. Besides, all of the elements of a great film are present in “The Fountain,” from Tommy’s compelling struggle to face the incontrovertible fact of death, to the amazing cinematography and special effects to the Oscar worthy original score and finally to the captivating performances of Jackman and Weisz.
If you are only familiar with Jackman as the clawed superhero Wolverine, then you will be surprised by the depth and range he displayed in “The Fountain.” In this film Jackman proved his intensity is readily applied in more than one limited direction. He is more than worthy of the title “actor.” And, of course, Weisz once again delivered a stellar performance as the beautiful dying flower Izzy.
However, this film’s strongest element has to be its delightful musical score. The sound of this film drove the action and elicited more emotion than any other element. The cinematography and the special effects of “The Fountain” made it easy on the eyes, but the music was even easier on the ears. Of all the films this year, “The Fountain” deserves to stand on the Oscar podium and accept the Academy Award for Best Original Score. The music did more than just support the action of “The Fountain.” Without its driving musical force the film would have been only half as compelling and interesting. The music was an integral part of the film’s success, not just window dressing slapped on at the last minute. That is what deserves the title Best Original Score. Think of the original “Star Wars” series. John Williams’ music was half the heart of the films, without it “Star Wars” would not have achieved the success it has.
Though “The Fountain” is unlikely to earn the critical and audience acclaim it needs to garner Oscar success, it is not a film to be missed. Few films achieve such interesting results in the midst or critical failure. Though if you are more of a mainstream moviegoer, perhaps you should rent the DVD so you are not disappointed by the director’s artsy approach to filmmaking.

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“Stranger than Fiction” is this year’s best film so far. There have been many releases this year featuring outstanding acting and a compelling story line, but few left one feeling better about life than when they entered the theater.
“Stranger than Fiction” has heart, as well as brains. It makes one laugh and cry equally with delight. This is a great holiday film that makes one thankful for not only the good things in life, but simply thankful for life. One leaves the theater reminded to cherish the little things, the moments that are rarely recognized as moments — the off-hand caress of a lover, the rare, thoughtless act of a child or a good word from one’s boss.
“Stranger than Fiction” tells the tale of Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), an IRS agent who discovers that he is the central character in tragic novelist Kay Eiffel’s (Emma Thompson) masterpiece. Determined to avoid the deadly fate written for him, Ferrell starts living the life he’s always dreamed of.
Director Marc Forster (“Finding Neverland” 2004, “Monster’s Ball” 2001) has once again delivered a heartfelt film worthy of standing atop the Oscar podium. Writer Zach Helm has few other writing credits to his name, but he certainly hit the big one with “Stranger than Fiction.” Few scripts this year have boasted the originality, humor and honesty of this work of art. This film is certainly worthy of the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Despite the film’s unusual plot, one has no problem suspending disbelief. The characters take Harold’s preposterous situation completely in stride as if it were totally normal to find one’s self the central character of another’s work of fiction. In fact, the ease with which one accepts the plot points to the film’s other strength — the acting.
“Stranger than Fiction” is character driven, thus without outstanding performances the stellar plot would have fallen hopelessly flat. Every actor delivered an amazing performance, from the morose Harold, to the despondent tragic novelist, to the eccentric literature professor (Dustin Hoffman), to the rebellious baker Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhall) and the product driven writing assistant Penny Escher (Queen Latifah). By the end of the film one had fallen head-over-heels for each and every character.
Will Ferrell did an excellent job of playing the film’s leading man and comedic element without playing his part too heavy-handedly. The eccentric college professor was charming in his absurdities. The revolutionary baker Ana Pascal was delightful in her delicate torture of her IRS investigator, yet beautiful in her recognition of Harold’s own tragic state. And best of all was the tragic novelist, who in envisioning the best way to kill off Harold repeatedly imagines her own sorrowful demise.
Each and every character changes through the film, expanding their individual perspectives and outlook on life. Harold’s transformation is beautiful offering hope to every moviegoer, but his reversal is not the most powerful in the film. Harold’s awakening mirrors that of the writer. The recluse is able to reconnect with the world, emerging from her secluded existence to share her new outlook with the world.
Eiffel’s assistant also goes through a reversal. She learns to recognize the delightful chaos inherent in the act of creation. The baker realizes she does not have to thwart the government and land in jail to change the world. Pascal’s small acts of kindness make a big impact on the lives of those around her, such as Harold. The professor accepts Eiffel’s altered ending, recognizing the truth behind her realization.
There is not a weak element in “Stranger than Fiction,” though it is highly unlikely that it will earn the recognition it deserves. Its presentation is simple and straightforward, though it offers all the complexity a film connoisseur could desire. It does not reach for the stars, but achieves greatness without seemingly doing so. This is one film not to be missed this year and one film you will surely want to add to your DVD collection.
The one area this film may stand on the podium for is Best Original Screenplay and it is more than deserving of this Oscar for its clever, heartfelt and delightful look at life, death and everything in between.

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“Marie Antoinette” is a visually stunning film, but if you go into the theater looking for a historical drama, you are going to be sorely disappointed.
This cinematic eye-candy is not historical, nor is it political, as past films about the most famous French queen have been. Sophia Coppola’s latest film continues her ongoing them of exploring the lives of isolated and misunderstood women. And who, if not Marie Antoinette, is the classic example of this archetype.
Thus, “Marie Antoinette” is a character study, not a historical piece depicting the events leading up to the French Revolution. The film explores only the inner workings of the foreign-born queen’s French life and it does so more than adequately. Coppola’s representation of the Austrian-born queen accurately reflects how modern historians now perceive her.
Disliked from the get go, the foreign queen bore much of the French people’s unjustified animosity. As a teenager she was extravagant and cared primarily for pleasant diversion and entertainment more than she did for the intricacies of politics and protocol. However, as the youngest child of 15 and the youngest daughter of 11, she was not initially expected to bear a political burden as a prominent member of any state. Thus, she was poorly trained in the ways of the court.
However, the death of her older sister propelled Marie Antoinette into the position of the Dauphine of France. She brought with her a teenager’s lust for parties, shopping and pleasant diversions. But, her youthful indulgences — which she grew out of, as most people do, after having children — were not the sole cause of France’s miseries. A series of costly wars and financial support of the American Revolution bankrupted the country, not her diamonds and dresses.
This film is also a metaphor for modern Hollywood life, of which its director Sophia Coppola is a product. If you look at the film in that context it becomes much more interesting and your desire for a historical or political theme wanes further.
Moviegoers at the Friday 1:45 p.m. showing of the film at the Redlands Krikorian Premiere Theatre were, overall, pleased with the film’s beautiful presentation. They, like this reviewer, were captivated by the costuming and cinematography. However, they were particularly disappointed in one aspect of the film — the ending. Perhaps craving the expected beheading at the end of the film, many were angered when it did not happen.
The film ends with the royal family fleeing the Palace of Versailles just ahead of an angry mob. But again, this is not a historical drama. It is a character study of Marie Antoinette. Thus, it began with Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen transforming into Marie Antoinette, the Dauphine of France, and ends when she becomes Antoinette Capet, the imprisoned royal.
“Marie Antoinette” was heavily booed at its debut at the premiere film event, the Cannes Film Festival, but overall it was hardly hated. Roger Ebert reported that the daily critics jury of “Screen International,” a cross-section of nine international critics gave it a rating of 2.44 out of 4, making it tied for fifth out of 14 films.
It is also quite likely that Coppola’s film will get Oscar nods for both the costuming and the cinematography. However, one of my favorite aspects of the film, the music, will probably only draw quizzical looks. This eclectic blend of modern day rock and pop music fit perfectly with Coppola’s themes.
A musical score is normally expected to support the action without drawing attention to itself. Coppola found an artful way to break that hard-and-fast rule, employing music that simultaneously commented on the film by drawing attention to itself without overwhelming the action. Well done. Interesting and different is always fun and “Marie Antoinette” had a lot of that right down to the musical score.
If you do not go into the theater expecting “Marie Antoinette” to be a historical drama with heavy political undertones, then you will find little to be disappointed in. This is a character study, so do not expect a history lesson and you will be pleased. Besides, did you really want to pay $10 to feel like your back in high school listening to a monotonous lecture delivered by an uninterested, impassionate history teacher?

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“Running with Scissors” is a powerful and moving film, but it is not for the average moviegoer.
The story is painful to watch, though in its many absurd and ridiculous moments there is a dark humor, though many will find it hard to appreciate. The storyline is also not a Hollywood fiction. These terribly hurtful things really did happen and many lives were seriously damaged.
“Running with Scissors” is a cinematic presentation of the book by the same name, which is based on the personal memoirs of Augusten Burroughs. Burroughs survived one of the craziest and most horrible childhoods one could imagine.
He survived a bipolar self-centered mother who emotionally abused his alcoholic father. He survived being given up for adoption to his mother’s psychiatrist — a man only slightly less crazy than she was. He survived living with the man’s highly eccentric and only barely sane family. At the age of 15 he began a homosexual love affair with one of his adopted father’s patients — a 35-year-old paranoid schizophrenic with violent tendencies — and he survived.
Furthermore, Burroughs not only survived a never-ending wave of emotional and mental abuse monstrous enough to crush even the strongest personalities, he conquered it all. Burroughs went on to write a best-selling novel that is now a motion picture.
Despite his berserk childhood, Burroughs has led a successful and fulfilling life. And this hope, this belief that things can still be O.K. no matter how dark it gets, pervades the film.
And though this idea shines clearly through the movie, I was the only one in the theater to see the bright message. The rest of the meager audience left the theater bitterly voicing their displeasure and lamenting their wasted two hours. This reaction perhaps suggest how hard it is to hope and how easily the fragile emotion is lost in the darkness of life, like it was lost in the dark theater.
At the film’s conclusion I was tearfully smiling at Augusten’s brave conquest and I could not help but admire his unquenchable lust for living. Despite a mother with delusions of grandeur and prone to psychotic breaks, who did everything she possibly could to stamp out his dreams, he hoped. Despite a father who abandoned him to his mentally disturbed mother at 13-years-old and who eventually drank himself to death, he hoped. Despite the abuses and misuses of his adopted father, Augusten continued to hope. How can you not find hope in that?
This is a powerful film, but if you are not one capable of, or experienced at, finding beauty in darkness, then the darkened theater of a showing of “Running with Scissors” is no place for you. However, if you believe there is hope despite all the voices that warn against it, then you may just find what you are looking for in “Running with Scissors.”
Furthermore, if you are interested in the Oscar race, this is not a film to miss. “Running with Scissors” is likely to earn an Oscar nod for Best Adapted Screenplay. And do not be surprised to hear Annette Bening’s name once again nominated for Best Actress. She delivered yet another unforgettable performance as Augusten’s mentally ill mother.
In fact, there was not a weak link in the cast and they all deserve recognition for their strong deliveries. Without their outstanding performances this film’s bright message would surely have been lost in the dark.

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Oscar season is in full swing and the contenders are already hitting the big screen. With a little more than two months remaining, moviegoers can expect to be inundated with 2007 Academy Award candidates. Just this weekend, one of this year’s major contenders for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography and possibly Best Actor earned great praise from moviegoers — “Flags of Our Fathers.”
Eastwood’s latest stint behind the camera will likely earn him at least a nod from the Academy and it would not be a shock to see the loved director him take the coveted statue home. It would also not be surprising to see Adam Beach earn a nod for his breakout performance as the American Indian flag raiser Ira Hayes.
The film’s strongest attributes, its compelling screenplay, adapted from James Bradley and Ron Power’s novel by the same name, and sweeping cinematography will also likely earn nominations.
“Flags of Our Fathers” is one of this year’s best films and is certainly not one to be missed. If your are following the Oscar hunt be sure to catch Eastwood’s film in theaters for it is likely to earn several nominations and this must-see film is more than worthy of a see on the big screen.
“Flags of Our Fathers” will certainly see some competition this year, namely facing off against Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed.” This brutal, but compelling film was intense and action packed down to the last of its 165 minutes. Its script, written by William Monahan, made moviegoers hang one each actor’s every word. This film’s screenplay was one of the best written so far this year and Oscar owes Monahan a nod.
It may even come down to a face off between Eastwood and Scorsese for Best Director. Both men turned out quality films that not only entertain, but also speak volumes on the human condition.
And, as always, the mark of a good director is the quality of the acting in the film. Both “Flags of Our Fathers” and “The Departed” should both earn nods for the amazing performances of its lead actors. In neither film was there a weak link. It would not be a surprise to hear Jack Nicholson’s name nominated once again for Best Actor, nor would it be a surprise to hear either Leonardo DiCaprio or Matt Damon get their second nods.
In any case, despite the graphic nature of both “Flags of Our Fathers” and “The Departed,” do not miss these films for they sure to be on the Oscar podium for something. They are two of this year’s best films and worthy of the exorbitant cost of a movie ticket.
However, there’s one more film that hit the big screen a number of weeks ago that could certainly give “Flags of Our Fathers” and “The Departed” a run for their money. “All the King’s Men” delivered some amazing acting performances, made easy by the strong script based on Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel “All the King’s Men.” Like “The Departed,” not a word was wasted. Every line mattered and spoke volumes. It would not be a surprise to see “All the King’s Men” beat out “Flags of Our Fathers” for Best Adapted Screenplay. It is tough to beat a Pulitzer Prize winner.
One should also expect to see Sean Penn once again nominated for Best Actor. His performance as the less than perfect, but idealistic politician was one of the best so far this year. It would not be a surprise by any stretch of the imagination to see him walk away with the Oscar over Nicholson, Beach, DiCaprio or Damon.
The cinematography in “All the King’s Men” is also noteworthy and should earn a nomination. However, it would be a surprise to see it beat out the complicated shots of “Flags of Our Fathers.”
The Oscar race is well underway and moviegoers interested in the competition should not miss out on the top candidates released thus far — “Flags of Our Fathers,” “The Departed” and “All the King’s Men.” However, the race is far from over and the list of possible contenders is 50 strong. Nominations begin Dec. 26 and the polls do not close until Jan. 13. There are a lot more films to be seen before the nominees are announced Jan. 23 and the final votes are cast Feb. 20.
The following is a short list of must-see possible contenders. Save up for your movie tickets and mark your calendars for the big Academy Awards day, Feb. 25. For a more complete list of all 50 films, see www.oscaraddict.com/charts/2006/tosee.html.

DO NOT MISS:
The Departed best director, best actor, best original screenplay
Babel best original screenplay, best actor, best actress, best cinematography
The Good German
Little Children
Dreamgirls best actor and actress
Flags of Our Fathers best director, best adapted screenplay, best actor, best cinematography
The Last King of Scotland best actor
The Queen best actress
The History Boys
Running With Scissors best adapted screenplay
The Good Shepherd
Stranger Than Fiction best original screenplay
Children of Men
The Painted Veil
All the King’s Men best director, best adapted screenplay, best actor
Marie-Antoinette just to see why it was booed at the Cannes Film Festival

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