Whoops, one little bit of trivia I forgot to add to my Charlton Heston obituary

I made such a big deal about Charlton Heston walking with Martin Luther King during King's March on Washington and then sitting on the dais for the I Have a Dream speech. What I failed to note was that while America celebrated and mourned Dr. King on Friday, April 4 this year, the 40th Anniversary of King's death, Charlton Heston died the very next day, April 5.

The Freditor

Charlton Heston, one of my all-time favorite actors, dies at the age of 84

Charlton Heston stands with Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte after March on Washington.

July 23, 2001--The legendary Ziegfield Movie Theatre in New York City, my friend Bob and I were standing along the ropes of the red carpet for the premiere of the remake of Planet of the Apes. We took photos and watched as stars like Mark Wahlberg, Paul Giamatti and Helena Bonham Carter passed by, but we were both psyched to see a cast member who had a small role in the new film--Charlton Heston.
Heston was 77 then and a little shaky, but he looked happy there with his wife of 60+ years and college sweetheart, Lydia. A year later we would find out he had Alzheimer's, but that night was something special for Heston and especially for Bob and I. That was the only time either of us would ever see the man. We grew up watching and loving the Planet of the Apes (POTA) series and became Huge fans of its original star Heston. In the film he was as comfortable giving dense speeches as written by Twilight Zone's Rod Serling, as performing the half-naked stunts and showing anger, fear, tenderness and unyielding strength. I can't imagine another actor having the skills to fulfill the role of Taylor. Because of that part and that film, until I was about 20 years old, Charlton Heston was my favorite actor. I caught as many movies as I could of the man in that pre-video era.
Nearly 7 years later, Bob calls me and tells me that the Ziegfield will be holding a retrospective in honor POTA's 40th Anniversary. On March 29th, we go to see POTA on a big screen for the first time in our adult lives. We were surrounded by about 100 die-hard Ape fans and we chatted with them for about 20 minutes before the show started. We discussed several different things, but one subject that came up was Heston's failing health. Why do so many great minds fall to Alzheimer's? We put those thoughts away as we enjoyed the majesty of the film. It was my 2nd time seeing POTA in a theatre, Bob's 3rd. But just one week later, on the morning of April 6th, Bob calls to tell me that Charlton Heston had died. Very sad, but it had to be a relief to him and his family. You can't live a fuller life than he did.
My second favorite Heston film is The Ten Commandments. I've seen it only a few times less than POTA. The physical transformation that he goes through in that film is similar to the one he goes through in POTA, until the burning bush and his white mane come along. As a youngster, I never thought about the fact that this tall, blond WASP would play the leader of the Jews. He seemed perfectly cast for the part and I have yet to see another Moses who is as regal. Some of his roles were great, like in Ben-Hur, The Big Country, as John the Baptist in The Greatest Story Ever Told, Soylent Green and Major Dundee. Some were just so-so like in: The Greatest Show on Earth, Touch of Evil, Earthquake, Midway and Airport 1975. But he was never boring.
However, when I turned 20 in 1986 I had become a serious movie fan and when I watched other actors I found Heston to be a bit hammy. But his hamminess was part of that old-school approach to acting that started to disappear a few years after Heston had established himself. Though only 1 year older than Marlon Brando, their acting styles were generations apart. Heston was brought up in the theatrical tradition of acting that had dominated film for its first 50 years. The overacting and precise diction that bore little resemblance to real life. Brando was from the new school of method actors that paused and slurred their words to bring more realism to the screen. While Brando's style became the dominant form for the next 50 years of filmmaking, there was obviously still a strong call for Heston's style because he was the Top Box Office star of the '50s, '60s and early '70s.
By the time he made Planet of the Apes in 1967, he was king in the cinema world. Already an Oscar winner for Best Actor for Ben Hur and star of two Best Picture winners. For such a big star and serious actor to take part in a science fiction film was unheard of at the time. It was a risk, but one that paid off handsomely. From what I hear, Heston had such faith in the film's success that he took less money up front for a bigger percentage of the film's profits. It made $33 Million in just the US in 1968, an incredible amount for the time. Along with 2001-A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes ushered in a new era of serious science fiction filmmaking which would eventually culminate in Close Encounters and Star Wars nine years later.
His role in the new POTA in 2001 was a throwaway part that was more camp than serious acting. The whole movie was a big letdown after 30 years of praying for a new film by its legions of fans. Actually, my favorite acting jobs by Heston in the last 15 years were in True Lies as Arnold Schwarzenegger's angry boss and his hosting of Saturday Night Live in 1993. The writers that week pulled out all the stops and made one of the funniest shows of the last two decades. I'm sure many Heston fans like myself never realized how funny the man could be. Back then Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, Norm MacDonald, Mike Myers and Adam Sandler were all on the show and had memorable moments with Heston. Other than the obvious Apes skits, my favorite was called Bag Man. In it Heston plays an elderly stock boy working in a supermarket. When manager Phil Hartman attempts to fire him, Heston starts describing these horrific things that a man "could" do if he were pushed. All the while menacingly holding a box cutter, by the end of the skit, a very anxious Hartman is offering him a raise.
But the thing that most amazes me about Heston is his early political beliefs. While he later became a cause celebre for the right wing, from the '50s to the early '70s he was a noted liberal democrat with a strong belief in the civil rights of black people. In fact, after making The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur he became quite caught up in the whole freedom movement. When Martin Luther King had his march on Washington and later gave the I Have a Dream speech, Heston was right by his side. Unfortunately, he is cut out of most of the pictures you see. But for a white man of his stature to stand with Dr. King that day was a very brave thing to do. Despite the hullabaloo you hear nowadays, most of America hated King and what he stood for back then. Anyone attached to that cause put themselves at great risk, if not physically, at least monetarily.
I don't care about Heston's love of guns and ascendancy to the head of the NRA. I attribute some of his later political beliefs to his eventual delirium. He was a tall, statuesque man who played parts that were larger than life and indeed lived a life that was larger than most. I'm glad he's getting such a loud sendoff.

The Freditor

Forgetting Sarah Marshall-much funnier than ads would lead you to believe

* * * * (out of 5)

Judd Apatow gets mucho credit with me in all endeavors. If he writes it, directs it or produces it I will always see them and reserve judgment until later. Oddly, the commercials for his movies always give me the impression that the film will be lame. The problem always is, the best parts can never be shown on television. His R-Rated comedies are made realistically for adults and thus earn their R ratings. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is no exception. Sometimes hApatow knocks it out of the park, ala 40 Year Old Virgin and the TV show Freaks and Geeks. Sometimes it lacks a little something like Knocked Up and Walk Hard.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is better than Knocked, but not as good as 40 Year. Still it's a fun night for any couple. Despite being told from the guy's point of view, this is definitely not a guy movie. All the characters are well drawn and everyone has their moment to shine. Written and starring Freaks veteran and Apatow protege Jason Segel, this is the story of a nice guy musician who's happily in love with his TV star girlfriend until she unsuspectingly breaks up with him at the beginning of the movie. As he just comes out of the shower, the moment happens while he's naked. It is supposed to be a funny metaphor for how he feels, but after the initial shock and giggles the scene is less funny than uncomfortable. Uncomfortable, embarrassing moments are an Apatow hallmark, but I find them less enjoyable than straight on comedy.

The movie and laughs pick up big time when Segel's character Peter takes a much needed vacation to Hawaii, only to find that he's staying in the same hotel as his ex-girlfriend. Anyone who's been to Hawaii knows what a tonic the place and people can be for whatever ails you and among the tonics that Peter finds is the girl from the concierge desk, Rachel Jansen, played by That '70s Shows beauty Mila Kunis. There is a wounded charm in her eyes and voice that makes her instantly appealing to Peter and to the movie as a whole. I haven't seen That '70s Show in years, but I remember not liking her character, but for the last 8 years she has been the voice of Family Guy's daughter Meg, who is always put down for her looks and personality. Perhaps that voiceover work helped make her a more sympathetic performer. Whatever it works.

Segel was one of six favorites for me from Freaks and Geeks and although I don't watch it, is supposed to be good on How I Met Your Mother. Here he plays a very recognizable ordinary guy, who can morph into a pathetic loser if he is allowed. Fortunately, those around him don't let that happen. One great scene is so telling. A big teddy bear of a Hawaiian named Kemo asks him to help prepare the pig for the luau, but Peter doesn't know that includes killing the pig. He's forced to stab the pig all the while screaming, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." When he cries for like the 10th time in the movie, this time for the pig you can't help but crack up laughing.

His ex-girlfriend is played by Veronica Mars herself, Kristen Bell. Another show I've never watched, but that I hear good things about. As Sarah, we could be forced to hate her and see her as a lying, backstabbing bitch, but there are way more layers to her and you can see why Peter was so gaga over her and then so heartbroken.

This all sounds so serious, where are the laughs Fred? They're everywhere. The movie is filled with them and always within the context of the story which is my favorite way. In some ways Segel is the least funny person in the movie, he is upstaged constantly by Kunu the surfing teacher, Kemo the buffet server, Dwayne the bartender and Matthew the waiter. But the best is the supposed villain of the movie, Aldous Snow, the lead singer of British rock band, Infant Sorrow, and Sarah's new boyfriend. At first he seems clueless, but then you realize he's way more aware than he lets on. It's like Peter lost his girlfriend to a young Mick Jagger.

The clips of Sarah's CSI type show are very funny, but not as good as the clip that shows after the credits start to roll. And don't miss the final song, a classic inside joke that only I laughed at. Prince and Sinead O'Connor's touching breakup song Nothing Compares To You, sung in Hawaiian, by Daniel Ho, no relation to Don Ho.


The Freditor

Witnessed a new Phenomenom at the movies last night--Kind of shocked me--fred

I'd read about them, but hadn't seen any yet. The R-Rated trailer or as the industry calls them "red band trailers" don't cut anything out for a general audience. In the past, you'd wait to see some horrific horror film with blood, guts and decapitated heads, but the trailers that they'd play before the movies would have menacing shadows during the killings and never any blood.

By the same token you'd never see nudity or hear curse words in a trailer because it might offend the audience that is there to see an R-Rated movie--How Stupid.

But in order to increase the hype and excitement for an upcoming release, the movie studios have taken off the gloves and decided to release red band trailers to give the audience a real idea of what the movie is about. To see one for the first time is exciting. Kind of like the first time you saw an uncut R-rated movie on cable TV. In the back of your mind you're saying, "Wow, I can't believe they are doing that on TV." Well that was my same reaction yesterday when I heard a character say the F-word in a trailer for the upcoming comedy, "Pineapple Express." "Wow, I can't believe they are using a word like that in a trailer." Then they show a man's brains gets blasted and a stoner putting his thumb through his fly to simulate a penis.

A couple more of these and I will not notice it anymore.

The Freditor

Fred's Top 10 Movies of 2007

For the first time since the 2004 Awards Season, I am able to hand in my Top 10 List the week the Oscars come out. When I was in school I was notoriously late with my term papers, because while I love to write, HAVING to write can be a chore. But this year's crop of movies is the best in quite a while and writing about them was a pleasure. While there were no classics, picking a Top 10 List was pretty easy.

I saw 95 movies that were released in 2007 including most that could conceivably be on anyone's Top 10 List, minus the Iranian/French cartoon Persepolis. I saw Atonement Saturday and while I understand why it's been nominated (English manner movies will always get nominations no matter how uninteresting they are--see Howard's End), I do not agree with the hoopla surrounding it. Other big names like Once and There Will Be Blood did not make my list and the reasons for those omissions will be in their own reviews, which will be appearing shortly.

But when all is said and done, my list features only films that I personally loved and some that would never show up on any other year-end list. So hopefully, if you haven't seen some of these gems, you'll be inspired to rent them out.

Here goes:

First of all, the Actor of the Year has to be Josh Brolin, who is in FOUR of my favorite movies. In American Gangster he's a dirty cop, in In the Valley of Elah he's a jaded chief of police, in Grindhouse he's a doctor who becomes a zombie and in the best role of his life, in No Country For Old Men, he's a handyman who steals money from drug runners and then has to run himself. I think his scene with the pitbull in the Rio Grande alone is worth the price of admission.

1. Sicko (Special Edition) ---In 2004, I believe I named Fahrenheit 911 the Best Movie of that year and Michael Moore again wins the prize. I saw it on my birthday and while you wouldn't think a documentary on health insurance would be a fitting way to spend the anniversary of my birth, I came out of that theatre with a new consciousness. What the movie talks about is not the 50 Million Americans who don't have health care coverage, but the 250 Million who do and get screwed by those health insurance companies. Does Moore play fast and loose with the facts sometimes, maybe. But there's no denying that we are a sick country and we're only getting sicker and until Barack Obama, few politicians were bringing this up as a national crisis. I have health care coverage and always have, but it wouldn't take much for me or my wife to lose it. And we both know that what coverage we have is not as good as it was 10 years ago. Michael Moore is definitely the Upton Sinclair of our generation and for those who don't know, Sinclair is the old writer who made sure you don't eat blended rats in your hot dogs.

2. No Country for Old Men ---No Country would have been Number One, but the Coen Brothers screwed up the ending. The first 1:30 is so good that I could barely breathe while watching it. Then the last 20 minutes don't just fall apart, but are so bad and aimless you almost think the Coens messed it up on purpose. Why is it so hard for modern day directors to finish a movie? To give an ending, some closure. Writers and directors 10 times more talented than they have prided themselves on great endings, but so many times now the endings are either weak or non-existent. A favorite among directors nowadays is to have the actor look into the camera, the screen turns black and the credits roll and you get a large groan from the audience. I have a friend who dismissed my review of this movie when it came out, without seeing it first, and said, "Oh you just want a happy ending." That's not true, some of my all-time favorite movies had a very sad ending, but they ENDED. When he finally saw it, he didn't like the ending either, but he didn't like the whole movie, so it was impossible to gauge his reaction. But I've read it in other places. People hate the ending to this movie. The Sopranos Finale's ending might be 21st Century cool, but people hated it then and many still hate it now. For other directors to copy it will not curry those people's favor.

3. Across the Universe (Two-Disc Special Edition) ---At times corny, but overall a beautiful movie. The most magical of the year. Director Julie Taymor took a premise that Robert Stigwood destroyed 30 years ago with the Sgt. Pepper movie (starring the Bee Gees) and made it into a treasure. Actors portray a story that is pieced together out of the lyrics of Beatles songs and sing the songs in radically new ways, all against a background that explodes with color and psychedelia and makes the movie and the viewer come alive. The ending gave me goosebumps and that rarely happened this year. Probably the most amazing thing about the film was how it took Beatles songs that I normally don't like and rearranged them in ways that made me love them. Dear Prudence is one example. I realized for the first time that like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen maybe the Beatles were the kind of songwriters who should have let other, better singers do their songs.

4. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [Theatrical Release]----A young woman in 1980s Communist Romania goes through the most stressful day trying to have an abortion. Terminating a pregnancy was illegal there back then and getting caught would mean prison for both her and the doctor. But her day isn't half as bad as it is for her best friend, who is the way more responsible one forced to run around their horrible town making sure it all happens without any glitches. Last half is filmed like a suspense thriller, with a jumpy handheld camera and your heart will be pounding.

5. Michael Clayton (Widescreen Edition) ---Speaking of pounding hearts, this movie contains two scenes that not only made me jump out of my skin and seat, but made the old woman next to me yelp. A lawyer who is entrusted to fight a major lawsuit for a weed killer company has a breakdown, but mostly a huge attack of conscience and has to be wrangled in by the firm's "janitor," Michael Clayton. George Clooney does such an incredible job playing Clayton, because it fits his screen persona to a tee. That super cool Danny Ocean way he has of making everyone around him feel like things are going to be alright. The fact that in order to make these things go alright, you have to commit some white collar crimes is something that eats at "Mickey's" conscience. This movie had a good ending, although I'm not sure I completely bought it, but at least they tried. Veteran director Sydney Pollack plays the chief of Clayton's firm and with that supple voice of his, turns his usual winning manner into a microcosm of corporate evil. Tilda Swinton as the weed company's "hitman" is so overcome with nerves she literally has to smell her own fear.

6. Reign Over Me (Widescreen Edition) ---Most moving film of the year. First fictional movie that dealt with a family member of one of those lost on 9/11. Adam Sandler does incredible work as the shattered widower who was once a top NYC dentist, but is now just a crazy rich hobo. Don Cheadle plays his old roommate from college that has made it his life's work to bring this man back among the living. First half has so many great laugh lines that when the tone changes in the second half it seems abrupt, but very appropriate. I won't lie, I cried for like the last 40 minutes of this movie.

7. Bridge to Terabithia (Widescreen Edition) --Speaking of crying at movies. Holy Crap did this movie take me by surprise. Billed as some kind of Narnia-type film, it's anything but. An 11 year old boy and the same age girl who lives next door become best friends and through their imaginations build a wonderful kingdom in the woods near their house. But then something horrible happens in real life and the movie switches gears rapidly. From that point onward my friend Paul and I started tearing up and I believe many of the fathers in the theatre did as well. It wasn't for the sad thing that happened so much, as for the crazy way the other characters handled it. My wife on the other hand who sat between us was not moved. She laughed at Paul and me, but as I look at it from a distance I believe it might be a boy thing. Like how grown men weep over the final scene of Field of Dreams. It wouldn't even occur to a woman.

8. In the Valley of Elah --Tommy Lee Jones plays two great roles this year, both in Texas. In No Country, he's the sheriff out looking for the bad guy and the good guy with the money, but that's chicken feed compared to his role here as a former MP, out looking for his missing son home from Iraq. While Susan Sarandon has the relatively easy part playing the outwardly worried mother, it's Jones who does the hard work of playing both a strong military man and a father who has tremendous love for his boy. When a soldier arrives at his door with news, Tommy interrupts the soldier to apply a small piece of toilet paper to his shaving cut. It's a minor detail, but informs the character in two ways. One that he's a retired but strict military man who will not let another soldier see him be unkempt and two that it gives him a chance to gain his composure before he hears the news he expects. The final scene of this movie is right on target and the film is a great comeback for Paul Haggis, the man who made the much inferior Crash.

9. Superbad (Unrated Widescreen Edition)---The funniest comedy of the year made by the comedy factory that is Judd Apatow (40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up). This film was written by two guys while they were still in high school. Their idea? To make a movie that kids their age would want to see and 15 years later they did it. While it takes place in modern day high school it has an ageless quality that makes it familiar for anyone who's been a teenager in the last 30 years. One thing that is a bit different is the filthy way the young characters speak. I mean I knew guys who spoke like that then, but in this movie all the boys speak like that. What language? Where's the soap? LOL. There are so many great scenes and funny lines, but my favorite might be by the drunk redheaded girl at the party, "McLovin is going to take me to Hawaii." I won't explain it, you'll just have to see it.

10. Juno ---I saw the coming attractions and said to myself, "Okay cutish independent comedy with sitcommy characters." Then it started getting all this attention from critics around the country and I thought maybe the trailer wasn't accurate. Don't forget last year Little Miss Sunshine got a similar amount of attention. Slapping an independent tag on a comedy gives it a hands-off coda it might not necessarily deserve. So I saw Juno and really enjoyed it. It's very funny at times and very moving at other times and has a certain level of realism that holds the whole thing together. But.... But I'm sorry, it's a cutish independent comedy with sitcommy characters. Diablo Cody, which is such a stupid stage name, wrote this movie in a manner befitting a 1940s screwball comedy. Star Ellen Page could easily be replaced by Rosalind Russell as the quick-talking sharpie who has Cary Grant wrapped around her fingers. She has so many cool, look-at-how-clever-I-am lines that I don't buy it. Do you remember being 16? You are unmolded clay. You may be intelligent, but you are not yet quick-witted. In high school there were the smart girls who were shy and quiet and the not so smart girls who had a lot to say but little of it worth listening to. No one, NO ONE, I mean No One spoke like Juno does in this movie. And the idea that a teenage girl experiencing something as stressful as an unwanted pregnancy would be this glib about it is Nonsense. I realize it's a comedy, but it's supposed to be a comedy based on truth and if you can't believe the truth, it makes the comedy less effective.


Honorable Mention:


Grindhouse Presents, Planet Terror - Extended and Unrated (Two-Disc Special Edition)--If Quentin Tarantino had kept up his end of the bargain, this movie would have made my Top 10. The most fun idea of the year. Make a double feature that resembles the crappy cinema of the '70s. Robert Rodriguez got it perfect with missing reels, a scratched print and cheesy effects, but Quentin made a modern-looking film with nothing cheesy about it. In fact, Quentin's Death Proof is way overwritten with too many asides to things only he cares about. But what saves this whole project are the incredibly funny and disgusting sneak previews in the center of the double feature. My favorite--Thanksgiving. One word--SICK!!

Waitress (Widescreen Edition) ---Three comedies in one year about unplanned pregnancies. (I found Knocked Up pretty funny at times, but totally unbelievable and really a smack against women, which surprised me considering its creator is Judd Apatow.) Of the three this has the most likeable characters, but call me old-fashioned, I just wish the main character played by Keri Russell didn't have an affair with her married doctor. If they were both miserable in their marriages I wouldn't give it a second thought, but coming on to a happily married man cheapened the film for me a little. Andy Griffith though is fantastic as the town's grouchy old rich man.

Sunshine ---We just don't get many good science fiction movies anymore, in fact we don't get many at all. But this mix of Alien and 2001 was a great surprise this summer. An international crew is sent on a possible suicide mission to save the Earth by reigniting the dying sun. Made by the people who brought you Trainspotting and 28 Days Later, they put the same kind of edge into this tale and draw another great performance out of Cillian Murphy. The final confrontation is filled with muddled camerawork, but I'll excuse it for its perfect ending.

Nanking ---Devastating documentary about one of the most covered-up episodes in World War II history. The Rape of Nanking, as its book is appropriately called, was a period of time when a debased Japanese Army conquered the shipping town of Nanking, China and all the peasants who were too poor to escape. While the men were tortured and killed, the women and girls suffered repeated attacks from their savage captors. Many of the victims are still alive to tell their tales and do in this film, but what really disgusted me were the interviews with the 80-year old Japanese soldiers who recall their atrocities with laughter and smiles. This movie would have been in my Top 10 except for the unnecessary use of American actors to portray the roles of the Westerners, who stayed behind to protect these Chinese people from the Japanese. If they had just used their voices while showing archival footage it would have been fine, but mixing in their real faces in actorly guises alongside the real heartbreaking faces of the victims seemed like bad taste.

28 Weeks Later (Widescreen Edition) ---If there was no 28 Days Later this movie would be one for the record books. But while it lacks the original's new twist on an old genre, it makes up for it with its own amount of shocks and pulsating scares. About 6 months after the original, the refugees who left London are brought back to live among the ruins of their rage-ravaged city. Watching out for them is the American Army. When things go bad the Army turns bad. The carnage is heavy and crazy, but nothing matches the jaw-dropping scene from the beginning of the movie. It is such a colossal nightmare, I was sure it could only be a dream sequence, because no one would truly act that way. It wasn't and it sets the stage for what kind of movie you are about to witness.

American Gangster 2-Disc Unrated Extended Edition---Denzel Washington can walk through a role and still come up smelling like roses. He can play Frank Lucas in his sleep and at times almost does, but he rouses himself up for some wicked scenes. Russell Crowe does his best Popeye Doyle in the part of Richie Roberts. A cop who is dead honest on the job, but cheats on his wife incessantly. He is the much more interesting character here and his desire to bring down Frank Lucas doesn't jibe with how he treats him once he catches him. That's the filmmakers' fault. You can't portray Frank Lucas as a demon to his own people and then treat him like a misunderstood black executive.

The Bourne Ultimatum (Widescreen Edition) ---Jason Bourne does not make a bad movie. This is definitely the most exciting of the three with the stylized action from the first mixed with the documentary style of the second for an eye-popping, heart-stopping thrill ride. Unlike the first two though there are some bullshit moments that defy the law of physics, but overall a great time. Unlike the first two the background story is less compelling and seems more of the same from number 2, but you do get three Oscar-caliber actors to play CIA bad guys here--David Strathairn, Albert Finney and Scott Glenn.

Eastern Promises (Widescreen Edition) --Viggo Mortensen puts on a great performance as a Russian gangster working in London, who wrestles with his conscience when a mysterious baby connects the gang with a strong-willed woman on the outside. Everybody is great here, from Naomi Watts to Vincent Cassel to Armin Mueller-Stahl, and writer director David Cronenberg stages one of the most hard-to-watch fight scenes with the naked knife fight in the sauna. But then ends the movie with a Sopranos-black screen, which I'll say again is a cop out.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly---Usually not my type of movie, but the story of the editor of the French magazine, Elle, overcome with a paralyzing stroke, is told with such great humanity and an unexpected sense of humor that this film is definitely a winner in my book.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead ---Albert Finney is great as the father of two loser sons, played by Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hawke is his usual slimy self as the weaker, sniveling brother who robs his parents' jewelry store. Hoffman is miscast as the tougher brother who has to use the jewelry heist money to pay off some big white collar crimes. Hoffman can play sniveling with the best of them, but when he plays "tough" you can see the man behind the curtain. Final scene was way overdramatic for a movie that tries to keep it real.

300 (Two-Disc Special Edition) ---Is it a great movie? No. But it has to be acknowledged for being one of the most creative achievements in 2007. Tells the story of the Spartan War in graphic novel style, with live actors mixing it up with an entire CGI background. Visually mesmerizing and outrageously violent. Fun while it lasts.


The Freditor

Haha, Oscars have worst ratings ever

Two reasons always make or break Oscars ratings. One, popular movies are nominated giving the audience a rooting interest. Titanic is the highest rated Oscar for this reason. Young girls all wanted Jack and Rose to win it all, which they did. When a movie is nominated that didn't even make as much as a baseball player's salary, then no one is going to care if it wins or loses.

Two, the Host is so important. If the host comes out of the gate with a great monologue people might stick with it, but if he tanks then the casual viewer will move on to something else. Before I left the house I caught three minutes of Jon Stewart's monologue and what I saw was bad, except for the Gaydolf Tittler joke. That was funny. But that's a big problem there. Jon Stewart. Who thinks Jon Stewart is funny? I don't, if I did I would watch The Daily Show. He replaced the Funny Guy on that show, Craig Kilborn.

You want a funny host who used to actually host a funny show. Greg Kinnear from Talk Soup. He's a really good actor who happens to be very funny, and quick on his feet.

Instead they keep bringing back horrible hosts like Whoopi Goldberg. Let's look at the hosts since Johnny Carson stopped doing the show.

2006/7--Jon Stewart--Not Funny
2005 Chris Rock---Funny
2004 Billy Crystal---Funny during the Reagan years
2003 Steve Martin---See Billy Crystal
2002 Whoopi Goldberg---Interesting, not funny.
2001 Steve Martin
2000 Billy Crystal
1999 Whoopi Goldberg
1998 Billy Crystal
1997 Billy Crystal
1996 Whoopi Goldberg
1995 David Letterman---Great. One of my favorite Oscar hosts. Got slammed because he wasn't a Hollywood insider. Oprah Uma thing was dumb, but the rest of the show was fun. He'll never do it, but I'd bring him back.
1994 Whoopi Goldberg
1993 Billy Crystal
1992 Billy Crystal
1991 Billy Crystal
1990 Billy Crystal
1989 No official host
1988 Chevy Chase---Rather stick a grapefruit spoon in my eye than watch him.
1987 Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, Paul Hogan---The Ménage à trois from hell.
1986 Alan Alda, Jane Fonda, Robin Williams---The hairiest Ménage à trois.
1985 Jack Lemmon---Only Neil Simon thought this guy was funny.
1984 Johnny Carson--The King.

The Freditor

Fred's Top 10 Movies of 2006

At long last, here is my Top 10 Movies of 2006. I finally finished watching all the favorites of the Academy voters and the critics and of course all the other movies I really wanted to see throughout the year. Some match, some are quite different. Hopefully, you guys might rent some of the lesser known films. There are also probably more foreign films than ever before. Not because I got all snooty and snotty, but because foreign filmmakers are finally making movies that I would enjoy.

1-Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Widescreen Edition)---The Best Movie of the Year. It achieved the highest goal of any movie I want to see--It entertained me throughout. Easily the funniest movie of the year, maybe of the decade. I laughed more at this movie than any since Howard Stern's Private Parts, maybe even more than that. What clinched it for me was after seeing it on a Wednesday night with two friends. I went back Sunday afternoon with my wife and different friends. I laughed more on Sunday than I did on Wednesday and that's after almost having a stroke on Wednesday. What helped was that I laughed so hard on Wednesday that I missed or forgot half the funny parts. And it's also the most original comedy I've ever seen. Basically an R-rated Candid Camera where the people know they are on camera and still say incredibly bigoted and stupid things. Sasha Baron Cohen as Borat should have received an award just for not laughing in the people's faces. He won a Golden Globe for Best Actor and rarely has anyone deserved an award more. He pulled off one of the greatest acting jobs in history, by fooling dozens of ordinary people with his foreign manners and stupid questions. I loved Borat on HBO, but was not prepared for how much I would love this movie. The only film from 2006 that I bought on DVD.

2-United 93 (Widescreen Edition) ---As polar opposite from Borat as any movie could be. The most serious film of the year about the most serious subject, 9/11. A perfect movie for DVD, because you really need subtitles to catch all the dialogue. This film was written from transcripts from the agencies involved on that day. The FAA, the military, the airlines and air traffic control towers. The realism is strong throughout from the mundane to the terrifying. The mundane makes it all the more terrifying, like when the stewardesses discuss the food they will be serving. I assumed that the film would be only about Flight 93 and how it crashed in the Pennsylvania field, but it actually encompasses all that went before it on that day, and much of it in real time. Paul Greengrass, the director, knows how to film in a documentary style from the inside out. His previous film Bloody Sunday was done in much the same way. The overlapping dialogue may have much to do with the action or may not and then there are those abrupt fits of violence that you might miss because the camera is focused on something else, like your eyes might be. Without knowing much about what happened in the plane that morning, this is probably as close to the truth as we will ever see. Using completely unknown actors was a brilliant move because a star would be a distraction. Certainly not for everyone to see, but that doesn't diminish its greatness.

3--Babel ---Finally caught up with this gem last week. Three stories told in three different countries about what trouble we can get into when we lack communication. Babel refers to the Tower of Babel, which is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. A pompous king wanted to build a huge tower to Heaven, hoping to meet God while still living. When the tower gets too high, God decides to put an end to this blasphemy and curses everyone involved with a different language. Before that everyone spoke the same language, the language of Adam and Eve I suppose, but now everyone in Babel spoke different languages and spread across the earth after that. This film has English subtitles for Moroccan (Arabic?), Japanese and Spanish. An American woman gets shot while on a tour bus in Morocco, she needs medical attention quickly, but there are no hospitals for hundreds of miles. Her children are back in the states and their Mexican nanny decides to take them with her to Mexico for her son's wedding. In Japan, a deaf teenage girl is having the hardest time adapting to hearing society. Her only link to the rest of the movie is that years before her father gave away the rifle that shoots the woman to a Moroccan hunting guide. I didn't worry about the tenuous reason for the Japanese part of the film because it all was so engrossing. Scene after scene felt like something I'd never seen before. Like how they kill chickens in Mexico, or how a Moroccan veterinarian would put in stitches, or how a deaf person experiences a nightclub. I couldn't believe some of the stupid moves that some of these characters make, but if people didn't make stupid judgments the newspapers would be pretty empty. Not as downbeat as the director's previous film (24 Grams), but has a ton of harrowing moments. I think he went a little soft at the end though. Particularly with the children in the Mexican desert.

4-The Queen---Did the impossible. Made me appreciate Queen Elizabeth. I never liked this lady before. Thought she was cold and aloof even before Princess Diana's death, but really despised her after Diana died. This film tells the story of the Royal Family's reaction to Diana's death in 1997 and how Tony Blair tried to save them from themselves. Blair was only Prime Minister three months when Diana was killed that night in Paris. She was already divorced from Charles and running around with an Arab playboy. The Royal Family used to love her, at least Prince Philip, Charles' father, did but she changed so much over the years that they all fell out of favor with her. When she died they didn't understand what a big deal it was to the public. They didn't even make a statement about it to the press right away. One scene shows the Royal Family staff watching Blair's press conference about the death and when he calls her "the People's Princess" all the women in the room start crying. Oblivious, the Public Relations man who runs the office, turns to say, "that was a bit overdone wasn't it" and is shocked to see all the tears. Indeed, the tears of England shock the entire Royal Family, including Charles. As the tears build, so does the resentment and at this point you feel much like England does about the Queen and her family. But this movie does the unexpected, it gives us a look at The Queen behind the scenes, from her feelings toward a male deer on their 40,000 acre property, to her fears for her grandsons, William and Harry. She's much more complex a figure than I ever expected. In fact, I hate to say this, from looks to demeanor she started to resemble my own mother. A realization that Tony Blair comes to as well. I think that's why this movie touched me so much. And while it feels like a well-written TV Movie, I'm glad it wasn't, because I probably wouldn't have seen it.

5-Pan's Labyrinth ---Take one part Schindler's List and one part dark chocolate Willy Wonka and you have the most bizarre movie of the year. A little girl's fantasy world shelters her from the madness of her real life. She is the stepdaughter of a brutal Army captain during the Spanish Civil War. This sadistic monster works happily under Franco and is trying to kill off the rebels hiding in the woods behind his stately country home. Meanwhile his new wife is having a difficult pregnancy with his unborn child. The wife's daughter's fantasy world is lead by a tall creature named Pan and his commands to her give her pause, but also give her purpose in trying to save her life and freedom. Nothing is held back here, from the gross gooey slime she must climb through to get the magic key or the battle scenes between the rebels and the stepfather's men. The stepfather, a small beast, is particularly cruel to a stutterer who they capture and reveals his real self when he tells his physician that if he has to save his wife or the unborn child save the child. I keep reading that kids should wait a few years before this seeing this film. A few years? I'm not sure I was ready for it yet. It's a tough watch, but it is extremely well made and eye-opening. When you are not hiding your eyes from a tough scene to watch, you are amazed at the exquisite detail of the other world. Like United 93, the subject matter should not take away from the movie's greatness. Wish it was overdubbed, because reading the bottom of the screen takes your eyes off the magic above.

6-Casino Royale (2-Disc Widescreen Edition)---Best Bond ever. Best Bond movie and Best Bond actor. The most serious Bond film. I'm not the biggest fan of the series, but I loved this movie. This is the first story in the series, retold from a modern point of view. Daniel Craig is not the best looking guy for the part, but he is the most manly and he is hardly a metrosexual. When a bartender asks if he wants his martini shaken or stirred, he asks, "do I look like somebody who cares?" LOL There was a bit of a problem wrapping it up, I felt like there were three different endings, but the final ending ending was perfect.

7-Lucky Number Slevin (Widescreen Edition) ---I gave this the seven slot only because of its name. I would like to put it higher. I still think of this movie today and haven't seen it in about a year. What a great little film. About four cool twists which I never saw coming. Done like a great magic act, which was how it was written. You think one guy is getting killed and it turns out to be the guy across the room. Josh Hartnett, who is a really good young actor, plays a fish out of water as a guy mistaken for someone else who is asked by one crime lord to pull off a difficult hit on another crime lord. Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley play the two crime lords, both with relish. Bruce Willis is the smarmy background guy who is part hitman, part architect. It's like as if M. Night Shymalan and Quentin Tarantino made a movie together, that cool and that good.

8-Children of Men (Widescreen Edition)---In 2027, the whole world is infertile. The last baby born was in 2009 and he just turned 18 and was killed. This slow paced end to the human race has made everyone a little nuts. The last baby born dying has made people even more depressed and the only city that's sort of holding it together is London. Our hero played by Clive Owen is given a task to complete, get this foreign woman to the sea at the other end of the country and see that she gets on this boat. To do this, he will have to evade police, local crazies running amuck and a rebel group looking to take her back. It's a grim look at the future, but it also has ties to today's world, with its treatment of foreign prisoners and immigrants. The lone voice of sweetness and reason is Owen's best friend played as an aging hippie by Michael Caine. Through Caine you hear about Owen's past and why he is the way he is. I loved how they never explained why the world went infertile. One friend who saw it was annoyed by this, but what caused AIDS, cancer or now autism? We the general public don't know and we assume no one else knows, or at least they are not willing to tell us, so I'm sure this scenario would also go unanswered. And he hated the penultimate scene, finding it too unbelievable. On the contrary, I found it incredibly moving and totally believable. In fact, I think if the opposite had happened I would think that that was just morose nonsense on the part of the filmmakers.

9-13 Tzameti----This movie starts off ant slow. Loses a couple places on the list because I did not discover this film on my own. Critics praised this French movie through the roof. If they hadn't called it the best thriller since Hitchcock I would never even have heard of it. But like I said, the beginning starts off so slowly that if it were a video I might have turned it off, but I was in a theatre and knew something was coming, not sure what, but we were building to SOMETHING. And it was going to be something hair raising and razor edged. Knowing that builds the suspense for you in a way the movie actually doesn't. I imagine it's like the first time people saw Psycho. They knew something bad was coming, but waiting for it only made it worse. The main character here is a Russian immigrant to France repairing this old French guy's roof. When the man kills himself, this kid of about 22 steals his mail. This man looked for a letter every day and when it arrived drove the man to suicide. Now my common sense would tell me that if getting a letter makes someone do that, chances are the thing in the letter is not that good. But this kid looks at it differently, he's desperate for money for him and his family and figures this letter could lead to something profitable. So he decides to use the train ticket and hotel fare that comes in the letter and journeys to where the possible money is. He gets there and realizes he's in way over his head. When you see great, tight thrillers, the audience's blood pressure rises, the metabolism kicks into high gear, people sweat and the temperature inside a theatre goes up measurably. All that happens here until finally you walk out of theatre and happy to get on the street where no more harm can come to your senses. Rare that a horror movie or thriller can do that to you, but when it does it deserves high praise. Subtitles hurt this movie a little, but I think the tough French voices make it more alien and scary. The harsh black and white photography is especially unsettling.

10-Little Children ---Talk about dark. A lonely, bitter housewife takes her child on play dates to have an affair with a lonely bitter househusband. Living in the same town is a pedophile who's just been released from jail. Is he better or will he strike again? His one date starts off pleasant enough, but turns into one of the more disturbing scenes in a movie that's filled with them. Everyone is good here. Bad News Bears' Kelly Leak, Jackie Earle Haley as the struggling pedophile; Phyllis Somerville as his delusional mother; Titanic's Kate Winslet as the overeducated housewife; and Noah Emmerich as a neighborhood vigilante. The kind of movie that shows the worst side of human beings and still makes you root for them to do better.


Honorable Mention:

Dreamgirls (Widescreen Edition)---Eddie Murphy did a great impression of James Brown back in the early '80s. He reprises it here to play James Thunder Early, an exceptionally talented black soul singer at a time when black singers couldn't get on popular radio. His role in this movie is good, but not as impressive as Jennifer Hudson the big girl who lost on American Idol. She plays the Florence Ballard part of the Supremes, as Effie the most talented member of the Dreamettes. She, along with Beyonce and this other girl play a Detroit trio who hope to make the big time. But she is too black, too big and her voice too strong to make it on traditional radio, so the Berry Gordy character, played by Jamie Foxx pushes her to the back and makes Beyonce the star of the group. The songs are stirring if unmemorable. This movie would have been 10 times better if they could have used real Motown hits, but Berry Gordy would never have allowed that.

Superman Returns (Two-Disc Special Edition)---Saw Superman 2 recently, which is more entertaining, but this is a better movie, the best of the series. Skips 3 and 4 and gets right to it. Lex Luthor is more evil here and less goofy and I like the new Lois Lane way more than nutty Margot Kidder.

CSA: The Confederate States of America----Most creative movie of the year. What if the South had won the Civil War? Story told in documentary format like a Ken Burns film. Using real facts and photos and spinning a different history of America. In some ways much worse, in other ways not that much different. Doubt that many of the technological achievements that we take for granted today would have existed in such a repressive regime. I mean what did South Africa ever invent?

Happy Feet (Full Screen Edition) ---Singing, dancing penguins is good enough, but to use classic pop songs and reimagine them is another. Then you add in the best use of Robin Williams' talents in years and a strong, environmentally conscious storyline and you have yourself a real winner. Much more entertaining than the stalled Cars.

The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition) ---Only my friend Harry really likes this movie. Every other person I've talked to was disappointed by it and they are all big Martin Scorsese fans. In fact, it's because they are Scorsese fans that they are so disappointed. They expect better from him. Maybe if it was original I would have appreciated it more, but like I said before, the Chinese original called Infernal Affairs was made better and faster (90 minutes) and when I was watching THAT film I never thought I was looking at a Best Picture. Still don't.

Blood Diamond (Widescreen Edition)---Director Ed Zwick has an independent vision that gets sideswiped by his commercial style. This could have been one the year's best movies, but instead of letting the characters be real he pulls up short because you can't have the main character be too dislikable a person. Leonardo DiCaprio could have put some mean varnish on his portrayal as a mercenary out to get the Pink Diamond, but Zwick makes him too soft too often. Love to see what a younger Gene Hackman could have done with this part. Djimon Hounsou is wonderful as the man who's trying to get his son back. When he raises a shovel in anger the fear and hatred of 400 years of oppression are seen in his eyes like no other actor's. Amazing how he can switch on from sweet to killer in a manner of seconds.

Half Nelson ---A young white male teacher in Brooklyn named Dan Dunne befriends a 12 year old female black student and tries to be both a friend and mentor to her. But despite her tough background and his comfortable background, he's the one with the problems, smoking crack and trying to make sense of his life. Dunne is played by probably the best actor of his generation, Ryan Gosling. Shareeka Epps plays the young girl and even though this is her first acting role she does a fantastic job. This movie is not at all sweet, but it has a good heart.

Stranger Than Fiction---Will Ferrell turns the heat down so much in this film that he almost seems like he isn't there. But his performance as Harold Crick is a gentle souffle that would be ruined by too much acting out as he is wont to do. Emma Thompson is a brilliant author who is writing the story of a man's life, Harold Crick's life to be exact. And when her novel narrates his story he can actually hear the narration in his head. He tries to outrun the narration, but it always catches up to him. Whether by skipping a bus to work or stepping through a puddle rather than around it, the author is always one step ahead of him. This might be more of a nuisance than a problem if she doesn't let on that Crick will eventually die. The story is brilliant and the performances by almost everyone, especially Maggie Gyllenhaal as the punk rock baker, are great. But the one sore point for me was that of Dustin Hoffman. His literary professor is certainly believable enough, but his reaction to Crick's dilemma seems too easily convinced. They lose a key dramatic element in the movie by first having Hoffman believe him too easily and then not be more amazed throughout by his predicament. It's like someone finding out that Jesus was back and walking among us. How long would that take you to accept as run of the mill news? Days, weeks, months?

Sherrybaby ---Gyllenhaal is back as Sherry Swanson, a recent ex-convict, junkie who moves back into her New Jersey neighborhood and tries to revive a relationship with her young daughter. Maggie gives one naked performance in this film, and I don't just mean with her clothes. The life of an ex-con and rehabbing junkie is nothing pretty, but to try and bring up a daughter in that environment makes it seem that much uglier. Couple that with the fact that her brother and sister in law don't want to relinquish custody of the child back to her and her seemingly nice, but incestuous father (Sam Bottoms) and you have a stew of dysfunction that you will need a bath to wash off. Danny Trejo is good as her sponsor, an ex-junkie who has a lot problems of his own. And Giancarlo Esposito is great as her parole officer, who wants to help her but is not above putting her back in prison. When you've been a tremendous screw-up your whole life and you don't have much family support it must be a crushing problem to try and make a better life for yourself. Sherry wants to and it is her struggle of one day a timing it that we the viewers root for her to overcome.

The Freditor