Man on Wire

2 Stars – Shallow Reflections

The life of our World Trade Center towers and Philippe Petit are remarkably intertwined. At the age of 17, Petit as a young Parisian street performer saw a picture of the two towers which were going to be built in New York City and explains that he knew then that it was his goal in life to walk a wire between them. He does so on August 7, 1974 When he is successful his life’s purpose seems to collapse around him. This walk of consuming passion is presented on film by James Marsh in the documentary named: “Man on Wire.”  >>More

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

2 Stars – Shallow

Watching Dave Filoni’s cartoon episode of the Star Wars saga is like watching Shakespeare performed by preschoolers: the intention is good but the result is terribly lacking. What made the Star Wars films a pervasive success was the consistent quality of the story-telling. With live actors and what can only be described as “thrilling” special effects, the story of the struggle between good and evil, darkness and light, was told on a galactic scale. What Filoni and the Star Wars creator George Lucas do in this episode, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” is try to take some of the most effective scenes of the previous films and repeat them. There is little that is new in either special effects or story-line as the characters and special effects are both cartoonish.  >>More

Henry Poole is Here

4 Stars – Uplifting

A world in which miracles are not possible is a world without hope. That truth was expressed by Dante in the 1300’s when he suggested that the inscription to the entrance of hell would proclaim that a person will “abandon all hope” by entering there. That the loss of hope often puts a person into a hell-on-earth is compellingly presented by Mark Pellington (Arlington Road) in his intriguing film “Henry Poole Is Here.”  >>More

American Teen

3 Stars – Thought–Provoking

Most of us realize, as we look back on our teen years, that to even survive high school is a major achievement in life. Thrown together during the transition years when everyone’s developing minds are attempting to catch up with developed bodies, the American high school experience is excruciating for many. From cliques to proms, from acne to locker rooms, from tests to play-off games to college admissions letters, embarrassment and pressure is around virtually every corner. That this is still the reality for teenagers in our nation is revealed in this fascinating documentary by Nanette Burstein simply titled “American Teen.”  >>More

Brideshead Revisited

3 Stars – Thought–Provoking

The memories of the missteps of our young adult years haunt many of us. Not yet able to act with the wisdom which comes from experience, the decisions we made are often the best we knew how to do in the moment, but we revisit them with a sense of guilt seeking God’s grace. This reality is what compelled Arthur Evelyn Waugh to write his best known novel “Brideshead Revisited” which has now been made into a film by director Julian Jarrold (“Becoming Jane”).  >>More

Swing Vote

3 Stars – Challenging

When parents struggle with an addiction, it is their children who suffer by losing their childhood. Often having to fill the role of the parent as they “make life work” for their impaired father or mother, this “parentified child” can appear to have capabilities far beyond their years. Looking for a functioning adult to admire and help them make sense out of life, such a child can attach themselves to a teacher and accept that teacher’s passion as their own. This is what happens to Molly Johnson (Madeline Carroll) in Joshua Michael Stern’s second film as director, “Swing Vote.”  >>More

X-Files: I Want to Believe

3 Stars – Challenging

The cinematic reunion of Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) takes The X-Files in an unexpected direction.  As a television science fiction series, the expectation that this cinematic episode will continue the series? exploration into alien abduction and government cover-up is pleasantly turned in the direction of exploring religious faith and belief issues.  This shift dramatically changes the meaning of the subtitle of the film ("I want to believe") from wanting to believe there are alien abductions to wanting to believe that God does interact with and care for people.  Unlike the latest Indiana Jones film (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) which takes the usual Indy storyline about religious beliefs and artifacts and shifts it into a tale about alien creatures, the "X-Files: I Want To Believe" film shifts the storyline in the opposite direction from the usual fare of alien interactions and draws our attention to God?s interaction with humanity.  >>More

Mongol

3 Stars – Thought–Provoking

For many Westerners, the history of Genghis Khan is summed up in faint images of a cruel nomadic invader who lived centuries ago and built an empire over a geographic landscape of which they have little knowledge.  As for many leaders of his time, there weren't scribes or photographers documenting his every move.  Instead, most of what we know about Genghis Khan comes from others who made reference to him in their own works.  >>More

The Dark Knight

3 Stars – Challenging

The comic book story version of Batman is not easily found in this latest presentation of the good versus evil story of Gotham City's most famous crime fighter.  A much darker version of earlier stories, "The Dark Knight" is told with little humor and with its central hero having neither a love interest nor a protégé (Robin) at his side.  His loneliness leads him to be a more solemn and reclusive character than we have known before. This latest of the Batman films asks the question: "Can even the best of us be corrupted?"  In "The Dark Knight," we have a glimpse at the answer.  >>More

Hancock

2 Stars – Shallow Entertainment

In the mythical world of super-beings, the human condition is exaggerated in ways that help us better see ourselves.  From the story of Hercules, who used his enhanced strength to “make the world safe for human beings,” to that of Prometheus, a Greek Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity (for which he was severely punished), mythical beings struggle with their existence just as we do.  The difference is that they do so on a grand scale.  Though our failures may cause us or our family pain, when mythical beings fail, everyone suffers.  This is seen clearly in the mythical saga of John Hancock (Will Smith) directed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights).  >>More

Journey to the Center of the Earth

3 Stars – Wholesome

In 1864, when Jules Verne imagined a cavernous world miles below the earth’s surface, he caught everyone’s imagination.  Though the science is not as supportive as in some of his other novels (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days), the images of a lost world with dinosaurs and plants which are extinct on the surface has spawned a whole collection of imitations.  But this most recent version, directed by Eric Brevig (Pearl Harbor, Signs) and screenplay written by Michael Weiss, follows closely to the original plot and strikes a creative chord as it joins the old story with new interests.  One of these changes is of the gender of the guide in the story from a man to a woman, which not only fits the change in our view of women in the last one hundred years, but also adds a little romantic tension.  >>More

Kung Fu Panda

3 Stars – Wholesome

The introduction of the Chinese philosophy of Kung Fu is presented to children in Mark Osborne’s and John Stevenson’s animated film “Kung Fu Panda.”  Legend claims that Kung Fu was being taught as early as the Yellow Emperor, around 2,600BC, and is not only the mastering of martial arts, but the mastering of any skill by hard work and determination.  Thus it is possible for even a Panda to discover his own unique abilities and become a great “Dragon Warrior,” just as it is possible for any child viewing the film to be able to work hard and use their own unique skills and interests to find their own greatness and fulfill their destiny.  >>More

Wanted

1 Star – Degrading

The violence presented in Timur Bekmambetov’s film “Wanted” is overwhelming.  Using the latest in special effects and melding it to the oldest of cardinal sins -  murder, greed, lust and deceit - the audience is given a taste of what hell may possibly be like.

The demonic figure in this realm is Sloan (Morgan Freeman).  Using his distinguished presence to garner their trust, Sloan is the leader of a group of assassins whose ancestors have been at this work for one thousand years.  Their cause is based on a belief that they have discovered a secret code whereby Fate reveals to them the names of humans who need to be killed for the good of humanity.  Using a binary...  >>More

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

3 Stars – Wholesome

The “American Girl” phenomenon has now reached the big screen.  Started in 1983 by the educator, Pleasant T. Rowland, who wanted to create dolls which depicted the various eras of American history, the company was purchased by Mattel in 1998 and Rowland retired in 2000. Before her retirement Rowland created a series of books which told the adventures of the girls within historic moments of American life.  Expanding their dolls into the “Just Like You “ series and marketing them through the “American Girl Boutiques and Bistros” the company then moved into movies in 2003.  The first three films were not released to theaters, but with this fourth adventure set within the depression of 1939 - “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl,” the company has started a new venture.  Unlike many films that create dolls and figurines to sell after the film is made, “American Girl” reverses the process with customers already owning the dolls and having read the books and now seeing the film.  >>More

WALL-E

2 Stars – Shallow

The creative genius of Disney’s Pixar studio has been taken captive in their latest cartoon “WALL-E.” Taking human consumption and waste to the extreme and imagining a time in which garbage has taken over our planet to the extent that people have to leave, the film presents a humanity that is unrecognizable. Though able to create amazing robotic machines and gargantuan spaceships, humans are presented as ignorant, obese beings who have no more sense than to despoil our planet and let robots clean up our mess while we lounge on a cruise ship in space. But this isn’t a cruise ship on which humans dance, swim and recreate, but rather one on which humans no longer walk or engage one another in relationship but instead live on moving, reclining beds with their appetites satisfied by robotic servants while their minds are titillated by holographic television. If this is an attempt to exaggerate a tendency people have to be lazy and wasteful, it does so with incredible dislike for human beings.  >>More

GET SMART

2 Stars – Shallow/Entertaining

Steve Carrell gets it. With just the right blend of egotism and geekiness, along with little self-awareness, lots of luck, and a pervasive panache, Carrell brings Maxwell Smart to life. For those of us who grew up watching Don Adams in the original Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning TV series created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, Agent 86 was the epitome of Agent Everyman. Too smart for his own abilities and too egotistical to admit it, Max was an agent we all suspected we would be like if we were part of a secret spy agency like Control.  >>More

THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI
CHILDREN OF THE SILK ROAD

3 Stars – Powerful

The greatness of a person is not measured by their wealth but by their willingness to give their lives in service to others.  This is notably demonstrated in the life of a young Englishman named George A. Hogg.  His sacrifice was relatively unknown until James MacManus, working as a reporter in Beijing, happened upon the story of Hogg’s life and wrote an article on him.  When his article caught the attention of some Hollywood producers, MacManus was invited to write a screenplay.  Although the final story is only based on the life of Hogg, his sacrifice is powerfully presented in Roger Spottiswoode’s film “The Children of Huang Shi.”  >>More

THE INCREDIBLE HULK

3 Stars – Engaging

During the early 1900’s, Freud’s studies of the primal emotions (fear, anger, happiness, love) opened a window for us to better understand our passions. The observation that these emotions often function at a level below our conscious awareness yet still greatly influence our behaviors captured the imaginations of many creative minds. Two creative artists were Stan Lee and Jack Kirby who imagined what would happen if a person were to be taken over by their anger such that it dominated his or her conscious mind. Would such a person lose touch with the other primal emotions and become a vicious monster, or would he or she be able to feel love and happiness as well? To explore this question, Lee and Kirby first published their Marvel Comic of “The Incredible Hulk” in May of 1962. After a 70’s TV series with the same name, it has been brought to the screen four decades later by director Louis Leterrier and screenwriter Zak Penn.  >>More

RISING SON:  THE LEGEND OF
SKATEBOARDER CHRISTIAN HOSOI

3 Stars – Redemptive

The journey of Christian Hosoi is an all-too familiar one.  Described as the “most naturally gifted skateboarder in the world,” Christian experienced notoriety and wealth at a very young age.  Lacking the maturity of a father who could protect him from the intoxication of and temptations of such fame and opportunity, Christian soon found himself addicted and imprisoned.  It is there that the power of the addiction met the “higher power” of God’s redemption.  “Rising Son” is the documentary of his legendary life directed and produced by Cecsario Monaño.  >>More

THE FALL

1 Star – Disturbing

The fantasy tale written and directed by Tarsem Singh titled “The Fall” is creative, ingenious and disturbing.  It has similarities to Rob Reiner’s “Princess Bride” in that it weaves the real-life relationship of a story-teller and child as they share a fictional adventure, but instead of being a light-hearted tale with identifiable characters, Singh tells a dark tale with troubling implications of the story-teller’s intentions toward his young listener.  “The Fall” also has some similarities with such fictional tall tales as Tim Burton’s “Big Fish” and Tim McCanlies’ “Secondhand Lions,” but the adventure is more a nightmare than a fantasy, with a pervasive depressive mood.  >>More

THE LIST

4 Stars – Insightful

The fear of secret societies which have banded together for evil reasons has both a psychological and spiritual dimension.  The psychological is expressed in conspiracy theories where, for example, a candidate might fear that a “right-wing” or a “left-wing” conspiracy might defeat them.  This fear may have some basis in actual events or it may be a paranoid reaction reaching the level of a mental disorder.  The spiritual dimension is expressed in, for example, a believer’s fear of a coven of witches who have banded together to curse them.  Again, this fear may have some basis in the reality of actual covens or it may be an imagined spiritual attack.  In the final analysis, whether it is actual or imagined, the power of the secrecy and the fear of the conspiracy can have a detrimental effect on any who believe it.  This is explored in Gary Wheeler’s film “The List.”  >>More

IRON MAN

3 Stars – Challenging

In 1961, when General Dwight Eisenhower was giving his farewell address as President, he warned us of the “military-industrial complex.” His fear was that the profit which American companies could make by producing arms for the world’s conflicts would change our nation economically, politically and spiritually. Over 40 years later, this fear is creatively and appropriately presented in a fictional film by Jon Favreau titled “Iron Man.”  >>More

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

3 Stars – Thought–Provoking

The latest installment of Steven Spielberg’s and George Lucas’ “Indiana Jones” film series is both nostalgic and divergent. “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is nostalgic because it is filled with vintage Indy action combining educational intellect with impossible fight scenes. It is nostalgic in its references to Indy’s fear of snakes, the mapping of the airplanes’ route and packed government warehouses where valuable and powerful artifacts are neglected. For those who have seen the previous films, we recognize the hat, shadow and theme music as Indy makes his appearance, and we enjoy seeing cherubim’s wings on the Ark of the Covenant as it is revealed inside a damaged crate. But this fourth film created by the combined genius of Spielberg and Lucas and still casting 65-year-old Harrison Ford as “Indy” is divergent because  >>More

CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN

3 Stars – Wholesome

The second installment of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, “Prince Caspian,” is engaging cinema. Though the story is not as allegorical or insightful as the first film, the special effects and cinematic techniques are improving. Adapting and directing these first two films, Andrew Adamson (who also directed Shrek) is on schedule  in 2010 to make the third film, “Voyage of the Dawn Treader.”  >>More

SPEED RACER

3 Stars – Wholesome

Just as they did with the Matrix films, the Wachowski brothers wrote and directed “Speed Racer.” Based on the television cartoon series by Totsuo Yoshido, they take the action and special effects to a whole new level while keeping the basic storyline in place. However, the frenetic pace and complex visual imaging of this film are not like the Matrix films. In a fantasy futuristic world where the colors are as vibrant as the racing machines, the laws of physics are suspended but the laws of morality are strongly in place. A tale of good against evil, with family and loyalty highly praised, “Speed Racer” is a film with a simple message within the cacophony of sights and sounds that combines live actors in a computer-generated world.  >>More

THE VISITOR

3 Stars – Challenging

The obvious agenda in Thomas McCarthy’s film “The Visitor” is critiquing the United States government’s immigration policy and practice.  As both director and writer, McCarthy weaves a depressing tale that grieves over a constellation of sorrows, from the inhumanity with which illegal aliens are treated to the emptiness the death of a spouse can create.   In an attempt to find redemption and hope, little is offered except for the rhythmic beat of the drum and the fleeting moments of human connection.  >>More

YOUNG @ HEART

4 Stars – Inspiring

From the opening note to the final moments of a chorus member’s life, this documentary by Stephen Walker is masterfully presented.  Using the repetitive symbol of vehicles on all types of Massachusetts roads, Walker allows us to travel with the “Young @ Heart” chorus not only through the seven weeks of preparation for their next concert, but through the winding turns of some of the member’s final miles as well.  >>More

The Counterfeiter - Die Fälscher

3 Stars – Disturbing

The moral issues of real life are far more disturbing than those of a fictional tale.  Thus, when a film portrays an actual event in human history, we know that the actors are not being forced to face fabricated circumstances but rather re-enacting events that have actually occurred.  This adds an additional level of identification with the story as we wonder how we would have dealt with such circumstances, especially when the events involve the systemic evil of genocidal racism perpetrated by the Nazi party during World War II.  Winner of the Academy Award for best foreign film, “Die Fälscher” or “The Counterfeiter” is a German film directed by Stefan Ruzowitsky.  >>More

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

3 Stars – Thought-provoking

Only time will tell whether the type of “docuganda” this film represents is going to be helpful or harmful to the pursuit of truth.  Joining the ranks of films like Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,”   Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” or Ewing and Grady’s “Jesus Camp,” Ben Stein’s “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” will be appreciated primarily by those who already hold the beliefs espoused by the film.  If you believe that science and religion should have no wall between them and if you find your faith being supported by scientific inquiry as it discovers how God’s creation operates, then you will agree with Stein’s premise.  But even if you agree with that premise, you may be uncomfortable with the lengths he goes to in making his point.  >>More

Leatherheads

3 Stars - Challenging

The manner in which George Clooney directs and stars in “Leatherheads” is endearing as well as entertaining.  Casting himself as Jimmy “Dodge” Connelly, the partial owner of the fledgling professional football team called the Duluth Bulldogs, Dodge is struggling to keep the team and the league alive in 1925.  Defeated, Dodge has the idea of recruiting a college football star and World War I hero, Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski from the sitcom “The Office”).  When he succeeds, his life and the league are changed forever.  >>More

21

3 Stars - Troubling

The temptation to use our abilities for selfish or illegal gain is always before us as human beings. We are most often able to withstand this temptation when we are mentored by honest and honorable people.  But when a person of influence, such as a professor or coach, encourages us to use our intellectual or athletic gifts for selfish or even illegal purposes, then it is difficult to stand against such pressure.  This is the lesson presented by Robert Luketic’s film “21.”  >>More

And Now For The Winners ...

4 Stars - 2007

Recognizing the power that films have to influence and reflect the human condition, on the eve of the Academy Awards we present our own 2007 CINEMA IN FOCUS 4-STAR AWARDS  >>More