In the movie “The Secret Life of Bees” (opening today), Queen Latifah plays the role of August Boatwright, who along with her two sisters May (Sophie Okonedo) and June (Alicia Keys), own and operate a successful bee farm in South Carolina during the tumultuous Civil Rights era. The three women befriend a fourteen year old Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning) and her caretaker Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson) on their journey to discovering the truth about Lily’s mother. Lily and Rosaleen quickly become part of the Boatwright sister’s family where they are embraced with love and a sense of belonging, something they both have been searching for.

I sat down with the Queen to discuss her role as matriarch and big sister to this incredibly impressive group of women both on the set of “The Secret Life of Bees” and off. We also talked about being confident in knowing who you are and how being comfortable with yourself in life can bring great happiness.

EM: Was the role of August Boatwright tailormade for you? You were the matriarch in the film and it seems in real life with your co-stars from an experience standpoint.

QL: I would say that I agree with that. There was definitely a point where Gina (Director Gina Prince-Bythewood) and I kinda talked and I’m like “Do you need me to step up and try to be more of a leader, do you need my help with anything?” It was really about me being supportive of Gina who I know has her hands full in a short amount of time to make a lot happen. I felt comfortable in that role. I felt like ok, these are my young sisters. I gotta look out, I got be the big sister, I have to set the example. I think I’ve kind of grown into that.

When you’re young they say that you have an old soul, I’m one of those people that would say I had an old soul. Now that I’m older, you say I’m young in certain ways. But also I’m comfortable where I am at all times for the most part. I don’t feel like oh I’m getting old and I don’t feel like I’m seventeen. I’m ok right where I am. I think just me being comfortable in my own life translated into me being comfortable on that set everyday, I’m comfortable with my acting career and what I’ve been able to accomplish by the grace of God. I feel like I’m comfortable in my own personal life so I’m relaxed on a set, I’m joking. If somebody wants to focus I’m there. If we’re just chillin’ out, I’m chillin’. I’m not the person that comes on the scene all wound up in a bad mood acting like a diva and demanding things. And if anybody can…I can!

But I don’t think that that’s a good tone to set because once again, you’re going to be working together fourteen hours a day. You’ve got a short amount of time with these budgets, with this particular budget especially, to get a lot done. It’s much more fun to just click it up and have fun, connect with each other because we do have to translate this; we have to feel like family. We’re family in this movie so the quicker we gel the closer we can get to having that chemistry on screen. Luckily I met Sophie (Sophie Okonedo, “Hotel Rwanda”). I didn’t know her but I met her before with her whole experience promoting Hotel Rwanda. The same thing with Jennifer. Alicia I already knew for a while. And Dakota is just puddin’. Just precious. She’s just cool beans, you know. Not one of those bratty kids. She’s a kid but not a silly little kid. You know what I mean?

EM: She has that old soul you were talking about.

QL: She’s as much of a vet on this…she’s just so cool. You definitely want to hang out with her. If you were fourteen you’d want to be one of her friends. I was comfortable with that.

EM: When I was sat with Jennifer (Jennifer Hudson) she was talking about the realization of the moment when she was in a scene with you and Alicia and she was like “Oh my God, I’m here with Alicia Keys and Queen Latifah!” Did you ever have a moment where you think I’m here and these folks look up to me. And not in an egocentric way but do you really know who you are Queen Latifah? Do you really know?

QL: Apparently I don’t because my partner says, “La, sometimes you just gotta be selfish and be you. You gotta use who you are.” And I’m like ok…and it kinda goes in one ear and out the other. I mean I kinda know who I am but I’m never gonna know who I am in the way that other people know who I am because I’m just drawn to too many different kinds of things that are not quite as materialistic. I knew early on that I had really expensive taste so luckily I couldn’t wrap myself up in certain things because I couldn’t afford it, I was broke! Even now if I was to get caught up in all that…I can’t afford a twenty million dollar house! My boys that I ride motorcycles with laugh at me because they’re like “You’re still from the hood!” It’s just something don’t make no damn sense and some stuff I definitely indulge myself in.

I am a huge fan of Alicia Keys. She just put out an incredible album. It was cool because I got to go see her on tour after we finished wrapping, and of course Jennifer Hudson. I’m getting to hear her new music before you do. Yeah, I know who I am then! I enjoy those sides of it. She did such a good job in “Dream Girls” so I’m looking forward to where she’s gonna go to from here because she kinda got it all up front. Now you get to build the body of work that kind of goes along with getting all the accolades. She got accolades for exactly what she was supposed to get it from and there was nobody better. Now, the career if you will, that usually leads to that, is what she gets to build now. So it’s like keep working at it, challenging yourself. They’re just cool people (the cast). Sophie…cool as hell! We enjoy each other company. We like having conversations and laughing. I’m the joker of the gang usually. I’m always laughing. I’m happy unless people steal my joy!

EM: Ok, I have to ask about the bees. I’ve talked to Tristan (Tristan Wilds) and Dakota about “Bee Camp” if you will. I wanted to get your take because personally, the bees would freak me out.

QL: I’ve always been fascinated by bees. Luckily I have been stung by bees before growing up so I kind of knew what a bee sting is about where there’s some people who’ve never been stung. It was very nerve racking, I’m not gonna lie. Bees are very temperamental. They don’t like cold weather, they can get a little irritable in cold weather and when its warm and they’ve got plenty of honey and the Queen is happy; they’re just as happy as can bee. They’re just going on about their business. They aren’t even thing about you unless you do something to put them on alert. In which case you know…watch your back!

EM: Did you get stung?

QL: No I didn’t. Tristan got stung once maybe like on the hand on something but Julian the bee keep was just so cool and he just made us feel so comfortable. I was very neverous when I had to come out of…I’m pretty much in minimal protection. Gina really, really worked with me. She really worked with me to get the shot as quickly as possible or let me blow as much film as needed to relax and get through the scene to connect the words to actions to everything and holding these bees at the same time without smashing one of them because if you smash one its trouble. I think I did all right.

EM: Gina had said that the actors took a huge pay cut to make this film. What about this film made you say this has to be made no matter what?

QL: The fact that I didn’t take a huge pay cut! I took ALL of the money! Whatcha giving up? Ok send it to my account directly…no I’m just kidding!  You do take a pay cut in these situations and that’s just good business. That’s just realistic.

There’s a time when I literally have said to the studio head “If you back the truck up I’ll do the movie!” and they back the truck up so I did the movie. You have those times when you can make a lot of money and then there are times you have to make creative deals. With films like this you wanna see this kind of movie get made. You’re not gonna get these kinds of scripts very often where it’s based on a book that everybody loves, whose read it and you can assemble a really cool cast with great marquee value that can get this thing to the public and get it seen. That’s the main thing. You’ve got a director who’s passionate about it enough to write a great script and put everything she has into it and you feel comfortable and you got great producers, people who are really gonna try to make it happen…you wanna do it.

For me it was very simple. It was “Is Dakota doing the movie?” That was my prerequisite. Honestly, that was my deal breaker. I would not have done this movie probably if she didn’t do it because nobody else was cast but her. To me that character is really critical. You can’t pull this movie off without Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning) being able to bring it. She’s gotta go so many places and then wow, to get Sophie Okonedo. May is a very challenging character to play. It can be done right and it can be done wrong. We were so fortunate to get someone like her who’s a fantastic actor, really brought it to life the way it was suppose to and of course everybody else. So it’s like I’m honored to be a part of it like everybody else. So yeah, you take a pay cut!

Interview by Tiffany N. D’Emidio

Jennifer Hudson is an Oscar winning actress with the voice of a true diva. This American Idol cast-off’s career  has taken off over the past few years to great heights. In her latest venture, Hudson co-stars in the upcoming film “The Secret Life of Bees” where she plays the part of Rosaleen, a young black woman living on a peach farm in the south during the volatile sixties hired to care for Lily Owens; a young white girl with an abusive father whose mother died tragically when she was a child. Rosaleen is Lily’s surrogate mother and dearest friend and when the two take the monumental yet dangerous step of trying to register Rosaleen to vote, they find themselves in a world of trouble and are forced to go on the run.

I sat down with Jennifer to chat about her role as Rosaleen and how it has impacted her life today as a young, successful African American woman; where she keeps her Oscar and I even got a peek at her gorgeous engagement ring…its ginormous!

EM: When you read the script for “The Secret Life of Bees”, what was it about this script that made you say I have to be a part of this film?

JH: Well I just like anything with meaning and substance and I just felt like it’s a story that was worth telling. I did not read the book first. I got the script before anything and like I said I read the script and I was like wow this is…I like stuff with substance and meaning behind it and to me it had a story worth telling and that gave me the passion to want to do the film.

EM: Did finding out who your fellow cast mates were going to be play a part in doing this film?

JH: Well I was actually cast before Alicia was although I was praying and crossing my fingers she would get the role. Of course it helps to be in such a great line up and just to be able to work with all of the ladies, even Sophie (Sophie Okonedo)…oh my gosh she is so amazing and to work with Dakota as well. We actually had to meet before I was even cast to see if we had that chemistry to pull it off.

EM: Did you spend any time together to get a feel for one another in addition to finding out if you had chemistry?

JH: Actually, that was kind of like the audition process because there was really no one on one with the director, reading the script. She (Director Gina Prince-Bythewood) wanted us to sit down and meet and just get a feel for each other. We sat and she told me about her horses, I told her about my dog and we had a real moment. Other times we had crossed paths before was my first award for “Dream Girls”, she presented at the Show West Awards and I got a chance to hear her speak or in the airport we’ll see each other but that was really our first time sitting down.

EM: You’ve started to really make your mark in film and have become an established actress. Are you still planning to put out any albums and pursuing your music career?

JH: Well, my new album comes out in like days! I’m playing it in my room right now. September 30th my album comes out. I’m so excited so make sure you pick it up. I plan on touring and I hope to continue to do movies and music. That’s what I would like to do.

EM: Your character when through some pretty traumatic and emotionally damaging scenes. What did you draw from or did you draw from anything during those scenes?

JH: I really went in deep. Each of us had a journey to go through to develop our characters. But for me I had to focus more on the civil rights era for my character Rosaleen. Other than Lily (Fanning), no other character went through that except Tristans (Tristan Wilds) character (Zach Taylor). I was giving a bunch of books from the civil rights era and a bunch of documentaries and I also had “The Chronicles of the Civil Rights Moment” book and I went as far back as slavery just so I could get a better sense. I even searched for family members that would have been Rosaleens age at that time just to get a better sense and feel what it would have been like. Gina had many exercises for us to go through. I don’t know if you heard the story about what we had to go through to help develop the characters, to put us in the frame of mind. Before I started my research for this film it never really occurred to me that wow, this wasn’t really that long ago. There are still people walking around that were here during that time. But going through this, it opened my eyes in a whole new way. I don’t have a problem looking people directly in the face when I talk to them but here’s a character who can’t even look up off the ground because to those people she was nothing. We had an exercise where it was myself and Paul Bettany (T. Ray Owens, Lily’s abusive, racist father) and we had to speak to each other in character and describe how we felt about each other in front of each other and he said well she’s no different to me than a piece of furniture, a car or a dog. And I’m sitting there hearing that as Jennifer today…no, that would get you hurt! It was like, I don’t know. I went into it so much that the only image in my mind I had in the south was just all of the violence that took place in that time. So when I got there I was too afraid to go anywhere to do anything. All I wanted to do was go to and from set and that was that. So the story of the exercise was the first week we arrived and like I said I wouldn’t go anywhere and so she (Gina) for Dakota and I to come out and meet her at a certain location, which she would not tell us what it was, so I was like where are we going to and she said oh you’ll find out when you get here. We got there and she gave us a grocery list and she gave us twenty dollars and she said, “I want you to go I the store and purchase these items”. Then she looked at me and said “whatever you do Jennifer, just don’t hit anyone”. And I was like why is she telling me this? So I’m already nervous about being in the south you know, oh God what’s gonna happen. So we go in the store and all the clerks are white and Dakota goes to grab some items and then I’m going to grab a birthday card and I’m asking the clerk  “Excuse me sir, where are your birthday cards?” and he was extremely rude to me and it was clear I wasn’t welcome then she’s (Dakota) been treated like a queen by everybody in the store and I was like wow, this interesting. So then I was like ok, let me try again. “Where are your batteries?” “There over there.” So I didn’t make it to the batteries when I first ask for them so when I did he accused me of stealing. He said, “You know I can swear you’ve already been to the batteries, matter of fact, empty your pockets. You took something.” So I’m like are you serious and Dakota was like “You didn’t ask me to empty MY pockets!” So we got through that whole ordeal and then we’re looking in the ice cream parlor for ice cream and the man behind the counter tells her (Dakota), “You know she can’t be in here, right?” And I’m like who is she? They’re talking about me? Because I’m not used to this, you know. So I sit down and wait for her and this man sitting at the counter eating his food and he leans over and tells the clerk, “Can you get this nigger out of here I’m trying to eat my food.” And all I could hear was Gina in my head, “Whatever you do, don’t hit anyone.”  And I’m like, “Did he just say what I think he said?” But it turned out to be an exercise. That’s how far we went to see how we would act in that time, what it was like in that time.

EM: Did your spirituality help you throughout the film with difficult scenes?

JH: It definitely helped with scenes like with Mary (large wooden statue). Everyone has a base and everyone has something they believe in. To me it all boils down to God. Everyone has their own symbol and Mary was theirs (the Boatwright sisters). So that helped me through Rosaleen. They played Amazing Grace during a certain scene. I felt like for me, Jennifer, ok I’m back home and I’m in a church.

EM: Now that you’ve played this character how have you changed?

JH: I don’t think that I would be able to appreciate a time like now with the possibility of having and African American President as much as I do had I not gone through that because here I’m playing a character whose been beat just because she’s trying to register to vote. It makes you understand the importance of that and also I was able to be a part of the DNC singing the National Anthem. I might not have appreciated that moment as much as I did without experiencing what I experienced with Rosaleen.

EM: Over the last few years since American Idol a lot has happened with your career. You’ve actually become for success it seems from not winning. Do you ever just sit back and say, “Wow, look at what I’ve accomplished”?

JH: Even hearing you say this…when I’m sitting in interviews and they say “Your and Oscar winner…” and I’m like, “They’re talking about me!” It still hasn’t sunk in yet. But I’m still not jaded by…I’m still getting used to it, I’m honing my craft but I don’t take anything lightly. Even in this film when there’s the ending scene and it’s Queen and Alicia and it’s me and everybody’s whispering on set “Oh my gosh this is such a powerful moment! It’s three powerful women standing here.” And I’m like, “I’m standing in front of Queen Latifah and Alicia Keys!!!!” I still have moments like that.

EM: Ok final and most important question. Where do you keep your Oscar?

JH: I wish I had a picture to show you. It sits on its own mantle when you walk into my house and it’s lighted stand and it says “Ahhh (cue celestial music).” I need to get a case for it because people will pick it up real quick and I’m like ughhhh!

Interview by Tiffany N. D’Emidio

In the upcoming movie “The Secret Life of Bees” (starring Jennifer Hudson, Dakota Fanning and Queen Latifah) Tristan Wilds portrays Zack Taylor, a young, idealistic teen growing up in the tumultuous racially charged sixties during the height of the civil rights movement. As a young black man trying to find his way to becoming a lawyer, Zack works part-time for the Boatwright sisters who introduced him to a world of bee keeping, love, sisterhood and a forbidden friendship with Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning); a young white girl on a quest to find out the truth about her dead mother.

I had a chance to sit down and chat with Tristan about his role in this film, bringing “The Wire” to a close and his newest adventure on The CW’s smash hit remake of 90210 - which airs Tuesday nights at 8pm.

EM: You are known for HBO’s “The Wire” and most recently the revamped 90210, so how did you get involved with this film?

TW: My manager told me about the movie at first. Then after I read the script we got a call for it and it was Gina (Gina Prince-Bythewood) and she said she thought about me for the part and she wanted me to come out and audition for it. One thing lead to another!

EM: Have you read the book?

TW: Actually, I did. It was funny because I read it in the eighth grade. It was on the summer reading list. I did Cliffs Notes through it so I didn’t really “read” the book until I was formed with the role so I went back to read it, really read it and understand the character thoroughly get the gist of the whole story.

EM: How was it working with such a powerful cast of women where you were one of only a few guys that had a primary role in the film?

TW: It was amazing to be around so much female power. It’s weird, it’s tangible even, you can feel it. It’s crazy, it gives you such a good feeling. You always feel at home you always feel safe. Just like my character in the story, he always felt safe around because they had so much power…togetherness. You would catch me on set days when I wasn’t working just to be around them.

EM: It is emotionally draining to do scenes like the one in the theater where your character is ripped from his seat by an angry group of racially charged men? Do you find that it makes you emotional filming them?

TW: Definitely. Especially since you have to get emotional, you have to build up so much emotion and then have it yanked out of you just like in real life. If anybody goes through that you have so much emotion and every time you’re getting pulled or every time you cry. Yeah man, it is emotionally draining but it’s our job.

EM: Have you seen the film yet?

TW: Yes, I’ve finally seen it and it’s amazing.

EM: When you see a scene like the movie theater, what is your reaction? Because it’s obviously different when you are filming and then when you see yourself in it.

TW: You know, the way that it was edited and the way that it was all put together and how it sinks so well with the book…it kind of made me swell up inside. It was a proud feeling. I can also step out of myself and see that this is a really good movie. It almost made me cry.  I didn’t cry…

EM: It made ME cry! I was a hot mess.

EM: As your career is really starting to take off, how do you feel about the progress of what you’re doing? Because in The Wire you go from playing Michael, a character that’s a drug dealer who has to show no emotion to this film where you have to produce a lot of range and the teenage love interest?

TW: It was fun. It was fun to step out of the character of Michael. I mean I love Michael, Michael was a great character and he was so great to play but I like to play…I still a kid at heart so to get that chance to play inside of a character and have fun with it, have as much fun as like with it…it’s just a lot of fun.

EM: How is it different being on a set like this compared to a set like 90210?

TW: Umm…a lot more ladies! No, no, no…on the set of 90210 because we’re all around the same age and we’re all pretty close nit it’s more like a school environment. Every time I go to work it’s like school. You never know what’s going to happen, you always play pranks on each other, it’s really stuff like that. Coming on a set like this with such an aura of family it’s more like going to a family reunion or the feeling that you get when you see your family on Thanksgiving. You know?

EM: You sang a little in this movie. Do you have any plans to start a music career?

TW: Maybe a little bit. I’m writing a whole lot of music right now but eventually I probably put something out there.

EM: How was it working with Dakota Fanning?

TW: She’s amazing. Words can’t even express how amazing that little girl is. I can’t even say little girl because she is so grown up. She made me look at myself and say dang, I’m a little boy! Yeah, she’s amazing.

EM: We’re so use to thinking of Dakota Fanning as this little girl. So how was the kissing scene? Was it awkward at all?

TW: You know what was funny; it was a lot more awkward for me than it was for her. She took it like it was nothing like “come on now I’m ready, let’s do this” and I’m like “I hope I kiss her right, are my lips nice are they moist”…but it came together really nice.

EM: Preparing for the role of Zack, this takes place in the sixties during the civil rights era did you do any research, talk to your family (Tristan’s grandfather was present at the interview)?

TW: Of course talking with my family and Gina made sure that we all had our research down pat. She gave us books, she gave us music, DVDs to watch, websites to look at…just all different things that would just throw us back into the sixties…how the sixties were in the south. It was a lot of research done on all of our parts; from getting the talking down, the different dialects, what they listened to, how they acted, all of that down to the smallest nook and cranny. It took a lot of preparation but we got it done.

EM: Do you think you pulled off the South Carolina accent?

TW: I hope I did!

EM: I have to ask you about the bees.

TW: It was a weird thing to start because we first did bee school and I’m learning how to do it and it was all cool but then Gina said you guys have to be experienced bee keepers and I’m like yeah, yeah, that’s alright, and that’s no problem. Then she was like you gotta take the gloves off. What? Take what off? So yeah, we had to learn how to handle the bees with no gloves. After a couple of tries and getting stung about twice I got to the point where it was cool. I was able to let bees crawl on my fingers without being scared.

EM: One of the main themes of the book was that bee keeping is a metaphor for life. Do you believe that?

TW: Oh definitely. The bees as a whole and just bees being mainly females and that they work so hard it shows the dynamic of women, especially the Boatwright sisters. They work so hard to produce all of this honey, to produce the sweetness for the world.

Interview by
Tiffany N. D’Emidio
Originally Posted 10.14.08

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It’s been twenty years since Heathers was released by a dying New World to critical acclaim and some box office success. Now, Anchor Bay has released the dark high school comedy as part of its Cult Classic Film Series. The film’s indictment of kids who will do anything to be popular – and become the ultimate jerks once they achieve it – is as grotesquely funny today as it was when it was first released.

Veronika [Wynona Ryder] is one of the Heathers – the most popular girls in school [the other three are all named Heather] – and the least ruthless. About the same time as she reaches her limit with her so-called friends, she meets a charismatic new guy in school, J.D. [Christian Slater] and becomes in embroiled in a series of murders that the two stage as suicides.

First-time director Michael Lehman and first-time writer Daniel Waters produced a terrific film with its own peculiarly daring sense of humor – and its own slang. With its budget constraints, what propels Heathers is the energy of its performances. Ryder and Slater have, frankly, never been better – And Shannen Doherty stands out as the shyest of the Heathers.

Features include: Audio Commentary by Lehman, Waters and Producer Denise DiNovi; Swatch Dogs and Diet-Coke Heads [a 30-minute of reminiscences by the cast, director, writer, producer and editor]; Trialer; Screenply Excerpt; Original Ending, and Talent Bios.

Grade: Heathers – A

Grade: Features – A-

Final Grade: A

We have news on the video game for the Spiderwick Chronicles, including a ton of new screen shots. Players can choose to play as ANY of the three Grace children; each possessing unique abilities crucial to combating hordes of Goblins, hunting and capturing Faerie creatures and solving puzzles to successfully complete each mission. Players may also adventure through special tasks in the Spiderwick Estate as Thimbletack, the tiny Brownie who helps the Grace kids throughout their journey. Equipped with context sensitive controls for attacks and environment interaction, the game includes several combat elements, along with a creature collection component that allows players to log objects found during the journey into the Field Guide, earning the player new abilities, quest solutions or unlockable items.

Picking ten films as the best of the year is difficult when you don’t get to see everything [and, frankly, even with every studio providing press screenings of every film, no one critic can see everything released in a given year]. So, then, out of the far too many movies I saw in 2007, these are the ten that most impressed me in one way or another.

10. The Lookout

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is amazing in this nourish little item about a brain-injured former local hockey hero who works as a janitor for the local bank and gets mixed up with a group of would-be bank robbers. The script was smart, smart, smart – and the direction atmospheric and charged with electricity. Writer/director Scott Frank definitely turned in a gem with The Lookout.

9. Across The Universe

Julie Taymor’s audacious film was a veritable cornucopia of unusual visuals – and the various interpretations of the Beatles’ songs included were, in many cases, revelatory [I’ll never think of I Want To Hold Your Hand in exactly the same way ever again]. The script, by Dick Clement and Ian La Franais was a bit sketchy at times – finding ways to get one’s favourite Beatles’ songs to make sense as part of a narrative couldn’t have been easy – but the unique result was truly sumptuous.

8. The Lives of Others

This is a bit of a cheat on the part of the distributors – it was released in New York and Los Angeles in December, 2006, to be eligible for the Academy Awards® - but since it was released wide in 2007, it makes my list here. This solemn film was most notable for looking at how the lives of two men are affected by the paranoia of the Communist German government in a way that showed us that love and paranoia are uncomfortable but frequent partners. It won the Foreign Language Oscar® over Pan’s Labyrinth.

7. Once

An odd little romance about two musicians whose paths cross briefly – to the musical benefit of both. In a week, Guy and Girl meet, fall in love and go their separate ways. The story is told as much by the songs they write, rehears and record as it is by the dialogue. Largely improvised, this little film is proof that you don’t need millions to make a brilliant film.

6. Knocked Up

The smartest, crudest sensitive romantic comedy of the year. This tale of how a one-night stand affects the lives of Ben [Seth Rogen] and Alison [Katherine Heigl] is laugh-out-loud-and-fall-down funny and yet, filled with dramatic moments that ring completely true. Writer/Director Judd Apatow followed this up with Superbad [the ultimate guys-who-never-got-laid-in-high-school comedy], so it’s clear that this was not a fluke.

5. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead

Sometimes, it’s all we can do to not look at a train wreck. This film about a robbery gone wrong that leads to the utter destruction of a family is painful and yet enthralling to watch. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke have never been better. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead is also the movie that should have earned Marisa Tomei her Oscar®.

4. 3:10 To Yuma

Whoa! It’s true! A western is one of the year’s best films. The IMDb plot outline reads: “A small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who’s awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher.” That’s what happens, alright, but the shadings of character and nuances of plot that unfold within that situation are remarkable.

3. Gone Baby Gone

A Bostonian tale co-written and directed by a Bostonian and starring another Bostonian. That might be the reason Gone Baby gone feels so real. The search for a kidnapped child sets up a series of filmic character studies that is one of this year’s best. You would never know that this was Ben Affleck’s directorial debut if you just went by the result.

2. There Will Be Blood

Paul Thomas Anderson turns the Upton Sinclair novel Oil into an almost Shakespearean tragedy. The rise and corresponding dissolution of oilman Daniel Plainview is a tale to rival those of Hamlet and Richard III. Daniel Day-Lewis is nothing less than extraordinary as the “plain spoken” Plainview who is, we learn in the third act, absolutely nothing of the kind. This is brilliant filmmaking on every level.

1a. Away From Her

Veteran indie actor Sarah Polley’s directorial debut is this astounding little film that deals with the pain of marital infidelity remembered and forgotten as Fiona [Julie Christie] succumbs to the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. As her disease progresses, her husband, Grant [Gordon Pinsent], is affected equally as much as she develops a relationship with another man in the institution where Grant has had to place her – the new relationship an uneasy echo of Grant’s past transgressions.

1b. Pan’s Labyrinth

Another cheat – Pan’s Labyrinth [like The Lives of Others] was released in December, 2006, in New York and Los Angeles to qualify for the Academy Awards®. That it came away without the Foreign Languages Oscar® is a source of mystification. This fairy tale for adults juxtaposed a dark, yet hopeful world of Faery and the world of post-Civil War Spain and reminded us that the monster under the bed will never be as scary as the evil men of this world. The film’s unique ending was both happy and tragic, making it, perhaps, a bit too outré for the Academy, but it’s still my choice for best film of the year – in conjunction with the equally startling Away From Her.Other films considered include: Breach, Bridge to Terabithia, Disturbia, Eastern Promises, Live Free or Die Hard, Transformers, 300 and Zodiac

I went in to Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem expecting a terrible film. After all, the first one [on which I burned a free DVD rental coupon] was hideous beyond belief [so much so that I couldn’t believe that Uwe Boll hadn’t directed it]. I was in the mood for a big screen bonanza of senseless violence and mayhem – especially since this AvP edition carried an R rating. To my extreme disappointment, it was a decent enough timewaster.

“No peace on Earth,” scream the posters and trailers, somewhat hyperbolically. In actuality, the only place suffering from the no peace at all is a small town in middle America, which has the misfortune of having Aliens [one of which is the Alien/Predator hybrid from the last film] break free of their confinement.

The pilot of the craft takes out several before he is slain in battle – barely getting off an S.O.S. to his homeworld. In response, the granddaddy of all Predators blasts of for Earth. Meanwhile, the newly freed aliens have disrupted the lives of a man and his son who were hunting deer near where the Predator craft went down.

The town of Gunnison, CO [a real place, by the way] is the film’s setting. As small towns go, it comes with the usual complement of stock characters: the sheriff [John Ortiz], a former rebellious teen; Dallas [Stephen Pasquale], the sheriff’s former cohort who is just back in town from serving time; Dallas’ younger brother, Ricky [Johnny Lewis], who lusts after Jesse [Kristin Hager] and beaten up by jock/bullies Dale [David Paetkau] and friends; Kelly O’Brien [Reiko Aylesworth], a chopper pilot just home from a tour in Iraq, and her daughter, Molly [Ariel Gade], and a host of others.

When the PredAlien [as the website calls it] brings its friends to town, the usual face-hugging and chest-bursting begins to occur. The ensuing mayhem takes place at night, and is made worse by the inadvertent destruction of the local power station – plunging the town into darkness.

With all these stock characters and situations set before us, why isn’t AvPR as awful as its predecessor? Perhaps it’s because the film’s writer [Shane Salerno] and directors [The Brothers Strause] are fans of both original movie series and their delight at being able to play in that milieu comes through in the way they juggle several character arcs and plot points with dexterity. Toss in scenes with the Big Honkin’ Predator frying, scrambling or just dissolving the PredAlien’s children – and working toward a big showdown; a military colonel promising survivors an airlift to safety, and a small group [led by O’Brien] who think the military is lying, and you’ve got plenty of action and tension.

The Brothers Strause seem far better able to use darkness and shadow to create mood than Paul W.S. Anderson [who seems to have wasted his small range of competence on the third Resident Evil flick], and the Salerno script far exceeds Anderson’s in terms of establishing character and maintaining emotional as well as action points. Unfortunately, there are too many characters and monsters to really allow any of them to become truly gripping in an hour-and-a-half.

The result is that Aliens vs. Predator – though much better than its predecessor – is just an average big screen skiffy flick with horror overtones. If the same team were to collaborate on the inevitable sequel [rather nicely set up at the end, by the way], and tighten things up, plot and character-wise, there’s no reason the next film couldn’t be quite good.

Final Grade: C+

Hey everyone, I’ve been hearing some buzz about JJ Abram’s new flick Cloverfield.  Not sure what it’s about, but here’s the first look at the film!

I Am Legend will likely be the season’s most massive hit. It stars Will Smith and the trailers have been hyper-involving. Given that it’s at least the third attempt at bringing Richard Matheson’s classic SF novel to the big screen – and given that it really captures the essence of the novel for as long as it does – the odds are that the few who will leave the theatre feeling let down will be those who have actually read the book.

I Am Legend opens with a television interview with a scientist [Emma Thompson] who has, apparently found a cure for cancer. Cut to three years later and we are shown an empty New York City. Well, not quite empty – a red Mustang comes roaring into view with Robert Neville [Will Smith] at the wheel. He’s hunting deer in the otherwise lifeless city streets.

It doesn’t take long to discover that those allegedly cured of cancer have had some rather uncool side effects – like being turned into pale, bloodthirsty creatures that are allergic to sunlight. For the first two-thirds of its running time, I Am Legend builds suspense as we watch its protagonist, Robert Neville, maintain a rigid schedule to give him something to do in order to keep from going mad. It’s a beautifully structured and performed narrative. Then, it becomes just another zombie movie.

In the novel [no spoiler here – the film suddenly takes a hard ninety-degree turn away from it after the second act], Neville learns that he is now regarded by the night creatures with the same fear that humans have always had for vampires. Now he is the monster!

That is ending is carefully set up by Neville’s rigorous efforts to find a cure for the “cancer cure” that has turned the world’s population – except for a few souls who have a natural immunity, like him – into vampire-like creatures who come out at night in search of blood.

We see him allot time for working on the cure; hunting for provisions; driving golf balls off the tail of a plane on a rusting aircraft carrier [the Intrepid]; making a stop at a nearby video store to pick up some x-rated entertainment, and broadcasting a message in hope of finding someone else who’s alive. He has placed mannequins at various points in his route and talks to them like they’re real, but the pain in his eyes tells us that even now, his imagination can’t quite reach the madness to make them real. Throughout, he is accompanied by his loyal dog, Sam.

At the end of his busy day, he retires to his fortified home to wait out another night – memories of the last time he saw his family [wife Zoe, played by Eureka’s Salli Richardson, and daughter Marley, played by Smith’s daughter, Willow Smith]. Each time he sleeps, we learn more about what happened to them. Then the infected begin to learn; to set traps; to communicate…

And it’s here that the film veers from the finale it has so carefully set up.

For almost seventy-five minutes, director Francis Lawrence carefully modulates Neville’s increasing journey into the hell of madness. Smith makes each of Neville’s slips feel exactly right. The moment he treats a mannequin like a human being and his eyes no longer show that pain – instead, dimming just a bit before tragedy strikes.

The panoramic shots of New York, with its abandoned or wrecked cars; Neville on a pier waiting in vain for someone to respond to his radio message; his desperation when Sam chases a deer into a dark building – all add to the feel of general loneliness and build creepily. In an odd way, all that space makes us feel claustrophobic – a reaction that increases when Neville locks down his home – and increases again when he enters his even more fortified basement lab.

The CG effects of the first two acts are subtle and believable – until we get close-ups of the infected in anything other than pure shadow. Of course, by that time, the film is shifting from its bleak tone and shifting, rather abruptly, into an action-packed finale that finds Neville’s life saved by someone who… well, never mind that.

Let’s just that that the last fifteen minutes of the film are what could be called a rousing clarion call of hope. There’s gun fire, breakage and stuff getting blowed up real good. That it works at all is a tribute to the power of Smith’s presence. Before the shift, we have come to accept Neville as a person, so when the movie grinds the gears in its hyper-quick mood shift, we buy it because he buys it.

It’s even possible to walk out of the theatre feeling good about I Am Legend because of Smith’s exceptional work in it. But the fact remains, the ending is too much of a change – executed too quickly – to be anything but a studio ordered change that feels tacked on to give us a happy [or at least hopeful] ending. Heaven forefend that a Christmas blockbuster should end on a down note.

Final Grade: B

39 Washington, DC area Film Critics (WAFCA - of which I’m one) huddled together in a small broom closet this weekend to do our annual duty of selected the best of the year. In the last three weeks we were hit with an avalanche of DVD Screeners (about 50) and had a bunch of screenings to attend (about 100) and walked away with our eventual best Picture selection. Generally, I disagree with my fellow members, but last year and this year they got everything right, with the exception of Clooney for Michael Clayton - a film I absolutely HATED. I’m still mixed on No Country for Old Men, which is why I haven’t written a review yet. The first 90 minutes I sat there thinking, I’m watching the clear Best Picture of the Year, but then that weird ass last 20 minutes just ruins the entire film for me. I left the theater really angry and wondering what the f just happened. I’m still not entirely sure if the last 20 minutes is enough to throw out the first 90 minutes of brilliance or not. Ultimately, I did cast my ballad for No Country and am glad that it won. Because the other selections where two films that I absolutely loathe (Atonement and Michael Clayton.) So we did good this year and I’m happy with the results. Without Further adieu……

BEST PICTURE
Winner: No Country for Old Men

BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: Ethan and Joel Coen (No Country for Old Men)

BEST ACTOR
Winner: George Clooney (Michael Clayton)

BEST ACTRESS
Winner: Julie Christie (Away from Her)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Winner: Aaron Sorkin (Charlie Wilson’s War)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Winner: Diablo Cody (Juno)

BEST ENSEMBLE
Winner: No Country for Old Men

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Winner: Ratatouille

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
Winner: Sicko

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Winner: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

BEST ART DIRECTION
Winner: Sweeney Todd

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Winner: Ellen Page (Juno)

Wow, Fox has been taking it on the chin from Film Critics lately because this summer they started playing games with screening access and while they have been ticking me off with their new policy - it’s why I refused to see or review The Simpson’s Movie, I can’t fault the Home Video division, so with that said, we have five copies of the recently released Live Free or Die Hard Unrated, 2 Disc Special Edition DVD (what a mouthful) to giveaway! Check out our reviews of the movie here. To win, let us know what your favorite Bruce Willis film is, or your fondest memory of the Die Hard Trilogy. We’ll run this contest until December 12, 2007. On that date shoot us an email with your Full Name, Address, and User ID. Be sure to check out the amazing Blu-Ray version of LFDH, it includes an unlocked digital copy of the movie that you can play on your portable devices. And yes, I’m aware that I probably misspelled Kayay!

Last month I caught up with Morgan Freeman at the LA Press day for Feast of Love, a small Indie film that had a limited release a few weeks ago with the hopes of having it go wide in the coming weeks. Feast of Love is a small indie film that talks about the various stages of love from the perspective of 3 different couples - one young couple in love, to the middle aged couple who end up getting a divorce and Freeman and his wife who have been together for several years. Check out my review. Morgan was in a great mood for this round table interview and was surprisingly funny and was a little reluctant to talk about Batman, but our friend Frosty over at Collider kept at him till Morgan gave us a quote. It’s funny Frosty and I was battling over who gets to ask the Batman question and I told him to go for it. Check out the interview it was fun, and I expect the studio will do an award campaign around this film. In this really weak year, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Morgan get some attention in the supporting actor category for this.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO MORGAN FREEMAN - INTERVIEW RUNTIME - 17 MINUTES