The Rules of the Game

A

Directed by Jean Renoir

Jean Renoir's classic "The Rules of the Game" is one of the sacred cows of world cinema, considered by many to be the greatest French film ever made. Unsurprisingly, it lives up to the hype.

Renoir's film begins with the succesful completion of flying ace André Jurieux's attempt at breaking the speed record for a non-stop, transatlantic flight. When he arrives back in France, however, he is crestfallen to discover that Christine de La Chesnaye, an Austrian woman married to the rich and vapid aristocrat Robert de La Chesnaye, who he is hopelessly infatuated with, is not there to meet him. In hopes of placating the now suicidalJurieux, Christine invites him to her husband's weekend getaway for a hunt with their circle of friends. Once everyone arrives, social customs begin to quickly unravel as the hunt turns into an epic Vaudeville marked by unrequited love, doomed affairs, and passionate hook-ups.

Although it isn't my favorite film, and isn't even one of my favorite films by Renoir, there's absolutely no denying that "The Rules of the Game" is one of a handful of uncontested masterpieces of film, right up there with "Seven Samurai" and "Citizen Kane." Renoir's film is both a landmark achievement in film technique, featuring some of the most famous and admired scenes in film history, as well as in storytelling and satire. Renoir's film, which seems fairly tame to the modern viewer, was the height of controversy uponm its release in 1939 and was roundly banned, booed, and decried as a slap in the face to the French bourgeoisie which, of course, it was. The insults lobbed at the the french upper middle class weren't accidental either, as Renoir relentlessly skewers his character's empty and superficial lives. As Europe began to crumble under Hitler's bootheel, Renoir's characters retreat to the country where they abandon themselves fully to their shared passion, running after one another with reckless passion. Renoir, in an introduction to the Criterion Collection's release of "The Rules of the Game" recalls attending a showing of the film where a man lit a newspaper on fire with, according to the filmmaker, the obvious intent of burning down the theater. Renoir's film was, to say the least, incendiary but it did so without being cheap or facile. Rather, as the great Pietro Germi did with Sicilian society, Renoir simply held up a mirror to the French upper classes and told them to take a look. Suffice it to say, the didn't like what they saw.

In Bruges

C

Directed by Martin McDonagh

Martin McDonagh's "In Bruges" takes an interesting premise and talented actors and crafts an overly stylized, talky and for the most part annoying gangster flick.

Irish thugs Ray and Ken are sent to Bruges, Belgium to hide out after Ray accidentally kills a young boy when carrying out a hit for their boss Harry. While in Bruges, Ken decides to sightsee and Ray tries not to lose his mind from boredom. Harry's reasons for sending them to Bruges are soon enough revealed to Ken who is ordered to kill Ray for his transgression.

What could have been an interesting rumination on loyalty, friendship, and guilt is rather turned into a superficial showoff piece for writer/director McDonagh. "In Bruges" strikes me as the type of film that lovers of the horrible "Boondock Saints" probably fawn over. The majority of the scenes in McDonagh's revolve around characters exchanging faux-witty, absurdist dialogue full of pitch black humour in thick Irish accents. The problem is that the dialogue for the most part comes off as awkward, stilted and, most importantly, totally unbelievable while the humour, instead of being dark, is just immature and tasteless. I seriously don't understand who thinks this type of over the top scriptwriting is exciting, edgy, or interesting when done so poorly. To top it all off, what could have been a strong final scene is ruined by some more of McDonagh's prefab dialogue and a telegraphed ending.

"In Bruges" is saved from a total collapse by strong performances from Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes and, yes, even Colin Farrell who does well with the material given to him, giving a taught and energetic performance as Ray.

Happy Funeral

D

Directed by Barbara Wong

Barbara Wong's sequel to the inexplicably successful "Truth or Dare - 6th Floor Rear Flat", which followed the highs and the lows of a group of young adults sharing a dilapidated flat in Hong Kong, is a pretty terrible follow up to a film that probably should have never been given a sequel in the first place.

As "Happy Funeral" opens, we find a new batch of youths living in the 6th floor rear flat. Like their predecessors, only a few of them have jobs, and most of their time seems to be dedicated to partying, flirting with one another and hatching half baked business plans. After attending the dour funeral of one of the housemate's boyfriend's grandmother, the gang decides that what the world really needs is a service that will celebrate rather than mourn the lives of those who have passed. Thus, the idea for a new, highly profitable business is born-- the "Funeral Party". Suffice it to say, it's a terrible idea.

I love movies and I get personally offended when people claim that watching them is a waste of time, time that could be, according to them, better spent doing something more productive. This haughty belief is usually harbored by grouches who presuppose that doing something enjoyable means it's necessarily frivolous and that we all have productive things we could be doing at all times of the day which certainly isn't the case for me. In the case of "Happy Funeral", however, it truly was a total waste of my time. And my time is really not that valuable, either. Director Barbara Wong seems to have had no game plan whatsoever when setting out to make this film and it certainly shows. It's messy, poorly acted, poorly scripted (if a script was provided at all, which seems doubtful) and full of annoying characters who are impossible to sympathize or connect with. Wong's film doesn't even hint at a serious plot until it's 3/4ths of the way through and by that time I was so thoroughly annoyed with "Happy Funeral", I just wanted it to end.

I guess there's a kernel of intelligent social commentary in here somewhere about the slacker attitude of Generation Y and its chronic refusal to grow up but it gets lost in "Happy Funerals" in your face, high pitched brand of comedy.

Protegé

B

Directed by Derek Yee

Director Derek Yee takes a sobering look at drugs in "Protegé", crafting a surprisingly sensitive and thoughtful portrayal of the many destructive consequences of the narcotics trade.

Daniel Wu stars as Nick, a mole working undercover for the Hong Kong police, tasked with infiltrating a heroin trafficking ring headed by kingpin Quin (Andy Lau). Nick has been undercover so long, however, that Quin considers him practically his own son and, despite being commited to his original mission, Nick becomes gradually more entangled with Quin and his family as his time undercover drags on. When he begins a tentative relationship with a drug addicted neighbour named Fan, however, Nick finds his interest in dismantling Quin's drug empire suddenly and powerfully renewed.

"Protegé" eschews easy "drugs are bad" soapboxing to show the malevolence of the drug trade and the consequences to all those involved, both on the supply side and the demand side. Although "Protegé" isn't always a completely three dimensional or believable essay on junkies and those who make their habit possible, it's affecting nonetheless and unvarnished in a way that neither demonizes nor excuses the actions of drug users, demonstrating that even though substance abusers can kick their habit and turn their life around, it's not that easy to do. I think all effective films dealing with drug use are ones that can toe this line and show drug addiction for what it really is--not necessarily a death sentence but still incredibly powerful, life altering, and difficult to get rid of.

Yee should also be commended for using "Protegé" to showcase some of Hong Kong's best known acting talent in surprising and unconventional roles. Louis Koo, who most viewers may remember as the suave and intelligent gangster Jimmy in Johnny To's "Election" series, goes in a totally different direction here, starring as Fan's junkie, morally crapulent ex-husband. Andy Lau is also given a role that differs from his usual fare as a hunky cop/gangster/action hero, and is surprisingly believable as the aging criminal Quin.

One Nite in Mongkok

B+

Directed by Derek Yee

Derek Yee's "One Nite in Mongkok" is a satisfying and exciting romp through one of Hong Kong's less glamourous neighborhoods as well as a showcase for Yee's considerable talents as a director of intelligent, emotionally resonant action films.

A gang boss in Hong Kong's seedy Mongkok district orders a hit on a rival after the latter's son killed his own son following a bar room brawl. Not finding anyone in HK to do the dirty deed, the boss calls in Lai Fu, a hitman from mainland China. When Lai Fu arrives in HK, he is immediately double crossed by his handler (played by HK regular Lam Suet) who finds himself in hot water with local authorities. To add to his mounting troubles, Lai Fu finds himself unwantingly attached at the hip with a prostitute he accidently saves from a rough trick (I always wanted to use that term in a write-up). As Lai Fu's planned hit becomes more and more bogged down in unforeseen setbacks, the local authorities are hot on his tail trying desperately to nab the assassin before time runs out.

ONIM, without trying to intellectualize the Hong Kong action flick, does infuse the genre with a significant amount of emotional gravitas by putting character development on equal footing with the development of its plot. In this respect, ONIM reminded me of Wong Kar Wai's "Fallen Angels", an action film where the action, instead of being the film's raison d'être, often plays second fiddle to developping three dimensional characters. ONIM also features surprisingly astute commentary on the tensions created by the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China. The societal upheavals created by the massive movements of China's rural poor from farm to city, which has created a whole new class of destitute urban poor throughout the mainland and Hong Kong, is an often overlooked byproduct of China's rapid industrialization. It's to Yee's credit that he tackles the issue in an intelligent and sympathetic manner.

The only gripes I have with Yee's film are the length, which could ahve been shorter, and the acting which, although never bad, didn't enhance the film much either. Cheung in particular tended towards skreekniness in many of her scenes but her performance, although lacking nuance, wasn't so bad that it kept me from enjoying the rest of the film.

The Hangover

B-

Directed by Todd Phillips

Todd Phillips' "The Hangover" was, without a doubt, the most succesful comedy of 2009 and can likely be called one of the most succesful of its entire genre, a movie subtype I'd refer to as frat or bro comedies, two terms that have likely already been coined and copyrighted (Please don't sue me!). Not only did pretty much every person between the ages of 15 and 35 see "The Hangover," it also garnered significant critical praise and, somewhat unexpectedly, won this year's Golden Globe for best comedy or musical. Although not a bad film, I didn't find myself as enthralled by Phillips morning after saga as I thought I would be.

Two groomsmen head off to Vegas with their soon to be married buddy and his eccentric, socially awkward brother for a night of carousing and mayhem. We only see the very beginning of the night's events before cutting immediately to the morning after where we find the two groomsmen and and the groom's brother waking up in their trashed hotel suite with no idea what happened the previous night. Worse still, they've lost the groom a day before his wedding. The three buddies set off to locate the whereabouts of their buddy and, perhaps more importantly, find out what the heck happened to them the previous night.

"The Hangover" has plenty of amusing bits and running gags, as well as one truly excellent cameo, that make the whole thing a pleasantly raucous if not completely groundbreaking experience. I rarely expect much more than a few hearty laughs from this type of fare but the critical praise for Phillips' film made me cautiously optimistic that this would be a comedic gem which, I'm sure you've already gathered by my tone, I don't think it is. Sure, it's often quite funny but it lapses into juvenile or facile humor too often and allows a few plainly unfunny bits to dampen the effect of its better parts. This isn't to say that it's completely low brow comedy, however. "The Hangover" is fairly well written, well acted, and for the most part stays away from fart and poop jokes that often populate comedies who are trying to appeal to the basest comedic tastes of filmgoers. Nevertheless I can't say that I understand the critical praise heaped on Philips' film since it isn't entirely succesful, in my humble and, albeit, sometimes grouchy opinion, in being what films like "The Hangover" are supposed to be -- undeniably and unfaillingly funny. This doesn't mean I expected "The Hangover" to have me laughing so hard my sides hurt and my eyes watered but I didn't expect to go through large chunks of the film without so much as a grin, which I did a few times at least.

A review of a film like "The Hangover," either positive or negative, is, easily called into question since what constitutes "funny" varies widely from one viewer to the next. Based on the critical reception "The Hangover" enjoyed, as well as its box office success, maybe I'm just one of the few who has a poor sense of humor and needs to lighten up. Those who know me may indeed feel this is the case. However, I think one's opinion of a film like "The Hangover" will always, in the end, be heavily dependent on personal taste since its a film that stakes its entire success on making its audience laugh. It's therefore unsurprising that some will laugh more than others.

Happy Go Lucky

B

Directed my Mike Leigh

British director Mike Leigh's latest semi-improvised comedy is an unpretentious and utterly enjoyable little film that is elevated far above its light subject matter but absolutely splendid performances by Sallie Hawkins and support actor Eddie Marsan.

Poppy (Sallie Hawkins) is a thirty year old primary school teacher who lives in a shared flat with her best friend Zoe. Bubbly, carefree, and utterly unfazed by other's expectations for her, she's a breath of fresh air in an otherwise drab world. Poppy's blissful existence is interrupted by a particularly difficult and grumpy driving instructor (Eddie Marsan) who momentarily snaps Poppy back to the reality that the world isn't necessarily filled with others who, like her, skate through life with a smile and a wink.

Although Leigh's film isn't the deepest or most perceptive film he's ever made, it's still a joy to watch mostly, as already mentioned, due to the strong performances of Leigh's cast. Mike Leigh's semi-improvised efforts often depend, not surprisingly, on the excellence of his actors. In the case of "Happy Go Lucky" Leigh gets the most out of his cast, especially from Hawkins and the always excellent Eddie Marsan. Marsan, a career support player, is the type of actor who is so underrated he's almost overrated, sort of like John C. Reily before he started taking lead roles. Marsan truly is excellent, however, as Poppy's neurotic and troubled driving instructor, suffusing his scenes with Hawkins with a an often hilarious but always nervous and off kilter energy that seems to always be on the verge of leading to an ugly denouement which, in the end, it does. As good as Marsan is, it's Hawkins who steals the show and her performance as Poppy was perhaps the most widely heralded effort of 2008, so much so that she was awarded the Golden Globe for best female lead over Meryl Streep (who, despite a vastly inferior performance in "Mama Mia!" was probably expecting to win the award because, well, she's Meryl Streep). Hawkin's makes Poppy interesting and, most importantly, plausible despite all her quirks, an achievement that shouldn't be underestimated. I would venture to guess that it was a far more difficult task for Hawkins to play Poppy than it was for Kate Winslet, who won a Golden Globe for best performance in a drama the same year Hawkins won hers for her performance in "Happy-Go-Lucky", to play April Wheeler in the overwrought "Revolutionary Road." Nothing against Winslet, of course, who is a fine actress, but giving a character like Poppy who is shamelessly bubbly, good natured, free willed and wants to make everyone around her as happy as she is, the depth that she does is remarkable.

I rarely recommend films solely for the performances of its actors but I certainly have no reservations recommending "Happy-Go-Lucky" solely for the performances of Hawkins and Marsan.

Family

D-

Directed by Takashi Miike

Prolific Japanese master of shock Takashi Miike's "Family," based on a manga I've admittedly never read (or heard of), is a woefully bad effort from an otherwise talented director.

Koichi Iwaki is the godfather of a Japanese Yakuza faction whose members keep getting whacked, kidnapped, and generally abused by rival gangs, leading to Iwaki finally putting his foot down and going out to get some revenge. That's the gist of the film right there and going into any added depth is really unecessary. You may think my attitude towards this review is flippant (it is) but wait until you see the film yourself before judging my apathy towards it (SO THERE!!!).

This is Miike at his worst. The "Family" may not be as gratuitously violent or plainly ugly in its content as other Miike films like "Ichi the Killer" or "Visitor Q" but at least those two movies were thought provoking (if a bit over the top). "Family" is a bore, a poorly made, B-rate piece of action shlock that shows off all of Miike's worst filmmaking excesses. The plot is only vaguely coherent and the whole thing looks like it was filmed on a camcorder with vaseline slathered over the lense. Miike has always been a prolific filmmaker which means his output has sometimes been more about quantity than quality. Indeed, for every "Audition" there have been scores of weaker releases and "Family" is certainly falls into the latter category. Amazingly (to me, at least) "Family" is one of Miike's better known works outside of Japan which I find truly baffling.

King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

A-

Directed by Seth Gordon

Who knew competitive arcade gaming could be so completely engrossing? Documentarian Seth Gordon takes what is, to say the least, a marginal subject and turns it into a nail-biting, maddening, oftentimes hilarious and ultimately uplifting piece of filmmaking.

Billy Mitchell, an egotistical, mulleted superstar of the gaming world, had held the record for the highest score on "Donkey Kong" since 1982, an almost mythical record that some felt would never be broken. When everyman high school teacher Steve Wiebe suddenly breaks Mitchell's record seemingly out of nowhere, he sets off a maelstrom of controversy in the tiny, incestuous world of competitive arcade gaming.

As "Spellbound" did for the spelling bee, "King of Kong" will (maybe?) do for competitive gaming, pulling millions of viewers who, until now, had no clue such a thing even existed into its world. Gordon's documentary is utterly engrossing from start to finish, a David vs. Goliath tale of an outsider coming in and trying to knock off the unquestioned king of gamers. Gordon's film is most notable in how it clearly pits mild mannered and all around good guy Wiebe against the unbelievably self absorbed and risible Mitchell. The Wiebe vs. Mitchell showdown makes Larry vs. Magic look like boring crap, frankly. No, I'm not kidding.

Gordon's choice to so clearly cast Wiebe as the good guy and Mitchell as the bad guy does, however, beg an important question; Should documentary filmmakers feel the need to give their subjects a fair shake even if they don't deserve it? Billy Mitchell in no way is shown by Gordon as having any redeemable characteristics beyond his success as a businessman and as a competitive gamer. He's shown as being self absorbed, mean spirited, and generally as not being a man of any integrity. In interviews Gordon has stated that Mitchell is actually far worse than he is shown in "King of Kong," and that he (Gordon) actually gave him a fairer shake than he probably deserved. I think documentary filmmakers tend to often be obsessed with presenting both sides of a story and refraining from typecasting characters as either good or bad. The nuance, in most cases, is needed as so few things worth documenting and investigating further can be as easily classified as good or bad. However, if you run across a guy like Steve Wiebe who, based on all accounts, is a stand up guy, and then you come across a guy like Billy Mitchell who, again by most accounts, is a horrible person, is it not responsible to present them as such? Sure, Gordon overdoes it a bit, showing Wiebe at one point taking time off from his busy gaming schedule to frolic in the ocean with his wife and kids while soft music plays in the background. I still can't fault Gordon, however, for showing us how he saw it. That's what a documentarian is supposed to do, after all.

Avatar

B+

Directed by James Cameron

Sometimes on this blog, I tend to review rather obscure (sometimes because they're not very good, but often because they're just really, uh…foreign). "Avatar," suffice it to say, is not one of those movies. James Cameron's massively expensive, massively succesful sci-fi adventure has already been watched by basically everyone in North America and it will likely end up breaking every box office record ever set (without adjusting for inflation, of course. I see you, "Gone with the Wind!") After finally getting with the program and going to see it in 3D last night, I can see why this jaw-dropping, eye popping spectacle will continue to rake in the cash for months, even years, to come.

Sam Worthington plays a paraplegic ex-marine (somewhat unconvincingly, I must say...) named Jake Sully who takes over his deceased brother's place in a scientific program on a distant planet called Pandora. The program aims to help Sully and others infiltrate the local indegenous population, a race of semi-giant, vauely human bluish creatures through the help of avatars, or bodies that resemble those of the natives but are controlled remotely by humans. At the same time, the multinational corporation that is mining Pandora's rich energy reserves plans to use Sully as a pawn in it's efforts to drive the natives from their land.

"Avatar" cost over $300 million to produce and it certainly looks like a film that cost that much to make. The graphics…are…awesome. This can't be stressed enough. They're awesome. I watched "Avatar" in 3D because the IMAX showing was booked soild and even in 3D, without the wraparound IMAX screen and the 45 degree angled seating, the film was still a physical experience leaving me clutching by seat a few times as I followed Jake as he darted across tree branches and ahng off of cliffs hundreds of feet in the air. I can only imagine how much better the experience would have been on IMAX which makes me particularly bummed that it was sold out. Nevertheless, the visual spectacle of "Avatar" remains potent no matter how you watch it because the animation is just that good.

The other aspects of "Avatar" are a bit disappointing, to be sure. The dialogue is woefully bad at some points and the film's environmental message is hamfisted on all fronts. I laud filmmakers who find intelligent or engaging ways to grapple with the planet's continued over reliance on fossil fuels,deforestation, and our general willingness to continue treating nature like it will spontaneously regrow after completely ravaged it but a little bit of nuance would have certainly helped "Avatar" gets its message across with a bit more credibility. The underlying message is certainly worthwhile, but I don't know if audiences need to be reminded for three hours how badly we've managed the ressources of our planet.

Nevertheless, harping on a film like "Avatar" for anything other than its visual appeal is missing the point completely since everything else in "Avatar" is simply there to butress its visual brilliance. As blockbusters go, this one is certainly worth watching and on the biggest screen you can see it on at that.

Man on Fire

D-

Directed by Tony Scott

Tony Scott's "Man on Fire" completely wastes the talents of two of American film's greatest actors, Denzel Washington and Christopher Walken, in an unbelievably lazy action films that manages to be offensive, boring, and laughable, all at the same time.

Washington plays boduguard Creasy, a down on his luck alcoholic who, seeking an outlet to his violent impulses, takes a job as the private protector of a wealthy couple and their daughter in Mexico City. When the daughter is kidnapped, Creasy vows to mete out biblical vengeance on her captors.

This film is, in all aspect, a miss. It's poorly shot, poorly edited, poorly acted by its secondary actors, and most of all extremely poorly scripted. This is a film that likely could have worked fairly easily, seeing as how the premise is simple enough and the producers somehow got Denzel Washington to sign on. Rather than letting the formula play out to its logical conclusion, namely a solid but undistinguished revenge flick, director Scott tries to get fancy and fashion in avant-garde, gritty, crime flick with socio-political undertones. It all falls miserably flat, of course, but there's plenty of blame to go around when a film is this bad. In the case of "Man on Fire," as already mentioned, Washington gets little help from his supporting actors (though Dakota Fanning, despite being miscast, is solid in her role) and the production values of the film are pathetically low for a film with such a significant budget. There's also nothing worse than watching clueless big studio film people try to fashion a political salient film, which this film tries doggedly to be without much success.

The Departed

B+

Directed by Martin Scorcese

Martin Scorcese's Oscar winning remake of the Hong Kong classic "Infernal Affairs" is a great example of how a remake, in the right hands, can be exciting, different, and almost equally groundbreaking as its predecessor.

Matt Damon stars as Colin Sullivan, a protégé of Boston crime boss Frank Costello who joins the Boston Police Department and quickly rises through the ranks while working as a mole for Costello. Unbeknownst to him, fellow officer Billy Costigan has been tasked by Sullivan's bosses with infiltrating Costello's organization and acting as their man on the inside. Both moles begin to suspect that the side they are working for has been infiltrated, leading to a cat and mouse chase between the two men as they attempt to root each other out.

Although "The Departed" is a great effort from Scorcese, it's not "Raging Bull" or "Goodfellas" and his Oscar victory was likely more of a lifetime achievement award than anything else. That said, Scorcese's interpretation of "Infernal Affairs" is very well done and he respectfully and accurately pays homage to the source material while still making "The Departed" his own creation. Where a lesser director probably would have just copped out on settled for a lazy copy of the original, Scorcese strays rather far from the source and truly remakes "The Departed" into something that resembles "Infernal Affairs" little aside from the basic premise of moles infiltrated in opposing camps. That said, any remake, no matter how little it resembles the original, will be compared to its predecessor and when holding up "The Departed" to "Infernal Affairs" the latter film is far, far better at playing the moles off each other and building suspense by bringing them oh-so close to discovering the other's identity as the film progresses. "The Departed" takes a while to really start building the same type of suspense and by the end of the film, when the two moles finally face-off, you feel like they've been thrust together as opposed to having rooted each other out.

Where "the Departed" may not live up to "Infernal Affairs" in regard to its narrative, it certainly gives away nothing to the original in its sleek production values and reliance on top flight actors. Matt Damon and Leo DiCaprio, once maligned as vapid pretty boys with limited acting chops, have over the years proven themselves as capable leading men and both are fantastic in their roles here. Multiple supporting spots by other big names such as Alec Baldwin, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Whalberg give "the Departed" the star studded treatment that "Infernal Affairs" also boasted (albeit with Hong Kong actors). Scorcese directing is, as always, slick and gritty and bursting with energy.

Unlike some, I don't immediately whine and moan when I hear that Hollywood is planning on remaking an Asian action or horror flick. "The Departed" is a perfect example of how a talented director and cast can remake a movie into something different and exciting while at the same time introducing large numbers of casual filmgoers to the original source material. Too bad so many remakes are shameless money grabs directed by C-list directors and hack actors...

Science of Sleep

D

Directed by Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry's "The Science of Sleep" showcases both the director's original aesthetic but also his utter inability to make anything resembling a coherent film when left to his own devices.

Stephane, a graphic artist from Mexico, is lured to Paris by his estranged mother by the promise of a job in a design firm. He finds out to his horror, however, that the jobs consists of doing the layout for corny novelty calendars. He escapes his dreary life by chasing his neighbor, the bohemian Stephanie, while at the same time combatting a weirdo sleep disorder.

Michel Gondry, like his sometime collaborator Charlie Kaufman, is a director who often does best when he works with others. Left to his own devices, he mostly produces imaginative but sloppy work that seems to do away with plot and character development entirely in favor of arts and craft set pieces. Gondry first came to prominence due to his music videos and his style has always seemed better adapted to that medium. "The Science of Sleep" suffers to make any sense and stumbles through its running time with no clear idea of what it's about or where it's going. In the end, Gondry's film annoyed me more than anything because I felt the whole enterprise made zero effort to connect with the viewer. Much llike "Be Kind Rewind," Gondry's latest effort which I also disliked, "The Science of Sleep" seems to have been an excuse for Gondry to extract some cash out of a studio and just go do his own thing rather than make a real film. Gael Garcia Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg, both great actors in their own right, are utterly wasted here.

Zatoichi

B+

Directed by Takeshi Kitano

The blind swordsman Zatoichi gets the Takeshi Kitano treatment in Kitano's uneven but nevertheless impressive take on the timeless classic.

Zatoichi, a blind masseur and swordsman, wanders into a small town in the grips of a Yakuza gang war whose residents live in constant fear of their thugish overlords. Zatoichi tries to stay out of it, but as is always the case, he ends up coming to the defense of the townspeople in a series of eye popping (and in one case, eye gouging) brawls.

As is often the case with Kitano's films, "Zatoichi" suffers from extremely uneven direction, resulting in a pace that jerks around wildly. Kitano's direction is usually anything but tight, so the choppy pacing of "Zatoichi" is to be expected although it doesn't make it any less frustrating to the viewer.

"Zatoichi" features well chopreographed swordfights with over the top arterial spray (where blood spurts out like a geyser after a sword blow--think 'Kill Bill') which, let's admit it, is sort of played out. In Kitano's defense, however, "Zatoichi" was made in 2003 so he was still somewhat on the cusp of the movement (if you want to call it that) and his particular brand of the special effect is very well done. As in other Kitano films, the violence, although gory, often plays for laughs and is underscored by a noticeably cartoonish element.

"Zatoichi" is not always perfect but it is always original which is what I've come to expect from Takeshi Kitano's films. Indeed, Kitano takes the timeless blind swordsman and makes him something all his own (quite literally, since Kitano himself plays the swordsman…). The icing on the cake is the elaborate dance number that concludes "Zatoichi," an anachronistic yet utterly rousing ensemble number that is vintage Kitano. Why's it in the movie? Because he felt like putting it there, period. Kitano's utter lack of pretensions, as well as his efforts to in ject whatever he does with genuine freshness make him movies, even his bad ones, constantly interesting.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

A-

Directed by Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," the director's first forray into animation, is a fairly resounding success, a movie that appeals to a wider audience than any of Anderson's earlier films but nevertheless remains sophisticated and intelligent in a way that most animated films are not.

Based on the Roald Dahl classic, Anderson's film follows the exploits of the smooth talking and dashing Mr. Fox who abandons his trade as chicken thief when his wife Felicity tells him she's pregnant. We rejoin the couple several years later as they relocate from their foxhole to more lavish housing in the trunk a tree. Mr. Fox, who is now working as a newspaper columnist, grows restless however, and soon hatches a plan with his oppossum friend Kylie to rob the areas three biggest businessmen. When the plan is found out, however, the whole animal community is thrust into danger as the farmers ruthlessly seek revenge on Mr. Fox.

The success of "Fantastic Mr. Fox" comes as little surrpise seeing as how Anderson's aesthetic is known to often veer off towards the cartoonish. Indeed, "Mr. Fox" is inbued with the same energy and color Anderson's films are known for, replete with the deadpan dialogue and sudden bursts of classic rock to liven up the mood. It also features the familiar melancholic undertow that runs through Anderson's work, but he doesn't overdo it in "Mr. Fox" and lets the film play out as a largely joyous and irreverent affair. This is not to say that it doesn't have its more serious moments (as serious as you can get in an animated film about a debonair fox, I suppose) but only that Anderson doesn't seem to have been as preoccupied with trying to beef up "Fantastic Mr. Fox" with added layers of moral or psychological depth like he has in past efforts which, let's be honest, has not always been as effective as he probably wished. Anderson's willingness to ditch the pretensions and just let "Mr. Fox" be as fun as it can be is a credit to the director's restraint (something he hasn't always been known for) and really highlights Anderson's strengths as a filmmaker. The stop-motion animation is wonderfully unique, giving Anderson's film a sort of old fashioned sheen that feels familiar yet is still technically impressive, even to viewer unfamiliar with the ins and outs of animation such as myself.