Elevates the genre. Ledger triumphs and I loved the bromance between Batman/Wayne and Harvey Dent. Why Maggie Gyllenhaal?

THE DARK KNIGHT lives up to its hype and triumphs. Heath Ledger as The Joker gives us a psycho-philosophical understanding of his ideology (and makes sense of it). With his lizard tongue echoing that of Seth Brundle, he galvanizes the screen. You long for more of him. Thankfully, director/co-writer Christopher Nolan allows us the pleasure of seeing The Joker as a fully-realized character, instead of a…well, a cruel cosmetic joke. The Joker is not a victim of a nutty anti-aging cream.

There is nothing “comic book” about THE DARK KNIGHT. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), appearing slighter than his iconic buffed Patrick Bateman, is still lovesick over DA Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who refuses to marry a billionaire who moonlights as Gotham City’s savior. Instead, Rachel is dating rising star D.A. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who is also madly in love with her. Maybe they both love Rachel because she doesn’t comb her hair or have any sex appeal.

Neither Bruce or Harvey have any chemistry with worn-out Rachel, but their scenes together are hot-tempered with flattery, devotion to joint principles (always a good opening to a seduction), and long stares. I’m sure this was Nolan’s intention, though done on the “down-low”. It reminded me of the Judah/Messala relationship in BEN-HUR.

More to a finer point on this is The Joker’s acknowledged admiration for Batman. Cleverly, he has a different sad story for each person explaining why his face looks like it does. Because, let’s “face” it, does it really matter?

Batman has other villains to fight. Mainly a mob boss (Eric Roberts), who has teamed up with a Hong Kong crime-entrepreneur (Chin Han) to steal billions of dollars. When their operation is foiled by the Big B, there is only one man who guarantees to kill their nemesis – The Joker.

For me, Rachel is a killjoy, Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) is an unnecessary distraction, and does Wayne really still need to employ Arthur’s butler, Hobson (Michael Caine)? How about Wayne giving old Alfred a duel promotion to majordomo of the household and the title of Batman’s aide-de-camp?

Because of Dent’s unrealistic, obsessive love for Rachel, he will become Harvey Two-Face. The only person who is not role-playing is The Joker!

I love everything Christian Bale does. As one of the great actors working today, he understands that THE DARK KNIGHT has moved away from the “comic book” genre. This is a fully realized thriller.

Batman has evolved. He now has extraterrestrial eyesight and flies around. The only thing holding Batman back is he can’t kill the bad guys! Maybe its time for Batman to start using lethal force.

A Focus Features and River Road Entertainment presentation

QUOTE: Not a weepy gay love story. It’s about fighting, then fucking.

I saw the film twice. Not fearing the wrath of the gay community (I didn’t like RENT so I got hundreds of emails accusing me of being anti-gay – which I am absolutely NOT! – enough said!), I must say I thought BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN was sensational, but not a weepy, romantic story of forbidden love. This is not the gay love-sick story you have been hearing about. What BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is really about is male domination and sexual passion. The two men engage in “fighting, then fucking.”

There are no love letters, long phone calls, or love poems. There are no sad-eyed gazes in public places.

These two dirt-poor cowboys, EnnisDel Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) are masculine men trying to eke out a living in Wyoming. They meet in 1963 applying for summer work herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain for crude-wise rancher Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid). He warns them it is tough work. Against rancher regulations, one of them must stay with the grazing sheep while the other keeps a one-man tent base camp.

Out on the bitter cold mountain, neither man talks much. What are they going to talk about? Their hopes and dreams for a better tomorrow? One freezing night Ennis comes back to camp. Jack tells him he can sleep in the small tent. Jack makes the first move – ever so slight – and Ennis grapples him and quickly turns him over. It’s fast and down and dirty. There is no kissing.

Ennis says “I’m not no queer.” Hey, I don’t want to suggest otherwise, but cowboys and kids living on farms know a lot about the various methods of sexual release not deemed gay or bestial. (A respected famous friend of mine who did counseling with high schoolers in West Virginia said she was often asked quite openly by the kids if one could get AIDS from having sex with animals.)

Ennis and Jack have the kind of rough sex that is exactly the way men have sex with men without losing their male sexual identity. What develops in their 20 year relationship of meeting 2 to 3 times a year is deemed man’s play: fishing, hunting, and sex.

Okay. They don’t fish or hunt.

There are no love letters or even phone calls. A postcard is sent: “See you in August.” What kind of weepy, great romance is this? Each man returns to their lives: Jack is a rodeo rider who luckily marries a wealthy man’s daughter, Lureen (Anne Hathaway). He begins living the good life. While under the rich man’s thumb, he lives a life of means beyond his abilities. He grows a mustache. He gets the little gut of a well-tended man. Ennis stays in Wyoming and marries Alma (Michele Williams). Doesn’t her name say it all? Ennis is barely making a living. Alma has to work at a convenience store. They have two girls and live barely above a laundry.

Jack wants to dump his wife, son, and job and move with Ennis to a ranch. Even as they meet every year for their foray “fishing,” not once does he offer to help out the great love of his life. How about buying poor Ennis a used truck with 100,000 miles on it? Why not invite Ennis and his family to an all-expenses paid-for trip to Texas? Imagine letting the great forbidden love of your life live with one pair of jeans to his name?

Jack accepts his sexual appetites and finds ways to indulge them away from his disgruntled wife, who, in my opinion, knows the truth. She’s bitter. And while Jack wants a life with Ennis, we are shocked to find out his love is not exclusive. In fact, there are surprises.

I was worried BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN would be a cop-out. It’s not. There is hardly any oral sex between these two. Why? Isn’t this fascinating? Gyllenhaal has the more daring role – Jack knows who he is. I never was fond of Gyllenhaal’s acting and choice of film roles but his performance here is outstanding. He has matured under Lee’s skillful hand. Ledger’s performance has gotten all the praise and rightfully so. He has the more complex role. Clearly, I agree with Ledger’s decision to take on this role. What did he have to lose? Williams is astonishing. Her wounded Alma is worthy of an Academy Award.

This is the best film of the year. Not because, as had been diversely said by detractors, it is a “gay recruiting film,” but because it is a realistic look at men who cannot live openly and how it affects the people around them. A powerful screenplay, a ruthless director, and brave performances. What more can we ask for? The screenwriters, Larry (LONESOME DOVE) McMurtry and Diana Ossana, have developed and enriched Anne Proulx’s 1997 New Yorker short story. I congratulate everyone involved, especially Ledger and Gyllenhaal, for bringing this hard-edged adaptation to the screen.

Postscript: Asked by the San Francisco Bay Times whether he thought the gay subject matter could have a negative impact on the careers of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, director Ang Lee responded, “I don’t care if this movie dooms the rest of their careers . . . All I cared about was that they performed for me.”

Credits:
Director: Ang Lee
Screenplay: Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana
Based on the short story by: Annie Proulx
Producers: Diana Ossana, James Schamus
Executive producers: William Pohlad, Larry McMurtry, Michael Costigan, Michael Hausman, Alberta Film Entertainment
Director of photography: Rodrigo Prieto
Production designer: Judy Becker
Editors: Geraldine Peroni, Dylan Tichenor
Music: Gustavo Santaolalla

Cast:
Ennis Del Mar: Heath Ledger
Jack Twist: Jake Gyllenhaal
Joe Aguirre: Randy Quaid
Alma: Michelle Williams
Lureen Newsome: Anne Hathaway
Alma Jr., age 19: Kate Mara
Alma Jr., age 13: Cheyenne Hill
Cassie: Linda Cardellini
Monroe: Scott Michael Campbell
Fayette Newsome: Mary Liboiron
L.B. Newsome: Graham Beckel
Randall Malone: David Harbour
Lashawn Malone: Anna Faris
Jack’s mother: Roberta Maxwell
John Twist: Peter McRobbie

Dimension Films and MGM present a Mosaic Media Group/Daniel Bobker production
MPAA rating PG-13 / Running time — 119 minutes

QUOTE: Magical! Wonderful! Gorgeous! Enchantment comes to life.

I googled Jacob and Will Grimm. They led rather uninteresting lives, but director Terry Gilliam and screenwriter Ehren Kruger have conjured up a magical film that trumps all the Harry Potter movies.

Will (Matt Damon) and Jacob (Heath Ledger) are famous in Germany as demon-killers. They save poor villages from frightful witches and troublemaking demons. The horrible tales villagers tell are all written down by Jacob, who is the keeper of the records. They are skillful in destroying witches and freeing villages since they have two assistants: one who works the illusions and the other who plays the aggrieved demon. They may be imposters, but the villagers are always satisfied.

The French, newly occupying Germany, catch the brothers and “convince” them to go to the village of Marbaden where little girls have gone missing. The villagers are certain there is an enchanted forest swallowing up their children. Gen. Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce) arrests the Grimms and forces them to go to Marbaden. He sends an Italian, Cavaldi (Peter Stormare), to accompany them.

The brothers are not prepared for what they uncover. The forest is really enchanted and there really is a curse. There is a creature-monster kidnapping little girls. Angelika, (Lena Headley) a self-sufficient hunter, reluctantly helps the brothers navigate through the forest. She has lost two sisters to the sinister forest curse. The curse appears to be a love enchantment and the girls are being fed to the Mirror Queen (Monica Bellucci) to bring her back to life.

With the exception of the wildly over-acting Stormare (easy for him unless he is straight-jacketed), everything about THE BROTHERS GRIMM is delicious. Headley is wonderful as the smart heroine and, what can one say about the gorgeous Bellucci? She is divine. She is enchantment itself! And the classic Brothers Grimm’s fairy tales? We see all the pieces come to life that inspired the brothers to create those wonderful stories such as the genesis of Jack and the Beanstalk’s magic seeds and the story of little Red Riding Hood. It is all here for you to savor.

Gilliam had a horrific experience making this film and its release has been delayed several years. Regardless what went wrong and who is to blame, THE BROTHERS GRIMM is wonderful. (Miramax’s Bob and Harvey Weinstein wouldn’t allow him to hire Samantha Morton, insisting on a lesser-known actress. Gilliam refused to work for two weeks after “The Grim Brothers” fired his director of photography for working too slow!). Gilliam does seem to always work in chaos – I saw that Don Quixote fiasco-as-documentary.

The medieval settings are lush and crowded with superstition. I happen to be highly superstitious; I knew the villagers were not being hoodwinked! Gilliam recreates our most treasured fairy tales with flair and enough darkness to respect adult sensibilities and, deservedly, it’s PG-13 rating. Whatever the problems, THE BROTHERS GRIMM is testament to the bold creativity of Terry Gilliam.

Cast:
Will Grimm: Matt Damon
Jake Grimm: Heath Ledger
Delatombe: Jonathan Pryce
Angelika: Lena Headey
Cavaldi: Peter Stormare
Mirror Queen: Monica Bellucci

Credits:
Director: Terry Gilliam
Screenwriter: Ehren Kruger
Producers: Charles Roven, Daniel Bobker
Executive producers: John D. Schofield, Chris McGurk, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Jonathan Gordon, Andrew Rona
Director of photography: Newton Thomas Sigel
Additional photography: Nicola Pecorini
Production designer: Guy Hendrix Dyas
Music: Dario Marianelli
Co-producer: Jake Myers, Michael Solinger
Visual effects supervisor: Kent Houston
Costumes: Gabriella Pescucci, Carlo Poggioli
Editor: Lesley Walker

A Paramount Pictures and Miramax Films Release.
Rated PG-13 / Running time: 130 minutes

A.E.W. Mason’s 1902 adventure novel of cowardice and redemption during the 1880s war between Britain and the Sudanese, returns to the silver screen in its sixth incarnation. And of the previous five—though it’s now considered more in the order of a dated war horse of a morality fable—it’s the 1939 Zoltan Korda classic that’s been firmly, lovingly entrenched in the memory of most movie mavens. Mine included. Which led to a problem—and as a critic, I approached this assignment with some trepidation.

For one, I’m a pushover for the old English adventure films of the 1930s and early ‘40s: Gunga Din, Beau Geste, and most especially, Korda’s hearty, heartfelt, heroic epic—which I adored (& still do) despite its soap operatic melodrama. In fact, they were all of a piece, filled with such laudable truisms as honor, courage and bravery—with some romance thrown in for good measure. And they were memorable.

For another, the ’39 version of Feathers was the only one I’d seen till now, and had left a lasting, positive impression I hoped wouldn’t cloud my view of this latest remake. So before I continue, know you’re dealing with my ghosts—and wisps of memories from movies past.

Please know too I tried. Hard. But the bottom line: Kapur tries too hard to impress. Too much Gung Ho when I’d have preferred more Gunga Din. Vivid scenes of battle and horrors of prison should appeal to lovers of that genre. But the essence of the film isn’t war. It’s of one man’s personal battle to overcome fear itself, compounded by his utter loathing of his family heritage: of ennobling and glorifying battle—at any cost.

With the film’s focus on men at arms, the personal story gets short-changed. Every-thing’s spelled out interminably—such as the significance of bravery—as if the audience is stupid and can’t get it. Too much emphasis is given the overwhelmingly beautiful camera work (shot in Morocco)—of scenery and action—but it smothers this sensitive tale of honor and friendship. I was underwhelmed. Still, to give Kapur his due, his update does raise important questions worth mulling over: is NOT going to war an act of cowardice—OR of courage?

Background: 1894, during the Victorian era of staunch colonialism—and their glory days when the sun never set on the British Empire. After a group of Sudanese rebels attacks the Crown’s fort in Khartoum, it’s a call to war to defend their North African territory.

The Plot:, Harry Feversham (Ledger) a young officer, resigns his commission on the eve of his regiment shipping out.

In this battle against heathens in the Sudanese wasteland, he wonders “what a godforsaken desert has to do with the queen?” Still, Harry’s the son of a general (and long line of legendary military heroes) where resigning is the unthinkable. He’s a moral leper, disowned by his father and held in disgrace by everyone. Before they leave for the front, his three close friends, Jack, Trench and Willoughby, each give him a white feather—signifying cowardice. The fourth is given him by his fiancée (Hudson’s Ethne), along with her engagement ring. But Harry has to face up to his fears, if only to prove to himself he’s no coward. So he sneaks off to the Sudan, spends the rest of the film trying to redeem himself by acts of courage and earn the right to return the feathers.

Cut to the desert. By this time, with shaggy hair, ragged clothes and long scruffy beard, Harry is barely recognizable. He’s found half-dead in the desert and saved by the almost mystical Abou Fatma—more like a guardian angel—who helps him infiltrate the enemy camp to save his imprisoned former comrades.

The rest—well, you know the drill: shades of John Wayne and Geronimo— with cowboys and indians replaced by African warriors vs. the Redcoats. Shots of the lolling dunes are breathtaking—as is one set piece of British resistance, called “foursquare.” Here, the Brits form the outer edges of a large square, able to confront the enemy in all directions. More than anything else in the film, this overhead view is awesome!

As to the actors, Ledger’s bland, uninspired performance practically disappears under the woodwork—or in this case, the sand dunes. Best-in-Show accolades go hands-down to Wes Bentley (American Beauty), as Harry’s close friend Jack (secretly in love with Ethne) and Djimon Hounsou (Amistad; The Gladiator) whose character, Abou Fatma, till now, appeared only in the novel— not in any of the other screen versions. Their dynamic screen presence is formidable and outshine Ledger’s—or for that matter, Hudson’s, who is little more than a beautiful prop in a beautiful period costume. There’s little charisma.

To be fair, if “war” is your thing, try it. You’ll get your fill. But also rent the ’39 video.

Trivia: In an interesting aside, during a Q&A, the director said there were many memorable scenes in the ’39 film he would have wanted to steal: i.e. Ralph Richardson as Jack, blinded by the desert sun, wandering sightless for help amidst dead soldiers and crying aloud “Hasn’t anyone ever seen a blind man?” Or the one with C. Aubrey Smith as a retired old general, retelling at a formal dinner for the umpteenth time how he single-handedly won the Battle of Balaclava. It was an ongoing comical turn throughout, with Smith using nuts from a bowl to depict the warring parties, and with himself as the pineapple on his trusty steed leading his charges to victory.

Kapur said “they were beautiful but they weren’t in the book. They were creations of the original filmmakers” and though he would have loved to put them in, didn’t want to get involved in legal issues. More’s the pity. Though it’s understandable for reasons given, they were missed—as would be the absence of, for example, “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride” from a potential remake of All About Eve.

Credits:
Directed by Shekhar Kapur.
Screenplay by Michael Schiffer and Hossein Amini, based on the novel by A.E.W. Mason;
Dir. of Photography-Robert Richardson;
Production Designer-Allan Cameron;
Editor-Steven Rosenblum;
Costume Designer-Ruth Myers;
Music composed and conducted by James Horner.

Cast:
Heath Ledger (Harry Feversham),
Wes Bentley (Lt. Jack Durrance),
Kate Hudson (Ethne Eustace),
Djimon Hounsou (Abou Fatma),
Michael Sheen (Trench),
Rupert Penry-Jones (Willoughby).