Reviews

"Berlin Calling" is an ambitious film that looks into the dark side of the German electronic music but doesn't seem to know what to say about it. Director Hannes Stohr makes a wise move in casting real life electronic musician Paul Kalkbrenner in the lead role of (the overbearingly metaphorically named) DJ Ikarus.

On the cusp of releasing his greatest record Ikarus succumbs to the effects of his longtime drug use and is admitted into a psych ward. From here, the film veers wildly in tone recalling the excesses of "Trainspotting" and the tension of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" without ever find a middleground. Subplots involving a teenage fan who works at the hospital; his on again/off again bisexual girlfriend and his dealer never really develop into anything substantial. Worse, Stohr doesn't seem to know what he wants to say about drug use. Is it necessary for creative artists? Is it an evil? Is it OK in small doses? He offers middling cases for each scenario but doesn't make any unique observations.

That said, the music in the film is fantastic. Written by Kalkbrenner himself, it casts a great light on the contemporary German electronic scene and if there is any reason to see the film, it's for the music. He manages to make the subtle shifts in tone and mood accessible for even the casual music fan which is a feat in itself.

Half documentary and half concert film, "Sing Sing Thanksgiving" adequately balances the lives of the inmates of the prison with the feverish energy of the holiday concert. All the performers are up to the task and are filmed in their prime. The Voices Of East Harlem give a truly rousing performance including a stunning, moving version of "Young, Gifted & Black". B.B. King gives is equally fiery, with a show stopping version of "How Blue Can You Get". Somewhat out of place, though no less powerful, Joan Baez keeps the prison audience in rapt attention.

The concert is MCed by Jimmie Walker.

The film fails in it's attempt to balance the concert with the lives of the inmates. It's almost an afterthought and is subject matter best left for a subject all its own.

The work of Takashi Miike is usually marked by bizarre characters in even more bizarre situations. By turns audacious, scary and violent, Miike has became a director renowned for his ability to shock. Perhaps his biggest shock has arrived yet with his new film "Shangri-La" - shocking only because it's the complete opposite Miike's work has became known for. Instead we are treated to a delightful, light, and outright heartwarming comedy that is thoroughly enjoyable. It hardly breaks new ground and it's nothing we haven't seen before, but it's done with such sincerity and executed so well, you can't help but admire it.

"Shangri-La" follows the lives of a group of homeless people in Japan who run into a man who nearly commits suicide and decide to help him out of his financial troubles. Using their various ingenious resources they embark on a complex scheme to blackmail a crooked businessman, whose bankruptcy claim has put people out of work. It's a fun romp as these seemingly homeless people manage to outsmart the very people who cast them from society. Miike knows enough not to over explain his characters or to drop the plot in emotional syrup and knows to keep things tight and moving along briskly to its inevitable conclusion.

"Shangri-La" is a welcome addition to Miike's filmography but hardly indicative of his work. First timers should start with "Fudoh" or "Visitor Q", but those looking for something completely familiar need look no further.

Hit Me, Steven Shainberg's (Secretary) directorial debut has a lot going for it including a great cast and a truly striking set to utilize. Unfortunately, the story is utterly ridiculous. The first half hour is a long, drawn out affair I guess to establish Elias Koteas' character, who seems to be nothing more than a series of ticks. We find out he has a brother who is mentally retarded, and the state wants to take away, but Elias will not let them happen. On the verge of losing his job at a two star hotel, he becomes involved in an incident (which I won't reveal here) that is so muddled, so badly played out and so unbelievable that I found it hard to believe that the rest of the motivations of the characters in this movie, rested on it. If the source material (a Jim Thompson novel) was unclear,

Shainberg certainly didn't make it any clearer which leads to the main character entering into a heist for truly inane reasons. It's hard to get excited about a heist when the reasoning behind it is virtually nonexistent. Yes, there are heists for the sake of heists - and often that works fine - but this film spends a lot of time and energy trying to establish some reason for this to take place, but fails to convince.

Good film noir, relies on amoral men, sexual women and desperate desires. Hit Me which claims to be a film noir is simply desperate - for a good story and a stronger execution.

Director John Sayles, from his own script, brings us to Florida to one week, and with the leisure of a vacationer on the beach reading a book, lets the the story unfold with an assured pace. Much like "Magnolia", but without the quick cuts and flashy editing, "Sunshine State" involves us in the intertwining story of as many as ten characters, each richly developed and well acted (Angela Bassett

and Edie Falco are easy standouts). On the surface the plot regards the

development (and oppostion) of some Florida beach real estate, but this really about people coming to terms with their past and trying to move on to the future. Of dreams crushed and realized. Of history and memory. John Sayles doesn't

provide any pat or cliched answers and allows us to reach our own conclusions. This is a smart film for a smart audience, and stands among John Sayles' best works.

"Sunshine State" is a film rarity, and a complete pleasure. This is a film that never quite found a place in theatres, but I hope it does on video. Seek this one out you'll be glad you did.

10/10

Takashi Miike once again delivers a movie unlike anything you've seen before. Breaking all taboos regarding what can be shown on film, "Visitor Q", while

delivering some of most perverse images brought to the screen is also a

comment on contemporary life in Japan and reality television. It's hard to

adequately describe the plot without giving away much of the surprises held

within, but simply put, "Visitor Q" is about a father who is filming his family for the hopes of selling it to a television producer as the ultimate reality show. Throw in the strange visitor who starts living at their home and who ultimately changes their lives and you have a story that hooks you from the opening (and very

disturbing) sequence.

Miike is not a director who merely presents his stories for shock value. The latter half of "Visitor Q" is proof, when just when you think Miike has laid all his cards on the table, the story takes turns that are surreal, absurd and yes, comic. Miike is also a master story teller.

If you are a fan of Miike or extreme Japanese cinema, check this out. If you are easily offended or faint of heart....stay away.

"The Merry Jail", which now appears on the wonderful Criterion DVD edition of Ernst Lubitsch's comic masterpiece "Trouble In Paradise", serves as an

interesting introduction to the director's early years as a German silent film director and a first look at his handling of complex, comic relationships between men and women.

The roughly fifty minute film, involves a couple and their maid who all sneak off to the same party to rekindle, confront and find new love. It's not a great film by any stretch, and is often confusing with humor that is dated. However, the real treat of the film is the last fifteen minutes when Lubitsch ties together the stray threads of the story and ties them into (a not necessarily neat) bow.

For an introduction to Lubitsch's work, please stay away from this film and watch "Trouble In Paradise" or "The Shop Around The Corner", but to see the

beginnings of an influential director, "The Merry Jail" is an adequate classroom.

5/10

Over 20 years in the making, "Gangs Of New York" enters theaters with almost overshadowed by the hype and rumours surrounding the production. From the supposed arguments between director Martin Scorcese and producer Harvey Weinstein; Leonardo DiCaprio's apparent off camera antics that slowed production and Daniel Day-Lewis' complete immersion in the role. When the release date was pushed back twice things did not look good, however, I am pleased to write that "Gangs Of New York" is not only Scorcese's best film since "GoodFellas", but ranks among his best work ever.

The film starts with a nice cameo role by Liam Neeson, as young Amsterdam's (DiCaprio) father, getting his Irish gang ready to battle William Cutting (Day- Lewis) and his gang of "natives" for control of Five Points an area that in the mid-1800s has become a cauldron of immigrants all claiming their right to the land. There are no guns, just blades, not shiny and new, but sharp and steady with age, and soon the white snow is red with blood and Amsterdam's father is dead before his eyes at the hands of William "Bill The Butcher" Cutting.

Fast forward sixteen years and Amsterdam is out of reform school, unrecognizable with a settle to score. Five Points is not the neighbourhood it was as it is now under the fist of Bill the Butcher, who for lack of a better word, is early kind of mob leader. Every grift, hustle, whore and score sees a payment go into his pocket. However, as the occupants of Five Points battle each other,

America is preparing to go to war with itself, drafting immigrants as they come off the boat (all told in a truly remarkable sequence).

As Amsterdam learns the ways of Five Points, he joins Bill the Butcher's fold, at first to seek his revenge, however, not recognizing the older Amsterdam, Bill takes him under his wing and he is soon taken by the easy influence, power and money at his command. The closer he gets, the more conflicted he becomes, and equally, Bill is seeing the world around him change. No longer can brute force rule, but votes are now becoming harder than bullets and his allegiances with the powers-that-be, who once turned the other way to his indiscretions, are now at jeopardy.

"Gangs of New York" is a near perfect film, moving from the microscopic view of a neighbourhood to a wider scope of a nation on the brink of war. The performances are great and Daniel Day-Lewis is spectacular as Bill the Butcher, and he will doubt garner Oscar attention. However, it is flawed. Cameron Diaz's character, who's heart has the eyes of no less than three men, is not given enough screen time and there is even more we wish to know about Bill the Butcher, perhaps more of a backstory to account for his motivations.

Scorcese's ambition and assuredness behind the camera makes these flaws quickly disappear. There is so much contained in here - from the lush costume detail to the street vernacular of 1800s New York - you wish the film, despite it's three hour running time, would keep going. This is a world one wishes to linger in just a bit longer. Much has been made of the editing of this film, some saying that is what sparked disagreements between Scorcese and Weinstein.

Whatever the case, Scorcese has said there will not be a director's cut DVD, but here's hoping he reconsiders.

10/10

I've seen a lot of negative comments for the wonderful "Punch Drunk Love", and I think a lot of this reaction is coming from the surprise of how un-Sandler *and* how un-Anderson this picture is. Indeed, it not just a departure for Adam Sandler but for P.T. Anderson as well.

In his fourth feature, P.T. Anderson steps away from the ensemble-cast epics

that brought him into the mainstream ("Boogie Nights", "Magnolia") and the quiet character study of his debut "Hard Eight" (aka "Sydney"). Instead, he takes a nod toward the romantic comedies of the forties' and fifties' and combines it with his own distinctive style to create a love story - and more specifically the study of a personality and of the actual "falling" in love. The madness of romance, rather than the whimsy.

In "Punch Drunk Love", Sandler plays Barry Egan, a bi-polar, shy man who is

constantly belittled, and pushed around by his sisters. One morning he finds a harmonium on the driveway of his plunger business, as well as Lena (Emily

Watson) shortly thereafter leaving her car in his care for him to drop off at a neighbouring garage. When Lena returns to pick up the care, Barry finds himself falling for her and when she leaves on business trip to Hawaii, he follows her. In addition to all of this, Barry is being extorted by phone sex operators for money and carefully saving pudding cup barcodes in an insane plan to acquire air

miles. Does this sound crazy? Definitely, but in the wondrous hands of P.T.

Anderson he pulls these seemingly disparate plot ends and ties them up before your eyes with constant surprises and an energy that is unflagging.

Like his previous film "Magnolia", P.T. Anderson has a firm command of the

soundtrack for his film. Jon Brion's score hammers and clangs when it needs to and whispers and hints at others and the magical touch is the odd, but perfect, use of Shelley Duvall singing "He Needs Me" from Robert Altman's "Popeye". "Punch Drunk Love" is an absolutely gorgeous movie to look at. Shot in a rich, deep blue hue, with a beautiful wide screen lens, Anderson has a wide canvas

with which he creates some truly stunning scenes, particularly and curiously, in the supermarket sequences.

Rounded out by a strong supporting cast, including Luis Guzman and Philip

Seymour Hoffman, "Punch Drunk Love" is one of the most touching and original

films this year. Be warned though, Adam Sandler and even P.T. Anderson fans

may be disappointed, but give it a chance and it will surprise you.

9/10

Johnny Cash by all accounts is a legendary musician with a tremendous impact, not only on country music world, but on the rock music world as well. Johnny Cash is one of the few musicians who retains a remarkable sense of grace, dignity and respect this far into his musical career (especially with his most recent American recordings), yet, who also has a tremendous impact on his contemporaries such as Beck, Wilco and Will Oldham.

"Johnny Cash: The Anthology" presents two different overviews of his career, the first a 15 song guide from the past to the present and the other a biographical overview of his career. Along for the ride is commentary by the likes of Merle Haggard, Rodney Crowell, Billy Bob Thorton and Kris Kristofferson and while this may all sound good it is a disappointing viewing in the end.

The editing in both presentations is sloppy and poorly cut, particularly in the biographical portion of this video. It starts so abruptly I initially thought my DVD player had skipped a portion of the documentary. While the documentary was interesting it jumped around fairly quickly in Cash's career and pretty well skipped the 70s and 80s entirely. Though, the same sound bites from the aforementioned people appear in both presentations, it is good they didn't gloss over the bad parts of Cash's career particularly his addiction to pep pills in the 60s, but to sit through their glowing praise of Cash during the video presentation is a trial. The only reason it's worth sitting through their anecdotes are to see the tremendous footage of Cash classics. It's a real treat to see his performances from the 60s, as a lean and raw young man.

If you have the patience to sit through this, go for it, otherwise wait for a more comprehensive, better edited documentary to come along.

6/10

In a role once pegged for Nicole Kidman, Jodie Foster plays Meg Altman, newly divorced from her husband, a pharmaceuticals millionaire. She moves into a new, large, four story, brownstone on the Upper West Side with her daughter in tow. Along with the standard spacious rooms and spiralling staircase is an elevator (the previous owner being disabled) and a "panic room". The titled room is a steel encased room that houses a bank of tv's taking video feeds from camera's around the house. This "safe room" is to protect yourself from a home invasion, after all, what are you going to do if someone breaks into your home: "...call the police and wait until Tuesday?".

Now enter: Jared Leto, the kid with the plan, doing his best "Brad-Pitt-in-Fight-Club" impersonation; Forest Whitaker as the soft-hearted, but clear-headed of the criminals and Dwight Yoakam in another terrifying turn as the quiet but viscious one. Director David Ficher doesn't waste any time in getting to business. On the first night the home is broken into and while Meg and Sarah make it safely to the panic room, there's just one problem - what the criminals want is *in* the panic room.

In Fincher's fifth feature he tones down the wild visual style of "Fight Club" and "Se7en" and opts for a more classical, Hitchcock-ian style. Of course, Fincher doesn't leave his bag of tricks at home, offering some amazing tracking shots between rooms and floors.

Foster is great in the lead role measuring out her change from vulnerable to protective mother in measured doses. Leto almost overacts his way out of the role, choosing large gestures and tics in addition to articulation, but luckily Whitaker and Yoakam reel him in everytime he almost reaches into the ridiculous with calm, cool and in Yoakam's case unnerving performances.

Fincher's take on the thriller genre is wonderful, with shifting perspective's and genuine surprises. There are a couple key turns which I can't give away here, except to say that this is another top notch directorial effort by David Fincher.

8/10

The effect of music videos over the past two decades on the film industry has been phenomenal. Directors such as Spike Jonze ("Being John Malcovich") & Tarsem ("The Cell") started their careers in the music video game. Soundtracks and their accompanying videos are as much part of the advertising of a movie as the trailers themselves. Most importantly, techniques used in popular music videos are often mimicked in feature films. Economy has played a large part too, and now with the popularity and relative low-cost of digital cameras and effects almost anyone can create a visually alluring piece of eye-candy.

David Fincher upped the ante of digital effects with "Fight Club". A original storyline with an even more original script, it initially received a lukewarm response before becoming a cult favourite. Mr. Fincher is an example of a director using a new medium with a combination of precise care and wonderful abandon.

And then there is Guy Ritchie. A mostly talentless hack who in "Snatch" proved that fancy camera effects and funny accents will wear themselves out if there is nothing to support it.

"Time & Tide" by Tsui Hark is both a homage to the films that helped popularize a new visual style and it raises the bar a few more (large) notches. It is by turns brilliant, relentless, and breathtaking.

"Time & Tide" follows the interweaving lives of a pregnant lesbian cop, two mercenary friends and their underworld dealings, and a pregnant surrogate woman drawn into their world. Thematically it delves into issues ranging from mafia-like loyalty to Peckinpah-esuqe themes of man entering manhood through violence. But what is most impressive in "Time & Tide" is the delicate balance of tension and release. Something that flashy directors like Guy Ritchie should be paying attention too. The last two action sequences are phenomenal and take up a good half of the movie, but with Mr. Hark's careful direction you hardly notice. The first sequence is simply unequaled, taking place in three apartment towers in the tenements of Hong Kong. The second in a train station and stadium downtown. It is in these sequences that requires characters to hold back their flaring emotions in order to survive that Mr. Hark clearly flexes his directorial muscles. In a sequence which involves a young man trapped in an apartment slowly filling with gas, its conclusion is one of the most clever bits of action in recent memory.

"Time & Tide" is the real deal. An action film that delivers from beginning to end and doesn't blow its load halfway through. It is also truly cares about its characters and valiantly tries to delve into large issues. However, it never takes itself too seriously and for any action fan this is a must.

Highly recommended. Do not pass this up.

"Impact" starts off boldly with a voice-over definition from the dictionary of the word "impact"; as two lives colliding for good or for evil. While this may seem like a cheesy introduction to the film, I was willing to give it a shot.

The first half of the film is feverish, and weaves us into a plot involving a wife who sets up her husband to get murder so she can elope with her lover. The film adequately succeeds in laying the groundwork for a promising and clever finish (after a simple plot twist in the middle of the film).

Sadly, any energy or suspense in the first half of the film dissolves into a slow-paced, lethargic love story that distracts greatly from livelier main plot. By the end, the director is left juggling too many themes and I simply became disinterested.

Also, there were several nagging questions left to be answered as one watched the film (one of the large ones being how could the police not explore all motives or situations surrounding the murder? how come no one reads newspapers in small towns?).

"Impact" hardly delivers the punch it promises and deflates slowly but surely.

Hitchcock's "Rope" is a wonderful example of innovative filming techniques meshing cohesively with brilliant acting and directing. Shot in ten continuous takes, "Rope" is the Loeb-Leopold inspired story of two young men who commit murder purely on philosophical grounds. They decided to stow the body in their apartment and then throw a party that very night in a final act of courage and pride, inviting the victim's parents as well as their old headmaster.

An excellent script which requires close attention to fully appreciate it's nuances subtly builds the tension as one of the guests slowly unravels the misdeeds of the young men.

There is an appropriate nod to Dostoevsky's "Crime And Punishment", where the philosophical and moral ideas are directly borrowed. And the unique visual style only helps to compliment the confined and cramped atmosphere of the apartment and build the suspense.

If you enjoyed "Rear Window", "Rope" is definately worth a look.

"The Idiots" is definately not for everyone. It is disturbing, baffling and distasteful. At times it is darkly funny, and in true Lars von Trier fashion, the film never relieves the audience of its discomfort.

Lars von Trier greatest strengths easily lie in manipulating an audience's emotions and in exploring human relations. "Dancer In The Dark" in someone else's hands would have been trite and melodramatic, but with von Trier it becomes transcedent. "Breaking The Waves" was a resonant film on the power of love - for both good and bad.

In "The Idiots", a group of people band together to act like the mentally disabled in order to expose people's discomfort, break confining social norms and to find their "inner idiot" - in a perverse theory that simpleness transcends "bourgeous" or "middle class" life.

The premise is interesting, but the execution - surprisingly - does *not* strike the viewer as powerfully as past von Trier works. In this film, perhaps more than in others, it is essential that the message get across or else what you have is at times an offensive film that mocks the mentally challenged. However, to von Trier's credit there are moments where one shakes one's head at how society treats the disabled or patronizes them. Particularly in the opening scene in the restaurant or during an outing when the group, as "idiots", tries to sell Christmas decorations door-to-door.

The film follows the group through the eyes of Karen, someone who joins after seeing their performance in the opening scene at the restaurant. The focus of the film, however, is never clear. von Trier tries to juggle both issues of what Karen gets out of the group and what the group is essentially trying to achieve without ever clearly articulating his arguments. Interwoven into the story are some personal stories between the group members which prove to be a distraction.

von Trier has made a film that is definately interesting, and has moments of raw power, sadly, it does not affect the audience as much it should - or with the intensity that we have come to expect from von Trier.

It's hard to decide what exactly is the worst thing about this attempt at a crime mystery movie: the jerky, indecisive cinematography; the intrusive "alternative" soundtrack; terrible acting; the completely cliched script or the general frustration one has in trying to watch this movie that is truly an insult to one's intelligence.

The story follows a burned-out, pill-popping ex-LAPD cop played straight out of the cliche handbook by James Spader. He relocates to Chicago where he lives in a terrible apartment, complete with an empty fridge and a water heater in the kitchen. He is haunted by the memories of a serial killer, who prayed on young women.

Keanu Reeves is that killer, and he follows him to Chicago, because apparentally he has nothing better to do, and he doesn't seem to have to work either. After taunting James Spader with two more young women who quickly become victims, and extending the movie length during the first forty minutes, Keanu finally makes it personal by targeting Spader's psychiatrist played by a confused, and noticeably weary, Marisa Tomei.

By this point, I was exasperated and shut the movie the off. Not only is this final chain of events so predictable, but soon after Keanu and James share an elevator ride together - after a flashback sequence indicated that Reeves had once targeted Spader's wife back in Los Angeles AND SPADER HAD SEEN HIM.

"The Watcher" is about as predictable, scary and haunting as a jack-in-the-box.

Once again Hollywood's backward logic of showing all the best parts of a movie in the television commercial ruined what could have been an otherwise okay flick. John Woo was a welcome director to the project because his flair certainly added some substance to a lacklustre script, but the final twenty minute showdown between Cruise and the badguys was wrecked because I had seen all the stunts and effects in the commercials and trailers. Oh well. It's worth a rental if you like action movies but don't expect any surprises.

D.O.A. has all the right elements to be a great film-noir, but instead the script fumbles for an identity: romance or mystery? Often times this combination can be pulled off beautifully (see anything Humphrey Bogart was involved in), but in this case the romance acts independent of the mystery and frankly we are not sure if Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) is even interested in Paula Gibson (Pamela Britton) and frankly by the latter third of the film we don't care.

The actual mystery of the film is quite promising, if somewhat implausible. Bigelow is poisoned mysteriously, will die in a few days and must find out who did it before time runs out. However, each step of the mystery is not securely bound and you are more left scratching your head than gasping in wonder or fright.

D.O.A. is a B-grade movie that unfortunately plays out with a lesser grade script. Edmond O'Brien fills out his role by running and yelling a lot and Pamela Britton doesn't seem quite sure what her character wants: love or to just out of the relationship (the viewer is wondering is there even a relationship to begin with).

D.O.A. certainly lives up to its acronym.

"The Godfather" trilogy and "Goodfellas" owe a lot to this gangster film that preceded them both by at least fifty years. "The Public Enemy" was perhaps one of the first mob films that followed the rise and fall of a gangster and showed not only the implication of his actions on himself but on his family as well.

The film is far from perfect. The first ten minutes of the film in which we are shown a glimpse into the characters' childhood are jerky at best and feel as if much of it was left on the cutting room floor. The movie's incessant fast pace thereafter don't allow for much to sink in, but Cagney saves the day with an absolutely fiery performance. Not one person is spared from his bubbling anger and ferocious delivery.

Finally, the ending will leave you gasping - even by today's standards.

"The Public Enemy" is a must see for any true fan of the mob movie genre.

Never in a silent picture have I seen political issues juxtaposed with astonishing camera work to the effect seen here. Eisenstein has created a moving work with breathtaking surrealist images. The end result is a sincerely affecting piece of drama and a palette of images far ahead of its time.

A must-see. A masterpiece.

Hearts And Flowers is an often confusing and hardly noteworthy comedy from the golden age of film. The "plot" revolves roughly around a flower girl and her longing for a man that is "too good" for her. The plot changes too quickly, and so often that one is left scratching his head. This film would hardly be worth remembering were it not for the same sex kisses! Very surprising for a film of its time...

A delightful Harold Lloyd piece in which, in a nice change of pace, his character is a self-assured, confident young man living in New York during the roaring twenties, who loves baseball as much as he loves his girlfriend. Trouble is afoot however, when business tycoons try to buyout his father-in-law's lone horse and buggy track for their development. Things turn unlawful when goons are hired to try and thwart the buggy's run, which must be made at least once every 24 hours, or Pop can lose his license.

Everything plays out in the traditional Lloyd way, with wonderful gags and set pieces, but the biggest treat of all is the roughly twenty minute escape Lloyd takes with his girl to Coney Island. Wonderfully shot, it is truly a pleasure to see Coney Island in it's hey day. As well, Babe Ruth does a nice turn playing himself.

A must see.

I taped this movie simply because it co-starred Lauren Bacall, and while I expected the movie to be good, it far exceeded my expectations. North West Frontier, is a terrifically paced, exciting adventure. Bacall co-stars as a governess who must escort a young heir to the Hindu throne through a cross country Indian battlefield. Helping her to do this is a British solider and a random assortment of civilians along for the ride. Herbert Lom is wonderfully creepy - but I won't say why. Definately a movie to check out.

This is perhaps one of the most original dramas to come out of a Hollywood studio in a long, long time, and as a result it almost fails in it's desire to be audacious. In trying to pick apart the myth of happy American suburb life, the characters and situations are so completely striking it almost is unbelievable. As the masks of each character fall off it almost brinks on absurdity. But thanks to powerhouse performances by Kevin Spacey (who will get nominated and probably win Best Actor) and Chris Cooper (who should get nominated, but probably won't, for Best Supporting Actor) and a tremendous directorial effort by Sam Mendes the film is indeed a triumph.

Lastly, it might be best to arrive at the film five minutes late to skip the opening narrative which for some inexplicable reason gives away the powerful ending, which would have been more effective if hadn't been given away two hours earlier.

If you liked this movie, see Happiness, which covers the same ground, but I think much more effectively.

In a summer of gross-out comedies, and big budget special effects flicks, director Mike Figgis perhaps took audiences by surprise with The Loss Of Sexual Innocence, a rare, brave and intelligent film that discusses the close threads between sex & death and desire & hatred. By intertwining his own semi-autobiographical story and that of Adam & Eve being cast out of the Garden of Eden, Figgis beautifully addresses each of the themes he introduces.

This is a film which demands attention and patience - something that, frankly, most movie audiences cannot tolerate. It demands that the audience take an active role interpreting this largely silent (and beautifully shot) film. If you are willing to take the plunge, you will leave the theater immensely satisfied.

This will perhaps be the most overlooked, under appreciated film of the year.