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Escape from Alcatraz is a solid drama about exactly what it sounds like. Clint Eastwood leads a small group of inmates on an attempt to break out of the famous fortress. The film is based on such an attempt, which is the only recorded possible escape. Directed by Sam Spiegel (Dirty Harry), this film plays out much like The Shawshank Redemption minus sappy melodrama. Definitely recommended.

A lot has been said of RoboCop 2, the follow-up to Paul Verhoeven's classic 80's actioner, and most of it has been resoundingly negative. I don't quite understand the hate myself, seeing as how I got a real kick out of this B-movie, this time helmed by the late Irvin Kushner, who also directed the best Star Wars film (I shouldn't need to tell you which one that is). This time Robo faces a spiraling war on drugs, and the dastardly corrupt OCP Corporation trying to delete the remnants of his humanity. It's not quite on par with the Verhoeven's original, but as an ultra violent action flick with a whiff of social satire, RoboCop 2 succeeds none-the-less. Just make sure to stay away from the third film at all costs.

Oliver Stone's W. is a serious mix of good and bad. On the plus side the performances from Josh Brolin, James Chromwell, Jefferey Wright, Elizabeth Banks and Ellen Bustyn are quite good and do lend the film enough humanity to keep it afloat. On the down side, Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice is Razzie-worthy, and the story-while it certainly is ambitious-needed to be more in-depth. The film feels like a cliff notes version of the actual cliff notes. It's a rather simplified telling of the George W. Bush life/story/presidency. Oliver Stone has done much better work, and W. should have been an epic. This is the man who gave with JFK and Nixon, both clocking in at three and a half, nearly four hours in length. What is here is decent enough, I suppose, but it's not as satisfying as one would hope or suspect. Brolin is absolutely key to the film's success, and does keep Dubbya humanized, and likeable. You get the impression that this was a man who strove for greatness, but was brought down by two things; his inability to get beyond his father's shadow and questioning himself, or those around him; too many "Yes Men" in the room, and not enough grip on the steering wheel of his own Presidency. W. gets a mild recommendation for those interested in the subject matter, but I feel as if a more "definitive" film may still be on the horizon.

Let's keep this sweet and to the point: Killshot is unremarkable. A great cast (Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Thomas Jane, Jospeh Gordon Levitt, Rosario Dawson) turn in solid performances in a lackluster story. The main reason to even bother with this one is for Mickey Rourke, but the story is quite forgettable. It's really as simple as that.

I did not recognize here the Oliver Stone I loved before with movies like Any Given Sunday, Born on the 4th of July, The Doors, JFK and Natural Born Killers. I think the problem was also that I was really not compelled to the Bush topic. I just got bored. I kept thinking about another movie I watched the same day and really stuck in my mind, which just reflects how little interested I was in what was happening in the movie.

The acting in this was incredible I was just not so sure of the direction of the movie. I felt as if the script was a little dull and it took too long to make a point. However, I most certainly caught the emotion of the film. Definitely a must see.... not necessarily a must own.

J

W.
2008, 129mins, PG-13
Director: Oliver Stone
Writer: Stanley Weiser
Cast includes: Josh Brolin, Richard Dreyfuss, Elizabeth Banks, James Cromwell, Thandie Newton, Colin Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Scott Glenn, Toby Jones
Release Date: 17th October 2008

Within Oliver Stone's directorial resume there have been substantially more cutting and important films than W., his take on George W. Bush and his reign as President. Stone seems to have lost a lot of the mettle that cut him out as a cinematic maverick over 20 years ago, maybe upon entering his twilight years he's softened and W. would be the film to prove it. An at times bizarrely sympathetic look at a "patchy" presidential figure there are some points of interest in W. and it's altogether modestly enjoyable, but one had hoped for a feature a little more controversial and sharp than this placid viewpoint.
The film examines Bush's tenure as President and the path that led him to such a high profile destiny, Stone using cutback storytelling to forge the story and add as much flesh to the central figure as possible. The movie doesn't miss many of the defining moments from the Bush administration but it largely fails to concoct them into a fresh or indeed intrepid whole, instead recycling the idea that whilst he made many a bad decision he was not in fact a bad man. It's not that I want to see Stone make Bush out to be a demon or a political super villain, but a less understanding and harsh approach toward the consequences of those "bad decisions" would have been nice. Iraq et all are mentioned but never unearthed in a fully satisfying or detailed manner, the film frustratingly more focused on the man himself than his unfortunate legacy.
The film never operates well enough as a biopic to have drawn awards contention, but it's quite shocking that the performances didn't. W. is a film strewn with great actors doing great work, particularly Josh Brolin as the man himself. Brolin captures the different stages of the man's mentality rather wonderfully and moulds himself into a believable portrait of such a modern day icon. As an actor he seems to approach the role with the same openness for consideration as Stanley Weiser's patchy script but from an acting viewpoint it works far better. After all, it's not as if Bush believed himself to be a political antichrist. Other standouts include Richard Dreyfuss as the infamous Dick Cheney, the lovely Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush and James Cromwell as Bush snr. Thandie Newton has her big "acting hat" on for the part of Condoleezza Rice, but other than her excessive attempts at character immersion it's a great effort from the actors.
The movie is in effect a prolonged failure, though an interesting and intensely watchable one at that. It might strike you as odd that I have given the film a mild recommendation and yet criticize its story and weak grasp so vigorously. That's because whilst the picture never really sinks its teeth into one of the worlds most scrutinized figures it does remain oddly intriguing throughout. The way in which Stone builds the character into one of redemptive yearning is admittedly clever and the performances are super, despite the indecisive and messy way in which the picture attempts to analyze such a messy presidency. W. is as a political commentary a failure, but as an acting master class and filmmaking curio it might have some genuine worth after all.

I was actually prepared to really like this movie. I have to respect Stone's bizarro ambition here. He's performed a real cinematic oddity here by releasing a "pre-historical" bio-pic whose main goal is to deliver a fair-handed message from a biased perspective. Unfortunately, it's not as interesting as all that, and in fact might be one of the dullest, most useless films of 2008. The film barely succeeds when it heads into more surrealist territory, from Presidential dream sequences (yes, this really happens) to calculated stylistic breakdowns, but most of the screenplay is ripped-from-the-headlines wheel-grinding with absolutely zero new or revelatory information, and the performances are mostly stuffed with laughably shallow impressions (to borrow from James Gunn's Twitter, Thandie Newton seriously plays Condoleeza Rice as if she were Urkel) with a few noble exceptions: Josh Brolin isn't groundbreaking, but he does deliver a nuanced performance that actively avoids cartoonism, and James Cromwell and Richard Dreyfuss bring their wisened talents to a table that has no room for it. I think everyone expected something heavy-handed here, but instead, it's kid-glove satire at its sharpest and nearly a puff piece at its kindest, and nowhere near universally interesting or amusing enough to make up for its lack of focus.

Chop Shop ***
W **
Zack & Miri Make a Porno **1/2
Role Models ***
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist **1/2

:rotten:

One of the most accurate portrayals of George W. Bush. "W." is an unbiased look at the story of an average man who followed in his father's footsteps and became president of the United States of America. This movie is realistic and interesting. Every twist and turn holds the viewers interest.

Although W. lacks bite, it doesn't undermine the quality of every performance and compelling nature of the father/son relationship at the centre of the politics.

Last night I went to my favorite weekend locale: The Somerville Theater, to fufill my weekend movie fix. W is a film that I've been waiting to see for quite some time, but I chose to see it after the elections lest it affect my ultimate decision. Surprisingly enough I feel that it didn't leave me with a bad taste in my mouth about the Bush Administration. Though Stone did his best to portray the man as an idiot, which was indeed effective, I took more stock in Bush's open manipulation by members of his cabinet. Allowing himself to be ruled by his emotions and seeking more than anything approval from a father who never seemed to believe in him. More than anything else it seems that the only emotion that I can now feel for this man is pity, leaving office with some of the lowest approval ratings that a president has ever seen, manipulated by those who he thought were closest to him, cuckolded my a democratic senate and house, and viewed as a failure above anything else.

Josh Brolin did a splendid job in his portrayal as the President, his accent was completely believable and he had gotten the caricature completely perfected. There were certainly times when one didn't even realize that it was he instead of W on the screen itself. I'm more than certain that he runs the possibility of being nominated for an Academy Award for this. The rest of the cast was comic in their portrayals, Karl Rove, Condi Rice, Colin Powell, all were stellar actors performing at what seemed like their best. I was astounded at the speed at which Stone put all of this footage together, there are stories that I've seen circulated that the actors wrapped the filming process within a span of 43 days so that Stone could rush to get the film out before the election. The cinematography, per the usual Stone style, was stellar and well organized. It seemed, however, that he couldn't help but inject his usual bit of surrealism. Which was tastefully minimal, but still completely unnecessary in places.

The film lived up to expectations, a sixty-something percentage on Rotten Tomatoes. A good movie, but I probably wouldn't watch it twice.