A film about one hero by another
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In &quot;The Brooke Ellison Story,&quot; Reeve set out to dramatize the real-life triumph over adversity of its subject who, at age 11, was struck by a car and paralyzed from the neck down, yet a few years later graduated with honors from Harvard University.
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A good story and great performances make this an engrossing film to watch.
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The Oscar-nominated spy film stands out because its characters are allowed to be more than mere plot devices.
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Hero: Action/historical drama. Starring Jet Li, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Zhang Ziyi, Chen Dao Ming, Donnie Yen. Directed by Zhang Yimou.
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Hero splashes love and death in ravishing colors
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This story of a father trying to help his son is supposed to be heartwarming, but feels a bit cold-blooded.
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One film provides a positive message of unity. Another dramatizes the president's difficult days. A third offers sympathy to a nation wounded on Sept. 11, but includes foreign filmmakers' points of view.
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Zhang Yimou's new film is even more likeable than his previous hit Hero.
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The actor sports a new look in Rakesh Mehra's new film.
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Salman Khan's new film may work only because of him.
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Ladder 49 is the story of firefighters and the sacrifices they make in saving people. Unlike a standard action flick (although it does have plenty of that), the film focuses on the effect
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I met an old friend for coffee in San Francisco yesterday afternoon, and had a few hours to kill before stopping in at the Wired reunion party. I didn't want to drive back to Berkeley because the weather was so crummy, and I was just across teh street from a movie theater and was just in time for the start of a movie that lots of people had been telling me to see. So I went. The movie -- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, I had no idea what it was about until the movie started, then I remembered hearing a Fresh Air show about it and finding it too painful to listen to. Now here I was in the theater, not just being asked to listen to it, but being asked to live it. Through some very wonderful film-making, you feel as if what is happening to the main character is happening to you. Or more accurately, probably, you get the slightest hint of what it's like to be this person. My immediate impulse, one which I gave serious consideration to, was to pack up my things and leave. Anything would be better than spending three hours living this guy's life.  Two things happen over time: 1. You get over it. 2. They change perspective, and instead of being inside his body, you move outside it.  I think those two things are the story we all live as we mature and learn to live inside our own bodies, with their limits. You learn to step outside and see the humor in your predicament. The main character says he lives in a diving bell because it's as hard for him to communicate with other people as it would be at the bottom of the ocean inside a diving bell. The movie teaches that it's not much easier for the rest of us, even though we can manipulate symbols better. On the other hand, of course it is. The film develops a relationship between the hero and his father, between the hero and his own children, his ex-wife, his lover.  We strive for deeper understanding of ourselves and each other. But it may be ridiculously easy to find the only meaning that exists, without language, without intellect, by just being. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly should probably be the picture of the year for 2007, it's that good. But like all great art it shows you something truthful about yourself, and you may or may not want to see it.
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Okay, a few days ago I wrote a review of the Diving Bell and the Butterfly saying it could be the best picture of 2007, but even so you might want to skip it because the truth it reveals might be something you don't want to look at. It's a fine picture, but a tough one. Another wonderful but tough picture is No Country for Old Men. It's one of those movies that leaves so much unresolved that you walk out of the theater not sure which foot goes in front of the other. On a second viewing it makes much more sense. The world isn't necessarily as crazy as it at first seemed. But there's a movie that is also incredibly well crafted, and gets better every time you think about it -- Juno. I didn't realize how much I liked it until I heard someone compare it to Little Miss Sunshine, a movie that I did not enjoy, unlike everyone else it seems. I loved Juno because it organizes its sweetness into love for one person, the star of the movie, Juno. But everyone, no matter how dorky or clueless (and some of the adults are truly dorky and clueless) shares the love. The movie has a wholeness, an unqualified goodness, you not only walk out of the theater in love with Juno and everyone else in the movie, but your heart is warmed for everyone, including yourself. It's that good.  All three remind how good movies can be. And there were some not-too-bad movies at the end of 2007, for example, Atonement, which some didn't like, but I did. 3:10 to Yuma is a well-crafted genre picture. Michael Clayton was a perfect showcase for the talents of George Clooney. Great acting and a simple story in The Savages.  Which one was the best? I'd hate to have to choose!
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There comes the moment in the career of many directors when they are compelled to tell the story of a great man in whose life they seem to see a glimmer of their own image.
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The film does, in a way, remind us of the old one.
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LOS ANGELES - One film provides a positive message of unity. Another dramatizes the president's difficult days...
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For some reason, themes  revolving around the Iraq War seem to be defying the best  efforts of serious-minded filmmakers. Such is the case with  this debut feature effort from Bryan Gunnar Cole.