MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA [R]
review by Robert Newton

With Miracle At St. Anna, Spike Lee has made his “Saving Private Ryan,” a sweeping tale of war, revenge and loyalty, and it is a rather stunning piece of work, even if it is a bit overreaching.

Set in the waning days of World War II, this James McBride-penned story of an all-black regiment known as Buffalo Soldiers stuck in the middle of Nazi-lousy Italy blends genres nicely, even if the story is framed a bit awkwardly. Joseph Gordon Levitt (”The Lookout”) plays a cub reporter in 1983 trying to figure out why Hector (Laz Alonso), a black New York postal worker, went berserk and shot a customer in cold blood (and with a Luger), and why he has the head of a 400-year-old Italian statue in a bag in his closet. It is a mystery that Lee unravels in a gradual and non-linear fashion, and he is aided in his effort by a trademark solid cast, even if appearances by some of his regulars like John Turturro and John Leguizamo seem obligatory.

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CHOKE [R]
review by Robert Newton

It may not be a completely worthy follow-up to David Fincher’s infinitely quotable 1999 testo-fest “Fight Club,” but Clark Gregg’s dark comedy, also based on a Chuck Palahniuk novel, is a grimy but likable character study. Reminiscent of the 1998 (pre-zany) Ben Stiller film “Permanent Midnight,” this delving into one man’s mania stars the under-appreciated Sam Rockwell as Victor Mancini, a sex addict who may or may not be the half-clone of Jesus the Christ. In his first major leading role, he is commanding as a highly functional product of many traumas, fully aware of how toxic his life is but helpless to stop its march. A tight, biting script and skilled supporting turns by Anjelica Huston as Victor’s pragmatic but irresponsible mother, Kelly Macdonald as his doctor and Brad William Henke as his best friend and enabler further flavor the mix. Director Gregg, himself a character actor, blends seamlessly into the background, letting his cast do their thing. Creating characters that are so helplessly self-absorbed that we actually can relate to is no small feat, which is why what Gregg and company have done in this sardonic sleeper is all the more special, even if we don’t fully realize it until we’ve taken a long, hot shower to get the layer of scuz off of us.•••

Robert Newton is the editor of WorcesterMovies.

NIGHTS IN RODANTHE [PG-13]

How to create the ultimate “Chick Flick”:

GHOST TOWN [PG-13]
review by Robert Newton

Ricky Gervais is a comedy star, and anyone who doesn’t believe it from seeing him on the original British “Office” or HBO’s “Extras” cannot ignore that fact after watching him lay it down like the pro he is in this old-fashioned comedy by esteemed mercenary scribe David Koepp (”Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull”).

Gervais plays Bertram Pincus, a New York dentist who, after dying for 7 minutes during a surgical procedure, can talk with the dead. Naturally, they all have One Last Thing to resolve before going into the light, and they all call on Pincus to help them with it. And of course, being the miserable misanthrope that he is, just wants them to leave him alone so that he can get on with the business of being a miserable misanthrope. But then he meets Gwen (Téa Leoni), the widow of suave philanderer Frank (Greg Kinnear). Their first encounter is awkward at best (he’s in the habit of stealing her cabs and not holding the elevator for her), but they eventually connect, even though she doesn’t know that he is on a mission from Frank and his ethereal brethren.

The concept is far-fetched, but Koepp and company sell it from the start. Gervais is hilarious, never letting his grasp slip once during his believable transformation from jerk to jester. Kinnear makes it look easy, too, giving us just as many reasons to like and despise Frank. Leoni is a great foil for Gervais (or any strong comic actor for that matter), playing with him in every scene in service of the story and not herself. And the story itself is full of lots of nice little treats, from the ghosts who spend their limbo life in the clothes they died in to the warm asides that Koepp sneaks in. They all make for a sweet, modern-day “Topper” that’s impossible to dislike, even if you don’t believe in spooks.•••

Robert Newton is the editor of WorcesterMovies.

LAKEVIEW TERRACE [PG-13]
review by Robert Newton

Sometimes critics lose sight of why regular people go to the movies — to be entertained. Not everything has to be enlightening, meaningful or artistic; sometimes, a good ol’ revenge drama like Lakeview Terrace will do the trick and prompt a satisfied, “That was pretty good” on the way to the parking lot.

Samuel L. Jackson plays Samuel L. Jackson as a veteran L.A. cop who is rather displeased with the fact that his new white neighbor (Patrick Wilson) has a black bride (Kerry Washington). His distaste goes beyond the snarky aside — he insinuates, threatens and takes extreme action to get his (incredibly photogenic) new neighbors out so that he and his two motherless children can exist in the influence-free world that he has created for them.

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IGOR [PG]
review by Howie Green

Somewhere along the way, the makers of the new kids’ animated film Igor lost their way. Borrowing heavily from both Tim Burton’s goth style and sensibilities, this seemingly innocuous horror romp is filled with disturbing characters and dark humor that are completely inappropriate and unsettling for the film’s target audience of young kids. Seriously, what parent is going to want to expose their wee ones to a main character that is constantly trying to commit suicide? And when Igor’s monster creation turns out to be a self-involved actress all the jokes and humor about her will be totally lost on young kids. “Igor” is too freaky and off-center for kids and too simple for adults and will hopefully disappear before anyone even notices it.

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“NUMB3RS” is a drama about an FBI agent who recruits his mathematical-genius brother to help the Bureau solve a wide range of challenging crimes in Los Angeles. The two brothers take on the most confounding criminal cases from a very distinctive perspective. Inspired by actual events, the series depicts how the confluence of police work and mathematics provides unexpected revelations and answers to the most perplexing criminal questions. A dedicated FBI agent, Don Eppes (Rob Morrow), couldn’t be more different from his younger brother, Charlie Eppes (David Krumholtz), a brilliant mathematician who, since he was little, yearned to impress his big brother. Their father, Alan (Judd Hirsch), is happy to see his sons working together even though he doesn’t understand the intricacies of what Charlie does for a living.  It is his co-workers at CalSci who further refine Charlie’s approach and help him stay focused. Physicist friend Dr. Larry Fleinhardt (Peter MacNicol) constantly challenges Charlie to employ a broader point of view to his work with the FBI, and Amita Ramanjuan (Navi Rawat), Charlie’s former grad student, frequently helps him see cases in a new light Despite their disparate approaches to life, Don and Charlie are able to combine their areas of expertise and solve some killer cases. NUMB3RS: The Fourth Season debuts on DVD September 30 from CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment for the suggested retail price of $61.99 US.

QUESTION: Russell Crowe won an Oscar for his portrayal of mathematician John Nash in what 2001 film?

E-mail your answer with the word NUMBERS CONTEST in the subject head to RNewton@PagioInc.com by 11:59pm on Sunday, September 28th. Multiple entries will be disqualified, as will entries by winners from the last 60 days. Winners will be selected at random from all correct entries. Good luck!

BABYLON A.D. [PG-13]

Sci-fi epics like Babylon A.D. are a lot like Frankenstein’s monster. They are large and clumsy, and stitched together from the parts of many others. And with an action hero like Vin Diesel in the lead, the best it can muster when it speaks is echoes of Peter Boyle’s cry, “Super duper!” from Mel Brooks’s “Young Frankenstein.”

Puttin’ on the glitz here is French writer-director and former arthouse darling Mathieu Kassovitz (”Hate”). He has the story of a mysterious young nun named Aurora (Mélanie Thierry) and Toorop (Diesel), the muscle hired to shuttle them from Russia to New York, with which to work, and a number of thoughtful touches suggest that some far more thoughtful was intended. Instead, this vague, heavily dystopian future tale appears to have been heavily edited by studio Fox for length and to earn a more marketable PG-13 rating, and it neuters the film right out of the gate.

Casting Diesel was a mistake. He is more at home in the “Riddick” universe, in which his brawn is needed to stress how sometimes might does make right; here, a more cerebral and reflective personality is required to give a smart face to what was obviously a script that meant something to someone (wiry fellow countryman Vincent Cassel was Kassovitz’s original choice). Chinese superstar Michelle Yeoh, as Rebeka, the sister charged with saving the mysterious Aurora from spiritual corruption, may as well be a robot nanny, her character develops so little. Diesel’s arc is unbelievable; one minute he’s the “I need no one” mercenary, and the next he’s smiling and laughing after super-being Aurora saves his life. Thierry is little more than impossibly pretty, and the presence of heavy hitters like Gerard Depardieu as a crime boss and Charlotte Rampling as the head of a sect that wants to use the technology that made Aurora to build its legacy suggest that the project was intended more than tax-deductible eye candy.

Maurice Dantec, the Gallic counterpart to our cyberpunk guru William Gibson, wrote the book “Babylon Babies” on which the film is based. Unmolested, Kassovitz may have been able to turn it into a modern-day chestnut like “Planet Of The Apes” (also based on a novel by a French author). Instead, the awkwardly stitched superficial remnants of “Blade Runner,” “The Fifth Element” and every modern-day P.K. Dick adaptation fester, causing us to lament what might have been as we gaze upon their very separate parts on the slab.•••

Robert Newton is the editor of Worcester Movies.

EXCERPTS FROM THE SPANISH DIARY
by Woody Allen

JANUARY 2, 2007
Received offer to write and direct film in Barcelona. Must be cautious. Spain is sunny, and I freckle. Money not great either, but agent did manage to get me a 10th of 1 percent of anything the picture does over $400 million after break even.

Have no idea for Barcelona unless the story of the two Hackensack Jews who start a mail-order embalming firm could be switched.

MARCH 5
Met with Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz. She’s ravishing and more sexual than I had imagined. During interview my pants caught fire. Bardem is one of those brooding geniuses who clearly will need a firm hand from me.

APRIL 2
Offered role to Scarlett Johansson. Said before she could accept, script must be approved by her agent, then by her mother, with whom she’s close. Following that it must be approved by her agent’s mother. In middle of negotiation she changed agents — then changed mothers. She’s gifted but can be a handful.

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BEFORE THE FALL [NR]
review by Sue Katz

Before The Fall is Dennis Gansel’s unflinching look at life in 1942 Germany for boys who have been judged sufficiently Aryan and accomplished to attend high schools whose mission is to prepare the next generation of leadership. The handsome adolescent Friedrich Weimer (Max Riemelt) finds relief in the local boxing gym from his back-breaking labor job. A Nazi recruiter catches his fight and offers him a sports scholarship to a “Napola” - a National Political School where the next generation of Aryan leaders are educated. Friedrich’s father is horrified at the thought of his son having anything to do with “those people,” so Friedrich forges the parental permission slip. Once enrolled, he find himself in a tough-love, homoerotic institution that makes impossible demands on him.

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