Night at the Museum

** Stars
This is Jumanji meets Indian in the Cuboard, while only being memorable when Owen Wilson and Robin Williams are on screen. Besides these two, this film is a wasted opportunity. O, and Dick Van Dyke is in this one too, therefore you know it's a question mark.

The Pursuit of Happyness

***1/2 Stars

The American Dream: through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve prosperity (aka Chris Gardner)

Will Smith brings The Pursuit of Happyness from a typical tearjerker, to a memorable journey of the American Dream. He is the heart and soul of this film, but not without some solid supporting performances.

This is inspired by the true story of Chris Gardner, a bright and talented, but devastatingly poor salesman struggling just to make rent and afford food. Gardner soon finds himself and his five-year-old son evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, from living on the streets to struggling for food. Chris and his son Christopher (Smith's real life son Jaden Smith, in a surprising strong debut) pursue a dream of a better life and future happiness. This is the most personal performance of Smith's career and he is on the road to a well deserved Oscar nomination.

A Look Back at Some Old Classics...

The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath is John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel set during the Great Depression. It revolves around a group of Oklahoma farmers' migrating from the dust bowl to a better life in California. The film, directed by John Ford and starring the always fabulous Henry Fonda is a beautifully shot and well executed film. Many regard this as one of the greatest American films ever. Though slightly overrated, this is still a classic tale of survival and determination.

Cinematographer Gregg Toland is flawless here, moving the camera along side the rutted old car on route 66. He shows the vast emptiness of the land with sweeping views of the plains of the dessert. In one heartbreaking scene, the elder grandfather dies from the long trip along side the road. The family surrounds him with utter silence and emotional disarray.

The big difference between the book and film is the ending. In the end of the novel, one of the women on the journey suffers a stillborn child and the baby flows down a river symbolizing a Jesus like sacrifice. In the film, the family (or what’s left of them) travel across into an unknown place, with only a sign informing them that danger is ahead. Both endings are effective, yet the film seems to end somewhat abruptly. Nevertheless, this is still a stunningly brutal film powered by performances and comprehensive camerawork.

King Kong

“It was beauty killed the beast”

Classified as one of the greatest blockbusters in American film history, King Kong is one of the few films that actually lives up to its expectations. It is a visual wonder, full of grand excitement and dazzling emotion. It is the best film of 1933.

In the early stage of the great depression, the bold and stubborn filmmaker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) finds a map to an unknown piece of land in the middle of the ocean, where he will shoot his next picture. He finds Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) a young and beautiful, yet poor actress to travel by ship, along with a large crew and his friend Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot) to this location. When landing on the island, Ann is captured and sacrificed to Kong. Driscoll (who is in love with her), Denham, and the crew aim to capture the animal and save Ann. Kong mysteriously falls in love with Ann, as he protects her against the dangers of the Island. Kong is brought back to New York for a heartbreaking, a stunningly brutal finale.

Directors Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack conjure up a world of magic. The chase scenes through the island, especially when the crew runs from the dinosaurs through the pond and on foot are horrifying. Kong’s visual presence is staggering as he viciously throws the crew off a tree limb. The men are helplessly thrown into the ground and mangled. This is a scene of astonishing power. The greatest shots come from when Kong’s head slowly eases into the view through a window or through the subway train glass giving a murderous look to its next prey. As the journey continues through the island, Kong and one other dinosaur attempt to destroy one another, but he is no match for Kong as he for the first time saves Ann’s life. The final scene of New York City, as Kong runs up on the Empire State Building, swatting at airplanes and protecting Ann is one of the most memorable scenes in film history.

King Kong, the classic blockbuster, is an explosive piece of cinematic filmmaking. Seventy years later and it is still a precedent for many filmmakers. It’s visuals for a 1933 film is a bewildering technical achievement. This is a piece of beauty that has killed the beast. I am that beast.

M

Before the sequel Mabuse the Gambler, there was M, one of Fritz Lang’s best directed films. This is a story of a psychotic child murderer named Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) who stalks a city and is unable to be caught. The police, along with the infamous Inspector Lohmann, try desperately to find the man but are unsuccessful. Through their process they continue to cut into the business of gangsters, who decide to catch him themselves by employing homeless beggars as their spies. This is a haunting and original idea.

As the public begins to discover the treacherous acts of this man, they shout in horror to “Kill the Beast”. Hans looks into the camera with a sense of vulnerability and nerve-racking instability and says “But I didn’t even know her”. This is brilliant writing and cinematography. It feels like he is actually confessing to the viewer.

What is most affecting in the film is how Lang doesn’t show anything. It allows the viewer to imagine what happened in their own mind. A dark and mysterious atmosphere is maintained throughout the movie. This is a truly haunting thriller.

The Pilgrim

Charlie Chaplin is a brilliant filmmaker and a fantastic comedian. In the opening of The Pilgrim, Chaplin, playing his infamous role as “The Tramp”, escapes from prison and takes a preacher's set of clothes. He is then hilariously mistaken for an actual preacher and he becomes the new minister for the town of Devil's Gulch. He is later discovered as a convict and the sheriff of the town takes Charlie to the Mexican border where he can choose to return as a convict or face Mexican bandits at war with each other.

This is a hilarious film. I do believe that Chaplin is one of the strongest comedians of cinematic history, ahead of Buster Keaton. Although Keaton is a master at his material, Chaplin and his slapstick skills stand above Keaton. In one side-splittingly funny scene, Chaplin is forced to deliver a sermon as the minister and fails miserably. After more and more chaos, he sees an ex-inmate who recognizes him in the home of lovely girl and religious family. The movie feels like it offended many church authorities back when it was released in 1923. But for everyone else, this is a gift from comedic heaven.

Blood Diamond

**** Stars

Blood Diamond is a brilliant look at a bewildering controversy. It explores a culture unknown to the common man, with stunningly brutal performances and crisp cinematography. It is one of the best films of the year.

Set against the backdrop of civil war and chaos in 1990's Sierra Leone, Danny Archer (a magnificent and brutally glowing Leonardo Dicaprio) is a South African mercenary set out to find a rare pink diamond that is so rare that it could cost the lives of genocidal proportions. Solomon Vandy (the always fabulous Djimon Hounsou) is a Mende fisherman who finds the blood diamond and buries it from the rebels after his family is taken captured by them. Archer learns of Solomon’s situation in prison and uses him to find the diamond in exchange for helping him find his family. They cross paths with Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an American journalist who is writing stories of the civil war. Through a mysterious and deep connection with Archer, she and the two men embark on an epic journey for family, loyalty and what is morally right. Archer discovers there is more to life than just diamonds.

Hounsou is outstanding and perfectly cast. His intensity ads wonders to the screen. Connelly is a little weak around the edges but manages to bring enough to her character where she isn't totally unwatchable. Zwick's direction is intense and brutal. As a director he is underrated and deserves recognition with his abilities to direct young children without very limited acting experience. This is another well worthy edition to his collection.

However, the film belongs to Dicaprio. His visual presence and audacious accent is spellbinding. His acting here is of Oscar-caliber and one of the best performances of his already astounding career. This has been one whopper of a year for Dicaprio, with Blood Diamond and Martin Scorsese's The Departed. Either way, Dicaprio is on his way to scoring his third Academy Award nomination, and potentially a deservingly first win.

Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj

0 Stars

To get to the point, The Rise of Taj is the cinematic equivalent of a date with Rosie O' Donnell.