Smokin' Aces

**1/2 Stars

First off, this is a blueprint of Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. Director Joe Carnahan even uses the same conversations. In the opening sequence, two men are scoping out a criminal, and talking about fast food. Eerie, isn't it?

Mob boss Primo Sparazza has taken out a hefty contract on Buddy "Aces" Israel (a scene stealing Jeremy Piven, who is raising his already Ari Gold character from Entourage to new heights) a sleazy magician who has agreed to turn state's evidence against the Vegas mob. The FBI, sensing a chance to use this small-time con to bring down big-target Sparazza, places Aces into protective custody-under the supervision of two agents dispatched to Isreal's Lake Tahoe hideout. When word of the price on his body spreads into the community of ex-cons and cons-to-be, it entices bounty hunters, thugs-for-hire, deadly vixens and double-crossing mobsters to join in the hunt. With all eyes on Tahoe, the film collides in a comic race to hit the jackpot and rub out a drugged up snitch

Smokin' Aces does have a great ensemble cast including Jeremy Piven, Ben Affleck, Ray Liotta, Ryan Reynolds, Any Garcia, and Alicia Keys. It has a cultivated sense of style, and the ride to the end can be a lot of fun. But it forgets why it exists when it becomes way too offensive. I am still debating an awful scene in this movie. How can a nine year old boy sprout an eight inch erection while pretending to num-chuck a helpless man on his knees missing three fingers on his hand from a brutal and potentially deadly gunshot wound? I wonder how in the world the parents of this child actor agreed to this scene. A strong payoff seems like the right scenario.

Notes on a Scandal

**** Stars

Explosive. Mesmerizing. Brilliant. There are few words that can sum up the sheer veracity of Judi Dench's portrayal of a shattered, obsessed loner aching for the world to recognize her. Adding to her steam is Cate Blanchett who never misses a beat as a young art teacher in the scandal of her life, and Bill Nighy playing the art teacher's husband in an underrated and wonderfully over-the-top performance. Notes on a Scandal takes you in and never loses you. I am ashamed to say I have never read the 2003 novel by Zoe Heller.

Here's the scoop: Blanchett plays Sheba Hart, a beautiful new art teacher at London's St. George School. Sheba feels her life is a dud, having a bland marriage with her older husband (Nighy) and struggling to raise her son with Down syndrome. So she decides to spice up her life and bang a fifteen year old student on the side. Barbara Covett (Dench) a lesbian teacher, catches her in the act and agrees not to make a scandal if Sheba will become her friend. Behold the power of Barbara.....and Dame Judi Dench.

If Dench hadn't been nominated so much lately, this would be her year. But instead, Helen Mirren in The Queen will take home the prize. Not to take away from Mirren, but Judi Dench, at age 72, takes the riskiest role of her career and creates a woman with unhinged and self-absorbed passions.

Letters From Iwo Jima

**** Stars

The Oscar race has a serious contender with Letters from Iwo Jima, the final film of Clint Eastwood's Iwo Jima saga. This is an extraordinary vision of war, with Eastwood's strongest directorial film of his career.

From first time screenwriter Iris Yamashita, Eastwood's digs deep into Japanese culture, starting with Lt. Gen. Tadamichi (the absolutely magnificent Ken Watanabe), who once was an envoy to the U.S., is now the commander of the troops on Iwo Jima, struggling to survive a tough enemy on the lonely island of Japan. Through the eyes of Tadamichi and a few other Japanese soldiers, Letters shows there is more to war than the battle itself.

Letters from Iwo Jima is on the level of Saving Private Ryan as one of the greatest war films to ever hit the screen. It is stronger than Flags of our Fathers and shot with a poetic sense of battle and of bruised beauty. Clint Eastwood is a master storyteller, telling us that war is a confused sense of mind. At the time American's were raised to believe that Japan was a corrupt nation. The Japanese were raised to believe that the United States was made up of cowards. But in reality, both sides are the same person, both sides want the same thing, and no one is able to speak it. This is a masterpiece, adding further proof that Eastwood, almost in his eighties, is a man of unspeakable knowledge and soulful power.

The Last King of Scotland

*** Stars

Forest Whitaker ignites the screen with his gripping portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. On the outside, Idi is a gentleman, charming when he has to be and strong when the crowd needs him. But behind the scenes he is a murderer of genocidal proportions. Whitaker gives the best performance of his career. Based on the novel by Giles Foden, the film focuses on fictional character Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young Scottish doctor who becomes Amin's personal MD in 1971. What weakens Last King is director Kevin Macdonald's over focus on Garrigan's life story rather than Amin's. Rather seeing this through the eyes of Garrigan, Amin should be center stage. Unfortunately, he is almost reduced to a supporting actor. Still, this is a gripping tale of one man's downfall thanks to an explosive Forest Whitaker, who deserves an Oscar nomination. But sadly, under which category?

Pan's Labyrinth

**** Stars

Pan's Labyrinth is unlike anything you've ever seen. It is beautiful, heartbreaking, poetic, and wildly original. Set in 1940's Spain against the postwar repression of Franco's Spain, this is a fairy tale that centers on Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a lonely and dreamy child living with her mother and adoptive father, who is a military officer forced to kill any innocent rebel that enters his land. In her loneliness, Ofelia creates a world filled with fantastical creatures and secret destinies. With Fascism at its height, Ofelia must come to terms with her world through a fable of her own creation. This works not only as a fantasy, but as a postwar drama. This is an astonishing feat in imaginative filmmaking.

Children of Men

**** Stars

What has become of us?

In Children of Men, society has become so greedy for control when the world is nearing its extinction. Instead of enjoying the last years with family and friends, people feel they must do what they can to see who has the most power before their time on earth ends. It is a sick and disturbing vision because this scenario could very well become reality.

Set in a futuristic setting, women are infertile, humans have lost all hope, and England has descended into chaos. One man, Theodore Faron (played by the fantastic Clive Owen) is sucked into the greatest adventure of his life. Theo begins to discover through the help of his ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore), that there is a young woman who is pregnant, named Kee, with what would be the first child birth in twenty-seven years. With England under continuous Marshall Law, Theo must use the help of friends and strangers, including his pot smoking friend Jasper (Michael Caine) to make sure that this child is the miracle the world has been looking for.

Director Alfonso Cuaron has created a fast paced and brutally gripping tale of courage and determination. He builds the suspense with such brilliance that it ads wonders to brilliant acting and an enthralling told story. In one particular camera shot, Theo is running desperately past gunfire to find Kee ahead of him. This one shot, covered in blood and dirt follows Theo for more than a minute without changing frame. You feel his determination. You feel the violence. It has the same flavor that Saving Private Ryan had for World War II. People are going to die. There is no stopping this. What a thought provoking and spellbinding film this is.

The Holiday

-(Picture to Left) Kate Winslet and Jack Black are a perfect match in Nancy Meyer's The Holiday

*** Stars

This is a textbook chick flick film. In the beginning, the characters are lost with love and miserable. And through the film they see what's important in their lives and have that sudden epiphany. Nancy Meyers creates a very predictable and very corny love story. However, like Rocky Balboa, it is one of the few pleasant surprises of the holiday season.

In England, Iris (Kate Winslet) is in love with a man who is about to marry another woman. Across the globe, Amanda (Cameron Diaz) realizes the man she lives with has been cheating on her. So the two women who have never met and live 6000 miles apart, find themselves in the exact same situation. They somehow meet online at a home exchange website and impulsively switch homes for the holiday. Now any normal person would find this creepy as hell, but somehow it makes sense. Iris moves into Amanda's L.A. house in sunny California as Amanda arrives in the snow covered English countryside. Both these homes and both these women are ridiculously beautiful and are only found in the movies. Shortly after arriving at their destinations, both women are clichéd into finding two men who seem so perfect for one another, that it is borderline insulting to the rest of us ordinary people. Amanda is charmed by Iris's brother Graham (Jude Law) and Iris, with inspiration provided by a legendary screenwriter named Arthur, finds a film composer named Miles (Jack Black). The story journeys back and forth between the two women's lives and they discover that maybe it is time to be impulsive and take a chance.

The cast is great here. Cameron Diaz and Jude Law work well together, but Kate Winslet and Jack Black steal the show. Their chemistry is dynamite. It felt the two should be together in real life. Forgive and forget the Nancy Meyer clichés (like we see in her other films with What Women Want and Something's Gotta Give) with the cheesy lines and recycled romantic comedy ideas, and you will forget that the film is two hours and fifteen minutes long and enjoy this nice Christmas treat.

Rocky Balboa

***1/2 Stars

I found myself wondering why in the world Sylvester Stallone wanted to make the sixth installment of the Rocky saga after the fifth one failed so miserably. When entering the theater, I prayed to the heavens above for this film to work. The almighty delivered, and I am not shamed to say that this is one of the best films of the year.

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is back and it's the best Rocky movie since the original Oscar winner in 1976. Stallone gives us a fresh reminder and recap of the first films so you know exactly what Rocky is going through. Adrienne is dead, his son is ignoring him, and Pauly is as nabby as ever. When a computer simulated boxing match declares Rocky Balboa the victory over current champion Mason, Rocky's spirit is reborn. Due to a large exposure of the virtual fight, Rocky is forced into a large HBO exhibition match. The path to this fight is passionate and heartwarming.

In a year where war controls us, people are divided, and the world seems to be falling apart, this is the necessary feel good movie of the year. It reminds us why we love underdog stories and Stallone redeems himself by turning in a passionate and subdued performance. It's a reason why we go to the movies in the first place.

The Good Shephard

**1/2 Stars

Robert DeNiro teams up with Francis Ford Coppolla for a shot at making The Godfather of CIA movies with The Good Shephard. Is there an Oscar is its future? The answer is no.

This is the story of Edward Wilson (a fine performance from Matt Damon) and really nothing else. He is the only witness to his father's suicide and member of the Skull and Bones Society while a student at Yale. From there it shows him suffering with his family and how he is basically a ghost to them. Angelina Jolie plays his hot wife but DeNiro doesn't use her enough. This film dissapoints coming from two men who took major parts in some of the greatest films ever produced. They try there best to use this material, but the story is just not exciting. Edward Wilson's life story feels boggled down with no pulse

Apocalypto

***1/2 Stars

Ok, here's the deal. If you are still pissed off at Mel Gibson's anti-semetic rant, then so be it. But that does not make Gibson, the director, a master at his craft. This is a stunningly brutal chase movie, filled with such pure authenticity, that you wonder how in the world Gibson and company have created such a thing. The story is set in the Mayan civilization, following one man, Jaguar Paw and his quest to save his family after his village is destroyed an invading force. This is one pure adrenaline rush, and Gibson is a born filmmaker, creating a world unknown to today's society.