Notes on a Scandal is the tale of obsessive relations, secrets, and revelations. It is a film that is dark, peppered with biting comic touches, and wades into the treacherous waters of damaged psyches. Philip Glass has composed the accompanying music which serves to underscore the slippery slope that the primary characters go down. I had the score prior to seeing the film, and even then I marveled at the beautiful simplicity. It is sophisticated and haunting in the way the themes come together. I had no idea how they fit into the film, yet the composition works even without the images to accompany it inside of my head. To me, that is the sign of a truly great score. If the music alone is enough to transport you to another place, and works beautifully within the confines of the film, it is a work that will last. As I watched Notes on a Scandal, I noted how well the various movements fit in. Philip Glass has said that he composed from the point of view of Judi Dench’s Barbara Covett, without wanting the music to take you inside her mind. Rather, the decision was made to use the music to foreshadow the duplicitous nature of the Barbara character. A decision that pays off beautifully as the composition gives rise to the deviousness inside Barbara’s mind. The tone of Glass’ score melds perfectly with the images that are created in Richard Eyre’s film, as they compliment each other so well. [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Welcome to this week’s Top 5 movies about dreams, brought to you by RankAMovie.com. Around this time of year, movie stars may dream of winning an award! Some fans may even dream about winning an award. Everyone dreams, and sometimes the interpretation of dreams can be lots of fun. Below is a list of the top 5 movies about dreams, as ranked by the visitors of RankAMovie. All movies are added to a category and ranked by visitor votes. Requiem for a Dream Drug addictions, dreams, a carnivorous refrigerator, and the realities in between. Waking Life Hmmm…some words to describe this film: amazing, weird, insightful, and wacky. It’s a long journey through dreams and reality, but in the end you’ll keeping thinking about it all. The Cell A psychologist uses a new scientific device to enter a serial killer’s mind! There are some scary scenes, and some truly bizarre interpretations of reality. What Dreams May Come This film follows a father into the after-life, where he searches for life’s meaning. Amazing colors, and there are some very surreal environments. Dreamscape A psychic uses his abilities to help others overcome their nightmares. There’s even a giant snake! You can view the entire list of ranked dream movies.

Joe Carnahan has delivered the first cinematic jolt into the 2006 season. However, this was not the jolt to kick the new year into action, but it was a step in the right direction. The heart beat monitor delivered a few signs of life. Smokin’ Aces is an over the top action film that apes the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and a touch of Wayne Kramer. The resulting film has enough bloodshed and wild activity to hold your attention, but when it ends you will be left scratching your head as to whether you actually liked it or not. Smokin’ Aces is a movie that is predisposed with the style of its execution. It is more about the gunfire ballet and the pure mechanics of moving a great number of pieces into position. The fact that all of this requires an incredible suspension of disbelief is not a problem, what is a problem are all of the histrionics that we are forced to endure, it is like Carnahan is in love with the style that he is trying to infuse the film with. There is a distinct lack of substance and character development which threaten to sink the film. I truly wanted to love Smokin’ Aces. The trailers set a high bar, I loved the hyper-kinetic look, the promise of bullets and wild humor, and the impressive array of stars. I ws hoping for an experience not unlike last year’s Running Scared, which greatly impressed me with the [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Letters from Iwo Jima, the second side of Clint Eastwood’s look at the famous Pacific struggle from World War II, was rushed for a 2006 release when it became apparent that the American side, Flags of our Fathers, was not generating the Oscar buzz necessary for a nomination. The strategy worked, for once again Clint has a candidate for Best Picture. I would have to say that the Academy got it right this time. Flags deserved to be left off, and Iwo Jima deserved the nod. In fact, I might have to call it my favorite movie of the year. The principle action of Iwo Jima occurs entirely on the small island with a number of flashbacks from the lives of the characters. It begins right before General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, played by Ken Watanabe, arrives to assume responsibility for the island’s defense. Already there is Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a sensitive conscript with a wife and child and whose goal is simply to make it home alive. General Kuribayashi, who has been influenced by a stay in the United States, re-conceives the defense of the island against the traditional strategy employed up to that point. He orders his men to dig a series of tunnels into the depths of Mt. Suribachi. It is a doomed defense, as the Japanese forces are far inferior both in number and weaponry, but Kuribayashi tells his men that it is worth it to die defending the island if it means one more day of freedom [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

This week offers up a decent selection of recent films, some older cult films, some unknowns, and some new direct to DVD releases. While there are a number of titles that will vie for your attention, there are precious few hat belong to the “gotta have it now” category. Still, I was able to relatively easily select this week’s pick. This week’s pick is the excellent political and personal drama from director Philip Noyce, Catch a Fire. It is a movie that puts a face ont he struggle to end apartheid in South Africa. It is a wonderful film with truly excellent performances. It is the true story of Patrick Chamusso, played by Derek Luke. He was a loving family man with a good job, who is kidnapped by the government on suspicion of terrorist activities. He is not involved, yet they continue to hurt him and his family. These actions force him to become a man of action. Since they tortured him and his family for no reason, he set out to give them a reason. He stands up for what was right. On the other side of the coin is Tim Robbins, playing a member of the anti-terrorist unit seeking Patrick out. Catch a Fire is a powerful movie. It gives a look into what was going on during this era of South Africa’s history. I admit to not having much knowledge of the history of the country, but this gives a personal look into the era through [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Opening nearly one year after their latest opus, Date Movie, writer/director duo Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg have opened their next movie. They have turned their eye from the romantic comedy genre and decided to “satirize” the epic films that have been released over the past few years. In doing so, they succeeded at doing something their last movie failed to do, open at number 1. Despite the fact that it actually took in less money than the last outing, Epic Movie‘s take proved to be more than enough to fend off the rest of the field. The number two movie this week is also a newcomer to the multiplex. Joe Carnahan’s latest film is a technicolor ballet of bullets. It opened with a decent $14 million plus take. I saw the film and I enjoyed it, despite the serious flaws in character and story flow. It was a fun exercise in excess with style acting as a substitute for substance. I suspect it will end up with a decent run, but will discover most of its success on DVD. The Queen is also doing well in its wide expansion coming on the heels of its Golden Globe win and Oscar nominations. The Departed followed suit moving back into 1,000+ theaters, narrowly missing the top ten, finishing at number 11. There was one other new release to crack the top ten. The Jennifer Garner flick Catch and Release found itself in a battle, which it ultimately lost, for fourth place [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

When I entered the theater and sat down in the darkened room, I had no idea what I was in for. I knew very little about the film, and had not seen a single frame. I knew that it was highly regarded, and that star Penelope Cruz was recently nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. On top of that, the only previous experience I had with the films of Pedro Almodovar was 2004′s Bad Education, which I enjoyed. Anyway, I sat in the darkness and waited for the film to begin. Volver opens with a right to left tracking shot, the pan takes you through a cemetery filled with women cleaning the graves of their deceased husbands. It is a comically morose scene that left a small smile on my face as tried to figure out what this was leading to. What I discovered at the end of the film is that it was leading everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It left me conflicted as to how much I liked it. I knew I liked it, and I am still completely convinced of that fact. There are a few interlocking plot threads that fit together not unlike a soap opera. There is a touch of the supernatural , absurdist comedy, and Hitchcockian style murder. There are enough emotional wounds torn open to last a full television series, the murder, and its results are the stuff to make a thrill seeker sit on the edge of his seat, and [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Katja “Bride of Uwe” von Garnier has provided us with yet more strong evidence that Germany is not going to allow the United States possession of the coveted World’s Most Atrocious Filmmaker Trophy without a serious struggle. Though Ed Wood’s legendary exploits have yet to be equaled, Uwe Boll has come moderately close on one or two occasions and now Katja has joined the fray. Dreaming of the glory she might bring Die Vaterland, Katja brings us her most recent opus, Blood and Chocolate, and it must be taken seriously even though it does not pose a grave threat to Plan 9 From Outer Space. Blood and Chocolate is a movie about werewolves in Bucharest. They use another term for them in the movie, but I forget what it was and can’t be bothered to look it up (it started with an L). Strange nomenclature aside, they’re werewolves for our intents and purposes. Agnes Bruckner plays Vivian, a young werewolf who tries to brood but ends up pouting. As a child, she got her family of werewolves killed when she led some human hunters right to their home in the woods. Now all the remaining werewolves are gathered together in a tight pack in Bucharest where their leader, Olivier Martinez playing Gabriel, runs an Absynth brewery and insists on a rigid set of laws. But Vivian, always a bit of a loner to begin with, falls in love with a human (Hugh Dancy’s Aiden) and no longer wants the future [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Something tells me that the headline above should really read “300 to hit IMAX – Mass Orgy expected afterwards!” Zach Snyder’s upcoming release 300, which is based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller, is not only one of the highly anticipated films of 2007 (see my “Most Anticipated Films of 2007″ list, due out next week), but it seems to be one of the most groundbreaking visual works of the last say, ten years. Or at least that is how things look based on the trailer. So now, in order to fully blow our collective mind with an orgasmic level of visuals and immense loads of badassery, the folks at Warner Brothers (who are getting smarter and smarter by the day) have decided to also release 300 in IMAX to coincide the standard release on March 9, 2007. Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution at WB said of the news: “Warner Bros. Pictures and the filmmakers are very excited to bring this unique cinematic experience to both conventional and IMAX theatres this spring. The immersive IMAX Experience will transform this film, offering audiences an alternative way to view this highly-charged picture.” Highly charged? How about “unbelievably intense” or “action fanboy wet dream”? That is how I would have described it, but then again, I am not the President of Domestic Distribution for Warner Brothers. I digress. Check out more coverage from around the web of Zach Snyder’s 300: Trailer: 300 (filmschoolrejects.com) TV Spots and One Sheet (filmschoorejects.com) 300 – [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Win a copy of Murder Set Pieces on DVD!

Win a free copy of Flags of Our Fathers on DVD!

Freud said, “There are no coincidences.” I thought that was true in isolated incidents, but didn’t think it was a universal absolute because that would suggest there was order in the world and I see entropy and chaos being more likely factors that influence nature. That was until this past Monday when I saw a screening of Smokin’ Aces on the same day the Razzie nominations were announced. The Razzies salute the worst that Hollywood has to offer each year, and you’d be hard pressed to find anything worse than this mind-numbingly stupid piece of garbage. It’s not a good sign when you think getting into a car accident on the way to the theater would have been time better spent. Of course, every filmmaker would like to make a version of The Sting, but what writer/director Joe Carnahan fails to realize is The Sting succeeds because the brilliance of the story comes from its believability that the events could realistically happen. He, obviously an attendee of the Tarantino school of filmmaking and deep thinking, wrote a story involving the mob, hit men, and the FBI and apparently conducted his research by watching bad movies. The film is about Robert “Aces” Israel, a Las Vegas showman with ties to the mob. He is holed up in a Tahoe casino awaiting word on an immunity deal to turn state’s evidence. The mob boss, who appears to be 110, puts a $1 million dollar reward out for Israel with the caveat that [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

It’s not a good idea when the marketing campaign is better than the film. I know, this often happens. I mean, it is the job of the studio to make the film look appealing to its potential audience. The campaign mounted for Primeval took a novel approach to marketing a movie about a giant crocodile. Rather than show it as the monster movie it is, they chose to take the serial killer angle. Interesting. It disguises what it really is, but still pays off in its promise of carnage. It’s a shame the movie doesn’t live up to the marketing. Primeval plays between the fictional horror of the killer croc and the real horror of civil war in Africa, both are brutal, bloody, and unforgiving. I found it to have a similar structure to Edward Zwick’s Blood Diamond. Both of these films have reporters in Africa seeking to uncover a dark secret (diamonds and crocs), and both lead to questions of how far to go and whether or not to keep a secret or expose the difficult truths. However, that is about where the similarities end. Unlike Blood Diamond, Primeval mashes its thread together without truly integrating them into a story. It is kind of like some writer was working on a story about African civil war and another was working on a crocodile monster movie. They both realize that neither one can come up with enough material for their movie and decided to pool their resources. So, they took [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

This week brings seven more movies in on the wind. Among the seven, four are new releases and three are 2006 films that are expanding into my viewing radius. What this makes for is a a busy weekend for yours truly. Fortunately, I may have some free time next week to try and squeeze in all that I would like to. Between the new films and the expanding ones, there would appear to be a great disparity in quality. Taking those factors into consideration, this could be an interesting weekend with whatever I make it out to see. Blood & Chocolate. (2007, 98 minutes, PG-13, horror, trailer) First let me say that I think the title is very silly, yes I know it is the name of the book on which it is based, but I still think it is silly. This comes from the producers of the Underworld films, and has a similar look on what appears to be a more restrained budget. The commercials strike me as a cross between the previously mentioned Underworld and An American Werewolf in Paris. It is set in modern Bucharest and centers on a young woman, played by Agnes Bruckner, who has spent her life trying to get away from the fact she is a werewolf, then she falls in love with an American. It is a romance that threatens to expose her clan. It is directed by Katja von Garnier. Catch and Release. (2007, 124 minutes, PG-13, romantic comedy, trailer) I [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

You may not believe this, you may not even agree with this, but The Last King of Scotland bears a striking commonality with Dreamgirls. Yes, you read that right. A movie about an idealistic doctor having an epiphany while serving as Idi Amin’s personal physician and confidante and a movie about a young singer standing up for herself and retaining her integrity have a relationship in my mind. It has nothing to do with the story, it has nothing to do with the themes, what it does have to do with are two performances. Both of these films are completely carried by the performance of one of its actors. In Dreamgirls case it is Jennifer Hudson’s electric and emotional portrayal of Effie White. In The Last King of Scotland it is Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin. It is a performance that makes up for the areas where the film may be somewhat lacking. Whitaker is simultaneously seductive and ferocious, delivering a charismatic performance of a man who, in reality, went beyond cruel and unusual. The Last King of Scotland centers on Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy). He is a recent med school graduate, and being a young doctor, he is idealistic and ready to change the world. Rather than go into practice with his father, he decides to change his fate and gamble on a globe. Watching the globe spin, and come to a stop on Uganda, he decides to go there and try to do what he can. He is [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

As much as I beat up on Clint Eastwood in my Oscar Nominations post earlier in the week, the man is a great director. And I am sure once I see Letters from Iwo Jima, I will have ditched my jaded approach to him being nominated. But for now, I am still a bit upset – though Clint is very happy, as you can see from his statement below regarding his nomination: I want to thank the Academy for recognizing both Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers. It is particularly gratifying that Letters from Iwo Jima was included as a Best Picture nominee. When we were working on Flags, I knew there was another part of the story that deserved to be told, but I could not have imagined where we’d be today. I share these nominations with our entire creative team. Really Clint? You didn’t know you would be here today, with nominations o’ plenty? You are getting too much sun, man. Here are some other reactions from earlier in the week: Helen Mirren and Peter Morgan, The Queen John Lassiter, Director of Cars Will Smith and Guillermo del Toro A whole slue of them from MCN

Remakes, remakes, remakes. Are you sick of them yet? I thought as much. It seems that the majority of horror films that hit the screens are remakes, sequels, or rip offs of what came before them. There isn’t much in the way of original vision coming out of the Hollywood system. The Hitcher may not technically be a horror film, more of a thriller, but it is close enough for this. It is another in a long line of remakes that Hollywood hopes to make a quick buck off of before they fade into obscurity. Still, occasionally one becomes a legit hit, or actually offers a flash of genuine entertainment. For this viewer, The Hitcher fits the bill. It offers up some decent suspense, a dash of violence, and is genuinely entertaining for an hour and a half. A word of warning, don’t take my entertainment factor as a statement of quality. The Hitcher is a slick remake from music video director Dave Meyers, whose sole prior movie credit was helming the Eddie Griffin film Foolish back in 1999. Unlike many of his music video contemporaries, he doesn’t edit the movie into oblivion. Sure, there are a few quick cuts and video-esque moments, but he seems to have a better grasp on how to use the techniques to better effect by limiting their use in a film. He exhibits the potential of developing into a better film director based on this example (I haven’t seen Foolish). I came into the [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Welcome to this week’s Top 5 ambiguous, confusing movies, brought to you by RankAMovie.com. That’s right! This week we’ll take a closer look at some movies that have made people think “What was that?” That’s not to say that they’re bad movies…they’re just not easily understood. Below is a list of the top 5 movies, as ranked by the visitors of RankAMovie. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Try erasing your memories, and then thinking about them. Hmm…somewhat mysterious. Breathless Bonnie and Clyde meets Paris, and trying to get to Italy. You’ll have to see it to understand the rest. Big Fish A wild imagination and Southern American tales cause a young man to question truth and fiction. He may even learn to respect his father in the process! A Clockwork Orange Visually original, and challenges an audiences’ ability to withstand nudity and crime. Kubrick takes us on a wild ride into the criminal world. Memento How does a simple story become not-so-simple?…tell it in an unusual manner. This story twists and shifts the timeline of events, and changes from Black&White to Color, and back again. You’ll want to watch it several times to truly grasp the storyline…that is, if you remember everything. You can view the entire list of ranked ambiguous, confusing movies.

Brokeback Mountain tells the tale of two men in love. While some people are still put off by the concept, the only shocking aspect in the film is how universal the story is, no different than any other love forbidden by society whether interracial, interfaith or familial rivals. The story begins in 1963 when Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist meet while herding sheep in Wyoming. Unfortunately, they fall in love at a time and place that literally could cost them their lives. Jack is willing to risk it. He has ideas of them getting a ranch together, but Ennis refuses because as a young child he was shown the body of a man killed for being gay. Instead, they assume their expected societal roles by getting married and starting families. However, they continue to see each other over the years, going on secluded camp-outs, away from prying eyes. Each reunion becomes tougher; they happen with less frequency and the men fight due to their frustration of not being able to be together. Brokeback Mountain excels on many levels. It’s a beautiful, heartbreaking love story filled with realistic characters. Heath Ledger as Ennis delivers a stellar performance. He rarely speaks, but is able to convey the character’s thoughts and emotion. Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack does a good job, but I didn’t find his character completely authentic for the early ’60s. He seemed too modern, and more city than rural, but that may have come from his travels on the rodeo [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

If you are like me then you spend much of the first few months of the year waiting for “that” action flick; waiting for the year’s first knock-down, drag-out bullet infested homage to people who kill people. These are not Oscar contenders and they are not always well received by critics, but when you take them for what they are, then you have one hell of a ride ahead of you. Director Joe Carnahan’s Smokin’ Aces is that kind of film and more, a film that delivers pulse pounding action, an awesome cast of characters and a little substance for good measure. Coming off of the gritty, unrelenting cop drama Narc, Carnahan has made a film in Aces that gives one half the amount of grit, but delivers twice the amount of fun. The story centers around Buddy “Aces” Israel, played by the enigmatic Jeremy Piven. Israel, a popular Las Vegas performer and mob wannabe, has just turned state’s evidence for the FBI, and holds the key to taking down what is left of the Cosa Nostra, or the mob, for those of you who have never seen The Godfather. Unwilling to let Israel go quietly, the mob puts a $1 million dollar bounty on his head and sicks every last sociopath with a gun on him. Alicia Keyes, Taraji Henson, Ben Affleck, Peter Berg and Tommy Flanagan all show up as contract killer out for Israel’s blood. Caught in between are a pair of FBI Agents, played by Ryan [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]