Reviews by Lexi

''Memory is dynamic, it’s alive. If some details are missing, memory fills in the holes with things that never happened.''

An Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.

Ari Folman: Himself

Vals Im Bashir(2008) translating as Waltz with Bashir.
So what is Vals Im Bashir? It is a film project from Israeli director Ari Folman and quite easily among the standout films of 2008, with its surreal animation style and abrupt way of portraying horrific events and genocide. The events concerning the Sabra and Shatila massacre, in which Palestinian men, women and children were massacred by Christian Phalangists as revenge for the assassination of their leader and idolized Bashir Gemayel. The Israelis involvment with the killings is shrouded in mystery, even the sending of flares into the night sky to assist the Phalangists seems baffling.
Vals Im Bashir is also told mostly in the language and dialect of Hebrew.



Taking a rather dreamy documentary approach to his narrative, Folman presents his story through the eyes of his own experience as he tries to uncover his lost memory involving the Lebanon War twenty years past. Through this direct approach to storytelling, the movie immediately achieves a sense of realism, and when used in combination with the other worldly animation that merges with the technique style used in the masterful A Scanner Darkly, strikes a poignant balance between dream-like reminiscence and in-the-moment revelation. In this sense Folman manages to bridge the gap between flashback and real-time storytelling.
Taking his time to talk to several people involved in the war along side himself, Folman presents his character as conducting interviews. Their names will appear in the corner of the screen, and the styles used often echo those found in documentaries. In essence then, what unfolds is virtually an animated documentary of sorts, telling the story of how Folman in real life eventually begins to remember his time serving as a soldier.

Although this straight forward approach to indulging in something of an honest perspective history lesson involving the Lebanon War provides ample interest; It is when Folman uses the animation present in his film to propel forth his story that the project excels; traveling back into his memories of the war itself and presenting first hand accounts. Through these scenes the film goes to great lengths to provide both hard hitting accounts on life during the war as a soldier, and surreal images which deal more with the psychological implications of war. It is during these sequences that Waltz with Bashir achieves its greatest sense of relevancy, merging all three elements of its presentation with grace, significance and well conceived direction. As a war movie, the film and Folman seem to refuse to take a stance on the general concept of war, instead showing what life was like during such times with little to no bias either way; like the masterpiece Apocalypse Now, Waltz with Bashir isn't interested in the politics involved, but more with the humanity that makes war breathe, shoot and come alive in fear. It's a story that lacks a position but is far greater off because of it; war is war and Folman knows this all too well, he just has his own personal story to tell… that is, once he remembers it.

For someone suffering from selective amnesia however, Folman tells a solid tale. Taken as a whole, Waltz with Bashir is a slow moving, but well delivered and insightful piece of cinema that not only sheds light on the people involved and a historical event often shadowed by larger accounts, but it allows the medium to breathe. There are some problems included here, but only in minor details, most of which reside in the somewhat oddly placed third act that shows paradoxically Israeli Soldiers, certainly some of them reported in the massacres, sometimes becoming systematic exterminators.
If this project is maybe considered as propaganda then it thankfully does not side with Israeli thinking nor does it side completely with Palestinian ideology. The massacre and harming of civilians is certainly not acceptable. Yet as we watch we begin to see the chaos and uncaring attitude of the proprietors of the massacre and War. 
Children with RPGs in fields, Soldiers urinating on enemy corpses, Palestinians lined up and shot...Waltz with Bashir holds no punches in criticizing itself.

Nevertheless there is no denying that what Folman has to say here is not only important and relevant to us many years on, but that it forms a story that moves, feels alive and isn't afraid to ridicule the people in power and the military drones. There are moments of tension, comedy and insightful characterization that go beyond even the most overt of films that force such elements down your throat. Instead Waltz with Bashir is a gradually enveloping affair that slowly reveals itself as the runtime comes to a close. Taking full advantage of the animated medium and combining it with a beautiful score and a coherent, intelligent and enlightening script, Folman delivers a memorable and confronting biographical drama that is always interesting to watch, even if it all does feel like a nightmarish dream...Waltz with Bashir taunts us into waking up and shows us this nightmare is real.

''Do you really think an angel resides in me? If so, where was that angel...When I was committing such an evil act?''

After thirteen and half years in prison for kidnapping and murdering the boy Park Won-mo, Geum-ja Lee is released and tries to fix her life...

Yeong-ae Lee: Geum-ja Lee

Chinjeolhan geumjassi(2005) translating as Lady Vengeance is the third instalment of the Vengeance trilogy, telling the unique story of a lady, Geum-ja Lee, whom is sent to prison for 13 years for supposedly kidnapping and murdering a young boy.
She was not guilty of the crime, though she had a merely a minimal part involving the kidnapping. Rather Geum-ja was forced to admit to the crime by her accomplice Mr. Baek(Oldboy's main character actor Min-sik Choi). While in prison, she becomes something of an angel to her fellow inmates, showing them a kindness and love that not only effects their lives but changes them. She is a different person upon her release from prison yet is still determined on making Mr. Baek atone for his sins.



Rarely are films or stories presented in such a stylistically fresh way, usually absent from Western projects. It has an independent art house feel to it, yet still extremely stylish and polished. Chan-wook Park is quite an artist as well as Directorial visionary, and with his trilogy, he has insured that any future projects he is involved with spark international curiosity.
The story turns from one of vengeance to redemption, but this is certainly not a simple journey for Geum-ja. In fact, the actress in that role, Yeong-ae Lee, is in nearly every scene of the film's story and she certainly makes it her own.
She plays everything. The angel who glows with a smile. The cold hard bitch. The victim. The mother. Yet above all this, she also comes to realize that she needs to set things right for more than just herself. She is far from Mr. Baek's only victim and she let's the parents of the other child victims share in her revenge with their own. The parents also being victims of loss and pain.

Having wanted to make a film on a middle aged woman's revenge, Director Chan-wook Park originally considered casting Du-shim Ko for the part of Geum-ja. However, he had to abandon his plan for a couple of reasons. He found that Ms. Ko was rather old for the character and was afraid that the movie would look quite similar to John Cassavetes' Gloria(1980).
Interestingly, the snow at the end is not real. They brought two trucks of salt, scattered it all over the street and finally adjusted the scene using computer graphics.
Also, the bakery that Geumja works in is called Naruse, which is the name of the Japanese director Mikio Naruse.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Lady Vengeance are not directly connected by any characters, but again all share the common theme of Vengeance. Each takes it's own unique path and tribute to the study of revenge. Mr. Vengeance essentially has no villains, but features tragedy for all. Oldboy is the tale of ultimate revenge, with a plot so horrid that it necessitates locking a victim up for 15 years in isolation, then releases him so he can seek vengeance on an unknown entity with unclear motives. In this third film, the lead doesn't quite sink to the level of becoming a complete monster. She finds something very special to redeem herself, and involves her plans with others resulting in peace for them as well. Lady Vengeance is about revenge yes but is also about parents protecting their children from a sadistic child serial killer. Then when they lose their children carrying out their vengeance upon the monster himself. As with all the other stories acts of revenge, of vengeance are merely a temporary state for it's user. Once the act is fulfilled it becomes an obsolete action or state, and the same can be said of Lady Vengeance. Savour the incredible experience while it lasts and be in awe of a story transcending vengeance with redemption.

''Big atonement for big sins...Small atonement for small sins.''

''I know you're a good guy...But you know why I have to kill you?''

This is the story of Ryu, a deaf man, and his sister, who requires a kidney transplant. Ryu's boss, Park, has just laid him off, and in order to afford the transplant, Ryu and his girlfriend develop a plan to kidnap Park's daughter. Things go horribly wrong, and the situation spirals rapidly into a cycle of violence and revenge.

Kang-ho Song: Park Dong-jin

Boksuneun naui geot translating as Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance(2002) is the first part of Park Chan-wook's Vengeance trilogy. The next being sensational Oldboy in 2003 and the third being the equally riveting Lady Vengeance released 2005.
According to certain notes from the time, this was indeed Korea's first delving into hard-core, hardboiled, violent drama. As the title implies, there is a sense of poetic irony at play; This is indeed a dark and twisted psychological thriller.



Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance continues to explore new ways of filming deafness. Instead of muffled audio every time we adopt Ryu's point-of-view, a favoured Western approach, Park amplifies his handicap through heightened ambient noise. Downstairs they fight, upstairs they screw and a sitcom across the hall provides an accompanying amusement. Spared the annoying, chaotic noise of thin-walled apartment dwelling, Ryu is equally oblivious to his sister's sickbed cries. They don't go unnoticed as four neighbours, believing the groans to be of a sexual nature, line up for a masturbation session.
The film utilizes a subtle use of green and orange to shade both story and character. Ryu's green hair meshes with the factory's neon hues making him little more than a merging part of his surroundings. Transitioning firstly from green then to orange, Park highlights the father's path to pay the ransom as skillfully as one would show a negotiator in a hostage situation. The relationship between the young hostage, wearing an orange outer-coat, and her kidnapper with a spring-green dye-job are mirrored by a televised fox and frog cartoon.

When a filmmaker chooses to adopt an anamorphic lens, one hopes the decision was premeditated. Even a genius such as Wong Kar-wai impressed with his surreal realization in 2046. On the basis of three unique trilogy films, Park has proved to be a master of widescreen utilization. Note the way he composes around a dresser when we first encounter Ryu and Youngmin in bed together. More than merely confined to arty playfulness; The whole scene presents a couple separated by an indescribable boundary which succeeds in being shown by the small confinements that life and the filmic frame affords them.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance has cinematic vision backing it up. It has a blunt, unrelenting truthful approach of showing the complexities of revenge and Vengeance. You already have a predetermined feeling of dread in your gut that any outcome for any of the main characters will not result in being favourable for them. The paradox resulting in a domino effect of myriad imagining. For example, the killing of one will trigger the later killing of another, later resulting in the last being killed. Sympathy is the ripple effect of vengeance, and ultimately the viewer will feel sympathy and sorrow for the tragic protagonist.

''''I know you said not to, that you'd rather die...than be a burden. But you know I never do what I'm told.''

''That's red earth. It's in our skin. The shona say the colour comes from all the blood that's being spilled fighting over the land. This is home. You will never leave Africa.''

A fisherman, a smuggler, and a syndicate of businessmen become entangled in a search for a priceless diamond which will change the fate of many.

Leonardo DiCaprio: Danny Archer

Djimon Hounsou: Solomon Vandy

Jennifer Connelly: Maddy Bowen

Blood Diamond(2006) is both great action entertainment and a searing indictment of the exploitation of the African continent even years after the imperial European powers left their colonial possessions to fend for themselves.
Africa; A continent wealthy in mineral resources with its peoples reduced to poverty at the mercy of tribal rivalries now armed with the automatic weapons of the former imperialists.
Powerful, political, and circumstances similar to this are still happening even to this day. Fine cast, superb story which is duly historic and modern, and also action packed and entertaining.
Shows how man can be so cruel to each other, and how greed can consume us of we let it. The bonds of Love, friendship and family are where the heart excels and Blood Diamond also shows us this.



Blood Diamond deserves to be watched by anyone whom will appreciate the intricate performances and bold, energetic storytelling. Not only is it an action thriller with amazing chases but there is importantly a message here about certain circumstances going on in a part of the world alot choose to ignore.
A powerful scene for me that Blood Diamond uses involves children being used as soldiers and militia; Showing how malleable and receptive like a newly acquired sponge soaking up brain washing propaganda form a militia out for blood, out to suck the land dry and promote despotism and fear among the civilians. Even having their own nicknames to promote their authority in a way that gives them power and strength.

Diredctor Edward Zwick whom also helmed the envisioned The Last Samurai has yet again crafted a tale that utilizes it's three stars and mixes entertainment with educational traits.
The music and score is vibrant, the locations breath taking. The diamond trade terrifying at the cost of innocent lives exploited.

Leonardo DiCaprio is on top form with an accent that is completely believable. Jennifer Connelly equally at home in her role with her peircing blue eyes. Djimon Hounsou really sells his anguish as a troubled father desperately trying to get his family back. Was also Quite taken with Arnold Vosloo's performance too.
By the title you guess that what people are after are diamonds which is a trade to be sure that has its international regulations. It also has people willing to skirt and ignore those regulations in pursuit of the almighty profit. The brokers be they in London, New York, or Amsterdam pay plenty of money under the table for the gems which then finance various revolutionary groups whom have this game going with the governments. They don't really want to take power as Leonardo DiCaprio explains to journalist Jennifer Connelly because then they'd have to govern the country. Better just to keep the revolution going, become payed off until the rulers become rich enough and just go into exile and the revolutionaries are then stuck with the power.

Blood Diamond was honoured with Oscar nominations for it's acting, for Sound, and for Film Editing. Sadly it did not win anything that year. It is also beyond belief it was not even considered for Best Picture.
Blood Diamond is a tale of a world older than our own, that you can watch again and again and still learn something from it. That has dozens of layers, deeply engrossing characters and a message in which the goodness left in humanity will sometimes out of rarity shine through.

''In America, it's bling bling. But out here it's bling bang.''

''Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.''

A private detective investigating an adultery case stumbles on to a scheme of murder that has something to do with water.

Jack Nicholson: J.J. Gittes

What is Chinatown? Simply put; An unrivaled and perfect thinking man's film noir that completely surpasses all expectations.
Chinatown(1974) is a tremendous collaborative effort that produced one of the most memorable Hollywood films of the 70s. Director Roman Polanski (his last film in America, and the first he made in America after the murder of Sharon Tate), stars Jack Nicholson & Faye Dunaway, and writer Robert Towne, all come together to create a detective story classic. At times it slows its pace down so the viewer can think along with Nicholson's character, to take in the environment as well as the situation he's in. The script has the perfect sense of luring us into a story, fueled by curiosity, grit, and cynicism, and engages the viewer by its realistic dialog between the characters.



J.J. Gittes (Nicholson, in one of his best 70's performances) is in Los Angeles circa 1933 in the line of private investigator, usually dealing with people who may or may not believe that their significant other is having an affair. Evelyn Mulwray feels this may be the case with her husband Hollis, and Gittes decides to take the case. However, this draws him into a deeper case involving the city's loss of water once Hollis - a major player in the water supply controversy in the city - is found murdered. This eventually leads him to Noah Cross (John Huston), a big businessman and who also happens to be Evelyn's father. Intrigue starts to develop, as Jake's own life begins to be at risk.

Interestingly enough Faye Dunaway and Roman Polanski were notorious for their on-set arguments; during filming, Polanski pulled out some strands of Dunaway's hair.
Also cinematographer Stanley Cortez was fired soon after production began because his classical style did not match the naturalistic style Polanski wanted for the film and proved too time consuming. Polanski had to find a replacement in only a few days and chose John A. Alonzo. As David Fincher and Robert Towne describe on their DVD commentary, two scenes shot by Cortez are in the film. The orange grove fight with the farmers (but not the following porch scene with Evelyn) and the drive back to Los Angeles at sunset are Cortez's work.
The original script was over 300 pages which still provides an insight to the details and intricacies on offer in the finalized scripting.
Another amusing on-set occurrence involving Roman Polanski and Jack Nicholson in a heated argument resulting in Polanski smashing Nicholson's portable TV with a mop. Nicholson used the TV to watch L.A. Lakers basketball games and kept stalling shooting.

As a intricate, detailed detective story the film is an above-average work, with Towne's script containing the maturity, and wicked sense of humour, of a James M. Cain or Raymond Chandler novel. When the thrills come they come as being striking and bold. When humanity and compassion become thrown into the concoction, the film reaches a whole other dimension of intelligence. The last third of the film could deter some audiences with the stories leanings, but it holds strong thanks to the performances. Nicholson doesn't over-step his bounds in any scene, finding the right notes in suggestive conversations. Dunaway is better than expected (though I'm not sure if it's an great performance).
Huston's Noah Cross is one of the more disturbing villains of that period in movies. Add to it some good cameos (Burt Young as a driver, Polanski playing the little guy in the infamous knife scene), and a smooth soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith, Chinatown comes out as strong piece of movie-making, and arguably one of the greatest in the crime/mystery genre.
The movie's line "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown!" was voted as the 71st of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.
Also in 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the 21st Greatest Movie of All Time.

''What happened to your nose, Gittes? Somebody slammed a bedroom window on it?''

''Nope. Your wife got excited. She crossed her legs a little too quick. You understand what I mean, pal?''

''Is that crazy enough for ya'? Want me to take a shit on the floor?''

Upon arrival at a mental institution, a brash rebel rallies the patients together to take on the oppressive Nurse Ratched, a woman more a dictator than a nurse.

Jack Nicholson: R.P. McMurphy

The opening shot of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest(1975) is a picturesque vision of an Oregon day awakening. Ponderous, lingering music gracefully glides from the score and a car is shown coming to us. Inside the car is one of film history's most remarkable characters.
Randle McMurphy is about to bring hope, humour, and a wake up call viewing of reality to some disturbed people in a mental hospital. Jack Nicholson as McMurphy, is something of a paradox. Is this guy crazy or is he really the lazy, conniving criminal most believe him to be? That is the magical mystery and start to a journey into mental illness and the effect this man will have on some truly fascinating individuals.



Milos Forman directs a much loved and celebrated story adaptation film, which swept the Oscars deservedly in the mid-seventies. The book which the film piece was adapted from was written bu author Ken Kesey while Lawrence Hauben and
Bo Goldman worked on the films screenplay.
It is a straight forward story about people, therapy and the difference one individual can make to a group. Chaotic instances are swirled with poignant acting all leading to an astounding climax. Not preceding or since has One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest collection of different characters had such a defining impression on cinema. You could write a book report about each of the patients in the ward. The two most important people here are Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher's main symbolic characters R.P. McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. R.P McMurphy appeals to their humanity while Nurse Ratched attempts to supress it further.

The plot of Ken Kesey's Novel and indeed the film adapt is as follows:
The story follows Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), who, in an attempt to get out of spending more time in prison, pleads insanity for his crime, and is therefore sentenced to time in a mental institution. This was McMurphy's intention, as he believes the conditions in an institution will be significantly easier to contend with than another harsh stay in prison. However, he quickly finds out that surviving the institution with it's desolate patients (including Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito, Vincent Schiavelli and an absolutely brilliant Brad Dourif as the stuttering Billy Bibbit) and the monstrously repressive Nurse Ratchet (Louise Fletcher, in a career defining role) is considerably harder than he imagined. McMurphy plays pranks, horseplay, and is generally defiant to the rules of the institution in an attempt to raise spirits. His constant optimism and reckless defiance to the out of date rules in the institution can be very uplifting, and often quite funny as well, but much of the movie can be very depressing - the generally decrepit state of the institution is a consistently (and intentionally) bleak background to a superb story with a truly bittersweet ending.

Jack Nicholson is at his best here, head and shoulders above other excellent performances such as Chinatown or The Shining. McMurphy is an apparently unquenchable optimist, refusing to succumb to the defeated spirit of all the other patients. His livewire antics, inspiring the patients are generally uplifting, and when his indomitable spirit is finally broken, we really feel for him and his fellow patients. Nicholson conveys the essence of McMurphy to perfection, demonstrating his excellent understanding and interpretation of the character.

Louise Fletcher plays one of the more reprehensible human beings in film as "Nurse Mildred Ratched". She is a hardened woman, one whom makes the daily meetings with the group a contest to see who will win. Her stubbornness and lack of compassion for the poor guys is rather one dimensional. That's perfect because that is exactly who she is. Her strong will to keep things monotonous leads to a final showdown with the free spirited McMurphy in what is easily one of the most shocking and disturbing climaxes in cinematic history.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest does not try to make a statement about mental illness or how the unstable should be treated. Rather, it is a very simple portrait of the long days and hilarious scenarios that can come about when a mixed group of suffering people are thrown together. Mental illness is nothing to laugh about, but the fact that Nicholson is not really crazy at all allows us to be amused. He seems to love his companions in the hospital. He is mislead, however, into thinking he can do as he pleases.
There is no denying the power and subliminal messages shown here. The two main powerhouse performances are golden, the cinematography is morbid and gritty like the story intended, the Chief is great as Nicholson's best friend, you care for these characters in a way their carers do not. The famous, final shot ironically happens to be an exit of one of the main characters, one whom is undoubtedly as great as the protagonist, into that early, Oregon early morning, an end for the film yet a new beginning for the free.

''What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin'? Well you're not! You're not! You're no crazier than the average asshole out walkin' around on the streets and that's it.''

''We bury our sins, we wash them clean.''

With a childhood tragedy that overshadowed their lives, three men are reunited by circumstance when one loses a daughter.

Sean Penn: Jimmy Markum

Eastwood's big Oscar hit along with Unforgiven(1993), Million Dollar Baby(2004), and highly nominated Letters from Iwo Jima(2006).
Mystic River(2003) is based on the bestselling novel by Dennis Lehane boasting an incredible cast to give life to the storytelling. The main leads are for Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon. Furthermore we have Laurence Fishburne, Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden. The movie itself is very dark and sober without substantial amounts of music used. The story and screenplay is brilliantly conceived, written sublimely and the acting results in being equally superb.



Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins and Sean Penn play three working-class Bostonians bound by a mutual childhood trauma that defines the kind of people they've become and the kind of lives they've led. The film begins with a brief prologue--an important scene of abduction which, while far from graphic, has a sense of foreboding. We see the three as youngsters; Sean, Dave and Jimmy out playing in the street when they are confronted by a pedophile posing as a policeman whom tricks one of them into getting into a car with him and another man. The boy escapes after days of abuse but is scarred for life. Fast forward to the present to now grown men who have, it seems, gone their separate ways. Bacon is Sean Divine, an amoral homicide detective; Robbins is Dave Boyle, a man troubled by something buried in his heart; and Penn is Jimmy Markum, a former petty thief, now with underworldly connections. All three seem to still wrestle with the past, each in their own way. All the characters instantly spark our curiosity to know them, and to feel what they feel.
I really cared for these characters because they have endearing traits and the substantial relationships are inspiring and layered.
Director Clint Eastwood gives us character storytelling in the guise of art, and is powerfully, tragically real.
It should also be known that Clint Eastwood masterfully shot Mystic River in 39 days also refusing the proposal of studio executives at Warner Brothers to film in Toronto, Canada to save on expenditures. Eastwood rightly refused and pushed to have the film completely shot in Boston where the film is set.

The Brian Helgeland screenplay makes the pain that each of these men experiences vivid and palpable. The grief Jimmy feels over the loss of his beloved child, the psychological torment Dave suffers as a result of his abuse, and the bewilderment and loneliness Sean experiences from a failed marriage all become integral to this dark tale of bitterness, revenge and attempted healing. At times, we do find ourselves wishing that the script would concentrate less on the details of the murder investigation and more on the inner workings of the three main characters. Too often we feel as if we are only scratching the surface of the roiling psychological torment taking place deep in the bowels of these men.

The plotting, particularly towards the end, often feels more contrived than perhaps it needs to be, with heavy-handed ironies and obtruding parallelisms. Laura Linney, as Jimmy's second wife, has a key Lady Macbeth moment late in the film that results in being effective.
As it is, the scene seems to come out of nowhere and leaves us both bewildered and contemplating. Mystic River is an incredible display of human emotion, doubt and how the past can sometimes come back to haunt our present.
The tune that the band is playing during the parade at the end of the movie is John Philip Sousa's Semper Fidelis, which is Latin for always faithful. A fitting requiem for such a uniquely inspiring journey.

''It's the magic of risking everything for a dream that nobody sees but you.''

A hardened trainer/manager works with a determined woman in her attempt to establish herself as a boxer.

Clint Eastwood: Frankie Dunn

Clint Eastwood is an accomplished artist and veteran of the film world whom is confident and experienced.
Transporting the audience via his films through their imaginations and curiosities; that they never want any aspect of the story to be 'dumbed-down' for ready consumption. In fact, his trust in the audience to use their own minds to fill in gaps is like a gift of part ownership in the film. Million Dollar Baby is incredible storytelling and a powerful display, a masterpiece of human emotion and hope.



Eastwood plays Frankie Dunn, an elder boxing coach, manager, and expert cut man whom runs a gym and is learning Gaelic on the side. He's a pleasant chap, but he can't seem to shake the guilt from ghosts of bygone days. His guilt/shame is a constant just beneath the surface and gives him something of a cold exterior, sometimes frozen. Yet, as played by Eastwood, you know Dunn's aware of his own plight, but just doesn't know how to correct his situation.
Enter Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank). She's a thirty-something trailer living woman from southwest Missouri. An unlikely hero on all counts. But for my money, Maggie is this generation's Rocky albeit a female equivalent. That may seem an easy, simplistic, and over-reaching comparison, but the parallels root deep, obvious and myriad adjacent to the former. Like many people, Maggie's dream of being a pro-boxer is always just out of reach, yet she cannot paradoxically give it up. She works as a waitress to survive, but spends all her spare time training. Like Dunn, Maggie has her own ghosts haunting her, and through these ghosts they bond tighter than super glue. The heart and work (incalculably huge amounts) that Swank put into becoming Maggie are unnoticeable. It's a silly phrase but it's as if she was born to play this part. The role fits like a glove which also serves as a summary for the film itself as well as the role she plays. The real life parallel of her relationship to Eastwood no doubt played a part in her ability to connect with the character's relationship to Dunn. Yet this in no way diminishes her accomplishment. She is radiant.

Morgan Freeman plays Dunn's right-hand man (Scrape) at the gym, and reprises a role similar to Red in The Shawshank Redemption. He also voices the omniscient narration to the story, similar to Red. Similarly to Dunn and Maggie, he's similarly bruised, but somehow less deeply. He's there when both of them need support and helps to bring them together. I can think of nobody acting in film today who can embody kindness and wisdom through friendship and support better than Freeman. He also serves to bring in another Eastwood trademark; Banter. Even when themes are heavy, Eastwood's sense of humour is never entirely absent and he and Freeman have a good time with each other, as did Bacon and Fishburne in Mystic River. These three characters together weave a beautiful and true family unit Eastwood's lifelong themes and 'blurring of lines' are on full display: good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, the role of violence, redemption, guilt/shame over previous acts, even god and death. Never one for easy answers, his version of the truth lies in the shadows, quite literally. Cinematographer Tom Stern crafts characters in shadow, shifting in and out of light. There is a grey area between the light and the dark where something approaching truth lies waiting, and this is where Eastwood takes us, then leaves us there to ponder. Million Dollar Baby is a shadow play of necessity.
As accomplished as Unforgiven and Mystic River, yet even more personal perhaps, this film is a triumph of human storytelling.

''Sometimes I get so lonely I forget what day it is, and how to spell my name.''

A delusional young guy strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet.

Ryan Gosling: Lars Lindstrom

Well where to start with Lars and the Real Girl is that what may start of as a comedy created for laughs to begin with, slowly evolves into a more serious and thought provoking study.
The study being in this case, of a man called Lars Lindstrom, subjecting himself to an isolated way of life by choice. Reasons for this choice are slowly explained as the movie takes it's time to play through the motions. Which are first making the majority of us laugh and secretly ridicule him like the townspeople do behind his back, then they all collaborate to help him and play along with his belief. That being said everyone begins to play a part with Lars and his newly acquired ''girlfriend''.



Whats clever about Lars is that it never feels rushed or over done. The characters all seem to be believable in their set performances of the material given. Craig Gillespie utilizes all this to give this town and it's people a breath of life. As the film progresses Lars slowly begins to decrease, with the town people's help, his activity and time with Bianca the Doll. His appointments with the doctor help us grasp gradually what Lars mindset is while Margo, a co-worker, provides a real alternative to the Bianca relationship Lars has and he slowly subconsciously begins to realize this.

Ryan Gosling's performance as Lars is really what this film is about. He not only changes his appearance but his mannerisms and disposition, his set ways and belief that consumes eventually the whole town to play along inside his delusional world, really has to be marveled.
Also his headaches and spiraling evolution towards removing Bianca from his life without admitting she isn't real is moving. For Bianca may be seen to audiences as being not a real person to us, to Lars he believes that without question that she is real to him, and that I believe, Ryan Gosling as Lars succeeds in making me believe.

Other performances I should mention are Patricia Clarkson as Dr Dagmar, who plays a psychiatrist accurately by showing that she has her share of problems also, everyone does. Emily Mortimer as Karin,Paul Schneider as Gus and Kelli Garner as Margo really all did very fine believable acting to flesh out their said characters with immense believability.
Even Bianca seems to emit a performance herself becoming a character among the cast and a part of the Town and it's people.

Lars and the Real Girl isn't one of those films which has fancy effects and non-stop action. It's not that kind of film, and even then, they are not required. What we get is something that transcends emotion and belief and breathes life into a genre that needs original and vibrant films such as Lars.

A masterpiece that is as close to perfect as heaven doth allow, Ryan Gosling's transformation and performance acts as the breath of life responsible for this miracle.

''Every passenger going to 2046 has the same intention: to recapture lost memories. Because nothing ever changes in 2046.''

He was a writer. He thought he wrote about the future but it really was the past. In his novel, a mysterious train left for 2046 every once in a while...

Tony Leung Chiu Wai: Chow Mo-wan

Li Gong: Su Li-zhen

2046(2004) is a combination of ideas, a story of a man who transitions through time envisioning a futuristic creation of a world revolving round the number 2046 and a train that conveys us to memories. Granted 2046 is actually a room number; we all assume it's a year which ironically it does evolve into.



Let me start by saying this of the man behind directing 2046: Kar Wai Wong is more than just a film director (though he is among the finest directors working in this day and age): he is a visual, poetic, creative and daring artist capable of cinematic miracles in one isolated film than most directors achieve in a lifetime. 2046 is a visually stunning, intellectually challenging, emotionally charged view of love and lust in today's kinetically dysfunctional society.

There is no one way to interpret this non-linear film and therein lies much of its rewards. The main character Chow (Tony Leung) is a writer and a libertine whom has pushed his vacuous life around with his hormones and though he has had many affairs he has failed to find the illusory love. He has lived in Singapore and Hong Kong, makes his living writing columns of newspapers while his novels formulate in his mind. One of his novels happens to be called 2046; the title based on the room number in a hotel where he witnessed a bizarre incident involving a gorgeous woman, resulting in his moving into the adjoining room 2047 where he meets the hotel manager's daughter in love with a Filipino Japanese man her father hates.
He desires this unattainable woman and fuses her with a fictional android in his novel which now uses 2046 as a year, time or place where people go to find memories. He continues to encounter women for whom he desires more than surface relationships (there is a stunning lady gambler cameo who represents everything he lusts and longs for) but he is never able to find his tenuous ideal: his memory is his only source of consolation.

The actors include many of the finest available: Li Gong, Ziyi Zhang, Carina Lau, Maggie Cheung, Takuya Kimura, Chen Chang, and of course Tony Leung.
But again it is Kar Wai Wong, the writer, director, choreographer, colourist, visionary that makes this excursion into the intricacies of the mind/imagination so overwhelmingly satisfying. Whether the viewer elects to view the story as a continuation of the director's previous films, or as reality vs memory, fiction vs imagination, sci-fi excursion, or simply a plethora of vignettes about the challenges of finding love in a world geared toward instant gratification, this is a magnificent achievement. In many ways the sound track could be turned off (though the beautiful musical score by Peer Raben and Shigeru Umebayashi with help from Maria Callas would sadly be lost), and the inventive cinematography, visual image manipulations by Christopher Doyle, Pung-Leung Kwan and Yiu-Fai Lai such as the constant dividing of the screen into triptychs and diptychs would remain some of the most beautiful photographic images rendered upon film.