Natalie Portman in BLACK SWAN; Photo by Niko Tavernise

Quite simply put, this film is painful to watch, but not because of any fallacy of Aronofsky’s part as a filmmaker, but rather due to the fact that it is so brutally authentic. The film is absolutely sheer genius. Aronofsky keeps his camera in tight close ups throughout the picture, rarely allowing it to pull back to reveal anything outside of the immediate, and it is here where viewers are not only drawn into the reality of the world of the characters, but soon feel the stifling and oppressive confinement of their surroundings right alongside them. Aronofsky never pauses to permit the audience to take a breath, but instead just continues to slowly constrict his picture to an even greater degree. There are scenes that are so disturbingly graphic that it makes it impossible to even look at the screen, but Aronofsky consistently reels viewers back in, never letting them escape the constriction of the celluloid for a brief moment of cathartic release.

As the film deals with the fracturing of Nina’s identity, depicting the unrelenting tearing apart of her psyche into its distinctively disparate elements, and in the process creating an amalgamate of the actual and the fantastical, seamlessly blended into a hybrid of reality, it would be easy for the movie to descend into a realm of being less than genuine, but Aronofsky does not permit this and focuses his film instead on the actors of his cast, permitting them to develop their characters organically. Meticulously cast as Nina, Portman gives such a complex and multi-faceted performance that if she does not receive a nod at the Oscars®, then one would really have to reconsider what defines brilliant acting by the Academy. This is not only Portman’s most incredible work to date, but easily ranks as among the top constructions of a character that has been seen onscreen in recent years. At the heart of Portman’s portrayal of Nina is a vulnerability that has developed to such an extent that it has caused her character, much like the film itself, to constrict in on itself, allowing for the duality of personality to completely develop and, in turn, hunger to break free. Portman handles this transformation masterfully and her performance is absolute perfection.

With such a powerfully strong performance at the center of the film, Aronofsky does not allow for any stylistic choices to overshadow the acting, and instead opts for creating subtle additions that lurk in the background, such as the faint sounds of birds’ wings flapping that can at times be heard through a rear speaker in the theatre as Nina rides the subway and observes the blurred faces of the crowds coming and going as well as the usage of mirrors as a prevalent focal point throughout the movie. This draws the audience into unpacking the symbolism of the film on a subtextual level on their own, and, in the end, creates a filmgoing experience that is unlike any other.

BLACK SWAN is an absolute must see. It is not an easy film to watch, and their are images that will haunt viewers long after they leave the theatre, but especially in the midst of the usual Hollywood formulaic drivel that is force fed to the public this time of year, BLACK SWAN is there to remind us all of what true art actually is.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

If producing an entire album of Radiohead covers performed on the ukulele is not enough though, later this year, Dark Horse Comics will also be releasing a new graphic novel based on the characters Amanda and Seattle musician Jason Webley created and toured with in support of their debut album, the conjoined singing duo of Evelyn and Evelyn Neville, a set of “parapagus tripus dibrachius twins, sharing three legs, two arms, three lungs, two hearts and a single liver” and whose “unique musical style is inspired by their many eclectic influences – from 80′s music to showtunes, Joy Division to the Andrews Sisters.” The entire project was a beautiful tongue-in-cheek work of art, rich with a myriad of details about the sisters’ backgrounds that will provide a great source of material for the eagerly anticipated upcoming graphic novelization.

I recently sat down with Amanda to find out more about the new album as well as to learn more about the inspiration for music’s most famous performing conjoined twin duo.

Allan Given: How did the idea of performing as EVELYN EVELYN initially arise?

Amanda Palmer: You know, at the outset, we weren’t certain that we were going to tour, but it became more and more obvious that it simply MUST be done. How can you pass up the chance to drive all over Europe and America in a godforsaken van and get into a conjoined twin dress every night? So we did it. We’re nuts.

AG: Character is such an essential element of the EVELYN EVELYN project, what was your process like for developing their rich and colorful story?

AP: Mostly talking over long walks and Thai dinners. Friendship is a wonderfully fertile ground for true ridiculousness.

AG: Looking at some of the backlash and criticism that arose from EVELYN EVELYN, how do you as an artist respond to those who feel there exists boundaries in regard to the creation of art?

AP: There are no boundaries in the creation of art. There are no boundaries in the creation of ANYTHING. And if there are, don’t tell me about them. You’ll ruin it.

AG: Talk to me about the EVELYN EVELYN graphic novel that is coming out from Dark Horse. How did that come about and what can fans expect?

AP: That came about because I met up in Portland with Mike Richardson from Dark Horse a while back to talk about another project, and this came up as a silly idea. Ironically, the other project died on the vine, but the EVELYN book continued to live. They’re really incredible people, I’m very excited to be making something together with them.

AG: What is your creative process like? Walk me through how a project normally develops from its inception to bringing it to fruition for you.

AP: There is absolutely no normal. Every album I’ve made has had a completely different birth, childhood and maturing process. Some songs take years to write. Some take minutes. The second Dresden Dolls album took under three weeks to record and mix. My solo record took a year. I like that, though. I like that art is so completely anarchistic. The reason Jason and I made this project happen was mostly because we wanted to hang out together, because we’d become good friends. As two touring musicians, we didn’t have much other hope of getting to know each other well. Touring musicians don’t really vacation with each other. At least not my friends. They collaborate instead.

Photo by Beth Hommel

AP: People may be surprised by how I picked the songs. I already had two in my repertoire: “Creep” and “Fake Plastic Trees.” Those I just knew from the radio and loved. I’m super-familiar with OK COMPUTER because it provided the soundtrack for my senior year at college, but I’m the sort of weirdo that gets obsessed with records and not so much with bands anymore. So I didn’t go hunting after the rest of Radiohead’s catalogue until much later, and even then I wouldn’t call myself an official fan. There were albums I owned but barely listened to when I sat down to make the ukulele record. I sat and sifted through every Radiohaed record in existence and listened for the strongest, simple songs. I’m a serious lyric person, I listen to lyrics first and everything else later. So I listened to the lyrics and thought: could I do this justice, singing it? And then I chose. I didn’t spend much time doing that… about an afternoon. I like percolating and then working fast. I used to cram a lot in school.

AG: What inspires you musically, artistically and personally?

AP: Me, You and Everyone We Know.

AG: You do exceptionally well with social networking and staying in contact with your fan base through your blog. How have things like Twitter (@amandapalmer) changed your life?

AP: Twitter has changed EVERYTHING about how I function and travel. I ask for help constantly, and I like surprising people. Twitter is a godsend for the low-level touring musician. I use it to send people to my blog, to find out things about where I am, to find beds to sleep on, to find people who are nuts enough to take off work in London at lunch hour to come get flowers (http://blog.amandapalmer.net/post/746570992/chocolate-is-worth-its-weight-in-gold)

AG: Having started off as a busker myself, you quickly find that you encounter just about everything imaginable when you are performing on the street. What do you feel was the greatest lesson you learned about yourself from your busking experience?

AP: If I had to condense it down? Probably this: 1) Nobody has to care about you and 2) Take care of those who do.

AG: This year marks the 35th anniversary of the movie version of ROCKY HORROR. What character do you most relate to and why?

AP: Oh god, Frank. How could it be anybody else? He’s a slave to pleasure. As am I. Now excuse me while I go make a Mojito, it’s boiling here.

To celebrate the release of AMANDA PALMER PERFORMS THE POPULAR HITS OF RADIOHEAD ON HER MAGICAL UKULELE, Amanda will be holding a webcast luau themed party at http://PartyOnTheInternet.com/ on Tuesday, July 20th at 6pm EST.

To order the new album, as well as the debut album from the incomparable EVELYN EVELYN directly from Amanda, make sure and visit her online at http://www.amandapalmer.net/. You will be glad you did.

The basic premise of KNIGHT AND DAY suggests a fun action adventure film that will provide some great escapist entertainment in alignment with the typical summer blockbuster. The film has Tom Cruise playing the CIA secret agent Roy Miller whose life becomes entangled with that of June Haven’s (Cameron Diaz), a woman just trying to make it home for her sister’s wedding, when the two happen to share a flight together to Kansas. They are soon inevitably linked together though, and being pursued relentlessly by other secret agents, the unlikely duo find themselves on an adventure that takes them all across the world. The trailers for the film looked very promising, with thrilling stunt sequences in exotic locales and with the pairing of Cruise and Diaz appearing to have a great comedic timing that would make for an enjoyable go at the box office, but unfortunately, outside of the quick edits of the trailer, the film in its entirety falls incredibly short.

Actor Patrick O’Neill’s (GROSSE POINTE BLANK) first feature length screenplay relies too heavily on gimmick and formula and it never really allows the audience to become that invested in what is taking place on screen. Nearly every scene seems contrived, not in order to allow the characters to find their path naturally, but instead to force them directly down the road that the writer envisioned for them. Characters will drone on about something, such as what they have always dreamed of doing in life, and the viewer never really feels that it has any true relevance to the scene they are watching as it becomes blatantly obvious that the whole reason for the speech in the first place is just to serve as foreshadowing for something that is coming in the third act, or even more unbelievably, in the very next scene. O’Neill combines this with dialogue that comes directly out of a basic screenwriting book, including the tedious interchange between Diaz and Cruise of, “Were you really a Boy Scout?” “Eagle Scout.” “I was a Brwonie.” “That’s cool.” This too, of course, is only in the film to allude to events that will transpire later, and the audience is forced time and time again to sit through scenes such as these that the screenwriter mistakingly thinks are adding depth to the film.

With scenes forced together in this manner and with no true congruency between them, the movie quickly becomes addled with plot holes and missing chunks of dialogue. For instance, there is a sequence in the film where Cruise is teaching Diaz self defense, but when it inevitably appears again later in the film when a bad guy gets Diaz in the exact same hold Cruise had taught her to escape from, Diaz begins uttering her mantra to remember “Houdini hands.” Unfortunately, this section of dialogue during the earlier training scene must have been cut, so audiences are left trying to figure out what the character is talking about saying “remember Houdini hands” over and over again.

KNIGHT AND DAY is painfully littered with repetition as well, as if viewers are being subjected to watching a short film repeated on a continuous loop. Cruise will tell Diaz to stay somewhere. She does not listen and follows him. They have an adventure. She gets drugged. Change up the locales and repeat again and again. This gimmick grows increasingly tiresome, and makes the movie incredibly flat. If an audience comes away from your film feeling as if they learned nothing more about the overall plot, characters or story than they were able to glean from the trailer, you have to realize that your film is in trouble. And this is exactly the case with KNIGHT AND DAY. The trailers are entertaining, the film woefully is not.

Roy (Tom Cruise) and June (Cameron Diaz) prepare for the ride of their lives, as they flee pursuing assassins - and bulls - through the streets of Seville, Spain. Photo credit: Frank Masi

The saving grace though to KNIGHT AND DAY comes through its meticulously created and imaginative stunt sequences, and stunt coordinator Charles Croughwell (LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, MEN IN BLACK II) is responsible for saving the film from devolving into a complete waste of one’s time at their local cineplex. The stunts are wildly entertaining, and the motorcycle chase sequence that features prominently in the trailer will have audiences on the edge of their seats. Paired with these inventive stunts is the fight choreography of Robert Alonzo (JONAH HEX, STAR TREK), whose opening gambit of close quarter combat between Cruise and his numerous assailants aboard an aircraft is a mark of excellence of modern fight choreography in the cinema. In the end though, while the action side of KNIGHT AND DAY completely delivers, it is unfortunate that the story side does not.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

I have always been a fan of the classic Universal monster movies. As a kid, I had posters of Bela Lugois’s Dracula, Lon Chaney’s Phantom and Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein and Mummy adorning my bedroom walls, but for some reason, I never really was able to get into the Lon Chaney, Jr. character of the Wolfman or, for that matter, any of the scores of films that followed during the ensuing decades and that round out the werewolf film genre. I am not sure why that was the case. Perhaps it was because the werewolf transformation scenes that always seemed to be a prevalent part of those movies was oftentimes the keystone of the films, and despite probably eating up a large portion of the film’s budget, always just ended up looking too hokey and thus instantly pulled the viewer out of the filmgoing experience. Perhaps though it was the fact that the special effects, even dating back to the 1941 original, always tended to usurp any real development of character. The Wolfman would brood, would transform once the full moon came around and then would brood some more, but audiences would never really get into the real essence of the characters that they were able to in films like DRACULA or FRANKENSTEIN.

The same unfortunately holds true with director Joe Johnston’s (HIDALGO) remake of the classic film. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of exposition and a lot of explaining the different characters’ motives, so much so that it becomes tiresome and dreadfully slow in places, but as is always the case in the genre, the characters are constantly just reacting and never really proactive in their actions. The audience knows that the main character will turn into a werewolf during a full moon, and in the case with this movie, will go on an incredibly graphic and bloody killing spree, but that’s all there ever really is in regard to plot. Although the werewolf in this film is played by Benicio Del Toro, himself a very fine actor, there seems to be no true conflict for his non-wolf incarnation to explore. Here is a character that through the film is presented with the brutal death of his brother, is forced to return home to deal with a father he does not get along with, and then ultimately must wrestle with the fact that he becomes a werewolf and is killing townspeople. Instead of letting a talented actor really delve into these areas, Johnston instead allows Del Toro to sit and brood. Scene after excruciatingly similar scene.

It appears throughout the film that Johnston and screenwriters Andrew Kevin Walker (AMBUSH) and David Self (ROAD TO PERDITION) are more content with keeping the characters within the stereotypes of the genre as opposed to giving audiences a fresh and revitalized interpretation of the classic. Plot elements and entire characters are thrown in haphazardly and never fully developed, such as a mysterious gypsy woman who knows the intricacies of the curse of the werewolf lore, but whose explanations really have no semblance to other aspects of the plot, and an entire sequence in a mental institution that is completely inserted only as a catalyst for an inevitable kill fest. The film feels overall to be incredibly disjointed as if the filmmakers were not even sure which direction they were eventually going to take the movie, and instead of choosing a solidified path, resort instead to stereotype and conventionality. Even the film’s opening segment of Del Toro on stage performing HAMLET appears completely out of synch with the tonality of the film simply because Johnston has Del Toro presenting a caricature of a Victorian-era Shakespearean actor in a performance that is simply laughable and would make any patron of the RSC cringe. How is the audience supposed to believe that this is the most revered stage actor in England with such a superficial portrayal of the Bard’s most famous misanthrope? Johnston though keeps the character development and the plot at only this level of superficiality and in the process creates a film that is both predictable and dull.

There are some fantastic elements of the film however, and these are rooted specifically in the art direction of Andy Nicholson (ALICE IN WONDERLAND), the production design of Rick Heinrichs (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 3: AT WORLD’S END) and the always beyond amazing work of make-up artist extrordinaire, Rick Baker (HELLBOY). Each of these individual’s teams creates a beautiful look to the film that easily captures the essence of the gothic horror tradition as found in the novels of Walpole and Radcliffe, utilizing both stark color palettes combined with cutting-edge make-up that gives the audience a truly authentic experience. These triumphs are marred though by the visual effects team that provide shots of a running werewolf that appear to be simply inserted in without any heft to the creature’s movements, making it look fake. Had the CGI been minimized in favor of more of Baker’s make-up, a stronger picture would have emerged.

In the end, despite the look of THE WOLFMAN being visually dynamic, the movie ends up being nothing more than talented actors trapped in superficial performances in a disjointed plot that was most likely the obvious victim of too many rewrites.

For the DVD release of the film, Universal is including both the theatrical and the unrated director’s cut of the film that adds sixteen minutes of additional footage, though you will honestly prefer to have that time in your life free for other pursuits. The DVD includes:

• Deleted and Extended scenes: Lawrence Talks with Gwen; Singh’s Story; Extended Mausoleum Transformation; Extended London Chase; Extended Final Fight

To order the DVD directly from Amazon for less, CLICK HERE.

Movie Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

DVD Bonus Features: LACKING

Robert Downey Jr. stars as billionaire industrialist Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, in IRON MAN 2. Photo Credit: Industrial Light & Magic / Marvel © 2010 MVLFFLLC. TM & © 2010 Marvel Entertainment, LLC & subs. All Rights Reserved.

Robert Downey, Jr. is brilliant once again in his portrayal of Stark, with his trademark egocentrism still fully intact, and this is best evidenced in one of the opening scenes in the movie when he verbally battles back and forth with Senator Stern (Garry Shandling) at a Congressional hearing where Stark logically concludes that he has, “Successfully privatized world peace.” This sets the strong comedic tone for the film, which Favreau has masterfully balanced within the context of the movie, never letting it overshadow or upstage any of the plot, but instead providing just the perfect level of comic relief that is more tongue in cheek, than overbearing for the audience.

It is the casting of IRON MAN 2 though and the strong focus on creating great and fully developed characters that makes the film stand out from others in the genre, and with the addition of phenomenally strong performances by Mickey Rourke as Vanko and Don Cheadle as Lt. Col. James Rhodes, a well-balanced cast that plays off of each other spectacularly is created. Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff is likewise a fantastic new addition to the IRON MAN franchise and her fight scenes are some of the best moments of the film and ones that will have the entire audience cheering out loud. Unfortunately she does not get as much screen time as she should, but hopefully this will lead to a more profound presence in IRON MAN 3.

Robert Downey Jr. (left) stars as billionaire industrialist Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, in IRON MAN 2. Photo Credit: Francois Duhamel © 2010 MVLFFLLC. TM & © 2010 Marvel Entertainment, LLC & subs. All Rights Reserved.

Visually IRON MAN 2 is phenomenal, and the Monaco Grand Prix scene easily ranks as one of the best car sequences ever captured on film and one that will leave audiences breathless.

IRON MAN 2 is an incredibly fun ride with the perfect blend of action, humor and drama, and with an exceptional cast for the most part, is definitely a film that everyone needs to make sure and see on the big screen.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Brown recently sat down to discuss the tour as well as his exceedingly busy schedule.

Q: Derren, you’ve decided to take ENIGMA back on tour. Is it the same show or have you added anything?

Derren Brown: It is the same show – each one goes out across a couple of years. I normally take a week or so to tweak a few bits and pieces that we feel might need attention, but basically it is the same show.

Q: For those readers who haven’t seen the show yet how would you describe it?

DB: Loads more fun than you’d expect if you’ve only seen the TV work. And all based on random audience participation.

Q: You once said that you prefer performing live on stage to TV. Is that still the case?

DB: Hugely. When touring I get to travel around with my best friends, do a show I love and I’m confident people will enjoy, and have all the adrenalin that comes with performing. With TV there are constant enforced changes, restraints, and frustrations that sap much of the joy out of it. With the tour, once it’s rehearsed, I only have to go out and have the pleasure of doing the show, changing it as I like at my own pace.

Q: What was the worst thing that happened on the last ENIGMA tour?

DB: I honestly can’t think of anything unpleasant that happened. My memories are all entirely glowing. Coops (my PA and stage manager) ran over my laptop on his skateboard and dented it – that might be it. But I didn’t really mind.

Q: And the best?

DB: I really enjoyed filming the audience singing “Happy Birthday” to Coops for his 30th as a surprise, with him next to me on stage.

Q: You have a series of documentaries in the pipeline. What can you tell us about them?

DB: I’ve been spending some time with people making paranormal claims, and I’m going in with a genuine hope for the evidence to hold up. I spend my life fabricating supernatural power, so I’d love it all to be true. Of course extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence, so at the same time I know what to look out for and not get fooled. It’s been a fascinating project, and more complex than I imagined.

Q: Are you planning to write a new book?

DB: I’m currently editing a book that I’ve written for release in October 2010. It’s a kind of semi-autobiographical whimsy.

Q: And how about @derrenbrown? Are you enjoying Twitter?

DB: Loving it! I held off for a while and now I adore it. It runs alongside the derrenbrown.co.uk/blog which is now rather massive, so it’s a pleasure to mix the personal tweets with the more informative blog entries.

Q: Lastly Derren, what do you do to relax?

DB: I like to show disturbing tricks to toddlers in queues when their parents aren’t looking.

You can check out Derren’s collection of portraits at www.derrenbrownart.com

For general info on Derren, including tour dates, go to www.derrenbrown.co.uk

Writer and director Nancy Meyers (SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE), has crafted a fantastic film that not only has some great comedic moments in it that will have audiences laughing out loud, but that also explores the relationships between some exceptionally well crafted characters who form the central core of the picture. IT’S COMPLICATED follows the story of Jane (Meryl Streep) and Jake (Alec Baldwin), a couple who have been divorced for a decade, but who are reunited for their son’s graduation from college. After an inebriating night of celebrating though, they find themselves in the same bed once again. Complicating the matter is the fact that Jake is now remarried to a substantially younger trophy wife, Agness (Lake Bell) who is trying to persuade him to have another child, and Jane has just begun flirting with her architect Adam (Steve Martin). On top of this, there are Jane and Jack’s three children whom they must hide their affair from. As can be expected, hilarity ensues as everyone’s relationships become more and more complicated as the film unfolds.

What Meyers does exceptionally well with her films is to build strong characters that seem very true to real life and that never become simply stock or predictable. Meyers’s characters are flawed, they are allowed to make mistakes and to go against the grain of what an audience might expect from them, and IT’S COMPLICATED further exemplifies this. Both Jake and Jane are the direct cause for all of the complications they face in the film, but this makes them even more endearing. This here is where Meyers’s plot is the strongest, for not only is there a sense of authenticity to the characters, but in having them be multi-dimensional, they become even more accessible to the audience, and in turn, IT’S COMPLICATED becomes a film with a tremendous amount of heart. Audiences may not agree with each of the decisions that Jake or Jane make throughout the movie, but at the same instance they could most likely imagine themselves making similar decisions when caught up in a similar moment.

With such a solid plot though, the casting had to be dead right for the movie to work, and IT’S COMPLICATED features such an enormously talented cast that it exceeds all expectations. While the genius of artists such as Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin or Steve Martin really does not need to be spoken, what becomes striking in IT’S COMPLICATED is just how generous each of these seasoned professionals are. They each appear to always allow whomever they are sharing the screen with to shine, and in doing so, create a palpable chemistry that resonates throughout the film. There is even a restraint to some of their performances, and this adds to the believability of the characters and does not allow the comedy in the film to devolve into the ridiculous. Viewers get the sense that they are watching actors, who may each be at the pinnacle of their craft, but who still are able to elevate each other through their performances.

IT’S COMPLICATED is a movie well worth seeing and even one that you will most likely find yourself revisiting time and time again.

The DVD release of the film contains:

• The Making of IT’S COMPLICATED (20:00)
• Feature commentary with Writer/Director/Producer Nancy Meyers, Executive Producer Suzanne Farwell, Director of Photography John Toll and Editor Joe Hutsching

To order the DVD from Amazon for less, CLICK HERE.

Movie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

DVD bonus features: AVERAGE

Alfred Abel as Joh Fredersen, Rudolph Klein-Rogge as Rotwang and Brigitte Helm as The Robot

With a packed house at the famed classic movie palace, METROPOLIS was accompanied by the three-piece Alloy Orchestra who performed their brilliant new score for the film live that featured heavy on percussion to create a mechanized feel that tied in beautifully with the movie’s themes. The restored portions of the film look absolutely stunning, with such a rich saturation that the picture now captures more completely the brilliance of Lang’s style. It must be noted though that the missing scenes were blown up from a 16mm negative and therefore their picture quality is nowhere near as clean as the 35mm segments of the film. The restorers chose to add black bars to the top and left hand sides of the 16mm scenes to match the aspect ratio of the 35mm segments and this proved to be very effective and not as distracting that it may initially seem. While the 16mm segments are incredibly grainy, over-exposed in places and washed out in others, they do completely change the pacing and feel of the movie and the driving forces behind some key plot elements and are absolutely essential to the overall structure of the film. The result is in a word, brilliant.

Crowds eagerly wait to get into Grauman's Chinese Theatre for the premiere of METROPOLIS at the TCM Classic Film Festival

It is here that the overarching theme of the TCM Classic Film Festival can be found, for it united together for a weekend those who are passionate about classic cinema, all from a myriad of different backgrounds, ranging from the stars, to the film scholars, film buffs, and film critics, to the stay at home parents and overall movie enthusiasts, all under one roof, talking, reminiscing and sharing as they celebrated that which they all have an emotional investment in. Most importantly though, it allowed those in attendance to remember, even if just for a moment, what the magic of Hollywood truly is.

The TCM Classic Film Festival will return in 2011 for its second year, and absolutely should not be missed by anyone, for it is not just a great festival to attend, but it is THE festival to attend if you love film. To find out more information, visit TCM at: www.tcm.com/festival

To learn more about the METROPOLIS restoration, and to find when it will be playing on the big screen near you, visit Kino International at: www.kino.com/metropolis

Movie Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Film Festival Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Cover photo: Brigitte Helm stars as Maria in Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS.

I am an enormous Buster Keaton fan. I have been for as long as I can remember. In fact, I still vividly recall the very first time I ever saw Keaton. It was the famous clip from his 1928 film STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. where an entire side of a house falls onto the unsuspecting Keaton, who barely escapes from harm due to a perfectly aligned open window frame on the top floor that was just big enough for his body to fit through as the wall came crashing to the ground. It was spectacular. In the days long before CGI, even as a child I understood that Keaton’s stunts balanced precariously between life and death for the star. I thus promptly told my parents that I wanted to be a stuntman. Fortunately though, no one in our neighborhood would drop a house on me. A few decades later, I had the opportunity to see two of Keaton’s films, COLLEGE and COPS on the big screen when the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago held a special screening complete with live accompaniment. Seeing clean prints of those classics was like rediscovering Keaton all over again, and after watching the blu-ray release of THE GENERAL, I feel exactly the same way.

THE GENERAL is Keaton’s classic from 1926 and the first of his films to make its way to blu-ray. Set during the Civil War, THE GENERAL follows the story of Johnny Gray (Keaton), a railroad engineer who wants desperately to enlist in the Confederate army, but who is consistently rejected since he is thought to be more valuable working the rails. When Gray’s trusty locomotive, The General, is stolen by Yankee spies though, he sets out on a cross country chase to recover his beloved train and prevent the North from waging an attack on Southern troops. Based on a true story, THE GENERAL is an amazing movies and one that easily features some of the best chase sequences ever captured on film.

Keaton is of course the quintessential indie film maker, an incredibly talented performer who not only starred in his films, but who also wrote and directed many of them as well. THE GENERAL is no exception, with Keaton sharing directing and writing duties with frequent collaborator Clyde Bruckman, and the result is a masterpiece of a movie, where incredible action sequences are blended seamlessly with the trademark Keaton humor and unbelievable gags. At the time it was filmed, THE GENERAL featured the most expensive shot ever staged for a silent film with the spectacular train crash of The Texas locomotive off of a bridge. Costing $42,000 in 1926, the single shot would surpass the half-million mark in today’s dollars and is a prime example of the lengths Keaton went to in ensuring that the stunts featured in his films were second to none.

The blu-ray edition of THE GENERAL is amazing, and one that should make it into everyone’s collection, silent film buff or not. Mastered in HD from a 35mm archive print struck from the original camera negative, the picture is absolutely stunning and presents Keaton’s masterpiece as it should be seen. Hopefully this release will mark the beginning of more of Keaton’s works to appear in the blu-ray medium so more people may fall in love with Keaton’s work all over again and so that a new generation of viewers can see why performers such as Jackie Chan site Keaton as one of their biggest influences.

The blu-ray release features:

• Video tour of The General: A look at the actual locomotive Keaton’s film is based on that now resides at The Southern Museum (18:00)
• The Buster Express: clips of Buster Keaton’s famous train scenes from various movies (5:47)
• Tour of filming locations: John Bengston, author of the book SILENT ECHOES, visits Oregon to find some of the original filming locations (4:00)
• Home movie footage shot in Cottage Grove, OR during the filming of THE GENERAL (1:00)
• Intro by Gloria Swanson from the 1960s television show “Silents Please” (2:13)
• Intro by Orson Welles from the PBS show “The Silent Years: Films from the collection of Paul Killiam” (12:21)
• DVD release trailer from 2008 (1:00)
• Photo Gallery
• Carl Davis score from 1987
• Robert Israel score from 1995
• Lee Irwin score from the 1970s

To order the blu-ray directly from Amazon for less, CLICK HERE.

Movie Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Blu-ray bonus featues: AVERAGE

L-r: ZOË SALDANA as Aisha, CHRIS EVANS as Jensen, JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN as Clay, COLUMBUS SHORT as Pooch, IDRIS ELBA as Roque and OSCAR JAENADA as Cougar in Warner Bros. Pictures' and Dark Castle Entertainment's action thriller THE LOSERS released by Warner Bros. Pictures. TM & © DC Comics. Photo by John Bramley

JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN as Clay and ZOË SALDANA as Aisha in Warner Bros. Pictures' and Dark Castle Entertainment's action thriller THE LOSERS, released by Warner Bros. Pictures. TM & © DC Comics. Photo by John Bramley

This is mostly attributed to a phenomenal cast, who while not household names, will definitely be recognizable, including Jeffrey Dean Morgan (John Winchester from “Supernatural”) as the Special Forces team leader Clay and Zoe Saldana (Uhura from STAR TREK) as the mysterious and deadly Aisha. Stealing the show though is Jason Patric (MY SISTER’S KEEPER) as the evil CIA agent Max. With a performance that is ripped directly from the pages of a comic book, Patric is able to do what Kevin Spacey was unfortunately not able to with his uber villain Lex Luthor in SUPERMAN RETURNS and create a quirky yet engaging antagonist.

That is the beauty of THE LOSERS. Even with stereotypical devices such as a cartoonish villain, in white suit with one gloved hand, or curt dialogue such as, “How is your steak?” “Medium.”, the film never descends into the tediousness that is usually found with stock storylines, but instead builds a momentum that carries the audience willingly through the entire film.

Adding to this a great tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, including Chris Evans’s (FANTASTIC FOUR) “Don’t Stop Believin’” scene that will have audiences in hysterics, THE LOSERS in the end is a surprisingly fun ride.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Cover photo: CHRIS EVANS as Jensen in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Dark Castle Entertainment’s action thriller THE LOSERS, released by Warner Bros. Pictures. TM & © DC Comics. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures