Vantage Point (2008)

While in attendance at a global terrorism summit in Spain, President Ashton (William Hurt) is assassinated. Events leading up to and after the president's shooting are told and retold through several different perspectives.

Secret Service Agents Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) and Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox) are assigned to protect him. Barnes is seeing his first action in six-months since taking a bullet for the President.

Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker) is an American father video-taping the event and may have inadvertently caught a glimpse of the shooter.

Rex Brooks (Sigourney Weaver) is a GNN producer. She has 10 television cameras in and around the plaza where the summit is located. Her reporter, Angie (Zoe Saldana) is on the scene

Javier, Veronica, Enrique, and Suarez are terrorists. Oops!! Spilled the beans!

Vantage Point is a semi-intelligent thriller that remains mostly unrealized. With a paper thin script, the movie never develops enough tension to pay off. Characters are under-developed. The attempts at subplots are pathetic. Save for an intense car chase that leads to massive collateral damage, there isn't much here.

However, clocking in at just over 90 minutes, Vantage Point isn't that bad. It gets in, entertains, and gets out.

El Laberinto del Fauno (2006)

I really missed the mark with my original review.

I saw Pan's Labyrinth three times in the theatre that year. Each time I gained further appreciation for the dark fantasy by Guillermo del Toro. Still don't consider myself a fan, although he may finally garner my devotion if The Hobbit is realized.

Pan's Labyrinth is the story of Ofelia, a bookish young girl, caught in the mountains of 1940s Fascist Spain. Her pregnant mother is expecting the child of the sadistic Captain Vidal. Ofelia's escapism into the land of fairies and fauns crosses paths with her reality to create a hauntingly beautiful story.

The film is visually arresting. Del Torro blends his CGI seamlessly. The cinematography is wonderfully crafted to parallel the contrasting worlds unconsciously. Adding yet another level of intricacy are the chilling melodies of the score.

The foreign cast is remarkable. The young Ivana Banquero is amazing. Sergi Lopez is diabolical. In contrast, Del Toro's fantasy characters are equally riveting and revolting.

Mesmerizing and grueling, Pan's Labyrinth isn't easily forgotten or explained.

The end continues

Bob went to the vet again today. I came home last night to find the side of his face swollen; his hair was completely missing from the right side of his face.

He came home from the vet today with a drainage tube sutured into place. According to the vet, he has an abscess from a wound on his face. That's odd because Bob is strictly indoors. I can't imagine what occurred in my absence that would have caused such a nasty wound. One moment it was there. God, I feel like a bad parent.

Since being treated his eyes are clearer and dare I say it, there is a spring to his step. He looks terrible. The whole ordeal has sucked the life right out of me. His looks mangy, but damn it, I love him. He's all I've got left.

Not to be too graphic, but this drainage tube is something else. It allows the abscess to drain and his long, once pure white, fur is an odd color of pink. Thankfully, he allows me to wash his face with a warm clothe. He knows we're in this together.

His routine is different now. He eats only soft foods--he really likes tuna. He loves his ice water still. He has even resigned to having pills jammed down his throat and that being chased with a concoction of oral meds.

Damn it, Bob! Don't die on me.

Be Kind Rewind (2008)

You either like Michel Gondry or you don't. If you fall in the latter group, you will not appreciate Be Kind Rewind to its fullest. To you, it may look ship-shod and down right amateurish. Fans of the director will find the kind, silly and dreamy qualities we love.

Be Kind Rewind is a story of humanity in its simplest form. {How's that for pretentious?!} For general audiences, it is Gondry's most 'normal' film to date.

Junkyard worker and conspiracy theorist Jerry (Jack Black) inadvertently becomes magnetized when he tries to sabotage the power plant he blames for causing his headaches. Visiting his friend, Mike (Mos Def) at the local VHS store he destroys all the movies in his friend's store. In order to keep the store's few loyal customers and keep shop-owner Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) please, the duo decide to recreate the films most in demand. Their, ahem, reinterpretation of Ghostbusters {I've got to see that one.} leads to a high-demand for Sweded {meaning tapes coming from Sweden as an excuse for longer wait times and higher rental fees) films like The Lion King, Rush Hour, Driving Miss Daisy, and Robocop.

Be Kind Rewind is a low budget gem that enjoys its idealistic view of humanity. The cast is sweet led by Black and Mos Def. Jack Black is his manic self, but Gondry successfully tempers the screwball and gets a solid performance. Mos Def is sadly underutilized, but still manages a good performance. Kudos to Danny Glover, Mia Farrow and Sigourney Weaver for cameos.

Be Kind Rewind is odd. It's goofy and awkward. Still Gondry keeps the film genuine and creates a simple feel-good film.

As the credits role, your thoughts go immediately to that friend. Mine did. You know, the friend with the video camera that think he's the next Spielberg. Everybody has one. Be Kind Rewind has created a simple pop culture reference in 'Sweded'. Google it. You'll enjoy what you find. This site has some of the best.

And in the end...

My cat is dying. I can't believe it ends like this. First, I lose Suzi. In retrospect, her symptoms presented the same way. Maybe she did run away to die. It hurts my heart; she was my girl.

Now Bob. He went to the vet. He came back diagnosed with congestive heart failure. There is no cure.

Where once there was a robust Himalayan Calico that owned the very ground on which he stood. Now there is a bony shell. Where there was running and purring that sound like a speed boat, there is faint mewing and purrint barely above a whisper.

He is not in pain, but I am. I dread to think of the day when I wake-up and he doesn't. Or when I come home and he is no longer there to greet me.

This just bites. Hardcore.