Movie Review: Aeon Flux

Aeon Flux (2005) 

Directed by Karyn Kusam

Written by Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi 

Starring Charlize Theron, Martin Csokas, Johnny Lee Miller, Sophie Okonedo, Frances McDormand

Release Date December 2nd, 2005 

Published December 1st, 2005 

Aeon Flux was born on MTV's short lived but groundbreaking animation showcase Liquid Television. The short cartoons were brilliantly weird and entirely wordless. Our heroine was an anarchist in dominatrix gear making trouble wherever she went and losing her life at the end of every adventure. When Aeon Flux was given her own half hour show on the network the bizarre action extended to wildly esoteric, nonsensical dialogue, and kinky sexuality, all of which combined to make Aeon a cult legend.

The character seemed long dead when Hollywood finally came calling with a full length live-action film. Charlize Theron as the lead and hot indie director Karyn Kusama (Girlfight) both seemed like interesting choices. However, the most important thing was the script, which went ahead without Peter Chung the creator of the series. Without Chung's guiding influence, the film adaptation of Aeon Flux morphed into yet another sci-fi action adventure retread.

The year is 2415. Most of the world's population has been wiped out by some mysterious virus. There is now only one city left in the world where the last 5 million people on Earth reside. One man, Trevor Goodchild (Martin Csokas), has found the cure to the virus and has become a leader. With his brother, Oren (Johnny Lee Miller), Trevor has crafted a perfect society called Bregna.

Underneath the surface of this new perfection, a group of mercenaries, called Monicans, has sprung up to expose the lies hiding behind the veil of the Goodchild society. People have been disappearing randomly throughout Bregna and somehow the government is behind it. One of those missing is the sister of a Monican assassin named Aeon Flux (Theron).

Sexy and deadly Aeon is tasked with killing Goodchild, which it is thought will bring down the government and expose what happened to the missing citizens. However, when Aeon finally gets her chance to complete her mission, a flash of memory that links Aeon and Trevor prevents her from finishing the job and opens up another secret that threatens to blow the lid off of Bregna.

In looking at Aeon Flux and separating it from the television series, there are some appealing moments and solid sci-fi work. Director Kusama, with the help of cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh and production designer Andrew McAlpine, occasionally capture some terrific sci-fi landscapes. A scene where Aeon and a cohort scale the courtyard in front of a government building is an excellent action sequence and a visually imaginative sci-fi creation.

Praise also goes to costume designer Beatrix Aruna Pazstor who creates a sleek and sexy future wardrobe for Theron. While I would have loved to see what Pazstor might have done with some of Chung's designs from the series, she does a terrific job in creating some beautifully sexy and functional gear to adorn Theron, which I realize is not the most difficult job, but still well done.

Unfortunately the script and plotting of Aeon Flux fails the fine technical work. Writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, ostensibly working from the framework of an episode of the TV show, craft an entirely unoriginal sci-fi story about cloning, the environment, and government corruption. Typical targets of a typical sci-fi movie, and typical is something that Aeon Flux should never be.

The brilliance of the series was to take on familiar sci-fi tropes and turn them on their ear with oddity, sexuality, and imagination. The film adaptation lacks all three. Even odder, however, is Kusama's decision to keep one minor detail of the television series: flat, monotone line deliveries. The series, one assumes, employed a flat, almost lazy approach to dialogue because it was never about what was being talked about. The movie is about something, the characters have a point to make and a goal to achieve, and when they approach their dialogue in this flat way they simply seem bored.

Watching Aeon Flux as a fan of the original series is like having teeth pulled without anesthesia. Gone are all of the elements that made Aeon Flux exciting. Gone is the wildly eclectic dialogue, the mixed sexuality, and the obtuse plotting. Granted those are elements that are anathema to most mainstream audiences but the reason to make Aeon Flux into a feature film was because of these elements. Taking away what made Aeon Aeon leaves one to wonder why make the film at all. Why not develop an original sci-fi character for Theron to play and leave Aeon Flux, and more importantly her small but loyal fanbase, alone?

Aside from the occasionally attractive visuals the one reason to see Aeon Flux is Theron. Getting her post-Oscar curse out of the way, like Adrien Brody (The Village) and Halle Berry (Catwoman) before her, Theron hopefully can put this behind her and get back to more interesting work, like her other 2005 effort, North Country.

Theron has had a most unique career. A pariah before her transformative Oscar-winning role in Monster, she suffered through far worse films than Aeon Flux. Garbage like Devil's Advocate, Sweet November and The Astronaut's Wife were a trial by fire for Theron, who responded well by making all of those films a distant memory in Monster. Aeon Flux should merely be another minor bump in the road for this terrific actress.

Movies like Aeon Flux are why people hate movie studios and the people who operate them. We know why Paramount made Aeon Flux, because it was easy to market through its subsidiary, MTV, which also happened to own the rights to the character. It's the laziest form of dealmaking and filmmaking. For the artistry and hard work that went into crafting it, Aeon Flux is just that much more of a disaster for the gutlessness that went into stripping the character of what made her unique.

Creator Peter Chung is still hoping to make a direct-to-video Aeon Flux animated film. After the annihilation of his work in the live-action arena, Paramount owes one to Chung and to the real fans of the real Aeon Flux.

Movie Review Long Shot

Long Shot (2019) 

Directed Jonathan Levine 

Written by Dan Sterling, Liz Hannah

Starring Charlize Theron, Seth Rogan, O'Shea Jackson, Andy Serkis, June Diane Raphael

Release Date May 3rd, 2019 

Published May 2nd, 2019 

Long Shot stars Seth Rogen as the unattractively named Fred Flarsky. Fred is a journalist who just quit his job working as a liberal activist journalist after his newspaper was bought by a right wing media conglomerate. Looking to drown his sorrows, Fred meets up with his pal, Lance (O’Shea Jackson), a rich investor type, who promises to take him for a fancy night out. This night out, with drugs and booze of all sorts, culminates with a fancy party where Boyz II Men is performing. 

While Fred is excited to see his favorite 90’s R & B group, his night gets even more exciting when he spots Secretary of State Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron), in the crowd. Charlotte and Fred knew each other in middle school when Charlotte babysat for the three years younger Fred. Fred relays a remarkably embarrassing story about humiliating himself with a kiss attempt on Charlotte before she actually has him summoned for a chat. Seems she remembers him and the two strike up their old friendship. 

Against the better judgment of her staff, headed up by Maggie (June Diane Raphael) and Tom (Ravi Patel), Charlotte decides to hire Fred as a speech writer. You see, Charlotte is about to leave the job of Secretary of State behind and make a run for the Presidency and one of her weaknesses, according to polling data, is her sense of humor. She hopes that Fred’s writing can make her funny. She also just simply finds his oafishness charming. 

Charlotte has secured the endorsement of President Chambers (Bob Odenkirk), a Hollywood actor who once played the President on TV who somehow became the real President. Odenkirk is a scene stealer on par with the all time greats and he makes this cameo performance a spiky delight, indicting the audience and American politics for being attracted to flashy politicians. Yes, it’s a transparent dig at our current President, but Odenkirk makes it more singular and very funny. Watch for the scene where he describes why he’s decided to leave office. It’s a classic. 

Charlotte is embarking on a world tour and she is bringing Fred along to write her speeches and while that happens, the two develop a genuine bond. The chemistry between Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen is really strong. She’s an incredible actress who really sells why she is attracted to Fred and Rogen is charming enough in a rather far-fetched role to make us buy into why a woman as ungodly gorgeous and smart and unattainable as Charlotte would go for him. 

That’s really the conceit of Long Shot. Sure, there are more than a few political jokes, the film has a particularly left wing view, but the central gag that the film’s plot turns on is convincing us that a goofball like Fred Flarsky could be someone who a Charlotte Field could fall in love with. This is a romantic comedy so these aren’t spoilers. The journey of Long Shot is in how you get there and not where the movie is going. 

The ending is especially hard to swallow but, once again, the winning combination of Rogen and Theron makes it work. I accepted that what happens is possible because these two terrific superstars convinced me that under these remarkably heightened and outrageous circumstances, this story is plausible. The incredible chemistry and the really big laughs of Long Shot easily defeated my skepticism about the plot and the R-rated convolutions needed to make it work. 

Long Shot was directed by Jonathan Levine whose unique career includes the Amy Schumer Goldie Hawn flop Snatched, the underwhelming zombie romance Warm Bodies, and the brilliant comic drama 50/50. That last one, 50/50 gave Seth Rogen a really terrific comic dramatic performance opposite an equally brilliant Joseph Gordon Levitt. Levine indeed tries hard to bring some genuine dramatic beats to his comedies with rather mixed results. 

The dramatic beats of 50/50 work solely because of the brilliant and sharp cast. The few dramatic beats of Long Shot also work because of a brilliant cast that make you forget that there is genuine drama taking place. Long Shot is a great deal more broad and jockey than 50/50 but each film shows a director who knows how to trust his actors to deliver a mix of the real and the broadly comic. Levine is blessed to have the Oscar winning Theron who has proven she can convince audiences of just about anything. 

Long Shot is mostly delightful, even when it is remarkably raunchy and R-Rated. Be prepared, this movie is not for the easily offended. Long Shot goes for some big bawdy, R-Rated laughs regarding sex and drugs and you definitely need to leave the kids at home for this one. The film’s biggest flaw however, is not raunchy humor, it’s length. At more than 2 hours and 15 minutes, the film struggles at times to maintain pace and drags in a few spots. 

Oh, I was wrapping up there, but I cannot end this review without praising O’Shea Jackson. Ice Cube’s son is a brilliant scene stealer. This man is a star in the making. Lance is a wonderful character who is full of life and unexpected comic invention. Even when he is given a questionable bit of forced back story late in the movie, Jackson makes it work and is very funny while doing it. I adore this performance, one of my favorites of the year thus far. 

Movie Review North Country

North Country (2005) 

Directed by Niki Caro 

Written by Michael Seitzman

Starring Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Frances McDormand, Sean Bean, Richard Jenkins

Release Date October 21st, 2005 

Published October 19th, 2005 

Director Niki Caro made a huge splash with her debut film Whale Rider. That sweet, smart coming of age flick not only brought an Oscar nomination to the amazing young actress Keisha Castle Hughes, it also established Caro as a director who could write her own ticket for whatever project she wanted to make. Her choice was to work with another Oscar nominated actress, Charlize Theron, on what is, by virtue of both of their involvement, a serious prestige picture about a difficult and dramatic subject, the very first sexual harrassment class action suit in US history.

With the weight of expectations on North Country Niki Caro had a lot to live up to. That the film nearly meets those lofty expectations is a sign of her talent and the strength of the story she wished to tell.

Charlize Theron stars in North Country as Josie Aimes, a single mother returning to her tiny hometown in Minnesota after escaping her abusive husband. To say that her homecoming is not exactly welcome is a slight understatement. Though Josie's parents, Hank (Richard Jenkins) and Alice (Sissy Spacek), love her deeply, her life choices up until now have been a grave disappointment. Pregnant at sixteen, Josie claimed to not know who the child's father was. Running away with the baby soon after, Josie found herself in a series of bad relationships, and pregnant again.

Now back home and fighting with her father over having left her marriage (despite the husband's abuse, her father cannot abide a divorce and even wonders if she brought the abuse on herself) Josie needs a job and a new place to live. An old friend, Glory, played by the wonderful Frances McDormand, puts Josie on to a job working in the mine that is the town's only source of stable employment. Unfortunately it's also where Josie's father works, yet another source of father-daughter tension.

If her father was the greatest of the resistance Josie faced working in the mines she would be lucky. Sadly, the male workers of the mine have made quite clear ever since women have been allowed to work there that they are not welcome. The sexual, emotional and occasionally physical intimidation of women is an everyday reality for Glory who has weathered it well enough to become a union leader. For Josie, however, the abuse is shocking and terrifying and likely compounded by some very dark secrets from her past.

Eventually all of the abuse and frustrating put-offs from management force Josie to take a bold step. With the help of a local lawyer, Bill White (Woody Harrelson), Josie aims to sue the mine and stop the abuse and if at all possible make the mine a safe place for the women who work there after her.

North Country is an exceptionally well-told story both in terms of scripting and filmmaking. Director Niki Caro showed her adeptness for compelling visual storytelling in Whale Rider and continues to mature in North Country. With Cinematographer Gustavo Santaolalla, Caro washes out the scenery to capture the often grim and gritty feel of the Minnesota winter. The visuals are so strong that the bitter cold of the north country chills the theater.

The script by Michael Seitzman, based on the book Class Action by Clara Bingham, creates a fictional character in Josie Aimes-- a composite of a number of different woman, including Lois Jenson, who was the first and most heroic plaintiff in this historic case. Especially compelling is the backstory that Seitzman and Niki Caro craft for Josie and the way that backstory informs the rest of the movie. Her experiences in the past are something that many women can sadly relate to, though to detail those experiences would reveal far too much I think.

The backstory is weaved into the movie's main story in a way that builds to an emotional flourish that lifts the film's otherwise weak courtroom scenes. If there is a flaw in North Country it is the by-the-numbers battle in the courtroom. Caro does as much as she can visually-- the court scenes are brightly lit but no less cold than the outdoor scenes-- but the scenes never rise above typical courtroom cliches. My opinion of this aspect of the film may be colored slightly by my opinion of the film's ending, which takes place in the courtroom and is a major letdown.

Of course Josie would not be the extraordinary character she is without the exemplary performance of Charlize Theron. At the head of an amazing cast that includes Oscar winners Sissy Spacek and Frances McDormand, as well as Woody Harrelson, Richard Jenkins and Sean Bean, Theron never let's you forget this is her movie. In North Country Charlize Theron essays a tough but vulnerable performance with depth and meaning. It's a performance worthy of such weighty subject matter as the very first and most difficult battle in the fight against sexual harassment.

The improvement of Charlize Theron as an actress in just the last three years is remarkable. Just four years ago seeing the name Charlize Theron on a movie poster was a stomach turning moment. Her shrill, unlikable, over-the-top performances in The Astronauts Wife, Devils Advocate and Sweet November are now a very distant memory. Monster changed everything and now North Country affirms that Charlize Theron is a true actress and a star, not just another pretty face.

North Country is the kind of heart rending cathartic drama people go to the movies to experience. A film that earns all of its emotional involvement and audience participation in the experience. North Country is also the rare modern movie that combines that emotional journey with a visual one that is its equal. Niki Caro and her team evoke not only the freezing cold of the north but the feel of a town caught in a time warp. The men are Neanderthals, the women are repressed and longing, and the whole thing is disturbing for people who lived through similar circumstances and people, like myself, who cannot fully relate to the struggles women have faced in the workplace.

North Country is an education, a history lesson about how far woman have come in establishing themselves in the workplace. It's a lesson that needs to be taught and retaught because as the old adage goes; those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Our current laws on sexual harassment may at times seem ridiculous or overblown but they stem from a place of necessity because the type of abuse demonstrated in North Country should never be allowed to take place.

For Oscar watchers like myself North Country is a must see. Niki Caro's direction, Michael Seitzman's script, Gustavo Santaolalla's photography and the supporting performances of Frances McDormand and Richard Jenkins are all worthy of nominations. However, it is the performance of Charlize Theron that will have Oscar fans buzzing all the way to the big night. Theron has a very good chance of becoming the seventh actress in academy history to win two lead actress Oscars.

Had the ending of North Country been a little stronger I think a best picture nomination would be assured for North Country. Still, despite my minor misgivings, this is one terrific drama. A moving crowd pleaser with an important message and filled to overflowing with terrific performances. North Country is a must see for the new season.

Movie Review Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Remake)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

Directed by Marcus Nispel 

Written by Scott Kosar 

Starring Jennifer Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Mike Vogel, Eric Balfour, R. Lee Ermey

Release Date October 17th, 2003 

Published October 15th, 2003 

When I heard they were remaking Texas Chainsaw Massacre, my first thought was, why? It's already been remade a number of times under a number of different titles. Take House of 1000 Corpses, clearly a complete rip-off of Chainsaw, save for the actual use of a chainsaw. How about the backwoods hicks of Wrong Turn, clearly modeled after Leatherface and his lunatic family? Its low budget look and guerilla shooting style have influenced nearly every horror film released in its wake.

Of course, the number of bad sequels that have provided variations on the original characters are in themselves merely re-imaginings of the first film. A remake would have to first justify itself with a reason to do it. The new Texas Chainsaw Massacre fails that test, never once providing a reason why it needs to exist.

It's the same setup as the 1974 original, a group of comely teenagers trekking their way through backwoods Texas on their way to who knows where, there is a vague allusion to a concert in this new version. Jessica Biel of TV's 7th Heaven plays the re-imagined role originally played by Marylin Burns, renamed Erin for the remake. Her friends are Kemper (Eric Balfour), Pepper (Erica Leerhsen), Andy (Mike Vogel) and Morgan (Jonathan Tucker). 

The kids nearly rundown a teenage girl along the desolate highway, wandering too nowhere. They pick her up and she begins babbling about someone being dead and grave warnings about the direction they are driving. Before she can explain anything more, she meets an ugly end at her own hands, it's actually the film's most effectively gory visual. It's all downhill from there, however.

With the dead girl in the backseat, the traumatized teens stop off in Travis County to find help. What they find however is a sadistic, twisted sheriff (R. Lee Ermey) and his equally sadistic and twisted family, including the murderous chainsaw wielding Leatherface (Eric Bryarniarski) who eats teenagers for breakfast... and lunch and dinner as well.

It's been a while since I've seen Tobe Hooper's original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but I can recall it being far more effective than Director Marcus Nispel's slight, slick re-imagining. There was a visceral quality to the original that is greatly lacking in this remake. It's a quality that Nispel tries to make up for by beating the audience senseless with a chase sequence that lasts what seems like hours. The stylized music video slickness is completely at odds with the original film.

The higher production values of the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I gather, are supposedly the justification for the remake. As if trying to answer the unasked question of "What might Tobe Hooper have done with a bigger budget for the original?” Who cares what he might have done, what he did with his miniscule budget is part of the film’s appeal? The low production value and Daniel Pearl's minimalist cinematography are part of horror legend. Pearl returns for the remake and does seem to revel in his newfound technical freedom. However, improving on the look of the original isn't anything anyone asked to see.

The young actors give a good account of themselves in their underwritten victim roles, especially Biel who may have found her niche as a scream queen on par with Jaime Lee Curtis. However, she needs to find herself an original franchise to make her mark in the genre. Somewhere there is a new horror franchise ready to change the genre and directors like Marcus Nispel could better spend their time discovering that new franchise rather than applying modern polish to horror classics like Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Movie Review Runaway Jury

Runaway Jury (2003) 

Directed by Gary Fleder

Written by Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Matthew Chapman

Starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz, Jeremy Piven, Bruce McGill

Release Date October October 17th, 2003 

Published October 16th, 2003

John Grisham novels and the movies made from them are a guilty pleasure for millions. I say guilty pleasure because the work is often merely melodramatic potboilers that adopt legal and political stances that the author bends to his melodramatic will. Indeed, the law in a Grisham novel is often specious and more often than not inaccurate, but necessarily inaccurate to fit the story.

That said, the novels are also tightly plotted and populated by colorful Southern characters and terrific dialogue. It's easy for the non-lawyer crowd to forgive Grisham of his factual indiscretions because his work is just so damn entertaining. The latest of Grisham's work easily transplanted to the screen is Runaway Jury, a look at a trial from the jury's perspective.

John Cusack stars as Nick Easter, a seemingly normal video game store clerk. When Nick is called for jury duty, he reacts like most Americans, utter contempt and annoyance. However, that is merely a cover. Nick has been trying for jury duty and the opportunity to sit in on a huge lawsuit against gun manufacturers. Nick, along with his girlfriend Marlee (Rachel Weisz), are rigging the jury in a scam to soak either side to pay them $10 million dollars.

On one side is the noble Southern gentlemen Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman), representing the wife of a stockbroker who was killed in an office shooting by a disgruntled employee with an illegally purchased semi-automatic weapon. It is Rohr's contention that gun manufacturers were aware of and rewarding the illegal sales of their guns by company owned gun stores.

On the opposing side, representing the gun manufacturers is Durrwood Cable (Bruce Davison). He however is merely the legal mouthpiece for a shady jury consultant named Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman). Fitch is the gun manufacturer’s hired gun for rigging a favorable jury by any means necessary. With the help of his team of investigators, Finch compiles blackmail information against potential jurors.

That sets the tables for a number of clever twists and turns, but not so clever that they wink at the audience. Clever in the sense that they play directly to audience expectations. The twists don't surprise the audience, but they aren't insultingly predictable. Screenwriter Brian Koppelman does a great job of adapting Grisham's tight pacing and colorful characters, even as he is forced to change the trial from Grisham's tobacco companies to gun companies. I say forced to change because lawsuits against tobacco companies aren't exactly a fresh topic.

My favorite part of Runaway Jury however is the film’s unquestionably liberal politics. Where so many films shy away from taking a stand on an issue, Runaway Jury is clearly sympathetic to the liberal cause of gun control. The gun manufacturers are the most thinly drawn characters and their smoke-filled private meetings in which all the major gun companies discuss their conspiracy is so blatantly conspiratorial you marvel at the filmmaker’s brazenly malevolent portrayal.

Director Gary Fleder is the perfect director for Grisham. His last directorial outing was the non-Grisham Grisham movie High Crimes. Both films have a mere gloss of real law and are heavy on the melodrama. Both films cleverly cast their films with actors whose audience cache get us past minor plot holes and specious legal wrangling. Fleder has the same talent for pacing as Grisham and while the story is somewhat unwieldy with a number of small supporting characters that get lost occasionally, Runaway Jury is still a very entertaining legal thriller.

Movie Review Kill Bill Volume 1

Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003) 

Directed by Quentin Tarentino 

Written by Quentin Tarentino 

Starring Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A Fox, Michael Madsen

Release Date October 10th, 2003 

Published October 9th, 2003 

It's been six years since Quentin Tarentino last graced the big screen with his considerable directorial presence. In his time away, his existence was pondered in ways only J.D. Salinger could relate too. What was the preeminent auteur of his generation up to all that time? His name was attached to every film that even vaguely resembled his style and, for a time, that seemed his only context. Then finally after a number of delays, Tarentino went into a production that would be the most analyzed, textualized, and criticized film since Kubrick's 2001. How could any film live up to this kind of hype?

Kill Bill stars Uma Thurman as an assassin who survives an attempted assassination by her former friends and employer. The employer is Bill, and her former friends are a group called the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. There is O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) --codename Cottonmouth--Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) --codename: California Mountain Snake--Bud (Michael Madsen) --codename: Sidewinder--and Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox) --codename: Copperhead. Our heroine's own codename had been Black Mamba, but we only know her as the bride.

The reason why the bride was targeted by her friends is unclear; what we do know is that she survived a serious beating and a bullet in the head before awakening from a four-year coma. Once awakened from that coma, she is ready to seek her bloody vengeance on the friends and former employer who not only tried to kill her but also murdered her wedding party and her unborn child.

Kill Bill has been called the most violent film in history. I doubt that such hyperbole is justified but the film is very violent. Beheadings, de-limbings, and buckets of blood drop all over the screen as Tarentino choreographs his violence to match the ultra-violent Hong Kong martial arts pictures that inspired him. This is no mere homage; however, Kill Bill is HK cinema raised to an artistic level that the original HK masters could never achieve on their miniscule budgets.

Often, I criticize films for their lack of plot and characterizations, but in the case of Kill Bill all that is missing is forgiven. Kill Bill is one of those films that is not about character and story but rather an exercise in pure style. Where some films are showcases for actors to show off the craft of acting, Kill Bill is the rare occasion where a director showcases his ability to direct. Kill Bill is Quentin Tarentino's film symphony, with actors as his orchestra acting at the wave of his baton.

With help from Hong Kong martial arts master Yuen Wo Ping, Tarentino coordinates one of the bloodiest and most enthralling fight scenes ever. First, though, The Bride travels to Okinawa where she acquires a sword from a master sword maker Hattori Hanzo played by HK legend Sonny Chiba. The sword says Hanzo could slice God. Then it's onto Tokyo and the films centerpiece battle where The Bride battles O-Ren and her henchmen the Crazy 88. In an expertly choreographed and stylishly over the top sequence, The Bride maims and kills the 88 and then claims their severed limbs as a trophy. Then it's on to her revenge against Ishii, another well-choreographed and especially well acted sequence by Thurman and Lucy Lui.

My sister gave me a CD called The Roots of Hip Hop and on it are some of the most sampled songs in history. As fans of hip hop know, a great piece of sampling can become an artwork all its own and much like great hip hop, Quentin Tarentino turns his sampling from HK martial arts movies, spaghetti westerns and Japanese anime (the film’s best chapter, O-Ren Ishii's bloody back story is told in an exquisite piece of anime) into a work of art that can stand alone as a work of art.

Admittedly I would rather see the film in its full three-hour length instead of its current chopped-in-the-middle-release, but, nevertheless, I was satisfied with seeing half now and half in February. If the second half lives up to the promise of the first half, then even the angriest detractor will be satisfied with the latest Tarentino master work.

Movie Review School of Rock

School of Rock (2003) 

Directed by Richard Linklater 

Written by Mike White 

Starring Jack Black, Mike White, Joan Cusack, Sarah Silverman

Release Date October 3rd, 2003 

Published October 2nd, 2003

The premise is such a conventional sounding comic setup that it implies disaster. A slacker, wannabe rock star scams his way into teaching at a stuffy private school. However, when you look closer, you see that the story was penned by the brilliant Mike White, the mind behind The Good Girl and Chuck & Buck. It's directed by Richard Linklater who has already directed two masterpieces in this short century, Tape and Waking Life. Finally, the film’s star is that whirling dervish comic invention Jack Black. With this trio of brilliant minds behind it, the conventional comedy setup of School of Rock becomes the single funniest movie of 2003.

Dewey Finn (Black) has the dream of heavy metal guitar God, but not the talent. Thus, why his bandmates decide to oust him after a particularly bad show. Penniless and now jobless, Dewey is about to be kicked out of his apartment by his best friend Ned (Mike White) and Ned's harridan girlfriend Patti (Sarah Silverman). Then the phone rings, it's a private school calling for Ned to sub for an ailing teacher. Needing money to pay the rent Dewey steps in for Ned and begins teaching fifth grade.

Once in the school Dewey is clearly in over his head until he hears the kids in music class. What he discovers is that these are some very talented musicians who with his help could form a rock band to challenge his old band in a battle of the bands contest. So, telling the kids it's a class project, Dewey begins teaching the kids how to rock.

His teachings include rock history and rock appreciation, and homework is listening to Rush, Led Zeppelin and Yes. What's amazing is Black's passion for this music and his ease in communicating this passion to the kids. Using concert footage of classic drummers like Keith Moon and Neill Purtt and guitarists like Hendrix and Jimmy Page to teach the kids how to play. All the while playing out the conventional scenario of helping the kids overcome their problems with self-image and bullies. This inevitably leads to conflict with the school's uptight principal played by Joan Cusack and a Rocky style “overcoming the odds” ending.

However, in the capable hands of White, Linklater and Black this scenario never becomes trite. Black working from a script that White wrote specifically for him, has a passion for the material that comes blasting off the screen in bursts of comic genius. His interaction with the gifted child actors who played their own instruments is truly hysterical. Black carries the young actors over the rough spots that come to all young actors.

The music in the film is non-stop rock from AC/DC, Rush, Yes and a host of classic 70's rock tunes. What's really surprising is how good these kids are, and the songs written for them by Mike White and Jack Black. The songs, which have a vaguely Tenacious D sound are more than credible as is the playing by these gifted kids. The battle of the band's scenes at the end of the film showcases these talented young players playing well off of Black who is not a bad musician himself.

Richard Linklater directs with a perfectly relaxed camera and an eye for allowing his star to carry the day in every scene. Set the camera down and let Jack Black do something amazing. There is far more to it than that however, Linklater's style is present throughout the film but only in the softest of touches. He directs just enough to get exactly what he wants from each scene. This could be the mainstream hit that draws the indie director into the world of the big paycheck.

School Of Rock is clearly a showcase for Jack Black. It's the film that his fans have been waiting for him to make. The one that many people thought Orange County could be before MTV got a hold of it. This film should be enough to hold fans over till the Tenacious D movie is completed.