Date Night

Unfortunately, Date Night is yet another film that's funnier in the trailer than the actual finished film.



Director: Shawn Levy


Phil Foster: He turned the gun sideways! That's a kill shot!

127 Hours

Originally uploaded by myETVmedia

If you’ve ever had the urge to become a canyoneer or mountain climber and just haven’t acted on it, 127 Hours will stop that urge cold. It is a PSA for safe extreme sports and avoidance of the desert.

Based on a true tale, 127 Hours is very nearly a one man play held together by the talents of James Franco and Danny Boyle. It’s the story of Aron Ralston, an adrenaline junkie who goes out for his usual weekend of canyoneering and rock climbing when suddenly the weekend takes a tragic turn as during a climb down into a deserted crevice Aron falls, followed by a boulder that pins Aron’s had to the canyon wall. What follows is a grueling, tense, and occasionally gory tale of one man’s survival instinct that ends with the headline that made the news – desperate and out of options Ralston cuts off his own arm using a Leatherman in order to escape.

This is a film that is truly helmed by one actor. Sure, there’s a beginning and an end with the people in Ralston’s life but the majority of this film is Franco, alone with nothing but a boulder and a camcorder to keep him company. It’s a tribute to Franco and Boyle that this film sucks you in and doesn’t let you go until the very end.

While I don’t expect 127 Hours to light up the awards this season, I do think that Franco could come out with more than one acting nomination. Boyle chose and directed his leading man right, helping him to navigate the waters from cocky adrenaline junkie, to desperate being and all the while the audience is never pulled out of his peril.




Director: Danny Boyle

The Company

Ry is a young dancer for the Jeoffrey Ballet that has just lucked out and been given a chance to become a principle dancer. As she works hard with choreographers and in classes Mr. Antonelli works to complete the season for the Joeffrey and oversees every project they have. As the season moves on the company prepares for new ballets and Ry gets a new boyfriend and balances life with dance.

The Company was one of Robert Altman’s last films and a challenge for him as this is a dance film unlike any I’ve ever seen. What makes The Company so different is the way it is told. More often than not dance film follow almost the same formula as sports films; the young dancer catches someone’s eye, gets a big break and works harder than everyone else until the finale with the giant show that impresses everyone, applause, applause & curtain drop. Instead, The Company is made great because Robert Altman brings Robert Altman to the dance movie formula and makes the film something else entirely.

What Robert Altman does is something I have never seen anyone else successfully do. Altman fully immerses the viewer in the world of his films. He begins his film when the story is already started; there are people, locations and events that we as a viewer don’t know but Altman feels no need to explain them to us. Instead, he drops the audience in as an observer and an active participant; we must pay attention to any and all details in order to get up to speed with where the characters are at in their journey and that mystery in itself is what creates the drawing power of an Altman film. You can’t look away because if you stop paying attention the characters lives will go on without you. This Altman technique is used to beautiful effect in The Company and helps to uncover the elegance, fights, bruises and layers that exists within a dance company.

The Company is also special because of Neve Campbell’s involvement. What most people didn’t know until The Company is that Campbell was a dancer long before she was an actress. As such she actually helped come up with the story for the film, produced the film and starred. Campbell did not need a double for the dance sequences. She trained with the Jeoffrey and every dance her character is in Campbell is dancing herself. It’s a wonderful thing to not have to cut the dance sequences constantly in order to hide the identity of your dancer and it gave Altman the opportunity to make the dances much more organic and realistic so they feel like live sequences that are truly unfolding before you.

This may have been on of Altman’s final films, yet somehow I think this may be one of my favorites. Altman manages to find a sense of realism and grace in chaos that is sorely lacking in most dance films and The Company is better for it.

Director: Robert Altman
Writer: Barbara Turner
Ry: Neve Campbell
Alberto Antonelli: Malcom McDowell
Josh: James Franco