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HELLBOY II:
THE GOLDEN ARMY
By Jeffrey Harris

Hellboy, the stone handed, red avenger, or H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEYSTICKS-boy for the strictly G crowd, is back in his second live action outing. It's been four long years since Hellboy (Ron Perlman) last graced the silver screen. This time, director Guillermo Del Toro offers a more appropriate epic and amazing story for the series, after the rather disappointing and flawed first movie. Let's face it, the John Myers character was a disgrace to the material and story of Hellboy.

In Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, there is no plain-jane, extraneous human character spoiling the pot. Hellboy is back in the spotlight, and Abe Sapien (now voiced as well as physically acted by Doug Jones; also the pipes of David Hyde Pierce have been excised) comes into his own, and finally becomes the great movie character everyone knew he could be. Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), an elf prince of the world of fantasy creatures, seeks to destroy the human world for the sake of the creatures now known in myths and fairy tales. Hellboy must stop the prince, and is now revealed to the world of man that begins to loathe Hellboy's existence. Hellboy is also having trouble with his pyro-powered girlfriend, Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), who really wants Hellboy to grow up already -- for a specific reason. After Hellboy outs himself and the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (much to the chagrin of HB's superior, Tom Manning played by Jeffrey Tambor), the publicity and adulation Hellboy longed for is short-lived. A new leader is put in charge of the BPRD, that of Johann Krauss (voice of Seth McFarlund), an uber-strict and brilliant German who also happens to be a disembodied spirit that walks around in an ectoplasmic containment suit with a glass bowl for a head.

Some of Hellboy II felt evocative of a little known gem of a movie from the early 1990's known as Nightbreed, directed by horror and creature master Clive Barker. The creature feature dealt with similar themes about a race of mutants that just wants to continue existing. The human do not accept the right of the mutants to live on their own. Hellboy II expands on this idea. Prince Nuada feels that man is destroying the earth and trying to take away the wonders of the world. Hellboy begins to question the worthiness of his own cause if it means having to destroy those who are not much different from himself.

The story paints a bigger picture which gives a big indication toward the future of this potential franchise, as well as a third movie. Hellboy is not a mere mutant, but the son of Satan -- the anti-Christ sent to annihilate the Earth. The Angel of Death (Doug Jones again who does triple duty in this movie playing Death, Abe, and another creature called Chamberlain) foretells what misfortune waits, but that will not hold back the heroes of the BPRD. Des-pite his origins, Hellboy has always rejected his lineage. Even in the comics, aliens have faith that there is a greater purpose for Hellboy beyond destruction, proven by the fact that flowers blossom from his very blood. Hellboy enjoys cats, candy, beer, and the simple things in life and would rather just settle down with Liz than be at his true father's side.

Great action and comedy, along with amazing and striking visuals prove that Guillermo Del Toro is not a one-trick pony director. At times the constant inter-mixing of genres muddles up certain events, though that is a minor complaint. Del Toro proclaimed the first movie as his greatest work, but plays the sequel with fewer shackles. The sheer number of new creatures, monsters, and sinister tooth fairies (do not leave your teeth under the pillow for these creepy things) is ridiculously amazing. It gives the movie and story a flavor more akin to what Mike Mignola did with the original Hellboy comics from Darkhorse, and what was very much missing from the first movie. The Troll Market, the Giant's Causeway, and the resting place of the Golden Army are visual delights and would even make George Lucas jealous. It's clear from the start of The Golden Army that the stakes are higher, the scope is bigger, and the antagonist Nuada is much better than the unfortunately dull version of Rasputin. In this chaotic summer of disposable fare and the constant barrage of comic book movie trash like Wanted, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army is not one to miss.

Homegrown Waves & Smooth Horizons:
The 2008 Mendocino Film Festival
By Tim Wassberg

The rolling roads lead through the valley as the breakwater comes into view. A pristine village blanketed in the spray of surf reveals itself. This slice of paradise has been the location of film history from the presence of James Dean in "East of Eden" to, more recently, the centerpiece of "Murder She Wrote". The locals and film buffs honor the precedent and relay the pace as the 2008 Mendocino Film Festival (www.mendocinofilmfestival.org) coasts into town.

Integrated into certain arts centers, town halls and private homes, this festival is home grown but intimate creating a sense of community which is sometimes lost at the larger confabs. The filmmakers want to talk and one can disappear into the background. Anderson Valley Wines were highlighted at the Opening Night soiree as local filmmaker Will Geiger showed his movie "Elvis & Anabelle" (elvisandanabelle.com) which stars Max Minghella and "Gossip Girl" star Blake Lively as paradoxical lovers caught in a whirlwind of half-truths and mistaken emotions. Its angle falls somewhere between "Drop Dead Gorgeous" and "Six Feet Under" with a degree of fable thrown in. Geiger actually wrote the script, as we found out later at a private house party, in a water tower in town where he lives with his family. Hometown pride as with most festivals is key and Mendocino is no different. Director Sydney Pollack, who was on the board of the festival, had passed the week before and Will was given an award in his honor.

Mendocino (mendocino.com) and its surrounding area has always been known for wonderful seafood and scenic beauty which perfectly complements this kind of journey. The Mendocino Hotel (mendocinohotel.com) is the heart of the festival. Their rooms are old school replete with fireplaces and porches. The hotel restaurant itself, led by Chef Drew Ison who also helped with the Governor's Ball at the Oscars, showed a penchant for diversity from the roasted garlic scallops entranced with lavender to the delectable and serenely beautiful ballotine of game hen with creamy asparagus and celery root.

The films at the festival led with a distinctiveness of film fervor. "Murch", directed by one of his assistant editors, explored the structure and thought process of a modern master best known for his work on such films as "The Godfather" and "The English Patient" "Mojave Phone Booth" (mojavephonebooth.net) follows the intertwining lives of people lost in a "Short Cuts" insistence with Vegas consequences. Their lives are connected by a solitary line of communication isolated in the middle of a place where life ends. By comparison, the experimental shorts, a favorite of program director extraordinaire George Russell, really shined with a trifecta of brilliance from the sardonic and slick "On The Assassination Of The President" to the haunting "Help Is Coming" shot anamorphic in Louisiana directly after the disaster that was Katrina. The best though was "Hammond's Arcana" which incorporated PXL technology along with a paint box canvas to create a wondrous view on the downfall of birds in an abstract setting.

Many other opportunities populated the area. The Skunk Train (www.skunktrain.com) out of Fort Bragg twisted through the green valley revealing thousand-year-old trees as the cold wind blazed through the nostrils. Paddling up the Big River underneath Mendocino Village with the help of Catch-A-Canoe (www.stanfordinn.com/canoes.html), the wind kicked up our sails as seals and sea otters raced towards the beach and blue green water gave way to huge tree trunks submerged underneath.

The party of the festival revolved among the highlands as Old Rasputin Stout was served and people poured through the deck with pasta salad and the lighting of cigars. The music continued into the night as the Caspar Inn (casparinn.com) nightclub came into focus revealing the bluegrass inspiration of Victor Barnes (victorbarnes.com). The devilish fiddle and mandolin playing of VB writhed with fast moving fingers and a soul shattering songstress echoing into the darkness replete in her overalls. Food continued as a way of life at Silver's At the Wharf (wharf-restaurant.com) in Noyo Harbor outside Fort Bragg. A brochette seafood patter bathed in a champagne cream sauce intermixed with spinach and snapper swirling the tongue. The jalapeno-encrusted prawns sealed the deal. The view from the Ledford House (ledfordhouse.com) up Highway 128 was unmistakable as the storm clouds lulled offshore. Escargot ensconced in garlic sauce paved the way with the hearty inclusion of a cassoulet featuring pork, garlic sausage and duck casseroled to perfection with a French twist.

The highlight by far was The Restaurant (www.therestaurantfortbragg.com) with its unbelievable bourride made up of an encompassing and unreal rockfish and prawn base made by Jim Larsen. His stories of interacting with Truman Capote (who frequented this restaurant) are only enhanced by the original paintings hanging in eyesight of original artist Olaf Palm whose coffee table book, placed in our hotel room, showed the expanse of his talent from still art profiles to mythology. The painting overhanging the door inside the restaurant is mythic in its own right.

Standing out on the point looking back towards the village of Mendocino, the tranquility of the setting is balanced by a film festival where all the films viewed are interesting and exceptional in their own right. From the stories of film crews and movie stars at the old school corner barber shop to the blue cheese madness of Mendo Burgers to the packed hefty sub sandwiches of the Mendocino Market Deli, the talk of film was all the rage on the quiet streets. This hidden gem of Northern California continues to show the breath of its filmmaking wares as the sun peeks through the clouds basking the land and setting in the distance.

Mama Mia
By Scott Mendelson

Mama Mia is an unapologetically goofy musical, wearing its over-the-top absurdity as a badge of honor. Its plot is paper-thin and only a few characters have any real depth, but it is a great performance piece. It is also refreshing in that it is the rare screen musical, like Sweeny Todd, whose original stage source material isn't specifically about performing. There are no shows to put on, no sock-hop TV shows to try out for, no Motown groups to reunite, and no great songs to write before death. And, like Hairspray and Sweeny Todd, there are no gimmicks to disguise its musical numbers. There are no 'oh, they're really all on stage right now' or 'oh, it's all just in Roxie's imagination'. This is a pleasantly simple domestic comedy where the characters occasionally burst out into song. And, since the story takes place on a small Greek island, they are often accompanied by a literal Greek chorus. And, when everyone is singing and everyone is dancing, Mama Mia literally rocks, and rocks hard.

The plot: Sophie is getting married tomorrow. Sophie desperately wants to be walked down the aisle by her real father. After reading her mother's diary, she's narrowed it down to three men who romanced Donna right around the time she was conceived. And since she isn't sure which of the three it is, she's decided to invite all three. Hilarity, drama, and outlandish musical melodrama inevitably ensues.

As the fans of this long-running and beloved stage show already know, all of the songs performed are actually existing pop-hits from the 1970s Swedish group, ABBA. Amazingly, these disparate songs ('Dancing Queen', 'Take A Chance On Me', 'SOS', etc) come together to form a coherent and somewhat logical narrative, although the dialogue scenes do most of the heavy-lifting in the plot area.

Not everything works flawlessly, though. Some of the songs just don't zing ('Money Money Money' is a song I just don't like, be it here or on an ABBA greatest hits CD). Furthermore, the somewhat madcap behavior that likely feels more natural on stage comes off as stagey onscreen (this is most evident in Meryl Streep's pratfall-ish dancing for the title track). But, for the most part, the film works when and where it needs to and truly finds its emotional footing by the first third. Yes, a few songs are cut from the original show, and several are shortened, but it's a surprisingly faithful adaptation (it doesn't gut the entire second act for expediency, like Rent did).

The acting is splendid across the board, as expected. Meryl Streep has a blast as Donna, and it's such a winning, joyful performance that she may end up with an Oscar nod purely by force of habit. All three alleged fathers (Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard, and Colin Firth) have great fun with the madcap plot and the opportunity to belt a few bars here and there. Brosnan's singing is a bit shocking in its vocal quality and its sheer go-for-it gusto. It's not bad (he's no Gerald Butler) but it takes some getting used to and it may prove to be divisive (I liked it, my wife did not). It doesn't help that much of his onscreen crooning is filmed in close-up, so his exaggerated mouth movements are all the more apparent. Every-one else (Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, Dominic Sky, etc.) is splendidly game.

Special note must be made of the young lady who would be Sophie. After four years of slowly moving up the ranks, with notable supporting work in Mean Girls, Veronica Mars, and Big Love (and TV guest-spots galore), Amanda Seyfried finally graduates to leading-lady status as the bride-to-be. And she's never been better (or looked lovelier). She is a terrific singer, she gives a completely engaging dramatic performance, and she has real chemistry with her mother, her fiancée, and all three of her would-be fathers. This is a truly star-making performance.

Mama Mia just plain works. It's fun, it's engaging, it's family friendly (the PG-13 rating is a joke), and it'll send you out of the theatre tapping your toes and humming your new favorite ABBA song. If you liked the show, or if you like musicals in general, this one will more than fit the bill. It's not the near masterpiece that Hairspray was, but it's a smaller, more intimate story that operates on a different emotional level. It's a more faithful adaptation than Rent, and it's a plain better movie than Phantom of The Opera, or… shudder, The Producers. In fact, minor quibbles aside, it's one of the most enjoyable movies of the summer.

Grade: B+

Bottle Shock
By Terry Westhoff

The film BOTTLE SHOCK is a lot like the underdog winery at the center of the story. At first glance, it looks piteous and disorganized, but if given a chance, the film leaves a pleasant aftertaste that will put a smile on anyone's face. The story focuses on a historical event that many people may never have about, but should since it put the Napa Valley wineries on the world map.

Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) is a go-getter vintner with a struggling winery in California who trying to keep his dream from being swallowed by bank loans. Along with his hippie son Bo (Chris Pine), a striking young intern Sam (Rachael Taylor), and an aspiring vintner farmhand Gustavo (Freddy Rodriguez), the group puts their hearts and souls into making perfect wine. The film jumps to Paris and displays a world much different from the sweaty, laborious vineyards of California. The snobbish wine connoisseurs are more refined and wear suits. One suit, in particular, Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman in a delightful performance), isn't quite a notable name among wine aficionados, illustrated best in the film's funniest scene in which Spurrier arrives at a wine tasting and is seated at the smallest table next to the revolving kitchen door. To better his image and the name of his wine academy, Spurrier takes the advice of a friend and sets out to create a competition between the prominent French wine and the ill-reputable California wine.

When Spurrier arrives in Napa Valley, he quickly distances himself from the elder Barrett with his snobby attitude, leaving Barrett wanting nothing to do with him. To make matters worse, the relationship between Barrett and his son quickly becomes strained as Bo continues to live his life as a lazy, underachiever. Bo's father wants his son to attend college and possibly take over the winery. But, Bo moment of realization occurs when he makes an advance on Sam and she rejects him. He knows that if he wants to have a chance with Sam, he must first clean up his act.

Meanwhile, Spurrier finishes his wine testing and decides Barrett's Chateau Montelena is one of the wines he is taking with him back to France for the formal wine tasting. Of course, the elder Barrett wants no part of the tasting and rejects Spurrier's offer. Bo, though, knows this may be the last and only hope for their struggling winery. He sneaks a bottle to Spurrier with hopes that they will win the elite prize among France's top wines.

The film as a whole does have an inspirational feel to it; the underdog challenging the reigning, superior giant similar to ROCKY and THE MIRACLE. Though many of the stirring moments do come off as overly dramatic and sappy with banal dialogue, the acting keeps the film from becoming like a Hallmark special. In particular, Pullman and Rickman stand out as the best performances in the film. Rickman, with his best performance since PERFUME, displays his usual cool, quiet demeanor. With a surprised grin, or a subtle furrow of his brow, Rickman is able to take the slightest emotions and convey them on a grand scale that is easy for the audience to decipher. Pullman is not as subtle as Rickman with his acting, but he is able to pull off a convincing role as a stern, brow-beaten father on his last leg. Pullman's performance is reminiscent of his role as the president in INDEPENDECE DAY. In both films, he always has a look of determination and dread as he's trying to save his and everyone else's well-being. Not many actors can display these kinds of emotions at the same time, but Pullman has a natural ability to express these feelings throughout almost the entire film.

The most noticeable aspect of the film is the landscape. Mike Ozier, the director of photography, creates a wide backdrop deep in warm colors that creates an almost endless backdrop for the characters. The sun and heat generate the perfect atmosphere, intensifying the hard labor the Barretts must endure if they want to succeed. The deep focus camera work engulfs each character as they stand amongst the endless rows of vineyards.

The film does take its time setting up the problems of both Barrett and Spurrier, continually jumping back and forth in a messy narrative design. However, it smoothes out once Spurrier arrives in California. Some patience is required while watching this film, but in the end, BOTTLE SHOCK is worth the wait.

Wanted
By Scott Mendelson

During Tim Burton's biopic, Ed Wood, Johnny Depp places a phone call to a financier who has just screened Wood's first major motion picture. "Really," Wood inquires, "worst movie you've ever seen? Oh… well, the next one will be better!"

Timur Bekmambetov previously directed Nightwatch, which is one of the worst films of the last five years. Intended as a Russian version of the sci-fi punk genre popularized in The Matrix, Blade, or The Terminator, it was an incomprehensible mess of 'cool' that I called "the worst thing to happen to Russia since the North Ossetia school massacre of September 2004." Having missed the sequel, Day Watch, I was morbidly curious about what this visual dry-heave and narrative wet-fart would do with a major American action picture. Well, at least this film was comprehensible. So that's progress. I guess.

Paraphrasing a friend of mine as we exited the theater, Wanted is a movie so shamelessly derivative of so many other movies that it ought to have a work-cited page at the start of the closing credits. It steals and copies and dumbs down countless action classics of the last twenty-five years. It swipes from, among many others, The Matrix, Fight Club, The Terminator, and Ronin, libeling each and every one of them by their inclusion. It has the sensibility of an over stimulated eight-year old boy who still fears the unexplained phenomenon known as girls. Wanted is the most willfully stupid and condescending action films in years.

The 'plot': Take the Matrix. Substitute James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, and Morgan Freeman for Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Laurence Fishburne. Ok, now substitute 'Wesley, Fox, and Sloane' for Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus. Now switch out 'Fraternity' for 'rebellion' and switch out 'war against the machines' and 'great hope' and toss in 'master assassin' and 'quest to kill various targets that allegedly threaten society'. That was easy.

While The Matrix and Fight Club was occasionally subtle and always smart in dealing with the generational angst of males growing up without any real manly purpose in a slightly more feminized world (gross simplification, my apologies), Wanted is literally filled end-to-end with over-the-top and on-the-nose voiceover from McAvoy in which every plot point is explained, every emotional beat is repeated thrice, and every character choice is explained and diagrammed for audience consumption. Seriously, this narration is worse than Blade Runner and worse than Sin City. This is literally the worst voice over I have ever heard in any movie… ever.

McAvoy is hilariously miscast as Wesley Gibson. While is adequate as the put-upon loser in the opening acts (even there, he talks and whines constantly during the action scenes), he is ridiculously unconvincing once he allegedly becomes the master assassin who will prove the savior of 'The Fraternity'. For most of the picture, Wesley Gibson inexplicably is obsessed with avenging the murder of his father, despite the fact that daddy abandoned him when he was seven-days old. At all times, McAvoy resembles your whiny little brother and really, who wants to see their whiny little brother become an expert killer in a super-secret society?

Much of the movie's advertising campaign has focused on the appeal of Angelina Jolie playing a vixin-ish assassin who engages in various forms of action set-pieces. But don't be fooled. Jolie's Fox gets one major action scene at the beginning of the film, but, quickly becomes eye-candy background scenery. The rest of the action either doesn't involve Fox or has her passively observing the manly work of killing.

For Timur Bekmambetov, women are scary devious creatures who should not be trusted. Wesley's current girlfriend is an abusive, trashy slut who sleeps around with his best friend. Wesley's boss is a boorish and vile woman, both because she is in a position of power and because she is grossly overweight. Even the seemingly super-woman Fox eventually finds herself regulated to being the token female.

The much-buzzed about action has no sense of physics or suspense. Morgan Freeman has but a few lines of notable dialogue and not a single action scene. The film is quite bloody and violent, but there is no weight or consequence to the violence. There is literally a scene where Wesley's reckless and vengeful actions single-handedly cause the deaths of hundreds of innocent bystanders (this carnage caused by an allegedly covert and top-secret society goes unmentioned and unnoticed).

We have horribly stupid writing, astonishingly insulting expositional voice over, mediocre acting, wasted talent, head-slappingly stupid action, and a sensibility that caters to pre-adolescent boys who still fear cooties. Yep, Wanted is the best film that Timur Bekmambetov has yet made. Good for him. Really.

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