VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES NEW VAMPIRE KNIGHT, BLEACH AND POKÉMON DVD RELEASES
VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced their new DVD releases for this month. These include the first episodic volume of VAMPIRE KNIGHT GUILTY (the second season of the hit gothic melodrama VAMPIRE KNIGHT), the latest Box Set for BLEACH, and 3 new releases from the latest installment of POKÉMON, POKÉMON DP GALACTIC BATTLES.
NEW VAMPIRE KNIGHT RELEASE:
VAMPIRE KNIGHT GUILTY, Volume 1 • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens • MSRP: $19.97 U.S. / $28.99 CAN • Available Now!
In the opening of the second season, Zero is accused of Shizuka Hio's murder and becomes the target of the Senate. When Kaname refuses to attest to Zero's innocence, Yuki's loyalties are torn between the two. Then Yuki meets a mysterious little boy whose seemingly innocent kiss on the cheek draws her deeper into the world of vampires. Zero, seeing Yuki struggle to recall her past, tries to help. Do the archives of the Hunter's Society headquarters hold the key that will unlock Yuki's memories? Contains Episodes 1-4.
For more information on VAMPIRE KNIGHT, please visit: http://www.shojobeat.com/
NEW BLEACH RELEASE:
BLEACH BOX SET, Volume 8 • Rated ‘T’ for Teens • MSRP: $49.95 U.S. / $71.99 CAN • Available March 22nd
Just a few months from the showdown with the Arrancars, Ichigo and his friends are deep in training. But the battle may arrive earlier than expected when Aizen sends the Arrancars into the World of the Living. Captain Hitsugaya's advance Soul Reaper troops assist in defending Karakura Town and the fight appears to be going to the heroes, when Aizen orders the kidnapping of one of Ichigo's most loyal friends – Orihime! Box Set features Episodes 134 – 145 (Original and Uncut).
For more information on BLEACH, please visit Bleach.viz.com.
NEW POKÉMON RELEASES:
POKÉMON DP GALACTIC BATTLES, Volumes 1 and 2 • Rated ‘A’ for All Ages • MSRP: $14.97 U.S. each / $21.99 CAN each • Available Now!
POKÉMON DP GALACTIC BATTLES GIFT SET • Rated ‘A’ for All Ages • MSRP: $24.92 U.S. / $35.99 CAN • Available Now!
Non-stop excitement awaits audiences in the Sinnoh region, as Ash's quest for a Gym Badge lands him in a shocking encounter with Rotom and a family feud between father and son Gym Leaders! Then, watch our heroes witness the power of Aura when they join forces with Riley and Lucario to protect an island full of Pokémon from Team Galactic. But Aura won't help Pikachu and Piplup when they wind up lost on a deserted island! From an infatuated Phione to a Snorunt search-and-rescue, the adventure never ends for Ash, Dawn and Brock!
The POKÉMON DP GALATIC BATTLES GIFT SET contains Volumes 1 and 2 in a collector’s box.
For more information POKÉMON and other VIZ Kids titles please visit www.VIZ.com/pokemon/.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Review: Oscar-Winning "Inside Job" Calls Out Wall Street and its Congressional Ho's
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 23 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux
Inside Job (2010)
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – PG-13 for some drug and sex-related material
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Charles Ferguson
PRODUCERS: Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Svetlana Cvetko and Kalyanee Mam
EDITORS: Chad Beck and Adam Bolt
COMPOSER: Alex Heffes
Academy Award winner
DOCUMENTARY
Starring: Matt Damon (narrator) Jonathan Alpert, Robert Gnaizda, Christine Lagarde, George Soros, and Eliot Spitzer
At the recent 2011 Academy Awards ceremony, Inside Job won the best documentary feature Oscar. Directed by Charles Ferguson (No End in Sight), Inside Job is about the financial crisis of 2007-2010. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the financial services industry’s systematic corruption of the United States. The film also looks at the subsequent consequences of that corruption: millions of people losing their jobs and homes, the worst recession since the Great Depression, and a near collapse of the global financial system.
Ferguson uses thorough research of financial issues and extensive interviews of key financial insiders, politicians, journalists, and academics. The director paints a portrait of a rogue industry that relies on powerful insiders to control government regulation of itself. Insiders in politics and academia also help to shape the financial services industry’s flow of information to the public. Filmed mostly in the United States, Inside Job connects the dots by visiting Iceland, England, France, Singapore, and China, where we see unemployment, foreclosed homes, shuttered factories, and tent cities for the homeless.
As he did in the excellent No End in Sight, Charles Ferguson presents a dizzying array of interviews, information, history, and even a few reluctant talking-head types as he explains how we got to the derivatives market, what that market did, and how we got to our current financial recession and malaise. Watch this film and Ferguson will make it clear that the financial crisis was an inside job because all the players: CEOs, corporate board members, banking chieftains, government regulators, Presidential cabinet appointees, university economic professors and directors, etc. are all insiders; they rig the system and suck up all the cash for themselves. We live outside their little world, but what they do can and often does harm our larger world.
Two things about this movie stand out. First, the movie informs us that, thus far, no one has gone to jail for causing the financial crisis. Secondly, Matt Damon’s narration of Inside Job transforms the film from mere documentary into a gripping account that is part journalism, part storytelling, and all take-down of the financial services and its overeager servant, the U.S. government.
Most of all, Inside Job is simply a great movie.
9 of 10
A+
NOTES:
2011 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Documentary, Features” (Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Inside Job (2010)
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – PG-13 for some drug and sex-related material
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Charles Ferguson
PRODUCERS: Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Svetlana Cvetko and Kalyanee Mam
EDITORS: Chad Beck and Adam Bolt
COMPOSER: Alex Heffes
Academy Award winner
DOCUMENTARY
Starring: Matt Damon (narrator) Jonathan Alpert, Robert Gnaizda, Christine Lagarde, George Soros, and Eliot Spitzer
At the recent 2011 Academy Awards ceremony, Inside Job won the best documentary feature Oscar. Directed by Charles Ferguson (No End in Sight), Inside Job is about the financial crisis of 2007-2010. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the financial services industry’s systematic corruption of the United States. The film also looks at the subsequent consequences of that corruption: millions of people losing their jobs and homes, the worst recession since the Great Depression, and a near collapse of the global financial system.
Ferguson uses thorough research of financial issues and extensive interviews of key financial insiders, politicians, journalists, and academics. The director paints a portrait of a rogue industry that relies on powerful insiders to control government regulation of itself. Insiders in politics and academia also help to shape the financial services industry’s flow of information to the public. Filmed mostly in the United States, Inside Job connects the dots by visiting Iceland, England, France, Singapore, and China, where we see unemployment, foreclosed homes, shuttered factories, and tent cities for the homeless.
As he did in the excellent No End in Sight, Charles Ferguson presents a dizzying array of interviews, information, history, and even a few reluctant talking-head types as he explains how we got to the derivatives market, what that market did, and how we got to our current financial recession and malaise. Watch this film and Ferguson will make it clear that the financial crisis was an inside job because all the players: CEOs, corporate board members, banking chieftains, government regulators, Presidential cabinet appointees, university economic professors and directors, etc. are all insiders; they rig the system and suck up all the cash for themselves. We live outside their little world, but what they do can and often does harm our larger world.
Two things about this movie stand out. First, the movie informs us that, thus far, no one has gone to jail for causing the financial crisis. Secondly, Matt Damon’s narration of Inside Job transforms the film from mere documentary into a gripping account that is part journalism, part storytelling, and all take-down of the financial services and its overeager servant, the U.S. government.
Most of all, Inside Job is simply a great movie.
9 of 10
A+
NOTES:
2011 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Documentary, Features” (Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
------------------------
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
VIZ Media Releases Official Statement on Terrible Events in Japan
I received the following from VIZ Media this morning:
Official Statement From VIZ Media Regarding The Earthquake And Tsunami In Japan:
The terrible events in Japan affects us all at VIZ Media directly, personally and professionally. Our hearts go out to those affected by the tragedy and the ongoing crisis, and we hope for a quick recovery. We know the people of Japan will persevere & prevail.
Sincere thanks to all those who have inquired about our parent companies, Shogakukan, Shueisha and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions. Our colleagues in Tokyo are safe and the situation is stabilizing, though resuming normal day-to-day business activities may take a little while. On a company level, we will be coordinating activities with our parent companies to support the disaster victims.
The victims of this tragedy are in our thoughts, and our gratitude goes out to all of the heroic people around the world pulling together to help them.
Official Statement From VIZ Media Regarding The Earthquake And Tsunami In Japan:
The terrible events in Japan affects us all at VIZ Media directly, personally and professionally. Our hearts go out to those affected by the tragedy and the ongoing crisis, and we hope for a quick recovery. We know the people of Japan will persevere & prevail.
Sincere thanks to all those who have inquired about our parent companies, Shogakukan, Shueisha and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions. Our colleagues in Tokyo are safe and the situation is stabilizing, though resuming normal day-to-day business activities may take a little while. On a company level, we will be coordinating activities with our parent companies to support the disaster victims.
The victims of this tragedy are in our thoughts, and our gratitude goes out to all of the heroic people around the world pulling together to help them.
Review: "Crash" Crashes into Itself (Happy B'day, David Cronenberg)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux
Crash (1996)
Release date: March 21, 1997 (USA)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada/UK
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – NC-17 for numerous explicit sex scenes
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: David Cronenberg
WRITER: David Cronenberg (based upon the novel by J.G. Ballard)
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Suschitzky
EDITOR: Ronald Sanders
Cannes winner
DRAMA/THRILLER
Starring: James Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Kara Unger Rosanna Arquette, and Peter MacNeill
After being seriously scarred in a near-fatal collision (that was his fault and cost a man his life), television director James Ballard (James Spader) finds his soul mate in Dr. Helen Remington (Holly Hunter), fellow crash survivor and wife of the man killed in the accident. Anxious to connect with the widow, Ballard joins Dr. Remington in a study of cars, sex, and death in which they focus on the point where the three meet. Together, with a band of misfits that include Ballard’s wife, Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger), and Vaughn (Elias Koteas), a fetishist who recreates and eroticizes famous car crash deaths (James Dean and Jane Mansfield’s seem to be his favorites), they probe the eroticism of the automobile and the sexual violence of auto accidents.
To call David Cronenberg’s Crash “weird” would be kind of dumb and simple. To call it an obtuse art project would be close. The film continues Cronenberg’s look at the effects of technology, in this case machines, in particularly the automobile, on the human body. The film seems to take place in the near future, sort of a tomorrow or the day after that. Sensations increasingly have become the method of communication between humans, and mechanical things intrigue people, in particularly how they can be an extension of the human body and also extend perception of or enhance sensation. Cronenberg gives us lots of sex scenes that involve cars, car crashes, and death as aphrodisiacs.
Those who like film as art with an emphasis on the visual sensation or the visual communication of film will find interest in this. However, Crash too often comes across as a boring exercise in creating mildly disturbing images. Sometimes, those images are disgusting, but in a way that makes you roll your eyes. Still, Cronenberg is, as always, daring in the way he challenges audiences to come with him as explores the darker side of humanity merging with machinery.
6 of 10
B
NOTES:
1996 Cannes Film Festival: 1 win: “Jury Special Prize” (David Cronenberg); 1 nomination: “Golden Palm” (David Cronenberg)
Crash (1996)
Release date: March 21, 1997 (USA)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada/UK
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – NC-17 for numerous explicit sex scenes
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: David Cronenberg
WRITER: David Cronenberg (based upon the novel by J.G. Ballard)
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Suschitzky
EDITOR: Ronald Sanders
Cannes winner
DRAMA/THRILLER
Starring: James Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Kara Unger Rosanna Arquette, and Peter MacNeill
After being seriously scarred in a near-fatal collision (that was his fault and cost a man his life), television director James Ballard (James Spader) finds his soul mate in Dr. Helen Remington (Holly Hunter), fellow crash survivor and wife of the man killed in the accident. Anxious to connect with the widow, Ballard joins Dr. Remington in a study of cars, sex, and death in which they focus on the point where the three meet. Together, with a band of misfits that include Ballard’s wife, Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger), and Vaughn (Elias Koteas), a fetishist who recreates and eroticizes famous car crash deaths (James Dean and Jane Mansfield’s seem to be his favorites), they probe the eroticism of the automobile and the sexual violence of auto accidents.
To call David Cronenberg’s Crash “weird” would be kind of dumb and simple. To call it an obtuse art project would be close. The film continues Cronenberg’s look at the effects of technology, in this case machines, in particularly the automobile, on the human body. The film seems to take place in the near future, sort of a tomorrow or the day after that. Sensations increasingly have become the method of communication between humans, and mechanical things intrigue people, in particularly how they can be an extension of the human body and also extend perception of or enhance sensation. Cronenberg gives us lots of sex scenes that involve cars, car crashes, and death as aphrodisiacs.
Those who like film as art with an emphasis on the visual sensation or the visual communication of film will find interest in this. However, Crash too often comes across as a boring exercise in creating mildly disturbing images. Sometimes, those images are disgusting, but in a way that makes you roll your eyes. Still, Cronenberg is, as always, daring in the way he challenges audiences to come with him as explores the darker side of humanity merging with machinery.
6 of 10
B
NOTES:
1996 Cannes Film Festival: 1 win: “Jury Special Prize” (David Cronenberg); 1 nomination: “Golden Palm” (David Cronenberg)
-------------------------------
Finale of "Cross Game" Anime Streaming on VIZAnime
VIZ MEDIA PRESENTS THE FINALE TO THE HIT ANIME SERIES CROSS GAME
Concluding 2 Episodes Of The Coming-Of-Age Sports Drama Streaming On VIZAnime.com And HULU
VIZ Media presents the finale to the acclaimed anime series CROSS GAME with the availability of Episodes 49 and 50 today on VIZAnime.com, the company’s own premiere website for anime, as well as through the streaming content provider HULU (www.Hulu.com). VIZAnime is a free-to-use interactive web destination that is now the permanent home to some of the company’s best-loved animated series.
CROSS GAME is based on a hit manga (graphic novel) series created by Mitsuru Adachi and is set against the backdrop of baseball. The series is a moving coming-of-age drama that is heartfelt and true and flows delightfully with a light and amusing touch. It centers on a boy named Ko, a family of four sisters who live down the street, and their shared passion for the sport of baseball.
In the gripping series conclusion, Ko faces tough odds in the 12th inning of the final game. Thanks to Ko’s pitching, his team has earned a one-run lead, and all the players are fully aware that a championship is just within reach. But pitching eleven innings is starting to take its toll. The count is full, and Ko must put his all into one last pitch!
One of the biggest names in the manga industry today, Mitsuru Adachi made his debut in 1970 with Kieta Bakuon in the pages of Deluxe Shonen Sunday. The creator of numerous mega-hits such as Touch, Miyuki, and Cross Game, Adachi-sensei received the Shogakukan Manga Award for all three of the aforementioned series. His cumulative works have seen over 200 million copies sold, and many of his series have been adapted into anime, live-action TV series and film. A master of his medium, Adachi has come to be known for his genius handling of dramatic elements combined with romance, comedy and sports.
For more information on the CROSS GAME manga and other titles from VIZ Media’s Shonen Sunday imprint please visit http://www.shonensunday.com/.
For more information on the CROSS GAME anime series, please visit http://www.vizanime.com/.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Review: "The Quiet American" Waits Until the End to Get Loud (Happy B'day, Michael Caine)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 51 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux
The Quiet American (2002)
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – R for images of violence and some language
DIRECTOR: Phillip Noyce
WRITERS: Christopher Hampton and Robert Schenkkan (based upon a novel by Graham Greene)
PRODUCERS: Staffan Ahrenberg and William Horberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Christopher Doyle
EDITOR: John Scott
Academy Award nominee
DRAMA/MYSTERY with elements of a thriller
Starring: Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, Do Thi Hai Yen, Tzi Ma, Pham Thi Mai, Robert Stanton, and Rade Serbedzija
Michael Caine earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance in Phillip Noyce’s film The Quiet American. It’s an understated, but rich performance by a veteran actor. However, you have to watch closely as you might miss some of the nuances. Caine plays by hook and by crook, taking advantage of visual and spoken opportunities to develop his character.
Thomas Fowler (Caine) is a British foreign correspondent in Vietnam, circa 1952, for the London Times. He’s also an opium addict with a girlfriend, Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen). He’d love to marry his Asian flower, but he can’t because his wife back in England is a Catholic who won’t grant him a divorce. Fowler is also resentful of American colonialist encroachment in Vietnam, a French colony. The French military is steadily losing a war against the communist rebels, and the Americans don’t want the country to “fall” to the communists. Fowler meets Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser, The Mummy), a quiet young American doctor who eventually vies with the older Englishman for the affection of Phuong and creates a rift between himself and Fowler of philosophical, cultural, political, and emotional ramifications.
Caine’s Fowler seems to exist in three phases. Early in the film, he’s quite uninteresting, just another Western dope addict with a Vietnamese sugar mama. Later, he’s a man with a dilemma who is afraid to lose the love of his life to Pyle, a man without his own marital entanglements. Finally, he’s a troubled man, angry at the growing American involvement in Vietnam, at the rising bloodshed and mounting casualties of a civil war, and afraid of what he might do to hold onto what he believes he has. The viewer literally has to watch Caine’s every facial tick and gesture, watch the actor’s eyes, and even scan the flush of his face. The audience also has to comb through the actor’s dialogue and listen to the subtle changes in tone during the voiceovers. Caine’s performance isn’t an obvious powerhouse; it’s straightforward, almost realistic. It’s almost as if he weren’t acting. There’s nothing phony about it, nor is their artifice. Caine’s Fowler is a mystery, and we can never figure him out even when we think we have him pinned. Fowler shifts with the wind and rolls with the punches, and the movie almost entirely belongs to Caine.
The Quiet American can at times seem almost too understated. The film lacks passion and rarely even smolders. It’s the most sedate thriller I’ve seen in years, which is a surprise coming from Noyce who is known for his thrillers and noisy action films like Dead Calm and Clear and Present Danger. Although he allows Caine room to roam, Noyce leaves the rest of his cast very little room in which to play, but they make the most of it. Fraser is an underrated actor who is quite capable of strong dramatic parts as seen in Gods and Monsters. Ms. Yen’s Phuong is too hemmed in, but Tzi Ma and Pham Thi Mai make the most of their small parts.
Caine’s performance makes The Quiet American worth a look, but the movie may be a bit slow for most viewers. Noyce and his screenwriters really underplay the film’s potential for dramatic impact. It’s a good film that has some very nice moments, but Noyce doesn’t really turn up the heat until the end when the implications of the story come to a head and leave us dizzy and shocked. Thankfully, we have a fine actor in Michael Caine to carry us along the slow journey.
6 of 10
B
NOTES:
2003 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (Michael Caine)
2003 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Michael Caine)
2003 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Michael Caine)
--------------------------
The Quiet American (2002)
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – R for images of violence and some language
DIRECTOR: Phillip Noyce
WRITERS: Christopher Hampton and Robert Schenkkan (based upon a novel by Graham Greene)
PRODUCERS: Staffan Ahrenberg and William Horberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Christopher Doyle
EDITOR: John Scott
Academy Award nominee
DRAMA/MYSTERY with elements of a thriller
Starring: Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, Do Thi Hai Yen, Tzi Ma, Pham Thi Mai, Robert Stanton, and Rade Serbedzija
Michael Caine earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance in Phillip Noyce’s film The Quiet American. It’s an understated, but rich performance by a veteran actor. However, you have to watch closely as you might miss some of the nuances. Caine plays by hook and by crook, taking advantage of visual and spoken opportunities to develop his character.
Thomas Fowler (Caine) is a British foreign correspondent in Vietnam, circa 1952, for the London Times. He’s also an opium addict with a girlfriend, Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen). He’d love to marry his Asian flower, but he can’t because his wife back in England is a Catholic who won’t grant him a divorce. Fowler is also resentful of American colonialist encroachment in Vietnam, a French colony. The French military is steadily losing a war against the communist rebels, and the Americans don’t want the country to “fall” to the communists. Fowler meets Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser, The Mummy), a quiet young American doctor who eventually vies with the older Englishman for the affection of Phuong and creates a rift between himself and Fowler of philosophical, cultural, political, and emotional ramifications.
Caine’s Fowler seems to exist in three phases. Early in the film, he’s quite uninteresting, just another Western dope addict with a Vietnamese sugar mama. Later, he’s a man with a dilemma who is afraid to lose the love of his life to Pyle, a man without his own marital entanglements. Finally, he’s a troubled man, angry at the growing American involvement in Vietnam, at the rising bloodshed and mounting casualties of a civil war, and afraid of what he might do to hold onto what he believes he has. The viewer literally has to watch Caine’s every facial tick and gesture, watch the actor’s eyes, and even scan the flush of his face. The audience also has to comb through the actor’s dialogue and listen to the subtle changes in tone during the voiceovers. Caine’s performance isn’t an obvious powerhouse; it’s straightforward, almost realistic. It’s almost as if he weren’t acting. There’s nothing phony about it, nor is their artifice. Caine’s Fowler is a mystery, and we can never figure him out even when we think we have him pinned. Fowler shifts with the wind and rolls with the punches, and the movie almost entirely belongs to Caine.
The Quiet American can at times seem almost too understated. The film lacks passion and rarely even smolders. It’s the most sedate thriller I’ve seen in years, which is a surprise coming from Noyce who is known for his thrillers and noisy action films like Dead Calm and Clear and Present Danger. Although he allows Caine room to roam, Noyce leaves the rest of his cast very little room in which to play, but they make the most of it. Fraser is an underrated actor who is quite capable of strong dramatic parts as seen in Gods and Monsters. Ms. Yen’s Phuong is too hemmed in, but Tzi Ma and Pham Thi Mai make the most of their small parts.
Caine’s performance makes The Quiet American worth a look, but the movie may be a bit slow for most viewers. Noyce and his screenwriters really underplay the film’s potential for dramatic impact. It’s a good film that has some very nice moments, but Noyce doesn’t really turn up the heat until the end when the implications of the story come to a head and leave us dizzy and shocked. Thankfully, we have a fine actor in Michael Caine to carry us along the slow journey.
6 of 10
B
NOTES:
2003 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (Michael Caine)
2003 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Michael Caine)
2003 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Michael Caine)
--------------------------
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Review: "The Cooler" is an Odd Romance with Good Performances (Happy B'day, William H. Macy)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 63 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux
The Cooler (2003)
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong sexuality, violence, language and some drug use
DIRECTOR: Wayne Kramer
WRITERS: Frank Hannah and Wayne Kramer
PRODUCERS: Sean Furst and Michael Pierce
CINEMATOGRAPHER: James Whitaker (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Arthur Coburn
COMPOSER: Mark Isham
Academy Award nominee
DRAMA/CRIME/ROMANCE
Starring: William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin, Maria Bello, Shawn Hatosy, Ron Livingston, Paul Sorvino, Estella Warren, Arthur J. Nascarella, and Joey Fatone
Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy) may be the unluckiest man in Las Vegas, and an old debt keeps him in bondage to his “friend” Shelly Caplow (Alec Baldwin, who received an Oscar® nomination for this supporting role), the crooked casino director of the Shangri-La. The Shangri-La is one of the last mob-run casinos in town, and Shelly uses Bernie as a “cooler,” a casino operative whose contagious bad luck knocks out casino high rollers on a win streak at a table or a slot machine. If that wasn’t enough drama, Bernie falls in love with a cocktail waitress named Natalie Belisario (Maria Bello), and her love and good, hot sex shorts out Bernie’s bad karma, much to Shelly’s chagrin.
The Cooler is a crime drama and romance with a peculiar mood. Though heavily downbeat, the film nevertheless has considerable strength as a romance. While Macy and Ms. Bello, on the surface, may seem to have little by which to connect, they develop tremendous screen chemistry, and it’s actually nice to watch the relationship between the characters grow before our eyes. Actually Ms. Bello’s performance really isn’t all that good (isn’t bad, either), but like a lot of elements in this film, her performance is well-used by director Wayne Kramer, a little-known South African-born director. This film could have died early in the story because Bernie is almost too pitiful to bare and the film’s best love scene happens quite early in the film, but Kramer deftly drives the dramatic narrative.
The Cooler is cleverly paced, and the film has some of the best shot composition I’ve seen in awhile. In fact, the rich color photography by Jim Whitaker and the film editing by Arthur Coburn really looks like classic black and white film noir, not to mention Mark Isham’s fabulous noir-ish jazz score. Somewhat underrated and largely ignored at the box office, The Cooler is an odd kind of romance that should have special appeal to those who like to see the homely guy get the girl, and with fine performances by Macy and Baldwin (a really good actor), this film is worth it.
8 of 10
A
NOTES:
2004 Academy Awards: 1 nominations: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Alec Baldwin)
2004 Golden Globes: 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Alec Baldwin) and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Maria Bello)
The Cooler (2003)
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong sexuality, violence, language and some drug use
DIRECTOR: Wayne Kramer
WRITERS: Frank Hannah and Wayne Kramer
PRODUCERS: Sean Furst and Michael Pierce
CINEMATOGRAPHER: James Whitaker (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Arthur Coburn
COMPOSER: Mark Isham
Academy Award nominee
DRAMA/CRIME/ROMANCE
Starring: William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin, Maria Bello, Shawn Hatosy, Ron Livingston, Paul Sorvino, Estella Warren, Arthur J. Nascarella, and Joey Fatone
Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy) may be the unluckiest man in Las Vegas, and an old debt keeps him in bondage to his “friend” Shelly Caplow (Alec Baldwin, who received an Oscar® nomination for this supporting role), the crooked casino director of the Shangri-La. The Shangri-La is one of the last mob-run casinos in town, and Shelly uses Bernie as a “cooler,” a casino operative whose contagious bad luck knocks out casino high rollers on a win streak at a table or a slot machine. If that wasn’t enough drama, Bernie falls in love with a cocktail waitress named Natalie Belisario (Maria Bello), and her love and good, hot sex shorts out Bernie’s bad karma, much to Shelly’s chagrin.
The Cooler is a crime drama and romance with a peculiar mood. Though heavily downbeat, the film nevertheless has considerable strength as a romance. While Macy and Ms. Bello, on the surface, may seem to have little by which to connect, they develop tremendous screen chemistry, and it’s actually nice to watch the relationship between the characters grow before our eyes. Actually Ms. Bello’s performance really isn’t all that good (isn’t bad, either), but like a lot of elements in this film, her performance is well-used by director Wayne Kramer, a little-known South African-born director. This film could have died early in the story because Bernie is almost too pitiful to bare and the film’s best love scene happens quite early in the film, but Kramer deftly drives the dramatic narrative.
The Cooler is cleverly paced, and the film has some of the best shot composition I’ve seen in awhile. In fact, the rich color photography by Jim Whitaker and the film editing by Arthur Coburn really looks like classic black and white film noir, not to mention Mark Isham’s fabulous noir-ish jazz score. Somewhat underrated and largely ignored at the box office, The Cooler is an odd kind of romance that should have special appeal to those who like to see the homely guy get the girl, and with fine performances by Macy and Baldwin (a really good actor), this film is worth it.
8 of 10
A
NOTES:
2004 Academy Awards: 1 nominations: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Alec Baldwin)
2004 Golden Globes: 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Alec Baldwin) and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Maria Bello)
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