Both UK and US publishers, Bloomsbury and Scholastic respectively, had joined command to launch cover artworks of the teeth-knawingly, nail-bitingly anticipated seventh and final book of the greatest series in the history of literature. In this gorgeous high-res, we could see in the US version, Harry wearing a locket (Slytherin's locket), raising his hand up in the sky, must be summoning something, while battling Voldemort. This is also the first time Voldemort was featured in a Harry Potter book cover. I gotta say, it's a very good artwork by Mary Grandpre, and while my favourite HP book cover is still the dark and bluish Order of the Phoenix, Deathly Hallows is majestic and grand enough to showcase the final event.


However, in the UK Children's Edition, it shows Harry, Ron and Hermione stumbling upon a pile of treasure (with a house-elf bringing a sword, must be Godric Gryffindor's sword, notice at the back of Harry?). I think they're looking for Horcruxes, and if you don't understand what Horcruxes are, you haven't probably read Half-Blood Prince (which means you have to read now! Like now! Don't matter where you borrow it from because you might feel so missed-out for Deathly Hallows). Anyway, I don't really dig the children's version. The artwork is not my cup of tea.


In the dark side, UK Adult's Edition showcases a very simple, elegant and richly eerie cover art. Black all over with a golden locket with emeralds encrusted on it that formed a letter "S". I wouldn't doubt if this is Salazar Slytherin's locket, and I wouldn't doubt more if this is one of the Horcruxes of Voldemort. For more info, the reason why UK had decided to make an Adult's edition, separate from the Children's, was that mostly adults feel embarrassed here in the UK walking around, bringing a copy of Harry Potter. HP is also the reason why New York Times had made a separate Young Adult's Section of Bestseller because HP kept on being the #1 book both in the Children's and Adult's Section Bestsellers.


I still believe that the Potter saga would be a tragic one. Rowling would kill Harry off, I still think. And if she does that, I wholly trust Rowling it would justified. Arthure Levine, editor of the US books, said in an interview, he did not just cry but "sobbed" while reading the book and called Deathly Hallows "a very emotional book".


I am both excited and afraid of reading Deathly Hallows. Excited, because the final battle is very nigh and I just can't wait for all the questions to be answered. Afraid, because it is the end of one of mankind history's greatest series that awakened the whole generation to reading (surely, this series changed my life in many reasons, and in many ways. Heck, it's even the reason why I wanted to become a writer, for Christ's sake) and that, only God knows when would be the next time a new book would capture the whole world into reading and would be called the "new Potter phenomenon". I doubt it.


So here they are, in gorgeous high-res. Click on the images to view fully. Hallows will be released on the 21st of July, a week later after the film Order of the Phoenix will be released.

US Scholastic Edition



US Scholastic Cover Artwork



UK Bloomsbury Children's Edition Front Cover



UK Bloomsbury Children's Edition Cover Art



UK Bloomsbury Adult's Edition Front Cover



UK Bloomsbury Adult's Edition Cover Art

If you think that Sin City had revolutionized cinema and made Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorcese drool over the black-and-white vista, think twice. 300, a rip-roaring, rampaging, ballistic, bombastic take on the historical Battle of Thermopylae, also based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, doesn't only transmogrifies cinematic experience but sparks people into talking may it be historians, artists, directors, cinematographers, local moviegoers, your uncle or probably even your grandad. I sniffed this film ages ago and totally sat down and waited for it to arrive. Good enough, we checked it out an the Odeon Theatre, in which my sister claims that it's nothing compared to the best cinema in UK. Anyway, it's still good enough for me. As long as I could watch, hell may break loose, I will feel satisfied when I get the chance to check the latest buzz.

Now the question arises, was I satisfied?

My answer would be yes - and no.

First and foremost, 300 is adapted from Miller's famous graphic novel of the same title, and just like what Robert Rodriguez had done with Sin City (also a creation of Miller), Zack Snyder had completely understood 300's material and embellished it with the gold-and-bronze colour tone, exactly as Rodriguez's black-and-white visuals. Every single scene feels like Snyder had ripped off pages from the comic book, every angular shot, every dramatic detail. Because of this, it made 300 a visually arresting and sumptuous cinematic magnificence. Never before The Matrix, or the latest Sin City, had I felt visually-involved with 300's ambitious scene-by-scene histrionics. The film is just so drop-dead gorgeous. With rich tones of gold, bronze, grey and blood crimson, one may feel the surrealism that even Van Gogh would surely be jealous of. So with the slow-mo effects, battle scenes became more effective due to its theatrics and King Leonidas slashing here and there was comically mouth-dropping. I would be downrightly amazed if 300 wouldn't bag a Best Visual Effect nomination for the next year's Oscars. This has really defined what eye-candy is all about, as what another critic has mentioned "the Belgian chocolate of cinema".

What really struck me was that 300 proved to the world that a filmmaker can make an intense, almost convincing, war movie by not going to real landscapes just to shoot. From the likes of Troy to Alexander, war movies had been so tedious, rollicking from Morroco to Egypt to Bosnia and God-knows where else in the cosmos. Snyder knew his weapon, and he's very good at it. The power of green-screen. 300 is made with a budget of $60 million, and compared to Troy which tantamounts to more than $100 million production budget, it's nevertheless effective and more artsy-fartsy for the cinema freaks.

Kudos to Zack Snyder for being pragmatic enough to keep his wits up in his brain. He totally understood every single detail, every single line, every single yowzah! that 300 deserves. Artistically speaking, 300 belongs to the summit, and it reminds me why I wanted to become a filmmaker myself, because every director has his liberty to paint his own colours, his own strokes on a blank canvas of glory. Especially what he has done to the war scenes. Never before since the Battle in Pellenor Fields in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King had made me grip my own palms with my own fingernails and grit my teeth, and 300 just did that. Notably. So far, it's the only film in recent memory that has a great potential to make the Battle of Pellenor Fields look like just wheat fields. But then again, exaggerating a Persian army up to a million might make it too eyebrow-raising, compared to Lord of the Ring's hundred-percent fictional universe. Historians might wage war with Snyder himself.

I remember I said "no" not too long ago, when I asked myself whether I was satisfied. Of course, I can't get away with it without answers now, can I? Here it is, brace yourselves. 300 is as shallow as your nearest seashore. Plot-wise, there's not too much going on beneath the surface in here and what you see in front of you a movie filled with holes. Cheesy lines are written all over it, and since epic movies had been born by the likes of Braveheart, one couldn't help but harrumph at it. However, thank God to the naturally ferocious performance of the wow-worthy Gerard Butler for making "Ready your breakfast, and eat hearty, for tonight we dine in hell!" particularly engrossing. I bet my bollocks revenge-lusty peeps would find this line useful in many situations. While the rest like "Prepare for glory!" and "Give them nothing but take away everything from them!" were already immortalised by other epic war films. So much for cheesiness (not quite sure if that word is existing, but if you see what I mean).

It basically tells the story of 300 six-packed, rock-hard Spartan warriors, led by the bold and brazen King Leonidas (Gerard Butler), going into battle against a million army from the hundred nations combined from the kingdom of Persia, led by a Gay Beauty Pageant Queen with a totally gayest float evar! I'm only joking - led by Xerxes, the 7-foot (eyebrow raised) Persian God-King, with an army of a million, some giants (eyebrow raised again), some monsters (both eyebrows raised now) and rhinoceros (now that's more than just eyebrow-raising). While Xerxes fights for worldwide domination, Leonidas fights for love, his wife, for his nation, and the strict law of Sparta. Sparta could actually easily just kneel and bow down for submittance, but the nation believed in freedom. As Queen Gorgo puts it, in one of the most memorable lines in the film to the point that it becomes quotable, "Freedom is not free. It is paid for in blood.", it would stun us how people in ancient times fought with their life to gain this nirvana. In accordance to the Battle of Thermopylae, stupid people would react like this: "Why not surrender and become part of one nation? Why push more effort and kick more asses and just be killed at the end?". While the intelligent ones will surely mutter that without these 300 brave warriors, it wouldn't have inspired the Spartan and Grecian people to stand up and made the modern world Western civilization possible. If the Persian empire had threatened the very foundations of Sparta, and had submitted in defeat, it would be possible that up to now, Westerners would have been under Middle-Eastern rule.

It's expected that this film would cause the maelstrom of eyebrow-raising like flocks of bird wings, and we ask why Snyder had chosen to put monsters and giants and creatures. This is not Lord of the Rings! But I understand Snyder's point of view - he used such mediums to serve the cinematic purpose, and if you want to watch a battle with no creatures in it, then try Alexander perhaps. It's exactly the polar opposite of Troy: Wolfgang Petersen had stripped off the mythological elements in Troy that could make Homer himself fiery in rage for destroying the very essence of The Illiad, while Snyder had exaggerated the truthful historical account of the Battle of Thermopylae by putting mytholigical elements in it. It's no wonder, it's even more effective, like the brilliant scene where Leonidas confronted the oracle. Fantastic sequence. And in wars, facing the giant creatures felt more - entertaining. Why? Because it's the material. And Snyder had deliberately showcased the account this way - the way stories of heroic quests, brave wars, and tragic tales were told around a campfire. Exaggerating, but definitely entertaining. Now have you been to a campfire before? If you haven't, you just don't know what you're missing then.

It's Gerard Butler's performance that kept this film moving. I think no other actor could scream and petrify an army by his commanding voice and arresting presence like Butler, and now because of 300, he rises up to the likes of Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe. Buff as he is, it's his emotional delivery that made 300 lurk away from cold-heartedness. He's fit as a King, as a husband, and as a freeman serving his country. He might be surrounded by 300 men with airbrushed abs (yes, they have trained physically but Snyder admitted he has to computer-airbrush it to generally stand out), but it's his abs that counted the most, it's his fierce spirit that made 300 possible. Lena Headey as Queen Gorgo was absorbing as well. It's her character that generates political war inside the Spartan council, while her husbands chops heads off thousands of miles away. Nonetheless, she's a wife who stands with her husband no matter what. David Wenham, known to be Faramir from LOTR, kept the whole story alive by his generous narrating voice. And last but not the least, Rodrigo Santoro was evidently unrecognisable beneath eyeliners, piercings and more metal. Ha! Couldn't even believe that he's that bloke who melted knickers in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle by emerging out of the sea waves like Adonis, and melted hearts especially Laura Linney's in Love, Actually. Now he looks so gay! A weird revelation of androgeny, mixture of feminism and masculinity. Unusual but effective for the role, a God-King with great vanity. Many people wouldn't probably like his character - you know why? Because his acting is that good. That's what power acting exudes.

I have to admit I like the film, artistically and cinematically speaking. I just can't help the fact that it's a bit shallow and not too emotionally sweeping that grand epics are supposed to boast. But 300 is no doubt, an arthouse, and I could really dine in hell with it's visuals and cinematography. It's one of the most gorgeous looking film so far in history. This is Braveheart's first cousin and Gladiator's second cousin (and Sin City's brother) - but lacks the emotional depth of the first two. But then again, 300 is a war film, a celebration of hard-metal-rock music, sword-and-sandals, cloak-and-loincloths, blood, more blood, abs, abs and more abs. That's what matters, and if you're looking for an epic film that would make you cry like a baby then you're not in the right place. 300 serves as a finger for pushing expletive buttons like "Yeah! Kick his ass!" or "F*ck yeah!, you just couldn't help but get cheering with it and shouting "SPARTAAAAAA!", because in fact, 300 is a cool film and nothing less ordinary. Movie fanboys like me will ignite with this human carnage that was put so beautifully.

Now I will start calling brutal people "Spartans". I think I have a bit of Spartan blood in me, I guess.


Rating: A-

2007 (c) J.S.Datinguinoo

GIRLFRIEND - Avril Lavigne

She was the girl who blew Skaterboi's wits off all over the place. She was complicated before, and now she gets even more complicated. Is Avril Lavigne now pulling a Hilary Duff stunt? Seen the video, ditched it up and loathe it like hell. I know Avril's trying to look more hot in this take-off-your-bra-and-you-become-famous generation but what she transformed into now was a rubbish hellhole. Instead of becoming a better artist in ever album, this Avril's recent philandering is a step-back, fusing more into the redundant Pop territory instead of tantamounting her punk-princess image. And she even tried to shake her booty in this video, what a mess, Avril. I know you're a girl, and you're trying to wear your stillettos on - but I guess you can turn around and bring back those sneakers-tie glory days than putting up a facade that belongs to Hilary Duff. Now look what you've done, you look like a slut in a 13-year old get-up. Excuse my language. Girlfriend is too catchy, too infectious, too gratuitous for our taste buds that it makes us sick listening to it over and over again. Fusing Pop and Punk is great, and could sometimes be awesome, but fusing it like Avril does could sometimes be not too effective.

Grade: D

SWEET ESCAPE - Gwen Stefani feat. Akon

Fantastic Gwen. Sometimes we have to trust this girl and let her just do her thing in the screen. This is a good record; not ultra-fine but fine enough to extirpate those bad-hair days and move to this beat of the feel-good Stefani and Akon. The video is endearing enough, featuring the glamour of Stefani and her cohorts of Chinese dolls, with golden walls, sets and costumes that only Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana could be attributed to. Fashion is her world, music is her soul, and weirdness is her life. Stefani rocks, and this song may not be the song you wanted to hear over and over again but it's worth enough to escape the blip.

Grade: B+

She flew like a bird years ago, and now she's back with a vengeance. I could say Nelly Furtado got her groove back and looked indeed hotter and more fine. Say It Right may not be as a disco-esque anthem like Maneater and Promiscuous, but it's a laid-back type of music in which we would just want to chill out with. And speaking of chilling out, the video bespeaks that whilst nudity can turn things ugly, simplicity can generate beauty. White backgrounds, skyscrapers, three male dancers and Timbaland and Nelly in the screen as if they're whispering to each other - Say It Right does it right. Not flamboyant, not pretentious, it's peaceful, tranquil, bold and just right. And oh, Nelly Furtado looked a bit like Courtney Cox.

Grade: B+

WHAT GOES AROUND (COMES AROUND) - Justin Timberlake

Oh yes, he brought Sexyback and made My Love a great video - but a notion of bringing all-too sexy and sultry Scarlett Johansson made What Goes Around (Comes Around) music video all very blistery. In short, I didn't like it. I have total respect for Johansson's Oscar nomination for Lost in Translation, and her nomination for Match Point (which was caused all by luck as there was no other actress to nominate at that point) but her performance here in this video could get her a Razzie. Horrible acting. She's beautiful, she is, but there's something lacking in the video, or maybe something too much in it. On the other hand, I don't congratulate Mr Timberlake for actually appearing with Johansson, and neither writing this song. As if no other artist had thought of this before, and saying "what goes around comes around" had been told gazillion of times already. You don't need to remind us again, Justin. We know it by heart. I'd rather sit down and immerse in Alicia Keys's Karma.

HOW TO SAVE A LIFE - The Fray

The best record of 2006. No doubt, downright and wilful. Say this is a bad music video, and you'll see World War III in front of you. And The Fray's interpretation of their music into a montage was skillful and redolent of the recent crises of humanity. Haunting piano melody, all-white set and vista, no-nonsense, people crying and laughing and have their hearts broken, all shown through a countdown of How To Save A Life. Seek through step one to the last step, this music video has the power to stay with us forever and its music will always gives strength in the darkest of days. Provocative and emotional, The Fray knows how to target human hearts, and their video is nonetheless poignant enought to stir and echo the contemporary dilemma of the modern world. They show us that we are all strangers, and the bravest thing one can ever do is to sit down, give a shoulder and become a friend when the everyone in the world had turned their backs on. Brilliant video, brilliant music. Everytime I watch this, all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Rating: A+


2007 (c) J.S.Datinguinoo

"Choose your future. Choose life." The echoing verbosity of the iconic Renton (Ewan McGregor) intonates our liberty of choices from the beginning of the film, such as "Choose as a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines..." and so on. This unforgivably and rudely written film had been inundated with horrible backlash by the public, but unforgivable and rude it was, it never stopped Trainspotting to be an interesting piece of cinema.

I sat down, watched this with a keen eye, and got up from my seat thinking that my mum would never like the film. Trainspotting is a kind of film easily misunderstood by the audience for it might be apprehended as a pro-drug campaign; nevertheless defended by Danny Boyle, the director, as a glimpse into the weird and disturbing lives of the addicts. And the conjecture follows if they have really chose life, it's the irony that speaks as they chose drugs, addiction, disease and social alienation instead of the latter. In other words, this is a film about drugs and about living life even though these people feel drowsy, high and incapacitated with sanity just yet.

Narrated by Renton (played by Ewan McGregor in his effortless performance and felt like the modern day James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause), the film takes us into the daily lives and habits of these addicts-and-alcoholics who all seemed to take cocaine, Mary Janes and God-knows-what-else-they-sniff like conventional meals. We see them friends hanging around, running around Edinburgh (whuch suddenly turned the drug capital of the world due to this, in an appalling state), and doing unbelievable things. Apart from Renton, there's the ridiculously looking Spud (Ewen Bremner) whose mouth can be compared to a sputtering motor, Sick Boy (Johnny Lee Miller) whose obsession on James Bond particularly Sean Connery doesn't compare with his obsession to drugs, Tommy (Kevin McKidd) whose miserable life kept him coming back for more addiction, and Begbie (Robert Carlyle) who doesn't sniff drugs but repugnant enough to loathe such rowdy attitude. These people live their lives in the dank, dreary, horrendous life of drug-dependency. And so they said, they chose life and they chose drugs.

But in the lighter state of humanity, they were people who tried to change their lives, wanting to liberate from that hellish black hole, and they earned their lessons as shown in one of cinema history's most disturbing scene: the dead baby. I think muffin-hearted people wouldn't want to see it, where Renton's friends huddled around all high in drugs and forgetting the Sick Boy's baby for days. In this portrait of desperation, also shown in the early scene, where Renton dives into the "filthiest toilet in Scotland" to retrieve a pill would have to be film's most rabble-rousing scene and could heave stomachs in your local settees. Renton did try to change; but he nearly escaped and thought better of it.

Danny Boyle may have crafted a sympathetic and uncompromising work, however Trainspotting feels inconsistent at times. There are junctures in the film which you really doubt whether you trust such a character of Renton, where you should offer sympathy or plain disgrace. But just like its very iconic poster that tells Andy Warhol was a fib and sets post-modern culture art into proper existence, its story gives an extensive look into modern society and the big dilemma that everyone's on about; not just asking people whether they're on crack but rather asking them whether they had really lived their lives, no matter what choice they make.

Trainspotting is seminal. It might not be for all people in all walks of life but as long as drug addicts relate to this film, we understand them as humans as well. In fact, the screenplay is fantastic, the dialogues are sharply written and the it remains to be the film that bolstered British cinema up to this day and spurred a total cultural phenomenon back in 1996.



Rating: B+

2007 (c) J.S.Datinguinoo

Such a film of ambitious scale has the faculty of a classic, Gosford Park made certain of that. So the classy auteur Robert Altman, the virtuoso of ensembles, here crafted a sardonical portait of the classes, one that studies greed, snobbery and the exultation of the elite and the exploitation of the servants. It's a dark comedy, a drama, a British murder mystery with a large cast that even Paul Haggis or Steven Soderbergh could not afford gathering together. But just like any other film, it has the light and shade of it, it's own triumphs and faults.

Gosford Park succeeds because of it's genre. It relies heavily on its murder mystery theme with the classic British Sherlockian atmosphere, a very rare nook that films avoid nowadays. Even the texture of the film was brilliantly preserved and its cinematography echoes that of Hitchcock's, befuddling us with landscapes, country houses, dark corridors and eerie staircases. While the story doesn't really shine at its hardest, as it tells the tale of two nobles, Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon) and Lady Sylvia McCordle (Kristin Scott Thomas), inviting a houseful of guests in their country house for a shooting party, the way it was told was fair enough to keep us holding on to our wits. The characters all entered at the same time, leaving the audience to drop their brains and start guessing who's who, and who plays whom. So the guessing game would continue throughout the film (for daft ones) and the plot suddenly unfolds as murder was involved inside the country house.

It also triumphs as a brilliant study of the classes, bridging the gaps between the rich and the poor, the elites and the servants, the masters and the maids during the post-World War II. It tells the tale of uptight snobbery of the upper classes, and how the servants attend to the needs of their masters despite of it. Right from the very beginning where the character of Kelly McDonald serves as the right-hand assistant of the Countess of Tretham, Lady Constance (played magnificently by Maggie Smith), there's the counterplay between the aristocrats and the poor maids. We were also informed that as the maids prepare the dinner downstairs, the elites gamble and drink booze upstairs; but the interesting thing was that there's so much havoc happening upstairs, with aristocrats and businessmen arguing about financial ruins, economic status, and personal crises than the people downstairs whose more organized.

Now, Gosford Park manages to balance itself, plot-wise. However it nearly stumbled face-first. Since there's so many characters involve, cramming up the individual stories into one tale seemed too intricate for the film itself, it didn't help too much with its labyrinthine plot. But since if you have the skill and vision like Altman, nothing is impossible really, and he pulled off and redeemed himself throughout the film maintaining the sense of balance. But he shows that he's not so much beguiled by plot-making, but rather immerse himself in the profit of characters, situation and landscape.

Then there's the characters: now what other movie can you find nowadays that mixes the Sirs and Dames altogether? There's Sir Michael Gambon, Dame Maggie Smith, who effortlessly pave her way into such a splendid performance with one-liners that's witty, clever and sharply sarcastic. She's in top form and I think in my own opinion, she's the best one in this film. There's also Dame Helen Mirren as the Head Matron Mrs Wilson, whose nonetheless fantastic. Clive Owen, Kelly McDonald, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ryan Philippe (a great one at that!), Stephen Fry, Emily Watson are only a few names of the range of fine actors in this film.

Thus I shall say this film won't be liked by many; it will only be liked by some, especially those who have keen eyes for filmmaking. We don't have to worry about it's plot because as the formulaic British murder mystery films, we won't have to expect something astounding enough to fill our senses. Instead, we have to let ourselves be involve with characters and as Altman puts it, it's like joining a party with guests unknown but when you try to strut around, at the end we know them all. It might not be too personal but acquaintances, they are.


Rating: A-

2007 (c) J.S.Datinguinoo

Janz Datinguinoo (c) March 2007

...

Last year, the Brokeback cowboys rode the scene and grabbed the Best Picture gold. But in Oscars, it never did. They chose Crash instead. However, 2006 was cowboy-free and crash-free that even the yee-has were missing out of trace. This year, it's totally different as Scorcese's era was nigh and again, that was in Oscars. Golden Globes told a different story as well, as they picked a globally-conscious drama than the thrill of mobs. BAFTA, on the other hand, deftly drew the carpet for the royalties: the king of Scotland and the queen of Great Britain.

The Moviejerk Awards 2006 presents you the wildest part of the story. You'll never know who will win (not that I pick those who don't win any awards, bo-hoo) but it's just that in my own opinion, screw Oscars, Golden Globes and BAFTA. This is the real thing. This are the awards for those who truly deserve it the most.

Roll the red carpet please.

Disclaimer: As you have noticed, I have re-posted this article because after the thrill of writing this, it just came down on me like landslide that the film Perfume: A Story of a Murderer wasn't even included. So I ditched out Superman Returns because I believe Perfume smelled completely nicer than Superman did. Maybe that's why Lois Lane fainted at the sight of him. Was it really charisma, or the smell under that cape? Eurgh. Anyway, Perfume's a far better film, no doubt about that if you have only seen the movie.


Another year down, another list of movies to roll. 2006 went by so fast, so fierce and so furious that it just blinded me, leaving me almost staggering to my composure. What a heck of a year! Eventful, maddening, and a rollercoaster bumpy ride for both films and our lives. Unfortunately the same last year, I wasn't able to check out every single film that came out to the silverscreen (how much more for those underseen, underappreciated flicks out there), but could gladly say that I was able to dig out the finest bunch of them all. After a rollicking year that offered us ridiculously naive Kazakhtans frolicking in America, a red-caped superhero making a comeback, swashbuckling pirates, retro-tilling girl trio, rivalling magicians, another mad magician perfecting his sleight-of-the-hand, devils who wear Prada, mob gangsters, savage Mayans, men without children, creepy looking fauns, a cohort of American family shenanigans, a troubled Japanese teenager, a queen who decides to show up in Buckingham, another queen always eating cakes, a Brit spy going to basics, politics, and more politics - I shall say phew, blast me off before I mention enough. And since when did politics left the moviegoing scene? Not a bit. However, since BAFTAs and Golden Globes and Oscars frenzy are finally over, March benefits the rule of the jerks. 2006 was never a bad year. Good films came and of course, the bad rotten ones were burnt in hell. Here is the Top 10 films of my carefully-deliberated list, and a few of other nit-pick goodies as well.

#10. APOCALYPTO
Heart-pumping, heart-stopping thriller of the year, this one might make your granddad be rushed by ambulance to the emergency room. The tale of heroism, family, civilisation were perfectly mixed into essence in this Mel Gibson-directed bravura. And nope he's not a nutcase anymore as he proves his directing skill is fuelled with passion of a true filmmaker. Savage, brutal and bloody, it may appear too gory to audiences but without shedding blood, making this film would be impossible. Also a great study of civilisation, as if we were taking a glimpse into a National Geographic special stunned with landscapes, nature and well, Mayans and their jargon. I've heard Gibson will be making a new film based on Panama - now what's he on about?

#9. MARIE ANTOINETTE
Probably this is the most misunderstood film about a misunderstood monarch. Booed by the Sundance crowd and under-appreciated, I've got to advise Sofia Coppola to tell his multi-billion father, Francis Ford, to carnage those unforgiving sleuths. No wonder this portrait of a teenage queen was downrightly misunderstood. Or maybe daft people don't "get" the message of the film itself. In fact, Marie Antoinette is one of the best made teenage films of all time, and Sofia Coppola had excelled in not just putting curtsies, bows and fabulous frocks in this film, but putting echoes in the teenage psyches. Told off as having an anachronistis soundtrack, I guess it was just befitting to give a score just as funky as what Coppola did, a rock-pop edge to a 16th century queen that has a the spirit of the modern age. What do you really expect for a 14 year old girl given a responsibility to rule a starving kingdom and marrying a slothful, useless king? Here, rebellion is at its finest as Marie Antoinette frolicks around the Versailles frivoulously. Kirsten Dunst resonates as the girl version of James Dean, pitch-perfect as the teenage queen, one of her best character portrayals. This is sassy, classy, funky and spunky.

#8. CASINO ROYALE
Bond. Going back to basics proved effective. Without doubt the best of its franchise, and the best portrayal of the eccentric Brit spy since Sean Connery's. Unforgettable action sequences will glue you to your seats, especially that hard-knocking construction site chase scene. There's also a believable storyline to boot as well, as Royale hits home to connect with the real world (and not science-fiction stuff like Brosnan's ridiculous vanishing car) which made the critics praising allelujahs. And there's the man. His name is Craig. Daniel Craig. Uber-gritty, tough as wood, sharp as knife, a kind of Bond that doesn't care whether his martini is shaken or stirred. He's still suave, but this Bond gave a humanly feel - the first time he showed his weakness. A convincing tale of love as well that would make women melt in slow lava. I'm pretty sure Craig will appear in more great Bond films in the future.

#7. AKEELAH AND THE BEE
This is an extraordinary film. A wonderful and moving tale of a dreamer who broke all odds and finally learning the difference between winning ang losing. A family film that would wrench hearts and persist in the belief that we should all follow our dreams and what we believe in, no matter what cost it takes, no matter how arduous the road is. Keke Palmer as the spelling wunderkind is magnificent; there's certainly some talent in her that shines. Akeelah and the Bee indeed delivers, and it's a kind of film that very difficult not to love because it manages to uplift and moves us. Very heartwarming. I defy you not to cry, or not moved at all. It may contain a formulaic underdog story, but it's just the balance between triumph and struggle that makes us weep the more. "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us." Read between the lines. Spell it - prestidigitation. M-A-G-I-C.

#6. THE QUEEN
May be another film about royalty but Dame Helen Mirren's peformance is undoubtedly unparalleled. In this movie about the cold battle between tradition and modernity, we are being transported back into those miserable days when the people's princess, Diana, died of car crash and put the monarchy in massive controversy. Even until today the incident was still left without anyone to blame, as some was claiming that there's a nifty conspiracy working behind it all, I shall tell the audience that The Queen is a fictional take on factual events. Don't take it as if it's the news or something. Above all, it's Dame Helen Mirren that makes us fall to our knees in this magnetic performance as Queen Elizabeth II. Her skill is so limitless that Oscar glory was bound to happen. It takes so much discipline to just act in front of the camera, knowing that the person you are impersonating is so alive with a position so intimidating. Hirren broke all the barriers. She gave a stunning performance, as this film also is well written and well conceived.

#5. THE FOUNTAIN
Another underrated film of the year. This highly-ambitous, far-reaching, too-baffling film by Darren Aronofsky was underappreciated at Sundance and was considered a "rubbish piece of work". Its ostensible progenitor 2001: A Space Odyssey however was also called "rubbish" almost 30 years ago, and now it was considered as one of the best films ever made. Shall The Fountain suffer the fate? But without doubt, Aronofsky shows his magnificent skill that could foretell he's the new Kubrick. The Fountain is one of the most complex love story ever told, about the countenance of eternal love, set in three different time periods, with three Hugh Jackmans and three Rachel Weiszs. The homogeneous mixture of science fiction, spirituality and love story perfectly comes to a great effect, told in mouth-gaping visual razzle dazzle of the breakthrough microbiological photography. Delivering cinema at its best, this is a spectacle that transcends and future audiences will surely be thought-provoked, astounded, and emotionally involved in this journey to the road of awe. Grandly overlooked by Oscars and it should have won for Best Visual Effects, or maybe a nomination for Best Cinematography and Original Score. Beautiful film.

#4. CHILDREN OF MEN
The conniving potency of cinematography and visual effects proved this film more than just your ordinary sci-fi flick. Haunting images of war, famine, anarchy, political starvation, economic breakdown and a world bereft of children - Alfonso Cuaron has crafted a scary yet convincing, fantastic yet utterly real, and dark yet boldly daring craft about a world of pathos and without hope. And it didn't win Best Cinematography in Oscars - that really sucks. Ridden with the story that the world became infertile (due to mankind's wrongdoings, ie pollution, global warming... that altered the human genes), Children of Men also succeeds as a riveting thriller. With a series of long complex shots, it proved difficult scenes like in this film were possible to construct. Clive Owen gets better and better in every film, and his performance here was embellished with emotion and courage, so little actors can possibly do. This is Cuaron's disturbing love letter to the world today that tells us to open our eyes because only in a little time, we are bound to pay for our foolishness. If he was Picasso, this is his Guernica, his masterpiece. Astounding cinema-making.

#3. BABEL
If Oscars would only be more world-conscious (like the suddenly becoming globe-trotting Brad Pitt), Babel would have won the Best Picture nod. Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu sealed his mighty trilogy of culture clashes in Babel, and in this film he masterfully displays the misunderstanding of humanity, the rifts between languages. One gunshot to an American tourist in Morroco created repercussions around the globe, as an illegal Mexican nanny struggled and a Japanese teenager became more desperate. Babel's message to humanity is priceless, and it's a kind of film that transcends. Brad Pitt delivered his most staggering performance yet in this film, proving that he's not just a pretty face. Adriana Barrazza was brilliant, but it's Rinko Kikuchi that stole the show - a fascinating portrayal of a soul lost in the wilderness of misunderstanding. This gritty film, shot in different parts of the world, would surely become as Innaritu's finest and his most evocative stirring.

#2. LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
What more could you ask for a film that makes you laugh and cry at the same time? In this perfectly blended heartwarming comedy about family had instantly become a classic American road movie. It may be an indie, but grabbing an Oscar nomination for Best Picture was an achievement enough to tell. I love this film, like the way I love the glory of life, it's imperfection, it's irony and it's lessons to learn. It's funny, touching, has its moments, makes you feel nourished and feel important to this world. Abigail Breslin as Olive with his family of shenanigans driving to California for a beauty pageant was completely unforgettable with a lot of sniping, tilly-tallies and topsy-turvy events. The magnificent score also serenades the heartfelt emotion of this film, and you can never see another movie this year with an ensemble, delivering all perfect performances. Breslin steals the limelight, Toni Collete was amazing, Alan Arkin as the foul-mouthed grandpa was hilarious, Steve Carrell was stunning and funny as well, Paul Dano as the angsty and wordless teenager was brilliant, and Greg Kinnear as the useless dad was rewarding to watch. Everything in this film shines bright. In this film about a family of losers, they struggle to chase an American dream where everyone is obsessed of winning. Little Miss Sunshine carefully paints that picture, and deliberately, it's a satire of the American dream. Indeed, we are all losers and "Life is a fucking beauty pageant one after another."

#1. PAN'S LABYRINTH
Here it is, the best film of 2006. This uncompromising, powerful and darkly beautiful film about innocence in the world of cruelty proved to be one of the most magnificently made fantasy movies of all time. It combined timeless elements of fairy tale, war film, human drama, tragic bravery and an art masterpiece, it's inevitable one won't be seduced by it's dark beauty. With raging appraisals by critics around the world and probably topped most top 10 lists of different movie-watchers (and jerks like me), it's outrageous to know that it wasn't even nominated for Best Picture in Oscars. It maybe a foreign film (Spanish) but nevertheless, it has the stength of a compelling Hollywood film with a story of humanity to slap those cold-hearted Academy-voting-bastards. Guillermo del Toro made a film in year that's filled with Mexican films, ie Babel and Children of Men, but gave Labyrinth an edge of a classic fairy tale that even adults would dine with. He was never afraid to put in camera the rawest evil possible in the form of the merciless Captain Vidal, as seen by the eyes of the pure-hearted Ofelia, a heroine most all fables and fairy tales are made of. It's a very enticing film aptly generated with visuals so stunning you can't even breathe and a storyline you can't even move to miss a single dialogue. As I mentioned in my review, 10 years from now, open your cinema-history books and you will see this as one of the finest fantasy films ever made. Pan's Labyrinth will make you forget you are reading subtitles while watching this film, and as exceptional as it is, it's one of those films that would grow with you until the end of your lives, reminding us always that a pure conscience is evil's most repugnant enemy.


Let's hold our spurs and go for another ride towards 2007. See you again next year. Cheers!


J.S.Datinguinoo (c) March 2007

One shlub. One schmuck. One jerk to rule them all.
The awards that would make BAFTAs, Golden Globes and Oscars look like village contests.
Don't react. It's a fact. Sanity, still intact.
Moviejerk Awards will be announced tomorrow.
Stay tuned...

Janz Datinguinoo (c) March 2007

What an electrifying film! Forest Whitaker grabs you by the shoulders and seizes you with his ferociously absorbing performance as the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. It's no fluke; this act led him to grab this year's Best Actor Oscar gold, and if you are telling me that Peter O'Toole deserved some respect for his eight nomination but still got no win, I have to hold you by your shoulder instead, and seize you to take a look at Whitaker. This man's got nothing to hold back and astoundingly let his talents take control. The Last King of Scotland is in fact a performance-driven movie, and also a gripping thriller of politics, humanity and power.

Based on true people and events, The Last King of Scotland paints the portrait of the infamous dictator of Uganda in the past decades through the eyes seen by a Scottish doctor, Nicholas Gallaghan (James McAvoy). Like an old teenage film, the movie started in the gloomy landscapes of Scotland loch where Nicholas was running into the lake, celebrating the graduation bliss, and after setting his mind straight, he randomly selected Uganda as his destination after pointing his finger aimlessly at an Earth globe model. Everything was then cut, stripped off of the cold climate, and were thrown in the hot and intense The Constant Gardener atmosphere under Uganda's sun where Nicholas would soon face his most dreadful ordeal. In a chain of events, he became Idi Amin's personal doctor and soon became his "closest adviser". Amin admitted if he wasn't born Ugandan and was given a chance to choose a nationality, he would choose being a Scotsman, thus explaining the innucuous title (apparently clearing off confusions of why the heck the ex-President of Uganda was called the last King of Scotland). Amin regarded Scottish as the courageous warriors and the heroic races, setting the sights into his own reign as a dictator. As though it felt like a John Le Carre plot, political lies were told and betrayal ensues. Idi Amin, who captures the people by his strong charm, his fierce and fiery wit, and sweeps the people's feet by his words, was more than just a big corpulent man. Nicholas soon discovers about a bigger conspiracy hidden between the soils of Uganda; people were killed, children were slaughtered, anyone that rises up against the administration was unjustly bereft of life. Even his wives (yes he's polygamous), in which one attempted to have an outside affair with Nicholas, was Hostel-ed - er - killed savagely that would make Eli Roth proud of the uncanny scene.

Neither does The Last King of Scotland pleases or annoys audiences, Whitaker and McAvoy's performances are worth the tickets. The brilliant and uncompromising Whitaker is never afraid to portray such comical but at the same time cruel, inhumanely unforgiving and pernicious character such as Amin. But he portrays the role driven with power, force and a narrow view in the world, which makes Amin reasonably forfeited of his life. We just don't care if Whitaker's saliva are all over the screen when he talks, all that matters is we see him in the screen and he's perfect at doing it. McAvoy, a Scottish actor, apparently unknown to some, gives a new light to his career and he splendidly tantamounts Whitaker's fierceness. His Dr Gallaghan gathers sympathy amidst his weakness, and until he opens his eyes and realises that Amin is not what he thought to be, he struggles for his life and we just wanted to help him escape in the last scenes. Without him, maybe the world may not know what was really happening in Uganda those days.

This Oscar and BAFTA-feted film may not be a moving experience but its ferocity staggers. Whitaker indeed gave a performance of his life, and McAvoy solidly built some good foundation for his career in the future. Kevin McDonald, an amateur British director for his first film, definitely holds this by the throat and gave it the elements it deserved. Good film, and cleverly entertaining.


Rating: A-

When actor/director/producer Mel Gibson made Braveheart, we all fell to our knees for praise. When he decided to make the Bible epic, The Passion of the Christ, in Aramaic dialect, we forgave him. When we knew he's making a new film about old civilization in Mayan language, we ask ourselves: what's he on about? We questioned his sanity, or maybe lunacy.

But after more than two hours sitting Apocalytpo, I feel sorry for Gibson who was judged right before-hand because in fact, this is a brilliant, seat-gripping action-adventure epic. It maybe the goriest, bloodiest, most brutal and visually graphic film ever made (yes, comparing it to the bloodshed in Braveheart would be so foolish as it would appear to be just minor to Apocalypto), but it's also original and visually glorious in cinematic sense. While blood was spilled and heads were cut off in front of the camera without further ado, Apocalypto is also a staggering factual view into the diminishing of a civilization only to be conquered by more "advanced" culture, as well as a brave tale about a man who ran for his life in order to save his family in the brink of death.

It is basically the story of Jaguar Paw (a naturally magnetic performance by this unknown actor Rudy Youngblood), a peaceful hunter living in a peaceful village in the forest with his family. Until he and his co-villagers discovered that a group of more savage men started pillaging and scouring their village, killing men and women, slaughtering the innocents without warning. He even saw his father die in front him with his last words, "Do not be afraid". They were captured, leaving all the children to hunt and feed by themselves. One scene that nearly moved me to tears was when the captured mothers were tied up in a bamboo while crossing a perilous, rushing river and the children couldn't follow anymore. One child hollered, "Don't worry, I will take care of them! They're now my own!" A poignant scene that shows a child, in the state of confusion, was suddenly faced with a big responsibility, as the mothers utter their prayers for their children's safety. Then, like Death March, they walked miles and miles to reach a distinctive place with a new breath of civilization in the pre-Columbian era, pre-founding of North America. Pyramids stretch everywhere and people worship the sun god, believing that human worship will save them from the god's wrath. Heads are chopped off and bodies were slain to be thrown down the stairs of the pyramids. But as what foretold by destiny that a man with the jaguar will change everything, bringing a bit of "corny" stuff in the film saying Jaguar Paw is the so-called "chosen one". But the element was then sidestepped by Gibson, letting the story turn around in 180 degrees. Jaguar Paw was realeased due to an unprecedented event and was on the run to save his life, and to save his family back in the forest.

The chase in the forest was the most gripping part, and up to the rest of the film, I was like holding my breath. Gibson majestically displays his bravura of making cinema a captivating media. He uses landscapes to fill the lush of the scenes. We must remember that making a film like this would be so limited of visual effects, and since Gibson directs with such passion, he created a world so believable, so convincing, as if you were watching a National Geographic episode about savages and civilization. He's no luncatic, he proves. In fact, he's in top form and convinces audience that he's one of the best directors working today. Making a film out of an ancient language wasn't a fluke at all.

He also manages to cast Native Americans in this film and brought a solid panoply of amazing performances. The actors didn't feel like reading a script but instead, even with subtitles, we feel them as if they were really the savage people, both naturally and effortlessly. And the conclusion of the film, as seen by the eyes of Jaguar Paw, that the world was slowly changing and in their limited knowledge of the world, he discovered that there was a bigger world out there ready to conquer such places as his own habitat in the forest. I mean, isn't it too metaphorical? Peaceful civilations conquered by more complex, more terrorizing and advanced cultures? History speaks it all, and Apocalypto just feels like an authentic glimpse into our society's rise and fall.


Rating: A-

(c) J.S.Datinguinoo

He sits in front of the stage, staring to the solemn crowds. He was expected to conjure another magical stunt. But what they did not know was that he was preparing his greatest masterpiece, the one thing he had been trying to perfect all his life: the act of vanishing. His name is Edward, also known as Eisenheim "The Illusionist", and this film is not mainly about the illusions he make but about his journey to save the woman he had always wanted to be with.

Set in the turn-of-the-century Vienna, it tells the tale of a young boy who encountered a magician in the fields. He learned tricks and waves of the hand, and when he was balancing an egg in a stick while walking in a street, he inspires a young girl who apparently was a Duchess in the palace. Like two little love birds, childhood attraction sparked among them but her parents seized her from the place and was told off "not to mingle with the peasants". But off they went, striving to be with each other, giving her a locket that can only be opened in a secret way. And in a fateful night as they were being chased by guards, they hid inside their secret place in a cave. As he cannot fulfill the wish of the girl to make them vanish, they were found and separated throughout their lives. In a furtive oath to attain the act that he ever wanted to do, he set off to become a magician and 15 years later, he became famous and was known as the Illusionist.

In the core of the film, we see Edward or Eisenheim (Edward Norton) as a man bereft of his fate and his will to love, and because of his frustration he strived to become somebody, and not just a magician that throws crows out of his black gloves, or let an orange tree grow out of an orange seed. It was on that act on the stage when he suggested anyone to volunteer their own self. Anyone that doesn't fear death at all. The Crown Prince Leopold (portrayed with astounding veneer by Rufus Sewell) offered his bride-to-be, Duchess Sophie, to take the challenge. It was on their first meeting of the eyes that Edward knew she was that girl who wished to vanish with him under that cave, and he failed her because of his lack of ability.

As love is suddenly rekindled between them, the local policemen headed by slowly invetigates the relationship between the two, resulting to a Romeo and Juliet melodrama. However, the film brilliantly sidestepped this factor and focused more on the character of Edward, who captivated the people by his trickeries. It was until he started conjuring spirits or ghosts in front of the crowd that performed a silent revolution against the Crown Prince that he compromised the monarchy and was forced to confess his fraudulence.

In this easily likeable film, we are presented with three different elements: love story, magic and mystery. All of these were almost perfectly choreographed to achieve something that belongs to the Burtonesque-Shyamalan filmmaking order. Neil Burger had crafted a film that echoes the Hitchcockian mysteries of our time, the haunting visual sweeps of M. Night Shyamalan and even the creepy dimensions of Tim Burton. And then there's the love story to boot. It's a kind of film in which a critic isn't supposed to schmoozle the whole story because there are "twists" along the road, and audience would feel the benefit of just enjoying the film without further clues.

Some say that the movie The Prestige, also a recent period piece about wizardry and magic, has actually explained more details about the secrets behind the waves of the hand. As I have seen The Prestige myself, I could say that it was entirely different from The Illusionist, and the former was about a tale of obsession and rivalry and about secrets of magic and the answers to the buzzing questions. However, The Illusionist is a film that doesn't deal with answers but rather gives the audiences questions. As Eisenheim, we realised in the end, that he indeed performed his greatest act of all, his final "illusion", we know that we have seen magic and we are not supposed to know it detail by detail but intead, to feel the impact and the awe of it all. How the orange tree came about, how he managed to let a sword stand on the floor on its own, how he managed to conjure spirits on the stage and how he manage to disappear himself; all of these doesn't need answers because it's what the film wanted us to feel. It's a whole lot of mystery, and this man named Eishenheim is a man of mystery himself.

I dig this film and I quite enjoyed it. Edward Norton, one of the best actors living today in my opinion, was fascinating as Eisenheim and he truly came back into the silverscreen in top form. He eludes awe, magnificence and mystery in him that you cannot truly predict his character. Paul Giamatti is the one thing that Hollywood thespians should be afraid about because he's coming very well in his career. Jessica Biel, although trying to struggle at the balance scale between these two amazing actors, did just fine and mostly let her lips did the acting.

I'd love to watch this film again, and maybe again and again. It's visual cinematography is just so lush as if your eyes could swallow it all, and the score by Philip Glass was haunting, audibly visceral and sweeping in the right places. It finely captures the film's mystery-feel and love echoes. This is a totally different film from The Prestige and I could say that The Illusionist was much better conceived than the Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale starred film.


Rating: A-

World-saving, globe-trotting, mankind-seducing, hottest, sexiest woman on Earth Angelina Jolie had recently filed papers to adopt "another" child, reported by Associated Press. This time, grace the Vietnamese. Maybe that's why she and Brad Pitt weren't present at the Academy Awards, too busy of saving lives. Although I had no qualms of her adopting kids here, there and everywhere, and I completely kneel in front her for being so down-to-earth and at the same time humanity-conscious - but what is she on about??? She had already adopted Maddox from Cambodia, Zahara from Africa, and now she has a baby named Shiloh Nouvel (translated in English "The New Messiah") and was impregnated by the sexiest man in the world, Mr Smith - er Pitt. And now she wants more. But bless her heart. She once publicly stated that if she can, she will adopt as many children as possible and bear as many children from Brad Pitt as she can. Whew, tough job there goddess! The United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Refugees cannot just simply sit down and does her beauty rest but roam the globe, saving lives and running away from papparazzis while frolicking with Brad and their kids. Why don't she adopt a kid from the Philippines then? It's not too far away from Vietnam. The Fray can you hear me? Maybe you should dedicate "How To Save A Life" to her.

In movies where triumph is glorified, victory is relished, and inspiration is felt, here is a film that dares to be something different. Half Nelson, although a teacher-student film, never tries to be inspirational because it's never about glory, or winning basketball leagues, or getting high test scores. It's about a teacher who tries to do something good, despite of the flaws he has in himself.

Ryan Gosling (in a quietly understated and magnificent performance) plays Dan, a History teacher, who furtively smokes crack all the time. In his home, in the girls' lavatory, in the halls, in his own dementia, he smokes crack and it's his life. Yet he doesn't consider himself fully alive because everytime he wakes up, he finds himself in his apartment floor woozy. And then he struggles to get into work, dresses up as though he had never been into shower, drags himself into the staircases and enters into his classroom with half-lidded eyes. His students were oblivious of it. But once he starts teaching his students about the dialectics of power and world history, he becomes alive, he becomes his true self. He knows that it is the only thing good in him left: teaching students about history.

It was in this melancholic scene when Dan was discovered by Drey (Shareeka Epps) on a high in a girl's lavatory, drugged and semi-conscious. Instead of running away and telling faculties off, she stayed. She helped him and let him drank water. Dan said "sorry" and it was unexplainably, she understood him in a point that she saw that even good people had flaws. And the good thing was that Drey never made a big thing about it. She kept it to herself, between her and her teacher.

Dan was a basketball coach and was fired after throwing a ball at a referee for not calling foul. Drey just smiled, and she felt grateful because her teacher had defended her of this situation. It might not be said in the film but we are sure that Drey must be thinking, "Was he a bad teacher?" In fact, Dan is a good teacher. He might not be following all the rules in the school but he teaches his students the way they deserved to be. As the story slowly evolves, there is a subtle relationship happening between these two characters, a slow hum inside our ears that they must have understood each other.

The great thing in this film is that it shows what misery is all about, and even though how flawed Dan's character was, he strives to do something good to Drey despite of himself. Ryan Gosling, also despite of himself, having starred in many teenage movies before, is absorbing as Dan and gave a wonderful performance. He carried the role very well that everytime you see him, you do not see Gosling but the man who's as almost as dead as a zombie smoking crack and doesn't know what to do with his life. It's a magnificent performance by him and he surely nailed this role. He's probably one of the best actors in his generation today. No doubt, an Oscar nomination for Best Actor was surprising yet deserving. Shareeka Epps was equally great as well. She's a great find and giving depth to her character was a job well done.

However my only qualms in this film was that no matter how the performances were great, these two actors were trapped in a very ordinary film. Some may find something really special in this film, and some might get bored and never see the depth in it, but I think it's an average film. I don't see it as very great, and I don't see it as bad either. Like Dan himself, Half Nelson is flawed, somehow miserable, and catatonic. But on the other hand, such depiction of imperfection in this film was fantastic.


Rating: B+