Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2012: Results

5. Tom Hanks in Cloud Atlas- Hanks plays six different characters and gives four lacking characterizations showing his lack of range as an actor. The two characters in his range though are fairly well handled actually, unfortunately he really misses with the others.

4. James Spader in Lincoln- Spader is a delight in his role as political operative. Creating a unique character and naturally adding a great deal of humor to his film.

3. Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained- Jackson gives a terrific performance giving one of brilliant absurdity but as well a fascinating depiction of pealing behind his character's facades.

2. Sam Rockwell in Seven Psychopaths-Rockwell does his thing to the extreme here, and if you want a Rockwellian performance get Sam Rockwell. Rockwell is great being extremely funny while managing to still bring weight at the same time.

1. Javier Bardem in Skyfall- Good Prediction Micheal Patison and RatedRStar. This is is incredible year for supporting actors. Its a shame the academy chose to award three veterans giving descent but not particularly special performances and two leading performances. My choice overall this year goes to Javier Bardem as the greatest Bond Villain of all time. He is fun, entertaining, menacing, as well as even moving in a strange way. A true achievement that is just a performance enjoyable to watch but as well fulfilling character piece.

Overall Rank:

1. Javier Bardem in Skyfall
2. Christopher Walken in Seven Psychopaths
3. Sam Rockwell in Seven Psychopaths
4. Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained
5. Eddie Redmayne in Les Miserables 
6. Woody Harrelson in Seven Psychopaths 
7. Ben Whishaw in Cloud Atlas
8. Leonardo DiCaprio in Django Unchained 
9. James Spader in Lincoln 
10. Tom Waits in Seven Psychopaths
11. Ewan McGregor in The Impossible
12. Bruce Willis in Looper
13. Scoot McNairy in Killing Them Softly 
14. Jason Clarke in Zero Dark Thirty
15. Jim Broadbent in Cloud Atlas
16. David Straithairn in Lincoln
17. Edward Norton in Moonrise Kingdom
18. Michael Fassbender in Prometheus 
19. Ray Liotta in Killing Them Softly
20. Ezra Miller in The Perks of Being a Wallflower 
21. David Costabile in Lincoln
22. Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises
23. Irrfan Khan in Life of Pi
24. Bruce Willis in Moonrise Kingdom 
25. Michael Shannon in Premium Rush 
26. Aaron Tveit in Les Miserables 
27. Andy Serkis in The Hobbit
28. Bryan Cranston in Argo
29. Russell Crowe in Les Miserables 
30. James D'Arcy in Cloud Atlas 
31. Dwight Henry in Beast of the Southern Wild
32. Richard Jenkins in Killing Them Softly 
33. Werner Herzog in Jack Reacher 
34. Jim Sturgess in Cloud Atlas
35. Jeff Daniels in Looper
36. Josh Brolin in Men in Black 3
37. Jared Harris in Lincoln 
38. Matthew McConaughey in Bernie
39. Ha Jung-Woo in Nameless Gangster
40. Ben Whishaw in Skyfall 
41. Jackie Earle Hayley in Lincoln 
42. Tom Wilkinson in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
43. Ian McKellen in The Hobbit 
44. Albert Finney in Skyfall 
45. Richard Armitage in The Hobbit 
46. Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook
47. Hal Holbrook in Lincoln 
48. Alan Arkin in Argo
49. Scoot McNairy in Argo
50. Bruce Dern in Django Unchained
51. John Goodman in Argo
52. Michael Wincott in Hitchcock
53. Thomas Haden Church in Killer Joe
54. Dallas Robert in The Grey
55. Dermot Mulrooney in The Grey
56. Chris Tucker in Silver Linings Playbook
57. Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln
58. Guy Pearce in Lawless
59. Ralph Fiennes in Skyfall
60. Tom Hiddleston in The Avengers
61. Tim Blake Nelson in Lincoln
62. Harry Dean Stanton in Seven Psychopaths
63. John Hawkes in Lincoln
64. Mark Strong in Zero Dark Thirty 
65. Michael Stuhlbarg in Seven Psychopaths
66. Frank Grillo in The Grey
67. Kyle Chandler in Zero Dark Thirty 
68. Walton Goggins in Lincoln
69. Don Johnson in Django Unchained
70. Bill Nighy in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
71. Michael Pitt in Seven Psychopaths
72. Gary Oldman in The Dark Knight Rises
73. Nate Parker in Arbitrage
74. Walton Goggins in Django Unchained
75. Bob Balaban in Moonrise Kingdom
76. Michael Caine in The Dark Knight Rises
77. Ben Mendelsohn in Killing Them Softly
78. Sacha Baron Cohen in Les Miserables
79. Michael Stuhlbarg in Lincoln 
80. Jason Clarke in Lawless
81. Joel Edgerton in Zero Dark Thirty
82. Clark Gregg in The Avengers 
83. Gulliver McGrath in Lincoln
84. James Gandolfini in Killing Them Softly
85. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in The Dark Knight Rises
86. Bill Murray in Moonrise Kingdom
87. Colm Wilkinson in Les Miserables 
88. Bruce McGill in Lincoln
89. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Lincoln
90. Keith David in Cloud Atlas
91. Tom Conti in The Dark Knight Rises
92. Woody Harrelson in The Hunger Games
93. Jesse Plemons in The Master
94. Don Cheadle in Flight
95. James D'Arcy in Hitchcock
96. Gary Oldman in Lawless
97. Bruce Greenwood in Flight
98. Lee Pace in Lincoln
99. Jeremy Renner in The Avengers
100. Donald Sutherland in The Hunger Games
101. Daniel Huttlestone in Les Miserables
102. John Ortiz in Silver Linings Playbook
103. Rory Kinnear in Skyfall 
104. Stanley Tucci in The Hunger Games
105. Brian Geraghty in Flight
106. Lenny Kravitz in The Hunger Games
107. Morgan Freeman in The Dark Knight Rises
108. James Badge Dale in Flight
109. William H. Macy in The Sessions
110. Hugo Weaving in Cloud Atlas
111. Anupam Kher in Silver Linings Playbook
112. Rafe Spall in Life Of Pi
113. Pierce Gagnon in Looper
114. Michael Stuhlbarg in Men in Black 3
115. Josh Hutcherson in The Hunger Games
116. Tom Hanks in Cloud Atlas 
117. Matthew Modine in The Dark Knight Rises
118. Hugh Grant in Cloud Atlas
119. Logan Marshall-Green in Prometheus
120. Liam Hemsworth in The Hunger Games
121. Guy Pearce in Prometheus
122. Dash Mihok in Silver Linings Playbook
123. Rafe Spall in Prometheus
124. Paul Dano in Looper
125. David Oyelowo in Lincoln
126. Ben Mendelsohn in The Dark Knight Rises
127. Wes Bentley in The Hunger Games
128. John Goodman in Flight
129. Jemaine Clement in Men in Black 3
130. The Cast of The Expendables 2
131. Aasif Mandiv in Premium Rush
132. Wole Parks in Premium Rush

 Next Year: 2012 Lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2012: Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained

Leonardo DiCaprio did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for a Golden Globe and winning the NBR, for portraying Calvin Candie in Django Unchained.

Leonardo DiCaprio seemed pretty assured of a nomination for this film playing against his usual type of hero by playing a nasty unrepentant villain. I suppose maybe he needed to ugly himself up more than just with his teeth. Also though more importantly he probably had a hard time getting what seemed to be the "cool" vote that was being competed for by Waltz, DiCaprio, and Javier Bardem. DiCaprio had a serious handicap in that Waltz was leading and he was not in the same exact film. In the end there was really just too much against him to get that nomination, and Bardem very well might have been the sixth place in terms of votes.

Leonardo DiCaprio for awhile now has been playing some roles of men who are suffering something whether it is a terrible marriage, the stress of being an undercover cop, or having dead wives. Understandably these have not exactly been the most jovial of performances that is why it is quite nice to see DiCaprio take on such a different sort of character here. DiCaprio plays a horrendous character here as Calvin Candie a plantation owner who loves to indulge in Mandingo fighting which is having his slaves fight to the death in hand to hand combat. Despite the lowly nature of the character this is one of the liveliest performances DiCaprio has ever given.

DiCaprio makes Calvin Candie who loves all that he does, and loves his life in general. DiCaprio makes Calvin Candie a man who has no hesitations about what he does with all of his slaves. DiCaprio in the first scene is unabashed in showing that Calvin Candie is just enjoying himself, and this perfectly fitting for a man who always has been a slaver, therefore would never have any second thoughts on the subject. It is quite an effective way to portray the character, and even well watching two men kill each other DiCaprio has Calvin act like it is some sort of casual sport simply there just for his amusement.

Leonardo DiCaprio takes on the role with a specific manner and style which is that of the stereotypical southern gentleman. They are quite effectively done in a humorous fashion, although not to the point that he becomes a full on parody. He makes his accent and his manner infused properly into his characterization and only amplifies the dynamic between his pleasant demeanor and his horrible actions. DiCaprio's performance is very overt in his style here in the way he emphasizes every line he has, and he is very entertaining because of frankly how much he does play up his character's particular manner.

It should be noted that as well as just being an entertaining character he is an effective villain as well. Although Calvin is being duped by freed slave Django (Jamie Foxx), and bounty hunter King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) for most of DiCaprio screen time there are very important moments during this where he is quite strong in portraying the evil nature of the man. The most effective being of when he orders that an escaped slave be fed alive to dogs. DiCaprio is terrific in the way he shows how casual Candie is about the whole thing, but also his reaction when Schultz offers to save the slave is particularly well handled. In the short moment DiCaprio expresses the confusion, and suspicion in the eyes of Calvin well, and properly establishes the idea that their ruse probably will be broken.

We follow the two as they lead up to Calvin's plantation which brings them us to Samuel L. Jackson who also was not Oscar nominated for portraying the role of Stephen in this film. When DiCaprio first appears he comes on strong, but when Jackson shows up he practically devours the scenery as Calvin Candie's head slave Stephen. Jackson shows up playing the part almost like one of those stereotypes of black people found in some of the films of the 1930s. Jackson though of course does in a very knowing fashion and makes Stephen a tremendous burst of energy for the film right when it needs it.

Jackson just like DiCaprio portrays his character as unabashedly racist. As strange as it might sound he makes Stephen seem even more racist that Calvin if that is possible. Jackson is incredibly good here with everything he does with Stephen from his over the top limp to his excessively fussy manner of speaking as well as his wild expressions. Jackson teeters brilliantly on that tightrope that is overacting. Overacting is something that only some actors can do, and if an actor is to do it they better have good a reason for doing so. Jackson is an actor who can overact, and he is has a very good reason for doing so as the head house slave Stephen.

Jackson perfectly plays up the absurdity of this character which certainly makes since considering that Stephen who considers his own kind lowly, and seems to love being a slave. He makes the absolute most of his material here actualyl being rather hilarious in just how absurdly racist Stephen is in the way he reacts to Django and basically cannot fathom a black man as a free man, as well as espouses extremely loudly, even louder than Calvin, how poorly he thinks of his own kind. Jackson is great here because although he is playing what is essentially a cartoon in a way, he makes Stephen into an actual character still in his own right and is believable as this very odd sort of man.

Now after we are introduced to Stephen Calvin Schultz, and Django sit down to dinner with Stephen in attendance. This scene is where he and DiCaprio's performance come together in perfect harmony, and the two play well along with Christoph Waltz as well. Jackson and DiCaprio are excellent creating the very particularity camaraderie between the two. DiCaprio, Jackson, and Waltz all together make this just a wonderful scene. DiCaprio and Jackson are extremely amusing here with DiCaprio playing up Calvin's faux suaveness, and Jackson making Stephen's uncouthness as well as his toady that mostly entails him laughing at everything Calvin's says extremely funny as well as showing the dynamic they have when in the company of others.

Jackson and DiCaprio are really toe to toe until this point, but then we see a very different side of Stephen. When Stephen is not in plain view of others and is taking care of the house hold business we see a very different man. He is almost daffy in the open but suddenly Stephen becomes a commanding presence that seems to be the truer aspect of this man. Jackson is outstanding the way he breaks all expectations he created by Stephen's behavior beforehand was only his very own ruse, and in fact he seems in more of control of everything that Calvin is. Jackson is particularly strong in the dinner scene because one moment in front of the guests he seems his daffy self than when he takes Django's wife Broomhilda to the backroom he absolutely chilling in portraying Stephen incisive interrogation. 

What is incredible though is when Stephen requests a meeting with Calvin we see that even with the other slaves Stephen still is putting on a little, and Jackson is terrific the way he loses any of the weaknesses Stephen suggests in the situation and in fact seems to be even in charge of Calvin in a way. He is excellent because he makes the dichotomy of this man believable, and slowly uncovers it in a fantastic fashion to the greatest affect. Jackson overrides DiCaprio as the man villain as Stephen is the one who actually spots the game of Django and Schultz which is shown in a brilliant moment for Jackson. Jackson is extremely good showing both sides of Stephen at the same time first saying in his more aloof fashion that they should all look at Broomhilda's scars than though when seeing Django's reaction we see the intelligent decisive Stephen come out.

Of course this is not to say DiCaprio takes just a oreback seat and he comes back for one more set of scenes after Calvin learns the truth. DiCaprio is excellent as the intensity of Calvin comes out more, which works because he properly suggested earlier on. My only complaint would be that when DiCaprio yells he loses his accent a bit, and it is the only time he loses his strength as Calvin at all. Still he makes up for it through his quieter moments of Calvin's threats to Django and Schultz. For example when he breaks the glass and yells his threat that they will be shot he goes off the proper chart of Calvin a little bit, but he more than makes up for when later he quietly indicates to his man to murder Broomhilda if Schultz does not shake his hand. Really my complaints of this performance are nitpicks, and it is a very effective villianous turn by Dicaprio.

(For DiCaprio)
Now Calvin leaves but Stephen stays and we get the last thirty minutes of the picture which are by far the weakest parts of the film. If there is a saving grace of the last thirty minutes it definitely is we get more of Jackson. His threat to Django is a stunning scene and Jackson brings out the grim brutality of the situation in a fantastic fashion. Now this is wasted a bit by Quentin Tarantino by having the mining company that is suppose to be far more horrible than they turn out to be, unless of course Jackson was really talking about their acting than thanks to Tarantino's performance Stephen was right. Later on Jackson gets another great scene where Stephen defiantly stands showing the true Stephen. Of course Tarantino's wastes this again by just getting another scene of Django far too easily taking care of the situation rather than a showdown between the two which would have been far more interesting and satisfying. Anyway Jackson's efforts here at the end are great, and honestly he alone makes me feel that the last thirty minutes are not a complete waste of time. He uses the time to make Stephen a truly imposing villain, even if Tarantino's wastes it does not diminish Jackson's achievement which is tremendous.

(For Jackson)

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2012

And The Nominees Were Not:

Leonardo DiCaprio in Django Unchained

Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained

Sam Rockwell in Seven Psychopaths

Christopher Walken in Seven Psychopaths

Woody Harrelson in Seven Psychopaths

Tom Waits in Seven Psychopaths

Javier Bardem in Skyfall

Tom Hanks in Cloud Atlas

Jim Broadbent in Cloud Atlas

Ben Whishaw in Cloud Atlas

Hugo Weaving in Cloud Atlas

James Spader in Lincoln

David Strathairn in Lincoln

Due to the ensemble nature of the year I have decided to review multiple performances in each film insane as that might be. To allow you to not go insane in attempting a prediction I will reduce the contest to only five.

Nominees For Prediction Contest:

Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained

Sam Rockwell in Seven Psychopaths

Javier Bardem in Skyfall

Tom Hanks in Cloud Atlas

James Spader in Lincoln 

329. The Avengers

329. (25 Dec) The Avengers (2012, Joss Whedon) 32



So this is what happens when you team up superheroes from films with disparate aesthetics. Though Whedon goes out of his way to show these powers are evenly matched, he's juggling too many characters to make the action meaningful. Relying on our knowledge of other Marvel films (and nearly giving me PTSD with flashbacks from the heinous Captain America: The First Avenger) isn't objectionable since this is part of a franchise, but there's no continuation of any arc besides everybody kind of becoming friends. We get more characters piled on, including a poorly motivated villain, the always boring Jeremy Renner, and the third Hulk in as many films. The action sequences are boring considering everyone's invincible and there aren't any true dramatic stakes. Like they really have the effects budget to blow up lower Manhattan.

312. Django Unchained

312. (19 Dec) Django Unchained (2012, Quentin Tarantino) 75



Coming off the lean, perfectly structured Inglourious Basterds, it's not really a surprise or much a disappointment that Django Unchained isn't on par. Mostly, it's the absence of Sally Menke as film editor that's deeply felt, since this doesn't have the sharpness her collaborations with Tarantino had. But this is nevertheless engaging and exhilarating. To his credit, the substantial runtime isn't felt for a second due to clever scripting that crafts believable relationships and allows on-screen time to pass fluidly.

Christoph Waltz is certainly the standout here, though Leonardo DiCaprio sinks his teeth into a menacing role. Samuel L. Jackson, offering a variation on his same old schtick, is impossibly fun to watch chew scenery. Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington could have been recast midway through the film without anyone noting their absence.

Robert Richardson's cinematography is outstanding, as are the sets and costumes. Oscar nominations for most technical aspects are in order.

It took two viewings of Inglourious Basterds to fully appreciate this, so I have every intention of revisiting Django. It's so dense and thoughtful, full of nuanced arcs, all the while being quite reverential to its genre. There's a great deal to take in on a single go-around, and surely much reward in a second or third attempt.

THE AVENGERS

THE AVENGERS
Written and Directed by Joss Whedon
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johannson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L. Jackson

Captain America: Stark, we need a plan of attack.
Iron Man: I have a plan. Attack.

Comic book movies or superhero movies or whatever you want to call them, all inherently have a very difficult task to accomplish. They all have to cater to a notoriously picky niche market, made up of detail oriented fanboys, while still remaining broad enough to appeal to the masses. They cost a fortune so they cannot afford not to attract the widest audience possible, but if they play it too broad, the fanatics will denounce the film and ruin any chance it has of making any money back. THE AVENGERS is the mecca of superhero movies. It reportedly cost $220 million to make. It features no less than seven iconic Marvel comic characters. And, given just how darn good it is, it actually stands the chance to become the biggest superhero movie of all time.

If you’re like me, the first ten minutes of THE AVENGERS might be a little bewildering. The script presupposes that you’ve seen all the Avenger related movies leading up to this one. As it turns out, I have, with the first IRON MAN (Robert Downey Jr.) and THOR (Chris Hemsworth) being my favourites.  Still, that doesn’t mean that they are always freshly at the forefront of my mind. So once I pieced together that Thor’s brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) was working with an alien race to take over Earth by harvesting the energy from what is known as the Tesseract, I was good to go. (I’m sure the history behind this premise is far more rich than I’ve just described but for casual Avenger fans like myself, this description is more than adequate to get your bearings.) What follows the initial and inevitable set up though is two hours of non-stop excitement with a surprisingly solid amount of depth and character study to make THE AVENGERS the perfect popcorn movie to kick off the summer.

It is Loki’s mission to force the people of Earth into submission by using great force. His belief is that freedom is the world’s greatest lie, that pursuing a life of slavery and worship unburdens the individual of feeling any sense of failure. Without any unique goals, there is only the common to pursue. You should know that Loki has a bevy of his own daddy issues to work out and vanquishing Earth is just his way of dealing with things. You should also know that Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which stands for Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division) is not going to just allow this to happen. So he enlists the help of six individuals, all of which possess a particular power or skill that makes them a definite asset to have in an intergalactic war of this magnitude, and dubs them The Avengers. Unfortunately for Fury, The Avengers are all also intense loners who do not play well with others.

Perhaps the greatest honorary Avenger out there is writer/director, Joss Whedon. Marvel entrusted a film they have been building up to for years now to a man who has built a reputation for creating deeply engaging yet still highly entertaining genre fare on television, like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, but whose only feature length film (SERENITY) tanked. Whedon is right at home here though and he has a seemingly easy time balancing the screen time between all these heavy hitters, from Chris Evans (Captain America) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) to Scarlett Johannson (Black Widow) and Mark Ruffalo (taking over the role of The Hulk from predecessor, Edward Norton), while simultaneously juggling all of their individual arcs and development. The genius of Whedon’s work here is that he has them all subtly fighting against each other and against the idea of working together long enough to forget they were fighting so hard against themselves before any of this started. And when they start fighting together, that’s when THE AVENGERS goes from being a great comic book movie to being a great movie, period.

054. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

054. (18 Feb) /Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace/ (1999, George Lucas) 52



My rating for this film seems to take a tumble with each viewing. There's really nothing I didn't cover when I watched this about a year ago. Frankly, the film gets worse with each viewing. The film's shiny sequences really don't go together whatsoever. The Mr. Plinkett review and his DVD commentary certainly make watching this more fun.

AFRICAN CATS

Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey

Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson

Do you know what is amazing about nature? For me, it is that, despite being so complex, it unfolds without any evident intervention and more often than not, without the notice it deserves. You might even say nature just happens “naturally”. You might not though if you a) had no desire to make anyone’s eyes roll back into their head and b) if you were the creative team behind Disney Nature’s third offering, AFRICAN CATS. Directors Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey are both gentlemen with backgrounds in nature photography – Fothergill even worked on Disney Nature’s EARTH and the wildly successful BBC series that film was based on, Planet Earth. There is no question that they do an incredible job capturing breathtaking shots of a lush savanna in southwestern Kenya and its awesome inhabitants but what they do with them is nothing short of manipulation.

Samuel L. Jackson tells us from the very beginning that AFRICAN CATS is the story of two mothers, a lioness named Layla and a cheetah named Sita, and their struggles to raise their cubs in the wild. My first thought was how does Jackson know their names? Had they been formally introduced? I was then told that animals on preserves, like the Maasai Mara National Reserve where AFRICAN CATS was shot, are given names. Fine, he had me there. And surely the experts on the preserve have been observing these majestic animals for years, therefore able to make educated assumptions about their behaviour patterns and motivations. When Jackson laments about one lioness’s sadness as she limps off into the sunset to die alone though, complete with heart-tugging string score accompaniment of course, it becomes a bit of a stretch to think anyone can get that deep into a lion’s head. That said, when the action on screen gets violent – and it does, Mom’s and Dad’s – Jackson sounds as if he might at any moment break into his famous PULP FICTION speech. Those lesser animals will know the lion is the lord when he lays his vengeance upon them alright.

Like any documentary, you cannot know how your subject matter will play out ahead of time. You have to pick what you think is going to be most compelling and follow it in hopes that it lives up to its potential. Plenty happens in AFRICAN CATS and it is engaging action. Empires are challenged and fought for; hunts happen regularly; there are even plenty of “Awwww …” moments between the cubs and their prides. The melodramatic elements of the script that are assigned to the action feel forced and thin though, binding nature too tightly to the story just often enough to throw the film’s authenticity into question. Did this really happen when it did or did they move the action around so that the narrative still made sense? We can’t know for sure so we have to take their word for it. When you dress something up as much as AFRICAN CATS does nature though, it makes me wonder how much of that word I can really take.

A Weekend of Good Movie Watching

I had an exceptionally good week of weekend movie watching. The constant rain and enveloping dampness in Chicago meant it was a good opportunity to hunker down with some good movie viewing.

“Anna and the King of Siam” (1946) is the non-musical version of the famous story made even more famous by the Broadway musical and film “The King and I.” This is a marvelous film, despite the politically incorrect casting of Rex Harrison, in his American film debut, as the King of Siam. It’s a hoot to hear the famous “etc., etc., etc.” lines uttered by someone other than Yul Brynner. Irene Dunne plays Anna, and her warm presence and gentle beauty make for a memorable Anna, every bit as good as later interpretations by Deborah Kerr and Jodie Foster. (It really is an unbeatable part. The worst actress in the world couldn’t screw it up.) Linda Darnell plays Tuptim, and she’s not nearly as sympathetic as I remember from earlier versions. She isn’t given much to do, but she’s fine. It’s eerie to watch her being burned at the stake because in real life she had a mortal fear of fire, and ironically, died in a burning house while visiting friends in Glenview, IL. She was only 41.

This is a wonderful film to look and listen to. The Oscar-nominated score by Bernard Herrmann is a treat to listen to and helps act as a guide to the exotic locales. The film deservedly won Academy Awards in the Art Direction/Black and White and Cinematography/Black and White categories.

It’s a little overlong, but packed with detail and story. It runs 128 minutes and when you consider that “The King and I” (1956) ran 133 minutes, and since much of that is devoted to musical numbers, you can see where “Anna and the King of Siam” is able to allow for more incidents.

Rating for “Anna and the King of Siam”: Three and a half stars.

One of my favorite films of 2005 was David Cronenberg’s “A History of Violence”, the dark, disturbing, graphic and morbidly funny saga of a small town diner owner Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) in Indiana who foils a robbery in his diner and becomes a mini celebrity. This attracts the attention of mobster Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris) who knows Stall is really Joey Cusack, former enforcer for the Philadelphia mob. The effects this, and other revelations this has on his family, are equal parts horrifying, funny and heartbreaking. The film’s final scene is wonderfully ambiguous. William Hurt was Oscar-nominated for his wonderfully nutty scenes as a gangster, but I think Ed Harris should have gotten the Supporting Actor nomination. His one eyed Carl Fogarty is one of the scariest villains I’ve ever seen.

Rating for “A History of Violence”: Four stars.

A glorious slice of cinematic cheese is “Snakes on a Plane” (2006). You see a movie with a title like that, and you get exactly what you pay for. A combination airplane disaster movie with hundreds of lethal snakes, this is a perfect movie to put your brain on hold, throw all logic out the window, and enjoy the show. I wish there had been more actual snakes used instead of the CGI variety, as the real thing is always more effective, but this is still stupid (in the best sense) Saturday night fodder. It’s fortunate that Samuel L. Jackson is on hand to lend his particular brand of charisma to the proceedings. If ever I’m in a situation where all hell is breaking loose, I want Sam on my side, especially now that Chuck Heston is no longer with us.

Rating for “Snakes on a Plane”: Three stars.

The best movie I’ve seen is ages is “Tokyo Story” (1953), an unforgettable experience that works on many levels. My foreign film viewing is not as strong as it should be, and I’ve never seen a film directed by Yasujiro Ozu, revered by many as one of the greatest directors of all time, and rivaling Akira Kurosawa as Japan’s greatest director.

TCM ran “Tokyo Story” several months ago, and because it’s considered Ozu’s masterpiece, I taped it for later viewing. I didn’t have the opportunity to watch it until Sunday night and when I did…Wow! What a revelation!

“Tokyo Story” runs 135 minutes and I was spellbound from beginning to end. Reading the plot description might make you think there could be no worst ways to spend 135 minutes but you’d be wrong.

The movie is about an elderly couple who decide to visit their grown children in Tokyo, but they are too busy with their own lives to make time for their parents.

Yep, no action, no mob, no snakes on a plane, just a human drama acted and shot to perfection. No fancy camera moves or effects, just watching the heartbreak of generational indifference. Because they’re Japanese, the characters are very stoic and don’t say what they mean, but what they don’t say, and their body language, speaks volumes.

This was a profoundly moving experience, and one that I actually dreamed about that night. It will be a long time before I forget “Tokyo Story” and I now look forward with the keenest of anticipations to seeing other Ozu films.

Rating for “Tokyo Story”: Four stars.