"The Cooler"

William H. Macy
Maria Bello
Alec Baldwin
Ron Livingston
Paul Sorvino
Shawn Hatosy
Estella Warren

R           101min           2003

“The Cooler” Is about a man, Bernie Lootz (Macy), with the worse lucky, is so bad that it can rub off other people. He’s employee by the manager of the Shangri La, one of the last casino doing business the old way, to ‘cool’ anyone on a hot streak. Until his lucky changes when he meets his ‘Lady Luck’, played by Maria Bello, a waitress at the Shangri La.

If you’re looking for a good moral tale, this is your man. It’s a believable story with some unbelievable events. I found Macy acting perfection. You get engrossed in this film and root for these characters.

From the start Bernie Lootz is that everyday man, down on his luck, trying to change and find a better way. He is what you imagine what bad luck in Vegas will do to a person. It’s this character that makes you come to love the story. You care for Bernie and hope that he finds the happiness that he deserves.

Macy brings that everyday fell to Bernie. He acts him to perfection, from his bad knee to his rotten luck, Macy portrays him as a optimistic pessimist. He is down and out, with rotten luck and you empathies with Bernie’s plight. When Bernie finds love with a down on her luck waitress, he finds his ‘Lady Luck’ and everything in Bernie’s life changes.

An outstanding cast supports Macy. Alec Baldwin, as the manager of the Shangri La, gives you that old school mobster fill. Maria Bello plays her waitress with a heartbroken warm. Even Paul Sorvino came comes at up out of nowhere and grips you. It was a shocking role, for me to see, from Sorvino that he pulls off.

“The Cooler” is a rare film that was more of an Indy film done with mainstream talent. You care for the character and hope that meet with the best. It is a great ensemble piece. ‘The Cooler’ is a film that shouldn’t be missed.

I give it 4/5 Gs.

X-Men: The Last Stand

Hugh Jackman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Halle Berry
Ian McKellan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Famke Janssen
Anna Paquin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kelsey Grammer
Rebecca Romijn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .James Marsden
Shawn Ashmore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Aaron Stanford
Vinnie Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Patrick Stewart

PG13           104min           2006

X-Men: The Last Stand finds us returning to the world divided : humans and mutants and mutants. The humans have developed a "Cure" to the mutant phenonmenon and this divides mutant kind. Some mutants want the cure and other feel that human should be more tolerant. Magneto feels humans will impose the cure on to mutant kind and Professor X feels than mutants can make their own choice and humans must be defended from humans.

This one has the conflict reaching its boiling point and the pot boils over. There will be casualities on all three sides. Finding no real resolvtion found. To me the movie felt rushed and ending abruptly. Its still entertaing and a well told story. It felt like the closing chapter of the series where the pull out all the stop to appeased the fan base.

Character not making to this sequel is Nightcrawler. Stay until the end, there is a surprise at the end. Leaving a door open for a 4th. Hopefully they will add the only noticable character not shown, Gambit. You check X-Men and X2: X-Men United.

I give it a 3/5 Gs.

"Mission: Impossible 3"

Tom Cruise
Ving Rhames
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Keri Russell
Michelle Monaghan
Laurence Fishburne
Maggie Q
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Billy Crudup

PG13           126min           2006

Tom Cruise returns for the third installment as Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible 3. This time around the mission is to save his love Julia played by Michelle Monaghan form Philip Seymour Hoffman. If at first you think Cruise vs Hoffman, that doesn't seem fair; put your mind at ease Hoffman plays a convince bad guy. You believe Hoffman'sduality.

This one is better than the first two and the stunts are stunning and they leave you a little disbelieving. The story is intriguing and fast paced. It has very few slow spots. Once the action starts it give you enough time to catch your breathe.

If there is an agent really alive doing these things I really hope he is on our side. Mission: Impossible 3 is a great way to start the summer season. You check out Mission: Impossible and Mission: Impossibble 2.

I give it 4/5 Gs

"Memoris of A Geisha"

Ziyi Zhang
Ken Wantanabe
Kôji Yaksuo
Li Gong
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

PG13           145min           2005

“Memoirs of a Geisha” is the tale of a poverty stricken little girl’s rise to one of Japan’s premiere geisha, and the fall of them after the war.

“Memoirs of a Geisha” so intimately tells the history of Geishas in a tale that makes you come to care for the art form and not the bastardize form that cropped up after the war. It’s a prevalent ignorant misconception that, most of the world and, I held to until I watched the film. It’s an enlightening film that even though it’s long is informative and entertaining as while.

American’s fascination with the art form has lead to many misconceptions. Geisha are not high priced prostitutes. They are skilled entertainer, trained in the traditional Japanese arts, music, dance, and storytelling, taking years to prefect. This movie is based on a book that is fiction, the facts are truthful and that’s what makes it so interesting. That it’s a tale of a lost art form that will never live and be as mysterious as when in this film. Before its fall it was practiced by few, mastered by fewer, and hired by the elite privileged.

“Memoirs of a Geisha“ gives a rare insight into this world that its barely see in today society. Geishas are still around but that don’t a the skilled and dedication that the “geisha” in this film portray. It makes you want to have a true geisha entertain you. A true geisha was expensive to have entertain you and its lead to the decline of them.

Even now if you see a geisha on the street its more than likely a tourist dressed as one. A true geisha into today’s society is rarely see and that’s what adds to it mystique. Only the few can hire them, and you may not see the true spectacle that is Geisha.

The DVDs extras are a welcomed addition to the film. It in forms you of just how hard it was for the actors to pull off their feats to portray geisha. How hard it was for the film crew to recreate Japan at the turn of the war. It will make you appreciate “What it meant to be geisha?” even more.

If you appreciate art this movie is a deeply personally journey to watch. Looking at this film give shows a lost form at its height and its decline. The geisha in its purist form is gone with the 8-track player. It’s outdated put can probably still be found it looked hard enough, but never to the grace and beauty portrayed in this film.

Watch it. Let your mind go and take in this film. Realize “What it meant to be Geisha?” and appreciate another art form lost to man’s destructive behavior.

I give it a 5/5 Gs.

For more information of the art form of Geisha:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisha

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

William Moseley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Anna Popplewell
Skandar Keynes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Georgie Henley
Tilda Swinton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . James McAvoy
Jim Broadbent

PG 135min 2005

The Chronicles of NArnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is one of the best special effect laden movies I have seen in a while. It captured the imagination and wonder of when I was a kid. It took me back to my childhood fighting imaginary creature exploring new worlds and meeting new people, if only in your mind.

Although this movie is geared to children, it is not a children movie. There are serious acts of violent in this movie. People are frozen which to a little kid could be consider killed. There is a battles scene on the scale of “Braveheart” and it only got a PG rating. I personally don’t like the rating system but parents should watch this first and see if their children are old enough to watch it. On the fun fact commentary C.S. Lewis, wrote books that he would like to read.

The DVD is packed with several added features for your enjoyment. The director and Children’s commentary is especially funny; Georgie Henley will crack you up on that commentary. Over 10 hours of interesting bonus features about the movie, the world of Narnia, and what’s to come.

Reading the Internet I have found that there is a debate on which way to read the books. I just started reading them but for the most part reading them in the order of which they were written and published is the best. Reading them in chronological order seems to take the mystery and wonder from the stories.

5/5 Gs