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For some reason it took some time for me to get around to seeing the 2004 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film. It’s funny that I’d see this film a day after watching LEAVING LAS VEGAS for the films have a lot of similarities. The central characters want to die. Their loved one(s) don’t want them to die, but the central characters are adamant and do not want to be persuaded differently.

THE SEA INSIDE tells the true-life story of Spaniard Ramon Sampedro (Javier Bardem, BEFORE NIGHT FALLS), who at the age of 20 became a paraplegic who could not move any of his limbs. For 28 years, he has been cared for by his brother’s wife Manuela (Mabel Rivera) and later with the help of her son Javier (Tamar Novas). Ramon is part of an euthanasia organization fighting for his right to die. Taking his case is lawyer Julia (Belén Rueda), who is suffering from a disease that afflicts her with frequent heart attacks and will one day leave her a vegetable.

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At a running time of 99 minutes, I wanted more. The film comes to a fine and inevitable resolution, but I wanted to find out how the truth would affect the characters’ future. This is the only thing that keeps this film from being truly brilliant. Nonetheless, this is an important film that should not be missed for those seeking serious and provocative cinema.

When Neil McCormick (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU) and Brian Lackey (Brady Corbet, THIRTEEN) were kids, they played on a Little League team together. They weren’t friends, but they share an experience that has influenced their lives in profound ways. One day when a game was rained out, their coach, Heider (Bill Sage, BOILER ROOM), molested them.

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Romantic comedies today all have gimmicks. It’s the only thing that makes them stand out. I was surprised that this film didn’t have one, but that’s not a good thing. The film is a collection of random “character moments” that really don’t amount to much. Nothing surprises you in the least about what happens.

Sarah (Diane Lane, THE PERFECT STORM) is recently divorced and her sisters Carol (Elizabeth Perkins, INDIAN SUMMER) and Christine (Ali Hillis, KISS KISS BANG BANG) are desperately trying to get her back into the dating scene. They sign her up on PerfectMatch.com (which the film blatantly reminds us three times) and she goes through one of those over-the-top montages of horribly unbelievable bad dates. Then she ends up going to the dog park with Jake (John Cusack, HIGH FIDELITY), who is also recently divorced, whose friend Charlie (Ben Shenkman, ANGELS IN AMERICA) just wants to get him laid.

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John Singleton is a director who many consider a one hit wonder. Yet I disagree. BOYZ N THE HOOD and BABY BOY are amazing films. POETIC JUSTICE was good and his remake of SHAFT was a solid crime thriller. FOUR BROTHERS falls into the same category as SHAFT.

Like SHAFT, FOUR BROTHERS is not only driven by the plot, but by the nature of the characters. The film begins in a convenience store with the murder of Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanagan, THE OTHERS), a white woman living in Detroit who has been a foster mother for dozens of kids. Only four of her kids were unable to find permanent homes, so she adopted them herself. After her death they come home to find out what really happened.

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This fictionalized version of the Brothers Grimm, who wrote some of the most famous fairy tales, is a film about Jacob Grimm’s desperate desire to hold onto his belief in magical things. Because the film fails to establish this idea with any strong emotional power early on, the film suffers in the beginning.

After Jacob’s purchase of magic beans leads to the death of his sister, Wil (Matt Damon, OCEAN’S TWELVE) and Jacob (Heath Ledger, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN) grow up and become con men, who fake supernatural events and then get paid to rid the town of their witches and demons. When the French authority of their area discovers their scheme, sadistic French military leader Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce, BRAZIL) makes a deal with the Brothers Grimm. They will travel to a village where another group of con men are working in order to reveal their deception.

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The best biopics capture the world and people around the celebrity. Earlier in the year, CAPOTE did this and now WALK THE LINE, about the life of Johnny Cash, does the same.

Cash’s story is a familiar rock cliché. He came from nothing, rises to fame, gets hung up on drugs and alcohol and the then conquers his addictions. What makes this film so special is that the film finds what makes Cash’s typical tale so special, which is Johnny’s love story with June Carter.

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Those who pay attention to global political issues surrounding the oil industry will learn nothing new from this film, but for a passive political observer this film will be an eye-opener. Nonetheless, for people in the know and for those who know nothing, the film delves into the corruption of the oil industry and the governments that support them.

The film is labyrinthine in how it deals with the issue, which is so complex that not one single character in the film knows the whole picture. It’s not as confusing as some have made it out to be, but the film certainly does not present any easy answers.

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Terrence Malick is a director who works very sparingly. But when he does, you must pay attention. Visually he is one of the best filmmakers alive.

The film tells the love story between Pocahontas (Q’Orianka Kilcher, film debut) and English settler John Smith (Colin Farrell, ALEXANDER). The film begins at the point when Smith arrives in the New World and continues until Pocahontas marries tobacco merchant John Rolfe (Christian Bale, BATMAN BEGINS) and travels to England.

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Steven Spielberg has got guts to make this film. It’s not that no one has said what he is saying before, but it’s never been said in such a high-profile fashion. Spielberg used his power in Hollywood to make a challenging debate on the nature of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

The film chronicles Israel’s response to the murder of its 11 athletes at the 1972 Olympic games in Munch, Germany. Israeli prime minister Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen, THE STATION AGENT) decides to retaliate. Her government sets up a secret assassination team to hunt down the men who planned the Black September attack and kill them. The leader of the group is Avner (Eric Bana, THE HULK), whose father was Meir’s old bodyguard. The other team members include hotheaded Steve (Daniel Craig, LAYER CAKE), the older, level-headed cleaner Carl (Ciaran Hinds, ROAD TO PERDITION), toy/bomb maker Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz, AMELIE) and fake ID expert Hans (Hanns Zischler, SUNSHINE). Their contact at Mossad is Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush, SHINE), who blindly believes in the cause and has the luxury to do so because he never gets his hands dirty.

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Many critics are making a big deal about this film being Woody Allen’s return to form and they are totally right. This is his best film since 1989’s CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS (which this film most resembles in theme and tone) and it’s one of the absolutely best films of 2005.

In addition, many say the film is unlike anything Allen has done before, but if you’re familiar with Allen’s work you’ll recognize his signature ironic stamp on the material. And unlike his work with MELINDA AND MELINDA earlier in the year, he is not afraid to be truly tragic and take his premise in surprising and daring territories.

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