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Michael Mann’s story of notorious bank robber John Dillinger is not just about criminals, but also cops. Johnny Depp plays Dillinger and Christian Bale plays Melvin Purvis the FBI agent on his trail. The Great Depression was the age of bank robberies. Dillinger was one of the most daring. He carefully managed his public image so he could to hide among them. He was always one step ahead of the cops, until the cops learned to dance as well.

The story begins with the first of Dillinger’s brash jailbreaks. With the assistance of his right hand man John “Red” Hamilton (Jason Clarke, TV’s BROTHERHOOD), he and several associates broke out of prison, but mistakes happened and lives were lost. Dillinger doesn’t like people who can’t keep their cool. Depp’s Dillinger is simple. He takes what we wants and is loyal to those that help him get it. Look how he courts the coat check girl Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard, LA VIE EN ROSE). He’s not taking no for an answer and makes his pitch simple.
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Arthur Penn’s BONNIE AND CLYDE was like a shotgun blast to cinema. Of course, the violence was more graphic than in any mainstream movie before, but it also dealt with other adult topics untouched by Hollywood previously. It put two anti-heroes in the limelight, which connected with the counter culture of its day. And yet the film feels as fresh today as it probably felt when it opened. Why is it so? Because the youthful longing that it captures is as true today as it was then.

Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty, REDS) strolls into the small town where Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway, CHINATOWN) lives. He brags about being a bank robber and she calls him on it. So Clyde goes and robs the general store. She hops in his car faster than a cat in heat. Clyde is dangerous and exciting, something her small town life could ever give her. But it’s not quite how she imagined it would be. As Clyde tells her, he’s not a lover boy, if you know what he means. The robberies are thrilling, but the rest of the time they’re usual holed up in motels with their dimwitted associate C.W. Moss (Michael J. Pollard, MELVIN AND HOWARD), Clyde’s loud mouthed brother Buck (Gene Hackman, NIGHT MOVES) and Buck’s shrill wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons, RACHEL, RACHEL). And then there’s the possibility of getting killed at any moment.
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Well, 2009 is approaching the half way mark and I’m taking the time to look back over the best and worst films I’ve seen this year thus far. By no means do I get to see all the great films that come out each year, so who knows what else might make my end of the year list after having seen films like THE HURT LOCKER or GOMORRAH or GOODBYE SOLO or SIN NOMBRE or SITA SINGS THE BLUES or DEPARTURES or dozens of other films that hit theaters between January and June. But here is a solid list of films that I encourage everyone to see (and avoid depending on what list you are reading).
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With WALTZ WITH BASHIR arriving on DVD this week, This Weekend’s Film Festival takes a look at soldiers reflecting on war. BASHIR is an animated documentary where the director tries to piece together the war atrocities he has blacked out of his mind. Other films deal with the mind-numbing boredom of combat. Another deals with the regrets. The Sunday lineup looks at an injured soldier’s reflections and an aged soldier’s sadness over the way the young officers have no respect for him. Enlist in this week’s fest below.
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If you don’t care about characters or a cohesive plot then plop down your money on this junkyard monstrosity. If you don’t like to be bombarded with CG robots six inches from the “camera” and you stopped laughing at “I got hit in the groin” jokes when you were 14 then save your money on this rusted bucket of bolts. As bad as the first TRANSFORMERS was, Michael Bay has reached an all time low.

Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf, EAGLE EYE) is headed to college. He tries to keep a long distance relationship up with his girlfriend Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox, TV’s HOPE & FAITH). His parents don’t want him to go. He finds a piece of the magical cube from the first film, which makes him full of Transformer knowledge. Optimus Prime tells him he is in danger, but Sam doesn’t want to be a hero… it’s not his war. None of this matters in the least, because the film is really about gluing action sequences together with poop jokes.
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With my sister in town this week, I was inspired to put an ode to siblings together for This Weekend’s Film Festival. There are siblings dealing with a neglectful father. Sisters who visit a magical creature in the woods. Young siblings struggling to live on their own. A brother and sister dealing with the failing health of their father. And a brother and sister who have a tense, but close relationship.
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Kenneth Lonergan’s indie drama brought to the attention of Hollywood Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo. The two actors play siblings who have a love-hate relationship. They know each other very well and that might just be their problem.

Linney plays Sammy Prescott, a single mom who tries her best. She has told her son Rudy (Rory Culkin, SIGNS) little about his absent father to protect him from the harsh truth. Her brother Terry (Ruffalo) hasn’t contacted her in months and all of a sudden she gets a letter from him. She’s disappointed when the welcome surprise turns out to simply be a visit for him to beg for money. He’s been in some trouble lately. Things get worse for him, so he decides to stay. He strikes up a friendship with Terry, but he isn’t the most reliable babysitter.
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New Scorsese Film, New Must See Film

It’s been several weeks since I’ve had a chance to put together a Getting Buzzed column. Right as I was going to give up on the whole thing, the trailer for Martin Scorsese’s SHUTTER ISLAND hits the Net and I had to share it. Along with that I have 14 other trailers worth checking out. Too many of the films have no U.S. release dates yet, which is depressing. But we can hope that they’ll be in theaters soon.

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Director Tony Scott goes back to John Godey’s novel and gives us a modern take on the cult subway thriller. Of course those who have seen the 1974 film version, starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, will compare this version to the first. While I’m not the biggest fan of Scott’s often over-produced style, he and screenwriter Brian Helgeland make the new version more intimate and ultimately more thrilling.

Walter Garber (Denzel Washington, AMERICAN GANGSTER) works as a dispatcher for the New York subway system. He used to be a big wig, but he’s now under investigation for taking a bribe, so he’s been demoted. It’s his good luck that he gets the desk when the Pelham 123 train is taken hostage. Ryder (John Travolta, PULP FICTION) is the leader of the kidnappers and demands $10 million from the city in one hour or he will start killing passengers one per minute after the deadline passes.
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Corporate malfeasance isn’t a new topic to cinema, but Hollywood has been tackling “evil” corporations in recent years with some powerful results. With the underrated THE INTERNATIONAL now on DVD and Blu-ray, This Weekend’s Film Festival takes a look at the cinematic dealings of corrupt companies on screen. International banks, the food industry, the tobacco companies, a real-life power firm and the pharmaceutical industry are all addressed in this lineup. We start and close with thrillers, have a Saturday of laughs and start Sunday with the true story. Let’s look at what profits over people looks like on screen.
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