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Brett Morgen’s follow-up to his captivating doc THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE, which chronicled the life of infamous Hollywood producer Robert Evans, takes an unconventional approach to the story of the trial of the Chicago 8, a group of the leading anti-war demonstrators following the riots that occurred at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Mixing contemporary protest music with motion-capture animated court re-enactments and archival film footage, the story of the demonstrations and the following trial are intercut creating drama, humor and poignancy. Including defense attorneys William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass into the group, the Chicago 10 were railroaded by a system that seems to be putting the 1960s youth culture on trial not just eight individuals.

In re-enactments of the trial, an all-star cast voices the key characters. Hank Azaria (TV’s MAD ABOUT YOU) voices Abbie Hoffman, who eagerly steps into the spotlight as the key character. The curly longhaired iconoclast was as much a showman as he was an activist. He viewed the entire political system as a carnival fueled by mass media’s desire for big ratings. He never lets an opportunity slip by to provoke the aged conservative judge Julius Hoffman (Roy Scheider, JAWS). At one point in the trial when Bobby Seale (Jeffrey Wright, CASINO ROYALE) demands that his rights be recognized, the judge has him gagged and strapped to his chair. Despite only being at the Convention for one day, the Black Panther founder was charged with the rest as a conspirator to riot. Highlighting even more what was really on trial, prosecutor Thomas Foran (Nick Nolte, 48 HRS.) calls poet Allen Ginsberg (Azaria) to the stand and asks him to recite his poem about wet dreams. What did that have to do with the riots?

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This short is featured on the Animation Show Vol. 3 DVD.

The easiest way to anger the non-adventurous movie watcher is not to show them something shocking, but to show them experimental animation. They become belligerent with what seems to be nonsense and you can watch as the anger consumes them when someone tries to explain the meaning. This could be for many reasons, which I will get to later.

So why do I bring this universal statement up in the discussion of Max Hattler’s experimental short COLLISION? Because the film is a great example of the barrier between those who like experimental film and those who hate it. Hattler’s explosion of bright colors and shapes is timed to a firework-like soundtrack. His use of color and symbols make it fairly easy to read his meaning. They represent the various flags of the world as they mix and meld and explode into a celebration of multiculturalism. The message comes off fairly obvious… at least for me. Someone else might just see a kaleidoscope of pointlessness.

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Bob Dylan is an enigma, and that is exactly what one could call Todd Haynes’ film that contemplates the seemingly contradictory sides of the famed singer’s personality. Haynes has always been a filmmaker who takes risks from his unsettling SAFE to his pseudo-Bowie biopic VELVET GOLDMINE to his Douglas Sirk, 1950s melodrama-like FAR FROM HEAVEN. Now he contemplates the many aspects of Dylan, leaving the audience thinking (maybe even confused).

Six difference actors play six different Dylan-like characters. The various stories are woven together and a few even intersect. We begin with an 11-year-old African-American boy hitching a ride on a train calling himself Woody Guthrie (Marcus Carl Franklin, TV’s LACKAWANNA BLUES). He’s traveling the country playing ’40s blues and acting like it isn’t 1959, avoiding the social turmoil of the times. Next we meet 19-year-old poet Arthur Rimbaud (Ben Whishaw, PERFUME) cagily avoiding definition during an interview. In a documentary-like segment, we learn about the career of influential folk singer Jack Rollins (Christian Bale, BATMAN BEGINS), who hasn’t done an interview in years since be converted to Christianity. Robbie Clark (Heath Ledger, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN) is a womanizing actor who became famous playing Jack Rollins. We see him during two periods in his life — meeting abstract artist Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg, THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP) and then watching as their marriage falls apart as Vietnam ends. Jude Quinn (Cate Blanchett, ELIZABETH) is an arrogant star that has turned his back on folk music and plugged in. During a tour in London with The Beatles, he challenges reporter Keenan Jones (Bruce Greenwood, CAPOTE) on his lack of caring about “finger-pointing” songs. Finally, in an almost dreamlike sequence, Billy the Kid (Richard Gere, CHICAGO) wonders the countryside trying to find freedom.

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Michael Douglas has been a go-to guy for thrillers of all shapes and sizes for most of his career. He also wears a suit well too. So this political potboiler seems like a perfect fit for the actor. Lending his name and talent to this production helps with its partial success. Not to say that this isn’t an entertaining actioner, but it isn’t anything new.

Douglas plays Pete Garrison, a veteran secret service officer who took a bullet for President Reagan. He’s currently assigned to protect the First Lady Sarah Ballentine (Kim Basinger, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL). However, he’s gotten too close to his assignment, having started an affair with Mrs. Ballentine. When rumors arise that a secret agent has turned against the President (David Rasche, TV’s SLEDGE HAMMER!), an agent with information to the mole’s identity is murdered. In the aftermath, all agents are required to take a polygraph, which Garrison fails due to his affair. This along with the fact that Garrison had planned to meet with the murdered agent puts agent David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland, TV’s 24) on Garrison’s tail. Breckinridge, who trained under Garrison, has another reason to not trust his old mentor — the Don Juan of Washington D.C. might have slept with his wife too.

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While it might be far from historically accurate and dips into melodrama from time to time, ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE is an entertaining sequel to director Shekhar Kapur’s Oscar-nominated original. Part of the success comes from the same place as the first film — star Cate Blanchett, who received Oscar nods for both her turns as the Virgin Queen. Political and romantic intrigue mix to try and peer into the feelings and motivations of Queen Elizabeth I.

Set during the mid-part of her life, Elizabeth must contend with the growing power of the Spanish, who are the greatest empire in the world and look upon England as a blasphemous culture who has rejected the Catholic Church. King Philip II of Spain (Jordi Molla, THE ALAMO) is just trying to find a reason to invade England. Her cousin Mary Stuart (Samantha Morton, MINORITY REPORT) is in exile and secretly plotting against Elizabeth to become queen. The queen’s chief advisor Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush, SHINE), whose health is failing, has a hard time keeping up with the many threats against his beloved monarch. Making matters worse, Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen, CLOSER) presents pirated wealth from New World-sailing Spanish ships to the queen as a gift. Elizabeth is fascinated with the dashing sea captain and sends her favorite lady in waiting Elizabeth Throckmorton (Abbie Cornish, CANDY) to find out more about Raleigh.

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Director Julie Taymor’s ode to the 1960s finds interesting and vibrant ways to use The Beatles music catalog to touch on many of the key events of the turbulent era in American history. Since moving from stage productions such as the original Broadway LION KING musical, Taymor has distinguished her film work, TITUS and FRIDA, with visual flare. That same flare is key to the magic that pops up throughout this unique musical.

Jude (Jim Sturgess, THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL) is a blue-collar worker from England who travels to the U.S. to find the father he has never met. Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood, THIRTEEN) is an 18-year-old rich girl, who’s curious about the changing world after her boyfriend is sent to Vietnam. Jude meets Lucy’s brother Max (Joe Anderson, 2007’s CONTROL) right before the rich kid decides to drop out of college and move to Greenwich Village where they move in with sultry singer Sadie (Dana Fuchs). Meanwhile lonely lesbian Prudence (T.V. Carpio, SHE HATE ME) leaves her Midwest cheerleader life and African-American guitarist JoJo (Martin Luther) exits his poor black neighborhood after a tragedy to head to NYC. These characters come together to let it be a revolution #9.

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The fact that this Romanian masterpiece was overlooked by the Academy just goes to show the need for a new system when it comes to nominating films for best foreign language film. This Cannes-winning film is so powerful that other 2008 film will have a high bar to pass if they want to claim the title as best film of the year. The story is simple with no forced melodrama. It not just a gripping look at the oppressive nature of Soviet-run Romania in the 1980s, but deals with topics that will be debated till the end of time. What makes this film so brilliant is that it simply unblinkingly tells its difficult story and allows the audience to come up with their own conclusions.

Otilia (Anamaria Marinca, YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH) is helping her college roommate Gabita Dragut (Laura Vasiliu) an illegal abortion. Gabita is extremely naïve and scared about the situation, making Otilia do most of the legwork. With the threat of years of imprisonment for just being caught helping someone get an abortion, Otilia is a friend that anyone would be lucky to have. The situation is so touchy that she even keeps her plans from her boyfriend Adi (Alexandru Potocean, THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU), who gets upset when his girlfriend doesn’t want to come to his mother’s birthday party. But she certainly has other things on her mind, such as meeting with the abortionist Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov), who seems disturbed when Otilia shows up instead of Gabita, which was the plan.

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John Frankenheimer’s political thriller is as gripping as it is intelligent. Dripping with irony, the film skewers the Red Scare while never undermining the perceived or realistic threats of Communism at the time. Eerily preceding the assassination of JFK, the film was held from audiences for years. Now the classic stands a one of the best of all time.

Raymond Shaw [Laurence Harvey, BUTTERFIELD 8] is the stepson of a U.S. Senator named Sen. Johnny Iselin (James Gregory, CLAMBAKE), who has made a name for himself by claiming there are Communists among the American government. Raymond’s mother (Angela Lansbury, TV’s MURDER, SHE WROTE) is a domineering woman who uses both her husband and her son to make political moves. Shaw hates her for it, especially when she gets in the way of his romance with Jocelyn Jordan (Leslie Parrish), the daughter of the liberal senator Thomas Jordan (John McGiver, TV’s THE TWILIGHT ZONE). Turns out, Shaw and his troops where taken prisoner in Korea and brainwashed to be assassins. Maj. Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY) keeps having nightmares, which lead him to contact his fellow soldiers and uncover what happened to them during the war. Along the way, he gains help from the beautiful blonde Eugenie Rose Chaney (Janet Leigh, PSYCHO).

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The legendary director Stanley Kubrick has several films on his resume that would be the singular achievement of almost any other director. Of all his films, DR. STRANGELOVE is my favorite. Ironically, it was a film I disliked when I first saw it in college. After seeing it a second time, with a little more life experience under my belt, the film washed over me like a revelation. When it comes to black comedy, this is one of the best and one of the subtlest.

Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden, 1956’s THE KILLING) has gone rogue, launching a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. As Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers, LOLITA) listens to Ripper ramble on about the Ruskies plan to poison Americans’ precious bodily fluids, he tries to convince the insane general to hand over the abort code. Meanwhile, President Merkin Muffley (Sellers) is briefed on the situation by Gen. Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott, PATTON), who wants to reserve judgment on Ripper’s actions exceeding his authority until all the information is in. Baffled and astonished by the news, the President invites the Russian ambassador Alexi de Sadesky (Peter Bull, DOCTOR DOOLITTLE) to the War Room while he makes the difficult call to the Russian leader Kissoff to tell him that four bombers, one flown by Maj. T.J. “King” Kong (Slim Pickens, THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE), are on their way to unleash the bomb. Then Sadesky reveals the clincher, if one of the bombers succeeds, it will automatically trigger the Russian’s Doomsday Device, which will wipe all living things off the Earth. So the President turns to former German scientist Dr. Strangelove (Sellers) to find a solution.

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Charlie Wilson was a Congressman who was better known for womanizing and partying than his legislative accomplishments. Then, pushed by the sixth richest woman in Texas Joanne Herring, he found his calling. Through committees he helped raise the CIA’s budget to arm the rebels in Afghanistan fighting the soviets from $5 million to $1 billion. He may not be the most ethical politician, but he was very well connected. Based on facts, Mike Nichols new comedy could also be called “Strange Bedfellows” for Wilson will have to unite Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, Christian and Muslims and Israel with various Islamic states to get his secret war off the ground.

Tom Hanks, a seemingly unlikely actor to play a Representative who gets wrapped up in a cocaine scandal, adds the right dose of charm to Wilson, making us believe that he might just be the best person in government to pull off this scheme. He teams with the hotheaded and blunt CIA agent Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman, OWNING MAHONEY), who is working on the Afghan problem with three other guys when they first start. While Wilson works on his war, his chief assistant Bonnie Bach (Amy Adams, JUNEBUG) leads a team of beautiful young assistants on fighting the Congressman’s publicity war. Because the whole deal rests on so many strange bedfellows getting along, Wilson has to warn Joanne (Julia Roberts, ERIN BROCKOVICH) not to frame the fight as a holy war. But the well-connected Herring does know when religion helps answer prayers.

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