The Wrestler or The Return of Jake. Take your pick.

Okay, Okay. It’s been a long time, but since Elijah is back on the black reel again, I might as well contribute a couple of cents.

Is it "MILK" money paying off the academy or with this RING, I thee wed? The Academy has to hitch their wagon to one of these goliaths for Best Actor. It's either Sean Penn’s brilliant portrayal of the inspiring city commissioner Harvey Milk in "MILK" or Micky Rourke’s fierce performance as Randy “The Ram” Robinson, an against-the-ropes wrester in his twilight years, in "The Wrestler."

The other nominees, while all good in their own right (I’ve seen The Visitor, which is a charming movie driven by Richard Jenkins’ performance) are all fillers in this category.

Since the other Mr. Robinson has so neatly detailed the outriggers of "MILK", I will jump into the ring with Micky. Talk about the comeback story of the new millennium. Rourke’s recent triumphs in "Sin City" and now "The Wrestler" were nearly precluded by his well-publicized bout with drug addition. His acceptance speech (http://video.aol.com/video/mickey-rourke-acceptance-speech-golden-globe-awards/2385676) at the Golden Globes (Best Actor) was as touching as it was a truthful detail of his personal aguish and humility, of which he brought both to the screen in this picture.

Twenty years removed from his peak in the 1980’s, The Ram, is now the featured talent on Saturday night cards at your local high school gymnasium and signing autographs at the Elks for $20 a throw. He has been estranged from his only family, his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) and lives as a trailer-park king who can barely afford to keep open the doors of his single-wide palace. A forced retirement from the only he thing he loves causes Randy to reflect on his life, attempt to reconnect with his daughter and develop a fictitious relationship with an exotic dancer named Pam (Marisa Tomei). While he tries to resurrect himself, the allure of the ring is an ever-threatening presence, promising only to destroy any foundation of his fresh new reality.

First and foremost, this film is not a WWE spoof movie. The storyline could have easily been directed into an over-dramatized, self-indulgent piece of mainstream Hollywood garbage but the beauty of this movie is its simplicity. Mr. Darren Aronofsky found a way to capture a very surreal, larger-than-life character driven screenplay with a lens focused on the truths that built the block of a man that is Randy Robinson, not just his weathered skin. One has to keep in mind that "The Wrestler" is an independent film, as zero studios would back a picture with Micky as the lead. I am actually thankful because it gave Aronofksy the liberty and the balls to take the risks that he did, especially the dramatic climax and ending. Too many movies are drawn out into Hollywood endings, where I left the theater wanting more.

Rourke takes some bold steps in the Ram’s shoes, where his physical strength is wonderfully juxtaposed against his sincere vulnerability. Throughout the film his transformation is vividly real. His grip on desperation and collection of bad habits cannot prevent a viewer from folding their own arms and heart around The Ram’s barrel chest in empathy. Evan Rachel Wood, though not a huge role as Stephanie Robinson, was on par with Rourke and the moment that they shared together walking along the Jersey boardwalk was cinema gold. As I mentioned in a previous post, Marisa Tomei was and still is a fox, and she showed herself off again! Tight! Her performance on the other hand was not quite as tight but still very nice. Her character wasn’t as challenging as Rourke or Wood’s but I felt there were areas she could have explored further in the development of Pam.

This movie is a slice of life; the reality of an interesting character given an interesting set of circumstances. It’s a body-slam dosage of a man coming to terms with what he has been given.

However, I don’t think that the academy is going to recognize the movie and Micky Rourke’s brilliance with a gold statue. That honor will go to Sean Penn in "MILK". As of late, The Academy has chosen to dote on pictures, portrayals and the like that deal with social issues; case in point being Crash a couple of years ago when it was, in my mind, not close to being the best picture. With the arrival and passage of Proposition 8 in California, the issues that homosexuals face are front and center. If Penn wins the award, I won’t criticize their choice because his depiction of Milk as far as his choices, depth and delivery go, were good enough to stand alone regardless of how close he was to the real Harvey Milk. However, as far as just knocking my socks off, he fell short of what Rourke gave me.

I am going to give this movie 4.5 nelsons out of 5, knocking a full nelson off for Tomei’s performance and then adding back a half nelson for her showing off her body. "The Wrestler" is now in wide release and as far as dramas go, it is right up there with June Bug, The Squid and The Whale and a few others that I can’t readily remember off the top of my head.

Your King of the Ring,

Jake

Milk...certainly a lot of moustaches in this one.

Back from the weekend with our review of another best picture nominee: MILK. The film is a biopic and for that reason we're not going to hold back on the summary for this movie, which, per usual is brought to us by IMDB.com: The 1970's story of California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, a San Francisco supervisor who was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone by fellow San Francisco Supervisor Dan White.

MILK was not on my list of must see movies this year, until it made the short list for an Oscar. That has to do with my overall bias against Sean Penn. I believe the man is a great actor; I find his personal politics to be a bit over the edge for my tastes, but this is America where anyone can think and do anything within the letter of the law. I'm glad it ended up on my radar, because it fed my two interests in film (no Ted, not naked wrestling): historical significance and great acting.

The film itself is nominated for 8 Oscars. One of which, I'm happy to say, is Best Director nominee Gus Van Sant, a Portland resident. This marks his second nomination in the category, the first for 1997's "Good Will Hunting." He does a good job of getting the story across, setting the mood of the film and the emotions that boil to the inevitable.

I don't usually comment on technical aspects of the movies I write about, but I will say that if any nominations should have been deserved for this film it would have been cinematography. The camera work: angles, grain, sweeping shots...it was the number one thing that jumped out at me while I watched this film. Alas, that was the one category with no mention. I'm just a lowly desk jockey, but I for one think that Mr. Harry Savides should be congratulated on a fantastic job. Take a look at his credits at the above link.

Sean Penn turns in another great performance if not a bit exaggerated. I have never seen footage of the real Harvey Milk and can't say if this is spot on or over the top, so I give the benefit of the doubt. You really go through a lot of emotions watching this character: pity, anger, incredulity, shock, sadness. Pick your order.

The supporting cast is a who's who of young and well known independent actors all led by Josh Brolin who throws in a (overall) small but vastly important character in Dan White. Each of the various actors: Emile Hirsch, James Franco, Diego Luna, Joseph Cross and Alison Pill provide wonderful color to the time and place of the film and are great pieces to complete the group that catapults the events of the age. Particularly Diego Luna, who's tragic character you really just want to slap the shit out of. Is this a family blog?

The film is framed fantastically by a narration from the character of Harvey Milk leaving an audio cassette which chronicles his life in the event of his assassination. An interesting point here is that the tape itself was, in fact, a real artifact discovered after Milk's death. This, I discovered after following up after my screening.

In the end, I did like the movie. It provides a snapshot of life for a group of individuals in a time that I would not have known without this film. Perhaps through design, perhaps by coincidence, it is highlighting the fight for family rights that the Gay and Lesbian community is now embroiled in by showing us that just 30 years earlier the fight for civil rights was alive and well and fought more vigorously.

We are giving MILK 3.5 1970's cassette recorders out of 5 1970's cassette recorders and would like to highlight that this is our second review of Oscar nominated films that in any other year might not have been nominated. Good though it may be, it is not great in our opinion. Unfortunately, any inspiration that this film may have hoped to give a new generation is immediately stricken when we reach the climax of the story and the sorrow that follows.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

The nominations are out...is your favorite represented?

Having just watched the live nominations, I must confess a sort of overall ambivalence to the names as a whole. Partly because I've only actually seen one of the Best Picture nominees, partly because I never really felt any drive to see the rest of the films, save for 'Slumdog Millionaire'. Obviously, a lot of that comes from personal preferences/feelings towards one subject matter or a certain actor. Of course, I have some sentimental favorites and Heath Ledger's nomination is very welcomed. As is Kate Winslet's. Frankly, I'm only slightly surprised at the nomination of 'The Curious Case of Forrest Gump'. It a very big, storytelling movie that The Academy loves, but as I stated in my review, while told a bit differently it is really a retelling of the same story.

Now that we have the official list, we'll get up-to-date and have those reviews for you in the coming weeks. Following the reviews and despite being inundated with media comments and reactions, we'll have our predictions for you to pick apart. Now here is your list of nominees in the top 7 categories:

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

Wall-E

BEST DIRECTOR

David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon

Gus Van Sant - Milk

Stephen Daldry - The Reader

Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Josh Brolin - Milk

Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder

Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt

Heath Ledger - Dark Knight

Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams - Doubt

Penelope Cruz - Vicky Christina Barcelona

Viola Davis - Doubt

Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

BEST ACTOR

Richard Jenkins - The Visitor

Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn - Milk

Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

BEST ACTRESS

Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie - Changeling

Melissa Leo - Frozen River

Meryl Streep - Doubt

Kate Winslet - The Reader

BEST MOTION PICTURE

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

There you go. Let the complaining and moaning begin. Likely you're going to hear from the media how the Academy continues to ignore the masses and mainstream films. A number of publications have been harping lately on the fact that "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man", will largely go unrewarded in the more coveted categories despite being the two biggest movies of the year. As it turns out, "Iron Man" received 2 noms and "The Dark Knight" was amongst the top with 8 total. Save for Supporting Actor, the press was largely correct. In light of that fact, get ready for 31 days of bitching.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

For a change, let's take a look at a few dvds.

I was able to watch a few rentals during the past week and I thought it would be fun to write a couple of paragraphs on each. On the plus side you, the reader, may have seen one or more of these and probably have formed opinions on the film or films. If after reading you agree or disagree, we love to know what other people think, so please feel free to comment by clicking the button at the bottom of the article. With that, let us begin!

We begin our list with a French foreign film: Priceless. The movie stars one of my favorite actresses Audrey Tautou of 'Amelie' and 'Da Vinci Code' fame, so now you know why I was drawn to it. Gad Elmaleh played in the male lead, and while he's a fresh face to me, there is no doubt he is quite popular in France. His resume is quite extensive.

The quick plot on this is as follows: Through a set of circumstances, a young gold digger mistakenly woos a mild-mannered bartender thinking he's a wealthy suitor. He doesn't dissuade her until the ruse is uncovered and she decides to teach him a lesson following his repeated advances.

Overall, this romantic comedy comes in right in the middle of the pack. Admittedly, I was a bit turned off with Tautou as a really despicable character. Sure, she thinks she's doing this guy a favor by teaching him a lesson, but overall, she's not the adorable pixie or unwitting victim that I've come to love and I just couldn't see the other side. Perhaps if there had been more comedy than unfortunate circumstances, it might have warmed me. Alas, no.

I'm giving 'Priceless' 2.25 Royal Suites out of 5 Royal Suites. While you feel for the "hero" of the film, I couldn't help but feel sad for just about everybody involved in the plot. If it's a very rainy Sunday, you don't mind subtitles, and you just can't watch 'You've Got Mail' on cable one more time, then give this a spin. Otherwise, go watch 'Love, Actually' and call it a day. On a personal note: sorry Jen Ren.

Next on the list is 'Eagle Eye'. This was a September entry to the theaters in 2008. That generally signals bad news for any movie, but when the film is billed as a thriller you can almost see the plot holes before you get in the car to drive to the theater.

That said, This movie which stars Shia Labeouf and Michelle Monaghan was actually able to hold my attention. Here's a brief plot summary from IMDB.com: Jerry and Rachel are two strangers thrown together by a mysterious phone call from a woman they have never met. Threatening their lives and family, she pushes Jerry and Rachel into a series of increasingly dangerous situations, using the technology of everyday life to track and control their every move.

This was standard popcorn fare and every situation is impossible to believe. That is what you should expect from a film like this and if you just let it go and enjoy the pace and increasingly difficult situations that they get in and out of then you won't be disappointed. Don't look for brilliance in this movie, it's not going to win awards. We're giving 'Eagle Eye' 3 scrap yard cranes out of 5 scrap yard cranes. Enjoy this film when the wife isn't around, I can't imagine her going for it. Unless she's a closet Shia fan.

Third, we have 'Ghost Town'. I was really looking forward to enjoying this movie. With Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, and Tea Leoni plus Kristin Wiig in a small supporting role... I really wanted to laugh along with this movie.

The IMDB.com plot: Bertram Pincus, is a man whose people skills leave much to be desired. When Pincus dies unexpectedly, but is miraculously revived after seven minutes, he wakes up to discover that he now has the annoying ability to see ghosts.

So, did I laugh? Yeah, for about the first half of the movie. I mean come on! Ricky Gervais is one of the funniest human beings on the planet right now; in short doses. The problem is that he's a one trick pony, everything he does is the same stammering and short sentences. He doesn't have anything else.

As it turned out, this actually ended up being a romantic comedy too. So look at Gervais and tell me if you can see that guy leading a romantic comedy with Tea Leoni. Maybe it's just my hang up, but I was stumped. I'm giving 'Ghost Town' 2.75 Egyptian mummies out of 5 Egyptian mummies. The actor I most wanted to watch ended up grinding me into a hole and the plot wasn't good enough to pull me out in the second half. I did love the first half and coincidentally, Kristin Wiig kept me laughing in all her scenes. She is just terrific. I can't really decide if you should see it or not. I'm leaving you to make your own decision on this one.

Finally, I give you 'The House Bunny'. It's exactly what you think it is. Stupid comedy with a lot of naked skin, but no nudity. There is a reason why I waited to see this list of movies as rentals, but let me assure you that I did actually enjoy this movie. I'm a guy, so that probably comes to no surprise to anyone out there, but I honestly did find myself chuckling throughout the film. Certainly not guffawing, but definitely chuckling.

Our plot from IMDB.com (as if you need one): When Shelly, a Playboy bunny, is tossed out of the mansion, she has nowhere to go until she falls in with the sorority girls from Zeta Alpha Zeta. The members of the sorority - who also have got to be the seven most socially clueless women on the planet - are about to lose their house. They need a dose of what only the eternally bubbly Shelley can provide.

Anna Faris has become the #1 slapstick movie comedienne in the business the last 5 years or so all starting with the 'Scary Movie' franchise. What did surprise me in this film is that the idea for the story was Faris', with her serving as a producer on the film as well. Teaming up with Adam Sandler's production company helps as well. They add their experience and we get to see a bunch of cameo's from that crew. I haven't even mentioned the cameo's by Hugh Hefner and the cast of 'The Girls Next Door', who must be included to add any credence to the story, right?

The person who put it over the top for me was Emma Stone. She's a relative new-comer to Hollywood with parts in the canceled tv show 'Drive', and a supporting role in last year's comedy 'Superbad', but I really like what she does here. As the leader of the sorority of misfits, she plays a great naive girl next door. I'm giving 'The House Bunny' 3.50 sequined back braces out of 5 sequined back braces. The cast really enhances the story and we get to see every female name that has graced a Hollywood gossip page in the last year. Except Paris Hilton. Thank God.

I'm just saying,

Elijah.