Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Trailer

It doesn't get any better than this kids! Grabbed from the world premier of the trailer on Good Morning America today.

The Second Wind: The Devil Loves Phillip Seymour Hoffman

WARNING: Rated MA. There is no foul language but strong sexual underpinnings.

Before The Devil Knows Your Dead (heretofore referenced as BTD) is a little known crime drama that is every bit as good as the Oscar winning Capote (Best Actor, PSH, 2006) but hasn’t received near the accolades. Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays the leading roll of Andy Hanson, a near-midlife crises real-estate accountant who is struggling to maintain the comfortable upper-middle class lifestyle he has created for himself and his wife Gina.

Juxtaposed to the old-Irish saying behind the title “May you be in heaven half an hour before the Devil knows your dead,” is every plot element in this film. It’s a suspense-filled seat gripper folks. From the opening moments of sexual exhilaration to the sickening climax of this picture, my stomach was knotted and eyes glued.

One of the intricacies that I felt made Capote such a special project was that as an audience member the actors were able to draw you in to their characters lives and make you care about them, despite all of their fatal flaws. Andy for the most part leads a normal life, works a good job and has the doubts and fears of every man. Yet, in instances where you and I have a conscious to preclude any ill-tainted thoughts from becoming reality, Andy’s desperation outweighs all righteous judgment. What makes for great film is that Andy didn’t just put the last straw on the camel; he slammed down a lead pipe on that dromedary.

Marisa Tomei, a much underrated Hollywood talent, plays PSH’s wife Gina. For a woman of 43 and unlike PSH, she has kept herself in shape and it shows. But who knows with modern medicine. Her beauty could be as timeless as Joan Rivers. Rounding out (whom I am going to call the big four) are Ethan Hawke as Andy’s down-and-out brother Hank and Albert Finney as the stoic Hanson patriarch.

In my opinion, PSH deserved to get another best actor nod for this film but unfortunately I forgot to pay my annual dues to the academy this year. My bad. But, if you do watch this movie, there is a scene that takes place with Marisa in a parked car at the side of the road that will make you sit back in your chair and let out an audible, “wow,” in appreciation of his talent.

Everyone has a list of their five favorite actors and actresses in Hollywood as well as a list of 5 or so famous persons that it’s “ok” to have a fantasy one-night-stand with when you’re already in a relationship. The later really only exists because both of the involved parties know it’s never going to happen, much like fantasizing over what you’re going to do with the $150 million you won playing Powerball. Topping both of my lists is Philip Seymour Hoffman. There is nothing I find sexier than a slightly overweight Irish Catholic man that isn’t afraid to bare it all. That’s probably the reason I have a bit of a man crush on Elijah, but I digress. PSH along with Johnny Depp sit atop my list of favorite actors but the only crush I have is on their range as actors. The whole Elijah thing is not true either, sorry to disappoint big guy. If you haven’t seen much of PSH’s work, I suggest you go to Blockbuster, sit down for a weekend marathon with a few bags for microwave popcorn and let your eyes do the walking.

Hank is somewhat of a departure from the Boy Scout cop roles that Hawke has been taking as of late but if you’ve seen the cult sci-fi flick Gattaca, you know he does have some range. Like Andy, both brothers are in dire straights financially and the women in their lives are really pressing the pennies. Yet, Hank doesn’t know how to act on his feet and where Andy is strong, Hank is weak and at his brother’s coat tails until the bitter end.

TMZ timeout: Whoever leaves Uma Thurman for a very average looking nanny has some serious character flaws of their own.

Tomei and Finney give strong supporting roles, something both have become known for. Even though each character was intense and created the potential for one to dominate over the others in a given scene, I thought the entire cast really gelled nicely together and as whole found a nice balance. My hat’s off to the casting agency.

Not to be left out of this collection of creative contributors, Sidney Lumet provides BTD’s direction. While Mr. Lumet isn’t a household name, he has been around since the Golden Age of Hollywood and has directed such notable films as 12 Angry Men and Dog Day Afternoon. One of the finer elements of BTD is that Lumet makes great use of sequencing. Every major event that takes place is relived through the eyes of those that are affected and, in my opinion, is the enabling factor behind the audience’s ability to connect with each individual character.

A few weeks after watching the movie, I stumbled upon an episode of Inside the Actor’s Studio discussing BTD with Lumet, PSH and Hawke. It was really interesting to get each actor’s off-screen perspective on their onscreen performance. All three raved about working with each other but they gave a lot of praise to Finney, who I have never seen as a major contributor in Hollywood but he has always been there delivery good, if not great performances. You may remember him as the memorable lawyer Ed Masry in Erin Brockovich. As a closet thespian, I always enjoy hearing actors talking about acting.

Side note: I actually watched this movie a few months ago but with its lack of notoriety during the awards season has prompted me to dust off the keyboard.

There are still a few theaters that are carrying this movie, most notably the McMennamin’s Mission Theater on NW Glisan and 16th, but it is definitely worth a rental. If the kids are around, make sure they close their eyes for the opening scene. Especially if you are in Elijah’s house, you don’t want the kids thinking dad is on TV making love to another woman.

Jake

Editor's note: First, the opinions of individual reviewers on the choice of personal consort that a person may be with or not be with are purely that reviewers opinion and may not reflect the board of directors of Skip the Concessions. We do however respect the right of free speech on this page. Second, the editor also respects the rights of reviewers to have a "man-crush". But it will henceforthe be ignored and noted that I have slightly more hair than Mr Hoffman, but only slightly; and I squint less.

Elijah

Gone Baby Gone, back again. On dvd.

I can cite a few Oscar tragedies in recent years, but for this writers money, none beats the atrocity committed this year as Gone, Baby Gone is absolutely shunned in 4 out of 5 catergories that truly count.

The lone nomination this year is Amy Ryan in the Best Supporting Actress group. While she's not a lock on the gold, I give her a 80% chance of standing at the podium. Scroll down three articles and take a look at her competition in the category. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Her real competition to my mind is Cate Blanchett portraying Bob Dylan. First, the Academy loves that kind of portrayal and second, who doesn't love Cate Blanchett. But the Academy truly loves drug addled moms, and this one is a humdinger. Yeah, that's right, humdinger.

My question to the Academy: Did you actually watch Atonement? Did you just see that it was a period piece and throw it on the list? What about Michael Clayton? Are you that much in love with George Clooney that you can no longer see through the sculpted hair?

I'm just a lowly reviewer, deserving of little respect as it's not even my job. Just a passion. I dare you to watch those three movies and not be moved more by Gone, Baby Gone. Gut-wrenched in fact, as the story plays out on the screen. Will Atonement move you? Sure. But not like this. Michael Clayton? Perhaps, after you figure the plot out.

It's a damn crime that Casey Affleck isn't nominated for a Best Actor award. The field is crowded this year with well known names and in fairness, I haven't seen all the movies. So they find a way to make it up to him with the Supporting Actor nom in "The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." Which is fine, but doesn't do him justice.

If Ben Affleck is still in the hole with the Hollywood bodies who "count", then he is being done a cruel injustice. Sure he was tabloid fodder and cranked out a couple of horrendous examples of acting in the last few years, but that has no bearing on his directing skills. This man made a remarkable movie. As far as grit goes, this movie ranks up there with an Eastwood directed film. Not that he is "Clint-like", but the dirt is there. The feeling of a true society. You believe the world. It's hard to knock someone off the directing list, but I'd have left Tony Gilroy off the list and let Michael Clayton age on the shelf a bit.

To sum up, "Gone, Baby Gone" was screwed in the following categories:

Best Picture

Best Actor

Best Director

Best Adapted Screenplay

My point? The film is being released on dvd today, Tuesday, February 12. If you missed it in the theater, don't hesitate to pick it up this weekend.

To read my reviews click the following links:

Gone, Baby Gone: http://skiptheconsessions.blogspot.com/2007/11/gone-baby-gone-but-i-may-be-coming-back.html

Michael Clayton: http://skiptheconsessions.blogspot.com/2007/12/michael-clayton-or-is-that-just-really.html

Atonement: http://skiptheconsessions.blogspot.com/2007/12/atonementive-got-nothing-funny-here.html

Oh, and Atonement, you want to talk about a good period piece? Don't even get me started on 3:10 to Yuma. http://skiptheconsessions.blogspot.com/2007/09/go-west-young-man-catch-310-to-yuma.html

I'm just saying.

Elijah

Roy, I hope you're sailing on a bigger boat now...

Acting great Roy Scheider passed over the weekend, he is remembered in the following A.P. article:

Roy Scheider, a two-time Oscar nominee best known for his role as a police chief in the blockbuster movie “Jaws,” died Sunday. He was 75.

Scheider died at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock, hospital spokesman David Robinson said. The hospital did not release a cause of death.

However, hospital spokeswoman Leslie Taylor said Scheider had been treated for multiple myeloma at the hospital’s Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy for the past two years.

He was nominated for a best-supporting actor Oscar in 1971’s “The French Connection” in which he played the police partner of Oscar winner Gene Hackman and for best-actor for 1979’s “All That Jazz,” the autobiographical Bob Fosse film.

However, he was best known for his role in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 film, “Jaws,” the enduring classic about a killer shark terrorizing beachgoers and well as millions of moviegoers.

Widely hailed as the film that launched the era of the Hollywood blockbuster, it was also the first movie to earn $100 million at the box office. Scheider starred with Richard Dreyfuss, who played an oceanographer.

“He was a wonderful guy. He was what I call ’a knockaround actor,”’ Dreyfuss told The Associated Press on Sunday.

“A ’knockaround actor’ to me is a compliment that means a professional that lives the life of a professional actor and doesn’t’ yell and scream at the fates and does his job and does it as well as he can,” he said.

In 2005, one of Scheider’s most famous lines in the movie — “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” — was voted No. 35 on the American Film Institute’s list of best quotes from U.S. movies.

That year, some 30 years after “Jaws” premiered, hundreds of movie buffs flocked to Martha’s Vineyard, off the southeastern coast of Massachusetts, to celebrate the great white shark.

The island’s JawsFest ’05 also brought back some of the cast and crew, including screenwriter Carl Gottlieb and Peter Benchley, who wrote the novel that inspired Spielberg’s classic. Spielberg, Scheider and Dreyfuss were absent.

Dreyfuss recalled Sunday a time during the filming of ’Jaws’ when Scheider disappeared from the set. As the filming was on hold because of the weather, Scheider “called me up and said, ’You don’t know where I am if they call.’

“He’d gone to get a tan. He was really very tan-addicted. That was due to a childhood affliction where he was in bed for a long time. For him being tan was being healthy,” Dreyfuss said.

He added that Scheider “was a pretty civilized human being — you can’t ask for much more than that.”

I recently caught JAWS on cable just last week; say what you will about clothing and hairstyles, that movie still holds up to this day.

Also, if I can get my wife to stop throwing the children's toys at me, I'm going to keep rewinding the boat scene until my dvr and/or my dvd starts smoking.

Elijah

River Phoenix all over again...

TMZ has learned that 2006 Academy Award nominee Heath Ledger has died in NY.

He was found dead in his bed in one of his residences in Soho by his housekeeper at 3:35 PM ET today. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ they believe it was not a crime, adding prescription pills were found near his body.

The 28-year-old actor has a two year old daughter with former fiancee Michelle Williams -- they separated in September, 2007.

He plays The Joker in the upcoming Batman film, "The Dark Knight."

According to NYPD a masseuse arrived at Ledger's apartment and was let in by a housekeeper. When Ledger didn't answer his bedroom door, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened it and found him unconscious. They attempted to wake him; when they couldn't, they called 911.

We're told when paramedics responded, the actor was in full cardiac arrest. They attempted to perform CPR on him, but were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ledger may be best known for his groundbreaking role as Ennis in "Brokeback Mountain".

The above was taken from TMZ.com, let me just say, who among you doesn't stop to watch "10 Things I Hate About You" every time it's on cable.

E

Whether it happens or not, here are your nominations:

We will take a deeper look at these catergories and individuals in a little while. Until then, here is your preliminary look at the nominees:

Performance by an actor in a leading role

George Clooney in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)

Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)

Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah” (Warner Independent)

Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises” (Focus Features)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.)

Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)

Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War” (Universal)

Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)

Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal)

Julie Christie in “Away from Her” (Lionsgate)

Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse)

Laura Linney in “The Savages” (Fox Searchlight)

Ellen Page in “Juno” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There” (The Weinstein Company)

Ruby Dee in “American Gangster” (Universal)

Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement” (Focus Features)

Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone” (Miramax)

Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

Best animated feature film of the year

“Persepolis” (Sony Pictures Classics) Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud

“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Brad Bird

“Surf's Up” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Ash Brannon and Chris Buck

Achievement in art direction

“American Gangster” (Universal)Art Direction: Arthur MaxSet Decoration: Beth A. Rubino

“Atonement” (Focus Features)Art Direction: Sarah GreenwoodSet Decoration: Katie Spencer

“The Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners)Art Direction: Dennis GassnerSet Decoration: Anna Pinnock

“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)Art Direction: Dante FerrettiSet Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)Art Direction: Jack FiskSet Decoration: Jim Erickson

Achievement in cinematography

“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.) Roger Deakins

“Atonement” (Focus Features) Seamus McGarvey

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Janusz Kaminski

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roger Deakins

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Robert Elswit

Achievement in costume design

“Across the Universe” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Albert Wolsky

“Atonement” (Focus Features) Jacqueline Durran

“Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal) Alexandra Byrne

“La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Marit Allen

“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Colleen Atwood

Achievement in directing

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Julian Schnabel

“Juno” (Fox Searchlight) Jason Reitman

“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) Tony Gilroy

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Paul Thomas Anderson

Best documentary feature

“No End in Sight” (Magnolia Pictures)A Representational Pictures ProductionCharles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

“Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience” (The Documentary Group)A Documentary Group Production Richard E. Robbins

“Sicko” (Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company)A Dog Eat Dog Films ProductionMichael Moore and Meghan O’Hara

“Taxi to the Dark Side” (THINKFilm)An X-Ray ProductionAlex Gibney and Eva Orner

“War/Dance” (THINKFilm)A Shine Global and Fine Films ProductionAndrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine

Best documentary short subject

“Freeheld”A Lieutenant Films ProductionCynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth

“La Corona (The Crown)”A Runaway Films and Vega Films ProductionAmanda Micheli and Isabel Vega

“Salim Baba”A Ropa Vieja Films and Paradox Smoke ProductionTim Sternberg and Francisco Bello

“Sari’s Mother” (Cinema Guild)A Daylight Factory ProductionJames Longley

Achievement in film editing

“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal) Christopher Rouse

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Juliette Welfling

“Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment) Jay Cassidy

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roderick Jaynes

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Dylan Tichenor

Best foreign language film of the year

“Beaufort” A Metro Communications, Movie Plus ProductionIsrael

“The Counterfeiters” An Aichholzer Filmproduktion, Magnolia Filmproduktion ProductionAustria

“Katyń” An Akson Studio Production Poland

“Mongol” A Eurasia Film ProductionKazakhstan

“12” A Three T ProductionRussia

Achievement in makeup

“La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald

“Norbit” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount) Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji

“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Walt Disney) Ve Neill and Martin Samuel

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“Atonement” (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli

“The Kite Runner” (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics) Alberto Iglesias

“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard

“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino

“3:10 to Yuma” (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“Falling Slowly” from “Once”(Fox Searchlight)Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

“Happy Working Song” from “Enchanted”(Walt Disney) Music by Alan MenkenLyric by Stephen Schwartz

“Raise It Up” from “August Rush”(Warner Bros.)Nominees to be determined

“So Close” from “Enchanted”(Walt Disney)Music by Alan MenkenLyric by Stephen Schwartz

“That’s How You Know” from “Enchanted”(Walt Disney)Music by Alan MenkenLyric by Stephen Schwartz

Best motion picture of the year

“Atonement” (Focus Features) A Working Title Production Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers

“Juno” (Fox Searchlight)A Dancing Elk Pictures, LLC ProductionLianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers

“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)A Clayton Productions, LLC ProductionSydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss ProductionScott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company ProductionJoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers

Best animated short film

“I Met the Walrus” A Kids & Explosions Production Josh Raskin

“Madame Tutli-Putli” (National Film Board of Canada)A National Film Board of Canada ProductionChris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski

“Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)” (Premium Films)A BUF Compagnie ProductionSamuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse

“My Love (Moya Lyubov)” (Channel One Russia)A Dago-Film Studio, Channel One Russia and Dentsu Tec ProductionAlexander Petrov

“Peter & the Wolf” (BreakThru Films)A BreakThru Films/Se-ma-for Studios ProductionSuzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman

Best live action short film

“At Night”A Zentropa Entertainments 10 ProductionChristian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth

“Il Supplente (The Substitute)” (Sky Cinema Italia)A Frame by Frame Italia ProductionAndrea Jublin

“Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)” (Premium Films)A Karé Production Philippe Pollet-Villard

“Tanghi Argentini” (Premium Films)An Another Dimension of an Idea ProductionGuido Thys and Anja Daelemans

“The Tonto Woman” A Knucklehead, Little Mo and Rose Hackney Barber ProductionDaniel Barber and Matthew Brown

Achievement in sound editing

“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal)Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)Skip Lievsay

“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Randy Thom and Michael Silvers

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)Matthew Wood

“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro)Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins

Achievement in sound mixing

“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal)Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland

“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney)Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane

“3:10 to Yuma” (Lionsgate)Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe

“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro) Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin

Achievement in visual effects

“The Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners)Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood

“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Walt Disney)John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier

“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro)Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier

Adapted screenplay

“Atonement” (Focus Features)Screenplay by Christopher Hampton

“Away from Her” (Lionsgate)Written by Sarah Polley

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn)Screenplay by Ronald Harwood

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson

Original screenplay

“Juno” (Fox Searchlight)Written by Diablo Cody

“Lars and the Real Girl” (MGM) Written by Nancy Oliver

“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)Written by Tony Gilroy

“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney)Screenplay by Brad BirdStory by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird

“The Savages” (Fox Searchlight) Written by Tamara Jenkins

Atonement...I've got nothing funny here.

Just a quick overview of Atonement: Fledgling writer Briony Tallis, as a 13-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.

Think you've got the movie in a nutshell now? Yes and no. Special warning: In this review I may give too much up. I'm sorry, this time it can't be helped. I will dutifully stay away from the ending and any major points.

This film has garnered seven Golden Globe Nominations. 7. With a capital S, friends. Now, before you become amazed at that number let us remember that the Golden Globe awards are governed by the Hollywood Foreign Press. What am I saying? Let's save that for the final paragraph.

For Atonement we have director Joe Wright teaming up again with Keira Knightley for their second period piece. Just a few years ago this duo gave us the latest version of Pride and Prejudice, which for my money is the best version to date. Personally, I think Wright should have been nominated for a Best Director Oscar in 2005.

In this newest offering we tackle the issues of class, money, jealousy, love, lust, rape, morality...I could keep going but this is only a short column. This movie has all these things in spades, there is no subtlety anywhere; the emotions are on the surface. There is no denying anything, the director wants you to feel everything. He wants you to feel the selfishness and petty jealousy of youth. Feel the lust and desperate craving of blooming adulthood, separated by generations of social class. Feel the crush of broken dreams, broken hearts...hope.

But, it's not enough.

We are bombarded with all this emotion, we get layers upon layers of setup. Then, just as we are getting to the meat of the story, the emotion melts away. We are left with interludes. The layers disappear. Now each character has one purpose that drives them, it's the means to an ending. Some may say, "That's just right, that's just what you are supposed see and feel." Fine. But I felt that it wasn't enough. I wanted each of them to show me more suffering, more despair. More adversity to be overcome, instead of just going through the motions.

I just needed more substance. Now, to the performances:

I find no fault with any body of work from the actors and Keira Knightley is once again poised to get an Academy nomination. I don't feel like she stretched to do much in this movie, it was all well within her grasp, but it didn't disappoint in any way. Her snobbery knows no bounds and the collapse of her wall was well acted. Much like her brilliant performance in Pride and Prejudice, but just shy of that level overall. When we reach the second half of the film, I feel like we lose her. This is what I was pointing to previously. In turning from her disapproving and accusing family to pine for her lost love, she just goes through the motions. Is this what the writers and directors want? Possibly, for the audience to feel the solitude and forlorn, but why must the story suffer for it? In my humble opinion, it does suffer.

Well. James McAvoy certainly has a nice healthy string of movies going his way recently. It's easy to see why. Click on his name back there to see his IMDB.com page. His Robbie Turner in this film is a spectacular role for him, with great range. Bold and assertive, despite being the son of the hired help. Perhaps needing to be put in his place, but knowing when to find that place. Accepted on some level, but just shy of real "class". With a bright future supplied by the head of the house as benefactor, you get the impression that perhaps he has overstepped slightly. Which makes it all the worse as it is pulled from his grasp by a misunderstanding and jealous 13 year old girl. You feel his life slip away as he is taken from his future; His own boldness partly responsible. James McAvoy deserves his forthcoming nomination. Robbie Turner's story does not. Because, as we see him released on condition of serving in the war, we lose the fight. We see a man trudging across France to rejoin his lost love. The problem remains; walking through the motions. I miss the adversity that was shown us in Saving Private Ryan. We see a man walking back to his love, we don't see what it takes to get there.

Finally the part of Briony, portrayed by three separate actresses. Saoirse Ronan plays age 13, Romola Garai age 18 and Vanessa Redgrave the elder Briony. This is the one character that on every level is perfection. All the way through we see how this girl suffers from her mistake. This one facet is completely fleshed out. Nothing is left behind and we have this one example of what the rest should have been. In reality, the story isn't about two lovers as we have been led to believe but rather this one little girl. The movie is titled Atonement. Here is your story. Not the above trappings. Follow her story, feel her pain; though she doesn't want your pity. Saoirse has been nominated for a supporting actress golden globe. She deserves it. Vanessa Redgrave is wonderful in her few moments on screen. We see too little of Ms. Redgrave these days.

As a final parting shot, take heed of the "R" rating on this one. The gore is not as plentiful as was in Saving Private Ryan, but it is as shocking. Also be warned that a certain word, the worst thing a woman can be called, is used. Insanely used. In 10 foot letters across the screen. You are warned.

Deserving special mention is this: pay special attention to the scene on the beach at Dunkirk. This is done in one nonstop, 5 1/2 minute tracking shot. Absolutely stunning, imagine what it must have taken to plan and master this long shot with a thousand extras, on sand, and the choreography of it all. I'm just saying.

When I sat down to write this I was determined to give it a mid-range score. I've talked myself into giving it 3.25 four letter words out of 5 four letter words. On a good day I might throw on another half point. It's not a bad movie, it's a good movie and the ending is worth catching a weekend matinee showing. The problem is, I just don't think it's heads above anything else out there right now. As for the 7 Golden Globe nominations, it's the Hollywood Foreign Press and this is the only foreign film showing in big release right now.

I'm just saying.

Elijah