Every 2021 Film I Saw: Quick Takes

1.            Blue Bayou-Filmed, directed, and starring South Korean Justin Chon, the story of a Korean immigrant born and raised in Louisiana facing deportation is difficult with glimmering vestiges of human triumph. I was floored by the sentiment.

2.            House of Gucci-Very Shakespearean in all its delicious tragedy and back-stabbing. These people were larger than life and the story takes on that grandeur.  

3.            West Side Story-The degree of difficulty to adapt a classic and make it your own is high, so many great decisions went to make a fuller and richer story and put character developments in historic context 

4.            Last Night in Soho-I admire that a director who has always had comedy in each of his pictures was able to do something entirely without it. It was a great mystery, time capsule and comic of age story and I was overwhelmed with the kinetic frenzy. My one minor complaint is I didn’t love the horror elements.

5.            Licorice Pizza-There was an extremely icky age difference but I enjoyed so much of the nostalgic drench and vignette-like nature of the story.

6.            Nightmare Alley-This visually beautiful tragic tale of a drifter is very rewarding on second viewing

7.            Concrete Cowboy-Idris Elba played the hard black dad like Denzel Washington in Fences but convincingly added the layer of empathy and caring for his child and that vulnerability in their relationship really got to me. I didn’t understand what this horse stable was doing in the middle of Philadelphia but I also got that it was important to them

8.            Last Duel-Slightly slower than ideal in terms of authenticity but the trade-off is authenticity.

9.            Power of the Dog-An incredibly strong attention to detail, great performances, and, in my opinion, a thematic thrust worthy of a Best Picture win.

10.          Free Guy-Yes, it's fun, but a lot of world building and the kind of detailed storyline that could transfer over to a robust sci-fi film

11.          Jungle Cruise-More just fun, but I found the central relationships moving enough, and I'm a sucker for Amazon stories

12.          Courier-It had a first half that was markedly different than the second (kind of like the Dev Patel film Lion) that was tonally a bit jarring, but it was a spy film that moved at the speed of life.

13.          Mayday-Very eerie and quiet film that sneaks up on you about a violated teenager who's taken away to a fantasy land where she can be in the protection of woman but she's also lulling men to their deaths

14.          Don’t Look Up-Yes, it was depressing, but it was sharp

15.          Queen Bees-Another entry into the "Old People Team Up to Make a Movie" genre with Jane Curtin, Ellen Burstyn, Loretta DeVine, Ann Margaret, Christopher Lloyd, and James Caan. Very sweet and tuned into the twilight years

16.          Moxie-A high school melodrama directed by Amy Poehler (maybe a companion piece to Mean Girls?) that's sharp and funny at times. Navigates the current climate well without casting feminism or men as villains.

17.          Woman in the Window-A Hitchcockonian mystery that oozed suspense and mystery

18.          Val-The only documentary I watched this year about Val Kilmer. A very self-conscious look at fame and coming to terms with his physical demise

19.          Ride the Eagle-An impressive small-scale production about a guy (Jake Johnson) coping with the death of a mother (Susan Sarandon) he barely knew

20.          Eyes of Tammy Faye-A nicely focused biopic which picked the right parts of Tammy's life to focus on and had a good villain in Vincent D'Onofrio's Jerry Fallwell. There was a tremendous amount to appreciate in Tammy Faye's arc as evidenced by Jessica's Oscar BUT I would've liked a litle more development to Andrew Garfield's character

21.          Coda-It was sweet and it did show us a world we hadn't seen before, but I felt the music part itself was full of plot holes and the piano teacher to the rescue at the audition is an old trope. Still I'm happy it won in an odd way: The Oscars are extremely predictable with the glut of precursors so a bizarre upset is welcome.

22.          Passing-Well-shot and acted and I’d even buy the score on CD. The conversations were really interesting as well but at times they felt a little theatrical as if they were playing for a small art-house audience.

23.        Ice Road-I love the guts of whoever pitched this film: “Speed but twice as slow and they’ll be going on ice.” Amber Midthunder could be a star down the road.

24.       Space Jam 2-I love the Looney Tunes though they feel a little off in the looniness department and, even in the first Space Jam, Bugs, Duffy and Lola had bigger roles which set them up to fuel more of the comedy (Michael Jordan/LeBron James is the straight man). Still, the film was fun, the plot felt updated in clever ways (taking a page from the e-sports world and lampooning entertainment’s overemphasis on IPs), and I enjoyed the greater focus on the son-father relationship that the original Space Jam should have also been about.

25.          Beckett-It's a contextless action film like the Bourne series where we're just shown a guy doing lots of amazing fighting but we don't know the why of anything. Tonally, the film held but barely.

26.          Worth-The film was executed well, but it was kind of dull. At the same time, it's not that easy to make a film about an accountant making risk assessment calculations.

27.          Cruella-Beautiful to look at and Emma Stone's iteration of the character was a fun underdog to root for. Paul Walter Hauser and Joel Frye also make excellent sidekicks. Still it went on way too long and there’s a such thing as too many twists.

27.          Pig-It's nice to see Nicholas Cage celebrated for his acting, but the film is a bit self-serious. It’s just food seasoning, guys: No need to start a fight club over it or build an organized crime empire around it.

28.       Legend  of Shang-Tsi and the Ten Rings-I could predict almost every plot development five minutes in advance, and what I couldn’t predict, I didn’t care about.  I was also bothered that the film expected me to know who Trevor whatever-his-name-is, F--- Off Marvel, I don’t care about crossovers. And shouldn’t side kicks have some use? (I’m looking at you Seth Rogen as Green Hornet, who punched out maybe 2 people in comparison to Kato single-handedly fighting dozens of goons at once).  But, that sky scraper fight scene was next level.

29.         Flag Day-This was a film…..that I watched…..sorry, I barely remember watching this..

31.          Being the Ricardos-Aaron Sorkin had been on a really good streak—Molly’s Game, Trial of the Chicago 7—but this is like “Studio 60” backwards in terms of egotistical awfulness. Yes, the actors handle the smug material well, but the material is all about praising the ego of the creator at the expense of others (the producers, writers and co-stars are secondary to Lucy’s brilliance) and had little to do with Lucy who was funny.

32.          French Dispatch-The only Wes Anderson film I wouldn’t recommend. There is such a thing as too bloated of an ensemble and too much attention to detail.

33.          Electric Life of Louis P Wain-Too cutesy-wutesy and by the numbers.

34.          Lost Daughter-Slow and dreary. It might have all the right moves to offer but it didn’t hook me.

35.        Mitchells vs Machines-Don’t know if I remember this too much either. That’s not a good sign.

36.          Tomorrow War-Sooo much uncanny valley and ugly creatures on the screen and this is probably one of the few times when there’s no debate that a time travel film makes no sense. Normally that genre can hand-wave a lot of plot holes.

37.          Barb and Star Go to Mar El Vista-I know it had its fans, but I found this overly low-brow and couldn’t find a single scene that screams “Brilliant!.” Maybe Barb and Star being fired from their jobs comes close but that’s in the beginning of the movie and front loads with lots of expectations.  You realize that these two made Bridesmaids? It’s mostly standard mix-em-ups and a comedy of doors.

 This felt like when Mike Meyers or M. Night Shyamalan refuse to listen to studio notes about a bad idea.

38.          Thunder Force-Because it stars Melissa McCarthy, one might assume it’s a send-up to superhero tropes but the film plays the superhero story pretty straight despite the film still having the outlines of a comedy. It’s a pretty awkward clash. At least Jason Bateman seemed to know he was in a comic film.

39.          Breaking News in Yuma County-A dark comedy that feels as if someone read cliff notes on the Coen Brothers films (people fabricate dumb schemes, people get blackmailed, people are violently hurt, etc) and tried to make a film solely off that. It probably doesn’t help that the scheme is not just dumb but uninteresting. Allyson Janney pretends to know details about your husband’s death because she likes being on the news and the fame it brings her, but do people really like being a talking head on the news?

40.          Kate-Like Beckett, it’s a contextless action film (we’re not meant to know much about the hero) but, it’s also a contextless shoot-em-up and it’s too high in the ratio of violence to context for me to not see it as gratuitous.  

41.          Stowaway-Boring attempt at sci-fi and it’s lifeboat ethics weren’t anything I agreed with. 

What I'm Watching September Update: Lost Symbol, AP Bio, Only Murders in the Building, The Premise review

 

Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol (Peacock):  Dan Brown has pretty much the exact plot in every book with different details. But the devil’s in the details and he has some extremely thorough details and those details are his hook.

The thing is that Dan Brown has to invent an awful lot of dues-ex-machina situations in order to manufacture situation in which a stuffy Harvard intellectual (no matter how good looking) like Robert Langdon is called upon to save the world. I say “thing” and not “problem”, mind you, because the suspension of disbelief is a price we’ll gladly pay for the mind-blowing historical nuggets wrapped up in a James Bond-style adventure.

So with that said, this show will never earn points for originality or excellent screenwriting but it’s extremely comfortable as popcorn entertainment and I plan on gobbling it up. The cliffhangers also help and this adventure appears to be set (or at least) start in my hometown of Washington D.C. so I’m excited so far.

Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)-The best part of the show is the press interviews between the odd trio of Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez. Unfortunately, that’s not part of the show itself which is surprisingly mediocre.

It’s a shame because Martin Short and Steve Martin are generally can’t-miss propositions and the idea of three amateur podcasters solving a murder plot involves a healthy degree of serialization.

So why is this so boring? For one, the actual murder isn’t something that’s particularly engaging.  The idea is that one of the three members (Gomez) of this makeshift sleuthing team was a childhood friend of the murder victim but the show only commits to that angle half-heartedly.

Another problem with the show is that it feels awfully insiderish. “Only Murders in the Building” is set in a pretty insular Manhattan world and two of the three characters are aging showbiz archetypes. I’m on record as feeling pretty sated by sitcom characters who are in show business so this isn’t drawing me any closer. The show tries to mine pathos from Martin and Short’s characters as two old men looking back on their lives from the perspective of their twilights but there are character arcs are pretty predictable.

As for reasons to keep watching, Amy Ryan plays a love interest to Steve Martin and the chemistry is genuinely sweet between these two. Additionally, there’s a very high probability that Steve Martin or Amy Ryan will do something funny considering that’s what they’ve been doing for most of their lives.

What We Do in the Shadows (FX)-This has been reviewed previously, but this show continues to fire on all cylinders. At its best, you have home run episodes like The Casino or the one where Nandoor picks up the same girl in the gym three times. 

 

 

The Premise (FX)-BJ Novak’s anthology series is an attempt to dramatize hot button issues through scenarios in which characters have to make difficult choices. Through the first three episodes, the series has been a little tonally inconsistent and hasn’t always been rewarding but the general nuts and bolts of a good idea is there.

In the first episode, a socially conscious white person (Ben Platt) has to humiliate himself in court to free a black person from an unlawful arrest. It’s a direct nod to George Floyd or Michael Brown or all that.  It successfully puts a character in a tight spot though it probably splits viewers along where you stand on the degree to which white allies need to be tested on their allyship.  Either way it’s provocative.

The second episode features a new hire (Jon Bernthal) for an expy of the National Rifle Association. He seems like a loyal foot soldier to the cause but he might or might not be secretly wanting to blow up the place. This is more of a guessing game (the character already knows what they’re going to do) than a provocative morality tale.

The third episode is about a pop star (Lucas Hedges) who wants to inspire his high school alma mata (and perhaps do a little performance art) by offering to sleep with the valedictorian. It’s a fine commentary on the commodification of sex in society. Beside one jarring scene in which two of the candidates exposition the hell out of what the audience is supposed to think, this is the best of the three.

AP Bio (Peacock): Show runner Michael Patrick O’Brien has done such a fantastic job world-building over the first three seasons, that I can’t imagine myself ever getting bored with this show. As I’ve written about plenty of times before, this is a brilliant and endlessly fun show about a high school teacher who initially goes out of his way to be beyond redeemable before his better angels win out (often before each episode’s conclusion) and features an extremely deep bench of quirky students, fellow teachers, and one helluva needy prinicipal (Patton Oswalt).

The problem is the actress who plays Jack’s love interest Lynette got another gig that paid her more than the recurring guest star credit. It’s hard to hold that against the show, but they handle the transition poorly.

Lynette and Jack are vibing one episode, and the next, she’s being put on a bus. And to pour salt in the wound, Jack is dating someone else so fast? I understand the need to make sure good romantic plot lines are unused, but Elizabeth was uniquely twisted. The most twisted thing about the new love interest (Hayley Marie Norman) is that she has problems sabotaging her own relationships. But, make no mistake, she’s nowhere in Lynette’s league in terms of juvenile fun. Alderfer could sell you with her sly smile.

The show still has a great penchant for experimentation with a great Marcus episode in there.

 

Nine Perfect Strangers (Hulu)-This is a pretty dark anthology adapted from a novel that I wouldn’t be surprised is far better.

The cast features lots of heavy hitters including Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, Nicole Kidman, Bobby Cannavale, and---wait, is that Jason Mendoza form “The Good Place”? Let me tell you, this show is pretty eerie by design, but seeing Manny Jacinto under the sex spell of Nicole Kidman is a new level of bizarre.

The story is about some wealthy clientele who go to a healing resort where their anxieties are treated to some unorthodox methods. It’s not too far off from the far superior “White Lotus” anthology series on in its “Vacation is Hell” theme. So yeah, watch “White Lotus” instead.

Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail (TBS)-Previously reviewed last month. It’s not the best season of this anthology but it is still worthwhile.

 The show gathered a little coherence by the end but it rarely had a stand-out episode. At times when the show was attempting to mine humor out of today’s commentary (using Todd’s alliance with Benny’s outlaw daughter as a stand-in for Trumpism), there was no subtlety. When the show didn’t approach hot-button issues from a perpendicular angle, there was a lot of breathing room for Simon Rich’s brilliance to shine through. When Prudence and Todd encounter the 19^th Century version of hipsters, there’s a lot that works because the show mixes up anachronisms between our modern lens and historical realities.

Top 25 Actresses of the (Last) Decade: Rehash Article from 2009

This article was originally published in 2009 on another website. It’s now being reprinted here and polished up a little bit:

With the decade nearly over, and the fact that we can get a sense of who is committed to which projects through the end of 2009, we can safely evaluate the actresses of the 2000s. The reason I'm picking actresses instead of actors, is partially because actresses are easier to compare to each other since they get the same roles (romantic interests, daughters, sisters, mothers, feminist activists, monarchs named Elizabeth, etc.), and because actresses tend to be at the peak of their careers for shorter time periods (for example, the actresses of the 90's, Meg Ryan, Demi Moore, Michelle Pfeiffer are not really stars at all today).

The criteria:

-Being prolific, as in doing a lot of movies. If you have a number of hits and some misses along the way, you still get more exposure than someone who's been in very few movies and has won Academy Awards for two of them like Hillary Swank

-Being in good movies. The actress might not be the one to get the major awards bling from the movie but they might be part of great works

-Having Oscar nominations, nominations by other major awards bodies, or generally highly praised performances

-Being a bankable movie star with blockbuster potential, bonus points for helming a major franchise

-Being present the whole decade. If you've only been hot since 2005 or 2006 like Amy Adams or Ellen Page, that's not really dominating the decade but rather 3 or 4 years.

The list

1. Nicole Kidman

Kidman is one of the most prolific and visible actresses in Hollywood and if she has had any misfires, one has to credit her for taking so many chances and diving into them headfirst: She tackled romantic comedy with one of the most innovative writers in the genre with Nora Ephron, she immersed herself into the glitz and glamour of Baz Luhrmann, she teamed up with Sean Penn and Sidney Pollack to make a classic thriller, and took a chance with a controversial innovator in Lars von Trier even if she didn’t like it enough to stick around for the sequel. Some of Kidman's less-remembered roles this decade, such as that a trouble janitor who enters into May-December romance with a professor in The Human Stain or a UN translator in Sidney Pollack's thriller The Interpreter, are roles that might have been career highlights for other stars on this list.

Dossier

Nationality: Australian

Best Role: Ada Monroe, Cold Mountain (highly subjective personal opinion on the part of the author)

Other Highlights: The Others, The Hours, The Cold Mountain, Dogville, Interpreter, Birth, Margot at the Wedding

2000s Hardware: 1 win, 2 Oscar noms, 4 Golden Globe Noms

Blockbuster/Tent pole Credentials: Golden Compass if it spawns a sequel [Ed note: It didn't], voice work in Happy Feet

Directorial Portfolio: Anthony Minghella, Baz Luhrmann, Stephen Daldry, Nora Ephron, Sidney Pollack, Lars von Trier

Credit: Rebloggy

2. Cate Blanchett

Known primarily for playing Queen Elizabeth in the last decade, Blanchett never has exhibited much of a star persona but, like Kidman, she has been highly prolific and immersed herself in a tremendous variety of work. In the last three years alone, she appeared in seven wide release pictures, she has earned Oscar nominations for three of them. In addition, she has propelled two others to Oscar nominations for Best Picture. She also has a penchant for the quirky and experimental as shown through her willingness to embrace projects like Wes Anderson's Life Aquatic and Steve Soderbergh's The Good German.

Dossier

Nationality: Australia

Best Role: Bob Dylan, I'm Not There

Other highlights: Veronica Guerin, Aviator, Life Aquatic with Steve Zassou, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (she’s arguably the only person acting in the film), Notes on a Scandal, Babel, Good German

The decade in hardware: 1 Oscar win, 4 Oscar noms, 6 Golden Globes Nods

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones

Directorial Portfolio: Steve Soderbergh, Steve Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Ron Howard, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Peter Jackson, Todd Haynes, Shekhar Kapur, David Fincher, Barry Levinson

3. Meryl Streep- The preeminent actress of our era. Twelve nominations into her career, Streep is still capable of surprising audiences with new facets of herself, which is simply amazing. This decade, she's transformed into a stoic uberboss, a quaint country singer, and a sexually adventurous middle-aged writer.

Dossier

Nationality-American

Best Role: Susan Orlean, Adaptation

Other Highlights: Devil Wears Prada, Prairie Home Companion, Prime, It’s Complicated, Doubt, Manchurian Candidate

The decade in hardware: 4 Oscar noms, 7 Golden Globe noms

Blockbuster Credentials: Adventures of Lemony Snicket

Directorial Portfolio: Johnathan Demme, Rob Altman, Tom Daldry, Spike Jonze, Robert Redford

4. Kate Winslet

Winslet was in the biggest blockbuster of all time, and has done an excellent job in the 2000s of making audiences forget the name Rose Bukater and remember the name Kate Winslet instead. Her effusive personality and her able handling of Saturday Night Live the week after Ashlee Simpson was busted for lip-synching has done wonders for her public persona but it’s largely been about the acting talent with Winslet and the breadth of films. She became the youngest actress to earn 5 nominations by 2007, and finally goaded the Academy into giving her an Oscar through sheer perseverance with her role of Hannah Schmidt in “The Reader.” Interestingly enough, she predicted on a 2005 episode of “Extras” that it would take a Holocaust movie for her to win.

Dossier

Nationality: British

Best Role: April Wheeler, Revolutionary Road

Other Highlights: Secret Life of David Gale, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,  The Reader

The Decade in Hardware:  Oscar Wins: 1, Oscar Noms: 4, Golden Globe Noms:  5

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Winslet isn't exclusively high-brow, but she doesn't have any big blockbusters to her name this decade.

Notable Directors: Michel Gondry, Sam Mendes (her then-husband), Todd Field, Marc Forster

5. Rene Zellweger

Ideal in romantic comedies or as a dramatic love interest, Zellweger has also expanded to roles of independent women with roles in Miss Potter, Cold Mountain and Bridget Jones. She scored three successive Oscar nominations with Bridget Jones, Chicago, and Cold Mountain, and with her performances in Cinderella Man and Miss Potter, was a a threat to be present in the Oscar race pretty much every year she had a major film.

Dossier

Nationality: American

Best Role: Roxie Hart, Chicago

Other highlights: Nurse Betty, Cold Mountain, Miss Potter

The Decade in Hardware: Oscars: 1, Oscar Noms 3, Golden Globe Noms: 6

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Bee Movie, Bridget Jones spurned a sequel

Directorial Portfolio: Rob Marshall, Anthony Minghella, Ron Howard, Neil LaBute, George Clooney

Source: DRWL Wordpress

6. Reese Witherspoon

Her output is more limited than some of the ladies on the list but she has been America's sweetheart since breaking out in Legally Blonde and following up with favorable romantic comedy Sweet Home in Alabama. She also is in high demand judging by the 15 million dollar paycheck she's been commanding. Most importantly, she took her sweetheart charm and turned it into a nuanced performance in one of the best performances of the decade in Walk the Line.

Dossier

Nationality: American

Best Role: June Carter Cash, Walk the Line

Other highlights: Legally Blonde, Just Like Heaven

The Decade in Hardware: Walk the Line earned her a win at the Oscars and was her sole nomination at Globes or Oscars

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Legally Blonde spawned a sequel

Directorial Portfolio: James Mangold, Mira Nair

Source: IMDB

7. Judi Dench

Proving that old age and the bob weave are not barriers, Dench continues to corner the market on juicy veteran roles and has managed to score four Oscar nominations this decade. While none of her Oscar-nominated roles were popular films at the box office, she gets exposure through playing M in the James Bond series. She also appeared in the critically acclaimed Pride and Prejudice.

Dossier

Nationality: British

Best Role: Barbara Covet, Notes on a Scandal

Other Notable Roles: Iris, The Shipping News, Mrs Henderson Presents, Casino Royale, Pride and Prejudice

The Decade in Hardware: 4 Oscar noms, 3 Golden Globe noms

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: James Bond, the less successful Chronicles of Riddick

Directorial Portfolio: Stephen Frears, Martin Campbell, Lasse Hollstrom, Joe Wright, Rob Marshall

8. Scarlett Johansson

It is hard to even fathom how only five years after breaking out in Lost in Translation, Scarlett Johannson has amassed a lifetime of great performances to date. She's been in The Prestige, The Other Boleyn Girls, Match Point, Girl with a Pearl Earring, a Love Song for Bobby Long, and has even had time left over for a hearty romantic comedy like In Good Company or a sci-fi thriller like The Island. Even before breaking out in Lost in Translation, she managed to steal scenes in films like Man who Wasn't There and Ghost World. Due to category confusion (was she supporting or lead for Lost in Translation?), that career-affirming Oscar nomination eludes her but she's got plenty of time to accumulate more accolades. She also has a BAFTA (British version of the Oscars) to her name for Lost in Translation.

Dossier

Nationality: USA

Best Role: Charlotte, Lost in Translation

Other notable roles: Ghost World, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Love Song for Bobby Long, Match Point

Notable Hardware: Some Golden Globe nominations but no Oscar nods in a cruel twist of fate

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: She was in Home Alone 3, Prestige made quite a bit of money and she will be added to the Iron Man sequel next summer

Directorial Portfolio: Paul & Chris Weicz, Woody Allen, Sofia Coppola, Christopher Nolan, Brian de Palma, Joel & Ethan Coen, Frank Miller, Phillip Noyce

Source: Product Placement Blog dot com 

9. Julia Roberts

The biggest starlet in Hollywood last decade has slowed down a little bit this decade but still isn’t enough to stop and say. She's considered herself semi-retired and usually enters into projects because of her friendships with Brad Pitt, Steve Soderbergh, Mike Nichols or George Clooney, which doesn't make her particularly bankable as a star any more. At the same time, she's still Julia Roberts and generates a lot of buzz whenever she does decide to do a film, such as Charlie Wilson's War a couple years ago

Dossier

Best Role: Erin Brockovich, Erin Brockovich                  

Other notable roles: Closer, Ocean’s 12, Charlie Wilson’s War, Duplicity

Nationality: American

The decade in hardware: One Oscar, one Oscar nom and 3 Golden Globe noms

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Ocean's 11 series (though she was weaned out by part 3)

Directors: Stephen Soderbergh, George Clooney, Mike Nicholls, Gore Verbinski,

10. Julianne Moore

Moore is usually attracted to only the classiest material, and sometimes these films, like Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio and Freedomland, are films that the general movie going public is rarely even aware of. In some case, however, like Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men and the Oscar-nominated The Hours, magic has struck and her profile has been upped significantly as a result. Breaks into more lightweight material such as Laws of Attraction or Next have also helped as well.

Dossier

Nationality: American

Best Role: Cathy Whitaker, Far From Heaven

Other Notable Roles: Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio, Laws of Attraction, Children of Men, The Hours, A Single Man, Shipping News

The Decade in Hardware: Two Oscar noms, two Golden Globe Nods

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Hannibal, Next

Directors: Todd Haynes, Ridley Scott, Stephen Daldry, Alfonso Cuaron

11. Naomi Watts

With her ability to slip into and out of accents and an on/off switch with which she can bring out intensity, Watts is simply too talented to be anything but an A-list actor for long. Her performance in Mullholland Drive was one of the most notorious Oscar snubs of the decade. Two years later, she earned a well-deserved nomination in 21 Grams and a couple years later, she turned a role that nearly derailed Jessica Lange's career in a third-time remake into Oscar bait, with the role of Ane Darrow in King Kong. She often adds a lot to films in supporting roles like Eastern Promises or I Heart Huckabees and more often than not, her work goes unnoticed.

Dossier

Nationality: Australian

Best Role: Betty, Mullholland Drive,

Other Notable Roles: 21 Grams, The Ring, King Kong, Eastern Promises

Oscar Hardware: 1 Oscar Nom, surprisingly zero Golden Globe nods

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: King Kong, The Ring

Directorial Portfolio: Ron Howard, David Lynch, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, David Cronenberg, Peter Jackson, Gore Verbinski, Woody Allen, James Ivory

Source: North Country Charlize Theron-The Wrap

12. Charlize Theron

The Charlize Theron story is a dream come true for every B and C-lister out there with hopes of turning into an A-lister overnight. With Monster (2003), she landed that one juicy role and turned it into the performance of a lifetime. The Academy treats the best actress race like a coronation of Tinseltown's homecoming queen and more than in any other race, there is a hesitancy to give it to someone who hasn't paid her dues, but Theron was too good to deny. She later proved that she wasn't a one-hit wonder by scoring another Oscar nod in North Country and has picked up parts in Paul Haggis' In the Valley of Elah and attempted action roles in Aeon Flux and Hancock (the 10^th highest grossing film of 2008). Neither showed sequel potential but a kick-ass heroine is always marketable.

Dossier

Best Film Role: Aileen, Monster

Other Notable Roles: Aeon Flux, North Country, Curse of the Jaded Scorpion

Nationality: South Africa

The Decade in Hardware: 1 Oscar win, 2 Oscar nominations, 1 Golden Globe Nomination

Tentpole/Blockbuster Credentials: An unsuccessful attempt with Aeon Flux, Hancock had a decent opening weekend but fell off

Directors: Robert Redford, Nikki Cairo, Woody Allen, Paul Haggis, John Frankenheimmer

13. Helen Mirren- The first woman over the age of 40 to win a best actress Oscar since Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren had a big career hit with her role in The Queen and won a second Golden Globe for playing Queen Elizabeth I in the same year. In addition, she had Oscar nods for Godsford Park, The Last Station, and made respectable Oscar bait in Calendar Girls. Well into her 60s, she continues to exude an odd sex appeal and youthfulness. With the exception of her Oscar-nominated role for The Madness of King George, the actress was more visible onstage and in the British miniseries Prime Suspect. 

Best Role: Queen Elizabeth II, The Queen

Other Notable Roles: Gosford Park, Calendar Girls, The Last Station

Nationality: British through and through

The Decade in Hardware: 1 Oscar win, 3 Oscar noms, 4 Golden Globe noms

Tentpole/Blockbuster Credentials: National Treasure 2

Directorial Portfolio: Stephen Frears, Rob Altman, Taylor Hackford, Sean Penn

14. Keira Knightley

When she was cast in Pirates of the Carribean, little-known Keira Knightley might have been destined to be the female love interest in a swashbuckling epic, but as she held her own against Orlando Bloom and Jonny Depp, she gradually became the center of the story herself (and for that matter, the only remotely interesting character onscreen in the disastrous third installment of the trilogy). Rather than ride the kind of fame that one gets from being in a billion dollar trilogy into a string of roles in romantic comedies, Knightly went for more high-brow material, scoring a nod for Pride and Prejudice and starring in an Oscar-nominated film with Atonement.

Dossier

Best Role: Jules, Bend it Like Beckham

Other Notable Roles: Pride and Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Atonement, Domino, The Edge of Love

Nationality: English

The Decade in Hardware: 1 Oscar nom, 2 Golden Globe noms

Tentpole/Blockbuster Credentials: Pirates of the Caribbean

Directorial Portfolio: Joe Wright, Gore Verbinski, Tony Scott

15. Jennifer Connelly- Like Watts, Connelly is so talented that it was only a matter of time before she became an A-list actress, won an Oscar or both. Her Oscar for A Beautiful Mind could have just as well been for House of Sand and Fog, and she regularly appears in highly respected films such as Requiem for a Dream, Little Children, and Blood Diamond and even her unremarkable genre films like Open Water and Ang Lee's Hulk are capable of drawing attention solely because her name is on the marquee.

Best Role: Kathy, House of Sand and Fog

Nationality: American

Other Notable Roles: Beautiful Mind, Blood Diamond, Little Children, Requiem for a Dream, Open Water

The Decade in Hardware: One Oscar win, one Oscar nom, one Golden Globe nom

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: A failed attempt at The Hulk, a commercially successful but critically panned Day the Earth Stood Still

Directors: Ron Howard, Ed Zwick, Todd Fields, Ang Lee, Darren Aronofsky, Terry George

And the rest of the top 25 (All deleted from the internet forever, except 25):
16. Natalie Portman 17. Laura Linney 18. Maggie Smith 19. Catherine Zeta-Jones 20. Kirsten Dunst 21. Joan Allen 22. Halle Berry 23. Maggie Gyllenhaal 24. Cameron Diaz 25. Angelina Jolie

The Paperboy: The Book vs. The Movie

I'm thrilled to say that on a recent vacation to Florida I read a book. It wasn't assigned to me by an English teacher, I didn't do it to maintain my status in a book club, I didn't see the movie first, and it wasn't a really hook-laden thriller, comedy book, or hot cultural buzz item of the moment (ie Hunger Games, Da Vinci code both of which I read).
The book was The Paperboy which recently was released as a film under the screenplay and direction of Lee Daniels (Precious) and having seen both I'll discuss the differences BEWARE: SPOILERS AHEAD:

1. Jack is emotionally catatonic in the book-Jack is never particularly outward with his emotions as the narrator. His highs aren't particularly high and his lows aren't particularly low. Having just been expelled from college, he's somewhat numb: Thoughts of returning to college don't interest him, he's somewhat blank to what he wants to do in life; aside from an abstract attraction to Charlotte, he's not particularly interested in sex and socializing; and aside from his brother and a passing hint of attachment to his dad and housekeeper, he's fairly uninterested in people.

In the movie, any actor with a working pulse would be livelier than the description of Jack in the book. Enter smiley, bubbly Zac Efron from High School Musical and Jack's depression suddenly seems a lot less acute.
Verdict: The movie. It's probably too much to expect Zac Efron to go full Jennifer Anniston in "The Good Girl" and I am not sure that I would've wanted him to either. The story was about a kid who was lost in the world but it wasn't really about a kid who was entirely emotionless.
It was nice to see Jack smile in moderation.

2. In the book, Jack doesn't necessarily have sex with Charlotte, Jack doesn't confront Charlotte over Yardley, and Charlotte doesn't directly discuss with Jack her having sex with him-
In the book, Jack is so distraught after Ward's beating that Charlotte rocks her and "holds him in her arms" all night or something like that. It's kind of vague but more to the point, Jack doesn't run around the next morning feeling like a changed man because he got lucky the night before with the woman he's been longing for. His thoughts are mostly with his brother and everything else seems like a blur. In the book, Jack is sexually awakened by Charlotte but longs for her in an abstract sense. He is more distraught by the idea of the wrong man having her instead (i.e. Hillary van Wetter, Yardley) and is too shy or disinterested to confront Charlotte directly about her dalliance with Yardley. In the book as in the movie, Charlotte tells Jack that he needs to get laid. In the book, however, Charlotte and Jack never approach the topic over whether she'd be the one he should get laid with.

Verdict: On all three counts, the book.  The did-they-or- didn't-they dynamic would have given viewers something to talk about and better reflects the rich emotional space of Jack's head. Getting the girl of his dreams and it barely registering with him is an effective way to illustrate just how devastated he was with Ward's beating. It's also better that Jack did not have either of those conversations directly with Charlotte. Addition by subtraction.

3. Charlotte pees on Jack-This wouldn't be a major deal except for the fact that this film is now known as "the one where Nicole Kidman pees on Zac Efron" and speculation over whether the scene was real (answer: yes, Nicole Kidman is a method actress even when its gross) dominates discussion of the film. In the book, it's some nursing students who save Ward's life. In the film, the fact that they are nursing students, who first try some non-peeing methods of recovery on Jack, is omitted.
Verdict-Score one for the movie-It would have been helpful to know that the girls who initiate the peeing incident are nursing students because otherwise that gives the impression that everyone knows that peeing is the cure for jelleyfish stings. On the whole, however, it is an improvement because Jack and Charlotte were subconsciously really wanting to exchange some bodily fluids with each other anyways.

4. The entrance of Ellen Guthrie in the story-In the movie, Ellen Guthrie is Jack's father's ladyfriend and subordinate and eventually becomes his wife and co-editor of the newspaper. There's not really much more to it then that in the film.
In the book, Ellen Guthrie is someone who is much more of a character. She enters the story when there's a party being thrown on Ward's behalf at the household and Jack meets her outside the household as she's drinking and she's dressed procotavely enough get Jack a little sweaty. Like Charlotte, she temps his sexually-inexperienced confusion by telling him that if he were four years younger, he would be an ideal bedmate for her. Jack briefly ponders the act of bedding Ellen, and then an Oedipeal nightmare occurs: the sexually charged Ellen winds up sleeping with dad that night. Ellen then calls Jack to apologize for being a tease and invites him to her apartment, Jack seems to alternate between being disinterested and confused, and next thing you know the opportunity is lost and Ellen goes from being potential sex partner to new mommy.
Verdict-What the hell was Lee Daniels thinking? Book scores a billion points here. This love triangle between Ellen,

5. The Death of Ward-In the book, Ward (somewhat of a perfectionist) falls into despondency upon realizing his error that won him a Pulitzer led to Charlotte's death. He goes to California and drowns himself in the ocean. Although there's some wiggle room, it's treated by Jack as a suicide.
The Verdict-Slight edge to the book. If I was a purist, I might say the book is better or that the film is massively unfaithful. Then again, how do you have a filmically satisfying resolution to the brother flying off to California and possibly or possibly not drowning himself. Also, Van Wetter did kill ward in a metaphorical sense by exposing his flaw as a reporter, so this is close to an acceptable shortcut. Still, the site of Zac Efron caring two dead bodies is a little heavy of an ending and I think a distraught Matthew M. (Who's acting stock has gone up as of late) could have given a good scene expressing that dismay before he went off into the ocean.

6. Yardley got the job through unorthodox means-In the movie, there's a throwaway line where Yardley directly tells Jack that he got his position as Jack's partner through
performing oral sex on him. In the book, Yardley and Ward are an odd couple. Yardley is less of a perfectionist and is more concerned about the big picture. This figures into the plot because Ward trusted the key piece of evidence to Yardley and knew deep inside that Yardley would be too lazy to pursue the evidence.
Verdict: Oh god, Lee Daniels, TMI, the book. But in all seriousness, learning more about Yardley than how he compares to Ward and Jack is detrimental to the story. This isn't Yardley's story but the story of two brothers and a story about the write-up to a murder investigation. Which brings us to the biggest change of all....

7. Yardley is Black-In the book, he's known for being a smooth lothario. In the movie, he is known for being "the black guy."
Verdict: The book. Yardley wasn't a broken character that needed fixing. He was clearly meant to be a doppelganger for the two brothers. He's a sexual rival to Jack (in that he likes Charlotte and does something about it). He's also a lazier and less thorough version of Jack. Bringing in race politics (especially amplified from 1965) distracts from Yardley's commonalities with the two brothers.

8. Anita, the housekeeper, is the narrator in the movie-In the movie, Jack is the narrator. The director, Lee Daniels, is a prominent voice in the African-American filmic community and said he felt a need to respond to The Help and so wanted to elaborate on Anita. That is also why he wanted to make Yardley black.
Verdict-From a filmic standpoint, the book wins here too. Except for a few lines in text that show Jack has a clear attachment to Anita, The Paperboy is not thematically synonymous with The Help in any way, shape, or form. It was a big stretch. This was Jack's story. How do we even explain Anita having a good sense of detail for the crime scenes? She wasn't present at 90% of the scenes in the movie.

Top 25 Actresses

The biggest selling blog piece I ever wrote was an article on the 25 biggest actresses in Hollywood written in early 2009/late 2008. Here's an update.
Also note I wrote this from a phone so likely a lot of spelling and grammatical errors:
1 Meryl Streep-Even though she's a generation above the type of woman that usually would merit the title preeminent actress of Hollywood, how can I possibly ignore Meryl Streep anymore? (I ranked her #3 in 2008) She hits a home run in everything she's in and shows no signs on letting up the Oscar haul.
2 Charlize Theron-Theron is supremely talented and is capable of giving an unquestionably breathtaking performance like the one that stole critical thunder from all the actresses critics were taking seriously in 2003 with Monster. In the nearly ten years since, she's shown Monster was no fluke with North Country and Young Adult and she's also shown she can do action, period pieces, and romance. 
3 Naomi Watts-A supremely talented actress may not win the Oscar with The Impossible but she's been a darkhorse for a long time now missing out on several nominations and the film seems to be carving out a larger piece of the public consciousness than Beasts of the Southern Wild or Amour. Watts has long been Hollywood's best keep secret in my opinion. She turns everything she's in to Gold. With her second Oscar nomination, she might no longer be under the radar.
4 Nicole Kidman-She gives out an Oscar calliber performance nearly every year. Is there a such thing as the offseason in movie acting, I haven't seen it from her in over ten years. Even performances from her that get zero Oscar buzz like The Interpreter in 2005 are brilliant.
5 *Anne Hathaway-Initially, I thought she was too feminine to fit a wide mold of parts but her playfulness with the action lead in Get Smart and her ugliness in the psychological head trip Rachel Getting Married changed my mind. If she wins an Oscar for Les Miserables, it will be well-deserved for a pretty impressive body of work to date.
6 *Jessica Chastain-From the prism of moviegoers like us, Jessica Chastain looks like a mad workahaulic on par with Jude Law, Cate Blanchett, or Michael Caine in the 80s (DoubleCheck). She had 6 movies out in 2011, four in 2012, and is slated for four next year. She's earned Oscar nods both years so far and if she wasn't nominated for "The Help" last year, she deserved to be nominated for "The List."
7 *Jennifer Lawrence-Who would've thought that the third lead from the highly forgettable Bill Evangl show would amount to be the proverbial homecoming queen of Hollywood?
8 Julianne Moore-The best actress of her generation to be without an Oscar, Moore is still hacking away and while she hasn't been as prolific in the last few years, she continues to hold a strong batting average in projects with Crazy Stupid Love, A Single Man, and HBO's Game Change for which she won an Emmy.
9 Kiera Knightley-Although she hasn't been nominated since 2005 for Oscar, she has found herself in the middle of Oscar speculation three times since: Anna Karennia, Atonement, A Dangerous Method. Add The Duchess to those four films and Knightly has cornered the market on period film leading ladies. Moreso, Knightly has been open to stretching herself with action ("Domino"), quirky indie film ("Seeking a Friend for the End of the World") and romcom ("Love Actually")
10 Helen Mirren-Only 67, Mirren can still play a wide array of parts and I don't see any signs that her newfound poularity for winning an Oscar in The Queen has waned at all.
11 Cate Blanchett-Cate Blanchett was #2 (behind Kidman) on my last list because at the time, she was cranking out two or three movies a year and none of them were dinky films everyone forgets about. Just to refresh your memory in the 3 years leading up to late 2008, she was in Notes on a Scandal, Good German, and Babel in 2006; a double nominee in 2007 with I'm Not There and Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and then a year AFTER THAT, she was the villain in Indiana Jones AND the love interest in the Oscar-nominated Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Even if Indy 4 was disappointing, you have to admit its a big deal that she was the villain. And she might have been in more if I bothered to look it up. In contrast, I can't name a single film she's been in since 2009 from memory. Still, I'll bet she probably was in something recently AND that if she wants to, shell be in something soon enough and she'll kill it.
12 Judi Dench-Just look at the Oscar buzz surrounding Dench in 2012 to see how she can infuse thankless parts into performances that get noticed. Her role in Skyfall as M was one of the first instance of an actress in a Bond film (along with Bardem) getting enough critical acclaim to make a dent on the Awards circut. In Exotic Marigold, her storyline comptered with that of Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, and Tom Wilkinson, yet she somehow pulls it together enough to be considered a lead.
13 Amy Adams- Adams looks more like a character actress than a star and four supporting actress nominations proves that point but, then again, four supporting actress nominations in an eight-year span is quite a feat. She's also proven she can lead a film
with "Enchanted", "Sunshine Cleaning," and "Muppet Movie" and her range of films-from a tentpole like "Night at the Museum" to a Will Ferrell-John C. Rielly romp in "Talladega Nights" to a prestige pic like "Doubt"- is greater than any other actress on this list.
14 *Emma Stone-With her casting as the Garfield's love interest she is officially the Kirsten Dunst of the '90's.Among her filmography this decade are prestigious films that did a respectable job at drawing audiences such as The Help and Crazy Stupid Love. On the other end of the spectrum, her populist crowd pleasers- Easy A and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World- got good critical reviews and transcended the teen genre. The best of both worlds.
15 *Marion Cotillard-Cotillard was 100% a product of the French film industry and 0% embedded in Hollywood when she won the Oscar in 2008 for "La Vie en Rose." Since then, she's transitioned nicely as a viable leading lady in Hollywood with notable performances in Public Enemies, Inception, Dark Knight Rises, and an Oscar-worthy entry with Rust and Bone for which she was likely the unlucky 6th place finisher in Oscar voting.  
16 Cameron Diaz-For someone who was tagged early in her career as a sex symbol, Diaz has proven remarkably resillient with age as her charm, acting chops, and comedic instincts have become larger parts of her main appeal. She went full awards bait in the underrecognized My Sister's Keeper and shows her ease in comedic leading roles like Bad Teacher or Knight and Day (a time capsule of a movie taking us back to the day when Tom Cruise was a charming leading man).
17 Natalie Portman-Portman won the Oscar two years ago and I'm not writing her out of the top 15 because of that distance. If she won in 2011, I still would give her the same rank. While Portman's winning an Oscar wasn't as much of an outliar as Monique (he was essentially a comedian/sitcom personality) in relation to her body of work, I don't see much in Natalie Portman in terms of appeal or versatility outside of that one performance. In No Strings Attached, she was more awkward than dopelganger (who had Friends with Benefits out the same year) Cameron Diaz and has too grave a demeanor to fit in well in romantic comedies. She's also too mousy and feminine for action and she wouldn't be my first choice in her age group for a period piece.
18 *Rooney Mara-In her two introductions to mainstream audiences-Social Network and Girl with the Dragon Tatoo-she made an immediate impression and earned a surprise nomination in the latter.
19 *Carey Mulligan-A relatively young Best Actress nominee at the age of 24, Mulligan has been getting some of the most coveted roles in Hollywood since with Oliver Stone's sequel Wall Street 2, Great Gatsby, and Shame. She also wisely chose a winner by participating in Drive in 2011 as well.
20 *Rachel Weicz-The inconspicous actrss with a gap in her teeth and a wedding peak unleashed a playful and sexy side of her and won an Oscar for it in The Constant Gardener in 2005/2006. She continues to pop up with good performances significantly under the radar as in The Brothers Bloom (did you see her do all those tricks?) and Deep Blue Sea and she's got the hardware which gives casting directors an extra incentive to cast her.
21 Laura Linney-Hollywood's thinking woman has three Oscar nominations and can command lead parts well and an Emmy (John Adams). She brings thoughtful aura to her films.
22 Kate Winslet-Where has Kate been lately? Id put her on the list of people who could come back tomorrow and give the best performance of the year. Winslet was #4 on my last list
23 Reese Whitherspoon-Where has Reese been? She was my #6 in 2008
24 Maggie Smith-Smith got buzz for two performances this past year-Exotic Marigold and Quartet- but I think she looks just a little older than Dench and Mirren. Heck, she was relegated to the wise old woman role in Best Exotic Marigold among a group of retirees. I could look up their ages but that's not as relevant because I'm talking about perception. As is, she's supremely talented but I can't classify her as a hot commodity in Hollywood because I have little confidence that she'll see a starring role like Quartet again. Quartet was a very rare movie.
25 *Kristen Wiig- Wigg was a lightning rod of an SNL cast member during a six and a half year stint in which she inconspicuously rose from the shadows of the Fey-Rudolph-Poehler Era to become the show's premiere talent. Her detractors (quite vocal on the internet, they were) said she was hogging the spotlight and did too many recurring characters, but few of her haters doubted her talent. Her high stature in Hollywood at the moment is based on the success of Bridesmaids, but I rank her highly based on the way she's effortlessly fit into a large number of supporting roles (i.e. Ghost Town, Knocked Up, Walk Hard, Extract) and enhanced so many films.
People who were on my last list that no longer are:
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Kirsten Dunst, Jennifer Connelly, Julia Roberts, Joan Allen, Tilda Swinton, Rene Zellweger (who was all the way up at #5), Scarlett Johannsen (who was #8) , Penelope Cruz, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Halle Berry

Random Movie Review: The Invasion (2007)

Nicole Kidman stars as a doctor who is trying to save her son, as well as the entire planet from an invasion of microscopic aliens, in this remake of the 1956 classic sci-film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Like the Jonathan Demme thriller "Manchurian Candidate", the Ashton Kutcher-Bernie Mac comedy "Guess Who?" (based on the 1967 film "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner") or the Adam Sandler comedy "Mr. Deeds" (Based on Frank Capra's 1936 film "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town"); "The Invasion" belongs to a class of remakes that is created out of a desire to reintroduce modern audiences to the classics. I find these films far preferable to the class of remakes like The Italian Job (2003), The Shaggy Dog (2006), and Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) that are created out of a desire to improve on a film that never resonated with audiences in the first place. Too often, the films in the second group feel like an excuse for a writer not being able to come up with original material of his own.

 

In the case of the original "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers," the film was not only considered to be one of the high points of 1950's science-fiction film-making, but in its day, the film was read as a metaphor for the dangers of passivity in the McCarthy era (although Director Sam Peckinpaugh never admitted the film was anything more than a film about aliens). The 2007 remake, however, leaves out any preachy subtext and simply tries to recapture the excitement and feel of 1950's science fiction through updated techniques.

The result is an interesting blend of outlandish scientific absurdity with elements of the modern thriller. Science-fiction from the 1950's and earlier came from an age where modern science was at much earlier stages of deciphering the mysteries of outer space and the human body, so the science-fiction stories of the time was usually built around more fantasical plots that didn't need scientific explanations. In another recent remake of a 1950's sci-film, War of the Worlds, Stephen Spielberg didn't even try to explain the scientific absurdity of having aliens spring up from underneath the streets and just turned the film into a tight-paced thriller. Although without the craftsmanship of Spielberg to guide them, the camera-work and editing feel a little overambitious without in some scenes, but Invasion still feels like a thriller of the same caliber. Like Spielberg's "War of the Worlds," the struggles of the entire planet in the wake of an alien invasion are played out through the race of a single parent trying to protect themselves and their offspring from attack.

"Invasion," however, is a little more science-heavy. In "War of the Worlds," Tom Cruise spends the film outrunning the alien invasion, but since he knows practically nothing about where they came from or where else they're located, one is tempted to ask "Where exactly is he running to?" In "Invasion," issues like these are well-thought: she's running to a lab that will cure her. Of course, with this outdated plot, you have all sorts of stretches like Nicole Kidman's misguided belief that by drinking lots of mountain dew and taking pills she can stay awake forever, but Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig (who plays her boyfriend and colleague) and Jeffery Craig (playing her colleague) are such consummate professionals and they take the material so seriously, that the plot holes seem that much smaller. The film's attention to detail can be enjoyed in the same way a Tom Clancy or a Michael Crichton novel can.