DIRECTOR: Michael Bay
CAST: Shia LaBeouf, John Turturro, Jon Voight, Megan Fox
THE PLOT: A war erupts on Earth between two robotic clans leaving the fate of mankind hanging in the balance.
BEN'S VIEWS: Transformers is exactly what you'd expect a movie about giant robots to be: a big, dumb action flick with millions of dollars spent on special effects and little brain power spent on the script. Granted, the special effects are pretty damn good. But the story is so poorly constructed and downright stupid that you will find yourself not really caring what happens to the characters, but instead staring at the screen in a braindead stupor at the visuals. You could sleep through the story segments and wake up only for the parts with fighting robots and explosions and you wouldn't really be missing anything. Well, you would miss some unintentional laughs from the dialogue which sounds like it was written by 5th graders. As far as acting, Shia LaBeouf does what he can and at least doesn't embarass himself as respected veterans Jon Voight and John Turturro do. There is really no good reason to see this film unless you're an action junkie and only care about a movie's special effects. And still you'd be better off seeing a GOOD action film such as this years best: The Bourne Ultimatum.
DIRECTOR: Shane Meadows
CAST: Thomas Turngoose, Stephen Graham
THE PLOT: A troubled boy growing up in England in the 1980's befriends a group of skinheads.
BEN'S VIEWS: Many, many films have attempted to show the tragedy that can result from a racist mindset, but few have done it as effectively as This Is England. The film deals with what can happen when a backwards idealism goes one step too far. It also shows how a strong, charismatic leader can influence younger and less secure minds. The leader in this movie is Combo, a skinhead in England in the 1980's. He calls himself a nationalist when deep down his simmering hatred for immigrants into England is pure racism. Stephen Graham plays Combo with a ferocious intensity that will stick with you long after the film is over. This performance SHOULD win a storm of awards but we have yet to see if Graham will get the recognition he deserves. The main character of the film is the young and easily swayed Shaun, played by Thomas Turngoose. Turngoose deserves praise for his strong performance as well. Not many films that I saw in 2007 have felt like the punch in the gut that This Is England is. It is one of the most powerful and engrossing films of the year.
DIRECTOR: Todd Haynes
CAST: Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Marcus Carl Franklin, Ben Wishwaw
THE PLOT: Ruminations on the life of Bob Dylan, where six different actors embody a different aspect of the musicians life and work.
BEN'S VIEWS: I'm Not There is about as far from your typical bio-pic as you can get. This film follows the life and work of Bob Dylan, but Ray or Walk the Line this is not. It is more about the personalities of the man than his factual life. Director Todd Haynes uses an ambitious technique to accomplish this. Six different actors each portray a different side of Dylan. Among these are Cate Blanchett and the young Marcus Carl Franklin. The characters carry conversations conveying Dylan's different mindsets and idealisms. The technique is mostly captivating but begins to grow a bit weary in the films second half. The thing about I'm Not There is that it's not going to teach you much about the man because of the cryptic style used to tell the story. The film plays best to previous Dylan fans, especially those that have followed his career and personal life because they will be able to pick out the references to events that your typical movie fan will not. To a Dylan fan this is a masterpiece. To the rest it is more about the puzzle of any man's life, Dylan or not. One person is really many people in the course of lifetime. But Haynes makes the film about Dylan and the trouble is that we can't really get a feel for the linear history of this man because the film jumps around to each personality in no particular order. But the acting is excellent, especially Cate Blanchett, and Dylans tunes are constantly played throughout the film. And its always a pleasure to witness good acting while listening to some sweet tunes.
