born2broadcast

Norman's Mark: 4 stars `The Last Samurai' is best Hollywood epic since `Lawrence of

Arabia,' with battle sequences equal to the classics of cinema.

Yet, in its own focused and Zen way, this wonderful, admirable film

also brings the audience inside the smallest of life's moments –

the curiosity of enemies, the slow-growing relationship between

the outsider and the tribe that has him as their captive, and the

quiet tensions at the dinner table. Tom Cruise, who simply gets better with each film, plays a drunk Civil War hero who finds redemption in Japan. He

is hired to create a modern army to fight the samurai, warriors who

are holding out for the old values and who battle rifles with swords.

The marvelously smart director, Ed Zwick, who gave us `Glory'

(the Civil War story that got Denzel Washington an Oscar),

understands how to put the audience inside battle scenes. We

see the dozens of stunning one-on-one fights in brilliant montages

with no overload or confusion. Zwick and his writers, which included John Logan, who wrote

`Gladiator,' brilliantly communicate the gradual change in Cruise,

who is captured by the samurai and who learns to admire their

way of life. After nearly 2 1/2 hours, I didn't want the film to end. I loved the

scenes that were filmed as if they were a cinematic poem to

ancient Japanese values. I reveled in the humor, humanity and

intelligence of `The Last Samurai.' In fact, the film was so good that, when it was over, I desperately

wanted to eat sushi.

Norman's Mark: 3 stars

`The Cooler' stars William H. Macy as a man so unlucky that he

brings snake eyes to casino patrons on winning streaks by just

standing next to them. Let us sing the praises of Macy, an actor who holds the patent on

the portrayal of whining, downtrodden guys with repressed anger

who have been overlooked by the world since birth (see Macy's

outstanding performance in `Fargo'). Macy has the sad eyes of a misunderstood Bassett hound, the

hesitant approach of a loser and the ability to communicate infinite

pain and loneliness in long suffering silence. He is one of our

best actors. And he is in top form in `The Cooler,' although Maria Bello as the

cocktail-waitress/love interest does a fine job exploring the female

side of similar psychological territory. An excellent production is marred by one completely unnecessary

sex shot involving Bello's hand and Macy's genitals. By the way,

Macy the New York Times, `it's the first real, rootin'-too-tin' sex

scene that I've done. Why do they wait until I'm 50 years old to ask

me to take my clothes off?' Alec Baldwin plays the tough casino owner who wants to do things

the old fashioned way. Despite his excellent portrayal, I didn't

quite buy the theme of protecting the so-called ancient Las Vegas

`heritage' against the new fangled, family-centered, G-rated ways

the town now operates. In the end, I accepted `The Cooler' as a fairy tale about lonely

people finding love amid nudity and knee cracking. With that, I

could enjoy Macy's amazing, Oscar-worthy performance.

The sleeper of the year, perhaps the decade, "Now and Forever," which won t he audience award at the Festival of Festivals in Cathedral City, CA., is a movie waiting to be discovered. A story of cross-cultural love, prejudice and eternal commitment, the film was expertly directed by Bob Clark ("A Christmas Story"). He kept things simple, involving and on track every minute. Casting: perfect. Location: marvelous. Emotional pull of the story: overwhelming, flawlessly combining elements of "Romeo and Juliet," "The Sixth Sense" and "Ghost" to keep the audience constantly involved in the drama. And the ending is a total surprise. When I saw it, people of all ages loved this film and demanded to know when they could see it again. And that is another story: Bob Clark is literally betting the ranch, putting up his own money to distribute the film himself to prove to major studios that a film which has his total support is also a viable commercial product. A film that demands to be seen. Four stars.