whlrguy

Calvaire is surreal, harshly disturbing and horrifying in its portrayal of one mans ordeal after his van breaks down in the middle of nowhere, but is it his ordeal or those of his captor and the people of the village who see him embodied as a past figure in their lives? Singer Marc Stevens, seems to have a bizarre effect on everyone he interacts with, rendering them in a state of heartfelt pain and sadness, he is more of a mystery to us than his captor, the innkeeper Bartel, whose heart and pain is laid so simply before us, in fact all the other characters of this nightmare seem to be in the similar state of turmoil. Everyone in the village is affected, by who remains no mystery, but for some reason they see this person, or their lost dog, in Marc and in some strange way we feel we may relate and understand them more than the victim. The mood is very dreary, cold and dark. The music pitch perfect. The scenes set to a surreal nightmarish state, from Marc's opening performance to the very end. This is foreign horror at its best.

I just got back from an advanced screening of Wanted. I have to admit not being a fan of the Director, Tim Bekmambetov. Somewhat disappointed in his Russian Films Nightwatch and Daywatch. However, in his American directorial he delivers!! An abundance of profanities and over the top action sequences that are beyond xtreme fill the screen in a dizzying array of visual adrenaline. Holding you in a tight breathtaking grip with its interesting visual techniques, humor and acting. James McAvoy (the sweet faun from the Chronicles of Narnia) plays the loser we all know, Wesley Gibbon. The guy, who just trudges through life allowing himself to be walked upon, humiliated and has no desire to escape it, except in a bottle of anti-anxiety meds. Enter a beautiful Woman, Fox (Angelie Jolie), a mysterious wise man Sloan (Morgan Freeman) and his life instantly changes from Billing Reports to Gratuitous Violence, Mastering Weaponry Skills, and Assassination. Believe me when I say what the Matrix introduced, Wanted has mastered. The director is a skilled artist at using the camera in conveying visual emotions of Wesley like I have never seen before, wait I take that back, seen it in NightWatch. I definitely recommend this deliberately humorous, action packed, violent, profane, to-the-extreme film to be seen on the big screen - check this one out!!

I was fortunate to see this movie on a promotional pass. Fortunate, as I may have passed up this very moving film. I have seen the documentaries up for an Academy Award this year and this by far surpasses them. It has inspired me. For many, many years Uganda has been at war with rebels, a conflict that I had heard about in the past and thought was long over. I had heard in my youth, how children's families were killed and they were kidnapped, the boys to become soldiers in the rebellion and the girls sex slaves. I was horrified to hear that it is still currently going on. This is a story of a group of these children from Patongo who survived. Some saved from being rebels and some … not so lucky, being forced to kill their own at gunpoint. Sounds dismal and bleak, but this is a story of Hope, Redemption, Pride and Perseverance. With beautiful cinematography and the story of song, music and dance these children are the very image of Life and the strength of the Spirit. The documentary focuses on three students in the Patongo refugee camp, Rose, Dominic, and Nancy, as they prepare for their first National Music Competition in which over 20,000 schools will be competing. They tell their story of survival and trauma of the brutally violent effects of the rebellion. Haunting and disturbing, powerful and most important uplifting, this is the finest definition of Courage. A must see film.