Early in 2004, moviegoers were treated to a pair of the most spectacular and original movies ever released.  Director Mel Gibson’s THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST was a thrilling cinematic first, a subtitled Biblical epic shot in the actual languages spoken in Biblical times.  Danish director Lars von Trier’s DOGVILLE  redefined the boundaries of cinema with the empty set staging of this three-hour morality play (featuring Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall, Philip Baker-Hall, and the legendary Ben Gazzara).  Both films were daring and subversive experiments designed to challenge audiences, drawing both praise and protest and reassuring the claim that cinema is The Liveliest Art.

But then theatres were booked back-to-back for months on end with boring big-budget remakes of classics that only tarnish the reputations of the original movies and cause confusion when you’re requesting titles at your local video store.  It’s bad enough when the inferior remakes ruin the memories of the great grind house horror classics like THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and DAWN OF THE DEAD – but when they mess with timeless movie masterpieces like THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, it’s cinematic sacrilege!  It will make Sam Peckinpah fans sick to know there’s a remake of his legendary western, THE WILD BUNCH – which you know is going to suck!  And what’s next?  A remake of CASABLANCA and GONE WITH THE WIND?  A “new and improved” CITIZEN KANE? 

Is originality dead?

Thankfully, the answer is “No!” 

Disney/Pixar’s pre-Thanksgiving release of THE INCREDIBLES restored faith in the future of cinema.  And then once the barricades were broken down by the most incredible animated feature ever made, theatres were flooded throughout the holiday season with the best movies Hollywood has to offer.  Wisely, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) recognized five of the best movies with Oscar© nominations for Best Picture. 

You can tune in to see which movie wins the Hollywood Gold on Sunday, February 27.  But in the meantime, you can rest assured that it’s safe to go back to the movies.

THE AVIATOR

Director Martin Scorsese’s epic biography of the epic American, Howard Hughes soars!  THE AVIATOR tells the true story of the innovative aviator, filmmaker, playboy, and businessman as no one has done before.  They didn't call him "The Amazing Mr. Hughes" for nothing!  There have already been several noteworthy biopics and documentaries made about the life of the enigmatic aviator focusing on the money and madness that destroyed the reclusive billionaire in his tragic final years.  But THE AVIATOR is the first movie to faithfully depict the charismatic rise of the young Howard Hughes and shows ironically how it was Hughes' very same obsessive drive that catapulted the man to success before it led to his fall.  John Logan’s complex script expertly dissects one of the 20^th century’s most complex personalities.  The performers Leonardo DiCaprio (as Hughes) and Cate Blanchett (as screen legend and Hughes’ lover, Katherine Hepburn) flawlessly embody their roles.  No other movie has so exquisitely captured the agonizing internal torment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. 

FINDING NEVERLAND 

This biographical portrait of Sir J. M. Barrie, the playwright who dreamed up the legendary character, Peter Pan, is a rare find.  It’s the perfect family movie – as pure and effervescent as a crystal glass of bubbling spring water.  As Barrie, the brilliant Johnny Depp once again demonstrates why he is fast gaining a reputation as the most versatile actor working in films today.  As Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, the widowed mother, who becomes Barrie’s muse, Kate Winslet is as radiant as an angel.  As Davies' mother, who becomes Barrie’s foil, the legendary screen actress Julie Christie is majestic.  Directed by Marc Forster,  FINDING NEVERLAND is a  meditation on the joys and innocence of childhood, and a celebration of the liberating spirit of the imagination.  More of a biography of the fictional Peter Pan than the factual man Barrie, it is a journey through the creative process that will leave you convinced that you too can escape the doldrums of your daily life and actually find your own magical Neverland if you can just believe in the possibilities.

MILLION DOLLAR BABY

Clint Eastwood has done the impossible.  He has created an original boxing movie – one that doesn’t resort to cliché and boil down to the last punch in the last round of the title bout.  MILLION DOLLAR BABY transcends the ring, going beyond the canvas to examine the personal spiritual opponent that every prizefighter must face before the last fight of his or her career.  Drawn from a series of short stories by F.X.Toole about the lives of the athletes who are participants in this dangerous blood sport, screenwriter Paul Haggis has crafted an existential script that Eastwood has directed with the style and grace of a true heavyweight champion.  Eastwood also stars and has written the musical score. (And he’s not only a great actor but he can write some pretty good tunes!)  As the titular “baby,” Hilary Swank delivers a powerhouse performance as the 30-something waitress who gives her all to succeed as a professional fighter and sacrifices everything in a noble attempt to rise above her tragic roots.  The great actor Morgan Freeman adds the quiet dignity and humanity that only he can bring to a motion picture.  The controversial ending is guaranteed to knock you out.

RAY

Director Taylor Hackford and star Jamie Foxx combine their talents to deliver the definitive portrait of an American legend, the late great musician Ray Charles.  Ruthlessly honest and uncompromising, the biopic RAY pulls no punches.  It thoroughly covers the music legend’s life from his tragic early years, when, as the child of a poor sharecropper, the young Ray witnesses his brother die in a drowning accident and then goes blind at the age of seven.  Inspired by his mother, who instilled a fighting spirit within her son, young Ray builds a career as an accomplished musician who finds the cost of stardom on the road, falling prey to the seduction of heroin abuse.  Taking the audience on a emotional roller coaster ride through the highs and lows of Ray Charles’ tumultuous life, RAY will ultimately bring you to a gloriously triumphant finale that affirms the indomitable power of the human spirit.  The outstanding performer Jamie Foxx is so convincing that you’ll forget you’re watching an actor on the screen.  He is Ray Charles!  When he sings, he sounds just like Ray Charles too.  And the music is great!

SIDEWAYS

On the surface, this subversive sleeper hit appears to be a simple story.  Two middle-aged sad sacks, a failed novelist (Paul Giamatti) and a has-been soap opera actor (Thomas Haden Church), embark on a weeklong, two-man bachelor party while touring the vineyards of Northern California.  During their besotted sojourn, the clueless duo attempt to find some meaning to their empty lives by downing as many bottles of wine and bedding as many women as possible.  Predictably, their “sideways” approach to Nirvana yields undesirable (albeit hysterically funny) results.  In many ways SIDEWAYS (directed by Alexander Payne) resembles an all-American 21^st century WAITING FOR GODOT, inasmuch as there are deeper existential waters flowing beneath the calm comedic surface.  A savage dissection of the American male psyche, SIDEWAYS attempts to answer the eternal question:  Is it really possible to find truth in the bottom of a bottle or in the arms of an anonymous woman?  SIDEWAYS will make you laugh a lot – and then it will make you think a lot.  And then it just might make you really thirsty for a good glass of Pinot Noir.  But don’t you even think of ordering Merlot!  In vino veritas!

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