Chef

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Jon Favreau Starring: Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannevale, Dustin Hoffman, Scarlett Johansson, Sofia Vergara, Robert Downey Jr., Oliver Platt and Emjay Anthony

Directed and scripted by Jon Favreau, Chef is a likeable movie about a chef named Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) who loses his prestigious position in a successful L.A. restaurant after inadvertantly tweeting an angry response to a negative review, which goes viral. The fallout from the angry, crude, tweet leads to a confrontation with the restaurant owner Riva (Dustin Hoffman), who rebuffs Carl's attempt to rework the menu to show the critic Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt) he is better than the staid fare that has remained virtually unchanged for years. Carl quits on the night the reviewer returns; leaving his loyal allies in the kitchen to take over. Still incensed over the critic's scathing review, Carl returns to the restaurant to confront Michel and in doing so, vents his rage in an explosive manner that also goes viral; reducing him to a hero/fool figure on the web.

If jeopardizing his reputation and career isn't enough, Carl has to deal with his diminished role as father in his son's life. His son (a charming Emjay Anthony) Percy contends with his parent's divorce as he longs to spend more time with his father, who always seems to have restaurant-related matters pending. Carl maintains a very friendly relationship with his ex-wife Inez (played by the ravishing Sofia Vergara), who is very supportive of Carl but recogizes his sometimes negligent approach to fatherhood. Though Carl and Inez are divorced, there remains a flicker of rapprochement in their relationship

Carl finds very few job offers in unemployment and his frayed relationship with his son doesn't help. Inspired by his ex-wife's repeated exhortations to buy a food truck, which she believes would help Carl establish his culinary freedom, Inez suggests he approach her ex-ex-husband Marvin (Robert Downey Jr.) in Florida for financial backing--an awkward proposition at best.

Looking to form a stronger bond with his son and secure financial backing for his new venture, Carl flies to Miami with Inez and Percy in tow. The trip is also an opportunity for Inez to return to her Cuban roots and also visit her father.

During a dinner with Inez's father over Cuban sandwiches, the idea to serve Cuban food from his truck is hatched. Following a strange meeting with Inez's other ex-husband Marvin, which stokes jealous fires in Carl, he comes away with the backing he needs and in doing so, buys a truck he and his son refurbish.

The scenes where the truck undergoes cosmetic and interior changes show the ever-emerging bond between Carl and Percy. Carl learns to be more patient with his son while also teaching him food preparation basics. Because Percy is on school-break, he is allowed to accompany his father on the return journey to L.A. in the food truck. Joining them is Martin (John Leguizamo), who served faithfully on Carl's staff in the restaurant. The three make for a fun, lively trio as they stop in various towns and cities en route to L.A. With Carl's fame/infamy in the cyberworld, and Percy's savvy social media skills, the truck and the crew attract crowds wherever they stop. Even a cop who asks them to move the truck recognizes Carl, which leads to a celebrity-like request for photos.

Of course the father/son relationship is mended and in the process, Carl is able to communicate his passion for food and how it touches people's lives after a scene where Percy carelessly burns a sandwich.

The film's direction and how we get there aren't revelations but Favreau's characters are magnetic; they make for excellent company. The story is pretty wispy; the crises seem to be milder than they appear and a happy ending is never in doubt. Still, one can never underestimate Favreau's charm. He is so likeable, it would be impossible not to sympathize with any character he plays. If Favreau played Joseph Stalin, we might reconsider the tyrant's historical reputation and think his crimes against humanity minor peccadilloes. I would have liked to have seen more of the incredible cast Favreau assembled but it's his movie though we are treated to the likes of Vergara and Leguizamo for generous chunks of screentime.

I would also have liked the film to be funnier but its laid-back approach to finding humor in situations does quite nicely too. Of course a movie that deals with food must consider anything edible as a character. Chef succeeds ably in that department. I would advise anyone to avoid eating until after a screening. I made the mistake watching the film on a full stomach and wasn't able to fully enjoy the mouth-watering food on display. Succulent meats, sandwiches dripping with melted cheeses, buttery breads, beignets from the world-famous Cafe du Monde in New Orleans and even a tantalizing grilled cheese sandwich Carl fashions for his son rouse the salivary gland.

Chef is a fun trifle; an enjoyable romp that melds two disparate genres we may not have seen onscreen before; a food film and road movie. The film is as substantial as mist but it satisifies--like something savory from a food-truck grill.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

**Some Spoilers, but not many**

Director: Bryan Singer/Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Ellen Page and Peter Dinklage

Days of Future Past...hmmm, isn't that the title of a Moody Blues album? Uh, never mind. The latest X-men iteration is upon us; this time combining the "old" and "new" casts though what those designations mean character-wise is subject to the audience's point-of-view.

I was able to breathe a sigh of relief upon exiting the theater; Marvel Entertainment finally came through with a terrific super-hero film, which builds upon the equally terrific X-Men: First Class. Though the new cast; James McAvoy, Michael Fassbinder, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult occupy most of screentime in X-Men: Days of Future Past, the old cast returns, sharing the latest adventure. Wolverine acts as sort of a liason between the old and new and by now Hugh Jackman can play this role in a coma. But he hasn't taken his character for granted; offering a marvelous performance and his signature rippling torso, bursting with vascularity.

I won't offer a complete synopsis because I would rather spend more time mentioning what I liked about the film, which was nearly everything.

Mankind is threatened and mostly conquered by what are called Sentinels; robots with mutant DNA, specifically Raven/Mystique's (Jennifer Lawrence). How did such a thing happen? Back in the early 70s', a mutant-hating scientist named Dr. Bolivar Trask (an excellent Peter Dinklage) designs robots to combat what he believes is a mutant menace. Raven/Mystique, wise to Trasks's research and agenda, tracks him down and kills him but in doing so, is captured. Her DNA, bone marrow, and other bodily contents are utilized in his robot-design, which make them nearly invincible. The Sentinels can not only identify mutants, but can effectively neutralize them with near impunity.

The film begins with scenes of urban darkness; the aftermath of Sentinel domination. Only a small unit of mutants hold out in remote China. Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellan) both hatch a plan that will send Wolverine's consciousness back in time via Kitty Pride's (Ellen Page) time-bending powers. His mission is to find both the younger versions of the Professor and Magneto and convince them that Raven's assassination attempt on Trask must be stopped, thereby denying him access to mutant DNA. Plenty of obstacles present themselves, and an effective ticking clock is employed to ratchet up the tension. In the the future, the Sentinels have discovered the mutant hide-out and threaten both the future and past Wolverine's mission. Very exciting stuff.

The screenplay by Simon Kinberg and story by Jane Goldman are inventive, intricate, intense, rich in character development and spare no opportunities for humor.

For once, CGI doesn't play an exclusive role in the visuals but are used sparingly and effectively; serving the story rather than smothering it. The actors are allowed to act, to explore their characters, rather than just react to a green-screen.

The acting, as one would expect, is top-notch, which is what one would expect from such an exceptional cast. McAvoy and Fassbender scintillate as Professor X and Magneto, particularly in an airplane scene where X accuses Magneto of ruining his life while Magneto accuses X of abandoning the mutants. Fassbender allows his character to be angry without spilling all his rage; he holds some in reserve behind his taut jaw and saber-gaze. McAvoy's X is a blend of wavering confidence and fear of his own powers, which gives his hero more depth. Jennifer Lawrence is an actress that seems to fail at nothing. She gives Raven/Mystique an edgy determination and it is always thrilling to see her character onscreen. But it is the small role of Evan Peters' Quicksilver that presents the film its memorable, mutant jester. Quicksilver seems more trickster than hero and the scene where he directs the bullets and aggression of a security force away from the other mutants is deliriously entertaining and funny. That it all plays out to Jim Croce's Time in a Bottle makes it all the more inspired.

By now Bryan Singer has earned his super-hero movie bona-fides but he doesn't Tweet his effort in. He demonstrates the new X-Men franchise is one Marvel series that deserves some longevity. It is inspired from opening to closing credits and it is one of the very few super-hero movies I can honestly say I would pay to see again. I hope Hollywood is taking note; (though it doesn't really care if their product has charm; the bottom-line is king) X-Men: Days of Future Past provides instruction on superhero-movie-making how-to. We'll see if they can recreate the magic in the next installment, which was hinted at the end of the closing credits. We'll see, indeed.

Flickread: The Friedkin Connection

by William Friedkin
512 pages.
2013


William Friedkin's career in film has seen dizzying heights and abysmal depths but in spite of his diminished reputation in 21st century Hollywood, Friedkin's best work remains phenomenal and enduring while many lesser films, like The Guardian, don't reflect his ability to dredge humanity for its darkness and moral frailties. Even some of his failures are more interesting than many successful director's triumphs. In a career spanning 50 years, Friedkin has given us the ragged streets of New York in The French Connection, the terrifying possession of a 12-year-old girl in The Exorcist, a rogue-ish FBI agent hell-bent on arresting a counterfeiter in To Live and Die in L.A. and a psychotic Texan law-enforcement officer who moonlights as a killer for hire in Killer Joe, all of which reflect a career far from the vast ocean of ordinary that grips the movie industry.

Friedkin's 2013 memoir; The Friedkin Connection is a cinephile's feast. Biographical details of his life as a son of Russian Jewish immigrants raised in working class Chicago give way to a fascinating history of his professional career. Told in unfussy, direct prose, Friedkin's memoir doesn't avoid his messy personal life; several divorces, ruined friendships, relationships, several near-fatal heart-attacks but he doesn't dwell on the personal details either. His book is what film-lovers crave: making-of, behind the scene accounts of how the films for which Friedkin earned international renown were conceived, made, marketed and were received by critics and audiences alike. Like the gifted filmmaker Friedkin is (was?), he knows how to tell great stories, of which his book contains ship-loads.

Friedkin doesn't waste any time in divulging his many personal and professional failings, how he screwed up friendships, burned bridges, infuriated those around him and often took people for granted. He is honest and straightforward but he doesn't fritter time away on soap opera-like dramas off-screen. He is painfully honest about how his career faltered after the 70s' and how the directorial offers began to thin. He is grateful to still find work and occasionally he shows his burning, creative flame still flickers in films like Bug and Killer Joe.

Friedkin's life in 1940s' and 1950s' Chicago was anything but crepe suzette; his father sold men's clothes while his mother supported him as a nurse following his father's passing. After an undistinguished high school life and no college ambitions, Friedkin found a job in a local Chicago T.V. station mailroom, which eventually evolved into a job in the studio, which in turn led to his first directorial job.

A chance encounter at a party inspires Friedkin to conceive a T.V. documentary about an african-american man on death-row who he and many others believed was innocent called The People vs Paul Crump. Friedkin's film won an award at a San Francisco film festival and flush with modest success, was able to direct another documentary for the small screen called The Bold Men. Friedkin admitted his heart wasn't in the film, which strengthened his resolve to never devote his time to projects for which he had no emotional or creative attachment.

The 60s' found Friedkin behind the camera for more T.V documentaries but also a very brief stint on the Alfred Hitchcock Hour (one episode, really). Friedkin's offbeat direction on the episode Off Season brought him some notoriety but his work remained tethered to the realm of T.V. documentaries until his friendship with singer/songwriter Sonny Bono led to his first feature film effort called Good Times, which was conceived to capitalize on Sonny and Cher's 60s' popularity. The film didn't set the cinematic world alight but Friedkin didn't tarry; he moved on to an adaptation of a Harold Pinter play called The Birthday Party. Pinter was then an emerging talent as a playwright. Friedkin met with Pinter and eventually came to stay with him in his England home while the latter wrote the screen-adapation. Friedkin and Pinter became life-long friends and the collaboration is a creative coup for Friedkin, as the experience allowed him the opportunity to work with another august talent; English actor Robert Shaw. For Friedkin to work with a playwright who was eventually awarded the Nobel Prize would be an achievement for any filmmaker, but Friedkin's star was only just ascending.

Friedkin's Boys in the Band (1970) brought him controversy; the groundbreaking (but mostly forgotten) film's frankness about homosexuality was considered taboo at the time as it depicted a dinner party of gay friends that goes awry when it is discovered a heterosexual is among the invited. The film garnered some positive critical notice and a some award nods but it also demonstrated Friedkin's willingness to provoke and explore what was then shocking subject matter.

Friedkin followed up the film with what would become a timeless, classic thriller: The French Connection. Friedkin's account of it's conception and making is absorbing reading, especially for cinephiles. He shares every pain-staking detail of its creation. We learn the great film was almost aborted due to studios tepid interest in the project. Friedkin in a directorial role was also of no interest to producers while they also held the notion that Gene Hackman in the role of Popeye Doyle seemed more like a liability than a boon. We learn Fernando Rey was "accidentally" cast as the villain Alain Charnier. Friedkin asked for an actor he liked who he had seen in a Bunuel film, only to find Fernando Rey greeting him at the airport. Friedkin was livid; castigating the casting director for hiring the wrong actor but he eventually warmed to Rey as the heavy. It is one of those serendipitous blunders that not only turns out to be a movie-changing choice but makes for a great story and great reading.

It is astonishing to read that the film's iconic car chase scene was largely improvised rather than storyboarded--a testament to Friedkin's inventiveness and his sometimes dangerous filmmaking methods.

The film's success, critically and financially, earned Friedkin much-needed clout and not a little confidence. In fact, Friedkin is keen to point out that the film's success allowed him to present his next film idea to the studios: The Exorcist. For me, the making of Friedkin's most famous film (and my personal favorite of his) is the steak entree of The Friedkin Connection and it is the making-of account to which he devotes most time and words.

An encounter with Exorcist novelist William Peter Blatty years before on another film production led the scribe to present Friedkin with his hugely succesful novel as a possible film adaptation. It is fascinating to learn the novel itself might have mouldered in obscurity if not for Blatty being cast as a guest replacement on the Dick Cavett Show; an appearance that propelled his book to the top of the New York Times Bestseller list. Its success also led to a Hollywood deal with creative control over aspects of the film adaptation. The film essentially became a collaboration between Friedkin and Blatty, who wrote the screenplay and offered the director some guidance and ideas.

I winced, reading of the casting choices for the role of Chris MacNeil: Audrey Hepburn, Jane Fonda and Anne Bancroft. Hepburn asked that the production be moved to Rome, where she was living, to which Friedkin balked. Bancroft was pregnant and asked that the production be delayed a year, which was impossible and Fonda, having read the script, responded with venom; "what is this capitalist, piece of shit?" How Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller and Max von Sydow came to be cast reflects Friedkin's loyalty to those he felt were ideal for his creative vision and his daring. Both Blair and Miller were gutsy casting choices, as both were unknowns and untried before a camera. The obstacles in the production, the innovations on the set and ultimately the film's enormous, commercial success round out the filmmaking account. For lovers of the film (like me), it is very satisfying; every detail a prize, every remembrance a ruby.

The book's latter chapters cover his lesser-known films, among them Sorcerer, which has been largely forgotten, and the ill-advised making of Cruising, which may have helped diminish Friedkin's stature in the film industry, which lead to Friedkin's gradual decline as the Hollywood It director to someone struggling to fund a film.

Friedkin is painfully honest about his fall from film empyrean and posits causes though he doesn't delve too deeply. One of his films that has been unjustly overlooked is To Live and Die in L.A.; a movie I believe belongs in the Friedkin pantheon with The French Connection and The Exorcist. It is unfortunate it came along during the hero-in-white hat 80s', because its characters are rich in contradictions and moral ambiguity.

From the 80s' to present, Friedkin has made some interesting failures and modest artistic successes. His latest, 2011's Killer Joe, was unfairly dismissed by critics and the movie-going public alike.

After two failed marriages, Friedkin wedded film producer Sherry Lansing, which seems to be a solid pairing, bringing him happiness and contentment. If making movies has become a struggle, he seems to have found joy and solace in his now settled personal life.

Does he have any great films left in him? Unfortunately, he may not. But with Friedkin, one can never tell. One indisputable fact is his significant contribution to movie history and maybe that's enough. The Friedkin Connection is a must read for cinephiles and the more casual film-lovers. For ardent fans of The French Connection or The Exorcist, it is indispensable.


The Friedkin Connection by William Friedkin

Million Dollar Arm

*Spoiler Alert**

Director: Craig Gillespie, Starring: Jon Hamm, Alan Arkin, Bill Paxton, Lake Bell, Aasif Mandvi, Suraj Sharma

Based on relatively recent events, Million Dollar Arm tells the story of a sports agent named JB (John Hamm), whose agency has seen better days and better clients. JB has just lost a potentially lucrative client; a top NFL linebacker, to a rival agency. Lacking other prospects to represent, JB hatches a scheme to find and train Indian cricket bowlers to become Major League Baseball pitching hopefuls. With the help of a very powerful and wealthy investor, JB, an Indian-American associate named Aash (Aasif Mandvi) and Ray (Alan Arkin), a retired scout whose skepticism is worn on his sleeve, fly to India; their success far from guaranteed.

To facilitate his plan JB creates a show called Million Dollar Arm, where contestants compete by demonstrating powerful arms and fast pitches. The winners are given the chance to travel to America to train and try-out for a spot on a Major League Baseball roster.

JB is courted aggressively by a short, gregarious Indian man named Amit (Pitobash), who claims to be a big baseball fan, though his knowledge of the game is sketchy at best. Offering his services for free, JB takes him on as an assistant and before long, both men and newly arrived Ray begin holding try-outs on the travelling show.

The contestants are a disappointing lot at first; most and almost all demonstrating feeble arm strength. But after a tour of a few cities, JB manages to find a few strong candidates; one of them with a comically unorthodox pitching stance. Ultimately, two winners emerge; Rinku (Life of Pi's Suraj Sharma) and Dinesh (Madhur Mittal).

In scenes sure to stimulate the tear ducts, Rinku and Dinesh say goodbye to their respective families. Rinku's mother asks JB (via Amit's interpretation) to look out for her son, a promise he intends to keep.

Dinesh, Rinku and Amit manage to create trouble for themselves in America when they accidentally set off a fire alarm in their hotel, earning them an ejection from the the place. Unable to place them elsewhere, JB reluctantly takes them into his own home.

The three Indian men find life in JB's home perplexing and the pace hectic. They inquire about his family; an issue JB is only happily to dismiss as something foreign to his bachelor lifestyle. They also find JB's hurry-up, time-management skills more than a little off-putting.
JB makes a deal with a USC baseball coach, Tom House (Bill Paxton)--renowned for his whiz-bang talent for developing pitchers--to bring the two prospects to Major League readiness in a year's time. The time-table is an unreasonable condition imposed by the investor; one both House and JB warily acknowledge.

Dinesh and Rinku find pitching rough-going and show little flair for the finer points but House informs JB that though the two young men have their rough edges, they show determination and genuine ability.

JB meanwhile is ever-menaced by his business' near-insolvency; clients demonstrably lacking. He also begins to put his business pursuits ahead of his relationship with Dinesh and Rinku, who he often neglects. The men find a sympathetic spirit in JB's tenant Brenda (Lake Bell), who is quick to identify the boy's troubles as a lack of care on JB's part; which he begins slowly to address. But later, JB's business and marketing concerns get the better of him as Dinesh and Rinku fail a critical try-out before Major League Scouts. Thinking himself finished, he comes to realize how badly he mistreated both men and Amit, not to mention his prospect-for-love Brenda. Ever tenacious, JB risks everything to give the two Indian pitchers a second try-out in more favorable conditions. Finding no takers and no further financial investment, he manages to find one scout who will give Dinesh and Rinku another shot.

Is Million Dollar Arm formulaic? Definitely. Is it sentimental? You bet. But it also has charm by the ton, which the cast deftly provides. The scenes with Sharma, Pitobash, Mittal and Hamm generate warmth and on-screen chemistry while Lake Bell's quirky sexyness and humor bring a much-needed dose of estrogen to the proceedings. Hamm and Bell are an unlikely pairing but they spark together. Alan Arkin is always fun, and is again as JB's curmudgeonly foil. And for what little time Bill Paxton is on-screen, he makes up for as a very convincing coach who provides compassionate, fatherly guidance to Dinesh and Rinkure as the pressure to succeed mounts.

Is this stellar film-making? This is Disney. Take that how you will. But I must say I had more fun and found more humanity in Million Dollar Arm than the two-hour, insufferable carnage carnival known as Godzilla. The latter gleefully disposes of humans while the former at least reminds us people still populate the planet, and sometimes in funny, touching ways.

Cosmological Cinema: Particle Fever

Director: Mark Levinson

Johns-Hopkins physicist and now film producer David Kaplan brings the historic search for the Higgs Boson particle to the big screen, which might lead a film-goer to ask: how cinema-friendly is particle physics and why would anyone want to watch physicists from around the world gather to view the results of a particle-smashing experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in Cern? To answer both questions in turn: 1) apparently very friendly and 2) because it's exciting and worthy of the world's attention. If only physicists and scientists received the media attention showered on clods like the Kardashians, films like Particle Fever might be commonplace but unfortunately 21st century America is light-years from that enlightened attitude.

The Higgs Boson particle was first theorized in 1964 by physicist Peter Higgs but it was only in July of 2012 that its existence was confirmed after a test at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. To fully explain the significance of the discovery and its meaning is beyond my reach so I will include a link at the end of this post.

The film is effective in creating the tension and drama leading up to the experiment, which involved physicists from over 100 countries and technicians by the score. We hear from many physicists from the theoretical side and the experimental. The two camps are aware how mutually dependent they are but one detects a mild, almost sardonic regard the two fields bear for one another. Kaplan himself, with colleague and mentor Nima Arkani-Hamed--both theoretical physicists and academics--discuss the implications of the Collider experiment but the film also shows them in more human moments; playing ping-pong by utilizing a wall rather than a net and discussing the randomness of a university campus sculpture consisting of what looks like small slabs of flagstone.

We also meet many of those involved in the experiment as the big day approaches; a moment watched with bated breath by theoretical and experimental physicists alike, world-wide. One such person is Monica Dunford, an American physicist connected to one of 4 sub-experiments attached to the main particle-smashing event. Dunford discusses how she became involved in the experimental side but we often see her outside the Collider complex, running and biking and engaging in mundane, everyday tasks, which forms a sharp contrast with the abstract (but actually very concrete) world she often explores.

The experiment, after some technical setbacks, proceeds and ultimately succeeds, making front-page headlines world-wide and bringing some well-deserved attention to the extraordinary people who are directly or peripherally involved.

It is explained in the film that two contrasting theories of how the universe is structured would be impacted by the Collider experiment: those who support what is called Supersymmetry and those who support a Multi-verse model (Once again, please refer to links for a better understanding of the two theories). The energy the Higgs-Boson contained would mostly determine which theory offered a more plausible, sub-atomic description of the universe we live in. Theoretical physicists around the world were paying close attention to the data. Unfortunately for both parties, the data didn't support or deny either paradigm.

Watching the film made me wish Particle Fever could be seen on prime-time T.V. If the masses are tuning in to the new Cosmos program, might they also be eager to see Levinson's film? As a friend sitting next to me said, "who would have thought particle physics could be so exciting?" The film also has its touching moments, including the scene when a tearful Peter Higgs is recognized by an auditorium of colleagues and media for his theory; its confirmation only established 50 years after its existence was first proposed! It is certain more implications and discoveries related to the Higgs-Boson particle will be revealed in years to come.

I hope Particle Fever spawns more films in this genre. The world needs them. I also hope the world stays tuned.


Link: Higgs-Boson Particle Supersymmetry

Ida

**Spoiler Alert**

Directed by: Pawel Pawlikowski, Starring: Agata Kulesza and Agata Trzebuchowska

It is unusual to see a black and white film these days but very refreshing. A cynic might scoff; dismissing Pawel Palikowski's aesthetic choice as something pretentious but how else could he capture the stark images and equally stark life of a former orphan now a nun-novitiate in a Polish monastery?

Set in gray, oppressive, 1960s' Poland, Ida tells the story of a young woman named Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska), who is on the path to taking her formal vows as a nun when her aunt--her only living relative--summons her to her apartment in the city. After a few days, her aunt Wanda (Agata Kulesza) explains to Anna that she is Jewish; her parents victims of the Nazi occupation of Poland during WWII. Wanda is keen to express her grief for Anna's mother's death; a loss that has affected her deeply. The two women then embark on a mission to discover Anna's family's past, which involves meeting people who are eager to forget Poland's shameful participation in the Jewish pogroms.

During Anna's stay, Wanda, ever a free spirit, coaxes Anna to join her for an evening at night club where a band belts out pop and jazz numbers. Anna is taken by the band-leader and over time begins a relationship with him.

Over the course of the story, we see Wanda become increasingly distraught over the past. In a scene that is startling for being seemingly mundane, we see Wanda sit at her kitchen table, spreading butter and sprinkling sugar on bread. Shortly after her meal, she turns up the music on her radio, opens the window then steps out to her death. It is unexpected and horrifying and it casts Wanda's acute pain and suffering in sharp, devastating relief.

Kulesza and Trzebuchowska's respective performances are poignant, understated and exceptional. Trzebuchowska's dark, hypnotic eyes, made more so by the contrasting plain, gray habit she wears throughout, assume a character of their own. Their beautiful opaqueness express an innocence, which Trzebuchowska uses to great effect. Kulesza is a marvel. Her character is tough and intimidating to all who would defy her but Wanda is also tortured and ultimately vulnerable. She is a woman with much on her mind though she hardly reveals all of it.

The end can be interepreted any number of ways but it seems logical, though not inevitable. Anna makes a choice and it is one that might be perplexing to the audience. We can understand her decision though it runs contrary to our hopes.

Palikowski's story says so much in so little time. The film seemed to occupy less screen-time than its 80 minute narrative. It isn't a film one will easily forget. Its deceptive simplicity is one of its many attributes, as is its poetic, tragic narrative.

Godzilla

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Gareth Edwards, Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Brian Cranston, Juliette Binoche and Sally Hawkins

Gareth Edwards' Monsters was a strange, creepy aliens-invading-earth film that managed to make a political statement about illegal immigration and execute it with more nuance and drama than Godzilla, his sophomore film feature. Godzilla is more of what summer movie-fare has become: incoherent, thrill-free, CGI-drenched destruction and noise that you wish would end sooner than it does. What is more peculiar than the creatures plodding across the screen is the presence of Juliette Binoche and Sally Hawkins; two fine actresses more accustomed to more demanding characters and scripts. It's a real head-scratcher but actors have to make a living too and both Binoche and Hawkins are probably unaccustomed to earning salaries like those they earned here.

(Brian Cranston) and his wife Sandra (Juliette Binoche) are engineers for a nuclear facility in Japan (the initial shot of three nuclear silos I'm sure are meant to evoke an uncomfortable image of the Fukushima Plant) when he notices strange seismic readings that go unnoticed by everyone else. Before he can bring this data to anyone's attention, the nuclear plant suffers a major catastrophe; the three silos collapse into the earth. But Joe suffers a greater loss; the loss of his wife to radiation during the accident.

The story leaps ahead 15 years. Brody's son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has returned to his home in San Francisco after serving in the Army, where he is greeted by his wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen) and child enthusiastically. He isn't home long before he receives a call from his father, who has been arrested for trespassing on the premises of the former nuclear plant--now off-limits to the public. As Joe awaits bail, Ford flies to Japan to see his father, still haunted by the loss of his wife and still obsessed with the seismic anomaly he discovered years before. Ford, impatient with his father's inability to move on, asks Joe to accompany him back to San Francisco. The father insists he stay to unravel the mystery behind the nuclear plant. Donning protective suits, Joe and son wander through the former plant grounds. Joe then discovers the place isn't the radioactive site the Japanese government would have everyone believe after removing his headgear.

The two are eventually caught and incarcerated near where the government guards something top-secret: a "thing" not of this world, thrusting above the surface. The object begins to move and what it is connected to emerges from beneath the ground; a hulking, multi-storied creature that crawls on all fours (and sometimes flies), which embarks on a destructive ramble through the plant and beyond. In the carnage and chaos, Joe and Ford escape. Once the world learns of the rampage, the American Navy is alerted and assigned the task of confronting the creatures.

We learn the creature is a primordial, dinosaur-like beast who once lived deep in the earth but has surfaced in a figurative response to man's rapacious need for minerals and environmental plundering. We also learn the creature has a mate, who carries unhatched offspring in her glowing womb. The creatures feed on radiation and in their hunger for more, they turn to west-coast America, specifically San Fransisco (allowing Elizabeth Olsen to remain connected to the narrative). Why the creatures don't attack a nuclear energy-rich country like France is, I guess, beside the point. (It probably goes without saying that film-goers in this country need to see their own shores menaced; Parisians being crushed by monsters probably wouldn't elicit much sympathy from American audiences).

As the creatures arrive on the west coast, they begin their savage tour of destruction; the U.S. military powerless to stop them.

Meanwhile, the American navy tracks another large creature moving slowly under the ocean; its vertebrae riding ominously above the surface. The creature heads for San Francisco Bay and in due course it is revealed the creature is called Godzilla and has emerged to re-set the balance of nature and more to the point; kick some monster butt in San Francisco.

The characters all become part of the drama, save for those who perish along the way. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the movie-stud who becomes implausibly involved with the military in their various missions while Elizabeth Olsen is given little to do but stare with mouth agape at the gargantuan terrors kicking buildings around. Sally Hawkins seems lost in all commotion while Cranston often seems a little-over-the-top.

The battle commences, carnage becomes rife and what the hell it all means beyond mankind upsetting the balance of the planet not even Ken Watanabe's Dr. Ichiro Serizawa can answer. What it does mean for Hollywood is a franchise opportunity and employment for the legions of special effects crew hired to make San Francisco architecture look expendible and rubble-sexy.

I actually had to fight off the drowsies several times during the movie. I've noticed this has become a ritual for me during Hollywood blockbusters. That so much mega-decible racket could cause drowsiness means Hollywood may have developed an antidote to insomnia. Can't sleep? Godzilla just might challenge NyQuil for sleep-inducing supremacy.