You really have to enjoy a slow, methodically written movie to enjoy Signs – a good 95% of the film takes place in and around a Pennsylvania farmhouse. You really have to love the whole idea of randomness/chance and the power of signs/destiny. But most importantly you have to love the kind of movie that makes you leave a bit confused, and a bit inspired.

All of these elements are part of director M. Night Shyamalan’s latest feature film. The director of such wicked movies as The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable has done it again with this flick about faith, loss of belief, and alien visitation. However, unlike his previous films Signs doesn’t have the trademark Shyamalan twist ending; it’s actually a bit predictable and foreshadowed throughout the entire flick.

Although the movie poster and the hype surrounding the movie showcased the notion of crop circles and alien visitation, Signs is much more than that. As the name indicates, the movie is all about signs; however, what kinds of signs is it referring to? Crop circles, dogs barking, car accidents, death, abduction, or destruction - the list is quite lengthy. Regardless, the film does take you on a slow-moving, 100-minute trip into the very notion of what a sign is, and what it can and can’t mean to someone’s everyday life.

In the case of former Reverend, Graham Hess (Gibson) the death of his wife was a sign that God was not looking after him; in the case of his kids Bo (Breslin) and Morgan (Culkin) everything is a sign of some kind, after all they’re just kids; and for Graham’s brother Merrill (Phoenix) his older brother is a divine sign of how to live his own life.

But, when crop circles appear in their cornfield, their dogs start barking and acting funny, and news breaks all over the world about alien visitations, stalkings, and finally abductions. All the signs point to one conclusive question: are you a determinist or an existentialist; each bringing about drastic interpretations about the how, when, why, what, and who regarding the plethora of crop circles, alien ships visiting earth, and the very notion of God and human existence.

The filming style is vintage Shyamalan: spooking angles, ominous locations (in this case a cornfield with threatening cornstalks), psychological mind games, interesting camera work, a lot of wordage, but what is always nice about a flick like this is that a lot of what’s happening on screen is a result of what’s happening in your own head. Everything seems implied rather than overtly presented on screen, which makes for a much scarier film experience.

It’s a wonderful film to see if you’re not expecting over-the-top goo, ectoplasm, and the obvious alien mumbo jumbo. Like both of Shyamalan’s other two films, you either love his work or you hate it.

- Antoine Tedesco

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The grand Revolution Scene

The Lady and the Duke (L'Anglaise et le duc) is a wonderful piece of historical drama centred on the political and personal relationship between Grace Elliott, a beautiful Englishwoman, and Le Duc d’Orléans during the French Revolution.

Written and directed by the wonderful French filmmaker Eric Rohmer who, at 81-years of age, is still pumping out enchanting cinematic visions - The Lady and the Duke is an amazing example of his unique take on filmmaking. Instead of building period backdrops or converting contemporary locations, Rohmer had an artist create Parisian paintings based on etchings and maps of the time; then digitally inserted the live action against the paintings.

The addition of fine acting from Russell (as Grace Elliott) and Dreyfus (as the Duke), as well as the rest of the cast, make this a truly interesting movie to watch. The paintings are lush and produce a feel/mood only paintings can muster, or for that matter capture. The digital work is clean, the acting is fluid, and the story is endearingly personal. And the flick’s tension is created via dialogue, which elevates the dire need for change in both France and in their relationship.

The story is adapted from Journal of My Life During the French Revolution, the memoirs of Grace Elliott, who was first mistress to the Prince of Wales (who later became England's King George IV) then to the Duke of Orleans, who brought her to France to live in 1786.

By the time the Revolution begins Grace and the Duke’s passion has cooled, but their passionate friendship continues. It is obvious they continue to enjoy each other’s company, discussing politics, beauty, and art; however, the two are political polar opposites: she is a Royalist, faithful to King Louis XVI, while he, although the king is his cousin, is not.

The events that transpire around them both bring them closer together and further apart. While she attempts to aid other royalists and aristocrats, the Duke is swept up in the Revolutionary movement where he is swayed, forced, but also agrees to side with the extremist barbarians who have taken up the revolution cry.

If you have/haven’t read your history books, the French Revolution, like many others, was not the most beautiful thing to experience. The film follows the revolution from the elation of 1790 to the horrors and terror of 1793: brutal killings, beheadings, and rampant lawlessness in the name of political reform.

All of these are good historical/political treatments, encased in personal sentiment, which allows the audience into the minds of the disparate sides of the French Revolution.

- Antoine Tedesco

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There is no doubt Trembling Before G-D is one of the best movies you will have the good fortune of seeing. Despite it being a documentary (not everyone's cup of tea) the film carries the audience through the 84 minutes Director Sandi Simcha DuBowski needed to make his emotional point.

It's hard enough being gay, but to be gay and an Orthodox Jew is something most people would not want handed to them. The very title indicates how strong the connection between Orthodox Jews and their faith in their religious teaches/laws is (Jewish tradition diktats that the word "God" not be written out).

After five years of travelling to the Middle East, walking the streets of various Orthodox Jewish communities in the United States, and interviewing a ton of reluctant Orthodox queers DuBowski finally finished his first feature film.

You can truly feel their pain as they reach for G-D but know that within Jewish law their lifestyle is a sin against G-D. There is a sense of loneliness, despair, and hurt; but what lies underneath is a feeling of deep religious faith, something witnessed in the often-sorrowful eyes of those who participated in the making of this film:

David, an Orthodox gay man tried to change his homosexuality for decades; Michelle, a lesbian who grew up Hasidic; Devorah, an ultra-Orthodox lesbian in Israel, whose children, grandchildren and 20-year marriage is tearing her apart; Mark, the son of an Orthodox rabbi, has been kicked out of many Yeshivas (school) for being homosexual; Israel, who hasn't seen his father in over 20 years leads tours through Brooklyn's Hasidic neighbourhoods; Malka and Leah, lesbians celebrating their 12th anniversary; and the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi, Rabbi Steve Greenberg.

DuBowski's hesitant cast often seem enraptured in their faith, while at the same time confused. They wanted, needed to explain, even justify their existence in the world. A world they only knew through the eyes of the Orthodox Jewish community, where homosexuality is a sin and those who were gay were ostracised for being who they were.

The interplay between the inherent goodness of G-D versus what they had been taught has created deep emotional, religious, and personal turmoil.

- Antoine Tedesco

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For a dragon movie there certainly aren’t enough dragons. Period!

Like most Hollywood movies the big bucks sit, heavily, on the shoulders of the stars and maybe a good story idea. However, despite some pretty good actors in McConaughey, Bale, and Scorupco Reign of Fire isn’t as wonderfully scary as a world where dragons reign supreme could be.

The actors - all of them, even the kids - seem comfortable in their roles it’s too bad the script is so light. The opening fantasy-influenced Dungeons and Dragons dialogue warning of impending dome sets you up for some fascinating scenes but doesn’t deliver. The animation is great, the visuals are cool, and the idea of a world filled with dragons is eerily inspiring, but it’s just not enough.

The basic premise is that dragons have been on Earth all along, just sleeping, waiting for the world to replenish itself after they scorched the entire planet, eating whatever human got in their way. The dragons are patient, but when a mining operation digs a bit too deep into the Earth’s crust the dragons awake to wreak havoc, forcing humanity to almost destroy itself while it fights to survive.

After years of surviving day-by-day, humans are few if any. At the beginning of the movie there’s a doubt in the minds of those remaining in England that there is anyone out there, then all of the sudden an American militia leader, Denton Van Zan (McConaughey), meets up with Quinn Abercromby (Bale) who has tried to keep his small pocket of people out of the dragons’ way.

The rest is typical Hollywood cheese, minus the necessary swarm of dragons needed to propel what became a U.S.A. U.S.A! flick about conquering a new foe. Basically, they replace al Queda (ie: terrorism) with some fire-breathing dragons as the world’s newest scourge. Like most army films the U.S. never goes down without a fight, but a film like this should have been less Uncle Sam and more about the human spirit rising triumphant from the ashes.

It’s not the worst way to spend 105 minutes or your hard-earned $12.50, but it’s definitely not the best either.

- Antoine Tedesco

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Left to right: Bubbles, Buttercup, Blossom, and Professor Utonium

For comic book and animation fans alike The Powerpuff Girls Movie is your basic backgrounder film; which is great news for those who haven’t seen this fun, fast, frenetic, and funny animated television series prior to this full-length film.

Here’s the 411: In hopes of ridding Townville of general lawlessness, Professor Utonium mixes equal parts sugar, spice, and everything nice, creating the three five-year-old, bug-eyed girl superheroes, dressed in their green (Buttercup), blue (Bubbles), and red (Blossom) dresses. But his destructive monkey lab assistant Jojo spills a few drops of Chemical X into the mix, which creates the girls and turns Jojo into their brilliant arch-nemesis Mojo Jojo, who happens to be so smart, and his brain so large it has broken through the top of his head.

In hopes of bringing his girls up “normal” Professor Utonium gets them off to school where they learn to play tag, an event which becomes an all-out tagfest for the girls as they, unwittingly, rip Townsville apart. The townspeople become furious, with the paper running the headline: “Freaky Bug-eyed Weirdo Girls Break Everything.”

Feeling sad, ostracised and alone, the girls encounter the villainous Gangrene Gang and meet Mojo Jojo, who unbeknownst to them is hatching a secrete plan to set thousands of primates free to enslave all the humans. With Mojo Jojo playing on the girls’ sense of abandonment he gets them to help him built “a machine which will make every right.”

Great techno, industrial, beat-music makes each move more and more animated. You really feel the girls soaring through the city, making sharp, breakneck turns, while ripping up the pavement, flying to an asteroid, or cleaning the house.

According to some diehard fans of the television show, the movie was a bit lacking, but for anyone who has never seen the show this is definitely a mix of classic Anime and North American styles and storytelling.

Despite what fans (many female) consider a dumbing-down of the show for the big screen, it is definitely a girl-power flick. Locked in the same censorship jail as other cartoons that many people now consider too violent, and to promote increased violence in the schoolyard, The Powerpuff Girls Movie is meant to empower young girls (and boys) with positive ideas of individuality and self-identity.

If the above doesn’t get you to the theatre to try some classic new animation (it’s the third most popular cartoon on television after The Simpsons and South Park), remember that director/creator Craig McCracken considers this second-year art school project a cartoon for stoned college students.

- Antoine Tedesco

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