Date: 19/05 >>
By Harvey Karten (AZR) - "If you want to be a good archaeologist, you should get out of the library," shouts Professor I. Jones as he barrels on a motorcycle through a college library filled, apparently, with budding tomb-diggers. The students are perhaps inspired in their choice of major by the "Indiana Jones" series released in 1981 ("Raiders of the Lost Ark"), 1984 ("Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"), and 1989 ("Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade"). These young people already know that the library offers them no visceral thrills, but who knew that the musty, dusty field of archeology could be more exciting than a major in accounting? Indiana Jones knows, and he's the professor that we all wish we had. Though the entire series fits squarely into the adventure genre, some real scholarship comes across in this, perhaps the final entry of its kind given that the iconic hero, Harrison Ford is now sixty-six years of age. Cited in this movie are an excerpt from a poem by John Milton, a number of phrases in the Mayan language, a 16th century Spanish conquistador, and symbols on a blackboard eagerly copied by students whose idea of being hip is their ability to translate the pictures into English even though these Mayans did not punctuate each sentence three times with the word "like."
Date: 15/05 >>
The main reason that sequels are rarely as good as originals is that the novelty is gone. Audiences hunger for the new, the different: those of us who saw "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe " and who hasn't, will look not only for a continuation of the narrative but for visuals that set it apart from the first installment in 2005, which topped the $700 million mark in worldwide box office receipts. On the other hand, filmmakers can access the results of their originals, vetting audience responses, allowing them to tweak their emphases. In the case of "Prince Caspian," which lacks the freshness of the first in the series, director Andrew Adams and his co-writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have made the sequel darker in tone.
Date: 02/05 >>
MOGOLLON RIM "The deep snow drifts across back-country mountain roads have melted and now Arizona’s picturesque trout lakes in the national forests are not only accessible, most have filled and spilled as well, creating premium fishing conditions not seen in more than a decade.
"This is shaping up to be one of our best trout fishing seasons since the El Nino winter of "96," said Kirk Young, the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s fisheries chief. "Take advantage of this fishing bonanza while it is available. Who knows when we’ll see water like this again."
Young added that this is definitely the time of year to catch the larger hold-over trout, possibly even a state record. "With some patches of snow still on the ground, especially in the mixed-conifer and spruce habitats, it’s a great time for a mountain fishing adventure."
MOGOLLON RIM "The deep snow drifts across back-country mountain roads have melted and now Arizona’s picturesque trout lakes in the national forests are not only accessible, most have filled and spilled as well, creating premium fishing conditions not seen in more than a decade.
"This is shaping up to be one of our best trout fishing seasons since the El Nino winter of "96," said Kirk Young, the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s fisheries chief. "Take advantage of this fishing bonanza while it is available. Who knows when we’ll see water like this again."
Young added that this is definitely the time of year to catch the larger hold-over trout, possibly even a state record. "With some patches of snow still on the ground, especially in the mixed-conifer and spruce habitats, it’s a great time for a mountain fishing adventure."
Date: 29/04 >>
By Harvey Karten (AZR) - "You've been working for years for Tony Stark, yet you still have to bring him his dry cleaning?" exclaims a snide reporter for Vanity Fair to the man's beautiful assistant (not an exact quote). "I do anything Mr. Stark tells me to," replies Pepper Potts, " I even take out the trash," she concludes as she escorts the journalist out of the building. This is one example of the wit found in "Iron Man," based on the Marvel comic book character originating in April 1963. But when a picture costs the company one hundred eighty-five million dollars, Jon Favreau, directing a script by Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcus, and Matt Holloway based on the aforementioned Marvel comic by Stan Lee Don Heck, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, is not about to make a Sundance-style battle of high-level chit-chat suitable for Manhattan art houses. Instead, "Iron Man" is filled with stunning technical effects; in graphic animation, actual equipment that might be found in a huge Malibu cliff-side home, and top actors, some working for the first time in an adolescent extravaganza. If most movies that have come down the pike about the Iraq war bombed at the box office, this one, though the Middle Eastern country is Afghanistan, is likely to turn the tide.
Date: 27/04 >>
By Harvey Karten (AZR) - Girls just want to have fun, but sometimes a gal will get into situations that are over her, uh, head. In David Ross's sex drama, a sweet, demure teen who looks like someone from a rural commune and is probably a virgin morphs into not only a hooker but a pimp as demanding and aggressive as any super-pimps portrayed by the movies. A group of men undergoing midlife crises (if you simply must find an excuse for their execrable behavior) corrupt a group of minors, though the young women are not exactly sex slaves working for minimum wage but are well compensated indeed. Just as we hear from the media that some college girls work in strip clubs to help pay their tuition, now we find out that seventeen-year-old seniors looking forward to college, some financially challenged, have decided that the end (so to speak) justifies the means—that any way you earn the dough is just fine, even better an no more amoral than flipping burgers at Mickey D's.
Peace Arch Entertainment
Reviewed for Arizona Reporter by Harvey Karten
Grade: B
Directed by: David Ross Written By: David Ross
Cast: John Leguizamo, Katherine Waterston, Cynthia Nixon, Andy Corneau, Denis O'Hare, Lauren Birkell, Louisa Krause, Halley Wegryn Gross, Jason Dubin, Ethan Phillips
Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 4/24/08 Opens: May 9, 2008
By Harvey Karten (AZR) - Girls just want to have fun, but sometimes a gal will get into situations that are over her, uh, head. In David Ross's sex drama, a sweet, demure teen who looks like someone from a rural commune and is probably a virgin morphs into not only a hooker but a pimp as demanding and aggressive as any super-pimps portrayed by the movies. A group of men undergoing midlife crises (if you simply must find an excuse for their execrable behavior) corrupt a group of minors, though the young women are not exactly sex slaves working for minimum wage but are well compensated indeed. Just as we hear from the media that some college girls work in strip clubs to help pay their tuition, now we find out that seventeen-year-old seniors looking forward to college, some financially challenged, have decided that the end (so to speak) justifies the means—that any way you earn the dough is just fine, even better an no more amoral than flipping burgers at Mickey D's.
Peace Arch Entertainment
Reviewed for Arizona Reporter by Harvey Karten
Grade: B
Directed by: David Ross Written By: David Ross
Cast: John Leguizamo, Katherine Waterston, Cynthia Nixon, Andy Corneau, Denis O'Hare, Lauren Birkell, Louisa Krause, Halley Wegryn Gross, Jason Dubin, Ethan Phillips
Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 4/24/08 Opens: May 9, 2008
Date: 27/04 >>
By Susan Granger - What a waste of talent and money! Burdened with the ineptitude of commercials director Marcel Langenegger, this forgettable wannabe thriller fizzles.
It begins with corporate auditor Jonathan McQuarry (Ewan McGregor) working late in the conference room of a prestigious Manhattan law firm. An amiable attorney, Wyatt Bose (Hugh Jackman), pops his head in the door and introduces himself. Eventually, they’re sharing marijuana and male bonding. Wimpy, socially awkward Jonathan opens up to confident, gregarious Wyatt, admitting, "I see life, literally, passing me by."
By Susan Granger - What a waste of talent and money! Burdened with the ineptitude of commercials director Marcel Langenegger, this forgettable wannabe thriller fizzles.
It begins with corporate auditor Jonathan McQuarry (Ewan McGregor) working late in the conference room of a prestigious Manhattan law firm. An amiable attorney, Wyatt Bose (Hugh Jackman), pops his head in the door and introduces himself. Eventually, they’re sharing marijuana and male bonding. Wimpy, socially awkward Jonathan opens up to confident, gregarious Wyatt, admitting, "I see life, literally, passing me by."
Date: 27/04 >>
Rory's Tip
With a few minor exceptions, high country trout lakes are accessible. This is the time to catch those larger hold-over trout that like to tail dance. Being some of the first to fish these picturesque mountain lakes is an adventure just waiting for you.
The Forest Service 300 (Mogollon Rim Road) is now open into Knoll Lake and Bear Canyon Lake. The road into Woods Canyon opened last week, as did the road (from Eagar) into Big Lake and beyond.
With the mountain lakes becoming accessible and the Valley getting warm, it's a perfect time for a dose of pines and trout. Also, the largemouth spawn is underway at Lake Powell and the smallmouth spawn should follow suit shortly there. Great April striped bass bite is still on as well.
In the desert lakes, the Palo Verde trees are in full bloom, which is a picturesque sign from Mother Nature that topwater action is blooming on our productive desert lakes, especially at first and last light.
While spawning bass can still be found, this is typically the time when you can expect to find post-spawn bass starting to get more active, possibly between gusts of wind if the weather doesn’t moderate more.
Also, don’t expect to find the spawning bass in the very backs of coves. As the spawn progresses, the spawner's can be found in deeper and deeper water father and farther out from the banks. Eventually, you’ll even find spawning bass in small pockets off the main lake, even into July. I once found a spawning bass on an island at Lake Pleasant near Humbug Cove in mid August.
Rory's Tip
The Forest Service 300 (Mogollon Rim Road) is now open into Knoll Lake and Bear Canyon Lake. The road into Woods Canyon opened last week, as did the road (from Eagar) into Big Lake and beyond.
With the mountain lakes becoming accessible and the Valley getting warm, it's a perfect time for a dose of pines and trout. Also, the largemouth spawn is underway at Lake Powell and the smallmouth spawn should follow suit shortly there. Great April striped bass bite is still on as well.
In the desert lakes, the Palo Verde trees are in full bloom, which is a picturesque sign from Mother Nature that topwater action is blooming on our productive desert lakes, especially at first and last light.
While spawning bass can still be found, this is typically the time when you can expect to find post-spawn bass starting to get more active, possibly between gusts of wind if the weather doesn’t moderate more.
Also, don’t expect to find the spawning bass in the very backs of coves. As the spawn progresses, the spawner's can be found in deeper and deeper water father and farther out from the banks. Eventually, you’ll even find spawning bass in small pockets off the main lake, even into July. I once found a spawning bass on an island at Lake Pleasant near Humbug Cove in mid August.
Date: 18/04 >>
While a lawyer who defends himself has a fool for a client, it does not follow that an actress who directs herself makes a similar mistake. In "Then She Found Me," the multi-talented Helen Hunt fares well as both the principal performer and the regisseur. The subject matter is old-hat: a woman whose biological clock is ticking becomes desperate for a child of her own—not someone else's, which she could have by going the adoptive route (and which would be the more moral choice just as a guy who takes a condemned dog from the pound is acting better than someone who patronizes a breeder). Whether a woman's urge for a baby is biological or strictly cultural is a separate issue not tackled in this tale, based on Elinor Lipman's novel of the same name. Lipman places her major character as a 36-year-old Latin teacher in a suburban Boston High school while the man of her dreams is a shy librarian, but scripters Alice Arlen, Victor Levin and director Hunt change the details a little by placing the woman's age at thirty-nine and one-half, teaching kindergarten in an urban primary school.
ThinkFilm
Reviewed for Arizona Reporter by Harvey Karten
Grade: B
Directed by: Helen Hunt
Written By: Alice Arlen, Victor Levin, Helen Hunt, based on Elinor Lipman's novel
Cast: Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick, Ben Shenkman, John Benjamin Hickey
Screened at: Broadway, NYC, 4/17/08 Opens: April 25, 2008
While a lawyer who defends himself has a fool for a client, it does not follow that an actress who directs herself makes a similar mistake. In "Then She Found Me," the multi-talented Helen Hunt fares well as both the principal performer and the regisseur. The subject matter is old-hat: a woman whose biological clock is ticking becomes desperate for a child of her own—not someone else's, which she could have by going the adoptive route (and which would be the more moral choice just as a guy who takes a condemned dog from the pound is acting better than someone who patronizes a breeder). Whether a woman's urge for a baby is biological or strictly cultural is a separate issue not tackled in this tale, based on Elinor Lipman's novel of the same name. Lipman places her major character as a 36-year-old Latin teacher in a suburban Boston High school while the man of her dreams is a shy librarian, but scripters Alice Arlen, Victor Levin and director Hunt change the details a little by placing the woman's age at thirty-nine and one-half, teaching kindergarten in an urban primary school.
ThinkFilm
Reviewed for Arizona Reporter by Harvey Karten
Grade: B
Directed by: Helen Hunt
Written By: Alice Arlen, Victor Levin, Helen Hunt, based on Elinor Lipman's novel
Cast: Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick, Ben Shenkman, John Benjamin Hickey
Screened at: Broadway, NYC, 4/17/08 Opens: April 25, 2008
Date: 30/03 >>
Phoenix, Arizona (AZR) - Increasing gas prices throughout the U.S. are causing some taxpayers to consider switching from a mileage based write off to an expense deduction which will include fuel costs and quite possibly your lease payment, but there is a catch that could be interpreted as an industry leverage by big oil companies and automakers alike.
Currently the 2008 federal deduction rate for mileage is .51/mile. This however is not cutting it for most small businesses due to the current price of gasoline. The Federal Tax Code prefers that if a vehicle is put into service for business use and has previously selected the standard rate for mileage deduction, then this selection must be adhered to for subsequent forwarding years; until the vehicle is taken out of service.
Currently the 2008 federal deduction rate for mileage is .51/mile. This however is not cutting it for most small businesses due to the current price of gasoline. The Federal Tax Code prefers that if a vehicle is put into service for business use and has previously selected the standard rate for mileage deduction, then this selection must be adhered to for subsequent forwarding years; until the vehicle is taken out of service.
Date: 28/03 >>
Columbia Pictures
Reviewed for Arizona Reporter by Harvey Karten
Grade: B+
Directed by: Robert Luketic
Written By: Peter Steinfeld, Allan Loeb, from "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions" by Ben Mezrich
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, Aaron Yoo, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts, Josh Gad, Jack McGee, Sam Golzari
Screened at: AMC Kips Bay, NYC, 3/24/08 Opens: March 28, 2008
By Harvey Karten - Two movies about card playing opened in March. One, Zak Penn's "The Grand," features a number of A-list comics like Woody Harrelson, in a mockumentary about a poker tournament, but the dialogue is almost completely improvised. The other, "21," is about the game of Blackjack at Vegas, which some believe to be the country's most popular gambling diversion. Peter Steinfeld's dialogue is razor-sharp, each participant following the rules of his speaking part just as Blackjack players are bound by regulations. Do not get carried away: follow the script. Which film do you think is better? Of course it's the second. Rules count. They exist for a reason. If the Democratic Party says "No primaries are to be held in January," then there is no reason to allow the votes of any state that breaks the rule and holds primaries in January, right? And scripted dialogue can usually be trusted to trump improvisations. That's the rule.
Columbia Pictures
Reviewed for Arizona Reporter by Harvey Karten
Grade: B+
Directed by: Robert Luketic
Written By: Peter Steinfeld, Allan Loeb, from "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions" by Ben Mezrich
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, Aaron Yoo, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts, Josh Gad, Jack McGee, Sam Golzari
Screened at: AMC Kips Bay, NYC, 3/24/08 Opens: March 28, 2008
