I think I do, anyways. It’s giving off a bit of a The Others/Shutter Island vibe, but I’m hopeful. Those three leads wouldn’t do us wrong, right?

Some say that all houses have memories. For one man, his home is the place he would kill to forget. Daniel Craig, Naomi Watts and Rachel Weisz star in Dream House, a suspense thriller about a family that unknowingly moves into a home where grisly murders were committed…only to find themselves the killer’s next target. Successful publisher Will Atenton (Craig) quit a high power job in Manhattan to relocate his wife, Libby (Weisz), and two girls to a quaint New England town. But as they settle into their new life, they discover their perfect home was the murder scene of a mother and her children. And the entire city believes it was at the hands of the husband who survived. When Will investigates, he’s not sure if he’s starting to see ghosts or if the tragic story is just hitting too close to home. His only clues come from Ann Paterson (Watts), a mysterious neighbor who knew those who were shot. And as Will and Ann piece together the haunting puzzle, they must find out who murdered the family in Will’s dream house before he returns to kill again.

Watching Sean Penn get all worked up over the Bush administration is something I think everyone has seen a bit too often. One year, I caught a glimpse of him inciting a riotous protest at the Sundance Film Festival over Abu Ghraib, or some other offense, and believe me, it wasn’t a pretty site. So the prospect of watching a movie Penn stars in, that does basically the same thing for over one hundred minutes is something I could not get excited about. Imagine my surprise, however, when the film, titled Fair Game, ended up being really, really great.

The story surrounds the events between the years 2003 to 2005, when the identity of covert CIA officer named Valerie Plame Wilson was blown in the Washington Post. The leak came from Richard Armitage, a Deputy Secretary of State. Valerie was and is married to a former ambassador, by the name Joseph Wilson. Naomi Watts plays the role of Valerie, and Sean Penn, her husband.

I’ll save the details of the plot, as it will be familiar to those that remember the real events. And those that don’t know, should really let it all unfold in the theatre. Embarassingly, the whole thing was news to me, as I was living in Eastern Europe during those years. I had no idea about any of this.

The film doesn’t make qualms about placing blame, and condemning basically anyone involved with the decision to invade Iraq. I was certain that I would feel like I was being preached to. That I would be told, again, that there were some really bad decisions made while W was in charge. While it was clear that the film had a purpose, it felt like an exposé, and not liberal media. What the film did accomplish, was enraging me against a completely reckless administration. Reminding me how terrifying it is that people take what they hear on TV as truth (which is especially scary at a time when Fox News’ ratings are so high).  It got me pretty worked up.  And then, I felt stupid for letting a movie play to my emotions so strongly. But it was fun while it lasted.

The script comes John-Henry Butterworth (this is his first writing credit) and Jez Butterworth (Birthday Girl). They took information from the real Valerie Wilson’s book, titled Fair Game, and from her husband’s book titled The Politics of Truth. Surprisingly, this comes from director Doug Liman, who recently directed Jumper, and before that Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Based on his earlier work, I wouldn’t have guess he had such a tightly-paced, and entertaining political thriller in him. But he did.  And even though the subject matter is bound to polarize, Liman did an excellent job of keeping the film somewhat even.  You could see the joy in Sean Penn’s face as he spouts monologues and tirades against Bush, and his cabinet. But he did the part proud. Ms. Watt’s was called upon for a much less flamboyant performance. And while it may seem muted next to Penn, the composure and emotion she brought to the role was actually quite moving.  This is a film that deserves to be seen.

4 out of 4 stars

True to Shakespeare’s words, there’s a lot of conflict in Dark Stranger. There are a lot of tortured artists in relationships that made them unhappy for no other reason than they themselves are insatiable. Leaving these partners that are incapable of making them happy leaves them with new partners that can’t make them happy, not that they even try to. It’s a vicious cycle that Allen has tried to convince us it’s new again by the way he handles the climax of these conflicts. For the most part, the yelling and screaming is glossed over (and mercifully so, since Allen usually prefers painfully unscripted ad-libbing in these parts) and the audience is left to rationally, without emotion, deal with the consequences.  In Match Point, this idea was kept interesting by the protagonist’s deliberate decision to kill in order to maintain what he deemed important.  In Barcelona, it was kept fresh by the idea we’d all like to have a wild threesome in Spain’s countryside with two damaged, but beautiful artists.  But it seems Allen has taken it as far as the concept can go.  There’s no more fury to be made.

So, Dark Stranger shows us Roy, who’s married to Sally, who’s in love with her boss Greg, and Roy’s in love with the guitar player in the window across the way. Sally’s father Alfie, during a midlife crisis, leave his boozy wife (who latches on to fortune teller) and marries a prostitute who’s in it for the money. Each of the characters, I may add, are played by some pretty fantastic actors, like Naomi Watts, Anthony Hopkins, and James Brolin, to name a few. This is also the first thing we’ve seen Freido Pinto in since Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire.  Allen put just enough effort into the script that there are some clever moments, but clever is probably the highest compliment I can give them. And, as the first opening lines promised, the movie There’s a lot of noise, unhappiness, struggling for something, but it signifies nothing.  And as such, it feels like my time has been wasted.  And so will yours.  Unless you’re looking for a sound a fury that mean nothing.

2 out of 4 stars

Clive Owen plays Louis Salinger, an ex-Scotland Yard agent now working at Interpol, investigating fraudulent banks across Europe.  Naomi Watts plays Ella, some sort of representative of the New York City district attorney’s office.  I’m not sure how she’s relevant to the story, or why the NYC district attorney is paying for her to track down terrorist bankers in Europe, but whatever.  The two are working together to expose the dangerous doings of the International Bank of Business and Credit (IBBC).  But anyone who’s ever tried to speak out about IBBC has either gone missing, or ended up dead.  Spooky, eh?

Tom Tykwer really should have known better too.  He’s worked on much better projects, like 1998′s Run Lola Run, and 2002′s Heaven.  I’m not sure what he saw in the script by first time writer Eric Singer.  There’s nothing remarkable at all about The International.  Well, there is a scene where a bunch of bad guys pretty much destroy the entire Guggenheim museum, but that’s all you’re going to get out of The International.  Character development is nearly non-existent.  Owen performs adequately, but should be weary of being pigeon-holed since he essentially has played the same character in his last few movies.  Naomi Watts performs less than adequately, but this seems to be at least partly due to the shite script  There’s a whole mess of bad guys that are supposed to be scary (actors like Patrick Baladi, and Armin Mueller-Stahl) in their well dressed suits, cooly talking about selling WMDs to countries like Iran! And Syria!  But they fail to impress as any sort of villian.  The political relevance gets extremely exasperating.  Besides a few decent action sequences, there’s nothing to say about this film.  Skip it.

1.5 out of 4 stars

After a brutal car accident in Los Angeles, California, Rita (Laura Harring) is the sole survivor but suffers mass amnesia. Wandering into a strangers apartment downtown, her story strangely intertwines with Betty Elms (Naomi Watts), a perky young woman in search of stardom. However, Betty is intrigued by Rita’s situation and is willing to put aside her dreams to pursue this mystery. The two women soon discover that nothing is as it seems in the city of dreams (imdb.com).

Much more of a plot synopsis would be too difficult, since half of the film is shot in a style similar to stream of consciousness, and would ruin the viewing experience.  Critics have long argued the true meaning of the film since its release in 2001.  And although they discuss it, they also warn about the dangers of overanalysing something so subjective.  Mulholland Dr. was originally shot to as a pilot TV show.  When the pilot wasn’t picked up, Lynch filmed an ending that was quickly recognized as genius.  It won him several awards, and an Oscar nomination for best director (which was well deserved).

On Mulholland Dr.‘s imdb page, it lists ‘David Lynch’s 10 Clues to Unlocking This Thriller: – Pay particular attention in the beginning of the film: at least two clues are revealed before the credits. – Notice appearances of the red lampshade. – Can you hear the title of the film that Adam Kesher is auditioning actresses for? Is it mentioned again? – An accident is a terrible event… notice the location of the accident. – Who gives a key, and why? – Notice the robe, the ashtray, the coffee cup. – What is felt, realized and gathered at the club Silencio? – Did talent alone help Camilla? – Notice the occurrences surrounding the man behind Winkies. – Where is Aunt Ruth?’  This list immensely helped me discover what the film meant to me.  And although this is extremely subjective, I’ve decided the first half of the film was a dream Betty had, idealizing her affair with Rita.  Making it something romantic, mysterious, and happy.  The second half of the film is the real situation, Betty is a junkie, aspiring actress that can’t deal with her lover leaving her.  Many complain that there are several open-ended plot lines that are never resolved and blame this on the first half belonging to an unsuccessful pilot, but this adds to the dream like quailities of the whole (in my opinion, it’s very similar to the dream like qualities of Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut).  This is film deserves to be watched, as you’ve probably experienced nothing like it.  You owe it to yourself to take this bitchin’ ride with Lynch.

4 out of 4 stars

Rottentomatoes.com: 81% – Cream of the Crop: 88%