The Count of Monte Cristo

Jim Caviezel and Richard Harris in Kevin Reynolds' take on "The Count of Monte Cristo"

 "It is difficult to fight against anger, for a man will buy revenge with his soul"-Heraclites, 500 B.C.

    That is perhaps the most apt summation of The Count of Monte Cristo. Not simply a study in revenge, but in revenge for perhaps the most profound of betrayals.

    Edmond Dantès (Jim Caviezel) has been betrayed by his lifelong friend Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce). Mondego took the whole of the life that was to belong to Dantès. He is understandably upset. Imprisoned in the Château d'If for a good many years for unfounded treason charges, it is a wonder he did not give in to total madness before Abbé Faria (Richard Harris) appears suddenly through the stone floor. He is granted not just a new opportunity at life though tunneling under the wall, but a chance at a greater life once out, with the knowledge the priest provides him.

    The film does not really begin to hit its stride till Dantès has escaped and found the company of some sea-bound smugglers. After winning a knife fight with the equally downtrodden Jacopo (Luis Guzmán), Jacopo swears an allegiance to Dantès that will come in handy if he is to carry out his plot of revenge. Seizing the treasure of Monte Cristo and positioning himself within Parisian aristocracy as a count, Dantès sets his pieces and then puts them in motion with the expertise of Gary Kasparov. Even unexpected developments like the realization that he has a son with his former beloved, do nothing to stray his determination.

    In the end his ultimate revenge is complete, though for my observation, a little unfulfilling. True, he took his former friend's life, his money, and took back all that had been taken from him. He took the full measure of Mondego when he took his life. He took all that he is, was, and ever will be. What was missing was the suffering. His agony, I feel, was not comparable to Dantès'. But the revenge was Dantès', not mine after all. If he was satisfied with it, that alone is enough. He bought his revenge, but his soul he kept.

8/10

"For the Bible Tells Me So", 2007

Bishop Gene Robinson during his consecration, as shown in "For the Bible Tells Me So"

    “For the Bible Tells Me So” is a documentary that explores homosexuality and the way it’s viewed on a Christian level through various interpretations of the Bible. The film is powerful, moving and intelligent. It never speaks down to those with conflicting views, but rather, seeks to educate not only them but anyone willing to sit down for the movie’s 99 minutes.

    Among those interviewed for the film are former politician Dick Gephardt and his daughter, Chrissy, Rev. Dr. Desmond Tutu and Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay non-celibate ordained minister, and his parents. Some tell their stories and first-hand accounts of homosexuality and the church. Others give their interpretations of the Bible. Interspersed among the interviews are clips of rallies and speeches condemning the LGBT community. Rarely are these not hate-filled rhetoric that prey upon the easily-fooled. There are, however, conflicting viewpoints given by some of the interviewees, who rather than coming across as ill-informed or ignorant, speak intelligently about their personal beliefs with passion and conviction and about how they have to resolve this with the fact that they have a loved one who is gay.

    The film (through both interviews and an animated segment) dissects passages of the Bible that are commonly believed to demonize homosexuality, as well as what it means to be homosexual. The camera never flinches, even through some of the more heartbreaking footage and stories and we are shown, at times, very graphic depictions of the violence that can invade these people’s lives. Through news footage and the documentary’s own filming we are shown brave families who stick together through the most troubling times, and in one case, what can happen when they don’t.

    I highly suggest this documentary to anyone willing to sit down and watch it with not only an open mind, but also an open heart. This is a very relevant in America today. The hatred towards another person for their sexuality, whether you believe it is a choice or not, is a very real thing. Just looking through the message boards for this film on IMDb.com will reveal the hatred and persecution that still exists for this segment of the population. It’s a shame, really, and if this film can help at least one person to not view the LGBT community as not better or worse than anyone else, but as just people worthy of the same rights and privileges that are afforded to anyone else in this nation, then the time and effort, I would say, would have to have been worth it.

9.5/10

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The famous lips from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"

    What can one say about what may be the most influential motion picture of the later half of the 20th century? What’s that? Not something by Hitchcock, Kubrick, Scorcese, Coppola, or even James Cameron? Certainly not. And I’m referring to a cultural impact that stretches far beyond the boundaries of the midnight movie faithful that still pack themselves into the theater for the live show/audience participation love fest that is "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", some 35 years after its initial release.

    "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is a film that has become greater than the sum of its parts, and greater even than the sum of the counter-culture it spawned. There are no groundbreaking special effects, even for the period, no too-amazing-to-be-true choreography, the color scheme is flat at times, and the acting/singing while good, is not Astaire and Rogers in their prime. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is enjoyable on every level it sets out to be. The songs, "The Time Warp" in particular, work both as songs and to covey emotion from the characters, a window into their thoughts. But what "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" has done is as much as that other famous Rocky from the mid-70’s did. It shone a light on a segment of society that never fit anywhere but with one another. Previously, such a group of misfits would have been confined to trading Ed Wood films between one another in someone’s basement. But what liberated them was a facet of the technology they likely helped create.

    Thanks to Comicon and conventions like it and the internet, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show's" reach was permitted a far greater span than was ever intended or dreamed. The appeal of the film is in the idea that no matter how out of sorts and out of step you feel with the rest of the world, there are people like you somewhere in the universe and they are ready to accept you. The effect on gay rights, alternative lifestyle acceptance, and the public’s craving for Meat Loaf albums were changed forever by this little film that could. More than a generation has come past since those ruby lips first appeared on a screen, but the essential themes of the film still ring true. The affirmation of “Don’t Dream It, Be It”, and the prevailing theme of truly accepting yourself, no matter how strange you are, sent a ripple through millions of viewers and became a behind the scenes game changer in society, if you ask me.

    As to the content of the actual film, Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) are on their way to see their college mentor and announce their engagement, when a blown tire sidetracks them at the castle/spaceship of Dr. Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry), a transvestite, from planet Transsexual, in the galaxy of Transylvania. Frank has created a Frankenstein monster of sorts named Rocky Horror and a convention has gathered to celebrate his bizarre creation. As a result, there are betrayals, infidelities, odd sexual dalliances, and an assassination after a show-stopping set of production numbers. After that, Brad and Janet left behind as the castle blasts away home. Quite the ride is had, and lots of fun for all. 8.5/10.

The Hunger

Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon (seated) in "The Hunger"

    In celebration of Halloween, and for those of us 1/4 hispanic, the Day of the Dead, I decided to review a horror movie. Too bad I did not decide to review a good one. "The Hunger" is an extremely dated, extremely slow moving 1983 vampire film, notable perhaps for a single characteristic. Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon's lesbianic tryst 3/4 of the way through the film.

    The premise itself is not without promise. David Bowie's character John is a vampire somehow afflicted with Progeria. A disease usually striking children, that accelerates the aging process. An innovative malady for the undead. However, there is never adequate exposition as to why he is stricken with this disease, nor why any of his lover's former flames have met the same fate. We simply know they just have. So, the couple seek out Sarah Roberts (Sarandon) a doctor who does studies on the aging process and in particular progeria. Sarah is unable to help John in time and he withers away, depressing he vampiric lady love. So, she seduces Sarah in a scene quite daring for 1983, and brings her into the fold as a vampire. The rest is very old, tired "But I don't want to be a vampire, I won't feed on humans" stuff. It ends, mercifully after 96 minutes.

    All in all, a vampire film without much vampire action. But certainly more teeth than "Twilight", any day. 4/10