What the Flick

Ah, those British in Africa. Besides setting fashion trends for Ralph Lauren to follow in perpetuity, they sure did stir up a whole lot of trouble. In THE CONSTANT GARDENER, set in present-day Kenya, the shenanigans of the Brits are examined through the lens of political payola, big business, and one man's broken heart.

What is the alien mystery underlying the NY Times' promotion of the show THRESHOLD (see article here, plus the video segment on NYTimes.com)? Are the triple-helix aliens on their payroll? I ask this because this season on TV offers 3 takes on the whole visitors from beyond genre (4, if you count NIGHT STALKER): Monday night's SURFACE (8 pm NBC), Wednesday night's INVASION (10 pm ABC). and Friday night's THRESHOLD (9 pm CBS), and from what I can tell after 3 viewings, THRESHOLD is the weakest of the lot.

Yeah, like "good luck" staying awake in this George Clooney-directed pseudo-docudrama. I appreciate a serious message movie as much as the next person, but GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK (which actually is two sentences in the title credits) is an earnest effort that represents some of the worst instincts of "edu-tainment." It's both preachy and boring, and fails to really educate us on the context of the times in which the story takes place. It tells a very specific part of the story of Edward R. Murrow's (David Straithairn) broadcasts during the twilight of the Army-McCarthy hearings and ask us to draw parallels with events of today. But, what's that you say, young people? Who? And the what? Thank you! GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK fails mostly by giving its audience too much credit for bringing background information to the theater (but you can catch up here with this good summary).

Capote. Ka-POTE-tay. However you want to say it, just go see it! This tale of Truman Capote as he researched and wrote "In Cold Blood" has now shoved CRASH aside as my favorite movie (drama) of 2005. CAPOTE is lush, beautifully shot, gorgeously acted, and dramatically complex. I want to say something snarky about it, as I'm known to do, but I am at a bit of a loss. But don't give up, I'll think of something. Meanwhile, the film opens with the single most beautiful image of the Great Plains I've ever seen (and, yes, I've seen PARIS, TEXAS and BADLANDS, and southern Minnesota at dawn), followed by the grisly discovery of the shotgun-murdered Clutter family, before zooming in on the fabulous late 1950s life of the writer charming guests at a swanky party.