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Syriana (12/26/05)
Stephen Gaghan

“Syriana” is a political film that achieves greatness of “Traffic” and “Crash” but on a higher level and the story is told in a more complex manner. It’s not that big of a surprise to see the connection consider that Stephen Gaghan also did the screenplay for “Traffic”. Its main theme is about the U.S. oil dependency and that raises the question of whether oil is a U.S. national security interest. It also makes me think about the role of the U.S. in the internal affairs of other countries. Great film and one of the best I’ve seen in a long while. 4 stars.

The Cat’s Meow (12/30/05)
Peter Bogdanovich

Regardless of whether the series of unfortunate events on the boat had actually taken place or not, The Cat’s Meow is quite an entertaining film. The fact that the plot is based on the real life Hollywood celebrities (including Charlie Chaplin and William Randolph Hearst) just adds to the smooth telling story. 3 stars.

Christmas Vacation (1/1/06)
Jeremiah S. Chechik

I liked Clark Griswold much better than I liked Ferris Bueller so I’ll give Christmas Vacation an unenthusiastic 2 ½ stars.

Brokeback Mountain (1/2/06)
Ang Lee

Watching “Brokeback Mountain” is like reading a good book in which the story takes its sweet time to tell the story. It has no shocking moments or big revelations. Its focus is to portray the characters in a subtle way so that the audiences get to know the character in details and hopefully, leading them to understand the movie as a whole. A couple things that really stood out to me while watching the movie were Heath Ledger’s excellent performance (those who’ve seen “Monster’s Ball” shouldn’t be surprised) and the beautiful shots of the landscape and big blue sky (shot in Calgary, Fort Macleod, and La Mesilla). Ang Lee has range. 3 ½ stars.

Assault on Precinct 13 (1/2/06)
Jean-François Richet

Despite the fact that I liked “Assault on Precinct 13” enough to recommend it, I thought it was a waste of the talented casts which include Maria Bello, Gabriel Byrne, Ethan Hawke, and Laurance Fishburne. In short, it’s a good mindless (but decent in production and details) entertainment, which provides a good break from the heavy dramas and/or thought-provoking films. 3 stars.

Sox Pride (1/3/06)
Major League Baseball

How could you not like fundamental baseball? The White Sox lack big stars, strikeout pitchers, or big hitters (nobody hit over .300) but they more than made up for it with strong pitching, timely hitting, and solid defense. “Sox Pride” is the overview and highlights of the team success in 2005. A must have for the Southsiders and a great gift for Cubs fans and sportswriters everywhere. 3 stars.

Kissing Jessica Stein (1/4/06)
Charles Herman-Wurmfeld

There are a lot of sexual activities going on in “Kissing Jessica Stein”. The movie is, after all, R rated (for sexual content and language). But not all of the activities are sexual acts. As a matter of fact, most of them portray the characters discussing sex, lesbianism, and relationships. The dialogues are well written and true to the characters (who are smart, funny, and witty people). I was impressed to learn that the screen was co-written and co-produced by the two leading characters, Jennifer Westfeldt (Jessica) and Heather Juergensen (Helen). Though, the movie doesn’t go into heavy part of the same sex relationships, it touches on whether homosexuality is a choice or not. And by the end, the movie subtly provides us the answer. The soundtrack is lovely and is a big part of the film in making the movie gentle and undemanding. It’s an excellent compilation of many great female singers such as Blossom Dearie, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday. 3 ½ stars.

Sin City (1/5/06)
Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino

If you understand and appreciate the violence in “Kill Bill”, you will like “Sin City”. In addition, the movie transports the audience into the brutal world of comic books where the heroes can sustain brutal beatings and gun shot wounds, where the bad guys are some ugly psychopaths, who corrupt, steal your women and eat your children, and where the heroines are equipped with J-Lo’s booty and Pamela Anderson’s fake boobies.

The movie didn’t start well when I was distracted by the hero performing as a narrator, talking over the scenes as supposed to let the audience follow the story themselves. Then I got used to it and started to enjoy its visual, actions, and styles. 3 ½ stars.

Note: Somebody’s going to get hurt if I hear another comparison between garbage like “Wolf Creek” to a classic (yes, you read it right) such as “Kill Bill” or “Sin City”. We’re not talking about the kind of violence where innocent people being tortured while begging for their lives here.