THE SCREENING ROOM

By Kelley Lyne

Director David Cronenberg, the “King of Creepy” (The Fly, Dead Ringers, Crash), has gone outside of the box and has come up with a brilliant and engaging film. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, A History of Violence puts forth a very interesting question that will get a lot of people who see the movie talking. The premise? If spouses could review their partner’s life details and actions before meeting them, would they still be together? The movie begins with what seems to be a typical portrait of small town family life. Viggo Mortensen (Hildago, Lord of the Rings trilogy) plays diner owner Tom Stall and Maria Bello (Coyote Ugly, The Cooler) is his lawyer wife, Edie with whom they have two children. Tom becomes an unlikely hero and an unwilling media celebrity after a holdup in his restaurant. Soon after, some nefarious dudes show up and suggest that Tom is really “Joey” – a big time mobster from Philadelphia. Is it a question of mistaken identity, or did Tom really think he could bury his past and start over? Although the premise seems unlikely, the entire cast makes the experiences seem very real. Ed Harris (Apollo 13, Pollack) is supremely cast as a mutilated bad guy. Bottom line - A History of Violence is a ride worth taking.

The Brothers Grimm Rated PG-13 **
Poor Terry Gilliam (The Fisher King, Twelve Monkeys). Here’s a brilliant director who just can’t seem to cut a break with the studios. The Brothers Grimm is another shining example of his poor luck. Most recently, his failed Don Quixote pic was turned into a documentary of the debacle! His latest effort, The Brothers Grimm feels like the studio put the stop to what could have made this mess of a story engaging. Grimm stars Heath Ledger (A Knight’s Tale, The Four Feathers) and Matt Damon (The Bourne Supremacy, Good Will Hunting), as the brothers of note. In this version, they roam about the 18th century German countryside fleecing towns by doing fake ghost busting. They soon get into real trouble when they are pitted against a real haunted forest and must save several children that have disappeared into it. Rumor is that the studio digitally erased a faux ugly nose that Gilliam had Damon’s character sporting – which returns us to the original problem with this film. Visually stunning like all of his movies, Terry Gilliam was forced to turn this effort into an incohesive mess to satisfy a few suits. Too bad for us.

DVD Releases
It seems like TV execs in Tinseltown have finally gotten the picture regarding DVD releases. They’ve started issuing first season collections of their breakout hits sooner to lure new viewers via avenues like Netflix. The following complete first seasons are all available for those of you who would like to catch up in time for season two: Fox’s House starring Hugh Laurie, ABC’s Lost, along with their ratings extravaganza Desperate Housewives.

Movies you should rent if you haven’t seen already:
The Interpreter – Political thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn.
Fever Pitch – Frothy adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon.
Robots - From the makers of Toy Story featuring voices of Paula Abdul, Amanda Bynes, Halle Berry and Drew Carey.
Sahara - Bigger-than-life adventure co-starring real life partners Penelope Cruz and Matthew McConaughey.
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants – Junior chick flick and heartwarming coming of age story featuring up and comers Amber Tamblyn and America Ferrera.
I, Robot - A sci-fi thriller that will stun you with its visual effects. Stars the “can’t miss” Will Smith.

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