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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 20 May 2004

A mix of fantasy and reality, The Cooler is a cute little drama boasting some of the year’s finest acting performances.   Since his brilliant showing the comedy Fargo (released in 1996), I have been a fan of the underrated William H. Macy.  He’s one of those actors who you may not recognise by name but more than likely, you will have seen him before on screen.  Lovers of independent cinema will remember him from films such as Magnolia, Boogie Nights and State & Main.  More conservative filmgoers might recall his work in film including A Civil Action, Pleasantville, Jurassic Park 3, Air Force One and Seabiscuit.  The common trait in all Macy’s films is that he appears in a “supporting role”.  Never the leading man, Macy finally has his chance in The Cooler.

His character is Bernie Lootz and he works at the Shangri La Casino in Las Vegas.  His job there isn’t by choice.  He owed a lot of money to casino manager, Shelly Kaplow (Baldwin) and is working off his debt in a rather ironic mean.  You see, Bernie is a “cooler” – someone who walks around the casino rubbing bad luck onto those with a winning streak.  This may sound like a load of garbage but you’d be surprised how superstitious some people can be.  There are rumours all through Vegas that casino owners employ “coolers” but of course they never publicise or identify these people for risk of bad publicity.

Having finally worked off his liability, Bernie’s had enough and wants to leave town.  He’s given Shelly his notice and will finish up by week’s end.  Shelly know the value of Bernie to his casino – his bad luck has destroyed many successful gamblers.

Bernie’s somewhat of a loner and long separated from his wife.  He’s had a casual eye on a young cocktail waitress at the casino named Natalie (Bello) but has not the guts to act on his crush.  Sensing this, Shelly sees the attraction as a way to keep Bernie at the casino.  He pays Natalie to seduce the aging Bernie but the results are anything but what Shelly expected.  When Bernie’s luck starts to turn around, it’s effect is both hilarious and shocking.

Filmed on a small budget, The Cooler is crafty black comedy from South African director Wayne Kramer.  It may be set in Las Vegas but there isn’t a lot of razzle dazzle with the cinematography.  There’s a lot of great close ups of the cast members, a refreshingly real sex scene and on the whole, a very seedy look at Vegas culture.  On more than one occasion I saw a resemblance with Martin Scorsese’s long 1995 drama, Casino.

Macy’s performance is beautiful but its co-star Alec Baldwin who is stealing the limelight with his Oscar nominated performance.  He is one scary individual!  You have to admire his 80s wardrobe too.  In fact, the film has an overall 80s feel to it with the grainy colours, dated sets and old-style film score.

I don’t usually laugh out loud in movies so for me to do so says something about what I’m watching.  Check out The Cooler.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 13 May 2004

At this year’s Academy Awards, the nominees for best animated feature were Brother Bear, Finding Nemo and The Triplets Of Bellville.  Most hadn’t even heard of the third nominee and a French song from the film was performed during the Oscar ceremony (for which it was also nominated), one friend sent me a text message to the effect of “what the f***”.

Les Triplettes De Bellville premiered at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival and the buzz has since filtered around the world.  Disney and Pixar currently dominate the animated market and I don’t see this film acting as a threat.  There’s a lot to like about Brother Bear and Finding Nemo but there’s a familiarity and predictability about what to expect.  The Triplets Of Bellville turns the animated genre upside down with its crazy visuals and unique approach.

Don’t expect any dialogue.  After a big musical opening, all you’ll hear is music and a few mumblings.  This may seem strange but trust me, you won’t want to look away from the screen.  There’s some strange happening in Bellville and the challenge of understanding it only adds to the film’s value.

The story revolves around a professional cyclist who is kidnapped by the mafia so his mother and loyal dog go in search for him.  It doesn’t sound enticing on paper but if you catch a glimpse of the film or view the trailer on the internet, you’ll see how much more there is on show.

Of the ensemble, the funniest has to be a smiling French waiter at restaurant.  Another nice touch are the many different dishes the triplets craft from frogs.  As I’ve said many a time before, it’s always more exciting watching films when you don’t know where they’re going.  Here’s another example and in my eyes, it exceeds Finding Nemo (which did win the Oscar) as the best animated feature of the past twelve months.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 18 May 2004

It’s one of the year’s biggest blockbusters with a budget to match.  On the whole, I can recommend Troy as a film to see.  It’s in no way spectacular flick but there is enough to keep you mildly entertained.  In a way, I’m somewhat disappointed by my own response.  I was all geared up to either praise the film with joyous glee or trash the film with a wave of expletives.  To sit on the fence is a hollow feeling.

But that’s the way it is.  If you can remember back to high school you may already know the story and how it unfolds.  The womaniser Paris (Bloom) and the warrior Hector (Bana) are the two princes of Troy.  Their father and king is Priam (O’Toole), a powerful man who commands a great army to keep the city well guarded.

Unfortunately, Troy is about to endure an attack of monumental proportions.  On a recent visit to Greece, Paris fell in love with the wife of Menelaus (Gleeson) and brought her back across the sea with him.  The ruler of Greece, Agamemnon (Cox), has always wanted to conquer Troy and Paris’s betrayal of Menelaus’s serves as the perfect excuse to do so.  Over a thousand boats will carry his army across to Troy but there is one warrior pivotal to his plight.  Achilles (Pitt) is the best combatant Greece has ever seen but he answers to no man and is impossible to control.  Agamemnon knows he is both the key to victory and the key to defeat.

At a lengthy 162 minutes, there’s certainly a lot to see and talk about.  So to keep things short and sweet, I thought I’d explain why I’m sitting on the fence.  From there, I’ll leave it up to you to find which side you fit on…

7 Reasons To See Troy

• Peter O’Toole.  At 82 years young, this 7 time Academy Award nominee gives the film’s best acting performance and who knows, this may be the time he finally wins the coveted Oscar.

• Orlando Bloom.  Not in it as much as I expected and he hasn’t impressed me much in the past but his performance here surpasses Brad Pitt and Eric Bana.

• Rose Byrne.  A great Australian actress with her first major Hollywood role.  She’ll go far and if don’t know her already, rent some of her past films.  Not in Troy as much as I would like though.

• Special Effects.  I looked very hard but they seemed pretty real to me.  Bravo.

• Director Wolfgang Petersen.  You have no idea how hard it is to make a film of this magnitude and the his control of it all keeps the story flowing with few inconsistencies.

• Battle Scenes.  Well shot if you ask me.  Achilles and Hector’s showdown was the pick of the bunch.

• Grey Area.   There’s a pretty obvious bad guy but as for the rest of the characters, it’s sometimes hard to discern who we should be cheering for with emphasis on Achilles.

7 Reasons Not To See Troy (Lame Joke: "the Achilles’ heel so to speak")

• Brad Pitt.  He has the physique but not the acting talent.  That constant expression where he squints his eyes and looks angry on the inside didn’t help matters either.

• Eric Bana.  Some are talking his performance up but I can’t understand why.  His accent was most annoying.

• Julie Christie.  One of the greatest actresses of all time gets one scene in the entire film (as Achilles’ mother).  What a waste of talent and it was an ordinary scene at that.

• Facial Close Ups.  Way too many of them.  The battle scenes were continually interrupted by showing close ups of the stunned gallery (like Peter O’Toole).

• Mythological References.  I tired of all the talk about immortality and such.  I find it very unlikely that people spoke as such and I could see the screenwriters using it to add zeal to the story.  Didn’t work.

• Very heavy.  I know it is a serious story but the filmmakers have taken it a little too seriously.  After all, it is a tale which has been considerably embellished over time.  There are just too many long passionate speeches.

• Emotion.  Where was it?  When key characters fell in battle, I was unmoved.  I remember feeling much more during the big finale to Gladiator (a film which will draw many references from others).

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 May 2004

I am not going to try and sugar coat it.  I am going to be truthful and honest.  It may only be May but I am already declaring.  Get ready because here’s your quote for the movie poster… “Van Helsing is the worst motion picture of the year!”

Hugh Jackman may drive a stake through the heart of Count Dracula but he may also be driving a stake through his own career.  The dialogue which spews from his mouth is cheesier than a James Bond movie.  It literally is laughable.  I chuckled on several occasions.   The same applies to Kate Beckinsale who produces an embarrassing fake accent.

What is this nightmare about?  Well, Van Helsing (Jackman) is some super guy who has been killing bad guys for thousands of years.  He’s just finished off Dr. Jekyll and now is looking to slay Dracula.  Off he heads to Transylvania where he meets the princess of the town, Anna Valerious (Beckinsale).  Her brother was recently slain by Dracula and she wants revenge.

So the two team up and along with Van Helsing’s goofy sidekick, Carl (Wenham), they look to find Dracula’s lair and ultimately, his weakness.  After 10 minutes of this film I was looking to walk out.  So imagine my delight in staying for a whopping 132 minutes only to see the predictable finale play itself out (complete with more cheesy dialogue).

Suffice to say this film won’t be winning any awards for its special effects.  I shouldn’t even be using the term “special” as it may be misleading.  80% of the film looks like it was generated by a Commodore 64 and I’d say that the real Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale appear in about 5 minutes worth of actual footage.  For the rest of the movie, they are played by stuntmen and unrealistic computer graphics.

Universal Studios aren’t helping the film’s chances at box-office success by promoting it as being “from the director of The Mummy and The Mummy Returns”.  The man they are referring to is Stephen Sommers and he would be one of the most overrated directors in the business.  He has no idea how to make an action film and has become consumed by the whole process.  In Van Helsing, the camera moves all over the place and at times I had no idea what was going on.  If we are fortunate, the film will tank when released in the U.S. this weekend and Sommers will consider a career change.

Let’s say that what’s on screen certainly puts the “hell” into Van Hel-sing.  Tacky cliché isn’t it?  You ain’t seen nothing yet!

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 15 May 2004

In 1995, a young American and a young Frenchwoman met on a train from Budapest to Vienna.  They would then spend a beautifully romantic evening together that unfortunately ended at sunrise with the two returning to their regular lives.  This was the plot of a low budget film released back in 1995 called, appropriately enough, Before Sunrise.  Rising stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy played the love struck couple with the film made by Richard Linklater, a director who had developed a cult status following the release of his 1993 drug trip, Dazed And Confused.

Nine years have now passed and the three have united to produce a sequel.  For many people, this will be all rather meaningless.  Before Sunrise received a minimal release in this country and the few that have seen it will most likely have picked it off the video store shelf.   Having heard an interview with Ethan Hawke, the production of this film was more a labour of love.  It was never intended to be a huge blockbuster or to make millions of dollars.  It was simply a chance to reunite and once again play two characters they enjoyed so much.

In Before Sunset, Jesse (Hawke) sits in a French bookstore giving an interview on his latest novel to a small group of press.  He publicises his book as a work of fiction but to him, it is a deep recollection of that night in Vienna that he shared with Celine (Delpy).  It is a night he has never forgotten.  The two had agreed to meet that summer in Vienna but Celine never showed.  As they never exchanged details or phone numbers, it seemed the two were destined never to see each other again.

As the book interview concludes, Celine appears in the doorway.  Fate has brought them together again.  But what lies in store this time?  What has happened over the past nine years?

Before Sunset is strictly a conversational piece.  It feels like you’re having coffee with two old friends where you just sit back, relax and enjoy the discussion.  Jesse and Celine speak as if they’ve known each other for years and yet you sense the unresolved romantic tension between them.  It’s fascinating to both listen to and watch them.  You’re unlikely to find two more realistic characters in another film this year.

I won’t spoil what is discussed and how it finishes but I will say that the ending is near perfect.  The audience’s response was proof of that.  Don’t be too perturbed if you missed the first film as you’ll soon understand from the introduction to Before Sunset.  One for the romantics.