HOLLYWOOD MOVIE SOURCE CODE REVIEWS,HOLLYWOOD LATEST MOVIES SOURCE CODE

It’s unusual for a big budget action film to have deep moral and emotional resonance, but Source Code, directed by Duncan Jones, is not your usual action film. It plays with the idea of alternate realities, untapped brain potential and fate versus free will in a way that Inception could only dream of doing. Along the way, it poses some very deep questions about what we expect of our soldiers and at what point does the greater good give you the right to trample on a person’s human rights.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Colter Stevens, a heroic Army captain who finds himself transported from his battles in Afghanistan to an isolation chamber in some unknown location. How did he get there? Is it outer space? Underground? We’re as confused as Stevens. The last thing he remembers is being on a Chicago commuter train in the body of another man. Christina (Michelle Monaghan), the beautiful woman sitting across from him, carries on a conversation as if she knows him. She’s confused by his actions, but tells him everything will be all right. At that moment, the train explodes, killing everyone onboard and propelling Stevens back to the pod.

There, he discovers that he is part of a program that places his mind into the body of a passenger for the last eight minutes of his life. Stevens has this time to unmask the bomber or he will strike again with a dirty bomb that will level Chicago. His only human contact is the sympathetic but business-like controller Carol Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) and the mission’s creator, Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright in a sinister performance). Slowly, Stevens unravels the truth behind the "Source Code" program, the gravity of his mission, and what has happened to him. He is desperate to change the events on the train and save Christina and the other passengers, but Source Code makes you wonder whether or not that is even possible. The film’s terrorist underpinnings are explored intelligently without feeling exploitative as it plays with our prejudices.

Jones, the son of David Bowie, was widely lauded for his sci-fi filmMoon, which was equally ambiguous psychologically. Gyllenhaal presented him with the Source Code script, Jones explained at a Q&A earlier this month, and he was drawn to the film’s complexity. He added levity to what was a more serious, 24-like thriller. Jones also added the film’s mysterious, time-bending twist ending, which truly elevates the film above other, more formulaic time travel films. Jones recognized similarities between the film and cult TV showQuantum Leap, so he hired Scott Bakula to play Stevens’ father. There is a reveal towards the end of the film that is so visually powerful, audience members at the screening could be heard stifling tears. When a Hollywood action film can achieve that, you know that you have seen a unique story that bridges the standard genres of science fiction, drama and war films. Source Code may have a generic-sounding title, but it is a stunning original

HOLLYWOOD MOVIE THE OWL REVIEWS,WALLPAPERS,REVIEWS

Sexual desire among women -- and the complications that arise when said desire is not or cannot be met -- is the subject of two very different new releases. The OWLs (now on DVD from First Run Features) was fairly well-received on the 2010 GLBT festival circuit despite its dark storyline. Written and directed by Cheryl Dunye (The Watermelon Woman), its protagonists are all former members of The Screech, a fictional band whose members were the hottest lesbian music-makers around ten years earlier.

Now faded into obscurity, depressed and/or alcoholic, the ladies refer to themselves as "OWLs": Older, Wiser Lesbians. Their accumulated wisdom becomes highly suspect, though, in the wake of an accidental death at a pool party hosted by former band leader Iris (a great performance by Guinevere Turner, best known as the star, producer and writer of 1994's rightly-heralded Go Fish). They conspire to cover up the event and succeed... that is, until a mysterious stranger (Sklyer Cooper) shows up at their doorstep one night.

According to the press notes, Dunye intentionally set out to imitate "pathological lesbian" films such as The Children's Hour and The Killing of Sister George. One OWLs character notes, "Even sisters can stab each other in the back," and another states, "We're always trying to be the alpha male in our community." Do we really need to project such images in this more liberated day and age? Dunye seems concerned that younger lesbian women aren't aware of the struggles their foremothers endured. To my thinking, though, this makes as much sense as re-making 1980's notorious Cruising so young gay men today will be more cognizant of the stereotypes that previously defined us. The original versions of all these invaluable time capsules are available on home video. It would be better to screen and discuss them and note how far we've come than to recreate them.

The narrative of The OWLs is oddly interrupted at times by interviews with the actresses regarding their roles and their "collective" approach to the project. Even with these, the film runs just over an hour and its hard to think of the interludes as anything but padding. There is also a documentary about the making of The OWLs -- somewhat derisively titled Hooters -- being released separately. If lesbian viewers think I'm off, I'm certainly willing to hear from you. As it is, I can't recommend The OWLs very highly.

On the other hand, the current theatrical release Orgasm Inc. (also from First Run Features) is a must-see for women and men alike. This expose by award-winning documentarian Liz Canner delves into the pursuit of a Viagra-style drug to treat "Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD)", aka the inability by a reported 43% of women to have an orgasm every time they have sexual intercourse. As one expert interviewed on camera notes, "(FSD) is the first corporate-sponsored definition of a 'disease'."

Orgasm Inc., which was filmed over nine years, reveals with often-clinical precision the expensive and mostly fruitless research that has gone into developing pills, creams, devices and even a nasal spray to assist affected women. The result of such labor? Viagra works as well for some women as it does for men; pornography is the most effective stimulant for both men and women; and the pharmaceutical company-backed, long-term solution of combining estrogen pills with testosterone patches can cause cancer. Wisely and thankfully, the latter proposed "treatment" was rejected by the FDA.

One interviewee's giggly likening of female orgasm to "a blooming flower" and some unnecessary animated sequences threaten to undermine Canner's insights into a very serious issue. But so long as the filmmaker sticks to disturbing facts and figures such as "The USA makes up just 5% of the world's population but it accounts for 42% of the world's spending on prescription drugs, and yet Americans don't live any longer than others," Orgasm Inc. provides a stiff tonic indeed.

JACKASS 3D MOVIE REVIEWS

Jackass, a bunch a crap you don't want to every see in 3D, literally and figuratively. I laughed quite a bit, but overall I'm disgusted just think about the movie. If you like the series this is right up your alley, i never liked jackass so no thumbs up.

PS when you see the green mountain close your eyes.

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