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If I were to tell you about an actor that has worked consistently in major Hollywood movies for over two decades, has worked often with Academy-Award winning writers, actors and directors and who has a legion of fans that follow him in all his movies no matter the genre or story, what would your immediate reaction to this person be? Would you think ?Wow, this guy must be great. Twenty years of studio movies, he must be talented. Based solely on the description of the actor written above, with no names attached, would you ever in your right mind assume that the person was bad at his craft; that he sucked. Chances are you wouldn?t. And yet, if after giving you that description I told you the actor was Keanu Reeves, I bet I know what your reaction would be. ?He sucks!

I just don?t get it. In every interview he gives he comes across as an insightful, cerebral, well-rounded person who doesn?t mire himself in the vagaries of stardom and never asks for more than he needs. His co-stars glow about him, and quality directors line up to put him in their movies. And yet, for some inexplicable reason, he is plagued by this notion that he is dumb. And that he is untalented. And I just don?t get it.

How can he suck if he?s still making big movies twenty years into his career? The majority of his early peers are gone and forgotten; actors like Christian Slater, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, Andrew McCarthy, et al, and yet here he is coming out with a huge new movie this Friday (The Lake House). He has survived critical drubbings more severe than he deserves. He has been heckled and flamed and deplored because he has good looks, but a vacant affectation. He is perceived as a flat actor, devoid of charisma, empty of emotional depth. And yet, he?s still here making big movies. So you explain it to me.

I have been a fan of Keanu since his Bill & Ted days. I have defended my love for the man who would be Neo to every one of my friends and family. I have gotten into screaming matches with people I barely know, just because I heard them bash the man. And I have never lost an argument about him, because no one can prove that he isn?t a gifted, talented performer. They lose, because I can prove that he is.

But my arguing stops now. Once and for all I am going to prove to the world that Keanu Reeves does NOT suck. And I will prove it to you in 40 point list format. I promise you that when you finish reading this piece you will respect, admire and appreciate the talent that is Keanu Reeves.

Let the proving begin?

1.If you weren?t impressed by Keanu?s mean, Southern Redneck in The Gift or at least agree he was impressively intense, well then we have nothing to talk about. Just click the ?X and leave this site immediately.

2.Contrary to popular belief, has never won a Razzie Award. Which is more than I can say for these actors: Halle Berry, Charlton Heston, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, Faye Dunaway, Woody Harrelson and Madonna

3.Without being asked, gave $38 Million dollars to The Wachowski Brothers so that they could properly finish the Matrix sequels. $38 Million! Let?s see Tom Cruise drop that much for one of his clunkers.

4.Has worked with the following critically acclaimed directors: Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Bernardo Bertolucci, Gus Van Sant, Sam Raimi, Taylor Hackford, Lawrence Kasdan, Stephen Frears, Richard Linklater

5.?Whoa

6.Keanu?s name means ?cool breeze over the mountains in Hawaiian, which is pretty cool. Compare that to Jean Claude Van Damme, which is loosely translated in German as ?giant douchebag.

7.The night before he was to shoot his kissing-heavy love scene for A Walk in the Clouds, Keanu took a hockey puck to his mouth, which required six stitches. He still showed up the next day for work and shot the scene over the course of six hours. Let?s see a pussyboy like Orlando Bloom do that! Keanu is hardcore.

8.Showing extreme foresight and good judgment (which is more than I can say for Sandra Bullock), passed on an easy $10 million payday to star in Speed 2, because he didn?t think the script was any good. And he was right. Tell me again why people think he?s stupid?

9.Deferred part of his salary on The Replacements (2000) so Gene Hackman could be cast. Obviously, the man knows what makes a movie great. And that would be the Hack Man.

10.Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They don?t just give those out, you know.

11.A personal quote: I’m a meathead, man. You’ve got smart people, and you’ve got dumb people. I just happen to be dumb. At least the man is brave enough to admit who he is.

12.Is not nearly as stiff, wooden or stupid as Paul Walker.

13.Has starred in six $100 Million grossing movies. Which is more than the following actors who many claim are ?better than Keanu: Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Colin Farrell, Richard Gere, Hugh Grant, Ethan Hawke, Val Kilmer, Jude Law, Matthew McConaughey, Sean Penn, Joaquin Phoenix, Tim Robbins, Kevin Spacey, Vince Vaughn, Dennis Quiad and Al freakin? Pacino!

14.Almost never shows up in tabloids, an extremely welcome quality considering the glut of media whores we have today (ahem, TomKat!).

15.Yeah it gave people the impression he?s an idiot, and no, it?s not Shakespeare, but c?mon, who doesn?t love Bill & Ted?s Excellent Adventure!

16.?I am an F-B-I Agent! That line rules.

17.Decided to leave his band ?Dogstar so that the rest of the group would not be held back by his celebrity or by his busy schedule. Which is more than I can say for a few other jackass actors/wannabe rockers (ahem, Russell Crowe).

18.Managed to keep a straight face all the way through the abysmally crappy Sweet November. That takes talent people.

19.Has worked with the following Academy Award winning actors: Al Pacino, Gene Hackman, Rachel Weisz, Charlize Theron, Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Marisa Tomei, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Anthony Quinn, Kevin Kline, William Hurt, and then guy who played Bill in Bill & Ted?s. I?m pretty sure he?s won a couple Oscars by now.

20.Is ?The One. Warrants mentioning.

21.Knows his acting limitations and in doing so, does not try to overextend himself in roles he couldn?t do; which means not only that his movies are better, but so is every movie he turns down. He?s making movies he?s NOT in better, someone give it up for this man.

22.Does not own a computer. So you know what that means? is not a MySpace whore.

23.In his review for Speed, Roger Ebert had this to say about Keanu: ?Keanu Reeves has never had a role like this before. In fact, in his previous film, he played the mystical Prince Siddhartha, and generally he tends toward dreamy, sensitive characters. That’s why it’s sort of amazing to see him so cool and focused here, a completely convincing action hero who is as centered and resourceful as a Clint Eastwood or Harrison Ford in similar situations.

24.Has made movies in every single genre.

25.He played Buddha. No, I?m serious, ?the Buddha. Between playing the freaking Buddha and playing a stoner in Bill & Ted?s, why do people think he has no range?

26.Back in the 80?s, he taught stoners of the world something about history (and brought Napoleon to Waterlube). Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t add that he’s totally non, non non, non non, non, non heinous.

27.And despite being viewed as a ?stoner, has never been pigeonholed on screen. In his various film roles, he has played: an FBI agent, a cop, a serial killer, a lawyer, a doctor, a dentist, the One, a Quarterback, a musician, an ad exec, a nuclear physicist (hello!), a redneck, a soldier, the freakin? Buddha, a gay hustler, and a Dog Boy.

28.He knows kung fu. So, you know, don?t screw with him.

29.When Keanu decides to do a sequel: Bill & Ted?s Bogus Journey. When Keanu decides not to do a sequel: Speed 2. Can this guy pick winners, or what?

30.Is none of the following: a Scientologist (Tom Cruise), a john (Hugh Grant), a drug addict (Robert Downey Jr.), a cheat (Jude Law), a phone-thrower (Russell Crowe), hard to work with (Val Kilmer) or a mean bastard (Sean Penn)

31.Besides his obvious acting talents, Keanu also: surfs, rides motorcycles, was a good enough hockey goalie to earn the nickname ?The Wall, performs Shakespeare, reads philosophy, plays guitar in a slew of rock bands, ballroom dances, horseback rides, and ?knows kung fu. Is there anything he can?t do?

32.His name is actually pronounced ?kay-ah-nu, not ?key-ah-nu, and yet never makes a fuss out of it (ahem, DEMI!).

33.Has romanced on-screen: Charlize Theron (twice), Sandra Bullock (twice), Monica Bellucci (twice), Rachel Weisz (twice), Carrie-Anne Moss (thrice), Diane Lane, Connie Nielson, Dina Meyer and Uma Thurman. This does not necessarily prove his specific level of suckage, but it does prove that hot actresses want to bang him on-screen, which is an important quality in today?s movie stars. For example, nobody wants to nail Adam Sandler, and he?s not nearly as good an actor as Keanu, even if you count Punch-Drunk Love twice.

34.Was in the Pilot episode of the awesome short-lived Jay Mohr show, Action. And since that show ruled all, he in turn, receives a percentage of the ruling. Let?s say 17%.

35.To his everlasting credit, never made a cameo appearance on Will & Grace, which makes him only one of five movie stars in the world never to have done so.

36.Was the host for a documentary show called ?Children Remember the Holocaust. He supports the faith, I support him.

37.Has a college class based around his movies. ?The Films of Keanu Reeves at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. Name another supposedly ?sucky actor that has a college class named after him? That?s right, you can?t, because Keanu?s the only one. Because he kicks ass AND educates the youth of tomorrow.

38.Turned down the Val Kilmer role in Heat to do a production of Hamlet in Canada. If I haven?t said it before, let me say it now, the man is devoted to his craft. He works on it, he tries new things. He keeps working. Even if you think he?s not getting better, at least he?s trying. How many movie stars keep pushing themselves after they hit it big? How many just coast along on generic roles and unspectacular performances? Keanu pushes himself. Screw all to his limitations, he pushes himself and I respect him for it.

39.British theater critic Roger Lewis of the Sunday Times in London (who knows something about Shakespeare, after all he is British) had this to say about Keanu?s Winnipeg-based performance of The Prince of Denmark in Hamlet: He quite embodied the innocence, the splendid fury, the animal grace of the leaps and bounds, the emotional violence, that form the Prince of Denmark. He is one of the top three Hamlets I have seen, for a simple reason: he ?is? Hamlet.

40.Brought unto the world the phrase ?Bogus, dude, for which we are all eternally grateful.

Now tell me, after reading this piece, do you still think he sucks?

I didn?t think so.

Jason Matthews (a.k.a. ?The Jay?) is the head writer for the http://www.TheJay.com. Through the Ruskin Group Theatre and their showcase ?Caf? Plays?, Jason has written and produced seven one act plays, all with great success. When he?s not balking at the idea of writing a play longer than twelve pages, Jason can be found online, writing scathing celebrity rebukes, downloading gloriously bad celebrity commercials, and obsessively studying box office returns and IMDB resume pages. Go ahead, try and stump him at ?Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon?, it?s not gonna happen.

In the mid-1920s, the film industry had met its new rival: the radio. Because of it, a lot of people stopped going to the movies and the movie industry was threatened. Amazingly however, scientists in the United States and abroad had simultaneously discovered a way to add sound to silent pictures. This discovery would save the film industry. The first sound pictures made were short films of concert performances. The movie produced sounds and music of the performers which thrilled the audience very much. The people started returning to the movies.

But it would not be until October of 1927 with a film called The Jazz Singer that the possibilities of sound were revealed. The Jazz Singer starred Al Jolson and had three song numbers and a few lines of spoken dialogue. Aside from these, it was a silent movie but the audiences were raving over it. The Jazz Singer was known as the movie that talked and was called a talkie. The movie fascinated thousands and packed the theaters. The radio had met its match.

With the success of The Jazz Singer, the full transition from silent to all-talking movies would take over a year. The delay was due to many technical problems. The equipment had to be perfected and the sound projectors and soundtracks had to be standardized so that films can be shown in all theaters. Then, the theaters had to be installed with the sound projectors. Also, talking movies introduced a new set of problems concerning writing, directing and acting. The writers had to write dialogs and the actors had to learn how to say them. To solve this problem, stage playwrights and top-of-the-line dramatic authors were recruited to write the dialogue. Stage directors were also rushed in from New York to direct the actors who mostly did not know how to talk in their roles. It turned out that many romantic leading men had squeaky voices and their leading ladies did not have alluring voices. The rise of sound pictures became the end of a lot a silent screen stars. It also led to the fall of the great pantomime comics.

Sound pictures were made into musical comedies. The Coconut in 1929 introduced the four Marx Brothers. They brought a new kind of noisy farce. This brand of comedy depended much on the humor of the dialogue and the art of pantomime. These madcap comedians however eventually faded. A new kind of comedy was developed to fill the void left by the comedians. They introduced talking pictures known as sophisticated comedy which placed wise guys in unexpected situations. Memorable performers in these roles were Carole Lombard, Irene Dunne and William Powell.

Soon after the production of sound films came the gangster pictures. The earliest gangster films were inspired by prohibition racketeering. Movies like Little Caesar of 1930 and Public Enemy in 1931 had violent melodramas that introduced a harsh reality to the audience. These movies introduced a new batch of masculine stars with the likes of James Cagney, Edward Robinson, Spencer Tracy and Clark Gable.

After the gangster movies, films in different genres were made. With this began the Golden Age of Sound. Shown on the screens were fine dramas, comedies and action-adventure films. Also strong were the musicals with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy operettas and the dancing team of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as the favorites.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Movies

Now that 2005 is over and everybody has revealed their top ten list (or at least a preliminary version of it), the time has come to start looking forward to what we will be seeing in cinemas this year. There’s plenty of movies coming, and to help you on your way, here is my yearly (only the second time, but still) Top 20 list of coolest upcoming movies!

20. X-Men 3
The second X-Men movie is still one of the best superhero movies of all time, but that one had an ingredient that this one is lacking: Bryan Singer. What I have heard so far about Brett Ratner’s ideas for the franchise have not really made me enthusiastic, but the first teaser trailer was pretty cool. Let’s keep our fingers crossed, hoping that Ratner will surprise us after all.

19. Click
Adam Sandler’s movies are a bit hit and miss, but this one has a few things going for it. First: Kate Beckinsale is in it. Second: And so is Christopher Walken. And third: The story is pretty cool, as it is about a guy who finds a remote control that lets him zoom back and forth to moments in his life. Which is great, until the remote control starts showing a mind of it’s own. Adam Sandler and high concept normally works pretty well, so this could be real fun.

18. The Return of Zoom
Last year saw the successful teen superhero movie Sky High, and this year sees another teen superhero movie. Tim Allen plays a worn out superhero who is called back into action, to train a group of kid superheroes at a private academy. Yeah, sounds very familiar, but Sky High was a lot of fun so maybe we will be in luck again with this one.

17. Mission Impossible 3
The most irritating man of 2005 (as voted by movie lovers all over the world) is back in his high profile action franchise. But will it be a hattrick for Tom Cruise? The first one was pretty good, the second one dissapointing, this one, being directed by Lost’s JJ Abrams, could be a return to form.

16. Marie Antoinette
The director of my favorite movie of 2004, Lost in Translation, returns to the big screen with this stylized account of the life of Marie Antoinette, a simple girl from Vienna who became the Queen of France in 1774. A rags to riches story? Yes, although it is unfortunate that she became queen only a few years before all the French royals were beheaded… Sophie Coppola directs Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman in this.

15. Benchwarmers
This movie, starring Jon Heder and Jon Lovitz, tells the story of a trio of friends, who try to make up for missed opportunities in their childhood when they form their own baseball team and start playing against Little League teams. Could be this years Dodgeball.

14. Happy Feet
There’s a swarm of cool CGI animated movies coming up this year, but this seems to be one of the most fun ones. How can it not be fun: it’s about penguins! About a group of singing penguins to be precise. Our hero is a penguin cannot sing, which is a problem, because this is the way male penguins woo the females. Luckily though, he may not be able to sing, but he can tapdance better than anybody else!

13. Miami Vice
Just reading those words will make the tune to this classic tv-show stick in your head for the rest of the day (you don’t have to thank me). This might actually be a better TV-remake than most though, since Michael Mann is directing (him also being director of numerous episodes of the original series).

12. Eragon
In case you are worried that there won’t be a big fantasy spectacle this year (Lord of the Rings having ended, and the next Narnia only coming out this year): rest assured. The next big thing is coming in the shape of Eragon, another movie based on a book, in which a kid hooks up with a dragon and ends up in the middle of an age old battle between dragons. Dragons. Cool!

11. Cars
Normally Pixar is a guarantee for quality, but this time I am a little bit more careful than usual. The teaser trailer wasn’t that hot, and the fact that Pixar has delayed the movie to this year also does not bode well. Although, knowing Pixar, that extra time will have been well spent. I won’t be surprised if this one ends up in 5 star land after all.

10. My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Luke Wilson must be one of the unluckiest guys in the world. His girlfriend is a super heroine (cool!) but he doesn’t know (booo!) until they break up and she starts using her super powers to get back at him. Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes either. Uma Thurman stars as the girlfriend.

9. Black Dahlia
Brian DePalma returns with this slick thriller which stars Scarlett Johansson. Oh, you want to know more? Well, it’s all about two cops who try to hunt the killer of a young actress. Next to Johansson, we will also see Hilary Swank, Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart. This one looks like a lot of fun.

8. The Da Vinci Code
Were you sick and tired of all the Da Vinci hype when the book came out two years ago? Get ready to be sick all over again when the hype for the movie version starts! If you, like me, did like the book though, I think you will be in for a thrillride, as Ron Howard directs Tom Hanks and Audrey ‘Amelie’ Tatou.

7. Casino Royale
The return of James Bond, but not as you know him! The new Bond goes back to the early days of Bond and will be stripped of many of the elements that made the Bond movies so successful in the first place. Let’s hope they won’t strip away too much, unless the stripping involves the new Bond girl!

6. Pirates of the Caribbean 2
The first Pirates of the Caribbean movie was brilliant, and everything points towards this second part being just as much fun. Everybody returns, plus there are some cool new characters to add to the mix. And if you cannot get enough of Captain Jack Sparrow and his friends: this was shot back to back with the third movie, which will be released next year.

5. A Scanner Darkly
Richard Linklater returns to his passion for animation with this movie that is a combination of real life acting and animation. Not in the regular sense though, because in Linklater’s movie all the actors are traced by animators, giving the whole movie a very interesting visual effect.

4. Nacho Libre
The director of Napoleon Dynamite returns with this movie about a Mexican priest (Jack Black) who at night dons the outfit of a lucha libre wrestler to raise money for the local orphanage. I don’t know why, but this movie just sounds like it could be the funniest thing since… Well… Napoleon Dynamite!

3. Lady in the Water
M. Night Shyamalan will give us some more of his own brand of movie making with Lady in the Water, starring Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard. Giamatti is a landlord who one day finds a mysterious woman in the pool of his building. We don’t know much more about the movie yet, but with a Shyamalan picture you don’t want to know too much in advance anyway. Sounds very intriguing!

2. Superman Returns
Bryan Singer did great things with the X-Men franchise, and when you have the greatest superhero of them all at your disposal, what can go wrong? (Let’s hope those words won’t come back to haunt me…)

1. The Fountain
Darren Aranofsky will this year hopefully unleash his latest work, which involves romance and time travel and stars Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. A man finds out the love of his life is dying, and he starts a journey to the fountain of life in order to be able to save her life…

Originally published at www.scribbleking.com

Patrick Rijnders is a Dutch movie journalist with many years of experience. His weblog (http://www.scribbleking.com) is read by thousands of people from all over the world, next to which he still writes reviews for several Dutch magazines.

The latest Hollywood blockbuster historical epic has just hit our movie screens. Fans of spectacular swords and sandals extravanganzas like ?Gladiator? and ?Troy? will be clamoring to see ?Alexander?, the latest work by legendary director Oliver Stone.

?Alexander? stars Hollywood man of the moment Colin Farrell as Alexander the Great, the 4th century Macedonian king and military genius who conquered the entire known world by the age of 25. Angelina Jolie plays his mother, and Val Kilmer his father, while love interest duties are fulfilled by Rosario Dawson as Alexander?s Persian princess wife Roxanne. Jared Leto plays Alexander?s influential childhood friend Hephaistion, whose brief love affair with Alexander is portrayed in a subtle, suggestive way. The film also features respected veteran actors Anthony Hopkins and Christopher Plummer.

The scale of the story is truly epic, following the story of Alexander?s rise from ruler of tiny Macedonia, to conquer the might of the Persian Empire, then Egypt and ultimately India. His conquest shaped the destiny of the Western world for centuries to come by spreading Greek culture throughout the known world and paving the way for the expansion of the Roman Empire.

Stunning cinematography, magnificent locations and spectacular visual effects are probably the real stars. The film was shot in locations in Morocco, Thailand and the UK, and the sweeping landscapes and computer enhanced battle scenes are truly breathtaking, even for contemporary audiences jaded by a constant barrage of cinematic miraculousness. At almost three hours, this extravagant marathon of a film places itself decisively within the grand Hollywood epic tradition.

Critics? reaction to the film has been underwhelming, to say the very least. Most are describing it more or less as a triumph of style over substance, as critics will tend to do with a major release of this type. However, audiences who love good entertainment will be the final judge.

Find out more at this movie site.

Sufi Fanning is the Author at http://www.link2lifestyle.info

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s surprise announcement that he was seeking the California Governorship brought to mind the many times Hollywood figures have been involved in politics. Here are some related anecdotes:

When actors first came to Hollywood there were signs put up in front of hotels and apartments that said no dogs or actors allowed, with the performers ruefully complaining about not getting top billing. The insecurity of the profession has come through in political campaigns. When Ronald Reagan successfully ran for Governor of California in 1966 one of the fruitless tactics used by his opposition was a television commercial featuring Gene Kelley stating, In films I played a gambler, a baseball player and I could play a Governor but you wouldn’t really want an actor to really be a Governor would you?

Ronald Reagan at one time was such a Liberal Democrat he drove friends to distraction with his views. One day in the thirties he was driving a friend home from work, yammering on about President Roosevelt’s New Deal policies. Reagan who was near sighted and an erratic driver at best, seemed oblivious to road conditions. Ronnie, watch out for that truck! the friend yelled. Missing an accident by a hair, Reagan continued, Truck drivers, that’s who the New Deal will help!

Like former President Reagan, Walt Disney claimed to be a Roosevelt New Dealer until a nasty worker’s strike at his studio made him take a right turn. Although he campaigned heavily for Republican candidates the cartoon maker kept friendly relations with the other side. Walt loved giving personal tours of Disneyland, and enjoyed having former president Harry Truman as his guest, even when his fellow Missourian turned down a ride on Dumbo: Too much Republican symbolism.

Another mogul, Louis B. Mayer the founder of MGM was a staunch Republican his entire life. Mayer never quite got over Franklin Roosevelt beating his good friend Herbert Hoover but accepted an invitation to meet the Democratic President at the White House in 1933. Immediately upon arriving in the Oval Office Mayer surprised Roosevelt by pulling a clock from underneath his coat and placing it on the President’s desk. What’s that for, Mr. Mayer? Pardon me Mr. President. I heard you have the ability to have a man in your hip pocket after 18 minutes. Brandishing his long cigarette holder Roosevelt threw his head back and laughed, then began chatting with the film executive . He was startled when after seventeen minutes the mogul got up, grabbed the clock and left the room.

Another difficult encounter for the Roosevelt administration was with Shirley Temple. Hoping to get people’s mind off the Great Depression the President was nonstop in praise of the moppet’s movies saying that Americans should forget about their problems by paying fifteen cents to see the smile of a little girl. Both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were so enamored they invited little Shirley and her parents to visit them at their private estate in Hyde Park, New York. In the limo Shirley received mixed messages from her Conservative parents. On the one hand they were thrilled to meet the President and his wife, but they also hated their Big Government policies. Upon their arrival Mrs. Roosevelt graciously asked Shirley if she would like something fixed on the barbecue. Oh that would be wonderful, replied the child star. As Eleanor walked out back, the mischievous Shirley took out a slingshot, checked to make sure nobody was looking at what she was doing, and nailed the First Lady in the rear. The Secret Service came running at the sound of her shout, looked around the property for possible intruders but never thought about searching the angelic little movie star, who had skillfully hidden her weapon. Dinner passed pleasantly and the Temples returned to their hotel. Only then did Gertrude Temple tell her daughter that she had seen her naughtiness, and Shirley got walloped.

Many Hollywood figures prefer to have others speak for them. When Marlon Brando won the Academy Award for The Godfather (1972) he shocked the nation by sending a Native American named Sacheen Littlefeather in his place, She used the international platform of winning the Oscar to blast the USA’s treatment of her people( it turned out she was actually an imposter, she was actually a professional actress named Maria Cruz). There were many calls from the media for Brando to come out and state his views himself, but the reclusive star refused. One rumor had Brando sitting alone in his hilltop house watching John Wayne movies backwards so the Indians would win.

About The Author

Stephen Schochet is the author and narrator of the audiobooks Fascinating Walt Disney and Tales Of Hollywood. The Saint Louis Post Dispatch says, these two elaborate productions are exceptionally entertaining. Hear realaudio samples of these great, unique gifts at www.hollywoodstories.com.

orgofhlly@aol.com

This is such a curious and astonishing film that it’s hard to decide whether it’s a classic gem or a bungled effort to deliver a number of political messages through the ?motion picture? format.

Directed and written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (adapted from a play by Curt Goetz), the film features the university doctor Prof. Noah Praetorius (played by the eternally suave and smooth Cary Grant), a mysterious, mischievous and mystical doctor who not only cures his patients through unorthodox means (which would perhaps be called Human-Centered New Age Approach in 2006) but apparently even brings them back from the dead!

This of course does not sit well by his insanely jealous colleague Professor Elwell who tries to debunk Praetorius’s credentials throughout the movie and thus provides the classic Protagonist-Antagonist dramatic tension line. But that’s only one of the plot lines running from one end of this multi-tasking plot to the other.

The other plot line is the interaction of Dr. Praetorius with Deborah Higgins (Jeanne Crain), a student auditing his anatomy class, who later on becomes his wife. Higgins becomes pregnant from a lover who is no longer with her. Thus she is scared to death that her father will have a hard attack and die the minute he hears the bad news (this is the 50s). So Praetorius changes his story and tells her that a mistake was made during the pregnancy test.

But Praetorius is not the only character in this movie who is not what he or she seems to be on the surface. Deborah’s father Arthur (played by Sidney Blackmer), for example, who is a world-traveled man of far-flung ambitions turns out to be a total failure in worldly terms, living hand to mouth on his brother John’s farm.

Another most memorable character is Mr. Shunderson (Finlay Currie), a white-haired and silent elderly man who shadows Praetorius as his side-kick and servant wherever they go. He is like Praetorius’s shadow and Professor Elwell is pretty sure he is a screen hiding something unsavory in Praetorius’s past.

At every opportunity throughout the film we are treated to a lecture by Praetorius on how misdirected the modern science has become by forgetting the human essence of medicine and instead focusing on methods, measurements and machines. His symbolic act of pressing a candy into the palm of everyone he meets is a visual reminder of the role of kindness, human touch and plain ?sweetness? play in his approach to curing others. He is the kind of handsome and optimistic doctor that most patients fall in love with, some, like Higgins, literally.

After Praetorius and Higgins marry, she discovers that she is carrying a child that predates their marriage. So did Praetorius marry her out of love or pity? Is he using marriage as yet another tool to help one of his patients ? Higgins wants to know. Praetorius assures her that it is genuine love and not a sense of charity which drove him to their marriage… but as viewers we are not totally convinced.

The last long sequence of the movie (Act Three) is devoted to the trial of Praetorius by a university committee to see if the rumors are true and if he has violated any academic rules by hiding any sordid details of his past. The discipline committee hearing takes place while the university orchestra is waiting in the jam-packed concert hall for Praetorius to show up at the podium and pick up his baton. Yes — the multi talented Praetorius happens to be the conductor of the university’s symphony orchestra as well.

The hearing comes to a conclusion with Shunderson showing up in person and spoiling Prof. Rodney Elwell’s character assassination by telling his story. It turns out he has spent 15 years in jail for being falsely accused of killing his best friend who, while he was in prison, had a good time with Shunderson’s girlfriend.

So when Shunderson meets his old friend at a restaurant after he gets out of jail, he really kills him thinking he has already paid his dues for that specific crime. But the state prosecutor sentences him to death by hanging.

After going to the gallows and dying at the end of a rope, Shunderson’s corpse is donated by the hangman to a young Praetorius who was a medical student back then and dating the hangman’s daughter. Shunderson’s body is given to him to further his anatomy studies by experimenting on the corpse. Instead, Shunderson is revived by Praetorius miraculously and since then the two never went anywhere without one another.

At that scene we finally understand the tremendous devotion of Shunderson to Praetorius yet we are still a bit puzzled by the true identity of Praetorius. Who is this man who enjoys a Jesus-like power to bring the dead back to life and yet shrugs it away in extreme modesty whenever his exploits are mentioned?

In the very last scene, we watch an over-the-top Shunderson conducting a Brahms symphony to its triumphant conclusion while grinning ear to ear to Deborah who is marveling him from the very first row sitting right next to her father.

An unusual film with several creative but somewhat unconnected subplots and frequent monologues on serious topics. Yet you end up watching it with interest partly due to Cary Grant’s flawless performance in an odd role and partly just out of sheer curiosity to see ?where will all this lead?.

A 7 out of 10 for its courage to take on some heavy duty topics back in 1951. You’ll even find a mini-lecture tucked away there against the government policy of paying the American farmers for not cultivating certain crops. Such lecturing would not fly today but back in 1951 it obviously did.

Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a Creative Copywriter, Editor, an experienced and award-winning Senior Technical Communicator specializing in fundraising packages, direct sales copy, web content, press releases, movie reviews and hi-tech documentation. He has worked as a Technical Writer for Fortune 100 corporations since 1999. He is the editor of PRIVATE TUTOR FOR SAT MATH SUCCESS web site http://www.privatetutor.us

In addition to being an Ezine Articles Expert Author, he is also a Senior Member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), and a Member of American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI).

A true movie fan since he was a child, Akinci provides FREE MOVIE PLOT IDEAS every day of the year at SCRIPT BOILER. Visit http://scriptboiler.blogspot.com today.

You are most welcomed to visit his COPYWRITING WEB SITE http://www.writer111.com for more information on his multidisciplinary background, writing career, and client testimonials.

Movies have been made for decades — many of them involve a bomb being deactivated. When I see a scene in which a bomb is deactivated 1-3 seconds before it’s about to explode, I’m not impressed by the script writing. If I ever write a screenplay that includes a scene in which a bomb has to be deactivated, creativity will be my primary objective. In my story, the bomb will have one wire. That wire will be cut and the timer will stop. The timer’s digital display will read no less than sixteen hundred seconds remaining.

My idea lacks suspense, but it contains originality. I’m confident I’ll be able to write some intensity into the remaining 118 minutes of the film. I have ideas for other methods of building an original sequence of events into a script. For your reading enjoyment, I present you with an excerpt of thoughts from my head.

Major Davenport, permission to speak freely?

Can it wait Lieutenant Jefferson? I’m trying to deactivate this bomb.

No sir, I don’t believe it can wait, Sir.

Very well, Lieutenant, go ahead.

Major, Sir, that’s not a bomb. That’s a turkey, Sir.

What did you say, Lieutenant?

Sir, that’s a turkey, Sir.

A turkey? Good Lord, Lieutenant, who would plant a bomb inside a turkey?

No, Major, I mean that’s only a turkey. The bomb is over there, next to the device that looks like an alarm clock.

Lieutenant, I swear if you’re wrong I’ll have you cleaning toilets until you’re so high from the fumes that you’ll need a parachute to get back down!

Sir, I’m quite sure, Major, Sir.

Lieutenant, look at this timer! There’s only 100 seconds before this bomb goes off!

Sir, that’s not a timer, Sir. That’s a meat thermometer. The internal core temperature is slowly dropping, but I can say with absolute certainty that the turkey won’t explode. With all due respect, Sir, I suggest we call in a bomb disposal unit.

I have a better idea, Lieutenant Jefferson. Fire up the Stargate.

Sir?

You have a hearing problem, Mister?

Sir, No, Sir!

Then why are you still standing here, Lieutenant?

Sir, I’ll go start the dialing sequence immediately! Within minutes, Lieutenant Jefferson has the Stargate online and a wormhole open. He calls down to Major Davenport, Sir, I’ve established a stable connection with an uninhabited planet.

Good job, Lieutenant. As the Lieutenant watches him, he realizes something has just gone horribly wrong. The Stargate shuts off automatically, and he races down to the Major.

Major, that was the turkey.

What are you saying, Lieutenant?

You sent the turkey millions of lightyears from here, but the bomb is still here, and I think it’s about to explode.

May God have mercy on our souls.

The Lieutenant walks over to the bomb, switching the alarm clock to the off position. The timer shuts off. The General suddenly enters the room. Lieutenant, I was just about to eat the lunch I ordered. The cook says he had it delivered it here from the mess hall. Have you seen a turkey anywhere?

The Major steps in, General, the meat thermometer showed that it was undercooked. The Lieutenant and I agreed that sending it to another planet would be the best course of action to keep you safe, and we sent the turkey to where it couldn’t harm anyone.

Good work, Major! Lieutenant… Jefferson is it?

Sir, Yes, General Stevens!

Lieutenant Jefferson, I think I see a promotion coming your way.

Sir, thank you, Sir!

Lieutenant, why are you sweating?

Sir, I was in the immediate vicinity of the turkey, which was about 100 degrees Fahrenheit at the time when we disposed of it, General!

I see. Well, why don’t you hit the showers, then you and the Major report to my office in one hour for a debriefing.

The General walks away, as Major Davenport turns to the Lieutenant, and with a smile on face says, All’s well that ends well, eh, Lieutenant?

Sir, yes, Sir!

–
Andy Alt
Mental Dimensions
http://mentaldimensions.blogspot.com/
A humor column for people who enjoy observational humor, political farce, comedy editorials, satire and spoof, along with an occasional dose of non humor.

The one and only Dustin Hoffman, the fearless risk-taker with a million faces, was born in Los Angeles, California on 8/8/1937.

Hoffman breathed life to 64 movies in his busy career, including ?Midnight Cowboy (1969), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), The Graduate (1967), Straw Dogs (1971), and Billy Bathgate (1991).

Dustin Hoffman was nominated for the Academy Award for a total of 7 times in 1968, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1983, 1989, and 1998 and won it in 1980 and 1989 for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man (1988).

Here are some trivia facts about Dustin Hoffman:

1) At one point, he was almost offered the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972) and Rick Deckard in Blade Runner (1982).

2) During his struggling days in New York City as an unkown actor, he shared the same house with two other unknown actors — Robert Duvall and Gene Hackman. Hoffman once said ?I lived below the official American poverty line until I was 31.

3) In the Little Big Man (1970) he broke a Guinness age differential played by the same actor in a film record by playing the same character at ages 17 and 121.

My favorite Hoffman quote is: Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. (As Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate, 1967).

Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a Creative Copywriter, Editor, an experienced and award-winning Technical Communicator specializing in fundraising packages, direct sales copy, web content, press releases, movie reviews and hi-tech documentation.

He has worked as a Technical Writer for Fortune 100 companies for the last 7 years.

In addition to being an Ezine Articles Expert Author, he is also a Senior Member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), and a Member of American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI).

You can reach him at writer111@gmail.com for a FREE consultation on all your copywriting needs.

You are most welcomed to visit his official web site http://www.writer111.com for more information on his multidisciplinary background, writing career, and client testimonials.

While at it, you might also want to check the latest book he has edited:http://www.lulu.com/content/263630

While Wolfgang Mozart showed an amazing aptitude for music very early in life, he also displayed an absolute affinity for women. His charm was alluring, earning him the title, The Most Kissed Boy in Europe.

Unfortunately, his adorable charm began to fade when, at age seven, he proposed to the future queen of France, Marie Antoinette, and was rejected. Things got worse when his girlfriend and the love of his life forgot him after his absence during a musical tour of Europe. She didn’t even recognize him when he entered the room. Ouch.

Imagine, were he alive today, young Mozart could have tried courting 21st Century-style with a date at the movies. This teen was the type of courter who, eager to scoop a handful of bosom in the dark theatre, would employ the stretch and clutch maneuver.

This is a smooth and delicate movement where the suave pubescent pretends his arms need a stretch. After slowly lifting his limb closest to his target, he reaches around to her furthest shoulder and casually rests his hand there. Little by little he begins to feel the overwhelming force of earth’s gravity as his hand creeps down.

This tactic sometimes backfires, leaving a buttery hand print across the attacker’s doleful face and an angry phone call from the girl’s father. In the event his device failed, he would have simply pursued her sister. It worked for him back in the 1700’s!

Well, sort of.

His wife, the sister of the first forgetful girl, was described by him as not ugly, but in no means a beauty. He went on to write, She is not witty but has enough sound common sense to enable her to fulfill her duties as a wife and mother. Again, ouch!

Enough of Wolfgang. One fellow who never had any romantic charm to begin with was Franz Schubert, nicknamed Little Mushroom for his chubby stature, little round glasses, and shy, geeky nature. A crummy catch for most girls , he was a poor composer who couldn’t even afford his own piano and composed his piano works on a cheap guitar.

At one point he thought the best way to woo a potential sweetheart was to write her a love song. Unfortunately, he couldn’t sing to save his life ever since his voice broke at age 16. He devised a scheme where his friend, Schober, a handsome tenor, sang the tune to the girl with Schubert’s piano accompaniment. Much to the mushroom’s dismay, when the song was finished, the girl embraced Schober!

If only he were born in the mid-1900’s, Schubert would have been much more successful in catching girls with his music. All he would have to do was holler out the song himself, strum a few chords on his Fender and gaze at her through his groovy, John Lennon-style glasses. The guy would have been a babe magnet, and I’d still love his music, be it changed.

Peter Tchaikovsky had disastrous relationships. His first marriage lasted only 9 weeks, which resulted in him trying to kill himself. Other affairs didn’t get much better. He finally met a wealthy 46-year-old widow, but their relationship never went past writing letters for 14 years. They met once by pure accident and were so embarrassed that they ran in opposite directions.

Peter would have done very well had he the chance to date on the Internet. Thousands of on-line dating and matchmaker services offer a highly selective process in which the seekers specify the personality, physical appearance , income bracket and other details of themselves and their potential mates. Peter was a handsome lawyer who dressed very well and had expensive taste. This successful and famous musician was also sensitive guy who wasn’t afraid to cry. This hunk would have cleaned house on www.composerdate.com.

Even if he chose to continue his relationship with the widow on-line, it would’ve saved him oodles in postage stamps and would have been much quicker than mail delivery in 1880’s Russia. Maybe he could’ve gone a step further and picked up the phone, or even hopped on a plane to take a visit! It’s these modern-day miracles in technology that could have bridged an awkward gap in poor Tchaikovsky’s love life.

As I write this I think of what my love life would have been like if I lived in the time of the great composers. Chances are, I would’ve married for money, or worse, against my will, and life as a woman would have meant serving my husband and fifteen-plus children. At least my corset would’ve had me too breathless to complain…

Even though life seems to be more complicated in the 21st Century than ever before, I’m blessed to have a relatively simple life with endless opportunities and to have found love. It’s not romantic, but it’s simple, it’s real and it’s mine.

**Rhiannon Schmitt (nee Nachbaur) is a professional violinist and music teacher who has enjoyed creative writing for years.

She currently writes columns for two Canadian publications and Australia’s Music Teacher Magazine. Writing allows her to teach people that the world of music is as fun as you spin it to be!

Rhiannon’s business, Fiddleheads Violin School & Shop, has won several distinguished young entrepreneur business awards for her commitment to excellence. Her shop offers beginner to professional level instruments, accessories and supplies for very reasonable prices: Visit http://www.fiddleheads.ca

Rhiannon is also Founding President of the Shuswap Violin Society which promotes violin & fiddle music and helps young musicians in need: http://www.violinsociety.ca

Tagline: When the Earth Spits Out the Dead, They Will Rise to Suck the Blood of the Living.

The other night, I dreamed of the perfect movie. It was a strange dream, because the perfect movie starred Mia Farrow?s sister and a guy who looked a bit like Jack Elam. It was also Italian-made, so really bad dubbing was a given. And then there were the zombies. But not just normal shamble-around-and-eat-your-brains zombies. No, there were zombies fighting underwater against sharks. That?s right–sharks. And don?t forget about the nudity. Lots of nudity for no apparent reason. Mediocre acting. Mediocre special effects. Truly, the perfect movie was not what I expected it to be.

I awoke in the morning and realized that my dream was actually more of a nightmare. No sane movie fan would actually consider such silliness to be anywhere near perfect. It had all been a terrible, terrible mistake. Then imagine my surprise when I realized my perfect movie actually existed. It?s title? Zombie.

The movie begins as a seemingly abandoned boat drifts into New York harbor. A couple of cops are sent to investigate, and one quickly becomes a snack for the zombie lurking on board. It turns out the boat belongs to a missing scientist, and this quickly brings his concerned daughter, Ann Bowles (Tisa Farrow, sister to Mia), onto the scene. She meets up with Peter West (Ian McCulloch), a nosy reporter looking for a big story, and the pair decide to trek to the Antilles island chain, the last known location of Ann?s father. Shortly after arriving, they meet Brian (Al Cliver) and Susan (Auretta Gay), who are willing to take them to the isolated Matul Island on their boat. On the way, Susan decides to strip down to just a thong and go scuba diving. She runs into an underwater-dwelling zombie, but, luckily for her, a shark appears to do battle with the zombie, allowing her to escape (I?m not making this up, folks!). Once they reach Matul Island, the foursome meet Dr. Menard (Richard Johnson), who?s feverishly working on a cure for the strange disease ravaging the island. It seems that this disease is killing the locals and then causing them to rise from the grave in search of human flesh. From that point on, all hell breaks loose.

I realize that the summary is a little long, but Zombie takes forever to actually get all the characters in the same location. For a good bit of the film, we switch back and forth between the main characters and Dr. Menard. And once they?re finally all together, the climax of the movie is nearly in sight. But by that time, you?ll probably find that you and anyone else watching are in full Mystery Science Theater mode. It?s just one of those movies that?s more enjoyable when you?re making fun of it with your friends.

And believe me, there?s a lot to make fun of. The prime example, of course, being the showdown between an aquatic zombie and a hungry shark. While it?s certainly original, the sheer goofiness of the scenario will no doubt elicit laugher from even the most hardcore zombie fan. But what else would you expect from Italian director, Lucio Fulci? While his films have occasional moments of genuine creepiness, they?re most often just downright silly. Of course, he was always working with a budget of about five bucks, so maybe it wasn?t entirely his fault.

There?s also the fact that everyone in the film confronted with a zombie seems to freeze up and stand there, perhaps even tilting their neck to the side in order to give the fiend a clear path to their jugular. What the hell ever happened to running for your life?! I know the undead would be a terrifying sight, but I imagine the prospect of being eaten alive would be even more horrifying. I know it?s just a horror movie, but I?d like to see some realistic behavior demonstrated from time to time.

On a more positive note, fans of gore and nudity (count me among this crowd) won?t go away completely disappointed. The women in the film are above average, and the violence certainly lives up to the reputation established by Italian cinema. We get gunshot wounds galore, lots of arteries severed by undead teeth, and even a nice scene involving a woman?s eyeball and the jagged wood from a battered door.

But if you?re not a fan of such things, your expectations should probably plummet. Zombie is good for a cheap thrill and not much else. Anyone looking for artistic merit will be left scratching their head (unless you define artistic merit as later adding an opening and closing scene set in New York in order to capitalize on the success of Dawn of the Dead). It?s classic Italian horror cinema, and that?s about the biggest compliment and insult that I can give it.

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