Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov has broken all Russian box office records (making more than $16 million) with this depressing but visually stunning film about good vs. evil in modern Moscow.  Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozer), Russia’s entry in the 2004 Academy Awards, is an action-packed nail-biter combining Old Russian myths about ancient beings representing the dark and light of humanity and their thousand-year treaty over control of the world.  The film lays out an ancient story of the Light forces who police the world’s Dark Ones — the vampires, witches, shape-shifters, and sorcerers that wreak havoc at night while the Dark Ones have the Day Watch.  The world is kept sane by a delicate balance between good and evil, but as the film unveils, that fate is in jeopardy.

Night Watch’s cast is full of Russian film stars who are unknowns to American audiences but look just like the good-looking, youthful actors we put on magazine covers here in the States.  Director Bekmambetov puts his $4 million budget to good use, painting a visual pallet that rivals anything done on this side of the pond.  The picture he does reveal is of an urban Moscow that could easily be Los Angeles, Chicago, or any other American metro area.  There are plenty of run-down apartment buildings, factories, and seedy neighborhoods where you’d think vampires and other Dark Ones would tend to hang out.  And even without the Russian dialogue and subtitles, a Russian sensibility is all over the film, which may be what made it a bit confusing and convoluted, but to be honest, so are many American films in this genre.

Night Watch is based on the books of Russian novelist Sergei Lukyanenko, which were big literary hits in his native land.  They became worldwide cult faves as fantasy fans across the globe found them on the Internet, helping to boost sales to more than 2.5 million copies.  Director Bekmambetov has already made deals to make English-language films based on the remaining books by Mr. Lukyaneko.  Day Watch (Dnevnoy Dozor), the next installment, has already been filmed and released in Russian.

Night Watch’s fantasy mayhem could easily be mistaken as a metaphor for a Russian society in flux over a transition from a restrictive Soviet society that was full of paranoia and secret political struggles that always played out behind closed doors.  Though the visual effects and art direction are a feast to the eyes, it is difficult to emotionally connect to the characters, and the confusing, slightly out-of-sync storytelling is jarring and leaves you scratching your head at certain crucial points where clarity and simple plot points are desperately needed for this kind of film.  Some of the puzzlement could be attributed to the difference in our cultures, but storytelling, especially in action-oriented films, should cross all borders.  Sadly, at the end of watching Night Watch, you’re glad that the apocalypse has been averted, but you’re not sure why.  

If you’re a big fan of Sci-fi, fantasy, and slasher films, you’ll probably have a good time viewing Night Watch, but if you’re expecting insight into Russian society, you’re better off staying home and watching the Russians win gold medals at the Olympic games on TV.  Night Watch is dark, gloomy, and wild and will appeal to teen boys who are accustomed to similar material while playing like games on their Xbox or Playstation III consoles.  I guess it’s both good and bad that Russian cinema is looking more and more like their American counterparts.  Let’s just hope that the Light Side wins out over the Dark Ones in the battle for the global box office.

Night Watch is now playing in select theaters in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco and is released through Fox Searchlight.  For fun, go to their website here and download a two and half minute version of the entire film.  Running time 1 hour, 56 minutes.

Rich Burlingham

New Orleans began its celebration of Mardi Gras Friday without official corporate sponsorship. Although festivities have been covered by the city in the past, Hurricane Katrina has left the Crescent City’s coffers empty. Sponsorship would have funded expenses for security during the celebration and for post-party clean-up which together are estimated at $2.7 million. The eight-day festival is an investment the city cannot afford to let pass.

Lack of sufficient funding and financial support in rebuilding New Orleans has turned Mardi Gras into a controversial effort, in the process raising publicity for an event which plays a crucial role in Nola’s tourist economy. Resources are few and progress is slow. The city’s demographic has changed: the majority of the current population has enough money in the bank to wait out the process of reconstruction.

Trash bag manufacturer Glad Products has contributed 100,000 trash bags as well as a six-figure donation to the Mardi Gras celebration. Meanwhile, Shell Exploration and Production Co. has been signed on to sponsor the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, another of the city’s key tourist attractions, this April.

Last week, the story was that America and Israel were going to cooperate on undermining Palestine’s new Hamas-led government.  It seemed they figured that if they made it difficult for Hamas to govern, that would make them lose support among the Palestinians.

Someone must have spoken up at a meeting down in Foggy Bottom.  “Gee, uh, Condi, um, maybe I’m going out on a limb here, but do you think maybe Hamas will blame Israel and America for any problems it has?  Maybe conspiring against them could make them stronger?  Oh, and please don’t tell anybody in Cheney’s office I said that.  I like to keep my phone calls private, and you know how that last guy got shot in the face.”

So, it does seem that minor amounts of common sense have infiltrated U.S. policy.  This week, they’re warning Israel not to take too drastic of steps, with the obvious subtext that it could strengthen Hamas.

Pete DeWan

Now I see you, damned house builder!
You ain’t building no house no more!”
All your rafters busted,
the roof has collapsed.
And the mind, set loose
from the quagmire of its own making,
scores a major victory:
no more thirst!

Click here and there for a visual translation.

Dhammapada XI.8

Gahakāraka dittho’si
puna geham na kāhasi
sabbā te phāsukā bhaggā
gahakūtam visamkhitam
visamkhāragatam cittam
tanhānam khayam ajjhagā.

About the poem: According to the Indian commentator Buddhaghosa, the son of Māyā uttered these precise words at the crack of dawn, under a tree on a river bank, to express the intense joy he experienced in the split second of awakening.

Jan Vihan Jan Vihan is a contributing writer for In The Fray.

The Visual Effects Society (VES) handed out its awards for achievement in visual effects in television, feature films, games, and commercials last night at the Palladium in the heart of Hollywood.  The golden statues in the shape of a moon, in honor of the pioneer of visual effects, filmmaker Georges Méliès, are awarded to visual effects supervisors and producers who make up the membership of VES, though nominees do not have to be members to qualify for awards.

The team from WETA Digital, director Peter Jackson’s effects company in New Zealand, took what could be considered the VES Awards top prize, Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture, for King Kong.  Teams on Kong also took two other prizes for Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture and Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Motion Picture for their 1930s New York City.  The other top prize, and, for some, more prestigious because it honors effects that are seamless parts of a film, is Outstanding Supporting Visual Effect in a Motion Picture, and that award went to Ridley Scott’s crusades film Kingdom of Heaven.

The other big winners were teams from ILM for their amazing work on Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, which took three prizes, including Best Single Visual Effect of the Year.  Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture went to Gromit from Nick Park and Aardman Animation’s stop motion film Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.  Other winners included the HBO series Rome, ABC-TV’s Lost, the video game Need For Speed: Most Wanted and the Nine Inch Nails music video Only.  

Besides the awards for 2005 films, VES presented their Georges Méliès Award for Pioneering & Artistic Excellence to Pixar’s John Lasseter for being the driving force behind the use of computer-generated animation.  A parade of celebrity presenters who have worked with Mr. Lasseter on the many Pixar features he has either directed and/or produced had heartfelt praise that could almost match the quality of the work he has created with such hits as Toy Story, The Incredibles, and his newest film Cars which comes out later this year.  Praise flowed, from Craig T. Nelson (Mr. Incredible) to Cheech Marin (Cars) to John Ratzenberger (A Bug’s Life, Toy Story, Cars) who had these remarks: “What a thrill it was to read in the paper that you were coming to take over Disney Animation. On the same day, on page nineteen in another part of the same newspaper, there was an article, which said that Walt Disney had stopped spinning in his grave!”  

Upon receiving his award, Lasseter, speaking to a room full of visual effects professionals, reminded them about not getting too wrapped up in the technology and to always remember, “What interests people is how you entertain them, the story and the characters … Computers don’t create the animation, people do. It’s all about combining art and technology. Art challenges technology, and technology inspires art.”

Actress Bonnie Hunt (A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc., Cars), who presented the award to Lasseter, entertained the crowd with both touching and amusing comments. After praising Lasseter’s genius, creativity, and attention to detail, she said, “The love and passion you damn nerds have for your work is amazing. You are such a big deal … John, you know how I feel about you. We slept together last night! And (the sex) was fully animated.”

For a complete list of award winners and further information about the Visual Effects Society, go to www.visualeffectssociety.com.

Rich Burlingham

In the weird mélange of reality and fiction, Osama bin Laden will follow in the footsteps of Hitler when he takes on Batman in the upcoming Holy Terror, Batman! graphic novel. The core of the plot is simple: Osama bin Laden, the curiously elusive al-Qaeda leader, charges America with being the “Great Satan” that peddles a culture seeped in aggression and pornography (and the recently released images of torture at Abu Graib jail that occurred in 2003 will hardly damped the fervor of such accusations) and then attacks Batman’s Gotham city, which is modeled on New York City.

Frank Miller, the author of Batman, sees no shame in propaganda, and he recently stated at a comic book convention that “It is, not to put too fine a point on it, a piece of propaganda — Batman kicks al-Qaeda’s ass…It just seems silly to chase around the Riddler when you’ve got al-Qaeda out there.”

The earliest possible publication for the Batman comic featuring Osama bin Laden will likely be next year, but this isn’t the first time that comic books have been employed in the service of political objective — in 2005 the U.S. Army was attempting to create a comic book that would, in theory, have the youth of the Middle East and Islamic world embracing Americanism with open arms. The rationale was that “in order to achieve long-term peace and stability in the Middle East, the youth need to be reached.” Thus, the American government’s Federal Business Opportunities website posted an ad looking for a collaborator for “a series of comic books,” since the medium would provide “the opportunity for youth to learn lessons, develop role models and improve their education.” The comic book would be produced by a new player in the business: the U.S. Special Operations Command based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, home to the 4th Psychological Operations Group.

Any pawns in the escalating war of media propaganda between the U.S. and the Muslim and Middle Eastern world will face stiff competition. The tentacular reach and popularity of the graphic novel now extends to the Middle East with AK Comics’ Middle East Heroes line of comic books, which is the first comic book specifically targeted for the audience in the region. The graphic novel, which is published in both Arabic and English, pits forces of good and evil for control of the City of All Faiths. Al-Ahram Weekly ran an article last year about Middle East Heroes with the cheerful title “My Favorite Superhero,” which quoted a 27-year-old business analyst explaining the appeal of the comic: “The setting is familiar and most characters’ names are Arabic…it’s just easier to connect.”

While jingoistic propagandism on both ends of the conflict will likely find an easy, or at least curious, audience, it will also likely deepen the unthinking rift that cuts through the ideological spectrum.

Mimi Hanaoka

An Australian television station is showing new photos of abuse, torture and murder at Abu Ghraib. The Pentagon says it’s already been investigated, and everybody responsible has been brought to justice.  What this means is that the GIs who were identifiable in the published photos were tried for it, along with a few of the low-level people in charge.  That’s it.  This means that we’re supposed to believe that in those photos with fifteen people looking on, none of the others were responsible.  Despite what the Red Cross says, the published photos apparently show every significant incident.

So that’s not a plausible story.  But so what, who cares?  America is now a torture state.  We all know it.  For a few days it will be minor news, with a brief blurb or two on some programs and then on to whatever’s next.

In fact, talking about it is irresponsible and probably unpatriotic because it might upset those irrational Arabs.  “The department believes that the release of all of these images will further inflame and cause unnecessary violence in the world,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman says.

Just don’t think about it too much, and everything will be okay.

Pete DeWan

This month in The Atlantic, everybody’s favorite liberal hawk Kenneth Pollack comes through with a summary of a Brookings Institute pow-wow on Iraq.  Apparently a group of experts with a “wide range of beliefs and politics” got together to figure it all out.  With this fine seven-step program, it will be possible to salvage our great adventure.

Now I’m not a credentialed expert like these guys, so I have a few questions.

Pollack starts.  “December’s elections once again demonstrated the desire of Iraqis for a prosperous, pluralist, and pacific country.”  Was this shown by an election in which nearly everybody voted for an ethnic or sectarian party?

Step one is protecting civilians and infrastructure.  He recommends a system of checkpoints, patrols, and security searches at least partially manned by Americans.  This is supposed to make the Iraqi people feel safe.  Might an Iraqi waiting to be searched by American soldiers be reminded of some other situation in the Middle East?  Does Pollack read the other articles in The Atlantic?

Step two is a move from a primarily offensive focus against the insurgency to a more defensive posture.  This is buttressed by step three, which suggests that the effort should be focused on the reasonably safe areas rather than the more hostile.  When the Iraqis say they want Americans out, do they really mean they want more Americans to come into their neighborhoods to displace the militias they voted for?  

Pollack also recommends leaving the Kurds alone, since they are doing relatively better under the protection of the Pesh Merga, the Kurdish militia.  What makes some militias okay?  Might the existence of a Kurdish militia provide some motivation to other groups to maintain their own?

Step four is to train the Iraqi forces properly, engendering effective units with high cohesion.  This sounds pretty good.  It seems it was a lack of training (read fear) which led to the Iraqi soldiers, many of whom are members of the militias, melting away when asked to kill other Iraqis.  Were they maybe taking orders from someone else?  How loudly did they profess their loyalty to the Iraqi government over their sectarian interests?

Step five is to create a unified command structure for the Americans with a leader “something like a Roman proconsul.”  Is this the right metaphor for dispelling the perception of imperialism?

Step six is to decentralize power and revenues to the local governments to compensate for the weakness and corruption of the center.  In history class I learned that America once had a weak and ineffective central government.  Alexander Hamilton got the federals to take over state debts to cement the financial and political power of the center.  Was he wrong?

Finally, in step seven, they recommend bringing in the international community.  What has previously prevented the rest of the world from showing their eagerness to work with Bush at a dangerous and possibly hopeless task?  Can we count on the administration continuing their thoughtful and pragmatic diplomacy?

It seems Iraqis just need a little help to recognize the fundamental benevolence of the American effort.  It’s all in their interest.

Are you an American?  Do you believe this?  Good.  I’m sure it’s just a matter of time for an Arab population under military occupation by the authors of Abu Ghraib.

Pete DeWan

So the height of misogynistic movie splendor has got to be The Wedding Date. Marketed as a “chick flick,” this one proves just how desperate and blind we women really are. In this one, we’re supposed to believe that the beautiful, successful, but of course low self-esteem-plagued “Kat” falls for, wait for it … a male escort.

Hmmm, where do I start?

Well, uh, let’s see. Does the fact that he sells himself for a living make for a stellar character reference? According to the movie, “Nick” grew up in HippieFreeLoveLand, which makes it that much easier for him to turn his body into a monetary transaction.

Next up, or rather first off, what power-that-be is so strong to allow Kat to believe that she is not whole if she doesn’t show up with some major arm candy? Conveniently, it’s her ex, another emotionally stunted male.

Let’s not even go there with her stepdad, the pillar of wisdom figure who not only knows she’s kickin’ it with a male prostitute but approves of the match, urging Kat ever forward in her pursuit of the maligned and misunderstood alpha male.

And finally, there’s the fairy tale ending. Despite sleeping with presumably hundreds (or tens and twenties, at least), Nick the man hasn’t gotten jaded enough or rubbed the wrong way (pun intended) one too many times that he doesn’t believe in True Love.

And the lovely Kat (appropriately named) is The One. And she knows he’s The One. So off they go to presumably live happily ever after. And the question of his profession? Pshaw! The possibility of jealousy or even just queasiness on her part? Unthinkable!

No wonder women cry at the end of movies like this one. After having the idea that we are indeed the weaker gender shoved down our throats (literally, in Kat’s case), we’re supposed to believe that somehow we too can achieve this achingly happy ending, despite our deep-rooted flaws.

Women don’t cry at the end of chick flicks because we’re happy. We cry because we’re disappointed, defeated, and ultimately beat down by the message that we’re not whole without a man (for straight women, at least), that the imperfect, compromising, and difficult road of a relationship isn’t good enough unless the dude’s physically hot or, at the very least, rich, and that this is what we should strive for, this is the definitive goal for our fair sex, and if we’ve somehow found ourselves stuck with a man who deems it appropriate to scratch and burp in front of us, or worse, without one at all, we have ultimately failed in our quest.

So I’m a hypocrite, right? I must’ve sat through the damn entire film to write these things. Yeah, sure, I watched it. And yeah, I’ll even watch more chick flicks. But damned if I’ll be crying at the end.

Desiree Aquino

Sing with me: “Knowing we understand nothing,
from an eerie ocean we come, to an inscrutable sea we go.”
And between the two mysteries lies the profound puzzle:
an unfamiliar key locks three coffers.
Light illuminates nothing and the wise man does not teach.
What do words say? And what about the mountain stream?

…

Wayfarer! Your own footprints
are the path and nothing more.
Wayfarer! There is no path,
the path is made as you walk.

As you walk you make the path,
and looking back
you see a trail you may never tread again.

Wayfarer! There is no path,
only wakes in the sea.

…

Everything passes and all remains,
but ours is the passing,
passing making paths,
paths over the sea.

“Proverbios y cantares”

XV

Cantad conmigo a coro: Saber, nada sabemos,
de arcano mar venimos, a ignota mar iremos …
Y entre los dos misterios está el enigma grave;
tres arcas cierra una desconocida llave.
La luz nada ilumina y el sabio nada enseña.
¿Qué dice la palabra? ¿Qué el agua de la peña?

XXIX

Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada más;
Caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace el camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante, no hay camino
sino estelas en la mar.

XLIV

Todo pasa y todo queda,
pero lo nuestro es pasar,
pasar haciendo caminos,
caminos sobre la mar.

About the poem: With these proverbial limericks Antonio Machado forever changed the way Spaniards walk: while caminar is to walk as if passively following a path, andar is to walk in an active sense—to walk making paths.

Jan Vihan Jan Vihan is a contributing writer for In The Fray.

You could probably throw a dart at any executive at any of the major studios in Hollywood and, after screaming in pain, they would say their strategy for making films these days is based on a global marketing initiative.  The stakes have changed, the studios are now all part of media conglomerates, and the new showbiz sales adage has now become “It’s nothing if doesn’t play in Pretoria.”  The new Warner Bros. Pictures major release Firewall, starring Harrison Ford, could be the poster child for this new form of world entertainment.  It is slick, well-crafted, well-acted, full of action and images of the high life of American society, and a flawlessly produced filmed product with nothing to say and no heart and soul.  It is hard to criticize such a film because it is enjoyable to watch with enough thrills and action to keep it interesting but also easily forgotten once you leave the theater.  

Firewall is another of these home/office- invasions-by-criminals-acting-a-lot-like-terrorists movies in recent years taking advantage of the fears brought upon after 9/11.  Harrison Ford plays Jack Stanfield, a top-ranking bank executive who designed the most effective anti-theft system in the industry.  Paul Bettany is Bill Cox, a wolf in Brooks Brothers suit who kidnaps Jack’s family and forces him to break into his own bank and steal money for them, which these days involves electronic transactions to those elusive off-shore accounts.  And just like his President Marshall in Air Force One, Harrison Ford takes matters into his own hands, and the rest you can figure it out on your own.

The supporting cast is first-rate but underused, especially the underappreciated Virginia Madsen, who is relegated to the resourceful wife role.  Mary Lynn Rajskub, a standout on Fox TV’s 24, is relegated to resourceful secretary role, and the always reliable Robert Forster is relegated to the doomed friend role.  British director Richard Loncraine has made some impressive films in the past, such as the compelling modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Richard III and the controversial black comedy Brimstone and Treacle.  Now it seems he’s relegated himself to Hollywood fluff such as the mediocre Wimbledon, also starring Paul Bettany, who trades in his leading man status to take on the bad-guy role so often coddled by actors these days.  Just a note, Bettany will take on another off-color character in director Ron Howard’s blockbuster-to-be The Da Vinci Code later this year.

With so many other films around that deserve audiences, it’s a shame that Firewall will probably bring in big money, globally, of course.  I guess the bottom line dictates that these kinds of films, which deserve their place at the multiplexes, take center stage on America’s world war on box office dominance.  At least it can be said that, although Firewall isn’t the best story out there, it is at least well-made and won’t embarrass us with the folks in Pretoria.  

Firewall opens February 10th nationally.  Released by Warner Bros. Pictures. Running time is 105 minutes.

Rich Burlingham