Thing is that you can't access e-mail in Miami Dade COunty Schools.
Here we go again.
Old Glory Doesn’t Fly Around Here Anymore
By: David A. Barrios
The familiar sites of a high school are present here in Hialeah. The clicks and all the usual suspects.: The jocks, the nerds, the Goths and all those wonderful individuals that make up a school comprised of some forty-four hundred students. Yet, of course, something was missing.
Where was old glory?
In the aftermath of the onslaught that was the 2005 hurricane season, among the other things we lost such as shingles, roofs, power and our sanity was the functionability of the main flag pole which looms high in front of the annex building. The pulley system employed to raise the flags and the anchor which is used to fasten the flag securely was damaged and for over a year, our nations flag did not fly above our school but instead sat in a small closet in the JROTC room, still unfurled.
Hollywoodland
United States, 2006
U.S. Release Date: 9-8-06
Stars: Adrien Brody, Ben Affleck, Diane Lane, Bob Hoskins
In all reality, we may never know who killed George Reeves, televisions original Superman during the 1950’s. Certainly, he was no great actor; just a bit-player on the MGM lot until fate came in and gave him a chance on a B-level show that somehow became a cultural phenomenon.
It is here we are introduced to Private Investigator Louis Simo; running an office out of a cheep, sleazy hotel room. With his son mourning after his Reeve’s apparent suicide and with hints from colleges that there may be more to this murder than meets the eye, he is drawn into the case and into a sea of mistresses, femme fetals and vicious studio executives.
The problem with Allen Coulter’s “Hollywoodland” is that with all the materials at hand, he just can’t seem to bring it together. The film feels as if it is meandering throughout. It just does not seem to know what it wants to be: a biography on an oft-forgoten man or a seedy murder investigation.
Let me make it clear: I have no problem with the juxtaposition of past events and present events that are dramatized in the film. Instances such as “The Godfather Part II” seamlessly allow this method of storytelling, making for an incredibly rewarding film watching experience and paying off ultimately. But here, the transitions between Reeves life and the events leading to his death and the subsequent investigation by Simo just come off as uninspired. Coulter, an excellent director that he is (Director of HBO series’ such as “Rome” and “Six Feet Under”), seems uninspired and creates a truly underwhelming film that makes you ask: “what was it all worth”.
In fact, there is more trouble than just the direction. The script is weak, with nothing original to bring to the table and more than that, there is a major miscast with Adrien Brody as Simo. Simo is not, at least in my mind, the personification of the hard-boiled, shop worn detective of film-noirs in the past. He is no Phillip Marlowe or Samuel Spade. He seems to try to inhabit his role but it’s just plain to see that it can’t be done.
However, it never seemed possible that a critic could be saying this but Ben Afleck is perhaps the best part of the work. And no: I have not forgotten about some of his masterpieces such as: “Gigli” or “Surviving Christmas” or that Oscar Winner “Pearl Harbor”. But in all seriousness, Afleck inhabits his role and seems to finally be coming on his own as a serious dramatic actor, maturing from his days as just the Hollywood heartthrob. Don’t take my word for it, but we should be anticipating some Best Supporting Actor nominations for him, especially after his big win at the Venice Film Festival in September. Afleck and Diane Lane work very well on-screen and show chemistry which adds believability to the torrid affair between TV’s Superman and the wife of an MGM executive.
But that does not change the fact that a lot of things just could not be done in this work. I hate to say it, but with the talent behind the camera and in front, “Hollywoodland” as a whole is about as dead as the subject being examined.
