By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

With the start of couch potato season (that is, the opening of college and professional football, U.S. Open Tennis, and baseball pennant runs), the motion picture industry has become more strategic about releasing films in September. Nineteen years ago Paramount Pictures found box office gold by releasing The First Wives Club as a counter to non-stop programs of televised sports.

Last week, War Room ended Straight Outta Compton’s August box office domination. Produced for a mere $3 million, War Room has grossed over $39 million, creating a comfortable profit margin. War Room is a faith-based movie about the power of prayer healing a family’s domestic woes.

With little fanfare beyond some cheesy television commercials, 90 Minutes from Heaven opened last weekend. This film is a quiet, thought provoking piece of Christian cinema.

In 1989, Pastor Don Piper (Hayden Christensen) gets into a car accident and is pronounced dead for 90 minutes. Despite the dire situation, another preacher demands he be allowed to pray with the corpse. When he sings What a friend I have in Jesus, Pastor Don Piper is revived.

Enter Don’s wife Eva (Kate Bosworth). Besides being the pastor’s wife, she is also a school teacher with three children. With the support of the family, the community and the medical staff, Eva holds down the house as her husband makes a painful recovery.

90 Minutes in Heaven is a simple drama. Deliberately slow-paced at times, the film accurately presents how medical recovery can be a depressing experience. Eva Piper, Kate Bosworth, absorbs the brunt of the pain and only reveals her vulnerable character when she is alone, away from her children and friends. Considering the bad rap he has endured for his role as “Young Darth Vader” in the Star Wars prequels, Hayden Christensen enjoys career redemption with this film.

Before the screenings of War Room and 90 Minutes in Heaven began, there was a series of interesting trailers about other upcoming faith-based motion pictures, including Captive starring David Oyelowo (Selma) and Kate Mara, and Woodlawn, starring Sean Astin and Jon Voight, as the legendary Alabama Crimson Tide coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. Woodlawn should spark local interest because it features the story of Young Tony Nathan, former Miami Dolphin utility player under Don Shula.

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

It was late one July night that I stayed up with my cousin Ronny and my brother Carm to watch Sherlock Homes and the Secret Weapon, starring Basil Rathbone. While Rathbone will always be the ultimate Holmes for me, the modern day search for authenticity has created some fine performances from Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Now the Master Thespian Sir Ian McKellan portrays the Master Detective in Mr. Holmes.

Based on the novel A Slight Trick of the Mind written by Mitch Cullin, Mr. Holmes examines the mystery of regret and usefulness. Living in a cottage near the White Cliffs of Dover, Holmes has left London and has basically lived in seclusion for 30 years. A man of eclectic interests, Holmes devotes most of his time to tending bees.

While running an errand for Mr. Holmes, young Roger (Milo Parker) uncovers an incomplete manuscript about Sherlock Holmes’ last case. Angered at first, Holmes completes the manuscript, but not before confronting an emotional secret from his past.

Running under two hours, Mr. Holmes packs a lot of plot. Yet, under Bill Condon’s direction, Mr. Holmes unfolds at a leisurely pace. This pacing allows the actors to breathe life into their characters. While not as heralded as Sir Ian McKellan’s showy performance, Laura Linney reveals much about Mrs. Munro with only an askance glance, a revealing voice, and a voice that is always trying to prevent itself from screaming.

Mr. Holmes is likely to generate Oscar buzz for Sir Ian McKellan. It is a culmination of so many roles the actor has played in the past 18 years.

Every emotion is on display, yet the actor never loses control of the character’s genius.

While the big studios are mass marketing the latest Mission Impossible and Fantastic Four, South Florida is about to screen some independent films locally that have created some overseas buzz. Opening August 20 at Cinema Paradiso is Marshland (La isla minima), a thriller set in a secluded area in the South of Spain.

On Saturday August 15, Cinema Paradiso will also be screening Thomas R. Dicken’s Aliens: Zone-X. The director Thomas R. Dickens, who worked as an animator, modeler and technical director on the Scooby Doo movies, will attend the screening.

Info: www.fliff.com