L’Odyssée de Cartier ... a short film; epic proportions.

STOP what you're doing right now and watch!

This three and a half minute "

L’Odyssée de Cartier

" directed by French photographer,

Bruno Aveillan,

is an exquisite and mesmerizing short film. Stunning visual effects will leave you hitting the replay button again and again. It's that excellent. The film is an epic "journey between dream and reality."

Truly a work of art.

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Mario Van Peebles - WE The Party

[caption id="attachment_11225" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Photo by Ciena Leshley / Southerner"]

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With a million dollar smile and his cultured charm, actor/director

Mario Van Peebles

spent a good portion of his Wednesday morning with about 50 Grady High School students. He's in Atlanta with the Bronzelens Film Festival promoting the new film he directed titled

We The Party

. Van Peebles described the movie as "fun but with nutritional value."

Patrick Cage II

who is one of the stars of the film told me that We The Party is about the lives of six individuals and how today's generation is starting to move away from sex and drugs.

Salli Richardson-Whitfield

and

Snoop Dogg

also star in the film. [ I think the kids were impressed when Mario said that he "just phoned-up Snoop" and asked him to be in the movie because they've always wanted to do one together.]

Van Peebles was engaging from the moment he arrived to Grady's Black Box Theater. He was genuinely interested in connecting with the students by asking them questions about their career choices and wanting to learn the latest freestyle dance moves. He advised the students that professionally, good (and friendly) people skills are very important and to "be in a business that you love with people you want to work with and to try to (always) say something meaningful."

Mario Van Peebles was clearly having a good time. He hung around for pictures and autographs until his publicist whisked him away... My colleague and good friend,

John Brandhorst

and I were able to grab a picture with Mario just before.

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The Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Cast:  James Franco, Andy Serkis, Brian Cox, and John Lithgow

I will admit that I have never seen the original 

Planet of the Apes

films from the 1960’s and 70’s.  I did unfortunately  see the hot, steaming mess that was  

Tim Burton’s

remake of the original film in 2001.   So I had low expectations going in to see this new installment.  While far from great,  

Rise of the Apes

has a solid premise and a glimmer of what could be some pretty amazing sequels.

Academy Award nominee

James Franco (127 Hours)

plays a scientist struggling to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease.  He develops a drug that enhances brain function and is testing its effectiveness on apes.  Franco’s motive is strong.  His father, played by the fabulous Academy Award nominee

John Lithgow (Terms of Endearment)

,  is suffering from Alzheimer's and is on the verge of losing his battle.  The drug is effective, and it leads to a baby ape, Caesar, developing a high level of intelligence.  The CGI ape is played by

Andy Serkis

who is very familiar with motion capture technology.  Serkis helped to pioneer new ground over ten years ago with his portrayal of Gollum in the modern classic

The Lord of the Rings.

As Caesar's intelligence increases over the years he begins to realize that he is treated more like the pets he sees in his residential neighborhood.  

In a violent scene, Caesar rushes to the defense of John Lithgow and injures another man.  Animal control then forces James Franco to turn Caesar over to a facility that cares for apes.   This ape orphanage is run by  

Brian Cox  (The Bourne Supremacy).

Cox’s character is not concerned with how the apes are treated which further alienates Caesar from humans.  One of the better sequences of the film involves

Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy of the Harry Potter series)

. He is an employee at the ape facility who takes a bit too much pleasure in making the apes suffer.  Caesar's revenge is satisfying and a little electrifying.  Eventually there is a great ape escape, and the apes flee through San Francisco in a race to reach the great Red Wood forest.  The end sequence is thrilling as the apes battle the authorities on the Golden Gate Bridge.

The film's major flaw is that the it takes too long to build up to the actual rise of the apes.  Anyone going to this film knows the gist.  The apes will take over and we become their pets.  

Director Rupert Wyatt

does make you feel compassion for the apes; you sympathize and even route for them.  You will just have to wait for the final 20 minutes for the exciting parts.  There will be a sequel for sure, and the possibilities are endless.  Halfway through the movie I was ready for it to be over, but at the end I was ready for round two.  Bottom line: too much time was spent monkeying around.  When you name your movie

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes

, make sure they rise up.

fashionado

film

score 6 out 10

fashionado

film

Jamie Clemons

The Adjustment Bureau

Director: George Nolfi
Starring:  Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, and Anthony Mackie

Are you in control of your life?  Can your daily routine be altered by outside forces that change the course of your destiny?  Oscar winner Matt Damon (Hereafter) is a young politician on the fast track, but a photo leak to the press leads to a humiliating defeat on election night.  While licking his wounds in a hotel bathroom he meets Emily Blunt (The Young Victoria), and develops an instant attraction to her.  But before he can get her name or number she rushes out of the hotel.

Defeated, Damon returns to the private sector to work along side his former campaign manager.   By chance one year later, Damon sees Emily Blunt on a city bus.   This random encounter alters the timeline of his day and he arrives earlier than expected to a meeting. He finds several men in fedoras surrounding his coworkers who appear to be frozen with electronic devices attached to their heads.  Damon, in a state of panic, flees the scene but is pursued by the fedora-wearing men.  When he is captured, these men are forced to reveal to Damon that they are The Adjustment Bureau, a world wide organization that tracks the earth’s population and enures that their lives follow a preset plan.  The plan is outlined by the head of the Bureau known only as The Chairman.  Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) plays a Bureau agent assigned to follow every move of Damon's life.  Mackie's job is to ensure that Damon's relationship with Blunt ends.  The Bureau's plan shows that the trajectory of their lives will change from their assigned fate if they stay together.  When  Mackie realizes that Blunt and Damon are deeply in love his conscience leads him to help Damon fashion a plan to stay with his soul mate while avoiding Bureau intervention.

Of course there is a twist, and unfortunately it is not hard to figure out.  The members of the Bureau and their boss are not who they appear to be.  The major flaw is the short running time.  Although entertaining, everything feels rushed.  Director George Nolfi should have spent more time establishing the Buearu as a legitimate agency like the FBI or NSA.  The reveal happens too early in the film and lacks any kind of dramatic punch.  The movie does take a familiar Hollywood theme and manages to apply a fresh twist, and some credit must be given for that.  In the end, The Adjustment Bureau is truly a love story. The trailer leads you to expect a political thriller with elements of science fiction, but this is a romance.  Whether you like the film or not the next time you spill your coffee and it makes you late for your train, cab, or meeting you will be wondering if you have just been “adjusted”.

*fashionadofilm score  6 out of 10

*fashionadofilm Jamie Clemons