clydestuff

Here is one prediction I can make with one hundred per cent certainty. Hilary Swank will not be carrying any Oscar home for The Reaping.

Hilary plays scientific investigator Katharine Winter whose job it is to debunk religious myths with logical scientific explanations. Think of her as the person who will put that piece of toast with the Virgin Mary outlined on it under a microscope and find out that it is really caused by some old green mold that was on the bread before you toasted it. Yeah, I know you were hoping to make a killing on Ebay but that's the way it goes sometimes.

We find out that what she does because at the beginning of the film she is investigating some of these strange religious phenomenon, although we don't know for sure exactly why she is there until a few minutes later she is shown lecturing a college class about her findings and then bragging about how she is 48 for 48 in proving the natural causes for these so called spiritual events. Unbeknownst to Katherine at the time though is that a friend of hers, Father Costigan (Stephen Rea) has these old pictures of her and it seems that Katherine's photogenic Oscar winning face has an odd habit of bursting into flames and leaving a strange symbol on each of the pictures.. Shortly thereafter Katharine is asked by Doug (David Morrissey) to come on down to Haven, Louisiana with her assistant Ben (Idris Elba) because it seems that ever since some young boy has been murdered, the river has turned into blood.

The town people want to blame it on a little girl by the name of Loren McConnell (AnnaSophia Robb), so it is up to Katharine and Ben to find out if it really is blood in the river or if there's a Sherwin Williams factory nearby. And they have to do it before poor Loren gets strung up by her Buster Browns if you know what I mean.

It doesn't take long before things get worse. It soon becomes apparent that the town may be in the midst of the ten biblical plagues of Egypt, so a simple internet search will tell you what else the film might or might not have in store for you.

So is it really some religious phenomenon taking place or is there something else at work? Will Kat find the explanation in time to save poor Loren? Will all of these story lines and loose ends be tied up by the end of the movie? And better yet, will we really give a damn one way or another? I have to say that for a certain portion of the movie, I was intrigued and entertained. I actually thought that it was more like watching a good detective story unraveling at first, whereas Kat would find out that there was a logical explanation for everything that was taking place. The thing about films like The Reaping, if they keep the hocus pocus stuff creepy enough, and then let the suspense build naturally with a nice simple and understandable explanation to tie it all together then generally you're on pretty safe footing. Unfortunately, Director Stephen Hopkins and his writers Carey Hayes and Chad Hayes begin to crank it up about half way through and the whole film comes tumbling down like a house of cards. When we begin to get some idea as to what exactly is going on, we find the explanation so goofy and convoluted we wish we had never taken the journey in the first place It is close to being the same kind of thing that killed Silent Hill for me. By the time the credits were rolling in that film the ending had become such a convoluted mess that you regretted ever having sat down to watch it. At least in The Reaping you will somewhat understand the ending but by the time you leave Haven, Louisiana, you may be wishing you had exited by the time plague number seven had arrived.

Hilary does a good job though, and actually is probably the main reason you'll stay interested longer than you would otherwise. And I actually thought she looked kind of sexy traversing around in that swamp in those skin tight jeans. David Morrissey and Idris Elba aren't bad either, but neither role is anything that would require a great deal of skill. Odd man out though is Stephen Rea. His Father Costigan seems like he should be in another movie altogether. Like maybe in The Omen being speared by a falling cross in the church yard.

AnnaSophia Robb as Loren is creepy and chilling and I am always appreciative when they find a kid actor who doesn't try and play their role as if they are taking sugar injections.

Despite what you may have heard, the film is not as bad as all of that. In fact, you'll probably find just enough of it to be entertaining to make it worth a possible DVD rental if you have absolutely nothing else to do. But there is one more cardinal sin that the film committed at the end. There is a conversation between two of the characters in the film, that is there for one reason and one reason only. It was there for no other reason then to set up a possible sequel. Considering how this movie performed at the box office, we are certainly in no danger of that ever happening. Nonetheless, because they committed what I consider to be one of the ten grievous plagues of movie-making with that sequel set-up ending, I have no choice but to do as I always do in these cases which is to lower the grade. And in the case of The Reaping that would be turning a C+ into a D+. But I can't change water into wine so don't ask.

One does not head out to see Brokeback Mountain without having a general idea of what the film is about. Unless you've had your head buried in a cocoon, you know that Brokeback Mountain is the Gay Cowboy Movie which has received one award after another as the best picture of 2005. Are the accolades more the result of its controversial subject matter or is it really that good? I can say unequivocally that Brokeback Mountain is much more than just a gay cowboy love story. Yes, it is a love story, but it is also about the heartache, the heartbreak, the guilt and the shame forced upon those who through no fault of their own, love and cherish someone of their own gender and are unable to acknowledge that love openly and honestly because of the rigid codes forced upon them by society. It is in every aspect an excellent film.

A ranch hand, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) meets rodeo cowboy Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) while working as sheep herders in the mountains of Wyoming during the summer of 1963. During their time together they fall in love and have sex. Yet, it is a love that is never acknowledged between them as being such. It is as Ennis puts it, "one-shot deal going on." "You know I ain't queer," he tells Jack just to make sure he understands.

Jack's reply, "Neither am I." One need look no further then when Ennis relates how his father took him to view the corpse of a gay man who was tortured and then beaten to death, to understand the consequences of not only being gay in 1963 but being discovered. It's a story that casts a dark shadow over the rest of the film. Both men do what they can to fit in. They marry and have children. With Ennis, it is a way to prove that his summer on Brokeback was just a one shot deal, with Jack it is a marriage of convenience.

It is under this ominous cloud that these men must find a way to share their love, in whatever way possible and still try to fit into what society views as being normal. Jack knows he is gay without admitting it. We experience their joy when they are together. We feel their loneliness when they are apart. When four years have passed since their summer on the mountain, Ennis anxiously awaits a first visit by Jack. He chain smokes and chugs on beer trying to stay calm, unable to hide his feelings. It is also the first time that his wife, Alma (Michelle Williams), begins to realize there is more to the relationship than meets the eye.

Ang Lee's direction of this film is beyond reproach. It would have been tempting for some directors to exploit the subject matter and hammer us over the head with it. Lee keeps the focus on a very personal level, never letting the story stray or go off on a tangent.

The cast is as superb as the direction. I have seen Heath Ledger in several films, most of them instantly forgettable so I was totally unprepared and shocked by the depth of emotion he brings to Ennis here. And he does it not by being over the top, but with a great deal of subtlety and nuance. Ennis is a man of few words, but Ledger tells us everything we need to know about him without a tremendous amount of dialog.

Gyllenhaal is every bit as good as Jack Twist. Jack Twist is a man of many words, but he is also a man who never gives up on his dream of someday living the life he wants to, and sharing it with the person he loves the most.

In supporting roles, both Michelle Williams as Alma and Anne Hathaway as Jack's wife Lureen are excellent also. We suspect that Lureen's marriage to Jack is as much a marriage of convenience for her as it is for him. She doesn't have much screen time, but she makes the most of it. If her roles in the straight to DVD film Havoc and Brokeback are any indication, her days of being thought of as the Princess in the Princess Diaries films will soon be forgotten. Regrettably, I had not seen any of Michelle Williams work before Brokeback but I wish I had. She is very deserving of her Academy Award nomination for her work here.

Of course, there will always be those who say that much of the recognition Brokeback is receiving has more to do with its subject matter than with the quality of the film itself. Nothing could be more wrong. Yes, the subject matter may be controversial to some, but the truth is there is there is no reason why it should be. Although things have changed quite a bit since 1963 there are still way too many who fear gays as if they were the devil, the bogeyman, and should all carry the last name of Nasty as Alma calls Jack at one point. In the week before I saw Brokeback Mountain, a man walked into a gay bar in Massachusetts and began assaulting the patrons with a hatchet and a gun. In Roanoke Virginia five years ago, Ronald Edward Gay walked into the Backstreet Café and began shooting, simply because he wanted to kill homosexuals. If the day ever comes, and whether or not it is in my lifetime, that a person can love someone of their own gender and walk through a mall, a parking lot, or an amusement park hand in hand without receiving so much as a glance, then Brokeback Mountain may no longer be controversial. But it'll still be a great film, and when you're a great film you know I have no choice but to give you an overwhelming A+.

You are undoubtedly aware of the tremendous success Maxis/EA Games had with their original Sims games and the long parade of expansion packs that came later. The problem with the original Sims game was that although there were always new items and more interactions for the Sims there was an element missing that would have made the game complete. Teens stayed teens, children stayed children, and adult Sims never grew old.

The Sims2 has changed that. You can now follow your Sims as they progress through the stages of life, from infancy to eldership and eventually and hopefully dying a peaceful death in their old age. That is of course unless some other accident befalls them along the way. And as if that isn't enough, in The Sims 2 they Sims pass on their genetic physical and character traits to their offspring. There is even a family tree where you can keep track of your Sims heritage from generation to generation.

Needless to say there is also a great improvement in the graphics. You can now zoom down into your home and watch your 3D Sims close up and personal. You can make Sim videos or take pictures which you can edit into a story to be uploaded to the Sims2 exchange. All of this extra power does come at a price however. Many computers that were able to run the original Sims game will not have the capabilities to run Sims 2. The recommendations on the package are the bare minimum you can play with, and using those will require you to run the game at it's minimal graphics settings so you might want to go beyond those.

They have also added what is called an Aspiration. These are goals and wants your Sims want to achieve as they go through life, and it is your duty as their master to see that they get them so that when they do pass they can at least depart in a good mood.

As in the original Sims game, the original Sims2 game pack is being followed with a long line of expansions. So far we have had two expansion packs, University and Nightlife, and another one due out soon called Open for Business. And like before each expansion opens up new worlds for your Sims, new interactions, and new capabilities to make the game more interesting. With University you can now send your Sims to college for four years, complete with dorms, sororities, campus housing, and a host of other things you might find on any college campus. And while it can be a struggle to get your Sims through college, the payoff comes in more job opportunities for your Sims, and that they can interact with a whole host of other college goers that you can graduate also simply by moving them into your Greek house. And the young adults in College are far more interesting in every aspect than the annoying townies that come with the original game.

Nightlife is basically the Sims 2 equivalent of Hot Date only better. There are of course, restaurants, but there are shopping centers, night clubs, karaoke bars, bowling alleys, and places to play Texas Hold-em. For the first time you can have cemeteries where you can ship your dead Sims if their ghosts become too annoying floating around in your back yard. And with Nightlife, your Sims are given cars to get from place to place instead of a taxi, but waiting for your Sim to get where they are going no matter what the means of transportation can try your patience. The loading times are awful, and though they encourage you to download other people's creations into the game, doing so only magnifies the problems.

Maxis also seems intent on throwing in a bit of the strange stuff. So far we have aliens, alien babies, zombies, and vampires. Soon it will be robots.

All in all you'll find the game extremely addicting, way more so than the original. But that is not to say all is perfect in the Sims World. Sims games have become well known for their glitches and The Sims 2 is no exception. It took three months from the release of the original game for a patch to fix some of these glitches. It was worse with University. The glitches in that Expansion pack were not only extremely numerous, but extremely annoying to the point that they interfered tremendously with game play. A patch for University wasn't released until six months later when Nightlife was released. Granted a patch for Nightlife was released very quickly, but that particular patch for that expansion pack has still left a lot of errors. So if you are going to play the game, be aware that this is the price you'll have to pay for being part of The Sims 2 World.

There are also a host of minor quibbles, simple things that don't make any sense. Why can't Sims sit and hold their child instead of standing with them all the time? Why is the Sim who is the object of somebody else's flirt catch the heat from his partner instead of just the Sim who did the flirting? As for the official Sims 2 site, it also leaves much to be desired, but that's another story. All in all though, if you like this kind of fantasy world you'll certainly enjoy the game glitches and all. Overall, I'd give the game a B+ instead of an A. They'll get the A when they get their act together on the game glitches and begin releasing patches in a more timely fashion.