The general public saw this climb as dangerous and most difficult with many climbers perishing in the attempt to get to the top successfully. It became a magical attraction for young men who strove for fame and glory. The wall was one that easily crumbled and the danger of rock falls was ever present. The weather could also pose a great problem with snowfalls and blizzard-like conditions suddenly occurring. The public would watch from a hotel with its safe vantage point to hope that Alpine history would be made before their very eyes.

 Craven’s 25-ish daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) comes home after an absence of several years, but all does not seem well with her. When she throws up blood that night, she asks her father to take her to the hospital emergency room. As they leave the house, she tells her father she has a confesson to make, but before she says another word, a gunman waiting on the sidewalk with a shotgun blasts her away on her doorstep and escapes.

 First thought is that Thomas Craven was the target, but as things progress, it turns out that Emma was the gunman’s prey, as she possessed a dangerous secret of corporate misdoings of the firm she was employed ( a nuclear research facility ) and would have become a potential whistle blower - or as the politicians label it - terrorist. As cover-up upon cover-up acumulate, Craven is determined to get to the bottom of this tangled web no matter what it takes, no matter what the cost to him.  

A pivotal character entering the mix is the mysterious Darius Jedburgh (Ray Winstone), a bulldog of a Brit who communicates both with Craven and the villainous consortium of politicians and businessmen involved in the affair. We’re never quite sure which side Jedburgh’s on, but he seems to be the go-to guy for either a hit or a cover-up endeavor in damage control. Either way, no matter who he works for , he uses his own set of rules and morals to resolve an issue. His is a cool performance full of surprises.  Other fine performances include that of Danny Huston ( John Huston's son ) as the greedy, but cowardly corporate executive who is totally unfeeling concerning anything where wealth and expediency are concerned, and Jay O. Sanders as Craven’s police buddy who feels the grieving man’s every pain but surprises him ( and the audience ) at the climax with revelation.

However, the film is not without its' flaws, specifically the “How come Craven didn’t . . .”  question which would have possibly resolved things sooner, 
but then you wouldn’t have this gripping thriller. Gibson’s Bostonianaccent and manner of speaking varies at times from scene to scene, but his performance is most believable as the grieving and revengeful father who is so wronged by the callous perpetrators.  The remark made in the film which rings so true today is: “The people (in this country) deserve better,” and those viewing the film seemed to nod to in unison.

Edge of Darkness is deftly directed for thrills and tension by Martin Campbell and is based on a British television series.  The film takes you on a wild ride of anything goes for expediency, cover-up, and greed. It comes highly reccommended. 

Almost immediately thereafter, Beth finds herself fending off the advances of a diminutive sausage magnate (Danny DeVito), a lanky street magician (Jon Heder), a doting painter (Will Arnett), and a narcissistic male model (Dax Shepard). All of these men are the hopefuls who threw the purloined coins in the fountain in the first place. Meanwhile, a smitten reporter (Josh Duhamel) does his best to convince Beth that true love isn't just a topic for fairy tales and romance novels. 

Will Beth find true love in the 'eternal city'?

By: C.J. Henderson
Well, here’s something that doesn’t happen very often. Not only has yours truly covered two films in one week, but both of them are French. Maybe something was in the water.

The first is the sequel to a movie I really enjoyed. The second is one that sounded right up my usual alley. Neither of them lived up to expectations, however. Taking them in the order I saw them, that would start us out with "District 13: Ultimatum," the sequel to "District 13."

The Story: In "District 13" it was a few years into the future. Things were going to hell in a handbasket, but saved in the end by elite officer Damien Tomasso (Cyril Raffaelli) and a reformed vigilante Leito (David Belle). At the end these two natural enemies who saved the day together shook hands and went their separate ways, knowing the government was going to make everything better.

Now, in the new film, it’s three years later and things have only gotten worse. Elements within the government have decided the best way to make things better (and to line their pockets at the same time) is to create a riot situation, blame the undesirables living in District 13, and use the violence as an excuse to blow up the area with missiles. After that they can rebuild eliminate the undesirable elements (mainly blacks, Arabs and Asian).

Of course, they make a sloppy job of it, being old white males, so it’s up to our young white male heroes to band together with all those politically correct undesirables to save the day. Ahhhh, the unbeatable power of liberal thinking.

Those of you who know me understand that such comments only get made by me when story-telling has been replaced by ideology. For the first half of the film, maybe even the first two/thirds, this is not a bad little film. First off, it was written by Luc Besson, one of the great talents of the French cinema. Something tells me his ending might have been tampered with somewhat.

Secondly, David Belle is the originator of the amazingly athletic sport of parkour. It was revealed to the world at large in "District 13." His skills have not diminished, and the running chases and fight scenes throughout the film are sheer wonderment. Raffaelli is stunning as well. Indeed, his fights come across as things planned out by a violent Jackie Chan--all the art, timing and planning of a Chan fight are there, but not the comedy. Raffaelli blows (especially his flying kicks) come across as incredibly violent.

No, our stars are every bit as spell-binding as they were the first time around. And, so is most of the story. But then, in the end, it all just begins to unravel. What, up until the climax, has been a very high-powered action-adventure buddy picture, suddenly (and quite inexplicably) turns into a very awkwardly made comic book. Suddenly the enemy forgets they have guns, drug lords and gun runners become patriots with hearts of gold, and mastermind criminals begin acting like second grade drop-outs.

Half-way decent actioner that falls apart at the end. Don’t know what happened to this one, and I don’t really care. Not worth your time, folks.

Our final word: 2 stars out of 5.

Our second outing today, I am very sad to report, doesn’t come off nearly as well as the first. Sold as a sex comedy revolving around spies and songs, "The Joy of Singing" sounded as if it was going to have me gushing. It didn’t. And it didn’t take two/thirds of the movie for things to start going downhill.

I’m not bothering with a recap of the story here, for such an effort would be pointless. A bunch of spies want a USB a woman has. To get close to her they all join the same opera class that she takes. This is an idea filled with comic possibilities, but few of them are tried out and most of them fail.

The songs are not used to move the story forward, to make a point, or even to entertain the audience. What the spies are after is never really clearly explained, and is pretty much only a mcguffin anyway. The characters are all in their thirties at the least, but come off sounding like fairly immature high schoolers. Everyone is worried about who will love them, or how old they look, or who will want to sleep with them ...

Again, such self-absorption can be funny, but it’s not. The characters aren’t even tragic, simply pathetic. It’s hard to believe that such a solid premise, filled with so many people willing to take their clothing off could be so boring, but it is. And it’s not worth either your time or money.

And yes, I’m perfectly willing to admit, as always, that I’m not the greatest student of any foreign cinema. But, I know lackluster when I see it. No storyline is followed throughout. The whore who falls in love, the woman desperate to have a baby, the old singing teacher whose class fills up with spies--so many opportunities for light-hearted fun. None of them obtained.

Our final word: 1 star out of 5.