Features







2007-08 Oscar Calendar



[Monday, December 3, 2007]

Official Screen Credits
Forms Due.


[Wednesday, December 26, 2007]

Nominations ballots mailed.


[Saturday, January 12, 2008]

Nominations polls close
5 p.m. PST.


[Tuesday, January 22, 2008]

Nominations announced
5:30 a.m. PST
Samuel Goldwyn Theater


[Wednesday, January 30, 2008]

Final ballots mailed.


[Monday, February 4, 2008]

Nominees Luncheon


[Saturday, February 9, 2008]

Scientific and Technical
Awards Dinner


[Tuesday, February 19, 2008]

Final polls close 5 p.m. PST.


[Sunday, February 24, 2008]

79th Annual
Academy Awards Presentation
Kodak Theatre

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“The Bourne Ultimatum” (****)

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“The Bourne Ultimatum” is the most riveting, most creative, most stimulating film of what has already proven itself to be a thoroughly engaging series of films. Spinning author Robert Ludlum’s spy novel trilogy away from its Cold War settings and into a modernized realm, the adaptations – writer Tony Gilroy the common denominator at every step – have been nothing short of sizzling in their willingness to stray, while remaining true to the essence of the novels and their captivating central character. With this, the final film based directly upon the work Ludlum fashioned, director Paul Greengrass has managed to provide one of those rare movie delights: a franchise that bested itself with each subsequent installment.


“Ultimatum” picks up right where we left off three years ago. At the end of 2004’s “The Bourne Supremacy,” amnesia-stricken CIA operative Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) had exacted a level of revenge against the Agency operation Treadstone that molded him into an assassin and murdered his girlfriend, indeed his only friend in the world, Marie (Franka Potente). Still yearning for total recall and left with a considerable amount of unfinished business, we are here introduced to a Bourne driven and determined to find the answers he’s searched for over the course of the last two films.

The Bourne saga has spilled onto the pages of England’s Guardian newspaper at the start of the film. Reporter Sam Ross (Paddy Considine) has cranked out a series of stories detailing the assassin’s exploits and pieces of his origin, obviously having been fed deep-inside information from some valuable source. Whoever the source is, he or she is someone who’s acquaintance Bourne would surely like to make. And as the big first act sequence of action and suspense, Bourne’s confrontation with Ross makes for the most dynamic and enthralling set piece of the entire trilogy – with nary an explosion or vehicular travesty in sight.


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Through his investigation, Ross stumbled onto Treadstone’s remnants and replacement operation, Blackbriar, headed up by the cold and statuesque Noah Vosen (David Strathairn). Vosen seems to be the film’s resident Alexander Conklin (as portrayed by Chris Cooper in “The Bourne Identity”) until the narrative reveals his deeper and more fibrous connections to the events of the series. Strathairn’s performance is so honed, so doused in impenetrable realism that one nearly wonders if the actor has some level of experience with tracking and detaining a renegade soldier of espionage.


Also joining the cast in all-too-brief performances are Scott Glenn as another dirty high-ranking CIA official and Albert Finney as the architect of Treadstone. Joan Allen returns as the heat-seeking Pamela Landy along with Julia Stiles, given some extra yardage this time around in the role of Nikki Parsons. And, in keeping with typicality, an array of assassins and operatives fills the seams, faceless individuals casually referred to as “assets,” all joining the chorus in a menagerie for Bourne to twist, mold, manipulate and destroy, all to an audience’s movie-going delight.


“The Bourne Ultimatum” finds a certain level of genius in a screenplay that combines Gilroy’s talents with such stand-out scribes as Tom Stoppard and Paul Attanasio. The elaborate nature of each and every set piece is a crash course in visual storytelling of the highest expertise, moments that are sure to induce more than a few “I can’t believe that just happened” chuckles of expelled nervousness from an armrest-gripping audience. The script bends itself into the fabric of “The Bourne Supremacy” in one scene that, for close followers of the series, will have them nearly lifted from their seats, not only due to what they are witnessing, but due to the instant indication of what (and when) they have been watching unfold for the past hour and change. This is quite plainly filmmaking of the tallest order.


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Matt Damon’s most demanding performance of the series perhaps still resides with “The Bourne Identity,” a film that represented his character’s slow understanding of what he was capable of. “The Bourne Supremacy” gave us a chance to see him let lose even further with those capabilities, but here we see the actor perform as a well-oiled machine of singular drive and purpose. Jason Bourne has become the role by which Damon’s early career will be defined. What James Bond was to Sean Connery, what Michael Corleone was to Al Pacino, Jason Bourne has become for Matt Damon.


The surrounding cast puts forth a performance befitting the most revered of ensemble work. As mentioned, David Strathairn is a self-guided missile with pathological panache to spare. Joan Allen finds herself in a different place this time, picking up the pieces rather than seeking Bourne’s head on a platter. Julia Stiles manages a heart-felt supporting turn, while Albert Finney strikes a few solid notes in his third act revelations. But let us face it. The star of the Bourne franchise has become the man at the helm.


Arguably the most exciting new talent of the medium, director Paul Greengrass has proven a level of competence in both low-budget and high-budget situations that is staggering. Furthermore, he seems fully capable of translating his independent characteristics to films backed by a larger checking account. He has already felt the sting of losing a high-profile gig (“Watchmen,” Paramount’s loss at a time of transition for the studio), received an Academy Award nomination for what may long be considered the definitive cinematic account of 9/11 (“United 93”) and cranked out 66% of what could come to be considered one of the great film trilogies on record. And the guy’s only getting warmed up.


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Greengrass’s next effort, “Imperial Life in the Emerald City,” will find the director partnered with Damon yet again in an adaptation from Washington Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s account of the postwar administration of Iraq. If he brings an ounce of the dedication and tenacity to this production as he has afforded the Bourne franchise, we might be looking at another definitive account of America’s recent plight – from a Brit, no less. But here and now, “The Bourne Ultimatum” has positioned itself as a jewel in the cinematic crown of 2007. I don’t know about you, but this is why I go to the movies.

Comments

Welcome back Kris,

A 4 star review already! Are you trying to beat last year's total?!

Anyway you've suitably whetted my apetite. I just hope I don't have as big a problem with the editing as I did with number 2.

Wow. I can't wait to see it. Great review, Kris. However, Wells over at hollywood-elsewhere is making it seem like there's no pause for scenes like the remorse scene in Moscow in Supremacy, I hope Ultimatum has something like that?... Bring on Imperial Life in the Emerald City is right. I sense Oscar possibilities with that one. I hope Damon becomes Greengrass' DeNiro, fine by me.

Well, you sure have whetted my appetite Kris!

I think it's time to dig into the old Bourne dvds (indeed one of the better spy series out there in a long time!) and get a recap before heading out to catch the new one! Hope it doesn't take too long to cross the Atlantic though.

Great review! Looking forward to reading more about other projects here!

I absolutely recommend viewing the other two titles before screening the new film. Seeing "Supremacy" again is integral to that "lift-off-your-seat" moment I was talking about.

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2008 Year in Advance Predictions


UPDATED: 2/25/2008





Main Charts | Tech Charts



[Motion Picture]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Doubt”

“Frost/Nixon”

“Revolutionary Road”

“The Soloist”



[Directing]

David Fincher
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Ron Howard
“Frost/Nixon”

Gus Van Sant
“Milk”

Sam Mendes
“Revolutionary Road”

Joe Wright
“The Soloist”



[Actor in a Leading Role]

Benicio Del Toro
“The Argentine”

Jamie Foxx
“The Soloist”

Frank Langella
“Frost/Nixon”

Sean Penn
“Milk”

Brad Pitt
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”



[Actress in a Leading Role]

Vera Farmiga
“Nothing But the Truth”

Angelina Jolie
“Changeling”

Julianne Moore
“Blindness”

Meryl Streep
“Doubt”

Kate Winslet
“Revolutionary Road”



[Actor in a Supporting Role]

Josh Brolin
“Milk”

Russell Crowe
“Body of Lies”

Robert Downey, Jr.
“The Soloist”

Heath Ledger
“The Dark Knight”

Michael Sheen
“Frost/Nixon”



[Actress in a Supporting Role]

Amy Adams
“Doubt”

Kathy Bates
“Revolutionary Road”

Cate Blanchett
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Catherine Keener
“The Soloist”

Carice van Houten
“Body of Lies”



[Writing, Adapted Screenplay]

“Body of Lies”

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Doubt”

“Frost/Nixon”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Writing, Original Screenplay]

“Changeling”

“Hamlet 2”

“Milk”

“The Soloist”

“WALL·E”



[Art Direction]

“Australia”

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Red Cliff”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Cinematography]

“Australia”

“The Dark Knight”

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Costume Design]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Doubt”

“The Other Boleyn Girl”

“Red Cliff”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Film Editing]

“Body of Lies”

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Defiance”

“Frost/Nixon”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”



[Makeup]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“The Dark Knight”

“Red Cliff”



[Music, Original Score]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“The Soloist”

“Revolutionary Road”

“WALL·E”



[Music, Original Song]

coming soon



[Sound Editing]

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Iron Man”

“Speed Racer”

“WALL·E”



[Sound Mixing]

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Cloverfield”

“The Chronicles of Narnia:
Prince Caspian”

“WALL·E”



[Visual Effects]

“The Chronicles of Narnia:
Prince Caspian”

“The Incredible Hulk”

“Iron Man”



[Animated Feature Film]

“9”

“Kung Fu Panda”

“WALL·E”



[Foreign Language Film]

coming soon



[Documentary, Features]

coming soon



[Documentary, Short Subjects]

coming soon



[Short Film, Animated]

coming soon



[Short Film, Live Action]

coming soon