What the #$%&@ does F/X have to do to have a successful show?

What in the world does F/X have to do get people to watch its shows? In the past year, the network has aired easily the two best new shows in my book, "Terriers" (R.I.P) and "Lights Out," and in each case they've been rewarded with one-season wonders.

Not that that's all that odd, or even surprising. Many of the best TV shows of the last 15 years or so, "Freaks and Geeks" and "Firefly" in particular, have failed to catch on with enough people to please the bean-counters. That doesn't, however, make it any less maddening.

In the case of "Terriers," I could at least understand it. That show was a true oddity, a P.I. comedy-drama of sorts that ambled at its own pace and just had a skewed sense of humor that was never going to be everyone's viewing choice. But with "Lights Out," which officially got its cancellation order last night, I just don't get it.

Not only is it easily one of TV's best dramas on the air right now, but what else has even been on until this week or so with new episodes at all? I was hooked on the show from the start because I'm just a sucker for good boxing stories, and this was certainly one. Starting out with the tale of a former champ trying to make an unlikely (mi hermano says impossibly unrealistic given the age of star Holt McCallany) comeback against the fighter who knocked him out five years earlier, the show added to that a seedy family saga that somehow manages to make even the real world of boxing seem honest and upright by comparison.

And it contained the two best short-run performances I've seen on TV dramas in the past year. First up came Eamonn Walker (who it took me a long time to remember played Howling Wolf in the truly great little flick "Cadillac Records"), who completely took over two episodes as the mystic trainer Ed Romeo. And just this week, the always-welcome David Morse took a tragic turn as a truly punch-drunk former champ.

I don't think "Lights Out" will have the cult following of the one-season wonders mentioned earlier, but I'll certainly miss it, and will buy it when it comes to DVD. Looking at the numbers, however, it's really hard to get too mad at all at F/X. Here, courtesy of AICN, are the numbers for Tuesday nights from Jan. 11-March 22 (this week):

3.8 (2.2) (2.3) (3.8) (4.4) (3.6) (4.2) (4.6) (2.3) (4.1) (4.5) NCIS
3.2 (2.2) (2.6) (3.2) (3.9) (3.3) (3.5) (3.8) (---) (3.3) (3.7) NCIS LA
3.0 (2.7) (2.9) (2.4) (2.7) (2.7) (3.0) (3.3) (3.2) (2.9) (3.2) Biggest Loser
2.5 (2.5) (2.0) (1.9) (2.2) (2.1) (1.8) (2.1) (2.3) (2.1) (1.9) Teen Mom
2.1 (1.2) (1.3) (2.2) (2.0) (2.0) (2.2) (2.2) (---) (2.1) (2.3) Good Wife
2.0 (4.2) (4.6) (---) (4.4) (4.2) (4.6)(11.1) (1.5) (1.5) (1.7) Glee
1.8 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Best In Film
1.7 (1.7) (2.2) (1.8) (1.9) (2.4) (2.2) (2.4) (2.3) (2.8) (3.6) The Game
1.5 (0.9) (1.0) (1.2) (1.4) (1.5) (1.5) (1.1) (1.1) (1.8) (1.5) No Ordinary Family
1.4 (2.2) (2.7) (3.3) (2.4) (2.2) (2.7) (---) (---) (---) (---) Raising Hope
1.4 (---) (1.5) (1.1) (1.2) (1.0) (2.2) (---) (1.3) (1.6) (---) Let’s Stay Together
1.0 (---) (1.2) (1.9) (2.1) (1.9) (1.9) (2.2) (---) (2.1) (2.2) Parenthood
1.0 (1.5) (1.5) (---) (1.6) (1.4) (1.9) (---) (---) (---) (---) Traffic Light
1.0 (0.8) (1.0) (---) (0.8) (---) (1.0) (---) (---) (---) (---) Top Shot
1.0 (---) (0.8) (0.7) (0.8) (1.0) (0.9) (0.8) (0.8) (0.9) (1.1) Hardcore Pawn
0.9 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) NBA Basketball
0.6 (0.5) (0.7) (0.6) (0.6) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Real Housewives Miami
0.5 (0.4) (0.5) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Million Dollar Listing
0.3 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Destination Truth
0.3 (0.2) (0.5) (0.6) (0.6) (0.7) (0.7) (0.8) (0.9) (0.3) (0.4) Hellcats
0.3 (0.3) (0.4) (0.4) (0.3) (0.3) (0.4) (0.4) (0.4) (0.4) (0.6) Lights Out
0.3 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen
0.3 (0.3) (0.4) (0.7) (0.9) (0.8) (0.7) (1.2) (0.9) (---) (0.4) One Tree Hill

Yes, you really did have to dig pretty far to find "Lights Out," and by the way, what in the heck is "Marcel's Quantum Kitchen"? So, R.I.P., "Lights Out," and if you like the show as much as I did and do, tune in for the final two episodes to see if Lights finally gets his rematch with Death Row.

OK, enough of that depressing stuff. Starting this Sunday (of course) for you folks like me who get HBO is "Mildred Pierce," and you can certainly count me as psyched for it. A five-part miniseries based on the novel by James M. Cain and directed by Todd Haynes, it stars one Kate Winslet in the titular role. The story, already made into a 1945 movie I haven't seen, is about a working mother who separates from her cheating husband during the Great Depression (0r at least, the first one) and tries to keep her family together as she eventually goes on to open three restaurants and a pie-selling business. It's most certainly a whole lot more epic and just better than I'm making it sound here. Keep an eye out for Guy Pearce as Mildred's wealthy playboy lover Monty Beragon, and enjoy these two clips to whet your appetite, the first an episode one preview and the second a 30-minute making-of special. As for me, I'm off to work and then to see Zack Snyder's "Sucker Punch" this weekend, and frankly hoping it doesn't just make my eyeballs melt. Peace out.

Preview Part 1

Making Of

DVD pick of the week: "Night Catches Us"

After watching writer/director Tanya Hamilton's "Night Catches Us" for the second time, I had to go and double check that it really is her feature film directing debut. It indeed is, and as such, its a bold and often powerful vision from an exciting new voice in the world of movies.

And it certainly doesn't hurt that in Anthony Mackie and Kerry Washington she has two of the best young actors - black, white or anything else - working in movies today to tell at once a both intimate and ambitious story about the Black Panther movement and, more importantly, how its successes and failures impacted the individuals left in the wake of its peak.

Hamilton's movie opens with the pledge of allegiance read over images from the black power movement and ending with a question mark. Though it lacks subtlety, as her story does at points throughout, its an effective way to introduce a movie that asks big questions about the movement's effectiveness.

After that we find Anthony Mackie's Marcus Washington returning to Philadelphia in 1976 for the funeral of his father. The prodigal son gets a less than warm welcome from his brother Bostic (Tariq Trotter), who has joined the Nation of Islam, and this is the first sign among many that for Marcus, it's very hard to go home again.

From the outset of "Night Catches Us", we get a strong, effective and most importantly natural sense of time and place, accomplished not with the cartoonish attire that mars far too many portrayals of the era, but instead with the overall mood (or perhaps what Jimmy Carter famously called malaise), and with a big assist from the Roots (do they ever stop working?) in providing a funky soundtrack that pulses throughout the movie. And it helps that, having visited Philadelphia myself last year, I can report that some of the neighborhoods there do indeed look like they were frozen in time more than 30 years ago.

As Marcus reacquaints himself with his old surroundings, we slowly find out more about the world and the woman, Kerry Washington's Patricia Wilson, he left behind. In the past that shaped them and clearly still in many ways haunts them, Marcus and Patricia were soldiers in the Black Panther Party, along with Patricia's late husband, Neil, who goes unseen except in photographs but clearly hovers over everything that unfolds in "Night Catches Us". Patricia is now a lawyer raising her 9-year-old daughter Iris and 19-year-old cousin Jimmy, who is by far the more immature of the two dependents, and often much of the neighborhood, opening her home to any of the kids who need a hot meal.

Marcus also bumps up against more of his old Black Panther running mates, and that's when we find out more about his story, and why it's so hard to return. As we meet Duane "DoRight" Miller (played by Jamie Hector, aka Marlo Stanfield on "The Wire", and more on similarities with that great show later), we find out that Marcus is suspected of snitching to the feds in the case that led to Neil's death. And the truth about what did and didn't happen in that story shapes the most compelling portion of Hamilton's often complicated tale, and allows Mackie and Washington to truly shine.

Against the wishes of the older man she's involved with, Patricia offers Marcus a room in her home, and as they slowly become closer, the secrets and lies of their past also come simmering to the surface. "Night Catches Us" is at its best as they dance around the truth of their past as Iris, curious about what happened to her father, asks more and more questions. Even as Patricia claims "we don't talk about the past," she clearly clings to her idealized vision of it. Washington and Mackie let the percolating passion play out in glances that say much more than Hamilton's occasionally heavy-handed script, and its just a delight to watch the two of them on screen together.

Marcus and Patricia try to live in a world that is gray rather than starkly black and white, where, much like on David Simon's "The Wire". right and wrong collide so strongly they are often almost indistinguishable. It's when Hamilton steps out of this cocoon, however, to ask bigger questions about the often contradictory goals of the black power movement, that her story falls apart a bit in the third act.

Unlike with "The Wire", the white cops in "Night Catches Us" are one-dimensional composites that too often veer into caricatures. This robs much of the power from Jimmy's story, which asks one of Hamilton's most important questions: What is left behind after, rightly or not, so much anger is stirred up?

That Hamilton falls a bit short of answering this pales next to what she has accomplished, however, in diving into a period of American history that has too often simply been (for lack of a better word) whitewashed and telling the compelling story of two people caught up in it. She also assembles and utilizes the best largely black ensemble cast I've seen (also keep an eye out for another "The Wire" vet, Wendell Pierce, aka Bunk, as a detective who keeps hounding Marcus) since Darnell Martin's very entertaining "Cadillac Records". Check "Night Catches Us" out now on DVD, and definitely keep an eye out for what Tanya Hamilton, having dealt deftly with a complicated episode of America's past, now does with her own future.

Nine clips of some seriously "Funny People"

Not a whole lot of time this morning, since I worked last night and have to be right back this morning, but I would be remiss if I didn't offer kudos to Tina Mabry.

Mabry's "Mississippi Damned," while more than a little hard to watch because of the family and life issues it deals with, was easily one of the best movies I had the pleasure of seeing at this year's Atlanta Film Festival 365. It's just an extremely compelling drama, and it features the best all-black cast I've seen since Darnell Martin's "Cadillac Records."

No word yet on when it might be hitting DVD, but it seems that over the weekend Mabry and her movie won the grand jury award for outstanding dramatic feature at Outfest. Huzzah!

And after that, all I've got is these nine clips from Judd Apatow's "Funny People," all courtesy of Collider. The movie, starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and many other "Funny People," is set to come July 31, and it's certainly on my must-see list. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Monday. Peace out.

The poor man just wanted to go to the movies, or a review of "Public Enemies"

This was almost going to have to be an open apology to Michael Mann, and in a way it still is, because the first time I saw "Public Enemies" it just seemed turgid and way too slow for a summer flick.

But luckily, I need as many second chances as anyone, so I gave his movie one, and found that though it was indeed released at the wrong time of year, it moves at its own pace while delivering an engaging tale very well told.

But before I get into any of that, perhaps a word or two about my personal connection to the '30s flicks Mann is so enamored with is in order. When I was a senior at the great Catholic University of America, I was rather dismayed to learn that, along with managing to pass all those classes, I also somehow had to do a senior thesis.

Well, luckily I was taking a class in political film that semester, so I somehow conned them into letting me write about "the social implications of '30s gangster flicks," or some such tripe. Which meant studying "The Public Enemy," "Little Caesar," "Scarface" and my personal favorite, "Angels with Dirty Faces."

And Michael Mann has clearly studied all these great flicks too. Has he made something that stands up to them with "Public Enemies"? Not quite, but his movie gets a lot of its strength by sticking to their template while adding quite a few of his own touches.

But before I go any further, it might be helpful to briefly say what this is about, since it only took in a respectable but not outstanding $41 million in its first five days. It's deceptively straightforward: Johnny Depp is bank-robbing expert John Dillinger, Christian Bale is Melvin Purvis, the lawman on his tail, and Marion Cotillard is Billie Frechette, the doll who stole his heart.

As I said earlier, though it by force has its fair share of shoot-em-ups, Mann's flick moves at a deliberate pace, and therefore has to be driven by great performances, which it almost uniformly is.

I had to go take a look back at Johnny Depp's IMDB resume to find the last time he was this good, and, with all apologies to the partisans of the pirate movies, I'd say it's his best performance since "Ed Wood." Like Jeffrey Wright did last year with Muddy Waters in the seriously satisfying "Cadillac Records," Depp manages to capture all the bravado that drove Dillinger and also the loyalty that at least in part led to his demise with looks as much as words. Marion Cotillard is his equal here, instantly imprinting the mix of attitude and innocence that would cause her to latch onto Dillinger so quickly, even after he tells her right away what exactly it is he does for a living.

And there are great performances riddled throughout "Public Enemies," from Billy Crupup's preening J. Edgar Hoover to Peter Gerety's hilariously sleazy turn as Dillinger's master lawyer, Louis Piquett, to an unrecognizable Giovanni Ribisi as his partner in crime, Alvin Karpis.

The seriously weak link, however, and what makes this ultimately a very good but not great flick, is Christian Bale's performance as Purvis. In order to give this tale the intensity or, well, heat of "Heat," Bale needed to deliver a lot more of the passion that drove him to be a lawman and his eventual disillusionment with it all, but his wooden performance just lets us down almost completely.

Well, that was a lot more about the performances than I intended, but they really are the best and worst things about "Public Enemies," mostly for the best. The ending, however, though you know beforehand what's coming, is nearly perfect.

I always enjoy watching people in movies watch movies (my favorite is still "Amelie"), and seeing the joy and recognition on Depp's face as he's watching Clark Gable in "Manhattan Melodrama" are a delight, as is an earlier moviehouse scene in which Dillinger and his gang watch a newsreel about themselves. And right before Dillinger's fateful night, Mann throws in a dreamy scene at the Chicago Police Department that's almost too clever for its own good, but still very entertaining.

But a word of warning for those who haven't seen this yet but want to: This is, as the lady sitting behind me helpfully said while watching the particularly brutal demise of Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham), a "real shoot-em-up." Just as in the original gangster flicks and amplified by the passage of the time, the bad guys die proper and often very bloody deaths.

That said, however, "Public Enemies" is a nearly first-rate flick that almost stands up to its predecessors, and is well worth checking out if you get the chance. Peace out.

Demko's DVD shelf: A truly packed week

"It would be like me going to ['No Country for Old Men' author] Cormac McCarthy and going, 'I have an idea for a [sequel]: You write a book, and I'll write a movie, and you can release it. You'll win a Pulitzer; I'll win an Oscar. It'll be awesome. The attitude toward comic books, they show their hand a little bit. They would never say that about a real novelist, but they would about a comic book."
- Zack Snyder in The New York Times

The rather meager $55 million opening of "Watchmen" will hopefully put the kibosh on any talk about a sequel, and judging from that quote above I'd have to assume Mr. Snyder at least wouldn't be on board. At least until the dumptrucks of money pull up to his door, anyway.

I will say this about anyone who would dare to pen a "Watchmen" sequel, which would really be just about the worst cinematic idea short of a big-screen remake of "The Wizard of Oz": He or she would have to have some serious huevos.

But enough about that. Let's just assume for now that it's never going to happen and move on to a much happier subject: This week's rather seriously loaded DVD shelf. There's a ton of new titles, and at least six that are well worth a rental. These include "Milk" and "Synecdoche, NY," but because I still don't get paid to do this I'm just gonna have to brush over those and simply say check them out if you haven't already (even if Charlie Kaufman's conceit, unfiltered, does wear out its welcome a bit by the end.)

And there's a 12th season of "South Park" (and, much better, a new season beginning tomorrow night, huzzah!), but I just checked Hulu and all 14 season 12 episodes are indeed available there, so why not just watch them for free? A good starting point would be the "Breast Cancer Show Ever," 'cause there really are few better ways to waste 20 minutes or so than by watching Cartman finally get his ass thoroughly kicked by Wendy. Priceless.

But there are four other titles out this week that are so good they're worth a full mention, starting with the best vampire movie I've seen in many, many years. I had no expectations at all going into "Let the Right One In," which probably helped it grow even higher in my estimation, but mi hermano has seen it and raves about it just as much as I do, so I know this time I'm right.

Director Tomas Alfredson's flick, based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, is in fact at least as much a coming-of-age tale as it is a horror movie. Set in frozen Sweden and making full use of its smothering setting, it tells the story of 12-year-old Oskar, who is bullied by his stronger classmates and is pretty much just all-around miserable until he meets new neighbor Eli, who resembles a pale young girl, but, well you can probably figure out the truth. Watching what happens as Oskar does too is easily one of the biggest cinematic pleasures of 2008, and I guarantee you won't soon forget what happens when Eli steps up to fight for Oskar. I've ranted about this before, but it's so sinister an idea that it's worth mentioning again, only as a word of warning: "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves' plan for an American remake, to be transported to snowy Colorado, is now far enough along to have an IMDB listing. Stop this madness now if you somehow can, or at least just trust me and watch the original now that you have another chance.

"Cadillac Records"
Anyone who's been here before (and I'm still amazed there appear to be a few of you out there) knows that I have nothing but love for Darnell Martin's flick, and I'm happy to sing its praises for what might be the last time now that it's out on DVD. Rather than the straightforward story of Chess Records, Martin just makes her movie all about the music, the mood and the 'tude, and she's helped out by - with all apologies to "Milk" and "W." - the best ensemble cast of 2008. If you think you haven't heard Beyonce sing Etta James' "At Last" by now, you're probably wrong, because its just everywhere. But as beautiful as that is, the real joy in Beyonce's performance (and yes, I am serious) comes in the pain she mines in James' story. Just as good are Jeffrey Wright, who is just a simmering pot of pride and anger as Muddy Waters, Columbus Short, who wrings all the life out of Little Walter, and finally Mos Def clowning it up in full ham as Chuck Berry. All Ms. Martin has listed now on her IMDB sheet since this thoroughly fun flick is three episodes of "Law and Order," but here's hoping she finds real movie work again soon, because she certainly deserves it.

Rachel Getting Married
Be warned before you watch it: Jonathan Demme's flick is the most claustrophobic one I've seen since "Margot at the Wedding," but - on screen, at least - I like my family life served up with a big helping of dysfunction, so they both just worked for me. I was really hoping Anne Hathaway would win the Oscar for this, because she really is as good as all the hype would have you believe as the unwelcome guest at her sister Rachel's wedding. My parents were surprised by this one because they heard a "Fresh Air" interview with Demme in which he called it a "romantic comedy." It's far from that, but you won't get very many flicks that take a more perceptive look at the family dynamic, and Rosemarie DeWitt (Don Draper's hippie mistress on the first season of "Mad Men") is every bit as good as Hathaway as the titular Rachel.

"Happy-Go-Lucky"
I'm not sure I was supposed to find Sally Hawkins' Poppy easily the most annoying lead character of 2008, but it's one of the biggest strengths of Mike Leigh's flick that I was still rooting for her from the start. Hawkins' Poppy is indeed so cheerful that you might want to throttle her, but it will certainly make you think when she encounters someone who might just be ready to act on that understandable impulse in combustible driving instructor Scott, in an unforgettable turn by Eddie Marsan. Like most of Leigh's movies its just an enjoyable little snapshot of working life, with the bonus this time that it just might make you think a little about how you look at the world around you (hokey I know, but true.)

So, there you have it. If you rent any of these, I certainly hope you like them as much as I did. Peace out.

My top 10 - or maybe 12 - movies of 2008

For most people in the world there certainly have to be more important things to spend your Sunday afternoon thinking about, but it took me quite a while to get this list down to only 10 flicks.

Oddly enough, since this list will be presented simply in alphabetical order, the first one you'll find is actually the last one to make the cut, just edging out Oliver Stone's "W." and Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" for the final spot.

And, even though "Ratatouille" was my single favorite movie of 2007 (though "Into the Wild" has pretty much moved into a tie with it), the simply charming "Wall-E" didn't quite manage to find a home here.

So, without further ado, here goes, and please feel free to share your favorites or let me know of any you think I've just snubbed.

"Cadillac Records"
Writer/director Darnell Martin's take on the history of Chess Records plays more than a little loosely with the facts, but in a way that strays in refreshing ways from the conventional music biopic. And it certainly doesn't hurt that this woefully under appreciated little flick contains my favorite ensemble cast of the year, led by Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, a surprisingly strong Beyonce as Etta James and a thoroughly fun Mos Def as Chuck Berry. See it if you somehow still can.

"The Dark Knight"
With crazy rumors flying around about what might happen with the next chapter of director Christopher Nolan's take on the Batman saga (Eddie Murphy as the riddler? Really!?!?), it's easy to overlook just how much he accomplished with this one. Though "Iron Man" was also a brainy and fun superhero flick, Nolan just made the story of "The Dark Knight" his own, with more than a little help from the much-missed Heath Ledger.

"The Fall"
I think I may be the only person in the world who would put this on the list of 2008's best movies, but I love it and have no intention of backing down. I went into Tarsem's oddly engaging flick expecting a visual stunner but also found a tender story starring Lee Pace of "Pushing Daisies" as an injured stunt man who befriends a young girl played by the charming Catinca Untaru. I loved this movie the first time I saw it in Atlanta, and do so even more now.

"Let the Right One In"
All I knew about this flick as I was examining the lineup for the 2008 Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, which I was fortunate enough to attend with my parents, was that it was a Swedish vampire flick (not, as I somehow first thought, a Mexican one), but that was enough to get me hooked. What I found was a genuine horror movie that also mixes in a fantastic coming-of-age tale about a social outcast who finds out his new neighbor and friend just happens to be a vampire. "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves is making noise about transporting this European charmer to Colorado for everyone who can't be bothered to read subtitles, but I heartily recommend checking it out in its original form instead of waiting.

"Milk"
All politics aside, if you can really say that, Gus Van Sant has made what I think will turn out to be my favorite flick of the entire year with this biopic of the slain San Francisco pol Harvey Milk. What makes it work so well is that, even as it presents a true American tragedy, it never dwells on that but instead shows the resolve and joy that made Milk (played by Sean Penn) try so many times to break through barriers. I was surprised - but never bored - by just how much it got into San Francisco politics of the time, and next to "Cadillac Records" it features the second best ensemble cast of the year with supporting players Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch and "Freak" James Franco.

"Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"
Peter Sollett, who clearly knows the city of New York as well as Woody Allen used to, turns what could have been (and in many ways is) just a silly teen tale into a thoroughly fun portrait of the bridge-and-tunnel set that invades Manhattan every weekend. He's certainly helped by charming leads Kat Dennings and Michael "George Michael" Cera, and has managed to craft here my single favorite comedy of the year.


"Slumdog Millionaire"
Even though Danny Boyle's last flick, "Sunshine," was one I had very little time for at all, I knew he would strike gold with this tale of a Mumbai "slumdog" who competes on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" in hopes of winning the affection of his true love. That just sounds hokeyer each time I type it, but even though the game show framing gets a little old by the end, Boyle's affection for India shines through in every scene, many of which will become permanently burned onto your brain.

"Tell No One"
As happens to me with many mind-bending thrillers, I was sure after watching this French flick based on a Harlan Coben novel once that it just didn't add up. Boy, was I wrong. This one should be out on video soon, and if you like a really taut thriller with natural action scenes and a "reveal" that I guarantee will simply stun you, definitely check out Guillaume Canet's flick. The Macon Film Guild, by the way, will be showing this one soon at the Douglass Theatre downtown, so if you happen to live in my little burgh please turn out for it.

"The Visitor"
As good as Sean Penn was as Harvey Milk, these last two contain my two favorite male acting performances of the year. (My vote for woman of the year, which will be on the list coming out tomorrow, is Sally Hawkins in Mike Leigh's "Happy Go Lucky," another great flick that just missed making this list. In "The Visitor," Thomas McCarthy (director of "The Station Agent") finds a perfect foil in "Six Feet Under" veteran Richard Jenkins, who plays a college professor who finds an immigrant couple living in the New York apartment he owns but hasn't visited for many years. It can be more than a little heavy-handed, but along with Patricia Riggen's "La Misma Luna" it tackles the issue of immigration in the United States while at the same time simply telling a very engaging story.

"The Wrestler"
How in the world they didn't open a movie this good about professional wrestling throughout the South in its first wave is beyond me, but it will be thankfully playing everywhere very soon. Darren Aronofsky's clever movie starts with the conventions of your typical sports underdog flick but turns them into something unique thanks to Mickey Rourke's amazing turn as the titular grappler, simply the best performance I've seen on the big screen all year.

So, there you have it. And here, by the way, are a few of the other flicks I really liked this year that didn't quite make the cut: Cloverfield, In Bruges, Be Kind Rewind, The Bank Job, Iron Man, Son of Rambow, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Kung Fu Panda, Wall-E, Man on Wire, Tropic Thunder, Trouble the Water, A Secret, Burn After Reading, Tyler Perry's The Family that Preys, Ghost Town, The Express, Happy Go Lucky, Waltz with Bashir, Gran Torino, Doubt, W., Synecdoche, NY, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Soul Men and Australia.

Once again, please feel free to share your favorites, and have a perfectly passable Monday. And if you want to, also please come back tomorrow for my women of the year and Wednesday for 2008's best leading men.

The best ensemble movie that, apparently, almost no one will ever see

Actually, the craziest thing I heard this morning was that The Roots are gonna be the house band for Jimmy Fallon's late night show, which I don't think I'd bother tuning in for even if I could still stay up that late on a regular basis. Seems like a definite step down to me, but anyone who's seen "Chappelle's Show" knows that ?uestlove can be one seriously funny guy, so who knows?

The real topic here today is director Darnell Martin's "Cadillac Records," which managed to take in a rather unsensational $3.5 million in its first week domestic (sadder still, it even lost to the latest "Punisher" flick, which took in just more than $4 million.)

Which means if you wanna see this one the big screen, you'd better do it this week. I couldn't bring myself to call Martin's fun flick a great one, because she just plays too loose with the facts to get there. But as far as drawing great performances out of an ensemble of performers, I do submit that no one has done a better job this year (not even Oliver Stone with "W.", a very strong ensemble flick in its own right.)

I was inspired to think of this by an ad I saw for "Burn After Reading" touting it for Best Ensemble, easily my favorite of the Golden Globes categories and one the Oscars would be wise to pick up on. As for "Burning," however, it was full of good performances and one great comedic one, Brad Pitt's turn as Rusty, but it falls way short of what you'll see (if you bother) in "Cadillac Records."

It starts with Jeffrey Wright, who plays Chess Records' first big star, Muddy Waters. Wright was in "W." too, of course, as Colin Powell, but this was the first time this year when I felt he really just disappeared into a role. His Muddy is fiercely proud and clearly has a devilish streak that you can always see in Wright's eyes. One of the best exchanges comes near the beginning when he first meets Adrian Brody's Leonard Chess and Chess asks him to drop the "yes boss" act. Muddy's response, "what the f*** do you want?", just made me laugh out loud.

I was certain going in that Wright would be great in this one, but I wasn't ready at all for what happened when Beyonce entered the scene about an hour in as Etta James. Beyonce, clearly just a beauty beyond all reason, becomes something completely different as Etta: Desperately sexy. It comes out best when she's singing, both in the money shot "At Last," but also as she performs my favorite Etta James Chess track, "I'd Rather Go Blind." In every mannerism she just captures the perfect mix of anger, desire and vulnerability, and it's the kind of performance I never would have guessed Beyonce could deliver. My apologies.

And the supporting cast in "Cadillac Records" is almost as great as its leading man and women, starting with Mos Def. He's easily one of my favorite actors already, but just as Chuck Berry's career was cut off at its height because of his attraction to young white girls, Mos doesn't get a whole lot of screen time here. He does, however, make the most of it, playing Berry with an impish smile that masks serious attitude, and if you don't smile too when he does the duck walk I just have to wonder what's wrong with you.

Rounding out the cast are Columbus Short as mouth harp man extraordinaire Little Walter, Eamonn Walker as an amusingly menacing Howlin Wolf and an understated Cedric the Entertainer as narrator Willie Dixon. Brody wisely and mostly just stays out of the way of these energetic performers but is still likable enough as the Chess boss man.

Like I said at the beginning, Martin's first flick isn't necessarily a great one, but with a cast like that and an all-around fun feel, surely it deserves more than $3.5 million.

Though this certainly isn't a reason to see a movie, I'll leave you with this rather troubling fact: With last year's "Talk to Me," which I almost thoroughly enjoyed, Kasi Lemmons became the first black woman to direct three feature Hollywood films, the other two being "The Caveman's Valentine" and her debut, "Eve's Bayou," both well worth a rental. One of my co-workers, Eldridge McCready, suggested perhaps Gina Prince-Bythewood had also reached this peak, but her only two features so far are this year's "The Secret Life of Bees" and 2000's "Love and Basketball."

Again, not a reason to automatically go see a movie, but unless it just looks too sappy for my taste (as with "Secret Life of Bees), I'll always spring for at least a matinee when a black woman gets the chance to direct a flick that actually makes it out to my little corner of the world.

And now I'll leave you for real with this rather remarkable Etta James and Dr. John performance of "I'd Rather Go Blind," apparently on Japanese TV. As sad songs go, I'd say there's only one better, Toussaint McCall's "Nothing Can Take the Place of You." Enjoy this dose of the blues, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.