Babel ****
Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Adriana Barraza, Gael García Bernal, Rinko Kikuchi, Kôji Yakusho
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Running Length: 2:22
MPAA Classification: R

Two children in Morocco test the range of a new rifle that their father just purchased. Americans Susan (Blanchett) and Richard (Pitt) are on vacation when Susan is shot and badly injured, setting off an international incident. Richard and Susan’s children in America are being watched by their nanny, an illegal immigrant named Amelia (Barraza). She brings the children across the border into Mexico to attend her son’s wedding, and problems arise when they attempt to re-enter America. In Japan, deaf-mute Chieko (Kikuchi) is trying to connect with someone, anyone. All the stories are related, and all come together smoothly in this tale of small mistakes and lapses in judgment, and the consequences that they cause.

Like “21 Grams” before it, in “Babel” director Alejandro González Iñárritu masterfully entwines multiple stories into a compelling film. Packed with solid performances all around. Bernal and Kikuchi in particular are standouts, and their Academy Award nominations are fully warranted. This is not a fun movie, but it is thought provoking and solid. It says a lot about the world we live in and the amount of misunderstanding in it. I highly recommend this film.

El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) ***1/2
Cast: Ariadna Gil, Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu, Doug Jones, Alex Angulo
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Running Length: 1:52
MPAA Classification: R

In the civil war Spain of the 1940’s, Ofelia (Baquero) has lost her father, a casualty of the war. Her mother (Gil) has been forced to marry Captain Vidal (Lopez), an evil man who fights the rebels around his home with a singleminded viciousness. Her mom is pregnant, and the pregnancy is killing her. On the grounds of Vidal’s estate is a labyrinth, and upon entering it, Ofelia meets many creatures including fairies and fauns. She learns that she is the long-lost princess and daughter of the King of the Underworld. To show herself worthy of this title, the faun Pan (Jones) lays out three tasks for her to perform. Completion before the next full moon will mean she can enter the kingdom and escape the war torn world around her.

“Pan’s Labyrinth” is a movie like no other. Director Guillermo del Toro has crafted a modern fairy tale. The two stories entertwine perfectly and complement each other. The special effects are hi quality, and the direction is excellent. Young Adriana Gil is excellent as poor Ofelia, a girl fleeing the horrors of the world around her. “Pan’s Labyrinth” is an excellent movie that is just different enough to make it fresh. I highly recommend this adult fairy tale. NOTE: This is a foreign film with subtitles.

79th annual Academy Award nominations
Complete list of the 79th Annual Academy Award nominations announced Tuesday at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, Calif.:

Best Picture:
Babel
The Departed
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Actor:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Actress:
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children

Supporting Actor:
Alan Arkin, L ittle Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

Supporting Actress:
Adriana Barraza, Babel
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

Directing:
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel
Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Clint Eastwood, Letters From Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears, The Queen
Paul Greengrass, United 93

Foreign Language Film:
After the Wedding, Denmark
Days of Glory (Indigenes), Algeria
The Lives of Others, Germany
Pan's Labyrinth, Mexico
Water, Canada

Adapted Screenplay:
Sacha Baron Cohen and Anthony Hines and Peter Baynham and Dan Mazer and Todd Phillips, Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Alfonso Cuaron and Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, Children of Men
William Monahan, The Departed
Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, Little Children
Patrick Marber, Notes on a Scandal

Original Screenplay:
Guillermo Arriaga, Babel
Iris Yamashita and Paul Haggis, Letters From Iwo Jima
Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine
Guillermo del Toro, Pan's Labyrinth
Peter Morgan, The Queen

Animated Feature Film:
Cars
Happy Feet
Monster House

Art Direction:
Dreamgirls
The Good Shepherd
Pan's Labyrinth
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
The Prestige

Cinematography:
The Black Dahlia
Children of Men
The Illusionist
Pan's Labyrinth
The Prestige

Sound Mixing:
Apocalypto
Blood Diamond
Dreamgirls
Flags of Our Fathers
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Sound Editing:
Apocalypto
Blood Diamond
Flags of Our Fathers
Letters From Iwo Jima
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Original Score:
Babel, Gustavo Santaolalla
The Good German, Thomas Newman
Notes on a Scandal, Philip Glass
Pan's Labyrinth, Javier Navarrete
The Queen, Alexandre Desplat

Original Song:
I Need to Wake Up from An Inconvenient Truth, Melissa Etheridge
Listen from Dreamgirls, Henry Krieger, Scott Cutler and Anne Preven
Love You I Do from Dreamgirls, Henry Krieger and Siedah Garrett
Our Town from Cars, Randy Newman
Patience from Dreamgirls, Henry Krieger and Willie Reale

Costume:
Curse of the Golden Flower
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
Marie Antoinette
The Queen

Documentary Feature:
Deliver Us From Evil
An Inconvenient Truth
Iraq in Fragments
Jesus Camp
My Country, My Country

Documentary (short subject):
The Blood of Yingzhou District
Recycled Life
Rehearsing a Dream
Two Hands

Film Editing:
Babel
Blood Diamond
Children of Men
The Departed
United 93

Makeup:
Apocalypto
Click
Pan's Labyrinth

Animated Short Film:
The Danish Poet
Lifted
The Little Matchgirl
Maestro
No Time for Nuts

Live Action Short Film:
Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)
Eramos Pocos (One Too Many)
Helmer & Son
The Saviour
West Bank Story

Visual Effects:
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Poseidon
Superman Returns

Academy Award winners previously announced this year:

Honorary award (Oscar statuette): Ennio Morricone

Jean Hersholt humanitarian award: Sherry Lansing

Golden Globe winners

Drama
Babel

Actor, drama
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Actress, drama
Helen Mirren, The Queen

Musical/comedy
Dreamgirls

Actor, musical/comedy
Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat

Director
The Departed, Martin Scorsese

Soundtrack
The Painted Veil, Alexandre Desplat

Foreign language
Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima

Screenplay
Peter Morgan, The Queen

Supporting actor
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls

Actress in a comedy or musical
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada

Supporting actress
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

Original song
The Song of the Heart, Happy Feet, Prince

Animated film
Cars

Cecil B. De Mille Award
Warren Beatty

The 12 Best Movies I Saw in 2006:
1. United 93 ****
2. The Departed ****
3. Capote **** (from 2005)
4. Casino Royale ***1/2
5. The Prestige ***1/2
6. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan ***1/2
7. Little Miss Sunshine ***1/2
8. X-Men: The Last Stand ***1/2
9. Mission: Impossible III ***1/2
10. Cars ***1/2
11. World Trade Center ***1/2
12. Monster House ***1/2

The Pursuit of Happyness **1/2
Cast: Will Smith, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, Thandie Newton, Brian Howe, James Karen, Dan Castellaneta
Director: Gabriele Muccino
Running Length: 1:57
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Down on his luck Chris Gardner (Smith) sells bone density scanners to local hospitals and doctors in 1981 in San Francisco. His wife Linda (Newton) is unpleasant and demanding. His son, Christopher, is a happy kid, but is effected by his parents’ disharmony. Soon, Linda leaves him and he is evicted from his home. He has little money, and his hopes lie with an internship program at Dean Witter. He is the least likely of the bunch to succeed in the class until he amazes the program head by solving his Rubik’s Cube. He enters the program and struggles to do that as well as sell his scanners and raise his kid.

This is your standard rags to riches story. With an emphasis on the rags part. “The Pursuit of Happyness” is pretty much a downer for 90 minutes as Chris must deal with everything that is thrown at him. Will Smith does a good job making Chris feel like a real person. He is not perfect, but he tries really hard, and that makes him easy to like. His real life son Jayden is also good as Christopher. This is an OK movie with a good performance by Smith that may benefit him come Oscar time. If you are looking for an inspiring movie, this may fill that need.

Night at the Museum **
Cast: Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs, Jake Cherry, Ricky Gervais, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson
Director: Shawn Levy
Running Length: 1:45
MPAA Classification: PG

Larry Daley (Stiller) needs a job badly, so he takes the position of night watchman at the New York Museum of Natural History. The job will allow him to pay the rent and be able to see his son, Nick (Cherry). His three predecessors (Van Dyke, Rooney, Cobbs) provide him with instructions and the warning not to let anyone into the museum or out. On his first night, exhibits come to life, and Larry finds that he has his hands full.

“Night at the Museum” is an average movie. It has some good special effects, but the story is lacking. There just isn’t much to it. The cast does its best to make it work, but that only goes so far. Kids will find it entertaining, but adults may just find it a little lacking. I recommend waiting for the DVD.