Motorcycle Diaries, The Incredibles

1.The Motorcycle Diaries (Director: Walter Salles)

THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES is the Oscar winner for Best Original Song (Jorge Drexler, "Al Otro Lado Del Rio)

Salles is one of those directors who has had a fairly long career, just isn't known in the United States. This is the Brazilian's first movie to hit big in these parts.

The film is being considered an Oscar contender, but apparently for Best Picture and not Foreign Language Film, since there is no country that can really claim this South American road movie. Here, we have what I believe is the fourth movie I've seen involving pre-revolutionary actions this year, following The Dreamers, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, and Head in the Clouds. The film is based on Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara's journals as he travels through South America with friend Alberto Granado, looking for adventure and a cause.

Gael Garcia Bernal, in his second big film to hit the States (the other was Y Tu Mama Tambien), plays Che, mostly known as Ernesto Guevara de la Serna. His performance is one of the more memorable of the year thus far, playing a man who speaks the truth and only the truth, sometimes to the dismay of his friend Alberto (Rodrigo De La Serna), as they try to find shelter or women or someone who can fix their bike. It's a funny, engaging road film that culminates in a Chilean colony separated by a river, where on one side there are religious volunteers for a cause to help those on the other side, stricken with leprosy. Ernesto, a studying would-be doctor, looks for his ultimate cause in the people he meets. Alberto hardly has these types of ambitions, and is looking for fun, but this doesn't cause a dramatic conflict. It's mostly light-hearted comedy that ensues from their differences, and it's enjoyable to watch.

Make no mistake, though, this is a drama, and based on the man who graces many T-shirts as the shaggy-dog Castro supporter. The film takes place before the events that would make him well-known, but shows the sights he experienced that began to shape his ideals. He sees a lot of people ravaged with poverty and disease, meets other thinkers who shape and mold his thoughts, becomes proactive. An adventure that begins as a sort of getaway from the rumblings of war becomes an eye-opener, and for the audience that is their fate as well.

This is a solid movie. It will be hard-pressed to find Oscar consideration except for maybe a couple of categories. Bernal deserves one but it's a strong class for Best Actor this year.

2. The Incredibles (Director: Brad Bird)

THE INCREDIBLES is the Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature, Best Sound Editing (Michael Silvers, Randy Thorn)

Brad Bird has left his mark on "The Simpsons" as an early, huge contributer to the best TV series of all time. He also wrote and directed the fabulous The Iron Giant in 1999, a movie that belongs in the all-time classic animated films category. His other credits include "Amazing Stories" and its second volume that contained a short called, "Family Dog," that was later made into its own short-lived animated series. He exec-produced on "The Critic" and "King of the Hill." Possibly, also of note, is his co-writing for *batteries not included. While that movie didn't turn out great, it shows the imagination he possesses, and his credits show Steven Spielberg took notice.

Pixar Animation can do no wrong. It's an inevitable facet of life, and now they've got Brad Bird directing a digitally-animated opus. Now, when you see two forces collide like this, it's not always a guarantee that it will be the greatness you would imagine. I remember when the thought was that if you got Billy Crystal and Robin Williams together in a movie, the hilarity would be so much that it sells itself, but that didn't help Father's Day from being one of the worst comedies you'll ever see. It's all about vision, a creation of a story, an environment. Brad Bird up and boldly takes a Pixar feature to the limit. You're going to see reviews say, "It's awesome, don't get me wrong, it's just not as good as (insert other Pixar feature here)."

Comparing The Incredibles to Toy Story is like comparing Die Hard to There's Something About Mary. At heart, The Incredibles is an action picture with laughs. And the laughs are done in such a winning manner that you recall the ugliness of the Dreamworks pics Shrek and Shark Tale. A Pixar feature asks you to notice what's funny, and a Dreamworks picture tells you what's funny. The arrogance of a Dreamworks animated picture is terribly foul. Pixar's team offers subtle touches, fast and furious action, creativity, and best of all, good stories.

This one concerns superheroes who, in these modern times, have been banned from fighting crime because of the large-scale trouble they can cause if things go wrong. A downright tour-de-force set of action scenes leads to Mr. Incredible eventually getting sued and being sent to a normal life. He gets married to his superhero sweetheart, Elastigirl, they have kids, they try to make their existence as mundane as possible, or else it's relocating to another city where no one knows. Of course, it's hard, and an evil villain is waiting in the wings to test the superheroes again, and it culminates into the awakening of those unused powers.

The Incredibles contains voice work from Craig T. Nelson as Mr. Incredible, Holly Hunter as Elastigirl, Samuel L. Jackson as Frozone, Jason Lee as antagonist Syndrome, Sarah Vowell as superhero daughter Violet, Spencer Fox as superhero son Dash, Elisabeth Pena as Syndrome's assistant Mirage, and Bird himself as fashion designer Edna Mode. As always, the voices add to the character rather than being the characters themselves (once again, shame on you DW). But what makes this movie really exciting are the action scenes and how Brad Bird uses each family member's powers as a function of something cool. Elastigirl is obviously Bird's favorite, taking on the best of "set" pieces in the picture.

All that, and there's a hundred jokes, most of them visual (and all of them are good, too. There are no howlers, and that's another thing Pixar's entire library of films can boast). If you presented to me the six Pixar full-length films and asked me to pick one, this one would be it. It's that good. I wish voice work could win an Oscar, because Craig T. Nelson, playing the deflated alter-ego of Mr. Incredible, Bob Parr, grabs you completely into the story. Holly Hunter is also great. They're all great, of course, but those two drive the story.

There have been two great action films this year. Spider-Man 2 and The Incredibles, films that blow away all comic book hero movies before them. It looks like a franchise may be in the making for The Incredibles. We can only hope.