WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT UNITED 93?

It's the best movie of the year: PERIOD.

Paul Greengrass has crafted a non-judgmental, accurate, fingernail-biting suspense masterpiece the likes I have not seen since, perhaps, Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. It's basically a pseudo-documentary (a lot of hand-held, no famous faces, a minimum of fancy camera moves) but it works on every possible level.

We know what happens--we know that United 93 is doomed from the moment the film opens. And Greengrass finds his drama not only in bombastic scenes, but also, early on, in those quiet ones that we all can relate to: the boredom of sitting in the boarding area; the flight attendant chit-chat with the fliers: the pilots gearing up for the five hourNewark to San Francisco flight.

And when the drama cranks up, especially when watching the disbelief of the air traffic controllers who realize not just one plane, but a whole phlanx of planes are no longer under their control (!) you just want to leap out of your seat and call someone to do--well, something.

But you can't. Planes start hitting the WTC, a plane slams into the Pentagon, the military seems handcuffed in their response, the air traffic controllers seem to know the most (but can't get info to the right people, apparently), and those poor people on United 93 are oblivious to it. They're already dead, the viewer realizes in a horrible epiphany, and they don't even know it.

I cannot imagine UNITED 93 not getting a Best Picture nomination, nor Greengrass not being nominated for Best Director, Original Screenplay, and his editor not being up for an Oscar as well. This picture is so superior in execution and design to Oliver Stone's WORLD TRADE CENTER that I hesitate to mention them in the same blog.

One word sums up UNITED 93 quite nicely: WOW.

Insider Info on UCOD: What's in a name?

(WARNING: SPOILERS!)

Books take months and months to write, so readers should not be surprised that authors put thought and meaning into basically EVERY decision that affects what's written on the page.

Foremost among them--and this should be obvious, though sometimes it isn't--is what to name one's characters. For example, let's just take the Harry Potter series. "Snape" is an unattractive name, same as the character; "Potter" is common and ordinary, as humble as Harry's pre-Hogwart's roots; "Hagrid" is evocative of a large, Wagnerian-hero; and "Voldemort" is as deadly-sounding as its linguistic derivation, "mort," literally meaning death ("Malfoy" is another one with a hidden Gallic meaning: "mal"="bad".)

Some of Rowling's names are reversely-evocative: Ronald Weasley is anything BUT a weasle; Albus Dumbledore is anything but dumb; etc.

The same with my book, UNDER CLOAK OF DARKNESS. Since the book is getting more press, and I think (I hope!) that more people who have read it are now reading this blog, I thought it was time to divulge the hidden meanings behind the names in my book. Personally, I've always loved this kind of stuff.

JOHN APPARITE: "Apparite" is based on the word "apparition," as in "ghost." A fairly clear association, especially for a spy who is, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, basically dead.

THE DIRECTOR: His real name is nothing overly exotic or playful, I'll tell you that. For book purposes, I liked the idea that Apparite is the one who names him, in the most common-sensical manner possible (he's Apparite's director, ergo, the Director). "Boss" sounded too informal; "Number One" too goofy and "Bondish." I hoped like hell at the time that no other author had used the name "Director" as I planned, and I was relieved not to have run into any other secret agent bosses by this name--yet. Of course, and even if I DO, it's now too late!

AGENT J: My wife's name begins with "J." It's as simple as that.

AGENT G: Certain letters don't sound right for spy names (i.e. "W," or "Y") and the really obvious choices ("X" and "Q)" sound trite or stereotypical. "E" sounded okay, so I used that one as Apparite's "official" moniker. "B" is another one that's also used, which sounds okay as well.

CLIVE HITCH: "Clive" is a great, traditional old English name, and "Hitch" evokes someone with a fault or weakness, just as I wanted the reader to perceive this character as having.

WILLIAM STANDERTON: I ran across this name in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral, and I loved it. In a reverse psychology way, "Standerton" is a name of forthrightness and strength, like being a "stand-up" guy, or taking a "stand."

DR. HOEVENAERS: I found this name in my secret name source; a book which supplies me with authentic period names of people from many nationalities. And no, I won't tell you what it is.

PEGGY STOKES: As Apparite's almost-girlfriend, I wanted a name that had a plain front--and what is plainer or more fifties-sounding than "Peggy"?--and an evocative back (she "Stokes" the flames of Apparite's passion). So "Peggy Stokes" it was.

JOSEPH JUDGE: Now, this was just a happy coincidence. There WAS a well-known Washington Senator named "Joe Judge," and Apparite acts like "Judge and Jury" when he beats-up the thugs in the tavern.

VIKTOR: In Apparite's SMERSH nemesis, I wanted a name of real strength; of a confident man who expected to win every battle he was in. "Viktor," in addition to being a great Russian name, fit perfectly in that regard.

NIKOLAI: For the Russian engineer, I wanted an old-tyme name that commanded respect. So I named the engineer in honor of the last Russian Czar, Nicholas.

ROBERT KRAMER: For this essential character, I wanted an ordinary name in contrast to the decidedly UN-ordinary deed he was going to perform. My first choice (which I can't tell you, for reasons you shall see) was, I realized, the REAL name of an ACTUAL Navy Sub scientist who was an old friend of my parents (Gee, I THOUGHT it sounded familiar when I first thought it up!). So I changed it slightly and got "Robert Kramer."

THE MOBSTERS: Here were some difficulties. First, I did not want to use the names of any living Mobsters. Second, true Mob names are very distinct in their own way--one simply can't take any old Italian name and hope it sounds correct. So what I did was to look up the names of dozens and dozens of actual Mobsters, figure out how their names were derived, and then derive a bunch of my own. How? Well, many real Mobsters' names are derived from the region of Sicily or southern Italy that their families were from, so I got out my maps, found some good regional or town names, and voila! Franco Calabrese (Calabria), Frank Casarano (Casarano, Italy), etc. In the third Apparite book, I use this technique even more extensively, using names like "Vizzini" and "Gravina." Many Mobster names are derived from Italian words (an approach used by Coppola in THE GODFATHER, and by David Chase for THE SOPRANOS), but I felt a little less confident using that approach.

Anyway, there ya' go. If you want more evidence that authors and film-makers do this, just watch 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. There's a reason why one astronaut is named "Bowman" and the other is named "Poole."

What's so great about V FOR VENDETTA?

Graphic novels are the rage, in all shapes and forms. Written back in the eighties, when Margaret Thatcher was, to many Britons, the equivalent of Satan, VENDETTA was a commentary on her conservative government--and not a flattering one.

Cut to the present: Golly gee, which government might be commented upon NOW by a film like VENDETTA? I wonder....

And yet that potential mine-field was lightly tripped over in this fine film. Rather than clumsy Bush-bashing, VENDETTA does a nice job of making the faults of the oppressive government in the tale JUST absurd enough as to avoid offence; just wild enough to hold our interest as "V" brings down a British administration bent on subjugating its people thru censorship and intimidation.

Aside from a possible conspiracy-theorist solution for 9/11 (in the film, the government kills its own people so it can, later on, seem heroic by saving others), it's a timely, entertaining film, filled with action and thoughtful issues to raise it above nearly all other recent graphic-novel/comic-book adaptations.

It's helped by having Hugo Weaving as the Guy Fawkes-masked anti-hero, "V." Weaving is wonderful; a basically vengeaful, evil man who does horrific things in a cause that he feels is just, and yet...and yet he pulls it off with elan, creating a completely sympathetic character who eventually wins over the audience. I never thought I'd be in favor of a man blowing up the Houses of Parliament to bring down the British Government, but in the world of this film, I'd bet that most viewers eventually find themselves rooting for him to do it.

Natatlie Portman, I'm afraid, is the film's weakest link. For one, she's so tiny and youthful that I'm afraid she doesn't make much of a visual impact--you basically want to pull her off the screen, give her a hug, and send her off to camp. And I don't care how much she practiced, she can't replicate an English accent with enough veracity to avoid making every line she utters a distraction.

But the rest of the cast, as is Weaving, is flawless; the acting a cut above every other film of this genre that I've yet seen. The visual style of the film is captivating, particularly in its action sequences involving "V." The music is stirring; hell, even the prologue--a brief history of Guy Fawkes--is unusually well done.

Yep, I liked this film. Can ya' tell?