“Act of Valor” is a film with problems starting with: What is it? It is not a war movie in the traditional sense or about a specific military engagement. It is not about a mission against a specific enemy. To treat it as a war movie would seem to be a disservice to the many films that have been made about real wars and real engagements. It is NOT Hollywood at its best.

The main goal of “Act of Valor” appears to be to showcase what real SEALs do in a “day at the office”. It is pseudo-typical of the type of missions that the Navy SEALs (SEa Air Land) elite counter-terrorist unit (formerly known as SEAL TEAM Six) was created for.

It is a mostly well made film about a military training exercise which explores how to respond to a plausible threat/potential threat scenario. It is about a fictional mission to extract a CIA operative after a bombing incident. The extraction yields information about a terrorist plot to set off bombs on U.S. soil.

This leads to the follow up mission to interdict the terrorists. The real SEALs do well in the action scenes but most of the down time scenes are stiff and wooden with dialogue delivery that makes one wonder if they couldn’t have sent these guys to a few more acting classes.

The story is told through a first person recollection of a father writing a letter to a son. Immediately it is clear that someone will die since this type of letter in a military film is always written either in advance by someone who doesn’t survive the mission or later by someone who did return as a legacy for the offspring left behind. Then it just becomes a question of who is writing about whom. Later in the film it becomes obvious who isn’t going to make it. When the time comes their demise is seen a classic act of valor that has long been a staple of military films. It is a bit strange to see in such a high tech weaponry film and yet somehow always seems to be a fitting end for a movie hero performing that last selfless act.

The fictional Seal Team Seven (composed of real life Navy Seals) is introduced as they are about to go out on a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) training exercise. Shown as they are about to jump out of their transport, this is where things start to become slightly inaccurate. No one is likely to have their mask open to have a conversation just before jumping. But it does work for the camera.

Advance screenings of the film began with a preface piece from the directors Scott Waugh and Mike McCoy about how the film was made (this may not be part of the general release). Of note were the comments about the very real mission submarine shown in the film and how they were given co-ordinates to meet the sub when it would surface. If their SEALs failed to make rendezvous they would lose their four hour window to film. Admittedly it brings a different desired realism into the film. But the question is if they had missed the window of opportunity would they have built set pieces to film?

Most of the action sequences look like they could have come from a Navy recruiting advertisement. This is because “Act of Valor” began as a project to make a recruiting film. Unfortunately, Hollywood tends to win out in the end resulting in grander explosions and louder gunfire (usually muffled in real missions). The result is that many of these scenes look like tighter shot, close-ups of what has been seen before in films like “Apocalypse Now”.

With promotional materials making statements like “Real SEALs. Real Bullets. Real Heroes.” one has to wonder if the marketing team ever saw some of the nightly news broadcasts from the Vietnam era or some of the CNN coverage of Desert Storm. In their efforts to claim that you have never see anything like their film they have glossed over a lot of real history and real imbedded filming.

Many of the worlds counter-terrorist units including the United State’s Delta Force and Seal Team 6 were created in the wake of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games Massacre and other terrorist actions.  Subsequently the first well known film about the extraction of hostages from terrorists was the Israeli “Operation Thunderbolt” about the mission to recover the hostages of Air France’s Flight 139 which was hijacked on June 27, 1976 from Entebbe Airport.

“Act of Valor” is definitely geared for the post 9/11 war video gaming generation and current military who are more likely to be familiar with much of the technical jargon and high tech equipment used in the film. It is, however, a film that is accessible to anyone of age interested in seeing a military film. It is not a film for kids, even if they are used to the language and settings of their video games.

Worth seeing? Definitely. But with a proper understanding of what you are walking into.

Final note: Is this “film is like no other in Hollywood’s history” as promoted? Perhaps. After all, they did get normally secretive clandestine Navy SEALs to step in front of a camera and into the limelight in a way that is likely to limit their future SEAL opportunities while potentially landing them in a whole new series of recruiting materials.

Rated: R (1 hour 41 min)

Take two parts “I-Spy”, one part “Sweet Home Alabama”, add in liberal amounts of Mad Magazine’s “Spy vs. Spy”, finish off with a dash of Mission: Impossible techno gadgetry and… Voila! You have “This Means War” – the latest spy/love/relationship/comedy. The screwball comedy is back.

CIA agents FDR Foster (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy) are best friends and partners assigned to a routine covert mission. Unfortunately the mission goes awry becoming very overt leaving dead bodies everywhere. Result – FDR and Tuck are grounded to desk duty at CIA Headquarters. Meanwhile at Smart Consumer, Inc. flamethrower wielding Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) is busy doing her job – testing products. When Lauren’s best friend  Trish (Chelsea Handler) sets up a profile for Lauren on dating website ItsFate.net the stage is set for an all out war for the favor of the affections.

Tuck responds to Lauren’s profile, they set up a date, and of course FDR has to cover his back from nearby… “one ring means extraction, two rings – cleaners, three rings and everything is okay”. Great plan except it leads to FDR accidentally meeting Lauren. From then on its a fight to the finish. Who will Lauren pick?

Director McG’s pitting of Chris Pine against Tom Hardy in seeking the affections of Reese Witherspoon has a feeling mildly reminiscent of the comedy of the classic “Road To” pictures of Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour. The result is an enjoyable interlude that makes for a fun date movie.

The price of admission also includes the cartoon “Scrat’s Continental Crack Up Part 2” which continues the misadventures of nut crazed ice age squirrel Scrat.

Rated: PG-13 (1 hour 37 min)

Mediocrity has a name and that name is “Safe House”. Despite high hopes for a strong, intense spy story, “Safe House” delivers performances that at times seem like they were phoned in with a premise that has been seen many times before and many times better. Spies lie – often to each other. Sometimes they go rogue and become traitors. Sometimes the real explanation is muddled in gray areas.

“Safe House” presents Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) as a “housekeeper” of a low priority CIA safe house in Cape Town, South Africa. Having been at his post for one year, he speaks to his superior about moving up and how he seems to passed over because of his lack of accomplishments. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Cape Town, a rouge CIA agent is making his way to a meeting to collect information from a British Intelligence officer. The meeting is compromised and the rouge agent flees for his life. He finds his way to a U.S. Consulate for shelter. The man is Tobin Frost (Denzil Washington) wanted as a traitor and a terrorist. He is taken into custody and subsequently to Weston’s safe house by a team of interrogators. As soon as the interrogation begins, the house is compromised and the interrogators are killed. Weston is faced with the toughest decision of his career – what to do with Frost?

What follows is a sloppy mess of chase scenes, loss of control, regaining control, avoiding killers, avoiding police, and of course the now overused running across rooftops through a slum or ghetto area until someone finally falls through a tin roof. The pacing jumps from fast to slow to are they trying for comedy? and back again. “Safe House” fails to be the film it should have been. It is at best okay where it should have tended toward great.

Director Danial Espenosa and writer David Guggenheim would have done well to study CIA story films that actually work extremely well such as the 1975 film “Three Days of the Condor” in which Joe Turner (Robert Redford), a low level research officer, goes to lunch and comes back to find his team had been assassinated. After that he was out in the cold with everyone is trying to kill him. They could have studied any of the Matt Damon as Jason Bourne films and might have found a way to work in the subtlety and intensity that are lacking in “Safe House”.

Is “Safe House” worth seeing? Sure. Just don’t expect too much from a film that doesn’t really live up to the level of action and spy thriller intrigue that the trailers imply.

Rated: R (1 hour 55 min)

Ghastly… er… I mean Ghostly… Actually more like not a Ghost of a chance… “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance”, a supposed sequel to “The Ghost Rider” is that rare film that is so bad that it is likely to develop an instant cult following and little else. Unfortunately, the vengeance of the spirit appears to be aimed at audiences hoping for a good movie.

The first time around we learned the history of the Ghost Rider and how motorcycle stuntman Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) became The Ghost Rider. This time out Blaze has been trying to hide from society to keep the Ghost from coming out and killing. At the same time he is going insane or at least schizophrenic from the internal battle to keep the Ghost hidden while he tries to maintain control. He sort of succeeds until he is tracked down by the priest Moreau (Idris Elba) who wants him to find and protect Danny (Fergus Riordan) and his mother Nadya (Violante Placido) from Satan/Roarke (Ciarán Hinds). Turns out that Danny is the devils son and slated to become the part human vessel for the devil to transfer to so he can continue to roam the earth.

If you’ve seen the trailer then you have already seen most of the best parts of the movie including what happens when the Ghost Rider has to pee (A.K.A – the flame thrower). Nicolas Cage’s performance is nothing new or particularly exciting. His conflicted arguments with the Ghost over who is in control is augmented by pathetic CGI effects that keep bringing out and putting back parts of the Ghost’s skull imposed on Cage’s face. Choppy editing and a weak, almost lame script result in fare that is quite foul. Perhaps it’s time for Marvel Comics/Marvel Knights/Marvel Universe to stop making films for a while. Hardly worth paying the price of admission, this one barely rates watching when the inevitable DVD comes out. If you feel you must see it in the theater at least do yourself the favor of seeing it in 2D and save the 3D money for popcorn.

Rated: PG-13 (1 Hour 36 min)

The list is finally here – the Knickerbocker Ledger’s first-ever ’30 Under 30′ winners. This year’s list comes from government, the private sector, from journalism, to the arts, to business, to education, and labor. All individuals either come from the Capital Region or have significant influence in the region.

“We received scores of nominations for this year’s list from all over the Capital Region – it only support the concept that the Capital Region is a hotbed for emerging and robust young and talented individuals in all fields,” said Jacquelyn M. Cohen, senior vice president and managing editor-in-chief of the Knickerbocker Ledger.

Submissions came from readers of the Knickerbocker Ledger online from late November through the end of December of 2011. An honorary committee has also been formed to select the ’30 Under 30′ Person of the Year award. The committee members include Cohen, senior columnist Joe Bonilla, Avid Agencies CEO Michael Corts, Hispanic Coalition of New York president and CEO Monica Arias Miranda, Hudson River Coffee House owner Anton Pasquill, and information technology consultant Nathan Lebron.

The winners will be lauded along side the award nominees of the Knickerbocker Film Festival at a reception in Downtown Albany in late March 2011. The exact date, time, and location will be announced shortly.

Profiles of the winners will be published in print next week and online at knickledger.com.

The winners:

Alexandra Aiello, deputy field director for Friends of Noelle Kinsch; staffer at Meyer, Suozzi, English, and Klein
Dana S. Owens, cartoonist, SMALLBANY
David A. Rozen, counsel, New York State Senate
Matthew T. Peter, co-chair, Robert F. Kennedy Democratic Club; analyst, New York State Senate
Derrick S. Maul, actor/dancer

Kaitlyn Beachner, president, SUNY Student Assembly
Zachary Hutchins, director of new media operations – New York State Senate
Richard A. Fazio, assistant manager, Regal Entertainment Group; co-founder, Knickerbocker Film Festival
Alicia Criss, co-director, New Leaders Council Capital Region Chapter
Daniel Curtis, director, Capital District Area Labor Federation

Kat Broadus, writer and theatrical director
Angela B. Tatem, director, Community Outreach/STEP Program – Union College Kenney Community Center
Jon Campbell, statehouse correspondent for Gannett Albany Bureau
Daniel A. Crowley, owner and founder, Printz & Patternz
Olga Martinez, musical director, RENT at SLOC and the Egg

Ryan Horstmyer, associate at Wilson Elser; former Albany County Legislator
Robert Magee, legal observer, Occupy Albany
Juliet Shen, founder and blogger, FascinAsians
Justin Cook, student activities advisor, Schenectady County Community College
Steve Struss, drummer, MIRK

Olivia Quillio, singer/songwriter
Danielle Sanzone, staff writer, Troy Record
Charlie Vella, Citizen Action
Kevin Marshall, writer/comedian
Phil Hughes, manager, Hudson River Coffee House

Tremayne Price, university council member, University at Albany; comptroller, UAlbany Student Association
Jennifer Grainer, marketing director, Honest Weight Food Co-Op
Judd Krasher, aide to N.Y. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver; founder, Lower Central Avenue Neighborhood Association
Ada Martinez, program manager, Capital Region Workforce Development Center
Steve Pampinella, adjunct instructor, University at Albany

The nomination of Thomas Marcelle, County Executive Daniel P. McCoy‘s pick for Albany County Attorney, passed the Albany County Legislature Monday night in a vote of 27-10 with two abstentions.

Marcelle, who had been most recently the senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said that the vote was “a great moment for Albany County.” Over 125 residents and onlookers were in attendance for the standing-room-only meeting in the legislature’s newly renovated chamber at the Albany County Courthouse.

“This is about my qualifications, they know my capabilities,” said Marcelle after the vote.

Marcelle’s nomination for the $110,000-a-year post had been met with opposition in the last few weeks, cap-stoned by the creation of stoptommarcelle.com by LGBT activist Libby Post (Post was not present at the vote).

The votes in the opposition included legislators Doug Bullock, Frank Commisso, Bryan Clenahan, Chris Higgins, Raymond Joyce, Noelle Kinsch, Lucille McKnight, Tim Nichols, Joe O’Brien, and Phil Steck.

“This is about a basic vision of government, this is why I have a problem with this nomination,” said Clenahan.

“(Tom) Marcelle does not use judgment, does not understand ‘one man, one vote’,” said McKnight. McKnight alluded to the comments made by former Albany Common Council Member and 2009 mayoral candidate Corey Ellis, who called for a more diversified county government. ”We continue to not embrace diversity,” said Ellis.

“I applaud the legislature for its determination to advance my appointments after an exhaustive vetting process,” said McCoy in a prepared statement. McCoy was not present for the vote.

During the public comment period – which lasted about two hours – the entire first hour of comments were all in favor of Marcelle.

“The county executive is entitled to his county attorney. That should be the issue. Nothing else,” said former county legislator Nancy Wiley.

Bill Ritchie, a labor activist and the president of the Albany Central Federation of Labor, was the first to speak in opposition to the appointment.

“This nomination could have united us, instead of dividing us,” said Ritchie.

Marcelle’s nomination culminated a nearly month long fight between allies of McCoy and the progressive community, who has cited concern over the “closeness” between McCoy Democrats and the Albany County Conservative Party led by Richard Stack.

“I do not support of the arraignment between McCoy and the Conservative Party. I do not support the arraignment between Chairman Morse and the Conservative Party. And I do not support the arraignment between Mike Connors with Conservative Party,” said Steck, referring to all three elected officials taking on the Conservative Party line in addition to running as Democrats.

“I said when I took office that I will run this county as a business and that I will appoint the most qualified individuals to help me lead, based upon their history of accomplishments rather than their political or personal ideology. I will continue to govern by that standard in the best interest of the people who elected me,” McCoy continued.

McCoy’s campaign manager, Tom Nardacci, chimed in on the Marcelle nomination on Twitter, saying “For the record, 99.97% of Albany County residents aren’t paying attention to #albmarcelle. It’s twitter spam at this point.” Nardacci is also the president of Gramercy Communications.

In addition to Marcelle, the legislature unanimously approved Darrell Duncan of the Town of New Scotland as Commissioner of the Department of Public Works and Kathleen Dalton of Colonie as the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services.

Photo Credit: DCA Photos

The vote for Albany County Attorney, the $110,000-post that County Executive Daniel P. McCoy hopes that attorney Thomas Marcelle will fill, is tonight at the Albany County Courthouse in Downtown Albany.

The 39-member legislature will begin public comment at 6:30 p.m. and will vote on the nomination later tonight in what is expected to be a lengthy session (the Working Families Party has set up a Facebook event for the public hearing for more information).

Marcelle’s nomination came under fire in the past few weeks, stemming from Marcelle’s connections to the Alliance Defense Fund, a “servant organization that provides the resources that will keep the door open for the spread of the Gospel through the legal defense of religious freedom, the sanctity of life, marriage  and the family,” according to their website.

LGBT activist Libby Post, who is also the CEO of Communication Serivces, set up a website in opposition to Marcelle’s nomination. StopTomMarcelle.org calls for “McCoy to withdraw this nomination and if he refuses for the members of the Albany County Legislature to vote against it. No member of the Albany County Legislature, who is pro-choice, pro-equality, and pro-separation of church and state, should vote in good conscience be able to vote for this nomination.”

In recent days, elected officials outside of the legislature have gotten involved, with Marcelle “has a record of supporting attacks on the rights of women and the LGBT community,” according to Albany City Treasurer Katherine M. Sheehan in a statement via e-mail and on Facebook.

“Surely the spirit of bi-partisanship cannot cause us to relinquish our core Democratic values. As Democrats, how can we allow a far right social conservative like Mr. Marcelle to hold such a crucial policy posiiton in our County,” said Sheehan.

“Albany and New York State have come a long way since then when it comes to advancing human rights and embracing diversity. We must continue to move forward in these respects, not turn the clock back. That’s why I’m deeply troubled by the appointment of Thomas Marcelle to be Albany County Attorney,” said Albany Common Council President Pro Tempore Richard Conti.

Marcelle’s nomination process has been at the forefront of the new McCoy administration, in which at one point the county named Marcelle as county attorney in their phone directory (after our report on the matter, the phone directory was changed to ‘vacant’).

We will have continuous coverage of the Marcelle nomination tonight – check our Twitter or the hashtag #ALBMarcelle.

It’s coming. The end of The Twilight Saga movies.

But along the way there will be events big and small and…disappointing.

Friday, February 10th was marked as the night that the DVD/Blu-Ray editions of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” would be released at midnight. Earlier in the day people lined up in  various locations for pre-release events. Promoted for weeks as the “Big Event”, 500 Target stores promised a special sneak peek of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2”. Their Sunday, February 5 advertisement included a front cover fly sheet inviting all Twilighters to the 11 p.m. show.

Lasting about six and a half minutes, the sneak peek fell short of expectations. Advanced rumors had it that as much as the first 15 minutes of the movie would be shown. Instead, it was mostly a fast recap of the prior films and a promo for the “Part 1” release in less than an hour. When the subject matter finally turned to “Part 2” the three principle actors, Kristen Stewart who plays Isabella “Bella” Swan, Taylor Lautner who plays Jacob Black, and Robert Pattinson who plays Edward Cullen, provided some introductory comments which were finally followed by an approximately two minute scene from “Part 2”.

The scene presented:

Bella sits down on the sofa in a house and looks at words written on a piece of paper. Edward comes in from behind and sits down next to her. Bella says “It’s strange… Physically I feel like I could demolish a tank… and mentally I just feel… drained.” Edward asks “How about a bath?” Bella smiles. She glances again at the paper then looks at Edward as he says “I’ve had a bad habit of underestimating you. Every obstacle you’ve faced… I’d think you couldn’t overcome it… But you just did… You have given me something to fight for… a family.” They kiss. Edward then gets up and goes off to draw her a bath. She looks again at the words written on the paper - “Gather as many witnesses as you can before the snow sticks to the ground. That’s when they’ll come for us.”

When she turns over the paper she sees that it was torn from a copy of William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”. Going to the bookcase she finds a copy of the play. The page was torn out of the front. Flipping through the book, Bella finds the inscription “J. Jenks, Seattle – destroy this”…

END OF SNEEK PEAK.

William Shakespeare also wrote “Much Ado About Nothing”. Many of those who attended the Target super short sneak peek show felt like they had wasted hours waiting for something that was practically nothing. If they had gone to select Walmarts they would have at least been treated to a proper showing of “Twilight: Eclipse”. Based on Target’s sneak peek, weakness will Part 2 be a significant film? Will a major war break out? Or will there just be a lynching as the note tends to imply? Perhaps a better clue will be found when the Official “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2” trailer premieres with the release of “The Hunger Games” on March 23.

Whitney Houston, who rose to win multiple Grammy Awards throughout her 30 year career, is dead at 48, according to the Associated Press.

Houston was reportedly found dead by singer Ray J at the Beverly Hills Hilton on Saturday night.

Houston, whose career was in decline throughout the last decade due to drug troubles, last had an album come out in the latter part of the decade to mediocre success.

Houston rose to success in the 1980s, reaching musical success with singing the national anthem at the Superbowl in 1991 and starring in 1992′s ‘The Bodyguard’ with Kevin Costner.

Houston had been involved in an on-and-off relationship with R&B singer Bobby Brown in which they had a child together, Bobbi Christina Brown.