I haven't seen this, although I will try to. But I have experienced enough pain from Forest Whitaker to want to see if he can partially redeemed himself.

I was inflicted with his attempt to be the narrator on the Canadian-made "Twilight Zone," a series that, in effect, exhumed Serling's body so it could be defecated upon. And yes, Whitaker was "only the actor." But his presence, and the putrid lines he delivered, and the reverence with which he spoke them, infuriated me.

I couldn't tune it out. I work at the TV station that was broadcasting it. Twice a weekend.

The people who made that series - a guy named Pen Densham sticks in my mind as the first against the wall when the revolution comes - deserve the majority of the blame. But "Twilight Zone" is an albatross around Whitaker's neck that will require a lot of work on his part to remove.

I'll always remember his star turn in "Species".

Scene: interior train carriage. Blood, entrails, and body parts are scattered all around and the corpse of a ticket-taker is suspended from the ceiling.

FOREST: Something bad happened here.

He's been more than Tumnus. He was terrific in Bright Young Things and very entertaining in Wimbledon.

Will definitely go see this - if my work schedule permits - Zacharek has become my most reliable guide to movies. Except of course I know I cannot pay her any attention when it comes to a movie starring Tom Cruise.

He's one of the most interesting actors I've ever seen. Sure, The Twilight Zone sucked. Shocking. Watch "Ghost Dog" or the last season of The Shield (for which he should've won the Emmy for Supporting, if not Lead Actor). He's also the only part of "Smoke" that's not rediculously "actory" in retrospect. So lay off Forest. Name another actor with a big belly and a lazy eye that can convey sexy and dangerous as well as cut-off and wounded.

Unlike the previous poster, I find myself always in disagreement with Zacharek. If she likes it, I loathe it... she hates it, I love it. It's been my experience that she enjoys overblown, chewing the scenery-type acting and broad, obvious themes. Two examples--she loved the dreadful "Pride and Prejudice" with Keira Knightley. More recently, she recommended "The Illusionist" with Ed Norton, a movie that was mildly enjoyable on the surface, but upon even the tiniest bit of reflection was shallow and full of holes. (And I love Ed Norton--but he barely had anything to do in this movie. I never figured out what made his character tick, I never bought the love story--AND I found myself drawn to the bad guy in the movie, as the only one with a bit of spunk. Not a good thing). So I'm guessing this movie is sure to be a stinker. I'll skip it at the theater and maybe check it out on DVD some day.

Also showcased at the Toronto Film Festival is a must see movie with James McAvoy in the leading role, Starter Ten, a rare, touching, non violent film with excellent character underpinings.

The "Species" letter below is hilarious! That movie was total crap, and another good actor, Ben Kingsley, made the the same decision Forest did.

But, in all fairness: Forest was great in The Color of Money and The Crying Game. He's a good actor, this may be a great role for him.

Art

In addition to the previous posts highlighting James McAvoy's former roles, he also played a character very appropriate to the title of this movie. He was a modern-day MacBeth (in a celebrity kitchen) in the BBC's ShakespeaRetold series.

What a racist crock of shit this is.

Could you explain yourself Kim? What exactly makes this movie racist? (you've actually seen it, I presume)

Kim's reaction is typical of those who think that no person of color should ever be critisized for anything. When people say Hitler was a monster, when we look at the horrors that germans perpretrated in the camps, the experiments on human beings, the torture, and the enjoyment that the perpetrators appeared to derive from it, do we scream racism. Do we try to excuse it or justify it. No one except for self avowed nazis does so. Amin was a monster. And like other monsters, he had the support of his people. Just as many germans did not object to what became of the jews, the ugandans cheered Amin's decision to expel all of the asians.

Kim's remark puzzles me. Amin's murderous regime is a matter of undisputed historical record, so surely he/she isn't saying that any mention of it is unjustified? But while Amin was a bloodthirsty tyrant, if anything it's the Brits who come out worst in this movie - from the complacent High Commissioner smirking "He's definitely one of ours", to the callow, opportunistic Garrigan who happily grabs all the perks of his position and shuts his eyes to the torture and killing until he's forced to acknowledge them. Amin, meanwhile, is portrayed as shrewd and astute, knowing just which buttons to press, when to act the buffoon or turn on the charm, according to whoever he's dealing with. In what way is this racist?

Unlike Fenella, I don't think Kim's post suggested that Idi Amin should not be criticized because he was a "person of color" and unlike Philip Kemp, I am not puzzled by Kim's remark. Everything that is known about Idi Amin suggests that he was a brutal tyrant. Nevertheless, instead of focusing on that aspect of the story, "The Last King of Scotland" uses a fictional Scotsman to show us the fun that a white boy can have while traveling through an exotic locale and having sex with the "natives." While I was captivated by the performances, my companion and I were shocked by the "African woman as sex-starved playmate for the white boy" stereotype that served as an undercurrent to the film. This was in direct contrast to the portrayal of the white female character as a virtuous do-gooder who is able to resist the Scotsman's charms. It is disingenous at best for the film to portray the Ugandan women alternately gyrating, dancing topless and serving as the Scotsman's personal whores when this is just a fictionalized account of the author's sexual fantasies. It is absolutely preposterous to even suggest that Idi Amin's wife engaged in a torrid affair with a white boy and became pregnant with his child knowing how paranoid and dangerous her hsband was. Moreover, it is disrespectful to his wife's real legacy and memory to create this fictional romance when no such thing ever took place.

Though I am all for accurate portrayals of historical atrocities, no matter who commits them, I believe that white people's sexual fantasies should be left to pornographic novels and films rather than imposed on "women of color."