Now On DVD: The Air I Breathe
May 20, 2008 - New on DVD | No comments
Never before has such a stellar cast been combined in such a stinker film. You take Forest Whitaker, Kevin Bacon, Brendan Fraser, Julie Delpey, Sarah Michelle Geller, Andy Garcia and Emile Hirsch, and how can you lose? Ask writer/director Jieho Lee, who based the script on a Chines proverb that breaks life down into four different emotions: happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love. Since, from the very beginning, you have a pretty good idea that things can’t end well for anyone, it’s hard to connect the character with the emotion they’re supposed to personify. With four distinct stories tying together in the end, you get the feeling Jieho was going for a Crash effect, and fails miserably. Ponderous, cliche and melodramatic, the film has value to film students as an example of what not to do. Rated R
In Theaters: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
May 16, 2008 - Film Reviews | No comments
One year has passed in the lives of the four Pevensie siblings, and England is getting ready for WWII. But when the kids are summoned back to Narnia, they find that more than a thousand years have gone by, and the place they once knew is ruined and preparing for war of a very different type. They must help Prince Caspian reclaim his thrown, and the Narnians reclaim their kingdom. Based on and faithful to C.S. Lewis’s second Narnia novel, this installment is much darker and more violent than the first. The children plod through the first act, then hack, bludgeon, maim and kill through the rest. In an effort to mute the violence, no blood whatsoever oozes, spills or spurts, which I found slightly disturbing–does it send the message that you can slice and dice and pierce and kill and severe limbs and heads without spilling blood? Oh, look at that adorable little swashbuckling mouse! Isn’t it cute the way he cuts down enemies with his tiny little sword, and no one ever bleeds? And it’s the Narnians, with their dwarves and talking animals and centaurs, minotaurs, etc., who engage in battle first. I’m just not comfortable with children amassing huge body counts. That being said, the film is not without its virtues. Ben Barnes, who plays Prince Caspian, is certain to be Disney’s latest teen heartthrob (watch out Zac Efron), and Georgie Henley, as Lucy, the youngest Pevensie, grows into a bigger role quite nicely. The special effects, with talking animals and mythical creatures, are always fun to watch, which makes it all the more difficult to see them kill and be killed. This film is not for the tenderhearted of any age.
Now On DVD: Mad Money
May 13, 2008 - New on DVD | No comments
One of the best, and most underrated comedies of the year so far, Mad Money is a girlie-girl heist flick that the boys will enjoy as well. Who doesn’t like to dream about obtaining wealth untold by helping yourself to something that has absolutely no value to anyone else? That’s the premise of this movie, in which three very different workers at the US Mint, played by Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes (obviously having more fun than should be legal), devise a system to help themselves to the old bills that are destined for destruction. Since no one misses the money, is it really a crime to use it? That’s the moral dilemma of this film, that has plenty of laughs as these three unlikely comrades deal with life, love, and the pursuit of staying out of jail. Rated PG-13
Now On DVD: The Great Debaters
May 13, 2008 - New on DVD | No comments
Denzel Washington has come of age as a director (is there anything the man can’t do?), in this riveting film based on a true story, about a humble debate team from a small, African American college in Texas, which fights it’s way up to compete in a national championship. The characters exhibit astonishing chutzpah and sensitivity as they come of age together. While his first directing effort, Antwone Fisher, was an admirable start, The Great Debaters is a more sophisticated film, addressing racism, poverty, religion, higher education and more, without being preachy. Washington himself gives a fine performance as the professor who leads the debate team, and Forest Whitaker also shines as a conservative professor and father of one of the debaters. But the casting of the debate team members, Denzel Whitaker, Nate Parker and Jurnee Smollett, is shear genius. There’s inspiration for everyone in this film. Denzel for Vice President! Rated PG 13
Now On DVD: Untraceable
May 13, 2008 - New on DVD | No comments
Is it really possible to commit unspeakable crimes and cavalierly post them on the internet without fear of detection or retribution? Untraceable makes it look quite feasible, and the villain in this “Cyber-Saw” film even crafts his crimes so that the hits hasten the murders and make them even more macabre. You find yourself yelling at the screen “Stop logging on, you sickos! You’re killing the poor guy!” It’s actually a pretty clever, if grisly premise, and seeing Diane Lane as a special agent in the cyber crime unit racing to to find the killer before he hits home, is a great diversion. It’s nice to see a woman save the day for a change. This one is a single mom living at home with her mother, but she’s anything but vulnerable. The film is full of nice surprises like this. It’s a great Friday night rental. Rated R
Now On DVD: Youth Without Youth
May 13, 2008 - New on DVD | No comments
Although you can’t help but revel in Frances Ford Coppola’s voluptuous visual style, the plot and message of this film are so hard to trace you come away thinking, “Wow– that was gorgeous! I wonder what exactly was going on?” Tim Roth is amazing, as always, as an elderly professor at the end of his life who is struck by lightening and mysteriously regains his youth, as well as a few super powers he’s not completely sure how to use. Maybe it looked better on paper. There’s a confusing love story intertwined in there, featuring the radiant Alexandra Maria Laura. Suffice it to say I just didn’t get the film, and I can’t find anyone else who can explain it, either. Still, we all claim to have enjoyed it for what it is: an independent, artistic, indulgent effort from one of America’s greatest directors. Rated R
In Theaters: Speed Racer
May 9, 2008 - Film Reviews | No comments
This big screen, live action adaptation of the Japanese cartoon series is brought to you by the Wachowski brothers of Matrix and V for Vendertta fame. But they’ve done a complete 180-degree turn from their previous dark and brooding work. Speed Racer is a flashy, action-packed, young boy’s racecar fantasy somewhat like Cars meets Spy Kids on acid. The colors, the race sequences and the sets, mostly CGI but some real, could almost blind you with their flash and pop — it’s as if you’re being thrust into the vortex of a video game. Emile Hirsch has the title role, Christina Ricci plays his girlfriend Trixie, Susan Sarandon and John Goodman play Speed’s Mom and Pops, and Lost’s Matthew Fox, looking a little less clenched than usual, plays the mysterious Racer X. The film’s biggest flaws are its length (2 hours and 9 minutes), and the annoying little brother filling in as Chim Chim’s sidekick, but I don’t think either one will bother the film’s intended young male demo. Rated PG.
In Theaters: What Happens in Vegas
May 9, 2008 - Film Reviews | No comments
Just as you know how the ubiquitous Nevada marketing slogan ends, you’ll have a pretty good idea of where this film is headed. Still, you can bet on Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher to cook up enough chemistry (both good and bad), to make this film a mildly enjoyable journey. We’ve always known Cameron Diaz makes a sparkling and klutzy ingénue, but who would have guessed Ashton Kutcher could play such an endearing slob? He’s just been fired by his own father, she’s been dumped by her fiance. They both wind up in Vegas to recover, go on a drinking binge and, you guessed it, wake up hitched. Annulment should be a slam dunk in the sober light of day, but a jackpot gives them reason to try and stay together once they return to their native New York City. It’s coarse of course, but good for a few titters if not fall on the floor laughter. Rated PG-13.
In Theaters: The Babysitters
May 9, 2008 - Film Reviews | No comments
Dark and disconcerting, The Babysitters is every suburban house wife’s worst nightmare. What if your shy, brainiac high school aged daughter decides to earn a little extra college money by having sex with the fathers of the children she tends? What if your husband decides to succumb to the allure of the Lolita who makes it possible for you to go out at night together? John Leguizamo plays the first dad who decides to pony up cash for extra services rendered on the way home, and Cynthia Nixon plays his clueless wife. Katherine Waterston is the teen who goes from the quiet, studious girl next door to the scheming, violent madam who recruits her friends to help meet the demand. It’s hard to sympathize with, or like much, any of the characters in this film. It just leaves you feeling mildly disturbed. Rated R
In Theaters: A Previous Engagement
May 9, 2008 - Film Reviews | No comments
A beautiful romantic comedy for those who appreciate more sophisticated humor and irony, A Previous Engagement chronicles a Seattle librarian who convinces her unappreciative family to vacation in Malta, where, she fails to mention, she’s planning a rendezvous with the love of her life–a sexy Frenchmen with whom she had a fling 25 years earlier. British actress Juliet Stevenson is wonderful and real as the slightly neurotic mother torn between her boorish, jigsaw puzzle loving, insurance adjusting husband (Daniel Stern), and the mature, sexy French magazine publisher (Tcheky Karyo) whom, she discovers, still carries a torch for her. The film will inspire long, rousing conversations about whether one should follow duty or passion. It will also inspire more vacations in Malta. Unrated