Hollywoodland
Did 1950’s television star George Reeves, who played
TV’s Superman and was idolized by millions of children,
commit suicide? Or, was he murdered? Private eye, Adrien Brody,
has to find the answer in this stylish ‘film-noir’.
Zoom: Academy for Superheroes
Yet again Tim Allen comes up with another family-orientated
smash-hit movie. And, yet again, the movie doesn’t go
the full distance. Even so, Tim Allen is a lot of fun as a
retired Superhero coerced into becoming a teacher.
One Night with the King
This is an Indian Bollywood production of a famous Old Testament
biblical tale, starring a handful of has-been international
actors and a well-endowed nymphet starlet. The movie is so
bad, and so over-the-top, that it is hilarious.
World Trade Centre
Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena are two New York policemen who
go into the towers to rescue survivors. Then, the buildings
collapse and they are trapped. Oliver Stone has created a
suspenseful movie, based on a true story.
Sixty Six
When a twelve-year-old boy is about to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah,
the date clashes with the World Cup Final and no-one wants
to come to the party. The makers of ‘Bridget Jones’
present another delightful low-key comedy.
Copying Beethoven
As a student at the Vienna Conservatory, a rather attractive
aspiring young female composer scores a job as Beethoven’s
musical copyist. Ed Harris is full of doom and gloom as Ludwig,
but the film is really all about the music.
The Prestige
Two stage magicians, in late 19th Century British vaudeville,
conduct a life-long escalating feud, with dire consequences.
Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine and David Bowie
are all fantastic in this fascinating movie.
Wah-Wah
Richard E. Grant should stick to acting. As a screenwriter
and director he is not good. His semi-autobiographical film
about a boy growing up in 1960’s Colonial Africa, with
an adulterous mother and alcoholic father, is very dull.
National Lampoon’s TV The Movie
What can I say? It is National Lampoon after all! This time
they take the mickey out of television. Some of the skits
work, some of them don’t. When things get too tiresome
or juvenile there is always the ‘fast-forward’
button.
The Holiday
Kate Winslet owns an English countryside cottage. Cameron
Diaz has a mansion in L.A. They meet on the internet, and
swap houses and lives for the Christmas holidays. A charming
romantic-comedy from Nancy Meyers.
Jindabyne
Based on a short-story by American writer Raymond Carver,
the Australian re-location of the scenario doesn’t really
work. Some fishermen, in a rugged part of the Outback, find
the body of a murdered girl and do nothing about it.
Material Girls
Oh, my God! Hilary Duff has a sister called Haylie! There
really should be a law against that sort of thing! The sisters
play cosmetic tycoons who loose everything, and have to start
all over again. Haylie actually has some talent.
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Kirby Dick’s sharp documentary looks at the Motion Picture
Association of America. This private organization rates American
movies. They can make or break a film, and use their power
in a secretive and inconsistent manner.
Babel
Three predictable short-stories are held together by a very
flimsy plot devise. Some movie critics have been enraptured
by the film but I was totally bored. The Japanese story is
probably the most interesting, still, that too is clichéd.
The Guardian
This film can only be described as American Propaganda. It
pays tribute to the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers, and covers
the usual ground of a craggy old veteran training the cocky
recruits. Kevin Costner should be ashamed.
Shortbus
In an exclusive New York club the clientele come to discuss
and confront their sexual phobias and shortcomings. The sex-scenes
are highly graphic, and much of the film verges on the pornographic,
but it is very informative!
Kenny
Kenny Smyth works in waste management, supplying portable
toilets for public events. Shane Jacobson is endearing as
the ‘under-dog’ Kenny, and so too is this Australian
comedy. Though the humor probably won’t travel well.
Danika
Marisa Tomei plays a wife and mother plagued by weird delusions.
Are they just hallucinations or real visions? Is she going
crazy? Who cares? We have seen this all before! What a waste
of an Academy Award winning actress!
Little Children
Another movie with inter-connecting storylines, but this one
has links that are far more substantial. A pedophilic theme
lies beneath the surface of the movie, giving a rather dark
mood. Kate Winslet shines as a bored housewife.
Chromophobia
The British Cinema turns its attention towards inter-connecting
narratives. Martha Fiennes writes and directs a film with
so many stories going on it is almost impossible to follow.
I wish this current film vogue would go away.
The Ten Commandments
I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone made
a new movie of this old story for the new millennium. This
is a slick and soulless creation, without half the kitsch
appeal of Cecil B. De Mille’s 1956 enduring classic.
The Librarian II. Return to King Solomon’s Mines
Noah Wyle and Bob Newhart reprise their roles in another romp
through antiquity and archeology. A bit more money has been
spent on the special effects, which is a shame, as I rather
enjoyed the ‘schlock’ of the first movie.
The Illusionist
A famous illusionist and the fiancé of the Austrian
Crown Prince revive a childhood liaison, to everyone’s
dismay. No chemistry is going on between Edward Norton and
Jessica Beal, which makes their romance hard to credit.
The Painted Veil
Edward Norton isn’t having much luck with his leading
ladies. There is no chemistry going on either between him
and Naomi Watts, in this somewhat pedestrian adaptation of
a W. Somerset Maugham novel set in 1920’s China.
Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious
Nation Of Kazakhstan
‘Red-Neck’ America might find this movie amusing,
but it is not as humorous from our perspective here in South-East
Asia. This movie will offend just about anyone, particularly
the Jews, the ‘Gays’, and the Islamic.
Mel Brooks’ History Of The World, Part I
Mel Brooks’ irreverent comedy is just as fresh, and
as funny, as when it first hit the screens in 1981. What ever
you do, don’t miss the hilarious sequence which depicts
the Spanish Inquisition as a ‘full-on’ Busby Berkeley
musical.
