Thursday, September 11, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Film shorts

Adventures in Wild California

3 stars (NR, 41 min.) Greg McGillivray's 2000 Imax flick has vertigo-inducing footage of sky surfing over San Diego, the Golden Gate bridge and up, then down inside, a giant sequoia.--AA

American Wedding

4 stars (R, 95 min.) Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle plan their nuptials. High jinks ensue, with scene-stealer Stifler (Seann William Scott), in the third American Pie flick. A film of howl-worthy gags, irresistible charm and disarming tenderness.--MP

Bad Boys II

1 star (R, 146 min.) Martin Lawrence and partner Will Smith help Gabrielle Union nab Miami drug lord Jordi Mollˆ. Ludicrously over-extended setpieces in Michael Bay's uninspired 2 Fast 2 Furious replica.--AA

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star

Not reviewed (PG-13, 99 min.) David Spade stars in this "comedy," as a thirtysomething former child actor who hires a foster family to recreate his lost childhood. Directed by Sam Weisman, of What's the Worst That Could Happen? infamy.--AA

Dirty Pretty Things

4 stars (R, 90 min.) Nigerian immigrant Chiwetel Ejiofor and Turkish asylum seeker uncover sinister things in a London hotel. Stephen Frears' uneven, opaque film rocks uneasily between social drama and slapstick horror. But his direction is vital and the lead performances are uniformly humane. With Sergi López, Sophie Okonedo.--JC

Finding Nemo

3 stars (G, 104 min.) Andrew Stanton's digitally animated feature is a visual comic delight about single father Albert Brooks' struggle to let his child (Alexander Gould) take risks. With Ellen DeGeneres.--TM

Freaky Friday

Not reviewed (PG, 95 min.) Jamie Lee Curtis and teen daughter Lindsay Lohan switch personalities, in Disney's remake. Taps into Hollywood's familiar "girl power" ethos. But doesn't break the mold.--TM

Freddy vs. Jason

1/2 star (R, 97 min.) Ronny Yu's gorefest celebrates wholesome, American slaughter, with Nightmare on Elm Street's ghoul Krueger (Robert Englund) and his Friday the 13th nemesis Vorhees (Ken Kirzinger). The outcome of their bloody battle is predictable.--AA

Haunted Castle

Not reviewed (PG, 38 min.) Aspiring rock star Jasper Steverlinck visits dead mom's spooky English mansion and learns that rock 'n' roll really is the devil's music, in this 2001 3-D Imax horror flick from Belgian director Ben Stassen.--AA

I Capture the Castle

4 stars (R, 113 min.) From 101 Dalmatians author Dodie Smith's 1948 novel, screenwriter Heidi Thomas and director Tim Fywell have constructed a fresh, engaging peek at the tender misconceptions of the human heart. In 1930s England, once-famous novelist Bill Nighy and his family live in a remote castle. They suffer from turret's syndrome, imprisoned by their insularity and poverty, until daughter Romola Garai lures wealthy landlord Henry Thomas into an engagement with her ravishing, rapacious sister Rose Byrne. Witty, charming and playfully elegant. With Tara Fitzgerald.--RC

Into the Deep

1 1/2 stars (NR, all ages, 35 min.) Howard Hall's 1994 3-D Imax flick explores California kelp forests, with sea lions, rays, jellyfish and opalescent squid. Narrated by Kate Nelligan.--AA

The Italian Job

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 110 min.) Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton, Donald Sutherland and Charlize Theron star in F. Gary Gray's remake of the 1969 caper. Sexy as sump oil.--AA

Jeepers Creepers 2

1 1/2 stars (R, 104 min.) The flying, flesh-eating Creeper (Jonathan Breck) snacks on college kids on the last day of his 23-day feast. The disappointing antithesis of Victor Salva's smart, scary 2001 horror hit. With Ray Wise.--AA

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

1 star (PG-13, 116 min.) The only reason to see Jan De Bont's videogame spinoff sequel isn't Angelina Jolie's bod, but a BASE jump from a Hong Kong tower. But one spectacular stunt does not a movie make.--AA

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

2 1/2 stars (PG-13, 112 min.) Sean Connery makes a fool of himself in glib, formulaic action flick that fails to explore the intriguing subversiveness of Alan Moore's comic-book concept.--JC

Le Divorce

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 115 min.)Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts are seduced by Paris (or Parisian men, food and handbags). James Ivory's gaseous comedy of manners, based on Diane Johnson's snotty novel, is an expensive mess, shocking in lack of professionalism.--JC

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 94 min.) If Reese Witherspoon's wise, she'll abandon this tired franchise right here. With Sally Field, Bob Newhart, Luke Wilson.--JC

The Legend of Johnny Lingo

1 star (G, 90 min.) Steven Ramirez's kidflick about a misfit Polynesian (child Tausani Simei-Barton/adult Joe Falou) wants to be Whale Rider meets Cinderella. But this South Pacific-shot promo for Tahitian Noni juice is actually Goldfish Rider meets "Extreme Makeover." With Rawiri Paratene.--TM

The Matrix Reloaded

2 1/2 stars (R, 138 min.) Andy and Larry Wachowski go for breadth over depth in the sequel to their 1999 hit. With Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne. [Cut, cropped Imax version.]--JC

The Medallion

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 88 min.) Jackie Chan, Claire Forlani and bumbling sidekick Lee Evans fight defeat bad guy Julian Sands. "I think we're in trouble," quips Jackie. So are Chan fans duped into paying for this formulaic mix of speeded-up martial arts action, cheesy effects and sophomoric humor.--AA

My Boss's Daughter

Not reviewed (PG-13, 85 min.) Demi's squeeze Ashton Kutcher housesits for boss Terence Stamp, to woo his daughter Tara Reid. David Zucker's "comedy," costars Molly Shannon, Andy Richter and Jeffrey Tambor.--AA

Open Range

3 stars (R, 135 min.) Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall fight ruthless rancher Michael Gambon, in Costner's slow, quiet Western. When Duvall and Costner get together, you forgive Kev for wearing his heart so prominently on his sleeve. With Annette Bening.--AA

The Order

Not reviewed (R, 102 min.) Heath Ledger, Mark Addy and Shannyn Sossamon reteam with A Knight's Tale writer-director Brian Helgeland, in a medieval thriller about a Catholic priest investigating the murder of the head of his order, in Rome.--AA

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

1/2 star (PG-13, 143 min.) Johnny Depp sashays down the gangplank to defeat Geoffrey Rush's undead brigands in Disney's overlong zombie farrago. With Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Pryce.--AA

Seabiscuit

4 stars (PG-13, 140 min.) Gary Ross' film about three men and a racehorse has a dream cast (Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper and Tobey Maguire) and meticulous period detail. But this nostalgic trot down memory lane doesn't quite achieve movie magic.--AA

The Secret Lives of Dentists

4 stars (R, 104 min.) Campbell Scott suspects wife Hope Davis is unfaithful, while Denis Leary steals the show. Alan Rudolph's film of Jane Smiley's 1987 novella The Age of Grief hangs volumes of emotional truth on a flimsy literary frame. Depicts the stubborn avoidance of marital communication agonizingly well.--AA

Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over

2 stars (PG, 85 min.) Daryl Sabara saves sister Alexa Vega from Sylvester Stallone's virtual reality game. Robert Rodriguez's third kiddie spy spoof, is colorful but mercifully short.--MP

S.W.A.T.

2 1/2 stars (PG-13, 117 min.) Clark Johnson's hokey TV spinoff is almost watchable. L.A.P.D.'s S.W.A.T. squad escorts drug boss Olivier Martinez to prison. With Colin Farrell, Samuel L. Jackson, Michelle Rodriguez.--AA

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

4 stars (R, 109 min.) Arnold Schwarzenegger's back to help John Connor (Nick Stahl) defeat the fast-morphing T-X (Kristanna Loken) in Jonathan Mostow's explosive sequel. Everything The Matrix Reloaded is not.--JC

28 Days Later

3 1/2 stars (R, 108 min.) Danny Boyle's post-Apocalyptic killer germ movie has a fresh, frantic energy. After an outbreak of a deadly virus, Cillian Murphy wakes in a London hospital to find a nightmare of emptiness where healthy souls hide from the marauding "infected."--JC

Uptown Girls

2 stars (PG-13, 93 min.) Brittany Murphy becomes prickly Dakota Fanning's nanny. In an amazing twist, they bond. Duh. Boaz Yakin's schizophrenic mix of light comedy and psychodrama is a disjointed mix of pratfalls and preachiness.--TM

Whale Rider

4 stars (PG-13, 105 min.) Niki Caro's New Zealand crowd-pleaser stars newcomer Keisha Castle-Hughes as a Maori girl defying her tradition-bound granddad Rawiri Paratene.--MP

Reviews by: AA: Anthony Allison; JC: Jeannette Catsoulis; MP: Mike Prevatt; RC: Robert Chancey; TM: Tammy McMahan