Thursday, July 08, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Film shorts

Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk

Not reviewed (NR, 38 min.) Marc Fafard's 2002 Imax movie examines the risks of skydiving and BASE jumping, and includes footage of an experimental jump using a parachute based on a 1485 design by Leonardo da Vinci.--AA

All Access: Backstage. Front Row. Live!

Not reviewed (NR, 62 min.) Martyn Atkins' 2002 giant-screen documentary takes a behind-the-scenes look at the business of putting on a mega rock concert, and features performances by Trey Anastasio, Sheryl Crow, B.B. King, Carlos Santana, Sting and the Dave Matthews Band.--AA

Around the World in 80 Days

1/2 star (PG, 120 min.) Jules Verne spins in his grave as Frank Coraci turns his 1873 novel into a cheesy martial arts flick with Jacke Chan accompanying Steve Coogan on his global jaunt. In cameos, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rob Sc0hneider, Luke and Owen Wilson and Kathy Bates look embarrassed to be there. With Jim Broadbent, Cécile de France.--AA

The Chronicles of Riddick

Zero stars (PG-13, 115 min.) Vin Diesel is in good shape, in David Twohy's science-fiction sequel to Pitch Black. The great Judi Dench is here too, but won't impress kids: They'll be too busy hoping to grow up to be as talented as Diesel's pecs.--ADV

Coffee and Cigarettes

2 1/2 stars (R, 96 min.) Jim Jarmusch's 17-year project, 11 varyingly existential and loosely connected black-and-white shorts with actors, musicians and other notable figures (e.g. Tom Waits and Iggy Pop, actors Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan) meeting at various locales, doesn't consistently rouse its players or viewers. The premise trumps the results.--MP

The Day After Tomorrow

2 1/2 stars (PG-13, 123 min.) Some levity (gringos flee south, VP Kenneth Welsh eats humble pie) almost makes Roland Emmerich's disaster pic watchable. Preposterous plot (global warming sparks ice age overnight), awful acting (as Dennis Quaid rescues son Jake Gyllenhaal) and an onslaught of special effects.--AA

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

2 1/2 stars (PG-13, 92 min.) Rawson Marshall Thurber's riotous debut is a silly, sophomoric summer comedy. Vince Vaughn enters a Vegas dodgeball tournament to defend his gym from the takeover ambitions of fitness mogul Ben Stiller. Sports commentator Gary Cole steals the show.--AA

Fahrenheit 9/11

4 1/2 stars (NR, 123 min.) Drawing its title from Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451, about a totalitarian society where books are illegal, Michael Moore's timely exposé of the machinations of the Bush administration is also a devastating indictment of subservient news media. This ambitious attempt to connect the dots of a story that begins with the 2000 election and ends with the carnage in Iraq is driven by a sinister thesis: The wholesale hijacking of our civil liberties. Though a sequence involving a woman whose son has been killed in Iraq slows the film down, it's clear Moore has connected with her, one betrayed patriot with another. Coated with humor and propelled by a non-threatening intelligence, Moore's political barbs are deadly. A searing, startling film and a heartfelt portrait of unfettered political arrogance.--JC

Garfield the Movie

1 1/2 stars (PG, 85 min.) Breckin Meyer and Jennifer Love Hewitt are out-acted by a computer-generated feline (Bill Murray), in this shameless exercise in milking Jim Davis' comic strip. Almost made bearable by an animated short, Gone Nutty, featuring Ice Age's Scrat.--AA

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

4 stars (PG, 141 min.) Teen wizard Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and pals Ron and Hermione (Rupert Grint, Emma Watson) encounter escapee Gary Oldman, mysterious David Thewlis, imperious Alan Rickman, and ditzy Emma Thompson. Alfonso Cuarón follows the darker turn of J.K. Rowling's third novel, weaving fantasy, horror and humor into a playful take on teen angst.--TM

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

Hidalgo

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 136 min.) Joe Johnston's plodding, Middle Eastern horse race saga is jingoistic twaddle. Why are we surprised that Muslim fanatics want to destroy Western civilization? With Viggo Mortensen, Omar Sharif.--AA

Kill Bill Vol. 2

4 stars (R, 136 min.) Quentin Tarantino triumphantly returns. Vol. 1 was the perfect ferocious prologue for this quiet study of love. Amid the waxing philosophical, the Bride (Uma Thurman) continues her quest to kill the murderers of her wedding party (Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah) and mastermind (mesmerizing David Carradine).--TM

Laws of Attraction

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 90 min.) Peter Howitt's threadbare romantic comedy has Julianne Moore as a divorce attorney desperately in need of a good briefing, and Pierce Brosnan as the rakish rival happy to oblige. For no apparent reason, other than to drag the cast of Waking Ned Devine from retirement, the couple heads for Ireland. With Frances Fisher, Parker Posey.--JC

Man on Fire

1 1/2 stars (R, 146 min.) Dakota Fanning's bodyguard Denzel Washington unleashes bloody vengeance when she's abducted. Tony Scott's directorial affectations (slow-mo, handheld camerawork, elliptical editing) render his Mexican kidnapping drama unwatchable.--AA

Mean Girls

3 stars (PG-13, 97 min.) In Mark Waters' high school satire, Lindsay Lohan attacks glam girl clique, the Plastics (Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried). Tina Fey's adaptation of Rosalind Wiseman's book Queen Bees and Wannabes is entertaining, though formulaic.--AA

The Mother

4 stars (R, 112 min.) Anne Reid is sensational as a sad, dowdy widow having an affair with married handyman Daniel Craig. Roger Michell's drama, written by Hanif Kureishi, uses the taboo of extreme cross-generational sex to delve fearlessly into issues of aging, self-worth, and what it means to be alive in a society that has no further use for you. A devastating critique of the void between parents and children and the invisibility of the elderly.--JC

NASCAR: The Imax Experience

2 1/2 stars (PG, 48 min.) Simon Wincer's flagrant promo flick is expensive entertainment that requires tiresome 3D glasses to watch. But it delivers some of the visceral, ear-shattering excitement of race day. Narrated by Kiefer Sutherland.--AA

The Notebook

1 star (PG-13, 123 min.) James Garner reads Gena Rowlands the tale of star-crossed lovers (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) whose 1940 North Carolina romance was cruelly curtailed. Nick Cassavetes' syrupy film of Nicholas Sparks' novel is formulaic, manipulative tripe. With Joan Allen, James Marsden.--AA

Ocean Wonderland 3D

Not reviewed (NR, 44 min.) Filmed in the Bahamas and Australia, this Imax doc features rays, sharks, dolphins and other marine life in glorious 3D.--AA

Raising Helen

1 star (PG-13, 117 min.) Manhattan agent Kate Hudson inherits three children (Hayden Panettiere, Spencer and Abigail Breslin) and is fired. But in Garry Marshall's situation-comdeyland, she immediately finds another great job, plus heartthrob John Corbett. With Joan Cusack.--ADV

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

2 stars (PG, 85 min.) Fred (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma (Linda Cardellini), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby (Neil Fanning) chase a mastermind monster maker. Raja Gosnell's sequel to his 2002 cartoon spinoff is endearingly goofy.--TM

Shrek 2

3 1/2 stars (PG, 105 min.) The sequel barrels along, with Shrek and Fiona (Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz) returning from honeymoon to Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and an invitation to visit Fiona's parents (John Cleese, Julie Andrews). A maniacal stew of pop culture, mythology, and fairytale characters. Lively, entertaining and quite funny. With inspired Fairy Godmother Jennifer Saunders and show-stealer Antonio Banderas as Puss-in-Boots.--JC

Spider-Man 2

4 stars (PG-13, 127 min.) Unmasked hero Peter Parker (again played magnificently by Tobey Maguire) faces his beloved M.J. (Kirsten Dunst) and superlative villain "Doc Ock" (Alfred Molina), whose writhing metal tentacles are hell-bent on world domination. Sam Raimi's reverent realization of Stan Lee's comic-book vision makes the fantastic achingly human. Effortlessly interlocking themes of isolation and self-doubt, this layered sequel's improved computer graphics and action sequences make its predecessor look positively earthbound. The synchronicity of imagination and performance is a palpable force, hurtling the characters forward with the momentum of a speeding bullet.--JC

The Stepford Wives

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 110 min.) Frank Oz's garish, incoherent remake of Bryan Forbes' film of Ira Levin's dystopian novel--about a pristine suburb where the men have robot wives--replaces the horror with camp and the wit with witlessness. With Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick.--JC

The Terminal

3 1/2 stars (PG-13, 122 min.) Tom Hanks shines as an Eastern European stranded at a New York airport. This is Steven Speilberg, so some schmaltz creeps through, but Hanks nails the final scenes with understated heroism. With Catherine Zeta-Jones.--MP

13 Going on 30

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 98 min.) Teen Christa B. Allen wakes in the body of her older, magazine-editor self (Jennifer Garner). Gary Winick's predictable, retro romance has an insidious moral: a woman's place is firmly in the home.--AA

Troy

3 stars (R, 163 min.) Cowardly Paris (Orlando Bloom) abducts Helen (Diane Kruger) from husband Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson) and hides behind big brother Hector (Eric Bana). Brad Pitt buffed up to play warrior Achilles, but isn't enough to support Wolfgang Peterson's production, drowning in $200 million worth of stone, metal and poor digital sequences. With Brian Cox, Peter O'Toole.--JC

Two Brothers

2 stars (PG, 105 min.) Jean-Jacques Annaud reverts to the anthropomorphizing formula of The Bear with a family flick set in Cambodia, where orphaned tiger cubs Kumal and Sangha are aided by rogue bounty hunter Guy Pearce and insufferable youngster Freddie Highmore.--AA

Van Helsing

1/2 star (PG-13, 131 min.) Stephen Sommers' witless attempt to blend Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wolf Man with bad CGI effects is a bland, pop-culture stew. Vampire hunter Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale fight Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) and Kate's lupine brother (Will Kemp).--AA

White Chicks

3 stars (PG-13, 100 min.) FBI agents Marlon and Shawn Wayans foil a kidnapping by impersonating two airhead Hampton socialites (Anne Dudek, Maitland Ward). Keenen Ivory Wayans' comedy is stupid, crude, at times inept, illogical, and alas, often very funny.--ADV

Reviews by: AA: Anthony Allison; ADV: Anthony Del Valle; JC: Jeannette Catsoulis; MP: Mike Prevatt; TM: Tammy McMahan