HOME
COVER STORY
CALENDAR
SHOWTIMES
DINING GUIDE

NEWS
MUSIC
FILM
BOOKS
THEATRE
ART

CLASSIFIEDS
PERSONALS

CONTACT
FEEDBACK
ADVERTISE

mini movie reviews

IRON MAN

by Albert DeSantis
Unlike Spider–Man or X–Men, Marvel’s Iron Man doesn’t have wide brand–name recognition. Despite being a relatively unknown superhero, the movie manages to succeed admirably. It may not go down as the best superhero movie of all time, but Iron Man is very entertaining, the visual effects are absolutely fantastic, and it has some engaging performances that make it soar. You could easily say Iron Man is in the top 10 superhero movies of all time, which is quite an achievement considering the number of movies in that genre. When billionaire weapons manufacturer Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is captured by Afghani terrorists, Stark escapes by doing what any genius robotics creator would do — he builds himself a flying robot suit that shoots fire. Back in the USA, Stark announces he’ll stop making weapons but his shareholders, led by Stark’s lifelong friend Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), try to stop him. In secret, Stark begins to build a new and more advanced suit that he hopes can be used to right all of those wrongs his weapons have caused. But the evildoers have found Stark’s old suit, and they have nefarious plans to backwards engineer it into something more deadly. The plot actually ambles around, mostly following Stark as he lives the jet–set billionaire lifestyle, or as he diligently works away on his various supersuits, or as he cracks wise with his very British–sounding intelligent computer system, Jarvis. Thankfully, none of the scenes are ever boring, but you wish the movie would kick up the action a bit sooner. The performances are what hold Iron Man together, and the best is from the star himself, Robert Downey Jr. He also throws in some fantastic one–liners throughout, and he has a great, love/hate comedic relationship with his two robot helpers, “Dummy” and “You.” It’s a testament to Downey’s skill as an actor that he can interact with two animatronic robot arms and make them seem like real characters. As Stark’s assistant, Pepper Potts, Gwyneth Paltrow manages to be amusingly perky but throws in subtleties that show a yearning for her employer. Terrence Howard gets a short shift as Jim Rhodes, military buddy to Tony Stark, who doesn’t get to do very much. Howard is basically in there to set up further sequels where he’ll become another Iron–character. He even has a self–referential moment when you think he’s going to don the armor, but he simply says, “Next time, baby.” Jeff Bridges manages to have an interestingly deceptive character arc, slowly revealing nastier layers to the character in every scene. There is a very unique spirit to this film that makes it stand out from regular superhero fare. In all superhero movies, we’ve seen the hero don his costume as the dramatic music swells. Naturally, there’s a scene like that in here, too. But Iron Man adds something original: it shows the complicated and painful process it takes for Stark to get out of the suit afterwards. Another fantastic scene has Stark testing out the flying capabilities of his suit, and it leads to one of the funniest and most unexpected gags in the entire movie. The movie is full of little details and brief aside that make it more colorful. Since director John Favreau (Swingers) came from an indie background, he adds a unique spin not seen in most mainstream superhero flicks. The film keeps giving right up until the ending, and even past; after the credits there’s an extra scene that’ll set comic fanboy hearts a–twitter. V

Ghost Rider

by John Harkness
(Mark Steven Johnson) Non–screened films are usually crap movies dumped into the market with hopes of an opening weekend to, essentially, trailer the DVD. Ghost Rider isn’t nearly that bad. It’s 20 minutes too long, the effects are cheesy, and it has one of those problems that beset a lot of the Marvel adaptations. But it’s anchored by one of Nicolas Cage’s always fun mad Elvis performances and has a strong supporting cast with the likes of Donald Logue, Eva Mendes, Peter Fonda and Sam Elliott. Ghost Rider, for those who haven’t read the comic book is about a motorcycle stunt rider who in his youth sold his soul to Lucifer to save his father’s life. This didn’t work out well, as deals with the devil usually don’t, and years later, the Devil comes to collect, making our hero into Ghost Rider, a flaming skeleton who works as the devil’s bounty hunter. The Devil’s son shows up searching for a mystical soul contract that’s been out there for more than a century. Mayhem ensues. The weird problem that affects Marvel comic books is their habitual creation of heros who don’t have eyes. Spider–Man, for example. Ghost Rider for another, his head being a flaming skull. It’s a great and striking graphic concept, but it’s a comic book idea. It’s a lousy movie idea, because a flaming skull has no emotional range, rather like a hero whose face is entirely masked, including his eyes. Eyes are what they pay movie stars for. It’s where we read the emotions. Take that away, and anyone could star in movies. 112 min.

Reno 911: Miami

by John Harkness
(Robert Ben Garant) The movie tracks the dumbest cops on earth on a jaunt to a police convention in Miami, where they find they’re the only officers on the street when a bio–terrorist attack leaves all the other cops quarantined in the convention centre. It looks cheap and moves fast, like three episodes of the show crammed into one, so there’s no real reason to shell out theatrical coin for something due on DVD in a very short time, but it is funny and works exactly in the spirit of the TV show. If you enjoy the series, here it is. We were overdue for a remake of Police Academy 6 anyway. 84 min.

The Astronaut Farmer

by John Harkness
(Mark Polish) A curious inspirational starring Billy Bob Thornton as a one–time astronaut candidate who’s building a rocket in his barn that he hopes will orbit the earth. And his name is Farmer. The FBI gets wind of it and he gets into very public trouble, but he ain’t gonna let no bureaucrats kill his dream. That’s pretty much the movie. Dull and conventional, it’s the sort of movie that makes you wonder who, exactly, is green–lighting Hollywood movies these days. Nice supporting cast—Virginia Madsen, Tim Blake Nelson, J.K. Simmons, Bruce Willis—but this is barely a renter. If you want to see people making homemade rockets, rent October Sky. 104 min.

Pan's Labyrinth

by John Harkness
(Guillermo del Toro) Veering between fairy–tale delicacy and vicious political melodrama, as if Arthur Rackham had painted Guernica, it holds together remarkably well. Like del Toro’s other “serious” film, The Devil’s Backbone, Labyrinth is set during the Spanish Civil War. Ofelia arrives at an outpost in the Basque country with her mother, who has come to live with her new husband, the local commandant. Her new stepdaddy is a jackbooted fascist thug. Ofelia descends into a subterranean world that may be a fantasy projection but may be genuinely supernatural. Subtitled. 112 min.

Notes On A Scandal

by Barry Hertz
(Richard Eyre) Stars Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett in a super–juicy sex thriller that gets so ludicrous and so borderline offensive that you may explode from a cocktail of pleasure and guilt. Patrick Marber (Closer) adapts Zoe Heller’s novel about a bitter teacher at a London high school who develops a growing obsession with a younger colleague. Dench gives one of the year’s best performances as the cunning old kitty cat, summoning up passion, venom and punishing intelligence. Blanchett’s not bad either. Marber’s acerbic writing and the surging Philip Glass music push the film to the edge of purple, and then just over. There is no juicier movie out there this season. You wouldn’t want juicier. 91 min.

Norbit

by E. Davies
(Brian Robbins) Gives us Eddie Murphy finally tanking for good. The movie has the tag line, “Have you ever made a really big mistake?” and with Norbit, the once cutting–edge comedic genius certainly has done just that. Murphy once again takes on multiple characters, including the Woody Allen rip–off protagonist Norbit, his morbidly obese, domineering wife Rasputia and his adopted father, ol’ fashioned Chinese stereotype Mr. Wong, in a film that acts as nothing more than another vehicle for Murphy to jerk off all over with his admiteddly considerable talent. What you end up with is a tired and predictable reverse Cinderella story in which Norbit, an orphan, is at the mercy of his cruel in–laws until his childhood sweetheart reappears. The one surprising element of the story is how shocking Murphy’s alter–egos can be, including Rasputia who in any other context would be one of the most depressing and monstrous characters ever committed to film. Everyone, save for Eddie Griffin as the local pimp (surprise!), phones it in on this one. Disgustingly bad. 102 min.

Night At The Museum

by Deirdre Swain
(Shawn Levy) Better than its premise promises. Ben Stiller plays Larry, a night watchman at the Museum of Natural History, where the exhibits come to life at night. While Stiller’s quite likeable here, and playing fetch with a T. Rex is frankly cool, the picture’s real strength is its supporting cast, including Steve Coogan, Owen Wilson and a superlative Ricky Gervais as Larry’s inarticulate boss. If this flick gets more kids into museums, I’ll forgive Stiller his years of frat–boy comedies. 109 min.

Music And Lyrics

by John Harkness
(Marc Lawrence) Stars Hugh Grant as a washed up ’80s popstar trying to write a new hit with the help of reluctant collaborator Drew Barrymore. The first hour is charming and funny, in large part because Barrymore’s extreme adorableness frees Hugh Grant to indulge his tendencies towards chilly cynicism. Nice supporting performances from Brad Garrett as Grant’s manager and Third Rock’s Kristen Johnson as Barrymore’s big sister, but the film kind of runs into a plot pile–up in the last half hour. Great, squirm–inducing parody of ’80s pop videos. 103 min.

The Messengers

by A. Dowler
(Oxide & Danny Pang) An okay haunted house movie with lots of booga–booga. Unfortunately, we’ve seen it all before. First, the creepy build–up. Then the same payoff: a shock cut to a quick glimpse of something nasty lunging into the camera. It gets monotonous fast, despite the Pang Brothers (The Eye, Re–Cycle) being masters of the tense build–up. The Pangs also deliver their great sense of colour and composition, creating a wonderfully eerie atmosphere. Trouble is, the story—not by the Pangs—is pure cliché; conflicted urban family moves into old farmhouse hoping to make a fresh start. Ghostliness ensues. So do thin characters, a one–joke plot and familiar spooks. Fine if you’re new to the genre, dull if you’re not. 87 min.

The Last King Of Scotland

by Glenn Sumi
(Kevin Macdonald) A political thriller and Faust parable set during the bloody reign of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker). Naive Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) gets lured into becoming Amin’s personal physician and adviser, realizing too late that his boss has anger management issues. The film is based on Giles Foden’s “fact–inspired” novel, and takes lots of historical liberties. Some of them create great suspense; others seem melodramatic. Above all, it’s a study in point of view, with McAvoy’s impressionable doctor slow to realize the cost of the bargain he’s accepted. Anthony Dod Mantle’s athletic camera work makes the African landscape and dialogue immediate. Scenes crackle with menace, especially when Whitaker—in the role of a lifetime—fills up the screen. 121 min.

The Holiday

by Glenn Sumi
(Nancy Meyers) A high–concept rom–com that sees Brit journo Kate Winslet and LA movie trailer queen Cameron Diaz crossing the pond to house–swap during the holidays and forget their respective relationship train wrecks. The normally saccharine Meyers serves up two great locales and gets superb work from her ensemble. Best, she interweaves a clever subplot about classic old movies into the film, resulting in a poignant, charming homage to cinematic romance. Winslet and Jack Black, as a movie composer, have a jokey, sexy rapport, and Diaz and Jude Law aren’t exactly tough to look at either. At over two hours, it’s too long, but come DVD time, this’ll be a huge hit with girls on movie–and–Hagen-Dazs nights. 138 min.

Hannibal Rising

(Peter Webber) Stars newcomer Gaspard Ulliel as fine young cannibal Hannibal Lecter in a prequel to Silence Of The Lambs. Unfortunately, Ulliel is a charismatic yet wholly unthreatening lead who never once captures the wit and queasy charm of Anthony Hopkins’s Lecter. Even while chewing a cheekbone, he never conveys anything more than hunger. What’s worse, the film tries to give Lecter’s man–munching meaning—Nazi thugs forced him to eat his sister—which has the ridiculous effect of turning him into a vengeance–seeking psychopath. The filmmakers fail to realize that he’s far more menacing when we don’t know why he’s so evil. 117 min.

Flushed Away

by Deirdre Swain
(David Bowers, Sam Fell) The kind of kid flick that’ll also appeal to college kids, especially the stoned ones. Starring the voice of Hugh Jackman as Roddy, a pampered pet mouse who has to team up with a savvy sewer rat (Kate Winslet) to thwart the deadly plans of the evil Toad (Ian McKellen), it combines the charm of Aardman studio’s Claymation with the wicked humour that’s the hallmark of Dreamworks’ animated movies. But it’s the occasional dip into the bizarre, like the Greek chorus of shrieking slugs, that makes Flushed Away by far the best animated movie this year. 86 min.

Epic Movie

by A. Dowler
(Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer) Scary Movie–style parody that takes Narnia for its plotline and runs riffs on The DaVinci Code, Willy Wonka, Harry Potter and a few more. Directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer helmed the wretched Date Movie. This is better, but only because the creators picked better targets. Darrel Hammond as Captain Jack Swallows nicely massacres Johnny Depp’s mannered overacting, and the Willy Wonka scenes have some nice gross–out humour, but most of the gags raise tame chuckles at best. Kal Penn, Adam Campbell, Jayma Mays and Faune A. Campbell as the four orphans who must defeat Gnarnia’s White Bitch are, likewise, merely okay. Wait for the unrated video version. 84 min.

Next 15 Reviews

.......................