Movie Review: SUPERMAN RETURNS (2006)
Superman Returns (2006) – **** Superman Returns may be the comic book film equivalent of Peter Jackson’s adventure drama King Kong. Both films are beautifully nostalgic, firmly existing in the midst of the Art Deco style of the 1930s. Both films add a melodramatic story-line to what has in the past been a one-dimensional adventure. Most importantly, both films are so intimately associated with the characters that inspired them that it is impossible to not be enthralled by the majesty of it all. Superman’s story is more communal than Kong’s, though. The iconic American superhero is so firmly situated in our collective unconscious that no part of his history can be ignored. Bryan Singer, with the knowledge of a fan boy and the capacity of a Spielberg or a Jackson, creates with Superman Returns what will in time be considered the definitive comic...
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Movie Review: THE FOURTH DIMENSION (2006)
The 4th Dimension – *** It may not be a new concept, the mad genius in his own haunting world, but The 4th Dimension still triumphs as a dark amalgamation of styles. You can see the influence of some of the greatest filmmakers to ever work in cinema as the film progresses, moving with a methodical madness to a decisive, emotional end. Yes, The 4th Dimension is a good film, but it is also one that has moments that are truly great. Jack spent his childhood trying to help his critically ill mother regain her strength. She was still a loving and supportive influence, encouraging him to study hard in school. In the future though, Jack is apparently working as a craftsman and not the physicist he likely could have been. His anti-social and compulsive behavior is a sign of obvious psychosis. As...
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Movie Review: MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III (2006)
Mission: Impossible III (2006) – *** I often wonder if action movies have lost their thrill or if I’ve lost my attraction to action films. Outside of the fantasy genre or comic book adaptations, there hasn’t been a white-knuckled, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride of an action film in years. Maybe it’s because there is better action in most television shows then in all the recent Michael Bay or John Woo films combined. Maybe that’s also why Tom Cruise got TV guy J.J. Abrams to direct Mission: Impossible III. This installment of the always troubled, but perennially lucrative Tom Cruise vehicle has Ethan Hunt returning to active IMF duty after taking time off to train potential agents. Why would Ethan Hunt of all people want to remove himself from duty? To start a family of course. At a party celebrating his engagement...
Read MoreMovie Review: AKEELAH AND THE BEE (2006)
Akeelah and the Bee (2006)–*** What are the chances that a brainy girl in South L.A. could get the gangbangers, the bullies, her troubled family and the rest of the community to come together for a National Spelling Bee championship? It’s not very likely. Not very likely at all. Which is just one of the reasons I loved Akeelah and the Bee. Akeelah is an 11-year-old African-American girl who happens to have a penchant for spelling. As a student at a predominantly black, low-scoring middle school in South L.A., Akeelah’s run-ins with bullies who want the smart girl to do their English homework and boredom in classes that aren’t taken seriously by her peers lead to constant absenteeism. The latter also leads to a potential trouble with the school administration. But Akeelah’s Principal (Curtis Armstrong) has a plan. He gets...
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Movie Review: AMERICAN DREAMZ (2006)
American Dreamz (2006)–** American Dreamz is accessible satire. It reflects, but doesn’t challenge. It entertains, but doesn’t illuminate. Sure, it’s not entirely designed for the American Idol audience, but the sentimentality that creeps in on some of the characters certainly reeks of what the an agent in the film calls “good television.” The film heads in the right direction some of the time, lampooning contemporary Presidential politics, superstardom, and the terror state, but there are significant turns off course. I guess I can say it best when I say writer/director Paul Weitz just isn’t suited for satire. He hosts the biggest show on television, but Martin Tweed (Hugh Grant) isn’t happy. He’s the most powerful man in the world, but President Jim Station (Dennis Quaid) isn’t happy. He’s training to be a terrorist to avenge the death of his mother at the...
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Movie Review: V FOR VENDETTA (2006)
V for Vendetta (2006) – *** V for Vendetta has been referred to as a revolutionary call to arms. In an America where representatives are repeatedly ignoring the voices of their constituents and civil liberties are being eroded for safety’s sake, I couldn’t ask for a better time to release this film. What I could ask for, though, is a better movie. Yes, Vendetta has all the essential elements of an anti-establishment epic, with the assassination of fascist leaders and an ever-hyped destruction of the British Parliament building. The ideology, in fact, has more than enough momentum to make what turns out to be a messy action film into something a more significant. For the length of the film, though, I couldn’t help thinking one thing, “What would this movie be like if it had been made by someone else?” Evey (Natalie...
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