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I’m not a big fan of costume dramas (understatement), but 3 years after Sofia Coppola’s break-out indie hit Lost in Translation, I had to try this one. As I’m not a sucker for history lessons, I don’t mind the creative license usually taken, as long as it’s entertaining. So, what’s the result ?
Well, I can be pretty positive about the first half. Everything you don’t expect in a costume drama is here. No irritating Ya Olde Language babbling. Laced between the scenes are several electric pop-rock songs/score. Contemporary dialogue about old customs, etiquette and tradition. The hardships of arranged marriage and the pressure thereafter. And all that’s holding it up are the sparks created by Kirsten Dunst.
The second half loses focus though, and drags on quite a bit, with the story not working towards an end. The sparks have died out by then, and it’s on the edge of being bored.
All in all, can’t say I’ve lost all faith in Sofia (definitely worth a second chance), but I can’t recommend this to the average movie-goer either.6-.

Being the first country for a movie release (besides a small film festival in the States) is either a major scoop, or something smells fishy. In this case, it must be a bit of both. This movie is not god awfully bad that it will be released directly to DVD and skipping theatrical release. It will probably do a bit of business in the indy circuit. But truth be told, the quality isn’t that high either.
This movie is an introspective Ben Affleck vehicle, but somehow you’re still left feeling empty afterwards. Most things don’t make that much sense (inconsistent character building), and trying to marry three story lines might not be such a hard job for others, but in this case, it’s pretty chaotic.
Mike Binder’s previous outing as writer/director (The Upside of Anger) wasn’t something to write home about, but still slightly entertaining. This one is a few grades short of that recommendation.5+.

Cars, the latest Disney/Pixar collaboration, turbo charged passed the competition, and landed a number one spot for this weekend. With $62.8 million, this makes it the third biggest opening of the Disney/Pixar team (behind The Incredibles and Finding Nemo).
The Break-Up drops one spot, with $20.5 million, while X-Men: The Last stand does the same, with $15.6 million (now past the $200 million mark).
Rounding out the top 5 is The Omen 666 with $15.5 (while having a record Tuesday opening, it means cume is already at $35.7 million), and Over the Hedge with $10.3 million.

Just like you can save time by not reading books, and wait for the movie, you can also save time not watching classics (pre-eighties) and wait for the remake. Maybe that’s not a good tip after all. The original Wes Craven flick, is usually named in the same sentence with The Excorsist and Rosemary’s Baby. This remake, should not.
While having seen only bits of the original (and it was a bit creepy), this is not that creepy at all. It’s mostly the simple scares (great movie to watch with your girlfriend), but this screenplay isn’t exciting at all. Another vital part is the child, of course. And that’s where this one fails big time. Flashbacks of Star Wars:Episode 1, anyone ? This one is bad in a whole other way, but still, the supposedly freaky stares of this kid, are nothing but unintentional comical, and will have the whole crowd laughing their asses off. Strangely however, the kid also induces some kind of devilish wish in me, to smack him up and strangle him. So, in all its satanic irony, I guess this movie gets the worst out of us. But that’s about all it accomplished.4.

The Break-Up, starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn, not only beat a certain group of mutants, but also successfully fended off the critics pointing mostly thumbs down. With $38.1 million it not only doubled the industry’s expactation, it now also ranks 3rd in rom-com openers (behind Hitch and 50 First Dates).
X-Men: The Last Stand took a sizable mutation, no less than a 67% drop, now at number 2 with $34.3 million. Meanwhile, Over the Hedge holds on to number 3 with $20.6 million, just a 24% drop. At number 4, The Da Vinci Code still means business with $19.3 million. At a far distance, rounding out the top 5, is the fading Mission Impossible III, now with just $4.6 million.

Five Fingers: Very low budget psychological thriller type of movie, that develops a bit too slowly, and hence falls in the category repetitive and uneventful.5+.
Running Scared: Didn’t even get passed ten minutes before I stopped it and pressed SHIFT+DEL.1.
Underworld 2: Evolution: Reasonable actioner.6½.
Eight Below: Standard Disney feel good movie.6½.
Cheaper by the Dozen 2: Unfunny sequel to an unfunny original.3.

Wolfgang Petersen has proven himself a high quality box office director over the years, with movies ranging from Troy to In the Line of Fire and Outbreak. Names that make you say, yeah, that was a damn good movie. Usually, character are involved too, and therefore he hires the best actors he can get.
Unfortunately, all that isn’t really apparent in this movie. Don’t even start comparing this to Titanic, which was basically an elaborate love story. No, this movie is pure and simple a mediocre disaster movie. The one you’ve seen many times before, this decade already.
He probably did it for the money, or he just loves playing with water (Das Boot, Das Boot tv-series, The Perfect Storm). So, if brainless action movies with a unavoidable death threat following around isn’t your thing, better get that life support vest and jump for escape, i.e. skip this one. Because elaborate old school action and stunt scenes and supporting cgi effect can’t save this superficial script (with Emmy Rossum’s appearance as a small consolation prize).5-.

Memorial Day is good business for the box office, and so X-Men 3: The Last Stand opens a record Memorial holiday earning, no less than $120.1 million. For the usual three day span, it’s $103.1 million, enough for a 4th place of biggest US openings (behind Spider-Man 2, SWIII and Shrek 2). Not too shabby is the Da Vinci Code, at number 2 with $43 million (with a satisfying $145 million cume in its second week). Over the Hedge will have to do with the number 3 spot with $35 million, with a $84 million cume, also after just 2 weeks.
Fourth is MI:III, in its fourth week it manages only a meagre $8.5 million, the lowest of cume for the series till now ($115.8 million after four weekends. The first movie did $145 million, while the sequel did $177 million in the same period).
Rounding out the top 5 is Poseidon, with just $7 million, you could say this ship is heading for a disaster (with a $46.6 million cume, it probably won’t cover even a third of the budget of the movie by the end of its run).

I should’ve known. Video game. Horror genre. Recipe for disaster. Good horror comes by only once or twice a year, and this one is definitely not it. Spawned after a game series (already up to 4), it means the various scary stuff (which works fine if you have a joystick in your hands) are just there with no reason. No need to explain how detrimental it is for a movie.
This means, people with weaker nerves will be yelling like little girls throughout the movie, but people generally waiting for something good will soon be bored.4.

Change…Evolution… and all. Yeah, change it definitely is, evolution I’m not so sure. Difference is Bryan Singer spent 6 years on the previous 2 movies. Brett Ratner less than a year. After helming movies like Red Dragon and the Rush Hour series, Ratner proven himself an able director, though not anywhere near extraordinary. With this movie, he has his biggest budget till now, and that probably changes a man. While still not close to Singer’s instinct for this franchise, he does take on a more grand, closer to the comic book feel (visually at least). So it’s still a good movie to see, but lacks Singer’s subtlety towards relationships, meaningful dialogue and story altogether. So even while this definitely is the movie with the most sacrifices, less drama will hit you because of this. So, will this series stay a trilogy, or was that sneaky trick Rattner put at the very end of the reel another sign ? No matter, my recommendation is still to see this one.8-.

Living up to its divine hype, The Da Vinci Code unravels a whopping $77 million dollar (top opening for this year). At the foreign box office, it even landed a record opening of all times, rushing passed Star Wars Episode III ($145 million) with $147 million.
At number 2, Dreamwork’s Over The Hedge earns a respectable $37.2 million. While not spectacular, in comparison, Disney’s The Wild opened with a mere $9.6 million. At 3, MI:III hangs on with $11 million, a considerable 56% drop, but good enough to push it beyond the $100 million cume. At 4, Poseidon sinks faster than expected, only $9.2 million in its second week. Roudning out the top 5 is RV, with $5.1 million.

Is this movie really worth boycotting ? Well, after seeing it, I’d say no, it’s harmless entertainment. Revelations are shocking, but only in the sense of the story, not in reality (even if you take in account some facts are based on reputable research). It would even be blasphemy to call this blasphemy, because the ending has such nice wording to it, it can only strengthen one’s faith (if one had one to start with). Having saved myself countless days of reading, I’d say it’s another tip of the hat for Ron Howard, though the movie is less character based than we’re used to. The story is a high-speed cat and mouse game, chasing clues and secrets here and there. Sometimes convolution is too apparent, with unclear and changing allegiances and goals flying off the screen. Even ending on an anti-climax, I can still say it’s an entertaining movie all the way (though not worth the hype of the year award, and the trailer definitely sets the expectations too high).7½.

On the one hand we have singer Queen Latifah, who has proven her worth (even with an Oscar nom behind her belt), and on the other hand we have another singer LL Cool J, who hasn’t proven his worth at all over the years. Pair’m up, and you have something pretty mediocre. The story outline should’ve opened a whole box of possibilities, and some are used, but it’s certainly not edgy in any sense. Then there’s the comedy part, with even a few jokes misfiring, keeps it up at a decent level. Naturally, only Queen Latifah has the meatiest role, as most characters are stock items, with the usual turnarounds at the end of the story.
All in all, executed fine, but not perfect and a bit predictable.7-.

The first 3D animation project bought by the newly formed The Weinstein Company (after the brothers left Disney’s specialty arm Miramax). And it’s not that hard to figure out why they bought it. It’s a contemporary take on the Little Red Cap fairy tale, with a fast paced and multi-threaded story line. It’s very story driven, and while the character outlines are distinct enough, there’s still room for a tiny bit of development there. There are some funny parts, and of course, the somewhat cheaper movie spoof jokes. If those were replaced by more unique new jokes, it would’ve stand out with head and shoulders. As it is now, it’s just a fresh funny movie.7½.

Almost impossible, but MI:III managed to stay on top this week, taking in 49% less than its premiere, $24.5 million. Second was what supposed to be this week’s number one, but the $160 million budgetted Poseidon was only good for a runner up spot. Wolfgang Petersen’s third sea based film capseized during its maiden voyage, with $20.3 million (then again, Titanic opened with $28.8 million and went on to garnish a $600 million cash deposit. Then then again, any movie about a ship going down will make people want to reach for their Titanic DVD anyways, it’s not a good theme to roll such expensive dice with anymore).
R.V. is still good in its counter-programming spot, at 3 with $9.5 million.
At number 4, Linday Lohan continues to lose star power, now opening Just My Luck with an unlucky $5.5 million. Rounding out the top 5 is An American Haunting with $3.7 million.