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During the nineties, David Duchovny was loaded with work on the little screen. A tiny job, years of announcing stories on Red Shoe Diaries, and a pretty heavy job, spanning almost a decade, as Fox Mulder on the X-Files. The transition to the big screen was almost unnoticable. Playing God and Evolution where not the break-out hits you’d hope for. Now he’s back again, both in front and behind the camera. Also penning the script and choosing his wife Tea Leone to star, makes this a true Duchovny show (with the story probably containing real-life experiences from his youth).
At the core we have a coming of age story, with Anton Yelchin starring as Duchovny’s younger version. It poses some nice angles, but it’s not that intriguing. Outside this frame we have some contrived scenes to complement the main story, so that doesn’t totally work either. Acting is mostly good, and ironically, only Duchovny could’ve used some more direction.
As a writing style, he choses triviality above depth. As a first time, it’s not bad. But it’s not a heartfelt drama, nor is it a light comedy. You’ll have to do with a typical mediocre independent film.6½.

The first movie to have permission to film inside the UN Headquarters was interesting enough to land at the top spot. Sydney Pollack’s return to the director’s chair, earns The Interpreter $22.8 million.
The Amityville Horror is still scary enough for a runner up spot, with $14.2 million. Sahara also drops one place, in its second week on the third place with $9 million.
At 4 a second entry this year already for Ashton Kutcher. A Lot Like Love opens with $7.7 million.
Rounding off the top five is Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle. With Sony behind it, it has a better strategy than Chow’s previous entry Shoalin Soccer, which earned less than $500.000 last year, due to Miramax’s decision to let it run limited only. The first taste was still a good one though, as Sony’s decision for a sub-titled version (instead of Shoalin Soccer’s dubbing) opens with a wide release, hustling some $7.3 million.

Based on a true story, it follows a season of high school basketball with Samuel L. Jackson as the coach. It plays out as a mild version of Dangerous Minds combined with sports. Samuel actually played another similar role before (187), so it’s pretty much a piece of cake. Young actors playing the students are pretty decent, but they’re not pushed that hard, as the story doesn’t go too deep into the characters. MTV’s co-production status is also very present at all times, with loud music pumping out of the speakers whenever possible. All in all, an easy to digest light drama.7+.

The winning streak for horror flicks to end up number one has not ended yet. The latest is The Amityville Horror, another remake, of course. With a $23.3 million opening, I can tell you this piece of real estate was a good investment.
The heat stroke is almost over for Sahara, dropping to number 2 with $13.1 million. Third is Fever Pitch with $8.8 million. Visitors of Sin City decreased too, now fourth with $6.69 million. Guess Who rounds off the top 5.

As a true follower of all Scarlett Johansson’s work, this collaboration with John Travolta couldn’t be missed. Her acting skill leaves me with no regrets, but the movie itself isn’t the must-see that I hoped for.
Scarlett plays a young girl who crosses path with John Travolta’s character after her estranged mother’s death. The movie builds on a brooding secret, and inbetween are literary quotes bloated with methaphores your head will exploded. And all that in a slow pace. The feeling is there, but it’s all covered and foggy, so you can’t figure it out. In the end, all the heart and soul passes you by unnoticed. So, all it gets from me is a scratch on the head and a nod of acknowledgement.6½.

After seeing a boring movie featuring Nicole Kidman, it’s clear there was definitely no blame on her acting skills. Right from the start you’ll see a totally new character, and she even produces a believable accent. Opposite her, we have Sean Penn playing another poor tormented soul, just the way we like to see it. Quite a match up, and with the heavy and deep dialogue, it probably wouldn’t have worked out otherwise. Directing them is Sydney Pollack, after a few so-so movies (Sabrina, Random Hearts), he’s definitely back on the roll, reminiscence of the solid thriller that The Firm was.
A simple plot gets worked out through character exploration and uncovered political agenda’s, all the while building on the suspense. A good score from James Newton Howard finishes off a the first balanced suspense thriller of this year.8½.

When you see the names Nicole Kidman and Lauren Bacall, your interest bar raises a bit. Then you see it’s a Fine Line produced independent picture with what might be an interesting outline, and the interest bar goes through the roof.
Then you sit, and you’re served a long sequence with no meaning. I don’t need to see a guy running in the snow for 5 minutes. I want to see a movie. What follows are more slow moving scenes, with no particular meaning. The script is not of high quality either, filled with character with, you guess it, no particular meaning. The only drama comes from Nicole Kidman, while the rest just drop in to say their uninteresting lines. The kid might have a big role, with emotional depth, but in essence, he’s delivering his lines with an expression-less stare the whole movie. That’s what I call lazy casting.
Pairing this boredom with a combination of an overly happy orchestral suite and an irritatingly nervous rhythmic bass line is the final mistake, and I wouldn’t look surprised if you’d walk out after a mere 30 minutes.4.

After a succesful string of horror flicks last year, most producers see this as an opportunity. These movies following each other quickly, drawing big bucks on tight budgets (hence its popularity. See last months alone, The Grudge, Hide and Seek, The Ring 2, Cursed, Boogeyman, and the list goes on and on). So too does this movie fall under the same banner, and still the ticket paying audience doesn’t mind the harsh reviews.
Michael Keaton plays the obsessed husband taping and listening to audio tapes for messages, and later on watches the white snow on the TV trying to find his late wife. Besides the beginning and the end, that’s pretty much all you get. The Sony brand flashing on the tapes, the TV’s, and all the other equipment doesn’t add much depth either, and as the character starts to rewind the tape for the zillionst time, your urge to fast forward the movie gets stronger and stronger.
It’s just another piece of proof this genre has basically nothing to offer.4½.

The first action-adventure this year surprisingly ends up on the top. Last year’s National Treasure was a box office hit, but the sandy desert-ish Hidalgo and Flight of the Phoenix bombed. Sahara must be something inbetween, taking in $18.5 million.
Second place is last week’s topper, Sin City takes in $14.1 million.
At three, Fever Pitch, starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon, opens with $13 million. Rounding off the top five is Guess Who and Beauty Shop, tied with $7.1 million.

Big sacrifices usually lead to big results. Robert DeNiro and Sylvester Stallone gained weight, while for this film, Christian Bale does the opposite. He dropped whopping 30 kilos to a mere 50 kilos to facilitate the believable performance as an insomniac, and it shows. The shock value is the same as going into hibernation in the eighties and waking up in this year, seeing Michael Jackson’s deformed face on trial. I never liked Bale’s movies (the alternative American Psycho was plain boring, and actioner Reign of Fire wasn’t that fierce either), acting a bit with the same stiffness, but after this movie, I’d say, let Batman indeed begin, by all means.
A solid performance makes this dark psycho drama work on all levels. Consistent mood and an overture score while the story line keeps you guessing and wondering.7½.

Hanging around very long in limited releases, as is usual for independent movies, for this one actually I actually scratched my head a few times. While the storytelling is alternative, it’s not truly special, and neither is the story line. Seemingly dramatic events taking place around 11:14pm are a bit twisted by strange humor, and hence, doesn’t lend to well to steller acting performances, hanging around good and acceptable.
This makes this movie a good one, but has not enough to carry a must-see stamp. I’d even recommened you to see the similar Go (from 1999, which had a wider release anyways, making it easier to find in the rental shop) first, as this one DOES carry the coveted must-see label.7.

This could be seen as a break-out indie hit for newcoming writer/director Jacob Aaron Estes, who puts together an ensemble cast movie. It works very well, much in the same way Stand By Me worked well, but with darker tones and deeper subtleties. Being both writer and director, he has greater control over the better worked out characters, while he highlights facets of his script with seemingly effortless simplicity. He does this in a very minimalistic sense, with a tight budget, mostly close up shots, and even the music takes a backseat, which actually enhances the drama.
The superb cast is a tool used to the maximum capabilities, and after the movie, there are still quite some things to mull over, as any good movie usually does.8-.

Another movie suffering from the trailer syndrome (where the trailer is actually more fun than the movie itself), it’s stuffed with big time actors and even more cameos, but the story is non-existent, and the laughs are dispersed far and away. There are no real laugh out loud moments, and the story plays out as a predictable chess game. As the title says, John Travolta is the cool guy again, and seeing Uma Thurman in a movie isn’t such a bad thing. But as a movie, it’s not quite good. Worse still, even for a rental, it wouldn’t be satisfying.5.

This week, people were more interested in a very dark place than the opening of a new hair salon.
Sin City, with Robert Rodriguez behind the camera, drags in $28.1 million. Again, he pulls double duty as writer, producer, editor and composer.
Beauty Shop has a grand opening with $13.5 million. Queen Latifah does slightly worse compared to Ice Cube’s Barbershop ($21 million in 2002, $24 for the sequel last year). Guess Who drops to number 3, with $13 million, while Robots take the fourth spot with $10 million.
Rounding off the top 5 is Miss Congeniality 2 with $8.4 million.

While the title explains the whole movie, there’s more to it than at first sight. Script and directing puts you right in the middle of a intense suspenser with some mild psychological thriller elements. High paced actions with strong dialogue keeps you busy for the whole 100 minutes. While some dialogue comes out a bit contrived, the cast is strong enough to keep your attention somewhere else.
Headlining is probably the most underrated actor of the last century, only being nominated twice for an Oscar. Adding insult to injury, Ethan Hawke has been unlucky at making a dent at the box office, while he keeps choosing roles with more depth and weight than usual.
No lightweight either is Laurence Fishburne, a worthy adversary for Ethan.
Definitely a siege worth sitting out.8-.