At The Movies

LAND OF THE LOST - Will Ferrell stars as Dr. Rick Marshall, a so-called expert in the field of time travel. After rigging together a pseudo time machine Ferrell and his friends travel into another dimension where the future and past all meet in one place. This is based on the popular kid's show from the 70's, and the movie keeps some of the traditional "campiness" that was so evident in the original show. I've heard a lot of critics downplay this movie but Jenny and I liked it. It's not Ferrell's best work, but it's not his worst either. He delivers plenty of laughs here to keep you entertained. Fun movie.

THE READER - Kate Winslet plays Hanna, a german woman who falls in love with a much younger german boy over the course of one summer in Berlin in 1958. The center of their romance is how the boy reads Hanna stories...which she loves. The romance soon ends and the years pass. Then unexpectedly the boy discovers Hanna on trial for participating in Nazi crimes. Thus the boy is forced to reflect on his relationship with Hanna and what she exactly means to him. This is a really good film. Winslet delievers her usual powerful performance, and Ralph Fiennes is exceptional as the now-grown German boy. Really interesting film.

BABYLON A.D. - One of my all-time favorite movies is BLADE RUNNER, and to this day I still see movies stealing images and ideas from the 1982 film. Take for example BABYLON A.D., starring Vin Diesel. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, Diesel must take a mysterious woman from eastern Russia to New York City in 6 days. All the while mysterious men in black are chasing them and trying to take the woman for themselves. I won't ruin anything for you here, but if you've seen both BLADE RUNNER and CHILDREN OF MEN you can already figure out what this movie is about. There are moments of interest here. Diesel is a great action hero in the tradition of Stallone and Schwarzenegger. But overall the script is extremely flawed. Even some of the stunning images of a futuristic New York City (taken right out of Blade Runner) can't save this movie. Not very good.

X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE - I watched this recently on cable around the time Michael Jackson was found dead. So let me get this straight...I was watching X-Files at home on TV and Michael Jackson was on the news. Hmmm...it must be 1993. After a 10 year hiatus Mulder and Scully return to the land of creepy humanoids, psychics, and aliens...this time to investigate the disappearances of some missing women. There's also a psychic here, and a hidden laboratory complete with a mad scientist and body parts...just to remind you this is the X-Files and not CSI. This one was okay. I was entertained, and David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson recapture some of their original chemistry from the 90's television show. But as you would expect this is more of homage to the original series, rather than anything new that we haven't already seen. It's okay...but not as good as the television show.

THE WIRE: SEASON 1 - After having enjoyed THE SOPRANOS Jenny and I went through a little "Sopranos withdrawal" after we finished the series. So after hearing so many great things about THE WIRE we decided to give it a try. I'm glad we did. The story basically about THE WIRE is you follow both the cops and criminals throughout one case. Each episode builds on the case and you quickly become involved with not only the good guys, but also the bad ones. The first season here is very hard to follow at times. I wouldn't say this show is for the "casual viewer." You really have to stay with it. But if you do you will be greatly rewarded. Shows like this make LAW AND ORDER look like Sesame Street. Great show...and highly recommended.

THE DANA CARVEY SHOW - This was a show that came out in 1994 and ran for a single season. Here you can watch all the episodes that aired on two discs. I remember this show back then, and I thought it was great. Critics however thought audiences weren't ready for something this weird. Each episode has Carvey's brand of comedy that we all loved on Saturday Night Live. But there are also skits here that are just plain odd...funny mind you...but odd. As an added bonus here you get to see the early work of Steve Carrell and Stephen Colbert and Robert Smigel...all of whom play supporting actors in all the sketches. The talent that went behind this show makes it worth checking out alone. Too bad it didn't last...but we can always remember when on DVD.

RIGHTEOUS KILL - Finally...Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino make a movie together and THIS is what came out of it? Egads! DeNiro and Pacino are two New York City detectives that share bad attitudes and a lack of ethics. Both are somewhat dirty cops, but only one is a killer. The question is...which one. This sounds like a cool premise, and the two top actors are right for the parts. The problem is this movie was made about 15 years too late. Both Pacino and DeNiro feel too old and slow for this kind of a movie. Didn't care for it...but I probably would have if this was made about 20 years ago.

CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION - Another Woody Allen movie. This time Allen plays CW Briggs...an investigator working for an insurance company in the 1940's. This is a comedic-homage to the romance mysteries of the 40's and 50's. Allen has some funny lines in this one, but it's no where near the level of greatness of CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS, ANNIE HALL, or MANHATTAN. It's okay...if you're an Allen fan.