Holiday moviegoers can expect exactly what "Fun with Dick and Jane," advertises, lots of laughs and not much more. The film continues a recent Hollywood trend of recycling old ideas. But unlike most remakes released in the past few years, the new flick, directed by Dean Parisot, successfully transforms the original 1977 movie starring George Segal and Jane Fonda by updating the plot to include recent corporate scandals.
The Producers
A lighthearted story, an excellent cast and a little holiday spirit. "The Family Stone," may be corny, but during the holidays, the more cheesy the better.
Director Rob Marshall's "Memoirs of a Geisha," based on author Arthur Golden's bestselling novel, surely lives up to, if not exceeds, the high expectations of the novel's fans. Its dazzling cinematography combined with its talented actors brings to life the heartwarming tale of a destitute girl who fulfills her dream of becoming the most celebrated geisha of her time.
The timeless tale of beauty and the beast is the sweet story of Ann Darrow and her devoted protector King Kong, which was rekindled last Wednesday in theaters nationwide. The original "King Kong," directed by Merian C. Cooper, who also shares writing credits, enamored audiences in 1933 and launched the story to celebrity status. After years of movies based on the King Kong legend, including the 1976 flop, this new release directed by Peter Jackson finally does justice to the original.
American moviegoers have encountered big apes before. There was Mighty Joe Young, the orphaned gorilla from Africa with whom Charlize Theron formed a special friendship. And there were those totalitarian primates in "The Planet of the Apes" who tried to kill Mark Walhberg. But these audiences have seen nothing like King Kong.
The mark of a great movie is what is left when all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood is peeled away. What remains is the essence of a film, and no release in recent memory has stood this test as brilliantly as "Brokeback
When someone mentions "King Kong," usually the first thing that comes to mind is a huge gorilla pounding his chest on top of the Empire State Building. With Peter Jackson's "King Kong," the story goes much deeper into the mind of the huge, infamous gorilla.
For some, the holiday season evokes cozy images of family gatherings, warm meals and the joy of giving. Children eagerly await the holidays, and people everywhere are filled with inexplicable cheer.
Five of the world's best snowboarders come to Alaska to ride the Alaskan backcountry. What do they have to show for themselves? A movie that reveals their deepest passions and records their wildest tricks.
How much would you pay to be near your friends, your only family? How much is staying by the side of the love of your life and being near your best friend worth? How many secrets would you keep, lies would you tell and fights would you have? "Rent," a Broadway musical adapted to the silver screen, deals with the complex answers to these questions through the depiction of a group of friends living in New York City.
It was only a matter of time before revolutionary rock-opera "Rent," was brought to the silver screen. Director Rob Marshall did it magnificently with his "Chicago," a production which earned six Academy Awards. And while director Chris Columbus may have trouble boasting the same for "Rent," the film doesn't do the Broadway musical anything short of justice.
Yes, that is Joaquin Phoenix, the guy from "Gladiator." And yes, he is singing "Folsom Prison Blues" perfectly, hitting the low notes and conveying the persona of an outlaw in the way a nation of fans thought only the Man in Black — country legend Johhny Cash — could. Perhaps that's because before his recent demise, Cash himself hand-picked Phoenix to portray him in "Walk The Line," an enveloping biography of the man who grew to become one of country music's most colorful characters — in spite of his monochromatic wardrobe.
As a play, "Rent," an award-winning musical based on the opera "La Boheme," was simultaneously castigated as blunt and commended as revolutionary. As a movie, it's bound to draw just as much controversy from self-proclaimed "Rent Heads," aficionados of the show who are just as likely to be wowed by the film as they are to be frustrated by the changes made in its adaptation.
The latest screen adaptation of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series is the darkest, most action-packed and most gratifying yet. Although still guilty of plot omissions and hasty narrative that has plagued previous movies, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" manages to breathe new life and inject new thrills into the story.
The step up from a PG to PG13 rating was the first clue to a likely quantum leap of intensity with the 4th Harry Potter film in the series. But a movie so powerful that you can detect the heart rate of the person sitting next to you through a firm grip of their hand is another story, and one that is a reality with "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."
A free spirited girl who believes that "nothing but the deepest love will induce me into matrimony" and a snobbish man who has a straightforward approach to life are a very unlikely couple. However, this is type of bond is very much likely in Jane Austen's classic story "Pride and Prejudice," directed by Joe Wright.
Most of us will never deal cocaine, shoot a gun or get shot at. Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson has done all of these things in director Jim Sheridan's "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," a loose biography of the rapper's life, that gives entertaining insight into the hustler lifestyle.
"Jarhead" is based on a strange concept for a self-proclaimed action-drama: boredom. Sam Mendes' vivid and riveting film based on author Anthony Swofford's personal account of fighting in the Persian Gulf War sheds light on the not-so-romantic and not-so-provocative aspects of modern-day warfare.
chicken little
In Zorro's 90 year history, numerous films have been created to honor Johnston McCulley's pulp fiction story. First there was the soundless "Mark of Zorro," released in 1920; then a twelve-chapter film created in 1937, titled "Zorro Rides Again;" a Disney television series in 1957; and finally, the prequel to the "Legend of Zorro," "The Mask of Zorro." The latest installment in the already sizable franchise inspired by the swashbuckling charmer, "The Legend of Zorro" provides fast-paced, fun entertainment, romance and hair raising stunts – but because of its new PG rating, doesn't quite live up to its predecessors.
Green Street Hooligans
Do not be fooled by the warm, inviting commoners of Elizabethtown. For all the spectators who intend to enter the world of sappy, chick-flick torture, be prepared for 123 minutes crying "Is it over yet?" and resisting the urge to punch the movie screen in frustration.
Long days, smarmy customers, the ever-present smell of grease and mediocre food are all in a day's work for the crew of the restaurant "Shenanigans" in Rob McKittrick's new comedy "Waiting." It stars Ryan Renolds, Justin Long, Anna Harris, and Dane Cook whose combined talents make this film a genre-defying blend of humor and raw human emotion.
Chava is a little boy growing up in a world of machine guns and hand grenades. He lives in a leaky house made of corrugated iron and watches his friends being recruited into the army or joining the peasant guerrilla group Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN). Chava is fast approaching his 12th birthday, the age at which boys are forcibly recruited to the army, and his life hangs in the balance between his family and the army of his country, El Salvador.
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