While "King Arthur" is far from flawless, director Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day") has crafted quite a powerful and enjoyable movie. The rethink of the tale of the knights of the Round Table is really quite interesting, but it's doubtful that this new (possibly more authentic) story can beat the legend of old. That aside, Fuqua has managed to put together a strong, charismatic cast, making up for a rather formulaic narrative. The visuals are impressive and the movie doesn't disappoint on a technical level. The face-off between Arthur's knights and the Saxons on a frozen lake is a particularly intense and well-made sequence. Look at the movie as serious history and it may disappoint, but look at it as spectacular popcorn entertainment, and it most definitely satisfies. ***
Julie Vinten
It is difficult to find anything positive to say about this surprisingly boring motion picture. Claiming to "reveal the true story" of "King Arthur" and the knights of his famous Round Table, this movie manages to drone on and on and on, seemingly forever. The lack of originality in this Antoine Fuqua directed mini-epic is groundbreaking. The cast of mostly unknowns and you don't wanna-knows are appropriately dark and crude. However, this reviewer prefers his King Arthur tales to possess a bit of magic and to be minimally believable. As much as you may want to forget this movie, there is one indelible scene featuring some grungy barbarians on ice, but that's about it. It is amazing that a movie filled with so much so-called action fails to excite. * 3/4
Laimons Juris G
Eurotrip
Director: Jeff Schaffer
"Eurotrip" is yet another lame and unfunny American teen comedy. Sometimes it's just foolish, but mostly it's very, very idiotic. Four young American friends go to Europe to find the main character's sexy pen pal in Berlin. The trip, however, doesn't go as planned, and the gang is soon racing through one European capital after another. Nice idea - bad movie. It mainly consists of jokes about various different European people that might have been funny, had the scriptwriters not completely depended on worn out, redundant parodies. Somewhere, "Eurotrip" shows a wish to provoke, but it only amounts to a couple of feeble attempts, and the movie never truly demonstrates any cunning or bite. This is nothing we haven't seen before and it's basically no fun at all. *
Julie Vinten
The particularly high rating bestowed upon this abysmally lame collection of tasteless vignettes is all due to Matt Damon. Portraying an overly pierced punk singer, the talented actor parlays his cameo bit into providing the only tolerable aspect of this perfectly dreadful movie. Can it be that the director, as well as the writers, never set foot in any of the European countries so ineptly ridiculed? "Eurotrip" only manages to perpetuate the dreary stereotypes rehashed unceasingly by Hollywood. The so-called humor falls flat, lacking any punch or vigor. Something isn't right when the soundtrack is better than the acting. It seems that "Scotty Doesn't Know" and you don't want to know either. The outtakes and bloopers at the end of the picture are funnier than the entire preceding embarrassment. **
Laimons Juris G
RRRrrrr!!!
Director: Alain Chabat
The problem with this French comedy is that everyone seems to have had a thoroughly hilarious time making it, but none of the fun carries through to the audience. "RRRrrrr!!!" takes place in prehistoric times, and the story starts when a tribe of dirty-haired desert-men sets out to steal some shampoo from a clean-haired tribe of cavemen. The actors obviously all have comical flair, but can do little with the idiosyncratic humor, and the jokes all end up falling by the wayside. It's plain slapstick and stupidity all the way, and though stupid can be funny, this is not the case with "RRRrrrr!!!" There is always a limit to the hilariousness of curly wigs, fake teeth and overacting - though this movie doesn't seem to think so. It all becomes tedious rather quickly. *
Julie Vinten
The completely repulsive "RRRrrrr!!!" sets French filmmaking back at least a hundred years. Lumiere and Melies must be spinning in their graves. It's difficult to imagine what possible excuse is required to make such a moronic piece of crap. The fact that Gerard Depardieu chooses to participate in such a nauseous venture doesn't say much for the actor's dignity. Apparently he is willing to appear in anything to make a quick buck. Are there really that many brain-damaged idiots out there to fill even one movie theater showing this dim-witted travesty? Shame on Alain Chabat for directing, shame on Depardieu for collaborating and shame on anyone for voluntarily watching it. For a movie that lasts a mere 98 minutes it felt more like 98 years to this enraged viewer.*
Laimons Juris G
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