Movie preview

This week - Mean Girls - The Chronicles of Riddick - Ella Enchanted

Mean Girls

Director: Mark S. Waters

"Mean Girls" is somewhat reminiscent of the cult 1989 teen comedy "Heathers," though it's less wicked and clever. What this film does show well is the viciousness of teenage girls and the uncompromising ploys they use to get to the top of the school popularity hierarchy. The characters, stereotypical as they are, are easily recognizable to anyone who experienced the battlefield of high school. There are moments of fun to be had with this movie though it generally sticks to the hackneyed route of most American teen-coms, making sure not to cause any real offense. It's actually very moralizing and the cheerful ending is quite sickening. Ultimately, it lacks the intelligence and guts to be anything other than an entertaining-enough but toothless teen-flick.

Julie Vinten

The smart and sassy screenplay by TV funny-lady Tina Fey ("Saturday Night Live") was adapted from Rosalind Wiseman's popular nonfiction book "Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence." A rock 'n' roll soundtrack ranging from Pink to Beyonce will prompt female teeny-boppers to hit the streets in droves, on the march, to see the latest flick starring Lindsay Lohan. Laughs are combined with moral lessons to teach youth to be tolerant and understanding. Nevertheless, it's too bad that there isn't more of a nasty bite in this basically harmless bit of fluff. The vivacious Lohan has certainly come a long way from playing 12-year-old twins in "The Parent Trap" to playing a 15-year-old teenager in "Mean Girls" 's or has she?

Laimons Juris G

The Chronicles of Riddick

Director: David Twohy

This big-budget follow-up to the excellent 2000 shocker "Pitch Black" is unfortunately rather redundant. The special and visual effects are well made and the movie has a lot of entertaining sequences, but everything that was thrillingly eerie about "Pitch Black" is missing. The look of the movie is very impressive, but unlike the "Star Wars" and "The Lord of the Rings" movies, this one doesn't do as well in making its grand universe believable. The movie never reaches its epic goals and what it amounts to in the end is all rather pseudomythical and self-important. But it certainly is a blast of a sci-fi action flick, and if it's straightforward entertainment you can do a lot worse than the "The Chronicles of Riddick."

Julie Vinten

Hold onto your mercury-powered jet packs, here comes an intergalactic tribal warrior with attitude, plus eyes that glow in the dark (when he's not wearing his cool shades). Whoa, Batman, is that you? Oops sorry, that's Vin Diesel in his most Riddick-ulous (just couldn't resist that) role to date. He offers a completely new perspective on the fine art of method acting. The dialogue is practically gibberish and doesn't attempt to explain much. The computer-generated tricks are fun to watch, for a while, and then you start thinking "enough with this already!" To thoroughly enjoy this commercial endeavor you have to be a hardcore Diesel fan. This whole sci-fi miniepic production looks rather cheesy, considering the $110 million budget. A plain and simply grunted "Duh" would have been sufficient.

Laimons Juris G

Ella Enchanted

Director: Tommy O'Haver

Is this movie silly? Yes. Stupid? Perhaps. But it's most definitely warm-hearted and quite harmless. Young and romantic teenage girls will simply adore this innocent Cinderella-inspired fairytale about enduring love and kindness in a "Shrek"-like fantasy world. It's a quirky adventure with a delightfully positive aura and it assures us that good always prevails. The movie is a little uneven, though, and struggles with some poorly developed characters. The visual effects are also pretty awful at times. But the sentimentality and over-joyfulness will doubtless be nauseating to some and comforting to others. Either way, "Ella Enchanted" is a movie with a big heart, and if you can stand its immense cuteness, it's sure to put you in a good mood.

Julie Vinten

Wow, here is one weird and goofy movie containing more quirkiness than you can shake a fist at. It's wild and wacky from the very first words uttered by our storyteller, Monty Python's Eric Idle. When Ella of Frell (Anne Hathaway) was just a little baby, one of her fairy godmothers thoughtlessly bestowed the gift of obedience upon her. Hathaway has fun with her part. The talented cast works overtime to provide continuous undiluted family entertainment. Hugh Dancy is particularly charming in his role as Prince Char. It's great to see Jimi Mistry in splendid form, though it's a major disappointment to watch the wonderful Parminder Nagra wasted in a cameo role. The out of the blue lively musical numbers energetically enhance this twisted but oddly refreshing Cinderella tale.

Laimons Juris G