The Amityville Horror
Batman Begins
Kung Fu Hustle
The Amityville Horror
While I was writing this review, I got the "scary" feeling that I could have essentially pasted my review for the remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" - or "Hide and Seek" - or "Boogeyman" -or "Madhouse"- into this spot and saved myself some time. But to be fair, "The Amityville Horror", yet another low-grade and gratuitous chill-movie, is slightly better than absolutely awful. In fact, if one is scared of closets, small girls, and refrigerator magnets that can form the words "Catch 'em. Kill 'em" without human intervention, this movie has the potential to be terrifying. I think director Andrew Douglas wanted to make his own version of "The Shining" and gave the main character, played by Ryan Reynolds, numerous Jack Nicholson-type moments. Sadly however, Reynolds doesn't really possess the talent to pull it off and in the end, his black crazy-man contact lenses tend to do most of the acting.
1/2 ( Julie Vinten )
This unnecessary remake retells the story of the Lutz family who move into a Dutch colonial house on New York's Long Island in 1975, the year after, surprise, a young man murdered his entire family with a rifle in the house. Though there are a few jolts to make you bolt in your seat, this flick really is more boring than scary. Actually, there are more laughs than frights in this obvious cash grab. But somebody must be enjoying it - "The Amityville Horror" has already grossed nearly $80 million. This may be the most amazing thing about the entire film. While the lead actors Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George are okay enough, you know something is definitely wrong when the highlight of the movie is the sexy babysitter.
( Laimons Juris G )
Batman Begins
"Batman Begins" is a good "Batman" movie - something we haven't seen in a long time. Staying true to its comic book origins, director Christopher Nolan has created the most reflective, realistic and least cheesy "Batman" to date. Nolan has made this super hero flick deeper and grittier - an emotionally profound depiction of Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman, that provides us with a better understanding of who he really is and still leaves plenty of room for good clean escapist entertainment. While not exactly perfect, this is a funny, profound and enjoyable feature.
3/4 ( Julie Vinten )
"Batman Begins" has absolutely no connection to the first four Batman movies and seems to take the character of Batman in a direction we have never seen before. But it takes forever to get to the heart of the story - the creation of Batman and his battle against evil and injustice in Gotham City- and it seems to me that the first half hour of this dark and gritty film could have been completely scrapped. Nevertheless, there are some excellent appearances by greats such as Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Rutger Hauer, Gary Oldman and Cillian Murphy (as the malevolent Scarecrow). And any way you look at it, Christian Bale is simply the best Bruce Wayne and Dark Knight to ever flash across the silver screen.
( Laimons Juris G )
Kung Fu Hustle
Hong Kong director/actor Stephen Chow had been an extremely popular filmmaker in Asia for many years before his 2001 movie "Shaolin Soccer" finally gave him some international attention. It's hard not to enjoy his hilariously crazy movies, and "Kung Fu Hustle" is no exception. A parody of and a love letter to the Kung Fu genre, this is a "Road Runner" cartoon on steroids - an explosive action/slapstick-feast with big heart. Although a far-out and often madly silly comedy, the skillful martial arts fights and visual effects are carried out with serious precision and finesse. "Kung Fu Hustle" is meant to be 110% pure popcorn entertainment and the feature meets this target so completely that criticizing its minor shortcomings is really quite pointless.
( Julie Vinten )
Do you need a long overdue dose of imaginative fun? Want to laugh until your insides ache? Look no further, "Kung Fu Hustle" is a refreshing, flamboyant and riotous roller-coaster ride inspired by Chinese filmmaker Stephen Chow. Movie-buffs will be especially thrilled at the wonderful homage paid to film classics from Hong Kong to Hollywood. Chow is producer, director, co-writer and star in one of the most extraordinary films of this (or any) year. Words aren't essential to enjoy this martial-arts comedy, which cleverly combines awesome computer-generated visuals and mind-blowing action. This sweet and sour tale features the most unlikely heroine in film history - Landlady (Yuen Qui) - hair in curlers, a burning cigarette dangling from her mouth and a surprising secret that will knock your socks off. Don't miss it.
+ ( Laimons Juris G )
