Land of the Dead
Herbie: Fully Loaded
The Jacket
Land of the Dead
Zombie-master George A. Romero is back with this highly entertaining horror movie/social satire, which is perhaps the most action packed in his "Dead" series. It's cool to see the zombies show signs of intelligence, but like with many of the good ideas in this movie, the filmmaker doesn't know how to fully exploit it. Hardcore Romero-buffs would surely hate me for saying so, but so many movies have stolen from and imitated Romero's earlier films that having him back in the game perhaps doesn't do that much for the genre. We have, so to speak, already seen many of his films over the years. Still, the movie is enjoyable, and Romero does an excellent job at building up his post-apocalyptic world where zombies are an irrefutable part of reality.
1/2 ( Julie Vinten )
Billed as Romero's "ultimate zombie masterpiece," the second in this director's zombie trilogy is a disappointment compared to "Dawn of the Dead." This time round, the zombies are getting savvy. Led by Big Daddy, who goes about in a pair of dungarees that he has retained from his previous life as a mechanic, an organized group of zombies head toward a fortified island city, determined to feast on the many people holed up there. Riley (Simon Baker) is the noble hero who goes out foraging to nearby supermarkets to feed the citizens, while Kaufman (Dennis Hopper) is the ridiculously over-the-top evil tycoon who lords over everyone. The political allegory is embarrassingly naive and the characters are barely more fleshed out than the zombies. "Land of the Dead" is pretty much a dud in every way.
( Laimons Juris G )
Herbie: Fully Loaded
The Volkswagon Beetle Herbie, star of three popular movies made between 1968 and 1980, has got himself another sequel. It's imbecilic, but also genuinely good-hearted and impossible to hate. Lindsay Lohan is exceptionally child-friendly. The filmmakers allegedly decided to do digital breast-reduction on Lohan so as not to offend the family audience, which is funny since the movie itself has many unmistakable sexual references. Still, this is an innocent movie that won't mess up any young minds - it would make a perfect two-hour babysitter. This isn't a good movie, but I believe it's everything it sets out to be. I'm sure kids will find the slapstick and the characters hilarious and entertaining. Perhaps some nostalgic grown-ups will also find themselves rooting for the possessed little bug in the end.
( Julie Vinten )
Disney salvages the sentient little VW bug from the scrapheap in a desperate bid to score big at the box office. Some might call this film good clean family fun. I call it a very cynical stunt. Maggie Peyton (Lindsay Lohan) has just graduated college. Her father buys her the once glorious racing car Herbie from a scrap dealer as a gift. Coming from a long line of NASCAR champions, Peyton can't resist getting in the driver's seat, despite her father's (Michael Keaton) objections. Disney pulls out every trick in the book in this utterly formulaic story of underdogs, family conflicts and a good old lesson in right and wrong. Sleazy racing champion Trip Murphy (Matt Dillon) is by far the best thing in this otherwise shameless Disney/Lohan vehicle.
( Laimons Juris G )
The Jacket
This thriller wants to be puzzling and challenging, to raise existentialistic questions and play with mystical elements. The reason why "The Jacket" isn't very intriguing is that it doesn't have a mind of its own, but takes its ideas from other, better movies. The movie is basically part "12 Monkeys," part "Jacob's Ladder" and part "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Director John Maybury doesn't possess a distinctive visual language, so the movie doesn't stand out in that respect either. Adrien Brody's performance is in many ways the saving grace of the feature, and though Keira Knightley seems miscast, many of the supporting actors really manage to make the most of the material at hand. "The Jacket" has some interesting components, but never truly manages to captivate the audience.
( Julie Vinten )
Jack Starks (Adrien Brody) is a traumatized Gulf War veteran who winds up in a psychiatric hospital after being wrongly convicted of killing a cop. There the grizzled Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson) subjects him to the dubious treatment of shutting him in a morgue locker in a straitjacket. To cut a ridiculous story short, Starks starts to travel back and forth in time while locked up, and learns that he only has a few days to prevent his own death at the institution. "The Jacket" tries to be scary, atmospheric, stylish and smart, but ends up as little more than a curiously entertaining mess. However, Brody is such a superb actor that he somehow holds the film together and the end almost justifies the means.
( Laimons Juris G )
