BUG (R) Is it a horror movie or an existential art flick masquerading as a horror movie? Or vice versa? Since the studio declined to screen this one for review, we'll just have to wait to see how it all comes out in the wash. Based on a stage play, and directed by William Friedkin (The Exorcist), Bug stars Ashley Judd as a woman holed up in a hotel room while some sort of (metaphorical?) contamination rages outside. Also stars Michael Shannon and Harry Connick Jr. (Not Reviewed)
DAY WATCH (R) Day Watch, the sequel to the 2006 Russian action-fantasy-horror hybrid Night Watch, begins with a brief introduction that brings us up to speed — or at least as close to "speed" as we can reasonably expect with material this convoluted. We're then left to wander the wilderness for the next 140 minutes, surrounded by signposts well worth gawking at, but that don't provide a clue as to our whereabouts. Former music video director Timur Bekmambetov returns us to a more or less modern-day Russia where magic rules and where an uneasy, age-old détente holds between the forces of darkness and light — a balance monitored by supernatural beings known as Others. Popular Russian movie star Konstantin Khabensky reprises his role as Anton, a vaguely vampiric Other in Bono's old shades, who in this installment must stop a malicious, all-powerful entity from shattering the truce with a somewhat dopey, mystical device called the Chalk of Life. Lots of other things are also going on here, but I'd be hard-pressed to say how, when or why one plot strand connects with another. Like its predecessor, Day Watch is as tasty as any Hollywood eye candy, but its storytelling chops are often tough going, with sequences filled with expositional gobbledy-gook that's sometimes silly and occasionally flat-out incomprehensible. Still, there's style to burn here, and those willing to suspend disbelief may find much to appreciate in a world where witches, wizards and shape-shifters take part in a crumbling post-Communist bureaucracy. Much like Night Watch, Day Watch filters Blade, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, The X-Files and more through a sensibility that's uniquely Russian, and, although there's not a lot of logic on display, Bekmambetov imbues his movie with slickly enervating visuals that make it all go down surprisingly smoothly. Also stars Vladimir Menshov, Maria Poroshina and Galina Tyunina. 3 stars
EVAN ALMIGHTY (PG-13) A sequel to Bruce Almighty minus Jim Carrey, in which Steve Carell goes all Noah-esque when God (Morgan Freeman) tells him to build an ark. Also stars Lauren Graham, Wanda Sykes, John Goodman and Steve Oedekerk. (Not Reviewed)
FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER (PG-13) As superhero sagas go, this fledgling franchise has yet to prove its bankability, but that could all change with this new installment, which seems hand-designed for the fanboy crowd (those young-ish male louts who rule the box office). Rise of the Silver Surfer promises to be a geek's paradise, with some of Marvel Comics' most popular creations featured, including the titular silvery one and a beyond-good-and-evil nemesis who devours entire planets simply to exist. Oh yeah, and did we mention Jessica Alba? Also stars Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon and Kerry Washington. (Not Reviewed)
GEORGIA RULE (R) Two of the actresses you love to hate — Lindsay Lohan and Jane Fonda — are among the three featured female leads here. That, along with the fact that the high-testosterone Spider-Man 3 is the only other game in town this week, should insure this movie attracts an audience of sorts, whether it be those seeking a car crash or a chick flick. As it happens, Georgia Rule is a bit of both. Felicity Huffman makes up the final third of the movie's female triad, playing a boozy Californian who sends her out-of-control teenaged daughter (Lohan) to spend the summer in Nowheresville, Idaho, with Huffman's estranged, iron-willed mother (Fonda). Director Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride) mercilessly milks the shtick resulting from three generations of feuding mothers and daughters, but the conflicts are mostly too tidy, the personalities too rigid, and every other gesture over-enunciated, like a so-so play, stiffly executed and slapped up on the screen. The movie begins by throwing out streams of strident humor (much of it rooted in the promiscuity of Lohan's character), then abruptly shifts gears to heavy drama without having much of a handle on either. It's like randomly channel surfing from Steel Magnolias to Porky's to some faceless Lifetime Movie of the Week, and rest assured that there will be hugs all around if you wait long enough for them. Also stars Dermot Mulroney, Garrett Hedlund and Cary Elwes. 2 stars
