ANCHORMAN (PG-13) While it's not as smoothly, consistently entertaining as Elf, Will Ferrell's breakout movie, Anchorman specializes in an aggressively odd brand of humor that showcases the edgier side of Ferrell's comedic talents and takes more risks. The results are mixed: there's a noticeable amount of dead air and jokes that go nowhere, for sure — but the highs, when they come, are substantially higher, too. The movie is set in a San Diego TV newsroom in the 1970s, where popular but clueless anchor Ron Burgundy (Ferrell) becomes drawn into the war of the sexes when pretty but uncommonly capable Christina Applegate enters the picture. There's a solid running commentary bubbling under the surface about what happened when feminism first began creeping into the American workplace, but the movie is really anything but serious. Most of Anchorman plays out like a series of Ferrell's stranger skits from his Saturday Night Live years, with the scattershot non sequiturs eventually giving way to a crescendo of fabulously over-the-top (and gratuitous) parodies of fight scenes. Lots of amusing cameos here too, including Vince Vaughan, Tim Robbins and Jack Black, who is given the honor of lethally punting a pooch. Also stars Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Fred Willard. 
1/2
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS This movie creates a whole new meaning for the word cheesy, but surprisingly enough, it works more often than it doesn't. Lau Xing (Jackie Chan) robs the Bank of England to retrieve a sacred jade Buddha that was stolen from his village. In the course of his getaway, he encounters an inventor named Phineas Fogg (Steve Coogan) who has accepted a challenge from England's Royal Academy of Science to travel around the globe in 80 days — as it's the turn of the century, that's no small challenge. Xing joins him and the two travel by boat, carriage, camel, train, balloon and the first-ever "flying man" contraption, before returning to the top of the Academy's stairs. Days moves at a pace that keeps seat squirming to a minimum, and any stops made along the way are satisfyingly picturesque. Typical of Chan, the dialogue is unnaturally blunt and the character development minimal, but the comedic timing and fight scenes more than compensate. Yes it's fluff ... satisfyingly cute fluff. Guest appearances by Owen and Luke Wilson, Arnold Schwarzenegger (pre-governor), and Rob Schneider. 1/2
—Meredith Yeomans
BAADASSSSS! (R) The struggle to make the 1971 blaxploitation classic Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is now the subject of a movie directed by and starring Mario Van Peebles, who also happens to be the real-life son of Sweetback's director and star, Melvin Van Peebles. Baadasssss! has brisk, uncomplicated fun presenting Melvin's unorthodox, uphill battle to finance and finish his movie, although the younger Van Peebles often seems to be straining to provide the appropriate sort of "edge" called for by this material. Super-funky groove music and '70s-style visual effects are scattered throughout, along with sprinklings of fairly benign sex, but it barely disguises a certain routine, almost staid approach that often seems more in keeping with a made-for-TV docu-drama. The result is enjoyable enough, but a bit too cautious and not particularly surprising, with an energy level that dissipates as the film cruises into its second hour. In the end, the process of the making and marketing of Sweetback was a good bit more interesting than the film itself — just like so many independent movies today — something the unduly reverential Baadasssss! seems only dimly aware of. Amusing as it is, Mario's overly literal retelling is almost the antithesis of Sweetback, which remains a movie less important for what it actually is than for what it came to mean. Also stars Rainn Wilson, David Alan Grier, Saul Rubinek, Joy Bryant and Nia Long. Held over at Tampa Theatre. Call theater to confirm.
THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK (PG-13) A sequel of sorts to Pitch Black, in which Vin Diesel's self-serving, intergalactic bad-ass Riddick returns to find himself pitted against the Negromongers, a group of death-worshiping religious warriors going from planet to planet demanding "Convert or Die." Director David Twohy (The Arrival) might be offering up some thinly veiled allusion to the ongoing Islamist problem (or maybe he's just riffing on the Borg), but the movie has New Testament connections too, with Diesel's character eventually being set up as some sort of reluctant Messianic figure. All of this is just window dressing, however, for the movie's incessant action scenes, fights, chases and explosions, not to mention the non-stop digital effects, and sets and costumes directly lifted from David Lynch's Dune. One gets the impression that much of the movie's connective tissue, its actual story, now lies on the cutting-room floor, leaving us with a slightly better-than-average popcorn movie stripped down for the summer. It's a no-brainer that the real show will be the longer director's cut that's sure to eventually emerge on DVD, so consider this an appetizer (at best). Also stars Colm Feore, Judi Dench, Thandie Newton and Alexa Davalos.
A CINDERELLA STORY (PG) In the guise of one Sam Martin, Hillary Duff gets to take her turn at playing everyone's favorite debutante forced into proletarian servitude. In this instance, our yet-again contemporized heroine is delivered into the clutches of her evil stepmother and wicked stepsisters when her father is killed in an earthquake. Salvation comes not in the form of the traditional fairy godmother magic but via the Internet. Think The Simple Life, only with a less skanky subtext. Also stars Jennifer Coolidge and Chad Michael Murray. (Not Reviewed)
THE CLEARING (PG-13) A more grownup role for Robert Redford (complete with semi-grownup haircut and an on-screen wife who's roughly his own age), but nothing much else to write home about. Redford plays a successful businessman who's kidnapped by a disgruntled former employee (Willem Dafoe), while Redford's wife and family sit at home trying to keep it together. While not as flashy as something like Memento, the film eventually reveals that its dual his-and-her storylines aren't actually taking place at the same time, a device that provides a few interesting moments but isn't really crucial to what's happening in The Clearing. Redford and Dafoe's characters do a lot of talking out in the woods, and the movie is ultimately more interested in functioning as an engaging character study than in offering up the expected payload of suspense or mystery. The film is carefully crafted and atmospheric, with strong performances from Redford and Helen Mirren, but it's not quite the human drama it wants to be, nor does it really add anything new to the thriller genre. Also stars Matt Craven and Melissa Sagemiller.
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (PG-13) Having built a career on destroying the world (by, among other things, aliens in Independence Day and giant lizards in Godzilla), Roland Emmerich is up to his old tricks again. This time, however, we've only got ourselves to blame, as global warming and an out-of-control greenhouse effect create a new Ice Age, making life very difficult for a courageous scientist (Dennis Quaid) and his dreamboat son (Jake Gyllenhaal), not to mention a couple billion bit players. The movie's first hour is a straightforward eco-disaster movie featuring scads of massively proportioned, apocalyptic imagery. The movie's second half prompts more than its share of unintentional laughter, though, with bland heroics, wooden dialogue and every cliche in the book taking center stage. Also stars Ian Holm, Emmy Rossum and Sela Ward.
DE-LOVELY (PG-13) This latest bio-pick on legendary American tunesmith Cole Porter reportedly focuses on the man's not-so-secret homosexuality (something that was strictly taboo in previous Porter pics) and takes a stylistic approach that sounds suspiciously like what Bob Fosse did in All That Jazz. A number of contemporary musicians are on hand too, including Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morissette, performing various Porter standards. Stars Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd and Jonathan Pryce. Opens July 16 at local theaters. (Not Reviewed )
DODGEBALL: A TRUE UNDERDOG STORY (PG-13) Despite much talk of aiming low, debuting writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber finds a nice middle ground with material that would be offensive if it weren't funny; but most of it is funny. Corporate shark Ben Stiller's attempt to swallow Vince Vaughn's funky neighborhood gym is settled by a David vs. Goliath championship dodgeball match in Vegas. Stay through the credits for Stiller's final scene.
—Steve Warren
FAHRENHEIT 9/11 (R) Michael Moore's new movie is indisputably important, but not so much as a film as a phenomenon. (And why not? If terrorist attacks now decide elections in places like Spain, what's so wrong with the idea of a film swaying an American election?) Moore wears his agenda on his sleeve, and most of the points he drums home are already familiar to most of us, regardless of what our politics may be. Still, it's more than a little unnerving to see all those points rattled off in rapid succession, and with such iron-willed eloquence (Moore's movies aren't exactly great cinema, but they sure make effective use of all the tricks of editing, not to mention rhetoric.) Yes, we all know the 2000 election was a sham. Yes, we know Bush is a doofus (also lazy, hypocritical and quite possibly pretty mean-spirited). And yes, we know that the Bush clan is wallowing in bed with the Saudi royal family, and that, where our foreign policy is concerned, Arab oil money probably speaks louder than suicide bombers. Still, what is Moore really saying by all this, besides pleading with us to dump Bush posthaste? Much is made of how the government uses paranoia as a tool to control voters, but at the same time Moore seems to be saying that America needs to be better protected. Did we go too far in making war on Afghanistan, according to Moore, or not far enough? And does the filmmaker really believe that cutting loose the Saudi high rollers would lead to anything but a void to be immediately filled by yet another angry Islamic fundamentalist state in the Middle East? Reading between the lines of the film prompts dozens of questions like these, and none of them is ever really addressed. Still, the movie is glib enough that we barely notice Moore talking out of both sides of his mouth (exactly what he accuses Bush of doing), and it might just be the most effective political advertisement of all time. Faults aside, Fahrenheit 9/11 is a big deal — more passionate and, in its way, more serious than anything Michael Moore has ever attempted, and a movie that deserves to be seen, pondered and carefully debated. 1/2
HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (PG) Even if Harry Potter hasn't quite come of age in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, it sure looks like the franchise has. Director Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien) replaces the reliable but hardly inspirational Chris Columbus this time, giving the new installment a grittier, wittier, more palpably dangerous feel, both in its drama and its comedy. If there's a real flaw here, it's that the movie tends to meander a little too much, teasing us with nuggets of plot and sub-plot that don't gel until the last half-hour of this 135-minute film. These are problems that can be traced right back to the source material, however, and if you're in the camp that thinks of Rowlings as the James Joyce of fantasy, you're unlikely to be bothered by any of this. The new faces here — a veritable who's who of the creme de la creme of British thespianism that includes David Thewlis, Michael Gambon and Gary Oldman — raise Azkaban to even greater heights. Also stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Alan Rickman.
I, ROBOT (PG-13) A lot of great expectations are centered on this big screen adaptation of one of the most famous and best-loved science fiction stories of all time, and most signs point to the possibility that the film will actually deliver. Will Smith provides the star power, and director Alex Proyas (Dark City) contributes the creative juices in a futuristic detective story that dabbles in science, ethics and philosophy. Also stars Bridget Moynahan and James Cromwell. Opens July 16 at local theaters. (Not Reviewed)
KING ARTHUR (PG-13) This new take on the life of the legendary King Arthur is far removed from the mystic, romanticized fantasy of the famous tale. Rather, the film tells a version of the fable with only slight references to a round table and a sword in the stone. A story of liberation and bloody sacrifice, it is a well-executed portrait of how Arthur (Clive Owen) and his entourage may have defeated the Saxons through a series of gruesome battles. Other characters of Arthurian legend appear throughout the movie, though not quite in a traditional sense. Merlin (Stephen Dillane) is not a magician but a warlord, and the contention between Arthur and a pretentious Sir Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd) for the affection of Lady Guinevere (Keira Knightley) is only a vague sidetrack. Nonetheless, the luster of this legend is magnified on the big screen and packed with action and valor. 1/2
—Whitney Meers
LOVE ME IF YOU DARE (NR) This tale of all-consuming amour fou is loaded with a quirky, playful visual imagination that strains to evoke the form and feel of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's much-loved Amelie, but to little effect. What all this elaborate style furiously strives to embellish is a story about Julien (Guillaume Canet) and Sophie (Marion Cotillard), a boy and a girl who spend their lives torturing the world and each other with stupid little games, even though it's clear they're both just looking for love. The movie might have benefited had the games played by the pair been either ingenious or at least subversive, but they're not. Julien and Sophie's antics begin frivolous and dumb, and eventually simply become mean-spirited. The movie makes it abundantly clear that these two damaged souls are nuts about each other and belong together, but it delays and complicates their inevitable merger in a manner that's ultimately as annoying as the lamest Hollywood romantic comedy. Worse, the constant tonal shifts from the whimsical to the pathological seem less calculated than slapdash, and none of it is very much fun to watch. 1/2
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (PG) Maybe the best movie ever about all-American high school geeks, and certainly one of the funniest, Napoleon Dynamite is about a slack-jawed loser with a tight red perm and almost no concept of how to live in the world. Mouth permanently agape, and eyes simultaneously squinty and glazed, Napoleon is barely a millimeter away from being a zombie — but then again, so are most everybody else in the movie. The film takes place in a bland little town in Idaho where time passes slowly, as do the thoughts and words of the inhabitants, and the movie depicts it all with sly humor and affection. Most of the conventions of the high school comedy are here — the school prom, the class election — but the film transcends cliche with a lethal combo of slapstick, absurdity and dry, deadpan Jarmusch-ian wit. The young, mostly nonprofessional cast was largely drawn from 24-year-old director Jared Hess' pals at Brigham Young University, but don't hold that against them. Among its many other virtues, Napoleon Dynamite offers proof positive that Mormons really do have a sense of humor. Stars Jon Heder, Sandy Martin, Tina Majorino and Aaron Ruell. Opens July 16 at local theaters.
THE NOTEBOOK (PG-13) Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams (the head mean girl from Mean Girls) star as star-crossed lovers in this slow-moving, sticky-sweet, cliche-ridden romance. The tale is told in flashback, with a nicely evoked setting of coastal North Carolina in the 1940s being one of the film's few saving graces. The source here is yet another assembly line product generated by romance novelist Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember), so you pretty much know what you're getting into even before the opening credits roll. Also stars James Garner, Gena Rowlands, James Marsden and Sam Shepard. 1/2
SLEEPOVER (PG) Having survived the Spy Kids trilogy, Alexa Vega faces a real adventure: high school. At a junior high graduation slumber party she and her uncool friends compete with the popular (i.e., mean) girls in a scavenger hunt. This sweet 'tween fantasy will give false hope to real 14-year-olds but may empower a few to transcend their niche in the established social order.
—Steve Warren
SPIDER-MAN 2 (PG-13) Spider-Man 2 concentrates and amplifies the strengths of the first film, skillfully interweaving human-size dramatic elements with enormous and enormously visceral action set pieces. Much time is spent reintroducing the film's characters and rehashing their relationships, but this turns out to be essential in getting us to care about what happens to those characters once the sparks eventually begin to fly. And what sparks they are! Where the first movie's nemesis, Green Goblin, was somewhat (unintentionally) silly, the sequel's mechanical-armed transgressor, Doctor Octopus, is a monumental and menacing foe — and, as we all know, movies like these live or die by their villains. Sam Rami stages Doc Ock's every scene brilliantly, harking back to the director's pre-blockbuster days as a class horror act with pulp fare like Darkman and the Evil Dead movies. It's all part of a web of solid gold, providing substance and flavor to what is essentially a kick-ass action movie. Stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco and Alfred Molina.
THE STEPFORD WIVES (PG-13) Although not quite the catastrophe indicated by all that awful advance buzz, Frank Oz's take on robot housewives in suburban hell is still a bit of a mess. Oz's remake eschews any traces of horror or suspense for the broadest sort of camp, bringing the already obvious satirical undertones of the original film to the surface and running with them like an energetic but none-too-bright puppy with a pair of your favorite underpants in its mouth. The pro-feminist/anti-conformist agenda is played as farce for most of the film's running time, with telegraphed plot points and a cavalier approach to pacing making it seem as if the film assumes that everyone is already in on the joke, so what does it matter. There are also narrative and tonal inconsistencies galore, culminating in a bizarre shift to the deadly serious occurring about an hour in, rendering the movie completely schizophrenic and dead in the water. Some of the comedy bits are appealing enough, however, in a lazy, glossy and thoroughly disposable sort of way. Stars Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken, Jon Lovitz and Bette Midler.
STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL (PG) Nanook of the North and the pioneering documentary techniques of its creator, Robert Flaherty, were direct influences on the authenticity factor of this beautifully shot but no-frills tale of a family of nomadic Mongolian herders out in the middle of nowhere. Directors Byambasuren Divaa and Luigi Falorni take the most simple of narratives — the Mongolian herders are distraught when a mother camel refuses to nurse her newborn — but imbue the film with a fascination for its characters and a meticulous attention to detail that keeps it very watchable. The filmmakers also resist the temptation to play up the story's sentimental aspects, leaving us with a deliberately paced and rigorously minimalist film that feels both real and timeless. The movie could be taking place almost anytime, in fact, to the point where it's actually a bit of shock when, late in the film, modernity intrudes in the form of the electronic gizmos stocked in a ramshackle village visited by two of the Mongolian children. Stars Uuganbaatar Ikhbayar, Odgererl Ayusch, Janchiv Ayurzana and Botok. Opens July 16 at local theaters. 1/2
THE TERMINAL (PG-13) Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks together again, in a curious little project about a man who becomes stuck in an airport when his country ceases to exist, plunging him into bureaucratic limbo. The movie is a bit quirky and even minimalist in ways that we don't normally associate with Spielberg, at times almost like something Rod Serling might have cooked up as a Twilight Zone episode many decades ago. The film ultimately suffers from having too many sub-plots crammed into it, particularly the syrupy romantic interludes that are its least interesting elements. Still, it's easy to marvel at Spielberg's mastery of his craft, at his ability to glide from humor to pathos and back again without our even noticing how we're being manipulated. Also stars Stanley Tucci and Bernie Mac.
TWO BROTHERS (PG) Jean-Jacques Annaud, a director who usually seems much more comfortable working with animals (The Bear) than with real-live human actors (Seven Years in Tibet), is back on familiar turf with this simply told but heartfelt and beautifully made wildlife adventure. The movie was shot in Thailand and Cambodia, yielding some great location footage in this tale of two tigers separated as cubs only to be re-united as adult rivals. The human actors and their stories are almost an afterthought to Two Brothers (although Guy Pearce emotes with the best of them), but the antics of the cuddly cubs — which is the main attraction here — will keep the kiddies and their animal-loving adult companions more than happy. Also stars Jean-Claude Dreyfus and Christian Clavier.
VALENTIN (NR) A sweet (sometimes almost unbearably so) coming-of-age tale about a precocious little cross-eyed boy growing up in Buenos Aires in the early '60s. Valentin (Rodrigo Noya) is a cute and wise-beyond-his-years 8-year-old, living with his loving but cranky grandmother (Carmen Maura), and struggling to understand what's going on with all the crazy and difficult adults surrounding him. Valentin befriends them all, though, from the local doctor to the lonely musician across the street to his absent father's ex-girlfriends, and each of the bummed-out adults come under his spell, apparently infected by the adorable tyke's irresistibly upbeat sincerity. There are some nice moments here and bits and pieces of charming local color, but the film doesn't add up to much. Also stars Julieta Cardinali. 1/2
WHITE CHICKS (PG-13) There's nothing funnier than a guy in a dress, right? Unless, of course, it's a black guy in a dress, trying to pass as a white girl. OK, now picture a couple of Wayans Brothers as FBI agents pretending to be a pair of Hilton Sisters clones. Is it funny yet? If your answer is "Not by a long shot," then you're just beginning to scratch the surface of this mind-numbingly dull, extended sketch featuring Marlon and Shawn Wayons impersonating a pair of bubble-headed bimbettes. The stupid and by-the-numbers humor specializes in very loud fart jokes, the in-drag shtick is way too close for comfort to that annoying (but still funnier than this movie) "Drunk Girl" character on Saturday Night Live, and the movie's attempt at a plot is almost non-existent. The only thing of interest about the film is the freakish, barely human look of the "girls" themselves, who would have made a fine addition to the remake of The Stepford Wives. Also stars Jamie King, Frankie Faison, Lochlyn Munro and John Heard.
Reviewed entries by Lance Goldenberg unless otherwise noted.
