Wednesday, March 22, 2000
Wednesday, March 22, 2000 |
| Movies By MICHAEL BOYLAN Now Playing American Beauty — Nominated for eight Academy Awards, this is a great film. American Beauty has a sparkling script and knockout performances from Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening. Rated R. Drowning Mona — Danny Devito and Bette Midler star in this film about the murder of the meanest woman in town. This movie got slammed pretty hard by a lot of critics, but it looked funny to me. Rated PG-13. Erin Brockovich — Julia Roberts brings a huge corporation to it's knees. The movie is being hailed as the feel good movie of the year. Rated R. Green Mile — Stephen King's serial novel comes to the screen. This is not a horror film, but more of a spiritual drama. It is about the execution of an innocent man, with extraordinary healing abilities. Rated R. Final Destination — A young man sees a vision of his flight exploding and gets off the plane. He cheated Death and now Death is stalking him and his friends. It is an interesting premise. Rated R. Hanging Up — Lisa Kudrow, Meg Ryan and Diane Keaton star in this movie about a family with a wild elderly father played by Walter Matthau. Rated PG-13. Mission to Mars — Gary Sinise, Don Cheadle and Tim Robbins star in this movie where the secrets of life on Earth are found on the Red Planet. My mom liked it. Rated PG-13. My Dog Skip — Frankie Munz (Malcolm in the Middle) stars in this nice family film about a boy and his dog, based on stories by Willie Morris. One of the few films released lately that scored well with critics. Rated PG. Next Best Thing — A woman and her gay friend have a baby and raise the child as their own. This looks vaguely familiar. Rated PG. The Ninth Gate— Johnny Depp stars in this film by Roman Polanski. If there's one thing that Polanski is good at, it's movies about the Devil. Rated R. Pitch Black — A crew of a spaceship is terrorized by a species of aliens that attack in the dark. Hooray, another “blow up the aliens” movie! My sci-fi fan friends really liked this. Rated R. Reindeer Games — Ben Affleck stars in this new action film from John Frankenheimer. The film focuses on an ex-con who gets dragged back into a life of crime by his girlfriend's brother. This looks pretty cool. Rated R. Scream 3 — This is not just a cash cow film. The producers and directors intended on making this a trilogy from the beginning. I loved the first two installments. In fact, I am an extra in Scream 2. I look forward to this movie and hope that they end the series on a good note, meaning that it is both funny and scary. Rated R. The Sixth Sense — I have a weird feeling that this might be the movie that just sweeps through the Oscars. It is technically marvelous, with great performances and an incredible script and story. This is everything that movies should be and that might be what puts it over the top. Rated PG-13. Snow Day — This movie doesn't really have the same impact it does, in say, Michigan or Maine. The question you really must ask yourself is why on Earth did Chevy Chase make this movie? Rated PG. The Beach — Want a hit? Sprinkle a bit of Leonardo DiCaprio among some other beautiful people and just add water. This film is based on the popular novel by Alex Garland and is very reminiscent of “Lord of the Flies.” This is not lighthearted Leo fare. Rated R. The Cider House Rules — John Irving penned the screenplay based on his novel and has been nominated for an Oscar. The film deals with an orphan named Homer and his life in St. Cloud, Maine. The movie was very good and could be a surprise come Oscar time. Bring some tissues. Rated R. The Tigger Movie — This is obviously about Tigger, Winnie the Pooh's friend. If you love Pooh, you'll love the movie. Rated G. What Planet Are You From — Mike Nichols directed this film based on Garry Shandling's screenplay. The film deals with the fact that men and women are from different planets, literally. Rated R. Whole Nine Yards — This is still the number one movie in America. Bruce Willis is the hitman and Matthew Perry is the frightened, sarcastic guy. There may be too many movies about hitmen these days but Willis is always good for a laugh. Rated R. Wonder Boys — Mr. Catherine Zeta Jones (Michael Douglas) stars as an author in this quirky comedy drama. The film also stars Frances McDormand, Tobey Maguire and Katie Holmes. The buzz around this one is very good. Rated R. Also Playing Anna and the King — Jodie Foster and Chow Yun Fat star in this movie based on “The King and I.” This is not a musical. The sets look lavish, the actors look right and their big push for Oscar might be worthwhile. Rated PG-13. Any Given Sunday — Al Pacino barks, Jamie Foxx mugs, and Lawrence Taylor looks mean in Oliver Stone's football epic. This was a good movie for fans of Football and/or Stone. It should definitely be viewed on the big screen. Rated R. The Bachelor — Chris O'Donnell stars in this movie about a man who will only get his inheritance if he is married. Nothing like tying love and greed together for an entertaining time. I mean, look at how successful “Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire” was. Rated R. Blue Streak — Martin Lawrence plays a jewel thief who passes as a detective. If Eddie Murphy can do police comedy, Martin can do police comedy. I rented this recently and thought it was pretty good. Rated PG-13. The Bone Collector — This was a great book, so be careful of the film. Denzel Washington plays a paralyzed man who was formerly a detective. He helps a rookie cop track down a serial killer. It has been out for awhile, so it has to be pretty good. Rated R. Double Jeopardy — This was the movie with Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones. She went to jail for the murder of her husband, but he's not dead. You can't be convicted twice for the same crime, so what will happen? For a buck, this might be worth it. Rated R. Deuce Bigelowe: Male Gigolo — This is a funny movie and you shouldn't expect much more than a stupid comedy. Rob Schneider is better than Norm McDonald was in Dirty Work and there are more hits than misses. Rated R. The Messenger — Luc Besson's stylish retelling of the story of Joan of Arc. The film has a good cast and great visual effects, but the story is a bit slow. Rated R. Pokemon's First Movie — Pokemon's father is murdered by his uncle, who promptly marries Pokemon's mother. Pokemon pretends that he is crazy while he plots to avenge his father's death. Rated G. Sleepy Hollow — Johnny Depp is Ichabod Crane in Tim Burton's film based on The Legend of the Headless Horseman. This was an all-around good movie, but is also fairly graphic. Rated R. Stuart Little — Based on E.B. White's children's story, Stuart is a small mouse that lives with a normal sized human family. It looks like lots of new stuff was added for the kids and the traditional plot elements have fallen by the wayside. We shall see though. Rated PG. Supernova — A scary movie set in space. Who will survive? You should be able to tell after the first 20 minutes. This will be on video soon. Rated PG-13.
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