Rating: NNNNN
New releasesNew releases
driven (2001, WB), dir. Renny Harlin w/ Sylvester Stallone, Kip Pardue. Driven crashes the moment it wheels onscreen. Stallone stars as an aging race-car pro who’s brought in to help a hotshot new driver (Pardue). Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) has become an action hack, and this is one of his worst films yet, a visual mess that looks like a sloppy Michael Bay movie, and that’s scary. Stallone’s clichéd script is laughable, and we won’t even mention the pancake-flat acting. N
Big-screen rating: N (IR)
someone like you (2000, Fox), dir. Tony Goldwyn w/ Ashley Judd, Hugh Jackman. Judd stars as a TV producer who falls for her womanizing roommate (Jackman) after she’s dumped by lover Greg Kinnear. The writing moves between silly — Judd is constantly comparing men to cows — and surprisingly touching. Credit Judd’s crackling onscreen energy with livening up the movie. But Jackman (X-Men’s Wolverine), despite showing off a great bod, is completely forgettable as Judd’s dream man. Kinnear sneaks off with the movie as the sad-eyed, wishy-washy lover who can’t commit. NNN
Big-screen rating: NN (IR)
spy kids (2001, Columbia Tri-Star), dir. Robert Rodriguez w/ Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino. Spy Kids is a James Bond flick by way of Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory. Professional-spies-turned-parents Banderas and Gugino come out of retirement and are kidnapped, and their two kids (Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara) must rescued them. Low-budget action master Rodriguez plants his tongue firmly in cheek in this spoof that entertains children with non-threatening action scenes and kid-friendly set design but keeps adults amused with a smart script that pokes fun at spy-movie clichés. NNN
Big-screen rating: NNN (IR)
startup.com (2001, Alliance Atlantis), dir. Chris Hegedus and Jehane Noujaim. This gripping documentary follows the rise and fall of an Internet company formed by childhood friends Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Thomas Herman. The ambitious Kaleil and the more laid-back Thomas pitch potential investors, raise millions of dollars and hire hundreds of people, only to see the whole thing fall apart. It’s a fascinating look at the speed at which dot-com companies took off and burned out, and a cautionary tale for friends who think going into business together might be fun. NNNN
Big-screen rating: NNNN (IR)
Also this weekAlso this week
Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles, The Widow Of Saint-Pierre
UpcomingUpcoming
September 25
Along Came A Spider, Amores Perros, A Knight’s Tale, Nora
October 2
Beautiful Creatures, The Mummy Returns, Tremors 3
DVD pick of the weekDVD pick of the week
citizen kane (1941, WB), dir. Orson Welles w/ Welles, Joseph Cotten. Well, it’s finally here. The film often — and recklessly — hailed as the greatest of all time is now on DVD. Welles’s thinly veiled portrait of media baron William Randolph Hearst is ballsy, modern and practically dizzy with the thrill of making movies. Welles once called cinema the greatest train set a boy could ever have. But Kane also transcends its pulp origins and reaches for American myth.
extras:
Packed, two-disc set includes a documentary called The Battle Over Citizen Kane, interviews with Welles, his War Of The Worlds radio broadcast, a newsreel of the 1941 premiere and two full audio commentaries, one by Welles and his Boswell, Peter Bogdanovich, the other by Roger Ebert. Subtitles in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. 119 minutes. NNNNN
CAMERON BAILEY
