Advertisement

Movies & TV

Video & DVD

Rating: NNNNN


New releasesNew releases

america’s sweethearts (2001, Columbia TriStar), dir. Joe Roth w/ Julia Roberts, John Cusack. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Cusack play divorced movie stars forced to get together for a press junket. Roberts chirps in as Zeta-Jones’s sister, who’s in love with Cusack. The film’s mega-star power is shorted out by Billy Crystal’s and Peter Tolan’s weak script, which sounds like the sitcom version of a Preston Sturges comedy. There’s absolutely no chemistry between Roberts and Cusack, a fact that’s perfectly demonstrated when they wake after a night of passion fully clothed. NN

Big-screen rating: No one makes better sport of Hollywood idiocies than Hollywood itself. NNN (JH)

crazy/beautiful (2001, MGM/UA), dir. John Stockwell w/ Kirsten Dunst, Jay Hernandez. Poor Latino boy (Hernandez) falls for rich, mentally unstable white girl (Dunst), and the adult world is turned upside down. Dunst’s intense, emotionally open performance as a girl in need of meds makes this predictable teen drama very watchable, and the stoic Hernandez benefits from her energized aura. NNN

Big-screen rating: Astonishing emotional moments from actors stuck with a cheesy Hollywood script. NNN (JH)

Also this weekAlso this week

Everybody’s Famous

Osmosis Jones

UpcomingUpcoming

November 20

Apocalypse Now: Redux, The Matrix Revisited, Planet Of The Apes

November 27

The Closet, Hey, Happy, Lumumba, Pootie Tang

DVD picks of the weekDVD picks of the week

lara croft: tomb raider (2001, Paramount), dir. Simon West w/ Angelina Jolie, Daniel Craig. Jolie kicks ass as the buxom heiress/adventurer. Too bad the movie sucks. Jolie is Hollywood’s most smouldering star, but she’s saddled with a pristine, prissy cardboard character. What a waste, so on to the extras…

extras: extras:

So-so commentary by director West, four deleted scenes, U2’s Elevation video and five mini-documentaries on the making of the film and the video game, including one that charts Jolie’s pre-film training and one looking at the film’s elaborate sets and stunts. Very cool. 100 minutes. NNN.

INGRID RANDOJA

the remains of the day: special edition (1993, Columbia TriStar), dir. James Ivory w/ Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson. Despite the fact that it’s about war and passion, Kazuo Ishiguro’s story is full of devastating left-unsaids. And without the novel’s detail, it’s all down to the actors. Luckily, Thompson and Hopkins turn in career-best performances, Hopkins free from his antics and Thompson less pleasing than she likes to be.

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted