Starring: Brendan Fraser, Elizabeth Hurley, Frances O'Connor
In this remake of the 1967 movie, Fraser plays Elliot Richards, a man in so in love with his coworker, Alison, he says he will sell his soul for her, even though she barely know he is there. The saying "Be careful what you wish for" comes into full play when the devil appears, offering Elliot seven wishes, in exchange for his soul. In desperation, he agrees and sighs the thick contract. Little does he know that every time he wishes for one thing or another, the devil leaves a little bit of room for "fun". For example, Elliot wishes to be rich and powerful, and Hurley turns him into a Columbian drug lord. He may have Alison as his wife, but she is cheating with the stable boy and his employees are plotting against him. Or when he wishes to be a well-known, successful writer, she makes him gay. Though it doesn't turn out like one would expect, it is still entertaining along the way. Fraser gives a delightful performance, a step up from George of the Jungle and Dudley Do Right, but is nowhere near the likes of The Mummy or Gods and Monsters. Hurley and O'Connor are also not at their potential, but still make it fine.
My grade: B-
Big Trouble:
Starring: Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Stanley Tucci, Dennis Farina
The movie revolves around a former journalist, Eliot Arnold (Allen), who has a job he hates, a "loser" car, and clients he hates. A bomb is delivered to a lowlifes bar in Miami, owned and run by Russian arms dealers. Along with this, two assassins arrive in Miami to kill a business man Arthur Herk (Tucci) involved in embezzlement. However, this assassination goes completely awry when Arnold's son leaps out at Herk's daughter, Jenny, with a squirt gun to fulfill a mission from school in a squirt gun game. Eliot and Anna immediately are attracted to one another. As Eliot tries to figure out his relationship with Matt, Arthur buys the bomb, but soon the two assassins, two street thugs trying to become kingpins, two deadpan FBI agents, an immigrant maid, a spacey homeless guy and two irritable cops are in the middle of a wild chase over a nuclear bomb. And Miami has about forty-five minutes left, not to mention the toad who squirts hallucinogenic liquid at people, including the dog. This movie is a wonderful collection of humor, with a stellar cast, and random circumstances. Small budget movie, defiantly worth seeing.
My grade: A-
Billy Elliot:
Starring: Jamie Bell, Gary Lewis, Julie Walters, Jamie Draven, Stuart Wells
This is the tale of and eleven year old boy, Billy (Bell), who is expected to follow the male family tradition of taking boxing lessons at the Everington Boys Club. He discovers that he is more drawn to the ballet class that practices next door. After taking a few classes, his father and brother discover he is taking the classes instead of boxing and his dad is not willing to pay for the classes. He forbids him from going to class. So instead, Billy sneaks of to his teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson's house to discuss it with her. She offers him a meal and he goes off to play with her daughter, Debbie. If he had any doubts about his sexuality before this, he didn't then after a playful pillow fight with Debbie. He then accepts secret, private lessons from Mrs. Wilkinson (Walters). She believes he has enough raw talent to audition for the Royal Ballet School in London. His father, who has eventually come around and accepted Billy's love of dance, supports his decision and looks for a way to pay for it. At a time when he is unemployed due to a miner's strike against the union, he finally crosses the picket line, only to come back. Meanwhile Billy's best friend Michael (Wells) expresses his homosexuality to Billy by kissing him on the cheek and we see that Billy is accepting of him, no matter what his orientation is. This movie is a heartwarming, touching tale of acceptance and is a good story for all, whether you share the love of dance or not. Though I have never heard of these British actors, all of them shine with talent and make the story believable and close to life.
My grade: A+
Black Hawk Down:
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, Ewan McGregor
Black Hawk Down was said to express the chaotic, crazy urgency of worst-case scenario ground-force battle. The film was supposed to recreate the US siege of the Somalian city Mogadishu in October 1993. The real mission was a 45 minute plan that evolved into a 16 hour battle of bloody, urban warfare. Helicoptering U.S. Rangers were assigned to capture vital lieutenants of Somali warlord Muhammad Farrah Aidid, but two Black Hawk choppers gunned down by rocket-propelled grenades, and the U.S. soldiers aboard were forced to fend for themselves in the battle-torn streets of Mogadishu, attacked from all sides by armed Aidid supporters. Some argue that Ridley Scott cut things from the book that made the Somalis look bad, when it really was the contrary. He cut things that made the Americans look bad. After watching a documentary on the real battle, I realized that this movie not only had insufficient acting, but surreal, twisted facts on the actual occurrences of the battle. The movie did not live up to my expectations.
My grade: C+
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