Paycheck

Directed by John Woo

Opens nationwide 12/25/2003

2.5 *

Philip K. Dick is Hollywood’s favorite kind of writer. As the author of the source material for Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report, Dick’s work is accessible, easily adaptable, not overly expensive to obtain, and fits into genres that La La land’s incipient blockbuster-makers like to work with, i.e. thrillers with a science fiction edge. Add to that the fact that he never complains about the big budget treatments his work receives and the only way they could love him more would be for his stuff to be in public domain.

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New Fairfax Corner Multiplex Opens

Unfortunately, the Nicer the Cinema the Greater the Disappointment

By Bill Henry

I anticipate the opening of a new movie house with the same great hope and excitement that I bring to the release of each film I see a coming attraction reel for—so much for the getting of wisdom. Visiting the new Fairfax Corner 14: Cinema de Lux (the fifth multiplex representative of the National Amusements chain to open in Fairfax County, VA) on its opening weekend, brought me face to façade with the next trend in movie-going—luxury theatres.

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Mona Lisa Smile

Directed by Mike Newell

Opens nationwide 12/19/2003

1/2

Movie stars have different obligations than regular actors. It was William Goldman who noted in Adventures in the Screen Trade that unless their name is John Wayne or Clint Eastwood (and more recently Jack Nicholson), a star’s time to strut and fret their hour upon the stage is brief and nobody sheds many tears when whatever ephemera propelled them into the heavens is mysteriously extinguished and they plunge back to the world of mere mortals—and, as with most things Hollywood, women have it worse. Movie icons have to protect their star status first and foremost with little real gain from taking risks. Having said that, it is a tad hard-hearted (though tempting) to continually hammer Julia Roberts for taking a slew of star vehicles with no higher aim than extending her time in the upper strata she ascended during her Pretty Woman period.

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The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Directed by Peter Jackson

Opened nationwide 12/17/2003

3.5 *

For Frodo, Sam , and the rest of the fellowship, only just over a year has passed since they have gone there and back again. But for us the intrepid moviegoers who have followed along their adventures, it has been 24 months since Peter Jackson started us on the three-picture journey through J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. However, unlike such other third parts as Return of the Jedi, The Godfather: Part III, or The Matrix Revolutions, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is not the worst of three, but rather the best with adapter Jackson saving plenty of surprises and spectacle for those who have stuck it out (which judging from the early box office returns includes a sizable percentage of the globe’s movie-going population).

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Stuck on You

Directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly

Opens nationwide 12/12/2003

As the humor of writer-directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly, best known for There’s Something About Mary, becomes less based on bodily functions and more an outgrowth of their narrative, it is only reasonable that the number of yucks (as well as yecchs) per hour should drop. But as on view most recently with their latest, Stuck on You, the Farrelly Brothers can still make some pretty enjoyable movies. So why do I miss the old guys?

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