"Bynes Shines in 'Girl'"
Amanda Bynes, who stars on TV in "What I Like About You," emerges as a full-fledged screen star in the delightful family comedy "What A Girl Wants." This movie tells the story of a young girl who has never known her father. She dreams of the day they will meet and how wonderful he will be.
After graduating from high school she takes off for London where her father (Collin Firth) lives. Her mother (Kelly Preston) has always told her to go where her heart takes her so she is concerned but not upset by her daughter's actions.
In London Bynes finds her father and also meets a young singer (Oliver James) who steals her heart. There she also meets her father's fiancé' and his future stepdaughter that she didn't know about. They don't want Bynes and Firth to reconcile and do everything they can to thwart it.
In this fairy tale like movie everything ends up happily but not until a lot of tears and heartbreak have occurred. Still when all is resolved it makes the viewer more than happy he/she watched this film.
"What A Girl Wants" is a movie everyone should want to see. It has it all and it especially has the glittering personality of Amanda Bynes.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is "Irreversible," a movie about a murder that starts at the end and works its way backwards. Sort of like the film "Memento" did. It makes for a unique way to view a day in the life of a couple and also makes for some hard to understand occurrences.
Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel are the stars of this movie and they play their roles to the hilt. At times the performances are just too real and you will find yourself turning away from the screen.
This is not an easy movie to watch with all the violence it entails so be warned before you rent it. If you can bear it, you might find it eventually enjoyable but watching the horror of the film is not going to be easy.
Another violent film is "Nightstalker." This is the story of Richard Ramirez, the serial killer who terrorized Los Angeles in the 1980's. The film shows why and how he did what he did. It also presents the story of the rookie cop who was determined to bring him down.
Roselyn Sanchez and Bret Roberts are two of the stars of the film. In this movie the facts are more the stars than the characters. Ramirez terrorized a lot of people before he was caught. This movie shows how he did it.
On the comedy side we have "Bringing Down the House," a hilarious comedy starring Queen Latifah and Steve Martin. These two are wonderfully silly in the film, but the racist elements threaten to destroy the light mood.
Jean Smart plays Martin's ex-wife and Eugene Levy is one of Martin's associates who falls for Latifah's character. Levy steals the show and is constantly funny from start to finish.
Aside from the racial elements of the story, this movie is funny enough to bring down the house. Especially when Levy is talking some rap!
Alicia Silverstone gets in over head when she starts dealing with the wrong crowd. That's what happens in "Cool and the Crazy." In this film she and Jared Leto play newlyweds who start off happy. But then Silverstone lets her best friend lead her astray - in a manner of speaking.
Silverstone hasn't made many movies lately and this is not one of her best. Maybe her new TV show "Miss Match" will be better.
In "Double Vision" David Morse of "Hack" fame plays an FBI agent sent to help out a Taiwanese cop when a series of bizarre murders take place in that country. Tony Leung plays the local cop he partners up with in order to get the mysteries solved.
This is an exciting movie that succeeds in entertaining thanks to the talents of Morse and Leung. They can make anything good and this script isn't that bad.
Finally we have "Baby Galileo: Discovering the Sky." This is another in the series of award winning "Baby Galileo" tapes. This one takes a look at the sun, moon and planets in such a way that the smallest child will be entertained. |
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