OCR Text |
Show Tuesday, October 17,2006 THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE GRUDGE 2' IS A WASTE OF YOUR TIME continuedfromPage 4 haps the prosecution would call the herky-jerky ghost lady to the stand. I can imagine the stenographer's confusion as she tries to transcribe that strange croaking noise. So anywayAfter a tragic turn of events, Aubrey returns to the haunted house with a journalist (Edison Chen) to get to the bottom of the horror. You'll remember from the original that whoever enters the house is cursed and forever afterward stalked by a dead woman and her dead little boy who consume their victims with fury. These spooks can pop up anywhere and at anytime, sometimes even out of developer fluid in a dark room. They even know your cell phone number—so may' be if the dead woman gets in a prankster mood, she can call up her victims and say, "Seven days..." Aubrey's story is intercut with a story in Chicago where an American family seems to be haunted by similar ghosts. And a third story follows three high school girls (Arielle Kebbel, Teresa Palmer and Misako Uno) who boldly enter the house and pay the consequences. The script by Stephen Susco has Aubrey tracking down the source of evil, but' it's mostly just an assemblage of "boo" moments—some scary, some just plain weird (a spaced-out girl chugs milk and then vomits it back up). Takashi Shimizu, creator of the Japanese franchise on which the movie is based, directs this dreck as skillfully as possible—his ability to introduce terror in broad daylight is commendable. The horror is palpable, just not coherent. There's no reason to see this if you've seen the first one. What we learn about Kayako (the dead woman) is inconsequential considering it takes us to the same conclusion we came to last time. What is clear is that her grudge will never end—or, at least, it will end when her movies stop making money. a.allen@ chronicle.utah.edu "The po-po? Nah. They dead." Robert Patrick walks away from a conflagration of cop-killing proportions in "The Marine." THE MARINE' DRIPS WITH PUNGENT MACHISMO ton's wife. Hell hath no fury like a sea king scorned. Triton pursues Rome and his gang in a commandeered police car, which leads to the scene in which Rome's gang shoots about a thousand bullets at Triton's rapidly deteriorating vehicle. Triton, of course, continuedfromPage 4 remains unscathed. "Shoot him!" Rome shouts. it all, but on their journey they only manage to cross paths with a sneer"What do you think we're doing group of bank robbers led by ing?" Rome (Robert Patrick), who makes "Missing." the stupid mistake of snatching TriThat car chase leads to swamps and forests and marinas where Triton is blown up, shot at, drowned and, in all cases, wrongly assumed dead. The bad guys have arguments with one another. Triton's wife kicks and struggles. Someone we thought was a good guy turns out to be a bad guy. Even at 93 minutes, this material feels stretched. Cena turns in an OK performance, but he'd be bet' ter suited as one of those physically impressive goons who duels with a more charismatic hero. LATEST MUSE ALBUM TRIES TOO HARD But that's impossible; there's bound to be conflict, as the disc jockey can only satiate so many needs. Someone is going to feel alienated. With the last track, "Knights of Cydonia," the continuedfromPage 4 band returns to its Mars wearing a fake-leather theme of post-apocalyptic horsemen, although this trench coat. time around they're riding Ugly. - But.Muse band members around the desolate, dusty love pastiche; they mix up planet alone, looking for the music considerably: friends to play with. acoustic lullabies, digimetIf only Muse hadn't al, synth-symphonic rock. strayed too far, it could It's an epic-arena blast- have kept its lovers and off—more as if this two- leaders—or at least some story club is attempting to earnest sci-fi kids. cater to every sub-group in s.young@ the social stratum. chronicle.utah.edu NSA is Coming to Your Campus! Join us and learn about NSA ... where intelligence goes to work. You'll have the opportunity to talk with our recruiters, get to know what life is like at NSA, and explore exciting career fields. Career ANCIENT MICROWORLDS FOSSILS UP CLOSE October 7 - December 31 Utah Museum of Natural History Museum Hours Monday-Saturday 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Sunday, Noon-5:00 p.m. www.umnh.utah.edu Opportunities: > Computer/Electrical Engineering > Computer Science > Mathematics > Foreign Language > Intelligence Analysis > Cryptanalysis Admission is with your U of U ID! > Signals Analysis Ask about our new University Membership Program. E %K UttH HUSIUM OF HHUHMHlSTOIff Patrick has fun in the villain role—and give him points for stomaching a lame "Terminator" joke (he was the unstoppable T-1000 in "T2"). What "The Marine" boils down to is a thinly disguised recruitment film. After Triton dives out of an exploding house and Rome runs out in a panic, one of his henchmen asks, "What happened?" "A Marine showed up, that's what!" Sign me up. For full details, view our UNIVERSITY Of UTAH College/Career Fair Schedule Tbt UrMmiff of Vlah on our Web site or visit your Career Placement Office. Just click it. www.daiiyutahchronlcU.coin www.WSA.gov/Careers SECURING TOMORROW TODAY U.S. citizenship is required. NSA is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants for employment are considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or status as a parent. |