Show M Movie o 0 v vie i e House H 0 use Rewind R e win d d during ring the holiday movie Allen Johnson saturation Or better yet go Staff Writer I ahead and stock up on DVD's with all those gift cards you received The Great Holiday Film Barrage The race is on for the nod from the Academy as the eligibility window for 2003 comes to a close The weeks before the New Year are often chock full of crowd pleasers as well as final Oscar contenders This holiday season had a helping helping helping help help- ing of both Obviously the Return of the King was the most talked about film of the winter whiter holidays- holidays as both an Academy Awards contender contender contender con con- tender and a public favorite- favorite a mix that usually results in little to no statues come awards time Cold Mountain and Last Samurai continue to receive critical praise as well as the stunning and touching Big Fish The winter 2003 films were definitely not all praise though There was the dismal and insulting Stuck on You a whiny do- do nothing Mona Lisa Smile and the laden Something's Gotta Give Unfortunately the news doesn't get any better Its It's not a big secret that January and February is where the studios hide their worst films of the year These next two months look very bleak With a good possibility ity of Kill Bill Bill Vol 2 being pushed back to March or April we seem to be completely completely com com- devoid of anything upcoming worth real money What this allows is for you to go back and possibly see some ones you missed Big Fish Gentle and ando o Original rig i n a 1 Finally Tim Burton fans can sleep better After a dismal Planet of the Apes director Tim Burton was faced with the challenge of winning people back Big Fish does this and much more This star all-star cast is headed headed headed head head- ed up by Ewan McGregor Billy Crudup Albert Finney Jessica Lange and Alison Lohman Supporting roles are wielded wield wield- ed by Danny DeVito Helena Carter Bonham-Carter Steve Buscemi and many other lesser known but very talented actors Albert Finney plays old Ed Bloom a man on his deathbed whose gift to those around him have been the telling of fantastic tall tales of his nis youth Eds Ed's wife Sandra Lange calls their son Will Crudup to tobe tobe tobe be with his father for the end Will has long since tired of his fathers lies hes and wants him to tell him the truth about his past Ed holds fast that his tales are the truth and relays them to his doubting son once again McGregor and Lohman play the younger flashback versions of Ed and Sandra as the old Ed tells of their meeting and falling in love loye his travels and his many Ip strange tr hg lifes life's ife companions i J The flash flashbacks flashbacks flashbacks' acks are rich with symbolism many elements elements elements ele ele- ele- ele ments and styles of Burtons Burton's previous films very apparent and color as young Ed d strives to be more than what his small little littletown littletown littletown town has in store for him McGregors McGregor's performance is fantastic offering just the right amount of innocence and sweetness to a character charac charac- ter that would otherwise seem too contrived Crudup plays the doubting doubting doubting doubt doubt- ing son perfectly perfectly with a great sense of realism in a Fanciful movie The incomparable incomparable incomparable parable Steve Buscemi shines as a quirky poet who has a knack for not finishing finishing finishing finish finish- ing his lyrics and Bonham- Bonham Carter dons dons several different different different differ differ- ent looks as her character changes in age and identity A great B Burton urton film would be incomplete without without without with with- out the present ever-present music composer Danny Elfman The films film's score reflects the moods of the film flawlessly flawless flawless- ly and adds the perfect touch to this fantastic show We will see several nominations nominations nominations nomi nomi- nations come Oscar time for this one one for for its acting directing and its beautiful visuals I fear that because this is isa isa isa a feel good movie it will not be appreciated by many With so many of the films pushing the envelope in violence drug use sex and language its it's good to see a film step back from all of that and have it still be of good quality Not many cando can cando cando do that with as much grace and originality as this one Dont Don't let this fish be the one that gets away from you 8 10 Paycheck A Trite No- No bra brainer i ne r ij j i f. f jt r- r 1 nl A l fj n 1 1 t I JJ Ben Affleck keeps getting worse and worse Paycheck is nothing but a formula thriller techno-thriller with the heavily used re-used lone man vs evil corporate America scenario Though this is an adaptation adaptation adaptation tion from a short story written written written writ writ- ten by Phillip K Dick back in the it has many elements elements elements ele ele- ele- ele ments familiar to recent carbon copies films Its It's a heavy mix of Memento Bourne Identity and Minority Report but comes out tasting sour sour mainly mainly because Affleck just flat cant can't act The story takes place lace in Seattle in a quasi futuristic quasi futuristic time when computer engineers engineers engineers engi engi- can do work for a company and then have their memory erased so they cant can't recall certain company secrets Affleck plays Jennings one of these engineers who is approached by an old friend about doing a huge top-secret top 3 year job fob which will land him a paycheck in the mil mil- lions He accepts the job and then instantly wakes up three up-three three years later with the work completed When he goes to get his money and his personal belongings he is startled to discover that he had forfeited forfeit forfeit- ed his money and swapped his belongings for 20 seemingly seemingly seemingly seem seem- meaningless bits of junk He follows the clues he left himself from the past to a predictable and trite ending There are many moments where you wonder how dumb the filmmakers think the audience is There are lots of continuity problems as well as random things that really serve no purpose One of my favorites is during a particularly tense moment near the climax our heroes are an trapped trapped but but su sud suddenly d Q Y a corporate office b buildings building's floor swamped i is s with thick two foot deep fog on the floor allowing them to escape No explanation explanation explanation nation- nation just random fog in an office building staring Co-staring with Affleck is Uma Thurman who plays lays Rachel a girlfriend Jennings does not remember remember remember ber from his past She is a biologist at the corporation Jennings comes to work for Why a technology corporation corporation corporation corpora corpora- tion needs an advanced advance bio lab is also never really explained She performs decently but for some reason reason reason rea rea- rea- rea son instantly transfers from flower arranger to kung-fu kung kicking heroine once the going gets tough Randomness abounds here with virtually nothing explained There are nifty motorcycle car chases gun gunfights gunfights gunfights fights fist fights and explosions explosions explosions that defy reason- reason oh yeah this is a John Woo film so that explains a lot lotof lotof lotof of it 6 10 Cheaper By Bythe Bythe Bythe the Dozen Unapologetic Schmaltz J J There areno are e no real surprises es in this che cheesy slapstick the film of the i same name Mooching off the tail end of the holiday season Cheaper by the Dozen pits Steve Martin father of a family of twelve kids against a few terror filled days without mom coupled with a recent move to the die big city Perfect parents Tom Martin an and Katie Baker and their twelve children live in their country home Tom is the football coach of the local little junior college college college col col- col- col lege Katie is a happy housewife who is writing her biography on the side The children all behave and love each other and fit in at school Then Tom gets the offer of his dreams to coach his old lA college team in the city Despite the kids kid's objections the me family packs up and moves to a house in ina a snooty suburbia neighbor neighbor- hood At the time of the move Katie finds out her book is to be published and she is needed in New York for the promotion As soon as she leaves everything falls apart Tom Tomis is strained between his new job and the family having a ahard ahard ahard hard time adjusting in their new environment You can probably figure out the rest of the story from there Its It's not a great accomplishment accomplish accomplish- ment but its it's not intended to be There are a few others lending star power to this feature the most recognizable able and regrettable one is the bubble gum teen pre-teen idol Hilary Duff As one of Toms Tom's daughters daugh daugh- she plays an ultra cal teenage girl obsessed with personal beauty fashion fashion fashion fash fash- ion and popularity Despite the fact that every time she opens her mouth I get that horrid fingernails fingernails- the down sensation sensation sensation sen sen- her star power Jower in the film industry is growing She has at least 3 films dIms films slated slated slated slat slat- ed for 2004 happy new year That was dripping with sarcasm Other notables are Coyote Ugly beauty Piper as Tom and Katies Katie's oldest daughter Nora and her self obsessed toy boy-toy Hank played way too convincingly convincingly convincingly con con- by Ashton Kutcher There are a few laughs generated by the somewhat Home Alone style stunts the kids pull off Its It's a decent one for the kids and those who like Jik on their froste topped frosted topped marshmallow filled cereal 5 10 |