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This Weeks Movie Releases • 6/18/04


DudeAsInCool

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Two movies are out this week, Spielberg's the Terminal, and the remake of Around the World in 80 Days. Love to hear the member's reviews. Here are some excerpts from the Onion's movie reviews:

The Terminal

Director: Steven Spielberg (PG-13, 133 min.)

Cast: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci

Set almost entirely in the international wing of JFK, gateway to the U.S. for thousands each day, the film takes place during the accidental residency of a tourist (Tom Hanks) who, while vacationing from a Russian satellite nation, stumbles into a seemingly inescapable mass of red tape when his homeland's government falls in a military coup. Left with an invalid passport, he has little recourse but to stay put, however awkwardly he fits into his inhospitable new surroundings. The flipside of Leonardo DiCaprio's character in Catch Me If You Can, he's out of place in the one place he can never leave.

Scripted by Andrew Niccol, Sacha Gervasi, and Jeff Nathanson, The Terminal draws its inspiration from the true story of Iranian dissident Merhan Nasseri, who has been living in Paris' Charles De Gaulle airport since 1988 thanks, at least at first, to a series of political snafus. The film has much softer politics in mind, as it uses JFK as a stage to play out the American immigrant experience in miniature. —Keith Phipps

***

Around The World In 80 Days

Director: Frank Coraci (PG, 125 min.)

Cast: Steve Coogan, Jackie Chan, Jim Broadbent

The Day After Tomorrows and Van Helsings of the world have set the bar so low for mega-budgeted summer extravaganzas that sometimes a blockbuster can set itself apart simply by not sucking. That's the case with Around The World In 80 Days, a ramshackle but agreeable time-waster that reconfigures Jules Verne's 19th-century adventure novel as a Jackie Chan vehicle, with surprisingly enjoyable results.

Around The World finds a winning formula: Chan provides the action, various exotic lands serve up props begging to be employed in Chan-style combat, Coogan brings the dry wit, a minor constellation of surprise guest stars provides razzle-dazzle, and a steady stream of mild chuckles helps the whole fandango fly by painlessly. —Nathan Rabin

(Full review is here: http://www.theonionavclub.com/cinema/index.php?issue=4024)

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The Chicago Tribure I read it just panned it. So I put up this review instead from Zip2it.com - (its too easy to dismiss stuff these days):

By Hanh Nguyen, Zap2it.com

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (Starring Ben Stiller)

"Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" is a pleasant surprise for a hackneyed plot: A ragtag group of friends overcome financial, physical and social difficulties to beat the shiny, privileged bullies at their own game. The twist here is that the game is dodgeball, an underdog sport in itself, which frees the film from any obligations of having a redeeming value other than pure entertainment.

Writer and director Rawson Thurber gleefully takes advantage of this latitude to trot out outrageous, silly dialogue and scenes that showcase the comedic talents of an ensemble cast that's game for anything -- even getting hit by flying wrenches -- for a laugh. The script's humor is more hit than miss, although it does, on occasion, stoop to the requisite fat jokes and other C-grade standbys. The film's strength, however, is the utter absurdity of lines such as "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball." You just can't argue with spotty logic like that.

Thurber makes the silliness even more digestible with numerous tongue-in-cheek references to conventions found in underdog sports films. In essence, he acknowledges the ridiculous plot devices necessary to advance the story, even including a cash-filled treasure chest labeled "Deus Ex Machina."

Leading man Vince Vaughn as Average Joe's gym owner and all-around layabout is passable. His dry delivery isn't quite up to par with Bill Murray's sardonic turns in "Stripes" or "Ghostbusters," which is what is intended, but works as a foil for Ben Stiller's over-the-top egoist White Goodman. Playing the owner of the rival health club chain Globo Gym, Stiller is at his best: blustering and intense. Although this is Stiller's fourth film this year -- remember "Envy"? -- "Dodgeball" makes up for the other three and will win back fans jaded by his overexposure. In contrast to his character, Stiller is ego-less, willing to appear foolish in a bouffant mullet, handlebar mustache and revealing spandex outfits.

The rest of the underdog dodgeball team is a joyful bunch of losers, if somewhat typical. Stephen Root's pathetic Gordon is a weaker version of "Office Space's" myopic, muttering Milton, while Justin Long and Joel David Moore are interchangeable as pale and meek young men. Fans of Joss Whedon's "Firefly" will be happy to see Alan Tudyk strutting around in kerchief and jewelry as the team's resident pirate dreaming of the day he finds his "tray-zhur."

"Dodgeball" might require a regression to frat-boy mentality to be fully appreciated, but the sheer volume of jokes bouncing around ensures that, on some level, this childhood pastime doesn't have to be a pain.

http://www.zap2it.com/movies/movies/review...--21908,00.html

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