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| All reviews written by Catherine Krummey unless otherwise stated. |
| MovieCat Reviews |
| * = don't ever see it ** = wait until it comes on network tv *** = wait for it on HBO, SHO, etc. **** = wait for pay-per-view ***** = wait until you can rent it ****** = what are you doing here? go to the theater NOW!!! |
| Once Upon a Time in Mexico-****** |
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| By Catherine Krummey To put it loosely, this movie is one of the greatest action movies. Ever. Mexico is the third installment in editor-camera operator-writer-producer-director Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi series. Antonio Banderas stars as El Mariachi, or "El" for short, who is after a corrupt Mexican general who murdered his wife (Salma Hayek). Hayek had no only one line of dialogue, which was the most disappointing aspect of the movie. Johnny Depp costars as CIA agent Sands, who offers a little offbeat humor to the flick, and is the cause of all that goes down in the movie. Sands tracks down El to kill the corrupt general after the general kills el presidente. He also is the instigator between crime lord Barillo (Willem Dafoe) and a FBI agent. Cheech Marin reprises his Desperado (the second film in the trilogy) role to help Sands get info on El. Other supporting players include Mickey Rourke, as Barillo's right-hand man, Eva Mendes, as Depp's love interest and co-conspirator, and Enrique Iglesias, as one of the two alongside El to form Los Tres Mariachis. Depp is brilliant in his humor and the little mannerisms he brings to Agent Sands. Banderas portrays the same "guitar"-toting El he does in the first two movies. The supporters all are perfect for their roles and the movie had a good amount of twists and turns, which helps Mexico to be a truly brilliant movie. |
| Banderas, Mendes, Depp and Hayek keep the Mariachi train running. |
| School of Rock-****** |
| By Catherine Krummey Once upon a time, there was a rocker. A rocker preparing to leap off the stage into the arms of his fans. The rocker takes off and goes SPLAT onto the floor. Thus is the premise for School of Rock, the story of rocker Dewey Finn (Jack Black), who makes it big as a teacher. Black is known for his off-the-wall antics in supporting roles in movies such as High Fidelity, Saving Silverman and Orange County. Joan Cusack, who also co-starred in Fidelity, co-stars with Black as principal of the elementary school Dewey substitute teaches at. Dewey's roomate and the roomate's girlfriend are played by Rock writer Mike White and Sarah Silverman. Then there's the most important of the supporting players, the kids. Rock has every kind of kid, from a gay one to a control freak one. School of Rock is a hilarious movie. It is without a doubt the funniest movie of the year, and it's funny in the same way Shrek was, appealing to both children and adults. Rock marks the rising of Black's star, and this movie would not be the same without him. He catapults his way into the league of Adam Sandler, Mike Myers and Jim Carrey in this movie. |
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| Rock star Black's career is in a league with Carrey, Myers and Sandler. |
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| Under the Tuscan Sun-*** |
| By Catherine Krummey This movie is sentimental and over-bearing. And that's just to star Diane Lane. Lane is back in her first film since her Oscar-nominated turn in 2002's Unfaithful, a film that leaves something to be desired. Lane does not yet have the screen power to have a movie of her own. In Unfaithful, she had Richard Gere, and in The Perfect Storm, she had Mark Wahlberg and George Clooney, just to name a few. While she is a terrifically emotional and versatile leading actress, she should not be out there on her own. She just cannot carry a movie by herself, and it's obvious the movie-goers feel the same, as her opening box-office also left something to be desired. |
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| Lane lacks the power to carry her own movie. |
| Kill Bill-**** |
| By Catherine Krummey People either love or hate this movie, and I'm choosing to love it. Despite the grotesque violence that does take away from the movie from time to time, acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino's fourth film, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, is a movie worth seeing - but it is not for the faint of heart, as any scene involving blood is, well, a little over the top. Despite some over-bearing violence, Tarantino's script was fabulous and kept the movie from being too dramatic or violent. Uma Thurman, who Tarantino calls "my actress," as they previously worked together in the critically acclaimed Pulp Fiction, stars as "The Bride," an assassin who wakes up after being in a coma for four years, following the sabotage of her wedding and the murder of her entire wedding party. When she wakes up, she has one desire: to get revenge. |
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| Tarantino directs "his" actress on this bill. |