Mike Vilensky's Mini-Movie Reviews

Underdog
Based on the allegedly popular television series and comic book, this movie tells the tale of a pooch with superpowers who speaks in rhyme and falls in love. He also has to save his owner and a town from a mad scientist. This sounds like a terrible idea for a comic book series, a television show and a movie, because it is.

El Cantante
Jennifer Lopez and her husband Mark Anthony made this movie together, which is a big risk considering Lopez's collaboration with ex-boyfriend Ben Affleck not only marred their careers but ruined their relationship forever. Fortunately, this biopic about Latin salsa sensation Hector Lavoe, with all of its 80s iconography, is not only stylish but also sincere.

The Bourne Ultimatum
The fact that I thought the Bourne Identity was weak and the Bourne Supremacy was a dialogue-free and uninterestingly shot car chase with a plot so complex that you don't realize it's nonexistance did not stop millions of moviegoers from flocking to both films. So why would my bad review of the Bourne Ultimatum be any different?

Hot Rod
This semi-slapstick comedy about a scrawny stuntman is Andy Samberg's vehicle from SNL to superstardom. Unfortunately, it's also one of those SNL skits that I never laughed at, so see it at your own risk.

Becoming Jane
Breakout star Anne Hathaway stars as a young Jane Austen who falls in love with an Irishman. The film posits the plausible theory that this passionate and dramatic relationship would become the inspiration for Austen's now classic novels. While the historical accuracy is shaky, this is a promising litflick.

Bratz The Movie
The demise of Western Civilization, or the stylish future? You decide.

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