Dan's Papers - January 11, 2008 - Mike Vilensky's Mini-Movie Reviews

Get a head start on the Oscar season and a smart-sounding recommendation by seeing this dark, brilliant portrayal of an oil-hungry businessman in turn-of-the-century Texas by cult director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights). There will be awards in a country very much for old men of late, cinematically speaking.

This week's post-Christmas crop needs no cynicism from me, as the films speak for themselves. This one, starring Ice Cube, is a comedy about criminals who learn the error of their ways from the church parishioners they hold hostage. On second thought, this could become a fan favorite.

Well, this film features a farmer who must save his kidnapped wife and avenge the death of his son from the Krugs, a race of animal-warriors who are controlled by the evil Gallian. Er, what? Again - a film perhaps so bad that it's good, and one that probably has its niche.

The surprising success of the first National Treasure movie, a sort of diet Da Vinci Code, prompted this sequel in which superman Nicholas Cage must track down the missing pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary in order to uncover a worldwide conspiracy. History and action, oh my.

Hope you're not tired of parodies, because this mockumentary about a fictional rock star seems like a wildly unnecessary one. Don't expect Spinal Tap.

Hillary Swank discovers her late husband's love letters as she struggles to move on with her life. P.S - this is a terrible title for a film if you want any man to see it.

America's sweetheart Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks star together, and isn't that enough said? Hanks plays a goofy congressman dealing with Afghanistan during the Cold War in this Mike Nichols directed patriotic/comedic/dramatic/historical film that can't go wrong in theory, but I fear for the execution.

A myriad of burned bodies filled Washington Square Park for the filming of this futuristic science fiction action film, hindering the path to my classes freshman year at way too early an hour. The movie turns Manhattan into a wasteland of zombies who attack at night, as Robert Neville, played by Will Smith, is the only survivor of a biological attack. Will Smith would be the only survivor of a biological attack!

An ineffably cute indie film in which a high school hipster realizes that sarcasm, wit and good taste in music can't get one through a life-changing ordeal like teenage pregnancy. Michael Cera co-stars as the boy who knocked her up in this dark comedy, quickly becoming a teenage favorite.

A thirteen-year-old aspiring writer with a taste for malice irrevocably changes the course of some lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit. Based on the best-selling Ian McEwan novel and with the beautiful Keira Knightley in tow, I have nothing negative to say about this one (so the review will stay short).

A young, endearing girl in an actual parallel universe takes a trek through her world to save her best friend, whom she fears has been kidnapped by a powerful organization. Nicole Kidman stars in this stunning fantasy film, which has taken some heat for an alleged anti-Church undertone, vehemently denied by the filmmakers, but early reviews haven't looked upon it fondly.