Drive-Thru Reviews

Constantine - P.U. It picked up in the second half, and Rachel Weisz does her darndest to make it worth watching, but the screenplay was awful and Keanu Reeves cements his reputation as one of the worst actors working today.

Unleashed - A good drama disguised as an action movie, with Jet Li as Danny, a young man kept as a trained dog by brutal mobster Bob Hoskins. Danny has been conditioned since a child to be essentially an attack dog. He wears a collar, the removal of which triggers his violence. Then Danny escapes and meets up with blind piano tuner Morgan Freeman and his 18-year-old stepdaughter and the real movie begins. There are fight scenes, yes and a good amount of violence at the beginning and the end, but this movie is so much more than that. Very well done.

Fever Pitch - Very enjoyable, well-written and well-acted. Jimmy Fallon is no heartthrob, but he's goofy enough to make him very likeable. I think this was probably my favorite Drew Barrymore role (besides ET). Not much else to say - I mean, it's a romantic comedy for pete's sake, they're pretty formulaic - except if you've ever been a fan of anything - a sports team, a rock band, a TV show - to the point of obsession (and you know who you are), this is the movie for you.

Being Julia - Wired on caffeine, I settled in to watch this at midnight on Saturday. I was not at my most attentive, but I did enjoy it. Annette Bening was indeed very good and deserved her Oscar nomination (although I prefer he when she's less giddy, and she had some very giddy moments in this film), and Jeremy Irons was a delight, as usual. Being less than informed, I thought it was a more serious film than it was. It's quite funny, actually.

And finally, from the world of TV:

Bleak House - the BBC's adaptation of Dickens' Bleak House began airing last night on Masterpiece Theater (and will continue over the next 5 Sundays) and stars Gillian Anderson, Charles Dance and Ian Richardson, among many, many others. So far: excellent. I was hooked after 30 minutes. Gillian Anderson is a revelation - she is almost unrecognizable, in terms of voice and manner. I can't wait until next week.