Bovie Movie

A plodding and sententious account of the postwar Sicilian rebel Salvatore Giuliano, whose mania for independence from Italy inspired him to a career of murder and pillage. Christopher Lambert stars as a remarkably uncharismatic Giuliano, who nonetheless charms his way into the hearts of the Sicilian people and even the Mafia (in the person of the sinister Joss Ackland). Director Michael Cimino, who will for ever be remembered for the magnificent failure of Heaven’s Gate, lets the action swing between huge messy gunfights and tedious moralising from Lambert. It’s not a total disaster: there’s a good supporting cast (including Terence Stamp and John Turturro) and moments of real excitement, hinting at what The Sicilian might have been. But botched editing (Cimino later sued the production company) and leaden acting win the day. 

One of suspense stylist Brian De Palma’s best over-the-top doodles on the B-movie film noir form, this cool, erotically charged déjà-vu Euro-thriller is a sumptuously elegant treat from its wordless lesbian encounter beginning at the Cannes film festival to its cleverly twisted end. Can reclusive French Ambassador’s wife Rebecca Romijn-Stamos hide her former identity as a jewel thief when secret snaps taken by paparazzi photographer Antonio Banderas alert her former partners in crime into reclaiming stolen diamonds? Complete with a mind-bending last-act shift in reality that many will find a complete cheat, De Palma’s audaciously seductive deception is a bold and imaginative exercise in film-making craft and devious sleight-of-hand audience manipulation, laced with his usual tongue-in-chic trademarks. And Romijn-Stamos makes a perfect, icy, duplicitous blonde heroine in the best Hitchcock tradition. 

Scott McGinnis and Jeff Osterhage try valiantly to drum up some knockabout bonhomie here as Wild West outlaws enrolled in a British fighter squadron during the First World War, but everything from the stereotypical characters to the risible banter is against them. Bearing in mind the technical expertise of director Zoran Perisic (who worked on the special effects for Superman) and experienced cinematographer David Watkin, this adventure should at least have looked good. However, the aerial action is so inept that it only emphasises the shortcomings of a buddy movie that compounds its crimes by wasting such a promising premise. 

Screenwriter Don Mancini, who created killer doll Chucky, makes his directorial feature debut with this, the fifth entry in the franchise. Here, Chucky (voiced, as always, by Brad Dourif) and his bride, Tiffany (breathlessly vocalised by Jennifer Tilly), are brought back to life by their gender-bending offspring Glen/Glenda (Lord of the Rings’s Billy Boyd) on the set of the Hollywood film chronicling their murderous exploits. The terrible toys then attempt to transfer their souls into the movie’s director (real-life rapper Redman) and Tiffany’s favourite star, Jennifer Tilly (playing herself), who generates the film’s biggest laughs with a go-for-broke send-up of her own ditzy persona. Genuinely sick and fitfully funny, this technically terrific horror spoof plays exclusively to the gore gallery with some insane parodies and in-jokes, and also revs up the bad taste quotient with a cameo appearance from Pink Flamingos director John Waters, who pops up as a sleazy paparazzo. 

Kim Basinger stars as a reformed thief who is forced back into crime in director Russell Mulcahy’s fair comic thriller. To make matters worse, Basinger is also saddled with a klutzy partner played by Val Kilmer. Mulcahy’s cinematic eye for detail is on vivid show once more — the Highlander director really is one of cinema’s most underrated visual stylists — but the handsome stars have little to do except pose in front of his eye-popping electric backdrops. And, frankly, there doesn’t seem to be much chemistry between the two leads, either. As for villain Terence Stamp’s daft southern accent, what was everyone thinking? 

Martin Lawrence embraces his feminine side once again in this uninspired sequel to the smash-hit comedy. When a deadly computer “worm” threatens national security, FBI agent Malcolm Turner (Lawrence) disguises himself as chubby grandma Hattie Mae Pierce and poses as a nanny to infiltrate the home of suspect Tom Fuller (Mark Moses). Unsurprisingly, chaos ensues as Big Momma tries to juggle law enforcement and “her”own unconventional take on domestic perfection. With its tired plot and weak dialogue, the film is forced to focus on cheap, visual gags, getting extensive comic mileage from the idiosyncrasies of Momma and her three dysfunctional charges. Director John Whitesell (Malibu’s Most Wanted) works hard to keep the humour flowing, but despite occasional moments of crude hilarity, there’s just not enough substance here to justify this lazy cash-in. 

Star Wars meets Ben-Hur in director Danny Cannon’s imaginatively over-the-top science-fiction rendering of the celebrated 2000 AD comic-strip hero. In the future, the world has formed into densely populated Mega Cities with the Cursed Earth being the uninhabitable region lying between them. Law and order is maintained by a fleet of elite officers who are judge, jury and executioner rolled into one, and Judge Dredd (Sylvester Stallone) is the most prolific of the brigade. This is how fans like their Stallone served up best — without subtlety, monosyllabic, biceps bulging and in constant action. Judge Dredd is easily the actor’s best role since Rocky, and Cannon blends him into the futuristic frenzy with satisfying skill. Diane Lane as Judge Hershey, the romantic judge with a conscience, has some excellent moments, and Armand Assante puts in a fine performance of manic evil as a villain with a secret. Cannon continually accents the spark and humour of the comic, while ensuring the visuals are always spectacular and epic. Frequently stunning and always exciting, Judge Dredd is an underrated fantasy gem, full of flash, plenty of bang and packing a considerable wallop. 

As with The Black Dahlia, this starry thriller is based on a sensational crime case that shocked the US in the 1940s. But, sadly, like Brian De Palma’s botched James Ellroy adaptation, this is all about surface authenticity — cool suits, hip jazz soundtrack, hard-boiled narration — rather than true noir. John Travolta plays a homicide detective still grieving over the suicide of his wife, who, together with loyal partner James Gandolfini, is on the trail of a pair of murderous con artists. Jared Leto and Salma Hayek play the predatory pair who contact their victims via the lonely hearts columns. Writer/director Todd Robinson nails the period details perfectly, but the characters themselves never really ring true — all the more surprising given that the detective Travolta plays, Elmer C Robinson, was the film-maker’s grandfather. 

The directorial debut of top screenwriter Scott Frank (Get Shorty, Out of Sight) is an offbeat thriller that confirms the rising-star status of Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Mysterious Skin, Brick). The former child star impresses again here as Chris, a brain-damaged teenager whose lack of self-esteem sees him easily seduced into facilitating a heist at the small-town bank where he works as a cleaner. The first half of the film, which concentrates on Chris’s relationship with his irascible blind flatmate Lewis (the always watchable Jeff Daniels), is much the better. In fact, the picture might have done well to maintain its focus on this storyline. The second half, in which the robbery plans of a former school friend (Matthew Goode) take centre stage, becomes rather too Rambo-like to be completely credible. Still, it’s a decent first-time effort from Frank and well worth a look. 

… and another largely pointless reprise from the Hollywood mill. Although original stars Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte are reunited with director Walter Hill, all three seem to be going through the motions here. Nolte is the same rough and ready cop who is forced to team up again with con Murphy, this time in a bid to salvage his own career. Ironically, that seems to be the reason for this sequel in real life for Murphy; whereas in the original he was electrifying, here he verges on self-parody. The action is spectacular enough, though, and Hill makes sure he uses up his much bigger budget with increasingly ludicrous set pieces.