Bovie Movie

Jim Carrey’s 1994 hit The Mask gets a poor sequel courtesy of Cats & Dogs director Lawrence Guterman. This time, the magical Nordic relic falls into the hands of an aspiring cartoonist (Jamie Kennedy), who fathers a son while wearing it. The baby is born with all the eye-popping powers of Carrey’s original character, turning his dad’s world upside down with nonstop cartoon-type mayhem. Although the mixture of live action, special effects and animation demonstrates a certain crude imagination, the sequel can’t touch its predecessor’s dynamic visual style. In fact, every aspect of this risible comedy is substandard in comparison, from the casting to the frequent movie references. Even when sporting the Mask, Kennedy lacks charisma, while his singing and dancing infant looks downright creepy. Throw in an ineffectual villain (Alan Cumming, as the Norse god Loki) and the obligatory fart gag and you’ve got a barrel-scraping cash-in that feels more like a TV show than a Hollywood picture. 

Prepare to marvel at more death-defying feats as X-Men director Bryan Singer resurrects the Man of Steel for a new millennium. Newcomer Brandon Routh dons the cape as Superman and he carries two-and-a-half hours of preposterous plot with sheer charm, growing in confidence even as the plausibility of Clark Kent’s dual existence is stretched to breaking point. Routh’s eerie resemblance to Christopher Reeve is a bonus that also reflects Singer’s back-to-basics approach: the film is tinged with nostalgia for the original franchise, from the cheeky humour to John Williams’s trumpeting score. But Singer also takes advantage of new technology to create even-more breathtaking special effects, as when Superman balances an aeroplane on its nose. Kevin Spacey is adeptly sinister as Lex Luthor, although Parker Posey steals his thunder as sassy gangster’s moll Kitty Kowalski. And, while Kate Bosworth might be a little too timid for Lois Lane, her thorny relationship with the long-absent Superman provides a nice counterpoint to all the world-saving exploits. 

The National Lampoon franchise continued its nosedive into mediocrity with this lacklustre teen comedy. A spiritless melting pot of fratboy high jinks and syrupy sentimentality, director Walt Becker’s first film doesn’t seem to know whether it’s a cheeky romance or a moralistic farce. Feebly mimicking American Pie and its ilk (even casting Tara Reid as love interest Gwen), this tale of world-shy student Van Wilder, who will do anything to maintain his indefinite college stay, is just too bland to leave more than a fleeting impression. US TV star Ryan Reynolds lacks the personality and colour to play Wilder, while the humour is so weak that almost every gag falls flat. Even the attempts at “fashionable” gross-out tactics are distinctly third-rate, with the usual scatological and sexual themes hardly raising an eyebrow. This is a pitiful failure. 

This ambitious adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel spans two generations and two continents, and continues Monsoon Wedding director Mira Nair’s fascination with culture clash. Irrfan Khan plays a young Bengali man who returns from Calcutta to his adopted New York with his new wife (Tabu) during the 1970s. The namesake of the title is their son, Gogol, who is named after the Russian author by his father. Stark juxtapositions between colourful India-set scenes and the grey realities of living as an immigrant in the First World let Nair create an epic tale of dual identities and family history, as the adult Gogol (Kal Penn) struggles to find his place in the world. Yet in spanning so many decades, The Namesake asks a lot of its actors and Penn (better known from stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies) rarely convinces, leaving an emotional void at the centre of this otherwise handsome and poignant tale. 

René Clair’s first French film for over a decade is a bittersweet, regretful look at the silent cinema in which he began his career. Maurice Chevalier plays an ageing ex-actor, now a director, who teaches his assistant (François Périer) the arts of seduction, unaware that they are both in love with the same young girl (an insipid Marcelle Derrien). The re-creation of the era is rather more convincing than the plot, but the 59-year-old Chevalier shows a rare depth. 

There’s very little that’s epic about this senseless parody, but then there’s very little that’s funny about it either. Following on from the Scary Movie franchise and Date Movie, writers-turned-directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer continue their hit-and-miss (but mostly miss) approach to comedy, spoofing such recent films as Pirates of the Caribbean, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Da Vinci Code. It’s little more than an excuse for actors Kal Penn and Jayma Mays to mug their way through skits involving bestiality, breasts and Willy Wonka break dancing. It’s mind-numbingly, tediously unamusing and is so devoid of imagination it even parodies self-mocking films like Snakes on a Plane. Scarily, it topped the box office on its cinema release in the US. 

Harish Kumar Patel lives with his mom and dad in Bhimnagar, Gujerat, India, where he is studying Electronic Engineering. His dad, Satish Kumar, wants him to re-locate to the U.S., live with the Bakshis, study, and marry the girl of his choice. Harish must first go through the blessings of an Astrologer, Bholey Shankar Maharaj, who blesses him, informs him that he will meet a girl whose name will start with “P”, who he will marry. An overly excited Harish travels all the way to Houston, Texas, U.S. where he is met fondly by the Bakshi family, consisting of Mrs. and Dr. Bakshi, Mohan, and Deepu. In keeping with the fear and paranoia after the September 11 attacks, Mrs. Bakshi has made it a practice to place American flags in the front pockets of her sons, and she does it now for Harish as well. Mohan is around Harish’s age and shows him around the campus. Harish meets with a beautiful Malyalee girl, Priya, and falls in love with her. But things do not go as planned when Harish finds out that Mohan actually is a snob, who hates F.O.Bs. (Fresh off the Boat) Indians like him; the girl Priya is actually in love with another young man by the name of Raju, and her name’s not Priya - it’s Supriya; and due to Harish’s accent, oily hair, & c. he is not being invited to the party where everybody else is invited. Looks like Harish is headed for more pitfalls than he had bargained for, and it also looks like the Maharaj may have been wrong after all.

Five friends’ road trip to Las Vegas for a bachelor party.