CRITIC'S CHOICE
ROMANTIC COMEDY
Given Woody Allen's spotty track record of late, he should take a cue from the Saw series and start releasing his films on Halloween weekend. After all, he's now equally as likely to deliver audiences a trick (ugh, it's Anything Else!) as a treat (woo-hoo, we got Match Point!). Thankfully, he's armed with a luscious delicacy this year: Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
The romantic comedy follows two friends—uptight, engaged Vicky (British actress Hall) and free-spirited Cristina (Johansson)—spending the summer in Barcelona. They meet a suave artist (Bardem), who brazenly invites them both into his bed. The women are drawn to him (though not at the same time), as is his emotional time bomb of an ex (Cruz), whose arrival ignites the film.
As was the case with Match Point, Allen's intoxicating, decidedly non-New York surroundings prove a bracing tonic for the writer-director, looser and lusher than he's been in ages. He coaxes splendid performances out of everyone, especially Cruz, who always does her finest acting in her native tongue. Her venomous clashes with Bardem are incendiary—and absolutely riveting.
Rainn Wilson, Christina Applegate, Jeff Garlin | PG-13 |
COMEDY
If there had never been a School of Rock, right now I might be praising The Rocker as a refreshing lark. But instead, this well-meaning comedy feels more like a cover band: all imitation, no innovation. Wilson plays Fish, who is still bitter about being fired from his heavy metal band 20 years ago, just before they hit it big. Now crashing with his sister's family, he agrees to fill in when the drummer in his nephew's band is suspended two days before their big prom gig. As Fish re-embraces his rocker dreams and propels his new group to stardom, the film never lives up to its manic opening moments, featuring him in his '80s hair band glory. Wilson mostly channels Will Ferrell—he'll do anything for a laugh, which usually means showing as much skin as possible—while Applegate is underused as a bandmate's mom who warms to Fish.
PG
ACTION
Thought the Star Wars franchise couldn't sink lower than Jar Jar Binks? I give you "Stinky," the kidnapped baby son of Jabba the Hutt whom Anakin Skywalker must rescue in this computer-animated clunker (which takes place between Episodes II and III). The rest of this joyless movie smells even worse.
The rapper-actor, 39, coaches a teenage girl to football stardom in his family film The Longshots.
YOU ALSO HAVE A NEW ALBUM, RAW FOOTAGE. SO MUSIC OR MOVIES?
I love music the most. It's not a typical gangsta record; it's more of a social commentary.
DID YOU NEED HELP ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD?
There were coaches [on set], and they were learning some drills from me!
ARE YOU JUST AS TOUGH WITH YOUR FOUR KIDS AT HOME?
Only if you don't follow the rules. But I'm not overbearing.
ANY FAMILY RITUALS?
We talk. What else is more important?
The British comedian, 42, plays a loopy drama teacher in the comedy Hamlet 2, out Aug. 22, and a neophyte film director in Tropic Thunder.
HE LOATHES SILLY DIRECTORS
Some will say, "Do it louder, but quieter," or, "Shout, but don't sound like you're trying to be loud." Sometimes you do it exactly the same, and they say, "That was so much better."
BUT HE LOVES TROPIC DIRECTOR BEN STILLER
He makes you work hard, but when you deliver, he'll give you a chocolate biscuit, or he'll pat you on the head—which he did!
AND HE TALKS TO HIMSELF, BUT DON'T WORRY—HE'S JUST WORKING
[To write jokes], I'll mumble to myself, like a guy you see on the street. I'll be with a friend, and they'll say, "Stop doing that! It's weird!"
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
