hollywoodhernandez

After signing a release agreeing not to divulge the "surprise ending" of The Village I settled down with a good female friend and was prepared for some scary fun. It never happened. The only thing scary in this movie was the music that kept increasing in intensity, teasing that a something scary was about to happen, but nothing ever materialized. My friend and me left the theater, along with the rest of the promo crowd, shaking our heads and wondering, "what did we just see?" Surprise ending or not...the only thing you'll be at the end of this film is disappointed!

After watching an advance screening of The Manchurian Candidate I am now thoroughly convinced that President Bush is under some kind of mind control device! But seriously, the remake of Sinatra's '62 classic gives you a lot of food for thought. Mind control devices, Gulf War Syndrome, and a political party plotting to put a candidate into office by using unethical means...oh, it couldn't happen? Does anybody remember how Bush stole the 2000 election with the help of his brother and his party (sorry, my political affiliation is showing). The Manchurian Candidate is one of the most intelligent films of the year. Denzel does a great job as the Gulf War Vet trying to remember what really happened during the war and Meryl Streep is a wonderful as a "Mommy Dearest" version of Hillary Clinton. Which ever political party you support, you'll find The Manchurian Candidate very entertaining and if it makes conservative Republicans feel better, you could really make the case that the corrupt party in this movie more closely resembles the Democrats than the Republicans. Raymond Shaw, the candidate Liev Schreiber plays in the movie, is a war vet who reminds you more of John Kerry than George W. The remake has made me curious about the original version. I think a lot of people, including me, will be heading to Blockbuster to look for the '62 version of the film.

I saw an advanced screening of Breakin' All the Rules and I have to say it was a refreshing change of pace from recent black comedies (like the mindless Johnson Family Vacation). This was a very smart comedy with interesting plot turns and twist and, for me, the most important element was believable characters. However, with Morris Chestnut and Gabrielle Union in the cast (do they have to be in every romantic, black comedy?) the movie reminded me a bit of their previous movie, Two Can Play That Game.

Jamie Foxx does a great job of carrying the movie and Peter McNichole is great as the powerful company executive that needs Jamie's help because he afraid to break up with his gold digging girlfriend. And although I've mentioned this as a "black comedy" it really is colorless. Bottom line, the movie was entertaining and well worth seeing!