Movie Reviews (sort of, and not "Passion"-related)
Category: Kitchen Sink...
Posted Sunday, February 29, 2004 at 07:56 PM [GMT-6]

Believe it or not, I've seen a couple of movies lately besides "The Passion of the Christ."

One of them was "In America," which we saw last week at the cozy Jean Cocteau Theater in Santa Fe. I suppose we were some of the last people in the country to see it, but, frankly, I don't remember the movie ever coming to Midland (perhaps they can make a sequel with that title), and if it played in Odessa, we missed it.

Given that it's received multiple Academy Award nominations, it's completely irrelevant for me to say that "In America" is a wonderful movie. But, it is (I've never run from the specter of irrelevancy). It's a lovely story, well-told and well-acted. It's also a timely reminder that a movie doesn't need $100M of special effects and an "A list" cast to capture the imagination of the viewing public.

But, for the life of me, I can't understand why Sarah Bolger, who played Christy in the movie, didn't get an Oscar nomination. She did get close to the top ten in the supporting category in the Village Voice 2003 Film Poll.

Moving from the sublime to the, well, not...we saw "Barbershop II: Back in Business" on Saturday. We enjoyed its precursor, "Barbershop" and while the sequel hasn't gotten great reviews, it seemed like a good excuse to share a tub of popcorn on a blustery February afternoon.

What we didn't expect was that we would get our own private showing, as in...we were the only two people in the theater. We've never experienced that before. And I gotta tell you, it was a little spooky, especially when the lights dimmed and the first trailer was for the upcoming "Dawn of the Dead" (tagline: When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth). Fortunately, the rest of the trailers and the movie were much lighter.

Barbershop II didn't live up to the standard set by the first movie. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. I was disappointed that Queen Latifah's presence added nothing to either the plot or the quality; I think it was basically a commercial for one of her upcoming movies. The plot was predictable and while all the actors in the original returned for the sequel, none of their characters were appreciably developed.

The recurring subplot dealing with flashbacks to the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s was a nice touch, however, and there were still enough funny moments to justify the movie as a popcorn-delivery vehicle. Ice Cube is still the best rapper-turned-actor in the business, and Cedric the Entertainer continues to be an equal opportunity offender, and funny as all get out. You could do worse.