The Day After Tomorrow
PG-13
Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ian Holm, Emily
Rossum.
The Day After Tomorrow
PG-13
Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ian Holm, Emily Rossum.
Mother Nature fights back with twisters in L.A., snowstorms in New Delhi, and a new Ice Age in New York City in this disaster epic from director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day). Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ian Holm, and Emmy Rossum fight their own battle to be noticed amid all the fx.
Raising Helen
PG-13
Director: Garry Marshall
Starring: Kate Hudson, John Corbett, Joan Cusack, Felicity Huffman
Kate Hudson stars in this comedy-drama about a career woman suddenly saddled with a family when her sister dies, leaving her in charge of her three kids.
Troy
R
3 stars
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Starring: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom
Reimagined from The Iliad, Wolfgang Petersen’s epic is a spectacle in every sense, from the scope and quality of its production, to the heroic proportions of its beefcake stars. Gorgeous to look at and conscientous in pondering the hubris of warmaking while indulging in bone-crunching battles, it’s a visual and visceral extravaganza. True, it takes enormous liberties with Homer: some make dramatic sense, a few are clunky mistakes (the entire Trojan War seems to last about a week), but overall Petersen and writer David Benioff do an impressive job of honing a sprawling story into a propulsive and entertaining whole. Brad Pitt is surprisingly effective as Achilles, with his petulant pout and jaded rock star demeanor. But it’s Eric Bana who provides the film’s backbone as compassionate Trojan warrior Hector, the only one with the sense to realize the war is a tragic mistake. – Lisa Jensen
– reprinted with permission from The Good Times
Shrek
R
3 stars
Directors: Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon.
Starring: voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz
The gentle ogre is dragged by his new spouse, Fiona, to meet her royal mom and dad, stirring up trouble with a fairy godmother who’s furious with him for beating Prince Charming in the race for Fiona’s hand. At its best, this “Shrek” sequel draws up a brilliant new blueprint for all-ages animation, blending fairy-tale whimsy with edgy social satire. Too bad it ends with worn-out homilies far less imaginative than the story as a whole.
