This week's premiere (s)
photo: Tatrafilm
Monster (Monštrum) - Drama by Patty Jenkins. Former South African model turned former middling actress Charlize Theron was the talk of Hollywood last year due to this film, in which she plays Aileen Wuornos, the most recent woman to have been executed in the US. Theron won an Oscar for her role as the prostitute turned serial killer, and it's no surprise: Pretty women who play ugly, damaged characters do very well with the Academy - particularly when lesbianism is involved. Having said that, the performance is quite impressive, especially if you've seen any footage of the actual Wuornos. Though it sometimes feels like the Oscar buzz started hovering around the film from its inception, Monster escapes many of the problems that could so easily have plagued it. All in all, worth seeing - if you're in the mood for depressing brutality.
photo: Itafilm
The Forgotten - Psychological thriller by Joseph Ruben. The always great Julianne Moore plays Telly, a woman grief-stricken by the loss of her child. In an attempt to move on with her life, Telly begins seeing a psychiatrist (Gary Sinise) who suggests something she doesn't particularly want to hear: that her child was a figment of her imagination. Soon after she meets Ash (Dominic West), a man with suspiciously similar muddy, but disregarded, memories. While working together to prove their memories, they begin to think that a conspiracy may be afoot.
photo: SPI International
Jersey Girl (Otcom na plný úväzok)- Comedy drama by Kevin Smith. Remember those carefree days when Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were an item? Yes, yes - it is tragic that they broke up before they could produce adorable little love children with big chins and bigger buttocks. But, fear not BenLo nostalgists, they left the next best thing: a cinematic legacy. First came the universally panned Gigli, and now comes the slightly less maligned Jersey Girl, which also happens to be the sixth feature by Clerks writer/director Kevin Smith. Affleck plays Ollie, a successful and happy Manhattan music publicist whose life is shattered when his wife (played, fittingly, by J.Lo) dies during childbirth. He retreats to his father's home in New Jersey, where he focuses completely on his daughter and lives in obscurity until a new woman (Liv Tyler) enters his life. When he is offered a new job in New York, he must choose between career prospects and the new life that he has given his seven-year-old daughter, his little Jersey Girl.
photo: Continental Film
Cellular (Mobil) - Thriller by David R Ellis. It was only a matter of time before a movie came out that revolved around a mobile phone. After being kidnapped, threatened, and tied up, Jessica (Kim Basinger) manages to make a phone call to plea for her life. She reaches the cell phone of Ryan (Chris Evans), who fortunately wants to help. Because Jessica doesn't know her location, Ryan must rely solely on his cell phone to discover her whereabouts. He must race against the clock and his phone's weakening batteries.
Other movies playing
photo: Tatrafilm
Collateral - Thriller by Michael Mann. Tom Cruise gets that which usually evades him: a role that actually plays to his talents. He is perfect as Vincent, a hired killer out to do a few jobs one neon-saturated night in Los Angeles. But the real revelation is Jamie Foxx, who is fantastic as Max, a cabdriver whose life is forever changed when Vincent steps into his taxi.
Prepared by Jonathan Knapp
