This week’s premiere
photo: Tatrafilm
Man on Fire (Muž v ohni) - Action thriller by Tony Scott. In this remake of the 1987 French/Italian co-production starring Scott Glenn, Denzel Washington stars as Creasy, a jaded former intelligence agent hired to protect Lupita (Dakota Fanning), the young daughter of a wealthy family in Mexico City. Everything seems to be going well until gunmen abduct the girl and leave her bodyguard bleeding to death...or so they think. After recovering, Creasy goes on a bloody rampage, destroying anyone who stands in the way of his quest to retrieve Lupita. This revenge tale also stars B-movie stalwarts Christopher Walken and Mickey Rourke, as well as Australian actress Radha Mitchell and Italian actor Giancarlo Giannini.
Other movies playing
photo: SPI International
Jersey Girl (Otcom na plný úväzok) - Comedy by Kevin Smith. Smith, the writer/director of Clerks and Chasing Amy, can’t hide behind his immature stoner humour this time around, as he tries to make a grown-up movie about responsibility and love. His attempts at poignancy not only fall flat; they’re also painfully sappy. The major players - Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, George Carlin, and Jennifer Lopez - are completely unremarkable. Newcomer Raquel Castro, admittedly, is cute as Ben Affleck’s seven-year-old daughter, but she’s not enough to alleviate the boredom.
photo: Tatrafilm
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (Bridget Jonesová: S rozumom v koncoch) - Romantic comedy by Beeban Kidron. Renee Zellwegger returns as the eccentric title character in the anxiously awaited sequel to 2001’s Bridget Jones’ Diary. Picking up four weeks after the first part left off, Bridget finally seems prepared to settle down with her dashing boyfriend Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). But before she has time to let out a sigh of relief, complications arise. While she begins to fear the intentions of Mark’s beautiful young assistant, her former love Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) returns and further confuses the easily confused Bridget. Embarrassing events and frantic diary writing ensue. The first part was a surprisingly good time that avoided the many clichés that could so easily have marred it. Let’s hope Bridget has as much spunk this time around.
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 (Zlodeji pamäti) - 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.
Prepared by Jonathan Knapp
