Movies : March 2003

21 March 2003

View From the Top

Apparently long delayed, the story of Donna Jensen (Gwyneth Paltrow) from moping daughter of former Vegas dancer trailer trash to flight attendant on the finest first-class, international flights hits some turbulence in a mother’s existence forgotten, an ostentatious performance from Mike Myers as an instructor grounded with crossed eyes, and a romantic arc with zero credibility. Still, Donna has a classy comeback after having her face smashed into a baguette by a thieving, back-stabbing ex-colleague (Christina Applegate), she’s got an admirable attitude towards work and learns quickly (even if her training in French seems to happen conveniently off-screen), and Candice Bergen reprises her role from Miss Congeniality (minus the insanity, of course).

88 minutes.

20 March 2003

Agent Cody Banks

This movie did well at the box office its first weekend. Not that I would admit to stopping my channel-surfing at the Disney Channel when The Lizzie McGuire Show is on. Nope, not going to admit to that. (The movie starring Hilary Duff based on the television series opens May 2.) But it might have something to do with why I’m here. I imagine that agent handler Ronica Miles (Angie Harmon) shops at Frederick’s of Hollywood for the intense training sessions with her teenaged charge. Yow! Agent Banks (Frankie Muniz) clearly has not absorbed the lessons of The Tao of Steve. Yeah, it’s completely stupid, but Duff revives the meaning of pneumatic and Madonna and Jason Alexander are safely behind the camera rather than in front of it.

102 minutes.

13 March 2003

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Confronted by the choice of action comedy (Shanghai Knights) and something more romantic, I went for the symmetrical blonde. I see that in reviewing Almost Famous I found no opportunity to mention Kate Hudson. How much longer will a movie about two white people meeting cute in Manhattan be plausible?

114 minutes.

11 March 2003

The Life of David Gale

I had a free ticket (received for participating in a touch-tone telephone survey) so I treated myself to this poorly reviewed, one-sided screed against the death penalty. But the skinnier Kate Winslet gets, and the fainter her accent, the less interesting she gets as a performer. I kept thinking, though, Madonna wishes she had had this much talent.

130 minutes.

05 March 2003

Lost in La Mancha

A documentary following Terry Gilliam and his doomed effort to film the story of Don Quixote. Maybe because I had recently watched Living in Oblivion (again) or the documentary that accompanied the Signature Collection laserdisc of 12 Monkeys (a somewhat more successful directorial effort by Gilliam) my reaction was less than vigorous.

95 minutes.

Entries subject to editing at any time. Last edited on: 12-Sep-2004