Archive of Movie and TV reviews by Year > 2003

28 Days Later: Frank's Take
01/08/2004. Unconventional filmmaker Danny Boyle has the inherent knack for stomach-turning entertainment that's outright disturbing yet oddly poetic and polished in its gruesome suspended state of mind.

The Hulk: Frank's Take
01/08/2004. In revered filmmaker Ang Lee’s darkly jolting action-adventure The Hulk, the perversely spry comic-book film adaptation continues on as a booming genre flick.

28 Days Later: Mark's Take
01/08/2004. A modestly budgeted science fiction film has society being destroyed by a virus that turns people into violent killers. While some of the ideas and some of the story seem borrowed from The Day Of The Triffids, the film itself seems freshly nightmarish.

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (Frank's Take)
01/08/2004. The concept of throwaway entertainment comes in all forms, shapes and sizes. And as everybody and their grandmother already knows, an exceedingly high dosage of boisterous brain-dead eye candy is what usually satisfies the majority of giddy moviegoers during the summertime blues.

The Hulk: Mark's Take
01/08/2004. Ambitious but ultimately dissatisfying film version of the Marvel comic. A man periodically turns into a not-so-jolly green giant. Ang Lee does the adaptation with ill-calculated sensibility and not much sense.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (Mark's Take)
01/08/2004. This is almost certainly the most exciting pirate film ever made. This fast-paced confection of an adventure has wit, a good story and imaginative visuals. Johnny Depp gives what is probably his best performance as a grubby yet stylish pirate captain.

Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machine (Mark's Take)
01/08/2004. The new Terminator film has fewer ideas to slow the action. The film is in more ways than one just a machine demolition derby. The future sends back what is supposed to be the most advanced Terminator robot of the series but budget constraints and poor writing make it less intelligent and less capable than its predecessor was.

The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Mark's Take
01/08/2004. An interesting premise from a graphic novel makes about half an hour of interesting story, mostly for the introduction of the characters. But the film needed a good plot to make it more than just a comic book origin story. This one seems to have a plot that was patched together as it went along. The film has a nice look, but the viewer is never intrigued by the villain or his machinations.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines: Frank's Take
01/08/2004. This juiced-up futuristic fable is delightfully on maximum overdrive and Arnold S. does what he does best ... deliver his brand of robotic ribaldry with the precision of an extremely well-oiled machine.

Scary Movie 3
01/12/2003. It’s that dubious time once again to indulge in another spoof-starved Scary Movie installment. Sadly, Frank discovers more of the same.

Elf
01/12/2003. Frank discovers that Ferrell doesn’t disappoint when Jon Favreau helms a kooky comedy that proves an instant delight to moviegoers in the offbeat Christmas-themed flick Elf.

Series 7: The Contenders
01/12/2003. Six people hunt and kill each other in a futuristic satire of today's 'reality TV'. But Mark reckons this movie comes off a little phony, exploiting the violence it appears to condemn.

Mini-Reviews from the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival
01/12/2003. Mark comes back from Canada laden with reviews of the SFF movies Bright Future, Code 46, Cypher, A Problem With Fear, Nothing, and Le Temps Du Loup.

The Matrix Revolutions
01/12/2003. Franks asks: 'is The Matrix Revolutions the ideal finishing touch to an awestruck sci-fi film trilogy that captivated moviegoers since its hedonistic conception back in 1999?' The succinct answer: Hardly.

X-Men 2
01/12/2003. pub: video: 20th Century Fox 24224S. 128 minutes. Price: £11.99 (UK) although shop around for the best deal. stars: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Alan Cumming, Brian Cox, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Aaron Stanford and Kelly Hu.

Captain Scarlet by Barry Gray
01/12/2003. pub: Carlton/Silva Screen FILMCD 607. Price: £ 9.99 (UK). 118minutes.

Equilibrium
01/12/2003. pub: Momentum MP240V. Price: varies around £11.99. 102 minutes). Stars: Christian Bale and Taye Diggs.

Cold Creek Manor
01/11/2003. The creepy contrivance that takes the form of director Mike Figgis's haunted house hokum Cold Creek Manor definitely wants to develop the goose bump response for its anticipating audience. Unfortunately, this stillborn by-the-numbers movie of terror is reductive and just plods along.

Kill Bill (Volume One)
01/11/2003. In the intentionally overwrought and gloriously violent-drenched B-movie actioner Kill Bill Tarantino pours it on thick as he chaotically pays homage to the movie genres that he reveres so deeply - creating a concoction of ubiquitous escapist Asian kung-fu flicks along with a dash of redemptive foreign spaghetti westerns.

Underworld
01/11/2003. If a vampire loves a werewolf, where can they set up housekeeping together? Nowhere. At least not in a world where werewolves and vampires have fought for a thousand years. Mark discovers a film of non-stop action and non-start intelligence, with lots of gunplay and the look of The Matrix.

Matrix: Reloaded: Geoff's Take
01/11/2003. pub: Warner Bros: S028648. Price: varies from £13.99 to £ 9.99 (UK) so shop around for the best deal). Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishbourne, Carrie-Ann Moss and Hugo Weaving.

Jeepers Creepers 2
01/10/2003. Since useless sequels that no one was particularly clamoring for have bombarded the summertime, why break with tradition now? Frank finds himself exposed to the latest in a long line of unnecessary follow-ups with the release of Victor Salva's flavorless scarefest Jeepers Creepers 2.

Spirited Away
01/10/2003. Frank finds Spirited Away an opulent and emotionally moving Japanese children's animated adventure that's sure to capture the intrigue and imagination of moviegoers of all ages.

Freddy vs. Jason
01/10/2003. In an interesting yet sordid way, the invention of wanting to put together a couple of the big screen's most prolific slayers and have them duke it out for warped fun definitely had its advantages. After all, who wouldn't want to see the morbid mayhem between Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger and Friday the 13's Jason Voorhees?

India's Hollywood Takeaway
01/09/2003. Billed (inaccurately) as the first Indian science fiction film, Koi ... Mil Gaya mixes elements of many films, especially E.T. and Charly. Mark finds a movie which, while groundbreaking as a Bollywood film, rarely transcends American cable fare.

Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
01/09/2003. The third installment of the immensely popular kiddie secret agent series. While the previous two editions were joyful enough to behold, our Frank reckons Game Over feels mightily labored and lean.

Solaris
01/09/2003. Video: 20th Century Fox 24283S. 94 minutes. Price: £10.99 (UK). Stars: George Clooney, Natascha McElhone, Jeremy Davies, Viola Davis and Ulrich Tukur.

Daredevil (Geoff's Take)
01/08/2003. pub: video: Regency 23789S. 99 minutes plus 30 minute Making Of. Price: £ 9.99 (UK) - prices really do vary so look around) stars: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Michael Clarke Duncan and Colin Farell.

Crime Traveller Volume 1 and 2
01/08/2003. pub: Video: Revelation PAE 61172. 200 minutes. Price: £19.99) stars: Michael French and Chloe Annette. Crime Traveller Volume 2 Video: Revelation PAE 61173. 200 minutes. Price: £19.99) stars: Michael French and Chloe Annette

Bruce Almighty (Frank's Take)
01/07/2003. In the Christian cut-up comedy Bruce Almighty, the conscientious Carrey is ready to embrace the wacky wonderment of his comedy roots once again by returning to the gawky goings-on that garnered him a cult following amongst the Ace Ventura crowd ages ago.

Finding Nemo (Frank's Take)
01/07/2003. In the movie Finding Nemo, our Frank finds a vibrant stroke of color and candidness in a simple little story based in Australia's Great Barrier Reef regarding the emotional connection between a worried father and his free-spirited son ... who both happen to be clownfish.

The Tomorrow People 3:2: Worlds Away
01/07/2003. DVD: Fremantle/ Revelation PAR 61141. 75 minutes. Price: £15.99) stars: Nicholas Young, Peter Vaughn Clarke, Elizabeth Adare, Dean Lawrence and Philip Gilbert.

The Animatrix
01/07/2003. Video: Warner Home Video: S037316. Price: £ 9.99 (UK). 110 minutes.

28 Days Later
01/07/2003. video: 20th Century Fox 24238S. 108 minutes plus 25 ‘Making Of’ special. Price: £ 8.99 although this varies so shop around for the best deal. stars: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns and Brendon Gleesons.

Donnie Darko
01/07/2003. video: Metrodome MTS8061. 108 minutes. Price: varies starting from £ 9.99 so shop around. stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Mary MacDonnell, Katherine Ross, Patrick Swayze and Noah Wyle.

The Matrix Reloaded: Mark's Take
01/06/2003. The war to release humanity from computer-generated non-reality continues in a pretentious and violent film that nonetheless has a lot of style.

X2: Frank's Thoughts
01/06/2003. Is everybody ready for a second helping of a particular mutant recipe known as the X-Men? Apparently so since the first taste of this action-packed delicacy mustered up an incredible $157 million at the U.S. box office.

X2: Mark's Thoughts
01/06/2003. This second film based on the X-Men comic book is a better story and a more atmospheric production. I am told it is a better adaptation of the comic book. One does not come to this sort of film for a deep statement of the human condition, but for a summer action film, it is not too bad.

The Matrix Reloaded: Frank's Take
01/06/2003. Frank finds the whimsical Wachowski tandem are at it again with the second installment of this frothy film series in the form of the visually vigorous and devoutly exhilarating The Matrix Reloaded.

The Tomorrow People 3: 1: Secret Weapon
01/06/2003. video: Revelation PAR 50133. 4 episodes. 100 minutes. Price: £10.99 (UK) but look around for the best deal.

Thunderbirds by Barry Gray
01/06/2003. CD: Carlton/Silva Screen Records FILMCD 606. Price: £10.99 (UK) - it can vary so shop around.

The Core: Mark's Thoughts
01/05/2003. A spectacular set of disasters and a heroic expedition to save mankind. Some real science and some nonsense mix. If the film does not quite click, it is probably because we have higher standards than we had for science fiction films in their heyday of the 1950s and 1960s.

The Core: Frank's Thoughts
01/05/2003. The Core definitely had the making for fascinating sci-fi stimulation. The attempt to turn the scientific discipline of electromagnetism into a robust and cheeky mainstream entertainment seemed quite challenging in concept.

Teknolust (Mark's Take)
01/05/2003. This SF film plays like a throwback to 1960s mod film making. It is every bit as colorful as intended, but not nearly as intelligent. It plays like a college skit but for the digital special effects that allow four Tilda Swintons on the screen at one time.

Sold Down the Riverworld
01/05/2003. Philip Jose Farmer's interesting premise of adventures set on a strange life-after-death-world is squandered on a fairly commonplace barbarian-planet story that appears to be the pilot for a most uninteresting and humdrum TV series.

Agent Cody Banks
01/05/2003. So the likable Malcolm in the Middle pint-sized TV star Frankie Muniz is at it again on the big screen? This time, the movie handlers are trying to package him as a junior James Bond for the kiddie crowd.

The Second Coming
01/04/2003. Rod looks at the controversial BBC TV drama that posits the question, what would the world do if the Son of God returned as a video store assistant in the North of England?

The Film Without Fear - or Shame.
01/04/2003. In Daredevil, Mark R Leeper finds an uninspired comic book superhero film that borrows everything, while inventing and contributing almost nothing. An uninspiring actor plays an uninspired idea for a superhero in a familiar setting … one that feels like it was stamped out at a factory.

The Tomorrow People 2:3: The Doomsday Men
01/04/2003. Video: Revelation/Freemantle Media PAR 50132. 100 minutes. Price: £10.99.) stars: Elizabeth Adare, Nicholas Young, Peter Vaughan-Clarke, Philip Gilbert and Chris Chittel.

Darkness Falls
01/03/2003. Darkness Falls is the latest slight and extraneous scarefest to hit the big screen in dull, meaningless fashion. Director Jonathan Liebesman helms a ridiculously familiar and arbitrary cheesy horror tale that doesn't effectively challenge the simple conventions of the fright genre.

Daredevil (Frank's Take)
01/03/2003. There were elements of grandeur thrust upon writer-director Mark Steven Johnson's dark superhero flick Daredevil. Despite the anticipation of the famed stoic blind crime-fighter's arrival on the big screen, Johnson's sensationalistic fantasy is, surprisingly, another arbitrary stunt-infested movie that has plenty of kinetic movement yet never really goes anywhere with its energizing format.

MIIB: Men In Black II
01/03/2003. Video: Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment/Amblin Entertainment. CVR 32718. 84 minutes. Price: varies upto £11.99 (UK) so shop around.

Dog Soldiers
01/03/2003. Video: Pathe P9052S. 101 minutes. Price: £ 9.99 (UK) although that can vary.) stars: Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd & Liam Cunningham.

The Tuxedo (Frank's Take)
01/02/2003. Frank reckons he would prefer a lobotomy to the punishing and mirthless antics of the new Jackie Chan lame chop-and-sock action-packed fantasy spy comedy The Tuxedo. That can't be good!

Star Wars II: Attack Of The Clones (Geoff's Take)
01/01/2003. Video: 20th Century Fox: 22545S. 136 minutes. Price: varies from about £12.99 so shop around. Stars: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiamid, Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Lee.

Spider-Man (Geoff's Take)
01/01/2003. Video: Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment CVR32161. 116 minutes plus 20 minute 'Making Of Spider-Man' film. Price: £12.99 (prices vary so shop around). stars: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst & Willem DaFoe.

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Frank's Take)
01/01/2003. Jackson proudly pounds his chest, and rightly so, as he ushers in the second instalment of Tolkien's universe in the masterful sequel The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Frank finds a film that is intriguingly breathtaking and sensually stimulating, The Two Towers is even more cinematically sound than the first outing.

Star Trek Nemesis: Frank's Take
01/01/2003. Frank asks will diehard and casual Trekkers come out the woodwork to check out the tenth Star Trek feature at the local box office? Does a Klingon need a facelift? Somehow there's a sense of urgency for trekkies to revel in the experience that is the legendary Star Trek franchise.

Solaris (Frank's Take)
01/01/2003. Franks plonks himself down for another movie, and discovers the Soderbergh-Clooney collaboration continues to roll along, as they serve up an ambitious but intermittently uneven science fiction love story in the visually stimulating space opera Solaris.