Author: BO

It’s been nearly a decade since the release of the original “Shrek.” A monster hit with audiences eager to watch the fine art of Disney fairy tale storytelling receive a vigorous spanking, “Shrek” hit a nerve that carried over to an even more successful 2004 sequel, and a less admired 2007 installment. “Shrek Forever After” (a.k.a. “Shrek: The Final Chapter,” or whatever Dreamworks happens to be calling it this week) promises a last dance for the profitable ogre, and while it’s a modest affair that barely exerts itself, it’s a charming, humorous closer that reunites the viewer with old pals in an extremely agreeable fashion.

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“Holy Rollers” embarks on a tale of drug trafficking that’s been sold time and again. There’s the innocent soul wandering into chemical trouble, corrupting his innocence and endangering his family, while learning severe lessons on the fragility of family and the torturous consequences of greed. However, the protagonist isn’t some streetwise kid or a suburban dolt, but a Hasidic Jew, which is the first of a few inviting twists and turns in this deeply flawed, but effective morality tale, based on a true story.

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For the uninitiated, Karting is a pastime for weekends, encouraging a feeling of goofball abandon as rusted metal machines burn around a tattered track, with thrills and laughs the ultimate reward, not necessarily the glory of finishing first. However, there’s a subculture that takes the sport of Karting as gospel, using the tire tracks laid out by the World Karting Association as a guide toward a career in NASCAR, with a gifted few hoping to drive alongside the miracle men of the league.

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The legend of Robin Hood has been fodder for countless adventure films, all bound together by a certain tights-n-woodsy appearance. It’s a story drained of tension long ago, populated with characters known the world over, rotated every few years to refresh moviegoers on the basics of outlaw justice and moony romance. Famed director Ridley Scott has accepted the challenge of a “Robin Hood” adaptation, and while the deck was stacked mightily against the filmmaker, he winds a flawed, but effective arrow-thwacked yarn, concentrating on the origins of Mr. Hood and his rise to fugitive hero status.

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Showing more pearly whites here than in any of her previous efforts, Queen Latifah appears determined to make her latest film, the romantic comedy “Just Wright,” work for every single audience member. It’s admirable to mold something PG and mellow, with a sense of musical culture to it that typically isn’t allowed in the genre; however, it doesn’t take long before mental illness sets in, crippling the film with cliché to make the dramatic pieces fit in a manner that doesn’t disrupt the inevitability of the cartoon writing. Yet, Latifah keeps smiling away, hoping her natural charisma will be enough to cover the fact that “Just Wright” is woefully undercooked and often insultingly moronic.

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Romantic motion pictures tend to cheat, fudging screenplays to evoke intimacy faster, helping along cinematic pace and the ways of love for audiences typically impatient with matters of the heart. “Letters to Juliet” is no different, yet its reduction in reason is rather mean-spirited and, even for a gushy screen romance, blatantly illogical. While forever gentle and warmly acted, “Juliet” sends a confusing message about the blinders of love, speeding into an idealized pairing it doesn’t earn.

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Most musical bio-pics make a substantial effort to fashion a dramatic passport of sorts, allowing an opening for the viewer to understand the artist outside of the fame, thus creating a human depiction that doesn’t require extensive discography knowledge to wholly appreciate. “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” is the rare musical portrait that actually demands fandom to fully value the feature, otherwise the average viewer will most likely be lost at sea, wondering why 105 minutes were devoted to such a disagreeable man. I’m sure there was more to the astounding life of Ian Dury, but this picture doesn’t submit the nuances, only the juiciest clichés imaginable.

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The beauty of “Iron Man 2” is how it carefully sustains the joyful superhero elements established in the first film, released a mere two years ago. The problem with “Iron Man 2” is that is also inherits the original picture’s absence of hard-charging exhilaration, with the sequel as moderately uneven as its blockbuster predecessor. It’s a small quibble, but one that tethers an otherwise wildly entertaining and intermittently thrilling action-adventure to the ground.

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In a rare case of truth in advertising, “Babies” gives audiences exactly what’s promised: 78 minutes of unfiltered infant adventure. It’s not a documentary in the traditional sense, lacking a purring narrator or an expert opinion to anchor it. Instead, the picture provides an up-close glimpse of life at its earliest wobbly stages, tracking the rise of four new, bewildered members to the human race.

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Last year, Michael Bay’s remake factory Platinum Dunes churned out a “Friday the 13th” reboot. While far from an inspiring slasher success, the update didn’t outright offend, especially with a franchise that’s already done a masterful job rendering itself hopeless. “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is a different story, as most (myself included) consider the 1984 original to be not only a horror classic, but also an imaginatively molded tale of lo-fi suspense. Again, the sequels have effectively torn away much of the original’s allure, but Wes Craven struck gold 26 years ago with a unique genre idea, making a potential remake seem like an exceptionally pointless endeavor.

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Al Pacino is one of the greatest actors of all time, a legend in the industry. However, when was the last time he was truly challenged? When was the last time an Al Pacino performance felt transcendent? It’s been years, possibly longer for those without access to cable. “You Don’t Know Jack” present the maestro a golden thespian opportunity in Jack Kevorkian, the brazen, medically determined pathologist who brought assisted suicide to the front page. Finding the shadows and the soapbox, Pacino is masterful in this uneasy, thought-provoking drama.

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