Movie Renter's Guide

Current Movies - # 82 - January, 2002

Staff

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Ratings:
Extraordinary
Good
Acceptable
Mediocre
Poor

 

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"Scary Movie 2", Dimension Films, 2001, Color, Presented at measured aspect ratio 1.80:1, DD, 1 Hr 22 min, Rated R; Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Tori Spelling, Tim Curry, Christopher Kennedy Masterson, Chris Elliott; When "Hot Shots" came along, we all knew that subsequent films like that one would get even more vulgar. "Scary Movie" had the credentials for such vulgarity, and "Scary Movie 2" digs even lower. This is why "scatology", "flatulence" and other similar words are in the dictionary. However, most of the words that would describe the contents of this movie are not in the dictionary. If you needed 2 beers to watch the original movie, you will need about 3 1/2 for "Scary Movie 2". I wonder if their microphones got rust on them because they were so close to the toilets all the time.  - JEJ -

Entertainment: ***
Video Quality: ****
Audio: ***
Photography: ***
Violence: yes
Sex: yes
Language: the "F" and "S" words

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"Rock Star", Warner Brothers, 2001, Color, Presented at measured aspect ratio 2.30:1, DD, 1 Hr 46 min, Rated R; Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Anniston; Chris Cole (Wahlberg) repairs photocopiers for his day job, and at night, he plays in a rock band that emulates his idol, Steel Dragon. When the lead singer for Dragon is fired, the band hires Chris to take his place. Now Chris is able to live his dream. Fame, money, drugs, women. But it turns out to be a nightmare instead. The price of fame may be higher than he is willing to pay. The film is extremely well done, and Jennifer Anniston does a great job as Chris' girlfriend Emily. Although some people might like to lead this kind of life, I think most will agree that this is no life at all. The numerous rock stars who have died young are proof enough. - JEJ -

Entertainment: ****
Video Quality: *****
Audio: ***
Photography: ***
Violence: mild
Sex: yes
Language: the "F" and "S" words

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"Rush Hour 2", New Line Home Entertainment, 2001, Color, Presented at measured aspect ratio 2.35:1, DD, DTS-ES, 1 Hr 31 min, Rated PG-13;  Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, John Lone, Zivi Zhang, Roselyn Sanchez, Harris Yulin, Alan King;  Detective James Carter (Tucker) of the LAPD is vacationing in China for two reasons. One is to visit his old friend Inspector Lee (Chan) and secondly to enjoy the spoils of this exotic land.  However, when the U.S. Embassy in China is attacked, Lee�s over-commitment to his job is making the latter impossible for Carter.  Lee does fulfill his promise to show Carter some Chinese hospitality, but only to go undercover to get close to Ricky Tan (Lone), leader of the largest gang in China.  When these two discover that Ricky Tan may not be behind this crime they find themselves being a step behind the real criminals.  After the U.S. Embassy is bombed again, Carter finds himself on his own in a familiar situation in an unfamiliar land, after Lee mistakenly believes he (Carter) has been killed in the second bombing.  It�s not long until these two reunite hot on the trail of the real architects behind the bombings.  Fresh off her starring role in �Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon�, the talented Zivi Zhang gives a strong performance.  The chemistry between Tucker and Chan is evident even if the storyline wasn�t the most engaging.  Still, Jackie Chan remains the ultimate DIY�er performing impressive over-the-top stunts (although not as many as we�re used to) throughout this movie.  This DVD boasts DTS ES 6.1 surround in addition to a bounty of quality extras. - JB -

Entertainment: ****
Video Quality: ****
Audio: ****
Photography: ****
Violence: yes
Sex: mild
Language: the "S" word

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"One Night at McCools", USA Entertainment, 2001, Color, Presented at measured aspect ratio 1.77:1, DD, 1 Hr 33 min, Rated R; Matt Dillon, Paul Reiser, John Goodman, Liv Tyler, Michael Douglas, Andrew Dice Clay; After closing McCool�s bar for the night, Randy (Dillon) the bartender believes he has met the girl of his dreams after he makes what is perceived to be a daring rescue of a battered girl named Jewel (Tyler). Later that evening after a guilty confession Randy finds out that he was merely the next victim of a scam courtesy of Jewel and her boyfriend Utah (Clay). Although Randy is relieved she didn�t follow through with her side of the scheme, Utah shows up ready to end things quickly. When he finds nothing in the house that he wants, he takes Randy back to McCool�s bar to open the safe. This is where Jewel proves her spontaneous loyalty to Randy by shooting her boyfriend dead, only to talk Randy in to taking a self-defense wrap for her. Randy calls his lawyer cousin Carl (Reiser) for legal advice who happened to be sitting outside the bar where most of the earlier events took place, believing he had just seen the women of his dreams, who just happened to be Jewel. Of course, if having two men in love with the same girl wasn�t enough, Detective Dehling (Goodman), wielding the power of the law on his side, believes he too has met the girl of his dreams in Jewel when he is called in to investigate the shooting. When Randy�s world comes crashing down around him because of this one girl he decides to put matters into the hands of hit man Mr. Burmeister (Douglas). This film is well written and very entertaining throughout, being re-told from the different perspectives of the main characters. Included as a part of the extras is the ultra �depressing� alternate ending for those who don�t believe in happy endings. - JB -

Entertainment: *****
Video Quality: ****
Audio: ****
Photography: ****
Violence: yes
Sex: yes
Language: the "F" and "S" words

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� Copyright 2002 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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