With possibly one of the greatest cop duos in cinematic history, Hot Fuzz is much more than your average slapstick comedy and will have you laughing from beginning to end, and later. While this film is made by the same guys that brought you Shaun of the Dead, do not expect another spoof, because even though it does still include a variety of allusions to other cop films and many film clichés, this is an extremely well written original script. It begins with a fast paced montage of top cop Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) and his qualifications as a London police officer, everything from his outstanding arrest record down to his cycling skills. Sure enough his hard work pays off and he is promoted to Sergeant, but comes to learn it’s because he’s making everyone else look bad. He’s being transferred ...

  Before global warming and forces of nature like hurricane Katrina claimed the attention of the American public as the most threatening possibilites for danger in the environment, volcanoes held that dubious honor. The eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 and Mount Pinatubo the following year caused mass hysteria in several sectors. For a time, even earthquakes took a backseat to volcanoes. Thankfully, Hollywood waited until 1997 to unleash a big budget volcano disaster movie that would have met Irwin Allen’s yardstick for success. Of course, that yardstick measures fear and paranoia induced in audiences around the globe. Unfortunately, Hollywood chose that year to unleash two movies, not just one. The second movie, simply titled “Volcano” starred Tommy Lee Jones and came out after “Dante’s Peak,” a self-determined disaster regarding the box office. America had decided it had had enough of exploding volcanoes by that time. “Dante’s Peak” is a decent film. It meets ...

  Brendan Fraser’s " Mummy" franchise so far consists of two feature films and one spin-off that is a kind of prequel. A third movie in the franchise is slated for release in 2008. Fans of the series can’t wait. Although the movie was going to be a quiet release and not much was expected, it caught on with audiences was looking for something to fill the vacancy left by the Indiana Jones movies. Brendan Fraser’s portrayal of American adventurer Rick O’Connell, although dwarfed intellectually by the good Doctor Jones, was nonetheless a two-fisted hero of the first water. O’Connell is the kind of hero Saturday matinees and serials made their mainstay back in the 1940s and 1950s. He is quick with his fists and guns, and quicker still with a quip or a cutting remark. In part, the film written and directed by Stephen Sommers is derived from two older movies, the original ...

  That review and this were written by the same person. The review of the film stands, though enough time has elapsed that it’s safe to specify what was disappointing; doing so in 2003 would have been too many spoilers. Clearly, Ang Lee and his writers wanted to introduce mature elements to the comic book idea of a man who turns into a invulnerable, very powerful green giant. The route they took, however, wasn’t all it could have been. Introducing Bruce Banner’s father, at least as presented here, wasn’t wise; though Nick Nolte (and Paul Kersey in the early scenes) are both very good as David Banner, the connections between him and his research and his adult son and HIS research seem forced and contrived. Making the climax a battle between Banner in Hulk form and his father who has, improbably, become a well-known Marvel super-villain, the Absorbing Man (though that term isn’t ...

  In a post-apocalyptic future, an unspecified time after “Mad Max”, the somber loner Max (Mel Gibson) and his dog find themselves embroiled in a conflict between a gasoline-craving gang of maniacs and a small band of survivors, who have holed up around a desert oil refinery. With fuel being the hottest commodity in this barren future, it’s only a matter of time before the wild renegades break through and steal the survivors’ cache. Adding to the mix is a somewhat loopy Gyrocopter pilot (an entertaining Bruce Spence, behind a set of rather brackish molars) and a non-verbal Feral Kid (Emil Minty) who try to convince the somewhat ruthless Max to help the survivors in their bid to escape from the compound and follow their dream of leaving the barren desert for the coast. Director George Miller’s follow-up to, “Mad Max” finds him with a larger budget and a much more muted lead character. ...