Movie Buzz – 1/9

Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau proved old guys could still bring audiences to the box office by sharing a few laughs, a few man hugs and a tear or two. The “Grumpy Old Men” formula for movie magic may not translate well to 2008’s audiences, though, as viewers have been desensitized by an overload of reality television and Hollywood spectacle.

Somehow, in the midst of Britney Spears tabloid mania, a movie about two terminally ill, aging men with a lengthy “to do” list doesn’t sound so thrilling. Even with the talents of Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, there’s little hope “The Bucket List” can stand up to the competition from today’s fast-paced flicks, which cater shamelessly to our short attention spans.

Throw in director Rob Reiner, who has helmed nothing but a few sappy romantic comedies in the past few years, and this flick is certain to descend quickly from the big screen to your local Blockbuster Video.

Plus, the film’s writer, Justin Zackham, is a healthy guy in his mid-30s. Needless to say, I doubt his views on aging and living with cancer are exactly up to snuff.

Poor Ice Cube seems to have mixed up his days of the week. The rapper-actor, who earned a few fans with his “Friday” series of films, must have had a weak moment when accepting a role alongside marginally talented comic actor Tracy Morgan in “First Sunday.”

This film, from budding director David E. Talbert, sounds like a flick even Martin Lawrence would turn down. It focuses on two bumbling convicts who devise a scheme to rob a church. But hey, the Lord works in mysterious ways and the boys may just end up being reformed.

Ray Liotta is back on the big screen, and you guessed it — he plays a man of questionable sanity. Liotta and Burt Reynolds star alongside action C-lister Jason Statham (“Crank,” “War”) in the long-winded “In the Name of a King: A Dungeon Siege Tale.”

A medieval war story that lacks star-powered box-office appeal and has stylistic deficiencies normally used for comical purposes in spoofs like “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” it’s hard to tell exactly when and where this flick takes place.

On the bright side, Jason Statham is ticked off and Ray Liotta is crazy, so it should make for an angry, though somewhat amusing, couple of hours — but probably just for audiences made up of teenage boys.

For the kids, there’s a G-rated Veggie Tales flick confusingly called “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A Veggie Tales Movie.” If a movie has a title claiming talking vegetables will spend the better part of two hours not doing much, why not just get a Mr. Potato Head and an eye patch and call it a day? Your kids will be equally entertained.

Movie Buzz – 12/26

The end of each year brings the best Hollywood has to offer as part of the awards-season rush. The great thing about it is that theaters are now flooded with award-worthy performances and top-notch storylines.

Unfortunately, there’s a downside: the next few months will bring more than our fair share of bad movies featuring Jessica Alba, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Katie Holmes and airhead socialite Paris Hilton. Sorry, I’m not kidding.

Enjoy the good flicks while you can. Mega-awards contenders “Charlie Wilson’s War” and “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” are heating up the holiday box office. Another new release features the perpetually Oscar-ready Denzel Washington, who directed himself in “The Great Debaters.”

Washington teamed up with the ultimate power producer, Oprah Winfrey, to bring audiences this historical drama based on a true story. Oprah’s opinion has done everything from encouraging people to read her favorite books to considering voting for Barack Obama. So having her stamp of approval on Washington’s passion project could mean some surprising box-office receipts.

Washington plays the coach of a debate team at a historically black college in the segregated South during the 1930s. Forest Whitaker co-stars while Washington pulls
together a team, builds them up from nothing and helps them get to a championship bout with Harvard.

Expect the team to face harsh racism, overcome adversity and kick some butt with their finely-tuned debating skills.

Maybe you’re not a fan of “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” and, if that’s the case, and you’re looking for a suitable flick to entertain the whole family, be sure to check out “The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep.”

Sure, its title makes it sound like a National Geographic bore-fest, but this flick comes from the writer of “Babe,” so animals, humans and sea creatures are sure to share the screen in a peaceful and amusing manner.

This story focuses on a young Scottish boy who finds an egg, which he takes home and opens to reveal a mythical baby sea monster. He and his family keep the creature in their bathtub until it gets too big too handle. Then they release it, wowing unsuspecting fishermen with an unbelievable bit of folklore.

For some reason, a token horror movie opens on Christmas day as if to say “Bah, Humbug” to moviegoers each year. This time it’s “Alien vs. Predator: Requiem,” another pointless, poorly made horror sequel made possible by writer Dan O’Bannon’s odd obsession with extraterrestrials.

Two more promising flicks open in limited release this week and could make it to Augusta in January. “The Bucket List” features Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as aging buddies who ditch their cancer care to start acting out the list of things they want to do before they die.

“There Will Be Blood” features the mysteriously enthralling talents of Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays a money-hungry oil tycoon at the turn of the last century. The actor’s performance in this film has already earned him a Golden Globe nomination.