“The Grudge 2”
Because “The Ring 2”, “Dark Water” and “Pulse” all flopped at the box office, it’s up to the second installment in “The Grudge” series to prove there’s still money left in Hollywood remakes of Japanese horror movies.
When Aubrey Davis (“Joan of Arcadia’s” Amber Tamblyn) receives word that her sister Karen (returning star Sarah Michelle Gellar, making a cameo appearance this time around) has died under mysterious circumstances, she travels to Tokyo and encounters the same evil spirit that plagued her dearly-departed sister. Director Takashi Shimizu helmed the first “Grudge,” as well as all three of the original Japanese films, making this the fifth time he’s told essentially the same story. Time to find some new material, don’tcha think? 1 hr. 29 mins.
“Infamous”
It’s hard not to feel a little sorry for “Infamous,” the second movie to come along about Truman Capote and the writing of “In Cold Blood.” It could be the best film ever made, and people would still dismiss it as a rip off of this past year’s Oscar-winning flick, “Capote.”
To be fair, both movies went into production at around the same time — “Capote” was just lucky enough to reach theaters first. Interestingly, “Infamous” has more star power than its predecessor, boasting supporting turns from Sandra Bullock, Sigourney Weaver and Gwyneth Paltrow. Meanwhile, Toby Jones suits up as Capote in a performance that no doubt would have been attracting Oscar buzz had Philip Seymour Hoffman not already walked off with the statue this past year. 1 hr. 58 mins.
“Man of the Year”
It’s been awhile since Barry Levinson has made a good movie, but history has shown that he does some of his best work with more political material — remember “Good Morning Vietnam” or “Wag the Dog”? With that in mind, one can’t help but be a little optimistic about his latest feature, which finds a Jon Stewart-like comedian/talk show host played by Robin Williams who runs for president … and wins. Does this mean that Stephen Colbert gets to be VP? 1 hr. 55 mins.
“The Marine”
The latest offering from the WWE’s film production arm finds wrestler John Cena playing the titular ex-marine, who snaps back into ass-kicking mode when a bunch of crooks, led by the former T-1000 himself Robert Patrick, kidnap his hot wife (Kelly Carlson from “Nip/Tuck”).
Replace Cena with Brian Bosworth or Jeff Speakman and Patrick with Gary Busey, and you’ve got basically every lousy direct-to-video action flick made in the ’80s and ’90s. All that’s missing is a Jean-Claude Van Damme cameo. 1 hr. 31 mins.
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