O | Wizard Rating:

Julia Stiles duplicates her character from Save the Last Dance. She's Julia, she's white -- she's dating a black man and her father doesn't like it. Woo hoo. Moving right along, this is a teenage version of Shakespeare's Othello. If you've ever seen any of Willy's stuff on your high school stage, this just might give you disturbing flashbacks. It's a timeless tale of rage, jealousy, betrayal and violence...just the way you like it.

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| Chicago Tribune | Washington Post |

Made | Wizard Rating:

Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Famke Janssen

These guys will crack you up! Vaughn and Favreau (Swingers) play construction workers and aspiring boxers. Favreau's Bobby is the solid, steady type while Vaughn's Ricky is a reckless, dumbass motor mouth who thinks he knows it all. Both characters are employed by Max (Peter Falk), a classic old school mob boss.

The writing for Ricky's character is so good that you may actually need a pad on your forehead - plan to smack it at least 10 times. He's such a moron that you'll just want to kick him.

Sean AKA "Puffy" "P. Daddy" Combs plays a Manhatten underworld boss effectively, probably because he pretends to be one in real life. Famke Janssen plays a stripper equally well, most likely for similar reasons.

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| San Francisco Chronicle | Rolling Stone |

Curse of the Jade Scorpion | Wizard Rating:

Helen Hunt, Elizabeth Berkely, Charlize Theron.

It's Mr. Woody at it again -- full of himself and creating a fantasy world where beautiful women actually look in his direction without puking. Through the miracle of modern film, we see Woody's vanity shine through.

Allen plays CW -- a New York insurance investigator, and Hunt is Betty Ann, an efficiency expert. She sees Woody's character as a sleazy, pushy, broke-ass elderly loser. The disturbing point here is that nothing convinces us that Woody is anything but just that. At 65, Allen is just too old be playing this part.

If you put his Vanity aside, the woodster is still crafting witty little screenplays. Iif he'd keep himself in an appropriate role, and let someone else grab the hot babes, we'd all be awake for at least half of his films.

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| Chicago Tribune | Rolling Stone |

Ghost World | Wizard Rating:

Steve Buscemi, Thora Birch (American Beauty)
Based on the well-known comic, Ghost World. A look into the lives of two misfit teenage girls, whose sarcastic existence will make you laugh and hold your interest. Immediately after high school graduation, Enid and Rebecca are forced to take a hard look at their existence in a plasticolor world of fast food and commercialized culture.

“Enid is an outsider. She doesn’t quite fit in. That’s part of her dilemma. She’s trying to find some place for herself in a world that’s rapidly turning into one big consumer theme park, a monoculture without much of anything authentic remaining. She’s trying to connect with something truthful in this culture that’s basically designed to just sell you things.” -Thora Birch

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| Chicago Tribune | Rolling Stone |

Thomas in Love | Wizard Rating:

Thomas is a severe agoraphobe -- in the not too distant future. French with english subtitles. Even though I absolutely cannot stand to read a movie, this one is worth it.

The entire movie is shot from a first person perspective. You see the world through the eyes of Thomas. It will throw you right in the middle of his troubled existence -- so much so that you almost feel like you are Thomas. Get ready to bang a computer, talk to your mother, insurance agent, psychologist, and fall in love....


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| Chicago Tribune | Rolling Stone |

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