Showtimes for all movies in the area. Click here!

'16 Blocks'

By Joshua Tyler

"16 Blocks" stars Bruce Willis as Jack Mosely, a burned-out cop with a booze problem, a potbelly and a pronounced limp. Jack enters the film with a defeated sigh. Huffing, puffing and sweating, he lurches into a crime scene where he's supposed to stand guard, swipes a bottle of booze from a cabinet and plops down on the victim's couch to get drunk and read the paper. Jack Mosely may still be on the job, but he retired a long time ago.

Jack lumbers back to the station to punch out. Before he can leave, his lieutenant gives him a quick job to do: pick up a prisoner and escort him to the courthouse 16 blocks away. The prisoner's name is Eddie Bunker (Mos Def), and Eddie has to be to court in exactly 118 minutes. With a sigh, Jack cuffs Eddie, throws him in his squad car, and starts winding his way through New York City traffic.

But then all hell breaks loose.

Suddenly Jack finds himself in a shootout over Eddie, and then being hunted by other cops. His fellow officers want Eddie dead. Unable to call in backup, since the backup will probably shoot him, Jack and Eddie hobble through the streets of New York under fire and on the run. Their only hope is to make it to the courthouse in time for Eddie to give his testimony.

The movie's not perfect. In the final acts it loses some of the gray area that initially makes it so interesting and gets too caught up in the idea of two men, a cynic and an eternal optimist, colliding and changing each other for the better. Jack's redemption is too unexpected as he stops following his gut and suddenly starts thinking.

However, "16 Blocks" isn't out to redefine its genre by overly challenging its audience. What it does do, it does really well. Director Richard Donner ("Lethal Weapon") delivers a strong action movie with a vicious punch and well-defined, interesting characters capable of throwing the audience a bit of the unexpected now and again. For a film that's basically another cop versus cop movie, that's pretty good. CV

'Aquamarine'

By Scott Gwin

"Aquamarine" tells the story of two young girls, Claire (played by teen pop singer Emma Roberts) and Hailey (played by over-sexed teen pop singer Jojo) whose friendship is threatened when Hailey faces a family move to Australia. A late-night prayer of desperation to the "gods of the hurricane" conjures up a demi-miracle: a mermaid in the pool (teen pop singer Sara Paxton - yup, a pop singer trifecta).

Aquamarine by name, she has run away from home where her father is forcing her to marry against her will. Her only hope of escaping this fate is a desperate deal struck with dear old dad: she must find true love in three days or return home to his arranged engagement.

Fortunately, Claire and Hailey know everything about love. They've read all about it in magazines.

Thanks to the all-too-handy fact that mermaids can grow legs as long as the sun is up, and they don't get wet (think "The Little Mermaid" meets the "Gremlins"), Aqua sets out to win the heart of Raymond (Jake McDorman), the hunky high school senior/lifeguard who also happens to be the object of Claire and Hailey's boy crush-lust. The girls oh-so graciously sacrifice their non-existent claim on Raymond when they learn that if they help Aquamarine fall in love with him she will grant them a wish: Claire won't have to move away.

"Aquamarine" had the potential to be a terrific kids movie, something young girls could have fun watching while learning some important lessons from characters they could relate to. Instead, though, it was turned into a marketing trap for what MTV hopes will be its next viewing audience.

Like the tobacco industry, they see to be going after them younger and younger. Too boring for girls older than 12 years old and too adult for anyone younger, this is simply a movie for no one. CV

'Block Party'

By Joshua Tyler

"Block Party" takes traditional concert video and mixes it with footage of Dave Chappelle hanging around his neighborhood in Dayton, Ohio, inviting some of the regular folks from his area to come to New York for a street-side party. It sounds pretty simple, but director Michel Gondry finds something more in all that footage. Thus, "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" becomes better than just an impromptu hip-hop music and comedy showcase.

What's most interesting about the film is the way people respond to Dave as he strolls through his hometown. "Old people love me," says Dave, and strangely enough they do. When asked if she likes rap music, one of Dave's older neighbors responds with an emphatic smile, "No, but we like you!" Dave keeps traveling through town, inviting people of all ages and walks of life from his city to join him in New York for the concert. Chappelle is hilarious here and in his element, wandering around and cracking jokes off the cuff.

The first half of the movie intercuts all of Dave's hanging out with performances from the actual block party. People like Kanye West, Mos Def and Erykah Badu take the stage, and their music blends together with those flashbacks to Dave's preparation for the party to set a harmonious tone. Dave's not interested in the 50 Cents of the world; instead he's trying to give a voice to modern rap artists with something worthwhile to say. Some of his acts, like Kanye West, are a big deal. Others are artists like Dead Prez who, because of their message, aren't likely to get much radio play. It's a gathering of everything that's best about rap.

Whether you're already a fan or not, what you'll take away from "Block Party" is a newfound respect for both Chappelle and rap music in general. Gondry finds the best in the movie's performers, their work, their neighbors, and their fans and then throws it up on screen with as much sincerity as both he and Chappelle can muster. The result is a soulful, spontaneous buzz unlike anything you'll find in any other concert movie. CV

'Ultraviolet'

By Joshua Tyler

Writer/director Kurt Wimmer reaffirms his position as one of the worst motion picture directors working in the movie industry with his newest work, "Ultraviolet." Wimmer gained a sliver of undeserved cult fame with the theatrically ignored movie "Equilibrium," but despite some odd pockets of geek love, the film was a disaster. "Ultraviolet" is no better. In fact, it's much worse.

It's all style over substance in the story of Violet (Milla Jovovich), a self-described hemophage. Hemophage is a fancy way of saying genetically engineered vampire. Except there's no neck biting for these blood lusters. Modified by a contagious disease in the near future, they're vampires only in name.

Violet bursts onto the screen running and gunning. She's soon intertwined in a plot to destroy all of her hemophage brethren, or the human race, or something. Along for the ride is a kid, whom everyone seems to want though no one seems to know exactly why. Having lost a kid of her own once, Violet gets massively maternal and decides to protect him. This also gives her a good excuse to do a lot of killing.

But the killing isn't very exciting. With a terminally stupid script, one would at least hope for some good action in a movie like this. There's plenty of shooting and stabbing, but it feels cold and empty. The violence is presented in such a childish fashion that it has all the impact of a Pokemon battle. There's no blood and not much visible death, though a great many gas-masked figures fall lifeless to the ground. If not for the sheer number of vaguely humanoid figures rendered vaguely motionless in Violet's wake, "Ultraviolet" could have easily been a soft, plush, PG instead of PG-13.

The real shame in all of this is that Wimmer does have some skill for capturing a certain look, a skill that would perhaps be better put to use designing matte paintings or at best directing 30-second Scion commercials. As a film director, Wimmer is a featured failure. Let's just hope this is the last we see of him. CV

Comment on this story | Return to top