Movie Reviews

Dreamworks Pictures

‘Red Eye’ makes viewers drowsy

By NICK COOPER

Daily Titan Asst. News Editor

I walked into Wes Craven’s new thriller, “Red Eye” with very mixed feelings. On one hand, he is the genius behind “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Scream,” which were both awesome movies that kept me on the edge of my seat. On the other, movies such as “Vampire in Brooklyn,” which is only good for a quick laugh, and “They” left me wondering if I would ever pay money to see another horror movie again.

I was right to be apprehensive.

From its predicable thrills to its slow dialogue, the movie “Red Eye” left me with mixed feelings. It has its high points, such as the climatic ending sequence that, while it had an “oh my god, he’s standing behind the door” feeling to it, was still fast-paced enough to entertain the audience and cause at least one good jump.

Sadly, one has to sit through the fi rst hour and-some-oddminutes of the movie while the characters are aboard the plain. The audience is left wondering if the movie will ever take fl ight or if the thrills were delayed do to inclement weather.

I was somewhat impressed with the on-screen chemistry between main characters Jackson (Cillian Murphy) and Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams). Their witty banter helps to add some slight humor and speed up the slower parts of the fi lm, namely the whole airplane scene.

The fi lm revolves around Lisa, who is faced with a choice: to help in the assassination of a major government fi gurehead or stand by helplessly as her father dies.

As their lives hang in the balance, Lisa must use any resource at her disposal to save their lives and stop the charming bad guy. A formulaic plot with few genuine thrills, “Red Eye” tries to keep the audience at the edge of their seat but falls short.

At only 85 minutes, this fi lm is good for a quick if not subtle rush of thrills that marks Craven’s best attempt at horror and might help people forget “Cursed,” his cheesy attempt at the werewolf genre.

‘Deuce’ sequel a dud

By COURTNEY PUGATCH

For the Daily Titan

As the summer of sequels and remakes comes to a close, one more sneaks just under the radar. Reprising his role from the 1999 comedy by the same name, Rob Schneider stars once again as Deuce Bigalow—a gigolo with all the wrong moves and the biggest of hearts.

Produced by Happy Madison Productions and directed by Mike Bigelow, “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo” takes place several years after the original. This go around, Deuce has to rejoin the working class of gigolos when Deuce’s former pimp T.J. Hicks (Eddie Griffi n) is accused of murdering the greatest gigolo in Europe.

Working undercover, Deuce wines and dines the former clients of the elite, deceased prosti-dudes in order to fi gure out just who is the murderer and clear his friend’s name.

Hidden beneath a semi-sappy love story that mirrors the relationship with former girlfriend Kate in the original “Bigalow,” the viewer will immediately notice that it’s the same storyline as before-- but instead of Hollywood, Deuce fi nds himself in Holland. When he’s not trying to fi nd love with the quirky Eva (Hanna Verboom), a girl with over 100 different obsessive compulsive disorder habits, he’s instead working his quirky style of man-whoring with the clients.

For 80 minutes the movie drags on to what can only be described as a series of unfunny events, each more grotesque than the previous one.

Schneider’s inability to act is only second to the fact that the movie utilizes toilet humor to produce scenes that make the audience wince instead of laugh. “Bigalow” goes for the cheap laugh, whether it’s a client’s feline

Columbia Pictures

Universal Pictures’ “The Skeleton Key” keeps the audience thinking and on the edge of their seats with continuous revelations and an abstract plot. If you are looking for an easy scare, look elsewhere.

Although there are a few teeth clenching, hold onto your seat thrills, the majority of the fi lm is spent in constant suspense as the pieces of the puzzle are put together, until all questions are answered in the end.

Kate Hudson moves out of the comedy/drama realm into this horror/thriller to play Caroline, a young nurse who is hired as the caregiver for an elderly woman’s dying husband. Caroline must move into the couple’s aging mansion, located in the swampy outskirts of New Orleans, where the magic of hoodoo still peers its evil eye time and again.

Suspense is ‘key’ in Hudson fi lm

By JENNIFER BELLENDIR

For the Daily Titan

When creaks and bangs in the attic spark Caroline’s interest, her detective senses prevail and she embarks on a mystery that has lasted 90 years.

As she unravels the secret of what really caused her patient’s stroke, not only does she learn that people are not who they seem to

playing with more than one set of balls or even awkward appendage humor. Instead of laughing at the antics on screen, the viewer tends to feel queasy—such as learning that it isn’t just snot coming from a woman’s nose during the ballroom dance.

It is clear that “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo” is targeted to pre-pubescent males, which is very odd considering that the movie garnered an R rating from the MPAA.

The admission fee to the movie would be better spent watching a fi lm that allows the viewer to retain a few brain cells during the movie.

be, but she also begins to believe in the magic of the south herself.

Hudson’s performance is phenomenal, proving she is a versatile actress.

The audience gets sucked into her detective demeanor as they follow along with the trail of clues right beside her. Gena Rowlands, who plays the elderly woman Violet, is the villain we love to hate; think Kathy Bates in “Misery.” Although John Hurt, the dying husband Ben, only says three words in the fi lm, his facial expressions are enough to give chills.

Lastly, Peter Sarsgaard plays the handsome, young man developing into Caroline’s love interest until he pulls a 180, answering so many lingering questions. Made by the creators of “The Ring,” the movie has the same ghostly feeling with a mystery that needs solving, although not as many scares.

The trailer does not give justice to this fi lm, nor do the harsh reviews, but “The Skeleton Key” will not disappoint. It is a suspenseful fi lm that will leave you in awe, with many revelations still to be discovered on the drive home. Universal Pictures