Alternately the most thrilling and maddening movie of last year, Peter Jackson's King Kong (Universal) adaptation/meditation now comes to DVD, where home-theater buffs can marvel at every speaker-splitting rumble and crystalline digital special effect, while cinema fans can wonder anew why it takes so damn long to get to the big ape. The two sides can meet in the middle during the movie's bravura climax, a touching (albeit vertigo-inducing) assault on the skyscraper-bound Kong…
Based on Arthur Golden's bestseller, Memoirs Of A Geisha (Sony) swept the technical categories of this year's Oscars, but all those pretty pictures add up to one stiff piece of Hollywood exoticism, spoiled by a generalized view of the Orient that's awkward and unconvincing as historical backdrop. Among the Chinese actresses stepping in as Japanese geishas, only Gong Li makes much of an impression, though she played virtually the same bitchy-diva role to more devastating effect in Zhang Yimou's Shanghai Triad…
Get Rich Or Die Tryin' (Paramount) brought 50 Cent's remarkable winning streak to a screeching halt—it aspired to be his 8 Mile, but instead did for him what Turn It Up did for Pras: nothing. Like Pras, 50 Cent boasts the emotional range of a primitive robot, but at least his vehicle oozes ambition and boasts zesty supporting turns from Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Terrence Howard…
Marc Forster's Stay (Fox) is so trippily pretentious that it's surprising it didn't attract a cult following during its theatrical run. Audiences wisely steered clear of this lugubrious metaphysical drama about life, death, fate, and all sorts of other deep shit, starring the overqualified likes of Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, and Ryan Gosling. Seen Jacob's Ladder or The Sixth Sense? Then you've seen this turkey already…
What does it take to make The Butterfly Effect look like smart, meticulously planned speculative fiction? Possibly a comparison with the sloppy sci-fi action of A Sound Of Thunder (Warner Bros.), which somehow made it to theaters in 2005 after being rightfully shelved for a few years. The title and concept come from a Ray Bradbury short story about a botched time-travel excursion. But in order to pad the story out to feature-length, the filmmakers tacked on insultingly stupid pseudoscience, wretched dialogue, meaningless subplots, and laborious action until the whole dreadful project feels like a migraine in cinematic form.