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REVIEWS PREVIEWS: Hail the emperor
The Emperor’s New Clothes presents its own version of history that is humorous. The movie wants us to believe that Napoleon did not die but escaped from the island of St. Helena and another person, who closely resembled the emperor, took his place. The plan was that the real Napoleon would later reveal himself and take over France again. But things don’t go as planned and the real guy is forced to live in Paris as a commoner with the street people.
Discovering a world he had no idea existed is both fascinating and irritating for him, and that is where the humour comes in. He even falls for a gorgeous, street-smart and somewhat crude widow, Pumpkin (Iben Hjejle). She oversees a bunch of peasants who sell fruits and vegetables on the street. Ian Holm as Napoleon is superb. He realistically portrays the arrogance and attitude that the emperor was famous for, mingled with disillusionment in his new environment.
The Emperor’s New Clothes is a very entertaining movie that makes for good weekend viewing.—Eddie
An alien sign
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Signs is a strange story of aliens taking over Earth in the most unpractical manner we’ve seen. Starring Mel Gibson, the film doesn’t show any high gun-powered action sequences, similar to ones seen Independence Day and Men in Black.In this movie the aliens come, hang about and go away. The suspense of the film lies in its acting, script and dialogue delivery. Gibson stars as a former priest-turned-farmer who wakes up one morning to discover both his children out on the farm. Going after them he uncovers three synchronous patches on his fields indicating signs of some kind. He discovers that the signs (that have also appeared in other parts of the planet) are actually markings that aliens have left to coordinate possible future attacks on Earth. This is no ‘one-man-saving-Earth’ story, but a story of how normal people like the former priest, survive possible annihilation by the unknown.
Gibson gives a strong performance as a priest, Ben Chaplin assisting him as his brother. The film is for those who like quiet movies and definitely not for the everyday action lovers.—K.A.K
Still ‘shagedellic’ baby?
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Oops! We did it again, baby’ is what the makers of the new Austin Powers movie, Gold Member, must be thinking. Banking the movie with the same type of storyline and jokes not to mention the same actors, the creators of AP seem to have acted on the immense confidence given to them by the success of their first two movies. Unfortunately even guest appearances by Tom Cruise, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey, Danny Devito, Fred Savage, Britney Spears, John Travolta and Steven Spielberg could not save the movie from its exhausted humour. Even Michael Caine (who plays Austin’s dad) could not help. The jokes were merely an amalgamation of the ones made in the first two films.One simple sentence gives due justice to the plot: Dr.Evil wants to hold the world hostage by controlling a meteor in outer space and threatening to bombard the world with it unless he is paid a ransom of “One million, oops sorry, billion, sicilian, gazillion yen.”
One interesting and commendable point about the movie, however, is that the leading lady is for a change, not your usual Caucasian Liz Hurley or Heather Graham, but the dark complexioned Beyonce Knowle. If you have absolutely nothing to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon then renting this ‘mmmoovie’ won’t be such a bad idea.—S.S.
Follow the crocodile
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Steve and Terri Irwin are crocodile re-locators in Far North Queensland, Australia. They spend a lot of time relocating animals, saving a baby kangaroo and charming a few snakes along the way. But all that is about to change! An American satellite has exploded in space and its black box has re-entered the atmosphere and ended up in the gut of a nasty 12-foot croc the Irwins are about to relocate. The FBI, CIA and goodness knows what other agencies are out to find the box at any cost because it contains data that could change the world’s power structure. When the agents cross paths with the Irwins, the latter are convinced that all the agents are actually poachers and after their crocodile.The plot is as transparent as a shed-away snakeskin, while the acting is as stiff as the spikes on a croc’s back. Final verdict: The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course really stinks.—HQK
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