"Super Size Me" Not Rated, 96 m
With Morgan Spurlock. Directed by Morgan Spurlock.
***
"Super Size Me" attempts to answer the question "Why are Americans so fat?" The documentary is a look at the legal, financial and physical costs of the hunger for fast food.
First-time filmmaker Morgan Spurlock hit the road and interviewed experts in 20 U.S. cities who shared their research on obesity. Spurlock put his own body on the line, living on nothing but McDonald's for a month. Throughout, Spurlock gains 30 pounds, his cholesterol skyrockets and his liver is threatened.
The documentary does more than track Spurlock's weight gain. Interspersed with Spurlock's self-experimentation are insights into the horror of school lunch programs, declining physical education classes and the extreme measures people take to lose weight and regain their health. "Super Size Me" is a satirical jab in the stomach, overstuffed with fat and facts about the billion-dollar industry besieged by doctors, lawyers and nutritionists. Would you like fries with that?
-JENNIFER VISHNEVSKY
The Stepford Wives
PG-13, 93 m With Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken and Bette Midler. Directed by Frank Oz.
***
After she suffers from a mental breakdown, Joanna Eberhart's husband moves their family to Stepford, an idyllic Connecticut suburb. The twisted slew of events that follow their movie make up the bulk of "The Stepford Wives."
Nicole Kidman plays Joanna, a high-powered, no-nonsense television executive who finds the transition from metropolitan to suburban life hard to cope with. She doesn't understand why the women in Stepford are a little too tan, a little too well-dressed and sometimes behave very strangely, as if something inside them has short-circuited.
Joanna spends the duration of the film attempting to conform to the Stepford mold, while constantly questioning the events taking place throughout the town.
Glenn Close plays Claire Wellington, the town's realtor and unofficial leader of Stepford's women. Close gives the funniest performance in the film, hilariously contrasting Kidman's basic black, standoffish New York style with her own chipper square-dancing, President of the Women's Club charm.
Unlike the book and first version of the film, Frank Oz's "The Stepford Wives" turns the creepy story of a just-too-perfect town into a fun, if not fluffy, comedy. Each cast member contributes at least a few funny jokes to the film, particularly Bette Midler, who plays Joanna's best friend, and Roger Bart, who plays a gay man struggling to improve his failing relationship with his partner.
- BLAIR PAYNE
"Coffee & Cigarettes"
R, 96 m With Iggy Pop, Alfred Molina, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett. Directed by Jim Jarmusch.
**
"I drink coffee before I sleep. It makes my dreams go faster."
Jim Jarmush's latest film, "Coffee & Cigarettes," is comprised of 11 vignettes highlighting conversations between such stars as Steven Wright and Roberto Benigni, Tom Waits and Iggy Pop, Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan and Cate Blanchett, opposite none other than herself, among others.
At first glance it seems audiences are in for a cinematic treat, something that will tickle the funny bone, but it just translates to a series of sub-par "Saturday Night Live" skits. Probably at most three or four of the sketches are genuinely funny, but the others just seem awkward, forced or out of place, making the audience feel as if it isn't supposed to be a part of these ridiculous conversations. It's a little bit disappointing for a film 17 years in the making.
Although the film does have its merits - Alfred Molina's declaration of his need for new-found cousin Steve Coogan's love being one of them - it may be wise to save the $9.25, or perhaps use it to stimulate you nicotine/caffeine addiction.
- DANIELLA PAGAN
Chronicles of Riddick
PG-13, 119 m With Vin Diesel and Judy Dench. Directed by David Twohy.
***
This entertaining follow up to the lesser-known film "Pitch Black," chronicles the elusive hard-ass with a heart of gold known as Richard B. Riddick, played by Vin Diesel. Seeing "Pitch Black" before "Chronicles of Riddick," isn't necessary, but it does help.
"Chronicles" picks up five years after "Pitch Black" left off, but instead of fighting nocturnal super-vicious pterodactyl things, Riddick now fights Romanesque world conquerors who have their sights set on the home planet of an old friend of Riddick's. Riddick must also deal with bounty hunters looking to cash in on a huge price on his head.
The often-criticized Vin Diesel plays Riddick quite well, with plenty of good one-liners and witty remarks. Riddick also backs up his remarks with lots of futuristic gun play, throat-slitting knife fights and high flying acrobatics. Riddick is clearly our generation's Snake of "Escape From New York."
Overall, "Chronicles" is a solid sci-fi adventure that can be confusing at points, but has enough interesting content, characters and action to let it at least achieve the cult status that its predecessor enjoyed and perhaps even mainstream success.
- JORGE DEL PINAL
