Busy week! Good heavens! So many movies!
“Miracle at St. Anna,” Spike Lee’s World War II epic about four black soldiers behind enemy lines in Italy, is the one that I think is the best of the new releases, though I note that I am in the distinct minority in liking it at all. I’m curious to read the other critics’ reviews and see what it is they found so disagreeable, because I quite enjoyed it.
“Nights in Rodanthe,” reviewed at Film.com, is based on a book by Nicholas Sparks, and … I’m guessing I can probably stop there.
“Eagle Eye”! Shia LaBeouf! Paranoid techno-thriller! Meh!
“Choke” is based on a novel by Chuck Palahniuk (“Fight Club”), and while it’s not as good as a movie based on a Palahniuk novel ought to be, it’s not bad. Sam Rockwell helps a lot a the main character, a sex-addicted colonial-village re-enactor.
“The Duchess” stars Keira Knightley, and it’s — get this — a period piece! I know! Weird! Also: meh!
“The Lucky Ones” treats Iraq veterans’ problems like sitcom-y jokes, and not very funny jokes anyway. My review is at Cinematical.
“Battle in Seattle,” also at Cinematical, is a fictionalized account of the World Trade Organization riots that took place in Seattle in 1999. It’s an “issue” movie where they never actually explain what the issues are, which is kind of a serious liability.
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