2008 Woodie Awards
Capsule reviews of feature films
Carrie Rickey and Steven Rea
Issue date: 9/12/07 Section: Opinion
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The Philadelphia Inquirer
BECOMING JANE 2 1?2 stars. Anne Hathaway stars as the budding 18th century scribe in this speculative romance, writ with one hand on the dog-earred pages of a Jane Austen biography, the other on Austen's own "Pride & Prejudice. It's moderately engaging pseudo Brit-lit piffle, but no substitute for the real thing. 1 hr. 50 PG (nudity, adult themes) _ Steven Rea
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM 4 stars. This clench-jawed thriller based on the Robert Ludlum book _ with Matt Damon back again as the somebody's-messed-with-my-head secret agent known as Jason Bourne _ is unstoppable, gear-grinding, globe-hopping fun. 1 hr. 51 PG-13 (violence, action, adult themes) _ Steven Rea
DEATH AT A FUNERAL 3 stars. For those in need of a splash of bathroom humor, nervous-ninny gay jokes and a naked guy on a roof stoned out of his gourd, this well-crafted British farce is just what the doctor, or the mortician, ordered. 1 hr. 30 R (profanity, drugs, nudity, adult themes) _ Steven Rea
THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK 3 stars. Brian Steidle, a former American Marine chronicles the ongoing tragedy in Darfur, Sudan in this heartfelt documentary. 1 hr. 25 No MPAA rating (images of torture, dismemberment and genocide) _ Carrie Rickey
EL CANTANTE 3 stars. Filmmaker Leon Ichaso's haunting portrait of salsa star Hector Lavoe, a soaring, crashing blazing affair with pyrotechnic performances by real-life spouses Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez as Lavoe and his harpy of a wife. 1 hr. 56 R (drugs, profanity, sexual candor) _ Carrie Rickey
1408 3 stars. John Cusack stars as a cynical scribe who authors guidebooks to haunted inns and hotels. He checks into one legendary spot _ a room in a New York hotel _ and gets scared silly. Samuel L. Jackson costars as the hotel manager, and Stephen King wrote the story this hairy affair comes from. 1 hr. 34 PG-13 (violence, gore, creepy-crawly stuff, adult themes) _ Steven Rea
GOYA'S GHOSTS 3 stars. Milos Forman's compelling, challenging and wildly uneven film about the Spanish artist, witness to the end of the Inquisition and convulsions of the Napoleonic invasion, and his opposition to an opportunistic priest (Javier Bardem) who becomes the apostle of revolution. 1 hr. 54 R (torture, sexuality, violence) _ Carrie Rickey
BECOMING JANE 2 1?2 stars. Anne Hathaway stars as the budding 18th century scribe in this speculative romance, writ with one hand on the dog-earred pages of a Jane Austen biography, the other on Austen's own "Pride & Prejudice. It's moderately engaging pseudo Brit-lit piffle, but no substitute for the real thing. 1 hr. 50 PG (nudity, adult themes) _ Steven Rea
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM 4 stars. This clench-jawed thriller based on the Robert Ludlum book _ with Matt Damon back again as the somebody's-messed-with-my-head secret agent known as Jason Bourne _ is unstoppable, gear-grinding, globe-hopping fun. 1 hr. 51 PG-13 (violence, action, adult themes) _ Steven Rea
DEATH AT A FUNERAL 3 stars. For those in need of a splash of bathroom humor, nervous-ninny gay jokes and a naked guy on a roof stoned out of his gourd, this well-crafted British farce is just what the doctor, or the mortician, ordered. 1 hr. 30 R (profanity, drugs, nudity, adult themes) _ Steven Rea
THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK 3 stars. Brian Steidle, a former American Marine chronicles the ongoing tragedy in Darfur, Sudan in this heartfelt documentary. 1 hr. 25 No MPAA rating (images of torture, dismemberment and genocide) _ Carrie Rickey
EL CANTANTE 3 stars. Filmmaker Leon Ichaso's haunting portrait of salsa star Hector Lavoe, a soaring, crashing blazing affair with pyrotechnic performances by real-life spouses Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez as Lavoe and his harpy of a wife. 1 hr. 56 R (drugs, profanity, sexual candor) _ Carrie Rickey
1408 3 stars. John Cusack stars as a cynical scribe who authors guidebooks to haunted inns and hotels. He checks into one legendary spot _ a room in a New York hotel _ and gets scared silly. Samuel L. Jackson costars as the hotel manager, and Stephen King wrote the story this hairy affair comes from. 1 hr. 34 PG-13 (violence, gore, creepy-crawly stuff, adult themes) _ Steven Rea
GOYA'S GHOSTS 3 stars. Milos Forman's compelling, challenging and wildly uneven film about the Spanish artist, witness to the end of the Inquisition and convulsions of the Napoleonic invasion, and his opposition to an opportunistic priest (Javier Bardem) who becomes the apostle of revolution. 1 hr. 54 R (torture, sexuality, violence) _ Carrie Rickey
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