August 19, 2002
Hey is for horses, America! And since at last count, horses were unable to manipulate computer keyboards with their big, stupid paws, I’m going to go ahead and assume we’ve got real live people in the house tonight. So I won’t be serving up any hay today people, just some hot, steaming vittles of entertainment flavor. Hopefully that sounds just about right up your alley, as the British say. And hopefully that’s not some kind of nasty euphemism for sex, though I’ve got a bad feeling about it since nearly everything the British say is, so the odds aren’t in my favor. But enough about the British! When’s the last time they made a movie worth seeing? I thought not. Let’s get our minds back on the great U.S. of A, and the thing we do best: selling dreams and soda pop. On to the movies!

In Theaters

Adventures of Pluto Nash
Yet again, Eddie Murphy plays another troubled mathematical genius trapped in the body of a cartoon dog. Yawn. This time around it’s on the moon, as if that’s supposed to stir up our Malt-o-meal something fierce. Rosie O’Donnell co-stars as the hot young multi-ethnic thang on the lunar block, which goes a long way toward showing how little attention went into making this film. Murphy’s obviously still pissed about not landing the Eddie Murphy role in the Men in Black films, but his revenge here is misguided: I highly doubt Will Smith is going to get suckered into sitting still for two hours to watch this turkey.

One Hour Photo
A picture’s worth a thousand words, and if you say ‘em slow enough it takes about an hour to say all one thousand. At least that’s the message I got from Robin Williams’ latest philosophical snorer about an annoying birthday party clown who learns the value of family when he kills one with his Suburban. Williams flees the scene of the crime with only a worn photo he pulled from the flaming wreck, a family photo that haunts him and always seems to trigger eerie harpsichord music. As you may have guessed, by the end he’s learned the value of laughter, seizing the day, respecting the insane, cross-dressing and eating leafy greens. I might have been more touched if he didn’t do that leprechaun voice so much.

Serving Sara
Another great cannibal comedy starring a Friends alumnus, I guess that’s one formula that really can’t go wrong. Matthew Perry carries in his pocket an innate likeability that makes him a natural to play the American-Psycho-next-door at the heart of this crowd-pleaser. Don’t clog up your brain cells worrying about the plot, since the writers sure didn’t, just know that it’ll be worth your eight bucks when that stuck-up heifer Elizabeth Hurley finally gets hers in the last act. And take it from me, you haven’t laughed until you’ve seen a surprised Perry spit a breast implant across the table at his family’s Thanksgiving dinner.

Simone
It’s true: great films have been made on far skimpier premises than a producer’s drunken bar boast that he can make a star out of an inflatable sex doll. And for a while, this one works, making us laugh at Al Pacino’s frantic bumbling attempts to make an A-list movie and recording star out of a polyurethane actress with a BJ mouth. But the comedy turns mean when Pacino’s creation turns out to be a huge success, rubbing our noses in the fact that we’ll pay good money to see any rubber-boobed bimbo who smells hyped and has been seen dining with Harrison Ford. It may be true, but it’s a cheap shot nonetheless.

Undisputed
Look, anyone who can walk on his hands to Kansas wins my respect right away. I don’t care if you make crappy movies, or you can’t act your way out of an airsickness bag. You’re still the man. Keep that in mind when seeing Wesley Snipes’ new popcorn-muncher, a prison male-bonding picture in which Snipes spends way too much time cradled up against Ving Rhames’ big, manly tit. I mean, it could be worse, you know? You could be at dinner theater.

Well folks, that’s the way the shammy shakes, at least this week. Now it’s time to get out there and do your patriotic duty to keep those turnstiles turnstiling. It may not always be fun, but where else can you find such a large, captive audience with which to share your fascinating cell-phone conversations? We’ll be back next time with cakes, cookies and… dare I say movies? Maybe! You’ll just have to check back then if you want to find out.

August 5, 2002
Blood Work, Full Frontal, Love and a Ballet, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio of Disguise, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Diaries, XXX

July 22, 2002
Blue Crush, The Country Bears, Eight Legged Freaks, Halloween: Resuscitation, Signs

Summer Movie Preview Part Two
Austin Powers in Goldmember, The Crocodile Hunter: The Main Course, K-19: The Widowmaker, Like Mike, Men in Black Tubes, Milo & Stitch, Minority Depot, The Powerpuff Girls, Rain of Fire, Road to Perdition, Stuart Little 2

Summer Movie Preview Part One
Bad Company, The Bourne Dentist, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Enough, Harvard Man, The Importance of Being Ernest, Insomnia, Scooby, Don’t!, Spirit: Stallion of the Cinnamon, The Sumbitch on All Fours, Undercover Brother, Windtalkers

April 29, 2002
Murder by Numbnuts, National Lampoon’s Gene Wilder, The Scorpion King, Star Wars 2: Attack of the Blondes, Band-its, Life is in tha House, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Original Sink, The Has-Beens, Ali McBeal, FIFA World Cup Soccer, Chessmaster 5500

April 1, 2002
All About the Berenstains, Ice Age, Mentident Evil, Picnic Room, Pig Trouble, Joy Ride, K-PAX, Sexy Bees