Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events: *** We sincerely regret to inform you that, despite the overacting of Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep, the children’s books have been successfully transformed into an appropriately horrifying entertainment – a word that here means “diversion’ or “amusement.’ Snicket’s uniquely dark and pessimistic voice has largely been preserved here, although dedicated Snicketoids might detect a distressing hint of Hollywood sunshine. The three children, played by Emily Browning, Liam Aiken and twins Kara and Shelby Hoffman, are just right even when their silly elders are too busy chewing scenery. PG; 97 minutes. (Michael Booth)
Blade: Trinity *** The third “Blade’ is a campy, vampy romp, with caustic sarcasm from Ryan Reynolds and former art-house princess Parker Posey making it all hum along. Kris Kristofferson plays the old man who makes cool weapons for Blade. Various women come and go. This time, the vampires use their losing record against Blade to land the No.1 draft pick, and they choose, who else, the original Dracula (6 foot 1, Transylvania State, Early Childhood Education). The Fab Fangs are led by Dominic Pursell as “Drake,’ who has major pecs instead of bat wings. R; 100 minutes (Michael Booth)
Undertow *** 1/2 The two boys live in a rural area of Georgia with their father. The older, Chris, is quietly building a reputation as a troublemaker; the younger, Tim, is an odd kid who eats mud and paint and explains he is “organizing my books by the way they smell.’ Their father, John, mourns his dead wife and keeps his boys isolated. Then Deel, John’s brother, arrives, fresh out of prison and harboring resentment. Deel and John’s father had a horde of Mexican gold coins with a legend attached to them. Deel believes he should have inherited half the coins. The bad feeling comes to a head, and the boys run away from home. R; 107 minutes (Roger Ebert)
