“X-Men: The Last Stand”* 1/2 |The weakest of the three “X” episodes goes too talky and too silly at the same time. The government offers a “cure” for mutant human genes, and both sides of the “X” battle must choose a future. Promising plot, but tired writing makes it seem like a junior varsity version of the first two. Halle Berry gets a bigger role for Storm, but still can’t carry the action. Ian McKellen spends far too much time in his goofy Magneto roller-derby helmet.| PG-13|100 minutes|Released today|Michael Booth
“Thank You For Smoking” ** 1/2 |Christopher Buckley’s hilarious sendup of American contradictions loses some bite in the translation to film. Aaron Eckhart plays Nick Naylor, the world’s smoothest talker, and well he should be, as he’s the chief spokesman for the tobacco industry. The movie promises to explore the mixed morality of doing your job well in defense of the indefensible, but winds up delivering shallower comments on politics and family. The comic pacing and editing are atrocious, damaging otherwise respectable material.| R|92 minutes|Released today|Michael Booth
“Edmond”** |Edmond, you see, is a prosperous, middle- class city dweller who one night all of a sudden decides he hates his wife, becomes a racist and a homophobe, and hurts some people real bad. This is either the result of an impromptu stop at a tarot card den on the way home from the office or being informed by his spouse that the maid broke a lamp. And yes, I get it. Edmond is supposed to be going crazy. And he probably shouldn’t even be thought of as a real person, but rather a manifestation of all the suppressed hatred and violence civilized American white guys must carry around inside them.| R|88 minutes|Released today|Bob Strauss, Los Angeles Daily News
“The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift”*** |”Tokyo Drift,” directed with revving, swerving awareness by Justin Lin, stars the twangy, appealing Lucas Black as Sean. A wild race in an uninhabited cookie- cutter subdivision gets this rebel without a clean driving record sent to Dad in Japan. There he meets Neela, Twinkie and Han (played with magnetic calm by Sung Kang). He also makes a nemesis of D.K., reigning king of the drift, the high-speed hard turn made by the timely manipulation of the clutch and the emergency brake. Sounds technical? Nah. What it really is: silly summer fluff with some winking cultural critique topping off its tank. |PG-13|105 minutes|Released today|Lisa Kennedy
TV ON DVD
“Daniel Boone: Seasons 1 and 2” | Season One episodes and all 30 of Season Two’s. Parker stars as pioneer Boone as he and his family carve out a life in frontier Kentucky. DVD extras include recent cast interviews.|$49.98| Released Sept. 26|David Germain, Associated Press
OTHER RELEASES | These DVDs available today
Abominable
American Blackout
Avenger
Body Double Special Edition
Bugsy
Calvaire
Changing Times
Chiefs
Glass House: The Good Mother
Hail Mary
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Locked ‘N Loaded Edition
Monty Python and the Holy Grail: The Extraordinarily Deluxe Edition
The Norliss Tapes
Point Break Pure Adrenaline Edition
Return to the Planet of the Apes
Scarface Platinum Edition
Stargate SG-1: Season 9
The True Legend of the
Eiffel Tower
Voodoo Moon
The Woods
X-Men Trilogy Pack
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