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Review by Vives Anunciacion Inquirer Libre May 30, 2005 House of Wax Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra Written by Chad Hayes, Carey W. Hayes Starring Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Paris Hilton R13/ 113 minutes Warner Brothers/ Village Roadshow/ Dark Castle Now showing Paris Hilton seduces her boyfriend in a scene that would remind some people of her celebrated video scandal. That might have been an inside joke for the filmmakers to include such a scene, but it’s those small incidents in the movie which may leave audiences of House of Wax with a bad aftertaste. Like many recent Hollywood releases, House of Wax is a re-”imagining” of an old classic – this time the 1953 thriller by Andrè de Toth starring horror movie legend Vincent Price. The new movie has little similarity with the original, which was one of the first successful 3D movies produced by a studio (Warner Brothers.) The new version is the usual teen slasher movie, except that it has more than the usual serving of dismemb...

Review by Vives Anunciacion May 18, 2005 Inquirer Libre Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Written and Directed by George Lucas Starring Hayden Christensen, Ewan Mc Gregor, Ian McDiarmid General Patronage/ 140 minutes Twentieth Century Fox/ Lucas Films Opens May 19 Forget the disasters that were Episodes I and II. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith reinstalls the space saga George Lucas began nearly thirty years ago, and this one is worthy of the hype. A long time ago Star Wars was the first movie I saw as a kid, as far as my memory can recall. I remember sitting on my father’s shoulders in the standing-room only theater in Ali Mall. I recall being awed, struck by lightning as John Williams’ music thundered and the titles of Episode IV: A New Hope crawled. The magic is back with Episode III. The Force is strong on the dark side As all Star Wars movies open, Revenge of the Sith begins in space with two starfighters speeding towards a huge battle above Coruscant, capital ...

Review by Vives Anunciacion Kingdom of Heaven Directed by Ridley Scott Written by William Monahan Starring Orlando Bloom, Eva Green PG 13/ 145 minutes Twentieth Century Fox Jerusalem's name, according to dictionary.com, is in the original in its dual form - it both means “possession of peace” and “foundation of peace”. It is a “mountain city enthroned on a mountain fastness.” Throughout history as it is today, Jerusalem was and remains a city of endless conflict. Some cosmic irony lost the city's name in the translation. A short historical note: as far back as 4000 BC Jerusalem was occupied by foreigners and was ruled by Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Crusaders, Turks and formerly by Great Britain under a mandate of the League of Nations. Israel took control of the city in 1967. It was Pope Urban II's proclamation to wage a “war of the Cross” against the Muslim Turks occupying Jerusalem that started the Crusades in the year 1095. Back to the movie. Sometime the 12th cent...

Review by Vives Anunciacion For Sonny Evangelista, who would have enjoyed commenting on this film The Interpreter Directed by Sydney Pollack Written by Martin Stellman, Brian Ward, Charles Randolph, Steven Zallian, Scott Frank Starring Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn PG 13/ Opens April 22 Universal Pictures/ Working Title/ Misher Films Sidney Pollack, bless this director who barely makes movies nowadays, he makes this one like the thrillers of old. No nonsense storytelling, with an assured pace and confident flow sans the fanfare. Set mostly in the halls of the United Nations headquarters in New York, The Interpreter has just enough suspense for a thriller, but more importantly, puts the politics back in political thrillers. Nicole Kidman plays Silvia Broome, a South African native working as interpreter for the United Nations. One night inside the UN, she overhears a whispered conversation apparently plotting the assassination of Edmond Zuwanie (Earl Cameron), dictator of the (fictional) Afr...