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The late Johnny Cash, who died in September 2003 only four months after his beloved wife June Carter, was or rather is one the most revered artists of our time. He shares after all a spot in the music hall of fame with the likes of Elvis Presley or Jerry Lee Lewis (a.k.a. ‘The Killer’). Big John Cash came out of Arkansas’ cotton fields to become one of the great American artists of the 20th century and he is bound to influence and inspire generations to come. This year’s Walk the Line tells the story of a man who became a legend, a true American icon.Through an awful lumber mill accident that killed Johnny’s brother Jack, to the gig in Folsom Prison in 1968 and the marriage to the love of his life June Carter (Reese Whitherspoon), we are introduced to a man who loved his black suits, had a message to get across but unfortunately also had a minor drug addiction. In the end, however, he truly walked the line.

Walk the Line is an excellent movie. Whether it is this year’s Ray, however, is another question. Ray was heavy on drama and had Jamie Foxx who gave an amazing performance. Writer/director James Mangold’s Johnny Cash biopic (named after one of Cash’s most famous songs) on the other hand seems to be more concerned with telling the story of an utterly heartwarming romance between the two leads rather than plunging into the depths of the complexity of its main character. But Mangold just hit the right tone with this power chord. Walk the Line is driven by a killer soundtrack and its cast Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator, The Village) and Reese Whitherspoon (Cruel Intentions and some movie with her being legally blonde or something), who turn in the performance of their lifetime. While Foxx lip-synched to Ray Charles’ unique sound and voice, Mangold took the riskier option of having his stars providing the vocals. And even though there is nothing like the real deal, his gamble pays off handsomely. We would love to see the leads holding golden statuettes come March, even though Joaquin Phoenix has got heavy competition in the form of Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote). Whitherspoon’s near future, on the contrary, looks promising. We keep our fingers crossed. (3 out of 4 rings of fire)

Walk the Line is rated PG-13 for drug abuse (prescription drugs that is).

See Dick Run.

Meet the Harpers. They live in a big house in suburban LA, are about to get a hot tub set up in their back garden, have a cute kid by the name of Billy, a dog and a Mexican cleaning lady. Jane (Tea Leoni) works at a travel agency but Dick (Jim Carrey) who works at Globodyne (basically an Enron-like corporation) brings home the big bucks. When Dick is made VP (Vice President) of Globodyne, Jane quits her job and plans refurbishing their entire home. Unfortunately, though, Dick learns in a live TV show that he has been set up by Globodyne’s CEO Jack McCallister (Alec Baldwin) and made the scapegoat for the company’s bankruptcy. Soon the Harper’s learn that getting a job when you desperately need one has a lot in common with the bull races in Pamplona, that your lawn can indeed be repossessed and that you can pay your Mexican cleaning lady in household appliances. So much for the American Dream and that hot tub.

This comic redo of the 1977 original starring Jane Fonda and George Segal is unfortunately disappointing. Even though Jim Carrey’s rubber face gets its fair share of laughs some other things simply don’t. The disasters like Enron or Worldcom that struck corporate America still stick with people’s minds and may not yet be ready to be made fun of. When Jane Harper proposes to get up early in order to eat at the local soup kitchen, we are inevitably reminded of those whose lives were not graced with a happy end. Fortunately, the movie does not stop there and takes things to a level of absolute absurdity and emphasizes its comic and benevolent caricature-esque nature. The cast does a relatively good job even though it is notoriously difficult to star opposite Jim Carrey. Previous flicks have shown us that he is quite the scene-stealer and he is nearly ubiquitous in this one, which is either a good or a bad thing depending on your taste. There is however one hilarious elevator scene in which Carrey gives us his interpretation of the song ‘I Believe I Can Fly’. It’s great but not enough though to save this mediocre rehash.

Fun with Dick and Jane is rated PG-13. Dick waves a gun around several times.

Hundreds of years ago Alexander Corvinus (Derek Jacobi) gave ‘birth’ to twin brothers, Marcus (Tony Curran) the very first vampire and his nemesis William the very first lycan (a werewolf-like creature). Over the centuries a terrible war has raged between vampires and lycans with no end in sight. Underworld: Evolution immediately picks up where the original left us a couple of years ago. Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is hunted down by Marcus who is on a quest to free his imprisoned brother and create the ultimate race. Since Selene’s family has built Marcus’s prison but also has been killed by treacherous vampire Victor in part one, Selene is the last one to know Marcus’s whereabouts. In the end, it all comes down to the inevitable and rather gory showdown that already prepares the way for the franchise’s third (and final?) installment.

2003’s sleeper hit Underworld had everything Gothic fans could wish for. This second chapter is very similar in tone but even though the budget seems to have been bigger this time around it didn’t work in favor for the plot nor the acting. Kate Beckinsale (who by the way was nominated sixth most boring person in her college) still does an okay job and director Len Wiseman (who’s also Beckinsale’s hubby) makes sure that she looks absolutely stunning in each frame, but it is above all the supporting cast’s performances which have too much in common with a fifth-grade school play. However, this kind of movie is usually not rated in terms of its acting but rather in terms of its action, suspense and gore. Now even tough the latter comes in gallons and action-fans will be served their share of guts, bullets and slow-mo, the slaying of lycans, über-vampires &co. becomes really repetitive and predictable. And then there is the annoying use of computer animated blood and the tiring unoriginality of the battle and death scenes. If you thought that the bodacious Beckinsale kicking ass in a little shiny black jumpsuit and a sex scene would be enough to make this an instant classic, think again.
P.S. Be reassured, we won’t judge you if you see the movie nonetheless. (1.5 out of 4 bloodsuckers)

Underworld: Evolution is rated R for virtually enhanced blood and gore, medically enhanced boobs and fucks (that is as an utterance as well as an action).