ORIGINAL KINGS OF COMEDY, THE (R)

Spike Lee directed this live concert featuring comedians Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer and Bernie Mac. The humor runs the gamut, but the intended audience seemed to enjoy most of the jokes, which richly deserved the R-rating the film received. (Paramount)

BOOK OF SHADOWS: BLAIR WITCH 2 (R)

Except for the lame dialogue, I liked this sequel much better than the first film. I was never a fan of “The Blair Witch,” and took a lot of flack for it when the film went on to become a phenomenon. I wasn’t thrilled about the sequel until I learned that director Joe Berlinger was behind the camera. The award-winning director of several disturbing documentaries seemed like the perfect choice to bring some sense and style to the Blair Witch franchise. Berlinger creates a stunning and disturbing film that plays off the paranoia created in the first film. I especially liked the cast in “Book of Shadows,” who seemed more in tune with the freaky nature of their situation than the first trio of victims. Jeffrey Donovan makes an excellent protagonist, a former mental patient named Jeff who runs local Blair Witch tours. His latest tour includes Grad students Tristen (Tristen Skylar) and Stephen (Stephen Barker Turner), plus practicing witch Erica (Erica Leerhsen) and Goth chic Kim (Kim Director). Like those poor folks on “Gilligan’s Island,” their three hour tour turns into an never-ending nightmare. Camping out at the site where the original murders took place, the tour members start to lose it. I really admired Kim Director, whose Goth character seemed completely at home in this film. The film didn’t do nearly as well at the box-office, but should clean up on video. It’s just as good and in some cases better than the first film. (Artisan)

ORIGINAL QUEENS OF COMEDY, THE (R)

Companion piece to the theatrical “The Original Kings of Comedy” features Mo’Nique Imes, Sommore, Adele Givens and Laura Hayes. This equally vulgar live concert was shot for and shown on the Showtime cable network. (Paramount)

WATCHER, THE (R)

“The Watcher” is the cinematic equivalent of going to a moderately-priced restaurant, ordering a decent meal, only to have it just lie there on your plate. You’re not expecting haute cuisine, but you do expect your meal to have some flavor. Instead, it’s blander than Brittany Spears. Serial Killer movies have become such a Hollywood staple that they probably have their own section at Blockbuster. Ever since “Silence of the Lambs” walked off with Best Picture, Hollywood has been pumping out serial killer thrillers faster than they can come up with scripts. Perhaps that explains why so many of them sound and look alike. The genre has become so generic that it’s hard to take it seriously anymore. Either directors go to the extreme, like in the recent film “The Cell,” or they take a more conventional approach, like “The Watcher.” Please click title for complete review. (Universal)

ALSO NEW THIS WEEK:

CODE NAME: JAGUAR

OPERATIVE, THE (R/Studio)

WONDERLAND (R/Universal)

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 10th, 2001 at 4:43 am and is filed under Film Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.