TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

New On Video

ADVERTISEMENT

By The Tampa Tribune | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 3, 2008

RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION

Just when you thought you were caught up on all of your important cultural milestones — back issues of The New Yorker, etc. — a new installment of the "Resident Evil" series arrives. Billed as the third and final in the video-game inspired franchise about zombies and a butt-kicking superhuman Milla Jovovich, this outing also features Ali Larter of "Heroes"; two hot chicks with limited range for the price of one!

R; 95 minutes

SHOOT 'EM UP

With Clive Owen as a baby-saving tough guy, Paul Giamatti as the most over-the-top villain this side of Snidely Whiplash and Monica Bellucci as a lactating prostitute, you know you're in Tarantino-esque territory long before the manic gun battles and wink, wink one-liners start flying. The spastic, self-referential mood may be a bit much for some, but fans of the genre likely won't mind the style-over-substance approach.

R; 86 minutes

THE TUDORS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who has made a career out of playing smarmy schemers (see also "Match Point"), plays a young, pre-paunch Henry VIII in this lavish Showtime series, which takes a distinctly less starchy (read: more sex) approach to history than, say, Masterpiece Theatre. Also on board — and wearing more clothes than the young king — are Sam Neill as Cardinal Wolsey and Jeremy Northam as Sir Thomas More.

Not rated; 556 minutes

WAR

In some circles, the pairing of stoic action icons Jet Li and Jason Statham will be met with almost as much excitement as the De Niro/Pacino face-off in "Heat." The story has something to do with a legendary assassin called Rogue (Li) and the FBI agent (Statham) obsessed with bringing him down. Unfortunately, they don't spend the whole movie in hand-to-hand combat, leaving too much time for the cliché-ridden plot to unfold.

R; 103 minutes

SEPTEMBER DAWN

This is not the movie to change your mind about Jon Voight. Angelina's Dad plays a Mormon bishop with many wives in this pseudo-Western, apparently "inspired by" a real 1857 event known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre, in which a small Mormon militia killed 120 settlers. Rounding out the religious leadership is Terence Stamp as a rather unlikely Brigham Young.

R; 110 minutes

BILLY JACK

How's this for high-concept, in a 1960s countercultural way? A half-Indian, half-white ex-Green Beret (Tom Laughlin, also the writer and co-director) finds himself torn between two worlds. Although he hates violence, he is of course very efficient at using it to protect wild horses; a "freedom school" promoting peace, love and crafts; and various damsels in distress. That's right: an anti-establishment movie with a karate-chopping vigilante as hero.

PG; 104 minutes

Synopses by Amanda Henry; ratings from The Associated Press

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT