APRIL
Ice Age 2 became a huge hit for animated sequels, helping to add to the glut
of kid's films this year. It actually became the best-selling CGI cartoon of
the year, even trumping Pixar's Cars.
TV presenters Ant and Dec also tried their hand at film with Alien Autopsy,
an amiable comedy about two lads trying to remake a real extra-terrestrial
autopsy tape they saw. The film wasn't bad, just undercooked, mostly
surviving through Ant and Dec's dependable chemistry together.
Lindsay Lohan became more famous for her hedonism in 2006 than her film
output, which is a shame because the star quality she showed in Freaky
Friday and Mean Girls is fast dissipating as a result. One misjudged turkey
she did release was Just My Luck, a trite comedy about luck that is most
notable for co-starring McFly!
Cabin Fever's Eli Roth returned with another horror smash, the glib and
torturous Hostel. There's no denying Roth has some talent with this kind of
stuff, but Hostel wasn't anywhere near as gruelling and x-rated as it hyped.
Still not for kids, though!
On the opposite side of the scary spectrum came Scary Movie 4, another
unwanted sequel to the poor original. What makes this sadder is how much
once-great talent is involved -– Leslie Nielsen and director David Zucker
worked on Airplane together, so what went wrong guys?
United 93 caused a stir for being the first mainstream movie based on the
events of September 11 2001. British director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne
Supremacy) took charge of an incredibly emotional and effective portrayal of
United 93, the plane where the terrorists were apparently overpowered by the
passengers. While many debated the sensitivity of the movie's release, most
were satisfied that the movie didn't glorify the tragedy and deserved its
release.
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