Opening Films

by Inlander Staff & r & & r & Annapolis -- James Franco, fresh on the heels of playing a piece of petrified wood (aka the Arthurian hero Tristan), seems to be playing another hard, lifeless substance, this time one that poses as an underclassmen at the US Naval Academy. Tyrese Gibson, in the part he was born to play, is a rough-and-tumble (though physically perfect) drill sergeant who may or may not have a heart of gold. Rated PG-13





Big Mama's House 2 -- Before we learned he was reprising his role in the first Big Mama's House, then seeing a trailer recycling the same situations, sexual follies and fat jokes, we didn't think we could hate Martin Lawrence any more than we already did. We were very, very wrong. Rated PG-13





The Matador -- Pierce Brosnan has gotten typecast big-time post-Bond. Luckily he's always found films with an interesting angle on the man-of-intrigue thing. Tailor of Panama was a good example. The Matador looks to be as well. Brosnan is an aging assassin who helps an out-of-sorts everyman (Greg Kinnear) get a job he really needs by killing off the other applicants. But then Brosnan blows a different hit, and suddenly he needs a favor of his own. Rated R





Nanny McPhee -- Emma Thompson gets ultra-ugly while Colin Firth stays super-repressed and painfully British in the precocious Nanny McPhee. Humans are comparing this to Mary Poppins -- and not just that dullard Gene Shalit. Rated PG