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1/2 From the opening scenes of "Cabin Fever, it is obvious that writer-director is both a student and a fan of old-school horror films-the kinds that used to be made before they all began to follow the ironic, post-modern template of "Scream" and its ilk. He gathers five archetypal characters-the nerdy good guy (Rider Strong), the hottie platonic pal (Jordan Ladd), the self-centered jerk (Joey Kern), the frequently naked slut (Cerina Vincent) and the comic-relief stoner (James DeBello)-and places them in an isolated location (the ever-popular cabin in the woods) for a weekend that will be interrupted by unimaginable terror and bloodshed. This time, instead of a machete-wielding killer or Sumerian demons, the deadly outside force is a nasty flesh-eating virus that causes bodies to dissolve before you can say "Jack Robinson". After one of the group is infected, the others try to get help while avoiding exposure themselves, inevitably leading to paranoid behavior and inadvertent exposure-both with messy results. (One memorable moment involves a leg-shaving scene that goes horribly, gruesomely wrong.)

This is a great set-up and for the first half, Roth pulls the material off with a lot of style, wit and genuinely squirm-inducing moments. However, just because he is a student of old horror films doesn’t mean that he learned anything because, like so many movies before it, "Cabin Fever" just goes all to hell in the second half. Just at the point where the tension should be building to unbearable levels, Roth screws things up with unnecessary additional characters, ham-fisted surreal humor (perhaps an homage to mentor/uncredited executive producer David Lynch) and a reliance on cheesy gore instead of suspense. I might not have minded this turn for the worse as much (especially the nonsense involving a dopey cop) if the earlier scenes hadn’t been so strong and effective. Clearly, Roth has the skills to make an interesting film and I eagerly await seeing his next work to see if it lives up to the promise he shows here. However, despite the strength of the opening scenes, I can’t quite recommend "Cabin Fever" to anyone other than the most dedicated of horror fans.

1/2 In "Matchstick Men," Nicolas Cage plays Roy, a tic-addled obsessive-compulsive who tries to make a semi-honest living as a con artist with shifty partner Frank (Sam Rockwell). (They have a scam going where they beat a dupe out of money, then pose as Feds investigating the crime in order to score even more money from the same poor dopes.) Already hobbled by his various neuroses (which allow him to eat only tuna fish straight from the can), Roy’s life is further complicated when a visit to a new psychiatrist (Bruce Altman) inspires him to look for the 14-year-old daughter he never knew he had. The girl, Angela (Alison Lohman), pops up at his door, settles in and eventually wants to be taught the family business. At first, Roy refuses ("Crime does pay-just not very well.") but soon finds himself forced to use her as a part of a large-scale con job that, inevitably, goes horribly wrong as the film spirals off into (yawn) another series of double-crosses where nothing is as it seems.

After the dark material and immense technical complications of "Gladiator", "Hannibal" and "Black Hawk Down", it is easy to understand why Ridley Scott would want to follow those films with something much lighter and simpler. However, Scott doesn’t really have what one would consider to be a light touch (his funniest film, not counting the sight of Tom Cruise as a fairy in "Legend", is probably "Thelma & Louise" and that wasn’t exactly a barrel of laughs either) and his fussy visual touch always seems at odds with the material, which would have been more effective if it had be shot in a more conventional manner. Speaking of "odds", Cage turns in a goofy, manic performance that is superficially amusing, though disappointing coming on the heels of his sublime work in "Adaptation". As for the others, Rockwell, is pretty much wasted (though he might have been interesting in the lead) and while Lohman (the one watchable element in the otherwise ungodly "White Oleander") is a gifted actress, the 24-year-old is never remotely convincing playing 14. However, what really sinks the film is the disappointingly predictable screenplay that falls into the same trap that so many twist-filled movies fall into-they spend so much time jerking us around that by a certain point, it is impossible to care about anything going on at all. There are some nice moments here and there but "Matchstick Men" never quite manages to catch fire.

MILLENNIUM ACTRESS

The stunning new film "Millennium Actress" (4 STARS Rated PG) may be an anime (Japanese animation) but those going into it expecting weird monsters, robots and schoolgirls in distressingly tiny miniskirts will be severely disappointed. This is actually a thoughtful, highly emotional epic about a documentary filmmaker who tracks down the reclusive actress Chiyoko Fujiwara to interview her about both her legendary career and her decision to simply disappear at the height of her fame. As she tells her story, the past and the present begin to blur together and as things are revealed, it transpires that the filmmaker and his subject have a closer link than originally anticipated.

To dismiss because it is an animated film is to cause "Millennium Actress" a great disservice-the film is so dramatically and emotionally rich that if it were a live-action film starring Julianne Moore, for example, it would be a lock for every award in sight. And yet, the fact that it is animated adds an extra level to the proceedings-it allows the blending of times to come off effortlessly and it allows director Satoshi Kon (whose previous film was the jaw-dropping "Perfect Blue") to come up with sights and sounds that would be impossible in a live-action film. "Millennium Actress" is only being released for now in a few major cities-if you have a chance to see this masterpiece, do not pass it up under any circumstances.

SO CLOSE

1/2 Although the Hong Kong action genre kind of fell apart after 1997 (when legends like John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat) came to America before the country went back to the Chinese), the 2001 release "So Close" is a thrilling return to form. After their parents are murdered in an attempt to steal a super-powerful surveillance system that they invented, a pair of sexy sisters (Zhao Wei and the ultra-gorgeous Shu Qi) go to work as a duo of highly-skilled assassins. (The unforgettable opening feature Shu wreaking astonishing havoc on an entire skyscraper, all to the tune of Burt Bacharach.) Their latest job raises the interest of both the evil bad guy who hired them in the first place (and who now wants them eliminated) and a brilliant cop (Karen Mok) who wants to bring them down. All of this, of course, is merely an excuse for a series of apocalyptic gun battles and martial-arts prowess performed by cute Asian girls in tiny clothes and in giving the audience exactly that, famed action director Cory Yuen succeeds admirably. The film is predictable and the script is pretty goofy ("Daddy is inventing something that will change the course of human history!") but it is never boring and the stuntwork (even the parts obviously tricked out with CGI) is breathtaking. The best special effect, however, is Shu Qi (who worked with Yuen in the entertaining sleeper "The Transporter"), who is stunning to look at and loaded with charisma-like Zhang Ziyi in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", you simply cannot take your eyes off of her when she appears on-screen. Without here, "So Close" is just another shoot-em-up. With her, it is a weird kind of near-masterpiece.

Coming as sort of a corrective to the hagiography of "Dogtown and Z Boys", "Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator" takes a look at the dark underbelly of the California skateboard culture that emerged in the 1980’s. The focus here is on Mark "Gator" Rogowski, one of the original skateboard legends (at one point, he was even more popular than current king Tony Hawk) whose ego and desire for fame caused his fans to eventually turn against him and his increasingly forced image as a would-be rebel. Unable to adjust, Gator quickly went downhill until his fall from grace (involving drugs, bankruptcy, jealousy and a strange religious conversion) resulted in a shocking crime for which he is still serving time in prison. Using a combination of old footage (including a variety of embarrassing 80’s fashions) and current interviews (including some with Gator himself), director Helen Stickler has made a pretty interesting film about the impact both of sudden fame and the just-as-sudden loss of fame as well and even those who have never set foot on a board in their lives may find this to be worth a look.

Copyright © 2003 Peter Sobczynski
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While the views expressed by Peter Sobczynski do not necessarily reflect the views of Criticdoctor.com, the Critic Doctor will occasionally examine Mr. Sobczynski's film reviews to bring forth an honest examination of those views expressed.