CINEMANIA:

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004, USA, Danny Liefer) AKA Dude, Where’s My Bong?

Okay, so you wanna know about this movie about a couple of stoners? First, I’d recommend that you take a look at the title. The film’s all about Harold. And Kumar. And their going to White Castle. And it is one helluva mess of a movie. Fortunately, it is one helluva funny one, too.

John Cho, who is terrific in Better Luck Tomorrow, but almost certainly better known for his participation in the American Pie films, is perfectly cast as the uptight, nerdy investment banker Harold, put upon and taken advantage of by his (Caucasian) colleagues.

Going the Distance (2004, USA, Mark Griffiths) AKA It’s a Bland, Dull, Dumb Movie

Ugh. Okay, before I begin to bury it, allow me to offer up a few words of praise for the banality that is Going to Distance. In a film of such dubious merits, I reckon we have to be thankful for such small mercies as these.

Going the Distance, which is shot on Vancouver Island, B.C., is also actually set in Canada, and makes reference to Tofino and Toronto, Montreal and Newfoundland.

The Grapes of Wrath (1940, USA, John Ford) AKA Okie Doke

Like a grand Biblical epic, John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath documents the massive Depression-era exodus of Oklahoma farmers as they led their families from the devastation of the dust bowl to the illusory promise of prosperity in a Californian Eden.

The Bourne Supremacy (2004, USA, Paul Greengrass) AKA Baby We Were Bourne to Run

Finally! A 2004 release that has a little faith in its audience. Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is back, and he’s just as angry, confused and determined as he was in the series original, based on Robert Ludlum’s novel The Bourne Identity. In this edition, Bourne begins life anew incognito with his girlfriend (Frankie Potente) in India, but his troubles have not been left completely behind.

Out of the Darkened Corners of the Vault

Escape from New York (1981, USA, John Carpenter) AKA Blade Gunner

A favourite of every auterist (at one time or another he has written, directed, scored, acted in and even edited his own work) and horror film lover in the 70s and 80s, John Carpenter has fallen on hard times of late, failing to produce films that enjoy either popular or critical success.