Jun 24, 2005 3:40 pm US/Central
Heights; Land of the Dead
(CBS 2)
We're sort of between blockbusters in the summer movie season, but stars like Glenn Close, Hillary Duff and Christian Slater are in films that are opening today or have recently arrived in Chicago area theaters.
Glenn Close plays an actress not unlike Glenn Close in "Heights," one of those smart, if sometimes self-conscious, movies about artistic New York types. The real find here is Elizabeth Banks. She played Jeff Bridges' wife in "Seabiscuit," and she really shines here as Isabel, an aspiring photographer engaged to James Marsden. "The Heights" is rated R. See It!
Also opening today is "Land of the Dead" from George Romero, who's the Orson Welles of zombie movies. There's some good campy bloody fun here, with Dennis Hopper as a Trumpian businessman who operates a utopian towered community, even as the zombies are frothing at the gates. But we've seen this zombie schtick before. "Land of the Dead" is rated R. You can wait to Rent It.
In "The Perfect Man," Hillary Duff does a 21st century Sandra Dee, going from smile to pout to smile as Holly Hamilton. This Web-logging teen has become an expert at moving from town to town every time her single mother is dumped by the latest loser she's been dating. The desperate housewife of a mom is played by Heather Locklear. Right, because she'd have trouble meeting men. "The Perfect Man" is rated PG. Skip It.
Also playing in area theaters: "The Deal," a needlessly complicated thriller starring Christian Slater as a Wall Street hotshot and Selma Blair as his young protégé. "The Deal" is set in a near future in which America is at war with oil-rich Arab countries, and prices at the pump have hit the $6 mark. And still, we won't give up our SUVs! "The Deal" is rated R. You can wait to Rent It.
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc., All Rights Reserved.)
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