Who woulda thunk it? The Grinch maintained his stranglehold on the box office for the fourth straight week. Personally, I didn’t have much hope for Proof of Life or Dungeons & Dragons, but I thought the ad campaign for Vertical Limit would put more butts in the seats. Mine included. I flaked out and missed it. Mixed reviews from friends had me questioning whether I’d catch it next weekend. Then I got this review from Woodge...

"I know I said that I was more inclined to see Dungeons & Dragons before Proof of Life, but I’ve changed my mind. The negative buzz on D&D has soured me on seeing it. Meanwhile, I’ve heard some good words about Proof of Life, so I may check that out tonight. Anyway, over the weekend I caught Vertical Limit. My review follows: "When brash billionaire Elliot Vaughn (Bill Paxton) attempts to climb K2, a perilous peak second in height only to Everest in the Himalayas, he and two of his team members become trapped in a crevasse at 26,000 feet. One of the team members is veteran climber Annie Garrett (Robin Tunney), so her brother Peter (Chris O’Donnell) hastily assembles a rescue team from the hangers-on at base camp. Leading the team of six in a race against time is a grizzled loony named Montgomery Wick (Scott Glenn), who has a reputation as a fast climber. Also on the team are two wise-cracking hippie brothers and a money-motivated nurse (Izabella Scorupco), all veteran climbers. They take along some unstable nitro to help them blast their way to Vaughn’s team. "Vertical Limit delivers a number of visually dramatic thrills. The opening sequence in Utah is tense and eye-popping, a promise of much more to come. That promise manifests itself in the form of avalanches, explosions, and some truly exciting close calls while hanging from ropes, rocky ledges, and helicopters. Vertical Limit is a fun disaster flick in the same spirit as some of the disaster flicks of yesteryear, such as The Towering Inferno or The Poseidon Adventure, in which a hardy band of people try to overcome death-defying odds...and, naturally, some live and some die. Some of the action sequences in Vertical Limit linger in your mind days after you’ve seen them. I suppose you could compare this flick to Cliffhanger for the shared mountain-climbing backdrop. But while I enjoyed Cliffhanger, I feel that Vertical Limit didn’t try for the same degree of outlandish stunts...and doesn’t have Sly Stallone chewing the scenery with his intense mumbling. The actors in Vertical Limit are more believable and likable. This movie lives up to its eye-catching ad campaign." -- Woodge

So maybe I will catch Vertical Limit after all. Anyone else want to encourage folks to see the rock-climbing flick? Want to tell folks they should avoid it like the plague? Send in your review of this or any of the other movies currently in theaters.

Sadly, it was an extremely slow weekend for e-mail. Woodge’s review just made my deadline, or today’s edition of Civilian Voices would be civilianless. Rumor has it there may have been some trouble with the Turner server. I hope that’s the case. I don’t want to have to drag out that ugly clown to force you people to start writing me again. Remember, the holiday season is upon us. And what better gift to give this year than a piece of your mind. There are many big movies coming out over the next few weeks. Let everyone know which ones are worth seeing and which ones are a waste of time. As the year comes to a close, we should also take time to revisit our Best and Worst lists. Also, has anyone out there caught the new Tomb Raider trailer? Any thoughts? Send me an e-mail, won’t you?

And you should all be patting yourselves on the back. Roughcut.com was just named one of the Top 100 Movie News and Gossip sites by Yahoo! Internet Life. Those of you who have contributed to Civilian Voices have, in a way, just won a major award! Keep up the good work!

 

 

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