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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Cut-ups galore in Barbershop 2



 (The Spokesman-Review)

“Barbershop 2: Back in Business”

•••

Everyone returns as Calvin’s (Ice Cube) barbershop is threatened by a local entrepreneur (Harry Lennix). The spotlight, though, is on Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer), whose specialty is nonpolitically correct riffs. While comments targeting Michael Jackson and Mike Tyson, or those calling the D.C. sniper “the Jackie Robinson of crime” are less controversial than in the 2002 film, they are no less funny. (DVD, VHS; 1:28; rated PG-13 for language, sexual material, brief drug references)

“Die Mommy Die”

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Based on his stage play, Charles Busch stars in this drag-queen campy mystery about an ex-singer named Angela Arden (Busch) who murders her husband (Philip Baker Hall) and romances a young stranger (Jason Priestly). Not as farcical as it should be, “Die Mommy Die” is still a scream whenever Busch is on the screen. (DVD, VHS; 1:30; rated R for strong sexual content, language, a drug scene)

“The Perfect Score”

••1/2

Pressured to do well on the SATs, seven high school seniors plan on breaking into the Princeton Testing Center and stealing the scores. The standard cross section of characters – especially the math whiz stoner (Leonardo Nam) – goes through the standard tension building. It doesn’t break 1,000 on the SAT scale, but it does rate community college-level laughs. (DVD, VHS; 1:30; rated PG-13 for language, sexual content, drug references)

“Cold Mountain”

••

Anthony Minghella oversaw this overly long adaptation of Charles Frazier’s National Book Award-winning Civil War novel. Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Renee Zellweger flounder, though Zellweger – who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar – manages to chew up scenery more greedily than a starving lumberjack at a pancake buffet breakfast. (DVD, VHS; 2:35; rated R for violence, sexuality)

1“Mystic River”
2“Along Came Polly”
3“Monster”
4“Eurotrip”
5“Paycheck”
6“Welcome to Mooseport”
7“Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
SOURCE: www.billboard.com