ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
This superfluous sequel to 1998's "Elizabeth" restores Cate Blanchett to the throne of England. This time around, Queen Bess faces an invasion from Spain. Cate Blanchett's regal bombast energizes the film -- at one point she upstages an entire battlefield -- but Clive Owen is bland as a block as the requisite love interest, and the movie itself feels obscenely overproduced. I kept wondering how Blanchett kept her twig-like neck from snapping under the weight of those enormous wigs; uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, I guess. -- A.J. Fox
THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB
Five lonely women and one gorgeous hunk gather to discuss Jane Austen in this charming tale of love and literature from director Robin Swicord. Each club member bears a host of romantic neuroses (my favorite was Emily Blunt's sexually repressed French teacher), yet the characters feel organic, not contrived. "The Jane Austen Book Club" has all the effervescent charm of an Austen novel, but its complicated web of love and sex is positively Shakespearean: think "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for the So-Cal set. -- A.J. Fox
2 DAYS IN PARIS
Jack (Adam Goldberg) and Marion (Julie Delpy) are hapless lovers on a European vacation in this delightfully acidic romantic comedy. After a disastrous week in Venice, the couple decides to recover in Paris at the home of Marion's parents, sort of a "Meet the Fockers" pair with a French twist. Everything that can go wrong does, especially when Marion's ex-boyfriends keep popping up. "2 Days in Paris" is a scathing portrait of the male ego, but it's also tremendous fun. Goldberg's performance is one of the year's best. -- A.J. Fox
