The Day After Tomorrow

Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5)
Director: Roland Emmerich
Running time: 124 minutes
Language: English
Opens June 5
[See Japan Times movie listings]


Stership Troopers 2

Rating: * * * (out of 5)
Director: Phil Tippett
Running time: 92 minutes
Language: English
Opens June 12
[See Japan Times movie listings]

Hollywood works in deep and mysterious ways. I mean, who exactly do they think is the audience for a remake of "The Six Million Dollar Man" starring Jim Carrey? But some days the industry's thinking is positively inscrutable. Just consider "The Day After Tomorrow," this summer's first kazillion-dollar event movie, which offers up for our entertainment . . . the complete and utter destruction of New York City.

Hold up. Wasn't it mere months ago that the industry was wringing its hands over how sensitive audiences had become after bin Laden's little show-stopper at the World Trade Center? Audiences were supposedly so traumatized that they couldn't even bear to see an intact NYC, which led to delayed releases for films like "Spider-Man" as the Twin Towers were digitally erased from every frame.

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