Movies: Quick reviews from my Houston, Texas vacation

Houston is a fine place to live and work, but honestly, it's not such an exciting place to visit. Maybe I'm spoiled after living in South Florida all my life, but it just seems like it's a struggle finding something to do every time I go over to visit my relatives in Houston. I ended up watching three movies currently in theatres...

Eragon - An adaptation of a popular young adult fantasy novel, it's one part "Lord of the Rings" and one part "Dragonheart," except instead of cool Sean Connery as the dragon we get listless Rachel Weisz. Mostly hammy acting and a mediocre-to-awful plot are mitigated briefly by a neat final battle against a flying smoke monster. 5/10

Night at the Museum - A "stuff comes to life" comedy in the proud tradition of "Mannequin" and "The Indian in the Cupboard." Your tolerance for this movie probably depends on how much you like Ben Stiller and his antics. It's better than I expected, but it still has a slightly mashed-together feel, as if all the editors decided to smoke cigars and go to Australia before finishing the movie. 6/10

Curse of the Golden Flowers - Yet another Chinese historical drama with some kung-fu thrown in, from the same guy that brought you "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers." Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat really chew the scenery, and the production design is suitably sumptuous, but the movie ultimately feels stupid and shallow. 5/10