Short Subjectives November 18 2000

Opening Friday
BOUNCE (PG-13) Director Don Roos’ (The Opposite of Sex) romantic drama follows Buddy (Ben Affleck), a hot-shot advertising executive who gets a second chance at life thanks to a twist of fate. He falls in love with a single mother (Gwyneth Paltrow) who is struggling to come to terms with her husband’s tragic death. She soon begins to think that Buddy is her second chance at love, only to discover that their meeting wasn’t by accident.
DR. SEUSS’ HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (PG) Dr. Seuss’ holiday classic comes to life in Ron Howard’s live-action feature. Jim Carrey capitalizes on his talent for physical comedy and dead-on facial expressions to take on the role of the Grinch.
JUST LOOKING (NR) “Seinfeld’s” Jason Alexander directs a grating coming-of-age story, set in Queens and the Bronx in 1955, about a 14-year-old’s (Ryan Merriman) resolution to witness a sex act. The coarseness of the comedy would suit a Porky’s imitation, and the period nostalgia has been done better by the likes of Woody Allen and Neil Simon, and the genuine insights come too late to bail out the movie. — CH
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (NR) 1/2 Actually, Pi director Darren Aaronofsky’s follow-up feature only deserves a single for dishing up an old-hat, moralistic diatribe about the dangers of drug addiction, but why pick nits? Solid performances by Jennifer Connely, Ellen Burstyn and Marlon Wayans and genuinely phenomenal camera work and cutting make this story about the woes of 20- and 60-something junkies one of the year’s most impressive outings. — EM
RUGRATS IN PARIS: THE MOVIE (G) In the follow-up to Nickelodeon’s hit animated film, Angelica, Tommy and gang travel to Paris, where they find themselves involved in a number of pint-sized adventures. In the city, a local woman, voiced by Susan Sarandon, plots to trap Chuckie’s widowed father in marriage.
THE 6TH DAY (PG-13) Similar to Total Recall, this sci-fi action flick offers two Arnolds for the price of one. This time, Schwarzenegger is on a mission to reclaim his life from the clone who has taken his place and, in the process, bring the evil scientists who cloned him to justice.Duly Noted
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB The documentary centers on a group of legendary Cuban musicians. Wim Wenders’ film examines the lives and music of the members through interviews and live performances. Nov. 17-22 at GSU’s cinéfest.
CECIL B. DEMENTED (R) 1/2 King of the Lowbrow John Waters returns to his juvie obsessions with drive-ins, rude behavior, smirking sexual innuendo and pretty teens in this tale of an underground legion of indies, the Sprocket Holes, led by Cecil B. DeMented (Stephen Dorff), who kidnaps Hollywood star Honey Whitlock (Melanie Griffith) and forces her to make an anti-industry propaganda film. Waters’ amused disgust with Hollywood’s fetid product (Forrest Gump, Patch Adams and Pauly Shore are all targeted here) is hilariously right-on, but the same homespun sloppiness and anarchy that cripple other Waters productions is also at work. Nov. 10-16 at GSU’s cinéfest. — FF
CENTRAL STATION Dora works at Rio de Janeiro’s central station writing letters for the illiterate people she detests. Through a series of events, she befriends a young boy who just lost his mother in a car accident. Now, she must help him make the journey to find his estranged father. Nov. 17-22 at GSU’s cinéfest.
GIVE ME POWER A black comedy set in violent, crime-ridden Mexico City. Tired of always being the victim, Gabriel, a filmmaker, decides to use his camera to fight thugs and finally get some justice. Director Fernando Sariana introduces the film, which is in Spanish with subtitles. Films at the High, 2000 Latin-American Film Festival, Nov. 17 at 8 p.m., Rich Auditorium.
I’LL LOVE YOU FOREVER...TONIGHT (NR) 1/2 Edgar Michael Bravo’s first feature, a drama about five gay friends weekending in Palm Springs, didn’t look very good in 1992 when this thesis film had a theatrical release, and gay movies (e.g., The Broken Hearts Club) have become much slicker and more mainstream since then. You wouldn’t want to spend a weekend with these characters who will betray each other or anyone else to get what they want, which is usually sex. Nov. 15 at 8 and 10 p.m., GSU’s cinéfest. — SW
LEGACY (NR) Comparable to Hoop Dreams without the hoops, Tod S. Lending’s documentary shows three generations of women in an African-American attempt to escape a Chicago housing project. After the wrenching tragedy of a senseless killing, the film follows the family for five years, and though it withholds important information and at times tells more than it shows, its subject is undeniably worthy. Nov. 18 at 7 p.m., Cinevision. — CH
LITTLE BUDDHA Widely acclaimed for its cinematography, director Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1993 epic is a tale within a tale. While the movie centers on a Tibetan lama who thinks he’s located his reincarnated mentor in a 10-year-old American boy, the film ambitiously delves into the history of Buddhism and its founder, Prince Siddhartha (Keanu Reeves). Nov. 15-18 at 7:30 p.m., 208 White Hall, 480 Kilgo Circle, Emory.
LOVE AND OTHER CRUELTIES The 1992-97 series features eight short films about romances in Germany, which are usually characterized by a sense of melancholy. The shorts are in German with subtitles. Nov. 15 at 7 p.m., Goethe-Institut Atlanta.
MIXER As part of The Contemporary’s exhibition, Mix Tape, this related event features screenings of Stan Brakhage’s film shorts, including “Anticipation of Night,” “Cricket Requiem,” “Mothlight” and more. Shorts by the multimedia group, fascia, and music videos by James Herbert also will show. DJ Gnosis and Scanner will provide music. Nov. 17 from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. at eleven50, 1150 Crescent Ave.
X-MEN (PG-13) 1/2 Breaking the a long run of lamentably lame superhero movies, the big-screen version of Marvel’s best-loved book pits misunderstood mutant heroes against their own kind, with humanity caught in the middle. Splashy effects, flashy fights and a slam-bang performance by Ian McKellen as metal-bending master criminal Magneto make this one of the most successful comics adaptations of recent years. It ain’t Citizen Kane, but it ain’t Tank Girl, either. Nov. 10-16 at GSU’s cinéfest. — EM
Continuing
AIMEE & JAGUAR (NR) Based on the true story of an anti-Semitic mother and wife of a Nazi soldier who falls deliriously in love with a Jew in 1943 Berlin as Allied bombs shower the city, this German film reads like the plotline of a Fassbinder film. Though this unconventional love story gets a fairly conventional treatment by first time director Max Farberbock, the film sustains interest courtesy of the marvelous performances by Maria Schrader and Juliane Kohler as the love-struck lesbians. — FF
ALMOST FAMOUS (R) 1/2 Jerry Maguire director Cameron Crowe romanticizes his experiences as a 15-year-old Rolling Stone reporter, on tour with a fictional band called Stillwater. The film oversells the puppyish cuteness of leads Kate Hudson and Patrick Fugit but offers a pleasingly nostalgic portrait of a rock writer and the rock industry’s loss of innocence, with terrific turns by Billy Crudup, Jason Lee and Philip Seymour Hoffman. — CH
BAMBOOZLED (R) 1/2 Spike Lee’s vicious, witty satire of a black television executive who concocts a “New Millennial Minstrel Show” to save his troubled network’s ratings, is a color-blind comedy of the stereotypes perpetuated by both blacks and whites. Sharp and often laugh-out-loud funny in its first half, Bamboozled loses a little steam in its preachy denouement but remains a must-see fantasy of how the media eventually renders even the most offensive subject matter palatable. — FF
BEST IN SHOW (PG-13) Mockumentarian Christopher Guest reunites his Waiting for Guffman collaborators (including Eugene Levy, Parker Posey and Catherine O’Hara) for a similar venture about the eccentric participants at a national dog show. A bit disappointingly, Guest and company rely on easy targets (tacky middle Americans and fatuous city dwellers) but also show a surprising affection for canine pageants and their four-legged contestants. — CH
BILLY ELLIOTT (R) A hybrid of the miserable-English-childhood film and performing-British-nonconformist movies such as The Full Monty, Billy Elliott depicts an 11-year-old coal miner’s son (Jamie Bell) who develops an improbable passion for ballet. Some of the self-conscious flourishes (like the soundtrack prominent with T-Rex) can be strange, but it’s an endearingly idiosyncratic film that puts some new moves on its “feel-good” premise. — CH
BOOK OF SHADOWS: BLAIR WITCH 2 (R) It’s brighter, louder, funnier and scarier, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck. Director Joe Berlinger had a good idea “to make a sequel to the phenomenon, not to the movie,” but when, after some Scream-era self-referential cleverness, things start going bump in the night, I doubt it will have much appeal for Blair Witch fans or non-fans. There are so many false alarms, we stop believing anything we see and therefore can’t be scared. At first the five new thrill-seekers seem more interesting and less obnoxious than their predecessors, but the curse of the Blair Witch eventually drags them down. — SW
CHARLIE’S ANGELS (PG-13) On the theory that velocity is a substitute for quality, music video director McG zips through a series of sketches that were apparently more fun to shoot than they are to watch. Angels Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu find time between costume changes and dance numbers to solve the case of kidnapped techno-mogul Sam Rockwell. As their giggling constitutes a laugh track, I was reminded more of “The Carol Burnett Show” than the original “Charlie’s Angels.” Bill Murray is good as Bosley, the eunuch in their harem. — SW
DANCER IN THE DARK (R) Danish upstart Lars von Trier’s latest film continues the director’s love of feverish melodrama. Icelandic avant-garde pixie Bjork stars as a Czech immigrant factory worker who is gradually losing her sight but finds escape in the music of her mind as the world crumbles around her. This winner of the Palme d’Or and a Best Female Performance for Bjork at the Cannes Film Festival is a risk-taking marvel sure to divide audiences who will either love or hate it. — FF
IMAX AT FERNBANK ADVENTURES IN WILD CALIFORNIA (NR) It’s “California Dreamin’” for the new millennium as IMAX and Everest director Greg MacGillivray pack a lot of extreme sports and environmentalism into 40 unhurried minutes, including sky- and sea-surfing sequences that put Hollywood movie stunts and special effects to shame. You’ll see baby otters and bald eagles being prepared by humans for life in the wild and trees that have lived for 3000 years. You’ll ride a roller coaster at Disneyland, walk down the red carpet at the Academy Awards and descend 125 feet into a hollow space in an ancient sequoia. — SW Shows daily at 11 a.m. and 1, 3, 5 and 9 p.m. on Fridays MYSTERIES OF EGYPT Omar Sharif hosts this sensory exploration of the Nile, the Valley of the Kings and modern Egyptian culture. Shows daily at 10 a.m., noon, 2 and 7 p.m. on Fridays DOLPHINS Narrated by Pierce Brosnan, this documentary takes a playful look at the life and times of Atlantic spotted, dusky and bottlenose dolphins. 4 p.m. daily and 10 p.m. on Fridays. Films run from Sept. 5 through Jan. 1 at Fernbank Museum, 767 Clifton Road.
TTHE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE (PG-13) 1/2 A mysterious, Zen-talking caddy (Will Smith) helps a haunted WWI vet (Matt Damon) in a mythic 1930s golf tournament. As prettily shot and self-consciously archetypal as Robert Redford’s starring vehicle The Natural, the film strains to make the central golf match into an allegory for life itself but ultimately proves just a tribute to the sport as a pastime for privileged whites. — CH
THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER (R) Jackie Chan does some of his best fighting, though fewer crazy stunts, in this magnificent mess from 1994 that vaults from broad comedy (Anita Mui doing “I Love Lucy Liu”) to intense melodrama, shows off the comic “drunken boxing” style, and bashes the Brits of a century ago for plundering Chinese land and antiquities. It’s dubbed in English so you can focus on the action. Sexagenarian director Lau Ka Leung has some fight scenes too, suggesting Chan’s career doesn’t have to end anytime soon. — SW
LITTLE NICKY (PG-13) 1/2 Adam Sandler goes to Hell in Little Nicky, and everyone involved should only follow him. As the good son of Satan (Harvey Keitel) Sandler falls in love with Patricia Arquette while chasing his bad brothers around New York. A few good effects, including a talking bulldog, are the only reason to see this no-joke comedy, which manages to make Sandler even less appealing than usual and leaves a lot of funny people adrift with unfunny material. You might argue that its ultimate affirmation of goodness makes it Capra-esque. Well, Frank Capra could have shit a better movie than this. — SW
THE LITTLE VAMPIRE (PG) 1/2 In an E.T.-like tale of friendship overcoming fear and prejudice, a lonely, 9-year-old American in Scotland (Jonathan Lipnicki) finds a playmate (Rollo Weeks) from a family of vampires and protects them from a vampire hunter while helping them recover a magic amulet that can restore their mortality. The movie tries to give kids a good scare without it turning into a bad scare, but the chief compromisethe vampires suck cows’ blood rather than humans’won’t endear it to vegetarians. — SW
LUCKY NUMBERS (R) 1/2 In a bittersweet comedy about undeserving people fighting over a fortune, John Travolta both uses and spoofs his smarmy charm as a Harrisburg celebrity who turns to strip club owner (Tim Roth) for financial counseling when his house and Jaguar are repossessed. He’s advised to rig the state lottery for the $6.4-million prize, and does so with the help of “Lottoball Girl” (Lisa Kudrow), a foulmouthed slut. The film ambles instead of galloping, but Adam Resnick’s screenplay has an appealing sense of place and low-key, throwaway gags that upset the rhythm but are the best thing about the movie. — SW
MEET THE PARENTS (PG-13) 1/2 This movie is banal, moronic, plodding and predictable. Starring Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, the film is intended to appeal to those enamored of director Jay Roach’s previous Austin Powers flicks and no doubt it will. For those fortunate enough to have missed the latter, ask yourself whether a family being splashed with the muck from an overflowing septic tank is your kind of humor? — RJ
MEN OF HONOR (R) 1/2 Despite an overly melodramatic approach, director George Tillman, Jr. (Soul Food) makes an honorable attempt to tell the story of Carl Brashear (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), who became the U.S. Navy’s first black Master Diver despite the efforts of several white men, especially head instructor Billy Sunday (Robert De Niro, sometimes bordering on caricature), to hold him back. Even after Brashear reaches his goal, there are new challenges to confront, leading to spontaneous audience applause at the designated moment. — SW
THE YARDS (R) 1/2 Mark Wahlberg is the trusting, decent ex-con who returns from a prison stint to find himself knee-deep in the dirty dealings of his uncle’s business, a corrupt subway manufacturing dynasty located in a particularly dismal section of Queens. Director James Gray has a knack for moody atmosphere and establishing a sense of place, but his story has many hard-to-ignore gaps in logic and never gives its fine cast of actors enough of a story to sink their teeth into. — FF