Short Subjectives October 16 2003

Opening Wednesday
MYSTIC RIVER ?
?See review.?

?Opening friday
AUTUMN SPRING (2001)(PG-13) This dramedy from Czechoslovakia stars Vlastimil Brodsky (in his last film role before his suicide) as an irrepressible practical joker unwilling to admit to his own mortality. At Landmark Midtown Art Cinema.

GIGANTIC: A TALE OF TWO JOHNS See review at right.RUNAWAY JURY (PG-13) Gary Fleder’s rapid direction of this John Grisham adaptation carries you over the plotholes as “jury consultant” Gene Hackman helps defend a gun manufacturer against Dustin Hoffman’s prosecution of a wrongful death suit. Rachel Weisz promises to sell the jury to the highest bidder and John Cusack’s on the panel to make it happen. Contrived action scenes are there because movie audiences are no more interested in principles than gun manufacturers are. --Steve WarrenTHE STATION AGENT’‘ See p. 66.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (R) Not the fourth sequel but the first remake of 1974’s archetypal slasher film, featuring a cast of such young TV actors as Jessica Biel and Eric Balfour.

VERONICA GUERIN (R) See p. 67.

A WOMAN IS A WOMAN (1961)(NR) A new 35mm print dresses up Jean-Luc Godard’s tale of a stripper (Anna Karina) who wants to have a baby. At Landmark Midtown Art Cinema.

WONDERLAND See p. 67.

Duly Noted

ALTERED IMAGE (NR) The neostructuralist film event curated by Oliver Smith finds such Atlanta artists as Andy Ditzler, Roxanne Lowery and Anna Walker transforming found 16mm footage into new works. Oct. 17, 8:30 p.m. Eyedrum. 290 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. $3. 404-522-0655. www.eyedrum.org.

BOLIVIA (2001) (NR) Adrian Caetano’s gritty character study depicts a Bolivian immigrant in Buenos Aires who becomes an easy target for angry, unemployed Argentinians. Latin American Film Festival. Oct. 19, 5 p.m., Woodruff Arts Center, Rich Auditorium. $5. 404-733-4570. www.high.org.

FIRE (NR) Deepa Mehta writes and directs this film about a young woman in New Delhi who finds escape from her loveless arranged marriage in the arms of another woman. Oct. 16, Cinefest, GSU Student Center, Suite 211, 66 Courtland St. $5 ($3 until 5 p.m.). 404-651-3565.

FRIDAY NIGHT (NR) French director Claire Denis presents a nearly wordless film about an anonymous sexual encounter that serves as a study in sensuality. Oct. 17-23, Cinefest, GSU Student Center, Suite 211, 66 Courtland St. $5 ($3 until 5 p.m.). 404-651-3565.

THE HOOLIGANS (1956) (NR) In Germany’s answer to The Wild One, young rebels protest their middle-class parents by forming gangs, picking up girls, and smoking. Post-War German Classics. Oct. 22, 7 p.m. Goethe Institut Inter Nationes, 1197 Peachtree St., Colony Square. $4. 404-892-2388.

HOTEL (2001) (NR) Director Mike Figgis may have cashed a paycheck with his recent thriller Cold Creek Manor, but here he offers a more personal film, in which a director (Rhys Ifans) shoots an adaptation of The Duchess of Malfi in Venice, while a documentarian (Salma Hayek) records the making of that film. Peachtree Film Society. Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m. at Lefont Garden Hills Cinema, 2835 Peachtree Rd. $7.50 each ($6.50 for PFS members). 404-266-2850. www.peachtreefilm.org.

IG FEST 2003 Independent Georgia presents its second Music, Art and Film Festival Oct. 14-19, which includes evenings of experimental, student and music-themed movies at venues in East Atlanta Village and other locations. Programs include student films at Flat Iron Oct. 16, Downstream Film Festival’s Short Attention Theater at Gravity Pub Oct. 17 and 18, and a closing night program of Elvis: That’s the Way It Is and Led Zeppelin’s Song Remains the Same at the Starlight Drive-In Oct. 19. Oct. 14-19 at multiple Atlanta locations. $30 for five-day pass. www.indiega.org.

THE LAST TRAIN (2002) (NR) In Uruguay, three retired railroad workers and an 8-year-old boy become folk heroes when they steal a historic steam engine before it’s sold to Hollywood. Latin American Film Festival. Oct. 17, 8 p.m., Woodruff Arts Center, Rich Auditorium. $5. 404-733-4570. www.high.org. and Oct. 22, 7:30 p.m., Madstone Theaters Parkside

LIGHT OF MY EYES (NR) IMAGE Film and Video Center presents the Venice Film Festival’s Best Actor and Actress award-winner, in which a directionless man and a single mother turn to each other for help and love. Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m., Madstone Theaters parkside, 5920 Roswell Rd. $8 ($5 for Madstone and IMAGE members). 404-352-4225. www.imagefv.org.

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) (R) The cult classic of cult classics, the musical horror spoof follows an all-American couple (Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick) to the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), a drag-queen/mad scientist from another galaxy. It’s all fun and games until Meatloaf gets killed. Dress as your favorite character and participate in this musical on acid. Midnight Fri. at Lefont Plaza Theatre and Sat. at Marietta Star Cinema.

?Continuing
THE BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS (PG-13) Best known for being chronicled on the second season of HBO’s “Project Greenlight,” this teen dramedy stars Shia LaBeouf as a high schooler who applies his love of war reenactment to his daily life.

CASA DE LOS BABYS (R) In an unnamed Latin American country, six women (Maggie Gyllenhaal, Daryl Hannah, Marcia Gay Harden, Susan Lynch, Mary Steenburgen and Lili Taylor) wait to adopt a baby at the local orphanage. As always, indie auteur John Sayles takes a sensitive, intellectual approach to his subject matter, exploring the cruel economic imbalance between needy American mothers and their more desperate Latina counterparts. But Sayles also indulges in a trademark tendency to emphasize social commentary over character development and bite off too much material for one film. --FF

CONCERT FOR GEORGE (NR) This concert film recorded on the first anniversary of George Harrison’s death features the likes of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty celebrating the music of the former Beatle.

DEMONLOVER (NR) Like a wolf in the fold, Connie Nielsen plays a businesswoman secretly trying to sabotage her conglomerate’s impending deal with Japanese animated porno studio. Director Olivier Assayas looks through Nielsen’s cold eyes to witness corporate treachery, media saturation and sexual dehumanization. If only Assayas had sustained a coherent story, Demonlovercould have been one of the year’s most relevant and provocative films. At Landmark Midtown Art Cinema. --CH

DON’T TEMPT ME (NO NEWS FROM GOD) (NR) This captivating Spanish film shifts gears roughly four times in its first 20 minutes. Heaven appears as a lush film-noir fantasyland run by the French, while the British-operated Hell is a stark and claustrophobic prison camp. On earth devilish Penélope Cruz spars with angelic Victoria Abril to claim the soul of a weather-beaten boxer (Demiàn Bichir), but eventually the two spirits must team up to fulfill their missions. --Tray Butler

DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) (NR) “You can’t fight in here — this is the war room!” Peter Sellers gives three hilarious performances in Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War satire, yet the film’s poker-faced plausibility gives it much of its staying power. At Madstone Parkside Theaters. --CH

DUPLEX (PG-13) Danny DeVito is a sick, twisted, evil little man - my kind of guy. In the same (mean) spirit as Throw Momma from the Train, his live-action Road Runner cartoon pits a yuppie couple (Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore) against the “sweet little old lady” (Eileen Essell) who lives upstairs in their Brooklyn duplex. As she drives them crazy they try everything, up to and including murder, to get rid of her. Ask Miramax why they kept this gut-buster on the shelf for over a year. --SW

THE GIRL FROM PARIS (NR) A hokey setup initially promises to consign this film to that special circle of trite Euro export hell. But first-time director Christian Carion’s generation gap story of an energetic Parisian girl (Mathilde Seigner) who chucks city life to become a goat farmer, and her adversarial relationship with the old school farmer (Michel Serrault) whose farm she buys gradually ripens into a subtle, thoughtful exploration of the riches and loneliness of farm life. At Madstone Parkside Theaters. --FF

INTOLERABLE CRUELTY (PG-13) A darker than average date movie involving a white-hot divorce lawyer (George Clooney), a gold-digging vixen (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and their tangled up relationship, mixed parts revenge and romance. The Coen Brothers (Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou?) keep the dialogue fast and furious, and make some fascinating Julius Caesar allusions along the way, but falter when they back off from the black humor. --TB

KILL BILL VOLUME 1 (R) Quentin Tarantino’s geek side returns with a vengeance in the first half of his loving yet overblown salute to kung fu movies and other cult revenge flicks. A blonde assassin (Uma Thurman) tracks down the former colleagues who betrayed her, and while Tarantino strives for the grandiosity of Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns, he undercuts himself with ironic jokes closer to McG’s Charlie’s Angels. It’s up to Uma to carry the film — and she does, conveying a toughness oddly comparable to Lee Marvin. Volume 2 is due in February. --CH

KM. 0 (NR) Madrid’s geographical center is the setting for this ensemble piece by Yolanda Garcia Serrano and Juan Luis Iborra. In an afternoon and evening 14 Madrilenos pass by, many of them pairing up for sex (romantic or commercial) or just drinks and conversation. The characters are as varied (in age, gender, orientation, etc.) as their situations, some serious and some funny, and it’s all quite pleasant. At Landmark Midtown Art Cinema. --SW

LOST IN TRANSLATION (R) Director Sofia Coppola’s (The Virgin Suicides) much-anticipated second film brings together Bill Murray and indie flick ingénue Scarlett Johansson as accidental tourists in Tokyo. Both insomniacs, and both at crisis points in their marriages, the two start a unique friendship that takes through from karaoke clubs to titty bars in a soft-focus search for connection and meaning. Coppola strings together enough tiny brilliant moments to overcome the film’s nearly absent plot and produces a sophomore effort almost as sparkling as her first. --TB

LUTHER (PG-13) Joseph Fiennes plays a rebellious priest whose feud with Roman Catholicism lead to the founding of the Lutheran church. Featuring Peter Ustinov and Alfred Molina.

MILLENNIUM ACTRESS (PG) Anime auteur Satoshi Kon revisits the themes of his cult hit Perfect Blue, including the tension between media celebrity and reality, with this story of a film crew interviewing a septuagenarian film actress and finding themselves reliving past experiences along with her. At Landmark Midtown Art Cinema.

OUT OF TIME (R) Denzel Washington re-teams with Devil in a Blue Dress director Carl Franklin for another detective thriller, this time playing a small-town Florida police chief accused of homicide.

THE RUNDOWN (PG-13) This sadistic but fun flick with surprisingly coherent action sequences introduces a new action-comedy team in The Rock and Seann William Scott. The Rock seeks to bring Scott back from South America, where he’s searching for a golden artifact that could also buy the locals’ freedom from ugly (but funny) American Christopher Walken. It’s brutal, it’s loopy and you have to be sick to enjoy it... as much as I did. --SW

SCARFACE (1983) (R) Though it has all the makings of a modern American classic — with a screenplay by Oliver Stone, direction by Brian DePalma and an explosive lead performance by Al Pacino — the ü ber-violent gangster bloodbath just hasn’t aged so well. Unless you’re in it for laughs, or to scream along with the cheeseball dialogue (“Say hello to my leetle freend!”) this parable of a Miami drug lord’s rise and fall more often disappoints than dazzles. At Lefont Garden Hills Cinema. --TB

THE SCHOOL OF ROCK (PG-13) As fraudulent substitute teacher Dewey Finn, Jack Black offers an endlessly hilarious, PG-13 version of his Tenacious D persona, a posturing, legend-in-his-own-mind rock star. When Dewey teaches his class of private school fifth-graders how to be head-bangers, School of Rock takes the mush-mouthed clichés of a zillion “underdog” movies and cranks them up to 11. With Slacker director Richard Linklater and Chuck & Buck actor/scripter Mike White, Black offers the kind of formula film that gives the formula a good name. --CH

THIRTEEN (R) Former production designer Catherine Hardwicke makes her impressive, volatile directorial debut in this girl-focused anti-Kids focused upon the complex relationships that back-drop teenage self-destruction. This lacerating, powerful tale of a good girl (Evan Rachel Wood)’s descent into drugs, sex, shoplifting and self-mutilation under the faster-pussycat guidance of wild girl Evie (Nikki Reed) was based on Reed’s own damaged California childhood in the fast lane. Hardwicke’s smart direction gives it a sense of social urgency. --FF

UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN (PG-13) Devastated divorcee Diane Lane travels to Italy at the behest of lesbian best friend Sandra Oh. There she buys an old villa and starts a new life while the audiences get a mini-tour of the country. Audrey Wells adapted the book by Frances Mayes and directed Lane in a tour de force that’s aimed at women but should be painless for most men. --SW

UNDERWORLD (R) Kate Beckinsale’s pistol-packing vampire gets the hots — or whatever vampires get — for werewolf-to-be Scott Speedman, in defiance of their species’ century-spanning feud. Less Romeo meets Juliet than Anne Rice meets The Matrix, this sleekly-shot but confusing supernatural shoot-em-up scarcely even gives us a good look at the werewolves. It’s like watching a drawn-out Marilyn Manson video, but the final third becomes so absurd, it’s fun to howl at. --CH

THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND (PG-13) Acclaimed documentarians Sam Green and Bill Siegel chronicle both the passions and the violence that accompanied the 1960s’ radical activists the Weather Underground. At Marietta Star Cinema.

WINGED MIGRATION In 1996, the French actor/producer/director Jacques Perrin made Microcosmos, a thrilling, humorous, bug’s-eye view documentary about insects. Now he’s turned his attention to birds. Five filmmaking teams, using gliders, hot air balloons, helicopters and remote-controlled cameras, spent three years following a variety of species on their migratory flights. This feature-length “moment of Zen” has sparse factual content but thrilling cinematography. At Marietta Star Cinemas. --Suzanne Van Atten’’