Short Subjectives September 16 2004

Opening Friday=
GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE (PG-13) Director Mamoru Oshii presents the long-awaited follow-up to the stylish anime cult fave. This high-tech murder mystery takes place in mankind’s future, when the line separating humans, cyborgs and robots blurs to the point of disappearing altogether.

JU-ON: THE GRUDGE (NR) See review.

LA DOLCE VITA (1960) (NR) A restored print offers a fresh look at one of Federico Fellini’s longest and most entertaining films (which, incidentally, coined the term “paparazzi”). Marcello Mastroianni plays a tabloid reporter made cynical by Italy’s “sweet life,” while Anita Ekberg appears as a bombshell movie star in the film’s celebrated centerpiece. Landmark Midtown Art Cinema.

MR. 3000 (PG-13) In this sports comedy, Bernie Mac plays a brash baseball player who quits the game following his 3,000th hit. A decade later, three of those hits get disqualified, so the aging athlete comes back out of retirement to clinch his Hall of Fame induction.

NATIONAL LAMPOON’S GOLD DIGGERS (PG-13) A pair of young con men (Will Friedle and Chris Owen) woo two elderly sisters (Louise Lasser and Renee Taylor) to swindle them out of their family fortune — but the old ladies have plans of their own. It seems wrong somehow that a National Lampoon film should be rated PG-13.

PAPER CLIPS (NR) This documentary records a Tennessee high school’s attempt to convey the scale of the Holocaust by gathering 6 million paper clips to represent the Jewish lives taken.

SILVER CITY (R) See review.

SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (PG) See review.

TOUCH OF PINK (PG-13) More bent than Beckham, Ian Iqbal Rashid’s debut feature presents another comic clash of cultures between South Asian tradition and contemporary London reality. Alim (Jimi Mistry) and his Caucasian partner live happily in London, and Alim’s widowed mother, who resides in Toronto, doesn’t know he’s gay — until she comes for a visit. Kyle MacLachlan plays the spirit of Cary Grant, Alim’s fantasy mentor, in a film that should delight gay and straight audiences alike. Landmark Midtown Art Cinema. — Steve Warren

WIMBLEDON (PG-13) Like Tin Cup set at the world’s most prestigious tennis match, this romantic comedy casts Paul Bettany as a washed-up player who becomes a contender after falling in love with Kirsten Dunst’s rising tennis star. But isn’t tennis the game in which love means nothing?

?Duly Noted
ECHO OF THE MOUNTAINS (1954) (NR) In this colorful, pastoral melodrama, a forester finds his job at risk when he chooses not to prosecute a poacher who turns out to be the fiance of the woman he secretly loves. The German Heimatfilm of the 50s. Wed., Sept. 22, 7 p.m. Goethe Institut Inter Nationes, 1197 Peachtree St., Colony Square. $4. 404-892-2388.

THE FIFTH REACTION (2002) (NR) See review.

GADABOUT TRAVELING FILM FESTIVAL (NR) A mobile festival of no-budget to low-budget film that pulls up to Eyedrum for a one-night stand, featuring live music by the Kiss-Ups. Sun., Sept. 19, 8 p.m. Eyedrum. 290 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. $8. 404-522-0655. www.eyedrum.org.

AN EVENING OF INDEPENDENT FILM AND MUSIC An evening of independent and music-related films that features the Emmy-winning The Dancing Outlaw; Hank III, a documentary about the life of Hank Williams III; and “Creative Process 473,” a short film about two scripters wrestling with writer’s block. The Rock N’ Roll High School DJs provide music between and after the films. Tues., Sept. 21, 8 p.m. Echo Lounge, 551 Flat Shoals Ave. Free. 404-681-3600. www.echostatic.com/echolounge.

THE LADIES’ ROOM (2003) (NR) See review.

NU SHU: A HIDDEN LANGUAGE OF WOMEN IN CHINA (NR) In feudal China, peasant women in the Hunan province defied the law by devising their own secret, written language, which drew fire from the Chinese authorities in the 1960s. This documentary explores the customs of the Nu Shu language and its role in women’s lives. Thurs., Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m. Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, 450 Auburn Ave. Free. 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 Meat Loaf gets killed. Dress as your favorite character and participate in this musical on acid. Midnight Fri. at Lefont Plaza Theatre and Sat. at Peachtree Cinema & Games, Norcross.

?Continuing
ALIEN VS. PREDATOR (PG-13) “Whoever wins ... we lose.” Wrong! At first Aliens and Predators alike kill off minor human characters, but eventually root for one side to prevail. There’s not much plot and what there is, is crap. Predators and Aliens fight every hundred years in a pyramid buried under Antarctic ice. Sanaa Lathan leads the archaeologists who get caught in this century’s pissing match. On a visual, visceral level, AVP is mildly effective, but keep your expectations low. — Steve Warren

ANACONDAS: THE HUNT FOR THE BLOOD ORCHID (PG-13) If you want art, this list offers plenty of options. If you want cheesy fun with an attractive, diverse cast, pretty Fiji scenery and a cute monkey, your best bet is Anacondas. A greedy pharmaceutical company pursues a flower that prolongs life, big snakes slither after the fresh meat in their jungle and the race is on. You won’t believe it, but you’ll enjoy it. — SW

THE BOURNE SUPREMACY (PG-13) Two years after he thought he was out, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) gets pulled back in following a double assassination. Director Paul Greengrass abandons the documentary style of his prior film Bloody Sunday to offer the usual convoluted hokum and hop from India to Naples to Washington to Berlin to Moscow. There may be more action this time, but like the plot, it’s less easy to follow. --SW

THE BROWN BUNNY (NR) Director, star, editor and producer Vincent Gallo’s twerpy ego aside, his already infamous Cannes Film Festival fiasco may have been re-edited post-critical savaging, but it still bites. Drinking the bong water of seminal ’70s directors like Monte Hellman and Dennis Hopper, Gallo’s meandering road movie about a motorcycle racer driving cross country to Los Angeles thinks approximation of that iconoclastic style can substitute for originality. The film’s notorious, climactic fellatio scene — a sorry payoff for the previous inexplicable longueurs — is one of many indignities suffered by actress Chloë Sevigny. — Felicia Feaster

CELLULAR (PG-13) Maybe I’m too easily entertained, but here’s another good-bad movie that’s suspenseful, often funny and never believable for an instant. Kidnapped by Jason Statham, Kim Basinger invents the telephone and finds it easier to dial a random ten-digit number (Chris Evans’ cell phone) than 911. If you can swallow the premise, the race to save her is clichéd but fun. — SW

CODE 46 (R) The near-futuristic society created by versatile director Michael Winterbottom and his usual writer, Frank Cottrell Boyce, deserves fleshing out into a miniseries, but the forbidden love story between insurance investigator Tim Robbins and fraud perpetrator Samantha Morton becomes the least interesting aspect of this near-miss. Shanghai, not yet overexposed as a film location, makes a fascinating backdrop. — SW

COLLATERAL (R) Tom Cruise takes a change-of-pace role as a perfectionist hitman who forces Jamie Foxx’s hapless cabbie to chauffeur him around for a night of mayhem. A taut, essentially two-character piece that criss-crosses LA, Collateral resembles Training Day as another slick, tightly written B-movie with big name actors. The film lives up to director Michael Mann’s reputation for precise shots and polished editing, even if the final showdowns feel like a burnished version of a made-for-cable crime thriller. — Curt Holman

THE COOKOUT (PG-13) Cultures clash when the NBA’s number one draft pick Todd Anderson (Quran Pender, aka Storm P) throws a big cookout for his colorful extended family, raising eyebrows in his new, wealthy white neighborhood. A few moments with Farrah Fawcett, Danny Glover and Tim Meadows tweak the extremes of racial hypersensitivity, but more often the film leaves funny opportunities half-baked while smothering the audience in flavorless homilies about family values. — CH

CRIMINAL (R) First-time writer-director Gregory Jacobs scores with a faithful, if not quite as fresh, remake of the Argentine con-man drama Nine Queens. When a seasoned swindler (John C. Reilly) takes a an amateur con artist (Diego Luna) under his wing, a high-stakes con falls directly into their laps. Reilly’s precise performance deepens the twisty, fast-paced film into a character study of a grasping operator forced to face up to his past misdeeds. — CH

DE-LOVELY (R) This Cole Porter biopic strains so hard to capture the songwriter’s elegant sophistication that you appreciate his effortless music all the more. As the unapologetically gay tunesmith, Kevin Kline carries himself with the ease of Porter’s songs, but such contemporary pop singers as Elvis Costello, Diana Krall and Alanis Morisette look baffled and out of place. Like tonic water that’s lost its fizz, De-Lovely’s dreary banter and club-footed musical numbers never attain effervescence. — CH

DONNIE DARKO: THE DIRECTOR’S CUT (2001) (R) Director Richard Kelly’s imaginative blend of sci-fi and teen comedy may be about time travel, or it may be about madness. Centered on a forlorn teenager (Jake Gyllenhaal) who learns from a demonic bunny rabbit that the world will end in 28 days, Kelly’s John Hughes-inspired, American Beauty-derived exegesis-on-suburbia and the Reagan Eighties as doom-ground-zero can’t get a handle on its own slippery self despite the addition of 20 minutes meant to clarify certain plot points. Rather than merely sympathetically illustrating a teenager’s gloomy take on reality, something in Kelly’s world-view remains inherently stunted, and his film nearly drowns in immature conventionality. — FF

EVERGREEN (PG-13) A single mother (Cara Seymour) and her teenage daughter (Addie Land) try to escape their life of poverty by starting anew in the Pacific Northwest.

EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING (R) The prequel is nicely photographed and while it’s slow and has only one sympathetic character, it doesn’t become laughably bad until the final 15 minutes. Stellan Skarsgard plays Fr. Merrin, the Max von Sydow character, 25 years before the events in Georgetown, when he meets and beats the devil in Kenya. Renny Harlin had tubular balls to take on the project after John Frankenheimer died (probably a better career move) and Paul Schrader’s version was deemed unreleasable. — SW

THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS (NR) An intriguing experiment that doesn’t entirely succeed Lars von Trier and Jorgen Leth’s documentary concerns a challenge von Trier devised to have Leth remake his 1967 short film “The Perfect Human” five times following a list of precise rules (the “obstructions” of the title) devised by von Trier. The resulting film takes an often challenging look at how cinema creates meaning according to an equally narrow set of rules, while offering insight into directorial personalities (both Leth and von Trier’s) founded on a need for control and emotional distance. — FF

GARDEN STATE (R) Zach Braff of the NBC sitcom “Scrubs” writes, directs and stars in this droll, amiable dramedy that loses some of its considerable charm as it goes along. Braff plays an emotionally detached, aspiring actor in Los Angeles who gets a new lease on life over an eccentric homecoming in New Jersey. Braff injects some droll sight gags (reminiscent of “Scrubs’” own sense of humor) into his often sharp script, but the last act relies on symbols and epiphanies that feel derivative from the films of more seasoned directors. — CH

HERO (PG-13) Kung fu star Jet Li portrays a nameless fighter who recounts his victory over three super-assassins, but China’s emperor suggests there’s more to his story. Zhang Yimou’s Oscar-nominee for Best Foreign Language Film in 2003 features the flamboyant martial artistry of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the shifting narrative of Rashomon. With gorgeously color-coded flashbacks, Hero plays less like a conventional action film than a grand master’s chess game of cold yet dreamlike beauty. — CH

THE HUNTING OF THE PRESIDENT (NR) Nickolas Perry and Harry Thomason’s documentary takes a close-up of the “vast, right-wing conspiracy” that dogged Bill and Hilary Clinton throughout the 1990s. When the film points out Kenneth Starr’s partisan conflicts of interest, Hunting makes some strong points, and jailed Whitewater figure Susan McDougal emerges as an articulate, sympathetic victim to an overzealous prosecution. But like Farhenheit 9/11, the film’s facts don’t always add up and the directors prove too willing to ignore details that don’t support their case, like Clinton’s actual perjury and moral lapses. — CH

IMAX THEATER: Amazing Journeys (NR) Here’s the movie Imax was made for! Neither didactic nor evangelical, it appeals to all ages and images you’ll never forget. The film examines migration — of monarch butterflies, gray whales, red crabs, zebras and wildebeest, birds and humans. Director George Casey adds cinematic touches of comedy, drama and suspense to avoid a dry documentary feel in what may be the best Imax film yet. Forces of Nature (NR) Volcanoes and tornadoes and earthquakes, oh my! Not to mention the scientists who study them to improve their forecasting ability in hopes of saving lives. It’s like watching the best of the Weather Channel on a giant screen — without getting your local forecast. NASCAR: The Imax Experience (PG) Stock car racing seems a perfect subject for 3-D Imax but this survey course — “NASCAR 101” — doesn’t begin to realize the potential. Fans have seen it all before and if non-fans had any interest, they’d be fans. The film includes surprisingly little racing footage, and cuts away too quickly from the shots that put you in the action. Fernbank Museum of Natural History IMAX Theater, 767 Clifton Road. 404-929-6300. www.fernbank.edu. — SW

INTIMATE STRANGERS (R) In a distinctly Hitchcockian vein, French director Patrice Leconte (Man on the Train) puts a deft, thoughtful spin on thriller conventions in his story of a beautiful, troubled woman (Sandrine Bonnaire) who confesses her myriad sexual frustrations to the repressed, romantically unfulfilled tax lawyer (Fabrice Luchini) she mistakes for her psychoanalyst. — FF

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (R) A strung-out Gulf War veteran (Denzel Washington) suspects that the decorated soldier-turned-politician (Liev Schreiber) from his old command may be under the control of sinister puppet masters. Director Jonathan Demme doesn’t so much remake John Frankenheimer’s suspenseful Cold War satire as reprogram it for the War on Terror, and delivers a fearsome political thriller in its own right. Meryl Streep grabs with gusto the Angela Lansbury role as the most ruthless Mom since Medea. — CH

MARIA FULL OF GRACE (R) A clear-eyed, almost documentarian account of a 17-year-old Colombian (Catalina Sandino Moreno) who decides to smuggle a bellyful of heroin into the United States as a mule. First-time NYU-schooled filmmaker Joshua Marston avoids sensationalism in his remarkably sober and engrossing story of Moreno’s white-knuckle progress from Colombia to Jamaica Hills, Queens. — FF

MEAN CREEK (R) A primer on how to make the kind of indie that confirms expectations and gets Hollywood’s approval. Jacob Aaron Estes’ debut feature is the work of a very self-assured and capable director. But this Stand By Me-meets-River’s Edge coming-of-age genre picture has a deficiency of heart and soul. Estes’proves he can make a serviceable film with his tale of a group of good kids who plan to teach the school bully a lesson on a disastrous river trip. Now it’s time for Estes to make a film that matters. — FF

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (PG) In Jared Hess’ debut film, Jon Heder superbly plays the teenage anti-hero, a petulant curly-haired beanpole equally annoyed by life at home and high school. As long as Napoleon Dynamite restricts itself to the title character’s geeky misadventures, the film finds laughs that are plentiful if not exactly deep. But Hess gives Napoleon’s older relatives, like his chat room-obsessed brother (Aaron Ruell), ridiculous traits merely to mock them, and frequently cribs from the filmmaking styles of Todd Solondz and Wes Anderson. — CH

OPEN WATER (R) Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis play an overscheduled couple whose scuba trip takes a terrifying turn when the tour boat abandons them in the middle of the ocean. Director Chris Kentis makes the couple’s flight feel unnervingly plausible, especially when the digital video camera films live sharks within feet of the actors. Like a masterful short story, Open Water sustains a mood of sheer dread and captures both the fear and stoic resignation in the face of mortality. — CH

PAPARAZZI (PG-13) In this Hollywood thriller, Cole Hauser plays a rising movie star and family man bedeviled by overzealous celebrity photographers (lead by Tom Sizemore). Insert Sean Penn joke here.

THE PRINCESS DIARIES 2: ROYAL ENGAGEMENT (G) Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews try to soar above their material in this royal bore of a sequel that’s 2 long and has 2 many characters. About to crowned Queen of Genovia, Princess Mia (Hathaway) is torn between an arranged marriage (Callum Blue) and true love with her rival for the throne (Chris Pine). Andrews’ “singing comeback,” a duet with Raven, turns out to be a disappointment. — SW

RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE (R) In the spirit of the videogame that started it all, the franchise’s second film features probably the most — though far from the best — action of any movie this year. The mindless plot fills the zombie gap between Dawn of the Dead and Shaun of the Dead and relies on clichés that weren’t good enough for the first movie. — SW

SPIDER-MAN 2 (PG-13) Tobey Maguire reprises the role of the Marvel Comics’ beloved wall-crawler, who here endures an often comically grim private life as Peter Parker to fulfill his duties as a super-powered crime fighter. The cartoony CGI effects have only slightly improved from the predecessor, but the sequel features a terrific villain in Alfred Molina’s deranged, multi-tentacled Doctor Octopus. The operatic, at times over-blown adventure enthralls and amuses the audience without overtly winking at it, but comic book purists may prefer the more straight-faced X-Men movies. — CH

SUPERBABIES: BABY GENIUSES 2 (PG) The brain-boosted talking toddlers of Baby Geniuses get new powers, costumes and allies to battle a nefarious media mogul, played by Jon Voight.

SUSPECT ZERO (R) This less worthy follow-up to Shadow of the Vampire for director E. Elias Merhige appears to be a serial killer killer thriller, but we’re not giving anything away. Aaron Eckhart and Carrie-Anne Moss, fine technical actors who lack charisma and should never appear in the same movie, are FBI agents on the trail of mysterious Ben Kingsley, whose overacting suits his character. Everything in Suspect Zero almost works but never quite makes you care enough. — SW

VANITY FAIR (PG-13) Director Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding) weaves some crafty insights about the soul-killing effects of class in 19th century England into her skillful, witty adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s beloved novel. But Thackeray’s heroine, Becky Sharp (Reese Witherspoon), who uses guile and charm to rise from poverty to the heights of English society, seems most inspired by the sunny, all-American ambition of Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods. Nair updates post-feminist Becky to make her palatable to a modern audience, and in the process, her heroine loses some of her bite. — FF

THE VILLAGE (PG-13) The citizens of an isolated 19th century community maintain an uneasy truce with the mysterious inhabitants of the surrounding woods, until the young generation (including Joaquin Phoenix and a spirited Bryce Dallas Howard) start testing the rules. The Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan undermines the film’s old-fashioned frights by turning it into an unlikely parable of public terror and homeland security. Yet the dialogue and performances prove so stilted that we can’t take Shyamalan’s big themes seriously, so The Village will satisfy exactly no one. — CH

WHAT THE #$ ! DO WE KNOW? (NR) This head-scratching hybrid of philosophical documentary and narrative feature proves to be about everything and nothing. As a framing device follows a divorced photographer (Marlee Matlin) on her daily routine, intercut with talking-head interviews with physicists and other heavy thinkers about quantum science, human perception and positive thinking. Grating, silly animation accompanies the persuasive section about how people can get addicted to negative emotions, while much of the film’s deep thoughts embody New Age spirituality at its most squishy. — CH

WICKER PARK (PG-13) Akin to Vertigo without reaching that film’s heights, this tale of romantic and psychotic obsession keeps you guessing for nearly two hours, then leaves you wondering why they even made it. Based on the French L’Appartement this Josh Hartnett vehicle jumps around in time because the plot is too slight and silly to hold up otherwise. What could be an infomercial for Stalkers Anonymous instead provokes laughter at the most intense moments, and becomes a sitcom without the “com.” — SW

WITHOUT A PADDLE (PG-13) Three 30-year-old boys (Seth Green, Matthew Lillard, Dax Shepard) postpone maturity by searching for the money D.B. Cooper supposedly carried when he disappeared. The best thing you can say about this comedy is that represents a step up for the director of Little Nicky. Deliverance references abound, including an appearance by Burt Reynolds as a mountain man. Alternating between being not quite serious and not quite funny — but trying harder to be funny — Without a Paddle could be a decent movie when it grows up. — SW