Short Subjectives March 01 2006

Opening Friday

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· AQUAMARINE (PG) Two teenage girls befriend a mermaid (Sara Paxton) they find in a beach club’s swimming pool.

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· C.S.A.: THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA 5 stars. (NR) The South wins the Civil War in Kevin Willmott’s scorchingly satirical mockumentary. Presented as a Ken Burns-style doc airing in the present-day Confederacy, the film alternates between 150 years of convincing alternate history and outrageous commercial breaks from a contemporary slave-holding nation (like a promo for a “Cops”-style show about capturing runaway slaves). Willmott demonstrates a sense of humor worthy of “Chappelle’s Show,” and a keen awareness that racism in the “real” America goes deeper than we’d like to admit. — Curt Holman

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· DAVE CHAPPELLE’S BLOCK PARTY 3 stars. See review.

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· GO FOR ZUCKER 2 stars. (NR) See review.

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· NIGHT WATCH 3 stars. (R) Supernatural beings, vaguely like vampires, extend their centuries-long good vs. evil struggle to the twilight slums of modern-day Moscow in the first film of director Timur Bekmambetov’s trilogy. Between the convoluted occult rules and Bekmambetov’s fondness for showy camera trickery, Night Watch should be an unholy mess. Against the odds, the film’s pulpy sense of energy and vision of grubby, hungover Russia give it a strange appeal — at least compared to the Underworld movies. — Holman

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· PULSE (R) Following the model of The Ring and The Grudge, this remake of a Japanese horror flick involves mysterious deaths, otherworldly websites and nubile young people (including Ian Somerhalder of “Lost”). The original built to a striking apocalyptic vision — let’s see if the U.S. version follows suit.

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· 16 BLOCKS 2 stars. (PG-13) Predictably “unpredictable,” this crime drama pits bad cops against worse cops. A troubled officer (Bruce Willis) transports a fast-talking young witness (Mos Def) up 16 blocks (and down what seems like 90-odd flights of stairs) to testify against a bevy of the NYPD’s worst. Plenty of pensive stare-downs slow the action of otherwise dizzying chase scenes that produce an alarming amount of blood and (specifically) sweat. Despite being a tale of redemption, this exhaustive work will leave you shedding nary a single tear. — Allison C. Keene

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· TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY 3 stars. (R) See review.

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· ULTRAVIOLET (PG-13) Milla Jovovich of the Resident Evil films stars as a genetically modified futuristic ass-kicker in this Matrix wannabe.

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Duly Noted

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· BERLIN: JOURNEY OF A CITY (1995) (NR) This documentary explores Berlin’s history as the focal point of the Cold War between 1945 and 1995. Wed., March 8, 7 p.m. Goethe Institut Atlanta, 1197 Peachtree St. $3-$4. 404-894-2388.

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· FRENCH SHORTS FROM THE CLERMONT-FERRAND SHORT FILM FESTIVAL (2004) (NR) This collection of acclaimed film festival shorts features such topics as depressed crabs, hyper-competitive businessmen and a pet owner worried about his cat’s impending castration. French Film Festival. Sat., March 4, 8 p.m., Woodruff Arts Center, Rich Theatre, 1280 Peachtree St. $5. 404-733-4570. www.high.org.

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· PULSE (2001) 3 stars. (NR) The latest example of “J-horror” — or Japanese horror imports like The Ring — follows two young people (Haruhikô Kato and Kumiko Aso) who discover a website that connects the living with ghosts — and drives its users to suicide. Released five years ago in Japan, Pulse initially proves slow and familiar, and its cultural attitudes toward suicide probably don’t fully translate to this side of the Pacific. The final section, however, strays from J-horror convention to generate a genuinely apocalyptic atmosphere that can set your pulse racing. Thurs., March 2. Cinefest, GSU University Center, Suite 211, 66 Courtland St. $5 ($3 until 5 p.m.). 404-651-3565. www2.gsu.edu/~wwwcft. — Holman

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· 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.

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· WIFTI SHORT FILM SHOWCASE (NR) Women in Film and Television International/Atlanta presents an evening of international films by and/or about women, including the charged 2005 Oscar-winner “Wasp,” as well as Georgia-produced films. Wed., March 8, 6:30 p.m. Regal Cinemas Atlantic Station 16, 216 19th St. $20 ($10 for WIFTI members). 770-621-5071. www.wifa.org.

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Continuing

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· BIG MOMMA’S HOUSE 2 (PG-13) Martin Lawrence reprises his role as an FBI agent with a penchant for dressing up like old ladies. This time “Big Momma” takes the job as a housekeeper/nanny to a suspected designer of deadly computer viruses.

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· BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN 5 stars. (R) Ang Lee’s heart-wrenching Western one-ups the male tenderness and isolation of the traditional oater by basing this film on Annie Proulx’s short story of two cowboys (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) who fall in love in 1963 Wyoming. Lee’s film is lovely to look at and profoundly moving, touching on both the economic and spiritual isolation of the ranch hand’s life and also the more universal alienation of being a man. Ledger is superb as an archetype of male interiority, an emotionally contained man who finds his slim fragments of happiness in short, infrequent meetings with Jack, who dreams of an impossible future for their doomed love affair. — Felicia Feaster

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· CACHÉ 5 stars. (R) Devastating and creepy, this Best Director Cannes Film Festival award winner from Michael Haneke concerns a Paris family, Anne (Juliette Binoche) and Georges Laurent (Daniel Auteuil) and their 12-year-old son (Lester Makedonsky), who are being terrorized by an unknown person sending them disturbing videotapes and drawings. Haneke’s usual critique of the European upper middle-class’s blindness to the dis-ease and trauma of the world around them is enriched by intentional and coincidental allusions to French history, the country’s miserable track record in Algeria, and the recent violence in the poor banlieues of Paris. — Feaster

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· CAPOTE 5 stars. (R) Shrugging off the limitations of the usual biopic story arc, Bennett Miller’s absorbing, thought-provoking, extremely well-crafted first fiction film (he directed the documentary The Cruise) focuses on a small but significant portion of Truman Capote’s life during the researching of his groundbreaking work of true crime nonfiction In Cold Blood, and the unhealthy mutual dependency that develops between the writer and one of the killers (Clifton Collins Jr.) of a Kansas farm family. — Feaster

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· CURIOUS GEORGE 3 stars. (G) Lately, some family films come loaded with bathroom jokes and action-scene intensity to rope in older audiences as well as the tots. Curious George is not one of those films. This tame adaptation of H.A. Rey’s classic series of children’s books follows a mischievous chimp from the jungle to the big city, where he wreaks havoc with — and finally redeems — a nerdy Man With the Yellow Hat (Will Ferrell). Kids should enjoy George’s monkey shines while adults can admire the gentle pastel colors, Jack Johnson’s mellow soundtrack songs or just nap for about 90 minutes. — Holman

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· DATE MOVIE (PG-13) Alyson Hannigan of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and Adam Campbell star in this rom-com parody that tweaks the likes of Meet the Fockers and practically every movie released in the past five years with “Wedding” in the title. The trailer points out that it’s from “two of the six writers of Scary Movie!”

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· DOOGAL (G) In this computer-animated kid film, four unlikely heroes (including a dog who gives the film its title) embark on a quest to save the world. Expect to hear “The Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart make self-deprecating references to his contribution as the evil wizard Zeebad.

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· EIGHT BELOW (PG) The Fast and the Furious’ Paul Walker stars in this fact-based account of a team of eight sled dogs forced to fend for themselves in Antarctica for six months.

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· FINAL DESTINATION 3 (R) Supernatural goings-on surround a deadly roller-coaster ride in the third film in the trilogy of hot young people living on borrowed time. But does the title mean that this is really the final destination? Apparently, the previous two destinations were not.

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· FIREWALL 2 stars. (PG-13) Harrison Ford plays a bank security exec blackmailed by high-tech thieves (led by Paul Bettany) to implement an electronic heist after his family is taken hostage. Director Richard Loncraine shows a little interest in dramatizing the insidiousness of “cutting-edge” communications technology, and the best scenes show Ford trying to get help when under constant surveillance. But it’s hard to buy Ford as a computer expert, and the weirdly drawn-out storyline devolves into standard-issue action film fight scenes and fiery car wrecks. — Holman

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· FREEDOMLAND 3 stars. (R) A racial firestorm erupts in a fictional New Jersey city when a single mother (Julianne Moore) reports that she lost her 4-year-old son when an African-American carjacked her. With Samuel L. Jackson as a police detective torn between ferreting out the truth and protecting “his” housing projects, Freedomland tracks some of the complex fault lines of race and class in the inner city. Unfortunately, the urgent themes of screenwriter/novelist Richard Price tend to be obscured by Moore’s showy, over-the-top performance, which makes the supposedly grieving mother look more like a jittery street lunatic. — Holman

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· GAY SEX IN THE 70S 2 stars. (NR) This tell-all documentary about the period between the Stonewall riots of 1969 and the onslaught of AIDS charts a period of outsized sexual expression and freedom as recounted by a group of New York writers, artists and activists who lived through it. Anonymous sex on piers, in public parks and meat-packing district truck containers defined the lives of many of the gay men interviewed here. But director Joseph F. Lovett doesn’t offer a lot of insight into gay life of the time beyond the meticulously detailed descriptions of sexual practices and viewers may be left with the impression from his superficial approach and the giddy, spill-their-guts subjects that sex was the beginning and end of their existence. — Feaster

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· GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK 5 stars. (PG) In the early 1950s, Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) used his CBS show “See It Now” to take on U.S. Sen. Joe McCarthy’s “witch hunt” tactics. Every creative decision pays off in George Clooney’s second film, a black-and-white homage to the “greatest generation” of broadcast journalists, whose courage in the face of enormous pressures makes the Bush administration press corps look timid by comparison. The film succeeds enormously well at getting you under the skin of Murrow’s reporters and anticipating the increasing influence of entertainment on broadcast news. See it now. — Holman

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· IMAX THEATER Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets (NR): This exploration of one of America’s greatest natural wonders retraces the canyon’s history, from Native Americans to modern-day white-water rafters. Wild Safari: A South African Adventure (NR): This 5,000-mile journey from the lush grasslands of the Southern Cape to the desert expanse of the Kalahari tracks elephants, Cape buffaloes, rhinos, leopards and lions. Fernbank Museum of Natural History IMAX Theater, 767 Clifton Road. 404-929-6300. www.fernbank.edu.

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· IMAGINE ME & YOU 2 stars. (R) Piper Perabo plays a London newlywed who can’t stop thinking about the hip florist (Lena Headey) she met briefly on her wedding day. Despite the Sapphic twist, writer/director Ol Parker seldom strays from the Hugh Grant-style rom-com playbook, so the film’s thin comic-relief characters and contrived situations always feel superficial. Match Point’s Matthew Goode makes the strongest impression as the spurned nice-guy husband. — Holman

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· MADEA’S FAMILY REUNION (PG-13) Not to be confused with Big Momma’s House 2, this sequel to the surprise hit Diary of a Mad Black Woman features Tyler Perry (who also wrote and directed) again donning drag as elderly African-American matriarch Madea.

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· MATCH POINT 4 stars. (R) As Jonathan Rhys-Meyers’ calculating tennis pro ingratiates himself into a wealthy British family while pursuing a doomed affair with a self-destructive American actress (Scarlett Johansson, in her finest role to date), Match Point achieves an icily compelling tone comparable to The Talented Mr. Ripley that proves far more effective than the stodgy airlessness of Woody Allen’s usual “heavy” pictures. In plot and theme, it plays like Crimes and Misdemeanors, only without the comedic misdemeanors. — Holman

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· MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS 2 stars. (R) This British period piece depicts a rich widow (Judi Dench) who revolutionizes London theater by producing nude revues before and during World War II. Despite its polished sheen and the comfy comedic interplay of Dench and Bob Hoskins, Mrs. Henderson offers a skin-deep appraisal of its subject, avoiding any meaty debate of sexuality and freedom of expression. Instead it goes for doomed wartime romances and plucky, Oscar-worthy speeches that prove genuinely shameless. — Holman

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· MUNICH 4 stars. (R) In the aftermath of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Munich Olympics, the Israeli government sends a cadre of assassins led by Eric Bana to Europe to kill the Palestinian organizers of the terrorist attack. Though Bana has a hard time drawing us emotionally into his moral dilemma about killing, with a script co-written by Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner (“Angels in America”), Munich has much to say about how governments often use individuals to do their dirty work, and how it is the foot soldiers, not the intelligence agencies or politicians, who pay the psychological cost for committing murder in their country’s name. — Feaster

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· NANNY MCPHEE 3 stars. (PG) Nanny McPhee finds director Kirk Jones and scripter/star Emma Thompson similarly employing menacing situations, questionable comic material and oversized, often grotesque characters in an unorthodox attempt to arrive at a sentimental conclusion. Thompson, delivering a sharp performance under pounds of facial latex, plays the title character, a snaggletoothed, wart-sprouting nursemaid who mysteriously shows up to help a widower (Colin Firth) contend with his seven monstrous children. Nanny McPhee should play well with the small fry, though adults may be more bothered by the clumsy shifts in tone. — Matt Brunson

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· THE PINK PANTHER 2 stars. (PG) “Not as bad as you thought” is not the same as “good.” Director Shawn Levy and co-screenwriter Steve Martin revisit the bumbling ’60s police Inspector Jacques Clouseau personified by Peter Sellers. Martin is entrusted with finding the killer of a well-known French soccer coach, and the usual pratfalls and run-ins with sexy ladies like Beyoncé Knowles ensue. Martin’s goofiness is strained and derivative, far from Sellers in his better days, and the usual question with a Hollywood overhaul of a campy classic remains: Why?

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· RUNNING SCARED (R) Paul Walker — currently cast opposite a band of huskies in Eight Below — takes a less wholesome role as a low-level mobster trying to recover a murder weapon before the cops or the capos find it. The Internet is buzzing over the film’s alleged level of violent intensity.

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· THE SECOND CHANCE (PG-13) Two pastors (Michael W. Smith and Jeff Carr), one who runs a suburban mega-church, the other who ministers to the inner city, become unlikely allies in this religious drama.

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· SOMETHING NEW 2 stars. (PG-13) Following in the footsteps of films like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and Jungle Fever, Something New seeks to explore the complexities of interracial love. Unfortunately, this predictable tale of a black professional female (Sanaa Lathan) falling for a white landscaper (Simon Baker) — filled with a host of one-demensional characters — only provides a surface-level view of race and romance in America. — Carlton Hargro

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· THE SQUID AND THE WHALE 3 stars. (R) It’s a hard fact of life whether crowed by Tammy Wynette or Park Slope eggheads: Breaking up is hard to do. Filmmaker Noah Baumbach offers a semi-autobiographical remembrance of divorce’s toll on the kids. The year is 1986 , two bookish Brooklyn intellectuals (Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels), based on Baumbach’s film critic mother and novelist father, split, shuttling their two sons (Owen Kline and Jesse Eisenberg) between their homes and unleashing some major anguish and anxieties. Often darkly funny in charting the effects of D-I-V-O-R-C-E for the over-analytical set not supposed to experience such mundane traumas, the film is too emotionally distant and too inconclusive to offer more than that age-old assertion that divorce sucks. — Feaster

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· THE SYRIAN BRIDE (NR) In this Israeli dramedy, a bride-to-be dreads her arranged marriage to a Syrian television star, since she’ll never be able to return to her home in the Golan Heights after crossing the border. Not to be confused with Syriana.

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· THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA 3 stars. (R) Tommy Lee Jones directs and stars in this fragmented Western set on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border. Jones serves himself well as an actor, giving an unexpectedly vulnerable performance as a cowboy who vows to bury his murdered friend, an illegal immigrant worker, in his home soil, while exacting justice on the border patrol officer (Barry Pepper) who killed him. Despite its bizarre coincidences and overly vague themes of personal redemption, the film’s intriguing perspective of life on the border (and Melissa Leo’s wicked turn as a truck stop floozie) make it worth a look. — Holman

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· TRANSAMERICA 2 stars. (R) Felicity Huffman (“Desperate Housewives”) deserves praise for her well-observed performance as Bree Osbourne, a pre-op male-to-female transsexual anxiously awaiting her sex change operation. A hitch is thrown in her plan when an adult son (Kevin Zegers) she didn’t know she had turns up and the pair drive from New York to California, meeting various kooks along the way. For a road movie about a trannie trying to keep her true gender a secret from her male prostitute son, Transamerica is a weirdly conventional film which ends up making Bree’s prissy she-male ways the butt of too many jokes. — Feaster

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· UNDERWORLD EVOLUTION (R) The sequel to Underworld features Kate Beckinsale reprising her role as a gun-toting, leather-clad blood-drinker caught in a centuries-old grudge match between vampires and werewolves. Respectable thespians Bill Nighy and Derek Jacobi turn up to lend a little class.

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· WALK THE LINE 3 stars. (PG-13) This biopic of legendary but troubled country music star Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) focuses on his decades-long relationship with singer and muse June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). Witherspoon offers a fresh, original portrayal of a weary celebrity in a vastly different era of pop culture from our own, but James Mangold’s film reveals little of Cash’s inner life beyond his drug problems and crush on June, so Phoenix often comes across as merely sullen. The cast impressively sings their own songs, and the early rockabilly tours (with Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis) convey the excitement of rock’s early days. — Holman

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· WHEN A STRANGER CALLS (PG-13) Increasingly ominous phone calls terrorize a baby sitter in this remake of the 1979 thriller (inspired by a famous urban legend). If it’s a hit, they can remake the 1993 sequel: the brilliantly titled When a Stranger Calls Back.

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· THE WHITE COUNTESS 2 stars. (R) A blind former diplomat (Ralph Fiennes) forms a wary romance with a Russian countess turned sometime-prostitute (Natasha Richardson) in 1930s Shanghai. The last in the Merchant-Ivory line of hoity-toity films (cut short with the death of producer Ismail Merchant), The White Countess presents a pair of intriguing characters and an exotic setting, but suffers from anemic passions and heavy-handed symbolism. — Holman

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· WHY WE FIGHT 4 stars. (NR) Eugene Jarecki’s documentary takes a grim, lucid and occasionally specious survey of American foreign policy post-World War II. Jarecki’s occasional use of campy 1950s footage and condescending middle-American scenes undercuts his film’s snowballing horror. Fortunately, former military men and women like Sen. John McCain and former president Eisenhower make convincing cases against America’s loss of a moral imperative. — Feaster