Short Subjectives April 12 2006

Opening Friday

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· LONESOME JIM (R) Beloved if ferrety character actor Steve Buscemi directs this low-key character study about a 27-year-old (Casey Affleck) who moves back in with his parents. The cast features Liv Tyler, Mary Kay Place and Seymour Cassel.

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· MRS. PALFREY AT THE CLAREMONT 3 stars. (NR) See review.

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· SCARY MOVIE 4 (PG-13) Airplane! director David Zucker helms what has become an annual spoof of last year’s horror movies. Anna Faris returns for this outing, which lampoons the likes of War of the Worlds and Saw 2.

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· THE WILD (G) In Disney’s computer-animated cartoon feature, a band of zoo animals (voiced by the likes of Keifer Sutherland, James Belushi, Janeane Garofalo and William Shatner) brave the big city when one of their own is shipped to the wild. Expect any similarities to Dreamworks’ Madagascar to be purely on purpose.

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Duly Noted

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· BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN 5 stars. (R) Ang Lee’s heart-wrenching Western 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. Heath 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 jake Gyllenhall’s character, who dreams of an impossible future for the doomed love affair. April 14-20. Cinefest, GSU University Center, Suite 211, 66 Courtland St. $5 ($3 until 5 p.m.). 404-651-3565. www2.gsu.edu/~wwwcft. — Felicia Feaster

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· THE EINSTEIN OF SEX (1999) German filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim profiles the life of sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, a 19th-century champion of homosexual rights. Gay Films from Germany. Wed., April 19, 7 p.m. Goethe Institut Atlanta, 1197 Peachtree St. $3-$4. 404-894-2388.

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· ELECTRIC PURGATORY: THE FATE OF THE BLACK ROCKER (NR) Rag Gayles’ documentary explores the African-American roots of rock and roll music. Mon., April 17, 8 p.m. Morehouse College, 830 Westview Drive. Free. 678-755-4838. www.electricpurgatory.com.

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· EXPERIMENTAL DOCUMENTARY (NR) Eyedrum presents works that combine nonfiction content with experimental form: Niklas Vollmer’s “Happy Crying Nursing Home,” about the joys and terrors of fatherhood, and Laura Kissel’s “Cabin Field,” about rural Georgia history. Fri., April 14, 8 p.m. Eyedrum, 290 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Suite 8. $5. 404-522-0655. www.eyedrum.org.

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· GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK 5 stars. (PG) 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 Edward R. Murrow ‘s reporters and anticipating the increasing influence of entertainment on broadcast news. See it now. Thurs., April 13. Cinefest, GSU University Center, Suite 211, 66 Courtland St. $5 ($3 until 5 p.m.). 404-651-3565. www2.gsu.edu/~wwwcft. — Curt Holman

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· THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN (NR) This award-winning documentary follows the efforts of John Peterson to abandon conventional farming and fight local hysteria to build an organic, progressive farm community. Tues., April 18, 7 p.m. Emory University, White Hall, Room 205. Free. 404-979-2863.

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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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· THE SPAGHETTI JUNCTION URBAN FILM FESTIVAL (NR) Fulton isn’t the only metro county that plays hosts to film festivals. April 17-23, DeKalb presents its very own Spaghetti Junction Urban Film Festival. Coordinated by DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones, the DeKalb County Office of Arts, Culture & Entertainment and the DeKalb Convention on Visitors Bureau, the Spaghetti Junction Urban Film Festival will showcase a number of films, new and old, several “red carpet” movie premieres and other special events. For a full festival schedule and other information, visit www.sjuff.com.

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Continuing

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· ADAM & STEVE 3 stars. (NR) Like their biblical counterparts, Adam (Craig Chester) and Steve (Malcolm Gets) tempt fate for knowledge: What do love and commitment mean for couples, gay or straight? A few antics (sudden, choreographed dances and a slew of fat jokes) obscure the real moments of comedy that are both witty and strange, and though the self-awareness of the dialogue grows wearying, the truth spoken is undeniable. Parker Posey and Chris Kattan steal the best lines, playing their one-note supporting roles with perfect pitch. Silly but well-intentioned, this tryst, at the core, recounts a love story as old as time. — Allison C. Keene

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· ATL 3 stars. (PG-13) The veneer of nostalgia and innocence elevates this film set in the hard-scrabble Mechanicsville ghetto where five high school seniors find their relief and escape from imminent adulthood at a south side roller rink. Like the Jets and the Sharks of days gone by, Rashad (Tip “T.I.” Harris) and his buddies wage snazzy dance-step “war” on the rink floor and grapple with the usual coming of age problems of girls, college, career and family. — Felicia Feaster

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· BASIC INSTINCT 2 1 star. (R) Michael Caton-Jones’ drab, dreary sequel to Basic Instinct flickers briefly to life whenever Sharon Stone’s on screen, it spends forever on the plot machinations of David Morrissey’s obsessed but boring psychologist. Perhaps the most shocking thing about the film, especially compared to its randy predecessor, is its relatively chaste editing. Maybe a steamier version will come out on DVD. — Curt Holman

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· THE BENCHWARMERS (PG-13) David Spade, Rob Schneider and Jon “Napoleon Dynamite” Heder star as three losers who try to make up for their childhood incompetence at sports by forming a three-man team to take on actual Little Leaguers.

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· BRICK 3 stars. (R) Writer/director Rian Johnson catches fire with a seemingly lame premise: a convoluted mystery in the style of hard-boiled 1940s detective thrillers, set in a contemporary high school. But as brooding loner Brendan (a terrific Joseph Gordon-Levitt) tries to track down his troubled former girlfriend, Brick becomes both a compelling suspense story and an unusual portrait of teen angst from the inside out. The antiquated slang may not be authentic, but given that Brendan no doubt perceives himself as a noble, self-sacrificing hero worthy of Raymond Chandler, the lonely film-noir flourishes aptly fit his point of view. — Holman

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· C.S.A.: THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA 5 stars. (NR) The South wins the Civil War and 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 like to admit. — Holman

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· DUCK SEASON 3 stars. (R) With the indolent, lazy manner of a Jim Jarmusch film, Mexican director Fernando Eimbcke’s low-key black and white comedy concerns two 14-year-olds, Flama (Daniel Miranda) and Moko (Diego Cataño) spending the day home alone in Flama’s apartment where they play Halo, drink Coke, eat junk food and otherwise do what tweens around the globe do to pass the time. The film’s most enjoyable quality is how accurately it captures the rites and rituals of teenage boy behavior, and the way — despite an overlong languor — it shows this day-in-the-life as a symbolic divide between childhood and adulthood. — Feaster

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· FAILURE TO LAUNCH 2 stars. (PG-13) A professional interventionist (Sarah Jessica Parker) tries to “launch” a love-challenged slacker (Matthew McConaughey), still living at home with his parents, into real adulthood. This trite rom-com blunder features 50 people applauding a televised kiss in a coffee shop, five CGI animal attacks, three “quirky sidekick” friends, two clear shots of Terry Bradshaw’s bare bottom, one resuscitated mockingbird and zero reasons as to why Failure wasn’t launched straight to DVD. — Keene

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· FATELESS 5 stars. (NR) Holocaust films invite all manner of clichés about the resilience of the human spirit and man’s inhumanity to man. Any filmmaker who can find a way to upend the conventions and bring new illumination to the subject should be commended. Hungarian filmmaker Lajos Koltai does just that in adapting Nobel laureate Imre Kertész’s autobiography about coming of age in a concentration camp, where Budapest teen Gyuri (Marcell Nagy) watches the adult drama of the Holocaust unfold. This philosophical, morally complex film explores the mental acrobatics that great trauma and horror demand from survivors. — Feaster

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· THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS 3 stars. (R) Few acts of human depravity prove more disturbing or unforgiveable than child abuse, which actor/filmmaker Asia Argento unremittingly examines in this assaulting cinematic drug trip. Based on the works of hoaxer J.T. LeRoy, Heart depicts a young boy (Jimmy Bennett) and his deranged mother (Argento) as they descend into a living death among the scum of society. No one — either in the film or in the audience — emerges unscathed from Heart’s portrayal of lost innocence and a world without hope. — Keene

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· THE HILLS HAVE EYES (R) Wes Craven produces this remake of his 1977 cult-classic horror flick about an all-American family stalked by mutants — and not the cool X-Men kind, but the misshapen, irradiated kind. Directed by High Tension’s Alexandre Aja.

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· ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN (G) This sequel to the computer animated hit swaps the three-mammals-and-a-baby premise of the sequel for a Pleistocene romance between two mammoths (voiced by Ray Romano and Queen Latifah).

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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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· INSIDE MAN 4 stars. (R) Spike Lee’s Brian Grazer-produced Hollywood heist film makes a definite break from Lee’s provocative, content-rich form, but this cops-and-robbers thriller also isn’t without its subtext and subtle critiques. Denzel Washington, in engagingly laid-back mode, is a NYPD detective trying to salvage his tarnished reputation by negotiating with the ice-cold bank robber (Clive Owen) who has 50 hostages and a lot of cold, hard cash in his possession in a Wall Street bank. Lee’s obvious interest in the bonhomie and friction that characterize NYC’s melting pot and the ghosts of Sept. 11 that still linger give a semi-conventional plot line a little more heft. — Feaster

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· JOYEUX NOËL 3 stars. (PG-13) In this World War I holiday tale, director Christian Carion tastefully dramatized the near-mythic 1914 incident of soldiers on opposite sides of no-man’s-land holding impromptu truces on Christmas Eve. The remarkable centerpiece conveys the fragility and spontaneity of the truce, as if peace itself briefly runs out of control. The film quietly reveals the common ground shared by all combatants — culture, spirituality, homesickness — as well as the nationalist forces that drive neighbors to war. — Holman

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· LARRY THE CABLE GUY: HEALTH INSPECTOR (PG-13) In this feature film, the “Blue Collar TV” comedian switches careers from cable installation to restaurant inspection and must contend with a by-the-book partner (Iris Bahr) and an outbreak of poisonings at fancy eateries.

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· LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN 2 stars. (R) See review.

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· PHAT GIRLZ (PG-13) Mo’Nique plays an aspiring designer of plus-sized fashions who looks for love and acceptance in this comedy that co-stars Eric Roberts.

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· SHE’S THE MAN (PG-13) In this teen comedy very loosely based on William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a high school girl (Amanda Bynes) disguises herself to take her twin brother’s place at prep school, only into fall into a gender-bending romantic triangle.

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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. — Keene

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· SLITHER (R) Serenity’s Nathan Fillion stars in this comedic gore fest about a small town overrun by a zombie plague. Writer/director James Gunn wrote the Dawn of the Dead remake and the Scooby Doo live action movies.

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· STAY ALIVE (PG-13) A group of young people (including “Malcolm in the Middle’s” Frankie Muniz) play a violent, forbidden video game — then find themselves being murdered one-by-one in the same manner as their on-screen characters.

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· TAKE THE LEAD (PG-13) Antonio Banderas plays a former professional dancer who volunteers to teach dance in the New York public school system in this inspirational-teacher flick with Alfre Woodard and Ray Liotta.

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· THANK YOU FOR SMOKING 4 stars. (R) Aaron Eckhart of In the Company of Men plays Nick Naylor, a proudly unprincipled tobacco lobbyist who tries simultaneously to be a professional liar and a good father. Smoking takes palpable delight at the double-speak of the spin industry — Nick claims that lobbyists like him stick up for “little guys” like loggers, sweatshop owners and land mine developers — and features many hilarious set pieces. As Nick weighs being a good role model to his son (Cameron Bright), the film never cops out by giving him a bogus change of heart, and he takes pride in his lack of integrity. — Holman

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· TSOTSI 2 stars. (R) Winner of this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, Gavin Hood’s crime drama tracks the change of heart of a vicious thug (Presley Chweneyagae) after he accidentally kidnaps a baby. For the first 10 minutes, Tsotsi has the street-wise energy of City of God or early Martin Scorsese, but the redemption themes play with a disappointingly heavy hand in Hood’s adaptation of the novel by playwright Athol Fugard. — Holman

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· V FOR VENDETTA 4 stars. (R) Like 1984’s George Orwell taking a stab at a Batman tale, this futuristic thriller depicts a caped crusader called “V” (Hugo Weaving beneath a grinning mask) who targets a totalitarian police state in a near-future England. Although the creators of the Matrix movies adapt the cult comic book series with fast-paced panache, the film’s radical politics — which, among other things, seem to glamorize terrorism — feel naive in a post-9/11 landscape. Natalie Portman lends a human touch and moral center as a meek young woman gradually radicalized by V’s example. — Holman