Short Subjectives April 19 2006

Opening Friday

??
· AMERICAN DREAMZ 2 stars. (PG-13) See review.

??
· DON’T COME KNOCKING (R) See review.

??
· FRIENDS WITH MONEY 4 stars. (R) See review.

??
· KEKEXILI: MOUNTAIN PATROL (NR) Named for the mountainous wilds of Tibet, this beautifully photographed, thematically complex docudrama depicts the efforts of dedicated volunteers to protect wild antelope from poachers.

??
· THE SENTINEL (PG-13) Michael Douglas plays a Secret Service agent who becomes a fugitive after a colleague’s murder. Keifer Sutherland (no doubt in full Jack Bauer mode) plays a fellow agent tracking him down. The action thriller features Kim Basinger and “Desperate Housewives’” Eva Longoria.

??
· SILENT HILL (R) Despite the protests of her husband (Sean Bean), a frightened mother (Radha Mitchell) takes her gravely ill daughter to the otherworldly ghost town of Silent Hill in search of a cure. This style-drenched horror flick was written by Pulp Fiction co-scripter Roger Avary.

??
· WHEN DO WE EAT? (R) A Passover Seder takes an unusual turn when the patriarch (Michael Lerner) unwittingly takes a hit of Ecstasy. This dysfunctional family holiday comedy features Lesley Ann Warren and Jack Klugman.

??
Duly Noted

??
· ATLANTA HIP-HOP FILM FESTIVAL (NR) Atlanta’s second annual hip-hop film festival includes such screenings as the concert film Dead Prez: It’s Bigger Than Hip-Hop; Scene Not Heard, a documentary about Philadelphia’s contribution to hip-hop; and New Flavors: The Emergence of Southern Hip-Hop. April 27-30. Carter Center, 453 Freedom Parkway, and Auburn Avenue Research Library, 101 Auburn Ave. 678-438-8820. www.atlhiphopfilmfest.com.

??
· THE BEST OF THE ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL (NR) Atlanta Film Festival director Jake Jacobson hosts an evening of nearly two hours of shorts from the festival’s 30-year history, including two five-star, Oscar-winning entries: “The Accountant,” Ray McKinnon’s hilarious, pitch-perfect Southern live-action black comedy; and “Ryan,” a complex and unsettling cartoon portrait of an acclaimed but obscure animator. Thurs., April 20, 7 p.m. Cinefest, GSU University Center, Suite 211, 66 Courtland St. $5 ($3 until 5 p.m.). 404-651-3565. www2.gsu.edu/~wwwcft.

??
· 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. Thurs., April 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

??
· DOCUFEST ATLANTA (NR) See review.

??
· THE HIDDEN FüHRER: DEBATING THE ENIGMA OF HITLER’S SEXUALITY (2004) Filmmakers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey investigate the evidence of German historian Lothar Machtan that Hitler may have been a secret homosexual in his youth. Gay Films from Germany. Wed., April 26, 7 p.m. Goethe Institut Atlanta, 1197 Peachtree St. $3-$4. 404-894-2388.

??
· 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.

??
· THE SPAGHETTI JUNCTION URBAN FILM FESTIVAL (NR) Fulton isn’t the only metro county that plays host 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 and 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.

??
· 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 that ends up making Bree’s prissy she-male ways the butt of too many jokes. April 21-27. Cinefest, GSU University Center, Suite 211, 66 Courtland St. $5 ($3 until 5 p.m.). 404-651-3565. www2.gsu.edu/~wwwcft. — Feaster

??
· WATER (2005) (NR) Director Deepa Mehta recounts a moving drama about an 8-year-old girl forced to live in an Indian ashram with outcast widows. Film Festival of India. Tues., April 25, 8 p.m. Woodruff Arts Center, Rich Theatre, 1280 Peachtree St. Free. 404-733-4570. www.high.org.

??
Continuing

??
· 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

??
· 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. — Feaster

??
· 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

??
· 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.

??
· 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

??
· 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

??
· 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

??
· 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

??
· 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).

??
· IMAX THEATER Amazon (NR): This documentary follows the Amazon river from its source in the Andes mountains into the wilds of the South American rain forest. Featuring brief tribal nudity (Through Aug. 18). 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.

??
· 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

??
· 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

??
· 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.

??
· MRS. PALFREY AT THE CLAREMONT 3 stars. (NR) Dignified and feisty Joan Plowright is charm incarnate as an elderly widow who escapes her family for an independent life in a London residential hotel. She befriends the other elderly residents, similarly abandoned by their families, and finds a true soulmate in a struggling 26-year-old writer (Rupert Friend) who rescues her from a tumble on the sidewalk and becomes an honorary grandson. Sweet and goofy, Dan Ireland’s drama shows depth in how it handles the loneliness of old age and poverty. — Feaster

??
· 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.

??
· SCARY MOVIE 4 2 stars. (PG-13) Anna Faris and Regina Hall reprise their roles yet again for this irreverent, but mostly crude, send up of pop culture, particularly horror movies. Some potentially clever moments of parody fall flat by lampooning material that’s long past its expiration date, especially gags involving a certain Scientologist actor and daytime talk show host. Even moments like Dr. Phil (the real one) severing his own foot (the wrong one) in a send up of Saw II couldn’t save this farce. Like an old joke that’s been told too many times, the Scary Movie franchise should have been severed after its third installment. — Keene

??
· 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.

??
· 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.

??
· 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.

??
· 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

??
· 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 on life on the border make it worth a look. — Holman

??
· 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

??
· 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