A.I. (PG-13) A film directed by Steven Spielberg based on a long-gestating idea by Stanley Kubrick, A.I. tells us of a little robot boy (Haley Joel Osment) who has troubles adjusting to the human world (and vice versa.) Individual moments in the movie are striking, but A.I. doesn't really hold together, and it never comes to grips with what it really is: a tragedy of epic proportions. 
American Outlaws (PG-13) A new comedic twist to an old classic tale of Jesse James and his gang, this time with a cast of young hotties. At least this one might have enough slapstick humor to get you through it.
—Sandra Jones 
American Pie 2 (R) You can see the gags coming from Saginaw. The characters are as thin as rice paper, the acting is either terminally bland or hopelessly over the top, and — what's more — AP2 is stingy on the T&A shots. The gang of wacky dudes is back, this time spending summer break at a beach house. Guess what? There are all sorts of sexual hijinks. For real. Jim confuses the lube and the super glue and, y'know, cements his hand to his jimmy 'cause, like, he's strokin' it. Really. Why waste celluloid on this when they could be showing some ass?
—Eric Snider 
America's Sweethearts (PG-13) America's Sweethearts, co-written by and co-starring Billy Crystal, collects an array of funny, sorta-funny and not-particularly-funny vignettes, but never quite congeals into a cohesive story. The laughs come in an ad hoc fashion (provided mostly by Crystal one-liners), not as the byproduct of a cohesive vision. John Cusack and Catherine Zeta-Jones play an estranged married couple whose teaming on hit movies is about to end with one last sci-fi flick. Also stars Julia Roberts.
—Eric Snider
Atlantis (PG) Disney's latest animated feature is a Jules Verne-ish looking adventure about a group of explorers who discover a civilization beneath the sea. Michael J. Fox, who seems to enjoy this sort of thing, supplies the hero's voice.
(Not Reviewed)
Baby Boy (R) Ten years after Boyz N the Hood, director John Singleton revisits his old South Central stomping grounds with less than satisfying results. Singleton's title character is Jody (Tyrese Gibson), a likable but aimless 20-year-old arrested adolescent with no job, commitment issues, two small children by different women, who still lives at home sponging off his mama.
Boys to Men (NR) This latest collection of short, gay-theme films, a la Boy's Life, is a decidedly mixed bag, ranging from the very good to the barely there. The first short, Crush, is a cute little tale about a 12-year-old girl who discovers her 16-year-old boy pal is gay. The second entry, The Mountain King, is a sexually explicit and basically pointless skit about a male hustler seducing a nominally straight guy. The best and most moving of the lot is The Confession, in which an aging man dying of AIDS attempts to make his peace with the Church while not alienating his partner. Not exactly the most earth-shaking stuff you'll ever see, but certainly of the bravest moving pictures appearing on any movie screen in the Bay area this week. At Channelside Cinemas. Call theater to confirm. 
Brother (R) For the uninitiated, Takeshi Beat Kitano is not only one of the most popular media personalities and performers in his native Japan, he's also one of the more interesting filmmakers to emerge from that country in years. Brother, Kitano's latest film (and his first made outside of Japan), is not necessarily the best place to begin, though, if you're looking to get a sense of what makes this director so special. This story of a Japanese gangster transplanted in L.A. is filled with Kitano's signature moves — an austere, understated, almost laconic style punctuated by brief, intense flashes of ultra-violence; loads of inscrutable tough guys; and, beneath it all, a tender, visibly beating human heart — but this time out, almost everything (both the violence and the sentimentality) is exaggerated to the point of overkill, the script isn't particularly strong, and the non-English speaking Kitano doesn't seem to have a clue as to how to direct his American actors (at least a few of whom offer up some embarrassing line readings that wouldn't be out of place in an Ed Wood Jr. movie). The film does contain its fair share of pleasures, both visual and narrative, but we expect much more from this filmmaker. Kitano also stars, along with Omar Epps and Claude Maki. Opens Aug. 24 at local theaters.
Bubble Boy(PG-13) A boy who suffers from an immune-deficiency disorder and must live in a germ-free plastic bubble travels cross-country by hook or by crook to get the girl. What begins as a lighthearted comedy with a slightly subversive twist (Jesus-fish cookies and altars to Reagan?) quickly turns to the formula so prevalent in modern screwball comedy — offend everyone so no one can complain. Some real laughs come at the expense of a hit list that includes (but is not limited to) Christians, the physically handicapped, Jews, Hindus, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, senior citizens and rednecks, not to mention those people who actually suffer from juvenile immune deficiency (the parents of the real Bubble Boy, who died at age 12, are calling for a boycott of this movie). The lowbrow humor is nearly forgivable whenever the overly earnest Bubble Boy and his spunky girlfriend flash their baby blues at each other. In all, you're left feeling that, considering how cruel the genre can be, this flick's bark is worse than its bite. Also features several bizarre cameos, including Verne Troyer (Mini-Me from Austin Powers), Fabio and Aretha Franklin.
—Diana Peterfreund
Captain Corelli's Mandolin (R) Romance blooms on a ridiculously beautiful Greek island during World War II when a ridiculously sensitive Italian soldier (Nicolas Cage) and a ridiculously strong-willed Greek woman (Penelope Cruz) are forced to share the same home. The two predictably lock horns and then, even more predictably, fall in love (Cruz practically melts the first time Cage's Corelli strums a few notes on his trusty mandolin). This is one of those highly disposable mini-epics about love and war, the sort they rarely make any more (thank goodness) in which the Nazis are still the bad guys, the colorful locals devour life and everyone runs around talking in different accents. The movie boasts some appealing production values but its emotional dynamics are completely phony-baloney; it's sometimes fun to look at, but we never for a moment believe we're watching anything other than highly paid movie stars putting on a show. Also stars Christain Bale and John Hurt. 
Cats and Dogs (PG) More talking animals than you can shake a talking animal at. Stars Jeff Goldblum and a whole lot of digitally manipulated furballs. (Not Reviewed)
The Closet (NR) The latest effort from French filmmaker Francis Veber involves an insignificant little man who pretends to be gay in order to keep from being fired from his dead-end job at a condom factory. Veber's big joke is that our newly outed hero doesn't change his behavior in the slightest but everyone's perceptions of him alter radically. The material itself feels more than just a little tepid and sitcomish. The Closet is relatively fast-paced, for what it's worth, but basically frivolous and uninspired stuff that never really transcends its slight, one-note premise. Now playing at Channelside Cinemas. Call theater to confirm.
Curse of the Jade Scorpion (PG-13) Woody Allen's latest is a minimalist caper flick set in New York (where else?) in 1940, a world where all the men wear hats, the women all talk tough and everybody smokes, drinks and wears trenchcoats. Allen stars as an insurance investigator looking into a series of heists it turns out that he himself has committed while under the influence of hypnotic suggestion. That's about all there is to the film, other than the combative, bantering relationship Allen's character enjoys with an efficiency expert played by Helen Hunt. An amusing but essentially forgettable addition to Allen's sizable filmography, Curse of the Jade Scorpion features some clever one-liners and a great look, but, as an actor/comedian, Woody's comic timing is not all that it once was (and it goes without saying but I'll say it anyway: Allen is simply too old to continue playing these sorts of quasi-romantic roles). Beyond that, the movie fails to fully exploit its best idea — that the mutually loathing Allen and Hunt are madly in love with one another, but only when hypnotized — as neat a metaphor for the grand illusion of love as we've heard in some time. Also stars Dan Aykroyd, Charlize Theron and David Ogden Stiers. Opens Aug. 24 at local theaters.
Fast Food, Fast Women (NR) This rambling, self-consciously quirky, Manhattan-set romantic comedy from Israeli-born director Amos Kollek wants desperately to charm us but just doesn't have the chops. Anna Thompson stars as Bella, a 30-ish waitress too sweet to assert herself and too unlucky to find a guy who'll treat her right. Kollek throws in a lot of eccentric New Yorkers of various backgrounds and ages and, in the absence of anything resembling a plot, simply lets them shoot off their mouths and bounce off one another. There are some funny moments, but lots more that feels strained and annoying. At Channelside Cinemas. Call theater to confirm.
John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars (R) Ice Cube in outer space. The Cube and company get to kick some non-corporeal butt when a ghostly, long-dormant Martian civilization begins taking over the bodies of humans. Also stars Natasha Henstridge and Pam Grier. Opens Aug 24 at local theaters
(Not Reviewed)
Island of the Sharks (PG) Another intriguing, typically beautiful IMAX underwater feature, this one taking us eyeball to eyeball with the denizens of the waters around the Cocos Islands off the coast of Costa Rica. Island of the Sharks is not all grim, fish-eat-fish stuff — there are also some fascinating glimpses of a symbiotic environment in which barberfish groom other, larger fish (including sharks); warm and fuzzy moments with creatures and their young; and amusing time-lapse sequences of starfish wobbling along the ocean floor like an army of underwater Charlie Chaplins. At Channelside IMAX.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (R) In which the New Jersey anti-auteur conjures up all the ghosts of his past, living and dead, and then bids adieu. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is billed as Kevin Smith's farewell to the so-called mythology he's been evolving (or, some might suggest, de-evolving) since Clerks, and it's quite probably one of the most self-referential movies ever made, loaded with nods to all of Smith's other flicks and stocked with characters and catch phrases from those movies. The movie's plot, such as it is, is simply a cross-country road trip taken by the drug-addled title characters (Smith and Jason Mewes) in order to stop a movie from being made that's based on comic book characters based on them (with me so far?). Along the way we get a lot of outrageous dialogue, cameos from virtually everyone from George Carlin to Matt Damon to Scooby-Doo (the last being one of the funniest comedy bits I've ever seen) and it all adds up to a rapid-fire, chaotic comedic style that's probably about as close as Smith will ever come to making a Naked Gun movie. Some of it's really wonderful, most of it's a lot of fun, but, all in all, the movie's not quite as fresh or as effortlessly rude as Clerks was way back when. Then again, that hardly matters since Jay and Silent Bob is completely critic-proof as well; in the ultimate act of slacker defiance, the movie provides a running commentary, consistently ragging on its own shortcomings before anyone else gets a chance to. Also stars Ben Affleck, Will Ferrell, Jason Lee, Chris Rock and a cast of zillions. Opens Aug. 24 at local theaters.
Jump Tomorrow (PG) This indie romantic comedy comes fresh from Sundance, featuring an ensemble of eccentric international characters looking for that elusive love connection in the sky. Starring Tunde Adebimpe, Natalia Verbeke, Hippolyte Giradot and Patricia Mauceri.
(Not Reviewed)
Jurassic Park 3 (R) Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Tea Leoni and a couple of other unlucky customers crash land on the island of the you-know-whats. The least plot-and-character-oriented of the Jurassic franchise, JP3 cuts right to the chase. That said, this is a much better and more exciting movie than we might have expected, with some expertly handled action sequences, almost no padding, and the best special effects of the series.
Kiss of the Dragon (R) A nasty little piece of work highlighted by some gloriously over-the-top action sequences, lots of blood and guts, firepower, flying fists and, of course, Jet Li. He plays a Chinese cop on the lam from an army of corrupt cops in Paris. Kiss of the Dragon is thoroughly satisfying summer fare, at least if you're open to having your action tempered by more intense violence and borderline nihilism than you'll see this side of a vintage spaghetti western.
Lakeboat (R) Even though it was written in 1981, three full years before Glengarry Glen Ross, there's reason to think of David Mamet's Lakeboat as Glengarry at sea. Mamet's play, and actor Joe Mantegna's directorial debut, shoves us head first into another deeply insular man's world, this one located on a steel freighter making its way up the Great Lakes to Canada. The language is pure Mamet — terse, eloquent, profane and often surprisingly witty. Mantegna, while showing lots of respect to the actors and to Mamet's words, ultimately calls undue attention to the fact that this is, at root, a play adapted for the screen. Stars Charles Durning, Peter Falk, Robert Forster, Denis Leary, Tony Mamet, Jack Wallace and George Wendt.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider (PG-13) Yet another reason why movies should not be based on video games. Angelina Jolie stars as Lara Croft, a busty, butt-kickin adventurer with a serious daddy complex. The movie is essentially just an excuse to fetishize Jolie and showcase some exotic locations and annoying digital effects.
Legally Blonde (PG-13) Reese Witherspoon's sheer adorability carries Legally Blonde. She plays Elle Woods, a privileged graduate of a sunny California campus who not only possesses naturally luxuriant blond locks and copious perkiness but is whip-smart and has a heart of gold. After she's dumped by her Eastern blue-blood boyfriend, for not fitting his future politico image, she wrangles her way into Harvard law, where Plan A is to win the guy back. She strikes many blows for would-be dumb blondes everywhere.
—Eric Snider
A Love Divided (PG-13) A moderately engrossing drama based on actual events, in which an Irish couple is torn apart by religion. Despite the potential here, the film doesn't completely connect; the movie wears its politics a little too visibly on its sleeve (the Catholic Church coming off as the biggest villain of the piece) and the individual characters aren't developed quite well enough to fully engage our sympathies. At Channelside Cinemas.
Made (R) Swingers co-stars Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau team up again for this amusing project, written and directed by Favreau, about a pair of bumblers in way over their heads on a mysterious cross-country heist. Vaughn is wonderfully obnoxious as the motor mouth, would-be hipster Ricky, playing nicely off straight man Favreau as his reluctant and relatively silent sidekick Bobby. There's a slightly surreal, After Hours-like nightmare feel to the whole thing, a little like a Kafka story played for laughs. Also stars Peter Falk and a whole slew of folks from The Sopranos.
Memento (R) A haunting film about a man who can't trust his own memory. Our hero, Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce), has a bizarre condition that makes it impossible for him to remember anything more recent than the night of his wife's brutal murder. Consequently, he travels from place to place searching for her killer, tattooing upon his own body the clues that he uncovers, clues that he would instantly forget if not for the fact that they were indelibly imprinted on his skin. Memento actually tells its story in reverse, but the movie isn't so much a radical experiment as it is a crime thriller in the classic film noir vein — all-brooding atmosphere, paranoia and treachery. Also stars Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano.
Original Sin (R) A tale set in Cuba a hundred years ago, with Antonio Banderas as a wealthy merchant smitten by a woman who may or may not be what she seems. Also stars Angelina Jolie.
(Not Reviewed)
Osmosis Jones (PG-13) The Farrelly Brothers' latest is a mostly animated rehash of that old Fantastic Voyage territory in which the majority of the action takes place inside a guy's body — only this time the good guys are the germs. Unfortunately, Osmosis Jones is surprisingly bland stuff from the notorious Farrellys, a watered-down bid for the hearts of the Disney crowd that feels unconvincing and ultimately insincere.
The Others (PG-13) A good old fashioned spook story, creepy and quietly menacing in an elegant, understated way that hardly ever finds its way into horror movies any more. Nicole Kidman stars as a high-strung widow with two small, sunlight-allergic children, and, possibly, a ghost or two hanging about the house. All the right elements are here — weeping and wailing from invisible entities in the night, inanimate objects that take on ominous life, creepy children, withered crones with weird eyes, inscrutable servants with terrible secrets. The real strength of The Others, though, is its successful creation of a sense of unreality that encourages us to share the mounting disorientation of its characters and to doubt their very perceptions.
Planet of the Apes (PG-13) The most massively hyped and eagerly awaited movie of the season, the remake of the beloved 1967 sci-fi classic turns out to be one of the bigger letdowns of an already disappointing summer. The action is flatly directed (by Tim Burton); the story is dull and the movie's self-conscious attempts at humor mix uneasily with the darker tone of the rest of the material. Stars Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth and Michael Duncan Clarke.
The Princess Diaries (PG) The unlikely premise here concerns an average American teen, Mia (Anne Hathaway), who discovers her late father was actually the crown prince of a small European country, and she's now the sole heir to the throne. 
The Profit (NR) Local production about a secretive cult leader whose promises of salvation are a cover for shady doings. Oh, did we mention the cult leader's name is L. Conrad Powers? Any bells ringing yet? Opens Aug. 24 at the Cinema Cafe in Clearwater.
(Not Reviewed)
Rat Race (PG) One long madcap chase that basically looks to be an uncredited remake of Stanely Kramer's 1963 It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (or maybe even (ulp!) Cannonball Run). As much as it's about anything, Rat Race is about a wacky ensemble of mismatched characters frantically racing against time and against each other to get their hands on a huge stash of cash. The one-damn-thing-after-another scenario is performed by a gaggle of mostly past-their-prime celebrity-comedians while. Rat Race isn't exactly a good movie, but it is surprisingly funny, in fits and starts, if you're able to just take it for what it is and turn off pretty much all portions of your brain but the reptilian core. Also stars Rowan Atkinson, John Cleese, Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding Jr., Seth Green and Jon Lovitz.
The Road Home (NR) A love story as simple as it is infectious, Zhang Yimou's The Road Home is something quite new for this most daring and demanding of filmmakers: a sweet, unaffected and unabashedly emotional ode to first love, last love, and all the love in between. The film begins with the death of a man's father and then unfolds as an extended flashback in which we're presented with the courtship of the grieving man's parents. The centerpiece in all this is the face of Zhang Ziyi, the young actress now known widely to western audiences for her high-flying turn in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Here she's all dimpled, pigtailed, uncomplicated girlishness and a seemingly boundless affection for the handsome young schoolteacher with whom she's fallen instantly in puppy-love. A film of great charm and delicacy, the bulk of The Road Home simply details the gentle and thoroughly innocent courtship of Zhang's character and the young teacher. At the Beach Theatre. Call for confirmation.
Rush Hour 2 (PG-13) Pretty much everything that happens in this Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker rematch is according to formula, but it's a workable and, for the most part, highly enjoyable formula. Chan and Tucker's characters travel from Hong Kong to L.A. to Las Vegas trying to break up a big counterfeiting ring. The movie's a modest success, but, in a dreary summer like this one, sure to rank as one of the highlights (and box office champs) of the season.
Sexy Beast (R) Gal Dove (Ray Winstone), a retired professional thief, recently relocated from gray, drizzly London to the sunny south of Spain, finds his good life disrupted in a major way when an awful face from the past shows up at his door with an offer he can't refuse. The face belongs to the volatile, barely human gangster Don Logan (Ben Kingsley in a career-topping performance), a London East End equivalent to Joe Pesci's loose cannon in GoodFellas, only scarier.
Summer Catch (PG-13) Freddie Prinze, Jr. plays a hotheaded blue-collar kid whose dreams of playing major league ball are complicated by his dysfunctional family and his growing involvement with a wealthy society girl (Jessica Biel). The movie is unremittingly hokey and filled with all manner of uplifting cliches, but it's up front about it all, which makes the film, at least in brief bursts, a weirdly appealing sort of experience. Some of the male bantering is actually fun (particularly any scenes involving Matthew Lillard) but when it's trying to be romantic or, worse, inspirational, Summer Catch is simply inane. The movie eventually settles into a Bull Durham lite meets She's All That groove, the main message being your basic Believe in your dreams and you'll succeed, while the secondary message seems to be Find a girl and/or have lots of hot sex and you'll play some great ball. Also stars Fred Ward and Jason Gedrick. Opens Aug. 24 at local theaters.
Under the Sand (NR) Charlotte Rampling delivers one of the most quietly astonishing performances you will ever see in this subtle, enigmatic but thoroughly devastating new film from French director Francois Ozon. Rampling plays Marie, an Englishwoman married to a Frenchman and living in France. While on vacation, Rampling's hubby goes out for a swim one day and simply never comes back. The rest of Ozon's film is a delicately nuanced but often powerfully emotional examination of how Rampling's character reacts to the disappearance and presumed death of her husband (the film sets us up so that it's never quite clear what actually happened, causing us to share Marie's confusion, distress and agitation). Under the Sand unfolds like a more deliberately paced, Euro-version of a Hitchcockian ghost story (say Rebecca or maybe Vertigo), in which we're not quite sure if the ghost is real or not, living or dead. At other times, Ozon's movie seems to play out like some weirdly lyrical update of Repulsion, with Rampling's character, alone in the confines of her apartment, seeming nothing short of deranged. Any way you look at, it's a great film, fueled by a career-topping performance from Rampling. Also stars Bruno Cremer and Jacques Nolot. Opens Aug. 24 at Tampa Theatre. Call theater to confirm.
—Reviewed entries by Lance Goldenberg unless otherwise noted.
This article appears in Aug 23-29, 2001.