NEW THIS WEEK:
A DIRTY SHAME (NC-17) Bolstered by the freedom of its NC-17 rating, A Dirty Shame wants to be a return to form for John Waters, but there's something a little tired, a little calculated and maybe even a little desperate in the director's attempt to recreate the rawness and outrageousness of his early films. Waters' new movie takes his old set-up of normal types vs. perverts (with the pervs getting all the glory), and reformats it as some sort of ode to sexual excess, with a Baltimore filled with adamantly old-fashioned townsfolk terrorized by bands of hyperactive sex fiends. Tracey Ullman doesn't quite fit into Divine's shoes as a repressed housewife who becomes the libidinous disciple of a messianic sexual healer named Ray-Ray (Johnny Knoxville, who's the best thing in the film). Waters does his best to shock us — there are flashes of full-frontal nudity and fairly explicit references to all manner of curious sex acts — but what might have seemed fresh, crude and astonishingly odd in one of the director's films from 30 years ago, seems a bit pointless now. The real problem here, however, is that, despite some choice moments, A Dirty Shame simply isn't all that funny, and that lack of comedy translates into the one thing a John Waters film should never be: boring. Also stars Selma Blair and Chris Isaak. Opens Sept. 24 at Channelside. 
FIRST DAUGHTER (PG-13) The president's little girl is all grown up and spending her first year away from the first family as a college freshman. Katie Holmes stars in this romantic comedy, with Marc Blucas as the love interest. Opens Sept. 24 at local theaters. (Not Reviewed)
THE FORGOTTEN (PG-13) Julianne Moore stars as a grieving and possibly delusional woman who's told that her recently deceased son never in fact existed. Also stars Dominic West. Opens Sept. 24 at local theaters. (Not Reviewed)
SEDUCING DR. LEWIS (NR) The exceedingly sweet and moderately charming tale of a dirt-poor and not terribly interesting French Canadian village that concocts an elaborate ruse in order to entice a big city doctor to sign on as an official inhabitant. Fans of The Full Monty and its ilk will surely find much to their liking here, with gaggles of amusingly eccentric, mostly middle-aged folks generating sparks by pretending to be something they're not. The tale of the young urbanite's seduction by the ramshackle little community never strays far from the predictable, but some of the gags aren't too bad, and the colorful locals are the main draw here, anyway. Stars Raymond Bouchard, David Boutin and Lucie Laurier. Opens Sept. 24 at Tampa Theatre. Call theater to confirm.
SHAUN OF THE DEAD (R) Poor Shaun. He's 29, stuck in a dead-end job, has an obnoxious slob for a roommate, his girlfriend's just dumped him, he's hung-over, and everyone around him is turning into rampaging, flesh-munching zombies. Don't be fooled by the buckets of blood and unrepentant gore in Shaun of the Dead; a wittier, funnier horror spoof you're unlikely to find, at least for the film's first 45 minutes or so. The movie loses some stream in its second half, struggling a bit to sustain the energy and the joke, but the cumulative effect might just be the most monstrously funny and splendiferously gross homage to genre flicks since Peter Jackson's Brain-Dead. Shaun even one-up's Romero's Dawn of the Dead, with scads of perfectly observed blue collar characters who come off as such stupefied, shambling wrecks that it's difficult to tell the real zombies from the metaphorical ones (thus giving new meaning to the phrase working class stiff). Beyond all that, here is a movie that's not afraid to accompany a gruesome murder with a bit of chart-topping pop by Queen, follow that with a Bertrand Russell quote, and then cap it all with a fart joke. Stars Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Dylan Moran and Bill Nighy. Opens Sept. 24 at local theaters. 1/2
RECENT RELEASES:
ALIEN VS. PREDATOR (R) Don't expect it to end with a kiss. The director is Paul W.S. Anderson, specialist in video game flicks like Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil, which is probably more than you need to know. (Not Reviewed)
ANACONDAS: HUNT FOR THE BLOOD ORCHID (PG-13) Big snakes. Really big snakes. Scared people. Really scared people. Any questions? Hollywood's summer of 2004 officially ends not with a bang, but with a whimper, as a scientific expedition in the jungles of Borneo encounter super-sized snakes in this sequel to 1997's best forgotten Anaconda. Is it fall yet? Stars Johnny Messner, Matthew Marsden, Morris Chestnut and Salli Richardson. (Not Reviewed)
THE BEST TWO YEARS (PG) The Best Two Years is, for the most part, unusually smart, funny and, occasionally, even self-mocking. Writer-director Scott S. Anderson, working from his own semi-autobiographical stage play, introduces us to a small group of young Mormon missionaries from America rooming together in a cramped apartment while fulfilling a mandatory service in Holland. Anderson supplies us with some surprisingly witty, fast-paced dialogue as well as characters who are considerably more believable and sympathetic than the stock types found in your average Hollywood offering. Stars KC Clyde, Kirby Heyborne, David Nibley, Scott Christopher and Michael Flynn.
THE BOURNE SUPREMACY (PG-13) Matt Damon returns as the memory-challenged assassin from The Bourne Identity. The plot here is fairly standard stuff — Damon's character is framed, resulting in a movie-length series of chases in assorted cities around the world — but the material is directed by Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday) with frenetic energy and a taut precision that maximizes suspense. Also stars Joan Allen, Brian Cox and Julia Stiles. 1/2
CELLULAR (PG-13) A woman's panicky distress call randomly appearing on a man's cell phone jump-starts a feature-length cat-and-mouse chase. Stars Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, William H. Macy, Jason Statham and Noah Emmerich. (Not Reviewed)
COLLATERAL (R) Collateral — a minimalist thriller that is basically just two guys in a cab (hit man Tom Cruise and his driver/hostage Jamie Foxx) — feels every bit as shallow and constricted as the lame, screenwriting 101 gimmick of its setup. The movie is engaging enough on a purely visceral level, if you don't think at all about what you're watching, but it's full of gaping plot holes and ridiculous coincidences that even the typically stylish flourishes of director Michael Mann fail to flesh out. Also stars Mark Ruffalo and Jada Pinkett Smith. 1/2
CRIMINAL (R) John C. Reilly, whose forte is depicting naked, emotional honesty, doesn't make for a particularly compelling con man in this playfully convoluted tale of a grand scam played out over the course of 24 hours, and that lack of a credible center almost does the movie in. There are other problems, too: Diego Luna (Y Tu Mama Tambien) comes off a bit too bland in the crucial role of Reilly's apprentice, and the movie suffers by transposing the action from sensual, exotic Buenos Aires to L.A. There are some nice twists here and there, and Maggie Gyllenhaal is interesting as the movie's obligatory femme fatale, but there's little here that warrants much excitement, or even a second look. Also stars Peter Mullan and Zitto Kazann. 1/2
THE EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING (R) The early years of the demon-battlin' man of the cloth played by Max Von Sydow in the original Exorcist. Action director Renny Harlin was called in to reshoot this entire film when original director Paul Schrader's ideas reportedly proved a little too, uh, ambitious. Stars Stellan Skarsgard and James D'Arcy. (Not Reviewed)
GARDEN STATE (R) A flawed but extremely promising debut from writer-director-star Zach Braff that blends darkly surreal comedy with some genuinely and oddly touching moments. Aspiring L.A. actor Andrew Largeman (Braff) returns to his New Jersey hometown for the funeral of his mother, only to find that life in the hinterlands is crazier than ever. Largeman spars with his strangely distant father, deals with his own confused emotions, reacquaints himself with his old, wildly eccentric friends, and falls in something resembling love with a beautiful local (Natalie Portman), most of which is handled in a manner as bizarre as it is funny. The dialogue is clever — sometimes a little too clever, perhaps, in a showy, self-satisfied way — but the film tempers its precociousness with a successful blend of the appealingly sweet and the just plain weird. Also stars Peter Sarsgaard, Ian Holm and Ron Liebman. 1/2
HERO (PG-13) In Zhang Yimou's eye-catching art-fu epic, virtually every shot is suitable for framing and every battle is poetry in motion. Hero is nothing if not a feast for the senses, a cross between a lavish historical epic, a dazzling martial arts extravaganza, and an astonishingly graceful ballet performed with swords, arrows and fists. The film unfolds in flashback, Kill Bill-style, as a nameless champion (Jet Li) details his battles with a series of super-assassins — although there's more than a little Rashomon here as well, with competing versions of the truth eventually calling the original narrative into question. This is a film full of lush, unexpected pleasures, and one that puts the art back in martial arts, big time. Also stars Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi and Donnie Yen.
A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD (R) A Home at the End of the World follows Bobby, Colin Farrell's wide-eyed, gentle character, from small town kid to big city adult, with special attention paid to Bobby's friendships and on-and-off-again sexual dalliances with longtime pal Jonathan (Dallas Roberts) and multi-hued-haired comrade Claire (Robin Wright Penn). The relationship isn't quite a menage-a-trois, but the essence of what's going on seems to revolve around everybody being maybe a little too in love with Bobby. Scattered throughout the proceedings are ham-fisted signposts that are supposed to illuminate the characters and their emotions, but don't. Also stars Sissy Spacek.
THE HUNTING OF THE PRESIDENT (NR) Based on the book of the same name, this documentary on the trials and tribulations of president Bill Clinton is about as agenda-free as Fahrenheit 9/11. The film guides us through all the various scandals of the Clinton years, acknowledging the ex-pres' sexual indiscretions but taking a firm stand that there was indeed a vast, right wing conspiracy stirring up most of this garbage in an attempt to bring the government down. The Hunting of the President is low on production values and heavy on the talking heads, with attempts at Moore-ishly hip humor that are both transparent and cheesy, but it still manages to make its case with much righteous indignation and sporadic flashes of eloquence. Narrated by Morgan Freeman.
I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD (R) Director Mike Hodges, who wowed the world in 1971 with Get Carter, disappeared for about a zillion years and then returned to great critical acclaim in 2000 with Croupier, is back on familiar turf with I'll Sleep When I'm Dead. Hodges reunites with Croupier's sullen, soulful-eyed star Clive Owen, doing that old neo-noir gangster thang again in a foggy London town full of rain-slicked streets, bad men with guns and beautiful but ultimately deceitful people. The plot itself is maddeningly convoluted and ultimately maybe even a bit trivial, but the atmosphere is to die for and, in a film like this, style is everything. Also stars Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Charlotte Rampling. 1/2
INTIMATE STRANGERS (NR) Patrice Leconte's new film begins with a case of mistaken identity, when beautiful, distraught Anna (Sandrine Bonnaire) accidentally wanders into the wrong office and begins revealing the most intimate details of her personal life to the mousy, middle-aged tax accountant she wrongly assumes to be her new psychiatrist (Fabrice Luchini). Intimate Strangers traces the faux shrink's growing obsession with Anna, then complicates the story as we begin to consider that much of what the deeply troubled woman is revealing about herself may be invented for his sake. Things are further complicated when William eventually does tell Anna who he actually is, but she decides to continue their "sessions" anyway. It's a typically wry, almost perversely Leconte-ian twist in a film that delights in teasing us with the suggestion that the relationship between patient and analyst and that of exhibitionist and voyeur are essentially one and the same. Also stars Michel Dushaussoy, Anne Brochet and Gilbert Melki.
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (R) Although the villains here aren't necessarily the ones you'll expect, Jonathan Demme's remake offers a near-perfect transposition of the original film's Cold War paranoia to the contemporary paranoia of the Age of Terror. An extremely effective Denzel Washington takes on the Frank Sinatra role as a nightmare-ridden soldier who starts to doubt reality as he comes to smell conspiracy all around him, beginning with a vice-presidential candidate who may not be at all what he seems. Most of the political satire of John Frankenheimer's original film has been axed in favor of a creepy and steadily gripping atmosphere, but the film works fine that way. Also stars Liev Schreiber and Meryl Streep.
MR. 3000 (PG-13) A winning baseball comedy from director Charles Stone III (Drumline), Mr. 3000 stars Bernie Mac as retired baseball great Stan Ross, a man who displayed excellence on the field and extreme arrogance everywhere else. Think Barry Bonds crossed with T.O. and shaken with Shaq, only really self-absorbed. Nine years removed from the game and campaigning heavily for induction into the Hall of Fame, Ross is confronted with the reality that three of his 3,000 hits were statistical errors. Seeing that he has built his entire life around his hit total, Ross returns to an attendance-challenged Brewers club that is happy to let the fan-favorite chase his lost record. Mr. 3000 doesn't avoid sports movie cliches (yes, there is a big game at the end) as much as it utilizes them to make larger points about the state of professional sports and the athletes who play them. In the center of it all is Bernie Mac, who turns in an assured comedic leading-man performance. The film's success hinges on his every move, and he never disappoints. Angela Bassett, Brian J. White, Michael Rispoli, and a (mostly) silent Paul Sorvino round out the excellent ensemble cast. Look out for all the cameos! 1/2
—Joe Bardi
THE MUDGE BOY (R) A film that starts off as fragile as the cartons of eggs we see being hastily transported over rough road in the movie's opening shot. Mom, the guardian of those eggs, keels over and dies seconds later, leaving the rest of the film to devote itself to the strained relationship of her rigid, silent husband (Six Feet Under's Richard Jenkins) and her sweetly naíve son, Duncan (Emile Hirsch), a 14-year-old with an unnaturally close bond with his pet chicken. The movie's gently reflective surface gradually gives way to something significantly nastier, as we become immersed in the overly sensitive Duncan's introduction to the casual cruelty of the local yokels who pass for his friends. The intensity level steadily rises until the film reaches a crescendo of violence and pain that's almost unbearable, but there's also clearly something cathartic about it all. Ultimately not for the squeamish, The Mudge Boy is a beautiful and horrible coming-of-age tale from rural Anywheresville. Also stars Tom Guiry. 1/2
NATIONAL LAMPOON'S GOLD DIGGERS (PG-13) Two inept, aspiring con men (Will Friedle and Chris Owen) hit on a scheme to marry a pair of rich, older women (Louise Lasser and Renee Taylor) and run off with their money. Who's really conning whom is the question the movie inevitably asks. Also stars Nikki Ziering. (Not Reviewed)
OPEN WATER (NR) This ultra-low budget, seat-of-your-pants production strives for a documentary-like authenticity and a premise of Blair Witch-ish simplicity — a young couple left behind by their charter boat find themselves stranded in the middle of a shark-infested ocean — but Open Water isn't The Little Movie That Could that many are hoping for. Mostly, we just watch our heroes floating around complaining and bitching at each other, so that the movie frequently seems like a production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in scuba gear. Chris Kentis, who shot, edited and directed Open Water, does his best to give the film an energy that belies its low budget, but the thrills here are ultimately as minimalist as the movie's premise, and the film sinks under its own lack of weight. Stars Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis. 1/2
OUTFOXED: RUPERT MURDOCH'S WAR ON JOURNALISM (NR) Robert Greenwald brings us this documentary on Murdoch-owned Fox News Channel, which touts itself as "fair and balanced." Greenwald aims to prove otherwise by offering interviews with former FCN employees (and inter-office memos they provided), as well as archive footage of everyone from George Bush to Bill O'Reilly to Ronald Reagan. Also features comments from Walter Cronkite and Al Franken, among others. (Not Reviewed)
PAPARRAZI (PG-13) After his wife and child are seriously injured from a car crash caused by pursuing paparrazi, a fed-up movie star (Cole Hauser) makes it his mission to put an end to the celebrity chasers' deadly overzealousness. Also stars Tom Sizemore, with reported cameos by Chris Rock, Matthew McConaughey, Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn. (Not Reviewed)
PRINCESS DIARIES 2: ROYAL ENGAGEMENT (G) PD2 picks up where PD left off, with American teen Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) flying to Genovia to assume her role as princess of the little-known European nation. Turns out Mia will become queen sooner than she thought, but by Genovian law, she must be married first. So the race to find a husband both suitable and lovable begins. Also stars Julie Andrews, Hector Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo and John Rhys-Davies. (Not Reviewed)
RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE (R) More of that ol' video game slice-and-dice featuring cartoonish human warriors pitted against swarms of yucky, flesh-eating zombies. Stars Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory and Jared Harris. (Not Reviewed)
THE SEPTEMBER TAPES (NR) This made-up documentary is the video diary of a young American filmmaker who, along with his small crew, submerged himself into the wilds of Afghanistan in search of "the real war on terror," whatever that is. The problems with The September Tapes begin with the fact that our central character really has no idea of what he's after, and neither does the movie. Lars (George Calil), the movie's filmmaker protagonist, wanders around war-torn Afghanistan like some reject from Sundance, looking alternately cocky, confused or terrified, not understanding much of what's going on around him and behaving like an idiot. The movie takes a strange turn in its last act, when Lars' mild-mannered filmmaker inexplicably transforms into Rambo, but even with all the admittedly authentic explosions and gunshots that begin to dominate the action, the silly dialogue and bad acting still give the impression of kids playing soldier in some sort of amateur hour dress-up. Also stars Wali Razagi.
SHE HATE ME (R) Spike Lee seems to have a lot on his mind in his new movie. Making sense of exactly what that might be, however, is beginning to seem like more trouble than it's worth. She Hate Me spews so much random, undigested matter that it seems more like projectile vomiting than filmmaking. The movie begins as a quasi-political thriller about an Enron-esque corporate conspiracy, intermittently transforms into a shallow sex farce about a man besieged by baby-craving lesbians demanding his sperm, throws in pointless, cartoonish cameos at every opportunity, and ends as a bargain basement courtroom drama. Not only do all of the various threads in She Hate Me remain disconnected throughout, but Lee's alternative to any sort of resolution or even clarity is to simply take the movie in yet another direction, hurling one more thing at the screen in hopes that something will finally stick. Stars Kerry Washington, Anthony Mackie, Ellen Barkin, Monica Belluci and Woody Harrelson. 1/2-planet
SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (PG) A large-scale achievement that manages to simultaneously seem retro and futuristic, Sky Captain features cutting-edge technology in the service of a storyline that harkens back to the days of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. While the actors are flesh-and-blood — or, in the case of Angelina Jolie, fleshy-and-bloody-hot — practically everything around them was created on computers by debuting writer-director Kerry Conran and his team. Conran's script is serviceable enough, with heroic aviator Sky Captain (Jude Law) and spunky reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) trying to unravel a mystery whose ingredients include the disappearance of prominent scientists, the destruction of New York City by gigantic robots, and the emergence of a mysterious figure known as Dr. Totenkopf (the long-gone Sir Laurence Olivier, resurrected through altered footage from his early movies). From German Expressionism to screwball comedy, from The Wizard of Oz to Raiders of the Lost Ark, Conran's influences often make Sky Captain seem like the fever dream of a hopeless film buff — it may be derivative, but it's never dull.
—Matt Brunson
SUSPECT ZERO (R) You'll find just about every cliche and convention of the serial killer movie in this new film from director E. Elias Merhige (Shadow of the Vampire). There's the brilliant but tortured FBI agent (Aaron Eckhart) pursuing the equally brilliant serial killer (Ben Kingsley) who leaves a series of clues for his pursuer and even seems to feel some sort of link with him. Then there's the agent's intrepid love interest (who also happens to be his ex-partner), the tough but fair FBI boss, and a dark, grimy visual aesthetic deeply indebted to David Fincher's Seven. Merhige doesn't exactly manage to turn these conventions inside out, but he does do a bit of slicing and dicing at crucial junctures, re-arranging at least a few of the elements in new and interesting ways that threaten to transform the movie into something we haven't seen before. Also stars Carrie-Anne Moss and Harry J. Lennix.
VANITY FAIR (PG-13) Director Mira Nair gets most of the notes right — the atmosphere feels authentic, the costumes are sumptuous and the constant focus on the importance of class is precisely handled — and yet Vanity Fair feels rushed and ultimately superficial, trying to cram way too much story into too little screen time. Reese Witherspoon is engaging enough as Rebecca Sharp, the plucky but low-born heroine who works her way up and down the ladder of 19th century English society, but she's an odd choice that displaces the movie's emotional center of gravity. As a button-cute but surprisingly capable fish-out-of-water doing her best to make alien elements her own, she's a little too close for comfort to Elle Woods in period drag, and the movie constantly threatens to follow suit as a Legally Blonde for an earlier century. Also stars Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, James Purfoy, Eileen Atkins and Gabriel Byrne. 1/2
WE DON'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (R) Marriage looks an awful lot like Hell in this brave, brittle, but terribly dour study of two intertwined, adulterous couples living in a small college town at the edge of the world. Terry (Laura Dern) is married to Jack (Mark Ruffalo), who's having a covert affair with Edith (Naomi Watts), who's trapped in a loveless marriage to Jack's best friend Hank (Peter Krause). In point of fact, everybody in the movie is trapped in one way or another, and the film's main fault is that it's so damned claustrophobic and melancholy, so relentless in its doomed investigation of a tissue of lies, that it simply becomes a big, black hole, sucking up all the light at the edges of its own story. The movie's opening sections swing from intimacy and sweetness to pure horror show (just like a real marriage) but, by the end, a certain sameness has set in so that it's hard to remember anything but the pain. The two male leads are watchable enough, in an anguished but emotionally unavailable way, but they're no match for the intense performances of their female co-stars — particularly Dern, who will certainly be remembered at Oscar time for her remarkable work here. Think of it as Bob & Ted & Carol & Alice without the laughs.
WICKER PARK (PG-13) Wicker Park is an annoying romantic drama staring Josh Hartnett as Matthew, an engaged twentysomething who ditches a business trip to China (and possibly his impending marriage) after spotting who he thinks may be Lisa (Diane Kruger), the love of his life who left him without explanation two years earlier. Chasing romantic ghosts leads to an old friend (Matthew Lillard) and another woman named Lisa (Rose Byrne), who knows more about Matthew's situation then it first appears. In the abstract, Wicker Park sounds like Hitchcock, but it plays as a drama and lacks any of the master's trademark suspense. After several plot manipulations too many (how often can two people almost meet, if only one wasn't bending down or turned around?), the movie seems less a declaration on love and more a wind-up toy ticking off "surprises," each less compelling then the last.
—Joe Bardi
WIMBLEDON Kirsten Dunst (Lizzie Bradbury) stars opposite Paul Bettany (Peter Colt) in a mushy, melodramatic romance peppered with clever comedy. Sound familiar? Colt and Bradbury meet at Wimbledon where Colt's luck seems to have run out. By "fooling around" with Bradbury, however, he gets his mojo back and becomes one of the top-seeded players in the tournament. To win the viewer's sympathy, the film delves somewhat predictably into Colt's childhood (he came from a fractured family) and plays up critics' contention that he likely lacks what it takes to make it to the championship. The best thing about Wimbledon is the comedy, which is laugh-out-loud funny. John McEnroe's witty guest appearance as a commentator and James McAvoy in the role of the brother who bets against Colt rejuvenate the otherwise flat-lined plot. But the humor is too infrequent to overcome the overamped action and love scenes and, in that respect, Wimbeldon resembles a watered-down version of another Dunst film: Spider-Man.
—Meredith Yeomans
WITHOUT A PADDLE (PG-13) A trio of Generation Whatever's (Seth Green, Matthew Lillard and Dax Shepard) star as childhood chums who reunite at a funeral and vow to honor their dead pal's dream of locating a lost treasure. The movie quickly devolves into a road trip down river, in which our heroes encounter man-eating bears with maternal urges, evil gun-toting hillbillies, sexy neo-hippie chicks, and Burt Reynolds as a scraggly-bearded mountain man. It's every bit as stupid as it sounds, and considerably more annoying for its attempts to fuse the uninspired slapstick with overbearingly "sensitive" moments of male bonding, secret bearing and soul searching. Also stars Burt Reynolds.
Reviewed entries by Lance Goldenberg unless otherwise noted.
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2004.