Short Subjectives September 07 2005

Opening Friday

??
· ECHOES OF INNOCENCE (PG-13) A virginal high schooler (Sara Simmonds) finds her obsession with Joan of Arc become uncomfortably close to reality after her boyfriend disappears in this romantic thriller dedicated to presenting positive messages for young people.

??
· THE EDUKATORS 4 stars (R) See review.

??
· THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE 2 stars (PG-13) See review.

??
· THE MAN (PG-13) Who’s the man? Samuel L. Jackson plays a badass lawman out to catch a vicious killer, but he’s forced to team up with Eugene Levy’s unhip dental supply salesman in this comedy of mismatched buddies.

??
· AN UNFINISHED LIFE (PG-13) Oscar-friendly director Lasse Hallström of The Cider House Rules helms this family drama in which Jennifer Lopez’s single mom moves in with her curmudgeonly father-in-law (Robert Redford). Morgan Freeman plays a grizzled farmhand with a heart of gold.

??
· YES 4 stars (R) See review.

??
Duly Noted

??
· BRIDE AND PREJUDICE 2 stars (PG-13) Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha presents this splashy, Bollywood-style adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice starring Aishwarya Rai, reputedly the most beautiful woman in world cinema. Sept. 9-15. Cinefest, GSU University Center, Suite 211, 66 Courtland St. $5 ($3 until 5 p.m.). 404-651-3565. www2.gsu.edu/~wwwcft.

??
· 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.

??
· ROME INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (NR) The second annual festival in Rome, Ga., features more than 150 fiction and nonfiction features and short films, including Ross McElwee‚s tobacco-themed documentary Bright Leaves and a tribute to Bang the Drum Slowly director John Hancock. Rome International Film Festival. Sep. 8-11. DeSoto Theatre on Broad Street and other venues. $7.50-125. 706-295-2787. www.riff.tv.

??
· SIN CITY 2 stars (R) Based on Frank Miller’s hard-boiled cult comic books of the same name, Sin City wallows unapologetically in violence, T&A and other preoccupations of adolescent boys of all ages. Co-directors Miller and Robert Rodriguez leer over interlocking tales of chivalrous antiheroes. Though the film’s black-and-white images can sear your retinas, its repetitive plots, grisly slapstick and predictable misogyny can leave you embarrassed to be a geek. Sept. 8-15. Cinefest, GSU University Center, Suite 211, 66 Courtland St. $5 ($3 until 5 p.m.). 404-651-3565. www2.gsu.edu/~wwwcft. — Curt Holman

??
· TRANSGENERATION (NR) This sneak peek at the Sundance Channel’s eight-episode documentary series looks at the triumphs and setbacks of four college students who are each undergoing a gender transition. Out on Film Festival. Mon., Sept. 12, 7 p.m. Red Chair Restaurant & Lounge, 550-C Amsterdam Ave. $15-$20. 404-352-4225. www.imagefv.org.

??
· THE WONDERFUL, HORRIBLE LIFE OF LENI RIEFENSTAHL, PART II (1993) 3 stars (NR) This three-hour documentary, shown in two parts, reviews the cinematic career and controversies surrounding Leni Riefenstahl, one of history’s greatest female directors — and an unmistakable booster of Hitler’s Third Reich in such documentaries as Triumph of the Will. Filmed with the aged-but-fiesty Riefenstahl’s participation, the documentary skews toward her own troubling, unapologetic justifications of her self-interested decisions. You admire her vision in clips from her work, but can’t ignore her blindness to some monstrous politics. Film Retrospective: Leni Riefenstahl. Wed., Sept. 14, 7 p.m. Goethe Institut Inter Nationes, 1197 Peachtree St., Colony Square. $4. 404-892-2388. — Holman

??
Continuing

??
· THE ARISTOCRATS 4 stars (NR) George Carlin, Gilbert Gottfried, Sarah Silverman, John Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg and scores of other comedians take turns telling — or commenting on — an old, notoriously offensive joke. Depending on your tolerance for humor based on every imaginable human depravity, you might not always find “The Aristocrats” a very funny gag, but this documentary (from Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette) earns some honest laughs while offering fascinating — and uncomfortable — insights into the minds of professional jokemeisters. — Holman

??
· BATMAN BEGINS 3 stars (PG-13) Memento director Christopher Nolan and American Psycho actor Christian Bale prove a perfectly matched dynamic duo as they explore the psychological trauma that turned millionaire orphan Bruce Wayne into a masked vigilante. Nolan and Bale bring undeniably gritty intensity to the film’s first half, but as it works to its conclusion, it’s hard to overlook the silliness of the villains’ evil scheme or the miscasting of too-cute Katie Holmes as a tough district attorney. It’s still the best Batman movie ever made, and the only one in which the Caped Crusader, instead of his villains, is the star. Area theaters, and Coca-Cola Summer Film Festival, Mon., Aug. 8, 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. $7. 404-817-8700. www.foxtheatre.org. — Holman

??
· BROKEN FLOWERS 2 stars (R) Cinema’s two reigning Zen masters of deadpan understatement, Bill Murray and filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, dial it back a little too far in this melancholy comedy. Murray’s aging Don Juan road-trips to see which of four ex-lovers (played superbly by Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange and Tilda Swinton) is the mother to the son he never knew. With such self-conscious tedium and heavy-handed symbols, Broken Flowers feels wasteful of its terrific cast, although Murray’s touchingly subtle work strikes some highly affecting chords in the last 15 minutes. — Holman

??
· THE BROTHERS GRIMM 1 star (PG-13) Inveterate scenery chewer and slapstick fan Terry Gilliam directs the blandly Caucasian team of Matt Damon and Heath Ledger in an annoyingly manic action-adventure yarn. The two 19th-century German brothers Wilhelm and Jacob, who wrote fairy tales like “Rapunzel” and “Snow White,” become swashbuckling adventurers in screenwriter Ehren Kruger’s hands. The brothers fight to exorcise a haunted German forest of its ghouls. A tangled, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink storyline proves Gilliam was not paying attention when he re-read all of those simple but effective Grimm tales. — Felicia Feaster

??
· THE CAVE (PG-13) A group of divers trapped in subterranean tunnels must fend off bloodthirsty monsters. Probably no great shakes, but the tagline has haiku-like perfection: “Beneath Heaven there is Hell. And beneath Hell there is ... The Cave!”

??
· CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY 4 stars (PG) Managing scathing commentary on contemporary permissive parenting, Tim Burton’s Charlie follows four brats and one near-cherub (Freddie Highmore) on a tour through the phantasmagorical factory of Johnny Depp’s chocolatier. Burton’s film is a mad-capped riff on the cornpone head shop comedy of Willy Wonka, but goes much further in its hilarious send-up of the equally psychedelic, excessive qualities of film history, from Busby Berkeley musicals to film noir and Stanley Kubrick. — Feaster

??
· THE CONSTANT GARDENER 4 stars (R) Ralph Fiennes plays impressively against type as a meek diplomat in Africa investigating the murder of his activist wife (Rachel Weisz). Director Fernando Mereilles brings a similar intensity and eye for telling detail that marked sizzling City of God and makes The Constant Gardener one of the rare political thriller’s that’s actually about politics. Too many characters seem to exist simply for exposition instead of insight, but the film stirringly blends suspenseful paranoia, tragic romance and indignation at corporate misdeeds in the Third World. — Holman

??
· CRASH 3 stars (R) Writer/director Paul Haggis (whose Million Dollar Baby script won an Oscar) presents one of those sprawling multi-character films set in Southern California, only it emphasizes racism as the unifying element. Both thought-provokingly relevant and shamelessly manipulative, Crash presents a simmering melting pot of frustrated Los Angelenos waiting to take out their rage on the first person of a different color who crosses their path. The engrossing scenes and dedicated actors (including Don Cheadle in the central role as an honest LAPD detective) make up for Crash’s heavy-handed storytelling. — Holman

??
· CRONICAS (R) In this Ecuadorian thriller, John Leguizamo plays a Miami reporter who tracks down a serial killer in Ecuador, where the journalistic credo “If it bleeds, it leads” proves nearly as disturbing as the actual murders.

??
· DEUCE BIGALOW: EUROPEAN GIGOLO (R) In one of those inexplicable sequels to movies you can’t imagine anyone going to see the first time around, Rob Schneider plays a male “ho” tricked into whoring around Amsterdam. Bound to make you miss that “Fred Garvin: Male Prostitute” sketch from “Saturday Night Live.”

??
· THE DEVIL’S REJECTS (R) The wait is over: Musician Rob Zombie has written and directed another movie, taking up where House of 1000 Corpses left off. I guess House of 1001 Corpses wasn’t as good a title.

??
· THE DUKES OF HAZZARD 1 star (PG-13) This revved-up, big screen version of the cornpone series casts Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott as the country cousins foiling the latest evil scheme of Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds). Director Jay Chandrasekhar tries to pay homage to the 1970s Southern car crash flicks that inspired the show, but casts pop icons like Jessica Simpson for their kitsch factor, not acting talent. Apart from a great gag about Atlanta traffic, Dukes humor runs on empty. Good race scenes, though. — Holman

??
· FANTASTIC FOUR 3 stars (PG-13) Jessica Alba and Michael Chiklis star in a tale of four “imaginauts” who survive an accident in outer space, only to be granted super powers. Although director Tim Story, of Barbershop fame, tweaked Marvel Comics’ original, Cold War-tinged comic book, the film stays surprisingly faithful. — Carlton Hargro

??
· THE FORTY YEAR-OLD VIRGIN 4 stars (R) This raunchy but surprisingly sweet comedy with a relaxed, engaging cast takes great pleasure in examining society’s sexual obsessions and the anxiety it engenders. It’s a little long, but like the cable cult-flick Office Space, it gets plenty of mileage of taking place in the same generic, chain-store America where must of us live, work and play. — Holman

??
· FOUR BROTHERS 3 stars (R) The adopted sons (two white, two black) of a slain Detroit woman seek the truth about their mother’s death. This lo-fi urban thriller from John Singleton may be heavy-handed and silly, but it captures the spare, edgy fun of cult blaxploitation films far better than the director’s own remake of Shaft. Atlanta’s Andre Benjamin of Outkast fame comports himself comfortably as the most respectable of the title siblings. — Holman

??
· THE GREAT RAID (R) John Dahl (The Last Seduction) directs this old-school World War II drama about a daring mission to rescue U.S. P.O.W.s, based on the book Ghost Soldiers. The cast features Benjamin Bratt and James Franco.

??
· GRIZZLY MAN 3 stars (R) Legendary German director Werner Herzog contemplates the call of the wild by recounting the true story of ill-fated wildlife activist Timothy Treadwell, the self-appointed “guardian” of Alaska’s grizzly bears up until he and his girlfriend were fatally attacked by one. Herzog edits nearly 100 hours of Treadwell’s own footage to reveal a man so dedicated to wildlife that he lost perspective on its genuine dangers. Herzog’s intrusive narration diminishes Grizzly Man’s impact, but the film’s portrayal of nature — at once beautiful and brutal — has a lingering force. — Holman

??
· HUSTLE & FLOW 4 stars Terrence Howard gives a sensitive, complex performance as Djay, a two-bit Memphis pimp and pusher who sees hip-hop as his last chance to escape criminal life. We don’t sympathize with him, exactly, but Hustle & Flow doesn’t do justice to Djay’s contradictions: talented artist, exploiter of women, melancholy soul. Brewer captures the infectious thrill of musical creation in Djay’s makeshift recording sessions (you’ll find yourself singing along to his song “Whoop That Trick”) and even generates nail-biting suspense when he tries to win the favor of rap star Skinny Black (played with appropriate arrogance by Atlanta’s Ludacris). — Holman

??
· JUNEBUG 4 stars (R) This deeply charming, tender story about a Southern homecoming, bristles with honest observation and wit, much of it transmitted by Amy Adams as a pregnant Southern ball of fire. George (Alessandro Nivola) and his sophisticated new wife Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz) head from their Chicago home to visit his folks in North Carolina where they find a South defined by close, unspoken family ties and no small amount of heartbreak, as captured by first-time director Phil Morrison and screenwriter Angus MacLachlan. — Feaster

??
· MARCH OF THE PENGUINS 2 stars (G) This French documentary, a kind of inferior, non-flying version of Winged Migration, concerns the annual migration of Antarctica’s Emperor penguins from their bachelor digs across inhospitable climes to their mating grounds. The doc features adorable birds, cloying, hard-to-take narration from Morgan Freeman and the not exactly original assessment that nature is cruel. — Feaster

??
· ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW 2 stars (R) In this quirky, deadpan love story, geeky video artist Christine falls for recently separated geeky shoe salesman Richard. Like a feel-good Todd Solondz, July interweaves into that spazzy romance countless poetic moments that range from the keenly observed to the self-consicously precious. — Feaster

??
· MUST LOVE DOGS 3 stars Many of the elements that have made the contemporary romantic comedy such a grueling, formulaic experience are present in Must Love Dogs, and yet the movie nonetheless will work for those willing to surrender to its dreamy passion. Diane Lane, so beautiful that it almost hurts to look at her, plays a recent divorcee who takes a chance on meeting single men who contact her through an Internet dating service. You either buy into this fantasy or you don’t — me, I happily wallowed in it. — Matt Brunson

??
· PRETTY PERSUASION 1 star (R) Former music video director Marcos Siega thinks he has some penetrating, Election — style satire on his hands in this nasty teen dramedy. In fact, his mean, slutty little film is an extended wallow in the director and writer Skander Halim blandly misanthropic Maxim sensibility, which sees fit to both loathe and lust after its Heathers-esque opportunistic teen hottie (Evan Rachel Wood) who accuses her drama teacher of molesting her. Everyone gets dragged through the mud in Siega’s unfocused social commentary, until he cops an absurdly moral point of view in the film’s final act. — Feaster

??
· RED EYE 3 stars Red Eye qualifies as the best movie that director Wes Craven has ever made: Unlike his usual junk (The Last House On the Left, Scream), this at least feels like an A-list project rather than the masturbatory exercises in misogyny he tends to foist upon the public. Rachel McAdams delivers a strong performance as Lisa Reisert, whose flight home to Miami turns into a terror trip once she discovers that the charming guy (Cillian Murphy) sitting next to her will involve her in an attempted political assassination. Red Eye may not expand the parameters of the thriller genre but it certainly knows how to make its way inside its well-established conventions. — Brunson

??
· THE SKELETON KEY 3 stars (PG-13) Kate Hudson stars as Caroline Ellis, a caretaker hired to look after a stroke victim (John Hurt) residing in a creaky mansion in the middle of the Louisiana swamps. The patient’s wife (Gena Rowlands) views Caroline with suspicion, but before long it’s Caroline who has to keep her guard up, as mysterious events suggest that a paranormal presence might be living within the house. The supernatural element might extend to Rowlands, who’s high camp performance suggests she was possessed by Bette Davis circa What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? While enjoyable, her overripe turn dilutes the story’s potency, though the movie rights itself in time for a satisfying twist ending. — Brunson

??
· SKY HIGH 3 stars Teen Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano), tries to live up to the expectations of his parents, superhero legends The Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston), by excelling in school. As long as Sky High tweaks the superhero genre, it remains on solid ground, thanks to savvy dialogue and smart casting. But whenever the movie gets distracted by the conventions of the typical teen flick, it becomes a pale imitation of Mean Girls, Clueless and half the John Hughes oeuvre. — Brunson

??
· A SOUND OF THUNDER (PG-13) See review.

??
· A TOUT DE SUITE 3 stars (R) A poor little rich Parisian art student (Isild Le Besco, who suggests a French Scarlett Johansson) goes on the run with a handsome bankrobber (Ouassini Embarek). Writer-director Benoit Jacquot’s black-and-white homage to France’s New Wave noir pictures takes its time to sketch out a credible portrait of Le Besco’s character, whose bedroom experiences symbolize the “awakening” of her character while showing off her nubile physique. How convenient. — Holman

??
· TRANSPORTER 2 (PG-13) Jason Statham reprises his role as a former Special Forces operative who kicks ass, takes names and transports stuff. Here he must rescue a pair of kidnapped twins, so think The Pacifier without the laughs. Assuming The Pacifier had laughs.

??
· 2046 4 stars (R) Replacing unconsummated romance with unattached intimacy, 2046 proves an equally lush but more complex study in style and mood, as Tony Leung’s dissolute writer becomes involved with some of Asia’s most beautiful women, most prominently Crouching Tiger’s Zhang Ziyi as a heartbroken call girl. Rather than try to decode all of the director’s post-modern plot twists, you’ll have a more satisfying time bathing in the film’s voluptuousness. — Holman

??
· UNDERCLASSMAN (PG-13) Drumline’s Nick Cannon plays a streetwise L.A. cop who goes undercover at an elite private school. Presumably Martin Lawrence was too old for the role. The cast includes Cheech Marin, Kelly Hu and Ian Gomez.

??
· UNDISCOVERED (PG-13) A group of aspiring entertainers try to establish careers in Los Angeles. (Hey, isn’t this the plot of every sitcom on HBO?) The cast includes Carrie Fisher, Ashlee Simpson, Peter Weller and assorted hotties.

??
· VALIANT 2 stars (G) The most interesting moment in this turgid animated feature is the revelation that of the 53 Dickin Medals given to animals for bravery during World War II, 31 of them went to pigeons. That sounds like a compelling subject for a live-action documentary (March of the Pigeons?), but instead, the topic has been tossed away on a rigidly rote cartoon that features the usual mix of uninspired computer-animated graphics, obvious morals aimed at small children and, oh yeah, flatulence gags. — Brunson

??
· WAR OF THE WORLDS 3 stars (PG-13) A deadbeat dad (Tom Cruise) learns to be an attentive, protective father when alien war machines attack the American heartland. Director Steven Spielberg uses a sci-fi action premise comparable to Jurassic Park or Close Encounters of the Third Kind to air some serious themes about how a catastrophe brings out the best and worst in Americans. Imagery reminiscent of 9/11 abounds and Spielberg’s command of terrifying set pieces remains unequaled, yet the script feels thinner than it should be and the “easy” resolutions make the end of the world feel oddly inconsequential. — Holman

??
· WEDDING CRASHERS 2 stars (R) Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) and John (Owen Wilson) spend their weekends crashing weddings in a search for Ms. Right Now, but trouble strikes when the duo ends up falling for their prey. Although Wilson and Vaughn provide loads of snappy banter, Crashers just can’t seem to consistently sustain the laughs. Ultimately, the film comes across as a great setup without a satisfying punch line. — Hargro