| Show 01 7 J v MOVIE GUIDE Capsule a su e Reviews I of 0 Current Re Release e ease 1 Los s c t Opinions are by Los Angeles Times review review- ers Ratings by the Motion Picture Association of America are G for general audiences PG fj parental guidance urged because of material 13 possibly unsuitable for children children- PG- PG parents are strongly cautioned to give guidance for attendance of children than 13 R younger restricted younger than 17 admitted admitted admit admit- ted only with parent or adult guardian guardian- NC- NC 17 no one younger than 17 admitted The Aviator Martin look at a pivotal 20 years of Howard Hughes' Hughes life is a traditional wide screen epic of the old school the kind of meticulously executed extravaganza za complete with an star all-star cast that the director has admired for years With Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role and lots of cameos hey isn't that Jude ude Law as Errol Flynn its it's not without noticeable problems few films at this length are but its it's both impressive in a movie-movie movie way and avoids tendency ten ten- tendency dency to be show Here hes he's put all his technique energy and style at the service of a story we cant can't look away from at least initial initial- ly PG 13 for thematic elements sexual content nudity language and a crash sequence Darkness A trite flat old old dark house horror mystery in w which yet another see seemingly seeming seeming- ng- ng ly typical family seeks peace and quiet in in In the country moving into the gloomiest most iso iso- ISO ISO- residence they can find but never moves out when things inevitably go bump in the night and worse happens This blah language English- English Spain made-in-Spain production boasts a cast it doesn't deserve Anna Lena Olin Giancarlo Giannini and others PG 13 for disturbing images intense terror sequences thematic elements and language The Flight of the Phoenix A worthy remake of Robert Aldrich's terrific 1965 original original nal film Director John Moore and writers Scott Frank and Edward Burns have done an excellent job of retaining the key elements of the original plot and creating an entirely new set of characters that the give film a crisp contemporary contemporary con con- temporary feel Dennis Quaid's surly captain has flown to Mongolia to evacuate a crew of unsuccessful oil riggers only to run afoul of an epic sandstorm over the Gobi Desert on the return flight It becomes quickly clear that if the passengers are to have a hope of survival after a crash landing they will have to rebuild their damaged plane Just as lively and suspenseful suspenseful sus- sus suspenseful as the original With Giovanni Tyrese Gibson Miranda Otto Hugh Laurie PG 13 for some language action and violence Hotel Rwanda It was very brave of director Terry George to have made a film about the horrific events in Rwanda in 1994 when more than of that country's citizens citizens cit cit- cit cit- were slaughtered over ethnic differences while the world looked away Don Cheadle in the performance of a lifetime is Paul the manager of the No 1 hotel n aL e 4 ji jis f s ti J 3 1 r.- r. 4 1 z 3 r t Cr ti i CI o 1 u CI Zhang and Takeshi Kaneshiro in House in-House House of Flying Daggers I a UI Lilt capital who uses his influence to shelter more than 1200 refugees inside his hotel Earnest sincere and well this is a film that does not do the situation as much justice as we would have hoped for its it's broadly done and too much on the nose in its dialogue dialogue dialogue dia dia- logue and situa situa- It uses the comfort of the predictable tomake tomake to tomake make horror palatable I toa to a a wider audience u- u With Nick Nolte Nolle Joaquin Phoenix and Sophie 20 I PG 13 for violence disturbing disturbing disturbing dis dis- images and brief strong language House of Flying Daggers A thrilling martial arts epic involving a conflict between love and duty finds the great Chinese director Zhang at his most roma romantic tic It stars exquisite Zhang as a blind martial artist a member of an elusive rebel group protesting Tang Dynasty corruption Takeshi Kaneshiro is the government government government gov gov- deputy in disguise escorting her to the rebels' rebels secret headquarters A grand entertainment of much sophistication sophistication sophis sophis- sophistication and style With Andy Lau In Mandarin with English subtitles PG 13 for sequences of stylized martial arts violence violence vio vio- vio- vio lence and some sexuality In In Good Company This comedy comedy come come- dy about the consequences of corporate corpo corpo- rate takeovers romance and intergenerational intergenerational intergenerational conflicts handles it all pretty well thanks to smart acting and expert writing and directing Much of the credit should go to writer-director writer Paul Weitz whose gentle touch gives this film the kind of seductive spirit that wants to surprise us into smiling instead of bludgeoning us into sion Though the cast especially costars costars costars co- co stars Dennis Quaid and Scarlett Johansson as father and daughter are all in on the joke the performance that is essential to the films film's success is Graces Grace's who displays what looks to be one of the most persuasive comic touches of his generation as a hot young executive who falls for the daughter of the man whose job hes he's just taken PG 13 for some sexual sexual sexual sex sex- ual content and drug rug references The Life Aquatic With Steve On the face of it Wes Andersons Anderson's movie is an adventure tale about a Jacques the on type skids-type Bill Murray who decides to pull an Ahab on the shark that ate his buddy But mostly like all of Andersons Anderson's movies its it's about the way nostalgia works on people written Co-written with Noah oah Ba Baumbach m ach this is an evocative movie that elevates rueful rueful- melancholia melancholia melan melan- to its apex It does that thing movies used used t to think they Ye were e supposed to do paint with light sculpt In in time drive you nuts with longing for something h hard d to JO pinpoint that you probably never had deliver an emotional experience from which you wont won't recover With Cate Gate Blanchett Anjelica Huston Willem Dafoe Jeff Goldblum and Michael Gambon 1 58 R for language some drug use violence violence vio vio- lence and partial nudity A A Love for Song Bobby Long Scarlett Johansson plays a high school dropout who returns to New Orleans after her mothers mother's death to find a pair of highly literate alcoholics living in the house she thought shed she'd inherited Eventually its it's revealed that Bobby Long LongJohn John the elder and drunker of the two was once a popular English professor and that his younger marginally more sober sidekick Gabriel Macht formerly his star pupil is now his great white hope Director Gabels Gabel's feature debut is a rede makeover tory story drenched literature and the damp romanticism of the bohemian lush life in New Orleans If theres there's something a little bit moldy about the setup the movie is no less charming channing or involving for forit forit forit it and its it's no less pleasant to succumb to its wayward allure and wastrel lyricism 1 59 R for language including some sexual refer- refer Meet the The the sequel to 2000 hit Meet the Parents brings back Ben Stiller as Greg ne Gaylord the mild- mild mannered nurse who suffered humiliation atthe at atthe atthe the hands of his girlfriends girlfriend's Teri Polo father Jack Robert De Niro a former fonner CIA operative operative operative opera opera- tive surveillance enthusiast and psycho Two years later laer Greg is re ready dy to in introduce h her r family to his own parents Bernie Dustin Hoffman and Roz Barbra This is one of those relatively rare comedies that's at once puerile charming and very funny throughout Stiller dutifully reprises his nervous routine and Polo does what she can In Ina in ina ina a criminally bland part Hoffman and 4 1 II G r fr 4 Emmy Rossum Butler in Andrew Lloyd Webbers Webber's The Phantom of the Opera have a blast as Bernie Bemie and Roz the conscious unselt-conscious free spirits who made ih then their k son sop into the cringing milksop he is today Directed by Jay Roach PG 13 for crude and sexual humor language and a brief drug reference Million Dollar Baby Perhaps director- director star Clint Eastwoods Eastwood's most touching most elegiac elegiac elegiac ele ele- ele- ele giac work yet this is a film that does both the expected and th the 1 unexpected that has the nerve and the will to be as pitiless as it is sen sen- Screenwriter Paul Haggis adapts two short stories by the late writer FX EX Toole to tell the story of Frankie Dunn Eastwood a cantankerous trainer and manager who owns a ramshackle gym in downtown LA and who seems to be disconnecting from life Into his hermetic world comes a hardscrabble young woman Hilary Swank who has focused her entire life on a single goal having Dunn mold her into the best fighter she can be Despite skepticism Dunn takes her on but ut rather than being the end of their story that is the merest beginning Morgan Freeman costars PG PG some g images imag s sU U thematic em fic m mf f H r an l The Phantom of the Opera Joel Joel Joell Schumacher's filmed reprise of the Andrew Lloyd Webber Broadway musical mega-musical tends to drift in a semi-conscious semi fog as though purposefully purposefully purposefully pur pur- trying to lose us in all the murkiness and Rococo design The story is a classic love triangle between the dashing Raoul Patrick Wilson Christine Emmy Rossum the orphaned chorus girl who's been living in the ballet dormitory since she was a child and the title phantom Gerard Butler a disfigured musical genius who dwells in the basement of the opera Rossum is lovely and she he has a pretty pretty pret pret- ty voice but the real problem with the film is IS the problem with Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals musicals musicals musi musi- musi- musi cals in general Its It's a slow-moving slow orgy of lowbrow grandiosity that's as tedious as i it is is overblown and pretentious PG 13 for brief violent images Movies l continued on page 8 Movies continued from page 5 Sideways Director Alexander Payne turns seven days with scoundrels Miles and Jack Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church into a completely satisfying movie that quietly gently blows you away Exactly written directed direct direct- ed with a surgeons surgeon's pr precision and transcendently acted the film brings emotional reality to a consistently amusing character comedy making it something to be cherished Giamatti plays an eighth- eighth grade English teacher taking his to soon-to-be-married actor friend Church out for a trip to the area just north of Santa Barbara intent on indulging in fine dining great scenery unforgettable golf and wine Lots and lots of wine Inevitably romantic complications complications complications insinuate themselves into this jaunt Giamatti and Church along with Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh as the women who enter their lives have never given the kind of rich enduring performance they do here R for language language language lan lan- guage some strong sexual content and nudity A comic drama about the way we live now this is a film as contemporary contemporary contemporary as its title by writer- writer director James L. L Brooks who has a well-established well gift for showing us who we are It gives us ideas to chew on moments to laugh at and performances performances performances per per- to admire but like so many current lives it is also somewhat in disarray not always equal to its admirable intentions and the grace of its most successful aspects Flor for Spanish star Paz Vega seeking seeking seeking seek seek- ing a better life for her daughter daugh daugh- ter illegally crosses the border into the US U.S. and is hired as a housekeeper for an affluent fan family ly Tea Leoni makes the most indelible impression as wife and mother Deborah an immensely complicated character character character char char- acter endlessly exasperating but completely believable Adam Sandler Sandier and Cloris Leachman also star PG 13 for some sexual content content content con con- tent and brief language |
