Reviews

SNOW DAYS (a.k.a. LET IT SNOW) is an engaging independent film that focuses on the trials and tribulations of an aspiring cook who may--or may not--be in love with his childhood chum. Writer-producer Kipp Marcus stars as James Ellis, a young man with a problem: he wants to be happy. A snow day hits his sleepy town, so he and Sarah Milson (Alice Dylan, a dead ringer for actress Monica Keena), who are "only friends," spend a day together making snow angels and having snowball fights. Who knew that it'd be one very cherished childhood memory? The two move on from there, Sarah to college to study meteorology, James to the CIA--"Not that CIA...the Cooking Institute of America." After a Winterfest dance, the two share a kiss. Is it love? No, says Sarah, it was a "mistake." James agrees...but as narrator, he kindly lets us know that he is lying. James moves on to New York, for work as a waiter, while Sarah moves on to Oxford, James, of course, longing to be with Sarah. And when Sarah moves to New York...well, you get the idea.

Directed by Adam Marcus, whose only previous credit was the ninth installment of the FRIDAY THE 13TH film series (the one where Jason supposedly "goes to Hell"), and who must be Kipp's father, SNOW DAYS is a small film that takes a cliched situation (in film and in life) and flashes moments of wit. Title cards are shown throughout the film (one lists the total population of New Yorkers, along with the number of those in therapy; another simply says, "Spring sucks!"), and James's predicaments--suffering through cooking school, juggling three women at once, getting a job as a waiter for a catering company that (gulp!) does wedding receptions (the interview for the job itself is very funny)--make the film unique from most released today.

Look for Henry Simmons as James's friend Mitch and Miriam Shor as Sarah's psychotic college roommate Beth; both manage to steal some scenes in their respective roles. Alice Dylan is also wonderful in playing a teenage girl that matures into a successful businesswoman (when she tells James she works in ABC's marketing department, James quips, "You can market the weather?"), and Marcus, of course, displays a knack for playing a conflicted regular guy (Marcus must have enrolled in the Tom Hanks school of acting). Another scene-stealer is Bernadette Peters as James's mother Elise. A classic scene involves her analogy that James is like their orange Volvo, whose fate involved a trip to the junkyard...a car with some real potential. Isn't that life?

8/10. Predictable story but with good characterization, excellent editing, and some pretty good cinematography of New York. My favorite scene: James and psycho roomie Beth share a kiss. It's not a good one, so Beth says, "Okay, pretend I'm Sarah, I'll pretend you're Sam Shepard." The next kiss is passionate. Beth is aroused...James then pukes on her.

PS Look for the director as the "fascist French chef" at the CIA.

Ben Stiller stars in director Jay Roach's MEET THE PARENTS, a somewhat amusing farce about a male nurse named (yes) Greg Focker, who travels with his girlfriend Pam (Teri Polo) to her family home, not only because of Pam's sister's impending nuptials, but also because it will give Greg a chance to meet her parents and ask her father for Pam's hand in marriage. Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner, an onscreen couple you thought you'd never see, are absolutely believable as Pam's folks, especially in their first scene with the younger couple. Unfortunately, this is perhaps the film that has made De Niro into a comedic rather than dramatic actor (THE KING OF COMEDY wasn't meant to be completely amusing), and you'll begin to miss the Bobby of old (TAXI DRIVER, GOODFELLAS, even the action-packed RONIN).

I'll admit that I enjoyed this film, but only in a few scenes. Greg's scene with the female ticket agent on the airplane was memorable, as were the scenes where Jack (De Niro), apparently ex-CIA, hooks Greg up to the lie detector, and where Greg does too much to impress the others during a game of water volleyball.

What I did love about the film were its subtle touches, especially in the way Greg is treated, because it's happened to me--it's happened to a lot of us. Ever say something that causes other people to look at you and go, "What the heck are you talking about?" It's happened to me several times, and it happens to Greg. A lot. That's where the amusement in MEET THE PARENTS lies, and I hope that MEET THE FOCKERS, a sequel due out next year, keeps some of that. 7/10

Side issue: the film is apparently based on an earlier (independent) film by screenwriters Greg Glienna and Mary Ruth Clarke. I just hope this film (the 2000 version) wasn't made just to make more $$$ on an older, funnier film. It'd sound too much like a remake that way. Personally, I wouldn't want to see CLERKS remade with hot young stars instead of the New Jersey slackers we grew to love.

RUN LOLA RUN is one of the most inventive films of the last decade. Filmed in Berlin, Germany, on a modest budget, and written and directed by Tom Tykwer, it follows the story of a young woman, Lola, all athletic body and dyed red hair, who must run to meet her boyfriend Manni and save his life. Apparently, Manni lost a large sum of money (100,000 Deutsche marks, to be precise) he was supposed to deliver to his employer, a man who isn't quite law-abiding by any means; Manni must now come up with the money before his meeting with his employer in twenty minutes. Which leaves Lola exactly that amount of time to get to Manni AND figure out a way to get 100,000 DM to him for delivery to his employer. To add to that, in twenty minutes, Manni says that he will rob the supermarket across the street to get the money--unless Lola can help him. Sound easy to you?

RUN LOLA RUN (in German, LOLA RENNT) is an inventive and fast-paced video-game style film, straight out of a techno-cyberpunk fantasy. Yet there is also something very philosophical beneath Tykwer's visuals. The film is cut into three separate stories, each with different circumstances and conclusions. Happy endings for some mean disaster for others. Tykwer succeeds in showing that everything--EVERYTHING--we do has a cause-effect relationship on everything else. Accusing someone of being a thief, for instance (in reference to the film), affects that person's future. Even bumping into someone on the street causes a chain reaction that may lead either to success or failure. But that isn't just Tykwer's vision, or Tykwer's view of life. That IS life.

The two leads, Franka Potente (who is also very beautiful, and will probably move on to American film one day, as is the norm these days) and Moritz Bleibtrau, do a wonderful job in portraying hopelessly inept, hopelessly romantic young ne'er-do-wells. Potente, especially, shows a spectacular charm and desperation as the heroic Lola. This film was so visually and stylistically inventive that my college professor showed it, in its entirety (roughly 80 min.), to our film class. And yes, it was even spoofed on an episode of THE SIMPSONS! 8/10

THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS is this year's best film. At least, the best film I've seen all year, which says a lot, considering it's December and I've seen many films this year alone. Wes Anderson continues his "quirky" (I hate to use this term with him, but it fits) look at life, first explored in the marvelous BOTTLE ROCKET and the charming RUSHMORE. The title family consists of disbarred lawyer Royal (Gene Hackman in what should be an Oscar-nominated performance), whose mooching ways led his kids astray--at least from him. He is unofficially divorced--for twenty-odd years--from archaeologist wife Etheline (Angelica Huston, very wonderful in all her, albeit few, scenes) and has been living in a hotel suite--littered with Encyclopedia Brittanica and dated suits--for at least three years. When he is kicked out of his suite for not paying his hotel bills, Royal returns home, pretending to be dying from stomach cancer.

The children--introduced as child prodigies, with The Beatles' "Hey Jude" playing in the background and Alec Baldwin narrating (his narration, throughout the film, is essential, his voice raspy and distinctive)--have outgrown their genius diapers. Chas (Ben Stiller, somewhat wasted but still funny) was the financial wizard of the family. He still is successful, but the loss of his wife in a plane crash has made him very protective of his sons Ari and Uzi (Grant Rosenmeyer and Jonah Meyerson). He even insists that they don smaller versions of the red track suit their father wears. He is the one most resentful of his father, who once shot him in the hand with a BB rifle when he was a child (the BB is still lodged between the knuckles). Richie (Luke Wilson) is a former tennis phenom who suffered a career-ending defeat at the hands of an opponent named "Gandhi." He also has a secret infatuation with Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), his adopted sister, as seen in the younger Richie's numerous portraits of her (and the fact that they once ran away together as children). Margot is a zombie-like ex-playwright who suffered the most under Royal, whom always made it clear that she was adopted, and, sadly, was very critical of her work, regardless of her age. She dabbles in smoking, watching TV in the bathroom for six hours straight, and avoiding her anthropologist husband Raleigh St. Clair (Bill Murray, always funny anywhere, even if his age is showing), whose latest case study involves a very peculiar nerd.

Hackman shines here, especially in his snide comments, many of them directed toward Chas and Margot, who seem bitter at him (and who can blame them?). Upon learning that Chas' wife is buried in the same cemetery his late mother is buried in, Royal smirks, "We'll swing by her grave too." But Royal wants to change--possibly. His way to Chas' heart is through Chas' boys, and in one bravado touch, Anderson further intensifies the film's Seventies look (though lacking the grittiness, the film is set and filmed in an unspecified part of New York, the location of most Seventies films) when Royal approaches the boys near a rooftop jungle gym. The closeups remind us instantly of 1971's THE FRENCH CONNECTION, a film that earned Hackman his Best Actor Oscar. The exteriors are purely New York, a perpetually snowy and cold, yet sunny, NYC, unfazed by the goings-on at the Tenenbaum household.

The lesser characters do well. Danny Glover as Henry Sherman, Etheline's current suitor, is fine and lovable, especially when he verbally spars with Royal--or, really, when he defends Royal's many quips. Kumar Pallana, an Anderson fixture since his amusing turns as Kumar the safecracker in BOTTLE ROCKET and Mr. Littlejeans the caretaker in RUSHMORE, plays Pagoda, the family's longtime butler, with the right amount of naivete and wholesomeness. Owen Wilson (who co-wrote the script with college buddy Anderson, as he had done with the previous films) is one of the film's funniest characters, Eli Cash, the family's neighbor from across the street. Once a quiet child in a red dinner jacket, he has grown up into a novelist, complete in Western wardrobe, and assistant professor of English Literature at Brooks College. His first novel was a dud called "Wildcat," which was written in an "obsolete vernacular"; his latest, "Old Custer," as he notes, "presupposes" whether Custer really died at Little Big Horn, which he also acknowledges as fact. This is a man who has stacks of pornographic videotapes, dozens of cannibis plants, and paintings of hooligans with white facepaint on motorcycles in his apartment. Look also for Seymour Cassel (memorable as Max Fischer's father in RUSHMORE) as Royal's pal Dusty, an elevator operator at the hotel who later poses, in a witty scene, as his doctor.

Anderson continues with the lively colors and soft guitar riffs that made his first two films quietly affecting. Baldwin's narration, along with cut scenes of the film's fictitious novel and the opening sentences of each chapter (though some of us may want to buy the hardcover version anyway), make the film thoroughly enjoyable for most viewers. While diehard Anderson fans (such as myself) may consider BOTTLE ROCKET his magnum opus, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS doesn't disappoint until the second half, when the Richie-Margot storyline slows the momentum. But the film ends on a (basically) happy note, and you leave the theater feeling content about how you spent your afternoon. I, for one, cannot wait for the next Anderson/Wilson feature. 9/10

SPY GAME, the latest film from veteran director Tony Scott (CRIMSON TIDE, ENEMY OF THE STATE, and the modern classic TOP GUN) and screenwriter Michael Frost Beckner (who wrote the so-so SNIPER and the horrible CUTTHROAT ISLAND), is one of the best spy films in recent years. Scott shies away from full-blown action here, instead building tension through longtime CIA operative Nathan Muir's (aptly played by Robert Redford) assessment of an old pupil, Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt).

Bishop, recently (the film, however, is set in 1991) imprisoned after a failed mission, is due to be executed at 8 a.m. EST. Muir is called upon to give intimate details of Bishop's life to, among others, CIA suits Troy Folger (Larry Bryggman, late of DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE) and Charles Harker (Stephen Dillane), Muir's main adversary. Why so important? The United States and China are due for trade talks the very day Bishop is to be executed.

Muir and Bishop's relationship is detailed in flashbacks, from their first meeting in Vietnam in the early 1970s, where Bishop, fresh out of Hemet, California, is a rookie sniper with three confirmed kills. After Bishop survives Vietnam, he moves on to West Germany as a clerk, until Muir, in a chance meeting, decides to introduce Bishop into the world of espionage. In a fine touch, Bishop learns from the wise Muir in a cornucopia of images.

Early on, Bishop learns the thin line between the world of espionage and real life during a mission in Berlin. Muir later tells him on a rooftop, "If you go off the reservation, I won't come after you." As the film moves on, however, Muir learns that Bishop may not be worthwhile to the CIA, and may not be rescued, thereby enlisting the help of his secretary, Gladys (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), friend Harry Duncan (David Hemmings), and others to save his friend's life. The real story lies in 1985 Beirut, when Bishop, undercover as a photographer, meets Elizabeth Hadley (Catherine McCormack), a Londoner working as a relief worker in the wartorn city. Though their relationship is never truly founded as we would like, this is Muir's story and not Bishop's. This, however, ultimately hurts any true growth of Bishop's character. Redford, then, makes Muir shine. It is in Beirut, therefore, that makes Muir change his mind about saving Bishop.

The flashbacks, especially Vietnam and Beirut, are wonderfully captured on film by cinematographer Daniel Mindel (who also did Scott's ENEMY OF THE STATE). Scott fleshes out all the supporting characters nicely, though, yes, this is Redford's film. Highly recommended to those who enjoy the likes of Tom Clancy. 8/10

NOTE: As a San Diego Padres fan, I must point out that there is a goof in the film (I have notified IMDb of this also). In Beirut in 1985, Bishop, from Hemet, California, near Riverside, is wearing the blue San Diego Padres baseball cap with white and orange lettering. This is an anachronism: the Padres still wore their brown and yellow uniforms in 1985, and didn't replace them with the blue, white, and sometimes gray uniforms until new ownership in 1990. The brown and yellow cap is not hard to find.

Excellent directorial debut of actor, comedian, and diehard Yankees fan Billy Crystal, from a script by Hank Steinberg. Thomas Jane and Barry Pepper are perfectly cast as the "M & M boys," Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, both of whom vied for the Babe's home run record in 1961. Both actors do a wonderful job portraying the men, from looks (both actors are dead ringers) to personality. Jane, whose best-known previous work was as Neal Cassady (again capturing the mood of a legend) in THE LAST TIME I COMMITTED SUICIDE, recreates the happy-go-lucky Mantle whose appeal won the Bronx masses, while Pepper (Private Jackson in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, also in the horrible BATTLEFIELD EARTH) makes do with the "Most Vacant Personality" that was the shy family man Maris. Everything a person like me (born long after 1961) could dig up about that season is present here, from Mantle's injury and alcoholic problems to Maris' hair falling out due to the stress the media placed upon him. Good symbolism of addictions here: Mantle deals with the stress by drinking and picking up women, Maris deals with the stress by smoking a cigarette every chance he gets.

The supporting cast does its job supporting the main characters; they include Chris Bauer (as Bob Cerv), Jennifer Crystal Foley (Billy's daughter, as Pat Maris), Bruce McGill (Yankees manager Ralph Houk), Anthony Michael Hall (as Whitey Ford), and especially Richard Masur (without his notable mustache here, portraying Milt Kahn, the only sportswriter who supported Maris from the beginning). Donald Moffat is a welcome sight as Ford Frick, the baseball commissioner who added the infamous asterisk to the record, which indicated the 162-game schedule, eight more games for Maris to make 61 homeruns. One may remember Moffat in another 1960s-based film, THE RIGHT STUFF (with Moffat as Senator Lyndon B. Johnson).

The friendship (and conflict) between Mantle and Maris, however, ARE THE FILM. We get only brief indications of the race itself (showing Babe Ruth, Maris, and Mantle on the sports page, with the number of homers they have on that particular date) because the film isn't about the race itself, but the men involved in it. While Jane is appealing as Mantle, Pepper deserves a lot of credit in making Maris very interesting to watch, and even more credit because you'll find yourself rooting for him even considering you know he'll get to 61. Also, great interplay with Mark McGwire's bid to break the record in 1998, which was the homerun race of our generation.

Lastly, kudos to Billy Crystal for transforming the now-dead Tiger Stadium to Yankee Stadium. Even though I'm not much of a Yankees fan, Crystal shows just how beautiful a baseball diamond can be.

Interesting study of young punks in 1980s Salt Lake City, Utah. Matthew Lillard is perfectly cast as Stevo, the blue-haired punk/law student who believes in anarchy. Supported by Michael Goorjian (as his pal, Heroin Bob), Annabeth Gish (as Bob's bohemian girlfriend, Trish), and German actor Til Schweiger (the funny, drug-dealing sadist, Mark), Stevo attempts to live a listless life whenever possible. Writer-director James Merendino shows some promise in several scenes, especially in Stevo's "slideshow" on the various groups inhabiting Salt Lake City, in the "acid-dropping" scene in the park (with the beautiful Jennifer Lien as the very gothic Sandy), and in Stevo's narrative. The story itself, though, could've been better, but the visuals of Salt Lake City actually make the city look beautiful, in contrast to Stevo's wasteful existence. And Stevo's emotional breakdown near the end shows what great acting Matthew Lillard is capable of.

Gavin Hood's THE STOREKEEPER is a mini-masterpiece of filmmaking, a film short with no dialogue, yet with very moving characters, whose facial expressions and body language make the short work. A storekeeper in South Africa goes to extreme lengths to keep from being repeatedly burglarized. We know exactly what'll happen as the story progresses, yet we're powerless to stop it.

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is one of the most exploratory and daring science fiction films ever made and one of the best overall films made in the latter part of the 20th century. The combined vision of Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick, basing the screenplay on Clarke's novel, created a visual and aural masterpiece closer to realism than any science fiction film that preceded it. The film was released in 1968, at a time of political and social upheaval: while the Apollo space program headed closer and closer to the moon, young men were being drafted into Vietnam and the voices of college students around the country began to be heard.

2001 was (and perhaps always will be) unlike any other science fiction film. It begins with a rendition of Richard Strauss' `Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra)' slowly building up as the opening credits appear during a lunar eclipse (as each sphere overshadows the one preceding it). For the next seventeen or so minutes, we are introduced to `The Dawn of Man.' A group of apes struggle to survive in a rough African landscape. (It should be noted that humans portray these apes, so realistically that it seems like we are watching a documentary on the Discovery Channel.) The apes live in a waterhole; the only source of water for miles, the waterhole is the apes' paradise. This then becomes the locale for conflict between two groups of apes. The main ape (called `Moon-Watcher' in the novel) unleashes his `discovery' (bone as weapon) on a member of the other group. Soon we are introduced to the monolith, a mysterious huge black rectangular slab that will serve as a link between the four parts of the film.

In one of the most famous jump cuts in cinema history, Moon-Watcher hurls the bone into the air; it rises and turns slowly, transforming into a bone-shaped satellite. This sudden evolution, from ape to man, will remind us of the bone, and will introduce us to the next `discovery' of man: technology. Like the bone, the satellite is both a tool and a weapon; the data collected by satellites can easily be used for destructive purposes.

In the second part of the film, `4 Million Years Later,' we meet the first `actor' in William Sylvester, who portrays an intentionally bland Dr. Heywood Floyd. Floyd is more politician than scientist, as he dismisses rumors (brought up by Russian scientists) of an epidemic outbreak at the lunar Clavius Base. This part of the film portrays lengthy scenes of Floyd's ship docking, first at the wheel-shaped space station, then on the lunar surface. Within, life is made up of politicians and scientists within white walls, mechanical doors, and bright lights. Outer space, meanwhile, is silent and black. And breathtakingly beautiful.

The lifelessness of the human characters in 2001 is intentional, because WHAT WE SEE is the true star of the film. In the `Jupiter Mission-18 Months Later' sequence of the film, we meet the bone-shaped spaceship Discovery, a representation of man's achievements in technology; two astronauts, Dr. David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Dr. Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood), both of whom man the ship while the other three astronauts are in hibernation; and perhaps one of the most memorable characters in film, the HAL 9000 supercomputer (voiced by Douglas Rain), a living computer (to us, a red glassy eye) that has the ability to think on its own, and thus can make its own decisions. The Discovery depicts man's life in outer space, more so than the second part of the film: a place for exercise (Frank jogging), leisure (Frank playing chess, Dave drawing sketches), and research (the various work the astronauts do on the ship). HAL 9000 can be both a tool (serving as the protector of Discovery) and a weapon (eliminating those interfering with the mission, which we will soon discover). The film offers a lot of emotion in the character of HAL 9000. HAL is the central character of this part of the film. As a computer, he cannot repress his emotions for the sake of the mission (as Dave and Frank do, having been trained in the space program). Only when a vital component of the communication system seems to fail does HAL discover his own imperfection, and the mission is ultimately jeopardized. A revelation into the purpose of the Jupiter mission (and a revelation into the purpose of the monolith) leads us to one of the most stunning, fascinating sequences caught on film, as Dave descends from the spaceship Discovery and enters Jupiter's atmosphere in the final part of the film, `Jupiter-And Beyond the Infinite.'

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY can be a major disappointment, especially now that we have reached it but are not traveling to the moon during summer vacation. Clarke used the year not because he felt we would be excavating monoliths on the moon by the year 2001, but because it's symbolic, it IS the year of the new millennium, the year that will continue for us the life begun in evolution. We will one day realize the effects of 2001 the film, and when that occurs, life to us would seem very ordinary.

Excellent short film detailing a final drinking binge for a college student. Kris Isaacson's use of black and white, a jazz soundtrack, and voiceover narration by the film's writer, Matt Gunn (who also stars), help present the film in a way that is both sad, amusing, and downright interesting. The narrator reacquaints himself with an old drinking "buddy" he doesn't really know well, except that this buddy loves to drink. A LOT. This begins the story, and we are drawn deeper into the narrator's world, as he attempts, WHILE DRUNK, to understand why he drinks. We laugh at seeing the narrator sitting in front of the television with several empty beer cans around him. We laugh at seeing him unsuccessfully coax two girls into a threesome. We laugh at his daydream about romancing a Jersey guy's cute girlfriend while the guy's in the restroom.

But we find his life pathetic as he walks around dazed, still collapsing into that little alleyway or corner. Should we feel sorry for him because he longs to be back with an old girlfriend? Or that he doesn't like waking up in a cold sweat, naked on his apartment floor? He longs to be sober, and hopefully he'll succeed. What I enjoyed about this film was its honesty. It cut through all the unnecessary nonsense and gave us a real account of a drinking binge. While it works well on a small level, the voiceover narration (even without any true dialogue) could carry a much longer picture.

If you ever get a copy of this short film, watch it sober. That way you'll remember it.

Sure, this isn't the conventional baseball film. In fact, baseball doesn't really have to be a part of it. This film is about growing up. It's about finding yourself alone in a new town and hoping to make friends. Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry) is a young boy most of us can identify with. Even if we'll never picture ourselves as Smalls, we can at least say we've met a naive kid like him.

Scotty moves to the Valley with his mother and stepdad (Karen Allen and Denis Leary, who are little seen in the film but who are the primary adults here) and plans to spend his summer alone in his room reading and toying with his erector set. When Mom pushes Scotty to go out and make friends, Scotty listens. Reluctantly. He stumbles upon the sandlot one day and finds eight young boys just like him. They never play a real game, just one long never ending practice. These will be his friends for the summer, and one will be there for the rest of his life.

Of course, this film works better with baseball. It's America's pastime and one of our country's creations, something the US will forever be associated with. Even if you never grew up playing or even liking baseball, you'll love this movie. There are exceptional performances by our young players, from the portly Hamilton Porter (Patrick Renna) to the handsome Benny Rodriguez (Mike Vitar). These boys aren't ballplayers, they're kids just like we are or once were. We grew up with Squints (Chauncey Leopardi) and Smalls. Like its predecessor "The Bad News Bears," there isn't enough time to flesh out each youngster, but the focus here is on the two main characters, Scotty the narrator and Benny his older and wiser friend.

Benny's a big brother to Scotty. He teaches Scotty how to throw and field, gives him a new mitt and cap, and even casually tells his new friend to toss Scotty's trademark puke-colored fish cap into the fireplace. This friendship is the one we all know will last throughout the film.

Sure, this isn't "Field of Dreams" or "The Natural" or even "Major League," but it's an adequate portrayal of growing up in the sixties, having to tell little white lies to fit in, and sticking up for one another whenever possible. In all, there is only one game against an opposing team, a "real" ballclub complete with uniforms, stirrups, quality equipment (batting helmets, for one), and a field and scoreboard. This scene is great in that it shows that it doesn't take a lot of $$$ to make a quality ballteam.

James Earl Jones makes a memorable cameo in an otherwise "kid flick." The narration is fine (reminiscent of TV's "The Wonder Years"), the performances by the young actors promising, and the story/plotline, from beginning to end, is adequate to keep your interest. Most of my friends who have seen this film have said that the most memorable scene is the poolside scene, with lovely actress Marley Shelton portraying Wendy Peppercorn, the object of Squints' affections and resident lifeguard. Though this scene is memorable (in all its possible ways), the true baseball game occurs on the only night game, the Fourth of July game, where the fireworks in the sky light up the sky so much that it's possible to play a game in the sandlot.

Fifteen-year-old ne'er-do-well falls for British schoolteacher in this lovely Wes Anderson film set in the beautiful suburbs of Houston, Texas. Jason Schwartzman (as Max Fischer) caps a breakthrough performance as the young playwright who will do anything to impress Rosemary Cross (the beautiful Olivia Williams, whose beauty exudes from that of Rushmore Academy). Both actors do so well in their roles, you can't picture anyone else playing these principal actors.

But the movie belongs to Bill Murray, who plays steel tycoon Herman Blume, whose admiration of Max (and vice versa) begin the film. I saw "Rushmore" when it premiered in early 1999 but decided to comment on it once I saw the film again, which I did tonight. It is a LOVELY FILM. But I saw it for Bill Murray, whose great acting and comic timing make the film more enjoyable than it already is. Whether smoking two cigarettes at the same time or blocking a shot from a young basketball player while simultaneously chatting with Max on a cell phone, Murray is funny in every scene he's in. Best scene: Herman, fatherly gut and all, cannonballs into his swimming pool during his twin sons' birthday party, with everyone watching. Barely remembers to toss away his cigarette. A wonderful little snippet of a great little film.

Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson previously brought us the little-seen 1996 gem "Bottle Rocket," which starred Wilson as a young wannabe thief named Dignan who thinks being on the lam from the law "ain't no trip to Cleveland." Max Fischer and Dignan are alike in many ways, especially in that both are young men full of pipe dreams. Dignan has a fifty-year plan, involving several heists, that may gain him respect, especially from master thief Mr. Henry (James Caan); Max's plan to join or found as many extracurricular clubs as possible may gain him popularity (and perhaps a love in Miss Cross). This is Anderson's second major collaboration with Wilson; let's hope we see more from the both of them.

There are some no-nos in this film, however. Margaret Yang (Sara Tanaka) and Magnus Buchan (Stephen McCole) seem cliched and at times tacked-on; Margaret, though sweet, adds really nothing to the "girlfriend" role. One plus for this character, though: we discover she's just as inept as Max, doctoring results on a science project when she doesn't get the results she wants. Magnus Buchan is the typical Scottish tough guy; no real reason for this character to be around except to be bullish. Both actors do pretty good jobs, though. Mason Gamble, as Dirk Calloway, Max's young apprentice, also does a good job for a role that calls for stalking Herman and following Max around.

Fine acting, beautiful photography, and a pretty darn good story equal a great little film. Wes Anderson is a great director and will be better known around the movie house once he finds a really big breakthrough film (hopefully without resorting to Hollywood exploitation). His vision of young love is realistic and most likely drawn from a past experience, or in the least an experience he would've experienced had he lived it differently.

Rent "Bottle Rocket" for another great film and buy the "Rushmore" soundtrack. Both of Anderson's films contain great music, especially those involving guitar strumming. This film even contains my favorite song of all-time; I won't tell you what it is, but rent or buy this film and listen to the song that begins soon after Max's first trip to Herman Blume's factory (when Max asks Herman for a favor). When Max emerges from a random building in Rushmore Academy, and the color of the leaves are changing, and leaves are picked up by the breeze and disappear, I feel Wes Anderson captured the mood perfectly for a song that always makes me smile.

I saw this film last night, LONG after all the hype and reviews were made about it. I settled in with the right mood for any film: no expectations. If you expect too much, you may be let down (take note for any Kubrick film). I watched the entire film without interruption and came out with a great feeling. "The Blair Witch Project" is one darn good movie.

Many critics and moviegoers complained about the film for its length, its amateurish photography/editing, and its lack of adequate acting. I feel these things MADE THE MOVIE. First, the film has to be at most ninety minutes long: any more, and it would be too long and boring. Second, the amateur video take gives the audience the feel that they are actually in the woods, listening to the rippling water of the creek, snapping branches under their boots, and hearing things go bump in the night. I greatly admire the use of two video cameras (one black-and-white, the other color) to denote which character is shooting the film. Lastly, the incessant screaming of whiny Heather, the constant complaining of average-joe Mike, and the Dudley-Do-Rightness of Josh make for great acting. Yes, these are regular people and up-and-coming actors from your local community theater, but YOU KNOW THEM. You've met people like them.

The biggest complaint, however, comes from the film's supposed "lack" of scary moments. This film reminds me of the classic horror film "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," and though not as gory and as shocking as that film, "The Blair Witch Project" shows just enough fright in the group's search for a way out of the woods, stalked by people and/or things they may never understand. In the older film, the long interval between opening credits and first gory act of violence is about thirty minutes long; it is even longer here, but the suspense/fright (just as in the older film) begins right from the opening credits: you just don't see it until the film's over. These are three people out to make a documentary in the woods with handheld camcorders--these are REAL PEOPLE. And GREAT ACTORS. Heather whines a lot and screams and reminds you of the girl you hate so much you fall in love with her. Her screams sound real, her cries are genuine, and she is DEEPLY DEEPLY sorry for bringing the others into the woods in order to film her documentary.

I really dig the beginning. It seems so real to me I may delve into my old home movies for nostalgia. Heather and Josh pick up Mike, then go to the store for supplies. This opening sequence really packs a punch. These are three Generation Xers out for a camping trip. We all know what happens to them, but we're glued to the screen, intent to know what actually happens.

The interviews give us some detail into the Blair Witch legend, but most of the audience is too busy thinking about the actual trek into the woods that they don't listen. This is wrong. Listening is good. The interviews, which also sound real and not rehearsed in any way, are like movie reviews: the critics tell you what they saw, but mostly they don't want to ruin it for you...unless they hated it.

And that's what I'll do. I won't ruin it for you. 8/10.

In an interview with Michel Ciment, Kubrick discussed Kafka's writing style--to him, Kafka's stories are "fantastic and allegorical, but his writing is simple and straightforward, almost journalistic." Kubrick didn't hesitate to point out that all the films that have been made of Kafka's work "seem to have ignored this completely, making everything look as weird and dreamlike as possible." Kubrick made a note of this in his film "The Shining."

"The Shining" seems to be the simple story of a family of three watching over a large mountain resort hotel over the winter. However, it's more than that--it's a horror story dealing with the supernatural and the fantastic, elements Kubrick felt make up the "golden age of the 20th century." The film depicts life in the Torrance household as quiet and ordinary, with Jack as the aggressor in any arguments that may occur. Kubrick's adaptation of the novel by Stephen King (a clever but unserious work) is both satiric and serious, bringing about elements of the unconscious in scenes where Jack, Danny, and Halloran all have "shinings," or visions. Kubrick brings his blend of surrealism to the screen when he makes the world of the unconscious real, making schizophrenia in Jack's mind the focus of the film. The film itself starts out as a sort of brochure for the Overlook Hotel, told simply, yet with underlying tones of madness especially in the voices of Jack and Danny. And in this story, Jack's madness erupts without a glimmer of special effects or makeup, simply through Jack Nicholson's excellent performance.

Surreal visions occur early in the film; we see Danny's shining of the elevator gushing out blood, an artery bursting in the Hotel body. Jack's mind is at first normal, real, during the interview with Ullman and during Closing Day. We watch him as he suffers writing block--sleeping in, messing around with his typewriter (or not), bashing the tennis ball against the wall, etc. This is all told very simply but with a tone of surrealism, as the hotel slowly takes over Jack's mind. His talk with Lloyd seems real, just two guys having a conversation, only the character of Lloyd is not real, but a figment of Jack's imagination. We the audience then feel that everything we see is all in Jack's mind, that what we're watching onscreen is the mental breakdown of a failed and embittered writer. Only when Delbert Grady frees Jack from the freezer, and apparitions appear in full form to the rest of the Torrance family, do we realize that the film has been a horror story after all, completely with ghosts and blood and suspense. This is Kubrick's style, in the spirit of Kafka--writing simple and straightforward yet with something deeper we may not initially see.

I saw this film when it debuted on HBO earlier tonight. I was pretty impressed by the story (by director John Stockwell), about a group of inner city Chicago youths who decide to cheat on their Academic Decathlon exams. The element that drives the story, however, is its performances, especially Jena Malone as Steinmetz student Jolie Fitch and Jeff Daniels as Decathlon advisor Dr. Gerard Plecki.

These youths decide to cheat solely for ambition, to beat the rival Whitney Young Decathlon Team (who wins every year) at the State finals. Basically, they're desperate, being an inner city school whose funding is based mostly on athletics. Daniels goes along with the plan because of this: to make a statement on how much focus is more on athletics and less on academics.

The only reason I decided to watch this film was for Jena Malone, who's one of the more talented young actresses cropping up out of obscurity. She's only fifteen, yet she's a better actress than women twice her age. She's even being compared to a young Jodie Foster. Hopefully, she'll continue to accept performances that aren't from your latest American teen comedies.

I did manage, however, to find a good story out of this, somewhat reminiscent of "Stand and Deliver," which the students actually watch in one scene. Whether or not we agree on Dr. Plecki allowing the students to cheat, we'll always agree that it's the teacher's responsibility to teach, and teach morally. Make up your mind about cheating; this story focuses on cheating and its consequences, and will probably be one of those great films not too many people will see.

Had it been released to theaters, it would've done modestly in the theaters and been critically acclaimed, then fade away after a couple of weeks. But it's good enough to win a few hearts and minds. Watch it for Jena Malone, though. I did, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was nominated for an Emmy here.

A mix of both science fiction/fantasy and police thriller, "Frequency" is the type of movie you need to see twice just to catch everything. You'll need to accept the space-time continuum fantasy plotline (and Dennis Quaid's Queens accent) to enjoy the film, but you'll enjoy it. Halfway through the film, my box of nachos hit the sticky floor of the theater. Luckily, the box was empty.

The film is filled with great performances, especially Quaid (yes, regardless of the accent, his performance was more than convincing) as Frank Sullivan, the firefighting father of John Sullivan (Caviezel of "The Thin Red Line"). Frank is killed in a warehouse fire in 1969, and in 1999 John, now a cop, finds his father's old ham radio and discovers that the man he meets on the radio is his own father in the past. This story is kind of farfetched, but it's fantasy (millions of us have accepted "Star Wars" and "Star Trek"--why not accept this?), and the moviemakers pull it off well. John convinces his father, through predictions in the 1969 "Amazin' Mets" World Series against the Baltimore Orioles, that he is in fact John Sullivan of the 1990s, and Frank survives the warehouse fire in a scene that expertly captures the mood of the audience--suspense mixed with a need for visual splendor, as director Gregory Hoblit ("Fallen") cuts back and forth between 1999 and 1969. Of course, changing the past changes the future.

From there, the movie becomes a police thriller, as a 30-year-old murder case is reopened. This is the plotline that'll make you want to see the movie twice. It's all there in the first half of the film; you just don't see it until the second half. I won't spoil it for you, but it was a well-written plotline and very interesting.

I really enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy movies. I was also especially pleased to see Andre Braugher as a veteran homicide detective. Those of us who watched "Homicide: Life on the Street" loved Braugher as Baltimore Homicide detective Frank Pembleton, a role which won him an Emmy. Elizabeth Mitchell also caught my attention, as Julia Sullivan, Frank's wife and John's mother.

One thing I must point out--and which you'll notice--is when, in the second half of the film, something happens that moves the focus from 1999, where most of the action had been taking place, to 1969, and John (in 1999) is left helpless to save the fate of all those in his past. Some great moments in the second half that never seem too detached from the first half.

For those of you psyched up to see the film, leave your expectations at the door and enjoy the ride. Though overly sentimental at times, it's a great film that you'll really love. Maybe you won't be clumsy and spill your empty box of nachos like I did, but you'll be too caught up in the moment to care.

When I bought the ticket to go see "28 Days," the two elderly women behind me asked me what it was about. All I knew was that it starred Sandra Bullock (one of my favorite actresses) and that it was a comedy. Well, turns out there's a whole lot more to this film.

"28 Days" is more the psychological drama than the conventional romantic comedy. Anyone hoping to see Sandy reprise her "While You Were Sleeping" character will be disappointed. Her character, Gwen, is supposed to be a journalist, but really her forte is alcoholism and pill-popping, which she utilizes when she ruins older sister Lily's (Elizabeth Perkins) wedding by showing up drunk, knocking over the cake, and crashing the limo. The courts decide that Gwen must spend four weeks at a rehab center called Serenity Glen, where she is surrounded by kooky characters (portrayed by some very talented actors such as Alan Tudyk, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Reni Santoni, Diane Ladd, etc.) who chant and find "Lean on Me" appealing. This is where most of the story takes place, as Gwen must learn, with the help of the other 12-steppers as well as concerned counselor Shaw (Steve Buscemi), that people who go through life sober can be very, very happy.

What struck me initially about the film was that it began with a psychedelic, confusing opening scene involving drink, dance, and sex. Gwen and Jasper, her sometimes charming, mostly loathsome beau (Dominic West), dance to The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go," and I instantly wondered if the two old women in the audience with me were enjoying themselves. Later instances of this psychedelic, psychological trip into Gwen's mind involved memories of her mother, whose motto was "If you're not having fun, what's the point?" These scenes are shot very well, in a painful to watch yellowish tinge (whose function is to make the memory painful), and hopefully Sandra will receive some Oscar consideration later this year when the Academy Award nominations are announced. At times I thought I was going to cry (which I rarely do), because I felt exactly how Sandra felt during her scenes staring at her own reflection in the mirror, feeling loneliness and the sense that her present is due to actions she'd made in the past. I must also commend the direction of Betty Thomas, who made a seemingly run-of-the-mill romantic comedy into a serious case study into the lives of people, regular people like you and me, living with addictions.

The supporting cast is wonderful, especially Azura Skye as Gwen's teenaged roommate Andrea, whose addiction includes heroin and a soap opera named "Santa Cruz"; Viggo Mortensen as a baseball pitcher spending twenty-eight days of his own at Serenity Glen; Alan Tudyk as a funny foreigner whose various quips add humor to the mostly serious story; and Dominic West as Gwen's boyfriend, whose addictions are even worse than Gwen's, though he seems to know how to handle them. But this film belongs to Sandra Bullock. When Lily tells Gwen in the beginning of the film, "You make it impossible to love you," over the course of the film you'll find yourself falling in love with Gwen, and with Sandra Bullock. Considering her earlier films "Speed," "While You Were Sleeping," "Forces of Nature," etc., you're quick to conclude at the end of this one that this is Bullock's best film to date. She's beautiful and talented, and when she cries, you cry. Bullock has this kind of glow about her only a handful of actresses possess: the power to affect those around her even with a simple smile or blink of the eyes or nod of the head. There is no way you can leave the movie theater without feeling affected by Sandra's performance. Gwen is witty, beautiful, amusing, etc.; the possibility of loving Gwen/Sandra is tremendous. By film's end, you'll conclude that this is Sandra's best performance to date, and that this is her time to shine.

Two people are lost in the monotony of life on a hot summer day. Billy, a shy young man, works at a pet store and is bored out of his wits. He survives through his affection for a six-foot python, the most exotic animal in the store. Gwen, a Gothic, freakish but beautiful young woman, is stuck waiting in a car with her mother, who doesn't seem to care too much for her. The two meet when Gwen decides to buy the python. Being the only animal he cares about, Billy, without thinking, decides to pursue Gwen on a bus ride back to the suburbs. This is when we see the real story.

"Second Skin" is both about a bizarre love triangle between a young man, a young woman, and a snake (note the obvious reference to Adam, Eve, and the serpent in the Garden of Eden) and a commentary on the monotony of life and the whole scheme of things. Billy and Gwen are two outsiders caught in a life where they don't belong. The two actors who portray Billy and Gwen are excellent--after watching, you can't picture anyone else portraying these roles. Particularly watch Aleksa Palladino as Gwen, who is almost unrecognizable from her wonderful role as Lo in "Manny and Lo" (1996). Glenn Fitzgerald does a great job as Billy.

The scene that really interested me was the final scene, after the two get off the bus (a bus ride noteworthy of a short story, as Gwen is groped by a football player, an attack she handles well with the help of, first, the python, and then Billy). The road is silent and deserted, with green surrounding them. Billy has nowhere else to go, and Gwen, on her way home, decides to keep him company, though, in reality, she has nowhere else to go either. The two are made for each other, and through their performances, the actors made Billy and Gwen real.

The characters and the storyline are too interesting to forget. The only problem with the short film is that it's TOO SHORT. After the final scene, I was left with the feeling that it wasn't complete, that I wanted to see what happens next in the life of Billy and Gwen. And there's potential for a lot more in this romance. This is one short film (like "Sling Blade," "Bottle Rocket," etc.) that could turn into a full-length feature film, but only with Glenn Fitzgerald and Aleksa Palladino reprising their roles.

Whenever you get a chance to see "Second Skin," tape it. It's a wonderful short film.

Forget that "Thursday" is an apparent ripoff of Tarantino flicks. Though engaging in memorable scenes, such as the first scene involving a cup of coffee at a convenience store, the story Dallas tells Dr. Jarvis, and the rape scene (Dallas as rapist, Casey as victim), we also feel cheated. The film is much too short to have a big impact. It could have been longer, maybe up from 90 min. to 2 hrs. Also, there isn't much character development in Billy Hill or Casey's wife, two characters who really deserve attention.

Fine acting, nonetheless, by all the actors, especially Paulina Porizkova as Dallas, Michael Jeter as Dr. Jarvis, and Thomas Jane (memorable in "The Last Time I Committed Suicide," "Boogie Nights," and in a small scene as Pvt. Ash in "The Thin Red Line") as Casey. The cameo by Mickey Rourke, however, makes you cringe as you realize this is the same guy who grabbed your attention in "Diner" and "The Year of the Dragon." Both his voice and his face are different--hardly recognizable. Still, he does have some impact.

I saw this short film on HBO the other day and absolutely loved it. Eight different characters, eight different perspectives. At first I was confused by the way the story was moving along, but then I realized that it was just one scene being shown over and over again, just to show us the different perspectives of the characters.

At first, you think the clerks are yelling at the teenager for stealing. They speak in their own language, which I (and Chris the teenager, played convincingly by Eleonore Hendricks) cannot understand. The perspective of the clerks dispels that view. I didn't realize how wonderful the short really is until the last two scenes.

Excellent short film. Hopefully, the director James Cox can turn the short into a feature length film with the same cast, or win us over with a whole new film.

The main character of this sex-filled drivel, Mel (Ethan Hunt), notes on several occasions, "She deserves better than this!" The "she" he refers to is Ginger, played by beautiful Brandy Davis, who indeed DOES deserve better than this. Brandy deserves better than this film, its lame script, and perverted Mel. A guy who gets off at watching his dream girl have sex with another man, even in virtual world, seriously does not deserve her AT ALL. An A- for the simulated sex scenes, an F for the script.