Due to the ever-changing nature of the movie biz, showtimes as they appear in any and all newspapers should always be double-checked with the theaters before setting off for a night at the flicks.
***image3***Designates items highlighted in this week's issue.
Click here for movie theaters and showtimes
OPENS FRIDAY
***image2***An Inconvenient Truth
Al Gore in all of his earnest glory, post-Presidential hopes, touring the country and exhorting anyone who will listen to take global warming seriously. Gore's screen persona turns out to be "disarming, funny and animated," according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, and that goes a long way toward sustaining the hour and a half litany of urgency and unfolding environmental catastrophe.
UA DeVargas, PG, 95 min.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The third
Fast and the Furious
installment, this outing illuminates the
little-known world of underground Tokyo drift racing. With none of the original cast and a new director, Justin Lin (
Better Luck Tomorrow
),
Tokyo Drift
features fast cars, scantily clad girls, new rivalries and the neon glow of Tokyo at night. Lucas Black stars as the troubled Shaun Boswell, who travels across the Pacific to avoid a jail sentence. For those who can't wait for the Friday release, never fear-two versions of the video game are already available. With Bow Wow, Nathalie Kelley, and Brian Tee.
Dreamcatcher, PG-13, 90 min.
Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties
Critical acclaim must not do it for Bill Murray. On the heels of the highly lauded
Lost in Translation
, and more recently,
Broken Flowers
, Murray follows up with
Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties
, reprising his role as the voice of the computer-generated overweight feline himself. Director Tim Hill (who brought us 1999's endearing
Muppets From Space
) is new to the series, in which Garfield, canine pal Odie and owner Jon hop across the pond to England, where they battle evil Lord Dargis (Billy Connoly), who wants to turn a historic castle into a resort. Ironically enough, the message of this film seems to be: Resist commodification and commercialization. With Breckin Meyer and Jennifer Love Hewitt.
Dreamcatcher, UA South, PG, 80 min.
The Lake House
Speed
costars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock reunite in this story of two lonely professionals, a doctor, Kate (Bullock) and an architect, Alex (Reeves) who fall in love the old-fashioned way, through a courtship of letters. Based on the Korean film
Il Mare
, the twist here is that Kate and Alex are separated by time: Alex lives in a house in 2004 that Kate will inhabit in 2006. By exchanging daily letters through their shared mailbox, the two get to know one another, and eventually, realize their inconvenient separation. Meant to be a subtle drama with numerous references to "the light" and literal glass houses,
The Lake House
is shot on Chicago's North shore. As film reviewer James Berardinelli advises, "Don't think too hard-you'll spoil the mood." With Christopher Plummer as Alex's mad-genius architect father.
Dreamcatcher, PG, 85 min.
Nacho Libre
Napoleon Dynamite
writer-director Jared Hess is back, with this film about a cook at a Mexican orphanage,
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Ignacio, (Jack Black) who spends his off hours as a
luche libre
wrestler called Nacho (think face masks, red tights) in order to earn extra cash for the kids. If
Napoleon
is any indication,
Nacho Libre
will leave us with quotable catch phrases and plastic Jack Black paraphernalia sold at gas stations well into next year.
Nacho Libre
is written by Mike White, the man behind
The Good Girl
and another Jack Black film,
School of Rock
. Expect lots of body slams and sweeping Oaxacan vistas.
Dreamcatcher, PG, 100 min.
The Russian Dolls
Audrey Tatou and Romain Duris star in what was a smash hit in France by Cedric Klapisch (
L'Auberge Espagnole
). The main character, Xavier, a writer of soap operas, travels from London to St. Petersburg, learning lessons about lust, romance and the art of writing. "A mini-trip to Europe (with) the texture of a novel...Sublime and magical," wrote Kylie Smith of The New York Post.
CCA, NR, 125 min.
SHORT RUNS
Alles auf Zucker!
This dysfunctional-family farce may be an entirely unique creature in the annals of post-war film: a German-Jewish comedy. The New York Times even observed that
Zucker
, wildly successful in Germany, has proven "an unconventional form of therapy for the strained relations between Jews and gentiles." No surprise, then, to learn that Swiss-born filmmaker Dani Levi's currently in production on an even edgier comedy,
Mein Führer: The Really Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler
. Henry Hübchen and Udo Samel play estranged brothers from East and West, who must resolve their flagrant differences at their mother's deathbed.
Santa Fe Film Center, NR, 90 min.
Awesome: I F**kin' Shot That!
The Beastie Boys like to mix it up, and have been playing with live performance expectations as well as audio and video media for a long time. A recent appearance on
Letterman
, for example, had them performing as they meandered down the Manhattan streets leading to the Ed Sullivan Theater. In this one-of-a-kind concert film, they handed out 50 video cameras to audience members at their sold-out Madison Square Garden show in 2004, and then made a film out of the resulting footage. For some, the results are entirely too frenetic and jumpy. But The Chicago Tribune, for example, appreciated the ill communication: "a swirling, kaleidoscopic take on a familiar concept, and a raucous, you-are-there atmosphere."
CCA, R, 90 min.
Big Momma's House 2
Kids First! Film Club (free for kids) keeps up its raucous Saturday series with Martin Lawrence's over-the-top drag queen comedy.
Santa Fe Film Center, PG-13, 99 min.
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The Devil and Daniel Johnston
You may not have heard of the latter, although musicians from Tom Waits to Kurt Cobain (taking in Wilco, Sonic Youth and Pearl Jam along the way) have counted themselves among his ardent fans. The cartoonist and composer's life has without a doubt been made arduous by his struggles with manic depression, but its corresponding surges of creativity turned him into an outsider songwriter's songwriter, equal parts Robert Johnson and Henry Darger. Jeff Feuerzeig's intimate, startling and often funny documentary netted him a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance last year, with good reason: Devil, zero; Daniel Johnston, one.
CCA, PG-13, 110 min.
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Duma
Followers of St. Francis, rejoice in this gorgeously filmed story of a wide-eyed cheetah and the boy who loves him. White South African Xan (Alex Michaeletos) adopts an orphaned cub where it enjoys living high on the hog on the Kenyan family farm-but when they must relocate to Jo'burg, Duma must be returned to the wild. On their journey, Xan and Duma encounter a young African man, Ripkuna (the magnificent Eamonn Walker), and after some prickly initial interactions, the two form a bond which-like Xan's with Duma-winds up far exceeding ordinary expectations of friendship.
CCA, PG, 100 min.
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Independent Intervention
An eye-opening expose of how the media has covered the Iraq War, in all of its pandering, acquiescence to the Pentagon party line, sugar-coating and distortion. Interviews with Amy Goodman, Noam Chomsky and Jim Hightower among others, with the voices of Michael Moore, Howard Zinn and Bill Moyers.
Santa Fe Film Center, NR, 75 min.
Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School
Strange how times have changed for Robert Carlyle, ever since his turn as psychotic Begbie in
Trainspotting
; the roles he's landed since then have tended much more toward the sweet side, if still often darkly funny: the alcoholic dad in
Angela's Ashes
, a romantic lead in
Carla's Song
and
The Full Monty
-and of course quirky Beeb detective
Hamish Macbeth
. Carlyle continues with the pure evaporated cane sugar, so far rarely redolent of sucralose, as a man broken-hearted by the death of his wife. A chance encounter with John Goodman leads him circuitously to the school of the title (overseen by Mary Steenburgen)-and to a fresh start, his transformation attended by fellow dance and charm students Marisa Tomei, Donnie Wahlberg and Sean Astin (don't you lose him, Samwise Gamgee!).
The Screen, PG-13, 103 min.
The Maya
An exploration of Mayan mysteries through the dances of Javier Alarcon and his dance company from Cancun, the film sheds light on a host of Mayan cultural arcana as well as giving voice to the Mayan people of today. Director/producer Fannee Hilander will be in attendance.
Santa Fe Film Center, NR, 75 min.
Megabytes 3: Young Filmmakers
A screening of the work of filmmakers age 12-18, selected from an open call for submissions. The pieces range from fiction to music video, humor and experimental works.
CCA, NR, various running times
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Psycho Saturdays
Santa Fe Film Center continues its Saturday night series of schlocky films from the naive and glorious days of B-Movie production. This evening features the antics of a pair of wacky farm families in
The Pigkeeper's Daughter
and
Sassy Sue
. Sidesplitting shenanigans include a character named Moonbeam Swiner whose best friend is a little piggy named Lord Hamilton and a moronic young man named Junior who is having an affair with his cow.
Santa Fe Film Center, NR, 175 total min.
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Transamerica
Felicity Huffman stars in an Oscar-nominated performance as a transsexual on the verge of her final gender reassignment surgery who discovers she may have fathered a child in her former life (when she was known as Stanley). Widely hailed as one of the best films of 2005, the energy is not provided by a one-note, stereotypical point of conflict, but rather by consistent surprise, warmth, humor and detail. Screening sponsored by Pride on the Plaza, featuring writer-director Duncan Tucker in attendance.
Santa Fe Film Center, R, 103 min.
NOW SHOWING
The Break-Up
Vince Vaughn is funny. Sure, it's in that chauvinistic, frat-boy kind of way, but he manages to make that role, which he's played time and again, both loveable and fairly inoffensive. Despite a script that plays up many of the romantic comedy clichés, Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston make the audience genuinely care and dismisses those, "really, she went from Brad Pitt to this frumpy guy?" thoughts. The two work well together trading insults and injury for a movie that will be forgotten in a few months, but still a great movie for a make-up date with your honey. (Patricia Sauthoff)
Dreamcatcher, UA South, PG-13, 106 min.
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Cars
Pixar strikes again with this
animated feature garnering generally positive reviews. Voice work by Owen Wilson, Paul Newman and Bonnie Hunt has heightened the buzz. The LA Times, joining a chorus of applause, raves "what's surprising about this supremely engaging film is the source of its curb appeal: It has heart."
Dreamcatcher, UA DeVargas, UA South G, 116 min
Classe Tous Risque
Neorealism and film noir overlap in this 1960 film by Claude Sautet, hailed as a lost classic, never before screened in the US and screened in a newly restored print. A penetrating study of the underworld, starring iconic French toughguys Lino Ventura and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
CCA, NR, 104 min.
The Da Vinci Code
Tom Hanks stars as Harvard "symbologist" Robert Langdon in this fairly entertaining adaptation of Dan Brown's not in the least entertaining novel. Naturally, during a Paris booksigning, Langdon's asked by the gendarmerie to assist with a murder case. Enter cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), the victim's granddaughter. All this abruptly leads to a clandestine midnight tour of the Louvre and Langdon's and Neveu's flight from Paris; frantically intercut scenes suggest that the Catholic order Opus Dei are tasking a monastic albino hitman Silas (Paul Bettany), who murders his way across France. While much of what's amusing may be unintentionally so (including the dialogue: "I have to get to a library-fast!"), director Ron Howard keeps things moving quickly enough so that you can't really dwell on the idiocies.
UA DeVargas, UA North, PG-13, 149 min.
Don't Come Knocking
Wim Wenders directs and Sam Shepard wrote and stars as washed-up Western movie star Howard (Shepard), who, once famed for playing cowboy heroes, now drowns his sorrows in a bottle, until one day he up and rides off into the sunset. Costarring Tim Roth, Eva Marie Saint and Jessica Lange,
Knocking
's worth seeing for old times' sake (though you could also just re-rent
Paris, Texas
or
Fool for Love
).
UA DeVargas, R, 122 min.
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Keeping Up With the Steins
See
.
UA DeVargas, PG-13, 90 min.
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L'Enfant
Brothers and Palme d'Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardennes demonstrate with each film their singular ability to project an unforgiving working-class and immigrant Belgium with Dogme-like veracity (
La promesse
,
Rosetta
). Their latest draws mixed reviews (New Yorker francophile Anthony Lane offers, "There is something willed and implausible…beginning with the first non-crying, non-hungry infant in human history") but the Dardennes have a knack for extracting stunning performances from their leads, in this case Jérémie Renier and Déborah François as Bruno and Sonia, a pair of (very) young lovers in trouble-not only unwantedly pregnant but already struggling to survive on Sonia's unemployment and Bruno's petty theft. Unexpectedly, the birth of infant Jimmy offers an economic opportunity, albeit a morally problematic one.
CCA, R, 100 min.
Mission: Impossible III
Lost
director JJ Abrams does everything in his power to keep you from remembering that it's the Sofa-Leaper Himself playing Ethan Hunt-from
M:I-3
's nerve-wracking opening sequence in which a bound and bruised Hunt negotiates frantically with gun-wielding villain Philip Seymour Hoffman. Alas, Abrams also wants us to see Ethan's "sensitive side," so he makes other choices like…cutting from this sequence straight to an engagement party for Ethan and his bride Julia (Michelle Monaghan). Hunt's summoned out of his mushy love-nest retirement to bring down Hoffman, a doer of international evil deeds, in the course of which there are helicopters to blow up, buildings off which to base-jump, a crack team of IMF experts to assemble (Ving Rhames, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Maggie Q) and contrived plot lines to pursue.
UA DeVargas, UA North, PG-13, 126 min.
The Omen
More proof that there is seemingly no end to the strange attempts of Hollywood to catch some box office in the midst of a precipitous industry collapse. The original film was stunning, even shocking for many audience members way way way back when it was released. The New York Times says of this version: "Unrelentingly dull, morose and the opposite of entertaining."
DreamCatcher, UA South, R, 110 min.
Over the Hedge
Only black-sheep cousin DreamWorks, with its countercultural sense of humor, could get behind a story as subtly left-of-center as this one: RJ (Bruce Willis) is a fast-talking raccoon on the make, looking to score a large quantity of junk food so he can pay off an ursine leg-breaker (Nick Nolte). In the interest of saving his hide, he enlists an eclectic "family" of animals stymied by the new hedge enveloping their former forest home, now a tiny enclave of park surrounded by the identical tract-housing of suburbia. The family's cautious leader, turtle Vern (Garry Shandling), has returned from a preliminary investigation with horrific reports of the "freaking pink primates!" on the other side. RJ must convince the group that there's Oreos and Pringles to be had, and they'd better brave the 'burbs to store enough calories for the winter. Like many of cinema's con men, however, RJ finds himself wondering whether selling out his adorable new friends is worth it. And we take his point: Steve Carell as an overcaffeinated squirrel is particularly cute, whether stammering incoherently, "But I like a cookie!" or (in one priceless sequence) experiencing the world as slowed-down due to his own untrammeled velocity.
UA DeVargas, UA South, PG, 96 min.
Poseidon
First Law of Mediocre Disaster Blockbusters: Never give 'em time to think.
Poseidon
readily complies, permitting no reflection between hair-raising events. Second Law: Substitute chaos, yelling, falling objects and random explosions for drama. Finally, the Third Law: Construct characters out of flabby dialogue, construction paper and gluestick; there should be a Sexy Maverick Leader (the tireless Josh Lucas), Rich Older Gay Guy (Richard Dreyfus), Hot Hispanic Chick (Mía Maestro), Hot White Chick (Emmy Rossum), Annoying Drunk Idiot (Kevin Dillon), Pretty Scared Mom in a Ballgown (Jacinda Barrett) and Kurt Russell. To assess whether
Poseidon
truly attains the goals of the MDB, though, compare it to an outstanding one-and there's a classic ready at hand, probably to director Wolfgang Petersen's dismay; it's called
The Poseidon Adventure
, and it's everything this sloppy, loud remake isn't.
UA South, PG-13, 99 min.
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A Prairie Home Companion
See
.
The Screen, PG-13, 105 min.
RV
Barry Sonnenfeld (
Men in Black
) directs the unamusing odyssey of Bob Munro (Robin Williams), who decides his suburban family would benefit from an RV trip to the Rockies, where they encounter NASCAR-lovin', beer-drinkin' campers, among them Jeff Daniels.
UA North, PG, 99 min.
Water
Deepa Mehta faced the destruction of this film's sets and threats against her life, just maybe a sign that our notions of the oppression of women being a quaint thing of the past are a tad too rose-colored. The final film in Mehta's trilogy, this installment depicts the plight of widows in India in the '30s, combining a razor-sharp social and political agenda with stunning cinematography.
UA DeVargas, PG-13, 117 min.
X-Men: The Last Stand
Ushering in the summer's really big blow-'em-up whoopie movies is
The Last Stand
. The gang's all here: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin and the rest of the mutants must defend their kind even more fiercely now that a "cure" for their aberrancies has been found, and humans seem increasingly disposed to rid the world of these weird people who can set things ablaze and fly around and what have you. Adding to the fun is Magneto (Ian McKellan, hamming it up with gusto) who seems desirous of giving mutants everywhere an even worse rap than the one they've already managed to snag.
DreamCatcher, UA DeVargas, UA North, PG-13, 104 min.
