Movie Guide


Beauty and the Beast (Not rated)

Director: Jean Cocteau. With Jean Marais, Josette Day, Michel Auclair, Mila Parély. (93 min.)

Sterritt **** The timeless fairy tale about a young woman who agrees to dwell with a mysterious monster, as interpreted in 1946 by one of cinema's most brilliant visual stylists and mythmakers. Cocteau's helpers include the great cinematographer Henri Alekan, the adventurous composer Georges Auric, and matinee idol Marais in no fewer than three roles.

Blue Crush (PG-13)



Dahmer (Not rated)

Director: David Jacobson. With Jeremy Renner, Bruce Davison, Artel Kayaru, Dion Basco. (101 min.)

Sterritt *** Based on the life and crimes of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, this intelligently directed drama explores the troubled man's personality without claiming to have psychological explanations for his horrific actions. The performances are excellent and the filmmaking is remarkably restrained, although moments of perverse violence are necessary to the real-life story being told.

I'm Going Home (Not rated)



Possession (PG-13)


Sterritt * See review, page 15.

Austin Powers in Goldmember (PG-13)


Sterritt * Our hero battles Dr. Evil and a villain he's recruited from 1975 to help him destroy the world. The third Powers movie wants to be a flashy, funny satire on the swinging '70s and the science-fiction spy stories that embodied the era's fashions and foibles. What's really on filmmakers' minds is how much box-office power they can tap into by blitzing viewers with even larger doses of repetitive sex jokes and insipid scatological gags than before.

Staff ** Sophomoric, funny, repetitive


Blood Work (R)



Staff **1/2 Spotty acting, utterly predictable, well-crafted.


Full Frontal (R)

Director: Steven Soderbergh. With Julia Roberts, Catherine Keener, Blair Underwood. (101 min.)

Sterritt ** Soderbergh tries a freewheeling experiment in this comedy-drama about people making a film and rehearsing a play; it takes place during 24 hours and unfolds in loosely strung scenes that drift in different directions. The focus is on mercurial moods rather than logic-driven causes and effects. It's refreshingly different, even if it's low on energy, and too eager to be quirky at moments when a little old-fashioned storytelling would come in handy.

Staff *1/2 Self-centered, free-form, slow, irritating.

Sex/Nudity: 6 sex scenes; 8 with innuendo. Violence: 1 suicide scene. Profanity: 55 expressions. Drugs: 7 scenes drinking, smoking.

The Good Girl (R)



The Kid Stays in the Picture (R)



Staff *** Stylish, lucid, over-produced


Men in Black II (PG-13)



Staff ** Nutty, obvious jokes, OK sequel.


Read My Lips (Not rated)



Sex/Nudity: 3 scenes innuendo, implied sex, nudity. Violence: 11 scenes, including attempted rape. Profanity: 25 harsh expressions. Drugs: 27 scenes of drinking and smoking.

Secret Ballot (G)



Signs (PG-13)


Sterritt * A clergyman who's lost his faith regains it while undergoing an attack by aliens in the farmhouse he shares with his brother and kids. The film raises important issues of religion and the meaning of life, but every time it promises to get thoughtful, Shyamalan douses it with overwrought emotion, family-values clichés, tepid space-monster suspense, and humor that's never, ever funny. Think "Roswell" meets "Father Knows Best."

Staff *** Scary, clichéd, pseudo-philosophical.


Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (PG)


Staff *** Rodriguez crafts an imaginative sequel for kids that reflects his own creative urge to play. There are enough nifty gadgets to make 007 drool, like RALPH, a bug robot that can tie a bow tie and crawl his way into secret meetings, and a snazzy dragon fly submarine. The story picks up with the Cortez family as part of a global spy organization. Amid stiff competition and sibling bickering, a vital mission arises: to find a device that could destroy the world. The trail leads to an island filled with hybrid animals  a genetically re-engineered Jurassic Park of sorts. At times this colorful adventure causes sensory overload. But it teaches valuable lessons, such as the importance of family and integrity. By Stephanie Cook

Staff ***1/2Refreshingly childlike, strong sequel, funny.

Sex/Nudity: None. Profanity: 1 mild expression. Violence: 8 scenes with mostly mild violence. Some fighting. Drugs: 2 scenes with alcohol.

Tadpole (PG-13)


Staff **1/2 Oscar is an intellectual prep-school sophomore, bored with girls his age and infatuated with his 40-year-old stepmother (Weaver). Without intending to, he manages to sleep with her best friend. This coming-of-age comedy is quite enjoyable on its own terms, no doubt intended as an homage to French culture (particularly Louis Malle's 1971 "Murmur of the Heart.") But almost everything in it derives from Malle's classic film, chopped into a salad that leaves you hungry for the main course. By M.K. Terrell


24 Hour Party People (R)

Director: Michael Winterbottom. With Steve Coogan, Chris Coghill, Paddy Considine. (115 min.)

Sterritt **** This lively look at the rock scene in Manchester, England, begins with impresario Antony Wilson's discovery of the Sex Pistols in 1976 and ends with the demise of his influential Factory Records label in the early '90s. Coogan is dazzling as Wilson, and candid treatment of the era's problem with drugs keeps the film from partying too much. Winterbottom gives it an edgy MTV-look that should please young people who see the Sex Pistols epoch as ancient history.

XXX (PG-13)




Birthday Girl (R)

Director: Jez Butterworth. With: Nicole Kidman, Ben Chaplin. (93 min.)


Staff **1/2 Forgettable, edgy, lots of plot twists.

Sex/Nudity: 10 scenes. Violence: 17 scenes. Profanity: 19 expressions, 10 of which are mild. Drugs: At least 16 scenes of smoking and drinking.

In the Bedroom (R)



Staff *** Humanistic, dark, absorbing.


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