Here are selected capsule reviews of movies in current...

January 21, 2005|By Regina Robinson. Reviewers include: A.B. = Allison Benedikt; R.E. = Robert K. Elder; S.P. = Scott Powers; S.S. = Sid Smith; M.W. = Michael Wilmington.


After the Sunset (star)(star)

A scruffy, bearded Pierce Brosnan and steamy Salma Hayek star as romancing thieves attempting to retire in paradise. But when a disgraced FBI agent (Woody Harrelson) taunts Brosnan's character with one last big score, he must choose between his professional and love lives in a lavishly shot but predictable heist movie. PG-13. 1:33.--R.E.

Alexander (star)(star)(star)1/2

Oliver Stone's vast, lurid, madly audacious movie biography on Alexander the Great (Colin Farrell) will seem ludicrous to some, thrilling to others. But it's no bore. This spectacular account of the life, victories and early death of the world's greatest conqueror gives us history set ablaze, livid with assassination, conspiracy and sexuality. With Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer and Anthony Hopkins. R. 2:55.--M.W.

Appleseed (star)(star)

Hardboiled female soldier Deunan Knute holds the key to the political struggle between biologically enhanced clones and volatile humans in a utopian future. In stylistic rug burn of 2-D and 3-D computer animation, murky plotted "Appleseed" emerges as the cracked-voiced, pasty-faced example of computer animation's clumsy juvenescence. Dubbed in English. R. 1:43--R.E.

The Assassination of Richard Nixon (star)(star)1/2

Sean Penn plays a Dostoyevskian Everyman, a would-be Nixon assassin in 1974 sinking into a purgatory of futility, madness and delusions of sick grandeur. It's a tribute to Penn's talent and guts that he connects and brings it off brilliantly--even if debut writer-director Niels Mueller doesn't, quite. The fine supporting cast includes Naomi Watts, Don Cheadle and Jack Thompson. R. 1:35.--M.W.

The Aviator (star)(star)(star)(star)

Martin Scorsese's flamboyant, brilliantly crafted bio-drama on Howard Hughes, visionary airplane tycoon, unbuttoned movie mogul and one of the great, wild American figures. With star Leonardo DiCaprio as Hughes and Cate Blanchett as Kate Hepburn, the film misses some rich possibilities but it's still the year's best: seething with life, gorgeously designed and thrillingly articulated. PG-13. 2:46.--M.W.

Bad Education (star)(star)1/2

Spain's cinematic toreador Pedro Almodovar returns with a deeply personal, sharply realized film shrouded in film noir conventions and the recent Catholic Church sex abuse scandals. While Almodovar's direction remains as potent as ever, there's an emotional distance in "Bad Education" that star Gael Garcia Bernal can't quite overcome. NC-17. 1:49.--R.E.

Being Julia (star)(star)(star)1/2

Annette Bening plays a grand diva of the `30s London stage with carnal sparkle and flair in this Istvan Szabo-Ronald Harwood comedy. Backed by a top cast (Jeremy Irons, Juliet Stevenson, Michael Gambon), plus Shaun Evans and Lucy Punch as Julia's rival, the movie dispenses a wit and mordant amusement that recall source author W. Somerset Maugham ("Theatre"). R. 1:44.--M.W.

Beyond the Sea (star)(star)(star)

Kevin Spacey's bio-movie on gutsy, fragile '60s pop giant Bobby Darin ("Mack the Knife") has a lot of imagination, energy and chutzpah. But Spacey, as Darin, sings his own songs, and that's the rub. Good as his mimicry is, it's still impersonation. He's got the moves and the voice, but, unlike Jamie Foxx's "Ray," not the soul. PG-13. 1:58.--M.W.

Blade: Trinity (star)(star)1/2

The third fang-flashing installment in Wesley Snipes' vampire-killer franchise finds Dracula (Dominic Purcell) napping in a crypt in Iraq, the only weapons of mass destruction found there to date. Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel join Blade's vampire-hunting crusade, adding some ad-libbed scrappiness and sex appeal to a slick franchise showing signs of fatigue. R. 1:45.--R.E.

Closer (star)(star)(star)1/2

Director Mike Nichols' new film "Closer," from Patrick Marber's play, is one of his best and most characteristic theatrical features since "Carnal Knowledge": a wittily written, powerfully acted tale of intersecting London couples (Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen and Natalie Portman) who meet, clash, reconfigure and keep goading each other to the edge of catastrophe. R. 1:41.--M.W.

Coach Carter (star)(star)(star)

A descendant of "Stand By Me" and even "To Sir, With Love," this true-life tale tells of provocative high school coach Ken Carter (ferociously played by Samuel L. Jackson) and his tough-love recipe for athletic success and scholarship. Taking a team of losers, he makes them into champions, on the basketball court and in the classroom. PG-13. 2:17--S.S.

Darkness (no star rating)

In "Darkness," a teenage girl and her family move into a countryside house, only to find that their new home has a past that threatens to destroy them. "Darkness" is directed by Jaume Balaguero. PG-13. 1:42.

Elektra (star)