film

Film listings are edited by Cheryl Eddy. Reviewers are Robert Avila, Meryl Cohen, David Fear, Dina Gachman, Susan Gerhard, Dennis Harvey, Johnny Ray Huston, Patrick Macias, and Chuck Stephens. Film intern is Adam Wadenius. See Rep Clock, page 104, and Movie Clock, page 105, for theater information.

San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival

The 26th San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival runs through Sun/30. Venues are the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro, SF, and the Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, SF. For tickets, a full schedule, and more information call (925) 866-9559 or go to www.frameline.org/festival. For commentary see last week's Bay Guardian. All times are pm unless otherwise indicated.

Wed/26

Castro Incidental Journey and I Am Not What You Want 1. The Ghost of Roger Casement 3:45. Running Blue 6:30. Guardian of the Frontier 9.

Herbst Claire 6:30. "In Conversation with Isaac Julien" (short films and discussion) 9.

Thurs/27

Castro Skeleton Woman 1. Road Movie 3:30. Exploding Oedipus 6:30. The Trip 9.

Herbst "Girls by the Bay" (shorts program) 6:30. "Boys by the Bay" (shorts program) 9.

Fri/28

Castro "Bob and Rose – Program One" (three episodes) noon. "Bob and Rose – Program Two" (three episodes) 3. Radical Harmonies 6:30. Venus Boyz 9:30.

Herbst "The Truth about Gay Sex" (shorts program) 6:30. Shanghai Panic 9.

Sat/29

Castro Swimming Upstream: A Year in the Life of Karen and Jenny 11a. "The History of Masturbation" (shorts program) 1:15. Some Real Heat 3:45. P.S. Your Cat Is Dead 6. Britney Baby – One More Time 8:30.

Herbst "Fantastic Voyage" (shorts program) 1. The Snake Boy 3:15. Georgie Girl 5:30. The Man I Love 8. Divas: Love Me Forever 10:15.

Sun/30

Castro "Fun in Boys' Shorts" (shorts program) noon. "Fun in Girls' Shorts" (shorts program) 2. I Love You Baby 4:30. Ruthie and Connie 7:30.

Opening

Cinema Paradiso: The New Version Giuseppe Tornatore's syrupy 1989 ode to cinema returns with 51 minutes of unseen footage, making a film that was already too long even longer. After learning about the death of an old friend, famous film director Salvatore (Jacques Perrin) returns to the village of his youth, where he is whisked back into the memories of his childhood, spent mostly at the local cinema house. It is in these early scenes that the film holds most of its charm, as young Salvatore (Salvatore Cascio) discovers the wonders of cinema, stealing strips of film from the projection booth and pestering Alfredo (Philippe Noiret), the elderly projectionist. Tornatore wisely leaves these scenes intact, and the bulk of the new footage expands on Salvatore's adult life and his missed opportunity with Elena (Agnese Nano). These scenes drag along as Tornatore reveals the answer to the fateful question of Elena's disappearance, tidying up all loose ends and at the same time robbing us of the thrill of imagination the original ending inspired. (2:53) California, Lumiere. (Wadenius)

*Elling See Movie Clock. (1:29) Clay, Rafael, Shattuck.

The Emperor's New Clothes History tells us that after his defeat at Waterloo, a broken-spirited Napoleon Bonaparte was confined to the island of St. Helena, where he eventually perished. Alan Taylor's quirky comedy posits an alternate ending to the little big man's story, one in which Napoleon (Ian Holm) enlists a double (also Holm) to take his place while the general sails back to France to reclaim the throne. The doppelgänger's untimely passing leaves the real Bonaparte stranded in Paris posing as a vagabond, passing the time by leading melon farmers into aggressive agrarianism and falling in love with a widow (Iben Hjeile). Holm once again proves he's as much an alchemist as an actor, able to turn even the sketchiest of roles into pure gold. The film is too enamored of its own whimsy, however, and the oddly bombastic score hints at a desired grandeur even the movie's hero would find highly delusional. (1:47) Lumiere, Shattuck. (Fear)

Hey Arnold! The Movie The animated Nickelodeon character takes to the big screen to save his neighborhood from a pack of greedy developers. (1:16) Century Plaza, Century 20, Jack London.

Inside Out in the Open See 8 Days a Week, page 68. (1:00) Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Mr. Deeds Meet Deeds (Adam Sandler): pizza shop owner, aspiring greeting-card writer, serial hugger, and Mandrake Falls, N.H.'s most beloved resident. He also happens to be the sole heir to his long-lost uncle's zillion-dollar media company, a fact that puts the mild-mannered (though he packs a mean punch when provoked) Deeds in the crosshairs of his uncle's greedy underbosses. After Little Nicky, Sandler could use a hit, and Mr. Deeds errs on the side of being too cuddly cute – imagine all the earnest scenes in The Wedding Singer and Big Daddy smushed into one movie, with none of the gut-busting, off-color humor of Happy Gilmore or The Waterboy. Still, Mr. Deeds has some fun moments, with an enthusiastic (if one-note) supporting turn by John Turturro as Deeds's foot-obsessed valet. As Deeds's love interest, Winona Ryder is far less memorable than the headlines she's currently making in the tabloids. (1:31) Century Plaza, Century 20, Jack London. (Eddy)

*Rivers and Tides See Critic's Choice. (1:30) Roxie.

*Sunshine State See "Beachfront Property," page 50. (2:21) Albany, Embarcadero.

Warm Water under a Red Bridge Shohei Imamura's scatalogical sense of humor gets full display in this fable of a mystical seaside baker (Misa Shimizu, from Dr. Akagi, etc.) who unleashes a literal geyser from her loins every time she gets hot. Her eventual paramour (Koji Yakusho, Shall We Dance? stud and Kiyoshi Kurosawa regular) is a man whose first interest in her is the "treasure" supposedly buried somewhere in her vicinity. Many other surprises await him, however. Bring an umbrella: whether you want to elevate her to metaphor and mermaid status or are happy to settle with spectacular female ejaculation, Imamura intends you to leave physically and mentally aroused. (1:59) Galaxy. (Gerhard)

Ongoing

About a Boy (1:45) Four Star, 1000 Van Ness, Piedmont, Shattuck.

Amélie (1:55) Balboa.

*Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner It's not just the centuries-old source material that makes Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner feel so revelatory and revolutionary. It's the fact that, even as it uses modern forms of no-frills filmmaking, it has managed to boil down cinematic storytelling to its essence. Inuit director Zacharias Kunuk pays tribute to the prodigious way the Inuit have with a classic "hero on a journey" narrative, and also to the still-vibrant culture and environment that fosters that kind of storytelling. Long, nearly silent takes are devoted to capturing the Inuit lifestyle, as they work the frostbitten land in order to survive. Shot in a digital wide-screen format, the Arctic landscapes take on an otherworldly quality custom-built for mythopoetic status, even as the film's realist visual approach and slowed-down pacing ground its context within a patient, philosophical, and ritualistic culture. (2:52) Bridge. (Fear)

Bad Company (1:47) Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

*Bartleby (1:22) Four Star.

The Bourne Identity A man (Matt Damon) with no memory retraces his steps in search of his identity. Like most cinematic victims of amnesia, it turns out he's a trained assassin for a CIA spook organization and is targeted for termination. Once our hero reappears on the intelligence grid, he and his hapless MacGuffin-of-circumstance (Franke Potente) dodge agency cleanup men and international-espionage chess games while reconstructing his past. Based on pulp-spy literati Robert Ludlum's page-turner, Bourne's plot mechanisms are basic paranoia 101 spiced with Hitchcockian hoo-ha, but director Doug Liman (Go) has a way with chase scenes and fight choreography, blending '70s grit and '90s delirium with surprising deliciousness. Damon's grace-under-pressure performance establishes that he can embody an action hero minus much meaty posturing, even if the third act's clenched jaws and pat denouements skitter away earlier, savvier moments. Still, for a big-budget thriller, Bourne's erotic underpinnings and eschewing of cookie-cutter turns makes for a class-act, minor-chord thrill ride. (1:53) Century Plaza, Century 20, Grand Lake, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness. (Fear)

CQ (1:40) Lumiere.

Changing Lanes (1:35) Balboa.*Cherish In Finn Taylor's San Francisco drama, Zoe (Robin Tunney) is an off-kilter animator who runs her life with clueless abandon: annoying her coworkers by listening to the greatest hits of yesteryear and meeting men and losing them at the speed of light. She quickly moves from being a prisoner of her own habits to just being a prisoner, after she's forced at gunpoint to mow down a bicycle cop. While she waits for a trial, she's put on the "bracelet" program, which allows her to remain outside a real prison as long as she wears an electronic ankle bracelet. When the bracelet-program coordinator (Tim Blake Nelson) comes by to adjust the shackles on his kooky indoor-roller skating, love song-obsessed charge, a whole new plotline ensues. Cherish's comedy goes down better than its thrills, mostly because of a cast that includes unheralded geniuses like Nelson, who carries off his nervous warden character with clammy charm. (1:52) Embarcadero. (Gerhard)

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys Amid the scandals and accusations surrounding the Catholic church, the title of Peter Care's directorial debut will most certainly catch your attention. Beyond that, there is nothing particularly eyebrow-raising about this overambitious coming-of-age drama, which follows the mischievous adventures of a pair of fresh-faced Catholic high schoolers. Like most boys growing up, Francis (Emile Hirsch) and Tim (Kieran Culkin) read comic books, get into trouble, and thoroughly despise their demanding superiors. After a class trip to the zoo, the boys hatch a plan to scare their teacher, Sister Assumpta (Jodie Foster), by kidnapping a cougar and setting it loose in her office. While the host of young actors give wonderful performances (most notably Jena Malone's turn as abused young girl whose confusion about her mistreatment turns to self-loathing), the film ultimately tries to tackle too much material in too little time, and gets bogged down by a number of animated daydream sequences that intrude upon its tone. (1:50) Act I and II, Opera Plaza, Rafael. (Wadenius)

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood Fans of Fried Green Tomatoes, Beaches, Steel Magnolias, Practical Magic, and Where the Heart Is – a.k.a., chicks – are clearly the intended audience for this sweet pic based on the bestseller by Rebecca Wells and directed by Thelma and Louise scripter Callie Khouri. Manhattan playwright Sidda (Sandra Bullock, back in "lovable" mode after her dour Murder by Numbers turn) is continually confounded by the antics of her unpredictable, cocktail-swilling Southern mama, Vivi (Ellen Burstyn, played as a young woman by Ashley Judd). When a giant row threatens to drive the two apart forever, Vivi's lifelong pals – the "Ya Yas" (Maggie Smith, Fionnula Flanagan, and Shirley Knight, who get all the film's best lines) – stage a flashback-heavy intervention that sheds light on Vivi's troubled past. The story has some holes (the causes of Vivi's violent breakdown could have been further explored), and the fact that Burstyn and Judd look nothing alike makes the film's time shifts somewhat disjointing. Still, fans of you-go-girl entertainment – and/or anyone with enough fortitude to take an unbridled overload of estrogen – will have a good time with this one. (1:56) Grand Lake, Jack London, Metreon, Oaks, 1000 Van Ness, Orinda. (Eddy)

*Dogtown and Z-Boys No question: the Z-Boys, a 1970s-era crew of skateboarders who adapted slashing, style-laden surfer techniques to the asphalt, were seminal. Dodging the Man, the team – Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, Jay Adams, and the rest – stole into empty backyard swimming pools, pushing off from the shallow end and flowing along the concrete curves. Setting out only to kill time in Dogtown, their entropic seaside neighborhood, the teenage Z-Boys somehow managed to find transcendence, at least for a few moments. Really, they were accidental Buddhists. So what do you do when corporate culture/the Hollywood machine announces its intent to make a feature flick about your life as a proto-skate punk? If you're Peralta, now a 44-year-old documentary film director, you shoot back. Hitting up the Vans shoe company for the David-esque sum of $400,000, Peralta stitched together Dogtown and Z-Boys, a 90-minute preemptive strike now in theaters. Narrated by Sean Penn, the film is a generally dazzling excavation of a skate history unknown to the X-Games generation. It's a narrative Darwin would like: the Z-Boys (10 guys and one girl) started in the water, surfing the breaks off Venice Beach, moved to the land, skating when the waves were flat, and eventually became skate-obsessed, flying their skateboards into the sky and accelerating the art form's evolution exponentially. Balboa. (1:41) (A.C. Thompson)

*Enigma (1:57) Opera Plaza, Rafael.

Enough (1:45) Balboa.

The Flip Side Rod Pulido's first feature is rough-hewn on a lot of levels, but its satirical portrait of one SoCal Filipino-American family drowning in the "melting pot" still scores some giddy points. Each member of the Delacruz clan has their own take on assimilation, and how to attain it. The immigrant parents (Ester Pulido, Abe Pagtama) are quite content with their business success and material comfort. Mid-20s daughter Marivic (Ronalee Par), on the other hand, is desperately seeking Otherness: she talks like a Valley Girl, grabs the first white guy available, and yearns to surgically erase all traces of ethnicity. Teenager Davis (Jose Saenz) fancies himself a b-boy, dreaming of NBA glory and rapping "wild style." Stubborn Tagalog speaker Grandpa (Manong Peping Baclig) just wants to go home, i.e. back to the Homeland. All are thrown into a tizzy when elder son Darius (Verwin Gatpandan) returns from his first year at college, bursting with newly discovered cultural pride. Adopting a traditional loincloth for dress, urging everyone to get roots-conscious, he meets with embarrassed denial and hostility from everyone, save Gramps. Seldom developing its many funny ideas past first impact, The Flip Side runs out of steam after an hour, and Saenz and Par give the only inspired performances. But there's a wry freshness that's pleasing even when the seams show. (1:20) Century 20, Four Star. (Harvey)

*Home Movie The latest revel by Smith (American Movie, American Job) in all-American eccentricity focuses on five highly customized homes and the variously rugged, tree-hugging, and pussy-whipped individuals who reside there. One Kansas couple has converted an abandoned underground cold-war missile-launch complex, hoping to "heal the space" through sheer force of New Ageyness. A creepier California duo live in a virtual cathouse – designed so feline-friendly you wonder why the pets don't just shove their keepers into the garage. The wackiest abode is Illinois inventor Ben Skora's split-level, an experimental lab for his Seussian/'60s spy flick "gadgets." But the most engaging personality here belongs to Cajun alligator farmer Bill Tregle, whose houseboat is less compelling than his gumbo-thick, love-mojo-on-the-bayou charm. Home Movie itself is more a Whitman's Sampler than a filling square meal, as documentaries go. But that doesn't mean it's not tasty. Added bonus: the hour-long film plays with Jeff Krulik and John Heyn's cult classic Judas Priest fan-umentary, "Heavy Metal Parking Lot." (1:15) Shattuck. (Harvey)

The Importance of Being Earnest (1:40) Opera Plaza, Shattuck.

*Insomnia (1:55) Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness, Shattuck.

*Italian for Beginners (1:39) Balboa, Red Vic.

Juwanna Mann So there's this ultra-macho gerbil rancher/hot-air balloonist/singing telegram who suffers disgrace/career meltdown/midlife crisis and disguises himself as a woman to get his groove back. He miraculously passes as female right away, only to find confusion as his femme persona gains a life of her own and his female love interest thinks of him/her as a "best friend." Finally he learns the true meaning of sportsmanship/Ramadan/aerodynamics. Yes, the drag comedy has become a formula. Juwanna Mann, the latest and worst cookie-cutter example, proves it. This time, he/she's a basketball player, but it almost doesn't matter. The movie feels generic, with scene after obligatory scene that goes through the motions to keep the plot moving. The movie is at its funniest when it stops trying so hard and just indulges in wacky slapstick, like when rapper caricature Puff Smokey Smoke macks on our hero/heroine. (1:31) Century Plaza, Century 20, Jack London, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness, Shattuck. (Charles Anders)

Late Marriage (1:40) Oaks, Rafael.

*Lilo and Stitch Rascally alien Stitch descends on Hawaii armed with supersmarts and a hardwired desire to wreak havoc on everything in his path. When this anti-E.T. crosses paths with lonely little girl Lilo – who heads a "human" cast that's more realistic and modern than is seen in most Disney flicks – mayhem, and life lessons, ensues. Using an original story rather than tapping a well-worn classic allows directors Chris Sanders (also the voice of Stitch) and Dean DeBlois considerable creative freedom, and Lilo and Stitch combines elements as diverse as hula and fire dancing, spaceship chases, surfing, intergalactic bounty hunters, and plenty of Elvis hits. At the film's core is a simple message about the importance of family, and while Lilo and Stitch may lack the Broadway-style grandeur of other recent Disney efforts, it's nevertheless a charming tale that boasts winning, memorable characters. (1:25) Century Plaza, Century 20, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, Orinda, Shattuck. (Eddy)

*Minority Report It's hard to believe that Minority Report marks the first time Steven Spielberg has directed Tom Cruise – but it's not hard to believe that the pairing of two such überstars, both coming off so-so projects (A.I., Vanilla Sky), makes for such entertaining results. As troubled Chief John Anderton – head of D.C.'s elite "Pre-Crime" division, which uses a trio of clairvoyants to suss out murderers before they strike – Cruise is in his element; the role involves not only muscular ass-kicking, but a meaty back story that concerns Anderton's murdered son, plus a twisty mystery that sends the tightly-wound cop all over the city trying to clear his name when he's pegged as a future killer. Spielberg comes through with his most enjoyable film in years, mixing futuristic, but still strangely logical visuals (vertical highways, interactive advertisements, animated cereal boxes) with quick pacing and several tense, disturbing scenes. Though the king of sentimentality still can't resist a tidy, no-stone-left-unturned ending, by the time the wave of exposition hits you, Minority Report has already carried you, breathlessly, almost to the end. (2:25) Century Plaza, Century 20, Empire, Grand Lake, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, Presidio, 1000 Van Ness, Orinda. (Eddy)

*Monsoon Wedding (1:54) Albany, Embarcadero, Piedmont.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2:01) Shattuck.

*Nine Queens (1:54) Four Star.

*The Piano Teacher (2:10) Opera Plaza.

Scooby-Doo Like the billboards say, be afraid. Unless you're accompanying a pint-size fan who'll be entertained by bright colors, peppy music, and an extended farting contest (and isn't easily freaked by a few scary-for-kids moments) – or you're a Matthew Lillard-Freddie Prinze Jr. buddy movie completist – best to give this garish fumble a wide berth. Much like another recent Hanna-Barbera big-screen debacle, Josie and the Pussycats, Scooby-Doo is unable to transform a generally amusing half-hour cartoon into a full-length, live-action adventure; similarly, it's unclear who the film targets: the Spy Kids set or teens (who'll appreciate the pot jokes and Sarah Michelle Gellar's slinky costumes but not the predictable "mystery" about a spooky amusement park). Lillard makes for a dead-on Shaggy, but his valiant efforts to save the movie are tempered by the fact that he shares nearly every scene with a certain so-C.G.'d-it-hurts canine. (1:27) Century Plaza, Century 20, Empire, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness. (Eddy)

Space Station 3D (:47) Metreon Imax.

Spider-Man (1:51) Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

*Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (1:22) Grand Lake, Oaks.

*Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2:22) Century Plaza, Grand Lake, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

The Sum of All Fears (2:04) Century Plaza, Century 20, Empire, Jack London, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

*13 Conversations about One Thing (1:42) Act I and II, Embarcadero.

*Y tu mamá también (1:45) Embarcadero, Piedmont, Shattuck.

Ultimate X (:39) Metreon Imax.

Undercover Brother (1:26) Century Plaza, Century 20, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness, Shattuck.

Unfaithful (1:21) Balboa.

Windtalkers Supersize, camo-clad John Woo with military surplus at his disposal equals superlative movie carnage on the scale of Sam Peckinpah's WWII tale Cross of Iron -- and Woo makes it a blast to watch, probably in no small part because the downtime in Windtalkers is so unstimulating by comparison. There's a solid premise ("inspired by actual events"): a group of Navajo code talkers, including Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach), come under the protection of a bitter and emotionally ravaged Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) during the battle of Saipan. But instead of examining larger issues (like maybe the ambivalence Native Americans might have felt in defending a country and a government that hadn't treated them all that well), the film is quickly taken over by every tired war movie cliché in the book. It is only near the end that Windtalkers finally seems to come together. In the heat of combat, Woo-ness dictates that nothing matters except male bonding with bullets. War, as well as the talky bits in Windtalkers, may be hell, but the hot-blooded spirit of Hong Kong action film still makes for a thrilling theater of operations. (2:14) Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness. (Macias)

Rep picks

*The Bad Bunch This 1975 obscurity is a pretty wild example of that decade's occasional tendency to mix progressive politics with exploitation cinema. The first film by director Greydon Clark (whose subsequent résumé would include Satan's Cheerleaders, Black Shampoo, Skinheads: The Second Coming of Hate, and Lambada, The Forbidden Dance) finds him cast as Jim, a newly returned Vietnam vet who saw his African American best buddy sniper-shot to death in the field. Resettled in L.A., he visits the late soldier's father in Watts to pay his respects, but brother Tom, a.k.a. Makimba (Tom Johnigarn), is not at all thrilled to learn his sibling had a "honky" friend. Cornered by Makimba's gang of big-shouldered flunkies, Jim is beaten up fairly bad before the intervention of two cops (Aldo Ray, Jock Mahoney) whose virulent racism makes their arrival a definitely mixed blessing. As Makimba develops an ever-more-serious grudge against well-meaning Jim, the movie also manages to include lots of nudity, pot smoking, great early-'70s clothes and music, marriage-versus-shacking-up arguments, and a surprising near-orgy of skinny-dipping miscegenation at an upscale hippie pool party. This "grand finale" in the Four Star's latest "Midnites for Maniacs" series is at once a campy find and a rather admirably ambitious timepiece. Four Star. (Harvey)*'Kung Fu Kult Klassics' This week's Kult Klassic double feature is the surefire combo of Tsui Hark's Time and Tide and Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. (1:26) Four Star.