October 9, 2002

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. The film intern is Adam Wadenius. See Rep Clock, and Movie Clock, for theater information.

Mill Valley Film Festival

The 25th Annual Mill Valley Film Festival runs though Sun/13. Venues are the Rafael Film Center, 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael; CinéArts @ Sequoia, 25 Throckmorton, Mill Valley; Century Cinema, 41 Tamal Vista, Corte Madera. Most shows $7-9; for more information and a full schedule call (925) 866-9559 or check www.mvff.com. For commentary, see "The Voice," page 41, and last week's Bay Guardian. All times p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Wed/9

Sequoia "Five@Five: What Will Tomorrow Bring?" (shorts program) 5. Divine Intervention 6:45. Welcome to the Club: The Women of Rockabilly with "Cowgirls" 7. Lost in La Mancha 9. Intact 9:15.

Rafael Strictly Ballroom 3. Fading Light 5. Mr. and Mrs. Iyer 6:30. Chekhov's Motifs 6:45. The Deserted Station 7:15. "Human Rights and Inhuman Wrongs" (shorts program) 9:15. XX/XY 9:30. Noise 9:30.

Cinema The Emperor's Club 7.

Thurs/10

Sequoia "Five@Five: You Made Me Funny" (shorts program) 5. The Warrior 6:45. Standing in the Shadows of Motown 7. Rabbit-Proof Fence 9. Afghan Stories 9:30.

Rafael The King's Beard 5. Gebirtig 6:45. "Tribute to Ed Asner" 7. Igor Stravinsky, Composer 7:15. Gangs from Rosario 9:15. Five Years 9. At Home and Asea 9:30.

Fri/11

Sequoia Scars 4:45. "Five@Five: And How I Hoped For Your Love" (shorts program) 5. Roger Dodger 6:45. Let's Talk 7. Morvern Callar 9:15. Arisman: Facing the Audience 9:30.

Rafael OT: our town 6:45. Gagooman (The Twilight) 7:15. Mr. and Mrs. Iyer 9. Deadline 9:15. "Two-by-Forman" (shorts program) 9:30.

Sat/12

Sequoia "Aardvark Adventures and Other Animania" (shorts program) 11:15a. Fading Light 11:30a. "Animarathon 2002" (shorts program) 1. Scars 1:45. Kids' Workshop Video 3. The Way Home 4. "A Scandinavian Salute" (shorts program) 4:15. All or Nothing 6. Made-Up (A Vanity Production) 6:45. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 8:45. Bowling for Columbine 9:15.

Rafael The Barefoot Contessa 10:45a. Afghan Stories (shorts program) 11:15a. Independent Spirits: Faith Hubley, John Hubley 12:45. "Meet the Muppets!" 2. "Videosyncrasies" (shorts program) 2:15. Puckoon 2:45. Divine Intervention 4:30. A Thousand and One Voices: The Music of Islam 4:45. Help, I'm a Boy! 6:45. "Tribute to Dianne Wiest" 7. Last Seen 7:15. The Slaughter Rule 9. The Crime of Father Amaro 9:15. These Are Not My Images (neither there nor here) 9:30.

Sun/13

Sequoia Arisman: Uncle Ghost 11a. Facing the Audience 1. "The Northern De-Lights" (shorts program) 1:30. Minoes 3:45. Standing in the Shadows of Motown 4. All or Nothing 6:30. Personal Velocity 6:45. Sweet Sixteen 9. Jimmy Scott: If You Only Knew 9:30.

Rafael OT: our town 11a. What Do You Believe? 1. "Animated Amigos" (shorts program) 1:30. A Place Named Destiny 2:30. Let's Talk 3. "Two-by-Forman" (shorts program) 3:30. Morvern Callar 4:30. The Way Home 5:30. The Warrior 6:30. Merci Docteur Rey 7, 9:30. Bowling for Columbine 8:45.

Opening

*American Mullett Jennifer Arnold's doc about the controversial hairstyle points out that "people love to talk about the mullet – but who is talking to people with the mullet?" Highlighted are members of widely diverse groups (lesbians, rock 'n' roll fans, soccer players, bikers, Native Americans, Mexicans, a physician, a Billy Ray Cyrus impersonator), all of whom sport the coif with fierce pride. Though the making-fun-of-mullets pastime does get screen time (one mullet-themed Web site is depicted as somewhat mean-spirited), the unfailingly optimistic film debunks the stereotypes associated with the cut (i.e., stupidity, redneck-ness) and puts a positive spin on something one hockey-haired individual admits, with a grin, is "not fashionable." (:52) Red Vic. (Eddy)

*Bloody Sunday It started out as a "peaceful march against internment"; it ended up with 13 dead and turned a town in Northern Ireland into ground zero for "the Troubles." That early morning massacre in Derry on January 30, 1972, has been memorialized in books and song, but it's filmmaker Paul Greengrass's gut-wrenching recreation of the day of infamy that truly captures the sheer horror of the tragedy. Focusing on the events leading up to the shooting of Irish demonstrators and its aftermath, Bloody Sunday incorporates the viewpoints of MP-activist Ivan Cooper (James Nesbitt), nervous soldiers, one of the victims, and several British army commanding officers to present a multisided, fragmented perspective. The film's gritty you-are-there vérité camera work begs comparisons to The Battle of Algiers, but it's the sequential fade-outs that reduce everything to elements of a nightmarish waking dream, bypassing sensationalism and sentimentality for a dread-filled march toward the inevitability of history. (1:40) Act I and II, Embarcadero. (Fear)

Brown Sugar Sanaa Lathan and Taye Diggs star as longtime friends who witness the birth of New York hip-hop and go on to have careers in the music biz. (1:48) Jack London.

Family Fundamentals Hostility toward homosexuals is again a theme explored by local filmmaker Arthur Dong (Coming Out Under Fire, Licensed to Kill), whose latest doc takes a look at the struggle between three deeply religious families and their adult children who have "become" homosexual. The frustration that descends upon the subjects is equal in proportion, as fundamentalist family members struggle to change those who they see as destructive elements of the human race, and the children fight to gain acceptance from parents whose beliefs are immutable. The film does well to extend into the cultural and political arguments between the two sides, unveiling deeper, more complicated conflicts than the surface presents. While at times we feel jolted from the emotional atmosphere by Dong's distracting voice-over style and several odd moments of reflexivity, the raw feelings of shame and rejection pushed down on the children due to the intransigent attitudes of their own families lingers well after the film's closing credits. (1:15) Opera Plaza, Shattuck. (Wadenius)

Knockaround Guys XXX raked in the dough, making thick-necked Vin Diesel a bona fide action star. Now this little crime drama – written and directed by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, who also wrote Rounders – is getting released after spending months on the shelf. Barry Pepper (a cross between Christopher Walken and Dracula) plays the sensitive son of Mafioso Benny "Chains" Demaret (Dennis Hopper). Junior's ready to prove to his pop he can handle the racket, so his trusted Uncle Teddy (John Malkovich) gets him a trial job smuggling cocaine, and his buddies, including Diesel and Seth Green, are put to the test when the deal goes sour. Diesel's success might not be the only reason we're finally seeing Knockaround Guys in theaters, but after watching the leather-jacketed cast stroll around uttering banalities and looking confused, it's soon clear the movie will need all the help it can get. (1:32) Century Plaza, Century 20, Orinda, Shattuck. (Gachman)

Pokemon 4Ever And ever, and ever, amen. (1:17) Metreon.

The Rules of Attraction See Critic's Choice. (1:44) California, Century Plaza, Century 20, Empire.

Swept Away Because Madonna's zillion-dollar singing career still leaves her wanting more. (1:33) Century 20.

The Transporter See Tiger on Beat. (1:32) Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

Tuck Everlasting It took awhile for Natalie Babbitt's 1975 award-winning children's book to make it onto the screen, but Disney finally saw its wholesome potential and nabbed it. A young girl named Winnie (Alexis Bledel) rebels against her stuffy parents and their upper-crust Victorian expectations (like that she should wear corsets, play piano, and attend a posh girls' school), finally running into the woods that surround her very manicured house as a release. Just as she's about to drink from a pool of water, Jesse Tuck (Jonathan Jackson) appears and cryptically warns her not to. Jesse and Winnie fall in love at first sight, and eventually his salt-of-the-earth family takes her in. The freedom Winnie finds with the Tucks, and her love for Jesse, keep her happy in their world, despite a dark secret that eventually threatens her idyllic new life. Sissy Spasek looks spooky as mother Tuck, and father William Hurt's Irish-Scottish-American accent just doesn't cut it. But Tuck isn't aimed at cynical adult viewers; its imaginative world will have no problem charming young audiences. (1:30) Century 20, Grand Lake, Orinda, Shattuck. (Gachman)

White Oleander See "Girl, Intercepted," page 46. (1:48) Century Plaza, Century 20, Empire, Jack London, Oaks.

Ongoing

Apollo 13: The Imax Experience (1:57) Metreon IMAX.

Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (1:30) Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

The Banger Sisters (1:37) Century Plaza, Century 20, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

Baraka (1:36) Rafael.

Barbershop (1:42) Century 20, Century Plaza, Grand Lake, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

*Biggie and Tupac (1:47) Roxie.

City by the Sea (1:48) 1000 Van Ness.

Das Experiment (1:54) Opera Plaza.

*8 Women Though other films by François Ozon (Water Drops on Burning Rocks, in particular) prove he's adept at creating unflattering male portraits, his latest gift to audiences comes wrapped in feminine packaging. When 8 Women's faux-Technicolor paper is ripped off, female duplicity is revealed, and Ozon presents the spectacle with compassionate cynicism. The musical whodunit unites many – but not all – of France's most famous actresses: Catherine Deneuve rules, or attempts to rule, with trademark hauteur over a cast that includes Isabelle Huppert, Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Béart, Virginie Ledoyen, and grand dame Danielle Darrieux. During a title sequence that also pays homage to the rain shower of phony jewels in the opening credits of Douglas Sirk's Imitation of Life, the name of each actress is matched with a flower, some symbolic of innocence, some overtly obscene. The plot that follows is a murder mystery, but Ozon's true investigation – as usual – is a misanthrope's inquest into human nature. (2:00) Albany, Clay. (Huston)

The Four Feathers (2:03) Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

*The Good Girl (1:34) Lumiere.

How I Killed My Father (1:40) Balboa.

*I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (1:32) Galaxy.

Igby Goes Down (1:38) Galaxy, Metreon, Shattuck.

In Praise of Love (1:38) Four Star.

In Shifting Sands: The Truth about UNSCOM and the Disarming of Iraq (1:32) Roxie.

*Invincible Werner Herzog's Invincible comes as a surprise: it's a European coproduction of fairly epic proportions, a period-set parable not that far removed from the primitive wonder and morality of Heart of Glass and Every Man for Himself and God Against All. In 1932 virile young man Ziske (Finnish competitive bodybuilder Jouko Ahola) gains employment at a Berlin theater of the fantastic presided over by Hanussen (Tim Roth), a mesmerist and ambitious entrepreneur who has tapped into the more occult leanings of the rising Nazi zeitgeist. Ziske does a strongman act – albeit as "Siegfried," an ideal of Aryan manhood – until before a house full of Nazi officers, he unmasks himself as a Jew, inciting their affronted disbelief while becoming a hero to new audiences who've never had an athletic idol of their own. Invincible has stilted, borderline-silly moments, and the inexperienced Ahola can't carry scenes demanding more than natural charisma. But the somewhat naive tenor struck me as an intentional primitivism allied with Guy Maddin's quasi-creaky retro movies – amplifying its fable quality, the film seems to have been made in a vaguely familiar, long-ago era. (2:08) Roxie. (Harvey)

*The Last Kiss (1:44) Embarcadero, Rafael, Shattuck.

The Man from Elysian Fields Failed novelist Byron Tiller (Andy Garcia) morphs into a lobotomized shell of a man because he can barely afford to care for his wife (Julianna Margulies) and baby. He reluctantly signs on as a male escort at a place called Elysian Fields after the company's foppish owner, Luther Fox (Mick Jagger), seduces him into the biz. Tiller gets involved with Andrea Alcott (Olivia Williams), a young, beautiful client who happens to be married to a Pulitzer Prize-winning author (James Coburn) who's at death's door. As Tiller's strange relationship with the Alcotts deepens, his marriage disintegrates, and Elysian Fields proves to be more like Purgatory than Paradise. The premise has no trouble luring you in, but it feels like director George Hickenlooper didn't have the chutzpah to take what could have been a dark, stylish, cryptic tale of desperation over the edge. (1:46) Embarcadero, Shattuck. (Gachman)

Master of Disguise (1:30) California.

Moonlight Mile (2:03) Century 20, Galaxy, Metreon, Shattuck.

*Mostly Martha (1:47) Albany, Embarcadero.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2:01) Galaxy, Metreon, Piedmont, Shattuck.

One Hour Photo (1:38) Century 20, Embarcadero.

Possession (1:42) Kabuki.

*Read My Lips (1:55) Balboa, Galaxy.

Red Dragon Anyone who's seen Michael Mann's 1986 Manhunter knows that Red Dragon was made purely to cash in on beloved boogeyman Hannibal Lecter's popularity. Too bad for director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) and a top-notch cast (besides Anthony Hopkins, the roster includes Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel, and Emily Watson; even the smaller roles are filled by respected types like Philip Seymour Hoffman and Mary-Louise Parker) that comparisons to the Mann film are inevitable. If not for that previous, superior take on the same material (a retired FBI agent, played here by Norton, turns to Lecter to help catch a serial killer called the Tooth Fairy), it'd be easy enough to toss Dragon off as an adeptly suspenseful thriller – not as good as Silence of the Lambs, sure, but not a misstep like Hannibal. But where Mann's film was stylish and tense, Dragon is standardized horror for the masses, with talking paintings, exploding houses, and way too much of that sly ol' cannibal, who is by now so hammy his next logical step is a buddy comedy. (2:05) Century Plaza, Century 20, Empire, Grand Lake, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness, Orinda. (Eddy)

*Rivers and Tides (1:30) Opera Plaza, Rafael, Shattuck.

Secretary (1:44) Act I and II, Bridge, Piedmont.

*Signs (1:46) 1000 Van Ness.

Skins (1:30) Opera Plaza, Shattuck.

Spirited Away (2:04) Kabuki, Metreon, Piedmont, Shattuck.

Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (1:45) Century 20.

*Sweet Home Alabama (1:49) Century Plaza, Century 20, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, Oaks, 1000 Van Ness, Presidio.

Trapped(1:39) Kabuki, 1000 Van Ness.

The Tuxedo (1:39) California, Century Plaza, Century 20, Four Star, Grand Lake, Kabuki, Metreon.

*24 Hour Party People (1:57) Lumiere.

Wasabi (1:34) California, Lumiere.

XXX (2:00) 1000 Van Ness.

Rep picks

*'Kung Fu Kult Klassics' and 'Midnites for Maniacs' This week's Klassics are Dead or Alive director Miike Takashi's 1996 Japanese gangland trash epic, Fudoh, and an obscure 1980s "pink film" from Nikkatsu studios, Dirty Doll. Saturday's midnight movie is Samo Hung's 1981 comedy-horror Encounter of the Spooky Kind. Four Star.

'Philip on Film' See 8 Days a Week, page 57. Davies Symphony Hall.