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. See Rep Clock and Movie Clock, for theater information.

fOpening

*Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde Blonder than ever, Reese Witherspoon returns as Elle Woods, notorious Beverly Hills bimbette turned shrewd attorney. In this sequel, Elle takes on animal testing, the beauty industry, and Capitol Hill, all to reunite her beloved lapdog, Bruiser, with his imprisoned mom. It's hard to follow a hit comedy, but it helps that favorite characters from the first film are back (including Luke Wilson as the perfect hubby to be). While the script isn't as fresh this time around, Witherspoon carries the film with ease; her revival of the beloved blond with smile-and-the-world-smiles-back naïveté, stubborn charm in the face of adversity and mocking, and of course, a dazzling pink wardrobe that Barbie would die for, are as hilarious as ever. Toss in a mean Southern senator whose dog turns out to be a leather daddy, an army of sorority sisters, and cheerleading interns choreographed by Toni Basil and, really, what's not to love? Double snaps. (1:34) Century Plaza, Jack London, Century 20, Orinda, Presidio. (Sabrina Crawford)

*The Legend of Suriyothai Even in truncated form, Prince Chatri Chalerm Yukol's tale of monarchs and martyrs still washes ashore as one eye gouge of an epic, regal pustules and all. Second kings still covet power, severed heads still roll, courtesans and concubines still jockey for position, and the titular princess (M.L. Piyapas Bhiromhakdi) continues pachyderm-bound toward her destiny. Whether the prince or his old friend Francis Ford Coppola is responsible for the film's tendency to ramrod its way through historical incidents quicker than a flip book and rely on abundant narration and intertitles to fill in the gaps is uncertain. Regardless of the movie's sprint-pacing faults, it's easy to see why Suriyothai became such a cause célèbre in its native land; rarely has the birth of a nation seemed so garishly opulent and stone-facedly reverent simultaneously. Even audiences unfamiliar with Thailand's legacy (either literal or cine-literal) will find familiar purchase here, as Prince Chatri's grand filmmaking sweep and narrative instantly bring to mind elements of Cecil B. DeMille, MacBeth, and Akira Kurosawa's battlefield choreography. Also, see "Queen Sweep," page 38. (2:22) Act I and II, Embarcadero. (Fear)

Postmen in the Mountains Before he retires, a father (Teng Rujun) teaches his mail route to his son (Ye Liu). The 112-mile trek is mountainous to say the least – the perilous pilgrimage puts the United States Postal Service to shame. As the son embarks on his first journey through the Chinese countryside, he discovers his connection to the village communities he serves – and reaffirms the unbreakable bond that links father to son – in a film loaded with metaphor (for better and for worse). Postmen in the Mountains is not a perfect film; the subtitles (translated from Mandarin to English) seem to fall short of conveying the intended dialogue, and at times the script (adapted from the book by Peng Jianming) tells rather than shows. Postmen is at its best when simply showing, as when director Huo Jianqi frames a gorgeous ensemble of shots filmed in the rolling green utopia of south Hunan. (1:33) Four Star. (Pham)

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas See Movie Clock. (1:26) Century Plaza, Century 20, Grand Lake, Jack London, Oaks, Orinda.

*Swimming Pool See "Mystery Man," page 40. (1:54) Clay.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Well, he said he'd be back. This time, Arnold fights a "Terminatrix" (Kristanna Loken). (1:49) Century Plaza, Century 20, Grand Lake, Jack London.

Ongoing

L'auberge espagnole (1:56) California, Embarcadero.

Alex and Emma Rob Reiner's latest romantic comedy is loosely based on Dostoyevsky's short story "The Gambler"; it's also not-so-loosely based on every other romantic comedy Reiner has ever made. Hottie doofus Luke Wilson plays Alex, an author who finds himself in the pickle of writing a book in 30 days in order to pay a gambling debt to Cuban gangsters. Conveniently, the villains light Alex's laptop on fire, and in flies Emma (Kate Hudson), equipped with her stenographer's set, to save the day. The tragedy of it all is that I know there will probably be hoards of aging yuppies delighted by Alex and Emma's multidimensional plot, wherein Alex writes, or rather dictates, his lame-ass peregrinations into a hastily constructed "fictional" novel, which plays out in on-screen sequences. Unfortunately, both story lines are asinine. For a better take on a similar premise, skip Alex and Emma altogether and rent Adaptation; chase it with a little When Harry Met Sally to bring back Reiner's better days. (1:40) Kabuki, Metreon, Oaks, 1000 Van Ness. (Pham)

*Bend It like Beckham With a witty screenplay, feel-good story, and kick-ass soundtrack, Gurinder Chadha's Bend It like Beckham (named, by the way, for the soccer star who's also known as Mr. Posh Spice) has already broken box-office records in the U.K. and arrives in the United States with a worldwide $50 million gross already under its belt. Jess, Beckham's protagonist, is a reluctant challenger who's driven by her passion for soccer to deviate from the expectations of her old-world family. Beckham pointedly punctures English, Indian, and immigrant foibles despite a few jokes that are broad enough to hit the side of a barn. But its pseudo-lesbian subplot is unlikely to ruffle viewers of any lifestyle. More satisfyingly, the film's climactic wedding scene erupts into high drama with mistaken-identity mischief delicious enough to ensure it won't be mistaken for Monsoon Wedding. (1:42) Lumiere, Piedmont, Shattuck. (B. Ruby Rich)

Bruce Almighty (1:41) Century 20, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

*Capturing the Friedmans Pegged as the lurid must-see of this year's Sundance Film Festival, Andrew Jarecki's documentary is definitely a fly in the ointment of any belief that documentary cinema (let alone legal process) necessarily equals truth. This movie leaves so many unpleasant questions unanswered you'll be positively itchy with the sense of being soiled-by-association. Tipped by postal inspectors, police raided the home of one Arnold Friedman, a well-liked schoolteacher and father of three teenage sons. They found stores of "kiddie porn" (or at least teen porn); this led to interviews with students in Mr. Friedman's after-school computer classes, held in the family's basement. The stories that emerged described horrific, sometimes quite literally beyond-belief sexual abuse of boys by both Friedman and youngest son Jesse. Were the purported victims' testimonies influenced and inflamed by the zealousness of investigators, not to mention the wildfire outrage that ran through local parents? (Some class attendees still insist nothing happened at all, but their voices were overwhelmed during the resulting media and prosecutorial onslaught.) What's perhaps most disturbing about this one-of-a-kind document is that hysteria becomes indistinguishable from truth, even (or especially) among the Friedmans themselves – a family that recorded itself endlessly via home videos (amply excerpted here), to a remarkable and unflattering degree. Watching them tear themselves apart under pressure – with self-appointed mother-of-all-martyrs Elaine quite possibly inflicting more damage than press, community, law, and still-questionable sex crimes combined – is an experience you won't soon forget. (1:47) Act I and II, Embarcadero. (Harvey)

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu return, this time involved in reclaiming missing Witness Protection Program rosters. Major impediments are Justin Theroux as Barrymore's satanic ex-boyfriend, and Demi Moore (who's not on-screen that much, despite the impression given by the ads) as a former angel gone bad. The first Angels, also directed by McG, raised the discourse level of megamall franchise flicks by more than a few notches: it was funny, spectacular, knowingly ridiculous, and ironic in all the right ways. This sequel falls into that shrug-inducing cinematic category known as Just More of the Same. Which ain't a bad thing necessarily, though the freshness is definitely edging toward day-old-doughnut here. The action sequences are now so far outside the realm of physical possibility that they're just silly – a dirt biking set piece is one iota short of simply being fully animated. There are so many cameos (Bruce Willis, Jaclyn Smith, Pink, the Olsen twins, etc.) that some more desirable talents with actual roles – notably Crispin Glover – get scarcely more screen time. Bernie Mac is a poor substitute for Bill Murray's inspirational weirdness as the new Bosley, while Moore's stony posturing is the worst piece of overhyped, overpaid celebrity supervillain casting since Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze in Batman and Robin. Despite these flaws, there's enough color, kitsch, and miscellaneous swirling motion to warrant giving Full Throttle OK marks as a fun if immediately forgettable way to spend $9.50. (1:45) Century Plaza, Century 20, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness. (Harvey)

*Chicago (1:47) Balboa, Galaxy.*City of God City of God is a Rio de Janeiro housing project, but rather than simply present it as a setting, director Fernando Meirelles views it as a character – perhaps the dominant one – in the film. In one vivid segment a single fixed point of view witnesses the deterioration of an apartment as it's passed down from one drug dealer to another. The stronger and younger the kingpin, the trashier his kingdom. But static points of view aren't Meirelles's specialty. Working with codirector Kátia Lund, he's stylistically giddy in the face of much adolescent and preadolescent violence, running circles around the surface linearity of the plot's chapter structure and uncorking an array of techniques: God's-eye aerial shots that suggest the almighty has a finger on the fast-forward button, freeze-frame character intros that revive blaxploitation swank, and camera movements that follow the paths of ricocheting bullets or circle around the violence with the speed of a meth-addled figure skater. (2:10) Four Star. (Huston)

Daddy Day Care (1:30) Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

Down with Love (1:42) Balboa, Oaks.

Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (1:25) Century 20, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

The Eye This is a crowd pleaser. Twin-brother directors Danny and Oxide Pang have efficiently combined the atmosphere and symbolism of recent Japanese horror with the near mechanical heroics found in Hollywood's summer blockbusters Specifically, The Eye duplicates the ghostly elevator rides of Ring director Hideo Nakata's Dark Water; also, the Sept. 11-like finale is an inverted version of the apocalypse in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Kairo, trading Kurosawa's bleak philosophical prophecy for crass sentiment. A shame but not a surprise, then, that those superior titles remain obscure while The Eye is set for a U.S. remake. If you like what you see here, you should seek out the Nakata and Kurosawa movies at Le Video. (1:38) Opera Plaza, Shattuck. (Huston)

*Finding Nemo When his beloved son Nemo is whisked from the ocean by a scuba diver, neurotic clown fish Marlin (Albert Brooks) launches a Great Barrier Reef-sized quest to track him down, running into a huge assortment of oceanic perils (sharks, shipwrecks, weird-looking deep-sea fish, seagulls) and pals (notably a forgetful fish named Dory, who, as voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, gets the film's biggest laughs) along the way. Meanwhile, Nemo hatches elaborate escape plans with the creatures dwelling in his new home – a dentist's office aquarium. Though the search-and-rescue plot of this latest computer-animated adventure from Disney-Pixar (Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc.) will play pretty routine to the grown-ups, pint-sized audiences will be in suspense to the end; adult audiences can enjoy the film's more subtle, clever touches (the dental-office scenes are particularly ingenious). (1:41) Century Plaza, Century 20, Grand Lake, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness, Orinda, Shattuck. (Eddy)

From Justin to Kelly You can practically see the puppet strings controlling the movements of American Idol-made stars Kelly Clarkson (spunky) and Justin Guarini (bland), who suffer through this hastily made spring break comedy like it's just one more stop on the press tour. The brains behind Idol (and Spice World) and the director of She's All That should've been able to come up with something better than this embarrassing mess, which combines a convoluted plot (Kelly and Justin, who have limited chemistry, meet cute on vacation; wacky text-message misunderstandings and Kelly's bitchy friend conspire to keep them apart) with instantly forgettable songs and questionable choreography. And this is coming from someone who loves Grease 2, so you know I ain't that picky. (1:22) Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness. (Eddy)

The Hard Word A criminal clan – bearlike butcher Mal (Damien Richardson), hair trigger-tempered Shane (Joel Edgerton) and ferret-thin "mastermind" Dale (Guy Pearce) – get sprung from the joint to pull a job for their slick, slimy lawyer. Only the attorney would prefer they continue their stay in the gray-bar hotel indefinitely as he's banging Dale's opportunistic wife (Rachel Griffiths), so he sends them back on a "technicality." When one last score at a Sydney race track presents the opportunity for millions, however, the mouthpiece thinks he can dispose of the trio permanently. Dale sees the chance for revenge. Screenwriter Scott Roberts somehow manages to combine the most clichéd elements of quirky Aussie comedies, heist films, and '90s "hip" crime flicks for his debut directorial outing, relying on Pearce's cheek-boned charisma and Griffiths's seemingly gravity-free bosom to provide any on-screen fireworks. Little more than a hat trick sewn together with a needlessly difficult narrative and a self-congratulatory smirk, Word makes for one hell of a hard sit. (1:42) Opera Plaza, Shattuck. (Fear)

The Heart of Me Those with a fondness for a good made-for-television melodrama will enjoy Helena Bonham Carter's latest period piece, which is set in the decades leading up to and following World War II. The film is mostly about sexual betrayal – Carter's character has an affair with her sister's man – but also successfully intertextualizes the war as an invisible, transcendent backdrop. Still, one wonders why it's necessary to experience The Heart of Me in the theater when clearly this is the sort of movie you watch on KQED, sick on a Sunday night with a bowl of chicken soup and a box of Kleenex. In fact, I've seen better BBC productions starring a younger Carter, before she was typecast by the public and not "stretching" herself beyond roles bound by a corset. (1:36) Opera Plaza, Shattuck. (Pham)

Holes (1:51) Oaks.

Hollywood Homicide (1:51) California, Century 20, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

Hulk Emotional, talky tales involving repressed memories and bad parenting surely have their place – but in a movie based on a comic book, not so much. Way long, pretentious, and with jarring transitions that imitate comic strip panels, Ang Lee's foray into summer blockbuster-land is as disappointing as you thought it would be when you saw those previews during the Super Bowl – except the special effects are the pretty much least sucky thing here. After scientist Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) is zapped in a lab accident, he begins having serious anger management issues, complicating the lives of his ex-girlfriend (a weepy Jennifer Connelly), assorted government heavies, and his long-lost nut of a father (Nick Nolte). When Banner goes green, the leaping, smashing, and crashing (but only killing one really, really bad guy) almost make up for the rest of Hulk's turgidness. But not quite. (2:18) Century Plaza, Century 20, Grand Lake, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness. (Eddy)

The Italian Job (1:43) Century 20, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness, Shattuck.

*Japón Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas's Japón is an epic of enigmas and epiphanies that has as much to do with the land of the rising sun as Terry Gilliam's dystopic vision has to do with Brazil. It involves a nameless man (Alejandro Ferretis) who travels to a ragged village with the goal of ending his life. He stays with an octogenarian woman (Magdalena Flores) named Ascension, whom he falls in love with and who ultimately "saves" him. Nature, death, and redemption pervade every deliberately paced sequence and every grainy, sun-baked-to-sepia 'Scope shot. Reygadas's debut will quiet even the loudest of doubters immediately; though he wears his pantheon of influences on his sleeve (the matron's question, "Who do you like more: the Virgin Mary or God?," is pure Buñuel, and St. Tarkovsky hovers over the proceedings like a proud patron), Japón's hybrid vision of spiritual anodynes and apocalypses announces a distinctly individual cinema of contemplation. (2:02) Castro. (Fear)

Jet Lag In the middle of a "typical" French transit strike, a neurotic gourmet entrepreneur (Jean Reno) and an insecure beautician (Juliette Binoche) find themselves sharing a cell phone while stranded in Charles De Gaulle Airport. The mismatched duo end up at the businessman's Hilton suite, hashing out their life problems and eventually sparking a tentative romance. That's the simplistic premise of this romantic dramedy by writer-director Danièle Thompson (La bûche), and what starts off as a Gallic screwball in the making quickly fizzles into a somewhat stale, stagy take on a two-person theater piece. What Binoche does with her half of the burden, however, is another matter entirely; fleshing her sketchy character out with any number of subtly nuanced moments (a single, silent shot of her thinking turns into a performance unto itself), her ability to play bitter, brittle, and blithe at once stands out like a truffle amid what's essentially a mediocre farce. (1:43) Lumiere. (Fear)

*Man on the Train A mysterious stranger (Johnny Hallyday) breezes into a small French burg and attracts the attention of a local poetry teacher (Jean Rochefort), who offers the out-of-towner room and board. It turns out that the stranger is a career criminal with his eye on the local bank and that the local is desperately looking for one last chance at excitement to set off a long life of dullness and regrets. It's the duo's gentle, tentative stabs at friendship before tragedy inevitably rears its head that make the latest meditation by director Patrice Leconte (The Hairdresser's Husband) on the melancholia of loners and losers so quietly moving. Thanks to the alchemy of legendary Gallic rocker Hallyday's steel-flint gaze and Rochefort's matronly kindness, what should be a normal iconographic noir essayed in gun-metal shades of blue gray takes the road less traveled, gracefully morphing into an elegy of missed opportunities and misaligned lives. (1:30) Opera Plaza, Shattuck. (Fear)

*Marooned in Iraq (1:37) Balboa, Galaxy.

The Matrix Reloaded (2:18) Century 20, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

*A Mighty Wind The latest from Christopher Guest (Best in Show) and his ensemble of comics and character actors is another high-concept parody: when the legendary folk music impresario Irving Steinbloom passes away, his son organizes a tribute show featuring the crème de la crème of the 1960s Bleecker Street scene. The event heralds the return of such seminal acts as the Folksmen (Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer) and the reunited Mitch and Mickey (Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara). Wind features the genius comic turns (Levy's shell-shocked Brian Wilson impersonation vies with Fred Willard's unctuous band manager for the show-stealing throne) and deadpan shtick that's become synonymous with the all-star collective. But although Wind is still far funnier and more inventive than most of what passes for yukfests these days, this experiment in without-a-net creative comedy never quite gels; one senses that not even the editing room could turn what's essentially a number of disparate, fragmented laugh-riot ideas into the cohesive tour de force their legacy demands. (1:27) California, Lumiere, Smith Rafael. (Fear)

Nowhere in Africa (2:18) Balboa, Shattuck, Smith Rafael.

On_Line (1:27) Galaxy.

*Raising Victor Vargas Set in the Latino blocks of New York City's Lower East Side one hot summer, Peter Sollett's film at first blush looks like a classic tale of teenage stud-male hubris taken down a few pegs by innate female superiority – the usual lesson in humility ending with the usual conciliatory kiss. Which indeed is part of the agenda here, but only part. Victor (Victor Rasuk) is a 16-or-so-year-old with a smile like melting butter and a body whose muscles he's wont to flex, even if they're not much more than a figment of his overconfident imagination. Caught about to boink "Fat Donna" (Donna Maldonado) upstairs, he seizes on the conquest of model-looking, wildly uninterested Judy (Judy Marte) as the ticket to salvage his temporarily tainted reputation as a high-end ladies' man. Toeing a line between high comedy and near tragedy that's utterly natural throughout, Raising Victor Vargas is a tiny yet well-crafted story. With its warm photography, exceptional nonpro actors, and frequent hilarity, this very small movie is an almost perfectly realized joy. (1:40) Shattuck. (Harvey)

Respiro (1:35) Opera Plaza, Shattuck.

Rugrats Go Wild (1:21) Century 20, Kabuki, Metreon, Shattuck.

Spellbound A frightening, often comedic look into the family lives of the nation's top young spellers, Jeff Blitz's documentary too easily balances the oddities of overachievers: if there's an obsessed speller, there's also a nonchalant one; some families are wealthy, some are poor. There's diversity, love, faith, and most predictably, a fight against the odds. Though the film builds tension as it reaches various humiliating climaxes at the microphone, it suffers the same malady as its subjects: it feels far more stage-managed than earned or lived. (1:36) Embarcadero, Shattuck, Smith Rafael. (Gerhard)

Together (1:46) Albany, Four Star, Opera Plaza.

*28 Days Later Early in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, a patient named Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakes from a coma only to find the hospital, the streets, the surrounding buildings, and possibly – probably – the entire world, completely, nightmarishly deserted. The culprit? "Rage," a highly contagious blood virus accidentally unleashed on London by a group of well-intentioned animal rights activists. Symptoms, which manifest in 20 seconds or less, include red eyes, projectile vomiting, and the uncontrollable urge to viciously attack everyone around you. Thanks to the use of digital video, a trembling pop soundtrack, and British slang, 28 Days Later is pretty arty for a genre film. Still, horror is the main event, and like all truly scary movies, this one neatly plays off current events (SARS, for one) to increase the oh-shit-this-might-really-happen vibe. Though this heavily Romero-influenced film isn't overflowing with original ideas, the timing of its release is impeccable. Who isn't afraid of catching a horrible disease, or of waking up to find an entire city wiped out by a scary, unknown event? (1:48) Century Plaza, Century 20, Jack London, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness. (Eddy)

*2 Fast 2 Furious (2:08) Century 20, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

*Whale Rider Director Niki Caro's adaptation of New Zealand author Witi Ihimaera's 1986 novel combines familiar coming-of-age elements with Maori mysticism to exceptionally engaging effect. Pubescent Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes) has been raised by her strict but loving grandfather Koro (Rawiri Paratene) and more easygoing grandma (Vicky Haughton) since her artist dad left to travel the world. The latter (Cliff Curtis) was and is too grief-stricken to stay in the community – his wife died giving birth to Pai, and tribal chief Koro still pressures him to deliver a male grandchild who might one day "lead our people out of the darkness" that modern, Westernized life has imposed. But that ain't happening, so granddad opens a "sacred school" to educate local boys in "the old ways – the qualities of a chief." These involve everything from religious ritual to martial arts instruction. Koro is so rigidly tradition-minded that he insists girls are "worthless" in these capacities – though it's increasingly clear to everyone else that Pai possesses talent and discipline far beyond any male peers. The resulting, painful rift between child and grandparent reaches a climactic point of catastrophe and supernatural redemption that would be ludicrous in any less psychologically level-headed, stylistically astute context. A rare movie that should play just as well for eight-year-olds as it does for art-house grownups. (1:55) California, Bridge, Empire, Piedmont. (Harvey)

*Winged Migration (1:29) Albany, Embarcadero, Empire, Piedmont, Smith Rafael.

Rep picks

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly See "Noodling," page 42. (3:00) Castro.

*'Kung Fu Movie Madness' and 'Midnites for Maniacs' This week's martial arts double feature includes Jet Li battling a ridiculous mullethead in the L.A.-set Master (Tsui, 1989) and Miracle Fighters (Yuen, 1982), a surreal-athon that features, among other things, a shoe that turns into a talking fish. Maniacs, get out your eye patches for Snake Plissken's rescue expedition into Manhattan (in 1997 it became a supermax prison, don't you know?); this week's film is John Carpenter's 1981 Escape from New York. Four Star.