CURRENT RELEASES
THE AVIATOR This sprawling biopic about Howard Hughes (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), the notorious billionaire-industrialist-producer-flyboy, employs all the cinematic razzle-dazzle we've come to expect from Martin Scorsese, yet there's an added layer of excitement as the eternal cineast finally gets to step back in time via his meticulous recreations of the sights and sounds of Old Hollywood (look for Cate Blanchett in a show-stealing turn as Katharine Hepburn). Still, the behind-the-scenes movie material takes a back seat to other aspects of Hughes' life -- namely, his adventures in the field of aviation and his lifelong battle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. At its best, the film is a stirring tale about a man whose inner drive allowed him to climb ever higher and higher, grazing the heavens before his inner demons seized the controls and forced the inevitable, dreary descent. 
1/2
BEYOND THE SEA Kevin Spacey serves as actor, co-writer, director and producer -- and probably caterer, key grip and best boy, if we search the closing credits hard enough -- on this misguided vanity project that's so in love with its creator (as opposed to its subject, singer Bobby Darin), it makes Yentl look like a model of modesty and restraint. Spacey is 45 years old, yet here he's playing Darin from his late teens(!) up until his death at the age of 37; the effect is at once creepy, comical and impossible to digest. The film-within-a-film framing device, meant to deflect criticism of the distortions ("He was born to play the role!" someone says of Darin, though the line is really about Spacey), is as clumsy as the flat-footed musical numbers. Skip the movie and use the admission price to purchase a Darin CD instead. 1/2
BLADE: TRINITY Blade II was that rare sequel that managed to trump the original, but the franchise ascension ends there. Blade: Trinity is easily the least of three, an overlong action yarn that has nothing fresh to say on the subject of vampires nor on the curious holding pattern of Wesley Snipes' career. Snipes again plays the taciturn Blade, the half-man, half-vampire whose mission to wipe out all bloodsuckers leads him to Dracula (dull Dominic Purcell), recently resurrected to help his demonic descendants take over the world. Or something like that. Except for the amusing inclusion of a vampire Pomeranian, writer-director David S. Goyer's thudding screenplay lacks a sense of the fantastic -- who wants to see endless car crashes in this context, or a foot chase between Dracula and Blade? 1/2
CLOSER How much one enjoys Closer fully depends on how charitable one feels toward the characters at the center of Mike Nichols' lacerating film, in which four people (Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen) in messy relationships take the notion of "brutal honesty" to such an extreme that their words suddenly qualify as deadly weapons. Viewers not interested in shifting through the rubble of these people's immorality in an effort to locate some common truths will have no use for this picture, the most divisive film about modern relations since Eyes Wide Shut. Others willing to dig deeper in an attempt to understand (if not always empathize with) these recognizably flawed human beings will be rewarded with some choice dialogue and a quartet of finely etched portrayals -- not to mention a heady buzz that will remain long after the movie's over. 1/2
KINSEY Professor Alfred Kinsey spent 20 years studying gall wasps before his attention turned to a subject intrinsically more interesting: human sexuality. His controversial research formed the basis for his 1948 bestseller Sexual Behavior In the Human Male, and the ramifications of his groundbreaking work are still being felt -- and refuted -- today. Writer-director Bill Condon's intelligent movie is an exploration of the life and times of this complex individual, a man whose outrageous career choices were often at odds with his square appearance. And because of the dangerous direction this country continues to take, the film, anchored by excellent work from Liam Neeson and Laura Linney, emerges not only as a movie about another time but as a movie of our time, a reminder that progress can only be made when someone's willing to step up to the plate and challenge conformity and hypocrisy. 1/2
LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS Even in Jim Carrey's broadest work, it's difficult to see the gears in motion -- his comedic instincts are so fine-tuned, he morphs into his personas with amazing ease. Not so in this new picture, adapted from the best-selling children's series. As Count Olaf, a villainous actor who seeks to inherit a fortune by knocking off three orphans, Carrey delivers a disappointing performance, the sort of calculated turn we had come to routinely expect from Robin Williams. This pale imitation of the Harry Potter legend is merely an excuse to watch Carrey ham it up in various guises, and the showboating grows tiresome before long. Luckily, other elements of the project come to the rescue, from smart casting in the supporting ranks to a visual look that manages to be beautiful in its beastliness. 1/2
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