Page 2 of 3
MADAGASCAR Unlike the banal Robots and Shark Tale, this animated delight strikes an appropriate balance: It's hip without being obnoxious, and it's sentimental without being cloying. Through a wild chain of events, four animal pals from a New York zoo : lion (Ben Stiller), zebra (Chris Rock), hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and giraffe (David Schwimmer) : find themselves stranded on the title island. Despite the ingratiating leads (Rock, for one, has never been better), despite the eye-popping animation, and despite the presence of other scene-stealers (check out the lemurs), the main reason to see this is to catch the penguins, four no-nonsense types who plan to dig their way to Antarctica but instead end up hijacking a ship. First Opus, then Sparky, now these guys : the lion may be comfortably ensconced as king of the jungle, but when it comes to the thick brier of popular culture, it's the penguin who reigns supreme. 
1/2
MAD HOT BALLROOM In much the same manner as the superior Spellbound, this documentary centers on several groups of kids who, as students enrolled in the NYC public school system's ballroom dancing classes, hope to find themselves competing in the annual tournament. This is yet one more nonfiction film that ably extols the transformative power of the arts and its ability to allow individuals to discover the best within themselves. But the movie also goes beyond that: It captures the palpable love that teachers can feel for their students, and, most intriguingly, it hangs out with these 10- and 11-year-olds as they chat in that open, unaffected manner as only kids can. It's a pleasure spending down time with these lovely boys and girls (most from the lower rungs of the economic ladder), which is why it's disappointing when the movie shifts away from their individuality to focus on the mechanics of the tournament.
MONSTER-IN-LAW After a 15-year hiatus, Jane Fonda returns to the big screen, and young 'uns who've only heard about her standing as one of the finest actresses of the 1970s will automatically assume that their parents have been pulling their legs all these years. Fonda is an embarrassment in this torturous comedy, betrayed both by director Robert Luketic's mishandling and by her own rusty instincts. Blank-faced Jennifer Lopez stars as Charlie, a jill-of-all-trades (caterer, dog walker, receptionist) who finds the perfect man in Dr. Kevin Fields (Alias' Michael Vartan). All goes well until she meets his mother, a TV personality who also turns out to be psychotic. This only escapes a one-star rating because of the acerbic wit of Wanda Sykes (cast as Fonda's wisecracking assistant); otherwise, the laughs are as scarce as Coke machines in the Kalahari. 1/2
THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS Ann Brashares' best-selling book among female readers has been transformed into a luminescent motion picture for anyone interested in an emotional high. As they prepare to go their separate ways for the summer, four high school friends (winningly played by America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, Blake Lively and Amber Tamblyn) stumble across a pair of jeans that miraculously fits all of them. They quickly decide that the pants will be passed among them throughout the summer, as a way of staying in touch over long distances. Statutory rape, parental abandonment, the death of a child - these are heavy issues for any movie, let alone one aimed at young girls. Yet while Sisterhood occasionally skirts around the full import of these hot-button items, it's still honest enough to acknowledge the perils of adolescence as well as the pleasures.
STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH Better than their overall critical standing would have one believe, the new Star Wars flicks have nevertheless registered as disappointments to those of us for whom the original trilogy felt like a coming-of-age rite of passage. The Phantom Menace was a mixed bag, while Attack of the Clones (by a hair the best of the newbies) only occasionally managed to recapture the spirit and flavor of the original three-pack. This last chapter follows suit, a cinematic seesaw in which the good bits are packed into the second half. The movie gets off to a dreadful start, stuffed with chaotic chases, ill-defined new characters and the rapid elimination of a worthy foe. And then something inspiring occurs: The mythology takes over, and the latter sequences : directly connecting to events first recorded in the original Star Wars film back in 1977 : resonate beyond the screen, fueled as much by our own nostalgic twinges as by George Lucas' ability to send the series off in style. 1/2
Mobile
