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GANGS OF NEW YORK There's no hemming and hawing on projects like Gangs of New York, those epic undertakings that result in inflated budgets, overlong shoots, studio bickering, and reams of newspaper copy predicting failure (see Apocalypse Now and Titanic). A quick answer is all but required by curious moviegoers: yes or no? In the case of Martin Scorsese's 170-minute achievement -- hell, yeah. The bad news for Miramax is that it's unlikely such a grim picture will make back its $100 million cost. Instead, the studio will have to console itself with the fact that it's produced one of the year's most notable films, a historical drama that presents a compelling revenge yarn set against the backdrop of New York in the mid-19th century, with an explosive climax that brings the draft riots of 1863 to chilling life. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Amsterdam Vallon, a strong-willed kid who seeks to avenge the death of his father (Liam Neeson), the leader of a borough's immigrant crop, at the hands of "Bill the Butcher" (Daniel Day-Lewis), the brutal yet clever ruler of the "natives." It'd be a mistake to dismiss this as a period Death Wish -- there's genuine tension in Amsterdam's mission, and Scorsese and his crackerjack team spare no expense in immersing us in what amounts to a grungy hell on earth. DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz are both solid, yet it's Day-Lewis' riveting work in an unexpectedly complex role that puts New York over the top. 
1/2
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS Last year's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring proved to be one of those rare films that improves with each viewing; that may turn out to be the case with The Two Towers as well. After an initial watch, however, this second chapter doesn't quite match the majesty of its predecessor, though that's hardly meant as a knock -- a rousing, far-reaching spectacle of unlimited ambition, TTT scores on many fronts. But whereas Fellowship did a nice job of balancing quieter moments with the bombast, this installment is largely all action all the time, with the few expository scenes practically presented as asides (too many good actors -- Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Miranda Otto -- are given short shrift in this outing); what's more, the movie doesn't deepen or expand the tale's themes as masterfully as The Empire Strikes Back added to Star Wars's mystique. But as a stirring story of unsullied heroism, it's a winner, and as an action epic, it features some of the best battle sequences ever created on film. And while the planned campaign to win a Supporting Actor Oscar for the CGI-created Gollum (voiced by Andy Serkis) seems far-reaching, he turns out to be the best special effect in a movie crammed with them.
NARC The story goes that Tom Cruise caught this film at Sundance and was so impressed, he requested that Paramount Pictures (where he's made many a hit) purchase it for distribution. Given that the movie probably won't cause any ripples at the box office, the question looms: Will Paramount subtract any losses from Cruise's next paycheck? Narc isn't bad, but it's also nothing too far removed from the usual cops'n'robbers fare that passes through the multiplexes on a regular basis. Its primary strength is the intense performance by Ray Liotta; he's cast as a detective whose best friend, a fellow cop, was murdered while investigating drug-running on the streets of Detroit. Taken off the case for personal reasons, he's brought back on board to partner with the new man on the job, an undercover officer (Jason Patric) working through his own demons. Writer-director Joe Carnahan has made an involving crime flick in the gritty French Connection tradition, but it's undermined by a protracted finale and a ludicrous last-minute twist. 1/2
PINOCCHIO Aside from Disney's 1940 masterpiece, Carlos Collodi's Pinocchio has been the source of many dubious film versions, from 1964's animated Pinocchio In Outer Space to the X-rated Erotic Adventures of Pinocchio (advertised with the tagline "It's Not His Nose That Grows") to the dismal 1996 adaptation with Martin Landau and Jonathan Taylor Thomas. In the annals of bad cinema, though, no version will ever approach Roberto Benigni's take on the tale, which, released at the end of December, just beat the buzzer to emerge as the worst film of 2002. This is a monumental achievement in practically every facet of inept filmmaking: joyless, idiotic, annoying, heavy-handed, visually atrocious, and often downright creepy. The 50-year-old Benigni has cast himself as the wooden puppet who longs to become a real boy, and his performance is both tiresome and terrifying; ditto for the Cricket who looks like Otto Preminger, and the Fox and the Cat whose mere presence might disturb impressionable young minds for years to come. Had this been released stateside with its original Italian soundtrack, it might have escaped as being merely awful on a mortal level; instead, the poor dubbing by English-speaking actors like Breckin Meyer (as Pinocchio), Glenn Close and Regis Philbin (their words match the lip movements about as well as in imported kung fu flicks from the 70s), renders it completely unwatchable.
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