NEW RELEASES
SPACE STATION The latest OMNIMAX attraction was originally filmed with 3-D cameras and played at other IMAX houses around the country under the title Space Station 3D (patrons were handed the standard red-and-blue-tinted goggles), but the version being shown in Charlotte is not being presented in this format. I don’t mean this as a knock — on the contrary, given the shaky visual quality of two recent 3-D ventures that played in regular movie houses (Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over and Ghosts of the Abyss), watching a larger-than-life 3-D film that’s out of focus sounds like the quickest path to a larger-than-life migraine. At any rate, the spectacular sights showcased in the OMNIMAX Theatre version look fine just as they are — when the majesty of space looks this good on its own, who needs artificial enhancements? With Tom Cruise providing the narration, this 48-minute feature looks at the construction of the International Space Station that’s taking place approximately 220 miles above our heads. As we watch astronauts from various nations working side by side, it’s nice to know there’s actually somewhere on this earth — OK, above this earth — where America is cooperating with other countries rather than pissing them off. Combine this fuzzy feeling of solidarity with to-die-for shots of the space station framed against an infinite backdrop, and the result is another winner over at Discovery Place. 
WONDERLAND “John Holmes” and “Rashomon” aren’t two cinematic staples that would normally turn up in the same sentence, yet Akira Kurosawa’s m.o. of using varying viewpoints to relate the same sequence of events is employed in this muddy dramatization of the infamous Wonderland killings that took place in the hedonistic Los Angeles of 1981. Four druggies were brutally murdered in what appeared to be retaliation for the robbery of sleazy entrepreneur Eddie Nash (Eric Bogosian), and the extent of the involvement of porn star John Holmes (Val Kilmer), at that point a has-been with a severe coke habit, has always been the question at the center of this sordid affair. Director-cowriter James Cox offers his own spin to the saga, yet what emerges is a shallow recreation of an era, of a lifestyle, and of a counterculture — in short, a pale facsimile of Paul Thomas Anderson’s superb Boogie Nights. The involvement of a porn superstar is doubtless what inspired Cox to tackle this material in the first place — material that otherwise would most likely have been completely forgotten by time — yet Holmes is such a featureless character that he comes across no more defined than any generic Tom, Big Dick or Harry. A few actors make momentary impressions — Lisa Kudrow as Holmes’ estranged wife, Blue Crush‘s Kate Bosworth as his teenage girlfriend — yet most (Janeane Garofalo, Christina Applegate) are kept in the shadows, as hard to make out as this movie’s ultimate intentions.
CURRENT RELEASES
CASA DE LOS BABYS For his latest stab at a subject most other filmmakers wouldn’t even consider, writer-director John Sayles looks at the practice of Americans adopting infants from foreign countries. Here, the setting is an unspecified South American city, as six women — naive Maggie Gyllenhaal, spiritual Daryl Hannah, bitchy Marcia Gay Harden, struggling Susan Lynch, optimistic Mary Steenburgen and forthright Lili Taylor — hang out together as they wait for government clearance to cart kids back to the US. The abrupt ending is probably intentional — it’s Sayles way of saying that life goes on and nothing will really change — but with a running time of only 95 minutes, it also cheats us of spending more time with these interesting characters.
COLD CREEK MANOR This weak thriller is like a dead-end street in a swanky neighborhood, offering some interesting glimpses along the way but ultimately leading nowhere. Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone play an NYC couple who, tired of the big-city bustle, purchase a mansion out in the sticks. Once the previous owner (Stephen Dorff), a rube just released from prison, shows up, bad things start happening, and the family soon suspects that their new home may have once been host to tragic events. What Richard Jefferies’ script lacks in originality, it more than makes up for in gaping plotholes — hardly a fair trade-off. Director Mike Figgis also composed the score, which during the tense scenes sounds like a two-year-old incessantly banging on random piano keys.
DUPLEX In this often uproarious comedy, Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore play a couple who believe they’ve found their dream house when they purchase a duplex in Brooklyn. They figure they can deal with the fact that they’ll be sharing their abode with a longtime rent-controlled tenant, a 90something-year-old Irish woman (Eileen Essel), but once this seemingly harmless lady turns their lives into a living hell, they decide that murdering her is the only viable option left. Director Danny DeVito and writers Larry Doyle (The Simpsons) and John Hamburg (Meet the Parents) ably milk this premise for all it’s worth — there are no dry spells in this comedy that’s in the style of such Ealing Studios classics as The Ladykillers.
THE FIGHTING TEMPTATIONS Cuba Gooding Jr., so animated a performer that he even appears to be overacting on this movie’s poster, plays a crafty New York ad executive who returns to his hometown of Montecarlo, GA, to attend the funeral of his beloved aunt. Before he can collect his inheritance, though, he must fulfill his aunt’s wish of steering the church choir to success in the prestigious Gospel Explosion. For the most part, the movie’s non-musical segments are painfully formulaic bits centering around Gooding’s wholly uninspired character, yet when the gospel tunes take center stage (which thankfully is often), the movie transcends its trite surroundings and emerges as a theater-shaking crowd-pleaser. 1/2
INTOLERABLE CRUELTY It’s hard to determine whether George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones brought out the best in each other or whether the Coen Brothers brought out the best in both of them. At any rate, they’re perfectly cast in this sharp romantic comedy that ably captures the long-established rhythms of the screwball form. Clooney exhibits the right degree of screwball aptitude as a hotshot divorce lawyer who may have finally met his match in a client’s wife (Zeta-Jones, who hasn’t been this alluring since her breakthrough in The Mask of Zorro). When he’s not playing dull heroes, Clooney comes across as the class clown trapped in the class president’s body, and his zest in mocking his own leading man status works to glorious advantage here.
KILL BILL VOL. 1 Online film geeks who believe cinema was only invented in their lifetimes will consider this prime porn, but more knowledgable viewers will be let down after all the hype. Simple, straightforward and streamlined, Quentin Tarantino’s latest is an action flick in which a woman warrior (Uma Thurman) seeks revenge against her former associates. There’s no reason this wafer of a story should be supported by multiple movies (Vol. 2 arrives in February), not when the trimming of countless repetitious shots might possibly have resulted in one zippy, kick-ass film. Tarantino’s gimmicky approach eventually becomes tiresome; if the second volume is anything like this one, they might want to consider changing its name to Overkill Bill.
LOST IN TRANSLATION In what may be the finest performance of his career, Bill Murray stars as Bob Harris, an American movie star who’s come to Tokyo to appear in a whiskey commercial. Initially, he appears to be suffering from jet lag, but it soon becomes apparent that this malaise isn’t temporary — on the contrary, Bob’s in a perpetual gloomy funk. He befriends a young American woman (Scarlett Johansson) staying at the swanky hotel, and they eventually form a special bond. A specialized movie for a specialized audience, director Sofia Coppola’s fabulous new film is one of those unique, introverted gems that either enfolds you with its generosity of spirit or leaves you cold. And filmgoers who complain about the artificiality of most American movies are especially encouraged to check it out — as is usually the case in the real world, this picture shows that there are no happy endings or sad endings, and, sometimes, there are no endings at all. Many people will call this film a slice of life. I call it a slice of heaven.
MYSTIC RIVER Director Clint Eastwood has fashioned a strong drama about three childhood friends brought together years later by a tragedy. Jimmy Markum (Sean Penn) may have a violent past, but he fiercely loves his daughter and is shattered when she’s found murdered. One of Jimmy’s former pals (Kevin Bacon) is the detective assigned to the case, while the other former chum (Tim Robbins) emerges as a leading suspect. The performances are immaculate, and Brian Helgeland’s script addresses several noteworthy themes, meaty enough that the obviousness of the mystery feels even more of a cheat. Still, despite its shortcomings, the acting and the atmospherics continue to haunt me; it’s almost certain, then, that this will remain the year’s best disappointment.
OUT OF TIME Denzel Washington is the marquee attraction, and Eva Mendes and Sanaa Lathan are the heavily promoted up-and-comers, but it’s unknown John Billingsley who pumps up this negligible piece of pulp fiction. The film itself is a sloppily assembled variation on the Kevin Costner hit No Way Out, with Washington cast as a small-town police chief who comes to realize that all the evidence in a double homicide paints him as the murderer. It’s always a treat to watch Washington ply his trade, but the predictability of the mystery coupled with credibility-stretching circumstances render it dopey rather than deft. The sole fresh ingredient is Billingsley’s noteworthy turn as Washington’s wisecracking sidekick.
RUNAWAY JURY The latest adaptation of a John Grisham bestseller, this one posits that there’s hope for ordinary citizens to take on the powerful gun lobby — and possibly win. It’s a fantastical concept — more far-fetched than anything in Star Wars or The Wizard of Oz — but that doesn’t make it any less savory a dream. And the flames of that dream are stoked to an inferno in this slick drama in which a jury member (John Cusack) has his own reasons for wanting to sway the vote in a civil suit involving a major gun manufacturer. Gene Hackman, who has the distinction of appearing in both the best Grisham adaptation (The Firm) and the worst (The Chamber), is all coiled menace as the consultant who’s never met a jury he can’t manipulate.
THE RUNDOWN Toward the film’s beginning, there’s a cameo by an A-list action star, who nods at The Rock as they pass each other in a bar. We get the drift: With most of our matinee heroes getting older, the baton must be passed, and why shouldn’t The Rock be included on the short list of newcomers primed for action flick supremacy? The wrestling superstar is no more immobile than, say, Schwarzenegger or Stallone, and he has enough innate charm to carry an undemanding picture. And this one is certainly undemanding, with The Rock cast as a debt collector who’s sent to Brazil to bring his employer’s brash son (Seann William Scott) back to the US. Peter Berg, as lousy a director as he was an actor, makes a jumble of the action scenes, but the film has its moments.
THE SCHOOL OF ROCK Director Richard Linklater’s previous credits include Waking Life and Dazed and Confused, while scripter Mike White’s resume contains The Good Girl and Chuck & Buck. These indie faves won’t ever be mistaken for multiplex blockbusters, yet here the pair have teamed up for this accessible comedy about a failed rock star (Jack Black) who lands a job as a substitute teacher at a posh private school, whereupon he begins teaching his buttoned-down fifth grade charges about the glories of rock & roll. It sounds like the sort of sanitized product that might star Eddie Murphy (Dokken Day Care?), yet what gives the movie any semblance of an edge is Black, whose relentless manic energy perfectly suits the project.
SECONDHAND LIONS Acting greats Robert Duvall and Michael Caine co-star as brothers Hub and Garth, two old coots who take their lonely nephew (Haley Joel Osment) under their wing and regale him with tales about their swashbuckling exploits from bygone years. A curious concoction that throws together Grumpy Old Men, Unstrung Heroes and The Man Who Would Be King (to name but three), this film may be all over the map, but at least it takes viewers to some interesting places. For that, credit writer-director Tim McCanlies, who knows which situations will allow his stars to shine the brightest. Reserve the highest praise, however, for Duvall and Caine, who effectively sell this iffy material.
UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN In this loose adaptation of Frances Mayes’ memoir, Diane Lane is irresistible as our heroine, who, on the heels of a nasty divorce, heads to Italy for a vacation. There, she falls in love with the Tuscan countryside and on a whim purchases a dilapidated villa in need of dire restoration. Tuscan Sun largely plays out as one might expect, though the journey is so enjoyable that many audience members won’t mind being led down this familiar path once more. Lane’s heartfelt performance provides much-needed depth to her character’s plight, and the supporting players are a finely drawn bunch. A warm and luminous film, Tuscan Sun lets us hold onto summer for just a while longer.
UNDERWORLD It’s an irresistible premise: What if a centuries-spanning battle continues to be waged between vampires and werewolves, with the suave bloodsuckers living comfortably as aristocrats and the brutish lycanthropes relegated to dwelling beneath the city streets? It might have made for a good movie had cowriter-director Len Wiseman not insisted on shooting his picture as a direct rip-off of The Matrix. As it stands, this is a joyless exercise in “Gothic grunge,” with poor pacing, lackluster performances and a tendency to include as many gun battles as possible in its bloated 120 minutes. And why supernaturally endowed creatures of the night would even have to resort to using guns at every opportunity is one of the movie’s nerdier concepts. 1/2
This article appears in Oct 22-27, 2003.
