Based on Arenas' memoirs, Before Night Falls follows the Cuban artist through times of censorship. By the time Arenas is allowed to leave for New York City in 1980, Castro's persecution has taken its toll.

Before Night Falls is the second film by artist Julian Schnabel. His first film, Basquiat (1996) failed to make much of a dramatic impact. But Before Night Falls, another tale about an accomplished artist, is a cinematic triumph.

Schnabel recreates Arenas' life with flashes of intense realism. The Cuban landscape is as rich and moist as Arenas' obsession with sex.

Before Night Falls is an ambitious film, telling its story over 40 years. Schnabel reconstructs Arenas' life from childhood to death. Away from the historical background of the Cuban revolution, Before Night Falls emphasizes the human tragedy of Arenas' life without political agenda or a partisan point of view. Schnabel's movie could have been about Cuba itself. Wisely, it remains focused on the small details of one man's life. -- SR (Rated R.)

BILLY ELLIOT -- (Grade: B) Director Stephen Daldry's high-spirited, coming-of-age tale is a strange movie hybrid: a gritty British social drama as well as a musical fantasy. It's Northern England circa 1984 and Billy (Jamie Bell), age 11, watches the miners' strike take a toll on his family. His only joy comes from the ballet lessons that his father (Gary Lewis) forbids him to continue. Parental confrontation, you see, is a necessary part of every coming-of-age tale.

Bell's dead-on performance fills Billy Elliot with scenes of credible, heartfelt emotion. Granted, the film possesses more than its share of trite melodrama. Luckily, our most powerful images from the film remain focused on Billy's lively dancing. It's how it should be. After all, Billy Elliot owes its brassy entertainment to its bouncing, boy hero. -- SR (Rated R.)

BOUNCE -- (Grade: B) Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow make a believable and heartfelt couple in Don Roos' somber drama about tragic fate and the need for emotional closure. His celebrity face aside, Bounce allows Affleck to show a somber side of his personality that we've never seen before. Together, Affleck and Paltrow create a compelling and appropriately sentimental, adult drama. Buddy Amaral (Affleck) would rather spend the night with a beautiful woman (Natasha Henstridge) he met at an airport bar than catch his delayed flight to Los Angeles. So Amaral gives his ticket to a family man (Tony Goldwyn) desperate to get home. After the plane crashes, Buddy becomes obsessed with tracking down the man's widow. Romance blossoms, but not in the way we expect it.

Bounce is worlds apart from the dark, comic style of Roos' The Opposite of Sex. This time, Roos' storytelling turns deliberate, realistic and melodramatic. Bounce makes a wonderful, cinematic bookend against Roos' debut comedy. For a rising filmmaker, Bounce is powerful proof that Roos is capable of telling all types of stories well. -- SR (Rated PG-13.)

CAST AWAY -- (Grade: B) Director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) re-teams with Tom Hanks for a challenging, Robinson Crusoe-like tale. Granted, the film's set-up is rather ordinary. As FedEx troubleshooter Chuck Noland, Hanks sets out to portray a man ruled by time and schedules. Despite Hanks' earnestness, one never gets a firm grasp of Noland's psyche. It's up to Hanks' average Joe personality to pull us into his drama. The highlight of Cast Away is its middle act where Hanks becomes the star of a one-man show. It's these mostly dialogue-free scenes, where Noland is trying to survive alone on a desert island after his plane crashes, that make the most dramatic impact.

Helen Hunt offers little support as the love of Noland's life. She's the one thing that's supposed to keep Noland strong. Still, that task quickly falls to a volleyball named Wilson.

Hunt's threadbare performance aside, Cast Away regains its humanistic step with a surprising finale that's best described as transcendental. In an era where the Crusoe legend is defined by TV's Survivor, Zemeckis and Hanks offer a thoughtful alternative. -- SR (Rated PG-13.)

CHOCOLAT -- (Grade: C) Juliette Binoche dazzles as Vianne, a pretty chocolate shopkeeper with a mysterious past. She's also a single mother whose spicy chocolates change prudish lifestyles of the inhabitants of a French village. I admire how Lasse Hallström (The Cider House Rules, My Life as a Dog) directs movies that are unashamedly liberal. Chocolat, based on Joanne Harris' 1999 novel, is a film that qualifies as a democratic drama at a time when much of the nation is decidedly conservative.

Johnny Depp gives Binoche competition in the chiseled cheekbones department as a handsome gypsy passing through town. It's not long before he tweaks Vianne's own heart.

Like most moviemade couples, Binoche and Depp look great together. Unfortunately, their attractive looks never ignite any much-needed passion.

Despite a sweet, fairy tale-like ending, Chocolat never comes fully to life. By the closing credits, you feel as if Binoche's magical smile and winsome personality have been wasted. -- SR (Rated PG-13.)

CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON -- (Grade: A) Breathtaking action, incredible stunts, spectacular landscapes and a childlike sense of make-believe lifts director Ang Lee's Taiwanese epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to the level of a fairy tale. Set among ornate palaces, teaming Peking streets and rural villages, the film evolves into a martial arts Western that's both poetic and spiritual. Warrior Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat) is yearning to leave his fighting lifestyle behind, but when a young thief, Jen (Zhang Ziyi), steals Li's ancient sword, Green Destiny, Li gets pulled back into his warrior ways. Only Lu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh), Li's longtime friend, looks capable of helping return Green Destiny from Jen and her mentor Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei).

Although working in the action genre, Lee once again emphasizes rich characters, substantial storytelling and humanistic ideals. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is momentous not because of the size of its spectacle. It's timeless because of the size of its heart.-- SR (Rated PG-13.)

DOWN TO EARTH -- (Grade: F) American Pie co-creators Chris and Paul Weitz tweak Warren Beatty's 1978 romance Heaven Can Wait into a one-joke social satire about a struggling black comedian who dies and returns to Earth as a white millionaire. The sorry target of the Weitz Boys' derivative comedy is real-life comedian Chris Rock. As Lance Barton, a Brooklyn bicycle messenger with show-biz aspirations, Rock receives the brunt of Down To Earth's laughless storytelling.Beatty's Heaven Can Wait was a cuddly remake of the comic fantasy Here Comes Mr. Jordan, but Down To Earth aspires to update past race-reversal comedies like Soul Man and Watermelon Man. Toss in a whiff of TV's The Jeffersons -- Barton's white-man body earns him a penthouse apartment in the sky -- and you'll have the gist of Down To Earth.

It's a stretch for Rock to play a struggling comedian. He's just too naturally funny. Still, Down To Earth manages to make Rock look clumsy in comparison to his real-life self. Dressed in a clownish wardrobe of golf pants and a sweater, it's clear that Rock has just been bamboozled by one awful comedy. -- SR (Rated PG-13.)

THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE -- (Grade: C) Uncle Walt might be trying too hard on this one. After Aladdin and The Lion King, the folks at Disney have tried to copy the formula so much that they forgot the central ingredient: heart.Self-centered Emperor Kuzco (voice of David Spade) is turned into a llama by his scheming advisor Yzma (Eartha Kitt). Now he must regain his throne with the help of good-natured Pacha (John Goodman).

The Emperor's New Groove is a derivative, lackluster cartoon. It's Hercules all over again. The animation is fair and the story is mildly amusing. The one really good thing going for it is music by Sting. But don't be fooled; there are only a couple of songs in the whole film. Even Sting can't save it. -- RP (Rated G.)

HANNIBAL -- (Grade: B) In The Silence of the Lambs, our fear is that the bogeyman is watching our every move. In Hannibal, Scott's elegant, but less effective thriller, we obsess over the bogeyman and all that he does. In Hannibal, fetishism drives the plot, action and mood.

Ten years have passed since Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) escaped from custody. With those brief words, expectations reach a boiling point for director Ridley Scott's adaptation of Thomas Harris' Hannibal, the best-selling follow-up to The Silence of the Lambs.

Hopkins is creepier than ever as film's most elegant cannibal. Replacing Jodie Foster in the role of FBI Agent Clarice Starling, indie queen Julianne Moore captures the cool discipline and all-business attitude that's so integral to the role.

Scott builds adequate suspense out of the bloody reunion between Lecter and Starling. After months of hype and innuendo, Hannibal succeeds as a gory manhunt drama. It's clear that Lecter continues to fascinate us. Welcome back, psycho. We've missed you and your well-mannered bloodiness. -- SR (Rated R.)

MONKEYBONE -- (Grade: C) A long-time animator, Henry Selick's knack for the surreal invites comparisons to Guy Maddin, David Lynch, Jean Cocteau and Luis Buñuel. Monkeybone is Selick's first foray into adult storytelling, and it's clear some of his magical innocence is left behind. Fantastic images aside, Monkeybone is somewhat of a disappointment.

George-of-the-Jungle-man Brendan Fraser is love-struck cartoonist Stu Miley. After suffering a blow to the head, Stu is transported to a bizarre purgatory known as Downtown. In this bizarre netherworld, the nightmares of the living serve as entertainment.

But Stu is desperate to escape Downtown and reunite with his pretty girlfriend, Julie (Bridget Fonda). While he's trapped in Downtown, his cartoon alter-ego, Monkeybone (voice of John Turturro), escapes to Earth. Before long, Monkeybone's raging libido generates plenty of chaos. To make things right, Stu must outsmart Death (Whoopi Goldberg), escape Downtown and stop the obnoxious Monkeybone.

Fraser is an amiable clown. He's nerdy enough to pass as a slackerish comic artist. But the true star of Monkeybone is Downtown itself. A nightmarish version of an amusement park midway, Downtown is a place where Joe the Camel bums a cigarette and a curvy kitty-cat in a Louise Brooks wig works as a barmaid. Monkeybone celebrates cinematography and production design. It's a shame more time wasn't spent on the storytelling. -- SR (Rated PG-13.)

O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? -- (Grade: C) Over the last 15 years, the Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan) have created a unique cinematic universe. With O Brother, Where Art Thou? the brothers once again display their distinct talents, but with much less success. When the story begins, Ulysses (George Clooney), Pete (John Turturro) and Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson) have just escaped from a chain gang in '30s Mississippi. We then follow the trio through a variety of set pieces; everything from the cutting of a hit record under the moniker, "The Soggy Bottom Boys" to an encounter with Babyface Nelson (Michael Badalucco) to the sabotage of a KKK rally. All of these plot twists unfold with little interest in creating a substantial narrative. The complex story lines of their past films (Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, Fargo) are sorely lacking in O Brother, Where Art Thou? Longtime Coen cinematographer Roger Deakins is once again enlisted, and his services help immensely. But even Deakins can't overcome a miscast Clooney and the continued insistence of the Coens to stick to their increasingly ironic stance. Oh yeah, it's based on Homer's Odyssey. -- Jason Gargano (Rated PG-13.)

RECESS: SCHOOL'S OUT -- (Grade: B) What does this say about the world we live in when kids' movies like Recess are far and away more intelligent than teen/young adult movies? Perhaps the "dumbing down" of America is more accelerated than we thought. Recess is a fun, tight little movie. It moves quickly, packing in loads of mostly innocuous jokes that are worth a few chuckles. Unlike any family film since Chicken Run, Recess appeals to both targeted generations. Any kids' film featuring a Classic Rock soundtrack, a "60s flashback and James Woods is bound to keep parents entertained.But the plot is all for kids. While the whole gang (the same one from the Saturday morning Recess cartoon) is enjoying summer vacation, an evil genius (James Woods) is cooking up a global-freezing scheme to end summer vacation forever. It's, of course, up to TJ (voice of Andy Lawrence) and his ethnically and socially diverse pals to save the day.

The animation quality falls somewhere between Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hilll, but the writing is better than either. Its refusal to simply be a kids' flick is what ultimately saves it. -- RP (Rated G.)

SAVING SILVERMAN -- (Grade: D) Take a hopelessly sensitive guy (Jason Biggs) who gets setup by one of his two best buddies with a beautiful woman (Amanda Peet). Have the girl beauty steal him away from said buddies who happen to be goofy for the sake of goofiness. Add a simple-minded kidnapping of the beautiful woman and the return to town of an old high school crush (Amanda Detmer) who happens to be the daughter of circus freaks now on her way to becoming a nun. Throw in a dash of Neil Diamond and what do you get? A terribly dumb comedy from the director of Big Daddy that plays like the love child of a David Spade vehicle and something by the Farrelly brothers. Maybe Saving Silverman is supposed to be a guy's date movie. At the end, everybody gets somebody to love.

Steve Zahn and Jack Black are the buddies. All of which makes me wonder: Is it better to attempt to elevate silliness to the level of the sublime or should you strive for something more right off the bat? Guys, could you answer that one? I'll try to base this on potential. -- T. T. Clinkscales (Rated PG-13.)

SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE -- (Grade: B) In Shadow of the Vampire, E. Elias Merhige and writer Seven Katz's homage to pioneer filmmaking, comedy mixes delicately with horror. The film legend behind Merhige's fantasy is German filmmaker F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, the silent film that introduced Count Dracula to moviegoers. Nosferatu starred German actor Max Schreck as Count Orlock, a character based on Bram Stoker's Dracula. Shadow of the Vampire proposes the idea that Schreck was a real vampire, intent on wreaking havoc on Murnau's set. Thanks to Dafoe's stand-out performance as Schreck, it's a premise we're willing to accept as true.There are plenty of laughs in Shadow of the Vampire. Malkovich is droll and eccentric as Murnau. Like Being John Malkovich, Shadow of the Vampire allows the veteran actor to be completely silly. It's a challenge Malkovich meets wonderfully.

But in terms of comic moments, Dafoe gets to deliver all the best lines. His verve ultimately steals the eerie spotlight as the creepy Schreck. As he has done so often throughout his career, Dafoe completely transforms himself into somebody else.

Merhige pays homage to Nosferatu with his own visual experimentation. Shadow of the Vampire is a movie in love with the art of moviemaking. For film buffs who feel the same way about the silent classics, it's impossible to resist. -- SR (Rated R.)

STATE AND MAIN -- (Grade: A) Hollywood send-ups, done by the right people, are great fun. They keep screen legends grounded and make those of us not in the "biz" aware of the shallowness of the process. Steve Martin's Bowfinger reserved its venom for the stars and their cultish religion, but kept the art of making films high on a pedestal. In State and Main, writer-director David Mamet (The Spanish Prisoner) takes it off the pedestal and hurls it to the ground for everyone to kick. The result may be the finest film about Hollywood ever made by Hollywood.Mamet goes one better than his predecessors by showing Hollywood's impact on small town America. His fictitious film crew invades a quaint, picturesque Vermont burg and injects the once-wholesome townsfolk with greed, lust and vengeance. Watching two elderly men discuss the weekend grosses at the local coffee shop says it all.

The film might be too subtle and high-minded for some. There's also that unique Mamet acting style that vets like Alec Baldwin, Sarah Jessica Parker and William H. Macy love to dabble in. But the film is, start to finish, a joy to watch. A genuine hoot. -- RP (Rated R.)

SWEET NOVEMBER -- (Grade: D) Sara Deever (Charlize Theron) wears clunky shoes. Her San Francisco apartment is filled with vegan food. More importantly, she takes a new lover every month in order to help these guys improve their lives. You could say Sara is something of a free spirit.Sara's quirky life changes after she meets workaholic ad executive Nelson Moss (Keanu Reeves). Nelson is the 30-day boyfriend who becomes Sara's November tenant. It's expected that these two opposites would find each other attractive. In laughable dramas like Sweet November, clichés are essential to the soap-opera storytelling.

I've yet to figure out why director Pat O'Connor would want to remake the 1968 romance Sweet November. Even the most diehard fans of movie melodrama consider Sweet November utterly forgettable.

Theron makes the most out of walking in the footsteps of Sandy Dennis' 1968 performance. Every scene gives her the opportunity to act silly. She's a real sassy lassie. Midway into the film, it's impossible not to be bothered by Theron's screwball hysterics. In Sweet November, Theron becomes the ultimate over-actress and the film suffers as a result.

Reeves is as stiff as ever as the career-driven Nelson. While there are moments when Reeves capitalizes on his wooden personality, it's clear that Sweet November would have benefited from a more personable leading man.

At the very least, Theron and Reeves look great in the bathtub together. Too bad that Sweet November doesn't spend all of its time covered in bubbles. -- SR (Rated PG-13.)

TRAFFIC -- (Grade: A) Its cross-country array of locales gives Traffic, director Steven Soderbergh's complex, drug-trade thriller, the visual quality of an epic drama. Traffic flips nimbly from a courthouse in Columbus to the Mexican border town of Tijuana, from crack houses in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood to upscale homes in La Jolla, Calif., and ultimately, the White House itself. From the film's first moments, Traffic never rests from its multi-layered storytelling.An extensive ensemble cast helps Soderbergh tell his complex story. Michael Douglas is the big name as conservative Ohio State Supreme Court Justice, Robert Wakefield, but it's Benicio Del Toro who grabs hold of Traffic's dramatic spotlight as conflicted Tijuana cop, Javier Rodriquez.

Sharp, stylish, and well spoken, Traffic is rightfully a Soderbergh film. In an era best represented by mindless blockbusters, Traffic is literate and substantial, a political drama that thrives on screenwriter Stephen Gaghan's script. Soderbergh deserves an award just for keeping everything running so smoothly. -- SR (Rated R.)

UNBREAKABLE -- (Grade: A) Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan unites Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson for a unique and visionary suspense thriller. Using comics as a dramatic leap to something more emotionally substantial, Unbreakable builds its story around David Dunn (Bruce Willis), a Philadelphia security guard who survives a brutal train wreck without suffering a single scratch. His mystery is the key behind Shyamalan's dark and morose superhero tale. I admire Shyamalan for attempting something different with Unbreakable. I like that the film is cool and distant.Unbreakable holds tight to Dunn's core mystery. The result is a tale that's deliberate, subtle and complex.

THE WEDDING PLANNER -- (Grade: B) If Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Lopez ever were to procreate, you could bet the result would be one gorgeous child. So too is McConaughey and Lopez's cinematic love child, The Wedding Planner. It looks good. But don't expect anything deeper than the dimples on McConaughey's cheeks.San Francisco wedding planner Mary Fiore (Lopez) is great at her job but bad at her love life. Enter mystery-man Steve Edison (McConaughey), who saves Mary's life from a runaway dumpster. He's smart, successful and sexy. The only hitch is Mary is planning his wedding.

Director Adam Shankman stays out of the way and lets his stars smolder for the camera. And while The Wedding Planner won't stand the test of time, it's a fine date movie and should find an audience that doesn't care for the awards season.-- RP (Rated PG-13.)

WHAT WOMEN WANT -- (Grade: B) What women want is Mel Gibson. And after this film, I can't say I blame them. Gibson turns on the charm with a stylish, almost self-mocking performance as a man who suddenly discovers he can hear women's thoughts.The film is solid but nothing happens that you wouldn't expect. Yet, on Gibson's charisma alone, What Women Want transcends from mindless studio fluff to peppy studio fluff. You may not laugh, but you'll smile a lot. -- RP (Rated PG-13.)

personals | classifieds | cover | news | music | movies | arts | listings | columns | classifieds | mediakit | home