LIMITED RUN

Buck Privates/In Society
A double header of Abbott and Costello movies. Movie Legends, Sun Nov 27 at 1 pm.

recommended Dark Star
A screening of John Carpenter's master's thesis project, hosted by the Stranger's own Andrew Wright. JBL Theater at EMP, Sun Nov 27 at 4 pm.

Deadly Messengers
A documentary about animal vectors, namely, the blood-sucking, malaria-spreading mosquito. Capitol Hill Library, Wed Nov 30 at 6 pm.

recommended Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut
Having studied the film carefully a few times, I still can't tell if the plot's weird calculus—what actually happens, to whom, and where, and when—actually adds up to anything more than a semi-random sequence of related but unconnected events. What I can say, however, is that the film resonates with a uniquely American kind of sadness. (SEAN NELSON) Egyptian, Fri-Sat midnight.

Double Wedding
William Powell and Myrna Loy team up again in this comedy about what a terrible idea it is to fall in love with an artist. Grand Illusion, Weekdays 9 pm, Sat-Sun 5, 9 pm.

Forty Shades of Blue
This film teaches two lessons. First: being Rip Torn's Russian trophy girlfriend is booooooring; and second: actually being in Russia is worse. Geriatric music producer Alan James (Torn, 158 years old)—famous for bringing "the music of the blacks" to the ears of the whites—just can't seem to do right by Laura (Dina Korzun), his bony Muscovite baby-mamma. She teeters about, haggard and exquisite, bewildered and lonely, while Alan rages and charms and humps his way through Memphis. Alan is both vulnerable and frightening, his widow's peak as vast as the continent from whence he plucked his child bride. Laura overlooks his indiscretions because, basically, the old country sucks: "I live better than anyone I've ever known. This life is just incredible." When Alan's grown-up son arrives at their home—a fuzzy, gold prison of depressingly outdated '70s affluence—he and Laura have a doozy of a dalliance, snapping her out of her funk and making things incredibly awkward for all. Will Laura flee Memphis and find fulfillment? Maybe. Is Rip Torn the oldest living human? Indubitably. (LINDY WEST) Varisty, Fri-Sun 2, 7 pm, Mon-Thurs 7.

Hidden Blade
A minimalist samurai drama by Yamadi Yoji. Gowan Hall #201, UW campus, Tues Nov 22 at 7:30 pm.

recommended Love Crazy
A 1941 screwball comedy about meddling moms, mistaken accusations of adultery, drag antics, and faked insanity. Woo! Starring Myrna Loy, William Powell, and a half-naked archer. Grand Illusion, Weekdays 7 pm, Sat-Sun 3, 7 pm.

recommended New York Doll
Created by a crew of local filmmakers, New York Doll is a love letter from friends of Arthur "Killer" Kane to fans of the legendary rocker. As the bassist for proto-glam punks New York Dolls, Kane tasted fame at a young age—and, as this documentary shows, spent the rest of his years pining for the chance to reclaim that crown. Doll shows his transformation from depressive alcoholic to devout Mormon, interviewing him in his final years (Kane died unexpectedly of leukemia last year at age 55) and giving a taste of the Dolls' indulgent history and recent comeback show along the way. (JENNIFER MAERZ) Northwest Film Forum, Fri-Thurs 7, 9 pm. Through Dec 1.

Niagara
Marilyn Monroe is the femme fatale in this film noir set at the famous falls. Seattle Art Museum, Thurs Dec 1 at 7:30 pm.

Tasio
A Basque film about a "carbanero" named Tasio, directed by a gentleman named Montxo Armendáriz. Central Cinema, Sun Nov 27 at 7, 9:15 pm. (Late show 21+.)

Vibrator
This suggestively titled film is a road movie from Japan. Gowan Hall #201, UW campus, Thurs Dec 1 at 7:30 pm.

recommended We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen
The hardcore Minutemen appreciation society will most likely appreciate the little details that come out of the film's extensive scope—like how Boon and Watt met as kids when Boon fell out of a tree, or how Watt went into a music store not knowing what a bass was (somehow) after already starting to play the instrument. (JENNIFER MAERZ) Northwest Film Forum, Fri-Sat 11 pm. Through Nov 26.

The Yungling
The group JIBANGUS bills itself as a "Wisconsin collective of filmmakers and funny guys." The Yungling is their Eraserhead-inspired no-budget flick about a lump of a man named Roger Elephant who may or may not be receiving messages from creatures from another dimension. Along the way he encounters a stranger with giant hands, a scientist with an appallingly fake beard, and visions of his own evisceration—all of which adds up to very little beyond half-baked ideas and unbaked special effects. Why this film is even making the rounds remains a mystery, but since the screener DVD they sent includes "special features" they're apparently taking the enterprise very, very seriously. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER) Grand Illusion, Fri-Sat 11 pm.

NOW PLAYING

recommended The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Surprisingly smart and unashamed of a little jolt to the heartstrings, it's a sly movie, happy to shock occasionally, but happier still to bless its characters with the intelligence sorely lacking from most comedies. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER)

Ballets Russes
This excellent documentary may indulge in a bit of nostalgia for the days when the middle class couldn't get enough high culture, but the story it has to tell is fiery and engrossing. It made me desperately want to go to the ballet. Ballets Russes is about two warring 20th-century ballet companies, which, like the best enemies, originally sprang from the same head. In 1929 Sergei Diaghilev's Ballet Russe collapsed and two years later, Colonel Wassily de Basil and René Blum (all the major players have fantastic names) revived the company, making stars of choreographers such as George Balanchine and Léonide Massine, stocking the corps with the children of aristocratic Russian émigrés, and ultimately splitting into two rival camps. Through blurry but evocative archival footage, hysterical newspaper headlines, and aging ballet dancers who clearly relish their new roles as raconteurs, Ballets Russes spins a glamorous, multivalent, and deeply political tale. (ANNIE WAGNER)

Bee Season
In a battle of the spelling-bee movies, would you rather see a thrilling documentary about the crazy orthographic passions that bring kids together and the heartbreaking class disparities that pull them apart, or an overbaked narrative feature about a troubled upper-middle-class family (aren't they all?) and their needy spiritual journeys? If the former, you're sane: Rent Spellbound. If the latter, then Bee Season is your movie. (ANNIE WAGNER)

recommended Capote
Despite its limited scope—it addresses only the years that Truman Capote was writing his groundbreaking In Cold Blood, about a Kansas robbery turned quadruple murder—you want to call the film, after the fashion of ambitious biographies, "A Life." Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Truman Capote, and his is an enveloping performance, in which every flighty affectation seems an invention of the man rather than the impersonator. His pursed lips and bons mots and the ravishing twirls of his overcoat become more and more infrequent until all that's left is alcohol and a horrible will to power. (ANNIE WAGNER)

Chicken Little
Really this movie is about the cutest chicken ever and an effing hilarious goldfish who doesn't even talk but does some of the funniest shit. (MEGAN SELING)

recommended The Constant Gardener
Heavily reworked by director Fernando Meirelles, the stripped-down screenplay retains John le Carré's basic thrust: following the disappearance of his activist wife, a middle-rung foreign ambassador goes proactive on a global scale, uncovering all sorts of corporate malfeasance before eventually zeroing in on illegal drug testing in the slums of Kenya. As in the best adaptations, there's a sense that The Constant Gardener is hijacking the source material in order to feed the filmmaker's personal obsessions. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

recommended Corpse Bride
The wicked characters aren't nearly as wicked as they could've been, and the songs aren't particularly memorable, but the animation is classic Tim Burton (and absolutely stunning at moments—his use of shadow and light has vastly improved). (MEGAN SELING)

recommended Derailed
Derailed shows a gratifying fidelity to the B&W filmmakers of yore, with an ideal lead performance by Clive Owen as a poor schlub all too aware of the source of his personal quicksand. Man and woman (Jennifer Aniston, showing some surprising brass) meet on a train, am-scray to a cheap hotel in order to violate their respective wedding vows, and get caught mid-thrust by an armed baddie (Irreversible's Vincent Cassel, laying on the sleaze with a trowel), who proceeds to use his knowledge of the infidelity to drain Owen of his life savings. Desperate plans, triple-crosses, and severe bodily trauma quickly ensue. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

Elizabethtown
While traveling to Kentucky to retrieve his father's corpse, Orlando Bloom's disgraced shoe designer discovers an adorable stewardess (Kirsten Dunst). This basic love story occasionally recalls some of Cameron Crowe's old magic, particularly an impromptu all-night cell-phone conversation (complete with recharge), but the film's insistence on giving full attention to even the smallest quirk or emotional beat soon knocks things completely off-kilter. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

The Future of Food
See review this issue.

recommended Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Get Rich tells the story of cash-hungry Marcus (50 Cent), who as a kid is unwilling to relinquish materialistic urges even after his drug-dealing mother is murdered. He shuns life with his poor grandparents for the street, falling into a crew of crack slingers. From there ensues a life of bloodshed—drive-by shootings, turf tortures, and, of, course, 50 taking nine bullets and coming back from the dead to rap about the experience. The movie exposes the most interesting details of 50's life—from how early he started rapping to how brazenly he baited his enemies in song. The movie isn't flawless—the female roles are especially stereotypical—Get Rich works as a suspenseful tale of street-entrepreneur-turned-marketing-goldmine. (JENNIFER MAERZ)

recommended Good Night, and Good Luck.
Documenting the Red Scare clash between Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and Joseph McCarthy, George Clooney's second trip behind the lens is a largely terrific picture: a scathing social document submerged within a deeply pleasurable entertainment. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The fourth Harry Potter: In which Harry takes off his shirt, learns the value of altruism, and discovers that Lord Voldemort has no nose. Mike Newell's take on the J. K. Rowling franchise is less appealing than the last installment, by Alfonso CuarĂłn, but then again, who ever said puberty was enchanting? Compared to the initial volumes, the fourth novel gets slightly darker, and Newell takes this development literally. From the unsettling dream that kicks off the action to the kids' dawn return to the newly menacing Hogwarts, the camera rarely pokes above a foreboding blue murk. Harry battles dragons, rescues drowning friends, and faces down a waxy, noseless Ralph Fiennes and his troupe of Death Eaters in Klan hoods. It's exciting enough; but lacking both the wonder of the first movies and the poignant subtext Harry's adolescence was supposed to herald, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire isn't much more than a kiddie action movie. (ANNIE WAGNER)

recommended A History of Violence
There's a horrible splendor in Viggo Mortensen's performance as a man in whom will and instinct merge into a simultaneously humane and amoral machine. (SHANNON GEE)

The Ice Harvest
See review this issue.

recommended In Her Shoes
Introduced with a lulu of a thong shot, Cameron Diaz's barely literate Philly party girl clashes with her type-A attorney sister (Toni Collette), as she lifts cash, boyfriends, and clothes at every opportunity. After a final transgression banishes Diaz to the Florida doorstep of her estranged grandmother (Shirley MacLaine, still possessing atomic-clock timing), the irradiated family unit must find a way to reunite. Character arcs are broad but reasoned, plot devices are conveniently timed, yet never annoyingly so, and there isn't a single damned group sing-a-long to be found. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

In the Mix
Usher gets mixed up in the Mob.

Jarhead
William Broyles Jr.'s script follows a third-generation marine (Jake Gyllenhaal) on his downward slide toward would-be killing machine, from boot camp humiliations (via tough-ass lifer Jamie Foxx) and the further depersonalization of sniper training to eagerly awaiting his chance to go kick Saddam's ass. Once he arrives in the desert, however, boredom quickly sets in, as he and his fellow roughnecks find themselves fruitlessly wandering around looking for something to shoot at. While this period of downtime is Jarhead's strongest segment (especially when focusing on the overly gung-ho antics of Peter Sarsgaard's lizardy sniper), it also accentuates the film's basic problem with character. Despite the occasional voiceover, Gyllenhaal's character largely remains a cipher, with a near-to-total lack of backstory. Without an easy in, audience members may find themselves sharing the platoon's overpowering ennui. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

Just Friends
See review this issue.

recommended Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Shane Black's directorial debut, is a riotously meta piss-take on Hollywood excess. Shifting his sights to the detective story, Black creates a vulgar wonderland chock-full of body parts and snappy patter. If, as some have speculated, Satan is involved in Black's career, Satan deserves a raise. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

The Legend of Zorro
The story is pure retread (of Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious, specifically), involving an evil Frenchman (of course), a crackpot scheme (of course), and a dangerous soap (huh?). Swords clang, the music swells, and things go boom—with pulse-deadening results. (BRADLEY STEINBACHER)

MirrorMask
MirrorMask, Dave McKean's much-anticipated feature-length directorial debut, shows that whatever his gifts, moving pictures may not yet be his medium. Taken on a shot-by-shot basis, McKean's talents for design are more than evident, with bizarro cityscapes and oddball characters. On a whole, however, the results are less Lewis Carroll and more Labyrinth. McKean has crafted a curious oddity: a unique new world, crammed to the gills with invention, which comes off as almost completely static. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

North Country
As a miner who endures cosntant sexual harrassment, Charlize Theron rarely makes it through a scene without her eyes filling with bravely suppressed tears, and the film keeps flashing forward to the courtroom drama that will bring her vindication. Unfortunately, the film blows its trial-by-jury conceit early, with a truly climactic showdown in the miners' union hall. The actual court dramatization (involving wanton witness-badgering, spectators rising in unison, etc.) is melodramatic and contrived. (ANNIE WAGNER)

Paradise Now
Filmed in the volatile West Bank, Paradise Now follows Palestinian mechanic Said (superb newcomer Kaid Nashef) and his amiably goofy friend as they are chosen to carry out a terrorist act in Tel Aviv. As zero hour approaches, Said makes his peace with his unknowing family, resists the distractions of a beautiful pacifist, and prepares to meet his destiny. With meticulous detail and moments of black humor, the film makes the actions of its protagonists seem, if not sympathetic, at least disturbingly plausible. As we watch Said shave his beard and cast off all ties in preparation, it becomes frighteningly easy to grasp the nature of his rage and to see how people can be pushed by their environment until they literally become bombs. As this terrific film makes clear, the fuse was lit long before any device was fashioned. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

recommended The passenger
The Passenger, Antonioni's 1975 collaboration with Jack Nicholson, stands as one of the clearest representations of the director's worldview, in which the epic landscapes and camera movements eerily mirror a character's inner life... or lack of one. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

The Polar Express
Here and there, Polar Express hits on an image or mood worthy of the season, particularly during the early scenes of the magical title vehicle, but the thundering need to make a state-of-the-art prefab classic steamrolls over most of the cheer. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

recommended Pride & Prejudice
In her early novel Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen makes it clear that Elizabeth Bennet has little respect for her friend Charlotte's pragmatic view of marriage. And though Elizabeth loves her older sister, Jane, she can't exactly endorse her lovesick moping either. With practicality and sentiment out of the picture, what can possibly make Elizabeth fall for the proud Mr. Darcy? Austen is decorously evasive on this question, and so the filmmakers responsible for this grimy and immensely enjoyable new adaptation have some wiggle room. According to director Joe Wright and screenwriter Deborah Moggach, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy aren't so much in love as they are erotically enthralled. Their famous clash of wits isn't the cause of their affection; it's sublimation at its most sublime. (ANNIE WAGNER)

Prime
As far as the main girl-boy-mom love triangle goes, Prime has a surprisingly light touch. The film isn't guilt-free entertainment, but with some nice Manhattan locations and a "Palestinians Do It Better" T-shirt to sweeten the deal, it isn't unpleasant either. (ANNIE WAGNER)

Rent
See review this issue.

Saw II
Saw II thinks it has something to say—some hack philosophy about yelling at your kids and being a junkie and taking life for granted—but don't be fooled. It's really just about all the worst things you can do to an eyeball. (LINDY WEST)

Shopgirl
Adapted by Steve Martin from his novella of the same name, Shopgirl is a film with strangely divided loyalties. The old-fashioned values the film espouses (gallantry, attention to a woman's needs) feel like a cover for historical sins (sexism, annoyingness) that I'd rather time would forget. (ANNIE WAGNER)

recommended The Squid and the Whale
Writer/director Noah Baumbach's semi-autobiographical tale of a disintegrating Park Slope family unit in the '80s is one of those rare films in which everything feels right, from period detail, to sympathetic yet unsentimental characterizations, to the way that family conversations can shift from funny to sad to terrifying. He's fully backed by his cast, including Laura Linney's free-spirited mom, Jesse Eisenberg's endearingly tight-assed poseur of an eldest son, and, especially, Jeff Daniels's defanged literary lion, one of the most complex—and pitiably self-aware—monsters in memory. Throughout, Baumbach's unfussy, free-floating style echoes the personality-driven films of the '70s, yet with a uniquely personal bite. Although not without moments of wise-ass comedy there's an underlying witty melancholy that suggests a filmmaker fully locked into his groove. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

recommended Ushpizin
Ushpizin, I think I can say with confidence, is the only film I've ever seen in which every emotional climax is the result of an answered prayer. Part fable and part broad Yiddish comedy, this delightful Israeli movie is like nothing else. (ANNIE WAGNER)

Vikings: Journey to New Worlds
The kid-friendly film only skims the surface of the Viking influence on world culture, and the few scenes that justify the large film format are sweeping panoramas of Icelandic geysers and the sea ice off Greenland. But those frigid green vistas are amazing, and if March of the Penguins didn't chill your ardor for polar cinematography, you'll find plenty to satisfy you here. (ANNIE WAGNER)

Walk the Line
Joaquin Phoenix is a damn fine Man in Black, burning with rage from a young age due to an oppressive father who unfairly blamed Johnny for the death of his brother. Walk the Line explores how Cash taught himself to play guitar, working with the famed Sun Records and hanging with Elvis, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis (minor characters here who are entertaining even in their supporting roles), through his infamous Folsom Prison performance. But Cash's strongest emotional elements are developed through his courtship of June Carter, played with sharp Southern charm by Reese Witherspoon. Carter moves from being a boyhood idol of Cash's to touring with him, helping him fight a serious drug addiction, and finally becoming his wife. Theirs is a fiery interplay, and watching their tenderness grow through time and tribulation makes for a powerful story. (JENNIFER MAERZ)

recommended Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Wallace and Gromit have invented the Bunny Vac 6000, a large vacuum that humanely sucks up the cutest frickin' bunnies in the whole wide world, and safely releases them to another location. Hooray! But you know how bunnies like to, ahem, breed, so of course the rabbit population keeps rising and rising despite Wallace's efforts. The humor is just as funny as the classic Looney Tunes (which were funny!) but even smarter because it's not actually American-made. (MEGAN SELING)

Wedding Crashers
Seemingly conceived, shot, and edited during a four-day weekend, Wedding Crashers, while occasionally amusing, is lazy enough to make '80s ass-gas-or-grass comedies like H.O.T.S. or Hamburger: The Motion Picture look like models of precision timing. (ANDREW WRIGHT)

Yours, Mine, and Ours
See review this issue.

recommended Zathura
It all started because my big brother was being a dick and locked me in the basement. While I was down there I found this awesome game about rocket ships and so I took it upstairs to play it. I mean, I'm 8 years old, I like that sorta shit. Anyway, all of a sudden—BOOM! POW! These meteors started shooting everywhere! They didn't stop for, like, ever. But when they did stop my brother and I looked out the window and we were totally FLOATING IN SPACE! We ran upstairs to find our stupid big sister, and of course the little bitch didn't give a shit about the fact that our entire house was FLOATING IN SPACE! So my brother and I went back downstairs and played the game some more to see what would happen next. (MEGAN SELING)