THE BEACH -- Various theaters

THE BIG TEASE -- Broadway Market

FITZCARRALDO -- Grand Illusion

HOLY SMOKE -- Harvard Exit

MR. DEATH -- Varsity

MY BEST FIEND -- Egyptian

SNOW DAY -- Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, others

THE THIRD MIRACLE -- Seven Gables

THE TIGGER MOVIE -- Metro, Pacific Place 11, others

AUDREY HEPBURN RETROSPECTIVE -- Varsity Calendar

BEST OF BRITISH FILM -- Seattle Art Museum

BINGO: THE DOCUMENTARY -- Little Theatre

FESTIVAL OF FAMILY FILMS FROM ASIA -- Seattle Asian Art Museum

THE FLOWERS OF SHANGHAI -- Grand Illusion

HOU HSIAO-HSIEN RETROSPECTIVE -- Grand Illusion

MEET THE FUNDER -- 911 Media Arts

MURDER ON LENNOX AVE. -- Grand Illusion

O AMOUR NATURAL -- Little Theatre

OPEN SCREENING -- 911 Media Arts

OUTSIDE IN: NEW CHINESE FILM -- Henry Art Gallery Auditorium

SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT -- Egyptian

TWO BRIDES AND A SCALPEL: DIARY OF A LESBIAN MARRIAGE -- 911 Media Arts

WEST BEIRUT -- Varsity Calendar

February 18 -- Rear Window, The Interview, Boiler Room, The Whole Nine Yards, Hanging Up, Skulls, Diamonds, Pitch Black, Kestrel's Eye

February 25 -- Reindeer Games, 3 Strikes, A Map of the World, Not One Less, Wonder Boys

Alaska: Spirit of the Wild
More of a nature documentary than a ghost story. Omnidome

*All About My Mother
Pedro Almodovar's highly acclaimed new film, a mature look at women (with the obligatory drag queen). Harvard Exit

Amazon
An IMAX examination of the lush forests and exotic animals of the Amazon river basin. Omnidome

Angela's Ashes
Depressing story about Frank McCourt's depressing life, without the happy ending of a major book deal and subsequent movie. Starring Roberty Carlyle and Emily Watson. Factoria, Guild 45th, Meridian 16

AUDREY HEPBURN RETROSPECTIVE
An entire week devoted to the graceful, pencil-thin actress with perfect features and the little black dress. You'll want to catch this sweet, romantic series NOW -- before ABC airs its TV-movie about Hepburn's life, with JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT as the young Audrey. Jesus. Reviewed this issue. Varsity Calendar

The Beach
Leo discovers a beautiful, secret beach and proceeds to litter it with empty beer cans and used condoms. Various theaters

*Being John Malkovich
It's the best film of 1999 and it has a monkey in it. Coincidence? We don't think so. Meridian 16, Varsity

BEST OF BRITISH FILM
SAM's series of British comedies and dramas continues with Carol Reed's Odd Man Out (1946), with James Mason and Kathleen Ryan (Thurs Feb 10 at 7:30); followed by Reed's An Outcast of the Islands (1951), in which a South Seas clerk (Trevor Howard) gets entangled in a smuggling scheme while falling for a native island girl (Thurs Feb 17 at 7:30). Call 625-8900 for more info. Seattle Art Museum

The Big Tease
The boss from The Drew Carey Show makes a movie where he plays a Scottish hairdresser. What was he thinking? Broadway Market

*Bingo: The Documentary
Seattle's own John Jeffcoat delves deep into the mysterious bingo subculture to retrieve this enlightening tale of those who put it all on the line for a shot at being the one to stand up and shout, "Bingo!" From Catholic churches to the Carnival Cruise Bingo Ship, Jeffcoat takes his camera all over the world to capture every kind of player, from welfare recipients to drag queens. Hope springs eternal. Thurs-Sun Feb 17-20 at 5:30, 7:30, 9:30. Little Theatre

The Cider House Rules
Based on the John Irving novel, a period piece about life and abortion. Starring sexy child-actor Tobey Maguire. Guild 45th, Redmond Town Center, Uptown

Cradle Will Rock
Tim Robbins' messy but entertaining look at Orson Welles' political struggles with the titular play in 1936. Harvard Exit

Dogma
Potty-mouthed writer/director Kevin Smith takes on faith and poop-monsters in his love letter to the Catholic religion. Uptown

Down to You
Freddie Prinze, Jr. (She's All That) and Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate about You) join forces to make yet another lame teen movie. Meridian 16, Metro, Redmond Town Center

The Emperor

and the Assassin
Chen Kaige's The Emperor and the Assassin lives up to its epic title. All that the word "emperor" implies (resolute ruler, insane dreamer, ornate palaces, opulent chambers, royal robes) and all that the word "assassin" implies (secrecy, solitude, control, celerity, efficiency, professional conduct) informs and structures every aspect of this spectacular edifice, which certainly stands as one of the great technical and artistic achievements of Chinese cinema. Nearly three hours long, the movie has everything: court intrigue, weeping mothers, slaughtered children, roaring armies, and wide-open grasslands where the horse is king and the sky endless. It also has in it the most beautiful actress in the world, Gong Li. (Charles Mudede) Broadway Market

The Eruption of Mount St. Helens
The mountain blew up in 1980, and has been blowing up on film ever since. Omnidome

Eye of the Beholder
Ewan McGregor is a government surveillance expert who's gone off the deep end since his wife ran off with their child; now he spends his days spying on neighbors and holding imaginary conversations with his daughter. (The actor is badly miscast -- way too young and charismatic to play a reclusive workaholic at the end of his tether.) Tracking mystery woman Ashley Judd, he becomes obsessed, convinced that she's a killer who is, at heart, a scared little girl he can protect. The film has an attractive, high-tech slickness (gradually stripped away as it progresses), but despite the voyeurism and casual amorality of its hero, it just isn't ruthless or perverse enough to compensate for its shallowness or the absurdity of its plot. Brian DePalma could have made a masterpiece out of this; instead it's just another extended music video with some thriller elements tossed in. (Bruce Reid) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro

Fantasia 2000
The latest Walt Disney sweeping-animation-and-classical-music extravaganza, this time in thrilling 3D. Bring your own mind-altering substances. Pacific Science Center

Festival of Family Films from Asia
A series of family films from Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, and India. This week's "Asian Panorama" includes two whimsical shorts from India ("It's Got to Be a Boy," "Radio Comes to Rampur"); two programs from Taiwanese public television ("The Little Monkey" and "Fruity Pie" -- with battling octopi!); and some Korean animation ("Rain," "Going Home after School") from the viewpoint of schoolchildren. Sat Feb 12 at 1:30, $3. Seattle Asian Art Museum

Fitzcarraldo
(1982) Werner Herzog's "depraved masterpiece" about the true story of an insane robber baron who was driven to build an entire opera house in the midst of the Peruvian Jungle. Fri-Thurs Feb 11-17 at 4:45, 7:45. Grand Illusion

*The Flowers of Shanghai
Hou Hsiao-hsien's beautifully shot film about "flower girls" in the brothels of old China. Thurs Feb 10 at 4:45, 7, 9:15. Grand Illusion

Galaxy Quest
The cast of a Star Trek-like show are recruited by a (presumably good) alien race to save them from a (presumably bad) alien race. Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center

Girl, Interrupted
Suicidal Susanna (Winona Ryder) is sent to a mental institution where she learns a bit about how self-involved she's been in her young life. The movie is set in the late '60s, so people smoke a lot. Also starring Angelina Jolie as a very social sociopath. Aurora Cinema Grill, Meridian 16, Metro

The Green Mile
Tom Hanks' death row is forever changed when a magical prisoner is admitted. (Andy Spletzer) Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center

Gun Shy
Liam Neeson, looking completely out of sorts, plays a federal agent with nervous indigestion who is simultaneously working through his malaise in group therapy and setting up an equally angst-ridden Mafioso (Oliver Platt) for a huge fall. Penis and fart jokes ensue. When nurse Sandra Bullock (who, by the way, produced this embarrassment) makes her first appearance giving Neeson an enema, you know things will not be looking up anytime soon. Writer/director Eric Blakeney has no evident understanding of dramatic tension, and clumps along under the dreadful delusion that he's making something quirky. It plays like a bad student film: flat, cheap, and awkward, with every comic bit either overstated or underdone. Even the extras look self-conscious. Bullock wisely allows herself only fifteen minutes of screen time, but it actually hurts to watch the reliable Platt giving all he's got to such a lost cause. Enter at your own risk. (Steve Wiecking) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree, Southcenter

Holy Smoke
Kate Winslet becomes enlightened in India, so her family hires cult-buster Harvey Keitel to deprogram her, in the complexly funny new film from Jane Campion. Reviewed this issue. Harvard Exit

*HOU HSIAO-HSIEN RETROSPECTIVE
Recognized worldwide as one of the "giants of the modern cinema," Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien is admired for his precise, spiritual filmmaking, rich narratives and characters, and examination of Taiwan's unique and turbulent history. The Grand Illusion's weekend matinee series continues with the first film in Hou's historical Sadness Trilogy, A City of Sadness, which looks at Taiwan's troubles between 1945 and 1949, inspired in part by The Godfather. See Stranger Suggests. Sat-Sun Feb 12-13 at noon. Grand Illusion

The Hurricane
Based on a true story about Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a star boxer who was framed for multiple murders. The only interesting take this film has on his story is that it shamelessly portrays white Canadians as morally superior to their barbarian, gun-toting brethren south of the border -- a myth they have treasured since the days of slavery. (Charles Mudede) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree

Island of the Sharks
Them there's SHARKS on the IMAX screen! Swim with the fishes at your peril. Pacific Science Center

Isn't She Great
A misfire biography of Valley of the Dolls author Jacqueline Susann which should have been a camp classic, but instead is just plain bad. City Centre, Grand Alderwood

Magnolia
Paul Thomas Anderson weaves together the story of eight generic characters in a cinematically fun package. At three hours, the movie is way too long, particularly when it stops to try and flesh out the "characters," but some of the showy visuals make this movie worthwhile. (Andy Spletzer) Aurora Cinema Grill, Neptune, Pacific Place 11

Mansfield Park
A poor girl is sent to live with wealthy relatives where she becomes the most popular girl there, thanks to her lower-class enthusiasm and upper-class pride. Based on the novel by Jane Austen. Broadway Market

Meet the Funder
Calling all activist-oriented media-makers! Meet with people from the Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media, a funding group that supports social issue media production. See examples of previously sponsored work, discuss what constitutes a successful proposal, and pitch your own socially conscious project. Thurs Feb 17 at 5-8, FREE. 911 Media Arts

Mr. Death
What happens when the top expert on electric chairs and the "humane" side of capital punishment turns out to be a Holocaust revisionist? Errol Morris finds out. Reviewed this issue. Varsity

Murder on Lennox Ave.
The Grand Illusion's Late Night Murder Series comes to a close with Murder on Lennox Avenue, a violent yet musical(!) tale about a gangster who tries to kill the successor to his crime throne. Filmed during the Harlem Renaissance, with an all-black cast (and you thought Pam Grier and her blaxploitation flicks were revolutionary). Fri-Sat Feb 11-12 at 11. Grand Illusion

*My Best Fiend
A new documentary about the crazy love-hate relationship between cranky film collaborators Werner Herzog (director) and Klaus Kinski (actor). Although they trusted each other enough to make brilliant films together, they were simultaneously planning to kill one another. Fri-Thurs Feb 11-17 at (Sat-Sun 1, 3:10), 5:20, 7:30, 9:40. Reviewed this issue. Egyptian

Next Friday
Those who enjoyed Friday and Players Club will not be disappointed by Next Friday. The story is just as bad. I must make a confession. This film is way too crude for my tastes; there is not one drop of intelligence (or beauty) in the whole damn thing, and Cube's depiction of women and Chicanos is more than deplorable. (Charles Mudede) Redmond Town Center, Uptown

O Amour Natural
A documentary exploring the effect Brazilian poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade's erotic poetry had on Brazil's culture and national consciousness. Including scenes with elderly Brazilians reciting his lusty poetry out loud and clips of young hotties in string bikinis, this film gives puritanical Seattleites a glimpse of the unabashedly sexy sensibilities of modern-day Brazilians. Thurs Feb 10 at 5:45, 9:15 (Rendezvous Reading Series and Mustache Contest at 7:30); Fri-Sun Feb 11-13 at 5:45, 7:30, 9:15. Little Theatre

Olympic Glory
International athletes and adrenaline junkies show off their skills and defy gravity at the 1998 Winter Olympics at Nagano. Omnidome

Open Screening
Whether you are for, against, or indifferent to Valentine's Day, bring your VHS tapes, no longer than 10 minutes, and receive feedback from your peers. Mon Feb 14 at 8, $1; entries are accepted between 7:30 and 8. 911 Media Arts

*OUTSIDE IN: NEW CHINESE FILM
This series of modern/avant-garde Chinese films continues with Wong Kar-Wai's indie favorite Chunking Express (Thurs Feb 10 at 7:30, $6), a low-budget, shoot-from-the-hip film about two lonely cops who find tentative love with loopy women. Next up, it's Taiwanese director Ts'ai Ming-ling's 1992 black comedy about "cultural and generational alienation" in present-day Taipei, Rebels of a Neon God (Thurs Feb 17 at 7:30, $6). Henry Art Gallery Auditorium

Play It to the Bone
Two washed-up L.A. middleweights (Woody Harrelson and Antonio Banderas) are given a shot to box on a pay-per-view undercard bout, and on the way to Vegas they bicker like an old married couple. Meridian 16

Rhodes Forever
A short film about a historical study of the Shepardic Jews of Rhodes, following the Rhodesli Jews to the Belgian Congo and North America. Dr. Sarah Abrevaya Stein from the Department of History will speak after the screening. Part of the UW's Jewish Studies Program's sephardic film series. Sun Feb 13 at 2, FREE. Odegaard Undergraduate Library

Saragossa Manuscript
(Poland, 1965) A new, fully restored, three-hour, 35mm print of this "counterculture favorite" by Wojciech Has. Also known as "Jerry Garcia's favorite film." Thurs Feb 10 at 4:30, 8. Egyptian

Scream 3
The first Scream was an honest-to-God surprise for all but the most diehard of Wes Craven's fans, reviving an all-but-dead genre with brains, humor, and some actual scares. The second Scream was rushed through production, but still managed some fun. Dumping the dead weight of spent wunderkind Kevin Williamson for the third movie, Craven returns to the forefront with this, his "final" chapter. Much is made of how, in a true trilogy, all bets are off and anything can happen, which only makes the ending all the more disappointing. Though the movie is never really scary, there are some great scenes -- especially when Neve Campbell is on the set of Stab 3, being chased through a Hollywood facsimile of the house she grew up in. So, now that Wes has Music of the Heart out of his system, and has sworn off horror for a while, he should move into the arena that he's belonged in all along: Comedy. Oh, and there's no extra surprise after the credits end. (Andy Spletzer) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Metro, Northgate, Pacific Place 11

Simpatico
The whole story is one long jump back and forth between youthful flashbacks and middle age, and first-time film director Matthew Warchus, with his co-writer David Nicholls, has made a cumbersome muddle out of this unexceptional Sam Shepard play. What might have been a noirish mood piece about hard-bitten regret just lies there and dies, though some fleeting pleasures can be had watching the ensemble cast of solid actors gamely going for it. (Steve Wiecking) Pacific Place 11

Snow Day
The return of Chris Elliot, hopefully for the better but probably for the worst. Dreams come true when snow cancels school and work. Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center

Snow Falling on Cedars
An island in the postwar Pacific Northwest is the setting for a murder trial that reunites reporter Ishmael Chambers (Ethan Hawke) with Hatsue Miyamoto (Youki Kudoh), the great love of his young life, who was sent to a Japanese-American internment camp and now suffers besides her accused husband, Kazuo (Rick Yune). Hicks has created a truly stunning visual design for the story, weaving burnished memories into every gorgeously wounded frame. Still, what fells the film is its lack of a compelling center; it starts to bore you without anyone to carry its consuming passions. Smoking around its edges are intriguing details about the appalling treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II, but the romance that supposedly burns beneath all the pain of history is as remote as the hollowed cedar tree that acts as a touchstone for its lovers. (Steve Wiecking) Pacific Place 11

Stuart Little
A well-dressed mouse (voice of Michael J. Fox) is adopted by a family. Really, what more do you need? Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center

The Talented Mr. Ripley
Matt Damon is typecast as a loveable psychopath who falls in love with the life of Dickie Greenwood (played by the fantastic Jude Law). Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center

The Third Miracle
Involving cinematic discussions about religious faith are rare, which makes Agnieszka Holland's spotty but rather elegant little film a mild surprise. There are the obligatory moments of anxiety-riddled priest Ed Harris shouting angrily at His Heavenly Father, yet there is also a complex respect for the longings that rattle around inside most human souls. Harris plays a renowned, and tormented, doubter sent by the Church to debunk another "miracle" -- a statue of the Virgin Mary that cries tears of blood -- and to put a stop to the calls for sainthood that accompany the memory of the deceased housewife who supposedly inspired it. Naturally, the beleaguered priest is drawn to the woman's bitter daughter (Anne Heche) before becoming a believer himself. Luckily, Heche has a directness that complements Harris' simmering resolve, and keeps their subplot from feeling cheap. The film is so stately it can wear you down, but just when it's about to go completely inert, something nagging kicks in again. It's an obvious film made with care and restraint. (Steve Wiecking) Seven Gables

The Tigger Movie
From the fever dreams of Christopher Robin comes this movie about a maniac tigger who gets into all kinds of trouble. Metro, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center

*Titus
Prideful General Titus (Anthony Hopkins) ritually sacrifices the eldest son of pleading, defeated Goth Queen, Tamora (a ferocious Jessica Lange), and sets in motion a dizzyingly vicious hurricane of vengeance. What's most remarkable about Julie Taymor's film is her ability to tell Shakespeare's thrilling, violent tale while successfully damning the cruel legacy of human nature; she has her meat and eats it, too. Her carnivorous ensemble, meanwhile, tears into it with drooling finesse. Almost everyone in the large cast has a juicy bit, including a preening Alan Cumming as an infantile emperor, and Harry Lennix as Aaron, the spiteful, oppressed Moor. If the film sometimes seems caught within the frame, like a series of psychedelic set-pieces on a particularly tractable stage, it's more than made up for with the force of Taymor's vision. Her astonishing final flourish sees nightmarish tumult as the mindless extension of a child's game, and turns Titus into a cry for a better world. (Steve Wiecking) Cinerama

*Topsy-Turvy
In just over two and a half hours, director Mike Leigh details the complex processes (both personal and national) that make a big expensive art project possible. Leigh has never ventured into this territory before, let alone this era -- but now, late in his career, he has decided to step back and make a film about what he is: an artist. He does this by telling the story of Gilbert and Sullivan -- the composer/writer team that produced comic (or light) operas in the mid and late 19th century -- and their production of the highly successful opera The Mikado. What is most impressive about this film is that it examines the intricacies and mechanisms of the production of a "popular" art form by using secondary genre artists. This is brilliant, because it becomes an investigation of the systems of art, rather than the final production. In that way, Topsy-Turvy works as an investigation of filmmaking, something Leigh knows a lot about. (Charles Mudede) Broadway Market

*Toy Story 2
The second highest-grossing animated film of all time (behind The Lion King). Woody and Buzz take on issues of death and collectability. Grand Alderwood, Pacific Place 11

Two Brides and a Scalpel: Diary of a Lesbian

Marriage
A documentary about George Douglas Scott (father, husband, pulp mill worker) and Linda Fraser (psychotherapist, lesbian, opera singer). George comes out as a transsexual, preps for sex-change surgery, and falls deeply in love with Linda while practicing to be the woman he wants to be. Shot over two years, Two Brides is an "intimate video diary" detailing George's monumental life changes while his relationship with Linda develops. (Warning: The film contains surgical procedures.) Shown with the short "Men Are from Moon," a documentary about mens' menopause ignorance. Fri Feb 11 at 8, $6. 911 Media Arts

*West Beirut
Best friends hang out, roam around, and revel in the fun of being out of school as civil unrest, hints of war, and impending destruction hang over Beirut, Lebanon in 1975. Varsity Calendar, Metro