Analyze This--Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Metro, Northgate, Pacific Place 11, Southcenter
Cruel Intentions--Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree
A Moment of Innocence--Grand Illusion
Steam: The Turkish Bath--Broadway Market
Tango--Harvard Exit
Windhorse--Egyptian
REPERTORY & REVIVAL
Blind Eye to Justice--The Little Theater
Buffalo '66--Egyptian
Close-Up--Grand Illusion
Divorce, Iranian Style--The Little Theater IRISH REELS--911 Media Arts, Pacific Place Cinema
Living Treasures Project--Pratt Fine Arts Center
The Man Who Knew Too Much--Seattle Art Museum
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance--Seattle Art Museum
The Most Dangerous Game--Grand Illusion
Slam Nation--911 Media Arts
Space Cowboy Cabaret--Rendezvous
Talk Cinema--Pacific Place 11
Terminal USA--The Little Theater
Verboten!--Grand Illusion
COMING SOON
March 12--Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, 20 Dates, The Rage: Carrie 2, Fantastic Planet, The Corruptor, Baby Geniuses, Wing Commander, Deep End of the Ocean
March 19--Ravenous, True Crime, God Said Ha!, Forces of Nature, The King and I, The Harmonists
MOVIES & EVENTS
200 Cigarettes--A movie filled with a host of "wacky" characters searching for love and adventure on New Years Eve of 1981 in New York City. The film's basically a never-ending sitcom, with just enough laughs to keep you interested but enough barren stretches to make you wonder if you're not really just wasting your time. (Gillian G. Gaar) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, Varsity
8mm--Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) is a private investigator hired by a rich widow whose now-dead husband has left behind a little 8mm snuff film, where a young woman is shown to be raped and killed, presumably for erotic kicks. Even though everybody tells her snuff films are the stuff of urban legend, she needs proof that it's fake (as if that would make her feel better about her husband's sexual deviance), so she hires Welles to find the "actress" and prove she's not dead. That is the beginning of Tom Welles' descent into the hell of hardcore American pornography. I didn't like this movie--not because it took me to places I didn't want to go, but because I thought it was stupid. The whole thing feels like a Hollywood pitch meeting, where the idea of a character makes his way through the idea of a plot. There is no substance, no context, and what's worse, Cage gives another minimalistically boring performance. (Andy Spletzer) Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center
*Affliction--The snow-shrouded, economically depressed town of Lawford, New Hampshire, is where Wade Whitehouse (Nick Nolte) has lived his entire life: a childhood dominated by an abusive, drunken father (James Coburn), and a young adulthood of running around and getting in trouble. Now, on the depressing side of middle-age, he's Lawford's police officer; a job that entails little more than writing up traffic violations and guarding the crosswalk when the school bus empties. When a big-shot businessman dies in a hunting accident, Wade suspects murder, and he clings to that belief with the exultant certainty of a desperate man. Coburn's brutal patriarch is a sight to behold, Willem Dafoe perfectly captures the despair of the quiet man unwilling to own up to the demons he so easily recognizes in his older brother, and then there's Nolte. There are, perhaps, better actors around today, but after two viewings of Affliction, I'm convinced that this is one of the greatest performances ever captured on film. (Bruce Reid) Meridian 16, Redmond Town Center, Seven Gables
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild--More of a nature documentary than a ghost story. Omnidome
Analyze This--Paul Vitti (Robert DeNiro) is a New York mobster with problems: the pressure is killing him! With a big meeting of all the New York families coming up, he needs to get rid of his anxiety about [insert Italian stereotype here]. Enter Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal), a Jewish family therapist with [insert Jewish stereotype here]. Vitti wants Sobel to help him. Sobel just wants Vitti to leave him alone. What are they both to do? Analyze This is a [insert sarcastic film reviewer comment here], with a few laughs, but never anything special. Basically, it's exactly what you'd expect. (Bradley Steinbacher) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Metro, Northgate, Pacific Place 11, Southcenter
Blast From the Past--Basically, this is a Cold War Encino Man. After 35 years of living in a fallout shelter with his parents, Adam (Brendan Fraser) emerges in Los Angeles in search of supplies and a woman to marry (Alicia Silverstone). Blast From the Past is harmless tripe, quickly produced and quickly forgotten. The cute moments add up to nothing, so your smile evaporates even before you reach the car. (Bradley Steinbacher) Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Uptown
Blind Eye to Justice--Blind Eye to Justice: HIV+ Women in California Prisons, along with From One Prison, will be introduced by Christina Doyle, Amnesty International expert on U.S. prison conditions. Thurs March 4 at 7, 9:30. The Little Theater
*Buffalo '66--Vincent Gallo stars as Billy Brown, an ex-con who kidnaps Layla (Christina Ricci) and forces her to pretend to be his wife in front of his parents. The scene where she tap dances in the bowling alley is one of the best images from any of last year's films. Fri-Sat March 6-7 at midnight. (Andy Spletzer) Egyptian
Central Station--Dora (Fernanda Montenegro), who writes letters for the illiterate poor, takes in Josue (Vinicius de Oliveira) after his mother is killed. Walter Salles' affecting new film risks sentimentality in order to steer close to issues of the human heart, but it's blessed by two impeccable performances from Montenegro and de Oliveira. (Matthew Stadler) Broadway Market
A Civil Action--A hotshot lawyer (John Travolta) takes on big business. City Center
Close-Up--Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami directs this true story about a man arrested for impersonating Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Thurs March 4 at 5, 7, 9. Grand Illusion
Cruel Intentions--Sarah Michelle Gellar continues to try to break into feature film starring roles in this high school update of Dangerous Liasons. Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree
Divorce, Iranian Style--When an Iranian couple decides to divorce, the woman has the right to collect the money of the "marriage gift," but often foregoes that in order to get the divorce over faster. The law and the courts favor the men, but women have ways of working within the system, even though they have to follow a dress code and remove excess makeup to do so. In this Iranian version of Divorce Court, directors Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini document the struggles that a few women go through trying to finalize their divorces. The real star of the film is the Iranian court system, which is informal and conducive to bickering couples and impulsive rulings, but the fact of the matter remains that divorce, in any form, is an ugly proceeding. Fri-Sun March 5-7 at 5:45, 7:30, 9:15. (Andy Spletzer) The Little Theater
*Elizabeth--This film details the ascension of Queen Elizabeth: her transformation from a naîve and sensual girl into a hard-hearted ruler who chopped off the heads of her enemies. Kapur films this brutal tale with a vibrancy and urgency matched by no other British or French costume drama. He photographs his subject, the pale and rosy Cate Blanchett, with the same shameless affection with which Josef Von Sternberg's camera captured Marlene Dietrich. There's also a splendid performance by the Australian actor Geoffrey Rush as the somber security chief to her Majesty the Queen. (Charles Mudede) Guild 45th, Meridian 16
The Eruption of Mount St. Helens--The mountain blew up in 1980, and has been blowing up on film ever since. Omnidome
Everest--The first IMAX footage ever shot on top of the world. Pacific Science Center
*Gods and Monsters--Excellent film about the death (and life) of James Whale, one of Hollywood's first "out" gay directors, and famous for Frankenstein and his bride. Broadway Market
Hilary and Jackie--Based on the true story of the world famous cellist Jacqueline du Pré, the explosive Emily Watson plays Jackie, and the more sedate Rachel Griffiths plays her sister Hilary. The film depicts Jackie's rise to international fame, and then, of course, her inevitable fall to death. Though predictable direction (by Anand Tucker) works counter to the film's goals, I have a bigger bone to pick with it: I'm tired of films that portray brilliant woman as neurotic, cold, and sterile. (Charles Mudede) Broadway Market
Into the Deep--With Into The Deep, IMAX goes one step further; not only do you get a really big visual image, it's in 3-D to boot! 3-D imagery's come a long way from its occasional use as a novelty gimmick in '50s-era sci-fi films. Instead of just having the action taking place in front of you, it now swirls all around you, making Into The Deep more of a virtual reality experience. However many IMAX films have claimed to be "the closest you'll ever get to mountain climbing/sky diving/walking in space," the addition of 3-D makes you realize how much you were missing. Into The Deep really is like a 35-minute dive, plunging you smack dab in the middle of a mass squid orgy, facing off a shark, and calmly swimming through a kelp forest. The effect is further heightened by wearing a 3-D helmet instead of glasses. IMAX 3-D is no mere gimmick; it's an exciting way to see films. (Gillian G. Gaar) Pacific Science Center
IRISH REELS--The Second Annual Irish Film and Video Festival presents features, documentaries, shorts, and animation by independent Irish filmmakers. I saw the opening night feature, 2by4--a hit at other festivals--and it has the look and feel of one of those '70s "New York streets" movies, but updated in that it questions even more the masculinity (in all its deceptive guises) of the working class. The festival continues with other features, shorts, and documentaries. Fri-Sun is at the Pacific Place Cinemas, while Mon-Tues wrap up at 911 Media Arts, with a Guinness-sponsored party after the final screening, The Three Brothers, about the making of This Is My Father. Opening night is $10, individual screenings are $7, festival pass is $40. Fri-Tues March 5-9. For ticket information call 682-1141. (Andy Spletzer) 911 Media Arts, Pacific Place Cinema
Jawbreaker--Reagan High's top clique of babelicious babes have accidentally killed one of their buds, and there's a witness: nerdier-than-thou Fern Mayo (Judy Evan Greer). What to do? Clique leader Courtney, a.k.a. "Satan in high heels" (Rose McGowan), buys Fern off by letting her join the gang. A quick makeover later, and Fern becomes "Vylette." But does a conscience still beat within? (Gillian G. Gaar) Uptown
Life Is Beautiful--Like any good comedian, Roberto Benigni (and his co-writer Vincenzo Cerami) knows how to plant the seed for a gag early on, let it sit, then return to it much later for the payoff. The opening, which seems so frivolous, is all groundwork for what Benigni knows will be the toughest sell of his life: comedy in the Nazi camps. Employing the understatement and flamesair for timing that comedy requires, Benigni captures detail after detail in a far more devastating way than more earnest films on the subject could manage. (Bruce Reid) Harvard Exit, Redmond Town Center
Little Voice--The only reason to see this film is to hear Jane Horrocks sing a bunch of cover songs. Is that any reason to go see a movie? (Andy Spletzer) Metro
Living Treasures Project--The Living Treasures Project: Lives in Craft is a series of 20-minute video portraits of Northwest craft professionals. This evening features a screening of the first video of the series, Robert Sperry: A Northwest Master; a celebratory party including food and libations; live glass blowing; and a preview of art works from Pratt's satellite locations. Fri March 5 at 7, $10. Pratt Fine Arts Center
The Man Who Knew Too Much--Alfred Hitchcock was always the best at tapping into the dark side of Jimmy Stewart, here saddling him with too much dangerous information. Thurs March 4 at 7:30. Seattle Art Museum
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance--Besides Jimmy Stewart, this 1962 John Ford western also stars such tough-skinned luminaries as John Wayne, Lee Marvin, and Vera Miles. Thurs March 11 at 7:30. Seattle Art Museum
Message in a Bottle--Theresa Osborne (Robin Wright Penn) finds a bottle on the beach. Inside is a note--a cheesy love poem written to a woman named "Catherine." Obsessed, Theresa sets out to find the note's author. The man she tracks down is a sad widower named Garret Blake (Kevin Costner). Can Theresa get Garrett to get over his dead wife? The answer is, who cares? Message In a Bottle is dull, dull, dull--a romance that goes nowhere, and all the sweeping music in the world can't save it.. Only Paul Newman rises above this sap. (Bradley Steinbacher) Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center
*A Moment of Innocence--Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf stabbed a police officer as a youth, then recreates the incident 20 years later with input from the very same policeman. Fri-Thurs March 5-11at (Sat 1, 3) 5, 7, 9. Reviewed this issue. Grand Illusion
The Most Dangerous Game--The 1932 classic tale of a bored hunter who decides to spice up his sport by stalking humans on a remote island. Stars Fay Wray, Joel McRae, and Leslie Banks. Fri-Sat March 5-6 at 11 pm. Grand Illusion
My Favorite Martian--The Disney live-action well continues to run dry, here with another big screen TV remake, this one starring Christopher Loyd. Lewis & Clark, Pacific Place 11
October Sky--Based on an unmemorable memoir by NASA engineer Homer H. Hickam Jr., and set at the time Sputnik orbited the sky, this movie is about four working class Virginia boys who, against all odds, win a big national science contest with their rocket theories. Yes, it's a standard American fable. There is a great down-to-earth performance by Chris Cooper (of John Sayles fame), but after that you can forget this piece of sentimental, pro-NASA propaganda. (Charles Mudede) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree
Office Space--Looking for a comedy in which you're constantly reminded how desolate and bleak your own life is? Then you'll LOVE Office Space! Written and directed by Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill), this little snoozer tells the story of an ordinary schmo (Ron Livingston) who desperately hates his rotten job at a high tech corporation. Looking for relief, he visits a hypnotist (don't ask), and becomes so relaxed that he refuses to do any work, which--in the KA-RAZY, mixed-up world of corporate bureaucracy--actually gets him promoted! Other things happen, but since you actually LIVE the shit that happens in this movie, you won't think it's very funny either. Let's move on, shall we? (Wm. Steven Humprey) Grand Alderwood, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11
The Other Sister--It is a dictum in Hollywood that the protagonist of a film should mirror the audience. The romantic comedy The Other Sister stars Juliette Lewis and Giovanni Ribisi as a retarded couple, but hardly anyone in the American audience will recognize that they are being labeled "retarded." Most will enjoy the film for its effortless one-dimensionality and breezy lack of anything at all. The manipulation inherent in the characterizations--where cynical and filthy-rich non-'tards oppress the doe-eyed, downwardly mobile 'tards--will be eagerly soaked up by a spongy audience, who will love the film for its simple, life-affirming goodness and costly costuming. They will laugh with, not at, the wonderful 'tards, who are not so different from us after all, what with their brain-damaged struggles for financial and social freedom, their childlike joy at cute things like marching bands, and their fumbling, retarded sexual hijinx. (Jamie Hook) Meridian 16, Metro, Redmond Town Center
Payback--Porter (Mel Gibson) is double-crossed by his partner and his wife during a robbery, and is left for dead. He's not--at least, not physically. He becomes obsessed with retrieving his cut of the robbery: $70,000. Unfortunately, his ex-partner used the money to buy his way into "The Outfit" and can't easily get it back. Nobody can; there's too much bureaucracy. Initially, I was afraid this would be just another Mel Gibson action-comedy. It's violent, but not really a comedy. Once again, Mel Gibson is a guy with nothing to lose and little to gain, betrayed by life and barely surviving in a hostile world. The script is solid, with performances perfectly suited to the material. Using the same source material as John Boorman's Lee Marvin vehicle Point Blank, Payback holds its own, and should attract the same crowd that made Seven a success. Directed and co-written by L.A. Confidential's Brian Helgeland. (Andy Spletzer) Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Redmond Town Center
Rushmore--You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a gushing review about Rushmore, but if you expect this new bitter-sweet comedy to be GREAT, then you're bound to be disappointed--but, thankfully, not too disappointed. Wes Anderson (of Bottle Rocket fame) directs, and the result is a bouncy, yet strangely unemotional confection. Max (Jason Schwartzman), a teen prep school dreamer, befriends a much older steel tycoon (Bill Murray). Max's scholastic life hits the fan when his plans to impress a teacher he's fallen for (Olivia Williams) gets him expelled. To make matters worse, Murray falls in love with the very same woman. In the end you're left with solid performances all the way around, a few good laughs, and not a lot to write home about. Walk, don't run. (Wm. Steven Humprey) Grand Alderwood, Meridian 16, Neptune, Redmond Town Center
Saving Private Ryan--Stephen Spielberg glamorizes WWII with this big, fake story of the search for a missing soldier. City Centre, Varsity
Shakespeare in Love--Shakespeare in Love, the fictionalized story of the writing of Romeo and Juliet and the playwright's affair with a remarkable woman who longs to act despite Elizabethan laws against females on stage, is the season's surprise hit. Certainly the idea is appealing: one of history's immortals, shown in his still-struggling youth, with eye-catching period details and a cast uniformly professional enough to carry it off with whimsy. But the film strains too much to flatter and please the audience, setting up predictable conflicts and getting out of them through the easiest ways possible. It's clever in a very simple way, content to show its hero as a great-man-in-waiting and its heroine as so improbably perfect she could only be a muse. (Bruce Reid) Factoria, Guild 45th, Redmond Town Center, Uptown
She's All That--Hunky Zach (Freddie Prinze, Jr.)--senior class prez, sports star, and honor student (clearly a Type A personality here)--has been dumped by his airhead girlie, Taylor. Zach bets his friends he can take any other girl and, within weeks, turn her into a prom queen über-babe, though the gal chosen for the makeover (Rachael Leigh Cook) looks suspiciously babe-like from the beginning. A largely inoffensive way to kill an hour and a half. (Gillian G. Gaar) Metro, Pacific Place 11
*A Simple Plan--Hank (Bill Paxton), his brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton), and Jacob's drunk friend Lou (you wouldn't recognize the actor's name) find a bag of money in a crashed airplane and decide to keep it. Then their lives go to hell. Paxton is perfectly self-absorbed as the guy who thinks he's smarter than the rest, while Billy Bob Thornton is the heart of the film, giving a performance that makes the whole thing worthwhile. Directed by Sam Raimi. (Andy Spletzer) Meridian 16
Slam Nation--Paul Devlin's 1997 feature-length documentary on the trials and tribulations of New York City's Slam Team as they duke it out at the National Poetry Slam in Portland, Oregon. Thurs March 11 at 7, 9, $6. 911 Media Arts
Space Cowboy Cabaret--Ginger Vytus hosts this evening of abductions, brandings, and movies in the lovely jewelbox theater of the alcoholically potent Rendezvous. Come see Super 8 and 16mm films about cowboys and aliens, entertainment from the Emphezyma Cowboy, plenty of sexy alien girls, plus music by All Hat and No Steer. Thurs March 11 at 8:30, $5. Rendezvous
Steam: The Turkish Bath--The preview, showing two mostly undressed men going at it in Turkish steambath while a female voyeur watches, would have you believe this movie is a steamy, same-sex bathhouse romance. The amount of time the movie devotes to depicting actual man to man getting-it-on is almost exactly the length of the preview. The rest of the movie is an oddly slow-paced, intermittently engaging story about an Italian man who inherits a decrepit bathhouse in Istanbul and decides to reopen it, despite opposition from rapacious property developers. It's a genre story fitted out with interesting settings and a gay twist, but a genre story nonetheless. (Eric Fredericksen) Broadway Market
Talk Cinema--A Sunday morning series of film previews of upcoming independent, art house, and foreign films, with post-film discussions moderated by guest speakers. This is a "surprise" package: audiences don't know which films will be shown or who the guest speakers will be. Children of Heaven and Affliction have already screened. Sun March 7 at 10 am, $18; for more information call 1-800-551-9221 or visit www.talkcinema.com. Pacific Place 11
Tango--The tango cannot very accurately be described as a lyrical dance. Instead, it stops and starts, hesitates, attenuates its self-consciousness, accentuates its sexuality. And so does the Argentinean film Tango. Conceived as a tribute to the dance, the film opens with a narration by Miguel Angel Solà (Mario Suàrez, one of Argentina's best-known actors) describing the opening scenes of a film--the very scenes we are watching. We are introduced to his ex-wife, a dancer in the show he is producing. Later, at a club, Sola meets the mistress of a powerful man, Elena (Mia Maestro), who shows dancing talent. She auditions for his show, is accepted, and she and Sola begin a love affair. The simple premise--love, given and taken away, resulting in joy or anger--fuels the tension inherent to the tango itself, and this, presumably, makes up the tribute. Like the tango, the film strikes beautiful poses and pantomimes human drama. Sadly, unlike the tango, it never quite loses itself in movement. (Traci Vogel) Harvard Exit
Terminal USA--Jon Moritsugu's satire of the sleazy antics of a dysfunctional Asian-American family. The kick-off to a weekend of Moritsugu's films. Plays with Der Elvis, featuring famed Elvis impersonators like the one and only Adolph Hitler. Wed-Thurs March 10-11 at 5:30, 7:30, 9:30. The Little Theater
*The Thin Red Line--I don't think it's a great film, but as I talked about it with friends for hours afterwards, the movie rattled and shifted, refusing to settle down. A World War II movie with very little fighting and a gorgeous pantheistic salute to what must be every last species of flamesora and fauna found on the South Sea islands, The Thin Red Line is a portrait of humanity so intimate we're privy to the innermost thoughts of many of the characters, yet so distanced that most of them blur together into one mud-caked soldier. Is this all complex design or just confusion? Come to think of it, that's one of the questions the film asks, as it stares impassively at the beauty and the terror. (Bruce Reid) Meridian 16, Varsity
Verboten!--Sam Fuller's 1958 tale of a German girl who finds herself falling in love with an Amercian G.I., AFTER she marries him for his money. Anti-American sentiment grows in her post-WWII German town, especially after she discovers that her new found love for hubby is unrequited. Sun March 7 at 1, 3. Grand Illusion
Waking Ned Devine--This small Irish film tells the story of a town brought together by the death of a denizen who held a winning lottery ticket (Ned Devine, played with convincing rigor mortis by Jimmy Keogh). When a member of the town decides to impersonate Ned so that they can all claim the money, narrow misses and hilarity ensue. (Traci Vogel) Metro, Uptown
Whales--An up close and personal look at the largest mammals on earth. Omnidome
Windhorse--The first-ever Tibetan language dramatic film, filmed clandestinely on location inside Chinese-occupied Tibet and Nepal. Reviewed this issue. Egyptian
