BEAU TRAVAIL--the Egyptian

BUTTERFLY--Broadway Market

CHICKEN RUN--Pacific Place, Uptown, Metro

LE DOULOS--Grand Illusion

LONG NIGHT'S JOURNEY INTO DAY--Varsity

ME, MYSELF AND IRENE--Meridian, Metro

SUNSHINE--Harvard Exit

DESPERATE LIVING--Grand Illusion

FREE RADIO--Independent Media Center

INDEPENDENT EXPOSURE--Speakeasy Backroom

LINDA'S SUMMER MOVIES--Linda's Tavern

MUSIC MAKES THE MOVIE --2nd Ave Pizza

THE NOMAD VIDEOFILM FESTIVAL--911 Media Arts

THE PILLOW BOOK--The Egyptian

SILENT FUNNIES--Little Theatre

STALKER--Consolidated Works

THE WEDDING SINGER--West Seattle Walk-In Cinema, Fremont Outdoor Cinema

Contempt; Invasion of the Body Snatchers; Kirikou and the Sorceress; The Most Terrible Time in My Life; The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle; The Perfect Storm

8 1/2 Women
All of Peter Greenaway's films depend less on human emotion than they do on a particularly fierce adherence to preordained patterns. Unlike earlier efforts, the humor in this film actually is intentional--vulgar to be sure, but a change for the better from the stifling seriousness of previous Greenaway films. Zealous in his pursuit of overriding patterns, however, the director forgets that patterns in themselves are meaningless, and do not make for fun filmgoing. (Bruce Reid) Broadway Market, Egyptian

Beau Travail
The latest from Claire Denis, inspired by Melville's Billy Budd. Reviewed this issue. Egyptian

The Big Kahuna
Kahuna, starring Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito as a couple of crappy salesmen, is a play adaptation, which means that the filmmakers face the eternal challenge: how to make three people talking for 90 minutes into an actual movie. They fail. (Sean Nelson) Uptown

Big Momma's House
In this weak comedy, Martin Lawrence plays the good guy, and handsome Terrence Howard, from The Best Man, plays the bad guy. Sexy Nia Long is the lover of a heartless bank robber. When she suddenly disappears, the FBI stakes out her Georgia grandmother's home, but when her grandmother is suddenly called out of town on an emergency, special agent Martin Lawrence assumes her role--her bed, her clothes, her big butt. True, it is a bad movie, but it is the most creative retelling of Little Red Riding Hood I have ever seen. (Charles Mudede) Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11

Bossa Nova
Watching this simple tale of a small group of people becoming entangled with one another is a task of sweet, comic relaxation. Set against the shocking mountains of Rio de Janeiro, everything leads to romance in this Latin film, and even the hospital room has a sweeping view of the Brazilian coast. (Paula Gilovich) Crest

Boys and Girls
With a title that covers just about everyone, this movie is sure to appeal to the entire human race. Starring the lovely Freddie Prinze Jr. as one of the boys (too bad!). Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Metro, Pacific Place 11

BUTTERFLY
Spain, 1936; a boy and his schoolteacher; politics interfere. Acting as good as the best of Hollywood, costumes and sets as textured, cinematography as radiant--and a moral vision just as banal. Could we please stop patting ourselves on the back for not being fascists? Someday you will insist that in the year 2000 you didn't know who was right and who was wrong, and your grandchildren will not believe you because the movies make it obvious. Nevertheless, this film is pretty. Fernando Fernan Gomez, the teacher, has great tact, and the script gives him intelligent lines to read. Director Jose Luis Cuerda gets a fine performance from the little boy. You could enjoy this movie, as I did, without buying into its simple-mindedness. (Barley Blair) Broadway Market

Center Stage
Center Stage, Hollywood's newest celebration of dance ("Dance!"), offers the usual story of underdog versus system, the strictures of ballet versus the creativity of modern dance, and love expressed via high art. (Traci Vogel) City Centre, Crest, Redmond Town Center

Chicken Run
The riveting spectacle of chickens fleeing their own Auschwitz. Reviewed this issue. Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center

*Desperate Living
Indubitably John Waters' finest work, Desperate Living (1977) stars Mink Stole as newly released mental patient Peggy Gravel and Jean Hill as her lethal fatbottomed maid, Grizelda. Following the accidental murder of Mr. Gravel--Grizelda sits on his face--the odd couple must escape to Mortville, a mythical shanty-town ruled by the vicious Queen Carlotta (Edith Massey). Waters never again equalled the sublime humor of this grotesque fairy tale. From nude-pogo-stick-jumping to the spectacle of Backwards Day, Desperate Living is, and I am not being ironic, a masterpiece. Fri-Sat June 23-24; see Stranger Movie Times for details. (Jamie Hook) Grand Illusion

Dinosaur
From the beginning of time, this has been the drama of the dinosaurs: They are oppressed by the mighty and terrifying Tyrannosaurus; they are always searching for water or a green paradise; their big eggs are always eaten or crushed just moments before they hatch; their social order is rigidly patriarchal; and they are always ignorant of their pending doom. (Charles Mudede) Factoria, Meridian 16, Metro, Redmond Town Center, Southcenter

Dolphins
Everyone knows that dolphins are the smartest animals on the planet; Dolphins proves they're the coolest as well. (Gillian G. Gaar) Pacific Science Center IMAX

Erin Brockovich
Despite having been directed by indie superstar Steven Soderbergh, Erin Brockovich is just what it is: another big-budget Hollywood film starring the dentiglorious spectacle that is Julia Roberts. (Charles Mudede) Crest

Everest
The first IMAX footage ever shot on top of the world. Pacific Science Center IMAX

EXTREME
Don't try this at home, folks. An entire film bursting and soaring with EXTREME sports, EXTREME risks, and the ULTIMATE in EXTREME challenges. Pacific Science Center IMAX

Fantasia 2000
The latest Walt Disney sweeping-animation-and-classical-music extravaganza. Cinerama, Grand Alderwood, Metro

The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas.
Another "live action" Flintstones film. I can barely feel a thing... this water is so warm and soothing... but it's getting awfully red... oh, well... Admiral

*Free Radio
Shot entirely on video, San Francisco filmmaker Kevin Keyser's smart, fascinating documentary about the phenomenon of "micropower broadcasting" is an exciting crash course on the history and current state of struggling, illegal indie radio stations across the country. The impressive group of free radio activists he rounded up tell their tales effectively, boast about their burgeoning successes, and vent about the greedy FCC. There's also the often funny sound bites from FCC reps and other suits, stuttering in official tones about "interference" and "potential dangers." Several experts respond with counterpoints about First Amendment rights and fighting corporate power--instantly inspiring you to flick on your little Realistic and search for the first tinny hints of a revolution taking place on the cramped airwaves. Fri June 23 (screened as part of a benefit for Studio X microradio). (Min Liao) Independent Media Center

*Fremont Outdoor Cinema
The original outdoor cinema is back for its last year in the much-loved Fremont Parking Lot, with a lineup of favorites through September. This week, Adam Sandler sports a respectable mullet in the otherwise unredeemable '80s flashback The Wedding Singer, with pre-show music from Maxx Average. Sat June 24 at 7, $5; call 767-2593 for details. Fremont Outdoor Cinema

Frequency
A hodgepodge about time travel; ham-radio enthusiasm; the hazards of firefighting; baseball; mother love; and a father-son tag-team tracking down a nurse-butchering psychopath. This utterly confused film is a perfect example of Hollywood's shameless tendency to pillage the graveyard for the spare parts of its own schmaltzy genres. (Rick Levin) City Centre

Gladiator
Director Ridley Scott tramps through the standard gladiator movie plot like a tipsy party host, embracing each and every cliché like a dear old friend. War hero General Maximus (Russell Crowe) falls into the hands of a slaver (the late Oliver Reed), and with the help of a former love and his rough-but-likable gladiator pals, seeks his revenge by finding glory within the Coliseum. (Tom Spurgeon) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Guild 45th, Lewis & Clark, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center

Gone in 60 Seconds
To protect his little brother from an injurious limey, master car thief Nicolas Cage comes out of retirement, recruiting his old friends help him steal 50 fancy cars in one night. The film is not actually good, but it's so much better than you expect it to be that it seems good, or feels good. (Sean Nelson) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Metro, Northgate, Pacific Place 11

*Grass
Grass, by Ron Mann, illustrates our government's continuing "War on Drugs"--a failed experiment that has cost this country hundreds of billions of dollars and landed thousands of poor, harmless hippies in the slammer for inhaling a plant that makes you giggle and eat Cherry Garciacolor="#FF0000">* ice cream. To its great credit, Grass won't let us take a bong hit and forget them. It demands that we not only remember, but use our votes to save others from their fate. (Tamara Paris) Crest, Varsity Calendar

GROOVE
Groove is a bad movie. Fortunately, a movie like this one--a movie about a scene, an urban subculture--works better if it is bad. Through the simplistic and transparent plots, we get to see the components and codes of a San Francisco rave. Most importantly, we hear real rave music. In this respect, the film is a success! (Charles Mudede) Neptune

*Hamlet
Michael Almereyda's new adaptation of Hamlet, starring Ethan Hawke of all people, is a thrilling surprise. The deft intrusions of contemporary life--Hamlet is an amateur film/videomaker; "to be or not to be" is spoken in a Blockbuster Video store, Hamlet surrounded by placards reading "ACTION"--play not as clever transpositions, but as perfect illustrations of the play's immortal truth and infinite mutability. (Sean Nelson) Varsity

*High Fidelity
A romantic comedy for guys. John Cusack plays the cynically introspective Rob Gordon, the owner of a small record store who, for various reasons, has shit luck with women. He's a jerk, basically: He struggles and obsesses and makes lists that he thinks define his life, but he's no closer to understanding women than he was in the fifth grade. (Kathleen Wilson) Broadway Market, Guild 45th

Independent Exposure
Blackchair Productions' monthly showcase of short film/video/digital cinema by a bevy of "undie" filmmakers returns this month with its Best of 2000 edition, which includes the standouts from the season so far. Thurs. June 22. See showtimes for more info. (Sean Nelson) Speakeasy

*Island of the Sharks
There are SHARKS on the IMAX screen, and they're rickety RAW! Pacific Science Center

*Keeping the Faith
Any film that begins with a drunken priest staggering through the streets of New York and tumbling into a garbage pile is automatically fine by me. Edward Norton (who also directed) is the drunky priest and Ben Stiller is a confused rabbi. (Kathleen Wilson) City Centre

Le Doulos
Jean-Pierre Melville's 1961 homage to John Huston's Asphalt Jungle. Reviewed this issue. Grand Illusion

*LINDA'S SUMMER MOVIES
Back again for a sixth season, it's the original outdoor drinking/film-watching extravaganza, presented, as always, FOR FREE!! By the time the plot falls apart, you'll be too drunk to care!! This week showcases the best in terrible '70s animation, with poorly rendered classics from Banana Splits, Josie and the Pussycats, and Groovy Ghoulies. Wed, June 28. See Stranger Movie Times for details. Linda's Tavern

Long Night's Journey Into Day
Long Night's Journey documents the difficult task of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Reviewed this issue. Varsity Calendar

LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST
Kenneth Branagh, the world's leading effete ponce, takes a minor Shakespeare comedy and makes it a musical. The problem: His actors can't really sing very well. The other problem: They're not really such great actors either. A third problem: The story is dumb. Despite one or two moments that seemed memorable at the time but which I now can't remember, LLL is a colossal, self-satisfied abortion of a film. (Sean Nelson) Harvard Exit

Me, Myself and Irene
Jim Carrey is a gross man in this gross film by, the Farrelly Brothers. Reviewed this issue. Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center

Michael Jordan to the MAX
See the greatest basketball player in history as nature intended: on a 3,500-square-foot movie screen! Seattle IMAX Dome Theatre

*Mission: Impossible 2
I loved this movie. I loved the vertiginous helicopter swoops as Tom Cruise scales an impossibly sheer cliff; I loved the profligate back flips in the fight choreography; I loved the preposterous motorcycle chase/joust. But most of all, I loved the giddy sense of hyperbole and spectacle. It may not last too long after the credits roll, but pleasures like this aren't meant to. (Sean Nelson) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree

*MUSIC MAKES THE MOVIE
2nd Ave Pizza's summer mini-festivals (always FREE!) continue with this collection of effectively scored cinema, including From Mad To Mozart (1980), Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989), the Lynch-errific Fire Walk With Me (1992), and Fellini's classic La Dolce Vita (1960). Thurs-Sat June 22-24; see Stranger Movie Times for details. 2nd Ave Pizza

The Nomad Videofilm Festival
A touring festival of experimental short film and video, curated by Antero Alli and Sylvie Pickering. This year's festival focuses on "docudramas, mocumentaries, docufictions, and media hybrids," including David Schmoeller's Please Kill Mr. Kinski. Sat June 24; see Stranger Movie Times for details. 911 Media Arts

The Pillow Book
Its title taken from the 10th-century diary The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, Peter Greenaway's visually dazzling yet ultimately distracted 1995 film follows a Japanese woman's search for lovers/calligraphers worthy of serving as her writing surface. While the beauty of the nearly 4,000-year-old ritual is stunning, the great deal of time spent lingering on it constricts any story development. Starring Vivian Wu and Ewan McGregor's genitals. Fri-Sat June 23-24; see Stranger Movie Times for details. (Jason Pagano) Egyptian

Return to Me
A guy (David Duchovny) falls for a girl (Minnie Driver) who has received his dead wife's heart in a transplant. No, really. Admiral

*Road Trip
Road Trip takes the 15-minute road-trip sequence from Animal House and expands it to feature length. In this case, "University of Ithaca" college student Josh (Breckin Meyer) accidentally mails his long-distance girlfriend Tiffany a videotape of him having sex with another woman, forcing him and a trio of college buddies to drive 1,800 miles to recover it. (Eric Fredericksen) Aurora Cinema Grill, Meridian 16, Redmond Town Center

Rules of Engagement
When a movie is titled Rules of Engagement, I'm there. Too bad this one implodes like a giant star after a promising start. In the end, we are left with nothing--absolutely nothing. (Charles Mudede) Admiral

Shaft
Some say Shaft is a black hero, but how can one support a hero who is little more than a crude, black male fantasy of power? John Singleton's Shaft is uninspired; it just pushes black macho beyond the limit of good taste and utility. The way Shaft brutally beats up the drug-dealing teenager with the butt of his gun, the way he calmly guns down the Latino gang members, or nearly kills the judge with his badge, it's a little too much, you will agree. (Charles Mudede) Reviewed this issue. Factoria, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center

Shanghai Noon
Even the presence of Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson can't save this revisionist Western action comedy from the musty odor of the second-rate. Wilson and his co-star are to be credited for occasionally rising above the material, but there are much better ways to spend a summer afternoon. (Tom Spurgeon) Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center, Varsity

*Silent Funnies
A treat for those who are sick and tired of Disney's pristine, computer-heavy, too-perfect characters. This batch of rare silent shorts are derived from early-20th-century comic strips, and boast silly appearances from retro characters like Krazy Kat, Felix the Cat, Mutt & Jeff, Little Nemo, Gurtie the Dinosaur, and Andy Gump and the Family. Thurs-Sun June 22-25; see Stranger Movie Times for details. Little Theatre

The Skulls
When Joshua Jackson (Pacey from Dawson's Creek) joins the secretest secret society on campus, the Skulls, he thinks all his troubles will be over. Think again. (Andy Spletzer) Admiral

Small Time Crooks
Woody Allen's 2000 entry is one of his unambitious, hoping-only-to-amuse movies. Too bad it's unoriginal, not very amusing, and a near waste of some of this world's greatest comic talent: Tracey Ullman, Elaine May, and Jon Lovitz. (Eric Fredericksen) Aurora Cinema Grill, Meridian 16, Seven Gables

*Stalker
Tarkovsky's endless, ultimately flabbergasting sci-fi epic, Stalker follows three nomads into "the zone," a depopulated wasteland that is rumored to contain a room which enables fantasies to come true. Hypnotically slow, allegorical in the extreme, and ruthlessly long, Stalker nevertheless rightfully stands as one among Tarkovsky's many masterpieces for its complete and utter devotion to the inscrutable image. Impossible on video--see it on the big screen if you intend to see it at all. (Jamie Hook) Consolidated Works

SUNSHINE
When I spoke to sexy Deborah Unger, who stars in this movie, she had this to say: "When you see actors like Rosemary Harris, Ralph Fiennes, and William Hurt doing inspiring work you think, 'Shit, the audience would love this!' But you can't ask an audience to sit there for three hours; they have to be able to get up, stretch their legs, and enjoy themselves. We don't have fun in theaters anymore. People used to go in, have a cigarette, [and were] much more lively. My grandmother was an usherette, and they used to smoke and chitter chatter, and bring in their food. Unfortunately it is such a sterile environment now. I think the experience of this film has triggered these thoughts in me." (Charles Mudede) Harvard Exit

Titan AE
Titan AE (After Earth) was about--well, we didn't exactly see it because our editor didn't tell us the right theater to go to for the press screening. Anyway, we think it's about the end of Earth and how humans survive in the galaxy, but we don't know what it's really about, or how many stars it gets. We're guessing about three. From the commercial, the animation looks really cool; some things even look real. (Sam & Maggie, Crack 9-year-old Reviewers) Factoria, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center

U-571
One of the most important turning points in World War II was the Allied capture of the German code machine, Enigma. U-571 is an attempt to show us modern folks what this dramatic event must have been like. Better you should watch Das Boot. (Juan-Carlos Rodriguez) Aurora Cinema Grill, Meridian 16, Uptown

*The Virgin Suicides
The most consistent element of The Virgin Suicides is a steady stream of images that echo the feminine-hygiene commercials of the 1970s. Considering the material--five teenage sisters growing up in a repressive home and headed for funerals rather than graduations--the lightness of touch is surprising. (Monica Drake) Broadway Market

*WEST SEATTLE WALK-IN CINEMA
West Seattle's own version of al fresco cinema and family fun is in full swing for the summer, with films, shorts, live music, and contests. See Stranger Suggests for Fri June 23. West Seattle Walk-In Cinema