The Sorrow and the Pity, The Girl Next Door, The Way of the Gun, The Watcher, Nurse Betty, Solomon and Gaenor, Love and Sex

An Affair of Love
Formerly A Pornographic Affair. Why'd they change the title? Opens Fri Sept 1; see review this issue.

Art in the Struggle for Freedom
A film by Spanish Civil War veteran Abe Osheroff, followed by a discussion of the prose and poetry inspired by the Spanish conflict. Thurs Aug 31 only. Richard Hugo House

Black Tar Heroin
Steve Okazaki's documentary follows five young addicts over two years, and "makes Trainspotting look like an afterschool special." (Newsweek) Opens Thurs Aug 31; see Stranger Suggests. Little Theatre

Highlander: Endgame
A riveting documentary about the Scottish pastime of caber tossing. Opens Fri Sept 1. Metro

Madadayo
Akira Kurosawa's final film. Opens Fri Sept 1; see review this issue. Grand Illusion

Psycho Beach Party
This surfy psychedelic frolic features the arresting spectacle of men dressed as women. Opens Fri Sept 1; see review this issue. Egyptian

*STANLEY KUBRICK FESTIVAL
The chilly perfectionism of Stanley Kubrick--the years of meticulous preplanning, the legendary demand on take after take after take, the laser clarity of his camera work--led some to dismiss him as a misanthropist; but it always seemed touchingly defensive to me, as if the director had to force a distance between himself and his subjects less they swallow him whole. Could a small-minded hater of all humans have made the nightmare of family dysfunction in The Shining so hilarious and terrifying in its evenhandedness, or faked the admiring sympathy for Humbert Humbert that animates his Lolita? Dr. Strangelove and Full Metal Jacket are comic screams against the dehumanizing mechanizations of military life; and the final masterpiece, Eyes Wide Shut, positively glows with concern for the hero's introspective journey. Okay, there is the relentlessly nasty A Clockwork Orange, more juvenile and smugly self-righteous with each passing year; but the director himself wisely kept his distance from that one. Opens Fri Sept 1. (Bruce Reid) Varsity Calendar

This is Spinal Tap
Smell the Glove once again with David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel, and Derek Smalls. Fri-Sat Sept 1-2. Egyptian

The Tic Code
Gregory Hines stars as a saxophonist coping with Tourette's syndrome in this film that is begging you to love it. Opens Fri Sept 1.

Toy Story & Toy Story 2
It's pajama party night at the Fremont Outdoor Cinema and West Seattle Walk-In. This week: Woody and Buzz take on issues of death and collectability in a back-to-back screening. Fri Sept 1 (West Seattle), Sat Sept 2 (Fremont). Fremont Outdoor Cinema, West Seattle Walk-In Cinema

Whipped
Amanda Peet stars in this story about everyone's favorite style of cooked potato. Opens Fri Sept 1. Metro

*The Art of War
This is a dazzling film. A dizzying film. It's structure is so baroque, so complex, so color-bright that its totally incomprehensible. All we understand and enjoy is the fluid movements of the hero (Wesley Snipes) through underground sex clubs, rainy streets, corporate lobbies, office spaces, and cyberspace. Vertiginous, delirious, unstable, beautiful--this is the best action film you'll watch this year. You'll not, however, understand it. So far, all I can make out of its colors, moody moments, and flows is that China finally agrees to open its large market to the world, but some American right-wingers don't want this to happen, so they trick a dashing and loyal UN operative into sabotaging the deal of the millennium. Depending on how you interpret the hyperbolic ending, it is possible that they succeeded and our hero failed, died, and went to heaven. (Charles Mudede) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Metro, Northgate, Pacific Place 11

Autumn in New York
The most compelling question this movie begs is not one about the moral solvency of having sex with someone young enough to be your daughter, it's the one about the moral solvency of having sex with your daughter. You see it, and tell me Ryder's character, Charlotte, isn't Gere's character's daughter. Ewww. It's too bad the film is so, just, gross, cause it's a good movie otherwise. Of course, you put a camera anywhere in New York in October, stick two people in front of it kissing, and you've got a decent film. It's just so pretty there in the fall. (Jamie Hook) Aurora Cinema Grill, Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro, Redmond Town Center

Bless the Child
The Christ child has been snatched by Scientologists! Quick! Call in the hardened homicide detective who dropped out of the seminary! Hire interns to animate flying spooks! Lurk around a casting call for the next Street Fighter CD-ROM and hire anybody with a facial piercing! Lure Christina Ricci into playing a junkie who gets decapitated four minutes into the movie! Hurry, there's little time left! (Tamara Paris) Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center

*Bring it On
The cheerleading movie that somehow manages to be so much more than the assfest promised in the commercials. See Stranger Suggests. Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center

But I'm a Cheerleader
Shorts director Jamie Babbitt's feature debut is a disappointment--strenuous stuff that seldom rises above frail, second-rate camp. There should be a few more inspired laughs in its tale of Megan (Natasha Lyonne), a top-notch student cheerleader thought to be lesbian who's sent to a camp where homosexuality is "cured." (Ray Pride) Broadway Market

Cecil B. Demented
Armed with guns, a 16mm camera, and an Otto Preminger tattoo, Cecil and his crew kidnap Hollywood starlet Melanie Griffith and force her to appear in their underground opus, about the revenge unleashed upon Baltimore theaters by a ragtag group of cineastes disgruntled by the commercial failure of a Pasolini festival. The plot and locale should have keyed you that we're in John Waters territory. This is the director's most gleefully anarchic work in years--aided mightily by Griffith's smart self-caricature--and if the film's characters aren't seen with the same indulgent fondness Waters displays in his best films, it's still a suitably ridiculous delight. (Bruce Reid) Neptune

The Cell
The succulent Jennifer Lopez and the ever-more dissolute Vince Vaughn disappear into the mind of serial killer Vincent D'Onofrio, who is building an interesting career exploiting his rubbery anonymity. The stunning visuals are lifted whole from Damien Hirst, Mathew Barney, The Bros. Quay, and others, but remain creepily potent. (Tamara Paris) Factoria, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center, Varsity

*Chicken Run
Chicken Run is about chickens trying to escape. It is very funny and exciting; each chicken has a great sense of humor and is weird. It all starts when Rocky the Chicken comes blasting over the fence and everybody thinks he can fly. Meanwhile, something fishy is going on--Mrs. Tweedy (the farmer's wife) has a machine that lets the chickens go in and pies come out. The chickens do whatever they can to resist becoming pies. (Sam Lachow & Maggie Brown) Meridian 16, Metro, Redmond Town Center

*Chuck & Buck
Miguel Arteta's gay-stalker romantic comedy is a film about identity, about self-image and comfort, about how our actions define us and how those definitions in turn make us act. A worthy centerpiece at the current banquet of independent film, Chuck & Buck is an excellent, original, subversive, and artistic film. (Jamie Hook) Uptown

Coyote Ugly
You know what? Coyote Ugly is not that bad at all. I'm going to list all the great things about this latest "Jerry Bruckheimer feel-good flick": 1) Melanie Lynskey (who plays the "goofy best friend") does a fabulous New Jersey accent. 2) John Goodman is adorable as Funny Dad. 3) There is a cute cat in one of the scenes. 4) The outfits are pretty. (Min Liao) Aurora Cinema Grill, Metro, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center, Southcenter

The Crew
Scorsese's Goodfellas get skewered (but good) in this rude romp about a quartet of aging gangsters limping along in retirement in Miami, who accidentally slip back into the "life" with ridiculous complications. Richard Dreyfuss, Dan Hedeya, Seymour Cassel, and the perversely sexy Burt Reynolds tear up the screen like the professional movie stars they still are, obviously enjoying both each other and a script as tight as the skin stretched across a stripper's silicone titties. It's well worth the price of admission! Squeak! Squeak! (Tamara Paris) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree

*Croupier
A bottle-blond exponent of God's lonely man takes a job in a private London casino and gets embroiled in some serious heist-related trouble. Mike Hodges, who directed the semi-obscure British new wave classic Get Carter, brings grace and severity to what could have just been neo-pulp. Instead, like the best pulp, Croupier becomes high lowbrow, thanks to a seasoned director's eye for detail, pneumatics, and sexy actors. (Sean Nelson) Varsity

Disney's The Kid
If you are a middle-aged, wealthy, white man, it's probable that the horrible things you've done to others during your ruthless climb to the top have caused you to suffer from a painfully abscessed guilt complex. To end your suffering, it will be necessary to either hire a professional dominatrix to flay the hide right off your miserable carcass or see Disney's The Kid, yet another switcheroo movie about an aging robber baron achieving redemption by literally massaging his inner child. (Tamara Paris) Grand Alderwood

Dolphins
One square mile of the Atlantic Ocean. Ten bottlenosed dolphins. Every moment captured on video. No outside world contact. No luxuries. Who'll outlast the others to win $500,000? Pacific Science Center IMAX

The Eruption of Mount St. Helens
One volcano. Ten seismologists. Every moment captured on video. No outside world contact. No luxuries. Who'll outlast the others to win $500,000? Omnidome

Everest
One world's tallest mountain. Ten sherpas. Every moment captured on video. No outside world contact. No luxuries. Who'll outlast the others to win $500,000? Pacific Science Center IMAX

Extreme
One half-pipe. Ten guys named Lance. Every moment captured on video. No outside world contact. No luxuries. Who'll outlast the others to win $500,000? Pacific Science Center IMAX

*The Eyes of Tammy Faye
This hilarious, disturbing film is not exactly a mockumentary, but a strange new hybrid--a mocking documentary. Boasting faux solemn narration by RuPaul and a vertiable Greek chorus of sock puppets, the filmmakers glibly attempt to manipulate and humiliate their subject. But as her tragically funny tale unfolds, something unexpected occurs--Tammy Faye transcends our expectations. (Tamara Paris) Broadway Market

The Five Senses
Writer/director Jeremy Podeswa has placed a self-conscious title on an unselfconscious film, the virtues of which far exceed the formal detail referred to in the title. True, the masseuse, the man going deaf, the baker of cakes, the man with the sensitive sniffer, and the ophthalmologist account for each physical sense, but the film isn't about senses at all; it's about sensuality beyond the senses... a delicate, lovely portrayal of the spaces between people. (Evan Sult) Harvard Exit

*Girl on the Bridge
A ravishing, breezily paced tale of amour fou, Girl on the Bridge stars Daniel Auteuil as a Svengali-like knife-thrower who meets his perfect foil in Vanessa Paradis' Adele. What makes the film great, though, is Leconte's feel for the effect of place on people: The roads are beckoning, Monte Carlo is impulsive, and Istanbul is confusion itself. Auteuil is never less than his dour self, and Paradis--a gap-toothed woman, it's worth noting--is stunning throughout. (Jamie Hook) Guild 45th

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) is stripped of his position by a scheming new Caesar (Joaquin Phoenix). Escaping too late to save his family, Maximus falls into the hands of a slaver, and with the help of a former love, seeks his revenge by finding glory within the Coliseum. (Tom Spurgeon) Admiral, Crest

Godzilla 2000
A stumbling mime in a kick-ass rubber monster suit battles a 65 million year-old silver nasal inhaler. Godzilla, after a bout of anorexia and a makeover into an enormous iguana (in the unfortunate movie that need not be named) is back with a vengeance in this pitch-perfect homage. Go with kids, go with film theorists, go with Japanese exchange students--but go, go, go, go, go, Godzilla! (Tamara Paris) Aurora Cinema Grill, Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Redmond Town Center

*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, but he's not altogether clueless about his jerkiness. (Kathleen Wilson) Admiral, Crest

Hollow Man
Kevin Bacon delivers another fine, nuanced performance as the megalomaniacal scientist who uses his newfound invisibility to act out his sick, twisted sexual desires. Hey, it's a Paul Verhoeven film... what did you expect? Not a good time, I hope. (Bruce Reid) Grand Alderwood, Pacific Place 11

Michael Jordan to the MAX
One basketball superstar. Ten endorsement deals. Every moment captured on video. No outside world contact. No luxuries. Who'll outlast the others to win $500,000? Seattle IMAX Dome Theatre

*Mission: Impossible 2
Criticizing the finer points of movies like Mission: Impossible 2 is like picking gnat shit out of pepper. I loved this movie. 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 that coarsed through the whole enterprise. (Sean Nelson) City Centre, Crest

Mysteries of Egypt
One sacred tomb. Ten mummified pharoahs. Every moment captured on video. No outside world contact. No luxuries. Who'll outlast the others to win $500,000? Omnidome

Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps
Eddie Murphy deserves some kind of special award for playing six characters, all of whom interact with (and even perform oral sex on) one another, but the screenwriters deserve to be banished for all the lame gross-out jokes that litter the story. (Bradley Steinbacher) Aurora Cinema Grill, Grand Alderwood, Pacific Place 11

The Original Kings of Comedy
True comedic greats have an ability, much as great drummers have, to maintain a solid underlying rhythm while impetuously improvising the tempo and pace, and the fusion of the two dynamics must appear effortless at all times. The Kings, on the other hand, toil and labor for every laugh, for every moment of comedic sincerity. For the neutral looking to experience royalty, there is nothing here that HBO or Comedy Central will not readily offer, minus the price of admission. (Kudzai Mudede) Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16

The Perfect Storm
In its favor, The Perfect Storm has two superlatives: George Clooney and some fine, boiling seas. Unfortunately, the film itself--fraught with ham-fisted drama; painfully stupid dialogue; downright insulting characterizations; and some of the worst accent coaching ever--is awful. (Jamie Hook) Aurora Cinema Grill, Pacific Place 11

The Replacements
So I had lots of wine, and what do I think about this fucking film? It's impossible to believe that all that money went into it. Now my parents were in town from Africa last week, and they told me things are getting worse, people are hungry and starving. Well, what does this have to do with this film? Waste! That's what. Waste. Waste of time, waste of food. Waste of money. (Charles Mudede) Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Oak Tree

The Sadist
Though it's never had much cachet even among devotees of cult films, the 1963 exploitation feature The Sadist (or Face of Terror, as the print being shown was retitled) turns out to be a smart, surprising original. The villain, nakedly inspired by Charlie Starkweather (source also for Terrence Malick's Badlands), is wretchedly overacted by the legendarily awful Arch Hall, Jr.; but the excellent black-and-white photography and elegant compositions can be credited to the brilliant cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (here credited as an Anglicized William), and writer/director James Landis crafted a sharp, perspective study of coincidence and chance--and the fatal results of letting them slip through your fingers. Fri-Sat Sept 1-2. (Bruce Reid) Grand Illusion

Saving Grace
If you've seen a Cheech and Chong film, you've seen every gag here: absentminded cops oblivious to the cloud of smoke around an acquaintance's head; balding, potbellied hippies lighting up to the strains of a sitar; two sweet old ladies, inadvertently stoned and gorging themselves on candy bars. If these situations sound remotely amusing to you, you might as well go. (Bruce Reid) Grand Alderwood, Guild 45th, Uptown

Scary Movie
Scary Movie is largely a satire of the Scream films--which are already satires (go figure). Though it certainly has some knee-slappers, most of the infantile jokes simply go on way too long. (Melody Moss) Meridian 16, Redmond Town Center

*Shower
Contrary to what the lady's bottom in the advertisement promises, this film is populated almost exclusively by melancholic old men who predictably complain about youth and argue amongst themselves. Wonderfully cast, well scripted, and lovingly filmed, Shower is comfort food for the cinema--bland, but soothing. (Jamie Hook) Seven Gables

Space Cowboys
Alongside voting and worrying about your body, one of your duties as an American is to see every Clint Eastwood film released, regardless of individual failures, hyperbole, plot holes, or any other mitigating factors whatsoever. He alone has earned that right. Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center

Steal This Movie
The charismatic clown Abbie Hoffman, who vitalized the leftist movement in the '60s, is unfairly remembered now merely for going underground for six years to escape prosecution for a drug bust that was the culmination of nearly a decade of invasive and unconstitutional persecution by the CIA's infamous agent of Fascism, the Cointelpro. He deserves a film as funny, sexy, and controversial as his life. Though Janeanne Garofalo and Vincent D'Onofrio give it their best, this, unfortunately, is not it. (Tamara Paris) Uptown

T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous
One 100-million year period of the Mesozoic Era. Ten Tyrannosaurs. Every moment captured on video. No outside world contact. No luxuries. Who'll outlast the others to win $500,000? Pacific Science Center IMAX

The Tao of Steve
Chunky, attitudinal Dex teaches kindergarten. He's great with women and drifting a decade out of college when an old college friend shows up and doesn't fall for his line. Hyperarticulate and hypersexed, Dex must learn the meaning of his words and his heart. Funny stuff. (Ray Pride) Harvard Exit

Thomas and the Magic Railroad
Of all the villainous acts committed by the evil diesel locomotive, none is as blasphemous as when he mocks a verse from "I've Been Working on the Railroad". All right, no one gets sent off to hard labor, and it's not like there are signs hanging around reading "Arbeit macht frei"; but can't anybody, even a little blue steam engine, dream of doing more than just hauling coal around all day? (Bruce Reid) Meridian 16

What Lies Beneath
A well-preserved pair of thoroughbred movie stars find that all is not well in their gorgeous New England home, what with the dead girl in the tub and all. The whole damn thing is ripped right out of the Hitchcock how-to manual, so of course it succeeds fantastically at its admittedly simple goal: scaring you so badly you throw your popcorn all over the people in the row behind you. (Tamara Paris) Grand Alderwood, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree

The Woman Chaser
The Woman Chaser takes a decent 1960 Charles Willeford L.A. noir novel about a 1950s wannabe film director who loses his mind and makes a spoofy hash of it. Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld's Puddy) gives it his chunky all, but it's not enough to bring life into this drearily scripted and clunkily directed item. (Dig those bongo drums!) (Ray Pride) Crest

*X-Men
Were I still an active participant in the X-Family, I'd probably soil myself with delight. Most of the main characters are dead-on. Cyclops (James Marsden) is a total prig, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is badass, and it's obvious why they'd gut each other just to kiss the lovely Jean Gray (Famke Janssen). Beyond that, the action is thrilling, the effects stunning, and the story generally satisfying. In short, it's just what comic-book fans want from a comic-book film. (Jamie S. Rich) Cinerama, Factoria, Metro, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center