AUTUMN TALE -- Broadway Market
DROP DEAD GORGEOUS -- Uptown, Metro, Grand
Alderwood, Woodinville
THE HAUNTING -- Metro, others
INSPECTOR GADGET -- Pacific Place, Metro,
Woodinville, Grand Alderwood
THE BRITISH INVASION -- The Henry Art Gallery
CALL FOR EXTRAS -- Seattle Center
CHILDREN'S FILM SERIES -- Grand Illusion
EASY RIDER -- Fremont Friday Outdoors
GLENN OR GLENDA -- Grand Illusion
IMPRESSIONIST FRIDAYS -- Seattle Art Museum
INDEPENDENT EXPOSURE -- Speakeasy
JEANNE AND THE PERFECT GUY -- Little Theatre
LINDA'S SUMMER MOVIES -- Linda's Tavern
PRESTON STURGES MINI-FEST -- Seattle Art
Museum
PRIVATE CONFESSIONS -- Varsity Calendar
REDNECK PARTY -- Fremont Outdoor Cinema
SCREENWRITER'S WORKSHOP -- Alibi Room
THE UNDERGROUND ORCHESTRA -- Varsity
Calendar
YEAR 2000 DOUBLE FEATURE -- Grand Illusion
July 30 -- Runaway Bride, The Dinner Game, Mystery Men, Deep Blue Sea, The Third Man, La Marie du Port
'
August 6 -- My Life So Far, The Iron Giant, The Thomas Crown Affair, Trick, Cabaret Balkan, The Adopted Son, The Sixth Sense
*AFTER LIFE -- Hirokazu Kore-eda (Maborosi) examines the possibility of an in-between place between heaven and earth -- the post-death, pre-afterlife waiting room where new arrivals on the cusp of eternity must somehow select one memory from their whole lives to take with them before passing on. Thurs July 22 at 4:30, 7, 9:30. Varsity Calendar
ALASKA: SPIRIT OF THE WILD -- More of a nature documentary than a ghost story. Omnidome
AMAZON -- Follow an ethnobotanist through the lush rainforests of the Andes and along the rough-and-tumble Amazon River! Learn about exotic animals, medicinal plants, and Indian shamanism! Amazon's IMAX quality and the Omnidome screen vs. a back issue of National Geographic... you decide. Omnidome
AMERICAN PIE -- The story should be familiar to anyone who came of age in the '80s: Four high school seniors make a pact to lose their virginity before they graduate. Jim (Jason Biggs) is a chronic masturbator who must suffer through embarrassing sex education lectures from his dad (Eugene Levy); Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) has been dating Vicky (Tara Reid) for a while, but hasn't had sex with her yet; Oz (Chris Klein) is a lacrosse-playing jock who's told he needs to be more sensitive, so he joins the chorus; and Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is a sophisticate who's not above planting a little gossip in order to improve his chances with the ladies. Basically, it's Porky's, but updated to include a pro-female orgasm message. (Andy Spletzer) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11
ARLINGTON ROAD -- Arlington Road imagines a new horror -- that of the amoral, indistinguishably suburban menace to American civilization -- in a fierce, winner-take-all game of intelligence between an academic (Jeff Bridges, who is passionate and super-paranoid) and an architect (Tim Robbins, who is Satan with a smile). It all begins when the paranoiac suspects that his neighbor in a bland suburb with green lawns and soccer moms happens to be Satan. The paranoiac also suspects that Satan has an elaborate plan to blow up a government building. And guess what? He's right. But nobody believes him (indeed the very condition and definition of being paranoid). Visually, the film is at times stunning and on the "cutting edge" (especially the opening of the movie); but dramatically, the leads are severely mismatched: One can appreciate Tim Robbins as morally bankrupt nice guy, but no one will ever believe that he is Satan. (Charles Mudede) Meridian 16, Metro, Redmond Town Center
AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME -- I have to admit, this movie cracked me up. A big, sloppy comedy chock full of nonsense jokes, sexual innuendo, and scatological humor, The Spy Who Shagged Me was obviously edited to keep in the favorite bits of Mike Myers and director Jay Roach. The story? Dr. Evil and his feral, midget clone, "Mini-Me," go back in time to steal Austin's libidinous power source, his mojo. A mojo-less Austin also goes back in time, where he meets American CIA agent Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham, in a performance more sexy than inspired). Meanwhile, Scott Evil continues to search for approval from a father who doesn't believe he's evil enough. Plot is not the point, however -- surreal comedy is. Biggest surprise: Rob Lowe, as the young Number Two, does a great Robert Wagner impersonation. (Andy Spletzer) Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro, Redmond Town Center
AUTUMN TALE -- The last film in director Eric Rhoemer's brilliant Four Seasons series. Reviewed this issue. Broadway Market
BIG DADDY -- Adam Sandler plays Sonny Koufax, a smart guy with a dumb life, who finds himself very attached to the five-year-old son of his roommate Kevin (Jon Stewart), who doesn't believe the kid is his. When Kevin goes on an extended business trip to China, Sonny basically adopts the kid, while everybody around him thinks he should give him up to a foster family. After many pee jokes, puke gags, and the ever-popular "bachelor using the kid to pick up women" ploy, the movie rolls to its predictable ending. (Kathleen Wilson) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11
*THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT -- If the desert is a place for delirium, the forest is the place for panic, and panic is exactly what this stunning and extremely unsettling new film is all about -- panic charged by the fear of the unseen, of unreason, of the monster lurking behind the trees, the spirits among the leaves, the dead under the stones, the souls in the river. The premise for the film is this: In 1994, while shooting a documentary on the myth of "The Blair Witch," three film students mysteriously disappeared in the woods. The missing trio included director Heather Donahue (who, like the rest of the cast, uses her real name in the film), sound engineer Michael Williams, and cameraman Joshua Leonard. A year later, their video and film cameras, along with the footage, are found in the basement of an abandoned home, and the footage has been put together into the film you are watching. The Blair Witch Project is effective not only because of the woods, but because the film seems real. Too real, even. (Charles Mudede) Neptune
THE BRITISH INVASION -- From July 22-Aug 26, the Henry Art Gallery will be screening a handful of '60s British cinema, from comedies to classics to experimental films. Selected scenes from Monty Python's And Now For Something Completely Different will start off the series, following a lecture by Dennis Crompton. Thurs July 22 at 7:30, Henry Art Gallery Auditorium; pay what you wish. Henry Art Gallery
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB -- While scoring Wim Wenders' 1997 film The End of Violence, Ry Cooder gave him a copy of a tape he made with the Cuban "super-group," the Buena Vista Social Club. Wenders was instantly won over. When Cooder returned to produce another album, Wenders came with him, and brought a film crew along for the ride. With no script to follow, the story unfolds naturally. The camera leisurely cruises the streets of Havana, picking up bits and pieces. A story develops that mirrors the let's-put-on-a-show scenario of the Mickey Rooney/ Judy Garland films, with a triumphant climax at Carnegie Hall. Winner of this year's Golden Space Needle for Best Documentary. (Gillian G. Gaar) Broadway Market
CALL FOR EXTRAS -- Here's your chance to get discovered! New Line Cinema is calling for movie extras to participate in a big scene for A Leonard Cohen Afterworld, a film about two young men from Las Vegas who arrive in Seattle in 1994, just as Kurt Cobain's memorial is occurring. Just show up with your friends at the Seattle Center Fountain on Fri, July 23 at 2. Wear flannel, bring candles. Extra work is boring and uneventful, so be patient. Call 1-800-958-2544 for more details. Seattle Center
*CHILDREN'S FILM SERIES -- The Grand Illusion's Children's Summer Film Series continues with the '50s sci-fi flick The Day the Earth Stood Still (Thurs July 22 at 11 am, 1; Sun July 25 at 1, 3). Then comes a charming new film from New Zealand called The End of the Golden Weather, which is reviewed in this current issue (Tues, Thurs July 27, 29 at 11 am, 1). $3.50 kids/$5 grown-ups. Grand Illusion
DROP DEAD GORGEOUS -- An excessively unfunny fake documentary about a small town's beauty pageant. Like Fargo meets Miss Firecracker, only bad. Reviewed this issue. Uptown, Metro, Grand Alderwood, Woodinville
EASY RIDER -- Fremont's second al fresco cinema series takes place underneath the Aurora Bridge. All films will be presented with digital projection and sound -- which is a good thing, since the counterculture classic Easy Rider is being shown this Friday night. You might've been stoned the first time you saw it, but you won't miss a thing this time around. Fri July 23 at dusk, $5. Fremont Friday Outdoors
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
EYES WIDE SHUT -- Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman star in one of the most anticipated -- rumored to be the sexiest -- movies of the summer. Directed by the late Stanley Kubrick. Reviewed this issue. Factoria, Guild 45th, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center
THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER -- Simon "Con Air" West's new "thriller" pretends to be about the importance of women to the armed forces. It features the graphic rape of a female captain, a brutal, fetishistic murder, and the idea that anything outside the missionary position can only be the result of emotional scarring. John Travolta spends his time questioning the kind of suspects who spill the beans after five minutes of scrutiny, and Madeleine Stowe is around to assure us that Travolta is heterosexual. (Steve Wiecking) Meridian 16, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center, Southcenter, Varsity
GLENN OR GLENDA -- Oddball film legend Bela Lugosi narrates this 1953 Ed Wood film about (what else?) a boy who loves playing dress-up with lipstick and skirts. The perfect initiation into the pink angora world of Ed Wood, cross-dressing director extraordinaire. Fri-Sat July 23-24 at 11:45. Grand Illusion
THE HAUNTING -- Jan De Bont (Speed 2: Cruise Control) takes a creepy premise about a haunted house and fills it with cheesy digital effects. Starring Lili Taylor (slumming, of course). Metro
*THE HOLE -- Tsai Ming-liang's (Vive L'Amour) pre-millennial portrayal of Taiwan examines the odd possibilities and scenarios of cramped, urban living in a disintegrating building, with the occasional musical number. Thurs July 22 at 5, 7, 9. Grand Illusion
AN IDEAL HUSBAND -- Just what we needed, another British period piece dealing with class issues. Yawn. Sir Robert Chiltern (Jeremy Northam) is an upstanding politician being blackmailed by Mrs. Cheveley (Julianne Moore). Mean-while, a comedy of matchmaking is going on between secondary characters played by Minnie Driver and Rupert Everett. Everyone in the movie seems like they're play-acting at being high society folks. (Andy Spletzer) Grand Alderwood, Harvard Exit, Seven Gables
IMPRESSIONIST FRIDAYS -- The exhibit lingers on, but SAM's Impressionist-art-inspired film screenings come to a close this week with A Sunday in the Country (1984). Written and directed by Bertrand Tavernier, the film sweeps in on a day in the life of an old countryside painter and his assorted family members. Fri July 23 at 7:30, $6; call 654-3121 for more details. Seattle Art Museum
*INDEPENDENT EXPOSURE -- For short films, sometimes the simplest idea works best, like watching a mechanical hamster tool around a kitchen in one of those hamster balls, or a point-of-view film about a dog who likes to grab a rubber steak and be swung around and around and around, or a story of a sock monkey's fall into depression, drugs, and porn. The return of Independent Exposure has all that and more, including a variety of animated pieces, from South Park-inspired crude simplicity to more complex experiments. Joel Bachar's monthly venue of short films and videos has been getting stronger and stronger over the years, and is recommended not only for those who enjoy making short narrative and experimental works, but even more for anyone who even thinks they might like to watch them. Thurs July 22 at 7:30, $4. (Andy Spletzer) Speakeasy
INSPECTOR GADGET -- Disney brings the famous cartoon detective to life with a buttload of computer effects. Pacific Place, Metro, Woodinville, Grand Alderwood
INTO THE DEEP -- An IMAX film in 3-D, putting you right into the aquarium. Pacific Science Center
JEANNE AND THE PERFECT GUY -- Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau's Jeanne and the Perfect Guy is a French musical about sex and true love in the age of AIDS, with Virginie Ledoyen as the lovelorn Jeanne. Thurs July 22 at 5:30, 7:30, 9:30;
Fri-Sat July 23-24 at 5:30, 7:30; Sun July 25 at 5:30, 7:30, 9:30. Reviewed this issue. Little Theatre
LAKE PLACID -- If, like me, you are the kind of monster movie fan whose spirit leaps at the thought of a movie featuring a giant crocodile, I can say this: Lake Placid is a movie featuring a giant crocodile. The film provides the basic food groups, but as an entire meal it's somewhat undercooked. Maestro Steve Miner -- responsible for Friday the 13th parts 2 and 3-D (the one where the eyeball pops out of the guy's head!) -- is historically incapable of generating all but the most basic suspense. Here, he drops people in the water, tosses in a few musical stingers, then stirs. Meanwhile, the screenplay scribbled by David E. Kelley features the kind of absurd polarity between the sexes and casual sexism that I've come to expect from the man who has drugged the nation with Ally McBeal. (Steve Wiecking) Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center
LIMBO -- Luminous cinematography by Haskell Wexler renders the cities and wilderness of Alaska as a gilded promise, with golden light glancing in at acute angles, but John Sayles' characterizations and heavy-handed plot fail to live up to this promise. (Jamie Hook) City Centre
LINDA'S SUMMER MOVIES -- The perfect summer evening activity: beer and a silly movie. Linda's Tavern will be hosting free back patio screenings every Wednesday night, featuring titles that are retro, campy, or just plain bizarre -- with a few cult classics thrown in for good measure. This week: If you like exploitation, beatniks, and sleaze, you're gonna LOVE Spin a Dark Web -- wherein a woman becomes the "Queen of the Underworld" and wreaks delicious havoc. Wed July 28 at dusk, FREE. Linda's Tavern
*MUPPETS FROM SPACE -- Gonzo the Great has been the Muppets' resident daredevil for years, but like most orphans and at-risk youth, his bravery is most likely derived from a lack of a sense of self. As the movie begins, he is questioning his own existence. Despite living in a boarding house full of Muppet friends, he's feeling alone in the universe, and nobody has time for his problems. Then he starts receiving messages from space, or perhaps he's just going crazy: He sees cosmic fish and talking sandwiches when no one else does, and they tell him his alien family are coming to Earth. Somewhere along the line, the message transmogrifies from being about the loneliness of existence to the acceptance of being different and the various definitions of "family." If the ending isn't as satisfying as the set-up is interesting, well, who cares? It's still a bunch of Muppet fun. (Andy Spletzer) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Metro, Pacific Place 11
*MY SON THE FANATIC -- Perhaps the biggest surprise is that, as the title suggests, the main character in the movie is the dad, not the son. This is not an exploration of the culture clash between father and son as much as a portrait of a man who's taken his life for granted, never realizing how far he's been drifting from his wife and son. Parvez (Om Puri) is a mild-mannered Pakistani taxi driver who's lived in England for 25 years. His main clients are the town's prostitutes and the travelers who use them. He has a particular fondness for Bettina (Hilary and Jackie's Rachel Griffiths), and as the movie begins he recommends her to a new visiting client (Stellan Skarsgård). Meanwhile, his wife rightfully feels neglected by him, and his son rejects his godless hedonism by converting to Islam, which gives us the title. Of course, "work" and family life come into conflict, and the movie turns out to be one of the most interesting character studies since Affliction. (Andy Spletzer) Uptown
NOTTING HILL -- Chemistry this film has in spades: Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant can't appear onscreen together without firing off sparks of mutual attraction, despite the rumors of onset coldness to the contrary. What fails entirely here is any convincing reason for them to team up in the first place. He's a shy, burned-in-the-past seller of travel books; she's a universally acclaimed and desired actress. One brave scene even has him asking what on earth she sees in him, and her confessing utter confusion. As too often happens in modern day romantic comedies, the men have been thought out to the last detail, but on the female side motivations are left hanging. (Bruce Reid) Metro, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center
PRESTON STURGES MINI-FEST -- SAM's six-week, Thursday night tribute to comic filmmaker Preston Sturges continues with Sullivan's Travels (July 22 at 7:30), and then The Palm Beach Story (July 29 at 7:30), which lands Claudette Colbert in a whirl of tropical adversity after abandoning her husband. Call 625-8900 for more details. Seattle Art Museum
PRIVATE CONFESSIONS -- A middle-aged wife has an affair with a young theologian and, as a consequence, experiences and expresses a series of complex emotions during a series of conversations. As expected, the film is intelligent, superbly acted (especially the old man Max von Sydow), and Sven Nyvist's photography is exquisite. It's the third part of a trilogy begun by Bergman in 1982 with Fanny and Alexander, followed 10 years later by The Best Intentions. Though Bergman directed only the first film, it is impossible to notice his absence from the others, especially Private Confessions, which was directed by Liv Ullman, the star of many of his important films. This movie is a must see for all Bergman fans, as well as any college student who has just started to learn about existentialism and is beginning to wonder if God exists. Mon-Thurs July 26-29 at 4:20, 7, 9:35. (Charles Mudede) Varsity Calendar
THE RED VIOLIN -- For their follow-up to the marvelous Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, director François Girard and his co-writer Don McKellar have fashioned another loosely structured ode to music, this time following a legendary violin as it passes through various (well, three or four) owners before it winds up in auction. Unfortunately, the stories shown (a miraculous prodigy, a fiery virtuoso's love woes, and a crackdown on Western music during China's cultural revolution) aren't particularly interesting, and if you know any violin lore already you'll wish they'd included variations on some of the instrument's wilder histories. (Bruce Reid) Broadway Market
REDNECK PARTY -- Stop wavin' those dumb Confederate flags and c'mon down for a picture show! This week's Outdoor Cinema double feature consists of Smokey & The Bandit, a favorite from the "backwoods car chase" genre, and Two Thousand Maniacs (1965), a white trash vs. Yankee flick AND one of the first "gore" films ever made. There will also be a live performance by the Souvenirs. Sat July 24 at 7, $5. Fremont Outdoor Cinema
*RUN LOLA RUN -- A young Berlin hipster named Lola has 20 minutes to find enough money to stop her boyfriend from being killed. As a friend once wrote, "This could only be a movie." Here, that's exactly the point. The young German filmmaker Tom Tykwer is so keenly aware that this is a movie, he tells the story three times, each with different but equally incredible twists, surprises, tangents, and endings -- which is exactly what makes this movie fun to watch: It's a celebration of the "grand illusion" that is cinema. The playful and frivolous approach dilutes any serious content, which is fine when fluff can be this fun. (Charles Mudede) Harvard Exit
SCREENWRITER'S WORKSHOP -- Attention aspiring filmmakers: Writer/director Clay Elde (Bone Chillers, Dead Dogs) will be sharing his knowledge about scripting, directing, and collaborating with others in the "process." Mon July 26 at 7; for more details, call 623-3180. Alibi Room
SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER, UNCUT -- When four sweet little tykes sneak into an R-rated movie, they are so enthralled by the dirty language that they can't or won't stop repeating it, even in front of shocked school authorities or parents. This eventually leads to a war with Canada. This brilliant premise allows South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone to vent against the MPAA in their continued struggles against the NC-17 rating, while managing a deft end-run around critics who might complain about the cartoon's effect on children. But the same frat-boy short attention span that allows for some genuinely outrageous belly laughs also gets the better of them, and their few good ideas get buried amid much silliness and nasty sideswipes -- not to mention too many dumb songs. And where's Jesus, that short-tempered, underachieving deity who's one of the TV show's brightest spots? (Bruce Reid) Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Oak Tree, Varsity
*SUMMER OF SAM -- Spike Lee's latest is not at all about a mad killer who terrorizes New York City in the summer of 1977. Instead, it is about a marriage that collapses during that very turbulent New York summer. In a climate of fear and paranoia, a husband named Vinny (John Leguizamo) sleeps around. He does things with other women that he could never do with his wife, Dionna (Mira Sorvino), whom he treats as angelic, virgin-like, a mother worthy of only missionary sex in the dark. Needless to say, their marriage disintegrates. Meanwhile, Vinny's buddy Richie (Adrian Brody) has returned to the neighborhood, and he's also got urges of his own that he's busy not dealing with or talking about -- namely, dancing in a male strip club. Spike Lee's art is most interesting when dealing with sex rather than race, which is why Summer of Sam is right up there with Girl 6 as one of his best. (Charles Mudede) City Centre, Metro
TARZAN -- Oddly enough, there's never been a cartoon feature film about the Lord of the Apes. Leave it to Disney to fill the gap. Initially, the film has an awkward start. Young Tarzan's friends are the usual too-cutesy comic sidekicks, and the father/son conflict is a bit too obvious -- and trite. The adult Tarzan is another matter entirely. Tarzan's flights through the trees are an astonishing display of state-of-the-art animation; he doesn't so much swing through as surf the forest. When other humans enter the story, there's further emotional depth, and rather than bogging the whole thing down with numerous musical numbers, the characters hardly sing at all. The songs are largely performed by an off-screen narrator, Phil Collins. (Gillian G. Gaar) Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro, Redmond Town Center
*THE UNDERGROUND ORCHESTRA -- The original plan for this documentary was to film a bunch of musical performers in the Paris subways. When the cameras weren't allowed in the Metro, director Heddy Honigmann and her crew wound up following the musicians to their hotels and apartments. The title still fits, because now this film had become a portrait of exile: a Venezuelan harpist, violinists from Romania and Yugoslavia, singers from Mali, Vietnam, and Zaire, a pianist from Argentina, all have left oppression and come to France where, more often then not, they're met with suspicious cops and landlords charging ridiculous rents. Honigmann has the genial but probing style of the best, most humane documentarians -- I especially was touched by her habit of filming the silent spouses and children that surround her interviewees -- and the music isn't just lovely, it becomes the key to understanding how these people persist under such adversity. As one man says after recounting his horrific torture, you have to laugh at life to be a pianist. Fri-Sun July 23-25 at (Sat-Sun 2:20), 4:40, 7, 9:15. (Bruce Reid) Varsity Calendar
THE WILD WILD WEST -- Set just after the Civil War, President Grant is teaming up the action-packed West with inventor Artemis Gordon (Kevin Kline) to stop the mad inventor Dr. Loveless (an entertainingly hammy Kenneth Branagh). You see, Loveless is bitter that the South gave up so easily in the war, and he wants to disintegrate the "United" States. Once his giant mechanical spider is introduced the movie goes downhill, but it's too late to spoil the goodwill the first half has built up. This movie is not nearly as bad as everybody says it is. It's just summer fluff. (Andy Spletzer) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree
THE WOOD -- When I arrived, 15 minutes before The Wood was scheduled to begin, my press seat had been turned over to someone else, so I can offer no insights into what this film is about. Instead, let me recommend that you watch The Blair Witch Project, which I saw despite the fact I arrived a minute before it was screened. Certainly, as one bartender at the Cha Cha Lounge said to me, the movie is "really scary. Too scary! I loved it." I loved it too, though I don't have the guts to watch it a second time. (Charles Mudede) Grand Alderwood, Meridian 16
*XIU XIU: THE SENT DOWN GIRL -- Set during the last days of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Xiu Xiu is about an intelligent, 16-year-old city girl who is banished to a rural outpost in order to learn the ways of simple folk. Her teacher is a rough, tough, and impotent herdsman (as legend has it, he lost his manhood to an enemy's sharp knife). Xiu Xiu (played superbly by newcomer Lu Lu) so badly wants to return to civilization that she begins to sleep with whoever promises that they can organize her return. It soon becomes clear to her and the impotent herdsman (who falls in love with her, but can do nothing to ease her suffering and growing humiliation), that she is stuck in this bleak world forever. This movie is exceptional, with a sense of beauty matched only by the immortal poems written by the exiled poets of the Tang Dynasty. Director Joan Chen (famous for her roles in Twin Peaks and The Last Emperor) has not one single sentimental bone for the ways of country folk, which helps make this one of the most lyrical and melancholy films to come out of China. (Charles Mudede) Broadway Market
YEAR 2000 DOUBLE FEATURE -- The millennium-themed series at the Grand Illusion continues with The Sanguinaires, in which a group of friends exile themselves on a remote island to avoid excessive New Year's Eve celebrations, and Life on Earth, about a filmmaker who returns to his native Mali to document life in the village in the year 2000. The two films play in one program. Fri-Thurs July 23-29 at (Sat 2), 4:30, 7, 9:30. Reviewed this issue. Grand Illusion
