Charlie's Angels, Requiem for a Dream, The Legend of Bagger Vance, A Room for Romeo Brass, Just Looking, Smiling Goat and Fish on Fire, The Decalogue, Women in Cinema, The Atrocity Exhibition, Carax (double feature), Kitten with a Whip, Smoking

Ani-Fest 2000
The Art Institute of Seattle presents juried student clips and faculty works, plus a screening of the work of John Sore, lead animator at Nickelodeon and Institute graduate. Mon Oct 30. Seattle Art Museum

Black Lava (Script Reading)
The latest installment of the Screenwriters Salon presents a reading of a new screenplay from writer/director Robinson Devor (The Woman Chaser), followed by audience feedback. Mon Oct 30. Market Theatre

Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows
For the love of all that is good in the world, do not spend a single cent of your hard-earned money on this colossal bore. Opens Fri Oct 27; see review this issue. Metro

The Blank Generation
EMP screens a video transfer of Ivan Kral's black-and-white, non-sync document of the mid-'70s NYC punk zeitgeist, with performances by Patti Smith, the Talking Heads, Television, the Ramones, and Blondie. Director Kral is scheduled to attend. Wed Nov 1. JBL Theater at EMP

*Doctor Butcher, M.D.
This last serving in the Grand Illusion's four-course Latenite Zombie feast is the requisite omelet of gore, cannibalism, insane doctors, and the walking dead, with a naked blond Amazon for garnish. Directed by Italian B-movie superstar Marino Girolami (whose previous efforts include Nudeodeon and The Virgin Wife), Dr. Butcher follows the titular surgeon on his cannibalistic rounds, as he travels door to door in search of brains. This film has only the remotest semblance of one behind it, but hey--that's what makes it so fun. (Jamie Hook) Fri-Sat Oct 27-28. Grand Illusion

Flicker Treat
The Little Theatre offers this show of spooky shorts for kids, who are encouraged to come in costume. Prizes for the best costume! Sun Oct 29 only. Little Theatre

Freaky Flicks
A collection of shorts from 911 that promises to deliver the chilling, horrific goods in a time when horror has degenerated into self-parody. Fri Oct 27. 911 Media Arts

Heavy Metal Parking Lot 2000
To begin with, this film has nothing at all to do with the original Heavy Metal Parking Lot, Jeff Krulik's 15-minute cult classic featuring gut-bustingly funny interviews with fans outside a 1986 Judas Priest/Dokken show. Instead of unguarded moments with blissfully stoned metalheads, Heavy Metal Parking Lot 2000 is much more consciously manipulated, with the interviewers asking women to bare their tits and telling lame jokes. ("Heard about Rob Halford's new project with 'N Sync's J. C.? It's called 'Bang Your Ass: A Heavy Metal Love Story.'") Visit www.planetkrulik.com and watch the original instead. (Melody Moss) Fri Oct 27. Planet Hot Rod

*In Absentia
The Brothers Quay offer us this new surreal treasure. Opens Fri Oct 27; see related article this issue. Grand Illusion

Independent Exposure
Unfortunately, the final "Halloweird" edition of this fifth season of Independent Exposure is one of the weaker ones. Of the 15 shorts in the program, only three manage to end before they've worn out their welcome. (You'd be surprised at how often one minute is too much time for a short film.) A Primer for Dental Extraction, recently awarded top honors at the Seattle Underground Film Fest, is the standout of the program--a meaningless, post-industrial meander replete with a mad woman with big teeth. Ian Haig's Trick or Treat is also fun--a strange, rapid-paced morph of faces and colors. Finally, Yuri A.'s closing short, P, manages the feat of sustaining six minutes of scatological humor through highly stylized, Benetton-like visuals. Unfortunately his other piece, like most of the rest of the program, is just too damn long. (Jamie Hook) Thurs Oct 26. Speakeasy

The Little Vampire
The Little Vampire is a magical and funny movie but I wouldn't recommend it to children under seven because it is pretty scary. The movie is about a kid that finds vampires and helps them find a certain stone so they can turn into humans. The only thing stopping them is the vampire killer. He is a pretty freaky guy and his truck is freaky, too. It has lights all over it because the vampires are scared of light. It also has a cross on it and a coffin on the side. The vampires do all they can to defeat the vampire killer and get the stone before he does. (Sam Lachow, nine years old) Opens Fri Oct 27. Metro

Love Unto Death
And yet more sterile philosophizing. Resnais's 1984 Love Unto Death takes off from a good, even potentially fascinating starting point, but quickly dribbles away into vague and arid irrelevance. The budding romance of Pierre Arditi and Sabine Azéma seems to be cut drastically short by Arditi's death; until he suddenly recovers, and all seems well. Except now he is obsessed with recreating what experiences he can recall from the brief time he spent dead. The actors, including the wonderful Fanny Ardant, are all fine, and Hans Werner Henze's music is both lovely and stunningly presented (without interfering visuals) as well. But once again Resnais fails to make any emotional connection with his audience. Lacking that, his characters remain only puppets in a detailed landscape, dull and uninvolving, and thus as far as you can get from the intellectually stimulating realm frequently and mistakenly claimed as Resnais's home turf. (Bruce Reid) Sat-Sun Oct 28-29. Grand Illusion

Lucky Numbers
We can't wait! This movie has been rescheduled FIVE TIMES since this summer, and the studio refused to press-screen it. You know what that means? It means this film is SO GOOD that they were afraid it would disrupt the summer release schedule and render the press inarticulate with joy! That, or it's an unmitigated disaster. Opens Fri Oct 27. Metro

*Miranda July
Portland-based performing artist and videomaker Miranda July screens a work-in-progress excerpt and premieres three video shorts. Fri-Sat Oct 27-28; see related article this issue. Little Theatre

*The Nightmare Before Christmas
This movie is truly a wonderful thing. The animation is incredible, the visualization is fine, and the story--about the forces of Dark and Light as played out by Halloween and Christmas--is easy to follow when drunk. But the songs, by the great Danny Elfman, are the real reason to see this film. The Halloween re-release certainly feels like wanton capitalism, but we'll forgive them. (Jamie Hook) Opens Fri Oct 27. Varsity Calendar

*NIGHTMARE ON PINE STREET
A great lineup of six bloody, gory, vampiriffic Halloween treats: Werner Herzog's Nosferatu, David Bowie in The Hunger, Peter Jackson's Dead Alive, David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch and eXistenZ, and Evil Dead 2. Opens Fri Oct 27; see Stranger Suggests. Egyptian

*OLYMPIA FILM FESTIVAL
One of the sharpest festivals in the U.S., the 17th Annual Olympia Film Festival wraps up this weekend. Some standout events include a second-ever screening to the hybrid performance film, Silence! on Saturday; a panel on personal filmmaking with Seattle's own Lynn Shelton and others; and--get this!--an incredibly rare showing of the voodoo-cursed William Shatner vehicle, Incubus, which holds the distinction of being the only film ever made in Esperanto! Runs through Sun Oct 29; tickets available at Scarecrow Video, or call 360-754-6670 or visit www.olywa.net/ofs for more information.

*The Phantom of the Opera
The most romantic stalker film of all time comes to the Paramount for one night only. And what a night it will be, with live musical accompaniment by Dennis James on the mighty Wurlitzer organ. Better yet, you should finally be able to see this classic in a decent 35mm archive print, which is a very good thing: Lon Chaney, Sr.'s inspired makeup and costume--which set the tone for countless lesser remakes--deserve to be seen 30 feet tall in pristine, glittering nitrate. Take your kids--they may fall asleep, but at least they'll have nightmares! (Jamie Hook) Mon Oct 30. Paramount Theatre

*SEATTLE ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL
On the verge of dissolution, the Seattle Asian American film festival is making an impressive comeback this fall, beginning with a tribute to pioneering cinematographer James Wong Howe (his masterpiece HUD will screen on Thursday, Oct 26 at Cinerama). The historical documentary by local filmmaker Frank Abe, Conscience and the Constitution, chronicles the struggle of Japanese Americans in concentration camps who refused military service until their constitutional rights were restored. The Avenue of the Asian Americans, a collaborative work, plays like a panoramic snapshot of traditional beliefs, current social issues, and voyeuristic fantasies as it cruises through 10 different shorts in a mere 36 minutes. Keep an eye out as well for Jeong Lee's True, which poignantly deals with questions of personal and cultural identity for an Asian adolescent growing up in the U.S. (Suzy Lafferty) Opens Thurs Oct 26.

Cinerama, Pacific Place 11

Stardom
A new film from Denys Arcand, director of Jesus of Montreal, and set in North America's own Europe--Quebec! Opens Fri Oct 27; see review this issue. Broadway Market

*SUD
Belgian director Chantal Akerman is known mostly for her aggressively distilled imagery. Favoring extremely long, minimally populated, almost silent takes, her cinema is an overt challenge to the narcoleptic. However, there is a supreme function to her cinema: Her shots may put you out, but then, if you can hold on to even a slight consciousness, they then resuscitate you and re-virginize your eyes. SUD is Ackerman's stunning evocation of the South--specifically the legacy of racism and community within Jasper, Texas, the small rural town now infamous as the site of the murder of James Byrd Jr. (he was dragged behind a pickup truck for three miles). Oppressive, brutal, sublime, Ackerman's documentary ultimately rewards commitment by revealing the fullness of a world in the most simple of images. Go--but don't fall asleep! (Jamie Hook) Wed Nov 1. Little Theatre

A Time for Drunken Horses
A new film from Kurdistan comes galloping into a theater near you, singing pirate songs and inadvertently dropping its pants and passing out. Opens Fri Oct 27; see review this issue. Uptown

Two Family House
An inoffensive romantic comedy set in the '50s, with racial stereotypes as broad yet as bland as any sitcom, Two Family House portrays how even a perpetual loser harried by a shrewish Italian wife can find happiness with a fetching Irish girl. Michael Rispoli, an appealing schlub who is battered but not beaten by life, dreams of opening his own bar, but his wife does her best to squash this latest scheme. When upstairs tenant Kelly Macdonald gives birth to a half-black baby, she's thrown out in the street; guilty Rispoli chases after her with cash and advice. What happens from there is predictable, albeit in a charmingly laid-back and easygoing way. (Bruce Reid) Opens Fri Oct 27. Broadway Market

The Yards
Leo Handler (Mark Wahlberg) is a street kid freshly released from prison after taking the fall for his friend Willie Gutierrez (Joaquin Phoenix). He wants to get his life back on track, and appeals to his influential Uncle Frank (James Caan) for work at his train repair company, then finds himself drawn downward into a spiral of corruption, violence, and familial betrayal. The return of the prodigal son is far from a fresh theme, but director James Gray has assembled an outstanding cast and had the good sense to stay out of their way. It is only in the last few minutes of the film that Gray's minimalist instinct derails, as each plot point is rushed ruthlessly toward completion. Characters dash about brandishing guns and plummet willy-nilly over balconies at the cost of the delicate, melancholy truth the rest of this worthwhile film so elegantly evokes. (Tamara Paris) Opens Fri Oct 27. Varsity

*Young Frankenstein
Gene Wilder--who built a career being both a sweet, composed gentleman and bug-eyed, raving lunatic--is perfect as the tortured Friedrich von Frankenshteen, and Marty Feldman certainly never did better. But it is the sweet-voiced Madeline Kahn who adds the vital third dimension to this comedy; a dimension that, since her untimely death, has only deepened to a softly tragic undertone. Surprisingly, such a tone does not undermine director Mel Brooks' goofy humor--it "ennobles it," as Bruce Reid might say. (Jamie Hook) Fri-Sat Oct 27-28. Egyptian

Almost Famous
The truth of the matter is that this movie is nothing more and nothing less than a light and entertaining crowd-pleaser. Which is fine. Good, even. It's just that for a rock 'n' roll tour film set in 1973, the content comes across as so... clean--like R-rated content in a PG-13 package. (Andy Spletzer) Aurora Cinema Grill, Meridian 16, Metro, Redmond Town Center

Bamboozled
Spike Lee's most ambitious race film yet, and, as a consequence, his worst film to date--is about a 21st-century minstrel show that becomes a huge hit for a small upstart TV network. The film is terrible at every level--monological instead of democratic, preachy instead of complex, and, worst of all, it dances to the ring of the cash register. (Charles Mudede) Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16

*Bedazzled
Stumbling across Bedazzled is like finding a bucket full of moonshine in the woods. It's not that the film is great, but it's awfully nice nice to meander into something that is simply, confidently good. Plus, I never knew that Brendan Fraser was HILARIOUS! (Jamie Hook) Factoria, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center, Southcenter

*Best In Show
Christopher Guest's latest with Eugene Levy follows several dog owners on their quest for the blue ribbon at the 2000 Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show. A well-executed, ridiculous little film lovingly mining ridiculous little people's ridiculous little lives. (Jason Pagano) Broadway Market, Grand Alderwood, Neptune, Redmond Town Center

*Billy Elliot
When I watch British films it is with the full intent of hating them and then later using my reviews to deliver mini-blows to my former colonizers. But 30 minutes into this film, I gave in; there was no way I could hate it. As the BBC put it, "you are heartless if you don't love every minute of this film"--and I'm not heartless. I must make a confession: I almost cried during this film--yes, it's that touching. (Charles Mudede) Guild 45th

The Broken Hearts Club
Let's be frank: This film is so profoundly awful that it inadvertently succeeds in performing the tremendous social service of euthanizing the subgenre of the once-viable "gay film." God, it's bad. I will waste your time by telling you that the film is about a group of gay men in L.A. looking for meaning in their lives. But I can write no more. This film simply doesn't deserve it. (Jamie Hook) Harvard Exit

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. (Tamara Paris) Pacific Place 11

The Contender
In this Hollywood version of the Lewinsky affair (with the Clinton character recast as a woman), the Democrats make all the great speeches you wish they'd made during the 104th Congress and the Republicans are as simply evil and as plainly hypocritical as you wish they were. The first hour of the movie--featuring murders, behind-the-scenes White House meetings, strong arm politicking, and secret memos--is actually a blast, but once the trite sermonizing kicks in, you'll start wishing they'd just cut to more footage of the sex scandal. (Josh Feit) Bay Majestic, Factoria, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center

Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark is a wonderful film in theory. In exposition, however, it suffers gravely from director Lars von Trier's ingrained contrarian aesthetic and growing avant-garde laziness. When the film is not wantonly sadistic, it is simply sloppy in a poorly thought-out way. While von Trier maintains his unique facility for the direction of small, crying women, his other tricks seem woefully inadequate for pulling off the feat he sets out to accomplish. (Jamie Hook) Harvard Exit, Seven Gables

Digimon: The Movie
Digimon was a very weird movie, at least that's what I thought because I don't know anything about Digimon. The movie was pretty boring, but there were some cool parts, like when the Digimon digevolved; the music gets louder, and the Digemon become something even cooler than what they were before. So people who love Digimon will probably like this movie but I don't want to see it again. (Sam Lachow, nine years old) Grand Alderwood, Uptown

Dr. T & the Women
Robert Altman's newest film is a mishmash of the most frustrating variety. There is a great intro set in the lobby of Richard Gere's gynecological practice, and the coda at the end is amusing, but overall the picture is uneven (this is Altman, after all), and the joke--a man surrounded by the multiplicitous insanity of women--wears thin a bit too soon. (Jamie Hook) Factoria, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center

*The Exorcist
Though the re-release of The Exorcist is unlikely to leave the same mark it did in 1973--when audience members purportedly vomited and ran screaming from theaters across the globe--it is nevertheless a great excuse to see the film in a dark theater, with the surround-sound effects of a remastered soundtrack. (Melody Moss) Aurora Cinema Grill, Cinerama, Lewis & Clark, Metro

Get Carter
Mike Hodges' 1971 thriller Get Carter may be no masterpiece, but it's a cool, ruthless little gem, as sharp and gleaming as a whetted knife blade. Stephen Kay's remake, on the other hand, is all flashing lights, showy video effects, and rapid, incoherent editing. Mickey Rourke wears his muscle shirts and neon bright sunglasses with flair; maybe he should have starred. (Bruce Reid) Aurora Cinema Grill, Grand Alderwood, Meridian 16

Girlfight
I feel more comfortable pretending that the conflict in this movie takes place--oh, let's say over a Scrabble board. Okay. Diana is in trouble at her high school. Her principal warns her that one more unwarranted word-fest and she's expelled on the spot. Later that same day, Diana's father sends her on an errand to the local Scrabble club, where her brother takes lessons. Diana watches him squander a Q on a 12-point word with no bonus. Outraged, she pulls an F, an I, and an H from his tiles and slams down a triple-word FISH for 30 points. She sees a possible outlet for her aggressions. (Barley Blair) Pacific Place 11

Human Resources
The film would be a real treat on TV: Telling the simple tale of an eager young idealist trying to reform management at a small-town factory while his working-class family and upbringing crumble around him, Human Resources is well acted and admirably realistic. But the film is lost on the big screen--too humble, too simple, visually uninspired. (Jamie Hook) Uptown

The Ladies Man
This loose and loopy extended sketch about lisping Lothario Leon Phelps has all the slippery charm of a circa-'70s polyester shirt. Carried by the unlikely but undeniable charisma of SNL regular Tim Meadows and a script that seems almost accidental, this cinematic equivalent of a bag of bar nuts manages to coax forth just enough laughs to make a matinee viewing worthwhile. (Tamara Paris) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Oak Tree

Legend of the Drunken Master
Jackie Chan's best film is his 1979 breakout Drunken Master. This sequel from 1994 captures much of the high energy and goofy humor of that classic, and adds a greatly expanded budget that allows for some impressive sets, which the actors leap about and smash up to their hearts' content. Check out Chan's nimble leap up a wall and through an open transom; when you've picked your jaw up off the floor, remind yourself that's what movies are all about. (Bruce Reid) Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16

Lost Souls
Starring Ben Chaplin as an unwitting Antichrist and Winona Ryder as the black-eyed, whispery mope who must convince him of his impending demonic possession. The few moments of suspense toward the end don't make up for the dull, plodding, wreck of a script, and it would take a superhuman suspension of disbelief to swallow the ridiculous plot lines. (Melody Moss) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16

Meet the Parents
Ben Stiller plays Greg, a male nurse living in an unnamed metropolis about to pop the question to Pam, his kindergarten-teacher girlfriend. But he realizes in the nick of time that he must first ask her father (played with vicious delicacy by Robert De Niro) for permission. But wait! Complications invariably ensue, and each new catastrophic development drives a wedge ever deeper twixt Greg and his beloved. (Tamara Paris) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Guild 45th, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11

Nurse Betty
Betty, a diner waitress, settles comfortably into a thick confusion after accidentally witnessing her sleazy husband's murder. She instantly blocks out reality, and decides to drive from Fair Oaks, Kansas to Los Angeles in pursuit of her favorite soap-opera character, "Dr. David Ravell," whom she believes is her long-lost true love. Surprisingly disappointing. (Min Liao) Aurora Cinema Grill, Uptown

One
Charlie (Jason Cairns) has just finished serving a prison sentence for helping his grandfather commit suicide. He moves in with his friend Nick (Kane Picoy), who lives with his parents on a steady diet of spaghetti and sports. Although there are glimmers of inspiration, especially in the strong, well-written characterizations and the elegant evocation of place, no adductor exists to keep these pieces working with a pulse or purpose; no body exists. (Paula Gilovich) Uptown

Pay It Forward
After having been instructed by his social studies teacher to make the world a more benevolent place, Haley Joel Osment starts at the bottom, where the bums live amid burning oil cans, of course. About five minutes into his effort, Osment thinks he's failed and that the world is, in fact, shit. It's a performance that'll probably earn somebody an Oscar, but it just made me feel like kicking a kid in the teeth. (Kathleen Wilson) Factoria, Majestic Bay, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center

Remember the Titans
Remember the Titans is set in the early '70s and based on real life, real people, the real America. Incredible as this may sound, the movie is actually fascinating--not because it's well done or acted (nothing stands out in that regard), but because it has the manic pace of The Rock coupled with the content of Do The Right Thing. Now how in the world can you top that? (Charles Mudede) Bay Majestic, Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Metro, Northgate, Pacific Place 11

*Rififi
Telling the story of Tony le Stephanois, a newly sprung bank robber who engineers the perfect caper, Rififi is a delirious fantasia of gangster ethics and underworld locales, artfully framed in a baroque, twisting plot and hung lovingly against the gorgeous backdrop of Parisian streets. The performances are quite excellent, the cinematography is stunning, the music is dead on, the plot is an economic wonder, and the virtually silent, gleefully long heist scene is a tingling, ecstatic, sustained act of brilliance--a sacrament of the cinema. (Jamie Hook) Varsity

The Watcher
The Watcher is a frightfully unimaginative, by-the-numbers thriller with no plot twists, no clever bits, horrendous slow-motion dance sequences, few thrills, and anemic character development. (Kudzai Mudede) City Centre