Beautiful Creatures, The Claim, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles, Freddy Got Fingered, Keep the River on Your Right, The Low Down
*American Pimp
You know a movie is good when it can make you laugh heartily even as it fills you with a despair so profound you can't find words to express it for days afterward. Welcome to the Hughes Brothers' American Pimp, which traces the proud heritage and current state of the mack in America, and raises the stakes significantly on Pimps Up, Ho's Down. The pimps interviewed in this documentary (alongside a scant few ho's) are fast-talking, funny, charismatic, fascinating, and deeply, irrevocably evil. A complex portrait of a profession that has run the cultural gamut between villainization, lionization, and punch line, AP doesn't flinch. (Sean Nelson) Mon-Thurs. Grand Illusion
Amores Perros
Reviewed this issue. This Mexican thriller comes barreling out at you like a Grand Marquis about to smash into the audience. Opens Fri. Egyptian
Beat Street
Beat Street, which came out in 1984, is a documentation of the influences of breakdancing and graffiti on hiphop culture or vice versa. It has some vague unimportant story about somebody wanting to become a DJ or something like that. What makes it brilliant, though, are the "street fight" scenes in which rival gangs battle each other by showing off their latest dance moves. Nowadays our gangs have guns and will probably shoot you and then refer to you as a little bitch if you care to dance in front of them. Believe me, I've tried. (Kudzai Mudede) Wed April 18 only. JBL Theater at EMP
Black Cannon Incident
An obscure satire about China's attempts to modernize its social policies while vilifying its intellectuals. Sun only. Seattle Asian Art Museum
*The Book of Life
The Book of Life takes St. John's Revelation at its word--only the setting is New York City and the seven seals to be broken are actually on a Mac Powerbook. Hartley regular Martin Donovan stars as Jesus, who comes back to destroy the Earth with his loving sidekick Magdalena (PJ Harvey). Meanwhile, Satan (Thomas Jay Ryan) is counting off what only he knows will be the last hours by getting drunk in a hotel bar. It's all very clever, really. After all, Hartley has never been anything less. The question is whether he can be more? Still, it remains a very enjoyable bit of fluff. Throw in Martin Donovan, though, and it becomes a must-see. (Bruce Reid) Opens Fri. Grand Illusion
Bridget Jones'S Diary
Reviewed this issue The British steal America's own sweetheart, Renée Zellweger, for this tawdry "knickers and snickers" drama. Opens Fri. Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Majestic Bay, Metro, Metro, Pacific Place 11
*Crime of Monsieur Lange
Little known stateside but long esteemed in Europe, The Crime of Monsieur Lange is simply one of the very greatest films directed by Jean Renoir, who's one of the five fingers on the hand of cinema. René Lefèvre (Le Million) plays the title role, a nebbish who clerks for a pulp publisher by day and by night writes feverish potboilers about a Western hero named "Arizona Jim." His encyclopedically venal boss, Batala (Jules Berry), discovers Lange's secret and immediately starts exploiting it, as he exploits everybody and everything within range. Jacques Prévert's screenplay breathtakingly blends sociopolitical protest, tender satire, and astonishing poetry, and the climax--an amazing synthesis of theme, dramatic emotion, and inspired camerawork--is one of the transcendent moments in screen history. (Richard T. Jameson) Thurs April 12 only. Seattle Art Museum
*Day For Night
See Stranger Suggests. Truffaut's loving homage to the art and artifice of filmmaking. Fri-Sun. Little Theatre
*Distinguishing Features
Local filmmaker Serge Gregory's shorts are models for what short filmmaking can and should aspire to. Lyrical, humble, and deeply resonant, Gregory's shorts mine the rich soil of nostalgia to evoke a vision of our present that floats over the earth. Of course, Russia and nostalgia are practically synonyms: no surprise, then, that Gregory, a Russian scholar, chose to adapt Nabokov's Christmas as his last film. It's deep sense of longing and loss dovetail beautifully with Album, his debut short, about a family album of photos from the Russian motherland. In between these two quite lovely films comes Flow, a five minute homage to Eisenstein. Don't miss this chance to see his work in context. (Jamie Hook) Tues only. Seattle Art Museum
Emotional Tourist
Visual and performance artist Marshall Weber shows three of his newer works: The Emotional Tourist is a look at an American tourist traveling in Egypt in 1992; Power is a montage of found footage evoking the landscape of Madison, Wisconsin; and Europa Diaries is a four-channel projection mixing video interviews with footage shot around the world. Fri only. 911 Media Arts
Ghost in the Shell
My God, this is what happens when anime storyboards from dyslexic, Japanese screenwriters in poorly ventilated crackhouses get translated into English. I couldn't for the life of me tell you what the hell this movie was on about except that it's set in 2029, and it's got some cyborg fighting team in it. Madness. The voice acting would be negligible by the standards of most porn movies. However, none of this is relevant because you'll only need to watch this film for its fantastic visual roster including ultra-cool machine gun fights, fluid character animation, stunning lighting and transparency effects, and cartoon boobies for all the young lads who don't get out enough. (Kudzai Mudede) Fri-Sat. Egyptian
*Good Men, Good Women
See Stranger Suggests. From Taiwan's master director Hou Hsiao-hsien comes this concluding chapter in his "history of Taiwan" trilogy. Wed April 18 only. Seattle Art Museum
Hit And Runway
This movie is like the great void of space itself. There is simply nothing there. It starts like the big bang--with a funeral--and then just endlessly inflates. The film passes itself off as an update of a screwball comedy: Alex is a macho young Italian with dreams of writing the perfect action screenplay, and Elliot is a gay, neurotic Jew who gets roped into being Alex's writing partner. There is not a single moment in this film where we break fresh ground: the tired Woody Allen-by-way-of-Jerry Seinfeld schtick is painful, the self-reflexive film jokes are stupid, and aside from one inspired performance (J.K. Simmons as producer Ray Tilman), the cast is inept. You should stay home and watch television. Or marry a Canadian and start packing. (Jamie Hook) Opens Fri. Uptown
Josie & The Pussycats
Reviewed this issue. The glory of liquid capital courses through the veins of this movie like heroin. Opens Weds. Metro
A New Romantic
New York media maven Astria Suparak curated this decidedly mediocre collection of shorts. None is great, a few are good, and more than a few are bad, but the worst one is a bit of a revelation: 36DDD in the Corner presents nothing more than a heavy topless woman jumping up and down in the corner of a room, the camera filming her upside down. Occassionally, an object--a pencil, a video--is inserted under her breasts, and then the jumping resumes. I am sick of this kind of crap: dull, pretentious visual noise hiding behind a manipulative shield of body politics and vaguely feminist baiting. Pornography seems intellectually complex by comparison. (Jamie Hook) Wed April 18 only. Little Theatre
A Place of Rage
A benefit screening for White Women Organizing Against Racism, celebrating African American women and their achievements. Featuring interviews with Alice Walker, June Jordan, and Angela Davis. Thurs April 12 only. Seattle Vocational Institute
Shadow Magic
Ann Hui's debut film is blandly conceived but nicely delivered. Jared Harris stars as Raymond Wallace, a 1902 Cockney expat in Peking, trying to stake out the new medium of moving pictures as his own private sphere of influence. Xia Yu co-stars as a Chinese photographer taken by the sparkling celluloid. The political socioeconomic backdrop--of course, film is the poor-man's ticket to upward mobility--grows stale quickly, but the imagery, especially in the films within, is nicely rendered. The opening sequence, fading actual stock footage of Beijing, circa 1905 into the elaborate living set, is especially thrilling. Jared Harris almost manages to build some relief into his character, and it sure is fun to see those old Lumiere films in a new context. In the end, it's just enough. (Jamie Hook) Opens Fri. Harvard Exit
Silence!
Despite my emotional break with this film (I was kicked out of a small role in it) and my serious differences with the work of "hack" cinematographer Jamie Hook (who is the film editor for this paper), I can still say that Silence! is a marvelous mess. A mess because the movie is not a consistent whole, but the rubble of a former whole--a super-edifice that once rose in the dreams of the director, but somehow collapsed in the realm of cinema. Marvelous because the stream of silent images/fragments (which are spoken for by live performers) have surrendered all meaning to poetry. Under the regime of poetry, you must give up the total and get lost in the moment. And that is the only way to enjoy Silence!--moment by moment. (Charles Mudede) Thurs April 12. Little Theatre
Willie Dynamite
Willie Dynamite is a pimp with seven fine women set up in a suite at the Ritz in this classic blaxploitation film. Feminist social workers, corrupt cops, and jealous, drug-dealing counter-pimps dot the surface of the film, but who cares? There are really only two reasons to watch this film: (1) for the amazing costumes and sets (seeing Willie-D in a gold lamé body suit running from the pigs is a wonderful experience) and (2) some of you might want to check out what Gordon from Sesame Street looks like slapping ho's and shoving coke down his drawers. Sunny day indeed! (Jamie Hook) Fri-Sat. Grand Illusion
Along Came a Spider
Along Came a Spider is a prequel to Kiss the Girls. Again, Morgan Freeman plays Dr. Alex Cross, a detective who deals with the most psychotic white men in America. Though Kiss the Girls is the better of the two thrillers, I still enjoyed Along Came a Spider because Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman. (Charles Mudede) Factoria, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center
*Best In Show
The latest from the folks who brought you Waiting for Guffman follows several dog owners on their quest for the blue ribbon at the 2000 Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show. Dogs are always funny. (Jason Pagano) Broadway Market
*Billy Elliot
Granted, the story is unoriginal (a small town boy beats the odds and becomes a ballet dancer), but its setting (a working-class family struggling through the worst of the Thatcher years) disrupts the sleep of the tired narrative and unexpectedly, steadily, it comes to life. (Charles Mudede) Broadway Market
The Brothers
The Brothers is a coming of age comedy/drama about four successful young black men, coming to terms with commitment and adult relationships, a sort of Waiting to Exhale for men. I will, however, vindicate this film, if only because seeing four black men in the same place at the same time is such a novelty in the Northwest. (Kudzai Mudede) Lewis & Clark, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center
Chocolat
My straightforward review will open with a detailed plot summary ("The movie is about a French village whose serenity is shattered by a mysterious woman who moves into town with her illegitimate daughter and opens a sexy chocolate store."), and then state the truth ("The movie is unremarkable!"). (Charles Mudede) Aurora Cinema Grill, Metro, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center
*Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The film is an attempt to wed emotionally reticent drama with the exhilarating freedom of Hong Kong-genre filmmaking, but director Ang Lee can't quite pull off the combination. The film finds its rhythm and earns the accolades it has received once it leaves the stars behind and gives its heart over to the young and engaging Zhang Ziyi. (Bruce Reid) Aurora Cinema Grill, Grand Alderwood, Majestic Bay, Neptune, Uptown
*The Day I Became a Woman
A tripartite parable, Marzieh Meshkini's directorial debut commemorates Iranian maiden, wife, and crone in unique, cumulatively mythic styles. The most viscerally affecting chapter in Meshkini's film begins in exhilarating motion: the brilliantly choreographed bicycle-ride and horse-chase scene takes your breath away and breaks your heart. The Day I Became a Woman exemplifies the subversive visual poetry that flows through the best Iranian cinema. (Kathleen Murphy) Uptown
The Dish
Here at last is a film that is about a radar dish and it really is about a radar dish! The huge dish, which is in the middle of Australia (which is another way of saying nowhere), is the star of the film. In fact, it overwhelms even the stars (Sam Neill, Patrick Wharburton) and the plot (which is about Australia's participation in the Apollo 11 moon mission of 1969). (Charles Mudede) Guild 45th, Meridian 16
Down to Earth
A black bike messenger (Chris Rock) is suddenly killed by a truck and goes up to heaven. The angels, who look like Mafia hit men, realize that the death was premature, and so return the brother back to earth in a body once owned by a white billionaire. With this white, bloated body he must win the heart of a beautiful soul sister from the hood. Need I say more? Simply amazing. (Charles Mudede) Lewis & Clark
Enemy at the Gates
Enemy at the Gates is the story of a Russian World War II sniper (Jude Law) and the German sniper (Ed Harris) who is sent to eliminate him. When the dueling snipers embark on a cat-and-mouse chase to assassinate each other, the movie becomes genuinely exciting. And if the film is at times rather silly... well, it's from Britain and its a minor miracle that they even have running water out there let alone significant movies. (Kudzai Mudede) Factoria, Meridian 16, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center
Exit Wounds
Exit Wounds tells the story of how Steven Seagal, with the help of rapper DMX, cleans up a corrupt police precinct one bad cop and unattended jelly donut at a time. Steven Seagal has lost a bit of weight for this one though, he's healthier, younger looking, his flexibility is once again bordering upon functional and there is a lot of chemistry between he and his onscreen partner DMX. Not that the film is good: it's bad. (Kudzai Mudede) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Pacific Place 11
*Faithless
In Faithless, a white-haired, worn-faced filmmaker ("Bergman," in the credits) conjures up a collaborator, Marianne (Lena Endre). Through her he plays out his memories of catastrophic infidelity. Faithless counts morality as a possible virtue, values the fragile complexity of human beings, and mourns the ease with which we break each other. (Kathleen Murphy) Broadway Market
Gladiator
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) Cinerama
Heartbreakers
Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt play a mother-and-daughter con team with a fervent understanding that men will screw them over, and that they must beat those suckers at their own petty game. But as every cool-headed dealer knows, the revenge con never works. Heartbreakers is certainly amusing, but its unimaginative approach will disappoint viewers who want to feel the wicked cinch of the complex con. (Traci Vogel) Aurora Cinema Grill, Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Metro, Pacific Place 11
Just Visiting
Jean Reno plays Count Tibault of Malfete, a knight stranded in modern Chicago with nothing but sword, a suit of armor and a manservant (Clavier). He must somehow find his way home to the 12th century to prevent the treacherous death of his new wife Rosalind (Christina Applegate), so he enlists the help of a distant ancestor (also Applegate). Slapdash, sloppy, and vapidly fun about half the time. (Evan Sult) Grand Alderwood, Metro, Pacific Place 11
The Mexican
This movie was never meant to be a singular entity: It feels like two movies, hemorrhaged by nature, that have been forcefully welded together. The first of these movies is The Mexican--it features Brad Pitt, an antique gun, and the Mob. It is vaguely interesting and Brad Pitt is very handsome. Secondly, there is what I will call National Lampoon's Seventh Circle of Hell--it stars Julia Roberts, a green V.W., and a sensitive hitman. It is a disgrace and Julia Roberts' performance is criminal. (Kudzai Mudede) Pacific Place 11
*O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Set in Depression-era Mississippi, George Clooney stars as Everett Ulysses McGill, a suave and well-groomed petty criminal doing hard time on a chain gang. Shackled to Pete (John Turturro) and Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson), he convinces them to join him in escaping by promising to split a fortune in buried treasure. (Andy Spletzer) Harvard Exit, Redmond Town Center
PokémOn 3
Pokemón 3 is about a little rich girl who is traumatized by her parents inexplicable deaths. One night, a magical lion appears in her bedroom. "Papa, you've come back," she says to the magical lion. "If that is what you think I am," says the magical lion, "then that is who I am." Then, the whole world is slowly turned into crystal. This film is a must for all child psychologists. (Charles Mudede) Factoria, Lewis & Clark, Metro, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center
Pollock
This is actor Ed Harris' directorial debut (he also stars), and seems in too big a hurry to establish the iconic events of painter Jackson Pollock's life--see Pollock urinate in Peggy Guggenheim's fireplace, see Pollock overturn the Thanksgiving table, see Pollock accidentally discover drip painting--without letting any of these moments achieve any natural resolution. (Emily Hall) Pacific Place 11, Seven Gables
Say It Isn't So
This film has absolutely no idea of what made previous gross-out comedies funny. The premise is that the characters of Chris Klein and Heather Graham fall in love only to discover that they are brother and sister. Chris Klein later discovers that they are not and sets out in search of his sweetheart. Take my word for it, I've seen mad cows with a more refined sense of comedic timing. (Kudzai Mudede) Southcenter
See Spot Run
See Spot Run was a great movie about a dog named Agent 11 who was trained by the F.B.I. since he was a puppy. Agent 11 is trying to catch these bad Mafia guys. The head Mafia guy hires these two other Mafia guys to kill Agent 11, but he escapes and winds up staying with the main character played by David Arquette. The funniest part was David Arquette doing his great George Jefferson breakdance. (Maggie Brown, age 10) Lewis & Clark, Uptown
Snatch
I remember reading that after he saw a screening of Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels in London, Tom Cruise leapt to his feet and screamed, "This movie rocks!" I'm sure he'll probably scream the same thing about Snatch. So, there you go. If you liked Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, you're gonna like Snatch. (Bradley Steinbacher) Metro
Someone Like You
In the lead roll, Ashley Judd chews, licks, and snacks her way through nearly every scene, all the while remaining trim and fit despite no apparent exercise regime. So much for empowerment. As for the rest of Someone Like You's message, don't expect anything more than feisty Judd getting a bee in her bonnet after getting dumped. (Kathleen Wilson) Factoria, Majestic Bay, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center
Spike and Mike's Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation
Forty-five minutes of painfully gratuitous one-note gags are built around maybe four or five amusing shorts (two involving monkeys), and a brand-new piece by evil genius Don Hertzfeldt (Billy's Balloon), who again proves that "sick and twisted" can mean other, more inspired things than "crack whore gives blowjob, expels fetus." (Jason Pagano) Varsity
Spy Kids
Fellow earthlings, I regret to inform you that even now as we speak, it is too late. Spy Kids is headed towards us like a juggernaut and only the childless have means of escaping. (Suzy Lafferty) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Majestic Bay, Meridian 16, Metro, Northgate
*State and Main
A Hollywood film crew descends on a small Vermont town to make a movie, bringing their sophisticated mores with them. David Mamet has said that he was thinking of Preston Sturges when he put this film together, and it's a worthy successor to the Master. (Barley Blair) Crest, Pacific Place 11
The Tailor of Panama
Brit superspy Andy Oxnard (Pierce Brosnan) has been banished to Panama for overindulging his appetites. He sizes up the tense, complicated international scene at the Canal and finds himself a hapless expat British tailor (Geoffrey Rush) to squeeze for information. Boorman's film is far too awkward an self-conscious to allow the audience to sink into spy fantasia; as a result, Brosnan's absurdly dashing spy becomes utterly grotesque, even sickening. (Evan Sult) Grand Alderwood, Meridian 16, Metro
Tomcats
Tomcats is a raunchy, made-for-fratboy comedy. It involves a young man who wishes to marry off his friend in order to win a bet. And now I am at the part of the review where I can toss up uninspired and obvious adjectives such as outrageous, risqué, and zany just to get it over with, and you know what, I'm disinterested enough in this pile of rubbish to do so. (Kudzai Mudede) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Meridian 16, Oak Tree
Traffic
The big message in Traffic is perfectly laid-out by its tagline: "Nobody gets away clean." All the flashy directorial touches and sterling performances in the world can't cover the fact that Traffic is just another example of Hollywood tackling a complex problem with the simplest and most conservative of solutions. (Bradley Steinbacher) Grand Alderwood, Majestic Bay, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11, Varsity, Varsity Calendar
*The Widow of Saint-Pierre
A sailor, after getting drunk and killing a man as a kind of stupid prank, is sentenced to death by guillotine. And the nearest one is far to the south. While waiting for it to arrive, Neel is taken under the wing of "Madame La" Pauline (Juliette Binoche) and a kind of love grows not only between them, but between Neel and the community, as well. (Richard T. Jameson) Broadway Market
*You Can Count on Me
In Kenneth Lonergan's You Can Count on Me, "adult" and "sadness" and "American" become a knot of synonyms as the story focuses on the pure inability a brother and sister have with one another now that they're adults. (Paula Gilovich) Broadway Market
