THE COLOR OF PARADISE -- Seven Gables

COTTON MARY -- Broadway Market

CROUPIER -- Uptown

EAST IS EAST -- Broadway Market

GOSSIP -- Metro, Oak Tree, Meridian

LOVE AND BASKETBALL -- Pacific Place

U-571 -- Pacific Place, Oak Tree, Metro

CHAC: THE RAIN GOD -- Varsity Calendar

EVERYONE'S CHILD -- Seattle Asian Art Museum

THE FILMS OF JIRÍ MENZEL -- Grand Illusion

THE FILMS OF LUIS BU--UEL -- Seattle Art Museum

FROM THE PAGE TO THE SCREEN -- Consolidated Works

LET MY PUPPETS COME -- Grand Illusion

MONEY BUYS HAPPINESS -- Little Theatre

MY SEX LIFE (OR HOW I GOT INTO AN ARGUMENT) -- Little Theatre

NIGHTMARE ALLEY -- Grand Illusion

RUN LOLA RUN -- Egyptian

SHOOTING GALLERY FILM SERIES -- Uptown

SOUTH -- Egyptian

SPIKE AND MIKE'S SICK & TWISTED FESTIVAL OF ANIMATION -- Varsity Calendar

TAAFE FANGA (SKIRT POWER) -- Seattle Asian Art Museum

TRASH -- Egyptian

April 28 -- Frequency, Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, Where the Heart Is, The Filth and the Fury, Time Code, Winter Sleepers

May 5 -- Gladiator, The Last September, Committed, I Dreamed of Africa, The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, The Virgin Suicides, Adrenaline Drive, Up at the Villa

28 Days
This is a big Hollywood movie about addiction, which means everything is clean and rounded just where it should be sharp and messy. Sandra Bullock is the alcoholic in this case, and her behavior lands her in Serenity Glen, a touchy-feely rehab center filled with the requisite cuddly goofs and embittered oddballs. The film gives its star her big moments, but they're quieter than you'd expect. Filled with a wry, sidewise humor and genuine vulnerability, Bullock carries an ultimately phony movie with something resembling humanity. (Steve Wiecking) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11

*All About My Mother
Pedro Almodovar's highly acclaimed new film, a mature look at women (with the obligatory drag queen). Broadway Market

American Beauty
Entertaining fluff. Take your typical suburban satire (midlife crisis, bitchy wife, disaffected youth), throw in some admittedly excellent performances, and what you get is the an Oscar-winning film, for better or worse. (Andy Spletzer) Aurora Cinema Grill, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center, Varsity

American Psycho
Based on the much-reviled book by Bret Easton Ellis, the movie is actually not bad. Really. In fact, it's pretty good. Set at the height of the Reagan '80s, Psycho deftly satirizes the deadening effect of unchecked corporate wealth and power. In his opening voice-over, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) himself recognizes how he's lost the ability to feel or care, moving through life with rituals of exercise, personal grooming, and hanging out at trendy restaurants with the boys from work. Then something inside him snaps, and he discovers the only way for him to feel anything, or at least relieve his tension, is by killing people. (Andy Spletzer) Cinerama, Lewis & Clark, Neptune, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center

*Being John Malkovich
It's the best film of 1999, and it has a monkey in it. Coincidence? We don't think so. Metro, Uptown

Black and White
A movie that purports to be about race, in which all of the black men are pussy-chasing rapper-gangsters, all the young white men are wimpy wiggers or gay, and all the old white men are crooked cops or dirty lawyers. All the white women have blatant jungle fever, and the only black female character with a speaking part is hysterical about all the interracial coupling. Robert Downey Jr., Ben Stiller, Bijou Phillips, Mike Tyson, Claudia Schiffer, Brooke Shields, and most of the Wu-Tang Clan star. (Erin Franzman) City Centre

Boiler Room
Glengarry Glenn Ross for the Gen-X set, as if we needed that.

*Boys Don't Cry
Bellingham native Hilary Swank deserves every accolade she's received for her portrayal of Brandon Teena, a boy born in a girl's body, who was killed by hateful people who couldn't, or just wouldn't, understand. Broadway Market

Chac: The Rain God
This long-lost 1974 film about spiritual struggle amongst rural Mexican villagers in desperate need of rain is well-served by director Rolando Klein's decision to use conventional filmmaking techniques instead of those favored by documentaries. By forcing the villagers who made up his cast to hit their marks and utter their lines in multiple takes, Klein managed to draw assured, layered performances from his entire cast. Man-made interiors and caves are equally, beautifully lit, and Klein's sound crew captured obscure dialects during filming that would have been almost impossible to add later. The only thing missing is a story that matches the assured beauty of Chac's component parts. Fri-Thurs April 21-27 at (Sat-Sun 1:30, 3:30), 5:30, 7:30, 9:30. (Tom Spurgeon) Varsity Calendar

The Cider House Rules
Based on the John Irving novel, a period piece about life and abortion. Metro, Uptown

The Color of Paradise
A blind boy returns home to the Iranian countryside to find both beauty and strife. Reviewed this issue. Seven Gables

Cotton Mary
I recommend Cotton Mary only to aspiring filmmakers; watch it and you see will see all the things you shouldn't do when making your big picture. Invert all of the errors (the sappy story, the shameless motives, the poor direction, the over- and under- acting) and you will instantly have a masterpiece. (Charles Mudede) Broadway Market

East is East
And west is west, goes the adage. And this is yet another movie about class and race among British and Pakistanis. Fortunately for all, Om Puri is on hand, so how bad can it be? Reviewed this issue. Broadway Market

*East-West
Oleg Menchikov and Sandrine Bonnaire play Alexei and Marie, a couple whose marriage collapses under the weight of the political oppression they encounter in Odessa during the post-WWII reconstruction of the Soviet Union. While both are appalled by the conditions, only Marie, who is French, seems to recognize the need to flee immediately. Alexei is cautious to the point of impenetrability. The conflict drives both of them to infidelity. But in the tumult of the oppressive social reality, these

seeming betrayals play out paradoxically as the ultimate gesture of love. (Rick Levin) Harvard Exit

Erin Brockovich
Despite having been directed by indie superstar Steven Soderbergh, Erin Brockovich is just what it is: another big-budget Hollywood film starring Julia Roberts. In fact, because this is a Hollywood film, we suddenly notice aspects of Soderbergh's filmmaking that are harder to detect when he has complete control over his material: Namely, how brilliant he is working with supporting actors, most notably men. In this case, it's Aaron Eckhart and Albert Finney. Without this, all you have left is a stupid plot and the dentiglorious spectacle that is Julia Roberts. (Charles Mudede) Factoria, Guild 45th, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center

Everyone's Child
A film by Zimbabwean director Tsitsi Dangarembga, screening as part of the New African Cinema series. Thurs April 27 at 6:30, $7. Seattle Asian Art Museum

Fantasia 2000
The latest Walt Disney sweeping-animation-and-classical-music extravaganza. Ends April 30! Pacific Science Center

The FILMS OF JIRÍ MENZEL
Don't miss the last weekend of this retrospective, devoted to humorist/humanist Czech new wave filmmaker Jirí Menzel. The Life and Extraordinary Times of Private Ivan Chonkin, based on Vladimir Voinovich's comic novel from the '60s, will be the final film. In it, Menzel is able to satisfyingly poke fun at the absurdity and chaos of Soviet bureacracy -- the KGB, the Red Army, etc. -- through the eyes of a "simple soldier" named Chonkin. Sat-Sun April 22-23 at noon. Grand Illusion

Final Destination
Okay, so when a boy has a vision of the plane he's about to take crashing in a big fiery ball, he freaks out and gets kicked off the plane, along with several other people. Then the plane crashes. Spooky. But you can't cheat death, and so the survivors start dying, one by one. That's the point of the movie. You can't cheat death. It never gets any more clever or complex than that. If you must cheat, then sneak into a screening without paying. That'll show 'em. (Andy Spletzer) Pacific Place 11

*FROM THE PAGE TO THE SCREEN
This series, curated by the ever-astounding Robert Graves, ends with Jonathan Weiss' The Atrocity Exhibition, a critically-acclaimed, faithful adaptation of J.G. Ballard's work. Dubbed by many as "an unconventional film experience." Fri-Sun April 21-23 at 8 ONLY (director will attend), $7; call 860-5245 for more info. Consolidated Works

Galaxy Quest
The cast of a Star Trek-like show is recruited by a (presumably good) alien race to save them from a (presumably bad) alien race. Admiral, Crest

*Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
When he was young, Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) was saved from a group of street thugs by Louie (John Tormey), a low-level Mafioso who just happened to be passing by. In thanks, Ghost Dog pledged to serve Louie for the rest of his life, as faithful to him as any ancient samurai was to his master. Director Jim Jarmusch brings to Ghost Dog the same deadpan humor of his earliest films. (Andy Spletzer) Varsity

Gossip
A bunch of posh jounalism students (strike one) get an assignment: identify the link between news and gossip (strike two). So, naturally, they decide to frame a mutual friend for date rape (yer outta there!). Factoria, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree, Redmond Town Center, Southcenter

The Green Mile
Tom Hanks' death row is forever changed when a magical prisoner is admitted. Admiral, Crest

*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. He struggles and obsesses and makes lists that he thinks define his life, but he's no closer to understanding women than he was in the fifth grade -- which happens to be when he got dumped for the first time. Based on the popular novel of the same name. (Kathleen Wilson) Aurora Cinema Grill, Guild 45th, Harvard Exit, Lewis & Clark, Redmond Town Center

Joe Gould's Secret
Joe Gould was a Greenwich Village icon, a self-conscious bohemian who would wander the streets cadging free meals, hitting up old friends for donations, and translating the squawks and quarks of seagulls into English. But Gould was most legendary for his grand, secretive project, a mammoth oral history that he compiled daily. This chronicle of the odd friendship that sprung up between Gould (Ian Holm) and writer Joe Mitchell (Stanley Tucci, who also directed) misses the point of friendship completely. (Bruce Reid) Broadway Market

*Keeping the Faith
Any film that begins with a drunken priest staggering through the streets of New York and tumbling into a garbage pile is automatically fine by me. Edward Norton (who also directed) is the drunky priest and Ben Stiller a confused rabbi. They love the same girl, a rad chick they hung out with back in the fourth grade. The film is genuinely funny and sweetly romantic as it focuses on all aspects of the not-so-holy trinity. And surprisingly enough, co-star Jenna Elfman doesn't bug. (Kathleen Wilson) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Meridian 16, Metro, Northgate

Let My Puppets Come
Gerand Damiano's 1974 X-rated musical puppet sex comedy Let My Puppets Come is sure to delight young and old with its raunchy, pornographic interludes among our fabric friends. Not available on video! Fri-Sat April 21-22 at 11:30. Grand Illusion

Love and Basketball
Boy meets girl. Boy plays hoops with girl. Girl is way better than most boys. Boy is better than everyone. Boy and girl go to same college to play basketball. Boy becomes star, girl learns how little glory goes along with being a woman basketball player. Girl loves boy. Boy has problems. Girl and boy play one-on-one. Girl takes boy to hole. Boy is Omar Epps. Girl is Sanaa Lathan. Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Pacific Place 11

Me Myself I
Rachel Griffiths stars in this terrible remake of Sliding Doors(!), playing a single woman who, get this, is depressed because she has a successful career at the expense of a stable and happy family life. (Charles Mudede) Metro

Money Buys Happiness
Alternately down-to-earth and theatrical, Gregg Lachow's third feature is peppered with gags (not all of which work), but nevertheless maintains a smart, reflective tone, thanks in part to the great cast. Wed-Sun April 19-23 at 5:30, 7:30, 9:30. (Andy Spletzer) Reviewed this issue. Little Theatre

My Sex Life (or How I Got Into an Argument)
Arnaud Desplechin's modern-day romance epic, featuring some of France's hippest and most talented young actors. But this is not Friends à Paris. Instead, this ensemble cast brings intelligence, eroticism, and philosophical savvy to situations involving "complex women and tight sexual tensions." Thurs-Sun April 27-30 at 4:30, 8. Little Theatre

Nightmare Alley
For those who adore vintage, kitschy melodramatic noir and pulp fiction (and DO NOT associate it with Uma Thurman in a jet-black wig), this 1947 "cult oddity" is right up your alley. Edmund Goulding's dark tale examines the trials and tribulations of a desperate carny (Tyrone Power) faced with the challenges of surviving in a seedy business. Based on the pulp novel by William Gresham. Fri-Thurs April 21-27 at 4:45, 7, 9:15. Grand Illusion

Ready to Rumble
David Arquette, Scott "James" Caan, and the great Oliver Platt star in this movie about professional wrestling. Despite, or because of, how stupid it is, it's kind of funny, especially when Platt, the least likely sports hero since Gus, the field-goal-kicking mule, is chewing up the scenery. Two questions, however, are raised: (1) who decided that bathroom humor had to be literal? and (2) when did Kingpin become a genre? (Sean Nelson) City Centre

Return to Me
A guy (David Duchovny) falls for a girl (Minnie Driver) who has received his dead wife's heart in a transplant. No, really. Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11

The Road to El Dorado
The Road to El Dorado is very adventurous and also very funny. It is similar to Journey to the Center of the Earth because it is about trying to get somewhere that is hard to get to. Two partners, Tulio and Miguel, are trying to reach El Dorado, the city of gold. When they get there, everybody thinks they're lords, so Tulio and Miguel have to pretend to be lords to get the gold. When they get what they want, Tulio wants to leave to Spain with the gold and live like a king, but Miguel starts to have fun in El Dorado and wants to stay. What are they going to do? Is Tulio going to go to Spain by himself, or are they going to stay together? (Sam Lachow) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16, Metro, Redmond Town Center

Romeo Must Die
Romeo Must Die is pretty dumb, even for an action film, but Jet Li doesn't disappoint. He handily demonstrates how it's a lot more fun to fight without using guns. (Gillian G. Gaar) Lewis & Clark, Meridian 16

Rules of Engagement
When a movie is titled Rules of Engagement, I'm there. Too bad this one implodes like a giant star after a promising start. The performances of Samuel Jackson, Tommy Lee Jones, Blair Underwood, Guy Pearce, and Anne Archer are sucked into the resulting black hole. In the end, we are left with nothing -- absolutely nothing. (Charles Mudede) Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Meridian 16, Metro, Oak Tree

*Run Lola Run
A midnight screening of last year's popular indie/film fest favorite, in which a pretty lady with pink hair has just 20 minutes to run all over Berlin and find enough money to save her boyfriend from being killed. Directed by Tom Tykwer. Fri-Sat April 21-22 at midnight. Egyptian

*SHOOTING GALLERY FILM SERIES
Indie film studio the Shooting Gallery presents a six-week film series, featuring movies that were well-received at various international film festivals. This week it's Mike Hodges' Croupier, an excellent, Jim Thompson-esque thriller about the underbelly of the London gambling world. Hodges is best known for directing the great existential gangster tone poem Get Carter some 30 years ago. Along the way he's lost none of his visual flair, his knack for tension-building, or his taste for beautiful actors. He's picked up a nice flair for the absurd touch, however, which makes this movie a somber, badass delight. (Sean Nelson) Uptown

The Skulls
Joshua Jackson (Pacey from Dawson's Creek) plays an ambitious working-class kid who's not only gotten into an Ivy League school, he's captain of their crew team. When he joins the secretest secret society on campus, the Skulls, he thinks all his troubles will be over. They'll pay all his debts, get him into the best law school, and will guarantee him a life of wealth and success. All he's gotta do is help them cover up the murder of his best friend. Well, that's too much, so Pacey starts fighting the corrupt secret society, and about this time the movie spins into insanity. Really, how can you take a modern day movie seriously when it ends with an old-fashioned duel? (Andy Spletzer) Aurora Cinema Grill, Pacific Place 11, Redmond Town Center

*South
This recently restored documentary (new 35mm print) of the legendary Antarctica expedition by Ernest Shackleton and his crew is eerie. Eerie not because it is so old (the journey took place between 1914 and 1916) or distant (who believes Antarctica exists? It is a fantastic country made of icebergs), but because it captured the slow and ugly death of a great empire. This expedition was Great Britain's final voyage, its farewell to 400 years of domination. This documentary, filmed by Frank Hurley, shows the Endurance's (the ship's name) terrible demise in this world of ice and penguins. For those seeking a survival epic, this is not the film. For those who love to see the sad and sorry end of great things, this is a must-see. Thurs April 20 at 5, 7, 9. (Charles Mudede) Egyptian

Spike and Mike's Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation
The impresarios of independent animation return with "a whole shitload of new films" that, unfortunately, struggle to provide even a quarter-shitload of humor beyond the same old sex, drug, and grandparent gags that dominate this year's offerings. As always, if you're really, really high, it will undoubtedly be the funniest shit you've seen all night. Fri-Sat April 21-22 at midnight. (Jason Pagano) Varsity Calendar

Stuart Little
A well-dressed mouse (voice of Michael J. Fox) is adopted by a family. Really, what more do you need? Redmond Town Center, Uptown

*Taafe Fanga (Skirt Power)
Don't miss this important, political film, directed and produced by Adam Drabo. Part of the "New African Films" series at the Little Theatre and the Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park. Thurs April 20 at 6:30, $7. Seattle Asian Art Museum

Trash
People who romanticize the bohemian lifestyle are invariably middle-class folks yearning to boost their hipness quotient, little realizing "bohemian" is just a nice way of saying "squalor." Welcome to the world of Paul Morrissey's Trash, starring resident Warhol hunk Joe Dallesandro and resident Warhol gender-bender Holly Woodlawn. Trash surrounds this boho couple; Joe's a junkie, Holly collects junk. Joe spends much of the film naked, but is too strung out to get aroused (and his body beautiful is somewhat undermined by shots of his acne-scarred buttocks). Holly's a perpetual hustler who still can't bring herself to trade her silver sandals to a social worker in exchange for hassle-free welfare. Since the dialogue is largely improvisational, the pace does drag at times -- this type of film is best appreciated at midnight, with a joint or six-pack at the ready. But there are moments of hilarity, such as Holly's seduction of an innocent high-schooler, and, of course, the requisite downbeat ending. Fri-Thurs April 21-27 at (Sat-Sun 2), 4:30, 7, 9:30. (Gillian G. Gaar) Egyptian

U-571
What's long, round, and full of seamen? Why, it's a submarine movie! It's WWII and Matthew McConaughey has to steal some decoding machine from the Nazis. Luckily, he's got Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, and Jon Bon Jovi on his team. Factoria, Grand Alderwood, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place 11

Where the Money Is
Poor Paul Newman. We're not trying to imply this movie looks bad, but, jeez. This movie sure looks bad. Meridian 16, Metro, Redmond Town Center