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clips opening or returning: Bless The Child: Kim Basinger stars in this tale of a devil-cult that's kidnapped her prescient niece. Directed by Chuck Russell. Co-stars Christina Ricci, Jimmy Smits, Rufus Sewell, Ian Holm and Angela Bettis. R. Cinemark 17. Cinema World 8. But I'm a Cheerleader: Natasha Lyonne plays a high school cheerleader whose parents send her to True Directions, a gay and lesbian deprogramming camp. Directed by Jamie Babbit, silly film also stars Cathy Moriarty as camp director, RuPaul Charles as her reformed gay sidekick, and Clea DuVall as a girl who doesn't want to be reformed. R. Bijou. See review this issue. Ferngully... the Last Rainforest: A human finds a magical world peopled by fairies, then fights to save it from technology. Animated musical directed by Bill Kroyer. Voices: Tim Curry, Samantha Mathis, Christian Slater, Robin Williams, and Grace Zabriskie. G. Free family film festival 10 am 8/15 & 8/16. Cinema World 8. Frequency: Sci-fi thriller involves a son (Jim Cavaziel) who time travels to save his father (Dennis Quaid); then both become embroiled in unforeseen consequences. Directed by Gregory Hoblit and script by Toby Emmerich, film also stars Andre Braugher, Noah Emmerich and Elizabeth Mitchell. PG-13. Movies 12. Leave It to Beaver: The updated 1997 version of the '60s sitcom stars Janine Turner. PG. Free family film festival 10 am 8/15 & 8/16. Cinema World 8. Mission Impossible 2: Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames return to this lucrative franchise, based on the 1960s TV series, with John Woo directing and Thandie Newton (Besieged, Beloved) as the love interest. Great action R. Late night Bijou. Replacements, The: During an NFL players' strike, coach Gene Hackman brings in a bunch of misfits and hasbeens to take his team to the play-offs. Howard Deutch's comedy stars Keanu Reeves, with Jon Favreau, Brooke Langton and Orlando Jones. PG-13. Movieland 6. Cinemark 17. Cinema World 8. Rocky and Bullwinkle, The Adventures of: Mixed live action and animation recreation of the characters Jay Ward popularized on television in the 1960s. Stars Rene Russo, Jason Alexander, Robert de Niro and Randy Craig. PG. Movies 12. Small Time Crooks: Woody Allen's latest comedy takes place in Manhattan where married couple Allen and Tracey Ullman join a trio of bumbling hoods to rob a bank. Hugh Grant is a smarmy opportunist hired to educate the couple in the ways of the upper-crust. Smart and funny. PG. Movies 12. Sunshine: Respected Hungarian film director Istbvan Szabo directs this multigenerational story of one Jewish Hungarian family in the 20th century. Ralph Fiennes plays one of the sons of each generation. Also stars Rachel Weisz, William Hurt, Jennifer Ehle and Rosemary Harris. The New York Times reviewer said the film "views the lethal unreason of the past hundred years with gravity, humor and, most remarkabley, with something like sanity." R. Bijou. Films open the Friday following date of EW publication unless otherwise noted. continuing: Coyote Ugly: Comedy about cocktail waitresses who perform juggling acts with bottles in a rowdy New York bar. Ensemble cast includes Piper Perabo as the new girl, Maria Bello, Melanie Lynskey, Adam Garcia and John Goodman. Directed by David McNally. PG-13. McDonald. Cinemark 17. Croupier: Mike Hodges directs this sophisticated film about a casino croupier, played by Clive Owen, who is also a writer. No one is who they seem, not even the narrator. Suspenseful as well as thoughtful, this intelligent film draws viewers back for seconds and thirds -- a rarity. The sleeper of the summer, the film is highly recommended. R. Bijou. Erin Brockovich: Gutsy single mom brings class-action lawsuit against PG&E for discharging chemical pollutants into community drinking water. Steven Soderbergh directs. Julia Roberts stars, with Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart. Top-notch screen entertainment. R. Movies 12. Final Destination: Alex Browning plays a student with the foresight to get off a doomed airplane; his girlfriend, teacher and a stranger go, too. He becomes obsessed with cheating death, and death begins stalking him. Directed by James Wong. R. Movies 12. High Fidelity: Stephen Frears directs his adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel in this romantic comedy starring John Cusack, with Iben Hjejle, Jack Black and Todd Louiso. A funny, credible movie with everything going for it. The funniest movie of the year so far. Very highly recommended. R. Movies 12. Hollow Man: Director Paul Verhoeven's (Basic Instinct) latest thriller stars Kevin Bacon as an experimental scientist who becomes invisible and runs amok. With Elisabeth Shue, Josh Brolin and Kim Dickens. R. Cinemark 17. Cinema World 8. Movieland 6. Kid, Disney's The: Played by Spencer Breslin, a child meets himself at 40, a man played by Bruce Willis. Is he impressed? Find out in Jon Turteltaub's comedy. PG. Cinemark 17. Movieland 6. Loser: College sex comedy stars Mena Suvari (American Beauty) and Jason Biggs (American Pie). Directed by Amy Heckerling (Clueless), film has its delicious moments but is basically disappointing. Greg Kinnear's excellent as a pompous professor who hits on undergrad women. PG-13. Late night Bijou. Nutty Professor II: The Klumps: The oversize family Eddie Murphy introduced in Nutty I is back, and they're having a wedding for Sherman aka Buddy Love. Janet Jackson's the bride. PG-13. Cinema World 8. Cinemark 17. Movieland 6. Patriot, The: Roland Emmerich directs Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin, a war hero who doesn't want to fight the British until they try to take his South Carolina home. Heath Ledger co-stars as his son. With Tom Wilkinson, Chris Cooper and Joely Richardson. Violent, patriotic fare. R. Cinemark 17. Perfect Storm, The: Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot) directs this true action adventure based on Sebastian Junger's nonfiction bestseller. Six fishermen out of Gloucester, Mass. run into a killer storm on the high -- 100 foot waves -- seas. Stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and William Fichtner. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Pokemon the Movie 2000: Animated sequel about the popular creatures and Ash, their trainer, also introduces new characters. G. Cinemark 17. Return to Me: Romantic drama written and directed by Bonnie Hunt stars David Duchovny and Minnie Driver. Mixed reviews, but Driver is reportedly great. PG. Movies 12. Road Trip: College partying silliness directed by Todd Phillips stars Breckin Meyer, Tom Green and Amy Smart. R. Movies 12. Scary Movie: Parody of Scream teen horror directed by Keenan Ivory Wayans stars Carmen Electra in the Drew Barrymore role, Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans. Look for lots of improvisations in this spoof. R. Cinemark 17. Shanghai Noon: Jackie Chan plays a Chinese imperial guard sent to the Old West to rescue a kidnapped princess played by Lucy Liu. Owen Wilson is a thief who becomes Chan's sidekick. Directed by Tom Dey. PG-13. Movies 12. Space Cowboys: Director Clint Eastwood attracted Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner and Donald Sutherland to star with him in this outer space adventure flick. They play retired Air Force test pilots who have to defuse a leftover Cold War satellite in space before it hits earth. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Cinema World 8. Movieland 6. Thomas and the Magic Railroad: Based on Britt Allcroft's popular television program, this choo choo is still on track. G. Cinemark 17. Tigger Movie, The: Disney's animated movie about Winnie the Pooh and pals. Starring T-I-double gerr. G. Movies 12. Titan A.E.: Tale of a post-Earth epic journey by a rebellious teen who must find the Titan machine that can recreate the planet. Voices by Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, Drew Barrymore and others. Animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman direct. PG. Movies 12. Twenty-eight Days: Sandra Bullock goes to rehab after she smashes her sister's car while driving drunk. Co stars Steve Buscemi and Viggo Mortenson as counselors, Dianne Ladd, Marianne Jean-Baptiste as fellow alcoholics. PG-13. Movies 12. U-571: Exciting WWII thriller about the race to break the German Enigma code and rescue an enemy U-boat with Americans aboard. Directed by Johnathan Mostow, it stars Harvey Keitel, Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey and Jon Bon Jovi. Underrated. Good mainstream film. PG-13. Movies 12. What Lies Beneath: Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer star in Robert Zemeckis' spooky psychological thriller about a husband who has an affair with a woman who kills herself in their house. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Cinema World 8. X-Men: Marvel Comic mutant superheroes are called X-Men regardless of gender. Halle Berry, James Marsden and Famke Janssen help "gifted youngsters" learn to use their powers. Prof. Charles Xavier is played by Patrick Stewart, newcomer Hugh Jackson plays the lead, and Ian McKellan is the evil mutant. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Movieland. movie
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clips After Life: Set in an allegorical halfway house, the recently deceased try to find a single memory from their lives that can be filmed for them to remember. Sensitive, truly unique film written and directed by Kore-Eda Hirokazu (Maborosi) is highly recommended. Not rated. Cider House Rules: Loss-of-innocence fable stars Tobey Maguire and is directed by Lasse Hallstrom. John Irving's screenplay is adapted from his long novel. Also stars Charlize Theron, Delroy Lindo, Paul Rudd, Michael Cane, Jane Alexander, Kathy Baker and singer Erykah Badu in a memorable film debut. 1999 Academy Awards for adapted screenplay and supporting actor, Michael Caine. Fearlessly pro-abortion stance is remarkable. Recommended. PG-13. Defender, The: 1994 Hong Kong kung-fu action flick originally called Beijing Bodyguard stars Jet Li, with Christy Chung. R. Erin Brockovich: Story of a gutsy single mom who helps bring a class-action lawsuit against a utility that's discharging chemical pollutants that make kids sick. Directed by Steven Soderbergh (The Limey, Out of Sight), it stars Julia Roberts in what may be the best serious role of her career, with Albert Finney and Aaron Eckhart. Highly recommended. R. Family Tree: Young boy tries to save a special tree on the site of his father's new factory. Stars Naomi Judd and Robert Forster. G. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai: Jim Jarmusch's film received praise for Forest Whitaker's role, music by the RZA (RIZZ-ah) and cinematography by Robby Müller. The New York Times reviewer called it a "visual essay on brutality, honor and tribalism." R. Rage: The lives of nine strangers intersect in this drama directed by James Stern starring Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen and Gary Sinise among others. Never had a theatrical release in Eugene. R. Next week: Agnes Browne, Around the Fire, Beyond the Mat, Mifune, Not One Less, Simpatico, Supernova and The Tigger Movie. movie
reviews BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER: Directed by Jamie Babbit. Written by Brian Wayne Peterson, based on a story by Babbit. Produced by Andrea Sperling and Leanna Creel. Cinematography, Jules LaBarthe. Editor, Cecily Rhett. Production design, Rachel Kamerman. Costumes, Alix Friedberg. Music, Pat Irwin. Starring Natasha Lyonne. With Clea Duvall, RuPaul Charles, Cathy Moriarty and Eddie Cibrian. Lions Gate Films, 2000. R. 81 minutes. Jamie Babbit's movie is about a high-school cheerleader, Megan (Natasha Lyonne), whose parents send her to True Directions, a gay and lesbian deprogramming camp run by a Nurse Ratchet clone, Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty), and her reformed gay sidekick, Mike (RuPaul Charles). Megan's a sweet girl whose thoughts roam to her co-cheerleaders' young bodies when her boyfriend's tongue is in her mouth, so maybe it's right that she get away and think things over. Lyonne, who gave a spirited performance in The Slums of Beverly Hills, has nothing to do here as the poor naïf, Megan, except gaze around vacantly until she can exclaim, with relief and certainty, that she is a lesbian, too because she's a vegetarian. I don't know what such set-ups have to do with director Jamie Babbit's intention to tell the story from a "femme" point of view, but I think this is where the whole project goes off the rails. (Babbit describes the "femme" view as one that has "been ignored in the canon of lesbian movies, which have primarily been from the vantage point of a 'butch.'") Maybe someone will have a hoot laughing at de-programmer Brown's efforts to convince the girls the nonsensical tasks they're being taught will make them into happy heterosexual women, but it isn't obviously ha-ha funny. The regimen includes housework: running a vacuum cleaner over a rug, endlessly; child care: changing a wet baby (doll); and wifely duty: simulating sex with a man (a gay boy also undergoing deprogramming) while both wear gender-neutral body suits with strategically placed faux fig-leaves. Adolescent projections about adulthood can be the basis for subtle comedy, such as the deservedly acclaimed Rushmore, which shows the lengths to which a smitten teenage boy will go to get the attention of a pretty teacher he imagines he loves. Anne Wheeler's 1999 Better Than Chocolate is a lesbian romantic comedy that doesn't insult its audience. Likewise writer/director Alexander Payne's riotous satire, Election, never condescends to its wonderfully wicked, lesbian high-schooler (Jessica Campbell in her screen debut). But Cheerleader doesn't have a subtle moment in it. Everything is telegraphed, nudge-nudge, snicker-snicker. Such cheap irony and heavy-handed self-referential posturing is both tedious and insulting. In the most interesting segment in the film, a few boys and girls, including Megan and Graham (Clea DuVall), sneak out to the local gay bar with a gay couple, self-appointed "liberators" who seem like real people. Graham is a lively, attractive girl away from camp, and she knows why she likes girls. She goes along with director Brown's program because she needs a rehab certificate to get her daddy's money. Graham and Megan have a few sweet moments of discovery. Alas, a few good scenes do not a
good movie make. But I'm a Cheerleader opens Aug. 11 at the
Bijou, along with Sunshine, which even at three hours
promises to reward, not punish, attentive viewers.
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