MOVIE CLIPS | VIDEO RELEASES | THEATER INFO Showdown May men of good will always prevail. By Lois Wadsworth Thirteen Days: Directed by Roger Donaldson. Written by David Self. Based on the book, The Kennedy Tapes - Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis, edited by Ernest R. May. Cinematography, Andrzej Bartkowiak. Production design, Dennis Washington. Editor, Conrad Buff. Costumes, Isis Mussenden. Music, Trevor Jones. Starring Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp. With Dylan Baker, Michael Fairman, Henry Strozier, Frank Wood, Kevin Conway, Tim Kelleher, Len Cariou and Bill Smitrovich. New Line Cinema and Beacon Pictures, 2000. PG-13. 138 minutes.   The inner circle: Robert F. Kennedy (Steven Culp), John F. Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood), and Kenny O'Donnell (Kevin Costner). .   People the world over have lived in fear of nuclear war since 1945, when the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in an effort to end World War II. During the Cold War that followed, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. practiced a precarious brand of saber-rattling called brinkmanship, a word that referred to the danger of pushing one country's interests so far that the opponents' only response leads to nuclear war. The practice of brinkmanship moved the world closer to annihilation, catastrophic pollution of the earth's air and water and the onset of what we now would call nuclear winter -- the end of the world. Now the world is populated largely by people who have no living memory of the human consequences of the bomb. But the relevance of the warning issued by President Dwight D. Eisenhower at his retirement has not changed. Ike was alarmed about the growing power of what he called "the military-industrial complex," which he had seen up close, having presided over the country's largest peacetime military buildup under his Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. The president who succeeded Ike, John F. Kennedy, was strongly aware of Eisenhower's warning. This is the background in which the drama of Thirteen Days unfolds. The Cuban missile crisis brought the U.S. and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war. A compelling story, it's told here by director Roger Donaldson and screenwriter David Self as a two-week, suspense-filled period. Based on White House tapes made during the crisis, the film is a chilling reminder that powerful military leaders and advisors can create a formidable force for war that only a strong, peace-seeking president can resist. President John Kennedy (played by Bruce Greenwood); his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy (Steven Culp); and the president's personal advisor, Ken O'Donnell (Kevin Costner), comprise the inner circle. Surrounding them are Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (Dylan Baker), U.N. Secretary Adlai Stevenson (Michael Fairman), Secretary of State Dean Rusk (Henry Strozier), and the Hawks — Dean Acheson (Len Cariou), Gen. Curtis LeMay (Kevin Conway) and Gen. Maxwell Taylor (Bill Smitrovich). Greenwood and Culp downplay the Kennedys' iconic status, and O'Donnell is suitably tough-minded and plain spoken. The trust between them is clear, and the searching intelligence with which they seek a solution to the standoff in Cuba is inspiring. Their performances are quietly credible and thoughtful, and the tension they carry is profound. The film is a nail-biter. Even though we know the ultimate outcome, every escalation of conflict breeds new tensions. I wish the filmmakers had not shown us so many sequences of nuclear explosions. Potent, ambivalent images, the mushroom clouds are too beautiful and terrible to contemplate. Thirteen Days is now playing at Cinemark 17. Very highly recommended. Tasty Sweet imperfection shakes up village. By Lois Wadsworth Chocolat: Directed by Lasse Hallstrom. Written by Robert Nelson Jacobs, based on Joanne Harris's novel. Produced by David Brown, Kit Golden, Leslie Holleran. Cinematography, Roger Pratt. Editor, Andrew Mondshein. Music, Rachel Portman. Production design, David Gropman. Costumes, Renee Ehrlich Kalfus. Starrin Juliette Binoche, Victoire Thivisol, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Lena Olin and Alfred Molina. With Peter Stormare, Carrie-Anne Moss, Leslie Caron. Miramax Films, 2000. PG-13. 121 minutes.   Scholar-athlete Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown) becomes the unlikely protégé of reclusive novelist Forrester (Sean Connery). .   A mainstream film delight, Lasse Hallstrom's Chocolat fits the pattern of character-driven dramas the acclaimed filmmaker selects. Hallstrom attracts wonderful actors to his projects, in part because his movies offer meaty roles for everyone. In Chocolat, as in My Life as a Dog (1985), What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) and The Cider House Rules (1999), even the minor characters are realistically flawed. Imperfect heroes and heroines and redeemable villains are Hallstrom's trademarks. Although Hallstrom's movies almost always end well, he does not sacrifice tough storytelling to sentimentality. Think of Cider House's strong representations of incest, abortion, drug use and sexual abuse. Likewise, Chocolat does not whitewash the horrors of domestic abuse, but it does show that with loving support the human spirit can renew itself. Set in the 1950s in a remote European village that looks as if it has not changed in 500 years, the film opens on two red-robed figures making their way up a cobblestone street propelled by a strong north wind. Soon Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) and her young daughter, Anouk (Victoire Thivisol), are indoors renting a street-level shop and upstairs apartment from a cantankerous octagenarian, Armande (Judi Dench). Vianne plans to open the town's first chocolaterie, but almost immediately she falls out of step with the village's mayor, Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina). Since his wife left him for warmer climes, the mayor has appointed himself the community's moral watchdog. Vianne's radiant beauty, pink high heels, low-cut necklines and her status as an unwed mother upset him. He chides her for selling chocolate temptations during Lent and is shocked when she tells him she doesn't go to Mass. Unaccustomed to being told "no," the Comte spreads the word about the sacrilegious shopkeeper and calls for a boycott of her shop. The conflict between strict conservatism and the much looser, more egalatarian atmosphere Vianne establishes in her chocolate shop soon involves the entire village. Vianne's acceptance of the village outcasts brings about real change in their lives. Josephine (Lena Olin), finds the courage to leave her husband, Serge (Peter Stormare). A lonely older man, Guillaume (John Wood), haltingly woos a woman he's admired for 40 years, Madame Audel (Leslie Caron). And Vianne befriends the outspoken Armande's grandson, Luc (Aurelien Parent Koenig), and brings him back into her life. To the mayor and those like Armande's estranged daughter, Caroline (Carrie-Anne Moss), who yearn for the tranquil, pre-Vianne status quo of the village, the arrival of a river boat of free spirits is the final straw. Especially because one of the vagabonds is the handsome, guitar-playing Roux (Johnny Depp), who sees the lovely Vianne's true nature and desires it. Chocolat's fairy tale simplicity and beautiful presentation recommend it to a wide audience, but others may find it derivative. I got a pleasurable flash of Babette's Feast and Big Night during the feast where Vianne serves a molé sauce on the chicken. Now playing at Cinemark 17 and Movieland 6. A Tragic Flaw Determined detective's obsession misleads him. By Lois Wadsworth The Pledge: Directed by Sean Penn. Written by Jerzy Kromolowski, Mary Olson-Kromolowski, based on the book by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Produced by Penn, Michael Fitzgerald, Elie Samaha. Cinematography, Chris Menges. Production design, Bill Groom. Editor, Jay Cassidy. Music, Hans Zimmer, Klaus Badelt. Starring Jack Nicholson. With Benicio Del Toro, Aaron Eckhart, Tom Noonan, Robin Wright Penn, Vanessa Redgrave, Mickey Rourke, Sam Shepard, Lois Smith, Patricia Clarkson, Costas Mandylor, Dale Dickey and Harry Dean Stanton. Also, Helen Mirren, Michael O'Keefe, Morgan Creek and Franchise Pictures, 2001. R. 124 minutes.   The desperate Marquis de Sade (Geoffrey Rush) tries to persuade Madeleine (Kate Winslet) to be his lover. .   Framed as a detective story, director Sean Penn's new film, The Pledge, is essentially a character study. Detective Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson) is retiring from the force and going fishing. But on his last day at work, he is drawn into the grisly murder and mutilation of an 8-year-old girl. Recruited to tell the girls' parents about her death, he is persuaded by the grieving mother (Patricia Clarkson) to swear an oath to find the killer. Black may be dissolute in many things -- his appearance, for example, or his drinking -- but he never breaks a pledge. Black's obsession -- a fatal and tragic flaw -- skews his police work. He's unable to persuade an ambitious young policeman, Stan Krolak (Aaron Eckhart), that he's got the wrong man. The prime suspect, a mentally impaired Native American named Toby Jay Wadenah (Benicio Del Toro), has been identified by the young snowmobiler who found the girl's body. After Krolak's bungled interrogation and its bloody aftermath, Black's frustration leads him to conduct his own investigation, alone. For a time after he buys a gas station, Black seems to relax into his retirement. His life improves when he takes under his wing a local waitress named Lori (Robin Wright Penn) and her young daughter, Chrissy (Pauline Roberts). From a tortured loner, Black blossoms into contentment as he, Lori and Chrissy become family-like. However, on a parallel track, he is closing in on a suspect he wants not only for his case but also for the murder of several other girls. Jerry's obsession warps his judgment in making crucial decisions that are his undoing. Because Penn gives the audience information that neither Jerry nor anyone close to him has, we know that Jerry's diligence is not wasted. Still, the picture ends on a sad, unfinished note. Penn's integrity brought many stars to the project, some for only one scene, including a macho rural deputy (Costas Mandylor), a psychiatrist (Helen Mirren), the girl's grandmother (Vanessa Redgrave), Jerry's old boss (Sam Shepard), the father of a missing girl (Mickey Rourke), a rural pastor (Tom Noonan) and a crusty old timer (Harry Dean Stanton). Like Affliction, Paul Schrader's 1999 film based on Russell Banks' novel starring Nick Nolte, much of The Pledge takes place in an unforgiving, bleak, wintry landscape. Similarities do not stop there. Like Nolte's character, Nicholson's world-weary detective lives on the edge of emotional breakdown. Exhausted, overwhelmed by circumstance, angry about treatment in the workplace, both men are terribly vulnerable. It takes only one good push to put them over the edge. And, like Nolte, Nicholson gives his best serious performance in years. Unable to rely on the charm of 25 years ago, Nicholson's performance here is far riskier than his memorable detective in Roman Polanski's 1974 Chinatown. The Pledge is now playing at Cinema World and Cinemark. Highly recommended. OPENING OR RETURNING: Films open the Friday following date of EW publication unless otherwise noted. Anna Karenina: Tolstoy's novel about a passionate, illicit love between a married woman and a military officer. In Russian with English subtitles. Plays at 6:30 pm, Jan. 31, at 115 Pacific Hall. Free. Basket, The: Set in the rural Northwest, this post-WWI family drama stars Peter Coyote and Karen Allen. He's a school teacher who shows his boy students the new game of basketball. She's married to a bitter man who hates the German orphans (Robert Karl Burke, Amber Willenborg) who live in the community. Produced and directed by Spokane filmmaker Rich Cowan, beautiful film shows people learning to work together for the common good. Recommended. PG. Movieland 6. Blue: Juliette Binoche (Chocolat) stars as a young woman who loses her husband and daughter in a car wreck and struggles to overcome her grief. Directed by the late, great Krzysztof Kieslowski as the first film in his trilogy (with White and Red), it is one of the best films of 1993. In French with English subtitles. R. Plays at 7 pm, Jan. 30, at 121 Pacific Hall, UO Campus. Free. Desperate Living: John Waters' 1977 satire stars fav Mink Stole as a mental patient who escapes with her maid (Jean Hill) to a town populated by outcasts. Not rated. Plays at 8 pm, Jan. 26, at 180 PLC, UO Campus. $2 students, $3 general. Sugar and Spice: Cheerleader comedy shows girl power united to help one of their own, even if it means breaking the law. Directed by Francine McDougall, it stars Mena Suvari (American Beauty) and ensemble cast. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Shadow of the Vampire: Homage to early filmmaker F.W. Murnau and his star, Max Schreck, in 1922's Noseferatu, a classic of German Expressionism. Script by Steven Katz, directed by E. Elias Merhige suggests that both men were actual vampires. Starring John Malkevich as the director and Willem Dafoe as his bloodthirsty star. The NY Times' critic said the movie "plays like a gothic version" of State and Main with "a weird, flickering magic that is hard to dispel." R. Cinemark 17. This is What Democracy Looks Like: 1999 WTO meeting in Seattle attracted a wide-range of activists, and this film celebrates both their diversity and their unification. Moving footage of protesters being gassed, beaten and arrested is impartial witness to the state of martial law imposed on the city by the authorities, a gross overreaction to what was a largely peaceful assembly. Film is technically well done, with a rock sound track and celebrity narrators Michael Franti and Susan Sarandon. 7 pm, Thursday, Jan. 25, at United Methodist Church, 1376 Olive. Benefits Progressive Lane Activist Network and Alliance for Democracy. Wedding Planner, The: Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey star in this romance about a San Francisco wedding planner (Lopez) who meets the man of her dreams when a handsome pediatrician (McConaughey) saves her from a near-fatal collision with a runaway dumpster. PG-13. Cinema World 8. Cinemark 17. CONTINUING: Antitrust: College graduate (Ryan Phillippe) lands dream job writing software for humongous computer company founded by his childhood idol and mentor (Tim Robbins). Lad learns lessons the hard way. Directed by Peter Howitt (Sliding Doors), film also stars Rachael Leigh Cook and Claire Forlani. PG-13. Movieland 6. Cinemark 17. Bring It On: Kirsten Dunst (The Virgin Suicides) is a cheerleader who wants to lead her squad to a national title. Gabrielle Union (She's All That) is head of a rival, inner-city hip-hop squad that has a score to settle with their suburban counterparts. PG-13. Movies 12. Cast Away: Fed Ex manager Tom Hanks learns to survive when he washes up on a remote tropical island after his plane crashes. Helen Hunt is the girlfriend he left behind. Intimate direction by Robert Zemeckis, a lean script by William Broyles Jr., and an edgy performance by Hanks. Highly recommended. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Cinema World 8. Movieland 6. Charlie's Angels: Elite private investigators Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Dylan (Drew Barrymore), and Alex (Lucy Liu) can handle anything on land, sea or air with up-to-the-minute martial arts skills, futuristic vehicles, high-tech tools and toys, and a raft of crafty disguises. Also stars Bill Murray. PG-13. Movies 12. Chocolat: Directed by Lasse Hallström (Cider House Rules) and starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, this confection is about the scandal in a small town when a sexy, free spirited woman opens a chocolate shop. Sinful! PG-13. Cinemark 17. Movieland 6. See review this issue. Double Take: It's Trading Places for the new century as NY investment banker (Orlando Jones) switches identities with a petty thief (Eddie Griffin) to get out of hot water but finds he's in even bigger trouble now. Written and directed by George Gallow. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Dungeons and Dragons: Fantasy adventure stars Jeremy Irons and Thora Birch (American Beauty), based on the popular game. Courtney Solomon directs. PG-13. Movies 12. Emperor's New Groove, The: Disney animation, Sting's music, and the voices of David Spade, Eartha Kitt and John Goodman enliven this tale of a young emperor who is turned into a llama and learns to be nicer to others. G. Cinemark 17. Movieland 6. Family Man: Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) directs Nic Cage, Téa Leoni and Don Cheadle in this fantasy of an unmarried investment banker who sees what his life could have been had he married his only love. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Finding Forester: Gus Van Sant's latest film is badly written by Portlander Mike Rich. Sean Connery plays a reclusive novelist and 16-year old newcomer Robert Brown plays the super-bright teen who brings him back to the world. With Anna Paquin and Busta Rhymes. Film reprises themes of Good Will Hunting without adding anything new, but audience loved it. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Cinema World 8. Gift, The: In Sam Raimi's Southern Gothic thriller, Cate Blanchett plays a widowed mom who uses her psychic powers to help her neighbors. Greg Kinnear plays a school principal looking for his missing girlfriend (Katie Holmes). Also stars Hillary Swank and Keanu Reeves. Script co-written by Billy Bob Thornton. R. Cinemark 17. Legend of Bagger Vance, The: A down-and-out former golf star (Matt Damon) finds the girl of his dreams, again, (Charlize Theron). A guardian-angel (Will Patton) helps him remember his former glory. Directed by Robert Redford. PG. Movies 12. Little Nicky: Adam Sandler plays the shy, awkward son of the Devil who loves heavy metal but has two older brothers who are bullies. When they make trouble in New York, Nicky and a foul-mouthed talking dog go to the city to restore the balance between Good and Evil. PG-13. Movies 12. Little Vampire: Cute kid from Jerry Maguire Jonathan Lipnicki has a vampire friend he shares adventures with. Based on books by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg; directed by Ulrich Edel. PG. Movies 12. Meet the Parents: Ben Stiller plays the unfortunate prospective son-in-law to Robert Di Niro's overly protective father. Directed by Jay Roach, film also stars Teri Polo and Blythe Danner as the engaged daughter and her mother. PG-13. Movies 12. Men of Honor: Cuba Gooding Jr. plays the first black man in the Navy to try to be a SEAL. Robert De Niro plays the racist officer who tries to break him. Directed by George Tillman Jr. (Soul Food). R. Movies 12. Miss Congeniality: Dubious comedy stars Sandra Bullock as an FBI agent posing as a beauty contestant, Miss New Jersey. Directed by Donald Petrie, flick also stars Benjamin Bratt, Michael Caine and William Shatner. PG-13. Cinemark 17. O Brother, Where Art Thou?: Ethan and Joel Coen's feel-good Depression-era comedy is their best ever. This Odyssey stars George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson as chain-gang escapees in Mississippi, and the whole wild show is an homage to old timey music and the folk traditions from which it springs. Also with John Goodman. One of the very best films of the year, it gets the highest recommendation. PG-13. Cinema World 8. Pay It Forward: Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense) star in this drama about a boy whose class project turns into phenomenon taken up by lots of people. Directed by Mimi Leder. PG-13. Movies 12. Pledge, The: Sean Penn directs this Jack Nicholson detective thriller that also stars Robin Wright-Penn and Sam Shepard. Nicholson's a nearly-retired cop who's looking for the murderer of an 8-year old girl when he stumbles on something bigger. R. Cinemark 17. Cinema World 8. See review this issue. Quills: Geoffrey Rush plays the 18th century novelist Marquis de Sade, writing like a fiend in Charenton Asylum for the insane. Joaquin Phoenix plays the good priest who runs the place. Kate Winslet plays the laundress who smuggles de Sade's kinky porn out to the world. Michael Caine plays the malevolent doctor who wants to silence him. This sometimes brutal and violent film is directed by Phillip Kaufman. Highly recommended for cast's great performances, especially Rush's sly madman. R. Bijou. Red Planet: Val Kilmer is an American astronaut on the first manned flight to Mars, where the team hopes to find a place for Earth to colonize. With Benjamin Bratt, Tom Sizemore, Terence Stamp and Carrie-Anne Moss. Directed by Anthony Hoffman. PG-13. Movies 12. Remember the Titans: Football movie based on the true story of a 1971 Virginia high school falling apart from racial conflict until a black coach (Denzel Washington) from out of town pulls them together. Directed by Boaz Yakin, it also stars Will Patton and Kip Pardue. PG. Movies 12. Requiem for a Dream: Brilliant, deeply disturbing film directed by Darren Aronofsky (Pi) from a script by Hubert Selby Jr. (Last Exit to Brooklyn). Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Jennifer Connelly and Marlon Wayans give realistic, gritty and courageous performances here as junkies on the down slope. While pic's innovative and beautiful, you will not sleep well after this one. Unrated. Late night Bijou. Save the Last Dance for Me: Talented white girl from small town (Julia Stiles) enrolls in an inner city high school in New York where she falls for a popularAfrican American boy (Sean Patrick Thomas) who also loves to dance. She has a chance to dance ballet, but he prefers hip-hop. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Cinema World 8. Sixth Day, The: Roger Spottiswoode directs this futuristic thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in two roles. One is a clone, but nobody can tell which one. Also stars Wendy Crewson as his wife, Tony Goldwyn and Robert Duvall. PG-13. Movies 12. Snatch: Writer, director Guy Ritchie's (Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels) comedy features an ensemble cast in the wild tale of a diamond heist gone sideways. It's a rollicking ride through London's gangster world starring Benicio Del Toro (Traffic), Brad Pitt, Dennis Farina, Vinnie Jones, Jason Statham and Stephen Graham. R. Cinema World 8. Cinemark 17. 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. Movies 12. State and Main: David Mamet comedy set in a New England town taken over by a film production crew and stars. Not so much culture clash as mutual opportunity meltdown. Terrific ensemble cast includes William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin and Sarah Jessica Parker. R. Very highly recommended. Bijou. Thirteen Days: Roger Donaldson directs this political thriller set during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when JFK and brother Robert scramble to avert Armageddon. Kevin Costner plays the trusted Kennedy political operative, Kenny O'Donnell. Bruce Greenwood plays the President, and Steven Culp plays Bobby. Very exciting, excellent film. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Movieland 6. See review this issue. Traffic: Steven Soderbergh's acclaimed new film takes a hard look at the complexities of drug interdiction programs. With an all-star, ensemble cast that includes Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Don Cheadle, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Erica Christensen. Brilliant directing, excellent script and dynamite performances make this the best film of 2000 (so far). R. Cinemark 17. Cinema World. What Women Want: Mel Gibson stars as an accident victim who can suddenly hear the private thoughts of women. The women in question include Helen Hunt, Marisa Tomei and Lauren Holly. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Movieland 6. MOVIE THEATERS Use the links provided below for specific show times. Bijou Art Cinemas Bijou Theater | 686-2458 | 492 E. 13th Regal Cinemas Cinema World | 342-6536 | Valley River Center McDonald | 344-4343 | 10th and Willamette Movieland | 342-4142 | W. 11th and Seneca Springfield Quad | 726-9073 | Cinemark Theaters Movies 12 | 741-1231 | Gateway Mall Movies before 12:30 are Sat. Sun. only. $1.50 all shows all days. Cinemark 17 | 741-1231 | Gateway Mall NEW RELEASES ON VIDEO: Releases subject to change. Available the Tuesday following date of EW publication, sometimes sooner: Dinosaur: Disney gets a little risqué with a PG rating, no songs and computer-generated dinos against live-action backgrounds. Otherwise, this film is your classic cuddly Disney. Stars the voices of D.B. Sweeney, Julianna Margulies and Della Reese. PG. Solomon and Gaenor: Set in a religious, coal mining village in Wales, 1911, Paul Morrison's well-intentioned but flawed film tells a predictable tale of doomed love affair between a Welsh girl (Nia Roberts) and a Jewish boy (Ioan Gruffudd). Labor unrest and religious intolerance drive the plot. Lackluster but earnest performances. R. 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. Critics panned this film. PG-13. Next week: A Better Way to Die, The Broken Hearts Club, Digimon, Dr. T. and the Women, Having Our Say, Straight Out of Compton, Urban Legends and Whipped. Back to Top Table of Contents | News & Views | Arts & Entertainment Classifieds | Personals | EW Archive