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SEABISCUIT: Written and directed by Gary Ross, based on the book by Laura Hillenbrand. Produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Gary Ross, Jane Sindell. Executive producers, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Tobey Maguire, Allison Thomas, Robin Bissell. Cinematography, John Schwartzman. Production design, Jeannine Oppewall. Editor, William Goldenberg. Costumes, Judianna Makovsky. Music, Randy Newman. Race design, Chris McCarron. Head Wrangler, Rusty Hendrickson. Starring Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, with Elizabeth Banks, Gary Stevens and William H. Macy. Narrator, David McCullough. Universal, DreamWorks, Spyglass, 2003. PG-13. 129 minutes.
It all depends on how you look at it. The story of Seabiscuit, the abused and nearly worthless, 15-hands high, ordinary but thoroughbred racehorse that could and did beat the reigning Triple Crown winner of his day is a terrific tale. As written by Laura Hillenbrand, Seabiscuit, the non-fiction book, has spent most of the last few years on The New York Times best-seller list, first in hardcover for 30 weeks and in paperback for another 60 or so. Now Seabiscuit, the film, is set to be rolled out over time in a marketing plan with its eyes on the big prize, the Academy Awards. Critics are divided. Nearly all agree the movie is true to Hillenbrand's book, which means true to the facts, but with allowance for film conventions such as compound characters, compressed time, brevity (from a 400 page book to a 129 minute film), and some fictionalization. The negative voices say that writer and director Gary Ross (Pleasantville) carried his respect for Hillenbrand's work too far, by incorporating historian and writer David McCullough's public broadcasting, voice-of-truth narration to set the context of the Great Depression. However, the film's visual elements intensify the words spoken through cinematography, production design, costumes and a careful reconstruction of horse races run 70 years ago. That said, it is a little disconcerting in the early minutes of a mainstream, feature film to find such homage to the historical past through newsreels and still photography. But most people at the sold-out, first-show audience applauded, and many stayed during final credits, I think, because they weren't eager to leave the upbeat, overcoming-odds ambiance. Hillenbrand emphasizes in the book that poor people offset the suffering and degradation of the Depression era through a number of distractions, such as the first truly mass-market medium of radio; the popularity of horse-racing as entertainment; betting as a big-time money game based on hope; the endless pleasures of 1930s Hollywood musicals and screwball comedies; and the new realism of Movietone newsreels and wirephoto services as a result of improvement in photographic equipment. Many today find themselves in uneasily similar circumstances to a Great Depression audience — facing high unemployment, hunger, fewer high-paying job opportunities, cuts in education, human services and medical care; as well as an economy that seems to serve only the already-wealthy minority. (And that's leaving out our current military and political dilemma that's all too familiar and morally wrong on every level.) But ordinary people love this movie, not because it's escapist, but because it shows the real effort involved in coming from behind. Not because it's sentimental, but because it's a true story. Not because it's about perfect people, but because it's about a gifted animal and the three broken men who came together to lead him where he was born to go — to victory as a racehorse. Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges), Tom Smith (Chris Cooper) and Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire) were lucky to find each other at such a time. And they knew it. Howard had made a fortune by seeing the future of the automobile. But he lost his family. Smith was an outsider who lost his occupation but found promise in a horse who was also out of step with his time. And Pollard, abandoned by his family at an early age, become a hard-drinking, hard-fighting, itinerant jockey in the brutal fringe world of racing. He recognized himself in Seabiscuit, and the animal understood and trusted that. An unusual story for a big-budget movie — no guns, no violence, no sex — Seabiscuit is a real winner. I'd bet on it. Highest recommendations. Now playing at Cinema World and Cinemark.
The
Clan RESPIRO: Written and directed by Emanuele Crialese. Produced by Domenico Procacci, Anne-Dominique Toussaint. Cinematography, Fabio Zamarion. Editor, Didier Ranz. Music, John Surman. Art direction Beatrice Scarpato. Costumes, Eva Coen. Starring Valeria Golino, with Vincenzo Amato, Francesco Casisa, Veronica D'Agostino, Filippo Pucillo. Also Emma Loffredo, Elio Germano, Avy Marciano. Sony Pictures Classics, 2002. PG-13. 95 minutes. Cannes 2002 Critics Week Award.
The film begins abruptly, in media res, as they say. And I had trouble just that fast. The early sequences picture brutal, mean-spirited battles between savage, rival boy gangs set on rocky, dry sea cliffs, where empty, half-built cement-block structures further blight the landscape. If writer, director Emanuele Crialese wanted to shock me, he did. But his assumption that contemporary audiences would welcome this cruel, neo-realistic introduction to the island of Lampedusa feels like a gamble. During the film's first 15-20 minutes it was all I could do to stay in the room. I'm actually glad I stayed with it, because once the film's main character, Grazia (Valeria Golino), appears, a different energy slowly takes over. Grazia is the mother of three wild children: precocious teenager Marinella (Veronica D'Agostino); 13-year old Pasquale (Francesco Casisa), who's always in trouble with his dad; and youngest bro, Filippo (Filippo Pucillo), who's tougher than all the rest of them. Grazia is a force of nature: lulled by the ocean, gentle and loving with her kids, stirred by sexual longings, and angry as a hornet when her super-macho, fisherman husband, Pietro (Vincenzo Amato), treats her badly. In a tight community like this, the villagers hold against her for being at odds with her fellow women workers at the fish factory or disliking her meddling mother-in-law (Emma Loffredo). And when the women conspire against her, she flips out, crazy as a loon, and has to be medicated, which reinforces their resolve to send her away for treatment. But Pietro loves Grazia in his own way and tries to protect her from the villagers. Her boys, especially the indomitable Filippo, keep their eyes on her so that she doesn't transgress the hidebound rules that govern behavior on this island off the Italian coast near western Sicily. Her son Pasquale helps her hide out when she needs to get away from everyone, with consequences he can't foresee. And Filippo is fiercely loyal. By the film's ambiguous and not entirely persuasive ending, I was quite taken by the beautiful, lively Grazia but annoyed because I couldn't remember where I had seen the actress Valeria Golino recently. Ah, yes, she was the persistent first wife of Diego Rivera in Frida, the one who lived upstairs with his children and cooked mole every morning even after he married Frida Kahlo. Golino is the strongest reason to see this film. With her naturalistic performance she brings the emotionally vulnerable Grazia to life as an independent woman living in a closed society. As Grazia's daughter Marinella, D'Agostino creates a young woman who knows what she wants and how to get it. And who she wants is a young policeman new to the island. He acts tough at first, but he's really just shy, and that's what she likes about him. D'Agostino's performance is fluid and flawless. Both of the young actors who play Grazia's sons, Casisa and Pucillo, bring meaningful nuance to their portraits of young men as straitjacketed as their beautiful mother in terms of the roles open to them. All the village men, their father included, are fisherman working a fished-out ocean. But the kids are wily. One way or another, they find food from the ocean to bring home or to barter. They are, as the delightful, no-nonsense Filippo puts it, "bored shitless," but also inventive and full of the optimism of youth. Pietro has a different battle to fight. Although he finds a few tender moments with his wife, whom he loves, his days are filled with hard work that is no longer fruitful, and that's tough on a man's ego. Amato gives depth and resonance to Pietro's loss and grief when Grazia disappears, especially during his vigil at the ocean, where the villagers, feeling guilty, join him. A rare glimpse of a lifestyle foreign to our urban American experience, the director and actors have created a film that is both stirring and disturbing. Highly recommended, Respiro starts Friday, August 1, at the Bijou. Cast your vote by catching it early.
Bad Boys II: Martin Lawrence and Will Smith reunite with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay for another in this summer of sequels. Smith plays Mike Lowrey and Lawrence plays Marcus Burnett, two Miami narcotics detectives assigned to stem the flood of designer ecstasy into Miami. R. Cinemark. Cinema World. Freaky Friday: Remake of the 1976 Disney film. Directed by Mark S. Waters. Dr. Tess Coleman (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her 15-year-old daughter, Anna (Lindsay Lohan), are not getting along. One Thursday evening, their disagreements reach a fever pitch — Anna is incensed that her mother doesn't support her musical aspirations and Tess, a widow about to remarry, can't see why Anna won't give her fiance (Mark Harmon) a break. Everything changes when two Chinese fortune cookies cause mystic mayhem. PG. Sneak preview, Fri. 7/18 only. Cinemark. Cinema World. How to Deal: Directed by Clare Kilner. Stars pop singer turned actress Mandy Moore. Laura Sinagra of The Village Voice writes, "Moore's whinier here than in churchy weepie A Walk to Remember, but playing opposite Trent Ford, who, as her rakish beau, affects a chin-down, three-quarter boffo stare in every shot regardless of circumstance, her spunky resolve still brands like honesty." PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Johnny English: When all but one of MI5's top agents are killed in an explosion, it is left to the inept Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson of Mr. Bean fame) to try and solve who has stolen the crown jewels from the Tower of London. Accompanied by his assistant Bough (Ben Miller), Johnny bungles his way through one scrape after another. Directed by Peter Howett. PG. Cinemark. Cinema World. Lizzie McGuire, The Movie: Disney comedy about a girl on a class trip to Italy who is mistaken for an Italian pop star. Stars Hillary Duff, directed by Jim Fall. PG. Movies 12. Osmosis Jones: Directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly with others, this live action/animated comedy goes inside the body to the sites of the most yucky sites. Stars Bill Murray, Molly Shannon and the voices of Chris Rock, David Hyde Pierce and Laurence Fishburne. PG. 10 am, 7/22 only. Movies 12. Raising Victor Vargas: Indie film directed by Peter Sollett. Tender, romantic comedy about young bucks who want to players in their Lower East Side neighborhood. J. Hoberman of The Village Voice writes, "School is out and romantic intrigue is in. All over the neighborhood, persistent guys are madly scheming to get next to tough, sassy girls. Cute and vain 16-year-old Victor (Victor Rasuk) is pursuing pretty, diffident "Juicy Judy" (Judy Marte)." All if this plays against the Old World Dominican values of Victor's grandmother (Altagracia Guzman), who's just trying to raise a good, Domican boy. Inspired performances by these fresh, new faces. R. Bijou. See review this issue.
CONTINUING: Anger Management: Adam Sandler plays a man who must undergo anger management. His shrink, played by Jack Nicholson, moves in with him. Also stars Marisa Tomei. PG-13. Movies 12. Archaeology Channel International Film & Video Festival, The: Discover lost civilizations, sunken galleons, buried treasure — even a cave of glowing skulls — and the true tales of modern African bushmen, all here in Eugene as part of the first international archaeological film and video festival to be held in North America. www.archaeologychannel.org for schedule and information. July 16-19, McDonald Theatre. Online archives. Bruce Almighty: Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Aniston star in this tale of a at TV reporter, who has a really bad day, rages against God and receives more than he expected. PG-13. Cinemark. Charlie's Angels Full Throttle: McG again directs the angels — Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, and ex-angel Demi Moore — to save the government's witness protection program, from which classified info has been stolen. Written by John August. PG-13. Cinemark. See review this issue. Chicago: Broadway spectacular directed by Rob Marshall stars Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones as killer dames behind bars who compete for tabloid coverage. With Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly and Richard Gere. 2002 Academy Awards for best picture, supporting actress Zeta-Jones, art direction, sound, editing and costumes. PG 13. Movies 12. Online archives. Dumb & Dumberer: Prequel is subtitled When Harry Met Lloyd and stars Derek Richardson and Eric Christian Olsen as the 1994 Dumb and Dumber duo in high school. Directed by Troy Miller, with Eugene Levy, Cheri Oteri and Luis Guzmán. PG-13. Movies 12. Finding Nemo: Pixar (Toy Story) presents this computer-animated fantasy of two Clownfish, Marlin and his son Nemo, who get separated in the Great Barrier Reef. Written and directed by Andrew Stanton (A Bug's Life), with voices by Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush, Allison Janney. Very highly recommended. G. Cinema World. Cinemark. Online archives. Holes: Adventures digging holes at Camp Green Lake for Stanley, who comes from a strange family that's been cursed for generations. Embarrassingly, Jon Voight, Sigourney Weaver and Tim Blake Nelson co-star. PG. Movies 12. Online archives. Hulk, The: Director Ang Lee's action-adventure adaptation of the Marvel Comics series hits darker notes than the usual superhero comics. Scientist's (Eric Bana) inner demons change him after a catastrophic experiment. Written by James Schamus, it also stars Jennifer Connelly, Nick Nolte, Josh Lucas and Sam Elliott. PG-13. Cinemark. Online archives. Identity: Ten travelers caught in a rip-snorter of a storm seek refuge at a creepy motel in the desert, and sure enough they begin to die. Directed by James Mangold, stars John Cusack, Ray Liotta and lots of screaming women. R. Movies 12. In-Laws, The: Andrew Fleming directs Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks as the reluctant fathers of the bride and groom. PG-13. Movies 12. Italian Job, The: Mark Wahlberg leads a heist that's double-crossed by one of his crew. Charlize Theron plays a safecracker in this cool revenge movie. Also stars Edward Norton, Mos Def and Donald Sutherland. Highly recommended for its pure entertainment value. PG-13. Cinemark. Online archives. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Based on the comic book miniseries by Alan Moore. Matthew Tobey in All Movie Guide writes, "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen takes place in an alternate universe, where the characters of several literary classics exist in reality. If that wasn't enough, they've been assembled together in 1900 by Queen Victoria as a team of evil-fighting heroes." Directed by Steve Norrington. Stars Sean Connery, Peta Wilson, Shane West, Stuart Townsend, Naseeruddin Shah, and Tony Curran. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde: Reese Witherspoon is back as Elle Woods, Harvard Law, class of 2001, now in DC on behalf of pet animal's rights. Luke Wilson is still her boyfriend, as is her manicure person, Jennifer Coolidge. Sally Field and Bob Newhart join the cast. Charles Herman-Wurmfeld directs. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: Directed and re-imagined by Peter Jackson, part two of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy continues. New characters, a surprise return and great battles. Director Peter Jackson's second masterpiece. Very highest recommendations. 2002 Academy Awards for sound editing, visual effects. PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives. Man Apart, A: If you've seen the trailer, you know that Vin Diesel is an undercover cop you don't want to mess with, especially after some sorry drug dealer scum breaks into his home. The New York Times' Dave Kehr calls it "a bread-and-butter action film." Directed by F. Gary Gray. R. Movies 12. Owning Mahowny: Richard Kwietniowski directs this film set in the 1980s. Stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as real-life Canadian Dan Mahowny, a young Toronto banker whose assistant manager status puts him in charge of millions of dollars. The movie opens: "Some folks believe everyone has a public life, a private life and a secret life…" Mahowny's public banker life collides here with his private obsessive-compulsive behavior, and his secret gambling addiction — he embezzles money from the bank to wager on sporting events, in card games and Atlantic City gambling sprees — big binges for this outwardly modest, reserved character. Minnie Driver plays Mahowny's devoted girl, John Hurt plays a casino manager. R. Bijou. Pirates of the Caribbean: The New York Times says, "… director Gore Verbinski's penchant for logistics — combined with … producer Jerry Bruckheimer's desire to spend like a drunken pirate … melts into an often frenetic, colorful and entertaining comic adventure that often seems to be using 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' as a template. The dazzling, high-flying silliness is quite an achievement. The movie is better than it deserves to be, given its origins: a ride at Disneyland and Disney World." Stars Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas: DreamWorks animated pirate adventure tale stars the voice of Brad Pitt as Sinbad, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Marina, and Michelle Pfieffer as the goddess of chaos. Joe Fiennes plays Proteus, a rival pirate. Directed by Tim Johnson and Patrick Gilmore. PG. Cinemark. Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines: Jonathan Mostow directs, and Arnold Schwarzenegger comes back to save the world from annihilation once again. John Connor (Nick Stahl), is 18 now, and he's fighting off a female killer cyborg from the future, (Kristanna Loken). R. Cinemark. Cinema World. See review this issue. Twenty-eight Days Later: Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) directs this really scary horror film set in a post-cataclysmic future, where a deadly virus sweeps through earth's population in a few weeks, and leaves people in a chronic state of killer rage. Stars Christopher Eccleston, Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Megan Burns and Brendan Gleeson. Advance word is that it's a great movie. R. Cinemark. Two Fast Two Furious: John Singleton directs this sequel action adventure about street racing. Stars Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Cole Hauser, Eva Mendes. PG-13. Movies 12. View from the Top: Bruno Barreto directs this 1960s era comedy about a girl's dream of becoming a first-class international flight attendant. Stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate, Mark Ruffalo and Candice Bergen. PG-13. Movies 12. Whale Rider: Winner of the World Cinema award at Sundance 2003, Niki Caro's Maori drama about a spunky girl, played by Keisha Castle-Hughes), who decides to show her beloved but authoritarian grandfather that she is able to lead the tribe, despite being a girl. A wonderful, inspiring drama that features the exquisite New Zealand coast. A don't-miss movie. PG-13. Bijou. Online archives. X-Men 2: The next link in the evolutionary chain? Directed by Bryan Singer, stars Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden and more, lots more. PG-13. Movies 12. MOVIE
THEATERS Bijou
Art Cinemas Regal
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Theaters
NEW
RELEASES ON VIDEO Daredevil: Marvel Comic's Man Without Fear is directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Stars Ben Affleck as the masked vigilante, Jennifer Graner, Michael Clarke Duncan, Colin Farrell, Joe Pantolliano, Jon Favreau and David Keith. PG-13. I Love You to Death (1990): Lawrence Kasdan directs all-star cast of Kevin Kline, Tracey Ullman, Keanu Reeves, River Phoenix, Joan Plowright, William Hurt in this comedy of errors. Kline plays a womanizing pizza parlor owner, Ullman is his wife. A tour de force for the actors who get to, well, act. R. Mary Cassatt: A Brush With Independence: Jackson Frost directs this documentary on the American impressionist painter, Mary Cassatt. Available though Home Vision Entertainment. Quiet American, The: Directed by Phillip Noyce, this adaptation of Graham Greene's novel is set in 1952 Saigon during the French Indochina War. Michael Caine plays an English journalist; also stars Brendan Fraser. 2002 Academy Award nomination for Caine. Highly recommended. Includes anatomy of a scene, director's commentary and making-of featurette. R. Online archives. Solaris (2002): George Clooney stars in Steven Soderbergh's underrated remake of 1972 sci-fi movie by Russian master, Andrei Tarkovsky, about scientists who fall under the spell of a strange planet their craft is orbiting. Costars Natascha McElhone and Jeremy Davies. Highest recommendations. Includes commentary by producer James Cameron and director Steven Soderbergh. Also HBO's "Solaris: Behind the Planet." PG-13. Online archives. Spider: David Cronenberg's underrated portrait of a schizophrenic man, played by Ralph Fiennes, who cannot tell apart reality, memory and fantasy. Neither can the viewers, and it makes for a compelling film experience. Great multi-role performance by Miranda Richardson. With Gabriel Byrnes and Lynn Redgrave. Highest recommendation. Includes director's commentary, many featurettes. R. Online archives. Till Human Voices Wake Us: Psych professor played by Guy Pearce freaks out on Helen Bonham Carter in Michael Petroni's ponderous film. Manohla Dargis (LA Times) writes, "memories and metaphors jostle against each other with …escalating force." Hmm. R. Whole Wide World, The (1996): Marvelous film directed by Dan Ireland stars the versatile and underrated Vincent D'Onofrio, and Renee Zellweger before she made Jerry Maguire. Picture never opened in Eugene. Set in 1930s West Texas, it's based on the memoirs of Novalyne Price about her relationship with the king of pulp fiction, Robert E. Howard (Conan the Barbarian). DVD includes cast and crew commentary and conversation between director and Zellweger. PG. Next week: Agent Cody Banks; Bright Lights, Big City; Bringing Down the House; Caught; Johnny Be Good; Of Unknown Origins; Omega Man; Soylent Green; The Sure Thing; The Thing from Another World; and What a Girl Wants.
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