(R, 134 minutes). The story of two men who inhabit a time and place that forces them to deny the only great passion either one will ever feel. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal meet as young men who take summer jobs in 1963 as Wyoming sheepherders and one night, suddenly, almost violently, find themselves having sex. They share an inherited hatred of "gays" and agree they're not "queer," but they are, and never find a way to deal with that. Not a "gay cowboy movie" but a deep and observant drama that has a universal theme: We feel whatever we feel, whether we think we should or not, and to deny it can lead to heartbreak. Oscar-worthy direction (by Ang Lee) and performances, in one of the year's best films.
(R, 108 minutes). Busy and unfocused comedy by Lasse Hallstrom showing Casanova (Heath Ledger) forced to seek a bride, and choosing the virginal Victoria (Natalie Dormer), only to run afoul of her suitor Giovanni (Charlie Cox), whose sister Francesca (Sienna Miller) is a feminist who dons male garb to impersonate her brother in a swordfight with Casanova, so impressing Casanova that he drops Victoria for Francesca, only to discover she is engaged to the "lard king of Genoa" (Oliver Platt). Needs to be comic opera but is only a sitcom.
(Unrated, 95 minutes). Depicts the brutal tracking, torture and mutilation of screaming young women. When the killer severs the spine of one of his victims and calls her "a head on a stick," I wanted to walk out of the theater and keep on walking.
(R, 164 minutes). In an act of courage and conscience. Steven Spielberg has placed himself between Israel and the Palestinians, looked at decades of terrorism and reprisal, and had one of his characters conclude, "There is no peace at the end of this." His film takes the form of a thriller. After the kidnapping and deaths of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympiad, a secret Israeli team is assembled to seek out and assassinate all of those responsible. Headed by Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Mathieu Kassovitz, Hans Zischler and Ciaran Hinds, with Geoffrey Rush as the unofficial go-between, they carry out a series of assassinations. The work takes its toll on the Bana character, who questions its ethical basis, grows paranoid, argues "Jews don't do wrong because our enemies do wrong," and is told, "Every civilization finds it necessary to negotiate compromises with its own values." Spielberg bravely asks: If that is so, what is the cost, and what is the benefit? With this film, he has dramatically opened a wider dialogue, helping to make the inarguable into the debatable. One of the year's 10 best. (PG-13, 94 minutes). Johnny Knoxville stars as a guy who needs to raise money fast. His con-man uncle (Brian Cox) suggests he pose as mentally challenged and enter the Special Olympics; the uncle will bet large sums on him. Not in such bad taste as it sounds; treats its disabled characters with affection and respect, has a plot that uses the Special Olympics instead of misusing them, and is actually kind of sweet. (PG, 94 minutes). Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt assemble their brood for one last summer at the lake, where Pop Baker's high-school archrival, Jimmy Murtaugh (Eugene Levy), has erected a monumental mansion named The Boulders. As the fathers continue their lifelong competition, the movie is stolen by a sweet subplot involving young Sarah Baker (Alyson Stoner) and Eliot Murtaugh (Taylor Lautner). Eliot asks Sarah to the movies, she fearfully experiments with makeup, and then her older sister (Hilary Duff) takes over and makes the little girl feel beautiful. As current family movies go, it skews younger than the better "Rumor Has It" and "The Family Stone," and is a lot better than "Yours, Mine and Ours." (PG-13, 90 minutes). Jim Carrey is promoted to vice president of an Enron-style scam just in time to be its spokesman as the corporation's stock melts down. Tea Leoni is his wife, Jane; they were looking forward to glorious affluence and now find they are broke, and the gardeners have come around to roll up the turf on their lawn and truck it away. A promising premise for dark satire about corporate greed, but the movie blows it with slapstick about bank robberies and essentially recycles the same shortfalls as the movie it remakes, a 1977 comedy starring Jane Fonda and George Segal. (PG-13, 96 minutes): Back in Pasadena, where Charles Webb wrote the novel "The Graduate," it's rumored that there was a real Mrs. Robinson, a real Elaine Robinson, and a real Benjamin. If the rumors are true, Mrs. Robinson grew up to become Shirley MacLaine, Benjamin became Kevin Costner, and Jennifer Aniston is Mrs. Robinson's granddaughter. She's engaged to Mark Ruffalo, who does the math and thinks maybe Costner is her real dad. Or, if he's not -- could Benjamin end up sleeping with three generations of Robinsons? Good laughs and engaging characters, as Costner and Aniston find the right notes in tricky scenes and MacLaine plays Mrs. Robinson simply by playing herself. Directed by Rob Reiner. (PG-13, 187 minutes). A magnificent entertainment, and a flowering of the possibilities in the 1933 classic. Never has a damsel been in more distress than Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts), who is grabbed by the giant gorilla, and never has a heroine responded with more empathy, delighting Kong with her vaudeville acrobatics and turning him into her protector. Sensational special effects as dinosaurs, man-eating worms and loathsome insects attack the heroes in Skull Island, and then still more as Kong battles elevated trains in Manhattan and scales the Empire State Building. Peter Jackson ("Lord of the Rings") has created a splendid and rather beautiful epic, and cast it with actors like Jack Black and Adrien Brody, who replace square-jawed action-hero stereotypes with quirky and complicated characters who, at some level, think a director and a playwright should be imagining danger, not surviving it. One of the year's best films.
(PG-13, 137 minutes). Sex, tradition and exoticism are choreographed into a dance of strategy and desire, starring the great beauties Ziyi Zhang, Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh. Not a movie about actual geishas, but a fantasy based on the romanticism of female subjection. The heroines here look so beautiful and their world is so enchanting that we tend to overlook that the heroine (Zhang) is, after all, sold into prostitution as a 9-year-old girl. Questionable in its implied values, but works through voluptuous visual beauty: This world swims in silks and tapestries, smoke and mirrors, and the mysteries of hair when it is up vs. hair when it is down.
(PG-13, 102 minutes). Into the happy Stone family at Christmas comes Sarah Jessica Parker, engaged to the oldest son (Dermot Mulroney). His mother (Diane Keaton) knows this girl is not right for him, and she is probably correct. Crucial roles are played by her sister (Claire Danes) and his brother (Luke Wilson) in a screwball comedy that finds room for some surprisingly touching moments between Keaton and Craig T. Nelson, as the parents.
(PG-13, 120 minutes). The 1968 movie "The Producers" is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. That makes it tricky for me to review this 2005 musical version -- both because it's different, and because so often it is the same. The new movie is a success, I know, but how much of a success I cannot be sure. Someone who has never seen the original would be a better judge. It is unfair to observe of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick that they are not Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, but there you have it. Still, the musical numbers don't remind me of the earlier film because they cannot, and they have a genuine appeal; Uma Thurman and Will Ferrell find a way around the originals of their characters, and Lane and Broderick are possibly the best casting among current actors. If I had fun, most other viewers are likely to have more fun, because they won't have my baggage.
(PG, 139 minutes). C.S. Lewis' fantasy takes four British children through the back of a wardrobe and into an alternative universe of fauns, witches, and a wise and brave lion. The story contains magic and myth, but its mysteries are resolved not by the kinds of rabbits Tolkien pulls out of his hat in "The Lord of the Rings," but by the determination and resolve of the kids. Tilda Swinton is icy and intriguing as the White Witch, Georgie Henley is plucky as the youngest heroine, James McAvoy is a most excellent and gentle faun, and all is wonderful until the end, when things get a bit apocalyptic for a series that still has six books to adapt. A promising beginning, pulling off the difficult trick of making the CGI animals seem about as real as the humans on the screen.
(PG-13, 128 minutes). The legendary stage production transfers uneasily to film, perhaps because it misses interaction with a live audience. The song lyrics by Jonathan Larson have an ungainly quality, perhaps deliberate; the words often seem at right angles to the music, as if two radios have been left on at the same time. Some characters, particularly Mimi (Rosario Dawson) and Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia), seem heartfelt and convincing, but others are entirely plot-driven conveniences, and there are times when the borrowed plot of Puccini's "La Boheme" is a bad fit in modern Manhattan. I felt more respect than affection, but the movie has its moments, and audiences familiar with the stage version may use their memories as sort of a commentary track.
(PG, 90 minutes). Dennis Quaid is a Coast Guard admiral with eight children; Rene Russo is a fashion designer with 10. They were in love in high school, and when they meet many years later, she a widow, he widowed, it's love at second sight. The kids, of course, hate each other, in a plot that hurries from one predictable moment to another with unseemly haste, as if trying to set a cliche speed record. Directed by Raja Gosnell, whose "Never Been Kissed" was fun, but whoops! Then came the two "Scooby-Doo" movies.
(R, 88 minutes). John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton steal $2.2 million on Christmas Eve, setting in motion a plot with the complexity of "Blood Simple" crossed with Elmore Leonard. Connie Nielsen is the sexy strip-club manager, Oliver Platt is the drunken lawyer who married Cusack's ex-wife, and Randy Quaid is the mob boss. There's a nice scene where a mobster who is locked in a trunk is nevertheless optimistic enough to shout muffled death threats. Directed by Harold Ramis ("Analyze This").
(PG-13, 94 minutes). Chris (Ryan Reynolds) is a fat nerd in high school, in love with Jamie (Amy Smart), who likes him, but only as a friend. He moves to L.A., drops 150 pounds, becomes rich and handsome, and returns to town on Christmas Eve accompanied by a sexy pop idol (Anna Faris). Jamie still likes him only as a friend. To call this movie lame is to suggest it has mobility.
(PG-13, 157 minutes). Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) reaches adolescence facing greater challenges than ever before. Lord Voldemort, who has lurked offscreen until now, appears in malevolent fury, played by Ralph Fiennes -- hairless, with the complexion of a slug, his nostrils snaky slits in his face. Harry is also entered in the Triwizard competition, even though technically he's too young, and has to battle dragons and enter an endless maze. An even more endless maze is teenage romance, as he faces the problem of a date for the Yule Ball. Most of the series regulars are back, including Harry's inseparable friends Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint). New this time is Alastor (Mad-Eye) Moody (Brendan Gleeson), professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Mike Newell, the first British director in the series, balances whimsy and the ominous as Harry stands poised between fun at school, teenage romance and the dark abyss.
(PG-13, 135 minutes). A musical biopic that shows Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) inventing himself. After a listless audition, Cash is asked by the legendary producer Sam Phillips if he has a song of his own. In a key scene, Phoenix shows Cash beginning "Folsom Prison Blues" and discovering, during the song, how to sing it and who he is. Reese Witherspoon plays June Carter, the onstage singing partner who rejected his proposals because of his problems with booze and pills. Phoenix and Witherspoon do an uncanny job of covering Cash and Carter's vocals, and the moment when John proposes onstage may not be factual, but we wouldn't want to be without it.
(PG, 113 minutes). On a long, boring Saturday, two brothers (Josh Hutcherson and Jonah Bobo) find an old board game in the basement. As they play it, their reality is altered; they encounter meteor showers, hostile robots and savage lizards as their house finds itself in orbit around Saturn. Based on a book by Chris Van Allsburg, whose work also inspired "Jumanji" (1995), but this movie is less fearsome and more fun. With Kristen Stewart as their sister, Tim Robbins as their dad, and Dax Shepard as a helpful astronaut. Directed by Jon Favreau ("Elf").
(R, 100 minutes). Clive Owen is a Chicago commuter stuck without train fare, and Jennifer Aniston is the friendly brunette who pays for his ticket. One thing leads to another, and they're in a hotel room when a fearsome mugger (Vincent Cassel) breaks in, beats up him and rapes her. Their troubles are not over; they try to keep the truth from their spouses, but then the guy blackmails them. RZA plays the mail-room clerk who offers to strong-arm the mugger; Melissa George is Owen's trusting wife. A great setup, a good middle passage and some convincing performances, but then the plot runs off the tracks. It might work for you if you're willing to go along with it.
(G, 82 minutes). Chicken Little thinks the sky is falling, and it will come as no news that he seems to be wrong. But then the movie would be over, so it turns out the sky actually is falling, as his town is invaded from outer space. Good voice performances by such as Garry Marshall, Joan Cusack, Steve Zahn and Don Knotts (as Mayor Turkey Lurkey), but the story is thin, and the jokes make you smile, but not exactly laugh. Perfectly acceptable for kids up to a certain age, but without the universal appeal of the best recent animation.
(PG, 98 minutes). Dakota Fanning is growing up on "the only horse farm in Lexington, Ky., without any horses." Her dad (Kurt Russell) and grandfather (Kris Kristofferson) are horse trainers who warn a wealthy owner (David Morse) not to race his filly, Sonador. But he does, and she breaks a leg. Looking at his daughter's big sad eyes, Russell is unable to put the horse down, and with Fanning's determination, Sonador's leg is mended, and the girl thinks the horse can race again. Based on a true story, this is an effective reworking of "National Velvet" material, with the added suspense of the horse's endangered leg. Powerful for kids and teenagers, and their parents may enjoy the sound performances and some irresistible racing scenes.
(R, 122 minutes). Tells the story of a Marine sniper named Tony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal), who with his spotter Troy (Peter Sarsgaard) are trained to fight a war in which they never fire a shot -- the 1990 Gulf War. It is not about action, not about adventure, not about easy laughs, but about the fundamental changes that took place within him as the result of the experience. For the rest of his life, Swofford tells us, whether he holds it or not, his rifle will always be a part of his body. It wasn't like that when the story began. Powerful and haunting, directed by Sam Mendes ("American Beauty"), also starring Jamie Foxx.
(R, 126 minutes) is an endlessly fascinating movie about oil and money, America and China, traders and spies, the Persian Gulf states and Texas, reform and revenge, bribery and betrayal. The movie's plot is so complex, we're not really supposed to follow it; we're supposed to be surrounded by it. Since none of the characters understands the whole picture, why should we? Its interlocking stories come down to one thing: There is less oil than the world requires, and that will make some people rich and others dead. All of the players are corrupt and compromised. The movie explains the politics of oil by telling us to stop seeking an explanation. Just look at the behavior. This isn't about Left and Right, but about Have and Have Not. With George Clooney, Matt Damon, Amanda Peet, Alexander Siddig and Christopher Plummer.
(PG-13, 93 minutes). A kid with cerebral palsy sees his dream come true for his 17th birthday: He gets to star in an action movie just like his favorite, "True Lies." Tom Arnold stars as the has-been writer-actor who is hired by a millionaire (Joe Mantegna) to write and appear in the movie with the rich man's son (Eric Gores). Arnold's screenplay avoids sentimentalizing and tear-jerking, and the movie works in a surprisingly straightforward way, as exactly what it is. In reviewing it, I deliberately chose not to find out if Gores really has cerebral palsy, or is an actor playing someone who does. You may not have that choice, but if you do, avoid finding out and experience the movie without preconceptions.
(PG-13, 110 minutes). This documentary tells the story of five snowboarders (the veterans Shawn Farmer, Terje Haakonsen and Nick Perata, and teenage superstars Hannah Teter and Shaun White) who are helicoptered to the tops of virgin Alaskan peaks and snowboard down them, sometimes at 45-degree angles. Lots of jawboning about how snowboarding "won acceptance," lots of shots of the same stunts over and over, and not nearly as much information as we'd prefer about how likely it is that you could jump into thin air and drop half a mile, or land on jagged rocks, or in a chasm.
(PG. 127 minutes). One of the most delightful and heartwarming adaptations made from Jane Austen or anybody else. Much of the delight and most of the heart comes from Keira Knightley, who plays Elizabeth as a girl glowing in the first light of perfection. She and Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) take an instant dislike to each other, a sure sign of love; Lizzie and her five sisters are all being pushed into marriage by their mother (Brenda Blethyn), although their father (Donald Sutherland) sometimes mercifully intervenes. Knightley's performance is so light and yet fierce that she makes the story almost realistic; this is not a well-mannered "Masterpiece Theater," but a film where strong-willed young people enter life with their minds at war with their hearts.
(R, 116 minutes). A tender and perceptive film about an older man named Ray Porter (Steve Martin), a millionaire, who sees a young woman named Mirabelle Butterfield standing behind the glove counter at Saks, and desires her. It is also about a younger man named Jeremy, who sees her in the laundromat, and desires her. Ray is a master of behavior Jeremy does not even know exists. But he avoids commitment. He makes that perfectly clear. The movie, based on a novel by Martin, explores the ethical and romantic complications of a relationship made possible by money but impossible because Ray Porter is a renter, not a buyer.
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