Films Shown in 2000
CHICKEN RUN - Rated G - 83 minutes
Great family entertainment, Chicken Run is the
first full-length feature from Academy Award winning British animator Nick
Park, and a must-see back-to-school film! First coming to prominence with
the 1989 short Creature Comforts, and through his epic Wallace and
Gromit mini-adventures The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave,
Park has endeared himself to audiences world-wide with his clever clay-animated
characters
In Chicken Run, Park and co-director Peter
Lord have turned out a delightful fable about a flock of chickens who attempt
to fly the coop from a repressive fowl farm. The erstwhile escapees are
aided in their efforts by a flying circus rooster, voiced by Mel Gibson.
In addition to the fine animation work, the vocal talents are uniformly
superior, from Gibson as the vain celebrity to Miranda Richardson as the
villainess.
See reviews
CROUPIER - Unrated (probably R) - 90 minutes
Croupier, directed by Mike Hodges (Get Carter), is an
independent British film that has turned into a "sleeper" hit
on the indie art house circuit. Sharp and dryly urbane, it is a mod-Brit
take on the noir world of gambling, women, and pulp fiction. Co-written
by Hodges and The Man Who Fell to Earth's Paul Mayersberg, this is
a taut story about Jack (Clive Owen), a writer with an obsession for chance
and double-dealing, who returns to his old job as a casino croupier.
See reviews
BUTTERFLY - Rated R - 97 minutes
From Spain
Butterfly is Spanish
director José Luis Cuerda's adaptation of stories by Manuel Rivas.
Both cinematic and literary, this is a powerful and touching tale about
a patient teacher (veteran actor Fernando Gomez), who has a gift for nurturing
young minds, and a shy young boy (Manuel Lozano). Their friendship begins
just as Spain's Civil War is about to explode, which will change their lives
forever. Butterfly is a savory cocktail with a bitter twist.
See reviews
SMALL TIME CROOKS - Rated PG - 95 minutes
Starring Woody Allen, Tracey Ullman, Hugh Grant, & Elaine May
Woody Allen's latest film,
Small Time Crooks, explores the world of an inept thief (Allen) married
to a manicurist (Ullman) who puts up with his hapless heists. When a phony
storefront set-up for one of his bungled schemes begins to make money, Allen
and his wife experience the difference between being newly rich and having
true class. Complicating Allen's affluent new lifestyle are the charms of
his wife's ditsy cousin (May) and a posh British art dealer (Grant) who
becomes attached to his wife.
See reviews
CHUCK & BUCK - Rated R - 97 minutes
A haunting and
funny independent film which has received high marks from critics across
the board, Chuck & Buck has been called, for want of a better
description, "an idiot-savant stalker comedy". Buck (played by
the film's writer Mike White) has spent his life clinging to the moment
he was 11 years old and best friends with Chuck, who is now a hip L.A. music
industry exec with a beautiful fiancee. Still a gawky kid at heart, Buck
hopes to lure Chuck back to those romantic childhood days.
See reviews
SAVING GRACE - Rated R - 93 minutes
Saving Grace, like
Waking Ned Devine and other Ealing Studios comedies that paved the
way, wrings laughs from the antics of affable, eccentric villagers who cheerily
break the law. This time, champion gardener and gracious lady Grace Trevethan
(Brenda Blethyn of Secrets & Lies and Little Voice) is
in need of cash to save her stately home, following the death of her husband.
To solve her insolvency problem, she goes into the marijuana-growing business
in a joint partnership with her groundskeeper (The Drew Cary Show's Craig
Ferguson, who also cowrote with Mark Crowdy), and her problem soon becomes
everybody's business.
See reviews
THE FIVE SENSES - Unrated - 105
minutes
Canadian
writer/director Jeremy Podeswa intricately weaves five different stories
over a three-day period in which a small child has gone missing, fueling
a media frenzy and general public unease. Each story represents one of the
five senses. Podeswa creates a surprising, witty and warm film that works
on many levels and says much about the difficulty humans have in forging
meaningful relationships. Starring Mary-Louise Parker and Daniel MacIvor.
See reviews
EAST IS EAST - Rated R - 96 minutes
East
Is East is a cross-cultural exploration set in an industrial suburb
in the north of England. George Khan (Veteran actor Om Puri of My Son
The Fanatic), a stern Pakistani patriarch, presides over a boisterous
mixed-race clan; Ella (Linda Bassett), his Caucasian wife of 25 years with
whom he runs a fish-and-chips shop, and their seven children, most of whom,
despite their dual heritage, don't consider themselves in any way Pakistani.
When George tries to force his kids to follow his old-line beliefs, he discovers
an entirely new world.
See reviews
LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST - Rated
PG - 93 minutes
In his
"All singing-All dancing" adaption of Shakespeare's Love's
Labour's Lost, English actor/director Kenneth Branagh turns the late-16th-Century
romantic comedy about the amusing self-delusions of young people distrustful
of love into a glamorous 1930's Hollywood musical with pop classic songs
like "I Get a Kick Out of You," "Let's Face the Music and
Dance," "Cheek to Cheek," and "There's No Business Like
Show Business." Featuring elaborately staged and lushly costumed show
numbers, this latest stage-to-screen version of the Bard's work stars Alicia
Silverstone, Branagh, Nathan Lane, and Timothy Spall.
See reviews
CECIL B. DEMENTED - Rated R -
88 minutes
Offbeat director John Waters, who has
titillated art house audiences for decades with such cult hits as Hairspray,
Pink Flamingos, and Polyester, directs this satire about a renegade
filmmaker (Stephen Dorff) who kidnaps a spoiled Hollywood starlet (Melanie
Griffith) and forces her at gunpoint to star in his underground film. This
is homage of sorts to Waters' stock actress Patty Hearst, who here plays
the mother of a son gone disturbingly astray. Other Waters regulars in the
film include Ricki Lake, Alicia Witt, and Mink Stole.
See reviews
NURSE BETTY - Rated R - 110 minutes
This
much awaited third feature from director Neil LaBute (In The Company
of Men, Your Friends And Neighbors) is a black comedy about a naïve
small town waitress (Renee Zellweger) who, after a traumatic incident, abandons
reality for the fantasy world of her favorite soap opera. She believes she
is a nurse to her romantic idol, Dr. Ravell (Greg Kinnear). During her cross-country
fantasy trip, she is hotly pursued by two hit men, played by Morgan Freeman
and Chris Rock.
See reviews
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE - Rated
PG-13 - 79 minutes
An
overwhelming favorite at the Sundance Festival, this documentary examines
the most memorable icon of showbiz Christianity, the former Tammy Faye Bakker.
Along with her then husband, Jim Bakker, she became one of the flamboyant
images of televangelistic martyrdom. But what makes The Eyes of Tammy
Faye even more fascinating is the backstabbing history and slippery,
oxymoronic soul of the ''electric church.'' As chronicled by co-directors
Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, the sex and fraud scandals that sucked
the Bakkers down like a whirlpool weren't the ultimate violation of big-bucks
television preaching; they were the poetic fulfillment of it.
See reviews
TA0 OF STEVE - Rated R - 90 minutes
With
an eye-catching Santa Fe setting and likeable stars - Donal Logue and Greer
Goodman - The Tao of Steve is about a pudgy Kindergarten teacher
who successfully bases his romantic philosophy on the coolness of modern
TV characters named "Steve" - Steve McGarrett, Steve Austin and
Steve McQueen! His Tao is challenged, however, when a visiting New York
opera set designer rattles his cage. This light charmer on the ways of the
thirtysomething set is an unabashed pleasure!
See reviews
THE CONTENDER - Rated
R - 130 minutes
The
Contender is a thriller about the first woman nominated to be vice president
(Joan Allen) and her battle against a powerful conservative representative
(Gary Oldman) who seeks to block her nomination by raising questions about
a sexual incident in her past. Jeff Bridges plays the President in this
thinly veiled, gender shifting reference to Monicagate. Joan Allen, who
drew rave reviews in The Crucible and Nixon, again turns in a powerful
performance as the congresswoman under fire. This is one of those rare movies
where you'll leave the theater surprised and entertained, and then start
arguing.
See reviews
DANCER IN THE DARK - Rated R - 137 minutes
Writer/director
Lars von Trier (Breaking the Waves) layers his "direct cinema"
style onto the most escapist of film genres, the musical, and achieves a
unique perspective on the dark concerns of the world. Starring elfin Icelandic
pop vocalist Bjork as an immigrant in danger of losing all she's worked
for, and France's vibrant Catherine Deneuve as her supportive best friend,
this allegorical work, set in America's heartland in 1964, is a mine field
of emotions. In addition to fine performances, the film features a host
of breathtaking songs co-written by Bjork and director von Trier.
See reviews
THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE - Rated PG-13 - 127 minutes
Robert
Redford directs Matt Damon, Will Smith and Charlize Theron in a mystical
period drama about a favored son of Savannah (Damon), seemingly destined
to an incredible career in golf, but who returns from World War I as a hard-drinking
recluse. Reluctantly he agrees to help a former flame (Theron) publicize
the opening of a golf course by competing with some of the world's best
linksmen. He is aided by a mysterious caddy (Smith) with an uncommon grasp
of the game of life. Well-acted, with a host of smaller roles, including
a cameo by Jack Lemon, The Legend of Bagger Vance features the splendid
scenic touch of Redford's other notable films - The Horse Whisperer
and A River Runs Through It - plus the pacing of John Ford and John
Huston masterpieces, creating a past with love and compassion.
See reviews
BOUNCE - Rated PG-13
- 102 minutes
Are-they-or-aren't-they
offscreen partners, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck, star in this romantic
drama about a sleek suited ad exec (Affleck) who gives his boarding pass
to a stranger, who dies when the plane crashes. Later the ad man meets the
stranger's widow (Paltrow) and they strike up a relationship tinged with
guilt and deceit. This powerful, understated drama is directed by Don Roos,
the filmmaker who debuted with the delightful The Opposite of Sex.
Paltrow was the 1998 Academy Award winner of Best Actress for Shakespeare
In Love.
See reviews
BEST IN SHOW - Rated PG-13
- 90 minutes
Writer/director/actor
Christopher Guest hits the mark with one of the season's most hilarious
satires. Like Guests's Waiting for Guffman and This is Spinal
Tap, Best in Show is a "mocumentary" that follows five
different dogs and their wacky owners as they descend on Philadelphia for
the annual Mayflower Dog Show. Many of the cast - which includes Catherine
O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Parker Posey, Michael Hitchcock, and Guest himself
- honed their comedic chops in SCTV and are veterans of Guffman and Spinal
Tap.
See reviews
BILLY ELLIOT - Rated R for Language
- 111 minutes
From
Britain comes a feel-good film that is receiving rave reviews at every turn.
When 11-year-old Billy (newcomer Jamie Bell) decides he wants to become
a ballet dancer instead of a boxer, he faces tough opposition. Set in the
Thatcher period of the 1980's, Billy's struggle for personal fulfillment
is seen in the context of the bitter strike his father and brother are engaged
in at the local mine. Well-written and funny, this is a film you won't regret
the next morning!
See reviews
ALL THE PRETTY HORSES - Rated
PG-13 - 112 minutes
Matt
Damon, recently seen on screen in The Legend of Bagger Vance, stars
with Spanish beauty Penelope Cruz, along with Reuban Blades, Bruce Dern,
Sam Sheppard, and a host of others in the latest film by director/actor
Billy Bob Thornton. The tale, based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy, is about
a young Texas cowboy named John Grady Cole (Damon) seeking a better life
in Mexico. When he crosses the border he finds romance, adventure and hardships.
See reviews
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