20.2002 •
B iggie
and T upac
Nick Broomfield ( Heidi Flciss: Holly
wood Madam, Kurt & Courtney) comes
up with a provocative premise to explain
the music worlds greatest unsolved mys
tery: What if greedy label execs orchestrat
ed the murders of gangsta rappers Tupac
Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.? It’s an
engaging documentary, hut the ethically
challenged director needs to brush up on
his journalism skills.
—Jim Radosta
Qv* ^
C ity by the S ea
Poor Robert Dc Niro. How did the ’80s
Raging Bull wind up in such average fare
of late? He does his best with this dull,
clunking drama about a New York detec
tive trying to protect his Long Beach
junkie son from being arrested for murder,
while battling thugs with names like Spy-
der and Snake. Frances McDormand is sad
dled with the thankless role of the patient-
to-a-point girlfriend.
— Lisa Bradshaw
<£%>
T he G ood G irl
Friends star Jennifer Aniston rescues her
career from the brink of syndication in this
challenging dramedy from the guys behind
Chuck & Buck. She plays a depressed wife
whose misery loves the company of a
sullen co-worker (Jake Gyllenhaal).
When he turns out to be more than she bar
gained for, she finds herself at a difficult
crossroads.
What's popped
and what's (lopped,
in a theater near you.
—JR
< §> < £> < §> < £> L an Y u
Stanley Kwan’s latest plunges into the
homo variant of the “women’s weepy” with
stunning results. This exceptionally well-
acted, erotically charged film
samples eight years of a desul
tory affair between starry-eyed
student Lan Yu (Liu Ye) and
hunky hi businessman Han-
dong (Hu Jun). Based on an
anonymous Internet novel
and shot in secret because of
China’s strict anti-gay laws,
Lan Yu manages to wring
tragedy out of a potentially
predictable story of love col
liding with lust.
— Gary Moms
dud, bottom of the bag
<C§>
only
<^>
you’re really hungry
good effort, pass the salt
<^> mmmm, tasty!
get the big tub o’ com
about a married Victorian poet (Jeremy
Northam) and his bisexual lover (Jennifer
Ehle). The attractive cast compensates for
the corny dialogue.
-J R
£& < & £$><& { ■ £ £ » *
S wimfan
Sure, it’s trashy and
Guess what? Swimfan is worse than you think
manipulative, hut it’s so
entertaining! Mark Romanck (the genius
P ossession
behind groundbreaking videos by Madonna,
Michael Jackson and Nine Inch Nails)
Writer/director Neil LaBute (In the C om
wrote and directed this creepy thriller about
pany o f Men, Nurse Betty) ventures into
a loner photo clerk (Robin Williams in a
classier territory with this romance about
strong performance) obsessed with the “per
researchers (Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron
fect” family.
Eckhart) obsessed with uncovering details
-JR
MOW P L A Y I M G AT T H E
PORTLAND ART MUSEUM
It’s Fatal Attraction for kids— or, more accur
ately, for idiots. For starters, Jesse Bradford’s
expressionless performance doesn’t gamer
much sympathy. And Erika Christensen
(Traffic) is way too likable to be the villainous
stalker. When her character’s sanity goes
south, so does the film— predictable
.\\
patterns, preposterous twists and the
year’s most anticlimactic ending.
ecords
—JR
apes a n d
s
in c e
t
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