_______ ______ January 21. 2005» just out 35 ♦ leading role as a police officer, however, Ethan Hawke embodies the insufferably cocky teen-age boy persona that he never seems to outgrow. C- —Stephen Blair The Aviator Martin Scorseses biopic about Howard Hughes has all the right stuff to make it Oscar’s frontrunner for Best Picture: epic scale (incredi­ ble flight sequences), mental illness (obsessive- compulsive disorder) and old Hollywixxl (Jude Law as Errol Hynn, Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner, Cate Blanchett stealing scenes as Katharine Hepburn). It’s a grand story about a visionary man; my only quibble is that Leonardo DiCaprio still looks tcx> boyish to be taken seriously as a grown-up. A —Jim Radosta The Daredevil spinoff Elektra pits the assassin (Jennifer Garner) against the poisonous Typhoid (Natassia Malthe) Assault on Precinct 13 A couple of bitchin’ action sequences can’t redeem this loud, mind-numbing remake of John Carpenter’s 1976 cult classic about a besieged police precinct. Though the original was made (^n a shoestring budget with no big stars, it is 10 times smarter and scarier than this slick and stupid new offering from director Jean- François Richet. The strong supporting cast includes John Leguizamo as a wisecracking crim­ inal and Drea de Matteo (The Sopranos) as the brassy, sex-obsessed precinct secretary. In his Elektra • Spun away from her origins m the Daredevil movie (and comic books), Elektra is a morally elusive character: An assassin for hire, she sometimes bumps up against her own ethical center while on the hunt. Jennifer Gamer is in fine fighting form in the lead role, and has a believably sweet relationship with a preteen girl who is caught between opposing martial arts clans. Elektra is a pleasant two-hour diver­ sion with some wonderful effects and fights, plus Gamer locking lips with a femme adver­ sary, and a hunky tathxied villain unleashing his inner animal. B —Andy Mangels A Love Song for Bobby Long “exciting” ending; let’s cross our fingers that Stripes wins the mane event! A+ —Austin Ault More than a quarter-century has passed since John Travolta scored the double-hitter of Saturday Night Fever and Grease. Well, the devout Scientologist has officially struck out with the double-misser of Battlefield Earth and this indie mess. Revolta pulls a full Brando as the title character, a News Orleans hickster drunk ex-college professor who only reminds us of the ex-movie star’s long-absent strengths: He limps onto the screen for the opening sequence, he blubbers in a bathroom wearing black briefs, he shuffles his feet in sandals and s