48 , jq?u>ut
JULY 7. 2006
film
The Blood of My Brother:
A Story of Death in Iraq
about druggie friends who spy on each other to
Played by the brilliant and inimitable Amy
hilarious gracelessness we've come to expect from
appease the government of California in the not-so-
Sedaris (David’s younger sis), Jerri is a homy bi
This engaging and bold film documents the war
distant future. Keanu Reeves leads a solid cast that
sexual, a thug and a racist rolled into the overweight
Jerri Blank.
At one point principal Onyx Blackman asks
in Iraq from a completely different perspective and,
includes former burnouts Robert Downey Jr. and
body of a cosmetically challenged 46-year-old.
Jerri what her IQ is, and she swiftly replies, “Pisces.”
more importantly, shows that Americans are not
Winona Ryder. Opens July 14 at Cinema 21. B -
—Stephen Hlair
the only ones suffering losses. A young Iraqi man is
accidentally shot by an American patrol, forcing
his younger brother to hold the family together.
Strangers with Candy
Subtle she is not. When she sees a fetching
Jerri may not be Einstein, it’s hard to imagine a
young lass in the locker room at Flatpoint High,
better conduit for Sedaris’ phenomenal and
she grunts and says, “That’s gotta be tight!"
unapologetically perverse comic genius.
The show—which uses savagely un-PC humor
If you’ve never seen the show before, the movie
The footage of this film is incredible and will stick
No one could introduce Strangers with Candy
to spoof after school special melodramas—also
could very well leave you cold. For all you Strangers
in your head long after you leave the theater.
protagonist Jerri Blank better than Jerri herself, so
features Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello as a pair
virgins out there, your homework is to gear up for
Opens July 7 at Hollywood Theatre. A-
let’s begin with a choice sound bite from the cult
of teachers who conduct their illicit gay love affair
the big-screen bonanza by watching some Flatpoint
Comedy Central sitcom:
in the school’s graffiti-ridden bathrooms.
high jinks on DVD.
—Yvonne P. Behrens
The Devil Wears Prada
“Hello. Thirty-two years ago I dropped out of
It seemed that Strangers had nowhere left to go
high school and ran away from home. I was a
after all three seasons came out on DVD, but fans
The evil editor in chief of the fashion magazine
boozer, a user and a loser. But now I’m back in
had cause to rejoice when Sedaris, Colbert and
Runway (the always fantastic and breathtaking
school. And though the faces may have changed,
Dinello reunited to film a feature-length prequel to
Meryl Streep) torments her new assistant (Anne
the hassles are just the same."
the series.
You may be appalled, but you won’t be
disappointed. A-
—SB
Superman Returns
Hathaway) in this black comedy about the
Studded with cameo
in 1978, audiences were astonished to believe
fashion industry and how some people would
appearances by Allison
that “a man can fly.” Almost two decades later,
do anything for a job in it. With a brilliant
Janney, Philip Seymour
with special effects movies accomplishing any
supporting cast including Stanley Tucci and
Hoffman, Matthew Brod
thing conceivable, Superman Returns must work to
Emily Blunt and cameos by Heidi Klum and
erick and Sarah Jessica
retain the heart of its predecessors while keeping
Valentino, this is unexpectedly more than just
a summer flick. B +
Parker, the film debuted at
the 2005 Sundance Film
Unlike gay director Bryan Singer's X-Men films,
—YPB
Festival but got stuck in dis
limbo
tribution
Pirates of the Caribbean:
Dead Man s Chest
Those hoping for a seafaring good time in
this sequel will get far too much of a good
until
up with the Lord of the Rings and Matrix films.
there are no homo nuances in this feature, but
there is plenty of heart-tugging pathos courtesy of
ThinkFilm acquired the
Brandon Routh’s effective Clark Kent and the
rights a few months ago. It
revelation that Lois Lane has moved on with love
finally opens July 7 at
since Superman disappeared five years ago. Kevin
Spacey is a dandy Lex Luthor and Parker Posey
Cinema 21.
thing. Johnny Depp is as fey as ever as Capt.
Sure, the movie has its
Jack Sparrow, and almost every other cast
flaws. It never gathers the
Marsden steals every scene he’s in as Lois’ fiancé.
member from the first film reappears. But
unstoppable loony momen
Long as it is, there still seem to be parts missing,
reins in her quirks as his sidekick, but James
there are about 20 too many fights among
tum that powers the show’s
but Superman Returns should make audiences
pirates, sea monsters, cannibals and other
best episodes. And at 90
believe in flying tight-wearing saviors again. A-
beasties. You might find yourself checking
minutes, the wafer-thin
—AM
your watch rather than buckling your swash.
plot about Jerri’s bumbling
While funny and adventurous (and basically
participation in a science
fair gets a little old. At least
Who Killed the Electric Car?
a setup for the third film), this is also far, far
too long. B -
this premise yields some
will leave you feeling guilty every time you fuel up
priceless dialogue. When a
at the gas station. Director Chris Paine’s informal
friend asks her if she’s
interviewing technique sometimes yields annoy
—Andy Mangels
This documentary, narrated by Martin Sheen,
A Scanner Darkly
thinking about signing up
ing gab fests instead of.cold hard facts, but his
Richard Linklater directed this uneven
adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s 1977 novel,
for the fair, she replies: “No,
research findings leave us with no doubt that the
I’m thinking about pussy.
U.S. government and big business have successful
revisiting the rotoscoping technique he used in
Science fair is for queers.”
ly—and nefariously—railroaded efforts to bring
Waking Life to layer trippy animation on top of
From
live action. The visuals are stunning, and the
her
opening
environmentally safe vehicles to the general
Along with
Al Gore’s somber
scenes in a women’s prison
to a gym exercise that puts
population.
ligent and provocative. But from a dramatic
her on the receiving end of
Electric Car is the antithesis of escapism at the
standpoint the film is often inert, hampered by
a bull’s charge, Sedaris
movies this summer. Opens July 14- B +
—SB ©
underlying critique of the war on dnigs is intel
meandering dialogue and a flimsy premise
Hottie Brandon Routh (top) and gay faves Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey
star in Superman Returns.
exudes all the ugliness and
environmental outlook in An Inconvenient Truth,
The
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