The Invasion
Smartly written and excellently paced, this lat
est reiteration of Invasion of the Body Snatchers finds
a space fungus taking people over while they sleep.
Nicole Kidman plays a psychiatrist who stumbles
onto the truth and spends the rest of the film trying
to rescue her son and avoid falling asleep. Full of
intriguing political sidelines—is the world of the
emotionless but relatively peaceful fungus-people
better than our war-driven existence?—this is a classy
thriller that deserves audience support. A-
—Andy Mangels
Rocket Science
Jeffrey Blitz (Spellbound) won top directing
honors at Sundance for this dark coming-of-age
comedy about a stuttering teenager cast adrift in the
fast-talking world of high school debate competi
tions. Like Todd Solondz’s Welcome to the Dollhouse
and Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, the film delivers
a razor-sharp screenplay and a breakthrough perform
ance by an unknown teen actor. The charmingly
gawky Reece Thompson evokes all the humiliation,
heartaches and transient joy that adolescence has to
offer. Fargo fans can rejoice that Steve Park of Mike
Yanagita fame has a hilarious supporting role. A
—Stephen Blair
Stanley Kubrick Retrospective
Throughout the lion’s share of August, the
Northwest Film Center presents a retrospective of
the late, great Stanley Kubrick. As one of America’s
greatest independent film mavericks, he stands in
the company of Orson Welles, Robert Altman and
the British-born Alfred Hitchcock. Whitsell
Auditorium will celebrate his legacy by screening
:
all 12 of his feature films: famous opuses like
A Clockwork Orange and Dr. Strangelove
alongside early works such as Spartacus and
The Killing, made before Kubrick broke
entirely with the studio system to work as an
independent producer. For a complete
schedule visit www.nwfilm.org.
—Tony LeTigre
Stardust
Young Tristan dreams of marrying the
prettiest girl in his sleepy English village,
and when a falling star crashes to the Earth,
he goes over the forbidden wall in the woods
to find her. Not unlike a certain Kansas tor
Summercamp!
nado, he is deposited in the magical land of Storm
hold, where he soon comes in contact with evil
This documentary about a summer camp in
witches, unicorns and a dwindling cadre of murder
northern Wisconsin was directed by Sarah Price
ous successors to the rightful throne. When the star
(The Yes Men) and musician Bradley Beesley of the
turns out to be a cranky girl (Claire Danes), only
Flaming Lips, who delivered the film’s soundtrack.
the gay captain of a flying pirate ship can help him
The kids are natural, the comments are honest, and
find his true love.
the editing is great. Opens Aug. 25 at Hollywood
With a pedigreed cast—as the lead witch,
Theatre. A-
Michelle Pfeiffer gobbles the scenery like a bear at
—Yvonne P. Behrens
a buffet—and a script based on the excellent Neil
Caiman’s graphic novel, 1 wanted to enjoy Stardust
The Ten
much more than I did, but I can’t pigeonhole what
Perhaps responding to the theocratic overtures
bothered me most. Perhaps it’s the overstuffed plot,
in our government since President Bush and
which seems to drag more the busier it gets. Or it
company stole office in 2000, co-writers Ken
could be Robert De Niro’s gay pirate, who is both
Marino and David Wain decided to take an
charming and horribly stereotyped. Mostly my .irreverent approach as well in The Ten. Comical
annoyance was with Danes, whose scowl brought
and worthwhile to watch (at least at home), the
the film into the mud during every scene in which
primary problem with The Ten is that it lacks
she appeared. Stardust strives to be high fantasy but
guts. Perchance the filmmakers did this to make
only rarely achieves its goals. C +
a commentary on our nonchalance today toward
—AM
the Ten Commandments, but it makes for some
rather tame filmmaking. Opens Aug. 17 at
Cinema 21. B -
—John Esther
This Is England
This movie is based on director Shane Meadows’
(Dead Man’s Shoes) experience as a young boy grow
ing up in working-class Britain under Margaret
Thatcher’s regime in the early '80s. A 12-year-old
named Shaun (wonderfully played by newcomer
Thomas Turgrxise) finds a new family by befriending
some Skinheads who are into music, parties and Doc
Martin boots. Things change when ex-member
Combo (Steven Graham) is released from prison; he
soon causes a rift and becomes the catalyst to change
the group into a militant, racist force. Filled with
great dialogue and brilliant cinematography, This Is
England is a wonderful portrait of the culture and
politics of this time. Opens Aug. 24 at Hollywtxxl
Theatre. A
—YPB ©
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