Movie News

AMERICAN BEAUTY

(Cert 18, 122 mins)

Compelling, not always comfy viewing following the explosive, middle-aged rebellion of frustrated everyman Kevin Spacey, losing his rag with anonymous suburbia and cutting loose. Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari and Wes Bentley co-star, with voyeurism, small-scale drug-dealing, strains of Lolita and military fascism muddying the waters of this controversial and consistently funny Oscar-winning drama.

AMERICAN PSYCHO

(Cert 18, 95 mins)

In adapting one of the most controversial novels of the last decade to the screen, Mary Harron has shifted the focus away from the gore and bloodshed and has concentrated on Bret Easton Ellis's pithy commentary on 80s materialism and greed. At its centre is handsome yuppie Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), a coke-snorting, power-hungry social climber who judges success by the richness of the paper in business cards.

ANY GIVEN SUNDAY

(Cert 18, 162 mins)

Armchair sports fans had better get into serious training before watching Oliver Stone's expose of the ambition, greed and corruption that's eating away at the core of the American Football industry. Al Pacino is an idealist coach of the Miami Sharks, whose authority is questioned by new team owner Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz).

THE BEACH

(Cert 15, 119 mins)

American backpacker Leonardo DiCaprio seeks a fabled coastal paradise with foxy French girl Virginie Ledoyen and boyfriend Guillaume Canet, only to discover trouble swiftly brewing on the idyllic white sands. Striking but quickly fading film from the Trainspotting team of Boyle, MacDonald and Hodge, with good performances and stunning cinematography flawed by a somewhat wonky story.

BEING JOHN MALKOVICH

(Cert 15, 112 mins)

Struggling street entertainer Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) gets a job shuffling files in a large office block, but soon stumbles onto a passageway behind a cupboard that leads to the inside of John Malkovich's head. Sensing a great money-making opportunity, he lets beautiful work colleague Maxine (Catherine Keener) in on his incredible secret and together the pair turn the portal to Malkovich's head into the city's hottest tourist attraction. A bravura mindtrip from director Spike Jonze. Cameron Diaz and John Malkovich, of course, co-star.

BOYS DON'T CRY

(Cert 18, 116 mins)

Kimberly Peirce's astonishing film pieces together the final weeks in the life of a young man who is murdered when it emerges that he is, in fact, a woman. An emotionally overwhelming and, at times, deeply upsetting portrait of doomed youth. Oscar-winner Hilary Swank turns in an unforgettable performance as the doomed hero/heroine.

CIRCUS

(Cert 18, 96 mins)

Who in their right mind would envisage Brian Conley as a sadistic crime lord, Eddie Izzard as a psychopathic bookie or Christopher Biggins as an oily accountant? Step forward Rob Walker, director of the lamentable Circus. His blackly humorous jaunt into the south coast's criminal underworld has more twists than I thought possible in one 96-minute feature. Double-cross becomes triple-cross becomes complete confusion and rapidly rising frustration. Izzard and Conley barely keep straight faces in two of the picture's pivotal roles and must be the least threatening nutcases in recent history, and Walker's direction meanders aimlessly through Brighton's various hotels, funfairs and backstreets, content to let mayhem ensue as this bunch of clowns tries repeatedly to out-manoeuvre one another.

ERIN BROCKOVICH

(Cert 15, 133 mins)

Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts) is a sassy, twice-divorced single mum who has learned the hard way that there is only one person in this life she can rely upon herself. So she talks her way into a junior position at Albert Finney's office, where she stumbles upon medical records relating to a community ravaged by an abnormally high number of serious illnesses. Roberts turns in the best performance of her career, capturing the abrasive, sometimes infuriating, though ultimately courageous spirit of a woman whose desire to fight for the rights of the underdog rewrote American legal history.

GALAXY QUEST

(Cert PG, 102 mins)

Spoofs are notoriously difficult to get just right (see above!) but Galaxy Quest sets its comedy phasers to stun and delivers one belly laugh after the next, simultaneously celebrating and mocking the stereotypes of the Star Trek universe. Tim Allen is his usual gregarious self and Sigourney Weaver has a ball as the sole female cast member who is forced to conceal her fierce intelligence behind her character's gravity-defying frame. Alan Rickman scene-steals like a pro.

THE GREEN MILE

(Cert 18, 189 mins)

The Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont returns to Stephen King-penned prison stories, and comes up with another belter: Tom Hanks starring as the chief guard on the Cold Mountain Penitentiary's Death Row, who forms a relationship with John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), a giant, convicted killer who nevertheless seems strangely gentle and holds a staggering secret. A well-told, expertly played and wonderfully absorbing genre-buster, also starring James Cromwell, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt and Michael Jeter.

HOUSE!

(Cert 15, 90 mins)

The La Scala bingo hall, run by debonair Mr Anzani (Freddie Jones), is the last of a dying breed: an old-fashioned family business nestling at the heart of a close-knit Welsh community which puts its customers ahead of flashy decor or fairy-tale jackpots. Then one of its loyal staff, Linda (Kelly MacDonald), discovers that she has the ability to predict the winning numbers before they are drawn. Fuelled by the belief that she can save the hall from early closure, Linda persuades Anzani to buy into the nationwide 1 million game and then provides her scheming aunt (Miriam Margolyes) with the winning card. The cast is uniformly excellent, from MacDonald's spunky heroine to Margolyes's wickedly detestable, money-grabbing villainess.

KEVIN & PERRY GO LARGE

(Cert 15, 82 mins)

Kevin (Harry Enfield) is a prime example of that most feared and misunderstood species: the teenager. Kevin dreams of becoming a top club DJ and spends many happy hours in his room with best pal Perry (Kathy Burke) mixing thumping tracks like All I Want To Do Is Do It. The two lads are over the moon when Kevin's parents offer them the chance of a holiday in the Mediterranean club capital Ibiza.

LAKE PLACID

(Cert 15, 82 mins)

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water... out crawls Steve Miner's deceptively slick and entertaining beast of a Friday night movie, with its razor sharp screenplay, muscular set pieces and a glorious twist in the tail. This is a horror-comedy which has its tongue planted firmly in its cheek.

LOVE, HONOUR & OBEY

(Cert 18, 103 mins)

The second part of a planned trilogy which began with the insufferable murder mystery Final Cut. The cast once again all play fictionalised versions of themselves as south London gangsters, a dramatic conceit which second time around seems even more self-indulgent. Frankly, Jonny Lee Miller, Jude Law, Sadie Frost and the rest of the Brit-film posse turn in performances which range from the seriously bland to the amazingly hammy.

LOVE'S LABOUR LOST

(Cert U, 93 mins)

The marriage of Shakespeare and musical theatre, with Kenneth Branagh choosing a slightly different tack, taking the bare bones of the Bard's witty romantic comedy, and seamlessly working song and dance numbers into the original text. George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin working in harmony with iambic pentameter. The songs work incredibly well, advancing the plot or expressing the characters' emotions. However, Alicia Silverstone concentrates far too much on getting her syncopation correct and consequently doesn't put much feeling into what she is saying. The remainder of the cast, many of them Shakespeare veterans, have no such problems.

MANSFIELD PARK

(Cert 15, 93 mins)

If you can hear a faint whirring, it's probably Jane Austen spinning at a fair old rate in her grave. This is anything but a faithful and slavish adaptation sexy and stylistically daring, certainly. Embeth Davidtz has a ball as the seductress with one eye on her purse and the other on the competition, and Alessandro Nivola swaggers as if it were going out of fashion. Austen purists will undoubtedly vent their collective spleens at this revisionist retread.

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

(Cert 18, 137 mins)

Stanley Kubrick's infamous and mythical exploration of the nature of violence in a future society. Juvenile delinquent Alex (Malcolm McDowell) and his three Droog buddies biff their way through strange locations, in odd costumes and wearing natty hats, capturing coiled up rage and fiery sexuality with gusto. While there's no denying the power of Kubrick's imagery, compared to recent films such as Natural Born Killers and Crash, A Clockwork Orange isn't the quite the tearaway its notoriety would have us believe.

MAGNOLIA

(Cert 18, 187 mins)

A sprawling mosaic of American life exploring the shared histories and futures of four families living in San Fernando Valley, California. Recalling Robert Altman's Short Cuts with its rich tapestry of human life, warts and all, Magnolia is a tour-de-force of directorial virtuosity and flawless acting. Tom Cruise puts in a career-best performance and Anderson's assertion that life is full of chance and incredible coincidences which defy logic, sets up the dazzling finale: a coup de grace which won't be forgotten in a hurry.

POKEMON: The First Movie

(Cert PG, 94 mins)

Possibly one for the kids . . . this is actually two adventures for the price of one: a 20-minute short followed by the full-length main event: Mewtwo Strikes Back. Pikachu's Vacation follows Pokemon trainer Ash Ketchum's loyal and furry friend as he and his Poke-pals relax and have fun in their own private Poke-paradise. Mewtwo Strikes Back is essentially an episode of the television series writ large, with basic animation.

SCREAM 3

(Cert 18, 116 mins)

The third films in movie series are always poor imitations of their predecessors. Scream 3 is a pitiful excuse for celluloid, lacking even the most basic thrills and shocks (the scariest thing in the whole picture is Courteney Cox Arquette's disastrous hairdo). The final unmasking of the killer is like some awful live action take off of Scooby Doo, complete with convoluted explanation of why the killer has been such a naughty boy/girl. The Scream series has become the very thing it was created to mock: a brainless, clumsy slashathon. Who's laughing now?

THE STORY OF US

(Cert 15, 95 mins)

Rob Reiner's natural successor to his 1989 hit When Harry Met Sally, opens with Ben and Katie Jordan (Bruce Willis, Michelle Pfeiffer), happily ensconced in marital bliss and then stands back and observes with something approaching glee as their relationship implodes. If it's difficult to work out where the relationship faltered so badly then it's even more tricky to find a reason why Ben and Katie tied the knot.

THREE KINGS

(Cert 15, 115 mins)

Alternative war movie finds Major George Clooney leading Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Spike Jonze on an illicit venture to swipe a hoard of stolen gold bullion in Iraq, before demobbing at the close of the Gulf War. Arresting, stylised technique with strong performances, but the attempt to bolt hard-hitting political message to knockabout action comedy makes for an uncomfortable experience to say the least.

THE TIGGER MOVIE

(Cert U, 77 mins)

The adorably spring-loaded Tigger finally gets his first ever film (as if we needed reminding of what a cheery chappy he is). Some 17 years since the last Winnie The Pooh film was released in theatres, as well made as The Tigger Movie is, it really would be better suited as a straight-to-video film, that families can settle down and dip into together.

TOPSY-TURVY

(Cert 12, 139 mins)

Odd as it sounds, this musical period comedy from director Mike Leigh is a thickly detailed journey into theatrical London in the 1880s, a sweltering summer and the problems assailing comic opera composers Gilbert and Sullivan. Jim Broadbent and Allan Corduner respectively lead an excellent ensemble in an overlong but sensitive and involved film that's as much about the people of the period as the making of the Mikado.

TOY STORY 2

(Cert U, 95 mins)

Woody the cowboy is swiped by a fanatical toy collector, prompting Buzz Lightyear to mass the ramshackle troops on a dangerous rescue mission. Wonderful, top-drawer sequel to the computer- animated ground-breaker easily as good as the original, with gentle in-jokes, a honed script and lively vocal performances (Tom Hanks and Tim Allen reprising lead roles) all bolstering a gob-smackingly rendered adventure yarn.