The Sixth Annual Monitor Mega Movie Guide
Ratings and comments by David Sterritt and Monitor staff. Staff comments reflect the sometimes diverse views of at least three other moviegoers. Information on violence (V), drugs (D), sex/nudity (S/N), and profanity (P) is compiled by the Monitor panel.
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STAR RATINGS MEANING **** Excellent *** Good ** Fair * Poor DUD The Worst
Adrenaline Drive (Not rated)
Director: Shinobu Yaguchi. With Hikari Ishida, Masanobu Ando, Jovi Jova, Kazue Tsunogae, Yutaka Matushige. (111 min.)
Sterritt *** The heroes are a clerk and a health-care worker, both so bashful that it's hard to imagine them having an adventure, until a minor car accident and a gas-pipe explosion put them on a collision course with gangsters scrambling to recover a bag full of stolen loot. The movie is stronger in its first hour than its second, but its amiable acting and feisty visual humor make it a must for fans of Japanese film. In Japanese with English subtitles
VS/N: 1 very mild instance of innuendo. VV: 13 scenes with violence, including a deadly explosion. VP: 31 expressions, some harsh. VD: 4 scenes with alcohol and/or tobacco.
The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (PG)
Director: Des McAnuff. With Robert De Niro, Piper Perabo, Jason Alexander, Rene Russo, Randy Quaid, Kel Mitchell, Kenan Thompson, Janeane Garofalo, Carl Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Jonathan Winters, John Goodman, David Alan Grier, James Rebhorn. (90 min.)
Sterritt *** Hollywood pokes fun at itself as the animated squirrel and moose battle a trio of live-action villains who want to conquer America by flooding it with ultrarotten TV shows. The comedy is crammed with show-biz jokes that younger kids won't fathom, but the action is so quick and colorful that they probably won't mind. Older folks will find many chuckles, especially if they grew up watching the cartoon heroes' own great '60s series.
Staff *** Nostalgic, intermittently charming, good-natured.
VS/N: 1 mildly suggestive scene. Violence: 11 scenes of animated violence, including a brawl and an explosion. VP: 3 mild expressions. VD: 2 scenes with alcohol, 5 with tobacco.
An Affair of Love (R)
Director: Frederic Fonteyne. With Nathalie Baye, Sergi Lopez, Paul Pavel, Sylvie Van den Elsen. (80 min.)
Sterritt *** The romantic adventure of a couple who begin their relationship on a purely sensual basis but eventually develop some insight into each other as complex human beings. Baye and Lopez are excellent, as always. Also known as "A Pornographic Affair." In French with English subtitles
VS/N: 1 sex scene with nudity, 1 of implied sex, 1 suggestive scene, 7 instances of innuendo. VV: None. VP: 2 fairly mild expressions. VD: 8 scenes with alcohol, 1 with tobacco, 2 with both.
Agnes Browne (R)
Director: Anjelica Huston. With Anjelica Huston, Ray Winstone, Marion O'Dwyer, Arno Chevrier, Tom Jones. (92 min.)
Sterritt ** The place is Dublin in 1967, and the heroine is a good-natured widow striving to raise her seven young children, fend off a loan shark who's wormed his way into her life, and test the waters of romance with a French baker who appears to be casting an eye her way. The material is familiar and the ending is corny, but Huston's acting and directing keep it likable.
VS/N: 1 mild mother-son talk about sex, 4 instances of innuendo. VV: 3 scenes with violence, including kids scuffling. VP: 49 expressions, many harsh. VD: 1 scene with alcohol, 11 with tobacco (including children smoking), 4 with both.
Aimee & Jaguar (Not rated)
Director: Max Farberbock. With Maria Schrader, Juliane Kohler, Johanna Wokalek, Heike Makatsch. (125 min.)
Sterritt *** A love affair develops between two German women near the end of the Nazi era, adding to the danger and uncertainty brought into their lives by the social and historical situation around them. Much of the acting is splendid, and Farberbock has directed the story with a canny blend of liveliness and taste. In German with English subtitles
Alice and Martin (R)
