Movie Guide
Director: Guillermo Del Toro. With Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, John Hurt, Jeffrey Tambor. (122 min.)
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Sterritt *** Yet another troubled superhero fights the forces of darkness, and he's just right for the job, since humans snatched him from an evil dimension when he was a baby. The first half is high-tech action; the second hour has marvelous moments, especially when the lumbering hero moons over his ambivalent girlfriend and undertakes a dangerous mission with a government agent who doesn't like him one bit. The screenplay has flashes of real wit, and Perlman is perfect in the title role.
Directors: Will Finn, John Sanford. With voices of Judi Dench, Roseanne Barr, Cuba Gooding Jr. (76 min.)
Sterritt *** A money-hungry villain wants to take over an old-fashioned dairy farm, and a nervy cow organizes fellow animals to save the day. Old-style animation slows down after a snappy start, but it's lively enough to keep kids from fidgeting too much.
Director: Amir Naderi. With Sara Paul, Trevor Moore, Rebecca Nelson. (90 min.)
Sterritt ** Naderi completes his "New York City Trilogy" with a look at the life of a crossword-puzzle guru trying to break her record for the most squares filled in during a single day, working mostly on the subway while her concerned mom checks in by phone. The drama is as obsessive as its heroine. Crossword mavens may enjoy it, but it's too monomaniacal for comfort.
Director: Martha Coolidge. With Julia Stiles, Luke Mably, Miranda Richardson, James Fox. (111 min.)
Sterritt *** See review.
Director: Patrice Chéreau. With Bruno Todeschini, Eric Caravaca, Nathalie Boutefeu, Maurice Garrel. (89 min.)
Sterritt **** A young gay man and his disabled brother renew their old affection as the medical situation gets progressively worse. Beneath its surface of chronic suffering and hospital details, Chereau's best drama etches a humane, sensitive, and richly moving portrait of fraternal love struggling to mitigate human frailty. In French with English subtitles.
Director: Kim Ki-duk. With Kim Ki-duk, Oh Young-soo, Kim Young-min, Kim Jong-ho. (103 min.)
Sterritt **** Set mainly at a Korean monastery floating in a lake, the five episodes in this seasonal drama show an aging monk tutoring a child in fundamental moral values, losing him to the temptations of the world, and giving up his earthly existence when he feels the time has come. Kim's movie conjures a sense of spiritual discipline as suspenseful as it is stunning to watch and exhilarating to contemplate. In Korean with English subtitles.
Director: Matthew Ryan Hoge. With Ryan Gosling, Jena Malone, Kevin Spacey, Don Cheadle. (105 min.)
