Mega Movie Guide 2004

Sterritt ** Another adaptation of Jules Verne's novel about a 19th-century man circumnavigating the globe to win a wager and demonstrate the progress of modern science. While less ambitious than the 1956 release with David Niven, the film uses the same gimmick of famous faces in cameo roles. Coogan and Broadbent are agile and expressive, but too much time goes to Chan's stunts. A colorful disappointment.

Staff *** Light, kung-fu overload, colorful.

Sex/Nudity: None. Violence: 18 scenes. Profanity: 8 mild expressions. Drugs: 3 instances of drinking.

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet. With Audrey Tautou, Tcheky Karyo, Jodie Foster. (133 min.)

Sterritt *** Refusing to believe her fiancé was killed in World War I, a disabled young woman undertakes a long odyssey to discover what really became of him and where he might actually be. The acting is marvelous, and Jeunet finally manages to put his overzealous style at the service of his story, instead of the other way around. In French with subtitles.

Director: Martin Scorsese. With Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Kate Beckinsale. (170 min.)

Sterritt *** Large-scale epic about the life of Howard Hughes, focusing on his experiences as a filmmaker, flier, aircraft designer, and world-class eccentric. DiCaprio is excellent as Hughes and Blanchett is even better as movie star Katharine Hepburn, one of his lovers. The film largely lacks the personal touches that distinguish Scorsese's greatest work, though.

Director: Mario Van Peebles. With Mario Van Peebles, Ossie Davis, Nia Long, Bill Cosby. (108 min.)

Sterritt *** A docudrama account of how African-American film pioneer Melvin Van Peebles used a flash of Hollywood success to launch a production of his 1971 hit "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song," recognized as a key event in modern independent moviemaking. This colorful time capsule of a movie was directed by Van Peebles's son, who doesn't minimize the difficulties his father's underfinanced dream entailed for his hard-pressed family and friends.

Sex/Nudity: 12 scenes, 2 with full-frontal nudity. Violence: 7 scenes. Profanity: 232 expressions, mostly strong. Drugs: 37 instances of smoking, 6 of drinking, 2 of drugs.

Director: Pedro Almodóvar. With Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez. (105 min.)

Sterritt *** Reading a story by a childhood friend, a movie director relives a complicated past of love and sexual abuse at a Franco-era parochial school. Spain's most important living filmmaker isn't at his very best in this complicated tale, but it raises still-timely questions well worth pondering. In Spanish with subtitles.

Director: Tanit Jitnukul. With Jaran Ngamdee, Theerayut Pratyabamrung. (119 min.)

Sterritt *** Siamese villagers fight Burmese invaders in the 18th century, led by the chief warrior of a distant tribe that agrees to help them. The story suggests a more violent "Seven Samurai," full of eloquently filmed suspense. In Thai with subtitles.

Director: Kevin Rodney Sullivan. With Ice Cube, Eve, Michael Ealy. (98 min.)

Staff **1/2 The crew from the original "Barbershop" comes back to cut hair, only this time a national chain tries to shut them down. Sullivan's film buzzes with energy and sharpness and the actors perform with vigor, but the film's bare-boned script and mawkish ending keep it from achieving 'shear' brilliance. By Brad Rosenberg

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