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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Fuck Picks
By MATT SOERGEL
Morris News Service
TALLADEGA NIGHTS:
THE BALLAD OF RICKY
BOBBY (3 stars): Will
Ferrell’s a dim racing star
in a comedy that pokes
much fun at America’s
NASCAR- loving population.
Sloppy and not as funny as
Anchorman, but still plenty
of the absurdist humor that
goes with the territory when
you allow Ferrell to run all
over it in his big white bun
hugger undies. PG-13.
THE DESCENT (4
stars): Nasty, pitiless and
seriously scary. Six women
make a literal and sym
bolic descent into darkness
when they venture into an
Appalachian cave where all
manner of horrors await.
This raw, low-budget British
chiller provides double shots
of what horror fans crave,
served straight-up, one after
the others. A serious R.
THE NIGHT LISTENER
(3 stars): Robin Williams
is a radio host who strikes
up a phone friendship with
a young listener, though
things are not as they seem.
It’s an eerie, short (82 min
utes) mystery without the
pumped-up scenes of a typi
cal thriller; instead, think of
it as a moody thriller for the
art-house set. R.
THE ANT BULLY (3
stars): There are many
imaginative visual jokes
packed into this fine, excit
ing children’s story about a
boy shrunk down to the size
of an ant. Rousing adventure
and narrow escapes await
him. Lessons are learned,
too - though they aren’t
crammed down our throats.
PG.
SCOOP (3 stars): Woody
Allen’s remaining fans should
enjoy his latest, a breezy
comedy set in London, where
student journalist Scarlett
Johansson goes investigating
a charming rich guy (Hugh
Jackman) who may just be a
serial killer. Allen is a bum
bling magician who poses as
her dad. PG-13
MONSTER HOUSE (3
stars): Three kids check out
the malignant and haunted
house across the road in this
computer-animated story.
Children with chills on their
mind should love it, though
it’s so scary it could send
others ducking under their
seats. PG.
CLERKS II (3 stars):
The aging guys from Kevin
Smith’s 1994 indie smash
are back, still engaging in
ear-blisteringly raunchy con
versation and hilarious pop
culture commentating. It’s
more sentimental than the
original, with an honest-to
goodness romance (thanks
to radiant Rosario Dawson).
But the good news for fans:
It’s still plenty juvenile. R.
LADY IN THE WATER
(2 stars): M. Night
Shyamalan’s newest is one
of the nuttiest movies you’ll
ever see, though it’s funnier
and more watchable than
you might think ~ even as
the story, about a strange
woman from a parallel world,
spins way out of control. Has
a couple of horror jolts, but
it’s chiefly a mystical and
earnest fairy tale.
PG-13.
PIRATES OF THE
CARIBBEAN: DEAD
MAN’S CHEST (2 stars)
There’s one scene, featur
ing Johnny Depp as a giant
shish kebab, that’s a zesty
chunk of comic genius. The
rest of the movie? You do
get your money’s worth of
motley pirates, sea monsters
and duels, but it’s overdone
- way too long, too frantic,
too dark and nowhere near
as charming or funny as that
wonderful first one. PG-13.
CLICK 3 stars: You’ll get
plenty of everything Adam
Sandler is known for, but
you’ll also find a heartwarm
ing lesson about priorities.
(Erin Trauth, The Times-
Union) PG-13.
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Paramount Pictures
In World Trade Center, Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone tells the true story of the heroic survival and
rescue of two Port Authority policemen - John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno - who were trapped in the rubble of the
World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, after they went in to help people escape.
World Trade Center: A
small story, writ large
By MATT SOERGEL
Morris News Service
Oliver Stone’s World
Trade Center takes a huge,
disastrous event, finds a
small story there, then tells
it beautifully.
It captures the distant
whomp of the first plane
hitting the North Tower
on such a beautiful early
fall day, all blue skies, until
those clouds of destruction
rose from the spot.
Then it follows two police
officers pinned in the rub
ble, buried to their necks,
and it follows their families
at home, waiting to hear
what became of them on
Sept. 11, 2001.
A great scene: A young
son watches the TY burn
ing with frustration at his
home in the suburbs. He
knows his father is some
where in that wreckage, but
is he dead? Is he alive? He
fumes - how can these peo
ple just wait? How can they
not act?
“Mom,” he pleads. “Let’s
just go get him.” World
Trade Center tells the true
story of two Port Authority
police officers, Sgt. John
McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage)
and Officer Will Jimeno
(Michael Pena), who raced
to the World Trade Center,
then volunteered to go in, to
Reel Releases
Films paint colorful lives of artists
By STEVEN UHLES
Morris News Service
Painting often happens in
a vacuum. It’s a solitary
pursuit, an intimate, some
times secluded act. Not
really riveting cinema.
Filmmakers, though, are
fascinated by painters and
their cloistered, creative
lives. Perhaps it’s because,
working in a visual medi
um, they see painters as
a kindred spirit. Perhaps
it’s because the creative act
continues to fascinate.
Perhaps it’s because they
think the cult of familiarity
might sell tickets. Whatever
the reason, scores of famous
artists, from Andy Warhol
(I Shot Andy Warhol) to
Toulouse-Latrec (Moulin
Rouge) have been immor
talized on the silver screen.
Here are a few favorites:
POLLOCK
(2000)
As complicated as one
of Jackson Pollock’s
paint-splashed canvases,
this film stars and was
directed by Ed Harris. It
focuses on the turmoil in
the Expressionist’s life. It
succeeds because it man
ages to make the creative
process, the act of applying
paint to canvas, visually
At A Glance
- ' ------ ' - -
World Trade Center
3 1/2 out of 4 stars
Who’s it for? It’s strong
storytelling for wide audi
ences.
Credits: Nicolas Cage,
Michael Pena, Maggie
Gyllenhaal and Maria Bello.
Directed by Oliver Stone.
Running time: 2 hours,
9 minutes.
Family guide: PG-13.
Intense and emotional con
tent, some disturbing imag
es, profanity.
help evacuate the thousands
inside. The film shows the
confusion in small anec
dotes and telling details.
There’s no larger perspec
tive there, because they
only knew what they could
see with their own eyes.
Then, with some superla
tive special effects, the first
tower tumbles around them,
though all they see is a huge
ferocious black cloud of
debris racing toward them.
They’re trapped, stuck in a
ruined elevator shaft in the
concourse that ran between
the two towers.
Choked in dust, buried
under rubble, each can
hear but not see the other.
A patch of light shines
interesting. A strong, stir
ring film.
ARTEMISIA
(1997)
Critics have claimed that
this film , which documents
the early life and work of
Artemisia Gentileschi ,
plays fast and loose with the
truth, but the fact remains
that it introduced audiences
to a fascinating, if forgot
ten, figure.
In her life, Gentileschi,
who worked during the 16th
and 17th centuries, was the
first female painter to gar
ner widespread acclaim. It’s
a fascinating, if factually
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through the wreckage from
20 feet above, as that long
day turns into night, then
day again.
They pass the time with
all the things that might go
through your mind in a sit
uation such as that: family,
things you didn’t do or say
but should have, the theme
song from an old TV show,
a vision of Jesus coming to
offer comfort.
As rubble falls around
them and hours crawl by,
McLoughlin and Jimeno go
from resolve to pure scream
ing - no, wailing - panic
to resignation. Then back
again, several times.
It’s agonizing, but there’s
little relief when Stone gives
us long, pained interludes
with the officers’ waiting
wives (Maria Bellow and
Maggie Gyllenhaal), their
children and their extended
families. This is where the
film could have slipped up
in easy sentiment, but it
deals more satisfyingly in
the rawness and the frus
tration of such a horrible,
helpless time.
I prefer the unvarnished,
documentary-like horror of
United 93, the year’s other
9/11 film, over Stone’s more
conventional World Trade
Center.
But there’s no denying
the craft involved in this
flawed, effort.
LUST FOR LIFE
(1956)
Wracked by poverty and
severe psychological prob
lems, Vincent Van Gogh
wasn’t recognized for his
work until after his death.
This film, which stars
the chisel-chinned Kirk
Douglas as the troubled
painter, might be a bit too
Hollywood beautiful. Still,
Mr. Douglas is a master at
inhabiting eccentrics, and
the film carefully considers
both Van Gogh the tortured
soul and the supremely tal
ented artist.
film, and the scrupulous
sensitivity as well. It’s so
sensitive, in fact, that you’d
never know it was an Oliver
Stone film unless you saw
the credits; the provoca
teur is nowhere in sight,
and sometimes you suspect
some of his fiery flair, if
applied judiciously, might
have made it even more
effective.
But the story is so compel
ling, one could just as eas
ily argue that such a thing
wasn’t necessary.
Stone and screenwriter
Andrea Berloff do expand
the film’s viewpoint on a
couple of telling occasions.
Once, it travels around the
world showing anguished TV
viewers aghast at the hor
ror that befell America. And
it stops briefly in an office
complex in Connecticut,
where a guy in a shirt and
tie (Michael Shannon)
watches the attack with this
co-workers. “I don’t know
if you guys know it yet,” he
says, “but this country’s at
war.”
So he walks out of the
office, goes to church to
pray, gets a haircut, puts on
his old U.S. Marine Corps
uniform and heads to New
York City.
There’s work to be done
there, as World Trade
Center makes clear.
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Web Watch
By RICH RAY
Morris News Service
Back to school
What are the latest,
greatest gadgets for stu- •
dents this year? CNET’s
annual Back to School
Guide is a great place to
find out. Browse by cat
egory (laptops, MP3 play
ers, cell phones, etc.) or
price range. College stu
dents will want to check
out the Tech Checklist to
help prepare for campus
life. Other top resources
include Software for Kids
Under 13, Downloads for
High School Students and
Cool for School: PDAs for
Students, www.backtos
chool.cnet.com
Cancer and
nutrition
The aim here is to pro
vide those living with
cancer, as well as their
family and friends, with
unbiased information on
nutrition and cancer. Find
current, comprehensive
and scientific informa
tion that’s presented in
a useful, easy to under
stand way. Disregard pny
mentions of subscription
costs because the site
is now free. Categories
include Complementary
and Alternative Medicine,
Nutrition Related Clinical
Trials and Conventional
Treatments, to name a
few. Health-care providers
can also benefit from the
research and info here,
web .cancernutritioninfo.
com
Human Clock
If you want to see the
current time revealed in
a rather unusual way,
then take a gander here.
Every minute of every
day, HumanClock.com dis
plays some sort of photo
graph of the current time.
Depending on the time of
day, you can find images
from around the globe
ranging from Arizona
to Italy. Two clock for
mats are presented here.
The digital clock features
more than 11,000 imag
es, whereas the analog
clock is more of a “human
clock.” Take a minute to
visit the site and see what
I mean.
www.humanclock.com
Law and order
Those interested in law
enforcement will want to
pay a visit to Real Police,
which features police
related news, stories, jobs,
gear, forums, resources
and more. Police offi
cers answer questions in
the Ask a Cop section.
Click to Legal Research
for information on top
ics such as background
checks and identity theft.
Go to Resources for links
to sites about everything
from firearms and police
training to surveillance
and security.
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