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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Movie Picks
By MATT SOERGEL
Morris News Service
LITTLE MISS
SUNSHINE 3 1/2 stars:
This film festival favorite is
an off-kilter screwball com
edy with real heart, one that
brings its comically dysfunc
tional modern American
family to real life. Stars
Steve Carell, Toni Collette,
Greg Kinnear and a scene
stealing Alan Arkin. R.
IDLEWILD 3 stars:
OutKast’s movie is an eccen
tric, over-the-top musical/
gangster yarn that, while
not perfect, is lively and
eye-catching. If you have a
problem with a man in a
fur coat, rapping on stage in
1935 Georgia, then this isn’t
the movie for you. R.
INVINCIBLE 3 stars:
Mark Wahlberg deliberately
and effectively underplays
his based-on-real-life role as
a 30-year-old bartender who
tries out for the Philadelphia
Eagles in 1976. It pulls on
your heartstrings, even
though it rarely looks like
it’s really trying to. PG.
HOW TO EAT FRIED
WORMS 3 stars: Those
roughly the age of the mov
ie’s colorful group of fifth
graders are likely to laugh,
a lot, It’s about a picked-on
new kid who agrees to eat
10 worms, cooked in many
strange ways, by sundown.
Gross c and that’s a good
thing. PG.
SNAKES ON A PLANE
2 1/2 stars: If there are
hundreds of crazed snakes
rampaging through the red
eye from Honolulu to L.A.,
there had better be lurid
snake violence and at least
one good Samuel L. Jackson
rant.
No worries. R.
ACCEPTED 2 1/2 stars:
Rejected everywhere else,
college student start their
own college, with classes
such as Walking Around
and Thinking About Stuff.
Justin Long stars. It has
some laughs. PG-13.
WORLD TRADE
CENTER 3 1/2 stars: Two
police officers lie trapped in
the rubble, and their fami
lies wait, agonizingly, for
word. Oliver Stone takes a
small part of a huge story
and comes up with the year’s
second fine 9/11 film c not
quite as visceral as United
93, but still a powerful, well
told story. PG-13.
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 symbolic descent
into darkness when they
venture into an Appalachian
cave where all manner of
horrors await. This raw, low
budget British chiller pro
vides double shots of what
horror fans crave. 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.
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New Line Cinema
In ‘The Black Dahlia’ from left, Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart and Scarlett Johansson star in the true crime story.
True crime highlights fall flicks
By STEVEN UHLES
Morris News Service
With the big bangs - and
bucks - of escapist sum
mer cinema finally wrapped
for another year, it’s time
to look toward the films of
fall.
Just as sequels are the
standard of summer, many
of the movies released from
September through mid-
November are carefully
positioning themselves for
award-season gold. This
year’s crop of fall movies
includes animated rats, his
torical epics, crime thrillers
and a new look for a certain
super spy Here are some
highlights.
Sept. 8
HOLLYWOODLAND:
Ben Affleck, Diane Lane and
Adrien Brody star in this
true-crime story of death
and desire in Hollywood.
The second Superman fea
ture released this year, it
stars Mr. Affleck as George
Reeves, the actor best
known as television’s Man
of Steel.
LUCKY YOU: Curtis
Hanson, the director respon
sible for L.A. Confidential,
In Her Shoes and 8 Mile,
returns with this family
drama set in the world of
professional poker. The film
stars Robert Duvall and
Eric Bana as a father and
son who face off in cards
and life.
Sept. 15
THE BLACK DAHLIA:
Hollywood crime dramas
evidently are big this year.
This true story of the mur
der of a studio starlet fea
tures Josh Hartnett and
Reel Releases
Films sometimes all about location
By STEVEN UHLES
Morris News Service
Borrowing from the busi
ness world, sometimes mov
iemaking is all about loca
tion, location, location.
Whether it’s the Austrian
hills, just perfect for running
across in the The Sound of
Music, or the bright, white
landscapes of Fargo, some
times a movie requires a
certain locale that just can
not be faked on a Hollywood
soundstage.
Sure, Malibu, Calif.,
made a fine doppelganger
for Korea in M*A*S*H, but
would High Plains Drifter
have been as effective were
said high plains an easy
commute from Burbank,
Calif.? Probably not.
Here’s a list of a few
favorites in which location
plays an important part in
cinematic storytelling:
THE
ENFORCER
(1976)
Although all of Clint
Eastwood’s Dirty Harry
ENTERTAINMENT
Aaron Eckhart as the Los
Angeles cops assigned to
the case. Scarlett Johansson
and Hilary Swank play the
apex of a love triangle and a
femme fatale, respectively.
Suspense master Brian De
Palma (The Untouchables,
Carrie) directs.
Sept. 22
ALL THE KINGS
MEN: The last time this
Robert Penn Warren novel
was adapted to the screen
(1949), it ended up with
seven Academy Awards
nominations and won three,
including best picture.
With familiar faces such as
Sean Penn, Jude Law and
Anthony Hopkins in the
cast, it isn’t unthinkable to
believe this version could
repeat the feat.
Sept. 29
SCHOOL FOR
SCOUNDRELS: After
attending a confidence
building course, a young
traffic cop (Jon Heder, of
Napoleon Dynamite fame)
finds himself at odds with
his unscrupulous instructor
(Billy Bob Thornton) for. a
woman’s (Jacinda Barrett)
affections. Todd Phillips
(Old School) directs.
Oct. 6
THE DEPARTED:
Martin Scorsese returns
to his gangs-and-guns
roots with a tale of a cop
(Leonardo DiCaprio ) and
a career criminal (Matt
Damon) going undercover in
each other’s organizations.
Jack Nicholson, long over
due for a Scorsese outing,
plays the head of a Boston
crime syndicate.
films take place on the
streets of San Francisco,
it’s the third film in the
franchise that best uses the
distinctive flavor of the city
to its advantage.
The challenging topogra
phy and unique architec
ture of the metropolis are
highlighted, and one of its
famous landmarks, the
former prison on Alcatraz
Island, plays an important
role .
SHARKY’S
MACHINE
(1981)
Not only an admirable
addition to actor Burt
Reynold’s sometimes shaky
r’sum’, this film also fea
tures the city of Atlanta.
The film, which centers
on a narcotics detective,
captures Atlanta’s boom
town years in the late 1970 s
and early 1980 s, when it
transformed from small
and Southern to a major
American metropolis.
Oct. 11
RUNNING WITH
SCISSORS: Based on
the popular memoirs of
Augusten Burroughs, this
coming-of-age story centers
on the insanity of family
and actual insanity. Annette
Bening stars as a bipolar
mother, Alec Baldwin is her
distant husband and Brian
Cox is the loopy psychiatrist
charged with the upbring
ing of young Augusten.
Oct. 13
THE FOUNTAIN:
Conquistadors, true love
and bubbles floating in space
collide in this long-gestating
sci-fi spectacular. The film
stars Hugh Jackman as a
man who cannot die, a role
he picked up after Brad Pitt
left the project.
Oct. 20
MARIE ANTOINETTE:
Director Sophia Coppola fol
lows her Lost In Translation
success with this mod
ern take - think Versace
at Versailles - on costume
drama. Kirsten Dunst plays
the young queen and Jason
Schwartzman her awkward
king.
FLAGS OF OUR
FATHERS: The first of
two Clint Eastwood-helmed
films about Iwo Jima, this
first installment tells the
stories of the figures who
raised the flag in the famous
photograph. A second film,
Letters From Iwo Jima,
tells the same story from
the Japanese perspective
and opens in Decem-ber.
Oct. 27
BABEL: Three connected
stories told in four languag
es, Babel is less a traditional
DIRTY
ROTTEN
SCOUNDRELS
(1988)
Though this ruthlessly
clever con comedy could
have been transplanted to
any location where money
flows freely, the distinctive
flavor of the villas, hotels
and casinos of the south
of France gives Scoundrels
a very particular flavor
that filming in Southern
California could never cap
ture.
THE AFRICAN
QUEEN (1951)
Before director John
Huston decided to pack up
to head to Africa to make
a movie, most films deal
ing with the continent were
shot on studio back lots.
That’s right,
Tarzan was totally shar
ing his jungle home with
Roy Rogers. Mr. Huston
believed that, although dif
ficult, shooting in Africa
would elevate his roman-
narrative than an exami
nation of the challenges of
communicating across bar
riers of culture, language
and belief. The film stars
Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett
and Gael Garcia Bernal.
THE PRESTIGE:
Designed as the cinemat
ic equivalent of a magic
trick, this tale of duel
ing magicians stars Hugh
Jackman , Christian Bale,
Michael Caine and Scarlett
Johansson and is directed
by Batman man Christopher
Nolan.
Nov. 3
FLUSHED AWAY: The
first computer- animated
feature from the Aardman
Animations studio (Wallace
& Gromit, Chicken Run),
this film, about rat soci
ety, retains the distinctive
Aardman look, despite the
CGI polish. Hugh Jackman
(what is with this guy? )
voices society rat Roddy,
while Andy Serkis - best
known as the actor behind
the digital faces of Gollum
and King Kong, provides
the voice for the decidedly
more earthy Spike.
BORAT: CULTURAL
LEARNINGS OF
AMERICA FOR
MAKE BENEFIT
GLORIOUS NATION
OF KAZAKHSTAN: Part
mockumentary and part
Jackass-style prank pro
gram, this fish-out-of-water
comedy stars Sacha Baron
Cohen as a Kazakhstan
newscaster charged with
gathering information on
American culture. Most of
the interactions in the film
were shot guerrilla-style,
with Mr. Cohen walking
See FALL, page 6C
tic adventure from matinee
fodder to classic. He was
right.
SLEEPLESS
IN SEATTLE
(1993)
The name of the location
is right there in the title.
How can you possibly fake
that? The movie proved so
popular that many of the
locations and businesses
featured have become regu
lar tourist stops with film
fans.
Come See Our Newly Expanded Showroom!
Middle Oeorfux’t Larval Seltttian Of Lighting Fixture!
H
ISOUTHERN
(lighting
HOME UQ HTINQ CENTER
Est. 1987
Fans, Framed Prints
Lamps & Framed Mirrors
Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30-5:30
Sat 10-2 pm
mo?
SATURDAY, AUGUST 26, 2006 ♦
Web Watch
By RICH RAT
Morris News Service
MadeHow.com
Ever wonder how cer
tain products are made?
This site details the
manufacturing process
for everything from daily
household items to elec
tronic equipment and
heavy machinery. The
searchable offering fea
tures descriptions in plain
language for a general
audience. Find informa
tion for a range of prod
ucts from air bags, blue
jeans and chewing gum
to liquid crystal displays,
vaccines and artificial
snow, www.madehow.com
Movie
challenge
So you think you know
movies, huh? Well here’s
your chance to prove it.
GuessWhichMovie.com
will present you with four
still images from a par
ticular film and a list of 20
films to choose from. See
if you can match the film
with the stills. Since there
are 16 rounds to play
through you may want to
register (for free) to con
tinue playing at a later
date or if you move from
one computer to another,
www.guesswhichmovie.
com
Organ and
tissue donations
According to site cre
ators, although about
74 people receive organ
donations each day,
nearly 18 die waiting for
transplants because not
enough organs are avail
able. Currently, more than
92,000 people are waiting
for donations. This site
features donation news,
myths and facts about
organ donation, donation
information and how you
can become an organ and
tissue donor, www.organ
donor.gov
CPR
Although the cardio
pulmonary resuscitation
(CPR) tips here can’t take
the place of a formal class,
you can still learn the
basics about how to pos
sibly save a life. The free
public service from the
University of Washington
School of Medicine fea
tures illustrated CPR
guides, video demonstra
tions, CPR facts, first aid
for choking victims and
more, depts.Washington,
edu/learncpr
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on Saturday at DJ's Galaxy Quest in
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s i Her biggest suprise was to have her little j/i
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7 Kelli an Jason Sikes Hannah is the daugh- \'i
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daughter of Mrs, Neva Sikes, affectionately A
known as Mama Sikes and the late Helen \
; Nash. Hannah has an older sister. Kaley,
. and baby sister Kensley. who were at the ,
birthday celebration.
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