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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Move Picks
By MATT SOERGEL
Morris News Service
OPEN SEASON 3 1/2
stars: A genuinely amusing
computer-animated story
about a domesticated griz
zly (Martin Lawrence) and
a wacky mule deer (Ashton
Kutcher) gathering the
eccentric residents of the
forest to fight back against
hunters -- in a non-lethal
way, of course. It’s brisk,
unpretentious and pleasant
ly warped, bopping along on
great Paul Westerberg songs.
PG.
THE SCIENCE OF
SLEEP 3 1/2 stars: The
more playful among the art
house crowd should love
this funny and melancholy
bit of extreme whimsy from
Michel (Eternal Sunshine of
the Spotless Mind) Gondry.
Gael Garcia Bernal stars
as a young man who’s hav
ing a hard time distinguish
ing between sleep and wake
fulness, which complicates
work and romance. R.
THE GUARDIAN 3
stars: Kevin Costner’s a
gruff, legendary instructor
of rescue swimmers, while
Ashton Kutcher’s a promis
ing protege.
You’ve seen this kind of
thing before (An Officer and
a Gentleman, anyone?), but
it’s done well here, with less
fuss and fury than you might
expect. Plus it’s about time
someone made a movie about
the Coast Guard. PG-13.
FACING THE GIANTS 2
1/2 stars: A Baptist church
in Albany made this earnest,
Christian-themed movie
about an underdog football
team.
It’s pretty good, and its
message should resonate
quite movingly with many.
PG.
FLYBOYS 2 1/2 stars:
A rousing yarn about Yanks
who flew flimsy planes for
the French before the U.S.
entered World War I. It’s
incredibly corny and blissful
ly, stubbornly out of current
fashion. That shouldn’t be
a problem for many. James
Franco, Jean Reno and some
well-staged mid-air battle
scenes star. It’s good fun.
PG-13.
FEARLESS 2 1/2 stars:
Jet Li has said this is his
last martial-arts movie. If
so, it’s not a bad way to go
out, as a graying, noble hero
fighting a worthy opponent.
Set in China 100 years ago,
the film feels thoughtful and
philosophical, preaching the
uselessness of vengeance.
But don’t worry c there’s
still a good bit of fighting.
PG-13.
ALL THE KING’S MEN
2 stars: The grandest seem
ing so-so movie you’re likely
to see this year. Sean Penn
throws himself into his role
as a hell-raising Louisiana
politician, but every time the
film moves away from him c
and it does that a lot c it bogs
down in murky subplots. For
all its period detail, it feels
half-formed, never coming to
sweaty, breathing life. PG
-13.
THE LAST KISS 3 stars:
Zach Brass heads this smart
ensemble look at the various
ways people mess up their
love lives. He’s a 29-year-old
guy flirting with a college
student, though he already
has a perfect, pregnant girl
friend. R.
GRIDIRON GANG 2 1/2
stars: The Rock is a tough
coach guiding a football
team of teenage criminals.
It’s based on a documentary
about a real team and is best
when it stays hard-bitten
and realistic. It slips when it
goes all Mighty Ducks on us.
Still, it works. PG-13.
HOLLYWOODLAND 2
1/2 stars: Ben Affleck gained
some weight to play TV’s
old Superman, Diane Lane
is his older lover and Adrien
Brody is a down-and-out pri
vate eye looking into Supe’s
mysterious death. It looks
great, and it stays interest
ing and often witty for a long
while, though, it eventually
does runs out of gas. R.
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Kevin Costner, left, and Ashton Kutcher star in “Guardian’.
‘Guardian* a good showcase for males
By MATT SOERGEL
Morris News Service
There’s a reason they
make movies about gruff
old heroes and the cocky
upstarts who try to take
their place. Done right --
and The Guardian is done
right they can be fine
showcases for sanctioned
male bonding over adven
turing, womanizing, drink
ing and brawling.
The Guardian also has
the benefit of being set
in the world of the Coast
Guard, and it’s about time
someone made a movie
about the Coast Guard.
Still, this kind of movie
is only as good as its macho
stars. And while they’re
not quite An Officer and
a Gentleman’s Lou Gossett
Jr. and Richard Gere,
Kevin Costner and Ashton
Kutcher are more than just
adequate.
Costner is Ben Randall, a
legendary Coast Guard res
cue swimmer who plucks
the drowning of Aaska’s icy
Reel Releases
Adoptions have always dotted movie landscape
By STEVEN UHLES
Morris News Service
I’ve been thinking about
adoption lately. Recently I
learned that some former
neighbors had the fortune
to adopt a child. Before that,
another family that I know
adopted a daughter.
Though I wasn’t privy to
the process, it got me con
templating the sort of emo
tional leap that taking in a
child as your own requires,
the sort of courage and,
most obviously, the sort of
love.
I’d like to think I have that
sort of strength of character,
but I believe until you find
yourself in that situation,
there’s no way of knowing
whether you have the gen
erous spirit required.
Adoption is an emotional
event, so it’s no wonder that
it and the chosen family
make such compelling mov
ies.
Since the earliest days of
cinema, beginning with a
creaking version of Anne
of Green Gables in 1919,
adoption has made its way
to the silver screen. Here
are a few favorites:
STAR WARS
(1977)
Granted, this adoption
didn’t turn out all that
well, what with the stor
mtroopers and all. Still,
chances are that Luke
Skywalker enjoyed a more
stable home life than he
would have found with
Darth Vader. Evil plotting
and Death Star-building is
no way to rear a son.
At A Glance
The Guardian
3 stars out of 4
Who’s it for? It’s solid
mainstream moviemaking,
exciting and amusing - a
good way to pass the time.
Credits: Starring Kevin
and Ashton Kutcher. Directed
by Andrew Davis.
Running time: 2 hours, 19
minutes.
Family guide: PG-13.
Action scenes, some profan
ity, some sensuality.
seas. But he’s getting old,
and after a big tragedy, he’s
sent for a spell to Louisiana,
to train whippersnappers
who want to be elite swim
mers themselves. Enter
Kutcher, as Jake Fischer,
the best of the bunch, a self
assured swim champ who
aims to break the school
records that Randall, all
these years later, still holds.
Costner is appropriately
THE TEN
COMMANDMENTS
(1956)
Perhaps the most famous
adoptee in history, Moses
brought down some big
league wrath on the royal
family that exiled him.
Whether it was the Red Sea
crashing around the ears
of Pharaoh or the plague
of frogs his people would
be cleaning up for weeks,
Moses showed there’s noth
ing quite as fearful as a
brother, adopted or not,
scorned.
TOM JONES
(1963)
The story of a good son
leveled by bad behavior, this
adaptation of the classic
novel stars Albert Finney as
Tom Jones, the adopted son
of a country squire. Good
at heart, Jones neverthe
less lets his lusty passions
get the better of him. Sexy
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LIFESTYLE
weathered and tough, and,
without getting the least bit
sentimental about it, also
manages to suggest there’s
a sensitive soul inside too.
Kutcher looks the part, and
there’s some energy in his
plucky-kid performance;
he’s not just cruising as,
say, a Paul Walker would.
There’s clearly life for him
after That O7os Show.
The two characters brood,
bicker, banter and bond, of
course, while eventually
sharing the nightmare
inducing Dark Secrets in
their lives. You know it’s
going to happen. And so
does a salty bartender,
played by singer Bonnie
Bramlett, who has, we sus
pect, a thing for Ben. She
teases him: “Your wife left
you, your best friend died
you sound like a damn
country song.” Big, scary
action scenes bracket The
Guardian, at beginning and
end.
In between there’s a long
section showing all the
rough training the hope
and very funny, it remains a
classic comedy of manners.
GREYSTOKE;
THE LEGEND
OF TARZAN,
LORD OF THE
APES (1984)
When his parents die after
a shipwreck, the infant heir
to an English lordship is
taken in by a communi
ty of apes. You probably
knew that. What makes the
movie so interesting is that
though the Tarzan tale has
been told time and time
again, this film manages to
spin it in new and interest
ing ways.
BABE (1995)
A compelling argument
for nurture over nature,
the lighthearted and lyri
cal Babe tells the story of
a pig raised by sheepdogs.
Though a happy ending is
ful swimmers do, along
with some welcome sec
tions about the amusing
and believable romance
between Kutcher’s Jake
and a gorgeous schoolteach
er (Melissa Sagemiller).
You have to go with the
139-minute film’s relaxed
flow, and you’re likely to.
Director Andrew Davis
(The Fugitive) keeps a sure
hand on this story, with just
the right amount of strug
gle and speechifying and
humor.
Another thing to rec
ommend: The Guardian
doesn’t get all mushy or
rah- rah about it, but it’s
clear there’s a strong appre
ciation for the often over
looked branch of the ser
vice. Its motto “So oth
ers may live” -- is displayed
throughout the film, but
it’s Costner’s character who
gets the final word, mentor
to protege:
“We’re the Coast Guard,
Jake. Nobody really appre
ciates us until they need
us.”
always expected, the ways
and means of little Babe
finding his place in the
world are imaginative and a
pleasure to watch over and
over again.
fArir(rtf (Ary/fj/ty
Nancy Mafchan & Christopher Nunn
September 16
Jennifer Waldorf & Matthew Hulbert
September 16
Holley Turner & Kimball Murdock
September 16
Carrie Henderson & Michael Sullivan
September 23
Amber Hunnicutt & Phillip Rigdort. Jr.
September 30
Jill Hulbert & Eric Thigpen
October 16
Victoria West & Adam Partridge
October 22
Cindy Dunaway & Trey Sigmund
December 16
Lauren Mason & Thomas Moore
January 6
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Web Wetch
By RICH RAY
Morris News Service
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than 100 collections and
9 million individual items
are accessible from this
vOst resource.
memory.loc.gov
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