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familiar these days (She sees dead
people, but not. lei us hope, Bruce
Willis.) Opens Friday. (Beechwood,
Carmike)
X-MEN (PG-13) Based on the popular
Marvel Comics series, director Bryan
Singer's (The Usual Suspects) film is an
entertaining but slightly unbalanced first
entry in what is certain to become a sci-
ti/superhero franchise. The movie
spends a lol of time introducing its audi
ence to each character and otters more
than a few heavy-handed thematic over
tures to the Holocaust, human evolution,
and Neo-McCarthyism. The two main
characters (out of the dozen or so) are
misfit ‘mutants'—‘superior’ humans
who. for some reason or other, have
obtained and harnessed special powers
such as telepathy, telekinesis, extraordi
nary physical strength or more violent
talents. At the center ot the story are two
misfits: Rogue (Anna Paquin of The
Piano, She$ All That) is a contused
young woman afraid of her powers to
absorb the memories and healing
powers of others by touch; Wolverine
(newcomer Hugh Jackman, looking very
“Dirty Harry’) is a tough guy with a com
plicated past, keen senses and a skeleton
enhanced by unbreakable metai. The
gowiuys, led by Prolessor X (Patrick
StelS), include Jean Grey (Famke
Janssen), Cyclops (James Marsden),
and Storm (Halle ‘Hit-And-Run* Berry).
The villains—also mutants- are led by
Professor XS old triend-turned-tiend
Magneto (Ian McKellan), and include
Toad (Ray Park), Sabretooth (Tyler Mane)
and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos).
Whew. The plot follows the X-Men as
they try to thwart Magneto'S attempt to
take over the world during a UN summit
on Ellis Island. Although much ol the
script is smart and brisk with tew corny
one-liners anu the story gradually builds
great intensity, the final scenes are a bit
anticlimactic and riddled with lame fight
sequences. Fans of the series will love
this. Others may frown in confusion.
(Beech wood, Carmike)
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ATLFEST SENDS ITS BEST
For 24 years, the Atlanta-based IMAGE Film &
Video Center has focused its efforts on
unearthing and presenting the best in cutting
edge, critically-acclaimed independent films.
This year's 24th Annual Atlanta Film & Video
Festival, held for eight consecutive days starting
on May 13, offered 120 animated, narrative,
experimental, student and documentary works
shown at key locations throughout metro
Atlanta and 13 educational panel discussions
with guest appearances
by filmmakers, video
artists, actors and media
professionals from
around the world.
This year the Atlanta
Film & Video Festival
received over 600 films
and videos for consider
ation—more than any
previous year. After
being selected for gen
eral screening, 50 films
were selected for com
petition screening in
front of a panel of four
judges from the film and video community,
including: Khr. Adelman, content editor for
SHORT (formerly Short Cinema Journal), the
acclaimed series of short film collections on DVD;
Stephen Gallagher, publisher of Filmmaker; Tony
Murphy, Festival Director for the Urbanworld
International Film Festival; and Cauleen Smith,
director of the film Drysolong playing at this
year's AFVF. The film
won the Silver
Armadillo at the 1999
South by Southwest
Film Festival.
For the first time,
the AFVF will present
its "best of" program
at the Flicker Theatre
& Bar in downtown
Athens. "The Best Of
The Atlanta Film And
Video Festival" is a
100-minute program
including documen
tary, animated, experi
mental and short nar
rative works.
"We've never done anything at Flicker and
we're really happy to be working with them this
week," says festival co-director Brian Newman,
who returned to Atlanta this year after working
for years marketing independent feature films in
New York. "We'll be there two nights in a row,
and, despite the hot weather, it should be a lot
of tun for everyone "
Among the rive featured works or this yeai s
Lr?t *T nrooram, Athens movteaoets should
aaliv raise a cheer for hometown filrnmaxer
Walkers awaiu- winning My Big s.ear:.
'V.vmar. commented o:. .1/ nimr
added that he and the rest of the IMAGE crew
may bring a few extra surprises, including addi
tional animated films and spoofs.
Moonshine (6 min.): A brief look at the craft of
an old-school North Carolina bootlegger. Directed
by Kelly Riley.
"A great short film about a moonshiner who
lives in the hills where North Carolina and
Georgia meet. It's not patronizing in any way.
It's upbeat and fun; a
slice of mountain life.
Riley came down and got
to know the guy really
well. The film shows how
he makes the stuff and
how the guy supports
himself."
< Mister Smile (9
min.): Twelve characters
living in an apartment
building try to amuse
themselves. Directed by
Fran Krause.
"Saying much about
it would give it away. It's a weird twist on the
'Happy Face.' The animation is humorous and in a
sort of minimal line drawing style."
V Crush (26 min.): A short coming-of-age film.
Directed by Phillip Bartell.
"This one got a great feedback during our
'Boys Next Door' program this year. It's about a
12-year-old girl in
Illinois who develops a
crush and falls madly
in love with a boy who
is 16 years old, then
finds out he's gay. It's
about her coming to
terms with that. It's a
cute film, but it's not
as madcap as Mister
Smile."
186 Days (20 min.): A
Southern fairy tale
type film about a
wicked stepmother, a
young girl and her
suitor. Directed by Tom Smugala.
"This is definitely one of my favorites from
the festival. It has an experimental feel to it and
is beautifully shot."
My Big Heart (5 min.): Fxpenmental piece
about an out-of-contTol heart. Directed by Jeff
Walker.
"The heait takes over other organs' functions
and threatens to detonate a bomb it learned to 1
uiid on the Internet. The nidaes loved .‘his and i
t was ud aoainst •nme mettv :tiri ccmnetiuea.
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