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a piece of work as Closer He amuses
with puckish adjectives and cynical
nettles that narrator Barbara twists
deeper and deeper until they can't be
removed without furthering the damage.
Barbara, whose obsession is at once
Sapphic, platonic and dangerous, is
like a desiccated Tom Ripley So. Notes
provides us with no one to pull for. The
third star or Richard Eyre's film is the
Oscar-nominated score, another instant
classic by Philip Glass (The Hours).
Notes on a Scandal is one mesmeriz
ing, creepy thriller. (Beechwood)
OFF THE BLACK (R)With the ama
teurishness of reality. Oft the Black
meanders through the small town lives
of Dave Tibbel (Trevor Morgan) and
Ray Cook (Nick Nolte), both forever
changed by a close call made behind
the plate of a high school baseball
game Writer-director James Ponsoldt,
a Cedar Shoals graduate, pulls off a
pretty impressive trick in his first fea
ture. He crafts a personal, unobtrusive
study of the fragile, transferable ties
of family. Oft the Black may not be the
perfect pitch, but W's close enough to
warrant a swng. (Beechwood)
THE PAIN1ED VEIL (PG-13) 2006
should be known as the Year of the
Score. When Golden Globe-win
ning Alexandre Desplat’s haunting,
piano-driven elegy to love in the time
of cholera can't even nab an Oscar
nomination, the competition must be
tight. Everything that visibly accom
panies this adaptation of W. Somerset
Maugham's novel of passive-aggres
sive love—a young doctor (Edward
Norton, who is so consistently good
it's suspicious) punishes the infidel
ity of his wife (Naomi Watts) with a
trip to rural, infected China—is up to
standard period piece specs. We re
not talking Merchant Ivory here, but
Vi?//is a solid literary construction.
Norton and Watts deliver performances
rife with repressed emotion, pained
longing and brief bursts of passion.
Though H?//gets weirdly romcom-y in
its second act. director John Curran
and screenwriter Ron Nyswaner pull
you back in with a cholera- and revolu
tion-packed final act. (Beechwood);
Ends Thursday (Carmike)
PAV’S LABYRINTH (R) In Pans
Labyrinth, the Spanish Civil War means
to slice youth from out the guliet, a war
crime Guillermo del Toro’s gothic fairy
tale can only delay but not deny Young
Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) discovers an old
stone labyrinth and a faun who asks
of her three tasks The adventures of
Ofelia—a Spanish Alice in a terrifying
Wonderland, a desperate Dorothy es
caping war-torn Kansas for a darkened
Oz—have all the tropes of fantasy
fiction, but the magic realism causes
the little girl's success to mean so very
much to her and the audience The
not-remotely-for-children film broke
my heart. As a writer, del Toro has
matured well beyond his previous ef
forts. all under-served somewhat by his
structure, pacing and characterizations
I'm at the end of the line for doling
out post-2006 best of accolades but I
would be remiss not to include Pan's
Labyrinth, the greatest fantasy film in
quite some time Nominated for six
Academy Awards (Beechwood)
PEACEABLE KINGDOM (NR) 2004
Director Jenny Stein (The Witness)
peeks inside the picturesque red barn
door of farming to see the black soul
of modern factory farming Peaceable
Kingdom won the Ojai Film Festival's
Festival Theme Award The screening
includes a discussion led by Michael
Ramirez. The film is part of the 2nd
Annual Film Festival on Animals and
Society, sponsored by UGA's Speak
Out for Species Visit www uga
edu/sos/filmfest Shows Monday. 2/19
(UGASLC)
THE QUEEN (PG-13) The Queen is a
royal ‘West Wing.* allowing a glimpse
behind the throne. Golden Globe win
ner Helen Mirren brings all her graceful
control and ice-cold radiance to a
Royal Majesty bungling the sudden
death of constant thorn in her crown,
Diana. Peter Morgan's screenplay
posits what transpired in the private
chambers of the monarchy with a deftly
light comic touch that detracts nothing
from its dark gravity. Nominated for six
Academy Awards (Beechwood)
A SIMPLE CURVE () This Canadian
film tells the story of 27-year-old
Caleb, who. after being raised in the
mountains by his back-to-the-land
hippie parents, is determined to make
money and be successful. Shows
Thursday. 2/15 (ACC Library)
SMOKIN’ ACES (R) When Las
Vegas entertainer/ wannabe Mafioso
Buddy "Aces' Israel (Jeremy Piven)
turns stoolie, a million-dollar bounty
is placed on his head and a bevy of
contract killers descend on the Reno
suite where Israel is holed up Joe
Carnahan's dialogue is crisp and
witty, but he mistakenly believes he's
made us care for his cut and paste
stereotypes Still, Aces is a decent
enough hand to win your money back
(Beechwood. Carmike)
SPIRITED AWAY (PG) 2001 Hayao
Miyazaki’s Academy Award winner for
Best Animated Feature. While moving
to the suburbs with her family, 10-year-
old Chihiro discovers a strange new
world filled with gods and spirits where
she must labor to find the means to
return the her world. Shows Thursday.
2/15 (Tate)
STOMP THE YARD (PG-13) Stomp
the Yardfollows DJ (Columbus Short)
from street dancing in L A. to the
Atlanta University Center DJ soon
finds rival fraternities fighting over
his skills to ensure a victory at the
national step show competition. Tne
choreography's fly and the surround
ing melodrama not out of step Ends
Thursday (Carmike)
Drew Wheeler
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