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Watchmen / **** (R)
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by Roger Ebert
After the revelation of “The Dark Knight,” here is “Watchmen,” another bold exercise in the liberation of the superhero movie. It’s a compelling visceral film — sound, images and characters combined into a decidedly odd visual experience that evokes the feel of a graphic novel. It seems charged from within by its power as a fable; we sense it’s not interested in a plot so much as with the dilemma of functioning in a world losing hope.
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The Black Balloon / *** (PG-13)
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by Roger Ebert
At the center of "The Black Balloon" is Toni Collette's performance as the mother of an autistic son. The way she meets this challenge opens a way to understand all the other characters. Her son Charlie can be sweet and lovable. He can also make life for his family all but unbearable. Collette, as his mother, Maggie, has been dealing with him for 17 years and seems to have long ago made her peace with the fact that Charlie is who he is and is not going to change. As his mother, she loves him.
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Gomorrah / **** (No MPAA rating)
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"Gomorrah" (Unrated, 136 minutes). Stunning European blockbuster about the cruel reign of the Naples-based Camorra crime syndicate, much larger but less known than the Mafia. Take the POV of the day laborers of crime, who kill each other ruthlessly with little knowledge of who controls them, and little share of the profits. A docudrama curative for the romanticism of "The Godfather" and "Scarface." Rating: Four stars.
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Two Lovers / ***1/2 (R)
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"Two Lovers" (R, 110 minutes). Joaquin Phoenix is superb in an uncommonly touching story of a nice but troubled man wavering between two women: A loving family friend (Vinessa Shaw) and an emotionally fraught but superficially glamorous one (Gwyneth Paltrow). Side steps all the usual cliches about families and children. Rating: Three and a half stars.
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The Secrets / ***1/2 (R)
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"The Secrets" (R, 127 minutes). A brilliant young woman resists the plans of her rabbi father for her marriage, dares to think of becoming a rabbi herself, retreats to a seminary for meditation, and finds a roommate and a dying woman who change her life. An absorbing melodrama, filled with romance and tension, and surprisingly relevant. From Israel with English subtitles. Rating: Three and a half stars.
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I'm All Good / *** (No MPAA rating)
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"I'm All Good" (Unrated, 102 minutes). A whimsically eccentric Czech comedy about some old pals who hang out together and enlist their magician friend to lead them in vengeance, as they plot to con the operators of a con game. Delightful. By today's leading Czech comic director, Jan Hrebejk. Rating: Three stars.
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Great Movie: The Double Life of Veronique (1991)
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by Roger Ebert
Here is a film about a feeling. Like all feelings, it is one that can hardly be described in words, although it can be evoked in art. It is the feeling that we are not alone, because there is more than one of us. We are connected at a level far, far beneath thought. We have no understanding of this. It is simply a feeling that we have.
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Movie Answer Man: Fanboys movie is idiotic, but
real fanboys not so much
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Q. After reading your "Fanboys" review, I was upset and angry. As a diehard "Star Wars" "Fanboy" who is far from "socially inept," I must say that if you think the film is a "celebration of an idiotic lifestyle," then you should go to a "Star Wars" convention and say that to every single person there, and let's see what they'll say to you. If you have a "good reason" for saying what you said, feel free to reply.
Alex D. Geslin, Greeley, Colo.
A. Well, the film is a celebration of an idiotic lifestyle. To me, that would involve driving to California to break into Skywalker Ranch and steal a print of the new "Star Wars" movie, but first making a detour to Iowa to have a rumble with some detested "Star Trek" fans. That's the film. As for real life, I now know from countless readers that "Star Wars" fans devote much of their time to raising funds for sick kids. I hadn't realized that, and I applaud it. I reserve the right to consider it idiotic to live in a tent on a sidewalk for several weeks to be first in line for the next "Star Wars" movie.
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Commentary: Wardrobe malfunction in Paris:
Emma Thompson to the rescue
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PARIS--The Cesars were telecast Friday night and, as you know, there is no censorship to speak of on French TV. Emma Thompson, who speaks brilliant French (of course she does) was seated in the front row next to Sean Penn when a French comedienne I was unfamiliar with came out to give an award, with one breast exposed from the nipple up.
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