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Friday, November 01, 2002 Opening this week
AUTO FOCUS
The rise and fall of "Hogan's Heroes" star Bob Crane (Greg Kinnear) -- disc jockey, sitcom fixture, indefatigable womanizer, amateur video pornographer, murder victim -- inspires this account of Crane's fatal descent into sleaze. Willem Dafoe (as Crane's partner in sexual merrymaking), Rita Wilson (as his first wife), Maria Bello (as his second, a "Hogan" co-star) and Rob Leibman (as his long-suffering agent) co-star for director Paul Schrader, who's explored the darker side of life in movies from "Hardcore" to "Affliction." (105 min.) R; sexual situations, nudity, profanity, violence, drug use.
BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE
Inexhaustible iconoclast Michael Moore (director of "Roger and Me," author of "Stupid White Men") captured a special 55th anniversary prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival for this documentary that explores America's gun culture -- and why our pursuit of happiness seems so much more bullet-riddled than the process in other countries. Among Moore's targets: National Rifle Association president Charlton Heston, a bank that gives out guns with new accounts, a young man who tests homemade napalm recipes and a 6-year-old's murder -- at the hands of another 6-year-old. (119 min.) R; violent images and profanity.
COMEDIAN
Originally titled "Anatomy of a Joke," this documentary follows Jerry Seinfeld as he puts together a stand-up act, trying out new material in smoke-filled New York comedy clubs. Adding contrast and perspective: conversations with other comedians, from legends such as Bill Cosby and Robert Klein to up-and-comers such as Orny Adams. Chris Rock, Ray Romano and Garry Shandling also turn up in this study from director Christian Charles and producer Gary Streiner, part of the creative team behind Seinfeld's American Express ads. (100 min.) R; profanity.
I SPY
Once upon a time -- on '60s TV, in fact -- tennis provided the sporting cover for a pair of globe-trotting secret agents (played by Robert Culp and Bill Cosby). In this big-screen remake, however, middleweight boxing champ Kelly Robinson (Eddie Murphy) provides the bait for agent Alex Scott ("Royal Tenenbaums" co-writer and co-star Owen Wilson) to get to nefarious arms dealer Arnold Gundars (Malcolm McDowell), who's just stolen a prototype spy plane. "X-Men's" Famke Janssen and Gary Cole co-star in this espionage romp directed by Betty Thomas, who honed her chops with "Dr. Dolittle" and "The Brady Bunch Movie." (96 min.) PG-13; action violence, sexual situations, profanity.
THE SANTA CLAUSE 2
After eight years in charge at the North Pole, Scott Calvin (Tim Allen, reprising his role from the 1994 original) has settled into life as Santa Claus -- until a few problems come to light, from his son Charlie's unexpected presence on this year's "Naughty" list to the heretofore unknown "Mrs. Clause," which states that he'll lose his post as Santa if he doesn't tie the knot by Christmas Eve. (98 min.) G.
SANTA VS. THE SNOWMAN
From the folks who brought you "Jimmy Neutron," this 3-D animated romp opening at Luxor's giant-screen Imax theater follows the adventures of a lonely Snowman who's swept away by the wonders of Santa's Village -- until he becomes jealous of all the attention Santa gets at Christmas, triggering an all-out polar war involving chocolate squirt guns, giant Igloo Robot Walkers and a 50-foot toy soldier manned by Santa himself. (37 min.) NR; all ages.
STAR WARS: EPISODE II -- ATTACK OF THE CLONES: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE
Size matters not -- except when it comes to George Lucas' shot-on-digital space opera, which checks into the Luxor's Imax theater after remastering to enhance both picture and sound. The second of three "Star Wars" prequels, "Clones" is the first digitally produced movie to undergo the Imax remastering treatment, which shaves a few minutes of running time but expands the intergalactic action to fit giant-screen proportions. (119 min.) PG; sci-fi action/violence.
By CAROL CLING |
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