Starting Friday

High Fidelity — John Cusack stars as a record store owner who is both lucky and unlucky in love. Jack Black (J.B. of Tenacious D) co-stars. Rated R.

The Road to El Dorado — Dreamworks brings us the animated tale of two men's search for the Lost City of Gold. Elton John and Tim Rice did the music, so expect this to be in next year's Oscar program. Rated G.

Now Playing

American Beauty — Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, this was the best film of 1999. American Beauty has a sparkling script and knockout performances from Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening. Rated R.

Drowning Mona — Danny Devito and Bette Midler star in this film about the murder of the meanest woman in town. This movie got slammed pretty hard by a lot of critics, but it looked funny to me. Rated PG-13.

Erin Brockovich — Julia Roberts brings a huge corporation to its knees. The movie is being hailed as the feel good movie of the year. Rated R.

Final Destination — A young man sees a vision of his flight exploding and gets off the plane. He cheated Death and now Death is stalking him and his friends. It is an interesting premise. Rated R.

Here On Earth — Chris Klein, Leelee Sobieski and some other guy star in this three-edged love story. Klein was fantastic in Election and American Pie. This might be OK. Rated PG-13.

Mission to Mars — Gary Sinise, Don Cheadle and Tim Robbins star in this movie where the secrets of life on Earth are found on the Red Planet. My mom liked it. Rated PG-13.

Next Best Thing — A woman and her gay friend have a baby and raise the child as their own. This looks vaguely familiar. Rated PG.

The Ninth Gate — Johnny Depp stars in this film by Roman Polanski. If there's one thing that Polanski is good at, it's movies about the devil. Rated R.

Pitch Black — A crew of a spaceship is terrorized by a species of aliens that attack in the dark. Hooray, another “blow up the aliens” movie! My sci-fi fan friends really liked this. Rated R.

Reindeer Games — Ben Affleck stars in this new action film from John Frankenheimer. The film focuses on an ex-con who gets dragged back into a life of crime by his girlfriend's brother. This looks pretty cool. Rated R.

Romeo Must Die — Jet Li, the next Jackie Chan?, stars in this martial arts film set in a gangland. Bet on Li winning and kicking lots of butt doing it. Rated R.

Snow Day — This movie doesn't really have the same impact here that it does, in say, Michigan or Maine. The question you really must ask yourself is why on Earth did Chevy Chase make this movie? Rated PG.

The Beach — Want a hit? Sprinkle a bit of Leonardo DiCaprio among some other beautiful people and just add water. This film is based on the popular novel by Alex Garland and is very reminiscent of “Lord of the Flies.” This is not lighthearted Leo fare. Rated R.

The Cider House Rules — John Irving penned the screenplay based on his novel and has been nominated for an Oscar. The film deals with an orphan named Homer and his life in St. Cloud, Maine. The movie was very good. Bring some tissues. Rated R.

The Green Mile — Stephen King's serial novel comes to the screen. This is not a horror film, but more of a spiritual drama. It is about the execution of an innocent man, with extraordinary healing abilities. Rated R.

The Tigger Movie — This is obviously about Tigger, Winnie the Pooh's friend. If you love Pooh, you'll love the movie. Rated G.

Whole Nine Yards — This is still the number one movie in America. Bruce Willis is the hitman and Matthew Perry is the frightened, sarcastic guy. There may be too many movies about hitmen these days but Willis is always good for a laugh. Rated R.

Whatever It Takes — Two boys, one popular and one not so poular, help each other seduce the girls of their dreams. I love all these modern-day Cyrano stories. Rated PG-13.

Wonder Boys — Mr. Catherine Zeta Jones (Michael Douglas) stars as an author in this quirky comedy drama. The film also stars Frances McDormand, Tobey Maguire and Katie Holmes. The buzz around this one is very good. Rated R.

Also Playing

Anna and the King — Jodie Foster and Chow Yun Fat star in this movie based on “The King and I.” This is not a musical. The sets look lavish, the actors look right and their big push for Oscar might be worthwhile. Rated PG-13.

Deuce Bigelowe: Male Gigolo — This is a funny movie and you shouldn't expect much more than a stupid comedy. Rob Schneider is better than Norm McDonald was in Dirty Work and there are more hits than misses. Rated R.

Double Jeopardy — This was the movie with Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones. She went to jail for the murder of her husband, but he's not dead. You can't be convicted twice for the same crime, so what will happen? For a buck, this might be worth it. Rated R.

Eye Of The Beholder — Ewan MacGregor follows Ashley Judd and gets trapped in a world or murder, mystery and intrigue. Rated R.

Pokemon's First Movie — Pokemon falls in love with a girl who is the daughter of his family's mortal enemy. The two lovers join together anyway, stirring up a controversy that leaves dozens of people dead.Rated G.

Sleepy Hollow — Johnny Depp is Ichabod Crane in Tim Burton's film based on The Legend of the Headless Horseman. This was an all-around good movie, but is also fairly graphic. Rated R.

Stuart Little — Based on E.B. White's children's story, Stuart is a small mouse that lives with a normal sized human family. It looks like lots of new stuff was added for the kids and the traditional plot elements have fallen by the wayside. We shall see though. Rated PG.

The Hurricane — Denzel Washingtonstars as Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a boxer who was wrongly imprisoned for murder. Washingotn was nominated for Best Actor. Rated R.

The Sixth Sense — A little boy sees dead people and Bruce Willis tries to help him. Nominated for many Academy Awards, this movie is a gem. It has been in theaters since July. Rated PG-13.

The Talented Mr. Ripley — Matt Damon stars as a sociopath who pretends he is somebody else to get near Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law. This is a dark tale set in Tuscany. Rated R.

The World Is Not Enough — James Bond returns to stop the bad guys and love the ladies. Denise Richards plays Christmas Jones. Rated PG-13.

Back to the Top of the PageBack to the Weekend Home Page