FEBRUARY 2002 CINEMA RELEASES IN AUSTRALIA
Black Hawk Down : opens nationally 21st February, 2002. (Bang bang. Ow Ow. I'm dead.).
7 FEBRUARY
Beijing Bicycle (M): Selected. Columbia. Drama. Lin Cui, Xun Zhou, Yuanyuan Gao. *subtitled* Silk Screen film. China. D: Xiashuai Wang. Its about a Bicycle. In Bejing. The eponymous bicycle is here coveted by two teenagers as a means to get their places in society. One needs to earn his living, the other one needs it to get social recognition at school. I see- just get some hot loving action in and I'm there.
Domestic Disturbance (MA): National. UIP. Drama. Matthew O'Leary, Teri Polo, John Travolta, Vince Vaughn. USA. 89 mins. D: Harold Becker. A divorced father discovers that his 11-year-old son's new stepfather is not what he made himself out to be. Is that thing on Travolta's head a wig? Cos its remarkably different from film to film.
The Shipping News (M): National. Buena Vista. 111 mins. Drama. Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, Jason Behr, Cate Blanchett. USA. D: Lasse Hallstrom. An emotionally-beaten man moves with his two young daughters to his ancestral home in Newfoundland to reclaim his life. Sounds deep. Also, what's with the title? It sounds too boring, and the synopsis doesn't do it any favors either.
From Hell : opens nationally February 14, 2002. (One good slash deserves another).
14 FEBRUARY
Corky Romano (M): National. Buena Vista. Comedy. Chris Kattan, Peter Falk, Richard Roundtree. The loser son of a Mafia family goes undercover for the FBI. A remarkable unfunny trailer, but you'll all probably all see this movie on video (pissed) and love it. Who is Corky? Don't waste too much time trying to find out.
From Hell (MA): National. Fox. Thriller. Johnny Depp, Karin Cartlidge, Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Robbie Coltraine, Ian Richardson, Lesley Sharp, Sophia Myles. The graphic novel adoption of the tale of Jack the Ripper, directed by the Hughes Bros (Dead Presidents). Psychic powers, mysterious forces from hell, conspiracies- and its set in 1888! 121 mins, adapted from the Alan Moore graphic novel. By accounts its a bit of a ripper. Sorry.
The Heist (M): Selected. Roadshow. Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ricky Jay. D: David Mammet (State And Main). A gang of thieves plan one big heist. But. It. All. Goes. Wrong. What is it? Gene Hackman year? Gene Hackman plays the brilliant leader of a gang (Delroy Lindo, Ricky Jay & Rebecca Pigeon as Hackman's youngish wife), which pulls off complex heists for a despicable fence (Danny DeVito). After stiffing the gang on a jewellery robbery, DeVito forces the gang to go after a Swiss gold shipment and to use his son (Sam Rockwell) in the crime. No one trusts anyone and every step is shaded with the unexpected.
Lumbumba (M): Selected. Gil Scrine Films. Drama/ Documentary. France/ Belgium. 109 mins. D: Raoul Peck. The true story of the rise to power and brutal assassination of the formerly vilified and later redeemed leader of the independent Congo, Patrice Lumumba. Using newly discovered historical evidence, Haitian-born and later Congo-raised writer and director Raoul Peck renders an emotional and tautly woven account of the mail clerk and beer salesman with a flair for oratory and an uncompromising belief in the capacity of his homeland to build a prosperous nation independent of its former Belgium overlords.
21 FEBRUARY
Ali (M): National. Roadshow. Drama/ Bio-pic. Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Ron Silver, Mario Van Peebles, Mykelti Williamson, John Voight, Jada Pinkett. "Big willie" indeed, after gaining 200 kgs in weight (non-"assisted" apparently). Rumoured to be in the frontlines for a Oscar. Directed by Michael "Heat" Mann. An epic story, its a biopic of Muhammad Ali, certain to make a solid story in these hands. I'm a fighting machine! I run like a chicken and talk like a duck.
Blackhawk Down (MA): National. Columbia. Action. Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore, Ewan MacGregor, Eric Bana. 144 mins. Directed by Ridley Scott. Black Hawk Down is based on the harrowing true account of a group of elite U.S. soldiers sent into Mogadishu, Somalia in October 1993 as part of a U.N. peacekeeping operation. Their mission: to abduct several top lieutenants of a Somalian warlord as part of a strategy to quell the civil war that is tearing away at the country. The carefully planned mission goes terribly wrong, resulting in the U.S. military's single biggest firefight since Vietnam.
Lies (R): Selected- Melbourne/ Sydney. Drama. Dendy/ New Vision. Sang Hyun Lee. aka Gojitmal (1999). D: Sun-Woo Jang (Indian Fetish Cult). South Korea. 112 mins. Subtitled. This often startling account of a progressively S&M tinged love affair (and, yes, that is the right word for it) between an 18 year old schoolgirl and a married man twice her age remains currently banned in its native South Korea where it's considered pornographic.
Promises (PG): Selected- Sydney. Documentary. Subtitled. 100 mins. USA. Ronin Films. D: Justin Arlin, Carlos Bolando. This is a documentary about 7 kids living through the Peace Process between Israel and the Palestinian people, between 1995-2000.
Rabbit Proof Fence (PG): National. Becker/ REP. Drama. 92 mins. Everlyn Sampi, Kenneth Branagh, Jason Clarke, David Gulpilil, Deborah Mailman, Garry McDonald. Director: Phillip Noyce. Australian flick focusing on imprisonment of Aboriginals. Much anticipated movie (a little controversial too!), dealing with an important period in Australia's history that has not been included proper in history classes as yet.
28 FEBRUARY
Africa's Elephant Kingdom (G): Selected, Brisbane. Documentary.
The Human Body (PG): Selected, Melbourne. Documentary.
Journey Into Amazing Caves (PG): Selected. IMAX. Documentary.
K-Pax (M): National. Buena Vista. Drama. Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Mary McCormack, Alfre Woodard, Aaron Paul, Brian Howe. The film tells the story of a mysterious patient (Kevin Spacey) at a mental hospital who claims to be from a distant planet called K-PAX. As his psychiatrist (Jeff Bridges) tries to figure out exactly how to help the patient, he gradually begins to realize that this so-called alien is having a remarkable effect on the mental health of the hospital's other patients.
Kung Pow: Enter The Fist (AKA Dubbed Action Movie: Enter the Fist) (M): National. Fox. Action- Comedy. Steve Odekerk, Jennifer Tung, Ron Yuan, Phillip Tan, Tad Horino. D: Odekerk (Nothing To Lose). Spoof in the vein of Hercules Returns, this is actually an old Japanese action movie with Odekerk dubbed in. (retitled). Its actually the 1976 film Savage Killers with dubbing.
Made (MA): Selected. Dendy. Comedy. 95 mins. Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Famke Janssen, Peter Falk, Sean 'Puffy' Combs. D: Jon Favreau. Famous for being millionaire rapper/ clothing designer Puff Daddy's (P Diddy to you) movie debut, hopefully we'll see something more than just our generations greatest human (sarcasm detector off the chart!).
O (MA): National. Roadshow. Drama. Julia Stiles, Josh Harnett, Mekhi Phifer, Martin Sheen. An update of Othello with a teen cast set in a high school. Trying to capture the same audience as Romeo + Juliet no doubt. But one with high level sex and violence, and was actually banned for a while there.
Vizontele (M): Selected. Drama. D: Vilmaz Erdogan. About the introduction of TV to a village in South East Anatole.