MOVIES RELEASED SEPTEMBER 2001 AUSTRALIA 

6 SEPTEMBER

Angel Eyes (M): National. Roadshow. Drama. Jennifer Lopez, James Caviezel, Terrence Dashon Howard. Her mother f**ing songs keep coming out as fast as her mother f**ing movies. A romantic thriller involving two cops set in Chicago's high crime area. The film has been critically panned, and one of the films major characters is dead.. But J-Lo's career just keep on kicking.  

The Bank (M): Selected. Footprint Films. New Vision. David Wenham, Anthony LaPaglia, Sibylla Budd, Steve Rodgers, Mitchell Butel. Directed by Robert Connolly. Top computer programmer discovers a formula to make a program that predicts the stock market.  And some nasty banks get involved.  Top Aussie movie. 

Before Night Falls (MA): Selected, Martin Place, Newtown, Brisbane. Dendy. Javier Bardem, Olivier Martinez, Andrea Di Stefano, Johnny Depp, Sean Penn.  Its about a gay Cuban poet (keep reading!) who is imprisoned, exported to the US and gets some writing done somewhere in there. For those who have an interest in Cuban culture and (urban) mythical stories, check it out.  

The Forsaken: Desert Vampires (MA): Selected. Col Tristar. Horror. Kerr Smith, Brendan Fehr, Izabella Miko, Phina Oruche, Simon Rex, Johnathon Schaech. Homo-erotic vampire thriller. Bombed in the U.S-watch your language! Mmmm dessert vampires! They must like chocolate! I'm a bit partial for some now actually.  Fuck seeing the movie, I'm off for my chocolate fix.  Someone else can write something witty later.  

Get Over It (M): National. Buena Vista. Teen comedy. 86 mins. Kirsten Dunst, Ben Foster, Melissa Sagemiller, Sisqo, Carma Electra, Swoosie Kurtz, Martin Short.  Typical teen flick- "perfect" couple break up, unlikely matching, top ten song, credits.  You'd really think that audiences would demand more, but no.  If you have a drivers license, have a road trip or something.  If you don't, well this movie's probably in your Girlfriend diary as things to do.

13 SEPTEMBER 

A.I. (M): National. Roadshow. Sci-fi. 145 mins.  Hayley Joel Osment, Frances O'Connor, Jude Law, Sam Robards, William Hurt.  The Spielberg directed story of the first robot boy programmed to love, originally envisioned by Stanley Kubrick. The film has been a critical success but has been rejected by audiences, much like Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Think Pinocchio meets Bladerunner.  But certainly not Bicentennial Man, the story of which has quite a few similarities.  Don't expect too much Kubrick- it may be influenced but make no mistake this is Spielberg's show.  

Haunted Castle (M) IMAX Melb/ Brisb.  First IMAX movie to have a plot and actors and all that apparently.  Damnit! I thought of that, bastards must be stealing my thoughts again.  I'd be a millionaire hundreds of times over if they didn't do that.  Either that or If I wasn't lazy.   

The Princess Diaries (G): National. Buena Vista Int. Comedy. Julie Andrews, Mandy Moore, Anne Hataway, Heather Matarazzo, Hector Elizondo. Directed by Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman). Has been a wonderful success in the U.S. Telling the story of an American teenager who learns she is the princess of a small European country, and thus must be taught the royal way. Unoriginal but heartfelt teen flick, first to get a G rating in, what, 50 years! 

Ring (MA): Selected. Syd/Melb. Potential. Nanako Matsushima, Miki Nakatnai. 95 mins.  Subtitled Japanese horror flick thats been getting pretty decent notices in the local media.  Its about a video that once viewed, a phone call within a week will lead to your death.  Won't have to worry about late fees, then.

16 SEPTEMBER *

The Apartment [1960] Melb. Re-release. Still for rent, obviously.  

One, Two, Three [1961] Melb. Re-release.  Four, five, six. 

20 SEPTEMBER

About Adam (M): Selected. Melbourne only. Buena Vista. Comedy. Stuart Townsend, Kate Hudson, Frances O Connor, Charlotte Bradley. 97 mins. A waitress (Hudson) falls for a customer (Townsend), who seduces her, her two sisters, her brother and her brothers girlfriend.  Sounds horny, although quite how mass sex makes a decent movie alludes me.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (PG): National. Buena Vista Int. Animation. Featuring the voices of Michael J Fox, Jim Varney, James Garner, Cree Summer. The Disney version of the classic tale, seems to have adapted a lot from a very similar Japanese production. Described as the greatest Disney movie ever by Filmink Magazine, but don't let that put you off.  Animation style is inspired by comic book artist Mike Mignola, and is in the traditional non computer animated style.  

Cats And Dogs (PG): National. Roadshow. Comedy. Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins, Alec Baldwin, Sean Hayes, Jon Lovitz, Michael Clarke Duncan, Tobey Maguire, Sean Hayes, Susan Sarandon. 87 mins. Looks like a decent telling of the age old battle dogs wage against cats in order to keep them from enslaving the human race. Watch that fur fly! 

Fast and The Furious (M): National. UIP. Action. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster. Add some angst, some fast cars, a diverse cast and you have some furious people who look mean driving really fast. Its supposed to be cool apparently.  Expect a car flick that makes Gone In Sixty Seconds look like a under-smug, bloated joke.  

La Spangola (M): Selected, Syd Opera Quays, Newtown, Brisb, Melb Kino.  New Vision. Lola Marceli, Alice Ansara, Lourdes Bartolome, Alex Dimitriades, Simon Palomare. Directed by Steve Jacobs. Set in an Australian town in the 60's, its about a Spanish woman and her daughter who get deserted by her husband, leaving them destitute.  Low budget, quite a bit of the Spanish language and a lot of very confronting scenes shouldn't put you off.  By the way, the title means The Spanish Woman.  

Naked States (M): Selected, Melb. Sydney: January 31, 2002. Documentory. Of naked people photographer Spenser Tunick.  Expect lots of nudity, then. 

Spy Kids (PG): National.  Qld/Vic only. NSW/WA/SA Sep 27.  Roadshow. Comedy. 90 mins. Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega, Teri Hatcher, Daryl Sabara.  An effects filled family film that sees a brother and sister team up and go undercover to rescue their secret agent parents from an evil television host.  Almost qualifies as cross-over adult viewing- grab that little tyke (hopefully one you actually know) and enjoy. 

Time and Tide (MA): Selected: Sydney. Melbourne: November 8. Action.  Columbia Tristar. Nicholas Tse Ting Fung, Wu Bai, Candy Lo, Cathy Tsui, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang *subtitled*. No tigers, no dragons... just a hell of a lot of bullets.  Expect a action flick like no other.  

27 SEPTEMBER

Envy (MA): Selected, Brisb. (Schonell). Syd Oct 11, Hob Nov 2, Adel Nov 8, Melb Nov 15, ACT Now 29. Self-distributred. Thriller. Australia.  Directed by Julie Money. Linda Cropper, Jeff Truman, Anna Lisa Phillips, Wade Osbourne, Scott Major.  

Mary Poppins (G): Selected- Qld. Musical. Re-release. Good clean musical fun.  Just don't mention the sexual discrimation or the blandness of it all.  One week season, Palace. 

Rush Hour 2 (M): National (24th: Qld/Vic. 27th: NSW, SA, WA). Roadshow. Action. Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Chris Penn, Don Cheadle, John Lone. New Line's sequel to 1999's very successful Rush Hour will be their biggest film in studio history. This time the crime fighting duo face off with a deadly Triad in Hong Kong with Carter now the out-of-water half. Hopefully the $US 90 million budget is up there to be enjoyed and not spent on pampering.   

The Vertical Ray of the Sun (PG): Selected, Syd Opera Quays. Drama.  Col Tristar. Tran Nu Yên-Khê, Nhu Quynh Nguyen, Le Khanh, Quang Hai Ngo. *subtitled*. Focuses on the lives of three sisters livings and working in Hanoi. Sex, death, weather ensure.  I don't know if I need to write much in these spaces.  I mean, I don't really try to research the movie much- I just write whatever happens to come to mind at the time.  You know, they could call these foreign movies Fish Cat Dog Teacher Hello and no-one would question it. 

30 SEPTEMBER  *

Movie Marathons (PG, M) Every-bloody-where.  Greater Union, Hoyts, Birch Carrol & Coyle etc etc.  Various. 1: Rush Hour II, Spy Kids, Driven, Down to Earth. 2: The Fast and The Furious, Bridge Jones Diary, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Shrek. 3: Legally Blonde, Planet of The Apes, Moulin Rouge, Dr Dolittle 2. 4: America's Sweethearts, A Knights Tale, The Animal, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. This is a rough guide only to what to expect.  

Soylent Green [1973] Melb. Re-release. Is people. Sorry. 

Westworld [1973] Melb. Re-release. Followed by a sequel, Eastworld. 

* Not listed on the 2001 Cinema releases at a glance list, because of the odd dates and the one-off nature of the screenings.