MINI MOVIE REVIEWS

OLYMPIAN STAFF, NEWS SERVICES

Originally published Friday, February 1, 2002

A BEAUTIFUL MIND

* * * * (PG-13)

- Stars: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Russell Crowe delivers a virtuoso performance as the tormented, brilliant mathematician John Forbes Nash.

AMELIE

* * * 1/2 (R)

- Stars: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Dominique Pinon, Isabelle Nanty and Serge Merlin.

- Playing: Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: A young woman, encouraged to be a wallflower all her life, decides to take on the world after finding a box of possessions hidden in her apartment by a former occupant. In French with English subtitles.

BIRTHDAY GIRL

* * * (R)

- Stars: Nicole Kidman, Ben Chaplin, Vincent Cassel and Mathieu Kassovitz.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Nicole Kidman, fresh from winning a Golden Globe for her role in "Moulin Rouge," stars as a Russian mail-order bride with a past. When she arrives as the wife of a timid British bank clerk, all is not what it seems.

BLACK HAWK DOWN

* * (R)

- Stars: Tom Sizemore, Sam Shepard, Josh Hartnett and Eric Bana.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas, Shelton Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: A gritty, tough re-enactment of a U.S. mission in Somalia in 1993 that went drastically wrong -- and the heroism of the men involved. But its racial politics are muddled and unsettling.

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO

* * * (PG-13)

- Stars: Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, Richard Harris.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Alexandre Dumas' swashbuckling tale of betrayal and revenge looks great in this new version, but suffers from a lack of depth once it gets past the production design. Still, it could be just the movie to interest that pre-teen boy of yours in reading the book.

THE ENDURANCE: SHACKLETON'S LEGENDARY ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION

* * * * (G)

- Playing: Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: A riveting feature-length documentary about one of the most astonishing survival and rescue adventures of all time, created from rare archival footage, diary entries and new photography. Liam Neeson narrates for filmmaker George Butler.

HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE

* * * * (PG)

- Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman.

- Playing: Shelton Cinemas, Capital Mall Cinemas.

- Synopsis: A magical, first-rate adaptation of the oh-so-popular novel about an abused English orphan who discovers he's a famous wizard.

KUNG POW! ENTER THE FIST

(PG-13)

- Star rating: Not reviewed.

- Stars: Steve Oedekerk.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Writer-director Steve Oedekerk digitally inserts himself into redubbed footage from a 1976 karate flick to create an off-the-wall parody of martial arts films.

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

* * * * (PG-13)

- Stars: Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas

- Synopsis: Peter Jackson's vivid and imaginative retelling of the first part of the J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy trilogy about a young Hobbit who tries to save Middle Earth by destroying an all-powerful ring of evil.

THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE

* * * * (R)

- Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini and Michael Badalucco.

- Playing: Feb. 2-6 at Capitol Theater with Olympia Film Society.

- Synopsis: In this Coen brothers thriller, a dour barber blackmails his wife's lover to finance a business venture.

THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES

* * (PG-13)

- Stars: Richard Gere, Laura Linney and Alan Bates.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Richard Gere dives into "X-Files" country for this story about a reporter trying to uncover mysterious paranormal activities in a West Virginia town.

OCEAN'S ELEVEN

* * * (PG-13)

- Stars: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Julia Roberts.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas and Shelton Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Less a remake than a reimagining, this caper film -- in which a team of experts tries to rob Las Vegas casinos -- is funny, clever and entertaining enough to keep you from thinking about its larger improbabilities.

ORANGE COUNTY

* * (PG-13)

- Stars: Colin Hanks, Schuyler Fisk and Jack Black.

- Playing: Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Typical teen comedy featuring an atypical cast. Tom Hanks' son, Colin, and Sissy Spacek's daughter, Schuyler Fisk, star alongside Hollywood giants like Kevin Kline. Director Lawrence Kasdan's son, Jake, directs. Hanks plays a high school student trying desperately to get into Stanford University despite receiving a rejection letter.

OUR SONG

* * * (R)

- Stars: Kerry Washington, Anna Simpson and Melissa Martinez.

- Playing: Feb. 2-6 at Capitol Theater with Olympia Film Society.

- Synopsis: Three teen-age girls from Brooklyn hang out together, talk about boys, attend band practice and grow apart.

RICHARD PRYOR LIVE ON THE SUNSET STRIP

* * * (R)

- Stars: Richard Pryor.

- Playing: 6:30 and 9 p.m. Feb. 7 at Capitol Theater with Olympia Film Society.

- Synopsis: Comedian Richard Pryor delivers his ribald, often hilarious, comedy routine.

THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS

* * * * (R)

- Stars: Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller and Anjelica Huston.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Director Wes Anderson scores with this quirky, funny tale of a dysfunctional family of geniuses who learn not to overthink everything in their lives. Rated R for profanity, sexuality and violence.

SLACKERS

no stars (R)

- Stars: Devon Sawa, Jason Schwartzman and James King.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Dewey Nicks' film is the umpteenth teen or college sex and gross-out comedy. It's as stupid and inane as a movie can get; it's also a colossal waste of time and celluloid.

SNOW DOGS

* * 1/2 (PG)

- Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr. and James Coburn.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Predictable children's film about a Miami dentist (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who inherits a dogsled team and heads to Alaska. While there, he butts heads with a gruff local (James Coburn). Should be fun for the kids, but not parents. Directed by Brian Levant.

A WALK TO REMEMBER

(PG)

- Star rating: Not reviewed.

- Stars: Mandy Moore and Shane West.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Jaded high schooler Shane West falls for Mandy Moore in a coming-of-age story set in North Carolina. With Peter Coyote and Daryl Hannah.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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