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rHE ARIZONA REPUBLIC PREVIEW FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2006 P7 Villain roles ring a bell for actor Gory 'Saw III' doesn't cut it as entertainment 1 -mm mi mimm i i fh -y I By Randy Cordova The Arizona Republic Saw III is devoid of any suspense or terror or common sense. It's simply an exercise in gore. And really, if that's all the filmmakers nave up their sleeve, why bother with a plot? Just show one grisly makeup effect after another and you'd create the same sensory experience. It might even be more pleasurable. After all, it would save you from the wooden acting and inane story line used to drape the elaborate torture se- MOVIE REVIEW 'Saw 111' Director Darren Lynn Bousman.

Cast Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus Mac-fadyen. Rating: for strong horror violence-gore, terror and torture, nudity and language. STEVE WILKIE Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is on his deathbed but manages to engineer more horror in Saw III. heart stops beating, the doctor's face becomes hamburger. There's also a dad (an overacting Angus Macfadyen) whose son died in a hit-and-run accident.

He's led through a series of tests involving people connected to the tragedy. One sequence involves a man trapped in a vat while liquefied carcasses are poured on top of him. It just makes you want to hum That's Entertainment, doesn't it? Then there's the woman whose rib cage is ripped open, and a man whose body is twisted apart. Plus, there's a brain surgery sequence, full of yummy close-ups to delight moviegoers. Even splatter-film buffs should be offended by this piece of nonsense: Not because it's so gross, but because if so dumb.

Reach the reporter at randy.cordova arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8849. quences. The movie, which didn't screen for critics before it opened, has two plot strands Great Good FairBadBomb as the killer, the character became central in the sequels, in which Jigsaw continues his practice of forcing his victims to participate in horrible games or be killed. Bell has played villains before to great effect: He made a sympathetic death-row killer in an episode of Chicago Hope, portrayed Unabomber Ted Kaczynski in a TV movie and cut a menacing figure in the Tom Cruise thriller The Firm. But after decades in the business, Bell is most recognized for his role in a low-budget horror film in which he isn't really seen until the final five minutes.

"I found out a long time ago that it's not the size of your role, if the importance of how the story turns on the character," he says. "If I'm drawn to the material, I just want to be part of the piece." Bell has no qualms about associating himself with horror, a genre that doesn't get much respect from critics. He puts as much research into a role like Jigsaw as he would any other. "When I was approached about Saw II, I didn't hesitate, because I felt there was opportunity there to enrich the Will Ferrell Stranger than Fiction Harold Crick bnt ready toga Period. In Theaters November 10 8trBn54rThBnFlcllon.com DON'T BE A LOSER LITTLE MISS going at once that eventually intersect in an unsurprising way.

Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), the mastermind behind the gruesome murders in the first two films, is dying. His dim assistant (Shawnee Smith) kidnaps a surgeon (Bahar Soomekh from Crash) and puts a gigantic metal collar around her neck. The reason: If Jigsaw's CI INIOUINiriW script and the character," he says. "As long as the character continues to grow, and as long as the working relationship with the directors, writers and producers is positive, I'm generally up for anything." The Saw films may be un-apologetic gorefests, but there's more to them than your standard splatter flick. They are well-shot, smart and often darkly funny.

And with Bell, they've tapped into an oddly sympathetic villain a man dying of cancer who only endangers those who don't appreciate the gift of life -who projects an effortless menace and gravitas in a calm yet unsettling growl. But he still isn't sure why people including that long-ago director think he would make such a good villain. "I don't know what it is," he says. "Maybe if my eyes, which seem to get mentioned a lot Maybe if because my face has a certain absence of definition to it, because my eyebrows and eyelashes are so light. "Maybe it's because if people don't know what you're thinking and you tend to be low-key, they read something bad into it." CRANK R) ACCEPTED (PC-13) BARNYARD PG) MONSTER HOUSE (PGI TALLADEGA NIGHTS (PC-13 DEVIL WEARS PRAOAP6-t3) INVINCIBLE IPG) COVENANT IPG-13) CARSIG) THE ANT BULLY PG) GRIDIRON GANGIPG-131 3 00 5 05 7 05 8 50 3 20 6 45 9 IS 7 00 9 10 2:20 4 30 6 30 8 30 2.4H4 40 6.40 6 40 5 00 7 10 9 5.10 7 20 9 30 2 30 6 50 4:45 9 00 250 3 10 ALUtKI tU lrb-1 Jl CRANK (H) GRIDIRON GANG (PG-13) MONSTER HOUSE IPG) BARNYARD IPG) INVINCIBLE PG COVENANT PG-13) 'Ail ACi fill 1JU3 JU 5.30 7 30 9.30 1:15 3:45 6 158 50 1:00 3 00 5 00 7 00 9 00 1:40 3:40 5:40 730 9.20 1 05 3 05 5.05 7.05 9 US 1ZS)U 3 05 5 10 1:20 3.20 5:15 CARS (G) DEVIL WEARS PRADA (PG-13) 110 8 10 inn ik TALLADEGA NIGHTS (PG-13) 7:159:25 STEPUPIPG-131 7iftoin INFflRMATIfW Vat ID FOR 11 IDF ONI SEE IT THIS WEEKEND (ntA, 3 ill i HAHHINS HAHMNS SHEA CENTERP0INT 11 Shea East ol Scodsdale fld.

Mill University Scottsdale (602i 222-HAflK H040 Tempe (602) 222-HARK 1016 IllftJOOIff KW SH(WITIMFS aaugaii TEMPE HAUKINS ARIZONA MILLS 24 110 Superstition freeway 222-HAHK 049 CHANDLER HARKINS CHANDLER FASHION 20 Chandler Rlvd GLENDALE HARKINS ARROWHEAD FOUNTAINS 18 83rd Aye ol Bell Rd 222-HARK 036 101 fwy 222 HARK 056 la. EMS '1 Mi drunken frat boys pick up a hitchhiking Borat, the film grows uncomfortable, maybe because he's again revealing an untoward side of ourselves. Borat also visits a Pentecostal tent revival and doesn't have much trouble speaking in tongues. A sharp tongue is really TERROR Continued from PI understand it I let it sit for a while." Shortly thereafter, Bell was cast in his first movie, 1988's Mississippi Burning, by direc-tor Alan Parker. Bell plays an FBI agent brought in to "get down and dirty" and terrify suspects with his questionable methods.

"It wasn't a big part, but the film turned on it," Bell notes. Indeed, almost 20 years later, his chilling performance as the threatening authority figure still resonates. These days, Bell is best known to movie audiences as Jigsaw, the brilliant but twisted madman in the Saw franchise. When Saw opened in 2004, it was a gritty, independent thriller with no name stars and a budget rumored to be about $1 million. The film grossed more than $50 million domestically and spawned last year's Saw II and now Saw III, which opened No.

1 at the box office last weekend. In Saw, Bell was heard but hardly seen; he spent most of the film lying face down in a room or hiding under a cloak. But after Jigsaw was revealed Cringe factor: Borat (Sa-cha Baron Cohen) reports on a Kazakh celebration demeaning the comic's Jewish heritage. BLAKE LITTLE 20TH CENTURY FOX what Borat offers as Cohen refuses to bow to any semblance of taste or decorum. But if he did, this would be just another comedy.

Which it decidedly is not Reach Muller at billmuller arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8651. Read his blog at mullerblog.azcentral.com. i site I mm AHWATUKEE 24 Rav Hd-956-4AMC ARIZONA CENTER 24 Omen dlwn 3rd St 956-4AMC AMC ARROWHEAD 14 75tli A Bell fld 95()-AMC AMC DEER VALLEY 30 SW Coiner ol 1-17 Sloop 101 95S -4AMC AMC MESA GRAND 24 SE Comer of Superstition Fwy Stanley 956 4AMC Dirkmson Theatres PALM VALLEY 14 Ml) Unci) Rd 535-4001) 1 With Your ZIP CODE To 43KIX (43549)! HAPKIN1 CINEMARK MESA Loop i Dobswi Rd 800 FASjDAUGO Code 2H7 UNITFD AftTISTS PAVILIONS DICKINSON THEATRES PALM VALLEY 14 LhiiUciMMfc! 53i 000 CINEMARK ti itrw Thonai W. HARKINS CENTEfiPOINT II i i i-trv HARKINS CHRISTOWN II li a.i. i fltyijm HARKINS wAi I kCf ii-fuii 5 i I foxsearchlight.com IC-QI AMt: AMC AHWATUKEE 24 ARROWHEAD 1-10 24 Ray Rd.

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It's not that the sequence isn't funny on some base level, but it goes on and on, proof that Cohen can't always sustain his unique brand of comedy. At the same time, if that uniqueness a sort of Andy Kaufman-does-Jackass quality that is the genius of Borat. Many people who saw Kaufman in the early days were amazed, while others walked away shaking their heads. Cohen (Da Ali Show) also is inventing his comedy along the way, and Borat is something that we haven't seen before. Some credit also should go to director Larry Charles, who's known for the Larry David HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm.

With Borat, the gag is that the real people exposed to his impolitic persona are not in on the joke, and when they agree with his bigoted views, it unmasks them for who they truly are. It's disturbing that some audience members 7 T3 TIM RCSSINS HA KINS IHfAlHS SCOTTSOAU 101 Rd am imp 101 tiirm-m. ooe HI UK INS THEAttES ARCADIA 8 40m si I moma Rd GAMINS THHTIEI HARK INS THEATRES CHANDLER FASHION CTWWBMf 101 Fwy 602222 -HARK 1056 HARK INS THEATRES CHRIST0WN 1 1 tWiAvi(8tWYHcmiW 602222-HAflKfOli HARKINS THEATRES flESTA i 1520SoJMongrrwt 602222 HARK 1023 HARKWS THEATRES SATtWAI RAVILKWS II 101 fwy! M0 602222 HARK 1002 HARKINS THE A TIES METRO II IferrounW Moll 602322 HARK 1024 HARKINS THEATRES NORTH VAUEt II 34 Siw 1 Road 602222 HARK 1056 HARKINS THEATRES SHEA 14 ShMtoQE dSdMWIW 602122 1040 HARKINS THEATRES S0U1HWESTI 67i Amnui A TTamoi 602 22 HARK 26 ktRIZONA MKLS II I (J iiirVWl (wy SOi222-HAKK I04B MA RUINS TWA TIH CfHIUROW 11 Aw orfl UnwWy MARK 1011 1 (' BEREK LUKE a In 4915 ARIZONA VaT AMC 75 SCOTTSDALE HARKINS SC011S0AIE 101 Scottsdale Rd. and Loop 10 222-HARK 00? HARKINS SHEA 14 Shea tllid ast of Scottsdale Rd 222-HARK W40 MESA HARKINS SUPERSTITION SPRINGS 25 Superstition freeway of Power Rd 222-HAHK 048 PHOENIX AMC DEER VALLEY 30 1-17 Loop 101 956-4262 PHOENIX AMC DESERT RIDGE 18 Loop 101 latum 956 4AMC PHOENIX AMC ESPLANADE 14 24th St Catnelbach 956 4262 I aren't laughing at Cohen (who is Jewish) but with him, slapping their knees over Bo-rafs anti-Semitic paranoia. If the same thing that bothered Black comedian Dave Chappelle when he said Whites were laughing a little too hard at his Black jokes.

But thaf also revealing. If we apply the Ferris Bucller rule that "you can never go too far," then Borat remains on solid ground. If you feel that comedy, however funny, should have some boundaries, this may not be the movie for you. But it's undeniable that Borat is often hilarious. Just his description of his village "there's the town rapisf -will have you doubled over.

After arriving in America, Borat visits with a panel of oblivious feminists, who are instantly offended by his raging chauvinism, then goes to gun store and to an antiques shop, where he breaks china. every scene, it seems that the "regular" people have no idea whaf going on. Borat also grows obsessed with former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson (describing her in obscene terms) and decides he must go to Los Angeles so he can meet her. By the time a bunch of "A POTENT POLITICAL THRILLER! DEREK LUKE HAS REAL MOVIE-STAR -IHIIHHStH IMSiWH TIM BOBBINS PROVES KE CAN STRETCH INTO ANY ROLE. DEREK LUXE PERFORMANCE IS HIS BEST TO DATE; Si) ifitii I IK IK! afriimi CINE MARK CINE MARK MESA loop 202 Oaonn (u B0OT-ANDANGO 12127 WALLACE THEATERS 6I11ERT STADIUM 14 480'545-FlLM UNFTE0 ARTISTS W2222-K-K 1046 AHWATUKEt 24 R0 R) 602c-4AMC DESERT RIDGE II logo 101 1 Tovn 6029564AMC AMC CENTER 14 Bj-r it I 5fl 02(956-AslC ARROWHEAD 14 av i Rood 602'95S-4AC tnjrn W-ac 1 Hovflr 6029564AMC 8O0TAN0ANG0 1496 IDC chki Mi'M mpohi MESA 0RAW 14 802 96 4MC ESRIANADE 14 S0M0RA VILLAGE 3 ARIZONA MILLS 24 222.HAHKI049 CAIEWAV PAVILU0NS 19 101 fraiy i 1-10 222-HA 002 Hnrkins NORTH VALLEY 16 Mi Slreel Bell fld.

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