Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 95

COVER VTOIW 6, 2001. Star Tribune VT. I p-j, a 'J HV lji j- -li -mil i-flii n' Photo provided by Film Society "Women's Paradise," Saturday at Oak Street Cinema. FESTIVAL GUIDE ZZTODAYZZ HERMAN, USA kA out of four stars If the bachelor farmers of western Minnesota are as dull a bunch as this humdrum comic romance suggests, no wonder the womenfolk fled. Plodding at the speed of a John Deere thresher, the film tracks the romances of four couples who meet at the Herman, singles shindig.

Everyone is achingly sincere and bashful, except for a scheming vixen with designs on a welkff local businessman (Michael OKeefe). Director Bill Semans' longtime theater background shows in his staging, with most of the action presented as if it was framed by a proscenium arch. The script misses any number of opportunities for culture-clash humor. When a pig farmer's big-city sweetie asks him what's in the animals' swill, he earnestly replies, "mash, cabbage and milk," flubbing a perfectly good setup for a crack about airline food. Despite some earthy language, "Herman, USA" is as wholesome as a church supper and about half as entertaining.

But Kim Sykes is quite good in a too-small role as a sistah from Chicago checking out "pork, the other white meat" (7:30 p.m., Historic State Theatre, plus 7:15 p.m- Sat, Galtier Plaza Cinema. 89 mins.) Colin Covert ALSO SHOWING BELL: "ChlklnBlznls," 7:15 p.m. (South Africa, 103 mins.) A comedy about a retiree in Sowe-to earning extra money from black-market chickens. "The Pilgrimage of Students Peter and Jacob," 9:15 p.m. (Czech Republic, 95 mins.) Two friends are torn by issues of justice when a Gypsy is accused of murder.

THE ATLAS MOTH irkir out of four stars Its one of the greatest moths there is," proclaims Sean Cassidy, bug fancier and bassist for underdog Twin Cities rockers Dark Horse. The objects of his enthusiasm, the giant Atlas moths he Incubates in his basement seem peculiar until you get to know them and him a little better. Director Rolf Beleum teases out the connections WITH A FRIEND LIKE HARRY kkA out of four stars The title is half a cliche. Left unstated is the punchline: "Who needs enemies?" It begins as light-hearted comedy but like its title character it's not what it initially seems. A man on the way to his fixer-upper summer home bumps into an old high-school classmate, Harry, who offers to tag along and help with renovations.

Harry has inherited more money than he knows what to do with, and he enjoys sharing it with friends. But his big bankbook is accompanied by some large psychological problems, and the homeowner learns there's a price to pay for Harry's help. The plot loses credibility from time to time, but director Dominik Moll does a nice job of creating a Hitchcock-like sense of gradually escalating doom. (9:45 p.m., Oak Street France, 112 mins.) Jeff Strlckler WOMEN'S PARADISE kk out of four stars This ambitious film from Uzbekistan starts off with a bang. Olim, a college professor and writer, hides on the ledge of his mistress' apartment while his pregnant wife, who has come to ambush him, gives birth.

Caught red-handed and subsequently dumped by his wife, Olim sets off to fulfill a dying friend's request During his surreal journey, he discovers a lushly beautiful forest occupied solely by women, laughing and dancing like nymphs in a Matisse painting. As he wanders through the woods, he spies his lover and his wife living happily together. Is this really paradise, or simply the projection of male desire? Or is it about female sexual awakening? It's hard to tell in this sometimes willfully difficult film that often plays like a cross between the 1994 film "Sirens" and a David Lynch narrative. (3:30 p.m., Oak Street 74 mins.) Anjula Razdan, Minneapolis writer ALSO SHOWING BELL: Emerging shorts, nooa (U.S.Canada, 94 mins.) Short films including The Confession" by Minneapolis native Carl Pfirmaa "Country," 7:15 p.m. (Ireland, 92 mins.) Irish hit about a 12-year-old boy and small-town life.

"L'Amour, L'Argent, L'Amour," 11 p.m. (Germany, 131 mins.) An unemployed man and a Berlin prostitute hook up in this anarchic road movie. OAK STREET: "Seven Songs From the Tundra," 1:30 p.m. (Finland, 90 mins.) Life and folklore of the Nenets people of Finland and Siberia. "Crazy," 5:30 p.m.

(Netherlands, 97 mins.) Documentary about Dutch peacekeepers, told through songs that remind them of biology class slide-show formula or expose the slaughterhouse horrors of mass-produced poultry, Aussie animal-film director Mark Lewis presents chickens through the eyes of people who raise and feel an affinity for them. They include a woman who revived a nearly frozen hen by administering mouth-toeak resuscitation and the misunderstood owner of Miracle Mike, a chicken that continued to live long after most of its head was chopped off. What makes this special is that while some of his subjects anthropomorphize their birds, Lewis passes no judgment either way. You saw Thicken Run, now see Chicken Real (5:15 pm, BelL U.S., 54 mins.) Kristin Tttlotson After a career full of near-misses, he candidly assesses his own life, which has included drug addiction, divorce and happy fatherhood. He's in soulful form on the ballads Tm So Afraid of Love" and Ttegina," and McGlynn is smart enough to let every note count (2 3:15 p.m., BelL U.S., 57 85 mins.) Tom Surowkz, Minneapolis writer THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CHICKEN kkk out of four stars "Many people have never really known a chicken," says one of the hen-lovin' humans featured in this delicately laid course in chicken appreciation.

Rather than follow the whose performing ambitions are finally ready to take flight The film has a different form and feel from Belgum's 1998 profile of the band's leader, t)river 23." The musicians are calmer, happier and more focused than when we saw them last The effect is like visiting a reunion and seeing that people you sometimes wondered about had turned out all right Even if you dont leave the theater humming their tunes, youH probably feel relieved that they made it this far together. (9:15 p.m. plus 11:15 p.m. next Friday, Bell 72 mins.) (CC.) HORACE PARIAN IEDDY EDWARDS kkkA out of four stars No director has more empathy for the art of jazz than prolific documentarian Don McGrynn. A Minneapolis native who puts the plodding Ken Burns to shame, he's added two more feathers to his bebopper's beret "Horace Parian on Horace Parian" is a warm portrait of a Pittsburgh-born expatriate who became an eloquent and idiosyncratic pianist despite being disabled by polio at age 5.

He's filmed at home in the Danish countryside, reminiscing and performing in a lovely, offhand profile that recalls Les Blank's early studies of blues heroes. The Legend of Teddy Edwards" is a more traditional bio of an underappreciated LA. tenor sax pioneer who has worked with everyone from Benny Goodman to Tom Waits. idtr rh I i i 4 1 A -A if- 11- 4 -i Photo provided by Lions Gate Films "Horace Parian on Horace Parian," Saturday at Bell Auditorium. between the metamorphosing insects and the guys in the band,.