Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 7A-7

123456 TRIBUNE 7 FRIDAY A PERFECT BALANCE OF HUMOUR AND NO-HOLDS-BARRED ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL BLENDS OF TERROR AND HUMOR SINCE WEREWOLF IN MAXIM DAVE KEHR, THE NEW YORK TIMES MAXIM DAVE KEHR, THE NEW YORK TIMES BLOODY DEVIN GORDON, NEWSWEEK DEVIN GORDON, NEWSWEEK BLAST OF FRIGHT AND FUN! Keeps the blood and the laughs PETER TRAVERS, ROLLING STONE PETER TRAVERS, ROLLING STONE FUNNIEST FILM OF THE YEAR ACTUALLY DELIVERS SOME SERIOUS JOLTS AS WELL! An experience alternatively hilarious and NEW YORK MAGAZINE NEW YORK MAGAZINE A WT 2 PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH BIG TALK OF THE SIMON PEGG CASTING BY JINA JAY KATE ASHFIELD LUCY DAVIS NICK FROST DYLAN MORAN BILL NIGHY PENELOPE WILTON ORIGINAL SCORE BY DANIEL MUDFORD AND PETE WOODHEAD DIRECTED BY EDGAR WRIGHT PRODUCED BY NIRA PARK WRITTEN BY SIMON PEGG AND EDGAR WRIGHT NATASCHA WHARTON JAMES WILSON ALISON OWEN ROGUE PICTURES, STUDIO CANAL AND WORKING TITLE FILMS PRESENT LINE PRODUCER RONALDO VASCONCELLOS EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS TIM BEVAN ERIC FELLNER ANNIE HARDINGE MARCUS ROWLAND EDITOR CHRIS DICKENS DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY PRODUCTION DESIGNER COSTUME DESIGNER DAVID M. DUNLAP www.shaunofthedeadmovie.com A Romantic Comedy. With Zombies. A Romantic Comedy. With Zombies.

MOST ENTERTAINING FILM I HAVE SEEN ALL JACKSON, DIRECTOR OF LORD OF THE TRILOGY A 10 ON THE FUN METER AND DESTINED TO BE A CULT STEPHEN KING INSPIRED AND PERFECTLY LOVED DEL TORO, DIRECTOR OF ABSOLUTE ROMERO, DIRECTOR OF OF THE OF THE RAIMI, DIRECTOR OF CLASSIC! heard so many great things about the movie I thought there was no possible way it could live up to its hype. It RODRIGUEZ 600 N. MICHIGAN Near North CITY NORTH 14 Chicago VILLAGE ARTS Chicago CANTERA 30 Warrenville CENTURY 16 DEER PARK Deer Park CHARLESTOWNE MALL 18 St. Charles CINEMARK Woodridge CRESTWOOD Crestwood CROWN VILLAGE 18 Skokie EVANSTON CENTURY 12 Evanston GARDENS AT OLD ORCHARD 1-6 Skokie GLEN 10 Glenview LINCOLNSHIRE 20 Lincolnshire MARCUS ADDISON Addison MARCUS GURNEE Gurnee NORTH RIVERSIDE Riverside QUARRY 14 Hodgkins RANDHURST Mt Prospect SHOWPLACE 16 Crystal Lake SOUTH BARRINGTON 30 Barrington FOR SHOW TIMES, CALL THEATRES OR CHECK INDIVIDUAL THEATRE ADS. NO PASSES OR REDUCED ADMISSION COUPONS ACCEPTED.

STREETS OF WOODFIELD Schaumburg WOODRIDGE Woodridge YORKTOWN Lombard STARTS TODAY RIVER EAST 21 Chicago WEBSTER PLACE Chicago CANTERA 30 Warrenville CENTURY 16 Deer Park CHICAGO RIDGE MALL Chicago Ridge CINEMARK Seven Bridges COUNTRY CLUB HILLS Country Club Hills CRESTWOOD Crestwood CROWN GLEN 10 Glenview CROWN VILLAGE 18 Skokie ELK GROVE CINEMA Elk Grove Village 228-6707 EVANSTON CENTURY 12 Evanston GARDENS CINEMAS AT OLD ORCHARD Skokie LAKE Oak Park LAKEHURST Waukegan MARCUS ADDISON Addison MARCUS ORLAND PARK Orland Park MERRILLVILLE 10 Merrillville NORTHBROOK COURT 14 Northbrook NORRIDGE Norridge QUARRY CINEMAS 14 Hodgkins RANDHURST 16 Mt.Prospect REGAL 12 Lake Zurich REGAL 20 Lincolnshire REGAL 18 Round Lake Beach REGAL SHOWPLACE 16 Crystal Lake RIVER OAKS Calumet City SOUTH BARRINGTON South Barrington STRATFORD SQUARE Bloomingdale STREAMWOOD Streamwood STREETS OF WOODFIELD Schaumburg WOODRIDGE Woodridge YORK Elmhurst YORKTOWN 18 Lombard Starts Today! Call theatre or see directory ad for showtimes. Here are selected capsule reviews of movies in current release. Information is based on the most up-to-date theater schedules available and subject to change. Reviewers include: A.B. Allison Benedikt; L.C.

Lou Carlozo; M.C. Mark Caro; R.E. Robert K. Elder; E.F.= Ellen Achy Obejas; S.S. Sid Smith; M.W.

Michael Wilmington. Alien vs. Predator 1 2 Following such unmemorable super-monster matchups as vs. director Paul proves again that two wrongs make a right. The best parts, where the and baddies mix it up, are amusingly garish and gory.

But the setup stuff is awful: a murky dive into land that leaves you praying for a massacre. With Lance Henriksen. PG-13. 1:40. Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid The success of might be the reason getting second helpings of the 1997 big-snake thriller, which starred a rising Jennifer Lopez.

Here, a no- name cast travels to Borneo to bring back a life-prolonging flower. Obstacles and infighting ensue, but the snakes seem to get the same loving care they did the first time around. PG-13. 1:33. E.F.

Before Sunset This sequel to one of the best modern romantic movies, Richard 1995 continues. The breathless, sweet and very smart tale of Texan Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Parisian Celine (Julie Delpy), who met magically in Vienna, lost each other and now reunite in Paris for another lively, bittersweet, heart-stirring stroll of love-chat and amour. R. 1:20. M.W.

The Bourne Supremacy 1 2 Almost as good as its predecessor, the Robert Ludlum-derived Bourne is another brainy, blisteringly fast spy thriller with Matt Damon as Bourne, deep cover agent trying to flee a past. Damon, writer Tony Gilroy, director Paul Greengrass and a top cast (Joan Allen, Brian Cox) give this whirling, blazing film an ultra-cool center. PG-13. 1:49. Bright Young Things 1 2 Stephen directorial debut, based on novelist Evelyn 1930 British comic gem is a brilliant, giddy satiric romp.

Fry takes tale of the orgiastic excesses of the young British social set between the wars and, with his magnificent cast (Emily Mortimer, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Broadbent, Peter many others), makes morality shine beneath its high-style wit. R. 1:46. M.W. Broadway: The Golden Age, By the Legends Who Were There A quirky but loving and authentic documentary tribute to heyday, with frank, funny, insightful interviews including Carol Channing, Angela Lansbury, Julie Harris, Ben Gazzara, Hal Prince, Stephen Sondheim and Gwen Verdon.

No MPAA rating. 1:51. S.S. Catwoman Halle Berry stars as the DC superhero out to save womankind when she learns that her former cosmetic making wrinkle cream not only addictive, but hideously damaging to its users. A lingerie show posing as feminism, the biggest cinematic hairball this side of PG-13.

1:45. R.E. Cellular Speeding away from a promising Kim Basinger as a frantic housewife, imprisoned by killers, whose only fragile outside link is to the cell-phone of carefree college guy Chris quickly becomes another outlandishly cliched L.A.-set movie thriller, high on action, low on sense. Director David R. Ellis, at least, keeps it moving.

PG-13. 1:32. M.W. Collateral This expertly made thriller about an L.A. night ride with an immaculate hit man (Tom Cruise) and a smart, funky cab driver (Jamie Foxx) is really two movies: a taut, terrific, realistic crime drama, and, by the end, an over-the-top, high-tech extravaganza, which tries to out-Woo John Woo and turn Cruise into another Terminator.

Both parts are entertaining, but the first one is better. R. 2:00. The Cookout (no star rating) In a comedy starring and produced by Queen Latifah, a basketball player who signs a $30 million deal with his hometown team throws a big barbecue at his home to keep things real. PG-13.

1:25. Criminal A caper movie that, despite elevated acting, leaves us wondering not so much about the machinations of the plot as the purpose of the moviemakers. There are plot twists aplenty in this tale of a thirtyso- mething hustler (John C. Reilly) adopting a rising street apprentice (Diego Luna). all too aware a surprise or two is aware we really care when it shows up.

R. 1:27. S.S. TheDay After Tomorrow 1 2 A genuinely spectacular but terminally predictable sci-fi movie from Roland Emmerich about the cataclysmic consequences of global new Ice Age, no mixes grand, epic effects and amaz- ing visualizations of catastrophe with a cliched, sappy family-in-crisis plot wasting Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal and Emmy Rossum. PG-13.

2:02. M.W. ADay Without A Mexican What if Californians woke up one day and discovered that every single Mexican in the state had vanished? Sergio Arau and Yareli new feature-length version of Day Without A poses this question, just like the original 1998 short. Unfortunately, the film never really moves beyond its premise. R.

1:38. De-Lovely Kevin Kline is delightful and delicious in Irwin ambitious, glitteringly well- produced musical bio of the life of Cole Porter, the great sophisticated pop lyricist- composer, whose loving marriage to socialite Linda (Ashley Judd) and secret homosexuality made his life a and tragicomedy. Lots of great Porter songs sung by Kline and a pop-star gallery, but not quite the top. PG-13. 2:05.

Exorcist: The Beginning The fourth movie, like the last two, is not up to the shivery original. a prequel to the 1973 movie, charting the earlier devil-busting career of Father Lancester Merrin, the old priest (now played by Stellan Skarsgard) who wrestled with the devil in Linda Blair. Like the other follow-ups, more visually opulent and technically prodigious, but sillier and less scary. R. 1:54.

M.W. Fahrenheit Michael incendiary Cannes Palme documentary is a shocking, sad, fiercely funny look at George W. handling of terrorism and theIraq war: Another howitzer blast of heartland humor and journalistic for cheekiest, gutsiest, most hilarious ordinary-guy assault yet on the halls of the rich and mighty. R. 1:56.

Garden State Writer-director-star Zach beautiful and solid film about that fleeting stage in life when out of the house but without a real home of your own. After nine years away, twentysomething Andrew returns to his New Jersey hometown for his funeral and leaves his anti-anx- iety meds behind. Emotionally stunted and chemically askew, he reconnects with old friends and meets his savior-love. R. 1:42.

A.B. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence In futuristic Tokyo, pleasure model robots are murdering their masters and cyborg detective Bateau (voiced by Akio Otsuka) is put on the case. Based on Shirow comic books, the jaw-dropping, wildly imaginative world of envisions a world where is an abstract concept, as technology blurs into biology. PG-13. 1:39.

R.E. Hero Swooningly beautiful and furiously exciting, Zhang is an action movie for the ages. Based on the legend of first emperor (Chen Daoming), the assassins who stalk him (Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung) and the hero (Jet Li) he must decipher, is a wild and lovely fantasia: a visual feast and an explosion of cinema pyrotechnics. Fight scenes by Ching Siu-tung. In Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles.

PG-13. 1:33. M.W. Robot Star Will and director Alex flashy sci-fi thriller, about murder and conspiracy in the robotized world of Chicago 2035 was inspired by Isaac legendary robot stories Laws of Robot- Not a direct adaptation, still one high-tech thriller that really of its eye-popping CGI feats, hip humor and the ideas and humanity behind them. PG-13.

1:55. Intimate Strangers (Confidences Trop Intimes) 1 2 The latest gem from Patrice Leconte: a compelling psychological drama about an accidental relationship between a troubled wife (Sandrine Bonnaire), who pours out her soul to a financial adviser she mistakenly believes is a psychiatrist (Fabrice Luchini). A triumph of simplicity, talent, intelligence, subtlety and and of the eroticism in words, looks and glances. In French with English subtitles. R.

1:43. The Manchurian Candidate Jonathan classy remake of John classic Cold War thriller about a brainwashed political assassin and a rigged presidential convention, has sharp direction and a remarkable cast (Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep in the old Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury roles). But it lacks the shattering, surreal because the nightmares of the past are all too real today. R. 2:10.

MOVIE CAPSULES Gwyneth Paltrow (left) stars as Polly and Jude Law as Sky Captain in the sci-fi adventure Captain and the World of PLEASE SEE CAPSULES, PAGE8 By Allison Benedikt Tribune staff reporter Last is based on a too-good-to-be-true, but-it-is- true FBI sting; stars Matthew Broderick and was written and directed by Jeff Nathanson, the talented pen behind Me If You missing just one thing: Woody Allen. Based on Steve 1996 article in Details magazine (which years later was rehashed by a different author in GQ and on American the film revolves around aspiring Hollywood screenwriter and achieved neurotic Steven Schats, played by Broderick. In a town where every Star- bucks barista has a screenplay and your cabby thinks the next DeNiro, Steven tears tickets at Chinese Theatre and pitches his movie, to anyone with at least one partially working ear. So when, out of nowhere, some guy named Joe Devine (Alec Bald- win) offers to produce Steven ask questions. let in early on the fact that Joe is not a hotshot Hollywood moneymanbut rather a struggling FBI agent marginal- ized by his chief, Jack (Ray Liotta).

Having gotten wind of the stronghold on the film industry in Providence, R.I. (brokering bribes between the Teamsters and filmmakers), Joe cooks up a plan to produce movie as a way to bust middling mobster Tommy Sanz (Tony Shalhoub). This of course means that will be shot in New England, with a garbage dump doubling as the desert and a construction site as the Grand Canyon. It should be noted that all is played for yuks, which is where the Woody Allen wish comes into play. Ah, to think what the (albeit waning) king of neurotic dramadies could have done with such ripe material.

Picture a self-doubting Steven in beautifully cringe-worthy situations, with star-struck mobsters and bungling agents galore. Imagine stiff G-men supervising casting and costumes and production design, all for a script that features Hopi Indians giv- ing a cancer-stricken woman a reason to live. Nathanson, however, sucks the life and the timing out of every scene. (Case in point: Perhaps noticed the TV commercial for Last that features a scene in which Steven and Joe have an exchange about deceased wife? Steven: your wife was in the Joe: why would I marry a Ba-da-bum. Only thing is, in the movie, the bit includes prolonged pauses and uncomfortable lulls, depleting the dialogue of its wit.) Nearly every would-be comic situation ends in a thud.

And the actors? Baldwin looks lost, as do Toni Collette playing washed-up screen diva Emily French, Tim Blake Nelson as estranged brother, and Liotta. The only live wire is Calista Flockhart, hysterical as crazy quasi-girlfriend whose career meltdown causes her to take a dog hostage not once, but twice. Flockhart, as an actress des- perate to show the world her talent but lethally unsure if she has any, embodies the obsessively driven personality it must take to make it, or to try to make it, in pictures. the personification of what Last could have been. From the screenwriter who seeks validation so desperately he ignores reality to the agent and mobster, both vying for the attention of their respective bosses, the thread that runs through each character is this tipping point, where ego and self-loathing meet and produce comedy.

Paging Woody Allen. REVIEW Drab struggles to be funny Last Written and directed by Jeff Nathanson; based upon an article by Steve Fishman; photographed by John Lindley; production designed by William Arnold; edited by David Rosenbloom; music by Rolfe Kent; produced by Larry Brezner and David Hoberman. A Touchstone Pictures release; opens Friday. Running time: 1:33. MPAA rating: (language and some sexual content).

Steven Broderick Joe Baldwin Emily Collette Tommy Shalhoub Valerie Flockhart Marshal Blake Nelson Jack Liotta Joe Devine (Alec Baldwin, left) and Steven Schats (Matthew Broderick) in a scene from the unfunny.